_
Probably
'I say
nothing libellous as to the way in which this or that rich man has
acquired his wealth'.
nothing libellous as to the way in which this or that rich man has
acquired his wealth'.
John Donne
'If your Horse
. . . grow to a loath of his meat. ' Topsell (1607). A self-accusing
loath may mean a hatred, e. g. of good, which condemns yourself. In
the context, however, 'cavils, untroths,' I am inclined to think that
'oaths' is right. Among the malevolent evils with which her breast
swarms are oaths accusing others of crimes, which accuse herself,
either because she is willing to implicate herself so long as she
secures her enemy's ruin, or because the information is of a kind that
could be got only by complicity in crime.
PAGE =105=. ELEGIE XIV.
PAGE =106=, l. 6. _I touch no fat sowes grease.
_ Probably 'I say
nothing libellous as to the way in which this or that rich man has
acquired his wealth'. I cannot find the proverb accurately explained,
or given in quite this form, in any collection.
l. 10. _will redd or pale. _ The reading of _1669_ and the two MSS. is
doubtless correct, 'looke' being an editorial insertion as the use
of 'red' as a verb was growing rare. If 'looke' had belonged to the
original text 'counsellor' would probably have had the second syllable
elided. Compare:
Roses out-red their [i. e. women's] lips and cheeks,
Lillies their whiteness stain.
Brome, _The Resolve_.
l. 21. _the number of the Plaguy Bill_: i. e.
. . . grow to a loath of his meat. ' Topsell (1607). A self-accusing
loath may mean a hatred, e. g. of good, which condemns yourself. In
the context, however, 'cavils, untroths,' I am inclined to think that
'oaths' is right. Among the malevolent evils with which her breast
swarms are oaths accusing others of crimes, which accuse herself,
either because she is willing to implicate herself so long as she
secures her enemy's ruin, or because the information is of a kind that
could be got only by complicity in crime.
PAGE =105=. ELEGIE XIV.
PAGE =106=, l. 6. _I touch no fat sowes grease.
_ Probably 'I say
nothing libellous as to the way in which this or that rich man has
acquired his wealth'. I cannot find the proverb accurately explained,
or given in quite this form, in any collection.
l. 10. _will redd or pale. _ The reading of _1669_ and the two MSS. is
doubtless correct, 'looke' being an editorial insertion as the use
of 'red' as a verb was growing rare. If 'looke' had belonged to the
original text 'counsellor' would probably have had the second syllable
elided. Compare:
Roses out-red their [i. e. women's] lips and cheeks,
Lillies their whiteness stain.
Brome, _The Resolve_.
l. 21. _the number of the Plaguy Bill_: i. e.
