Take no repulse, whatever she doth say;

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. Duke. Ay, 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, 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,

1 Hinders.

That longs for every thing 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?

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. Ay, 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 flying: O, could their master come and go as lightly,

Himself would lodge, where senseless they are lying.

1

My herald thoughts 1 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' fortune :

The thoughts contained in my letter.

1

I curse myself, for 1 they are sent by me,

That they should harbor where their lord should be.' What's here?

́Silvia, this night I will enfranchise thee :'

"Tis so; and here's the ladder for the purpose.—
Why, Phaeton, (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! over-weening slave!
Bestow thy fawning smiles on equal mates;
And think, my patience, more than thy desert,
Is privilege for thy departure hence:

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 Duke. Val. And why not death, rather than living torment ?

To die, is to be banish'd from myself;

1 Since.

2 Thou art not descended from Apollo, as Phaëton was; but art the son of an earthly parent. Merops was the husband of Clymene, the mother of Phaëton.

And Silvia is myself: banish'd from her,
Is self from self; a deadly banishment !
What light is light, if Silvia be not seen?
What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by ?
Unless it be, to think that she is by,
And feed upon the shadow of perfection.
Except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale ;
Unless I look on Silvia in the day,
There is no day for me to look upon :
She is my essence; and I leave to be,1
If I be not by her fair influence
Foster'd, illumined, cherish'd, kept alive.
I fly not death, to fly his deadly doom: 2
Tarry I here, I but attend on death ;
But, fly I hence, I fly away from life.

Enter PROTEUS and LAUNCE.

Pro. Run, boy, run, run, and seek him out.
Launce. So-ho! so-ho!

Pro. What seest thou?

Launce. Him we go to find: there's not a hair

on 's head, but 'tis a Valentine.

Pro. Valentine?

Val. No.

Pro. Who then? his spirit?

Val. Neither.

1 Cease to exist.

2 By avoiding the execution of this sentence I shall not

escape death.

Come, I'll convey thee through the city-gate;
And, ere I part with thee, confer at large
Of all that may concern thy love affairs :
As thou lovest Silvia, though not for thyself,
Regard thy danger, and along with me.

Val. I pray thee, Launce, an if thou seest my boy, Bid him make haste, and meet me at the north gate. Pro. Go, sirrah, find him out. Come, Valentine. Val. O my dear Silvia! hapless Valentine!

[Exeunt Valentine and Proteus. Launce. I am but a fool, look you; and yet I have the wit to think, my master is a kind of a knave; but that's all one, if he be but one knave. He lives not now, that knows me to be in love; yet I am in love; but a team of horse shall not pluck that from me; nor who 'tis I love, and yet 'tis a woman: but what woman, I will not tell myself; and yet 'tis a milk-maid: yet 'tis not a maid, for she hath had gossips: 1 yet 'tis a maid, for she is her master's maid, and serves for wages. She hath more qualities than a water-spaniel,-which is much in a bare christian. Here is the cate-log [pulling out a paper] of her conditions. Imprimis, She can fetch and carry:' why, a horse can do no more : nay, a horse cannot fetch, but only carry; therefore, is she better than a jade. Item, She can milk; look you, a sweet virtue in a maid with clean hands.

1 For she has had children. Gossips are the idle, tattling women who attend child-births. 2 Qualities.