Ros. Alas, poor shepherd! searching of thy Know how wound, I have by hard adventure found 5

mine own.

Touch. And I mine. I remember, when I was
WARNING
in love I broke my sword upon a stone and
bid him take that for coming a-night to Jane 50
Smile: and I remember the kissing of her
batlet and the cow's dugs that her pretty
chopt hands had milked: and I remember
the wooing of a peaspod instead of her;
from whom I took two cods and, giving her
them again, said with weeping tears 'Wear
these for my sake.' We that are true lovers
run into strange capers; but as all is mortal
in nature, so is all nature in love mortal in
folly.

Ros. Thou speakest wiser than thou art ware
of.

Touch. Nay, I shall ne'er be ware of mine own
wit till I break my shins against it.

Ros. Jove, Jove! this shepherd's passion
Is much upon my fashion.

Touch. And mine; but it grows something stale
with me.

Cel. I pray you, one of you question yond man
If he for gold will give us any food:

I faint almost to death.

45. "searching"; probing.-C. H. H.

60

55. "from whom," i. e. from the peascod; similarly "her" in the next line: he was wooing the peascod instead of his mistress.-I. G. 56. "with weeping tears"; tears of weeping, a tautological phrase, used seriously by Lodge in the Rosalynd, but not peculiar to him.— C. H. H.

feels

Touch.

Holla, you clown!

Who calls?

Ros. Peace, fool: he 's not thy kinsman.

Cor.

Touch. Your betters, sir.

Cor.
Else are they very wretched.
Ros. Peace, I say. Good even to you, friend.
Cor. And to you, gentle sir, and to you all.
Ros. I prithee, shepherd, if that love or gold

Cor.

Can in this desert place buy entertainment,
Bring us where we may rest ourselves and feed:
Here's a young maid with travel much oppress'd
And faints for succor.

81

Fair sir, I pity her
And wish, for her sake more than for mine own,

My fortunes were more able to relieve her;

But I am shepherd to another man

And do not shear the fleeces that I graze:

My master is of churlish disposition

And little recks to find the way to heaven
By doing deeds of hospitality:

90

Besides, his cote, his flocks and bounds of feed Are now on sale, and at our sheepcote now, By reason of his absence, there is nothing That you will feed on; but what is, come see, And in my voice most welcome shall you be. Ros. What is he that shall buy his flock and pasture?

Cor. That young swain that you saw here but erewhile,

That little cares for buying any thing.

Ros. I pray thee, if it stand with honesty,

35. "fleeces"; flocks.-C. H. H.

Buy thou the cottage, pasture and the flock,
And thou shalt have to pay for it of us.
Cel. And we will mend thy wages. I like this
place,

And willingly could waste my time in it.
Cor. Assuredly the thing is to be sold:
Go with me: if you like upon report
The soil, the profit and this kind of life,
I will your very faithful feeder be

And buy it with your gold right suddenly.

100

[Exeunt.

'Ami.

SCENE V

The forest.

Enter Amiens, Jaques, and others.

SONG.

Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,

And turn his merry note

Unto the sweet bird's throat,

Come hither, come hither, come hither:

Here shall he see

No enemy

But winter and rough weather.

99. "have to pay"; have wherewith to pay.-C. H. H.

101. "waste"; spend.-C. H. H.

3. "turn," so the Folios: Pope substituted "tune," but the change is unnecessary; according to Steevens "to turn a tune or note" is still a current phrase among vulgar musicians.-I. G.

Jaq. More, more, I prithee, more.

Ami. It will make you melancholy, Monsieur 10 Jaques.

Jaq. I thank it.. More, I prithee, more. I can

suck melancholy out of a song, as a weasel
sucks eggs. More, I prithee, more.

Ami. My voice is ragged: I know I cannot
please you.

Jaq. I do not desire you to please me; I do de

sire you to sing. Come, more; another
stanzo: call you 'em stanzos?

Ami. What you will, Monsieur Jaques.
Jaq. Nay, I care not for their names; they owe
me nothing. Will you sing?

Ami. More at your request than to please my-
self.

20

Jaq. Well then, if ever I thank any man, I'll thank you; but that they call compliment is like the encounter of two dog-apes, and when a man thanks me heartily, methinks I have given him a penny and he renders me the beggarly thanks. Come, sing; and you 30 that will not, hold your tongues.

Ami. Well, I'll end the song. Sirs, cover the

19. "stanzo"; this form (as well, apparently, as stanze, Love's Labor's Lost, iv. 2. 113) was in occasional use for the still exotic and unfamiliar stanza.-C. H. H.

21. "owe me nothing"; this has the appearance of being a legal phrase, and Mr. Caldecott says it refers to the words nomina facere, in the Roman law. In the Pandects, nomina facere means to enter an account, because not only the sums, but the names of the parties are entered. Cicero uses nomina facere for to lend money, and nomen solvere for to pay a debt; and in Livy we have nomen transcribere in alium for to transfer a debt to another.-H. N. H.

while; the Duke will drink under this tree. He hath been all this day to look you. Jaq. And I have been all this day to avoid him. He is too disputable for my. company: I think of as many matters as he; but I give heaven thanks, and make no boast of them. Come, warble, come.

SONG.

Who doth ambition shun, [All together here.
And loves to live i' the sun,

Seeking the food he eats,

And pleased with what he gets,

Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see

No enemy

But winter and rough weather.

Jaq. I'll give you a verse to this note, that I made yesterday in despite of my invention. Ami. And I'll sing it.

Jaq. Thus it goes:—

If it do come to pass

That any man turn ass,

Leaving his wealth and ease
A stubborn will to please,
Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame:
Here shall he see

Gross fools as he,

And if he will come to me.

34. "look"; look for.-C. H. H.

41