PRESENTED
TO
THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
BY
THE
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
The
Two Gentlemen of Verona
By
William Shakespeare
WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY
London
Macmillan and Co., Limited
New York : The Macmillan Company
1905
All rights reserved
GLASGOW : PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION, vii
THE Two GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, 1
NOTES, .69
INDEX TO NOTES, ........ 118
INTRODUCTION.
Date of the Play. Though the earliest mention we
have of The Two Gentlemen of Verona is that in Mere's
list of 1598, it was evidently written much earlier, pro
bably about 1591. The exact date, however, is of little
importance, since construction, thought, language, and
character of metre alike point to its being one of
Shakespeare's earliest efforts.
Sources of the Plot. For some of the incidents of
the play Shakespeare was probably indebted, as the
commentators have pointed out, to the story of the
shepherdess Felismena in the Diana of Montemayor, a
Spanish romance translated into English about the close
of the sixteenth century, or to a play entitled * The
History of Felix and Philiomena ' which was played at
Greenwich in 1584. Other incidents are traced to
Bandello's novel of Apollonnis and Lylla, while Valen
tine's encomium on solitude and his consenting to
become head of the bandits are supposed to be taken
from Sidney's Arcadia.
The Story. This opens at Verona, the native city of
the Two Gentlemen, Valentine and Proteus, who have
long been fast friends. The former is about to start on
his travels to see something of the world ; the latter,
though probably of a like mind, is tied to Verona by his
viii THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
love for a beautiful and sweet-natured girl, Julia. His
father, however, on the advice of a friend, determines
that it will be well that Proteus also should travel, and
peremptorily orders him to prepare to follow Valentine's
example in resorting for a while to the Emperor's court
at Milan. Afraid to avow his love for Julia, Proteus
can only obey. On arriving at Milan he finds that
Valentine has fallen in love with the Dune's daughter,
Silvia, who returns his passion. So great are the
fascinations of this maiden that Proteus, forgetting his
Julia, speedily becomes her captive. Faithless also to
his friend, he plots to win Silvia away from him ; and
knowing that the Duke wishes her to marry a moneyed
fool named Thurio, he treacherously reveals their be
trothal, in the hope that Valentine may be banished
from Milan, and the way he thus opens to him to press
his suit with Silvia. The Duke falls into the trap, and
Valentine has to take to hurried flight, his friend
promising to be the medium of communication between
the two lovers. This, of course, he has no intention of
doing ; but, with Valentine away, at once sets about his
attack upon Silvia's heart. In this he is helped by the
fact that the Duke enlists him in the endeavour to over
come the objections which his daughter has to Thurio,
and under cover of this service he has easy access to her.
She, however, is not to be detached from Valentine, nor
does Proteus take much from his endeavour but reproach
and disdain. In the meantime Valentine in his flight
from Milan, passing through a forest on the borders
of Mantua, is surprised by bandits infesting that part of
the country and given the choice of instant death or of
consenting to be their leader. Careless of what may
INTRODUCTION. ix
happen to him now that he has lost Silvia, Valentine
falls in with their wishes. He has not been long at
their head when events at Milan bring about the catas
trophe of the play. For Julia, in despair at Proteus's
silence and continued absence, determines to follow him
in disguise to Milan. On arriving there she has the
good luck to be taken, all unknown, into his service as
a page, and in this capacity is employed to carry letters
and messages to Silvia. The latter, pestered by the
importunities alike of the foolish Thurio and the per
fidious Proteus, at last loses all patience, and determines
to set out under the escort of a trusted friend, Sir
Eglamour, in quest of Valentine, who, she hears, is living
at Mantua. She has not gone far on her way when she
is made prisoner by the very brigands whose captain
Valentine has become. Her flight is of course quickly
discovered, and the Duke, with Thurio and Proteus,
accompanied by his seeming page, start in pursuit.
They, too, fall in with Valentine's bands, but while the
Duke and Thurio are captured, Proteus and the dis
guised Julia manage to escape for the time, and in flight
come upon Silvia, now in custody in another part of the
forest. Proteus protests that he has come to rescue her,
and hopes that she will now relent and accept his love.
She repulses him with the bitterest scorn, and maddened
by this he is on the point of using violence to her when
Valentine suddenly appears on the scene. His renun
ciation of their friendship so stings the guilty man that
he can but crave pardon for his double iniquity. By an
accident Julia's identity is at this point revealed, and
Proteus, further stung by her reproaches, returns to his
first love. The Duke and Thurio are now brought in
X THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
by their captors, and a general reconciliation takes
place, the Duke giving his consent to the marriage of
Valentine with Silvia, and pardoning the outlaws, who,
having fled from his duchy on account of various
offences, had taken to their life of brigandage. The
return of the whole party to Milan is a prelude to the
double wedding of Valentine and Silvia on the one
hand and of Proteus and Julia on the other.
Some of the Characters. The four principal characters
in the play are the ' two gentlemen ' themselves, Valen
tine and Proteus, with their two lady-loves, Silvia and
Julia. Valentine is a high-spirited, honourable type of
the young men of the day, impatient of 'living dully
sluggardized at home,' and eager ' to see the wonders of
the world abroad.' Whatever of romance there is in
his nature, the romance of love does not at the outset
of the play appeal to him in the least. Like Benedick
in Much Ado About Nothing, he jests at the little god
and merrily banters his friend Proteus on his love for
Julia, a folly, as he characterizes it, made up of ' one
fading moment's mirth with twenty watchful, weary,
tedious nights.' But his immunity from the disease is
not to be of long duration. For on repairing to Milan
he speedily succumbs to the fascinations of the sprightly
Silvia. His diffidence, however, is so great that had she
not by a stratagem taught him how to woo, he would
still have concealed his love, and even her stratagem
has to be interpreted to him by his more keen-witted
servant, Speed, before he can understand its not very
obscure meaning. This diffidence, coupled with his
extreme chivalry of nature, may perhaps in some
measure explain what, as it stands, seems one great
INTRODUCTION. xi
blot upon the play. For when in the final scene
Proteus asks forgiveness for his atrocious behaviour
towards Silvia, Julia, and Valentine himself, the last
not only readily receives him again into friendship, but,
AS a proof that his love is 'plain and free,' actually goes
on to say, 'All that was mine in Silvia I give thee.'
That Shakespeare should have credited him with such
extravagant generosity is hard to believe. For, as
Knight points out, it is not only ' entirely inconsistent
with the ardent character of his love,' but — a greater
sin against dramatic morality — 'an act of injustice to
wards Julia, which he could not commit.' Dowden
suggests, not very happily, as it seems to me, that
Valentine's words may have been spoken 'to test the
loyalty of his [Proteus] professedly repentant friend ' ;
or, as an alternative, that there may be 'a gap here,
originally occupied by speeches of Proteus and Silvia.'
He also remarks, 'If the fifth act came from Shak-
spere's pen as it now stands, we must believe that he
handed over his play to the actors while a portion of
it still remained only a hasty sketch, the denouement
being left for future working out.' Cowden Clarke, on
the other hand, thus boldly champions the consistency
of Valentine's speech : ' This line — the overstrained
generosity of which startles most sedate readers— is
precisely in keeping with the previous speech, and
with Valentine's character. He is a man of impulse,
of warm, quick feelings, full of romance and enthusiasm;
he is willing to make a heroic sacrifice to show his
suddenly restored faith in his repentant friend, and
works himself up to the requisite pitch of superhuman
courage by the emulative reference to Divine mercy ;
xii THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
but we see by his subsequent speech to Thurio how
strongly his love for Silvia maintains itself within his
bosom, though he fancies for the moment that he could
make it ancillary to friendship.' . . . To myself any
hypothesis is preferable to such an interpretation of
Shakespeare's art even in its infancy. That the Two
Gentlemen is one of the poet's earliest productions, if not
indeed, the very earliest, is, I think, shown by the
alliance between Valentine and Proteus. It is, of course,
frequent enough that there should be cordial friendship
between two men of very diverse temperament. But
that this should exist between two natures to all appear
ance mutually repellant is hardly conceivable. For not
merely does Proteus, in contrast with Valentine, look
at life from a wholly selfish point of view, but in so far
as the play depicts his actions or unfolds his character,
there is nothing lovable about him. The fact that he is
the object of devotion to a girl pure of heart like Julia
goes for little. Women, indeed, are more likely to fall
in love with a bold criminal than with a mean scoundrel.
Yet that one so young as Julia should be deceived by
the mere outside is easily to be understood, especially
as Proteus is no mean adept in the school of craft.
Wherein, however, could there be to Valentine any
attraction in a nature in nothing noble, in many things
vile ? Proteus is a puling lover who whimpers over the
change that love has wrought in him, and even his
advocate, the waiting-maid Lucetta, when speaking of
him as the * best ' of Julia's suitors, and challenged for
a reason, can only say, ' I have no other but a woman's
reason ; I think him so, because I think him so ' ; while
later on in the play she doubts the welcome which her
INTRODUCTION. xiii
mistress will have if she seeks him out in Milan. When
by his father's command he leaves Verona, his parting
with Julia has little in it of a lover's warmth, and it is
she who proffers a ring as pledge of her love, a ring
which with almost incredible baseness he afterwards
sends to Silvia in token of his devotion. On his very
first sight of Silvia, while the words of farewell to Julia
are still warm on his lips, he becomes as enamoured of
her as if his heart had never known what it is to love.
Such ' compunctious visitings ' as come to him in regard
to his ' threefold perjury ' to Julia, to his friend, and to
love itself are quickly laid to sleep Athe weakest and
basest sophisms, while Valentine's confidant as he is,
he readily welcomes the thought which prompts him to
abuse that confidence. That .by ' some sly trick ' he
should propose to himself to ' blunt Thurio's dark pro
ceeding,' is but a trifle to one already false to his friend.
We might, however, have expected that being successful
in procuring Valentine's banishment, and having now a
fair field before him, he would be content with his
measure of iniquity. Not so. Without any outside
prompting, in order as he pretends to further Thurio's
wooing, he suggests that Valentine should be slandered
to Silvia ' With falsehood, cowardice and poor descent,
Three things that women highly hold in hate,' and, with
affected demur, undertakes the dirty job of calumniation.
Access to Silvia being thus given him, he uses every art
to seduce her from her loyalty, lies to her in saying that
Julia is dead, lies to her in adding that the same fate
has overtaken Valentine, and is nothing deterred by
her scornful and caustic exposure of his many-sided
faithlessness. Finding at last that all vows and pro-
xiv THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
testations, all appeals to her vanity, and all endeavours
to win her by gifts, are alike useless, he throws off the
seeming of a gentleman, reveals his love as nothing
better than the lust of a satyr, and coward like is on
the point of offering violence to her person, when Valen
tine rushes forward and rescues her. We may perhaps
charitably hope that had this scene been revised by
Shakespeare, we should have had by way of confession
and prayer for pardon something less utterly inadequate
than the meagre words of penitence in which he ascribes
to the inconstancy of human nature all the sins of
which he has been guilty, and assumes that by returning
to his allegiance to Julia he has proved himself deserv
ing of full forgiveness and of being received back into
her heart as though his falsity had been nothing more
than a passing illusion. Between the man as he really
is and the man as he is painted in Valentine's eulogy
to the Duke the difference is so vast that we can only
suppose his studious habits and sober manner of life to
have created a belief in his superiority, and this im
pression coupled with Valentine's modesty, chivalrous
disposition, somewhat slow perceptions, and inability to
imagine the baseness of others, may account for his
loyal, over-loyal, fellowship with a man false to his love,
treacherous to his friend, cowardly towards women, and
mean to his inferiors.
In Silvia, though we have a sketch rather than the ela
borate portrait of Shakespeare's later days, we see bright
ness of intellect, loyalty in love, high-spirited courage,
hatred of meanness, and the delicate courtesy of a well
born lady. It has been suggested that she was a bit of
a coquette, or she would not have promised Proteus a
INTRODUCTION. xv
picture of herself. But surely this incident is introduced
only as a pretext for bringing about the interview
between herself and Julia whereby the latter is assured
of the former's feelings towards Proteus, and Silvia's
tenderness of nature is shown to us in a way that no
other part of the play makes possible. That she should
have allowed Proteus to pester her with his solicitations-
instead of at once sending him about his business is
easily accounted for by the position in which she is
placed. Deep in her father's displeasure and allowed
freedom only in order that such freedom should be
plagued by the courtship of a man like Thurio, whom
her ' very soul abhors,' she is obliged so far to temporize
by permitting Proteus's visits as to avoid being com
pelled without delay to marry her father's choice.
Proteus's pretended advocacy of Thurio's suit is for the
moment her only safety, and when her persecution
becomes more than she can endure, she takes the des
perate step of flight from home, flight to Valentine.
Julia is a girl with perhaps more winsome graces than
those bestowed upon Silvia. Her equal, or may be
her superior, in fortitude, she is at the same time gentler
and more forgiving. In the latter quality, indeed, she
errs, if it be possible, in excess. For her pardon is
granted in the full knowledge of all Proteus's infamy,
even in its culminating point of violence offered to-
Silvia. Love that could still cling to one revealed
not as guilty of daring crime, of youthful excesses, of
headstrong passions, of lawless arrogance, but of con
sistent, unvarying, duplicity, and the worst sins against
manhood, — such love could only be found in a nature
almost angelic. Her own purity and her own steadfast
xvi THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
faith must of necessity make offences of the kind doubly
odious ; and except that she had once believed in
Proteus as the ideal of her maiden fancy, she has
nothing but pity to fall back upon when taking back
to her heart that ideal so maimed and tainted. It is
perhaps doubtful whether Shakespeare in his fuller
knowledge would have condemned her to such an
union, for even Angelo in his relations to Mariana is
less despicable than Proteus. Assuredly the union
could not be a happy one ; unless we may assume a far
deeper penitence than is indicated by the almost jaunty
confession of inconstancy which is wrung from the con-
. victed scoundrel, a far deeper penitence than anything
of which his character gives promise.
The two servants, Speed and Launce, furnish what
there is of comedy, or, rather, broad farce in the play,
and their characters are distinct enough. The former
displays himself as the town-valet, sharp and covetous,
accustomed to vails, and unaccommodating unless bribed
into civility. He is quick, witty, ever ready with a
pun, full of rogueish schemes, unscrupulous, with a
keen eye for the main chance, a wholesome fear of
punishment, and a readiness for provender, as indicated
in his exclamation, 'I am one that is nourished by my
victuals.' The latter is a cheerful, noisy country bump
kin, blundering in his speech, blundering in his actions,
.faithful by instinct, and not without tenderness of
heart. He takes no interest in the drama that is going
on around him; his love affair is almost entirely a
matter of profit and loss ; the more alert-minded Speed
can befool him at will ; and his dullness is so dull that
he can see no difference between the ugly mongrel that
INTRODUCTION. xvn
follows him and the toy dog which Proteus would offer
as a fitting present to the aristocratic Silvia. That
we should enjoy — as we cannot' help enjoying — the
delineation of such characters, with their jests so often
of little point, with their language rude and coarse, is a
tribute to the magic of the artist who had the courage
to make foolish people talk foolishly and stupidly,
to talk and behave, that is, as such people naturally
would do, instead of giving them the polish and neat
ness which they would have had at the hands of a
Congreve or a Sheridan.
Of the relation of our play to those comedies, Furni
vail writes : ' That the Two Gentlemen and its incidents
were great favourites with Shakspere is evident from
his use of them in after-plays. In The Merchant we
have Portia's discussion of her lovers with Nerissa
admirably developed from Julia's here with Lucetta,
and also Portia's putting on man's dress and quizzing
herself in it developed from Julia's here. This is re
peated again in Eosalind in As You Like It. In The
Merchant, too, we have Launcelot Gobbo developed from
Launce, with a bit of Speed. In Romeo and Juliet we
have Juliet going to confession like Silvia here. In
Twelfth Night we have Viola like Julia, each as a page,
carrying messages of love from the man she loves to
the girl he loves, to whom she tells her own story
disguised; and in each case the man whom the page-
girl loves at last marries her. In Much Ado we have
the signs of love in Benedick developed from those
described by Speed here. In All's Well we have a
parallel to the Host scene, and in Cymbeline we may
compare Imogen with Julia. In these early plays, we
xviii THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
have love's power over men's oaths to one another in
Love's Labour Lost, over men's friendship and their vows
to women in the Dream and The Two Gentlemen, yet in
the latter friendship overcomes love in Valentine's offer
to give up Silvia to Proteus. The fickleness of love
is also seen in the Errors, the Dream, and The Two
Gentlemen, as in Romeo's change from Rosalind to
Juliet.' .
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
DRAMATIS PERSONS.
DUKE OF MILAN, Father to Silvia.
VALENTINE, -I ^ two Gentlemen
PROTEUS, J
ANTONIO, Father to Proteus.
THURIO, a foolish rival to Valentine.
EGLAMOUR, Agent for Silvia in her escape.
HOST, where Julia lodges.
OUTLAWS, with Valentine.
SPEED, a clownish servant to Valentine.
LAUNCE, the like to Proteus.
PANTHINO, Servant to Antonio.
JULIA, beloved of Proteus.
SILVIA, beloved of Valentine.
LUCETTA, waiting-woman to Julia.
Servants, Musicians.
SCENE : Verona ; Milan ; the frontiers of Mantua.
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VEKONA.
ACT I.
SCENE I. Verona. An open place.
Enter VALENTINE and PROTEUS.
Vol. Cease to persuade, my loving Proteus :
ome-keeping youth have ever homely wits.
ere 't not affection chains thy tender days ,
To the sweet glances of thy honour3 d love, /
would enlieelt ihy cumpaTiy
To see the wonders of the world abroad
Than, living dully sluggardized at home,
Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.
But since thou lovest, love still and thrive therein,
Even as I would when I to love begin. 10
Pro. Wilt thou be gone ? Sweet Valentine, adieu !
Think on thy Proteus, when thou haply seest
Some rare note- worthy object in thy travel :
Wish me partaker in thy happiness
When thou dost meet good hap ; and in thy danger,
If ever danger do environ thee,
Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers,
For I will be thy beadsman, Valentine.
Vol. And on a love-book pray for my success ?
Pro. Upon some book I love I '11 pray for thee. 20
« 3
4 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT i,
Val. That 's on some shallow story of deep love :
How young Leander cross'd the Hellespont.
Pro. That 's a deep story of a deeper love ;
For he was more than over shoes in love.
Val. 'Tis true ; for you are over boots in love,
And yet you never swum the Hellespont.
Pro. Over the boots ? nay, give me not the boots.
Val. No, I will not, for it boots thee not.
Pro. What ?
Val. To be in love, where scorn is bought with groans ;
Coy looks with heart-sore sighs ; one fading moment's
mirth 30
With twenty watchful, weary, tedious nights :
If haply won, perhaps a hapless gain ;
If lost, why then a grievous labour won ;
However, but a folly bought with wit,
Or else a wit by folly vanquished.
Pro. So, by your circumstance, you call me fool.
Val. So, by your circumstance, I fear you '11 prove.
Pro. Tis love you cavil at : I am not Love.
Val. Love is your master, for he masters you :
And he that is so yoked by a fool, 40
Methinks, should not be chronicled for wise.
Pro. Yet writers say, as in the sweetest bud
The eating canker dwells, so eating love
Inhabits in the finest wits of all.
Val. And writers say, as the most forward bud
Is eaten by the canker ere it blow,
Even so by love the young and tender wit
Is turn'd to folly, blasting in the bud,
Losing his verdure even in the prime
And all the fair effects of future hopes. 50
But wherefore waste I time to counsel thee
That art a votary to fond desire ?
Once more adieu ! my father at the road
Expects my coming, there to see me shipp'd.
sc. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 5
Pro. And thither will I bring thee, Valentine.
Vol. Sweet Proteus, no ; now let us take our leave.
To Milan let me hear from thee by letters
Of thy success in love and what news else
Betideth here in absence of thy friend ;
And I likewise will visit thee with mine. 60
Pro. All happiness bechance to thee in Milan !
Vol. As much to you at home ! and so, farewell. [Exit.
Pro. He after honour hunts, I after love :
He leaves his friends to dignify them more ;
I leave myself, my friends and all, for love.
Thou, Julia, thou hast metamorphosed me,
Made me neglect my studies, lose my time,
War with good counsel, set the world at nought :
Made wit with musing weak, heart sick with thought.
Enter SPEED.
Speed. Sir Proteus, save you ! Saw you my master ? 70
Pro. But now he parted hence, to embark for Milan.
Speed. Twenty to one then he is shipp'd already,
And I have play'd the sheep in losing him.
Pro. Indeed, a sheep doth very often stray,
An if the shepherd be a while away.
Speed. You conclude that my master is a shepherd then
and I a sheep ?
Pro. I do.
Speed. Why then, my horns are his horns, whether I wake
or sleep.
Pro. A silly answer and fitting well a sheep.
Speed. This proves me still a sheep. 80
Pro. True ; and thy master a shepherd.
Speed. Nay, that I can deny by a circumstance.
Pro. It shall go hard but I '11 prove it by another.
Speed. The shepherd seeks the sheep, and not the sheep
the shepherd ; but I seek my master, and my master seeks
not me : therefore I am no sheep.
6 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT i.
Pro. The sheep for fodder follow the shepherd ; the shep
herd for food follows not the sheep : thou for wages f ollowest
thy master ; thy master for wages follows not thee : there
fore thou art a sheep. 90
Speed. Such another proof will make me cry * baa.'
Pro. But, dost thou hear ? gavest thou my letter to Julia ?
Speed. Ay, sir.
Pro. But what said she ?
Speed. [First nodding"] Ay.
Pro. Nod — Ay — why, that 's noddy.
Speed. You mistook, sir ; I say, she did nod : and you ask
me if she did nod ; and I say, * Ay.'
Pro. And that set together is noddy.
Speed. Now you have taken the pains to set it together,
take it for your pains. 101
Pro. No, no ; you shall have it for bearing the letter.
Speed. Well, I perceive I must be fain to bear with you.
Pro. Why, sir, how do you bear with me ?
Speed. Marry, sir, the letter, very orderly ; having nothing
but the word * noddy ' for my pains.
Pro. Beshrew me, but you have a quick wit.
Speed. And yet it cannot overtake your slow purse.
Pro. Come, come, open the matter in brief : what said she ?
Speed. Open your purse, that the money and the matter
may be both at once delivered. Ill
Pro. Well, sir, here is for your pains. What said she ?
Speed. Truly, sir, I think you '11 hardly win her.
Pro. Why, couldst thou perceive so much from her ?
Speed. Sir, I could perceive nothing at all from her ; no,
not so much as a ducat for delivering your letter : and being
so hard to me that brought your mind, I fear she '11 prove as
hard to you in telling your mind. Give her no token but
stones ; for she 's as hard as steel.
Pro. What said she ? nothing ? 120
Speed. No, not so much as ' Take this for thy pains.' To
testify your bounty, I thank you, you have testerned me ; in
sc. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 7
requital whereof, henceforth carry your letters yourself : and
so, sir, I'll commend you to my master.
Pro. Go, go, be gone, to save your ship from wreck,
Which cannot perish having thee aboard,
Being destined to a drier death on shore. \Esdt Speed.
I must go send some better messenger :
I fear my Julia would not deign my lines, 129
Eeceiving them from such a worthless post. [Exit.
SCENE II. The same. Garden of JULIA'S house.
Enter JULIA and LUCETTA.
Jul. But say, Lucetta, now we are alone,
Wouldst thou then counsel me to fall in love 1
IMC. Ay, madam, so you stumble not unheedfully.
Jul. Of all the fair resort of gentlemen
That every day with parle encounter me,
In thy opinion which is worthiest love ? •
Luc. Please you repeat their names, I '11 show my mind
According to my shallow simple skill.
Jul. What think'st thou of the fair Sir Eglamour ?
IMC. As of a knight well-spoken, neat and fine ; 10
But, were I you, he never should be mine.
Jul. What think'st thou of the rich Mercatio ?
Luc. Well of his wealth ; but of himself, so, so.
Jul. What think'st thou of the gentle Proteus ?
IMC. Lord, Lord ! to see what folly reigns in us !
Jul. How now ! what means this passion at his name ?
Luc. Pardon, dear madam : 'tis a passing shame
That I, unworthy body as I am,
Should censure thus on lovely gentlemen.
Jul. Why not on Proteus, as of all the rest ? 20
Luc. Then thus : of many good I think him best.
Jul. Your reason ?
Luc. I have no other but a woman's reason ;
I think him so because I think him so.
8 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. CACTI.
Jul. And wouldst thou have me cast my love on him ?
Luc. Ay, if you thought your love not cast away.
Jul. Why he, of all the rest, hath never moved me.
Luc. Yet he, of all the rest, I think, best loves ye.
Jul. His little speaking shows his love but small.
Luc. Fire that 's closest kept burns most of all. 30
Jul. They do not love that do not show their love.
LUG. O, they love least that let men know their love. ^
Jul. I would I knew his mind.
IMG. Peruse this paper, madam.
Jul. ' To Julia.3 Say, from whom ?
Luc. That the contents will show.
Jul. Say, say, who gave it thee ?
LUG. Sir Valentine's page ; and sent, I think, from Proteus.
He would have given it you ; but I, being in the way,
Did in your name receive it : pardon the fault, I pray. 40
Jul. Now, by my modesty, a goodly broker !
Dare you presume to harbour wanton lines ?
To whisper and conspire against my youth ?
Now, trust me, 'tis an office of great worth
And you an officer fit for the place.
There, take the paper : see it be return'd ;
Or else return no more into my sight.
Luc. To plead for love deserves more fee than hate.
Jul. Will ye be gone ?
Luc. That you may ruminate. [Exit.
Jul. And yet I would I had o'erlooked the letter : 50
It were a shame to call her back again
And pray her to a fault for which I chid her.
What a fool is she, that knows I am a maid,
And would not force the letter to my view !
Since maids, in modesty, say ' no ' to that
Which they would have the profferer construe ' ay.'
Fie, fie, how wayward is this foolish love
That, like a testy babe, will scratch the nurse
And presently all humbled kiss the rod !
sc. ii. i THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 9
How churlishly I chid Lucetta hence, 60
When willingly I would have had her here !
How angerly I taught my brow to frown,
When inward joy enforced my heart to smile !
My penance is to call Lucetta back
And ask remission for my folly past.
What ho! Lucetta!
Re-enter LUCETTA.
Luc. What would your ladyship ?
Jul. Is 't near dinner-time ?
Luc. I would it were,
That you might kill your stomach on your meat
And not upon your maid.
Jul. What is 't that you took up so gingerly ? 70
Luc. Nothing.
Jul. Why didst thou stoop, then ?
Luc. To take a paper up that I let fall.
Jul. And is that paper nothing ?
Luc. Nothing concerning me.
Jul. Then let it lie for those that it concerns,
Luc. Madam, it will not lie where it concerns,
Unless it have a false interpreter.
Jul. Some love of yours hath writ to you in rhyme.
Luc. That I might sing it, madam, to a tune. 80
Give me a note : your ladyship can set.
Jul. As little by such toys as may be possible.
Best sing it to the tune of ' Light o' love.'
Luc. It is too heavy for so light a tune.
Jul. Heavy ! belike it has some burden then ?
Luc. Ay, and melodious were it, would you sing it.
Jul. And why not you ?
Luc. I cannot reach so high.
Jul. Let's see your song. How now, minion !
Luc. Keep tune there still, so you will sing it out :
And yet methinks I do not like this tune. 90
10 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT I.
Jul. You do not ?
Luc. No, madam ; it is too sharp.
Jul. You, minion, are too saucy.
