ACT I.
[Scene I.] Rousillon. The Count's palace.
[Enter] Bertram, the Countess of Rousillon, Helena, and Lafeu, all in black.
[Count.] In delivering my son from me, I bury a second
husband.
Ber. [And I in going, madam,] weep o'er my father's
death anew: but I must attend his majesty's command, to
5 whom I am now in ward, evermore in subjection.
Laf. You shall find of the king a husband, madam;
you, sir, a father: he that so generally is at all times good,
must of necessity hold his virtue to you; whose worthiness
would stir it up where it wanted, rather than [lack] it where
10 there is such abundance.
Count. What hope is there of his majesty's amendment?
Laf. He hath abandoned his physicians, madam; under
whose practices he hath [persecuted] time with hope, and
finds no other advantage in the process but only the losing
15 of hope by time.
Count. This young gentlewoman had a father,—O, that
'had'! how sad a [passage] 'tis!—whose skill was almost as
great as his honesty; had it stretched so far, [would] have
made nature immortal, and death should [have] play for lack
20 of work. Would, for the king's sake, he were living! I
think it would be the death of the king's disease.
Laf. How called you the man you speak of, madam?
Count. He was famous, sir, in his profession, and it was
his great right to be so,—Gerard de Narbon.
25 Laf. He was excellent indeed madam: the king very
lately spoke of him admiringly and mourningly: he was
skilful enough to have lived still, if knowledge could be set
up against mortality.
[Ber.] What is it, my good lord, the king languishes of?
30 Laf. A fistula, my lord.
Ber. I heard not of it before.
Laf. I would it were not notorious. Was this gentlewoman
the daughter of Gerard de Narbon?
Count. His sole child, my lord; and bequeathed to my
35 overlooking. I have those [hopes of her good that her] education
[promises; her] dispositions she inherits, which makes
fair gifts fairer; for where an unclean mind carries virtuous
qualities, there commendations go with pity; they are virtues
and traitors too: in her they are the better for [their] simpleness;
40 she derives her honesty and achieves her goodness.
Laf. Your commendations, madam, get [from her tears].
Count. 'Tis the best brine a maiden can season her praise
in. The remembrance of her father never approaches her
heart but the tyranny of her sorrows takes all livelihood from
45 her cheek. No more of this, Helena, go to, no more; lest
[it be rather thought you] affect a sorrow than to have—
Hel. I do affect a sorrow, indeed, but I have it too.
Laf. Moderate [lamentation] is the right of the dead;
excessive grief the enemy to the living.
50 [Count.] If the living be enemy to the grief, the excess
makes it soon mortal.
[Ber. Madam,] I desire your holy wishes.
Laf. How understand we that?
Count. Be thou blest, Bertram, and succeed thy father
In manners, as in shape! thy blood and virtue
Contend for empire in thee, and thy goodness
Share with thy birthright! Love all, trust a few,
Do wrong to none: be able for thine enemy
Rather in power than use; and keep thy friend
Under thy own life's key: be check'd for silence,
But never tax'd for speech. What heaven more will,
That thee may furnish, and my prayers pluck down,
Fall on thy [head!] Farewell, my lord;
'Tis an unseason'd courtier; good my lord,
65
[Laf. He cannot] want the best
That shall attend his love.
Count. [Heaven] bless him! Farewell, Bertram. [Exit.
Ber. [To Helena] The best wishes that can be forged in
your thoughts be servants to you! Be comfortable to my
mother, your mistress, and make much of her.
Laf. Farewell, pretty lady: you [must hold] the credit
of your father.
[Exeunt] Bertram and Lafeu.
Hel. O, were that all! I think not on my father;
And these great tears grace his remembrance more
Than [those I] shed for him. What was he like?
I have forgot him: my imagination
Carries no favour [in 't but Bertram's.]
I am undone: there is no living, none,
If Bertram be away. ['Twere] all one
That I should love a bright [particular] star
And think to wed it, he is so above [me]:
In his bright radiance and collateral light
Must I be comforted, not in his sphere.
[The] ambition in my love thus plagues itself:
The hind that would be mated by the lion
Must die for love. 'Twas pretty, though a plague,
To see him every hour; to sit and draw
His arched [brows], his hawking eye, his curls,
In [our] heart's table; heart too capable
Of every line and [trick] of his sweet favour:
But now he's gone, and my idolatrous fancy
Must sanctify his [reliques]. Who comes here?
Enter Parolles.
[Aside] One that goes with him: I love him for his sake;
And yet I know him a notorious liar,
Think him a great way fool, [solely] a coward;
Yet these fix'd evils sit so fit in him,
That they take place, when virtue's [steely] bones
[Look] bleak i' the cold wind: withal, full oft we see
[Cold] wisdom waiting on superfluous folly.
100
Par. Save you, fair queen!
Hel. And you, monarch!
Par. No.
Hel. And no.
Par. Are you meditating on virginity?
105
Hel. Ay. You have some [stain] of soldier in you: let
me ask you a question. Man is enemy to virginity; how
may we [barricado] it against [him]?
Par. Keep him out.
Hel. But he [assails]; and our virginity, though [valiant],
in the defence yet is weak: unfold [to us] some warlike
resistance.
Par. There is none: man, [sitting] down before you, will
undermine you and blow you up.
Hel. [Bless] our poor virginity from underminers and
blowers up! Is there no military policy, how virgins
might blow up men?
Par. Virginity being blown down, man will quicklier
be blown up: marry, in blowing him down again, with the
breach yourselves made, you lose your city. It is not
politic in the commonwealth of nature to preserve virginity.
Loss of virginity is [rational] increase and there was never
virgin [got] till virginity was first lost. That you were made
of is metal to make virgins. Virginity by being once lost
may be ten times found; by being ever kept, it is ever lost:
'tis too cold a companion; away with 't!
Hel. I will stand for 't a little, though therefore I die a
virgin.
Par. There's little can be said in 't; 'tis against the rule
of nature. To speak on the part of virginity, is to accuse
your [mothers;] which is most infallible disobedience. [He]
that hangs himself is a virgin: virginity murders itself; and
should be buried in highways out of all sanctified limit, as a
desperate offendress against nature. Virginity breeds mites,
much like a cheese; consumes itself to the very paring, and
so dies with feeding [his] own stomach. Besides, virginity is
peevish, proud, idle, made of self-love, which is the most [inhibited]
sin in the canon. Keep it not; you cannot choose
but lose by 't: out with 't! within [ten year] it will make
itself ten, which is a goodly increase; and the principal
itself not much the worse: away with 't!
Hel. How might one do, sir, to lose it to her own liking?
Par. Let me see: marry, ill, to like him that ne'er [it]
likes. ['Tis] a commodity will lose the gloss with lying; the
longer kept, the less worth: off with 't while 'tis vendible;
answer the time of request. Virginity, like an old courtier,
wears her cap out of fashion; richly suited, but unsuitable:
just like the brooch and the tooth-pick, which [wear] not now.
Your date is better in your pie and your porridge than in
your cheek: and your virginity, your old virginity, is like
one of our French withered pears, it looks ill, it eats drily;
marry, 'tis a withered pear; it was formerly better; marry,
[yet] 'tis a withered pear: will you any thing with it?
Hel. [Not] my virginity yet....
There [shall] your master have a thousand loves,
[A mother] and a mistress and a friend,
[A phœnix, captain] and an enemy,
A guide, a goddess, and a sovereign,
A counsellor, a traitress, and a dear;
His [humble] ambition, proud humility,
His jarring concord, and his discord dulcet,
His faith, his sweet disaster; with a world
Of [pretty], fond, adoptious christendoms,
That blinking Cupid gossips. Now shall [he—]
I know not what he shall. God send him well!
The court's a [learning place], and he is one—
Par. What one, i' faith?
Hel. That I wish well. 'Tis [pity—]
Hel. That wishing well had not a body in't,
Which might be felt; that we, [the] poorer born,
Whose baser stars do shut us up in wishes,
Might with effects of them follow our friends,
And show what we alone must think, which never
Returns us thanks.
Enter Page.
175
Page. Monsieur Parolles, my lord calls for you.
[Exit.
Par. Little Helen, farewell: if I can remember thee, I
Hel. Monsieur Parolles, you were born under a charitable
star.
180
Par. Under Mars, I.
Hel. I especially think, under Mars.
Par. Why under Mars?
Hel. The [wars have] so kept you under, that you must
needs be born under Mars.
185
Par. When he was predominant.
Hel. When he was retrograde, I think, rather.
Par. Why think you so?
Hel. You go so much backward when you fight.
Par. That's for advantage.
190
Hel. [So is] running away, when fear proposes the safety:
but the composition that your valour and fear [makes] in you
is a virtue of a good [wing], and I like the wear well.
Par. I am so full of [businesses], I cannot answer thee
acutely. I will return perfect courtier; in the which, my
[instruction] shall serve to naturalize thee, so thou wilt be
capable [of a] courtier's counsel, and understand what advice
shall thrust upon thee; else thou diest in thine unthankfulness,
and thine ignorance makes thee away: farewell. When
thou hast leisure, say thy prayers; when thou hast none,
remember thy friends: get thee a good husband, and use
him as he uses thee: so, farewell. [Exit.]
Hel. Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie,
Which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky
Gives us free scope; only doth backward pull
Our slow designs when we ourselves are dull.
What power is it which mounts my love so high;
[That] makes me see, and cannot feed mine eye?
[The mightiest space] in fortune nature brings
To join like likes and kiss like native things.
Impossible be strange attempts to those
That weigh their pains in sense, and do suppose
What [hath been cannot be]: who ever strove
To show her merit, that did miss her love?
[The king's disease—]my project may deceive me,
But my intents are fix'd, and will not leave me. [Exit.
LINENOTES:
[Act i. Scene i.] Actus Primus. Scæna Prima. Ff.
[Enter.... ] Enter yong Bertram, Count of Rossillion, his Mother, and Helena, Lord Lafew, all in blacke. Ff.
[1] [Count.] Mother. Ff, and afterwards Mo.
delivering] delivering up Hanmer. dissevering Warburton.
son from me,] son, for me or son, 'fore me, Becket conj.
[3] [And I in going, madam] F1. And in going Madam F2 F3 F4. And in going, madam, I Rowe.
[9] [lack] slack Theobald (Warburton).
[13] [persecuted] prosecuted Hanmer.
[17] [passage] preface Hanmer. presage Warburton. pesage Becket conj.
was] om. Collier (Collier MS.).
[18] [would] it would Rowe, 't would Singer.
[19] [have] have had Hanmer.
play] play'd Warburton.
[29, 31, 52] [Ber.] Ros. Ff.
[35] [hopes of her good that her] good hopes of her that her or hopes of her that her good Anon. conj.
[36] [promises; her] Rowe. promises her Ff. promises her; Pope.
her dispositions] the honesty of her dispositions Staunton conj.
dispositions] disposition Rowe.
[39] [their] her Hammer (Warburton).
[41] [from her tears] tears from her Pope.
[46] [it be rather thought you] you be rather thought to Hanmer.
to have—] Ff. to have it. Warburton. have it. Capell. to have. Steevens.
[48] [lamentation] F1. lamentations F2 F3 F4.
[50] [Count.] Hel. Tieck.
be] be not Theobald (Warburton).
[52, 53] [Ber. Madam, ... Laf. How ... ] Laf. How ... Ber. Madam, ... Theobald conj.
[63] [head] F1. hand F2 F3 F4.
Farewell, my lord:] Farewell my Lord, Ff. Farewel.—My lord Lafeu, Capell. Farewell. My lord, Steevens.
[63-67] Hanmer ends the lines 'tis an ... advise him ... attend ... Bertram. S. Walker would end them My lord Lafeu, ... my lord ... that shall ... Bertram, reading can't for cannot in line 65.
[64] [Advise him.] Advise him you. Capell.
[65-87] [Laf. He cannot ... draw] Omitted in F4.
[67] [Heaven] May heaven Hanmer.
[71] [must hold] uphold Rann (Mason conj.).
