And, all behung with these, pure pearls,
Dropp'd from the eyes of ravish'd girls
Or writhing brides; when (panting) they
Give unto love the straiter way.
For music now, he has the cries
Of feigned-lost virginities;
The which the elves make to excite
A more unconquered appetite.
The king's undrest; and now upon
The gnat's watchword the elves are gone.
And now the bed, and Mab possess'd
Of this great little kingly guest;
We'll nobly think, what's to be done,
He'll do no doubt; this flax is spun.
Mickle, much.
Carries hay in's horn (fœnum habet in cornu), is dangerous.
Peltish, angry.
Redeem, gain.
Lemster ore, Leominster wool.
Tyres, head-dresses.
Picks, diamonds on playing-cards were so called from their points.
Peeps, pips.
Whitflaws, whitlows.
Corrupted, i.e., phosphorescent.
Winds his errors up, brings his wanderings to an end.
Dandillions, dandelions.
Comply, embrace.
Spinner, spider.
Proof, sign.
444. TO HIS PECULIAR FRIEND, MR. THOMAS SHAPCOTT, LAWYER.
I've paid thee what I promis'd; that's not all;
Besides I give thee here a verse that shall
(When hence thy circummortal part is gone),
Arch-like, hold up thy name's inscription.
Brave men can't die, whose candid actions are
Writ in the poet's endless calendar:
Whose vellum and whose volume is the sky,
And the pure stars the praising poetry.
Farewell
Circummortal, more than mortal. Candid, fair.
