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CurrerBell
01-07-2006, 12:21 AM
I know this isn't exactly literature based, but rewatching Shakespeare in Love, I really liked this one monologue or perhaps poem? that was used in the movie. I managed to find a bit of the text of the monologue online, but I was wondering if anyone knew where it came from and if this is the complete monologue.

" "What light is light, if Silvia be not
seen, What joy is joy, if Silvia be
not by? Unless it be to think that she
is by And feed upon the shadow of perfection.
…except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale.
Unless I look on Silvia in the day,
There is no day for me to look upon."

Thanks!

Scheherazade
01-07-2006, 12:28 AM
It is from Two Gentlemen of Verona (Act 3, Scene I):

VALENTINE
And why not death rather than living torment?
To die is to be banish'd from myself;
And Silvia is myself: banish'd from her
Is self from self: a deadly banishment!
What light is light, if Silvia be not seen?
What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by?
Unless it be to think that she is by
And feed upon the shadow of perfection
Except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale;
Unless I look on Silvia in the day,
There is no day for me to look upon;
She is my essence, and I leave to be,
If I be not by her fair influence
Foster'd, illumined, cherish'd, kept alive.
I fly not death, to fly his deadly doom:
Tarry I here, I but attend on death:
But, fly I hence, I fly away from life.

You can find the whole text here (http://www.online-literature.com/shakespeare/verona/).

Welcome to the Forum, CurrerBell! :)

Virgil
01-07-2006, 12:29 AM
CurrerBell

I did a yahoo search of "Shakespeare + Silvia" and came up with the play The Two Gentleman from Verona. Unfortunately this is not a play that I have read. You might want to read the play and see if the quote is in there directly.

Virgil
01-07-2006, 12:30 AM
There you go, the wonderful wings of Scher beat me to it.

Ithuriel
07-04-2006, 02:08 PM
In the film, the quoted lines are from "One Gentleman of Verona".

Firsthand
01-14-2010, 06:41 AM
Ithuriel, You have added nothing to this thread. Your reply was both incorrect and irrelevant. Everyone here is now dumber for reading it. I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.