Duke. Are you acquainted, &c., do you know the particulars and case before the Court. Duke. Antonio and o'd Shylock, both stand forth. the nature of the Ant. Ay, so he says. Por. Ant. I do. Por. * Within his danger, in his power as a captive. Do you confess the bond? Confess, acknow. Then must the Jew be merciful. that. * Por. The quality of mercy is not strain'd; And earthly pow'r doth then show* likest God's 135 The deeds of mercy. * Twice blest, it has a double blessing. Show, appear. My deeds, &c., Crave, demand, insist upon. Shy. My deeds upon my head! I crave* the law, Equity, justice, The penalty and forfeit of my bond. Bass. For once I beg the court to bend the law 140 To curb this cruel savage of his will. that fairness. Por. It must not be. There is no power in Daniel, the pro Venice Can alter a decree established: "Twill be recorded as a precedent,* And many an error by the same example 145 Will rush into the state. It cannot be. 150 phet mentioned in the Old Testament, who was the means of preventing the carrying out of an unjust sentence on the Shy. A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel! chaste Susannah. O wise young judge, how do 1 honour thee! Perjury, Shy. An oath, an oath! I have an oath in false Shall I lay perjury* upon my soul? swearing, the violation of an oath. Por. Ant. Most heartily I do beseech the court Por. Why, then, thus it is: So saith the bond; doth it not, noble judge? flesh? Shy. I have them ready. 155 160 165 to weigh the 170 Por. Have by* a surgeon, Shylock, at your charge,* 'Twere good you do so much for charity. Shy. I cannot find it. 'Tis not in the bond. thine; The court awards it, and the law doth give it. 175 Por. And you must cut this flesh from off his 180 breast: The law allows it, and the court awards it. Shy. Most learned judge! A sentence! come, pre pare. Por. Tarry a little there is something else. Then take thy bond: take thou thy pound of flesh; One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods 185 Gra. O upright judge! Mark, Jew! O learned 190 195 Por. Thyself shalt see the act:* Shy. I take his offer, then,-pay the sum thrice; Bass. Por. Here is the money. Soft! 200 The Jew shall have all justice; soft!-no haste: 205 Take the for feiture. Gra. A Daniel, still say I; a second Daniel! The law hath yet another hold on you. 215 It is enacted by the laws of Venice, The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive 220 Shall seize one half his goods; the other half Goes to the privy coffer of the state; And the offender's life lies in the mercy Of the Duke only, 'gainst all other voice.* Thou hast contrived against the very life Of the defendant;* and thou hast incurr'd 230 Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke. 235 Alien, foreigner. and who has, Duke. That thou may'st see the difference of our fend himself. spirit, I pardon thee thy life, before thou ask it. You take my life, taking whereon I live. Formerly, previously. Pardon, &c., do not remit the sentence of death if you take my Por. What mercy can you render him, Antonio? wealth. Quit the fine, &c. Ant. So please my lord the Duke and all the court, To quit the fine * for one half of his goods; I shall be well contented if I have The other half in use until his death. Duke. He shall do this, or else do I recant Por. Art thou contented, Jew, What dost thou say? And I will sign it. 240 245 THE isles of Greece! the isles of Greece ! * The Scian and the Teian* muse, The hero's harp, the lover's lute, And musing there an hour alone, I dreamed that Greece might still be free: A king sate on the rocky brow Which looks o'er sea-born Salamis,* And men in nations ;-all were his ! And where are they? and where art thou, 5 10 15 20 25 Greece, a mountainous country in the south of Europe. With the aid of England, France, and Russia, it threw off the Turkish yoke in 1829, and became an independer: kingdom. 55 You have the Pyrrhic dance as yet Where is the Pyrrhic phalanx * gone? Of two such lessons, why forget The nobler and the manlier one? You have the letters Cadmus * gave60 Think ye he meant them for a slave? Fill high the bowl with Samian wine! He served but served Polycrates 65 A tyrant; but our masters then Were still, at least, our countrymen. 70 The tyrant of the Chersonese Was freedom's best and bravest friend : Oh that the present hour would lend Thy lyre. Poetry is here likened to the music of a lyre or harp. The ancient Greeks excelled in poetry. Dearth, scarcity. Patriot, one who truly loves and serves his fatherland. Remnant, a part. Sparta, a town in the Morea, famous for the bravery of its inhabitants. Of the three hundred. At Thermopylæ, a famous pass in the north-east of Greece, 10,000 Persians, under Xerxes, were engaged by 300 Spartans, under Leonidas, whose followers were all slain. Samian wine! Samos, an island on the coast of Asia Minor, opposite Ionia, famous for its wine. And shed, &c. Make wine from the juice of the grape that grows on the island of Scio, off the coast of Asia Minor. Bacchanal, a worship. per of Bacchus, one who indulges in drink. Pyrrhic phalanx, a compact body of soldiers formed in the shape of a wedge. Cadmus, the inventor of letters, and king of Thebes, which city he founded. He came to Greece B. C. 1550. Polycrates, a king of Samos. The Chersonese, the peninsula of the Morea, Greece. The inhabitants invested Miltiades, the hero of Marathon, with the sovereign power. |