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Enter JULIA and LUCETTA
Enter JULIA and LUCETTA

JULIA

Counsel, Lucetta. Gentle girl, assist me;
And ev’n in kind love I do conjure thee,
Who art the table wherein all my thoughts
Are visibly charactered and engraved,
5 To lesson me and tell me some good means
How, with my honor, I may undertake
A journey to my loving Proteus.

JULIA

Counsel, Lucetta. Gentle girl, assist me;
And ev’n in kind love I do conjure thee,
Who art the table wherein all my thoughts
Are visibly charactered and engraved,
To lesson me and tell me some good means
How, with my honor, I may undertake
A journey to my loving Proteus.

LUCETTA

Alas, the way is wearisome and long!

LUCETTA

Alas, the way is wearisome and long!

JULIA

A true-devoted pilgrim is not weary
10 To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps;
Much less shall she that hath Love’s wings to fly,
And when the flight is made to one so dear,
Of such divine perfection, as Sir Proteus.

JULIA

A true-devoted pilgrim is not weary
To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps;
Much less shall she that hath Love’s wings to fly,
And when the flight is made to one so dear,
Of such divine perfection, as Sir Proteus.

LUCETTA

Better forbear till Proteus make return.

LUCETTA

Better forbear till Proteus make return.

JULIA

15 O, know’st thou not his looks are my soul’s food?
Pity the dearth that I have pinèd in
By longing for that food so long a time.
Didst thou but know the inly touch of love,
Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow
20 As seek to quench the fire of love with words.

JULIA

O, know’st thou not his looks are my soul’s food?
Pity the dearth that I have pinèd in
By longing for that food so long a time.
Didst thou but know the inly touch of love,
Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow
As seek to quench the fire of love with words.

LUCETTA

I do not seek to quench your love’s hot fire,
But qualify the fire’s extreme rage,
Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason.

LUCETTA

I do not seek to quench your love’s hot fire,
But qualify the fire’s extreme rage,
Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason.

JULIA

The more thou damm’st it up, the more it burns.
25 The current that with gentle murmur glides,
Thou know’st, being stopped, impatiently doth rage;
But when his fair course is not hinderèd,
He makes sweet music with th’ enameled stones,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
30 He overtaketh in his pilgrimage,
And so by many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport to the wild ocean.
Then let me go, and hinder not my course.
I’ll be as patient as a gentle stream
35 And make a pastime of each weary step,
Till the last step have brought me to my love,
And there I’ll rest, as after much turmoil
A blessèd soul doth in Elysium.

JULIA

The more thou damm’st it up, the more it burns.
The current that with gentle murmur glides,
Thou know’st, being stopped, impatiently doth rage;
But when his fair course is not hinderèd,
He makes sweet music with th’ enameled stones,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
He overtaketh in his pilgrimage,
And so by many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport to the wild ocean.
Then let me go, and hinder not my course.
I’ll be as patient as a gentle stream
And make a pastime of each weary step,
Till the last step have brought me to my love,
And there I’ll rest, as after much turmoil
A blessèd soul doth in Elysium.

LUCETTA

But in what habit will you go along?

LUCETTA

But in what habit will you go along?

JULIA

40 Not like a woman, for I would prevent
The loose encounters of lascivious men.
Gentle Lucetta, fit me with such weeds
As may beseem some well-reputed page.

JULIA

Not like a woman, for I would prevent
The loose encounters of lascivious men.
Gentle Lucetta, fit me with such weeds
As may beseem some well-reputed page.

LUCETTA

Why, then, your ladyship must cut your hair.

LUCETTA

Why, then, your ladyship must cut your hair.

JULIA

45 No, girl, I’ll knit it up in silken strings
With twenty odd-conceited true-love knots.
To be fantastic may become a youth
Of greater time than I shall show to be.

JULIA

No, girl, I’ll knit it up in silken strings
With twenty odd-conceited true-love knots.
To be fantastic may become a youth
Of greater time than I shall show to be.

LUCETTA

What fashion, madam, shall I make your breeches?

LUCETTA

What fashion, madam, shall I make your breeches?

JULIA

50 That fits as well as “Tell me, good my lord,
What compass will you wear your farthingale?”
Why, even what fashion thou best likes, Lucetta.

JULIA

That fits as well as “Tell me, good my lord,
What compass will you wear your farthingale?”
Why, even what fashion thou best likes, Lucetta.

LUCETTA

You must needs have them with a codpiece, madam.

LUCETTA

You must needs have them with a codpiece, madam.

JULIA

Out, out, Lucetta! That will be ill-favored.

JULIA

Out, out, Lucetta! That will be ill-favored.

LUCETTA

55 A round hose, madam, now’s not worth a pin
Unless you have a codpiece to stick pins on.

LUCETTA

A round hose, madam, now’s not worth a pin
Unless you have a codpiece to stick pins on.

JULIA

Lucetta, as thou lov’st me, let me have
What thou think’st meet and is most mannerly.
But tell me, wench, how will the world repute me
60 For undertaking so unstaid a journey?
I fear me it will make me scandalized.

