Scene + 

VI + 

The same part of the forest as scene III. + 

Enter Palamon from the bush. + 

Palamon + 

About this hour my cousin gave his faith + 

To visit me again, and with him bring + 

Two swords and two good armours: if he fail, + 

He’s neither man nor soldier. When he left me, + 

I did not think a week could have restor’d + 

My lost strength to me, I was grown so low + 

And crest-fall’n with my wants: I thank thee, Arcite, + 

Thou’rt yet a fair foe; and I feel myself + 

With this refreshing, able once again + 

To outdure danger. To delay it longer + 

Would make the world think, when it comes to hearing, + 

That I lay fatting like a swine, to fight, + 

And not a soldier: therefore, this blest morning + 

Shall be the last; and that sword he refuses, + 

If it but hold, I kill him with; ’tis justice: + 

So, love and fortune for me! + 

Enter Arcite, with armours and swords. + 

O, good morrow. + 

Arcite + 

Good morrow, noble kinsman. + 

Palamon + 

I have put you + 

To too much pains, sir. + 

Arcite + 

That too much, fair cousin, + 

Is but a debt to honour and my duty. + 

Palamon + 

Would you were so in all, sir! I could wish ye + 

As kind a kinsman as you force me find + 

A beneficial foe, that my embraces + 

Might thank ye, not my blows. + 

Arcite + 

I shall think either, + 

Well done, a noble recompense. + 

Palamon + 

Then I shall quit you. + 

Arcite + 

Defy me in these fair terms, and you show + 

More than a mistress to me: no more anger, + 

As you love anything that’s honourable: + 

We were not bred to talk, man; when we’re arm’d, + 

And both upon our guards, then let our fury, + 

Like meeting of two tides, fly strongly from us; + 

And then to whom the birthright of this beauty + 

Truly pertains⁠—without upbraidings, scorns, + 

Despisings of our persons, and such poutings, + 

Fitter for girls and school-boys⁠—will be seen, + 

And quickly, yours or mine. Will’t please you arm, sir? + 

Or, if you feel yourself not fitting yet, + 

And furnish’d with your old strength, I’ll stay, cousin, + 

And every day discourse you into health, + 

As I am spar’d: your person I am friends with; + 

And I could wish I had not said I lov’d her, + 

Though I had died; but, loving such a lady, + 

And justifying my love, I must not fly from’t. + 

Palamon + 

Arcite, thou art so brave an enemy, + 

That no man but thy cousin’s fit to kill thee: + 

I’m well and lusty; choose your arms. + 

Arcite + 

Choose you, sir. + 

Palamon + 

Wilt thou exceed in all, or dost thou do it + 

To make me spare thee? + 

Arcite + 

If you think so, cousin, + 

You are deceiv’d; for, as I am a soldier, + 

I will not spare you. + 

Palamon + 

That’s well said. + 

Arcite + 

You’ll find it. + 

Palamon + 

Then, as I am an honest man, and love + 

With all the justice of affection, + 

I’ll pay thee soundly. This I’ll take. + 

Arcite + 

That’s mine, then. + 

I’ll arm you first. Proceeds to put on Palamon’s armour. + 

Palamon + 

Do. Pray thee, tell me, cousin, + 

Where gott’st thou this good armour? + 

Arcite + 

’Tis the duke’s; + 

And, to say true, I stole’t. Do I pinch you? + 

Palamon + 

No. + 

Arcite + 

Is’t not too heavy? + 

Palamon + 

I have worn a lighter; + 

But I shall make it serve. + 

Arcite + 

I’ll buckle’t close. + 

Palamon + 

By any means. + 

Arcite + 

You care not for a grand-guard? + 

Palamon + 

No, no; we’ll use no horses: I perceive + 

You’d fain be at that fight. + 

Arcite + 

I am indifferent. + 

Palamon + 

Faith, so am I. Good cousin, thrust the buckle + 

Through far enough. + 

Arcite + 

I warrant you. + 

Palamon + 

My casque now. + 

Arcite + 

Will you fight bare-arm’d? + 

Palamon + 

We shall be the nimbler. + 

Arcite + 

But use your gauntlets though: those are o’ the least; + 

Pr’ythee, take mine, good cousin. + 

