3 Out. Being nimble footed, he hath outrun | And that's far worse than none; better have
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Val. How use doth breed a babit 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! Repair me with thy presence, Silvia; Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn swain! What balloing, 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? [Steps aside.
Enter PROTEUS, SILVIA, and JULIA. Pro. Madam, this service I have done for you, (Though you respect not aught your servant doth,)
To hazard life, and rescue you from him. That would bave forc'd your honour and your love.
Vouchsafe me, for my meed, but one fair look; A smaller boon than this I cannot beg, And less than this, I am sure, you cannot give. Val. 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. Sil. By thy approach thou mak'st me most un- happy.
Jul. And me, when he approacheth to your presence. [Aside.
Sii. 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 perjur'd Proteus : Therefore be gone, solicit me no more.
Pro. What dangerous action, stood it next to death,
Would I not undergo for one calm look ? Oh! 'tis the curse in love, and still approv'd. ‡ When women cannot love where they're belov'd. Sil. When Proteus cannot love where he's be- lov'd.
Read over Julia's heart, thy first best love,
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'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 it here; I do as truly suffer, As e'er I did commit.
Val. 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 pleas'd;
By penitence the Eternal's wrath's appeas'd :- And, that my love may appear plain and free, All that was mine in Silvia, I give thee. Jul. O me, unhappy! Pro. Look to the boy.
Val. Why boy! why wag! how now? what is the matter?
Jul. O good Sir, my master charg'd 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. [Gives a ring Pro. How! let me see :
Why this is the ring I gave to Julia. Jul. O cry your mercy, Sir, I have mistook; This is the ring you sent to Silvia.
[Shows another ring. Pro. But, how cam'st 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,
And entertain'd them deeply in her heart: How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root ? + O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush! Be thou asham'd, that I have took upon me Such an immodest raiment; if shame live In a disguise of love:
For whose dear sake thou did'st then rend thy It is the lesser blot, modesty finds, faith
Into a thousand oaths; and all those oaths Descended into perjury, to love me.
Thou bast no faith left now, unless thou hadst
Women to change their shapes, than men their minds.
Pro. Than men their minds? 'tis true: 0 heaven! were man
But constant, he were perfect: that one error
An allusion to cleaving the pin in archety
Fills him with faults; makes him run through Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again.
Inconstancy falls off, ere it begins:
What is in Silvia's face, but I may spy More fresh in Julia's with a constant eye? Val. 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 have mine.
Enter OUTLAWS, with DUKE and THURIO. Out. A prize, a prize, a prize!
Val. Forbear, I say; it is my lord the duke. Your grace is welcome to a man disgrac'd, Banish'd Valentine !
Thu. Yonder is Silvia; and Silvia's mine. Val. Thurio give back, or else embrace thy death;
Come not within the measure of my wrath; Do not name Silvia thine; if once again, Milan shall not behold thee. Here she stands, Take but possession of her with a touch; I dare thee but to breathe upon my love.-
Thu. Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I; 1 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 empresss' love. Know then, I here forget all former griefs, ↑ Juteroet.
Plead a new sate in thy unrivall'd merit, To which I thus subscribe,-Sir Valentine, Thou art a gentleman, and well deriv'd; Take thou thy Silvia, for thou hast deserv'd her. Val. 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. Val. 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. Come, let us go; we will include all jars With triumphs, † mirth, and rare solemnity.
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
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: That done, our day of mariage shall be your's; One feast, one house, one cutual happiness.
LITERARY AND HISTORICAL NOTICE.
SHAKSPEARE'S first draught of this trifling play, (which all the editors have concurred in censuring, and some have rejected as unworthy of its author) was written in or before 1594, and some additions were probably made to it between that year and 1597, when it was exhibited before Queen Elizabeth. Like the Taming of the Shrew, it was undoubtedly one of his earliest essays to dramatic writing; as the frequent rhymes, the imperfect versification, the artless and desultory dialogue, and the irregularity of the composition, sufficiently prove. The fable does not seem to be a work entirely of invention; and perhaps owes its birth to some novel which has yet to be discovered. The character of Armado bears some resemblance to Don Quixotte, but the play is older than the work of Cervantes; of Holofernes, another singular character, there are some traces in a masque of Sir Philip Sidney, presented before Queen Elizabeth at Wansted. Dr. Johnson says, that in this play "there are many passages mean, childish, and vulgar; and some which ought not to have been exhibited, as we are told they were, to a maiden Queen. But there are scattered through the whole many sparks of genius; nor is there any play that has more evident marks of the hand of Shakspeare."
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SCENE I.-Navarre.-A Park, with a Palace That his own hand may strike his honour down,
Enter the KING, BIRON, LONGAVILLE, and DUMAIN.
King. Let fame, that all hunt after in their lives,
Live register'd upon our brazen tombs, And then grace us in the disgrace of death; When, spite of cormorant devouring time, The endeavour of this present breath may buy That bonour, which shall bate his scythe's keen edge,
And make us heirs of all eternity. Therefore, brave conquerors!--for so you are, That war against your own affections, And the huge army of the world's desires,- Our late edict shall strongly stand in force: Navarre shall be the wonder of the world; Our court shall be a little Academe, Still and contemplative in living art. You three, Biron, Dumain, and Longaville, Have sworn for three years' term to live with me,
My fellow-scholars, and to keep those statutes That are recorded in this schedule here:
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Dum. My loving lord, Dumain is mortified; The grosser manner of these world's delights He throws upon the gross world's baser slaves : To love, to wealth, to pomp, I pine and die; With all these living in philosophy.
Biron. I can but say their protestation over, So much, dear liege, I have already sworn, That is, To live and study here three years, But there are other strict observances: As, not to see a woman in that term ; Which, I hope well, is not enrolled there : And, one day in a week to touch no food; And but one meal on every day beside; The which, I hope, is not enrolled there: And then, to sleep but three hours in the night, And not be seɛu to wink of all the day;
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