[72] [Exeunt...] Rowe. om. Ff.
[75] [those I] they are Hanmer.
[77] [in't but Bertram's] in it but my Bertram's Pope. in it, but of Bertram Capell. in 't but only Bertram's Collier (Collier MS.).
[79] ['Twere] F1 F2 F3. It were Pope.
[80] [particular] F1 F2 F3. partic'lar Pope.
[81] [me:] Rowe. me F1 F2 F3.
[84] [The] Th' F1 F2 F3.
[88] [brows] browes F1 F2. arrows F3 F4.
[89] [our] my Collier MS.
[90] [trick] trait Becket conj.
[92] [reliques] F1 F2. relick F3 F4.
Enter Parolles.] Ff. Dyce transfers to line 99.
[95] [solely] F3 F4. solie F1 F2. wholly Hanmer.
[97] [steely] seely Williams conj.
[98] [Look] Rowe. Lookes F1 F2. Looks F3 F4.
i'the] in the Pope.
withal] om. Pope.
[99] [Cold] S. Walker conjectures that this is corrupt.
folly] F3 F4. follie F1 F2.
Save] 'Save Hanmer.
[105] [stain] strain Halliwell conj.
[107] [barricado] Rowe. barracedo F1. barrocado F2 F3 F4.
[107-109] [him? Par. Keep him out. Hel. But] him to keep him out? for Hanmer.
[109] [assails] assails us S. Walker conj.
[109, 110] [valiant, in the defence yet] Ff. valiant in the defence, yet Steevens.
[110] [to us] F1. us F2 F3 F4.
[112] [sitting] Johnson. setting Ff.
[114] [Bless] 'Bless Capell conj. MS.
[121] [rational] national Hanmer (Theobald conj.). natural Anon. ap. Halliwell conj.
[122] [got] F2 F3 F4. goe F1.
[130] [mothers] mother Rowe.
[130, 131] [He ... is] He ... is like Hanmer. As he ... so is Warburton.
[135] [his] its Rowe. on its Hanmer.
[137] [inhibited] F1. inhabited F2 F3 F4. prohibited Pope.
[138, 139] [ten year ... ten,] ten years ... ten Hanmer. ten yeare ... two F1. ten yeares ... two F2 F3. ten years ... two F4. two years ... two Collier, ed. 2 (Steevens conj.). ten years ... twelve Tollet conj. ten months ... two Singer (Malone conj.). one year ... two Grant White. the year ... two Anon. conj.
[142, 143] [it likes] likes it S. Walker conj.
[143] ['Tis] And 'tis Hanmer.
[147] [wear] Capell. were Ff. we wear Rowe.
[152] [yet] yes, Hanmer.
will you] will you do Collier MS.
with it?] with me? Johnson conj. with us? Tyrwhitt conj. with it? I am now bound for the court. Malone conj. with it? We are for the Court. Staunton conj.
[153] [Not] Not with Collier MS.
yet.] yet. You're for the Court: Hanmer. [See note (ii).]
[153, 154] Not ... your] No!—my virginity! yet There shall its Jackson conj.
[154] [shall] should Steevens conj.
[155] [A mother] Another Rowe (ed. 2).
[156-163] [A phœnix ... shall he] Put in brackets as spurious by Warburton.
[156] captain] captor Anon. conj.
[159] [humble] F1. humblest F2 F3 F4.
[162] [pretty] petty Harness.
fond, adoptious] fond-adoptious S. Walker conj.
[163] [he—] Rowe. he: Ff.
[165] [learning place] learning-place Steevens.
one—] Rowe. one. Ff.
[167] [pity—] Rowe. pitty. F1 F2 F3. pity. F4.
[168] [Par. What's pity?] Omitted in Pope (ed. 2).
[170] [the] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.
[183] [wars have] Pope. warres hath F1 F2. waters hath F3 F4. waters have Rowe.
[190] [So ... safety] Printed as two lines in Ff, the first ending away.
the safety] safety F3 F4.
[191] [makes] make Hanmer.
[192] [wing] ming Warburton.
I like the wear] is like to wear Mason conj.
[193] [businesses] F1 F2 F3. business F4. businesses, as Theobald.
[195] [instruction] instrument Rowe (ed. 2).
[196] [of a] F1. of the F2 F3 F4. of Pope.
[202] [Scene iv.] Pope.
[207] [That] Which Capell.
[208] [The mightiest space] The mighty and base Mason conj. The wid'st apart Staunton conj.
fortune nature] nature fortune Malone conj. (withdrawn).
brings] springs Anon. (Fras. Mag.) conj.
[208, 209] The ... To join like likes] Through ... Likes to join likes Johnson conj. The ... Like to join like Long MS.
[212] [ hath been cannot be] hath not been ca'nt be Hanmer. ha'nt been cannot be Mason conj. n'ath been cannot be Staunton conj.
[214] [The king's disease—] Rowe. (The Kings disease) Ff.
[Scene II.] Paris. The King's palace.
[Flourish of cornets.] Enter the King of France with letters, and divers Attendants.
King. The Florentines and [Senoys] are by the ears;
Have fought with equal fortune, and continue
A braving war.
[First Lord.] So 'tis reported, sir.
King. Nay, 'tis most credible; we here receive it
A certainty, vouch'd from our cousin Austria,
With caution, that the Florentine will move us
For speedy aid; wherein our dearest friend
Prejudicates the business, and would seem
To have us make denial.
First Lord. His love and wisdom,
Approved so to your majesty, may plead
For amplest credence.
King. He hath arm'd our answer,
And Florence is denied before he comes:
Yet, for our gentlemen that mean to see
The Tuscan service, freely have they leave
To stand on either part.
15
[Sec. Lord.] [It well may] serve
A nursery to our gentry, who are sick
For breathing and exploit.
King. What's he comes here?
Enter Bertram, Lafeu, and Parolles.
First Lord. [It is] the Count Rousillon, my good lord,
Young Bertram.
King. Youth, thou bear'st thy father's face;
Frank nature, rather curious than in haste,
[Hath well composed thee.] Thy father's moral parts
Mayst thou inherit too! Welcome to Paris.
Ber. My thanks and duty are your majesty's.
King. I would I had that corporal soundness now,
As when thy father and myself in friendship
First tried our soldiership! He did look far
Into the service of the time, and was
Discipled of the [bravest:] he lasted long;
But on us both did haggish age steal on,
And wore us out of act. It much repairs me
To talk of your good father. In his youth
He had the wit, which I can [well] observe
To-day in our young lords; but they may jest
Till their own scorn return to them unnoted
Ere they can [hide their levity] in [honour:]
So like a courtier, [contempt nor] bitterness
Were [in his pride or sharpness;] if they were,
His equal had awaked them; and his honour,
[Clock] to itself, knew the true minute when
[Exception] bid him speak, and at this time
His tongue obey'd [his hand:] who were below him
He used as creatures of [another place;]
And bow'd his eminent top to their low ranks,
Making them [proud of] his [humility,]
In their poor praise [he humbled]. Such a man
Might be a copy to these younger times;
Which, follow'd well, would [demonstrate them now]
But goers backward.
Ber. His good remembrance, sir,
Lies richer in your thoughts than on his tomb;
[So in approof lives not his] epitaph
As in your royal speech.
King. Would I were with him! He would always say—
Methinks I hear him now; his plausive words
He scatter'd not in ears, but grafted them,
To grow there and to bear,—'Let me not live,'—
[This] his good melancholy oft began,
On the catastrophe and heel of pastime,
When [it] was out,—'Let me not live,' quoth he,
'After my flame lacks oil, to be the snuff
Of younger spirits, whose apprehensive senses
All but new things disdain; whose judgements are
Mere [fathers] of their garments; whose constancies
Expire before their fashions. This he wish'd:
I after him do after him wish too,
Since I nor wax nor honey can bring home,
I quickly were dissolved from my hive,
To give some [labourers] room.
Sec. Lord. You are loved, sir;
They that least lend it you shall lack you first.
King. I fill a place, I know't. How long is't, count,
Since the physician at your father's died?
He was much famed.
Ber. Some six months since, my lord.
King. If he were living, I would try him yet.
Lend me an arm; the rest have worn me out
With several applications: nature and sickness
Debate it at their leisure. Welcome, count;
My son's no dearer.
Ber. [Thank] your majesty.
[Exeunt. Flourish.
LINENOTES:
[Scene ii.] Capell. Scene v. Pope.
[Flourish of cornets.] Flourish cornets. Ff.
[1] [Senoys] Siennois or Siennese Lloyd conj.
the ears] Capell. th' eares Ff.
[3, 9, 18] [First Lord.] 1. Lord. Rowe. 1. Lo. G. Ff.
[15, 67] [Sec. Lord.] 2. Lord. Rowe. 2. Lo. E. Ff.
[15] [well may] may well F3 F4.
[18] [It is] F1 F4. It 'tis F2 F3.
Rousillon] Pope. Rosignoll F1. Rosillion F2. Rossillion F3 F4.
[21] [Hath well composed thee] Compos'd thee well Pope.
[28] [bravest] brav'st Pope.
[32] [well] ill Long MS.
[35] [hide their levity in honour] vye their levity with his honour Hanmer. hide their levity in humour Long MS.
[35, 36] [honour: So like a courtier,] Ff. honour, So like a courtier: Capell (Blackstone conj.). honour: No courtier-like Lloyd conj.
[36] [contempt nor] no contempt nor Rowe (ed. 1). no contempt or Rowe (ed. 2).
[37] [in his pride or sharpness;] in him; pride or sharpness, Theobald (Warburton). in him, pride or sharpness; Capell.
if they were] if there were Theobald (Warburton).
[39] [Clock] Block Rowe (ed. 2).
[40] [Exception] Exceptions Theobald.
this] that Rowe.
[41] [his hand] the hand Johnson conj. it's hand Capell. his head Long MS.
[42] [another place] a brother-race Hanmer.
[44] [proud of] proud; and Warburton.
[44, 45] [humility, In ... praise he humbled] humility: He in ... praise, humbled Becket conj.
[45] [he humbled] be-humbled Staunton conj.
[47] [demonstrate them now] now demonstrate them Pope.
[50] [So in approof lives not his] Approof so lives not in his Johnson conj. So his approof lives not in Capell.
[56] [This] Ff. Thus Pope.
[58] [it] wit Staunton conj.
[62] [fathers] feathers Tyrwhitt conj. parcels Williams conj.
[67] [labourers] labourer Warburton.
You are] Capell. You'r F1 F2. You're F3 F4.
[76] [Thank] Thanks to Rowe.
[Exeunt.] Exit. Ff.
[Scene III.] Rousillon. The Count's palace.
Enter Countess, Steward, and Clown.
Count. I will now [hear; what say you] of this [gentlewoman]?
Stew. Madam, the care I have had to [even] your content,
I wish might be found in the calendar of my past
5endeavours; for then we wound our modesty and make
[foul] the clearness of our deservings, when of ourselves we
publish them.
Count. What does this knave here? Get you gone,
sirrah: the complaints I have heard of you I do not all
10believe: ['tis] my slowness that I do not; for I know you
lack not folly to commit them, and have ability enough to
make such knaveries [yours].
Clo. 'Tis not unknown to you, madam, [I am] a poor
fellow.
15Count. Well, sir.
Clo. No, madam, 'tis not so well that I am poor,
though many of the rich are damned: but, if I [may have]
your ladyship's good will [to go to] the world, Isbel the
[woman] [and I will] do as we may.
20Count. Wilt thou needs be a beggar?
Clo. I do beg your good will in this case.
Count. In what case?
Clo. In Isbel's case and mine own. Service is no
heritage: and I think I shall never have the blessing of
25God till I have issue [o'] my body; for they say [barnes] are
blessings.
Count. Tell me thy reason why thou wilt marry.
Clo. My poor body, madam, requires it: I am driven on
by the flesh; and he must needs go that the devil drives.
30Count. Is this all your worship's reason?
Clo. Faith, madam, I have other holy reasons, such as
they are.
Count. May the world know them?
