The Phoenix and the Turtle - Penn State University

The Phœnixand the TurtlebyWilliamShakespeareAn Electronic Classics SeriesPublication1

“The Phœnix and the Turtle” is a publication of The ElectronicClassics Series. This Portable Document file is furnished freeand without any charge of any kind. Any person using thisdocument file, for any purpose, and in any way does so at his orher own risk. Neither the Pennsylvania State University nor JimManis, Editor, nor anyone associated with the PennsylvaniaState University assumes any responsibility for the materialcontained within the document or for the file as an electronictransmission, in any way.“The Phœnix and the Turtle” by William Shakespeare, TheElectronic Classics Series, Jim Manis, Editor, PSU-Hazleton,Hazleton, PA 18202 is a Portable Document File produced aspart of an ongoing publication project to bring classical worksof literature, in English, to free and easy access of those wishingto make use of them.Jim Manis is a faculty member of the English Department ofThe Pennsylvania State University. This page and any precedingpage(s) are restricted by copyright. The text of the followingpages are not copyrighted within the United States; however, thefonts used may be.Copyright © 1997 - 2013The Pennsylvania State Unviersity is an equal opportunity University.2

ShakespeareThe Phœnix and the TurtlebyWilliam ShakespeareLet the bird of loudest lay,On the sole Arabian tree,Herald sad and trumpet be,To whose sound chaste wings obey.But thou shrieking harbinger,Foul precurrer of the fiend,Augur of the fever’s end,To this troop come thou not near.From this session interdictEvery foul of tyrant wing,Save the eagle feather’d king:Keep the obsequy so strict.Let the priest in surplice white,That defunctive music can,Be the death-divining swan,Lest the requiem lack his right.3

The Phœnix and the TurtleAnd thou treble-dated crow,That thy sable gender mak’stWith the breath thou giv’st and tak’st,‘Mongst our mourners shalt thou go.Here the anthem doth commence:Love and constancy is dead;Phoenix and the turtle fledIn a mutual flame from hence.So they lov’d, as love in twainHad the essence but in one;Two distincts, division none;Number there in love was slain.Hearts remote, yet not asunder;Distance, and no space was seen‘Twixt the turtle and his queen:But in them it were a wonder.So between them love did shine,That the turtle saw his rightFlaming in the phœnix’ sight;Either was the other’s mine.4

ShakespeareProperty was thus appall’d,That the self was not the same;Single nature’s double nameNeither was the other’s mine.Property was thus appall’d,That the self was not the same;Single nature’s double nameNeither two nor one was call’d.Reason, in itself confounded,Saw division grow together;To themselves yet either neither,Simple were so well compounded,That it cried, ‘How true a twainSeemeth this concordant one!Love hath reason, reason none,If what parts can so remain.’Whereupon it made this threneTo the phœnix and the dove,Co-supremes and stars of love,As chorus to their tragic scene.5

The Phœnix and the TurtleTHRENOS.Beauty, truth, and rarity,Grace in all simplicity,Here enclos’d in cinders lie.Death is now the phœnix’ next;And the turtle’s loyal breastTo eternity doth rest,Leaving no posterity:‘Twas not their infirmity,It was married chastity.Truth may seem, but cannot be;Beauty brag, but ‘tis not she;Truth and beauty buried be.To this urn let those repairThat are either true or fair;For these dead birds, sigh a prayer.6