Page images
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up.
My father's loss, the weakness which I feel,
The wreck of all my friends, or this man's
threats,

To whom I am subdu'd, are but light to me,
Might I but through my prison once a day
Behold this maid: all corners else o' th' earth
Let liberty make use of; space enough
Have I in such a prison.

Description of Ferdinand's swimming ashore.

I saw him beat the surges under him,
And ride upon their backs; he trod the water,
Whose enmity he flung aside, and breasted
The surge most swoln that met him; his bold
head

'Bove the contentious waves he kept, and oar'd
Himself with his good arms in lusty strokes
To th' shore that o'er his wave-worn basis
bow'd,

As stooping to relieve him: I not doubt,
He came alive to land.

[blocks in formation]

pr'ythee, let me bring thee where crabs grow; And I with my long nails will dig thee pignuts;

Show thee a jay's nest, and instruct thee how
To snare the nimble marmozet: I'll bring
thee
[thee
To clust'ring filberds, and sometimes I 'll get
Young sea-mels from the rock.
True and unbiassed Affection.
bearing a Log.

Ferdinand

There be some sports are painful: but their
labor
[ness

Satire on Utopian Forms of Government.
I' the commonwealth I would by contraries
Execute all things: for no kind of traffic
Would I admit; no name of magistrate;
Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,
And use of service, none; contracts, succes- Delight in them sets off: some kinds of base-
sion,
[none; Are nobly undergone: and most poor matters
Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, olive Point to rich ends. This my mean task would
No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil: As heavy to me, as 'tis odious; but
No occupation: all men idle, all:
The mistress whom I serve, quickens what 's
And women too, but innocent and purè :
dead,
No sovereignty :

[be

And makes my labors pleasures: O, she is
Ten times more gentle than her father 's
crabbed :
[move
And he 's compos'd of harshness. I must re-

All things in common nature should produce,
Without sweat or endeavor: treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun, or need of any engine,
Would I not have; but nature should bring Some thousands of these logs, and pile 'em up,
Upon a sore injunction. My sweet mistress

forth

Weeps when she sees me work: and says, At which, like unback'd colts, they prick'd

such baseness

Had ne'er such executor. I forget;

But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my Most busy-less when I do it. [labors,

Admir'd Miranda !

Indeed, the top of admiration : worth

their ears,

Advanc'd their eye-lids, lifted up their noses, As they smelt music: so I charm'd their ears, That, calf-like, they my lowing follow'd thro' Tooth'd briers, sharp furzes, pricking goss, and thorns,

['em Which enter'd their frail skins: at last I left What's dearest to the world! full many a lady I' th' filthy mantled pool beyond your cell, I have eyed with best regard; and many a time There dancing up to the chins. The harmony of their tongues hath into

[ocr errors]

bondage [tues Brought my too diligent ears; for several virHave I lik'd several women: never any With so full soul, but some defect in her Did quarrel with the noblest grace she own'd, And put it to the foil: but you, O you, So perfect, and so peerless, are created Of every creature's best.

Guilty Conscience.

[it:

O, it is monstrous! monstrous! Methought the billows spoke, and told me of The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder, That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounc'd

The name of Prosper. It did bass my trespass. Gon. All three of them are desperate; their great guilt,

Like poison given to work a great time after, Now 'gins to bite the spirits.

Continence before Marriage.

Pros. If thou dost break her virgin-knot, All sanctimonious ceremonies may [before With full and holy rite be minister'd,

No sweet aspersion shall the heavens let fall To make this contract grow; but barren hate,| Sour-eyed disdain, and discord shall bestrew The union of your bed with weeds so loathly, That you shall hate it both; therefore, take As Hymen's lamps shall light you.

Vanity of Human Nature.

[heed,

Fine Sentiment of Humanity on Repentance.
Ariel,
The king,
[ed;

His brother, and yours, abide all three distract-
And the remainder mourning over them,
Brim-full of sorrow and dismay; but chiefly
Him that you term'd the good old lord Gon-
zalo;
[drops
His tears run down his beard, like winter's
From eaves of reeds: your charms so strongly

work 'em,

That, if you now beheld them, your affections Would become tender.

