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The Two Gentlemen of Verona tells the story of two devoted friends, Valentine and Proteus. Valentine leaves their home city of Verona for Milan, but Proteus, in love with Julia, stays behind. Then Proteus’s father sends him to Milan, too. Before leaving, Proteus pledges his love to Julia.
In Milan, Valentine and the duke’s daughter, Sylvia, are in love. Proteus, on arriving, falls in love with Sylvia at first sight. He reveals to the duke that Sylvia and Valentine plan to elope, and Valentine is banished. Meanwhile, Proteus’s earlier love, Julia, assumes a male disguise and travels to Milan.
The banished Valentine meets outlaws and becomes their leader. Sylvia, in search of Valentine, is seized by his outlaws. Proteus rescues her and then, when she spurns him, tries to rape her. Valentine stops the rape, but out of friendship offers to yield Sylvia to Proteus. Julia, however, reveals her identity, regaining Proteus’s love. Two weddings are planned: Valentine with Sylvia, and Proteus with Julia.
ACT 1
Scene 1
Home-keeping youth have ever homely wits .
Were ’t not affection chains thy tender days
To the sweet glances of thy honored love ,
I rather would entreat thy company
To see the wonders of the world abroad
Than , living dully sluggardized 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 .
Think on thy Proteus when thou haply seest
Some rare noteworthy object in thy travel .
Wish me partaker in thy happiness
When thou dost meet good hap ; and in thy danger ,
If ever danger do environ thee ,
Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers ,
For I will be thy beadsman , Valentine .
[9]ACT 1. SC. 1
How young Leander crossed the Hellespont .
For he was more than over shoes in love .
And yet you never swam the Hellespont .
Coy looks with heart-sore sighs , one fading
moment’s mirth
With twenty watchful , weary , tedious nights ;
If haply won , perhaps a hapless gain ;
If lost , why then a grievous labor won ;
How ever , but a folly bought with wit ,
Or else a wit by folly vanquishèd .
And he that is so yokèd by a fool
Methinks should not be chronicled for wise .
[11] ACT 1. SC. 1 The eating canker dwells , so eating love
Inhabits in the finest wits of all .
Is eaten by the canker ere it blow ,
Even so by love the young and tender wit
Is turned to folly , blasting in the bud ,
Losing his verdure , even in the prime ,
And all the fair effects of future hopes .
But wherefore waste I time to counsel thee
That art a votary to fond desire ?
Once more adieu . My father at the road
Expects my coming , there to see me shipped .
To Milan let me hear from thee by letters
Of thy success in love , and what news else
Betideth here in absence of thy friend .
And I likewise will visit thee with mine .
He leaves his friends , to dignify them more ;
I leave myself , my friends , and all , for love .
Thou , Julia , thou hast metamorphosed me ,
Made me neglect my studies , lose my time ,
War with good counsel , set the world at nought ;
Made wit with musing weak , heart sick with thought .
[13]ACT 1. SC. 1
And I have played the sheep in losing him .
An if the shepherd be awhile away .
then , and I a sheep ?
wake or sleep .
sheep the shepherd ; but I seek my master , and my
master seeks not me . Therefore I am no sheep .
shepherd for food follows not the sheep . Thou for
wages followest thy master ; thy master for wages
follows not thee . Therefore thou art a sheep .
Julia ?
laced mutton , and she , a laced mutton , gave me , a
lost mutton , nothing for my labor .
muttons .
[15]ACT 1. SC. 1
stick her .
you .
carrying your letter .
’Tis threefold too little for carrying a letter to your
lover .
me if she did nod , and I say ‘ay .’
take it for your pains .
but the word ‘noddy’ for my pains .
said she ?
may be both at once delivered .
pains . What said she ?
hardly win her .
her ?
[17]ACT 1. SC. 2
not so much as a ducat for delivering your letter .
And being so hard to me that brought your mind , I
fear she’ll prove as hard to you in telling your mind .
Give her no token but stones , for she’s as hard as
steel .
To testify your bounty , I thank you , you have
testerned me . In requital whereof , henceforth
carry your letters yourself . And so , sir , I’ll commend
you to my master .
Which cannot perish having thee aboard ,
Being destined to a drier death on shore .
I must go send some better messenger .
I fear my Julia would not deign my lines ,
Receiving them from such a worthless post .
Scene 2
Wouldst thou then counsel me to fall in love ?
That every day with parle encounter me ,
In thy opinion which is worthiest love ?
[19]ACT 1. SC. 2
According to my shallow simple skill .
But , were I you , he never should be mine .
That I , unworthy body as I am ,
Should censure thus on lovely gentlemen .
I think him so because I think him so .
[21]ACT 1. SC. 2
madam .
Proteus .
He would have given it you , but I , being in the way ,
Did in your name receive it . Pardon the fault , I pray .
Dare you presume to harbor wanton lines ?
To whisper and conspire against my youth ?
Now trust me , ’tis an office of great worth ,
And you an officer fit for the place .
There , take the paper ; see it be returned ,
Or else return no more into my sight .
[23] ACT 1. SC. 2 It were a shame to call her back again
And pray her to a fault for which I chid her .
What fool is she that knows I am a maid
And would not force the letter to my view ,
Since maids in modesty say ‘no’ to that
Which they would have the profferer construe ‘ay’ !
Fie , fie , how wayward is this foolish love
That like a testy babe will scratch the nurse
And presently , all humbled , kiss the rod !
How churlishly I chid Lucetta hence ,
When willingly I would have had her here !
How angerly I taught my brow to frown ,
When inward joy enforced my heart to smile !
My penance is to call Lucetta back
And ask remission for my folly past . —
What ho , Lucetta !
That you might kill your stomach on your meat
And not upon your maid .
[25]ACT 1. SC. 2
Unless it have a false interpreter .
Give me a note . Your Ladyship can set —
Best sing it to the tune of Light o’ Love .
And yet methinks I do not like this tune .
And mar the concord with too harsh a descant .
There wanteth but a mean to fill your song .
[27]ACT 1. SC. 2
Here is a coil with protestation .
to pick up the pieces .
Go , get you gone , and let the papers lie .
You would be fing’ring them to anger me .
To be so angered with another letter .
O hateful hands , to tear such loving words !
Injurious wasps , to feed on such sweet honey
And kill the bees that yield it with your stings !
I’ll kiss each several paper for amends .
Look , here is writ ‘kind Julia .’ Unkind Julia ,
As in revenge of thy ingratitude ,
I throw thy name against the bruising stones ,
Trampling contemptuously on thy disdain .
And here is writ ‘love-wounded Proteus .’
Poor wounded name , my bosom as a bed
Shall lodge thee till thy wound be throughly healed ,
And thus I search it with a sovereign kiss .
But twice or thrice was ‘Proteus’ written down .
Be calm , good wind . Blow not a word away
Till I have found each letter in the letter
Except mine own name . That some whirlwind bear
Unto a ragged , fearful , hanging rock
And throw it thence into the raging sea .
