{"id":4449,"date":"2015-04-09T22:10:40","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T02:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofshakespeare.com\/?page_id=4449"},"modified":"2015-04-09T22:10:40","modified_gmt":"2015-04-10T02:10:40","slug":"loves-labors-won-prologue","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stateofshakespeare.com\/?page_id=4449","title":{"rendered":"Love’s Labor’s Won: Prologue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Love’s Labor’s Won. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Prologue. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0War<\/strong><\/p>\n

This text is featured in our interview with Scott Kaiser<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click here for a scanned version<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WAR<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Nay, do not run\u2014for thou dost know me well;<\/li>\n
  2. Though now my clothes are torn, and my grim visage<\/li>\n
  3. Arrayed in blood. \u2019Twas only four years since<\/li>\n
  4. That thou didst take my hand and welcome me.<\/li>\n
  5. Why, is not this the very place that thou<\/li>\n
  6. Didst fold me in thy open arms, and kissed<\/li>\n
  7. My rosy cheeks, and praised my bearing much,<\/li>\n
  8. Swearing oaths and waving flags as I marched by?<\/li>\n
  9. And dost thou now not know me? O for shame!<\/li>\n
  10. Why, thou didst polish bright my silver buttons,<\/li>\n
  11. And sharpen my worn sword, and fill my purse<\/li>\n
  12. With borrowed gold and new-collected treasure.<\/li>\n
  13. And dost thou now not recognize my face?<\/li>\n
  14. I am war, the pandemonious child<\/li>\n
  15. You once adored, born in the self-same hour,<\/li>\n
  16. And in that same contagious bed whereon<\/li>\n
  17. The last French King commanded his last breath,<\/li>\n
  18. Whose sickness, carried on the wanton breeze,<\/li>\n
  19. Infected intertwined alliances<\/li>\n
  20. As fragile as a widow spider\u2019s web,<\/li>\n
  21. Infesting all the fecund courts of Europe<\/li>\n
  22. With deadly enmity. For four long years<\/li>\n
  23. I\u2019ve toiled for thy glory without rest,<\/li>\n
  24. Deafening sons with my thunderous voice,<\/li>\n
  25. Defiling daughters with my fiery fists,<\/li>\n
  26. Trampling villages with my cruel boots,<\/li>\n
  27. Starving children with my greedy stomach,<\/li>\n
  28. Bereaving fathers with my stony heart,<\/li>\n
  29. Widowing wives with my venomous breath,<\/li>\n
  30. Divorcing bodies from their timeless souls,<\/li>\n
  31. And all in loving and devoted service<\/li>\n
  32. To thy most deep and secretive desires;<\/li>\n
  33. And dost thou now disown me? Call me bastard?<\/li>\n
  34. Spit out my bitter name? Well, \u2019tis no matter:<\/li>\n
  35. I know thou shalt despair when I am gone,<\/li>\n
  36. Which soon may come to pass, for now, alas,<\/li>\n
  37. The fickle coronets of Spain and France<\/li>\n
  38. Do court in Paris, where they woo and dance,<\/li>\n
  39. United by desire to conceive<\/li>\n
  40. A fetal treaty that will banish me<\/li>\n
  41. From out the skirts of these deflower\u2019d lands.<\/li>\n
  42. But what care I if they expel me hence?<\/li>\n
  43. For I\u2019m in great demand on every plot<\/li>\n
  44. Of this contentious ball of wormy earth;<\/li>\n
  45. Pretend then, henceforth, not to know my birth;<\/li>\n
  46. A round or two my labors here shall cease,<\/li>\n
  47. While Time gestates my witless sibling, peace.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Love’s Labor’s Won. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Prologue. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0War This text is featured in our interview with Scott Kaiser. Click here for a scanned version. WAR Nay, do not run\u2014for thou dost know me well; Though now my clothes are torn, and my grim visage Arrayed in blood. \u2019Twas<\/p>\n [...]<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4449","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-line-bottom","fix"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"Love\u2019s Labor\u2019s Won: Prologue | The State of Shakespeare","description":"Love's Labor's Won. Prologue. War This text is featured in our interview with Scott Kaiser. Click here for a scanned version. WAR Nay, do not run\u2014for thou dost know me well; Though now my clothes are torn, and my grim visage Arrayed in blood. \u2019Twas","canonical_url":"https:\/\/stateofshakespeare.com\/?page_id=4449","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"google-site-verification":"UA-28965856-1","p:domain_verify":"d36dfa872cf08cb1686a0c207bca81df","miscellaneous":""},"schema":null,"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"The State of Shakespeare","og:type":"website","og:title":"Love\u2019s Labor\u2019s Won: Prologue | The State of Shakespeare","og:description":"Love's Labor's Won. Prologue. War This text is featured in our interview with Scott Kaiser. Click here for a scanned version. WAR Nay, do not run\u2014for thou dost know me well; Though now my clothes are torn, and my grim visage Arrayed in blood. \u2019Twas","og:url":"https:\/\/stateofshakespeare.com\/?page_id=4449","fb:admins":"100001614971768","og:image":"https:\/\/stateofshakespeare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/stateofshakes_600x600.jpg","og:image:secure_url":"https:\/\/stateofshakespeare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/stateofshakes_600x600.jpg","og:image:width":600,"og:image:height":600,"twitter:card":"photo","twitter:site":"@stateofshakespe","twitter:title":"Love\u2019s Labor\u2019s Won: Prologue | The State of Shakespeare","twitter:description":"Love's Labor's Won. Prologue. War This text is featured in our interview with Scott Kaiser. Click here for a scanned version. WAR Nay, do not run\u2014for thou dost know me well; Though now my clothes are torn, and my grim visage Arrayed in blood. \u2019Twas","twitter:image":"https:\/\/stateofshakespeare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/stateofshakes_600x600.jpg"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"4449","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":"","og_description":"","og_object_type":"website","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":"","og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":"","og_article_tags":"","twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"photo","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":null,"schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"ai":null,"created":"2021-01-04 18:36:21","updated":"2026-04-03 02:04:36","seo_analyzer_scan_date":null},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"

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