SCENE II. The same. Enter ORLANDO and years old, conversed with a magician, most profound in this art, and yet not damnable. If you do love Orl. Is't possible, that on so little acquaintance Rosalind so near the heart as your gesture cries a you should like her? that but seeing, you should out, when your brother marries Aliena, shall you love her? and, loving, woo? and, wooing, she should marry her: I know into what straits of fortune she grant and will you persever to enjoy her?1 is driven; and it is not impossible to me, if it ap Oli. Neither call the giddiness of it in question, pear not inconvenient to you, to set her before your the poverty of her, the small acquaintance, my sud- eyes to-morrow; human as she is, and without den wooing, nor her sudden consenting; but say any danger. with me, I love Aliena; say with her, that she loves Orl. Speakest thou in sober meanings? me; consent with both, that we may enjoy each Ros. By my life, I do; which I tender dearly, other: it shall be to your good: for my father's though I say I am a magician: Therefore put you house, and all the revenue that was old Sir Row-in your best array, bid your friends; for if you will land's, will I estate upon you, and here live and be married to-morrow, you shall; and to Rosalind, die a shepherd. if you will. Enter ROSALIND. Orl. You have my consent. Let your wedding be to-morrow: thither will I invite the duke, and all his contented followers: Go you, and prepare Aliena; for, look you, here comes my Rosalind. Ros. God save you, brother. Oli. And you, fair sister.2 Enter SILVIUS and PHEBE. Look, here comes a lover of mine, and a lover of hers. Phe. Youth, you have done me much ungentle- To show the letter that I writ to you. Ros. O, my dear Orlando, how it grieves me to To seem despiteful and ungentle to you: see thee wear thy heart in a scarf. Orl. It is my arm. Ros. I thought thy heart had been wounded with the claws of a lion. Orl. Wounded it is, but with the eyes of a lady. Ros. Did your brother tell you how I counterfeited to swoon, when he showed me your handkerchief? Orl. Ay, and greater wonders than that. Ros. O, I know where you are ---Nay, 'tis true: there never was any thing so sudden, but the fight of two rams, and Cæsar's thrasonical brag of---I came, saw, and overcame: For your brother and my sister no sooner met, but they looked; no sooner looked, but they loved; no sooner loved, but they sighed; no sooner sighed, but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason, but they sought the remedy: and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage, which they will climb incontinent, or else be incontinent before marriage: they are in the very wrath of love, and they will together; clubs cannot part them.4 Orl. They shall be married to-morrow; and I will bid the duke to the nuptial. But, O, how bitter a thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes! By so much the more shall I tomorrow be at the height of heart-heaviness, by how much I shall think my brother happy, in having what he wishes for. Ros. Why then, to-morrow I cannot serve your turn for Rosalind? Orl. I can live no longer by thinking. Ros. I will weary you no longer then with idle talking, Know of me then, (for now I speak to some purpose,) that I know you are a gentleman of good conceit: I speak not this, that you should bear a good opinion of my knowledge, insomuch, I say, I know you are; neither do I labour for a greater esteem than may in some little measure draw a belief from you, to do yourself good, and not to grace me. Believe then, if you please, that I can do strange things: I have, since I was three 1 Shakspeare, by putting this question into the mouth of Orlando, seems to have been aware of the improbability in his plot caused by deserting his original. In Lodge's novel the elder brother is instrumental in saving Aliena from a band of ruffians; without this circumstance the passion of Aliena appears to be very hasty indeed. You are there follow'd by a faithful shepherd; love. Sil. It is to be all made of sighs and tears;- Phe. And I for Ganymede. Sil. It is to be all made of faith and service ;- All Phe. And I for Ganymede. Sil. It is to be all made of fantasy, Phe. And so am I for Ganymede.. Sil. If this be so, why blame you me to love love you? Orl. To her, that is not here; nor doth not hear. howling of Irish wolves against the moon.-I will Ros. Pray you, no more of this; 'us like the help you, [To SILVIUS] if I can.-I would love you, [To PHEBE] if I could.-To-morrow meet me all together.-I will marry you, To PHEEF] f ever I marry woman, and I'll be married to-mor I satisfied man, and you shall be married to-mor -I will satisfy you, [To ORLANDO] if ever row:-I will content you, [To SILVIUS] if what to-morrow.-As you [To ORLANDO] love Rosapleases you contents and you, you shall be married lind, meet ;-as you [To SILVIUS] love Phete, row ; 5 Conceit in the language of Shakspeare's age signi. fied wit; or conception, and imagination. 6 Human as she is, that is, not a phantom, but the real Rosalind, without any of the danger generally con ceived to attend upon the rites of incantation. 7'I say I am a magician.' She alludes to the danger in which her avowal of practising magic, had it been a serious one, would have involved her. The poet refers to his own times, when it would have brought her life in danger. 