Will knit and break religions; "blefs the accurs'd;
Make the hoar leprofy ador'd; place thieves,
And give them title, knee, and approbation,
With fenators on the bench; this is it,

That makes the wappen'd 2 widow wed again;
She, whom the fpital-house and ulcerous fores
Would caft the gorge at, this embalms and spices
To the April day again 3. Come, damned earth,
Thou common whore of mankind, that put'it odds
Among the rout of nations, I will make thee
Do thy right nature 4.--[ March afar off.]—Ha !
a drum-Thou'rt quick 5,

But yet I'll bury thee: Thou'lt go, ftrong thief,
When gouty keepers of thee cannot stand :--
Nay, stay thou out for earnest. [Keeping fome gold.
Enter Alcibiades, with drum and fife, in warlike
manner, and Phrynia and Tymandra.

Alc. What art thou there? speak. [heart,
Tim. A beaft, as thou art. The canker gnaw thy
For fhewing me again the eyes of man!

Tim None, but to
Maintain my opinion.

Alc. What is it, Timon?

Tim. Promise me friendship, but perform nose: Thou wilt not promife, the gods plague thee, for Thou art a man! if thou dost perform,, confound thee,

For thou art a man!

Al. I have heard in fome fort of thy miferies.
Tim. Thou faw'ft them, when I had profperity.
Alc. I fee them now; then was a bleffed time.
Tim. As thine is now, held with a brace of
harlots.
[world
Tyman. Is this the Athenian minion, whom the
Voic'd fo regardfully?

Tim. Art thou Tymandra?
Tyman. Yes.

Tim. Be a whore ftill they love thee not,
that ufe thee;

Give them diseases, leaving with thee their luft
Make ufe of thy falt hours: feafon the flaves

For tubs, and baths; bring down rofe-cheeked

youth

To the tub-faft, and the diet.

Tyman. Hang thee, moniter !

Ale. Pardon him, fweet Tymandra; for his wi

Alc. What is thy name? Is man fo hateful to Are drown'd and loft in his calamities.

thee,

i. e. men who have frength yet remaining to fruggle with their diflemper. This alludes to an old cuftom of drawing away the pillow from under the heads of men in their laft agonies, to make their departure the easier. and terrified, either for the lofs of a good hufband, or by the treatment of a bad. But gold, he lays, 2 Waped or wapperd, according to Warburton, fignifics both forrowful can overcome both her affection and her fears. 3 That is, to the wedding day, called by the post, Tatirically, April day, or fool's day. The April day, however, does not relate to the widow, but to the other difeafed female, who is reprefented as the outcft of an hofpital. She it is whom gold embales and Spices to the April day again: i. e. gold reitores her to all the freshness and sweetness of youth." Lie in the earth where nature laid thee. 5 Thon haft life and motion in thee. This alludes to the method of cure for venereal complaints (explained in note 4, p. go), the unction for which was fometimes continued for thirty-feven days, and during this time there was navy abftinence required. Hence the terin of the ful-fof: The diet was likewife a cuftomary terin neceffarily an extrzörðifor the regimen prefcribed in thefe cales.

36

Will o'er fome high-vic'd city hang his poifon
In the fick air: Let not thy fword skip one:
Pity not honour'd age for his white beard,

He is an ufurer: Strike me the counterfeit matron,
It is her habit only that is honeft,

Herfelf's a bawd: Let not the virgin's cheek

Phr. and Tym. Well, more gold ;-What then?
Believe't, that we'll do any thing for gold.
Tim. Confumptions fow

In hollow bones of man; ftrike their sharp fhins,
And marr men's fpurring. Crack the lawyer's
voice,

Make foft thy trenchant fword; for thofe milk-That he may never more falfe title plead,

paps,

That through the window-bars bore at men's eyes,
Are not within the leaf of pity writ,

Nor found his quillets 7 fhrilly: hoar the flamen,
That fcolds againft the quality of flesh,
And not believes himfelf: down with the nose,
Down with it flat; take the bridge quite away

Set them down horrible traitors: Spare not the babe,|
Whofe dimpled fmiles from fools exhaust their Of him, that his particular to foresee,

mercy;

Think it a baftard, whom the oracle

Hath doubtfully pronounc'd thy throat fhall cut 2,
And mince it fans remorfe: Swear against objects 3;
Put armour on thine ears, and on thine eyes;
Whofe proof, nor yells of mothers, maids, nor
babes,

Nor fight of priests in holy vestments bleeding,
Shall pierce a jot. There's gold to pay thy foldiers:
Make large confufion; and, thy fury spent,
Confounded be thyfelf! Speak not, be gone.

Alc. Haft thou gold yet? I'll take the gold thou
giv'ft me,

"Not all thy counfel.

