A Lover’s Complaint

From off a hill whose concave womb reworded

A plaintful story from a sist’ring vale,
My spirits t’ attend this double voice accorded,
And down I laid to list the sad-tuned tale;
Ere long espied a fickle maid full pale, 5
Tearing of papers, breaking rings a-twain,
Storming her world with sorrow’s wind and rain.

7 sorrow’s] gildon 1714; sorrowes, q

1 concave womb cave or other hollow in the s.v. ‘accorded’ ppl. a. cites Sidney’s
hill. The opening of the poem, with its Defence of Poesie: ‘The Lyric, who with his
discontented narrator and its riverside tuned Lyre, and well accorded voice,
setting, is distinctively the locale of the giveth praise, the reward of virtue, to vir-
complaint mode. There are frequent tuous acts’. This sense is reinforced by
echoes of Spenser’s Ruins of Time (1591) sad-tuned in l. 4.
and of his Prothalamion (1596), on 4 laid to list lay down to listen to. Both verbs
which see MacDonald P. Jackson, ‘Echoes had an archaic flavour by 1609.
of Spenser’s Prothalamion as Evidence 5 fickle The senses offered by OED seem
Against an Early Date for Shakespeare’s A at first unhelpful (‘False, deceitful, treach-
Lover’s Complaint’, NQ 235 (1990), 180–2. erous’; ‘Changeable, changeful, incon-
The inversion of Spenser’s festive river- stant, uncertain, unreliable’), and have
side scene, which anticipates the mar- led editors to gloss as ‘moody’ or ‘fitful’.
riage of the Earl of Worcester’s two Given that the maid is destroying potent
daughters, is as notable as the verbal symbols of sexual fidelity—rings and
echoes: ‘There, in a meadow, by the papers—and given that neither the
river’s side, | A flock of lovely nymphs I reader nor the narrator knows
chauncèd to espy, | All lovely daughters anything of her history at this point,
of the Flood thereby, | With goodly the standard Shakespearian sense
greenish locks all loose untied, | As each ‘inconstant’ is appropriate, although it
had been a bride, | And each one had a implies a judgement which awaits later
little wicker basket, | Made of fine twigs qualification.
entraylèd curiously’, ll. 19–25. 6 a-twain in two. The only other usage in
reworded re-echoed (the only citation for Shakespeare also concerns the violation
OED 2; the word is used in the sense ‘to of a sacred bond: Kent says ‘Such smiling
repeat’ in Hamlet 3.4.134) rogues as these, | Like rats, oft bite the
2 plaintful signals the genre of the poem. A holy cords a-twain | Which are too
‘plaint’ could be a plangent lament, or intrince t’ unloose’, Lear (Folio) 2.2.73–5.
suggest that the complainer had been On a similar use of twain see Sonnet
wronged in law. The adjective occurs 36.1 n.
nowhere else in Shakespeare. 7 Storming . . . rain Sighs and tears become
3 spirits is monosyllabic. elemental storms which assault the maid,
attend listen to; also wait upon as Lear (Quarto), Scene 8.9–10: he
accorded agreed, perhaps with a sugges- ‘Strives in his little world of man to out-
tion that the spirits of the poet are in har- storm | The to-and-fro-conflicting wind
mony with that of the complainer. OED and rain.’

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Upon her head a plaited hive of straw,

Which fortified her visage from the sun,
Whereon the thought might think sometime it saw 10
The carcass of a beauty spent and done:
Time had not scythèd all that youth begun,
Nor youth all quit, but, spite of heaven’s fell rage,
Some beauty peeped through lattice of seared age.
Oft did she heave her napkin to her eyne, 15
Which on it had conceited characters,
Laund’ring the silken figures in the brine
That seasoned woe had pelleted in tears,
And often reading what contents it bears;
As often shrieking undistinguished woe 20
In clamours of all size both high and low.

14 lattice] q (lettice)

8 plaited hive woven straw hat (OED s.v. dered images (the silken figures of the
‘hive’ 5a, first cited usage). Elizabethan next line), which might have a hidden
beehives were often conical and made of significance
straw. The straw hat suggests a pastoral 17 Laund’ring washing with tears. This is the
milieu. first citation of the verb in OED.
9 fortified protected the brine i.e. her salt tears. Cf. All’s
10 the thought might think The doubling Well 1.1.45–6, where tears are ‘the
has a parallel in Merchant 1.1.36–7: ‘Shall best brine a maiden can season her praise
I have the thought | To think on this?’ in’.
Thought is used in OED sense 4c, ‘concep- 18 seasoned (a) matured through time; (b)
tion, imagination, fancy’, as in Lucrece l. salted. Compare Lucrece l. 796.
288. pelleted formed into bullet-like spheres
11 spent and done extinguished and finished. (although a pellet could also be a meat-
On the sexual sense of spent, see Sonnet ball, incongruously evoked by some edi-
4.1 n. tors here). The former is closer to Antony
12 Time . . . begun (a) Time had not destroyed 3.13.168, in which Cleopatra talks of
all of that newly beginning youth; (b) a ‘pelleted storm’.
Time had not destroyed everything which 19 often reading . . . bears The maid repeat-
youth had initiated. edly deciphers the handkerchief ’s conceit-
13 Nor youth all quit nor had youth entirely ed characters which presumably recall her
gone lover. Contents is stressed on the second
heaven’s is monosyllabic. syllable.
fell rage destructive anger 20 undistinguished confused, inarticulate
14 Some beauty . . . age Lattice windows are 21 all size both high and low (a) both
criss-crossed with lead: some remnant of loud and soft; (b) both high- and low-
youth is visible through the wrinkles as pitched. There may also be a suggestion
a face is just visible through a lattice that the complaints are in both a high and
window. Cf. Sonnet 3.11 n. a lower idiom, as size can refer to social
15 napkin handkerchief standing; cf. ‘He hath songs for man
eyne eyes (archaic by 1600) or woman, of all sizes’, Winter’s Tale
16 conceited characters intricately embroi- 4.4.192.

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Sometimes her levelled eyes their carriage ride,

As they did batt’ry to the spheres intend;
Sometime diverted their poor balls are tied
To th’ orbèd earth; sometimes they do extend 25
Their view right on; anon their gazes lend
To every place at once and nowhere fixed,
The mind and sight distractedly commixed.
Her hair, nor loose nor tied in formal plait,
Proclaimed in her a careless hand of pride; 30
For some, untucked, descended her sheaved hat,
Hanging her pale and pinèd cheek beside;
Some in her threaden fillet still did bide,
And true to bondage would not break from thence,
Though slackly braided in loose negligence. 35

A thousand favours from a maund she drew,

Of amber crystal and of beaded jet,
Which one by one she in a river threw,
Upon whose weeping margin she was set,
Like usury applying wet to wet, 40

37 beaded] q (bedded)

22 levelled eyes . . . ride Her eyes are aimed 31 descended is not otherwise recorded in the
like a cannon which rests on a carriage or sense ‘came down below’.
‘wheeled support on which a piece of ord- sheaved is the only citation given in OED
nance is mounted’ (OED 27). (Carriage is for sense 2, ‘made of straw’ (i.e. woven
not used to refer to a wheeled vehicle like a sheaf of straw).
made specifically to carry people before 32 pinèd thin with pining
the eighteenth century.) 33 fillet hair ribbon
23 batt’ry to the spheres a military assault on 34 true to bondage Some of the hair breaks
the unassailable (because immutable) out rebelliously; the rest remains dutifully
spheres in which the planets were in place.
believed to be housed 36 favours gifts from a lover (often ribbons or
24 balls (a) cannon-balls; (b) eyeballs gloves)
28 The mind . . . commixed What is seen maund ‘A wicker or other woven basket
and what is imagined blend madly having a handle or handles’ (OED 1).
together. Cf. Sonnets 114 and 118. Dis- They could be given as love-tokens, as in
tractedly is used twice by Shakespeare Edward Wilkinson’s Thameseidos (1600),
of those who are mad with love, as 1.33–44, in which the Thames carries an
when Viola relates how Olivia ‘did speak elaborately ornamented maund which
in starts, distractedly’, Twelfth Night was originally a love gift from the Ocean
2.2.21. to the nymph Doris.
29 plait This is the only occurrence in 37 beaded jet jet beads
Shakespeare of the noun. 39 weeping The epithet is transferred from
30 careless . . . pride ‘a hand which had no her to the river.
care for pride’; Kerrigan notes that ‘ “a 40 Like usury The tears augment the already
hand whose pride showed itself in care- copious streams of the river as interest
lessness” is not eclipsed’. adds richly to abundant capital.

