Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

Host. How now? are you sadder than you were before?

How do you, man? the music likes you not.
Jul. You mistake; the musician likes me not.
Host. Why, my pretty youth?

Jul. He plays false, father.

Host. How out of tune on the strings? Jul. Not so; but yet so false that he grieves my very heart-strings.

Host. You have a quick ear.

Jul. Ay, I would I were deaf! it makes me have

a slow heart.

Host. I perceive, you delight not in music. Jul. Not a whit, when it jars so. Host. Hark, what fine change is in the music! Jul. Ay; that change is the spite. Host. You would have them always play but one thing?

Jul. I would always have one play but one thing.

But, host, doth this sir Proteus, that we talk on, Often resort unto this gentlewoman?

Host. I tell you what Launce, his man, told me, he loved her out of all nick.

Jul. Where is Launce?

Host. Gone to seek his dog; which, to-morrow, by his master's command, he must carry for a present to his lady.

Jul. Peace! stand aside! the company parts.
Pro. Sir Thurio, fear not you! I will so plead,
That you shall say, my cunning drift excels.
Thu. Where meet we?

Pro. At saint Gregory's well.
Thu. Farewell.

[Exeunt Thurio and Musicians.

Silvia appears above, at her window.

Pro. Madam, good even to your ladyship. Sil. I thank you for your music, gentlemen: Who is that, that spake?

Pro. One, lady, if you knew his pure heart's

truth,

You'd quickly learn to know him by his voice.
Sil. Sir Proteus, as I take it.

Pro. Sir Proteus, gentle lady, and your servant.
Sil. What is your will?
Pro.

That I may compass yours.
Sil. You have your wish; my will is even this,-
That presently you hie you home to bed.
Thou subtle, perjur'd, false, disloyal man!
Think'st thou, I am so shallow, so conceitless,
To be seduced by thy flattery,

That hast deceiv'd so many with thy vows?
Return, return, and make thy love amends.
For me, by this pale queen of night I swear,
I am so far from granting thy request,
That I despise thee for thy wrongful suit;

(1) Beyond all reckoning. (2) Holy dame, blessed lady.

[blocks in formation]

Sil. Say, that she be; yet Valentine, thy friend, Survives; to whom, thyself art witness,

I am betroth'd: And art thou not asham'd
To wrong him with thy importúnacy?

Pro. I likewise hear, that Valentine is dead.
Sil. And so, suppose, am I; for in his grave,
Assure thyself, my love is buried.

Pro. Sweet lady, let me rake it from the earth. Sil. Go to thy lady's grave, and call her's thence; Or, at the least, in her's sepulchre thine.

Jul. He heard not that."

[Aside.

Pro. Madam, if your heart be so obdúrate, Vouchsafe me yet your picture for my love, To that I'll speak, to that I'll sigh and weep: The picture that is hanging in your chamber; For, since the substance of your perfect self Is else devoted, I am but a shadow;

And to your shadow I will make true love. Jul. If 'twere a substance, you would, sure, deceive it,

And make it but a shadow, as I am.

[Aside.

Sil. I am very loth to be your idol, sir; But, since your falsehood shall become you well To worship shadows, and adore false shapes, Send to me in the morning, and I'll send it: And so good rest.

Pro.

As wretches have o'er-night, That wait for execution in the morn.

[Exeunt Proteus; and Silvia, from above. Jul. Host, will you go?

Host. By my hallidom,2 I was fast asleep. Jul. Pray you, where lies sir Proteus? Host. Marry, at my house: Trust me, I think 'tis almost day.

Jul. Not so; but it hath been the longest night That e'er I watch'd, and the most heaviest.

[Exeunt.

[blocks in formation]

row.

Egl. As many, worthy lady, to yourself.
According to your ladyship's impose,3

I am thus early come, to know what service
It is your pleasure to command me in.

Sil. O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman
(Think not, I flatter, for, I swear, I do not,)
Valiant, wise, remorseful,4 well accomplish'd.
Thou art not ignorant, what dear good will
I bear unto the banish'd Valentine;
Nor how my father would enforce me marry
Vain Thurio, whom my very soul abhorr❜d.
Thyself hast lov'd; and I have heard thee say,
No grief did ever come so near your heart,
As when thy lady and thy true love died,

(3) Injunction, command.