Lo , here in one line is his name twice writ :
‘Poor forlorn Proteus , passionate Proteus ,
To the sweet Julia .’ That I’ll tear away —
And yet I will not , sith so prettily
He couples it to his complaining names .
[29] ACT 1. SC. 3 Thus will I fold them one upon another .
Now kiss , embrace , contend , do what you will .
Yet here they shall not lie , for catching cold .
I see things too , although you judge I wink .
Scene 3
Wherewith my brother held you in the cloister ?
Would suffer him to spend his youth at home
[31] ACT 1. SC. 3 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 Proteus 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 .
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 tutored in the world .
Experience is by industry achieved
And perfected by the swift course of time .
Then tell me whither were I best to send him .
How his companion , youthful Valentine ,
Attends the Emperor in his royal court .
There shall he practice tilts and tournaments ,
Hear sweet discourse , converse with noblemen ,
And be in eye of every exercise
Worthy his youth and nobleness of birth .
And that thou mayst perceive how well I like it ,
The execution of it shall make known .
[33] ACT 1. SC. 3 Even with the speediest expedition
I will dispatch him to the Emperor’s court .
With other gentlemen of good esteem ,
Are journeying to salute the Emperor
And to commend their service to his will .
And in good time ! Now will we break with him .
Here is her hand , the agent of her heart ;
Here is her oath for love , her honor’s pawn .
O , that our fathers would applaud our loves
To seal our happiness with their consents .
O heavenly Julia !
Of commendations sent from Valentine ,
Delivered by a friend that came from him .
How happily he lives , how well beloved
And daily gracèd by the Emperor ,
Wishing me with him , partner of his fortune .
[35]ACT 1. SC. 3
And not depending on his friendly wish .
Muse not that I thus suddenly proceed ,
For what I will , I will , and there an end .
I am resolved that thou shalt spend some time
With Valentinus in the Emperor’s court .
What maintenance he from his friends receives ,
Like exhibition thou shalt have from me .
Tomorrow be in readiness to go .
Excuse it not , for I am peremptory .
Please you deliberate a day or two .
No more of stay . Tomorrow thou must go . —
Come on , Pantino ; you shall be employed
To hasten on his expedition .
And drenched me in the sea , where I am drowned .
I feared to show my father Julia’s letter
Lest he should take exceptions to my love ,
And with the vantage of mine own excuse
Hath he excepted most against my love .
O , how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day ,
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun ,
And by and by a cloud takes all away .
[37]ACT 1. SC. 3
He is in haste . Therefore , I pray you , go .
[41]
ACT 2
Scene 1
Sweet ornament that decks a thing divine !
Ah , Sylvia , Sylvia !
Sylvia ?
learned , like Sir Proteus , to wreathe your arms like
a malcontent ; to relish a love song like a robin
redbreast ; to walk alone like one that had the
[43] ACT 2. SC. 1 pestilence ; to sigh like a schoolboy that had lost his
ABC ; to weep like a young wench that had buried
her grandam ; to fast like one that takes diet ; to
watch like one that fears robbing ; to speak puling
like a beggar at Hallowmas . You were wont , when
you laughed , to crow like a cock ; when you walked ,
to walk like one of the lions . When you fasted , it was
presently after dinner ; when you looked sadly , it
was for want of money . And now you are metamorphosed
with a mistress , that when I look on you , I
can hardly think you my master .
you were so simple , none else would . But you are so
without these follies , that these follies are within
you and shine through you like the water in an
urinal , that not an eye that sees you but is a
physician to comment on your malady .
Sylvia ?
and yet know’st her not ?
favor infinite .
[45]ACT 2. SC. 1
out of all count .
man counts of her beauty .
beauty .
still I see her beautiful .
or your own eyes had the lights they were wont to
have when you chid at Sir Proteus for going
ungartered !
for he , being in love , could not see to garter his
hose , and you , being in love , cannot see to put on
your hose .
morning you could not see to wipe my shoes .
you swinged me for my love , which makes me the
bolder to chide you for yours .
cease .
lines to one she loves .
[47]ACT 2. SC. 1
Peace , here she comes .
Now will he interpret to her .
good-morrows .
manners .
thousand .
gives it him .
Unto the secret , nameless friend of yours ,
Which I was much unwilling to proceed in
But for my duty to your Ladyship .
For , being ignorant to whom it goes ,
I writ at random , very doubtfully .
Please you command , a thousand times as much ,
And yet —
And yet I will not name it And yet I care not .
[49] ACT 2. SC. 1 And yet take this again .
And yet I thank you ,
Meaning henceforth to trouble you no more .
But , since unwillingly , take them again .
Nay , take them .
But I will none of them . They are for you .
I would have had them writ more movingly .
And if it please you , so ; if not , why , so .
And so good-morrow , servant .
As a nose on a man’s face , or a weathercock on a
steeple !
My master sues to her , and she hath taught her
suitor ,
He being her pupil , to become her tutor .
O excellent device ! Was there ever heard a better ?
That my master , being scribe , to himself should
write the letter ?
[51]ACT 2. SC. 1
with yourself ?
reason .
to yourself ? Why , do you not perceive the jest ?
her earnest ?
end .
For often have you writ to her , and she , in modesty
Or else for want of idle time , could not again reply ,
Or fearing else some messenger that might her
mind discover ,
Herself hath taught her love himself to write unto
her lover .
All this I speak in print , for in print I found it . Why
muse you , sir ? ’Tis dinnertime .
can feed on the air , I am one that am nourished by
[53] ACT 2. SC. 2 my victuals and would fain have meat . O , be not like
your mistress ! Be moved , be moved .
Scene 2
Keep this remembrance for thy Julia’s sake .
And when that hour o’erslips me in the day
Wherein I sigh not , Julia , for thy sake ,
The next ensuing hour some foul mischance
Torment me for my love’s forgetfulness .
My father stays my coming . Answer not .
The tide is now — nay , not thy tide of tears ;
That tide will stay me longer than I should .
Julia , farewell .
What , gone without a word ?
Ay , so true love should do . It cannot speak ,
For truth hath better deeds than words to grace it .
[55]ACT 2. SC. 3
Scene 3
All the kind of the Lances have this very fault . I have
received my proportion like the Prodigious Son and
am going with Sir Proteus to the Imperial’s court . I
think Crab my dog be the sourest-natured dog that
lives : my mother weeping , my father wailing , my
sister crying , our maid howling , our cat wringing
her hands , and all our house in a great perplexity ,
yet did not this cruel-hearted cur shed one tear . He
is a stone , a very pibble stone , and has no more pity
in him than a dog . A Jew would have wept to have
seen our parting . Why , my grandam , having no
eyes , look you , wept herself blind at my parting .
