Sum. It cannot.-Fair prince,

Though your illustrious name has touch'd mine ear, Till now I never saw you; nor never saw

A man, whom I more love, more hate.

Ray. Ha, lady!

Sum. For him I love you, from whose glittering

rays

You boast your great name; for that name I hate

you,

Because you kill'd my mother and my nurse. [Flourish.-Exit, followed by PLEN. and DEL. 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. Be ruled by me once more; leave her. Ray. In scorn,

As she does me.

Hum. Thou shalt have nobler welcome; for I'll bring thee

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 Indies,

Must not have you depart.

Ray. Must not?

Re-enter SUMMER.

Sum. No, must not.

I did but chide thee, like a whistling wind,

Playing with leafy dancers: when I told thee
I hated thee, I lied; I dote upon thee.
Unlock my garden of the Hesperides,

By dragons kept, (the apples being pure gold)
Take all that fruit; 'tis thine.

Plen. Love but my mother,

I'll give thee corn enough to feed the world.
Ray. I need not golden apples, nor your corn;
What land soe'er the world's surveyor, the Sun,
Can measure in a day, I dare call mine:
All kingdoms I have right to; I am free
Of every country; in the four elements
I have as deep a share as an emperor;

All beasts whom the earth bears are to serve me,
All birds to sing to me ; and can you catch me
With a tempting golden apple?

Plen. She's too good for thee.

When she was born, the Sun for joy did rise
Before his time, only to kiss those eyes,

Which having touch'd, he stole from them such

store

Of lights, he shone more bright than e'er before; At which he vow'd whenever she did die,

He'd snatch them up, and in his sister's sphere Place them, since she had no two stars so clear. Ray. Let him now snatch them up; away! Hum. Away,

And leave this gipsy.

Sum. Oh, I am lost.

Ray. Lost?

Sum. Scorn'd!

Ray. Of no triumph more then love can boast.

[Exit with HUMOUR and FOLLY.

[Recorders.

The SUN re-appears, with CUPID and FORTUNE.

Sun. Is Raybright gone?

Sum. Yes, and his spiteful eyes Have shot darts through me.

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.

* 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.-GIF

FORD.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.-The Court of AUTUMN.

Enter РOMONA, RAYBRIGHT, CUPID, and FOR

TUNE.

Ray. Your entertainments, Autumn's bounteous queen,

Have feasted me with rarities as delicate

As the full growth of an abundant year
Can ripen to my palate.

Pom. They are but courtings

Of gratitude to our dread lord, the Sun,

From whom thou draw'st thy name: the feast of

fruits

Our gardens yield are much too coarse for thee;
Could we contract the choice of nature's plenty
Into one form, and that form to contain

All delicacies which the wanton sense
Would relish, or desire to invent to please it,
The present were unworthy far to purchase
A sacred league of friendship.

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

With these fine barren lullabies; the Summer
Invited my then ranging eyes to look on
Large fields of ripen'd corn, presenting trifles
Of waterish petty dainties; but my taste
Is only here pleas'd: the other objects claim
The style of formal, these are real bounties.

Pom. We can transcend thy wishes; whom the

creatures

Of every age and quality post, madding,
From land to land and sea to sea, to meet,
Shall wait upon thy nod, Fortune and Cupid.
Love! yield thy quiver and thine arrows up
To this great prince of time; before him, Fortune!
Pour out thy mint of treasures; crown him sove-
reign

Of what his thoughts can glory to command:
He shall give payment of a royal prize,
To Fortune judgment, and to Cupid eyes.

For. Be a merchant, I will freight thee

With all store that time is bought for.

Cup. Be a lover, I will wait thee

With success in life most sought for. For. Be enamour'd on bright honour,

And thy greatness shall shine glorious.

Cup. Chastity, if thou smile on her,

Shall grow servile, thou victorious.

For. Be a warrior, conquest ever

Shall triumphantly renown thee.

Cup. Be a courtier, beauty never

Shall but with her duty crown thee. For. Fortune's wheel is thine, depose me; I'm thy slave, thy power has bound me.

VOL. II.

L