Adynaton

Hero
Now, Ursula, when Beatrice doth come,
As we do trace this alley up and down,
Our talk must only be of Benedick.
When I do name him, let it be thy part
To praise him more than ever man did merit.

What fire is in mine ears?

My talk to thee must be how Benedick
Is sick in love with Beatrice. Of this matter
Is little Cupid’s crafty arrow made,
That only wounds by hearsay.Allusion Now begin,
For look where Beatrice like a lapwing runs
Close by the ground, to hear our conference.Simile
 Enter Beatrice, who hides in the bower.
Ursula, aside to Hero
The pleasant’st angling is to see the fish
Cut with her Metaphorgolden oars the silver stream
And greedily devour the treacherous bait.
So angle we for Beatrice, who even now
Is couchèd in the woodbine coverture.Simile
Fear you not my part of the dialogue.
Hero, aside to Ursula
Then go we near her, that her ear lose nothing
Of the false sweet bait that we lay for it.—Metaphor
 They walk near the bower.
No, truly, Ursula, she is too disdainful.
I know her spirits are as coy and wild
As haggards of the rock.Simile
Ursula
But are you sure
That Benedick loves Beatrice so entirely?
Hero
So says the Prince and my new-trothèd lord.
Ursula
And did they bid you tell her of it, madam?
Hero
They did entreat me to acquaint her of it,
But I persuaded them, if they loved Benedick,
To wish him wrestle with affectionMetaphor
And never to let Beatrice know of it.
Ursula
Why did you so? Doth not the gentleman
Deserve as full as fortunate a bed
As ever Beatrice shall couch upon?Metonymy
Hero
O god of love! I know he doth deserve
As much as may be yielded to a man,Apostrophe
But Nature never framed a woman’s heart
Of prouder stuff than that of Beatrice.
Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes,
Misprizing what they look on, and her wit
Values itself so highly that to her
All matter else seems weak.Personification & Synecdoches She cannot love,
Nor take no shape nor project of affection,
She is so self-endeared.
Ursula
Sure, I think so,
And therefore certainly it were not good
She knew his love, lest she’ll make sport at it.
Hero
Why, you speak truth. I never yet saw man,
How wise, how noble, young, how rarely featured,Diacope
But she would spell him backward. If fair-faced,
She would swear the gentleman should be her sister;
If black, why, Nature, drawing of an antic,
Made a foul blot; if tall, a lance ill-headed;
If low, an agate very vilely cut;
If speaking, why, a vane blown with all winds;
If silent, why, a block moved with none.Anaphora & Metaphors
So turns she every man the wrong side out,Metaphor
And never gives to truth and virtue that
Which simpleness and merit purchaseth.
Ursula
Sure, sure,Epizeuxis such carping is not commendable.
Hero
No, not to be so odd and from all fashions
As Beatrice is cannot be commendable.
But who dare tell her so? If I should speak,
She would mock me into air. O, she would laugh me
Out of myself, press me to death with wit.Adynaton
Therefore let Benedick, like covered fire,
Consume away in sighs, waste inwardly.
It were a better death than die with mocks,
Which is as bad as die with tickling.Similes
Ursula
Yet tell her of it. Hear what she will say.
Hero
No, rather I will go to Benedick
And counsel him to fight against his passion;
And truly I’ll devise some honest slanders
To stain my cousin with. One doth not know
How much an ill word may empoison liking.
Ursula
O, do not do your cousin such a wrong!
She cannot be so much without true judgment,
Having so swift and excellent a wit
As she is prized to have, as to refuse
So rare a gentleman as Signior Benedick.
Hero
He is the only man of Italy,
Always excepted my dear Claudio.
Ursula
I pray you be not angry with me, madam,
Speaking my fancy: Signior Benedick,
For shape, for bearing, argument, and valor,
Goes foremost in report through Italy.
Hero
Indeed, he hath an excellent good name.Metonymy
Ursula
His excellence did earn it ere he had it.
When are you married, madam?
Hero
Why, every day, tomorrow.Anapodoton & Antithesis, Oxymoron or Paradox Come, go in.
I’ll show thee some attires and have thy counsel
Which is the best to furnish me tomorrow.
 They move away from the bower.
Ursula, aside to Hero
She’s limed, I warrant you. We have caught her, madam.Metaphor
Hero, aside to Ursula
If it prove so, then loving goes by haps;
Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.Allusion
 Hero and Ursula exit.
Beatrice, coming forward
What fire is in mine ears?Metaphor Can this be true?
Stand I condemned for pride and scorn so much?
Contempt, farewell, and maiden pride, adieu!Apostrophe
No glory lives behind the back of such.
And Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,Apostrophe
Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand.Synecdoche
If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee
To bind our loves up in a holy band.
For others say thou dost deserve, and I
Believe it better than reportingly.
 She exits