Shakespearean Comedies

"O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't!"

"Where the bee sucks, there suck I; In a cowslip's bell I lie; There I couch when owls do cry. On the bat's back I do fly After summer merrily. Merrily, merrily, shall I live now, Under the blossom that hangs on the bough."

"Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes, and groves; And ye that on the sands with printless foot Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him When he comes back; you demi-puppets that By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make, Whereof the ewe not bites; and you whose pastime Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid — Weak masters though ye be — I have be-dimm'd The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds, And 'twixt the green sea and the azur'd vault Set roaring war. To the dread rattling thunder Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak With his own bolt; the strong-bas'd promontory Have I made shake, and by the spurs pluck'd up The pine and cedar. Graves at my command, Have wak'd their sleepers, op'd, and let 'em forth, By my so potent art. But this rough magic I here abjure; and, when I have requir'd Some heavenly music — which even now I do, — To work mine end upon their senses that This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff, Bury it certain fathoms in the earth, And, deeper than did ever plummet sound, I'll drown my book."

"Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the quick, Yet, with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury Do I take part; the rarer action is In virtue than in vengeance."

"With foreheads villainous low."

"Trinculo: Ay, but to lose our bottles in the pool — Stephano: There is not only disgrace and dishonor in that, monster, but an infinite loss."

"Pray you, tread softly, that the blind mole may not Hear a foot fall; we now are near his cell."

"Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits, and Are melted into air, into thin air; And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on; and our little life Is rounded with a sleep."

"Ceres: Hail, many-coloured messenger, that ne'er Dost disobey the wife of Jupiter; Who, with thy saffron wings, upon my flow'rs Diffusest honey drops, refreshing show'rs; And with each end of thy blue bow dost crown My bosky acres and my unshrubb'd down, Rich scarf to my proud earth; — why hath thy Queen Summon'd me hither to this short-grass'd green? Iris: A contract of true love to celebrate, And some donation freely to estate On the blest lovers."

"The strongest oaths are straw To th' fire i' the blood. Be more abstemious, Or else good night your vow!"

"O, it is monstrous, monstrous! Methought the billows spoke, and told me of it; The winds did sing it to me; and the thunder, That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounc'd The name of Prospero; it did bass my trespass. Therefore my son i' the ooze is bedded; and, I'll seek him deeper than e'er plummet sounded, And with him there lie mudded."

"You are three men of sin, whom Destiny, — That hath to instrument this lower world And what is in't, —the never-surfeited sea Hath caus'd to belch up you; and on this island Where man doth not inhabit, you 'mongst men Being most unfit to live. I have made you mad; And even with such-like valour, men hang and drown Their proper selves. [Alonso, Sebastian, etc., draw their swords] You fools! I and my fellows Are ministers of Fate; the elements, Of whom your swords are temper'd may as well Wound the loud winds, or with bemock'd-at stabs Kill the still-closing waters, as diminish One dowle that's in my plume."

"A kind Of excellent dumb discourse."

"Alonso: Give us kind keepers, heavens! What were these? Sebastian: A living drollery. Now I will believe That there are unicorns; that in Arabia There is one tree, the phoenix' throne, one phoenix At this hour reigning there. Antonio: I'll believe both; And what does else want credit, come to me, And I'll be sworn 'tis true; travellers ne'er did lie, Though fools at home condemn 'em."

"Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight, and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears; and sometimes voices, That, if I then had wak'd after long sleep, Will make me sleep again; and then, in dreaming, The clouds methought would open and show riches Ready to drop upon me, that, when I wak'd, I cried to dream again."

"He that dies pays all debts: I defy thee. Mercy upon us!"

"Flout 'em and scout 'em, and scout 'em and flout 'em; Thought is free."

"Why, as I told thee, 'tis a custom with him I' the afternoon to sleep; there thou mayst brain him, Having first seiz'd his books; or with a log Batter his skull, or paunch him with a stake, Or cut his wezand with thy knife. Remember, First to possess his books; for without them He's but a sot, as I am, nor hath not One spirit to command: they all do hate him, As rootedly as I — burn but his books."

"Ariel: Thou liest. Caliban: Thou liest, thou jesting monkey, thou: I would my valiant monster would destroy thee: I do not lie. Stephano: Trinculo, if you trouble him any more in's tale, by this hand, I will supplant some of your teeth."

"How does thy honour? Let me lick thy shoe. I'll not serve him, he is not valiant."

"Servant-monster! the folly of this island! They say there's but five upon this isle: we are three of them; if th' other two be brain'd like us, the state totters."

"Ferdinand: Here ’s my hand. Miranda: And mine, with my heart in ’t."

"I am your wife, if you will marry me; If not, I'll die your maid. To be your fellow You may deny me; but I'll be your servant, Whether you will or no."

"Ferdinand: Wherefore weep you? Miranda: At mine unworthiness, that dare not offer What I desire to give, and much less take What I shall die to want."

"Miranda: Do you love me? Ferdinand: O heaven! O earth! Bear witness to this sound, And crown what I confess with kind event, If I speak true! If hollowly, invert What best is boded me to mischief! I, Beyond all limit of what else i' the world Do love, prize, honour you."

