ns energy and self-possession
as she proceeds, grows more earnest and passionate from the difficulty
she encounters, and displays that eloquence and power of reasoning for
which we had been already prepared by Claudio's first allusion to her:--

... In her youth
There is a prone and speechless dialect,
Such as moves men; besides, she hath prosperous art,
When she will play with reason and discourse,
And well she can persuade.

It is a curious coincidence that Isabella, exhorting Angelo to mercy,
avails herself of precisely the same arguments, and insists on the
self-same topics which Portia addresses to Shylock in her celebrated
speech; but how beautifully and how truly is the distinction marked! how
like, and yet how unlike! Portia's eulogy on mercy is a piece of
heavenly rhetoric; it falls on the ear with a solemn measured harmony;
it is the voice of a descended angel addressing an inferior nature: if
not premeditated, it is at least part of a preconcerted scheme; while
Isabella's pleadings are poured from the abundance of her heart in
broken sentences, and with the artless vehemence of one who feels that
life and death hang upon her appeal. This will be best understood by
placing the corresponding passages in immediate comparison with each
other.

PORTIA.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above this sceptred sway--
It is enthron'd in the hearts of kings.

ISABELLA.

Well, believe this,
No ceremony that to great ones 'longs,
Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword,
The marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe.
Become them with one half so good a grace
As mercy does.

PORTIA.

Consider this--
That in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy.

ISABELLA.

... Alas! alas!