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Or monarch’s hands that lets not bounty fall

Where want cries ‘some’, but where excess begs all.
Of folded schedules had she many a one,
Which she perused, sighed, tore, and gave the flood,
Cracked many a ring of poesied gold and bone, 45
Bidding them find their sepulchres in mud;
Found yet more letters sadly penned in blood,
With sleided silk feat and affectedly
Enswathed and sealed to curious secrecy.
These often bathed she in her fluxive eyes, 50
And often kissed, and often gave to tear,
Cried ‘O false blood, thou register of lies,
What unapprovèd witness dost thou bear!
Ink would have seemed more black and damnèd here!’

41 monarch’s] q (Monarches); monarchs’ malone (conj. Capell) 42 ‘some’] malone

(italic); some q 47 more] q (mo) 51 gave to tear] q; gave a tear gildon; ’gan to tear
malone^ ^

41–2 Or . . . all like a rich king who will not cially, fancifully. (Opposed to simply or
give any charity where a needy person naturally.)’ (OED 3). Senses 1 and 2 are
cries out for just a little, but who gives found in the work of seventeenth-century
instead to one who is already rich, and dramatists, and ‘affected’ is usually used
who demands everything by Shakespeare to mean ‘in love with’,
43 folded schedules folded pieces of paper but sense 3 is also in play.
containing writing, as in Lucrece l. 1312; 49 Enswathed . . . secrecy wrapped tightly up
presumably here love-letters (OED 1), but and sealed into a state of ingeniously
also often used in the seventeenth century achieved secrecy. This is the first cited
of additions to legal documents, such as usage of enswathed.
codicils to wills (OED 2) 50 fluxive flowing (with tears). The word, of
45 Cracked many a ring as in l. 6. which this is the first cited usage, can also
poesied gold and bone The rings, made of mean ‘mutable’.
gold and ivory, are engraved (like many 51 gave to tear made show of tearing. Most
lovers’ rings in the period) with ‘poesies’ editors adopt Malone’s emendation to
or mottoes. ‘ ’gan’ (began to) on the grounds that
48 sleided silk silk which has been separated ‘gave to’ is not otherwise found in this
into threads. Sleided is an unusual variant sense in Shakespeare. Some interpret Q’s
form of ‘sleaved’, meaning ‘To divide ‘teare’ as an elliptical form of the verb ‘to
(silk) by separation into filaments’. It is weep’.
otherwise used by Shakespeare only in the 52 register record. The word has a legal
archaizing prologue, Pericles Scene 15.21: flavour, which is reinforced by witness.
‘Be ’t when they weaved the sleided silk’. 53 unapprovèd ‘Not demonstrated; un-
feat becomingly, elegantly (archaic by proved’ (first citation for OED 2)
1600) 54 Ink . . . here The papers are signed in
affectedly has a wide range of near- blood, but black ink would have been a
contradictory senses: ‘with true intent; more suitably sinister medium. Contracts
intentionally, sincerely, earnestly’ (OED with the Devil were signed with blood, so
1); ‘affectionately, lovingly’ (OED 2); the letters could be more diabolical than
‘With affectation or studied art; artifi- the woman recognizes.

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This said, in top of rage the lines she rents, 55

Big discontent so breaking their contents.
A reverend man that grazed his cattle nigh,
Sometime a blusterer that the ruffle knew
Of court and city, and had let go by
The swiftest hours observèd as they flew, 60
Towards this afflicted fancy fastly drew,
And, privileged by age, desires to know
In brief the grounds and motives of her woe.
So slides he down upon his grainèd bat,
And comely distant sits he by her side, 65
When he again desires her, being sat,
Her grievance with his hearing to divide;
If that from him there may be aught applied
Which may her suffering ecstasy assuage,
’Tis promised in the charity of age. 70

61 fastly] q; softly conj. Maxwell

55 top of rage in the height of anger 62 privileged given the right to speak with-
rents rends out fear of rebuke. Cf. Kent’s ‘anger hath
56 Big . . . contents Her anger destroys what a privilege’, King Lear (Folio) 2.2.70.
the papers contain. Contents is accented 63 the grounds and motives of her woe the
on the second syllable. causes and emotional sources
58 Sometime a blusterer formerly a braggart 64 slides he . . . bat The old man uses his staff
(first cited usage) (grainèd bat) to move to join the woman.
ruffle ‘Ostentatious bustle or display’ Kerrigan suggests that slides is used in the
(OED 3; first recorded usage in this sense) sense ‘To pass from one place or point to
59–60 had let go by . . . flew who had allowed another with a smooth and continuous
the rapidly passing days of youth to slip movement’ (OED 1a), but ‘down upon’
away, but who had drawn instruction suggests that he may, as old men do, slide
from them (observèd). The reverend man is his hands down his stick in order to sit.
an example of a figure, popular in the Grainèd may mean that the grain of the
period 1590–1610, who has withdrawn wood is visible, or it may be the dialect
from court life in order to retreat into a life word, as OED has it (ppl. a. 3), meaning
of philosophical contemplation. See ‘His ‘Having tines or prongs; forked’. Rustic
golden locks Time hath to silver turned’, long staffs are often made with a forked
in which the Queen’s former champion cleft at the top to help the thumb to grip
Sir Henry Lee bids farewell to court life it. Bat is used of a shepherd’s stick by
and turns to ‘feed on prayers, which are Spenser in Virgil’s Gnat l. 154, and so rein-
Age’s alms’, in John Dowland, First Book forces the pastoral and Spenserian mood
of Songs or Airs (1597), printed in E. H. of the opening.
Fellowes, ed., English Madrigal Verse 65 comely distant at a decent distance
1588–1632, 3rd edn. (Oxford, 1967), 67 Her grievance . . . divide to share her sor-
464–5. row with him, and perhaps to diminish it
61 this afflicted fancy i.e. the woman, who is by sharing
distressed by love-sickness 68 applied administered (like a medicine)
fastly closely; perhaps also ‘rapidly’ (OED 69 suffering ecstasy frenzy of misery. Ecstasy
3), and also suggesting ‘steadfastly; with means being beside oneself, here with
confidence’ (OED 2) misery.

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‘Father,’ she says, ‘Though in me you behold

The injury of many a blasting hour,
Let it not tell your judgement I am old:
Not age, but sorrow over me hath power.
I might as yet have been a spreading flower, 75
Fresh to myself, if I had self-applied
Love to myself, and to no love beside.
‘But woe is me, too early I attended
A youthful suit—it was to gain my grace;
O one by nature’s outwards so commended 80
That maidens’ eyes stuck over all his face.
Love lacked a dwelling and made him her place,
And when in his fair parts she did abide
She was new lodged and newly deified.
‘His browny locks did hang in crookèd curls, 85
And every light occasion of the wind
Upon his lips their silken parcels hurls.
What’s sweet to do, to do will aptly find:

79 suit—it] marked as a parenthesis by MALONE ; ~ ~ q 80 O one] q; Of one malone (conj.

