[Illustration]
Pyramus and Thisbe were two young Thebans, who, being greatly enamoured of
one another, had their union opposed by their friends, between the families
of whom there had been a variance for many years.
"But to prevent their wandering in the dark,
They both agree to fix upon a mark;
A mark that could not their designs expose:
The tomb of Venus was the mark they chose;
There they might rest secure beneath the shade,
Which boughs, with snowy fruit encumbered, made.
A wide spread mulberry tree its rise had took
Just in the margin of a gurgling brook."