Luc. Nay, now you are too flat
And mar the concord with too harsh a descant :
There wanteth but a mean to fill your song.
Jul. The mean is drown'd with your unruly bass.
Luc. Indeed, I bid the base for Proteus.
Jul. This babble shall not henceforth trouble me.
Here is a coil with protestation ! [Tears the letter.
Go get you gone, and let the papers lie : 100
You would be fingering them, to anger me.
Luc. She makes it strange ; but she would be best pleased
To be so anger'd with another letter. [Exit.
Jul. Nay, would I were so anger'd with the same !
0 hateful hands, to tear such loving words !
Injurious wasps, to feed on such sweet honey
And kill the bees that yield it with your stings !
1 '11 kiss each several paper for amends.
Look, here is writ ' kind Julia.' Unkind Julia !
As in revenge of thy ingratitude, 110
I throw thy name against the bruising stones,
Trampling contemptuously on thy disdain.
And here is writ ' love-wounded Proteus.'
Poor wounded name ! my bosom as a bed
Shall lodge thee till thy wound be throughly heal'd ;
And thus I search it with a sovereign kiss.
But twice or thrice was * Proteus ' written down.
Be calm, good wind, blow not a word away
Till I have found each letter in the letter,
Except mine own name : that some whirlwind bear 120
Unto a ragged fearful-hanging rock
And throw it thence into the raging sea !
Lo, here in one line is his name twice writ,
* Poor forlorn Proteus, passionate Proteus,
To the sweet Julia : ' that I '11 tear away.
sc. ii.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 11
And yet I will not, sith so prettily
He couples it to his complaining names.
Thus will I fold them one upon another :
Now kiss, embrace, contend, do what you will.
Re-enter LUCETTA.
Luc. Madam, 130
Dinner is ready, and your father stays.
Jul. Well, let us go.
Luc. What, shall these papers lie like tell-tales here ?
Jul. If you respect them, best to take them up.
Luc. Nay, I was taken up for laying them down :
Yet here they shall not lie, for catching cold.
Jul. I see you have a month's mind to them.
Luc. Ay, madam, you may say what sights you see ;
I see things too, although you judge I wink. 139
Jul. Come, come ; will 't please you go ? [Exeunt.
SCENE III. The same. ANTONIO'S house.
Enter ANTONIO and PANTHINO.
Ant. Tell me, Panthino, what sad talk was that
Wherewith my brother held you in the cloister ?
Pan. 'Twas of his nephew Proteus, your son.
Ant. Why, what of him ?
Pan. He wonder'd that your lordship
Would suffer him to spend his youth at home,
While other men, of slender reputation,
Put forth their sons to seek preferment out :
Some to the wars, to try their fortune there ;
Some to discover islands far away ;
Some to the studious universities. 10
For any or for all these exercises
He said that Proteus your son was meet,
And did request me to importune you
To let him spend his time no more at home,
12 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT I.
Which would be great impeachment to his age,
In having known no travel in his youth.
Ant. Nor need'st thou much importune me to that
Whereon this month I have been hammering.
I have consider'd well his loss of time
And how he cannot be a perfect man, 20
Not being tried and tutor'd in the world :
Experience is by industry achieved
And perfected by the swift course of time.
Then tell me, whither were I best to send him ?
Pan. I think your lordship is not ignorant
How his companion, youthful Valentine,
Attends the emperor in his royal court.
Ant. I know it well.
Pan. 'Twere good, I think, your lordship sent him
thither :
There shall he practise tilts and tournaments, 30
Hear sweet discourse, converse with noblemen,
And be in eye of every exercise
Worthy his youth and nobleness of birth.
Ant. I like thy counsel ; well hast thou advised :
And that thou mayst perceive how well I like it
The execution of it shall make known.
Even with the speediest expedition
I will dispatch him to the emperor's court.
Pan. To-morrow, may it please you, Don Alphonso
With other gentlemen of good esteem 40
Are journeying to salute the emperor
And to commend their service to his will.
Ant. Good company ; with them shall Proteus go :
And, in good time ! now will we break with him.
Enter PROTEUS.
Pro. Sweet love ! sweet lines ! sweet life !
Here is her hand, the agent of her heart ;
Here is her oath for love, her honour's pawn.
sc. in.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 13
O, that our fathers would applaud our loves,
To seal our happiness Avith their consents !
0 heavenly Julia ! 50
Ant. How now ! what letter are you reading there ?
Pro. May 't please your lordship, 'tis a word or two
Of commendations sent from Valentine,
Deliver'd by a friend that came from him.
Ant. Lend me the letter ; let me see what news.
Pro. There is no news, my lord, but that he writes
How happily he lives, how well beloved
And daily graced by the emperor ;
Wishing me with him, partner of his fortune.
Ant. And how stand you affected to his wish ? 60
Pro. As one relying on your lordship's will
And not depending on his friendly wish.
Ant. My will is something sorted with his wish.
Muse not that I thus suddenly'proceed ;
For what I will, I will, and there an end.
1 am resolved that thou shalt spend some time
With Valentinus in the emperor's court :
What maintenance he from his friends receives,
Like exhibition thou shalt have from me.
To-morrow be in readiness to go : 70
Excuse it not, for I am peremptory.
Pro. My lord, I cannot be so soon provided :
Please you, deliberate a day or two.
Ant. Look, what thou want'st shall be sent after thee :
No more of stay ! to-morrow thou must go.
Come on, Panthino : you shall be employ'd
To hasten on his expedition. [Exeunt Ant. and Pan.
Pro. Thus have I shunn'd the fire for fear of burning,
And drench'd me in the sea, where I am drown'd.
I feared to show my father Julia's letter, 80
Lest he should take exceptions to my love ;
And with the vantage of mine own excuse
Hath he excepted most against my love.
14 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT i. sc. in.
O, how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day,
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,
And by and by a cloud takes all away !
Re-enter PANTHINO.
Pan. Sir Proteus, your father calls for you :
He is in haste ; therefore, I pray you go.
Pro. Why, this it is : my heart accords thereto, 90
And yet a thousand times it answers ' no.' [Exeunt.
ACT II.
SCENE I. Milan. The DUKE'S palace.
Enter VALENTINE and SPEED.
Speed. Sir, your glove.
Vol. Not mine ; my gloves are on.
Speed. Why, then, this may be yours, for this is but one.
Vol. Ha ! let me see : ay, give it me, it 's mine :
Sweet ornament that decks a thing divine !
Ah, Silvia, Silvia !
Speed. Madam Silvia ! Madam Silvia !
Vol. How now, sirrah ?
Speed. She is not within hearing, sir.
Vol. Why, sir, who bade you call her ?
Speed. Your worship, sir ; or else I mistook. 10
Val. Well, you '11 still be too forward.
Speed. And yet I was last chidden for being too slow.
Val. Go to, sir : tell me, do you know Madam Silvia ?
Speed. She that your worship loves ?
Val. Why, how know you that I am in love ?
Speed. Marry, by these special marks : first, you have
learned, like Sir Proteus, to wreathe your arms, like a male-
content ; to relish a love-song, like a robin-redbreast ; to
walk alone, like one that had the pestilence ; to sigh, like a
ACT. IT. sc. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 15
school-boy that had lost his A B C ; to weep, like a young
wench that had buried her grandam ; to fast, like one that
takes diet ; to watch, like one that fears robbing ; to speak
puling, like a beggar at Hallowmas. You were wont, when
you laughed, to crow like a cock ; when you walked, to walk
like one of the lions ; when you fasted, it was presently after
dinner ; when you looked sadly, it was for want of money :
and now you are metamorphosed with a mistress, that, when
I look on you, I can hardly think you my master.
VaL Are all these things perceived in me ?
Speed. They are all perceived without ye. 30
VaL Without me ? they cannot.
Speed. Without you ? nay, that 's certain, for, without you
were so simple, none else would : but you are so without
these follies, that these follies are within you and shine
through you, that not an eye that sees you but is a physician
to comment on your malady.
Val. But tell me, dost thou know my lady Silvia ?
Speed. She that you gaze on so as she sits at supper ?
Val. Hast thou observed that ? even she, I mean.
Speed. Why, sir, I know her not. 40
Val. Dost thou know her by my gazing on her, and yet
knowest her not ?
Speed. Is she not hard-favoured, sir ?
Val. Not so fair, boy, as well-favoured.
Speed. Sir, I know that well enough.
Val. What dost thou know ?
Speed. That she is not so fair as, of you, well favoured.
Val. I mean that her beauty is exquisite, but her favour
infinite.
Speed. That 's because the one is painted and the other out
of all count. 51
Val. How painted ? and how out of count ?
Speed. Marry, sir, so painted, to make her fair, that no
man counts of her beauty.
Val. How esteemest thou me ? I account of her beauty.
16 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
Speed. You never saw her since she was deformed.
Val. How long hath she been deformed ?
Speed. Ever since you loved her.
Val. I have loved her ever since I saw her ; and still I see
her beautiful. 60
Speed. If you love her, you cannot see her.
Val. Why ?
Speed. Because Love is blind. O, that you had mine
eyes ; or your own eyes had the lights they were wont to
hayejwjignjpou chid at Sir Proteus for going ungartered !
~~To£ What should I see then ?
Speed. Your own present folly and her passing deformity :
for he, being in love, could not see to garter his hose, and
you, being in love, cannot see to put on your hose.
Val. Belike, boy, then, you are in love ; for last morning
you could not see to wipe my shoes. 71
Speed. True, sir ; I was in love with my bed : I thank
you, you swinged me for my love, which makes me the
bolder to chide you for yours.
Val. In conclusion, I stand affected to her.
I would you were set, so your affection would
Val. Last night she enjoined me to write some lines to
one she loves.
Speed. And have you ? 80
Val. I have.
Speed. Are they not lamely writ ?
Val. No, boy, but as well as I can do them. Peace ! here
she comes.
Speed. [Aside"] O excellent motion ! O exceeding puppet !
Now will he interpret to her.
Enter SILVIA.
Val. Madam and mistress, a thousand good-morrows.
Speed. [Aside] O, give ye good even ! here 's a million of
manners.
sc. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 17
Sil. Sir Valentine and servant, to you two thousand. 90
Speed. [Aside] He should give her interest, and she gives
it him.
Vol. As you enjoin'd me, I have writ your letter
Unto the secret nameless friend of yours ;
Which I was much unwilling to proceed in
But for my duty to your ladyship.
Sil. I thank you, gentle servant : 'tis very clerkly done.
Val. Now trust me, madam, it came hardly off ;
For being ignorant to whom it goes
I writ at random, very doubtfully. 100
Sil. Perchance you think too much of so much pains ?
Val. No, madam ; so it stead you, I will write.
Please you command, a thousand times as much ;
And yet —
Sil. A pretty period ! Well, I guess the sequel ;
And yet I will not name it ; and yet 1 care not ;
And yet take this again ; and yet I thank you,
Meaning henceforth to trouble you no more.
Speed. [Aside] And yet you will ; and yet another ' yet.'
Val. What means your ladyship ? do you not like it ? 110
Sil. Yes, yes : the lines are very quaintly writ ;
But since unwillingly, take them again.
Nay, take them.
Val. Madam, they are for you.
Sil. Ay, ay : you writ them, sir, at my request ;
But I will none of them ; they are for you ;
I would have had them writ more movingly.
Val. Please you, I '11 write your ladyship another.
Sil. And when it 's writ, for my sake read it over,
And if it please you, so ; if not, why, so. 120
Val. If it please me, madam, what then ?
Sil. Why, if it please you, take it for your labour :
And so, good morrow, servant. [Exit.
Speed. O jest unseen, inscrutable, invisible,
As a nose on a man's face, or a weathercock on a steeple }
B
18 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
My master sues to her, and she hath taught her suitor,
He being her pupil, to become her tutor.
O excellent device ! was there ever heard a better,
That my master, being scribe, to himself should write the
letter ?
Vol. How now, sir? what are you reasoning with yourself?
Speed. Nay, I was rhyming : 'tis you that have the reason.
Vol. To do what? 132
Speed. To be a spokesman from Madam Silvia.
Vol. To whom ?
Speed. To yourself : why, she wooes you by a figure.
Vol. What figure ?
Speed. By a letter, I should say.
Vol. Why, she hath not writ to me ?
Speed. What need she, when she hath made you write to
yourself ? Why, do you not perceive the jest ? 140
Vol. No, believe me.
Speed. No believing you, indeed, sir. But did you
perceive her earnest?
Vol. She gave me none, except an angry word.
Speed. Why, she hath given you a letter.
Val. That Js the letter I writ to her friend.
Speed. And that letter hath she delivered, and there an end.
Val. I would it were no worse.
Speed. I '11 warrant you, 'tis as well :
For often have you writ to her, and she, in modesty, 150
Or else for want of idle time, could not again reply ;
Or fearing else some messenger that might her mind discover,
Herself hath taught her love himself to write unto her lover.
All this I speak in print, for in print I found it.
Why muse you, sir ? 'tis dinner-time.
Val. I have dined.
Speed. Ay, but hearken, sir ; though the chameleon Love
can feed on the air, I am one that am nourished by my
victuals and would fain have meat. O, be not like your
mistress ; be moved, be moved, [Exeunt,
sc. IL] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 19
SCENE II. Verona. JULIA'S house.
Enter PROTEUS and JULIA.
Pro. Have patience, gentle Julia.
Jul. I must, where is no remedy.
Pro. When possibly I can, I will return.
Jul. If you turn not, you will return the sooner.
Keep this remembrance for thy Julia's sake.
[Giving a ring.
Pro. Why, then, we '11 make exchange ; here, take you this.
Jul. And seal the bargain with a holy kiss.
Pro. Here is my hand for my true constancy ;
And when that hour o'erslips me in the day
Wherein I sigh not, Julia, for thy sake, 10
The next ensuing hour some foul mischance
Torment me for my love's forgetfulness !
My father stays my coming ; answer not ;
The tide is now : nay, not thy tide of tears ;
That tide will stay me longer than I should.
Julia, farewell ! \Exit Julia.
What, gone without a word ?
Ay, so true love should do : it cannot speak :
For truth hath better deeds than words to grace it.
Enter PANTHINO.
Pan. Sir Proteus, you are stay'd for.
Pro. Go ; I come, I come. 20
Alas ! this parting strikes poor lovers dumb. {Exeunt.
SCENE III. The same. A street.
Enter LAUNCE, leading a dog.
Launce. Nay, 'twill be this hour ere I have done weeping ;
all the kind of the Launces have this very fault. I have
received my proportion, like the prodigious son, and am
going with Sir Proteus to the Imperial's court. I think
Crab my dog be the sourest-natured dog that lives : my
20 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
mother weeping, my father wailing, my sister crying, our
maid howling, our cat wringing her hands, and all our house
in a great perplexity, yet did not this cruel-hearted cur shed
one tear : he is a stone, a very pebble stone, and has no
more pity in him than a dog : a Jew would have wept to
have seen our parting ; why, my grandam, having no eyes,
look you, wept herself blind at my parting. Nay, I '11 show
you the manner of it. This shoe is my father : no, this left
shoe is my father : no, no, this left shoe is my mother : nay,
that cannot be so neither : yes, it is so, it is so, it hath the
worser sole. This shoe, with the hole in it, is my mother,
and this my father ; a vengeance on 't ! there 'tis : now, sir,
this staff is my sister, for, look you, she is as white as a lily
and as small as a wand : this hat is Nan, our maid : I am
the dog : no, the dog is himself, and I am the dog — Oh ! the
dog is me, and I am myself ; ay, so, so. Now come I to my
father ; Father, your blessing : now should not the shoe
speak a word for weeping : now should I kiss my father ;
well, he weeps on. Now come I to my mother : O, that she
could speak now like a wood woman ! Well, I kiss her ;
why, there 'tis ; here 's my mother's breath up and down.
Now come I to my sister ; mark the moan she makes. Now
the dog all this while sheds not a tear nor speaks a word ;
but see how I lay the dust with my tears. 29
Enter PANTHINO.
Pan. Launce, away, away, aboard ! thy master is shipped
and thou art to post after with oars. What 's the matter ?
why weepest thou, man ? Away, ass ! you '11 lose the tide,
if you tarry any longer.
Launce. It is no matter if the tied were lost ; for it is the
unkindest tied that ever any man tied.
Pan. What 's the unkindest tide ?
Launce. Why, he that 's tied here, Crab, my dog.
Pan. Tut, man, I mean thou 'It lose the flood, and, in losing
the flood, lose thy voyage, and, in losing thy voyage, lose
sc. in.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 21
thy master, and, in losing thy master, lose thy service, and,
in losing thy service, — Why dost thou stop my mouth ? 41
Launce. For fear thou shouldst lose thy tongue.
Pan. Where should I lose my tongue ?
Launce. In thy tale.
Pan. In thy tail !
Launce. Lose the tide, and the voyage, and the master, and
the service, and the tied ! Why, man, if the river were dry,
I am_able to fill it with my tears ; if the wind were down, I
could drive the boat with my sighs.
Pan. Come, come away, man ; I was sent to call thee. 50
Launce. Sir, call me what thou darest.
Pan. Wilt thou go ?
Launce. Well, I will go. [Exeunt.
SCENE IV. Milan. The DUKE'S palace.
Enter SILVIA, VALENTINE, THURIO, and SPEED.
Sil. Servant!
Val. Mistress?
Speed. Master, Sir Thurio frowns on you.
Val. Ay, boy, it 's for love.
Speed. Not of you.
Val. Of my mistress, then.
Speed. 'Twere good you knocked him. [Exit.
Sil. Servant, you are sad.
Val. Indeed, madam, I seem so.
Thu. Seem you that you are not ? 10
Val. Haply I do.
Thu. So do counterfeits.
Val. So do you.
Thu. What seem I that I am not ?
Val. Wise.
Thu. What instance of the contrary ?
Val. Your folly.
Thu. And how quote you my folly ?
Val. I quote it in your jerkin.
22 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
Thu. My jerkin is a doublet. 20
Val. Well, then I '11 double your folly.
Thu. How?
Sil. What, angry, Sir Thurio ! do you change colour ?
Val. Give him leave, madam ; he is a kind of chameleon.
Thu. That hath more mind to feed on your blood than live
in your air.
Val. You have said, sir.
Thu. Ay, sir, and done too. for this time.
Val. I know it well, sir ; you always end ere you begin.
Sil. A fine volley of words, gentlemen, and quickly shot off.
Vol. 'Tis indeed, madam ; we thank the giver. 31
Sil. Who is that, servant ?
Val. Yourself, sweet lady ; for you gave the fire. Sir
Thurio borrows his wit from your ladyship's looks, and
spends what he borrows kindly in your company.
Thu. Sir, if you spend word for word with me, I shall
make your wit bankrupt.
Veil. I know it well, sir ; you have an exchequer of words,
and, I think, no other treasure to give your followers, for it
appears, by their bare liveries, that they live by your bare
words. 41
Sil. No more, gentlemen, no more : here comes my father.
Enter DUKE.
Luke. Now, daughter Silvia, you are hard beset.
Sir Valentine, your father 's in good health :
What say you to a letter from your friends
Of much good news ?
Vol. My lord, I will be thankful
To any happy messenger from thence.
Duke. Know ye Don Antonio, your countryman ?
Val. Ay, my good lord, I know the gentleman
To be of worth and worthy estimation 50
And not without desert so well reputed.
Duke. Hath he not a son ?
SO. iv.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 23
Val. Ay, my good lord ; a son that well deserves
The honour and regard of such a father.
Duke. You know him well ?
Val. I know him as myself ; for from our infancy
We have conversed and spent our hours together :
And though myself have been an idle truant,
Omitting the sweet benefit of time
To clothe mine age with angel-like perfection, 60
Yet hath Sir Proteus, for that 's his name,
Made use and fair advantage of his days ;
His years but young, but his experience old ;
His head unmellow'd, but his judgment ripe ;
And, in a word, for far behind his worth
Comes all the praises that I now bestow,
He is complete in feature and in mind
With all good grace to grace a gentleman.
Duke. Beshrew me, sir, but if he make this good,
He is as worthy for an empress' love 70
As meet to be an emperor's counsellor.
Well, sir, this gentleman is come to me,
With commendation from great potentates ;
And here he means to spend his time awhile :
I think 'tis no unwelcome news to you.
Val. Should I have wish'd a thing, it had been he.
Duke. Welcome him then according to his worth.
Silvia, I speak to you, and you, Sir Thurio ;
For Valentine, I need not cite him to it :
I will send him hither to you presently. [Exit.
Val. This is the gentleman I told your ladyship 81
Had come along with me, but that his mistress
Did hold his eyes lock'd in her crystal looks.
Sil. Belike that now she hath enfranchised them
Upon some other pawn for fealty.
Val. Nay, sure, I think she holds them prisoners still.
Sil. Nay, then he should be blind ; and, being blind,
How could he see his way to seek out you ?
24 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT li.
Vol. Why, lady, Love hath twenty pair of eyes.
Thu. They say that Love hath not an eye at all. 90
Vql. To see such lovers, Thurio, as yourself :
Upon a homely object Love can wink.
Sil. Have done, have done ; here comes the gentleman.
Enter PROTEUS. [Exit THURIO.
Vol. Welcome, dear Proteus ! Mistress, I beseech you,
Confirm his welcome with some special favour.
Sil. His worth is warrant for his welcome hither,
If this be he you oft have wish'd to hear from.
Vol. Mistress, it is : sweet lady, entertain him
To be my fellow-servant to your ladyship.
Sil. Too low a mistress for so high a servant. 100
Pro. Not so, sweet lady : but too mean a servant
To have a look of such a worthy mistress.
Vol. Leave off discourse of disability :
Sweet lady, entertain him for your servant.
Pro. My duty will I boast of ; nothing else.
SU. And duty never yet did want his meed :
Servant, you are welcome to a worthless mistress.
Pro. I '11 die on him that says so but yourself.
Sil. That you are welcome ?
Pro. That you are worthless.
Re-enter THURIO.
Thu. Madam, my lord your father would speak with you.
Sil. I wait upon his pleasure. Come, Sir Thurio, 111
Go with me. Once more, new servant, welcome :
I '11 leave you to confer of home affairs ;
When you have done, we look to hear from you.
Pro. We '11 both attend upon your ladyship.
[Exeunt Silvia and Thurio.
Vol. Now, tell me, how do all from whence you came ?
Pro. Your friends are well and have them much commended.
Val. And how do yours ?
so. iv. j THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 25
Pro. I left them all in health.
Vol. How does your lady ? and how thrives your love ?
Pro. My tales of love were wont to weary you ; 120
I know you joy no4; in a love- discourse.
Vol. Ay, Proteus, but that life is alter'd now :
I have done penance for contemning Love,
Whose high imperious thoughts have punish'd me
With bitter fasts, with penitential groans,
With nightly tears and daily heart-sore sighs ;
For in revenge of my contempt of love,
Love hath chased sleep from my enthralled eyes
And made them watchers of mine own heart's sorrow.
O gentle Proteus, Love 's a mighty lord 130
And hath so humbled me as I confess
There is no woe to his correction
Nor to his service no such joy on earth.
Now no discourse, except it be of love ;
Now can I break my fast, dine, sup and sleep,
Upon the very naked name of love.
Pro. Enough ; I read your fortune in your eye.
Was this the idol that you worship so ?
Vol. Even she ; and is she not a heavenly saint ?
Pro. No ; but she is an earthly paragon. 140
Vol. Call her divine.
Pro. I will not flatter her.
Veil. O, flatter me ; for love delights in praises.
Pro. When I was sick, you gave me bitter pills,
And I must minister the like to you.
Vol. Then speak the truth by her ; if not divine,
Yet let her be a principality,
Sovereign to all the creatures on the earth.
Pro. Except my mistress.
Vol. Sweet, except not any ;
Except thou wilt except against my love.
Pro. Have I not reason to prefer mine own ? 150
Vol. And I will help thee to prefer her too :
26 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
She shall be dignified with this high honour —
To bear my lady's train, lest the base earth
Should from her vesture chance to steal a kiss
And, of so great a favour growing proud,
Disdain to root the summer-swelling flower
And make rough winter everlastingly.
Pro. Why, Valentine, what braggardism is this ?
Vol. Pardon me, Proteus : all I can is nothing
To her whose worth makes other worthies nothing ; 160
She is alone.
Pro. Then let her alone.
Val. Not for the world : why, man, she is mine own,
And I as rich in having such a jewel
As twenty seas, if all their sand were pearl,
The water nectar and the rocks pure gold.
Forgive me that I do not dream on thee,
Because thou see'st me dote upon my love.
My foolish rival, that her father likes
Only for his possessions are so huge,
Is gone with her along, and I must after, 170
For love, thou know'st, is full of jealousy.
Pro. But she loves you ?
Val. Ay, and we are betroth'd : nay, more, our marriage-
hour,
With all the cunning manner of our flight,
Determined of ; how I must climb her window,
The ladder made of cords, and all the means
Plotted and 'greed on for my happiness.
Good Proteus, go with me to my chamber,
In these affairs to aid me with thy counsel.
Pro. Go on before ; I shall inquire you forth : 180
I must unto the road, to disembark
Some necessaries that I needs must use,
And then I '11 presently attend you.
Val. Will you make haste ?
Pro, I will. [Exit Valentine.
SC.iv.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
27
Even as one heat another heat expels,
Or as one nail by strength drives out another,
So the remembrance of my former love
Is by a newer object quite forgotten.
Is it mine, or Valentine's praise,
Her true perfection, or my false transgression,
That makes me reasonless to reason thus ?
She isjajr ; ?r»d «n is Julia, that I love-
That I did love, for now,
lich, lilcft a^waygn image 'gainst
irs~rroTmpression of jhe_
links my zeal to Valentine is cold,
And that I love him not as I was wont.
O, but I love his lady too too much,
And that 's the reason I love him so little.
How shall I dote on her with more advice,
That thus without advice begin to love her !
'Tis but her picture I have yet beheld, \
And that hath dazzled my reason's light ; /
But when I look on her perfections,
There is no reason but I shall be blind.
If I can check my erring love, I will ;
If not, to compass her I '11 use my skill.
190
200
[Exit.
SCENE V. The same. A street.
Enter SPEED and LAUNCE severally.
Speed. Launce ! by mine honesty, welcome to Milan !
Launce. Forswear not thyself, sweet youth, for I am not
welcome. I reckon this always, that a man is never undone
till he be hanged, nor never welcome to a place till some
certain shot be paid and the hostess say * Welcome ! '
Speed. Come on, you madcap, I '11 to the alehouse with you
presently ; where, for one shot of five pence, thou shalt have
five thousand welcomes. But, sirrah, how did thy master
part with Madam Julia ?
28 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
Launce. Marry, after they closed in earnest, they parted
very fairly in jest. 11
Speed. But shall she marry him ?
Launce. No.
Speed. How then ? shall he marry her ?
Launce. No, neither.
Speed. What, are they broken ?
Launce. No, they are both as whole as a fish.
Speed. Why, then, how stands the matter with them ?
Launce. Marry, thus ; when it stands well with him, it
stands well with her. 20
Speed. What an ass art thou ! I understand thee not.
Launce. What a block art thou, that thou canst not ! My
staff understands me.
Speed. WTiat thou sayest ?
Launce. Ay, and what I do too : look thee, I '11 but lean,
and my staff understands me.
Speed. It stands under thee, indeed.
Launce. Why, stand-under and under-stand is all one.
Speed. But tell me true, will 't be a match ?
Launce. Ask my dog : if he say ay, it will ; if he say, no,
it will ; if he shake his tail and say nothing, it will. 31
Speed. The conclusion is then that it will.
Launce. Thou shalt never get such a secret from me but
by a parable.