^
Tyrwhitt) 88 will] q; we’ll conj. Delius

71 Father is used as a respectful form of 80 so commended His appearance is like a

address, with, as Kerrigan suggests, con- letter of recommendation which guaran-
fessional overtones. tees his character.
72 injury the wrongful hurts inflicted by 81 That maidens’ . . . face ‘Stick’ in this peri-
blasting ‘blighting, striking with baleful od can mean ‘to linger over’ (OED 6c) or
effect’ and also, interestingly given the ‘to remain in one place’ (OED 6).
damage suffered by the woman’s reputa- Shakespeare talks of eyes ‘sticking’ to
tion, ‘defaming’ (OED 1) their objects usually in contexts which
75 spreading in luxuriant full growth suggest sycophantic adoration, e.g. ‘O
76–7 Fresh . . . beside echoes Sonnet place and greatness, millions of false eyes
94.9–10, as well as the narcissism of the | Are stuck upon thee’, Measure
young man in Sonnet 3. These arguments 4.1.58–9, and ‘The mouths, the tongues,
are transformed when echoed by a vio- the eyes and hearts of men | . . . That
lated woman: the young man’s wish to numberless upon me stuck, as leaves | Do
remain sweet only for his own benefit on the oak’, Timon 4.3.262–5.
becomes a counsel of prudence. 82 Love Venus
79 it was to gain my grace The aim of the suit dwelling permanent place of abode.
was to win her favour, with also an anti- Compare Venus ll. 241–6.
cipatory sense ‘it was in the future to win 85 browny ‘inclining to brown’ (OED). Not
my favour’. otherwise used by Shakespeare.
80 O is emended by some editors to ‘Of ’. Q’s 86 every light occasion on every chance
exclamation is timely, however: as the movement. Light can mean ‘nimble’ (OED
woman first mentions the youth she 15), or ‘wanton, unchaste’ (OED 14b).
breaks off her syntax. 87 their silken parcels i.e. the curls
nature’s outwards external appearance 88 What’s sweet . . . find ‘Things that are
bestowed by nature pleasant will readily find means of being

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Each eye that saw him did enchant the mind,

For on his visage was in little drawn 90
What largeness thinks in paradise was sawn.
‘Small show of man was yet upon his chin:
His phoenix down began but to appear
Like unshorn velvet, on that termless skin,
Whose bare out-bragged the web it seemed to wear; 95
Yet showed his visage by that cost more dear,
And nice affections wavering stood in doubt
If best were as it was, or best without.
‘His qualities were beauteous as his form,
For maiden-tongued he was, and thereof free; 100
Yet if men moved him, was he such a storm
As oft ’twixt May and April is to see,

91 sawn] q; sown conj. Boswell; drawn conj. Lettsom in Dyce 102 May] q; March
oxford

done.’ The curls find a means to kiss the ported by analogy with phraseless in l.
young man’s lips, with a secondary sug- 225.
gestion that everyone rapidly finds an 95–6 Whose bare . . . dear ‘The bare chin
excuse to love him. was more impressively beautiful than
the delicate fabric (the web, or unshorn vel-
90–1 For on his . . . sawn ‘His face is a minia- vet) of the faint trace of beard which it
ture picture of the beauties which the wore; yet none the less his appearance
viewer thinks must have been seen on a seemed even more richly desirable for its
broad canvas in paradise.’ Boswell sug- ornament.’ Cost may, as Mackail sug-
gested that the unusual form sawn meant gests, play on the French côte, ‘silken
‘sown’, and took the phrase as a reference floss’.
to the abundance of vegetation in 97 nice affections (a) people of scrupulous
paradise. discernment; (b) delicate judges who
92 Small show . . . chin i.e. he had scarcely were enamoured of the youth
any beard 98 If best . . . without whether he looked
93 phoenix down incomparably soft down. better with or without a beard
The description is formed by analogy with 99 qualities accomplishments, manners
phrases such as ‘phoenix-feather’ in 100 maiden-tongued ‘soft-spoken like a
which ‘phoenix’ is used adjectivally to woman’ and ‘chaste in language’
imply dazzling uniqueness. free The sense ‘frank, plain-spoken’ is just
94 unshorn velvet The process of finishing emerging in the period. Pejorative senses
velvet involved shaving off loose or long (‘sexually licentious’, ‘seductively garru-
threads to create a nap. Unshorn velvet is lous’) may register.
softer than the finished product. 102 May and April the period of early spring.
termless which had no date given for its Cf. Sonnet 18.3. Oxford reads ‘March and
expiry, hence (like the phoenix) ‘immor- April’. This emendation does not seem
tal’. Since this is the only occurrence of necessary: the inversion of the expected
the word in Shakespeare’s oeuvre it may progression of the months momentarily
be that it means (as OED sense 2 has it) suggests a stormy battle for supremacy
‘Incapable of being expressed by terms; between (’twixt) the incoming May and
inexpressible, indescribable’. This is sup- the outgoing April.

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When winds breathe sweet, unruly though they be.

His rudeness so with his authorized youth
Did livery falseness in a pride of truth. 105

‘Well could he ride, and often men would say

That horse his mettle from his rider takes,
Proud of subjection, noble by the sway,
What rounds, what bounds, what course, what stop
he makes.
And controversy hence a question takes 110
Whether the horse by him became his deed,
Or he his manège by th’ well-doing steed.
‘But quickly on this side the verdict went:
His real habitude gave life and grace
To appertainings and to ornament, 115
107–9 That horse . . . makes] q; marked as direct speech (italic) by malone 112 manège]
wyndham; mannad’g q

104–5 His rudeness . . . truth ‘His unculti- 110 controversy . . . takes The terminology is
vated appeal, combined with the licence drawn from the arts of rhetorical disputa-
accorded to youth, gave a superficial tion: controversiae were formal topics
appearance of fidelity and integrity to his for debate, such as whether Summer
false nature.’ The young man’s appear- is preferable to Winter; quaestiones were
ance of rugged truthfulness was a mere points of dispute, which could be either
livery, or outward show of nobility, which infinite (such as whether it is better to
did not alter his sexual duplicity. Autho- marry or to live single), or finite (such as
rized is accented on the second syllable. whether this person should marry). See
Livery is disyllabic. Wilson, 1. The question whether the
107 That horse . . . takes Horses and riders youth or the steed provided the skill which
also influence each other’s temperament they together display becomes a set topic
in Sonnet 50.5–6. Editors often mark ll. for debate (with the assumption that the
107–9 as direct speech, and take That as a quaestio is intrinsically irresolvable).
demonstrative pronoun. It is quite pos- 112 Or he . . . steed or whether he acquired
sible however that it introduces indirect his exceptional control from the skill of
speech, i.e. ‘a horse takes its mettle’. the horse.
108 by the sway by the young man’s control 113 this side i.e. the first option, that the
109 rounds circuits (as in formal displays of young man was the cause of the horse’s
horsemanship, or manège) excellence
bounds or leaps are the most demanding 114 real habitude probably ‘regal
elements in manège, which Thomas disposition’ rather than ‘true nature’,
Blundeville in The Art of Riding (1593) although real in the sense ‘royal’ (OED
recommends only to those whose horses adj. 1) is not otherwise used by Shake-
are ‘nimble of nature’ (fo. 34r). speare and is nearly obsolete by 1609, and
course ‘The action of running; a run; a habitude is also not otherwise found in
gallop on horseback’ (OED 1). Blundeville his works. On Shakespeare’s rare and
in The Art of Riding advises, ‘see that as carefully weighed uses of ‘real’, see Anne
well in his [the horse’s] turns as courses Barton, Essays, Mainly Shakespearean
he keep always like measure’ (fo. 28v). (Cambridge, 1994), 186–9.
stop ‘In the manège: A sudden check in a 115 To appertainings . . . ornament ‘to mere
horse’s career’ (OED 21a). In equestrian belongings and external embellishments’.
displays this manoeuvre was often exe- This is the only citation of appertainings in
cuted at a specific place in the course. the OED.

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 A Lover’s Complaint

Accomplished in himself, not in his case;

All aids, themselves made fairer by their place,
Came for additions; yet their purposed trim
Pieced not his grace, but were all graced by him.
‘So on the tip of his subduing tongue 120
All kind of arguments and question deep,
All replication prompt and reason strong,
For his advantage still did wake and sleep.
To make the weeper laugh, the laugher weep,
He had the dialect and different skill, 125
Catching all passions in his craft of will;
‘That he did in the general bosom reign
Of young, of old, and sexes both enchanted,
To dwell with him in thoughts, or to remain
In personal duty, following where he haunted. 130

