Shakespeare, William · published 1623 · first performed or written 1596 [1594-1596] (Annals) comedy · Lord Chamberlain's (Hunsdon's) Men T21 Cupid, Venus and the nymphs typicality 0.86 · 483 words · other edition — not in the analysis
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T21: cupid, venus, love, ceres, diana, fair, nymphs, goddess, bow, damon.
That very time I say (but thou couldst not) Flying between the cold Moon and the earth, Cupid all armed; a certain aim he took At a fair Vestal, throned by the West, And loosed his love-shaft smartly from his bow, As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts, But I might see young Cupid's fiery shaft Quenched in the chaste beams of the watery Moon; And the imperial Votress passed on, In maiden meditation, fancy free. Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell. It fell upon a little western flower; Before, milk-white; now purple with love's wound, And maidens call it, Love in idleness. Fetch me that flower; the herb I showed thee once, The juice of it, on sleeping eyelids laid, Will make or man or woman madly dote Upon the next live creature that it sees. Fetch me this herb, and be thou here again, Ere the Leviathan can swim a league. I'll put a girdle about the earth, in forty minutes. Having once this juice, I'll watch Titania, when she is asleep, And drop the liquor of it in her eyes: The next thing when she waking looks upon, (Be it on Lion, Bear, or Wolf, or Bull, On meddling Monkey, or on busy Ape) She shall pursue it, with the soul of love. And ere I take this charm off from her sight, (As I can take it with another herb) I'll make her render up her Page to me. But who comes here? I am invisible, And I will overhear their conference. I love thee not, therefore pursue me not, Where is Lysander, and fair Hermia? The one I'll stay, the other stayeth me. Thou toldst me they were stolen into this wood; And here am I, and wood within this wood, Because I cannot meet my Hermia. Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more. You draw me, you hardhearted Adamant, But yet you draw not Iron, for my heart Is true as steel. Leave you your power to draw, And I shall have no power to follow you. Do I entice you? do I speak you fair? Or rather do I not in plainest truth, Tell you I do not, nor I cannot love you? And even for that do I love thee the more; I am your spaniel, and Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you. Use me but as your spaniel; spurn me, strike me, Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave (Unworthy as I am) to follow you. What worse place can I beg in your love, (And yet a place of high respect with me) Then to be used as you do your dog. Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit, For I am sick when I do look on thee. And I am sick when I look not on you.
Other edition — placed after the fit, excluded from the main statistics
Position
nodes 450–508 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 9 of 33 in this edition
Length
483 words · 635 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T21 — Cupid, Venus and the nymphscross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.862 (cosine to the topic centroid) · placed after the fit (approximate_predict), not counted in the topic statistics
Other seeds
seed 43: T21 · seed 44: T24 — topic numbers are assigned independently in each run; equal or different numbers say nothing by themselves
Original spelling (EEBO-TCP, unregularized)
That very time I ſay (but thou couldſt not) Flying betweene the cold Moone and the earth, Cupid all arm'd; a certaine aime he tooke At a faire Veſtall, throned by the Weſt, And loos'd his loue-ſhaft ſmartly from his bow, As it ſhould pierce a hundred thouſand hearts, But I might ſee young Cupids fiery ſhaft Quencht in the chaſte beames of the watry Moone; And the imperiall Votreſſe paſſed on, In maiden meditation, fancy free. Yet markt I where the bolt of Cupid fell. It fell vpon a little weſterne flower; Before, milke-white; now purple with loues wound, And maidens call it, Loue in idleneſſe. Fetch me that flower; the hearb I ſhew'd thee once, The iuyce of it, on ſleeping eye-lids laid, Will make or man or woman madly dote Vpon the next liue creature that it ſees. Fetch me this hearbe, and be thou heere againe, Ere the Leuiathan can ſwim a league. Ile put a girdle about the earth, in forty minutes. Hauing once this iuyce, Ile watch Titania, when ſhe is aſleepe, And drop the liquor of it in her eyes: The next thing when ſhe waking lookes vpon, (Be it on Lyon, Beare, or Wolfe, or Bull, On medling Monkey, or on buſie Ape) Shee ſhall purſue it, with the ſoule of loue. And ere I take this charme off from her ſight, (As I can take it with another hearbe) Ile make her render vp her Page to me. But who comes heere? I am inuiſible, And I will ouer-heare their conference. I loue thee not, therefore purſue me not, Where is Lyſander, and faire Hermia? The one Ile ſtay, the other ſtayeth me. Thou toldſt me they were ſtolne into this wood; And heere am I, and wood within this wood, Becauſe I cannot meet my Hermia. Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more. You draw me, you hard-hearted Adamant, But yet you draw not Iron, for my heart Is true as ſteele. Leaue you your power to draw, And I ſhall haue no power to follow you. Do I entice you? do I ſpeake you faire? Or rather doe I not in plaineſt truth, Tell you I doe not, nor I cannot loue you? And euen for that doe I loue thee the more; I am your ſpaniell, and Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawne on you. Vſe me but as your ſpaniell; ſpurne me, ſtrike me, Neglect me, loſe me; onely giue me leaue (Vnworthy as I am) to follow you. What worſer place can I beg in your loue, (And yet a place of high reſpect with me) Then to be vſed as you doe your dogge. Tempt not too much the hatred of my ſpirit, For I am ſicke when I do looke on thee. And I am ſicke when I looke not on you.