Shakespeare also alludes to him:—
“Steph. I was the Man in the Moon when time was.
“Caliban. I have seen thee in her, and I do adore thee; my mistress showed me thee, thy dog and bush.”—Tempest, ii., sc. 2.
Also—
“Quince. One must come in with a bush of thorns and a lanthorn, and say he comes to disfigure or to present the person of moonshine.”—Midsummer Night’s Dream, iii., sc. 1.
This bunch of thorns is alluded to by Dante, “Inferno,” canto xx. 124, where the Man in the Moon is spoken of as Cain—
“Ma viene omai: che gia tiene il confine
D’amendue gli emisperi e tocca l’onda
Sotto Sibilia Caino è le spine.”[441]
And again in “Paradiso,” canto ii. 49, speaking of the moon, he asks—
“Ma detemi, che sono i segni bui
Di questi corpo, che laggiuso in terra
Fan di Cain favoleggiare altrui?”[442]
And the annotators of Dante say that Cain was placed in the moon with a bundle of thorns on his back, similar to those he had placed on the altar when he offered to the Lord his unwelcome sacrifice. This Man in the Moon, whether Cain, Jacob, or the Sabbath-breaker, has been celebrated by innumerable songs. Alex. Neckham (recently edited by Mr T. Wright) refers to him from a very ancient ballad, and one of the oldest songs is in the Harl. MSS., 2253, beginning:—