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+Here, here chose I: when all is done and said,°, / everything is said / all is finishèd
+A heart that giveth all is ne’er misled., 77 78 / A heart that gives all can ne’er be misled

—Portia [aside]
How all the other passions fleet to air,
My° doubtful thoughts and rash-embraced despair; {As} > Such as / These
And shudd’ring° fear, and green-eyed jealousy— / dreaded
79 80
O love° be sparing, ease° thy ecstacy. / heart {allay}
In measure rein° thy joy; scant° this excess! 81 {raine} / rain / hold // block / stint
82 83
Thy blessings overflow°—please make it less. {I feel too much thy blessings}
+I fear this fortune is too much for me
I’m lost° in watersB of an endless sea.,° 84 / I drown // oceans {For fear I surfeit.} 85

—Bassanio [opening the leaden casket]
What find I here? A portrait of fair Portia.
What demigod hath come so near creation
To make this image ride upon my eyes
86 87 88
Such that it seems to move and yet moves not?

76. / Here, here I choose, when all is finishèd
77. / He who giveth all can ne’er be misled / The heart that gives can never be misled / A heart that giveth can ne’er
be misled
78. Here, here I choose: when all is said and done | A heart that gives all has already won
79. / O heart be mild, allay this love in me.
80. Alt: Replace this line with three lines:
I fear this love’s made a fool-sop° of me. / pansy / milksop
O heart be sparing, temper this delight,
O ration joy, don’t give it such a might.
81. raine: rain down, dole out, give out. in measure: in limited and controlled amounts, as not to flood or
overwhelm. Here there is the play of oppositions, where Portia is calling for rain, which is associated with
abundance, but herein asking that it be given in measure. Rain will also be heard as rein, which would mean control,
hold back, rein in.
82. / In measure rein thy joy, scant this delight!
Thy blessings overflow—appease° their might. / take back
/ I feel too much thy blessings—ease their might.
83. / How all my passions do fleet into air:
First gone is doubt, then rash-embraced despair;
This fear and monstrous jealousy are gone / jeal’sy have left me. // are done
O love, be kind—don’t turn more pleasure on / be moderate, tame thy ecstacy; // thy pleasure shun
In measure rein thy joy, tame this excess;
I feel too much thy blessings—make it less! / I feel thy blessings too great
84. This verse fully ensconces Portia in the comical quality of the play, as now, for the first time, her love is fully
expressed and ‘over the top’—more resembling the fanciful excess of love than anything in real life. [See Additional
Notes, 3.2.113]
85. {For fear I surfeit} The original line is orphaned, does not follow the rhyme-scheme nor meter of the lines which
precede it, and simply repeats the theme mentioned previously. Thus it weakens and flattens the impact of Portia’s
rhyming verse. To fully embody this appendage, this truncated line is emended with a full pair of rhyming lines.
Alternatively, the partial line could simply be deleted.
/ O in the waves of love’s ocean I’m lost: | Beyond all hopes, and ignoring all cost.
/ O, in the heat of love’s fire I’m swelt’ring | Lost in the blessedness° of mine own melting.
86. { What find I here?
Fair Portia’s counterfeit. What demi-god
Hath come so near creation? Move these eyes
Or whither riding on the balls of mine
Seem they in motion?}