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Enter PANDARUS and TROILUS’s MAN, meeting.
Enter PANDARUS and TROILUS’s MAN, meeting.
PANDARUS  
How now? Where’s thy master? At my
cousin Cressida’s?
PANDARUS  
How now? Where’s thy master? At my
cousin Cressida’s?
MAN  
No, sir, he stays for you to conduct him thither.
MAN  
No, sir, he stays for you to conduct him thither.
Enter TROILUS.
Enter TROILUS.
PANDARUS  
O, here he comes.—How now, how now?
PANDARUS  
O, here he comes.—How now, how now?
TROILUS , to his MAN
5
Sirrah, walk off.
TROILUS , to his MAN
Sirrah, walk off.
MAN exits.
MAN exits.
PANDARUS  
Have you seen my cousin?
PANDARUS  
Have you seen my cousin?
TROILUS
No, Pandarus. I stalk about her door
Like a strange soul upon the Stygian banks
Staying for waftage. O, be thou my Charon,
10
And give me swift transportance to those fields
Where I may wallow in the lily beds
Proposed for the deserver! O, gentle Pandar,
From Cupid’s shoulder pluck his painted wings
And fly with me to Cressid!
TROILUS
No, Pandarus. I stalk about her door
Like a strange soul upon the Stygian banks
Staying for waftage. O, be thou my Charon,
And give me swift transportance to those fields
Where I may wallow in the lily beds
Proposed for the deserver! O, gentle Pandar,
From Cupid’s shoulder pluck his painted wings
And fly with me to Cressid!
PANDARUS  
15
Walk here i’ th’ orchard. I’ll bring her
straight.
PANDARUS  
Walk here i’ th’ orchard. I’ll bring her
straight.
PANDARUS exits.
PANDARUS exits.
TROILUS
I am giddy; expectation whirls me round.
Th’ imaginary relish is so sweet
That it enchants my sense. What will it be
20
When that the wat’ry palate taste indeed
Love’s thrice-repurèd nectar? Death, I fear me,
Swooning destruction, or some joy too fine,
Too subtle-potent, tuned too sharp in sweetness
For the capacity of my ruder powers.
25
I fear it much; and I do fear besides
That I shall lose distinction in my joys,
As doth a battle when they charge on heaps
The enemy flying.
TROILUS
I am giddy; expectation whirls me round.
Th’ imaginary relish is so sweet
That it enchants my sense. What will it be
When that the wat’ry palate taste indeed
Love’s thrice-repurèd nectar? Death, I fear me,
Swooning destruction, or some joy too fine,
Too subtle-potent, tuned too sharp in sweetness
For the capacity of my ruder powers.
I fear it much; and I do fear besides
That I shall lose distinction in my joys,
As doth a battle when they charge on heaps
The enemy flying.
Enter PANDARUS.
Enter PANDARUS.
PANDARUS  
She’s making her ready; she’ll come straight.
30
You must be witty now. She does so blush and
fetches her wind so short as if she were frayed with
a spirit. I’ll fetch her. It is the prettiest villain. She
fetches her breath as short as a new-ta’en sparrow.
PANDARUS  
She’s making her ready; she’ll come straight.
You must be witty now. She does so blush and
fetches her wind so short as if she were frayed with
a spirit. I’ll fetch her. It is the prettiest villain. She
fetches her breath as short as a new-ta’en sparrow.
PANDARUS exits.
PANDARUS exits.
TROILUS
Even such a passion doth embrace my bosom.
35
My heart beats thicker than a feverous pulse,
And all my powers do their bestowing lose,
Like vassalage at unawares encount’ring
The eye of majesty.
TROILUS
Even such a passion doth embrace my bosom.
My heart beats thicker than a feverous pulse,
And all my powers do their bestowing lose,
Like vassalage at unawares encount’ring
The eye of majesty.
Enter PANDARUS, and CRESSIDA veiled.
Enter PANDARUS, and CRESSIDA veiled.
PANDARUS , to CRESSIDA
Come, come, what need you
40
blush? Shame’s a baby.—Here she is now. Swear
the oaths now to her that you have sworn to me.
CRESSIDA offers to leave. What, are you gone again?
You must be watched ere you be made tame, must
you? Come your ways; come your ways. An you
45
draw backward, we’ll put you i’ th’ thills. —Why
do you not speak to her?—Come, draw this curtain
and let’s see your picture. He draws back her veil.
Alas the day, how loath you are to offend daylight!
An ’twere dark, you’d close sooner.—So, so, rub on,
50
and kiss the mistress. (They kiss.) How now? A
kiss in fee-farm? Build there, carpenter; the air is
sweet. Nay, you shall fight your hearts out ere I
part you. The falcon as the tercel, for all the ducks
i’ th’ river. Go to, go to.
PANDARUS , to CRESSIDA
Come, come, what need you
blush? Shame’s a baby.—Here she is now. Swear
the oaths now to her that you have sworn to me.
CRESSIDA offers to leave. What, are you gone again?