Palamon + 

Thank you, Arcite. + 

How do I look? am I fall’n much away? + 

Arcite + 

Faith, very little; love has us’d you kindly. + 

Palamon + 

I’ll warrant thee I’ll strike home. + 

Arcite + 

Do, and spare not. + 

I’ll give you cause, sweet cousin. + 

Palamon + 

Now to you, sir. + 

Methinks this armour’s very like that, Arcite, + 

Thou wor’st that day the three kings fell, but lighter. + 

Arcite + 

That was a very good one; and that day, + 

I well remember, you outdid me, cousin; + 

I never saw such valour: when you charg’d + 

Upon the left wing of the enemy, + 

I spurr’d hard to come up, and under me + 

I had a right good horse. + 

Palamon + 

You had indeed; + 

A bright bay, I remember. + 

Arcite + 

Yes. But all + 

Was vainly labour’d in me; you outwent me, + 

Nor could my wishes reach you: yet a little + 

I did by imitation. + 

Palamon + 

More by virtue; + 

You’re modest, cousin. + 

Arcite + 

When I saw you charge first, + 

Methought I heard a dreadful clap of thunder + 

Break from the troop. + 

Palamon + 

But still before that flew + 

The lightning of your valour. Stay a little: + 

Is not this piece too straight? + 

Arcite + 

No, no; ’tis well. + 

Palamon + 

I would have nothing hurt thee but my sword; + 

A bruise would be dishonour. + 

Arcite + 

Now I’m perfect. + 

Palamon + 

Stand off, then. + 

Arcite + 

Take my sword; I hold it better. + 

Palamon + 

I thank ye. No, keep it; your life lies on it: + 

Here’s one, if it but hold, I ask no more + 

For all my hopes. My cause and honour guard me! + 

Arcite + 

And me my love! They bow several ways; then advance, and stand. Is there aught else to say? + 

Palamon + 

This only, and no more. Thou art mine aunt’s son, + 

And that blood we desire to shed is mutual; + 

In me thine, and in thee mine: my sword + 

Is in my hand, and, if thou killest me, + 

The gods and I forgive thee: if there be + 

A place prepar’d for those that sleep in honour, + 

I wish his weary soul that falls may win it. + 

Fight bravely, cousin: give me thy noble hand. + 

Arcite + 

Here, Palamon: this hand shall never more + 

Come near thee with such friendship. + 

Palamon + 

I commend thee. + 

Arcite + 

If I fall, curse me, and say I was a coward; + 

For none but such dare die in these just trials. + 

Once more, farewell, my cousin. + 

Palamon + 

Farewell, Arcite. They fight. Horns winded within: they stand. + 

Arcite + 

Lo, cousin, lo! our folly has undone us. + 

Palamon + 

Why? + 

Arcite + 

This is the duke, a-hunting as I told you; + 

If we be found, we’re wretched; O, retire, + 

For honour’s sake and safety, presently + 

Into your bush again, sir; we shall find + 

Too many hours to die in. Gentle cousin, + 

If you be seen, you perish instantly + 

For breaking prison; and I, if you reveal me, + 

For my contempt: then all the world will scorn us, + 

And say we had a noble difference, + 

But base disposers of it. + 

Palamon + 

No, no, cousin; + 

I will no more be hidden, nor put off + 

This great adventure to a second trial: + 

I know your cunning and I know your cause: + 

He that faints now, shame take him! Put thyself + 

Upon thy present guard⁠— + 

Arcite + 

You are not mad? + 

Palamon + 

Or I will make th’ advantage of this hour + 

Mine own; and what to come shall threaten me, + 

I fear less than my fortune. Know, weak cousin, + 

I love Emilia; and in that I’ll bury + 

Thee, and all crosses else. + 

Arcite + 

Then, come what can come, + 

Thou shalt know, Palamon, I dare as well + 

Die, as discourse or sleep: only this fears me, + 

The law will have the honour of our ends. + 

Have at thy life! + 

Palamon + 

Look to thine own well, Arcite. They fight. Horns winded within. + 

Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Emilia, Pirithous, and Train. + 

