I know, you have determin'd to bestow her
On Thurio, whom your gentle daughter hates;
And should she thus be stol'n away from you,
It would be much vexation to your age.
Thus, for my duty's sake, I rather chose
To cross my friend in his intended drift,
Than, by concealing it, heap on your head
A pack of sorrows, which would press you down,
Being unprevented, to your timeless grave.

Duke. Proteus, I thank thee for thine honest care,
Which to requite, command me while I live.
This love of theirs myself have often seen,
Haply, when they have judg'd me fast asleep,
And oftentimes have purpos'd to forbid
Sir Valentine her company, and my court;
But, fearing lest my jealous aim might err,
And so unworthily disgrace the man,

(A rashness that I ever yet have shunn'd)

I

gave him gentle looks; thereby to find
That which thyself hast now disclos'd to me.
And, that thou may'st perceive my fear of this,
Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested',
I nightly lodge her in an upper tower,
The key whereof myself have ever kept;
And thence she cannot be convey'd away.

Pro. Know, noble lord, they have devis'd a mean
How he her chamber-window will ascend,
And with a corded ladder fetch her down;
For which the youthful lover now is gone,
And this way comes he with it presently,
Where, if it please you, you may intercept him.
But, good my lord, do it so cunningly,
That my discovery be not aimed at;
For love of you, not hate unto my friend,
Hath made me publisher of this pretence.

7

suggested,] i. e. tempted. See Vol. iv. p. 115; Vol. v. p. 507; Vol. viii. p. 416. On p. 124 we have had "suggesting" for tempting.

VOL. I.

K

Duke. Upon mine honour, he shall never know That I had any light from thee of this.

Pro. Adieu, my lord: sir Valentine is coming.

Enter VALENTINE.

Duke. Sir Valentine, whither away so fast?
Val. Please it your grace, there is a messenger
That stays to bear my letters to my friends,
And I am going to deliver them.

Duke. Be they of much import?

Val. The tenor of them doth but signify My health, and happy being at your court.

[Erit.

Duke. Nay, then no matter: stay with me awhile. I am to break with thee of some affairs

That touch me near, wherein thou must be secret.
"Tis not unknown to thee, that I have sought
To match my friend, sir Thurio, to my daughter.

Val. I know it well, my lord; and, sure, the match
Were rich and honourable: besides, the gentleman
Is full of virtue, bounty, worth, and qualities
Beseeming such a wife as your fair daughter.
Cannot your grace win her to fancy him?

Duke. No, trust me: she is peevish, sullen, froward, Proud, disobedient, stubborn, lacking duty;

Neither regarding that she is my child,
Nor fearing me as if I were her father:
And, may I say to thee, this pride of hers
Upon advice hath drawn my love from her;
And, where I thought the remnant of mine age
Should have been cherish'd by her child-like duty,
I now am full resolv'd to take a wife,
And turn her out to who will take her in :
Then, let her beauty be her wedding-dower;
For me and my possessions she esteems not.

* And, WHERE-] "Where" for whereas; often so used by our old writers.

Val. What would your grace have me to do in this? Duke. There is a lady, sir, in Milan here', Whom I affect; but she is nice, and coy, And nought esteems my aged eloquence : Now, therefore, would I have thee to my tutor, (For long agone I have forgot to court; Besides, the fashion of the time is chang'd) How, and which way, I may bestow myself, To be regarded in her sun-bright eye.

Val. Win her with gifts, if she respect not words. Dumb jewels often, in their silent kind,

More than quick words do move a woman's mind.
Duke. But she did scorn a present that I sent her.
Val. A woman sometime scorns what best contents
her.

Send her another; never give her o'er,

For scorn at first makes after-love the more.
If she do frown, 'tis not in hate of you,
But rather to beget more love in you:
If she do chide, 'tis not to have you gone,
For why, the fools are mad, if left alone.
Take no repulse, whatever she doth say;
For, "get you gone," she doth not mean, "away."
Flatter, and praise, commend, extol their graces;
Though ne'er so black, say they have angels' faces.
That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man,
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman.
Duke. But she I mean is promis'd by her friends
Unto a youthful gentleman of worth,
And kept severely from resort of men,
That no man hath access by day to her.

