Shakespear's Tragedy of Cymbeline

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

GIFT OF

PROFESSOR
BENJAMIN H. LEHMAN

SHAKESPEARE'S

TRAGEDY OF

C Y M B E L I N E.

EDITED, WITH NOTES,

WILLIAM J. ROLFE, A.M.,

FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

WITH ENGRAVINGS.

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

FRANKLIN SQUARE.
1884.

ENGLISH CLASSICS.

EDITED BY WM. J. ROLFE, A.M.

Illustrated. i6mo, Cloth, 56 cents per volume ; Paper, 40 cents per volume.

bHAKESPJ

The Merchant of Venice.

Othello.

Julius Caesar.

A Midsummer-Night's Dream

Macbeth.

Hamlet.

Much Ado about Nothing.

Romeo and Juliet.

As You Like It.

The Tempest.

Twelfth Night.

The Winter's Tale.

King John.

Richard II.

Henry IV. Part I.

Henry IV. Part II.

Henry V.

Richard III.

Henry VIII.

King Lear.

;ARE'S WORKS.

The Taming of the Shrew.

All's Well that Ends Well.

Coriolanus.

The Comedy of Errors.

Cymbeline.

Antony and Cleopatra.

Measure for Measure.

Merry Wives of Windsor.

Love's Labour 's Lost.

Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Timon of Athens.

Troilus and Cressida.

Henry VI. Part I.

Henry VI. Part II.

Henry VI. Part III.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

The Two Noble Kinsmen.

Venus and Adonis, Lucrece, etc.

Sonnets.

Titus Andronicus.

GOLDSMITH'S SELECT POEMS.
GRAY'S SELECT POEMS.

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.

A ny of the above works will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part
of the United States, on receipt of the price.

Copyright, 1881, by HARPER & BROTHERS.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION TO CYMBELINE 9

I. THE HISTORY OF THE PLAY 9

II. THE SOURCES OF THE PLOT 1 1

III. CRITICAL COMMENTS ON THE PLAY 12

CYMBELINE 39

ACT 1 41

" II 67

"III 84

" IV... . no

V.

• • 130

NOTES .161

821

VIEW NEAR MILFORD.

INTRODUCTION

TO

CYMBELINE.

I. THE HISTORY OF THE PLAY.

Cymbeline was first printed in the folio of 1623, where it is
the last play in the volume, occupying pages 369-399 (mis-
printed 993) in the division of " Tragedies." The earliest
allusion to it that has been discovered is in Dr. Simon For-
man's MS. Diary (see Richard II. p. 13, M. N. D. p. 10, and
W. T. p. 10), which belongs to the years 1610 and 1611.
His sketch of the plot (not dated) is as follows :*

* As given in the New Shaks. Soc, Transactions for 1875-6, p. 417.

I0 CYMBELINE.

" Remember also the storri of Cymbalin king of England,
in Lucius tyme, howe Lucius Cam from Octauus Cesar for
Tribut, and being denied, after sent Lucius wM a greate
Arme of Souldiars who landed at milford hauen, and Affter
wer vanquished by Cimbalin, and Lucius taken prisoner, and
all by means of 3 outlawes, of the w^/ch 2 of them were the
sonns of Cimbalim, stolen from him when they but 2 yers
old by an old man whom Cymbalin banished, and he kept
them as his own sonns 20 yers w/t/£ him in A caue. And
howe [one] of them slewe Clotan, that was the quens sonn,
goinge To milford hauen to sek the loue of Innogen the
kingly daughter, whom he had banished also for louinge his
daughter, and howe the Italian that cam from her loue con-

o

veied him selfe into A Cheste, and said yt was a chest of
plate sent from her loue & others, to be presented to the
kinge. And in the depest of the night, she being aslepe, he
opened the cheste & cam forth of yt, And vewed her in her
bed, and the markes of her body, & toke a-wai her braslet, &
after Accused her of adultery to her loue, &c. And in thend
howe he came w/t£ the Remains into England & was taken
prisoner, and after Reueled to Innogen who had turned her
self into mans apparrell & fled to mete her loue at milford
hauen, & chanchsed to fall on the Caue in the wod^f wher
her 2 brothers were, & howe by eating a sleping Dram they
thought she had bin deed, & laid her in the wod^r, & the
body of cloten by her in her loues apparrell that he left be-
hind him, & howe she was found by lucius, &c."

The play was probably a new one when Forman saw it in
1610 or 1611. Drake dates it in 1605, Chalmers in 1606,
Malone in 1609 (after having at first assigned it to 1605),
Fleay (Introd. to Shakespearian Study) "circa 1609," White
" 1609 or 1610," Delius, Furnivall, and Stokes in 1610, Dow-
den and Ward at about the time when Forman saw it. The
internal evidence of style and metre indicates that it was
one of the latest of the plays.

INTRODUCTION. T t

Cymbeline is badly printed in the folio, and the involved
style makes the correction of the text a task of more than
usual difficulty. The critics generally agree that the vision
in v. 4 cannot be Shakespeare's. Ward considers that " there
is no reason, on account of its style, which reminds one of
the prefatory lines to the cantos of the Faerie Queene, to im-
pugn Shakespeare's authorship of it;" but it seems to us
very clearly the work of another hand. Cf. the rhymed epi-
sode in A. Y. L. v. 4. 113 fol., and see oui ed. p. 199 (note
on 136).

II. THE SOURCES OF THE PLOT.

The poet took the names of Cymbeline and his two sons
from Holinshed, together with a few historical facts concern-
ing the king ; but the story of the stealing of the princes and
of their life in the wilderness appears to be his own.*

The story of Imogen, which is so admirably interwoven
with that of the sons of Cymbeline, was taken, directly or in-
directly, from the Decamerone of Boccaccio, in which it forms
the ninth novel of the second day. No English translation
of it is known to have been made in Shakespeare's time. A
version appeared in a tract entitled Westward for Smelts,
which was published in 1620. Malone speaks of an edition
of 1603 \ but this is probably an error, as the book was not
entered upon the Stationers' Registers until 1619-20. This
translation, moreover, lacks some important details which the
play has in common with the Italian original.f

* It has been pointed out by K. Schenkl that the incidents of Imogen's
seeking refuge in the wilderness and her deathlike sleep occur in the Ger-
man fairy-tale of Schtteewittchen.

f For an outline of Boccaccio's novel, see the extract from Mrs. Jame-
son below. The chief incidents of the story had been used in a French
miracle-play of the Middle Ages, and also in the old French romances of
La Violette and Flore etjehanne ; but we have no reason to suppose that
Shakespeare made any use of these. In one of the romances the lady
has a mole upon her right breast ; in Boccaccio, as in Shakespeare, it is
on her left breast. This mark is not mentioned at all in Westward for

I2 CYMBELINE.

But, as Verplanck remarks, " from whatever source the
idea of the plot might have been immediately drawn, the
poet owes to his predecessors nothing more than the bare
outline of two or three leading incidents. These he has
raised, refined, and elevated into a higher sphere ; while the
characters, dialogue, circumstances, details, descriptions, —
the lively interest of the plot, its artful involution and skilful
development, — are entirely his own. He has given to what
were originally scenes of coarse and tavern-like profligacy a
dignity suited to the state and character of his personages,
and has poured over the whole the golden light, the rainbow
hues, of imaginative poetry."

III. CRITICAL COMMENTS ON THE PLAY.

[From SchlegePs "Dramatic Literature" *]

Cymbeline is one of Shakspeare's most wonderful compo-
sitions. He has here combined a novel of Boccaccio's with
traditionary tales of the ancient Britons, reaching back to

Smelts. In the latter, moreover, the person corresponding to lachimo
conceals himself under the bed in the lady's chamber, while in the French
and Italian versions he is conveyed thither in a chest.

White has noted another circumstance which seems to show that
Shakespeare went directly to Boccaccio, and that the Winter's Tale and
Cymbeline were composed at about the same period : " In Boccaccio's
novel the convicted slanderer is condemned by the Sultan to be anointed
with honey, and exposed to the rays of the sun, tied to a stake upon
some elevated spot, and to remain there until his flesh falls away from
his bones. From this doom it seems quite clear that Shakespeare took
the hint for that mock sentence which Autolycus passes upon the young
clown in W. T. iv. 4. 812 : ' He has a son who shall be flayed alive ; then
'nointed over with honey . . . then, raw as he is, and in the hottest day
prognostication proclaims, shall he be set against a brick wall, the sun
looking with a southward eye upon him, where he is to behold him with
flies blown to death.' "

Westward for Smelts is reprinted in the "Variorum" ed. of 1821, vol.
xiii., and in Collier's Shakespeare^s Library -, vol. ii.

* Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature, by A. W. Schlegel ; Black's
translation, revised by Morrison (London, 1846), p. 397 fol.

INTRODUCTION. !^

the times of the first Roman Emperors, and he has contrived,
by the most gentle transitions, to blend together into one
harmonious whole the social manners of the newest times
with olden heroic deeds, and even with appearances of the
gods. In the character of Imogen no one feature of female
excellence is omitted : her chaste tenderness, her softness,
and her virgin pride, her boundless resignation, and her mag-
nanimity towards her mistaken husband, by whom she is un-
justly persecuted, her adventures in disguise, her apparent
death, and her recovery, form altogether a picture equally
tender and affecting. The two Princes, Guiderius and Ar-
viragus, both educated in the wilds, form a noble contrast to
Miranda and Perdita. Shakspeare is fond of showing the
superiority of the natural over the artificial. Over the art
which enriches nature, he somewhere says, there is a higher
art created by nature herself. As Miranda's unconscious
and unstudied sweetness is more pleasing than those charms
which endeavour to captivate us by the brilliant embellish-
ments of a refined cultivation/so in these two youths, to
whom the chase has given vigour and hardihood, but who are
ignorant of their high destination, and have been brought up
apart from human society, we are equally enchanted by a
naive heroism which leads them to anticipate and to dream
of deeds of valour, till an occasion is offered which they are
irresistibly compelled to embrace.! When Imogen comes in
disguise to their cave ; when, with all the innocence of child-
hood, Guiderius and Arviragus form an impassioned friend-
ship for the tender boy, in whom they neither suspect a fe-
male nor their own sister \ when, on their return from the
chase they find her dead, then " sing her to the ground," and
cover the grave with flowers — these scenes might give to
the most deadened imagination a new life for poetry. If a
tragical event is only apparent in such case, whether the
spectators are already aware of it or ought merely to suspect
it, Shakspeare always knows how to mitigate the impres-

I4 CYMBELINE.

sion without weakening it: he makes the mourning musical,
that it may gain in solemnity what it loses in seriousness.
With respect to the other parts, the wise and vigorous Be-
larius, who after long living as a hermit again becomes a
hero, is a venerable figure ; the Italian lachimo's ready dis-
simulation and quick presence of mind is quite suitable to
the bold treachery which he plays ; Cymbeline, the father of
Imogen, and even her husband Posthumus, during the first
half of the piece, are somewhat sacrificed, but this could not
be otherwise ; the false and wicked Queen is merely an in-
strument of the plot; she and her stupid son Cloten (the
only comic part in the piece) whose rude arrogance is por-
trayed with much humour, are, before the conclusion, got rid
f^of by merited punishment. As for the heroical part of the
\ fable, the war between the Romans and Britons, which brings
J on the denouement, the poet in the extent of his plan had so
i little room to spare that he merely endeavours to represent it
<^as a mute procession. But to the last scene, where all the
numerous threads of the knot are untied, he has again given
its full development, that he might collect together into one
focus the scattered impressions of the whole. This example
and many others are a sufficient refutation of Johnson's as-
sertion, that Shakspeare usually hurries over the conclusion
of his pieces. Rather does he, from a desire to satisfy the
feelings, introduce a great deal which, so far as the under-
standing of the denouement requires, might, in a strict sense,
be justly spared : our modern spectators are much more im-
patient to see the curtain drop, when there is nothing more
to be determined, than those of his day could have been.

[From Drake^s " Shakespeare and his Times" *]
This play, if not in the construction of its fable one of the
most perfect of our author's productions, is, in point of poetic

* Shakespeare and his Ttmes,by Nathan Drake, M.D. (London, 1817),
vol. ii. p. 466.

INTRODUCTION. 15

beauty, of variety and truth of character, and in the display
of sentiment and emotion, one of the most lovely and inter-
esting. Nor can we avoid expressing our astonishment at
the sweeping condemnation which Johnson has passed upon
it ; charging its fiction with folly, its conduct with absurdity,
its events with impossibility ; terming its faults too evident
for detection and too gross for aggravation.

Of the enormous injustice of this sentence, nearly every
page of Cymbeline will, to a reader of any taste or discrimi-
nation, bring the most decisive evidence. That it possesses
many of the too common inattentions of Shakspeare, that it
exhibits a frequent violation of costume, and a singular con-
fusion of nomenclature, cannot be denied ; but these are tri-
fles light as air when contrasted with its merits, which are
of the very essence of dramatic worth, rich and full in all
that breathes of vigour, animation, and intellect, in all that
elevates the fancy and improves the heart, in all that fills
the eye with tears or agitates the soul with hope and fear.

Imogen, the most lovely and perfect of Shakspeare's fe-
male characters — the pattern of connubial love and chastity,
by the delicacy and propriety of her sentiments, by her sen-
sibility, tenderness, and resignation, by her patient endurance
of persecution from the quarter where she had confidently
looked for endearment and protection — irresistibly seizes
upon our affections.

The scenes which disclose the incidents of her pilgrimage ;
her reception at the cave of Belarius ; her intercourse with
her lost brothers, who are ignorant of their birth and rank ;
her supposed death, funeral rites, and resuscitation, are
wrought up with a mixture of pathos and romantic wildness
peculiarly characteristic of our author's genius, and which
has had but few successful imitators. Among these few
stands pre-eminent the poet Collins, who seems to have trod-
den this consecrated ground with a congenial mind, and who
has sung the sorrows of Ficlele in strains worthy of their sub-

!6 CYMBELINE.

ject, and which will continue to charm the mind and soothe
the heart "till pity's self be dead."

When compared with this fascinating portrait, the other
personages of the drama appear but in a secondary light.
Yet are they adequately brought out and skilfully diversified :
the treacherous subtlety of lachimo ; the sage experience of
Belarius ;^the native nobleness of heart and innate heroism

I of mind which burst forth in the vigorous sketches of Guide-
rius and Arviragusj) the temerity, credulity, and penitence
of Posthumus ; the uxorious weakness of Cymbeline ; the
hypocrisy of his Queen ; and the comic arrogance of Cloten,
half fool and half knave, produce a striking diversity of ac-
tion and sentiment.

Poetical justice has been strictly observed in this drama ;
the vicious characters meet the punishment due to their
crimes ; while virtue, in all its various degrees, is propor-
tionably rewarded. The scene of retribution, which is the
closing one of the play, is a masterpiece of skill ; the devel-
opment of the plot, for its fulness, completeness, and inge-
nuity, surpassing any effort of the kind among our author's
contemporaries, and atoning for any partial incongruity which
the structure or conduct of the story may have previously
displayed.

[From Mrs. Jameson 's " Characteristics of Women" *]
Others of Shakspeare's characters are, as dramatic and
poetical conceptions, more striking, more brilliant, more pow-
erful; but of all his women, considered as individuals rather
than as heroines, Imogen is the most perfect. Portia and
Juliet are pictured to the fancy with more force of contrast,
more depth of light and shade ; Viola and Miranda, with
more aerial delicacy of outline; but there is no female por-
^j trait that can be compared to Imogen as a woman — none in
which so great a variety of tints are mingled together into
* American ed. (Boston, 1857), p. 253 fol.

INTRODUCTION. !7

such perfect harmony, fin her, we have all the fervour of
youthful tenderness, all the romance of youthful fancy, all the
enchantment of ideal grace — the bloom of beauty, the bright-
ness of intellect, and the dignity of rank taking a peculiar
hue from the conjugal character which is shed over all, like
a consecration and a holy charm. I In Othello and the Win-
ter's Tale^ the interest excited for Desdemona and Hermione
is divided with others ;V.but in Cymbeline, Imogen is the angel
of light, whose lovely presence pervades and animates the
whole piece. ) The character altogether may be pronounced
finer, more complex in its elements, and more fully devel-
oped in all its parts, than those of Hermione and Desde-
mona; but the position in which she is placed is not, I think,
so fine — at least, not so effective, as a tragic situation.

Shakspeare has borrowed the chief circumstances of Imo-
gen's story from one of Boccaccio's tales.

A company of Italian merchants who are assembled in a
tavern at Paris are represented as conversing on the subject
of their wives. All of them express themselves with levity,
or scepticism, or scorn, on the virtue of women, except a
young Genoese merchant named Bernabo, who maintains
that by the especial favour of Heaven he possesses a wife no
less chaste than beautiful. Heated by the wine, and excited
by the arguments and the coarse raillery of another young
merchant, Ambrogiolo, Bernabo proceeds to enumerate the
various perfections and accomplishments of his Zinevra. He
praises her loveliness, her submission, and her discretion —
her skill in embroidery, her graceful service, in which the best
trained page of the court could not exceed her; and he adds,
as rarer accomplishments, that she could mount a horse, fly
a hawk, write and read, and cast up accounts, as well as any
merchant of them all. His enthusiasm only excites the
laughter and mockery of his companions, particularly of Am-
brogiolo, who, by the most artful mixture of contradiction and
argument, rouses the anger of Bernabo, and he at length ex-

B

l8 CYMBELINE.

claims that he would willingly stake his life, his head, on the
virtue of his wife. This leads to the wager which forms so
important an incident in the drama. Ambrogiolo bets one
thousand florins of gold against five thousand that Zinevra,
like the rest of her sex, is accessible to temptation — that in
less than three months he will undermine her virtue, and
bring her husband the most undeniable proofs of her false-
hood. He sets off for Genoa in order to accomplish his pur-
pose; but on his arrival, all that he learns, and all that he be-
holds with his own eyes, of the discreet and noble character
of the lady, make him despair of success by fair means ; he
therefore has recourse to the basest treachery. By bribing
an old woman in the service of Zinevra, he is conveyed to
her sleeping apartment concealed in a trunk, from which he
issues in the dead of the night; he takes note of the furniture
of the chamber, makes himself master of her purse, her morn-
ing robe, or cymar, and her girdle, and of a certain mark on
her person. He repeats these observations for two nights,
and, furnished with these evidences of Zinevra's guilt, he re-
turns to Paris, and lays them before the wretched husband.
Bernabo rejects every proof of his wife's infidelity except that
which finally convinces Posthumus. When Ambrogiolo men-
tions the " mole, cinque-spotted," he stands like one who has
received a poniard in his heart; without further dispute he
pays down the forfeit, and filled with rage and despair both
at the loss of his money and the falsehood of his wife, he re-
turns towards Genoa. He retires to his country-house, and
sends a messenger to the city with letters to Zinevra, desiring
that she would come and meet him, but with secret orders to
the man to despatch her by the way. The servant prepares
to execute his master's command, but overcome by her en-
treaties for mercy and his own remorse, he spares her life, on
condition that she will fly from the country forever. He then
disguises her in his own cloak and cap, and brings back to
her husband the assurance that she is killed, and that her

INTRODUCTION. !9

body has been devoured by the wolves. In the disguise of a
mariner, Zinevra then embarks on board a vessel bound to the
Levant, and on arriving at Alexandria she is taken into the
service of the Sultan of Egypt, under the name of Sicurano.
She gains the confidence of her master, who, not suspecting
her sex, sends her as captain of the guard which was ap-
pointed for the protection of the merchants at the fair of
Acre. Here she accidentally meets Ambrogiolo, and sees in
his possession the purse and girdle, which she immediately
recognizes as her own. In reply to her inquiries, he relates
with fiendish exultation the manner in which he had obtain-
ed possession of them, and she persuades him to go back
with her to Alexandria. She then sends a messenger to
Genoa in the name of the Sultan, and induces her husband
to come and settle in Alexandria. At a proper opportunity,
she summons both to the presence of the Sultan, obliges Am-
brogiolo to make a full confession of his treachery, and wrings
from her husband the avowal of his supposed murder of her-
self; then, falling at the feet of the Sultan, discovers her real
name and sex, to the great amazement of all. Bernabo is
pardoned at the prayer of his wife, and Ambrogiolo is con-
demned to be fastened to a stake, smeared with honey, and
left to be devoured by the flies and locusts. This horrible
sentence is executed; while Zinevra, enriched by the pres-
ents of the Sultan and the forfeit wealth of Ambrogiolo, re-
turns with her husband to Genoa, where she lives in great
honour and happiness, and maintains her reputation of virtue
to the end of her life.

These are the materials from which Shakspeare has drawn
the dramatic situation of Imogen. He has also endowed her
with several of the qualities which are attributed to Zinevra;
but for the essential truth and beauty of the individual char-
acter, for the sweet colouring of pathos, and sentiment, and
poetry interfused through the whole, he is indebted only to
nature and himself. . . .

20 CYMBELINE.

When Ferdinand tells Miranda that she was " created of
every creature's best," he speaks like a lover, or refers only
to her personal charms: the same expression might be ap-
plied critically to the character of Imogen ; for, as the por-
trait of Miranda is produced by resolving the female charac-
ter into its original elements, so that of Imogen unites the
greatest number of those qualities which we imagine to con-
stitute excellency in woman.

Imogen, like Juliet, conveys to our mind the impression
of extreme simplicity in the midst of the most wonderful
complexity. To conceive her aright, we must take some
peculiar tint from many characters, and so mingle them that,
like the combination of hues in a sunbeam, the effect shall
be as one to the eye. We must imagine something of the
romantic enthusiasm of Juliet, of the truth and constancy of
Helen, of the dignified purity of Isabel, of the tender sweet-
ness of Viola, of the self-possession and intellect of Portia —
combined together so equally and so harmoniously that we
can scarcely say that one quality predominates over the oth-
er. But Imogen is less imaginative than Juliet, less spirited
and intellectual than Portia, less serious than Helen and Isa-
bel; her dignity is not so imposing as that of Hermione — it
stands more on the defensive; her submission, though un-
bounded, is not so passive as that of Desdemona ; and thus,
while she resembles each of these characters individually,
she stands wholly distinct from all.

It is true that the conjugal tenderness of Imogen is at
once the chief subject of the drama and the pervading charm
of her character; but it is not true, I think, that she is mere-
ly interesting from her tenderness and constancy to her hus-
band. We are so completely let into the essence of Imo-
gen's nature that we feel as if we had known and loved her
before she was married to Posthumus, and that her conjugal
virtues are a charm superadded, like the colour laid upon a
beautiful groundwork. Neither does it appear to me that

INTRODUCTION. 21

Posthumus is unworthy of Imogen, or only interesting on
Imogen's account. His character, like those of all the other
persons of the drama, is kept subordinate to hers; but this
could not be otherwise, for she is the proper subject — the
heroine of the poem. Everything is done to ennoble Post-
humus and justify her love for him; and though we certain-
ly approve him more for her sake than for his own, we are
early prepared to view him with Imogen's eyes, and not only
excuse, but sympathize in her admiration of one

"Who sat 'mongst men like a descended god;

******

who liv'd in court —

Which rare it is to do — most prais'd, most lov'd ;
A sample to the youngest, to the more mature
A glass that feated them." . . .

One thing more must be particularly remarked, because
it serves to individualize the character from the beginning
to the end of the poem. We are constantly sensible that
Imogen, besides being a tender and devoted woman, is a
princess and a beauty, at the same time that she is ever su-
perior to her position and her external charms. There is,
for instance, a certain airy majesty of deportment — a spirit
of accustomed command breaking out every now and then —
the dignity, without the assumption, of rank and royal birth,
which is apparent in the scene with Cloten and elsewhere;
and we have not only a general impression that Imogen, like
other heroines, is beautiful, but the peculiar style and char-
acter of her beauty is placed before us. We have an image
of the most luxuriant loveliness, combined with exceeding
delicacy, and even fragility, of person; of the most refined
elegance and the most exquisite modesty, set forth in one or
two passages of description; as when lachimo is contem-
plating her asleep:

" Cytherea,

How bravely thou becom'st thy bed ! fresh lily,
And whiter than the sheets !

22 CYMBELINE.

7T is her breathing that

Perfumes the chamber thus. The flame o' the taper
Bows toward her, and would underpeep her lids
To see the enclosed lights, now canopied
Under those windows, white and azure, lac'd
With blue of heaven's own tinct !"

The preservation of her feminine character under her
masculine attire; her delicacy, her modesty, and her timid-
ity, are managed with the same perfect consistency and un-
conscious grace as in Viola. And we must not forget that
her " neat cookery," which is so prettily eulogized by Guide-
rius —

" He cut our roots in characters,
And sauc'd our broths, as Juno had been sick,
And he her dieter" —

formed part of the education of a princess in those remote
times. . . .

The catastrophe of this play has been much admired for
the peculiar skill with which all the various threads of inter-
est are gathered together at last, and entwined with the des-
tiny of Imogen. It may be added that one of its chief beau-
ties is the manner in which the character of Imogen is not
only preserved, but rises upon us to the conclusion with
added grace: her instantaneous forgiveness of her husband
before he even asks it, when she flings herself at once into
his arms —

" Why did you throw your wedded lady from you?" —

and her magnanimous reply to her father, when he tells her
that by the discovery of her two brothers she has lost a king-
dom—

" No — I have got two worlds by 't " —

clothing a noble sentiment in a noble image, give the finish-
ing touches of excellence to this most enchanting portrait.

On the whole, Imogen is a lovely compound of goodness,
truth, and affection, with just so much of passion and intel-

INTRODUCTION. 2^

lect and poetry as serve to lend to the picture that power
and glowing richness of effect which it would otherwise have
wanted; and of her it might be said, if we could condescend
to quote from any other poet with Shakspeare open before
us, that " her person was a paradise and her soul the cherub
to guard it."*

[From Charles Coivden- Clarke' 's " Shakespeare- Characters"^
It is not my purpose to enter upon a discussion of the
small dramatic proprieties, as these are observed or ignored
in the play of Cymbeline. They who are interested in the
rigidities, perhaps the fussiness, of criticism, — who take more
pleasure in detecting a lapse in the unity of such a composi-
tion as this, — who would rather pride themselves upon ex-
posing a deficiency in its chronology than in displaying its
incomparable force and beauty of passion and fancy, of ten-
derness, imagery, and splendour of language, — are referred
to the supplementary notices of the Johnsonian school of
criticism. For myself, I care not one straw about the viola-
tion of the unities : I am content to be wafted on the wings
of the poet's imagination, and to be with him to-day in Rome
and to-morrow watching the weary pilgrimage of the divine
Imogen towards Milford-Haven. It is enough for me that
the play is one of the most romantic and interesting of
Shakespeare's dramas; and this we say of every drama of
his, as we read them in succession. The romance itself of
this story is sublimated by an intensity of passion and heart-
ennobling affection and endurance that I have yet to see ex-
celled. Of all his heroines, no one conveys so fully the ideal
of womanly perfection as Imogen. We have full faith in the
love and steadfast endurance of Desdemona: we believe that

* Dryden.

t From the unpublished "Second Series" of the Shakespeare- Charac-
ters (see 2 Hen. IV. p. 18), kindly sent to us by Mrs. Mary Covvden-Clarke
for publication here.

24 CYMBELINE.

she would have borne more than her lord's jealousy in her
personal love for him; but Imogen has given us the proof
that nothing could quench the pure flame of affection and
devotedness in her heart; not even the charge of disloyalty
and the atrocity of assassination. The triumph of self-re-
liance in the consciousness of holy virtue and of artless in-
nocence was never more grandly carried out than in Imo-
gen's steadfastness of purpose to go on and meet her hus-
band after she has read his treacherous letter to their servant
Pisanio, enjoining him to put her to death. It may be said,
indeed, and for the thousandth time, that "No one ever hit
the true perfection of the female character — the sense of
weakness leaning on the strength of its affections for support,
so well as Shakespeare: no one ever so well painted nat-
ural tenderness free from affectation and disguise : no one
else ever so well showed how delicacy and timidity, when
driven to extremity, grow romantic and extravagant;" and
there are few who cannot identify this testimony to their
character, — not, of course, to the letter, but in the full spirit
of Imogen's conduct. The homily of dear old Chaucer,
when dismissing his narrative of the world-noted Griselda,
may well be applied to our nation's Imogen :

"This story is said, not for that wives should
Follow Grisild' as in humility,
For it were importable though they would ;
But for that every wight in his degree
Shoulde be constant in adversity
As was Grisilda ; therefore Petrarc writeth
This story, which with high style he inditeth."

Before proceeding to the inferior agents in this drama, I
would say a few words upon the character of Posthumus.

That he was unworthy of the love of such a being as Imo-
gen need only be stated. We need only be reminded that
when lachimo assays her constancy with the account of her
husband's infidelities, she gives utterance to no stronger re-

INTRODUCTION.

25

ply than the celebrated one, " My lord, I fear, has forgot
Britain" — not "forgotten me;" not "forgotten his wife:" Imo-
gen is too high-souled a lover and woman to utter a selfish
reproach. Yet, when Posthumus receives the scandal of her
disloyalty, it should be borne in mind that the proofs pro-
duced, and sworn to, by lachimo were enough to stun even
a devout lover. Real charity (or love), it is true, " endureth
all things, hopeth all things," and Posthumus should still have
proved for himself: but what I mainly feel to be an incon-
sistency in his character is that he is not reconcilable with
himself — a perilous charge to venture against even the hum-
blest of Shakespeare's creations, and which I would gladly
fail to substantiate : nevertheless, in the first scene of the
play, a friend describes him as

"a creature such

As to seek through the regions of the earth
For one his like, there would be something failing
In him that should compare : I do not think
So fair an outward, and such stuff within,
Endows a man but he."

"You speak him far" (says the Second Gentleman).

"I do extend him, sir, within himself;
Crush him together, rather than unfold
His measure duly."

This fair report he certainly justifies in his leave-taking
with Imogen; and subsequently maintains it in the wager
with lachimo for the inviolability of her honour and truth.
In short, he gives every proof of being noble and magnani-
mous to the core. Is it then reconcilable with rational prob-
ability that a man so endowed should so damn himself as,
with the same ink, and the self-same pen, to write a treacher-
ous letter to the woman he had adored, appointing her to
meet him, and another to their servant, suborning him to be
her murderer? His first resolution, upon encountering lachi-
mo's proofs, that in the torment of his passion he would re-
turn to her father's court and " tear her limb-meal," is not

26 CYMBELINE.

irreconcilable with a generous, although an ungovernable
temper; but coolly, and deliberately, and upon reflection to
turn assassin by deputy! Can such a contradiction exist in
a man so described as Posthumus has been described to us?
The man who could reflectively compass the life of her whom
he had adored beyond all the beings on earth was not the
character to dismiss her slanderer, and the author of all their
misery, with so godlike a punishment as this:

*' The power that I have on you is to spare you ;
The malice towards you to forgive you : live,
And deal with others better."

The divine spirit of this conclusion (as Mr. Charles Knight
says) "is perfect Shakespeare." It is so; but I cannot feel
it to be perfect Posthumus.

In the original story of Boccaccio, from whence the play
was taken, the punishment of the slanderer better accords
with the revengeful nature of Posthumus ; and, indeed, with
the frightful spirit of retribution that crowns the otherwise
perfect — the divine — tales of the great Florentine. " He was
fastened naked to a stake, smeared with honey, and left to
be devoured by flies and locusts:'7 a revenge in character;
for the Italians have a proverb, actually inculcating the vice
of revenge as a virtue: it is, " He who cannot revenge him-
self is weak; he who will not is despicable." Imogen (thank
Heaven!) was one of our own women. And yet, with all the
objection here suggested against his character-structure, I
am in candour bound (and I rejoice in my duty) to testify
that Posthumus, in the clearing of his wife's innocence, does
prostrate his soul in the very mire of self-reproach and de-
spair. His rejoinder to the confession of lachimo's treach-
ery is enormous in its remorse ; and, — I must acknowledge, —
atoning and complete; as, in its spirit, it harmonizes with the
impulsiveness of his nature. But, — good Heaven ! — how per-
fectly divine is the scene of their reunion ! She, with her char-

INTRODUCTION.

27

acteristic strength of passion and gentleness, says — almost
playfully :

" Why did you throw your wedded lady from you ?
Think that you are upon a rock ; and now
Throw me again." [Embracing him.]

His heart is too full : he can make no more reply than :

" Hang there like fruit, my soul,
Till the tree die."

The noted soliloquy of Posthumus, after he has received
from lachimo the proofs of Imogen's infidelity, — a speech
that has been objected to, on account of its unrestricted tone
of expression and want of harmony with the quality of that
conjugal love which had existed between them, — appears to
me, on the contrary, to be accurately consistent with his im-
petuous and engrossing nature. It is the strongest foil the
poet could have placed against the exquisite delicacy
forbearance of Imogen, whose sharpest speeches are: "Some
painted jay of Italy has betray'd him;" and her heaviest re-
proach in her affliction :

" My dear lord !

Thou art one of the false ones : now I think on thee,
My hunger's gone ; but even before, I was
At point to sink for food."

And but once is she betrayed into an expression of anger:
"That drug-damn'd Italy hath out-crafted him." She, the
most injured party, is the most forbearing — the common re-
sult in society — and, in short, never was case more trium-
phantly carried out between what has been wittily styled the
" fair, and the /^-fair sex."

The prevailing feature in the play of Cymbeline is that, un-
der different phases, it exhibits an enchanting portraiture of
the a Affections " in their several varieties. In the two prime
agents of the drama (Imogen and Posthumus), we are pre-
sented with the passion in its grandest feature : in the broth-

2 8 CYMBELINE.

/ers, Guiderius and Arviragus, we have the mysterious instinct
/ of the fraternal affection; in the stupid addresses of the
booby prince, Cloten, a contrast of the animal affection, un-
elevated by a spark of the celestial fire, is set forth ; and
lastly, the affection of menial attachment, in its most dis-
interested form, is exhibited in the beautiful character of
Pisanio, the servant to Posthumus, who is one of Shake-
speare's favorite class of attendant gentlemen — like Horatio
and Benvolio; of level understanding, unostentatiously faith-
ful and actively devoted. The character of Pisanio is a
charming one. And here, while upon the subject of "Affec-
tion,"— rather, perhaps, say of " Friendship," which is only a
modified emotion of the same subject (Friendship is Love
without his wings), we may observe the different sentiment
of Shakespeare as regards menial attachment, and that of
Sir Walter Scott, who has so often been compared with him.
Shakespeare, who in his love for his species seems to have
been a cosmophilanthropist, took an evident pleasure in
uniting the several grades of society in the bonds of mutual
respect and unselfish attachment. Instances of this might
be quoted from his plays to a considerable extent. As he
has finely said, " One touch of Nature makes the whole world
kin" He has therefore constantly identified both master
and man in one common interest ; and in but one instance
that I can recall has he personated the mere dogged, un-
compromising, mechanically obedient serf, or slave, namely,
in the steward to Queen Goneril ; and an admirable con-
junction of dominion and servitude that was. The very ap-
pointment of such a menial to such a mistress was, in itself,
a touch of art. If we retrace the stories of Sir Walter Scott,
we, I think, uniformly perceive that his idea of the connec-
tion between master and servant is s\x\c\]y feudal. Through-
out his writings we scarcely meet with any other idea of their
reciprocal duties than that of irresponsible sway and com-
mand on the one hand, with mechanical and implicit obedi-

INTRODUCTION. 29

ence on the other, and not a spark of free and intrinsic
attachment existing between them. He was a kind-hearted
man, was Scott, but he was a thorough aristocrat by birth,
education, and habit; and this circumstance cramped his
prodigious brain, — like a Chinese foot ; for he had some-
what to seek in the fields of social philosophy.