F

(4) Pitiful.

Upon whose grave thou vow'dst pure chastity.
Sir Eglamour, I would to Valentine,
To Mantua, where, I hear, he makes abode;
And, for the ways are dangerous to pass,
I do desire thy worthy company,
Upon whose faith and honour I repose.
Urge not my father's anger, Eglamour,
But think upon my grief, a lady's grief;
And on the justice of my flying hence,
To keep me from a most unholy match,
Which heaven and fortune still reward
plagues.

I do desire thee, even from a heart
As full of sorrows as the sea of sands,
To bear me company, and go with me:
If not, to hide what I have said to thee,
That I may venture to depart alone.

with

Egl. Madam, I pity much your grievances;
Which since I know they virtuously are plac'd,
I give consent to go along with you;
Recking as little what betideth me,

As much I wish all good befortune you.
When will you go?

Sil.

This evening coming.

Egl. Where shall I meet you?
Sil.

served me, when I took my leave of madam Silvia; did not I bid thee still mark me, and do as I do? When didst thou see me heave up my leg, and make water against a gentlewoman's farthingale? didst thou ever see me do such a trick?

Enter Proteus and Julia.

Pro. Sebastian is thy name? I like thee well, And will employ thee in some service presently. Jul. In what you please ;-I will do what I can. Pro. I hope, thou wilt.-How now, you whoreson peasant? [To Launce. Where have you been these two days loitering? Laun. Marry, sir, I carried mistress Silvia the dog you bade me.

Pro. And what says she, to my little jewel? Laun. Marry, she says, your dog was a cur; and tells you, currish thanks is good enough for such a present.

Pro. But she received my dog?

Laun. No, indeed, she did not: here have I brought him back again.

Pro. What, didst thou offer her this from me? Laun. Ay, sir; the other squirrel was stolen At friar Patrick's cell, place: and then I offered her mine own; who is a from me by the hangman's boys in the marketdog as big as ten of yours, and therefore the gift the greater.

Where I intend holy confession.

Egl. I will not fail your ladyship:

Good-morrow, gentle lady.

Sil. Good-morrow, kind sir Eglamour.

SCENE IV.-The same.

[Exeunt. Enter Launce, with

Jul. It seems you loved her not, to leave her token:

She's dead, belike.

Pro.

Jul. Alas!

Not so; I think, she lives.

Pro. Go, get thee hence, and find my dog again, Or ne'er return again unto my sight. Away, I say: Stay'st thou to vex me here? A slave, that, still an end,3 turns me to shame. his dog. [Exit Launce. Sebastian, I have entertained thee, When a man's servant shall play the cur with That can with some discretion do my business, Partly, that I have need of such a youth, him, look you, it goes hard: one that I brought up For 'tis no trusting to yon foolish lowt: of a puppy; one that I saved from drowning, when But, chiefly, for thy face, and thy behaviour; three or four of his blind brothers and sisters went Which (if my augury deceive me not) to it! I have taught him-even as one would say Witness good bringing up, fortune, and truth: precisely, Thus I would teach a dog. I was sent Therefore know thou, for this I entertain thee. to deliver him, as a present to mistress Silvia, from Go presently, and take this ring with thee, my master; and I came no sooner into the dining-Deliver it to madam Silvia : chamber, but he steps me to her trencher, and She loved me well, deliver'd it to me. steals her capon's leg. O, 'tis a foul thing, when a cur cannot keep2 himself in all companies! I would have, as one should say, one that takes upon him to be a dog indeed, to be, as it were, a dog at all things. If I had not had more wit than he, to take a fault upon me that he did, I think verily he had been hanged for't; sure as I live, he had suffered for't: you shall judge. He thrusts me himself into the company of three or four gentlemenlike dogs, under the duke's table: he had not been] there (bless the mark) a pissing while; but all the chamber smelt him. Out with the dog, says one; What cur is that? says another; Whip him out, says the third; Hang him up, says the duke. I, having been acquainted with the smell before, knew it was Crab; and goes me to the fellow that whips the dogs: Friend, quoth I, you mean to whip the dog? Ay, marry, do I, quoth he. do him the more wrong, quoth I; 'twas I did the You thing you wot of He makes me no more ado, but whips me out of the chamber. How many masters would do this for their servant? Nay, I'll be sworn, I have sat in the stocks for puddings he hath stolen, otherwise he had been executed: I have stood on the pillory for geese he hath killed, otherwise he had suffered for't: thou think'st not of this now!-Nay, I remember the trick you

(1) Caring. (2) Restrain. (3) In the end.

