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- Edition: The Comedy of Errors
The Comedy of Errors (Folio 1, 1623)
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85
The Comedie of Errors.
1Actus primus, Scena prima.
2Enter the Duke of Ephesus, with the Merchant of Siracusa,
3 Iaylor, and other attendants.
5Proceed Solinus to procure my fall,
6And by the doome of death end woes and all.
8I am not partiall to infringe our Lawes;
9The enmity and discord which of late
10Sprung from the rancorous outrage of your Duke,
11To Merchants our well-dealing Countrimen,
12Who wanting gilders to redeeme their liues,
14Excludes all pitty from our threatning lookes:
16Twixt thy seditious Countrimen and vs,
17It hath in solemne Synodes beene decreed,
20Nay more, if any borne at Ephesus
22Againe, if any Siracusian borne
23Come to the Bay of Ephesus, he dies:
26To quit the penalty, and to ransome him:
28Cannot amount vnto a hundred Markes,
29Therefore by Law thou art condemn'd to die.
30Mer. Yet this my comfort, when your words are done,
31My woes end likewise with the euening Sonne.
33Why thou departedst from thy natiue home?
37Yet that the world may witnesse that my end
38Was wrought by nature, not by vile offence,
39Ile vtter what my sorrow giues me leaue.
40In Syracusa was I borne, and wedde
41Vnto a woman, happy but for me,
42And by me; had not our hap beene bad:
43With her I liu'd in ioy, our wealth increast
44By prosperous voyages I often made
45To Epidamium, till my factors death,
46And he great care of goods at randone left,
51Had made prouision for her following me,
54A ioyfull mother of two goodly sonnes:
58A meane woman was deliuered
59Of such a burthen Male, twins both alike:
60Those, for their parents were exceeding poore,
61I bought, and brought vp to attend my sonnes.
62My wife, not meanely prowd of two such boyes,
63Made daily motions for our home returne:
64Vnwilling I agreed, alas, too soone wee came aboord.
65A league from Epidamium had we saild
66Before the alwaies winde-obeying deepe
67Gaue any Tragicke Instance of our harme:
68But longer did we not retaine much hope;
69For what obscured light the heauens did grant,
70Did but conuay vnto our fearefull mindes
71A doubtfull warrant of immediate death,
72Which though my selfe would gladly haue imbrac'd,
73Yet the incessant weepings of my wife,
75And pitteous playnings of the prettie babes
76That mourn'd for fashion, ignorant what to feare,
78And this it was: (for other meanes was none)
81My wife, more carefull for the latter borne,
84To him one of the other twins was bound,
85Whil'st I had beene like heedfull of the other.
86The children thus dispos'd, my wife and I,
87Fixing our eyes on whom our care was fixt,
90Was carried towards Corinth, as we thought.
91At length the sonne gazing vpon the earth,
95Two shippes from farre, making amaine to vs:
96Of Corinth that, of Epidarus this,
97But ere they came, oh let me say no more,
98Gather the sequell by that went before.
For
H