In such a night...

LORENZO

The moon shines bright: in such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees
And they did make no noise, in such a night
Troilus methinks mounted the Troyan walls
And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents,
Where Cressid lay that night.

JESSICA

In such a night
Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew
And saw the lion's shadow ere himself
And ran dismay'd away.

LORENZO

In such a night
Stood Dido with a willow in her hand
Upon the wild sea banks and waft her love
To come again to Carthage.

JESSICA

In such a night
Medea gather'd the enchanted herbs
That did renew old AEson.

LORENZO

In such a night
Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew
And with an unthrift love did run from Venice
As far as Belmont.

JESSICA

In such a night
Did young Lorenzo swear he loved her well,
Stealing her soul with many vows of faith
And ne'er a true one.

                            ---from The Merchant of Venice, Act V, Scene 1, by Wm. Shakespeare.

Comments

[Vadranor]

I have seen a least a half dozen productions of Merchant, but only one (by the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington directed by Michael Kahn) focuses on the irony of these lines: Every one of the romances mentioned has a tragic ending! In Kahn's production, it is clear by the end that Lorenzo was really interested only in the money.

[sfmike]

"The Merchant of Venice," like "Measure for Measure" is one of those truly weird Shakespeare plays that are hard to assess. Is it one of the Shakespearean greats or just a fucking, confused mess? Or both?

Personal plug: At 13 years old back in the 1960s, I played Stefano in Santa Barbara's outdoor Youth Theatre (run by a bunch of Hollywood pedophiles) production of "Merchant of Venice." Stefano has exactly two lines, both of which I've forgotten, except that one of them started with "Stefano is my name and..." The person I was addressing was a very nasty young actor named Timothy Bottoms who went on to some fame. Also in the cast was his very sweet brother Joseph who became a soap opera star and who now has an art gallery in El Paseo in Santa Barbara.

It was lovely to read the Shakespeare and hear the sensuality of your intent.