Speed. 'Tis well that I get it so. But, Launce, how sayest
thou, that my master is become a notable lover ?
Launce. I never knew him otherwise.
Speed. Than how?
Launce. A notable lubber, as thou reportest him to be.
Speed. Why, thou ass, thou mistakest me. 40
Launce. Why, fool, I meant not thee ; I meant thy
master.
Speed. I tell thee, my master is become a hot lover.
Launce. Why, I tell thee, I care not though he burn him
self in love. If thou wilt, go with me to the alehouse ; if
sc. v.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 29
not, thou art an Hebrew, a Jew, and not worth the name
of a Christian.
Speed. Why?
Launce. Because thou hast not so much charity in thee as
to go to the ale with a Christian. Wilt thou go ? 50
Speed. At thy service. [Exeunt.
SCENE VI. The same. The DUKE'S palace.
Enter PROTEUS.
Pro. To leave my Julia, shall I be forsworn ;
To love fair Silvia, shall I be forsworn ;
To wrong my friend, I shall be much forsworn ;
And even that power which gave me first my oath
Provokes me to this threefold perjury ;
Love bade me swear and Love bids me forswear.
0 sweet-suggesting Love, if thou hast sinn'd,
Teach me, thy tempted subject, to excuse it !
At first I did adore a twinkling star, V
But now I worship a celestial sun. Jf 10
Unheedful vows may needfully be broken,
And he wants wit that wants resolved will
To learn his wit to exchange the bad for better.
Fie, fie, un reverend tongue ! to call her bad,
Whose sovereignty so oft thou hast preferr'd
With twenty thousand soul-confirming oaths.
1 cannot leave to love, and yet I do ;
But there I leave to love where I should love.
Julia I lose and Valentine I lose :
If I keep them, I needs must lose myself ; 20
If I lose them, thus find I by their loss
For Valentine myself, for Julia Silvia.
I to myself am dearer than a friend,
For love is still most precious in itself ;
And Silvia — witness Heaven, that made her fair ! —
Shows Julia but a swarthy Ethiope.
30 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
I will forget that Julia is alive,
Remembering that my love to her is dead ;
And Valentine I '11 hold an enemy,
Aiming at Silvia as a sweeter friend. 30
I cannot now prove constant to myself,
Without some treachery used to Valentine.
This night he meaneth with a corded ladder
To climbgelestial Silvia's chamber-window,
Myself in counsel, his competitor.
Now presently I '11 give her father notice
Of their disguising and pretended flight ;
Who, all enraged, will banish Valentine ;
For Thuric, he intends, shall wed his daughter ;
But, Valentine being gone, I '11 quickly cross 40
By some sly trick blunt Thurio's dull proceeding.
Love, lend me wings to make my purpose swift,
As thou hast lent me wit to plot this drift ! \Exit.
SCENE VII. Verona. JULIA'S house.
Enter JULIA and LUCETTA.
Jul. Counsel, Lucetta ; gentle girl, assist me ;
And even in kind love I do conjure thee,
Who art the table wherein all my thoughts
Are visibly character'd and engraved,
To lesson me and tell me some good mean
How, with my honour, I may undertake
A journey to my loving Proteus.
Luc. Alas, the way is wearisome and long !
Jul. A true-devoted pilgrim is not weary
To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps ; 10
Much less shall she that hath Love's wings to fly,
And when the flight is made to one so dear,
Of such divine perfection, as Sir Proteus.
Luc, Better forbear till Proteus make return.
so. vii.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 31
Jul. O, know'st thou not his looks are my soul's food ?
Pity the dearth that I have pined in,
By longing for that food so long a time.
Didst thou but know the inly touch of love,
Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow
As seek to quench the fire of love with words. 20
Luc. I do not seek to quench your love's hot fire,
But qualify the fire's extreme rage,
Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason.
Jul. The more thou damm'st it up, the more it burns.
The current that with gentle murmur glides,
Thou know'st, being stopp'd, impatiently doth rage ;
But when his fair course is not hindered,
He makes sweet music with the enamell'd stones,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
He overtaketh in his pilgrimage, 30
And so by many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport to the wild ocean.
Then let me go and hinder not my course :
I '11 be as patient as a gentle stream
And make a pastime of each weary step,
Till the last step have brought me to my love ;
And there I '11 rest, as after much turmoil
A blessed soul doth in Elysium.
Luc. But in what habit will you go along ?
Jul. Gentle Lucetta, fit me with such weeds 40
As may beseem some well-reputed page.
Luc. Why, then, your ladyship must cut your hair.
Jul. No, girl ; I '11 knit it up in silken strings
With twenty odd-conceited true-love knots.
To be fantastic may become a youth
Of greater time than I shall show to be.
Luc. What fashion, madam, shall I make your breeches ?
Jul. That fits as well as ' Tell me, good my lord,
What compass will you wear your farthingale ? '
Why even what fashion thou best likest, Lucetta. 50
32 TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n. sc. vii.
Lucetta, as thou lovest me, let me have
What thou thinkest meet and is most mannerly.
But tell me, wench, how will the world repute me
For undertaking so unstaid a journey ?
I fear me, it will make me scandalized.
Luc. If you think so, then stay at home and go not.
Jul. Nay, that I will not.
Luc. Then never dream on infamy, but go.
If Proteus like your journey when you come,
No matter who 's displeased when you are gone : 60
I fear me, he will scarce be pleased withal.
Jul. That is the least, Lucetta, of my fear :
A. thousand oaths, an ocean of his tears
And instances of infinite of love
Warrant me welcome to my Proteus.
Luc. All these are servants to deceitful men.
Jul. Base men, that use them to so base effect !
But truer stars did govern Proteus' birth ;
His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles,
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate, 70
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart,
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth.
Luc. Pray heaven he prove so, when you come to him !
Jul. Now, as thou lovest me, do him not that wrong
To bear a hard opinion of his truth :
Only deserve my love by loving him ;
And presently go with me to my chamber,
To take a note of what I stand in need of
To furnish me upon my longing journey.
All that is mine I leave at thy dispose, 80
My goods, my lands, my reputation ;
Only, in lieu thereof, dispatch me hence.
Come, answer not, but to it presently !
I am impatient of my tarriance, [Exeunt.
ACT in. sc. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 33
ACT III.
SCENE I. Milan. The DUKE'S palace.
Enter DUKE, THURIO, and PROTEUS.
Duke. Sir Thurio, give us leave, I pray, awhile ;
We have some secrets to confer about. [Exit Thu.
Now, tell me, Proteus, what 's your will with me ?
Pro. My gracious lord, that which I would discover
The law of friendship bids me to conceal ;
But when I call to mind your gracious favours
Done to me, undeserving as I am,
My duty pricks me on to utter that
Which else no worldly good should draw from me.
Know, worthy prince, Sir Valentine, my friend, 10
This night intends to steal away your daughter :
Myself am one made privy to the plot.
I know you have determined to bestow her
On Thurio, whom your gentle daughter hates ;
And should she thus be stol'n away from you,
It would be much vexation to your age.
Thus, for my duty's sake, I rather chose
To cross my friend in his intended drift
Than, by concealing it, heap on your head
A pack of sorrows which would press you down 20
Being unprevented, to your timeless grave.
Duke. Proteus, I thank thee for thine honest care ;
Which to requite, command me while I live.
This love of theirs myself have often seen,
Haply when they have judged me fast asleep,
And oftentimes have purposed to forbid
Sir Valentine her company and my court :
But fearing lest my jealous aim might err
And so unworthily disgrace the man,
A rashness that I ever yet have shunn'd, 30
I gave him gentle looks, thereby to find
c
34 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTIII.
That which thyself hast now disclosed to me.
And, that thou mayst perceive my fear of this,
Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested,
I nightly lodge her in an upper tower,
The key whereof myself have ever kept ;
And thence she cannot be convey'd awa}^.
Pro. Know, noble lord, they have devised a mean
How he her chamber-window will ascend
And with a corded ladder fetch her down ; 40
For which the youthful lover now is gone
And this way comes he with it presently ;
Where, if it please you, you may intercept him.
But, good my Lord, do it so cunningly
That my discovery be not aimed at ;
For love of you, not hate unto my friend,
Hath made me publisher of this pretence.
Duke. Upon mine honour, he shall never know
That I had any light from thee of this. 49
Pro. Adieu, my Lord ; Sir Valentine is coming. [Exit.
Enter VALENTINE.
Duke. Sir Valentine, whither away so fast ?
Vol. Please it your grace, there is a messenger
That stays to bear my letters to my friends,
And I am going to deliver them.
Duke. Be they of much import ?
Vol. The tenour of them doth but signify
My health and happy being at your court.
Duke. Nay then, no matter ; stay with me awhile ;
I am to break with thee of some affairs
That touch me near, wherein thou must be secret. 60
JTis not unknown to thee that I have sought
To match my friend Sir Thurio to my daughter.
Vol. I know it well, my Lord ; and, sure, the match
Were rich and honourable ; besides, the gentleman
Is full of virtue, bounty, worth and qualities
sc. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 35
Beseeming such a wife as your fair daughter :
Cannot your grace win her to fancy him ?
Duke. No, trust me ; she is peevish, sullen, froward,
Proud, disobedient, stubborn, lacking duty,
Neither regarding that she is my child 70
Nor fearing me as if I were her father ;
And, may I say to thee, this pride of hers,
Upon advice, hath drawn my love from her ;
And, where I thought the remnant of mine age
Should have been cherish'd by her child-like duty,
I how am full resolved to take a wife
And turn her out to who will take her in :
Then let her beauty be her wedding-dower ;
For me and my possessions she esteems not.
Vol. What would your grace have me to do in this ? 80
Duke. There is a lady in Verona here
Whom I affect ; but she is nice and coy
And nought esteems my aged eloquence :
Now therefore would I have thee to my tutor —
For long agone I have forgot to court ;
Besides, the fashion of the time is changed —
How and which way I may bestow myself
To be regarded in her sun-bright eye.
Vol. Win her with gifts, if she respect not words :
Dumb jewels often in their silent kind 90
More than quick words do move a woman's mind.
Duke. But she did scorn a present that I sent her.
Vol. A woman sometimes scorns what best contents her.
Send her another ; never give her o'er ;
For scorn at first makes after-love the more.
If she do frown, 'tis not in hate of you,
But rather to beget more love in you :
If she do chide, 'tis not to have you gone ;
For why, the fools are mad, if left alone.
Take no repulse, whatever she doth say ; 100
For ' get you gone,' she doth not mean ' away ! '
36 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT in.
Flatter and praise, commend, extol their graces ;
Though ne'er so black, say they have angels' faces.
That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man,
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman.
Duke. But she I mean is promised by her friends
Unto a youthful gentleman of worth,
And kept severely from resort of men,
That no man hath access by day to her.
Veil. Why, then, I would resort to her by night. 110
Duke. Ay, but the doors be lock'd and keys kept safe,
That no man hath recourse to her by night.
Val. What lets but one may enter at her window ?
Duke. Her chamber is aloft, far from the ground,
And built so shelving that one cannot climb it
Without apparent hazard of his life.
Val. Why then, a ladder quaintly made of cords,
To cast up, with a pair of anchoring hooks,
Would serve to scale another Hero's tower,
So bold Leander would adventure it. 1 20
Duke. Now, as thou art a gentleman of blood,
Advise me where I may have such a ladder.
Val. When would you use it ? pray, sir, tell me that.
Duke. This very night ; for Love is like a child,
That longs for every thing that he can come by.
Val. By seven o'clock I '11 get you such a ladder.
Duke. But, hark thee ; I will go to her alone :
How shall I best convey the ladder thither ?
Val. It will be light, my lord, that you may bear it
Under a cloak that is of any length. 130
Duke. A cloak as long as thine will serve the turn ?
Val. Ay, my good lord.
Duke. Then let me see thy cloak :
I '11 get me one of such another length.
Val. Why, any cloak will serve the turn, my lord.
Duke. How shall I fashion me to wear a cloak ?
I pray thee, let me feel thy cloak upon me.
sc. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 37
What letter is this same ? What 's here ? * To Silvia ' !
And here an engine fit for my proceeding.
I'll be so bold to break the seal for once. [Reads.
'My thoughts do harbour with my Silvia nightly, 140
And slaves they are to me that send them flying :
O, could their master come and go as lightly,
Himself would lodge where senseless they are lying !
My herald thoughts in thy pure bosom rest them ;
While I, their king, that hither them importune,
Do curse the grace that with such grace hath bless'd them,
Because myself do want my servants' fortune :
I curse myself, for they are sent by me,
That they should harbour where their lord would be.'
What's here? 150
' Silvia, this night I will enfranchise thee.'
'Tis so ; and here 's the ladder for the purpose.
Why, Phaethon, — for thou art Merops' son, —
Wilt thou aspire to guide_tlieJieavenly car
And with thy daring_folly_Imrn tho worid ?
Wilt thou reach stars, because they shine on thee ?
t5o, base intruder ! overweening slave !
Bestow thy fawning smiles on equal mates,
And think my patience, more than thy desert,
Is privilege for thy departure hence : 160
Thank me for this more than for all the favours
Which all too much I have bestow'd on thee.
But if thou linger in my territories
Longer than swiftest expedition
Will give thee time to leave our royal court,
By heaven ! my wrath shall far exceed the love
I ever bore my daughter or thyself.
Be gone ! I will not hear thy vain excuse ;
But, as thou lovest thy life, make speed from hence. \Exit.
Val. And why not death rather than living torment ? 170
To die is to be banish'd from myself ;
And Silvia is myself : banish'd from her
38 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTIII.
Is self from self : a deadly banishment !
What light is light, if Silvia be not seen ? {/
What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by ? \X
Unless it be to think that she is by
And feed upon the shadow of perfection.
Except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale ;
in the day^ . 180
There is no day for me to look upon j
She is my essence, and I leave to be,
If I be not by her fair influence
Foster'd, illumined, cherish'd, kept alive.
I fly not death, to fly his deadly doom :
Tarry I here, I but attend on death :
But, fly I hence, I fly away from life.
Enter PROTEUS and LAUNCE.
Pro. Run, boy, run, run, and seek him out.
Launce. Soho, soho !
Pro. What seest thou ? 190
Launce. Him we go to find : there 's not a hair on 's head
but 'tis a Valentine.
Pro. Valentine ?
Vol. No.
Pro. Who then ? his spirit 1
Vol. Neither.
Pro. What then ?
Vol. Nothing.
Launce. Can nothing speak ? Master, shall I strike ?
Pro. Who wouldst thou strike ? 200
Launce. Nothing.
Pro. Villain, forbear.
Launce. Why, sir, I '11 strike nothing : I pray you, —
Pro. Sirrah, I say, forbear. Friend Valentine, a word.
Val. My ears are stopt and cannot hear good news,
So much of bad already hath possess'd them.
SC. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 39
Pro. Then in dumb silence will I bury mine,
For they are harsh, untuneable and bad.
Val Is Silvia dead ?
Pro. No, Valentine. 210
Val. No Valentine, indeed, for sacred Silvia.
Hath she forsworn me ?
Pro. No, Valentine.
Val. No Valentine, if Silvia have forsworn me.
What is your news ?
Launce. Sir, there is a proclamation that you are vanished.
Pro. That thou art banished — O, that 's the news ! —
TTrom hence, from Silvia and from me thy friend.
Val. O, I have fed upon this woe already,
And now excess of it will make me surfeit. 220
Doth Silvia know that I am banished ?
Pro. Ay, ay ; and she hath offer'd to the doom —
Which, unreversed, stands in effectual force —
A sea of melting pearl, which some call tears :
Tliose at her father's churlish feet she tender'd ;
With them, upon her knees, her humble self ;
Wringing her hands, whose whiteness so became them
As if but now they waxed pale for woe :
But neither bended knees, pure hands held up,
Sad sighs, deep groans, nor silver-shedding tears, 230
Could penetrate her uncompassionate sire ;
But Valentine, if he be ta'en, must die.
Besides, her intercession chafed him so,
When she for thy repeal was suppliant,
That to close prison he commanded her,
With many bitter threats of biding there.
Val. No more ; unless the next word that thou speak'st
Have some malignant power upon my life :
If so, I pray thee, breathe it in mine ear,
As ending anthem of my endless dolour. 240
Pro. Cease to lament for that thou canst not help,
And study help for that which thou lament'st.
40 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT nl.
Time is the nurse and breeder of all good.
Here if thou stay, thou canst not see thy love ;
Besides, thy staying will abridge thy life.
Hope is a lover's staff ; walk hence with that
And manage it against despairing thoughts.
Thy letters may be here, though thou art hence ;
Which, being writ to me, shall be deliver'd
Even in the milk-white bosom of thy love. 250
The time now serves not to expostulate :
Come, I '11 convey thee through the city -gate ;
And, ere I part with thee, confer at large
Of all that may concern thy love-affairs.
As thou lovest Silvia, though not for thyself,
Regard thy danger, and along with nie !
Val. I pray thee, Launce, an if thou seest my boy,
Bid him make haste and meet me at the North-gate.
Pro. Go, sirrah, find him out. Come, Valentine.
Vol. O my dear Silvia ! Hapless Valentine ! 260
[Exeunt Val. and Pro.
Launce. I am but a fool, look you ; and yet I have the wit
to think my master is a kind of a knave : but that Js all one,
if he be but one knave. He lives not now that knows me to
be in love ; yet I am in love ; but a team of horse shall not
pluck that from me ; nor who 'tis I love ; and yet 'tis a
woman ; but what woman, I will not tell myself ; and yet
'tis a milkmaid. She hath more qualities than a water-
spaniel ; which is much in a bare Christian. [Pulling out
a paper .] Here is the cate-log of her condition. ' Imprimis :
She can fetch and carry.' Why, a horse can do no more :
nay, a horse cannot fetch, but only carry ; therefore is she
better than a jade. ' Item : She can milk ; ' look you, a
sweet virtue in a maid with clean hands. 273
Enter SPEED.
Speed. How now, Signior Launce ! what news with your
mastership ?
so. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 41
Launce. With my master's ship ? why, it is at sea.
Speed. Well, your old vice still; mistake the word. What
news, then, in your paper ?
Launce. The blackest news that ever thou heardest.
Speed. Why, man, how black ? 280
Launce. Why, as black as ink.
Speed. Let me read them.
Launce. Fie on thee, jolt-head ! thou canst not read.
Speed. Thou liest ; I can.
Launce. I will try thee. Tell me this : who begot
thee?
Speed. Marry, the son of my grandfather.
Launce. O illiterate loiterer ! it was the son of thy grand
mother : this proves that thou canst not read.
Speed. Come, fool, corne ; try me in thy paper. 290
Launce. There ; and Saint Nicholas be thy speed !
Speed. [Reads\ ' Imprimis : She can milk.'
Launce. Ay, that she can.
Speed. ' Item : She brews good ale.'
Launce. And thereof comes the proverb: 'Blessing of
your heart, you brew good ale.'
Speed. ' Item : She can sew.'
Launce. That 's as much as to say, Can she so ?
Speed. ' Item : She can knit.'
Launce. What need a man care for a stock with a wench,
when she can knit him a stock ? 301
Speed. ' Item : She can wash and scour.'
Launce. A special virtue ; for then she need not be washed
and scoured.
Speed. ' Item : She can spin.'
Launce. Then may I set the world on wheels, when she
can spin for her living.
Speed. ' Here follow her vices.'
Launce. Close at the heels of her virtues.
Speed. ' Item : She is not to be kissed fasting, in respect
of her breath.' 311
42 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTIII.
Launce. "Well, that fault may be mended with a breakfast.
Read on.
Speed. ' Item : She hath a sweet inouth.'
Launce. That makes amends for her sour breath.
Speed. ' Item : She doth talk in her sleep.'
Launce. It 's no matter for that, so she sleep not in her talk.
Speed. ' Item : She is slow in words.'
Launce. O villain, that set this down among her vices ! To
be slow in words is a woman's only virtue : I pray thee, out
with 't, and place it for her chief virtue. 321
Speed. 'Item : She is proud.'
Launce. Out with that too ; it was Eve's legacy, and can
not be ta'en from her.
Speed. ' Item : She hath no teeth.'
Launce. I care not for that neither, because I love crusts.
Speed. * Item : She is curst.'
Launce. Well, the best is, she hath no teeth to bite.
Speed. * Item : She will often praise her liquor.'
Launce. If her liquor be good, she shall : if she will not, I
will ; for good things should be praised. 331
Speed. ' Item : She is too liberal.'
Launce. Of her tongue she cannot, for that's writ down
she is slow of ; of her purse she shall not, for that I '11 keep
shut : now, of another thing she may, and that cannot I help.
Well, proceed.
Speed. ' Item : She hath more hair than wit, and more
faults than hairs, and more wealth than faults.'
Launce. Stop there ; I '11 have her : she was mine, and not
mine, twice or thrice in that last article. Rehearse that once
more. 341
Speed. ' Item : She hath more hair than wit,' —
Launce. More hair than wit ? It may be ; I '11 prove it.
The cover of the salt hides the salt, and therefore it is more
than the salt ; the hair that covers the wit is more than the
wit, for the greater hides the less. What 's next ?
Speed. 'And more faults than hairs,' —
so. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 43
Launce. That 's monstrous : O, that that were out !
Speed. * And more wealth than faults.3
Launce. Why, that word makes the faults gracious. Well,
I '11 have her : and if it be a match, as nothing is impossible, —
Speed. What then ? 352
Launce. Why, then will I tell thee — that thy master stays
for thee at the North- gate.
Speed. For me ?
Launce. For thee ! ay, who art thou ? he hath stayed for
a better man than thee.
Speed. And must I go to him ?
Launce. Thou must run to him, for thou hast stayed so
long that going will scarce serve the turn. 360
Speed. Why didst not tell me sooner ? plague of your love-
letters ! [Exit.
Launce. Now will he be swinged for reading my letter ;
an unmannerly slave, that will thrust himself into secrets !
I '11 after, to rejoice in the boy's correction. [Exit.
SCENE II. The same. The DUKE'S palace.
Enter DUKE and THURIO.
Duke. Sir Thurio, fear not but that she will love you,
Now Valentine is banish'd from her^sjglii— —•-
Thu. Since his exile she hath oespised ine most,
Forsworn my company and rail'd at me,
That I am desperate of obtaining her.
Duke. This weak impress of love is as a figure
Trenched in ice, which with an hour's heat
Dissolves to water and doth lose his form.
A little time will melt her frozen thoughts
And worthless Valentine shall be forgot. ) 10
— /
Enter PROTEUS.
How now, Sir Proteus ! Is your countryman
According to our proclamation gone ?
44 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. {[ACT in.
Pro. Gone, ray good lord.
Duke. My daughter takes his going grievously.
Pro. A little time, my lord, will kill that grief.
Duke. So I believe ; but Thurio thinks not so.
Proteus, the good conceit I hold of thee —
For thou hast shown some sign of good desert —
Makes me the better to confer with thee.
Pro. Longer than I prove loyal to your grace 20
Let me not live to look upon your grace.
Duke. Thou know'st how willingly I would effect
The match between Sir Thurio and my daughter.
Pro. I do, my lord.
Duke. And also, I think, thou art not ignorant
How she opposes her against my will.
Pro. She did, my lord, when Valentine was here.
Duke. Ay, and perversely she persevers so.
What might we do to make the girl forget
The love of Valentine and love Sir Thurio ? 30
Pro. The best way is to slander Valentine
With falsehood, cowardice and poor descent,
Three things that women highly hold in hate.
Duke. Ay, but she '11 think that it is spoke in hate.
Pro. Ay, if his enemy deliver it :
Therefore it must with circumstance be spoken
By one whom she esteemeth as his friend.
Duke. Then you must undertake to slander him.
Pro. And that, my lord, I shall be loath to do :
'Tis an ill office for a gentleman, 40
Especially against his very friend.
Duke. Where your good word cannot advantage him,
Your slander never can endamage him ;
Therefore the office is indifferent,
Being entreated to it by your friend.
Pro. You have prevail'd, my lord : if I can do it
By aught that I can speak in his dispraise,
She shall not long continue love to him.
sc. ii.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 45
But say this weed her love from Valentine,
It follows not that she will love Sir Thurio. 50
Thu. Therefore, as you unwind her love from him,
Lest it should ravel and be good to none,
You must provide to bottom it on me ;
Which must be done by praising me as much
As you in worth dispraise Sir Valentine.
Duke. And, Proteus, we dare trust you in this kind,
Because we know, on Valentine's report,
You are already Love's firm votary
And cannot soon revolt and change your mind.
Upon this warrant shall you have access 60
Where you with Silvia may confer at large ;
For she is lumpish, heavy, melancholy,
And, for your friend's sake, will be glad of you ;
Where you may temper her by your persuasion
To hate young Valentine and love my friend.
Pro. As much as I can do, I will effect :
But you, Sir Thurio, are not sharp enough ;
You must lay lime to tangle her desires '
By wailful sonnets, whose composed rhymes
Should be full-fraught with serviceable vows. 70
Duke. Ay,
Much is the force of heaven-bred poesy.
Pro. Say that upon the altar of her beauty
You sacrifice your tears, your sighs, your heart :
Write till your ink be dry, and with your tears
Moist it again, and frame some feeling line
That may discover such integrity :
For Orpheus' lute was strung with poets' sinews,
Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones,
Make tigers tame and huge leviathans 80
Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands.
After your dire-lamenting elegies,
Visit by night your lady's chamber-window
With some sweet concert ; to their instruments
46 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTIII.
Tune a deploring dump : the night's dead silence
Will well become such sweet-complaining grievance.
This, or else nothing, will inherit her.
Duke. This discipline shows thou hast been in love.
Thu. And thy advice this night I '11 put in practice.
Therefore, sweet Proteus, my direction-giver, 90
Let us into the city presently
To sort some gentlemen well-skill'd in music.
I have a sonnet that will serve the turn
To give the onset to thy good advice.
Duke. About it, gentlemen !
Pro. We '11 wait upon your grace till after supper,
And afterward determine our proceedings.
Duke. Even now about it ! I will pardon you. [Exeunt.
ACT IV.
SCENE I. The frontiers of Mantua. A forest.
Enter certain Outlaws.
First Out. Fellows, stand fast ; I see a passenger.
Sec. Out. If there be ten, shrink not, but down with 'em.
Enter VALENTINE and SPEED.
Third Out. Stand, sir, and throw us that you have about ye:
If not, we '11 make you sit and rifle you.
Speed. Sir, we are undone ; these are the villains
That all the travellers do fear so much.
Vol. My friends, —
First Out. That 7s not so, sir : we are your enemies.
Sec. Out. Peace ! we '11 hear him.
Third Out. Ay, by my beard, will we, for he's a proper man.
Vol. Then know that I have little wealth to lose : 11
A man I am cross'd with adversity ;
My riches are these poor habiliments,
Of which if you should here disfurnish me,
You take the sum and substance that I have.
so. i.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 47
Sec. Out. Whither travel you ?
VaL To Verona.
First Out. Whence came you ?
Vol. From Milan.
Third Out. Have you long sojourned there ? 20
VaL Some sixteen months, and longer might have stay'd,
If crooked fortune had not thwarted me.
First Out. What, were you banish'd thence ?
VaL I was.
Sec. Out. For what offence ?
VaL For that which now torments me to rehearse :
I kill'd a man, whose death I much repent ;
But yet I slew him manfully in fight,
Without false vantage or base treachery.
First Out. Why, ne'er repent it, if it were done so. 30
But were you banish'd for so small a fault ?
VaL I was, and held me glad of such a doom.
Sec. Out. Have you the tongues ?
VaL My youthful travel therein made me happy,
Or else I often had been miserable.
Third Out. By the bare scalp of Eobin Hood's fat friar,
This fellow were a king for our wild faction !