Pro. Why dost thou cry, alas?
Jul. I cannot choose but pity her.
Pro. Wherefore should'st thou pity her?
Jul. Because, methinks, that she loved you as
well

As you do love your lady Silvia:
She dreams on him, that has forgot her love;
You dote on her, that cares not for your love.
"Tis pity, love should be so contrary;
And thinking on it makes me cry, alas!

This letter;-that's her chamber.-Tell my lady,
Pro. Well, give her that ring, and therewithal
Your message done, hie home unto my chamber,
I claim the promise for her heavenly picture.
Where thou shalt find me sad and solitary.

[Exit Proteus.

Jul. How many women would do such a mes-
Alas, poor Proteus! thou hast entertain'd
sage?
A fox, to be the shepherd of thy lambs:
Alas, poor fool! Why do I pity him
That with his very heart despiseth me?
Because he loves her, he despiseth me;
Because I love him, I must pity him.

This ring I gave him, when he parted from me,
To bind him to remember my good will:
And now am I (unhappy messenger)
To plead for that, which I would not obtain;
To carry that which I would have refus'd;
To praise his faith, which I would have disprais'd.
I am my master's true confirmed love;
But cannot be true servant to my master,
Unless I prove false traitor to myself.
Yet I will woo for him: but yet so coldly,
As, heaven, it knows, I would not have him speed.

Enter Silvia, attended.

Gentlewoman, good day! I pray you, be my mean
To bring me where to speak with madam Silvia.
Sil. What would you with her, if that I be she?
Jul. If you be she, I do entreat your patience
To hear me speak the message I am sent on.
Sil. From whom?

Jul. From my master, sir Proteus, madam.
Sil. O!-He sends you for a picture?
Jul. Ay, madam.

Sil. Ursula, bring my picture there.

[Picture brought.
Go, give your master this: tell him from me,
One Julia, that his changing thoughts forget,
Would better fit his chamber, than this shadow.
Jul. Madam, please you peruse this letter.-
Pardon me, madam; I have unadvis'd
Delivered

you a paper that I should not; This is the letter to your ladyship.

Sil. I pray thee, let me look on that again.
Jul. It may not be; good madam, pardon me.
Sil. There, hold.

I will not look upon your master's lines:
I know, they are stuff'd with protestations,
And full of new-found oaths; which he will break
As easily as I do tear his paper.

Jul. Madam, he sends your ladyship this ring.
Sil. The more shame for him that he sends it me;
For, I have heard him say a thousand times,
His Julia gave it him at his departure:
Though his false finger hath profan'd the ring,
Mine shall not do his Julia so much wrong.
Jul. She thanks you.

Sil. What say'st thou ?

Jul. I thank you, madam, that you tender her: Poor gentlewoman! my master wrongs her much. Sil. Dost thou know her?

Jul. Almost as well as I do know myself:

To think upon her woes, I do protest,
That I have wept a hundred several times.

Sil. Belike, she thinks that Proteus hath forsook

[blocks in formation]

As if the garment had been made for me;
Therefore, I know she is about my height.
And, at that time, I made her weep a-good,2
For I did play a lamentable part;
Madam, 'twas Ariadne, passioning
For Theseus' perjury, and unjust flight;
Which I so lively acted with my tears,
That my poor mistress, moved therewithal,
Wept bitterly; and, would I might be dead,
If I in thought felt not her very sorrow!

Sil. She is beholden to thee, gentle youth!-
Alas, poor lady! desolate and left!-
I weep myself, to think upon thy words.
For thy sweet mistress' sake, because thou lov'st her.
Here, youth, there is: my purse; I give thee this
[Exit Silvia.

Farewell.

