Speed. But tell me true, will 't be a match? Laun. Afk my dog; if he fay, ay, it will; if he fay, no, it will; if he thake his tail, and fay nothing, it will.
Speed. The conclufion is then, that it will. Laun. Thou shalt never get fuch a fecret from me, but by a parable.
Speed. 'Tis well that I get it fo. But, Launce, how fay'ft thou, that my matter is become a notable lover?
Laun. I never knew him otherwife.
Speed. Than how?
Laun. A notable lubber, as thou reporteft him to be.
Speed. Why, thou whorion afs, thou mistakest me. Laun. Why, fool, I meant not thee; I meant thy mafter.
Speed. I tell thee, my mafter is become a hot lover. Laun. Why, I tell thee, I care not though he burn himself in love. If thou wilt go with me to the alehouse, fo; if not, thou art an Hebrew, a Jew, and not worth the name of a Christian. Speed. Why?
Laun. Because thou haft not fo much charity in thee, as to go to the alehouse with a Christian wilt thou go?
Without fome treachery us'd to Valentine:-
This night, he meaneth with a corded ladder
To climb celeftial Silvia's chamber-window;
Myfelf in counfel, his competitor 2:
Now prefently I'll give her father notice
Of their difguifing, and pretended 3 flight;
Who, all enrag'd, will banifh Valentine;
For Thurio, he intends, fhall wed his daughter:
But, Valentine being gone, I'll quickly crofs
By fome fly trick, blunt Thurio's dull proceeding.
Love, lend me wings to make my purpose fwift,
As thou haft lent me wit to plot this drift! [Ex.
SCENE VII.
Julia's boufe in Verona.
Enter Julia and Lucetta,
Jul. Counfel, Lucetta; gentle girl, aflist me!
And, even in kind love, I do conjure thee,—
Who art the table wherein all my thoughts
Are vifibly character'd and engrav'd,-
To leffon me; and tell me fome good mean,
How, with my honour, I may undertake
A journey to my loving Protheus.
Luc. Alas! the way is wearifome and long.
Jul. A true-devoted pilgrim is not weary
To meafure kingdoms with his feeble steps;
[Exeunt. Much less fhall the, that hath love's wings to fly;
And when the flight is made to one fo dear,
Pro. To leave my Julia, fhall I be forfworn}
To love fair Silvia, thall I be forfworn;
To wrong my friend, I shall be much forfworn;
And even that power which gave me first my oath,
Provokes me to this threefold perjury.
Love bade me fwear, and love bids me forfwear:
10 fweet-fuggefting love, if thou haft finn'd,
Teach me, thy tempted subject, to excuse it!
At first I did adore a twinkling ftar,
But now I worship a celestial fun.
Unheedful vows may heedfully be broken;
And he wants wit, that wants refolved will
To learn his wit to exchange the bad for better.-
Fie, fie, unreverend tongue! to call her bad,
Whofe fovereignty fo oft thou haft preferr'd
With twenty thousand foul-confirming oaths.
I cannot leave to love, and yet I do;
But there I leave to love, where I should love.
Julia I lofe, and Valentine I lose :
If I keep them, I needs muft lofe myself;
If I lose them, this find I by their lots,
For Valentine, myfelf; for Julia, Silvia.
I to myself am dearer than a friend;
For love is ftill more precious in itself;
And Silvia, witnefs heaven, that made her fair!
Shews Julia but a fwarthy Ethiope.
I will forget that Julia is alive,
Remembring that my love to her is dead;
And Valentine I'll hold an enemy,
Aiming at Silvia as a sweeter friend.
I cannot now prove conftant to myfelf,
Of fuch divine perfection, as fir Protheus.
Luc. Better forbear, till Protheus make return. Jul. Oh, know'st thou not, his looks are my foul's Pity the dearth that I have pined in,
By longing for that food fo long a time.
Didft thou but know the inly touch of love,
Thou would'ft as foon go kindle fire with fnow,
As feek to quench the fire of love with words.
Luc. I do not feek to quench your love's hot fire
But qualify the fire's extreme rage,
Left it should burn above the bounds of reafon.[burns;
Jul. The more thou damm'ft it up, the more it
The current, that with gentle murmur glides,
Thou know'ft, being stopp'd, impatiently doth rage;
But, when his fair courfe is not hindered,
He makes fweet mufic with the enamel'd ftones,
Giving a gentle kifs to every fedge
He overtaketh in his pilgrimage;
And fo by many winding nooks he strays,
With willing fport, to the wild ocean.
