Chapter: SCENE II.


_A Room in_ DUKE ORSINO'S _Palace_.

_The Duke discovered, seated, and attended by_ CURIO, _and Gentlemen_.

    _Duke._ [_Music._] If music be the food of love, play on,
  Give me excess of it; that, surfeiting,
  The appetite may sicken, and so die.----
  [_Music._] That strain again;--it had a dying fall:
  O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south,
  That breathes upon a bank of violets,
  Stealing, and giving odours.--
  [_Music._] Enough; no more;                           [_He rises._
  'Tis not so sweet now, as it was before.

    _Cur._ Will you go hunt, my lord?

    _Duke._ What, Curio?

    _Cur._ The hart.

    _Duke._ Why, so I do, the noblest that I have:
  O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first,
  Methought, she purged the air of pestilence;
  That instant was I turn'd into a hart;
  And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds,
  E'er since pursue me.

                           _Enter_ VALENTINE.

  How now? what news from my Olivia?--speak.

    _Val._ So please my lord, I might not be admitted;
  But from her handmaid do return this answer;
  The element itself, till seven years heat,
  Shall not behold her face at ample view;
  But, like a cloistress, she will veiled walk,
  And water once a day her chamber round
  With eye-offending brine: all this, to season
  A brother's dead love, which she would keep fresh,
  And lasting, in her sad remembrance.

    _Duke._ O, she, that hath a heart of that fine frame,
  To pay this debt of love but to a brother,
  How will she love, when the rich golden shaft
  Hath kill'd the flock of all affections else
  That live in her!--
  Away before me to sweet beds of flowers;
  Love-thoughts lie rich, when canopied with bowers.
                                                              [_Exeunt._

 Meanwhile, on the Illyrian sea coast, a young noblewoman named Viola speaks with the captain whose crew has just rescued her from a shipwreck. Although Viola was found and rescued, her brother, Sebastian, seems to have vanished in the storm. The captain tells Viola that Sebastian may still be alive. He says that he saw Sebastian trying to keep afloat by tying himself to a broken mast. But Viola does not know whether or not it is worth holding onto hope. In the meantime, however, she needs to find a way to support herself in this strange land. The ship's captain tells Viola all about Duke Orsino, who rules Illyria. Viola remarks that she has heard of this duke and mentions that he used to be a bachelor. The captain says that Orsino still is a bachelor, but then goes on to tell Viola about the Lady Olivia, whom the duke is courting. Again, we hear the tale of how Lady Olivia's brother died, leading her to cut herself off from the world. Viola expresses a wish that she could become a servant in the house of Olivia and hide herself away from the world as well. The captain responds that it is unlikely that Viola will enter Olivia's service because Olivia refuses to see any visitors, the duke included. Viola decides that, in that case, she will disguise herself as a young man and seek service with Duke Orsino instead. When she promises to pay him well, the captain agrees to help her, and they go off together in order to find a disguise for her

