Thomas Dekker (1570–1632). The Shoemaker’s Holiday.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| Act II |
| | | Scene II |
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Enter L ACY, disguised as a Dutch Shoemaker 1
LACY. How many shapes have gods and kings devis’d, | |
| Thereby to compass their desired loves! | |
| It is no shame for Rowland Lacy, then, | |
| To clothe his cunning with the gentle craft, | 4 |
| That, thus disguis’d, I may unknown possess | |
| The only happy presence of my Rose. | |
| For her have I forsook my charge in France, | |
| Incurr’d the king’s displeasure, and stirr’d up | 8 |
| Rough hatred in mine uncle Lincoln’s breast. | |
| O love, how powerful art thou, that canst change | |
| High birth to baseness, and a noble mind | |
| To the mean semblance of a shoemaker! | 12 |
| But thus it must be. For her cruel father, | |
| Hating the single union of our souls, | |
| Has secretly convey’d my Rose from London, | |
| To bar me of her presence; but I trust, | 16 |
| Fortune and this disguise will further me | |
| Once more to view her beauty, gain her sight. | |
| Here in Tower Street with Eyre the shoemaker | |
| Mean I a while to work; I know the trade, | 20 |
| I learnt it when I was in Wittenberg. | |
| Then cheer thy hoping spirits, be not dismay’d, | |
| Thou canst not want: do Fortune what she can, | |
| The gentle craft if living for a man. Exit. | 24 |
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