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Modern Text |
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A room in the prison.
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A room in the prison.
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Enter DUKE VINCENTIO disguised as before, CLAUDIO , and Provost
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Enter DUKE VINCENTIO disguised as before, CLAUDIO , and Provost
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DUKE VINCENTIO So then you hope of pardon from Lord Angelo?
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DUKE VINCENTIO So then you hope of pardon from Lord Angelo?
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CLAUDIO The miserable have no other medicine
But only hope:
I’ve hope to live, and am prepared to die.
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CLAUDIO The miserable have no other medicine
But only hope:
I’ve hope to live, and am prepared to die.
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DUKE VINCENTIO 5 Be absolute for death; either death or life
Shall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life:
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing
That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art,
Servile to all the skyey influences,
10 That dost this habitation, where thou keep’st,
Hourly afflict: merely, thou art death’s fool;
For him thou labour’st by thy flight to shun
And yet runn’st toward him still. Thou art not noble;
For all the accommodations that thou bear’st
15 Are nursed by baseness. Thou’rt by no means valiant;
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork
Of a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleep,
And that thou oft provokest; yet grossly fear’st
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself;
20 For thou exist’st on many a thousand grains
That issue out of dust. Happy thou art not;
For what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get,
And what thou hast, forget’st. Thou art not certain;
For thy complexion shifts to strange effects,
25 After the moon. If thou art rich, thou’rt poor;
For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows,
Thou bear’s thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee. Friend hast thou none;
For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire,
30 The mere effusion of thy proper loins,
Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum,
For ending thee no sooner. Thou hast nor youth nor age,
But, as it were, an after-dinner’s sleep,
Dreaming on both; for all thy blessed youth
35 Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms
Of palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich,
Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty,
To make thy riches pleasant. What’s yet in this
That bears the name of life? Yet in this life
40 Lie hid moe thousand deaths: yet death we fear,
That makes these odds all even.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Be absolute for death; either death or life
Shall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life:
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing
That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art,
Servile to all the skyey influences,
That dost this habitation, where thou keep’st,
Hourly afflict: merely, thou art death’s fool;
For him thou labour’st by thy flight to shun
And yet runn’st toward him still. Thou art not noble;
For all the accommodations that thou bear’st
Are nursed by baseness. Thou’rt by no means valiant;
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork
Of a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleep,
And that thou oft provokest; yet grossly fear’st
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself;
For thou exist’st on many a thousand grains
That issue out of dust. Happy thou art not;
For what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get,
And what thou hast, forget’st. Thou art not certain;
For thy complexion shifts to strange effects,
After the moon. If thou art rich, thou’rt poor;
For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows,
Thou bear’s thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee. Friend hast thou none;
For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire,
The mere effusion of thy proper loins,
Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum,
For ending thee no sooner. Thou hast nor youth nor age,
But, as it were, an after-dinner’s sleep,
Dreaming on both; for all thy blessed youth
Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms
Of palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich,
Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty,
To make thy riches pleasant. What’s yet in this
That bears the name of life? Yet in this life
Lie hid moe thousand deaths: yet death we fear,
That makes these odds all even.
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CLAUDIO I humbly thank you.
To sue to live, I find I seek to die;
And, seeking death, find life: let it come on.
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CLAUDIO I humbly thank you.
To sue to live, I find I seek to die;
And, seeking death, find life: let it come on.
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ISABELLA 45 [Within] What, ho! Peace here; grace and good company!
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ISABELLA [Within] What, ho! Peace here; grace and good company!
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PROVOST Who’s there? come in: the wish deserves a welcome.
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PROVOST Who’s there? come in: the wish deserves a welcome.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Dear sir, ere long I’ll visit you again.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Dear sir, ere long I’ll visit you again.
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CLAUDIO Most holy sir, I thank you.
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CLAUDIO Most holy sir, I thank you.
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Enter ISABELLA
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Enter ISABELLA
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ISABELLA My business is a word or two with Claudio.
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ISABELLA My business is a word or two with Claudio.
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PROVOST 50 And very welcome. Look, signior, here’s your sister.
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PROVOST And very welcome. Look, signior, here’s your sister.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Provost, a word with you.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Provost, a word with you.
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PROVOST As many as you please.
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PROVOST As many as you please.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Bring me to hear them speak, where I may be concealed.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Bring me to hear them speak, where I may be concealed.
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Exeunt DUKE VINCENTIO and Provost
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Exeunt DUKE VINCENTIO and Provost
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CLAUDIO Now, sister, what’s the comfort?
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CLAUDIO Now, sister, what’s the comfort?
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ISABELLA 55 Why,
As all comforts are; most good, most good indeed.
Lord Angelo, having affairs to heaven,
Intends you for his swift ambassador,
Where you shall be an everlasting leiger:
60 Therefore your best appointment make with speed;
To-morrow you set on.
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ISABELLA Why,
As all comforts are; most good, most good indeed.
Lord Angelo, having affairs to heaven,
Intends you for his swift ambassador,
Where you shall be an everlasting leiger:
Therefore your best appointment make with speed;
To-morrow you set on.
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CLAUDIO Is there no remedy?
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CLAUDIO Is there no remedy?
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ISABELLA None, but such remedy as, to save a head,
To cleave a heart in twain.
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ISABELLA None, but such remedy as, to save a head,
To cleave a heart in twain.
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CLAUDIO 65 But is there any?
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CLAUDIO But is there any?
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ISABELLA Yes, brother, you may live:
There is a devilish mercy in the judge,
If you’ll implore it, that will free your life,
But fetter you till death.
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ISABELLA Yes, brother, you may live:
There is a devilish mercy in the judge,
If you’ll implore it, that will free your life,
But fetter you till death.
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CLAUDIO 70 Perpetual durance?
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CLAUDIO Perpetual durance?
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ISABELLA Ay, just; perpetual durance, a restraint,
Though all the world’s vastidity you had,
To a determined scope.
