Act 4, Scene 3

Woods and Caves near the Sea-shore.

[Enter TIMON from the Cave.]
Timon
1476 O blessed breeding sun! draw from the earth
1477 Rotten humidity; below thy sister's orb
1478 Infect the air! Twinn'd brothers of one womb,
1479 Whose procreation, residence and birth,
1480 Scarce is dividant, touch them with several fortunes;
1481 The greater scorns the lesser: not nature,
1482 To whom all sores lay siege, can bear great fortune,
1483 But by contempt of nature.
1484 Raise me this beggar, and deny't that lord;
1485 The senator shall bear contempt hereditary,
1486 The beggar native honour.
1487 It is the pasture lards the rother's sides,
1488 The want that makes him lean. Who dares, who dares,
1489 In purity of manhood stand upright,
1490 And say, 'This man's a flatterer'? if one be,
1491 So are they all; for every grize of fortune
1492 Is smooth'd by that below: the learned pate
1493 Ducks to the golden fool: all is oblique;
1494 There's nothing level in our cursed natures
1495 But direct villainy. Therefore, be abhorr'd
1496 All feasts, societies, and throngs of men!
1497 His semblable, yea, himself, Timon disdains:
1498 Destruction fang mankind! Earth, yield me roots!
[Digging.]
Timon
1499 Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate
1500 With thy most operant poison! What is here?
1501 Gold! yellow, glittering, precious gold! No, gods,
1502 I am no idle votarist. Roots, you clear heavens!
1503 Thus much of this will make black white, foul fair,
1504 Wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant.
1505 Ha! you gods, why this? What this, you gods? Why, this
1506 Will lug your priests and servants from your sides,
1507 Pluck stout men's pillows from below their head:
1508 This yellow slave
1509 Will knit and break religions; bless the accurs'd,
1510 Make the hoar leprosy ador'd; place thieves,
1511 And give them title, knee, and approbation,
1512 With senators on the bench; this is it
1513 That makes the wappen'd widow wed again;
1514 She, whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores
1515 Would cast the gorge at, this embalms and spices
1516 To the April day again. Come, damned earth,
1517 Thou common whore of mankind, that putt'st odds
1518 Among the rout of nations, I will make thee
1519 Do thy right nature.—
[March afar off.]
Timon
1520 Ha! a drum? thou'rt quick,
1521 But yet I'll bury thee: thou'lt go, strong thief,
1522 When gouty keepers of thee cannot stand:
1523 Nay, stay thou out for earnest.
[Keeping some gold.]
[Enter ALCIBIADES, with drum and fife, in warlike manner; PHRYNIA and TIMANDRA.]
Alcibiades
1524 What art thou there? speak.
Timon
1525 A beast, as thou art. The canker gnaw thy heart,
1526 For showing me again the eyes of man!
Alcibiades
1527 What is thy name? Is man so hateful to thee,
1528 That art thyself a man?
Timon
1529 I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind.
1530 For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,
1531 That I might love thee something.
Alcibiades
1532 I know thee well,
1533 But in thy fortunes am unlearn'd and strange.
Timon
1534 I know thee too; and more than that I know thee
1535 I not desire to know. Follow thy drum;
1536 With man's blood paint the ground, gules, gules;
1537 Religious canons, civil laws are cruel;
1538 Then what should war be? This fell whore of thine
1539 Hath in her more destruction than thy sword
1540 For all her cherubin look.
Phrynia
1541 Thy lips rot off!
Timon
1542 I will not kiss thee; then the rot returns
1543 To thine own lips again.
Alcibiades
1544 How came the noble Timon to this change?
Timon
1545 As the moon does, by wanting light to give:
1546 But then renew I could not like the moon;
1547 There were no suns to borrow of.
Alcibiades
1548 Noble Timon,
1549 What friendship may I do thee?
Timon
1550 None, but to maintain my opinion.
Alcibiades
1551 What is it, Timon?
Timon
1552 Promise me friendship, but perform none: if thou wilt not
1553 promise, the gods plague thee, for thou art man! If thou dost
1554 perform, confound thee, for thou art a man!
Alcibiades
1555 I have heard in some sort of thy miseries.
Timon
1556 Thou saw'st them when I had prosperity.
Alcibiades
1557 I see them now; then was a blessed time.
Timon
1558 As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots.
Timandra
1559 Is this the Athenian minion whom the world
1560 Voic'd so regardfully?
Timon
1561 Art thou Timandra?
Timandra
1562 Yes.
Timon
1563 Be a whore still; they love thee not that use thee;
1564 Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust.