Then let me go, and hinder not my course;
I'll be as patient as a gentle stream,
And make a paftime of each weary step,
Till the laft ftep have brought me to my love;
And there I'll reft, as, after much turmoil,
bleffed foul doth in Ely fium.
Luc. But in what habit will you go along?
Jul. Not like a woman; for I would prevent
The loose encounters of lafoious men:
Gentle Luceta, fit me with fuch weeds
As may befeem fome well reputed page.
To furget is to tempt, in our author's language, 3 Pretended flight is propofed or intended flight,
Luc. Why then your ladyship must cut your hair. ful. No, girl; I'll knit it up in filken ftring>,,
2 Competitor is confederate, affiflant, perther,
With twenty odd-conceited true-love knots:
To be fantaftic, may become a youth
Of greater time than I fhall fhew to be.
Luc. What fathion, madam, fhall I make your Warrant me welcome to my Protheus.
breeches?
ful. That is the leaft, Lucetta, of my fear:
A thoufand oaths, an ocean of his tears,
And inftances as infinite of love,
Fal. That fits as well, as-"tell me. good ny lord,|
What compass will you wear your farthingale?"
Why, even that fashion thou beft lik'ft, Lucetta.
Luc. You must needs have them with a cod-
piece, madam.
Jul. Out, out, Lucetta! that will be ill-favour'd.
Luc. A round hofe, madam, now's not worth a
Unless you have a cod-piece to ftick pins on. [pin,
Jul. Lucetta, as thou lov'ft me, let me have
What thou think'ft meet, and is moft mannerly:
But tell me, wench, how will the world repute me,
For undertaking fo unftaid a journey?
I fear me, it will make me fcandaliz’d.
Luc. All thefe are fervants to deceitful men.
Jul. Bafe men, that use them to fo base effect!
But truer ftars did govern Protheus' birth:
His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles;
His love fincere, his thoughts immaculate;
His tears, pure meffengers fent from his heart;
His heart as far from fraud, as heaven from earth,
Luc. Pray heaven, he prove fo, when you come
to him!
Jul. Now, as thou lov'st me, do him not that wrong,
To bear a hard opinion of his truth;
Only deferve my love, by loving him;
And prefently go with me to my chamber,
To take a note of what I ftand in need of,
L. If you think fo, then stay at home, and go not. To furnish me upon my longing 2 journey,
Ful. Nay, that I will not.
Luc. Then never dream on infamy, but go.
If Protheus like your journcy, when you come,
No matter who's difpleas'd, when you are gone:
1 fear me, he will scarce be pleas'd withal.
All that is mine I leave at thy difpofe,
My goods, my lands, my reputation;
Only, in lieu thereof, dispatch me hence.
Come, anfwer not, but to it prefently;
I am impatient of my tarriance.
The duke's palace in Milan.
Exter Duke, Thurio, and Protheus.
Duke. SIR Thurio, give us leave, I pray, a while;
We have fome fecrets to confer about.
[Exit Thur.
Now, tell me, Protheus, what's your will with me?
Pre. My gracious lord, that which I would difcover,
The law of friendship bids me to conceal:
But, when I call to mind your gracious favours
Done to me, undeferving as I am,
My duty pricks me on to utter that
Which clíe no worldly good should draw from me.
Know, worthy prince, fir Valentine, my friend,
This night intends to fteal away your daughter;
Myfelf am one made privy to the plot.
I know, you have determin'd to bestow her
On Thurio, whom your gentle daughter hates;
And thould the thus be ftolen away from you,
It would be much vexation to your age.
Thus, for my duty's fake, I rather chofe
To cross my friend in his intended drift,
Than, by concealing it, heap on your head
A pack of forrows, which would prefs you down,
Being unprevented, to your timeless grave.
Dake. Protheus, 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 left my jealous aim 3 might err,
And fe, unworthily, difgrace the man,
(A rafhnefs that I ever yet have funn'd)
I gave him gentle locks; thereby to find
That which thyfelf haft now disclos'd to me.
And, that thou may'st perceive my fear of this,
Knowing that tender youth is foon fuggested,
I nightly lodge her in an upper tower,
The key whereof myself have ever kept;
And thence the cannot be convey'd away.
Pro. Know, noble lord, thay have devis'd a mean
How he her chamber-window will afcend,
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 fo cunningly,
That my difcovery be not aimed at 4;
For love of you, not hate unto my friend,
Hath made me publifher of this pretence 5.
Duke. Upon mine honour, he shall never know
That I had any light from thee of this.
Pro. Adieu, my lord; fir Valentine is coming."
[Exit Pro
Duke. Sir Valentine, whither away so fast?