And let the unfcarr'd braggarts of the war
Derive fome pain from you: Plague all;
That your activity may defeat and quell
The fource of all erection.-There's more gold :-
Do you damn others, and let this damn you,
And ditches
10
grave you all!
Pbr. and Tym. More counfel, with more money,
bounteous Timon.

Tim. More whore, more mischief firft; I have
given you earnest.

Alc. Strike up the drum towards Athens.
Farewel, Timon;

Tim. Doft thou, or doft thou not, heaven's If I thrive well, I'll vifit thee again.

curfe upon thee!

Phr. and Tym. Give us fome gold, good Timon:

Haft thou more?

[trade,

Tim. Enough to make a whore forfwear her
And to make whores, a bawd 4. Hold up, you fluts,
Your aprons mountant: You are not oathable,-
Although, I know, you'll fwear, terribly fwear,]
Into ftrong fhudders, and to heavenly agues,
The immortal gods that hear you,-spare your
oaths,

I'll truft to your conditions 5: Be whores ftill;
And he whofe pious breath feeks to convert you,
Be ftrong in whore, allure him, burn him up;
Let your close fire predominate his smoke,
And be no turn-coats: Yet may your pains, fix

months,

Tim. If I hope well, I'll never fee thee more.
Alc. I never did thee harm.

Tim. Yes, thou spok'st well of me.
Alc. Call'st thou that harm ?
Tim. Men daily find it.

Get thee away, and take thy beagles with thee.
Alc. We but offend him.-Strike.

[Drum beats. Exeunt Alcibiades,
Phrynia, and Tymandra.
Tim. [Digging That nature, being fick of man's
unkindness,

Should yet be hungry !-Common mother, thou Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast 11, Teems, and feeds all; whofe felf-fame mettle, 1 Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puft, [roofs Engenders the black toad, and adder blue, Be quite contrary: And thatch your poor thin The gilded newt, and eyelets venom'd worm 12, With burdens of the dead :-fome that were With all the abhorred births below crifp 13 heaven [ftill; Whereon Hyperion's quickening fire doth shine; Yield him, who all thy human fons doth hate, From forth thy plenteous bofom, one poor root! Enfear thy fertile and conceptious womb,

hang'd,

No matter:-wear them, betray with them: whore
Paint 'till a horfe may mire upon your face,

A pox of wrinkles!

1 i. e. draw forth. 2 An allufion to the tale of Oedipus. 3 Perhaps objects is here ufed provincially for abjects. 4 That is, enough to make a whore leave whoring, and a bawd leave making 5 i. e. I will truft to your inclinations. 6 Dr. Warburton comments

whores. on this paffage thus: "This is obfcure, partly from the ambiguity of the word pains, and partly from the generality of the expreflion. The meaning is this: He had faid before, Follow conftantly your trade of debauchery; that is (fays he) for fix months in the year, Let the other fix be employed in quite contrary pains and labour, namely, in the fevere difcipline necefiary for the repair of thofe diforders that your debaucheries occafion, in order to fit you anew to the trade; and thus let the whole year be spent in thefe different occupations. On this account he goes on, and fays, Make falfe hair, &c. Mr. Steevens however conceives the meaning to be only this: Yet for half the year at least, may you suffer fuch punishment as is inflicted on harlots in houses of correction." Quillets are fubtilties. 81. e. give the flamen the hoary leprofy. 9 To forefee has particular, is to provide for his private advantage, for which he leaves the right feent of public good. In hunting, when hares have crois'd one another, it is common for fome of the hounds to finell from the general weal, and forefee their own particular. Shakspeare, who seems to have been a skilful sportsman, and has alluded often to falconry, perhaps alludes here to hunting. 10 To grave is to entomb. 11 Whofe infinite breaft means whose boundless furface. 12 The ferpent, which we, from the fmalinefs of his eyes, call the blind worm. 13. e. curled, bent, hollow.

Let

By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee,The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, and hearts of men
And let his very breath, whom thou'lt obferve,
Blow off thy cap; praife his most vicious strain,
And call it excellent: Thou wait told thus ;
Thougav'ft thine ears, like tapfters,that bid welcome,
To knaves, and all approachers: 'Tis most juft,
That thou turn rafcal; hadit thou wealth again,
Rafcals fhould have 't. Do not affume my likenefs.
Tim. Were I like thee, I'd throw away myfelf.
Apem. Thou haft caft away thyself, being like
thy felf;

The cunning of a carper means the infidious art of a critic. 2 That is, Beft ftates contentles have a wretched being, a being worfe than that of the wort ftates that are content 3 Bv Ais breath is probably meant his fentence. 4 Alluding to the word Cynic, of which fe&t Apemantus 5 From infancy. Seath is the drefs of a new-born child. 6 Refpet, according to Mr. Steevens, means the qu'en dira't on? the regard of Athens, that itrongest refraint on heentioufneis: the icy precepts, i. e. that cool hot blood.

