Enthron'd i'th' market place, did fit alone,
Whistling to th' air; which, but for vacancy,
Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too,
And made a gap in nature.
INBORN ROYALTY.
[SHAKESPEARE.} | |
Thou divine nature! how thyfelf thou blazon't
In these two princely boys: they are as gentle
As zephyrs blowing below the violet,
Not wagging his fweet head; and yet, as rough,
(Their royal blood enchaf d,) as the rud'ft wind,
That by the top doth take the mountain pine,
And make him ftoop to the vale. 'Tis wonderful,
That an invifible inftinct fhould frame them
To royalty unlearn'd, honour untaught,
Civility not feen from other; valour,
That wildly grows in them, but, yields a crop,
As if it had been fow'd..
EEMS, Madam! nay, it is; I know not seems
'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, -
Nor cuftomary fuits of folemn black,
Nor windy fufpiration of forc'd breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected 'haviour of the vifage,
Together with all forms, moods, fhews of grief,
That can denote me truly. Thefe, indeed, feem,
For they are actions that a man might play;
But I have that within, which paffeth fhew;
These but the trappings, and the fuits of woed
A FATHER'S ADVICE to his SON, going to travel.
[SHAKESPEARE.]
IVE thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act:
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar;
The friends thou haft, and their adoption try'd,.
Grapple them to thy foul with hooks of fleel:
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
Bear't, that th' opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's cenfure, but referve thy judgment.
Coftly thy habit as thy purfe can buy,
But not exprefs'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy:
For the apparel oft proclaims the man.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft lofes both itself and friend:
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all, to thine own felf be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou can'ft not then be false to any man.
HAMLET, on the Appearance of his FATHER'S GHOST. [SHAKESPEARE.]
NGELS and minifters of grace defend us! Be thou a fpirit of health, or goblin damn'd; Bring with thee airs from heav'n, or blafts from hell Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
Thou com'ft in fuch a questionable shape,
That I will speak to thee: I'll call thee Hamlet,
King, father, royal Dane; Oh, answer me,
Let me not burft in ignorance; but tell
Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearfed in death,
Have burst their cearments! why the fepulchre,
Wherein we saw thee quietly in-urned,
Hath op'd his ponderous and marble jaws,
To caft thee up again? What may this mean,
That thou, dead coarfe, again in complete steel,
Revifit'ft thus the glimpses of the
moon, Making night hideous? And us fools of nature, So horribly to fhake our difpofition
With thoughts beyond the reaches of our fouls!
HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY on DEATH.
[SHAKESPEARE.]
O be, or not to be? that is the question;-
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to fuffer
The flings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a fea of troubles,
And by oppofing end them? To die,-to fleep,-
No more; and by a fleep, to fay, we end
The heart-ach, and the thousand natural fhocks.
That flesh is heir to; 'tis a confummation
Devoutly to be with'd. To die,-to fleep ;-
To fleep; perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that fleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have fhuffled off this mortal coil,
Muft give us paufe; there's the refpect
That makes calamity of fo long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppreffor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of defpis'd love, the law's delay,
The infolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To groan and fweat under a weary life?
But that the dread of fomething after death,
(That undifcover'd country, from whofe bourne
No traveller returns) puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear thofe ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of.
Thus confcience does make cowards of us all:
And thus the native hue of refolution
Is ficklied o'er with the pale caft of thought;
And enterprizes of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry,
And lofe the name of action.
CATO's SOLILOQUY on the IMMORTALITY of the SOUL. [ADDISON.]
T must be fo-Plato, thou reafon'ft well
I must well.
Elfe whence this pleafing hope, this fond defire,
This longing after immortality?
Or whence this fecret dread, and inward horror,
Of falling into nought? Why fhrinks the foul
Back on herself, and ftartles at deftruction?
Tis the divinity that ftirs within us;
'Tis Heav'n itfelf that points out an hereafter,
And intimates eternity to man.
Eternity! thou pleafing, dreadful thought!
Through what variety of untry'd being,
Through what new scenes and changes must we país?
The wide, the unbounded profpect lies before me ;
But fhadows, clouds, and darkness reft upon it.
Here will I hold. If there's a Power above us,
(And that there is all nature cries aloud,
Through all her works) he muft delight in virtue;
And that which he delights in must be happy.
But when or where!-this world was made for Cæfar. I'm weary of conjectures-this must end 'em.
[Laying his hand on his fword. Thus am I doubly arm'd: my death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before me. This in a moment brings me to an end; But this informs me I fhall never die. The foul, fecur'd in her existence, fmiles At the drawn dagger, and defies its point. The ftars fhall fade away, the fun himself Grow dim with age, and nature fink in years; But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth, Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
The wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds.
On FLATTERY, and FIRMNESS of MIND. [SHAKESPEARE.]
AY, do not think I flatter;
For what advancement may I hope from thee,
That no revenue haft, but thy good fpirits
To feed and cloath thee? Why thould the poor be flatter'd ? No, let the candied tongue lick abfurd pomp,
And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee,
Where thrift may follow fawning. Doft thou hear?
Since my dear foul was miftrefs of her choice,
And could of men diftinguifh, her election
Hath feal'd thee for herself; for thou hast been
As one, in fuffering all, that fuffers nothing;
A man, that fortune's buffets and rewards
Haft ta'en with equal thanks: and bleft are thofe,
Whofe blood and judgment are fo well commingled,
That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger,
To found what ftop the pleafe. Give me the man,
That is not paffion's flave, and I will wear him
In my heart's core,-ay, in my heart of heart,
As I do thee.
O fhaken as we are, fo wan with care,
Find we a time for frighted peace to pant,
And breathe short-winded accents of new broils
To be commenc'd in ftronds a-far remote.
No more the thirsty entrance of this foil
Shall damp her lips with her own childrens blood:
No more fhall trenching war channel her fields,
Nor bruise her flowrets with the armed hoofs
Of hoftile paces. Thofe oppofed files,
Which like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one fubftance bred,
Did lately meet in the inteftine shock
And furious clofe of civil butchery,
Shall now, in mutual, well-befeeming ranks,
March all one way; and be no more oppos'd
Against acquaintance, kindred, and allies:
The edge of war, like an ill-fheathed knife,
No more fhall cut his mafter.
HOTSPUR's DESCRIPTION of a finical.COURTIER. [SHAKESPEARE.]
Y liege, I did deny no prisoners;
But I remember when the fight was done,
When I was dry with rage, and extreme toil,
Breathlefs and faint, leaning upon my fword;
Came there a certain lord, neat, trimly drefs'd:
Fresh as a bridegroom, and his chin, new reap'd,
Shew'd like a stubble land at harveft-home.
He was perfum'd like a millener;
And 'twixt his finger and his thumb, he held
A pouncet-box, which ever and anon
He gave his nofe.And ftill he fmil'd and talk'd:
And as the foldiers bare dead bodies by,
He call'd them untaught knaves, unmannerly,
To bring a flovenly, unhandsome coarse
Betwixt the wind and his nobility.
With many holiday and lady terms
He queftion'd me; amongst the reft, demanded
My prifoners, in your majefty's behalf.
I then, all finarting with my wounds, being gall'd
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