The Illustrated Works of Shakespeare/Illustrated Works of Shakespeare, The (1990)(Animated Pixels)[!][CDTV-PC].iso/shakes/text/04/part-1

Text File | 1991-04-10 | 26KB | 641 lines

Vilia miretur vulgus; mihi flavus Apollo
 Pocula Castalia plena ministret aqua.
 TO THE
 RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY WRIOTHESLEY,
 EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON, AND BARON OF TITCHFIELD.

    Right Honourable,

    I know not how I shall offend in dedicating my unpolished
    lines to your lordship, nor how the world will censure me for
    choosing so strong a prop to support so weak a burden; only, if
    your honour seem but pleased, I account myself highly praised,
    and vow to take advantage of all idle hours till I have honoured
    you with some graver labour. But if the first heir of my
    invention prove deformed, I shall be sorry it had so noble a
    godfather, and never after ear so barren a land for fear it yield
    me still so bad a harvest. I leave it to your honourable survey,
    and your honour to your heart's content, which I wish may always
    answer your own wish and the world's hopeful expectation.

        Your honour's in all duty,

            William Shakespeare.

Even as the sun with purple-coloured face
    Had ta'en his last leave of the weeping morn,
    Rose-cheeked Adonis hied him to the chase;
    Hunting he loved, but love he laughed to scorn.
        Sick-thoughted Venus makes amain unto him,
        And like a bold-faced suitor 'gins to woo him.    6

"Thrice fairer than myself," thus she began
    "The fields chief flower, sweet above compare,
    Stain to all nymphs, more lovely than a man,
    More white and red than doves or roses are;
        Nature that made thee with herself at strife
        Saith that the world hath ending with thy life.    12

"Vouchsafe, thou wonder, to alight thy steed,
    And rein his proud head to the saddle-bow;
    If thou wilt deign this favour, for thy meed
    A thousand honey secrets shalt thou know.
        Here come and sit where never serpent hisses,
        And being set, I'll smother thee with kisses.    18

"And yet not cloy thy lips with loathed satiety,
    But rather famish them amid their plenty,
    Making them red and pale with fresh variety:
    Ten kisses short as one, one long as twenty.
        A summer's day will seem an hour but short,
        Being wasted in such time-beguiling sport."    24

With this she seizeth on his sweating palm,
    The precedent of pith and livelihood,
    And, trembling in her passion, calls it balm,
    Earth's sovereign salve to do a goddess good.
        Being so enraged, desire doth lend her force
        Courageously to pluck him from his horse.    30

Over one arm the lusty courser's rein,
    Under her other was the tender boy,
    Who blushed and pouted in a dull disdain,
    With leaden appetite, unapt to toy;
        She red and hot as coals of glowing fire,
        He red for shame, but frosty in desire.    36

The studded bridle on a ragged bough
    Nimbly she fastens-O, how quick is love!
    The steed is stalld up, and even now
    To tie the rider she begins to prove.
        Backward she pushed him, as she would be thrust,
        And governed him in strength, though not in lust.    42

So soon was she along as he was down,
    Each leaning on their elbows and their hips;
    Now doth she stroke his cheek, now doth he frown
    And 'gins to chide, but soon she stops his lips,
        And, kissing, speaks with lustful language broken:
        "If thou wilt chide, thy lips shall never open".    48

He burns with bashful shame; she with her tears
    Doth quench the maiden burning of his cheeks;
    Then with her windy sighs and golden hairs
    To fan and blow them dry again she seeks.
        He saith she is immodest, blames her miss;
        What follows more she murders with a kiss.    54

Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast,
    Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh, and bone,
    Shaking her wings, devouring all in haste,
    Till either gorge be stuffed or prey be gone;
        Even so she kissed his brow, his cheek, his chin,
        And where she ends she doth anew begin.    60

Forced to content, but never to obey,
    Panting he lies, and breatheth in her face;
    She feedeth on the steam as on a prey,
    And calls it heavenly moisture, air of grace,
        Wishing her cheeks were gardens full of flowers,
        So they were dewed with such distilling showers.    66

