Her voice is stopp'd, her joints forget to bow,
Her eyes are mad that they have wept till now.

Upon his hurt she looks so steadfastly,
That her sight dazzling 190 makes the wound seem three;
And then she reprehends her mangling eye,
That makes more gashes where no breach should be:
His face seems twain, each several limb is doubled;
For oft the eye mistakes, the brain being troubled.

My tongue cannot express my grief for one,
And yet, quoth she, behold two Adons dead!
My sighs are blown away, my salt tears gone,
Mine eyes are turn'd to fire, my heart to lead:
Heavy heart's lead, melt at mine eyes' red fire!
So shall I die by drops of hot desire.

Alas, poor world, what treasure hast thou lost!
What face remains alive that 's worth the viewing?
Whose tongue is music now? what canst thou boast
Of things long since, or anything ensuing?

The flowers 191 are sweet, their colours fresh and trim;
But true-sweet beauty liv'd and died with him.

Bonnet nor veil henceforth no creature wear! 192
Nor sun nor wind will ever strive to kiss you:
Having no fair to lose, you need not fear; 193
The sun doth scorn you, and the wind doth hiss you:
But when Adonis liv'd, sun and sharp air
Lurk'd like two thieves, to rob him of his fair:

And therefore would he put his bonnet on,
Under whose brim the gaudy sun would peep;
The wind would blow it off, and, being gone,
Play with his locks: then would Adonis weep,
And straight, in pity of his tender years,

When he was by, the birds such pleasure took,
That some would sing, some other in their bills
Would bring him mulberries, and ripe-red cherries;
He fed them with his sight, they him with berries.

But this foul, grim, and urchin-snouted 196 boar,
Whose downward eye still looketh for a grave,
Ne'er saw the beauteous livery that he wore;
Witness the entertainment that he gave: 197
If he did see his face, why then, I know,
He thought to kiss him, and hath kill'd him so.

"T is true, 't is true; thus was Adonis slain:
He ran upon the boar with his sharp spear,
Who did not whet 198 his teeth at him again.
But by a kiss thought to persuade him there;
And nuzzling in his flank, the loving swine
Sheath'd, unaware, the tusk in his soft groin.

Had I been tooth'd like him, I must confess,
But he is dead, and never did he bless
With kissing him I should have kill'd him first: 199
My youth with his; the more am I accurst.

With this she falleth in the place she stood,
And stains her face with his congealed blood.

She looks upon his lips, and they are pale:
She takes him by the hand, and that is cold;
She whispers in his ears a heavy tale,
As if they heard the woful words she told;

She lifts the coffer-lids 200 that close his eyes,
Where, lo! two lamps, burnt out, in darkness lies:"

Two glasses, where herself herself beheld
A thousand times, and now no more reflect; 20

They both would strive who first should dry his tears. Their virtue lost, wherein they late excell'd,

To see his face, the lion walk'd along

Behind some hedge, because he would not fear him; 194
To recreate himself when he hath sung, 195
The tiger would be tame, and gently hear him;
If he had spoke, the wolf would leave his prey,
And never fright the silly lamb that day.

When he beheld his shadow in the brook,
The fishes spread on it their golden gills;

And every beauty robb'd of his effect: 203

Wonder of time, quoth she, this is my spite,
That, thou being dead, the day should yet be light.

Since thou art dead, lo! here I prophesy,
Sorrow on love hereafter shall attend:

It shall be waited on with jealousy, 204
Find sweet beginning, but unsavoury end;
Ne'er settled equally, but high or low; 205
That all love's pleasure shall not match his woe.