Clo. I have been, madam, a wicked creature, as you
35and all flesh and blood are; and, indeed, I do marry that
I may repent.
Count. Thy marriage, sooner than thy wickedness.
Clo. I am [out o'] friends, madam; and I hope to have
friends for my wife's sake.
40Count. Such friends are thine enemies, knave.
Clo. [You're] shallow, [madam, in] great friends; for the
knaves come to do that for me, which I am [aweary] of. He
that ears my land spares my team, and gives me leave [to in]
the crop; if I be his cuckold, he's my drudge: he that comforts
45my wife is the cherisher of my flesh and blood; he
that [cherishes] my flesh and blood loves my flesh and blood;
he that loves my flesh and blood is my friend: ergo, he that
kisses my wife is my friend. If men could be contented to
be what they are, there were no fear in marriage; for young
50[Charbon] the puritan and old Poysam the papist, [howsome'er]
their hearts are severed in religion, their heads are both one;
they may joul horns together, like any deer i' the herd.
Count. Wilt thou ever be a foul-mouthed and calumnious
knave?
55Clo. A prophet I, madam; and I speak the truth the
next way:
[For I] the ballad will repeat,
Which men full true shall find;
Your marriage comes by destiny,
Your cuckoo sings by kind.
Count. Get you gone, sir; I'll talk with you more anon.
Stew. May it please you, madam, that he bid Helen
come to you: of her I am to speak.
Count. Sirrah, tell my gentlewoman I would speak with
65her; Helen I mean.
Clo. Was this fair face [the cause, quoth she,]
Why the Grecians sacked Troy?
Was this King Priam's [joy]?
[With] that she sighed as she stood,
[With that she sighed as she stood,]
[And gave] this sentence then;
Among nine bad if [one] be good,
[Among nine bad if one be good,]
There's yet one good in ten.
Count. What, one good in ten? you corrupt the song,
sirrah.
Clo. One good woman in ten, madam; which is [a] purifying
[o' the song:] would God would serve the world so all
80the year! we'd find no fault with the tithe-woman, if I were
the parson: one in ten, quoth a'! an we might have a good
woman born but [one] every blazing star, or at an earth-quake,
'twould mend the lottery [well:] a man may [draw] his
heart out, ere [a'] pluck one.
85Count. You'll be gone, sir knave, and do as I command
[you.]
Clo. That man should be at [woman's] command, and
[yet] no hurt done! Though honesty be [no puritan], yet it
will [do no hurt]; it will wear the surplice of humility over
90the black gown of a big heart. I am going, forsooth: the
business is for Helen to come hither. [Exit.
Count. Well, now.
Stew. I know, madam, you love your gentlewoman
entirely.
95Count. Faith, I do: her father bequeathed her to me;
and she herself, without other [advantage], may lawfully make
title to as much love as she finds: there is more owing her
than is paid; and more shall be paid her than she'll demand.
Stew. Madam, I was very late more near her than I
100think she wished me: alone she was, and did communicate
to herself her own words to her own ears; she thought, I
dare vow for her, they touched not any stranger sense. Her
matter was, she loved your son: Fortune, she said, was no
goddess, that had put such difference betwixt their two
105estates; Love no god, that [would] [not] extend his [might],
only where qualities were [level; ... queen] of virgins, that
would suffer her poor [knight] [surprised], [without rescue in]
the first assault, or ransom afterward. This she delivered
in the most bitter touch of sorrow that e'er I heard [virgin]
110exclaim in: which I [held] my duty speedily to acquaint you
withal; sithence, in the loss that may happen, it concerns
you something to know it.
Count. You have discharged this [honestly]; keep it to
yourself: many likelihoods informed me of this before,
115which hung so tottering in the balance, that I could [neither]
believe nor misdoubt. Pray you, leave me: stall this in
your bosom; and I thank you for your honest care: I will
speak with you further anon. [Exit Steward.
[Even] so it was with me when I was young:
If [ever] we are nature's, these are ours; this thorn
Doth to our rose of youth rightly belong;
Our blood to us, this to our blood is born;
It is the show and seal of nature's truth,
Where love's strong passion is impress'd in youth:
By our remembrances of days foregone,
[Such were our faults,] or [then we thought them] none.
Her eye is sick on't: I observe her now.
Hel. What is your pleasure, madam?
Count. [You know, Helen,]
I am a mother to you.
Hel. Mine honourable mistress.
130
Count. [Nay,] a mother:
Why not a mother? When I [said 'a mother,']
Methought you saw a serpent: what's in 'mother,'
That you start at it? I say, [I am] your mother;
And put you in the catalogue of those
That were enwombed mine: 'tis often seen
Adoption strives with nature; and choice breeds
A native slip to us from foreign [seeds]:
You ne'er oppress'd me with a mother's groan,
Yet I express to you a mother's care:
God's mercy, maiden! does it curd thy blood
To say I am thy mother? What's the matter,
That this distemper'd messenger of wet,
[The] many-colour'd Iris, rounds thine [eye]?
[Why?] that you [are] my daughter?
Hel. That I am not.
Count. I say, I am your mother.
145
Hel. Pardon, madam;
The Count Rousillon cannot be my brother:
I am from humble, he from honour'd name;
No note upon my parents, his all noble:
My master, my dear lord he is; and I
His servant live, and will his vassal die:
He must not be my brother.
Count. Nor I your [mother]?
Hel. You are my mother, madam; would you were,—
So that my lord your son were not my brother,—
Indeed my mother! or were you both our mothers,
[I care no more for than I do for heaven],
So I were not his sister. [Can't no other],
But I your daughter, he must be my brother?
Count. Yes, Helen, you might be my daughter-in-law:
God shield you mean it not! daughter and mother
So strive upon your pulse. What, pale again?
My fear hath catch'd your fondness: now I see
The mystery of your [loneliness], and find
Your salt tears' head: now to all sense 'tis gross
You love my son; invention is ashamed,
Against the proclamation of thy passion,
To say thou dost not: therefore tell me true;
But tell me then, 'tis so; for, look, thy cheeks
Confess it, [th' one to th'] other; and thine eyes
See [it] so grossly shown in thy [behaviours],
That in their kind they speak it: only sin
And hellish obstinacy tie thy tongue,
That truth should be suspected. Speak, is't so?
If it be so, [you have] wound a goodly clew;
If it be not, forswear't: howe'er, I charge thee,
As heaven shall work in me for [thine] avail,
To tell me [truly].
Hel. Good madam, pardon me!
Count. Do you love my son?
Hel. Your pardon, noble mistress!
Count. Love you my son?
Hel. Do not you love him, madam?
Count. Go not about; my love hath in't a bond,
Whereof the world takes note: come, come, [disclose]
The state of your affection; for your passions
Have to the full appeach'd.
Hel. Then, I confess,
Here on my knee, before high [heaven] and you,
[That] before you, and next unto high heaven,
I love your son.
My friends were poor, but honest; so's my love:
Be not offended; for it hurts not him
That he is loved of me: I follow him not
By any token of presumptuous suit;
Nor would I have him till I do deserve him;
Yet never know how that desert should be.
I know I love in vain, strive against hope;
Yet, in this [captious] and [intenible] sieve,
I still pour in the [waters] of my love,
And lack not to [lose] still: thus, Indian-like,
Religious in mine error, I adore
The sun, that looks upon his worshipper,
But knows of him no more. My dearest madam,
Let not your hate encounter with my love
For loving where you do: but if yourself,
Whose aged honour cites a virtuous youth,
Did ever in so true a flame of [liking]
[Wish] chastely and love dearly, that your Dian
Was both herself and love; O, then, give pity
To her, whose state is such, [that] cannot choose
But lend and give where she is sure to lose;
That seeks not to find that [her] search implies,
But riddle-like lives sweetly where she dies!
Count. Had you not lately an intent,—speak truly,—
To go to Paris?
Hel. Madam, I had.
210
Count. Wherefore? [tell true].
Hel. I will [tell truth]; by grace itself I swear.
You know my father left me some prescriptions
Of rare and proved effects, such as his reading
And [manifest] experience had collected
For general sovereignty; and that he will'd me
In heedfull'st reservation to bestow them,
As notes, whose faculties inclusive were,
More than they were in note: amongst the rest,
There is a remedy, approved, set down,
To cure the desperate [languishings] whereof
The king is render'd lost.
Count. This was your motive
For Paris, was it? speak.
Hel. My lord your son made me to think of this;
Else Paris, and the medicine, and the king,
Had from the conversation of my thoughts
[Haply] been absent then.
Count. But think you, Helen,
If you should tender your supposed aid,
He would receive it? he and his physicians
Are of a mind; he, [that they cannot help him],
They, that they [cannot help]: how shall they credit
A poor unlearned virgin, when the schools,
Embowell'd of their doctrine, have left off
The danger to itself?
Hel. There's something [in't],
More than my father's skill, which was the greatest
Of his profession, that his good receipt
Shall for my legacy be sanctified
[By the] luckiest stars in heaven: and, would your honour
But give me leave [to try] success, I'd venture
[The] well-lost life of mine [on his] Grace's cure
By such a day [and] hour.
240
Count. Dost them believe't?
Hel. Ay, madam, knowingly.
Count. Why, Helen, thou shalt have my leave and love,
Means and [attendants] and my loving greetings
To those of mine in court: I'll stay at home
And pray God's blessing [into] thy attempt:
[Be gone] to-morrow; and be sure of this,
What I can help thee to, thou shalt not miss. [Exeunt.
LINENOTES:
[Scene iii.] Scene vi. Pope.
[1] [hear; what say you] Theobald. heare, what say you Ff. hear what you say Capell.
[gentlewoman?] F4. gentlewoman. F1 F2 F3.
[3] [even] win Collier conj.
[6] [foul] out Rowe (ed. 2).
[10] ['tis] it is S. Walker conj., reading lines 9-12 as verse, ending complaints ... believe ... them ... make ... yours.
[12] [yours] yare Warburton conj.
[13] [I am] that I am Capell.
[17] [may have] F1. have F2 F3 F4.
[18] [to go to] to go into Long MS.
[18, 19] [the woman] your woman Grant White.
[19] [and I will] F2 F3 F4. and w will F1. and we will Collier.
[25] [o'] Rowe (ed. 2). a Ff. of Rann.
[barnes] F1. bearns F2. barns F3 F4.
[38] [out o'] Capell. out a F1 F2 F3. out of F4.
[41] [You're] Capell. Y'are Ff. You are Steevens.
[madam, in] madam; e'en Hanmer. madam, my Tyrwhitt conj.
[42] [aweary] weary Rowe.
[43] [to in] F4. to Inne F1 F2 F3.
[46] [cherishes] F1. cherisheth F2 F3 F4.
[50] [Charbon ... Poysam] [See note (iii).]
[howsome'er] how somere F1 F2. howsomeere F3. howsomere F4. howsoe'er Pope.
[57-60] [For I ... kind] Printed as verse first in Rowe (ed. 2).
[66] [the cause, quoth she] quoth she, the cause Collier (Collier MS.).
[68] [Fond done, done fond] omitted by Pope.
[68, 69] [done find ... joy?] done, fond ... joy, F1 F2. fond done;—for Paris he ... joy. Theobald (Warburton). fond done! but Paris he ... joy, Capell conj. done fond, good sooth, it was: ... joy? Collier (Collier MS.). For it undone, undone, quoth he, ... joy. Rann (Heath conj.).
[70, 71] [With ... stood] With ... stood, bis. Ff (bis in italics).
[71] [Omitted by Pope.]
[72-75] [And gave ... ten] Printed first as verse in Rowe (ed. 2).
[73, 74] [one] none Capell conj.
[74] [Omitted by Pope.]
[78] [a] F1 F2. the F3 F4.
[79] [o' the] Capell. o' th' Rowe (ed. 2). ath' F1 F2. a'th F3 F4.
song] song and mending of the sex Collier (Collier MS. o' the).
[82] [one] Collier (Collier MS.). ore F1 F2. o're F3 F4. o'er Rowe. om. Pope. or Capell. on Rann. ere Collier (ed. 1). for Harness. 'fore Staunton. at Halliwell conj.
