But behold a fairer sight! By that heavenly form of thine, Brightest fair! thou art divine! Sprung from great immortal race Of the gods; for in thy face Shines more awful majesty Than dull weak mortality Dare with misty eyes behold, And live! Therefore on this mould Lowly do I bend my knee, In worship of thy deity. _Act I. Scene I._ Brightest! if there be remaining Any service, without feigning I will do it: were I set To catch the nimble wind, or get Shadows gliding on the green, Or to steal from the great queen Of the fairies all her beauty, I would do it, so much duty Do I owe those precious eyes. _Act IV. Scene II._ Thou divinest, fairest, brightest, Thou most powerful maid, and whitest, Thou most virtuous and most blessed, Eyes of stars, and golden tressed Like Apollo. Tell me, sweetest, What new service now is meetest For the Satyr? Shall I stray In the middle air, and stay The sailing rack? or nimbly take Hold by the moon, and gently make Suit to the pale queen of night For a beam to give thee light? Shall I dive into the sea, And bring thee coral, making way Through the rising waves that fall In snowy fleeces? Dearest, shall I catch thee wanton fauns, or flies Whose woven wings the summer dyes Of many colours? Get thee fruit? Or steal from heaven old Orpheus’ lute? All these I’ll venture for, and more, To do her service all these woods adore. _Act V. Scene V._ Footnote 135: ‘There are very few women who might not have married in some way or other. The old maid, who has either never formed an attachment, or who has been disappointed in the object of it, has, under the circumstances in which she has been placed, conducted herself with the most perfect propriety; and has acted a much more virtuous and honourable part in society than those women who marry without a proper degree of love, or at least of esteem, for their husbands; a species of immorality which is not reprobated as it deserves.’—_Malthus on Population_, book iv. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MACMILLAN & CO.’S NEW NOVELS Crown 8vo. 6s. each. _Second Edition now ready._