Pros. Dost thou think so, spirit?

Ariel.
Pros.
Hast thou, who art but air, a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not myself,
One of their kind, that relish all as sharply,
Passion as they, be kindlier mov'd than thou
art?
[quick,

Mine would, Sir, were I human.
And mine shall.

Tho' with their high wrongs I am struck to the
Yet with my nobler reason, 'gainst my fury
Do I take part; the rarer action is [tent,
In virtue than in vengeance: they being peni-
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frown farther.

Fairies and Magic.

Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and
groves;

And ye, that on the sands with printless foot
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him,
When he comes back; you demy-puppets, that

Pros. Our revels now are ended: these our By moon-shine do the green sour ringlets

actors

(As I foretold you) were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air :
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea all which it inherit, shall dissolve;
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind! We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.

Drunkards enchanted by Ariel.

make, [pastime Whereof the ewe not bites; and you, whose Is to make midnight mushrooms; that rejoice To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid (Weak masters tho' ye be) I have bedimm'd The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,

And 'twixt the green sea and the azur'd vault Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak With his own bolt the strong-bas'd promontory

[up

Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd

Ariel. I told you, Sir, they were red hot The pine and cedar: graves at my command

with drinking;

So full of valor, that they smote the air
For breathing in their faces: beat the ground
For kissing of their feet; yet always bending
Towards their project. Then I beat my ta-

bor;

Have wak'd their sleepers; oped and let them By my so potent art. [forth

Senses returning.

The charm dissolves apace; And as the morning steals upon the night,

[blocks in formation]

If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again ;-it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear, like the sweet south,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing, and giving odour.Enough; no
more;

"Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
O spirit of love, how quick and fresh art thou!
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soever,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute! So full of shapes is fancy,
That it alone is high fantastical.

Description of Sebastian's Escape.

I saw your brother,

Most provident in peril, bind himself [practice)
(Courage and hope both teaching him the
To a strong mast, that liv'd upon the sea;
Where, like Arion on the dolphin's back,
I saw him hold acquaintance with the waves,
So long as I could see.

Outward Appearance a Token of inward
Worth.

There is a fair behaviour in thee, captain; And, though that nature with a beauteous wall Doth oft close in pollution, yet of thee I will believe, thou hast a mind that suits With this thy fair and outward character. A beautiful Boy.

Dear lad, believe it;

For they shall yet belie thy happy years,
That say, thou art a man; Diana's lip

Is not more smooth and rubious; thy small pipe

Is as the maiden's organ, shrill and sound,
And all is semblative a woman's part.

Beauty.

"Tis beauty truly blent, whose red and white

Nature's own sweet and cunning hand laid on:
Lady, you are the cruel'st she alive,
If you will lead these graces to the grave,
And leave the world, no copy.

Character of a noble Gentleman.

Yet I suppose him virtuous, know him noble, Of great estate, of fresh and stainless youth; In voices well divulg'd, free, learn'd, and valiant,

And, in dimension, and the shape of nature,
A gracious person; but yet I cannot love him;
He might have took his answer long ago.
Resolved Love.

Oliv.

Why, what would you? Vio. Make me a willow cabin at your gate, And call upon my soul within the house: Write royal cantos of contemned love, And sing them loud even in the dead of night, Holla your name to the reverberate hills, And make the babbling gossip of the air Cry out, Olivia! O, you should not rest Between the elements of air and earth, But you should pity me.

Serious Music most agreeable to Lovers.

Now, good Cesario, but that piece of song, That old and antique song we heard last night: More than light airs and recollected terms Methought it did relieve my passion much; Of these most brisk and giddy-paced times.

True Love.

Duke. Come hither, boy, if ever thou shalt In the sweet pangs of it remember me: [love, For such as I am, all true lovers are : Unstaid and skittish in all motions else, Save in the constant image of the creature That is belov'd.-How dost thou like this tune?

Vio. It gives a very echo to the seat Where love is thron'd.

