"... and then my state,
(Like to the lark, at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate."
Shakspeare's 29th Sonnet.
"The larke that left her food, her nest, her yong,
And early mounting, first with her sweet song
Saluted heaven."
Niccolls's London Artillery, 1616, 4to.
"And the lark from out the furrow,
Soars upright on matin wings,
And at the gate of heaven sings."
Penshurst. In Dodsley's collection, vol. iv.
Scene 4. Page 88.
Iach. The roof o' the chamber
With golden cherubims is fretted; her andirons
(I had forgot them) were two winking Cupids
Of silver, each on one foot standing, nicely
Depending on their brands.
Mr. Steevens calls the golden cherubims a tawdry image, and proceeds, justly enough, to ridicule an idle representation of the heavenly choirs; but the poet must be cleared from any imputation of blame. He is not accountable for the fashions or follies of his age, and has, in this instance, given a faithful description of the mode in which the rooms in great houses were sometimes ornamented. That brands were those parts of the andirons which supported the wood, according to Mr. Whalley, remains to be proved. The Cupids would not lean or hang over these bars, but rather stand with their faces turned from them, and opposite to the spectator. The brands are more likely to have been the inverted torches mentioned by Mr. Steevens.
Scene 5. Page 94.
Post. Me of my lawful pleasure she restrain'd,
And pray'd me, oft, forbearance: did it
With a pudency so rosy, &c.
A useless note on this speech, which would make our poet equally vulgar and obscene, when he was expressing a sentiment of the most refined delicacy, may be well dispensed with in any future edition.