You must be watched ere you be made tame, must
you? Come your ways; come your ways. An you
draw backward, we’ll put you i’ th’ thills. —Why
do you not speak to her?—Come, draw this curtain
and let’s see your picture. He draws back her veil.
Alas the day, how loath you are to offend daylight!
An ’twere dark, you’d close sooner.—So, so, rub on,
and kiss the mistress. (They kiss.) How now? A
kiss in fee-farm? Build there, carpenter; the air is
sweet. Nay, you shall fight your hearts out ere I
part you. The falcon as the tercel, for all the ducks
i’ th’ river. Go to, go to.
TROILUS  
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You have bereft me of all words, lady.
TROILUS  
You have bereft me of all words, lady.
PANDARUS  
Words pay no debts; give her deeds. But
she’ll bereave you o’ th’ deeds too, if she call your
activity in question. (They kiss.) What, billing
again? Here’s “In witness whereof the parties
60
interchangeably—.” Come in, come in. I’ll go get a fire.
PANDARUS  
Words pay no debts; give her deeds. But
she’ll bereave you o’ th’ deeds too, if she call your
activity in question. (They kiss.) What, billing
again? Here’s “In witness whereof the parties
interchangeably—.” Come in, come in. I’ll go get a fire.
PANDARUS exits.
PANDARUS exits.
CRESSIDA  
Will you walk in, my lord?
CRESSIDA  
Will you walk in, my lord?
TROILUS  
O Cressid, how often have I wished me thus!
TROILUS  
O Cressid, how often have I wished me thus!
CRESSIDA  
“Wished,” my lord? The gods grant—O, my
lord!
CRESSIDA  
“Wished,” my lord? The gods grant—O, my
lord!
TROILUS  
65
What should they grant? What makes this
pretty abruption? What too-curious dreg espies
my sweet lady in the fountain of our love?
TROILUS  
What should they grant? What makes this
pretty abruption? What too-curious dreg espies
my sweet lady in the fountain of our love?
CRESSIDA   
More dregs than water, if my fears have eyes.
CRESSIDA   
More dregs than water, if my fears have eyes.
TROILUS  
Fears make devils of cherubins; they never
70
see truly.
TROILUS  
Fears make devils of cherubins; they never
see truly.
CRESSIDA   
Blind fear, that seeing reason leads, finds
safer footing than blind reason, stumbling without
fear. To fear the worst oft cures the worse.
CRESSIDA   
Blind fear, that seeing reason leads, finds
safer footing than blind reason, stumbling without
fear. To fear the worst oft cures the worse.
TROILUS  
O, let my lady apprehend no fear. In all
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Cupid’s pageant there is presented no monster.
TROILUS  
O, let my lady apprehend no fear. In all
Cupid’s pageant there is presented no monster.
CRESSIDA  
Nor nothing monstrous neither?
CRESSIDA  
Nor nothing monstrous neither?
TROILUS  
Nothing but our undertakings, when we vow
to weep seas, live in fire, eat rocks, tame tigers,
thinking it harder for our mistress to devise imposition
80
enough than for us to undergo any difficulty
imposed. This is the monstruosity in love, lady, that
the will is infinite and the execution confined, that
the desire is boundless and the act a slave to limit.
TROILUS  
Nothing but our undertakings, when we vow
to weep seas, live in fire, eat rocks, tame tigers,
thinking it harder for our mistress to devise imposition
enough than for us to undergo any difficulty
imposed. This is the monstruosity in love, lady, that
the will is infinite and the execution confined, that
the desire is boundless and the act a slave to limit.
CRESSIDA   
They say all lovers swear more performance
85
than they are able and yet reserve an ability that
they never perform, vowing more than the perfection
of ten and discharging less than the tenth part
of one. They that have the voice of lions and the
act of hares, are they not monsters?
CRESSIDA   
They say all lovers swear more performance
than they are able and yet reserve an ability that
they never perform, vowing more than the perfection
of ten and discharging less than the tenth part
of one. They that have the voice of lions and the
act of hares, are they not monsters?
TROILUS  
90
Are there such? Such are not we. Praise us as
we are tasted, allow us as we prove; our head shall
go bare till merit crown it. No perfection in reversion
shall have a praise in present. We will not
name desert before his birth, and, being born, his
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addition shall be humble. Few words to fair faith.
Troilus shall be such to Cressid as what envy can
say worst shall be a mock for his truth, and what
truth can speak truest not truer than Troilus.
TROILUS  
Are there such? Such are not we. Praise us as
we are tasted, allow us as we prove; our head shall
go bare till merit crown it. No perfection in reversion
shall have a praise in present. We will not
name desert before his birth, and, being born, his
addition shall be humble. Few words to fair faith.
Troilus shall be such to Cressid as what envy can
say worst shall be a mock for his truth, and what
truth can speak truest not truer than Troilus.
CRESSIDA  
Will you walk in, my lord?
CRESSIDA  
Will you walk in, my lord?
Enter PANDARUS.
Enter PANDARUS.