118 Came] sewell; Can q

116 case (a) external dress; (b) accidental them, or slumber if his adversary could
circumstances make use of them.
118 Came for additions presented themselves 125 had the . . . skill he could catch different
to act as improvements to the young idioms and different modes of speech.
man’s natural grace. Q reads ‘Can for Given that the young man is presented as
addicions’, which could mean ‘were effec- a rhetorician, dialect may mean ‘the art of
tive as’, were it not for the fact that the dialectics’ or argumentation (OED 3).
next line says that they were not effective. Thomas Wilson uses the form in his Logic
‘Can’ for ‘came’ is an error also found in of 1553 (fo. 2v): ‘Logic otherwise called
the Folio Macbeth 1.3.96. dialect (for they are both one) is an art to
purposed trim their intention to act as tell the corn from the chaff’.
ornaments 126 Catching all passions . . . will (a) captur-
119 Pieced not did not supplement. To ‘piece’ ing each human emotion in a skilful
is to mend (Schmidt, 1) or to enlarge or display of artistry; (b) winning over
increase (Schmidt, 3). Q’s ‘Peec’d’ could everyone’s feelings in a crafty display of
conceivably be modernized as ‘peised’, control. Craft of will ranges from the artful
hence ‘did not equal in weight’. ‘articulation of volition’ to the potentially
120 subduing conquering negative ‘sly display of sexual desire’.
121 arguments and question deep persuasive 127 general bosom the affections of
proofs and profound debates. Again the everyone
terminology of rhetorical (and forensic) 129–30 to remain | In personal duty This is
debate is in play. the literal alternative to remaining with
122 replication reply, perhaps with a trace of the young man in thought. Personal duty
the legal sense ‘The reply of the plaintiff means ‘service in person’ (OED s.v. ‘per-
to the plea or answer of the defendant, sonal’ 2a: ‘Done, made, performed in
being the third step in common pleadings’ person’), but may suggest also intimate
(OED 3b) service.
123 For his advantage . . . sleep The tech- 130 haunted frequented. The ghostly over-
niques of persuasion are completely sub- tones to the verb are less pronounced in
ject to the young man’s interests, so that this period than they are now. Its inviting
they will spring into action if he needs proximity here to bewitched releases some

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Consents bewitched, ere he desire, have granted,

And dialogued for him what he would say,
Asked their own wills and made their wills obey.
‘Many there were that did his picture get
To serve their eyes, and in it put their mind, 135
Like fools that in th’ imagination set
The goodly objects which abroad they find
Of lands and mansions, theirs in thought assigned,
And labouring in more pleasures to bestow them
Than the true gouty landlord which doth owe them. 140

‘So many have that never touched his hand

Sweetly supposed them mistress of his heart.
My woeful self that did in freedom stand,
And was my own fee-simple (not in part),
What with his art in youth and youth in art 145
Threw my affections in his charmèd power,
Reserved the stalk, and gave him all my flower.
131 Consents] malone; Consent’s q 139 labouring] q; labour oxford (conj. Wyndham)

of the otherworldly potential which sense of assign is active: ‘To transfer or

Shakespeare exploited in Richard II formally make over to another’ (OED 2).
3.2.153–4: ‘How some have been de- 139–40 And labouring . . . owe them
posed, some slain in war, | Some haunted ‘expending more pleasurable energy in
by the ghosts they have deposed’. giving the lands away than the gouty old
landlord who really does own them’.
131 Consents bewitched . . . granted People Bestow may also mean ‘to spend or lay
who have fallen under his spell consent to out’ (Schmidt), or possibly ‘administer’.
his wishes even before he has formulated Owe is an archaic form of ‘own’. Labour-
them. Q reads ‘Consent’s bewitcht, ere he ing is pronounced ‘lab’ring’, and the line
desire haue granted’. This could at a ends with a feminine rhyme.
pinch be glossed ‘Consent is magically 142 them themselves
won even before he has deigned to bestow 144 fee-simple absolute possession. A fee-
his desire on the person who consents’. simple is an absolute right to own a piece
This is the only instance in which Q uses of land without any limitations on the
an apostrophe to mark an elision of ‘is’. It class of heirs who can inherit it, and until
may indicate a compositor’s vain attempt the then owner dies without heirs.
to grasp at sense. (not in part) not in part-ownership
132 dialogued for him have spoken his side of 146 affections primarily OED 3: ‘Feeling as
the conversation on his behalf opposed to reason; passion, lust’; but the
134–5 Many there were . . . mind ‘Many have young man’s control may extend to OED
obtained his portrait in order simply to 4: ‘State of mind generally, mental ten-
look at it, but have come to be obsessed by dency; disposition’.
it.’ charmèd magically attractive
137 objects ‘Things placed before the eyes’ 147 stalk ‘the worthless remnant once the
(OED 3a) flower has been plucked’. OED cites this
abroad in the wide world under 4d ‘coarse slang. A penis, esp. one
138 theirs in thought assigned ‘which they that is erect.’ Cf. Pericles Scene 19.47–8 in
imagine to be their property’. The legal which the Bawd refers to Marina as ‘a

704
 A Lover’s Complaint

‘Yet did I not, as some my equals did,

Demand of him, nor being desirèd yielded;
Finding myself in honour so forbid, 150
With safest distance I mine honour shielded.
Experience for me many bulwarks builded
Of proofs new bleeding, which remained the foil
Of this false jewel and his amorous spoil.
‘But, ah, whoever shunned by precedent 155
The destined ill she must herself assay,
Or forced examples ’gainst her own content
To put the by-passed perils in her way?
Counsel may stop awhile what will not stay;
For when we rage advice is often seen 160
By blunting us to make our wits more keen.

161 wits] q; wills maxwell

rose’: ‘Here comes that which grows to 155 by precedent by following prior exam-
the stalk, never plucked yet, I can assure ples. Many complaints end with an appeal
you.’ that the example of the heroine’s fall will
prevent others from undergoing the same
148 some my equals some social equals of ordeal whilst also including within their
mine. Equals can also (unusually) mean narrative moments which dramatize the
‘of the same age’ in the 1590s (OED B 1c), inadequacy of precedent and example to
although it is not otherwise used by influence conduct. Daniel’s Rosamond
Shakespeare in this sense. sees the engraved image of Io immediate-
149 nor being desirèd yielded ‘nor did I let ly before her fall and bewails that ‘These
him sleep with me the moment I was precedents presented to my view, |
asked’ Wherein the presage of my fall was
150 Finding myself . . . forbid ‘finding that I shown, | Might have forewarned me well
was forbidden by my sense of honour what would ensue, | And others’ harms
from doing so’ have made me shun mine own; | But fate
151 With safest distance i.e. by removing is not prevented, though foreknown’, ll.
myself from his presence. OED gives this 407–11.
as the first citation for 8, ‘Of relations of 156 assay try by experience
personal intercourse: Remoteness in 157–8 Or forced . . . her way? ‘Or who has
intercourse, the opposite of intimacy or ever managed to set past literary exam-
familiarity’. As in l. 237 below, however, ples of the sufferings of other people in
either literal or figurative distance could the way of what she wants?’
be meant. 159 Counsel . . . stay Good advice may cause
152 bulwarks defensive earthworks something to stop for a moment that does
153 proofs new bleeding still-fresh evidence not wish to do so. Stop and stay are effec-
of harm he had done tively synonyms.
foil ‘A thin leaf of some metal placed 160–1 For when . . . keen For the idea that
under a precious stone to increase its bril- delay serves only to stimulate the
liancy’ (OED 5a), with perhaps a momen- appetite, see Sonnet 118. Rage can be used
tary hint of OED ‘foil’ n5 1, a fencer’s of any passionate frenzy, including sexual
sword, or even of ‘foil’ n2 2, ‘a repulse’. desire.

705
 A Lover’s Complaint

‘Nor gives it satisfaction to our blood

That we must curb it upon other’s proof,
To be forbod the sweets that seems so good
For fear of harms that preach in our behoof: 165
O, appetite from judgement stand aloof!
The one a palate hath that needs will taste,
Though reason weep and cry “It is thy last.”
‘For further I could say this man’s untrue,
And knew the patterns of his foul beguiling, 170
Heard where his plants in others’ orchards grew,
Saw how deceits were gilded in his smiling,
Knew vows were ever brokers to defiling,
Thought characters and words merely but art,
And bastards of his foul adulterate heart. 175

169 For further] q; For, father, hudson 1881 (conj. Staunton) 169 this man’s untrue] q (this
mans vntrue); ‘this man’s untrue’ malone (italic)

