_Jul._ And why not you?
_Luc._ I cannot _reach so high_.
_Jul._ Let's see your song.--How now, minion!
_Luc._ _Keep tune_ there still, so you will _sing it out_;
And yet, methinks, I do not like this tune.
_Jul._ You do not?
_Luc._ No, madam, it is _too sharp_.
_Jul._ You, minion, are too saucy.
_Luc._ Nay, now you are _too flat_,
And _mar the concord_ with _too harsh a descant_:
There wanteth but a _mean_ to fill your song.
_Jul._ The _mean_ is _drown'd_ with your _unruly base_.
_Luc._ Indeed, I bid the _base_ for Proteus.
Perhaps it is sufficient to remark that many of the italicized words
above are still in ordinary use by musicians--_e.g._, to 'give the
note' in order to 'set' the pitch for singing; to 'keep in tune,' to
'sing out'; or one voice is 'drowned' by another, as the 'mean' (alto)
by the 'bass.' Once more we have quibbles on musical terms--Lucetta
says the 'tune,' _i.e._, Julia's testiness about Proteus' letter, is
'too sharp,' and that her chiding of herself is 'too flat,' meaning,
that neither is in 'concord' with the spirit of the love-letter.
Lucetta recommends the middle course, or 'mean' (alto voice, midway
between treble and bass), 'to _fill_ the song,' _i.e._, to perfect the
harmony.
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