Chapter 11

“In old times the god Janus with two facesOur ancients did delineate and portray,To demonstrate that counsels of wise racesLook to a future, as well as the past day;In fact all time of deeds should leave the traces,And of the past recordance ever have;The future should foresee like providence,Following up virtue in each noble quality,Seeking God’s strength from sinfulness to save.Who thus shall do will learn by evidenceThat he has power to live in great tranquillity.”[85]

“In old times the god Janus with two faces

Our ancients did delineate and portray,

To demonstrate that counsels of wise races

Look to a future, as well as the past day;

In fact all time of deeds should leave the traces,

And of the past recordance ever have;

The future should foresee like providence,

Following up virtue in each noble quality,

Seeking God’s strength from sinfulness to save.

Who thus shall do will learn by evidence

That he has power to live in great tranquillity.”[85]

Another instance of Emblem-like delineation, or description, we have inKing Henry V.act iii. sc. 7, lines 10–17, vol. iv. p. 549. Louis the Dauphin, praising his own horse, as if bounding from the earth like a tennis ball (see woodcut on next page), exclaims,—

“I will not change my horse with any that treads but on four pasterns. Ça, ha! he bounds from the earth, as if his entrails were hairs; le cheval volant, the Pegasus, chez les narines de feu! When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.[86]

Orl.He’s of the colour of the nutmeg.

Dau.And of the heat of the ginger. It is a beast for Perseus: he is pure air and fire; and the dull elements of earth and water never appear in him, but only in patient stillness, while his rider mounts him: he is indeed a horse; and all other jades you may call beasts.

Con.Indeed, my lord, it is a most absolute and excellent horse.

Dau.It is the prince of palfreys; his neigh is like the bidding of a monarch, and his countenance enforces homage.”

Bocchius, 1555.

This lively description suits well the device of a Paris printer, Christian Wechel, who, in 1540,[87]dwelt“a l’enseigne du Cheval volant;”or that of Claude Marnius of Francfort, who, before 1602, had a similar trade-mark. At least three of Reusner’sEmblems, edition Francfort, 1581, have the same device; and the Dauphin’s paragon answers exactly to a Pegasus in the firstEmblem, dedicated to Rudolph II., who, on the death of his father, Maximilian, became Emperor of Germany.

ΣΥΝ ΔΥΩ ΕΡΧΟΜΕΝΩ.Non abſque Theſeo.EMBLEMA I.Reusner, 1581.Ad Diuum Rudolphum SecundumCæſarem Romanum.

ΣΥΝ ΔΥΩ ΕΡΧΟΜΕΝΩ.Non abſque Theſeo.EMBLEMA I.

ΣΥΝ ΔΥΩ ΕΡΧΟΜΕΝΩ.

Non abſque Theſeo.

EMBLEMA I.

Reusner, 1581.

Ad Diuum Rudolphum SecundumCæſarem Romanum.

Ad Diuum Rudolphum Secundum

Cæſarem Romanum.

Here[88]we have a Pegasus like that which Shakespeare praises; it has a warrior on its back, and bounds along, trotting the air. In other two of Reusner’sEmblems, the Winged Horse is standing on the ground, with Perseus near him; and in a third, entitledPrincipis boni imago,—“Portrait of a good prince,”—St. George is represented on a flying steed[89]attacking the Dragon, and delivering from its fury the Maiden chained to a rock, that shadows forth a suffering and persecuted church. Shakespeare probably had seen these or similar drawings beforehe described Louis the Dauphin riding on a charger that had nostrils of fire.

The qualities of good horsemanship Shakespeare specially admired. Hence those lines inHamlet, act iv. sc. 7, l. 84, vol. viii. p. 145,—

“I’ve seen myself, and served against, the French,And they can well on horseback: but this gallantHad witchcraft in’t; he grew unto his seat,And to such wondrous doing brought his horse,As he had been incorpsed and demi-naturedWith the brave beast.”

“I’ve seen myself, and served against, the French,

And they can well on horseback: but this gallant

Had witchcraft in’t; he grew unto his seat,

And to such wondrous doing brought his horse,

As he had been incorpsed and demi-natured

With the brave beast.”

An emblem in Alciatus, edition 1551, p. 20, also gives the mounted warrior on the winged horse;—it is Bellerophon in his contest with the Chimæra. The accompanying stanza has in it an expression like one which the dramatist uses,—

“Sic tu Pegaseis vectus petis æthera pennis,”—“So thou being borne on the wings of Pegasus seekest the air.”

