"O what excuse can my invention make, And extreme fear can neither fight nor fly, "Had Collatinus kill'd my son or sire, But as he is my kinsman, my dear friend, “Shameful it is; ay, if the fact be known: 229 doth still exceed] is still in excess. 236 quittal] requital. 239 fact] crime. Cf. line 349, infra. The usage is common. 244 sentence] maxim, proverb. 245 a painted cloth] rough tapestry which ordinarily covered the wall of middle-class houses; on them were painted moral sentences together with illustrations of scriptural scenes or popular secular tales. 230 240 Thus graceless holds he disputation All pure effects, and doth so far proceed Quoth he, "She took me kindly by the hand, O, how her fear did make her colour rise! First red as roses that on lawn we lay, "And how her hand, in my hand being lock'd, That had Narcissus seen her as she stood 247 will lust; a common usage. 248 makes dispensation] dispenses. 256 Where . . . lies] Among whom . . . resides or abides. 258-259 First red . . . took away] Cf. Venus and Adonis, 589–590: ... sudden pale Like lawn being spread upon the blushing rose." 259 the roses took away] the roses being taken away. 264 cheer] countenance. 265-266 had Narcissus .. in the flood] Cf. Venus and Adonis, 161– 162: "Narcissus so himself himself forsook, And died to kiss his 250 260 "Why hunt I then for colour or excuses? Love thrives not in the heart that shadows dreadeth: 270 And when his gaudy banner is display'd, The coward fights, and will not be dismay'd. "Then, childish fear avaunt! debating die! Then who fears sinking where such treasure lies ?" 280 As corn o'ergrown by weeds, so heedful fear Is almost choked by unresisted lust. Away he steals with open listening ear, Full of foul hope and full of fond mistrust; Both which, as servitors to the unjust, shadow in the brook "; and Marlowe's Hero and Leander, Sestiad I, lines 74-76. 275 Respect] Thought, cautious prudence; like "regard" in line 277. 277 Sad pause] Pause for serious thought. 278 My part is youth stage] An allusion to the performance of morality plays, in which the personification of youth often figured in the dramatis persona. Cf. the extant morality plays called respectively The Interlude of Youth and Lusty Juventus. In many of these pieces there is much horse-play, chiefly on the part of a character called the "Vice," the servitor of the Devil, who at the close is wont to drive his master from the stage with blows. Cf. Tw. Night, IV, ii, 120–122, and Hen. V, IV, 70–71. So cross him with their opposite persuasion, Within his thought her heavenly image sits, That eye which looks on her confounds his wits; That eye which him beholds, as more divine, Unto a view so false will not incline; But with a pure appeal seeks to the heart, By reprobate desire thus madly led, The Roman lord marcheth to Lucrece' bed. The locks between her chamber and his will, 286 cross him] work on him at cross-purposes. 303 retires his ward] draws back its bolt. "Retires" is used like the French "retirer." Cf. line 641, infra. 308 his fear] the cause of his fear, his peril. 290 300 As each unwilling portal yields him way, Extinguishing his conduct in this case; But his hot heart, which fond desire doth scorch, And being lighted, by the light he spies But all these poor forbiddings could not stay him; Or as those bars which stop the hourly dial, Who with a lingering stay his course doth let, 313 his conduct in this case] his conductor or guide in this business. Cf. Rom. and Jul., V, iii, 116: "Come bitter conduct, come unsavoury guide." 318 the rushes] the rushes, which strewed the floors of the chief rooms in Elizabethan houses. Cf. Cymb., II, ii, 12-13: "Our Tarquin thus Did softly press the rushes.” 319 needle] The word must be pronounced monosyllabically. The alternative form neeld is substituted by Malone. 328 let] hinder. So line 10, supra. Cf. line 330: "lets" (i. e., hindrances). 810 320 |