PANDARUS  
100
What, blushing still? Have you not done
talking yet?
PANDARUS  
What, blushing still? Have you not done
talking yet?
CRESSIDA  
Well, uncle, what folly I commit I dedicate
to you.
CRESSIDA  
Well, uncle, what folly I commit I dedicate
to you.
PANDARUS  
I thank you for that. If my lord get a boy of
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you, you’ll give him me. Be true to my lord. If he
flinch, chide me for it.
PANDARUS  
I thank you for that. If my lord get a boy of
you, you’ll give him me. Be true to my lord. If he
flinch, chide me for it.
TROILUS , to CRESSIDA
You know now your hostages:
your uncle’s word and my firm faith.
TROILUS , to CRESSIDA
You know now your hostages:
your uncle’s word and my firm faith.
PANDARUS  
Nay, I’ll give my word for her too. Our kindred,
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though they be long ere they be wooed, they
are constant being won. They are burrs, I can tell
you; they’ll stick where they are thrown.
PANDARUS  
Nay, I’ll give my word for her too. Our kindred,
though they be long ere they be wooed, they
are constant being won. They are burrs, I can tell
you; they’ll stick where they are thrown.
CRESSIDA
Boldness comes to me now and brings me heart.
Prince Troilus, I have loved you night and day
115
For many weary months.
CRESSIDA
Boldness comes to me now and brings me heart.
Prince Troilus, I have loved you night and day
For many weary months.
TROILUS
Why was my Cressid then so hard to win?
TROILUS
Why was my Cressid then so hard to win?
CRESSIDA
Hard to seem won; but I was won, my lord,
With the first glance that ever—pardon me;
If I confess much, you will play the tyrant.
120
I love you now, but till now not so much
But I might master it. In faith, I lie;
My thoughts were like unbridled children grown
Too headstrong for their mother. See, we fools!
Why have I blabbed? Who shall be true to us
125
When we are so unsecret to ourselves?
But though I loved you well, I wooed you not;
And yet, good faith, I wished myself a man;
Or that we women had men’s privilege
Of speaking first. Sweet, bid me hold my tongue,
130
For in this rapture I shall surely speak
The thing I shall repent. See, see, your silence,
Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws
My very soul of counsel! Stop my mouth.
CRESSIDA
Hard to seem won; but I was won, my lord,
With the first glance that ever—pardon me;
If I confess much, you will play the tyrant.
I love you now, but till now not so much
But I might master it. In faith, I lie;
My thoughts were like unbridled children grown
Too headstrong for their mother. See, we fools!
Why have I blabbed? Who shall be true to us
When we are so unsecret to ourselves?
But though I loved you well, I wooed you not;
And yet, good faith, I wished myself a man;
Or that we women had men’s privilege
Of speaking first. Sweet, bid me hold my tongue,
For in this rapture I shall surely speak
The thing I shall repent. See, see, your silence,
Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws
My very soul of counsel! Stop my mouth.
TROILUS
And shall, albeit sweet music issues thence.
TROILUS
And shall, albeit sweet music issues thence.
They kiss.
They kiss.
PANDARUS  
135
Pretty, i’ faith!
PANDARUS  
Pretty, i’ faith!
CRESSIDA , to TROILUS
My lord, I do beseech you pardon me.
’Twas not my purpose thus to beg a kiss.
I am ashamed. O heavens, what have I done!
For this time will I take my leave, my lord.
CRESSIDA , to TROILUS
My lord, I do beseech you pardon me.
’Twas not my purpose thus to beg a kiss.
I am ashamed. O heavens, what have I done!
For this time will I take my leave, my lord.
TROILUS  
140
Your leave, sweet Cressid?
TROILUS  
Your leave, sweet Cressid?
PANDARUS  
Leave? An you take leave till tomorrow
morning—
PANDARUS  
Leave? An you take leave till tomorrow
morning—
CRESSIDA   
Pray you, content you.
CRESSIDA   
Pray you, content you.
TROILUS  
What offends you, lady?
TROILUS  
What offends you, lady?
CRESSIDA   
145
Sir, mine own company.
CRESSIDA   
Sir, mine own company.
TROILUS  
You cannot shun yourself.
TROILUS  
You cannot shun yourself.
CRESSIDA  
Let me go and try.
I have a kind of self resides with you,
But an unkind self that itself will leave
150
To be another’s fool. I would be gone.
Where is my wit? I know not what I speak.
CRESSIDA  
Let me go and try.
I have a kind of self resides with you,
But an unkind self that itself will leave
To be another’s fool. I would be gone.
Where is my wit? I know not what I speak.
TROILUS
Well know they what they speak that speak so wisely.
TROILUS
Well know they what they speak that speak so wisely.
CRESSIDA
Perchance, my lord, I show more craft than love
And fell so roundly to a large confession
155
To angle for your thoughts. But you are wise,
Or else you love not; for to be wise and love
Exceeds man’s might. That dwells with gods above.
