(the oldest subject.)

Monologues about love

Falling into it, being refused it, losing it, pretending not to want it. Four thousand pieces in the library are tagged with love; these are the thirty that read best on their own, the public-domain ones printed whole.

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1
Benvolio from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · contemplative · 0:51 min
Madam, an hour before the worshipp’d sun Peer’d forth the golden window of the east, A troubled mind drave me to walk abroad, Where underneath the grove of sycamore That westward…
2
Romeo from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · philosophical · 1:52 min
Alas that love, whose view is muffled still, Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will! Where shall we dine? O me! What fray was here? Yet tell me not, for I have heard it…
3
Capulet from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · joyful · 1:46 min
And too soon marr’d are those so early made. The earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she, She is the hopeful lady of my earth: But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart, My will…
4
Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · dramatic · 1:04 min
Nay, I’ll conjure too. Romeo! Humours! Madman! Passion! Lover! Appear thou in the likeness of a sigh, Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied; Cry but ‘Ah me!’ Pronounce but Love…
5
Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · romantic · 1:03 min
Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee, I have no joy of this contract tonight; It is too rash, too unadvis’d, too sudden, Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be Ere…
6
Friar Lawrence from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · contemplative · 1:28 min
Holy Saint Francis! What a change is here! Is Rosaline, that thou didst love so dear, So soon forsaken? Young men’s love then lies Not truly in their hearts, but in their eyes.…
7
Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · romantic · 2:22 min
Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, Towards Phoebus’ lodging. Such a waggoner As Phaeton would whip you to the west And bring in cloudy night immediately. Spread thy close…
8
Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 2:05 min
Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband? Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name, When I thy three-hours’ wife have mangled it? But wherefore, villain, didst thou…
9
Romeo from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 1:32 min
’Tis torture, and not mercy. Heaven is here Where Juliet lives, and every cat and dog, And little mouse, every unworthy thing, Live here in heaven and may look on her, But Romeo…
10
Friar Lawrence from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 3:26 min
Hold thy desperate hand. Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art. Thy tears are womanish, thy wild acts denote The unreasonable fury of a beast. Unseemly woman in a seeming…
11
Nurse from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 1:02 min
Faith, here it is. Romeo is banished; and all the world to nothing That he dares ne’er come back to challenge you. Or if he do, it needs must be by stealth. Then, since the case…
12
Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 1:12 min
Tell me not, Friar, that thou hear’st of this, Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it. If in thy wisdom, thou canst give no help, Do thou but call my resolution wise, And with…
13
Friar Lawrence from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · dark · 2:08 min
Hold then. Go home, be merry, give consent To marry Paris. Wednesday is tomorrow; Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone, Let not thy Nurse lie with thee in thy chamber. Take…
14
Juliet from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 3:12 min
Farewell. God knows when we shall meet again. I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins That almost freezes up the heat of life. I’ll call them back again to comfort me.…
15
Nurse from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 1:22 min
Mistress! What, mistress! Juliet! Fast, I warrant her, she. Why, lamb, why, lady, fie, you slug-abed! Why, love, I say! Madam! Sweetheart! Why, bride! What, not a word? You take…
16
Friar Lawrence from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · philosophical · 1:20 min
Peace, ho, for shame. Confusion’s cure lives not In these confusions. Heaven and yourself Had part in this fair maid, now heaven hath all, And all the better is it for the maid.…
17
Romeo from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · romantic · 1:09 min
If I may trust the flattering eye of sleep, My dreams presage some joyful news at hand. My bosom’s lord sits lightly in his throne; And all this day an unaccustom’d spirit Lifts…
18
Romeo from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · dark · 1:43 min
No matter. Get thee gone, And hire those horses. I’ll be with thee straight. (Exit Balthasar.) Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee tonight. Let’s see for means. O mischief thou art…
19
Romeo from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · dark · 1:12 min
Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron. Hold, take this letter; early in the morning See thou deliver it to my lord and father. Give me the light; upon thy life I charge…
20
Romeo from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 3:33 min
In faith, I will. Let me peruse this face. Mercutio’s kinsman, noble County Paris! What said my man, when my betossed soul Did not attend him as we rode? I think He told me Paris…
21
Friar Lawrence from Romeo and Juliet
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 2:46 min
I will be brief, for my short date of breath Is not so long as is a tedious tale. Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet, And she, there dead, that Romeo’s faithful wife. I…
22
Othello from Othello
William Shakespeare · play · defiant · 1:17 min
Most potent, grave, and reverend signiors, My very noble and approv’d good masters: That I have ta’en away this old man’s daughter, It is most true; true, I have married her. The…
23
Othello from Othello
William Shakespeare · play · contemplative · 2:54 min
Her father lov’d me, oft invited me, Still question’d me the story of my life, From year to year—the battles, sieges, fortunes, That I have pass’d. I ran it through, even from my…
24
Desdemona from Othello
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 0:50 min
That I did love the Moor to live with him, My downright violence and storm of fortunes May trumpet to the world: my heart’s subdued Even to the very quality of my lord. I saw…
25
Othello from Othello
William Shakespeare · play · defiant · 0:54 min
Let her have your voice. Vouch with me, heaven, I therefore beg it not To please the palate of my appetite, Nor to comply with heat, the young affects In me defunct, and proper…
26
Iago from Othello
William Shakespeare · play · philosophical · 1:08 min
Virtue! a fig! ’Tis in ourselves that we are thus or thus. Our bodies are gardens, to the which our wills are gardeners. So that if we will plant nettles or sow lettuce, set…
27
Cassio from Othello
William Shakespeare · play · joyful · 0:56 min
She that I spake of, our great captain’s captain, Left in the conduct of the bold Iago; Whose footing here anticipates our thoughts A se’nnight’s speed. Great Jove, Othello guard,…
28
Iago from Othello
William Shakespeare · play · dark · 1:06 min
You, or any man living, may be drunk at a time, man. I’ll tell you what you shall do. Our general’s wife is now the general; I may say so in this respect, for that he hath devoted…
29
Desdemona from Othello
William Shakespeare · play · anguished · 1:07 min
Why then tomorrow night, or Tuesday morn, On Tuesday noon, or night; on Wednesday morn. I prithee name the time, but let it not Exceed three days. In faith, he’s penitent; And yet…
30
Othello from Othello
William Shakespeare · play · defiant · 1:13 min
Why, why is this? Think’st thou I’d make a life of jealousy, To follow still the changes of the moon With fresh suspicions? No. To be once in doubt Is once to be resolv’d:…

Length is estimated at a spoken pace of about 150 words a minute. Public-domain pieces are printed in full on their own page; copyrighted ones list the character and the source.

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