These hands shall never draw 'em out like light- ACT II ning,

To blast whole armies, more!

ARC.

No, Palamon,

Those hopes are prisoners with us: here we are,
And here the graces of our youths must wither,
Like a too-timely Spring; here age must find us,
And, which is heaviest, Palamon, unmarried;
The sweet embraces of a loving wife,
Loaden with kisses, arm'd with thousand Cupids,
Shall never clasp our necks; no issue know us,
No figures of ourselves shall we e'er see,
To glad our age, and like young eagles teach 'em
Boldly to gaze against bright arms, and say
Remember what your fathers were, and conquer !
The fair-ey'd maids shall weep our banishments,
And in their songs curse ever-blinded Fortune,
Till she for shame see what a wrong she has done
To youth and nature. This is all our World;
We shall know nothing here but one another;
Hear nothing but the clock that tells our woes:
The vine shall grow, but we shall never see it;
Summer shall come, and with her all delights,
But dead-cold Winter must inhabit here still.
PAL. "Tis too true, Arcite. To our Theban hounds,
That shook the aged forest with their echoes,
No more now must we holla; no more shake
Our pointed javelins, whilst the angry swine

30

40

Sc. II

Flies like a Parthian quiver from our rages,

Struck with our well-steel'd darts: all valiant uses (The food and nourishment of noble minds)

50

In us two here shall perish; we shall die (Which is the curse of honour) lastly, Children of grief and ignorance.

ARC.

Yet, Cousin,

Even from the bottom of these miseries,
From all that Fortune can inflict upon us,

I see two comforts rising, two mere blessings,

If the Gods please, to hold here a brave patience,
And the enjoying of our griefs together.

60

ACT II

Sc. II

Whilst Palamon is with me, let me perish

If I think this our prison!

'Tis a main goodness, Cousin, that our fortunes
Were twinn'd together: 'tis most true, two souls
Put in two noble bodies, let 'em suffer
The gall of hazard, so they grow together,

Will never sink; they must not, say they could:
A willing man dies sleeping, and all's done.
ARC. Shall we make worthy uses of this place,
That all men hate so much?

PAL.

How, gentle Cousin? 70
ARC. Let's think this prison holy sanctuary,

To keep us from corruption of worse men:
We're young, and yet desire the ways of honour,
That liberty and common conversation,

The poison of pure spirits, might, like women,

Woo us to wander from. What worthy blessing

Can be, but our imaginations

May make it our's? and here being thus together,

We are an endless mine to one another;

We're one another's wife, ever begetting

80

New births of love; we 're father, friends, acquaintance;

We are, in one another, families;

I am your heir, and you are mine: this place

Is our inheritance; no hard oppressor

Dare take this from us: here, with a little patience,
We shall live long, and loving; no surfeits seek us;
The hand of War hurts none here, nor the seas
Swallow their youth. Were we at liberty,
A wife might part us lawfully, or business;
Quarrels consume us; envy of ill men
Crave our acquaintance; I might sicken, Cousin,
Where you should never know it, and so perish
Without your noble hand to close mine eyes,
Or prayers to the Gods: a thousand chances,
Were we from hence, would sever us.
PAL.

90

You have made me (I thank you, Cousin Arcite) almost wanton With my captivity: what a misery

It is to live abroad, and every where!

"Tis like a beast, methinks: I find the Court here, I am sure, a more content; and all those pleasures That woo the wills of men to vanity

I see through now; and am sufficient

To tell the World 'tis but a gaudy shadow,
That old Time, as he passes by, takes with him.
What had we been, old in the Court of Creon,
Where sin is justice, lust and ignorance
The virtues of the great ones? Cousin Arcite,
Had not the loving Gods found this place for us,
We had died as they do, ill old men, unwept,
And had their epitaphs, the people's curses.
Shall I say more?

PAL. I do not think it possible our friendship

Should ever leave us.

ARC.

Till our deaths it cannot ;

And after death our spirits shall be led
To those that love eternally. Speak on, Sir.

Enter EMILIA and her Woman below.
EMI. This garden has a World of pleasures in 't.
What flower is this?

"Tis call'd Narcissus, Madam.

120

Wo.
EMI. That was a fair boy certain, but a fool

To love himself: were there not maids enough?
ARC. Pray, forward.

PAL.

EMI.

Wo. They could not be to one so fair.
EMI.

Yes.

Or were they all hard-hearted?

Thou would'st not.

That's a good wench!

Why, Madam?

25

Wo. I think I should not, Madam.
EMI.

But take heed to your kindness though!

Wo.

X : D

ACT II

Sc. II

ACT II EMI. Men are mad things.

Sc. II

ARC.

Will ye go forward, Cousin? EMI. Canst not thou work such flowers in silk, Wench? Wo.

EMI. I'll have a gown full of 'em; and of these ;

This is a pretty colour: will 't not do
Rarely upon a skirt, Wench?

Wo.

Dainty, Madam.

Yes.

130

ARC. Cousin, Cousin! how do you, Sir? why, Palamon!
PAL. Never till now I was in prison, Arcite.

ARC. Why, what's the matter, Man?

EMI. It is the very emblem of a maid:

For when the West Wind courts her gently,

How modestly she blows, and paints the Sun

With her chaste blushes! when the North comes near her,

Rude and impatient, then, like chastity,

She locks her beauties in her bud again,

And leaves him to base briers.

141

Thou art wanton.

She's all the beauty extant!

EMI. The Sun grows high; let's walk in. Keep these

flowers:

We'll see how near art can come near their colours. 150
I am wondrous merry-hearted; I could laugh now.

Wo. I could lie down, I am sure.

EMI.

And take one with you?

Wo. That's as we bargain, Madam.
EMI.

Well, agree then. [Exeunt EMILIA and Woman.

PAL. What think you of this beauty?
ARC.

PAL. Is 't but a rare one?
ARC.

"Tis a rare one.

Yes, a matchless beauty.

PAL. Might not a man well lose himself, and love her?
ARC. I cannot tell what you have done; I have,

Beshrew mine eyes for 't! Now I feel my shackles.
PAL. You love her, then?

ARC. I will not, as you do, to worship her,
As she is heavenly and a blessed Goddess;
I love her as a woman, to enjoy her:

So both may love.

PAL.

You shall not love at all.

ARC. Not love at all! who shall deny me?

PAL. I, that first saw her; I, that took possession
First with mine eye of all those beauties in her
Reveal'd to mankind. If thou lovest her,

Or entertain'st a hope to blast my wishes,
Thou art a traitor, Arcite, and a fellow
False as thy title to her: friendship, blood,
And all the ties between us, I disclaim,
If thou once think upon her!

ARC.

Yes, I love her;

And, if the lives of all my name lay on it,

I must do so; I love her with my soul.

If that will lose ye, farewell, Palamon!

I say again, I love; and, in loving her, maintain

I am as worthy and as free a lover,

And have as just a title to her beauty,

170

180

ACT II

Sc. II