Character of an old Song.

Mark it, Cesario, it is old and plain :
And the free maids that weave their thread
The spinsters and the knitters in the sun,
with bones,

Do use to chant it; it is silly sooth,
And dallies with the innocence of love
Like the old age.

[blocks in formation]

A thousand, thousand sighs to save,
Lay me, O where

Sad true lover ne'er find my grave,
To weep there.

Concealed Love.

Duke. There is no woman's sides
Can bide the beating of so strong a passion
As love doth give my heart: no woman's

heart

So big, to hold so much; they lack retention.
Alas! their love may be call'd appetite-
No motion of the liver, but the palate.-
That suffers surfeit, cloyment, and revolt:
But mine is all as hungry as the sea,
And can digest as much: make no compare
Between that love a woman can bear me,
And that I owe Olivia.

Vio. Ay, but I know

Duke. What dost thou know? [may owe;
Vio. Too well what love women to men
In faith, they are as true of heart as we.
My father had a daughter lov'd a man,
As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman,
I should your lordship

Duke. And what's her history?

[love,

Vio. A blank, my lord: she never told her
But let concealment, like a worm i' th' bud,
Feed on her damask cheek: she pin'd in
thought;

And, with a green and yellow melancholy,
She sat like Patience on a monument,
Smiling at grief.

Is turn'd to folly; blasting in the bud,
Losing his verdure even in the prime,
And all the fair effects of future hopes.

Pro. He after honor hunts, I after love:
He leaves his friends, to dignify them more;
I leave myself, my friends, and all for love.
Thou, Julia, thou hast metamorphos'd me :
Made me neglect my studies, lose my time,
War with good counsel, set the world at
nought;
[thought.
Made wit with musing weak, heart-sick with

The Advantages of Travel.

Pant. He wonder'd that your lordship
Would suffer him to spend his youth at home,
While other men, of slender reputation,
Put forth their sons to seek preferment out:
Some to the wars, to try their fortune there;
Some, to discover islands far away:
Some, to the studious universities.
For any, or for all these exercises,
He said, that Protheus, your son, was meet;
And did request me to importune you,
To let him spend his time no more at home,
Which would be great impeachment to his age
In having known no travel in his youth.

Ant. Nor need'st thou much importune me
to that

Whereon this month I have been hammering,
I have considered well his loss of time;
And how he cannot be a perfect man,
Not being tried and tutor❜d in the world:
Experience is by industry achiev❜d,

§ 13. THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VE- And perfected by the swift course of time.

RONA. SHAKSPEARE.

The Advantages of Travel, &c.
Val. Cease to persuade, my loving Pro-
theus;

Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits:
Wer 't not affection chains thy tender days
To the sweet glances of thy honor'd love,
I rather would entreat thy company,
To see the wonders of the world abroad,
Than, living dully sluggardiz'd at home,
Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness;
But, since thou lov'st, love still, and thrive
therein,

Even as I would, when I to love begin. [adieu!

Pro. Wilt thou begone? Sweet Valentine,
Think on thy Protheus, when thou haply seest
Some rare note-worthy object in thy travel:
Wish me partaker in thy happiness,
When thou dost meet good-hap; and, in thy
If ever danger do environ thee, [danger,
Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers,
For I will be thy beadsman, Valentine.

Love compared to an April Day.
O, how this spring of love resembleth
Th' uncertain glory of an April day;
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun
And by and by a cloud takes all away!

An accomplished young Gentleman.
His years but young, but his experience old
His head unmellow'd, but his judgment ripe;
And, in a word (for far behind his worth
Come all the praises that I now bestow)
He is complete in feature, and in mind,
With all good grace to grace a gentleman.

Contempt of Love punished.

I have done penance for contemning love:
Whose high imperious thoughts have punish'd
With bitter fasts, with penitential groans, [me
With nightly tears, and daily heart-sore sighs;
For, in revenge of my contempt of love,
Love hath chas'd sleep from my enthralled
eyes,
[sorrow.
And made them watchers of my own heart's
O gentle Protheus, love's a mighty lord;
And hath so humbled me, as, I confess,
There is no woe to his correction,
Nor to his service, no such joy on earth!
Now no discourse, except it be of love;
[bud Now can I break my fast, dine, sup, and slcep
Upon the very naked name of love.