Val. Pleafe it your grace, there is a meffenger
That stays to bear my letters to my friends,
And I am going to deliver them.
This interjection is ftill used in the North. means guefs, in this inftance. That is, be not guessed. daughter. Pretence implies defign.
2 That is, wifh'd or defired journey. 3 Ains 5 That is, of this claim made to your Duke
Duke. Be they of much import?
Val. The tenor of them doth but fignify
My health, and happy being at your court.
Duke. Nay, then no matter; ftay with me a while;
I am to break with thee of fome affairs,
That touch me near, wherein thou must be fecret.
'Tis not unknown to thee, that I have fought
To match my friend, fir Thurio, to my daughter.
Val. I know it well, my lord; and, fure, the match
Were rich and honourable; befides, the gentleman
Is full of virtue, bounty, worth, and qualities
Befeeming fuch a wife as your fair daughter:
Cannot your grace win her to fancy him?
Duke. No, trust me; fhe is peevish, fullen, froward,
Proud, difobedient, ftubborn, lacking duty;
Neither regarding that the is my child,
Nor fearing me as if I were her father:
And, may I fay to thee, this pride of her's,
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 refolv'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 poffeffions, the esteems not.
Val. What would your grace have me to do in this?
Duke. There is a lady, fir, in Milan, here,
Whom I affect; but the is nice and coy,
And nought efteems my aged eloquence:
Now, therefore, would I have thee to my tutor,
(For long agone I have forgot to court;
Befides, the fashion of the time is chang'd)
How, and which way, I may bestow myself,
To be regarded in her fun-bright eye.
Val. Why, then, a ladder, quaintly made of cords
To caft up, with a pair of anchoring hooks,
Would ferve to fcale 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 fuch a ladder.
Val. When would you use it? pray, fir, 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 feven o'clock I'll get you fuch a ladder.
Duke. But hark thee; I will go to her alone;
How fhall I beft 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 ferve the turn?
Val. Ay, my good lord.
Duke. Then let me fee thy cloak;
I'll get me one of fuch another length.
Val. Why, any cloak will ferve the turn, my lord.
Duke. How fhall I fashion me to wear a cloak ?→→→
I pray thee, let me feel thy cloak upon me.--
What letter is this fame? what's here?-To Silvia &
And here an engine fit for my proceeding!
I'll be fo bold to break the feal for once. [Duke reads.
My thoughts do harbour with my Silvia nightly;
And flaves they are to me, that fend them flying a
Ob, could their mafter come and go as lightly,
Himfelf would lodge, where fenfelefs they are lying
My herald thoughts in thy pure bofom reft them;
While I, their king, that thither them importune,
Do curfe the grace that with fuch grace bath blef'dihem,
Because myself do want my fervant's fortune;
I curfe myself, for they are fent by me,
That they should barbour where their lord would be.
What's here ? Silvia,this night will I enfranchise thee z
'Tis fo; and here's the ladder for the purpose.-
Why, Phaeton, (for thou art Merops' fon)
Wilt thou afpire to guide the heavenly car,
And with thy daring folly burn the world?
[her: Wilt thou reach stars, because they thine on thee?
Go, bafe intruder! over-weening flave!
Beftow thy fawning fmiles on equal mates;
And think, my patience, more than thy defert,
Is privilege for thy departure hence:
Val. Win her with gifts, if the respect not words;
Dumb jewels often, in their filent kind,
More than quick words, do move a woman's mind.
Duke. But she did fcorn a prefent that I fent her.
Val. A wornan fcorns fometimes what best contents
Send her another; never give her o'er;
For fcorn at firft makes after-love the more.
If the do frown, 'tis not in hate of you,
But rather to beget more love in you:
If the do chide, 'tis not to have you gone;
For why, the fools are mad if left alone.
Take no repulfe, whatever the doth fay;
For, get you gone, fhe doth not mean, away:
Flatter, and praife, commend, extol their graces;
Though ne'er fo black, fay, they have angels' faces.
That man that hath a tongue, I fay, is no man,
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman.
Duke. But the I mean, is promis'd by her friends
Unto a youthful gentleman of worth;
And kept feverely from refort of men,
That no man hath access by day to her.
Val. Why then I would refort to her by night.
Duke. Ay, but the doors be lock'd, and keys kept fafe,
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 fo fhelving, that one cannot climb it Without apparent hazard of his life.
Thank me for this, more than for all the favours,
Which, all too much, I have beftow'd on thee.
But if thou linger in my territories,
Longer than fwifteft expedition
Will give thee time to leave our royal court,
By heaven, my wrath fhall far exceed the love
I ever bore my daughter, or thyfelf.