1565 Make use of thy salt hours; season the slaves
1566 For tubs and baths; bring down rose-cheeked youth
1567 To the tub—fast and the diet.
Timandra
1568 Hang thee, monster!
Alcibiades
1569 Pardon him, sweet Timandra, for his wits
1570 Are drown'd and lost in his calamities.
1571 I have but little gold of late, brave Timon,
1572 The want whereof doth daily make revolt
1573 In my penurious band: I have heard, and griev'd
1574 How cursed Athens, mindless of thy worth,
1575 Forgetting thy great deeds, when neighbour states,
1576 But for thy sword and fortune, trod upon them,—
Timon
1577 I prithee, beat thy drum, and get thee gone.
Alcibiades
1578 I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon.
Timon
1579 How dost thou pity him whom thou dost trouble?
1580 I had rather be alone.
Alcibiades
1581 Why, fare thee well:
1582 Here is some gold for thee.
Timon
1583 Keep it, I cannot eat it.
Alcibiades
1584 When I have laid proud Athens on a heap,—
Timon
1585 Warr'st thou 'gainst Athens?
Alcibiades
1586 Ay, Timon, and have cause.
Timon
1587 The gods confound them all in thy conquest;
1588 And thee after, when thou hast conquer'd!
Alcibiades
1589 Why me, Timon?
Timon
1590 That, by killing of villains,
1591 Thou wast born to conquer my country.
1592 Put up thy gold: go on,—here's gold,—go on;
1593 Be as a planetary plague, when Jove
1594 Will o'er some high-vic'd city hang his poison
1595 In the sick air: let not thy sword skip one.
1596 Pity not honour'd age for his white beard;
1597 He is an usurer. Strike me the counterfeit matron;
1598 It is her habit only that is honest,
1599 Herself's a bawd. Let not the virgin's cheek
1600 Make soft thy trenchant sword; for those milk paps
1601 That through the window-bars bore at men's eyes,
1602 Are not within the leaf of pity writ,
1603 But set them down horrible traitors. Spare not the babe,
1604 Whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their mercy;
1605 Think it a bastard, whom the oracle
1606 Hath doubtfully pronounc'd thy throat shall cut,
1607 And mince it sans remorse. Swear against objects;
1608 Put armour on thine ears and on thine eyes,
1609 Whose proof nor yells of mothers, maids, nor babes,
1610 Nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding,
1611 Shall pierce a jot. There's gold to pay thy soldiers:
1612 Make large confusion; and, thy fury spent,
1613 Confounded be thyself! Speak not, be gone.
Alcibiades
1614 Hast thou gold yet? I'll take the gold thou giv'st me,
1615 Not all thy counsel.
Timon
1616 Dost thou, or dost thou not, heaven's curse upon thee!
Phrynia and Timandra
1617 Give us some gold, good Timon:
1618 Hast thou more?
Timon
1619 Enough to make a whore forswear her trade,
1620 And to make whores a bawd. Hold up, you sluts,
1621 Your aprons mountant: you are not oathable,
1622 Although, I know, you'll swear, terribly swear
1623 Into strong shudders and to heavenly agues,
1624 The immortal gods that hear you, spare your oaths,
1625 I'll trust to your conditions: be whores still;
1626 And he whose pious breath seeks to convert you,
1627 Be strong in whore, allure him, burn him up;
1628 Let your close fire predominate his smoke,
1629 And be no turncoats: yet may your pains, six months,
1630 Be quite contrary: and thatch your poor thin roofs
1631 With burdens of the dead; some that were hang'd,
1632 No matter; wear them, betray with them: whore still;
1633 Paint till a horse may mire upon your face:
1634 A pox of wrinkles!
Phrynia and Timandra
1635 Well, more gold. What then?
1636 Believe't that we'll do anything for gold.
Timon
1637 Consumptions sow
1638 In hollow bones of man; strike their sharp shins,
1639 And mar men's spurring. Crack the lawyer's voice,
1640 That he may never more false title plead,
1641 Nor sound his quillets shrilly; hoar the flamen,
1642 That scolds against the quality of flesh,
1643 And not believes himself: down with the nose,
1644 Down with it flat; take the bridge quite away
1645 Of him that, his particular to foresee,
1646 Smells from the general weal: make curl'd-pate ruffians bald,
1647 And let the unscarr'd braggarts of the war
1648 Derive some pain from you: plague all,
1649 That your activity may defeat and quell
1650 The source of all erection. There's more gold;
1651 Do you damn others, and let this damn you,
1652 And ditches grave you all!
Phrynia and Timandra
1653 More counsel with more money, bounteous Timon.
Timon
1654 More whore, more mischief first; I have given you earnest.
Alcibiades
1655 Strike up the drum towards Athens! Farewell, Timon:
1656 If I thrive well, I'll visit thee again.
Timon
1657 If I hope well, I'll never see thee more.
Alcibiades
1658 I never did thee harm.
Timon
1659 Yes, thou spok'st well of me.
Alcibiades
1660 Call'st thou that harm?
Timon
1661 Men daily find it. Get thee away, and take
1662 Thy beagles with thee.
Alcibiades
1663 We but offend him. Strike!
[Drum beats. Exeunt all but TIMON.]
Timon
1664 That nature, being sick of man's unkindness,
1665 Should yet be hungry! Common mother, thou,
[Digging.]
Timon
1666 Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast,
1667 Teems, and feeds all; whose self-same mettle,
1668 Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puff'd,
1669 Engenders the black toad and adder blue,
1670 The gilded newt and eyeless venom'd worm,
1671 With all the abhorred births below crisp heaven
1672 Whereon Hyperion's quickening fire doth shine;
1673 Yield him, who all thy human sons doth hate,
1674 From forth thy plenteous bosom, one poor root!
1675 Ensear thy fertile and conceptious womb,
1676 Let it no more bring out ingrateful man!
1677 Go great with tigers, dragons, wolves, and bears;
1678 Teem with new monsters, whom thy upward face
1679 Hath to the marbled mansion all above
1680 Never presented! O! a root; dear thanks:
1681 Dry up thy marrows, vines and plough-torn leas;
1682 Whereof ingrateful man, with liquorish draughts
1683 And morsels unctuous, greases his pure mind,
1684 That from it all consideration slips!
[Enter APEMANTUS.]
