And now have toil'd their unbreath'd memories Philoft. No, my noble lord, It is not for you. I have heard it over, Thef. I will hear that play: "For never any thing can be amifs, "When simpleness and duty tender it. Go, bring them in, and take your places, ladies. [Exit Phil. Hip. I love not to see wretchedness o'ercharg'd, And duty in his fervice perifhing. Thef. Why, gentle fweet, you fhall fee no fuch thing. Our sport shall be, to take what they mistake; Noble refpect takes it in might, not merit. Enter Enter Philoftrate. Phil. So please your Grace, the prologue is addrest. Thef. Let him approach. SCENE [Flor. Trum. II. Enter Quince, for the prologue. Pro. If we offend, it is with our good will. We do not come, as minding to content you, [you, We are not here. that you fhould here repent The actors are at hand; and by their fhow, You fhall know all, that you are like to know. Thef. This fellow doth not ftand upon points. Lys. He hath rid his prologue, like a rough colt; he knows not the ftop. A good moral, my lord. It is not enough to fpeak, but to fpeak true. Hip. Indeed he hath play'd on his prologue, like a child on the recorder; a found, but not in go vernment. Thef. His fpeech was like a tangled chain; nothing impair'd, but all diforder'd. Who is the next? Enter Pyramus, and Thisbe, Wall, Moonshine, and Lion, as in dumb fhew. Pro. Gentles, perchance, you wonder at this show, But wonder on, till truth make all things plain. This man is Pyramus, if you would know This beauteous lady Thisbe is, certain. This man, with lime and rough-caft, doth present Wall, Wall, the vile wall, which did thefe lovers funder: And through wall's chink, poor fouls, they are content To whifper, at the which let no man wonder. This man, with lanthorn, dog, and bufh of thorn, Prefenteth moon-fhine: For, if you will know, By moon-fhine did thefe lovers think no fcorn To meet at Ninus' tomb, there, there to woo. This grifly beaft, which by name Lion hight, The trufty Thisbe, coming firft by night, Did fcare away, or rather did affright: And as fhe fled, her mantle fhe let fall; Which Lion vile with bloody mouth did ftain. Anon comes Pyramus, fweet youth and tall, And finds his trufty Thisbe's mantle flain; Whereat, with blade, with bloody blameful blade He bravely broach'd his boiling bloody breast. And Thisbe, tarrying in the mulberry fhade, His dagger drew, and died. For all the reft, Let Lion, Moon-fhine, Wall, and lovers twain, At large difcourfe, while here they do remain, [Exeunt all but Wall. Thef. I wonder, if the Lion be to fpeak. Dem. No wonder, my lord; one Lion may, when many affes do. Wall. In this fame Interlude, it doth befall, That I, one Snout by name, prefent a wall: And fuch a wall, as I would have you think, That had in it a crannied hole or chink; Through which the lovers, Pyr'mus and Thisbe, Did whisper often very fecretly. This loam, this rough-caft, and this ftone doth fhew, And this the cranny is, right and finister, Thef. Thef. Pyramus draws near the wall: filence! Enter Pyramus. Pyr. O grim-look'd night! O night with hue fo black! O night which ever art, when day is not! I fear my Thisbe's promife is forgot. That ftands between her father's ground and mine; Thou wall, O wall, Ofweet and lovely wall, [eyne. Shew me thy chink, to blink through with mine Thanks, courteous wall; Jove fhield thee well for this! But what fee I? no Thisbe do I fee. O wicked wall, through whom I fee no blifs; Thef. The wall, methinks, being fenfible, fhould curfe again. Pyr. No, in truth, Sir, he fhould not. Deceiving me, is Thisbe's cue; fhe is to enter, and I am to fpy her through the wall. You fhall fee, it will fall pat as I told you. Yonder fhe comes. Enter Thisbe. Thif. O wall, full often haft thou heard my moans, My cherry lips have often kifs'd thy stones: Thif. My love! thou art, my love, I think. And like Limander am I trusty still. Thif. And I like Helen, till the fates me kill. M 2 Pyr. .@ Pyr. O kifs me through the hole of this vile wall. Thif. Tide life, tide death, I come without dela. Wall. Thus have I Wall my part difcharged fo: And, being done, thus Wall away doth go. [Exit. Thef. Now is the Mural down between the two neighbours. 4 Dem. No remedy, my lord, when walls are fo wilful to rear without warning. Hip. This is the fillieft ftuff that e'er I heard. Thef. The beft in this kind are but fhadows; and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend them. Hip. It must be your imagination then, and not theirs. Thef. If we imagine no worfe of them than they of themselves, they may pafs for excellent men. Here come two noble beafts in a man and a lion. Enter Lion and Moonshine. Lion. You, ladies, you, whofe gentle hearts do fear The smallest monftrous mouse that creeps on floor, May now, perchance, both quake and tremble here, When Lion rough in wildest rage doth roar. Then know that I, one Snug the joiner, am No Lion fell, nor elfe no Lion's dam: For if I fhould as Lion come in ftrife Into this place, 'twere pity of my life. Thef. A very gentle beaft, and of a good confcience. Dem. The very beft at a beaft, my lord, that e'er I faw. 4 Thef. Now is the mural down between the two neighbours. Dem. No remedy, my lord, when walls are so wilful to HBAR without warning.] Shakespear could never write this nonsense; we fhould read- to REAR without warning. i. e. It is no worder that walls fhould be fuddenly down, when they were as fuddenly up-rear'd without warning. |