Henry IV." (iii. 2), the king, when telling his son how he had
always avoided making himself "common-hackney'd in the eyes of men,"
adds:

"By being seldom seen, I could not stir
But, like a comet, I was wonder'd at."

Arcite, in the "Two Noble Kinsmen" (v. 1), when addressing the altar of
Mars, says:

"Whose approach
Comets forewarn."[143]

[143] See Proctor's "Myths of Astronomy;" Chambers's "Domestic
Annals of Scotland," 1858, vol. ii. pp. 410-412; Douce's
"Illustrations of Shakespeare," pp. 364, 365.

_Dew._ Among the many virtues ascribed to dew was its supposed power
over the complexion, a source of superstition which still finds many
believers, especially on May morning. All dew, however, does not appear
to have possessed this quality, some being of a deadly or malignant
quality. Thus Ariel, in "The Tempest" (i. 2), speaks of the "deep brook"
in the harbor:

"where once
Thou call'dst me up at midnight to fetch dew
From the still vex'd Bermoothes."

And Caliban (i. 2), when venting his rage on Prospero and Miranda, can
find no stronger curse than the following:

"As wicked dew as e'er my mother brush'd,
With raven's feather from unwholesome fen
Drop on you both!"

It has been suggested that in "Antony and Cleopatra" (iii. 12)
Shakespeare may refer to an old notion whereby the sea was considered
the source of dews as well as rain. Euphronius is represented as saying:

"Such as I am, I come from Antony:
I was of late as petty to his ends
As is the morn-dew on the myrtle leaf
To his grand sea."

According to an erroneous notion formerly current, it was supposed that
the air, and not the earth, drizzled dew--a notion referred to in "Romeo
and Juliet" (iii. 5):

"When the sun sets, the air doth drizzle dew."

And in "King John" (ii. 1):

"Before the dew of evening fall."

Then there is the celebrated honey-dew, a substance which has furnished
the poet with a touching simile, which he has put into the mouth of
"Titus Andronicus" (iii. 1):

"When I did name her brothers, then fresh tears
Stood on her cheeks; as doth the honey-dew
Upon a gather'd lily almost wither'd."

According to Pliny, "honey-dew" is the saliva of the stars, or a liquid
produced by the purgation of the air. It is, however, a secretion
deposited by a small insect, which is distinguished by the generic name