Chapter: SCENE IV.

_Another part of the forest._

  _Enter VALENTINE._

_Val._ How use doth breed a habit in a man!
This shadowy desert, unfrequented woods,
I better brook than flourishing peopled towns:
Here can I sit alone, unseen of any,
And to the nightingale's complaining notes                           5
Tune my distresses and record my woes.
O thou that dost inhabit in my breast,
Leave not the mansion so long tenantless,
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall,
And leave no memory of what it was!                                 10
Repair me with thy presence, Silvia;
Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn swain!
What halloing and what stir is this to-day?
These are my mates, that make their wills their law,
Have some unhappy passenger in chase.                               15
They love me well; yet I have much to do
To keep them from uncivil outrages.
Withdraw thee, Valentine: who's this comes here?

  _Enter PROTEUS, SILVIA, and JULIA._

_Pro._ Madam, this service I have done for you,
Though you respect not aught your servant doth,                     20
To hazard life, and rescue you from him
That would have forced your honour and your love;
Vouchsafe me, for my meed, but one fair look;
A smaller boon than this I cannot beg,
And less than this, I am sure, you cannot give.                     25

_Val._ [_Aside_] How like a dream is this I see and hear!
Love, lend me patience to forbear awhile.

_Sil._ O miserable, unhappy that I am!

_Pro._ Unhappy were you, madam, ere I came;
But by my coming I have made you happy.                             30

_Sil._ By thy approach thou makest me most unhappy.

_Jul._ [_Aside_] And me, when he approacheth to your presence.

_Sil._ Had I been seized by a hungry lion,
I would have been a breakfast to the beast,
Rather than have false Proteus rescue me.                           35
O, Heaven be judge how I love Valentine,
Whose life's as tender to me as my soul!
And full as much, for more there cannot be,
I do detest false perjured Proteus.
Therefore be gone; solicit me no more.                              40

_Pro._ What dangerous action, stood it next to death,
Would I not undergo for one calm look!
O, 'tis the curse in love, and still approved,
When women cannot love where they're beloved!

_Sil._ When Proteus cannot love where he's beloved.                 45
Read over Julia's heart, thy first, best love,
For whose dear sake thou didst then rend thy faith
Into a thousand oaths; and all those oaths
Descended into perjury, to love me.
Thou hast no faith left now, unless thou'dst two,                   50
And that's far worse than none; better have none
Than plural faith which is too much by one:
Thou counterfeit to thy true friend!

_Pro._                             In love
Who respects friend?

_Sil._             All men but Proteus.

_Pro._ Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words                    55
Can no way change you to a milder form,
I'll woo you like a soldier, at arms' end,
And love you 'gainst the nature of love,--force ye.

_Sil._ O heaven!

_Pro._         I'll force thee yield to my desire.

_Val._ Ruffian, let go that rude uncivil touch,                     60
Thou friend of an ill fashion!

_Pro._                       Valentine!

_Val._ Thou common friend, that's without faith or love,
For such is a friend now; treacherous man!
Thou hast beguiled my hopes; nought but mine eye
Could have persuaded me: now I dare not say                         65
I have one friend alive; thou wouldst disprove me.
Who should be trusted now, when one's right hand
Is perjured to the bosom? Proteus,
I am sorry I must never trust thee more,
But count the world a stranger for thy sake.                        70
The private wound is deepest: O time most accurst,
'Mongst all foes that a friend should be the worst!

_Pro._ My shame and guilt confounds me.
Forgive me, Valentine: if hearty sorrow
Be a sufficient ransom for offence,                                 75
I tender 't here; I do as truly suffer
As e'er I did commit.

_Val._              Then I am paid;
And once again I do receive thee honest.
Who by repentance is not satisfied
Is nor of heaven nor earth, for these are pleased.                  80
By penitence the Eternal's wrath's appeased:
And, that my love may appear plain and free,
All that was mine in Silvia I give thee.

_Jul._ O me unhappy!    [_Swoons._

_Pro._ Look to the boy.                                             85

_Val._ Why, boy! why, wag! how now! what's the matter?
Look up; speak.

_Jul._ O good sir, my master charged me to deliver
a ring to Madam Silvia, which, out of my neglect, was never
done.                                                               90

_Pro._ Where is that ring, boy?

_Jul._                        Here 'tis; this is it.

_Pro._ How! let me see:
Why, this is the ring I gave to Julia.

