Indeed, my lord, it is a most absolute and excellent horse.
CONSTABLE
Indeed, my lord, he is a perfectly wonderful horse.
DAUPHIN
It is the prince of palfreys. His neigh is like the bidding of
a monarch, and his countenance enforces homage.
DAUPHIN
He is the prince of horses. His neigh is like a monarch's command. His face demands respect.
ORLÉANS
No more, cousin.
ORLÉANS
Enough, cousin.
DAUPHIN
25
Nay, the man hath no wit that cannot, from the rising of the
lark to the lodging of the lamb, vary deserved praise on my
palfrey. It is a theme as fluent as the sea. Turn the sands into
eloquent tongues, and my horse is argument for them all.
'Tis a subject for a sovereign to reason on, and for a
30
sovereign's sovereign to ride on, and for the world, familiar
to us and unknown, to lay apart their particular functions
and wonder at him. I once writ a sonnet in his praise and
began thus: “Wonder of nature—”
DAUPHIN
No, the man who cannot extol the virtues of my horse from dawn to dusk is not particularly clever. It's a subject as worthy of endless discussion as the changing sea. If each grain of sand had a tongue to eulogize, my horse would be a topic for them all. He is a subject for a king to contemplate, and for a king's king to ride on, and for the world at large—both friend and stranger—to stop whatever they are doing and marvel at. I once wrote a sonnet in his praise which began, “Wonder of nature—”
ORLÉANS
I have heard a sonnet begin so to one's mistress.
ORLÉANS
I have heard a sonnet to one's mistress that began like that.
DAUPHIN
35
Then did they imitate that which I composed to my
courser, for my horse is my mistress.
DAUPHIN
Then the writer imitated the one I composed to my steed, for my horse is my mistress.
ORLÉANS
Your mistress bears well.
ORLÉANS
Your mistress is a good mount.
DAUPHIN
Me well—which is the prescript praise and perfection of a
good and particular mistress.
DAUPHIN
A good mount for me—and that's the highest praise and very definition of a good mistress, that she belong to one alone.
CONSTABLE
40
Nay, for methought yesterday your mistress shrewdly
shook your back.
CONSTABLE
Yes, but yesterday I could have sworn your mistress gave you a bumpy ride.
