His part is play'd, and, though it were too short,
He did it well; your day is lengthen'd, and
The blissful dew of heaven does arrose 8
you :
The powerful Venus well hath graced her altar,
And given you your love; our master Mars
Hath vouch'd his oracle, and to Arcite gave
The grace of the contention: so the deities
Have show'd due justice. Bear this hence.

Pal.

O cousin,
That we should things desire, which do cost us
The loss of our desire! that nought could buy
Dear love but loss of dear love!

Never fortune

Thes.
Did play a subtler game: the conquer'd triumphs,
The victor has the loss; yet in the passage
The gods have been most equal. Palamon,
Your kinsman hath confess'd the right o' the lady
Did lie in you; for you first saw her, and
Even then proclaim'd your fancy; he restored her,
As your stol'n jewel, and desired your spirit
To send him hence forgiven: the gods my justice
Take from my hand,9 and they themselves become
The executioners. Lead your lady off;
And call your lovers from the stage of death,
Whom I adopt my friends. A day or two
Let us look sadly, and give grace unto
The funeral of Arcite; in whose end

8 To arrose is to moisten, to sprinkle. Of course every student remembers Cicero's "pocula rorantia," and Ovid's lines in Metamorphoses, iv. 480:

Læta redit Juno; quam cælum intrare parantem

Roratis lustravit aquis Thaumantias Iris.

9 Take the act of justice away from my hand." The gods have executed upon Arcite that judgment which Theseus was about to execute upon Palamon.

The visages of bridegrooms we'll put on,

And smile with Palamon; for whom an hour,
But one hour since, I was as dearly sorry
As glad of Arcite, and am now as glad

As for him sorry. - O you heavenly charmers,10
What things you make of us! For what we lack
We laugh, for what we have are sorry; still

Are children in some kind. Let us be thankful
For that which is, and with you leave dispute
That are above our question.
And bear us like the time.11

Let's go off,

[Flourish. Exeunt.

*EPILOGUE.

*I would now ask ye how ye like the play;
*But, as it is with schoolboys, cannot say
*I'm cruel-fearful. Pray, yet stay awhile,
*And let me look upon ye. No man smile?
*Then it goes hard, I see. He that has

*Loved a young handsome wench, then, show his face,
*'Tis strange if none be here; and, if he will

*Against his conscience, let him hiss, and kill

*Our market. 'Tis in vain, I see, to stay ye:

*Have at the worst can come, then! Now what say ye?

*And yet mistake me not; I am not bold;

*We have no such cause. If the tale we've told

*For 'tis no other - any way content ye,

*For to that honest purpose it was meant ye,

10 Charmers here means magicians or enchanters. The usage was comSee vol. xvii. page 248, note 4.

mon.

11 That is, behave in a manner suited to the time. The death of Arcite has made it a time of sadness and mourning. See vol. xvii. page 31, note 13.

*We have our end; and ye shall have ere long, *I dare say, many a better, to prolong

We and all our might

*Your old loves to us.
*Rest at your service: gentlemen, good night.

[Flourish.

CRITICAL NOTES.

ACT I., SCENE 1.

Page 137. Then HIPPOLYTA, the bride, led by PIRITHOUS. The old copies have Theseus instead of Pirithous.

P. 137. With harebells dim. - The old copies read "With her bells dim." Surely both sense and metre require harebells.

P. 137. Marigolds on death-beds blowing,

And larks'-heels trim. - The old copies omit And. Compare

the other stanzas.

P. 137. Not an angel of the air,

Bird melodious or bird fair,

Be absent hence. - The old copies have "Is absent."

P. 137. The boding raven, nor chough hoar, &c. - The original has

nor Clough hee." Corrected by Seward.

The beaks of ravens, talons of the kites,

And pecks of crows, in the foul field of Thebes. The old copies have endured and fields. The latter corrected by Seward; the other, by Dyce.

P. 139. Not Juno's mantle fairer than your tresses,

Nor in more bounty spread; your wheaten wreath, &c. - The old copies read "Nor in more bounty spread her"; to the damage alike of rhythm and sense.

P. 139. He tumbled down upon his Nemean hide. - The old copies have Nenuan.

P. 140. And his love too, who is a servant to

The tenor of thy speech. - The old copies have for and the instead of to and thy. Seward's correction.