[And such barren plants are set before us, that we
thankful should be,
Which we taste and feeling are for those parts that do fructify
in us, more than he]
Sir T. Hammer reads thus,
_And such barren plants are set before us, that we
thankful should be,
For those parts which we taste and feel do fructify
in us more than he._
And Mr. Edwards, in his animadversions on Dr. Warburton's notes,
applauds the emendation. I think both the editors mistaken,
except that sir T. Hammer found the metre, though he missed the
sense. I read, with a slight change,
_And such barren plants are set before us, that we
thankful should be_,
When _we taste and feeling are for those parts that
do fructify in us more than he_.
That is, _such barren plants_ are exhibited in the creation, to
make us _thankful when we have more taste and feeling than he, of
those parts_ or qualities _which_ produce fruit _in us_, and preserve
as from being likewise _barren plants_. Such is the sense, just
in itself and pious, but a little clouded by the diction of sir
Nathaniel. The length of these lines was no novelty on the
English stage. The moralities afford scenes of the like measure.
(1773)