Jul. And she shall thank you for't, if e'er you
know her.-

A virtuous gentlewoman, mild, and beautiful.
I hope my master's suit will be but cold,
Since she respects my mistress' love so much.
Alas, how love can trifle with itself!
Here is her picture: Let me see; I think,
If I had such a tire,3 this face of mine
Were full as lovely as is this of hers :
And yet the painter flatter'd her a little,
Unless I flatter with myself too much.
Her hair is auburn, mine is perfect yellow :
If that be all the difference in his love,
I'll get me such a colour'd periwig.
Her eyes are grey as glass; and so are mine:
Ay, but her forehead's low, and mine's as high.
What should it be, that he respects in her,
But I can make respective4 in myself,
If this fond love were not a blinded god?
Come, shadow, come, and take this shadow up,
Thou shalt be worshipp'd, kiss'd, lov'd, and ador’d;
For 'tis thy rival. O thou senseless form!
And, were there sense in his idolatry,
I'll use thee kindly for thy mistress' sake,
My substance should be statue in thy stead.
That us'd me so; or else, by Jove I vow,

I should have scratch'd out your unseeing eyes,
To make my master out of love with thee. [Exit.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

For I had rather wink than look on them. [Aside.
Thu. How likes she my discourse?
Pro. Ill, when you talk of war.

Thu. But well, when I discourse of love, and
peace?

Jul. But better, indeed, when you hold your [Aside.

peace.

Thu. What says she to my valour?

Pro. O, sir, she makes no doubt of that.
Jul. She needs not, when she knows it coward.

ice.

Thu. What says she to my birth?

Pro. That you are well deriv'd.

[Aside.

[blocks in formation]

SCENE IV-Another part of the Forest.
Enter Valentine.

Val. How use doth breed a habit in a man!

This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns:
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And, to the nightingale's complaining notes,
Tune my distresses, and record4 my woes.
O thou that dost inhabit in my breast,
Leave not the mansion so long tenantless;
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall,

Jul. True; from a gentleman to a fool. [Aside. And leave no memory of what it was!

Thu. Considers she my possessions?

Pro. O, ay; and pities them.

Thu. Wherefore?

Repair me with thy presence, Silvia;

Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn swain !-

Jul. That such an ass should owe them. [Aside. What halloing, and what stir, is this to-day?
Pro. That they are out by lease.
Jul. Here comes the duke.

These are my mates, that make their wills their

[blocks in formation]

And Eglamour is in her company.

'Tis true; for friar Laurence met them both,
As he in penance wander'd through the forest:
Him he knew well, and guess'd that it was she;
But, being mask'd, he was not sure of it:
Besides, she did intend confession

At Patrick's cell this even; and there she was not:
These likelihoods confirm her flight from hence.
Therefore, I pray you, stand not to discourse,
But mount you presently; and meet with me
Upon the rising of the mountain-foot
That leads towards Mantua, whither they are fled:
Despatch, sweet gentlemen, and follow me. [Exit.
Thu. Why, this it is to be a peevish2 girl,
That flies her fortune when follows her :
I'll after; more to be reveng'd on Eglamour,
Than for the love of reckless Silvia.

[Exit.

[Exit.

Pro. And I will follow, more for Silvia's love,
Than hate of Eglamour that goes with her. [Exit.
Jul. And I will follow, more to cross that love,
Than hate for Silvia, that is gone for love.
SCENE III-Frontiers of Mantua.
Forest. Enter Silvia, and Out-laws.
Out. Come, come;

The

(1) Own. (2) Foolish. (3) Careless.

law,

Have some unhappy passenger in chace:
They love me well; yet I have much to do,
To keep them from uncivil outrages.
Withdraw thee, Valentine; who's this comes here?
[Steps aside.

Enter Proteus, Silvia, and Julia.
Pro. Madam, this service I have done for you
(Though you respect not aught your servant doth,)
To hazard life, and rescue you from him
That would have forc'd your honour and your
love.

Vouchsafe me, for my meed, but one fair look;
A smaller boon than this I cannot beg,
And less than this, I am sure, you cannot give.
Val. How like a dream is this I see and hear!
Love, lend me patience to forbear awhile. [Aside.
Sil. O miserable, unhappy that I am!
Pro. Unhappy, were you, madam, ere I came :
But, by my coming, I have made you happy.
Sil. By thy approach thou mak'st me most un-
happy.

Jul. And me, when he approacheth to your
(Aside.

presence.