“Sic tu Pegaseis vectus petis æthera pennis,”—

“So thou being borne on the wings of Pegasus seekest the air.”

Equally tasting of the Emblem-writers of Henry’s and Elizabeth’s reigns is that other proverb in French which Shakespeare places in the mouth of the Dauphin Louis. The subject is still his “paragon of animals,” which he prefers even to his mistress. SeeHenry V.act iii. sc. 7, l. 54, vol iv. p. 550. “I had rather,” he says, “have my horse to my mistress;” and the Constable replies, “I had as lief have my mistress a jade.”

“Dau.I tell thee, constable, my mistress wears his own hair.

Con.I could make as true a boast as that, if I had a sow to my mistress.

Dau.Le chien est retourné à son propre vomissement, et la truie lavée au bourbier. Thou makest use of anything.” [“The dog has returned to his vomit, and the sow that had been washed, to her mire.”]

Though the French is almost a literal rendering of the Latin Vulgate,2 Pet.ii. 23, “Canis reversus ad suum vomitum: & suslota in volutabro luti;” the whole conception is in the spirit of Freitag’sMythologia Ethica, Antwerp, 1579, in which there is appended to each emblem a text of Scripture. A subject is chosen, a description of it given, an engraving placed on the opposite page, and at the foot some passage from the Latin vulgate is applied.

It may indeed be objected that, if Shakespeare was well acquainted with the Emblem literature it is surprising he should pass over, almost in silence, some Devices which partake peculiarly of his general spirit, and which would furnish suggestions for very forcible and very appropriate descriptions. Were we to examine his works thoroughly, we should discover some very remarkable omissions of subjects that appear to be exactly after his own method and perfectly natural to certain parts of his dramas. We may instance the almost total want of commendation for the moral qualities of the dog, whether “mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim, hound or spaniel, brach or lym, or bob-tail tike, or trundle-tail.” The whole race is under a ban.

Perriere, 1539.

So industry, diligence, with their attendant advantages,—negligence, idleness, with their disadvantages, are scarcely alluded to, and but incidentally praised or blamed.

We may take one of Perriere’s Emblems, the 101st ofLes Bons Engins, as our example, to show rather divergence than agreement,—or, at any rate, a different way of treating the subject.

“En ce pourtraict pouuez veoir diligence,Tenant en main le cornet de copie:Elle triumphé̩[e/]̩ en grand magnificence:Car de paressé̩[e/]̩ one ne fut assoupie:Dessoubz ses piedz tiẽt faminé̩[e/]̩ acroupieEt attachéé̩[e/]̩ en grand captiuité:Puis les formys par leur hastiuitéDiligemment tirent le tout ensemble:Pour demonstrer qu’ auec oysiuité,Impossiblé̩[e/]̩ est que grãdz biẽs l’õ assẽble.”“A portrait here you see of diligenceBearing in hand full plenty’s horn,Triumphant in her great magnificence,And ever holding laziness in scorn;Crouching beneath her feet famine forlornIn fetters bound of strong captivity.And then the ants with their activityThe whole most diligently along do draw,—A demonstration clear that idlenessFinds it impossible by nature’s lawWith stores of goods her poverty to bless.”

“En ce pourtraict pouuez veoir diligence,

Tenant en main le cornet de copie:

Elle triumphé̩[e/]̩ en grand magnificence:

Car de paressé̩[e/]̩ one ne fut assoupie:

Dessoubz ses piedz tiẽt faminé̩[e/]̩ acroupie

Et attachéé̩[e/]̩ en grand captiuité:

Puis les formys par leur hastiuité

Diligemment tirent le tout ensemble:

Pour demonstrer qu’ auec oysiuité,

Impossiblé̩[e/]̩ est que grãdz biẽs l’õ assẽble.”

“A portrait here you see of diligenceBearing in hand full plenty’s horn,Triumphant in her great magnificence,And ever holding laziness in scorn;Crouching beneath her feet famine forlornIn fetters bound of strong captivity.And then the ants with their activityThe whole most diligently along do draw,—A demonstration clear that idlenessFinds it impossible by nature’s lawWith stores of goods her poverty to bless.”

“A portrait here you see of diligence

Bearing in hand full plenty’s horn,

Triumphant in her great magnificence,

And ever holding laziness in scorn;

Crouching beneath her feet famine forlorn

In fetters bound of strong captivity.

And then the ants with their activity

The whole most diligently along do draw,—

A demonstration clear that idleness

Finds it impossible by nature’s law

With stores of goods her poverty to bless.”

