Are.
Yes Sir. King.
About Eighteen?
Are.
I never ask'd his age. King.
Is he full of service?
Are.
By your pardon why do you ask?
King.
Put him away. Are.
Sir?
King.
Put him away, h'as done you that good service,
Shames me to speak
of.
Are.
Good Sir let me understand you.
King.
If you fear me, shew it in duty, put away that boy.
Are.
Let me have reason for it Sir, and then
Your will is my
command.
King.
Do not you blush to ask it? Cast him off,
Or I shall do the
same to you. Y'are one
Shame with me, and
so near unto my self,
That by my life,
I dare not tell my self,
What you, my self
have done.
Are.
What have I done my Lord?
King.
'Tis a new language, that all love to learn,
The common people
speak it well already,
They need no Grammer;
understand me well,
There be foul whispers
stirring; cast him off!
And suddenly do
it: Farewel. [Exit
King.
Are.
Where may a Maiden live securely free,
Keeping her Honour
safe? Not with the living,
They feed upon opinions,
errours, dreams,
And make 'em truths:
they draw a nourishment
Out of defamings,
grow upon disgraces,
And when they see
a vertue fortified
Strongly above the
battery of their tongues;
Oh, how they cast
to sink it; and defeated
(Soul sick with
Poyson) strike the Monuments
Where noble names
lie sleeping: till they sweat,
And the cold Marble
melt.
Enter
Philaster.
Phi.
Peace to your fairest thoughts, dearest Mistress.
Are.
Oh, my dearest servant I have a War within me.
Phi.
He must be more than man, that makes these Crystals
Run into Rivers;
sweetest fair, the cause;
And as I am your
slave, tied to your goodness,
Your creature made
again from what I was,
And newly spirited,
I'le right your honours.
Are.
Oh, my best love; that boy!
Phi. What boy?
Are.
The pretty boy you gave me.
Phi. What of him?
Are.
Must be no more mine. Phi.
Why?
Are.
They are jealous of him.
Phi. Jealous, who?
Are.
The King. Phi.
Oh, my fortune,
Then 'tis no idle
jealousie. Let him go.
Are.
Oh cruel, are you hard hearted too?
Who shall now tell
you, how much I lov'd you;
Who shall swear
it to you, and weep the tears I send?
Who shall now bring
you Letters, Rings, Bracelets,
Lose his health
in service? wake tedious nights
In stories of your
praise? Who shall sing
Your crying Elegies?
And strike a sad soul
Into senseless Pictures,
and make them mourn?
Who shall take up
his Lute, and touch it, till
He crown a silent
sleep upon my eye-lid,
Making me dream
and cry, Oh my dear, dear Philaster.
Phi.
Oh my heart!
Would he had broken
thee, that made thee know
This Lady was not
Loyal. Mistress, forget
The boy, I'le get
thee a far better.
Are.
Oh never, never such a boy again, as my Bellario.
Pill.
[Phi.] 'Tis but your fond affection.
Are.
With thee my boy, farewel for ever,
All secrecy in servants:
farewel faith,
And all desire to
do well for it self:
Let all that shall
succeed thee, for thy wrongs,
Sell and betray
chast love.
Phi.
And all this passion for a boy?
Are.
He was your boy, and you put him to me,
And the loss of
such must have a mourning for.
Phi.
O thou forgetful woman?
Are. How, my Lord?
Phi.
False Arethusa! |
Hast
thou a Medicine to restore my wits,
When I have lost
'em? If not, leave to talk, and do thus.
Are.
Do what Sir? would you sleep?
Phi.
For ever Arethusa. Oh you gods,
Give me a worthy
patience, Have I stood
Naked, alone the
shock of many fortunes?
Have I seen mischiefs
numberless, and mighty
Grow live a sea
upon me? Have I taken
Danger as stern
as death into my bosom,
And laught upon
it, made it but a mirth,
And flung it by?
Do I live now like him,
Under this Tyrant
King, that languishing
Hears his sad Bell,
and sees his Mourners? Do I
Bear all this bravely,
and must sink at length
Under a womans falshood?
Oh that boy,
That cursed boy?
None but a villain boy, to ease your lust?
Are.
Nay, then I am betray'd,
I feel the plot
cast for my overthrow; Oh I am wretched.
Phi.
Now you may take that little right I have
To this poor Kingdom,
give it to your Joy,
For I have no joy
in it. Some far place,
Where never womankind
durst set her foot,
For bursting with
her poisons, must I seek,
And live to curse
you;
There dig a Cave,
and preach to birds and beasts,
What woman is, and
help to save them from you.
How heaven is in
your eyes, but in your hearts,
More hell than hell
has; how your tongues like Scorpions,
Both heal and poyson;
how your thoguhts are woven
With thousand changes
in one subtle webb,
And worn so by you.
How that foolish man,
That reads the story
of a womans face,
And dies believing
it, is lost for ever.
How all the good
you have, is but a shadow,
I'th' morning with
you, and at night behind you,
Past and forgotten.
How your vows are frosts,
Fast for a night,
and with the next sun gone.
How you are, being
taken all together,
A meer confusion,
and so dead a Chaos,
That love cannot
distinguish. These sad Texts
Till my last hour,
I am bound to utter of you.
So farewel all my
wo, all my delight. [Exit
Phi
Are.
Be merciful ye gods and strike me dead;
What way have I
deserv'd this? make my breast
Transparent as pure
Crystal, that the world
Jealous of me, may
see the foulest thought
My heart holds.
Where shall a woman turn her eyes,
To find out constancy?
Save me, how black, [Enter
Bell.
And guilty (me thinks)
that boy looks now?
Oh thou dissembler,
that before thou spak'st
Wert in thy cradle
false? sent to make lies,
And betray Innocents;
thy Lord and thou,
May glory in the
ashes of a Maid
Fool'd by her passion;
but the conquest is
Nothing so great
as wicked. Fly away,
Let my command force
thee to that, which shame
Would do without
it. If thou understoodst
The loathed Office
thou hast undergone,
Why, thou wouldst
hide thee under heaps of hills,
Lest men should
dig and find thee. Bell.
Oh what God
Angry with men,
hath sent this strange disease
Into the noblest
minds? Madam this grief
You add unto me
is no more than drops
To seas, for which
they are not seen to swell;
My Lord had struck
his anger through my heart,
And let out all
the hope of future joyes,
You need not bid
me fly, I came to part,
To take my latest
leave, Farewel for ever;
I durst not run
away in honesty,
From such a Lady,
like a boy that stole,
Or made some grievous
fault; the power of gods
Assist you in
your sufferings; hasty time
Reveal the truth
to your abused Lord,
And mine: That
he may know your worth: whilst I
Go
|
