Spirit.

Alas, good vent’rous Youth,

I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise ;
But here thy sword can do thee little stead;
Far other arms and other weapons must

Be those, that quell the might of hellish charms :
He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints,
And crumble all thy sinews.

Elder B.

How durst thou then thyself approach so near,

As to make this relation ?

Spirit.

Why, prithee, Shepherd,

Care, and utmost shifts,

How to secure the lady from surprisal,
Brought to my mind a certain shepherd lad,1

Of small regard to see to, yet well skilled

In ev'ry virtuous plant, and healing herb,

That spreads her verdant leaf to th' morning ray :
He loved me well, and oft would beg me sing;
Which when I did, he on the tender grass
Would sit and hearken ev'n to ecstasy,
And in requital ope his leathern scrip,
And show me simples of a thousand names,
Telling their strange and vig'rous faculties.
Amongst the rest a small unsightly root,
But of divine effect, he culled me out ;
The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on't,
But in another country, as he said,

Bore a bright golden flow'r, but not in this soil :
Unknown, and like esteemed, and the dull swain
Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon :
And yet more med'cinal is it than that Moly,2
That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave.

3

He called it Hæmony, and gave it me,

It is possible that the allusion is to Milton's friend, Charles Diodati, who was skilled in botany.

The herb which protected Odysseus against Circe's sorceries. See "Odyssey," x.

3

Apparently, Milton's own invention.

The word seems to be

coined from Hæmonia, a name for Thrace, the land of magic.

And bade me keep it as of sovran use

'Gainst all enchantments, mildew, blast or damp,
Or ghastly furies' apparition.

I pursed it up, but little reck'ning made,
Till now that this extremity compelled :
But now I find it true; for by this means
I knew the foul enchanter, though disguised,
Entered the very lime-twigs1 of his spells,
And yet came off. If you have this about you
(As I will give you when we go), you may
Boldly assault the necromancer's Hall;
Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood,

And brandished blade, rush on him; break his glass,
And shed the luscious liquour on the ground,
But seize his Wand; though he and his cursed crew
Fierce sign of battle make, and menace high,
Or like the sons of Vulcan vomit smoke,
Yet will they soon retire, if he but shrink.

Elder B. Thyrsis, lead on apace, I'll follow thee; And some good Angel bear a shield before us!

The Scene changes to a stately palace, set out with all manner of deliciousness; soft music, tables spread with all dainties. Comus appears with his rabble, and the Lady set in an enchanted chair, to whom he offers his glass, which she puts by, and goes about to rise

Comus. Nay, Lady, sit; if I but wave this Wand, Your nerves are all chained up in alablaster,2

And you a statue or, as Daphnè was,

3

Root-bound, that fled Apollo.

Lady.

Fool, do not boast;

Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind

1 The reference is to bird-snaring.

2 An old form of alabaster.

Flying from Apollo, Daphne was changed into a laurel-tree.

With all thy charms, although this corp'ral rind
Thou hast immanacled, while Heav'n sees good.

Comus. Why are you vexed, Lady? Why do you frown ?

Here dwell no frowns nor anger; from these gates
Sorrow flies far. (See here be all the pleasures
That Fancy can beget on youthful thoughts,
When the fresh blood grows lively, and returns
Brisk as the April buds in primrose-seas'n.
And first, behold this cordial julep here,
That flames and dances in his crystal bounds,
With spirits of balm and fragrant syrops mixed :
Not that Nepenthes, which the wife of Thone
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,
Is of such pow'r to stir up joy as this,
To life so friendly, or so cool to thirst.
Why should you be so cruel to yourself,
And to those dainty limbs, which Nature lent
For gentle usage and soft delicacy?
But you invert the cov❜nants of her trust,
And harshly deal, like an ill borrower,
With that which you received on other terms,
Scorning the unexempt conditiön,

By which all mortal frailty must subsist,
Refreshment after toil, ease after pain,

That have been tired all day without repast,
And timely rest have wanted; but, fair Virgin,
This will restore all soon.

Lady.

'Twill not, false Traitor !

'Twill not restore the truth and honesty,

That thou hast banished from thy tongue with lies. Was this the cottage and the safe abode,

Thou told'st me of? What grim aspects are these, These ugly-headed monsters ? Mercy guard me ! Hence with thy brewed enchantments, foul Deceiver ! Hast thou betrayed my cred 'lous innocence

+

With visored falsehood and base forgery?

And wouldst thou seek again to trap me here
With lickerish baits, fit to ensnare a brute ?
Were it a draught for Juno when she banquets,
I would not taste thy treas'nous offer; none
But such as are good men can give good things;
And that, which is not good, is not delicious
To a well-governed and wise appetite.

Comus. Oh, foolishness of men, that lend their ears To those budge doctors of the Stoic fur,1

1

And fetch their precepts from the Cynic tub,2

Praising the lean and sallow Abstinence !

Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth
With such a full and unwithdrawing hand,

Cov'ring the earth with odours, fruits, and flocks,
Thronging the seas with spawn innum'rable,
But all to please and sate the curious taste ?
And set to work millions of spinning worms,

That in their green shops weave the smooth-haired silk,

To deck their sons; and, that no corner might

Be vacant of her plenty, in her own loins

She hutched the all-worshipped ore, and precious

gems,

To store her children with. If all the world

Should in a pet of temp'rance feed on pulse,

Drink the clear stream, and nothing wear but frieze, Th' All-giver would be unthanked, would be

unpraised,

Not half His riches known, and yet despised;
And we should serve Him as a grudging master,
As a penurious niggard of His wealth;
And live like Nature's bastards, not her sons,

1 A disputed passage. "Budge" probably means surly. "Fur

alludes to the trimming of the scholastic gown of the English universities. The tub of Diogenes the Cynic.

Who would be quite surcharged with her own weight,

And strangled with her waste fertility;

Th' earth cumbered, and the winged air darked with plumes,

The herds would over-multitude their lords,

The sea o'erfraught would swell, and th' unsought diamonds

Would so imblaze the forehead of the deep,

And so bestud with stars, that they below
Would grow inured to light, and come at last
To gaze upon the sun with shameless brows.
List, Lady; be not coy, and be not cozened
With that same vaunted name, Virginity.
Beauty is Nature's coin, must not be hoarded,
But must be current; and the good thereof
Consists in mutual and partaken bliss,
Unsav'ry in the enjoyment of itself :

If you let slip time, like a neglected rose
It withers on the stalk with languished head.
Beauty is Nature's brag, and must be shown
In courts, at feasts and high solemnities,
Where most may wonder at the workmanship;
It is for homely features to keep home,

They had their name thence; coarse complexions,
And cheeks of sorry grain, will serve to ply
The sampler, and to tease the huswife's wool:
What need a vermeil-tinctured lip for that,
Love-darting eyes, or tresses like the Morn?
There was another meaning in these gifts;
Think what, and be advised; you are but young
yet.

Lady. I had not thought to have unlocked my lips
In this unhallowed air, but that this juggler
Would think to charm my judgment, as mine eyes,
Obtruding false rules pranked in Reason's garb.