Contrasted with the master-feeling of the " \gf^tW>g" in
this play, we are presented with the shocking treachery of
the Queen-mother — a character so odious, and even outra-
geous, as to amount almost to a monstrous anomaly. To
my apprehension, there does not appear sufficient ground —
in the light even of self-indulgence — for such wholesale,
gratuitous wickedness ; except, indeed, that there is a princi-
ple of evil in the great economy of Nature, and that some
dispositions draw their sustenance from, and batten upon,
stratagem and murder. In the case, however, of Cymbe-
line's Queen, Shakespeare has, with his own gentle wisdom,
put a characteristic rebuke to her cruelty in the mouth of
her physician, Cornelius, whom she has directed to concoct
some poison for her. In answer to his inquiry as to her
purport in requiring such dangerous compounds, she says
she intends trying their effects on "such creatures as we count
not worth the hanging." "Your Highmsss &kall from__this.
practice but make hardyonr hgarr,," is his gentle remon-
strance. This is a little effusion of humanity in relief to the
savage craft of the murderess. But the whole detail of this
woman (although below even a second-rate character) is per-
fectly consistent. .

Cymbeline. the Kinp;T is an ordinary specimen of h^man-wui^
ity, invested with irresponsible pnwpr,— weak, wilful, an^ vjn-
lent; not, however, unimpressible to the emotion of a gener-
ous sentiment; for, in the conclusion, he makes a handsome
and natural atonement for his previous folly and misrule.
The constitutional imbecility of the man is well manifested
injiisrequiring the counsel of his stupid step-son, Cloten, at

3o CYMBELINE.

the conference with the ambassador from Rome; and, with
his usual tact, Shakespeare has made the blurting ass most
forward in the debate. With the true lout-intellect, he tells
the ambassador that they "will not pay tribute to Rome for
wearing their own noses." And he closes the audience with
this elegant peroration: "His Majesty bids you welcome.
Make pastime with us a day or two longer ; if you seek us
afterwards in other terms, you shall find us in our salt-water
girdle : if you beat us out of it, it is yours ; if you fail in the
adventure, our crows shall fare the better for you ; — and
there 's an end." This speech accurately tallies with the de-
scription of the man afterwards given by old Belarius; who,
rin his hiding-place in the mountains, recognizes him after
years of absence. He says : " By the snatches in his voice,
and burst of speaking, it is absolute Cloten." No one like
Shakespeare to give the whole of a man's manner in one
line. Again, in the opening of the 2d act, a speaking
picture of him is presented to us, where he is fuming and
fretting, ruffling and vapouring with two courtier lords, after
a game at bowls ; in which his temper appears to be as bad
as his play had been. In the scene with Pisanio (the 5th
of the 3d act) we have yet again full insight into the base
soul of the man ; — and all by concise yet plenary touches,
apparently casual and inadvertent, but carefully and close-
ly calculated. He has detected the letter from Posthumus
to Pisanio, and taken it from him ; he there finds instruction
that Imogen shall meet her husband at Milford-Haven.
Having then ordered the servant to fetch him a suit of his
master's garments, he falls into soliloquy, pondering his ruf-
fianly intention against Imogen. " To the court I '11 knock
her back, foot her home again. She hath despised me re-
joicingly,— and I '11 be merry in my revenge." It will be re-
membered that she had rejected with ladylike dignity his
swinish suit to her:

INTRODUCTION. 31

" I am much sorry, sir,
You put me to forget a lady's manners,
By being so verbal : and learn now, for all,
That I, which know my heart, do here pronounce,
By the very truth of it, I care not for you,
And am so near the lack of chanty,
(To accuse myself) I hate you ; which I had rather
You felt, than make 't my boast."

In alluding to him in an after-part of the play, she says :

"That Cloten, whose love-suit hath been to me
As fearful as a siege."

Lastly, his reputed animal courage is sagaciously accounted
for by Belarius, who imputes it to defective judgment. And
this is the solution of much of the headlong bravery that we
hear of in the world, which, at times, is referable to phlegm
and obtuseness of constitution. Cloten is a masterly varied!
specimen in Shakespeare's class of half-witted characters :J
he is of the race, yet distinct and original in feature and
bearing. One of the lords of the court says of him :

" That such a crafty devil as his mother
Should yield the world this ass \ a woman that
Bears all down with her brain ; and this, her son,
Cannot take two from twenty, for his heart,
And leave eighteen."

This play of Cymbeline* inwoven as it is with the loftiest
sentiment, with superb imagery, and with the most condensed
truths and worldly axioms, contains yet no scene more fruit-
ful in matter for sedate meditation than the one between
Posthumus and his gaoler. Some commentator has re-
marked that Voltaire himself has nothing comparable to the
humorous discussion of the philosophic gaoler in Cymbeline :
probably so; but beneath that humour there are speculations
calculated to give one pause, and to set one chewing the cud
of serious thoughts. Under these quaint and rough exteri-
ors, Shakespeare loved to read his brethren a lesson upon
the subject most deeply interesting their future-world inter-

32 CYMBELINE.

ests; as Rabelais beautifully compared his own broad and
coarse humour — investing worldly knowledge and wisdom —
to the old-fashioned jars and bottles of the apothecaries, on
the exteriors of which they used to paint grotesque figures and
uncouth heads, yet within they contained precious unguents
and healing balsams. The scene alluded to (v. 4. 150-201)
is short, and not introduced on the stage — which it should be.
The scenes in which old Belarius and the young princes,
Guiderius and Arviragus, his adopted sons, and stolen by
him from the king, are engaged, form the sunshine of the
play ; and their characters and mountain-life afford a bright
relief to the court - treacheries, stormy passions, and heart-
sickness of the other portio'nT It is palpable that, whenever
our poet places his persons under the open canopy of heav-
en, and in the unchartered wilds of rural nature, whether
amid the solemn aisles and shadows brown of monumental
oak, or on the crags and heathy slopes of the mountains old
and bare, their language always takes a tone consonant with
their free and primeval domain : — as witness all the scenes in
the forest of Arden, in As You Like It — and so again, in this
Cymbeline: — these wild huntsmen talk the finest and the
most vivid poetry of them all ; and how different is its char-
acter and pitch from those of the placid, ruminating shep-
herds who compose the still-life, as these mountaineers do
romantic and adventurous life, of rudest nature. What
vigour is breathed into their every action ! and how finely are
discriminated the energy, yet cautious circumspection of the
old man, and the impetuosity and recklessness of the young
and inexperienced ones: — what freshness, and what fancy
too, — to say nothing of the homely wisdom, — in the sweet
uses of their mountain life !

" You, Polydore, have prov'd best woodman, and
Are master of the feast : Cadwal and I
Will play the cook and servant ; 't is our match.
The sweat of industry would dry and die,

INTRODUCTION. 33

But for the end it works to. Come, our stomachs
Will make what 's homely, savoury ; weariness
Can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth
Finds the down pillow hard."

What a superb illustration of the delight of an active em-
ployment ! But this division of the play absolutely glitters
with these drops of heavenly wisdom, like morning-dew upon
the scented hawthorn. Again, what lustre and grandeur in
Belarius's description of the dispositions in the two youths :

"O thou goddess,

Thou divine Nature, how thyself thou blazon'st
In these two princely boys ! They are as gentle
As zephyrs, blowing below the violet,
Not wagging his sweet head ; and yet as rough,
Their royal blood enchaf'd, as the rud'st wind,
That by the top doth take the mountain pine,
And make him stoop to the vale."

Yet again, we note the plausible advantage taken by the
poet to signalize the old prejudice <J&^tinct of birt^ to dis-
tinguish the roval blood flowing in the^veins of the twoprfnce-'
ly youths. I do but refer to the advantage taken 6t the pop-
ular prejudice, and have no argument for its physiological
accuracy. Nevertheless, there is undeniable truth in the
axioms put into the mouth of old Belarius ; for instance:

" Cowards father cowards, and base things sire base :
Nature hath meal and bran, contempt and grace."

Again, referring to the youths, he says :

" How hard it is to hide the sparks of nature !
These boys know little they are the sons of the king,
Nor Cymbeline dreams that they are alive.
They think they are mine ; and though trained up thus meanly
I' the cave wherein they bow, thpjr tho.ngMg ^n hi*"
The roofs of palaces ; and nature prompts them
Beyond the trick ot otuers. This Polydore, —
The helP Of CyillliLliiie and Britain, whom
The King his father call'd Guiderius, — Jove !
When on my three-foot stool I sit, and tell

c

34 CYMBELINE.

The warlike feats I have done, his spirits fly out
Into my story, — say, ' thus mine enemy fell,
And thus I set my foot on 's neck ;' even then
vThe princely blood flows in 's cheek, he sweats,
Strains his youn^ nerves, and puts himself in posture
That acts my words. The younger brother, Cadwal,
(Once Arviragus) in as like a figure,
Strikes life into my speech, and shows much more
His own conceiving.1'

And so, in the full spirit of this principle, th^Lpflftfj with
acteristic boldness, has followed out the conduct of the^yojjng
prince Guiderius in his contest with the booby-bully, Cloten,
in which unconscious self-estimation and brutal assumption
are felicitously associated and as dramatically contrasted.
The vulgarity of low life is sufficiently offensive ; but there
is no vulgarity so repugnant as the vulgarity of high life,
because it commonly arises from an obtuse defiance of all
that the wisest and most graceful of mankind have deemed
essential to social interests and good order. This scene
(the 2d of the 4th act) is almost the only light one in the
play. Cloten has followed Imogen in her flight towards Mil-
ford-Haven, and stumbled upon the young mountaineer, Gui-
derius, whom he orders to yield, and they go out fighting.
The prince afterwards returns with the boaster's head, say-
ing:

("This Cloten was a fool, an empty purse;
There was no money in 't : not Hercules
Could have knocked out his brains, for he had none."

That same instinct of nature Shakespeare has followed on,
in the prompt and unconscious affection that the two youths
discover for their disguised sister, claiming their hospitality
on her pilgrimage. One of them calls her " Brother."
" Brother, jfoy here ; are we not brothers ?"

She replies :

" So man and man should be ;
But clay and clay differs in dignity,
Whose dust is both alike."

INTRODUCTION. 35

Like Perdita, in the Winter's Tale, consciously and uncon-
sciously the regal instinct manifests itself. The young moun-
taineers are neither more nor less than kind-hearted, but ple-
beian, foresters in her then estimation. Again, reiterating
the " instinct " question, Guiderius says to his sister-brother :

" I love thee, I have spoke it, * * *

******

As I do loye my father."

Belarius exclaims :

" What? how ! how!

Arviragus. If it be sin to say so, sir, I yoke me
In my good brother's fault. I know not why
I love this youth ; and I have heard you say,
Love's reason 's without reason. The bier at door,
And a demand who is 't shall die, I 'd say,
My father, not this youth,"

And then, how like our Shakespeare, to put the following
impelled justification of the ill-appreciated plebeians in the
mouth of the grateful and womanly Imogen :

I."

These are kind creatures. Gods, what lies I have heard !
Our courtiers say, all 's savage but at court."

Lastly, upon the principle of " Breeding," and of the myste-
rious influence of consanguinity, may be noted the allusion
made toTthe " mole, cinque-spotted " upon Imogen^ heck,
by which lachimo traduced her to her husband. At the con-
clusion of the play, when the two youths are discovered to
be her brothers, it is said that Guiderius may be identified
as a son of Cymbeline, and consequently as her brother, by
his having "upon his neck ajnole7 a sanguine star." This
touch of a personal triviality being brought to indicate a re-
lationship, may, at first sight, appear insignificant to allude
to ; but it proves the close attention of the poet, and the_rjre-
vailing sense of " harmony " in his mind, as a means he ad-
hered to for perfecting a theory or a principle.

A considerable portion, indeed, of the play is a practical

36 CYMBELINE.

argument to enforce the dignity as well as the ^/worthiness
/ of " breeding " in the physical man ; at the same time, the
secret and hidden force of "instinct." I scarcely know of
any arrangement more appealing to the gentler emotions of
our nature than in this portion of the play ; so triumphant-
lyjias be^n a^firfrpH_thfi pphilify nf tqifi ^r^Y^r^T^JriHrix^-

Iyronnprfprl_wjrh gf ntlpm^s j?f hparf - and, assuredly, the
highest order of courage is never unattended by the proffer-
ings of benevolence. Thus we have the daily practice in
the two youths of paying honour to the grave of Euriphile,
the wife of Belarius, and their supposed mother. Their
primitive and rational piety when entering upon their morn-
ing labours, — " Hail, Heaven !" No -ow^-bet^jLtJian Shake-
speare knew 'how to combine ^uje^pj£ty_with braveryj)or,
in other words, what constitutes the most ^eXalttid liiagna-
nimity. And, lastly, their affecting and child -like sorrow
when they are performing the funeral rites of Fidele — sup-
posed to be dead.

Guiderius. " Why he but sleeps.

If he be gone, he '11 make his grave a bed ;
With female fairies will his tomb be haunted,
And worms will not come to thee.

Awiragus. W7ith fairest flowers,

Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
I '11 sweeten thy sad grave. Thou shalt not lack
The flower that's like thy face, pale primrose; nor
The azure hare-bell, like thy veins ; no, nor
The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,
Out-sweeten'd not thy breath. The ruddock would
With charitable bill — O bill, sore shaming
Those rich-left heirs that let their fathers lie
Without a monument ! — bring thee all this ;
Yea, and furr'd moss besides, when flowers are none,
To winter-ground thy corse. Say, where shall 's lay him ?

Guiderins. By good Euriphile, our mother.

Arviragus. Be it so ;

And let us, Polydore, though now our voices
Have got the mannish crack, sing him to the ground,

INTRODUCTION. 37

As once our mother ; use like note and words,
Save that Euriphile must be Fidele."

Then follows an exquisite touch of natural pathos ; Guide-

rius in answer says :

" Cadwal,

I cannot sing: I '11 weep, and word it with thee ;
For notes of sorrow out of tune are wbrse
Than priests and fanes that lie."

And to this succeeds one of those observances in the prim-
itive church which the poet (true to his own nature) chose
to honour ; having already put the axiom into the mouth of
Imogen, " The breach of custom is the breach of all ;" and
so here : one of the brothers, when they are proceeding to
lay the body in the earth, objects :

" Nay, Cadwal, we must lay his head to the east ;
Our father hath a reason for 't."

Having once given us a clue to the prevailing quality in
their dispositions (" gentle as zephyrs blowing below the vio-
let") the poet never loses the thread. They are punctually
observant — even in the absence of their father — of his mi-
nutest wish and injunction. Is not this absolute consistency
in character delineation ? Never were obsequies perform'd
with more graceful pathos than those at the funeral of the
"fair Fidele;" and, surely, never was parting hymn more
aptly appropriated to its subject and primitive occasion. No
rural poet of the old world could have surpassed it in simple,
natural dignity and tender regret. There is music in the
words, and the music of the heart breathes like wafted odours
through the entire composition. And the closing farewell,
in undiminished beauty of sentiment, closes the scene :

" Here 's a few flowers ; but 'bout midnight more.
The herbs that have on them cold dew o' the night,
Are strewings fitt'st for graves. Upon their faces.
You were as flowers, now wither'd ; even so
These herbs shall, which we upon you strew. —

38 CYMBELINE.

The ground that gave them first has them again;
Their pleasures here are past, so is their pain."

I know of no composition to surpass in exquisite taste
and tenderness the ceremony and the obsequies performed
at the funeral of the divine little pilgrim to Milford-Haven.
Let it be borne in mind that the predominance of rich ex-
tracts quoted in these essays are lavished upon the second
and third rate characters of our poet ; " The greatest is yet
behind." Be it repeated again and again that, to come at
something like an estimate of the wealth of his mind, we
have but to notice its prodigality, as heaped upon the less
consequential, and even the insignificant, members of his
dramatis personae.

No being that ever lived studied less than Shakespeare
the art of reserving his strength for the purpose of " making
points," as the actors term it. He had no occasion to do
this, and he must have known it ; for his strength was ever
at the flood ; and as the event arose, so he grappled with
and overcame it ; like a mighty river that rolls on, resistless,
now bearing all before it — rocks, trees, and spars whirled
aloft in its mountain foam — or equally prevailing when it
meanders through some flowery dale, calm as its own face,

"And makes sweet music with th' enamell'd stones,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
It overtaketh in its pilgrimage ;
And so, by many winding nooks it strays
With willing sport to the wild ocean."

Such was the genius of Shakespeare. In other plays he
has doubtless manifested sublimer bursts of passion ; but in
no one of them has he set forth the prevailing power of his
own bland and sweet disposition in the omnipotence of meek
forbearance and untiring affection as in the play of Cymbe-
line.

CYMBELINE.

DRAMATIS PERSONS.

CYMBELINE, King of Britain.

CLOTEN, son to the Queen by a former husband.

POSTHUMUS LEONATUS, a gentleman, husband to Imc-

gen.
BELARIUS, a banished lord, disguised under the name of

Morgan.

„ (sons to Cymbeline, disguised under the

YU1E IUS' \ names of Polyclore and Cadwal, supposed
ARVIRAGUS, ( sons to Morgan.

PHILARIO, friend to Posthumus, I T, r

IACHIMO, friend to Philario, J Italians.

CAIUS Lucius, general of the Roman forces.

PISANIO, servant to Posthumus.

CORNELIUS, a physician.

A Roman Captain.

Two British Captains.

A Frenchman, friend to Philario.

Two Lords of Cymbeline's court.

Two Gentlemen of the same.

Two Gaolers.

Queen, wife to Cymbeline.

IMOGEN, daughter to Cymb

HELEN, a lady attending on Imogen.

IMOGEN, daughter to Cymbeline by a former queen.
dy

Lords, Ladies, Roman Senators. Tribunes, a Soothsayer,
a Dutchman, a Spaniard, Musicians, Officers, Captains,
Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants.

Apparitions.
SCENE : Britain ; Rome.

ACT I.

SCENE I. Britain. The Garden of Cymbeline^s Palace.
Enter two Gentlemen.

1 Gentleman. You do not meet a man but frowns ; our

bloods

No more obey the heavens than our courtiers
Still seem as does the king.

2 Gentleman. But what 's the matter ?

i Gentleman. His daughter, and the heir of 's kingdom,

whom

He purposed to his wife's sole son — a widow
That late he married — hath referr'd herself

\

42 CYMBELINE.

Unto a poor but worthy gentleman. She 's wedded,
Her husband banish'd, she imprison'd ; all
Is outward sorrow, though I think the king
Be touch'd at very heart.

2 Gentleman. None but the king ? m

1 Gentleman. He that hath lost her too ; so is the queen,
That most desir'd the match ; but not a courtier,
Although they wear their faces to the bent

Of the king's looks, hath a heart that is not
Glad at the thing they scowl at.

2 Gentleman. And why so?

1 Gentleman. He that hath miss'd the princess is a thing
Too bad for bad report ; and he that hath her —

I mean, that married her, alack, good man !

And therefore banish'd — is a creature such

As, to seek through the regions of the earth 20

For one his like, there would be something failing

In him that should compare. I do not think

So fair an outward and such stuff within

Endows a man but he.

2 Gentleman. You speak him far.

1 Gentleman. I do extend him, sir, within himself,
Crush him together rather than unfold

His measure duly.

2 Gentleman. What 's his name and birth ?

i Gentleman. I cannot delve him to the root. His father
Was call'd Sicilius, who did join his honour
Against the Romans with Cassibelan, 30

But had his titles by Tenantius, whom
He serv'd with glory and admir'd success,
So gain'd the sur-addition Leonatus ;
And had, besides this gentleman in question,
Two other sons, who in the wars o' the time
Died with their swords in hand ; for which their father,
Then old and fond of issue, took such sorrow

ACT L SCENE L 4.3

That he quit being, and his gentle lady,

Big of this gentleman our theme, deceas'd

As he was born. The king he takes the babe 40

To his protection, calls him Posthumus Leonatus,

Breeds him and makes him of his bed-chamber,

Puts to him all the learnings that his time

Could make him the receiver of; which he took,

As we do air, fast as 't was minister'd,

And in 's spring became a harvest, liv'd in court —

Which rare it is to do — most prais'd, most lov'd,

A sample to the youngest, to the more mature

A glass that feated them, and to the graver

A child that guided dotards ; to his mistress, 50

For whom he now is banish'd, her own price

Proclaims how she esteem'd him and his virtue;

By her election may be truly read

What kind of man he is.

2 Gentleman. I honour him

Even out of your report. But, pray you, tell me,
Is she sole child to the king ?

1 Gentleman. His only child.
He had two sons — if this be worth your hearing,
Mark it — the eldest of them at three years old,

I' the swathing-clothes the other, from their nursery

Were stol'n, and to this hour no guess in knowledge 60

Which way they went.

2 Gentleman. How long is this ago ?

1 Gentleman. Some twenty years.

2 Gentleman. That a king's children should be so con-

vey'd,

So slackly guarded, and the search so slow,
That could not trace them !

i Gentleman. Howsoe'er 't is strange,

Or that the negligence may well be laugh'd at,
Yet is it true, sir.

44 CYMBELINE.

2 Gentleman. I do well believe you.
i Gentleman. We must forbear; here comes the gentle-
man,
The queen, and princess. \Exeunt.

Enter the QUEEN, POSTHUMUS, and IMOGEN.

Queen. No, be assur'd you shall not find me, daughter, 7o
After the slander of most stepmothers,
Evil-eyed unto you ; you 're my prisoner, but
Your gaoler shall deliver you the keys
That lock up your restraint. — For you, Posthumus,
So soon as I can win the offended king,
I. will be known your advocate; marry, yet
The fire of rage is in him, and 't were good
You lean'd unto his sentence with what patience
Your wisdom may inform you.

Posthumus. Please your highness,

I will from hence to-day.

Queen. You know the peril. 80

I '11 fetch a turn about the garden, pitying
The pangs of barr'd affections, though the king
Hath charg'd you should not speak together. \Exit.

Imogen. O

Dissembling courtesy ! How fine this tyrant
Can tickle where she wounds ! — My dearest husband,
I something fear my father's wrath ; but nothing —
Always reserv'd my holy duty — what
His rage can do on me. You must be gone ;
And I shall here abide the hourly shot

Of angry eyes, not comforted to live, 90

But that there is this jewel in the world
That I may see again.

Posthumus. My queen ! my mistress !

O lady, weep no more, lest I give cause
To be suspected of more tenderness

ACT I. SCENE I. 45

Than doth become a man. I will remain

The loyal'st husband that did e'er plight troth ;

My residence in Rome at one Philario's,

Who to my father was a friend, to me

Known but by letter. Thither write, my queen,

And with mine eyes I '11 drink the words you send, itx>

Though ink be made of gall.

Re-enter QUEEN.

Queen. Be brief, I pray you.

If the king come, I shall incur I know not
How much of his displeasure. [Aside] Yet I '11 move him
To walk this way. I never do him wrong,
But he does buy my injuries to be friends, —
Pays dear for my offences. [Exit.

Posthumus. Should we be taking leave

As long a term as yet we have to live,
The loathness to depart would grow. Adieu !

Imogen. Nay, stay a little ;

Were you but riding forth to air yourself, no

Such parting were too petty. Look here, love;
This diamond was my mother's : take it, heart;
But keep it till you woo another wife,
When Imogen is dead.

Posthumus. How, how! another? —

You gentle gods, give me but this I have,
And sear up my embracements from a next
With bonds of death ! — [Putting on the ring.'] Remain, re-
main thou here

While sense can keep it on. — And, sweetest, fairest,
As I my poor self did exchange for you,
To your so infinite loss, so in our trifles 120

I still win of you: for my sake wear this;
It is a manacle of love; I '11 place it
Upon this fairest prisoner. [Putting a bracelet upon her arm.

46 CYMBELINE.

Imogen. O the gods !

When shall we see again ?

Enter CYMBELINE and Lords.

Posthumus. Alack, the king !

Cymbeline. Thou basest thing, avoid ! hence, from my

sight !

If after this command thou fraught the court
With thy unworthiness, thou diest. Away !
Thou 'rt poison to my blood.

Posthumus. The gods protect you,

And bless the good remainders of the court !
I am gone. [Exit.

Imogen. There cannot be a pinch in death 130

More sharp than this is.

Cymbeline. O disloyal thing,

That shouldst repair my youth, thou heap'st
A year's age on me !

Imogen. I beseech you, sir,

Harm not yourself with your vexation.
I am senseless of your wrath ; a touch more rare
Subdues all pangs, all fears.

Cymbeline. Past grace ? obedience ?

Imogen. Past hope, and in despair; that way, past grace.

Cymbeline. That mightst have had the sole son of my
queen !

Imogen. O blest, that I might not ! I chose an eagle,
And did avoid a puttock. 140

Cymbeline. Thou took'st a beggar, would st have made

my throne
A seat for baseness.

Imogen. No; I rather added

A lustre to it.

Cymbeline. O thou vile one !

Imogen. Sir,

ACT I. SCENE I. 47

It is your fault that I have lov'd Posthumus;
You bred him as my playfellow, and he is
A man worth any woman, overbuys me
Almost the sum he pays.

Cymbeline. What, art thou mad ?

Imogen. Almost, sir; heaven restore me! Would I were
A neat-herd's daughter, and my Leonatus
Our neighbour shepherd's son !

Cymbeline. Thou foolish thing! — 150

Re-enter QUEEN.

They were again together; you have done
Not after our command. Away with her,
And pen her up.

Queen. Beseech your patience. — Peace,

Dear lady daughter, peace ! — Sweet sovereign,
Leave us to ourselves ; and make yourself some comfort
Out of your best advice.

Cymbeline. Nay, let her languish

A drop of blood a day, and, being aged,
Die of this folly ! \Exeunt Cymbeline and Lords.

Queen. Fie ! you must give way.

Enter PISANIO.
Here is your servant. — How now, sir ! What news ?

Pisanio. My lord your son drew on my master.

Queen. Ha ! *6o

No harm, I trust, is done ?

Pisanio. There might have been,

But that my master rather play'd than fought,
And had no help of anger ; they were parted
By gentlemen at hand.

Queen. I am very glad on 't.

Imogen. Your son 's my father's friend; he takes his
part. —

4$ CYMBELINE.

To draw upon an exile ! — O brave sir ! —
I would they were in Afric both together.
Myself by with a needle, that I might prick
The goer-back. — Why came you from your master?

Pisanio. On his command. He would not suffer me i7c
To bring him to the haven; left these notes
Of what commands I should be subject to,
When 't pleas'd you to employ me.

Queen. This hath been

Your faithful servant; I dare lay mine honour
He will remain so.

Pisanio. I humbly thank your highness.

Queen. Pray, walk awhile.

Imogen. About some half-hour hence,

I pray you, speak with me. You shall at least
Go see my lord aboard; for this time leave me. \Exeunt.

SCENE IL The Same. A Public Place.
Enter CLOTEN and two Lords.

1 Lord. Sir, I would advise you to shift a shirt; the vio-
lence of action hath made you reek as a sacrifice. Where
air comes out, air comes in ; there 's none abroad so whole-
some as that you vent.

Cloten. If my shirt were bloody, then to shift it. Have I
hurt him ?

2 Lord. [Aside] No, faith; not so much as his patience.

1 Lord. Hurt him ! his body 's a passable carcass, if
he be not hurt; it is a throughfare for steel, if it be not
hurt. 10

2 Lord. [Aside\ His steel was in debt; it went o' the back-
side the town.

Cloten. The villain would not stand me.
2 Lord. [Aside] No ; but he fled forward still, toward your
face.

ACT I. SCENE III.

49

1 Lord. Stand you ! You have land enough of your own;
but he added to your having, gave you some ground.

2 Lord. [Aside] As many inches as you have oceans. —
Puppies !

Cloten. I would they had not come between us. 20

2 Lord. [Aside]"$o would I, till you had measured how
long a fool you were upon the ground.

Cloten. And that she should love this fellow and refuse
me !

2 Lord. [Aside] If it be a. sin to make a true election, she
is damned.

1 Lord. Sir, as I told you always, her beauty and her brain
go not together; she 's a good sign, but I have seen small
reflection of her wit. 29

2 Lord. [Aside] She shines not upon fools, lest the reflec-
tion should hurt her.

Cloten. Come, I '11 to my chamber. Would there had
been some hurt clone !

2 Lord. [Aside] I wish not so; unless it had been the fall
of an ass, which is no great hurt.

Cloten. You '11 go with us?

1 Lord. I '11 attend your lordship.

Cloten. Nay, come, let 's go. together. 3s

2 Lord. Well, my lord. \Exeunt.

SCENE III. A Room in Cymbeline^s Palace.
Enter IMOGEN and PISANIO.

Imogen: I would thou grew'st unto the shores o' the ha-
ven,

And question'dst every sail ; if he should write,
And I not have it, 't were a paper lost,
As offer'd mercy is. What was the last
That he spake to thee ?

Pisanio. It was his queen, his queen !.

D

50 CYMBELINE.

Imogen. Then vvav'd his handkerchief?

Pisanio. And kiss'd it, madam.

.Imogen. Senseless linen ! happier therein than I ! —
And that was all ?

Pisanio. No, madam ; for so long

As he could make me with this eye or ear
Distinguish him from others, he did keep J0

The deck, with glove, or hat, or handkerchief,
Still waving, as the fits and stirs of 's mind
Could best express how slow his soul sail'd on,
How swift his ship.

Imogen. Thou shouldst have made him

As little as a crow, or less, ere left
To after-eye him.

Pisanio. Madam, so I did.

Imogen. I would have broke mine eye -strings, crack'd

them, but

To look upon him, till the diminution
Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle,
Nay, follow'd him, till he had melted from 20

The smallness of a gnat to air, and then
Have turn'd mine eye and wept. But, good Pisanio,
When shall we hear from him ?

Pisanio. Be assur'd, madam,

With his next vantage.

Imogen. I did not take my leave of him, but had
Most pretty things to say : ere I could tell him
How I would think on him at certain hours
Such thoughts and such, or I could make him swear
The shes of Italy should not betray

Mine interest and his honour, or have charg'd him, 30

At the sixth hour of morn, at noon, at midnight,
To encounter me with orisons, for then
I am in heaven for him ; or ere I could
Give him that parting kiss which I had set

ACT L SCENE IV. g-f

Betwixt two charming words, comes in my father
And, like the tyrannous breathing of the north,
Shakes all our buds from growing.

Enter a Lady.

Lady. The queen, madam,

Desires your highness' company.

Imogen. Those things I bid you do, get them dispatch'd. —
I will attend the queen.

Pisanio* Madam, I shall. {Exeunt.

SCENE IV. Rome. Philario's House.

Enter PHILARIO, IACHIMO, a Frenchman, a Dutchman, and
a Spaniard.

lachimo. Believe it, sir, I have seen him in Britain. He
was then of a crescent note, expected to prove so worthy as
since he hath been allowed Jhe name of; but I could then
have looked on him without the help of admiration, though
the catalogue of his endowments had been tabled by his
side and I to peruse him by items.

Philario. You speak of him when he was less furnished
than now he is with that which makes him both without and
within.

Frenchman. I have seen him in France ; we had very
many there could behold the sun with as firm eyes as he. «

lachimo. This matter of marrying his king's daughter,
wherein he must be weighed rather by her value than his
own, words him, I doubt not, a great deal from the mat-
ter.

Frenchman. And then his banishment —

lachimo. Ay, and the approbation of those that weep this
lamentable divorce under her colours are wonderfully to ex-
tend him; be it but to fortify her judgment, which else an
easy battery might lay flat, for taking a beggar without less

-52

CYMBELINE.

quality. But how comes it he is to sojourn with you? How
creeps acquaintance ? 22

Philario. His father and I were soldiers together; to whom
I have been often bound for no less than my life. — Here
comes the Briton ; let him be so entertained amongst you
as suits, with gentlemen of your knowing, to a stranger of
his quality. —

Enter POSTHUMUS.

I beseech you all, be better known to this gentleman, whom
I commend to you as a noble friend of mine ; how worthy
he is I will leave" to appear hereafter, rather than story him
in his own hearing. 31

Frenchman. Sir, we have known together in Orleans.

Posthumus. Since when I have been debtor to you far
courtesies, which I will be ever to pay and yet pay still.

Frenchman. Sir, you overrate my poor kindness. I was
glad I did atone my countryman and you; it had been pity
you should have been put together with so mortal a purpose
as then each bore, upon importance of so slight and trivial
a nature. 39

Posthumus. By your pardon, sir, I was then a young trav-
eller; rather shunned to go even with what I heard than in
my every action to be guided by others' experiences : but
upon my mended judgment — if I offend not to say it is mend-
ed— my quarrel was not altogether slight.

Frenchman. Faith, yes, to be put to the arbitrement of
swords, and by such two that would by all likelihood have
confounded one the other, or have fallen both.

lachimo. Can we, with manners, ask what was the differ-
ence ? 49

Frenchman. Safely, I think. 'T was a contention in pub-
lic, which may, without contradiction, suffer the report. It
was much like an argument that fell out last night, where
each of us fell in praise of our country mistresses; this gen-
tleman at that time vouching — and upon warrant of bloody

ACT I. SCENE

53

affirmation — his to be more fair, virtuous, wise, chaste, con-
stant-qualified, and less attemptable than any the rarest of
our ladies in France.

lachimo. That lady is not now living, or this gentleman's
opinion by this worn out.

Posthumus. She holds her virtue still, and I my mind. 60

lachimo. You must not so far prefer her fore ours of Italy.

Posthumus. Being so far provoked as I was in France, I
would abate her nothing, though I profess myself her adorer,
not her friend.

lachimo. As fair and as good — a kind of hand-in-hand
comparison — had been something too fair and too good for
any lady in Britain. If she went before others I have seen,
as that diamond of yours outlustres many I have beheld, I
could not but believe she excelled many; but I have not
seen the most precious diamond that is, nor you the lady. 7°

Posthumus. I praised her as I rated her; so do I my stone.

lachimo. What do you esteem it at?

