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61 62
For you shall hence° upon your wedding day. / leave > go forth hence
Since you were bought at O so dear a price / at such a heavy price
63 64
I’ll bear the wait for love° not once but twice. / the weight of love
—Gratziano
But let us hear° the letter° from Antonio. 65 / But wait—let’s hear

—Bassanio [reads]
66
‘Dear Bassanio, my ships have all been lost, my creditors grow cruel, my estate is very low,
my bond to the Jew is forfeit. And since in paying it, it is impossible I should live, all debts
are cleared between you and I—if I might but see you at my death. Notwithstanding, do as
67
you please. If your love does not persuade you to come, let not my letter.’
—Portia
O love, dispatch all business and be gone!° / betake your vows and then be gone

—Bassanio
Since I have your good leave to go away

61. / To wed me now and leave upon the day!
62. / We’ll live as widows. Come, no more delay | You’ll marry me now and leave the same day!
63. In Q1, the rhyming couplet is as follows:
{Bid your friends welcome, show a merry cheer,}
{Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear.}
Many commentators are troubled by the closing line feeling that it shows Portia as indelicate and
insensitive. There are several possible interpretations, the foremost being somewhat negative: Portia having paid
dearly for Bassanio (in terms of a high price and hardship) will now love him dearly (i.e. painfully). The wordplay
on dear would also have a positive meaning: the high price she paid for Bassanio was well worth it: as much as she
paid for him (in terms of wealth and sacrifice) that is how much she shall willingly love him: “Since you are dear
bought (paid for with a high price, after much sacrifice) I will love you dear (with the same sacrifice, i.e., I will bear
this pain of waiting for you).”
The dear price was Portia’s having to subject herself (and risk her future happiness) to the uncertain lottery
set up by her father. Thus, having paid such a high price (the risk of her happiness) she will wait for Bassanio again,
to finish up the task at hand an return. Said another way, I have waited so long for love, that I am willing to wait a
little longer. [See Additional Notes, 3.2.311]
64. / Since you have come° at such a heavy° price, {were bought} / were found // tearful / dearly
/ Since I have paid and paid so dear a price / a heavy price
/ I’ll long await your love not once but twice
/ I’ll dearly wait for you, not once but twice
/ Since I have sufferèd° so dear a price / sacrificed / forfeited / fully paid / paid and paid
/ Since you have come at oh so° dear a price / very / much too
/ I’ll thus° await your love not once but twice. / I will
/ You’re worth the suff’ring wait not once but twice
/ You’re worth° the long delay not once but twice / I’ll bear
65. {Portia: But let me hear the letter of your friend.}
/ But let us hear what Antonio has written / But let us hear the good Antonio’s letter
Due to Portia’s double-rhyming couplet (which typically signifies the end of scene—and could fittingly end this
scene) many editors believe that her previous lines originally marked the end of the scene. The following lines,
including Bassanio’s reading of Antonio’s letter, were probable later additions. In support of this, Q1 contains no
speech heading for Bassanio (signifying him to read Antonio’s letter) and several anomalous line spaces have found
their way into the text (before and after Antonio’s letter, and after Bassanio’s closing lines). In standard copy, no
such line spaces would appear. (The additional lines were added, in a later draft, to indicate the urgent nature of the
crisis and give cause for Portia’s intervention.) Hence, to preserve some of the conclusiveness of Portia’s rhyming
couplet, this generic request to hear Antonio’s letter is given to Gratziano—who has, up to this point, remained
curiously silent. [See Additional Notes, 3.2.312]
66. been lost: {miscarried}
67. {use your pleasure} / do as your heart now bids you.