Nay , I’ll show you the manner of it . He takes off his
shoes . This shoe is my father . No , this left shoe is
my father ; no , no , this left shoe is my mother . Nay ,
that cannot be so neither . Yes , it is so , it is so ; it hath
the worser sole . This shoe with the hole in it is my
mother ; and this my father . A vengeance on ’t , there
’tis ! Now sir , this staff is my sister , for , look you , she
is as white as a lily and as small as a wand . This hat
is Nan , our maid . I am the dog . No , the dog is
himself , and I am the dog . O , the dog is me , and I
am myself . Ay , so , so . Now come I to my father :
‘Father , your blessing .’ Now should not the shoe
speak a word for weeping . Now should I kiss my
father . He kisses one shoe . Well , he weeps on . Now
[57] ACT 2. SC. 3 come I to my mother . O , that she could speak now
like a wold woman ! Well , I kiss her . He kisses the
other shoe . Why , there ’tis ; here’s my mother’s
breath up and down . Now come I to my sister . Mark
the moan she makes ! Now the dog all this while
sheds not a tear nor speaks a word . But see how I
lay the dust with my tears .
shipped , and thou art to post after with oars . What’s
the matter ? Why weep’st thou , man ? Away , ass .
You’ll lose the tide if you tarry any longer .
unkindest tied that ever any man tied .
losing the flood , lose thy voyage and , in losing thy
voyage , lose thy master and , in losing thy master ,
lose thy service and , in losing thy service — Lance
covers Pantino’s mouth . Why dost thou stop my
mouth ?
and the service , and the tied . Why , man , if the river
were dry , I am able to fill it with my tears ; if the
wind were down , I could drive the boat with my
sighs .
thee .
[59]ACT 2. SC. 4
Scene 4
chameleon .
than live in your air .
[61]ACT 2. SC. 4
begin .
shot off .
Sir Thurio borrows his wit from your Ladyship’s
looks and spends what he borrows kindly in your
company .
make your wit bankrupt .
of words and , I think , no other treasure to give your
followers , for it appears by their bare liveries that
they live by your bare words .
father .
Sir Valentine , your father is in good health .
What say you to a letter from your friends
Of much good news ?
To any happy messenger from thence .
To be of worth and worthy estimation ,
And not without desert so well reputed .
[63]ACT 2. SC. 4
The honor and regard of such a father .
We have conversed and spent our hours together ,
And though myself have been an idle truant ,
Omitting the sweet benefit of time
To clothe mine age with angel-like perfection ,
Yet hath Sir Proteus — for that’s his name —
Made use and fair advantage of his days :
His years but young , but his experience old ;
His head unmellowed , but his judgment ripe ;
And in a word — for far behind his worth
Comes all the praises that I now bestow —
He is complete in feature and in mind ,
With all good grace to grace a gentleman .
He is as worthy for an empress’ love ,
As meet to be an emperor’s counselor .
Well , sir , this gentleman is come to me
With commendation from great potentates ,
And here he means to spend his time awhile .
I think ’tis no unwelcome news to you .
Sylvia , I speak to you — and you , Sir Thurio .
For Valentine , I need not cite him to it .
I will send him hither to you presently .
[65] ACT 2. SC. 4 Had come along with me but that his mistress
Did hold his eyes locked in her crystal looks .
Upon some other pawn for fealty .
How could he see his way to seek out you ?
Upon a homely object , Love can wink .
Confirm his welcome with some special favor .
If this be he you oft have wished to hear from .
To be my fellow-servant to your Ladyship .
To have a look of such a worthy mistress .
[67]ACT 2. SC. 4
Sweet lady , entertain him for your servant .
Servant , you are welcome to a worthless mistress .
Thurio ,
Go with me . — Once more , new servant , welcome .
I’ll leave you to confer of home affairs .
When you have done , we look to hear from you .
commended .
[69]ACT 2. SC. 4
I know you joy not in a love discourse .
I have done penance for contemning Love ,
Whose high imperious thoughts have punished me
With bitter fasts , with penitential groans ,
With nightly tears , and daily heartsore sighs ,
For in revenge of my contempt of love ,
Love hath chased sleep from my enthrallèd eyes
And made them watchers of mine own heart’s
sorrow .
O gentle Proteus , 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 .
Now can I break my fast , dine , sup , and sleep
Upon the very naked name of Love .
Was this the idol that you worship so ?
And I must minister the like to you .
[71]ACT 2. SC. 4
Yet let her be a principality ,
Sovereign to all the creatures on the Earth .
Except thou wilt except against my love .
She shall be dignified with this high honor —
To bear my lady’s train , lest the base earth
Should from her vesture chance to steal a kiss
And , of so great a favor growing proud ,
Disdain to root the summer-swelling flower
And make rough winter everlastingly .
To her whose worth makes other worthies
nothing .
She is alone —
And I as rich in having such a jewel
As twenty seas if all their sand were pearl ,
The water nectar , and the rocks pure gold .
Forgive me that I do not dream on thee ,
Because thou seest me dote upon my love .
My foolish rival , that her father likes
Only for his possessions are so huge ,
[73] ACT 2. SC. 4 Is gone with her along , and I must after ,
For love , thou know’st , is full of jealousy .
hour ,
With all the cunning manner of our flight
Determined of : how I must climb her window ,
The ladder made of cords , and all the means
Plotted and ’greed on for my happiness .
Good Proteus , go with me to my chamber ,
In these affairs to aid me with thy counsel .
I must unto the road to disembark
Some necessaries that I needs must use ,
And then I’ll presently attend you .
Even as one heat another heat expels ,
Or as one nail by strength drives out another ,
So the remembrance of my former love
Is by a newer object quite forgotten .
Is it mine eye , or Valentine’s praise ,
Her true perfection , or my false transgression ,
That makes me reasonless to reason thus ?
She is fair , and so is Julia that I love —
That I did love , for now my love is thawed ,
Which like a waxen image ’gainst a fire
Bears no impression of the thing it was .
Methinks my zeal to Valentine is cold ,
And that I love him not as I was wont .
O , but I love his lady too too much ,
And that’s the reason I love him so little .
How shall I dote on her with more advice
That thus without advice begin to love her ?
[75] ACT 2. SC. 5 ’Tis but her picture I have yet beheld ,
And that hath dazzled my reason’s light ;
But when I look on her perfections ,
There is no reason but I shall be blind .
If I can check my erring love , I will ;
If not , to compass her I’ll use my skill .
Scene 5
welcome . I reckon this always : that a man is never
undone till he be hanged , nor never welcome to a
place till some certain shot be paid and the Hostess
say welcome .
you presently , where , for one shot of five pence ,
thou shalt have five thousand welcomes . But , sirrah ,
how did thy master part with Madam Julia ?
very fairly in jest .
stands well with her .
staff understands me .
[77]ACT 2. SC. 6
and my staff understands me .
one .
