But a juft fear, left you should prove Falfe and perfidious in love: For, if I thought you could be true, I could love twice as much as you.
Quoth he, My faith, as adamantin As chains of Destiny, I 'li maintain: True as Apollo ever spoke, Or oracle from heart of oak ; And if you 'll give my flame but vent, Now in clofe hupper-mugger pent, And thine upon me but benignly, With that one and that other pigíney, The fun and day fhall fooner part, Than love or you thake off my heart; The fun, that shall no more difpence His own, but your bright influence.
¡ I'll carve your name on barks of trees, With true-loves-knots and flourishes That shall infufe eternal fpring,
By which aftrologers, as well As thofe in heaven above can tell What strange events they do foreshow Unto her under-world below.
Her voice, the mufic of the fpheres, Sa loud, it deafens morta's' ears, As wife philofophers have thought, And that's the caufe we hear it not. This has been done by fome, who those They' ador'd in rhyme would kick in profe; And in thofe ribbons would have hung, 560 Of which melodiously they fung,
That have the hard fate to write best Of thofe ftill that deferve it leaft; It matters not how falfe or forc'd, So the best things be faid o' th' worst; 565 it goes for nothing when 'tis said,
And everlasting flourishing;
Drink every letter on 't in ftum,
And make it brifk champaign become.
Where'er you tread, your foot fhall fet
The primrofe and the violet;
All fpices, perfumes, and fweet powders, Shall borrow from your breath their odours; Nature her charter fhall renew, And take all lives of things from you; The world depend upon your eye, And when you frown upon it, die : Only our loves fhall ftill furvive, New worlds and natures to outlive, And like to heralds' moons remain, All crefcents, without change or wane. Hold, hold, quoth fhe, no more of this, Sir Knight, you take your aim amifs For you will find it a hard chapter, To catch me with poetick rapture, In which your Mastery of Art Doth fhew itself, and not your heart: Nor will you raife in mine combustion, By dint of high heroic fuftian. She that with poetry is won, Is but a defk to write upon; And what men fay of her, they mean No more than on the thing they lean. Some with Arabian fpices ftrive T' embalm her cruelly alive; Or feafon her, as French cooks ufe Their baut-goufs, bouillies, or ragoufts: Ufe her fo barbarously ill, To grind her lips upon a mill, Until the facet doublet doth
Fit their rhymes rather than her mouth: Her mouth, compar'd t' an ovfter's, with A row of pearl in 't, 'stead of teeth. Others make pofies of her cheeks, Where red and whiteft colour mix; In which the lily and the rose, For Indian lake and cerufe goes. The fun and moon, by her bright eyes, Felips'd, and darken'd in the skies, Are but black patches, that the wears, Cut into funs, and moons, and ftars;
Only the arrow 's drawn to th' head, Whether it be a fwan or goofe They level at: fo fhepherds ufe To fet the fame mark on the hip Both of their found and rotten theep: For wits that carry low or wide,
Must be aim'd higher, or befide
The mark, which elfe they ne'er come nigh, But when they take their aim awry. But I do wonder you fhould chufe This way t' attack me with your Mufe, As one cut out to país your tricks on, With Fulhams of poetick fiction:
I rather hop'd I should no more
580 Hear from you o' th' gallanting fcore; For hard dry-baftings us'd to prove The readieft remedies of love, Next a dry-diet; but if thofe fail, Yet this uneafy loop. hol'd jail,
In which ye 're hamper'd by the fetlock, Cannot but put y' in mind of wedlock; Wedlock, that 's worse than any hole here, If that may ferve you for a cooler 'T allay your mettle, all agog
590 Upon a wife, the heavier clog : Nor rather thank your gentler fate, That for a bruis'd or broken pate
Has freed you from thofe knobs that grow Much harder on the marry'd brow: But if no dread can cool your courage,
From venturing on that dragon, marriage; 650 Yet give me quarter, and advance To nobler aims your puiffance; Level at beauty and at wit;
600 The fairest mark is cafieft hit.
Quoth Hudibras, I am beforehand In that already, with your command; For where docs beauty and high wit, But in your conftellation, meet?
Quoth the, What does a match imply, But likeness and equality?
Ver. 613.] And the three following lines, not in the two first editions of 1664, but arided i
Ver. 642.] A cant word for falle dice.
I know you cannot think me fit To be th' yoke-fellow of your wit; Nor take one of fo mean deferts, To be the partner of your parts; A grace which, if I could believe, I've not the confcience to receive.
That conference, quoth Hudibras, Is mifinform'a; I'll itate the cafe. A man may be a legal donor, Of any thing whereof he 's owner, And may confer it where he lifts, I' th' judgment of all cafunts:
Then wit, and parts, and valour, may Be ali'nated, and made away, By thote that are proprietors, As I may give or tell my horfe.
