Maria.
Pri.
Was that the king, that spur'd his horse so hard
Against the steep uprising note of the hill?
Boy.
I know not note; but, I think, it was not he.
Pri.
Whoe'er he was, he show'd note a mounting mind.—
Well, lords, to-day we shall have our dispatch;
On saturday note we will return to France.—
Then, forester, my friend, where is the bush,
That we must stand and play the murtherer in?
For.
Here by, upon the edge of yonder coppice;
A stand, where you may make the fairest shoot.
Pri.
I thank my beauty; I am fair that shoot,
And thereupon thou speak'st, the fairest shoot.
For.
Pardon me, madam, for I meant not so.
Pri.
What, what; first praise me, and again note say, no?
O short-liv'd pride! Not fair? alack for woe!
For.
Yes, madam, fair,—
Pri.
Nay, never paint me now;
Where fair is not, praise cannot mend the brow.
Here, good my glass, take this &dagger2; for telling true;
Fair payment for foul words is more than due.
For.
Nothing but fair is that which you inherit.
Pri.
See, see, my beauty will be sav'd by merit.
O heresy in fair, fit for these days!
A giving hand, though foul, shall have fair praise.—
But come, the bow:—Now mercy goes to kill,
And shooting well is then accounted ill.
Thus will I save my credit in the shoot:
Not wounding, pity would not let me do't;
If wounding, then it was to shew my skill,
That more for praise, than purpose, meant to kill.
-- 35 --
And, out of question, so it is sometimes;
Glory grows guilty of detested crimes;
When, for fame's sake,14Q0199 for praise note, an outward part,
We bend to that the working of the heart:
As I, for praise alone, now seek to spill
The poor deer's blood, that my heart means no ill.
Boy.
Do not curst wives hold that self sov'reignty
Only for praise' sake, when they strive to be
Lords o'er their lords?
Pri.
Only for praise: and praise we may afford
To any lady that subdues a lord.
Enter Costard.
Boy.
Here comes a member of the common-wealth.
Cos.
God-dig-you-den all! Pray you, which is the
head lady?
Pri.
Thou shalt know her, fellow, by the rest that
have no heads.
Cos.
Which is the greatest lady, the highest?
Pri.
The thickest, and the tallest.
Cos.
The thickest, and the tallest! it is so; truth is truth.—
An your waste, mistress, were as slender as my wit,
One o' these maids' girdles for your waste should be fit.
Are not you the chief woman? you are the thickest here.
Pri.
What's your will, sir? what's your will?
Cos.
I have a note letter from monsieur Biron to one lady Rosaline.
Pri.
O, thy letter, thy letter; he's a good friend of mine:
Stand aside, good bearer.—Boyet, you can carve;
Break up this &dagger2; capon.
Boy.
I am bound to serve.—
This letter is mistook, it importeth none here;
It is writ to Jaquenetta.
-- 36 --
Pri.
We will read it, I swear:
Break the neck of the wax, and every one give ear.
Boy. [reads.]
By heaven, that thou art fair, is most
infallible; true, that thou art beauteous; truth itself,
that thou art lovely: More fairer than fair, beautiful
than beauteous, truer than truth itself, have commiseration
on thy heroical vassal! The magnanimous and most
illustrate note king Cophetua set eye upon the pernicious and
indubitate beggar Zenelophon; and he it was that
might rightly say, veni, vidi, vici; which to anatomize note14Q0200
in the vulgar, (o base and obscure vulgar!) is,
he came, saw, and note overcame: He came, one; saw,
two note; overcame three: Who came? the king; Why
did he come? to see; Why did he see? to overcome:
To whom came he? to the beggar; What saw he? the
beggar; Who overcame he? the beggar: The conclusion
is victory; On whose side? the king's: note the captive note
is enrich'd; On whose side? the beggar's: The catastrophe
is a nuptial; On whose side? the king's;—no;
on both in one, or one in both. I am the king; for so
stands the comparison: thou the beggar; for so witnesseth
thy lowliness. Shall I command thy love? I may:
Shall I enforce thy love? I could: Shall I entreat thy
love? I will. What shalt thou exchange for rags? robes;
For tittles? titles; For thyself? me. Thus, expecting
thy reply, I prophane my lips on thy foot, my eyes on thy
picture, and my heart on thy every part.
