Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor 15
for Semiramis. Say thou wilt walk: we will bestrew the ground: Or wilt thou ride? Thy horses shall be trapp ' d, Their harness studded all with gold and pearl. Dost thou love hawking? Thou hast hawks will soar Above the morning lark: or wilt thou hunt? Thy hounds shall make the welkin answer them And fetch shall echoes from the hollow earth.
FIRST SERVANT. Say thou wilt course; thy greyhounds are as swift As breathed stags; ay, fleeter than the roe.
SECOND SERVANT. Dost thou love pictures? We will fetch thee straight Adonis painted by a running brook, And Cytherea all in sedges hid, Which seem to move and wanton with her breath Even as the waving sedges play with wind.
LORD. We ' ll show thee Io as she was a maid And how she was beguiled and surpris ' d, As lively painted as the deed was done.
THIRD SERVANT. Or Daphne roaming through a thorny wood, Scratching her legs, that one shall swear she bleeds And at that sight shall sad Apollo weep, So workmanly the blood and tears are drawn.
LORD. Thou art a lord, and nothing but a lord: Thou hast a lady far more beautiful Than any woman in this waning age.
FIRST SERVANT. And, till the tears that she hath shed for thee Like envious floods o ' er-run her lovely face, She was the fairest creature in the world; And yet she is inferior to none.
SLY. Am I a lord? and have I such a lady? Or do I dream? Or have I dream ' d till now? I do not sleep: I see, I hear, I speak; I smell sweet savours, and I feel soft things: Upon my life, I am a lord indeed; And not a tinker, nor Christophero Sly. Well, bring our lady hither to our sight; And once again, a pot o ' the smallest ale.
SECOND SERVANT. Will ' t please your mightiness to wash your hands?