If it do come to pass That any man turn ass, Leaving his wealth and ease, A stubborn will to please, Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame: Here shall he see Gross fools as he, An if he will come to me.
Jaques gives his own ironic and bitter parody of Amien’s song at this point in “As You Like It”. It even includes the nonsense word “ducdame” which he claims is a magic Greek word but is...
If it do come to pass
That any man turn ass,
Leaving his wealth and ease,
A stubborn will to please,
Ducdame, ducdame, ducdame:
Here shall he see
Gross fools as he,
An if he will come to me.
Jaques gives his own ironic and bitter parody of Amien’s song at this point in “As You Like It”. It even includes the nonsense word “ducdame” which he claims is a magic Greek word but is in fact just nonsense and designed to sound ridiculous and pretentious. He’s mocking the situation that all the lords find themselves in, including himself, out in the forest and cold (many productions set this scene in the winter) having left the “wealth and ease” of their homes to support the exiled Duke Senior. It may have been the right thing to do, but that’s literally cold comfort when you’re freezing in a tent wishing you were back beside your own fireplace. Jaques says that if anyone is a big enough ass to also leave their wealth and ease and join them the forest, he’ll find someone who is just as gross a fool as he is (“gross” here means “big”) “an if he will come to me” – that is, if he’ll come meet Jaques himself. Jaques is making fun of himself and his decision to join the other lords; this whole “roughing it” thing is not treating him terribly well and he’s beginning to long for his own bed and some comforts.
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