Then, since the time we have to live.
In this world's shorten'd, let us strive
To make our best advantage of it,
And pay our losses with our profit.
This feat fell out not long before
The Knight, upon the forenam'd score,
In quest of Sidrophel advancing,
Was now in prospect of the mansion;
Whom he discov'ring, turn'd his glass,
And found far off 'twas Hudibras.

Whachum, quoth he, Look yonder, some
To try or use our art are come :
The one's the learned Knight; seek out,
And pump 'em what they come about.
Whachum advanc'd, with all submiss❜ness
T'accost 'em, but much more their business:
He held the stirrup, while the Knight
From leathern bare-bones did alight;
And, taking from his hand the bridle,
Approach'd the dark Squire to unriddle.
He
gave him first the time o' th' day,"
And welcom'd him, as he might say:

480

485

490

495

500

Ely. He pretended much to revelations, and was called the apostle of the isle of Ely. He gave out that the approach of the day of judgment had been disclosed to him in a vision: and going to the house of sir Francis Russel, in Cambridgeshire, where he found several gentlemen, he warned them all to prepare themselves, for the day of judgment would be some day in the next week.

· He gave him first the time o' th' day,] i. e. he bade him good evening see line 540.

He ask'd him whence they came, and whither
Their business lay? Quoth Ralpho, Hither.
Did you not lose?7-Quoth Ralpho, Nay.
Quoth Whachum, Sir, I meant your way?
Your Knight Quoth Ralpho, Is a lover,
And pains intol❜rable doth suffer

;

505

510

For lovers' hearts are not their own hearts,
Nor lights, nor lungs, and so forth downwards.
What time? Quoth Ralpho, Sir, too long,
Three years it off and on has hung-
Quoth he, I meant what time o' th' day 'tis.
Quoth Ralpho, Between seven and eight 'tis.
Why then, quoth Whachum, my small art
Tells me the Dame has a hard heart,

Or great estate. Quoth Ralph, A jointure, 515
Which makes him have so hot a mind t' her.
Mean-while the Knight was making water,
Before he fell upon the matter:

Which having done, the Wizard steps in,
To give him a suitable reception;
But kept his business at a bay,
Till Whachum put him in the way;
Who having now, by Ralpho's light,
Expounded th' errand of the Knight,
And what he came to know, drew near,
To whisper in the Conj'rer's ear,

520

525

7 Did not you lose?-] He supposes they came to inquire after something stolen or strayed, the usual case with people when they apply to the cunning man. In these lines we must observe the artfulness of Whachum, who pumps the squire concerning the knight's business, and afterwards relates it to Sidrophel in the presence of both of them.

Which he prevented thus: What was't,
Quoth he, that I was saying last,
Before these gentlemen arriv'd?

Quoth Whachum, Venus you retriev'd,

530

In opposition with Mars,

And no benign friendly stars

Tallay the effect. Quoth Wizard, So:
In Virgo? ha! Quoth Whachum, No:'
Has Saturn nothing to do in it,

One tenth of's circle to a minute?
"Tis well, quoth he-Sir you'll excuse
This rudeness I am forc'd to use;

It is a scheme, and face of heaven,

535

As th' aspects are dispos'd this even,

540

• Which he prevented thus: What was't,

Quoth he, that I was saying last,] To prevent the suspicion which might be created by whispering, he causes Whachum to relate his intelligence aloud, in the cant terms of his own profession.

• Quoth Whachum, Venus you retriev'd,

In opposition with Mars,

And no benign friendly stars

trouver.

Tallay the effect-] There should be no comma after the word retriev'd; it here signifies found, observed, from the French reVenus, the goddess of love, opposes and thwarts Mars, the god of war, and there is likely to be no accord between them. By which he gives him to understand, that the knight was in love, and had small hopes of success.

1 In Virgo? ha! Quoth Whachum, No:] Is his mistress a virgin? No.

2 Has Saturn nothing to do in't,] Saturn, Kpóvos, was the god of time. The wizard by these words inquires how long the love affair had been carried on. Whachum replies, one tenth of his circle to a minute, or three years; one tenth of the thirty years in which Saturn finishes his revolution, and exactly the time which the knight's courtship had been pending.

I was contemplating upon

When you arriv'd; but now I've done.

Quoth Hudibras, if I appear
Unseasonable in coming here
At such a time, to interrupt
Your speculations, which I hop'd
Assistance from, and come to use,
"Tis fit that I ask your excuse.

By no means, Sir, quoth Sidrophel,
The stars your coming did foretel;
I did expect you here, and knew,

Before you spake, your business too.3

Quoth Hudibras, Make that appear,

And I shall credit whatsoe'er
You tell me after, on your word,
Howe'er unlikely, or absurd.

You are in love, Sir, with a widow,

Quoth he, that does not greatly heed you,

And for three years has rid your wit

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550

555

And passion, without drawing bit;

And now your business is to know

If you shall carry her, or no.

560

Quoth Hudibras, You're in the right, But how the devil you come by't

I can't imagine; for the stars,

I'm sure, can tell no more than a horse:

Nor can their aspects, tho' you pore

Your eyes out on 'em, tell you more

3 I did expect you here, and knew,

565

Before you spake, your business too.] In some editions we read, Know before you speak.

Than th' oracle of sieve and sheers,*
That turns as certain as the spheres:

570

But if the Devil's of your counsel,

Much may be done, my noble donzel;"

Than th' oracle of sieve and sheers,] "Put a paire of sheeres in "the rim of a sieve, and let two persons set the tip of each of their "forefingers upon the upper part of the sheers, holding it with the "sieve up from the ground steddilie, and ask Peter and Paul whe"ther A. B. or C. hath stolne the thing lost, and at the nomination "of the guilty person the sieve will turne round." Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft, book xii. ch. xvii. p. 262. The коσкivóμavтis, or diviner by a sieve, is mentioned by Theocricus Idyll. iii. 31. The Greek practice differed very little from that which has been stated above. They tied a thread to the sieve, or fixed it to a pair of shears, which they held between two fingers. After addressing themselves to the gods, they repeated the names of the suspected persons; and he, at whose name the sieve turned round, was adjudged guilty. Potter's Gr. Antiq. vol. i. p. 352.

my noble donzel ;] A sneering kind of appellation; donzel being a diminutive from don. Butler says, in his character of a squire of Dames, (vol. ii. p. 379.) "he is donzel to the damzels, and 'gentleman usher daily waiter on the ladies, that rubs out his time "in making legs and love to them." The word is likewise used in Ben Jonson's Alchymist. [" Donzel del Phebo. A celebrated hero "of romance in the Mirror of Knighthood, &c. Donzel is from the "Italian, donzello, and means a squire, or young man; or, as Florio 66 says, A damosell, a bacheler,' &c. He seems always united "with Rosiclear.

"Defend thee powerfully, marry thee sumptuously, and keep thee "in despite of Rosiclear or Donzel del Phebo.

Malcontent, O. Pl. iv. 92.

"Donzel del Phebo and Rosicleer! are you there?

"The Bird in a Cage, O. Pl. viii. 248. "So the Captain in Philaster calls the citizens in insurrection "with him, 'My dear Donsels' and presently after, when Philaster appears, salutes him by the title of

66

My royal Rosiclear !

"We are thy myrmidons, thy guards, thy roarers.

66

Philaster, v. p. 166-7."-Nares's Glossary.]