SERENADES AND 'MUSIC'
109
| Bru. | It does, my boy. I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing. ••••••• [Boy sings to lute.] |
| Bru. | This is a sleepy tune: [Boy drops off]—O murderous slumber! Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy, That plays thee music?—Gentle knave, good night; I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee. If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument: I'll take it from thee; and, good boy, good night.— [Ghost of Cæsar appears.] |
L. 290.
| Bru. | Boy!—Lucius!—Varro! Claudius! sirs, awake!—Claudius! |
| Luc. | [asleep]. The strings, my lord, are false. |
| Bru. | He thinks he still is at his instrument. |
In Henry VIII. 31 is a case of the same kind.
| Queen Catherine. | Take thy lute, wench: my soul grows sad with troubles: Sing, and disperse them, if thou canst. Leave working. [Song. 'Orpheus.'] |
The next passage brings us to another class of music—viz., dirges, funeral songs, or 'good-nights.' [See H. 4. B. 32, 322]. In Cymbeline 42, 184, Cadwal (Arviragus) sounds an 'ingenious instrument' to signify Imogen's death. Polydore (Guiderius) says