Under the motto,Otiosi semper egentes,—“The idle always destitute,”—Whitney, p. 175, describes the same conditions,—

“Here, Idlenes doth weepe amid her wantes,Neare famished: whome, labour whippes for Ire:Here, labour sittes in chariot drawen with antes:And dothe abounde with all he can desire.The grashopper, the toyling ante derides,In Sommers heate, cause she for coulde prouides.”

“Here, Idlenes doth weepe amid her wantes,

Neare famished: whome, labour whippes for Ire:

Here, labour sittes in chariot drawen with antes:

And dothe abounde with all he can desire.

The grashopper, the toyling ante derides,

In Sommers heate, cause she for coulde prouides.”

The idea is in some degree approached in the Chorus ofHenry V.act i. l. 5, vol. iv. p. 491,—

“Then should the warlike Harry, like himselfAssume the port of Mars; and at his heels,Leash’d in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fireCrouch for employment.”

“Then should the warlike Harry, like himself

Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,

Leash’d in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire

Crouch for employment.”

The triumph of industry may also be inferred from the marriage blessing which Ceres pronounces in the Masque of theTempest, act iv. sc. 1, l. 110, vol. i. p. 57,—

“Earth’s increase, foison plenty,Barns and garners never empty;Vines with clustering bunches growing;Plants with goodly burthen bowing;Spring come to you at the farthestIn the very end of harvest!Scarcity and want shall shun you,Ceres’ blessing so is on you.”

“Earth’s increase, foison plenty,

Barns and garners never empty;

Vines with clustering bunches growing;

Plants with goodly burthen bowing;

Spring come to you at the farthest

In the very end of harvest!

Scarcity and want shall shun you,

Ceres’ blessing so is on you.”

Yet for labour, work, industry, diligence, or by whatever other name the virtue of steady exertion may be known, there is scarcely a word of praise in Shakespeare’s abundant vocabulary, and of its effects no clear description. We are told inCymbeline, act iii. sc. 6, l. 31, vol. ix. p. 240,—

“The sweat of industry would dry and die,But for the end it works to.... WearinessCan snore upon the flint, when resty slothFinds the down pillow hard.”

“The sweat of industry would dry and die,

But for the end it works to.... Weariness

Can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth

Finds the down pillow hard.”

And in contrasting the cares of royalty with the sound sleep of the slave, Henry V. (act iv. sc. 1, l. 256, vol iv. p. 564) declares that the slave,—

“Never sees horrid night, the child of hell;But like a lacquey, from the rise to set,Sweats in the eye of Phœbus, and all nightSleeps in Elysium; next day, after dawn,Doth rise, and help Hyperion to his horse;And follow so the ever running yearWith profitable labour to his grave;”

“Never sees horrid night, the child of hell;

But like a lacquey, from the rise to set,

Sweats in the eye of Phœbus, and all night

Sleeps in Elysium; next day, after dawn,

Doth rise, and help Hyperion to his horse;

And follow so the ever running year

With profitable labour to his grave;”

but the subject is never entered upon in its moral and social aspects, unless the evils which are ascribed by the Duke of Burgundy (Henry V.act v. sc. 2, l. 48, vol. iv. p. 596) to war, are also to be attributed to the negligence which war creates,—

“The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forthThe freckled cowslip, burnet and green clover,Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank,Conceives by idleness; and nothing teemsBut hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs,Losing both beauty and utility.”

“The even mead, that erst brought sweetly forth

The freckled cowslip, burnet and green clover,

Wanting the scythe, all uncorrected, rank,

Conceives by idleness; and nothing teems

But hateful docks, rough thistles, kecksies, burs,

Losing both beauty and utility.”

Another instance we may give of that Emblem spirit, which often occurs in Shakespeare, and at the same time we may supply an example of Freitag’s method of illustrating a subject, and of appending to it a scriptural quotation. (SeeMythologia Ethica, Antwerp, 1579, p. 29.) The instance is fromKing Lear, act ii. sc. 4, l. 61, vol. viii. p. 317, and the subject,Contraria industriæ ac desidiæ præmia—“The opposite rewards of industry and slothfulness.”

When Lear had arrived at the Earl of Gloster’s castle, Kent inquires,—

“How chance the king comes with so small a train?

Fool.An thou hadst been set i’ the stocks for that question, thou hadst well deserv’d it.

Gent.Why, fool?

Fool.We’ll set thee to school to an ant to teach thee there’s no labouring in the winter.”