8 i. e. invite. 9Obeisance. The old copy reads observance, bil is very unlikely that word should have been set down by Shakspeare twice so close to each other. Rits proposed the present emendation. Observance is atten tion, deference. I Page. You are deceived, sir; we kept time, we lost not our time. 2 This burthen, which had a wanton sense, is common to many old songs. See Florio's Ital. Dict. Ed. 1611, ub voce Fossa. 3 This line is very obscure, and probably corrupt. Henley proposed to point it thus: As those that fear; they hope, and know they fear.' And Malone explains it: As those who fear,-they, even those very persons entertain hopes, that their fears will not be realized; and yet, at the same time, they well know there is reason for their fears.' Heath's appears You say, if I bring in your Rosalind, [To the Duke. Ros. And you say, you will have her, when I Ros. You say, that you'll have Phebe, if she will? thing. Ros. I have promis'd to make all this matter even. : [Exeunt ROSALIND and CELIA. Enter TOUCHSTONE and AUDrey. Jaq. There is, sure, another flood toward, and these couples are coming to the ark! Here comes a pair of very strange beasts, which in all tongues are called fools. Touch. Salutation and greeting to you all! Jaq. Good, my lord, bid him welcome: This is the motley-minded gentleman, that I have so often met in the forest: he hath been a courtier, he Jaq. And how was that ta'en up? Touch. 'Faith, we met, and found the quarrel was upon the seventh cause. Jaq. How seventh cause?-Good my lord, like this fellow. Duke S. I like him very well. Touch. God'ild you, sir; I desire you of the to me the best emendation which has been proposed; yet death we fear That makes these odds all even. 6 I desire you of the like.' This mode of expression 7 By the marriage ceremony a man swears that he sir, in a poor-house; as your pearl, in your foul oyster. Duke S. By my faith, he is very swift and sententious.' Touch. According to the fool's bolt, sir, and such dulcet diseases.2 Jaq. But, for the seventh cause; how did you find the quarrel on the seventh cause? Touch. Upon a lie seven times removed :-Bear your body more seeming, Audrey, :—as thus, sir, I did dislike the cut of a certain courtier's beard; he sent me word, if I said his beard was not cut well, he was in the mind it was: This is called the Retort courteous. If I sent him word again, it was not well cut, he would send me word, he cut it to please himself: This is called the Quip modest. If again, it was not well cut, he disabled my judgment: This is called the Reply churlish. If again, it was not well cut, he would answer, I spake not true: This is called the Reproof valiant. If again, it was not well cut, he would say, I lie: This is called the Countercheck quarrelsome: and so the Lie circumstantial, and the Lie direct. Jaq. And how oft did you say, his beard was not well cut? Touch. I durst go no further than the Lie circumstantial, nor he durst not give me the Lie direct; and so we measured swords, and parted. Jaq. Can you nominate in order now the degrees of the lie ? Touch. O, sir, we quarrel in print, by the book ; as you have books for good manners: I will name you the degrees. The first, the Retort courteous; the second, the Quip modest; the third, the Reply churlish; the fourth, the Reproof valiant; the fifth, the Countercheck quarrelsome; the sixth, the Lie with circumstance; the seventh, the Lie direct. All these you may avoid, but the lie direct, and you may avoid that too, with an If. I knew when seven justices could not take up a quarrel; but when the parties were met themselves, one of them thought but of an If, as If you said so, then I said so; and they shook hands, and swore brothers. Your If is the only peace-maker; much virtue in If. Jaq. Is not this a rare fellow, my lord? he's as good at any thing, and yet a fool. 8 Duke S. He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under the presentation of that, he shoots his wit. 1 i. e. prompt and pithy. Dulcet diseases.' read discourses: but it is useless labour to endea. Johnson thought we should vour to make the fantastic Touchstone orthodox in his meaning. 3 i. e. the lie removed seven times, counting backwards from the last and most aggravated species of lie, viz. the lie direct. Orl. If there be truth in sight, you are my Rosalind. Phe. If sight and shape be true, Why then, my love, adieu! Ros. I'll have no father, if you be not he : [To Duke S. [TO ORLANDO. I'll have no husband, if you be not he: Nor ne'er wed woman, if you be not she :[TO PHEBE. Hym. Peace, ho! I bar confusion: Of these most strange events: If truth holds true contents." [To ORLANDO and ROSALIND. You and you are heart in heart: [To OLIVER and CELIA. [To TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY. Wedding is great Juno's crown; O blessed bond of board and bed' To Hymen, god of every town! Phe. I will not eat my word, now thou art mine; Thy faith my fancy to thee doth combine." [TO SILVIUL Enter JAQUES DE BOIS Duke S. Rhodes, and first published in the reign of Edward VI probably the work referred to. It was written by Hugh ad mensam, 12mo, without date, în black letter, is t 8 A stalking-horse.' See note on Much Ado abou Nothing, Act ii. Sc. 3. be brought by enchantment, and is therefore introduced 9 Rosalind is imagined by the rest of the company 4 Seemly. 