But my kisses bring again,
Seals of love, but seald in vain.
Hide, oh hide, those hills of snow,

Which thy frozen bosom bears,
On whose tops the pinks that grow

Are of those that April wears:
But my poor heart first set free,
Bound in those icy chains by thee.

GREATNESS SUBJECT TO CENSURE. O place and greatness, millions of false eyes, Are stuck upon thee! volumes of report : Run with these false and most contrarious quests Upon thy doings! thousand scapes of wit Make thee the father of their idle dream, And rack thee in their fancies.

SOUND SLEEP.

As fast lock'd up in sleep, as guiltless labour When it lies starkly † in the traveller's bones.

ACT V. CHARACTER OF AN ARCH HYPOCRITE. O prince, I conjure thee, as thou believ'st There is another comfort than this world, That thou neglect me not, with that opinion (sible That I am touch'd with madness: make not imposThat which but seems unlike; 'tis not impossible, But one,

the wicked'st caitiff on the ground, May seem as shy, as grave, as just, as absolute, As Angelo; even so may Angelo, In all his dressingsI, characts, titles, forms, * Sallies. + Stifly. # Habits and characters of office.

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Be an arch-villain: believe it, royal prince,
If he be less, he's nothing; but he's more,
Had I more name for badness.

MERCHANT OF VENICE.

ACTI.

MIRTH AND MELANCHOLY.

Now, by two-headed Janus, Nature hath fram'd strange fellows in her time: Some that will evermore peep through their eyes, And laugh, like parrots, at a bagpiper; And other of such vinegar aspect, That they'll not show their teeth in

way

of smile, Though Nestor swear the jest be laughable.

WORLDLINESS. You have too much respect upon the world: They lose it, that do buy it with much care.

THE WORLD'S TRUE VALUE. I hold the world but as the world, Gratiano; A stage, where every man must play a part.

CHEERFULNESS. Let me play the Fool: With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come; And let my liver rather heat with wine, Than

my

heart cool with mortifying groans. Why should a man, whose blood is warm within, Sit like his grandsire cut in alabaster? Sleep when he wakes? and creep into the jaundice By being peevish?

AFFECTED GRAVITY.

I tell thee what, Antonio,-
I love thee, and it is my love that speaks ;
There are a sort of men, whose visages
Do cream and mantle, like a standing pond;
And do a wilful stillness* entertain,
With purpose to be dress'd in an opinion
Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit;
As who should say, I am Sir Oracle,
And, when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!
O, my Antonio, I do know of these,
That therefore only are reputed wise,
For saying nothing.

LOQUACITY.

Gratiano speaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice: His reasons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff; you shall seek all day ere you find them: and when you have them, they are not worth the search.

MEDIOCRITY.

For aught I see, they are as sick, that surfeit with too much, as they that starve with nothing: It is no mean happiness, therefore, to be seated in the mean; superfluity comes sooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.

SPECULATION MORE EASY THAN PRACTICE. If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages, princes' palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own instructions: I can easier teach

a

a

twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow mine own teaching. The brain may devise laws for the blood; but a hot temper leaps over a cold decree; such a hare is madness the youth, to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel the cripple.

THE JEW'S MALICE. Bass. This is signior Antonio.

[looks! Shy. [A side.] How like a fawning publican he I hate him, for he is a Christian: But more, for that, in low simplicity,

, He lends out money gratis, and brings down The rate of usance here with us in Venice. If I can catch him once upon the hip, I will feed fat the ancient grudge I bear him. He hates our sacred nation; and he rails, Even there where merchants most do congregate, On me, my bargains, and

my

well won thrift, Which he calls interest: Cursed be my tribe, If I forgive him!

HYPOCRISY.
Mark you this, Bassanio,
The devil can cite scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul, producing holy witness,
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek;
A goodly apple rotten at the heart;
0, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

THE JEW'S EXPOSTULATION.
Signior Antonio, many a time and oft,
In the Rialto you have rated me
About my monies, and my usances

a

Still have I borne it with a patient shrug;
For sufferance is the badge of all our tribe:
You call me—misbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine,
And all for use of that which is mine own.
Well then,
it now appears, you

need
my

help:
Go to then; you come to me, and you say,

Shylock, we would have monies: You say so; * You, that did void

your
rheum

upon my beard,
And foot me, as you spurn a stranger cur
Over
your

threshold: Monies is your suit.
What should I say to you? Should I not say,
Hath a dog money? is it possible,
A cur can lend three thousand ducats? or
Shall I bend low, and, in a bondman's key,
With ’bated breath, and whispering humbleness,
Say this
Fair sir, you spit on me on Wednesday last;
You spurn'd me such a day; another time
You calld me-dog; and for these courtesies
I'll lend you

thus much monies.

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ACT II.

GRAVITY ASSUMED.
Signior Bassanio, hear me:
If I do not put on a sober habit,
Talk with respect, and swear but now and then,
Wear prayer books in my pocket, look demurely;
Nay more, while grace is saying, hood mine eyes
Thus with my hat, and sigh, and say, Amen;
Use all the observance of civility,
Like one well studied in sad ostent*
To please his grandam, never trust me more.
* Show of staid and serious demeanour.

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