He pleaseth the children of great men, and
promiseth to adopt them, and his courtesy extends itself even to the
stable. He strains to talk wisely, and his modesty would serve a bride.
He is gravity from the head to the foot, but not from the head to the
heart. You may find what place he affecteth, for he creeps as near it as
may be, and as passionately courts it; if at any time his hopes be
affected, he swelleth with them, and they burst out too good for the
vessel. In a word, he danceth to the tune of Fortune, and studies for
nothing but to keep time.
AN AMORIST
Is a man blasted or planet-stricken, and is the dog that leads blind
Cupid; when he is at the best his fashion exceeds the worth of his
weight. He is never without verses and musk confects, and sighs to the
hazard of his buttons. His eyes are all white, either to wear the livery
of his mistress' complexion or to keep Cupid from hitting the black. He
fights with passion, and loseth much of his blood by his weapon; dreams,
thence his paleness. His arms are carelessly used, as if their best use
was nothing but embracements. He is untrussed, unbuttoned, and
ungartered, not out of carelessness, but care; his farthest end being
but going to bed. Sometimes he wraps his petition in neatness, but he
goeth not alone; for then he makes some other quality moralise his
affection, and his trimness is the grace of that grace. Her favour lifts
him up as the sun moisture; when she disfavours, unable to hold that
happiness, it falls down in tears.
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