menu_book Chapter 1

act i of tis pity she's a hoar this librivox recording is in the public domain tis pity she's a hoar by john ford act i scene i friar bonaventura's cell enter friar and giovanni dispute no more in this for no young man these are no school points nice philosophy may tolerate unlikely arguments but heaven admits no jest wits that presumed on wit too much by striving how to prove there was no god with foolish grounds of art discovered first the nearest way to hell and filled the world with devilish atheism such questions youth are fond far better tis to bless the sun than reason why it shines yet he thou talkest of is above the sun no more i may not hear it to you i have unclasp'd my burdened soul emptied the storehouse of my thoughts and heart made myself poor of secrets

have not left another word untold which hath not spoke all what i ever durst or think or know and yet is here the comfort i shall have must i not do what all men else may love yes you may love fair son must i not praise that beauty which if framed anew the gods would make a gut of it if they had it there and kneel to it as i do kneel to them why foolish madman shall a peevish sound a customary form from man to man of brother and of sister be a bar twixt my perpetual happiness and me say that we have one father say one womb cursed my joys gave both of us life and birth are we not therefore each to other bound so much more by nature by the links of blossom if you will have it even of religion to be ever one one soul one flesh

have done unhappy youth for thou art lost shall then for that i am her brother born my joys be ever banish'd from her bed in your eyes i see the change of pity and compassion from your age as from a sacred oracle distils the life of counsel tell me holy man to cure shall give me ease in these extremes repentance son and sorrow for this sin for thou hast moved a majesty above with thy unrang'd almost blasphemy oh do not speak of that dear confessor art thou my son that miracle of wit who once within these three months were to esteem the wonder of thine age throughout bunonia how did the university applaud thy government behaviour learning speech sweetness and all that could make up a man i was proud of my tutelage and chose rather to leave my books than part with thee i did so but the fruits of all my hopes are lost in thee as thou art in thyself

oh giovanni hast thou left the schools of knowledge to converse with lust and death for death waits on thy lust look through the world and thou shalt see a thousand faces shine more glorious than this idol thou adorest leave her and take thy choice tis much less sin though in such games as those they lose that win ma'en it were more ease to stop the ocean from floats and ebbs than to dissuade my vows than i have done and in thy wilful flames already see thy ruin heaven is just yet hear my counsel as a voice of life high to thy father's house there lock thee fast alone within thy chamber then fall down on both thy knees and grovel on the ground

cry to thy heart wash every word thou utterest in tears and if be possible of blood beg heaven to cleanse the leprosy of lust that rots thy soul acknowledge what thou art a wretch a worm a nothing weep sigh pray three times a day and three times every night for seven days space do this then if thou find'st no change in thy desires return to me i'll think on remedy pray for thyself at home whilst i pray for thee here away my blessing with thee we have need to pray all this i'll do to free me from the rod of vengeance else i'll swear my fates my god exon scene two the street before florio's house enter grimaldi and vasquez with their swords drawn

come sir stand to your tackling if you prove craven i'll make you run quickly thou art no equal match for me indeed i never went to the wars to bring home news nor i cannot play the mountebank for a meal's meat and swear i got my wounds in the field see you these grey hairs they'll not flinch for bloody nose wilt thou to this gear why slave thinkest thou i'll balance my reputation with a cast suit call thy master he shall know that i dare scold like a cot queen that's your profession thou poor shadow of a soldier i will make thee know my master keeps servants thy bettering quality and performance comest thou to fight or prate neither with thee i am a roman and a gentleman one that have got mine honour with expense of blood

you are a lying coward and a fool fight or by these hilts i'll kill thee brave my lord you'll fight provoke me not for if thou dost have at you they fight grimaldi is worsted enter florio donado and soranzo from opposite sides what mean these sudden broils so near my doors have you not other places but my house to vent the spleen of your disordered bloods must i be haunted still with such unrest as not to eat or sleep in peace at home is this your love grimaldi fie tis not and vasquez i may tell thee tis not well to broach these quarrels you are ever forward in seconding contentions enter above annabella and putana what's the ground that with your patience seniors i'll resolve this gentleman whom fame reports a soldier for else i know not rivals me in love to signor florio's daughter to whose ears he still prefers his suit to my disgrace

thinking the way to recommend himself is to disparage me in his report but no grimaldi though may be thou art my equal in thy blood yet this berays aloneness in thy mind which wert thou noble thou wouldst as much disdain as i do thee for this unworthiness and on this ground i willed my servant to correct his tongue holding a man so base no match for me and had not your sudden coming prevented us i had let my gentleman blood under the gills i should have wormed you sir for running mad sir i'll be revenged sir on a dish of warm broth to stay your stomach do honest innocence do spoon meat is a wholesome diet than a spanish blade remember this exit i fear thee not grimaldi my lord soranzo this is strange to me why you should storm having my word engaged owning her heart what need you doubt her ear losers may talk by law of any game