162 blood the passionate appetites, sexual phe marking the elision of ‘is’ was omit-
desire ted from ‘man’s’ in Q (as the compositor
163 upon other’s proof as a result of precepts took ‘mans’ as a possessive form), but
which have been experienced by someone there are two other omissions of apostro-
else. As in Sonnet 129, proof carries an phes in the poem (‘whats sweet to do’, l.
overtone of ‘to have sexual experience of’. 88, ‘thats to ye sworne’, l. 180), as well as
164 forbod is a recognized form of ‘forbid- the aberrant contraction in ‘Consent’s’ in
den’ in the period, although not other- l. 131.
wise used by Shakespeare. 170 patterns of his foul beguiling instances
seems The singular verb with a plural sub- of his wicked ability to charm and
ject is common in Shakespeare’s English. seduce; and perhaps too the formulae
165 in our behoof for our advantage (patterns) which he used in his seductions
166 stand aloof keep away from 171 his plants . . . grew i.e. he had affairs with
167 The one i.e. the appetite married women as a result of which his
169 For further . . . untrue is usually glossed children were raised as members of other
as ‘I could say more about this man’s sex- men’s families
ual infidelity’. It is more likely, though, 172 gilded glossed speciously over
that it means ‘Not only did I have past 173 Knew vows . . . defiling knew that oaths
examples to guide me, and not only did I of fidelity have always been the agents of
have the voice of Reason warning me sexual defilement. Broker can mean ‘deal-
against him, but (further) I actually had er in second-hand goods’ and convey
knowledge of his conduct which enabled all the condemnation which that still
me to say without doubt “This man is implies, and also (OED 4) ‘a procurer,
untrue.” ’ If glossed in this way (after Mal- pimp, bawd; a pander generally’. Polo-
one’s italics which mark ‘This man’s nius urges Ophelia, ‘Do not believe his
untrue’ as direct speech) the phrase vows, for they are brokers, | Not of that
marks the link between the preceding dye which their investments show, | But
argument, which dismisses literary mere implorators of unholy suits’, Hamlet
examples as powerless to affect human 1.3.127–9.
conduct, and the next, which lists the 174 characters written words (of the kind
woman’s first-hand experience (knew, which the woman has been tearing up)
heard, saw, knew) of the man’s actions. It merely but art nothing more than artifice
does require, however, that an apostro- 175 bastards illegitimate offspring, and so,

706
 A Lover’s Complaint

‘And long upon these terms I held my city,

Till thus he gan besiege me: “Gentle maid,
Have of my suffering youth some feeling pity,
And be not of my holy vows afraid.
That’s to ye sworn to none was ever said, 180
For feasts of love I have been called unto
Till now did ne’er invite nor never woo.
‘ “All my offences that abroad you see
Are errors of the blood, none of the mind:
Love made them not; with acture they may be, 185
Where neither party is nor true nor kind.
They sought their shame that so their shame did find,
And so much less of shame in me remains
By how much of me their reproach contains.
‘ “Among the many that mine eyes have seen, 190
Not one whose flame my heart so much as warmèd,
Or my affection put to th’ smallest teen,
Or any of my leisures ever charmèd:
Harm have I done to them but ne’er was harmèd,
Kept hearts in liveries, but mine own was free, 195
And reigned commanding in his monarchy.
182 woo] dyce 1857 (conj. Capell); vovv q 191 warmèd] q; warm’d malone 194 harmèd]
q; harm’d malone

like the Bastard in K. John and Edmund in young man is inventing legalese terms to
Lear, likely to deceive. obscure a bogus argument.
175 adulterate impure, contaminated, as 186 Where neither . . . kind ‘in cases where
well as ‘adulterous’ neither party in the relationship is faithful
nor loyally familial in their behaviour
176 my city Cf. Lucrece ll. 469 and 1547. towards the other’. This argument
177 gan began to requires the youth to confess that both
178 feeling pity On the association between he and his lovers were unkind and
pity and accepting a lover’s suit, see untrue.
Sonnet 132.4 n. 187 They sought . . . find ‘The women who
180 That’s . . . said ‘that which is sworn to were shamed by me were asking for it.’
you was never uttered to anyone else’ 188–9 And so . . . contains ‘and the more
182 woo Q reads ‘vovv’, which appears to be they reproach me the less I am to blame’
the result of eyeskip from l. 179. 192 teen suffering, hurt. A poeticism,
183 that abroad you see which have become favoured by the archaizing Spenser.
public knowledge 193 leisures periods of leisure. The plural is
185 with acture they may be ‘they may be unusual, but is also found in Timon
held to be simply actions, rather than 2.2.124.
expressions of deliberate volition’ (and so 195 Kept hearts in liveries The hearts of his
may be disregarded). The most probable other lovers were, like feudal retainers,
explanation for the coinage acture (the clothed in livery which showed that they
only cited instance in the OED) is that the were in service.

707
 A Lover’s Complaint

‘ “Look here what tributes wounded fancies sent me

Of pallid pearls and rubies red as blood,
Figuring that they their passions likewise lent me
Of grief and blushes, aptly understood 200
In bloodless white and the encrimsoned mood:
Effects of terror and dear modesty,
Encamped in hearts but fighting outwardly.
‘ “And lo, behold these talents of their hair,
With twisted metal amorously impleached, 205
I have received from many a several fair,
Their kind acceptance weepingly beseeched
With the annexions of fair gems enriched,
And deep-brained sonnets that did amplify
Each stone’s dear nature, worth, and quality. 210

198 pallid] q (palyd); palèd malone 204 talents] q; talons duncan-jones 204 hair] q
(heir) 208 the annexions] malone (conj. Capell); th’ annexions q; th’ annexations oxford

195 free echoes the former freedom of the tokens’. The intertwining of metal and
woman, ll. 143–4. hair makes the tokens costly, and prompts
the image.
197 tributes fits the feudal imagery of the 205 impleached intertwined. This is the first
previous lines: ‘rent or homage paid in cited usage of the verb. The im- prefix
money or an equivalent by a subject to his intensifies the sense of ‘pleached’, or
sovereign or a vassal to his lord’ (OED). woven.
wounded fancies doting women, whose 206 many a several fair many different beau-
imaginations have been wounded by love tiful women
198 pallid Not otherwise used by Shake- 207 Their kind acceptance that I should
speare. Some editors modernize Q’s accept them with affection
‘palyd’ as ‘palèd’. The word ‘pallid’ 208 the annexions the addition (OED 2; first
appears to have been introduced by citation). Q reads ‘th’ annexions’, which
Spenser, a poet to whom A Lover’s Com- produces a metrically defective line. Roe’s
plaint is more deeply indebted than to any suggestion that the word is stressed on the
other. The opening of this poem may echo first and third syllables does not tally with
that of Spenser’s Prothalamion, which other Shakespearian usage: ‘ion’ if disyl-
describes ‘the Violet pallid blew’ in l. 30. labic is usually stressed on the ‘on’ (see
199 Figuring covertly signifying Abbott §479). Wells and Taylor emend to
200 aptly understood appropriately inter- ‘th’annexations’. Elision of ‘the’ before
preted and represented. Understood initial ‘a’ is rare in Q (it occurs only at
applies both to the giver and to the Sonnet 58.3 and here), and so cannot
recipient, who share a private code. readily be attributed to a compositorial
201 encrimsoned mood both ‘the emotional tic. However, Capell’s emendation to the
state (of embarrassment) which turns annexions runs with the normal practice
bright red’, and ‘the red form’ of the ruby. of not eliding before an initial vowel (pro-
Encrimsoned is the first citation of the clitic ‘th’ before a vowel is found on only
form. three other occasions in the poem: ll. 25,
202 Effects manifestations 136, 318), and so is the least obtrusive
203 but fighting outwardly which are only emendation.
pretending outwardly to resist 209 deep-brained ingeniously profound
204 talents are literally units of measure- amplify develop. In classical rhetoric
ment or a coin; here figuratively ‘valuable amplificatio was the art of redescribing an

