Neither regarding that she is my child,
Nor fearing me as if I were her father:
And, may I say to thee, this pride of her's
Upon advice hath drawn my love from her;

3

And, where I thought the remnant of mine age
Should have been cherish'd by her child-like duty,
I now am full resolv'd 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.

Val. What would your grace have me to do in this?
Duke. There is a lady, in Milano 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 chang'd)
How, and which way, I may bestow myself,
To be regarded in her sun-bright eye.

Val. Win her with gifts, if she respect not words.

Dumb jewels often, in their silent kind,

More than quick words do move a woman's mind.

Duke. But she did scorn a present that I sent her.

Val. A woman sometime 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;
For, "get you gone," she doth not mean, "away."
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.

3 And, WHERE] "Where" for whereas; often so used by our old writers. It cannot be necessary to cite examples.

There is a lady, in MILANO here,] The folios all read Verona, which certainly suits the verse, but not the place, the scene lying in Milan. The old corrector of the folio, 1632, merely gives Milan its Italian termination, and nothing more is required. Pope interpolated sir in order to fill the measure,

"There is a lady, sir, in Milan here."

Surely there can be no doubt which course ought to be preferred.

Duke. But she I mean is promis'd 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.

Val. Why, then I would resort to her by night.
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.

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'll 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.

Duke. A cloak as long as thine will serve the turn?
Val. Ay, my good lord.

Duke.

Then, let me see thy cloak:
I'll 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.

What letter is this same? What's here ?" To Silvia ?” [The ladder and a paper fall out.

And here an engine fit for my proceeding!

I'll be so bold to break the seal for once.

"My thoughts do harbour with my Silvia nightly; And slaves they are to me, that send them flying : Oh! could their master come and go as lightly,

Himself would lodge, where senseless they are lying.

[Reads.

5 What LETS,] i. e. What hinders. See Vol. iii. p. 16; Vol. v. p. 130, &c.

My herald thoughts in thy pure bosom rest them ;

While I, their king, that thither 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 should be."

What's here?

"Silvia, this night I will enfranchise thee:"
'Tis so; and here's the ladder for the purpose.-
Why, Phaeton, (for thou art Merops' son")
Wilt thou aspire to guide the heavenly car,
And with thy daring folly burn the world?
Wilt thou reach stars, because they shine on thee??
Go, base intruder; over-weening slave:
Bestow thy fawning smiles on equal mates,
And think my patience, more than thy desert,
Is privilege for thy departure hence.

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.

Begone: I will not hear thy vain excuse;

But, as thou lov'st thy life, make speed from hence.

[Exit DUKE.

Val. And why not death, rather than living torment?
To die is to be banish'd from myself,
And Silvia is myself: banish'd from her,
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 ?
Unless it be, to think that she is by,

"Thou

6 (for thou art Merops' son)] Johnson thus explains this passage: art Phaeton in thy rashness, but without his pretensions; thou art not the son of a divinity, but a terræ filius, a low-born wretch; Merops is thy true father, with whom Phaeton was falsely reproached."

7 Wilt thou reach stars, because they shine on thee?] Fawnia, in Greene's novel of "Pandosto " (on which our great dramatist founded his "Winter's Tale") exclaims, in reference to her love for the Prince-" Stars are to be looked at with the eye, not reached at with the hand." Vide "Shakespeare's Library," Vol. i. p. 38.

128

And feed upon the shadow of perfection.
Except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale;
Unless I look on Silvia in the day,
There is no day for me to look upon.
She is my essence; and I leave to be,
If I be not by her fair influence
Foster'd, illumin'd, 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. So-ho! so-ho!

Pro. What seest thou?

Launce. Him we go to find: there's not a hair on's head, but 'tis a Valentine.

Pro. Valentine ?

Val. No.

Pro. Who then? his spirit?

Val. Neither.

Pro. What then?

Val. Nothing.

Launce. Can nothing speak?-Master, shall I strike?
Pro. Whom wouldst thou strike?

Launce. Nothing.

Pro. Villain, forbear.

Launce. Why, sir, I'll strike nothing: I pray you,Pro. Sirrah, I say, forbear.-Friend Valentine, a word. Val. My ears are stopp'd, and cannot hear good news, So much of bad already hath possess'd them o.

s I fly not death, to fly his deadly doom:] i. e. I shall not escape death by flying from the deadly doom just threatened by the Duke, since to be absent from

Silvia is death.

9 So much of bad already HATH possess'd them.] Malone would not correct who into "whom," just above,-" Who wouldst thou strike?" because, he contended, that this want of grammar was the

altered "hath though, even

66

into have in the line before us, because " phraseology of the period;" but he in our own day, it is constantly used as a singular noun: the news "" was plural,

practice was the same in the time of Shakespeare. Malone's correction was doubly uncalled for, because the nominative to "hath possessed" is "much," and not

"news."

Pro. Then in dumb silence will I bury mine, For they are harsh, untuneable, and bad.

Val. Is Silvia dead?

Pro. No, Valentine.

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 vanish'd.
Pro. That thou art banish'd: oh! that is the news,
From hence, from Silvia, and from me, thy friend.
Val. Oh! I have fed upon this woe already,
And now excess of it will make me surfeit.
Doth Silvia know that I am banished?

Pro. Ay, ay; and she hath offer'd to the doom,
(Which, unrevers'd, stands in effectual force)
A sea of melting pearl, which some call tears:
Those 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,
Could penetrate her uncompassionate sire,

But Valentine, if he be ta'en, must die.
Besides, her intercession chaf'd 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 speakest Have some malignant power upon my life:

If so, I pray thee, breathe it in mine ear,

As ending anthem of my endless dolour.

Pro. Cease to lament for that thou canst not help,
And study help for that which thou lamentest:
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

VOL. I.

K