Part 3 / Act 2 — ACT II.
Reading edition
Scene 2. Page 65.
Imo. From fairies and the tempters of the night, Guard me, beseech ye!
See p. 128.
Scene 3. Page 72.
Hark, hark, the lark at heaven's gate sings.
The frequent mention of the lark, especially among our older poets, has been already exemplified in a variety of corresponding passages with the above, which either Shakspeare might have imitated, or which are imitations from him. To these the following may be added:—
"On morowe tho the dai sprong And the larke bigan her song." Romance of Sir Oluel. MS. "Even at the twelyght in the dawnynge Whan the larke of custome gynneth synge For to salue in her heavenly laye The lusty goddesse of the morowe graye." Lydgate's Sege of Troye, B. i. "Whan the larke messager of day Of custome aye Aurora doth salue, With sondry notes hir sorowe to transmue, Or Phebus ryse to joye and gladnesse." Lydgate's Sege of Troye, B. iii. "Upsprang the golden candle matutyne, With cleir depurit bemys chrystallyne, Glading the mirry fowlis in thair nest: Or Phebus was in purpour kaip revest Upsprang the lark, the hevene's mynstral syne In may intill a morrow mirth fullest." Dunbar's Golden terge. "With merry note her loud salutes the mounting lark." Spenser's Fairy queen, B. I. Canto xi. st. 51. "Early, cheerful, mounting lark, Light's gentle usher, morning's clerk, In merry notes delighting; Stint awhile thy song, and hark, And learn my new inditing. "Bear up this hymn, to heav'n it bear E'en up to heav'n, and sing it there," &c. Davies's Acrostick hymns, 1599. "... and then my state, (Like to the lark, at break of day arising From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate." Shakspeare's 29th Sonnet. "The larke that left her food, her nest, her yong, And early mounting, first with her sweet song Saluted heaven." Niccolls's London Artillery, 1616, 4to. "And the lark from out the furrow, Soars upright on matin wings, And at the gate of heaven sings." Penshurst. In Dodsley's collection, vol. iv.
Scene 4. Page 88.
Iach. The roof o' the chamber With golden cherubims is fretted; her andirons (I had forgot them) were two winking Cupids Of silver, each on one foot standing, nicely Depending on their brands.
Mr. Steevens calls the golden cherubims a tawdry image, and proceeds, justly enough, to ridicule an idle representation of the heavenly choirs; but the poet must be cleared from any imputation of blame. He is not accountable for the fashions or follies of his age, and has, in this instance, given a faithful description of the mode in which the rooms in great houses were sometimes ornamented. That brands were those parts of the andirons which supported the wood, according to Mr. Whalley, remains to be proved. The Cupids would not lean or hang over these bars, but rather stand with their faces turned from them, and opposite to the spectator. The brands are more likely to have been the inverted torches mentioned by Mr. Steevens.
Scene 5. Page 94.
Post. Me of my lawful pleasure she restrain'd, And pray'd me, oft, forbearance: did it With a pudency so rosy, &c.
A useless note on this speech, which would make our poet equally vulgar and obscene, when he was expressing a sentiment of the most refined delicacy, may be well dispensed with in any future edition.