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ISABELLA Ay, just; perpetual durance, a restraint,
Though all the world’s vastidity you had,
To a determined scope.
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CLAUDIO But in what nature?
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CLAUDIO But in what nature?
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ISABELLA 75 In such a one as, you consenting to’t,
Would bark your honour from that trunk you bear,
And leave you naked.
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ISABELLA In such a one as, you consenting to’t,
Would bark your honour from that trunk you bear,
And leave you naked.
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CLAUDIO Let me know the point.
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CLAUDIO Let me know the point.
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ISABELLA O, I do fear thee, Claudio; and I quake,
80 Lest thou a feverous life shouldst entertain,
And six or seven winters more respect
Than a perpetual honour. Darest thou die?
The sense of death is most in apprehension;
And the poor beetle, that we tread upon,
85 In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great
As when a giant dies.
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ISABELLA O, I do fear thee, Claudio; and I quake,
Lest thou a feverous life shouldst entertain,
And six or seven winters more respect
Than a perpetual honour. Darest thou die?
The sense of death is most in apprehension;
And the poor beetle, that we tread upon,
In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great
As when a giant dies.
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CLAUDIO Why give you me this shame?
Think you I can a resolution fetch
From flowery tenderness? If I must die,
90 I will encounter darkness as a bride,
And hug it in mine arms.
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CLAUDIO Why give you me this shame?
Think you I can a resolution fetch
From flowery tenderness? If I must die,
I will encounter darkness as a bride,
And hug it in mine arms.
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ISABELLA There spake my brother; there my father’s grave
Did utter forth a voice. Yes, thou must die:
Thou art too noble to conserve a life
95 In base appliances. This outward-sainted deputy,
Whose settled visage and deliberate word
Nips youth i’ the head and follies doth emmew
As falcon doth the fowl, is yet a devil
His filth within being cast, he would appear
100 A pond as deep as hell.
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ISABELLA There spake my brother; there my father’s grave
Did utter forth a voice. Yes, thou must die:
Thou art too noble to conserve a life
In base appliances. This outward-sainted deputy,
Whose settled visage and deliberate word
Nips youth i’ the head and follies doth emmew
As falcon doth the fowl, is yet a devil
His filth within being cast, he would appear
A pond as deep as hell.
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CLAUDIO The prenzie Angelo!
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CLAUDIO The prenzie Angelo!
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ISABELLA O, ’tis the cunning livery of hell,
The damned’st body to invest and cover
In prenzie guards! Dost thou think, Claudio?
105 If I would yield him my virginity,
Thou mightst be freed.
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ISABELLA O, ’tis the cunning livery of hell,
The damned’st body to invest and cover
In prenzie guards! Dost thou think, Claudio?
If I would yield him my virginity,
Thou mightst be freed.
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CLAUDIO O heavens! it cannot be.
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CLAUDIO O heavens! it cannot be.
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ISABELLA Yes, he would give’t thee, from this rank offence,
So to offend him still. This night’s the time
110 That I should do what I abhor to name,
Or else thou diest to-morrow.
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ISABELLA Yes, he would give’t thee, from this rank offence,
So to offend him still. This night’s the time
That I should do what I abhor to name,
Or else thou diest to-morrow.
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CLAUDIO Thou shalt not do’t.
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CLAUDIO Thou shalt not do’t.
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ISABELLA O, were it but my life,
I’ld throw it down for your deliverance
115 As frankly as a pin.
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ISABELLA O, were it but my life,
I’ld throw it down for your deliverance
As frankly as a pin.
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CLAUDIO Thanks, dear Isabel.
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CLAUDIO Thanks, dear Isabel.
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ISABELLA Be ready, Claudio, for your death tomorrow.
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ISABELLA Be ready, Claudio, for your death tomorrow.
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CLAUDIO Yes. Has he affections in him,
That thus can make him bite the law by the nose,
120 When he would force it? Sure, it is no sin,
Or of the deadly seven, it is the least.
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CLAUDIO Yes. Has he affections in him,
That thus can make him bite the law by the nose,
When he would force it? Sure, it is no sin,
Or of the deadly seven, it is the least.
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ISABELLA Which is the least?
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ISABELLA Which is the least?
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CLAUDIO If it were damnable, he being so wise,
Why would he for the momentary trick
125 Be perdurably fined? O Isabel!
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CLAUDIO If it were damnable, he being so wise,
Why would he for the momentary trick
Be perdurably fined? O Isabel!
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ISABELLA What says my brother?
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ISABELLA What says my brother?
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CLAUDIO Death is a fearful thing.
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CLAUDIO Death is a fearful thing.
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ISABELLA And shamed life a hateful.
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ISABELLA And shamed life a hateful.
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CLAUDIO Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
130 To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;
135 To be imprison’d in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thought
Imagine howling: ’tis too horrible!
140 The weariest and most loathed worldly life
That age, ache, penury and imprisonment
Can lay on nature is a paradise
To what we fear of death.
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CLAUDIO Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;
To be imprison’d in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thought
Imagine howling: ’tis too horrible!
The weariest and most loathed worldly life
That age, ache, penury and imprisonment
Can lay on nature is a paradise
To what we fear of death.
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ISABELLA Alas, alas!
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ISABELLA Alas, alas!
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CLAUDIO 145 Sweet sister, let me live:
What sin you do to save a brother’s life,
Nature dispenses with the deed so far
That it becomes a virtue.
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CLAUDIO Sweet sister, let me live:
What sin you do to save a brother’s life,
Nature dispenses with the deed so far
That it becomes a virtue.
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ISABELLA O you beast!
150 O faithless coward! O dishonest wretch!
Wilt thou be made a man out of my vice?
Is’t not a kind of incest, to take life
From thine own sister’s shame? What should I think?
Heaven shield my mother play’d my father fair!
155 For such a warped slip of wilderness
Ne’er issued from his blood. Take my defiance!