Posthumus. More than the world enjoys.

lachimo. Either your unparagoned mistress is dead, or
she 's outprized by a trifle.

Posthumus. You are mistaken : the one may be sold, or
given, if there were wealth enough for the purchase, or merit
for the gift; the other is not a thing for sale, and only the
gift of the gods.

lachimo. Which the gods have given you? 80

Posthumus. Which, by their graces, I will keep.

lachimo. You may wear her in title yours; but, you know,
strange fowl light upon neighbouring ponds. Your ring may
be stolen too: so your brace of unprizable estimations, the
one is but frail and the other casual ; a cunning thief, or a
that way accomplished courtier, would hazard the winning
both of first and last.

Posthumus. Your Italy contains none so accomplished a
courtier to convince the honour of my mistress, if, in the

54

CYMBELINE.

holding or loss of that, you term her frail. I do nothing
doubt you have store of thieves ; notwithstanding, I fear not
my ring. 92

Philario. Let us leave here, gentlemen.

Posthumus. Sir, with all my heart. This worthy signior, I
thank him, makes no stranger of me; we are familiar at first.

lachimo. With five times so much conversation, I should
get ground of your fair mistress, make her go back, even to
the yielding, had I admittance and opportunity to friend.

Posthumus. No, no. 99

lachimo. I dare thereupon pawn the moiety of my estate
to your ring, which, in my opinion, o'ervalues it something:
but I make my wager rather against your confidence than
her reputation ; and, to bar your offence herein too, I durst
attempt it against any lady in the world.

Posthumus. You are a great deal abused in too bold a
persuasion ; and I doubt not you sustain what you 're worthy
of by your attempt.

lachimo. What 's that?

Posthumus. A repulse; though your attempt, as you call
It, deserve more, — a punishment too. no

Philario. Gentlemen, enough of this: it came in too sud-
denly ; let it die as it was born, and, I pray you, be better
acquainted.

lachimo. Would I had put my estate and my neighbour's
on the approbation of what I have spoke !

Posthumus. What lady would you choose to assail?

lachimo. Yours, whom in constancy you think stands so
safe. I will lay you ten thousand ducats to your ring, that,
commend me to the court where your lady is, with no more
advantage than the opportunity of a second conference, and
I will bring from thence that honour of hers which you im-
agine so reserved. 122

Posthumus. I will wage against your gold, gold to it: my
ring I hold dear as my finger; 't is part of it.

ACT I. SCENE 7F.

55

lachimo. You are afraid, and therein the wiser. If you
buy ladies' flesh at a million a dram, you cannot preserve it
from tainting; but I see you have some religion in you, —
that you fear.

Posthumus. This is but a custom in your tongue ; you bear
a graver purpose, I hope. 130

lachimo. I am the master of my speeches, and would un-
dergo what 's spoken, I swear.

Posthumus. Will you ? I shall but lend my diamond till
your return. Let there be covenants drawn between 's. My
mistress exceeds in goodness the hugeness of your unworthy
thinking. I dare you to this match; here 's my ring.

Philario. I will have it no lay.

lachimo. By the gods, it is one. — If I bring you no suffi-
cient testimony that I have enjoyed the dearest bodily part
of your mistress, my ten thousand ducats are yours; so is
your diamond too. If I come off, and leave her in such
honour as you have trust in, she your jewel, this your jewel,
and my gold are yours; provided I have your commenda-
tion for my more free entertainment. 144

Posthumus. I embrace these conditions; let us have arti-
cles betwixt us. Only, thus far you shall answer: if you make
your voyage upon her and give me directly to understand you
have prevailed, I am no further your enemy; she is not worth
our debate : if she remain unseduced, you not making it ap-
pear otherwise, for your ill opinion and the assault you have
made to her chastity you shall answer me with your sword.

lachimo. Your hand; a covenant. We will have these
things set down by lawful counsel, and straight away for
Britain, lest the bargain should catch cold and starve. I
will fetch my gold and have our two wagers recorded. 155

Posthumus. Agreed. \Exeunt Posthumus and lachimo.

Frenchman. Will this hold, think you ?

Philario. Signior lachimo will not from it. Pray, let us
follow 'em. {Exeunt.

56 CYMBELINE.

SCENE V. Britain. A Room in Cymbeline's Palace.
Enter QUEEN, Ladies, and CORNELIUS.

Queen. Whiles yet the dew V on ground, gather those

flowers ;
Make haste. -Who has the note of them ?

i Lady. I, madam.

Queen. Dispatch.—7 . \ExeuntLadies.

Now, .master doctor, have you brought those drugs?

Cornelius. Pleaseth your highness, ay; here they are, mad-
am. : ; . [Presenting a small box.
But I beseech your grace, without offence,— '
My conscience bids me ask — wherefore you have
Commanded of me these most poisonous compounds,
Which are the movers of a languishing death,
But though slow, deadly?

Queen. I wonder, doctor, *>

Thou ask'st me such a question. Have I not been
Thy pupil long? Hast thou not learn'd me how
To make perfumes? distil? preserve? yea, so
That our great king himself doth woo me oft ......

For my confections? Having thus, far proceeded, —
Unless thou think'st me devilish— is 't not meet
That I did amplify my judgment in
Other conclusions? I will try the forces
Of these thy compounds on such creatures as
We count not worth the hanging, but none human, *>

To try the vigour of them and apply
Allayments;to their act, and by them gather
Their several virtues, and effects. ;

: Cornelius. .. Your highness

Shall from this practice but make hard your heart ;
Besides; the seeing. these effects will be vJ . ;

Both noisome and infectious,

Queen. O, content thee. —

ACT I. SCEA'E V.

57

Enter PISANIO.

\Aside\ Here comes a flattering rascal ; upon him
Will I first work: he 's for his master,
And enemy to my son. — How now, Pisanio ! —
Doctor, your service for this time is ended ; 30

Take your own way.

Cornelius. [Aside] I do suspect you, madam;
But you shall do no harm.

Queen. \To Pisanio\ Hark thee, a word.

Cornelius. \Aside\ I do not like her. She doth think she

has

Strange lingering poisons; I do know her spirit,
And will not trust one of her malice with
A drug of such damn'd nature. Those she has
Will stupefy and dull the sense awhile;
Which first, perchance, she '11 prove on cats and dogs,
Then afterward up higher: but there is

No danger in what show of death it makes, 40

More than the locking-up the spirits a time,
To be more fresh, reviving. She is fool'd
With a most false effect; and I the truer,
So to be false with her.

Queen. No further service, doctor,

Until I send for thee.

Cornelius. I humbly take my leave. [Exit.

Queen. Weeps she still, say'st thou ? Dost thou think in

time

She will not quench and let instructions enter
Where folly now possesses? Do thou work.
When thou shalt bring me word she loves my son,
I '11 tell thee on the instant thou art then 50

As great as is thy master,— greater, for
His fortunes all lie speechless and his name.
Is at last gasp : return he cannot, nor

5 8 CYMBELINE.

Continue where he is ; to shift his being
Is to exchange one misery with another,
And every day that comes comes to decay
A day's work in him. What shalt thou expect,
To be depender on a thing that leans,
Who cannot be new built, nor has no friends,
So much as but to prop him? [The Queen drops the box;
Pisanio takes it upJ\ — Thou tak'st up 60

Thou know'st not what ; but take it for thy labour.
It is a thing I made, which hath the king
Five times redeem'd from death ; I do not know
What is more cordial. Nay, I prithee, take it;
It is an earnest of a further good
That I mean to thee. Tell thy mistress how
The case stands with her ; do 't as from thyself.
Think what a chance thou changest on, but think
Thou hast thy mistress still; to boot, my son,
Who shall take notice of thee. I '11 move the king 70

To 'any shape of thy preferment such
As thou 'It desire ; and then myself, I chiefly,
That set thee on to this desert, am bound
To load thy merit richly. Call my women.
Think on my words. — [Exit Pisanio.

A sly and constant knave,
Not to be shak'd ; the agent far his master,
And the remembrancer of her to hold
The hand-fast to her lord. I have given him that
Which, if he take, shall quite unpeople her
Of liegers for her sweet, and which she after, 80

Except she bend her humour, shall be assur'd
To taste of too. —

Re-enter PISANIO and Ladies.

So, so ; well done, well done.
The violets, cowslips, and the primroses,

ACT I. SCENE VL

59

Bear to my closet. — Fare thee well, Pisanio ;

Think on my words. [Exeunt Queen and Ladies.

Pisanio. And shall do:

But when to my good lord I prove untrue,
I '11 choke myself; there 's all I '11 do for you. [Exit.

SCENE* VI. The Same. Another Room in the Palace.

Enter IMOGEN.

Imogen. A father cruel, and a step-dame false ;
A foolish suitor to a wedded lady,
That hath her husband banish'd : — O, that husband !
My supreme crown of grief! and those repeated
Vexations of it ! Had I been thief-stol'n,
As my two brothers, happy ! but most miserable
Is the desire that 1s glorious ; blest be those,
How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills,
Which seasons comfort. — Who may this be ? Fie !

Enter PISANIO and IACHIMO.

Pisanio. Madam, a noble gentleman of Rome, 10

Comes from my lord with letters.

lachimo. Change you, madam ?

The worthy Leonatus is in safety
And greets your highness dearly. [Presents a letter.

Imogen. Thanks, good sir;

You 're kindly welcome.

lachimo. \Aside\ All of her that is out of door most rich !
If she be furnish'd with a mind so rare,
She is alone the Arabian bird, and I
Have lost the wager. Boldness be my friend!
Arm me, audacity, from head to foot !

Or, like the Parthian, I shall flying fight ; 20

Rather, directly fly.

60 CYMBELINE.

Imogen. [Reads] * He is one of the noblest note, to whose
kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon him accord-
ingly, as you value your truest LEONATUS.'
So far I read aloud ;
But even the very middle of my heart
Is warm'd by the rest, and takes it thankfully.
You are as welcome, worthy sir, as I
Have words to bid you, and shall find it so
In all that I can do.

lachimo. \ Thanks, fairest lady. — 30

What, are men mad? Hath nature given them eyes
To see this vaulted arch, and the rich crop
Of sea and land, which can distinguish 'twixt
The fiery orbs above and the twinn'd stones
Upon the unnumber'd beach? and can we not
Partition make with spectacles so precious
'Twixt fair and foul?

Imogen. What makes your admiration?

lachimo. It cannot be i' the eye, for apes and monkeys
'Twixt two such shes would chatter this way and
Contemn with mows the other; nor i' the judgment, 40

For idiots in this case of favour would
Be wisely definite; nor i' the appetite;
Sluttery to such neat excellence oppos'd
Should make desire vomit emptiness,
Not so allur'd to feed.

Imogen. What is the matter, trow?

lachimo. The cloyed will,

That satiate yet unsatisfied desire, that tub
Both filPd and running, ravening first the lamb,
Longs after for the garbage.

Imogen. What, dear sir,

Thus raps you ? Are you well ? 50

lachimo. Thanks, madam; well. — \To Pisani6\ Beseech
you, sir, desire

ACT /. SCENE VI. fa

My man's abode where I did leave him ; he
Is strange and peevish.

Pisanio. I was going, sir,

To give him welcome. \Exit.

Imogen. Continues well my lord? His health, beseech
you ?

lachimo. Well, madam.

Imogen. Is he dispos'd to mirth? I hope he is.

lachimo. Exceeding pleasant ; none a stranger there
So merry and so gamesome : he is call'd
The Briton reveller.

Imogen. When he was here 60

He did incline to sadness, and oft-times
Not knowing why.

lachimo. I never saw him sad.

There is a Frenchman his companion, one
An eminent monsieur, that, it seems, much loves
A Gallian girl at home ; he furnaces
The thick sighs from him, whiles the jolly Briton —
Your lord, I mean — laughs from 's free lungs, cries ' O,
Can my sides hold, to think that man, who knows
By history, report, or his own proof,

What woman is, yea, what she cannot choose 7o

But must be, will his free hours languish for
Assured bondage ?'

Imogen. Will my lord say so?

lachimo. Ay, madam, with his eyes in flood with laughter;
It is a recreation to be by,

And hear him mock the Frenchman. But, heavens know,
Some men are much to blame.

Imogen. Not he, I hope.

lachimo. Not he : but yet heaven's bounty towards him

might

Be us'd more thankfully. In himself, 't is much;
In you, which I account his beyond all talents,

62 CYMBELINE.

Whilst I am bound to wonder, I am bound
To pity too.

Imogen. What do you pity, sir ?

lachimo. Two creatures heartily.

Imogen. Am I one, sir ?

You look on me ; what wrack discern you in me
Deserves your pity ?

lachimo. Lamentable! What!

To hide me from the radiant sun, and solace
I' the dungeon by a snuff?

Imogen. I pray you, sir,

Deliver with more openness your answers
To my demands. Why do you pity me ?

lachimo. That others do —
I was about to say — enjoy your — — But
It is an office of the gods to venge it,
Not mine to speak on 't.

Imogen. You do seem to know

Something of me, or what concerns me : pray you, —
Since doubting things go ill often hurts more
Than to be sure they do ; for certainties
Either are past remedies, or, timely knowing,
The remedy then born — discover to me
What both you spur and stop.

lachimo. Had I this cheek

To bathe my lips upon ; this hand, whose touch,
Whose every touch, would force the feeler's soul
To the oath of loyalty; this object, which
Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye,
Fixing it only here; should I, damn'd then,
Slaver with lips as common as the stairs
That mount the Capitol, join gripes with hands
Made hard with hourly falsehood — falsehood, as
With labour; then by-peeping in an eye
Base and unlustrous as the smoky light

ACT I. SCENE VI. 63

That 's fed with stinking tallow ; it were fit

That all the plagues of hell should at one time no

Encounter such revolt.

Imogen. My lord, I fear,

Has forgot Britain.

lachimo. And himself. Not I,

Inclin'd to this intelligence, pronounce
The beggary of his change ; but 't is your graces
That from my mutest conscience to my tongue
Charms this report out.

Imogen. Let me hear no more.

lachimo. O dearest soul ! your cause doth strike my heart
With pity, that doth make me sick. A lady
So fair, and fasten'd to an empery,

Would make the great'st king double, — to be partner'd 120
With tomboys hir'd with that self exhibition
Which your own coffers yield ! with diseas'd ventures
That play with all infirmities for gold
Which rottenness can lend nature ! such boil'd stuff
As well might poison poison ! Be reveng'd ;
Or she that bore you was no queen, and you
Recoil from your great stock.

Imogen. Reveng'd !

How should I be reveng'd? If this be true, —
As I have such a heart that both mine ears
Must not in haste abuse — if it be true, 130

How should I be reveng'd ?

lachimo. Should he make me

Live, like Diana's priest, betwixt cold sheets,
Whiles he is vaulting variable ramps,
In your despite, upon your purse ? Revenge it.
I dedicate myself to your sweet pleasure,
More noble than that runagate to your bed,
And will continue fast to your affection,
Still close as sure.

G4 CYMBELINE.

Imogen. What ho, Pisanio !

lachimo. Let me my service tender on your lips.

Imogen. Away! I do condemn mine ears that have
So long attended thee. If-thou wert honourable,
Thou wouldst have told this tale for virtue, not
For such an end thou seek'st, — as base as strange.
Thou wrong'st a gentleman, who is as far
From thy report as thou from honour, and
Solicit'st here a lady that disdains
Thee and the devil alike. — What ho, Pisanio ! —
The king my father shall be made acquainted
Of thy.. assault; if he shall think it fit,
A saucy stranger in his court to mart
As in a Romish stew and to expound
His beastly mind to us, he hath a court
He little cares for and a daughter who
He not respects at all. — What ho, Pisanio !

lachimo. O happy Leonatus ! I may say;
The credit that thy lady hath of thee
Deserves thy trust, and thy most perfect goodness
Her assur'd credit. — Blessed live you long !
A lady to the worthiest sir that ever
Country call'd his ! and you his mistress, only
For the most worthiest fit ! Give me your pardon.
I have spoke this, to know if your affiance
Were deeply rooted, and shall make your lord,
That which he is, new o'er : and he is one
The truest manner'd, such a holy witch
That he enchants societies into him ;
Half all men's hearts are his.

Imogen. You make amends.

lachimo. He sits 'mongst men like a descended god ;
He hath a kind of honour sets him off,
More than a mortal seeming. Be not angry,
Most mighty princess, that I have aclventuf'd

ACT I. SCENE VI. 65

To try your taking of a false report; which hath
Honour'd with confirmation your great judgment
In the election of a sir so rare,
Which you know cannot err. The love I bear him
Made me to fan you thus, but the gods made you,
Unlike all others, chaffless. Pray, your pardon.

Imogen. All 's well, sir. Take my power i' the court for yours.

lachimo. My humble thanks. I had almost forgot
To entreat your grace but in a small request, 180

And yet of moment too, for it concerns
Your lord; myself and other noble friends
Are partners in the business.

Imogen. Pray, what is 't ?

lachimo. Some dozen Romans of us and your lord —
The best feather of our wing — have mingled sums
To buy a present for the emperor;
Which I, the factor for the rest, have done
In France: 't is plate of rare device, and jewels
Of rich and exquisite form, their values great ;
And I am something curious, being strange, 190

To have them in safe stowage. May it please you
To take them in protection ?

Imogen. Willingly,

And pawn mine honour for their safety; since
My lord hath interest in them, I will keep them
In my bedcliamber.

lachimo. They are in a trunk,

Attended by my men. I will make bold
To send them to you, only for this night;
I must aboard to-morrow.

Imogen. O, no, no.

lachimo. Yes, I beseech ; or I shall short my word
By lengthening my return. From Gallia 200

I cross'd the seas on purpose and on promise
To see your grace.

E

66

CYMBELINE.

Imogen. I thank you for your pains;

But not away to-morrow !

lackimo. O, I must, madam.

Therefore I shall beseech you, if you please
To greet your lord with writing, do 't to-night;
I have outstood my time, which is material
To the tender of our present.

Imogen. I will write.

Send your trunk to me ; it shall safe be kept,
And truly yielded you. You 're very welcome.

[Exeunt.

STONEHENGE.

ACT II.
SCENE I. Britain. Before CymbelMs Palace.

Enter CLOTEN and two Lords.

Cloten. Was there ever man had such luck ! when I kissed
the jack, upon an up-cast to be hit away ! I had a hundred
pound on 't : and then a whoreson jackanapes must take me
up for swearing; as if I borrowed mine oaths of him and
might not spend them at my pleasure.

1 Lord. What got he by that? You have broke his pate
with your bowl.

2 Lord. {Aside~\ If his wit had been like him that broke it,
it would have run all out. 9

68 CYMBELINE.

Cloten. When a gentleman is disposed to swear, it is not
for any standers-by to curtail his oaths, ha ?

2 Lord. No, my lord; [Aside] nor crop the ears of
them.

Cloten. Whoreson dog ! I give him satisfaction ? Would
he had been one of my rank !

2 Lord. [Aside] To have smelt like a fool.

Cloten. I am not vexed more at any thing in the earth. A
pox on 't ! I had rather not be so noble as I am ; they dare
not fight with me, because of the queen my mother. Every
Jack-slave hath his bellyful of fighting, and I must go up and
down like a cock that nobody can match. 21

2 Lord. [Aside'] You are cock and capon too; and you
crow, cock, with your comb on.

Cloten. Sayest thou ?

2 Lord. It is not fit your lordship should undertake every
companion that you give offence to.

Cloten. No, I know that; but it is fit I should commit of-
fence to my inferiors.

2 Lord. Ay, it is fit for your lordship only.

Cloten. Why, so I say. 30

1 Lord. Did you hear of a stranger that Js come to court
to-night ?

Cloten. A stranger, and I not know on 't !

2 Lord. [Aside] He 's a strange fellow himself, and knows
it not.

i Lord. There 's an Italian come; and, 't is thought, one
of Leonatus' friends.

Cloten. Leonatus ! a banished rascal ; and he 's another,
whatsoever he be. Who told you of this stranger?

1 Lord. One of your lordship's pages. 40
Cloten. Is it fit I went to look upon him ? is there no der-
ogation in 't?

2 Lord. You cannot derogate, my lord.
Cloten. Not easily, I think.

ACT II. SCENE II. 69

2 Lord. [Aside] You are a fool granted ; therefore your
issues, being foolish, do not derogate.

Cloten. Come, I '11 go see this Italian. What I have lost
to-day at bowls I '11 win to-night of him. Come, go.

2 Lord. I '11 attend your lordship. —

[Exeunt Cloten and i Lord.

That such a crafty devil as is his mother 50

Should yield the world this ass ! a woman that
Bears all down with her brain; and this her son
Cannot take two from twenty, for his heart,
And leave eighteen. Alas, poor princess,
Thou divine Imogen, what thou endur'st,
Betwixt a father by thy step-dame govern'd,
A mother hourly coining plots, a wooer
More hateful than the foul expulsion is
Of thy dear husband, than that horrid act
Of the divorce he 'd make ! The heavens hold firm 60

The walls of thy dear honour, keep unshak'd
That temple, thy fair mind, that thou mayst stand,
To enjoy thy banish'd lord and this great land ! [Exit.

SCENE II. Imogen's Bedchamber; a trunk in one corner of it,

IMOGEN in bed, reading ; a Lady attending.
Imogen. Who 's there ? my woman Helen ?
Lady. Please you, madam.

Imogen. What hour is it ?

Lady. Almost midnight, madam.

Imogen. I have read three hours then. Mine eyes are

weak;

Fold down the leaf where I have left : to bed.
Take not away the taper, leave it burning;
And if thou canst awake by four o' the clock,
I prithee, call me. Sleep hath seiz'd me wholly.—

[Exit Lady.

70 CYMBELINE.

To your protection I commend me, gods !
From fairies and the tempters of the night
Guard me, beseech ye ! I0

[Sleeps, lachimo comes from the trunk,
lachimo. The crickets sing, and man's o'erlabour'd sense
Repairs itself by rest. Our Tarquin thus
Did softly press the rushes, ere he waken 'd
The chastity he wounded. — Cytherea,
How bravely thou becom'st thy bed, fresh lily,
And whiter than the sheets ! That I might touch !
But kiss; one kiss ! — Rubies unparagon'd,
How dearly they do 't ! — 'T is her breathing that
Perfumes the chamber thus ; the flame o' the taper
Bows toward her, and would under-peep her lids, 20

To see the enclosed lights, now canopied
Under these windows, white and azure, lac'd
With blue of heaven's own tinct. — But my design,
To note the chamber. I will write all down :
Such and such pictures; there the window; such
The adornment of her bed; the arras-figures,
Why, such and such; and the contents o' the story.
Ah, but some natural notes about her body,
Above ten thousand meaner movables

Would testify, to enrich mine inventory. — 30

O sleep, thou ape of death, lie dull upon her !
And be her sense but as a monument,
Thus in a chapel lying ! — Come off, come off; —

[Taking off her bracelet

As slippery as the Gordian knot was hard !—
?T is mine; and this will witness outwardly,
As strongly as the conscience does within,
To the madding of her lord.— On her left breast
A mole cinque-spotted, like the crimson drops
I' the bottom of a cowslip : here 's a voucher,
Stronger than ever law could make; this secret 40

ACT II. SCENE III. 7!

Will force him think I have pick'd the lock and ta'en

The treasure of her honour. No more. To what end ?

Why should I write this down, that 's riveted,

Screw'd to my memory ? She hath been reading late

The tale of Tereus; here the leaf's turn'd down

Where Philomel gave up. — I have enough ;

To the trunk again, and shut the spring of it. —

Swift, swift, you dragons of the night, that dawning

May bare the raven's eye ! I lodge in fear ; 49

Though this a heavenly angel, hell is here. \Clock strikes.

One, two, three ; — time, time !

[ Goes into the trunk. The scene closes.

SCENE III. An Ante -chamber adjoining Imogen's Apart-
ments.

Enter CLOTEN and Lords.

i Lord. Your lordship is the most patient man in loss,
the most coldest that ever turned up ace.

Cloten. It would make any man cold to lose.

i Lord. But not every man patient after the noble temper of
your lordship. You are most hot and furious when you win.

Cloten. Winning will put any man into courage. If I could
get this foolish Imogen, I should have gold enough. It 's
almost morning, is 't not ? *

i Lord. Day, my lord. 9

Cloten. I would this music would come. I am advised to
give her music o' mornings ; they say it will penetrate.—

Enter Musicians.

Come on; tune: if you can penetrate her with your finger-
ing, so; we '11 try with tongue too : if none will do, let her re-
main ; but I '11 never give o'er. First, a very excellent good-
conceited thing; after, a wonderful sweet air, with admirable
rich words to it;— and then let her consider.

7 2 CYMBELINE.

Song.

Hark, hark ! the lark at heaven's gate sings,

And Phoebus gins arise,
His steeds to water at those springs

On chalic' d flowers that lies ; 20

And winking Mary-buds begin
To ope their golden eyes ;

With every thing that pretty is,
My lady sweet, arise;
Arise, arise !

Cloten. So, get you gone. If this penetrate, I will consider

your music the better; if it do not, it is a vice in her ears,

which horse-hairs and calves'-guts, nor the voice of eunuch

to boot, can never amend. [Exeunt Musicians.

2 Lord. Here comes the king. 3o

Cloten. I am glad I was up so late ; for that 's the reason

I was up so early : he cannot choose but take this service I

have done fatherly. —

Enter CYMBELINE and QUEEN.
Good morrow to your majesty and to my gracious mother.

Cymbeline. Attend you here the door of our stern daugh-
ter?
Will she not forth ?

Cloten. I have assailed her with music, but she vouchsafes
no notice.

Cymbeline. The exile of her minion is too new ;
She hath not yet forgot him : some more time 4°

Must wear the print of his remembrance out,
And then she Js yours.

Queen. You are most bound to the king,

Who lets go by no vantages that may
Prefer you to his daughter. Frame yourself
To orderly solicits, and be friended

ACT IL SCENE III. 73

With aptness of the season ; make denials

Increase your services; so seem as if

You were inspir'd to do those duties which

You tender to her; that you in all obey her,

Save when command to your dismission tends, sc

And therein you are senseless.

Cloten. Senseless ! not so.

Enter a Messenger.

Messenger. So like you, sir, ambassadors from Rome ;
The one is Caius Lucius.

Cymbeline. A worthy fellow,

Albeit he comes on angry purpose now ;
But that 's no fault of his : we must receive him
According to the honour of his sender;
And towards himself, his goodness forespent on us,
We must extend our notice. — Our dear son,
When you have given good morning to your mistress,
Attend the queen and us; we shall have need eo

To employ you towards this Roman. — Come, our queen.

\Exeunt all but Cloten.

Cloten. If she be up, I '11 speak with her; if not,
Let her lie still and dream. — [ Knocks ^\ By your leave,

ho!—

I know her women are about her; what
If I do line one of their hands? 'T is gold
Which buys admittance; oft it doth; yea, and makes
Diana's rangers false themselves, yield up
Their deer to the stand o' the stealer; and 't is gold
Which makes the true man kill'd and saves the thief;
Nay, sometime hangs both thief and true man : what 70

Can it not do and undo? I will make
One of her women lawyer to me, for
I yet not understand the case myself. —
[Knocks.'] By your leave.

74 CYMBELINE.

Enter a Lady.

Lady. Who 's there that knocks?

Cloten. A gentleman.

Lady. No more?

Cloten. Yes, and a gentlewoman's son.

Lady. That 's more

Than some whose tailors are as dear as yours
Can justly boast of. What 's your lordship's pleasure?

Cloten. Your lady's person; is she ready?

Lady. Ay,

To keep her chamber.

Cloten. There is gold for you ; so

Sell me your good report.

Lady. How ! my good name ? or to report of you
What I shall think is good ? — The princess !

Enter IMOGEN.

Cloten. Good morrow, fairest ; sister, your sweet hand.

[Exit Lady.

Imogen. Good morrow, sir. You lay out too much pains
For purchasing but trouble ; the thanks I give
Is telling you that I am poor of thanks
And scarce can spare them.

Cloten. Still, I swear I love you.

Imogen. If you but said so, 't were as deep with me ;
If you swear still, your recompense is still 90

That I regard it not.

Cloten. This is no answer.

Imogen. But that you shall not say I yield being silent,
I would not speak. I pray you, spare me ; faith,
I shall unfold equal discourtesy
To your best kindness. One of your great knowing
Should learn, being taught, forbearance.

Cloten. To leave you in your madness, 't were my sin ;
I will not.

ACT II. SCENE II L

75

Imogen. Fools are not mad folks.

Cloten. Do you call me fool?

Imogen. As I am mad, I do : 10

If you '11 be patient, I '11 no more be mad ;
That cures us both. I am much sorry, sir,
You put me to forget a lady's manners,
By being so verbal : and learn now, for all,
That I, which know my heart, do here pronounce,
By the very truth of it, I care riot for you,
And am so near the lack of charity —
To accuse myself — I hate you \ which I had rather
You felt than make 't my boast.

Cloten. You sin against

Obedience, which you owe your father. For n

The contract you pretend with that base wretch,
One bred of alms and foster'd with cold dishes,
With scraps o' the court, it is no contract, none ;
And though it be allow'd in meaner parties —
Yet who than he more mean? — to knit their souls,
On whom there is no more dependency
But brats and beggary, in self-figur'd knot,
Yet you are curb'd from that enlargement by
The consequence o' the crown, and must not soil
The precious note of it with a base slave, I2

A hilding for a livery, a squire's cloth,
A pantler, not so eminent.

Imogen. Profane fellow !

Wert thou the son of Jupiter and no more
But what thou art besides, thou wert too base
To be his groom ; thou wert dignified enough,
Even to the point of envy, if 't were made
Comparative for your virtues, to be styl'd
The under-hangman of his kingdom, and hated
For being preferr'd so well.

Cloten. The south-fog rot him !

76 CYMBELINE.

Imogen. He never can meet more mischance than come
To be but nam'd of thee. His meanest garment, 131

That ever hath but clipp'd his body, is dearer
In my respect than all the hairs above thee,
Were they all made such men. — How now, Pisanio!

Enter PISANIO.

Cloten. His garment! Now the devil —

Imogen. To Dorothy my woman hie thee presently —

Cloten. His garment!

Imogen. I am sprited with a fool,

Frighted, and anger'd worse. — Go bid my woman
Search for a jewel that too casually

Hath left mine arm : it was thy master's ; 'shrew me, 140
If I would lose it for a revenue
Of any king's in Europe. I do think
I saw 't this morning: confident I am
Last night 't was on mine arm ; I kiss'd it.
I hope it be not gone to tell my lord
That I kiss aught but he.

Pisanio. 'T will not be lost.

Imogen. I hope so ; go and search. [Exit Pisanio.

Cloten. You have abus'd me. —

His meanest garment!

Imogen. „ Ay, I said so, sir;

If you will make 't an action, call witness to 't.

Cloten. I will inform your father.

Imogen. Your mother too; 150

She 's my good lady, and will conceive, I hope,
But the worst of me. So, I leave you, sir,
To the worst of discontent. [Exit.

Cloten. I '11 be reveng'd !

His meanest garment!— Well. [Exit

ACT II. SCENE IV.

SCENE IV. Rome. Philaritfs House.
Enter POSTHUMUS and PHILARIO.

Posthumus. Fear it not, sir; I would I were so sure
To win the king as I am bold her honour
Will remain hers.

Philario. What means do you make to him?

Posthumus. Not any, but abide the change of time,
Quake in the present winter's state and wish
That warmer days would come. In these fear'd hopes,
I barely gratify your love ; they failing,
I must die much your debtor.

Philario. Your very goodness and your company
O'erpays all I can do. By this, your king 10

Hath heard of great Augustus: Caius Lucius
Will do 's commission throughly; and I think
He '11 grant the tribute, send the arrearages,
Or look upon our Romans, whose remembrance
Is yet fresh in their grief.

Posthumus. I do believe,

' Statist though I am none, nor like to be,
That this will prove a war; and you shall hear
The legions now in Gallia sooner landed
' In our not-fearing Britain than have tidings
Of any penny tribute paid. Our countrymen 20

Are men more order'd than when Julius Caesar
Smil'd at their lack of skill, but found their courage
Worthy his frowning at; their discipline,
Now mingled with their courages, will make known
To their approvers they are people, such
That mend upon the world.

Enter IACHIMO.
Philario. See! lachimo!

7 8 CYMBELINE.

Posthumus. The swiftest harts have posted you by land,
And winds of all the corners kiss'd your sails,
To make your vessel nimble.

Philario. Welcome, sir.

Posthumus. I hope the briefness of your answer made 30
The speediness of your return.

lachimo. Your lady

Is one of the fairest that I have look'd upon.

Posthumus. And therewithal the best; or let her beauty
Look through a casement to allure false hearts
And be false with them.

lachimo. Here are letters for you.

Posthumus. Their tenour good, I trust.

lachimo. 'T is very like.

Philario. Was Caius Lucius in the Britain court
When you were there?

lachimo. He was expected then,

But not approach'd.

Posthumus. All is well yet. —

Sparkles this stone as it was wont? or is 't not 40

Too dull for your good wearing?

lachimo. If I had lost it,

I should have lost the worth of it in gold.
I '11 make a journey twice as far, to enjoy
A second night of such sweet shortness which
Was mine in Britain, for the ring is won.

Posthumus. The stone 's too hard to come by.

lachimo. Not a whit,

Your lady being so easy.

Posthumus. Make not, sir,

Your loss your sport; I hope you know that we
Must not continue friends.

lachimo. Good sir, we must,

If you keep covenant. Had I not brought 50

The knowledge of your mistress home, I grant

ACT II. SCENE IV. 79

We were to question further: but 1 now
Profess myself the winner of her honour,
Together with your ring; and not the wronger
Of her or you, having proceeded but
By both your wills.

Posthumus. If you can make \ apparent

That you have tasted her in bed, my hand
And ring is yours; if not, the foul opinion
You had of her pure honour gains or loses
Your sword or mine, or masterless leaves both 60

To who shall find them.

lachimo. Sir, my circumstances,

Being so near the truth as I will make them,
Must first induce you to believe; whose strength
I will confirm with oath, which, I doubt not,
You '11 give me leave to spare, when you shall find
You need it not.

Posthumus. Proceed.

lachimo. First, her bedchamber,—

Where, I confess, I slept not, but profess
Had that was well worth watching — it was hang'd
With tapestry of silk and silver ; the story
Proud Cleopatra, when she met her Roman, 70

And Cydnus swell'd above the banks, or for
The press of boats or pride : a piece of work .
So bravely done, so rich, that it did strive
In workmanship and value; which I wonder'd
Could be so rarely and exactly wrought,
Since the true life on 't was —

Posthumus. This is true;

And this you might have heard of here, by me,
Or by some other.

lachimo. More particulars

Must justify my knowledge.

Posthumus. So they must,

Or do your honour injury.

