ACT 1
Scene 1

...from it fly.
Enter three Queens in black, with veils stained, with imperial crowns. The first Queen falls down at the foot of Theseus; the second falls down at the foot of Hippolyta; the third before Emilia.
to Theseus
For pity’s sake and true gentility’s,
Hear and respect me.

...you for all.
We are three queens whose sovereigns fell before
The wrath of cruel Creon; who endured
The beaks of ravens, talons of the kites,
And pecks of crows in the foul fields of Thebes.
He will not suffer us to burn their bones,
To urn their ashes, nor to take th’ offense
Of mortal loathsomeness from the blest eye
Of holy Phoebus, but infects the winds
With stench of our slain lords. O, pity, duke!
Thou purger of the Earth, draw thy feared sword
That does good turns to th’ world; give us the bones
Of our dead kings, that we may chapel them;
And of thy boundless goodness take some note
That for our crownèd heads we have no roof
Save this, which is the lion’s and the bear’s,
And vault to everything.

...will all devour!
O, I hope some god,
Some god hath put his mercy in your manhood,
Whereto he’ll infuse power, and press you forth
Our undertaker.

...me, your soldier.
The First Queen rises.

...th’ sacred ceremony.
O, this celebration
Will longer last and be more costly than
Your suppliants’ war. Remember that your fame
Knolls in the ear o’ th’ world; what you do quickly
Is not done rashly; your first thought is more
Than others’ labored meditance, your premeditating
More than their actions. But, O Jove, your actions,
Soon as they move, as ospreys do the fish,
Subdue before they touch. Think, dear duke, think
What beds our slain kings have!

...dust and shadow.
But our lords
Lie blist’ring ’fore the visitating sun,
And were good kings when living.

...work with Creon.
And that work presents itself to th’ doing.
Now ’twill take form; the heats are gone tomorrow.
Then, bootless toil must recompense itself
With its own sweat. Now he’s secure,
Not dreams we stand before your puissance,
Rinsing our holy begging in our eyes
To make petition clear.

...fate in wedlock.
to Second and Third Queens
Dowagers, take hands.
Let us be widows to our woes. Delay
Commends us to a famishing hope.
Farewell.

...futurely can cope.
The more proclaiming
Our suit shall be neglected when her arms,
Able to lock Jove from a synod, shall
By warranting moonlight corselet thee. O, when
Her twinning cherries shall their sweetness fall
Upon thy tasteful lips, what wilt thou think
Of rotten kings or blubbered queens? What care
For what thou feel’st not, what thou feel’st being able
To make Mars spurn his drum? O, if thou couch
But one night with her, every hour in ’t will
Take hostage of thee for a hundred, and
Thou shalt remember nothing more than what
That banquet bids thee to.

...poor queens service.
to Emilia
O, help now!
Our cause cries for your knee.

...more, farewell all.
Thus dost thou still make good the tongue o’ th’ world.

...towards your comforts.
Flourish. They exit.

Scene 4

...I continue mine.
Flourish. Then enter, through one door, Theseus, victor, accompanied by Lords and Soldiers. Entering through another door, the three Queens meet him, and fall on their faces before him.
To thee no star be dark!

...look on you.
Queens exit.

Scene 5

...’fore our army.
Music. Enter the Queens with the hearses of their knights, in a funeral solemnity, &c.

... The dirge.

Urns and odors bring away;

Vapors, sighs, darken the day;

Our dole more deadly looks than dying;

Balms and gums and heavy cheers,

Sacred vials filled with tears,

And clamors through the wild air flying.

Come, all sad and solemn shows

That are quick-eyed Pleasure’s foes;

We convent naught else but woes.

We convent naught else but woes.

...this to yours.
to Third Queen
Yours this way. Heavens lend
A thousand differing ways to one sure end.

...each one meets.
They exit severally.