JULIA

Lucetta, as thou lov’st me, let me have
What thou think’st meet and is most mannerly.
But tell me, wench, how will the world repute me
For undertaking so unstaid a journey?
I fear me it will make me scandalized.

LUCETTA

If you think so, then stay at home and go not.

LUCETTA

If you think so, then stay at home and go not.

JULIA

Nay, that I will not.

JULIA

Nay, that I will not.

LUCETTA

Then never dream on infamy, but go.
65 If Proteus like your journey when you come,
No matter who’s displeased when you are gone.
I fear me he will scarce be pleased withal.

LUCETTA

Then never dream on infamy, but go.
If Proteus like your journey when you come,
No matter who’s displeased when you are gone.
I fear me he will scarce be pleased withal.

JULIA

That is the least, Lucetta, of my fear.
A thousand oaths, an ocean of his tears,
70 And instances of infinite of love,
Warrant me welcome to my Proteus.

JULIA

That is the least, Lucetta, of my fear.
A thousand oaths, an ocean of his tears,
And instances of infinite of love,
Warrant me welcome to my Proteus.

LUCETTA

All these are servants to deceitful men.

LUCETTA

All these are servants to deceitful men.

JULIA

Base men that use them to so base effect!
But truer stars did govern Proteus’ birth;
75 His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles,
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate,
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart,
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth.

JULIA

Base men that use them to so base effect!
But truer stars did govern Proteus’ birth;
His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles,
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate,
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart,
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth.

LUCETTA

Pray heaven he prove so when you come to him!

LUCETTA

Pray heaven he prove so when you come to him!

JULIA

80 Now, as thou lov’st me, do him not that wrong
To bear a hard opinion of his truth.
Only deserve my love by loving him,
And presently go with me to my chamber
To take a note of what I stand in need of
85 To furnish me upon my longing journey.
All that is mine I leave at thy dispose,
My goods, my lands, my reputation;
Only, in lieu thereof, dispatch me hence.
Come, answer not, but to it presently!
90 I am impatient of my tarriance.

JULIA

Now, as thou lov’st me, do him not that wrong
To bear a hard opinion of his truth.
Only deserve my love by loving him,
And presently go with me to my chamber
To take a note of what I stand in need of
To furnish me upon my longing journey.
All that is mine I leave at thy dispose,
My goods, my lands, my reputation;
Only, in lieu thereof, dispatch me hence.
Come, answer not, but to it presently!
I am impatient of my tarriance.
Exeunt
Exeunt

Original Text

Modern Text

Enter JULIA and LUCETTA
Enter JULIA and LUCETTA

JULIA

Counsel, Lucetta. Gentle girl, assist me;
And ev’n in kind love I do conjure thee,
Who art the table wherein all my thoughts
Are visibly charactered and engraved,
5 To lesson me and tell me some good means
How, with my honor, I may undertake
A journey to my loving Proteus.

JULIA

Counsel, Lucetta. Gentle girl, assist me;
And ev’n in kind love I do conjure thee,
Who art the table wherein all my thoughts
Are visibly charactered and engraved,
To lesson me and tell me some good means
How, with my honor, I may undertake
A journey to my loving Proteus.

LUCETTA

Alas, the way is wearisome and long!

LUCETTA

Alas, the way is wearisome and long!

JULIA

A true-devoted pilgrim is not weary
10 To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps;
Much less shall she that hath Love’s wings to fly,
And when the flight is made to one so dear,
Of such divine perfection, as Sir Proteus.

JULIA

A true-devoted pilgrim is not weary
To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps;
Much less shall she that hath Love’s wings to fly,
And when the flight is made to one so dear,
Of such divine perfection, as Sir Proteus.

LUCETTA

Better forbear till Proteus make return.

LUCETTA

Better forbear till Proteus make return.

JULIA

15 O, know’st thou not his looks are my soul’s food?
Pity the dearth that I have pinèd in
By longing for that food so long a time.
Didst thou but know the inly touch of love,
Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow
20 As seek to quench the fire of love with words.

JULIA

O, know’st thou not his looks are my soul’s food?
Pity the dearth that I have pinèd in
By longing for that food so long a time.
Didst thou but know the inly touch of love,
Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow
As seek to quench the fire of love with words.

LUCETTA

I do not seek to quench your love’s hot fire,
But qualify the fire’s extreme rage,
Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason.

LUCETTA

I do not seek to quench your love’s hot fire,
But qualify the fire’s extreme rage,
Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason.

JULIA

The more thou damm’st it up, the more it burns.
25 The current that with gentle murmur glides,
Thou know’st, being stopped, impatiently doth rage;
But when his fair course is not hinderèd,
He makes sweet music with th’ enameled stones,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
30 He overtaketh in his pilgrimage,
And so by many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport to the wild ocean.
Then let me go, and hinder not my course.
I’ll be as patient as a gentle stream
35 And make a pastime of each weary step,
Till the last step have brought me to my love,
And there I’ll rest, as after much turmoil
A blessèd soul doth in Elysium.