80 CYMBELINE.

lachimo. The chimney 80

Is south the chamber, and the chimney-piece
Chaste Dian bathing: never saw I figures
So likely to report themselves ; the cutter
Was as another nature, dumb, — outwent her,
Motion and breath left out.

Posthumus, This is a thing

Which you might from relation likewise reap,
Being, as it is, much spoke of.

lachimo. The roof o' the chamber

With golden cherubins is fretted ; her andirons —
I had forgot them — were two winking Cupids
Of silver, each on one foot standing, nicely 90

Depending on their brands.

Posthumus. This is her honour!

Let it be granted you have seen all this — and praise
Be given to your remembrance — the description
Of what is in her chamber nothing saves
The wager you have laid.

lachimo. Then, if you can,

[Showing the bracelet.

Be pale. I beg but leave to air this jewel; see! —
And now 't is up again : it must be married
To that your diamond; I '11 keep them.

Posthumus. Jove ! —

Once more let me behold it \ is it that
Which I left with her?

lachimo. Sir — I thank her — that. too

She stripp'd it from her arm ; I see her yet;
Her pretty action did outsell her gift,
And yet enrich'd it too. She gave it me, and said
She priz'd it once.

Posthumus. May be she pluck'd it off

To send it me,

lachimo. She writes so to you, doth she?

ACT II. SCENE IV. 81

Posthumus. O, no, no, no! 't is true. Here, take this too;

\Gives the ring.

It is a basilisk unto mine eye,
Kills me to look on 't. — Let there be no honour
Where there is beauty ; truth, where semblance ; love,
Where there 's another man : the vows of women no

Of no more bondage be, to where they are made,
Than they are to their virtues, which is nothing. —
O, above measure false !

Philario. Have patience, sir,

And take your ring again ; 't is not yet won.
It may be probable she lost it; or
Who knows if one of her women, being corrupted,
Hath stol'n it from her ?

Posthumus. Very true ;

And so, I hope, he came by 't. — Back my ring. —
Render to me some corporal sign about her,
More evident than this ; for this was stolen. 120

lachimo. By Jupiter, I had it from her arm.

Posthumus. Hark you, he swears ; by Jupiter he swears.
'T is true ; — nay, keep the ring — 't is true. I am sure
She would not lose it ; her attendants are
All sworn and honourable. — They induc'd to steal it !
And by a stranger ! — No, he hath enjoy'd her.
The cognizance of her incontinency
Is this ; she hath bought the name of whore thus dearly.
There, take thy hire ; and all the fiends of hell
Divide themselves between you !

Philario. Sir, be patient : 130

This is not strong enough to be believ'd
Of one persuaded well of —

lachimo. If you seek

For further satisfying, under her breast —
Worthy the pressing — lies a mole, right proud
Of that most delicate lodging ; by my life,

F

82 CYMBELINE.

I kiss'd it, and it gave me present hunger

To feed again, though full. You do remember

This stain upon her ?

Posthumus. Ay, and it doth confirm

Another stain, as big as hell can hold,
Were there no more but it.

lachimo. Will you hear more ? 140

Posthumus. Spare your arithmetic : never count the turns ;
Once, and a million !

lachimo. I '11 be sworn —

Posthumus. No swearing.

If you will swear you have not done 't, you lie ;
And I will kill thee, if thou dost deny
Thou 'st made me cuckold.

lachimo. I '11 deny nothing.

Posthumus. O, that I had her here, to tear her limbmeal !
I will go there and do 't, i' the court, before
Her father. I '11 do something — [Exit.

Philario. Quite besides

The government of patience ! You have won.
Let 's follow him, and pervert the present wrath 150

He hath against himself.

lachimo. With all my heart. [Exeunt.

SCENE V. Another Room in Philarid's House.

Enter POSTHUMUS.

Posthumus. Is there no way for men to be but women
Must be half-workers ? We are all bastards ;
And that most venerable man which I
Did call my father, was I know not where
When I was stamp'd ; some coiner with his tools
Made me a counterfeit : yet my mother seem'd
The Dian of that time ; so doth my wife
The nonpareil of this. O, vengeance, vengeance !

ACT II. SCENE V. 83

Me of my lawful pleasure she restrained,

And pray'd me oft forbearance ; did it with 10

A pudency so rosy the sweet view on 't

Might well have warm'd old Saturn ; that I thought her

As chaste as unsunn'd snow. — Could I find out

The woman's part in me ! For there 's no motion

That tends to vice in man, but I affirm

It is the woman's part: be it lying, note it,

The woman's ; flattering, hers ; deceiving, hers ;

Lust and rank thoughts, hers, hers ; revenges, hers ;

Ambitions, covetings, change of prides, disdain,

Nice longing, slanders, mutability, 20

All faults that may be nam'd, nay, that hell knows,

Why, hers, in part or all, — but rather, all;

For even to vice

They are not constant, but are changing still

One vice, but of a minute old, for one

Not half so old as that. I '11 write against them,

Detest them, curse them : yet 't is greater skill

In a true hate, to pray they have their will;

The very devils cannot plague them better. {Exit.

"' 'Vv " • "-1--- *

• ;*,^;,.H-X^ AV7, r* • "• <f°'
Well, madam, we must take a short farewell (iii. 4. 185).

ACT III.

SCENE I. Britain. A Hall in Cymbeline's Palace.
Enter in state, CYMBELINE, QUEEN, CLOTEN, and Lords at one

door, and at another CAIUS Lucius and Attendants.
Cymbeline. Now say, what would Augustus Caesar with us ?
Lucius. When Julius Caesar, whose remembrance yet
Lives in men's eyes and will to ears and tongues
Be theme and hearing ever, was in this Britain
xAnd conquer'd it, Cassibelan, thine uncle, —
Famous in Caesar's praises, no whit less
Than in his feats deserving it, — for him
And his succession granted Rome a tribute,

ACT III. SCENE I. 85

Yearly three thousand pounds, which by thee lately
Is left untender'd.

Queen. And, to kill the marvel, JQ

Shall be so ever.

Cloten. There be many Caesars

j Ere such another Julius. Britain is

A world by itself, and we will nothing pay
( For wearing our own noses.

Queen. That opportunity

Which then they had to take from 's, to resume
We have again. — Remember, sir, my liege,
The kings your ancestors, together with
The natural bravery of your isle, which stands
As Neptune's park, ribbed and paled in
With rocks unscalable and roaring waters, 20

With sands that will not bear your enemies' boats,
But suck them up to the topmast. A kind of conquest
Caesar made here, but made not here his brag
Of ' Came and saw and overcame.' With shame —
The first that ever touch'd him — he was carried
From off our coast, twice beaten ; and his shipping —
Poor ignorant baubles ! — on our terrible seas,
Like egg-shells mov'd upon their surges, crack'd
As easily 'gainst our rocks : for joy whereof
The fam'd Cassibelan, who was once at point — 3o

O giglot fortune ! — to master Caesar's sword,
Made Lud's town with rejoicing fires bright
And Britons strut with courage.

Cloten. Come, there 's no more tribute to be paid. Our
^ kingdom is stronger than it was at that time ; and, as I said,
there is no moe such Caesars: other of them may have crooked
noses, but to owe such straight arms, none.

Cymbeline. Son, let your mother end. 38

Cloten. We have yet many among us can gripe as hard as
Cassibelan. I do not say I am one ; but I have a hand. —

86 CYMBELINE.

Why tribute ? why should we pay tribute ? If Caesar can
hide the sun from us with a blanket, or put the moon in his
pocket, we will pay him tribute for light ; else, sir, no more
tribute, pray you now.

Cymbeline. You must know,
Till the injurious Romans did extort
This tribute from us, we were free. Caesar's ambition,
Which swell'd so much that it did almost stretch
The sides o' the world, against all colour here
Did put the yoke upon 's; which to shake off 50

Becomes a warlike people, whom we reckon
Ourselves to be.

Cloten. We do.

Cymbeline. Say, then, to Caesar,

Our ancestor was that Mulmutius which
Ordain'd our laws, whose use the sword of Caesar
Hath too much mangled; whose repair and franchise
Shall, by the power we hold, be our good deed,
Though Rome be therefore angry. Mulmutius made our

laws,

Who was the first of Britain which did put
His brows within a golden crown and call'd
Himself a king.

Lucius. I am sorry, Cymbeline, 60

That I am to pronounce Augustus Caesar —
Caesar, that hath moe kings his servants than
Thyself domestic officers — thine enemy:
Receive it from me, then : war and confusion
In Caesar's name pronounce I 'gainst thee ; look
For fury not to be resisted. Thus defied,
I thank thee for myself.

Cymbeline. Thou art welcome, Caius.

Thy Caesar knighted me \ my youth I spent
Much under him ; of him I gather'd honour ;
Which he to seek of me again, perforce, 70

ACT III. SCENE II. 87

Behoves me keep at utterance. I am perfect
That the Pannonians and Dalmatians for
Their liberties are now in arms ; a precedent
Which rjot to read would show the Britons cold :
So Caesar shall not find them.

Lucius. Let proof speak.

Cloten. His majesty bids you welcome. Make pastime
with us a day or two, or longer. If you seek us afterwards
in other terms, you shall find us in our salt-water girdle: if
you beat us out of it, it is yours. If you fall in the advent-
ure, our crows shall fare the better for you ; and there 's an
end. 81

Lucius. So, sir.

Cymbeline. I know your master's pleasure and he mine;
All the remain is, Welcome! \Exeunt.

SCENE II. Another Room in the Palace.

Enter PISANIO, with a letter.

Pisanio. How ! of adultery ? Wherefore write you not
What monster 's her accuser ! — Leonatus !
O master ! what a strange infection
Is fall'n into thy ear ! What false Italian,
As poisonous-tongued as handed, hath prevailed
On thy too ready hearing? — Disloyal! No;
She 's punish'd for her truth, and undergoes,
More goddess-like than wife-like, such assaults
As would take in some virtue. — O my master!
Thy mind to her is now as low as were 10

Thy fortunes. — How! that I should murther her?
Upon the love and truth and vows which I
Have made to thy command? I, her? her blood?
If it be so to do good service, never
Let me be counted serviceable. How look I,
That I should seem to lack humanity

88 CYMBELINE.

So much as this fact comes to? [Reading] ' Do V: the

letter

That I have sent her, by her own command
Shall give thee opportunity. ' — O d am n ' d p ape r !
Black as the ink that 's on thee ! Senseless bauble, 20

Art thou a fedary for this act, and look'st
So virgin-like without? — Lo, here she comes.
I am ignorant in what I am commanded.

Enter IMOGEN.

Imogen. How now, Pisanio !

Pisanio. Madam, here is a letter from my lord.

Imogen. Who? thy lord? that is my lord, Leonatus!
O, learn'd indeed were that astronomer
That knew the stars as I his characters;
He 'd lay the future open. — You good gods,
Let what is here contained relish of love, 30

Of my lord's health, of his content, yet not
That we two are asunder, — let that grieve him :
Some griefs are med'cinable ; that is one of them,
For it doth physic love : — of his content,
All but in that! — Good wax, thy leave. — Blest be
You bees that make these locks of counsel ! Lovers
And men in dangerous bonds pray not alike;
Though forfeiters you cast in prison, yet
You clasp young Cupid's tables. — Good news, gods! 39

[Reads] ' Justice, and your father's wrath, should he take
me in his dominion, could not be so cruel to me, as you, O the
dearest of creatures, would even renew me with your eyes. Take
notice that I am in Cambria, at Milford-Haven ; what your
own love will out of this advise you, follow. So he wishes you
all happiness, that remains loyal to his vow, and your, increasing
in love, LEONATUS POSTHUMUS/

O, for a horse with wings ! — Hearst thou, Pisanio?
He is at Milford-Haven; read, and tell me

ACT III. SCENE II. 89

How far 't is thither. If one of mean affairs

May plod it in a week, why may not I so

Glide thither in a day? Then, true Pisanio, —

Who long'st, like me, to see thy lord ; who long'st,—

O, let me bate ! — but not like me, — yet long'st,

But in a fainter kind, — O, not like me,

For mine Js beyond beyond! — say, and speak thick, —

Love's counsellor should fill the bores of hearing,

To the smothering of the sense — how far it is

To this same blessed Milford : and by the way

Tell me how Wales was made so happy as

To inherit such a haven; but first of all, 60

How we may steal from hence, and for the gap

That we shall make in time, from our hence-going

And our return, to excuse, — but first, how get hence.

Why should excuse be born or ere begot?

We '11 talk of that hereafter. Prithee, speak,

How many score of miles may we well ride

'Twixt hour and hour?

Pisanio. One score 'twixt sun and sun,

Madam, 's enough for you, — and too much too.

Imogen. Why, one that rode to 's execution, man,
Could never go so slow; I have heard of riding wagers, 7°
Where horses have been nimbler than the sands
That run i' the clock's behalf. — But this is foolery. —
Go bid my woman feign a sickness, say
She '11 home to her father; and provide me presently
A riding-suit, no costlier than would fit
A franklin's housewife.

Pisanio. Madam, you 're best consider.

Imogen. I see before me, man ; nor here, nor here,
Nor what ensues, but have a fog in them,
That I cannot look through. Away, I prithee;
Do as I bid thee. There 's no more to say; 80

Accessible is none but Milford way. [Exeunt.

90 CYMBELINE.

SCENE III. Wales: a Mountainous Country with a Cave.
Enter, from the cave, BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, and ARVIRAGUS.

Belarius. A goodly day not to keep house, with such
Whose roof 's as low as ours ! Stoop, boys ; this gate
Instructs you how to adore the heavens, and bows you
To a morning's holy office: the gates of monarchs
Are arch'd so high that giants may jet through
And keep their impious turbans on, without
Good morrow to the sun. — Hail, thou fair heaven !
We house i' the rock, yet use thee not so hardly
As prouder livers do.

Guiderius. Hail, heaven !

Arviragus. Hail, heaven !

Belarius. Now for our mountain sport. Up to yond

hill!

Your legs are young ; I '11 tread these flats. Consider,
When you above perceive me like a crow,
That it is place which lessens and sets off;
And you may then revolve what tales I have told you
Of courts, of princes, of the tricks in war.
This service is not service, so being done,
But being so allow'd: to apprehend thus,
Draws us a profit from all things we see ;
And often, to our comfort, shall we find
The sharded beetle in a safer hold 20

Than is the full-wing'd eagle. O, this life
Is nobler than attending for a check,
Richer than doing nothing for a bribe,
Prouder than rustling in unpaid-for silk ;
Such gain the cap of him who makes 'em fine,
Yet keeps his book uncross'd: no life to ours.

Guiderius. Out of your proof you speak; we, poor un-
fledg'd,

ACT III. SCENE ///: 91

Have never wing'd from view o' the nest, nor know not

What air 's from home. Haply this life is best,

If quiet life be best ; sweeter to you 30

That have a sharper known, well corresponding

With your stiff age: but unto us it is

A cell of ignorance, travelling a-bed,

A prison for a debtor, that not dares

To stride a limit.

Arviragus. What should we speak of

When we are old as you? when we shall hear
The rain and wind beat dark December, how
In this our pinching cave shall we discourse
The freezing hours away? Wre have seen nothing;
We are beastly, subtle as the fox for prey, 40

Like warlike as the wolf for what we eat;
Our valour is to chase what flies ; our cage
We make a quire, as doth the prison* d bird,
And sing our bondage freely.

Belarius. How you speak !

Did you but know the city's usuries
And felt them knowingly; the art o' the court,
As hard to leave as keep; whose top to climb
Is certain falling, or so slippery that
The fear 's as bad as falling; the toil o' the war,
A pain that only seems to seek out danger so

r the name of fame and honour; which dies i' the search,
And hath as oft a slanderous epitaph
As record of fair act ; nay, many times,
Doth ill deserve by doing well ; what 's worse,
Must curtsy at the censure. — O boys, this story
The world may read in me; my body 's mark'd
With Roman swords, and my report was once
First with the best of note. Cymbeline lov'd me,
And when a soldier was the theme, my name
Was not far off: then was I as a tree 60

9 2 CYMBELINE.

Whose boughs did bend with fruit; but in one night,
A storm or robbery, call it what you will,
Shook down my mellow hangings, nay, my leaves,
And left me bare to weather.

Guiderius. Uncertain favour!

Belarius. My fault being nothing — as I have told you oft —
But that two villains, whose false oaths prevail'd
Before my perfect honour, swore to Cymbeline
I was confederate with the Romans: so
Follow'd my banishment, and this twenty years
This rock and these demesnes have been my world ; 70

Where I have liv'd at honest freedom, paid
More pious debts to heaven than in all
The fore-end of my time. — But up to the mountains!
This is not hunters' language. — He that strikes
The venison first shall be the lord o' the feast;
To him the other two shall minister,
And we will fear no poison, which attends
In place of greater state. I '11 meet you in the valleys. —

\Exeunt Guiderius and Arviragus.
How hard it is to hide the sparks of nature!
These boys know little they are sons to the king; 80

Nor Cymbeline dreams that they are alive.
They think they are mine; and though train'd up thus

meanly

I' the cave wherein they bow, their thoughts do hit
The roofs of palaces, and nature prompts them
In simple and low things to prince it much
Beyond the trick of others. This Polydore,
The heir of Cymbeline and Britain, who
The king his father call'd Guiderius, — Jove !
When on my three-foot stool I sit and tell
The warlike feats I have done, his spirits fly out 90

Into my story, say 'Thus mine enemy fell,
And thus I set my foot on 's neck;' even then

ACT III. SCENE IV.

93

The princely blood flows in his cheek, he sweats,

Strains his young nerves, and puts himself in posture

That acts my words. The younger brother, Cadwal,

Once Arviragus, in as like a figure,

Strikes life into my speech and shows much more

His own conceiving. — Hark, the game is rous'd! —

O Cymbeline! heaven and my conscience knows

Thou didst unjustly banish me; whereon, too

At three and two years old, I stole these babes.

Thinking to bar thee of succession, as

Thou reft'st me of my lands. — Euriphile,

Thou wast their nurse; they took thee for their mother,

And every day do honour to her grave:

Myself, Belarius, that am Morgan call'd,

They take for natural father. — The game is up. [Exif.

SCENE IV. Near Milford- Haven.

Enter PISANIO and IMOGEN.
Imogen. Thou told'st me, when we came from horse, the

place

Was near at hand. — Ne'er long'd my mother so
To see me first, as I have now. — Pisanio! man!
Where is Posthumus? What is in thy mind,
That makes thee stare thus? Wherefore breaks that sigh
From the inward of thee? One, but painted thus,
Would be interpreted a thing perplex'd
Beyond self-explication ; put thyself
Into a haviour of less fear, ere wildness
Vanquish my staider senses. What 's the matter? K>

Why tender'st thou that paper to me, with
A look untender? If 't be summer news,
Smile to 't before; if winterly, thou need'st
But keep that countenance still. — My husband's hand!
That drug-damn'd Italy hath out-craftied him,

94 CYMBELINE.

And he 's at some hard point. — Speak, man; thy tongue
May take off some extremity, which to read
Would be even mortal to me.

Pisanio. Please you, read ;

And you shall find me, wretched man, a thing
The most disdain'd of fortune. 20

Imogen. [Reads] ' Thy mistress, Pisanio, hath played the
strumpet in my bed; the testimonies whereof lie bleeding in me.
I speak not out of weak surmises, but from proof as strong as
my grief and as certain as I expect my revenge. That part
thou, Pisanio, must act for me, if thy faith be not tainted with
the breach of hers. Let thine own hands take away her life;
I shall give thee opportunity at Milf or d- Haven. She hath my
letter for the purpose; where, if thou fear to strike and to make
me certain it is done, thou art the pander to her dishonour and
equally to me disloyal? 3°

Pisanio. What shall I need to draw my sword ? the paper
Hath cut her throat already. — No, 't is slander,
Whose edge is sharper than the sword, whose tongue
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile, whose breath
Rides on the posting winds and doth belie
All corners of the world ; kings, queens, and states,
Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave
This viperous slander enters. — What cheer, madam?

Imogen. False to his bed! What is it to be false?
To lie in watch there and to think on him? 40

To weep 'twixt clock and clock? if sleep charge nature,
To break it with a fearful dream of him
And cry myself awake? that 's false to 's bed, is it?

Pisanio. Alas, good lady!

Imogen. I false! Thy conscience witness!— lachimo,
Thou didst accuse him of incontinency ;
Thou then look'dst like a villain, now methinks
Thy favour 's good enough. — Some jay of Italy
Whose mother was her painting, hath betray'd him.

ACT III. SCENE IV.

95

Poor I am stale, a garment out of fashion ; 50

And, for I am richer than to hang by the walls,

I must be ripp'd: — to pieces with me! — O,

Men's vows are women's traitors ! All good seeming,

By thy revolt, O husband, shall be thought

Put on for villany ; not born where 't grows,

But worn a bait for ladies.

Pisanio. Good madam, hear me.

Imogen. True honest men being heard, like false y£neas,
Were in his time thought false, and Sinon's weeping
Did scandal many a holy tear, took pity
From most true wretchedness : so thou, Posthumus, 60

Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men ;
Goodly and gallant shall be false and perjur'd
From thy great fail. — Come, fellow, be thou honest ;
Do thou thy master's bidding. When thou see'st him,
A little witness my obedience : look !
I draw the sword myself; take it, and hit
The innocent mansion of my love, my heart.
Fear not • 't is empty of all things but grief:
Thy master is not there, who was indeed
The riches of it. Do his bidding ; strike ! 70

Thou mayst be valiant in a better cause,
But now thou seem'st a coward.

Pisanio. Hence, vile instrument !

Thou shalt not damn my hand.

Imogen. Why, I must die ;

And if I do not by thy hand, thou art
No servant of thy master's. Against self-slaughter
There is a prohibition so divine

That cravens my weak hand. Come, here 's my heart.
Something 's afore 't. — Soft, soft! we '11 no defence;
Obedient as the scabbard. — What is here?
The scriptures of the loyal Leonatus, 80

All turn'd to' heresy ? Away, away,

96 CYMBELINE.

Corrupters of my faith ! you shall no more

Be stomachers to my heart. Thus may poor fools

Believe false teachers ; though those that are betray'd

Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor

Stands in worse case of woe.

And thou, Posthumus, thou that didst set up

My disobedience 'gainst the king my father,

And make me put into contempt the suits

Of princely fellows, shalt hereafter find oo

It is no act of common passage, but

A strain of rareness; and I grieve myself

To think, when thou shalt be disedg'd by her

That now thou tir'st on, how thy memory

Will then be pang'd by me. — Prithee, dispatch :

The lamb entreats the butcher; where 's thy knife?

Thou art too slow to do thy master's bidding,

When I desire it too.

Pisanio. O gracious lady,

Since I receiv'd command to do this business
I have not slept one wink,

Imogen. Do 't, and to bed then. 100

Pisanio. I '11 wake mine eye-balls blind first.

Imogen. Wherefore then

Didst undertake it ? Why hast thou abus'd
So many miles with a pretence ? this place ?
Mine action and thine own? our horses' labour?
The time inviting thee? the perturb'd court,
For my being absent? whereunto I never
Purpose return. Why hast thou gone so far,
To be unbent when thou hast ta'en thy stand,
The elected deer before thee ?

Pisanio. But to win time

To lose so bad employment; in the which no

I have consider'd of a course. Good lady,
Hear me with patience.

ACT III. SCENE IV. 97

Imogen. Talk thy tongue weary; speak :

I have heard I am a strumpet, and mine ear,
Therein false struck, can take no greater wound,
Nor tent to bottom that. But speak.

Pisanio. Then, madam,

I thought you would not back again.

Imogen. Most like,

Bringing me here to kill me.

Pisanio. Not so, neither;

But if I were as wise as honest, then
My purpose would prove well. It cannot be
But that my master is abus'd; 120

Some villain, ay, and singular in his art,
Hath done you both this cursed injury.

Imogen. Some Roman courtesan.

Pisanio. No, on my life.

I '11 give but notice you are dead and send him
Some bloody sign of it; for 't is commanded
I should do so : you shall be miss'd at court,
And that will well confirm it.

Imogen. Why, good fellow,

What shall I do the while ? where bide ? how live ?
Or in my life what comfort, when I am
Dead to my husband ?

Pisanio. If you '11 back to the court — 130

Imogen. No court, no father; nor no more ado
With that harsh, noble, simple nothing,
That Cloten, whose love-suit hath been to me
As fearful as a siege.

Pisanio. If not at court,

Then not in Britain must you bide.

Imogen. Where then ?

Hath Britain all the sun that shines ? Day, night,
Are they not but in Britain ? I' the world's volume
Our Britain seems as of it, but not in 't;

G

98 CYMBELINE.

In a great pool a swan's nest : prithee, think
There 's livers out of Britain.

Pisanio. I am most glad 140

You think of other place. The ambassador,
Lucius the Roman, comes to Milford-Haven
To-morrow : now, if you could wear a mind
Dark as your fortune is, and but disguise
That which, to appear itself, must not yet be
But by self-danger, you should tread a course
Pretty and full of view ; yea, haply, near
The residence of Posthumus, — so nigh at least
That though his actions were not visible, yet
Report should render him hourly to your ear J5o

As truly as he moves.

Imogen. O, for such means !

Though peril to my modesty, not death on 't,
I would adventure.

Pisanio. Well, then, here 's the point :

You must forget to be a woman, change
Command into obedience, fear and niceness —
The handmaids of all women, or, more truly,
Woman it pretty self — into a waggish courage,
Ready in gibes, quick-answer'd, saucy, and
As quarrellous as the weasel ; nay, you must
Forget that rarest treasure of your cheek, 160

Exposing it — but, O, the harder heart !
Alack, no remedy ! — to the greedy touch
Of common-kissing Titan, and forget
Your laboursome and dainty trims, wherein
You made great Juno angry.

Imogen. Nay, be brief;

I see into thy end, and am almost
A man already.

Pisanio. First, make yourself but like one.

Fore-thinking this, I have already fit —

ACT III. SCENE V. 99

'T is in my cloak-bag — doublet, hat, hose, all

That answer to them. Would you in their serving, 170

And with what imitation you can borrow

From youth of such a season, fore noble Lucius

Present yourself, desire his service, tell him

Wherein you 're happy, — which you '11 make him know,

If that his head have ear in music, — doubtless

With joy he will embrace you, for he 's honourable,

And doubling that, most holy. Your means abroad,

You have me, rich; and I will never fail

Beginning nor supplyment.

Imogen. Thou art all the comfort

The gods will diet me with. Prithee, away : i8c

There 's more to be considered ; but we '11 even
All that good time will give us. This attempt
I am soldier to, and will abide it with
A prince's courage. Away, I prithee.

Pisanio. Well, madam, we must take a short farewell,
Lest, being miss'd, I be suspected of
Your carriage from the court. My noble mistress,
Here is a box ; I had it from the queen :
What 's in 't is precious ; if you are sick at sea,
Or stomach-qualm'd at land, a dram of this 190

Will drive away distemper. — To some shade,
And fit you to your manhood. — May the gods
Direct you to the best !

Imogen. Amen ! I thank thee. \Exeunt, severally.

SCENE V. A Room in Cymbeline's Palace.

Enter CYMBELINE, QUEEN, CLOTEN, Lucius, Lords, and At-
tendants.

Cymbeline. Thus far; and so farewell.

Lucius. Thanks, royal sir.

My emperor hath wrote, I must from hence;

I00 CYMBELINE.

And am right sorry that I must report ye
My master's enemy.

Cymbeline. Our subjects, sir,

Will not endure his yoke; and for ourself
To show less sovereignty than they, must needs
Appear unkinglike.

Lucius. So, sir. I desire of you

A conduct over-land to Milford-Haven. —
Madam, all joy befall your grace !

Queen. And you !

Cymbeline. My lords, you are appointed for that office ; 10
The due of honour in no point omit. —
So farewell, noble Lucius.

Lucius. Your hand, my lord.

Cloten. Receive it friendly ; but from this time forth
I wear it as your enemy.

Lucius. Sir, the event

Is yet to name the winner; fare you well.

Cymbeline. Leave not the worthy Lucius, good my lords,
Till he have crossed the Severn. — Happiness !

^Exeunt Lucius and Lords.

Queen. He goes hence frowning ; but it honours us
That we have given him cause.

Cloten. T is all the better ;

Your valiant Britons have their wishes in it. 20

Cymbeline. Lucius hath wrote already to the emperor
How it goes here. It fits us therefore ripely
Our chariots and our horsemen be in readiness;
The powers that he already hath in Gallia
Will soon be drawn to head, from whence he moves
His war for Britain.

Queen. 'T is not sleepy business,

But must be look'd to speedily and strongly.

Cymbeline. Our expectation that it would be thus
Hath made us forward. But, my gentle queen,

ACT III. SCENE V, IOI

Where is our daughter ? She hath not appear'd 30

Before the Roman, nor to us hath tender'd

The duty of the day. She looks us like

A thing more made of malice than of duty;

We have noted it. — Call her before us, for

We have been too slight in sufferance. \_Exit an Attendant.

Queen. Royal sir,

Since the exile of Posthumus, most retir'd
Hath her life been ; the cure whereof, my lord,
7T is time must do. Beseech your majesty,
Forbear sharp speeches to her ; she 's a lady
So tender of rebukes that words are strokes 40

And strokes death to her.

Re-enter Attendant.

Cymbeline. Where is she, sir ? How

Can her contempt be answer'd ?

Attendant. Please you, sir,

Her chambers are all lock'd; and there Js no answer
That will be given to the loud'st noise we make.

Queen. My lord, when last I went to visit her,
She pray'd me to excuse her keeping close,
Whereto constraint by her infirmity,
She should that duty leave unpaid to you,
Which daily she was bound to proffer ; this
She wish'd me to make known, but our great court so

Made me to blame in memory.

Cymbeline. Her doors lock'd ?

Not seen of late ? Grant, heavens, that which I fear
Prove false ! [Exit.

Queen. Son, I say, follow the king.

Cloten. That man of hers, Pisanio, her old servant,
I have not seen these two days.

Queen. Go, look after. — [Exit Cloten.

Pisanio, thou that stand'st so for Posthumus !

I02 CYMBELINE.

He hath a drug of mine; I pray his absence

Proceed by swallowing that, for he believes

It is a thing most precious. But for her,

Where is she gone ? Haply, despair hath seizM her, 60

Or, wing'd with fervour of her love, she 's flown

To her desir'd Posthumus. Gone she is

To death or to dishonour; and my end

Can make good use of either : she being down,

I have the placing of the British crown.

Re-enter CLOTEN.
How now, my son !

Cloten. 'T is certain she is fled.

Go in and cheer the king: he rages; none
Dare come about him.

Queen. [Aside] All the better ; may

This night forestall him of the coming day ! [Exit.

Cloten. I love and hate her, for she 's fair and royal, 7o
And that she hath all courtly parts more exquisite
Than lady, ladies, woman; from every one
The best she hath, and she, of all compounded,
Outsells them all. I love her therefore : but
Disdaining me and throwing favours on
The low Posthumus slanders so her judgment
That what 's else rare is chok'd; and in that point
I will conclude to hate her, nay, indeed,
To be reveng'd upon her. For when fools
Shall—

Enter PISANIO.

Who is here? What, are you packing, sirrah? 80
Come hither. Ah, you precious pander! Villain,
Where is thy lady? In a word, or else
Thou art straightway with the fiends.

Pisanio. O, good my lord !

Cloten. Where is thy lady? or, by Jupiter, —

ACT III. SCENE V. 103

I will not ask again. Close villain,
I '11 have this secret from thy heart, or rip
Thy heart to find it. Is she with Posthumus?
From whose so many weights of baseness cannot
A dram of worth be drawn.

Pisanio. Alas, my lord,

How can she be with him? When was she miss'd? 90

He is in Rome.

Cloten. Where is she, sir? Come nearer;

No further halting : satisfy me home
What is become of her.

Pisanio. O, my all-worthy lord !

Cloten. All-worthy villain !

Discover where thy mistress is at once,
At the next word \ no more of ' worthy lord !'
Speak, or thy silence on the instant is
Thy condemnation and thy death.

Pisanio. Then, sir,

This paper is the history of my knowledge
Touching her flight. [Presenting a letter.

Cloten. Let 's see 't, I will pursue her 100

Even to Augustus' throne.

Pisanio. [Aside] Or this, or perish.

She 's far enough; and what he learns by this
May prove his travel, not her danger.

Cloten. Hum !

Pisanio. [Aside] I'll write to my lord she's dead. O Imo-
gen,
Safe mayst thou wander, safe return again !

Cloten. Sirrah, is this letter true?

Pisanio. Sir, as I think.

Cloten. It is Posthumus' hand ; I know 't. — Sirrah, if thou
wouldst not be a villain, but do me true service, undergo
those employments wherein I should have cause to use thee
with a serious industry, that is, what villany soe'er I bid thee

I04 CYMBELINE.

do, to perform it directly and truly, I would think thee an
honest man ; thou shouldst neither want my means for thy
relief nor my voice for thy preferment. 114

Pisanio. Well, my good lord.

Cloten. Wilt thou serve me ? for since patiently and con-
stantly thou hast stuck to the bare fortune of that beggar
Posthumus, thou canst not, in the course of gratitude, but be
a diligent follower of mine ; wilt thou serve me ?

Pisanio. Sir, I will. 120

Cloten. Give me thy hand; here 's my purse. Hast any
of thy late master's garments in thy possession?

Pisanio. I have, my lord, at my lodging, the same suit he
wore when he took leave of my lady and mistress.

Cloten. The first service thou dost me, fetch that suit
hither: let it be thy first service; go.

Pisanio. I shall, my lord. [Exit.

Cloten. Meet thee at Milford-Haven ! — I forgot to ask him
one thing; I '11 remember 't anon. — Even there, thou villain
Posthumus, will I kill thee. I would these garments were
come. She said upon a time — the bitterness of it I now
belch from my heart — that she held the very garment of
Posthumus in more respect than my noble and natural per-
son, together with the adornment of my qualities. With that
suit upon my back, will I ravish her: first kill him, and in her
eyes; there shall she see my valour, which will then be a tor-
ment to her contempt. He on the ground, my speech of in-
sultment ended on his dead body, and when my lust hath
dined, — which, as I say, to vex her I will execute in the
clothes that she so praised, — to the court I '11 knock her
back, foot her home again. She hath despised me rejoic-
ingly, and I'll be merry in my revenge. — 143

Re-enter PISANIO, with the clothes.

Be those the garments?

Pisanio. Ay, my noble lord.

ACT III. SCENE VL Io^

Cloten. How long is 't since she went to Milford-Haven?

Pisanio. She can scarce be there yet.

Cloten. Bring this apparel to my chamber; that is the sec-
ond thing that I have commanded thee : the third is, that
thou wilt be a voluntary mute to my design. Be but dute-
ous, and true preferment shall tender itself to thee.-1— My re-
venge is now at Milford; would I had wings to follow it! —
Come, and be true. [Exit.

