O'erworn, despised, rheumatic and cold, Then mightst thou pause, for then I were not for But having no defects, why dost abhor me? "Thou canst not see one wrinkle in my brow; My smooth moist hand, were it with thy hand felt, "Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear, Love is a spirit all compact of fire, Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire. "Witness this primrose bank whereon I lie; 140 grey] greyish-blue; a grey eye was reckoned a feature of beauty in women. Cf. Rom. and Jul., II, iv, 42. 143 moist hand] See note on line 26, supra. 148 Dance on the sands . . . seen] Cf. Tempest, V, i, 34-35: "ye that on the sands with printless foot Do chase the ebbing Neptune." 149 compact] composed. Cf. Com. of Errors, III, ii, 22: “Being compact of credit, that you love us." 140 150 Is love so light, sweet boy, and may it be "Is thine own heart to thine own face affected? Can thy right hand seize love upon thy left? And died to kiss his shadow in the brook "Torches are made to light, jewels to wear, Thou wast begot; to get it is thy duty. 161-162 Narcissus . . . in the brook] A like illustration from Narcissus' fate figures in Lucrece, lines 265–266. According to the classical version of the tale in Ovid's Metam. (iii, 407 seq.), Narcissus did not drown himself, but was turned into a flower. Marlowe's account of Narcissus in Hero and Leander (Sestiad I, 74–76), doubtless suggests Shakespeare's allusion: [He] leapt into the water for a kiss Of his own shadow, and despising many, 163-174 Torches are . . . alive] This theme of the duty of beauty to reproduce itself, which is mentioned supra, 130–133, and is developed later in lines 751-768, infra, is the main topic of Shakespeare's Sonnets i-xvii, and is also noticed in Rom. and Jul., I, i, 210–218. Cf. Sonnet iv, 1-2: "Unthrifty loveliness, why dost thou spend Upon thyself thy beauty's legacy?" and Rom. and Jul., I, i, 213–214: "O, she is rich in beauty, only poor That, when she dies, with beauty dies her store." 160 "Upon the earth's increase why shouldst thou feed, By law of nature thou art bound to breed, By this, the love-sick queen began to sweat, Wishing Adonis had his team to guide, And now Adonis, with a lazy spright, Souring his cheeks, cries "Fie, no more of love! 177 Titan, tired] The sun, fatigued or weary. "Tired" is frequently found for "attired" (i. e., clothed), but it is doubtful if the word be so employed here. Ovid repeatedly gives the sun the name Titan (cf. Metam., i, 10), and Shakespeare often follows Ovid's example. Only here and in Rom. and Jul., II, iii, 4 (“Titan's fiery wheels") does Shakespeare mention Titan as driver of the chariot of the sun. That description echoes the early Greek myth which makes Hyperion, the sun's charioteer, one of the family known as Titans. 185 Souring his cheeks] Causing his cheeks to turn pale with impatience. "Souring" suggests an image from sour milk. Cf. Tim. of Ath., III, i, 53-54: "Has friendship such a faint and milky heart, It turns in less than two nights?" 170 180 "Ay me," quoth Venus, "young, and so unkind! I'll make a shadow for thee of my hairs; If they burn too, I'll quench them with my tears. "Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel? 'What am I, that thou shouldst contemn me this? And one for interest, if thou wilt have twain. 204 unkind] without family, childless. Cf. All's Well, IV, ii, 8–10: "you are cold and stern; And now you should be as your mother was When your sweet self was got." "This " 205 contemn me this] contemptuously refuse me this favour. 190 200 210 "Fie, lifeless picture, cold and senseless stone, Thing like a man, but of no woman bred! Thou art no man, though of a man's complexion, This said, impatience chokes her pleading tongue, And now she weeps, and now she fain would speak, Sometimes she shakes her head, and then his hand, "Fondling," she saith, "since I have hemm'd thee here Within the circuit of this ivory pale, I'll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer; Feed where thou wilt, on mountain or in dale: 220 230 222 intendments] intentions (of utterance). Cf. As you like it, I, i, 119: "you might stay him from his intendment.” 230 this ivory pale] this enclosure of ivory skin. Cf. Com. of Errors, II, i, 100-101 (of an incensed husband): "too unruly deer he breaks the pale, And feeds from home." |