Look how a bird lies tangled in a net,
    So fastened in her arms Adonis lies;
    Pure shame and awed resistance made him fret,
    Which bred more beauty in his angry eyes.
        Rain added to a river that is rank
        Perforce will force it overflow the bank.    72

Still she entreats, and prettily entreats,
    For to a pretty ear she tunes her tale;
    Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets,
    'Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy-pale.
        Being red, she loves him best; and being white,
        Her best is bettered with a more delight.    78

Look how he can, she cannot choose but love;
    And by her fair immortal hand she swears
    From his soft bosom never to remove
    Till he take truce with her contending tears,
        Which long have rained, making her cheeks all wet;
        And one sweet kiss shall pay this countless debt.    84

Upon this promise did he raise his chin,
    Like a dive-dapper peering through a wave
    Who, being looked on, ducks as quickly in;
    So offers he to give what she did crave;
        But when her lips were ready for his pay,
        He winks, and turns his lips another way.    90

Never did passenger in summer's heat
    More thirst for drink than she for this good turn.
    Her help she sees, but help she cannot get;
    She bathes in water, yet her fire must burn.
        "O pity," 'gan she cry "flint-hearted boy,
        'Tis but a kiss I beg; why art thou coy?    96

"I have been wooed as I entreat thee now
    Even by the stern and direful god of war,
    Whose sinewy neck in battle ne'er did bow,
    Who conquers where he comes in every jar;
        Yet hath he been my captive and my slave,
        And begged for that which thou unasked shalt have.    102

"Over my altars hath he hung his lance,
    His battered shield, his uncontrolld crest,
    And for my sake hath learned to sport and dance,
    To toy, to wanton, dally, smile, and jest,
        Scorning his churlish drum and ensign red,
        Making my arms his field, his tent my bed.    108

"Thus he that overruled I overswayed,
    Leading him prisoner in a red-rose chain;
    Strong-tempered steel his stronger strength obeyed,
    Yet was he servile to my coy disdain.
        O be not proud, nor brag not of thy might,
        For mast'ring her that foiled the god of fight.    114

"Touch but my lips with those fair lips of thine,
    - Though mine be not so fair, yet are they red-
    The kiss shall be thine own as well as mine.
    What seest thou in the ground? Hold up thy head;
        Look in mine eyeballs, there thy beauty lies;
        Then why not lips on lips, since eyes in eyes?    120

"Art thou ashamed to kiss? Then wink again,
    And I will wink; so shall the day seem night.
    Love keeps his revels where there are but twain;
    Be bold to play, our sport is not in sight:
        These blue-veined violets whereon we lean
        Never can blab, nor know not what we mean.    126

"The tender spring upon thy tempting lip
    Shows thee unripe; yet mayst thou well be tasted.
    Make use of time, let not advantage slip:
    Beauty within itself should not be wasted.
        Fair flowers that are not gathered in their prime
        Rot and consume themselves in little time.    132

"Were I hard-favoured, foul, or wrinkled-old,
    Ill-nurtured, crooked, churlish, harsh in voice,
    O'erworn, despisd, rheumatic, and cold,
    Thick-sighted, barren, lean, and lacking juice,
        Then mightst thou pause, for then I were not for thee;
        But having no defects, why dost abhor me?    141

"Thou canst not see one wrinkle in my brow,
    Mine eyes are grey and bright and quick in turning,
    My beauty as the spring doth yearly grow,
    My flesh is soft and plump, my marrow burning;
        My smooth moist hand, were it with thy hand felt,
        Would in thy palm dissolve or seem to melt.    147

"Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear,
    Or like a fairy trip upon the green,
    Or like a nymph, with long dishevelled hair,
    Dance on the sands, and yet no footing seen.
        Love is a spirit all compact of fire,
        Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire.    153

"Witness this primrose bank whereon I lie:
    These forceless flowers like sturdy trees support me;
    Two strengthless doves will draw me through the sky
    From morn till night, even where I list to sport me.
        Is love so light, sweet boy, and may it be
        That thou should think it heavy unto thee?    159

"Is thine own heart to thine own face affected?
    Can thy right hand seize love upon thy left?
    Then woo thyself, be of thyself rejected,
    Steal thine own freedom, and complain on theft.
        Narcissus so himself himself forsook,
        And died to kiss his shadow in the brook.    165