That school we have presented to us in Freitag’s engraving (see woodcut on next page), and in the stanzas of Whitney, p. 159. There are the ne’er-do-well grasshopper and the sage schoolmaster of an ant, propounding, we may suppose, the wise saying,Dum ætatis ver agitur: consule brumæ,—“While the spring of life is passing, consult for winter,”—and the poet moralizes thus:

“Inwinter coulde, when tree, and bushe, was bare,And frost had nip’d the rootes of tender grasse:The antes, with ioye did feede vpon their fare,Which they had stor’de, while sommers season was:To whome, for foode the grashopper did crie,And said she staru’d, if they did helpe denie.Whereat, an ante, with longe experience wise?And frost, and snowe, had manie winters seene:Inquired, what in sommer was her guise.Quoth she, I songe, and hop’t in meadowes greene:Then quoth the ante, content thee with thy chaunce,For to thy songe, nowe art thou light to daunce?”

“Inwinter coulde, when tree, and bushe, was bare,

And frost had nip’d the rootes of tender grasse:

The antes, with ioye did feede vpon their fare,

Which they had stor’de, while sommers season was:

To whome, for foode the grashopper did crie,

And said she staru’d, if they did helpe denie.

Whereat, an ante, with longe experience wise?And frost, and snowe, had manie winters seene:Inquired, what in sommer was her guise.Quoth she, I songe, and hop’t in meadowes greene:Then quoth the ante, content thee with thy chaunce,For to thy songe, nowe art thou light to daunce?”

Whereat, an ante, with longe experience wise?

And frost, and snowe, had manie winters seene:

Inquired, what in sommer was her guise.

Quoth she, I songe, and hop’t in meadowes greene:

Then quoth the ante, content thee with thy chaunce,

For to thy songe, nowe art thou light to daunce?”

Contraria induſtriae ac deſidiæ præmia.Freitag, 1579.Propter frigus piger arare noluit: mendicabit ergo æſtate, & non dabitur illi.Prouerb. 20, 4.“The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.”

Contraria induſtriae ac deſidiæ præmia.

Freitag, 1579.

Propter frigus piger arare noluit: mendicabit ergo æſtate, & non dabitur illi.

Prouerb. 20, 4.

“The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing.”

Freitag’s representation makes indeed a change in the season at which the “ante, with longe experience wise,” administers her reproof; but it is equally the school for learning in the time of youth and strength, to provide for the infirmities of age and the adversities of fortune.

And more than similar in spirit to the Emblem writers which preceded, almost emblems themselves, are the whole scenes from theMerchant of Venice, act ii. sc. 7 and 9, and act iii. sc. 2,where are introduced the three caskets of gold, of silver, and of lead, by the choice of which the fate of Portia is to be determined,[90]—

“The first, of gold, who this inscription bears,‘Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire;’The second, silver, which this promise carries,‘Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves;’This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt,‘Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.’”Act ii. sc. 7, lines 4–9.

“The first, of gold, who this inscription bears,

‘Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire;’

The second, silver, which this promise carries,

‘Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves;’

This third, dull lead, with warning all as blunt,

‘Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.’”

Act ii. sc. 7, lines 4–9.

And when the caskets are opened, the drawings and the inscriptions on the written scrolls, which are then taken out, examined and read, are exactly like the engravings and the verses by which emblems and their mottoes are set forth. Thus, on unlocking the golden casket, the Prince of Morocco exclaims,—

“O hell! what have we here?A carrion Death, within whose empty eyeThere is a written scroll! I’ll read the writing. [Reads.]All that glisters is not gold;Often have you heard that told:Many a man his life hath soldBut my outside to behold:Gilded tombs do worms infold.Had you been as wise as bold,Young in limbs, in judgment old,Your answer had not been inscroll’d:Fare you well; your suit is cold.”Act ii. sc. 7, lines 62–73.

“O hell! what have we here?

A carrion Death, within whose empty eye

There is a written scroll! I’ll read the writing. [Reads.]

All that glisters is not gold;

Often have you heard that told:

Many a man his life hath sold

But my outside to behold:

Gilded tombs do worms infold.

Had you been as wise as bold,

Young in limbs, in judgment old,

Your answer had not been inscroll’d:

Fare you well; your suit is cold.”

Act ii. sc. 7, lines 62–73.