"Full many a lady I have ey'd with best regard; and many a time The harmony of their tongues hath into bondage Brought my too diligent ear; for several virtues Have I lik'd several women, never any With so full soul, but some defect in her Did quarrel with the noblest grace she ow'd, And put it to the foil; but you, O you, So perfect and so peerless, are created Of every creature's best!"

"There be some sports are painful, and their labour Delight in them sets off; some kinds of baseness Are nobly undergone; and most poor matters Point to rich ends. This my mean task Would be as heavy to me as odious, but The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead, And makes my labours pleasures."

"I prithee, be my god."

"Caliban: Hast thou not dropp'd from heaven? Stephano: Out o' th' moon, I do assure thee; I was the Man i' th' Moon, when time was. Caliban: I have seen thee in her, and I do adore thee. My mistress show'd me thee, and thy dog and thy bush."

"Stephano: Here; swear then how thou escapedst. Trinculo: Swam ashore man, like a duck; I can swim like a duck, I'll be sworn. Stephano: Here, kiss the book. Though thou canst swim like a duck, thou art made like a goose."

"The master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I, The gunner, and his mate, Lov'd Mall, Meg, and Marian, and Margery, But none of us car'd for Kate; For she had a tongue with a tang, Would cry to a sailor Go hang! She lov'd not the savour of tar nor of pitch, Yet a tailor might scratch her where'er she did itch. Then to sea, boys, and let her go hang! This is a scurvy tune too; but here's my comfort. [Drinks]"

"Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows."

"A very ancient and fish-like smell."

"All the infections that the sun sucks up From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall, and make him By inch-meal a disease! His spirits hear me, And yet I needs must curse; but they'll nor pinch, Fright me with urchin-shows, pitch me i' the mire, Nor lead me, like a firebrand, in the dark Out of my way, unless he bid 'em; but For every trifle are they set upon me; Sometime like apes, that moe and chatter at me, And after, bite me; then like hedgehogs, which Lie tumbling in my barefoot way, and mount Their pricks at my footfall; sometime am I All wound with adders, who, with cloven tongues, Do hiss me into madness."

"While you here do snoring lie, Open-ey'd Conspiracy His time doth take. If of life you keep a care, Shake off slumber, and beware. Awake, awake!"

"Thy case, dear friend, Shall be my precedent; as thou got'st Milan, I'll come by Naples. Draw thy sword: one stroke Shall free thee from the tribute which thou payest; And I the king shall love thee."

"They will take suggestion as a cat laps milk."

"Ay, sir; where lies that? If ’twere a kibe, ’Twould put me to my slipper; but I feel not This deity in my bosom. Twenty consciences, That stand ’twixt me and Milan, candied be they, And melt ere they molest! Here lies your brother, No better than the earth he lies upon, If he were that which now he’s like—that’s dead, Whom I with this obedient steel, three inches of it, Can lay to bed forever; whiles you, doing thus, To the perpetual wink for aye might put This ancient morsel, this Sir Prudence, who Should not upbraid our course."

"We all were sea-swallow'd, though some cast again: And, by that destiny, to perform an act, Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come In yours and my discharge."

"Sebastian: Well, I am standing water. Antonio: I'll teach you how to flow."

"Alonso: You cram these words into mine ears against The stomach of my sense. Would I had never Married my daughter there! for, coming thence, My son is lost; and, in my rate, she too, Who is so far from Italy remov'd I ne'er again shall see her. O thou mine heir Of Naples and of Milan, what strange fish Hath made his meal on thee? Francesco: Sir, he may live: I saw him beat the surges under him, And ride upon their backs; he trod the water, Whose enmity he flung aside, and breasted The surge most swol'n that met him; his bold head 'Bove the contentious waves he kept, and oar'd Himself with his good arms in lusty stroke To the shore, that o'er his wave-worn basis bow'd, As stooping to relieve him; I not doubt He came alive to land."

"Gonzalo: Here is everything advantageous to life. Antonio: True; save means to live."

"My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up. My father's loss, the weakness which I feel, The wreck of all my friends, nor this man's threats, To whom I am subdu'd, are but light to me, Might I but through my prison once a day Behold this maid. All corners else o' th' earth Let liberty make use of; space enough Have I in such a prison."

"There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple: If the ill spirit have so fair a house, Good things will strive to dwell with ’t."

"This Is the third man that e'er I saw; the first That e'er I sigh'd for."

"The fringed curtains of thine eye advance, And say what thou seest yond."

"Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong. Hark! now I hear them — Ding-dong, bell."

"Come unto these yellow sands, And then take hands; Curt'sied when you have and kiss'd, The wild waves whist, Foot it featly here and there, And, sweet sprites, the burden bear."

"If thou neglect'st, or dost unwillingly What I command, I'll rack thee with old cramps, Fill all thy bones with aches, make thee roar, That beasts shall tremble at thy din."

"You taught me language, and my profit on't Is, I know how to curse. The red plague rid you, For learning me your language!"