Timon
1685 More man! Plague! plague!
Apemantus
1686 I was directed hither: men report
1687 Thou dost affect my manners, and dost use them.
Timon
1688 'Tis, then, because thou dost not keep a dog
1689 Whom I would imitate: consumption catch thee!
Apemantus
1690 This is in thee a nature but infected;
1691 A poor unmanly melancholy sprung
1692 From change of fortune. Why this spade, this place?
1693 This slave-like habit? and these looks of care?
1694 Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft,
1695 Hug their diseas'd perfumes, and have forgot
1696 That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods
1697 By putting on the cunning of a carper.
1698 Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive
1699 By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee
1700 And let his very breath, whom thou'lt observe
1701 Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain,
1702 And call it excellent. Thou wast told thus;
1703 Thou gav'st thine ears, like tapsters that bade welcome,
1704 To knaves and all approachers: 'tis most just
1705 That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again,
1706 Rascals should have't. Do not assume my likeness.
Timon
1707 Were I like thee I'd throw away myself.
Apemantus
1708 Thou hast cast away thyself, being like thyself;
1709 A madman so long, now a fool. What! think'st
1710 That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain,
1711 Will put thy shirt on warm? will these moss'd trees,
1712 That have outliv'd the eagle, page thy heels
1713 And skip when thou point'st out? will the cold brook,
1714 Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste
1715 To cure thy o'ernight's surfeit? Call the creatures
1716 Whose naked natures live in all the spite
1717 Of wreakful heaven, whose bare unhoused trunks,
1718 To the conflicting elements expos'd,
1719 Answer mere nature; bid them flatter thee;
1720 O! thou shalt find—
Timon
1721 A fool of thee. Depart.
Apemantus
1722 I love thee better now than e'er I did.
Timon
1723 I hate thee worse.
Apemantus
1724 Why?
Timon
1725 Thou flatter'st misery.
Apemantus
1726 I flatter not, but say thou art a caitiff.
Timon
1727 Why dost thou seek me out?
Apemantus
1728 To vex thee.
Timon
1729 Always a villain's office or a fool's.
1730 Dost please thyself in't?
Apemantus
1731 Ay.
Timon
1732 What! a knave too?
Apemantus
1733 If thou didst put this sour-cold habit on
1734 To castigate thy pride, 'twere well; but thou
1735 Dost it enforcedly; thou'dst courtier be again
1736 Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery
1737 Outlives incertain pomp, is crown'd before;
1738 The one is filling still, never complete;
1739 The other, at high wish: best state, contentless,
1740 Hath a distracted and most wretched being,
1741 Worse than the worst, content.
1742 Thou shouldst desire to die, being miserable.
Timon
1743 Not by his breath that is more miserable.
1744 Thou art a slave, whom Fortune's tender arm
1745 With favour never clasp'd, but bred a dog.
1746 Hadst thou, like us from our first swath, proceeded
1747 The sweet degrees that this brief world affords
1748 To such as may the passive drugs of it
1749 Freely command, thou wouldst have plung'd thyself
1750 In general riot; melted down thy youth
1751 In different beds of lust; and never learn'd
1752 The icy precepts of respect, but follow'd
1753 The sugar'd game before thee. But myself,
1754 Who had the world as my confectionary,
1755 The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, and hearts of men
1756 At duty, more than I could frame employment,
1757 That numberless upon me stuck as leaves
1758 Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush
1759 Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare
1760 For every storm that blows; I, to bear this,
1761 That never knew but better, is some burden:
1762 Thy nature did commence in sufferance, time
1763 Hath made thee hard in't. Why shouldst thou hate men?
1764 They never flatter'd thee: what hast thou given?
1765 If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag,
1766 Must be thy subject; who in spite put stuff
1767 To some she-beggar and compounded thee
1768 Poor rogue hereditary. Hence! be gone!
1769 If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,
1770 Thou hadst been a knave and flatterer.
Apemantus
1771 Art thou proud yet?
Timon
1772 Ay, that I am not thee.
Apemantus
1773 I, that I was
1774 No prodigal.
Timon
1775 I, that I am one now;
1776 Were all the wealth I have shut up in thee,
1777 I'd give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone.
1778 That the whole life of Athens were in this!
1779 Thus would I eat it.
[Eating a root.]
Apemantus
1780 Here; I will mend thy feast.
Timon
1781 First mend my company, take away thyself.
Apemantus
1782 So I shall mend mine own, by the lack of thine.
Timon
1783 'Tis not well mended so, it is but botch'd.
1784 If not, I would it were.
Apemantus
1785 What wouldst thou have to Athens?
Timon
1786 Thee thither in a whirlwind. If thou wilt,
1787 Tell them there I have gold; look, so I have.
Apemantus
1788 Here is no use for gold.
Timon
1789 The best and truest;
1790 For here it sleeps and does no hired harm.
Apemantus
1791 Where liest o' nights, Timon?
Timon
1792 Under that's above me.
1793 Where feed'st thou o' days, Apemantus?
Apemantus
1794 Where my stomach finds meat; or rather, where I eat it.
Timon
1795 Would poison were obedient and knew my mind!
Apemantus
1796 Where wouldst thou send it?
Timon
1797 To sauce thy dishes.
Apemantus
1798 The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the
1799 extremity of both ends. When thou wast in thy gilt and thy
1800 perfume, they mock'd thee for too much curiosity; in thy rags
1801 thou know'st none, but art despised for the contrary. There's a
1802 medlar for thee; eat it.
Timon
1803 On what I hate I feed not.
Apemantus
1804 Dost hate a medlar?
Timon
1805 Ay, though it look like thee.
Apemantus
1806 An thou hadst hated medlars sooner, thou shouldst have loved
1807 thyself better now. What man didst thou ever know unthrift
1808 that was beloved after his means?
Timon
1809 Who, without those means thou talkest of, didst thou ever
1810 know beloved?
Apemantus
1811 Myself.
Timon
1812 I understand thee; thou hadst some means to keep a dog.
Apemantus
1813 What things in the world canst thou nearest compare to
1814 thy flatterers?
Timon
1815 Women nearest; but men, men are the things themselves. What
1816 wouldst thou do with the world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy
1817 power?
Apemantus
1818 Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men.
Timon
1819 Wouldst thou have thyself fall in the confusion of men, and
1820 remain a beast with the beasts?
Apemantus
1821 Ay, Timon.
Timon
1822 A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee to attain to.
1823 If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou wert
1824 the lamb, the fox would eat thee; if thou wert the fox, the lion
1825 would suspect thee, when peradventure, thou wert accused by the
1826 ass; if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment thee, and
1827 still thou livedst but as a breakfast to the wolf; if thou wert
1828 the wolf, thy greediness would afflict thee, and oft thou
1829 shouldst hazard thy life for thy dinner; wert thou the unicorn,
1830 pride and wrath would confound thee and make thine own self the
1831 conquest of thy fury; wert thou a bear, thou wouldst be killed by
1832 the horse; wert thou a horse, thou wouldst be seized by the
1833 leopard; wert thou a leopard, thou wert german to the lion, and
1834 the spots of thy kindred were jurors on thy life; all thy safety
1835 were remotion, and thy defence absence. What beast couldst thou
1836 be that were not subject to a beast? and what beast art thou
1837 already, that seest not thy loss in transformation!
Apemantus
1838 If thou couldst please me with speaking to me, thou
1839 mightst have hit upon it here; the commonwealth of Athens is
1840 become a forest of beasts.
Timon
1841 How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art out of the
1842 city?
Apemantus
1843 Yonder comes a poet and a painter: the plague of company
1844 light upon thee! I will fear to catch it, and give way. When I
1845 know not what else to do, I'll see thee again.
Timon
1846 When there is nothing living but thee, thou shalt be
1847 welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog than Apemantus.
Apemantus
1848 Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.
Timon
1849 Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!
Apemantus
1850 A plague on thee! thou art too bad to curse!
Timon
1851 All villains that do stand by thee are pure.
Apemantus
1852 There is no leprosy but what thou speak'st.
Timon
1853 If I name thee,
1854 I'll beat thee, but I should infect my hands.
Apemantus
1855 I would my tongue could rot them off!
Timon
1856 Away, thou issue of a mangy dog!
1857 Choler does kill me that thou art alive;
1858 I swound to see thee.
Apemantus
1859 Would thou wouldst burst!
Timon
1860 Away,
1861 Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry I shall lose
1862 A stone by thee.
[Throws a stone at him.]