CRESSIDA
Perchance, my lord, I show more craft than love
And fell so roundly to a large confession
To angle for your thoughts. But you are wise,
Or else you love not; for to be wise and love
Exceeds man’s might. That dwells with gods above.
TROILUS
O, that I thought it could be in a woman—
As, if it can, I will presume in you—
160
To feed for aye her lamp and flames of love,
To keep her constancy in plight and youth,
Outliving beauty’s outward, with a mind
That doth renew swifter than blood decays!
Or that persuasion could but thus convince me
165
That my integrity and truth to you
Might be affronted with the match and weight
Of such a winnowed purity in love;
How were I then uplifted! But, alas,
I am as true as truth’s simplicity
170
And simpler than the infancy of truth.
TROILUS
O, that I thought it could be in a woman—
As, if it can, I will presume in you—
To feed for aye her lamp and flames of love,
To keep her constancy in plight and youth,
Outliving beauty’s outward, with a mind
That doth renew swifter than blood decays!
Or that persuasion could but thus convince me
That my integrity and truth to you
Might be affronted with the match and weight
Of such a winnowed purity in love;
How were I then uplifted! But, alas,
I am as true as truth’s simplicity
And simpler than the infancy of truth.
CRESSIDA
In that I’ll war with you.
CRESSIDA
In that I’ll war with you.
TROILUS
O virtuous fight,
When right with right wars who shall be most right!
True swains in love shall in the world to come
175
Approve their truth by Troilus. When their rhymes,
Full of protest, of oath and big compare,
Wants similes, truth tired with iteration—
“As true as steel, as plantage to the moon,
As sun to day, as turtle to her mate,
180
As iron to adamant, as Earth to th’ center”—
Yet, after all comparisons of truth,
As truth’s authentic author to be cited,
“As true as Troilus” shall crown up the verse
And sanctify the numbers.
TROILUS
O virtuous fight,
When right with right wars who shall be most right!
True swains in love shall in the world to come
Approve their truth by Troilus. When their rhymes,
Full of protest, of oath and big compare,
Wants similes, truth tired with iteration—
“As true as steel, as plantage to the moon,
As sun to day, as turtle to her mate,
As iron to adamant, as Earth to th’ center”—
Yet, after all comparisons of truth,
As truth’s authentic author to be cited,
“As true as Troilus” shall crown up the verse
And sanctify the numbers.
CRESSIDA  
185
Prophet may you be!
If I be false or swerve a hair from truth,
When time is old and hath forgot itself,
When water drops have worn the stones of Troy
And blind oblivion swallowed cities up,
190
And mighty states characterless are grated
To dusty nothing, yet let memory,
From false to false, among false maids in love,
Upbraid my falsehood! When they’ve said “as false
As air, as water, wind or sandy earth,
195
As fox to lamb, or wolf to heifer’s calf,
Pard to the hind, or stepdame to her son,”
Yea, let them say, to stick the heart of falsehood,
“As false as Cressid.”
CRESSIDA  
Prophet may you be!
If I be false or swerve a hair from truth,
When time is old and hath forgot itself,
When water drops have worn the stones of Troy
And blind oblivion swallowed cities up,
And mighty states characterless are grated
To dusty nothing, yet let memory,
From false to false, among false maids in love,
Upbraid my falsehood! When they’ve said “as false
As air, as water, wind or sandy earth,
As fox to lamb, or wolf to heifer’s calf,
Pard to the hind, or stepdame to her son,”
Yea, let them say, to stick the heart of falsehood,
“As false as Cressid.”
PANDARUS  
Go to, a bargain made. Seal it, seal it. I’ll be
200
the witness. Here I hold your hand, here my
cousin’s. If ever you prove false one to another, since
I have taken such pains to bring you together, let
all pitiful goers-between be called to the world’s
end after my name: call them all panders. Let all
205
constant men be Troiluses, all false women Cressids,
and all brokers-between panders. Say “Amen.”
PANDARUS  
Go to, a bargain made. Seal it, seal it. I’ll be
the witness. Here I hold your hand, here my
cousin’s. If ever you prove false one to another, since
I have taken such pains to bring you together, let
all pitiful goers-between be called to the world’s
end after my name: call them all panders. Let all
constant men be Troiluses, all false women Cressids,
and all brokers-between panders. Say “Amen.”
TROILUS  
Amen.
TROILUS  
Amen.
CRESSIDA   
Amen.
CRESSIDA   
Amen.
PANDARUS  
Amen. Whereupon I will show you a chamber
210
with a bed, which bed, because it shall not
speak of your pretty encounters, press it to death.
Away.
PANDARUS  
Amen. Whereupon I will show you a chamber
with a bed, which bed, because it shall not
speak of your pretty encounters, press it to death.
Away.
TROILUS and CRESSIDA exit.
TROILUS and CRESSIDA exit.
And Cupid grant all tongue-tied maidens here
Bed, chamber, pander to provide this gear.
And Cupid grant all tongue-tied maidens here
Bed, chamber, pander to provide this gear.
He exits.
He exits.