‘No ,’ it will ; if he shake his tail and say nothing , it
will .
by a parable .
thou that my master is become a notable lover ?
himself in love . If thou wilt , go with me to the
alehouse ; if not , thou art an Hebrew , a Jew , and not
worth the name of a Christian .
as to go to the ale with a Christian . Wilt thou go ?
Scene 6
To love fair Sylvia , shall I be forsworn .
[79] ACT 2. SC. 6 To wrong my friend , I shall be much forsworn .
And ev’n that power which gave me first my oath
Provokes me to this threefold perjury .
Love bade me swear , and love bids me forswear .
O sweet-suggesting Love , if thou hast sinned ,
Teach me , thy tempted subject , to excuse it .
At first I did adore a twinkling star ,
But now I worship a celestial sun ;
Unheedful vows may heedfully be broken ,
And he wants wit that wants resolvèd will
To learn his wit t’ exchange the bad for better .
Fie , fie , unreverend tongue , to call her bad
Whose sovereignty so oft thou hast preferred
With twenty thousand soul-confirming oaths .
I cannot leave to love , and yet I do .
But there I leave to love where I should love .
Julia I lose , and Valentine I lose ;
If I keep them , I needs must lose myself ;
If I lose them , thus find I by their loss :
For Valentine , myself ; for Julia , Sylvia .
I to myself am dearer than a friend ,
For love is still most precious in itself ,
And Sylvia — witness heaven that made her fair —
Shows Julia but a swarthy Ethiope .
I will forget that Julia is alive ,
Rememb’ring that my love to her is dead ;
And Valentine I’ll hold an enemy ,
Aiming at Sylvia as a sweeter friend .
I cannot now prove constant to myself
Without some treachery used to Valentine .
This night he meaneth with a corded ladder
To climb celestial Sylvia’s chamber window ,
Myself in counsel his competitor .
Now presently I’ll give her father notice
[81] ACT 2. SC. 7 Of their disguising and pretended flight ,
Who , all enraged , will banish Valentine ,
For Thurio he intends shall wed his daughter .
But Valentine being gone , I’ll quickly cross
By some sly trick blunt Thurio’s dull proceeding .
Love , lend me wings to make my purpose swift ,
As thou hast lent me wit to plot this drift .
Scene 7
And ev’n in kind love I do conjure thee —
Who art the table wherein all my thoughts
Are visibly charactered and engraved —
To lesson me and tell me some good mean
How with my honor I may undertake
A journey to my loving Proteus .
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 Proteus .
Pity the dearth that I have pinèd in
By longing for that food so long a time .
[83] ACT 2. SC. 7 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 .
But qualify the fire’s extreme rage ,
Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason .
The current that with gentle murmur glides ,
Thou know’st , being stopped , impatiently doth rage ,
But when his fair course is not hinderèd ,
He makes sweet music with th’ enameled stones ,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
He overtaketh in his pilgrimage ;
And so by many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport 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 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 blessèd soul doth in Elysium .
The loose encounters of lascivious men .
Gentle Lucetta , fit me with such weeds
As may beseem some well-reputed page .
With twenty odd-conceited true-love knots .
[85] ACT 2. SC. 7 To be fantastic may become a youth
Of greater time than I shall show to be .
What compass will you wear your farthingale ?’
Why , ev’n what fashion thou best likes , Lucetta .
Unless you have a codpiece to stick pins on .
What thou think’st meet and is most mannerly .
But tell me , wench , how will the world repute me
For undertaking so unstaid a journey ?
I fear me it will make me scandalized .
If Proteus like your journey when you come ,
No matter who’s displeased when you are gone .
I fear me he will scarce be pleased withal .
A thousand oaths , an ocean of his tears ,
And instances of infinite of love
Warrant me welcome to my Proteus .
[87]ACT 2. SC. 7
But truer stars did govern Proteus’ birth .
His words are bonds , his oaths are oracles ,
His love sincere , his thoughts immaculate ,
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart ,
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from Earth .
To bear a hard opinion of his truth .
Only deserve my love by loving him .
And presently go with me to my chamber
To take a note of what I stand in need of
To furnish me upon my longing journey .
All that is mine I leave at thy dispose ,
My goods , my lands , my reputation .
Only , in lieu thereof , dispatch me hence .
Come , answer not , but to it presently .
I am impatient of my tarriance .
[91]
ACT 3
Scene 1
We have some secrets to confer about .
Now tell me , Proteus , what’s your will with me ?
The law of friendship bids me to conceal ,
But when I call to mind your gracious favors
Done to me , undeserving as I am ,
My duty pricks me on to utter that
Which else no worldly good should draw from me .
Know , worthy prince , Sir Valentine my friend
This night intends to steal away your daughter ;
Myself am one made privy to the plot .
I know you have determined 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 .
[93]ACT 3. SC. 1
Which to requite command me while I live .
This love of theirs myself have often seen ,
Haply when they have judged me fast asleep ,
And oftentimes have purposed 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 shunned —
I gave him gentle looks , thereby to find
That which thyself hast now disclosed to me .
And that thou mayst 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 conveyed away .
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 aimèd at ;
For love of you , not hate unto my friend ,
Hath made me publisher of this pretense .
That I had any light from thee of this .
[95]ACT 3. SC. 1
That stays to bear my letters to my friends ,
And I am going to deliver them .
My health and happy being at your court .
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 .
Were rich and honorable . 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 ?
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 cherished by her childlike duty ,
I now am full resolved 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 .
[97]ACT 3. SC. 1
Whom I affect ; but she is nice , and coy ,
And nought esteems my agèd 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 changed —
How and which way I may bestow myself
To be regarded in her sun-bright eye .
Dumb jewels often in their silent kind
More than quick words do move a woman’s mind .
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 ,
Forwhy 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 .
Unto a youthful gentleman of worth
And kept severely from resort of men ,
That no man hath access by day to her .
[99]ACT 3. SC. 1
That no man hath recourse to her by night .
And built so shelving that one cannot climb it
Without apparent hazard of his life .
To cast up , with a pair of anchoring hooks ,
Would serve to scale another Hero’s tower ,
So bold Leander would adventure it .
Advise me where I may have such a ladder .
That longs for everything that he can come by .
How shall I best convey the ladder thither ?
Under a cloak that is of any length .
[101]ACT 3. SC. 1
I’ll get me one of such another length .
I pray thee , let me feel thy cloak upon me .
a rope ladder and a paper .
What letter is this same ? What’s here ?
Sylvia .
And here an engine fit for my proceeding .
I’ll be so bold to break the seal for once .
My thoughts do harbor with my Sylvia nightly ,
And slaves they are to me that send them flying .
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 blest
them ,
Because myself do want my servants’ fortune .
I curse myself , for they are sent by me ,
That they should harbor where their lord should be .
What’s here ?
’Tis so . And here’s the ladder for the purpose .
Why , Phaëton — for thou art Merops’ son —
Wilt thou aspire to guide the heavenly car
And with thy daring folly burn the world ?