First Out. We '11 have him. Sirs, a word.
Speed. Master, be one of them ; it 's an honourable kind
of thievery. 40
VaL Peace, villain !
Sec. Out. Tell us this : have you any thing to take to ?
VaL Nothing but my fortune.
Third Out. Know, then, that some of us are gentlemen,
Such as the fury of ungovern'd youth
Thrust from the company of awful men :
Myself was from Verona banished
For practising to steal away a lady,
An heir, and near allied unto the duke.
Sec. Out. And I from Mantua, for a gentleman, 50
Who, in my mood, I stabb'd unto the heart.
48 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv.
First Out. And I for such like petty crimes as these.
But to the purpose — for we cite our faults,
That they may hold excused our lawless lives ;
And partly, seeing you are beautified
With goodly shape and by your own report
A linguist and a man of such perfection
As we do in our quality much want —
Sec. Out. Indeed, because you are a banish'd man,
Therefore, above the rest, we parley to you : 60
Are you content to be our general ?
To make a virtue of necessity
And live, as we do, in this wilderness ?
Third Out. What say'st thou ? wilt thou be of our consort ?
Say ay, and be the captain of us all :
We '11 do thee homage and be ruled by thee,
Love thee as our commander and our king.
First Out. But if thou scorn our courtesy, thou diest.
Sec. Out. Thou shalt not live to brag what we have offer d.
Vol. I take your offer and will live with you, 70
Provided that you do no outrages
On silly women or poor passengers.
Third Out. No, we detest such vile base practices.
Come, go with us, we '11 bring thee to our crews,
And show thee all the treasure we have got ;
Which, with ourselves, all rest at thy dispose. [Exeunt.
SCENE II. Milan. Outside the DUKE'S palace, under
SILVIA'S chamber.
Enter PROTEUS.
Pro. Already have I been false to Valentine
And now I must be as unjust to Thurio.
Under the colour of commending him,
I have access my own love to prefer :
But Silvia is too fair, too true, too holy,
sc, n.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 49
To be corrupted with my worthless gifts.
When I protest true loyalty to her,
She twits me with my falsehood to my friend ;
When to her beauty I commend my vows,
She bids me think how I have been forsworn 10
In breaking faith with Julia whom I loved :
And notwithstanding all her sudden quips,
The least whereof would quell a lover's hope,
Yet, spaniel-like, the more she spurns my love,
The more it grows and fawneth on her still.
But here comes Thurio : now must we to her window,
And give some evening music to her ear.
Enter THURIO and Musicians.
Thu. How now, Sir Proteus, are you crept before us ?
Pro. Ay, gentle Thurio : for you know that love
Will creep in service where it cannot go. 20
Thu. Ay, but I hope, sir, that you love not here.
Pro. Sir, but I do ; or else I would be hence.
Thu. Who? Silvia?
Pro. Ay, Silvia ; for your sake.
Thu. I thank you for your own. Now, gentlemen,
Let :s tune, and to it lustily awhile.
Enter, at a distance, Host, and JULIA in boy's clothes.
Host. Now, my young guest, methinks you 're allycholly :
I pray you, why is it ?
Jul. Marry, mine host, because I cannot be merry.
Host. Come, we ''11 have you merry : I '11 bring you where
you shall hear music and see the gentlemen that you asked for.
Jul. But shall I hear him speak ? 31
Host. Ay, that you shall.
Jul. That will be music. [Music plays.
Host. Hark, hark !
Jul. Is he among these ?
Host. Ay : but, peace ! let's hear 'em.
D
50 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv.
SONG.
Who is Silvia ? what is she,
That all our swains commend her ?
Holy, fair and wise is she ;
The heaven such grace did lend her, 40
That she might admired be.
Is she kind as she is fair ?
For beauty lives with kindness.
Love doth to her eyes repair,
To help him of his blindness,
And, being help'd, inhabits there.
Then to Silvia let us sing,
That Silvia is excelling ;
She excels each mortal thing
Upon the dull earth dwelling : 50
To her let us garlands bring.
Host. How now ! are you sadder than you were before ?
How do you, man ? the music likes you not.
Jul. You mistake ; the musician likes me not.
Host. Why, my pretty youth ?
Jul. He plays false, father.
Host. How ? out of tune on the strings ?
Jul. Not so ; but yet so false that he grieves my very
heart-strings.
Host. You have a quick ear. 60
Jul. Ay, I would I were deaf ; it makes me have a slow
heart.
Host. I perceive you delight not in music.
Jul. Not a whit, when it jars so.
Host. Hark, what fine change is in the music !
Jul. Ay, that change is the spite.
Host. You would have them always play but one thing ?
Jul. I would always have one play but one thing.
.But, host, doth this Sir Proteus that we talk on
Often resort unto this gentlewoman ? 70
sc. ii.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 51
Host. I tell you what Launce, his man, told me : he loved
her out of all nick.
Jul. Where is Launce ?
Host. Gone to seek his dog ; which to-morrow, by his
master's command, he must carry for a present to his lady.
Jul. Peace ! stand aside : the company parts.
Pro. Sir Thurio, fear not you : I will so plead
That you shall say my cunning drift excels.
Thu. Where meet we ?
Pro. At Saint Gregory's well.
Thu. Farewell.
[Exeunt Thu. and Musicians.
Enter SILVIA above.
Pro. Madam, good even to your ladyship. 80
SU. I thank you for your music, gentlemen.
Who is that that spake ?
Pro. One, lady, if you knew his pure heart's truth,
You would quickly learn to know him by his voice.
Sil. Sir Proteus, as I take it.
Pro. Sir Proteus, gentle lady, and your servant.
SU. What 's your will ?
Pro. That I may compass yours.
Sil. You have your wish ; my will is even this :
That presently you hie you home to bed.
Thou subtle, perjured, false, disloyal man ! 90
Think'st thou I am so shallow, so conceitless,
To be seduced by thy flattery,
That hast deceived so many with thy vows ?
Return, return, and make thy love amends.
For me, by this pale queen of night I swear,
I am so far from granting thy request
That I despise thee for thy wrongful suit,
And by and by intend to chide myself
Even for this time I spend in talking to thee.
Pro. I grant, sweet love, that I did love a lady ; 100
But she is dead.
52 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv.
Jul. [Aside] 'Twere false, if I should speak it ;
For I am sure she is not buried.
Sil. Say that she be ; yet Valentine thy friend
Survives ; to whom, thyself art witness,
I am betroth'd : and art thou not ashamed
To wrong him with thy importunacy ?
Pro. I likewise hear that Valentine is dead.
Sil. And so suppose am I ; for in his grave
Assure thyself my love is buried. 110
Pro. Sweet lady, let me rake it from the earth.
Sil. Go to thy lady's grave and call hers thence,
Or, at the least, in hers sepulchre thine.
Jul. [Aside] He heard not that.
Pro. Madam, if your heart be so obdurate,
Vouchsafe me yet your picture for my love,
The picture that is hanging in your chamber ;
To that I '11 speak, to* that I '11 sigh and weep :
For since the substance of your perfect self
Is else devoted, I am but a shadow ; 120
And to your shadow will I make true love.
Jul. [Aside] If 'twere a substance, you would, sure, de
ceive it,
And make it but a shadow, as I am.
Sil. I am very loath to be your idol, sir ;
But since your falsehood shall become you well'
To worship shadows and adore false shapes,
Send to me in the morning and I '11 send it :
And so, good rest.
Pro. As wretches have o'ernight
That wait for execution in the morn.
[Exeunt Pro. and SiL severally.
Jul. Host, will you go ? 130
Host. By my halidom, I was fast asleep.
Jul. Pray you, where lies Sir Proteus ?
Host. Marry, at my house. Trust me, I think 'tis almost
day.
sc. ii.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 53
Jul. Not so ; but it hath been the longest night
That e'er I watch'd and the most heaviest.
SCENE III. The same.
Enter EGLAMOUR.
Egl. This is the hour that Madam Silvia
Entreated me to call and know her mind :
There 's some great matter she 'Id employ me in.
Madam, madam !
Enter SILVIA above.
Sil Who calls ?
Egl. Your servant and your friend ;
One that attends your ladyship's command.
Sil. Sir Eglamour, a thousand times good morrow.
Egl. As many, worthy lady, to yourself :
According to your ladyship's impose,
I am thus early come to know what service
It is your pleasure to command me in. 10
Sil. O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman —
Think not I flatter, for I swear I do not —
Valiant, wise, remorseful, well acconiplish'd :
Thou art not ignorant what dear good will
I bear unto the banish'd Valentine,
Nor how my father would enforce me marry
Vain Thurio, whom iny very soul abhors.
Thyself hast loved ; and I have heard thee say
No grief did ever come so near thy heart
As when thy lady and thy true love died, 20
Upon whose grave thou vow'dst pure chastity.
Sir Eglamour, I would to Valentine,
To Mantua, where I hear he makes abode ;
And, for the ways are dangerous to pass,
I do desire thy worthy company,
Upon whose faith and honour I repose.
Urge not my father's anger, Eglamour,
54 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv.
But think upon my grief, a lady's grief,
And on the justice of my flying hence,
To keep me from a most unholy match, 30
Which heaven and fortune still rewards with plagues.
I do desire thee, even from a heart
As full of sorrow as the sea of sands,
To bear me company and go with me :
If not, to hide what I have said to thee,
That I may venture to depart alone.
EgL Madam, I pity much your grievances ;
Which since I know they virtuously are placed,
I give consent to go along with you,
Kecking as little what betideth me 40
As much I wish all good befortune you.
When will you go ?
Sil. This evening coming.
EgL Where shall I meet you ?
Sil. At Friar Patrick's cell,
Where I intend holy confession.
Egl. I will not fail your ladyship. Good morrow, rgentle
lady.
Sil. Good morrow, kind Sir Eglamour. [Exeunt severally.
SCENE IV. The same.
Enter LAUNCE, with his Dog.
Launce. When a man's servant shall play the cur with
him, look you, it goes hard : one that I brought up of a
puppy ; one that I saved from drowning, when three or
four of his blind brothers and sisters went to it. I have
taught him, even as one would say precisely, 'thus I would
teach a dog.' I was sent to deliver him as a present to
Mistress Silvia from my master ; and I came no sooner into
the dining-chamber but he steps me to her trencher and
steals her capon's leg : O, 'tis a foul thing when a cur cannot
keep himself in all companies ! I would have, as one should
SC. iv.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 55
say, one that takes upon him to be a dog indeed, to be, as it
were, a dog at all things. If I had not had more wit than
he, to take a fault upon me that he did, I think verily he
had been hanged for 3t ; sure as I live, he had suffered for 't :
you shall judge. He thrusts me himself into the company
of three or four gentlemanlike dogs, under the duke's table.
' Out with the dog ! ' says one : ' What cur is that ? ' says
another : ' Whip him out ' says the third : ' Hang him up '
says the duke. I goes me to the fellow that whips the dogs :
* Friend,' quoth I, ' you mean to whip the dog ? ' ' Ay, marry,
do I,' quoth he. * You do him the more wrong,' quoth I.
He makes me no more ado, but whips me out of the chamber.
How many masters would do this for his servant ? Nay,
I '11 be sworn, I have sat in the stocks for puddings he hath
stolen, otherwise he had been executed ; I have stood on the
pillory for geese he hath killed, otherwise he had suffered
for 't. Thou thinkest not of this now.
Enter PROTEUS and JULIA.
Pro. Sebastian is thy name ? I like thee well
And will employ thee in some service presently.
Jul. In what you please : I '11 do what I can. 30
Pro. I hope thou wilt. [To Launce] How now, you rascal
peasant !
Where have you been these two days loitering ?
Launce. Marry, sir, I carried Mistress Silvia the dog you
bade me.
Pro. And what says she to my little jewel ?
Launce. Marry, she says your dog was a cur, and tells you
currish thanks is good enough for such a present.
Pro. But she received my dog ?
Launce. No, indeed, did she not : here have I brought htm
back again. 40
Pro. What, didst thou offer her this from me ?
Launce. Ay, sir ; the other squirrel was stolen from me
by the hangman boys in the market-place : and then I
56 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv.
offered, her mine own, who is a dog as big as ten of yours,
and therefore the gift the greater.
Pro. Go get thee hence, and find my dog again,
Or ne'er return again into my sight.
Away, I say ! stay'st thou to vex me here ? [Exit Launce.
A slave, that still an end turns me to shame !
Sebastian, I have entertained thee, 50
Partly that I have need of such a youth
That can with some discretion do my business,
For 'tis no trusting to yond foolish lout,
But chiefly for thy face and thy behaviour,
Which, if my augury deceive me not,
Witness good bringing up, fortune and truth :
Therefore know thou, for this I entertain thee.
Go presently and take this ring with thee,
Deliver it to Madam Silvia :
She loved me well deliver'd it to me. 60
Jul. It seems you loved not her, to leave her token.
She is dead, belike ?
Pro. Not so ; I think she lives.
Jul. Alas !
Pro. Why dost thou cry * alas ' ?
Jul. I cannot choose
But pity her.
Pro. Wherefore shouldst thou pity her ?
Jul. Because methinks that she loved you as well
As you do love your lady Silvia :
She dreams on him that has forgot her love ;
You dote on her that cares not for your love.
'Tis pity love should be so contrary ; 70
And thinking on it makes me cry ' alas ! '
Pro. Well, give her that ring and therewithal
This letter. That 's her chamber. Tell my lady
I claim the promise for herjieavenly picture.
Your message done, hie home unto my chamber,
Where thou shalt find me, sad and solitary. [Exit.
sc. iv.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 57
Jul. How many women would do such a message ?
Alas, poor Proteus ! thou hast entertain'd
A fox to be the shepherd of thy lambs.
Alas, poor fool ! why do I pity him 80
That with his very heart despiseth me ?
Because he loves her, he despiseth me ;
Because I love him, I must pity him.
This ring I gave him when he parted from me,
To bind him to remember my good will ;
And now am I, unhappy messenger,
To plead for that which I would not obtain,
To carry that which I would have refused,
To praise his faith which I would have dispraised.
I am my master's true-confirmed love ; 90
But cannot be true servant to my master,
Unless I prove false traitor to myself.
Yet will I woo for him, but yet so coldly
As, heaven it knows, I would not have him speed.
Enter SILVIA, attended.
Gentlewoman, good day ! I pray you, be my mean
To bring me where to speak with Madam Silvia.
Sil. What would you with her, if that I be she ?
Jul. If you be she, I do entreat your patience
To hear me speak the message I am sent on.
Sil. From whom ? 100
Jul. From my master, Sir Proteus, madam.
Sil. O, he sends you for a picture.
Jul. Ay, madam.
Sil. Ursula, bring my picture there.
Go give your master this : tell him from me,
One Julia, that his changing thoughts forget,
Would better fit his chamber than this shadow.
Jul. Madam, please you peruse this letter. —
Pardon me, madam ; I have unadvised
Delivered you a paper that I should not : 110
58 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv.
This is the letter to your ladyship.
Sil. I pray thee, let me look on that again.
Jul. It may not be ; good madam, pardon me.
Sil. There, hold !
I will not look upon your master's lines :
I know they are stuff'd with protestations
And full of new-found oaths ; which he will break
As easily as I do tear his paper.
Jul. Madam, he sends your ladyship this ring.
Sil. The more shame for him that he sends it me ; 120
For I have heard him say a thousand times
His Julia gave it him at his departure.
Though his false finger have profaned the ring,
Mine shall not do his Julia so much wrong.
Jul. She thanks you.
Sil. What say'st thou ?
Jul. I thank you, madam, that you tender her.
Poor gentlewoman ! my master wrongs her much.
Sil. Dost thou know her ?
Jul. Almost as well as I do know myself : 130
To think upon her woes I do protest
That I have wept a hundred several times.
SU. Belike she thinks that Proteus hath forsook her.
Jul. I think she doth ; and that 's her cause of sorrow.
Sil. Is she not passing fair ?
Jul. She hath been fairer, madam, than she is :
When she did think my master loved her well,
She, in my judgment, was as fair as you ;
But since she did neglect her looking-glass
And threw her sun-expelling mask away, 140
The air hath starved the roses in her cheeks
And pinch'd the lily-tincture of her face,
That now she is become as black as I.
SU. How tall was she ?
Jul. About my stature ; for at Pentecost,
When all our pageants of delight were play'd,
sc. iv.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 59
Our youth got me to play the woman's part,
And I was trimm'd in Madam Julia's gown,
Which served me as fit, by all men's judgements,
As if the garment had been made for me : 150
Therefore I know she is about my height.
And at that time I made her weep agood,
For I did play a lamentable part :
Madam, 'twas Ariadne passioning
For Theseus' perjury and unjust flight :
Which I so lively acted with my tears
That my poor mistress, moved therewithal,
Wept bitterly ; and would I might be dead
If I in thought felt not her very sorrow !
Sil. She is beholding to thee, gentle youth. 160
Alas, poor lady, desolate and left !
I weep myself to think upon thy words.
Here, youth, there is my purse ; I give thee this
For thy sweet mistress' sake, because thou lovest her.
Farewell. [Exit Silvia, with attendants.
Jul. And she shall thank you for 't, if e'er you know her.
A virtuous gentlewoman, mild and beautiful !
I hope my master's suit will be but cold,
Since she respects my mistress' love so much.
Alas, how love can trifle with itself ! 170
Here is her picture : let me see ; I think,
If I had such a tire, this face of mine
Were full as lovely as is this of hers :
And yet the painter flatter'd her a little,
Unless I flatter with myself too much.
Her hair is auburn, mine is perfect yellow :
If that be all the difference in his love,
I '11 get me such a colour'd periwig.
Her eyes are grey as glass, and so are mine :
Ay, but her forehead 's low, and mine 's as high. 180
What should it be that he respects in her
But I can make respective in myself, •
}
60 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv. so. iv.
If this fond Love were not a blinded god ?
Come, shadow, come, and take this shadow up,
For 'tis thy rival. O thou senseless form,
Thou shalt be worshipp'd, kiss'd, loved and adored !
And, were there sense in his idolatry,
My substance should be statue in thy stead.
I '11 use thee kindly for thy mistress' sake,
That used me so ; or else, by Jove I vow, 190
I should have scratch'd out your unseeing eyes,
To make my master out of love with thee ! [Exit.
ACT V.
SCENE I. Milan. An abbey.
Enter EQLAMOUR.
Egl. The sun begins to gild the western sky ;
And now it is about the very hour
That Silvia, at Friar Patrick's cell, should meet me.
She will not fail, for lovers break not hours,
Unless it be to come before their time ;
So much they spur their expedition.
See where she comes.
Enter SILVIA.
Lady, a happy evening !
Sil. Amen, amen ! Go on, good Eglamour,
Out at the postern by the abbey-wall :
I fear I am attended by some spies. 10
Egl. Fear not : the forest is not three leagues off ;
If we recover that, we are sure enough. [Exeunt.
SCENE II. The same. The DUKE'S palace.
Enter THURIO, PROTEUS, and JULIA.
Thu. Sir Proteus, what says Silvia to my suit 1
Pro. O, sir, I find her milder than she was ;
ACT v. sc. IT.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 61
And yet she takes exceptions at your person.
Thu. What, that my leg is too long ?
Pro. No ; that it is too little.
Thu. I '11 wear a boot, to make it somewhat rounder.
Jul. [Aside] But love will not be spurr'd to what it loathes.
Thu. What says she to my face ?
Pro. She says it is a fair one.
Thu. Nay then, the wanton lies ; my face is black. 10
Pro. But pearls are fair ; and the old saying is,
Black men are pearls in beauteous ladies' eyes.
Jul. [Aside] 'Tis true; such pearls as put out ladies' eyes ;
For I had rather wink than look on them.
Thu. How likes she my discourse ?
Pro. Ill, when you talk of war.
Thu. But well, when I discourse of love and peace ? <j
Jul. [Aside'] But better, indeed, when you hold your peace.
Thu. What says she to my valour ?
Pro. O, sir, she makes no doubt of that. 20
Jul. [Aside] She needs not, when she knows it cowardice.
Thu. What says she to my birth ?
Pro. That you are well derived.
Jul. [Aside] True ; from a gentleman to a fool.
Thu. Considers she my possessions ?
Pro. O, ay ; and pities them.
Thu. Wherefore?
Jul. [Aside] That such an ass should owe them.
Pro. That they are out by lease.
Jul. Here comes the duke. 30
Enter DUKE.
Duke. How now, Sir Proteus ! how now, Thurio !
Which of you saw Sir Eglamour of late ?
Thu. Not I.
Pro. Nor I.
Duke. Saw you my daughter ?
Pro. Neither,
62 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT v.
Duke. Why then,
She 's fled unto that peasant Valentine ;
And Eglamour is in her company.
'Tis true ; for Friar Laurence met them both,
As he in penance wander'd through the forest ;
Him he knew well, and guess'd that it was she,
But, being mask'd, he was not sure of it ; 40
Besides, she did intend confession
At Patrick's cell this even ; and there she was not ;
These likelihoods confirm her flight from hence.
Therefore, I pray you, stand not to discourse,
But mount you presently and meet with me
Upon the rising of the mountain-foot
That leads toward Mantua, whither they are fled :
Dispatch, sweet gentlemen, and follow me. [Exit.
Thu. Why, this it is to be a peevish girl,
That flies her fortune when it follows her. 50
I '11 after, more to be revenged on Eglamour
Than for the love of reckless Silvia. [Exit.
Pro. And I will follow, more for Silvia's love
Than hate of Eglamour that goes with her. [Exit.
Jul. And I will follow, more to cross that love
Than hate for Silvia that is gone for love. [Exit.
SCENE III. The frontiers of Mantua. The forest.
Enter Outlaws with SILVIA.
First Out. Come, come,
Be patient ; we must bring you to our captain.
Sil. A thousand more mischances than this one
Have learn'd me how to brook this patiently.
Sec. Out. Come, bring her away.
First Out. Where is the gentleman that was with her ?
Third Out. Being nimble -footed, he hath outrun us,
But Moyses and Valerius follow him.
Go thou with her to the west end of the wood ;
sc. in.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 63
There is our captain : we '11 follow him that 's fled ; 10
The thicket is beset ; he cannot 'scape.
First Out. Come, I must bring you to our captain's cave :
Fear not ; he bears an honourable mind,
And will not use a woman lawlessly.
Sil. 0 Valentine, this I endure for thee ! [Exeunt.
SCENE IV. Another part of the forest.
Enter VALENTINE.
Vol. How use doth breed a habit in a man !
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns :
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And to the nightingale's complaining notes
Tune my distresses and record my woes.
O thou that dost inhabit in my breast,
Leave not the mansion so long tenantless,
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall
And leave no memory of what it was ! 10
Repair me with thy presence, Silvia ;
Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn swain !
What halloing and what stir is this to-day ?
These are my mates, that make their wills their law,
Have some unhappy passenger in chase.
They love me well ; yet I have much to do
To keep them from uncivil outrages.
Withdraw thee, Valentine : who 's this comes here ?
Enter PROTEUS, SILVIA, and JULIA.
Pro. Madam, this service I have done for you,
Though you respect not aught your servant doth, 20
To hazard life and rescue you from him
That would have forced your honour and your love ;
Vouchsafe me, for my rneed, butj)ne^.fair
A smaller boon than this I cannot beg
64 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT v.
And less than this, I am sure, you cannot give.
Vol. [Aside] How like a dream is this I see and hear !
Love, lend me patience to forbear awhile.
Sil. O miserable, unhappy that I am !
Pro. Unhappy were you, madam, ere I came ;
But by my coming I have made you happy. 30
Sil. By thy approach thou makest me most unhappy.
Jul. [Aside] And me, when he approacheth to your presence.
Sil. Had I been seized by a hungry lion,
I would have been a breakfast to the beast,
Rather than have false Proteus rescue me.
O, Heaven be judge how I love Valentine,
Whose life 's as tender to me as my soul !
And full as much, for more there cannot be,
I do detest false perjured Proteus.
Therefore be gone ; solicit me no more. 40
Pro. What dangerous action, stood it next to death,
Would I not undergo for one calm look !
O, 'tis the curse in love, and still approved,
When women cannot love where they 're beloved !
Sil. When Proteus cannot love where he 's beloved.
Read over Julia's heart, thy first best love,
For whose dear sake thou didst then rend thy faith
Into a thousand oaths ; and all those oaths
Descended into perjury, to love me.
Thou hast no faith left now, unless thou 'dst two ; 50
And that 's far worse than none ; better have none
Than plural faith which is too much by one :
Thou counterfeit to thy true friend !
Pro. In love
Who respects friend ?
Sil. All men but Proteus.
Pro. Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words
Can no way change you to a milder form,
I '11 woo you like a soldier, at arms' end,
And love you 'gainst the nature of love, — force ye.
sc. iv.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 65
Sil. O heaven !
Pro. I '11 force thee yield to my desire.
Vol. Ruffian, let go that rude uncivil touch, 60
Thou friend of an ill fashion !
Pro. Valentine !
Vol. Thou common friend, that 's without faith or love,
For such is a friend now ; treacherous man !
Thou hast beguiled my hopes ; nought but mine eyeJ./
Could have persuaded me : now I dare not say
I have one friend alive ; thou wouldst disprove me.
Who should be trusted, when one's own right hand
Is perjured to the bosom ? Proteus,
I am sorry I must never trust thee more,
But count the world a stranger for thy sake. 70
The private wound is deepest : O time most accurst,
'Mongst all foes that a friend should be the worst !
Pro. My shame and guilt confounds me.
Forgive me, Valentine : if hearty sorrow
Be a sufficient ransom for offence,
I tender 't here ; I do as truly suffer
As e'er I did commit.
Vol. Then I am paid ;
And once again I do receive thee honest.
Who by repentance is not satisfied
Is nor of heaven nor earth, for these are pleased. 80
By penitence the Eternal's wrath 's appeased :
And, that my love may appear plain and free,
All that was mine in Silvia I give thee.
Jul. O me unhappy ! [Swoons.
Pro. Look to the boy.
Vol. Why, boy! why, wag! how now ! what's the matter?
Look up ; speak.
Jul. O good sir, my master charged me to deliver a ring to
•Madam Silvia, which, out of my neglect, was never done.
Pro. Where is that ring, boy ?
Jul. Here 'tis ; this is it. 90
E
66 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT v.
Pro. How ! let me see :
Why, this is the ring I gave to Julia.
Jul. O, cry you mercy, sir, I have mistook :
This is the ring you sent to Silvia.
Pro. But how earnest thou by this ring ? At my depart
I gave this unto Julia.
Jul. And Julia herself did give it me ;
And Julia herself hath brought it hither.
Pro. How ! Julia !
Jul. Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths, 100
And entertain'd 'em deeply in her heart.
How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root !
0 Proteus, let this habit make thee blush !
Be thou ashamed that I have took upon me
Such an immodest raiment, if shame live
In a disguise of love :
It is the lesser blot, modesty finds,
Women to change their shapes than men their minds.
Pro. Than men their minds ! 'tis true. O heaven ! .were
man
But constant, he were perfect. That one error 110
Fills him with faults ; makes him run through all the sins :
Inconstancy falls off ere it begins.
What is in Silvia's face, but I may spy
JVtore fresh in Julia's with a constant eye ?
Vol. Come, come, a hand from either :
Let me be blest to make this happy close ;
'Twere pity two such friends should be long foes.
Pro. Bear witness, Heaven, I have my wish for ever.
Jul. And I mine.
Enter Outlaws, with DUKE and THURIO.
Outlaws. A prize, a prize, a prize ! 120
Vol. Forbear, forbear, I say ! it is my lord the duke.
