PART III. CANTO I.

THE ARGUMENT.

The Knight and Squire resolve at once,
The one the other to renounce ;

They both approach the Lady's bower,

The Squire t' inform, the Knight to woo her. She treats them with a masquerade,

By furies and hobgoblins made;

From which the Squire conveys the Knight,

And steals him from himself by night.

HUDIBRAS.

CANTO I.

'Tis true, no lover has that pow'r
Tenforce a desperate amour,

As he that has two strings to's bow,
And burns for love and money too;
For then he's brave and resolute,
Disdains to render in his suit ;'

Has all his flames and raptures double,

And hangs or drowns with half the trouble;
While those who sillily pursue

The simple downright way, and true,

Make as unlucky applications,

And steer against the stream their passions.

Some forge their mistresses of stars,

And when the ladies prove averse,
And more untoward to be won
Than by Caligula the moon,'
Cry out upon the stars for doing
Ill offices, to cross their wooing,

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1 Disdains to render in his suit ;] That is, surrender, or give up: from the French.

2 And more untoward to be won

Than by Caligula the moon,] This was one of the extravagant follies of Caligula: "Caius noctibus quidem plenam fulgentemque "lunam invitabat assiduè in amplexus, atque concubitum." Suetonius, in vitâ C. Calig. sect. 22.

When only by themselves they're hindred,
For trusting those they made her kindred, 20
And still the harsher and hide-bounder,

The damsels prove, become the fonder;
For what mad lover ever dy'd

To gain a soft and gentle bride ?
Or for a lady tender-hearted,

In purling streams or hemp departed?
Leap'd headlong int' Elysium,

Thro' th' windows of a dazzling room?
But for some eross ill-natur'd dame,
The am'rous fly burnt in his flame.

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This to the Knight could be no news,

With all mankind so much in use;
Who therefore took the wiser course,
To make the most of his amours,

3 When only by themselves they're hindred,

For trusting those they made her kindred,] The meaning is, that when men have flattered their mistresses extravagantly, and declared them to be possessed of accomplishments more than human; they must not be surprised if they are treated in return with that distant reserve, which beings of a superior order may rightly exercise toward inferior dependent creatures: nor have they room for complaint, since the injury which they sustain is an effect of their own indiscretion.

4 Leap'd headlong int' Elysium,

Thro' th' windows of a dazzling room?] Drowned themselves. Objects reflected by water appear nearly the same as when they are viewed through a window; or through the windows of a room so high from the ground that it dazzles one to look down from it. Thus Juvenal, Sat. vi. v. 31. Alta caligantesque fenestræ ; which Holyday translates, dazzling high windows. Har ap vinλov reiXEOC is 'Aidny, Callimachus. Ep. 29. Where 'Atony does not mean hell, but the place of departed souls, comprehending both Elysium and Tartarus.

Resolv'd to try all sorts of ways,
As follows in due time and place.
No sooner was the bloody fight
Between the wizard and the knight,
With all th' appurtenances over,
But he relaps'd again t' a lover;
As he was always wont to do,
When he 'ad discomfited a foe,

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Of th' inns of court and chanc'ry, justice;
Who might, perhaps, reduce his cause
To th' ordeal trial of the laws; "

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• And us'd the only antique philters,

Deriv'd from old heroic tilters.] The heroes of romance endeavoured to conciliate the affections of their mistresses by the fame of their illustrious exploits. So was Desdemona won. Shakspeare's Othello, Act i.

"She lov'd me for the dangers I had past."

• Who might, perhaps, reduce his cause

To th' ordeal trial of the laws;] Ordeal comes from the AngloSaxon, ondal, which also is derived from the Teutonic, and signifies judgment. The methods of trial by fire, water, or combat, were in use till the time of Henry III. and the right of exercising them was annexed to several lordships or manors. At this day, when a culprit is arraigned at the bar, and asked how he will be tried, he is directed to answer, by God and my country," by the verdict or solemn

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