SONG.
Ami.
Under the greenwood tree,
Who loves to lie with me,
And tune6 note
his merry note
Unto the sweet bird's throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither;
Here shall he see
No enemy,
But winter and rough weather.
Jaq.
More, more, I pr'ythee, more.
-- 396 --
Ami.
It will make you melancholy, monsieur
Jaques.
Jaq.
I thank it. More, I pr'ythee, more. I can
suck melancholy out of a song, as a weazel sucks
eggs: More, I pr'ythee, more.
Ami.
My voice is ragged7 note
; I know, I cannot
please you.
Jaq.
I do not desire you to please me, I do desire
you to sing: Come, more; another stanza* note;
Call you them stanzas† note?
Ami.
What you will, monsieur Jaques.
Jaq.
Nay, I care not for their names; they owe
me nothing: Will you sing?
Ami.
More at your request, than to please myself.
Jaq.
Well then, if ever I thank any man, I'll
thank you: but that they call compliment, is like
the encounter of two dog-apes; and when a man
-- 397 --
thanks me heartily, methinks, I have given him
a penny, and he renders me the beggarly thanks.
Come, sing; and you that will not, hold your
tongues.
Ami.
Well, I'll end the song.—Sirs, cover the
while; the duke will drink under this tree:—he
hath been all this day to look you.
Jaq.
And I have been all this day to avoid him.
He is too dispútable8 note for my company: I think of
as many matters as he; but I give heaven thanks,
and make no boast of them. Come, warble,
come.
SONG.
Who doth ambition shun,
[All together here.
And loves to live i' the sun9 note
,
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleas'd with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see
No enemy,
But winter and rough weather.
Jaq.
I'll give you a verse to this note, that I
made yesterday in despite of my invention.
Ami.
And I'll sing it.
Jaq.
Thus it goes:
If it do come to pass,
That any man turn ass
Leaving his wealth and ease,
A stubborn will to please,
-- 398 --
Ducdàme, ducdàme, ducdàme1 note
;
Here shall he see,
Gross fools as he,
An if he will come to me.
-- 399 --
Ami.
What's that ducdàme?
Jaq.
'Tis a Greek invocation, to call fools into a
circle. I'll go sleep if I can; if I cannot, I'll rail
against all the first-born of Egypt2 note
.
Ami.
And I'll go seek the duke; his banquet is
prepar'd.
[Exeunt severally.
James Boswell [1821], The plays and poems of William Shakspeare, with the corrections and illustrations of various commentators: comprehending A Life of the Poet, and an enlarged history of the stage, by the late Edmond Malone. With a new glossarial index (J. Deighton and Sons, Cambridge) [word count] [S10201].