"Torches are made to light, jewels to wear,
    Dainties to taste, fresh beauty for the use,
    Herbs for their smell, and sappy plants to bear;
    Things growing to themselves are growth's abuse.
        Seeds spring from seeds, and beauty breedeth beauty;
        Thou wast begot: to get it is thy duty.    171

"Upon the earth's increase why shouldst thou feed,
    Unless the earth with thy increase be fed?
    By law of nature thou art bound to breed,
    That thine may live when thou thyself art dead;
        And so in spite of death thou dost survive,
        In that thy likeness still is left alive."    177

By this, the lovesick queen began to sweat,
    For where they lay the shadow had forsook them,
    And Titan, tird in the midday heat,
    With burning eye did hotly overlook them,
        Wishing Adonis had his team to guide,
        So he were like him, and by Venus' side.    186

And now Adonis, with a lazy sprite,
    And with a heavy, dark, disliking eye,
    His louring brows o'erwhelming his fair sight,
    Like misty vapours when they blot the sky,
        Souring his cheeks, cries "Fie, no more of love!
        The sun doth burn my face; I must remove."    192

"Ay me," quoth Venus "young, and so unkind!
    What bare excuses mak'st thou to be gone!
    I'll sigh celestial breath, whose gentle wind
    Shall cool the heat of this descending sun.
        I'll make a shadow for thee of my hairs;
        If they burn too, I'll quench them with my tears.    192

"The sun that shines from heaven shines but warm,
    And lo, I lie between that sun and thee;
    The heat I have from thence doth little harm:
    Thine eye darts forth the fire that burneth me;
        And were I not immortal, life were done
        Between this heavenly and earthly sun.    198

"Art thou obdurate, flinty, hard as steel?
    Nay, more than flint, for stone at rain relenteth.
    Art thou a woman's son, and canst not feel
    What 'tis to love, how want of love tormenteth?
        O, had thy mother borne so hard a mind
        She had not brought forth thee, but died unkind.    204

"What am I that thou shouldst contemn me this?
    Or what great danger dwells upon my suit?
    What were thy lips the worse for one poor kiss?
    Speak, fair; but speak fair words, or else be mute.
        Give me one kiss, I'll give it thee again,
        And one for int'rest, if thou wilt have twain.    210

"Fie, lifeless picture, cold and senseless stone,
    Well-painted idol, image dull and dead,
    Statue contenting but the eye alone,
    Thing like a man, but of no woman bred!
        Thou art no man, though of a man's complexion,
        For men will kiss even by their own direction."    216

This said, impatience chokes her pleading tongue,
    And swelling passion doth provoke a pause;
    Red cheeks and fiery eyes blaze forth her wrong:
    Being judge in love, she cannot right her cause;
        And now she weeps, and now she fain would speak,
        And now her sobs do her intendments break.    222

Sometime she shakes her head, and then his hand;
    Now gazeth she on him, now on the ground;
    Sometime her arms infold him like a band;
    She would, he will not in her arms be bound;
        And when from thence he struggles to be gone,
        She locks her lily fingers one in one.    228

"Fondling," she saith "since I have hemmed thee here
    Within the circuit of this ivory pale,
    I'll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer:
    Feed where thou wilt, on mountain or in dale;
        Graze on my lips, and if those hills be dry,
        Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.    234

"Within this limit is relief enough,
    Sweet bottom-grass and high delightful plain,
    Round rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
    To shelter thee from tempest and from rain:
        Then be my deer, since I am such a park;
        No dog shall rouse thee, though a thousand bark."    240

At this Adonis smiles as in disdain,
    That in each cheek appears a pretty dimple.
    Love made those hollows, if himself were slain,
    He might be buried in a tomb so simple,
        Foreknowing well, if there he came to lie,
        Why, there Love lived, and there he could not die.    246

These lovely caves, these round enchanting pits,
    Opened their mouths to swallow Venus' liking.
    Being mad before, how doth she now for wits?
    Struck dead at first, what needs a second striking?
        Poor queen of love, in thine own law forlorn,
        To love a cheek that smiles at thee in scorn!    252

