The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works
Page 421
The which it will deliver.
Flourish
EMILIA
Is this winning?
O all you heavenly powers, where is your mercy?
But that your wills have said it must be so,
And charge me live to comfort this unfriended,
This miserable prince, that cuts away
A life more worthy from him than all women,
I should and would die too.
HFPPOLYTA
Infinite pity
That four such eyes should be so fixed on one
That two must needs be blind for’t.
THESEUS So it is.
Exeunt
5.6 Enter, guarded, Palamon and his three Knights pinioned; enter with them the Jailer and an executioner with block and axe
PALAMON
There’s many a man alive that hath outlived
The love o’th’ people; yea, i’th’ selfsame state
Stands many a father with his child: some comfort
We have by so considering. We expire,
And not without men’s pity; to live still,
Have their good wishes. We prevent
The loathsome misery of age, beguile
The gout and rheum that in lag hours attend
For grey approachers; we come towards the gods
Young and unwappered, not halting under crimes
Many and state—that sure shall please the gods
Sooner than such, to give us nectar with ’em,
For we are more clear spirits. My dear kinsmen,
Whose lives for this poor comfort are laid down,
You have sold ’em too too cheap.
FIRST KNIGHT
What ending could be
Of more content? O’er us the victors have
Fortune, whose title is as momentary
As to us death is certain—a grain of honour
They not o’erweigh us.
SECOND KNIGHT
Let us bid farewell, And with our patience anger tott’ring fortune,
Who at her certain’st reels.
THIRD KNIGHT Come, who begins?
PALAMON
E’en he that led you to this banquet shall
Taste to you all. (To the jailer) Aha, my friend, my
friend,
Your gentle daughter gave me freedom once;
You’ll see’t done now for ever. Pray, how does she?
I heard she was not well; her kind of ill
Gave me some sorrow.
JAILER
Sir, she’s well restored
And to be married shortly.
PALAMON
By my short life,
I am most glad on’t. ’Tis the latest thing
I shall be glad of. Prithee, tell her so;
Commend me to her, and to piece her portion
Tender her this.
He gives his purse
FIRST KNIGHT
Nay, let’s be offerers all.
SECOND KNIGHT
Is it a maid?
PALAMON
Verily, I think so—
A right good creature more to me deserving
Than I can quit or speak of.
ALL THREE KNIGHTS Commend us to her.
They give their purses
JAILER
The gods requite you all, and make her thankful.
PALAMON
Adieu, and let my life be now as short
As my leave-taking.
He lies on the block
FIRST KNIGHT
Lead, courageous cousin.
SECOND and THIRD KNIGHTS We’ll follow cheerfully.
A great noise within: crying, ‘Run! Save! Hold!’
Enter in haste a Messenger
MESSENGER Hold! Hold! O, hold! Hold! Hold!
Enter Pirithous in haste
PIRITHOUS
Hold, ho! It is a cursèd haste you made
If you have done so quickly! Noble Palamon,
The gods will show their glory in a life
That thou art yet to lead.
PALAMON
Can that be,
When Venus, I have said, is false? How do things
fare?
PIRITHOUS
Arise, great sir, and give the tidings ear
That are most rarely sweet and bitter.
PALAMON
What
Hath waked us from our dream?
PIRITHOUS
List, then: your cousin,
Mounted upon a steed that Emily
Did first bestow on him, a black one owing
Not a hair-worth of white—which some will say
Weakens his price and many will not buy
His goodness with this note; which superstition
Here finds allowance—on this horse is Arcite
Trotting the stones of Athens, which the calkins
Did rather tell than trample; for the horse
Would make his length a mile, if’t pleased his rider
To put pride in him. As he thus went counting
The flinty pavement, dancing, as ‘twere, to th’ music
His own hooves made—for, as they say, from iron
Came music’s origin—what envious flint,
Cold as old Saturn and like him possessed
With fire malevolent, darted a spark,
Or what fierce sulphur else, to this end made,
I comment not—the hot horse, hot as fire,
Took toy at this and fell to what disorder
His power could give his will; bounds; comes on end;
Forgets school-doing, being therein trained
And of kind manège; pig-like he whines
At the sharp rowel, which he frets at rather
Than any jot obeys; seeks all foul means
Of boist’rous and rough jad’ry to disseat
His lord, that kept it bravely. When naught served,
When neither curb would crack, girth break, nor
diff’ring plunges
Disroot his rider whence he grew, but that
He kept him ‘tween his legs, on his hind hooves—
On end he stands—
That Arcite’s legs, being higher than his head,
Seemed with strange art to hang. His victor’s wreath
Even then fell off his head; and presently
Backward the jade comes o’er and his full poise
Becomes the rider’s load. Yet is he living;
But such a vessel ’tis that floats but for
The surge that next approaches. He much desires
To have some speech with you—lo, he appears.
Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Emilia, and Arcite in a chair borne by attendants
PALAMON
O miserable end of our alliance!
The gods are mighty. Arcite, if thy heart,
Thy worthy manly heart, be yet unbroken,
Give me thy last words. I am Palamon,
One that yet loves thee dying.
ARCITE
Take Emilia,
And with her all the world’s joy. Reach thy hand—
Farewell—I have told my last hour. I was false,
Yet never treacherous. Forgive me, cousin—
One kiss from fair Emilia—(they kiss) ’tis done.
Take her; I die.
He dies
PALAMON
Thy brave soul seek Elysium.
EMILIA (to Arcite’s body)
I’ll close thine eyes, Prince. Blessed souls be with thee.
Thou art a right good man, and, while I live,
This day I give to tears.
PALAMON
And I to honour.
THESEUS
In this place first you fought, e’en very here
I sundered you. Acknowledge to the gods
Our thanks that you are living.
His part is played, and, though it were too short,
He did it well. Your day is lengthened and
The blissful dew of heaven does arrouse you.
The powerful Venus well hath graced her altar,
And given you your love; our master, Mars,
Hath vouched his oracle, and to Arcite gave
The grace of the contention. So the deities
Have showed due justice.—Bear this hence.
⌈Exeunt attendants with Arcite’s body⌉
PALAMON cousin,
That we should things desire which do cost us
The loss of our desire! That naught could buy
Dear love, but loss of dear love!
THESEUS
Never fortune
Did play a subtler game—the conquered triumphs,
The victor has the loss. Yet in the passage
The gods have been most equal. Palamon,
Your kinsman hath confessed the right o’th’ lady
Did lie in you, for you first saw her and
Even then proclaimed your fancy. He restored her
As your stol’n jewel, and desired your spirit
To send him hence forgiven. The gods my justice
Take from my hand, and they themselves become
The executioners. Lead your lady off,
And call your lovers from the stage of death,
Whom I adopt my friends. A day or two
Let us look sadly and give grace unto
The funeral of Arcite, in whose end
The visages of bridegrooms we’ll put on
And smile with Palamon, for whom an hour,
But one hour since, I was as dearly sorry
As glad of Arcite, and am now as glad
As for him sorry. O you heavenly charmers,
What things you make of us! For what we lack
We laugh, for what we have, are sorry; still
Are children in some kind. Let us be thankful
For that which is, and with you leave dispute
That are above our question. Let’s go off
And bear us like the time.
Flourish. Exeunt
Epilogue
Enter Epilogue
EPILOGUE
I would now ask ye how ye like the play,
But, as it is with schoolboys, cannot say.
I am cruel fearful. Pray yet stay awhile,
And let me look upon ye. No man smile?
Then it goes hard, I see. He that has
Loved a young handsome wench, then, show his
face—
’Tis strange if none be here—and, if he will,
Against his conscience let him hiss and kill
Our market. ’Tis in vain, I see, to stay ye.
Have at the worst can come, then! Now, what say ye?
And yet mistake me not—I am not bold—
We have no such cause. If the tale we have totd—
For ’tis no other—any way content ye,
For to that honest purpose it was meant ye,
We have our end; and ye shall have ere long,
I dare say, many a better to prolong
Your old loves to us. We and all our might
Rest at your service. Gentlemen, good night.
Flourish. Exit
FURTHER READING
by SUSAN BROCK
WORKS on individual plays are listed in that section regardless of subject. UK publication details are supplied where available.
Editions of Shakespeare
Single volumes
Shakespeare’s Plays in Quarto: A Facsimile Edition of Copies Primarily from the Henry E. Huntington Library, eds. Michael J. B. Allen and Kenneth Muir (Berkeley CA: University of California Press, 1981)
A one-volume collection of early quartos.
The First Folio of Shakespeare: The Norton Facsimile, ed. Charlton Hinman, with a new introduction by Peter W. M. Blayney, 2nd edn. (New York and London: W. W. Norton, I996)
A facsimile of the First Folio, with a valuable introduction.
The Norton Shakespeare, gen. ed. Stephen Greenblatt, eds. Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus, with an essay on the Shakespearean stage by Andrew Gurr (New York: W. W. Norton, 1997)
Based on the Oxford edition with a general introduction and separate introductions to each play. Commentary and glossarial notes on the page.