Die, perish! Might but my bending down
Reprieve thee from thy fate, it should proceed:
I’ll pray a thousand prayers for thy death,
160 No word to save thee.
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ISABELLA O you beast!
O faithless coward! O dishonest wretch!
Wilt thou be made a man out of my vice?
Is’t not a kind of incest, to take life
From thine own sister’s shame? What should I think?
Heaven shield my mother play’d my father fair!
For such a warped slip of wilderness
Ne’er issued from his blood. Take my defiance!
Die, perish! Might but my bending down
Reprieve thee from thy fate, it should proceed:
I’ll pray a thousand prayers for thy death,
No word to save thee.
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CLAUDIO Nay, hear me, Isabel.
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CLAUDIO Nay, hear me, Isabel.
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ISABELLA O, fie, fie, fie!
Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade.
Mercy to thee would prove itself a bawd:
165 ’Tis best thou diest quickly.
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ISABELLA O, fie, fie, fie!
Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade.
Mercy to thee would prove itself a bawd:
’Tis best thou diest quickly.
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CLAUDIO O hear me, Isabella!
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CLAUDIO O hear me, Isabella!
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Re-enter DUKE VINCENTIO
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Re-enter DUKE VINCENTIO
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DUKE VINCENTIO Vouchsafe a word, young sister, but one word.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Vouchsafe a word, young sister, but one word.
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ISABELLA What is your will?
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ISABELLA What is your will?
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DUKE VINCENTIO Might you dispense with your leisure, I would by and
170 by have some speech with you: the satisfaction I
would require is likewise your own benefit.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Might you dispense with your leisure, I would by and
by have some speech with you: the satisfaction I
would require is likewise your own benefit.
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ISABELLA I have no superfluous leisure; my stay must be
stolen out of other affairs; but I will attend you awhile.
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ISABELLA I have no superfluous leisure; my stay must be
stolen out of other affairs; but I will attend you awhile.
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Walks apart
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Walks apart
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DUKE VINCENTIO Son, I have overheard what hath passed between you
175 and your sister. Angelo had never the purpose to
corrupt her; only he hath made an essay of her
virtue to practise his judgment with the disposition
of natures: she, having the truth of honour in her,
hath made him that gracious denial which he is most
180 glad to receive. I am confessor to Angelo, and I
know this to be true; therefore prepare yourself to
death: do not satisfy your resolution with hopes
that are fallible: tomorrow you must die; go to
your knees and make ready.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Son, I have overheard what hath passed between you
and your sister. Angelo had never the purpose to
corrupt her; only he hath made an essay of her
virtue to practise his judgment with the disposition
of natures: she, having the truth of honour in her,
hath made him that gracious denial which he is most
glad to receive. I am confessor to Angelo, and I
know this to be true; therefore prepare yourself to
death: do not satisfy your resolution with hopes
that are fallible: tomorrow you must die; go to
your knees and make ready.
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CLAUDIO 185 Let me ask my sister pardon. I am so out of love
with life that I will sue to be rid of it.
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CLAUDIO Let me ask my sister pardon. I am so out of love
with life that I will sue to be rid of it.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Hold you there: farewell.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Hold you there: farewell.
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Exit CLAUDIO
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Exit CLAUDIO
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Provost, a word with you!
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Provost, a word with you!
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Re-enter Provost
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Re-enter Provost
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PROVOST What’s your will, father[?]
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PROVOST What’s your will, father[?]
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DUKE VINCENTIO 190 That now you are come, you will be gone. Leave me
awhile with the maid: my mind promises with my
habit no loss shall touch her by my company.
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DUKE VINCENTIO That now you are come, you will be gone. Leave me
awhile with the maid: my mind promises with my
habit no loss shall touch her by my company.
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PROVOST In good time.
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PROVOST In good time.
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Exit Provost. ISABELLA comes forward
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Exit Provost. ISABELLA comes forward
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DUKE VINCENTIO The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good:
195 the goodness that is cheap in beauty makes beauty
brief in goodness; but grace, being the soul of
your complexion, shall keep the body of it ever
fair. The assault that Angelo hath made to you,
fortune hath conveyed to my understanding; and, but
200 that frailty hath examples for his falling, I should
wonder at Angelo. How will you do to content this
substitute, and to save your brother?
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DUKE VINCENTIO The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good:
the goodness that is cheap in beauty makes beauty
brief in goodness; but grace, being the soul of
your complexion, shall keep the body of it ever
fair. The assault that Angelo hath made to you,
fortune hath conveyed to my understanding; and, but
that frailty hath examples for his falling, I should
wonder at Angelo. How will you do to content this
substitute, and to save your brother?
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ISABELLA I am now going to resolve him: I had rather my
brother die by the law than my son should be
205 unlawfully born. But, O, how much is the good duke
deceived in Angelo! If ever he return and I can
speak to him, I will open my lips in vain, or
discover his government.
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ISABELLA I am now going to resolve him: I had rather my
brother die by the law than my son should be
unlawfully born. But, O, how much is the good duke
deceived in Angelo! If ever he return and I can
speak to him, I will open my lips in vain, or
discover his government.
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DUKE VINCENTIO That shall not be much ami Yet, as the matter
210 now stands, he will avoid your accusation; he made
trial of you only. Therefore fasten your ear on my
advisings: to the love I have in doing good a
remedy presents itself. I do make myself believe
that you may most uprighteously do a poor wronged
215 lady a merited benefit; redeem your brother from
the angry law; do no stain to your own gracious
person; and much please the absent duke, if
peradventure he shall ever return to have hearing of
this business.
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DUKE VINCENTIO That shall not be much ami Yet, as the matter
now stands, he will avoid your accusation; he made
trial of you only. Therefore fasten your ear on my
advisings: to the love I have in doing good a
remedy presents itself. I do make myself believe
that you may most uprighteously do a poor wronged
lady a merited benefit; redeem your brother from
the angry law; do no stain to your own gracious
person; and much please the absent duke, if
peradventure he shall ever return to have hearing of
this business.
