The Anatomy of Melancholy Part 66

"Candida Leucothoe placet, et placet atra Melaene, Sed Galatea placet longe magis omnibus una."

"Fair Leucothe, black Melene please me well, But Galatea doth by odds the rest excel."

All the gracious elogies, metaphors, hyperbolical comparisons of the best things in the world, the most glorious names; whatsoever, I say, is pleasant, amiable, sweet, grateful, and delicious, are too little for her.

"Phoebo pulchrior et sorore Phoebi."

"His Phoebe is so fair, she is so bright, She dims the sun's l.u.s.tre, and the moon's light."

Stars, sun, moons, metals, sweet-smelling flowers, odours, perfumes, colours, gold, silver, ivory, pearls, precious stones, snow, painted birds, doves, honey, sugar, spice, cannot express her, [5401]so soft, so tender, so radiant, sweet, so fair is she.--_Mollior cuniculi capillo_, &c.

[5402] "Lydia bella, puelia candida, Quae bene superas lac, et lilium, Albamque simul rosam et rubicundam, Et expolitum ebur Indic.u.m."

"Fine Lydia, my mistress, white and fair, The milk, the lily do not thee come near; The rose so white, the rose so red to see, And Indian ivory comes short of thee."

Such a description our English Homer makes of a fair lady

[5403] _That Emilia that was fairer to seen, Then is lily upon the stalk green: And fresher then May with flowers new, For with the rose colour strove her hue, I no't which was the fairer of the two_.

In this very phrase [5404]Polyphemus courts Galatea:

"Candidior folio nivei Galatea ligustri, Floridior prato, longa procerior alno, Splendidior vitro, tenero lascivior haedo, &c.

Mollior et cygni plumis, et lacte coacto."

"Whiter Galet than the white withie-wind, Fresher than a field, higher than a tree, Brighter than gla.s.s, more wanton than a kid, Softer than swan's down, or ought that may be."

So she admires him again, in that conceited dialogue of Lucian, which John Secundus, an elegant Dutch modern poet, hath translated into verse. When Doris and those other sea nymphs upbraided her with her ugly misshapen lover, Polyphemus; she replies, they speak out of envy and malice,

[5405] "Et plane invidia huc mera vos stimulare videtur.

Quod non vos itidem ut me Polyphemus amet;"

Say what they could, he was a proper man. And as Heloise writ to her sweetheart Peter Abelard, _Si me Augustus...o...b..s imperator uxorem expeteret, mallem tua esse meretrix quam orbis imperatrix_; she had rather be his va.s.sal, his quean, than the world's empress or queen.--_non si me Jupiter ipse forte velit_,--she would not change her love for Jupiter himself.

To thy thinking she is a most loathsome creature; and as when a country fellow discommended once that exquisite picture of Helen, made by Zeuxis, [5406]for he saw no such beauty in it; Nichomachus a lovesick spectator replied, _Sume tibi meos oculos et deam existimabis_, take mine eyes, and thou wilt think she is a G.o.ddess, dote on her forthwith, count all her vices virtues; her imperfections infirmities, absolute and perfect: if she be flat-nosed, she is lovely; if hook-nosed, kingly; if dwarfish and little, pretty; if tall, proper and man-like, our brave British Boadicea; if crooked, wise; if monstrous, comely; her defects are no defects at all, she hath no deformities. _Immo nec ipsum amicae stercus foetet_, though she be nasty, fulsome, as Sostratus' b.i.t.c.h, or Parmeno's sow; thou hadst as live have a snake in thy bosom, a toad in thy dish, and callest her witch, devil, hag, with all the filthy names thou canst invent; he admires her on the other side, she is his idol, lady, mistress, [5407]venerilla, queen, the quintessence of beauty, an angel, a star, a G.o.ddess.

"Thou art my Vesta, thou my G.o.ddess art, Thy hallowed temple only is my heart."