Begone, I will not hear thy vain excufe,
But, as thou lov'ft thy life, make speed from hence.
Val. And why not death, rather than living torment?
To die, is to be banish'd from myself!
And Silvia is myself; banish'd from her,
Is felf from felf; a deadly banishment!
What light is light, if Silvia be not feen?
What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by ?
Unlefs it be, to think that he is by,
And feed upon the shadow of perfection.
That is, what hinders. 2 For is the fame as for that, fince.
Except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no mufick in the nightingale;
Unless I look on Silvia in the day,
There is no day for me to look upon;
She is my effence; and I leave to be,
If I be not by her fair influence
Fofter'd, illumin'd, cherifh'd, kept alive.
I fly not death, to fly his deadly doom:
Tarry I here, I but attend on death;
But fly I hence, I fly away from life.
Enter Protheus and Launce.
Pro. Run, boy, run, run, and feek him out.
Laun. So-ho! fo-ho!
Pro. What feeft thou?
Laun. Him we go to find; there's not an hair On's head, but 'tis a Valentine.
Pro. Who then? his fpirit?
Pro. What then?
Val. Nothing.
But Valentine, if he be ta'en, must die.
Befides, her intercellion chaf'd him fo,
When the for thy repeal was fuppliant,
That to close prifon he commanded her,
With many bitter threats of 'biding there. [fpeak'ft,
Val. No more; unlefs the next word that thou
Have fome malignant power upon my life;
If fo, I pray thee, breathe it in mine ear,
As ending anthem of my endless dolour.
Pro. Ceafe to lament for that thou can't not help,
And ftudy help for that which thou lament'st.
Time is the nurfe and breeder of all good.
Here if thou ftay, thou can't not fee thy love;
Befides, thy staying will abridge thy life.
Hope is a lover's ftaff; walk hence with that,
And manage it against despairing thoughts.
Thy letters may be here, though thou art hence
Which, being writ to me, fhall be deliver'd
Even in the milk-white bofom of thy love.
The time now ferves not to expoftulate:
Come, I'll convey thee through the city-gate;
And, ere I part with thee, confer at large
Lan. Can nothing speak? Master, fhall I ftrike? Of all that may concern thy love-affairs:
Pro. Whom would't thou strike?
Laun. Nothing.
As thou lov'it Silvia, though not for thyfelf,
Regard thy danger, and along with me.
Val. I pray thee, Launce, an if thou feest my boy,
Bid him make hafte, and meet me at the north-gate.
Pro. Go, firrah, find him out. Come, Valentine,
Val. O my dear Silvia! haplefs Valentine!
[Exeunt Valentine and Protheus. Laun. I am but a fool, look you; and yet I have the wit to think, my mafter is a kind of a knave: but that's all one, if he be but one knave 3. He lives not now, that knows me to be in love:
Val. No Valentine, indeed, for facred Sylvia! yet 1 am in love; but a team of horse shall not Hath the forfworn me?
pluck that from me; nor who 'tis I love, and yet 'tis a woman; but what woman, I will not tell
Val. No Valentine, if Silvia have forfworn me!-myfelf, and yet 'tis a milk-maid: yet 'tis not a What is your news? [vanifh'd. maid, for the hath had goilips 4: yet 'tis a maid, for Lan. Sir, there's a proclamation that you are the is her mafter's maid, and ferves for wages.— Pro. That thou art banifh'd, oh, that is the news, She hath more qualities than a water-fpanielFrom hence, from Silvia, and from me thy friend.
Val. Oh, I have fed upon this woe already,
And now excess of it will make me furfeit.
Doth Silvia know that I am banish'd?
Pro. Ay, ay; and the hath offer'd to the doom,
(Which unrevers'd, ftands in effectual force)
A fea of melting pearl, which fome call tears;
Those at her father's churlish feet the tender'd;
With them, upon her knees, her humble feif;
Wringing her hands, whose whitenefs fo became
As if but now they waxed pale for woe: [them,
But neither bended knees, pure hands held up,
Sad fighs, deep groans, nor filver-fhedding tears,
Could penetrate her uncompattionate fire;
which is much in a bare chriftian 5. Here is the
cat-log [pulling out a paper] of her conditions.→→ Imprimis, She can fetch and carry. Why, a horfe can do no more: nay, a horse cannot fetch, but only carry; therefore, is the better than a jade.→ Item, She can milk, look you; a fweet virtue in a maid with clean hands.
Speed. How now, fignior Launce? what news with your mastership?
Laun. With my mafter's fhip? why, it is at fea Speed. Well, your old vice ftil!; mistake the word: What news then in your paper?
