When first she comes from dark to light,Or was this for a doctrine of obedience to authority,— that they would have us not discontented under it; but, as the moon doth willingly obey her superior and conform unto him, always vamping after the rays of the sun (as Parmenides hath it), so they that are subjects to any prince should be contented with their lower station, in the enjoyment of power and dignity derived from him?
Trimming, her face becomes fair bright,
Increasing, till she's full in sight;
Declining then, leaves nought but night?
1
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Question 76. Why do they that would be preferred before others in gentility wear little moons on their shoes?
Solution. Is this the reason (as Castor saith), that this
is a symbol of the place of habitation that is said to be in
the moon, signifying that after death souls should have the
moon under their feet again? Or was this a fashion of
renown among families of greatest antiquity, as were the
Arcadians of Evander's posterity, that were called men
born before the moon (προσέληνοι)? Or is this, like many
other customs, to put men who are lofty and high-minded
in mind of the mutability of human affairs to either side,
setting the moon before them as an example,
1 From Sophocles, Frag. 786.
Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 2.
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