Titus Andronicus, Act ii. Sc. 3.
And—
“It is the bright day that brings forth the adder;
And that craves wary walking.”
Julius Cæsar, Act ii. Sc. 1.
In Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 2, allusion is made to the wonderful vitality which snakes possess, and to the popular notion that they are enabled, when cut in two, to reunite the dissevered portions and recover:—
“We have scotch’d the snake, not kill’d it;
She’ll close and be herself.”
Passing to the insect world, we may well be astonished at the number of species to which Shakespeare has alluded. Although the same attention has not been given to the insects as to the birds, the following have, nevertheless, been noted. Many others, doubtless, have been overlooked.
The Beetle (Macbeth, Act iii. Sc. 2; King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6; Measure for Measure, Act iii. Sc. 1). The Grasshopper (Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 4). The Cricket, (Pericles, Act iii. Introduction; Winter’s Tale, Act ii. Sc. 1; Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 4; Cymbeline, Act ii. Sc. 2). The Glowworm (Hamlet, Act i. Sc. 5); and the Caterpillar (Richard II. Act ii. Sc. 4; Henry VI. Part II. Act iii. Sc. 1; Twelfth Night, Act ii. Sc. 1; Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 1). The Butterfly (Troilus and Cressida, Act iii. Sc. 3; Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act iii. Sc. 1); and Moth (Merchant of Venice, Act ii. Sc. 9; King John, Act iv. Sc. 1). The House-fly (Titus Andronicus, Act iii. Sc. 2). The small Gilded-fly (King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 6). The Blow-fly (Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act v. Sc. 2; Tempest, Act iii. Sc. 1); and the Gad-fly, or Brize (Troilus and Cressida, Act i. Sc. 3). The Grey-coated Gnat (Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 4; Comedy of Errors, Act ii. Sc. 2); the Wasp (Taming of the Shrew, Act ii. Sc. 1; Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act i. Sc. 2; Henry VIII. Act iii. Sc. 2); the Drone (Henry V. Act i. Sc. 2); and the Honey-bee (numerous passages).