Theseus + 

What ignorant and mad malicious traitors + 

Are you, that, ’gainst the tenor of my laws, + 

Are making battle, thus like knights appointed, + 

Without my leave, and officers of arms? + 

By Castor, both shall die. + 

Palamon + 

Hold thy word, Theseus: + 

We’re certainly both traitors, both despisers + 

Of thee and of thy goodness: I am Palamon, + 

That cannot love thee, he that broke thy prison; + 

Think well what that deserves: and this is Arcite; + 

A bolder traitor never trod thy ground, + 

A falser ne’er seemed friend: this is the man + 

Was begg’d and banish’d: this is he contemns thee + 

And what thou dar’st do; and in this disguise, + 

Against thy own edict, follows thy sister, + 

That fortunate bright star, the fair Emilia; + 

Whose servant⁠—if there be a right in seeing, + 

And first bequeathing of the soul to⁠—justly + 

I am; and, which is more, dares think her his. + 

This treachery, like a most trusty lover, + 

I call’d him now to answer: if thou be’st, + 

As thou art spoken, great and virtuous, + 

The true decider of all injuries, + 

Say “Fight again!” and thou shalt see me, Theseus, + 

Do such a justice thou thyself wilt envy: + 

Then take my life; I’ll woo thee to’t. + 

Pirithous + 

O heaven, + 

What more than man is this! + 

Theseus + 

I’ve sworn. + 

Arcite + 

We seek not + 

Thy breath of mercy, Theseus: ’tis to me + 

A thing as soon to die as thee to say it, + 

And no more mov’d. Where this man calls me traitor, + 

Let me say thus much: if in love be treason, + 

In service of so excellent a beauty, + 

As I love most, and in that faith will perish, + 

As I have brought my life here to confirm it, + 

As I have serv’d her truest, worthiest, + 

As I dare kill this cousin that denies it, + 

So let me be most traitor, and ye please me. + 

For scorning thy edict, duke, ask that lady + 

Why she is fair, and why her eyes command me + 

Stay here to love her; and, if she say “traitor,” + 

I am a villain fit to lie unburied. + 

Palamon + 

Thou shalt have pity of us both, O Theseus, + 

If unto neither thou show mercy; stop, + 

As thou art just, thy noble ear against us; + 

As thou art valiant: for thy cousin’s soul, + 

Whose twelve strong labours crown his memory, + 

Let’s die together, at one instant, duke; + 

Only a little let him fall before me, + 

That I may tell my soul he shall not have her. + 

Theseus + 

I grant your wish; for, to say true, your cousin + 

Has ten times more offended, for I gave him + 

More mercy than you found, sir, your offences + 

Being no more then his.⁠—None here speak for ’em; + 

For, ere the sun set, both shall sleep for ever. + 

Hippolyta + 

Alas, the pity!⁠—Now or never, sister, + 

Speak, not to be denied: that face of yours + 

Will bear the curses else of after ages + 

For these lost cousins. + 

Emilia + 

In my face, dear sister, + 

I find no anger to ’em, nor no ruin; + 

The misadventure of their own eyes kill ’em: + 

Yet that I will be woman and have pity, + 

My knees shall grow to the ground but I’ll get mercy. + 

Help me, dear sister: in a deed so virtuous + 

The powers of all women will be with us.⁠— + 

Most royal brother⁠—They kneel. + 

Hippolyta + 

Sir, by our tie of marriage⁠— + 

Emilia + 

By your own spotless honour⁠— + 

Hippolyta + 

By that faith, + 

That fair hand, and that honest heart you gave me⁠— + 

Emilia + 

By that you would have pity in another, + 

By your own virtues infinite⁠— + 

Hippolyta + 

By valour, + 

By all the chaste nights I have ever pleas’d you⁠— + 

Theseus + 

These are strange conjurings. + 

Pirithous + 

Nay, then, I’ll in too:⁠—Kneels. + 

By all our friendship, sir, by all our dangers, + 

By all you love most, wars, and this sweet lady⁠— + 

Emilia + 

By that you would have trembled to deny + 

A blushing maid⁠— + 

Hippolyta + 

By your own eyes, by strength, + 

In which you swore I went beyond all women, + 

Almost all men, and yet I yielded, Theseus⁠— + 

Pirithous + 

To crown all this, by your most noble soul, + 

Which cannot want due mercy, I beg first. + 

Hippolyta + 

Next, hear my prayers. + 

Emilia + 

Last, let me entreat, sir. + 

Pirithous + 

For mercy. + 

Hippolyta + 

Mercy. + 

Emilia + 

Mercy on these princes. + 

Theseus + 

Ye make my faith reel: say I felt + 

Compassion to ’em both, how would you place it? + 

Emilia + 

Upon their lives; but with their banishments. + 

Theseus + 

You’re a right woman, sister; you have pity, + 

But want the understanding where to use it. + 

If you desire their lives, invent a way + 

Safer than banishment: can these two live, + 

And have the agony of love about ’em, + 

And not kill one another? every day + 

