Bass. Go, Gratiano; run and overtake him, Give him the ring, and bring him, if thou canst, Unto Antonio's house: - away! make haste. Come, you and I will thither presently; [Exit GRATIANO. [Exeunt. And in the morning early will we both Fly toward Belmont: Come, Antonio. SCENE II. The same. A Street. Enter PORTIA and NERISSA. Por. Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed, And let him sign it: We'll away to-night, And be a day before our husbands home. Enter GRATIANO. Gra. Fair sir, you are well o'erta'en : My lord Bassanio, upon more advice, Hath sent you here this ring, and doth entreat Por. That cannot be. His ring I do accept most thankfully, And so, I pray you, tell him: Furthermore, I pray you, show my youth old Shylock's house. Gra. That will I do. Ner. Sir, I would speak with you. [To POR.] I'll see if I can get my husband's ring, Which I did make him swear to keep for ever. Po. Thou may'st, I warrant. We shall have old swearing,' Old was a common augmentative in the colloquial language of Shakespeare's time. See Much Ado about Nothing, Act v. sc. 2, note 7 That they did give away the rings to men; [Exeunt ACT V. SCENE I. Belmont. Avenue to PORTIA's House. Enter LORENZO and JESSICA. Lor. The moon shines bright: When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees, Jes. There is such an air of reality and of first-hand knowledge about this bewitching scene, as certainly lends some support to the notion of the Poet's having visited Italy; it being scarce credible that any one should have put so much of an Italian moonlight evening into a description, upon the strength of what he had seen in England. But, what is quite remarkable, the vividness of the scene is helped on by the very thing that would seem most likely to hinder it. The running of "in such a night" into such a variety of classic allusion and imagery, and gradually drawing t round into the late and finally into the present experiences of the speakers, gives to the whole the freshness and originality of an actual occurrence; the remembrance of what they have read being quickened by the inspiration of what lies before them. H. And saw the lion's shadow ere himself. And ran dismay'd away. Lor. In such a night, Stood Dido with a willow in her hand Upon the wild sea-banks, and wav'd her love Jes. Medea gather'd the enchanted herbs That did renew old son. Lor. In such a night, In such a night, Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew; And with an unthrift love did run from Venice, Jes. In such a night, Did young Lorenzo swear he lov'd her well; Lor. In such a night, Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew, Slander her love, and he forgave it her. Jes. I would out-night you, did nobody come But, hark! I hear the footing of a man. Enter STEPHANO. Lor. Who comes so fast in silence of the night! Steph. A friend. Lor. A friend what friend? your name, I pray you, friend? Steph. Stephano is my name; and I bring word. My mistress will before the break of day Be here at Belmont: she doth stray about By holy crosses, where she kneels and prays For happy wedlock hours." 2 One of the finest touches in the delineation of Portia is this associating of a solicitude for wedded happiness with the charity Lor. Who comes with her! Steph. None, but a holy hermit, and her maid. I pray you, is my master yet return'd ? Lor. He is not, nor we have not heard from him. But go we in, I pray thee, Jessica, And ceremoniously let us prepare Some welcome for the mistress of the house. Enter LAUNCELOT. Laun. Sola, sola! wo, ha, ho! sola, sola! Lor. Who calls? Laun. Sola! did you see master Lorenzo, and mistress Lorenzo? sola, sola! Lor. Leave hallooing, man; here. Laun. Sola! Where? where? Lor. Here. Laun. Tell him, there's a post come from my master, with his horn full of good news: my mas ter will be here ere morning. [Exit and humility of a religious and prayerful spirit. The binding of our life up with another's naturally sends us to Him who may indeed be our Father, but not mine. A writer in the Pictorial edition remarks that "these holy crosses, still as of old, bristle the land in Italy, and sanctify the sea. Besides those contained in churches, they mark the spots where heroes were born, where saints rested, where travellers died. They rise on the summits of hills, and at the intersection of roads. The days are past when pilgrims of all ranks, from the queen to the beggar-maid, might be seen kneeling and praying for happy wedlock hours,' or whatever else lay nearest their hearts; and the reverence of the passing traveller is now nearly all the homage that is paid at these shrines." The old English feeling on this score is thus shown in The Merry Devil of Edmonton: "But there are crosses, wife: here's one in Waltham, At Ceston; and 'tis ominous to pass H Lor. Sweet soul, let's in, and there expect their coming. And yet no matter; - why should we go in Sit, Jessica Look, how the floor of heaven There's not the smallest orb, which thou behold'st, Still quiring to the young-ey'd cherubins: : 4 A small flat dish or plate, used in the administration of the Eucharist it was commonly of gold, or silver-gilt. The first folio and one of the quartos read puttens: the second folio reads patterns, which Collier strangely adopts, thus taking a poor authority for a worse reading. H. So in one of the quartos, giving a sense as clear as need be the other quarto and the folio read in it, which Johuson thought should be it in, before he knew how it was in the quarto first mentioned. The Chiswick has close us in," for which there is no authority.. A passage somewhat resembling that in the text occurs in Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity: "Touching musical harmony such is the force thereof, and so pleasing effects it hath in that very part of man which is most divine, that some have thereby been induced to think that the soul itself by nature is or hath in it narmony." The Book containing this came out in 1597; so that there could not well be any obligation either way between Hooker and Shakespeare. Of course every body has heard of the music of the spheres," - an ancient mystery which taught that the heavenly bodies in their revolutions sing together in a concert so loud, various, and sweet, as to exceed all proportion to the human ear. And the greatest souls, from Plato to Wordsworth |