Quoth the, I grant the cafe is true, And proper 'twixt your horfe and you; But whether I may take, as well As you may give away or fell? Buyers, you know, are hid beware; And worfe than thieves receivers are. How fhall I anfwer Hue and Cry, For a Roan-gelding, twelve hands high, All fpurr'd and witch'd, a lock on 's hoof, A forrel man? Can I bring proof
And though the vulgar count them homely, 745 In men or beaft they are fo comely, So gentce, alamode, and handfome, I'll never n arry man that wants one: 685 And till you can demonstrate plain, You have one equal to your mane, I'll be torn piece-meal by a horse, Ere I'll take you for better or worse. The Prince of Cambay's daily food
690 Is afp, and bafilifk, and toad,
Where, when, by whom, and what y' were fold for, And in the open market toll'd for? Or, fhould I take you for a stray,
You must be kept a year and day,
(Ere I can own you) here i' th' pound, Where, if ye 're fought, you may be found; And in the mean time I must pay For all your provender and hay.
Quoth he, It stands me much upon
T' enervate this objection,
And prove myself. by topick clear, No gelding, as you would infer. Lofs of virility's averr'd
To be the caufe of lofs of beard, That does (like embryo in the womb) Abortive on the chin become: This firft a woman did invent, In envy of man's ornament, Semiramis of Babylon,
Who first of all cut men o' th' ftone, To mar their beards, and laid foundation Of fow-geldering operation: Look on this beard, and tell me whether Eunuchs wear fuch, or geldings either? Next it appears I am no horie,
That I can argue and difcourfe, Have but two legs, and ne'er a tail.
Quoth the, That nothing will avail; For fome philofophers of late here, Write men have four legs by Nature, And that 'tis custom makes them go Erroneously upon but two;
As 'twas in Germany made good, B' a boy that loft himself in a wood, And growing down t'a man, was wont With wolves upon all four to hunt. As for your reafons drawn from tails, We cannot fay they're true or false,
Which makes him have fo ftrong a breath, 755 Each night he tinks a queen to death; Yet I fhall rather lie in 's arms Than your's on any other terms. Quoth he, What Nature can afford I fhall produce, upon my word; And if the ever gave that boon To man, I'll prove that I have one; I mean by poftulate illation, When you fhall offer juit occasion; But fince ye 'ave yet deny'd to give My heart, your prifoner, a reprieve, But made it fink down to my heel, Let that at leaft your pity feel;
795 And for the fofferings of your martyr, Give its poor entertainer quarter; And by difcharge, or mainprize, grant Delivery from this base restraint.
Quoth the, I grieve to fee your leg
710 Stuck in a hole here like a peg,
And if I knew which way to do 't, (Your honour fafe) I'd let you out. That dames by jail-delivery- Of errant knight have been fet free,
715 When by enchantment they have been, And fometimes for it, too, laid in, Is that which knights are bound to do
By order, oath, and honour too;
Which always has been us'd t' untie The charms of those who here do lie: For as the Ancients heretofore To Honour's temple had no door But that which thorough Virtue's lay; So from this dungeon there's no way To honour'd freedom, but by pafling That other virtuous fchool of lafhing, Where knights are kept in narrow lifts, With wooden lockets 'bout their wrists; In which they for a while are tenants, And for their ladies fuffer penance: Whipping, that 's Virtue's governess, Tutreís of arts and fciences;
That mends the grofs mistakes of nature, And puts new life into dull matter; That lays foundation for renown, And all the honours of the gown: This fuffer'd, they are fet at large, And freed with honourable discharge; Then, in their robcs, the penitentials Are straight presented with credentials, And in their way attended on By magiftrates of every town; And, all refpect and charges paid, They 're to their ancient feats convey'd, Now if you 'll venture, for my fake, To try the toughness of your back, And fuffer (as the reft have done) The laying of a whipping-on (And may you profper in your fuit As you with equal vigour do 't) I here engage myself to loose ye, And free your heels from caperdewfie. But fince our fex's modesty Will not allow I should be by, Bring me on oath a fair account, And honour too, when you have don 't ; And I'll admit you to the place You claim as due in my good grace. If matrimony and hanging go By deftiny, why not whipping too? What medicine elfe can cure the fits Of lovers when they. lofe their wits' Love is a boy, by poets ftyl'd, Then fpare the rod, and fpoil the child.