The Complete Works of Shakespeare, ed. David Bevington, updated th edn. (New York: Longman, 1997) Uses work from the Bantam Shakespeare series (1988).
The Riverside Shakespeare, ed. G. Blakemore Evans with the assistance of J. M. M. Tobin, 2nd edn. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997)
A mixture of original and modern spelling with through-line numbering. Text used in the Harvard Concordance.
The Complete Pelican Shakespeare, gen. eds. Stephen 0rgel and A. L. Braunmuller (New York: Penguin, 2002).
Newly edited texts in modern American spelling, together with introductions and commentary.
Multi-volume series
New Variorum Shakespeare, ed. H. H. Furness (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1871―); rev. series (New York: MLA, 1977―)
Revised editions are Measure for Measure, Antony and Cleopatra, and As You Like It. Provides historical readings from a wide range of editions and critics.
Shakespeare Quarto Facsimiles, 16 vols (London: Shakespeare Association, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1939―52; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1957―75)
Includes only a selection of the quartos judged to be the most important.
The New Penguin Shakespeare, gen. ed. T. J. B. Spencer, associate ed. Stanley Wells (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1964―2001)
To be reissued from 2005 with new introductions and other editorial material.
The Oxford Shakespeare, gen. ed. Stanley Wells (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982―)
Texts independent of the one-volume Oxford edition. Also published in paperback in the World’s Classics series.
The New Cambridge Shakespeare, founding ed. Philip Brockbank, gen. ed. Brian Gibbons (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984―)
Not yet complete but early volumes being updated.
The Arden Shakespeare, 3rd series, gen. eds. Richard Proudfoot, Ann Thompson and David Scott Kastan (London: Arden Shakespeare, 1995―) Gradually replacing the Arden 2nd series (1951―82).
Shakespeare Folios (London: Nick Hern Books, 2001―) Parallel First Folio and modern texts.
General Reference
Berger, Thomas, L., William C. Bradford and Sidney L. Sondergard (eds.), An Index of Characters in Early Modern English Drama: Printed Plays, 1500―166o, rev. edn. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998)
Dobson, Michael, and Stanley Wells (eds.), The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)
Harner, James L. (ed.), World Shakespeare Bibliography Online 1966―2004 (Johns Hopkins University Press in Association with the Folger Shakespeare Library, 2004) (〈http://www.worldshakesbib.org) by subscription)
Kastan, David Scott (ed.), A Companion to Shakespeare (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999)
Munro, John (ed.), The Shakspere Allusion Book: A Collection of Allusions to Shakspere from 1591―1700, originally compiled by C. M. Ingleby, Miss L. Toulmin Smith and Dr F. J. Furnivall, with a preface by Sir Edmund Chambers, 2 vols (London: Oxford University Press, 1932)
Wells, Stanley, and Lena Cowen Orlin (eds.), Shakespeare: An Oxford Guide (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)
Spevack, Marvin, The Harvard Concordance to Shakespeare (Cambridge MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1973)
Wells, Stanley, with James Shaw, A Dictionary of Shakespeare (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998)
Periodicals
Only the last or current publisher is listed.
Shakespeare, I―, 1996― (Washington DC: Georgetown University Press)
Shakespeare Bulletin (since 1992 incorporating Shakespeare on Film Newsletter), I―, 1983― (Carrollton GA: State University of West Georgia)
Shakespeare Newsletter, I―, 1951― (New Rochelle NY: Iona College, Dept
. of English)
Shakespeare on Film Newsletter, 1―16, 1976―92 (Burlington VT: University of Vermont, Dept. of English)
Shakespeare Quarterly, I―, 1951― (Baltimore MD: Johns Hopkins Press for the Folger Shakespeare Library in association with the George Washington University)
Shakespeare Studies, I―, 1965― (London: Associated University Presses)
Shakespeare Survey, I―, 1948― (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)
Life
Chambers, E. K., William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems, 2 vols (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930)
Duncan-Jones, Katherine, Ungentle Shakespeare: Scenes from His Life (London: Arden Shakespeare, 2001)
Dutton, Richard, William Shakespeare: A Literary Life (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1989)
Eccles, Mark, Shakespeare in Warwickshire (Madison WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1961)
Fraser, Russell, Young Shakespeare (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988)
—Shakespeare: The Later Years (New York: Columbia University Press, 1992)
Fripp, Edgar I., Shakespeare, Man and Artist, 2 vols (London: Oxford University Press, 1938)
Greenblatt, Stephen, Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare (London: Jonathan Cape, 2004)
Honan, Park, Shakespeare, a Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998)