_Jul._ O, cry you mercy, sir, I have mistook:
This is the ring you sent to Silvia.                                95

_Pro._ But how camest thou by this ring? At my depart
I gave this unto Julia.

_Jul._ And Julia herself did give it me;
And Julia herself hath brought it hither.

_Pro._ How! Julia!                                                 100

_Jul._ Behold her that gave aim to all thy oaths,
And entertain'd 'em deeply in her heart.
How oft hast thou with perjury cleft the root!
O Proteus, let this habit make thee blush!
Be thou ashamed that I have took upon me                           105
Such an immodest raiment, if shame live
In a disguise of love:
It is the lesser blot, modesty finds,
Women to change their shapes than men their minds.

_Pro._ Than men their minds! 'tis true. O heaven, were man         110
But constant, he were perfect! That one error
Fills him with faults; makes him run through all the sins:
Inconstancy falls off ere it begins.
What is in Silvia's face, but I may spy
More fresh in Julia's with a constant eye?                         115

_Val._ Come, come, a hand from either:
Let me be blest to make this happy close;
'Twere pity two such friends should be long foes.

_Pro._ Bear witness, Heaven, I have my wish for ever.

_Jul._ And I mine.                                                 120

  _Enter _Outlaws_, with DUKE and THURIO._

_Outlaws._ A prize, a prize, a prize!

_Val._ Forbear, forbear, I say! it is my lord the duke.
Your Grace is welcome to a man disgraced,
Banished Valentine.

_Duke._           Sir Valentine!

_Thu._ Yonder is Silvia; and Silvia's mine.                        125

_Val._ Thurio, give back, or else embrace thy death;
Come not within the measure of my wrath;
Do not name Silvia thine; if once again,
Verona shall not hold thee. Here she stands:
Take but possession of her with a touch:                           130
I dare thee but to breathe upon my love.

_Thu._ Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I:
I hold him but a fool that will endanger
His body for a girl that loves him not:
I claim her not, and therefore she is thine.                       135

_Duke._ The more degenerate and base art thou,
To make such means for her as thou hast done,
And leave her on such slight conditions.
Now, by the honour of my ancestry,
I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine,                                140
And think thee worthy of an empress' love:
Know, then, I here forget all former griefs,
Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again,
Plead a new state in thy unrival'd merit,
To which I thus subscribe: Sir Valentine,                          145
Thou art a gentleman, and well derived;
Take thou thy Silvia, for thou hast deserved her.

_Val._ I thank your grace; the gift hath made me happy.
I now beseech you, for your daughter's sake,
To grant one boon that I shall ask of you.                         150

_Duke._ I grant it, for thine own, whate'er it be.

_Val._ These banish'd men that I have kept withal
Are men endued with worthy qualities:
Forgive them what they have committed here,
And let them be recall'd from their exile:                         155
They are reformed, civil, full of good,
And fit for great employment, worthy lord.

_Duke._ Thou hast prevail'd; I pardon them and thee:
Dispose of them as thou know'st their deserts.
Come, let us go: we will include all jars                          160
With triumphs, mirth, and rare solemnity.

_Val._ And, as we walk along, I dare be bold
With our discourse to make your Grace to smile.
What think you of this page, my lord?

_Duke._ I think the boy hath grace in him; he blushes.             165

_Val._ I warrant you, my lord, more grace than boy.

_Duke._ What mean you by that saying?

_Val._ Please you, I'll tell you as we pass along,
That you will wonder what hath fortuned.
Come, Proteus; 'tis your penance but to hear                       170
The story of your loves discovered:
That done, our day of marriage shall be yours;
One feast, one house, one mutual happiness.    [_Exeunt._



  Notes: V, 4.

