The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, 192
Liege of all loiterers and malcontents,
Dread prince of plackets, king of codpieces,
Sole imperator and great general
Of trotting 'paritors: O my little heart! 196
And I to be a corporal of his field,
And wear his colours like a tumbler's hoop!
What! I love! I sue! I seek a wife!
A woman that is like a German clock, 200
Still a-repairing, ever out of frame,
And never going aright, being a watch,
But being watch'd that it may still go right!
Nay, to be perjur'd, which is worst of all; 204
And, among three, to love the worst of all;
A whitely wanton with a velvet brow,
With two pitch balls stuck in her face for eyes.
Ay, and, by heaven, one that will do the deed, 208
Though Argus were her eunuch and her guard.
And I to sigh for her! to watch for her!
To pray for her! Go to: it is a plague
That Cupid will impose for my neglect 212
Of his almighty dreadful little might.
Well, I will love, write, sigh, pray, sue, groan:
Some men must love my lady, and some Joan.
194 plackets: petticoats, or slits in petticoats or skirts
codpieces: baggy appendages to the front of breeches
196 'paritors: apparitors, officials of the ecclesiastical court
198 like . . . hoop: like the flaunting ribbons attached to a tumbler's hoop
201 frame: order
206 whitely: pale-skinned
209 Argus: a monster having a hundred eyes
215 Joan: stock name for a peasant wench; cf. IV. iii. 182 and V. ii. 928