Wilt thou reach stars because they shine on thee ?
Go , base intruder , overweening slave ,
Bestow thy fawning smiles on equal mates
And think my patience , more than thy desert ,
[103] ACT 3. SC. 1 Is privilege for thy departure hence .
Thank me for this more than for all the favors
Which all too much I have bestowed 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 .
To die is to be banished from myself ,
And Sylvia is myself ; banished from her
Is self from self — a deadly banishment .
What light is light if Sylvia be not seen ?
What joy is joy if Sylvia be not by —
Unless it be to think that she is by
And feed upon the shadow of perfection ?
Except I be by Sylvia in the night ,
There is no music in the nightingale .
Unless I look on Sylvia in the day ,
There is no day for me to look upon .
She is my essence , and I leave to be
If I be not by her fair influence
Fostered , illumined , cherished , 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 .
[105]ACT 3. SC. 1
but ’tis a Valentine .
So much of bad already hath possessed them .
For they are harsh , untunable , and bad .
Hath she forsworn me ?
What is your news ?
vanished .
From hence , from Sylvia , and from me thy friend .
And now excess of it will make me surfeit .
Doth Sylvia know that I am banishèd ?
Which unreversed stands in effectual force —
A sea of melting pearl , which some call tears ;
Those at her father’s churlish feet she tendered ,
With them , upon her knees , her humble self ,
Wringing her hands , whose whiteness so became
them
As if but now they waxèd pale for woe .
But neither bended knees , pure hands held up ,
Sad sighs , deep groans , nor silver-shedding tears
Could penetrate her uncompassionate sire ;
But Valentine , if he be ta’en , must die .
Besides , her intercession chafed him so ,
When she for thy repeal was suppliant ,
That to close prison he commanded her
With many bitter threats of biding there .
Have some malignant power upon my life .
If so , I pray thee breathe it in mine ear
As ending anthem of my endless dolor .
And study help for that which thou lament’st .
Time is the nurse and breeder of all good .
Here , if thou stay , thou canst not see thy love ;
Besides , thy staying will abridge thy life .
Hope is a lover’s staff ; walk hence with that
And manage it against despairing thoughts .
Thy letters may be here , though thou art hence ,
Which , being writ to me , shall be delivered
[109] ACT 3. SC. 1 Even in the milk-white bosom of thy love .
The time now serves not to expostulate .
Come , I’ll convey thee through the city gate
And , ere I part with thee , confer at large
Of all that may concern thy love affairs .
As thou lov’st Sylvia , though not for thyself ,
Regard thy danger , and along with me .
Bid him make haste and meet me at the North
Gate .
to think my master is a kind of a knave , but that’s all
one if he be but one knave . He lives not now that
knows me to be in love , yet I am in love , but a team
of horse shall not pluck that from me , nor who ’tis I
love ; and yet ’tis a woman , but what woman I will
not tell myself ; and yet ’tis a milk-maid ; yet ’tis not a
maid , for she hath had gossips ; yet ’tis a maid , for
she is her master’s maid and serves for wages . She
hath more qualities than a water spaniel , which is
much in a bare Christian . He takes out a piece of
paper . Here is the catalog of her condition .
horse can do no more ; nay , a horse cannot fetch but
only carry ; therefore is she better than a jade .
virtue in a maid with clean hands .
Mastership ?
[111]ACT 3. SC. 1
news , then , in your paper ?
This proves that thou canst not read .
be thy speed .
your heart , you brew good ale .’
when she can knit him a stock ?
washed and scoured .
can spin for her living .
indeed know not their fathers and therefore have no
names .
[113]ACT 3. SC. 1
her breath .
Read on .
talk .
be slow in words is a woman’s only virtue . I pray
thee , out with ’t , and place it for her chief virtue .
cannot be ta’en from her .
will , for good things should be praised .
she is slow of ; of her purse she shall not , for that I’ll
keep shut ; now , of another thing she may , and that
cannot I help . Well , proceed .
faults than hairs , and more wealth than faults .
mine twice or thrice in that last article . Rehearse
that once more .
[115]ACT 3. SC. 2
the cover of the salt hides the salt , and therefore it is
more than the salt ; the hair that covers the wit is
more than the wit , for the greater hides the less .
What’s next ?
I’ll have her , and if it be a match , as nothing is
impossible —
for thee at the North Gate .
better man than thee .
long that going will scarce serve the turn .
sooner ? Pox of your love letters !
an unmannerly slave , that will thrust himself into
secrets . I’ll after , to rejoice in the boy’s correction .
Scene 2
Now Valentine is banished from her sight .
[117] ACT 3. SC. 2 Forsworn my company and railed at me ,
That I am desperate of obtaining her .
Trenchèd in ice , which with an hour’s heat
Dissolves to water and doth lose his form .
A little time will melt her frozen thoughts ,
And worthless Valentine shall be forgot .
How now , Sir Proteus ? Is your countryman ,
According to our proclamation , gone ?
Proteus , the good conceit I hold of thee ,
For thou hast shown some sign of good desert ,
Makes me the better to confer with thee .
Let me not live to look upon your Grace .
The match between Sir Thurio and my daughter ?
How she opposes her against my will ?
[119] ACT 3. SC. 2 What might we do to make the girl forget
The love of Valentine , and love Sir Thurio ?
With falsehood , cowardice , and poor descent ,
Three things that women highly hold in hate .
Therefore it must with circumstance be spoken
By one whom she esteemeth as his friend .
’Tis an ill office for a gentleman ,
Especially against his very friend .
Your slander never can endamage him ;
Therefore the office is indifferent ,
Being entreated to it by your friend .
By aught that I can speak in his dispraise ,
She shall not long continue love to him .
But say this weed her love from Valentine ,
It follows not that she will love Sir Thurio .
Lest it should ravel and be good to none ,
You must provide to bottom it on me ,
Which must be done by praising me as much
As you in worth dispraise Sir Valentine .
[121]ACT 3. SC. 2
Because we know , on Valentine’s report ,
You are already Love’s firm votary
And cannot soon revolt and change your mind .
Upon this warrant shall you have access
Where you with Sylvia may confer at large —
For she is lumpish , heavy , melancholy ,
And , for your friend’s sake , will be glad of you —
Where you may temper her by your persuasion
To hate young Valentine and love my friend .
But you , Sir Thurio , are not sharp enough .
You must lay lime to tangle her desires
By wailful sonnets , whose composèd rhymes
Should be full-fraught with serviceable vows .
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 poets’ sinews ,
Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones ,
Make tigers tame , and huge leviathans
Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands .
After your dire-lamenting elegies ,
Visit by night your lady’s chamber window
With some sweet consort ; to their instruments
Tune a deploring dump ; the night’s dead silence
Will well become such sweet complaining
grievance .
This , or else nothing , will inherit her .
