Shakespeare

“ Farewell, John Lincoln: say all what they can,
Thou liv’dst a good fellow, and diedst an honest man.
CLOWN. Would I wear so fair on my journey! the first stretch is the worst, me thinks.
SHERIFF.
Bring Williamson there forward.
DOLL.
Good Master Shrieve, I have an earnest suit,
And, as you are a man, deny’t me not.
SHERIFF.
Woman, what is it? be it in my power,
Thou shalt obtain it.
DOLL.
Let me die next, sir; that is all I crave:
You know not what a comfort you shall bring
To my poor heart, to die before my husband.
SHERIFF.
Bring her to death; she shall have her desire. ”

“ TROTTER. Ah, sweet Em! [Here he offers to kiss her.] EM. How now, Trotter! your masters daughter? TROTTER. Yfaith, I aim at the fairest. Ah, Em, sweet Em! Fresh as the flower, That hath pour To wound my heart, And ease my smart, Of me, poor thief, In prison bound— EM. So all your rhyme Lies on the ground. But what means this? TROTTER. Ah, mark the device— For thee, my love, Full sick I was, In hazard of my life. Thy promise was To make me whole, And for to be my wife. Let me enjoy My love, my dear, And thou possess Thy Trotter here. ”

“ KING JOHN.
Edward, I know what right thou hast in France;
And ere I basely will resign my Crown,
This Champion field shall be a pool of blood,
And all our prospect as a slaughter house.
PRINCE EDWARD.
Aye, that approves thee, tyrant, what thou art:
No father, king, or shepherd of thy realm,
But one, that tears her entrails with thy hands,
And, like a thirsty tyger, suckst her blood.
AUDLEY.
You peers of France, why do you follow him
That is so prodigal to spend your lives?
CHARLES.
Whom should they follow, aged impotent,
But he that is their true borne sovereign? ”

“ SIR GODFREY.
A wonderful Conjurer!—O, aye, tis between heaven and earth,
I warrant you; it cannot go out of the realm.—I know tis
some-where above the earth.
CAPTAIN.
Aye, nigher the earth then thou wotst on.
SIR GODFREY. For, first, my Chain was rich, and no rich thing shall enter into heaven, you know.
NICHOLAS. And as for the Devil, Master, he has no need on’t, for you know he ha’s a great chain of his own.
SIR GODFREY. Thou sayest true, Nicholas, but he has put off that now; that lies by him.
CAPTAIN. Faith, Knight, in few words, I presume so much upon the power of my Art ”

“ MURLEY. Be’t more or less upon occasion, Lord have mercy upon us, Tom, th’art a fool, and thou speakest treason to knighthood. Dare any wear golden or silver spurs till he be a knight? No, I shall be knighted to morrow, and then they shall on. Sirs, was it ever read in the church book of Dunstable, that ever malt man was made knight?
TOM. No, but you are more: you are meal-man, maltman, miller, corn-master and all.
DICK.
Yea, and half a brewer too, and the devil and all for wealth.
You bring more money with you, than all the rest.
MURLEY. The more’s my honor. I shall be a knight to morrow! ”

“ My lord of Surrey will be pleasant still.
PALMER.
Aye, being then employed by your honors
To stay the broil that fell about the same,
Where by persuasion I enforced the wrongs,
And urged the grief of the displeased city,
He answered me, and with a solemn oath,
That, if he had the Mayor of London’s wife,
He would keep her in despite of any English.
SURREY.
Tis good, Sir Thomas, then, for you and me;
Your wife is dead, and I a bachelor:
If no man can possess his wife alone,
I am glad, Sir Thomas Palmer, I have none.
CHOLMLEY.
If a take a wife, a shall find her meet. ”

“ TROTTER. Yes, faith, even as long as I see you. EM. Go thy ways, I pray thee heartily. TROTTER. That same word (heartily) is of great force. I will go. But I pray, sir, beware you come not too near the wench. [Exit Trotter.] MANVILE. I am greatly beholding to you. Ah, Maistres, sometime I might have said, my love, But time and fortune hath bereaved me of that, And I, an object in those gratious eyes, That with remorse earst saw into my grief, May sit and sigh the sorrows of my heart. EM. In deed my Manvile hath some cause to doubt, When such a Swain is rival in his love! ”

“ What sayest thou, Hodge? wilt thou bear me company?
HODGE. Will I bear thee company, Tom? What tell’st me of Italy? were it to the furthest part of Flanders, I would go with thee, Tom. I am thine in all weal and woe, thy own to command. What, Tom! I have passed the rigorous waves of Neptune’s blasts; I tell you, Thomas, I have been in the danger of the floods; and when I have seen Boreas begin to play the Ruffin with us, then would I down of my knees and call upon Vulcan.
CROMWELL.
And why upon him? ”

“ Why, all this many, Audley, is but one,
And we can call it all but one man’s strength.
He that hath far to go, tells it by miles;
If he should tell the steps, it kills his heart:
The drops are infinite, that make a flood,
And yet, thou knowest, we call it but a Rain.
There is but one France, one king of France,
That France hath no more kings; and that same king
Hath but the puissant legion of one king,
And we have one: then apprehend no odds,
For one to one is fair equality.
[Enter an Herald from King John.]
PRINCE EDWARD.
What tidings, messenger? be plain and brief. ”

