Thou, doggËd Cineas, hated like a dog, For still thou grumblest like a masty[478] dog, Compar'st thyself to nothing but a dog; Thou say'st thou art as weary as a dog, As angry, sick, and hungry as a dog, As dull and melancholy as a dog, As lazy, sleepy, idle[479] as a dog. But why dost thou compare thee to a dog In that for which all men despise a dog? I will compare thee better to a dog; 10 Thou art as fair and comely as a dog, Thou art as true and honest as a dog, Thou art as kind and liberal as a dog, Thou art as wise and valiant as a dog. But, Cineas, I have often[480] heard thee tell, Thou art as like thy father as may be: 'Tis like enough; and, faith, I like it well; But I am glad thou art not like to me. FOOTNOTES: [478] Mastiff. [479] So Isham copy and MS.--Eds. A, B, C "and as idle." [480] So MS.--Isham copy and ed. A "oft." IN GERONTEM.[481] XX. Geron, whose[482] mouldy memory corrects Old Holinshed our famous chronicler With moral rules, and policy collects Out of all actions done these fourscore year; Accounts the time of every odd[483] event, Not from Christ's birth, nor from the prince's reign, But from some other famous accident, Which in men's general notice doth remain,-- The siege of Boulogne,[484] and the plaguy sweat,[485] The going to Saint Quintin's[486] and New-Haven,[487] 10 The rising[488] in the north, the frost so great, That cart-wheel prints on Thamis' face were graven,[489] The fall of money,[490] and burning of Paul's steeple,[491] The blazing star,[492] and Spaniards' overthrow:[493] By these events, notorious to the people, He measures times, and things forepast doth show: But most of all, he chiefly reckons by A private chance,--the death of his curst[494] wife; This is to him the dearest memory, And th' happiest accident of all his life. 20 FOOTNOTES: [481] Not in MS. [482] So Isham copy.--Omitted in ed. A. [483] So Isham copy.--Eds. A, B, C "old." [484] Boulogne was captured by Henry VIII. in 1544. [485] The reference probably is to the visitation of 1551. [486] In 1557 an English corps under the Earl of Pembroke took part in the war against France. "The English did not share in the glory of the battle, for they were not present; but they arrived two days after to take part in the storming of St. Quentin, and to share, to their shame, in the sack and spoiling of the town."--Froude, VI. 52. [487] Havre.--The expedition was despatched in 1562. [488] Led by the Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland in 1569.