last, that, I fear me, will never out of my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.

Seb. Why, how now, Stephano!

Ste. O touch me not: I am not Stephano, but a cramp.

Pro. You'd be king of the isle, sirrah?

Ste. I should have been a sore one then.

Alon. This is as strange a thing as e'er I look'd on.

[Pointing to CAliban.

Pro. He is as disproportion'd in his manners,

As in his shape.-Go, sirrah, to my cell;
Take with you your companions: as you look
To have my pardon, trim it handsomely.

Cal. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter, And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass Was I, to take this drunkard for a god,

And worship this dull fool?

Pro.

Go to; away!

Alon. Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it.

Seb. Or stole it, rather. [Ex. CAL., STE., and TRIN. Pro. Sir, I invite your highness, and your train, To my poor cell, where you shall take your rest For this one night; which, part of it, I'll waste With such discourse, as, I not doubt, shall make it Go quick away; the story of my life, And the particular accidents gone by, Since I came to this isle: and in the morn, I'll bring you to your ship, and so to Naples, Where I have hope to see the nuptial Of these our dear-beloved solemniz'd ; And thence retire me to my Milan, where Every third thought shall be my grave.

Alon.

I long To hear the story of your life, which must Take the ear strangely.

Pro.

I'll deliver all;

And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales,

And sail, so expeditious, that shall catch

Your royal fleet far off.-My Ariel;-chick,-
That is thy charge: then, to the elements;

Be free, and fare thou well!-Please you draw

near.1

1 f. e. Excunt.

EPILOGUE.

SPOKEN BY PROSPERO.

Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have 's mine own;
Which is most faint: now, 't is true,
I must be here confin'd by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got,
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island, by your spell;
But release me from my bands,
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair,
Unless I be reliev'd by prayer;
Which pierces so, that it assaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.

As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence set me free.

[Exeunt Omnes.

THE

TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.

"The Two Gentlemen of Verona" was first printed in the folio of 1623, where it occupies nineteen pages, viz. from p. 20 to p. 38, inclusive, in the division of " Comedies." It is there divided into Acts and Scenes. It also stands second in the later folios.

INTRODUCTION.

THE only ascertained fact with which we are acquainted, in reference to The Two Gentlemen of Verona," is, that it is included in the list of Shakespeare's Plays which Francis Meres furnished in his Palladis Tamia, 1598. It comes first in that enumeration, and although this is a very slight circumstance, it may afford some confirmation to the opinion, founded upon internal evidence of plot, style, and characters, that it was one of the earliest, if not the very earliest of Shakespeare's original dramatic compositions. It is the second play in the folio of 1623, where it first appeared, but that is no criterion of the period at which it was originally written.

It would, we think, be idle to attempt to fix upon any particular year: it is unquestionably the work of a young and unpractised dramatist, and the conclusion is especially inartificial and abrupt. It may have been written by our great dramatist very soon after he joined a theatrical company; and at all events we do not think it likely that it was composed subsequently to 1591. We should be inclined to place it, as indeed it stands in the work of Meres, immediately before "Love's Labour's Lost." Meres calls it the "Gentlemen of Verona." Malone, judging from two passages in the comedy, first argued that it was produced in 1595, but he afterwards adopted 1591 as the more probable date. The quotations to which he refers, in truth, prove nothing, either as regards

1595 or 1591.

If The Two Gentlemen of Verona" were not the offspring merely of the author's invention, we have yet to discover the source of its plot. Points of resemblance have been dwelt upon in connection with Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia,” 1590, and the "Diana" of Montemayor, which was not translated into English by B. Yonge until 1598; but the incidents, common to the drama and to these two works, are only such as might be found in other romances, or would present themselves spontaneously to the mind of a young poet: the one is the command of banditti by Valentine; and the other the assumption of male attire by Julia, for a purpose nearly similar to that of Viola in "Twelfth Night." Extracts from the "Arcadia" and the "Diana" are to be found in "Shakespeare's Library," vol. ii. The notion of some critics, that "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" contains few or no marks of Shakespeare's hand, is a strong proof of their incompetence to form a judgment.