Original Text

Modern Text
Enter PANDARUS and TROILUS’s MAN, meeting.
Enter PANDARUS and TROILUS’s MAN, meeting.
PANDARUS  
How now? Where’s thy master? At my
cousin Cressida’s?
PANDARUS  
How now? Where’s thy master? At my
cousin Cressida’s?
MAN  
No, sir, he stays for you to conduct him thither.
MAN  
No, sir, he stays for you to conduct him thither.
Enter TROILUS.
Enter TROILUS.
PANDARUS  
O, here he comes.—How now, how now?
PANDARUS  
O, here he comes.—How now, how now?
TROILUS , to his MAN
5
Sirrah, walk off.
TROILUS , to his MAN
Sirrah, walk off.
MAN exits.
MAN exits.
PANDARUS  
Have you seen my cousin?
PANDARUS  
Have you seen my cousin?
TROILUS
No, Pandarus. I stalk about her door
Like a strange soul upon the Stygian banks
Staying for waftage. O, be thou my Charon,
10
And give me swift transportance to those fields
Where I may wallow in the lily beds
Proposed for the deserver! O, gentle Pandar,
From Cupid’s shoulder pluck his painted wings
And fly with me to Cressid!
TROILUS
No, Pandarus. I stalk about her door
Like a strange soul upon the Stygian banks
Staying for waftage. O, be thou my Charon,
And give me swift transportance to those fields
Where I may wallow in the lily beds
Proposed for the deserver! O, gentle Pandar,
From Cupid’s shoulder pluck his painted wings
And fly with me to Cressid!
PANDARUS  
15
Walk here i’ th’ orchard. I’ll bring her
straight.
PANDARUS  
Walk here i’ th’ orchard. I’ll bring her
straight.
PANDARUS exits.
PANDARUS exits.
TROILUS
I am giddy; expectation whirls me round.
Th’ imaginary relish is so sweet
That it enchants my sense. What will it be
20
When that the wat’ry palate taste indeed
Love’s thrice-repurèd nectar? Death, I fear me,
Swooning destruction, or some joy too fine,
Too subtle-potent, tuned too sharp in sweetness
For the capacity of my ruder powers.
25
I fear it much; and I do fear besides
That I shall lose distinction in my joys,
As doth a battle when they charge on heaps
The enemy flying.
TROILUS
I am giddy; expectation whirls me round.
Th’ imaginary relish is so sweet
That it enchants my sense. What will it be
When that the wat’ry palate taste indeed
Love’s thrice-repurèd nectar? Death, I fear me,
Swooning destruction, or some joy too fine,
Too subtle-potent, tuned too sharp in sweetness
For the capacity of my ruder powers.
I fear it much; and I do fear besides
That I shall lose distinction in my joys,
As doth a battle when they charge on heaps
The enemy flying.
Enter PANDARUS.
Enter PANDARUS.
PANDARUS  
She’s making her ready; she’ll come straight.
30
You must be witty now. She does so blush and
fetches her wind so short as if she were frayed with
a spirit. I’ll fetch her. It is the prettiest villain. She
fetches her breath as short as a new-ta’en sparrow.
PANDARUS  
She’s making her ready; she’ll come straight.
You must be witty now. She does so blush and
fetches her wind so short as if she were frayed with
a spirit. I’ll fetch her. It is the prettiest villain. She
fetches her breath as short as a new-ta’en sparrow.
PANDARUS exits.
PANDARUS exits.
TROILUS
Even such a passion doth embrace my bosom.
35
My heart beats thicker than a feverous pulse,
And all my powers do their bestowing lose,
Like vassalage at unawares encount’ring
The eye of majesty.
TROILUS
Even such a passion doth embrace my bosom.
My heart beats thicker than a feverous pulse,
And all my powers do their bestowing lose,
Like vassalage at unawares encount’ring
The eye of majesty.
Enter PANDARUS, and CRESSIDA veiled.
Enter PANDARUS, and CRESSIDA veiled.
PANDARUS , to CRESSIDA
Come, come, what need you
40
blush? Shame’s a baby.—Here she is now. Swear
the oaths now to her that you have sworn to me.
CRESSIDA offers to leave. What, are you gone again?
You must be watched ere you be made tame, must
you? Come your ways; come your ways. An you
45
draw backward, we’ll put you i’ th’ thills. —Why
do you not speak to her?—Come, draw this curtain
and let’s see your picture. He draws back her veil.
Alas the day, how loath you are to offend daylight!
An ’twere dark, you’d close sooner.—So, so, rub on,
50
and kiss the mistress. (They kiss.) How now? A
kiss in fee-farm? Build there, carpenter; the air is
sweet. Nay, you shall fight your hearts out ere I
part you. The falcon as the tercel, for all the ducks
i’ th’ river. Go to, go to.
PANDARUS , to CRESSIDA
Come, come, what need you
blush? Shame’s a baby.—Here she is now. Swear
the oaths now to her that you have sworn to me.
CRESSIDA offers to leave. What, are you gone again?
