Hath made me publisher of this pretense. Duke. Upon mine honor, he shall never know

That I had any light from thee of this. Pro. Adieu, my Lord; Sir Valentine is coming. 50 [Exit.

Enter Valentine.

Duke. Sir Valentine, whither away so fast?
Val. Please it your grace, there is a messenger
That stays to bear my letters to my friends,
And I am going to deliver them.
Duke. Be they of much import?
Val. The tenor of them doth but signify
My health and happy being at your court.
Duke. Nay then, no matter; stay with me awhile;
I am to break with thee of some affairs

That touch me near, wherein thou must be
secret.

60

'Tis not unknown to thee that I have sought To match my friend Sir Thurio to my daugh

ter.

Val. I know it well, my lord; and, sure, the match Were rich and honorable; besides, the gentle

man

Is full of virtue, bounty, worth and qualities Beseeming such a wife as your fair daughter: Cannot your grace win her to fancy him? Duke. No, trust me; she is peevish, sullen, froward, Proud, disobedient, stubborn, lacking duty; Neither regarding that she is my child, Not fearing me as if I were her father: And, may I say to thee, this pride of hers,

55

70

too much

Upon advice, hath drawn my love from her;
And, where I thought the remnant of mine age
Should have been cherish'd by her child-like
duty,

I now am full resolved to take a wife,

And turn her out to who will take her in Tch,tch

Then let her beauty be her wedding-dower;

For me and my possessions she esteems not. Val. What would your Grace have me to do in

this?

Duke. There is a lady in Verona here

Whom I affect; but she is nice and coy,

80

And nought esteems my aged eloquence:
Now, therefore, would I have thee to my
tutor,-

For long agone I have forgot to court;

Besides, the fashion of the time is changed,-
How and which way I may bestow myself,
To be regarded in her sun-bright eye.

Val. Win her with gifts, if she respect not words:
Dumb jewels often in their silent kind

90

More than quick words do move a woman's

mind.

Duke. But she did scorn a present that I sent her. Val. A woman sometimes scorns what best con

tents her.

Send her another; never give her o'er;

For scorn at first makes after-love the more.
If she do frown, 'tis not in hate of you,
But rather to beget more love in you:
If she do chide, 'tis not to have you gone;
For why, the fools are mad, if left alone;

Take no repulse, whatever she doth say;

100

For 'get you gone,' she doth not mean 'away!'
Flatter and praise, commend, extol their graces;
Though ne'er so black, say they have angels'
faces.

That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man,
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman.
Duke. But she I mean is promised by her friends
Unto a youthful gentleman of worth;
And kept severely from resort of men,
That no man hath access by day to her.

Val. Why, then, I would resort to her by night. 110 Duke. Aye, but the doors be lock'd, and keys kept safe,

That no man hath recourse to her by night. Val. What lets but one may enter at her window? Duke. Her chamber is aloft, far from the ground,

And built so shelving, that one cannot climb it
Without apparent hazard of his life.

Val. Why, then, a ladder, quaintly made of cords,
To cast up, with a pair of anchoring hooks,
Would serve to scale another Hero's tower,
So bold Leander would adventure it.
Duke. Now, as thou art a gentleman of blood,

120

Advise me where I may have such a ladder. Val. When would you use it? pray, sir, tell me that. Duke. This very night; for Love is like a child,

That longs for everything that he can come by. Val. By seven o'clock I'll get you such a ladder. Duke. But, hark thee; I will go to her alone: How shall I best convey the ladder thither?

130

Val. It will be light, my lord, that you may bear it
Under a cloak that is of any length.
Duke. A cloak as long as thine will serve the turn?
Val. Aye, my good lord.

Duke.

Then let me see thy cloak:

I'll get me one of such another length.

Val. Why, any cloak will serve the turn, my lord. Duke. How shall I fashion me to wear a cloak?

I pray thee, let me feel thy cloak upon me.
What letter is this same? What's here? "To Sil-
via'!

And here an engine fit for my proceeding.
I'll be so bold to break the seal for once.

[Reads. 'My thoughts do harbor with my Silvia nightly; And slaves they are to me, that send them

141

flying: O, could their master come and go as lightly, Himself would lodge where senseless they are lying!

My herald thoughts in thy pure bosom rest them;

While I, their king, that thither them importune,

Do curse the grace that with such grace hath bless'd them,

Because myself do want my servants' for

tune:

I curse myself, for they are sent by me,

That they should harbor where their lord would

be.'

What's here?

150

'Silvia, this night I will enfranchise thee.'
'Tis so; and here's the ladder for the purpose.
Why, Phaethon,-for thou art Merops' son,-
Wilt thou aspire to guide the heavenly car,
And with thy daring folly burn the world?
Wilt thou reach stars, because they shine on
thee?

Go, base intruder! overweening slave!
Bestow thy fawning smiles on equal mates;
And think my patience, more than thy desert,
Is privilege for thy departure hence:

160
Thank me for this more than for all the favors,
Which all too much I have bestow'd on thee.
But if thou linger in my territories
Longer than swiftest expedition

Will give thee time to leave our royal court,
By heaven! my wrath shall far exceed the love
I ever bore my daughter or thyself.

Be gone! I will not hear thy vain excuse;

But, as thou lovest thy life, make speed from

hence.

[Exit. Val. And why not death rather than living tor-ment?

To die is to be banish'd from myself;
And Silvia is myself: banish'd from her,
Is self from self: a deadly banishment!
What light is light, if Silvia be not seen?

170

153. Legend variously described Phaethon as the son of Helios by Merops' wife, and as a son of Merops himself. Johnson supposed the Duke to insist on the baser origin by way of additional disparagement to Valentine, but this is both needlessly abstruse and opposed to the explanatory "for." He probably means only "for thou art indeed Phoebus."-C. H. H.