i.e.—“Than a white swan what is brighter,—than silver, snow, the lily, the privet? Bright faith and bright morals,—and the bright mind of a bright companion. That thou of good morals, O Schedius Melissus, dost possess snow-like faith, and the bright mind of an uncorrupted companion;—that (thou art) more fair than the snowy privet,—more blessed than the snowy silver,—more fragrant than the white lilies,—more comely than the little bright swans,—the snowy swan on thy arms doth teach: a swan handsome with white lilies, encircled as to its features with the laurel of Phœbus; a swan brighter than the white privet,—more precious than the blessed silver; to which cannot be equalled the comeliness of ivory, or of gold; nor the worth and the splendour of a beautiful gem: and if in the world there is any thing more beautiful still.”
To a short, but very learned dissertation on the subject, and to the device of a swan on a tomb, in his work, De Volatilibus, edition 1595, Emb. 23, Joachim Camerarius affixes the motto, “Sibi canit et orbi,”—It sings for itself and for the world,—
“Ipsa suam celebrat sibi mens bene conscia mortem,
Vt solet herbiferum Cygnus ad Eridanum.”
i.e.—“The mind conscious of good celebrates its own death for itself; as the swan is accustomed to do on the banks of the grassy Eridanus.”[[121]]
Shakespeare’s expressions, however, as to the swan, correspond more closely with the stanzas of Alciat (edition Lyons, 1551, p. 197) which are contained in the woodcut on next page.
Whitney (p. 126) adopts the same ideas, but enlarges upon them, and brings out a clearer moral interpretation, fortifying himself with quotations from Ovid, Reusner, and Horace,—
“The Martiall Captaines ofte, do marche into the fielde,
With Egles, or with Griphins fierce, or Dragons, in theire shielde.
But Phœbus sacred birde, let Poëttes moste commende.