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ISABELLA 220 Let me hear you speak farther. I have spirit to do
anything that appears not foul in the truth of my spirit.
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ISABELLA Let me hear you speak farther. I have spirit to do
anything that appears not foul in the truth of my spirit.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. Have
you not heard speak of Mariana, the sister of
Frederick the great soldier who miscarried at sea?
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DUKE VINCENTIO Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. Have
you not heard speak of Mariana, the sister of
Frederick the great soldier who miscarried at sea?
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ISABELLA 225 I have heard of the lady, and good words went with her name.
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ISABELLA I have heard of the lady, and good words went with her name.
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DUKE VINCENTIO She should this Angelo have married; was affianced
to her by oath, and the nuptial appointed: between
which time of the contract and limit of the
solemnity, her brother Frederick was wrecked at sea,
230 having in that perished vessel the dowry of his
sister. But mark how heavily this befell to the
poor gentlewoman: there she lost a noble and
renowned brother, in his love toward her ever most
kind and natural; with him, the portion and sinew of
235 her fortune, her marriage-dowry; with both, her
combinate husband, this well-seeming Angelo.
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DUKE VINCENTIO She should this Angelo have married; was affianced
to her by oath, and the nuptial appointed: between
which time of the contract and limit of the
solemnity, her brother Frederick was wrecked at sea,
having in that perished vessel the dowry of his
sister. But mark how heavily this befell to the
poor gentlewoman: there she lost a noble and
renowned brother, in his love toward her ever most
kind and natural; with him, the portion and sinew of
her fortune, her marriage-dowry; with both, her
combinate husband, this well-seeming Angelo.
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ISABELLA Can this be so? did Angelo so leave her?
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ISABELLA Can this be so? did Angelo so leave her?
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DUKE VINCENTIO Left her in her tears, and dried not one of them
with his comfort; swallowed his vows whole,
240 pretending in her discoveries of dishonour: in few,
bestowed her on her own lamentation, which she yet
wears for his sake; and he, a marble to her tears,
is washed with them, but relents not.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Left her in her tears, and dried not one of them
with his comfort; swallowed his vows whole,
pretending in her discoveries of dishonour: in few,
bestowed her on her own lamentation, which she yet
wears for his sake; and he, a marble to her tears,
is washed with them, but relents not.
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ISABELLA What a merit were it in death to take this poor maid
245 from the world! What corruption in this life, that
it will let this man live! But how out of this can she avail?
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ISABELLA What a merit were it in death to take this poor maid
from the world! What corruption in this life, that
it will let this man live! But how out of this can she avail?
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DUKE VINCENTIO It is a rupture that you may easily heal: and the
cure of it not only saves your brother, but keeps
you from dishonour in doing it.
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DUKE VINCENTIO It is a rupture that you may easily heal: and the
cure of it not only saves your brother, but keeps
you from dishonour in doing it.
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ISABELLA 250 Show me how, good father.
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ISABELLA Show me how, good father.
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DUKE VINCENTIO This forenamed maid hath yet in her the continuance
of her first affection: his unjust unkindness, that
in all reason should have quenched her love, hath,
like an impediment in the current, made it more
255 violent and unruly. Go you to Angelo; answer his
requiring with a plausible obedience; agree with
his demands to the point; only refer yourself to
this advantage, first, that your stay with him may
not be long; that the time may have all shadow and
260 silence in it; and the place answer to convenience.
This being granted in course,—and now follows
all,—we shall advise this wronged maid to stead up
your appointment, go in your place; if the encounter
acknowledge itself hereafter, it may compel him to
265 her recompense: and here, by this, is your brother
saved, your honour untainted, the poor Mariana
advantaged, and the corrupt deputy scaled. The maid
will I frame and make fit for his attempt. If you
think well to carry this as you may, the doubleness
270 of the benefit defends the deceit from reproof.
What think you of it?
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DUKE VINCENTIO This forenamed maid hath yet in her the continuance
of her first affection: his unjust unkindness, that
in all reason should have quenched her love, hath,
like an impediment in the current, made it more
violent and unruly. Go you to Angelo; answer his
requiring with a plausible obedience; agree with
his demands to the point; only refer yourself to
this advantage, first, that your stay with him may
not be long; that the time may have all shadow and
silence in it; and the place answer to convenience.
This being granted in course,—and now follows
all,—we shall advise this wronged maid to stead up
your appointment, go in your place; if the encounter
acknowledge itself hereafter, it may compel him to
her recompense: and here, by this, is your brother
saved, your honour untainted, the poor Mariana
advantaged, and the corrupt deputy scaled. The maid
will I frame and make fit for his attempt. If you
think well to carry this as you may, the doubleness
of the benefit defends the deceit from reproof.
What think you of it?
|
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ISABELLA The image of it gives me content already; and I
trust it will grow to a most prosperous perfection.
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ISABELLA The image of it gives me content already; and I
trust it will grow to a most prosperous perfection.
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DUKE VINCENTIO It lies much in your holding up. Haste you speedily
275 to Angelo: if for this night he entreat you to his
bed, give him promise of satisfaction. I will
presently to Saint Luke’s: there, at the moated
grange, resides this dejected Mariana. At that
place call upon me; and dispatch with Angelo, that
280 it may be quickly.
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DUKE VINCENTIO It lies much in your holding up. Haste you speedily
to Angelo: if for this night he entreat you to his
bed, give him promise of satisfaction. I will
presently to Saint Luke’s: there, at the moated
grange, resides this dejected Mariana. At that
place call upon me; and dispatch with Angelo, that
it may be quickly.
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ISABELLA I thank you for this comfort. Fare you well, good father.
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ISABELLA I thank you for this comfort. Fare you well, good father.
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Exeunt severally
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Exeunt severally
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Original Text |
Modern Text |
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A room in the prison.
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A room in the prison.
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Enter DUKE VINCENTIO disguised as before, CLAUDIO , and Provost
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Enter DUKE VINCENTIO disguised as before, CLAUDIO , and Provost
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DUKE VINCENTIO So then you hope of pardon from Lord Angelo?
