Page 3185 - Shakespeare - Vol. 3
P. 3185
TIMON
[aside] I’ll meet you at the turn. What a god’s gold, [45]
That he is worshipp’d in a baser temple
Than where swine feed?
’Tis thou that rigg’st the bark and plough’st the foam,
Settlest admired reverence in a slave:
To thee be worship; and thy saints for aye [50]
Be crown’d with plagues, that thee alone obey!
Fit I meet them.
[Coming forward]
POET
Hail, worthy Timon!
PAINTER
Our late noble master!
TIMON
Have I once liv’d to see two honest men?
POET
Sir, [55]
Having often of your open bounty tasted,
Hearing you were retir’d, your friends fall’n off,
Whose thankless natures (O abhorred spirits!)
Not all the whips of heaven are large enough −
What, to you, [60]
Whose star-like nobleness gave life and influence
To their whole being! I am rapt, and cannot cover
The monstrous bulk of this ingratitude
With any size of words.
TIMON
Let it go naked, men may see’t the better. [65]
You that are honest, by being what you are,
Make them best seen and known.
PAINTER