With comely movement, and by art, 800 Raife paffion in a lady's heart? It is an easier way to make Love by, than that which many take. Who would not rather suffer whipping, Than swallow toasts of bits of ribbon ? 805 Make wicked verses, treats, and faces, And spell names over, with beer-glaffes? 86 Be under vows to hang and die Love's facrifice, and all a lie? With China-oranges and tarts, 810 And whining plays, lay baits for hearts? Bribe chamber-maids with love and money, $6 To break no roguish jefts upon ye? For lilies limn'd on cheeks, and roses, With painted perfumes, hazard noses? 815 Or, venturing to be brisk and wanton, Do penance in a paper lantern ? All this you may compound for now, By fuffering what I offer you; Which is no more than has been done 820 By knights for ladies long agone.
Did not the great La Mancha do fo For the Infanta Del Tobofo? Did not th' illustrious Baffa make Himself a flave for Miffe's fake, 825 And with bull's pizzle, for her love, Was taw'd as gentle as a glove? Was not young Florio fent (to cool His flame for Biancafiore) to school, Where pedant made his pathic bum 839 For her fake fuffer martyrdom? Did not a certain lady whip,
Of late, her husband's own lordship > And though a grandee of the House, Claw'd him with fundamental blows; 835 Ty'd him stark-naked to a bed-poft,
And firk'd his hide, as if the 'ad rid poft; And after in the Seffions court,
Where whipping 's judg'd, had honour for 't? This fwear you will perform, and then 840 I'll fet you from th' inchanted den, And the Magician's circle, clear.
Quoth he, I do profess and fwear, And will perform what you enjoin, Or may I never see you mine.
Amen, (quoth fhe) then turn'd about, And bid her Squire let him out. But ere an artist could be found T' undo the charms another bound, The fun grew low, and left the skies, 850 Put down (fome write) by ladies' eyes.
A Perfian emperor whipp'd his grannam, 845 The fea, his mother Venus came on; And hence fome reverend men approve Of rosemary in making love. As fkilful hoopers hoop their tubs With Lydian and with Phrygian dubs, Why may not whipping have as good A grace, perform'd in time and mood,
Ver. $31.] I bere engage myself to loofe ye. This, and the following line, thus altered, 1674, &c.
I here engage to be your bayk
And free you from the unknightly jayl. Thus continued to 170c, inclufive. Reftored 1704.
Ver. 894.] I'll set you from th' inchanted dm. la all editions to 1704, inclufive. I'll free you, in later editions.
Ver. 903.] The evening is here finely deferb ed; the Epics are not more exact in defcribing times and feafons than our Poet: we may tra his hero morning and night; and it fhould be ob ferved, in the conclufion of this Canto (confor mably to the practice of the Critics upon Homer and Virgil) that one day is only paffed fince the opening of the Poem.
The moon pull'd off her veil of light, That hides her face by day from fight, (Mysterious veil, of brightness made, That's both her luftre and her shade!) And in the lantern of the night,
With fhining horns hung out her light; For darkness is the proper íphere Where all false glories ufe t' appear. The twinkling stars began to muster, And glitter with their borrow'd luster, While fleep the weary'd world reliev'd, By counterfeiting death reviv'd. His whipping penance, till the morn, Our votary thought it best t' adjourn, And not to carry on a work Of fuch importance in the dark, With erring hafte, but rather stay, And do 't in th' open face of day; And in the mean time go in quest Of next retreat to take his rest.
905 Difpute, and fet a paradox,
Like a ftrait boot, upon the stocks, And stretch it more unmercifully
Than Helmot, Montaigne, White, or Tully. So th' ancient Stoics, in their porch,
910 With fierce difpute maintain'd their church, Beat out their brains in fight and study To prove that virtue is a body, That bonum is an animal,
Made good with ftout polemick brawl; 915 In which fome hundreds on the place Were flain outright, and many a face Retrench'd of nofe, and eyes, and beard, To maintain what their feet averr'd.
All which the Knight and Squire, in wrath, 25 Had like t' have fuffer'd, for their faith;
Each striving to make good his own,
As by the fequel fhall be shown.
The fun had long fince, in the lap
Of Thetis, taken out his nap.
And, like a lobfter boil'd, the morn
From black to red began to turn;
When Hudibras, whom thoughts and aking
'Twixt fleeping kept, all night, and waking,
Began to rub his drowsy eyes,
And from his couch prepar'd to rife,
Refolving to dispatch the deed
He vow' to do with trufty speed:
But firft with knocking loud, and bawling, He rouz'd the Squire, in truckle lolling: And after many circumstances
The Knight and Squire in hot difpute, Within an ace of falling out, Are parted with a fudden fright Of frange alarm, and ftranger fight; With which adventuring to flickle, They're fent away in nafty pickle.