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DUKE VINCENTIO So then you hope of pardon from Lord Angelo?
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CLAUDIO The miserable have no other medicine
But only hope:
I’ve hope to live, and am prepared to die.
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CLAUDIO The miserable have no other medicine
But only hope:
I’ve hope to live, and am prepared to die.
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DUKE VINCENTIO 5 Be absolute for death; either death or life
Shall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life:
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing
That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art,
Servile to all the skyey influences,
10 That dost this habitation, where thou keep’st,
Hourly afflict: merely, thou art death’s fool;
For him thou labour’st by thy flight to shun
And yet runn’st toward him still. Thou art not noble;
For all the accommodations that thou bear’st
15 Are nursed by baseness. Thou’rt by no means valiant;
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork
Of a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleep,
And that thou oft provokest; yet grossly fear’st
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself;
20 For thou exist’st on many a thousand grains
That issue out of dust. Happy thou art not;
For what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get,
And what thou hast, forget’st. Thou art not certain;
For thy complexion shifts to strange effects,
25 After the moon. If thou art rich, thou’rt poor;
For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows,
Thou bear’s thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee. Friend hast thou none;
For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire,
30 The mere effusion of thy proper loins,
Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum,
For ending thee no sooner. Thou hast nor youth nor age,
But, as it were, an after-dinner’s sleep,
Dreaming on both; for all thy blessed youth
35 Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms
Of palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich,
Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty,
To make thy riches pleasant. What’s yet in this
That bears the name of life? Yet in this life
40 Lie hid moe thousand deaths: yet death we fear,
That makes these odds all even.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Be absolute for death; either death or life
Shall thereby be the sweeter. Reason thus with life:
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing
That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art,
Servile to all the skyey influences,
That dost this habitation, where thou keep’st,
Hourly afflict: merely, thou art death’s fool;
For him thou labour’st by thy flight to shun
And yet runn’st toward him still. Thou art not noble;
For all the accommodations that thou bear’st
Are nursed by baseness. Thou’rt by no means valiant;
For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork
Of a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleep,
And that thou oft provokest; yet grossly fear’st
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself;
For thou exist’st on many a thousand grains
That issue out of dust. Happy thou art not;
For what thou hast not, still thou strivest to get,
And what thou hast, forget’st. Thou art not certain;
For thy complexion shifts to strange effects,
After the moon. If thou art rich, thou’rt poor;
For, like an ass whose back with ingots bows,
Thou bear’s thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee. Friend hast thou none;
For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire,
The mere effusion of thy proper loins,
Do curse the gout, serpigo, and the rheum,
For ending thee no sooner. Thou hast nor youth nor age,
But, as it were, an after-dinner’s sleep,
Dreaming on both; for all thy blessed youth
Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms
Of palsied eld; and when thou art old and rich,
Thou hast neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty,
To make thy riches pleasant. What’s yet in this
That bears the name of life? Yet in this life
Lie hid moe thousand deaths: yet death we fear,
That makes these odds all even.
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CLAUDIO I humbly thank you.
To sue to live, I find I seek to die;
And, seeking death, find life: let it come on.
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CLAUDIO I humbly thank you.
To sue to live, I find I seek to die;
And, seeking death, find life: let it come on.
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ISABELLA 45 [Within] What, ho! Peace here; grace and good company!
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ISABELLA [Within] What, ho! Peace here; grace and good company!
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PROVOST Who’s there? come in: the wish deserves a welcome.
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PROVOST Who’s there? come in: the wish deserves a welcome.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Dear sir, ere long I’ll visit you again.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Dear sir, ere long I’ll visit you again.
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CLAUDIO Most holy sir, I thank you.
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CLAUDIO Most holy sir, I thank you.
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Enter ISABELLA
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Enter ISABELLA
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ISABELLA My business is a word or two with Claudio.
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ISABELLA My business is a word or two with Claudio.
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PROVOST 50 And very welcome. Look, signior, here’s your sister.
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PROVOST And very welcome. Look, signior, here’s your sister.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Provost, a word with you.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Provost, a word with you.
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PROVOST As many as you please.
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PROVOST As many as you please.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Bring me to hear them speak, where I may be concealed.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Bring me to hear them speak, where I may be concealed.
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Exeunt DUKE VINCENTIO and Provost
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Exeunt DUKE VINCENTIO and Provost
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CLAUDIO Now, sister, what’s the comfort?
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CLAUDIO Now, sister, what’s the comfort?
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ISABELLA 55 Why,
As all comforts are; most good, most good indeed.
Lord Angelo, having affairs to heaven,
Intends you for his swift ambassador,
Where you shall be an everlasting leiger:
60 Therefore your best appointment make with speed;
To-morrow you set on.
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ISABELLA Why,
As all comforts are; most good, most good indeed.
Lord Angelo, having affairs to heaven,
Intends you for his swift ambassador,
Where you shall be an everlasting leiger:
Therefore your best appointment make with speed;
To-morrow you set on.
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CLAUDIO Is there no remedy?
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CLAUDIO Is there no remedy?
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ISABELLA None, but such remedy as, to save a head,
To cleave a heart in twain.
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ISABELLA None, but such remedy as, to save a head,
To cleave a heart in twain.
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CLAUDIO 65 But is there any?
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CLAUDIO But is there any?
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ISABELLA Yes, brother, you may live:
There is a devilish mercy in the judge,
If you’ll implore it, that will free your life,
But fetter you till death.
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ISABELLA Yes, brother, you may live:
There is a devilish mercy in the judge,
If you’ll implore it, that will free your life,
But fetter you till death.
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CLAUDIO 70 Perpetual durance?
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CLAUDIO Perpetual durance?
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ISABELLA Ay, just; perpetual durance, a restraint,
Though all the world’s vastidity you had,
To a determined scope.