Laun. The blackest news that ever thou heard'f.
The phrase of, to fly his doom, ufed here for by flying, or in flying, is a gallicifm. The fenfe is. By avoiding the execution of his fentence I thall not efcape death. 2 Before the meaning of this addrefs of letters to the bofom of a mistress can be underflood, it should be known that women anciently bad a pocket in the fore part of their itays, in which they not only carried love-letters and lovetokens, but even their money and materials for needle-work. In many parts of England the country girls till obferve the fame practice, 3 One knave may fignify a knave on only one occasion, a Jingle knive. We still use a double villain for a villain beyond the common rate of guilt. 4 Gulfps not only fignify thofe who are fponfers for a child in baptifm, but the tattling women who attend lyings-in. 5 Bare has two fenfes; mere and naked. Launce ufes it in both, and oppofes the naked female to the water-fpaniel cover'd with hairs of remarkable thickness.
Laun. Then may I fet the world on wheels, when the can fpin for her living.
Speed. Item, She bath many nameless virtues.
Laun. That's as much as to fay, Bastard virtues ; that, indeed, know not their fathers, and therefore have no names.
Speed. Here follow her vices
Laun. Clofe at the heels of her virtues.
Speed. Item, She is not to be kifs'd fafting, in reSpect of her breath.
Laun. Well, that fault may be mended with a breakfast: Read on.
Speed. Item, She bath a feweet mouth 4.
Laun. That makes amends for her four breath.
Speed. Item, She doth talk in her fleep.
Laun. It's no matter for that, fo the fleep not in her talk.
Speed. Item, She is flow in words.
Laun. O villain! that fet down among her vices! To be flow in words, is a woman's only virtue: I pray thee, out with't; and place it for her chief virtue.
Speed. Item, She is proud.
Speed. Item, She will often praife her liquor. Laun. If her liquor be good, fhe fhall: if the will not, I will; for good things fhould be praifed. Speed. Item, She is too liberal 5.
Laun. Of her tongue the cannot; for that's writ down, fhe is flow of: of her purfe the shall not; for that I'll keep fhut: now of another thing the may; and that I cannot help. Well, proceed.
Speed. Item, She bath more hair than wit, and re faults than bairs, and more wealth than faults. Laun Stop there; I'll have her: he was mine, and not mine, twice or thrice in that laft article : Rehearse that once mere.
Speed. Item, She bath more hair than wit,— Laun. More hair than wit,-it may be; I'n prove it: The cover of the falt hides the falt, and therefore it is more than the falt: the hair, that covers the wit, is more than the wit; for the greater hides the lefs. What's next?
Laun. Why, then will I tell thee, that thy mafter stays for thee at the north-gate.
Laun. For thee? ay; who art thou? he hath ftaid for a better man than thee.
Speed. And must I go to him?
Laun. Thou must run to him, for thou haft staid fo long, that going will fcarce ferve the turn. Speed. Why didft not tell me fooner ? pox on your love-letters!
Laun. Now will he be fwing'd for reading my letter; an unmannerly flave, that will thrust him, felf into fecrets!-I'll after, to rejoice in the boy's correction, [Excunt.
Enter Duke and Thurio, and Protheus behind. Duke. Sir Thurio, fear not, but that the will love you,
Now Valentine is banish'd from her fight.
Thu. Since his exile the hath defpis'd me most, Forfworn my company, and rail'd at me,
Laun. Out with that too; it was Eve's legacy, That I am defperate of obtaining her.
and cannot be taken from her.
Speed. Item, She bath no teeth.
Duke. This weak imprefs of love is as a figure Trenched in ice; which with an hour's heat
Laun. I care not for that neither, because I love Diffolves to water, and doth lose his form. crufts.
A little time will melt her frozen thoughts,
And worthlefs Valentine fhall be forgot.
Speed, Item, She is curft. Laun. Well, the best is, the hath no teeth to How now, fir Protheus? Is your countryman, bite. According to our proclamation, gone?
1 It is undoubtedly true that the mother only knows the legitimacy of the child. Launce probably infers, that if he could read, he must have read this well known obfervation. 2 St. Nicholas prefided over fcholars, who were therefore call'd St. Nicholas's clerks. 3 That is, a flocking. Dr. Johnfon is of opinion that fweet mouth implies the fame with what is now vulgarly called a fweet tooth, a luxurious defire of dainties and fweetmeats; while Mr. Steevens believes, that by a Sweet mouth is meant that the fings fweetly. 5 Liberal, is licentious and grofs in language. Gracious, in old language, means graceful. That is, cut, carv'd in ice. Pro
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