Your grace is welcome to a man disgraced,
Banished Valentine.
so. iv.] THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. 67
«
Duke. Sir Valentine !
Thu. Yonder is Silvia ; and Silvia's mine.
Vol. Thurio, give back, or else embrace thy death ;
Come not within the measure of my wrath ;
Do not name Silvia thine ; if once again,
Verona shall not hold thee. Here she stands :
Take but possession of her with a touch :
I dare thee but to breathe upon my love. 130
Thu. Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I :
I hold him but a fool that will endanger
His body for a girl that loves him not :
I claim her not, and therefore she is thine.
Duke. The more degenerate and base art thou,
To make such means for her as thou hast done
And leave her on such slight conditions.
Now, by the honour of my ancestry,
I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine,
And think thee worthy of an empress' love : 140
Know then, I here forget all former griefs,
Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again,
Plead a new state in thy unrival'd merit,
To which I thus subscribe : Sir Valentine,
Thou art a gentleman and well derived ;
Take thou thy Silvia, for thou hast deserved her.
Veil. I thank your grace ; the gift hath made me happy.
I now beseech you, for your daughter's sake,
To grant one boon that I shall ask of you.
Duke. I grant it, for thine own, whate'er it be. 150
Vol. These banish'd men that I have kept withal
Are men endued with worthy qualities :
Forgive them what they have committed here
And let them be recall'd from their exile :
They are reformed, civil, full of good
And fit for great employment, worthy lord.
Duke. Thou hast prevail'd ; I pardon them and thee :
Dispose of them as thou know'st their deserts.
68 TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTV. sc. iv.
Come, let us go : we will include all jars
With triumphs, mirth and rare solemnity. 160
Val. And, as we walk along, I dare be bold
With our discourse to make your grace to smile.
What think you of this page, my lord ?
Duke. I think the boy hath grace in him ; he blushes.
Val. I warrant you, my lord, more grace than boy.
Duke. What mean you by that saying ?
Val. Please you, I'll tell you as we pass along,
That you will wonder what hath fortuned.
Come, Proteus ; 'tis your penance but to hear
The story of your loves discovered : 170
That done, our day of marriage shall be yours ;
One feast, one house, one mutual happiness. [Exeunt.
NOTES.
ACT I. SCENE I.
STAGE DIRECTION. Proteus, spelt Protheus in the first folio,
the insertion of the letter h after t being frequent in the spelling
of proper names in former days. As instances, Malone quotes
Anthony for Antony, Phaethon for Phaeton (though the former
is the correct transliteration of the Greek name), Thdephus,
Anthenor, and Athalanta, for Telephus, Antenor, and Atcdanta,
respectively. Proteus, a marine deity of classical mythology,
was endowed with the power of changing his shape at will, and
his name, more especially in the adjective Protean, has become
emblematical of anything that is of many forms, changeable,
fickle. Hence Shakespeare's choice of name for his inconstant
lover.
1. to persuade, to argue with a view to winning assent ; to
' persuade ' is properly to convince by argument or inducement.
2. Home-keeping . . . wits. Steevens compares Comus, 748,
'It is for homely features to keep home, They had their name
thence.'
4. love, the abstract for the concrete ; the loved one, the
object of your love, your mistress.
7, 8. Than . . . idleness, than that, living the life of a sluggard
at home, you should waste your youth in an idleness that has
no purpose in it, no definite object.
9. still, ever.
10. as I -would, as I should desire to do.
12. haply, by hap, accident, chance.
17. Commend . . . prayers, make over, as it were, your trouble
to the keeping of my prayers, assure yourself of protection from
your danger through the efficacy of my prayers in your behalf :
commend, Lat. commendare, to entrust or commit to one's charge,
to place in one's hands for favourable consideration, and so ulti
mately to speak favourably of, to praise : grievance, trouble,
69
70 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT i.
sorrow, as frequently in Shakespeare ; not ' cause of complaint,'
in the sense which the word more commonly has nowadays,
though Shakespeare elsewhere has it in this sense also.
18. beadsman, intercessor; bead, M.E. bede, prayer. The
word was transferred from ' prayer ' to the small globular bodies
used for 'telling beads,' i.e. counting prayers, from which the
other senses of ' bead ' naturally followed.
19. And on ... success ? and for a prayer-book you, lover as you
are, will, I suppose, use one of those love stories which now are
your only study.
22. How young . . . Hellespont. The story of Leander, the
young Grecian who nightly swam the Hellespont in order to
visit his mistress, Hero, and who finally was drowned on a
stormy night, is told by Musaeus in a poem called Hero and
Leander. Whether Shakespeare went to this source, or whether
he had access to the manuscript of Marlowe's version which,
though entered on the Stationers' books in 1593, was not
published till 1598 (i.e. later than the date of this play), is
disputed : shallow, of course figuratively in contrast with ' deep
love,' but with allusion also to the deep waters of the Helles
pont : Hellespont, the sea of Helle, daughter of Athamas, king
of Thebes, who was drowned in it, is a strait between Sestos, a
city of Thrace in Europe and Abydos a city of Phrygia in Asia,
the modern straits of the Dardanelles.
25. for you... love. Dyce remarks, 'Mr. Collier's M.S.
corrector substitutes '"Tis true; but you are over boots in
love," etc. — The old text, if right, must be explained, — "Yes, it
is certainly true ; for you are not merely, as he was, over shoes
in love, but even over boots in love, And yet," etc., for you are
corresponding to the preceding For he was. ' On the change from
thou and thee to you in this part of the dialogue, see Abb. §231.
27. give . . . boots is explained by Theobald as being ' a pro
verbial expression, though now disused, signifying, don't make
a laughing stock of me ; don't play upon me. The French have
a phrase, Battler foin en come ; which Cotgrave thus interpets,
To give one the boots ; to sell him a bargain.' Steevens sees an
allusion to the old torture of the boot in which a man's legs were
forced into an iron boot and iron wedges driven into it to crush
them.
28. it boots thee not, it does not profit you anything ; boot, M.E.
boten, to make better, to cure, relieve, heal, remedy ; bdt, profit,
advantage. For the transitive sense here, cp. W. T. iii. 2. 26,
R. II. i. 3. 174.
29. 30. where scorn . . . sighs, a case in which the only payment
for groans is the scorn of the loved one ; the only response to
sighs, the coy looks she vouchsafes.
sc. i.] NOTES. 71
31. watchful, lacking sleep, ii. H. IV. iv. 25, and so the verb,
iv. 2. 141, below.
32. a hapless gain, a gain not worth having.
34, 35. However . . . vanquished, in any case nothing better (if
successful) than a foolish return for the expenditure of good
sense, or else, (if unsuccessful) the conquest of good sense by
mere folly ; ' a wit ' is not elsewhere so used by Shakespeare.
36. circumstance, detailed argument; in the next line, the
facts of the case, the issue of things.
40. yoked . . . fool, that has a fool for his partner in drawing.
41. Methinks, i.e. to me it seems ; ' thinks ' being from the im
personal verb thyncan, to seem. On impersonal verbs generally,
see Abb. §297.
43. canker, a worm that preys on blossoms ; frequently used
by Shakespeare in a figurative sense also. ' Topsell in his
"Serpents," 1608, gives a dissertation which he heads, "Of
Caterpillars or Palmer- worms, called of some Cankers," and he
tells us, " They gnaw off and consume by eating both leaves,
boughs and flowers, yea, and some fruits also, as I have often
seen in peaches " ' (Staunton).
48. blasting1, intransitive. Cp. Lucr. 49, ' Thy hasty spring
still blasts and ne'er grows old.'
50. the fair effects, outward manifestation; cp. M. A. ii. 3. 112.
52. fond, doting ; p.p. of M.E. fonnen, to be foolish.
53. road, roadstead, haven.
55. bring, escort, accompany.
57. To Milan ... letters, i.e. by letters sent to Milan ; cp. Tim.
iv. 3. 287, ' What wouldst thou have to Athens ? '
58. success, as often in Shakespeare in a neutral sense, pro
gress, whether good or bad.
59. Betideth, comes to pass as time goes on ; the original sense
of 'tide,' A.S. ttd, is ' time.'
60. visit ... mine, as though his letters would be a part of him
self ; the verb is frequentative.
64. dignify, lend honour to by showing himself worthy of
them.
65. leave myself, abandon my true self.
69. musing, pensive reveries about love ; for the gerund sub-
stantively, cp. i. H. IV. ii. 3. 49, * To thick-eyed musing and
cursed melancholy.'
70. save you! i.e. God save you, have you in his keeping ! A
frequent form of salutation, especially from inferiors.
72 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT i.
71. to embark from Milan. 'According to Eltze, Milan and
Verona were actually connected by canals in the 16th century '
(Rolfe).
73. the sheep, i.e. silly animal who has gone astray from the
shepherd ; in some of the midland counties pronounced by the
lower orders as ' ship.'
78. horns, an allusion to the old belief that horns sprouted
from the forehead of a man whose wife had proved unfaithful to
him.
82. circumstance, detailed proof, as above, 1. 36.
94-96. But what . . . noddy. The folios read, ' Pro. But what said
she ? Sp. I. ' The reading and stage direction in the text are as
given by the Cambridge Editors. To account for the words ' you
ask me if she did not,' Theobald inserted the question 'Did she
nod?' after the words ' But what said she ? ' The 'I ' of the folios
is only the old way of printing ' Ay,' i. e. ' Yes ' : that 's noddy, that
makes the word ' noddy,' an old term for a simpleton, a noodle.
105. Marry, by Mary, i.e. the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus ; an
old form of asseveration in which the spelling was probably modi
fied in order to avoid the penalties of the Act against profane
swearing : orderly, Staunton writes, ' For orderly, I have some
times thought we should read, motherly, or, according to the
ancient spelling, moderly. From the words bearing, bear with
you, my pains, a quick wit, and delivered, the humour appears to
consist of allusions to child-bearing. None of the editors have
noticed this ; and yet, unless such conceit be understood, there
seems no significance whatever in the last few passages.' But
this in no way accounts for the words ' having nothing but the
word "noddy" for my pains,' by which Speed justifies his assertion
as to the manner in which he has done his task ; ' having
nothing ' being equivalent to ' for I have nothing. ' Proteus's
answer, 'Beshrew me, but you have a quick wit' (i.e. assuredly
you have a quick wit) shows that Speed's remark had some quip
or witticism in it, and I suspect that he is here punning on
' orderly ' and ' ivorderly. ' There is a further difficulty in the
construction of the words ' the letter. ' It is no answer to
Proteus's question ' how do you bear with me ? ' to say ' I bore
the letter very orderly. ' I think therefore we should read ' to
the letter,' i.e. precisely, which is followed by 'very orderly' in
the same sense, with a pun on 'word.' The play on words here
is not unlike that of Holofernes, L. L. L. iv. 2. 60-62, where by
the addition of the letter I to ' sore ' (a buck of the fourth year,
and ' sore ' the adjective), the word is converted into ' sorel ' (a
buck of the third year).
107. Beshrew, a mild form of imprecation, like ' hang me ' ; the
verb 'shrew,' which we have only in 'shrewd,' properly a p.p.,
meaning to ' curse.'
sc. i.] NOTES. 73
116. ducat, a coin in use especially in the old Italian provinces,
so called from the inscription it bore, ' Sit tibi, Christe, datus
quern tu regis iste Duwtus. ' ' Ducatus ' meaning a duchy, and
thence a coin struck by a Duke. Halliwell quotes Roberts's
Marchants Mapp of Commerce, 1638, to show that there were
two sorts of ducats, worth respectively about three shillings and
fourpence, and four shillings or four shillings and two pence.
117. that ... mind, who by means of the letter made her
acquainted with your intentions towards her.
118. in telling your mind, when you come to declaring your
love to her.
121-2. To testify ... me, in order to bear witness to your gener
osity, I thank you for having given me sixpence; a 'tester,' or
'testern,' was a coin of that value; so called from having the
sovereign's head (O.F. leste, F. tSte) on the obverse. The word
has been corrupted in modern slang to ' tizzy.'
125. I '11 ... master, with the double sense of remember you to
my master by conveying your compliments, and of praise you to
my master for your generosity. The phrase * commend me to so
and so' was equivalent to 'give my compliments, regards, remem
brances, to so and so.'
127. Being . . . shore, sc. you being destined to death by hanging ;
cp. Temp. i. 1. 30-36, 'I have great comfort from this fellow;
methinks ho hath no drowning mark upon him ; his complexion
is perfect gallows. Stand fast, good Fate, to his hanging ; make
the rope of his destiny our cable, for our own doth little advan
tage ' : said by the Boatswain in the storm.
129. deign, think worthy (of reading) ; Lat. dignus, worthy.
130. post, with a play on the word in the sense of letter carrier
and that of blockhead.
SCENE II.
3. so, provided that.
4, 5. Of all ... me, of all the courteous wooers who daily resort
hither in order to plead their suits : resort, usually in Shake
speare in the sense of ' visit ' with the view to converse ; here it
means the company of gentlemen who pay the visit : parle, else
where used by Shakespeare as the military term for a conference
in regard to surrender or terms of peace, and here no doubt with
an allusion to this sense, she regarding herself as the fort besieged.
7. Please you, let it please you, etc., and I will, etc., or, if it
please you, etc., I will, etc. With this passage should be com
pared the dialogue between Portia and Nerissa, M. V. i. 2.,
though there it is the waiting-maid who catalogues the suitors
and the mistress who passes judgment upon them.
74 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT i.
10. neat and fine, elegant in dress but foppish, dandified.
13. so, so, but indifferently.
15. to see... us! to think how utterly foolish this talk of
ours is !
16. passion, strong feeling.
17. passing, surpassing, extraordinary ; more commonly in
Shakespeare as an adverb qualifying an adjective.
19. censure ... on, pass an opinion on. The original sense of
'censure,' and the ordinary one in Shakespeare's day, was the
neutral one of 'opinion,' 'judgment' ; but as the opinion, judg
ment, of one man upon another man, his acts, qualities, beliefs,
etc., was so often one of condemnation, the word came to have a
bad sense ; the same process has given its ordinary meaning to
the word 'conceit,' which originally meant only that which is
conceived. The verb to ' censure ' is elsewhere used by Shake
speare transitively, and a has been conjectured for on ; but, as the
commentators have pointed out, Julia's answer makes it pretty
certain that the text is sound.
27. moved me, tried to induce me to love him, pleaded his
cause.
30. Fire, a dissyllable, as frequently of old : that's . . . kept, which
is concentrated, not spread over a wide space.
34. Peruse, read through, examine. ' A coined word ; from
Per- and Use. No other source can well be assigned ; but it
must be admitted to be a barbarous and ill-formed word, com
pounded of Latin and French, and by no means used in its true
sense ; since to per-use could only mean to use thoroughly ' . . .
(Skeat, Ety. Diet.).
38. and sent, and it was sent.
41. broker, go-between, agent, but in a bad sense.
43. To whisper . . . youth ? To be a party to underhand attempts
against my maidenly modesty.
44, 45. 'tis . . . place, it is a very worthy employment, and one
which becomes you well ; of course ironically.
49. That . . . ruminate, i.e. you wish to be left alone in order that
you may pleasantly meditate on this offer of love. Though not
marked ' aside,' the words are to be taken as said in an under
tone.
50. o'erlooked, run my eye over.
53, 54. What fool . . . view ! What a fool must she be who
knowing me to be a girl, and therefore subject to all the caprices
of a girl, would not compel me to read the letter ! What fool,
for the omission of a, cp. /. C. i. 3. 42, ' Cassius, what night is
this ? ' and see Abb. § 86.
so. ii.] NOTES. 75
55, 56. Since . . . ' ay.' ' A paraphrase of the old proverb,
" Maids say nay, and take it " ' (Steevens).
57. wayward, perverse ; ' orig. a headless form of aiveiward,
adv. ... cp. aweiwards, in a direction away from .... Thus, way
ward is away -ward, i.e. turned away, perverse ... a parallel
formation to fro-ward. It is now often made to mean bent on
one's own way' ... (Skeat, Ety. Diet.).
58. testy, querulous, fractious ; O.F. teste, F. tete, head. So
our ' headstrong,' ' heady,' though the latter is generally used of
liquors.
62. angerly, on the termination -ly, a corruption of like, with
nouns, see Abb. § 447.
64. My penance, the penance which I enjoin upon myself ; an
allusion to the penance enjoined by the priest in the Catholic
Church upon the penitent who has made confession of his or her
sin.
67. Is 't ... dinner-time? Not liking to avow her weakness in
calling her maid back to talk about the letter, Julia pretends
that she is merely anxious to know the time of day.
68. stomach, with a pun on the sense ' appetite ' and that of
' anger,' which latter was frequent in the language of the day :
kill, wreak, in the meaning ' anger,' satisfy, in the meaning ' ap
petite.'
70. so gingerly, so daintily, as if you feared to touch it. The
expression is chiefly used with reference to walking or dancing
in a mincing way, with small elegant steps. The derivation is
uncertain, but probably the idea is that of touching something
hot, as ginger is hot in the mouth.
77, 78. it will . . . interpreter, it will speak truly enough to those
for whom it was intended, unless, as will perhaps be the case
with you, it is wilfully misunderstood.
81. Give ... set, tell me to what tune I should sing the words,
for you are able to set words to music.
82. As little . . . possible, taking the word set in a sense different
from that in which Lucetta had used it, Julia says, ' I set the
least possible store upon, care as little as possible for, such
trivialities. '
83. 'Light o' love,' an air popular at the time ; cp. M. A. iii.
4. 44. A light o' love is a fickle woman.
85. burden, again a quibble, ' burden ' meaning both a ' load '
and the ' undersong ' or refrain of a melody in music.
86. and ... it, and it would sound sweetly if you could be in
duced to sing it, i.e. it would be well if you could attune your
self to sing in harmony with the letter, in other words, to return
love for love.
76 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT I.
87. I cannot ... high, 'I cannot compass such high notes,
quibbling with the sense ' ' I am too humble to deal with such
matters'" (Craig).
88. your song, this song that you talk so much about : minion,
a favourite, flatterer ; F. mignon, a minion, favourite. After
this word Hanmer adds a stage direction, ' Gives her a box on
the ear,' and obviously Julia makes some show of anger or im
patience which is referred to in the following line.
89. Keep . . . out, you had better keep tune if you wish to sing
the song to the end, i.e. it is no use your being impatient if you
wish to get to the bottom of the matter ; so, provided that.
90. And yet . . . tune, and yet I would rather that you changed
your tune altogether.
93. flat, said of a note or of a singer of a note ; relatively too
low in pitch ; below the regular or true pitch.
94. descant, ' O.F. deschant, from Lat. dis-, asunder, and
cantus, song. A melodious accompaniment to a simple musical
theme (the plain song), sung or played... the earliest form of
counterpoint' (The New English Diet.).
95. mean, in music, the tenor or counter-tenor, i.e. that which
is intermediate between the treble and the bass notes, and so
with a quibble upon the word in a sense of moderation. For
similar plays upon the word, cp. L. L. L. v. 2. 328, W. T. iv. 3. 46.
96. base, F. has, low, now spelt ' bass ' after Ital. basso ; the
lowest part in harmonized musical composition ; the deepest
male voice, or lowest tones of a musical instrument, which sing
or sound this part.
97. I bid ... Proteus, to '.bid base ' was to challenge to a chase
in the game variously called 'base,' 'prison base,' 'prisoners'
base,' 'prison bars.' Under the name 'prisoners' base,' the
game is still played by boys in England. Two bases, in a line
with each other, and a certain distance apart, are held, each by
one of the two sides engaged in the game. From one of these
bases a boy starts to run to a point equidistant from them, and
is pursued by another boy from the opposite base. If the first
starter cannot reach the point and return to his own base with
out being caught by the starter from the opposite base, he is
sent to prison, a space marked off for the purpose at a certain
distance from the bases. It is then the object of the side to
which the prisoner belongs to rescue him by sending out another
boy, who has to reach the prisoner without being himself caught
by one of the opposite side. The two sides, A and B, have each
a prison ; but as the prison belonging to the side A (in which
those of the side B are confined) is opposite to the base of A and
diagonal to the base of B, and vice versa, the would-be rescuer
has a greater distance to run than his pursuer, and if he is
sc. ii.] NOTES. 77
caught in his endeavour, he too goes to prison. The game con
tinues till all the boys on the one side or the other are caught
and sent to prison. Cp. V. A. 303, Cymb. v. 3. 19.
99. Here is ... protestation ! What a fuss you are making with
all your protestations ! For coil, trouble, bustle, confusion, cp.
M. A. iii. 3. 100, v. 2. 98, Hand. iii. 1. 67.
100. get you gone. ' An idiom ; that is to say, a peculiar form
of expression, the principle of which cannot be carried out be
yond the particular instance. Thus we cannot say either Make
thee gone, or He got him (or himself) gone. Phraseologies, on the
contrary, which are not idiomatic are paradigmatic, or may
serve as models or moulds for others to any extent. All expres
sion is divided into these two kinds' ... (Craik, on J. C. ii. 4. 3).
102. makes it strange, she pretends to be astonished, shocked,
at such an unusual occurrence as the receipt of a love letter ; cp.
T. A. ii. 1. 81.
104. Nay, . . . same ! Nay, there is no need of another ; I
should be glad enough to pretend such anger at this one if only
I had it and not merely its poor fragments. Staunton remarks,
' It is surprising that no one has hitherto pointed out the incon
sistency of Julia's replying to an observation evidently intended
to be spoken by her attendant aside, or remarked the utter
absence of all meaning in such reply. I have little doubt that
the line above is part of Lucetta's aside speech. The expression
of the wish " would / were so anger'd with the same ! " from her
is natural and consistent. In the mouth of her mistress it seems
senseless arid absurd.'
108. each ... paper, i.e. each of the fragments : several, separate.
109. writ, for the curtailed form of past part. , see Abb. § 343.
115. throughly, thoroughly; conversely Shakespeare uses
' thorough ' for ' through. '
116. search, using the metaphor of probing a wound with a
probe or tent.
119. each letter, every single character.
120. that... bear, i.e. let some, etc.
121. ragged, jagged, rough with sharp edges that will tear the
letter; cp. ii. H. IV. Ind. 35.
126. sith, since ; here a conjunction, as frequently ; in Haml.
ii. 2. 12 an adverb = since that time; in ii. H. VI. ii. 1-106 a
preposition = since, after.
127. names. Referring to Walker's suspicion that this is a
misprint for name, Dyce says, ' I believe that the plural is right
— the complaining names are "Poor forlorn Proteus, passionate
Proteus " ' : forlorn, accented on the first syllable.
78 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT i.
134. respect them, care anything about them.
135. taken up, caught up shortly, rated, scolded ; cp. Cymb.
ii. 1. 4.
136. for ... cold, for fear of catching cold ; cp. H. V. i. 2. 114,
' All out of work and cold for action ' = for want of action, and
see Abb. § 154.
137. a month's mind, most probably, as Nares thinks, a refer
ence to the longings of a woman in the first month of her
pregnancy; the word month's is to be pronounced as a dis
syllable, as though it were 'moneth's.'
139. wink, close my eyes ; as frequently in Shakespeare.
SCENE III.
1. sad, serious, sober; cp. M. A. i. 1. 185, i. 3. 62.
2. held you, engaged your attention.
6. of ... reputation, who are mere nobodies in comparison with
yourself.
7. to seek . . . out, to find some way of advancement, some
profitable scope for their energies.
8. Some . . . there. ' In Shakespeare's time voyages for the dis
covery of the islands of America were much in vogue. And we
find in the journals of the travellers of that time that the sons
of noblemen, and of others of the best families of England, went
very frequently on these adventures ... To this prevailing
fashion our poet frequently alludes, and not without high com
mendations of it ' (Warburton).
11. exercises, 'any kind of habitual practice or exertion to
acquire skill, knowledge, or grace ' (Schmidt), here including
wars, travels, studies.
12. meet, suitable, well fitted ; the more usual phrase would be
' such exercises are meet for your son.'
15, 16. Which ... youth, since it would be a slur upon his old
age not to have travelled in his youth and so gained that
experience and breadth of view which come only from mixing
with men of various lands and observing the manners, institutions,
etc. , of those lands : impeachment, F. empecher, is literally
hindrance, and in impeaching a man, in the legal sense of the
word, the first step was to hinder him from escaping jurisdiction ;
from this sense came the meaning of 'reproach,' 'imputation';
cf. M. V. iii. 3. 29, 'For the commodity ... if it be denied Will
much impeach the justice of his state.'
18. this month, all through the month as far as it had gone :
hammering, thoughtfully, with much pains, considering.
sc. in.] NOTES. 79
24. were I best, should I do best to ; an ungrammatical rem
nant of ancient usage in which the construction was ' (to) me (it)
were best.' See Abb. §§ 230, 352.
27. Attends the emperor, is, as we should say, on the staff of,
or one of the retinue of, the emperor. ' Shakespeare,' says
Steevens, ' has been guilty of no mistake in placing the emperor's
court at Milan in this play. Several of the first German emperors
held their courts there occasionally, it being, at that time, their
immediate property, and the chief town of their Italian do
minions . . . Nor has the poet fallen into any contradiction, by
giving a duke to Milan at the same time that the emperor held
his court there. The first duke of that, and all the other great
cities in Italy, were not sovereign princes, as they afterwards
became ; but were merely governors, or viceroys, under the
emperors, and removable at their pleasure . . . Mr. Moncton
Mason adds that "during the wars in Italy between Francis I.
and Charles V. the latter frequently resided at Milan." '
29. 'Twere good . . . sent, it would be better for you to send ; but
also perhaps with the implication in the past tense that it would
be well if this were done already ; though the phrase would be
equally grammatical if the future alone were referred to.
32. in eye, in full view of, where he cannot help seeing ; for
the omission of the article, see Abb. § 89.
36. shall make known, sc. how well I like it. The construction
is a slightly confused way of saying ' And the execution of your
advice shall show unmistakably how well I like it.'
37. expedition, promptitude.
42. to commend . . . will, to express their eagerness to serve
him in any way that may please him : commend, offer their
services in such terms as may make them most acceptable.
44. in good time, most opportunely ; in the very nick of time ;
said as he sees Proteus approaching : break with him, enter upon
the subject for the first time ; so we speak of ' broaching a
subject.'
47. pawn, pledge.
•48. applaud, give their approval.
49. seal, ratify, make effectual ; as the seal ratifies the con
tents of a document.
53. commendations, greetings, friendly messages.
60. how . . . wish ? how far does your inclination tally, agree,
with his wish ?
63. My will ... wish, my will, to which you profess such ready
obedience, is much of the same mind as his wish ; sorted with,
made conformable to; so, intransitively, H. V. iv. 1. 63, 'it
sorts well with your fierceness. '
80 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT i. sc. m.
64. Muse, wonder.
65. and . . . end, and that's the end of the matter, the sum of
the business. But grammatically an end is probably the ad
verbial phrase = continually, formed from the preposition on and
end ; cp. below, iv. 4. 67, 'A slave that still an end turns me to
shame. '
69. exhibition, allowance of money for maintenance ; cp. Oth.
i. 3. 238, Lear, i. 2. 25. The term is still in use at Oxford and
Cambridge for an allowance of money in reward of industry and
proficiency.
71. Excuse it not, do not attempt to find excuses for declining
to go.
77. To hasten . . . expedition, to give fresh wings to his haste ;
though Schmidt takes expedition as — ' any enterprise implying a
change of place.'
79. me, reflexive.
81. take exceptions to, make objections against.
82, 83. And with . . . love, and in the excuse which I offered has
found the best vantage ground for thwarting my love.
84. resembleth, here a quadrisyllable.