IS ftrange how fome men's tempers fuit
T (Like bawd and brandy) with dispute,
That for their own opinions stand fast Only to have them claw'd and canvast; That keep their confciences in cafes, As fiddlers do their crowds and bases; Ne'er to be us'd, but when they're bent To play a fit for argument:
Make true and falfe, unjuft and just, Of no ufe but to be difcuft;
Which vulgar authors in romances Do use to spend their time and wits on, To make impertient description, They got (with much ado) to horse, And to the Castle bent their course, In which he to the Dame before To fuffer whipping-duty fwore Where now arriv'd, and half unharnest, To carry on the work in earnest, He stopp'd, and paus'd upon the fudden, And, with a ferious forehead plodding, Sprung a new fcruple in his head, Which firft he fcratch'd, and after faid; Whether it be direct infringing
An oath, if I should wave this swinging,
Ver. 14.] Mountaygn, or, Mountaign—and Tully. In all editions to 1704, inclufive. Altered to Montaign and Lully, in 1710, or 1716.
Ver. 29.] Several of the books in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey begin with defcribing the Morning: fo, alfo, does Mr. Butler take care to let the world know at what time, of the day (which he exactly describes) these momentous actions of his hero were tranfacted. The morn ing's approach, the Knight's rifing, and rouzing
These two lines not in the first editions of 1664, up his Squire, are humouroufly defcribed. and firft inferted 1674.
Ver. 2.] (Like bawd and brandy). Brandae, in all editions to 1704, inclufive.
Ver. 48.] Whipping duly fwore. In the first editions.
Ver. 55, 56.] This dialogue between Hudibras and Ralph fets before us the hypocrify and vil
Thy judgment, ere we further go.
Are deep and fubtle points, which must,
Quoth Ralpho, Since you do injoin 't,
I fhall enlarge upon the point; And, for my own part do not doubt Th' affirmative may be made out. But first, to state the cafe aright, For beft advantage of our light; And thus 'tis; Whether 't be a fin To claw and curry your own fkin, Greater or lefs, than to forbear, And that you are forfworn forfwear. But firft, o' th' firft: The inward man, And outward, like a clan and clan,
Have always been at daggers-drawing,
And one another clapper-clawing; Not that they really cuff or fence, But in a fpiritual mystick fenfe;
Which to mistake, and make them fquabble In literal fray, 's abominable: 'Tis Heathenish, in frequent ufe With Pagans and apoftate Jews, To offer facrifice of Bridewells, Like modern Indians to their idols;. And mongrel Chriftians of our times, That expiate lefs with greater crimes, And call the foul abomination
Further (I mean) than carrying on Some felf-advantage of their own: For if the devil, to ferve his turn,
80 Can tell truth, why the Saints fhould fcorn, When it ferves theirs, to fwear and lie,
lainy of all parties of the Rebels with regard to Oaths; what equivocations and evafions they made use of, to account for the many perjuries they were daily guilty of, and the feveral oaths they readily took, and as readily broke, merely as they found it fuited their intereft, as appears from verfe 107, &c. and verfe 377, &c. of this Canto, and Part III. Cant. iii. verfe 547, &c. Archbishop Bramhall fays, "That the hypocrites of those times, though << they magnified the obligation of an oath, yet "in their own cafe difpenfed with all oaths, civil, military, and religious. We are now "told (fays he) that the oaths we have taken are not to be examined according to the inter"pretation of men: No! How then? Surely "according to the interpretation of devils."
I think there's little reafon why:
Elfe he 'as a greater power than they, Which 'twere impiety to fay.
We 're not commanded to forbear, Indefinitely, at all to fwear; But to fwear idly, and in vain, Without felf-intereft or gain:
For breaking of an oath and lying, Is but a kind of felf-denying,
A faint-like virtue; and from hence Some have broke oaths by Providence: Some, to the glory of the Lord,
Perjur'd themfelves, and broke their word: And this the conftant rule and practice Of all our late Apostles' acts is.
Was not the Caufe at first begun With perjury, and carry'd on? Was there an oath the Godly took, But in due time and place they broke? Did we not bring our oaths in first, Before our plate, to have them burst, And caft in fitter models, for The prefent use of Church and War?
Ver. 136.] When it was moved in the Houfed Commons to proceed capitally against the King Cromwell stood up and told them, "That if s "man moved this with defign, he should think "him the greatest traitor in the world; but find "Providence and neceffity had caft them up "it, he fhould pray to God to blefs their coun "fels." And when he kept the King clofe prifa ner in Carifbrook Caftie, contrary to vows an proteftations, he affirmed, "The Spirit would "not let him keep his word." And when, con trary to the public faith, they murdered him, they pretended they could not refift the motions of the Spirit,
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