A LOVER'S BANISHMENT. And why not death, rather than living torment? To die, is to be banished from myself; And Silvia is myself: banish'd from her, Is self from self; a deadly banishment! What light is light, if Silvia be not seen? What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by? Unless it be to think that she is by, And feed upon the shadow of perfection. Except I be by Silvia in the night, There is no music in the nightingale ; Unless I look on Silvia in the day, There is no day for me to look upon.

BEAUTY PETITIONING IN VAIN.
Ay, ay; and she hath offer'd to the doom,
(Which, unrevers’d, stands in effectual force),
A sea of melting pearl, which some call tears:
Those at her father's churlish feet she tender'd;
With them, upon her knees, her humble self;
Wringing her hands, whose whiteness so became
As if but now they waxed pale for woe: [them,
But neither bended knces, pure hands held up,
Sad sighs, deep groans, nor silver-shedding tears,
Could penetrate her uncompassionate sire.

HOPE.
Hope is a lover's staff; walk hence with that,
And manage it against despairing thoughts.

LOVE COMPARED TO A FIGURE ON ICE.
This weak impress of love is as a figure
Trenched* in ice; which with an hour's heat
Dissolves to water, and doth lose his form.

THREE THINGS IN MAN DISLIKED BY FEMALES.
The best way is to slander Valentine
With falsehood, cowardice, and poor descent;
Three things that women highly hold in hate.

THE POWER OF POETRY WITH FEMALES.

Say, that upon the altar of her beauty You sacrifice your tears, your sighs, your heart: Write till your ink be dry; and with your tears Moist it again; and frame some feeling line, That may discover such integrity :For Orpheus' lute was strung with poet's sinews; Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones, Make tigers tame, and huge leviathans Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands.

ACT IV.

THE POWER OF ACTION.

At that time I made her weep a-good*,
For I did play a lamentable part:
Madam, 'twas Ariadne, passioning
For Theseus' perjury, and unjust flight;
Which I so lively acted with my tears,
That my poor mistress, moved therewithal,
Wept bitterly; and, would, I might be dead,
If I in thought felt not her very sorrow!

ACT V.

A LOVER IN SOLITUDE.
How use doth breed a habit in a man!
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns :
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And to the nightingale's complaining notes,
Tune my distresses, and record f my woes.
O thou that dost inhabit in my breast,

Leave not the mansion so long tenantless;
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall,
And leave no memory of what it was!
Repair me with thy presence, Silvia ;
Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn swain!

LOVE UNRETURNED.

What dangerous action, stood it next to death, Would I not undergo for one calm look? 0, 'tis the curse in love, and still approvd*, When women cannot love where they're belov’d.

INFIDELITY IN A FRIEND. Who should be trusted now, when one's right hand Is perjur'd to the bosom? Proteus, I am sorry, I must never trust thee more, But count the world a stranger for thy sake. The private wound is deepest.

REPENTANCE.

Who by repentance is not satisfied, Is nor of heaven, nor earth.

INCONSTANCY IN MAN.

O heaven! were man But constant, he were perfect: but that one error Fills him with faults.

* Felt, experienced.

K

Uinter's Tale.

ACT I.

YOUTHFUL INNOCENCE.

We were, fair queen, Two lads, that thought there was no more behind, But such a day to-morrow as to-day, And to be boy eternal. We were as twinn'd lambs, that did frisk i' the sun, And bleat the one at the other: what we chang'd, Was innocence for innocence; we knew not The doctrine of ill doing, no, nor dream'd That any did: Had we pursu'd that life, And our weak spirits ne'er been higher rear'd With stronger blood, we should have answer'd heaven Boldly, Not guilty; the imposition clear'd, Hereditary ours*.

FONDNESS OF A FATHER FOR HIS CHILD.

Leon. Are you so fond of your young prince as we
Do seem to be of ours?
Pol.

If at home, sir,
He's all my exercise, my mirth, my matter:
Now my sworn friend, and then mine enemy:
My parasite, my soldier, statesman, all :
He makes a July's day short as December;
And, with his varying childness, cures in me
Thoughts that would thick my blood.

* Setting aside original sin.

JEALOUSY.

Is whispering nothing? Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses? Kissing with inside lip? stopping the career Of laughter with a sigh? (a note infallible Of breaking honesty): horsing foot on foot? Skulking in corners? wishing clocks more swift? Hours, minutes? noon, midnight? and all eyes blind With the pin and web *, but theirs, theirs only, That would unseen be wicked ? is this nothing? Why, then the world, and all that's in't, is nothing; The covering sky is nothing ; Bohemia nothing; My wife is nothing; nor nothing have these nothings, If this be nothing.

REGICIDES DETESTABLE.

To do this deed, Promotion follows: If I could find example Of thousands, that had struck anointed kings, And flourish'd after, I'd not do't: but since Nor brass, nor stone, nor parchment, bears not one, Let villany itself forswear't.

ACT II.

KNOWLEDGE SOMETIMES HURTFUL.

There may be in the cup A spidert steep'd, and one may drink; depart, And yet partake no venom; for his knowledge Is not infected: but if one present The abhorr'd ingredient to his eye, make known How he hath drank, he cracks his gorge, his sides, With violent hefts f.

* Disorders of the eye.
+ Spiders were esteemed poisonous in our author's time.
# Heavings.