Serpent, thou fain wouldst flee, but canst not; Try for thy hiding-place, it is no more; Recall thy strength, 'tis spent; Wait for the sun, behind thick fog he hides; Cry mercy of the hind, he fears thy tooth. Fortune invoke, she hears thee not, the jade! Nor flight, nor place, nor star, nor man, nor fate Can bring to thee deliverance from death. Thou dost become congealed. Melting am I. I like thy rigours, thee my ardour pleases; Help have I none for thee, and thou hast none for me. Clear is our evil fate--all hope resign. CIC. Let us go, and by the way we will seek to untie this knot--if possible. TANS. So be it. PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. LONDON AND EDINBURGH THE APOLOGY OF THE NOLAN TO THE MOST VIRTUOUS AND LOVELY LADIES. O lovely, graceful nymphs of England! Not in repugnance nor in scorn Our spirit holds you, Nor would our pen abase you More than it must--to call you feminine! Exemption I am sure you would not claim, Being subject to the common influence; Shining on earth as do the stars in heaven. Your sov'reign beauty, ladies, our austerity Cannot depreciate, nor would do so, For we have not in view a superhuman kind, Such poison,[H] therefore, far from you be set, For here we see the one, the great Diana, Who is to you as sun amongst the stars. Wit, words, learning and art, And whatsoe'er is mine of scribbling faculty, I humbly place before you. [H] Arsenico.