Ray. Divinest! Hum. Let her go. Fol. And I'll go after; for I must and will have a fling at one of her plum-trees. Ray. I ne'er was scorn'd till now. Hum. This that Altezza,5 That Rhodian wonder gazed at by the Sun!- Hum. She bids you share her treasure; but who keeps it? Fol. She points to trees great with child with fruit; but when delivered? grapes hang in ropes; but no drawing, not a drop of wine! whole ears of corn lay their ears together for bread, but the devil a bit I can touch. Hum. Be ruled by me once more; leave her. Ray. In scorn, As [s]he does me. Fol. Scorn! If I be not deceived, I have seen Summer go up and down with hot codlings; and that little baggage, her daughter Plenty, crying six bunches of raddish for a penny. Hum. Thou shalt have nobler welcome; for I'll bring thee This that Altezza, &c.] The lady Humour appears to have adopted a prodigious scale of magnitude for her admiration. She had before termed Raybright " a bedfellow for a fairy;" and she now quarrels with Summer because she does not resemble a Colossus. With hot codlings.] i, e. green pease. See the "Witch of Edmonton." To a brave and bounteous housekeeper, free Autumn. Fol. Oh, there's a lad!-let's go then. Re-enter PLENTY. Plen. Where is this prince? my mother, for the Must not have you [de]part. Ray. Must not? Re-enter SUMMER. Sum. No, must not. I did but chide thee, like a whistling wind, By dragons kept, (the apples being pure gold) Plen. Love but my mother, I'll give thee corn enough to feed the world. All beasts whom the earth bears are to serve me, Plen. She's too good for thee. When she was born, the Sun for joy did rise Which having touch'd, he stole from them such store And leave this gipsy. Sum. Oh, I am lost. Ray. Lost? Sum. Scorn'd! 8 Ray. Of no triumph more then love can boast. [Exit with HUMOUR and FOLLY. Plen. This strumpet will confound him, she has me. Sum. Deluded!— [Recorders. The SUN re-appears, with CUPID and FORTUNE. Sun. Is Raybright gone? Sum. Yes, and his spiteful eyes Have shot darts through me. 7 stole from them such store Of lights, he shone more bright, &c.] The 4to. reads: "Of light she shone, &c. : A slight mistake, occasioned by transferring the s from the preceding word to that which immediately follows it. 8 This drama is wretchedly printed; and the wonted carelessness 1 Decker, in the arrangement of his metre, renders every attempt at emendation difficult, as well as hazardous. The speeches above stand thus in the 4to. Sum. Oh, I am lost.— Ray. Love scorn'd Of no triumph more then love can boast. Plen. This strumpet will confound him. Sum. She has me deluded. [Exit. Sun. I thy wounds will cure, And lengthen out thy days; his followers gone, Cupid and Fortune, take you charge of him. Here thou, my brightest queen, must end thy reign; Some nine months hence I'll shine on thee again. [Exeunt. ACT IV. SCENE I. The Court of AUTUMN. Enter POMONA, RAYBRIGHT, CUPID, and FOR TUNE. Ray. Your entertainments, Autumn's bounteous queen, Have feasted me with rarities as delicate, Pom. They are but courtings Of gratitude to our dread lord, the Sun, 9 I thy wounds will cure, And lengthen out thy days.] The Sun takes a strange way to lengthen out the days of Summer, by putting an instant end to them. It must be confessed, that the god acts very capriciously in this scene, and that Summer, considering her short stay, is most ungently treated on all sides. From whom thou draw'st thy name: the feast of fruits Our gardens yield are much too coarse for thee; All delicacies, which the wanton sense Ray. I have rioted In surfeits of the ear, with various music Of warbling birds; I have smelt perfumes of roses, And every flower, with which the fresh-trimm'd earth Is mantled in the Spring could mock my senses creatures Of every age and quality post, madding, Of what his thoughts can glory to command: |