Page 278 - Shakespeare - Vol. 1

MARGARET She is going.

Margaret my name, and daughter to a king,
The King of Naples - whosoe’er thou art.

SUFFOLK

An earl I am, and Suffolk am I called.
Be not offended, nature’s miracle,
Thou art allotted to be ta’en by me: [55]
So doth the swan her downy cygnets save,
Keeping them prisoner underneath her wings.
Yet if this servile usage once offend,
Go and be free again as Suffolk’s friend.

O stay! [Aside] I have no power to let her pass; [60]
My hand would free her, but my heart says no.
As plays the sun upon the glassy streams
Twinkling another counterfeited beam,
So seems this gorgeous beauty to mine eyes.
Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not speak: [65]
I’ll call for pen and ink, and write my mind.
Fie, de la Pole, disable not thyself!
Hast not a tongue? Is she not here to hear?
Wilt thou be daunted at a woman’s sight?
Ay; beauty’s princely majesty is such [70]
Confounds the tongue and makes the senses rough.

MARGARET

Say, Earl of Suffolk - if thy name be so -
What ransom must I pay before I pass?
For I perceive I am thy prisoner.

SUFFOLK

[aside]
How canst thou tell she will deny thy suit, [75]
Before thou make a trial of her love?

MARGARET

Why speak’st thou not? What ransom must I pay?

SUFFOLK