5 i. e. impeached, or dispraised. by a supposed aerial being in the character of Hymen. 6 The poet has, in this scene, rallied the mode of for-old sense of the phrase, an attonement, a loving againe 10 i. e. at one; accord, or agree together. This is the mal duelling, then so prevalent, with the highest humour after a breach or falling out. Reditus in gratia cu and address. The book alluded to is entitled, 'Of Hon- aliquo.'-Baret. our and Honourable Quarrels, by Vincentío Savioli,' 1394, 4to. 7 The Booke of Nurture; or, Schoole of Good Man. ners for Men, Servants, and Children, with stans puer 11 i. e. unless truth fails of veracity; if there be truth in truth. 12 i. e. take your fill of discourse. 13 i. e. unite, attach. 14 i. e. prepared. And after, every of this happy number, Play, music;—and you, brides and bridegrooms all, Jaq. To him will I: out of these convertites You to your former honour I bequeath: [To Duke S. doth merit : You [To OLIVER] to your land and love, and great allies: You [To SYLVIUS] to a long and well deserved bed: And you [To TOUCHSTONE] to wrangling; for thy loving voyage Is but for two months victual'd:-So to your plea sures; I am for other than for danc ng measures. And we do trust they'll end in true delights. [A dance. The reader feels some regret to take his leave of Jaques in this manner; and no less concern at not meeting with the faithful old Adam at the close. It is the more remarkable that Shakspeare should have forgotten him, because Lodge, in his novel, makes him captain of the king's guard. 2 It was formerly the general custom in England, as It is still in France and the Netherlands, to hang a bush of ivy at the door of a vintner: there was a classical propriety in this; ivy being sacred to Bacchus. 3 Furnished, dressed EPILOGUE. Ros. It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue; but it is no more unhandsome, than to see the lord the prologue. If it be true, that good wine needs no bush,2 'tis true that a good play needs no bushes; and good plays prove the better by the help epilogue: Yet to good wine they do use good am neither a good epilogue, nor cannot insinuate of good epilogues. What a case am I in then, that with you in the behalf of a good play? I am not furnished like a beggar, therefore to beg will not become me: my way is, to conjure you; and I'll begin with the women. I charge you, O women, for the love you bear to men, to like as much of this play as please you:4 and I charge you, O men, for the love you bear to women (as I perceive, by your simpering, none of you hate them,) that between you and the women the play may please. IfI were a woman, I would kiss as many of you as had beards that pleased me, complexions that liked me, and breaths that I defied not: and I am sure, sweet breaths, will, for my kind offer, when I make as many as have good beards, or good faces, or curt'sy, bid me farewell. [Exeunt. OF this play the fable is wild and pleasing. I know not how the ladies will approve the facility with which both Rosalind and Celia give away their hearts. To Celia much may be forgiveu for the heroism of her friendship. The character of Jaques is natural and well preserved. The comic dialogue is very sprightly, with less mixture of low buffoonery than in some other plays; and the graver part is elegant and harmonious. By hastening to the end of this work, Shakspeare suppressed the dialogue between the usurper and the hermit, and lost an opportunity of exhibiting a moral lesson, in which he might have found matter worthy of his highest powers. JOHNSON. 4 This is the reading of the old copy, which has been altered to as much of this play as please them,' but surely without necessity. It is only the omission of the s at the end of please, which gives it a quaint appearance, but it was the practice of the poet's age. 5 The parts of women were performed by men or boys in Shakspeare's time. 6 i. e. that I liked. ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. THE fable of All's Well that Ends Well is derived | from the story of Gilletta of Narbonne in the Decamerone of Boccaccio. It came to Shakspeare through the medium of Painter's Palace of Pleasure: and is to 3 be found in the first volume, which was printed as early as 1566. The comic parts of the plot, and the characters of the Countess, Lafeu, &c. are of the poet's own crea. tion, and in the conduct of the fable he has found it expedient to depart from his original more than it is his usual custom to do. The character of Helena is beautifully drawn, she is an heroic and patient sufferer of adverse fortune like Griselda, and placed in circumstances of almost equal difficulty. Her romantic passion for Bertram with whom she had been brought up as a sister; her grief at his departure for the court, which she expresses in some exquisitely impassioned lines, and the retiring anxious modesty with which she confides her passion to the Countess, are in the poet's sweetest style of writing. Nor are the succeeding parts of her conduct touched with a less delicate and masterly hand. Placed in extraordinary and embarrassing circumstances, there is