Speeches (Lines) for Duke of Milan
in "Two Gentlemen of Verona"
Total: 48

1

II,4,698

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE]

Duke of Milan. Now, daughter Silvia, you are hard beset.
Sir Valentine, your father's in good health:
What say you to a letter from your friends
Of much good news?

2

II,4,704

Valentine. My lord, I will be thankful.
To any happy messenger from thence.

Duke of Milan. Know ye Don Antonio, your countryman?

3

II,4,708

Valentine. Ay, my good lord, I know the gentleman
To be of worth and worthy estimation
And not without desert so well reputed.

Duke of Milan. Hath he not a son?

4

II,4,711

Valentine. Ay, my good lord; a son that well deserves
The honour and regard of such a father.

Duke of Milan. You know him well?

5

II,4,725

Valentine. I know him as myself; for from our infancy
We have conversed and spent our hours together:
And though myself have been an idle truant,
Omitting the sweet benefit of time
To clothe mine age with angel-like perfection,
Yet hath Sir Proteus, for that's his name,
Made use and fair advantage of his days;
His years but young, but his experience old;
His head unmellow'd, but his judgment ripe;
And, in a word, for far behind his worth
Comes all the praises that I now bestow,
He is complete in feature and in mind
With all good grace to grace a gentleman.

Duke of Milan. Beshrew me, sir, but if he make this good,
He is as worthy for an empress' love
As meet to be an emperor's counsellor.
Well, sir, this gentleman is come to me,
With commendation from great potentates;
And here he means to spend his time awhile:
I think 'tis no unwelcome news to you.

6

II,4,733

Valentine. Should I have wish'd a thing, it had been he.

Duke of Milan. Welcome him then according to his worth.
Silvia, I speak to you, and you, Sir Thurio;
For Valentine, I need not cite him to it:
I will send him hither to you presently.

7

III,1,1068

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE, THURIO, and PROTEUS]

Duke of Milan. Sir Thurio, give us leave, I pray, awhile;
We have some secrets to confer about.
[Exit THURIO]
Now, tell me, Proteus, what's your will with me?

8

III,1,1090

Proteus. My gracious lord, that which I would discover
The law of friendship bids me to conceal;
But when I call to mind your gracious favours
Done to me, undeserving as I am,
My duty pricks me on to utter that
Which else no worldly good should draw from me.
Know, worthy prince, Sir Valentine, my friend,
This night intends to steal away your daughter:
Myself am one made privy to the plot.
I know you have determined to bestow her
On Thurio, whom your gentle daughter hates;
And should she thus be stol'n away from you,
It would be much vexation to your age.
Thus, for my duty's sake, I rather chose
To cross my friend in his intended drift
Than, by concealing it, heap on your head
A pack of sorrows which would press you down,
Being unprevented, to your timeless grave.

Duke of Milan. Proteus, I thank thee for thine honest care;
Which to requite, command me while I live.
This love of theirs myself have often seen,
Haply when they have judged me fast asleep,
And oftentimes have purposed to forbid
Sir Valentine her company and my court:
But fearing lest my jealous aim might err
And so unworthily disgrace the man,
A rashness that I ever yet have shunn'd,
I gave him gentle looks, thereby to find
That which thyself hast now disclosed to me.
And, that thou mayst perceive my fear of this,
Knowing that tender youth is soon suggested,
I nightly lodge her in an upper tower,
The key whereof myself have ever kept;
And thence she cannot be convey'd away.

9

III,1,1116

Proteus. Know, noble lord, they have devised a mean
How he her chamber-window will ascend
And with a corded ladder fetch her down;
For which the youthful lover now is gone
And this way comes he with it presently;
Where, if it please you, you may intercept him.
But, good my Lord, do it so cunningly
That my discovery be not aimed at;
For love of you, not hate unto my friend,
Hath made me publisher of this pretence.

Duke of Milan. Upon mine honour, he shall never know
That I had any light from thee of this.

10

III,1,1121

(stage directions). [Enter VALENTINE]

Duke of Milan. Sir Valentine, whither away so fast?

11

III,1,1125

Valentine. Please it your grace, there is a messenger
That stays to bear my letters to my friends,
And I am going to deliver them.

