Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

:

Upon the place beneath it is twice bless'd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown:
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power
The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this scepter'd sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice.) Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much,
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;

Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.

Аст V.

Moonlight.

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music Creep in our ears; soft stillness, and the night, Become the touches of sweet harmony. Sit, Jessica look, how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold; There's not the smallest orb, which thou behold'st, But in his motion like an angel sings,

Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims:

* A small dish used in the sacramental service.

Such harmony is in immortal souls;
But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.

Music.

Do but note a wild and wanton herd,
Or race of youthful and unhandled colts,
Fetching mad bounds, bellowing and neighing loud,
Which is the hot condition of their blood;
If they but hear perchance' a trumpet sound,
Or any air of music touch their ears,

You shall perceive them make a mutual stand,
Their savage eyes turn'd to a modest gaze,
By the sweet power of music: therefore, the poet
Did feign that Orpheus drew trees, stones, and floods ;
Since naught so stockish, hard and full of rage,
But music for the time doth change his nature.
The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils :
The motions of his spirit are dull as night,
And his affections dark as Erebus:

Let no such man be trusted.

A good deea.

How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

Nothing good out of Season.

The crow doth sing as sweetly as the lark,

When neither is attended; and, I think
The nightingale, if she should sing by day,
When every goose is cackling, would be thought,
No better a musician than the wren.

How many things by season season'd are
To their right praise and true perfection!

-000

A MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM.

An

Hermia, daughter of Egeus, is in love with Lysander contrary to her father's will, he wishing her to marry Demetrius. appeal is made by Egeus to Theseus, Duke of Athens, who condemns Hermia to death or perpetual celibacy except she marries the man of her father's choice. On hearing this sentence, Hermia and Lysander determine to escape beyond the sway of the Duke, and be married privately. Helena, who is in love with Demetrius, (who, however, does not return her love), informs him of the escape of the lovers, on which he pursues them, followed by Helena. In a wood near Athens, Oberon, king of the fairies, overhears a conversation between Helena and Demetrius, in which he rudely repulses her love. The fairy king instructs Puck, an attendant fairy, to squeeze the juice of a certain plant on the eyelids of Demetrius whilst he is asleep, by which he will be charmed into violent love for the first living object that meets his eyes when he awakes, it being presumed that Helena will be this object. Puck by mistake. anoints the eyes of Lysander, whose waking eyes first light on Helena, to whom, in obedience to the charm, he at once transfers his affections. Oberon, discovering Puck's error, releases Lysander from the spell, thus restoring his love for Hermia, whilst Demetrius retains his newly awakened affection for Helena. The underplot, in which Titania the fairy queen figures prominently, adds greatly to the interest of the drama.

To

Acr I.

A Father's Authority.

you your father should be as a god; One that compos'd your beauties; yea, and one

To whom you are but as a form in wax,
By him imprinted, and within his power
To leave the figure, or disfigure it.

Vexations of True Love.

For aught that ever I could read, Could ever hear by tale or history,

The course of true love never did run smooth.

Assignation.

I swear to thee, by Cupid's strongest bow;
By his best arrow with the golden head;
By the simplicity of Venus' doves;

By that which knitteth souls, and prospers loves :
And by that fire which burn'd the Carthage queen,
When the false Trojan under sail was seen ;
By all the vows that ever men have broke,
In number more than ever women spoke ;-
In that same place thou hast appointed me,
To-morrow truly will I meet with thee.

The Moon.

When Phoebe doth behold

Her silver visage in the watery glass,
Decking with liquid pearl the bladed grass.

Love.

Things base and vile, holding no quantity, Love can transpose to form and dignity. Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind; And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind: Nor hath love's mind of any judgment taste; Wings, and no eyes, figure unheedy haste; And therefore is love said to be a child,

[ocr errors]

Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.
As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,
So the boy love is perjured every where.

ACT II.

The Fairy Puck.

I am that merry wanderer of the night,
I jest to Oberon, and make him smile,
When I a fat and bean-fed horse beguile,
Neighing in likeness of a filly foal:
And sometimes lurk I in a gossip's bowl,
In very likeness of a roasted crab ;
And, when she drinks, against her lips I bob,
And on her withered dew-lap pour the ale.
The wisest aunt, telling the saddest tale,
Sometimes for three foot stool mistaketh me.

Fairy Jealousy, and the Effects of it described by Titania.
These are the forgeries of jealousy:

And never, since the middle summer's* spring,
Met we on hill, in dale, forest, or mead,
By paved fountain,† or by rushy brook,
Or on the beached margent of the sea
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
But with thy brawls thou hast disturb'd our sport.
Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain,
As in revenge, have suck'd up from the sea
Contagious fogs; which, falling in the land,
Have every pelting‡ river made so proud,
That they have overborne their continents ;§
The ox hath therefore stretch'd his yoke in vain,

* Midsummer.

Petty, insignificant.

† A pebbly stream.

§ Their banks.

:

« ForrigeFortsæt »