Flo.
These your unusual weeds to each part of you
Do give a life: no shepherdess, but Flora
Peering in April's front. This your sheep-shearing
Is as a meeting of the petty gods,
And you the Queen on't.

Per.
Sir, my gracious lord,
To chide at your extreams it not becomes me:
Oh pardon, that I name them: your high self,
The gracious mark o'th' land, you have obscur'd
With a swain's wearing; and me, poor lowly maid,
Most goddess-like prank'd up. But that our feasts
In every mess have folly, and the feeders
Digest it with a custom, I should blush
To see you so attired; ^{9 note}

To shew myself a glass.

Flo.
I bless the time,
When my good falcon made her flight a-cross
Thy father's ground.

Per.
Now Jove afford you cause!
To me the difference forges dread, your greatness
Hath not been us'd to fear; even now I tremble
To think, your father, by some accident,
Should pass this way, as you did: oh, the fates!
How would he look, to see his work, so noble,
Vildly bound up! what would he say! or how
Should I in these my borrow'd flaunts behold
The sternness of his presence!

Flo.
Apprehend
Nothing but jollity: the Gods themselves,
Humbling their deities to love, have taken
The shapes of beasts upon them. Jupiter
Became a bull, and bellow'd; the green Neptune
A ram, and bleated; and the fire-rob'd God,
Golden Apollo, a poor humble swain,
As I seem now. Their transformations
Were never for a piece of beauty rarer,
Nor in a way so chaste: since my desires
Run not before mine honour, nor my lusts
Burn hotter than my faith.

Per.
O, but, dear Sir,
Your resolution cannot hold, when 'tis
Oppos'd, as it must be, by th' power o' th' King.

One of these two must be necessities,
Which then will speak, that you must change this purpose,
Or I my life.

Flo.
Thou dearest Perdita,
With these forc'd thoughts, I pr'ythee, darken not
The mirth o'th' feast; or I'll be thine, my fair,
Or not my father's. For I cannot be
Mine own, nor any thing to any, if
I be not thine. To this I am most constant,
Tho' destiny say no. Be merry, (Gentle,)
Strangle such thoughts as these, with any thing
That you behold the while. Your guests are coming:
Lift up your countenance, as 'twere the day
Of celebration of that nuptial, which
We two have sworn shall come.

Per.
O lady fortune,
Stand you auspicious!

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