[123]ACT 3. SC. 2
Therefore , sweet Proteus , my direction-giver ,
Let us into the city presently
To sort some gentlemen well-skilled in music .
I have a sonnet that will serve the turn
To give the onset to thy good advice .
And afterward determine our proceedings .
[127]
ACT 4
Scene 1
If not , we’ll make you sit , and rifle you .
That all the travelers do fear so much .
A man I am crossed with adversity ;
My riches are these poor habiliments ,
Of which , if you should here disfurnish me ,
You take the sum and substance that I have .
[129]ACT 4. SC. 1
If crooked fortune had not thwarted me .
I killed a man , whose death I much repent ,
But yet I slew him manfully in fight
Without false vantage or base treachery .
But were you banished for so small a fault ?
Or else I often had been miserable .
This fellow were a king for our wild faction .
of thievery .
[131]ACT 4. SC. 1
Such as the fury of ungoverned youth
Thrust from the company of awful men .
Myself was from Verona banishèd
For practicing to steal away a lady ,
An heir and near allied unto the Duke .
Who , in my mood , I stabbed unto the heart .
But to the purpose : for we cite our faults
That they may hold excused our lawless lives ,
And partly seeing you are beautified
With goodly shape , and by your own report
A linguist , and a man of such perfection
As we do in our quality much want —
Therefore , above the rest , we parley to you .
Are you content to be our general ,
To make a virtue of necessity
And live as we do in this wilderness ?
Say ay , and be the captain of us all ;
We’ll do thee homage and be ruled by thee ,
Love thee as our commander and our king .
[133]ACT 4. SC. 2
Provided that you do no outrages
On silly women or poor passengers .
Come , go with us ; we’ll bring thee to our crews
And show thee all the treasure we have got ,
Which , with ourselves , all rest at thy dispose .
Scene 2
And now I must be as unjust to Thurio .
Under the color of commending him ,
I have access my own love to prefer .
But Sylvia is too fair , too true , too holy
To be corrupted with my worthless gifts .
When I protest true loyalty to her ,
She twits me with my falsehood to my friend ;
When to her beauty I commend my vows ,
She bids me think how I have been forsworn
In breaking faith with Julia , whom I loved ;
And notwithstanding all her sudden quips ,
The least whereof would quell a lover’s hope ,
Yet , spaniel-like , the more she spurns my love ,
The more it grows and fawneth on her still .
But here comes Thurio . Now must we to her
window
And give some evening music to her ear .
[135]ACT 4. SC. 2
Will creep in service where it cannot go .
Let’s tune , and to it lustily awhile .
page , Sebastian . They stand at a distance and talk .
I pray you , why is it ?
cannot be merry .
you shall hear music and see the gentleman that you
asked for .
[137]ACT 4. SC. 2Song .
That all our swains commend her ?
Holy , fair , and wise is she ;
The heaven such grace did lend her
That she might admirèd 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 helped , 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 .
How do you , man ? The music likes you not .
not .
grieves my very heart-strings .
me have a slow heart .
thing ?
[139]ACT 4. SC. 2
But , host , doth this Sir Proteus , that we talk on ,
Often resort unto this gentlewoman ?
her out of all nick .
master’s command , he must carry for a present to
his lady .
parts .
That you shall say my cunning drift excels .
Who is that that spake ?
You would quickly learn to know him by his voice .
[141]ACT 4. SC. 2
That presently you hie you home to bed .
Thou subtle , perjured , false , disloyal man ,
Think’st thou I am so shallow , so conceitless ,
To be seducèd by thy flattery ,
That hast deceived so many with thy vows ?
Return , return , and make thy love amends .
For me , by this pale queen of night I swear ,
I am so far from granting thy request
That I despise thee for thy wrongful suit
And by and by intend to chide myself
Even for this time I spend in talking to thee .
But she is dead .
For I am sure she is not burièd .
Survives , to whom , thyself art witness ,
I am betrothed . And art thou not ashamed
To wrong him with thy importunacy ?
Assure thyself , my love is burièd .
Or , at the least , in hers sepulcher thine .
[143]ACT 4. SC. 3
Vouchsafe me yet your picture for my love ,
The picture that is hanging in your chamber ;
To that I’ll speak , to that I’ll sigh and weep ,
For since the substance of your perfect self
Is else devoted , I am but a shadow ;
And to your shadow will I make true love .
And make it but a shadow , as I am .
But since your falsehood shall become you well
To worship shadows and adore false shapes ,
Send to me in the morning , and I’ll send it .
And so , good rest .
That wait for execution in the morn .
day .
That e’er I watched , and the most heaviest .
Scene 3
Entreated me to call and know her mind ;
[145] ACT 4. SC. 3 There’s some great matter she’d employ me in .
Madam , madam !
One that attends your Ladyship’s command .
According to your Ladyship’s impose ,
I am thus early come to know what service
It is your pleasure to command me in .
Think not I flatter , for I swear I do not —
Valiant , wise , remorseful , well accomplished .
Thou art not ignorant what dear good will
I bear unto the banished Valentine ,
Nor how my father would enforce me marry
Vain Thurio , whom my very soul abhorred .
Thyself hast loved , and I have heard thee say
No grief did ever come so near thy heart
As when thy lady and thy true love died ,
Upon whose grave thou vow’dst pure chastity .
Sir Eglamour , I would to Valentine ,
To Mantua , where I hear he makes abode ;
And for the ways are dangerous to pass ,
I do desire thy worthy company ,
Upon whose faith and honor I repose .
Urge not my father’s anger , Eglamour ,
But think upon my grief , a lady’s grief ,
And on the justice of my flying hence
[147] ACT 4. SC. 4 To keep me from a most unholy match ,
Which heaven and fortune still rewards with plagues .
I do desire thee , even from a heart
As full of sorrows as the sea of sands ,
To bear me company and go with me ;
If not , to hide what I have said to thee ,
That I may venture to depart alone .
Which , since I know they virtuously are placed ,
I give consent to go along with you ,
Recking as little what betideth me
As much I wish all good befortune you .
When will you go ?
Where I intend holy confession .
lady .
Scene 4
him , look you , it goes hard — one that I brought up
of a puppy , one that I saved from drowning when
three or four of his blind brothers and sisters went
to it . I have taught him even as one would say
precisely ‘Thus I would teach a dog .’ I was sent to
[149] ACT 4. SC. 4 deliver him as a present to Mistress Sylvia from my
master ; and I came no sooner into the dining
chamber but he steps me to her trencher and steals
her capon’s leg . O , ’tis a foul thing when a cur
cannot keep himself in all companies ! I would have ,
as one should say , one that takes upon him to be a
dog indeed ; to be , as it were , a dog at all things . If I
had not had more wit than he , to take a fault upon
me that he did , I think verily he had been hanged
for ’t . Sure as I live , he had suffered for ’t . You shall
judge . He thrusts me himself into the company of
three or four gentlemanlike dogs under the Duke’s
table ; he had not been there — bless the mark ! — a
pissing while but all the chamber smelt him . ‘Out
with the dog !’ says one . ‘What cur is that ?’ says
another . ‘Whip him out !’ says the third . ‘Hang him
up !’ says the Duke . I , having been acquainted with
the smell before , knew it was Crab , and goes me to
the fellow that whips the dogs . ‘Friend ,’ quoth I ,
‘You mean to whip the dog ?’ ‘Ay , marry , do I ,’
quoth he . ‘You do him the more wrong ,’ quoth I .
