But when he heard Cordelia's death,
Who died indeed for love170
Of her dear father, in whose cause
She did this battle move;
He swooning fell upon her breast,
From whence he never parted:
But on her bosom left his life,175
That was so truly hearted.
The lords and nobles when they saw
The end of these events,
The other sisters unto death
They doomed by consents;180
And being dead, their crowns they left
Unto the next of kin:
Thus have you seen the fall of pride,
And disobedient sin.
FOOTNOTES:
[887] Mrs. Lennox. Shakespeare illustrated, vol. iii. p. 302.
[888] See Jeffery of Monmouth, Holinshed, &c. who relate Leir's history in many respects the same as the ballad.
XVI.
YOUTH AND AGE,
Is found in the little collection of Shakespeare's Sonnets, intitled the Passionate Pilgrime,[889] the greatest part of which seems to relate to the amours of Venus and Adonis, being little effusions of fancy, probably written while he was composing his larger poem on that subject. The following seems intended for the mouth of Venus, weighing the comparative merits of youthful Adonis and aged Vulcan. In the Garland of Good Will it is reprinted, with the addition of four more such stanzas, but evidently written by a meaner pen.