As You Like It, Act 2 scene 5 - Under the greenwood tree song

As You Like It

Please see the bottom of the page for extensive explanatory notes and other helpful As You Like It resources.

ACT II SCENE V	The Forest of Arden.
[Enter AMIENS, JAQUES, and others]
SONG.
AMIENS	Under the greenwood tree
	Who loves to lie with me,
	And turn his merry note
	Unto the sweet bird's throat,
	Come hither, come hither, come hither:	5
	Here shall he see No enemy
	But winter and rough weather.
JAQUES	More, more, I prithee, more.
AMIENS	It will make you melancholy, Monsieur Jaques.
JAQUES	I thank it. More, I prithee, more. I can suck
	melancholy out of a song, as a weasel sucks eggs.
	More, I prithee, more.
AMIENS	My voice is ragged: I know I cannot please you.
JAQUES	I do not desire you to please me; I do desire you to
	sing. Come, more; another stanzo: call you 'em stanzos?	17
AMIENS	What you will, Monsieur Jaques.
JAQUES	Nay, I care not for their names; they owe me
	nothing. Will you sing?
AMIENS	More at your request than to please myself.
JAQUES	Well then, if ever I thank any man, I'll thank you;
	but that they call compliment is like the encounter
	of two dog-apes, and when a man thanks me heartily,
	methinks I have given him a penny and he renders me
	the beggarly thanks. Come, sing; and you that will
	not, hold your tongues.
AMIENS	Well, I'll end the song. Sirs, cover the while; the
	duke will drink under this tree. He hath been all
	this day to look you.	30
JAQUES	And I have been all this day to avoid him. He is
	too disputable for my company: I think of as many
	matters as he, but I give heaven thanks and make no
	boast of them. Come, warble, come.
SONG.
	Who doth ambition shun
[All together here]
	And loves to live i' the sun,
	Seeking the food he eats
	And pleased with what he gets,
	Come hither, come hither, come hither:
	Here shall he see No enemy	40
	But winter and rough weather.
JAQUES	I'll give you a verse to this note that I made
	yesterday in despite of my invention.
AMIENS	And I'll sing it.
JAQUES	Thus it goes:--
	If it do come to pass
	That any man turn ass,
	Leaving his wealth and ease,
	A stubborn will to please,	50
	Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame:
	Here shall he see
	Gross fools as he,
	An if he will come to me.
AMIENS	What's that 'ducdame'?
JAQUES	'Tis a Greek invocation, to call fools into a
	circle. I'll go sleep, if I can; if I cannot, I'll
	rail against all the first-born of Egypt.	58
AMIENS	And I'll go seek the duke: his banquet is prepared.
[Exeunt severally]

Next: As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 6
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Explanatory notes for Act 2, Scene 5
From As You Like It. Ed. Samuel Thurber, Jr. and Louise Wetherbee. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1922.
(Line numbers have been altered.)
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A tuneful interlude, important because we have our first glimpse of that creation of Shakespeare's, the melancholy Jaques.

Line 1. greenwood ought at once to suggest Robin Hood and his merry men.

3. turn ... throat: make it like a bird's note.

6. Come hither: Amiens is evidently expressing the feeling which these loyal young followers of Duke Senior have for this life of theirs.

9. Jaques: Here he is — the one discordant note in this forest life. Do not forget how carefully Shakespeare has prepared us for him.

14. ragged: hoarse.

16. stanzo: This word about which Jaques pretends such ignorance, appears in the dictionary.

19. names: in law used as names of debts which are owed, which explains this rather bitter speech.

23. encounter ... dog-apes: a picture of two monkeys bowing and scraping to each other with no more sincerity than the thanks of a beggar in line 26.

28. cover: spread the table. Picture the scene.

33. matters: subjects for thought.

44. in despite of: in defiance of. invention: imagination.

47. This song is, of course, a parody on the lyric of Amiens.

51. ducdame: pronounced in three syllables. This is a word of his own coining, probably not meant to be understood. In reading the last four lines, observe that they are to be accented like the last four of the song.

56. into a circle: Remember that they are in a circle as they sing and talk.

57. I'll ... Egypt: Perhaps Jaques means, in his sour fashion, to rail against Duke Senior, his master, whose fortunes, though he is a first born son, are so low.

59. banquet: dessert.

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How to cite the explanatory notes:
Shakespeare, William. As You Like It. Eds. Samuel Thurber, Jr. and Louise Wetherbee. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1922. Shakespeare Online. 10 Aug. 2010. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/asu_2_5.html >.

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