Apemantus
1863 Beast!
Timon
1864 Slave!
Apemantus
1865 Toad!
Timon
1866 Rogue, rogue, rogue!
1867 I am sick of this false world, and will love nought
1868 But even the mere necessities upon't.
1869 Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave;
1870 Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat
1871 Thy gravestone daily: make thine epitaph,
1872 That death in me at others' lives may laugh.
[Looking on the gold.]
Timon
1873 O thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce
1874 'Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler
1875 Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars!
1876 Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd, and delicate wooer,
1877 Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow
1878 That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god,
1879 That solder'st close impossibilities,
1880 And mak'st them kiss! that speak'st with every tongue
1881 To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts!
1882 Think, thy slave man rebels, and by thy virtue
1883 Set them into confounding odds, that beasts
1884 May have the world in empire!
Apemantus
1885 Would 'twere so:
1886 But not till I am dead; I'll say thou'st gold:
1887 Thou wilt be throng'd to shortly.
Timon
1888 Throng'd to?
Apemantus
1889 Ay.
Timon
1890 Thy back, I prithee.
Apemantus
1891 Live, and love thy misery!
Timon
1892 Long live so, and so die!
[Exit APEMANTUS.]
Timon
1893 I am quit.
1894 More things like men! Eat, Timon, and abhor them.
[Enter BANDITTI.]
First Bandit
1895 Where should he have this gold? It is some poor
1896 fragment, some slender ort of his remainder. The mere want of
1897 gold, and the falling-from of his friends, drove him into this
1898 melancholy.
Second Bandit
1899 It is noised he hath a mass of treasure.
Third Bandit
1900 Let us make the assay upon him: if he care not for't,
1901 he will supply us easily; if he covetously reserve it, how
1902 shall's get it?
Second Bandit
1903 True; for he bears it not about him, 'tis hid.
First Bandit
1904 Is not this he?
Banditti
1905 Where?
Second Bandit
1906 'Tis his description.
Third Bandit
1907 He; I know him.
Banditti
1908 Save thee, Timon!
Timon
1909 Now, thieves?
Banditti
1910 Soldiers, not thieves.
Timon
1911 Both too, and women's sons.
Banditti
1912 We are not thieves, but men that much do want.
Timon
1913 Your greatest want is, you want much of meat.
1914 Why should you want? Behold, the earth hath roots;
1915 Within this mile break forth a hundred springs;
1916 The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips;
1917 The bounteous housewife, Nature, on each bush
1918 Lays her full mess before you. Want! Why want?
First Bandit
1919 We cannot live on grass, on berries, water,
1920 As beasts and birds and fishes.
Timon
1921 Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and fishes;
1922 You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con
1923 That you are thieves profess'd, that you work not
1924 In holier shapes; for there is boundless theft
1925 In limited professions. Rascal thieves,
1926 Here's gold. Go, suck the subtle blood o' the grape
1927 Till the high fever seethe your blood to froth,
1928 And so scape hanging: trust not the physician;
1929 His antidotes are poison, and he slays
1930 More than you rob: take wealth and lives together;
1931 Do villainy, do, since you protest to do't,
1932 Like workmen. I'll example you with thievery:
1933 The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction
1934 Robs the vast sea; the moon's an arrant thief,
1935 And her pale fire she snatches from the sun;
1936 The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
1937 The moon into salt tears; the earth's a thief,
1938 That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen
1939 From general excrement, each thing's a thief;
1940 The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
1941 Has uncheck'd theft. Love not yourselves; away!
1942 Rob one another. There's more gold; cut throats;
1943 All that you meet are thieves. To Athens go,
1944 Break open shops; nothing can you steal
1945 But thieves do lose it: steal no less for this
1946 I give you; and gold confound you howsoe'er!
1947 Amen.
Third Bandit
1948 Has almost charm'd me from my profession by
1949 persuading me to it.
First Bandit
1950 'Tis in the malice of mankind that he thus advises
1951 us; not to have us thrive in our mystery.
Second Bandit
1952 I'll believe him as an enemy, and give over my trade.
First Bandit
1953 Let us first see peace in Athens. There is no time so
1954 miserable but a man may be true.
[Exeunt BANDITTI.]
[Enter FLAVIUS.]
Flavius
1955 O you gods!
1956 Is yond despised and ruinous man my lord?
1957 Full of decay and failing? O monument
1958 And wonder of good deeds evilly bestow'd!
1959 What an alteration of honour
1960 Has desperate want made!
1961 What viler thing upon the earth than friends
1962 Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends!
1963 How rarely does it meet with this time's guise,
1964 When man was wish'd to love his enemies!
1965 Grant I may ever love, and rather woo
1966 Those that would mischief me than those that do!
1967 He has caught me in his eye: I will present
1968 My honest grief unto him; and, as my lord,
1969 Still serve him with my life. My dearest master!
[TIMON comes forward.]
Timon
1970 Away! What art thou?
Flavius
1971 Have you forgot me, sir?
Timon
1972 Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;
