In honourable terms; nay, he can sing That put Armado's page out of his part! Enter the Princess, usher'd by Boyet; Rosaline, my Biron. See where it comes!-Behaviour, what wert thou, Till this man show'd thee? and what art thou now? King. All hail, sweet madam, and fair time of day! Prin. Fair, in all hail, is foul, as I conceive. King. Construe my speeches better, if you may. Prin. Then wish me better, I will give you leave. King. We came to visit you; and purpose now To lead you to our court: vouchsafe it then. Prin. This field shall hold me; and so hold your vow: Nor God, nor I, delight in perjur'd men. King. Rebuke me not for that which you provoke; The virtue of your eye must break my oath. Prin. You nick-name virtue: vice you should have spoke; For virtue's office never breaks men's troth. Now, by my maiden honour, yet as pure A world of torments though I should endure, King. How, madam? Russians? Prin. Ay, in truth, my lord; Trim gallants, full of courtship, and of state. Rosa. Madam, speak true:-It is not so my lord; My lady, (to the manner of the days,) In courtesy, gives undeserving praise. We four, indeed, confronted were with four In Russian habit: here they stay'd an hour, And talk'd apace; and in that hour, my lord, They did not bless us with one happy word. I dare not call them fools; but this I think, When they are thirsty, fools would fain have drink. Biron. This jest is dry to me.-Fair, gentle sweet, Your wit makes wise things foolish: when we greet Wise things seem foolish, and rich things but poor. eye, Biron. I am a fool, and full of poverty. · Rosa. But that you take what doth to you belong, It were a fault to snatch words from my tongue. Biron. O, I am yours, and all that I Biron. possess. I cannot give you less. Rosa. Which of the visors was it, that you wore? Biron. Where? when? what visor? why demand you this? Rosa. There, then, that visor; that superfluous case, That hid the worse, and show'd the better face. King. We are descried: they'll mock us now downright. Dum. Let us confess, and turn it to a jest. ness sad? Rosa. Help, hold his brows! he'll swoon! Why look you pale? Sea-sick, I think, coming from Muscovy. Biron. Thus pour the stars down plagues for perjury. Can any face of brass hold longer out?Here stand I, lady; dart thy skill at me; Bruise me with scorn, confound me with a flout; Thrust thy sharp wit quite through my ignorance; Cut me to pieces with thy keen conceit; And I will wish thee never more to dance, Nor never more in Russian habit wait. O! never will I trust to speeches penn'd, Nor to the motion of a school-boy's tongue; Nor never come in visor to my friend; Nor woo in rhyme, like a blind harper's song: Taffata phrases, silken terms precise, Three-pil'd hyperboles, spruce affectation, Figures pedantical; these summer-flies Have blown me full of maggot ostentation: I do forswear them: and I here protest, By this white glove, (how white the hand, Henceforth my wooing mind shall be express'd Biron. Yet I have a trick Of the old rage:-bear with me, I am sick; They have the plague, and caught it of your eyes: For the Lord's tokens on you do I see. Prin. No, they are free, that gave these tokens to us. Biron. Our states are forfeit, seek not to undo us. Rosa. It is not so; For how can this be true, That you stand forfeit, being those that sue? Biren. Peace; for I will not have to do with you. Rosa. Nor shall not, if I do as I intend. Biron. Speak for yourselves, my wit is at an end. King. Teach us, sweet madam, for our rude transgression Some fair excuse. Prin. The fairest is confession. Were you not here, but even now, disguis'd? What did you whisper in your lady's ear? King. That more than all the world I did respect her. Prin. When she shall challenge this, you will reject her. King. Upon mine honour, no. Prin. Peace, peace, forbear; Your oath once broke, you force not to forswear. King. Despise me, when I break this oath of mine. Prin. I will; and therefore keep it:-Rosaline, What did the Russian whisper in your ear? Rosa. Madam, he swore, that he did hold me dear As precious eye-sight; and did value me Above this world: adding thereto, moreover, That he would wed me, or else die my lover. Prin. God give thee joy of him! the noble lord Most honourably doth uphold his word. King. What mean you madam? by my life, my troth, I never swore this lady such an oath. Rosa. By heaven, you did; and to confirm it plain, You gave me this: but take it, sir, again. King. My faith, and this, the princess I did give; I knew her by this jewel on her sleeve. Prin. Pardon, me, sir, this jewel did she wear; And lord Birón, I thank him, is my dear:What; will you have me, or your pearl again? |