So shall all the couples three

Ever true in loving be;

And the blots of Nature's hand
Shall not in their issue stand;
Never mole, hare-lip, or scar,
Nor mark prodigious, such as are
Despised in nativity,

Shall upon their children be.
With this field-dew, consecrate,
Every fairy take his gait;

And each several chamber bless

Through this palace with sweet peace;

E'er shall it in safety rest,

And the owner of it blest.

Trip away:

Make no stay;

Meet me all by break of day.

6" Now the hungry lion roars.”—Upon the songs of Puck and Oberon, Coleridge exclaims, "Very Anacreon in perfectness, proportion, and spontaneity! So far it is Greek; but then add, O! what wealth, what wild ranging, and yet what compression and condensation of English fancy! In truth, there is nothing in Anacreon more perfect than these thirty lines, or half so rich and imaginative. They form a speckless diamond."-Literary Remains, vol. ii. p. 114.

LOVERS AND MUSIC.

LORENZO and JESSICA, awaiting the return home of PORTIA and NERISSA, discourse of music, and then welcome with it the bride and her attendant.

Lor. The moon shines bright. In such a night as this,"
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees,
And they did make no noise,—in such a night
Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls,
And sighed his soul towards the Grecian tents,8
Where Cressid lay that night.

Jes.
In such a night
Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;
And saw the lion's shadow ere himself,9
And ran dismay'd away.

Lor.
In such a night
Stood Dido with a willow in her hand10
Upon the wild sea-banks, and wav'd her love
To come again to Carthage.

Jes.
In such a night
Medea gather'd the enchanted herbs11
That did renew old son.

Lor.
In such a night
Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew;
And with an unthrift love did run from Venice,
As far as Belmont.

Jes.

And in such a night

Did young Lorenzo swear he lov'd her well;
Stealing her soul with many vows of faith,
And ne'er a true one.

And in such a night

Lor.
Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew,
Slander her love, and he forgave it her.

Jes. I would out-night you, did nobody come;
But, hark; I hear the footing of a man.

Enter STEPHANO.

Lor. Who comes so fast in silence of the night?

Step. A friend.

Lor. A friend! what friend? your name, I pray you, friend?

Step. Stephano is my name; and I bring word

My mistress will, before the break of day,

Be here at Belmont: she doth stray about

By holy crosses, where she kneels and prays
For happy wedlock hours.

Lor. Who comes with her?

Step. None but a holy hermit and her maid.

Lor. Sweet soul, let's in, and there expect their coming.

And yet no matter; why should we go in ?
My friend Stephàno, signify, I pray you,
Within the house, your mistress is at hand;
And bring your musick forth into the air.

[Exit STEPHANO.

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon the bank!
Here will we sit, and let the sounds of musick
Creep into our ears; soft stillness and the night,
Become the touches of sweet harmony.

Sit, Jessica look, how the floor of heaven

Is thick inlaid with patines* of bright gold;
There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st,12

* Patines (Pátine, Paténe, Ital.) have been generally understood A new

to mean plates of gold or silver used in the Catholic service.

But in her motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims:
Such harmony is in immortal souls ;
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close us in, we cannot hear it.

Enter MUSICIANS.

Come, ho! and wake Diana with a hymn;
With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' ear,
And draw her home with musick.

[Music.

Jes. I am never merry when I hear sweet musick.
Lor. The reason is, your spirits are attentive:
For do but note a wild and wanton herd,

A race of youthful and unhanded colts,

Fetching mad bounds,—bellowing and neighing loud,
Which is the hot condition of their blood;

If they but hear, perchance, a trumpet sound,
Or any air of musick touch their ears,

You shall perceive them make a mutual stand-
Their savage eyes turned to a modest gaze

By the sweet power of musick. Therefore the poet
Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods,
Since nought so stockish, hard, and full of rage,
But musick for the time doth change his nature.
The man that hath no musick in himself,
Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus :

Let no such man be trusted.-Mark the musick.

and interesting commentator, however (the Rev. Mr. Hunter), is of opinion that the proper word is patterns.

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA, at a distance.

Por. That light we see is burning in my hall;
How far that little candle throws its beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

Ner. When the moon shone, we did not see the candle.
Por. So doth the greater glory dim the less;

A substitute shines brightly as a king,

Until a king be by; and then his state
Empties himself, as doth the inland brook
Into the main of waters. Musick! hark!

Ner. It is your musick, madam, of the house.
Por. Nothing is good I see without respect;
Methinks it sounds much sweeter than by day.

Ner. Silence bestows that virtue on it, madam.
Por. The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark,
When neither is attended; and, I think,

The nightingale, if she should sing by day,
When every goose is cackling, would be thought
No better a musician than the wren.

How many things by season, season❜d are,
To their right praise, and true perfection!
Peace, hoa! the moon sleeps with Endymion,
And would not be awak'd!

That is the voice,

[Music ceases.

Lor.
Or I am much deceiv'd, of Portia.

Por. He knows me, as the blind man knows the cuckoo,
By the bad voice.

Lor.

Dear lady, welcome home.13

stories here al

7" In such a night as this," &c.—All the luded to,-Troilus and Cressida, Pyramus and Thisbe, Dido and Æneas, Jason and Medea, are in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women. It is pleasant to see our great poet so full of his predecessor. He