Doth teach me answers for deliverance !
But let me to my fortune and the caskets.
Por. Away then! I am lock'd in one of them ;
If you do love me, you will find me out.-
Neriffa, and the reft, ftand all aloof.-
Let mufic found while he doth make his choice ;
Then, if he lose, he makes a fwan-like end,
Fading in mufic. That the comparison
May ftand more juft, my eye fhall be the stream,
And wat❜ry death-bed for him.-He may win;
And what is mufic then? then mufic is
Even as the flourish when the subjects bow
To a new-crowned monarch: fuch it is,
As are thofe dulcet founds in break of day,
That creep into the dreaming bridegroom's ear,
And fummon him to marriage. Now he goes,
With no less prefence, but with much more love
Than young Alcides, when he did redeem
The virgin-tribute paid by howling Troy
To the fea-monfter: I ftand for facrifice,
The reft aloof are the Dardanian wives,
With bleared vifages, come forth to view
The iffue of the exploit. Go, Hercules!,
Live thou, I live :- With much, much more difmay
I view the fight, than thou that mak'st the fray.
[Mufic within. A Song, whilst BASSANIO comments on the caskets to himself.
Tell me where is fancy bred,
In the heart, or in the head?
How begot, how nourished?
Reply. It is engender'd in the eyes,
With gazing fed; and fancy dies
In the cradle where it lies:
Let us all ring fancy's knell.
I'll begin it,- -ding dong, bell.
Ding, dong, bell.
Baff-So may the outward fhews be leaft themselves;[+] The world is ftill deceiv'd with ornament.
In law, what plea fo tainted and corrupt,
But, being feafon'd with a gracious voice,
He begins abruptly; the first part of the argument has paffed in hig mind. JOHNS.
Obfcures the fhow of evil? In religion,
What damned error, but fome fober brow,
Will blefs it, and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grofnefs with fair ornament?
There is no vice fo fimple, but affumes
Some mark of virtue on its outward parts.
How many cowards, whose hearts are all as false
As stairs of sand, wear yet upon their chins
The beards of Hercules and frowning Mars;
Who, inward search'd, have livers white as milk?
And thefe affume but valour's excrement
To render them redoubted. Look on beauty,
And you fhall fee 'tis purchas'd by the weight;
Which therein works a miracle in nature,
Making them lightest that wear most of it.
So are those crisped fnaky golden locks,
Which make fuch wanton gambols with the wind,
Upon fuppofed fairness, often known
To be the dowry of a fecond head,
The fcull that bred them, in the fepulchre.
Thus ornament is but the guiled shore
To a moft dangerous fea; the beauteous scarf
Veiling an Indian beauty; in a word,
The feeming truth which cunning times put on
To entrap the wifeft. Therefore, thou gaudy gold,
Hard food for Midas, I will none of thee:
Nor none of thee, thou pale and common drudge
'Tween man and man: but thou, thou meagre lead,
Which rather threat'neft than doft promise ought,
Thy plainnefs moves me more than eloquence,
And here choose I :-Joy be the confequence !
Por. How all the other paffions fleet to air,
As doubtful thoughts, and rash-embrac'd despair,
And fhudd'ring fear, and green-ey'd jealousy.
O love, be moderate, allay thy extafy,
In meafure rain thy joy,[2] fcant this excefs;
I feel too much thy bleffing, make it less
For fear I furfeit !
Baff. What find I here?
[Opening the leaden cafket.
Fair Portia's counterfeit? What demi-god
[2] I once believed Shakespeare meant, In meafure rein thy joy. The words Rain and Rein were not in these times diftinguished by regular or thography. JOHNS.
I believe Shakespeare alluded to the well-known proverb, ‘It cannot rain. but it pours. STEEV
Hath come fo near creation? Move these eyes?
Or whether, riding on the balls of mine,
Seem they in motion? Here are fever'd lips,
Parted with fugar breath; so sweet a bar
Should funder fuch fweet friends: Here in her hairs
The painter plays the spider; and hath woven
A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men,
Fafter than gnats in cobwebs: But her eyes-
How could he fee to do them? having made one,
Methinks, it fhould have power to steal both his,
And leave itself unfurnifh'd: Yet look how far
The fubftance of my praise doth wrong this shadow
In under-prizing it, fo far this fhadow
Doth limp behind the fubftance. Here's the fcrowl,
The continent and fummary of my fortune:
You that choose not by the view,
Chance as fair, and choose as true!
Since this fortune falls to you,
Be content, and feek no new.