Pisanio. Thou bid'st me to my loss ; for true to thee 153
Were to prove false, which I will never be,
To him that is most true. — To Milford go,
And find not her whom thou pursuest. Flow, flow,
You heavenly blessings, on her! This fool's speed
Be cross'd with slowness ; labour be his meed ! \Exit.

SCENE VI. Wales. Before the Cave of Belarius.
Enter IMOGEN, in boy's clothes.

Imogen. I see a man's life is a tedious one;
I have tir'd myself, and for two nights together
Have made the ground my bed. I should be sick,
But that my resolution helps me. — Milford,
When from the mountain-top Pisanio show'd thee,
Thou wast within a ken. O Jove! I think
Foundations fly the wretched ; such, I mean,
Where they should be reliev'd. Two beggars told me
I could not miss my way; will poor folks lie,
That have afflictions on them, knowing 't is 10

A punishment or trial? Yes; no wonder,
When rich ones scarce tell true. To lapse in fulness
Is sorer than to lie for need, and falsehood
Is worse in kings than beggars. — My dear lord! —
Thou art one o' the false ones. Now I think on thee,
My hunger 's gone ; but even before, I was
At point to sink for food. — But what is this?

I06 CYMBELINE.

Here is a path to 't; 't is some savage hold.

I were best not call ; I dare not call : yet famine,

Ere clean it o'erthrovv nature, makes it valiant. 20

Plenty and peace breeds cowards ; hardness ever

Of hardiness is mother. — Ho! who 's here?

If any thing that 's civil, speak ; if savage,

Take or lend. Ho! — No answer? Then I '11 enter.

Best draw my sword ; and if mine enemy

But fear the sword like me, he '11 scarcely look on 't,

Such a foe, good heavens ! \Exit , to the cave.

Enter BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, and ARVIRAGUS.

Belarius. You, Polydore, have prov'd best woodman and
Are master of the feast : Cadwal and I
Will play the cook and servant ;. 't is our match. 3o

The sweat of industry would dry and die,
But for the end it works to. Come ; our stomachs
Will make what 's homely savoury : weariness
Can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth
Finds the down pillow hard. — Now peace be here,
Poor house, that keep'st thyself!

Guiderius. I am throughly weary.

Arviragus. I am weak with toil, yet strong in appetite.

Guiderius. There is cold meat i' the cave ; we '11 browse

on that,
Whilst what we have kill'd be cook'd.

Belarius. [Looking into the cave] Stay; come not in. 40
But that it eats our victuals, I should think
Here were a fairy.

Guiderius. What 's the matter, sir?

Belarius. By Jupiter, an angel ! or, if not,
An earthly paragon ! — Behold divineness
No elder than a boy !

ACT III. SCENE VI. IO

Re-enter IMOGEN.

Imogen. Good masters, harm me not :
Before I enter'd here, I call'd ; and thought
To have begg'd or bought what I have took. — Good troth,
I have stol'n nought, nor would not, though I had found
Gold strew'd i' the floor. Here 's money for my meat; \
I would have left it on the board so soon
As I had made my meal, and parted
With prayers for the provider.

Guiderius. Money, youth ?

Arviragus. All gold and silver rather turn to dirt!
As 't is no better reckon'd, but of those
Who worship dirty gods.

Imogen. I see you 're angry ;

Know, if you kill me for my fault, I should
Have died had I not made it.

Belarius. Whither bound?

Imogen. To Milford-Haven.

Belarius. What 's your name? <

Imogen. Fidele, sir. I have a kinsman who
Is bound for Italy : he embark'd at Milford ;
To whom being going, almost spent with hunger,
I am falPn in this offence.

Belarius. Prithee, fair youth,

Think us no churls, nor measure our good minds
By this rude pjace we live in. Well encounter'd!
'T is almost night; you shall have better cheer
Ere you depart, and thanks to stay and eat it. —
Boys, bid him welcome.

Guiderius. Were you a woman, youth,

I should woo hard but be your groom. — In honesty,
I bid for you as I 'd buy.

Arviragus. I '11 make 't my comfort

He is a man; I '11 love him as my brother;

108 CYMBELINE.

And such a welcome as I 'd give to him

After long absence, such is yours. — Most welcome!

Be sprightly, for you fall 'mongst friends.

Imogen. 'Mongst friends,

If brothers. — \_Aside] Would it had been so, that they
Had been my father's sons ! then had my prize
Been less, and so more equal ballasting
To thee, Posthumus.

Belarius. He wrings at some distress.

Guiderius. Would I could free 't !

Arviragus. . Or I, whate'er it be, 80

What pain it cost, what danger. Gods !

Belarius. Hark, boys.

[ Whispering.

Imogen. Great men,

That had a court no bigger than this cave,
That did attend themselves and had the virtue
Which their own conscience seal'd them — laying by
That nothing-gift of differing multitudes —
Could not out-peer these twain. — Pardon me, gods !
I 'd change my sex to be companion with them,
Since Leonatus ' false.

Belarius. It shall be so.

Boys, we '11 go dress our hunt. — Fair youth, come in. 90

Discourse is heavy, fasting; when we have supp'd,
We '11 mannerly demand thee of thy story,
So far as thou wilt speak it. .

Guiderius. Pray, draw near.

Arviragus. The night to the owl and morn to the lark less
welcome.

Imogen. Thanks, sir.

Arviragus. I pray, draw near. [Exeunt.

ACT III, SCENE VII. IOQ

SCENE VII. Rome. A Public Place.
Enter two Senators and Tribunes.

i Senator. This is the tenour of the emperor's writ :
That since the common men are now in action
'Gainst the Pannonians and Dalmatians,
And that the legions now in Gallia are
Full weak to undertake our wars against
The fall'n-off Britons, that we do incite
The gentry to this business. He creates
Lucius proconsul ; and to you the tribunes,
For this immediate levy, he commands
His absolute commission. Long live Caesar ! 10

1 Tribune. Is Lucius general of the forces ?

2 Senator. Ay.
i Tribune. Remaining now in Gallia?

i Senator. With those legions

Which I have spoke of, whereunto your levy
Must be suppliant; the words of your commission
Will tie you to the numbers and the time
Of their dispatch.

i Tribune. We will discharge our duty. {Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I. Wales : near the Cave of Belarius.
Enter CLOTEN.

Cloten. I am near to the place where they should meet, if
Pisanio have mapped it truly. How fit his garments serve
me! Why should his mistress, who was made by him that
made the tailor, not be fit too ? the rather — saving reverence
of the word — for 't is said a woman's fitness comes by fits.
Therein I must play the workman. I dare speak it to my-
self— for it is not vain-glory for a man and his glass to con-
fer in his own chamber — I mean, the lines of my body are as
well drawn as his ; no less young, more strong, not beneath
him in fortunes, beyond him in the advantage of the time,
above him in birth, alike conversant in general services, and
more remarkable in single oppositions; yet this impersever-

A CT IV. SCENE II. ITI

ant thing loves him in my despite. What mortality is !
Posthumus, thy head, which now is growing upon thy shoul-
ders, shall within this hour be off; thy mistress enforced;
thy garments cut to pieces before thy face: and all this
done, spurn her home to her father, who may happily be a
little angry for my so rough usage, but my mother, having
power of his testiness, shall turn all into my commendations.
My horse is tied up safe ; out, sword, and to a sore purpose !
Fortune put them into my hand! This is the very descrip-
tion of their meeting-place; and the fellow dares not deceive
me. [Exit.

SCENE II. Before the Cave of Belarius.

Enter ; from the cave, BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, ARVIRAGUS, and

IMOGEN.

Belarius. \To Imogen] You are not well: remain here in

the cave ;
We '11 come to you after hunting.

Arviragus. [To Imogen] Brother, stay here;

Are we not brothers? '

Imogen. So man and man should be;

But clay and clay differs in dignity,
Whose dust is both alike. I am very sick.

Guiderius. Go you to hunting; I '11 abide with him.

Imogen. So sick I am not, yet I am not well ;
But not so citizen a wanton as
To seem to die ere sick. So please you, leave me;
Stick to your journal course: the breach of custom 10

Is breach of all. I am ill, but your being by me
Cannot amend me ; society is no comfort
To one not sociable. I am not very sick,
Since I can reason of it. Pray you, trust me here ;
I '11 rob none but myself, and let me die,
Stealing so poorly.

Guiderius. I love thee; I have spoke it:

II2 CYMBELINE.

How much the quantity, the weight as much,
As I do love my father.

Belarius. What ! how ! how !

Arviragus. If it be sin to say so, sir, I yoke me
In my good brother's fault. I know not why 2o

I love this youth; and I have heard you say,
Love's reason 's without reason : the bier at door,
And a demand who is 't shall die, I 'd say
My father, not this youth,

Belarius. \_Aside\ O noble strain !

0 worthiness of nature! breed of greatness!
Cowards father cowards and base things sire base.
Nature hath meal and bran, contempt and grace.
I' m not their father ; yet who this should be,
Doth miracle itself, lov'd before me.—

'T is the ninth hour o' the morn.

Arviragus. Brother, farewell. 30

Imogen. I wish ye sport.

Arviragus. You health. — So please you, sir.

Imogen. [Aside] These are kind creatures. Gods, what

lies I have heard !

Our courtiers say all 's savage but at court;
Experience, O, thou disprov'st report!
The imperious seas breed monsters, for the dish
Poor tributary rivers as sweet fish.

1 am sick still, heart-sick. — Pisanio,

I '11 now taste of thy drug. [Swallows some.

Guiderius. I could not stir him:

He said he was gentle, but unfortunate;
Dishonestly afflicted, but yet honest. 40

Arviragus. Thus did he answer me ; yet said, hereafter
I might know more.

Belarius. To the field, to the field! —

We '11 leave you for this time ; go in and rest.

Arviragus. We '11 not be long away.

ACT IV. SCENE IL H3

Belarius. Pray, be not sick,

For you must be our huswife.

Imogen. Well or ill,

I am bound to you.

Belarius. And shalt be ever. —

\Exit Imogen, to the cave.

This youth, howe'er distress'd, appears he hath had
Good ancestors.

Arviragus. How angel-like he sings !

Guiderius. But his neat cookery ! he cut our roots
In characters, 50

And sauc'd our broths, as Juno had been sick
And he her dieter.

Arviragus. Nobly he yokes

A smiling with a sigh, as if the sigh
Was that it was, for not being such a smile;
The smile mocking the sigh, that it would fly
From so divine a temple, to commix
With winds that sailors rail at.

Guiderius. I do note

That grief and patience, rooted in him both,
Mingle their spurs together.

Arviragus. Grow, patience !

And let the stinking elder, grief, untwine 60

His perishing root with the increasing vine!

Belarius. It is great morning. Come, away! — Who's
there?

Enter CLOTEN.

Cloten. I cannot find those runagates ; that villain
Hath mock'd me. I am faint.

Belarius. Those runagates !

Means he not us? I partly know him; 't is
Cloten, the son o' the queen. I fear some ambush.
I saw him not these many years, and yet
I know 't is he. — We are held as outlaws; hence!

H

II4 CYMBELINE.

Guiderius. He is but one. You and my brother search
What companies are near: pray you, away; 70

Let me alone with him. {Exeunt Belarius and Arviragus.

Cloten. Soft! What are you

That fly me thus? some villain mountaineers?
I have heard of such. — What slave art thou?

Guiderius. A thing

More slavish did I ne'er than answering
A slave without a knock.

Cloten. Thou art a robber,

A law-breaker, a villain ; yield thee, thief.

Guiderius. To who? to thee? What art thou? Have

not I

An arm as big as thine? a heart as big?
Thy words, I grant, are bigger, for I wear not
My dagger in my mouth. Say what thou art, 80

Why I should yield to thee?

Cloten. Thou villain base,

Know'st me not by my clothes?

Guiderius. No, nor thy tailor, rascal,

Who is thy grandfather; he made those clothes,
Which, as it seems, make thee.

Cloten. Thou precious varlet,

My tailor made them not.

Guiderius. Hence, then, and thank

The man that gave them thee. Thou art some fool;
I am loath to beat thee.

Cloten. Thou injurious thief,

Hear but my name, and tremble.

Guiderius. What 's thy name?

Cloten. Cloten, thou villain.

Guiderius. Cloten, thou double villain, be thy name, 90
I cannot tremble at it ; were it toad, or adder, spider,
'T would move me sooner.

Cloten. To thy further fear,

ACT IV. SCENE II. H5

Nay, to thy mere confusion, thou shalt know
I am son to the queen.

Guiderius. I am sorry for 't, not seeming

So worthy as thy birth.

Cloten. Art not afeard?

Guiderius. Those that I reverence, those I fear, — the wise ;
At fools I laugh, not fear them.

Cloten. Die the death !

When I have slain thee with my proper hand,
I '11 follow those that even now fled hence,
And on the gates of Lud's town set your heads. TOO

Yield, rustic mountaineer. \Exeunt, fighting.

Re-enter BELARIUS and ARVIRAGUS.

Belarius. No companies abroad?

Arviragus. None in the world ; you did mistake him, sure.

Belarius. I cannot tell : long is it since I saw him,
But time hath nothing blurr'd those lines of favour
Which then he wore; the snatches in his voice,
And burst of speaking, were as his. I am absolute
'T was very Cloten.

Arviragus. In this place we left them ;

I wish my brother make good time with him,
You say he is so fell.

Belarius. Being scarce made up, no

I mean, to man, he had not apprehension
Of roaring terrors; for defect of judgment
Is oft the cause of fear. — But, see, thy brother !

Re-enter GUIDERIUS, with CLOTEN'S head.
Guiderius. This Cloten was a fool, an empty purse j
There was no money in 't. Not Hercules
Could have knock'd out his brains, for he had none;
Yet I not doing this, the fool had borne
My head as I do his.

1X6 CYMBELINE.

Belarius. What hast thou done?

Guiderius. I am perfect what: cut off one Cloten's

head,

Son to the queen, after his own report; 120

Who call'd me traitor, mountaineer, and swore
With his own single hand he 'd take us in,
Displace our heads where — thank the gods! — they grow,
And set them on Lud's town.

Belarius. We are all undone.

Guiderius. Why, worthy father, what have we to lose,
But that he swore to take, our lives? The law
Protects not us; then why should we be tender
To let an arrogant piece of flesh threat us,
Play judge and executioner all himself,
For we do fear the law? What company no

Discover you abroad?

Belarius. No single soul

Can we set eye on, but in all safe reason
He must have some attendants. Though his humour
Was nothing but mutation, — ay, and that
From one bad thing to worse, — not frenzy, not
Absolute madness could so far have rav'd
To bring him here alone. Although perhaps
It may be heard at court that such as we
Cave here, hunt here, are outlaws, and in time
May make some stronger head ; the which he hearing —
As it is like him — might break out, and swear 141

He 'd fetch us in ; yet is 't not probable
To come alone, either he so undertaking,
Or they so suffering: then on good ground we fear,
If we do fear this body hath a tail
More perilous than the head.

Arviragus. Let ordinance

Come as the gods foresay it; howsoe'er,
My brother hath done well.

ACT IV. SCENE //.

117

Belarius. I had no mind

To hunt this day; the boy Fidele's sickness
Did make my way long forth.

Guiderius. With his own sword, i«jo

Which he did wave against my throat, I have ta'en
His head from him. I '11 throw 't into the creek
Behind our rock; and let it to the sea,
And tell the fishes he 's the queen's son, Cloten.
That 's all I reck. {Exit.

Belarius. I fear 't will be reveng'd.

Would, Polydore, thou hadst not done 't! though valour
Becomes thee well enough.

Arviragus. Would I had done 't,

So the revenge alone pursued me ! Polydore,
I love thee brotherly, but envy much

Thou hast robb'd me of this deed ; I would revenges, 160
That possible strength might meet, would seek us through
And put us to our answer.

Belarius. Well, 't is done.

We '11 hunt no more to-day, nor seek for danger
Where there 's no profit. I prithee, to our rock;
You and Fidele play the cooks : I '11 stay
Till hasty Polydore return, and bring him
To dinner presently.

Arviragus. Poor sick Fidele!

I '11 willingly to him; to gain his colour
I 'd let a parish of such Clotens blood,
And praise myself for charity. \Exit.

Belarius. O thou goddess, no

Thou divine Nature, how thyself thou blazon'st
In these two princely boys ! They are as gentle
As zephyrs blowing below the violet,
Not wagging his sweet head ; and yet as rough,
Their royal blood enchaf d, as the rud'st wind,
That by the top doth take the mountain pine,

IZ8 CYMBELINE.

And make him stoop to the vale. 'T is wonder

That an invisible instinct should frame them

To royalty unlearn'd, honour untaught,

Civility not seen from- other, valour 180

That wildly grows in them, but yields a crop

As if it had been sow'd. Yet still it 's strange

What Cloten's being here to us portends,

Or what his death will bring us.

.
Re-enter GUIDERIUS.

Guiderius. Where 's my brother ?

I have sent Cloten's clotpoll down the stream,
In embassy to his mother ; his body's hostage
For his return. {Solemn music.

Belarius. My ingenious instrument !
Hark, Polydore, it sounds ! But what occasion
Hath Cadwal now to give it motion ? Hark !

Guiderius. Is he at home ?

Belarius. He went hence even now.

Guiderius. What does he mean? since death of my dear'st
mother i9I

It did not speak before. All solemn things
Should answer solemn accidents. The matter ?
Triumphs for nothing and lamenting toys
Is jollity for apes and grief for boys.
Is Cadwal mad ?

Belarius. Look, here he comes,

And brings the dire occasion in his arms
Of what we blame him for.

Re-enter ARVIRAGUS, with IMOGEN, as dead, bearing her in his

arms.

Arviragus. The bird is dead

That we have made so much on. I had rather
Have skipp'd from sixteen years of age to sixty, 200

ACT IV. SCENE II.

To have turn'd my leaping-time into a crutch,
Than have seen this.

Guiderius. O sweetest, fairest lily !

My brother wears thee not the one half so well
As when thou grew'st thyself.

Belarius. O melancholy !

Who ever yet could sound thy bottom ? find
The ooze, to show what coast thy sluggish crare
Might easiliest harbour in ? — Thou blessed thing!
Jove knows what man thou mightst have made ; but I,
Thou diedst, a most rare boy, of melancholy.- —
How found you him ?

Arviragus. Stark, as you see :

Thus smiling, as some fly had tickled slumber,
Not as death's dart, being laugh'd at; his right cheek
Reposing on a cushion.

Guiderius. Where ?

Arviragus. O' the floor,

His arms thus leagued; I thought he slept, and put
My clouted brogues from off my feet, whose rudeness
Answer'd my steps too loud.

Guiderius. Why, he but sleeps :

If he be gone, he '11 make his grave a bed ;
With female fairies will his tomb be haunted,
And worms will not come to thee.

Arviragus. With fairest flowers

Whilst summer lasts and I live here, Fidele,
I '11 sweeten thy sad grave ; thou shalt not lack
The flower that 's like thy face, pale primrose, nor
The azur'd harebell, like thy veins, no, nor
The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,
Out-sweeten'd not thy breath : the ruddock would,
With charitable bill, — O bill, sore-shaming
Those rich-left heirs that let their fathers lie
Without a monument! — bring thee all this;

119

120 CYMBELINE.

Yea, and furr'd moss besides, when flowers are none,
To winter-ground thy corse.

Guiderius. Prithee, have done; 230

And do not play in wench-like words with that
Which is so serious. Let us bury him,
And not protract with admiration what
Is now due debt. — To the grave !

Arviragus. Say, where shall 's lay him ?

Guiderius. By good Euriphile, our mother.

Arviragus. Be 't so ;

And let us, Polydore, though now our voices
Have got the mannish crack, sing him to the ground,
As once our mother ; use like note and words,
Save that Euriphile must be Fidele.

Guiderius. Cadwal, 240

I cannot sing: I '11 weep, and word it with thee;
For notes of sorrow out of tune are worse
Than priests and fanes that lie.

Arviragus. We '11 speak it, then.

Belarius. Great griefs, I see, medicine the less; for Clo-

ten

Is quite forgot. He was a queen's son, boys;
And though he came our enemy, remember
He was paid for that : though mean and mighty, rotting
Together, have one dust, yet reverence,
That angel of the world, doth make distinction
Of place 'tween high and low. Our foe was princely; 250
And though you took his life, as being our foe,
Yet bury him as a prince.

Guiderius. Pray you, fetch him hither.

Thersites' body is as good as Ajax',
When neither are alive.

Arviragus. If you '11 go fetch him,

We '11 say our song the whilst— Brother, begin.

\Exit Belarius.

ACT IV. SCENE II. I2I

Guiderius. Nay, Cadwal, we must lay his head to the east;
My father hath a reason for 't.

Arviragus. 'T is true.

Guiderius. Come on then, and remove him.
Arviragus. So, begin.

Song.
Guiderius. Fear no more the heat o* the sun,

Nor the furious winter's rages ; 260

Thou thy worldly task hast done,

Home art gone, and t a' en thy wages:
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.

Arviragus. Fear no more the frown o* the great;

Thou art past the tyrant's stroke ;
Care no more to clothe and eat ;

To thee the reed is as the oak :
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust. 270

Guiderius. Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Arviragus. Nor the all-dreaded thunder- stone ;

o

Guiderius. Fear not slander, censure rash;
Arviragus. Thou hast finished joy and moan:
Both. All lovers young, all lovers must

Consign to thee, and come to dust.

Guiderius. No exerciser harm thee!
Arviragus. Nor no witchcraft charm thee !
Guiderius. Ghost unlaid forbear thee!

Arviragus. Nothing ill come near thee! 280

Both. Quiet consummation have;

And renowned be thy grave!

Re-enter BELARIUS, with the body ^/"CLOTEN.
Guiderius. We have done our obsequies. Come, lay him
down.

122 CYMBELINE.

Belarius. Here 's a few flowers; but 'bout midnight more:
The herbs that have on them cold dew o' the night
Are strewings fitt'st for graves. — Upon their faces. —
You were as flowers, now wither'd ; even so
These herblets shall, which we upon you strew.
Come on, away; apart upon our knees.
The ground that gave them first has them again ; 290

Their pleasures here are past, so is their pain.

\Exeunt Belarius, Guiderius, and Arviragus.

Imogen. [Awaking'] Yes, sir, to Milford-Haven ; which is

the way? —

I thank you. — By yond bush ? — Pray, how far thither ?
'Ods pittikins! can it be six mile yet? — -
I have gone all night. Faith, I '11 lie down and sleep.
But, soft ! no bedfellow! — O gods and goddesses!

\_Seeing the body of Cloten.

These flowers are like the pleasures of the world ;
This bloody man, the care on 't. I hope I dream,
For so I thought I was a cave-keeper,

And cook to honest creatures: but 't is not so ; 300

'T was but a bolt of nothing, shot at nothing,
Which the brain makes of fumes. Our very eyes
Are sometimes like our judgments, blind. Good faith,
I tremble still with fear : but if there be
Yet left in heaven as small a drop of pity
As a wren's eye, fear'd gods, a part of it !
The dream 's here still : even when I wake, it is
Without me. as within me ; not imagin'd, felt. —
A headless man ! — The garments of Posthumus !
I know the shape of 's leg : this is his hand ; 310

His foot Mercurial ; his Martial thigh ;
The brawns of Hercules : but his Jovial face —
Murther in heaven? — How! — 'T is gone. — Pisanio,
All curses madded Hecuba gave the Greeks,
And mine to boot, be darted on thee ! Thou,

ACT IV. SCENE If. 123

Conspir'd with that irregulous devil, Cloten,

Hast here cut off my lord. — To write and read

Be henceforth treacherous ! — Damn'd Pisanio

Hath with his forged letters, — datnn'd Pisanio —

From this most bravest vessel of the world 320

Struck the main-top ! — O Posthumus ! alas,

Where is thy head? where 's that? Ay me! where 's that?

Pisanio might have kilPd thee at the heart,

And left this head on. — How should this be? Pisanio?

'T is he and Cloten ; malice and lucre in them

Have laid this woe here. O, 't is pregnant, pregnant !

The drug he gave me, which he said was precious

And cordial to me, have I not found it

Murtherous to the senses ? That confirms it home ;

This is Pisanio's deed, and Cloten's. — O! 330

Give colour to my pale cheek with thy blood,

That we the horrider may seem to those

Which chance to find us ! O, my lord, my lord !

[Falls oft the body.

Enter Lucius, a Captain and other Officers, and a Soothsayer.

Captain. To them the legions garrison'd in Gallia,
After your will, have cross'd the sea, attending
You here at Milford-Haven with your ships ;
They are in readiness.

Lucius. But what from Rome ?

Captain. The senate hath stirr'd up the confiners
And gentlemen of Italy, most willing spirits,
That promise noble service ; and they come 340

Under the conduct of bold lachimo,
Sienna's brother. ^

Lucius. When expect you them ?

Captain. With the next benefit o' the wind.

Lucius. This forwardness

Makes our hopes fair. Command our present numbers

I24 CYMBELINE.

Be muster'd; bid the captains look to 't. — Now, sir,
What have you dream'd of late of this war's purpose ?

Soothsayer. Last night the very gods show'd me a vision —
I fast and pray'd for their intelligence — thus:
I saw Jove's bird, the Roman eagle, wing'd
From the spongy south to this part of the west, 350

There vanish'd in the sunbeams ; which portends —
Unless my sins abuse my divination —
Success to the Roman host.

Lucius. Dream often so,

And never false. — Soft, ho! what trunk is here
Without his top? The ruin speaks that sometime
It was a worthy building. — How! a page! —
Or dead, or sleeping on him? But dead rather;
For nature doth abhor to make his bed
With the defunct, or sleep upon the dead. —
Let 's see the boy's face.

Captain. He 's alive, my lord. 360

Lucius. He '11 then instruct us of this body. — Young

one,

Inform us of thy fortunes, for it seems
They crave to be demanded. Who is this
Thou mak'st thy bloody pillow? Or who was he
That, otherwise than noble nature did,
Hath alter'd that good picture? What 's thy interest
In this sad wrack? How came it? Who is it?
What art thou ?

Imogen. I am nothing ; or if not,

Nothing to be were better. This was my master,
A very valiant Briton and a good, 370

That here by mountaineers lies slain. — Alas!
There is no more such masters; I may wander
From east to Occident, cry out for service,
Try many, all good, serve truly, never
Find such another master.

ACT IV. SCENE 1 7.

125

Lucius. 'Lack, good youth !

Thou mov'st no less with thy complaining than
Thy master in bleeding. Say his name, good friend.

Imogen. Richard du Champ. \Aside\ If I do lie, and do
No harm by it, though the gods hear, I hope
They '11 pardon it. — Say you, sir?

Lucius. Thy name?

Imogen. Fidele, sir.

Lucius. Thou dost approve thyself the very same; 381

Thy name well fits thy faith, thy faith thy name.
Wilt take thy chance with me? I will not say
Thou shalt be so well master'cl, but, be sure,
No less belov'd. The Roman emperor's letters,
Sent by a consul to me, should not sooner
Than thine own worth prefer thee ; go with me.

Imogen. I '11 follow, sir. But first, an 't please the gods,
I '11 hide my master from the flies, as deep
As these poor pickaxes can dig; and when 390

With wild wood-leaves and weeds I ha' strew'd his grave,
And on it said a century of prayers,
Such as I can, twice o'er, I '11 weep and sigh,
And leaving so his service, follow you,
So please you entertain me.

Lucius. Ay, good youth.

And rather father thee than master thee. —
My friends,

The boy hath taught us manly duties : let us
Find out the prettiest daisied plot we can,
And make him with our pikes and partisans 400

A grave ; come, arm him. — Boy, he is preferr'd
By thee to us, and he shall be interr'd
As soldiers can. Be cheerful; wipe thine eyes:
Some falls are means the happier to arise. \Exeuni.

I26 CYMBELINE.

SCENE III. A Room in Cymbeline1 s Palace.
Enter CYMBELINE, Lords, PISANIO, and Attendants.

Cymbeline. Again ; and bring me word how 't is with her.

\Exit an Attendant.
A fever with the absence of her son,
A madness, of which her life 's in danger. — Heavens,
How deeply you at once do touch me ! Imogen,
The great part of my comfort, gone ; my queen
Upon a desperate bed, and in a time
When fearful wars point at me; her son gone,
So needful for this present : it strikes me, past
The hope of comfort. — But for thee, fellow,
Who needs must know of her departure and «o

Dost seem so ignorant, we '11 enforce it from thee
By a sharp torture.

Pisanio. Sir, my life is yours,

I humbly set it at your will ; but, for my mistress,
I nothing know where she remains, why gone,
Nor when she purposes return. Beseech your highness,
Hold me your loyal servant.

i Lord. Good my liege,

The day that she was missing he was here ;
I dare be bound he 's true and shall perform
All parts of his subjection loyally. For Cloten,
There wants no diligence in seeking him, 20

And will, no doubt, be found.

Cymbeline. The time is troublesome. —

\To Pisanio} We '11 slip you for a season; but our jealousy
Does yet depend.

i Lord. So please your majesty,

The Roman legions, all from Gallia drawn,
Are landed on your coast, with a supply
Of Roman gentlemen by the senate sent.

ACT IV. SCENE IV.

127

Cymbeline. Now for the counsel of my son and queen !
I am amaz'd with matter.

i Lord. Good my liege,

Your preparation can affront no less

Than what you hear of; come more, for more you 're ready.
The want is but to put those powers in motion 3i

That long to move.

Cymbeline. I thank you. Let 's withdraw,

And meet the time as it seeks us. We fear not
What can from Italy annoy us, but
We grieve at chances here. — Away ! \Exeunt all but Pisanio.

Pisanio. I heard no letter from my master since
I wrote him Imogen was slain. 'T is strange :
Nor hear I from my mistress, who did promise
To yield me often tidings ; neither know I
What is betid to Cloten, but remain 40

Perplex'd in all. The heavens still must work.
Wherein I am false I am honest; not true, to be true.
These present wars shall find I love my country,
Even to the note o' the king, or I '11 fall in them.
All other doubts, by time let them be clear'd ;
Fortune brings in some boats that are not steer'd. [Exit.

SCENE IV. Wales : before the Cave of Belarius.
Enter BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, and ARVIRAGUS.

Guiderius. The noise is round about us.

Belarius. Let us from it.

Arviragus. What pleasure, sir, find we in life, to lock it
From action and adventure ?

Guiderius. Nay, what hope

Have we in hiding us ? This way, the Romans
Must or for Britons slay us, or receive us
For barbarous and unnatural revolts
During their use, and slay us after.

12g CYMBELINE.

Belarius. Sons,

We '11 higher to the mountains, there secure us.
To the king's party there 's no going ; newness
Of Cloten's death — we being not known, not muster'd
Among the bands — may drive us to a render
Where we have liv'd, and so extort from 's that
Which we have done, whose answer would be death
Drawn on with torture.

Guiderius. That is, sir, a doubt

In such a time nothing becoming you,
Nor satisfying us.

Arviragus. It is not likely

That when they hear the Roman horses neigh,
Behold their quarter'd fires, have both their eyes
And ears so cloy'd importantly as now,
That they will waste their time upon our note,
To know from whence we are.

Belarius. O, I am known

Of many in the army; many years,
^Though Cloten then but young, you see, not wore him
| From my remembrance. And, besides, the king
' Hath not deserv'd my service nor your loves,

Who find in my exile the want of breeding,
' The certainty of this hard life ; aye hopeless
To have the courtesy your cradle promis'd,
But to be still hot summer's tanlings and
The shrinking slaves of winter.

Guiderius. Than be so

Better to cease to be. Pray, sir, to the army :
I and my brother are not known ; yourself
So out of thought, and thereto so o'ergrown,
Cannot be question'd.

Arviragus. By this sun that shines,

I '11 thither ! What thing is it that I never
Did see man die ! scarce ever look'd on blood,

ACT IF. SCENE

129

But that of coward hares, hot goats, and venison !

Never bestrid a horse, save one that had

A rider like myself, who ne'er wore rowel

Nor iron on his heel ! I am asham'd 4o

To look upon the holy sun, to have

The benefit of his blest beams, remaining

So long a poor unknown.

Guiderius. By heavens, I '11 go!

If you will bless me, sir, and give me leave,
I '11 take the better care ; but if you will not,
The hazard therefore due fall on me by
The hands of Romans !

Arviragus. So say I ; amen !

Belarius. No reason I, since of your lives you set
So slight a valuation, should reserve

My crack'cl one to more care. Have with you, boys ! So
If in your country wars you chance to die,
That is my bed too, lads, and there I '11 lie.
Lead, lead. — [Aside] The time seems long; their blood

thinks scorn,
Till it fly out and show them princes born. \Exeunt.

v

IACHIMO AND POSTHUMUS (SCENE II.).

ACT V.

SCENE I. Britain. The Roman Camp.
Enter POSTHUMUS, with a bloody handkerchief.

Posthumus. Yea, bloody cloth, I '11 keep thee, for I wish'd
Thou shouldst be colour'd thus. You married ones,
If each of you should take this course, how many
Must murther wives much better than themselves
For wrying but a little ! — O Pisanio !
Every good servant does not all commands ;
No bond but to do just ones. — Gods ! if you
Should have ta'en vengeance on my faults, I never
Had liv'd to put on this ; so had you sav'd
The noble Imogen to repent, and struck 10

ACT V. SCENE II. j^i

Me, wretch more worth your vengeance. But, alack !

You snatch some hence for little faults; that 's love,

To have them fall no more : you some permit

To second ills with ills, each elder worse,

And make them dread it, to the doers' thrift.

But Imogen is your own ; do your best wills,

And make me blest to obey ! I am brought hither

Among the Italian gentry, and to fight

Against my lady's kingdom. 'T is enough

That, Britain, I have kill'd thy mistress; peace ! 20

I '11 give no wound to thee. Therefore, good heavens,

Hear patiently my purpose. I '11 disrobe me

Of these Italian weeds and suit myself

As does a Briton peasant : so I '11 fight

Against the part I come with; so I '11 die

For thee, O Imogen, even for whom my life

Is every breath a death ; and thus, unknown,

Pitied nor hated, to the face of peril

Myself I '11 dedicate. Let me make men know

More valour in me than my habits show. 30

Gods, put the strength 'o' the Leonati in me !

To shame the guise o' the world, I will begin

The fashion, less without and more within. [Exit.

SCENE II. Field of battle between the British and Roman

Camps.

Enter, from one side, Lucius, IACHIMO, and the Roman Army ;
from the other side, the British Army ; LEONATUS POSTHU-
U\3S following, like a poor soldier. They march over and go
out. Then enter again, in skirmish, IACHIMO and POSTHU-
MUS ; he vanquisheth and disarmeth IACHIMO, and then leaves
him.

lachimo. The heaviness and guilt within my bosom
Takes off my manhood. I have belied a lady,

132

CYMBELINE.