The fragrancy of a thousand courtesans is in her face: [5408]_Nec pulchrae effigies, haec Cypridis aut Stratonices_; 'tis not Venus' picture that, nor the Spanish infanta's, as you suppose (good sir), no princess, or king's daughter: no, no, but his divine mistress, forsooth, his dainty Dulcinia, his dear Antiphila, to whose service he is wholly consecrate, whom he alone adores.

[5409] "Cui comparatus indecens erit pavo, Inamabilis sciurus, et frequens Phoenix."

"To whom conferr'd a peac.o.c.k's indecent, A squirrel's harsh, a phoenix too frequent."

All the graces, veneries, elegancies, pleasures, attend her. He prefers her before a myriad of court ladies.

[5410] "He that commends Phillis or Neraea, Or Amaryllis, or Galatea, t.i.tyrus or Melibea, by your leave, Let him be mute, his love the praises have."

Nay, before all the G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses themselves. So [5411]Quintus Catullus admired his squint-eyed friend Roscius.

"Pace mihi liceat (Coelestes) dicere vestra, Mortalis visus pulchrior esse Deo."

"By your leave gentle G.o.ds, this I'll say true, There's none of you that have so fair a hue."

All the bombast epithets, pathetical adjuncts, incomparably fair, curiously neat, divine, sweet, dainty, delicious, &c., pretty diminutives, _corculum, suaviolum_, &c. pleasant names may be invented, bird, mouse, lamb, puss, pigeon, pigsney, kid, honey, love, dove, chicken, &c. he puts on her.

[5412] "Meum mel, mea suavitas, meum cor, Meum suaviolum, mei lepores,"

"my life, my light, my jewel, my glory," [5413]_Margareta speciosa, cujus respectu omnia mundi pretiosa sordent_, my sweet Margaret, my sole delight and darling. And as [5414]Rhodomant courted Isabella:

"By all kind words and gestures that he might, He calls her his dear heart, his sole beloved, His joyful comfort, and his sweet delight.

His mistress, and his G.o.ddess, and such names, As loving knights apply to lovely dames."

Every cloth she wears, every fas.h.i.+on pleaseth him above measure; her hand, _O quales digitos, quos habet illa ma.n.u.s!_ pretty foot, pretty coronets, her sweet carriage, sweet voice, tone, O that pretty tone, her divine and lovely looks, her every thing, lovely, sweet, amiable, and pretty, pretty, pretty. Her very name (let it be what it will) is a most pretty, pleasing name; I believe now there is some secret power and virtue in names, every action, sight, habit, gesture; he admires, whether she play, sing, or dance, in what tires soever she goeth, how excellent it was, how well it became her, never the like seen or heard. [5415]_Mille habet ornatus, mille decenter habet._ Let her wear what she will, do what she will, say what she will, [5416]_Quicquid enim dicit, seu facit, omne decet_. He applauds and admires everything she wears, saith or doth,

[5417] "Illam quicquid agit, quoquo vestigia vert.i.t, Composuit furtim subsequiturque decor; Seu solvit crines, fusis decet esse capillis, Seu compsit, comptis est reverenda comis."

"Whate'er she doth, or whither e'er she go, A sweet and pleasing grace attends forsooth; Or loose, or bind her hair, or comb it up, She's to be honoured in what she doth."

[5418]_Vestem induitur, formosa est: exuitur, tota forma est_, let her be dressed or undressed, all is one, she is excellent still, beautiful, fair, and lovely to behold. Women do as much by men; nay more, far fonder, weaker, and that by many parasangs. "Come to me my dear Lycias," (saith Musaeus in [5419]Aristaenetus) "come quickly sweetheart, all other men are satyrs, mere clowns, blockheads to thee, n.o.body to thee." Thy looks, words, gestures, actions, &c., "are incomparably beyond all others." Venus was never so much besotted on her Adonis, Phaedra so delighted in Hippolitus, Ariadne in Theseus, Thisbe in her Pyramus, as she is enamoured on her Mopsus.

