"Come, we'll have no more of this anticipation; to give them the inventory of their cates aforehand, were the discipline of a tavern, and not fitting this presence."
The Prologue of Cynthia's Revels features three young boys arguing over who gets to speak the Prologue. When one boy wins after drawing sticks, he proceeds to tell the audience virtually the entire plot of the play. Here, his companion criticizes him for giving away too much information. In reality, however, this preemptive plot reveal was likely a strategy to protect Jonson for the many criticisms he leverages at the court – and by extension, the queen – throughout the play.
"But self-love never yet could look on truth
But with blear'd beams"
These words are uttered by Echo after she is summoned by Mercury. As soon as she takes form, she starts lamenting her love for Narcissus and how he found his end because he was gifted with beauty from the Gods and yet had the vanity possessed by humans. The quote from above also transmits the idea that a person who loves himself above everything and everyone else will never be able to look at the truth because it will reveal to them unpleasant things. Thus, the implication here is that self-love is actually a form of lying that hurts the person who loves himself the most.
"O, I could still,
Like melting snow upon some craggy hill,
Drop, drop, drop, drop,
Since nature's pride is now, a withered daffodil."
As Echo laments the story of Narcissus, she sings a song about the spring. Here, Echo explains that beauty never belongs to the person who exudes it but is rather entirely at the mercy of nature. She notes that she could "drop" like snow on a hill, suggesting that she could lose her beauty in an instant. This is an important lesson for the characters to keep in mind for the remainder of the play, which they of course do not heed.
"O, vanity
How are thy painted beauties doted on,
By light and empty idiots!’’
After Amorphus leaves the stage with the rest of the characters, Crites remains alone and meditates on the events that have transpired. Before Amorphus's departure, the characters on the stage were too busy giving compliments to the others, only because they want to be praised in return. Crites sees them as empty shells of people, beautiful from the outside but with absolutely no substance on the inside. Indeed, Crites sees through the façade put on by the others and recognizes their phoniness. Crites is among the few ones who recognizes the problem of self-admiration that exists in his society.
"He is a great proficient in all the illiberal sciences, as cheating, drinking, swaggering, whoring, and such like."
This quote is spoken ironically by Mercury about the character Hedon. Mercury refers to Hedon's skills in the "illiberal sciences," which turn out to be unsavory hobbies. As Hedon is generally considered an allegorical figure for fellow playwright John Marston, this description of Hedon lodges an insult toward Marston. The name "Hedon" comes from the term hedonist, denoting a person who believes that the pursuit of pleasure is the most important aspect of life.
"Nay, Cupid, leave to speak improperly; since we are turn'd cracks, let's study to be like cracks; practice their language, and behaviors, and not with a dead imitation: Act freely, carelessly, and capriciously, as if our veins ran with quicksilver, and not utter a phrase, but what shall come forth steep'd in the very brine of conceit, and sparkle like salt in fire."
When Mercury and Cupid disguise themselves as pages, Mercury tells Cupid to act like humans and not like gods. Here, Mercury describes what he believes to be the key to acting like men (specifically those in the court): rashness and carelessness. This quotation suggests that those at court act as if there are no consequences for their actions, showcasing Jonson's signature satire through the allegory of Greek mythology.
“True happiness
Consists not in the multitude of friends,
But in the worth and choice.”
This quotation, spoken by Arete, is one of the more earnest statements made over the course of the play. Here, Arete explains that one's happiness derives from the quality of their friends and companions rather than the quantity. Arete therefore offers a valuation of moral character and loyalty over popularity, the latter of which the other courtiers strive to attain.
"Who, I! let me see now. I would wish to be a wise woman, and know all the secrets of court, city, and country. I would know what were done behind the arras, what upon the stairs, what in the garden, what in the nymphs' chamber, what by barge, and what by coach."
When the other characters ask Moria what she would wish to be if she could be transformed into anything, she says she would like to be a "wise woman" who knows what is happening inside and outside of the court. Moria's desire is significant because it suggests that there is a great deal of secrecy and deception at work in the court as it stands; her desire to know the "truth" about the courtiers is another subtle way that Jonson critiques the court for its self-interest.
"No man is presently made bad with ill.
And good men, like the sea, should still maintain
Their noble taste, in midst of all fresh humours
That flow about them, to corrupt their streams,
Bearing no season, much less salt of goodness."
In another earnest bit of advice, Mercury tells Crite toward the end of the play that he and his fellow gods have come to "punish" the revelers. Here, he argues that good and worthy men should not be led astray so easily, suggesting that the courtiers in the play have become too interested in pleasure and too corrupted by self-love to be praised.
"Queen and huntress, chaste and fair,
Now the sun is laid to sleep,
Seated in thy silver chair,
State in wonted manner keep:
Hesperus entreats thy light,
Goddess, excellently bright."
Toward the end of the play (before the first masque), Hesperus sings this song in praise of Cynthia (also known as Diana, the chaste huntress). Here, he compares Cynthia to the sun, saying that though the sun has gone to sleep, Cynthia's light may now guide them with even more brightness. This is an example of a common form of praise for the monarch on the English throne; rulers were often compared to the sun and to extraordinary light as they were said to help "guide" their subjects, even in "darkness."