‘’Twas I did the thing you wot of .’ He makes me no
more ado but whips me out of the chamber . How
many masters would do this for his servant ? Nay ,
I’ll be sworn I have sat in the stocks for puddings he
hath stolen ; otherwise he had been executed . I have
stood on the pillory for geese he hath killed ; otherwise
he had suffered for ’t .
not of this now . Nay , I remember the trick you
served me when I took my leave of Madam Sylvia .
Did not I bid thee still mark me , and do as I do ?
When didst thou see me heave up my leg and make
water against a gentlewoman’s farthingale ? Didst
thou ever see me do such a trick ?
[151]ACT 4. SC. 4
And will employ thee in some service presently .
whoreson peasant ?
Where have you been these two days loitering ?
bade me .
you currish thanks is good enough for such a
present .
him back again .
by the hangman’s boys in the market-place , and
then I offered her mine own , who is a dog as big as
ten of yours , and therefore the gift the greater .
Or ne’er return again into my sight .
Away , I say . Stayest thou to vex me here ?
A slave that still an end turns me to shame .
Sebastian , I have entertainèd thee ,
Partly that I have need of such a youth
That can with some discretion do my business —
For ’tis no trusting to yond foolish lout —
But chiefly for thy face and thy behavior ,
[153] ACT 4. SC. 4 Which , if my augury deceive me not ,
Witness good bringing-up , fortune , and truth .
Therefore , know thou , for this I entertain thee .
Go presently , and take this ring with thee ;
Deliver it to Madam Sylvia .
She loved me well delivered it to me .
She is dead belike ?
As you do love your lady Sylvia .
She dreams on him that has forgot her love ;
You dote on her that cares not for your love .
’Tis pity love should be so contrary ,
And thinking on it makes me cry ‘Alas .’
This letter . He gives her a paper . That’s her
chamber . Tell my lady
I claim the promise for her heavenly picture .
Your message done , hie home unto my chamber ,
Where thou shalt find me sad and solitary .
Alas , poor Proteus , thou hast entertained
A fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs .
Alas , poor fool , why do I pity him
[155] ACT 4. SC. 4 That with his very heart despiseth me ?
Because he loves her , he despiseth me ;
Because I love him , I must pity him .
This ring I gave him when he parted from me ,
To bind him to remember my good will ;
And now am I , unhappy messenger ,
To plead for that which I would not obtain ,
To carry that which I would have refused ,
To praise his faith , which I would have dispraised .
I am my master’s true confirmèd love ,
But cannot be true servant to my master
Unless I prove false traitor to myself .
Yet will I woo for him , but yet so coldly
As — Heaven it knows ! — I would not have him
speed .
my mean
To bring me where to speak with Madam Sylvia .
To hear me speak the message I am sent on .
madam .
Go , give your master this . Tell him from me ,
One Julia , that his changing thoughts forget ,
Would better fit his chamber than this shadow .
[157]ACT 4. SC. 4
letter .
Pardon me , madam , I have unadvised
Delivered you a paper that I should not .
This is the letter to your Ladyship .
and hands Sylvia another .
I will not look upon your master’s lines ;
I know they are stuffed with protestations
And full of new-found oaths , which he will break
As easily as I do tear his paper .
For I have heard him say a thousand times
His Julia gave it him at his departure .
Though his false finger have profaned the ring ,
Mine shall not do his Julia so much wrong .
Poor gentlewoman , my master wrongs her much .
[159] ACT 4. SC. 4 To think upon her woes , I do protest
That I have wept a hundred several times .
When she did think my master loved her well ,
She , in my judgment , was as fair as you .
But since she did neglect her looking-glass
And threw her sun-expelling mask away ,
The air hath starved the roses in her cheeks
And pinched the lily tincture of her face ,
That now she is become as black as I .
When all our pageants of delight were played ,
Our youth got me to play the woman’s part ,
And I was trimmed in Madam Julia’s gown ,
Which served me as fit , by all men’s judgments ,
As if the garment had been made for me ;
Therefore I know she is about my height .
And at that time I made her weep agood ,
For I did play a lamentable part ;
Madam , ’twas Ariadne , passioning
For Theseus’ perjury and unjust flight ,
Which I so lively acted with my tears
That my poor mistress , movèd therewithal ,
Wept bitterly ; and would I might be dead
If I in thought felt not her very sorrow .
[161] ACT 4. SC. 4 Alas , poor lady , desolate and left !
I weep myself to think upon thy words .
Here , youth , there is my purse .
I give thee this
For thy sweet mistress’ sake , because thou lov’st her .
Farewell .
A virtuous gentlewoman , mild and beautiful .
I hope my master’s suit will be but cold ,
Since she respects my mistress’ love so much . —
Alas , how love can trifle with itself !
Here is her picture ; let me see . I think
If I had such a tire , this face of mine
Were full as lovely as is this of hers ;
And yet the painter flattered her a little ,
Unless I flatter with myself too much .
Her hair is auburn ; mine is perfect yellow ;
If that be all the difference in his love ,
I’ll get me such a colored periwig .
Her eyes are gray as glass , and so are mine .
Ay , but her forehead’s low , and mine’s as high .
What should it be that he respects in her
But I can make respective in myself
If this fond Love were not a blinded god ?
Come , shadow , come , and take this shadow up ,
For ’tis thy rival . O , thou senseless form ,
Thou shalt be worshipped , kissed , loved , and
adored ;
And were there sense in his idolatry ,
My substance should be statue in thy stead .
[163] ACT 4. SC. 4 I’ll use thee kindly for thy mistress’ sake ,
That used me so , or else , by Jove I vow ,
I should have scratched out your unseeing eyes
To make my master out of love with thee .
[167]
ACT 5
Scene 1
And now it is about the very hour
That Sylvia at Friar Patrick’s cell should meet me .
She will not fail , for lovers break not hours ,
Unless it be to come before their time ,
So much they spur their expedition .
See where she comes . — Lady , a happy evening .
Out at the postern by the abbey wall .
I fear I am attended by some spies .
If we recover that , we are sure enough .
[169]ACT 5. SC. 2
Scene 2
Sebastian .
And yet she takes exceptions at your person .
Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies’ eyes .
For I had rather wink than look on them .
[171]ACT 5. SC. 2
Which of you saw Eglamour of late ?
And Eglamour is in her company .