708
 A Lover’s Complaint

‘ “The diamond? Why, ’twas beautiful and hard,

Whereto his invised properties did tend;
The deep-green em’rald in whose fresh regard
Weak sights their sickly radiance do amend;
The heaven-hued sapphire and the opal blend 215
With objects manifold; each several stone
With wit well-blazoned, smiled or made some moan.
‘ “Lo, all these trophies of affections hot,
Of pensived and subdued desires the tender,
Nature hath charged me that I hoard them not, 220
But yield them up where I myself must render:
That is to you, my origin and ender;

object or action in such a way as to make and opal combine themselves with many
it appear to be as good or as bad as things which are presented to the view’.
possible. See Quintilian 8.4. This presumably refers to the multiple
reflections from the surface of the gems. If
212 Whereto his . . . did tend (a) to which (i.e. blend is a past participle (‘blended’) the
the immediately apparent properties of sense is probably that the opal is a gem
hardness and beauty) the unseen quali- which is blended with an eye-catching
ties of the diamond also contributed; (b) multiplicity of colours. The opal was
to which (beauty and hardness) the as yet widely described as resembling a mixture
unseen moral qualities of the youth of other precious stones: ‘In the Opal you
tended. This secondary sense requires shall see the burning fire of the Carbuncle
that the line be read as an aside by the or Ruby, the glorious purple of the
woman.There are two uncertainties here: Amethyst, the green sea of the Emerald,
his could be either a neuter or a masculine and all glittering together mixed after an
possessive pronoun; and the sense of incredible manner’ (Pliny, ii.614).
invised (for which this is the only citation 217 wit well-blazoned The deep-brained son-
in the OED) is not clear. The word could nets describe the properties and appear-
conceivably also mean ‘seen within’ (as ance of the gems with such vividness that
the sparkle of a diamond is often matched the gems themselves appear to smile or
by an inner almost invisible glow) if his complain.
were taken as a neuter pronoun. 219 Of pensived . . . tender ‘the offerings (ten-
213 in whose fresh regard in looking at the der) of melancholy and humbly repressed
fresh appearance of which desires’. Pensived is not otherwise
214 Weak sights . . . amend The emerald was recorded in OED.
believed to restore the sight: ‘if the sight 220–1 Nature . . . render The young man is
hath been wearied and dimmed by echoing arguments familiar well before
intentive poring upon anything else, the the exhortations in Sonnets 4 and 11 not
beholding of this stone doth refresh and to hoard Nature’s goods by continued vir-
restore it again’, Pliny, ii.611. Sickly radi- ginity; here the wealth which he is offer-
ance refers to the weakening of the eye- ing up is not his own natural qualities but
beams after prolonged study or reading. gems given to him by earlier unhappy
The emerald was supposed to augment lovers. On render, see 126.12 n. Audit, l.
the eye-beam: ‘as they ever send out their 231, also recalls Sonnet 126. The youth in
own rays by little and little, so they enter- this poem is yielding all to his mistress;
tain reciprocally the visual beams of the readers of the preceding sequence would
eye’, Pliny, ii.611. recall that he owes a larger debt to nature.
215 heaven-hued Sapphires are sky-blue. 222 my origin and ender source of my life
215–16 the opal blend| . . . manifold If blend and death
is a verb, then this means ‘the sapphire

709
 A Lover’s Complaint

For these of force must your oblations be,

Since I their altar, you enpatron me.
‘ “O then advance (of yours) that phraseless hand, 225
Whose white weighs down the airy scale of praise.
Take all these similes to your own command,
Hallowed with sighs that burning lungs did raise:
What me, your minister, for you obeys,
Works under you, and to your audit comes 230
Their distract parcels in combinèd sums.
‘ “Lo, this device was sent me from a nun,
Or sister sanctified of holiest note,
Which late her noble suit in court did shun,
Whose rarest havings made the blossoms dote; 235
For she was sought by spirits of richest coat,

228 Hallowed] malone (conj. Capell); Hollowed q 229 me, your minister, for you] collier;
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ q; ~, ~ ~ ~, oxford 233 Or] q; A dyce 1866 (conj. Malone)
^ ^ ^

223 of force of necessity minister’. It seems more likely to be

oblations religious offerings an ellipsis which is clarified in the next
224 Since I . . . me ‘I am the altar on which line.
such offerings are set; you are my patron 230 audit (a) final account (in which the
saint to whom the offerings are made.’ woman is presented as the lord of a
Enpatron is recorded as ‘impatron’ in the household who summons all her agents
OED, and the first citation given is from to reckoning); (b) hearing
1642. 231 distract parcels separate parts. Distract is
225 phraseless which cannot be described in stressed on the first syllable.
words (the only example in OED) 232 device emblematic figure or design (OED
226 Whose white . . . praise whose whiteness 9)
is so perfect that it outweighs all the 233 sanctified of holiest note consecrated as
praise, mere air, that could be lavished one of the most notably holy. Sanctified
on it may indicate that the woman, unlike
227 these similes presumably the com- Isabella in Measure, is not a novice but has
parisons made in the deep-brained sonnets taken her full vows. The gloss which the
228 Hallowed made holy. Q’s ‘Hollowed’ (i.e. young man gives to nun may indicate that
‘hollowèd’) may suggest that the compos- he is correcting himself: nun can mean
itor was thinking of the form ‘hallowèd’, ‘prostitute’, as he realizes and then anx-
used in the Lord’s Prayer, even as he mis- iously tries to put the cat back into the
took the initial vowel. It also may indicate bag.
that he took the suggestion that this airy 234 her noble suit the wooing of her by noble
praise is indeed a little hollow. If Q is cor- courtiers
rect then an improbable image from glass- 235 rarest havings unique qualities
blowing is in play, in which air from blossoms dote both literally, and figura-
burning lungs inflates praise as a blower tively (referring to the courtiers)
his molten glass. 236 spirits men (of noble animation). The
229 What me . . . obeys ‘whatever obeys me, word is monosyllabic.
your servant or priest, also obeys you’. richest coat primarily ‘of the highest
Editors have sometimes added punctua- birth’ (with coat referring to heraldic
tion to the line on the grounds that ‘for coats of arms); also ‘most sumptuously
you’ is better taken as intensifying ‘your attired’

710
 A Lover’s Complaint

But kept cold distance, and did thence remove

To spend her living in eternal love.
‘ “But, O, my sweet, what labour is ’t to leave
The thing we have not, mastering what not strives, 240
Paling the place which did no form receive,
Playing patient sports in unconstrainèd gyves?
She that her fame so to herself contrives
The scars of battle scapeth by the flight,
And makes her absence valiant, not her might. 245

‘ “O pardon me in that my boast is true:

The accident which brought me to her eye
Upon the moment did her force subdue,
And now she would the cagèd cloister fly:
Religious love put out religion’s eye. 250
241 Paling] malone 1790; Playing q; Planing oxford (conj. Capell) 242 unconstrainèd]
gildon 1714; unconstraind q 242 gyves] q (giues)
237 distance See l. 151 and n. text invites such rough treatment. A
238 spend her living waste her life, with a tempting alternative would be‘plaining’
secondary sense of ‘waste her livelihood’ (complaining of the place, or filling the
(on rich gems and tokens). Living in this place with complaint), were the first cita-
sense was an archaism by 1609. tion of the transitive verb in OED not as
240 mastering what not strives ‘overcoming late as it is (1855). The verbal noun is
that which does not resist us’; i.e. it is found in the form ‘playning’ in Richard II
harder to overcome a love for someone 1.3.169 and in Lucrece l. 559.
who is not there than a love for someone 242 unconstrainèd gyves manacles which
who is present and resistant. we put on voluntarily. Cf. Posthumus,
241 Paling enclosing. Two senses are pos- imprisoned by the British: ‘Must I repent,
sible: (a) ‘building a protective barrier | I cannot do it better than in gyves |
around (paling) the heart into which no Desired more than constrained’, Cymbe-
image of a lover (form) now comes’; (b) line 5.5.108–9.
‘embracing the air which holds no physi- 243 She that . . . contrives The self-
cal presence (form) of a lover’. The second imprisoning woman avoids damage to her
alternative is supported by Venus ll. reputation by retiring from the fray into
229–31. The combination of the two sug- herself.
gests that the disappointed lover both tries 245 And makes . . . might ‘and is considered
to insulate her heart against love and valiant because of absence from the fight
vainly hugs the air. ‘Pale’ is used as a verb rather than participation in it’. Compare
in Antony 2.7.67. Q’s ‘Playing’, which the proverb ‘Discretion is the better part of
anticipates the start of the next line, is valour’ (Dent D354).
very likely to be a compositor’s error. 248 Upon the moment instantaneously
Capell’s ‘playning’ (‘smoothing [the place 249 the cagèd cloister the cloister which
on the pillow, or in the heart] which had imprisons her
received no impression’) requires only 250 put out religion’s eye blinded religious
that the compositor missed a tilde above devotion. Cf. Sonnet 31.6. Kerrigan
the ‘y’ of his copy, but yields weak sense, detects a secular inversion of Mark 9: 47:
since ‘plane’ is almost invariably used in ‘And if thine eye cause thee to offend,
the period to describe a process of pluck it out: it is better for thee to go into
smoothing that involves physical modifi- the kingdom of God with one eye, than
cation (destroying trees or shaving the having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire’.
surface of wood), and nothing in the con-

711
 A Lover’s Complaint

Not to be tempted would she be immured,

And now to tempt all liberty procured.
‘ “How mighty then you are, O hear me tell:
The broken bosoms that to me belong
Have emptied all their fountains in my well, 255
And mine I pour your ocean all among.
I strong o’er them, and you o’er me being strong,
Must for your victory us all congest,
As compound love to physic your cold breast.
‘ “My parts had power to charm a sacred nun, 260
Who disciplined, ay, dieted, in grace,
Believed her eyes when they t’ assail begun,
All vows and consecrations giving place.

