or, as an antique French proverb says, the two things have not the same abode.1 This is the creed of those who have not themselves been lovers. As Calderon sings, in lines admirably rendered by Mr. Fitzgerald,— "He who far off beholds another dancing, Of love's sweet influence, misjudges him And knowing not that all these sighs and tears, Are necessary changes of a measure They that lie down [i.e., fall sick] for love should rise for The presumption being that, if they had not been too well fed, they would not have been troubled with that disease. "Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes" (Latin).3 "No love without bread and wine " (French).3 1 Aimer et savoir n'ont même manoir. [For this last word some modern collections substitute manière, which makes nonsense.] Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus. 3 Sans pain, sans vin, amour n'est rien. Old pottage is sooner heated than new made. An old flame is sooner revived than a new one kindled. "One always returns to one's first love (French). "True love never grows hoary" (Italian).2 1 Love and light cannot be hid. Love and a cough cannot be hid. The French add smoke to these irrepressible things.3 La gale is sometimes enumerated with them; and the Danes say, "Poverty and love are hard to hide."4 Love and lordship like not fellowship. That is, love cannot be forced. The Germans couple 66 'Who would be loved must love,' "96 Our English proverbs on love are for the most part sarcastic or jocular, and few of them can be compared, for grace and elevation of feeling, with those of Italy. We have no parallels in our language for the follow 1 On revient toujours à ses premières amours. 2 Amor vero non diventa mai canuto. 3 Amour, toux, et fumée en secret ne font demeurée. + Armod og Kiærlighed ere onde at dolge. 5 Liebe und Singen lässt sich nicht zwingen. 6 Chi vuol esser amato, convien ch'il ami. 7 Amor è il vero prezio, per che si compra amor. 66 115 ing:-"Love knows no measure "there are no bounds to its trustfulness and devotion;-" Love warms more than a thousand fires;”—“He who has love in his heart has spurs in his sides; "_"Love rules without law; "4" Love rules his kingdom without a sword; "Love knows not labour;' "6"Love is master of all The French have one proverb on the sovereign might of love, which they borrowed from the sublime phrase in the Song of Solomon, "Love is stronger than death;" and another expressed in the language of their chivalric forefathers, "Love subdues all but the ruffian's heart."9 arts."7 Marry in haste and repent at leisure. This proverb probably came to us from Italy; 10 out, alas! it happens too often in all countries that "Wedlock rides in the saddle, and repentance on the croup" (French)." There is a joke in the Menagiana not unlike this:-A person meeting another riding on horseback with his wife behind him, applied to him the 1 Amor non conosce misura.. 2 Scalda più amore che mille fuochi. 3 Chi ha l'amor nel petto, ha lo sprone a' franchi. • Amor regge senza legge. 5 Amor regge il suo regno senza spada. • Amor non conosce travaglio. 7 Di tutte le arti maestro è amore. 8 Amour et mort, rien n'est plus fort. 9 Amour soumet tout hormis cœur de félon. 10 Chi si marita in fretta, stenta adagio. 11 Fiançailles vont en selle, et repentailles en croupe. 66 The words of Horace-"Post equitem sedet atra cura.' "Marriage is a desperate thing," quoth Selden. frogs in Æsop were extremely wise; they had a great mind to some water, but they would not leap into the well because they could not get out again." Consider well, then, what you are about before you put yourself in a condition to hear it said, You have tied a knot with your tongue you cannot undo with your teeth. Some go so far as to say that "No one marries but repents" (French). The Spaniards exclaim, in language which reminds us of the custom of Dunmow, 'The bacon of paradise for the married man that has not repented! "3 66 Better wed over the mixon than over the moor. The mixon is the heap of manure in the farmyard. The proverb means that it is better not to go far from home in search of a wife-advice as old as the Greek poet Hesiod, who has a line to this effect: " Marry, in preference to all other women, one who dwells near thee." But a more specific meaning has been assigned to the English proverb by Fuller, and after him by Ray and Disraeli. They explain it as being a maxim peculiar to Cheshire, and intended to dissuade can 1 Black care sits behind the horseman. 2 Nul ne se marie qui ne s'en repente. El tocino de paraiso para el casado no arrepiso. 66 didates for matrimony from taking the road to London, which lies over the moorland of Staffordshire. 'This local proverb," says Disraeli, "is a curious instance of provincial pride, perhaps of wisdom, to induce the gentry of that county to form intermarriages, to prolong their own ancient families and perpetuate ancient friendships between them." This is a mistake, for the proverb is not peculiar to Cheshire, or to any part of England. Scotland has it in this shape : Better woo o'er midden nor o'er moss. And in Germany they give the same advice, and also assign a reason for it, saying, "Marry over the mixon, and you will know who and what she is." The same principle is expressed in different forms in other languages, e.g., "Your wife and your nag get from a neighbour" (Italian). "He that goes far to marry goes to be deceived or to deceive" (Spanish).3 The politic Lord Burleigh seems to have regarded this 'going far to deceive" as a very proper thing to be done for the advancement of a man's fortune. In his Advice to his Son" he says, "If thy estate be good, match near home and at leisure; if weak, far off and quickly." There is an ugly cunning in that word quickly. Burleigh's advice is quite in the spirit of the 66 1 Heirathe über den Mist, so weisst du wer sie ist. 2 La moglie e il ronzino piglia dal vicino. 3 Quien lejos se va á casar, o va engañado, o va á engañar. |