Now which way shall she turn? What shall she say?
    Her words are done, her woes the more increasing.
    The time is spent, her object will away,
    And from her twining arms doth urge releasing.
        "Pity!" she cries "Some favour, some remorse!"
        Away he springs, and hasteth to his horse.    258

But lo, from forth a copse that neighbours by
    A breeding jennet, lusty, young, and proud,
    Adonis' trampling courser doth espy,
    And forth she rushes, snorts, and neighs aloud.
        The strong-necked steed, being tied unto a tree,
        Breaketh his rein, and to her straight goes he.    264

Imperiously he leaps, he neighs, he bounds,
    And now his woven girths he breaks asunder;
    The bearing earth with his hard hoof he wounds,
    Whose hollow womb resounds like heaven's thunder;
        The iron bit he crusheth 'tween his teeth,
        Controlling what he was controlld with.    270

His ears up-pricked; his braided hanging mane
    Upon his compassed crest now stand on end;
    His nostrils drink the air, and forth again,
    As from a furnace, vapours doth he send;
        His eye, which scornfully glisters like fire,
        Shows his hot courage and his high desire.    276

Sometime he trots, as if he told the steps,
    With gentle majesty and modest pride;
    Anon he rears upright, curvets and leaps,
    As who should say 'Lo, thus my strength is tried,
        And this I do to captivate the eye
        Of the fair breeder that is standing by.'    282

What recketh he his rider's angry stir,
    His flattering 'Holla' or his 'Stand, I say'?
    What cares he now for curb or pricking spur,
    For rich caparisons or trappings gay?
        He sees his love, and nothing else he sees,
        For nothing else with his proud sight agrees.    288

Look when a painter would surpass the life
    In limning out a well-proportioned steed,
    His art with nature's workmanship at strife,
    As if the dead the living should exceed;
        So did this horse excel a common one
        In shape, in courage, colour, pace, and bone.    294

Round-hoofed, short-jointed, fetlocks shag and long,
    Broad breast, full eye, small head, and nostril wide,
    High crest, short ears, straight legs and passing strong,
    Thin mane, thick tail, broad buttock, tender hide;
        Look what a horse should have he did not lack,
        Save a proud rider on so proud a back.    300

Sometime he scuds far off, and there he stares;
    Anon he starts at stirring of a feather;
    To bid the wind a base he now prepares,
    And whe'er he run or fly they know not whether;
        For through his mane and tail the high wind sings,
        Fanning the hairs, who wave like feathered wings.    306

He looks upon his love, and neighs unto her;
    She answers him as if she knew his mind:
    Being proud, as females are, to see him woo her,
    She puts on outward strangeness, seems unkind,
        Spurns at his love, and scorns the heat he feels,
        Beating his kind embracements with her heels.    312

Then, like a melancholy malcontent,
    He vails his tail that, like a falling plume,
    Cool shadow to his melting buttock lent;
    He stamps, and bites the poor flies in his fume.
        His love, perceiving how he was enraged,
        Grew kinder, and his fury was assuaged.    318

His testy master goeth about to take him,
    When, lo, the unbacked breeder, full of fear,
    Jealous of catching, swiftly doth forsake him,
    With her the horse, and left Adonis there.
        As they were mad, unto the wood they hie them,
        Outstripping crows that strive to overfly them.    324

All swoll'n with chafing, down Adonis sits,
    Banning his boist'rous and unruly beast;
    And now the happy season once more fits
    That lovesick Love by pleading may be blest;
        For lovers say the heart hath treble wrong
        When it is barred the aidance of the tongue.    330

An oven that is stopped, or river stayed,
    Burneth more hotly, swelleth with more rage;
    So of conceald sorrow may be said.
    Free vent of words love's fire doth assuage;
        But when the heart's attorney once is mute,
        The client breaks, as desperate in his suit.    336

He sees her coming, and begins to glow,
    Even as a dying coal revives with wind,
    And with his bonnet hides his angry brow,
    Looks on the dull earth with disturbd mind,
        Taking no notice that she is so nigh,
        For all askance he holds her in his eye.    342

O what a sight it was wistly to view
    How she came stealing to the wayward boy!
    To note the fighting conflict of her hue,
    How white and red each other did destroy!
        But now her cheek was pale, and by-and-by
        It flashed forth fire, as lightning from the sky.    348