90, 91. my heart . . . ' no,' my inclination is well enough disposed
to travel if it were not that my love for Julia still more urgently
bids me stay at home.
ACT II. SCENE I.
1. your glove, said as he hands the glove to Valentine.
2. one and on were in Shakespeare's day pronounced alike and,
it is supposed, as the modern own.
11. forward, over-eager, too ready to be doing.
13. Go to, an expression more usually, as here, of rebuke, but
sometimes of encouragement.
17- to ... arms, to fold your arms ; an attitude of pensiveness
or of earnest thought ; cp. L. L. L. iv. 3. 135, T. A. ii. 3. 25,
and ' sorrow- wreathen knot,' T. A. iii. 2. 4.
18. a male-content, i.q. 'malcontent,' a dissatisfied person;
but in Speed's mouth as though the word were made up of male
and content, not of mal (F. ill) and content : to relish . . . red-breast,
to take as much pleasure in the singing of a love-song as if you
were a robin red-breast ; though the song of the robin being
nothing more than a few chirps is little like a love-song.
19. the pestilence, the plague, which visited England at
various dates, and to which Shakespeare makes reference in
L. L. L. v. 2. 421, T. N. i. 5. 314, etc.
ACT. IT. sc. i.] NOTES. 81
20. his ABC, his primer or Absey-book, as it is called in
K. J. i. 1. 196. From the preface to ' A facsimile reprint of the
earliest extant English Reading book,' edited by E. S. Shuck-
burgh from the original in the Library of Emmanuel College,
Cambridge, supposed to have been printed about 1538, I quote
the following : — ' The use of such primers was, as the name
implies, educational. They were to be the first books placed in
the hands of a child, and to contain all that was necessary for
him to know, to enable him to understand the rudiments of the
Christian Religion, and to join in the services of the Church,
and even to serve at Mass, or, as it is called, " to help a Priest
to sing." Beginning, therefore, with the Alphabet, it goes on to
the first sentence pronounced by the Priest, in Latin and
English ; then to Pater Noster, also in Latin and English, and
the Hail Mary, also in both languages, and concludes with
certain prayers and graces to be used before and after meals.'
22. takes diet, is by the doctor limited to certain food for
recovery from illness.
23. puling, in a whining tone ; cp. R. J. iii. 5. 185 : like ...
Hallowmas. * Hallowmas is a name for the feast of All-Hallows,
or All Saints, the 1st of November ; All Souls being the 2nd ; at
which period it was a custom in the olden time for beggars to go
about from house to house collecting alms, in return for which
bounty they undertook to pray for the souls of the donors'
departed friends ' (Clarke).
25. one of the lions. From the form of the phrase it is
supposed there is an allusion here to the particular lions kept at
the time, and for many years before and after, in the Tower of
London. Such an allusion is probably to be found, as Wright
points out, in J. C. i. 3. 75, 'roars as doth the lion in the
Capitol.' Webster, Vittoria Corombona, v. 6, also refers to these
lions.
ib. presently after, only immediately after; this, the more
accurate one, being the sense of presently in the large majority
of passages in Shakespeare, though the modern sense of ' shortly,'
' soon,' is also found in him.
27. with, by means of ; cp. W. T. v. 2. 68, ' He was torn to
pieces with a bear.'
30, 31. without . . . Without. Speed uses the word for ' outside ' ;
Valentine for ' in my absence. '
32, 33. without . . . simple, unless you were so foolish, none would
perceive them ; for, as he goes on to say, the follies shine out in
such a way that no one can fail to observe them. Johnson
explains, ' None else would be so simple ' ; but Valentine's not
being so simple would not make others more or less so,
38. She, for ' her,' See Abb. § 211.
82 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
43. hard -favoured, sour looking.
44. Not so ... favoured. This is explained by Valentine him
self in the words ' I mean . . . infinite ; in fair the reference is
rather to colouring, in favour to looks generally. Bacon, Essays,
Of Truth, writes, ' In beauty that of favour is more than that of
colour ; and that of decent and gracious motion more than that
of favour.' We still use the expressions ' well ' or ' ill-favoured,'
though we have lost the substantive as referring to personal
appearance.
47. That she . . . favoured, that she finds favour in your eyes
beyond what her beauty claims.
50, 51. out . . . count, really ' beyond all reckoning,' though Speed
turns the expression off to mean that ' no one thinks anything of
her beauty.'
55. How . . . beauty. You say nobody thinks anything of her
beauty : you must then count me as nobody, for I think highly,
make great count, of her beauty.
65. for going ungartered, i.e. affecting a carelessness as to
dress which was supposed to be among the signs of being in
love ; cp. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 397-400, where Rosalind tells Orlando
that as marks of his love ' your hose should be ungartered, your
bonnet unbanded, your sleeve unbuttoned,' etc.
68, 69. for he ... hose. If the text is sound, the words ' and
you... hose' can only mean 'to put your hose on properly,'
indicating that they are awry in some way. The Cambridge
Editors say that the passage is corrupt, and among other con
jectures suggest ' to put on your shoes,' pointing out that the
same misprint of c hose ' for ' shoes ' occurs in the first edition of
Green's Groatsworth of Wit. Daniel conjectures ' to button your
shoes,' which seems to me a more likely reading.
72-74. I thank . . . yours, I may thank you for the beating you
gave me on account of my being in love with my bed, for that
emboldens me to chide you for being in love with Madame
Silvia.
75. I stand . . . her, my love is placed upon her. Probably an
echo of the stilted language of Euphuism (the style brought into
vogue by Lilly's romance called ' Euphues,' and by his plays)
which Shakespeare imitates in Love's Labour's Lost, and parodies
in i. H. IV. ii. 4. 439-443.
76. set, used by Shakespeare for ' seated. ' Malone thinks
there is an allusion to the setting of the sun, but this seems
unnecessary as Speed goes on to say that his master's love would,
if he were seated, come to an end : so, provided that.
82. lamely writ, in halting metre; cp. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 178,
Per. iv. Prol. 48.
sc. i.] NOTES. 83
85, 86. 0 excellent . . . her, a ' motion ' was a puppet-show, and
also the puppet itself (Lat. pupa, a doll), and Speed puns on the
word in its ordinary sense in regard to Silvia's lady-like or
mincing walk. The puppet show was accompanied by an inter
preter who explained the meaning of the movements and gestures
of the puppets. Cp. Hand. iii. 2. 256, 257, ' I would interpret
between you and your love, if I could see the puppets dallying.'
87. good-morrows, 'morrow,' A.S. morwe, means morning.
88. give . . . even, let me wish you good even. This salutation,
which was used by our ancestors as soon as noon was past, is
found in various forms, e.g. ' God dig-you-den,' ' God gi' god-
den,' 'God ye god-den' : here's ... manners, i.e. with the addition
of my salutation we have a million of compliments, well-mannered
greetings.
90. servant, a term in common use with the special sense of
lover, one who in his address to his mistress vowed himself her
' servant ' (probably from the Ital. cavalier servente used in
a similar sense) ; and also in the wider sense of one prepared to
render all courteous and knightly service to the lady of their
admiration, in which sense, as Knight points out, Valentine
presents Proteus to Silvia, while himself betrothed to her, in the
words ' sweet lady entertain him to be my fellow-servant to your
ladyship,' to which she replies, ' Servant, you are welcome to a
worthless mistress.'
97. clerkly, like a scholar, as Valentine's answer understands
the word, though, as Silvia has only glanced at it, she probably
refers to the good penmanship, bad writing being much affected
at the time by men of rank, as we see in Haml. v. 231-35. For
' clerk,' in the sense of scholar, cp. M. N. D. v. 1. 93, Per. v.
Prol. 5, and for ' clerkly,' in the same sense, ii. H. VI. iii. 1. 179.
102. so ... you, provided my doing so may be of any use to you ;
cp. M. V. i. 3. 7.
103. Please you, if you so please.
105. A pretty period ! that's a nice pause to make (as showing
that there were limits to his service) !
106. And yet. Silvia sarcastically echoes his 'yet.'
109. And... will, i.e. in spite of your protestations you will
trouble him yet.
111. quaintly, cleverly, skilfully; 'quaint,' O.F. coint, quaint,
neat, trim, which again is, according to Skeat, from Lat. cognitus,
known, famous, though confused with the Lat. comptus, neat.
The modern meaning is more nearly ' oddly,' though generally in
a commendatory sense.
113. Nay, take them, said in rebuke of his evident unwillingness
to receive them.
117. more movingly, in more touching terms.
84 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
120. so ... so, well and good in either case.
122. for, in requital of.
124, 125. Ojest, ...steeple! i.e. so plain that no one but a
blind man could help seeing it.
130. what... your self? Why are you talking with yourself?
for to ' reason ' = to talk, cp. M. V. ii. 8. 27, K. J. iv. 3. 29; what
=for what, or why ; or the sentence may be taken as a combina
tion of 'for what are you,' etc., and 'what is the matter about
which you are,' etc., much as in M. A. i. 3. 318, ' What need the
bridge much broader than the flood ? ' is a combination of ' why
need the bridge be broader ? ' and ' what need is there that the
bridge be broader ? '
135. by a figure, figuratively, by means of a parable. Then,
playing upon the contrast of figures and letters, he goes on ' By
a letter.'
142. No ... indeed, certainly there is no believing what you say.
142, 143. But . . . earnest ? But, if you did not perceive the
jest, did you not perceive what she meant in earnest ? There is
also a play upon ' earnest ' in the sense of ' pledge,' a word of
different origin.
147. an end, see note on i. 3. 65, above.
148. I would ... worse, I wish I could believe that her -anger
meant nothing worse than what you say.
152. discover, reveal.
153. her love himself, her love personified in you.
154. in print, literally, exactly. Steevens quotes All Fooles,
1605, ' not a hair About his bulk, but it stands in print ' ; and
Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, 'he must speak in print, walk
in print, eat and drink in print, and that which is all in all, he
must be mad in print.'
156. I have dined, I have no need of food (ac. having feasted on
the looks of my mistress).
157, 158. though . . . air. Staunton compares, for the old idea that
chameleons fed upon air, The World in the Moon, 1697, 'O
Palmerin, Palmerin, how cheaply dost thou furnish out thy table
of love ! Canst feed upon a thought ! live upon hopes ! feast
upon a look ! fatten upon a smile ! and surfeit and die upon a
kiss ! What a Cameleon lover is a Platonick ! ' Cp. also Hand.
iii. 2. 98, ' Excellent, i' faith ; of the chameleon's dish : I eat the
air promise -crammed : you cannot feed capons so.'
159. fain, gladly; O.E. fagan, fagn, to rejoice; both adj. and
adv.
160. be moved, ' Have compassion on me, though your mistress
has none on you ' (Malone) ; but with allusion to the literal sense
of leaving the palace to go home to dinner.
sc. ii.] NOTES. 85
SCENE II.
4. If... not, i.e. if you are constant in your love.
7. And seal, and we will seal, or, let us seal. * " This," Douce
remarks, ' ' was the mode of plighting troth between lovers in
private. It was sometimes done in the church with great
solemnity ; and the service on this occasion is preserved in some
of the old rituals." The latter ceremony is described by the
priest in Twelfth Night, v. 1. 159-162, "A contract of eternal
bond of love, Confirm'd by mutual joinder of your hands,
Attested by the holy close of lips, Strengthen'd by rite and
changement of your rings " ' (Staunton).
8. for, in pledge of, as a token of.
12. Torment, i.e. let some foul mischance torment.
13. stays, awaits.
18. better ... words, has deeds which are better than words ; a
slight confusion by which words are included among deeds. A
similar confusion with superlatives is frequent, e.g. M. N. D.
v. 1. 252. So in Milton's well-known lines, P. L., iv. 323, 4,
' Adam the goodliest man of men since born, His sons, the fairest
of her daughters Eve.'
SCENE III.
1. 'twill ... hour, it will be a full hour at least.
2. kind, stock, family.
3. proportion, Launce's blunder for 'portion,' as 'prodigious'
for 'prodigal,' 'Imperial's' for 'Emperor's.' The story of the
Prodigal Son is told in Luke, xv. 12-32.
7. our cat, . . . hands, ludicrously ascribing to the cat an expres
sion of grief not uncommon with women.
9. a very . . . stone, Launce thinks to intensify the word ' stone '
by prefixing ' pebble ' to it.
10. than a dog, humourously comparing a dog to a dog, that
animal being so often and so mistakenly spoken of as something
without feeling and worthless.
16. sole, with a pun on ' soul.'
17. a vengeance on't! Launce is becoming confused in this
personification of things, a confusion which reaches its climax in
the words, ' no, the dog . . . myself. '
21. ay, so, so, ay, that's it, I have got it right at last.
22. now ... shoe, now, if this shoe is my father, it ought not be
able to speak a word on account of its weeping.
86 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
25. a wood woman, a woman beside herself from grief ; wood,
an old word for ' wild,' ' frantic ' ; cp. M. N. D. ii. 1. 192, * And
here am I, and wood within this wood ' ; Theobald's correction
of the folio reading ' would. ' Others prefer to read, with Pope,
' an ould woman. '
26. up and down, exactly, to the life; cp. M. A. ii. 1. 124,
'Here's his dry hand up and down.'
31. to post... oars, to hasten to join him by taking boat to
reach the ship now in the haven and ready to sail.
34. tied. Of this pun the commentators quote several instances
from writers before Shakespeare's time, and possibly it may be
borrowed here.
41, 42. Why dost . . . tongue. Here Launce must be supposed to
put his hand over Panthino's mouth.
51. what thou darest, any opprobrious name you dare.
SCENE IV.
1. Servant, see note on ii. 1. 90.
7. knocked, struck.
12. counterfeits, shams, impostors.
13. So do you, sc. for you are a counterfeit.
18. And how . . . folly ? and wherein do you observe my folly ?
for quote = note, perceive, cp. JR. J. i. 4. 31, 'What curious eye
doth quote deformities?' here used for the sake of the pun on
'coat.'
19. jerkin, short coat ; a diminutive from Du. jurk, a coat.
20. doublet, an inner garment, a ' double ' to the outer one, but
used also for a coat generally. Valentine is criticizing the fashion
of Thurio's dress.
23. change colour, grow red with anger.
24. chameleon, whose skin takes its colour from its surround
ings, that is, in reality in the sheen of its coat reflects the colour
of whatever is nearest to it.
25. hath more mind, is more inclined.
27. You ... sir, you have spoken your mind, delivered a senti
ment ; with sarcasm as to the value of that sentiment.
29. you always ... begin, i.e. you are all words without deeds.
30. volley, lit. a flight of shot ; F. volte, a flight, Lat. volare,
to fly.
32. we ... giver, possibly a parody of the words, ' pray for the
founder,' an admonition addressed to those who received alms at
the gates of religious houses.
so. iv.] NOTES. 87
34. gave the fire, encouraged him to be so courageous in the
discharge of his witticisms. To ' give fire ' is used of a weapon
when fired off.
34-36. Sir Thurio . . . company, it is to your beauty that he owes
his wit (i.e. it is your beauty which kindles wit in him) and he
generously makes return to you by exhibiting it in your presence ;
but in kindly there is probably a pun upon the sense ' After his
kind,' according to his nature,' as in Lear, i. 5. 15, 'My other
daughter will use thee kindly.
45. you . . . beset, sc. by two lovers at the same time, like a
fortress attacked on both sides.
47. What say you to ... ? How should you like to receive ... ?
How should you feel if you knew that you might expect . . . ?
48. will. We should now say ' shall ' ; but will denotes desire,
wish, not merely inevitable futurity.
49. happy messenger, messenger of happiness, good news.
50. Don. The commentators point out that in strictness this
title should be applied to a Spaniard only, not to an Italian,
though we have already had ' Don Alphonso,' and the mistake
was clearly the poet's.
52. To be ... estimation, to be a man of worth and of good
name.
56. regard, affection.
59. conversed, held close intercourse; the modern ' conversation '
limits the sense to intercourse by speech, but the word originally
had the wider sense of general association. Cp. above, i. 3. 31.
M. V. i. 2. 78.
61, 62. Omitting ... perfection, not availing myself of the
good gifts of time in order to render myself in old age a model
of what a man should be ; possibly with reference to mankind
having been created to be 'a little lower than the angels.'
69. feature, used by Shakespeare for the person in general (and
especially of dignified appearance, e.g. R. II. i. 1. 19, Cymb. v.
5. 16, as featureless in Sonn. xi. 10, for 'ugly'), and rarely if
ever, in the restricted modern sense of the particular parts of the
face.
71. if ... good, if he gives proof that he is all you say of him.
74. is come, the difference between this and ' has come ' is that
is expresses the present state, has the activity necessary to
cause the present state ; see Abb. § 295.
78. Should ... he, if there is anything I should have wished for,
it would have been for his coming.
81. cite him to it, urge him, call upon him, to welcome
Proteus.
88 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
84. Had come, would have come.
85. crystal, clear and bright as crystal.
86. 87. Belike . . . fealty, then we may perhaps assume that she
no longer holds those eyes fast in her looks, but has set them free
on his having given some other pledge of his loyalty to her :
upon, as a result of, in consequence of, some other pawn being
given : fealty, Lat. fidditas, faithfulness.
94. homely, common looking : wink, see note on i. 2. 139,
above.
100. entertain, receive into your service.
104. To have ... of, to be so much as looked at.
108. did... meed, was allowed to go without its reward:
his = its.
110. die on him, die fighting with him, fight to the death with
him.
116. we look... you, we shall expect to know that you have
settled your affairs by your presenting yourself before us again.
119. have ... commended, have sent you many remembrances :
them, reflexively.
126. imperious, despotic, all-commanding. Johnson would
alter Whose to Those, and Dyce adopts the change. The mean
ing would then be ' those masterful thoughts in which I
contemned love.' Staunton, on the other hand, thinks that
thoughts may be a misprint, since Shakespeare never uses
the word to express behests, dictates, commands, etc.
131. made ... sorrow, compelled me to lie awake at nights
brooding over love.
134. to... to, in comparison with: his correction, the punish
ment which he inflicts.
136. Now no discourse, sc. is pleasing to me.
138. naked, mere, single.
142. paragon, ' a model of excellence : F. paragon . . . Sp.
paragon, a model... from Span, para con, in comparison with;
in such phrases as para con migo, in comparison with me, para
con el, in comparison with him : from Span, para, for, to,
towards, which is itself a compound prep. , answering to 0. Span.
pora, from Lat. pro, ad ; and con, with, from Lat. cum, with.
Thus it is really equivalent to the three Lat. prepositions, pro,
ad, cum (Skeat, Ety. Diet.}.
144. flatter me, if you will not flatter her, flatter me for having
such an incomparable creature for my mistress.
145. you . . . pills, sc. by jeering at me for my folly.
147. by her, of, in regard to, her.
sc. iv.] NOTES. 89
148. Yet . . . principality. Staunton quotes Scot's Discoverie of
Witchcraft, 1584, ' The first he calleth Seraphim, the second,
Cherubim, the third thrones, the fourth denominations, the
fifth, virtues, the sixth, powers, the seventh, principalities,
the eighth, archangels, the ninth and inferior sort, he calleth
angels.' Steevens further cites St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans,
vii. 38, ' nor angels nor principalities. ' So Milton, P. L.
'Thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, powers.' If not
divine, Silvia, may be regarded as something celestial.
150. 151. except . . . love, do not make any exceptions unless you
intend to find some flaw in the object of my love : love, here the
abstract for the concrete : for the intransitive use of except, cp.
T. N. i. 3. 7, ' Let her except before excepted,' where, as possibly
here, there is an allusion to the legal phrase exceptis excipiendis,
those being excepted that ought to be excepted : on except, as
a preposition, see Abb. § 118.
152, 153. prefer ... prefer, in the former line to consider more
worthy' ; in the latter to ' advance to honour.'
158. to root, to give root to, to allow to grow : summer-
swelling, which buds and blossoms in summer.
160. braggardism, bombastic language, language such as only
a braggart might be expected to use.
161. can, am able to do.
162. other worthies, other creatures deserving praise.
163. alone, unique. In this sense the old dramatists were
very fond of the phrase per se, or A per se, E per se, etc. : let
her alone, have nothing to do with her.
166. pearl, in the concrete ; cp. Macb. v. 8. 56, ' I see thee
compass'd in thy kingdom's pearl,' i.e. the noblest of the land.
167. nectar, the drink of the Olympian gods.
168. do not ... thee, allow my thoughts to be wholly taken up
with you ; to ' dream ' and ' dote ' were often used together in
the sense of dwelling with fond affection upon anything.
171. for, because.
172. must after, for the ellipsis of the verb, see Abb. § 405.
177. Determined of, is settled, we have arranged regarding.
178. made, being made.
182. I shall ... forth, I will seek you out presently ; cp. M. V.
i. 1. 143, ' To find the other forth.'
189, 190. Even ... another. Cp. /. C. iii. i. 171, ' As fire drives
out fire, so pity pity ' ; Cor. iv. 7. 54, ' One fire drives out one
fire, one nail one nail.'
191. by, in consequence of; see Abb. § 146.
90 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT IT.
192. Is it ... praise. Many conjectures have been made in order
to cure the halting metre here. The best seem to be ' Is it mine
eye or Valentinus' praise' (Dyce), and 'Is it her mien or
Valentinus' praise ' (Blakeway).
193. true, absolute ; but here employed for the sake of the
antithesis with false.
194. me reasonless, who have no good reason to do so.
196. That ... love. He corrects himself.
197. which, and it : 'gainst, when placed in front of.
203. with more advice, on further knowledge, when I know
her more fully ; cp. H. V. ii. 2. 43, ' And on his more advice we
pardon him.'
204. without advice, so inadvisably, so contrary to the dictates
of prudence, good faith to Valentine, and loyalty to Julia.
205. her picture, her outward self. Steevens compares Cymb.
i. 6. 15, ' All of her that is out of door most rich ! ' and W. T. ii,
1. 69, ' Praise her but for this her without-door form.'
206. dazzled, here a trisyllable.
207. perfections, the qualities of mind, character, etc., which
combine to make up her full attractions ; a quadrisyllable ; for
the plural cp. T. N. i. 1. 39, ' Her sweet perfections.'
210. compass, win her for myself ; Sp. compasar, to measure
with a compass ; thence figuratively to catch, attain to, get at,
win.
SCENE V.
1. Padua. For this Dyce and other editors substitute ' Milan.'
But in iii. 1. 81, v. 4. 129, we have by a similar mistake ' Verona '
for ' Milan,' and such mistake is not likely to be due to the
printer. The Cambridge Editors remark, * These inaccuracies
are interesting as showing that Shakespeare had written the
whole of the play before he had finally determined where the
scene was to be laid.'
5. some certain shot, some tavern-reckoning that we well
know of ; shot, the same as scot, a contribution, that which is
' shot ' into the general fund ; cp. i. H. IV. v. 3. 30, Cymb. v.
4. 158.
6. madcap, mad fellow, wag ; cp. * flat-cap,' * huff-cap,' ' ass-
head,' ' block-head,' 'jolt-head.'
8. sirrah, used generally in addressing inferiors, or between
equals of low degree, and implying disrespect when used to
persons of note, or at least an unbecoming familiarity ; sometimes
applied even to women, as in A. C. v. 2. 229, ' sirrah Iras, go.'
sc. v.] NOTES. 91
10, 11. after they ...jest. Launce quibbles upon closed = came
to an agreement, and closed met in combat. In the former sense
the verb is more frequently followed by ' with ' and a substan
tive, e.g. W. T. iv. 4. 830, J. C. iii. 1. 202; for the latter cp.
ii. H. IV. ii. 1. 20. It is to the latter sense that the words ' they
parted ... jest ' refer, very fairly meaning on good terms, as good
friends after combat.
12. shall she, is it settled, destined, that she is to, etc. See
Abb. § 315.
16. are they broken ? have they parted in ill will ? is the
agreement broken off?
17. whole ... fish, entirely of one mind. The idea is that of a
creature not made up of several parts or members.
19. when ... him, when things are well with him.
22. block, blockhead, senseless creature.
29. will . . . match ? will matters end in a marriage ? The
original sense of 'match' was 'companion,' 'mate,' hence an
' equal,' and from the verb ' match,' to ' consider equal,' came
the senses of 'contest,' 'game,' 'marriage.'
34. but . . . parable, in a,' direct way. A ' parable ' illustrates
but does not directly enunciate a truth ; parable, lit. comparison,
Gr. napa/SoX-/!, hence allegory deduced from circumstances.
35. 'Tis ... so, I am fortunate in getting at the truth even in an
indirect way.
39. lubber, clumsy fellow ; a word of Celtic origin ; cp. Welsh
Hob, a dolt, blockhead. Launce pretends to have misheard the
word ' lover ' (1. 36).
40, 41. thou . . . master. By ' thou mistakest me ' Speed means
you misunderstood me, I said 'lover' not 'lubber,' to which
Launce, again purposely misunderstanding, says, ' When I said
lubber, I did not mean you but your master.'
45. an ... Jew, i.e. anything vile, a mere infidel ; just as Pistol
uses ' Turk ' in ' base Phrygian Turk,' M. W. i. 3. 97.
40. to the ale, to the alehouse and so necessarily to the ale.
It has been supposed, though perhaps without reason, that
allusion is here made to one of those periodical festivities com
mon at the time, such as church-ales, bride-ales, Whitsun-ales,
in which there was much drinking of ale.
SCENE VI.
1. To leave, in leaving, by leaving ; for the infinitive used in
definitely, see Abb. § 356.
4. which . . . oath, which first prompted me to bind myself by
oath.
92 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n.
7. sweet suggesting, that so sweetly tempts me ; ' suggest ' =
tempt is frequent in the old dramatists.
11. unneedful ... broken, vows carelessly made may be revoked
upon fuller reflection.
12. wants, lacks, is without.
13. learn, teach.
15. preferr'd, advanced to honour, exalted.
17. leave, cease.
20. must lose myself, must forgo all that makes life worth
living.
24. For love . . . itself, for love is ever most precious when, as it
were, it is part and parcel with the lover himself. Proteus in
his special pleading is giving a reason for loving himself better
than a friend.
26. Ethiope, blackamoor, the Ethiopians being a dark-skinned
race ; cp. L. L. L. iv. 3. 118.
35. competitor, confederate, as frequently in Shakespeare ;
though, as Clarke points out, Proteus while conscious that he is
admitted to his friend's counsel as an auxiliary, gives him
counsel knowing himself to be his rival.
36. presently, at once, without delay.
37. pretended, intended, designed ; in this sense both the verb
and the substantive * pretence ' are frequent in Shakespeare and
the dramatists generally.
39. For Thurio . . . daughter, sc. and therefore he will be all the
more willing to get rid of Valentine by banishing him.
40. cross, thwart, hinder.
41. blunt, the opposite of 'keen-witted.'
42. lend . . . swift, teach me the way to swiftly carry out my
purpose ; swift-winged as you are, impart to me something of
your nature.
43. drift, intention, scheme, that at which he is driving ; cp.
iii. 1. 18.
SCENE VII.
1. Counsel, advise : conjure, earnestly entreat you ; here with
the accent on the final syllable.
2. even . . . love, out of the very kindness of your love.
3. table, tablet ; an allusion to the tablets, generally of ivory,
which it was a common custom to carry for the jotting down of
memoranda.
4. character'd, written ; accented on the second syllable.
sc. vii.] NOTES. 93
5. lesson, school, instruct : mean, Shakespeare uses the singular
and the plural indifferently.
10. measure, travel over ; cp. Temp. ii. 1. 259.
14. Better forbear, you will do more wisely to remain where
you are : make return, merely a periphrasis for ' return.'
18. inly, inward. Halliwell, quoted by Staunton, compares
The Tragedie of Hoffman, 1631, 'Trust me, Lorrique, besides the
inlie grief That swallows my content.'
