Kath. Fye, fye! unknit that threat'ning unkind
brow; die buscant.
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes,
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor:
It blots thy beauty, as frosts do bite the meads;
Confounds thy fame, as whirlwinds shake fair buds;
And in no sense is meet or amiable.

A woman mov'd, is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill seeming, thick, bereft of beauty;
And, while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip, or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance; commits his body
To painful labour, both by sea and land;

To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
While thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy h
hands,
But love, fair looks
and true obedience;-
Too little payment for so great a debt.919de
Such duty as the subject owes the prince;
Even such a woman oweth to her husband:
And, when she's froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And, not obedient to his honest will,
What is she, but a foul contending rebel,
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I am asham'd, that women are so simple!
To offer war, where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,

When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.
Why are our bodies soft, and weak, and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world;

But that our soft conditions and our hearts,
Should well agree with our external parts?
Come, come, you froward and unable worms!
My mind hath been as big as one of yours,
My heart as great; my reason, haply, more,

That is, the gentle qualities of our minds.

BC.II.

WTHE SHREW.

415

To bandy word for word, and frown for frown:
But now, I our lances are but straws;
Our strengtheak, our weakness past compare,
as
That seeming to be most, which we least are.
Then vail your stomachs, for it is no boot;
And place your hands below your husband's foot:
In token of which duty, if he please,

My hand is ready, may it do him ease.

Pet. Why, there's a wench!-Come on, and kiss me, Kate.

Luc. Well, go thy ways, old lad; for thou shalt

ha't.

Vin. 'Tis a good hearing, when children are toward. Luc. But a harsh hearing when women are froward. Pet. Come, Kate, we'll to bed:

We three are married, but you two are sped9. "Twas I won the wager, though you hit the white10; [TO LUCENTIO. And, being a winner, God give you good night! [Exeunt PETRUCHIO and KATH. o thy ways, thou hast tam'd a curst

Hor. Now go
shrew.

Luc. "Tis a wonder, by your leave, she will be

tam'd so,

[Exeunt,

8 Vail your stomachs, abate your pride, your spirit, it is no is no advantage. Thus in King boot, i. e. it is profitless, it

Richard II. Act i. Sc. 1:

'Norfolk, throw down; we bid; there is no boot.

9 i. e. the fate of you both is decided; for you both have wives who exhibit early proofs of disobedience.

10 The white was the central part of the mark or butt in archery. Here is also a play upon the name of Bianca, which is white in Italian.

11 The old play continues thus :→

Then enter two, bearing SLIE in his own apparel againe, and leaves him where they found him, and then goes out: then enters the Tapster.

Tapster. Now that the darksome nic

is overpast,

And dawning day appeares in christal! skie,

Now must I haste abroade: but softe! who's this?

What, Slie? O wondrous! hath he laine heere all night?

Ile wake him; I thinke he's started by this,

But that his belly was so stufft with ale:

What now, Stie? awake for shame.

Slie. Awaking. Sim, give's more wine-What all the players gone? Am I not a lord?

Tap. A lord, with a murrain ?-Come, art thou drank still ?
Slie. Who's this?at in all thy life.
Tapster!-Oh I have had the bravest dream

that ever thou

Top Yea, marry, but thou hadst best get thee home, for your wife will curse you for dreaming here all night.

Slie. Will she? I know how to tame a shrew. I dreamt upon it all this night, and thou hast wak'd me out of the best dream that ever I had; but I'll to my wife, and tame her too, if she

auger me,

Or this play the two plots are so well united that they can hardly be called two, without injury to the art with which they are interwoven. The attention is entertained with all the variety of a double plot, yet is not distracted by unconnected incidents.

The part between Katharina and Petruchio is eminently spritely and diverting. At the marriage of Bianca the arrival of the real father, perhaps, produces more perplexity than pleasure. The whole play is very popular and diverting.

JOHNSON.