Thine, in the dearest design of industry,
Don Adriano note de Armado note.
Thus dost thou hear the Nemean lion roar
'Gainst thee, thou lamb, that standest as his prey; note
Submissive fall his princely feet before,
-- 37 --
And he from forage will incline to play:
But if thou strive, poor soul, what art thou then?
Food for his rage, repasture for his den.
Pri.
What plume of feathers note is he, that indited this letter?
What vane? note note what weather-cock? Did you ever hear better?
Boy.
I am much deceived, note but I remember the stile.
Pri.
Else your memory is bad, going o'er it erewhile.
Boy.
This Armado is a Spaniard, that keeps here in court;
A phantasme note, a monarcho; note and one that makes sport
To the prince, and his book-mates.
Pri.
Thou, fellow, a word:
Who gave thee this letter?
Cos.
I told you; my lord.
Pri.
To whom should'st thou give it?
Cos.
From my lord to my lady.
Pri.
From which lord, to which lady?
Cos.
From my lord Biron, a good master of mine,
To a lady of France, that he call'd Rosaline.
Pri.
Thou hast note mistaken his letter.—Come, lords, away.—
Here, sweet, [to Ros.] put up &dagger2; this; 'twill be thine another day.
[Exeunt Princess, and Train.
Boy.
Who is the shooter? who is the note shooter?
Ros.
Shall I teach you to know?
Boy.
Ay, my continent of beauty.
Ros.
Why, she that bears the bow.
Finely put off!
Boy.
My lady goes to kill horns; but, if thou marry,
Hang me by the neck, if horns that year miscarry.
Finely put on!
Ros.
Well then, I am the shooter.
-- 38 --
Boy.
And who is your dear?
Ros.
If we choose by the note horns, yourself; come not near.
Finely put on, indeed!
Mar.
You still wrangle with her, Boyet, and she strikes at the brow.
Boy.
But she herself is hit lower: Have I hit her now?
Ros.
Shall I come upon thee with an old saying, that
was a man when king Pippin of France was a little boy,
as touching the hit it.
Boy.
So I may answer thee with one as old, that
was a woman when queen Guinover of Britain was a
little wench, as touching the hit it.
Ros.
Thou can'st not hit it, hit it, hit it,
Thou can'st not hit it, my good man.
Boy.
An note I cannot, cannot, cannot,
An I cannot, another can.
[Exeunt Ros. and Cat.
Cos.
By my troth, most pleasant! how both did fit it!
Mar.
A mark marvelous well shot; for they both did hit it.
Boy.
A mark!—O, mark but that mark; A mark, says my lady!
Let the mark have a prick in't, to mete at, if it may be.
Mar.
Wide o' the bow hand! I' faith, your hand is out.
Cos.
Indeed, a' must shoot nearer, or he'll ne'er hit the clout.
Boy.
An' if my hand be out, then, belike your hand is in note.
Cos.
Then will she get the upshot by cleaving the pin.
Mar.
Come, come, you talk greasily, your lips grow foul.
Cos.
She's too hard for you at pricks, sir; challenge her to bowl.
Boy.
I fear too much rubbing: Good night, my good owl.
[Exeunt Boy. and Mar.
-- 39 --
Cos.
By my soul, a swain! a most simple clown!
Lord, lord! how the ladies and I have put him down!
O' my troth, most sweet jests! most incony vulgar wit!
When it comes so smoothly off, so obscenely, as it were, so fit.
Armatho o' t' one side,—O, a most dainty man!
To see him walk before a lady, and to bear her fan!
To see him kiss his hand! and how most sweetly a' will swear!—
And his page o't'other side, that handful of wit!
Ah heavens, it is a note most pathetical nit!
[Shout within.
Sola! sola!
[Exit, running.
SCENE II.
The same.
Enter Sir Nathaniel, Holofernes, and Dull.
Nat.
Very reverent sport, truly; and done in the
testimony of a good conscience.
Hol.
The deer was, as you know, in sanguis note, blood:14Q0201
ripe as a pome-water; who now hangeth, like a jewel,
in the ear of cælo,—the sky, the welkin, the heaven;
and anon falleth, like a crab, on the face of terra,—the
foil, the land, the earth.
Nat.
