* My vouch against you, and my place i' the state,

Will fo your accufation over-weigh,

That you shall ftifle in your own report,

And smell of calumny. I have begun;
And now I give my fenfual race the rein:
Fit thy confent to my fharp appetite;
Lay by all nicety, and 2 prolixious blushes,
That banish what they fue for; redeem thý brother
By yielding up thy body to my will;

Or else he must not only die the death,
But thy unkindness fhall his death draw out
To lingering fufferance: anfwer me to-morrow,
Or, by the affection that now guides me most,
I'll prove a tyrant to him: As for you,

Say what you can, my falfe o'erweighs your true. [Exit.
Ifab. To whom should I complain? Did I tell this,
Who would believe me? O perilous mouths,

That bear in them one and the felf-fame tongue,
Either of condemnation or approof!

Bidding the law make court'fy to their will;
Hooking both right and wrong to the appetite,
To follow, as it draws! I'll to my brother:
Though he hath fallen by prompture of the blood,
Yet hath he in him such a mind of honour,
That had he twenty heads to tender down
On twenty bloody blocks, he'd yield them up,
Before his fifter fhould her body stoop
To fuch abhorr'd pollution.

Then, Ifabel, live chaste, and, brother, die:
More than our brother is our chastity.

I'll tell him yet of Angelo's request,

And fit his mind to death, for his foul's rest.

[Exit.

My vouch against you,]-my denial of the charge.
fifle]-expire, go out as a lamp.

prolixious]-dilatory, caufing delay.

a

X 3

prompture of the blood,]-inftigation of the flesh, conflitutional frailty.

ACT

ACT III.

SCENE I.

The Prison.

Enter Duke, Claudio, and Provoft.

Duke. So, then you hope of pardon from lord Angelo? Claud. The miserable have no other medicine,

But only hope:

I have hope to live, and am prepar'd to die.

Duke. Be abfolute for death; either death, or life, Shall thereby be the fweeter. Reason thus with life,If I do lofe thee, I do lofe a thing,

That none but fools would keep: a breath thou art, (Servile to all the fkiey influences)

That doft this habitation, where thou keep'ft,

d

Hourly afflict merely, thou art death's fool;

For him thou labour'ft by thy flight to fhun,

And yet runneft toward him ftill: Thou art not noble; For all the accommodations, that thou bear'st,

Are nurs❜d by bafenefs: Thou art by no means valiant; For thou doft fear the soft and tender fork

Of a poor worm: Thy best of rest is sleep,
And that thou oft provok'ft; yet grofly fear'st
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself;
For thou exift'ft on many a thousand grains
That iffue out of duft: Happy thou art not;

b Be abfolute for death;]-Think of, expect nought elfe.

would keep-would be anxious about keeping, or regret the lofs of. death's fool;]-In the old moralities the fool of the piece, to fhew the certainty of death, whilft he employs every effort to avoid him, is brought by each into his very jaws.

• Are nurf'd by bafenefs :]-Are fupplied from the meaner parts of the creation, and by the loweft of the people.

worm:]-ferpent, whofe tongue was falfely deemed forked. & provok'st ;]-inviteft. thyfelf; an independent being.

h

For

For what thou haft not, ftill thou ftriv'ft to get;
And what thou haft, forget'ft: Thou art not certain;
For thy complexion fhifts to strange * affects,

k

After the moon: If thou art rich, thou art poor;

For, like an afs, whofe back with ingots bows,
Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee: Friend haft thou none;
For thy own bowels, which do call thee fire,
The mere effufion of thy proper loins,

Do curse the gout, ferpigo, and the rheum,

For ending thee no fooner: Thou haft nor youth, nor age; But, as it were, an after-dinner's fleep,

Dreaming on both for all thy blessed youth

"Becomes as aged, and doth beg the alms

Of palfied eld; and when thou art old, and rich,
Thou haft neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty
To make thy riches pleasant.

That bears the name of life?

What's yet in this,
Yet in this life

Lye hid "more thousand deaths: yet death we fear,
That makes thefe odds all even..

Claud. I humbly thank you.

To fue to live, I find, I seek to die;

And, feeking death, find life: Let it come on.

Enter Ifabella.

Ifab. What, ho! Peace here; grace and good company Prov. Who's there? Come in: the wifh deferves a welcome.

i certain ;]-constant.

k affects,]-affections-thy conftitution, the difpofition both of thy body and mind, is variously affected by the moon.

1

an after dinner's fleep,]-when our dreams are divided between the events of the morning, and the defigns of the evening.

"Becomes as aged, &c.]-Is in the like precarious ftate with fuch as are both poor and aged-or, being dependant on the niggard bounty of decrepitude, old people, is as incapable of enjoying life, through lack of means to purchase its pleasures, as age from impotence.

n

more thoufand deaths :]-more by a thousand than are here recited.

Duke. Dear fir, ere long I vifit you again.
Claud. Most holy fir, I thank you.

Ifab. My business is a word or two, with Cláudio.

Prov. And very welcome. Look fignior, here's your

fifter.

Duke. Provost, a word with you.

Prov. As many as you please.

Duke. Bring them to fpeak where I may be conceal'd, Yet hear them.

[Exeunt Duke and Provost.

Claud. Now, fifter, what's the comfort?

Jab. Why, as all comforts are, moft good. Indeed Lord Angelo, having affairs to heaven,

Intends you for his fwift embaffador,

Where you fhall be an everlasting leiger:

Therefore your best appointment make with speed;
To-morrow you set on.

Claud. Is there no remedy?

Ifab. None, but fuch remedy, as, to fave a head, To cleave a heart in twain.

Claud. But is there any ?

Ifab. Yes, brother, you may live;

There is a devilish mercy in the judge,

If you'll implore it, that will free your life,

But fetter you till death.

Claud. Perpetual durance?

Ifab. Ay, juft, perpetual durance; a restraint, Though all the world's vaftidity you had,

To a determin'd scope.

Claud. But in what nature?

appointment-preparation.

S

Jet on.]-fet forward.

P Indeed ]-Truly.

To a determin'd fcope.]-To the fingle painful idea of an ignomi

nious refpite.

fab

Ijab. In fuch a one as (you confenting to't) Would bark your honour from that trunk you bear,

And leave you naked.

Claud. Let me know the point.

Ifab. Oh, I do fear thee, Claudio; and I quake,
Left thou a feverous life fhould'st entertain,
And fix or feven winters, more respect

Than a perpetual honour. Dar'ft thou die?
The fenfe of death is moft in apprehenfion;
And the poor beetle, that we tread upon,
In corporal fufferance finds a pang as great
As when a giant dies.

Claud. Why give you me this fhame?
Think you I can a refolution fetch

From flowery tenderness? If I must die,

I will encounter darkness as a bride,

And hug it in mine arms.

Ifab. There fpake my brother; there my father's grave Did utter forth a voice! Yes, thou must die :

Thou art too noble to conferve a life

In base appliances. This outward-fainted deputy,-
Whofe fettled vifage and deliberate word

Nips youth i' the head, and follies doth * emmew,
As faulcon doth the fowl,-is yet a devil;

"His filth within being caft, he would appear
A pond as deep as hell.

Claud. The princely Angelo?

Ifab. Oh, 'tis the cunning livery of hell, The damned'ft body to invest and cover

In 2 princely guards! Doft thou think, Claudio,

"flowery tenderness ?]-fine speeches, mere pathetical harangues, and empty declamation.

wi'the bud.

v,]-coop up, force to lie in cover.

x emmew,

Y His filth within being caft,]—cast out, difgorged, emptied.

2

princely guards!]-royal ornaments, robes of state.