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ISABELLA Ay, just; perpetual durance, a restraint,
Though all the world’s vastidity you had,
To a determined scope.
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CLAUDIO But in what nature?
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CLAUDIO But in what nature?
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ISABELLA 75 In such a one as, you consenting to’t,
Would bark your honour from that trunk you bear,
And leave you naked.
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ISABELLA In such a one as, you consenting to’t,
Would bark your honour from that trunk you bear,
And leave you naked.
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CLAUDIO Let me know the point.
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CLAUDIO Let me know the point.
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ISABELLA O, I do fear thee, Claudio; and I quake,
80 Lest thou a feverous life shouldst entertain,
And six or seven winters more respect
Than a perpetual honour. Darest thou die?
The sense of death is most in apprehension;
And the poor beetle, that we tread upon,
85 In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great
As when a giant dies.
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ISABELLA O, I do fear thee, Claudio; and I quake,
Lest thou a feverous life shouldst entertain,
And six or seven winters more respect
Than a perpetual honour. Darest thou die?
The sense of death is most in apprehension;
And the poor beetle, that we tread upon,
In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great
As when a giant dies.
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CLAUDIO Why give you me this shame?
Think you I can a resolution fetch
From flowery tenderness? If I must die,
90 I will encounter darkness as a bride,
And hug it in mine arms.
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CLAUDIO Why give you me this shame?
Think you I can a resolution fetch
From flowery tenderness? If I must die,
I will encounter darkness as a bride,
And hug it in mine arms.
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ISABELLA There spake my brother; there my father’s grave
Did utter forth a voice. Yes, thou must die:
Thou art too noble to conserve a life
95 In base appliances. This outward-sainted deputy,
Whose settled visage and deliberate word
Nips youth i’ the head and follies doth emmew
As falcon doth the fowl, is yet a devil
His filth within being cast, he would appear
100 A pond as deep as hell.
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ISABELLA There spake my brother; there my father’s grave
Did utter forth a voice. Yes, thou must die:
Thou art too noble to conserve a life
In base appliances. This outward-sainted deputy,
Whose settled visage and deliberate word
Nips youth i’ the head and follies doth emmew
As falcon doth the fowl, is yet a devil
His filth within being cast, he would appear
A pond as deep as hell.
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CLAUDIO The prenzie Angelo!
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CLAUDIO The prenzie Angelo!
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ISABELLA O, ’tis the cunning livery of hell,
The damned’st body to invest and cover
In prenzie guards! Dost thou think, Claudio?
105 If I would yield him my virginity,
Thou mightst be freed.
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ISABELLA O, ’tis the cunning livery of hell,
The damned’st body to invest and cover
In prenzie guards! Dost thou think, Claudio?
If I would yield him my virginity,
Thou mightst be freed.
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CLAUDIO O heavens! it cannot be.
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CLAUDIO O heavens! it cannot be.
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ISABELLA Yes, he would give’t thee, from this rank offence,
So to offend him still. This night’s the time
110 That I should do what I abhor to name,
Or else thou diest to-morrow.
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ISABELLA Yes, he would give’t thee, from this rank offence,
So to offend him still. This night’s the time
That I should do what I abhor to name,
Or else thou diest to-morrow.
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CLAUDIO Thou shalt not do’t.
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CLAUDIO Thou shalt not do’t.
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ISABELLA O, were it but my life,
I’ld throw it down for your deliverance
115 As frankly as a pin.
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ISABELLA O, were it but my life,
I’ld throw it down for your deliverance
As frankly as a pin.
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CLAUDIO Thanks, dear Isabel.
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CLAUDIO Thanks, dear Isabel.
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ISABELLA Be ready, Claudio, for your death tomorrow.
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ISABELLA Be ready, Claudio, for your death tomorrow.
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CLAUDIO Yes. Has he affections in him,
That thus can make him bite the law by the nose,
120 When he would force it? Sure, it is no sin,
Or of the deadly seven, it is the least.
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CLAUDIO Yes. Has he affections in him,
That thus can make him bite the law by the nose,
When he would force it? Sure, it is no sin,
Or of the deadly seven, it is the least.
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ISABELLA Which is the least?
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ISABELLA Which is the least?
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CLAUDIO If it were damnable, he being so wise,
Why would he for the momentary trick
125 Be perdurably fined? O Isabel!
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CLAUDIO If it were damnable, he being so wise,
Why would he for the momentary trick
Be perdurably fined? O Isabel!
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ISABELLA What says my brother?
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ISABELLA What says my brother?
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CLAUDIO Death is a fearful thing.
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CLAUDIO Death is a fearful thing.
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ISABELLA And shamed life a hateful.
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ISABELLA And shamed life a hateful.
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CLAUDIO Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
130 To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;
135 To be imprison’d in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thought
Imagine howling: ’tis too horrible!
140 The weariest and most loathed worldly life
That age, ache, penury and imprisonment
Can lay on nature is a paradise
To what we fear of death.
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CLAUDIO Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obstruction and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;
To be imprison’d in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thought
Imagine howling: ’tis too horrible!
The weariest and most loathed worldly life
That age, ache, penury and imprisonment
Can lay on nature is a paradise
To what we fear of death.
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ISABELLA Alas, alas!
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ISABELLA Alas, alas!
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CLAUDIO 145 Sweet sister, let me live:
What sin you do to save a brother’s life,
Nature dispenses with the deed so far
That it becomes a virtue.
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CLAUDIO Sweet sister, let me live:
What sin you do to save a brother’s life,
Nature dispenses with the deed so far
That it becomes a virtue.
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ISABELLA O you beast!
150 O faithless coward! O dishonest wretch!
Wilt thou be made a man out of my vice?
Is’t not a kind of incest, to take life
From thine own sister’s shame? What should I think?
Heaven shield my mother play’d my father fair!
155 For such a warped slip of wilderness
Ne’er issued from his blood. Take my defiance!
