William Shakespeare's As You Like It in the complete original text.
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As You Like It

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Act V. Scene II.

Scene II.—Another Part of the Forest.

Enter ORLANDO and OLIVER.

Orl. Is't possible that on so little acquaint-
ance you should like her? that, but seeing, you
should love her? and, loving, woo? and, wooing,
she should grant? and will you persever to enjoy
her?
Oli. Neither call the giddiness of it in ques-
tion, the poverty of her, the small acquaintance,
my sudden wooing, nor her sudden consenting;
but say with me, I love Aliena; say with her,
that she loves me; consent with both, that we
may enjoy each other: it shall be to your good;
for my father's house and all the revenue that
was old Sir Rowland's will I estate upon you,
and here live and die a shepherd.
Orl. You have my consent. Let your wedding
be to-morrow: thither will I invite the duke
and all's contented followers. Go you and
prepare Aliena; for, look you, here comes my
Rosalind.

Enter ROSALIND.
Ros. God save you, brother.
Oli. And you, fair sister. [Exit.
Ros. O! my dear Orlando, how it grieves me
to see thee wear thy heart in a scarf.
Orl. It is my arm.
Ros. I thought thy heart had been wounded
with the claws of a lion.
Orl. Wounded it is, but with the eyes of a
lady.
Ros. Did your brother tell you how I coun-
terfeited to swound when he showed me your
handkercher?
Orl. Ay, and greater wonders than that.
Ros. O! I know where you are. Nay, 'tis
true: there was never anything so sudden but
the fight of two rams, and Cæsar's thrasonical
brag of 'I came, saw, and overcame:' for your
brother and my sister no sooner met, but they
looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no
sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed
but they asked one another the reason; no
sooner knew the reason but they sought the
remedy: and in these degrees have they made a
pair of stairs to marriage which they will climb
incontinent, or else be incontinent before mar-
riage. They are in the very wrath of love, and
they will together: clubs cannot part them.
Orl. They shall be married to-morrow, and I
will bid the duke to the nuptial. But, O! how
bitter a thing it is to look into happiness
through another man's eyes. By so much the
more shall I to-morrow be at the height of
heart-heaviness, by how much I shall think my
brother happy in having what he wishes for.
Ros. Why then, to-morrow I cannot serve
your turn for Rosalind?
Orl. I can live no longer by thinking.
Ros. I will weary you then no longer with
idle talking. Know of me then,—for now I
speak to some purpose,—that I know you are a
gentleman of good conceit. I speak not this
that you should bear a good opinion of my know-
ledge, insomuch I say I know you are; neither
do I labour for a greater esteem than may in
some little measure draw a belief from you, to
do yourself good, and not to grace me. Believe
then, if you please, that I can do strange things.
I have, since I was three years old, conversed
with a magician, most profound in his art and
yet not damnable. If you do love Rosalind so
near the heart as your gesture cries it out, when
your brother marries Aliena, shall you marry her.
I know into what straits of fortune she is driven;
and it is not impossible to me, if it appear not
inconvenient to you, to set her before your eyes
to-morrow, human as she is, and without any
danger.
Orl. Speakest thou in sober meanings?
Ros. By my life, I do; which I tender dearly,
though I say I am a magician. Therefore, put
you in your best array; bid your friends; for if
you will be married to-morrow, you shall; and
to Rosalind, if you will Look, here comes a
lover of mine, and a lover of hers.

Enter SILVIUS and PHEBE.
Phe. Youth, you have done me much ungen-
tleness,
To show the letter that I writ to you.
Ros. I care not if I have: it is my study
To seem despiteful and ungentle to you.
You are there follow'd by a faithful shepherd:
Look upon him, love him; he worships you.
Phe. Good shepherd, tell this youth what 'tis
to love.
Sil. It is to be all made of sighs and tears;
And so am I for Phebe.
Phe. And I for Ganymede.
Orl. And I for Rosalind.
Ros. And I for no woman.
Sil. It is to be all made of faith and service;
And so am I for Phebe.
Phe. And I for Ganymede.
Orl. And I for Rosalind.
Ros. And I for no woman.
Sil. It is to be all made of fantasy,
All made of passion, and all made of wishes;
All adoration, duty, and observance;
All humbleness, all patience, and impatience;
All purity, all trial, all obeisance;
And so am I for Phebe.
Phe. And so am I for Ganymede.
Orl. And so am I for Rosalind.
Ros. And so am I for no woman.
Phe. [To ROSALIND.] If this be so, why blame
you me to love you?
Sil. [To PHEBE.] If this be so, why blame you
me to love you?
Orl. If this be so, why blame you me to love
you?
Ros. Who do you speak to, 'Why blame you
me to love you?'
Orl. To her that is not here, nor doth not
hear.
Ros. Pray you, no more of this: 'tis like the
howling of Irish wolves against the moon. [To
SILVIUS.] I will help you, if I can: [To PHEBE.]
I would love you, if I could. To-morrow meet
me all together. [To PHEBE.] I will marry you,
if ever I marry woman, and I'll be married to-
morrow: [To ORLANDO.] I will satisfy you, if
ever I satisfied man, and you shall be married
to-morrow: [To SILVIUS.] I will content you, if
what pleases you contents you, and you shall be
married to-morrow. [To ORLANDO.] As you love
Rosalind, meet: [To SILVIUS.] As you love
Phebe, meet: and as I love no woman, I'll
meet. So, fare you well: I have left you com-
mands.
Sil. I'll not fail, if I live.
Phe. Nor I
Orl. Nor I [Exeunt.
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