As You Like It: Act 2, Scene 5
Enter AMIENS, JAQUES, and others.
Song.
[AMIENS]
1 Under the greenwood tree 2 Who loves to lie with me,3-4. And turn his merry note / Unto the sweet bird's throat: i.e., And sing like a bird.
3 And turn his merry note 4 Unto the sweet bird's throat, 5 Come hither, come hither, come hither: 6 Here shall he see 7 No enemy 8 But winter and rough weather. JAQUES
9 More, more, I prithee, more. AMIENS
10 It will make you melancholy, Monsieur 11 Jaques. JAQUES
12 I thank it. More, I prithee, more. I can suck 13 melancholy out of a song, as a weasel sucks 14 eggs. More, I prithee, more. AMIENS
15. ragged: raspy.
15 My voice is ragged: I know I cannot please 16 you. JAQUES
17 I do not desire you to please me; I do desire 18. stanzo: —Jaques may be mocking the musicians by pretending not to remember the word "stanza."
18 you to sing. Come, more; another stanzo: call 19 you 'em stanzos? AMIENS
20 What you will, Monsieur Jaques. JAQUES
21-22. Nay, I care not for their names; they / owe me nothing: —Jaques' sarcastic point is that names are only important when they are the names of debtors who have signed a contract.
21 Nay, I care not for their names; they 22 owe me nothing. Will you sing? AMIENS
23 More at your request than to please 24 myself. JAQUES
25 Well then, if ever I thank any man, I'll thank26-27. compliment: courtesy, good manners. dog-apes: baboons. —Jaques is being a jerk . . . 27-29. when a man / thanks me heartily, methinks I have given him / a penny and he renders me the beggarly thanks: —Jaques continues his abuse of Amiens . . .
26 you; but that they call compliment is like the 27 encounter of two dog-apes, and when a man 28 thanks me heartily, methinks I have given him 29 a penny and he renders me the beggarly thanks. 30 Come, sing; and you that will not, hold your tongues. AMIENS
31. cover the while: i.e., set the table while the song is being sung. 32-33. He hath been all / this day to look you: He's been looking for you all day.
31 Well, I'll end the song. Sirs, cover the while; the 32 duke will drink under this tree. He hath been all 33 this day to look you. JAQUES
34-35. He is / too disputable for my company: He is too fond of argument for me. —Ironically, it is Jaques who is "disputable"; he makes one contrary remark after another. He doesn't, however, like having a worthy opponent.
34 And I have been all this day to avoid him. He is 35 too disputable for my company: I think of as many 36 matters as he, but I give heaven thanks and make 37 no boast of them. Come, warble, come.Song. [All together here.]
38 Who doth ambition shun39. live i' the sun: i.e., live a free, open-air life.
39 And loves to live i' the sun, 40 Seeking the food he eats 41 And pleased with what he gets, 42 Come hither, come hither, come hither: 43 Here shall he see 44 No enemy 45 But winter and rough weather. JAQUES
46. note: tune.
46 I'll give you a verse to this note that I made47. in despite of my invention: in spite of my lack of imagination.
47 yesterday in despite of my invention. AMIENS
48 And I'll sing it. JAQUES
49 Thus it goes: 50 If it do come to pass 51 That any man turn ass, 52 Leaving his wealth and ease, 53 A stubborn will to please,54. Ducdame: —The most persuasive explanation of this unique word is that it's simply something Jaques made up to, as he says, "call fools into a circle," and thus show that he's smarter than everyone else. 57. An if: if only.
54 Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame! 55 Here shall he see 56 Gross fools as he, 57 An if he will come to me. AMIENS
58 What's that 'ducdame'? JAQUES
59. Greek: i.e., gobbledeygook.
59 'Tis a Greek invocation, to call fools into a 60 circle. I'll go sleep, if I can; if I cannot, I'll61. first-born of Egypt: —For the cruel story of how God killed all the first-born of Egypt in an attempt to persuade the Pharaoh to release the Israelites from captivity . . .
61 rail against all the first-born of Egypt. AMIENS
62. banquet: i.e., light repast of fruit, sweetmeats, and wine.
62 And I'll go seek the duke: his banquet is 63 prepared. Exeunt.