The Two Noble Kinsmen

1 Enter Emilia alone, with two pictures.
2 EMILIA.
3 Yet I may bind those wounds up, that must open
4 And bleed to death for my sake else. I’ll choose,
5 And end their strife. Two such young handsome men
6 Shall never fall for me; their weeping mothers,
7 Following the dead cold ashes of their sons,
8 Shall never curse my cruelty.
9 [_Looks at one of the pictures._]
10 Good heaven,
11 What a sweet face has Arcite! If wise Nature,
12 With all her best endowments, all those beauties
13 She sows into the births of noble bodies,
14 Were here a mortal woman, and had in her
15 The coy denials of young maids, yet doubtless
16 She would run mad for this man. What an eye,
17 Of what a fiery sparkle and quick sweetness,
18 Has this young prince! Here Love himself sits smiling;
19 Just such another wanton Ganymede
20 Set Jove afire with, and enforced the god
21 Snatch up the goodly boy and set him by him,
22 A shining constellation. What a brow,
23 Of what a spacious majesty, he carries,
24 Arched like the great-eyed Juno’s, but far sweeter,
25 Smoother than Pelops’ shoulder! Fame and Honour,
26 Methinks, from hence, as from a promontory
27 Pointed in heaven, should clap their wings and sing
28 To all the under-world the loves and fights
29 Of gods and such men near ’em.
30 [_Looks at the other picture._]
31 Palamon
32 Is but his foil; to him a mere dull shadow;
33 He’s swart and meagre, of an eye as heavy
34 As if he had lost his mother; a still temper,
35 No stirring in him, no alacrity;
36 Of all this sprightly sharpness, not a smile.
37 Yet these that we count errors may become him;
38 Narcissus was a sad boy but a heavenly.
39 O, who can find the bent of woman’s fancy?
40 I am a fool; my reason is lost in me;
41 I have no choice, and I have lied so lewdly
42 That women ought to beat me. On my knees
43 I ask thy pardon, Palamon, thou art alone
44 And only beautiful, and these the eyes,
45 These the bright lamps of beauty, that command
46 And threaten love, and what young maid dare cross ’em?
47 What a bold gravity, and yet inviting,
48 Has this brown manly face! O Love, this only
49 From this hour is complexion. Lie there, Arcite.
50 [_She puts aside his picture._]
