SONG.
Ami.
Under the greenwood tree,
Who loves to lie with me,
And tune his merry note
Unto the sweet bird's throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither;
Here shall be see
No enemy,
But winter and rough weather.
Jaq.
More, more, I pr'ythee, more.
Ami.
It will make you melancholy, monsieur
Jaques.
-- 301 --
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 rugged2 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; Call you
'em stanzas?
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 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 disputable 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 live3 note
i' the fun,
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleas'd with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither;
-- 302 --
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 despight 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,
Duc ad me, duc ad me, duc ad me4 note
;
Here shall he see
Gross fools as he,
An if he will come to me.
Ami.
What's that, duc ad me?
Jaq.
'Tis a Greek invocation, to call fools into a
-- 303 --
circle. I'll go sleep if I can; if I cannot, I'll rail
against all the first-born of Egypt5 note.
Ami.
And I'll go seek the duke; his banquet is
prepar'd.
[Exeunt severally.
Samuel Johnson [1778], The plays of William Shakspeare. In ten volumes. With the corrections and illustrations of various commentators; to which are added notes by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens. The second edition, Revised and Augmented (Printed for C. Bathurst [and] W. Strahan [etc.], London) [word count] [S10901].