[83] [well] wheel Malone conj.
[draw] pray Rowe.
[84] [a'] he Rowe (ed. 2).
[86] [you.] Pope, you? Ff.
[87] [woman's] F1. a woman's F2 F3 F4.
[87, 88] [and yet] F1 F2. and get F3 F4.
[88] [no puritan] a puritan Rann. (Tyrwhitt conj.).
[89] [do no hurt] do what is enjoined Malone conj.
[96] [advantage] advantages Rowe.
[105] [would] should Capell.
[not] om. Long MS.
[might, only] F4. might onelie, F1 F2. might onely F3.
[106] [level; ... queen] levell, Queene F1 F2. levell: Queen F3F4. level: Complain'd against the Queen Rowe. level; Diana no queen Theobald. [See note (iv).]
[107] [knight] spright Warburton conj.
[surprised] to be surpris'd Rowe.
[107, 108] [without rescue in the first assault,] in the first assault, without rescue Capell.
[109] [virgin] a virgin Pope.
[110] [held] held it Rowe.
[113] [honestly] honesty F3 F4.
[115] [neither] F1. never F2 F3 F4.
[118] [Enter H.] Enter Hellen. Ff. Enter H. Singer (after line 126). [See note (v)].
[119] [ Scene vii.] Pope.
Even] Old Cou. Even Ff.
[120] [ever] om. Pope. e'er Edd. conj.
[126] [Such were our faults, or] Ff. Such-were our faults, tho' Hanmer. Such were our faults,—O! Johnson (Warburton conj.). Search we out faults, for Collier MS.
[then ... them] them ... then Staunton.
[128] [You know, Helen] Helen, you know Pope.
[130, 131] [ Nay ... said 'a mother'] As one line in Ff.
[131] [said 'a mother'] said mother F3 F4.
[133] [I am] Ff. I'm Pope.
[137] [seeds] soil Anon. conj.
[143] [The] This S. Walker conj.
[eye] eyes Pope.
[144] [Why?] —Why, Ff. Why,— Rowe.
[are] art F2.
[151] [mother?] Rowe (ed. 2). mother. Ff.
[155] [I care ... heaven] I cannot ask for more than that of heav'n Hanmer. I can no more fear, than I do fear heav'n Warburton. I cannot more fear than I do fear heav'n Heath conj. I'd care no more for't than I do for heaven Capell. I care would ... heaven or I crave would ... heaven Mason conj. I care no more for than you do, 'fore heaven Becker conj. [Aside] I care no more for than I do for heaven Staunton conj.
[156, 157] [Can't no other, But I ... he ... brother?] Theobald. Cant no other, But I ... he ... brother. Ff. Can't no other? But I ... he ... brother. Pope. Can't be no other Way I ... but he ... brother? Hanmer.
[162] [loneliness] Theobald. loveliness Ff. lowliness Hall conj. liveliness Becket conj.
[168] [th' one to th'] Knight. 'ton tooth to th' F1. 'ton to th' F2. 'tone to th' F3 F4. one to th' Rowe.
[169] [it] it is F2.
[behaviours] behaviour F3 F4.
[173] [you have] you've Pope.
[175] [thine] F1. mine F2 F3 F4.
[176] [truly] true Hanmer.
[180] [disclose] F3 F4. disclose: F1 F2.
[184] [heaven] F1. heavens F2 F3 F4.
[184, 185] [That ... son] As in Pope. Printed as one line in Ff.
[193] [captious] carious Johnson conj. cap'cious Farmer conj. copious Jackson conj.
[intenible] intemible F1. inteemible Nicholson conj.
[194] [waters] water Rowe.
[195] [lose] F4. loose F1 F2 F3. love Tyrwhitt conj.
[202] [liking] F1. living F2. loving F3 F4.
[203] [Wish ... dearly] Love dearly and wish chastely Malone conj.
[205] [that] she Hanmer.
[207] [her] F1. om. F2 F3 F4. which Rowe.
[210] [tell true] om. Steevens conj.
[211] [tell truth] F1. tell true F2 F3 F4. tell you true Capell (corrected in note).
[214] [manifest] manifold Collier (Long MS.).
[220] [languishings] Ff. languishes Reed (1803).
[226] [Haply] Pope. Happily Ff.
[229] [that they cannot help him] that he can't be help'd Hanmer. that they cannot help Capell conj. that they cannot heal him S. Walker conj.
[230] [cannot help] can't help him Capell conj. cannot cure Bailey conj.
[233] [in't] hints Hanmer (Warburton).
[237] [By the] Byth' F1 F2 F3. By th' F4.
[238] [to try] F1. to F2 F3 F4. for the Rowe.
[239] [The] This Hanmer.
[on his] on's S. Walker conj.
[240] [and] an F1.
[243] [attendants] attendance S. Walker conj.
[245] [into] F1 F2. unto F3 F4. upon Hanmer.
[246] [Be gone] F3 F4. Begon F1 F2.
[ACT II.]
Scene I. Paris. The King's palace.
Flourish of cornets. [Enter] the King, attended with [divers] young Lords taking leave for the Florentine war; Bertram, and Parolles.
King. Farewell, young [lords;] these warlike principles
Do not throw from you: [and you], my lords, farewell:
Share the advice betwixt you; if [both gain, all]
The gift doth stretch itself as 'tis received,
And is enough for both.
5
[First Lord.] ['Tis] our hope, sir,
After well-enter'd soldiers, to return
And find your Grace in health.
King. No, no, it cannot be; and yet my heart
Will not confess [he owes] the malady
That doth my life besiege. Farewell, young lords;
Whether I live or die, be you the sons
Of worthy Frenchmen: let [higher] Italy,—
Those [bated] that inherit but the fall
Of the last monarchy,—see that you come
Not to woo honour, but to [wed it; when]
The bravest [questant] shrinks, find what you seek,
That fame may cry you loud: I say, farewell.
[Sec. Lord.] Health, at your bidding, serve your majesty!
King. Those girls of Italy, take heed of them:
They say, our French lack language to deny,
If they demand: beware of being captives,
Before you serve.
[Both.] Our hearts receive your warnings.
King. Farewell. [Come hither to me.] [[Exit].
[First Lord.] O my sweet lord, that you will stay behind us!
Par. 'Tis not his [fault, the spark.]
25
[Sec. Lord.] O, 'tis brave wars!
Par. Most admirable: I have seen those wars.
Ber. I am commanded here, and kept with
['Too young,'] and 'the next year,' and ''tis too early.'
Par. [An thy mind stand to't, boy,] steal away bravely.
30
Ber. [I shall stay] here the forehorse to a smock,
Creaking my shoes on the plain masonry,
Till honour be bought up, and no sword worn
But one to dance with! By heaven, I'll steal away.
First Lord. There's honour in the theft.
Par. Commit it, count.
35
Sec. Lord. I am your accessary; and so, farewell.
Ber. [I grow to you, and our] parting is a tortured body.
First Lord. Farewell, [captain].
Sec. Lord. Sweet Monsieur Parolles!
Par. Noble heroes, my sword and [yours] are kin. Good
sparks and lustrous, , good metals: you shall find
in the regiment of the Spinii one Captain Spurio, [with his]
cicatrice, an emblem of war, here on his sinister cheek; it
was this very sword entrenched it: say to him, I live; and
observe his reports [for] me.
45
[First Lord.] We shall, noble captain. [Exeunt Lords.
Par. Mars dote on you for his [novices! what will ye do?]
Ber. [Stay: the king.]
Par. [Aside to Ber.] Use a more spacious ceremony to
the noble lords; you have restrained yourself within the list
of too cold an adieu: be more expressive to them: for they
wear themselves in the cap of the time, [there do muster] true
[gait], [eat], speak, and [move] under the influence of the most received
star; and though the devil lead the measure, such are
to be followed: after them, and take a more dilated farewell.
55
Ber. And I will do so.
Par. Worthy fellows; and like to prove most sinewy
sword-men. [[Exeunt Bertram and Parolles].
Laf. [[Kneeling]] Pardon, my lord, for me and for my tidings.
King. [I'll fee] thee to [stand up].
60
Laf. Then here's a man stands, that [has] [brought] his pardon.
I would you had kneel'd, my lord, to ask me mercy;
And that at my bidding you could so stand up.
King. [I would] I had; so I had broke thy pate,
And ask'd thee [mercy for't].
65
Laf. Good faith, [across]: but, my good lord, 'tis thus;
Will you be cured of your infirmity?
King. No.
Laf. O, will you eat no grapes, my royal fox?
Yes, but you will [my noble grapes], an if
My royal fox could reach them: I have [seen a medicine]
That's able to breathe life into a stone,
Quicken a rock, and make you dance canary
With spritely fire and motion; whose simple touch
Is powerful to [araise] King [Pepin], nay,
[To give] great Charlemain a pen [in's] hand,
[And write] [to her a love-line].
King. What 'her' is this?
Laf. Why, [Doctor She]: my lord, there's one arrived,
If you will see her: now, by my faith and honour,
If seriously I may [convey] my thoughts
In this my light deliverance, I have spoke
With one that, in her sex, her years, profession,
Wisdom and constancy, hath amazed me more
[Than] I dare [blame] my weakness: will you see her,
For that is her demand, and know her business?
That done, laugh well at me.
85
King. Now, good Lafeu,
Bring in the admiration; that we with thee
May spend our wonder too, or take off thine
By wondering how thou took'st it.
Laf. Nay, I'll fit you,
And not be all day neither. [[Exit].
90
King. Thus he his special [nothing] ever prologues.
[Re-enter Lafeu, with Helena.]
King. This haste hath wings indeed.
Laf. Nay, come your ways;
This is his majesty, say your mind to him:
A traitor you do look like; but such traitors
His majesty seldom fears: [I am] Cressid's uncle,
That dare leave two together; fare you well. [[Exit].
King. Now, fair one, does your business follow us?
Hel. [Ay], my good lord.
[Gerard de Narbon] was my father;
[In] what he did profess, well found.
100
King. I knew him.
Hel. The rather will I spare my [praises] towards him;
Knowing him is enough. [On's] bed of death
Many [receipts] he gave me; chiefly one,
Which, as the dearest issue of his practice,
And of his old experience [the] only darling,
He bade me store up, as a triple eye,
Safer than mine own [two, more dear]; I have so:
And, hearing your high majesty is touch'd
With that malignant cause, wherein the [honour]
Of my dear father's gift stands chief in power,
I come to tender it and my appliance,
With all bound humbleness.
King. We thank you, maiden;
But may not be so credulous of cure,
When our most learned doctors leave us, and
The congregated college have concluded
That labouring art can never [ransom] nature
From her [inaidible estate; I say] we must not
So [stain] our judgement, or corrupt our hope.
To prostitute our past-cure malady
To empirics, or to dissever so
Our great self and our credit, to esteem
A senseless help, when help past sense we deem.
Hel. My duty, then, shall pay me for my pains:
I will no more enforce [mine] office on you;
Humbly entreating from your royal thoughts
A modest one, to bear me back again.
King. I cannot give thee less, to be call'd grateful:
Thou thought'st to help me; and such thanks I give
As one near death to those that wish him live:
But, what at full I know, thou know'st no part;
I knowing all my peril, thou no art.
Hel. What I can do can do no hurt to try,
Since you set up your rest 'gainst remedy
He that of greatest works is finisher,
Oft does them by the weakest minister:
So holy writ in babes hath judgement shown,
When judges have been babes; great floods have flown
From simple sources; and great seas have dried,
When [miracles have by the greatest] been denied.
Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
Where most it promises; and oft it hits
Where hope is coldest, and despair most [fits].
King. I must not hear thee; fare thee well, kind maid;
Thy pains not used must by thyself be paid:
Proffers not took reap thanks for their reward.
Hel. Inspired merit so by breath is barr'd:
It is not so with Him that all things knows,
As 'tis with us that square our guess by shows;
But most it is presumption in us when
The help of heaven we count the act of men.
Dear sir, to my endeavours give consent;
Of heaven, not me, make an experiment.
