Scene
II
Athens. A room in the palace.
Enter Emilia with two pictures.
Emilia
Yet I may bind those wounds up, that must open
And bleed to death for my sake else: I’ll choose,
And end their strife: two such young handsome men
Shall never fall for me: their weeping mothers,
Following the dead-cold ashes of their sons,
Shall never curse my cruelty. Good heaven,
What a sweet face has Arcite! If wise Nature,
With all her best endowments, all those beauties
She sows into the births of noble bodies,
Were here a mortal woman, and had in her
The coy denials of young maids, yet doubtless
She would run mad for this man: what an eye—
Of what a fiery sparkle and quick sweetness,
Has this young prince! here Love himself sits smiling!—
Just such another, wanton Ganymede
Set Jove a-fire with, and enforc’d the god
Snatch up the goodly boy and set him by him,
A shining constellation: what a brow,
Of what a spacious majesty, he carries,
Arch’d like the great-ey’d Juno’s, but far sweeter,
Smoother than Pelops’ shoulder! Fame and honour,
Methinks, from hence, as from a promontory
Pointed in heaven, should clap their wings, and sing
To all the under-world, the loves and fights
Of gods, and such men near ’em. Palamon
Is but his foil; to him, a mere dull shadow:
He’s swarth and meagre, of an eye as heavy
As if he had lost his mother; a still temper,
No stirring in him, no alacrity;
Of all this sprightly sharpness, not a smile;—
Yet these that we count errors, may become him:
Narcissus was a sad boy, but a heavenly.
O, who can find the bent of woman’s fancy?
I am a fool, my reason is lost in me;
I have no choice, and I have lied so lewdly
That women ought to beat me. On my knees
I ask thy pardon, Palamon; thou art alone,
And only beautiful; and these the eyes,
These the bright lamps of beauty, that command
And threaten Love; and what young maid dare cross ’em?
What a bold gravity, and yet inviting,
Has this brown manly face! O Love, this only
From this hour is complexion. Lie there, Arcite;
Thou art a changeling to him, a mere gipsy,
And this the noble body. I am sotted,
Utterly lost; my virgin’s faith has fled me,
For, if my brother but even now had ask’d me
Whether I lov’d, I had run mad for Arcite;
Now if my sister, more for Palamon.—
Stand both together.—Now, come, ask me, brother;—
Alas, I know not!—Ask me now, sweet sister;—
I may go look!—What a mere child is fancy,
That, having two fair gauds of equal sweetness,
Cannot distinguish, but must cry for both!
Enter a Gentleman.
How now, sir!
Gentleman
From the noble duke your brother,
Madam, I bring you news: the knights are come.
Emilia
To end the quarrel?
Gentleman
Yes.
Emilia
Would I might end first!
What sins have I committed, chaste Diana,
That my unspotted youth must now be soil’d
With blood of princes, and my chastity
Be made the altar where the lives of lovers—
Two greater and two better never yet
Made mothers joy—must be the sacrifice
To my unhappy beauty?
Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Pirithous, and Attendants.
Theseus
Bring ’em in
Quickly by any means; I long to see ’em.—
Your two contending lovers are return’d,
And with them their fair knights: now, my fair sister,
You must love one of them.
Emilia
I had rather both,
So neither for my sake should fall untimely.
Theseus
Who saw ’em?
Pirithous
I a while.
Gentleman
And I.
Enter Messenger.
Theseus
From whence come you, sir?
Messenger
From the knights.
Theseus
Pray, speak,
You that have seen them, what they are.
Messenger
I will, sir,
And truly what I think. Six braver spirits
Than these the’ve brought—if we judge by th’ outside—
I never saw nor read of. He that stands
In the first place with Arcite, by his seeming
Should be a stout man, by his face a prince—
His very looks so say him; his complexion
Nearer a brown than black; stern, and yet noble,
Which shows him hardy, fearless, proud of dangers;
The circles of his eyes show fire within him,
And as a heated lion so he looks;
His hair hangs long behind him, black and shining
Like ravens’ wings; his shoulders broad and strong;
Arm’d long and round; and on his thigh a sword
Hung by a curious baldrick, when he frowns
To seal his will with; better, o’ my conscience,
Was never soldier’s friend.
Theseus
Thou’st well describ’d him.
Pirithous
Yet a great deal short,
Methinks, of him that’s first with Palamon.
Theseus
Pray, speak him, friend.
Pirithous
I guess he is a prince too,
And, if it may be, greater; for his show
Has all the ornament of honour in’t:
He’s somewhat bigger than the knight he spoke of,
But of a face far sweeter; his complexion
Is, as a ripe grape, ruddy; he has felt,
Without doubt, what he fights for, and so apter
To make this cause his own; in’s face appears
All the fair hopes of what he undertakes;
And when he’s angry, then a settled valour,
Not tainted with extremes, runs through his body,
And guides his arm to brave things; fear he cannot,
He shows no such soft temper; his head’s yellow,
Hard-hair’d, and curl’d, thick-twin’d, like ivy-tods,
Not to undo with thunder; in his face
The livery of the warlike maid appears,
Pure red and white, for yet no beard has blest him;
And in his rolling eyes sits Victory,
As if she ever meant to court his valour;
His nose stands high, a character of honour,
His red lips, after fights, are fit for ladies.
Emilia
Must these men die too?
Pirithous
When he speaks, his tongue
Sounds like a trumpet; all his lineaments
Are as a man would wish ’em, strong and clean;
He wears a well-steel’d axe, the staff of gold;
His age some five-and-twenty.
Messenger
There’s another,
A little man, but of a tough soul, seeming
As great as any; fairer promises
In such a body yet I never look’d on.
Pirithous
O, he that’s freckle-fac’d?
Messenger
The same, my lord:
Are they not sweet ones?
Pirithous
Yes, they’re well.
Messenger
Methinks,
Being so few and well-dispos’d, they show
Great and fine art in nature. He’s white-hair’d,
Not wanton-white, but such a manly colour
Next to an aborne; tough and nimble-set,
Which shows an active soul; his arms are brawny,
Lin’d with strong sinews; to the shoulder-piece
Gently they swell, like women new-conceiv’d,
Which speaks him prone to labour, never fainting
Under the weight of arms; stout-hearted, still,
But, when he stirs, a tiger; he’s gray-ey’d,
Which yields compassion where he conquers; sharp
To spy advantages, and where he finds ’em,
He’s swift to make ’em his; he does no wrongs,
Nor takes none; he’s round-fac’d, and when he smiles
He shows a lover, when he frowns, a soldier;
About his head he wears the winner’s oak,
And in it stuck the favour of his lady;
His age some six-and-thirty; in his hand
He bears a charging-staff, emboss’d with silver.
Theseus
Are they all thus?
Pirithous
They’re all the sons of honour.
Theseus
Now, as I have a soul, I long to see ’em.—
Lady, you shall see men fight now.
Hippolyta
I wish it,
But not the cause, my lord: they would show
Bravely about the titles of two kingdoms:
’Tis pity Love should be so tyrannous.—
O my soft-hearted sister, what think you?
Weep not, till they weep blood, wench: it must be.
Theseus
You’ve steel’d ’em with your beauty.—Honour’d friend,
To you I give the field; pray, order it
Fitting the persons that must use it.
Pirithous
Yes, sir.
Theseus
Come, I’ll go visit ’em: I cannot stay—
Their fame has fir’d me so—till they appear.
Good friend, be royal.
Pirithous
There shall want no bravery.
Emilia
Poor wench, go weep; for whosoever wins,
Loses a noble cousin for thy sins. Exeunt.