CORVUS CORAX. 



447 



ghost — which would have justified Hotspur in his anger at 

 Glendower for speaking — 



Hotspur — " Of the dreamer Merlin, and his prophecies. 

 And of a dragon, and a finless fish, 

 A clip-wing'd griffin, and a moultcn raven, 

 A couching lion, and a ramping cat. 

 And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff 

 As put him from his faith." 



It might also have puzzled Lysander in " A Midsummer Night's 

 Dream," who in changing dark-haired Hermia for fair Helena 

 eKclaimed — 



" Not Hermia, but Helena I love : 



Who will not change a raven for a dove ?" 



Or, as the Duke says, in "Twelfth Night," or "What You 

 Will"— 



Duke — " Come, boy, with me ; my thoughts are ripe in mischief ; 

 I'll sacrifice the lamb that I do love 

 To spite a raven's heart within a dove." 



And Queen Margaret says of Gloster in " Henry VI." — 



Margaret — ■" Seems he a dove ? His feathers are but borrow'd, 

 For he's disposed as the hateful raven. 

 Is he a lamb ? His skin is surely lent him, 

 For he's inclined as are the ravenous tvolves." 



King Henry also says in the same play, when Suffolk tries to 

 comfort him — 



Henry — " What, doth my lord of Suffolk comfort me? 

 Came he right now to sing a raven's note, 

 Whose dismal tune bereft my vital powers ; 

 And thinks he that the chirping of a wren 

 Can chase away the first conceived sound ?" 



Or, as Iachimo says in " Cymbeline" — 



" The cloy'd will, ravening first the lamb, longs for the garbage ;" 



For, as Hamlet cries to the players when waiting for the play — 



Hamlet — " Begin, murderer ; leave thy damnable faces, and begin ; 

 The croaking raven doth bellow for revenge." 



And when Iago eggs Othello on to jealousy, Othello exclaims — 



Othello—" Thou said'st Oh ! it comes o'er my memory 



As doth the raven o'er the infected house, 

 Boding to all — he had my handkerchief." 