I am not an [impostor], that proclaim
Myself against the level of mine aim;
But know I think, and think I know most sure,
My art is not past power, nor you past cure.
King. Art thou so confident? within what space
Hopest thou my cure?
Hel. [The great'st grace lending] grace,
Ere twice the horses of the sun shall bring
Their fiery torcher his diurnal ring;
Ere twice in murk and occidental damp
Moist Hesperus hath quench'd [his] sleepy lamp;
Or four and twenty times the pilot's glass
Hath told the thievish minutes how they pass;
What is infirm from your sound parts shall fly,
Health shall live free, and sickness freely die.
King. Upon thy certainty and confidence
What darest thou venture?
Hel. Tax of impudence,
A strumpet's boldness, a divulged [shame]
Traduced by odious ballads: my maiden's name
[Sear'd otherwise, ne worse of] worst extended,
With vilest torture let my life be ended.
King. Methinks in thee some blessed spirit doth [speak]
His powerful sound [within] an organ weak:
And what impossibility would slay
In common sense, sense saves another way.
Thy life is dear; for all, that life can rate
Worth name of life, in thee hath estimate,
Youth, beauty, wisdom, [courage], all
That happiness [and prime] can happy call:
Thou this to hazard needs must intimate
Skill infinite or monstrous desperate.
Sweet practiser, thy physic I will try,
That ministers thine own death if I die.
185
Hel. If I break time, or flinch in property
Of what I spoke, unpitied let me die,
And well deserved: not helping, death's my fee;
But, if I help, what do you promise me?
King. Make thy demand.
Hel. But will you make it even?
190
King. Ay, by my sceptre and my hopes of [heaven].
Hel. Then shalt thou give me with thy kingly hand
What husband in thy power I will command:
Exempted be from me the arrogance
To choose from forth the royal blood of France,
My low and humble name to propagate
With any branch or [image] of thy state;
But such a one, thy vassal, whom I know
Is free for me to ask, thee to bestow.
King. Here is my hand; the premises observed,
Thy will by my performance shall be served:
So [make the] choice of [thy] own time; for I,
Thy resolved patient, on thee still rely.
More should I question thee, and more I must,
Though more to know could not be more to trust,
From whence thou camest, how tended on: but rest
Unquestion'd welcome, and undoubted blest.
Give me some help here, ho! If thou proceed
As high as word, my deed shall match [thy deed].
LINENOTES:
[Act ii.] Actus Secundus. Ff (Sæcundus F2).
[Enter ... attended....] Capell. Enter ... warre: Count Rosse, and Parolles. Florish Cornets. Ff.
[divers] two Hanmer. om. Steevens.
[1, 2] [lords ... lords] Ff. lord ... lord Hanmer. [See note (vi).]
[2] [and you] you Pope.
[3] [both gain, all] Ff. both gain, Pope, both gain, well! Hanmer. both gain all, Johnson. back again, Jackson conj. both gain, All Anon. conj. [See note (vii).]
[5] [First Lord] i. Lord. Rowe. Lord G. Ff.
['Tis] Ff. It is Steevens.
[9] [he owes] it owns Pope. he owns Long MS.
[12] [higher] hired Coleridge conj.
[13] [bated] bastards Hanmer. 'bated ones Capell conj.
[15, 16] [wed it; when ... shrinks,] Pope, wed it, when ... shrinkes: F1 F2 F3. wed it, when ... shrinks; F4.
[16] [questant] F1. question F2 F3 F4. questor Collier MS.
[18] [Sec. Lord.] 2. Lord Rowe (ed. 2). L. G. Ff. 1. Lord Rowe (ed. 1).
[22] [Both.] Rowe. Bo. Ff.
[23] [Come ... me] Come ... me [to Bert.] Pope. om. Hanmer. Come ... me [to Attendants]. Theobald.
[Exit.] Pope. om. Ff. Retires to a Couch; Attendants leading him. Capell. [See note (viii)].
[24, 34, 37] [First Lord.] 1. Lord. Rowe. 1. Lo. G. Ff.
[25] [fault, the spark.] F3 F4. fault the spark. F1 F2. fault, the spark— Rowe. fault; the spark— Theobald.
[25, 35, 38] [Sec. Lord.] 2. Lord. Rowe. 2. Lo. E. Ff.
[27] [a coil] acoyle F2.
[27, 28] [with 'Too young'] Pope. with, Too young Ff. with; 'Too young' Capell.
[29] [An ... to't, boy, ... bravely] Theobald. And ... too't boy, Steale away bravely F1 F2 F3. And ... to it ... F4. And thy mind—stand to it, boy; steal away bravely. Pope.
[30] [I shall stay] I stay Rowe. Shall I stay Pope.
[36] [I ... our ... a tortured body] I ... this our ... A tortur'd body Hanmer. I ... our ... the parting of a tortured body Johnson conj. I ... our ... a torture Capell. I ... our ... as a tortured body S. Walker conj., reading lines 34-37 Commit ... captain. as three lines, ending accessary ... parting ... captain.
to you] t' ye S. Walker conj.
[37] [captain] worthy captain Hanmer.
[39] [yours] yours [measuring swords with them] Capell.
[40] [ a word] in a word Long MS.
[41, 42] [with his cicatrice, an emblem] Theobald. his cicatrice, with an emblem Ff (sicatrice F1). he's cicatriced with an emblem Rann conj.
[44] [for] F1 F2. of F3 F4.
[45] [First Lord.] 1. Lord. Rowe. Lo. G. F1 F2. L.G. F3 F4. 2. Lord. Warburton. Both. Edd. conj.
[46] [novices! what will ye do?] novices, what will ye do? Ff (doe F1 F2). [See note (ix)].
ye] you Hanmer.
[47] [Stay: the king.] F2 F3 F4. Stay the king. F1. Stay; the king— Pope. Stay with the king Grant White (Collier conj.).
[Re-enter King.] Edd. [See note (viii)].
[51] [there do muster] there, to muster Warburton. they do muster with the Johnson conj. there do master Heath conj. they do master Collier conj. there demonstrate Anon. conj.
[51, 52] [there ... gait] do muster your true gaité Becket conj. om. Collier MS.
true gait] together Hanmer.
[52] [eat] dress Hanmer. they eat Singer conj.
[move] F1. more F2 F3 F4.
[57] [Exeunt B. and P.] Exeunt. Ff.
[58] [Scene ii.] Pope.
Enter L.] Enter the King and L. Pope. Enter L. hastily. Capell.
[Kneeling] Johnson, om. Ff.
[59] [I'll fee] Theobald. Ile see Ff. I'll sue Staunton. I'll free Anon. ap. Halliwell conj. I beseech Keightley conj.
[59-62] [Capell ends the lines] man ... I would you ... mercy; and ... up.
[60] [has] F1. hath F2 F3 F4.
[brought] Ff. bought Theobald.
[63, 64] [I would ... for't] You would ... for't? Anon. conj.
[64-70] [ Capell ends the lines] across: ... cur'd ... eat ... will ... fox ... medicine.
[65] [across] a cross F4.
[69] [my noble grapes] omitted by Hanmer, ending the line at fox. aye, noble grapes Collier MS.
[70] [seen a medicine] seen A medicine Anon. conj.
medicine] med'cin (in italics) Theobald. medecin Steevens.
[74] [araise] raise Pope. upraise Collier MS.
[Pepin] Theobald. Pippen Ff.
[75] [To give] And give Capell.
[in's] in his Capell. Malone supposes a line to be lost after this.
[76] [And write] To write Hanmer. And cause him write Singer conj.
[to her a love-line] a love-line to her Hanmer.
[77] [Doctor She] Grant White. doctor she Ff. Doctor-she Theobald.
[79] [convey] convay F1. convoy F2 F3 F4.
[83] [Than ... weakness] Than (blame my weakness) I dare— Becket conj.
[blame] blaze Theobald conj.
[89] [Exit] Theobald. om. Ff.
[90] [nothing] nothings Hanmer.
[Re-enter L. with H.] Enter Hellen. Ff (after line 91 come your ways).
[91] [Laf. Nay, ... ways] Laf. [Returns.] Nay ... ways [Bringing in Helena. Theobald.
[95] [I am] I'm Pope.
[96] [Exit] Ff. Exit. Attendants retire. Capell. [See note (viii).]
[98-100] [Ay ... him] As in Ff. As three lines, ending was ... found ... him. Hanmer. As two, ending father ... him. Capell.
[99] [Gerard de Narbon] Gerardo of Narbona Anon. conj.
[100] [In] One in S. Walker conj.
[101] [praises] praise Theobald.
[102] [On's] On his Capell.
[103] [receipts] Rowe. receits Ff.
[105] [the] th' Ff.
[107] [two, more dear] Steevens. two: dear Ff.
[109, 110] [honour ... power] power ...honour Rann (Johnson conj.).
[116] [ransom] answer Steevens (1778).
[117] [inaidible] inaydible F1 F2. unaydible F3 F4. unaidable Rowe. inaidable Capell.
estate] state S. Walker conj.
I say] om. Pope.
[118] [stain] strain Anon. conj.
[124] [mine] F1. my F2 F3 F4.
[139] [miracles ... greatest] miracles ... great'st Ff. mir'cles ... greatest Theobald. Johnson supposes a line lost after this.
[142] [fits] Collier (Theobald conj.). shifts Ff. sits Pope. [See note (x).]
[153] [impostor] F3 F4. impostrue F1 F2. imposture Capell.
[158] [The great'st grace lending] Capell. The greatest grace lending Ff. The Greatest lending Rowe.
[162] [his] Rowe. her Ff.
[169, 170] [shame ... ballads:] my maidens name] Ff. shame; ... ballads my maiden's name, Theobald conj. shame; ... ballads: my maiden's name Id. conj. shame, ... ballads my maiden name Johnson conj.
[171] [Sear'd otherwise, ne worse of ...] F1. Seard otherwise, no worse of ... F2 F3 F4. Sear'd otherwise no worse of worst: extended Theobald conj. Sear'd, otherwise no worse of worst extended; Id. conj. Sear'd: otherwise, the worst of ... Hanmer. Sear'd otherwise, to worst of ... Johnson conj. Fear otherwise to worst of ... Id. conj. Sear'd; otherwise the worst to ... Id. conj. Fear, otherwise, to worst of worse Heath conj. Sear'd otherwise; or, worse to ... Capell. Seard otherwise, as worse of ... Long MS. Fear'd o' the wise no worse if ... Mason conj. Sear'd otherwise; nay, worst of ... Malone conj. Scar'd otherwise; the worst of ... Id. conj. Sear'd otherwise; the worst of ... Rann. Sear'd otherwise; nay, worse of ... Singer.
ne ... extended] and worse, if worse, attended Becket conj. and, worse of worst expended Staunton conj. on worst of racks extended Anon. conj. nay, worse, if worse, extended Anon. conj.
[173, 174] [speak His powerful sound] speak, It powerful sounds Hanmer. speak: His power full sounds Warburton. O powerful sound Becket conj. (transposing lines 173, 174.)
[174] [within] F1. wherein F2 F3 F4.
[179] [courage] courage, virtue Theobald. courage, honour Collier (Collier MS.).
[180] [and prime] and pride Tyrwhitt conj. in prime Rann (Mason conj.).
[190] [heaven] Theobald (Thirlby conj.). helpe F1 F2. help F3 F4.
[196] [image] impage Warburton.
[201] [make the] make thee Anon. conj.
[thy] F1. thine F2 F3 F4.
[208] [thy deed] thy meed Anon. conj.
[Flourish. Exeunt.] Florish. Exit. F1. Exeunt. F2 F3 F4.
[Scene II.] Rousillon. The Count's palace.
Enter Countess and Clown.
[Count]. Come on, sir; I shall now put you to the height
of your breeding.
Clo. I will show myself highly fed and lowly taught: I
know my business is but to the court.
5Count. [To the court]! why, what place make you special,
when you put off that with such [contempt? But to the court]!