1973 Then, if thou grant'st thou'rt a man, I have forgot thee.
Flavius
1974 An honest poor servant of yours.
Timon
1975 Then I know thee not:
1976 I never had honest man about me; ay all
1977 I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains.
Flavius
1978 The gods are witness,
1979 Ne'er did poor steward wear a truer grief
1980 For his undone lord than mine eyes for you.
Timon
1981 What! dost thou weep? Come nearer. Then I love thee,
1982 Because thou art a woman, and disclaim'st
1983 Flinty mankind, whose eyes do never give
1984 But thorough lust and laughter. Pity's sleeping:
1985 Strange times, that weep with laughing, not with weeping!
Flavius
1986 I beg of you to know me, good my lord,
1987 To accept my grief, and whilst this poor wealth lasts
1988 To entertain me as your steward still.
Timon
1989 Had I a steward
1990 So true, so just, and now so comfortable?
1991 It almost turns my dangerous nature mild.
1992 Let me behold thy face. Surely, this man
1993 Was born of woman.
1994 Forgive my general and exceptless rashness,
1995 You perpetual sober gods! I do proclaim
1996 One honest man, mistake me not, but one;
1997 No more, I pray, and he's a steward.
1998 How fain would I have hated all mankind!
1999 And thou redeem'st thyself: but all, save thee,
2000 I fell with curses.
2001 Methinks thou art more honest now than wise;
2002 For, by oppressing and betraying me,
2003 Thou mightst have sooner got another service:
2004 For many so arrive at second masters
2005 Upon their first lord's neck. But tell me true,—
2006 For I must ever doubt, though ne'er so sure,—
2007 Is not thy kindness subtle, covetous,
2008 If not a usuring kindness and as rich men deal gifts,
2009 Expecting in return, twenty for one?
Flavius
2010 No, my most worthy master, in whose breast
2011 Doubt and suspect, alas! are plac'd too late!
2012 You should have fear'd false times when you did feast;
2013 Suspect still comes where an estate is least.
2014 That which I show, heaven knows, is merely love,
2015 Duty and zeal to your unmatched mind,
2016 Care of your food and living; and, believe it,
2017 My most honour'd lord,
2018 For any benefit that points to me,
2019 Either in hope or present, I'd exchange
2020 For this one wish, that you had power and wealth
2021 To requite me by making rich yourself.
Timon
2022 Look thee, 'tis so! Thou singly honest man,
2023 Here, take: the gods, out of my misery,
2024 Have sent thee treasure. Go, live rich and happy,
2025 But thus condition'd: thou shalt build from men;
2026 Hate all, curse all, show charity to none,
2027 But let the famish'd flesh slide from the bone,
2028 Ere thou relieve the beggar; give to dogs
2029 What thou deny'st to men; let prisons swallow 'em,
2030 Debts wither 'em to nothing; be men like blasted woods,
2031 And may diseases lick up their false bloods!
2032 And so, farewell and thrive.
Flavius
2033 O! let me stay
2034 And comfort you, my master.
Timon
2035 If thou hatest curses,
2036 Stay not; fly, whilst thou'rt bless'd and free:
2037 Ne'er see thou man, and let me ne'er see thee.
[Exeunt severally.]

Reading mode

Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 1476rhetorical device
“O blessed breeding sun! draw from the earth”
Timon begins his first great wilderness soliloquy by invoking the sun not as a life-giver but as a weapon — he commands it to suck up disease from the earth and infect the air. The apostrophe (direct address to an absent thing) launches a sustained curse against all created life.
TLN 1477classical allusion
“below thy sister's orb”
The sun's 'sister' is the moon; in classical cosmology the sun and moon were sibling deities — Helios (the sun) and Selene (the moon), both children of the Titan Hyperion. Timon is telling the sun to poison the sub-lunar air, the region between the moon and the earth.
classical Hyperion
TLN 1480archaic vocab
“Scarce is dividant”
'Dividant' is an archaic form meaning 'divisible' or 'capable of being told apart.' Timon says twin brothers, born from the same womb, are so alike they can scarcely be distinguished — yet if fortune places them differently, the richer one immediately scorns the poorer.
TLN 1491archaic vocab
“every grize of fortune / Is smooth'd by that below”
'Grize' (also spelled 'grise' or 'greese') means a step of a staircase. Timon says that every step on fortune's ladder is kept smooth by the fawning of whoever stands one step lower — flattery flows upward through every level of society.
TLN 1492cultural context
“the learned pate / Ducks to the golden fool”
'Pate' is an informal word for the head (and by extension, the learned person). 'Golden fool' means a foolish person with money. Timon's point is that in a money-based world, scholars and wise men bow to rich idiots — wealth trumps knowledge.
TLN 1497archaic vocab
“His semblable, yea, himself, Timon disdains”
'Semblable' (from French semblable, 'like') means one's likeness, double, or fellow — any person who resembles oneself. Timon says he now disdains even his own kind, his fellow humans, and ultimately himself. It is the logical endpoint of misanthropy: Timon is himself a man, so complete hatred of mankind must include self-hatred.
TLN 1498archaic vocab
“Destruction fang mankind”
'Fang' is used as a verb here, meaning to seize in the teeth or claws, to grip and tear. Timon is commanding destruction to sink its teeth into the whole human race. The image makes destruction a beast — a predator hunting mankind.
TLN 1502archaic vocab
“I am no idle votarist”
A 'votarist' is a person who has made a vow — a devotee, a monk or nun. Timon is saying he is not a false worshipper when he calls on the heavens for roots: he genuinely needs them and will not be fobbed off with gold. The irony is that he has just found a hoard of the gold he despises.
TLN 1508cultural context
“This yellow slave / Will knit and break religions”
Timon calls gold a 'yellow slave' — its color identifies it, but 'slave' inverts the usual power relation, making gold (which enslaves people) itself a slave to anyone who possesses it. He then lists gold's powers: it can create and destroy religions, bless the cursed, make the diseased (leprosy) beloved, seat thieves among senators.
TLN 1510archaic vocab
“Make the hoar leprosy ador'd”
'Hoar' means white or grey-white with age, frost, or disease. Leprosy produced white or grey skin lesions; 'hoar leprosy' is leprosy at its most visibly extreme, the most repulsive form of the disease. Timon is saying gold can make even the most hideous, disease-ridden person an object of adoration.
TLN 1513archaic vocab
“the wappen'd widow wed again; / She, whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores / Would cast the gorge at”
'Wappen'd' (also 'wappened') means worn out, exhausted, or stale — likely referring to a widow past the age and looks that would attract a suitor. A 'spital-house' is a hospital or hospice, especially one for the diseased and destitute. 'Cast the gorge' means to vomit. Gold, Timon says, can make even a revolting, decrepit widow marriageable again.
TLN 1515archaic vocab
“this embalms and spices / To the April day again”
'Embalms' here means to perfume or preserve, making fragrant what would otherwise decay — the same word used for preserving a corpse. To be restored 'to the April day' means to be made as fresh and appealing as a spring morning. Gold, Timon says, can make even a ruined old woman smell sweet and seem youthful.
TLN 1529classical allusion
“I am Misanthropos, and hate mankind”
'Misanthropos' is the Greek word for man-hater: 'misanthr-' (from Greek 'misein,' to hate, and 'anthropos,' mankind). Timon uses it as a name for himself, directly invoking the classical tradition of Timon as the archetypal hater of humanity. Lucian's dialogue 'Timon, or the Misanthrope' made this name famous in antiquity and is one of the play's key sources.
classical Timon the misanthrope (Lucian and the man-hater tradition)
TLN 1530rhetorical device
“I do wish thou wert a dog, / That I might love thee something”
Timon tells Alcibiades he wishes he were a dog, because Timon could then feel some affection for him — hating mankind but not animals. The paradox is that dogs were often considered lowly and contemptible in Elizabethan culture, so being told 'I wish you were a dog so I could love you a little' is simultaneously an insult and a bleak admission that even minimal affection is impossible between humans.
