Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Act 2 - Scene 7
Belmont. A room in PORTIA’S house.
Portia : Go draw aside the curtains and discover
[p]The several caskets to this
noble prince.
[p]Now make your choice.
Prince of Morocco : The first, of gold, who this inscription bears,
[p]'Who chooseth me
shall gain what many men desire;'
[p]The second, silver, which this
promise carries,
[p]'Who chooseth me shall get as much as he
deserves;'
[p]This third, dull lead, with warning all as
blunt,
[p]'Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.'
[p]How
shall I know if I do choose the right?
Portia : The one of them contains my picture, prince:
[p]If you choose that,
then I am yours withal.
Prince of Morocco : Some god direct my judgment! Let me see;
[p]I will survey the
inscriptions back again.
[p]What says this leaden casket?
[p]'Who
chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath.'
[p]Must give: for what?
for lead? hazard for lead?
[p]This casket threatens. Men that hazard
all
[p]Do it in hope of fair advantages:
[p]A golden mind stoops not
to shows of dross;
[p]I'll then nor give nor hazard aught for
lead.
[p]What says the silver with her virgin hue?
[p]'Who chooseth me
shall get as much as he deserves.'
[p]As much as he deserves! Pause
there, Morocco,
[p]And weigh thy value with an even hand:
[p]If thou
be'st rated by thy estimation,
[p]Thou dost deserve enough; and yet
enough
[p]May not extend so far as to the lady:
[p]And yet to be
afeard of my deserving
[p]Were but a weak disabling of myself.
[p]As
much as I deserve! Why, that's the lady:
[p]I do in birth deserve her,
and in fortunes,
[p]In graces and in qualities of breeding;
[p]But
more than these, in love I do deserve.
[p]What if I stray'd no
further, but chose here?
[p]Let's see once more this saying graved in
gold
[p]'Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.'
[p]Why,
that's the lady; all the world desires her;
[p]From the four corners
of the earth they come,
[p]To kiss this shrine, this mortal-breathing
saint:
[p]The Hyrcanian deserts and the vasty wilds
[p]Of wide Arabia
are as thoroughfares now
[p]For princes to come view fair
Portia:
[p]The watery kingdom, whose ambitious head
[p]Spits in the
face of heaven, is no bar
[p]To stop the foreign spirits, but they
come,
[p]As o'er a brook, to see fair Portia.
[p]One of these three
contains her heavenly picture.
[p]Is't like that lead contains her?
'Twere damnation
[p]To think so base a thought: it were too
gross
[p]To rib her cerecloth in the obscure grave.
[p]Or shall I
think in silver she's immured,
[p]Being ten times undervalued to tried
gold?
[p]O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem
[p]Was set in worse
than gold. They have in England
[p]A coin that bears the figure of an
angel
[p]Stamped in gold, but that's insculp'd upon;
[p]But here an
angel in a golden bed
[p]Lies all within. Deliver me the key:
[p]Here
do I choose, and thrive I as I may!
Portia : There, take it, prince; and if my form lie there,
[p]Then I am yours.
Prince of Morocco : O hell! what have we here?
[p]A carrion Death, within whose empty
eye
[p]There is a written scroll! I'll read the
writing.
[p][Reads]
[p]All that glitters is not gold;
[p]Often have
you heard that told:
[p]Many a man his life hath sold
[p]But my
outside to behold:
[p]Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
[p]Had you been as
wise as bold,
[p]Young in limbs, in judgment old,
[p]Your answer had
not been inscroll'd:
[p]Fare you well; your suit is cold.
[p]Cold,
indeed; and labour lost:
[p]Then, farewell, heat, and welcome,
frost!
[p]Portia, adieu. I have too grieved a heart
[p]To take a
tedious leave: thus losers part.
Portia : A gentle riddance. Draw the curtains, go.
[p]Let all of his complexion
choose me so.
Previous: Act 2 - Scene 6
Next: Act 2 - Scene 8
