Phoebe attempts to convince Silvius (and herself) that she is not in love with the disguised Rosalind, despite her detailed and obsessive physical description of the youth. She oscillates between criticism and admiration before deciding to send a 'taunting' letter to mask her true attraction.
PHOEBE: Think not I love him, though I ask for him.
'Tis but a peevish boy; yet he talks well;
But what care I for words? yet words do well,
When he that speaks them pleases those that hear.
It is a pretty youth: not very pretty:
But, sure, he's proud; and yet his pride becomes him.
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