I ask thy pardon, Palamon, thou art alone,

And only beautiful, and these the eyes,

These the bright lamps of beauty, that command

And threaten love, and what young maid dare cross ’em?

What a bold gravity, and yet inviting,

Has this brown manly face! O, love, this only

From this hour is complexion. Lie there, Arcite,

Thou art a changeling to him, a mere gipsy,

And this the noble body. I am sotted,

Utterly lost: my virgin’s faith has fled me.

For if my brother but even now had asked me

Whether I loved, I had run mad for Arcite;

Now, if my sister, more for Palamon.

Stand both together: Now, come ask me, brother–

Alas, I know not! Ask me now, sweet sister;–

I may go look. What a mere child is fancy,

That, having two fair gods of equal sweetness,

Cannot distinguish, but must cry for both.

Index of First Lines

All the infections that the sun sucks up [The Tempest, II, ii, 1] 107

And I, forsooth, in love! [Love’s Labour’s Lost, III, i, 170] 32

Anjou and Maine are given to the French; [Henry VI Part 2, I, i, 212] 8

Ay, Edward will use women honourably. [Henry VI Part 3, III, ii, 124] 18

Banished the kingdom? ’Tis a benefit, [The Two Noble Kinsmen, II, ii, 1] 112

But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? [Romeo and Juliet, II, ii, 2] 35

Embowelled? If thou embowel me to-day, [Henry IV Part 1, V, iv, 110] 47

Even as one heat another heat expels, [Two Gentlemen of Verona, II, iv, 190] 2

For worms, brave Percy. Fare thee well, great heart! [Henry IV Part 1, V, iv, 86] 46

Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, [Romeo and Juliet, III, ii, 1] 37

Give me another horse! Bind up my wounds! [Richard III, V, iii, 178] 30

Hang there, my verse, in witness of my love, [As You Like It, III, ii, 1] 60

He who the sword of heaven will bear [Measure for Measure, III, ii, 249] 79

Here’s neither bush nor shrub [The Tempest, II, ii, 18] 108

How all occasions do inform against me [Hamlet, IV, iv, 32] 69

How courtesy would seem to cover sin, [Pericles, Prince of Tyre, I, i, 122] 95

How happy some o’er other some can be! [A Midsummer Night’s Dream, I, i, 226] 34

How many thousands of my poorest subjects [Henry IV Part 1, III, i, 4] 48

How use doth breed a habit in a man! [Two Gentlemen of Verona, V, iv, 1] 4

I am giddy; expectation whirls me round. [Troilus and Cressida, III, ii, 16] 74

I am very cold, and all the stars are out too, [The Two Noble Kinsmen, III, iv, 1] 114

I do much wonder that one man, [Much Ado About Nothing, II, iii, 8] 52

I have been studying how I may compare [Richard II, V, v, 1] 39

I heard myself proclaimed, [King Lear, II, iii, 1] 88