The princess of this country, and the air on \

Revengingly enfeebles me ; or could this carl,

A very drudge of nature's, have subdued me

In my profession ? Knighthoods and honours, borne

As I wear mine, are titles but of scorn.

If that thy gentry, Britain, go before

This lout as he exceeds our lords, the odds 9

Is that we scarce are men and you are gods. [Exit.

The battle continues; the Britons fly; CYMBELINE is taken:
then enter, to his rescue, BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, and ARVIRA-

GUS.

Belarius. Stand, stand ! We have the advantage of the

ground.

The lane is guarded; nothing routs us but
The villany of our fears.

Guiderius.
Arviragus.

Stand, stand, and fight !

Re-enter POSTHUMUS, and seconds the Britons ; they rescue

CYMBELINE, and exeunt. Then re-enter Lucius and IACH-

IMO, with IMOGEN.

Lucius. Away, boy, from the troops, and save thyself;
For friends kill friends, and the disorder 's such
As war were hoodwink'd.

lachimo. 'T is their fresh supplies.

Lucius. It is a day turn'd strangely; or betimes
Let 's reinforce, or fly. \Exeunt.

SCENE III. Another Part of the Field.
Enter POSTHUMUS and a British Lord.

Lord. Cam'st thou from where they made the stand ?
Posthumus. I did;

Though you, it seems, come from the fliers.

ACT V. SCEA'E III. I33

Lord. I did.

Posthumus. No blame be to you, sir; for all was lost,
But that the heavens fought. The king himself
Of his wings destitute, the army broken,
And but the backs of Britons seen, all flying
Through a strait lane ; the enemy full-hearted,
Lolling the tongue with slaughtering, having work
More plentiful than tools to do Jt, struck down
Some mortally, some slightly touch'd, some falling 10

Merely through fear; that the strait pass was clamm'd
With dead men hurt behind, and cowards living
To die with lengthen'd shame.

Lord. Where was this lane?

Posthumus. Close. by the battle, ditch'd, and wall'd with

turf;

Which gave advantage to an ancient soldier, —
An honest one, I warrant, — who deserv'd
So long a breeding as his white beard came to,
In doing this for 's country. Athwart the lane,
He, with two striplings — lads more like to run
The country base than to commit such slaughter; 20

With faces fit for masks, or rather fairer
Than those for preservation cas'd, or shame, — •
Made good the passage, cried to those that fled,
4 Our Britain's harts die flying, not our men ;
To darkness fleet souls that fly backwards. Stand!
Or we are Romans and will give you that
Like beasts which you shun beastly, and may save,
But to look back in frown : stand, stand !' — These three,
Three thousand confident, in act as many —
For three performers are the file when all 30

The rest do nothing — with this word ' Stand, stand/
Accommodated by the place, more charming
With their own nobleness, which could have turn'd
A distaff to a lance, gilded pale looks,

I34 CYMBELINE.

Part shame, part spirit renew'd; that some, turn'd coward

But by example — O, a sin in war,

Damn'd in the first beginners! — gan to look

The way that they did, and to grin like lions

Upon the pikes o' the hunters. Then began

A stop i' the chaser, a retire, anon 40

A rout, confusion thick; forthwith they fly

Chickens, the way which they stoop'd eagles; slaves,

The strides they victors made. And now our cowards,

Like fragments in hard voyages, became

The life o' the need; having found the back-door open

Of the unguarded hearts, heavens, how they wound !

Some slain before, some dying, some their friends

O'er-borne i' the former wave; ten, chas'd by one,

Are now each one the slaughter-man of twenty:

Those that would die or ere resist are grown 50

The mortal bugs o' the field.

Lord. This was strange chance:

A narrow lane, an old man, and two boys.

Posthumus. Nay, do not wonder at it ; you are made
Rather to wonder at the things you hear
Than to work any. Will you rhyme upon 't,
And vent it for a mockery? Here is one:
( 'Two boys, an old man twice a boy, a lane,
\ Preserv'd the Britons, was the Romans' bane/

Lord. Nay, be not angry, sir.

Posthumus. 'Lack, to what end ?

Who dares not stand his foe, I '11 be his friend ; 60

For if he '11 do as he is made to do,
I know he '11 quickly fly my friendship too.
You have put me into rhyme.

Lord. Farewell; you 're angry.

Posthumus. Still going? — [Exit Lordl\ This is a lord !

O noble misery,
To be i' the field, and ask 'what news?' of me!

ACT V. SCEA^E III. j-e

To-day how many would have given their honours

To have sav'd their carcases! took heel to do 't,

And yet died too! I, in mine own woe charm'd,

Could not find death where I did hear him groan,

Nor feel him where he struck. Being an ugly monster, 70

'T is strange he hides him in fresh cups, soft beds,

Sweet words, or hath moe ministers than we

That draw his knives i' the war. Well, I will find him;

For being now a favourer to the Briton,

No more a Briton, I have resum'd again

The part I came in. Fight I will no more,

But yield me to the veriest hind that shall

Once touch my shoulder. Great the slaughter is

Here made by the Roman; great the answer be

Britons must take. For me, my ransom ?s death ; 80

On either side I come to spend my breath,

Which neither here I '11 keep nor bear again,

But end it by some means for Imogen.

Enter two British Captains and Soldiers.

1 Captain. Great Jupiter be prais'd! Lucius is taken.
'T is thought the old man and his sons were angels.

2 Captain. There was a fourth man, in a silly habit,
That gave the affront with them.

1 Captain. So 't is reported ;
But none of 'em can be found. — Stand! who 's there?

Posthumus. A Roman,

Who had not now been drooping here if seconds <P

Had answer'd him.

2 Captain. Lay hands on him; a dog!
A leg of Rome shall not return to tell

What crows have peck'd them here. He brags his- service
As if he were of note. Bring him to the king.

136

CYMBELINE.

Enter CYMBELINE, BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, ARVIRAGUS, Pi-
SANIO, Soldiers, Attendants, and Roman Captives. The
Captains present POSTHUMUS to CYMBELINE, who delivers
him over to a Gaoler ; then exeunt omnes.

SCENE IV. A British Prison.
Enter POSTHUMUS and two Gaolers.

1 Gaoler. You shall not now be stol'n, you have locks

upon you;
So graze as you find pasture.

2 Gaoler. Ay, or a stomach.

\Exeunt Gaolers.

Posthumus. Most welcome, bondage ! for thou art a way,
I think, to liberty; yet am I better
Than one that 's sick o' the gout, since he had rather
Groan so in perpetuity than be cur'd
By the sure physician, death, who is the key
To unbar these locks. My conscience, thou art fetter'd
More than my shanks and wrists; you good gocls, give

me

The penitent instrument to pick that bolt, 10

Then, free for ever! Is 't enough I am sorry?
So children temporal fathers do appease ;
Gods are more full of mercy. Must I repent?
I cannot do it better than in gyves,
Desir'd more than constraint ; to satisfy,
If of my freedom ?t is the main part, take
No stricter render of me than my all.
I know you are more clement than vile men,
Who of their broken debtors take a third,
A sixth, a tenth, letting them thrive again 20

On their abatement; that 's not my desire.
For Imogen's dear life take mine: and though

ACT V. SCENE IV. !37

'T is not so dear, yet 't is a life ; you coin'd it.

'Tween man and man they weigh not every stamp ;

Though light, take pieces for the figure's sake:

You rather mine, being yours; and so, great powers,

If you will take this audit, take this life,

And cancel these cold bonds. — O Imogen !

I '11 speak to thee in silence. \Sleeps.

Solemn music. Enter, as in an apparition, SICILIUS LEONA-
Ttrs, father to Posthumus, an old man, attired like a warrior;
leading in his hand an ancient matron, his wife, and mother
to Posthumus, with music before them : then, after other music,
follow the two young LEONATI, brothers to Posthumus, with
wounds as they died in the wars. They circle POSTHUMUS
round as he lies sleeping.

Sicilius. No more, thou thunder-master, show 30

Thy spite on mortal flies;
With Mars fall out, with Juno chide,

That thy adulteries

Rates and revenges.
Hath my poor boy done aught but well,

Whose face I never saw?
I died whilst in the womb he stay'd

Attending nature's law;
Whose father then- — as men report

Thou orphans' father art — 40

Thou shouldst have been, and shielded him

From this earth-vexing smart.

Mother. Lucina lent not me her aid,

But took me in my throes;
That from me was Posthumus ript,
Came crying 'mongst his foes,
A thing of pity 1

138 CYMBELINE.

Sicilius. Great nature, like his ancestry,

Moulded the stuff so fair,

That he deserv'd the praise o' the world, &

As great Sicilius' heir.

1 Brother. When once he was mature for man,

In Britain where was he
That could stand up his parallel,

Or fruitful object be
In eye of Imogen, that best

Could deem his dignity?

Mother. With marriage wherefore was he mock'd,

To be exil'd, and thrown

From Leonati seat, and cast 60

From her his dearest one,
Sweet Imogen?

Sicilius. Why did you suffer lachimo,

Slight thing of Italy,
To taint his nobler heart and brain

With needless jealousy;
And to become the geek and scorn

O' the other's villany?

2 Brother. For this from stiller seats we came,

Our parents and us twain, 7°

That striking in our country's cause

Fell bravely and were slain,
Our fealty and Tenantius' right

With honour to maintain.

i Brother. Like hardiment Posthumus hath

To Cymbeline perform'd;
Then, Jupiter, thou king of gods,

Why hast thou thus adjourn'd
The graces for his merits clue,

Being all to dolours turn'cl? So

ACT V. SCENE IV. I39

Sicilius. Thy crystal window ope, look out ;

No longer exercise
Upon a valiant race thy harsh
And potent injuries.

Mother. Since, Jupiter, our son is good,
Take off his miseries.

Sicilius. Peep through thy marble mansion; help!

Or we poor ghosts will cry
To the shining synod of the rest

Against thy deity. • 90 .

Both Brothers. Help, Jupiter; or we appeal,
And from thy justice fly.

JUPITER descends in thunder and lightning, sitting upon an
eagle; he throws a thunderbolt. The Ghosts fall on their
knees.

Jupiter. No more, you petty spirits of region low,

Offend our hearing; hush! — How dare you ghosts
Accuse the thunderer, whose bolt, you know,

Sky-planted, batters all rebelling coasts?
Poor shadows of Elysium, hence, and rest

Upon your never-withering banks of flowers :
Be not with mortal accidents opprest ;

No care of yours it is ; you know 't is ours. roo

Whom best I love I cross; to make my gift,

The more delay'd, delighted. Be content;
Your low-laid son our godhead will uplift:

His comforts thrive, his trials well are spent.
Our Jovial star reign'd at his birth, and in

Our temple was he married. Rise, and fade.
He shall be lord of lady Imogen,

And happier much by his affliction made.

140

CYMBELINE.

This tablet lay upon his breast, wherein

Our pleasure his full fortune doth confine; no

And so, away! no further with your din

Express impatience, lest you stir up mine. —

Mount, eagle, to my palace crystalline. [Ascends.

Sicilius. He came in thunder; his celestial breath
Was sulphurous to smell: the holy eagle
Stoop'd, as to foot us. His ascension is
More sweet than our blest fields; his royal bird
Prunes the immortal wing and cloys his beak,
As when his god is pleas'd. .

All. Thanks, Jupiter!

Sicilius. The marble pavement closes, he is enter'd 120
His radiant roof. — Away! and, to be blest,
Let us with care perform his great behest.

[The Ghosts vanish,

Posthumus. [ Waking\ Sleep, thou hast been a grandsire,

and begot

A father to me; and thou hast created
A mother and two brothers. But, O scorn !
Gone ! they went hence so soon as they were born ;
And so I am awake. — Poor wretches that depend
On greatness' favour dream as I have done,
Wake and find nothing. — But, alas, I swerve:
Many dream not to find, neither deserve, 130

And yet are steep'd in favours; so am I,
That have this golden chance and know not why.
What fairies haunt this ground? A book? O rare one!
Be not, as is our fangled world, a garment
Nobler than that it covers ; let thy effects
So follow, to be most unlike our courtiers,
As good as promise.

[Reads] ' Whenas a lion's whelp shall, to himself unknown,
without seeking find, and be embraced '_ by a piece of tender air ;
and when from a stately cedar shall be lopped branches, which,

ACT V. SCENE IV. 14!

being dead many years, shall after revive, be jointed to the old
stock, and freshly grow; then shall Posthumus end his miseries,
Britain be fortunate and flourish in peace and plenty? 143

T is still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen
Tongue and brain not; either both or nothing;
Or senseless speaking or a speaking such
As sense cannot untie. Be what it is,
The action of my life is like it, which
I '11 keep, if but for sympathy.

Re-enter Gaolers.

i Gaoler. Come, sir, are you ready for death? 150

Posthumus. Over-roasted rather; ready long ago.

i Gaoler. Hanging is the word, sir; if you be ready for
that, you are well cooked.

Posthumus. So, if I prove a good repast to the spectators,
the dish pays the shot.

i Gaoler. A heavy reckoning for you, sir. But the com-
fort is, you shall be called to no more payments, fear no more
tavern-bills, which are often the sadness of parting, as the
procuring of mirth. You come in faint for want of meat, de-
part reeling with too much drink; sorry that you have paid
too much, and sorry that you are paid too much ; purse and
brain both empty; the brain the heavier for being too light,
the purse too light, being drawn of heaviness: of this con-
tradiction you shall now be quit. O, the charity of a penny
cord! it sums up thousands in a trice: you have no true
debitor and creditor but it; of what 's past, is, and to come,
the discharge. — Your neck, sir, is pen, book, and counters ;
so the acquittance follows. 168

Posthumus. I am merrier to die than thou art to live.

i Gaoler. Indeed, sir, he that sleeps feels not the toothache :
but a man that were to sleep your sleep, and a hangman to
help him to bed, I think he would change places with his offi-
cer; for, look you, sir, you know not which way you shall go.

142

CYMBELINE.

Posthumus. Yes, indeed do I, fellow.

i Gaoler. Your death has eyes in 's head then ; I have
not seen him so pictured. You must either be directed by
some that take upon them to know, or take upon yourself
that which I am sure you do not know, or jump the after in-
quiry on your own peril ; and how you shall speed in your
journey's end, I think you '11 never return to tell one. i&>

Posthumus. I tell thee, fellow, there are none want eyes to
direct them the way I am going, but such as wink and will
not use them.

i Gaoler. What an infinite mock is this, that a man should
have the best use of eyes to see the way of blindness! I am
sure hanging 's the way of winking.

Enter a Messenger.

Messenger. Knock off his manacles; bring your prisoner
to the king.

Posthumus. Thou bring'st good news; I am called to be
made free. 190

i Gaoler. I '11 be hanged then.

Posthumus. Thou shalt be then freer than a gaoler; no
bolts for the dead. [Exeunt all but i Gaoler.

i Gaoler. Unless a man would marry a gallows and beget
young gibbets, I never saw one so prone. Yet, on my con-
science, there are verier knaves desire to live, for all he be a
Roman : and there be some of them too that die against
their wills ; so should I, if I were one. I would we were all
of one mind, and one mind good. O, there were desolation
of gaolers and gallowses! I speak against my present prof-
it, but my wish hath a preferment in 't. [Exit.

ACT V. SCEA^E V.

SCENE V. Cymbeline1 s Tent.

Enter CYMBELINE, BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, ARVIRAGUS, PISA-
NIO, Lords, Officers, and Attendants.

Cymbeline. Stand by my side, you whom the gods have

made

Preservers of my throne. Woe is my heart
That the poor soldier that so richly fought,
Whose rags sham'd gilded arms, whose naked breast
Stepp'cl before targes of proof, cannot be found.
He shall be happy that can find him, if
Our grace can make him so.

Belarius. I never saw

Such noble fury in so poor a thing,
Such precious deeds in one that promis'd nought
But beggary and poor looks.

Cymbeline. No tidings of him ? 10

Pisanio. He hath been search'd among the dead and liv-
ing,
But no trace of him.

Cymbeline. To my grief, I am

The heir of his reward ; \To Belarius, Guiderius, and Arvira-

gus\ which I will add

To you, the liver, heart, and brain of Britain,
By whom I grant she lives. 'T is now the time
To ask of whence you are. Report it.

Belarius. Sir,

In Cambria are we born, and gentlemen.
Further to boast were neither true nor modest,
Unless I add, we are honest.

Cymbeline. Bow your knees.

Arise my knights o' the battle; I create you 20

Companions to our person, and will fit you
With dignities becoming your estates.

144 CYMBELINE.

Enter CORNELIUS and Ladies.
There 's business in these faces. — Why so sadly
Greet you our victory? you look like Romans,
And not o' the court of Britain.

Cornelius. Hail, great king (

To sour your happiness, I must report
The queen is dead.

Cymbeline. Who worse than a physician

Would this report become? But I consider,
By medicine life may be prolonged, yet death
Will seize the doctor too. — How ended she? 30

Cornelius. With horror, madly dying, like her life,
Which, being cruel to the world, concluded
Most cruel to herself. What she confess'd
I will report, so please you; these her women
Can trip me, if I err, who with wet cheeks
Were present when she finished.

Cymbeline. Prithee, say.

Cornelius. First, she confess'd she never lov'd you, only
Affected greatness got by you, not you;
Married your royalty, was wife to your place,
Abhorr'd your person.

Cymbeline. She alone knew this; 40

And, but she spoke it dying, I would not
Believe her lips in opening it. Proceed.

Cornelius. Your daughter, whom she bore in hand to love
With such integrity, she did confess
Was as a scorpion to her sight; whose life,
But that her flight prevented it, she had
Ta'en off by poison.

Cymbeline. O most delicate fiend!

Who is 't can read a woman ? — Is there more ?

Cornelius. More, sir, and worse. She did confess she had
For you a mortal mineral, which, being took, 50

ACT V. SCENE V. !45

Should by the minute feed on life and lingering

By inches waste you ; in which time she purpos'd,

By watching, weeping, tendance, kissing, to

O'ercome you with her show, and in time,

When she had fitted you with her craft, to work

Her son into the adoption of the crown :

But, failing of her end by his strange absence,

Grew shameless-desperate; open'd, in despite

Of heaven and men, her purposes ; repented

The evils she hatch'd were not effected; so 60

Despairing died.

Cymbeline. Heard you all this, her women ?

i Lady. We did, so please your highness.

Cymbeline. Mine eyes

Were not in fault, for she was beautiful;
Mine ears, that heard her flattery, nor my heart,
That thought her like her seeming; it had been vicious
To have mistrusted her: yet, O my daughter!
That it was folly in me, thou mayst say,
And prove it in thy feeling. Heaven mend all !

Enter Lucius, IACHIMO, the Soothsayer, and other Roman

prisoners, £#0rdfe/; POSTHUMUS behind, and IMOGEN.
Thou com'st not, Caius, now for tribute; that
The Britons have raz'd out, though with the loss 70

Of many a bold one ; whose kinsmen have made suit
That their good souls may be appeas'd with slaughter
Of you their captives, which ourself have granted:
So think of your estate.

Lucius. Consider, sir, the chance of war : the day
Was yours by accident ; had it gone with us,
We should not, when the blood was cool, have threaten'd
Our prisoners with the sword. But since the gods
Will have it thus, that nothing but our lives
May be call'd ransom, let it come; sufficeth So

K

I46 CYMBELINE.

A Roman with a Roman's heart can suffer.

Augustus lives to think on 't ; and so much

For my peculiar care. This one thing only

I will entreat: my boy, a Briton born,

Let him be ransom'd; never master had

A page so kind, so duteous, diligent,

So tender over his occasions, true,

So feat, so nurse-like. Let his virtue join

With my request, which I '11 make bold your highness

Cannot deny ; he hath done no Briton harm, 9<

Though he have serv'd a Roman. Save him, sir,

And spare no blood beside.

Cymbeline. I have surely seen him ;

His favour is familiar to me. — Boy,
Thou hast look'd thyself into my grace,
And art mine own. I know not why nor wherefore,
To say live, boy: ne'er thank thy master; live.
And ask of Cymbeline what boon thou wilt,
Fitting my bounty and thy state, I '11 give it;
Yea, though thou do demand a prisoner,
The noblest ta'en.

Imogen. I humbly thank your highness. i<*

Lucius. I do not bid thee beg my life, good lad ;
And yet I know thou wilt.

Imogen. No, no: alack,

There 's other work in hand. — I see a thing
Bitter to me as death. — Your life, good master,
Must shuffle for itself.

Lucius. The boy disdains me,

He leaves me, scorns me; briefly die their joys
That place them on the truth of girls and boys. —
Why stands he so perplex'd?

Cymbeline. What wouldst thou, boy ?

I love thee more and more ; think more and more
What 's best to ask. Know'st him thou look'st on ? speak.
Wilt have him live? Is he thv kin ? thv friend? n

ACT V. SCENE V.

147

Imogen. He is a Roman j no more kin to me
Than I to your highness, who, being born your vassal,
Am something nearer.

Cymbeline. Wherefore eyest him so?

Imogen. I '11 tell you, sir, in private, if you please
To give me hearing.

Cymbeline. Ay, with all my heart,

And lend my best attention. What 's thy name?

Imogen. Fidel e, sir.

Cymbeline. Thou 'rt my good youth, my page ;

I '11 be thy master. Walk with me ; speak freely.

\Cymbeline and Imogen converse apart.

Belarius. Is not this boy reviv'd from death ?

Arviragus. One sand another

Not more resembles that sweet rosy lad 121

Who died, and was Fidele. — What think you?

Guiderius. The same dead thing alive.

Belarius. Peace, peace ! see further ; he eyes us not ; for-
bear.

Creatures may be alike ; were 't he, I am sure
He would have spoke to us.

Guiderius. But we saw him dead.

Belarius. Be silent ; let 's see further.

Pisanio. [Aside] It is my mistress !

Since she is living, let the time run on
To good or bad. [Cymbeline and Imogen come forward.

Cymbeline. Come, stand thou by our side ;

Make thy demand aloud. — \To Iachimo~\ Sir, step you
forth ; 130

Give answer to this boy, and do it freely,
Or, by our greatness and the grace of it,
Which is our honour, bitter torture shall
Winnow the truth from falsehood. — On, speak to him.

Imogen. My boon is, that this gentleman may render
Of whom he had this ring.

I48 CYMBELINE.

Posthumus. [Aside} What 's that to him ?

Cymbeline. That diamond upon your finger, say
How came it yours ?

lachimo. Thou 'It torture me to leave unspoken that
Which, to be spoke, would torture thee.

Cymbeline. How! me? 140

lachimo. I am glad to be constraint! to utter that
Which torments me to conceal. By villany
I got this ring ; 't was Leonatus' jewel,
Whom thou didst banish ; and — which more may grieve

thee,

As it doth me — a nobler sir ne'er liv'd
'Twixt sky and ground. Wilt thou hear more, my lord ?

Cymbeline. All that belongs to this.

lachimo. That paragon, thy daughter, — •

For whom my heart drops blood, and my false spirits
Quail to remember — Give me leave; I faint.

Cymbeline. My daughter! what of her? Renew thy
strength ; 150

I had rather thou shouldst live while nature will
Than die ere I hear more. Strive, man, and speak.

lachimo. Upon a time, — unhappy was the clock
That struck the hour ! — it was in Rome, — accurs'd
The mansion where ! — ?t was at a feast, — O, would
Our viands had been poison'd, or at least
Those which I heav'd to head! — the good Posthumus —
What should I say? he was too good to be
^AVhere ill men were, and was the best of all
S Amongst the rar'st of good ones, — sitting sadly, 160

Hearing us praise our loves of Italy
VFor beauty that made barren the swell'd boast
Of him that best could speak ; for feature, laming
The shrine of Venus, or straight-pight Minerva,
Postures beyond brief nature ; for condition,
A shop of all the qualities that man

ACT V. SCENE V. 149

Loves woman for, besides that hook of wiving,
7 &'

Fairness which strikes the eye —

Cymbeline. 1 stand on fire ;

Come to the matter.

lachimo. All too soon I shall,

Unless thou wouldst grieve quickly. This Posthumus, 170
Most like a noble lord in love and one
That had a royal lover, took his hint ;
And, not dispraising whom we prais'd, — therein
He was as calm as virtue — he began
His mistress' picture ; which by his tongue being made,
And then a mind put in 't, either our brags
Were crack'd of kitchen-trulls, or his description
Proved us unspeaking sots.

Cymbeline. Nay, nay, to the purpose.

lachimo. Your daughter's chastity — there it begins.
He spake of her, as Dian had hot dreams, 180

And she alone were cold ; whereat I, wretch,
Made scruple of his praise, and wager'd with him
Pieces of gold 'gainst this which then he wore
Upon his honour'd finger, to attain
In suit the place of 's bed and win this ring
By hers and mine adultery. He, true knight,
No lesser of her honour confident
Than I did truly find her, stakes this ring;
And would so, had it been a carbuncle

Of Phoebus' wheel, and might so safely, had it 190

Been all the worth of 's car. Away to Britain
Post I in this design ; well may you, sir,
Remember me at court, where I was taught
Of your chaste daughter the wide difference
'Twixt amorous and villanous. Being thus quencrTd
Of hope, not longing, mine Italian brain
Gan in your duller Britain operate
Most vilely, — for my vantage, excellent, —

1 50 CYMBELINE.

And, to be brief, my practice so prevail'd,

That I return'd with simular proof enough 200

To make the noble Leonatus mad,

By wounding his belief in her renown

With tokens thus, and thus ; averring notes

Of chamber-hanging, pictures, this her bracelet, —

0 cunning, how I got it ! — nay, some marks
Of secret on her person, that he coulcl not
But think her bond of chastity quite crack'd,

1 having ta'en the forfeit. Whereupon —
Methinks, I see him now —

Posthumus. \Advandng\ Ay, so thou dost,
Italian fiend ! — Ay me, most credulous fool, 210

Egregious murtherer, thief, any thing
That 's due to all the villains past, in being,
To come ! — O, give me cord, or knife, or poison,
Some upright justicer ! Thou, king, send out
For torturers ingenious ; it is I
That all the abhorred things o' the earth amend
By being worse than they. I am Posthumus,
That kill'd thy daughter ; — villain-like, I lie —
That caused a lesser villain than myself,
A sacrilegious thief, to do 't : the temple 220

Of virtue was she, — yea, and she herself.
Spit, and throw stones, cast mire upon me, set
The dogs o' the street to bay me ; every villain
Be call'd Posthumus Leonatus, and
Be villany less than 7t was ! — O Imogen !
My queen, my life, my wife ! O Imogen,
Imogen, Imogen !

Imogen. Peace, my lord ; hear, hear —

Posthumus. Shall 's have a play of this ? Thou scornful page,
There lie thy part. [Striking her ; she falls.

Pisanio. O, gen tl e m e n , h e 1 p !

Mine and your mistress ! — O, my lord Posthumus ! 230

ACT V. SCENE V. j^i

You ne'er kilPd Imogen till now. — Help, help !
Mine honour'd lady!

Cymbdine. Does the world go round ?

Posthumus. How comes these staggers on me ?

Pisanio. Wake, my mistress !

Cymbeline. If this be so, the gods do mean to strike me
To death with mortal joy.

Pisanio. How fares my mistress ?

Imogen. O, get thee from my sight ;
Thou gav'st me poison : dangerous fellow, hence !
Breathe not where princes are.

Cymbeline. The tune of Imogen !

Pisanio. Lady,

The gods throw stones of sulphur on me, if 24

That box I gave you was not thought by me
A precious thing ; I had it from the queen.

Cymbeline. New matter still ?

Imogen. It poison'd me.

Cornelius. O gods !

I left out one thing which the queen confess'd,
Which must approve thee honest; 'If Pisanio
Have,' said she, 'given his mistress that confection
Which I gave him for cordial, she is serv'd
As I would serve a rat.'

Cymbeline. What 's this, Cornelius ?

Cornelius. The queen, sir, very oft importun'd me
To temper poisons for her, still pretending 25

The satisfaction of her knowledge only
In killing creatures vile, as cats and dogs,
Of no esteem. I, dreading that her purpose
Was of more danger, did compound for her
A certain stuff, which, being ta'en, would cease
The present power of life, but in short time
All offices of nature should again
Do their due functions. — Have you ta'en of it ?

I52 CYMBELINE.

Imogen. Most like I did, for I was dead.

Belarius. My boys,

There was our error.

Guiderius. This is, sure, Fidele. 260

Imogen. Why did you throw your wedded lady from

you ?

Think that you are upon a rock, and now
Throw me again. [Embracing him.

Posthumus. Hang there like fruit, my soul,

Till the tree die !

Cymbeline. How now, my flesh, my child !

What, mak'st thou me a dullard in this act?
Wilt thou not speak to me ?

Imogen. \Kneeling\ Your blessing, sir.

Belarius. \To Guiderius and Arviragus] Though you did

love this youth, I blame ye not;
You had a motive for 't.

Cymbeline. My tears that fall

Prove holy water on thee ! Imogen,
Thy mother's dead.

Imogen. I am sorry for 't, my lord. 270

Cymbeline. O, she was naught ; and long of her it was
That we meet here so strangely : but her son
Is gone, we know not how nor where.

Pisanio. My lord,

Now fear is from me, I '11 speak troth. Lord Cloten,
Upon my lady's missing, came to me
With his sword drawn, foam'd at the mouth, and swore,
If I discover'd not which way she was gone,
It was my instant death. By accident,
I had a feigned letter of my master's

Then in my pocket, which directed him 280

To seek her on the mountains near to Milford ;
Where, in a frenzy, in my master's garments,
Which he enforc'd from me, away he posts

ACT V. SCENE V. !

With unchaste purpose and with oath to violate
My lady's honour. What became of him
I further know not.

Guiderius. Let me end the story ;

I slew him there.

Cymbeline. Marry, the gods forfend !

I would not thy good deeds should from my lips
Pluck a hard sentence; prithee, valiant youth,
Deny \ again.

Guiderius. I have spoke it, and I did it.

Cymbeline. He was a prince.

Guiderius. A most incivil one ; the wrongs he did me
Were nothing prince-like, for he did provoke me
With language that would make me spurn the sea,
If it could so roar to me. I cut off 's head,
And am right glad he is not standing here
To tell this tale of mine.

Cymbeline. I am sorry for thee.

By thine own tongue thou art condemn'd, and must
Endure our law; thou 'rt dead.

Imogen. That headless man

I thought had been my lord.

Cymbeline. Bind the offender,

And take him from our presence.

Belarius. Stay, sir king !

This man is better than the man he slew,
As well descended as thyself, and hath
More of thee merited than a band of Clotens
Had ever scar for. — [To the Guard} Let his arms alone;
They were not born for bondage.

Cymbeline. Wrhy, old soldier,

Wilt thou undo the worth thou art unpaid for,
By tasting of our wrath ? How of descent
As good as we ?

Arviragus. In that he spake too far.

!54 CYMBELINE.

Cymbeline. And thou shalt die for 't.

Belarius. We will die all three,

But I will prove that two on 's are as good 3n

As I have given out him. — My sons, I must,
For mine own part, unfold a dangerous speech,
Though, haply, well for you.

Arviragus. Your danger 's ours.

Guiderius. And our good his.

Belarius. Have at it then, by leave. —

Thou hadst, great king, a subject who
Was call'd Belarius.

Cymbeline. What of him ? he is

A banish'd traitor.

Belarius. He it is that hath

Assum'd this age ; indeed a banish'd man,
I know not how a traitor.

Cymbeline. Take him hence ; 320

The whole world shall not save him.

Belarius. Not too hot !

First pay me for the nursing of thy sons ;
And let it be confiscate all, so soon
As I have receiv'd it.

Cymbeline. Nursing of my sons !

Belarius. I am too blunt and saucy; here 's my knee.
Ere I arise, I will prefer my sons;
Then spare not the old father. Mighty sir,
These two young gentlemen, that call me father
And think they are my sons, are none of mine;
They are the issue of your loins, my liege, 33o

And blood of your begetting.

Cymbeline. How ! my issue !

Belarius. So sure as you your father's. I, old Morgan,
Am that Belarius whom you sometime banish'd.
Your pleasure was my mere offence, my punishment
Itself, and all my treason ; that I suffer'd

ACT V. SCENE V. !55

Was all the harm I did. These gentle princes—

For such and so they are — these twenty years

Have I train'd up: those arts they have as I

Could put into them ; my breeding was, sir, as

Your highness knows. Their nurse, Euriphile, 340

Whom for the theft I wedded, stole these children

Upon my banishment. I moved her to 't,

Having receiv'd the punishment before

For that which I did then ; beaten for loyalty

Excited me to treason. Their dear loss,

The more of you 't was felt, the more it shap'd

Unto my end of stealing them. But, gracious sir,

Here are your sons again ; and I must lose

Two of the sweet'st companions in the world. —

The benediction of these covering heavens 350

Fall on their heads like dew! for they are worthy

To inlay heaven with stars.

Cymbdine. Thou weep'st, and speak'st.

The service that you three have done is more
Unlike than this thou tell'st. I lost my children ;
If these be they, I know not how to wish
A pair of worthier sons.

Belarius. Be pleas'd awhile.

This gentleman, whom I call Polydore,
Most worthy prince, as yours, is true Guiderius.
This gentleman, my Cadwal, Arviragus,
Your younger princely son ; he, sir, was lapp'd 360

In a most curious mantle, wrought by the hand
Of his queen mother, which for more probation
I can with ease produce.

Cymbeline. Guiderius had

Upbn his neck a mole, a sanguine star;
It was a mark of wonder.

Belarius. This is he,

Who hath upon him still that natural stamp.

156 CYMBEL2NE.

It was wise nature's end in the donation,
To be his evidence now.

Cymbeline. O, what, am I

A mother to the birth of three ? Ne'er mother
Rejoic'd-deliverance more. — Blest pray you be, 370

That, after this strange starting from your orbs,
You may reign in them now!— O Imogen,
Thou hast lost by this a kingdom.

Imogen. No, my lord ;

I have got two worlds by 't. — O my gentle brothers,
Have we thus met? O, never say hereafter
But I am truest speaker: you call'd me brother,
When I was but your sister ; I you brothers,
When ye were so indeed.

Cymbeline. Did you e'er meet?

Arviragus. Ay, my good lord.

Guiderius. And at first meeting lov'd;

Continued so, until we thought he died. 380

Cornelius. By the queen's dram she swallow'd.

Cymbeline. O rare instinct!