yet the villainy of words signor florio may be such as would make any unspleen dove choleric blame not my lord in this be you more silent i would not for my wealth my daughter's love should cause the spilling of one drop of blood vasquez put up let's end this fray and whine how like you this child he is threatening challenging quarrelling and fighting on every side and all is for your sake you had need look to yourself charge you'll be stolen away sleeping else shortly but too tress such a life gives no content to me my thoughts are fixed on other ends would you would leave me leave you no marvel else leave me no leaving charge this is love outright indeed i blame you not you have choice fit for the best lady in italy

pray do not talk so much take the worst with the best there's grimaldi the soldier a very well timbered fellow they say he's a roman nephew to the duke monferrato they say he did good service in the wars against the milanese but faith charge i do not like him and be for nothing but for being a soldier not one amongst twenty of your skirmishing captains but have some privy maim or other that mars their standing upright i like him the worse he crinkles so much in the hams though he might serve if there were no more men yet he's not the man i would choose my how thou prateest as i am a very woman i like signor soranzo well he is wise and what is more rich and what is more than that kind and what is more than all this a nobleman such a one were i the fair annabella myself i would wish and pray for then he is bountiful besides he is handsome and by my troth i think wholesome and that's news in a gallant of three-and-twenty liberal that i know loving that you know and a man sure else he could never have purchased such a good name with hippolyta the lusty widow in her husband's lifetime

and twere but for that report sweetheart would he were thine commend a man for his qualities but take a husband as he is a plain sufficient naked man such a one is for your bed and such a one is signor soranzo my life for't sure the woman took her morning's draught too soon enter bergetto and poggio but look sweetheart look what thing comes now here's another of your ciphers to fill up the number oh brave old ape in a silken coat observe didst thou think poggio that i would spoil my new clothes and leave my dinner to fight no sir i did not take you for so errant a baby i am wiser than so for i hope poggio thou never heardst of an elder brother that was a coxcomb didst poggio never indeed sir as long as they had either land or money left them to inherit is it possible poggio oh monstrous why i'll undertake with a handful of silver to buy a headful of wit at any time

but sirrah i have another purchase in hand i shall have the wench mine uncle says i will but wash my face and shift socks and then have at her e faith mark my pace poggio pass us over the stage aside i have seen an ass and a mule trot the spanish pavin with a better grace i know not how often following him this idiot haunts me too ay ay he needs no description the rich magnifico that is below with your father charge signor donato his uncle for that he means to make this his cousin a golden calf thinks that you will be a right israelite and fall down to him presently but i hope i have tutored you better they say a fool's barbel is a lady's playfellow yet you having wealth enough you need not cast upon the dearth of flesh at any rate hang him innocent giovanni passes over the stage but see putana see what blessed shape of some celestial creature now appears what man is he

that with such sad aspect walks careless of himself where look below oh tis your brother sweet ha ha tis your brother sure tis not he this is some woeful thing wrapped up in grief some shadow of a man alas he beats his breast and wipes his eyes drowned all in tears methinks i hear him sigh let's down putana and partake the cause i know my brother and the love he bears me will not deny me partage in his sadness aside my soul is full of heaviness and fear exit with putana scene three a hall in florio's house lost i am lost half doomed the more i strive i love the more i love i see my ruin certain or endeavours could apply to my incurable and restless wounds i thoroughly have examined but in vain

that it were not in religion sin to make our love a god and worship it i have wearied heaven with prayers dried up the spring of my continual tears and starved my veins with daily fasts counsel i have practised but alas i find all these but dreams and old men's tales to fright unsteady youth i am still the same or i must speak or burst tis not i know my lust but tis my fate that leads me on keep fear and low faint-hearted shame with slaves i'll tell her that i love her enter annabella and putana brother aside if such a thing as courage dwells why brother will you not speak to me yes how do you sister howe'er i am methinks you are not well bless us why are you so sad sir let me entreat you leave us a while putana

sister i would be private with you withdraw putana i will aside if this were any other company for her i should think my absence and office of some credit but i will leave them together exit come sister lend me your hand let's walk together i hope you need not blush to walk with me here's none but you and i how's this in faith i mean no harm harm no good faith how is it with thee aside i trust ye be not frantic i am very well brother trust me but i am sick i fear so sick it will cost me my life mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy mercy Тоeky forbidit tis not so i hope i think you love me sister yes you know i do i know it indeed you are very fair nay then i see you have a merry sickness that's as it proves

the poet's fane i read that juno for her forehead did exceed all other goddesses but i durst swear your forehead exceeds hers as hers did theirs this is pretty oh such a pair of stars as are thine eyes would like promethean fire if gently glanced give life to senseless stones lie upon you the lily and the rose most sweetly strange upon your dimpled cheeks do strive for change such lips would tempt a saint such hands as those would make an anchorite lascivious do you mock me or flatter me lear oh if you would see a beauty more exact than art can counterfeit or nature frame look in your glass ere behold your own