Clo. Truly, madam, if God have lent a man any manners,
he may easily put it off at court: he that cannot make
a leg, put off's cap, kiss his hand, and say nothing, has
10neither leg, hands, lip, nor cap; and, indeed, such a fellow,
to say precisely, were not for the [court; but for me], I have
an answer will serve all men.
Count. Marry, that's a bountiful answer that fits all
questions.
15Clo. It is like a barber's chair, that fits all buttocks, the
pin-buttock, the quatch-buttock, the brawn-buttock, or any
buttock.
Count. Will your answer [serve fit] to all questions?
Clo. As fit as ten groats is for the hand of an attorney,
20as your French crown for your taffeta punk, as [Tib's rush]
for Tom's forefinger, as a pancake for Shrove Tuesday, a
morris for May-day, as the nail to his hole, the cuckold to his
horn, as a scolding quean to a wrangling knave, as the nun's
lip to the friar's mouth, nay, as the pudding to his skin.
25Count. Have you, I say, an answer of such fitness for
all questions?
Clo. From below your duke to beneath your constable,
it will fit any question.
Count. It must be an answer of most monstrous size
30that must fit all demands.
Clo. But a trifle neither, in good faith, if the learned
should speak truth of it: here it is, and all that belongs to't.
Ask me if I am a courtier: it shall do you no harm to learn.
Count. To be young again, if we could: I will be a
35fool in question, hoping to be the wiser by your answer.
[I pray] you, sir, are you a courtier?
Clo. O Lord, sir! There's a simple putting off. More,
more, a hundred of them.
Count. Sir, I am a poor friend of yours, that loves you.
40Clo. O Lord, sir! Thick, thick, spare not me.
Count. I think, sir, you can eat none of this homely meat.
Clo. O Lord, sir! Nay, put me to't, I warrant you.
Count. You were lately whipped, sir, as I think.
Clo. O Lord, sir! spare not me.
45Count. Do you cry, 'O Lord, sir!' at your whipping,
and 'spare not me'? Indeed your 'O Lord, sir!' is very
sequent to your whipping: you would answer very well to
a whipping, if you were but bound to't.
Clo. I ne'er had worse luck in my life in my 'O Lord,
50sir!' I see things may serve long, [but] not serve ever.
Count. [I play] the noble [housewife] with the time,
To [entertain 't] so merrily with a fool.
Clo. O Lord, sir! why, there't serves well again.
Count. [An end, sir; to] your business. Give Helen this,
And urge her to a present answer back:
Commend me to my kinsmen and my son:
This [is not] much.
Clo. Not much commendation to them.
Count. Not much employment for you: you understand
me?
Clo. Most fruitfully: I am there before my legs.
Count. Haste you again. [[Exeunt severally].
LINENOTES:
[Scene ii.] Scene iv. Pope.
[1] [ Count.] Lady. Ff (and Lady. or La. throughout the scene).
[5] [To the court] But to the court Theobald.
[6] [contempt? ... court!] Pope. contempt, ... Court? Ff.
[11] [court; but for me,] Rowe. court, but for me, Ff. court, but for me: Pope.
[18] [serve fit] sir, fit Anon. conj. fit Anon. conj.
[20, 21] [Tib's ... Tom's] Tom's ... Tib's Hawkins conj.
[36] [I pray ...] F3. La. I pray ... F1 F2. Lady. I pray ... F4.
[50] [but] and Hanmer.
[51, 52] [Printed as prose in Ff.] As verse first by Knight.
[51] [housewife] huswife Ff.
[52] [entertain 't] Edd. (S. Walker conj.). entertain it Ff.
[54] [An end, sir; to] Rowe (ed. 2). And end sir to F1 F2. And end; sir to F3 F4.
[57] [is not] isn't Hanmer.
[62] [Exeunt severally] Capell. Exeunt. Ff.
[Scene III.] Paris. The King's palace.
Enter Bertram, Lafeu, and Parolles.
[Laf.] They say miracles are past; [and] we have our philosophical
[persons], to make modern and [familiar, things] supernatural
and causeless. Hence is it that we make trifles
of terrors; ensconcing ourselves into seeming knowledge,
when we should submit ourselves to an unknown fear.
[Par.] Why, 'tis the rarest argument of wonder that
hath shot out in our [latter] times.
[Ber.] And so 'tis.
Laf. To be relinquished of the artists,—
10
[Par.] So I say; both of Galen and Paracelsus.
[Laf.] Of all the learned and authentic fellows,—
Par. Right; so I say.
Laf. That gave him out incurable,—
Par. Why, there 'tis; so say I too.
15
Laf. Not to be helped,—
Par. Right; as 'twere, [a] man assured of a—
Laf. Uncertain life, and sure death.
Par. Just, you say well; so would I have said.
Laf. I may truly say, it is a novelty to the world.
20
Par. It is, indeed: if you will have it [in showing], you
shall read it in—what do ye call there?
Laf. A showing of a heavenly effect in an earthly actor.
Par. That's [it;] I would have said the very same.
Laf. Why, your [dolphin] is not lustier: ['fore] me, I
speak in respect—
Par. Nay, 'tis strange, 'tis very strange, that is the brief
and the tedious of it; and he's of a most [facinerious] spirit
that will not acknowledge it to be the—
Laf. Very hand of heaven.
30
Par. Ay, so I say.
[Laf.] In a most weak—
Par. And debile minister, great power, great transcendence:
which should, indeed, [give us a further] use to be
made than [alone] the recovery of the king, as to be—
35
Laf. Generally thankful.
[Par.] I would have said it; you [say] well. Here comes
the king.
[Enter] King, Helena, and Attendants.
Laf. [Lustig,] as the Dutchman says: I'll like a maid
the better, [whilst] I have a tooth in my head: why, he's
able to lead her a [coranto].
Par. [Mort du vinaigre!] is not this Helen?
Laf. 'Fore God, I think so.
King. Go, call before me all the lords in [court].
Sit, my preserver, by thy patient's side;
And with this healthful hand, whose banish'd sense
Thou hast repeal'd, a second time receive
The confirmation of my promised gift,
Which but attends thy naming.
Enter three or four Lords.
Fair maid, send forth thine eye: this youthful parcel
Of noble bachelors stand at my bestowing,
O'er whom both [sovereign] power and father's voice
I have to use: thy frank election make;
Thou hast power to choose, and they none to forsake.
Hel. To each of you one fair and virtuous [mistress]
Fall, when Love please! [marry,] to each, but [one]!
Laf. I'd give bay Curtal and his furniture,
My mouth no more were broken than these boys',
And [writ] as little beard.
King. Peruse them well:
Not one of those but had a noble father.
60
Heaven hath through me restored the king to health.
All. We understand it, and thank heaven for you.
Hel. I am a simple maid; and therein wealthiest,
That I protest I simply am a maid.
Please it your majesty, I have done already:
The blushes in my cheeks thus whisper me,
'Hel. [We blush] that thou shouldst Hel. [choose; but, be refused],
Hel. [Let the] white [death] sit on thy [cheek] for ever;
We'll ne'er come there again.'
Hel. [King.] Make choice; and, see,
Who shuns thy love shuns all his love in me.
Hel. Now, Dian, from thy altar do I fly;
And to Hel. [imperial Love], that god most high,
Do my sighs [stream]. Sir, will you hear my suit?
First Lord. And grant it.
Hel. Thanks, sir; all the rest [is mute].
75
[Laf.] I had rather be in this choice than throw
[Ames-ace] for my life.
Hel. The honour, sir, that flames in your fair eyes,
Before I speak, too [threateningly] replies:
Love make your fortunes twenty times above
Her that so wishes and her humble love!
Sec. Lord. No better, if you please.
Hel. My wish receive,
Which great [Love] grant! and so, I take my leave.
Laf. Do [all they] deny her? [An] they were sons of
mine, I'd have them whipped; or I would send them [to]
the Turk, to make eunuchs of.
Hel. Be not afraid that I your hand should take;
I'll never do you wrong for your own sake:
Blessing upon your vows! and in your bed
Find [fairer] fortune, if you ever wed!
90
[Laf.] These boys are boys of ice, they'll none [have]
her: sure, they are bastards to the English; the French
ne'er got ['em].
[Hel.] You are too young, too happy, and too good,
To make yourself a son out of my blood.
95
Fourth Lord. Fair one, I think not so.
[Laf. There's] one grape yet; I am sure [thy] father
drunk wine: but if thou be'st not an ass, I am a youth of
fourteen; I have known thee already.
Hel. [To Bertram] I dare not say I take you; but I give
Me and my service, ever whilst I live,
Into your guiding power. This is the man.
King. Why, then, young Bertram, take her; she's thy wife.
Ber. My wife, my liege! I shall beseech your highness,
In such a business give me leave to use
The help of mine own eyes.
105
King. [Know'st thou not], Bertram,
What she [has] done for me?
Ber. Yes, my good lord;
But never hope to know why I should marry her.
King. Thou know'st she has raised me from my sickly bed.
Ber. But follows it, my lord, to bring me down
Must answer for your raising? I know her well:
She had her breeding at my father's charge.
A poor physician's daughter [my wife! Disdain]
Rather corrupt me ever!
King. 'Tis [only title] thou disdain'st in her, the which
I can build up. Strange is it, that our bloods,
[Of colour], weight, and heat, pour'd all together,
Would quite confound distinction, yet [stand] off
In differences [so] mighty. If she be
All that is virtuous, save what thou dislikest,
A poor physician's daughter, thou dislikest
Of virtue for [the name]: but do not so:
From lowest [place when] virtuous things proceed,
The place is dignified [by the] doer's deed:
Where great [additions swell's,] and virtue none,
It is a dropsied [honour]. [Good] alone
Is good without a name. Vileness is so:
The property by what [it is] should go,
Not by the title. She is [young], wise, fair;
In these to nature she's immediate heir,
And these breed honour: that is honour's scorn,
Which challenges itself as [honour's born],
And is not like the sire: honours [thrive],
When rather from our acts we them derive
Than our foregoers: the mere [word's] a slave
Debosh'd on every tomb, on every [grave]
A lying trophy; and as oft is dumb
Where dust and damn'd oblivion is the [tomb]
Of honour'd bones indeed. What should be said?
If thou canst like this creature as a maid,
I can create the rest: virtue and she
Is her own dower; honour and wealth from me.
Ber. I cannot love her, nor will strive to do't.
King. Thou wrong'st thyself, if thou shouldst strive to choose.
Hel. That you are well restored, my lord, I'm glad:
Let the rest go.
King. My honour's at the stake; which to [defeat],
I must produce my power. Here, take her hand,
Proud scornful boy, unworthy this good gift;
That dost in vile misprision shackle up
My love and her desert; that canst not dream,
We, poising us in her defective scale,
Shall weigh thee to the beam; that wilt not know,
It is in us to plant thine honour where
We please to have it grow. Check thy contempt:
Obey our will, which [travails] in thy good:
Believe not thy disdain, but presently
Do thine own fortunes that obedient right
Which both thy duty owes and our power claims;
Or I will [throw] thee from my [care] for ever
Into the [staggers and] [the careless] lapse
Of youth and ignorance; [both] my revenge and hate
[Loosing] upon thee, in the name of justice,
Without all terms of pity. [Speak; thine] answer.
Ber. Pardon, my gracious lord; for I submit
My fancy to your eyes: when I consider
What great creation and what dole of honour
Flies where you [bid it], I find that she, which late
Was in my nobler thoughts most base, is now
The [praised] of the king; [who, so] ennobled,
Is as 't were born so.
170
King. Take her by the hand,
And tell her she is thine: to whom I promise
A counterpoise; if not [to] thy estate,
A balance more replete.
Ber. I take her hand.
King. Good fortune and the favour of the king
Smile upon [this] contract; [whose ceremony]
Shall seem expedient on the [now-born] brief,
And be perform'd to-night: the solemn feast
Shall more attend upon the coming space,
Expecting absent friends. As thou lovest her,
Thy love's to me religious; else, does err.
[[Exeunt] all but Lafeu and [Parolles].
Laf. Do you hear, monsieur? a word with you.