You must be watched ere you be made tame, must
you? Come your ways; come your ways. An you
draw backward, we’ll put you i’ th’ thills. —Why
do you not speak to her?—Come, draw this curtain
and let’s see your picture. He draws back her veil.
Alas the day, how loath you are to offend daylight!
An ’twere dark, you’d close sooner.—So, so, rub on,
and kiss the mistress. (They kiss.) How now? A
kiss in fee-farm? Build there, carpenter; the air is
sweet. Nay, you shall fight your hearts out ere I
part you. The falcon as the tercel, for all the ducks
i’ th’ river. Go to, go to.
TROILUS  
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You have bereft me of all words, lady.
TROILUS  
You have bereft me of all words, lady.
PANDARUS  
Words pay no debts; give her deeds. But
she’ll bereave you o’ th’ deeds too, if she call your
activity in question. (They kiss.) What, billing
again? Here’s “In witness whereof the parties
60
interchangeably—.” Come in, come in. I’ll go get a fire.
PANDARUS  
Words pay no debts; give her deeds. But
she’ll bereave you o’ th’ deeds too, if she call your
activity in question. (They kiss.) What, billing
again? Here’s “In witness whereof the parties
interchangeably—.” Come in, come in. I’ll go get a fire.
PANDARUS exits.
PANDARUS exits.
CRESSIDA  
Will you walk in, my lord?
CRESSIDA  
Will you walk in, my lord?
TROILUS  
O Cressid, how often have I wished me thus!
TROILUS  
O Cressid, how often have I wished me thus!
CRESSIDA  
“Wished,” my lord? The gods grant—O, my
lord!
CRESSIDA  
“Wished,” my lord? The gods grant—O, my
lord!
TROILUS  
65
What should they grant? What makes this
pretty abruption? What too-curious dreg espies
my sweet lady in the fountain of our love?
TROILUS  
What should they grant? What makes this
pretty abruption? What too-curious dreg espies
my sweet lady in the fountain of our love?
CRESSIDA   
More dregs than water, if my fears have eyes.
CRESSIDA   
More dregs than water, if my fears have eyes.
TROILUS  
Fears make devils of cherubins; they never
70
see truly.
TROILUS  
Fears make devils of cherubins; they never
see truly.
CRESSIDA   
Blind fear, that seeing reason leads, finds
safer footing than blind reason, stumbling without
fear. To fear the worst oft cures the worse.
CRESSIDA   
Blind fear, that seeing reason leads, finds
safer footing than blind reason, stumbling without
fear. To fear the worst oft cures the worse.
TROILUS  
O, let my lady apprehend no fear. In all
75
Cupid’s pageant there is presented no monster.
TROILUS  
O, let my lady apprehend no fear. In all
Cupid’s pageant there is presented no monster.
CRESSIDA  
Nor nothing monstrous neither?
CRESSIDA  
Nor nothing monstrous neither?
TROILUS  
Nothing but our undertakings, when we vow
to weep seas, live in fire, eat rocks, tame tigers,
thinking it harder for our mistress to devise imposition
80
enough than for us to undergo any difficulty
imposed. This is the monstruosity in love, lady, that
the will is infinite and the execution confined, that
the desire is boundless and the act a slave to limit.
TROILUS  
Nothing but our undertakings, when we vow
to weep seas, live in fire, eat rocks, tame tigers,
thinking it harder for our mistress to devise imposition
enough than for us to undergo any difficulty
imposed. This is the monstruosity in love, lady, that
the will is infinite and the execution confined, that
the desire is boundless and the act a slave to limit.
CRESSIDA   
They say all lovers swear more performance
85
than they are able and yet reserve an ability that
they never perform, vowing more than the perfection
of ten and discharging less than the tenth part
of one. They that have the voice of lions and the
act of hares, are they not monsters?
CRESSIDA   
They say all lovers swear more performance
than they are able and yet reserve an ability that
they never perform, vowing more than the perfection
of ten and discharging less than the tenth part
of one. They that have the voice of lions and the
act of hares, are they not monsters?
TROILUS  
90
Are there such? Such are not we. Praise us as
we are tasted, allow us as we prove; our head shall
go bare till merit crown it. No perfection in reversion
shall have a praise in present. We will not
name desert before his birth, and, being born, his
95
addition shall be humble. Few words to fair faith.
Troilus shall be such to Cressid as what envy can
say worst shall be a mock for his truth, and what
truth can speak truest not truer than Troilus.
TROILUS  
Are there such? Such are not we. Praise us as
we are tasted, allow us as we prove; our head shall
go bare till merit crown it. No perfection in reversion
shall have a praise in present. We will not
name desert before his birth, and, being born, his
addition shall be humble. Few words to fair faith.
Troilus shall be such to Cressid as what envy can
say worst shall be a mock for his truth, and what
truth can speak truest not truer than Troilus.
CRESSIDA  
Will you walk in, my lord?
CRESSIDA  
Will you walk in, my lord?
Enter PANDARUS.
Enter PANDARUS.