The Prince of Arragon, also, on opening the silver casket, receives not merely a written scroll, as is represented in Symeoni’s“Distichi Morali,”—Moral Stanzas,—but what corresponds to the device or woodcut of the Emblem-book;“The portrait of a blinking idiot,” who presents to him “The schedule,” or explanatory rhymes,—

“The fire seven times tried this:Seven times tried that judgment is,That did never choose amiss.Some there be that shadows kiss;Such have but a shadow’s bliss:There be fools alive, I wis,Silver’d o’er; and so was this.Take what wife you will to bed,I will ever be your head:So be gone: you are sped.”Act ii. sc. 9, lines 63–72.

“The fire seven times tried this:

Seven times tried that judgment is,

That did never choose amiss.

Some there be that shadows kiss;

Such have but a shadow’s bliss:

There be fools alive, I wis,

Silver’d o’er; and so was this.

Take what wife you will to bed,

I will ever be your head:

So be gone: you are sped.”

Act ii. sc. 9, lines 63–72.

These Emblems of Shakespeare’s are therefore complete in all their parts; the mottoes, the pictures, “a carrion Death” and “a blinking idiot,” and the descriptive verses.

Coſi viuo Piacer conduce à morte.Paradin, 1562.

Coſi viuo Piacer conduce à morte.

Paradin, 1562.

The words of Portia (act. ii. sc. 9, l. 79, vol. ii. p. 319), when the Prince of Arragon says,—

“Sweet adieu, I’ll keep my oath,Patiently to bear my wroth;”

“Sweet adieu, I’ll keep my oath,

Patiently to bear my wroth;”

are moreover a direct reference to the Emblems which occur in various authors.Les Devises Heroiqves, by Claude Paradin, Antwerp, 1562, contains the adjoining Emblem,Too lively a pleasure conducts to death.

And Giles Corrozet in his“Hecatomgraphie, C’est à dire, les descriptions de cent figures, &c.,”[91]adopting the motto,Waris sweet only to the inexperienced, presents, in illustration, a butterfly fluttering towards a candle.

La guerre doulce aux inexperimentez.Corrozet, 1540.Les Papillons ſe vont bruſlerA la chandelle qui reluyct.Tel veult à la bataillé̩[e/]̩ allerQui ne ſcaict combien guerre nuyct.“The Butterflies themselves are about to burn,In the candle which still shines on and warms;Such foolish, wish to battle fields to turn,Who know not of the war, how much it harms.”

La guerre doulce aux inexperimentez.

Corrozet, 1540.

Les Papillons ſe vont bruſlerA la chandelle qui reluyct.Tel veult à la bataillé̩[e/]̩ allerQui ne ſcaict combien guerre nuyct.“The Butterflies themselves are about to burn,In the candle which still shines on and warms;Such foolish, wish to battle fields to turn,Who know not of the war, how much it harms.”

Les Papillons ſe vont bruſlerA la chandelle qui reluyct.Tel veult à la bataillé̩[e/]̩ allerQui ne ſcaict combien guerre nuyct.

Les Papillons ſe vont bruſler

A la chandelle qui reluyct.

Tel veult à la bataillé̩[e/]̩ aller

Qui ne ſcaict combien guerre nuyct.

“The Butterflies themselves are about to burn,In the candle which still shines on and warms;Such foolish, wish to battle fields to turn,Who know not of the war, how much it harms.”

“The Butterflies themselves are about to burn,

In the candle which still shines on and warms;

Such foolish, wish to battle fields to turn,

Who know not of the war, how much it harms.”

This device, in fact, was one extremely popular with the Emblem literati. Boissard and Messin’sEmblems, 1588, pp. 58, 59, present it to the mottoes,“Temerité dangereuse,”orTemere ac Pericvlose,—“rashly and dangerously.” Joachim Camerarius, in his EmblemsEx Volatilibus et Insectis(Nuremberg, 4to, 1596), uses it, with the motto,Brevis et damnosa Voluptas—“A short and destructive pleasure,”—and fortifies himself in adopting it by no less authorities than Æschylus and Aristotle.Emblemes of Love, with Verses in Latin, English, and Italian, by Otho Vænius, 4to, Antwerp, 1608, present Cupid to us, at p. 102, as watching the moths and the flames with great earnestness, the mottoes being,Brevis et damnosa voluptas,—“For one pleasure a thousand paynes,”—andBreue gioia,—“Brief the gladness.”

There is, too, on the same subject, the elegant device which Symeoni gives at p. 25 of his“Distichi Morali,”and which we repeat on the next page.

The subject is,Of Love too much; and the motto, “Too much pleasure leads to death,” is thus set forth, almost literally, by English rhymes:—

“In moderation Love is praised and prized,Loss and dishonour in excess it brings:In burning warmth how fail its boasted wings,As simple butterflies in light chastised.”