Tell them there I have gold; look, fo I have.
Apem. Here is no use for gold.
Tim. The beft, and trueft:

For here it fleeps, and does no hired harm.
Apem. Where ly'ft o' nights, Timon?
Tim. Under that's above me.

Where feed it thou o' days, Apemantus ?

to me, thou might'ft have hit upon it here: The
commonwealth of Athens is become a foreit of

beafts.

Tim. How has the afs broke the wall, that thou art out of the city?

Apem. Yonder comes a poet, and a paintere The plague of company light upon thee! I will Apem. Where my ftomach finds meat; or, ra- fear to catch it, and give way: When I know

ther, where I eat it.

Tim. 'Would poifon were obedient,, and knew my mind!

Apem. Where wouldst thou fend it?

Tim. To fauce thy dishes.

Apem. The middle of humanity thou never kneweft, but the extremity of both ends: When thou waft in thy gilt, and thy perfume, they mock'd thee for too much curiofity; in thy rags thou knoweft none, but art defpis'd for the contrary. There's a medlar for thee, eat it.

Tim. On what I hate, I feed not.

Apem. Doft hate a medlar?

Tim. Ay, though it look like thee.

Apem. An thou hadft hated medlars fooner, thou shouldft have lov'd thyfelf better now. What man didft thou ever know unthrift, that was belov'd after his means?

not what elfe to do, I'll fee thee again.

Tim. When there is nothing living but thee, thou thalt be welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog, than Apemantus.

elpem. Thou art the cap 3 of all the fools alive. Tim. 'Would thou wert clean enough to fpit upon. A plague on thee!

Apom. Thou art too bad to curfe.

Tim. All villains, that do stand by thee, are pure.
Apem. There is no leprofy, but what thou speak'ft.
Tim. If I name thee.

I'll beat thee,--but I fhould infect my hands.
Apem. I would my tongue could rot them off!
Tim. Away, thou illue of a mangy dog!
Choler does kill me, that thou art alive;
I fwoon to see thee.

Apem. Would thou wouldft burst!
Tim. Away.

Tim. Who, without thofe means thou talk'it Thou tedious rogue! I am forry, I shall lofe of, didit thou ever know beloved?

Apem. Myfelf.

Tim. I underftand thee; thou had'it fome means to keep a dog.

Apem. What things in the world canft thou nearest compare to thy flatterers?

Tim. Women nearest; but men, men are the things themselves. What wouldst thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy power?

Apem. Give it the beafts, to be rid of the men. Tim. Wouldft thou have thyfelf fall in the confufion of men, and remain a beaft with the beafts? Apem. Ay, Timon.

Tim. A heattly ambition, which the gods grant thee to attain to! If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee: if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat thee: if thou wert the fox, the Lion would fufpect thee, when, peradventure, thou wert accus'd by the afs: if thou wert the afs, thy dulnefs would torment thee; and ftill thou liv'dit but as a breakfast to the wolf: if thou wert the wolf, thy greedinefs would afflict thee, and oft flou shouldst hazard thy life for thy daner: wert thou the unicorn, pride and wrath would confound thee, and make thine own felf the conqueft of thy fury: wert thou a bear, thou wouldit be kill'd by the horfe wert thou a horfe, thou would be feiz'd by the leopard; wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the lion, and the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life: all thy fafety were remotion 2; and thy defence, abfence. What beaft couldft thou be, that were not subject to a beaft? and what a beaft art thou already, and feest not thy lofs in transformation ?

Apem. If thou couldft please me with speaking

1 i. e. for too much finical delicacy. 4 Touch for touchflone. top, the principal.

A ftone by thee.

pem. Beaft! Tim. Slave! Apem. Toad!

Tim. Rogue, rogue, rogue!

[Apemantus retreats backward, as going.
I am fick of this falfe world; and will love nought
But even the meer neceffities upon it.
Then, Timon, prefently prepare thy grave;
Lie where the light foam of the fea may beat
Thy grave-tone daily make thine epitaph,
That death in me at others' lives may laugh.
O thou fweet king-killer, and dear divorce

[Looking on the gold.
'Twixt natural fon and fire! thou bright defiler
Of Hymen's pureft bed! thou valiant Mars!
Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd, and delicate wooer,
Whole bluh doth thaw the confecrated fnow
That lies on Dian's lap! thou vifible god,
That folder'ft clofe impoffibilities,
And mak'ft them kifs that fpeak ft with every
tongue,

To every purpose! O thou touch 4 of hearts !
Think, thy flave man rebels; and by thy virtue
Set them into confounding odds, that beafts
May have the world in empire!