Duke of Milan. Be they of much import?

12

III,1,1128

Valentine. The tenor of them doth but signify
My health and happy being at your court.

Duke of Milan. Nay then, no matter; stay with me awhile;
I am to break with thee of some affairs
That touch me near, wherein thou must be secret.
'Tis not unknown to thee that I have sought
To match my friend Sir Thurio to my daughter.

13

III,1,1138

Valentine. I know it well, my Lord; and, sure, the match
Were rich and honourable; besides, the gentleman
Is full of virtue, bounty, worth and qualities
Beseeming such a wife as your fair daughter:
Cannot your Grace win her to fancy him?

Duke of Milan. No, trust me; she is peevish, sullen, froward,
Proud, disobedient, stubborn, lacking duty,
Neither regarding that she is my child
Nor fearing me as if I were her father;
And, may I say to thee, this pride of hers,
Upon advice, hath drawn my love from her;
And, where I thought the remnant of mine age
Should have been cherish'd by her child-like duty,
I now am full resolved to take a wife
And turn her out to who will take her in:
Then let her beauty be her wedding-dower;
For me and my possessions she esteems not.

14

III,1,1151

Valentine. What would your Grace have me to do in this?

Duke of Milan. There is a lady in Verona here
Whom I affect; but she is nice and coy
And nought esteems my aged eloquence:
Now therefore would I have thee to my tutor—
For long agone I have forgot to court;
Besides, the fashion of the time is changed—
How and which way I may bestow myself
To be regarded in her sun-bright eye.

15

III,1,1162

Valentine. Win her with gifts, if she respect not words:
Dumb jewels often in their silent kind
More than quick words do move a woman's mind.

Duke of Milan. But she did scorn a present that I sent her.

16

III,1,1176

Valentine. A woman sometimes scorns what best contents her.
Send her another; never give her o'er;
For scorn at first makes after-love the more.
If she do frown, 'tis not in hate of you,
But rather to beget more love in you:
If she do chide, 'tis not to have you gone;
For why, the fools are mad, if left alone.
Take no repulse, whatever she doth say;
For 'get you gone,' she doth not mean 'away!'
Flatter and praise, commend, extol their graces;
Though ne'er so black, say they have angels' faces.
That man that hath a tongue, I say, is no man,
If with his tongue he cannot win a woman.

Duke of Milan. But she I mean is promised by her friends
Unto a youthful gentleman of worth,
And kept severely from resort of men,
That no man hath access by day to her.

17

III,1,1181

Valentine. Why, then, I would resort to her by night.

Duke of Milan. Ay, but the doors be lock'd and keys kept safe,
That no man hath recourse to her by night.

18

III,1,1184

Valentine. What lets but one may enter at her window?

Duke of Milan. Her chamber is aloft, far from the ground,
And built so shelving that one cannot climb it
Without apparent hazard of his life.

19

III,1,1191

Valentine. Why then, a ladder quaintly made of cords,
To cast up, with a pair of anchoring hooks,
Would serve to scale another Hero's tower,
So bold Leander would adventure it.

Duke of Milan. Now, as thou art a gentleman of blood,
Advise me where I may have such a ladder.

20

III,1,1194

Valentine. When would you use it? pray, sir, tell me that.

Duke of Milan. This very night; for Love is like a child,
That longs for every thing that he can come by.

21

III,1,1197

Valentine. By seven o'clock I'll get you such a ladder.

Duke of Milan. But, hark thee; I will go to her alone:
How shall I best convey the ladder thither?

22

III,1,1201

Valentine. It will be light, my lord, that you may bear it
Under a cloak that is of any length.

Duke of Milan. A cloak as long as thine will serve the turn?

23

III,1,1203

Valentine. Ay, my good lord.

Duke of Milan. Then let me see thy cloak:
I'll get me one of such another length.

24

III,1,1206

Valentine. Why, any cloak will serve the turn, my lord.