TLN 1536archaic vocab
“paint the ground, gules, gules”
'Gules' is a heraldic term for the color red, used in describing coats of arms. Timon tells Alcibiades to paint the earth with men's blood — red, like the heraldic color — as he marches to war. The word suddenly shifts the brutal imagery of warfare into the formal, decorative language of heraldry, creating an unsettling contrast.
TLN 1545rhetorical device
“As the moon does, by wanting light to give: / But then renew I could not like the moon; / There were no suns to borrow of”
Timon explains his transformation through a compressed astronomical simile: the moon wanes when it has no light to give, but renews itself by borrowing from the sun. Timon waned the same way — by giving out everything. But unlike the moon, he could not renew, because there were no 'suns' (generous friends) to borrow light from. The simile reduces the play's plot to three lines.
TLN 1559archaic vocab
“the Athenian minion whom the world / Voic'd so regardfully”
Timandra calls Timon 'the Athenian minion' — 'minion' here means a favorite, a darling, someone especially valued and honored; 'voic'd so regardfully' means praised and spoken of with high regard by everyone. The word 'minion' did not originally mean subservient; it meant a favored person in a powerful person's circle. Timandra is asking: is this the great man Athens celebrated?
TLN 1593cultural context
“be as a planetary plague, when Jove / Will o'er some high-vic'd city hang his poison / In the sick air”
Timon urges Alcibiades to be like a 'planetary plague' — a disease sent down from the heavens. In Renaissance astrology, planets were believed to influence the health of cities and nations; a malignant planetary conjunction could 'poison' the air above a sinful city and cause epidemic disease. Jove (Jupiter) is king of the gods and planets; Timon imagines him hanging his poison over a wicked city like a thundercloud.
TLN 1597archaic vocab
“Strike me the counterfeit matron; / It is her habit only that is honest, / Herself's a bawd”
'Matron' means a respectable married woman of middle age or older. 'Counterfeit matron' is a woman dressed in matron's clothing who is not virtuous. 'Habit' means clothing or dress. A 'bawd' is a procurer, someone who arranges or profits from prostitution. Timon says: do not spare the woman who looks respectable; only her clothes are honest — she herself is a brothel-keeper.
TLN 1600cultural context
“for those milk paps / That through the window-bars bore at men's eyes”
'Milk paps' means a woman's breasts. 'Window-bars' were the latticed or barred windows of buildings, including the upper-floor windows behind which women of a household were understood to be visible but protected. The phrase pictures young women displaying themselves at windows to attract men's attention. Timon tells Alcibiades not to spare even the virgin girls who peer through their window-bars — they are, in his misanthropic view, already baiting men and deserve no mercy.
TLN 1605classical allusion
“the oracle / Hath doubtfully pronounc'd thy throat shall cut”
An oracle was a divine prophecy delivered by a priest or priestess at a sacred shrine, typically in deliberately ambiguous ('doubtfully') language. The most famous was at Delphi, where Apollo's priestess gave equivocal answers. Timon tells Alcibiades to imagine that a prophecy has declared 'the baby will cut your throat' — ambiguous enough to justify pre-emptive killing of the child.
TLN 1621archaic vocab
“you are not oathable”
'Oathable' means capable of taking a binding oath — eligible to swear in a court. Under English law, persons of known bad character (convicted felons, infidels, and in some views prostitutes) could not be admitted as witnesses because their oaths were not considered reliable. Timon says Phrynia and Timandra are not trustworthy enough even to swear an oath.
TLN 1641archaic vocab
“hoar the flamen, / That scolds against the quality of flesh, / And not believes himself”
A 'flamen' was a Roman priest dedicated to the service of a particular god — here used loosely for any priest or clergyman. To 'hoar' someone means to infect them with the white-grey symptoms of venereal disease (echoing 'hoar leprosy' earlier). Timon curses the priest who rails against sexual pleasure ('the quality of flesh') while not practicing what he preaches.
TLN 1643wordplay
“down with the nose, / Down with it flat; take the bridge quite away / Of him that, his particular to foresee, / Smells from the general weal”
Timon curses the corrupt official whose nose 'smells' self-interest ('his particular') rather than the public good ('the general weal'). The curse is to destroy his nose ('take the bridge quite away') — the bridge of the nose is the central bony part. This is both a physical curse (syphilis destroyed the nose, which was a known visible symptom) and a moral metaphor: the nose for self-interest should be removed.
TLN 1646archaic vocab
“make curl'd-pate ruffians bald, / And let the unscarr'd braggarts of the war”
'Curl'd-pate ruffians' are men who pride themselves on their curled, fashionable hair. 'Unscarr'd braggarts of the war' are soldiers who talk big about combat but have no actual wounds to show for it — they have never actually fought. Timon curses both groups: the vain men's curls should fall out (again through disease), and the boastful non-combatants should 'derive some pain' from the women's curse.
TLN 1659rhetorical device
“Yes, thou spok'st well of me”
Alcibiades says he never harmed Timon; Timon shoots back: 'Yes, thou spok'st well of me.' Speaking well of someone is normally a good deed, but Timon now counts public praise as harm — it implied he was worth praising, and therefore raised false expectations that his friends would match his virtues. Praise is a form of flattery, and in Timon's world all flattery is harm. Alcibiades's reply — 'Call'st thou that harm?' — shows how far Timon's inversion of values has gone.
TLN 1661archaic vocab
“take / Thy beagles with thee”
Timon calls Phrynia and Timandra 'beagles' — small hunting dogs. In Elizabethan slang 'beagle' was used as a contemptuous term for a woman, particularly one considered loose or base. Timon dismisses the women as the general dismisses his pack.
TLN 1664rhetorical device
“That nature, being sick of man's unkindness, / Should yet be hungry”
Timon addresses the earth, calling nature herself 'sick' of mankind's cruelty — but still obliged to feed the ungrateful creature that hurts her. The apostrophe to 'Common mother' (TLN 1665) that follows is the second great soliloquy of the scene: Timon calls the earth to stop generating humans and breed monsters instead. The paradox that nature is 'sick' but 'yet hungry' (still producing food) drives his rage.