Apem. 'Would 'tvere fo ;→→→→→
But not 'till I am dead ---I'il fay, thou haft gold :
Thou wilt be throng'd to fhortly.
Tim. Throng'd to?
Apem. Ay.

Tim. Thy back, I pr'ythee.
Apem. Live, and love thy mifery !
Tim. Long live fo, and fo die !--I am quit.
[Exit Apemantus.

2 i. e. removal from place to place.

Ggg 4

3 i. e. the

More

More things like men ?--Eat, Timon, and abhor‍|That you are thieves profest ; that you work not them:

Enter Thieves.

1 Thief. Where should he have this gold? It is fome poor fragment, fome slender ort of his remainder: The meer want of gold, and the fallingfrom of his friends, drove him into this melancholy.

2 Thief. It is nois'd, he hath a mass of treasure. 3 Thief. Let us make the affay upon him; if he care not for't, he will fupply us eafily; If he coyetoufly reserve it, how fhall's get it ?

2 Thief. True; for he bears it not about him, kis hid.

1 Thief. Is not this he? All. Where?

2 Thief. 'Tis his description.

3 Thief He; I know him.

All. Save thee, Timon.

Tim. Now, thieves.

All. Soldiers, not thieves.

Tim. Both too; and women's fons,

want.

All. We are not thieves, but men that much do
[meat.
Tim. Your greatest want is, you want much of
Why fhould you want? Behold, the earth hath roots;
Within this mile break forth an hundred fprings:
The oaks bear maft, the briars ícarlet hips;
The bounteous hufwife, nature, on each bush
Lays her full mefs before you. Want? why want?
I Thief. We cannot live on grafs, on berries, water,
"As beafts, and birds, and fishes.

In holier fhapes: for there is boundless theft
In limited 2 profeffions. Rafcal thieves,
Here's gold: Go fuck the fubtle blood o' the grape,
'Till the high fever feeth your blood to froth,
And fo 'fcape hanging: truft not the phyfician;
His antidotes are poison, and he slays
More than you rob: take wealth and lives together;
Do villainy, do, fince you profess to do 't,
Like workmen : I'll example you with thievery.
The fun's a thief, and with his great attraction
Robs the vaft fea: the moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire the fnatches from the fun;
The fea's a thief, whose liquid furge resolves
The moon into falt tears 3; the earth's a thief,
That feeds and breeds by a composture ftolen
From general excrement: each thing's a thief;
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
Have uncheck'd theft. Love not yourselves; away;
Rob one another. There's more gold: Cut throats;
All that you meet are thieves: To Athens, go,
Break open fhops; nothing can you steal,
But thieves, do lofe it: Steal not lefs, for this
I give you; and gold confound you howfoever!
Amen.
[Exit,
3 Thief. He has almoft charm'd me from my
profeffion, by perfuading me to it.

1 Thief. 'Tis in the malice of mankind, that he thus advifes us; not to have us thrive in our mystery.

2 Thief. I'll believe him as an enemy, and give over my trade.

1 Thief. Let us firft fee peace in Athens: There is no time fo miferable, but a man may be

Yet thanks I must you con1, true,

[Exeunt.

The Woods, and Timon's Cave.

Enter Flavius.

YOU gods!

Defperate want made !

What viler thing upon the earth, than friends,
Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends !
How rarely does it meet with this time's guife,

Is yon defpis'd and ruinous man my When man was wifh'd 5 to love his enemies :
lord?

Full of decay and failing? O monument

And wonder of good deeds evilly bestow'd!
What an alteration of honour has

Grant, I may ever love, and rather woo

Thofe that would mischief me, than those that do!
He has caught me in his eye: I will present
My honest grief unto him; and, as my lord,

To con thanks is a very common expreffion among our old dramatic writers. a Limited, for legal. 3 Mr Tollett comments on this paffage thus: "The moon is the governess of the flocés, but cannot be refolved by the furges of the fea.' This feems inconteftible, and therefore an alteration of the text appears to be neceffary. I propofe to read-whofe liquid furge refolves the main into falt tearsi. c. refolves the main land or the continent into fea, Ín Bacon, and also in Shakfpeare's King Lear, a&t III. fc. 1, main occurs in this fignification. Earth melting to fea is not an uncommon idea in our poets. "Melt earth to fea, fea flow to air." I might add, that in Chaucer, mone, which is very near to the traces of the old reading, feems to mean the globe of the earth, or a map of it, from the French, monde, the world; but I think main is the true reading here, and might cafily be mistaken for moon by a hafty tranfcriber, or a careless printer, who might have in their thoughts the moon, which is mentioned in a preceding line." 4 Rarely, for fitly; not for feldom. 5 We fhould read will'd. 6 The fenfe is, "Let me rather woo or carefs thofe that would mifchief, that profess to mean me mischief, than those that really do me mischief under false profeflions of kindness,"

Still