Cupid
Go, fool! Gloat. Your god is dead; the globe unhinged;
Th’unguarded gateways to Olympus’ crown Exposed. By Psyche—O! We are weakling gods! To be usurped By Reason’s proud, unyielding ice-queen harlot! Virgin. (Nay, she’s a virgin sure…)—yet not so chaste; There’s fire in her yet, ‘twill burn me cold. I’ll have her. Jade and strumpet! Where do you hide, my sweet? I’ll have thee, whore—know thee, inhabit thee-- Cleft thee in two and die in the remains—I’ll-- But stay!...stay. I will be well. Sad confessor, fear me not. Nay, sit. Sit! Stay—and sit. I cannot kill thee twice. Soft. I am… …Remembered of a thing. What was it? Of something soft--remember! Of something Fragile as a newborn’s sigh, as lovely As the dawn when sea and sky are one, as Innocent as a window with new linens. O, there was Eden-breath once in these lungs, Eden-kisses on my lips, Eden-thoughts Within my all-too fevered brain. Pity me, Confessor. I am more Death’s bondslave--bitch-- Than thee in all thy chains. But see, there’s blood Upon my hands. It’s strange there should be blood; Is’t thine?... Request the full soliloquy
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From: Act III of Cupid and Psyche by Emily C. A. Snyder
Length: 31 lines, ~2-3 minutes About the scene: Cupid has been driven mad, forced to expose himself not as the "god of Love," but the god of Lust unbound. In his madness, he places the blame on Psyche, a mortal woman who rejected his passionate advances and cursed him to show his true face. While he raves, he sees the ghost of Adonis, his former priest and lover, who watches the fallen god silently. About the verse: Go dark. Then fracture that. The structure of the verse is purposely all over the place, but line endings are still crucial. I encourage even taking a breath or a little pause on line endings, since they usually signify a shift in Cupid's fevered brain. Actors will also find benefit in treating some of the italicized words like Turret's language. 
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Cupid
Have you no idea who woos you, Wife?
Whose name is used in prayers and supplications From the anguished roar of martyrdom, To the suckling cry of the sparrows’ song? Whose name is used in careless blasphemies For those who “love” a mouldy lump of cheese, When I—I! Who am older than the stars, More ancient than the grinning lanthorn fish, Antique when Time lay mewling in his crib-- Whose merest whistle causes Zeus to flee, Who have ruined nations with an apple, I! Who never took a mortal to his bed, Though, I grant, your kind I stooped to tickle Once or twice—I. The god of Love who brought you to Olympus, Where Orion’s stars shine brighter than on earth, And if you op’ed your eyes, you’d see them dancing. You can catch them when they fall. They melt Into your skin and make you shine. O—sweet... Request the full soliloquy
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From: Act IV of Cupid and Psyche by Emily C. A. Snyder
Length: 29 lines, ~2-3 minutes About the scene: Cupid, restored to his senses in Heaven, is nonetheless frustrated because his new bride, the mortal Psyche, still refuses to trust him. Working against his own inclination towards Passion, Cupid strives to mould himself once more into the god of Love. About the verse: Cupid goes through a variety of tactics here, from commanding to enticing his bride to welcome him. The imagery here should be really embodied so that it doesn't become merely "poetic." It is also worth remembering that this is a speech delivered to an intransigent Psyche. Actors may wish to rehearse with a scene partner for sense memory. 
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Herald
I do not care who hears me!
The time for silence passed long ago. I’ll speak my mind. Heed me, your Grace. For we have bourne grave ills, Your Grace. We have suffered grief in silence. We’ve been called monsters—and worse than monsters: Fools. We have been mocked; and we have mocked ourselves. We’ve torn ourselves apart, scraped our skulls, Ripped the flesh, emptied out the vein. No one held the knife but we alone. Our fellow in the pew we’ve massacred-- Like man gone mad, who does not know himself, And seeing his reflection, attacks it. Is it any wonder, then, that Mother Church Is hemmoraging? Who would not flee a fight? Who would stay at home when home is burning? “Water!” We have cried. “Water! Holy water!” While Rome falls down in ashes. “One drop of water!” We open wide our mouths, and are filled with fire. While you, our bishop, have been overseas-- Over the blessed, distant seas. So we, In desperation, have spit upon our Church To stop our Church from burning. We spit, And they spit, too.... Request the full soliloquy
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From: Act I of Becket by Emily C. A. Snyder
Length: 30 lines, ~2 minutes About the scene: A young Herald (either male or female) in the English court greets the returning Bishop, Thomas Becket, with news of how the Church has faltered in their Bishop's absence. About the verse: This character is young and a hothead. By the end of the play, he's the one who martyrs his beloved Bishop in the cathedral. Although there's a considerable amount of energy, infuse it with passion. This is anything but languorous. 
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Adonis
There was one other in your loathsome hunt.
One other who loved me—once. One who was all the world to you and me. And he—O He, was everything! But you and I meant nothing--nothing!—Nothing In the world to Him. List. I’d have you understand The day he murdered me—well, I say murdered, ‘twould better say the day I died, for I had long been murdered in his heart—the day, therefore, the god of Love last laid hands on me, he took me by the throat, shook me once, as though I were a burr he couldn’t make let go, and with his perfect hand squeezed out my carnal soul. I clung to him as long as there were feeling in my fingertips, for he was warm, and O! I loved him. And wished, mark you, yearned for him to murder me again! For then all his thoughts must turn to me. Both his hands rest firm on me. His eyes remain on mine. And I could die content within his arms. I looked into his early-morning eyes—that sometimes have shone silver when he’s glad—and hoped therein to see myself at last. But as I gazed on him, my sight grown weak, my mind befogged with a rising scream, the smell of rotting festers already in my nose—I say, as I felt my soul slip down through Hades’ viscous maw—I saw within his tender, silver eyes that all his sight was still of her... Request the full soliloquy
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From: Act IV of Cupid and Psyche by Emily C. A. Snyder
Length: Approx. 32 lines, ~2 minutes About the scene: Adonis, once the lover of Cupid, the god of Love, lies in Hell. Cupid has slain Adonis, although Adonis cannot die or even forget who he was, since he was made immortal by his rival lovers: Cupid's mother, Aphrodite, as well as Persephone, the goddess of Death. Near the Gates of Hell, Adonis converses with a fallen Aphrodite about his own fall from grace. About the verse: This speech occurs in scene, with Aphrodite, and goes from irregular verse into prose - Adonis' preferred method of speaking. Thus the actor can take the pace in his own time. 
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