51 Thou art a changeling to him, a mere gypsy,
52 And this the noble body. I am sotted,
53 Utterly lost. My virgin’s faith has fled me.
54 For if my brother but even now had asked me
55 Whether I loved, I had run mad for Arcite;
56 Now, if my sister, more for Palamon.
57 Stand both together. Now, come ask me, brother.
58 Alas, I know not! Ask me now, sweet sister.
59 I may go look! What a mere child is Fancy,
60 That, having two fair gauds of equal sweetness,
61 Cannot distinguish, but must cry for both.
62 Enter a Gentleman.
63 EMILIA.
64 How now, sir?
65 GENTLEMAN.
66 From the noble Duke your brother,
67 Madam, I bring you news. The knights are come.
68 EMILIA.
69 To end the quarrel?
70 GENTLEMAN.
71 Yes.
72 EMILIA.
73 Would I might end first!
74 What sins have I committed, chaste Diana,
75 That my unspotted youth must now be soiled
76 With blood of princes, and my chastity
77 Be made the altar where the lives of lovers—
78 Two greater and two better never yet
79 Made mothers joy—must be the sacrifice
80 To my unhappy beauty?
81 Enter Theseus, Hippolyta, Pirithous and Attendants.
82 THESEUS.
83 Bring ’em in
84 Quickly, by any means; I long to see ’em.
85 Your two contending lovers are returned,
86 And with them their fair knights. Now, my fair sister,
87 You must love one of them.
88 EMILIA.
89 I had rather both,
90 So neither for my sake should fall untimely.
91 THESEUS.
92 Who saw ’em?
93 PIRITHOUS.
94 I a while.
95 GENTLEMAN.
96 And I.
97 Enter Messenger.
98 THESEUS.
99 From whence come you, sir?
100 MESSENGER.
101 From the knights.
102 THESEUS.
103 Pray, speak,
104 You that have seen them, what they are.
105 MESSENGER.
106 I will, sir,
107 And truly what I think. Six braver spirits
108 Than these they have brought, if we judge by the outside,
109 I never saw nor read of. He that stands
110 In the first place with Arcite, by his seeming
111 Should be a stout man, by his face a prince,
112 His very looks so say him; his complexion
113 Nearer a brown than black, stern and yet noble,
114 Which shows him hardy, fearless, proud of dangers;
115 The circles of his eyes show fire within him,
116 And as a heated lion so he looks.
117 His hair hangs long behind him, black and shining
118 Like ravens’ wings; his shoulders broad and strong;
119 Armed long and round; and on his thigh a sword
120 Hung by a curious baldric, when he frowns
121 To seal his will with. Better, o’ my conscience,
122 Was never soldier’s friend.
123 THESEUS.
124 Thou hast well described him.
125 PIRITHOUS.
126 Yet a great deal short,
127 Methinks, of him that’s first with Palamon.
128 THESEUS.
129 Pray, speak him, friend.
130 PIRITHOUS.
131 I guess he is a prince too,
132 And, if it may be, greater; for his show
133 Has all the ornament of honour in ’t:
134 He’s somewhat bigger than the knight he spoke of,
135 But of a face far sweeter; his complexion
136 Is, as a ripe grape, ruddy. He has felt
137 Without doubt what he fights for, and so apter
138 To make this cause his own. In ’s face appears
139 All the fair hopes of what he undertakes
140 And when he’s angry, then a settled valour,
141 Not tainted with extremes, runs through his body
142 And guides his arm to brave things. Fear he cannot;
143 He shows no such soft temper. His head’s yellow,
144 Hard-haired and curled, thick-twined like ivy tods,
145 Not to undo with thunder. In his face
146 The livery of the warlike maid appears,
147 Pure red and white, for yet no beard has blessed him;
148 And in his rolling eyes sits Victory,
149 As if she ever meant to crown his valour.
150 His nose stands high, a character of honour;
151 His red lips, after fights, are fit for ladies.
152 EMILIA.
153 Must these men die too?
154 PIRITHOUS.
155 When he speaks, his tongue
156 Sounds like a trumpet. All his lineaments
157 Are as a man would wish ’em, strong and clean.
158 He wears a well-steeled axe, the staff of gold;
159 His age some five-and-twenty.
160 MESSENGER.
161 There’s another,
162 A little man, but of a tough soul, seeming
163 As great as any; fairer promises
164 In such a body yet I never looked on.
165 PIRITHOUS.
166 O, he that’s freckle-faced?
167 MESSENGER.
168 The same, my lord;
169 Are they not sweet ones?
170 PIRITHOUS.
171 Yes, they are well.
172 MESSENGER.
173 Methinks,
174 Being so few and well disposed, they show
175 Great and fine art in nature. He’s white-haired,
176 Not wanton white, but such a manly colour
177 Next to an auburn; tough and nimble-set,
178 Which shows an active soul. His arms are brawny,
179 Lined with strong sinews. To the shoulder-piece
180 Gently they swell, like women new-conceived,
181 Which speaks him prone to labour, never fainting
182 Under the weight of arms; stout-hearted still,
183 But when he stirs, a tiger. He’s grey-eyed,
184 Which yields compassion where he conquers; sharp
185 To spy advantages, and where he finds ’em,
186 He’s swift to make ’em his. He does no wrongs,
187 Nor takes none. He’s round-faced, and when he smiles
188 He shows a lover; when he frowns, a soldier.
189 About his head he wears the winner’s oak,
190 And in it stuck the favour of his lady.
191 His age some six-and-thirty. In his hand
192 He bears a charging-staff embossed with silver.
193 THESEUS.
194 Are they all thus?
195 PIRITHOUS.
196 They are all the sons of honour.
197 THESEUS.
198 Now, as I have a soul, I long to see’em.
199 Lady, you shall see men fight now.
200 HIPPOLYTA.
201 I wish it,
202 But not the cause, my lord. They would show
203 Bravely about the titles of two kingdoms.
204 ’Tis pity love should be so tyrannous.—
205 O, my soft-hearted sister, what think you?
206 Weep not till they weep blood. Wench, it must be.
207 THESEUS.
208 You have steeled ’em with your beauty.
209 Honoured friend,
210 To you I give the field; pray order it
211 Fitting the persons that must use it.
212 PIRITHOUS.
213 Yes, sir.
214 THESEUS.
215 Come, I’ll go visit ’em. I cannot stay,
216 Their fame has fired me so; till they appear.
217 Good friend, be royal.
218 PIRITHOUS.
219 There shall want no bravery.
220 [_Exeunt all but Emilia._]
221 EMILIA.
222 Poor wench, go weep, for whosoever wins,
223 Loses a noble cousin for thy sins.
224 [_Exit._]