“In moderation Love is praised and prized,

Loss and dishonour in excess it brings:

In burning warmth how fail its boasted wings,

As simple butterflies in light chastised.”

D’AMOR SOVERCHIO.Giovio and Symeoni, 1561.Il moderato amor ſi loda & prezza,Ma il troppo apporta danno & diſhonore,Et ſpeſſo manca nel ſouerchio ardore,Qual ſemplice farfalla al lume auuezza.Coſi piacer conduce à morte.

D’AMOR SOVERCHIO.

Giovio and Symeoni, 1561.

Il moderato amor ſi loda & prezza,Ma il troppo apporta danno & diſhonore,Et ſpeſſo manca nel ſouerchio ardore,Qual ſemplice farfalla al lume auuezza.Coſi piacer conduce à morte.

Il moderato amor ſi loda & prezza,Ma il troppo apporta danno & diſhonore,Et ſpeſſo manca nel ſouerchio ardore,Qual ſemplice farfalla al lume auuezza.

Il moderato amor ſi loda & prezza,

Ma il troppo apporta danno & diſhonore,

Et ſpeſſo manca nel ſouerchio ardore,

Qual ſemplice farfalla al lume auuezza.

Coſi piacer conduce à morte.

Now can there be unreasonableness in supposing that out of these many Emblem writers Shakespeare may have had some one in view when he ascribed to Portia the words,—

“Thus hath the candle singed the moth.O, these deliberate fools! when they do choose,They have the wisdom by their wit to lose.”Act ii. sc. 9, lines 79–81.

“Thus hath the candle singed the moth.

O, these deliberate fools! when they do choose,

They have the wisdom by their wit to lose.”

Act ii. sc. 9, lines 79–81.

The opening of the third of the caskets (act. iii. sc. 2, l. 115, vol. ii. p. 328), that made of lead, is also as much an Emblem delineation as the other two, excelling them, indeed, in the beauty of the language as well as in the excellence of the device, a very paragon of gracefulness. “What find I here?” demands Bassanio; and himself replies,—

“Fair Portia’s counterfeit! What demi-godHath come so near creation? Move these eyes?Or whether, riding on the balls of mineSeem they in motion? Here are sever’d lips,Parted with sugar breath: so sweet a barShould sunder such sweet friends. Here in her hairsThe painter plays the spider, and hath wovenA golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men,Faster than gnats in cobwebs:[92]but her eyes,—How could he see to do them? Having made one,Methinks it should have power to steal both his,And leave itself unfurnish’d. Yet look, how farThe substance of my praise doth wrong this shadowIn underprizing it, so far this shadowDoth limp behind the substance. Here’s a scroll,The continent and summary of my fortune.[Reads] You that choose not by the view,Chance as fair, and choose as true!Since this fortune falls to you,Be content and seek no new.If you will be pleased with this,And hold your fortune for your bliss,Turn you where your lady is,And claim her with a loving kiss.”

“Fair Portia’s counterfeit! What demi-god

Hath come so near creation? Move these eyes?

Or whether, riding on the balls of mine

Seem they in motion? Here are sever’d lips,

Parted with sugar breath: so sweet a bar

Should sunder such sweet friends. Here in her hairs

The painter plays the spider, and hath woven

A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men,

Faster than gnats in cobwebs:[92]but her eyes,—

How could he see to do them? Having made one,

Methinks it should have power to steal both his,

And leave itself unfurnish’d. Yet look, how far

The substance of my praise doth wrong this shadow

In underprizing it, so far this shadow

Doth limp behind the substance. Here’s a scroll,

The continent and summary of my fortune.

[Reads] You that choose not by the view,

Chance as fair, and choose as true!

Since this fortune falls to you,

Be content and seek no new.

If you will be pleased with this,

And hold your fortune for your bliss,

Turn you where your lady is,

And claim her with a loving kiss.”

In these scenes of the casket, Shakespeare himself, therefore, is undoubtedly an Emblem writer; and there needs only thewoodcut, or the engraving, to render them as perfect examples of Emblem writing as any that issued from the pens of Alciatus, Symeoni, and Beza. The dramatist may have been sparing in his use of this tempting method of illustration, yet, with the instances before us, we arrive at the conclusion that Shakespeare knew well what Emblems were. And surely he had seen, and in some degree studied, various portions of the Emblem literature which was anterior to, or contemporary with himself.

Cebes,ed.1552. Mottofrom Plate

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