22. But qualify, but to moderate ; fire, a dissyllable : extreme,
accented on the first syllable.
28. enamell'd, burnished smooth and bright by its action ;
' enamel,' an opaque composition of the nature of glass, applied
by fusion to metallic surfaces, either to ornament them in various
colours or to form a surface for encaustic painting.
32. the wild ocean, though the only result is that it is swal
lowed up in the raging sea, whereas she hopes to find rest such
as a soul, etc.
38. Elysium, the fabled abode of bliss in classical mythology
for departed souls, in later times called the Islands of the Blest.
39. habit, dress.
40. weeds, garments; A.S. weed, dress.
41. well-reputed page, some soberly behaved page who is not
desirous of attracting notice by the gaudiness of his clothes ;
pages at the time attended both men and women ; Low Lat.
pagius, a servant, probably connected with pagus, a village.
43. in silken strings, so as to prevent its length being seen and
the sex of the wearer thus discovered.
44. odd-conceited, quaintly-devised ; a ' conceit ' is something
fancifully conceived, whether as a thought, a device, etc. ; true-
love knots, knots of ribbon fancifully tied and worn in the hair
or on the dress as emblems of the closeness of the ties between
lovers.
45. fantastic, fanciful, foppish ; f fancy ' being merely an
abbreviated form of 'fantasy.'
46. Of greater ... be, of greater age than my appearance will
make me out to be.
48. That . . . well, you might as well ask a lord, etc.
49. What compass, of what size in circumference ; farthingale,
0. F. verdugale, a corruption of Sp. verdugado, from verdugo, a
rod, stick. A framework of hoops worked into some kind of
cloth, formerly used for extending the skirts of women's dresses ;
a hooped petticoat.
52. mannerly, decent, respectable,
94 TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT n. so. vii.
53. repute, think and speak of me.
54. unstaid, giddy-headed, wild, cf. T. N. ii. 4. 18.
55. make me scandalized, cause me to be spoken lightly of ; a
* scandal ' is literally a stumbling block, something at which one
trips, and so anything at which one is offended.
58. Then never ... infamy, then do not worry yourself by
imagining what ill things may be said about you.
61. withal, with your going.
64. instances, proofs, evidences : of infinite of love. Elsewhere,
when using ' infinite ' as a substantive, Shakespeare prefixes the
article, as in M. A. ii. 3. 106, or a pronoun, as in T. C. ii. 2. 29.
As a substantive = an infinity, Malone quotes the Memoirs of
Lord Lonsdale, 1688, ' Infinites of men prest for the shippes,' etc.
But this proves nothing; we say 'numbers,' or 'multitudes,' of
men do so and so ; but this would not justify ' number ' or
' multitude ' of men, etc. Staunton further quotes Fenton's
Tragical Discourses, 1567, 'an infinite of kisses.' But the
difficulty is not in infinite being used as a substantive, but in the
absence of the article, definite or indefinite. The later folios
give ' as infinite ' ; Malone edited ' of the infinite.'
65. Warrant me welcome, are assurances of my being welcome.
66. All these, sc. oaths, tears, and other demonstrations of love.
68. But . . . birth. Belief in astrology was still strong in Shake
speare's day, and his works abound in terms taken from that so-
called science.
69. are oracles, as thoroughly to be believed as messages from
the gods.
74. as thou . . . me, I beseech you by the love you bear me.
74, 75. that . . . bear, such a wrong as to cherish, etc.
79. my longing journey, my journey which will be one con
tinuous longing for Proteus : longing is not here the gerundial
substantive, but the present participle in its ordinary sense.
80. dispose, disposal, to do what you like with.
83. to it, set about the matter.
84. my tarriance, the delay which hinders me.
ACT III. SCENE I.
1. give us leave, be good enough to leave us alone for a while ;
cf. K. J. i. 1. 230.
3. what 'a ... me, what do you desire of me ? what is your
business with me ?
4, would, wish to,
ACT. in. sc. i.] NOTES. 95
12. made privy to, made his confidant in, etc. , been allowed to
share a knowledge of, etc.
18. intended drift, purpose that he has set before himself.
21. Being unprevented, if not forestalled : timeless, untimely,
before your time.
23. command me, ask anything of me that you desire ; I shall
always be at your command.
28. jealous aim, suspicious guess ; cp. Oth. i. 3. 6, ' in these
cases where the aim reports.'
34. suggested, tempted ; as above, ii. 6. 7.
35. upper tower, tower at the top of my palace.
36. myself. Here my was originally an inflected case of the
pronoun = for me, but very early 'the notion became prevalent
that the inflected pronoun was a pronominal adjective and that
se//'was a noun.' Hence the omission of the personal pronoun.
For a full history of the use of self, see Abb. § 20.
45. aimed at, guessed at ; as ' aim,' 1. 28 above.
47. pretence, intention, design; cp. 'pretended,' ii. 6. 37,
above.
52. Please . . . grace, if it please your grace ; a courteous form
of address, like our ' by your leave. '
57. happy being, the pleasure I find in staying at your court.
59. I am ... thee, I have to enter upon, open to you, a subject ;
cp. K. J. iv. 2. 227, i H. IV. iii. 1. 144, and without the pre
position and object, i. 3. 44, above. Also see Abb. § 403.
60. touch me near, concern me vitally.
64. were, would be.
66. Beseeming, becoming, suitable to.
67. fancy, love ; in which sense both verb and substantive are
frequent in Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
68. peevish, wayward, capricious : froward, refractory, ob
stinate ; from fro and ward ; disposed to go counter to what is
reasonable ; cp. ' toward ' in the opposite sense.
70. Neither . . . child, neither showing that love which a child
should have towards its parents.
71. As if I were, ' as she ought to do considering I am ' (Craig) ;
not implying any doubt as to his being her father, which in
another context the words might mean.
73. upon advice, on consideration, reflection ; as above, ii. 4.
205.
74-76. where ... wife, whereas I once hoped that my few re
maining years would have been cared for by filial duty, now,
96 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTIII.
finding that I cannot expect such devotion, I have determined to
supply a daughter's place by marrying a second time ; where,
whereas, as frequently in the language of the day.
79. she . . . not, sc. and therefore she shall have neither love nor
wealth from me.
What . . . this ? What part do you wish me to play in aid of
your determination regarding her ?
81. Verona. See note on ii. 5. 1, above.
82. affect, love, have affection for; cp. M. A. i. 1. 298, 'Dost
thou affect her, Claudio ? ' nice, much the same as coy, prudish,
hard to win, fastidious.
84. to, for ; see Abb. § 189.
85. agone, past part, of the vb. ago, to go forth, proceed, now
shortened to ' ago. '
87. How ... myself, dependent upon ' would ... tutor,' 11. 85, 86,
being parenthetical : I may . . . myself, I should behave myself,
fashion my behaviour in paying court to her.
88. To be ... eye, so as to find favour in her eyes.
90. kind, nature, way. Malone quotes Marlowe's Hero and
Leander, ii. , ' 'Tis wisdom to give much ; a gift prevails, when
deep persuasive oratory fails.'
95. For scorn ... more, for if she begins by scorning you, she
will by a natural reaction end in loving you all the more dearly.
98. to ... gone, to get rid of you, to be rid of you.
99. mad, wild with disappointment.
103. black, ugly, dark even to ugliness ; cp. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 98.
108. severely, strictly ; from . . . men, from the companionship
of men ; so that men cannot resort to her ; cp. above, i. 2. 4.
111. be, see Abb. § 300.
113. lets, hinders; from A.S. lettan, to hinder; ' let '= allow,
from A. S. Icetan, to allow.
115. shelving, sloping.
116. apparent, manifest.
117. quaintly, see note on ii. 1. Ill, above.
118. anchoring, holding fast, as an anchor holds fast to the
bottom.
119. another Hero's, one as difficult of access as was Hero to
Leander.
120. So bold ... it, provided a man were as bold as Leander to
run the necessary risk.
121. as ... blood, by your faith as a well-born gentleman,
125. come by, acquire, reach to,
sc. i.] NOTES. 97
130. of any length, fairly long.
131. serve the turn, answer the purpose.
133. get me, get for myself; see Abb. § 220: off... length,
about the same length.
135. How... cloak? how shall I accommodate myself to wear,
after what fashion shall I wear, the cloak ? me, reflexive.
136. let me ... me, let me put on your cloak and see how it
feels.
137. this same, an expression almost always used with a
contemptuous note.
138. engine, contrivance, instrument.
139. for once, sc. to break open another's letter would in
ordinary cases be a breach of honour and good manners, but
in the circumstances the duke considers it allowable.
140. harbour, dwell.
143. where ... lying, sc. in her 'pure bosom.' Malone points
out that ' women anciently had a pocket in the fore part of their
stays, in which they not only carried love-letters and love tokens,
but even their money and materials for needle-work.' Rolfe
compares HamJ. ii. 2. 113, 'In her excellent white bosom,
these,' etc.
144. herald thoughts, thoughts which are sent before me to
prepare my approach in person to you, as heralds proclaim the
coming of a king or some great person ; them, reflexively.
145. that . . . importune, that send them thither with urgent
solicitation ; importune, Lat. importunus, unfit, unsuitable, to be
troublesome, persistent ; cp. above, i. 3. 13.
146. 147. Do curse . . . fortune, curse the kindness which has
shown them such gracious favour because I myself am not a
sharer in this happiness.
148. for ... me, because they are, etc., i.e. for having sent them
where I, their lord, would so gladly be.
151. enfranchise, set free, from the room in which she is
confined ; F. franc, free.
153. for... you, i.e. I call you Phaethon, for you can be no
other than the foolish son of Merops who claimed Phoebus as his
father. Merops was the husband of Clymene, who from an
amour with Phoebus bore him a son Phaethon. Phaethon in his
rashness begged of his father to be allowed to drive his chariot
for one day in its diurnal course round the earth ; but owing to
his want of skill he was in danger of setting fire to the skies and
earth. Jupiter therefore hurled him from the chariot and he fell
into the river Po. The story is told in Ovid's Metamorphoses,
which Shakespeare probably read at school, though he may have
98 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTIII.
had it from Golding's translation, published in 1567. The
point here is that Valentine's audacity in planning to carry off
Silvia is as great as that of Phaethon, while by his failure he has
shown himself to be but a poor creature, about whose human
parentage there could be no doubt, as there was in the case of
Phaethon.
158. equal mates, those of your own rank in life, not on those
who, like my daughter, are so much above you, as much above
you indeed as the stars in heaven are above the earth.
159. patience, long-suffering in not punishing you in worse
fashion.
160. Is privilege . . . hence, generously allows you to depart
hence.
162. all too much, so wholly above your deserts ; for all, see
Abb. § 28.
164. expedition, haste.
168. thy . . . excuse, any excuse you may wish to make and
which would necessarily be a fruitless one.
175. by, present.
176. And feed . . . perfection, and feed upon the empty thought
of her whose presence is the divine reality.
177. by, near, at the side of.
182. my essence, my essential life, that which constitutes my
being ; leave, cease.
183. influence, a relic of the language of astrology in which
' influence ' was a term for the power exercised by celestial
bodies, and here applied to Silvia as being the sun of his life.
185. I fly ... doom, by flying from the deadly doom pronounced
by the Duke I do not really escape death, for life without
Silvia is to me death. There seems no necessity to read this for
his with Dyce, or is with Singer. For the indefinite infinitive,
see Abb. § 356.
186, 187. Tarry ... life, if I linger here, I do but wait for death
to claim me, but I am no better off if I fly, for then I fly from
life.
189. Soho, soho ! the cry raised in hunting when the hare is
seen flying from her ' form.'
191, 192, there's ...Valentine, playing on the words hair and
hare, and again on the name of Speed's master and that of the
Saint on whose day (February the 14th) birds are supposed to
choose their mates, and young men and maidens exchanged
tokens of love, poems, etc. Cp. Haml. v. 1. 51.
206. possessed them, taken possession of them.
sc. i.] NOTES. 99
211. No ... Silvia, true, there is no true-love for Silvia.
214. No ... me, i.e. if she has forsworn me, life is at an end for
me.
217. O...news! Clark and Glover would give these words to
Valentine interrupting Proteus, and they seem to have but little
force in the mouth of the latter.
220. will . . . surfeit, will be more than I can digest, endure.
222. the doom, sc. pronounced by the Duke.
223. which . . . force, which, unless it be revoked, holds good in
all its severity.
225. tendered. Here the verb is from F. tendre, Lat. tendere,
to stretch ; when meaning to ' hold dear ' it is from F. tendre (adj. ),
Lat. tener, tender. In Haml. i. 3. 107-109 Polonius plays upon
the two senses.
226. With them, sc. she tendered.
227. became them, gave them such grace.
228. but now, only since she heard of your banishment.
230. silver-shedding, which looked as if they were a stream of
silver.
232. But . . . die, so as to save Valentine, if he be found remain
ing in Milan, from immediate death ; for But, see Abb. § 122.
233. chafed, irritated.
234. for thy repeal, that you might be recalled from banish
ment ; for repeal, cp. Cor. iv. 1. 41, J. C. iii. 1. 54.
236. of . . . there, that she should be kept there for a long period.
240. As ending . . . dolour, as a dirge chanted at the conclusion
of my grief that knows no end ; an intentional contradiction of
terms ; anthem, properly an offering of sacred song in divine ser
vice, but here, as in V. A. 839, 'Her heavy anthem still concludes
in woe,' a mournful chant.
242. study help, let your endeavour be to discover what may
help you in your present plight.
247. manage . . . thoughts, and use it with skill to ward off, etc. ,
to ' manage ' weapons, arms, was to wield them (especially) with
dexterity; cp. R. II. iii. 2. 118, ii. H\ IV. iii. 2. 292, 301.
248. Thy letters . . . here, there is nothing to prevent your com
municating with Silvia by letter.
249. writ to me, addressed to me for deliverance to her.
251. The time ... expostulate, the time forbids our discussing
the matter at length now ; cp. iii. H. VI. ii. 5. 135.
252. convey, escort, attend upon.
253. at large, fully.
100 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTIII.
255, 256. As thou ... me ! if not for your own sake yet on
account of your love for Silvia, consider in what danger you
place yourself by lingering in Milan, and therefore hasten with
me outside its gates.
261, 262. the wit to think, sufficient sense to understand.
262, 263. but that 's ... knave, but that's of no importance, does
not matter, so long as he is one knave only. Johnson thinks that
one knave may mean a knave on one occasion only, as in contrast
with a double knave, a villain of the deepest dye, and Farmer
and Steevens quote various passages that to a certain extent sup
port this sense. Capell explains, ' My master is a kind of knave ;
but that were no great matter if he were but one knave ; but he
is two — a knave to his friend and a knave to his mistress.'
Hanmer reads 'one kind of knave'; Warburton, 'one kind';
and Staunton conjectures 'one in love.'
264, 265. but a team... me, i.e. no force however great. Cp.
T. N. iii. 2. 64, ' I think oxen and wainropes cannot hale them
together. '
268. a bare Christian. Steevens says, 'Launce is quibbling on.
Bare has two senses, mere and naked ... Launce uses it in both,
and opposes the naked female to the water-spaniel covered with
hairs of remarkable thickness.' But this seems to be refining too
much, and a ' bare Christian ' probably means one who does not
claim to be anything more than a mere Christian, a simple body
neither better nor worse than her fellow creatures.
269. cate-log, Launce's blunder for ' catalogue. '
Imprimis, in the first place.
272. jade, properly a tired, panting, exhausted horse, but
often applied to a tricky, skittish woman.
283. jolt-head, blockhead ; = jolted head, one whose head has
been knocked against another's or against the wall, a punishment
for stupid or sulky scholars ; jolt, to shake violently.
288. 0 illiterate loiterer ! Here Launce probably uses loiterer
without any clear idea as to its meaning, but merely as a good
mouth-filling assonance with illiterate.
290. in thy paper, by giving me your paper to read.
291. Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of scholars. Various
reasons are given why he was so considered, but these rest on
legends only.
295, 296. Blessing... ale. Steevens quotes from the ballad in
Jonson's Masque of Augurs, stanza 3, 'Our ale's o' the best, And
each good guest Prays for their souls that brew it ' ; of =on.
300. What need ... stock? what need a man care when marrying
a woman what her parentage may be when she can knit him a
stocking ? Launce is punning on stock = lineage, and stock= stocking.
sc. i.] , NOTES. 101
305. may I set ... wheels, may I let the world go. round as it
likes, pay no heed to what happens. Somewhat similarly A. G.
ii. 7. 124, ' Cup us, till the world go round.'
310, 311. She is not . . . breath, one must avoid kissing her before
she has breakfasted for her breath is then far from sweet.
314. a sweet mouth, used with a quibble, the words meaning
in one sense what we now call a 'sweet tooth,' i.e. a liking for
sweetmeats, dainties, while Launce interprets the words as a
mouth sweet in expression and kissable.
319. 0 villain ... vices ! what a wretch was he who accounted
it as a vice for a woman to be sparing of words !
323, 324. Out ... her, strike out that from the list of her faults,
for she inherited that quality from our first mother, Eve, and
cannot help possessing it.
326. because ... crusts, i.e. and when we are married I shall be
glad to eat up the crusts.
327. curst, shrewish ; Launce's answer perhaps alludes to the
proverb quoted in M. A. ii. 1. 22, 'God sends a curst cow short
horns.'
329. She will . . . liquor, ' that is, shew how well she likes it
by drinking often ' (Johnson).
332. liberal, frequently used by Shakespeare in a bad sense,
licentious, etc.
333. cannot, sc. be too free.
337. She hath... wit, a common proverbial saying of which
Steevens quotes several instances.
339, 340. she was . . . article, twice or thrice as you rehearsed
those particulars of her qualities, I was doubtful whether to
marry her or not ; an ' article ' is a single clause, or a particular
item, in a writing ; the word literally meaning a 'little joint.'
344. the salt, what we now call the 'salt-cellar,' that which
holds the salt at table. ' The ancient English salt cellar,' says
Malone, ' was very different from the modern, being a large piece
of plate, generally much ornamented, with a cover, to keep the
salt clean. There was but one salt cellar on the dinner table,
which was placed near the top of the table ; and those who sat
below the salt were, for the most part, of an inferior condition to
those who sat above it.'
348. 0, that . . . out ! would that that had been omitted from
the list !
350. gracious, graceful, acceptable.
353, 354. Why, then . . . North-gate ? Having, out of revenge
for Speed's reading his letter, befooled him into dawdling there
when he should have been hastening to his master, Launce now
102 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTIII,
gives him the message which he would otherwise have delivered
at once.
356. who art thou ? sc. that your master should not have
stayed for you when he has often stayed for some one of much
greater importance ? thus ludicrously inverting the natural
order of things in which wonder would be expressed at a man's
waiting for some one inferior to those for whom he thought him
self bound to wait out of respect to their rank.
360. going, mere walking ; cp. Lear, iii. 2. 94, * Then comes
the time, who lives to see't, That going shall be used with feet.'
363. swinged, flogged, beaten.
365. the boy, giving himself an air of superiority.
SCENE II.
7. trenched, cut ; F. trancher, to cut. Cp. Macb. iii. 4. 27,
c With twenty trenched gashes on his head.'
8. his, its ; see Abb. § 228.
17. conceit, opinion.
19. Makes ... thee, makes one all the more inclined to, etc.;
the, ablative of the demonstrative ; see Abb. § 94.
26. her, for ' herself ' ; see Abb. § 223.
28. persevers, accented on the penultimate, as always in
Shakespeare.
36. circumstance, circumstantial detail.
41. very, true, especial.
44. indifferent, neither good nor bad.
45. Being . . . friend, in a case in which you are entreated to do
it by a friend like myself.
49. But . . . love, but supposing this scheme weed her love for
Valentine out of her mind ; cp. L. L. L. v. 2. 857, ' To weed
this wormwood from your fruitful train'; Howe gave 'wean,'
Keightley ' wind ' ; but Shakespeare was not careful about the
mixing of metaphors.
51-53. Therefore ... me. ' As you wind off her love from him,
make me the bottom on which you wind it. The housewife's
term for a- ball of thread wound upon a central body is a bottom
of thread ' (Johnson). Steevens quotes Grange's Garden, 1557,
' A bottome for your si Ike it seems My letters are become, Which
oft with winding off and on Are wasted whole and some.' Cp.
also T. 8. iv. 3. 138, * beat me to death with a bottom of brown
thread'; and The Virgin Martyr, v. 1. 38, 'I, before the Desti
nies My bottom did wind up, would flesh myself, etc.
so. ii.] NOTES. 103
56. in this kind, in this way ; cp. iii. 1. 90, above.
60. Upon this warrant, having this guarantee of your good
faith that you will not yourself try to win Silvia's love.
62. lumpish, heavy, spiritless as a lump of clay or log of wood.
64. temper, mould her like wax to the shape we desire ; cp.
ii. H. IV. iv. 3. 140, 'I have him already tempering between my
finger and my thumb, and shortly will I seal with him.' The
radical sense is that of restraining.
68. lime, birdlime, figuratively. Cp. Haml. iii. 3. 68, ' 0
limed soul, that, struggling to be free, Art more engaged ! '
70. serviceable vows, vows of devotion to her service.
76. moist, moisten ; cp. A. C. v. 2. 285 ; feeling, touching,
plaintive, affecting.
77. discover, reveal ; such integrity, such whole-hearted de
votion as I have suggested ; for such, Collier gave strict and
Jervis conjectures love's ; Malone suggests the loss of a line, and
for integrity, Lettsom proposed idolatry.
78. Orpheus, the fabled poet of ancient story whose music was
so enchanting that not only animals but trees and stones followed
him ; cp. H. VIII. iii. 1. 3-5. * Orpheus with his lute made trees,
And the mountain tops that freeze, Bow themselves when he did
sing.'
80. leviathans, monsters of the deep, great whales ; Heb.
livyathan, an aquatic animal, dragon, serpent ; so called from its
twisting itself in curves, Heb. root Idvdh, to cleave.
81. unsounded, deep beyond all sounding; for -ed=-able, see
Abb. 375.
82. elegies, mournful songs.
84. consort, band of musicians ; cp. ii. H. VI. iii. 2. 327.
85. Tune . . . dump, in harmony with their instruments sing a
mournful ditty, a complaint of your love ; dump, a sorrowful
strain, as in Lucr. 1127, and in the plural of low spirits, as in
M. A. ii. 3. 373, the only sense that now survives.
86. become, be suitable to : grievance, sorrowful declaration of
your unrequited love, your pangs of love ; cp. iv. 3. 37. below.
87. inherit, gain possession of her for you ; cp. R. II. ii. 1. 83,
' gaunt as a. grave Whose hollow womb inherits nought but
bones.'
88. discipline, instruction as to behaviour ; cp. J. C. ii. 3. 32.
92. sort, choose out ; Lat. sors, a lot.
94. To give . . . advice, to set your advice in motion, to serve as
a beginning in following your advice.
95. About it . . . ! set about it, lose no time.
98. I will . . . you, I will excuse you from attendance upon me.
104 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv.
ACT IV. SCENE I.
1. stand fast, do not move ; passenger, wayfarer, passer-by.
3. Stand, do not attempt to flee.
10. with me, for the transposition, see Abb. 425 : proper, fine-
looking ; Lat. proprius, own, then what is suitable to a person,
and so comely, well-looking ; the words ' of his hands ' were often
added, as in ii. H. IV. ii. 2. 72 ; or ' of his person,' as in /. C. i.
2, 209.
13. habiliments, clothes ; so habit, above, ii. 7. 39, both from
Lat. habere, to have.
14. disfurnish, strip, rob.
21. some ... months, about sixteen months ; see Abb. § 21.
22. crooked, perverse,' untoward.
29. without . . . vantage, without taking advantage of him when
unarmed or unprepared for my attack.
31. for so ... fault, to outlaws everyday used to rob and slay
such a deed as killing a man in fair combat seems a mere trifle ;
cp. 1. 52, below.
32. held . . . doom, was only too glad to get off with so mild
a punishment.
33. Have . . . tongues ? Are you able to speak the languages of
different countries ? cp. M. V. i. 3. 97, v. 1. 167.
34. therein . . . happy, made me proficient in that respect, en
dowed me with that accomplishment ; cp. Cymb. iii. 4. 277.
Having used happy in this sense, Valentine goes on in the next
line to use miserable in contrast with the ordinary sense of
'happy.'
36. By the . . . friar. ' Friar Tuck, the well-known associate
and quasi confessor of Robin Hood, whom Scott has immortalized
in his "Ivanhoe," and of whom Dray ton sings in his "Poly-
olbion," — " Of Tuck the merry Friar, which many a sermon made
In praise of Robin Hoode, his outlawes and his trade " ' (Staun-
ton). In A. Y. L. i. 1. 122 Shakespeare again mentions ' the old
Robin Hood of England.' This personage, the subject of so
many stories, was the outlawed Earl of Huntingdon. Ousted
from his possessions, he associated himself with others of like
spirit, prominent among whom were Little John, Will Scarlett,
and Friar Tuck, and took up his abode in the forest of Sherwood.
There, living on the game they shot, spending their days in the
practice of archery and other athletic sports, relieving wealthy
travellers of their superfluous wealth, but treating the poorer
ones with kindness and generous help, they passed some years of
careless enjoyment and freedom : bare scalp, because friars shave
the top of the head.
sc. i.] NOTES. 105
37. were, would be.
42. to take to, to resort to as an employment.
46. awful, ' men full of awe and respect for the laws of society
and the duties of life' (Malone). Heath's conjecture, 'lawful'
greatly enfeebles the expression.
48. practising, plotting.
49. heir, like the Lat. haeres, being formerly used of both
51. mood, sc. angry mood, passion ; cp. C. E. ii. 2. 172.
53. But . . . purpose, but to come to our main object, sc. that of
choosing him for their leader.
53, 54. for ... lives, for this mention of the faults which drove
us into exile is made merely in justification of the life we now
live ; he will not call them ' crimes.'
57. perfection, accomplishments.
58. quality, profession ; used especially of the actor's pro
fession ; cp. Haml. ii. 2. 263, ' Will they pursue the quality no
longer than they can sing ? ' said of the boy actors.
60. we ... you, we make these advances to you ; see note on
i. 2. 5, above.
62. To make . . . necessity, to treat as a virtuous action that
which necessity compels you to.
64. consort, company.
72. silly, simple, innocent, harmless.
74. crews has been altered to 'crew' and also to 'cave,' com
paring v. 3. 12 ; but no change is necessary, crews meaning the
component parts of the general band.
76. dispose, disposal.
SCENE II.
4. prefer, advance, promote ; cp. Oth. ii. 1. 286.
6. worthless, sc. in her eyes.
8. twits, taunts.
9. When . . . vows, when I endeavour to make my protestations
of love agreeable to her by praising her beauty.
12. sudden quips, outbursts of sarcasm ; cp. M. A. ii. 3. 249.
20. Will . . . go, will with stealthy step make its way in offering
service when it is afraid to do so boldly. Reed quotes a Scottish
proverb, ' Kindness will creep where it cannot gang.'
22. or else . . . hence, otherwise I should not be here.
23. Who? For the neglect of the inflection, see Abb. §274.
106 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv.
25. and . . . awhile, and let us for the time make our music
heard to the best of our powers.
26. allycholy, the host's blunder for ' melancholy ' : cp. M, W.
i. 4. 169.
34. That . . . music, to hear him speak will be the sweetest
music I can have.
39. swains, youths in love ; cp. v. 4. 12 ; literally, a young
man, peasant, from Icel. sveinn, a boy, lad, servant.
