| York. To do that office of thine own good will Which tired majesty did make thee offer, The resignation of thy state and crown To Henry Bolingbroke. King Richard. Give me the crown.—Here cousin, seize the crown; Here, cousin, On this side my hand, and on that side thine. Now is this golden crown like a deep well That owes two buckets, filling one another, The emptier ever dancing in the air, The other down, unseen, and full of water. That bucket down and full of tears am I, Drinking my griefs, whilst you mount up on high, Bolingbroke. I thought you had been willing to resign. King Richard. My crown I am; but still my griefs are mine. You may my glories and my state depose, But not my griefs; still I am king of those.[67] | Viola. If I did love you in my master’s flame, With such a suffering, such a deadly life, In your denial I would find no sense, I would not understand it. Olivia. Why, what would you? Viola. Make me a willow cabin at your gate, And call upon my soul within the house; Write loyal cantons of contemned love And sing them loud even in the dead of night; Halloo your name to the reverberate hills And make the babbling gossip of the air Cry out “Olivia!” O, you should not rest Between the elements of air and earth, But should pity me! Olivia. You might do much[68] |
The second extract is the more effective because the onward sweep of the emotion of the scene reveals beauty as it moves, but the first shows King Richard checking the course of his natural emotion in order suavely and perfectly to develop his comparison. Of course there is beauty in the first extract, but it is not genuine dramatic beauty. Why does one find the following passage from The Importance of Being Earnest (Act I), delightful as it is, less fine than the passage from The Way of the World (Act II, Scene 5)?
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
Lady Bracknell. (Sitting down.) You can take a seat, Mr. Worthing.
(Looks in her pocket for notebook and pencil.)
Jack. Thank you, Lady Bracknell, I prefer standing.
Lady Bracknell. (Pencil and notebook in hand.) I feel bound to tell you that you are not down on my list of eligible young men, although I have the same list as the dear Duchess of Bolton has. We work together, in fact. However, I am quite ready to enter your name, should your answers be what a really affectionate mother requires. Do you smoke?
Jack. Well, yes, I must admit I smoke.
Lady Bracknell. I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is. How old are you?
Jack. Twenty-nine.