Gui. You know not wherefore?
Cla. To say sooth. I do not.—
So in immortal wise shall I arrive——
Gui. At the gallows. What, in a passion, signior? 10
Cla. Zounds! do not hold me, sir.—
Beauteous Thais, I am all thine wholly.
The staff is now advancing for the rest,
And when I tilt, Rogero,[233] ’ware thy crest!
[Exit Claridiana.
Gui. What’s here?
The cap’ring god-head[234] tilting in the air?
Enter Roberto in his night-gown and cap, with
Servants; he kneels down.
Rob. The gods send her remorse,[235] a poor old age,
Eternal woe, and sickness’ lasting rage!
Gui. My lord, you may yet o’ertake ’em.
Rob. Furies supply that place, for I will not! No: 20
She can forsake me when pleasure’s in the full,
Fresh and untired;
What would she on the least barren coldness?
I warrant you she has already got
Her bravoes and her ruffians; the meanest whore
Will have one buckler, but your great ones more.
The shores of Sicil retain not such a monster,
Though to galley-slaves they daily prostitute.
To let the nuptial tapers give light to her new lust!
Who would have thought it? She that could no more
Forsake my company than can the day 31
Forsake the glorious presence of the sun!—
When I was absent then her gallèd eyes
Would have shed April showers, and outwept
The clouds in that same o’er-passionate mood,
When they drowned all the world, yet now forsakes me!
Women, your eyes shed glances like the sun:
Now shines your brightness, now your light is done.
On the sweetest flowers[236] you shine—’tis but by chance,
And on the basest weed you’ll waste a glance. 40
Your beams, once lost, can never more be found,
Unless we wait until your course run round,
And take you at fifth hand. Since I cannot
Enjoy the noble title of a man,
But after-ages, as our virtues are
Buried whilst we are living, will sound out