Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword, And 'twixt his finger and his thumb, he held And still he smil'd and talk'd: And as the soldiers bare dead bodies by, Betwixt the wind and his nobility. With many holiday and, lady terms He question'd me; amongst the rest, demanded I then, all smarting with my wounds, being gall'd Out of my grief and my impatience, Of guns, and drums, and wounds, (heaven save the mark) Was spermaceti for an inward bruise; And that it was great pity, (so it was) And I beseech you, let not this report Betwixt my love, and your high Majesty. VII.-Hotspur's Soliloquy on the contents of a LetterIB. "BUT, for mine own part, my lord, I could be well contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear your house.". -He could be contented to be there! Why is he not then?-In respect of the love he bears our house? He shows in this, he loves his own barn better than he loves our house." Let me see some more. "The purpose you undertake is dangerous." Why, that's certain? 'tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to drink; but I tell you, my lord Fool, out of this nettle danger, we pluck this flower safely. "The purpose you undertake is dangerous; the friends you have named uncertain; the time itself unsorted; and your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so great an opposition."Say you so, say you so? I say unto you again, you are a shallow, cowardly hind, and you lie. What a lackbrain is this! Our plot is as good a plot as ever was laid; our friends true and constant; a good plot; good friends and full of expectation; an excellent plot, very good friends. What a frosty spirited rogue is this! Why, my lord of York commands the plot, and the general course of the action. By this hand, if I were now by this rascal, I could brain him with his lady's fan Is there not my father, my uncle and myself? Lord Edward Mortimer, my lord of York, and Owen Glendower? Is there not, besides, the Douglas? Have I not all their letters to meet me in arms by the ninth of the next month? And are there not some of them set forward already? What a pagan rascal is this! An infidel!-Ha! You shall see now, in the very sincerity of fear and cold heart, will he to the king, and lay open all our proceedings. O! I could divide myself, and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of skimmed milk with so honorable an action. Hang him! Let him tell the king. We are prepared. I will set forward to night. VIII-Othello's Apology for his Marriage. TRAGEDY OF OTHELLO. And little of this great world can I speak, More than pertains to feats of broils and battle; In speaking of myself. Yet by your patience, Of my whole course of love; what drugs, what charms, What conjuration, and what mighty magic, Her father lov'd me; oft invited me ; I ran it through, e'en from my boyish days Of hairbreadth 'scapes in th' imminent deadly breach; And sold to slavery; of my redemption thence, -All these to hear Would Desdemona seriously incline; But still the house affairs would draw her thence ; That my youth suffer'd. My story being done, She gave me for my pains a world of sighs. She swore in faith, 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange; She wish'd she had not heard it; yet she wish'd She thank'd me; That heaven had made her such a man. And bade me, if I had a friend that lov'd her, I should but teach him how to tell my story, And that would woo her. On this hint I spake ; And I lov'd her that she did pity them. This only is the witchcraft which I've us'd. IX-Henry IV's Soliloquy on Sleep.---SHAKESPEARE HOW many thousands of my poorest subjects Are at this hour asleep! O gentle sleep! Why rather, sleep, liest thou in smoaky cribs, And hush'd with buzzing night flies to thy slumber, And lull'd with sounds of sweetest melody? Who take the ruffian billows by the tops, X-Capt. Bobadil's Method of defeating an Army. EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOR. I WILL tell you, Si, oy the way of private and under seal, I am a gentleman; and live here obscure, and to myself; but were I known to his Majesty and the Lords, observe me, I would undertake, upon this poor head and live, for the public benefit of the state, not only to spare the entire lives of his subjects in general, but to save the one half, nay three-fourths of his yearly charge in holding war, and against what enemy soever. And how would I do it, think you? Why thus, Sir.I would select nineteen more to myself, throughout the land; gentlemen they should be; of good spirit, strong and able constitution. I would choose them by an instinct that I have. And I would teach these nineteen the special rules; as your Punto, your Reverso, your Stoccata, your Imbroccata, your Passada, your Montonto; till they could all play very near, or altogether, as well as myself. This done; say the enemy were forty thousand strong. We twenty would come into the field, the tenth of March, or thereabouts, and we would challenge twenty of the enemy; they could not, in their honor, refuse us. Well-we would kill them; challenge twenty more-kill them; twenty more-kill them ; twenty more- -kill them too. And thus, would we kill every man, his ten a day-that's ten score: Ten score-that's two hundred; two hundred a day-five days, a thousand: Forty thousand-forty times five-five times forty-two hundred days kill them all up by computation. And this I will venture my poor gentlemanlike carcase to perform (provided there be no treason practised upon us) by fair and discreet manhood; that is, civilly-by the sword. XI.-Soliloquy of Hamlet's Uncle, on the Murder of his Brother.-TRAGEDY OF HAMLET. OH! my offence is rank; it smells to heaven; And what's in prayer, but this two fold force; |