Sil. Had I been seized by a hungry lion,

I would have been a breakfast to the beast,
Rather than have false Proteus rescue me.
Whose life's as tender to me as my soul;
O, heaven be judge, how I love Valentine,
And full as much (for more there cannot be,)
I do detest false perjur'd Proteus:
Therefore be gone, solicit me no more.

Pro. What dangerous action, stood it next to
death,

Would I not undergo for one calm look?

[blocks in formation]

O, 'tis the curse in love, and still approv'd,1
When women carmot love where they're belov'd.
Sil. When Proteus cannot love where he's
belov'd.

Read over Julia's heart, thy first best love,

Pro. How! Julia!
Jul. Behold her that gave aim2 to all thy oaths,
And entertain'd them deeply in her heart:
How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root!
O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush!

For whose dear sake thou didst then rend thy Be thou asham'd, that I have took upon me

[blocks in formation]

Could have persuaded me : Now I dare not say
I have one friend alive; thou would'st disprove me.
Who should be trusted now, when one's right hand
Is perjur'd to the bosom? Proteus,

I am sorry, I must never trust thee more,
But count the world a stranger for thy sake.
The private wound is deepest: O time, most curst!
'Mongst all foes, that a friend should be the worst!
Pro. My shame and guilt confounds me.-
Forgive me, Valentine: if hearty sorrow
Be a sufficient ransom for offence,
I tender it here; I do as truly suffer,
As e'er I did commit.

Val.
Then I am paid;
And once again I do receive thee honest.-
Who by repentance is not satisfied,

:

Is nor of heaven, nor earth; for these are pleas'd;
By penitence the Eternal's wrath's appeas'd:
And, that my love may appear plain and free,
All that was mine in Silvia, I give thee.
Jul. O me, unhappy!
Pro. Look to the boy.

[Faints.

Val. Why, boy! why, wag! how now? what

is the matter?

Look up; speak.

Jul.

Such an immodest raiment; if shame live
In a disguise of love:

It is the lesser blot, modesty finds,

Women to change their shapes, than men their minds.

Pro. Than men their minds? 'tis true: O
heaven! were man

But constant, he were perfect: that one error
Fills him with faults; makes him run through all
sins:

Inconstancy falls off, ere it begins:
What is in Silvia's face, but I may spy
More fresh in Julia's with a constant eye?

Val. Come, come, a hand from either:
Let me be blest to make this happy close;
'Twere pity two such friends should be long foes.
Pro. Bear witness, heaven, I have my wish for

[blocks in formation]

Thu. Yonder is Silvia; and Silvia's mine.
Val. Thurio, give back, or else embrace thy
death;

Come not within the measure of my wrath:
Do not name Silvia thine; if once again,
Milan shall not behold thee. Here she stands,
Take but possession of her with a touch!—
I dare thee but to breathe upon my love.—
Thu. Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I;
I hold him but a fool, that will endanger
His body for a girl that loves him not:
I claim her not, and therefore she is thine.
Duke. The more degenerate and base art thou,
And leave her on such slight conditions.-
To make such means for her as thou hast done,
Now, by the honour of my ancestry,
I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine,
And think thee worthy of an empress' love.
Know then, I here forget all former griefs,
Plead a new state in thy unrivall'd merit,
Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again.--
To which I thus subscribe,-sir Valentine,
Thou art a gentleman, and well deriv'd;

O good sir, my master charg'd me Take thou thy Silvia, for thou hast deserv'd her.

To deliver a ring to madam Silvia ;

Which, out of my neglect, was never done.

Pro. Where is that ring, boy?

Jul. Here 'tis: this is it. [Gives a ring.

Pro. How! let me see:

Why this is the ring I gave to Julia.

Jul. O, cry you mercy, sir, I have mistook; This is the ring you sent to Silvia.

[Shows another ring. Pro. But, how cam'st thou by this ring? at my depart,

I gave this unto Julia.

Jul. And Julia herself did give it me; And Julia herself hath brought it hither.

(1) Felt, experienced. (2) Direction.
(3) An allusion to cleaving the pin in archery.

Val. I thank your grace; the gift hath made me
happy.

To grant one boon that I shall ask of you.
I now beseech you, for your daughter's sake,

Duke. I grant it, for thine own, whate'er it be.
Val. These banish'd men, that I have kept

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »