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Home : Much Ado About Nothing : Act 5, scene ii : page 216 Read the Study Guide: Much Ado About Nothing
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Much Ado About Nothing
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 BENEDICK
  And therefore will come.
BENEDICK
So that means she'll come.
Exit MARGARET
MARGARET exits.
  (sings)
          The god of love,
          That sits above,
          And knows me, and knows me,
          How pitiful I deserve—
  I mean in singing. But in loving, Leander the good
20 swimmer, Troilus the first employer of panders, and a
  whole bookful of these quondam carpetmongers, whose
  names yet run smoothly in the even road of a blank verse,
  why, they were never so truly turned over and over as my
  poor self in love. Marry, I cannot show it in rhyme. I have
25 tried. I can find out no rhyme to “lady” but “baby”—an
  innocent rhyme; for “scorn,” “horn”—a hard rhyme; for,
  “school,” “fool”—a babbling rhyme; very ominous
  endings. No, I was not born under a rhyming planet, nor I
  cannot woo in festival terms.
(singing)
        The god of love
        He sits in heaven above
        And he knows me, he knows me
        He knows how much pity I deserve—
I'm really a pitiful singer. But as a lover, well, that's another story. Take Leander, Troilus , or an entire book's worth of those legendary lover–boys, whose names sound so smooth and nice in a line of verse—not one of them has been driven as crazy by love as I have been. But I can't prove it in a poem. I have tried. I can't think of any rhyme for “lady” but “baby,” which is a childish rhyme. The only rhyme for “scorn” I can come up with is “horn” —a bit off for a love poem. Nothing rhymes with “school” but “fool,” and that's a ridiculous jingle. These are all very unpromising line endings. No, I wasn't destined to be a poet, and I can't woo a lady with pretty words.
Enter BEATRICE
BEATRICE enters.
30 Sweet Beatrice, wouldst thou come when I called thee?
Beatrice, have you come because I called for you?
 BEATRICE
  Yea, Signior, and depart when you bid me.
BEATRICE
Yes, sir, and I'll leave when you ask me to.
 BENEDICK
  Oh , stay but till then!
BENEDICK
Oh, well, stay till then!
 BEATRICE
  “Then” is spoken. Fare you well now. And yet, ere I go, let
  me go with that I came, which is, with knowing what hath
35 passed between you and Claudio.
BEATRICE
There—you said “then.” So I'll leave now. But before I go, let me get what I came for. What happened between you and Claudio?
 BENEDICK
  Only foul words, and thereupon I will kiss thee.
BENEDICK
I spoke angry, foul words to him, and with that I will kiss you.

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