SONG.
Ami.
Under the greenwood tree,
Who loves to lie with me,
And turn his merry note6 note
Unto the sweet bird's throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see no enemy,
But winter and rough weather.
-- 37 --
Jaq.
More, more! I pr'ythee, more.
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 weasel sucks eggs.
More! I pr'ythee, more.
Ami.
My voice is ragged; 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 live i' the sun,
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleas'd with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see, &c.
Jaq.
I'll give you a verse to this note, that I made
yesterday in despite of my invention.
-- 38 --
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,
Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame7 note:
Here shall he see, gross fools as he,
An if he will come to me.
Ami.
What's that ducdame?
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 Egypt.
Ami.
And I'll go seek the duke: his banquet is
prepared.
[Exeunt severally.
J. Payne Collier [1842–1844], The works of William Shakespeare. The text formed from an entirely new collation of the old editions: with the various readings, notes, a life of the poet, and a history of the Early English stage. By J. Payne Collier, Esq. F.S.A. In eight volumes (Whittaker & Co. [etc.], London) [word count] [S10101].
