I was bewitcht; that is no theme of thine:
And thou unhallow'd hast enchanted me.
But I will break thy spells and exorcisms
And put another sight upon these eyes,
That show'd my heart a raven for a dove.
Thou art not fair; I view'd thee not till now:
Thou art not kind; till now I knew thee not:
And now the rain hath beaten off thy gilt,
Thy worthless copper shews thee counterfeit.
It grieves me not to see how foul thou art,
But mads me that ever I thought thee fair.
Go, get thee gone, a copesmate for thy hinds;
I am too good to be thy favourite.
Al. Aye, now I see, and too soon find it true,
Which often hath been told me by my friends,
That Mosbie loves me not but for my wealth;
Which too incredulous I ne'er believed.
Nay, hear me speak, Mosbie, a word or two;
I'll bite my tongue if I speak bitterly.
Look on me, Mosbie, or else I'll kill myself.
Nothing shall hide me from thy stormy look;
If thou cry War, there is no peace for me.
I will do penance for offending thee;
And burn this Prayer Book, which I here use,
The Holy word that has converted me.
See, Mosbie, I will tear away the leaves,
And all the leaves; and in this golden Cover
Shall thy sweet phrases and thy letters dwell,
And thereon will I chiefly meditate,
And hold no other sect but such devotion.
Wilt thou not look? is all thy Love o'erwhelm'd?
Wilt thou not hear? what malice stops thy ears?
Why speak'st thou not? what silence ties thy tongue?
Thou hast been sighted as the Eagle is,
And heard as quickly as the fearful Hare,
And spoke as smoothly as an Orator,
When I have bid thee hear, or see, or speak:
And art thou sensible in none of these?
Weigh all thy good turns with this little fault,
And I deserve not Mosbie's muddy looks.
A fence of trouble is not thicken'd still;
Be clear again; I'll ne'er more trouble thee.
Mos. O fie, no; I'm a base artificer;
My wings are feather'd for a lowly flight.
Mosbie, fie, no; not for a thousand pound
Make love to you; why, 'tis unpardonable.
We Beggars must not breathe, where Gentles are.
Al. Sweet Mosbie is as Gentle as a King.
And I too blind to judge him otherwise.
Flowers sometimes spring in fallow lands:
Weeds in gardens, Roses grow on thorns:
So, whatsoe'er my Mosbie's father was,
Himself is valued Gentle by his worth.
Mos. Ah how you women can insinuate,
And clear a trespass with your sweet set tongue.
I will forget this quarrel, gentle Alice,
Provided I'll be tempted so no more.
Arden, with his friend Franklin, travelling at night to Arden's house at Feversham, where he is lain in wait for by Ruffians, hired by Alice and Mosbie to murder him; Franklin is interrupted in a story he was beginning to tell by the way of a BAD WIFE, by an indisposition, ominous of the impending danger of his friend.
Ard. Come, Master Franklin, onwards with your tale.
Frank. I'll assure you, Sir, you task me much.
A heavy blood is gather'd at my heart:
And on the sudden is my wind so short,
As hindereth the passage of my speech.
So fierce a qualm yet ne'er assailed me.
Ard. Come, Master Franklin, let us go on softly;
The annoyance of the dust, or else some meat
You ate at dinner cannot brook with you.
I have been often so, and soon amended.
Frank. Do you remember where my tale did leave?
Ard. Aye, where the Gentleman did check his wife-
Frank. She being reprehended for the fact,
Witness produced that took her with the fact,
Her glove brought in which there she left behind,
And many other assured arguments,
Her Husband ask'd her whether it were not so-
Ard. Her answer then? I wonder how she look'd,
Having forsworn it with so vehement oaths,
And at the instant so approved upon her.
Frank. First did she cast her eyes down on the earth, Watching the drops that fell amain from thence;
Then softly draws she out her handkercher,
And modestly she wipes her tear-stain'd face :
Then hemm'd she out (to clear her voice it should seem),
And with a majesty addrest herself
To encounter all their accusations—
Pardon me, Master Arden, I can no more;
This fighting at my heart makes short my wind.
Ard. Come, we are almost now at Raynum Down;
Your pretty tale beguiles the weary way,
I would you were in ease to tell it out.1
[They are set upon by the Ruffians.
