willow cabin

A reference to Twelfth Night, the heroine Viola, dressed as a boy, is sent by the Duke Orsino (with whom she is in love) to woo the Countess Olivia on his behalf. Olivia, still in mourning over the death of her brother, will accept none of the Duke's advances; however, she finds herself strangely attracted to the youth who has come to win her love. She asks 'him' what he would do if he were in love with her. Viola declares (in her most famous speech of the play): I would Make me a willow cabin at your gate, And call upon my soul within the house; Write loyal cantons of contemned love And sing them loud even in the dead of night; Halloo your name to the reverberate hills And make the babbling gossip of the air Cry out 'Olivia!' O, You should not rest Between the elements of air and earth, But you should pity me!