Page images
PDF
EPUB

Enter FOLLY.

Fol. I sweat like a pamper'd jade of Asia,3 and drop like a cob-nut out of Africa-

Enter a Forester.

Fores. Back! whither go you ?

[Fol.] Oyes! this way.

Fores. None must pass :

Here's kept no open court; our queen this day Rides forth a-hunting, and the air being hot, She will not have rude throngs so stifle her. Back!

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.—The Court of Summer.

Enter SUMMER and DELIGHT.

Sum. And did break her heart then?

Del. Yes, with disdain.

Sum. The heart of my dear mother-nurse, the

Spring!

I'll break his heart for't: had she not a face,
Too tempting for a Jove?

Del. The Graces sat

On her fair eyelids ever; but his youth,
Lusting for change, so doted on a lady,
Fantastic and yet fair, a piece of wonder,

3 I sweat like a pamper'd jade of Asia, &c.] This bombast is from Marlow, and has run the gauntlet through every dramatic writer, from Shakspeare to Ford. The cobnut of Africa is less familiar to us; literally, it means a large nut; but I know of no fruit with that specific name.

(They call her Humour, and her parasite Folly) He cast the sweet Spring off, and turn'd us from him;

Yet his celestial kinsman, for young Raybright
Is the SUN'S DARLING, knowing his journeying

hither

To see thy glorious court, sends me before
T'attend upon you, and spend all

In care for him.—

my

hours

[Recorders

The SUN appears above.

Sum. Obey your charge!-Oh, thou builder

[Kneels. Of me, thy handmaid! landlord of my life!

Life of my love! throne where my glories sit!
I ride in triumph on a silver cloud,

Now I but see thee.

Sun. Rise! [she rises.] Is Raybright come yet? Del. Not yet.

Sun. Be you indulgent over him;

Enter PLENTY.

And lavish thou thy treasure.

Plen. Our princely cousin

Raybright, your Darling, and the world's delight.

Is come.

Sun. Who with him?

Plen. A goddess in a woman,

Attended by a prating saucy fellow,

Call'd Folly.

Sun. They'll confound him

But he shall run [his course;] go and receive

him.

[Exit PLENTY.

Sum. Your sparkling eyes, and his arrival,

draws

Heaps of admirers; earth itself will sweat To bear our weights. Vouchsafe, bright power, to borrow

Winds not too rough from Æolus, to fan

Our glowing faces.

Sun. I will: ho, Æolus!

Unlock the jail, and lend a wind or two

To fan my girl, the Summer.

Eol. (Within.) I will.

Sun. No roarers.

Eol. (Within.) No.

Sun. Quickly.

Eol. (Within.) Fly, you slaves! Summer sweats;

cool her.

[Hoboys.-The SUN takes his seat above.

Enter RAYBRIGHT, HUMOUR, PLENTY, FOLLY, Country-fellows, and Wenches.

SONG.

Haymakers, rakers, reapers, and mowers,
Wait on your Summer-queen ;

Dress up with musk-rose her eglantine bowers,

Daffodils strew the green;

Sing, dance, and play,
'Tis holiday;

The Sun does bravely shine
On our ears of corn.

Rich as a pearl

Comes every girl,

This is mine, this is mine, this is mine; Let us die, ere away they be borne.

Bow to the Sun, to our queen, and that fair one

Come to behold our sports:

Each bonny lass here is counted a rare one,
As those in princes' courts.

These and we

With country glee,

Will teach the woods to resound,

And the hills with echoes hollow:
Skipping lambs

Their bleating dams,

'Mongst kids shall trip it round; For joy thus our wenches we follow.

Wind, jolly huntsmen, your neat bugles shrilly,

Hounds make a lusty cry;

Spring up, you falconers, the partridges freely, Then let your brave hawks fly..

Horses amain,

Over ridge, over plain,

The dogs have the stag in chase:
'Tis a sport to content a king.
So ho ho! through the skies
How the proud bird flies,

And sousing kills with a grace!

Now the deer falls; hark! how they ring

[The SUN by degrees is clouded.

Sum. Leave off; the Sun is angry, and has drawn A cloud before his face.

Del. He is vex'd to see

That proud star shine [so] near you,* at whose rising

The Spring fell sick and died; think what I told you, His coyness will kill

you

else

Sum. It cannot.-Fair prince,

Though your illustrious name has touch'd mine ear, Till now I never saw you; nor never saw

A man, whom I more love, more hate.

Ray. Ha, lady!

Sum. For him I love you, from whose glittering

rays

You boast your great name; for that name I hate

you,

Because you kill'd my mother and my nurse.
Plen. Kill'd he my grandmother? Plenty will

never

Hold you by the hand again.

Sum. You have free leave

To thrust your arm into our treasury,
As deep as I myself: Plenty shall wait
Still at your elbow; all my sports are yours,
Attendants yours, my state and glory's yours:
But these shall be as sunbeams from a glass
Reflected on you, not to give you heat;
To doat on a smooth face, my spirit's too great.
[Flourish.-Exit, followed by PLEN. and DEL.

4 Del. He is vex'd to see

That proud star shine so near you.] The quarto gives this speech to Humour; but she is evidently the proud star to whom it refers. It must stand as it is now regulated.

« PreviousContinue »