When shall I hear all through? This fierce abridgment
Hath to it circumstantial branches, which
Distinction should be rich in. — Where? how liv'd you?
And when came you to serve our Roman captive?
How parted with your brothers? how first met them?
Why fled you from the court? and whither? These,
And your three motives to the battle, with
I know not how much more, should be demanded,
And all the other by-dependances, 390

From chance to chance ; but nor the time nor place
Will serve our long inter'gatories. See,
Posthumus anchors upon Imogen,
And she, like harmless lightning, throws her eye
On him, her brothers, me, her master, hitting
Each object with a joy ; the counterchange

ACT V. SCENE V. 1$j

Is severally in all. Let 's quit this ground,
And smoke the temple with our sacrifices. —
\To Belarius\ Thou art my brother; so we '11 hold thee
ever.

Imogen. You are my father too, and did relieve me, 400
To see this gracious season.

Cymbeline. All o'erjoy'd,

Save these in bonds; let them be joyful too,
For they shall taste our comfort.

Imogen. My good master,

I will yet do you service.

Lucius. Happy be you!

Cymbeline. The forlorn soldier, that so nobly fought,
He would have well becom'd this place, and grac'd
The thankings of a king.

Posthumus. I am, sir,

The soldier that did company these three
In poor beseeming; 't was a fitment for
The purpose I then follow'd. — That I was he, 410

Speak, lachimo; I had you down, and might
Have made you finish.

lachimo. \Kneeling\ I am down again;
But now my heavy conscience sinks my knee,
As then your force did. Take that life, beseech you,
Which I so often owe ; but your ring first,
And here the bracelet of the truest princess
That ever swore her faith.

Posthumus. Kneel not to me ;

The power that I have on you is to spare you,
The malice towards you to forgive you. Live,
And deal with others better.

Cymbeline. Nobly doom'd! 420

We Ml learn our freeness of a son-in-law ;
Pardon 's the word to all.

Arviragus. You holp us, sir,

I58 CYMBELINE.

As you did mean indeed to be our brother;
Joy'd are we that you are.

Posthumus. Your servant, princes. — Good my lord of

Rome,

Call forth your soothsayer. As I slept, methought
Great Jupiter, upon his eagle back'd,
Appear'd to me, with other spritely shows
Of mine own kindred. When I wak'd, I found
This label on my bosom, whose containing 43°

Is so from sense in hardness, that I can
Make no collection of it ; let him show
His skill in the construction.

Lucius. Philarmonus!

Soothsayer. Here, my good lord.

Lucius. Read, and declare the meaning.

Soothsayer. [Reads] ' Whenas a lion's whelp shall, to him-
self unknown, without seeking find, and be embraced by a piece
of tender air; and when from a stately cedar shall be lopped
branches, which, being dead many years, shall after revive, be
jointed to the old stock, and freshly grow; then shall Posthumus
end his miseries, Britain be fortunate and flourish in peace and
plenty? 441

Thou, Leonatus, art the lion's whelp;
The fit and apt construction of thy name,
Being Leo-natus, doth import so much.- —
\To Cymbeline~\ The piece of tender air, thy virtuous daughter,
Which we call ' mollis aer ;' and ' mollis aer '
We term it 'mulier:' which ' mulier ' I divine
Is this most constant wife; who, even now,
Answering the letter of the oracle,

Unknown to you, unsought, were clipp'd about w

With this most tender air.

Cymbeline. This hath some seeming.

Soothsayer. The lofty cedar, royal Cymbeline,
Personates thee; and thy lopp'd branches point

ACT V. SCENE V. !59

Thy two sons forth, who, by Belarius stol'n,
For many years thought dead, are now reviv'd,
To the majestic cedar join'd, whose issue
Promises Britain peace and plenty.

Cymbeline. Well,

My peace we will begin.— And, Caius Lucius,
Although the victor, we submit to Caesar
And to the Roman empire, promising 460

To pay our wonted tribute, from the which
We were dissuaded by our wicked queen ;
Whom heavens, in justice, both on her and hers,
Have laid most heavy hand.

Soothsayer. The fingers of the powers above do tune
The harmony of this peace. The vision
Which I made known to Lucius, ere the stroke
Of yet this scarce-cold battle, at this instant
Is full accomplish'd ; for the Roman eagle,
From south to west on wing soaring aloft, 470

Lessen'd herself, and in the beams o' the sun
So vanished : which foreshow'd our princely eagle,
The imperial Caesar, should again unite
His favour with the radiant Cymbeline,
Which shines here in the west.

Cymbeline. Laud we the gods;

And let our crooked smokes climb to their nostrils
From our blest altars. Publish we this peace
To all our subjects. Set we forward. Let
A Roman and a British ensign wave

Friendly together; so through Lud's town march, 48o

And in the temple of great Jupiter
Our peace we '11 ratify, seal it with feasts. —
Set on there! — Never was a war did cease,
Ere bloody hands were wash'd, with such a peace. \Exeunt.

NOTES.

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES.

Abbott (or Gr.), Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar (third edition).
A. S., Anglo-Saxon.

A. V., Authorized Version of the Bible (1611).

B. and F., Beaumont and Fletcher.
B. J., Ben Jonson.

Camb. ed., " Cambridge edition" of Shakespeare, edited by Clark and Wright.

Cf. (confer), compare.

Clarke, " Cassell's Illustrated Shakespeare," edited by Charles and Mary Cowden-
Clarke (London, n. d.).

Coll., Collier (second edition).

Coll. MS., Manuscript Corrections of Second Folio, edited by Collier.

D., Dyce (second edition).

H., Hudson (" Harvard" ed.).

Halliwell, J. O. Halliwell (folio ed. of Shakespeare).

Id. (idem), the same.

J. H., J. Hunter's ed. oiCymb. (London, 1878).

K., Knight (second edition).

Nares, Glossary, edited bv Halliwell and Wright (London, 1859).

Prol., Prologue.

S-, Shakespeare.

Schmidt, A. Schmidt's Shakespeare- Lexicon (Berlin, 1874).

Sr., Singer.

St., Staunton.

Theo., Theobald.

V., Verplanck.

W., R. Grant White.

Walker, Wm. Sidney Walker's Critical Examination of the Text of Shakespeare
(London, 1860).

Warb., Warburton.

Wb., Webster's Dictionary (revised quarto edition of 1879).

Wore., Worcester's Dictionary (quarto edition).

The abbreviations of the names of Shakespeare's Plays will be readily understood ; as
T. N. for Twelfth Night, Cor. for Coriolanus, 3 Hen. VI. for The Third Part of King
Henry the Sixth, etc. P. P. refers to The Passionate Pilgrim ; V. and A . to Venus
and Adonis ; L. C. to Lover's Complaint ; and Sonn. to the Sonnets.

When the abbreviation of the name of a play is followed by a reference to page,
Rolfe's edition of the play is meant.

The numbers of the lines (except for the present play) are those of the " Globe " ed.
or of the American reprint of that ed.

NOTES.

ROMAN AND BRITISH WEAPONS.

INTRODUCTION.

THE following extracts from Holinshed (see p. n above) include all
the portions of the chronicle which Shakespeare can have used in writ-
ing the play :

" After the death of Cassibelane, Theomantius or Lenantius, the young-
est son of Lud, was made king of Britain in the year of the world 3921,
after the building of Rome 706, and before the coming of Christ 45. —
Theomantius ruled the land in good quiet, and paid the tribute to the
Romans which Cassibelane had granted, and finally departed this life
after he had reigned twenty-two years, and was buried at London.

" Kymbeline or Cimbeline, the son of Theomantius, was of the Brit-
ains made king, after the decease of his father, in the year of the world
3944, after the building of Rome 728, and before the birth of our Saviour
33. This man (as some write) was brought up at Rome, and there made
knight by Augustus Caesar, under whom he served in the wars, and was in
such favour with him that he was at liberty to pay his tribute or not. . . .
Touching the continuance of the years of Kymbeline's reign some writers
do vary, but the best approved affirm that he reigned thirty-five years
and then died, and was buried at London, leaving behind him two sons,
Guiderius and Arviragus. But here is to be noted that, although our

1 64 NOTES.

histories do affirm that as well this Kymbeline, as also his father Theo-
mantius, lived in quiet with the Romans, and continually to them paid
the tributes which the Britains had covenanted with Julius Caesar to pay,
yet we find in the Roman writers, that after Julius Caesar's death, when
Augustus had taken upon him the rule of the empire, the Britains refused
to pay that tribute : whereat, as Cornelius Tacitus reporteth, Augustus
(being otherwise occupied) was contented to wink; howbeit, through
earnest calling upon to recover his right by such as were desirous to see
the uttermost of the British kingdom ; at length, to wit, in the tenth year
after the death of Julius Caesar, which was about the thirteenth year of
the said Theomantius, Augustus made provision to pass with an army
over into Britain, and was come forward upon his journey into Gallia
Celtica, or, as we may say, into these hither parts of France.

" But here receiving advertisements that the Pannonians, which inhab-
ited the country now called Hungary, and the Dalmatians, whom now we
call Slavons, had rebelled, he thought it best first to subdue those rebels
near home, rather than to seek new countries, and leave such in hazard
whereof he had present possession ; and so, turning his power against the
Pannonians and Dalmatians, he left off for a time the wars of Britain,
whereby the land remained without fear of any invasion to be made by
the Romans till the year after the building of the city of Rome, 725, and
about the nineteenth year of Theomantius' reign, that Augustus with an
army departed once again from Rome to pass over into Britain there to
make war. But after his coming into Gallia, when the Britains sent to
him certain ambassadors to treat with him of peace, he staid there to set-
tle the state of things among the Galles, for that they were not in very
good order. ... But whether this controversy, which appeareth to fall
forth betwixt the Britains and Augustus, was occasioned by Kymbeline,
or some other prince of the Britains, I have not to avouch : for that by our
writers it is reported that Kymbeline, being brought up in Rome, and
knighted in the court of Augustus, ever showed himself a friend to the
Romans, and chiefly was loth to break with them, because the youth of
the British nation should not be deprived of the benefit to be trained and
brought up among the Romans, whereby they might learn both to be-
have themselves like civil men, and to attain to the knowledge of feats
of war. . . .

" Mulmucius Dunwallo, the son of Cloten, got the upper hand of the
other dukes or rulers : and after his father's decease began his reign over
the whole monarchy of Britain, in the year of the world 3529. This Mul-
mucius Dunwallo proved a right worthy prince. He builded within the
city of London, then called Troinovant, a temple, and called it the Tem-
ple of Peace. He also made many good laws, which were long after
used, called Mulmucius' laws. After he had established his land, and
set his Britains in good and convenient order, he ordained him by the ad-
vice of his lords a crown of gold, and caused himself with great solemni-
ty to be crowned, according to the custom of the pagan laws then in use :
and because he was the first who bare a crown here in Britain, after the
opinion of some writers, he is named the first king of Britain, and all the
other before rehearsed are named rulers, dukes, or governors."

ACT I. SCENE I. l6r

ACT I.

SCENE I. — i. Bloods. Temperaments, dispositions; as in 2 Hen. IV.
iv. 4. 38: "When you perceive his blood inclin'd to mirth," etc. The
plural is used, as often, because more than one person is referred to. Cf.
Rich. II. p. 206, note on Sights.

3. Still seem as does the king. The folios have " kings," and some
modern editors read " king's " (that is, the king's blood). King is Tyr-
whitt's conjecture (also in the Coll. MS.), and is adopted by K., Coll., I).,
W., Clarke, and others.

The sense is : Our temperaments are not more surely controlled by
planetary influences than the aspect of our courtiers is by that of the
king ; their looks reflect the sadness of his. Cf. 13 just below.

4. Of 's. Such contractions are especially frequent in the latest plays
of S. See many instances below.

10. None but the king? "Are all but the king in outward sorrow
only ? none else touched at heart ?" (J. H.).

13. To the bent. According to the cast or aspect Cf. A. and C. i. 3.

** " Eternity was in our lips and eyes,

Bliss in our brows' bent," etc.

23. Outward. For the noun, cf. Sonn. 69. 5 : " Thy outward thus with
outward praise is crown'd ;" T. and C. iii. 2. 169 : "Outliving beauty's
outward," etc.

24. But he. Changed by Rowe to " but him." Cf. A. Y. L. i. 2. 18 :
5< my father hath no child but I." See also Gr. 205 fol.

You speak him far. You go far in what you say of him. Cf. v. 5. 309
below.

25. I do extend him, sir, within himself. That is, far as I speak him,
I keep within the bounds of his merit. Malone paraphrases the passage
thus : " My eulogium, however extended it may seem, is short of his real
excellence ; it is abbreviated rather than expanded."

29. Did join his honour. Gave his noble aid or alliance. The passage
has troubled many of the commentators, who have suggested " win,"
"gain," and "earn" for join, and "banner" for honozir ; but no change
seems really called for.

30. Casstbelan. Lud's younger brother, while Tenantius, whom Hoi ins-
hed (see p. 163 above) calls " Theomantius or Lenantius," was Lud's son.
On the death of his brother, Cassibelan usurped the throne.

31. But had his titles, etc. That is, though he had joined the party of
the usurper, he was forgiven and honoured by the rightful king.

33. Sur-addition. Surname ; used by S. only here. " The name of
Leonatus he found in Sidney's Arcadia. Leonatus is there the legitimate
son of the blind King of Paphlagonia, on whose story the episode of
Gloster, Edgar, and Edmund is formed in King Lear" (Malone). Cf.
Lear, p. 159.

37. Fond of issue. The Coll. MS, has " of 's " for of; but, as Coll. re-
marks, the change is needless.

41. Leonatus. Omitted by Pope for the sake of the metre ; but proper

1 66 NOTES.

names are often used in this loose way at the end of a line. See Gr.
469.

43. Learnings. The only instance of the plural in S. His tt'me=his
age.

46. In '.r. See on 4 above. Pope changed in *s to " his."

47. Which rare it is to do. " This encomium is high and artful. To
be at once in any degree loved and praised is truly rare " (Johnson).

49. Feated. Fashioned, " featured " (Rowe's reading) ; used by S. only
here. Sr. quotes Palsgrave, 1530: "I am well feted or shapen of my
lymmes ; je suis bien aligne."

Steevens compares 2 Hen. IV. ii. 3. 21 [see also 31] :

" he was indeed the glass
Wherein the noble youth did dress themselves ;"

and Ham. iii. i. 161 : "The glass of fashion and the mould of form.'T

50. To his mistress. Mason says that to is — "a.? to." We prefer to
consider the passage an instance of " construction changed by change of
thought" (Gr. 415).

58. Mark it. " Shakespeare's dramatic art uses this expedient, natu-
rally introduced into the dialogue, to draw special attention to a circum-
stance that it is essential should be borne in mind, and which otherwise
might escape notice in the course of narration " (Clarke).

63. Conveyed. Stolen. Cf. Rich. II. iv. I. 317 : " O, good ! Convey ? —
conveyers are you all ;" and see our ed. p. 206.

70. Enter the Queen, etc. The folio begins " Scena Secunda" here,
and some modern editors follow it. Rowe was the first to continue the
scene.

74. Posthumus. Accented by S. on the second syllable. V. remarks :
"Well-educated men in England have an accuracy as to Latin quantity,
and lay a stress upon it, such as are elsewhere found only among pro-
fessed scholars. On this account Steevens and other critics have con-
sidered the erroneous quantity or accentuation of Posthumus and Ar-
viragus as decisive of Shakespeare's want of learning. But the truth is,
that in his day, great latitude, in this respect, prevailed among authors ;
and it is probable that Latin was taught in the schools, as it still is in
Scotland and many parts of the United States, without any minute at-
tention to prosody. Steevens himself has shown that the older poets
were careless in this matter. Thus the poetical Earl of Stirling has
Darius and Euphrates with the penultimate short. Warner, who was, I
believe, a scholar, in his 'Albion's England,' has the same error with
Shakespeare, as to both names."

78. Leaned unto. Bowed to, submitted to.

86. Something. . , nothing. Both often used adverbially. Cf. i. 4. 66,
101, i. 6. 190, iv. 4, 15, etc., below. Gr. 55, 68.

87. Always reserved my holy duty. " So far as I may say it without
breach of duty" (Johnson),

96. Loyalist. For the contracted superlative, cf. iii. 5. 44, iv. 2. 175,
191, etc., below. Gr. 473.

101. Gall. Johnson says: " Shakespeare, even in this poor conceit,
has confounded the vegetable galls used in ink with the animal gall, sup-

ACT I. SCENE I. !67

posed to be bitter ;" but Steevens reminds him that the vegetable gall
is also bitter. Cf. T. N. iii. 2. 52 : " Let there be gall enough in thy
ink."

105. He does btiy my injuries to be friends. " He gives me a valuable
consideration in new kindness (purchasing, as it were, the wrong I have
done him), in order to renew our amity and make us friends again "
(Malone).

113. Till you woo another wife. Mrs. Jameson says on this and what
follows : " Imogen, in whose tenderness there is nothing jealous or fan-
tastic, does not seriously apprehend that her husband will woo another
wife when she is dead. It is one of those fond fancies which women are
apt to express in moments of feeling, merely for the pleasure of hearing
a protestation to the contrary. When Posthumus leaves her, she does
not burst forth in eloquent lamentation ; but that silent, stunning, over-
whelming sorrow, which renders the mind insensible to all things else,
is represented with equal force and simplicity."

116. Sear. "Cere" and "seal" have been suggested, but we think it
probable, with Clarke, that "sear is here used to express the dry wither-
ing of death, as well as the closing with wax by those bonds of death,
cerecloths [cf. M. ofV. ii. 7. 51], sometimes written seare-cloths"

118. While sense can keep it on. Steevens took this to be — "While
sense can maintain its operations, or continues to have its usual power ;"
but it probably refers to the ring, as others have explained it. For the
change of person, Malone compares iii. 3. 103 below :

" Euriphile,

Thou wast their nurse ; they took thee for their mother,
And every day do honour to her grave."

Pope reads " thee " for it, and W. conjectures " it own " (cf. W. T. p.
172).

124. When shall we see again ? Cf. Hen. VIII. i. I. 2 : " Since last we
saw in France." See also T. and C. iv. 4. 59. Gr. 382.

125. Avoid! Begone ! Cf. C. of E. iv. 3. 48 : " Satan, avoid !" See
also Temp. p. 137.

126. Fraught. Burden. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 13: "The fraughting souls
within her" (that is, the ship). See also M. of V. p. 145. Freight is not
used by S. or Milton, either as verb or noun.

129. The good remainders, etc. "That is, the court which now gets
rid of my umvorthiness " (Schmidt).

130. A pinch. A pang. Cf. Temp.v. I. 77: "Whose inward pinches
[the pangs of remorse] therefore are most strong."

133. A year's age. As the passage stands this seems an impotent con-
clusion, and the defective measure of the preceding line suggests that
something may have been lost. Hanmer gave " heapest many," and
Capell "heap'st instead." Theo. changed year's to " yare " (=speedy),
and Johnson conjectured " Years, ages." Schmidt would read " a years'
age" = "an age advanced in years, old age." V. accepts the old read-
ing, and says : " The aged king, to whom every added year is a serious
burden, tells his daughter that in her present act of fond sorrow she
takes away a year of his life."

1 68 NOTES.

135. Senseless of. Insensible to. Cf. A. Y. L. ii. 7. 55 : " to seem
senseless of the bob " (that is, seem not to feel the blow), etc.

A touch more rare. A more exquisite sensibility. Malone quotes
Lear, iii. 4. 8 :

" But where the greater malady is fix'd,
The lesser is scarce felt."

140. A puttock. A kite, or a worthless species of hawk. Cf. 2 Hen. VI.
iii. 2. 191 :

" Who finds the partridge in the puttock' s nest
But may imagine how the bird was dead,
Although the kite soar with unbloodied beak?"

and T. and C. v. I. 68 : "a toad, a lizard, an owl, a puttock," etc.

146. Overbuys me, etc. Pays a price that exceeds by almost the full
amount what he gets in return ; that is, he gives himself worth any
woman, even the best of her sex, and gets only my almost worthless self
in return.

153. Beseech your patience. That is, / beseech it; a common ellipsis.
Cf. prithee— I pray thee. See Gr. 401.

156. Your best advice. Your most careful consideration. Cf. Rich.
II. i. 3. 233 : " Thy son is banish'd upon good advice " (that is, after due
deliberation) ; M. of V. iv. 2.6: " upon more advice " (upon reflection),
etc.

157. A drop of blood a day. Steevens compares Oth. v. 2. 155 :

" may his pernicious soul
Rot half a grain a day ! "

164. On V. Of it. Cf. v. 5. 311 below: "two on 's," etc. Gr. 182.
167. In Afric. That is, where no one would be at hand to part them.
Cf. Cor. iv. 2. 23 :

" I would my son

Were in Arabia, and thy tribe before him,
His good sword in his hand!"

Macb. iii. 4. 104 : " And dare me to the desert with thy sword ;" and
Rich. II. iv. i. 74: "I dare meet Surrey in a wilderness" (see our ed.
p. 202). On Afric, cf. Cor. p. 21 1.

171. Bring: Accompany. Cf. W. T. iv. 3. 122 : " Shall I bring thee
on the way ?" See also Gen. xviii. 16, Acts, xxi. 5, 2 Cor. i. 16, etc.

176. Walk. Retire, withdraw. See Lear, p. 222.

SCENE II.— 5. Then to shift it. Then I would shift it. Some follow
Rowe in pointing " then to shift it — "

8. Passable. Affording free passage ; no more to be wounded than
" the still-closing waters " in Temp. iii. 3. 64.

9. Through/are. Thoroughfare ; as in M. of V. ii. 7. 42. Thorough-
fare does not occur in the folio, though many of the modern eds. follow
Pope in reading it here. Cf. Gr. 478.

14. He fled forward. Steevens compares T. and C. iv. I. 20 :

"And thou shalt hunt a lion, that will fly
With his face backward."

ACT I. SCENE III. X69

17. Having. Possession, property. Cf. T. AT. iii. 4, 379 : " My having
is not much." See also A. Y.L. p. 178. The quibble in gave you some
ground is obvious.

19. Puppies. Referring to " his disgust at the swagger of Cloten and
the sycophancy of the first lord, who plies the swaggerer with spaniel
flattery and fawning " (Clarke).

25. A true election. A right choice. W. thinks there is an allusion to
the Calvinistic doctrine of election.

27. Her beauty and her brain, etc. Johnson conjectured " beauty and
brain ;" but the meaning is simply that her beauty and wit are not
equal.

28. She 's a good sign, etc. " She has a fair outside, a specious appear-
ance, but no wit" (Edwards). Cf. Much Ado, iv. I. 34 : " She 's but the
sign and semblance of her honour." Malone cites what lachimo says of
Imogen in i. 6. 15 :

"All of her .that is out of door, most rich!
If she be furnish1 d with a mind so rare,
She is alone the Arabian bird."

SCENE III. — 4. As offered mercy is. " As a pardon that has miscarried,
or arrived too late to stay the execution of a prisoner " (J. H.). St. would
read "deferr'd."

9. This. The folios have " his ;" corrected by Theo. (the conjecture
of Warb.). Coleridge suggests "the," and W. "or." Hanmer reads
"mark me with his»eye, or I," etc.

12. Of Js. See on i. i. 4 above.

1 6. After-eye. Look after ; used by S. only here.

17. Crack "d. Not a weaker word than broke, as S. uses it. Cf. Cor.
i. i. 72 :

" Cracking ten thousand curbs
Of more strong link asunder than can ever
Appear in your impediment ;"

and see our ed. p. 196.

1 8. The diminution of space. The diminution due to space, or dis-
tance.

24. Vantage. Opportunity. Cf. ii. 3. 43 below.

29. Shes. Cf. i. 6. 39 below : " two such shes." See also A. Y. L.
p. 170. Gr. 224.

32. 71? encounter. To meet, or join with.

33. I am in heaven. My prayers will be rising to heaven.

35. Two charming words. Imogen does not tell us these words, but
Warb. informs us that they were "Adieu, Posthumus !" Charming^
that should be as a charm to preserve him from evil.

36. The north. Cf. Oth. v. 2. 220 : " No, I will speak as liberal as the
north ;" that is, as freely as the north wind blows.

37. Our^buds. " Our buds of love," as Malone is kind enough to tell
us. Warb. wanted to read "blowing" for growing; which drew forth
this ponderous comment from Johnson : " A bud without any distinct
idea, whether of flower or fruit, is a natural representation of any thing

I7o NOTES.

incipient or immature ; and the buds of flowers, if flowers are meant,
grow to flowers, as the buds of fruits grow to fruits." Cf. R. and J. ii.

2. 121 *

"This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet."

SCENE IV. — " It has been observed that the behaviour of the Spaniard
and the Dutchman, who are stated to be present during this animated
scene, is in humorous accordance with the apathy and taciturnity usually
attributed to their countrymen. Neither the Don nor Mynheer utters a
syllable. * What was Imogen to them, or they to Imogen,' that they
should speak of her ?" (V.). W. remarks that " their mere presence has
a dramatic value, as indicating the mixed company of travellers in which
this scene takes place."

2. A crescent note. A growing reputation. For crescent, cf. Ham. i. 3.
II and A. and C. ii. I. 10; and for note ( = distinction), i. 6. 22 below:
" of the noblest note," etc. The 3d and 4th folios have " none " for
note; and Pope (ed. 2) reads : "then but crescent, none expected him,"
etc.

4. Admiration. Wonder, astonishment; as in i. 6. 37 below.

8. Makes him. " In the sense in which we say, This will make or mar
you" (Johnson).

14. Words him . . . a great deal from the matter. "Makes the de-
scription of him very distant from the truth" (Johnson). Forfrom =
away from, see Rich. III. p. 233, or T. N. p. 130. Gr. 158.

18. Under her colours. " Under her banner ; by her«influence " (John-
son).

Are wonderfully to extend him. Tend greatly to increase his reputa-
tion. Cf. the use of extend in i. i. 25 above. Are is probably an in-
stance of "confusion of proximity " (Gr. 412), as Malone explains it ; but
Steevens includes the preceding matter (in 12) and banishment in the sub-
ject. The Coll. MS. has " are wont."

20. Without less. Changed by Rowe to " without more." W. con-
jectures " with less " or " without this," and Lloyd " without other." It
is probably one of the peculiar " double negatives " of which so many
examples are to be found in S. See Lear, p. 210 (note on You less know
how, etc.), or A. Y. L. p. 156 (on No more do yours}. Cf. Schmidt, p. 1420.

26. Knowing. Knowledge, experience ; as in ii. 3. 95 below.

30. Story. Cf. V.and A. 1013 : "and stories His victories;" and R. of
L. 106 : " He stories to her ears her husband's fame." S. uses the verb
only three times.

32. Have known together. Have been acquainted. Cf. A. and C. ii. 6.
86 : " You and I have known, sir." Pope thought it necessary to read
"been known."

34. Which I will be ever to pay, etc. Malone misquotes A. W. iii. 7. 16 :
" Which I will overpay [" ever pay," he gives it] and pay again."

36. Atone. Make at one, reconcile ; as in Rich. II. i. i. 202 : " Since we
cannot atone you," etc. See our ed. p. 156. For other meanings of 'atone,
see A. Y. L. p. 199.

37. Mortal. Deadly ; as in iii. 4. 18, v. 3. 51, v. 5. 50, 235 below.

ACT L SCENE IV. !7l

38. Importance. Import, matter, subject. Malone and Steevens make
it = importunity ; as in T. N. v. i. 371 and K. John, ii. i. 7.

41. Go evert. Agree, act in accordance. It is used without with
( = agree, coincide) in T. N. v. 1.246: "Were you a woman as the rest
goes even," etc.

43. Offend not. The not is omitted in the folios; inserted by Rowe.
The Coll. MS. has " not offend " (cf. Gr. 305).

46. Such . . . that. Cf. W. T. i. 2. 263 :

"these, my lord,

Are such allow' d infirmities that honesty
Is never free of."

See also i. 6. 129, etc., below. Gr. 279.

47. Confounded. Destroyed ; as often. See Macb. p. 189. Cf. confu-
sion in iii. i. 64 and iv. 2. 93 below.

51. Which may without contradiction, etc. " Which, undoubtedly, may
be publicly told " (Johnson).

54. Upon warrant of bloody affirmation. That is, pledging himself to
seal the truth of it with his blood. S. uses affirmation nowhere else.

55. Constant-qualified. Faithful. The folios have "Constant, Quali-
fied."

56. Attemptable. Liable to be attempted, or seduced ; the only instance
of the word in S.

63. Though I profess myself her adorer, not her friend. This may be
— though I profess to be only her disinterested admirer, not her personal
friend. Johnson explained it thus : " Though I have not the common ob-
ligations of a lover to his mistress, and regard her not with the fondness
of a friend, but with the reverence of an adorer." Mason suggested trans-
posing adorer znd friend. Steevens took friend to be = lover (as in A.
and C. iii. 12. 22, etc.), and Schmidt gives the same explanation. W.
reads "adorer and her friend;" making friend=" accepted lover."
Clarke takes not her friend to be = " not merely her friend," and though =
"inasmuch as, since." St. says : " Posthumus, we apprehend, does not
mean, — I avow myself, not simply her admirer, but her worshipper ; but,
stung by the scornful tone of lachimo's remark, he answers, — Provoked
as I was in France, I would abate her nothing, though the declaration of
my opinion proclaimed me her idolater rather than her lover."

69. Could not but. The folios omit but, which Malone supplied.

77. If there were, etc. The folios have "or if," etc. If it were not for
the or immediately preceding, which probably led to the accidental repe-
tition of the word, we might take "or if" to be=" either if," as J. H.
does.

89. To convince. As to overcome. For the ellipsis of as, see Gr. 281 ;
and for convince, cf. Macb. i. 7. 64 :

" his two chamberlains
Will I with wine and wassail so convince
That memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume," etc.

90. Nothing. For the adverbial use, see on i. i. 86 above.

172 NOTES,

93. Leave. Leave off, desist. Cf. ii. 2. 4 below. See also Rich. II.

p. 211.

97. Go back. Give way. Cf. A. and C. v. 2. 155 : " What, goest thou
back?"

98. To friend. For my friend, to befriend me. Cf. J. C. iii. 1. 143 : " I
know that we shall have him well to friend," etc. See Temp. p. 124, note
on A paragon to their queen. Gr. 189.

100. Moiety. Here— half, but often used for other fractions. See Ham.
p. 174.

101. Something. See on i. i. 86 above.

103. Herein too. The reading of the 3d folio. The earlier folios have
" to " for too. W. reads " herein-to," and " hereunto " is an anonymous
conjecture noted in the Camb. ed.

105. A great deal abused. Much deceived. Cf. Much Ado, v. 2. 100:
" Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily
abused," etc. See also iii. 4. 102, 120 below.

115. Approbation. Proving, establishing. Cf. Hen. V. i. 2. 19 :

" For God doth know how many, now in health,
Shall drop their blood in approbation
Of what your reverence shall incite us to !"

See our ed. p. 146.

117. Whom in constancy ^you think stands, etc. For the "confusion of
construction," cf. Temp. iii. 3. 92 : " Young Ferdinand whom they sup-
pose is drown'd ;" K. John, iv. 2. 165 : " Of Arthur whom they say is
kill'd to-night," etc. Gr. 410.

123. Wage. Wager, stake. Cf. Lear, p. 172.

125. Afraid. The folios have "a friend;" corrected by Theo. (the
conjecture of Warb.). The Coll. MS. has " afeard." Clarke retains **a
friend," as a sneering allusion to what Posthumus has said in 63 above,
and takes the meaning to be : " You are a friend (or lover), not an ador-
er, and therein the wiser, since women are not worthy of adoration and
worship, as immaculate beings." He considers that the use of religion
favours this interpretation.

131. Undergo. Undertake, maintain. Cf. iii. 5. 109 below.

134. Between Js. Changed by Pope to " between us." See on i. i. 4 above.

137. Lay. Wager ; as in Oth. ii. 3. 330 : " my fortunes against any lay
worth naming," etc.

138. If I bring you, etc. " This is in accordance with lachimo's design-
ing manner. He affects to state the terms of the wager on both sides ;
but he, in fact, proposes them so that they shall suggest, either way, Post-
humus's winning " (Clarke).

142. Jewel. Applied in the time of S. to any personal ornament of
gold or precious stones ; as here, and in M.ofV.v. i. 224, to a ring. In
ii. 3. 139 below it means a bracelet. Cf. C. of E. p. 117.

143. Provided I have, etc. That is, provided you will commend (or in-
troduce) me to her so that I may be readily received or entertained. Cf.
119 above. J. H. explains it thus : "Provided I shall receive commen-
dation from you, in the event of my obtaining a more free reception."

145. Articles. A written agreement. Cf. 152 just below.

ACT I. SCENE V. I7^

147. Your voyage upon her. " Your venture upon her " (W.). Cf. M.
W. ii. i. 189 : "If he should intend this voyage towards my wife," etc
See also T. N. iii. i. 86.

154. Starve. Perish with cold ; as in 2 Hen. VI. iii. i. 343 :
' I fear me you but warm the starved snake,
Who, cherish'd in your breasts, will sting your hearts."

See also Spenser, Shep. Kal. Feb. : " The rather Lambes bene starved
with cold" (where rather^ earlier- born), etc. The 1st and 2d folios
have "sterue," for which form see Cor. p. 233, or M. of V. p. 158.
158. Will not from it. Will not recede from it, will not "back out."

SCENE V.— i. Whiles. Used by S. interchangeably with while, which
Rowe substituted here. Gr. 137.

2. Note. List ; or perhaps " prescription, receipt," as Schmidt explains
it. It has this latter sense in A. W. i. 3. 232.

5. Pleaseth. If it please. See 2 Hen. IV. p. 184. Gr. 361.

12. Learned. Taught ; as often. See Rich. II. p. 203, or Gr. 291. Cf.
Ps. xxv. 4, 8, cxix. 66 (Prayer-Book version).

1 8. Conclusions. Experiments ; as in A. and C. v. 2. 358 :

"her physician tells me
She hath pursued conclusions infinite
Of easy ways to die," etc.

22. Act. Action. Cf Oth. iii. 3. 328:

" Dangerous conceits are in their natures poisons,
Which at the first are scarce found to distaste,
But with a little act upon the blood
Burn like the mines of sulphur."

26. Content thee. Be at ease, do not trouble yourself. It is generally
= compose yourself, keep your temper. See R. and J. p. 160.

32. Hark thee. Here thee is probably a corruption of thou. Gr. 212.

33. I do not like her, etc. Johnson criticises this soliloquy as " very in-
artificial," merely "a long speech to tell himself what himself knows ;"
but, as Clarke remarks, it is characteristic in "a reflective man, a stu-
dent, one accustomed to ponder upon his experiments, and to render him-
self an account of the effects they will produce." It also serves the pur-
pose of" informing the audience what is the nature of the drugs thus en-
trusted to the queen's power, and prepares for the incident of Imogen's
return to life after having swallowed them."

