38 



the word " locust " occurs but once, and obviously it has no insect 

 interpretation. 



" Fill thy purse with money," says lago to Roderigo, " the food 

 that to hina now is as luscious as locusts." — Othello, i., 3. 



Naturally one would expect to find the butterfly imaged in many 

 ways, by one who was so conversant with the character and heart 

 of man. Yet the references are very few, and appeal but slightly 

 to the sense of beauty. Achilles reflects as the Grecian lords pass 

 him with greeting or disdain — 



*' What the declined is 

 He shall as soon read in the eyes of others, 

 As feel in his own fall ; for men like butterflies, 

 Show not their mealy wings but in the summer." 



Troiliis and Cresdda, iii., 3. 



Was it the gloriously coloured wings of the " peacock " butterfly 

 that were intended in the order of Titania to her fairy attendants 

 in her passion for Bottom the weaver ? — 



" pluck the wings from painted butterflies, 

 To fan the moonbeams from his sleeping eyes." 



Midsummer Niyhfs Dream, iii., 1. 



Then there is the whole piece in which the phrase " gilded 

 butterflies" is embedded, which emphasises the then popular notion, 

 that those who noticed butterflies were insignificant and trifling 

 persons. 



The old monarch Lear, " fourscore and upwards," when sent to 

 prison by his unnatural daughter, addresses his younger and 

 faithful daughter in the simple but pathetic words — 



" Come, let's away to prison, 

 We two alone Avill sing like birds i'the cage ; 

 When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down 

 And ask of thee forgiveness : So we'll live, 

 And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh 

 At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues 

 Talk of court news and we'll talk with them too. 

 Who loses, and who wins ; who's in and who's out ; 

 And take upon us the mystery of things. 

 As if we were God's spies." — Lear, v., 3. 



Still the same idea underlies tbe scene when Virgilia, the wife of 

 Coriolanus, is visited by her friend Valeria, and is asked by her, 

 " How does your little son '? " she answers — 



"0 my troth, I looked upon him o' Wednesday half an hour 