They’d fight about you; hourly bring your honour + 

In public question with their swords. Be wise, then, + 

And here forget ’em; it concerns your credit + 

And my oath equally; I’ve said they die: + 

Better they fall by the law than one another. + 

Bow not my honour. + 

Emilia + 

O my noble brother, + 

That oath was rashly made, and in your anger; + 

Your reason will not hold it: if such vows + 

Stand for express will, all the world must perish. + 

Beside, I have another oath ’gainst yours, + 

Of more authority, I’m sure more love; + 

Not made in passion neither, but good heed. + 

Theseus + 

What is it, sister? + 

Pirithous + 

Urge it home, brave lady. + 

Emilia + 

That you would ne’er deny me anything + 

Fit for my modest suit and your free granting: + 

I tie you to your word now; if ye fall in’t, + 

Think how you maim your honour⁠— + 

For now I’m set a-begging, sir, I’m deaf + 

To all but your compassion⁠—how their lives + 

Might breed the ruin of my name, opinion! + 

Shall anything that loves me perish for me? + 

That were a cruel wisedom: do men proyne + 

The straight young boughs that blush with thousand blossoms, + 

Because they may be rotten? O Duke Theseus, + 

The goodly mothers that have groan’d for these, + 

And all the longing maids that ever lov’d, + 

If your vow stand, shall curse me and my beauty, + 

And in their funeral songs for these two cousins + 

Despise my cruelty, and cry woe-worth me, + 

Till I am nothing but the scorn of women. + 

For heaven’s sake save their lives, and banish ’em. + 

Theseus + 

On what conditions? + 

Emilia + 

Swear ’em never more + 

To make me their contention or to know me, + 

To tread upon thy dukedom, and to be, + 

Wherever they shall travel, ever strangers + 

To one another. + 

Palamon + 

I’ll be cut to pieces + 

Before I take this oath: forget I love her? + 

O all ye gods, dispise me, then. Thy banishment + 

I not mislike, so we may fairly carry + 

Our swords and cause along; else, never trifle, + 

But take our lives, duke: I must love, and will; + 

And for that love must and dare kill this cousin, + 

On any piece the earth has. + 

Theseus + 

Will you, Arcite, + 

Take these conditions? + 

Palamon + 

He’s a villain, then. + 

Pirithous + 

These are men! + 

Arcite + 

No, never, duke; ’tis worse to me than begging, + 

To take my life so basely. Though I think + 

I never shall enjoy her, yet I’ll preserve + 

The honour of affection, and die for her, + 

Make death a devil. + 

Theseus + 

What may be done? for now I feel compassion. + 

Pirithous + 

Let it not fall again, sir. + 

Theseus + 

Say, Emilia, + 

If one of them were dead, as one must, are you + 

Content to take the other to your husband? + 

They cannot both enjoy you: they are princes + 

As goodly as your own eyes, and as noble + 

As ever fame yet spoke of: look upon ’em, + 

And, if you can love, end this difference; + 

I give consent.⁠—Are you content too, princes? + 

Palamon + 

Arcite + 

With all our souls. + 

Theseus + 

He that she refuses + 

Must die, then. + 

Palamon + 

Arcite + 

Any death thou canst invent, duke. + 

Palamon + 

If I fall from that mouth, I fall with favour, + 

And lovers yet unborn shall bless my ashes. + 

Arcite + 

If she refuse me, yet my grave will wed me, + 

And soldiers sing my epitaph. + 

Theseus + 

Make choice, then. + 

Emilia + 

I cannot, sir; they’re both too excellent: + 

For me, a hair shall never fall of these men. + 

Hippolyta + 

What will become of ’em? + 

Theseus + 

Thus I ordaine it; + 

And, by mine honour, once again it stands, + 

Or both shall die.⁠—You shall both to your country; + 

And each, within this month, accompanied + 

With three fair knights, appear again in this place, + 

In which I’ll plant a pyramid; and whether, + 

Before us that are here, can force his cousin + 

By fair and knightly strength to touch the pillar, + 

He shall enjoy her; th’ other lose his head, + 

And all his friends; nor shall he grudge to fall, + 

Nor think he dies with interest in this lady. + 

Will this content ye? + 

Palamon + 

Yes.⁠—Here, cousin Arcite, + 

I’m friends again till that hour. + 

Arcite + 

I embrace ye. + 

Theseus + 

Are you content, sister? + 

Emilia + 

Yes; I must, sir; + 

Else both miscarry. + 

Theseus + 

Come, shake hands again, then; + 

And take heed, as you’re gentlemen, this quarrel + 

Sleep till the hour prefix’d, and hold your course. + 

Palamon + 

We dare not fail thee, Theseus. + 

Theseus + 

Come, I’ll give ye + 

Now usage like to princes and to friends. + 

When ye return, who wins, I’ll settle here; + 

Who loses, yet I’ll weep upon his bier. Exeunt. + 