Par. Your pleasure, sir?
Laf. Your lord and master did well to make his recantation.
185
Par. Recantation! My lord! my master!
Laf. Ay; is it not a language I speak?
Par. A most harsh one, and not to be understood
without bloody succeeding. My master!
Laf. Are you companion to the Count Rousillon?
190
Par. To any count, to all counts, to what is man.
Laf. To what is count's man: count's master is of
another style.
Par. You are too old, sir; let it satisfy you, you are
too old.
195
Laf. I must tell thee, sirrah, I write man; to which
title age cannot bring thee.
Par. What I dare too well do, I dare not do.
Laf. I did think thee, for two ordinaries, to be a pretty
wise fellow; [thou] didst make tolerable vent of thy travel;
it might pass: yet the scarfs and the [bannerets] about thee
did manifoldly dissuade me from believing thee a vessel of
too great a burthen. I have now found thee; when I lose
thee again, I care not: yet art thou good for nothing but
taking up; and that thou'rt scarce worth.
205
Par. Hadst thou not the privilege of antiquity upon
thee,—
Laf. Do not plunge thyself too far in anger, lest thou
hasten thy trial; which [if—]Lord have mercy on thee for
a hen! So, my good window of [lattice], fare thee well:
thy casement I need not open, [for] I look through thee.
Give me thy hand.
Par. My lord, you give me most egregious indignity.
Laf. Ay, with all my heart; and thou art worthy of it.
Par. I have not, my lord, deserved it.
215
Laf. Yes, good faith, every dram of it; and I will not
bate thee a scruple.
Par. Well, I shall be [wiser].
Laf. Ev'n as soon as thou canst, for thou hast to pull at
a smack [o' the] contrary. If ever thou be'st bound in thy
scarf and beaten, thou [shalt] find what it is to be proud of
thy bondage. I have a desire to hold my acquaintance
with thee, or rather my knowledge, that I may say [in the]
default, he is a man I know.
Par. My lord, you do me most insupportable vexation.
225
Laf. I would it were hell-pains for thy sake, and my
poor doing eternal: [for doing] I am [past; as I will] by thee,
in what motion age will give me leave. [Exit.
Par. Well, thou hast a son shall take this disgrace off
me; scurvy, old, filthy, [scurvy lord]! Well, I must be patient;
there is no fettering of authority. I'll beat him, by
my life, if I can meet him with any convenience, an he were
double and double a lord. I'll have no more pity of his
age than I would have of—I'll beat him, an if I could but
meet him again.
Re-enter Lafeu.
235
Laf. Sirrah, your lord and master's married; there's
news for you: you have a new mistress.
Par. I most unfeignedly beseech your lordship to make
some reservation of your wrongs: [he is my good lord]:
[whom] I serve above is my master.
240
Laf. Who? God?
Par. Ay, sir.
Laf. The devil it is that's thy master. Why dost thou
garter up thy arms [o'] this fashion? dost make hose of thy
sleeves? do other servants so? Thou wert best set thy lower
part where thy nose stands. By mine honour, if I were but
two hours younger, I'd beat thee: [methinks't], thou art a
general offence, and every man should beat thee: I think
thou wast created for men to breathe themselves upon thee.
Par. This is hard and undeserved measure, my lord.
250
Laf. Go to, sir; you were beaten in Italy for picking a
kernel out of a pomegranate; you are a vagabond, and no
true traveller: you are more saucy with lords and honourable
personages than the [commission] of your birth and
virtue gives you heraldry. You are not worth another
word, else I'd call you knave. I leave you. [Exit.
[Par.] Good, very good; it is so then: good, very
good; let it be concealed awhile.
Ber. Undone, and forfeited to cares for ever!
Par. [What's] the matter, sweet-heart?
260
Ber. [Although] before the solemn priest I have sworn,
I will not bed her.
Par. What, what, sweet-heart?
Ber. O my Parolles, they have married me!
I'll to the Tuscan wars, and never bed her.
265
Par. [France] is a dog-hole, and it no more merits
The tread of a man's foot: to the [wars!]
Ber. There's letters from my mother: what the import
is, I know not yet.
Par. Ay, that would be known. To the wars, my
boy, to the wars!
He wears his honour in a box unseen,
That hugs his [kicky-wicky] here at home.
Spending his manly marrow in her arms,
Which should sustain the bound and high curvet
Of Mars's fiery steed. To other [regions]
France is a stable; we that dwell in't jades;
Therefore, to the war!
Ber. It shall be so: I'll send her to my house,
Acquaint my mother with my hate to her,
And wherefore I am fled; write to the king
That which I durst not speak: his present gift
Shall furnish me to those Italian fields,
Where noble fellows strike: [war] is no strife
To the dark house and the [detested] wife.
Par. Will this capriccio hold in thee, art sure?
285
Ber. Go with me to my chamber, and advise me.
I'll send her straight away: [to-morrow]
I'll to the wars, she to her single sorrow.
Par. Why, these balls bound; there's noise in it. 'Tis hard:
A young man married is a man that's marr'd:
Therefore away, and leave [her bravely; go:]
The king has done you wrong: but, hush, 'tis so. [Exeunt.
LINENOTES:
[Scene iii.] [ Scene v.] Pope.
[1] [Laf.] Ol. Laf. Ff (and throughout the scene).
[and] yet Anon. apud Halliwell.
[2] [persons] person F3 F4. reasons Long MS.
[familiar, things] Theobald. familiar things Ff. familiar things, Steevens.
[6] [Par.] Ber. S. Walker conj.
[7] [latter] later Hanmer.
[8] [Ber.] Par. S. Walker conj.
[10, 11] [Par.] So ... Paracelsus. Laf. Of all ...] Par. So I say. Laf. Both ... Paracelsus, of all ... Johnson conj. Par. So I say. Laf. Both ... Paracelsus. Par. So I say. Laf. Of all ... Edd. conj.
[11] [Laf.] Ol. Laf. F1 F3 F4. Ol. Fal. F2.
[16] [a—] an— Rowe.
[20] [in showing] in shewing F1 F2. in the shewing F3 F4. a showing Rann (Tyrwhitt conj.).
[23] [it; ... said the] it, ... said the F4. it, ... said, the F1 F2 F3. it, ... said; the Capell.
[24] [dolphin] Dauphin Theobald conj. (withdrawn).
['fore] Capell. fore F1. for F2 F3 F4.
[27] [facinerious] Ff. facinorous Steevens.
[31-34] [Laf.] In a most weak— Par. And ... king, as to be—] Laf. In a most ... king. Par. As to be— Rann (Johnson conj.). Laf. In ... weak— Par. Ay, so I say. Laf. And debile ... king, as to be [after a pause] generally thankful Edd. conj.
[33] [give us a further] give us a further Warburton.
[34] [alone] F1. only F2 F3 F4.
[36] [Scene vi.] Pope.
[say] F1. said F2 F3 F4
[37] [Enter ...] Ff (after line 35).
[38] [Lustig] Lustique F1 F2. Lustick F3 F4. Lustigh Capell.
[39] [whilst] F1. while F2 F3 F4.
[40] [coranto] carranto Ff. corranto Rowe.
[41] [Mort du vinaigre] Mor du vinager Ff. Mort du vainqueur Collier.
[43] [Exeunt some attendants. Capell.]
[51] [sovereign] sovereign's Collier MS.
[54, 55] [mistress Fall,] Rowe. mistress; Fall Ff.
[54] [coming from her Seat,] and addressing herself to the Lords. Capell.
[55] [marry ... one!] Par. Marry ... one! Tyrwhitt conj.
[58] [writ] with Collier MS.
[60] [She addresses her to a Lord.] Ff.
[60, 61] [Gentlemen ... health] Arranged as in Capell. Printed as prose in Ff; as two lines by Theobald, ending restor'd ... health.
[67] [choose; but, be refused,] Rann. choose, but be refused; Ff. chuse; but being refused Hanmer.
[67-69] [We blush ... again] Kin. We blush ... again F3 F4.
[68] [Let the] Let not F3 F4.
[death] dearth Warburton conj.
[cheek] cheeks F3 F4.
[69] [King.] om. F3 F4.
[72] [imperial Love] imperiall loue F1. imperiall Iove F2. impartiall Jove F3. impartial Jove F4. impartial love Warburton.
[73] [stream] steam Collier MS.
[74] [is mute] are mute Pope.
[75] [Laf.] Par. Theobald conj.
[76] [Ames-ace] F1 A deaus-ace F2 F3 F4.
[78] [threateningly] threatingly F2.
[82] [Love] F1 F2. Jove F3 F4.
[83] [all they] they all Capell conj.
[An] Capell. And Ff. If Pope.
[84, 85] [to the] to'th Ff.
[89] [fairer] fair Rann. ever] F1. ere F2 F3 F4.
[90, 91] [have her] haue heere F1. of her Rowe.
[90-92] [S. Walker] would read as three lines of verse, ending her ... English ... got 'em.
[92] ['em] them Capell.
[93] [Hel.] F3 F2. La. F1 F2.
[96, 98] [Laf. There's ... already] Laf. There's ... yet,— Par. I am sure ... wine.— Laf. But ... already Theobald.
[96] [thy] F1. my F2 F3 F4.
[99] [To Bertram] Rowe.
[105, 107] [Know'st thou not ... her] Arranged as in Pope; printed as prose in Ff.
[106] [has] h'as F1 F2. hath F3 F4.
[112] [my wife! Disdain Rather] she my wife! Disdain rather Hanmer.
[114] [only title] But title Hanmer. only lack of title S. Walker conj.
[116] [Of colour] Alike of colour Capell.
[117] [stand] Rowe (ed. 2). stands Ff.
[118] [so] F1. of F2 F3 F4. om. Long MS.
[121] [the name] a name Collier conj.
[122] [place when] Theobald (Thirlby conj). place, whence Ff.
[123] [by the] by th' Ff.
[124] [additions swell's] F1. addition swell's F2. addition swells F3 F4. additions swell Malone.
[125] [honour.] honour, Ff.
[125, 126] [Good ... so:] Good a lone, Is good without a name? Vilenesse is so] F1 F2. Good alone, ... name? Vileness is so] F3. Good alone, ... name. Vileness is so] F4. good ... name, in't self is so] Hanmer. good alone Is good; and, with a name, vileness is so] Warburton. good alone Is good, without a name vileness is so] Johnson. Virtue alone Is good without a name; Helen is so] Johnson conj. good alone Is good, without a name; in vileness is so Steevens conj. good alone Is good;—without a name, vileness is so Mason conj.
[127] [it is] is is F1.
[128] [young] good Warburton. sprung Becket conj.
[131] [honour's born] honour-born Hanmer.
[132] [thrive] F1. best thrive F2 F3 F4.
[134] [word's] F2 F3 F4. words, F1.
[135] [grave] grave] Ff.
[137, 138] [tomb Of ... indeed.] Theobald (Thirlby conj.). tomb. Of ... indeed, Ff.
[146] [defeat,] Ff. defend Theobald. defeat,— Id. conj.
[155] [travails] trauailes F1. travailes F2. travells F3. travels F4.
[159] [throw] through F2.
[care] F1 F2. cares F3 F4.
[160] [staggers and the] staggering and Long MS.
[the careless] F1. careless F2. the cureless S. Walker conj.
[161] [both] om. Theobald.
[162] [Loosing] Let loose Hanmer.
[163] [Speak: thine] Speak, thine F1 F2 F3. Speak thine F4.
[167] [bid it] Ff. bid Rowe.
[169] [praised] prised Warburton.
[who, so] who's so Long MS.
[172] [to] F1. in F2 F3 F4.
[175] [this] F1. the F2 F3 F4.
[175-177] [whose ... And be] what ... Shall be Johnson conj.
[176] [now-born] now born F3 F4. now borne F1 F2. new-born Warburton.
[180] [Exeunt...] Exeunt. Parolles and Lafew stay behind, commenting of this wedding. Ff.
[181] [Scene vii.] Pope.
[199] [thou] F1 F2. if thou F3 F4.
