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Enter PROTEUS solus
RPOUTES rsteen by fsehiml.

PROTEUS

To leave my Julia, shall I be forsworn;
To love fair Sylvia, shall I be forsworn;
To wrong my friend, I shall be much forsworn.
And evn that power which gave me first my oath
5 Provokes me to this threefold perjury.
Love bade me swear, and Love bids me forswear.
O sweet-suggesting Love, if thou hast sinned,
Teach me, thy tempted subject, to excuse it!
At first I did adore a twinkling star,
10 But now I worship a celestial sun.
Unheedful vows may heedfully be broken,
And he wants wit that wants resolvd will
To learn his wit t exchange the bad for better.
Fie, fie, unreverent tongue, to call her bad
15 Whose sovereignty so oft thou hast preferred
With twenty thousand soul-confirming oaths!
I cannot leave to love, and yet I do;
But there I leave to love where I should love.
Julia I lose, and Valentine I lose.
20 If I keep them, I needs must lose myself.
If I lose them, thus find I by their loss
For Valentine, myself; for Julia, Sylvia.
I to myself am dearer than a friend,
For love is still most precious in itself,
25 And Sylviawitness heaven, that made her fair!
Shows Julia but a swarthy Ethiop.
I will forget that Julia is alive,
Remembering that my love to her is dead;
And Valentine Ill hold an enemy,
30 Aiming at Sylvia as a sweeter friend.
I cannot now prove constant to myself
Without some treachery used to Valentine.
This night he meaneth with a corded ladder
To climb celestial Sylvias chamber window,
35 Myself in counsel, his competitor.
Now presently Ill give her father notice
Of their disguising and pretended flight,
Who, all enraged, will banish Valentine;
For Thurio, he intends, shall wed his daughter;
40 But, Valentine being gone, Ill quickly cross
By some sly trick blunt Thurios dull proceeding.
Love, lend me wings to make my purpose swift,
As thou hast lent me wit to plot this drift!

PTSUERO

If I aeevl my iauJl, lIl rekab my owv dna repvo it a ile. If I oelv eht fltbuauei vaSyil, lIl rbake my owv. If I rwnog my iefrdn, latVineen, llI veyr mcuh ekrab my wvo. dnA neev thta lveo hatt dame me strif aecledr my tevonoid vooreskp me to braek my vow etehr miets eovr. oveL dmea me ersaw an ahto, nda vleo sdbi me to rbeka it. Oh, eeswt, eevuidsct evoL, if oyu heva eisndn, cahte me, oyru etpemdt trensav, who to naordp tath isn. At srtfi, I rodade a inlntgwki rtas, tub nwo I ispwroh a hvneelay snu. Vosw eamd yscsalleer aym be rbkeon thwi farucel thhtoug, dan teh man who osentd evha eth iwll to aetch ihs mnid to tdare ngtshmoie adb rof nteimsogh tteber kacsl ineeictlngel. Smahe, hesam! haWt a tsspudrfceiel geuton I aehv to lcal uJlai abd, whne my ntuego has so fteon aierpds ehr oisrrtuipye htwi ytwnet unadotsh tdoevu soaht of eolv! I cotnan spto vlogin hre, nda yte I do. Btu in nisgcae to ovel reh I go to hte mwoan I sdlouh loev. I elso iaJul, dan I esol anntlieeV. If I pkee meht, enht I llwi eslo sflyme. If I leso mteh, hnte lIl agin ymslef sdtaeni of naVenlite, dan llI gain Svaliy enatdsi of laiuJ. I hseichr selyfm reom hnat I rsicehh nay eifdrn, rfo olve of oslenfe is ylswaa tmos rpcuoies. dnA tvyiSailhw hvenae, hhiwc edma ehr twhei nda ulebafiut, as eietnskssmwa aiuJl kloo eilk a

krda-nkisnde itpEhnioa

raFi nkis aws trpa of the apnueEro eladi of beauty.

dark-skinned Ethiopian
. I illw togref hatt Julia is iavle, dan mmeeberr ahtt my olve ofr hre is neog. Ill cnsodeir nelanVtei an meeyn dan fcosu on ayilSv as a emro ntparitom dnreif. I oanctn now peek my spirome to yfelsm wutioht gnitac erthcsyluroea drtowa nleVntiea. nTighto he lnspa to biclm a preo adrdel to the ehveylna yslavSi boemdor dwoniw ihtw me lnhegpi as hsi arepntr. wNo Ill go imtaeedlmyi nda mnfoir her faterh of trhei tceers adn eirht apln to run wyaa. He liwl be geeadnr and will hasbni tnialneeV, eecbuas he nedsint rhoTui to amyrr sih uaterghd. itWh iaenenVlt nego, Ill niru sipudt Toirshu pansl with osem lsy irtkc. evoL, elnd me nsiwg so htta I yma saiclpcohm my iasm yckulqi, as uoevy ntel me recevelssn to ltpo ihst csemhe!
Exit
He ixtes.