ältesten Ausgg.; erst die Ausg. von 1600 hat das Richtige. 189) to passion = einen Affect empfinden und äussern. Sh. hat das seltene Verbum auch in Two Gentlemen of Verona (A. 4, Sc. 4) 't was Ariadne passioning For Theseus' perjury and unjust flight. — Vgl. oben Anm. 168. 190) to dazzle = geblende sein, falsch sehen. So in K. Henry VI. Third Part (A. 2, Sc. 1) Dazzle mine eyes, or do I see three sun! 191) Für the flowers vermuthete Malone thy flowers. 192) Niemand braucht von nun an Hut oder Schleir als Schutz gegen Sonne und Wind zu tragen. 193) Aus dem von Sh. hier beabsichtigten Gleichklange von fair = Schönheit, und fear schliesst Malone auf eine damals gleichlautende Aussprache der beiden Wörter. Indest mochte Sh., wie oft bei seinen Reimen, so auch hier bei der Zusammenstellung von fear und fair auf die Genanig keit des Gleichlauts weniger Gewicht legen. 194) to fear = in Schrecken versetzen, erschrecken. 195) Wean Adonis zu seiner eigenen Erholung sang, so wurde der Tiger zahm und hörte ihm freundlich zu. 196) urchinsnouted = mit der Schnauze eines Stachelschweins. 197) Das bezeugt der Empfang, den der Eber dem Adonis erwies. entertainment ist hier ironisch gemeint. 198) did not whet in der ältesten Ausg.; die späteren haben would not whet. 199) So würde ich ihn getödtet haben, ehe der Eber ihn tödtete. 200) Die Augenlider werden mit dem Deckel einer Kiste, vielleicht eines Sarges, verglichen. 201) Vgl. oben Anm. 182. 202) Var now no more reflect ist aus dem vorhergehenden where ein Relativpronomen zu suppliren: zwei Spiegel, in denen sie tausend Mal sich selbst anschaute, die jetzt aber keinen Wiederschein mehr geben, da ihre Kraft verloren ist u. S. W. 203) Und da jede Schönheit dieser Augen ihrer Frucht oder Wirkung beraubt war. 204) Im Gefolge der Liebe wird sich von nun an Argwohn oder Eifersucht befinden. 205) Die Liebe wird nie zwischen Gleichgestellten statthaben, sondern zwischen Hoher und Niedern, so dass sie an dieser Ungleichheit zu Grunde geht.

08) o'erstraw'd, eine ältere Form für o'erstrew'd, die hier des Reims wegen steht. 207) truest sight Blick, der nicht irret, der das Wahre erkennt. Die späteren Ausgg. haben the sharpest sight. 208) Die Liebe a ihren Widersprüchen und Verkehrtheiten soll einerseits zu sparsam und geizig, andererseits zu verschwenderisch nd ausgelassen sein. 209) to tread the measures = eine Menuett tanzen. 210) Die Liebe soll tückisch sein, enn sie sich am freundlichsten erweisen will, und dem Muthigen Bangigkeit, dem Feigling Muth einflössen. 11) to grow unto himself = = an sich selber festzuwachsen, an nichts sonst sich anzuschliessen. ichtung schlägt Venus in Tempest (A. 4, Sc. 1) ein: I met her deity || Cutting the clouds towards Paphos, nd her son || Dove-drawn with her.

LUCRECE

Einleitung.

Shakspere's Lucrece wurde am 9. Mai 1594 in die Register der Buchhändler eingetragen als A bes intitled the Ravy shement of Lucrece, und erschien in demselben Jahre, gedruckt von Richard Fiel dem ersten Verleger von Venus and Adonis, und verlegt von John Harrison, in dessen Verlag zu dersel Zeit auch Venus and Adonis übergegangen war. Wie bei jenem Gedicht findet sich auch bei diesem der X. des Dichters nicht auf dem Titelblatt, sondern am Schlusse der Widmung, welche mit der Ueberschrift ↑ Epistle an denselben Gönner gerichtet ist und so lautet:

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

HENRY WRIOTHESLY,

Earle of Southampton, and Baron of Tichfield.

The love I dedicate to your Lordship is without end: whereof this Pamphlet, without beginning but a superfluous Moity. The warrant I have of your Honourable disposition, not the worth of my tutored Lines, makes it assured of acceptance. What I have done, is yours, what I have to do, is yo being part in all I have devoted yours. Were my worth greater, my duely would shew greater: mt time, as it is, it is bound to your Lordship, to whom I wish long life, still lengthned with all happiness, Your Lordships in all duety,

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.