"Be thou the marigold, and I will be the sun, Be thou the friar, and I will be the nun."

I could repeat centuries of such. Now tell me what greater dotage or blindness can there be than this in both s.e.xes? and yet their slavery is more eminent, a greater sign of their folly than the rest.

They are commonly slaves, captives, voluntary servants, _Amator amicae mancipium_, as [5420]Castilio terms him, his mistress' servant, her drudge, prisoner, bondman, what not? "He composeth himself wholly to her affections to please her, and, as Aemelia said, makes himself her lackey. All his cares, actions, all his thoughts, are subordinate to her will and commandment:" her most devote, obsequious, affectionate servant and va.s.sal.

"For love" (as [5421]Cyrus in Xenophon well observed) "is a mere tyranny, worse than any disease, and they that are troubled with it desire to be free and cannot, but are harder bound than if they were in iron chains."

What greater captivity or slavery can there be (as [5422]Tully expostulates) than to be in love? "Is he a free man over whom a woman domineers, to whom she prescribes laws, commands, forbids what she will herself; that dares deny nothing she demands; she asks, he gives; she calls, he comes; she threatens, he fears; _Nequissimum hunc servum puto_, I account this man a very drudge." And as he follows it, [5423]"Is this no small servitude for an enamourite to be every hour combing his head, stiffening his beard, perfuming his hair, was.h.i.+ng his face with sweet water, painting, curling, and not to come abroad but sprucely crowned, decked, and apparelled?" Yet these are but toys in respect, to go to the barber, baths, theatres, &c., he must attend upon her wherever she goes, run along the streets by her doors and windows to see her, take all opportunities, sleeveless errands, disguise, counterfeit shapes, and as many forms as Jupiter himself ever took; and come every day to her house (as he will surely do if he be truly enamoured) and offer her service, and follow her up and down from room to room, as Lucretia's suitors did, he cannot contain himself but he will do it, he must and will be where she is, sit next her, still talking with her. [5424]"If I did but let my glove fall by chance," (as the said Aretine's Lucretia brags,) "I had one of my suitors, nay two or three at once ready to stoop and take it up, and kiss it, and with a low conge deliver it unto me; if I would walk, another was ready to sustain me by the arm. A third to provide fruits, pears, plums, cherries, or whatsoever I would eat or drink." All this and much more he doth in her presence, and when he comes home, as Troilus to his Cressida, 'tis all his meditation to recount with himself his actions, words, gestures, what entertainment he had, how kindly she used him in such a place, how she smiled, how she graced him, and that infinitely pleased him; and then he breaks out, O sweet Areusa, O my dearest Antiphila, O most divine looks, O lovely graces, and thereupon instantly he makes an epigram, or a sonnet to five or seven tunes, in her commendation, or else he ruminates how she rejected his service, denied him a kiss, disgraced him, &c., and that as effectually torments him. And these are his exercises between comb and gla.s.s, madrigals, elegies, &c., these his cogitations till he see her again. But all this is easy and gentle, and the least part of his labour and bondage, no hunter will take such pains for his game, fowler for his sport, or soldier to sack a city, as he will for his mistress'

favour.

[5425] "Ipsa comes veniam, neque me salebrosa movebunt Saxa, nec obliquo dente timendus aper."

As Phaedra to Hippolitus. No danger shall affright, for if that be true the poets feign, Love is the son of Mars and Venus; as he hath delights, pleasures, elegances from his mother, so hath he hardness, valour, and boldness from his father. And 'tis true that Bernard hath; _Amore nihil mollius, nihil volentius_, nothing so boisterous, nothing so tender as love. If once, therefore, enamoured, he will go, run, ride many a mile to meet her, day and night, in a very dark night, endure scorching heat, cold, wait in frost and snow, rain, tempest, till his teeth chatter in his head, those northern winds and showers cannot cool or quench his flame of love.