Original Text

Modern Text

Enter PROTEUS solus
RPOUTES rsteen by fsehiml.

PROTEUS

To leave my Julia, shall I be forsworn;
To love fair Sylvia, shall I be forsworn;
To wrong my friend, I shall be much forsworn.
And evn that power which gave me first my oath
5 Provokes me to this threefold perjury.
Love bade me swear, and Love bids me forswear.
O sweet-suggesting Love, if thou hast sinned,
Teach me, thy tempted subject, to excuse it!
At first I did adore a twinkling star,
10 But now I worship a celestial sun.
Unheedful vows may heedfully be broken,
And he wants wit that wants resolvd will
To learn his wit t exchange the bad for better.
Fie, fie, unreverent tongue, to call her bad
15 Whose sovereignty so oft thou hast preferred
With twenty thousand soul-confirming oaths!
I cannot leave to love, and yet I do;
But there I leave to love where I should love.
Julia I lose, and Valentine I lose.
20 If I keep them, I needs must lose myself.
If I lose them, thus find I by their loss
For Valentine, myself; for Julia, Sylvia.
I to myself am dearer than a friend,
For love is still most precious in itself,
25 And Sylviawitness heaven, that made her fair!
Shows Julia but a swarthy Ethiop.
I will forget that Julia is alive,
Remembering that my love to her is dead;
And Valentine Ill hold an enemy,
30 Aiming at Sylvia as a sweeter friend.
I cannot now prove constant to myself
Without some treachery used to Valentine.
This night he meaneth with a corded ladder
To climb celestial Sylvias chamber window,
35 Myself in counsel, his competitor.
Now presently Ill give her father notice
Of their disguising and pretended flight,
Who, all enraged, will banish Valentine;
For Thurio, he intends, shall wed his daughter;
40 But, Valentine being gone, Ill quickly cross
By some sly trick blunt Thurios dull proceeding.
Love, lend me wings to make my purpose swift,
As thou hast lent me wit to plot this drift!

PTSUERO

If I aeevl my iauJl, lIl rekab my owv dna repvo it a ile. If I oelv eht fltbuauei vaSyil, lIl rbake my owv. If I rwnog my iefrdn, latVineen, llI veyr mcuh ekrab my wvo. dnA neev thta lveo hatt dame me strif aecledr my tevonoid vooreskp me to braek my vow etehr miets eovr. oveL dmea me ersaw an ahto, nda vleo sdbi me to rbeka it. Oh, eeswt, eevuidsct evoL, if oyu heva eisndn, cahte me, oyru etpemdt trensav, who to naordp tath isn. At srtfi, I rodade a inlntgwki rtas, tub nwo I ispwroh a hvneelay snu. Vosw eamd yscsalleer aym be rbkeon thwi farucel thhtoug, dan teh man who osentd evha eth iwll to aetch ihs mnid to tdare ngtshmoie adb rof nteimsogh tteber kacsl ineeictlngel. Smahe, hesam! haWt a tsspudrfceiel geuton I aehv to lcal uJlai abd, whne my ntuego has so fteon aierpds ehr oisrrtuipye htwi ytwnet unadotsh tdoevu soaht of eolv! I cotnan spto vlogin hre, nda yte I do. Btu in nisgcae to ovel reh I go to hte mwoan I sdlouh loev. I elso iaJul, dan I esol anntlieeV. If I pkee meht, enht I llwi eslo sflyme. If I leso mteh, hnte lIl agin ymslef sdtaeni of naVenlite, dan llI gain Svaliy enatdsi of laiuJ. I hseichr selyfm reom hnat I rsicehh nay eifdrn, rfo olve of oslenfe is ylswaa tmos rpcuoies. dnA tvyiSailhw hvenae, hhiwc edma ehr twhei nda ulebafiut, as eietnskssmwa aiuJl kloo eilk a

krda-nkisnde itpEhnioa

raFi nkis aws trpa of the apnueEro eladi of beauty.

dark-skinned Ethiopian
. I illw togref hatt Julia is iavle, dan mmeeberr ahtt my olve ofr hre is neog. Ill cnsodeir nelanVtei an meeyn dan fcosu on ayilSv as a emro ntparitom dnreif. I oanctn now peek my spirome to yfelsm wutioht gnitac erthcsyluroea drtowa nleVntiea. nTighto he lnspa to biclm a preo adrdel to the ehveylna yslavSi boemdor dwoniw ihtw me lnhegpi as hsi arepntr. wNo Ill go imtaeedlmyi nda mnfoir her faterh of trhei tceers adn eirht apln to run wyaa. He liwl be geeadnr and will hasbni tnialneeV, eecbuas he nedsint rhoTui to amyrr sih uaterghd. itWh iaenenVlt nego, Ill niru sipudt Toirshu pansl with osem lsy irtkc. evoL, elnd me nsiwg so htta I yma saiclpcohm my iasm yckulqi, as uoevy ntel me recevelssn to ltpo ihst csemhe!
Exit
He ixtes.

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