PANDARUS  
100
What, blushing still? Have you not done
talking yet?
PANDARUS  
What, blushing still? Have you not done
talking yet?
CRESSIDA  
Well, uncle, what folly I commit I dedicate
to you.
CRESSIDA  
Well, uncle, what folly I commit I dedicate
to you.
PANDARUS  
I thank you for that. If my lord get a boy of
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you, you’ll give him me. Be true to my lord. If he
flinch, chide me for it.
PANDARUS  
I thank you for that. If my lord get a boy of
you, you’ll give him me. Be true to my lord. If he
flinch, chide me for it.
TROILUS , to CRESSIDA
You know now your hostages:
your uncle’s word and my firm faith.
TROILUS , to CRESSIDA
You know now your hostages:
your uncle’s word and my firm faith.
PANDARUS  
Nay, I’ll give my word for her too. Our kindred,
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though they be long ere they be wooed, they
are constant being won. They are burrs, I can tell
you; they’ll stick where they are thrown.
PANDARUS  
Nay, I’ll give my word for her too. Our kindred,
though they be long ere they be wooed, they
are constant being won. They are burrs, I can tell
you; they’ll stick where they are thrown.
CRESSIDA
Boldness comes to me now and brings me heart.
Prince Troilus, I have loved you night and day
115
For many weary months.
CRESSIDA
Boldness comes to me now and brings me heart.
Prince Troilus, I have loved you night and day
For many weary months.
TROILUS
Why was my Cressid then so hard to win?
TROILUS
Why was my Cressid then so hard to win?
CRESSIDA
Hard to seem won; but I was won, my lord,
With the first glance that ever—pardon me;
If I confess much, you will play the tyrant.
120
I love you now, but till now not so much
But I might master it. In faith, I lie;
My thoughts were like unbridled children grown
Too headstrong for their mother. See, we fools!
Why have I blabbed? Who shall be true to us
125
When we are so unsecret to ourselves?
But though I loved you well, I wooed you not;
And yet, good faith, I wished myself a man;
Or that we women had men’s privilege
Of speaking first. Sweet, bid me hold my tongue,
130
For in this rapture I shall surely speak
The thing I shall repent. See, see, your silence,
Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws
My very soul of counsel! Stop my mouth.
CRESSIDA
Hard to seem won; but I was won, my lord,
With the first glance that ever—pardon me;
If I confess much, you will play the tyrant.
I love you now, but till now not so much
But I might master it. In faith, I lie;
My thoughts were like unbridled children grown
Too headstrong for their mother. See, we fools!
Why have I blabbed? Who shall be true to us
When we are so unsecret to ourselves?
But though I loved you well, I wooed you not;
And yet, good faith, I wished myself a man;
Or that we women had men’s privilege
Of speaking first. Sweet, bid me hold my tongue,
For in this rapture I shall surely speak
The thing I shall repent. See, see, your silence,
Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws
My very soul of counsel! Stop my mouth.
TROILUS
And shall, albeit sweet music issues thence.
TROILUS
And shall, albeit sweet music issues thence.
They kiss.
They kiss.
PANDARUS  
135
Pretty, i’ faith!
PANDARUS  
Pretty, i’ faith!
CRESSIDA , to TROILUS
My lord, I do beseech you pardon me.
’Twas not my purpose thus to beg a kiss.
I am ashamed. O heavens, what have I done!
For this time will I take my leave, my lord.
CRESSIDA , to TROILUS
My lord, I do beseech you pardon me.
’Twas not my purpose thus to beg a kiss.
I am ashamed. O heavens, what have I done!
For this time will I take my leave, my lord.
TROILUS  
140
Your leave, sweet Cressid?
TROILUS  
Your leave, sweet Cressid?
PANDARUS  
Leave? An you take leave till tomorrow
morning—
PANDARUS  
Leave? An you take leave till tomorrow
morning—
CRESSIDA   
Pray you, content you.
CRESSIDA   
Pray you, content you.
TROILUS  
What offends you, lady?
TROILUS  
What offends you, lady?
CRESSIDA   
145
Sir, mine own company.
CRESSIDA   
Sir, mine own company.
TROILUS  
You cannot shun yourself.
TROILUS  
You cannot shun yourself.
CRESSIDA  
Let me go and try.
I have a kind of self resides with you,
But an unkind self that itself will leave
150
To be another’s fool. I would be gone.
Where is my wit? I know not what I speak.
CRESSIDA  
Let me go and try.
I have a kind of self resides with you,
But an unkind self that itself will leave
To be another’s fool. I would be gone.
Where is my wit? I know not what I speak.
TROILUS
Well know they what they speak that speak so wisely.
TROILUS
Well know they what they speak that speak so wisely.
CRESSIDA
Perchance, my lord, I show more craft than love
And fell so roundly to a large confession
155
To angle for your thoughts. But you are wise,
Or else you love not; for to be wise and love
Exceeds man’s might. That dwells with gods above.
