Lucio, referring to Angelo, the severe Deputy Duke of Vienna, says:—
“This ungenitured agent will unpeople the province with continency; sparrows must not build in his house, because they are lecherous.”—Measure for Measure, Act iii. Sc. 2.
Iris tells us that Cupid—
“Swears he will shoot no more, but play with sparrows,
And be a boy right out.”
Tempest, Act iv. Sc. 1.
THE FALL OF A SPARROW.
In Troilus and Cressida, as well as in Hamlet, are passages in which it is evident the poet had in his mind the words of Matthew x. 29:—
“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.”
“I will buy nine sparrows for a penny, and his pia mater is not worth the ninth part of a penny.”—Troilus and Cressida, Act ii. Sc. 1.