Now was she just before him as he sat,
    And like a lowly lover down she kneels;
    With one fair hand she heaveth up his hat,
    Her other tender hand his fair cheek feels.
        His tend'rer cheek receives her soft hand's print
        As apt as new-fall'n snow takes any dint.    354

O what a war of looks was then between them,
    Her eyes petitioners to his eyes suing!
    His eyes saw her eyes as they had not seen them;
    Her eyes wooed still, his eyes disdained the wooing;
        And all this dumb-play had his acts made plain
        With tears which chorus-like her eyes did rain.    360

Full gently now she takes him by the hand,
    A lily prisoned in a gaol of snow,
    Or ivory in an alabaster band;
    So white a friend engirts so white a foe.
        This beauteous combat, wilful and unwilling,
        Showed like two silver doves that sit a-billing.    366

Once more the engine of her thoughts began:
    "O fairest mover on this mortal round,
    Would thou wert as I am, and I a man,
    My heart all whole as thine, thy heart my wound;
        For one sweet look thy help I would assure thee,
        Though nothing but my body's bane would cure thee".    372

"Give me my hand;" saith he "why dost thou feel it?"
    "Give me my heart," saith she "and thou shalt have it.
    O give it me, lest thy hard heart do steel it,
    And being steeled, soft sighs can never grave it;
        Then love's deep groans I never shall regard,
        Because Adonis' heart hath made mine hard."    378

"For shame," he cries "let go, and let me go!
    My day's delight is past, my horse is gone,
    And 'tis your fault I am bereft him so.
    I pray you hence, and leave me here alone;
        For all my mind, my thought, my busy care,
        Is how to get my palfrey from the mare."    384

Thus she replies: "Thy palfrey, as he should,
    Welcomes the warm approach of sweet desire.
    Affection is a coal that must be cooled,
    Else, suffered, it will set the heart on fire.
        The sea hath bounds, but deep desire hath none;
        Therefore no marvel though thy horse be gone.    390

"How like a jade he stood tied to the tree,
    Servilely mastered with a leathern rein;
    But when he saw his love, his youth's fair fee,
    He held such petty bondage in disdain,
        Throwing the base thong from his bending crest,
        Enfranchising his mouth, his back, his breast.    396

"Who sees his true-love in her naked bed,
    Teaching the sheets a whiter hue than white,
    But, when his glutton eye so full hath fed,
    His other agents aim at like delight?
        Who is so faint that dares not be so bold
        To touch the fire, the weather being cold?    402

"Let me excuse thy courser, gentle boy;
    And learn of him, I heartily beseech thee,
    To take advantage on presented joy:
    Though I were dumb, yet his proceedings teach thee.
        O learn to love:-the lesson is but plain,
        And once made perfect, never lost again."    408

"I know not love," quoth he "nor will not know it,
    Unless it be a boar, and then I chase it.
    'Tis much to borrow, and I will not owe it.
    My love to love is love but to disgrace it;
        For I have heard, it is a life in death,
        That laughs and weeps, and all but with a breath.    414

"Who wears a garment shapeless and unfinished?
    Who plucks the bud before one leaf put forth?
    If springing things be any jot diminished,
    They wither in their prime, prove nothing worth.
        The colt that's backed and burdened being young
        Loseth his pride, and never waxeth strong.    420

"You hurt my hand with wringing; let us part,
    And leave this idle theme, this bootless chat.
    Remove your siege from my unyielding heart;
    To love's alarms it will not ope the gate.
        Dismiss your vows, your feignd tears, your flatt'ry;
        For where a heart is hard they make no batt'ry."    426

"What, canst thou talk?" quoth she "Hast thou a tongue?
    O, would thou hadst not, or I had no hearing!
    Thy mermaid's voice hath done me double wrong;
    I had my load before, now pressed with bearing:
        Melodious discord, heavenly tune harsh-sounding,
        Ears' deep-sweet music, and heart's deep-sore wounding.    432

"Had I no eyes but ears, my ears would love
    That inward beauty and invisible;
    Or were I deaf, thy outward parts would move
    Each part in me that were but sensible.
        Though neither eyes nor ears, to hear nor see,
        Yet should I be in love by touching thee.    438