a propriety and delicacy in all her actions, which is consistent with the guileless innocence of her heart. The King is properly made an instrument in the denouement of the plot of the play, and this a most striking and judicious deviation from the novel: his gratitude and esteem for Helen are consistent and honourable to him as a man and a monarch. Johnson has expressed his dislike of the character of Bertram, and most fair readers have manifested their abhorrence of him, and have thought with Johnson that he ought not to have gone unpunished, for the sake not only of poetical but of moral justice. Schlegel has remarked that Shakspeare never attempts to mitigate the impression of his unfeeling pride and giddy dissipation. He intended merely to give us a military portrait; and paints the true way of the world, according to which the injustice of men towards women is not considered in a very serious light, if they only maintain what is called the honour of the family. The fact is, that the construction of his plot prevented him. Helen was to be rewarded for her heroic and persevering affection, and any more serious punishment than the temporary shame and remorse that awaits Bertram would have been inconsistent with comedy. It should also be remembered that he was constrained to marry Helen against his will. Shakspeare was a good-natured moralist; and, like his own creation, old Lafeu, though he was delighted to strip off the mask of pretension, he thought that punishment might be carried too far. Who that has been diverted with the truly comic scenes in which Parolles is.. made to appear in his true character, could have wished him to have been otherwise dismissed? "Though you are a fool and a knave, you shall eat.' It has been remarked that the style of the whole play is more conspicuous for sententiousness than imagery: and that the glowing colours of fancy could not SCENE I. Rousillon. A Room in the Countess's Palace. Enter BERTRAM, the Countess of Rousillon, HELENA, and LAFEU, in mourning. Countess. IN delivering my son from me, I bury a second husband. Ber. And I, in going, madam, weep o'er my father's death anew: but I must attend his majesty's command, to whom I am now in ward,2 evermore in subjection. Laf. You shall find of the king a husband, madam;—you, sir, a father: He that so generally is at all times good, must of necessity hold his virtue to you; whose worthiness would stir it where it wanted, rather than lack it where there is such abundance. up Count. What hope is there of his majesty's amend ment? Laf. He hath abandoned his physicians, madam; under whose practices he hath persecuted time with hope; and finds no other advantage in the process but only the losing of hope by time. Count. This young gentlewoman had a father (0, that had! how sad a passage 'tis!) whose skill was almost as great as his honesty; had it stretched so far, would have made nature immortal, and death should have play for lack of work. 'Would, for the king's sake, he were living! I think, it would be the death of the king's disease. Laf. How called you the man you speak of, madam? Count. He was famous, sir, in his profession, and it was his great right to be so: Gerard de Narbon. Laf. He was excellent, indeed, madam; the king very lately spoke of him, admirmgly, and mourningly he was skilful enough to have lived still, if knowledge could be set up against mortality. Ber. What is it, my good lord, the king, languishes of? Laf. A fistula, my lord. Ber. I heard not of it before. Laf. I would, it were not notorious.-Was this gentlewoman the daughter of Gerard de Narbon? Count. His sole child, my lord; and bequeathed to my overlooking. I have those hopes of her good, that her education promises: her dispositions she inherits, which make fair gifts fairer; for where an unclean mind carries virtuous qualities, there commendations go with pity, they are virtues and traitors too; in her they are the better for their simpleness; she derives her honesty, and achieves her goodness. Laf. Your commendations, madam, get from her Laf. Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead, excessive grief the enemy to the living. Count. If the living be enemy to the grief, the excess makes it soon mortal. Ber. Madam, I desire your holy wishes. father Count. Be thou blest, Bertram! and succeed thy In manners, as in shape! thy blood, and virtue, Contend for empire in thee; and thy goodness Share with thy birth-right! Love all, trust a few, Do wrong to none: be able for thine enemy Rather in power, than use; and keep thy friend Under thy own life's key: be check'd for silence, But never tax'd for speech. What heaven more will, That thee may furnish, and my prayers pluck down, Fall on thy head! Farewell.--My lord, 'Tis an unseason'd courtier; good my lord, Advise him. 4 We feel regret even in commending such qualities, joined with an evil disposition; they are traitors, be-parture. cause they give the possessors power over others; who, admiring such estimable qualities, are often betrayed by the malevolence of the possessors. Helena's virtues are the better because they are artless and open. 9 That is, if the living do not indulge grief, grief destroys itself by its own excess.' 10 i. e. that may help thee with more and better qual fications. |