CRESSIDA
Perchance, my lord, I show more craft than love
And fell so roundly to a large confession
To angle for your thoughts. But you are wise,
Or else you love not; for to be wise and love
Exceeds man’s might. That dwells with gods above.
TROILUS
O, that I thought it could be in a woman—
As, if it can, I will presume in you—
160
To feed for aye her lamp and flames of love,
To keep her constancy in plight and youth,
Outliving beauty’s outward, with a mind
That doth renew swifter than blood decays!
Or that persuasion could but thus convince me
165
That my integrity and truth to you
Might be affronted with the match and weight
Of such a winnowed purity in love;
How were I then uplifted! But, alas,
I am as true as truth’s simplicity
170
And simpler than the infancy of truth.
TROILUS
O, that I thought it could be in a woman—
As, if it can, I will presume in you—
To feed for aye her lamp and flames of love,
To keep her constancy in plight and youth,
Outliving beauty’s outward, with a mind
That doth renew swifter than blood decays!
Or that persuasion could but thus convince me
That my integrity and truth to you
Might be affronted with the match and weight
Of such a winnowed purity in love;
How were I then uplifted! But, alas,
I am as true as truth’s simplicity
And simpler than the infancy of truth.
CRESSIDA
In that I’ll war with you.
CRESSIDA
In that I’ll war with you.
TROILUS
O virtuous fight,
When right with right wars who shall be most right!
True swains in love shall in the world to come
175
Approve their truth by Troilus. When their rhymes,
Full of protest, of oath and big compare,
Wants similes, truth tired with iteration—
“As true as steel, as plantage to the moon,
As sun to day, as turtle to her mate,
180
As iron to adamant, as Earth to th’ center”—
Yet, after all comparisons of truth,
As truth’s authentic author to be cited,
“As true as Troilus” shall crown up the verse
And sanctify the numbers.
TROILUS
O virtuous fight,
When right with right wars who shall be most right!
True swains in love shall in the world to come
Approve their truth by Troilus. When their rhymes,
Full of protest, of oath and big compare,
Wants similes, truth tired with iteration—
“As true as steel, as plantage to the moon,
As sun to day, as turtle to her mate,
As iron to adamant, as Earth to th’ center”—
Yet, after all comparisons of truth,
As truth’s authentic author to be cited,
“As true as Troilus” shall crown up the verse
And sanctify the numbers.
CRESSIDA  
185
Prophet may you be!
If I be false or swerve a hair from truth,
When time is old and hath forgot itself,
When water drops have worn the stones of Troy
And blind oblivion swallowed cities up,
190
And mighty states characterless are grated
To dusty nothing, yet let memory,
From false to false, among false maids in love,
Upbraid my falsehood! When they’ve said “as false
As air, as water, wind or sandy earth,
195
As fox to lamb, or wolf to heifer’s calf,
Pard to the hind, or stepdame to her son,”
Yea, let them say, to stick the heart of falsehood,
“As false as Cressid.”
CRESSIDA  
Prophet may you be!
If I be false or swerve a hair from truth,
When time is old and hath forgot itself,
When water drops have worn the stones of Troy
And blind oblivion swallowed cities up,
And mighty states characterless are grated
To dusty nothing, yet let memory,
From false to false, among false maids in love,
Upbraid my falsehood! When they’ve said “as false
As air, as water, wind or sandy earth,
As fox to lamb, or wolf to heifer’s calf,
Pard to the hind, or stepdame to her son,”
Yea, let them say, to stick the heart of falsehood,
“As false as Cressid.”
PANDARUS  
Go to, a bargain made. Seal it, seal it. I’ll be
200
the witness. Here I hold your hand, here my
cousin’s. If ever you prove false one to another, since
I have taken such pains to bring you together, let
all pitiful goers-between be called to the world’s
end after my name: call them all panders. Let all
205
constant men be Troiluses, all false women Cressids,
and all brokers-between panders. Say “Amen.”
PANDARUS  
Go to, a bargain made. Seal it, seal it. I’ll be
the witness. Here I hold your hand, here my
cousin’s. If ever you prove false one to another, since
I have taken such pains to bring you together, let
all pitiful goers-between be called to the world’s
end after my name: call them all panders. Let all
constant men be Troiluses, all false women Cressids,
and all brokers-between panders. Say “Amen.”
TROILUS  
Amen.
TROILUS  
Amen.
CRESSIDA   
Amen.
CRESSIDA   
Amen.
PANDARUS  
Amen. Whereupon I will show you a chamber
210
with a bed, which bed, because it shall not
speak of your pretty encounters, press it to death.
Away.
PANDARUS  
Amen. Whereupon I will show you a chamber
with a bed, which bed, because it shall not
speak of your pretty encounters, press it to death.
Away.
TROILUS and CRESSIDA exit.
TROILUS and CRESSIDA exit.
And Cupid grant all tongue-tied maidens here
Bed, chamber, pander to provide this gear.
And Cupid grant all tongue-tied maidens here
Bed, chamber, pander to provide this gear.
He exits.
He exits.
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