Die, perish! Might but my bending down
Reprieve thee from thy fate, it should proceed:
I’ll pray a thousand prayers for thy death,
160 No word to save thee.
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ISABELLA O you beast!
O faithless coward! O dishonest wretch!
Wilt thou be made a man out of my vice?
Is’t not a kind of incest, to take life
From thine own sister’s shame? What should I think?
Heaven shield my mother play’d my father fair!
For such a warped slip of wilderness
Ne’er issued from his blood. Take my defiance!
Die, perish! Might but my bending down
Reprieve thee from thy fate, it should proceed:
I’ll pray a thousand prayers for thy death,
No word to save thee.
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CLAUDIO Nay, hear me, Isabel.
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CLAUDIO Nay, hear me, Isabel.
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ISABELLA O, fie, fie, fie!
Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade.
Mercy to thee would prove itself a bawd:
165 ’Tis best thou diest quickly.
|
ISABELLA O, fie, fie, fie!
Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade.
Mercy to thee would prove itself a bawd:
’Tis best thou diest quickly.
|
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CLAUDIO O hear me, Isabella!
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CLAUDIO O hear me, Isabella!
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Re-enter DUKE VINCENTIO
|
Re-enter DUKE VINCENTIO
|
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DUKE VINCENTIO Vouchsafe a word, young sister, but one word.
|
DUKE VINCENTIO Vouchsafe a word, young sister, but one word.
|
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ISABELLA What is your will?
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ISABELLA What is your will?
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DUKE VINCENTIO Might you dispense with your leisure, I would by and
170 by have some speech with you: the satisfaction I
would require is likewise your own benefit.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Might you dispense with your leisure, I would by and
by have some speech with you: the satisfaction I
would require is likewise your own benefit.
|
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ISABELLA I have no superfluous leisure; my stay must be
stolen out of other affairs; but I will attend you awhile.
|
ISABELLA I have no superfluous leisure; my stay must be
stolen out of other affairs; but I will attend you awhile.
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Walks apart
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Walks apart
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DUKE VINCENTIO Son, I have overheard what hath passed between you
175 and your sister. Angelo had never the purpose to
corrupt her; only he hath made an essay of her
virtue to practise his judgment with the disposition
of natures: she, having the truth of honour in her,
hath made him that gracious denial which he is most
180 glad to receive. I am confessor to Angelo, and I
know this to be true; therefore prepare yourself to
death: do not satisfy your resolution with hopes
that are fallible: tomorrow you must die; go to
your knees and make ready.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Son, I have overheard what hath passed between you
and your sister. Angelo had never the purpose to
corrupt her; only he hath made an essay of her
virtue to practise his judgment with the disposition
of natures: she, having the truth of honour in her,
hath made him that gracious denial which he is most
glad to receive. I am confessor to Angelo, and I
know this to be true; therefore prepare yourself to
death: do not satisfy your resolution with hopes
that are fallible: tomorrow you must die; go to
your knees and make ready.
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CLAUDIO 185 Let me ask my sister pardon. I am so out of love
with life that I will sue to be rid of it.
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CLAUDIO Let me ask my sister pardon. I am so out of love
with life that I will sue to be rid of it.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Hold you there: farewell.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Hold you there: farewell.
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Exit CLAUDIO
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Exit CLAUDIO
|
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Provost, a word with you!
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Provost, a word with you!
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Re-enter Provost
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Re-enter Provost
|
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PROVOST What’s your will, father[?]
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PROVOST What’s your will, father[?]
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DUKE VINCENTIO 190 That now you are come, you will be gone. Leave me
awhile with the maid: my mind promises with my
habit no loss shall touch her by my company.
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DUKE VINCENTIO That now you are come, you will be gone. Leave me
awhile with the maid: my mind promises with my
habit no loss shall touch her by my company.
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PROVOST In good time.
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PROVOST In good time.
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Exit Provost. ISABELLA comes forward
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Exit Provost. ISABELLA comes forward
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DUKE VINCENTIO The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good:
195 the goodness that is cheap in beauty makes beauty
brief in goodness; but grace, being the soul of
your complexion, shall keep the body of it ever
fair. The assault that Angelo hath made to you,
fortune hath conveyed to my understanding; and, but
200 that frailty hath examples for his falling, I should
wonder at Angelo. How will you do to content this
substitute, and to save your brother?
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DUKE VINCENTIO The hand that hath made you fair hath made you good:
the goodness that is cheap in beauty makes beauty
brief in goodness; but grace, being the soul of
your complexion, shall keep the body of it ever
fair. The assault that Angelo hath made to you,
fortune hath conveyed to my understanding; and, but
that frailty hath examples for his falling, I should
wonder at Angelo. How will you do to content this
substitute, and to save your brother?
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ISABELLA I am now going to resolve him: I had rather my
brother die by the law than my son should be
205 unlawfully born. But, O, how much is the good duke
deceived in Angelo! If ever he return and I can
speak to him, I will open my lips in vain, or
discover his government.
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ISABELLA I am now going to resolve him: I had rather my
brother die by the law than my son should be
unlawfully born. But, O, how much is the good duke
deceived in Angelo! If ever he return and I can
speak to him, I will open my lips in vain, or
discover his government.
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DUKE VINCENTIO That shall not be much ami Yet, as the matter
210 now stands, he will avoid your accusation; he made
trial of you only. Therefore fasten your ear on my
advisings: to the love I have in doing good a
remedy presents itself. I do make myself believe
that you may most uprighteously do a poor wronged
215 lady a merited benefit; redeem your brother from
the angry law; do no stain to your own gracious
person; and much please the absent duke, if
peradventure he shall ever return to have hearing of
this business.
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DUKE VINCENTIO That shall not be much ami Yet, as the matter
now stands, he will avoid your accusation; he made
trial of you only. Therefore fasten your ear on my
advisings: to the love I have in doing good a
remedy presents itself. I do make myself believe
that you may most uprighteously do a poor wronged
lady a merited benefit; redeem your brother from
the angry law; do no stain to your own gracious
person; and much please the absent duke, if
peradventure he shall ever return to have hearing of
this business.
|
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ISABELLA 220 Let me hear you speak farther. I have spirit to do
anything that appears not foul in the truth of my spirit.
