8

An if your wife be not a mad woman,
And know how well I have deserv'd this ring,
She would not hold out enemy for ever,
For giving it to me. Well, peace be with you!
[Exeunt POR. and NER.
Ant. My lord Bassanio, let him have the ring;
Let his deservings, and my love withal,
Be valued 'gainst your wife's commandement.
Bass. Go, Gratiano, run and overtake him,
Give him the ring; and bring him, if thou canʼst,
Unto Antonio's house:-away, make haste. [Exit GRA.
Come, you and I will thither presently;

And in the morning early will we both
Fly toward Belmont: Come, Antonio.

SCENE II.

The same. A Street.

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA.

[Exeunt.

Por. Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed. And let him sign it; we 'll away to-night, And be a day before our husbands home: This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo. Enter GRATIANO.

Gra. Fair sir, you are well overtaken:

My lord Bassanio, upon more advice,9

Hath sent you here this ring; and doth entreat
Your company at dinner.

Por.

That cannot be:

This ring I do accept most thankfully,

And so, I pray you, tell him: Furthermore,

I pray you, show my youth old Shylock's house.
Gra. That will I do.

Ner.

Sir, I would speak with you:

8 She would not hold out enemy for ever,] An error of the press. -Read "hold out enmity." M. Mason.

I believe the reading in the text is the true one. So, in Much Ado about Nothing, Act I, sc. i, the Messenger says to Beatrice: -"I will hold friends with you, lady." Steevens.

9

upon more advice,] i. e. more reflection. So, in All's well that ends well: "You never did lack advice so much," &c.

Steevens.

I'll see if I can get my husband's ring,

[TO POR.

Which I did make him swear to keep for ever.
Por. Thou may'st, I warrant; We shall have old
swearing,1

That they did give the rings away to men;
But we 'll outface them, and outswear them too.
Away, make haste; thou know'st where I will tarry.
Ner. Come, good sir, will you show me to this house?
[Exeunt.

ACT V..... SCENE I.

Belmont. Avenue to Portia's House.
Enter LORENZO and JESSICA.

Lor. The moon shines bright:-In such a night as this,2
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees,
And they did make no noise; in such a night,
Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls,3

old swearing,] Of this once common augmentative in colloquial language, there are various instances in our author. Thus, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: "Here will be an old abusing of God's patience and the King's English." Again, in King Henry IV, P. II: "here will be old utis." The same phrase also occurs in Macbeth. Steevens.

2 · In such a night as this,] The several speeches beginning with these words, &c. are imitated in the old comedy of Wily Beguiled, which though not ascertaining the exact date of that play, prove it to have been written after Shakspeare's:

"In such a night did Paris win his love.

"Lelia. In such a night, Eneas prov'd unkind.
"Sophos. In such a night did Troilus court his dear.
"Lelia. In such a night, fair Phillis was betray'd."

Orig. of the Drama, Vol. III, p. 365. Whalley. Wily Beguiled was written before 1596, being mentioned by Nashe in one of his pamphlets published in that year. Malone. 3 Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls,] This image is from Chaucer's Troilus and Cresseide, 5 B. 666 and 1142:

"Upon the wallis fast eke would he walke,
"And on the Grekis host he would yse, &c.
"The daie goth fast, and after that came eve
"And yet came not to Troilus Cresseide,
"He lokith forth, by hedge, by tre, by greve,
"And ferre his heade ovir the walle he leide," &c.
VOL. IV.

Nn

And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents,
Where Cressid lay that night.

Jes.

In such a night,

Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;
And saw the lion's shadow ere himself,
And ran dismay'd away.

Lor.

In such a night,

Stood Dido with a willow in her hand

Upon the wild sea-banks, and wav'd her love
To come again to Carthage.

Jes.
Medea gather'd the enchanted herbs
That did renew old son.

Lor.

In such a night,"

In such a night,

Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew:

And with an unthrift love did run from Venice,
As far as Belmont.

Jes.

Again, ibid:

And in such a night,

"And up and doune by west and eke by est,

66

Upon the wallis made he many a went." Steevens. 4 In such a night,

Stood Dido with a willow in her hand-] This passage contains a small instance out of many that might be brought to prove that Shakspeare was no reader of the classicks. Steevens.

Mr. Warton suggests in his History of English Poetry, that Shakspeare might have taken this image from some ballad on the subject. Malone.

In such a night, &c.] So, Gower, speaking of Medea:
"Thus it befell upon a night

"Whann there was nought but sterre light,

"She was vanished right as hir list,

"That no wight but herself wist:

"And that was at midnight tide,

"The world was still on every side," &c.

Confessio Amantis, 1554. Steevens.

6 And in such a night,] The word—and was necessarily added by Mr. Pope, for the sake of metre, both in this and the following speech of Lorenzo.

Mr. Malone, however, assures us that swear is to be read as a dissyllable, and divides the passage, as follows:

"In such a night did

"Young Lorenzo swear he lov'd her well.".

And afterwards:

"In such a night did

Pretty Jessica like a little shrew, —”

Steevens.

Did young Lorenzo swear he lov'd her well;
Stealing her soul with many vows of faith,
And ne'er a true one.

Lor.

And in such a night,

Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew,

Slander her love, and he forgave it her.

Jes. I would out-night you, did no body come: But, hark, I hear the footing of a man.

Enter STEPHANO.

Lor. Who comes so fast in silence of the night?
Steph. A friend.

Lor. A friend? what friend? your name, I pray you,

friend?

Steph. Stephano is my name; and I bring word, My mistress will before the break of day

Be here at Belmont: she doth stray about

By holy crosses," where she kneels and prays
For happy wedlock hours.

Lor.

Who comes with her?

Steph. None, but a holy hermit, and her maid.

I pray you, is my master yet return'd?

Lor. He is not, nor we have not heard from him.

But go we in, I pray thee, Jessica,

And ceremoniously let us prepare

Some welcome for the mistress of the house.

Enter LAUNCELOT.

Laun. Sola, sola, wo ha, ho, sola, sola!

Lor. Who calls?

Laun. Sola! did you see master Lorenzo, and mistress Lorenzo? sola, sola!

Lor. Leave hollaing, man; here.

Laun. Sola! where? where?

Lor. Here.

Laun. Tell him, there's a post come from my mas

7 she doth stray about

By holy crosses,] So, in The Merry Devil of Edmonton:
"But there are Crosses, wife; here's one in Waltham,
"Another at the Abbey, and the third
"At Ceston; and 'tis ominous to pass
"Any of these without a Pater-noster."

and this is a reason assigned for the delay of a wedding.

Steevens.