2o6 SWAN'S DOWN. 



will recognize in it an excellent illustration to the fol- 

 lowing, passage : 



" F the world's volume 



Our Britain seems as of it, but not in 't ; 

 In a great pool, a swan's nest." 



Cymbeline, Act iii. Sc. 4. 



For the purpose of comparison, Shakespeare has found 

 the swan very useful in metaphor. 



Benvolio, referring to Rosaline, says, 



" Compare her face with some that I shall show, 

 And I will make thee think thy swan a crow." 



Romeo and Juliet, Act i. Sc. 2. 



Troilus, descanting on the charms of Cressida, speaks 



of 



" Her hand 



to whose soft seizure 

 The cygnet's down is harsh." . 



Troilus and Cressida, Act i. Sc. i . 



Amongst the numerous classical allusions to be found 

 throughout the Plays, we are reminded in the present 

 chapter of Juno's chariot drawn by swans : 



" And wheresoe'er we went, like Juno's swans, 

 Still we went coupled and inseparable." 



As You Like It, Act i. Sc. 3. 



Falstaff, too, with some humour, thus alludes to the 

 loves of Leda : 



