To him you must disclose the depth of all your thought;
By him, as time shall serve, all matters must be wrought:
To him alone you must content yourself to be at call;
Ye must be his, he must be yours, he must be all in all.
EXPERIENCE.
My lord, your father tells you truth, perde,
And that in time yourself shall find and try.
SCIENCE.
I could allege more than as yet I have said,
But I must yield, and you must be obey'd.
Fall out, as it will: there is no help, I see;
Some one or other in time must marry me.
WILL.
In time? nay, out of hand, madam, if it please you;
In faith, I know a younker that will ease you,
A lively young gentleman, as fresh as any flower,
That will not stick to marry you within this hour.
SCIENCE.
Such haste might haply turn to waste to some;
But I pray thee, my pretty boy, whence art thou come?
WILL.
If it please your good ladyship to accept me so,
I have a solemn message to tell, ere I go;
Not anything in secret your honour to stain,
But in the presence and hearing of you twain.
REASON.
Speak.
WILL.
The lady of this world, which lady Nature hight,
Hath one a peerless son, in whom she taketh delight,
On him she chargeth men to be attendant still,
Both kin[389] to her: his name is Wit, my name is Will.
The noble child doth feel the force of Cupid's flame,
And seeketh[390] now for ease, by counsel of his dame.
His mother taught him first to love, while he was young:
Which love with age increaseth sore, and waxeth wondrous strong;
For very fame displays your bounty more and more,
And at this pinch he burneth so as never heretofore.
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