Phil. I would fain hear that, i' faith.
Queen. Thy reason, wench, I pray thee: come, disburse.
Mar. A woman fair is like a full-blown rose.
Queen. Which holds the fair no longer than it grows.
Mar. A woman fair is like the finest gold.
Phil. Which kept from use is good, though ne'er so old.
Mar. Nay, good lord, leave a little:
She that is fair is wise, and ought to know it,
For to that end did nature first bestow it.
Now of this knowledge if we be not proud,
We wrong the author, and we are allow'd
To rank with senseless beasts, sith careless we
For want of pride detract our dignity.
Now knowing it, we know truth in the same,
Not to be proud of truth asks folly's name.
This lesson still is read in beauty's school:
She that is fair and humble is a fool.
For neither knows she how to hold her good,
Or to keep safe the treasure of her blood.
Queen. A notable declamation.
Mar. Nay, madam, by your leave,
Pride gives a lustre to a woman's fair,[213]
Things that are highest priz'd are ever dear.
Why is the diamond the sapphire's king,
But for esteem and rareness? both which spring
From the stone's pride, which is so chaste and hard,
Nothing can pierce it, itself is itself's guard.
Now what is pride? self-love, our own esteem,
A strength to make us of ourselves well deem:
From whence this maxim I collect 'mongst other,
Who hates herself can never love another.
And, to conclude, man's appetite grows dull
To what it may have: empty hope's a fool.[214]
So[215] all our sex on earth, maid, widow, wife, and bride,
They happy live, when they live with chaste pride.
Cyp. [Aside.] My queen will speak as much for lust, as she
For pride, if the toy take her.