[200] [bannerets] F1 F2. banners F3 F4.
[208] [if—] Theobald. if, F1 F2. is, F3 F4.
[209] [lattice] F3 F4. lettice F1 F2.
[210] [for] om. F3 F4.
[217] [wiser.] wiser— Theobald.
[219] [o' the] Rowe (ed. 2). a' th Ff.
[220] [shalt] shall F1.
[222, 223] [in the default] on thy defaults Hanmer.
[226, 227] [for doing ... leave] Put in the margin as spurious by Hanmer.
[226] [past; as I will] past; * * * as I will Warburton, who supposes a line to be lost. past; as I will be Capell conj. past, so I will by thee Staunton conj.
[229] [scurvy lord] scabby lord Collier conj.
[238, 239] [he ... whom] he my good lord, whom Rowe (ed. 2). he, my good lord, whom Pope.
[239] [whom] he whom Capell.
[243] [o'] Rowe (ed. 2). a Ff.
[246] [methinks't] Dyce (S. Walker conj.). methink'st Ff. methinks Rowe (ed. 2).
[253, 254] [commission ... heraldry] Ff. heraldry ... commission Hanmer. condition ... heraldry Collier (Collier MS.).
[256] [Scene viii. Pope.]
[257] [Re-enter B.] Enter Count Rossillion. Ff (after line 255).
[259] [What's] What is F4.
[260, 261] [Although ... her] Printed as prose in Ff, as verse first by Rowe (ed. 2).
[265, 266] [France ... wars] Printed as verse in Ff, as prose by Pope.
[266] [wars!] wars, Bertram! or wars, Rousillon! Anon. conj.
[271] [kicky-wicky] kickie wickie F1. kicksie wicksie F2 F3. kicksy wicksy F4. kicksy-winsy Collier conj.
[274, 275] [regions France] Pope. regions, France Ff. regions! France Capell.
[282] [war] warres F1.
[283] [detested] Rowe. detected Ff. [See note (xi)].
[286] [to-morrow] even to-morrow Hanmer. betimes to-morrow Steevens conj.
[290] [her bravely; go] her; bravely go Delius.
[Scene IV.] Paris. [The King's Palace].
Enter Helena and Clown.
Hel. My mother greets me kindly: is she well?
Clo. [She is] not well; but yet she has her health: she's
very merry; but yet she is not well: [but thanks] be given,
she's very well and wants nothing i' the world; but yet
she is not well.
Hel. If she be very well, what does she ail, that she's
not very well?
Clo. Truly, she's very well indeed, but for two things.
Hel. What two things?
10
Clo. One, that [she's] not in heaven, whither God send
her quickly! the other, that she's [in earth, from whence]
God send her quickly!
Enter Parolles.
Par. Bless you, my fortunate lady!
Hel. I hope, sir, I have your good will to have mine
own good [fortunes].
Par. You had my prayers to lead them on; and to
keep them on, have them still. O, my knave, how does
my old lady?
Clo. So that you had her wrinkles, and I her money, I
would she did as you say.
Par. Why, I say nothing.
Clo. Marry, you are the wiser man; for many a man's
tongue [shakes out] his master's undoing: to say nothing, to
do nothing, to know nothing, and to have nothing, is to be
a great part of your title; which is within a very little of
nothing.
Par. Away! thou'rt a knave.
Clo. You should have said, sir, before a knave [thou'rt]
a [knave;] that's, before me [thou'rt] a knave: this had been
truth, sir.
Par. Go to, thou art a witty fool; I have found thee.
Clo. Did you find me in yourself, sir? or were you
taught to [find me? The search,] sir, was profitable; and
much fool may you find in you, even to the world's pleasure
and the increase of laughter.
Par. A good knave, i' faith, and well fed.
Madam, my lord will go away to-night;
A very serious business calls on him.
The great prerogative and [rite] of love,
Which, as your [due, time claims], he does acknowledge;
But puts it off [to] a compell'd restraint;
Whose want, and whose delay, [is] strew'd with sweets,
Which they distil now in the [curbed] time,
To make the coming hour [o]'erflow with joy,
And pleasure drown the brim.
45
Hel. What's his will else?
Par. That you will take your instant leave o' the king,
And make this haste as your own good proceeding,
Strengthen'd with what apology you think
May make it probable need.
Hel. What more commands he?
50
Par. That, having this obtain'd, you presently
Attend his further pleasure.
Hel. In every thing I wait upon his will.
Par. I shall report it so.
Hel. I pray you. [[Exit Parolles.]]
LINENOTES:
[Scene iv.] Scene ix. Pope.
[The King's Palace.] Another room in the same. Capell.
[2-5] [S. Walker] would read as four lines of verse, ending health ... not well ... wants ... well.
[3] [but thanks] thanks Hanmer.
[10] [she's] F1. she is F2 F3 F4.
[11] [in earth] on earth Hanmer.
from whence] whence Rowe (ed. 2).
[15] [fortunes] Capell (Heath conj.). fortune Ff.
[23] [shakes out] speaks out Warburton. shapes out Anon. conj. shakes to Anon. conj.
[27] [thou'rt] Rowe. th' art Ff. Before God thou'rt Anon. conj.
[28, 29] [knave ... knave; ... me thou'rt] knave, ... knave, ... me th' art F1 F2. knave, ... knave, ... th' art F3 F4. knave; thou art a knave; and I am before thee that art Hanmer.
[28] [thou'rt] Capell. th' art Ff.
[33] [find me? The search] Rowe. find me? Clo. The search Ff. find me? Par. Go to, I say: I have found thee: no more; I have found thee, a witty fool. Clo. The search Collier (Collier MS.).
[39] [rite] right Capell.
[40] [due, time claims] duteous claim or duty's claim Anon. conj.
[41] [to] F1 F2. by F3 F4. on Capell.
[42] [is] are Hanmer.
[43] [curbed] cup of Collier conj.
[46] [o'] Rowe. a' Ff.
[53] [Exit Par.] Ff (after so).
[you. Come] Theobald. you come Ff.
[Exeunt.] Exit. Ff.
[Scene V.] Paris. [The Kings Palace].
Enter Lafeu and Bertram.
Laf. But I hope your lordship thinks not him a soldier.
Ber. Yes, my lord, and of very valiant approof.
Laf. You have it from his own deliverance.
Ber. And by other warranted testimony.
5
Laf. Then my dial goes not true: I took this lark for
a bunting.
Ber. I do assure you, my lord, he is very great in
knowledge, and accordingly valiant.
Laf. I have then sinned against his experience and
transgressed against his valour; and my state that way is
dangerous, since I cannot [yet] find in my heart to repent.
Here he comes: I pray you, make us friends; I will pursue
the amity.
Enter Parolles.
Par. These things shall be done, sir. [[To Bertram.]
15
Laf. [Pray you], sir, [who's] his tailor?
Par. Sir?
Laf. O, I know him well, I, sir; he, [sir, 's] a good
workman, a very good tailor.
Ber. Is she gone to the king? [[Aside] to Parolles.
20
Par. She is.
Ber. Will she away to-night?
Par. As you'll have her.
Ber. [I have] writ my letters, casketed my treasure,
Given order for our [horses]; and to-night,
When I should take possession of the [bride],
End ere I do begin.
Laf. A good traveller is something at the latter end of
a dinner; but [one that] lies three thirds, and uses a known
truth to pass a thousand nothings with, should be once
[heard], and thrice beaten. God save [you], captain.
Ber. Is there any unkindness between my lord and
you, monsieur?
Par. I know not how I have deserved to run into my
lord's displeasure.
35
Laf. You have made shift to run into't, boots and spurs
and all, like him that [leaped] into the [custard]; and out of
it you'll run again, rather than suffer question for your
residence.
Ber. It may be you have mistaken him, my lord.
40
Laf. And shall do so ever, though I took him at's
prayers. Fare you well, my lord; and believe this of me,
there can be no kernel in this light nut; the soul of this
man is his clothes. Trust him not in matter of heavy consequence;
I have kept of them tame, and know their natures.
Farewell, monsieur: I have spoken better of you
than you have [or will to] deserve at my hand; but we must
do good against evil. [[Exit].
Par. An idle lord, I swear.
Ber. I think [so].
50
Par. Why, do you not know him?
Ber. [Yes], I do know him well, and common speech
Gives him a worthy pass. Here comes my clog.
[Enter] Helena.
Hel. I have, sir, as I was commanded from you,
Spoke with the king, and have procured his leave
For present parting; only he desires
Some private speech with you.
Ber. I shall obey his will.
You [must] not marvel, Helen, at my course,
Which holds not colour with the time, nor does
The ministration and required office
On my particular. Prepared I was not
For such a business; therefore am I found
So much unsettled: this drives me to entreat you,
That presently you take your way for home,
And rather muse than [ask why I] [entreat you];
For my respects are better than they seem,
And my appointments have in them a need
Greater than shows itself at the first view
To you that know them not. This to my mother: [[Giving a letter.]
'Twill be two days ere I shall see you; so,
I leave you to your wisdom.
70
Hel. Sir, I can nothing say,
But that I am your most obedient servant.
Ber. Come, come, no more of that.
Hel. And ever shall
With true observance seek to eke out that
Wherein toward me my homely stars have fail'd
To equal my great fortune.
75
Ber. [Let] that go:
My haste is very great: farewell; hie home.
Hel. Pray, sir, your pardon.
Ber. Well, what would you say?
Hel. I am not worthy of the wealth I owe;
Nor dare I say 'tis mine, and yet it is;
But, like a timorous thief, most fain would steal
What law does vouch mine own.
Ber. What would you have?
Hel. Something; and scarce so much: nothing, indeed.
[I would] not tell you what I would, [my lord]: faith, yes;
Strangers and foes do sunder, and not kiss.
85
Ber. I pray you, stay not, but in haste to horse.
Hel. I shall not break your bidding, good my lord.
[Ber. Where are] my other [men, monsieur?] Farewell.
Go thou toward home; where I will never come,
Whilst I can shake my sword, or hear the drum.
Away, and for our flight.
90
Par. Bravely, coragio! [[Exeunt.]
LINENOTES:
[scene v.] scene x. Pope.
[The King's Palace.] Another room in the same. Capell.
[11] [yet] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.
[14] [To Bertram.] Capell.
[15] [Pray you] I pray you Rowe.
[who's] whose F1.
[17] [sir, 's] Theobald. sir's F2 F3 F4. sirs F1. sits Pope.
[19] [Aside ...] Rowe.
[23-26] [I have ... begin] Printed as prose by Pope.
[24] [horses] F1. horse F2 F3 F4.
[25, 26] [bride, End ... begin.] Collier (Egerton MS.), bride, And ... begin Ff. bride—And ... begin— Rowe.
[28] [one that] Rowe (ed. 2). on that Ff. if on that he Rowe (ed. 1).
[30] [heard] hard F1.
[you] your F2.
[36] [leaped] leapt F1. leapes F2. leaps F3 F4.
[46] [or will] qualities or will Malone conj. wit or will Singer conj.
to] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.
hand] F1 F2. hands F3 F4.
[47] [Exit.] Rowe.
[49] [so] not so Long MS.
[51, 52] [Yes ... clog] As prose in Hanmer.
[53] [Scene xi.] Pope.
[57] [must] must must F2.
[64] [ask why I] ask why, I Hanmer.
[entreat you] dismiss you S. Walker conj. request it Bailey conj.
[68] [Giving a letter.] Rowe.
[75, 76] [Let ... home] Printed as prose in Ff.
[83, 84] [I would ... kiss] Arranged as in Ff. As three lines, ending lord ... yes ... kiss. Dyce conj.
[83] [my lord] om. Hanmer.
[87] [Ber. Where are ... Farewell] Hanmer (Theobald conj.): continued to Helena in Ff.
[men, monsieur?] Hanmer (Theobald conj.). men? Monsieur: Ff.
[Exit H.] Hanmer. [Exit. Ff. [Exit Hel. Warburton (after line 86).
[90] [Exeunt] om. Ff.
... attended] Capell. om. Ff.