Ros. O, my dear Orlando, how it grieves me to see thee wear thy heart in a scarf. Orl. It is my arm. Ros. I thought thy heart had been wounded with the claws of a lion. Orl. Wounded it is, but with the eyes of a lady. Ros. Did your brother tell you how I counterfeited to swoon, when he showed me your handkerchief? Orl. Ay, and greater wonders than that. Ros. O, I know where you are.-Nay, 'tis true: there never was any thing so sudden, but the fight of two rams, and Cæsar's thrasonical brag of—I came, saw, and overcame. For your brother and my sister no sooner met, but they looked; no sooner looked, but they loved; no sooner loved, but they sighed; no sooner sighed, but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason, but they sought the remedy: and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage, which they will climb incontinent,' or else be incontinent before marriage. They are in the very wrath of love, and they will together; clubs cannot part them. Orl. They shall be married to-morrow; and I will bid the duke to the nuptial. But, O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes! By so much the more shall I to-morrow be at the height of heart-heaviness, by how much I shall think my brother happy, in having what he wishes for. Ros. Why, then, to-morrow I cannot serve your turn for Rosalind? Orl. I can live no longer by thinking. Ros. I will weary you no longer then with idle talking. Know of me then, (for now I speak to some purpose,) that I know you are a gentleman of good conceit. I speak not this, that you should bear a 2 1 Incontinent here signifies immediately, without any stay or delay, out of hand; so Baret explains it. But it had also its now usual signification, and Shakspeare delights in the equivoque. 2 Conceit, in the language of Shakspeare's age, signified wit; or conception, and imagination. 1 good opinion of my knowledge, insomuch, I say, I know you are; neither do I labor for a greater esteem than may in some little measure draw a belief from you, to do yourself good, and not to grace me. Believe then, if you please, that I can do strange things; I have, since I was three years old, conversed with a magician, most profound in this art, and yet not damnable. If you do love Rosalind so near the heart as your gesture cries it out, when your brother marries Aliena, shall you marry her. I know into what straits of fortune she is driven; and it is not impossible to me, if it appear not inconvenient to you, to set her before your eyes to-morrow; human as she is,' and without any danger. Orl. Speakest thou in sober meanings? Ros. By my life, I do, which I tender dearly, though I say I am a magician. Therefore put you in your best array; bid your friends; for if you will be married tomorrow, you shall; and to Rosalind, if you will. Enter SILVIUS and PHEBE. Look, here comes a lover of mine, and a lover of hers. Phe. Youth, you have done me much ungentleness, To show the letter that I writ to you. Ros. I care not, if I have; it is my study To seem despiteful and ungentle to you. You are there followed by a faithful shepherd; Look upon him, love him; he worships you. Phe. Good shepherd, tell this youth what 'tis to love. And so am I for Phebe. Phe. And I for Ganymede. Orl. And I for Rosalind. Ros. And I for no woman. Sil. It is to be all made of faith and service;And so am I for Phebe. 1 "Human as she is;" that is, not a phantom, but the real Rosalind, without any of the danger generally conceived to attend upon the rites of incantation. Phe. And I for Ganymede. Ros. And I for no woman. Sil. It is to be all made of fantasy, All made of passion, and all made of wishes; All humbleness, all patience, and impatience, Phe. And so am I for Ganymede. ? [TO ROSALIND. Sil. If this be so, why blame you me to love you? [TO PHEBE. Orl. If this be so, why blame you me to love you? Ros. Who do you speak to-why blame you me to love you? Orl. To her that is not here; nor doth not hear. Ros. Pray you, no more of this; 'tis like the howling of Irish wolves against the moon.-I will help you, [To SILVIUS.] if I can.-I would love you, [To PHEBE.] if I could.-To-morrow meet me all together. -I will marry you, [To PHEBE.] if ever I marry woman, and I'll be married to-morrow.-I will satisfy you, [To ORLANDO.] if ever I satisfied man, and you shall be married to-morrow.-I will content you, [To SILVIUS.] if what pleases you contents you, and you shall be married to-morrow. As you [TO ORLANDO.] love Rosalind, meet ;-as you [TO SILVIUS.] love Phebe, meet; and as I love no woman, I'll meet. So fare you well; I have left you commands. Sil. I'll not fail, if I live. Phe. Orl. Nor I. Nor I. [Exeunt. 1 "Obeisance." The old copy reads observance, but it is very unlikely that word should have been set down by Shakspeare twice so close to each other. Ritson proposed the present emendation. Observance is attention, deference. SCENE III. The same. Enter TOUCHSTONE and AUDrey. Touch. To-morrow is the joyful day, Audrey; tomorrow will we be married. Aud. I do desire it with all my heart; and I hope it is no dishonest desire, to desire to be a woman of the world. Here comes two of the banished duke's pages. Enter two Pages. 1 Page. Well met, honest gentleman. Touch. By my troth, well met. Come, sit, sit, and a song. 2 Page. We are for you; sit i'the middle. 1 Page. Shall we clap into't roundly, without hawking, or spitting, or saying we are hoarse; which are the only prologues to a bad voice. 2 Puge. I'faith, i'faith; and both in a tune, like two gipsies on a horse. SONG. I. It was a lover and his lass, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,2 In the spring time, the only pretty rank time, 1 i. e. a married woman. So in Much Ado about Nothing, Beatrice says: "Thus every one goes to the world but I." 2 This burden is common to many old songs. See Florio's Ital. Dict. Ed. 1611, sub voce Fossa. II. Between the acres of the rye, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, III. This carol they began that hour, With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, How that a life was but a flower In spring time, &c. IV. And therefore take the present time, In spring time, &c. Touch. Truly, young gentlemen, though there was no great matter in the ditty, yet the note was very untunable. 1 Page. You are deceived, sir; we kept time, we lost not our time. Touch. By my troth, yes; I count it but time lost to hear such a foolish song. God be with you; and God mend your voices! Come, Audrey. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. Another Part of the Forest. Enter Duke senior, AMIENS, JAQUES, ORLANDO, OLIVER, and CELIA. Duke S. Dost thou believe, Orlando, that the boy Can do all this that he hath promised? |