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1 1 6 I n t e r p r e t a t i o n Volume 41 / Issue 2which advises us merely to “take the present time” (5.3.30). Touchstone commentsscathingly on the vapidity of this song, as he did on Orlando’s firstpoem: “though there was no great matter in the ditty, yet the note was veryuntuneable” (5.3.34–36). Again the musical metaphor is used to suggest thatpassion must be controlled in order to be pleasing to one’s audience (or lover).This praise of moderation is absolutely central to the whole work, as we haveseen in the portrayal of Celia’s great self-restraint with Rosalind. The story ofSilvius’s love for Phebe, a haughty shepherdess, brings out the utter humilityof a deep love. Silvius is completely at Phebe’s mercy, anticipating herrepeated scorn as the criminal waits for the axe with “humbl’d neck” (3.5.5).When Phebe employs him as a messenger to Rosalind he reflects that his loveis “so holy and perfect” that he willthink it a most plenteous cropTo glean the broken ears after the manThat the main harvest reaps.(3.5.101–03)Later he runs another errand for Phebe, like a “tame snake” (4.3.70). MoreoverPhebe herself falls in love with Rosalind and writes her a humble loveletter, even though the latter treats her with extraordinary rudeness (3.5.37–71, 4.3.40–63).Phebe’s humiliation is typical of the way in which proud spiritedness iscontrasted with the true lover’s willingness to sacrifice himself throughoutthe play. Nevertheless, Shakespeare has implied all along that love bringswith it a particular sort of spiritedness, notably in Orlando’s fierce defenseof his father’s honor in the opening scene and in his later willingness to stealvenison from the banished duke in order to feed Adam; not to mention thereference to “Cleopatra’s majesty” in his song. When Orlando sees his brotherbeing attacked by a lioness,Twice did he turn his back, and purpos’d so;But kindness, nobler ever than revenge,And nature, stronger than his just occasion,Made him give battle.(4.3.127–30)Clearly Orlando is still angry with his brother—and his wounded pride isshown to conflict with his deeper ties just in the way that a close readingof the play might lead us to expect—but we have seen that his conventionalsense of honor has been gradually weakening throughout the play, and inthe end compassion proves to be stronger, creating what one might call a