If you be well pleas'd with this,
And hold your fortune for your bliss,
Turn you where your lady is,
And claim her with a loving kiss.
A gentle fcrowl;-Fair lady, by your leave ;-[Kissing her. I come by note, to give and to receive.
Like one of two contending in a prize,
That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes,
Hearing applaufe, and univerfal fhout,
Giddy in spirit, ftill gazing, in a doubt
Whether thofe peals of praise be his or no ;
So, thrice fair lady, ftand I, even fo;
As doubtful whether what I fee be true,
Until confirm'd, fign'd, ratify'd by you.
Por. You fee, my lord Baffanio, where I stand,
Such as I am. Though, for myself alone,
I would not be ambitious in my wifh,
To with myself much better; yet, for you,
I would be trebled twenty times myfelf;
A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times
More rich; that, to ftand high in your account,
I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends,
Exceed account: but the full fum of me
Is fum of fomething; which, to term in grofs,..
Is an unleffon'd girl, unfchool'd, unpractis'd;
Happy in this, fhe is not yet so old
But she may learn; and, happier than this,
She is not bred fo dull but fhe can learn ;
Happiest of all, is, that her gentle fpirit
Commits itself to yours to be directed,
As from her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself, and what is mine, to you and yours
Is now converted: But now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my fervants,
Queen o'er myfelf; and even now, but now,
This house, these fervants, and this fame myself,
Are yours, my lord; I give them with this ring
Which, when you part from, lofe, or give away,
Let it prefage the ruin of your love,
And be my vantage to exclaim on you.
Baff. Madam, you have bereft me of all words,
Only my blood speaks to you in my veins :
And there is fuch confufion in my powers,
As, after fome oration fairly spoke
By a beloved prince, there doth appear
Among the buzzing, pleased multitude;
Where every something, being blent together,.
Turns, to a wild of nothing, fave of joy,
Exprefs'd, and not exprefs'd: But when this ring
Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence ;
O, then be bold to say, Baffanio's dead.
Ner. My lord and lady, it is now our time,
That have stood by, and feen our wishes profper,
To cry, good joy; Good joy, my lord, and lady!.
Gra. My lord Baffanio, and my gentle lady,
I wish you all the joy that you can wish;
For, I am fure, you can with none from me ;
And, when your honours mean to folemnize
The bargain of your faith, I do beseech you,
Even at that time, I may be married too.
Baf. With all my heart, fo thou canst get a' wife.
Gra. I thank your lordship; you have got me one
My eyes, my lord, can look as fwift as your's;
You faw the mistress, I beheld the maid;
You lov'd, I lov'd; for intermiffion
No more pertains to me, my lord, than you.
Your fortune ftood upon the casket there;
And fo did mine too, as the matter falls;
For wooing here, until I fweat again;
And fwearing, till my very roof was dry
With oaths of love; at laft,-if promife laft,-
I got a promife of this fair one here,
To have her love, provided that your fortune
Achiev'd her miftrefs..
Por. Is this true, Neriffa ?
Ner. Madam, it is, so you ftand pleas'd withal.
Baff. And do you, Gratiano, mean good faith?
Gra. Yes, faith, my lord..
Baff. Our feaft fhall be much honour'd in your marriage.
Gra. We'll play with them, the first boy, for a thoufand ducats.
Ner. What, and ftake down?
Gra. No; we fhall ne'er win at that sport, and stake down.-
But who comes here? Lorenzo, and his infidel?
What, and my old Venetian friend, Salanio?
Enter LORENZO, JESSICA, and SALANIO..
Baff. Lorenzo and Salanio, welcome hither;
If that the youth of my new interest here
Have power to bid you welcome.-By your leave,
I bid my very friends, and countrymen,
Sweet Portia, welcome.
Por. So do I, my lord;
They are entirely welcome.
Lor. I thank your honour :-For my part, my lord,
My purpofe was not to have feen you here;
But meeting with Salanio by the way,
He did entreat me, past all faying nay,
To come with him along..
Sal. I did, my lord,
And I have reafon for it. Signior Anthonio
Commends him to you.
Baff. Ere I ope his letter,
I pray you tell me how my good friend doth?
Sal. Not fick, my lord, unless it be in mind;
Nor well, unlefs in mind; his letter there
Will fhew you his estate.
[BASSANIO opens the letter.. Gra. Neriffa, cheer yon' ftranger; bid her welcome.Your hand, Salanio: What's the news from Venice ? How doth that royal merchant, good Anthonio?
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