“ SIR GODFREY.
O Villain! one of our society,
Deemd always holy, pure, religious.
A Puritan a thief, when wast ever heard?
Sooner we’ll kill a man then Steal, thou knowst.
Out, slave! I’ll rend my lion from thy back
With mine own hands.
NICHOLAS.
Dear Master, oh.
NOBLE. Nay, Knight, dwell in patience. And now, widdow, being so near the Church, twer great pity, nay uncharity, to send you home again without a husband: draw nearer you of true worship, state and credit, that should not stand so far off from a widdow, and suffer forged shapes to come between you. ”

“ BISHOP.
No, turn her out of doors,
[Lord Warden and Old-castle whisper.]
Even as she is, and lead him to the Tower,
With guard enough for fear of rescuing.
LADY COBHAM.
O, God requite thee, thou blood-thirsty man.
COBHAM.
May it not be, my Lord of Rochester?
Wherein have I incurred your hate so far,
That my appeal unto the King’s denied?
BISHOP.
No hate of mine, but power of holy church,
Forbids all favor to false heretics.
COBHAM.
Your private malice, more than public power,
Strikes most at me, but with my life it ends.
HARPOOLE.
O that I had the Bishop in that fear,
[Aside.] ”

“ MUCEDORUS.
Come, let’s be gone.
Enter the Clown, who searches, and falls over the wild Man, and so carries him away.
MOUSE.
Nay, soft, sir, are you here? A bots on you! I was like to be hanged for not finding you; we would borrow a certain stray king’s-daughter of you; a wench, a wench, sir, we would have.
MUCEDORUS.
A wench of me? I’ll make thee eat my sword.
MOUSE.
Oh Lord, nay, an you are so lusty, I’ll call a cooling card for you. Ho, master, master, come away quickly!
Enter Segasto.
SEGASTO.
What’s the matter?
MOUSE.
Look, master, Amadine and the shepherd! O brave! ”

“ Wherein, as in a glass, we plainly see,
That all our life is but a Tragedy?
Since mighty kings are subject to mishap—
Aye, mighty kings are subject to mishap!—
Since martial Locrine is bereft of life,
Shall Estrild live, then, after Locrine’s death?
Shall love of life bar her from Locrine’s sword?
O no, this sword, that hath bereft his life,
Shall now deprive me of my fleeting soul;
Strengthen these hands, O mighty Jupiter,
That I may end my woeful misery.
Locrine, I come; Locrine, I follow thee.
[Kill herself.]
Sound the alarm. Enter Sabren. ”

“ SURREY.
Instantly, good Sir Thomas,
We’ll bring the writing unto our sovereign.
[They write.]
PALMER.
My Lord of Rochester,
You must with me, to answer this contempt.
ROCHESTER.
This is the worst,
Who’s freed from life is from all care exempt.
[Exit Rochester and Palmer.]
SURREY.
Now let us hasten to our sovereign.
Tis strange that my Lord Chancellor should refuse
The duty that the law of God bequeaths
Unto the king.
SHREWSBURY.
Come, let us in. No doubt
His mind will alter, and the bishop’s too:
Error in learned heads hath much to do.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE III. Chelsea. ”

“ MARIANA. Borne to mishap, my self am only she On whom the Sun of Fortune never shined: But Planets ruled by retrogard aspect Foretold mine ill in my nativity. LUBECK. Sweet Lady, cease, let my intreaty serve To pacify the passion of thy grief, Which, well I know, proceeds of ardent love. MARIANA. But Lubeck now regards not Mariana. LUBECK. Even as my life, so love I Mariana. MARIANA. Why do you post me to another then? LUBECK. He is my friend, and I do love the man. MARIANA. Then will Duke William rob me of my Love? LUBECK. No, as his life Mariana he doth love. ”

“ O, how I feel honor come creeping on! My Nobility is wonderful melancholy: Is it not most Gentlemen like to be melancholy?
CROMWELL. Yes, Hodge; now go sit down in his study, and take state upon thee.
HODGE. I warrant you, my Lord; let me alone to take state upon me: but hark you, my Lord, do you feel nothing bite about you?
BEDFORD.
No, trust me, Hodge.
HODGE. Aye, they know they want their pasture; it’s a strange thing of this vermine, they dare not meddle with Nobility.
CROMWELL.
Go, take thy place, Hodge; I’ll call them in.—
[Hodge sits in the study, and Cromwell calls in the States.] ”

“ FRAILTY. O no, Madame, he’s above at break-fast, with, sir reverence, a Conjurer.
WIDOW.
A Conjurer? what manner a fellow is he?
FRAILTY. Oh, a wondrous rare fellow, Mistress, very strongly made upward, for he goes in a Buff-jerkin: he says he will fetch Sir Godfrey’s Chain again, if it hang between heaven and earth.
WIDOW. What, he will not? then he’s an exlent fellow, I warrant. How happy were that woman to be blest with such a Husband! a man a cunning! how do’s he look, Frailty? very swartly, I warrant, with black beard, scorcht cheeks, and smoky eyebrows. ”

