110

That in this desert inaccessible,

Under the shade of melancholy boughs,

Lose and neglect the creeping hours of time;
If ever you have look'd on better days,

If ever been where bells have knoll'd to church,
If ever sat at any good man's feast,

If ever from your eyelids wiped a tear
And know what 't is to pity and be pitied,
Let gentleness my strong enforcement be:
In the which hope I blush, and hide my sword.
DUKE S. True is it that we have seen better days,
And have with holy bell been knoll'd to church,
And sat at good men's feasts, and wiped our eyes
Of drops that sacred pity hath engender'd:
And therefore sit you down in gentleness
And take upon command what help we have
That to your wanting may be minister'd.

ORL. Then but forbear your food a little while,
Whiles, like a doe, I go to find my fawn
And give it food. There is an old poor man,
Who after me hath many a weary step
Limp'd in pure love: till he be first sufficed,
Oppress'd with two weak evils, age and hunger,
I will not touch a bit.

And we will nothing waste till you return.

ORL. I thank ye; and be blest for your good com

fort!

[Exit.

DUKE S. Thou seest we are not all alone unhappy:

125 upon command] at your command.

120

130

This wide and universal theatre

Presents more woeful pageants than the scene
Wherein we play in.

JAQ.
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation

Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,

140

150

139 All... stage] Cf. Merch. of Ven., I, i, 77–78 : "I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano; A stage, where every man must play a part." The comparison of the world to a stage was a commonplace in Greek, Latin, and modern European literature. The Globe Theatre bore the proverbial motto, "Totus mundus agit histrionem." The division of man's life into seven parts or ages, which Shakespeare likens to acts of a play, is found in the Greek writings of the physician Hippocrates and of the late Greek philosopher Proclus, and was generally accepted by philosophers, poets, and artists of the European Renaissance.

148 Sighing like furnace] Cf. Cymb., I, vi, 65-66: "he [i. e., a Frenchman in love] furnaces The thick sighs from him."

153-154 the justice . . . capon] Capons formed gifts which suitors were in the habit of offering justices of the peace. Cf. Wither's Christ

In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing.
Re-enter ORLANDO, with ADAM

DUKE S. Welcome.

Set down your venerable

burthen,

And let him feed.

160

ORL. I thank you most for him.

ADAM.

So had

you need:

170

I scarce can speak to thank you for myself.
DUKE S. Welcome; fall to: I will not trouble you

about your

fortunes.

As yet, to question you
Give us some music; and, good cousin, sing.

AMI.

SONG

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,

Thou art not so unkind

mas Carol, lines 41, 42: "Now poor men to the justices With capons make their arrants [i. e., errands].”

156 modern instances] trite or commonplace maxims or anecdotes.

As man's ingratitude;

Thy tooth is not so keen,

Because thou art not seen,

Although thy breath be rude.

Heigh-ho! sing, heigh-ho! unto the green holly:

Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:

Then, heigh-ho, the holly!

This life is most jolly.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

That does not bite so nigh

As benefits forgot:

Though thou the waters warp,

Thy sting is not so sharp

As friend remember'd not.

Heigh-ho! sing, &c.

DUKE S. If that you were the good Sir Rowland's son, As you have whisper'd faithfully you were,

And as mine eye doth his effigies witness
Most truly limn'd and living in your face,
Be truly welcome hither: I am the Duke ·

That loved your father: the residue of your fortune,
Go to my cave and tell me.

Thou art right welcome as

Good old man, thy master is.

Support him by the arm. Give me your hand,

And let me all your fortunes understand.

180

[Exeunt. 200

193 effigies] The accent in this word, which must be pronounced trisyllabically, falls on the second syllable.

DUKE FREDERICK

OT SEE HIM SINCE? SIR,

sir, that cannot be:

But were I not the better part made mercy,

I should not seek an absent
argument

Of my revenge, thou present.
But look to it:

Find out thy brother, whereso-
e'er he is;

Seek him with candle; bring him
dead or living

Within this twelvemonth,
turn thou no more

To seek a living in our territory.

Thy lands and all things that thou dost call thine
Worth seizure do we seize into our hands,

Till thou canst quit thee by thy brother's mouth
Of what we think against thee.

or

10