TLN 1672classical allusion
“Whereon Hyperion's quickening fire doth shine”
Hyperion is a Titan associated with the sun; 'Hyperion's quickening fire' means the sun's life-giving warmth. Even the repulsive creatures Timon has just listed — black toads, venomous worms, gilded newts — are alive under the same sunlight that Timon called down to destroy mankind at the opening of the scene. The sun that Timon invoked as a weapon is here the indifferent, equal nourisher of the poisonous and the harmless alike.
classical Hyperion
TLN 1675archaic vocab
“Ensear thy fertile and conceptious womb, / Let it no more bring out ingrateful man”
'Ensear' means to sear shut, to cauterize — to dry up by burning. 'Conceptious' means fruitful, able to conceive. Timon commands the earth to sear shut its fertile, generative womb so it will no longer produce ungrateful humankind. The curse on the earth's generativity is the ultimate inversion of Timon's earlier generosity: where he once gave everything, he now wishes the source of everything to stop giving.
TLN 1679archaic vocab
“the marbled mansion all above”
'The marbled mansion all above' is the sky, described as a vaulted hall of white marble — an image both of grandeur and of cold permanence. Timon tells the earth to produce new monsters it has never shown to heaven, things the sky has never seen before. The image of the sky as an architectural space (a 'mansion') reflects a common Renaissance metaphor for the heavens.
TLN 1682archaic vocab
“ingrateful man, with liquorish draughts / And morsels unctuous, greases his pure mind”
'Liquorish' means greedy or eager (from 'lickerish' = desirous of dainties; related to 'lecherous'). 'Unctuous' means greasy, oily, fatty. 'Morsels unctuous' are rich, fatty bits of food. Timon says ingrateful man, gorging himself on rich food and drink, 'greases' — clogs and corrupts — his own mind until he loses all awareness of the earth that fed him. Excess pleasure deadens moral consciousness.
TLN 1688rhetorical device
“because thou dost not keep a dog / Whom I would imitate”
Apemantus has accused Timon of imitating his manner (the cynical, dog-like philosopher). Timon turns the insult: he would only imitate Apemantus's behavior if Apemantus kept a dog — and a dog would be worth imitating, but Apemantus himself is not. 'Cynic' derives from the Greek word for dog (kyon); Diogenes the Cynic was famously called 'the Dog.' The play repeatedly connects Apemantus to dog-philosophy.
classical Timon the misanthrope (Lucian and the man-hater tradition)
TLN 1690cultural context
“This is in thee a nature but infected; / A poor unmanly melancholy sprung / From change of fortune”
Apemantus diagnoses Timon's misanthropy as 'infected' — not a genuine philosophical position but a sickness caused by the accident of losing his money. 'Unmanly melancholy' means a passive, self-pitying sadness unworthy of a man. He is distinguishing chosen cynicism (his own) from reactive bitterness (Timon's): Timon hates the world because it disappointed him, not because he understands it.
historical The fall of princes (de casibus tragedy)
TLN 1703archaic vocab
“thou gav'st thine ears, like tapsters that bade welcome, / To knaves and all approachers”
A 'tapster' was a person employed to draw and serve ale in a tavern — one who welcomed all comers indiscriminately for profit. Apemantus compares Timon's old habit of listening to everyone's flattery with the tavern tapster who nods and says 'welcome' to every customer, knave or not. The image deflates Timon's celebrated open-handedness: his generosity was as professional and indiscriminate as a barman's hospitality.
TLN 1714archaic vocab
“Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste / To cure thy o'ernight's surfeit”
'Candied with ice' means frozen into a crystalline crust. A 'caudle' was a warm, spiced drink given to invalids or to soothe a sick or hangover-afflicted person. Apemantus is mocking Timon: will the cold brook, iced over, serve as a warm caudle to cure his over-indulgence of the previous night? The irony is that Timon used to have every luxury; now even a warm restorative drink is impossible.
TLN 1726archaic vocab
“thou art a caitiff”
'Caitiff' (from Old French caitif, Latin captivus — captive) was an archaic word for a base, despicable, or cowardly person; a wretch. Apemantus tells Timon he does not flatter him but simply states a fact: Timon is a contemptible wretch. The word deliberately echoes the noble vocabulary's contrast: Timon was once called noble, generous, great; now even his enemy names him only a caitiff.
TLN 1746archaic vocab
“Hadst thou, like us from our first swath, proceeded / The sweet degrees that this brief world affords”
'Swath' (or 'swathe') refers to the swaddling band wrapped around an infant — the first cloth binding. 'From our first swath' means from birth. Timon says: if you had been born as we were (in privilege and comfort) and had proceeded through all the pleasant steps this world offers to people like us — you would have done exactly as I did, and fallen just as far.
TLN 1754rhetorical device
“who had the world as my confectionary, / The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, and hearts of men / At duty, more than I could frame employment”
Timon describes his former life: the whole world was his 'confectionary' — his sweet-shop, his confection-maker. He had more human devotion (mouths, tongues, eyes, hearts) than he could even put to use. The image of the world as a sugar-shop is a consummate image of the excess and sweetness of his old life, and prepares the metaphor of leaves falling from the oak tree that follows.
TLN 1757rhetorical device
“numberless upon me stuck as leaves / Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush / Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare”
Timon compares his flatterers to leaves on an oak tree: countless while he prospered, all fallen in one winter's blast of poverty. The simile is a compressed version of his fall from fortune: the oak stripped bare in winter is Timon stripped of his false friends. It is one of the most perfectly shaped similes in the play.
classical Fortune and her wheelhistorical The fall of princes (de casibus tragedy)
TLN 1765rhetorical device
“thy father, that poor rag, / Must be thy subject; who in spite put stuff / To some she-beggar and compounded thee / Poor rogue hereditary”
Timon tells Apemantus that if he wants to curse anyone, he should curse his own father — a 'poor rag' of a man who, out of sheer malice ('in spite'), had sex with ('put stuff to') some female beggar ('she-beggar') and thereby produced ('compounded') Apemantus, who is a 'poor rogue hereditary' — a pauper-rascal by inheritance, with low birth doubly guaranteeing low character.
TLN 1798rhetorical device
“The middle of humanity thou never knewest, but the extremity of both ends”
Apemantus delivers his sharpest analysis of Timon: he never knew moderate, ordinary life — only the two extremes. When rich, he was mocked for excessive luxury and show ('too much curiosity'); now poor, he is equally extreme in his rags and misanthropy. Aristotle's doctrine of the mean (that virtue lies between extremes) underlies this critique: Timon has always been a man of extremes, never a temperate middle.