Truly, master Holofernes, the epithets note are sweetly
vary'd, like a scholar at the least: But, sir, I assure
ye, it was a buck of the first head.
Hol.
Sir Nathaniel, haud credo.
Dul.
'Twas not a haud credo, 'twas a pricket.
Hol.
Most barbarous intimation! yet a kind of insinuation,
as it were, in via, in way, of explication;
facere, as it were, replication; or, rather, ostentare, to
show, as it were, his inclination—after his undressed,
unpolished, uneducated, unpruned, untrained, or, rather,
unlettered, or, ratherest, unconfirmed fashion,—to insert
again my haud credo for a deer.
-- 40 --
Dul.
I said, the deer was not a haud credo; 'twas a pricket.
Hol.
Twice sod simplicity, bis coctus!—O thou monster,
ignorance, how deformed dost thou look!
Nat.
Sir, he hath never fed of the dainties that are
bred in a book; he hath not eat paper, as it were, he hath
not drunk ink: his intellect is not replenished; he is
only an animal, only sensible in the duller parts:
And such barren plants are set before us, that we thankful should be
For those parts which we taste, and feel, do note fructify in us more than he.
For as it would ill become me, to be vain, indiscreet, or note a fool;
So were there a patch set on learning, to see him in a school:
But, omne bene, say I; being of an old father's mind,
Many can brook the weather, that love not the wind.
Dul.
You two are book-men; Can you tell by your wit,
What was a month old at Cain's birth, that's not five weeks old as yet?
Hol.
Dictynna, good man Dull; Dictynna, goodman Dull.14Q0202
Dul.
What is Dictynna? note
Hol.
A title note to14Q0203 Phœbe, to Luna, to the moon.
The moon was a month old, when Adam was no more;
And raught note not to five weeks, when he came to five score.
The allusion holds in the exchange.
Dul.
'Tis true, indeed; the collusion holds in the
exchange.
Hol.
God comfort thy capacity! I say, the allusion
holds in the exchange.
Dul.
And I say, the pollusion note holds in the exchange,
for the moon is never but a month old: and I say beside,
-- 41 --
that 'twas a pricket that the princess kill'd.
Hol.
Sir Nathaniel, will you hear an extemporal epitaph
on the death of the deer? and, to humour the ignorant note,
I have call'd the deer the princess kill'd, a pricket.
Nat.
Perge, good master Holofernes, perge; so it shall
please you to abrogate scurrility. note
Hol.
I will something affect the letter, for it argues facility.
The praiseful note princess pierc'd and prick'd a pretty pleasing pricket;
Some say, a sore; but not a sore, 'till now made sore with shooting:
The dogs did yell; put l to sore, then sorel jumps from thicket:
Or pricket, sore, or else sorel, the people fall a hooting.
If sore be sore,14Q0204 then L to sore makes fifty sores; O sore L!
Of one sore I an hundred make by adding but one more L.
Nat.
A rare talent!
Dul.
If a talent be a claw, look how he claws him
with a talent.
Hol.
This is notea gift that I have, simple, simple; a
foolish extravagant spirit, full of forms, figures, shapes,
objects, ideas, apprehensions, motions, revolutions: these
are begot in the ventricle of memory, nourish'd in the
womb of pia mater note, and delivered upon the mellowing
of occasion: But the gift is good in those in whom it
is acute, and I am thankful for it.
Nat.
Sir, I note praise the Lord for you, and so may my
parishioners; for their sons are well tutor'd by you, and
their daughters profit very greatly under you: you are
a good member of the common-wealth.
Hol.
Mehercle note, if their sons be ingenious note, note they shall
want no instruction; if their daughters be capable, I
-- 42 --
will put it to them. But, Vir sapit qui pauca loquitur:
a soul feminine saluteth us.
Enter Jaquenetta, and Costard.
Jaq.
God give you good morrow, master parson note!
Hol.
Master note
parson note,—quasi pers-one: And if one
should be pierc'd, which is the one?
Cos.
Marry, master school-master, he that is likest note
to a hogshead.
Hol.
Of piercing note a hogshead! a good lustre of conceit
in a turf of earth; fire enough for a flint, pearl
enough for a swine: 'tis pretty, it is well.
Jaq.