Love commended and dispraised.
Pro. Yet writers say, as in the sweetest
The eating canker dwells, so eating love [bud
Inhabits in the finest wits of all.

Val. And writers, say, as the most forward
Is eaten by the canker, ere it blow,
Even so by love the young and tender wit

[blocks in formation]

For love, thou know'st, is full of jealousy.

Love compar'd to a waxen Image.
Now my love is thaw'd,
Which, like a waxen image 'gainst a fire,
Bears no impression of the thing it was.

Opposition to Love increases it.

Jul. A true devoted pilgrim is not weary To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps; Much less shall she that hath love's wings to fly;

And when the flight is made to one so dear, Of such divine perfection, as Sir Protheus. Luc. Better forbear, till Protheus make [my soul's food?

return.

Jul. Oh, know'st thou not, his looks are Pity the dearth that I have pined in, By longing for that food so long a time. Didst thou but know the inly touch of love, Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow, As seek to quench the fire of love with words.

Luc. I do not seek to quench your love's But qualify the fire's extreme rage, [hot fire; Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason. Jul. The more thou damm'st it up, the more it burns:

[stones,

The current, that with gentle murmur glides,
Thou know'st, being stopp'd, impatiently doth
But when his fair course is not hinder'd, [rage;
He makes sweet music with the enamell'd
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
He overtaketh in his pilgrimage;
And by so many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport to the wide ocean.
Then let me go, and hinder not my course
I'll be as patient as a gentle stream,
And make a pastime of each weary step,
Till the last step have brought me to my love:
And there I'll rest, as, after much turmoil,
A blessed soul doth in Elysium.

A beautiful Person petitioning (in vain).
Ay, ay; and she hath offered to the doom
(Which unrevers'd stands in effectual force)
A sea of melting pearl, which some call

tears:

Those at her father's churlish feet she tender'd;

With them, upon her knees, her humble self; Wringing her hands, whose whiteness so became them,

As if but now they waxed pale for woe:

But neither bended knees, pure hands held up, Sad sighs, deep groans, nor silver-shedding tears,

Could penetrate her uncompassionate sire.
Hope.

Hope is a lover's staff; walk hence with that:

And manage it against despairing thoughts.

Love compared to a Figure on Ice. This weak impress of love is as a figure Trenched in ice, which, with an hour's heat, Dissolves to water, and doth lose his form.

The Power of Poetry with Women. Say, that upon the altar of her beauty You sacrifice your tears, your sighs, your heart: Write, till your ink be dry; and with your tears Moist it again; and frame some feeling line, That may discover such integrity :For Orpheus' lute was strung with poet's sinews; [stones, Whose golded touch could soften steel and Make tigers tame, and huge leviathans Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands. Song.

Who is Sylvia? what is she,

That all our swains commend her ?
Holy, fair, and wise is she :

The heavens such grace did lend her,
That she might admired be.
Is she kind as she is fair?

For beauty lives with kindness:
Love doth to her eyes repair,

To help him of his blindness;
And, being help'd, inhabits there.
Then to Sylvia let us sing,

That Sylvia is excelling;
She excels each mortal thing
Upon the dull earth dwelling:
To her let us garlands bring.
A Lover's Rest.

Jul. And so, good rest.
Pro. As wretches have o'er night,
That wait for execution in the morn.

True Love.

Thyself hast lov'd: and I have heard thee No grief did ever come so near thy heart, [say, As when thy lady and thy true love died, Upon whose grave thou vow'dst pure chastity.

Beauty neglected and lost.

But since she did neglect her looking-glass, And threw her sun-expelling mask away, The air hath starv'd the roses in her cheeks, And pinch'd the lily-tincture of her face.

A Lover in Solitude.

How use doth breed a habit in a man 1 This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods, I better brook than flourishing peopled towns.

« PreviousContinue »