Page images
PDF
EPUB

incontinent before marriage: they are in the very wrath of love, and they will together; clubs cannot part them3. Orl. They shall be married to-morrow; and I will bid the duke to the nuptial. But O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes! By so much the more shall I to-morrow be at the height of heart-heaviness, by how much I shall think my brother happy, in having what he wishes for.

Ros. Why then, to-morrow I cannot serve your turn for Rosalind?

Orl. I can live no longer by thinking.

Ros. I will weary you no longer then with idle talking. Know of me then (for now I speak to some purpose,) that I know you are a gentleman of good conceit: I speak not this, that you should bear a good opinion of my knowledge, insomuch, I say, I know you are; neither do I labour for a greater esteem than may in some little measure draw a belief from you, to do yourself good, and not to grace me. Believe then, if you please, that I can do strange things: I have, since I was three years old, conversed with a magician, most profound in this art, and not yet damnable. If you do love Rosalind so near the heart as your gesture cries it out, when your brother marries Aliena, shall you marry her:-I know into what straits of fortune she is driven; and it is not impossible to me, if it appear not inconvenient to you, to set her before your eyes to-morrow, human as she is, and without any danger.

Orl. Speakest thou in sober meanings?

Ros. By my life, I do; which I tender dearly, though I say I am a magician: Therefore, put you in your best

3 clubs cannot part them.] It appears from many of our old dramas, that, in our author's time, it was a common custom, on the breaking out of a fray, to call out " Clubs-Clubs," to part the

combatants.

human as she is,] That is, not a phantom, but the real Rosalind, without any of the danger generally conceived to attend the rites of incantation. JOHNSON.

array, bid your friends'; for if you will be married tomorrow, you shall; and to Rosalind, if you will.

Enter SILVIUS and PHEBE.

Look, here comes a lover of mine, and a lover of hers.
Phe. Youth, you have done me much ungentleness,
To show the letter that I writ to you.

Ros. I care not, if I have: it is my study,
To seem despiteful and ungentle to you :
You are there follow'd by a faithful shepherd;
Look upon him, love him; he worships you.

Phe. Good shepherd, tell this youth what 'tis to love.
Sil. It is to be all made of sighs and tears;-

And so am I for Phebe.

Phe. And I for Ganymede.

Orl. And I for Rosalind.

Ros. And I for no woman.

Sil. It is to be all made of faith and service ;And so am I for Phebe.

Phe. And I for Ganymede.

Orl. And I for Rosalind.

Ros. And I for no woman.

Sil. It is to be all made of fantasy,

All made of passion, and all made of wishes;

All adoration, duty, and observance,

All humbleness, all patience, and impatience,
All purity, all trial, all observance";

And so am I for Phebe.

Phe. And so am I for Ganymede.

Orl. And so am I for Rosalind.

Ros. And so am I for no woman.

Phe. If this be so, why blame you me to love you?

[To ROSALIND. Sil. If this be so, why blame you me to love you?

[TO PHEBE.

5

bid your friends;] i. e. invite your friends.

6

all observance ;] Probably an error, for obeisance.

Orl. If this be so, why blame you me to love you? Ros. Who do you speak to, why blame you me to love you?

Orl. To her, that is not here, nor doth not hear.

Ros. Pray you, no more of this; 'tis like the howling of Irish wolves against the moon.-I will help you, [to SILVIUS] if I can:-I would love you, [to PHEBE] if I could.-To-morrow meet me all together.-I will marry you, [to PHEBE] if ever I marry woman, and I'll be married to-morrow:-I will satisfy you, [to ORLANDO] if ever I satisfied man, and you shall be married to-morrow:-I will content you, [to SILVIUS] if what pleases you contents you, and you shall be married to-morrow.-As you [to ORLANDO] love Rosalind, meet; as you [to SILVIUS] love Phebe, meet; And as I love no woman, I'll meet.-So, fare you well; I have left you commands.

[blocks in formation]

Enter TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY.

Touch. To-morrow is the joyful day, Audrey; tomorrow will we be married.

Aud. I do desire it with all my heart: and I hope it is no dishonest desire, to desire to be a woman of the world'. Here comes two of the banished duke's pages.

7

Enter two Pages.

1 Page. Well met, honest gentleman.

a woman of the world.] To go married. So, in Much Ado about Nothing: every one goes to the world, but I."

to the world, is to be "Thus (says Beatrice)

Touch. By my troth, well met: Come, sit, sit, and a song.

2 Page. We are for you: sit i'the middle.

1 Page. Shall we clap into't roundly, without hawking, or spitting, or saying we are hoarse; which are the only prologues to a bad voice?

2 Page. I'faith, i'faith; and both in a tune, like two gypsies on a horse.

SONG.
I.

It was a lover and his lass,

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
That o'er the green corn-field did pass

In the spring time, the only pretty rank time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding;
Sweet lovers love the spring.

Between the acres of the rye,

II.

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,

These pretty country folks would lie,
In spring time, &c.

III.

This carol they began that hour,

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,

How that a life was but a flower

In spring time, &c.

IV.

And therefore take the present time,

With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino;

For love is crowned with the prime

In spring time, &c.

Touch. Truly, young gentlemen, though there was no

great matter in the ditty, yet the note was very untuneable.

1 Page. You are deceived, sir; we kept time, we lost not our time.

Touch. By my troth, yes; I count it but time lost to hear such a foolish song. God be with you; and God mend your voices! Come, Audrey.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

Another Part of the Forest.

Enter Duke Senior, AMIENS, JAQUES, ORLANDO, Oliver, and CELIA.

Duke S. Dost thou believe, Orlando, that the boy Can do all this that he hath promised?

Orl. I sometimes do believe, and sometimes do not; As those that fear they hope, and know they fear.

Enter ROSALIND, SILVIUS, and PHEBE.

Ros. Patience once more, whiles our compact is urg'd:

You say, if I bring in your Rosalind,

You will bestow her on Orlando here?

[To the Duke.

Duke S. That would I, had I kingdoms to give with her. Ros. And you say, you will have her, when I bring [TO ORLANDO.

her?

8 Truly, young gentlemen, &c.] The sense seems to be―Though the words of the song were trifling, the musick was not (as might have been expected) good enough to compensate their defect.

• As those that fear they hope, and know they fear.] The meaning, I think, is, As those who fear, they, even those very persons, entertain hopes, that their fears will not be realized; and yet at the same time they well know that there is reason for their fears.

MALONE.

« PreviousContinue »