on the _technical_ meaning
of 'strain.']
_Twelfth Night_ I, i.
_Duke._ If _music_ be the _food of love_, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.--
_That strain again!_ it had a _dying fall_:
O! it came o'er my ear like the _sweet sound_
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour.--Enough! no more:
'Tis not so sweet now, as it was before.
Brutus' musical establishment is on a smaller scale than the Duke's.
He keeps a 'good boy,' who can sing to his own accompaniment on the
lute, and is such a willing servant as to perform when almost overcome
by sleep.
_Julius Caesar_ IV, iii, 256. Brutus and his servant Lucius.
_Bru._ Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful.
Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile,
And _touch_ thy _instrument_ a _strain_ or two?
_Luc._ Ay, my lord, an't please you.
_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.
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