THE BEAUTIES OF SHAKSPEARE. ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL. } ACT I. ADVICE. BE thou blest, Bertram! and succeed thy father In manners, as in shape! thy blood, and virtue, TOO AMBITIOUS LOVE. I am undone; there is no living, none, His arched brows, his hawking eye, his curls, * Helena considers her heart as the tablet on which his resemblance was pourtrayed. Of every line and trick* of his sweet favour +: COWARDICE. I know him a notorious liar, Think him a great way fool, solely a coward; That they take place, when virtue's steely bones THE REMEDY OF EVILS GENERALLY IN OURSELVES. Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie, Which we ascribe to heaven: the fated sky CHARACTER OF A NOBLE COURTIER. In his youth He had the wit, which I can well observe And bow'd his eminent top to their low ranks, Such a man Might be a copy to these younger times. *Peculiarity of feature. +Countenance. ACT II. HONOUR DUE TO PERSONAL VIRTUE ONLY, NOT TO BIRTH. From lowest place when virtuous things proceed, Is good, without a name; vileness is sot: ACT III. SELF-ACCUSATION OF TOO GREAT LOVE. Poor lord! is't I That chase thee from thy country, and expose Of the none-sparing war? and is it I That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou Fly with false aim; move the still-piercing air, * Titles. +Good is good independent of any worldly distinction, and so is vileness vile. Whoever shoots at him, I set him there; Were mine at once: No, come thou home, Rousillon, A MAID'S HONOUR. The honour of a maid is her name; and no legacy is so rich as honesty. ADVICE TO YOUNG WOMEN. Beware of them, Diana; their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all these engines of lust, are not the things they go undert: many a maid hath been seduced by them; and the misery is, example, that so terrible shows in the wreck of maidenhood, cannot for all that dissuade succession, but that they are limed with the twigs that threaten them. I hope, I need not to advise you further; but, I hope, your own grace will keep you where you are, though there were no further danger known, but the modesty which is so lost. * Ravenous. +They are not the things for which their names would make them pass. ACT IV. CUSTOM OF SEDUCERS. Ay, so you serve us, Till we serve you: but when you have our roses, CHASTITY. Mine honour's such a ring: My chastity's the jewel of our house, LIFE CHEQUERED. The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together: our virtues would be proud, if our faults whipped them not and our crimes would despair, if they were not cherished by our virtues. A COWARDLY BRAGGART. Yet am I thankful: if my heart were great, 'Twould burst at this: Captain, I'll be no more; But I will eat and drink, and sleep as soft As captain shall: simply the thing I am Shall make me live. Who knows himself a braggart, Let him fear this; for it will come to pass, That every braggart shall be found an ass. Rust, sword! cool, blushes! and, Parolles, live Safest in shame! being fool'd, by foolery thrive! There's place, and means, for every man alive. } ACT V. AGAINST DELAY. Let's take the instant by the forward top; For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees The inaudible and noiseless foot of time Steals ere we can effect them. |