Dem Gedichte ist eine, höchst wahrscheinlich von unserm Dichter selbst entworfene, Inhaltsanı vorgedruckt: Lucius Tarquinius (for his excessive pride surnamed Superbus), after he had caused his father-inServius Tullius, to be cruelly murdered, and, contrary to the Roman laws and customs, not req ing or staying for the people's suffrages, had possessed himself of the kingdom, went, accompan with his sons and other noblemen of Rome, to besiege Ardea. During which siege, the prin men of the army meeting one evening at the tent of Sextus Tarquinius, the king's son, discourses after supper, every one commended the virtues of his own wife; among whom Co tinus extolled the incomparable chastity of his wife Lucrece. In that pleasant humour they posted to Rome; and intending, by their secret and sudden arrival, to make trial of that wh every one had before avouched, only Collatinus finds his wife (though it were late in the mig spinning amongst her maids: the other ladies were found all dancing and revelling, or in sec disports. Whereupon the noblemen yielded Collatinus the victory, and his wife the fame. Alt time, Sextus Tarquinius being inflamed with Lucrece' beauty, yet smothering his passion for present, departed with the rest back to the camp; from whence he shortly after privily withh himself, and was (according to his estate) royally entertained and lodged by Lucrece at Collars The same night, he treacherously stealeth into her chamber, violently ravished her, and early the morning speeded away. Lucrece, in this lamentable plight, hastily dispatcheth messengers, to Rome for her father, another to the camp for Collatine. They came, the one accompanied w Junius Brutus, the other with Publius Valerius: and finding Lucrece attired in a mourning ho demanded the cause of her sorrow. She first taking an oath of them for her revenge, revealed actor, and whole matter of his dealing, and withal suddenly stabbed herself. Which done, one consent, they all vowed to root out the whole hated family of the Tarquins: and bearing dead body to Rome, Brutus acquainted the people with the doer and manner of the vile deed, a bitter invective against the tyranny of the king: wherewith the people were so moved, that s one consent, and a general acclamation, the Tarquins were all exiled, and the state-governm changed from kings to consuls.

Die nächstfolgenden Ausgaben, sämmtlich in Harrison's Verlage, von 1598, von 1600, von 1607, hai wie die erste den einfachen Titel Lucrece, den erst spätere Ausgaben zu The Rape of Lucrece, selte zu Tarquin and Lucrece erweitern, wie denn auch die meisten Herausgeber das Gedicht als The Rape

Lucrece betiteln, vielleicht weil der fortlaufende Titel über den Seiten der ersten Ausgabe schon so lautet. Von der relativen Correctheit des Textes gilt das in der Einleitung zu Venus and Adonis Bemerkte, nur dass die Varianten zwischen den verschiedenen alten Ausgaben noch geringfügiger erscheinen als bei jenem Gedichte.

Die Zeit der Abfassung lässt sich bei Lucrece mit grösserer Sicherheit bestimmen, als bei Venus and Adonis, indem aus einer Zusammenstellung der beiden Widmungen sich ergiebt, dass die Lucrece erst nach Erscheinung des andern Gedichtes, wenn auch vielleicht schon vorher entworfen, gedichtet sein kann; denn wenn Shakspere in der Widmung zu Venus and Adonis u. A. sagt: and vow to take advantage of all idle hours, till I have honoured you with some graver labour, so kann er damit nur die Lucrece gemeint haben.

FROM the besieged Ardea all in post,
Borne by the trustless wings of false desire,
Lust-breathed Tarquin leaves the Roman host,
And to Collatium bears the lightless fire
Which, in pale embers hid, lurks to aspire,
And girdle with embracing flames the waist
Of Collatine's fair love, Lucrece the chaste.

1

Haply that name of chaste unhappily set
This bateless edge on his keen appetite;
When Collatine unwisely did not let 2
To praise the clear unmatched red and white
Which triumph'd in that sky of his delight;
Where mortal stars, as bright as heaven's beauties,
With pure aspects did him peculiar duties.3

For he the night before, in Tarquin's tent,
Unlock'd the treasure of his happy state;
What priceless wealth the heavens had him lent
In the possession of his beauteous mate;
Reckoning his fortune at such high-proud rate,
That kings might be espoused to more fame, '
But king nor peer 5 to such a peerless dame.