“ SIR JOHN. Gone, Doll, gone; flown, spent, vanished: the devil, drink and the dice has devoured all.
DOLL.
You might have left me in Kent, that you might, until
you had been better provided, I could have stayed at
Cobham.
SIR JOHN. No, Doll, no, I’ll none of that; Kent’s too hot, Doll, Kent’s too hot. The weathercock of Wrotham will crow no longer: we have pluckt him, he has lost his feathers; I have pruned him bare, left him thrice; is moulted, is moulted, wench. ”

“ Unto the arch where lovely Estrild lies.
Bring her and Sabren straight unto the court;
She shall be queen in Gwendoline’s room.
Let others wail for Corineus’ death;
I mean not so to macerate my mind
For him that barred me from my heart’s desire.
THRASIMACHUS.
Hath Locrine, then, forsook his Gwendoline?
Is Corineus’ death so soon forgot?
If there be gods in heaven, as sure there be,
If there be fiends in hell, as needs there must,
They will revenge this thy notorious wrong,
And power their plagues upon thy cursed head.
LOCRINE.
What! prat’st thou, peasant, to thy sovereign? ”

“ I so detest thy villainy, That whilest I live I will abhor thy company. MANVILLE. Is it come to this? Of late I had choice of twain, On either side, to have me to her husband, And now am utterly rejected of them both. VALINGFORD. My Lord, this gentleman, when time was, Stood some-thing in our light, And now I think it not amiss To laugh at him that sometime scorned at us. MOUNTNEY. Content my Lord, invent the form. VALINGFORD. Then thus.— WILLIAM. I see that women are not general evils, Blanch is fair: Methinks I see in her A modest countenance, a heavenly blush. ”

“ Your blood being spilt will make my heart to sound.
CROMWELL.
How, boy, not look upon the Axe!
How shall I do then to have my head stroke off?
Come on, my child, and see the end of all,
And after say that Gardiner was my fall.
GARDINER.
My Lord, you speak it of an envious heart;
I have done no more than law and equity.
BEDFORD.
O, good my Lord of Winchester, forbear;
It would a better seemed you to been absent,
Than with your words disturb a dying man.
CROMWELL.
Who me, my Lord? no, he disturbs not me. ”

“ MUCEDORUS.
A shepherd, lady? Sure, a man unfit
To match with you!
AMADINE.
Ay, hermit, this is true,
And when we had—
MUCEDORUS.
Stay there, the wild man comes;
Defer the rest until another time.
Enter Bremo.
BREMO.
What secret tale is this? What whispering have we here?
Villain, I charge thee tell thy tale again.
MUCEDORUS.
If needs I must, lo! here it is again:
Whenas we both had lost the sight of thee,
It griev’d us both, but specially thy queen,
Who in thy absence ever fears the worst,
Lest some mischance befall your royal grace. ”

“ SIR JOHN. I must make you find some before we part. If you have no money, you shall have war: as many sound dry blows as your skin can carry.
KING.
Is that the plain truth?
SIR JOHN. Sirra, no more ado; come, come, give me the money you have. Dispatch, I cannot stand all day.
KING. Well, if thou wilt needs have it, there tis: just the proverb, one thief robs another. Where the devil are all my old thieves, that were wont to keep this walk? Falstaff, the villain, is so fat, he cannot get on’s horse, but me thinks Poines and Peto should be stirring here about. ”

“ But rather joy that Locrine favours thee.
ESTRILD.
How can he favor me that slew my spouse?
LOCRINE.
The chance of war, my love, took him from thee.
ESTRILD.
But Locrine was the causer of his death.
LOCRINE.
He was an enemy to Locrine’s state,
And slew my noble brother Albanact.
ESTRILD.
But he was linked to me in marriage bond,
And would you have me love his slaughterer?
LOCRINE.
Better to live, than not to live at all.
ESTRILD.
Better to die renowned for chastity,
Than live with shame and endless infamy. ”

“ EM. Where are you, sir? will you never leave this idle and vain pursuit of love? Is not England stord enough to content you, but you must still trouble the poor contemptible maid of Manchester? VALINGFORD. None can content me but the fair maid of Manchester. EM. I perceive love is vainly described, that, being blind himself, would have you likewise troubled with a blind wife, having the benefit of your eyes. But neither follow him so much in folly, but love one in whom you may better delight. VALINGFORD. Father Miller, thy daughter shall have honor by graunting me her love. ”

“ Drudge all the day, and trudge from place to place,
Whereby our daily victuals for to win:
And last of all, which is the worst of all,
No princess then, but plain a shepherd’s wife.
MOUSE.
[Aside.] Then God gi’ you good morrow, goody shepherd!
AMADINE.
It shall not need; if Amadine do live,
Thou shalt be crowned king of Aragon.
MOUSE.
O master, laugh; when he’s king, then I’ll be a queen.
MUCEDORUS.
Then know that which never tofore was known,
I am no shepherd, no Aragonian I,
But born of royal blood:
My father’s of Valencia king, my mother queen ”