Por. Art thou contented, Jew, what dost thou say ? Shy. I am content. Por. Clerk, draw a deed of gift. Shy. I pray you, give me leave to go from hence; I am not well; send the deed after me, And I will sign it. Duke. Get thee gone, but do it. Gra. In christening thou shalt have two godfathers; Had I been judge, thou should'st have had ten more, 8 To bring thee to the gallows, not the font. [Exit SHY. Duke. Sir, I entreat you home with me to dinner. Por. I humbly do desire your grace of pardon; I must away this night toward Padua, And it is meet, I presently set forth. Duke. I am sorry, that your leisure serves you not. -Antonio, gratify this gentleman; For, in my mind, you are much bound to him. [Exe. Duke, Magnificoes, and Train. Bass. Most worthy gentleman, I and my friend, Have by your wisdom been this day acquitted Of grievous penalties; in lieu whereof, Three thousand ducats, due unto the Jew, We freely cope your courteous pains withal. Ant. And stand indebted, over and above, In love and service to you evermore. Por. He is well paid, that is well satisfied; And therein do account myself well paid ; I wish you well, and so I take my leave. Bass. Dear sir, of force I must attempt you further; Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute, Not as a fee: grant me two things, I pray you, Not to deny me, and to pardon me. Por. You press me far, and therefore I will yield. Bass. This ring, good sir,-alas, it is a trifle; [8] i. e. a jury of twelve men, to condemn thee to be hanged. THEOB. And now, methinks, I have a mind to it. Bass. There's more depends on this, than on the value. The dearest ring in Venice will I give you, And find it out by proclamation; Only for this, I pray you, pardon me. Por. I see, sir, you are liberal in offers: You taught me first to beg; and now, methinks, That I should neither sell, nor give, nor lose it. Por. That 'scuse serves many men to save their gifts. An if your wife be not a mad woman, And know how well I have deserv'd this ring, [Exe. PORTIA and NERISSA Bass. Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him, Give him the ring; and bring him, if thou canst, Unto Antonio's house:-away, make haste. [Ex. GRA. -Come, you and I will thither presently; And in the morning early will we both Fly toward Belmont: Come, Antonio. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. A Street. Enter PORTIA and NERISSA. Por. Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed, And let him sign it; We'll away to-night, And be a day before our husbands home : This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo. Enter GRATIANO. Gra. Fair sir, you are well overtaken : Hath sent you here this ring; and doth entreat Por. That cannot be : This ring I do accept most thankfully, And so, I pray you, tell him: Furthermore, Ner. Sir, I would speak with you : I'll see if I can get my husband's ring, [TO PORTIA. Which I did make him swear to keep for ever. Por. Thou may'st, I warrant ; We shall have old swearing, That they did give the rings away to men; But we'll outface them, and outswear them too.- ACT V. SCENE I.-Belmont. Avenue to PORTIA'S House. Enter LORENZO and JESSICA. Lorenzo. THE moon shines bright :-In such a night as this, Jes. In such a night, Did Thisbe fearfully o'er-trip the dew; And ran dismay'd away. Lor. In such a night, Stood Dido with a willow in her hand Upon the wild sea-banks, and wav'd her love To come again to Carthage. Jes. In such a night, Medea gather'd the enchanted herbs Lor. In such a night, Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew: Jes. And in such a night, Did young Lorenzo swear he lov'd her well; Lor. And in such a night, Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew, Jes. I would out-night you, did nobody come : But, hark, I hear the footing of a man. Enter STEPHANO. Lor. Who comes so fast in silence of the night? Lor. A friend? what friend? your name, I pray you, friend? Steph. Stephano is my name; and I bring word, My mistress will before the break of day Be here at Belmont: she doth stray about By holy crosses, where she kneels and prays Lor. Who comes with her? Steph. None, but a holy hermit, and her maid. I pray you, is my master yet return'd? Lor. He is not, nor we have not heard from him.But go we in, I pray thee, Jessica, And ceremoniously let us prepare Some welcome for the mistress of the house. Enter LAUNCELOT. Laun. Sola, sola, wo ha, ho, sola, sola! Lor. Who calls? Laun. Sola! did you see master Lorenzo, and mistress Lorenzo sola, sola! Lor. Leave hollaing, man; here. Laun. Sola! where? where? Lor. Here. Laun. Tell him, there's a post come from my master, with his horn full of good news; my master will be here ere morning. [Exit. Lor. Sweet soul, let's in, and there expect their coming. And yet no matter;-Why should we go in? My friend Stepháno, signify, I pray you, Within the house, your mistress is at hand; And bring your music forth into the air.- [Exit STE. Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music Sit, Jessica Look, how the floor of heaven [9] A patine, from patina, Lat. A patine is the small flat dish or plate used with the chalice, in the administration of the eucharist. In the time of popery, and probably in the following age, it was commonly made of gold. MALONE But in his motion like an angel sings, But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay Come, ho, and wake Diana with a hymn ;1 [Music. Or race of youthful and unhandled colts, You shall perceive them make a mutual stand, By the sweet power of music: Therefore, the poet [1] Diana is the moon, who is in the next scene represented as sleeping.JOH. [2] The thought here is extremely fine; as if the being affected with music was only the harmony between the internal [music in himself] and the external music [concord of sweet sounds ;] which were mutually affected like unison strings. This whole speech could not choose but please an English audience, whose great passion, as well then as now, was love of music. Jam vero video naturam (says Erasmus in praise of Folly,) ut singulis nationibus, ac pene civitatibus, communem quandam insevisse Philautiam : atque hinc fieri, ut Britanni, præter alia, Formam, Musicam, & lautas Mensas proprie sibi vindicent" WARBURTON. This passage, which is neither pregnant with physical and moral truth, nor poetically beautiful in an eminent degree, has constantly enjoyed the good fortune to be repeated by those whose inhospitable memories would have refused to admit or retain any other sentiment or description of the same author, however exalted or just. The truth is, that it furnishes the vacant fiddler with something to say in defence of his profession, and supplies the coxcomb in music with an invective against such as do not pretend to discover all the various powers of language in articulate sounds. It is no uncommon thing to see those who would think half a day well spent in reconciling a couple of jarring strings to unison, and yet would make no scruple in employing the other half in setting two of the most intimate friends at variance. So much for the certitude of being taught morality in the school of music, -ite Ferte citi flammas, date tela. STEEVENS. |