Thomas Otway. 1651-1685.
O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee
To temper man: we had been brutes without you.
Angels are painted fair, to look like you:
There 's in you all that we believe of heaven,—
Amazing brightness, purity, and truth,
Eternal joy, and everlasting love.
Venice Preserved. Act i. Sc. 1.
Dear as the vital warmth that feeds my life;
Dear as these eyes, that weep in fondness o'er thee.[280:1]
Venice Preserved. Act v. Sc. 1.
And die with decency.
Venice Preserved. Act v. Sc. 3.
What mighty ills have not been done by woman!
Who was 't betrayed the Capitol?—A woman!
Who lost Mark Antony the world?—A woman!
Who was the cause of a long ten years' war,
And laid at last old Troy in ashes?—Woman!
Destructive, damnable, deceitful woman![280:2]
The Orphan. Act iii. Sc. 1.
Let us embrace, and from this very moment, vow an eternal misery together.[280:3]
The Orphan. Act iv. Sc. 2.
Footnotes
[280:1] See Shakespeare, page 112.
Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes;
Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart.
Gray: The Bard, part i. stanza 3.
[280:2]
O woman, woman! when to ill thy mind
Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend.
Pope: Homer's Odyssey, book xi. line 531.
[280:3] Let us swear an eternal friendship.—Frere: The Rovers, act i. sc. 1.
[281]