’Tis true , for Friar Lawrence met them both
As he , in penance , wandered through the forest ;
Him he knew well and guessed that it was she ,
But , being masked , he was not sure of it .
Besides , she did intend confession
At Patrick’s cell this even , and there she was not .
These likelihoods confirm her flight from hence .
Therefore I pray you stand not to discourse ,
But mount you presently and meet with me
Upon the rising of the mountain foot
That leads toward Mantua , whither they are fled .
Dispatch , sweet gentlemen , and follow me .
[173]ACT 5. SC. 3
That flies her fortune when it follows her .
I’ll after , more to be revenged on Eglamour
Than for the love of reckless Sylvia .
Than hate of Eglamour that goes with her .
Than hate for Sylvia , that is gone for love .
Scene 3
captain .
Have learned me how to brook this patiently .
But Moyses and Valerius follow him .
Go thou with her to the west end of the wood ;
There is our captain . We’ll follow him that’s fled .
The thicket is beset ; he cannot ’scape .
[175] ACT 5. SC. 4 Fear not ; he bears an honorable mind
And will not use a woman lawlessly .
Scene 4
This shadowy desert , unfrequented woods ,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns ;
Here can I sit alone , unseen of any ,
And to the nightingale’s complaining notes
Tune my distresses and record my woes .
O thou that dost inhabit in my breast ,
Leave not the mansion so long tenantless
Lest , growing ruinous , the building fall
And leave no memory of what it was .
Repair me with thy presence , Sylvia ;
Thou gentle nymph , cherish thy forlorn swain .
What hallowing and what stir is this today ?
These are my mates , that make their wills their law ,
Have some unhappy passenger in chase .
They love me well , yet I have much to do
To keep them from uncivil outrages .
Withdraw thee , Valentine . Who’s this comes here ?
Sebastian .
[177] ACT 5. SC. 4 Though you respect not aught your servant doth —
To hazard life , and rescue you from him
That would have forced your honor and your love .
Vouchsafe me for my meed but one fair look ;
A smaller boon than this I cannot beg ,
And less than this I am sure you cannot give .
Love , lend me patience to forbear awhile .
But by my coming , I have made you happy .
I would have been a breakfast to the beast
Rather than have false Proteus rescue me .
O heaven , be judge how I love Valentine ,
Whose life’s as tender to me as my soul ;
And full as much , for more there cannot be ,
I do detest false perjured Proteus .
Therefore begone ; solicit me no more .
Would I not undergo for one calm look !
O , ’tis the curse in love , and still approved ,
When women cannot love where they’re beloved .
Read over Julia’s heart , thy first best love ,
For whose dear sake thou didst then rend thy faith
[179] ACT 5. SC. 4 Into a thousand oaths ; and all those oaths
Descended into perjury to love me .
Thou hast no faith left now unless thou ’dst two ,
And that’s far worse than none ; better have none
Than plural faith , which is too much by one .
Thou counterfeit to thy true friend !
Who respects friend ?
Can no way change you to a milder form ,
I’ll woo you like a soldier , at arms’ end ,
And love you ’gainst the nature of love — force you .
Thou friend of an ill fashion .
For such is a friend now . Treacherous man ,
Thou hast beguiled my hopes ; nought but mine eye
Could have persuaded me . Now I dare not say
I have one friend alive ; thou wouldst disprove me .
Who should be trusted when one’s right hand
Is perjured to the bosom ? Proteus ,
I am sorry I must never trust thee more ,
But count the world a stranger for thy sake .
The private wound is deepest . O , time most
accursed ,
’Mongst all foes that a friend should be the worst !
[181]ACT 5. SC. 4
Forgive me , Valentine . If hearty sorrow
Be a sufficient ransom for offense ,
I tender ’t here . I do as truly suffer
As e’er I did commit .
And once again I do receive thee honest .
Who by repentance is not satisfied
Is nor of heaven nor Earth , for these are pleased ;
By penitence th’ Eternal’s wrath’s appeased .
And that my love may appear plain and free ,
All that was mine in Sylvia I give thee .
Why , wag , how now ? What’s the matter ? Look up .
Speak .
me to deliver a ring to Madam Sylvia , which out of
my neglect was never done .
Why , this is the ring I gave to Julia .
This is the ring you sent to Sylvia .
I gave this unto Julia .
And Julia herself hath brought it hither .
[183]ACT 5. SC. 4
And entertained ’em deeply in her heart .
How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root !
O , Proteus , let this habit make thee blush .
Be thou ashamed that I have took upon me
Such an immodest raiment , if shame live
In a disguise of love .
It is the lesser blot , modesty finds ,
Women to change their shapes than men their minds .
man
But constant , he were perfect ; that one error
Fills him with faults , makes him run through all th’
sins ;
Inconstancy falls off ere it begins .
What is in Sylvia’s face but I may spy
More fresh in Julia’s , with a constant eye ?
hand from either .
Let me be blest to make this happy close .
’Twere pity two such friends should be long foes .
Your Grace is welcome to a man disgraced ,
Banished Valentine .
[185]ACT 5. SC. 4
Come not within the measure of my wrath .
Do not name Sylvia thine ; if once again ,
Verona shall not hold thee . Here she stands ;
Take but possession of her with a touch —
I dare thee but to breathe upon my love !
I hold him but a fool that will endanger
His body for a girl that loves him not .
I claim her not , and therefore she is thine .
To make such means for her as thou hast done ,
And leave her on such slight conditions . —
Now , by the honor of my ancestry ,
I do applaud thy spirit , Valentine ,
And think thee worthy of an empress’ love .
Know , then , I here forget all former griefs ,
Cancel all grudge , repeal thee home again ,
Plead a new state in thy unrivaled merit ,
To which I thus subscribe : Sir Valentine ,
Thou art a gentleman , and well derived ;
Take thou thy Sylvia , for thou hast deserved her .
I now beseech you , for your daughter’s sake ,
To grant one boon that I shall ask of you .
[187] ACT 5. SC. 4 Are men endued with worthy qualities .
Forgive them what they have committed here ,
And let them be recalled from their exile ;
They are reformèd , civil , full of good ,
And fit for great employment , worthy lord .
Dispose of them as thou know’st their deserts .
Come , let us go ; we will include all jars
With triumphs , mirth , and rare solemnity .
With our discourse to make your Grace to smile .
Pointing to Julia . What think you of this page , my
lord ?
That you will wonder what hath fortunèd . —
Come , Proteus , ’tis your penance but to hear
The story of your loves discoverèd .
That done , our day of marriage shall be yours ,
One feast , one house , one mutual happiness .
Appendix A
- Lizenz
-
CC BY 4.0
Link zur Lizenz
- Zitationsvorschlag für diese Edition
- TextGrid Repository (2025). Shakespeare, William. The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The Folger Digital Texts in TextGrid. https://hdl.handle.net/21.11113/0000-0016-848F-2