"Say that the sense of feeling were bereft me,
    And that I could not see, nor hear, nor touch,
    And nothing but the very smell were left me,
    Yet would my love to thee be still as much;
        For from the stillitory of thy face excelling
        Comes breath perfumed, that breedeth love by smelling.    444

"But O what banquet wert thou to the taste,
    Being nurse and feeder of the other four!
    Would they not wish the feast might ever last,
    And bid Suspicion double-lock the door
        Lest jealousy, that sour unwelcome guest,
        Should by his stealing-in disturb the feast?"    450

Once more the ruby-coloured portal opened,
    Which to his speech did honey passage yield,
    Like a red morn that ever yet betokened
    Wrack to the seaman, tempest to the field,
        Sorrow to shepherds, woe unto the birds,
        Gusts and foul flaws to herdmen and to herds.    456

This ill presage advisdly she marketh:
    Even as the wind is hushed before it raineth,
    Or as the wolf doth grin before he barketh,
    Or as the berry breaks before it staineth,
        Or like the deadly bullet of a gun,
        His meaning struck her ere his words begun.    462

And at his look she flatly falleth down,
    For looks kill love, and love by looks reviveth:
    A smile recures the wounding of a frown.
    But blessd bankrupt that by loss so thriveth!
        The silly boy, believing she is dead,
        Claps her pale cheek till clapping makes it red;    468

And all amazed brake off his late intent,
    For sharply did he think to reprehend her,
    Which cunning love did wittily prevent:
    Fair fall the wit that can so well defend her!
        For on the grass she lies as she were slain,
        Till his breath breatheth life in her again.    474

He wrings her nose, he strikes her on the cheeks,
    He bends her fingers, holds her pulses hard,
    He chafes her lips, a thousand ways he seeks
    To mend the hurt that his unkindness marred;
        He kisses her, and she, by her good will,
        Will never rise, so he will kiss her still.    480

The night of sorrow now is turned to day:
    Her two blue windows faintly she up-heaveth,
    Like the fair sun when in his fresh array
    He cheers the morn, and all the earth relieveth;
        And as the bright sun glorifies the sky,
        So is her face illumined with her eye;    486

Whose beams upon his hairless face are fixed,
    As if from thence they borrowed all their shine.
    Were never four such lamps together mixed
    Had not his clouded with his brow's repine;
        But hers, which through the crystal tears gave light,
        Shone like the moon in water seen by night.    492

"O where am I?" quoth she "In earth or heaven,
    Or in the ocean drenched, or in the fire?
    What hour is this?-or morn, or weary even?
    Do I delight to die, or life desire?
        But now I lived, and life was death's annoy;
        But now I died, and death was lively joy.    498

"O, thou didst kill me-kill me once again.
    Thy eyes' shrewd tutor, that hard heart of thine,
    Hath taught them scornful tricks and such disdain
    That they have murdered this poor heart of mine;
        And these mine eyes, true leaders to their queen,
        But for thy piteous lips no more had seen.    504

"Long may they kiss each other for this cure!
    O never let their crimson liveries wear!
    And as they last, their verdure still endure,
    To drive infection from the dangerous year!
        That the star-gazers, having writ on death,
        May say, the plague is banished by thy breath.    510

"Pure lips, sweet seals in my soft lips imprinted,
    What bargains may I make, still to be sealing?
    To sell myself I can be well contented,
    So thou wilt buy, and pay, and use good dealing;
        Which purchase if thou make, for fear of slips
        Set thy seal manual on my wax-red lips.    516

"A thousand kisses buys my heart from me;
    And pay them at thy leisure, one by one.
    What is ten hundred touches unto thee?
    Are they not quickly told and quickly gone?
        Say for non-payment that the debt should double,
        Is twenty hundred kisses such a trouble?"    522

"Fair queen," quoth he "if any love you owe me,
    Measure my strangeness with my unripe years;
    Before I know myself, seek not to know me:
    No fisher but the ungrown fry forbears;
        The mellow plum doth fall, the green sticks fast,
        Or being early plucked is sour to taste.    528