Pines

Merchant of Venice, [4.1.70-80]. Antonio. I pray you, think you question with the Jew./ You may as well go stand upon the beach/ And bid the main flood bate his usual height;/ you may as well use question with the wolf/ Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;/ You may as well forbid the mountain pines/ To wag their high tops and to make no noise/ When they are fretten with the gusts of heaven;/ You may as well do any thing most hard/ As seek to soften that –than which what’s harder?–/ His Jewish heart.