Cymbeline

William Shakespeare Forums
SCENE I. Britain. Before Cymbeline's palace.

Enter CLOTEN and two Lords
CLOTEN
Was there ever man had such luck! when I kissed the
jack, upon an up-cast to be hit away! I had a
hundred pound on't: and then a whoreson jackanapes
must take me up for swearing; as if I borrowed mine
oaths of him and might not spend them at my pleasure.
First Lord
What got he by that? You have broke his pate with
your bowl.
Second Lord
[Aside] If his wit had been like him that broke it,
it would have run all out.
CLOTEN
When a gentleman is disposed to swear, it is not for
any standers-by to curtail his oaths, ha?
Second Lord
No my lord;

Aside

nor crop the ears of them.
CLOTEN
Whoreson dog! I give him satisfaction?
Would he had been one of my rank!
Second Lord
[Aside] To have smelt like a fool.
CLOTEN
I am not vexed more at any thing in the earth: a
pox on't! I had rather not be so noble as I am;
they dare not fight with me, because of the queen my
mother: every Jack-slave hath his bellyful of
fighting, and I must go up and down like a cock that
nobody can match.
Second Lord
[Aside] You are cock and capon too; and you crow,
cock, with your comb on.
CLOTEN
Sayest thou?
Second Lord
It is not fit your lordship should undertake every
companion that you give offence to.
CLOTEN
No, I know that: but it is fit I should commit
offence to my inferiors.
Second Lord
Ay, it is fit for your lordship only.
CLOTEN
Why, so I say.
First Lord
Did you hear of a stranger that's come to court to-night?
CLOTEN
A stranger, and I not know on't!
Second Lord
[Aside] He's a strange fellow himself, and knows it
not.
First Lord
There's an Italian come; and, 'tis thought, one of
Leonatus' friends.
CLOTEN
Leonatus! a banished rascal; and he's another,
whatsoever he be. Who told you of this stranger?
First Lord
One of your lordship's pages.
CLOTEN
Is it fit I went to look upon him? is there no
derogation in't?
Second Lord
You cannot derogate, my lord.
CLOTEN
Not easily, I think.
Second Lord
[Aside] You are a fool granted; therefore your
issues, being foolish, do not derogate.
CLOTEN
Come, I'll go see this Italian: what I have lost
to-day at bowls I'll win to-night of him. Come, go.
Second Lord
I'll attend your lordship.

Exeunt CLOTEN and First Lord

That such a crafty devil as is his mother
Should yield the world this ass! a woman that
Bears all down with her brain; and this her son
Cannot take two from twenty, for his heart,
And leave eighteen. Alas, poor princess,
Thou divine Imogen, what thou endurest,
Betwixt a father by thy step-dame govern'd,
A mother hourly coining plots, a wooer
More hateful than the foul expulsion is
Of thy dear husband, than that horrid act
Of the divorce he'ld make! The heavens hold firm
The walls of thy dear honour, keep unshaked
That temple, thy fair mind, that thou mayst stand,
To enjoy thy banish'd lord and this great land!

Exit


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Moby Dick Year: 2006
...whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul...then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can. --Chapter I, Moby Dick
Ahoy Mates! We're happy to announce that 2006 is the year of Moby Dick. Join us before the mast!

For more information, please check out Moby Dick or email Drake. Free downloadable copies are available at Moby Dick, and we hope that ye join us in discussing the novel at the Moby Dick Campfire. Invite yer friends!

We would like to unite the world in reading what is perhaps the greatest work of fiction ever penned on the American shores. Written in the rich context of Shakespeare and the Bible, Moby Dick was Herman Melville's definitive masterpiece. If you've already read the epic, we invite you to read it again. And be sure to pick up Hamlet and the Bible throughout November, as the novel shall only be enhanced by the deeper context.

The White Whale, symbolic of the truth and freedom which the greatest spirits in Western Civilization have ever pursued, yet swims free.

Concerning Moby Dick, Melville wrote, "It ... is of the horrible texture of a fabric that should be woven of ships' cables and hausers. A Polar wind blows through it, & birds of prey hover over it. Warn all gentle fastidious people from so much as peeping into the book..."

Moby Dick was the first "Great Book" posted at jollyroger.com, over six years ago, and Melville's masterpiece has inspired a lot of our poetry and prose. Check out Drake's new film at Moby Dick Film and Moby Dick.



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