TLN 1823rhetorical device
“If thou wert the lion, the fox would beguile thee; if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat thee”
Timon demolishes Apemantus's fantasy of living as a beast among beasts by running through a chain of animal fables: whatever animal you became, some other animal would destroy you. Lion is tricked by fox; lamb is eaten by fox; fox is suspected by lion when the ass accuses it; ass is eaten by wolf; wolf is killed in hunting; unicorn's pride destroys it; bear is killed by horse; horse by leopard; leopard (german to the lion) is endangered by its kinship. No beast is safe. The argument is a tour of Aesopian fable-logic applied to prove that nature provides no escape from predation.
TLN 1869cultural context
“presently prepare thy grave; / Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat / Thy gravestone daily”
Timon instructs himself to prepare his grave immediately and lie where the sea-foam beats the gravestone daily. This anticipates the play's ending: Timon does die by the sea, and his gravestone with its double epitaph is found on the shore in Act 5. Plutarch's Life of Antony specifically mentions that Timon was buried by the sea at a place inaccessible except by water, and records his two epitaphs.
classical Timon the misanthrope (Lucian and the man-hater tradition)
TLN 1873rhetorical device
“O thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce / 'Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler / Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars!”
Timon's second gold-speech begins as a blazon of address to the gold, praising it with mock-devotion as a 'sweet king-killer,' a 'brave divorce' between fathers and sons, a 'defiler of Hymen's bed' (marriage). The references are to classical deities: Hymen is the god of marriage; Mars is the god of war. Timon ironically praises gold for destroying exactly the things marriage, family, and social trust are supposed to protect.
TLN 1877classical allusion
“consecrated snow / That lies on Dian's lap”
Diana (Greek Artemis) was the goddess of chastity and the moon; snow is her element — cold, white, and pure. 'The consecrated snow that lies on Dian's lap' is an image of perfect, sworn chastity. Timon says that even this — the purest sexual purity under divine protection — can be thawed by gold. The 'blush' of gold (its warm, life-like color) can melt even the coldest, most consecrated virginity.
classical Diana, virgin goddess of the moon
TLN 1900archaic vocab
“let us make the assay upon him”
'Make the assay' means to make a test or trial of something — to attempt or to probe. The Third Bandit proposes they test Timon: if he does not care about the gold, he will give it up easily. 'Assay' was also the technical term for testing the purity of metals (especially gold), which creates a quiet irony: the thieves want to 'assay' Timon much as a goldsmith would assay gold.
TLN 1916archaic vocab
“The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips”
'Mast' means acorns and beechnuts — the nut-fruits of the oak and beech, used as animal fodder. 'Hips' are the red berries of the wild rose or briar. Timon is cataloguing free food available in the wild — the same food that Timon himself now lives on while the thieves claim to 'want' food. The irony is that nature provides abundantly; only society creates the deprivation that produces professional theft.
TLN 1922archaic vocab
“thanks I must you con”
'Con' here is a verb meaning to acknowledge or give thanks — related to 'con' in the sense of 'to know' (from Old English 'cunnan'). 'I must you con thanks' = 'I must acknowledge thanks to you.' Timon sarcastically thanks the thieves for at least being honest criminals, unlike the respectable citizens who steal through 'limited professions.'
TLN 1923rhetorical device
“you work not / In holier shapes; for there is boundless theft / In limited professions”
Timon praises the thieves for working in honest, open villainy rather than 'holier shapes' — disguising their theft as a respectable trade. He argues that 'limited professions' (licensed, regulated occupations like law, medicine, and trade) involve boundless theft that simply passes unremarked because it is socially approved. Doctors, lawyers, and merchants steal as much as any bandit; they just wear respectable clothing.
TLN 1951archaic vocab
“not to have us thrive in our mystery”
'Mystery' (from Latin 'misterium' via Old French 'mestier,' a craft or trade) was a guild term for an organized trade or skilled occupation. The First Bandit says Timon's advice against thieving is given out of malice, not out of genuine desire that they do well 'in our mystery' — in their craft of robbery. The word irony is that theft is called a 'mystery' with the same dignity as a legitimate guild trade.
TLN 1963biblical allusion
“How rarely does it meet with this time's guise, / When man was wish'd to love his enemies”
Flavius alludes to Jesus's commandment 'Love your enemies' (Matthew 5:44) as something so contrary to present behavior that it is a rarity to find it. He notes how uncommon it is, in this corrupt age, to act on the gospel command. The observation is gentle and ironic: Flavius has come to do exactly what he says is rarely done — to serve an enemy of mankind out of pure love.
TLN 1981cultural context
“I love thee, / Because thou art a woman, and disclaim'st / Flinty mankind, whose eyes do never give / But thorough lust and laughter”
When Timon sees Flavius weeping, he initially mistakes this genuine emotion for feminine sensitivity — he says he loves him 'because thou art a woman,' since men never give tears except through lust or mockery. The backhanded logic is striking: Timon accepts Flavius's loyalty only after recategorizing him as not-quite-male. Weeping was coded as feminine in early modern culture; men who wept publicly were associated with weakness or effeminacy.
TLN 1992biblical allusion
“Surely, this man / Was born of woman”
Timon marvels at Flavius as if he were some extraordinary being: 'Surely, this man / Was born of woman' — a phrase that emphasizes the common humanity that ties even the most admirable person to mortal, fallible flesh. The phrase 'born of woman' carries a biblical resonance from Job: 'Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble' (Job 14:1), and from Macbeth's witches ('none of woman born shall harm Macbeth').
TLN 1994archaic vocab
“Forgive my general and exceptless rashness”
'Exceptless' is a coined word meaning 'admitting of no exceptions' — Timon apologizes for his blanket, indiscriminate rashness that excepted no one from his hatred. He is momentarily conceding that his misanthropy was excessive, finding in Flavius an honest man who falsifies his universal condemnation.
TLN 2004rhetorical device
“many so arrive at second masters / Upon their first lord's neck”
Timon tells Flavius that many servants get their second employer by betraying their first — they step 'upon their first lord's neck' (trample over their fallen master to reach a new one). The phrase is a compressed image of social climbing through betrayal. Timon is saying: it would have been more sensible for Flavius to betray him while he was down, since that is the standard path to advancement.
TLN 2025rhetorical device
“thou shalt build from men; / Hate all, curse all, show charity to none”
Timon sends Flavius away with gold and a condition: he must build his life away from ('from') men, and practice total misanthropy. The irony is unmistakable: the one act of genuine charity Timon performs in the whole scene — giving Flavius treasure — is done to fund further withdrawal from mankind and to replicate his own disease of misanthropy. Timon cannot reward loyalty without trying to turn the loyal man into himself.
classical Timon the misanthrope (Lucian and the man-hater tradition)