"So, so," quoth he, "these lets attend the time,
Like little frosts that sometime threat the spring,
To add a more rejoicing to the prime,

And give the sneaped birds more cause to sing.
Pain pays the income of each precious thing;

Huge rocks, high winds, strong pirates, shelves and
sands,

The merchant fears, ere rich at home he lands."

Now is he come unto the chamber door,

That shuts him from the heaven of his thought,
Which with a yielding latch, and with no more,
Hath barr'd him from the blessed thing he sought.
So from himself impiety hath wrought,

That for his prey to pray he doth begin,
As if the heavens should countenance his sin.

But in the midst of his unfruitful
Having solicited the eternal power

prayer,

That his foul thoughts might compass his fair fair,
And they would stand auspicious to the hour,
Even there he starts: quoth he, "I must deflower:

330 these lets. . . time] these hindrances are incidental to the occasion. 333 sneaped] nipped, pinched.

335 shelves] shoals, banks. Cf. Milton's Comus, 117: "the tawny sands and shelves."

341 So from himself . . . wrought] His wickedness has carried him so far from his better judgment.

346 his fair fair] his fair beauty. The second "fair" is, of course, a substantive. Cf. Venus and Adonis, 1083, and note.

330

840

The
powers to whom I pray abhor this fact;
How can they then assist me in the act?

"Then Love and Fortune be my gods, my guide!
My will is back'd with resolution:

Thoughts are but dreams till their effects be tried;
The blackest sin is clear'd with absolution;
Against love's fire fear's frost hath dissolution.

The eye of heaven is out, and misty night
Covers the shame that follows sweet delight."

This said, his guilty hand pluck'd up the latch,
And with his knee the door he opens wide.
The dove sleeps fast that this night-owl will catch:
Thus treason works ere traitors be espied.

Who sees the lurking serpent steps aside;

But she, sound sleeping, fearing no such thing,
Lies at the mercy of his mortal sting.

Into the chamber wickedly he stalks
And gazeth on her yet unstained bed.
The curtains being close, about he walks,
Rolling his greedy eyeballs in his head:
By their high treason is his heart misled;

349 fact] crime. Cf. line 239, supra.

354 The blackest sin absolution] An anachronistic reference to the Roman Catholic doctrine of sacerdotal absolution.

356 The eye of heaven is out] The sun has ceased to shine. Cf. Rich. II, I, iii, 275: “All places that the eye of heaven visits." Cf. Sonnet xviii, 5: "the eye of heaven," and xxxiii, 2: "sovereign eye."

365 stalks] steps stealthily. Lucrece describes him as entering her chamber as "A creeping creature" (line 1627, infra).

350

360

Which gives the watch-word to his hand full soon 370
To draw the cloud that hides the silver moon.

Look, as the fair and fiery-pointed sun,
Rushing from forth a cloud, bereaves our sight;
Even so, the curtain drawn, his eyes begun
To wink, being blinded with a greater light:
Whether it is that she reflects so bright,

That dazzleth them, or else some shame supposed;
But blind they are, and keep themselves enclosed.
O, had they in that darksome prison died!
Then had they seen the period of their ill;
Then Collatine again, by Lucrece' side,
In his clear bed might have reposed still:
But they must ope, this blessed league to kill;
And holy-thoughted Lucrece to their sight
Must sell her joy, her life, her world's delight.
Her lily hand her rosy cheek lies under,
Cozening the pillow of a lawful kiss;

371 the silver moon] Lucrece, who is chaste as Diana, goddess of the moon. Cf. Cor., V, iii, 65 (of Valeria): “The moon of Rome, chaste as the icicle."

372 fiery-pointed] equipped or furnished with fire; "pointed" is often used as here for "appointed."

374 drawn] drawn back, withdrawn.

377 some shame supposed] some suggestion of shame.

380 the period] the end.

382 clear] pure, unpolluted.

386–396 Her lily hand... dew of night] This stanza reduced to six lines, together with four lines of the succeeding stanza, figures with much verbal modification in the Fragmenta Aurea, 1646, pp. 29-30, a posthumous collection of verse by Sir John Suckling, the Cavalier poet,

880

Who, therefore angry, seems to part in sunder,
Swelling on either side to want his bliss;
Between whose hills her head entombed is:

Where, like a virtuous monument, she lies,
To be admired of lewd unhallow'd eyes.

Without the bed her other fair hand was,
On the green coverlet; whose perfect white
Show'd like an April daisy on the grass,
With pearly sweat, resembling dew of night.
Her eyes, like marigolds, had sheathed their light,
And canopied in darkness sweetly lay,

Till they might open to adorn the day.

390

Her hair, like golden threads, play'd with her breath; 400
O modest wantons! wanton modesty!

Showing life's triumph in the map of death,
And death's dim look in life's mortality:
Each in her sleep themselves so beautify

As if between them twain there were no strife,
But that life lived in death and death in life.

who was a warm admirer of Shakespeare. Suckling added fourteen original lines to the ten, which he drew from Shakespeare, and called the whole "A Supplement to an imperfect copy of verses of Mr. Will Shakespears."

389 Swelling... his bliss] Rising up on either side because it (i. e., the pillow) was deprived of its bliss.

400 golden threads] Cf. Ovid's description of Lucrece (Fasti, II, 763): "flavi capilli."

402 the map of death] the picture of death. Cf. Rich. II, V, i, 12: "Thou map of honour."

403 life's mortality] mortal life. Cf. Macb., II, iii, 91: "There's nothing serious in mortality."

Her breasts, like ivory globes circled with blue,
A pair of maiden worlds unconquered,
Save of their lord no bearing yoke they knew,
And him by oath they truly honoured.
These worlds in Tarquin new ambition bred;
Who, like a foul usurper, went about

From this fair throne to heave the owner out.

What could he see but mightily he noted?
What did he note but strongly he desired?
What he beheld, on that he firmly doted,
And in his will his wilful eye he tired.
With more than admiration he admired

Her azure veins, her alabaster skin,

Her coral lips, her snow-white dimpled chin.

As the grim lion fawneth o'er his prey,
Sharp hunger by the conquest satisfied,
So o'er this sleeping soul doth Tarquin stay,
His rage of lust by gazing qualified;

Slack'd, not suppress'd; for standing by her side,

408 unconquered] the epithet is used here as of an unconquered or maiden" castle, which has known no master save its own "lord' (line 409). 417 And in his will . . . he tired] He wearied or glutted his lustful eye with the object of his desire. "Tired" here seems to combine the ordinary sense with that of "devouring" in which sense it was specifically applied to hawks or eagles. Cf. Venus and Adonis, 55-56: “an empty eagle. . . . Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh and bone." 424 qualified] allayed, diminished. Cf. Sonnet cix, 2: "Though absence seem'd my flame to qualify."

410

420