251 immured] gildon; enur’d q 252 now to tempt all] q; ~, ~ ~, ~ gildon; ~, ~ ~ ~,

malone procured] benson; procure q 260 nun] dyce 1857 (conj. Capell); Sunne q 261
ay] q (I)

251 immured imprisoned, walled in. See quered all my former mistresses, and you
Sonnet84.3–4n.Q reads‘enur’d’. It is pos- have conquered me, the terms of your vic-
sible that she ‘wished to be habituated tory require that we must all combine into
(this is the sense in which Shakespeare one force.’ Cf. Sonnet 31.10–12. Congest,
uses ‘inured’ in Lucrece l. 321) in the art of used here for the only time by
not being tempted’, but the emended ver- Shakespeare, means ‘to collect; to heap
sion provides a more exact antithesis up, to mass’ (OED 1).
between her former imprisonment and 259 compound love a love made up, like a
her subsequent liberty. In Q1 of L.L.L. medicine, of many distinct elements. See
3.1.121 ‘immured’ is spelt ‘emured’, and Sonnet 76.4 n.
the prologue of Troilus l. 8 describes Troy’s to physic to act as a cure for
walls as ‘strong emures’. Consequently a cold unresponsive; but the young man
simple minim error of ‘n’ for ‘m’ is likely plays on the medicinal sense ‘lacking
to have led to Q’s reading. The fact that a in heat and vitality, and so in need of
final ‘d’ is omitted at the end of the follow- physic’
ing line may imply that the copy at this 260 parts attributes
point was hard to read or heavily revised. nun Q reads ‘Sunne’. While the reminder
252 to tempt all liberty procured (a) to assay that the young man’s prime victim was a
all forms of freedom she procured liberty nun seems a shade awkward, nothing in
for herself (taking all as qualifying lib- the context develops the comparison with
erty); (b) to tempt everyone she procured the sun, which would mean presumably
liberty for herself (taking all as the object ‘the brightest luminary of the cloister’
of tempt). The various attempts to punc- (Malone).
tuate the line (see collation) needlessly 261 disciplined . . . grace subjected to the dis-
limit the alternatives which Q offers. Pro- cipline of grace, which implies the morti-
cure had by 1609 acquired the sense (OED fication of the flesh. To diet in this period
5b) ‘To obtain (women) for the gratifica- can mean to subject oneself to any sort of
tion of lust’, a sense activated by the prox- regimen of moral or physical health, as
imity of tempt and liberty (both suggestive well as to restrict one’s intake of food.
of sexual licence). 262 t’ assail to attack (her resolve by present-
256 your ocean all among into the wide ing her with images of the young man)
expanse of your bosom 263 giving place making room, yielding
258 Must for . . . congest ‘Since I have con- ground

712
 A Lover’s Complaint

O most potential love; vow, bond, nor space

In thee hath neither sting, knot, nor confine, 265
For thou art all, and all things else are thine.
‘ “When thou impressest, what are precepts worth
Of stale example? When thou wilt inflame
How coldly those impediments stand forth
Of wealth, of filial fear, law, kindred fame. 270
Love’s arms are peace ’gainst rule, ’gainst sense,
’gainst shame,
And sweetens in the suff’ring pangs it bears
The aloes of all forces, shocks and fears.
‘ “Now all these hearts that do on mine depend,
Feeling it break, with bleeding groans they pine, 275

270 kindred fame] q; ~, ~ benson 271 peace] q; proof malone (conj. Capell)

264 potential powerful confront the power of Love. The reminis-

264–5 vow, bond . . . confine ‘oaths, legal cence of the marriage service may con-
obligations, and physical constrictions do tinue: the lover is too overwhelmed by
not have purchase on the conscience, love to stand forth boldly and declare that
binding power, nor the ability to contain a there are impediments to the union.
person who is in love’. Space here implies 270 filial fear a daughter’s fear of disobeying
physical constriction, sting implies bitterly her father. Filial is disyllabic.
remorseful consequences (OED 5, as in ‘O kindred fame The reputation of the family
death, where is thy sting! O grave where is was thought to be smirched by illegiti-
thy victory? The sting of death is sin: and mate unions. Editors since Benson have
the strength of sin is the law’, 1 Corinthi- often added a comma between kindred and
ans 15: 56–7). fame, but Q’s form probably indicates an
267 thou impressest ‘when you (Love) force uninflected genitive.
someone into your service’. The first cita- 271 peace i.e. capable of subduing even
tion in OED is from 1 Henry IV 1.1.20–1: adversaries as strong as law, reason,
‘under whose blessèd cross | We are and shame into a state of peace. Capell’s
impressèd and engaged to fight’. emendation to ‘proof’ too easily replaces
267–8 precepts . . . example What is the this startlingly compressed image.
value of musty old examples of what is 272 sweetens Love is the subject of the
good and bad? Cf. the woman’s argu- verb.
ments at l. 155. suff’ring pangs suggest the pains of child-
268 wilt implies deliberate volition: when birth, which are so great as to render all
you want to other sufferings insignificant.
269 impediments obstacles. The word is used 273 aloes ‘A drug of nauseous odour, bitter
in the Solemnization of Matrimony in the taste, and purgative qualities, procured
Book of Common Prayer: ‘I require and from the inspissated juice of plants of the
charge you both . . . if either of you know genus Aloe’ (OED 3). Forces, shocks (mili-
any impediment, why ye may not be law- tary assaults), and fears would normally
fully joined together in Matrimony, ye do act as bitter medicinal deterrents, but love
now confess it’. takes their bitterness away.
269 stand forth ‘To step forward (in order to 275 bleeding groans For the notion that sighs
do something, make a speech, face a com- consumed the blood, see 2 Henry VI (Con-
pany, etc.)’ (OED 93a). The impediments tention) 3.2.60–1: ‘Might liquid tears, or
are presented as unenthusiastic soldiers, heart-offending groans, | Or blood-
or as public speakers, who are reluctant to consuming sighs recall his life’.

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And supplicant their sighs to you extend

To leave the batt’ry that you make ’gainst mine,
Lending soft audience to my sweet design,
And credent soul to that strong bonded oath
That shall prefer and undertake my troth.” 280

‘This said his wat’ry eyes he did dismount,

Whose sights till then were levelled on my face,
Each cheek a river running from a fount,
With brinish current downward flowed apace:
O how the channel to the stream gave grace! 285
Who glazed with crystal gate the glowing roses
That flame through water which their hue encloses.
‘O father, what a hell of witchcraft lies
In the small orb of one particular tear?
But with the inundation of the eyes 290
What rocky heart to water will not wear?

276 supplicant a humble petitioner. This is 282 sights . . . were levelled whose gaze was
the first cited usage of the variant form of directed. By 1590 sights could refer to the
‘suppliant’ as an adjective. aiming mechanism of a gun, and level is
277 leave desist often used in descriptions of people taking
batt’ry military assault (continuing the aim. The young man has been gazing like
image of a city under siege from l. 176). a marksman at his prey.
mine i.e. my heart 285 O how . . . grace i.e. the cheeks (the
278 Lending soft audience giving a recep- channel) lend their beauty to the stream
tively mild hearing of tears
279 credent believing, trusting. The first 286–7 Who glazed . . . encloses The tears
recorded usage is also associated with create a glazed barrier (gate) over the red
dangerous gullibility: in Hamlet 1.3.29– roses of the cheeks, which glow out
30 Laertes warns Ophelia: ‘Then weigh like roses through water. Gates made of
what loss your honour may sustain | If transparent crystal are rarities in the
with too credent ear you list his songs’. literature of the period, though, and it is
strong bonded oath an oath which is possible that gate is (as Malone suggested)
attached to a bond, or contract promising a contracted form of ‘begat’. Who would
forfeits for its breach. See Sonnet 87.4 n. then refer to the cheeks, which, glazed
This is the first cited usage of bonded as a with crystal, begot the glowing roses
participle-adjective. Many editors after which shine through the glaze of
Capell hyphenate strong bonded, which tears.
draws the emphasis away from the fact 287 hue See Sonnet 20.7 n.
that this is an oath tied to a legal bond, as 288 father See l. 71 and n.
well as being simply a strong one. hell of witchcraft a mass of wickedly
280 prefer give advancement to bewitching torments
undertake act as surety for (OED 10) 289 particular single, distinct
281 dismount the first citation for OED 8: ‘To 291 to water . . . wear? For the slow erosion of
set, put, or bring down from an elevated stone (suggesting resistant obduracy) to
position; to lower’. There may be a mili- water (suggesting mutability) see e.g.
tary sense, ‘to remove a gun from its Venus l. 200, Lucrece ll. 560, 592, and 959,
mounting’, which is developed in the next and the proverb ‘Constant dropping will
line. wear the stone’ (Dent D618).