O happiness enjoy'd but of a few!
And, if possess'd, as soon decay'd and done, 6
As is the morning's silver-melting dew
Against the golden splendour of the sun;
An expir'd date, cancell'd ere well bɛgun:7
Honour and beauty, in the owner's arms,
Are weakly fortress'd from a world of harms.

Beauty itself doth of itself persuade
The eyes of men without an orator;
What needeth then apologies be made
To set forth that which is so singular?
Or why is Collatine the publisher

Of that rich jewel he should keep unknown
From thievish ears, 10 because it is his own?

Perchance his boast of Lucrece' sovereignty
Suggested 11 this proud issue of a king;
For by our ears our hearts oft tainted be:
Perchance that envy of so rich a thing,
Braving compare, disdainfully 12 did sting
His high-pitch'd thoughts, that meaner men sho

vaunt

That golden hap which their superiors want.

But some untimely thought did instigate
His all-too-timeless 13 speed, if none of those:
His honour, his affairs, his friends, his state,
Neglected all, with swift intent he goes
To quench the coal which in his liver glows. 14
O'rash-false heat, wrapp'd in repentant cold,
Thy hasty spring 15 still blasts, and ne'er grow
old!

When at Collatium this false lord arriv'd,
Well was he welcom'd by the Roman dame,
Within whose face beauty and virtue striv'd
Which of them both should underprop her fame:
When virtue bragg'd, beauty would blush for shame;

1) Zwischen haply, das bei Sh. durchweg nicht von happily unterschieden wird, und unhappily, wof manche Hgg. unhapp'ly setzen, ist ein Gegensatz beabsichtigt. 2) to let = unterlassen. 3) Die Lucretia selbst wird mit einem Himmel verglichen und ihre Reize mit den Sternen, die ihn schmücken. aspect, von Sh. at. der letzten Sylbe betont, ist die astrologische Bezeichnung für die günstige oder ungünstige Stellung der Gestiree - peculiar = ihm allein gewidmet oder angehörig., 4) d. h. höherem Ruhme, als dem Collatinus zu Theil geworden. espoused, das zuerst in übertragenem Sinne gebraucht wird, steht dann in der folgenden Zeile is eigentlichem Sinne. 5) Für peer der ältesten Ausgg. lesen die späteren prince. - Indess beabsichtigte Sh. offenbar die Zusammenstellung von peer und peerless. 6) Vgl. Venus and Adonis Anm. 135. 7) So die früheren Ausgg.; eine spätere liest A date expir'd and cancell'dˇ ere begun. Der Tropus von einem abgelaufenen Termine und dadurch erfolgter Aufhebung eines Besitzes ist Sh. selbst und seinen poetischen Zeitgenossen sehr ge läufig. 8) Die Schönheit bedarf keines Wortführers, da sie schon hinlänglich durch sich selbst die Angen der Menschen für sich gewinnt oder auf sich zieht. 9) Für apologies liest Malone apology. Es ist damit keine Vertheidigung, sondern eine rednerische Hervorhebung der Schönheit gemeint. 10) from thievish_ears = yet den Ohren der Räuber oder Diebe. So steht in thievish ways in Romeo and Juliet (A. 4, Sc. 1). 11) to sug gest = verlocken, verführen, eigentlich Jemandem böse Gedanken eingeben. 12) disdainfully = mit lagrimm und Uebermuth. 13) untimely und all-too-timeless sind als Synonyme hier zusammengestellt. — if none of those entspricht dem some thought: wenn es keiner von diesen eben genannten Gedanken war, so war es dah irgend ein unzeitiger, unglücklicher Gedanke. 14) Eine heisse Leber ist bei Sh. Symptom entflammender Begierde und glühender Leidenschaft. Die Gluth dieser Kohle verzehrt sich dann in sich selbst, indem sie von aussen der Reue kalt wird. Dasselbe Bild, weiter ausgeführt, findet sich in K. John (A. 4, Sc. 1) There is no malice in this burning coal; || The breath of heaven hath blown his spirit out, || And strew'd repentant ashes on his head. 15) spring ist sowohl = Frühling, als Pflanzensprossen im Frühling. to blast verkommen. nicht zur vollen Entwicklung gelangen. 16) ore in der ältesten Ausg., o'er d. h. over in den späteren Ausgy1,