40. Holy, chaste, virtuous.
44. For beauty . . . kindness, for kindness always goes with
beauty, is its accompaniment, and so we may expect her to be
kind.
45. repair, make its way ; in this sense from Lat. repatriare,
to return to one's country.
46. To help . . . blindness, seeking her help to cure him of his
blindness ; for help = cure, cp. Temp. ii. 2. 97 ; for of, see Abb.
§166.
49. excelling, preeminent.
52. garlands, sc. for her adornment in token of our homage.
54. likes, pleases ; for the impersonal use, see Abb. § 297.
57. He plays false, literally, he plays out of tune, but in
Julia's mouth meaning he is false to me in joining in this love-
song to Silvia : father, a term often used to any elderly person ;
so gaffer, i.e. grandfather, and gammer, grandmother, to very
old people.
62. it makes . . . heart, it makes me sad, makes my heart beat
slow with pain, not fast with joy ; of course for the play upon
quick, used in the sense of acute in detecting a false note.
67. that change . . . spite, it is that change (sc. in Proteus's love)
that makes things so bitter to me.
68. I would . . . thing, yes, that is just what I do desire ; mean
ing that she wishes Proteus would always remain true to his
love.
71. resort, pay visits to.
73. out... nick, beyond all calculating; a 'nick,' or notch,
was cut 4n a ' tally ' (a piece of wood kept for reckoning) to
denote the amount of goods sold, especially of liquor in taverns,
and hence the phrase here of a tally which had been so long in
use that there was no further room for a nick to be made in it.
Cp. ii. H. VI. iv. 7. 39. Steevens quotes A Woman Never
Vexed, ' I have carried the tallies at my girdle seven years
together, for I did ever love to deal honestly in the nick,' where
the speaker is an inn -keeper.
77. parts, is about to separate.
sc. ii.] NOTES. 10*7
80. Where meet we ? what is the place at which we agreed to
meet ? St. Gregory's well, ' the only mention in Shakespeare of
the holy wells which were the resort of pilgrims in olden time.
The town of Holywell in North Wales takes its name from the
famous well of Saint Winifred, which was enclosed in a beautiful
Gothic temple, erected by the mother of Henry VII. and still
standing ' (Rolfe).
88. compass, see note on ii. 4. 210, above : will, in his mouth,
goodwill, in hers, what she desires of him.
90. hie you, hasten ; used reflexively.
92. conceitless, utterly wanting in good sense.
95. make . . . amends, make such reparation to your mistress as
is possible.
102, 103. Twere ... buried, i.e. the lady he loved may be dead
in the sense that there is to him no one whom he once loved, but
the words would be false in my mouth, for, if dead to him, I am
still above ground.
104. be, see Abb. § 368.
111. let me ... earth, let me disinter your buried love, recall it
to life again ; for rake, cp. H. V. ii.* 4. 87, ' Nor from the dust
of old oblivion raked.'
113. sepulchre, accented on the penultimate.
114. He ... that, he stopped his ears to those words.
116. Vouchsafe, deign to give me ; properly two words ' vouch '
and 'safe,' i.e. guarantee that a thing is safe; so in Perkin
Warbeck, iii. 4. 11, ' Vouchsafe a few words from a man enforced
To lay his book aside,' the word means 'permit me without peril
to say,' etc.
120. Is else devoted, is vowed, consecrated, to another.
125. But since ...well, apparently a confusion between 'Since
it will well become (be in keeping with) your falseness to,' etc.,
and ' Since your falseness makes it becoming, suitable, to you
to,' etc.
128. As wretches, i.e. such good rest I may expect as wretches,
i.e. none at all.
131. By my halidom, by my sanctity, A.S. halig, sacred, holy,
and dom, affix indicating condition, state, etc. ; a petty form of
oath, meaning no more than ' i' faith,' or old Gobbo's 'sonties,'
from sante, health, or sanctity, M. V. ii. 2. 47.
132. lies, .stays, resides ; frequently of old of a temporary stay,
no longer used in this sense, except in military parlance as ' the
regiment lay that night at such or such town.'
136. watch'd, kept awake ; most heaviest, for the double
comparative, see Abb. § 11.
108 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv.
SCENE III.
2. know her mind, ascertain what she wishes me to do.
8. impose, injunction, imposition (in a good sense) ; cp. dispose,
ii. 7. 86, above, and see Abb. § 451.
13. Valiant ... accomplish' d. To smooth the ruggedness of this
line Pope gave 'Valiant and wise,' etc. Walker suspects the
loss of a monosyllable before Valiant, and Wright conjectures
'Valiant, remorseful, well accomplish'd, wise.' There are also
those who regard Valiant as a trisyllable ! remorseful, charitable,
kindly; 'remorse' being more generally used by Shakespeare
for ' pity. '
16. enforce me marry, for the omission of to, see Abb. § 349.
17. Vain, empty-headed.
20. and . . . love, who was your true love ; the terms to him
being synonymous.
21. them ... chastity, you swore to live unmarried. 'It was
common in former ages for widowers and widows to make vows
of chastity in honour of their deceased wives and husbands'...
(Steevens).
22. I would to. For the omission of the verb of motion, see
Abb. § 405.
23. makes abode, now dwells.
24. for, because.
25. 26. I do ... repose, I desire the honourable company of you
upon whose, etc.
27. Urge not, do not lay emphasis upon as an objection.
31. Which, a thing which : still, ever.
37. grievances, sorrows, afflictions.
38. Which since . . . placed, and since I know that those sorrows
have about them nothing of which you need be ashamed ; since
the course to which they are driving you is impelled by virtuous
feelings.
40. Recking, caring ; cp. Haml. i. 3. 51.
41. befortune, see Abb. § 438.
44. confession, not of her intentions, or not merely of them,
but the general confession of sins made in the Catholic Church
to the priest at frequent intervals.
45. Good morrow, the ordinary salutation before noon, after
which time ' goode'en ' was used.
sc. iv.] NOTES. 109
SCENE IV.
1. a man's servant, here of course his dog : play the cur, play
a villainous trick.
2. it goes hard, it becomes a thing hard to bear.
2, 3. of a puppy, from his earliest days.
4. went to it ! were put to that death.
5. precisely, in exact terms.
8. steps me. Here me represents the old dative, 'for me,'
and expresses the interest, share, in an action communicated to
another. So just below, 'thrusts me,' 'goes me,' 'makes me.
See Abb. §220.
trencher. 'In our author's time trenchers [i.e. wooden
plates] were in general use even on the tables of the nobility.
Hence Shakespeare, who gives to every country the customs of
England, has furnished the Duke of Milan's dining table with
them ' (Malone). The word is from F. trencher, to cut, the
platter being used to cut food upon. Cp. R. J. i. 5. 2.
10. keep himself, restrain himself ; keep in this sense is
frequent in Shakespeare, but is generally strengthened by an
adverb.
11. one that ... indeed, one that ventures to play the part of a
real dog.
12. a dog ... things, thoroughly up to his part in all respects ;
cp. T. N. ii. 3. 64, ' I am a dog at a catch,' i.e. a first rate hand
at singing a catch.
22. He makes . . . ado, he does not hesitate for a minute, he
makes no more business of the matter than to whip me ; ado,
'properly v. inf.=a,t do, which was the fuller form...(l) pres.
inf. To do... (2) In doing, being done; at work, astir ... Hence
through such phrases as much ado, etc., by taking the adverbs
as adjectives qualifying ado, the latter was viewed as a sub
stantive.' ... (Murray, New English Diet.).
24. the stocks, a contrivance for the punishment of vagrants
and petty offenders, consisting of two blocks of wood, one above
the other, working on a hinge, with the lower edge of the upper
block and the upper edge of the lower block cut away sufficiently
to admit the legs of the offender, which were then confined by
the end opposite to the hinge being fastened by a hasp and
padlock. These stocks were to be seen in villages not very many
years ago.
puddings, sausages, exposed for sale in butchers' shops.
25, 26. the pillory, a frame of wood much resembling the stocks
except that through the holes were thrust the head and hands
of the offender. This implement of correction was used for
110 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTIV.
criminals of various kinds, and especially for those guilty of
political offences.
27. Thou thinkest ... now. Here he turns to apostrophize his
dog.
32. these two days, during these two last days.
37. currish thanks, snarling thanks, i.e. no thanks at all.
38. received, accepted.
42. the other squirrel, the other puppy, wretched little thing
that it was ; he contemptuously compares to a squirrel the toy
dog that his master had intended as a present.
43. hangman boys, rascally boys ; the hangman's trade in all
ages being opprobrious.
49. still an end, ever, constantly ; see note on i. 3. 65, above.
50. entertained, received into my service.
53. For . . . trusting, for it is impossible to trust ; there is no
trusting.
56. fortune, manner of life.
60. deliver'd, i.e. who delivered ; for the ellipse of the relative,
see Abb. § 394.
61. to leave her token, in giving to another the ring which
was a pledge of her love. For leave, in this sense, Mason com
pares M. V. v. 1. 172, 196.
68. on him, i.e. you.
70. contrary, perverse.
75. Your message done, when you have conveyed this message.
78, 79. Alas ... lambs, i.e. you cannot expect me faithfully to
execute the commission you give me.
80. poor fool! having said 'Alas, poor Proteus,' she now
commiserates herself for her folly in still continuing to love one
who has proved unfaithful to her.
88. To carry . . . refused, to carry that (sc. the ring and letter)
which I should be glad to find that she would decline to receive.
89. his faith, the faith of him.
94. As, heaven . . . speed, I will not plead for him with a
warmth likely to be successful ; for such success heaven knows,
I do not desire ; in heaven it knows, it merely emphasizes the
adjuration : speed, the radical sense of the word is ' health.'
95. mean, intermediary, one by whom a purpose is effected ;
for the word as applied to a person, cp. i. H. IV. i. 3. 261.
102. sends you, sends to you.
107. this shadow, what is merely a shadow, whereas she would
be a reality.
so. iv.] NOTES. Ill
109. unadvised, unadvisedly, by mistake.
114. hold, be satisfied with having delivered his letter.
117. new-found oaths, that he has newly coined in confirmation
of that newly inspired love of his.
123. have profaned . . . ring, sc. by wearing as a token of love
from his mistress and then offering it to me.
127. tender her, show such compunction for her wrongs.
133. Belike, as it seems ; originally 'by like,' i.e. likelihood.
139. But since ... looking-glass, since she has ceased to take
any interest in her personal appearance.
140. mask. These were much worn at the time both in order
to save the complexion of the face from being tanned, as veils
are now worn, and also to conceal the features in such places
as theatres, etc. , where the wearer did not wish to be recognized.
142. And pinch'd . . . face, and discoloured her fair complexion
by breathing on it with too rude a touch. Cp. A. C. i. 5. 28.
We still speak of ' pinching cold,' as when frost nips the buds of
flowers, or the cold shrivels the features, but not of 'pinching'
heat : lily-tincture, Shakespeare is thinking of the white lily.
143. black, dark, sc. by the tanning of the sun.
145. Pentecost. Whitsuntide, originally a Jewish festival ;
the word means the fiftieth day, sc. after the Passover. Whitsun
tide was among the many festivals of olden days, such as
Christmas, Easter, Hallowmas (all of religious origin), and
May-Day, Midsummer, Harvest Home (of secular origin), etc.,
which were celebrated by festivities of various kinds, the acting
of plays among others.
146. pageants of delight, merry-making shows; the word
' pageant ' originally meant a moveable scaffold, such as was used
in the representation of the old mystery plays.
148. trimm'd, decked up. Till the Restoration women's parts
were always played by boys in female costume.
149. fit, fitly.
152. agood, plentifully ; from a, prep, representing on or in,
and good ; cp. afresh. Malone compares The Jew of Malta, ii. ,
' And therewithal their knees have rankled so, That I have
laughed a-good ' ; and Turbeville's Tragicall Tales, ' Whereat
she waylde and wept a-good.'
154. Ariadne, whom Theseus had loved and left : passioning,
passionately lamenting ; cp. Temp. v. 1. 24, V. A. 1059.
157-159. That my ... sorrow ! She of course means herself in
all this.
160. beholding, the active participle, originated in a mistake
for ' beholden,' the passive participle, in the sense of under an
112 TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT iv. so. iv.
obligation, a sense which is not found in other parts of the verb,
though a natural one of be-hold. The word in this form and with
this sense is very frequent in Elizabethan literature.
168. I hope ... cold, I hope that she will still look but coldly on
my master's suit ; cp. M. V. ii. 7. 73. Here and in the next
line, though now alone, she continues to speak of herself in the
part she is playing.
170. how love can ...itself! i.e. how foolish it is of Proteus to
fancy that Silvia is fairer than myself !
172. tire, attire ; but specially of head dress in which for
indoor wear ladies of old were very profuse ; cp. M. W. iii. 3.
60, ' thou hast the right arched beauty of the brow that becomes
the ship tire, the tire valiant, or any tire of Venetian admittance. '
175. Unless ... little, unless, in comparing myself to her, I rate
myself too high, i.e. I am fully as lovely, or perhaps more so, for
in this likeness Silvia's beauty has been somewhat exaggerated ;
to ' flatter with ' was an idiom of the day.
176. auburn, ruddy brown with golden gleams : perfect
yellow, of a pale gold colour.
178. periwig. ' It should be remembered, that false hair was
worn by the ladies, long before wigs were in fashion. These false
coverings, however, were called periwigs' ... (Steevens). Shakes
peare refers frequently to false hair.
179. grey, here = blue.
180. her forehead's low, a high forehead was formerly much
admired in women ; cp. A. C. iii. 3. 36, her forehead As low as
she would wish it,' where the Messenger is depreciating Octavia's
looks.
181. 182. What should ... myself? What can there be in her
that he regards so highly that I cannot show in my own person
as being worthy of a like regard ? should toe, can there possibly
be ; see Abb. § 325 : for the passive sense of respective, capable
of being respected, regarded ; see Abb. § 445. For the sequence
of tenses in I can ... were not, see Abb. §371.
184. shadow ... shadow, in the former case herself, as being in
respect to Proteus no more than a shadow of what she had once
been ; in the latter the portrait of Silvia.
186. shalt toe, are destined to be.
188. My sutostance . . . stead, my substance, I myself in the flesh,
ought to be the object of his idolatry instead of this shadow of
you ; statue here for ' image,' such as the images of saints before
which good Catholics bow the knee.
190. so, i.e. kindly.
191. unseeing eyes, eyes that are blind to realities, to the true
value of things.
ACTV. so. i.] NOTES. 113
ACT V. SCENE I.
6. So much . . . expedition, such spur do they set to their
haste, so eagerly do they spur themselves on to greater speed.
9. postern, back gate.
10. attended, followed ; shadowed, as we might now say.
12. If we ... enough, if we can reach that before they come up
with us, there will be no further risk ; in recover, there is no
sense of getting again, but merely of gaining, reaching ; cp.
iii. 2. 15.
SCENE II.
3. takes exceptions, finds fault with ; in this phrase we more
generally use the singular ' exception. '
5. little, small in girth ; but there are numerous passages in
the dramatists in which ' little legs ' are spoken of as marks of
good birth.
7. spurn'd, with allusion to ' boot ' in the line above.
10. the wanton, impudent minx as she is ; black, dark, swarthy.
12. Black ... eyes. Steevens quotes Hey wood's Iron Age, 'a
black complexion is always gracious in a woman's eyes.'
13. 'Tis true ... eyes. Here the allusion is to a disease in the
eye called a ' pearl in the eye,' small spots of white, the com
mencement of cataract ; cp. Middleton, The Spanish Gipsy, ii.
1. 166, ' A pearl in the eye ! I thank you for that ; do you ivish
me Hind ? '
14. wink, close my eye.
18. hold your peace, say nothing at all.
23. well derived, descended from an ancient and noble stock.
24. from . . . fool, the descent in your case being that from, etc.
28. owe, own ; as frequently in the language of the time.
29. That . . . lease. Steevens quotes the following explanation
by Lord Hailes in the Edinburgh Magazine, November, 1786 : —
' By Thurio's possessions, he himself understands his lands and
estate. But Proteus chooses to take the word likewise in a
figurative sense, as signifying his mental endowments : and when
he says they are out by lease, he means they are no longer en
joyed by their master, (who is a fool,) but are leased out to
another.' But there is perhaps a further allusion to the phrase
4 to beg a person for a fool. ' ' In the old common law was a
writ de idiota inquirendo, under which, if a man was legally
proved an idiot, the profit of his lands and the custody of his
person might be granted by the king to any subject' ... (Nares,
Gloss.}. To this statute there is an allusion in L. L. L. v. 2. 490.
1H THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACT v.
35. peasant, low fellow.
38. As lie ... forest. In the Catholic Church various penances
for sins confessed are prescribed as a condition of absolution
granted to the sinner ; and here the penance enjoined on Friar
Laurence is that he shall pass some hours in the dreariness of the
forest.
40. toeing mask'd, i.e. she being masked.
46. Upon . . . mountain-foot, at the foot of the mountain where
its spur begins to grow steep.
49. peevish, foolishly perverse.
52. reckless, that does not care what she does.
56. Than hate, than out of hatred : gone for love, who has fled
from her home out of love for Valentine.
SCENE III.
4. brook, endure ; cp. K. J. iii. 1. 36.
11. thicket, copse, thick wood: toeset, surrounded by our
companies.
SCENE IV.
2. shadowy desert, this deserted spot made gloomy by the
overhanging trees. Dyce reads 'These shadowy deserts,' etc.,
comparing Lear i. 1. 65, ' with shadowy forests and with cham-
pains rich'd,' and asserts that a 'shadowy desert' is 'scarcely
sense.'
5. to, in harmony with.
6. record. The exact meaning of this word seems doubtful.
According to Palgrave, it is properly applied to the chattering
of birds before they have learned to sing ; Cotgrave and Coles
on the other hand explain it of the rivalry of birds answering
one another's note. Barrington, quoted by Way in a note to the
Promptorium Parwdorum, says, ' The early note of song-birds
was termed recording, from the instrument formerly called re
corder,' a kind of flute or bird-pipe. See Dyce, Gloss.
7. thou, sc. love.
11. Repair, give fresh life to; carrying on the metaphor in
11. 8-10.
15. Have. If the reading of the line above is sound, we must
supply '»they.' Collier reads, 'These my rude mates'; Singer,
' 'Tis sure my mates ' ; and Taylor conjectures, ' Ah, these my
mates. '
21. To hazard, namely to hazard.
sc. iv.] NOTES. 115
22. forced your honour, done violence to your person.
23. meed, reward ; sometimes used for ' merit. '
27. to forbear awhile, not to rush in and claim Silvia.
32. And me ... presence, sc. from jealousy.
37. tender, dear, tenderly loved.
42. calm, gentle.
43. and . . . approved, and one proved by many an instance.
47, 48. thou . . . oaths, you then protested your loyalty by a
thousand several oaths.
49. Descended ... me, deteriorated into perjury when you gave
your love to me ; to love, the indefinite infinitive.
52. Than plural . . . one, than a double faith which is one too
many.
57. at arms' end, using those means which a soldier would use
when at sword's length encountering an enemy, i.e. employing
might in place of right.
58. And love . . . love, and show my love to you in a way con
trary to love, by compelling you to yield to my desires.
61. Thou ... fashion, you who show your friendship in so evil a
way.
62. Thou . . . love, you friend of a type so common nowadays, a
friend without, etc.
64. Beguiled my hopes, cheated me of the trust I had in your
friendship.
68. to the bosom, to the very heart, utterly.
70. But count . . . sake, but on account of your treachery never
again hope to find anyone trustworthy in friendship.
71. The private ... deepest, i.e. much deeper than a public one.
75. ransom, price paid by way of atonement.
76. tender, see note on iv. 1. 225, above.
77. commit, was guilty of offence.
78. I do ... honest, I welcome you again to my friendship as
being honourable.
84. me, for me ; the dative.
86. wag, a playful form of address to a boy.
93. cry you mercy, I ask your pardon.
95. depart, departure ; cp. ii. H. VI. i. 1.2.
100. gave aim, that was the target at which all your vows of
love were aimed. The figure is suggested by archery, in which
a man stationed near the butts pointed out, after every dis
charge, how wide, or how short, the arrow fell of the mark. Cp.
116 THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA. [ACTV.
The White Devil, iii. 1 , ' I am at the mark, sir : I'll give aim to
you, And tell you how near you shoot.'
102. cleft the root, pierced my very heart ; a continuation of
the metaphor from archery, in which to ' cleave the pin,' or
* clout,' was to hit the very centre ; the pin or clout being that
by which the target was fastened at the centre to its stand.
103. habit, dress, her page's disguise.
105, 106. if shame ... love, if indeed a disguise worn on account
of love brings with it shame.
107, 108. It is ... minds, for modesty allows that it is, etc. :
shape, outward appearance.
112. Inconstancy ... begins may mean ' inconstancy is not con
stant even for a breath to that to which it has gone over.' But
perhaps, putting a full stop at sins, we should read where for
ere and connect the sentiment with the two next lines ; my in
constancy ceases where it began ; as I began by being incon
stant to Julia, so my inconstancy brings me back to her ; he
thus stating as a general truth what is true in his particular case
only. For falls off= deserts an alliance, cp. Lear, i. 2. 116.
113, 114. What is . . . eye ! i.e. there is nothing in Silvia's face
which does not appear with greater lustre in that of Julia when
I look upon her with the eye of constancy ; a question of appeal
expecting a negative answer.
115. a hand from either, let each of you give me a hand in
order that I may unite the two in this happy reconciliation.
125. give back, stand back, do not venture to touch her.
126. measure, range, where my wrath may reach you.
128. Verona. Here again is the confusion between Verona
and Milan. Various alterations have been made, such as * And
Milan,' etc., ' Milano,' etc., but it is better to leave it: hold,
contain, be your abode.
130. I dare thee, I challenge you on the penalty of immediate
death.
136. To... means, to use such endeavour. Steevens compares
P. III. v. 3. 40.
137. leave, give up, forsake.
143, 144. Plead . . . subscribe, set out a new plea on your behalf
based upon your singular merits, revise my estimate of your
worth and attest it in the following words ; the language is
quasi-legal. This seems to be the meaning with a comma after
again, as in the folios, which I believe to be the right punctua
tion. Others, putting a full stop after again, take Plead as an
imperative = do thou plead. This sudden change of construction
seems to me impossible. If we had had * And I will thus sub
scribe,' it would have been less unlikely.
sc.iv.] NOTES. 117
155, 156. They ... employment. Language hardly in keeping
with that of v. 4. 16, 17.
158. Dispose of them, assign to them such position and occupa
tion, etc.
159. include, shut up, bring to a close ; Steevens compares
Macb. ii. 1. 16. ' and shut up In measureless content.'
160. triumphs, public festivities, such as tournaments, mas
ques, etc. : solemnity, stately ceremonies.
168. That ... fortuned, so that you will be filled with wonder
at what has chanced to happen.
170. discovered, revealed.
The following is an abstract of Daniel's Time-Analysis : —
1 Day 1. Act i. sc. i. and ii.
Interval : a month perhaps ; perhaps sixteen months.1
,, 2. Act i. sc. iii. and Act ii. sc. i.
,, 3. Act ii. sc. ii. and iii.
Interval : Proteus's journey to Milan.
,, 4. Act ii. sc. iv. and v.
Interval of a few days.
,, 5. Act ii. sc. vi. and vii., Act iii., and Act iv. sc. i.
Interval, including Julia's journey to Milan.
,, 6. Act iv. sc. ii.
,, 7. Act iv. sc. iii. and iv., and Act v.'
1 This is iii reference to Valentine's assertion, iv. 1. 24, that he had so
journed in Milan ' some sixteen months ' ; but, Daniel points out, this period
is not wanted for the plot of the play.
INDEX.
Ado, iv. 4. 22.
Affect, iii. 1. 82.
Agood, iv. 4. 152.
Aim, to give, v. 4. 100.
Ale, ii. 5. 40.
Anthem, iii. 1. 240.
Awful, iv. 1. 46.
B
Base, to bid, i. 2. 97.
Bass (in music), i. 2. 96.
Beadsman, i. 1. 18.
Belike, iv. 4. 133.
Betide, i. 1. 59.
Boot, i. 1. 28.
Boots, to give the, i. 1. 27.
Bottom (vb.), iii. 2. 53.
Burden, i. 2. 85.
Canker, i. 1. 43.
Censure, i. 2. 19.
Chameleon, ii. 4. 24.
Circumstance, i. 1. 36.
Clerkly, ii. 1. 97.
Commend, i. 1. 17.
Compass, ii. 4. 210.
Competitor, ii. 6. 35.
Consort, iv. 1. 64.
Converse, ii. 4. 59.
Descant, i. 2. 94.
Discipline, iii. 2. 88.
Doublet, ii. 4. 20.
Ducat, i. 1. 116.
Dump, iii. 2. 85.
E
Elysium, ii. 7. 38.
Enamel, ii. 7. 28.
Engine, iii. 1. 138.
Exhibition, i. 3. 69.
F
Farthingale, ii. 7. 49.
Favour, ii. 1. 44.
Feature, ii. 4. 69.
Froward, iii. 1. 68.
G
Gingerly, i. 2. 70.
Halidom, iv. 2. 131.
Hallowmas, ii. 1. 23.
Hellespont, i. 1. 22.
Impeachment, i. 3. 15.
Importune, iii. 1. 145.
118
INDEX.
119
Impose (sb.), iv. 3. 8.
Infinite (sb.), ii. 7. 64.
Influence, iii. 1. 183.
Inherit, iii. 2. 87.
Inly, ii. 7. 18.
Jade, iii. 1. 72.
Jolt-head, iii. 1. 283.
Lease, v. 2. 29.
Let, iii. 1. 113.
Leviathan, iii. 2. 80.
Liberal, iii. 1. 332.
Lubber, ii. 5. 39.
M
Mask, iv. 4. 140.
Mean (in music), i. 2. 95.
Methinks, i. 1. 41.
Motion, a, ii. 1. 85.
Myself, iii. 1. 36.
N
Nick, iv. 2. 73.
Noddy, i. 1. 96.
O
Orpheus, iii. 2. 78.
Pageant, iv. 4. 146.
Paragon, ii. 4. 142.
Parle, i. 2. 5.
Passenger, iv. 1. 1.
Passing, i. 2. 17.
Pearl, v. 2. 13.
Penance, v. 2. 28.
Pentecost, iv. 4. 145.
Periwig, iv. 4. 178.
Peruse, i. 2. 34.
Phaethon, iii. 1. 153.
Pillory, iv. 4. 26.
Pretend, ii. 6. 37.
Principality, ii. 4. 148.
Proper, iv. 1. 10.
Q
Quaint, ii. 1. 111.
Quality, iv. 1. 58.
R
Record, v. 4. 6.
Repair, iv. 2. 45.
Resort, i. 2. 4.
Respective, iv. 4. 182.
Robin Hood, iv. 1. 36.
Root, v. 4. 6.
S
Salt, iii. 1. 344.
Scandalize, ii. 7. 55.
Servant, ii. 1. 90.
Shot, ii. 5. 5.
Sirrah, ii. 5. 8.
Sith, i. 2. 126.
Sorted, i. 3. 63.
Statue, iv. 4. 188.
Stocks, the, iv. 4. 24.
Stomach, i. 2. 68.
T
Temper (vb.), iii. 2. 64.
Tender (vb.), iii. 1. 225.
Testern, i. 1. 122.
Tire (sb.), iv. 4. 172.
Trencher, iv. 4. 8.
Triumphs, v. 4. 160.
True-love knots, ii. 7. 44.
Vouchsafe, iv. 2. 116.
W
Wayward, i. 2. 57.
Wood (adj.), ii. 3. 25.
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