9 in MILAN here,] The old copies concur in reading,

"There is a lady in Verona here,"

which is clearly wrong, as the scene has been transferred to Milan. It is not impossible, as this mistake has been before committed, (A. ii. sc. 5.) that Shakespeare himself changed his first intention on the subject. This is the more likely, as Verona exactly fits the verse, while, if Milan be substituted, the line is short of one syllable: for this reason, Pope added, "sir."

Val. Why, then I would resort to her by night. Duke. Ay, but the doors be lock'd, and keys kept

safe,

That no man hath recourse to her by night.

Val. What lets', but one may enter at her window? Duke. Her chamber is aloft, far from the ground, And built so shelving, that one cannot climb it Without apparent hazard of his life.

Val. Why then, a ladder quaintly made of cords,
To cast up, with a pair of anchoring hooks,
Would serve to scale another Hero's tower,
So bold Leander would adventure it.

Duke. Now, as thou art a gentleman of blood,
Advise me where I may have such a ladder.

Val. When would you use it? pray, sir, tell me that. Duke. This very night; for love is like a child, That longs for every thing that he can come by. Val. By seven o'clock I'll get you such a ladder. Duke. But hark thee; I will go to her alone. How shall I best convey the ladder thither?

Val. It will be light, my lord, that you may bear it Under a cloak that is of any length.

Duke. A cloak as long as thine will serve the turn? Val. Ay, my good lord.

Duke.

Then, let me see thy cloak: I'll get me one of such another length.

Val. Why, any cloak will serve the turn, my lord. Duke. How shall I fashion me to wear a cloak?

I pray thee, let me feel thy cloak upon me.-
What letter is this same? What's here?" To Silvia?"
And here an engine fit for my proceeding!
I'll be so bold to break the seal for once.

[Reads.

"My thoughts do harbour with my Silvia nightly; And slaves they are to me, that send them flying:

1 What LETS,] i. e. what hinders. See Vol. vi. p. 409; Vol. vii. p. 221, &c.

O! could their master come and go as lightly,

Himself would lodge, where senseless they are lying. My herald thoughts in thy pure bosom rest them;

While I, their king, that thither them importune, Do curse the grace that with such grace hath bless'd them, Because myself do want my servants' fortune.

I curse myself, for they are sent by me,

That they should harbour where their lord should be."

What's here?

66

Silvia, this night I will enfranchise thee:"

"Tis so; and here's the ladder for the purpose.-
Why, Phaeton, (for thou art Merops' son2)
Wilt thou aspire to guide the heavenly car,
And with thy daring folly burn the world?
Wilt thou reach stars, because they shine on thee3?
Go, base intruder; over-weening slave:
Bestow thy fawning smiles on equal mates,
And think my patience, more than thy desert,
Is privilege for thy departure hence.

Thank me for this, more than for all the favours
Which, all too much, I have bestow'd on thee:
But if thou linger in my territories

Longer than swiftest expedition

Will give thee time to leave our royal court,
By heaven, my wrath shall far exceed the love
I ever bore my daughter, or thyself.
Begone: I will not hear thy vain excuse;

But, as thou lov'st thy life, make speed from hence.
[Exit DUKE.

2 Merops' son)] Johnson thus explains this passage: "Thou art Phaëton in thy rashness, but without his pretensions; thou art not the son of a divinity, but a terræ filius, a low-born wretch; Merops is thy true father, with whom Phaeton was falsely reproached."

Wilt thou reach stars, because they shine on thee?] Fawnia, in Green's novel of "Pandosto," (on which our great dramatist founded his "Winter's Tale") exclaims, in reference to her love for the Prince-"Stars are to be looked at with the eye, not reached at with the hand." Vide "Shakespeare's Library," vol. i. p. 38.