_Intempesta nocte non deterretur_, he will, take my word, sustain hunger, thirst, _Penetrabit omnia, perrumpet omnia_, "love will find out a way,"

through thick and thin he will to her, _Expeditissimi montes videntur omnes tranabiles_, he will swim through an ocean, ride post over the Alps, Apennines, or Pyrenean hills,

[5426] "Ignem marisque fluctus, atque turbines Venti paratus est transire,"------

though it rain daggers with their points downward, light or dark, all is one: (_Roscida per tenebras Faunus ad antra venit_), for her sweet sake he will undertake Hercules's twelve labours, endure, hazard, &c., he feels it not. [5427]"What shall I say," saith Haedus, "of their great dangers they undergo, single combats they undertake, how they will venture their lives, creep in at windows, gutters, climb over walls to come to their sweethearts," (anointing the doors and hinges with oil, because they should not creak, tread soft, swim, wade, watch, &c.), "and if they be surprised, leap out at windows, cast themselves headlong down, bruising or breaking their legs or arms, and sometimes loosing life itself," as Calisto did for his lovely Melibaea. Hear some of their own confessions, protestations, complaints, proffers, expostulations, wishes, brutish attempts, labours in this kind. Hercules served Omphale, put on an ap.r.o.n, took a distaff and spun; Thraso the soldier was so submissive to Thais, that he was resolved to do whatever she enjoined. [5428]_Ego me Thaidi dedam; et faciam quod jubet_, I am at her service. Philostratus in an epistle to his mistress, [5429]"I am ready to die sweetheart if it be thy will; allay his thirst whom thy star hath scorched and undone, the fountains and rivers deny no man drink that comes; the fountain doth not say thou shalt not drink, nor the apple thou shalt not eat, nor the fair meadow walk not in me, but thou alone wilt not let me come near thee, or see thee, contemned and despised I die for grief." Polienus, when his mistress Circe did but frown upon him in Petronius, drew his sword, and bade her [5430]kill, stab, or whip him to death, he would strip himself naked, and not resist. Another will take a journey to j.a.pan, _Longae navigationis molestis non curans_: a third (if she say it) will not speak a word for a twelvemonth's s.p.a.ce, her command shall be most inviolably kept: a fourth will take Hercules's club from him, and with that centurion in the Spanish [5431]Caelestina, will kill ten men for his mistress Areusa, for a word of her mouth he will cut bucklers in two like pippins, and flap down men like flies, _Elige quo mortis genere illum occidi cupis_? [5432]Galeatus of Mantua did a little more: for when he was almost mad for love of a fair maid in the city, she, to try him belike what he would do for her sake, bade him in jest leap into the river Po if he loved her; he forthwith did leap headlong off the bridge and was drowned. Another at Ficinum in like pa.s.sion, when his mistress by chance (thinking no harm I dare swear) bade him go hang, the next night at her doors hanged himself. [5433]"Money" (saith Xenophon) "is a very acceptable and welcome guest, yet I had rather give it my dear Clinia than take it of others, I had rather serve him than command others, I had rather be his drudge than take my ease, undergo any danger for his sake than live in security. For I had rather see Clinia than all the world besides, and had rather want the sight of all other things than him alone; I am angry with the night and sleep that I may not see him, and thank the light and sun because they show me my Clinia; I will run into the fire for his sake, and if you did but see him, I know that you likewise would run with me." So Philostratus to his mistress, [5434]"Command me what you will, I will do it; bid me go to sea, I am gone in an instant, take so many stripes, I am ready, run through the fire, and lay down my life and soul at thy feet, 'tis done." So did. Aeolus to Juno.

------"Tuus o regina quod optas Explorare labor, mihi jussa capescere fas est."

"O queen it is thy pains to enjoin me still, And I am bound to execute thy will."

And Phaedra to Hippolitus,

"Me vel sororem Hippolite aut famulam voca, Famulamque potius, omne servitium feram."

"O call me sister, call me servant, choose, Or rather servant, I am thine to use."