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What breast so cold that is not warmèd here?

O cleft effect! Cold modesty, hot wrath,
Both fire from hence and chill extincture hath.
‘For lo, his passion, but an art of craft, 295
Even then resolved my reason into tears.
There my white stole of chastity I daffed,
Shook off my sober guards and civil fears,
Appear to him as he to me appears,
All melting, though our drops this difference bore: 300
His poisoned me, and mine did him restore.
‘In him a plenitude of subtle matter,
Applied to cautels, all strange forms receives,
Of burning blushes, or of weeping water,
Or sounding paleness: and he takes and leaves 305
In either’s aptness as it best deceives,
To blush at speeches rank, to weep at woes,
Or to turn white and sound at tragic shows;

293 O] malone (conj. Capell); Or q

293 O cleft effect! ‘What divided conse- conjunction of teardrops and poison in
quences!’ That is, tears warm the resis- Shakespeare, especially in Cymbeline
tant chill of modesty and chill the heat of 4.2.296–333, and Lear (Folio) 4.6.22–71,
anger. Q reads ‘here, | Or cleft effect,’ in and suggests that medicinal drops may be
which the compositor may have mistaken referred to. Compare Venus l. 1074 and n.
‘h’ for ‘r’. 301 restore ‘To bring (a person or part of the
294 extincture extinction. The form is re- body) back to a healthy or vigorous state’
corded only here. (OED 4c).
295 passion emotion; but also ‘A poem, liter- 302–5 In him . . . paleness The young man
ary composition, or passage marked by possesses a mass of ingenious ability (sub-
deep or strong emotion; a passionate tle matter), which he devotes to trickery
speech or outburst’ (OED 6d), with poten- (cautels), and which takes on a multiplici-
tially a theatrical edge to it, as when in ty of novel and surprising shapes (strange
Dream 5.1.310 Theseus says of Flute play- forms): blushes, weeping, and swooning
ing Thisbe, ‘Here she comes, and her pallor (sounding paleness). Sounding was
passion ends the play’. by 1609 a slightly archaic variant of
art of craft a skilled display of ‘swooning’.
dissembling 305–6 takes and leaves . . . aptness ‘he uses
296 resolved dissolved. The sense ‘resolute, or does not use each device as it best
determined’ is pointedly secondary here. suits’. Aptness is also used of a time-
297 daffed is the first cited usage of the serving suitor in Cymbeline 2.3.46–8:
Shakespearian variant of ‘doffed’, put off. ‘Frame yourself | To orderly solicits, and
298 guards defences be friended | With aptness of the season.’
civil fears the scruples which guarantee 307 speeches rank gross remarks
life in civil society 308 tragic shows events that seem tragic
300 All melting with tears; also continues (rather than ‘theatrical performances’:
the force of resolved from l. 296. the young man extends theatricality into
drops tears. Kerrigan notes the frequent the responses of an audience).

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‘That not a heart which in his level came

Could ’scape the hail of his all-hurting aim, 310
Showing fair nature is both kind and tame;
And, veiled in them, did win whom he would maim.
Against the thing he sought he would exclaim:
When he most burnt in heart-wished luxury
He preached pure maid, and praised cold chastity. 315

‘Thus merely with the garment of a grace

The naked and concealèd fiend he covered,
That th’ unexperient gave the tempter place,
Which like a cherubim above them hovered.
Who, young and simple, would not be so lovered? 320
Ay me, I fell; and yet do question make
What I should do again for such a sake.
‘O that infected moisture of his eye;
O that false fire which in his cheek so glowed;
O that forced thunder from his heart did fly; 325

309 level aim. See ll. 282 n., and Sonnet ‘Shakespeare’s “Sonnets”, “Parthenophil
117.11. and Parthenophe”, and “A Lover’s Com-
310 hail volley of shot. This is the first cited plaint” ’, NQ 217 (1972), 125–6).
usage in this sense. 317 concealèd is proleptic: the naked fiend is
311 Showing fair . . . tame proving that a to be covered by the outward dress of
gentle disposition is generous and sanctity.
tractable. Fair nature implies a necessary 318 unexperient inexperienced people.
relation between ‘beautiful’ and ‘good, This is the first citation of this form in
hence acquiescent’ characters. The OED.
woman has here adopted a typical gave . . . place let him in
argument used by male seducers: that 319 like a cherubim like a guardian angel.
beauty is necessarily accompanied by a Q’s ‘Cherubin’ is Shakespeare’s usual
pitiful susceptibility to the sufferings of a (archaic) form of ‘cherubim’.
lover. Showing implies duplicity. 320 so lovered accept such a man as a lover.
312 veiled in them disguised in the feigned This is the first citation of the form in
passions described in the previous stanza OED.
314 heart-wished luxury the sensual aban- 321 question make pose the question
donment for which he most wished. Luxu- 322 for such a sake for the sake of one like
ry in Shakespeare always implies ‘lust’. him
315 preached pure maid he preached 323–9 O Exclamations of this kind were
chastely. Cf. As You Like It 3.2.209–10: termed ‘ecphonesis’, ‘when through
‘Speak sad brow and true maid.’ affection either of anger, sorrow, glad-
316 merely both ‘only’ and ‘completely’ ness, marvelling, fear, or any such like,
the garment of a grace the outward we break out in voice with an exclama-
appearance of beauty (or sanctity). tion’ (Peacham, sig. K4r). Early readers
Cf. Barnabe Barnes, Parthenophil and might have found it especially hard
Parthenophe Sonnet 49: ‘A fiend which here to distinguish between sorrow and
doth in grace’s garments grath [clothe] gladness.
her’. The same sonnet has parallels 323 infected infectious; morally
with Shakespeare’s Sonnet 119.2 (see contaminated
note, and MacDonald P. Jackson, 325 from that from

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 A Lover’s Complaint

O that sad breath his spongy lungs bestowed;

O all that borrowed motion, seeming owed,
Would yet again betray the fore-betrayed,
And new pervert a reconcilèd maid.’

FINIS.

326 spongy His lungs, like a sponge, can acter string ‘owed’ is invariably monosyl-
squeeze out the sighs stored in them. labic in Q.
Spongy is an epithet widely used of tissue 328 fore-betrayed who had already been
which can absorb fluid or air: see Joshua betrayed
Sylvester’s ‘Hymn of Alms’ (1621), ll. 329 pervert lead astray, corrupt. The verb
55–6: ‘The spongy lungs with gentle sighs was sometimes used of Catholics
inspire | The vital air our little worlds who sought to lead members of the
require’. English Church to Roman Catholicism,
327 borrowed motion, seeming owed that which ties in with the young man’s
feigned emotion which appeared genuine. repeated claims that his love is
Motion primarily means emotion (OED holy.
9a, as in ‘But we have reason to cool our reconcilèd reformed, repentant. OED
raging motions’, Othello 1.3.329–30), but sense 5a of ‘reconcile’ may be germane,
can also mean ‘puppet show’ (as in Win- given that the ‘father’ to whom the con-
ter’s Tale 4.3.95–6). Owed is the archaic fession is made has priestly overtones (he
form of ‘owned’. Although Q reads is a reverend man at l. 57): ‘To bring back,
‘bestowed’ and ‘owed’ a feminine rhyme restore, or readmit to the Church, spec.
on ‘owèd’ is not intended, since the char- the Church of Rome’.

717