Page:Love's Labour's Lost (1925) Yale.djvu/60

48

Nath. Ay, sir, and very learned.

Hol. Let me hear a staff, a stanze, a verse:

lege, domine.

Nath. 'If love make me forsworn, how shall I swear to love?

Ah! never faith could hold, if not to beauty vow'd;

Though to myself forsworn, to thee I'll faithful prove;

Those thoughts to me were oaks, to thee like osiers bow'd.

Study his bias leaves and makes his book thine eyes,

Where all those pleasures live that art would comprehend:

If knowledge be the mark, to know thee shall suffice.

Well learned is that tongue that well can thee commend;

All ignorant that soul that sees thee without wonder;

Which is to me some praise, that I thy parts admire.

Thy eye Jove's lightning bears, thy voice his dreadful thunder,

Which, not to anger bent, is music and sweet fire.

Celestial as thou art, O pardon love this wrong,

That sings heaven’s praise with such an earthly tongue!'

Hol. You find not the apostrophas, and so

miss the accent: let me supervise the canzonet.

Here are only numbers ratified; but, for the

elegancy, facility, and golden cadence of poesy,

caret. Ovidius Naso was the man: and why,

indeed, Naso, but for smelling out the odori-

 109 lege, domine: read, master

114 his bias: i.e. its natural tendency

124 apostrophas: apostrophes; cf. n.

126 numbers ratified; cf. n.

128 caret: it is wanting

129 Naso: from 'nasus,' nose

