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| As You Like It
| Act 2, Scene 5
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Enter AMIENS, JAQUES, and others
SONG.AMIENS
Under the greenwood treeJAQUES
Who loves to lie with me,
And turn his merry note
Unto the sweet bird's throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see No enemy
But winter and rough weather.
More, more, I prithee, more.AMIENS
It will make you melancholy, Monsieur Jaques.JAQUES
I thank it. More, I prithee, more. I can suckAMIENS
melancholy out of a song, as a weasel sucks eggs.
More, I prithee, more.
My voice is ragged: I know I cannot please you.JAQUES
I do not desire you to please me; I do desire you toAMIENS
sing. Come, more; another stanzo: call you 'em stanzos?
What you will, Monsieur Jaques.JAQUES
Nay, I care not for their names; they owe meAMIENS
nothing. Will you sing?
More at your request than to please myself.JAQUES
Well then, if ever I thank any man, I'll thank you;AMIENS
but that they call compliment is like the encounter
of two dog-apes, and when a man thanks me heartily,
methinks I have given him a penny and he renders me
the beggarly thanks. Come, sing; and you that will
not, hold your tongues.
Well, I'll end the song. Sirs, cover the while; theJAQUES
duke will drink under this tree. He hath been all
this day to look you.
And I have been all this day to avoid him. He isJAQUES
too disputable for my company: I think of as many
matters as he, but I give heaven thanks and make no
boast of them. Come, warble, come.
SONG.
Who doth ambition shun
All together here
And loves to live i' the sun,
Seeking the food he eats
And pleased with what he gets,
Come hither, come hither, come hither:
Here shall he see No enemy
But winter and rough weather.
I'll give you a verse to this note that I madeAMIENS
yesterday in despite of my invention.
And I'll sing it.JAQUES
Thus it goes:--AMIENS
If it do come to pass
That any man turn ass,
Leaving his wealth and ease,
A stubborn will to please,
Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame:
Here shall he see
Gross fools as he,
An if he will come to me.
What's that 'ducdame'?JAQUES
'Tis a Greek invocation, to call fools into aAMIENS
circle. I'll go sleep, if I can; if I cannot, I'll
rail against all the first-born of Egypt.
And I'll go seek the duke: his banquet is prepared.
Exeunt severally
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| As You Like It
| Act 2, Scene 5
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