;-{9 



together. I saw him run after a gilded batterfl}- ; and when he 

 caught it, he let it go again, and after it again, and over and over 

 he comes, and up again ; catch'd it again ; whether his fall enraged 

 him, or how 'twas, he did so set bis teeth, and tear it. 0! I warrant 

 how he mammock'd it." — ('orinlaniiii, i., 3. 



Again, in the same play, when Marcius Coriolanus, with the 

 enemy Volscians is threatening his native city, Rome, Cominius, 

 the Roman general, describes them to Menenius in these words — 



" He is their God : he leads them like a thing 

 Made by some other deity than Nature, 

 That shapes man better ; and they follow him 

 Against us brats, with no less confidence 

 Than boys pursuing summer butterflies, 

 Or butchers killing flies." — Cnriiila)iiis, iv., G. 



" Moth " is a term often used for something trifling, and we 

 have — 



" A moth will turn the balance." — Miihtininier Nii/ltt's Dream, v., 1. 

 •' Wash every moth out of his conscience." — Ilenry V., i., 4. 



A pathetic reference is in the scene between Arthur and Hubert — 



Arth. " Is there no remedy ? 



Huh. None; but to lose your eyes. 



Arth. Oh Heaven ! that there were but a moth in yours ; 

 A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wandering hair. 

 Any annoyance in that precious sense ! 

 Then feeling what small things are boist'rous there, 

 Your vile intent must needs seem horrible." 



Kiuij Jnlin, iv., 1. 



One hardly understands the reference of the gentle Desdemona 

 who calls herself, when pleading for leave to accompany Othello on 

 a diplomatic journey — 



" A moth of peace." — OtJwllo, i., 8. 



When the Prince of Arragon, the disappointed suitor, leaves 

 Portia, he utters the beautiful simile, which is so well known — 



" Thus hath the candle singed the moth." 



Mi'rc/iant of Venice, ii., 9. 



Who has not heard the weird hum which strikes one's ears when 

 twilight falls upon a country scene ? — 



"Beetles black approach not here" is the injunction of the 

 attendants of the sleeping fairy-queen Titania. 



MicLsiniuiier Xitiht's IhecDii, ii., 3. 



