Quality of Mercy
The quality of mercy is not strain’d;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.
Up on the place beneath. It is twice blest;
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 the fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the heart of kings;
It is an attribute to God himself:
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice.