JULIA

The more thou damm’st it up, the more it burns.
The current that with gentle murmur glides,
Thou know’st, being stopped, impatiently doth rage;
But when his fair course is not hinderèd,
He makes sweet music with th’ enameled stones,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
He overtaketh in his pilgrimage,
And so by many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport to the wild ocean.
Then let me go, and hinder not my course.
I’ll be as patient as a gentle stream
And make a pastime of each weary step,
Till the last step have brought me to my love,
And there I’ll rest, as after much turmoil
A blessèd soul doth in Elysium.

LUCETTA

But in what habit will you go along?

LUCETTA

But in what habit will you go along?

JULIA

40 Not like a woman, for I would prevent
The loose encounters of lascivious men.
Gentle Lucetta, fit me with such weeds
As may beseem some well-reputed page.

JULIA

Not like a woman, for I would prevent
The loose encounters of lascivious men.
Gentle Lucetta, fit me with such weeds
As may beseem some well-reputed page.

LUCETTA

Why, then, your ladyship must cut your hair.

LUCETTA

Why, then, your ladyship must cut your hair.

JULIA

45 No, girl, I’ll knit it up in silken strings
With twenty odd-conceited true-love knots.
To be fantastic may become a youth
Of greater time than I shall show to be.

JULIA

No, girl, I’ll knit it up in silken strings
With twenty odd-conceited true-love knots.
To be fantastic may become a youth
Of greater time than I shall show to be.

LUCETTA

What fashion, madam, shall I make your breeches?

LUCETTA

What fashion, madam, shall I make your breeches?

JULIA

50 That fits as well as “Tell me, good my lord,
What compass will you wear your farthingale?”
Why, even what fashion thou best likes, Lucetta.

JULIA

That fits as well as “Tell me, good my lord,
What compass will you wear your farthingale?”
Why, even what fashion thou best likes, Lucetta.

LUCETTA

You must needs have them with a codpiece, madam.

LUCETTA

You must needs have them with a codpiece, madam.

JULIA

Out, out, Lucetta! That will be ill-favored.

JULIA

Out, out, Lucetta! That will be ill-favored.

LUCETTA

55 A round hose, madam, now’s not worth a pin
Unless you have a codpiece to stick pins on.

LUCETTA

A round hose, madam, now’s not worth a pin
Unless you have a codpiece to stick pins on.

JULIA

Lucetta, as thou lov’st me, let me have
What thou think’st meet and is most mannerly.
But tell me, wench, how will the world repute me
60 For undertaking so unstaid a journey?
I fear me it will make me scandalized.

JULIA

Lucetta, as thou lov’st me, let me have
What thou think’st meet and is most mannerly.
But tell me, wench, how will the world repute me
For undertaking so unstaid a journey?
I fear me it will make me scandalized.

LUCETTA

If you think so, then stay at home and go not.

LUCETTA

If you think so, then stay at home and go not.

JULIA

Nay, that I will not.

JULIA

Nay, that I will not.

LUCETTA

Then never dream on infamy, but go.
65 If Proteus like your journey when you come,
No matter who’s displeased when you are gone.
I fear me he will scarce be pleased withal.

LUCETTA

Then never dream on infamy, but go.
If Proteus like your journey when you come,
No matter who’s displeased when you are gone.
I fear me he will scarce be pleased withal.

JULIA

That is the least, Lucetta, of my fear.
A thousand oaths, an ocean of his tears,
70 And instances of infinite of love,
Warrant me welcome to my Proteus.

JULIA

That is the least, Lucetta, of my fear.
A thousand oaths, an ocean of his tears,
And instances of infinite of love,
Warrant me welcome to my Proteus.

LUCETTA

All these are servants to deceitful men.

LUCETTA

All these are servants to deceitful men.

JULIA

Base men that use them to so base effect!
But truer stars did govern Proteus’ birth;
75 His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles,
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate,
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart,
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth.

JULIA

Base men that use them to so base effect!
But truer stars did govern Proteus’ birth;
His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles,
His love sincere, his thoughts immaculate,
His tears pure messengers sent from his heart,
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth.

LUCETTA

Pray heaven he prove so when you come to him!

LUCETTA

Pray heaven he prove so when you come to him!

JULIA

80 Now, as thou lov’st me, do him not that wrong
To bear a hard opinion of his truth.
Only deserve my love by loving him,
And presently go with me to my chamber
To take a note of what I stand in need of
85 To furnish me upon my longing journey.
All that is mine I leave at thy dispose,
My goods, my lands, my reputation;
Only, in lieu thereof, dispatch me hence.
Come, answer not, but to it presently!
90 I am impatient of my tarriance.

JULIA

Now, as thou lov’st me, do him not that wrong
To bear a hard opinion of his truth.
Only deserve my love by loving him,
And presently go with me to my chamber
To take a note of what I stand in need of
To furnish me upon my longing journey.
All that is mine I leave at thy dispose,
My goods, my lands, my reputation;
Only, in lieu thereof, dispatch me hence.
Come, answer not, but to it presently!
I am impatient of my tarriance.
Exeunt
Exeunt

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