s lackey, _Certa sequi
charum corpus ut umbra solet_, so that she might enjoy him, threatening
moreover to kill herself, &c. Men will do as much and more for women, spend
goods, lands, lives, fortunes; kings will leave their crowns, as King John
for Matilda the nun at Dunmow.

[5481] "But kings in this yet privileg'd may be,
I'll be a monk so I may live with thee."

The very Gods will endure any shame (_atque aliquis de diis non tristibus
inquit_, &c.) be a spectacle as Mars and Venus were, to all the rest; so
did Lucian's Mercury wish, and peradventure so dost thou. They will
adventure their lives with alacrity --[5482]_pro qua non metuam mori_--nay
more, _pro qua non metuam bis mori_, I will die twice, nay, twenty times
for her. If she die, there's no remedy, they must die with her, they cannot
help it. A lover in Calcagninus, wrote this on his darling's tomb,

"Quincia obiit, sed non Quincia sola obiit,
Quincia obiit, sed cum Quincia et ipse obii;
Risus obit, obit gratia, lusus obit.
Nec mea nunc anima in pectore, at in tumulo est."

"Quincia my dear is dead, but not alone,
For I am dead, and with her I am gone:
Sweet smiles, mirth, graces, all with her do rest,
And my soul too, for 'tis not in my breast."

How many doting lovers upon the like occasion might say the same? But these
are toys in respect, they will hazard their very souls for their mistress'
sake.

"Atque aliquis interjuvenes miratus est, et verbum dixit,
Non ego in caelo cuperem Deus esse,
Nostram uxorem habens domi Hero."

"One said, to heaven would I not
desire at all to go,
If that at mine own house I had
such a fine wife as Hero."

Venus forsook heaven for Adonis' sake,--[5483]_caelo praefertur Adonis_.
Old Janivere, in Chaucer, thought when he had his fair May he should never
go to heaven, he should live so merrily here on earth; had I such a
mistress, he protests,

[5484] "Caelum diis ego non suum inviderem,
Sed sortem mihi dii meam inviderent."

"I would not envy their prosperity,
The gods should envy my felicity."

Another as earnestly desires to behold his sweetheart he will adventure and
leave all this, and more than this to see her alone.

[5485] "Omnia quae patior mala si pensare velit fors,
Una aliqua nobis prosperitate, dii
Hoc precor, ut faciant, faciant