oh you are a tremueth here offers his dagger to her what to do here's my breast behold a heart in which is rid the truth i speak why stand you are you earnest earnest and not love whom my tortured soul hath felt affliction in the heat of death oh annabella i am quite undone the love of thee my sister and the view of thy immortal beauty have untuned all harmony both of my rest and life why do you not strike forbid it my just fears if this be true twere fitter i were dead true annabella tis no time to jest i have too long suppressed my hidden flames that almost have consumed me

i have spent many a silent night in sighs and groans ran over all my thoughts despised my fate reasoned against the reasons of my love done all that smooth cheeked virtue could advise but found all bootless tis my destiny that you must either love or i must die comes this in sadness from you lear let some mischief befall me soon if i dissemble aught you are my brother giovanni you my sister annabella i know this and could afford you instance why to love so much the more for this to which intent wise nature first in your creation meant to make you mine else it had been sin and foul to share one beauty to a double soul

nearness in birth and blood doth but persuade a nearer nearness in affection i have asked counsel of the holy church who tells me i may love you tis just that since i may i should and will yes will must i now live live thou hast won the field and never fought what thou hast urged my captive heart had long ago resolved i blush to tell thee but i'll tell thee now for every sigh that thou hast spent for me i have sighed ten for every tear shed twenty and not so much for that i loved as that i durst not say i loved nor scarcely think it oh let not this music be dream ye gods for pity's sake i beg you on my knees she kneels

brother even by our mother's dust i charge you do not betray me to your mirth or hate love me or kill me brother on my knees he kneels sister you mean good sooth then in good troth i do and so do you i hope say i'm in earnest i'll swear it i and i and by this kiss kisses her once more yet once more let's rise they rise by this i would not change this minute for elysium what must we now do what you will come then after so many tears as we have wept let's learn to court in smiles to kiss and sleep scene four a street enter florio and donado signor donado you have said enough i understand you but what have you know i will not force my daughter against her will

you see i have but two were son and her and he is so devoted to his book as i must tell you true i doubt his health should he miscarry all my hopes rely upon my girl as for worldly fortune i am i thank my stars blest with enough my care is how to match her to her liking i would not have her merry wealth but love and if she like your nephew let him have her here's all that i can say sir you say well like a true father and for my part i if the young folks can like twixt you and me will promise to assure my nephew presently three thousand florins yearly during life and after i am dead my whole estate tis a fair proffer sir meantime your nephew shall have free passage to commence his suit if he can thrive he shall have my consent so for this time i'll leave you signor exit

well here's hope yet if my nephew if my nephew would have wit but he is such another dunce i fear he'll never win the wench when i was young i could have done it if faith and so shall he if he will learn of me and in good time he comes himself enter bergetto and poggio how now bergetto whither away so fast oh uncle i have heard the strangest news that ever came out of the mint have i not yes indeed sir what news what news burgetto why look ye uncle my barber told me just now that there is a fellow come to town who undertakes to make a mill go without the mortal help of any water or wind only with sandbags and this fellow hath a strange horse a most excellent beast i'll assure you uncle my barber says whose head to the wonder of all christian people stands just behind where his tail is

is not true podgio so the barber swore forsooth and you are running thither ay forsooth uncle wilt thou be a fool still come sir you shall not go you have more mind of a puppet play than on the business i told you why thou great baby wilt never have wit wilt make thyself a may game to all the world answer for yourself master why uncle should i sit at home still and not go abroad and see fashions like other gallants to see hobby horses what wise talk i pray had you with annabella when you were at signor florio's house oh the wench i'd say me uncle i tickled her with a rare speech that i made her almost burst her belly when laughing

nay i think so and what speech was it what did i say podgio forsooth my master said that he loved her almost as well as he loved parmesan and swore i'll be sworn for him that she wanted but such a nose as he was to be as pretty a young woman as any was in parma oh gross nay uncle then she asked me whether my father had more children than myself and i said no twere better he should have had his brains knocked out first this is intolerable then said she will signor donado your uncle leave you all his wealth ha that was good did she harp upon that string did she harp upon that string ay that she did i answered leave me all his wealth why woman he hath no other wit if he had he should hear on it to his everlasting glory and confusion

i know quoth i am his white boy and will not be gulled and with that she fell into a great smile and went away nay i did fit her ah sirrah then i see there's no changing of nature well bergetto i fear thou wilt be a very ass still i should be sorry for that uncle come come you home with me since you are no better a speaker i'll have you write to her after some courtly manner and enclose some rich jewel in the letter ay marry that will be excellent peace innocent once in my time i'll set my wits to school if all fail tis but the fortune of a fool poggio to do poggio

exsant end of act one