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50
CYRANO DE BERGERAC
The Viscount
[contemptuously].
Poet!…
Cyrano.
Poet!… Ay, poet, Sir! In proof of which,
While we fence, presto! all extempore
I will compose a ballade.
The Viscount.
I will compose a ballade. A ballade?
Cyrano.
Belike you know not what a ballade is.
The Viscount.
But…
Cyrano
[reciting as if repeating a lesson].
But… Know then that the ballade should contain
Three eight-versed couplets…
The Viscount
[stamping].
Three eight-versed couplets… Oh!
Cyrano
[still reciting].
Three eight-versed couplets… Oh! And an envoi
Of four lines…
The Viscount.
Of four lines… You…
Cyrano.
Of four lines… You… I'll make one while we fight,
And touch you at the final line.