  SCENE IV. Another ... forest.] Capell. The outlaw's cave in the
    forest. Theobald.
  2: _This shadowy desert,_] _These shadowy, desert,_ Collier MS.
  8: _so_] _too_ Collier MS.
  14: _are my_] _my rude_ Collier MS.
  18: [Steps aside. Johnson.
  19: _I have_] F1 F2 F3. _have I_ F4. _having_ Collier MS.
  25: _I am_] _I'm_ Pope.
  26, 32: [Aside] Theobald.
  26: _is this I see and hear!_] Theobald. _is this? I see and hear:_
    Ff.
  43: _and still approved_] _for ever prov'd_ Pope.
  49: _to love me_] F1. _to deceive me_ F2 F3 F4.
  57: _woo_] _wooe_ F1. _move_ F2 F3 F4.
  58: _ye_] Ff. _you_ Warburton.
  63: _treacherous man_] F1. _Thou treacherous man_ F2. _Though
    treacherous man_ F3. _Tho treacherous man_ F4.
  65: _now_] om. Pope.
  67: _trusted now, when one's_] F2 F3 F4. _trusted, when one's_ F1.
    _trusted, when one's own_ Johnson. _trusted now, when the_ Pope.
  69: _I am_] _I'm_ Pope.
  71: _O time most accurst_] _O time accurst_ Hanmer. _O time most
    curst_ Johnson. _O spite accurst_ S. Verges conj.
  72: _all foes that a friend_] _all my foes a friend_ Collier MS.
  73: _confounds_] _confound_ Rowe.
  _My ... confounds me_] _My shame and desperate guilt at once
    confound me_ Collier MS.
  82, 83: Blackstone proposes to transfer these lines to the end of
    Thurio's speech, line 135.
  84: [Swoons.] Pope.
  86-90: Printed by Capell as four verses ending _matter ... me ...
    Silvia ... done._
  86: _what's_] _what is_ Capell.
  88: _to deliver_] _Deliver_ Steevens conj.
  92: _see_] _see it_ Steevens conj. suggesting that lines 92-97
    should end at _ring ... sir ... sent ... this?_ (om. _ring_)
    _... Julia._
  93: _Why, this is_] _This is_ Pope. _Why, 'tis_ S. Verges conj.
  96: _But_] om. Pope.
  102: _'em_] _them_ Capell.
  103: _root_] _root on't_ Hanmer.
  112: _all the sins_] _all th' sins_ Ff. _all sins_ Pope.
  118: _be long_] _long be_ Pope.
  120: _And I mine_] _And I have mine_ Steevens (Ritson conj.).
  [embracing. Capell.
  121: SCENE V. Pope.
  122: _Forbear, forbear, I say!_] _Forbear, I say!_ Capell.
    _Forbear, forbear!_ Pope.
  124: _Banished_] _The banish'd_ Pope.
  129: _Verona shall not hold_] _Milan shall not behold_ Theobald.
    _And Milan shall not hold_ Hanmer. _Milano shall not hold_
    Collier MS. See note (VII).
  143: _again,_] _again._ Steevens (Tyrwhitt conj.).
  144: _unrival'd_] F1. _arrival'd_ F2 F3 F4.
  160: _include_] _conclude_ Hanmer.
  161: _rare_] F1. _all_ F2 F3 F4.
  164: _page_] _stripling page_ Collier MS.
  167: _saying?_] _saying, Valentine?_ Collier MS.
  171: _loves discovered_] _love discovered_ Pope. _love's discoverer_
    Collier MS.
  172: _That done, our ... yours_] _Our day of marriage shall be
    yours no less_ Collier MS.

 A solitary Valentine muses on his present condition: Here can I sit alone, unseen of any, And to the nightingale's complaining notes Tune my distresses and record my woes. Abruptly interrupted by the spectacle of his friend Proteus in hot pursuit of Silvia, Valentine doubts his very senses: "How like a dream is this I see and hear!" Valentine remains mute until the moment when Proteus threatens violence. Proteus: In love, Who respects friend? Silvia: All men but Proteus. Proteus: Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words Can no way change you to a milder form, I'll woo you like a soldier, at arms' end, And love you 'gainst the nature of love, -- force ye. Silvia: O heaven! Proteus: I'll force thee yield to my desire. Valentine: Ruffian, let go that rude uncivil touch, Thou friend of an ill fashion! Confronted by his friend, Proteus apologizes and is forgiven at once by Valentine. Silvia remains silent. When Julia faints, trying to cover up her emotional turmoil by telling Proteus that she was upset at not delivering the ring to Silvia as promised, it is discovered that she is indeed Proteus's former lover. She hands him the wrong ring, the one he had given her as a keepsake. The two reconcile. When Thurio is confronted by an angry Valentine, he gives up claim to Silvia, causing the Duke to change heart: I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine, And think thee worthy of an empress' love. Valentine accepts and asks the Duke to "grant one boon," a general amnesty for the band of gentlemen-thieves he has been leading these past months, That done, all retire to soothe the bad feelings "with triumphs, mirth, and rare solemnity."