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ISABELLA Let me hear you speak farther. I have spirit to do
anything that appears not foul in the truth of my spirit.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. Have
you not heard speak of Mariana, the sister of
Frederick the great soldier who miscarried at sea?
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DUKE VINCENTIO Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful. Have
you not heard speak of Mariana, the sister of
Frederick the great soldier who miscarried at sea?
|
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ISABELLA 225 I have heard of the lady, and good words went with her name.
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ISABELLA I have heard of the lady, and good words went with her name.
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DUKE VINCENTIO She should this Angelo have married; was affianced
to her by oath, and the nuptial appointed: between
which time of the contract and limit of the
solemnity, her brother Frederick was wrecked at sea,
230 having in that perished vessel the dowry of his
sister. But mark how heavily this befell to the
poor gentlewoman: there she lost a noble and
renowned brother, in his love toward her ever most
kind and natural; with him, the portion and sinew of
235 her fortune, her marriage-dowry; with both, her
combinate husband, this well-seeming Angelo.
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DUKE VINCENTIO She should this Angelo have married; was affianced
to her by oath, and the nuptial appointed: between
which time of the contract and limit of the
solemnity, her brother Frederick was wrecked at sea,
having in that perished vessel the dowry of his
sister. But mark how heavily this befell to the
poor gentlewoman: there she lost a noble and
renowned brother, in his love toward her ever most
kind and natural; with him, the portion and sinew of
her fortune, her marriage-dowry; with both, her
combinate husband, this well-seeming Angelo.
|
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ISABELLA Can this be so? did Angelo so leave her?
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ISABELLA Can this be so? did Angelo so leave her?
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DUKE VINCENTIO Left her in her tears, and dried not one of them
with his comfort; swallowed his vows whole,
240 pretending in her discoveries of dishonour: in few,
bestowed her on her own lamentation, which she yet
wears for his sake; and he, a marble to her tears,
is washed with them, but relents not.
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DUKE VINCENTIO Left her in her tears, and dried not one of them
with his comfort; swallowed his vows whole,
pretending in her discoveries of dishonour: in few,
bestowed her on her own lamentation, which she yet
wears for his sake; and he, a marble to her tears,
is washed with them, but relents not.
|
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ISABELLA What a merit were it in death to take this poor maid
245 from the world! What corruption in this life, that
it will let this man live! But how out of this can she avail?
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ISABELLA What a merit were it in death to take this poor maid
from the world! What corruption in this life, that
it will let this man live! But how out of this can she avail?
|
|
DUKE VINCENTIO It is a rupture that you may easily heal: and the
cure of it not only saves your brother, but keeps
you from dishonour in doing it.
|
DUKE VINCENTIO It is a rupture that you may easily heal: and the
cure of it not only saves your brother, but keeps
you from dishonour in doing it.
|
|
ISABELLA 250 Show me how, good father.
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ISABELLA Show me how, good father.
|
|
DUKE VINCENTIO This forenamed maid hath yet in her the continuance
of her first affection: his unjust unkindness, that
in all reason should have quenched her love, hath,
like an impediment in the current, made it more
255 violent and unruly. Go you to Angelo; answer his
requiring with a plausible obedience; agree with
his demands to the point; only refer yourself to
this advantage, first, that your stay with him may
not be long; that the time may have all shadow and
260 silence in it; and the place answer to convenience.
This being granted in course,—and now follows
all,—we shall advise this wronged maid to stead up
your appointment, go in your place; if the encounter
acknowledge itself hereafter, it may compel him to
265 her recompense: and here, by this, is your brother
saved, your honour untainted, the poor Mariana
advantaged, and the corrupt deputy scaled. The maid
will I frame and make fit for his attempt. If you
think well to carry this as you may, the doubleness
270 of the benefit defends the deceit from reproof.
What think you of it?
|
DUKE VINCENTIO This forenamed maid hath yet in her the continuance
of her first affection: his unjust unkindness, that
in all reason should have quenched her love, hath,
like an impediment in the current, made it more
violent and unruly. Go you to Angelo; answer his
requiring with a plausible obedience; agree with
his demands to the point; only refer yourself to
this advantage, first, that your stay with him may
not be long; that the time may have all shadow and
silence in it; and the place answer to convenience.
This being granted in course,—and now follows
all,—we shall advise this wronged maid to stead up
your appointment, go in your place; if the encounter
acknowledge itself hereafter, it may compel him to
her recompense: and here, by this, is your brother
saved, your honour untainted, the poor Mariana
advantaged, and the corrupt deputy scaled. The maid
will I frame and make fit for his attempt. If you
think well to carry this as you may, the doubleness
of the benefit defends the deceit from reproof.
What think you of it?
|
|
ISABELLA The image of it gives me content already; and I
trust it will grow to a most prosperous perfection.
|
ISABELLA The image of it gives me content already; and I
trust it will grow to a most prosperous perfection.
|
|
DUKE VINCENTIO It lies much in your holding up. Haste you speedily
275 to Angelo: if for this night he entreat you to his
bed, give him promise of satisfaction. I will
presently to Saint Luke’s: there, at the moated
grange, resides this dejected Mariana. At that
place call upon me; and dispatch with Angelo, that
280 it may be quickly.
|
DUKE VINCENTIO It lies much in your holding up. Haste you speedily
to Angelo: if for this night he entreat you to his
bed, give him promise of satisfaction. I will
presently to Saint Luke’s: there, at the moated
grange, resides this dejected Mariana. At that
place call upon me; and dispatch with Angelo, that
it may be quickly.
|
|
ISABELLA I thank you for this comfort. Fare you well, good father.
|
ISABELLA I thank you for this comfort. Fare you well, good father.
|
|
Exeunt severally
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Exeunt severally
|
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