Duke of Milan. How shall I fashion me to wear a cloak?
I pray thee, let me feel thy cloak upon me.
What letter is this same? What's here? 'To Silvia'!
And here an engine fit for my proceeding.
I'll be so bold to break the seal for once.
[Reads]
'My thoughts do harbour with my Silvia nightly,
And slaves they are to me that send them flying:
O, could their master come and go as lightly,
Himself would lodge where senseless they are lying!
My herald thoughts in thy pure bosom rest them:
While I, their king, that hither them importune,
Do curse the grace that with such grace hath bless'd them,
Because myself do want my servants' fortune:
I curse myself, for they are sent by me,
That they should harbour where their lord would be.'
What's here?
'Silvia, this night I will enfranchise thee.'
'Tis so; and here's the ladder for the purpose.
Why, Phaeton,—for thou art Merops' son,—
Wilt thou aspire to guide the heavenly car
And with thy daring folly burn the world?
Wilt thou reach stars, because they shine on thee?
Go, base intruder! overweening slave!
Bestow thy fawning smiles on equal mates,
And think my patience, more than thy desert,
Is privilege for thy departure hence:
Thank me for this more than for all the favours
Which all too much I have bestow'd on thee.
But if thou linger in my territories
Longer than swiftest expedition
Will give thee time to leave our royal court,
By heaven! my wrath shall far exceed the love
I ever bore my daughter or thyself.
Be gone! I will not hear thy vain excuse;
But, as thou lovest thy life, make speed from hence.

25

III,2,1452

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE and THURIO]

Duke of Milan. Sir Thurio, fear not but that she will love you,
Now Valentine is banish'd from her sight.

26

III,2,1457

Thurio. Since his exile she hath despised me most,
Forsworn my company and rail'd at me,
That I am desperate of obtaining her.

Duke of Milan. This weak impress of love is as a figure
Trenched in ice, which with an hour's heat
Dissolves to water and doth lose his form.
A little time will melt her frozen thoughts
And worthless Valentine shall be forgot.
[Enter PROTEUS]
How now, Sir Proteus! Is your countryman
According to our proclamation gone?

27

III,2,1466

Proteus. Gone, my good lord.

Duke of Milan. My daughter takes his going grievously.

28

III,2,1468

Proteus. A little time, my lord, will kill that grief.

Duke of Milan. So I believe; but Thurio thinks not so.
Proteus, the good conceit I hold of thee—
For thou hast shown some sign of good desert—
Makes me the better to confer with thee.

29

III,2,1474

Proteus. Longer than I prove loyal to your grace
Let me not live to look upon your grace.

Duke of Milan. Thou know'st how willingly I would effect
The match between Sir Thurio and my daughter.

30

III,2,1477

Proteus. I do, my lord.

Duke of Milan. And also, I think, thou art not ignorant
How she opposes her against my will

31

III,2,1480

Proteus. She did, my lord, when Valentine was here.

Duke of Milan. Ay, and perversely she persevers so.
What might we do to make the girl forget
The love of Valentine and love Sir Thurio?

32

III,2,1486

Proteus. The best way is to slander Valentine
With falsehood, cowardice and poor descent,
Three things that women highly hold in hate.

Duke of Milan. Ay, but she'll think that it is spoke in hate.

33

III,2,1490

Proteus. Ay, if his enemy deliver it:
Therefore it must with circumstance be spoken
By one whom she esteemeth as his friend.

Duke of Milan. Then you must undertake to slander him.

34

III,2,1494

Proteus. And that, my lord, I shall be loath to do:
'Tis an ill office for a gentleman,
Especially against his very friend.

Duke of Milan. Where your good word cannot advantage him,
Your slander never can endamage him;
Therefore the office is indifferent,
Being entreated to it by your friend.

35

III,2,1508

Thurio. Therefore, as you unwind her love from him,
Lest it should ravel and be good to none,
You must provide to bottom it on me;
Which must be done by praising me as much
As you in worth dispraise Sir Valentine.

Duke of Milan. And, Proteus, we dare trust you in this kind,
Because we know, on Valentine's report,
You are already Love's firm votary
And cannot soon revolt and change your mind.
Upon this warrant shall you have access
Where you with Silvia may confer at large;
For she is lumpish, heavy, melancholy,
And, for your friend's sake, will be glad of you;
Where you may temper her by your persuasion
To hate young Valentine and love my friend.

