The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 170 pages of information about The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher.

The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 170 pages of information about The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher.

Syl.  What i’st?  A noble Husband; In that word, a
Noble Husband, all content of Woman
Is wholly comprehended; He will rowse her,
As you say, with the Sunne, and so pipe to her,
As she will dance, ne’re doubt it, and hunt with her,
Upon occasion, untill both be weary;
And then the knowledge of your Plants and Simples,
As I take it, were superfluous; A loving,
And but adde to it a gamesome Bedfellow,
Being the sure Physician. Lew.  Well said Wench.

Ang.  And who gave you Commission to deliver
Your verdict, Minion? Syl.  I deserve a fee,
And not a frown, deare Madam; I but speak
Her thoughts, my Lord, and what her modesty
Refuses to give voyce to; shew no mercy
To a Maidenhead of fourteene, but off with’t: 
Let her lose no time Sir; fathers that deny
Their Daughters lawfull pleasure, when ripe for them,
In some kinds edge their appetites to tast of
The fruit that is forbidden. Lew.  Tis well urg’d,
And I approve it; no more blushing Girle,
Thy woman hath spoke truth, and so prevented
What I meant to move to thee:  There dwells neere us
A Gentleman of blood, Mounsieur Brisac,
Of a faire state, sixe thousand Crowns per annum,
The happy Father of two hopefull Sons,
Of different breeding; Th’ elder, a meere Scholar,
The younger, a quaint Courtier. Ang.  Sir, I know them
By publique fame, though yet I never saw them;
And that oppos’d antipathy between
Their various dispositions, renders them
The general discourse and argument;
One part inclining to the Scholar Charles,
The other side preferring Eustace, as
A man compleat in Courtship. Lew.  And which [w]ay
(If of these two you were to chuse a husband)
Doth your affection sway you? Ang. to be plaine, Sir,
(Since you will teach me boldnesse) as they are
Simply themselves, to neither; Let a Courtier
Be never so exact, Let him be blest with
All parts that yeeld him to a Virgin gracious,
If he depend on others, and stand not
On his owne bottomes, though he have the meanes
To bring his Mistresse to a Masque, or by
Conveyance from some great ones lips, to taste
Such favour from the Kings:  or grant he purchase,
Precedency in the Country, to be sworne
A servant Extraordinary to the Queen;
Nay, though he live in expectation of
Some huge preferment in reversion; If
He Want a present fortune, at the best
Those are but glorious dreames, and onely yeeld him
A happiness in posse, not in esse;
Nor can they fetch him silkes from th’ Mercer; nor
Discharge a Taylors bill; nor in full plenty
(Which still preserves a quiet bed at home)
Maintaine a family. Lew.  Aptly consider’d,
And to my wish; but what’s thy censure of
The Schollar? Ang.  Troth (if he be nothing else)

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The Works of Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.