The forest
Enter TOUCHSTONE and AUDREY
Touchstone. To-morrow is the joyful day, Audrey; to-morrow will we
be married.
Audrey. I do desire it with all my heart; and I hope it is no
dishonest desire to desire to be a woman of the world. Here come
two of the banish'd Duke's pages. 2365
Enter two PAGES
First Page. Well met, honest gentleman.
Touchstone. By my troth, well met. Come sit, sit, and a song.
Second Page. We are for you; sit i' th' middle.
First Page. Shall we clap into't roundly, without hawking, or 2370
spitting, or saying we are hoarse, which are the only prologues
to a bad voice?
Second Page. I'faith, i'faith; and both in a tune, like two gipsies
on a horse.
SONG. 2375
It was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
That o'er the green corn-field did pass
In the spring time, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding. 2380
Sweet lovers love the spring.
Between the acres of the rye,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
These pretty country folks would lie,
In the spring time, &c. 2385
This carol they began that hour,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
How that a life was but a flower,
In the spring time, &c.
And therefore take the present time, 2390
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
For love is crowned with the prime,
In the spring time, &c.
Touchstone. Truly, young gentlemen, though there was no great
matter in the ditty, yet the note was very untuneable. 2395
First Page. You are deceiv'd, sir; we kept time, we lost not our
time.
Touchstone. By my troth, yes; I count it but time lost to hear such
a foolish song. God buy you; and God mend your voices. Come,
Audrey. Exeunt 2400
YOU ARE READING
As You Like It
General FictionAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggest...