36

III,2,1523

Proteus. As much as I can do, I will effect:
But you, Sir Thurio, are not sharp enough;
You must lay lime to tangle her desires
By wailful sonnets, whose composed rhymes
Should be full-fraught with serviceable vows.

Duke of Milan. Ay,
Much is the force of heaven-bred poesy.

37

III,2,1540

Proteus. Say that upon the altar of her beauty
You sacrifice your tears, your sighs, your heart:
Write till your ink be dry, and with your tears
Moist it again, and frame some feeling line
That may discover such integrity:
For Orpheus' lute was strung with poets' sinews,
Whose golden touch could soften steel and stones,
Make tigers tame and huge leviathans
Forsake unsounded deeps to dance on sands.
After your dire-lamenting elegies,
Visit by night your lady's chamber-window
With some sweet concert; to their instruments
Tune a deploring dump: the night's dead silence
Will well become such sweet-complaining grievance.
This, or else nothing, will inherit her.

Duke of Milan. This discipline shows thou hast been in love.

38

III,2,1547

Thurio. And thy advice this night I'll put in practise.
Therefore, sweet Proteus, my direction-giver,
Let us into the city presently
To sort some gentlemen well skill'd in music.
I have a sonnet that will serve the turn
To give the onset to thy good advice.

Duke of Milan. About it, gentlemen!

39

III,2,1550

Proteus. We'll wait upon your grace till after supper,
And afterward determine our proceedings.

Duke of Milan. Even now about it! I will pardon you.

40

V,2,2098

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE]

Duke of Milan. How now, Sir Proteus! how now, Thurio!
Which of you saw Sir Eglamour of late?

41

V,2,2102

Proteus. Nor I.

Duke of Milan. Saw you my daughter?

42

V,2,2104

Proteus. Neither.

Duke of Milan. Why then,
She's fled unto that peasant Valentine;
And Eglamour is in her company.
'Tis true; for Friar Laurence met them both,
As he in penance wander'd through the forest;
Him he knew well, and guess'd that it was she,
But, being mask'd, he was not sure of it;
Besides, she did intend confession
At Patrick's cell this even; and there she was not;
These likelihoods confirm her flight from hence.
Therefore, I pray you, stand not to discourse,
But mount you presently and meet with me
Upon the rising of the mountain-foot
That leads towards Mantua, whither they are fled:
Dispatch, sweet gentlemen, and follow me.

43

V,4,2282

Valentine. Forbear, forbear, I say! it is my lord the duke.
Your grace is welcome to a man disgraced,
Banished Valentine.

Duke of Milan. Sir Valentine!

44

V,4,2294

Thurio. Sir Valentine, I care not for her, I;
I hold him but a fool that will endanger
His body for a girl that loves him not:
I claim her not, and therefore she is thine.

Duke of Milan. The more degenerate and base art thou,
To make such means for her as thou hast done
And leave her on such slight conditions.
Now, by the honour of my ancestry,
I do applaud thy spirit, Valentine,
And think thee worthy of an empress' love:
Know then, I here forget all former griefs,
Cancel all grudge, repeal thee home again,
Plead a new state in thy unrivall'd merit,
To which I thus subscribe: Sir Valentine,
Thou art a gentleman and well derived;
Take thou thy Silvia, for thou hast deserved her.

45

V,4,2309

Valentine. I thank your grace; the gift hath made me happy.
I now beseech you, for your daughter's sake,
To grant one boom that I shall ask of you.

Duke of Milan. I grant it, for thine own, whate'er it be.

46

V,4,2316

Valentine. These banish'd men that I have kept withal
Are men endued with worthy qualities:
Forgive them what they have committed here
And let them be recall'd from their exile:
They are reformed, civil, full of good
And fit for great employment, worthy lord.

Duke of Milan. Thou hast prevail'd; I pardon them and thee:
Dispose of them as thou know'st their deserts.
Come, let us go: we will include all jars
With triumphs, mirth and rare solemnity.

47

V,4,2323

Valentine. And, as we walk along, I dare be bold
With our discourse to make your grace to smile.
What think you of this page, my lord?

Duke of Milan. I think the boy hath grace in him; he blushes.

48

V,4,2325

Valentine. I warrant you, my lord, more grace than boy.

Duke of Milan. What mean you by that saying?