THE [A] CHASTE MAID IN CHEAPSIDE. A COMEDY. BY THOMAS MIDDLETON, 1620. [PUBLISHED 1630: PRODUCED PROBABLY FIFTEEN YEARS EARLIER]
Citizen to a Knight complimenting his Daughter.
Pish, stop your words, good Knight, 'twill make her blush else,
Which are wound too high for the Daughters of the Freedom;
Honour, and Faithful Servant! they are compliments
For the worthy Ladies of White Hall or Greenwich;
Ev'n plain, sufficient, subsidy words serve us, Sir.
Master Allwit (a Wittol) describes his contentment.
Finding a table furnish'd to his hand,
(As mine is still for me), prays for the Founder,
Bless the Right worshipful, the good Founder's life:
I thank him, he has maintain'd my house these ten years;
Not only keeps my Wife, but he keeps me.
me all my children, and pays the nurse
Weekly or monthly, puts me to nothing,
Rent, nor Church dues, not so much as the Scavenger;
The happiest state that ever man was born to.
I walk out in a morning, come to breakfast,
Find excellent cheer, a good fire in winter ;
Look in my coal-house, about Midsummer eve,
1[See also pages 569 and 589.]
[Middleton's Works, ed. Bullen, vol. v.]
3 A rich old Knight, who keeps Allwit's Wife.
That's full, five or six chaldron new laid up;
Look in my back yard, I shall find a steeple
Made up with Kentish faggots, which o'erlooks
The water-house and the windmills. I say nothing,
But smile, and pin the door. When she lies in,
(As now she's even upon the point of grunting),
A Lady lies not in like her; there's her imbossings,
Embroiderings, spanglings, and I know not what,
As if she lay with all the gaudy shops
In Gresham's Burse about her; then her restoratives,
Able to set up a young 'Pothecary,
And richly store the Foreman of a Drug shop;
Her sugars by whole loaves, her wines by rundlets.
I see these things, but like a happy man
I pay for none at all, yet fools think it mine;
I have the name, and in his gold I shine:
And where some merchants would in soul kiss hell
To buy a paradise for their wives, and dye
Their conscience in the blood of prodigal heirs,
To deck their Night-piece; yet, all this being done,
Eaten with jealousy to the inmost bone;
These torments stand I freed of. I am as clear
From jealousy of a wife, as from the charge.
O two miraculous blessings! 'tis the Knight
Has ta'en that labour quite out of my hands.
I may sit still, and play; he's jealous for me,
Watches her steps, sets spies. I live at ease.
He has both the cost and torment; when the string
Of his heart frets, I feed fat, laugh, or sing.
I'll go bid Gossips 1 presently myself,
That's all the work I'll do; nor need I stir,
But that it is my pleasure to walk forth
And air myself a little; I am tyed
To nothing in this business; what I do
Is merely recreation, not constraint.
Rescue from Bailiffs by the Watermen.
I had been taken by eight Serjeants,
But for the honest Watermen, I am bound to 'em.
1 To his Wife's Lying-in.
They are the most requiteful'st people living;
For, as they get their means by Gentlemen,
They're still the forward'st to help Gentlemen.
You heard how one 'scaped out of the Blackfriars 1
But awhile since from two or three varlets,
Came into the house with all their rapiers drawn,
As if they'd dance the sword-dance on the stage,
With candles in their hands, like Chandlers' Ghosts!
Whilst the poor Gentleman, so pursued and banded,
Was by an honest pair of oars safe landed."
[THE] LONDON CHANTICLEERS. A RUDE SKETCH OF A PLAY, PRINTED 1659, BUT EVIDENTLY MUCH OLDER
Submit, Bunch of Grapes,
To the strong Barley ear;
The weak Wine no longer
The laurel shall wear.
Sack, and all drinks else,
Desist from the strife;
Ale's the only Aqua Vitæ,
And liquor of life.
Then come, my boon fellows,
Let's drink it around;
It keeps us from grave,
Though it lays us on ground.
Ale's a Physician,
No Mountebank Bragger;
Can cure the chill Ague,
Though it be with the Stagger.
1 Alsatia, I presume. [Mr. Bullen suggests the theatre at Blackfriars.]
"[For other extracts from Middleton see note to page 144.]
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