Good master parson, be so good as read me
this &dagger2; letter; it was given me by Costard, and sent me
from don Armatho: I beseech you, read it.
Hol.
Fauste, note precor gelidâ quando pecus omne note sub umbrâ
Ruminat,—and so forth. Ah good old Mantuan! I may
speak of thee as the traveller doth of Venice,—
14Q0205&lblank; Vinegia, Vinegia,
Chi non te vedi, note ei non te pregia.
Old Mantuan! old Mantuan! who understandeth thee
not, loves thee not. note Ut, re, sol, la, mi, fa.—Under
pardon, note sir, what are the contents? or, rather, as Horace
says in his—What, my soul, verses?
Nat.
Ay, sir, note and very learned.
Hol.
Let me note hear a staff, a stanza, note a verse; lege, domine.
Nat.
If love make me forsworn, how shall I swear to love?
[reading.
Ah, never faith could hold, if not to beauty vowed!
Though to myself forsworn, to thee I'll faithful prove;
Those thoughts to me were oaks, to thee like osiers bowed.
Study his biass leaves, and makes his book thine eyes;
-- 43 --
Where all those pleasures live, that art would comprehend:
If knowledge be the mark, to know thee shall suffice;
Well learned is that tongue, that well can thee commend:
All ignorant that soul, that sees thee without wonder;
(Which is to me some praise, that I thy parts admire)
Thy eye Jove's lightning bears, thy voice his dreadful thunder,
Which, not to anger bent, is musick, and sweet fire.
Celestial as thou art, o, pardon, love, this wrong,
That sings heaven's praise with such an earthly tongue!
Hol.
You find not the apostrophes, and so miss the
accent: let me supervise the canzonet note. Here † are note only
numbers ratify'd; but, for the elegancy, facility, and
golden cadence of poesy, caret. Ovidius Naso was the
man: And why, indeed, Naso? but for smelling out
the odoriferous flowers of fancy, the jerks of invention.
Imitari note is nothing: so doth the hound his master, the
ape his keeper, the 'tired note horse his rider.—But, damosella
virgin, was this directed to you?
Jaq.
Ay, sir, from one mounsieur Biron, one of the
strange queen's lords.
Hol.
I will note overglance the superscript; To the snow-white
hand of the beauteous Lady Rosaline. I will look
again on the intellect of the letter, for the nomination of
the party writing note to the person written unto; Your Ladiship's
in all note desired employment, Biron.—Sir Nathaniel note note, this
Biron is one of the votaries with the king; and here he
hath framed a letter to a sequent of the stranger queen's,
which, accidentally, or by the way of progression, hath
miscarried.—Trip and go, my sweet; deliver this &dagger2; paper
into the royal note hand of the king; it may concern much:
Stay not thy compliment; I forgive thy duty; adieu.
-- 44 --
Jaq.
Good Costard, go with me.—Sir, God save your life!
Cos.
Have with thee, my girl.
[Exeunt Cos. and Jaq.
Nat.
Sir, you note have done this in the fear of God,
very religiously: and, as a certain father saith,—
Hol.
Sir, tell not note me of the father, I do fear colourable
colours. But to return to the verses; Did they
please you, sir Nathaniel?
Nat.
Marvelous well for the pen.
Hol.
I do dine to-day at the father's of a certain pupil
of mine; where if, before repast note, it shall please you to
gratify the table with a grace, I will, on my priviledge
I have with the parents of the foresaid child or pupil,
undertake your ben venuto; note where I will prove those
verses to be very unlearned, neither savouring of poetry,
wit, nor invention: I beseech your society.
Nat.
And thank you too: for society, saith the text,
is the happiness of life.
Hol.
And, certes, the text most infallibly concludes
it.—Sir, [to Dul.] I do invite you too; you shall not say
me nay: pauca verba.—Away; the gentles are at their
game, and we will to our recreation.
[Exeunt.
Edward Capell [1767], Mr William Shakespeare his comedies, histories, and tragedies, set out by himself in quarto, or by the Players his Fellows in folio, and now faithfully republish'd from those Editions in ten Volumes octavo; with an introduction: Whereunto will be added, in some other Volumes, notes, critical and explanatory, and a Body of Various Readings entire (Printed by Dryden Leach, for J. and R. Tonson [etc.], London) [word count] [S10601].