43. Truer. Truer to myself, more honest.

47. Quench. " That is, grow cool " (Steevens).

54. Shift his being. " Change his abode " (Johnson).

56. Decay. Destroy. For the transitive use, cf. T. N. i. 5. 82: "in-
firmity, that decays the wise," etc.

58. That leans. " That inclines towards its fall " (Johnson).

64. Cordial. Reviving ; as in iv. 2. 327 below.

68. What a chance thou changest on. " With what a fair prospect of
mending your fortunes you now change your present service " (Steevens).
Rowe has "chancest " for changest, and Theo. "change thou chancest."
W. adopts the latter, which is very plausible.

174

NOTES.

76. Shatfd. For the form cf. Hen. V. ii. I. 124, and T. and C. i. 3. 101.
See also tinshak'd in ii. I. 61 below. Shaken occurs five times, but the
common form in S. is shook. Cf. Gr. 343.

77. The remembrancer, etc. "One who admonishes her to maintain
the matrimonial pledge towards her lord" (J. H). Hand-fast is used by
S. only here and in W. T. iv. 4. 795, where it means confinement, custody.

80. Liegers. " A lieger ambassador is one that resides in a foreign court
to promote his master's interest " (Johnson). Cf. M.for M. iii. i. 59 :

" Lord Ahgelo, having affairs to heaven,
Intends you for his swift ambassador,
Where you shall be an everlasting lieger."

83. The violets, cowslips, etc. " The art with which the poet and dram-
atist has placed these words in the mouth of this queen miscreant is
worthy of remark. He makes her use these beauteous and innocent
products of earth as mere cloaks to her wickedness ; she concocts
'perfumes' and 'confections' from them as a veil to the 'drugs 'and
'poisonous compounds' which she collects for the fellest purposes. It
enhances the effect of her guilt, her thus forcing these sweet blossoms to
become accomplices in her vile schemes ; and we loathe her the more for
her surrounding her unhallowed self with their loveliness. Moreover,
she is untouched by their grace ; she has learned no lesson from their
exquisite structure, colour, fragrance ; she looks upon them as mere
means to an end — and that end a bad one. Observe, too, how skilfully
S. has made this evil woman order her ladies to ' gather these flowers ' —
how she desires that they shall be borne to her closet — her laboratory ;
not gathering or c.aring for them herself; not caring for the touch, and
scent, and sight of these gentle things — that all good people instinctive-
ly love, and cherish, and caress. How different is the poet's treatment
of the subject, where he makes the virtuous Friar Laurence rise with the
dawn, himself to gather the 'precious-juiced flowers,' ' ere the sun advance
his burning eye ;' and dilating with fond enthusiasm on their 'many vir-
tues excellent,' and philosophizing on their varied qualities and purposes !
Supplementary to this higher ethical teaching of the great moralist, how
truly we see the man of rural natural knowledge, in his being aware of
the fact that morning-gathered flowers remain longest fresh and unwith-
ered .'" (Clarke).

SCENE VI. — 4. Supreme. Accented on the first syllable, as regularly
before a noun. Cf. Cor. p. 268. See also on divine, ii. I. 55 below ; and
cf. profane in ii. 3. 122.

6. Most miserable, etc. " Most doomed to disappointment is the exalt-
ed aspiration" (Clarke). The 1st folio has "desires;" corrected in the
2d. Hanmer changed the word to " degree."

8. That have their honest wills, etc. " Who gratify their innocent
wishes with reasonable enjoyments" (Johnson). " Who have the power
of gratifying their honest inclination, which circumstance bestows an ad-
ditional relish on comfort itself" (Steevens). Seasons comfort is clearly
=gives a zest to happiness. Cf. T. and C. i. 2. 278 : " the spice and salt
that season a man."

ACT I. SCENE VL !75

II. Change you, madam ? " How by these three little words the dram-
atist lets us behold the sudden pallor and as sudden flush of crimson
that bespread the wife's face at this instant" (Clarke).

17. The Arabian bird. The phoenix. Cf. A. Y. L. p. 189, note on As
rare as phoenix.

22. Note. See on i. 4. 2 above.

24. Truest. The folios have " trust," which some retain, pointing it as
an unfinished sentence (" trust — ") ; but on the whole Hanmer's emen-
dation of truest seems preferable. As W. remarks, "what Imogen reads
is certainly the end, not the beginning, of the letter ; the first word that
she reads, he, necessarily implying a previous mention and introduction
of lachimo." So far, as he adds, may very properly be taken as = "so
much ;" and the rest may refer as well to what has gone before as to what
comes after. If "your trust " be what S. wrote, it must mean, as Clarke
makes it, " the trust I repose in you ;" but, even with that interpretation,
the expression seems an odd one here.

31. What, are men mad? Mrs. Jameson remarks on this scene : " In
the interview between Imogen and lachimo, he does not begin his attack
on her virtue by a direct accusation against Posthumus ; but by dark
hints and half-uttered insinuations, such as lago uses to madden Othello,
he intimates that her husband, in his absence from her, has betrayed her
love and truth, and forgotten her in the arms of another. All that Imo-
gen says in this scene is comprised in a few lines — a brief question, or a
more brief remark. The proud and delicate reserve with which she veils
the anguish she suffers is inimitably beautiful. The strongest expression
of reproach he can draw from her is only, ' My lord, I fear, has forgot
Britain.' When he continues in the same strain, she exclaims in an ago-
ny, * Let me hear no more.' When he urges her to revenge, she asks,
with all the simplicity of virtue, 'How should I be revenged?' And
when he explains to her how she is to be avenged, her sudden burst of
indignation, and her immediate perception of his treachery, and the mo-
tive for it, are powerfully fine : it is not only the anger of a woman whose
delicacy has been shocked, but the spirit of a princess insulted in her
court. It has been remarked [by Hazlitt] that ' her readiness to pardon
lachimo's false imputation, and his designs against herself, is a good les-
son to prudes, and may show that where there is a real attachment to vir-
tue, there is no need of an outrageous antipathy to vice.' This is true ; but
can we fail to perceive that the instant and ready forgiveness of Imogen
is accounted for, and rendered more graceful and characteristic, by the
very means which lachimo employs to win it? He pours forth the most
enthusiastic praises of her husband, professes that he merely made this
trial of her out of his exceeding love for Posthumus, and she is pacified
at once ; but, with exceeding delicacy of feeling, she is represented as
maintaining her dignified reserve and her brevity of speech to the end
of the scene."

32. Crop. Produce. The word troubled Warb., who substituted
" cope."

34. Twinrfd. " As like as twins " (Steevens). Johnson did not " un-
derstand" the word, and conjectured "twin'd" = " twisted, convoluted,"

I76 NOTES.

though, as he added, "this sense is more applicable to shells than to
stones."

35. The unnumber'd. The folios have " the number'd ;" corrected by
Theo. Cf. the parallel passage in Lear, iv. 6. 21 :

"The murmuring surge
That on the unnumber'd idle pebble chafes,
Cannot be heard so high."

Some, however, retain " number'd," which Clarke explains as " composed
of numbers," and Schmidt as "rich in numbers, abundantly provided."
Other emendations proposed are " the humbled," " the humble," " the
umber'd," " the cumber'd," and " Unnumber'd, on the beach."

36. Spectacles. Organs of vision, eyes ; as in 2 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 112:

'"And even with this I lost fair England's view,
And bid mine eyes be packing with my heart,
And call'd them blind and dusky spectacles,
For losing ken of Albion's wished coast."

37. Makes your admiration. Causes your astonishment. See on i. 4.
4 above.

39. Shes. Cf. i. 3. 29 above.

40. Mows. Grimaces. Cf. Temp. iv. i. 47 :

" Each one, tripping on his toe,
Will be here with mop and mow."

We find the verb in Id. ii. 2. 9 : " Sometime like apes, that mow and chat-
ter at me." See also Lear, p. 234, note on Mopping and mowing.

41. Favour. Beauty ; as in Ham. iv. 5. 189 and Oth. iv. 3. 21. It is
often— personal appearance, aspect ; as in iii. 4. 48 and iv. 2. 105 below.
Cf. y. C. p. 131, note on Your outward favoiir.

42. Be wisely definite. Be wise in deciding, or " wisely free from hesi-
tation " (Schmidt). S. uses definite nowhere else.

44. Vomit emptiness. Warb. explained the passage thus : " That appe-
tite which is not allured to feed on such excellence can have no stom-
ach at all, but, though empty, must nauseate every thing." Johnson, on
the other hand, interpreted it thus : " Desire, says he, when it approached
sluttery, and considered it in comparison with such neat excellence, would
not only be not so allured to feed, but, seized with a fit of loathing, would
vomit emptiness, would feel the convulsions of disgust, though, being un-
fed, it had no object." Later, in defending his explanation, he added this
thoroughly Johnsonian definition : " To vomit emptiness is, in the language
of poetry, to feel the convulsions of eructation without plenitude." Ma-
lone remarks that " no one who has been ever sick at sea can be at a loss
to understand what is meant by vomiting emptiness." Johnson evidently
had the right idea of the passage, which must mean that desire would
turn to disgust and nausea, not from satiety, but before it was gratified.
The Coll. MS. has "to emptiness," which W. adopts.

48. Ravening. Ravenously devouring. Cf. Macb. p. 204, note on Rav-
in up. Here the spelling of the folio is " Rauening." Cf. R. and J. iii.
2. 76, where it has " Woluish-rauening Lambe."

50. Raps. Apparently the verb of which rapt ( — transported) is the

ACT I. SCENE VI. !77

participle, though rarely found in the indicative. Cf. Wb. W. reads
" wraps."

51. Desire my marts abode. That is, ask him to remain.

53. Strange and peevish. "A foreigner and a simpleton" (Clarke).
For strange, cf. 190 below ; and for peevish=- silly, foolish, see Hen. V. p.
171. For a very clear instance of this sense, see Lyly, Endymion (quoted
by Nares) : "There never was any so peevish to imagine the moone
either capable of affection or shape of a mistris." Steevens explained
strange as "shy, or backward,"

58. None a. Changed by Hanmer to " Not a." Cf. i. 4. 88 above :
" none so accomplished a courtier," etc.

60. Briton. The folios have " Britaine " or " Britain."

65. Gallian. The word occurs again in I Hen. VLv.^. 139. S. does
not use Gallic.

Furnaces. The only instance of the verb in S. Cf. A. Y. L. ii. 7. 148 :

"And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace," etc.

67. From V. See on i. I. 4 above.

69. Proof. Experience ; as in iii. 3. 27 below.

71. Languish for* As arranged by Steevens; in the folio for begins
the next line. Pope reads "languish out For assured," etc. Clarke
thinks that his may be a misprint for " in 's."

75, 76. And hear . . . blame. Pope's arrangement ; two lines in the
folio, the first ending with Frenchman.

79. Account his. The Coll. MS, omits his* Clarke points the line
thus : " In you, — which I count his, — beyond all talents " (that is, heaven's
bounty is in you " beyond all sums of wealth").

83. Wrack. The only spelling of wreck in the early eds. It rhymes
to alack in Per. iv. prol. 12, and to back in V, and A. 558, R. of L. 841, 965,
Sonn. 126. 5, and Macb. v. 5. 51.

84. Deserves. For the omission of the relative, see Gr. 244.

85. Solace. Find solace or happiness, Cf. Rich, III. ii.3. 30 : "This
sickly land might solace as before ;" and R. and J. iv. 5. 47 : " But one
thing to rejoice and solace in."

86. Snuff. That is, a snuffed candle. Cf. Ham. iv. 7. 116; and see
also Lear, p. 244.

91. Venge. Not " 'venge," as often printed. Cf. Rich. II. p. 158.
94. Doubting things go ill. Suspecting or fearing that things go ill.

Cf. K.John,\v. i. 19:

"but that I doubt
My uncle practises more harm to me."

See also Ham. pp. 187, 202.

96. Or, timely knowing, etc. Elliptically expressed, though the sense
is clear. Hanmer changed knowing to " known," and remedy to " rem-
edy's."

98. What both you spur and stop. " What it is that at once incites you
to speak and restrains you from it" (Johnson) ; or " what you seem anx-
ious to utter, and yet withhold" (Mason). Cf. W. T. ii. I. 187: "Shall
stop or spur me." '

M

I?8 NOTES.

100. Every. Changed in the 3d folio to "very."

103. Fixing. The reading of the 2d folio; the ist has "Fiering."

107. By-peeping. Giving sidelong glances. The hyphen was inserted
by K. The Coll. MS. has "bo-peeping."

108. Unlustrous. Rowe's emendation of the " illustrious " of the folios.
Coll. reads " illustrous ;" but, as D. notes, that word, in the only instance
that has been cited (in Chapman's Odyssey), is— illustrious.

in. Encounter such revolt. " Meet such apostasy " (J. H.). Revolt is
often used of faithlessness in love ; as in R. and J. iv. 1. 58, Oth. iii. 3. 188,
etc. Cf. iii. 4. 54 below.

115. Mutest. That would otherwise be most silent. Abbott (Gr. 8)
thinks it may mean "the mutest part or corner of my conscience."

116. Charms. The plural relative often takes a singular verb. See
Gr. 247.

1 19. Empery. Empire ; as in Rich. III. iii. 7. 136 : " Your right of
birth, your empery, your own," etc.

1 20. Greafst. See on i. i. 96 above.

121. Tomboys. Hoidens ; the only instance of the word in S.

That self exhibition. "The very pension which you allow your hus-
band " (Johnson). For se!f=same, cf. M. of V. i. 1. 148 : " that ^elf way ;"
C. of E. v. i. 10 : " that self chain," etc. Gr. 20. For exhibition — allow-
ance (the only sense in S.), cf. T. G. of V. \. 3. 69 :

"What maintenance he from his friends receives,
Like exhibition thou shalt have from me."

See also Lear, \. 2. 25, Oth. i. 3. 238, iv. 3. 75, etc.
123. Play. The Coll. MS. has "pay."
127. Recoil. Fall off, prove degenerate ; as in Macb. iv. 3. 19 :

"A good and virtuous nature may recoil
In an imperial charge."

129. As. For. For suck . . . that, see on i. 4. 46 above. Gr. 279.

130. Abuse. Deceive. See on i. 4. 105 above. "Noble Imogen!"
exclaims Clarke, "model to your sister women, for love with warmth
of impulse in it, yet not such impulse as carries temper and judgment
away !"

131. Me. W. reads "thee;" but lachimo is putting himself in Imo-
gen's place. The change of person in the latter part of the sentence is
not uncommon in S. Cf. 31-35 above, and see on i. i. 118.

132. Priest, betwixt. Changed by Hanmer to "priestess, 'twixt ;" but
cf. Per. v. i. 243 : " my maiden priests," etc.

133. Ramps. " Leaps " (Schmidt). Cf. Milton, S. A. 139 : " Fled from
his lion ramp " (spring, or attack). So the verb = leap, in P. L. iv. 343 :
" Sporting the lion ramp'd." Cf. K. John, p. 154. Some take the noun
here to be = harlots. S. uses it nowhere else.

138. What ho, Pisanio! "Observe how, upon the villain revealing
himself, she does not even answer him, but calls her faithful servant to
her side before replying" (Clarke).

148. Acquainted of. Cf. Much Ado, iii. i. 40: " to acquaint her of it,"
etc.

ACT II. SCENE I.

179

150. Saucy. Often used by S. in a stronger sense than the modern
one. Cf. Oth. \. I. 129 : " bold and saucy wrongs ;" J. C. i. 3. 12 :

" Or else the world, too saucy with the gods,
Incenses them to send destruction," etc.

151. Romish. Apparently contemptuous for Roman, but not always so
used. Steevens cites Glapthorne, Wit in a Constable: "A Romish cirque
or Grecian hippodrome ;" and Drant, Horace : " The Romishe people
wise in this," etc.

153. Who. Changed to " whom " in the 2d fol. Cf. iv. 2. 77 below, and
see Gr. 274.

154. Not respects. A common transposition. Cf. Temp, ii. I. 121 : " I
not doubt," etc. See also iv. 4. 23 below. Gr. 305.

159. Sir. Cf. 174 and v. 5. 145 below. It is sometimes ironical, as in
i. i. 1 66 above.

161. Most 'worthiest. For the double superlative, see Gr. u. Pope
" corrected " it into " most worthy." Cf. ii. 3. 2 and iv. 2. 319 below.

162. Affiance. Faith, fidelity. ' Cf. Hen. V. ii.2. 127 : "The sweetness
of affiance," etc.

165. Witch. For the masculine use, cf. C. of E. iv. 4. 160 and A. and
C. i. 2. 40.

166. Into. Changed by Hanmer to *' unto." Clarke remarks that the
word " accords with the image presented of enchanting those around him
into his magic circle."

168. Descended. The first folio has "defended ;" corrected in the 2cl.

169. Sets. For the omission of the relative, cf. 84 above.

171. Adventured. Ventured; as in W. T. iv. 4. 470, R. and J.v.-$. II,
etc.

176. Fan. The metaphor is taken from the process of winnowing
grain, as chaffless shows. Cf. Hen. VIII. v. i. ill :

** I humbly thank your highness ;
And am right glad to catch this good occasion
Most throughly to be winnow'd, where my chaff
And corn shall fly asunder."

190. Curious. Careful. Cf. A. W. i. 2. 20 : " Frank nature, rather curi-
ous than in haste ;" and see our ed. p. 138. For strange, see on 53
above.

199. Short. Impair, infringe. For the antithesis, cf. P. P. 210 : " Short,
night, to-night, and length thyself to-morrow."

206. Outstood. " Outstaid " (the reading of the Coll. MS.). S. uses the
word only here, and outstay only in A. Y. L. i. 3. 90.

207. The tender of our present. The presentation of our gift.

ACT II.

SCENE I. — I. Kissed the jack^ etc. " He is describing his fate at bowls.
The/#<:/£is the small bowl at which the others are aimed. He who is
nearest to it wins. To kiss the jack is a state of great advantage " (John-

l8o NOTES.

son). Upon an up-cast means "by a throw from another bowler directed
straight up,"

3. Take me up. Rebuke, scold ; with a play upon the expression. Cf.
Much Ado, p. 148, and A. W. p. 154 (note on 205).

16. Smelt. For the quibble on rank, cf. A. Y. L. i. 2. 113.

20. Jack-slave. A term of contempt ; like Jack in Rich. III. i. 3. 72 :

" Since every Jack became a gentleman,
There 's many a gentle person made a Jack."

See also Much Ado, p. 164.

22. And capon too. Perhaps with a play on " cap on," that is, the fool's
coxcomb (Schmidt). See Lear, p. 186.

24. Sayest thou ? What do you say ? Cf. iv. 2. 379 below : " Say you,
sir ?" See also Oth. iii. 4. 82, etc.

25. Undertake every companion. Give satisfaction to every fellow. For
the contemptuous use of companion, see Temp. p. 131, note on Your fel-
low. Johnson transferred this speech to the first lord, but it is probably
an ironical reply to Cloten's question as to what he is saying to himself.

46. Issues. Proceedings, acts.

50. As is. Pope omitted is.

53. For his heart. For his life, as we should say. Cf. M. of V. v. I.
165, T.ofS.i. 2. 38, etc.

55. Divine. Accented on the first syllable, probably because preced-
ing the noun. Cf. iv. 2. 170 below, and see Cor. p. 255. See also on
supreme, i. 6. 4 above.

61. Unshak'd. Cf. J* C. iii. I. 70: " Unshak'd of motion." Elsewhere
(twice) we have unshaken. Cf. sha&d in i. 5. 76 above.

SCENE II. — 4. Left. Left off; as in i. 4. 93 above.
9. Fairies. For malignant fairies, cf. Ham. i. I. 163, C. of E. ii. 2. 191,
iv. 2. 35 (see our ed. p. 136), etc.

13. Rushes. In the time of S. floors were strewn with rushes. See
Rich. II. p. 167, note on The presence strew1 d. S. transfers the custom to
Rome, as in R. of L. 316 : " He takes it [a glove] from the rushes where
it lies."

14. Cytherea. Venus. Cf. T. of S. ind. 2. 53 and W. T. iv. 4. 122.

15. Bravely. Well, admirably ; as in ii. 4. 73 below. Cf. the adjective
in iv. 2. 319 below.

1 6. Whiter than the sheets. Cf. V. and A. 398 : " Teaching the sheets
a whiter hue than white ;" and R. of L. 472 : ** Who o'er the white sheets
peers her whiter chin."

22. Windows. The eyelids; as in R.and J. iv. I. 100 (see our ed. p.
172, note on Grey eye}, Rich. III. v. 3. 116, etc. The white and azure,
etc., refers to the white skin laced with blue veins. Exquisite as the de-
scription is, the commentators have not been willing to let it alone. Han-
mer reads "those curtains white with azure lac'd, The blue," etc. ; and
Warb. " these windows : white with azure lac'd, The blue," etc.

23. Tinct. Dye; as in Ham. iii. 4. 91 : "will not leave their tinct."
In A. W. v. 3. 102 and A. and C. \. 5. 37, the word means the "tincture "
or " grand elixir " of the alchemists.

p
b

ACT II. SCENE III. l 8 r

Design. In the 1st folio some copies have an interrogation-point and
some a period after the word. The 3d folio has " designe's," and the
4th " design's."

26. The arras -figures. The folio has " the Arras, Figures," which is
followed by some of the modern editors ; but Mason's emendation in the
text is to be preferred. It is \h& figures of the tapestry that he wishes
articularly to note ; though he remembers the material also, as we see
y ii. 4. 69 below.

31. Ape. Cf. W. T. v. 2. 108 : "Julio Romano, who . . . would beguile
Nature of her custom, so perfectly he is her ape."

32. As a monument. S. was thinking of the recumbent full-length fig-
ures so common on the tombs of his day. Cf. R. of L. 391 : " Where
like a virtuous monument she lies."

34. The Gordian knot. Cf. Hen. V.\. l. 46: "The Gordian knot of
it he will unloose."

37. Madding. Cf. iv. 2. 314 below. S. does not use madden.

38. Cinque-spotted. Having five spots. For the position of the mole
see p. ii (foot-note) above.

41. Force him think. For the omission of the infinitive to, see Or. 349.
45. The tale of Tereus. Cf. T. A. ii. 4. 26 fol., iv. i. 48 fol., and R. of L.

II28fol.

48. Dragons of the night. Cf. M. N. D. iii. 2. 379 : " For night's swift
dragons cut the clouds full fast ;" T. and C. v. 8. 17 : " The dragon wing
of night ;" Milton, // Pens. 59 : " While Cynthia checks her dragon
yoke," etc.

49. Bare. The folios have " beare " or " bear." Pope reads " ope,"
and the Coll. MS. has "dare."

50. This. Walker plausibly conjectures " this' " (this is). See Leary
p. 246.

SCENE III. — 2. Most coldest. See on i. 6. 161 above.

13. So. Be it so, well and good ; as often. See M. of V. p. 136.

15. After. Often = afterwards. See Gr. 26.

17. At heaverfs gate sings. Cf. Sonn. 29. II :

" Like to the lark, at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate."

See also Milton, P. L. v. 198 :

" ye birds,
That singing up to heaven-gate ascend."

Reed suggests that S. had Lyly's Alexander and Campaspe in mind :

"who is 't now we hear?
None but the lark so shrill and clear;
Now at heaven's gate she claps her wings,
The morn not waking till she sings.
Hark, hark," etc.

18. Gins. Begins; but not a contraction of that word. See Macb. p.

20. Lies. For the form, see on charms, i. 6. 116 above. Cf. V. and A.
1 128: " two lamps, burnt out, in darkness lies."

l82 NOTES.

21. Winking. Often=with shut eyes. Cf. ii. 4. 89, v. 4. 182, 186 be-
low. Mary -buds — marigolds.

23. With every thing that pretty is. Hanmer reads " With all the things
that pretty bin ;" and Warb. also has " bin " for is. The rhyme is not nec-
essary in this ballad measure.

26. Consider. Pay, requite ; with possibly a quibbling reference to the
other sense, as Clarke believes. Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 825 : " being something
gently considered [if I have a gentlemanlike consideration given me], I '11
bring you where he is aboard." So in The lie of Gulls, 1633 : "Thou
shalt be well considered, there 's twenty crowns in earnest."

27. Vice. The folios have "voyce" or "voice;" corrected by Rowe.
The Coll. MS. has "fault."

28. Calves'1 -guts. Changed by Rowe to " cat's-guts ;" but, according
to Sir John Hawkins, Mersennus, in his De Instrtimentis Harmonicis,
says that chords of musical instruments are made of " metal and the in-
testines of sheep or any other animals."

33. Fatherly. Adjectives in -ly are often used adverbially. Gr. I.
39. Minion. Favourite, darling (Fr. mignon)', with a touch of con-
tempt. See Temp. p. 136, or Macb. p. 153.

43. Vantages. Opportunities ; as in i. 3. 24 above.

44. Prefer. Recommend ; as in iv. 2. 386, 400 below. Cf. M. of V. p.
140.

45. Solicits. The reading of the 2d folio ; the ist has " solicity." Coll.
reads "soliciting." For be friended, Pope has "befriended," referring to
solicits: "with solicitations not only proper but well timed" (Mason).

51. Senseless. "The cunning queen uses this word with the significa-
tion of unconscious ; her obtuse son affrontedly disclaims it, as signifying
stupid, devoid of sense. The angry susceptibility and tetchiness of igno-
rance, just sufficiently aware of its own incapacity to be perpetually afraid
that it is found out and insulted by others, blended with the stolid conceit
that invariably accompanies this inadequate self-knowledge, are all ad-
mirably delineated in Cloten : he is a dolt striving to pass for an accom-
plished prince, a vulgar boor fancying himself, and desirous of being taken
for, a thorough gentleman " (Clarke).

52. So like you. If it please you. Cf. M.for-M. ii. I. 33 : " Here, if it
like your honour," etc. Cf. Ham. p. 202, note on Likes. Gr. 297.

57. His goodness forespent on us. "The good offices done by him to
us heretofore " (Warb). Else where forespent means past, foregone (Hen.
V. ii. 4. 36) and exhausted (2 Hen. IV. i. I. 37). " According to, before the
honour, allows according to or for the sake of to be elliptically understood
before his goodness" (Clarke).

65. Line. Cf. Per. iv. 6. 63 : " He will line your apron with gold."

67. Diana's rangers. Diana's nymphs ; literally, her forest rangers, or
game-keepers. Yor false as a verb, cf. C. of E. ii. 2. 95 : "a thing falsing ;"
and see our ed. p. 120.

68. Stand. "The station of huntsmen waiting for game" (Schmidt).
Cf. iii. 4. 108 below. See also M. W. v. 5. 248, L. L. L. iv. I. 10, etc.

69. True. Honest. For the antithesis to thief, cf. V. and A. 724 :
" Rich preys make true men thieves ;" M.for M. iv. 2. 46 : " Every true

ACT If. SCENE III. X83

man's apparel fits your thief;" Much Ado, iii. 3. 54 : " If you meet a thief,
you may suspect him, by virtue of your office, to be no true man," etc.

73. Yet not understand. For the transposition of yet, see Gr. 76. Cf.
v. 5. 468 below.

79. Is she ready ? Is she dressed ? Ready was often used in this spe-
cial sense (cf. Macb. p. 202, note on Put on manly readiness), but the lady
chooses to take it in its more general signification.

85. You lay out too much pains, etc. Mrs. Jameson remarks : " Cloten
is odious ;* but we must not overlook the peculiar fitness and propriety
of his character, in connection with that of Imogen. He is precisely the
kind of man who would be most intolerable to such a woman. He is a
fool, — so is Slender, and Sir Andrew Aguecheek : but the folly of Cloten
is not only ridiculous, but hateful ; it arises not so much from a want of
understanding as a total want of heart ; it is the perversion of sentiment,
rather than the deficiency of intellect ; he has occasional gleams of sense,
but never a touch of feeling. Imogen describes herself not only as
'sprighted with a fool,' but as 'frighted and anger'd worse.' No other
fool but Cloten — a compound of the booby and the villain — could excite
in such a mind as Imogen's the same mixture of terror, contempt, and
abhorrence. The stupid, obstinate malignity of Cloten, and the wicked
machinations of the queen —

' A father cruel, and a step-dame false,
A foolish suitor to a wedded lady' —

justify whatever might need excuse in the conduct of Imogen — as her
concealed marriage and her flight from her father's court — and serve to
call out several of the most beautiful and striking parts of her character :
particularly that decision and vivacity of temper which in her harmonize
so beautifully with exceeding delicacy, sweetness, and submission.

" In the scene with her detested suitor, there is at first a careless majes-
ty of disdain, which is admirable. . . . But when he dares to provoke her,
by reviling the absent Fosthumus, her indignation heightens her scorn,
and her scorn sets a keener edge on her indignation."

89. ^Twere as deep with me. It would make as deep an impression
upon me. Deep is elsewhere associated with swearing ; as in Sonn. 152.
9 : " I have sworn deep oaths ;" JR. of L. 1847 : " that deep vow ;" and
K. John, iii. I. 231 : " deep-sworn faith."

94. Equal discourtesy, etc. That is, discourtesy equal to your best kind-
ness. For the transposition, see Gr. 4190.

95. Knowing. See on i. 4. 26 above.

* The character of Cloten has been pronounced by some unnatural, by others incon-
sistent, and by others obsolete. The following passage occurs in one of Miss Seward's
letters, vol. iii. p. 246 : " It is curious that Shakspeare should, in so singular a character
as Cloten, have given the exact prototype of a being whom I once knew. The unmean-
ing frown of countenance, the shuffling gait, the burst of voice, the bustling insignificance,
the fever-and-ague fits of valor, the froward tetchiness, the unprincipled malice, and, what
is more curious, those occasional gleams of good sense amidst the floating clouds of folly
which generally darkened and confused the man's brain, and which, in the character of
Cloten, we are apt to impute to a violation of unity in character ; but in the sometime
Captain C , I saw that the portrait of Cloten was not out of nature."

1 84 NOTES.

96. Should learn, being taught, etc. " A man who is tattgkt forbearance
should learn it" (Johnson).

99. Fools are not mad folks. " This, as Cloten very well understands
it, is a covert mode of calling him fool. The meaning implied is this:
If I am mad, as you tell me, I am what you can never be, ' Fools are
not mad folks ' " (Steevens). Theo. (at the suggestion of Warb.) changed
are to " cure," which W. adopts. It certainly gives a simpler sense, and
is favoured by the cures just below, but no change is imperatively de-
manded.

104. Verbal. " Verbose, full of talk " (Johnson). Schmidt makes it =
" plain-spoken, wording one's thoughts without reserve ;" and Clarke
thinks it implies " so explicit, so expressing in speech that which I think
of you."

105. Which. Changed by Pope to "who;" but which is often =who
in Elizabethan English. Gr. 265.

117. Self -figured. Formed by themselves (Johnson). Warb. called
it "nonsense," and adopted " self-fingered" (the conjecture of Theo.).

1 1 8. Curb d from that enlargement. Restrained from that liberty.

119. Consequence. Succession. Schmidt thinks it may possibly mean
" considerations affecting the crown."

For soil the folios have " foyle ;" corrected by Hanmer.

120. Note. Distinction, eminence. Cf. i. 4. 2 and i. 6. 22 above.

121. Hilding. Hireling, menial. See R. and J. p. 172 ; and for the ad-
jective use, Hen. V. p. 1 76. For = only fit for. A squire 's clotk = a. lackey's
dress.

122. Pantler. The servant who had charge of the pantry. Cf. W. T.
iv. 4. 56 : " pantler, butler, cook ;" and 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 258 : " a' would
have made a good pantler, a' would have chipped bread well."

Profane. Accented on the first syllable, because preceding the noun.
Cf. Oth. i. I. 115 : " What profane wretch art thou?" See on divine, ii.

1. 55 above.

127. Comparative for yonr virtues. That is, if the office were given you
in comparison with, or with regard to, your merits.

129. Preferred. Promoted, advanced ; as in v. 5. 326 below. See also
Oth. p. 175.

The south-fog rot him! Cf. T. and C.v. I. 21 : "the rotten diseases
of the south ;" 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 392 : " the south borne with black vapour,"
etc. See also iv. 2. 350 below, and cf. Cor. p. 206.

132. Clipfd. Embraced. Cf. v. 5. 450 below; and see W. T. p. 210,
or Oth. p. 192.

133. Above. Changed by Sr. (2d ed.) to "about."

134. How now, Pisanio. Hanmer transferred Plow now ? to Cloten.

136. Presently. Immediately ; the most common sense in S. Cf. iii.

2. 74 and iv. 2. 167 below. So present^ immediate ; as in ii. 4. 136 be-
low.

137. Sfirited with. Haunted by. For wtiti=by, see Gr. 193.

139. Jeivel. See on i.4. 142 above.

140. 'Shrew me. Beshrew me ; a mild form of imprecation, often used
as a mere asseveration. See M.N.D. p. 152.

ACT 77. SCENE 7K jg^

141. Revenue. Accented by S. on the first or second syllable, as suits
the measure. See M. N. D. p. 125, or Gr. 490.

142. King's. The folios have "kings," and Pope reads "king."
King's is due to Rowe.

144. Kiss'd. Pope reads " kissed " (dissyllabic) for the measure, and
Keightley "for I kiss'd it."

149. If you, etc. Hanmer reads " Call witness to 't, if you will make 't
an action."

151. She^s my good lady. She 's my good friend; spoken ironically
(Malone).

SCENE IV.— 2. Bold. Confident ; as in A. W. v. i. 5 : "Be bold you
do so grow in my requital," etc.

6. Fear'd. Mingled with fear. K. and Clarke adopt Tyrwhitt's con-
jecture of "sear'd."

12. Throughly. Thoroughly; as in iii. 6. 36 below. Cf. through/are
in i. 2. 9 above.

14. Or look upon. Before he will face. For 0r=before, cf. Ham. i. 2.

" Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven
Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio!"

It is often combined with ere, as in iii. 2. 64 and v. 3. 50 below. See Temp.
p. 112, note on Or ere, and cf. Gr. 131.

1 6. Statist. Statesman. Cf. Ham. v. 2. 33 : " as our statists do ;" and
see our ed. p. 268.

18. Legions. The folios have "legion ;" corrected by Theo.

21. More ordered. Better disciplined.

24. Courages. For the plural, see on i. I. I above. D. reads "courage."
For mingled the ist folio has "wing-led ;" corrected in the 2d.

25. Their approvers. Those who make trial of their valour. Cf. ap-
prove—try ; as in M. N. D. ii. 2. 68, W. T. iv. 2. 31, etc. The noun is used
by S. only here.

26. That. For its use with such, see on i. 4. 46 above. Cf. 44 below.
28. Winds of all the corners. Cf. Much Ado, ii. 3. 103 : " Sits the

wind in that corner ?"

37. Was Cams, etc. The folios give this speech to "Post;;" corrected
by Capell.

39. But not approached. To fill out the line Hanmer reads " But was
not yet approach'd."

49. Must not continue friends* See i. 4. 149 fol. above.

56. Apparent. Evident. See Rich. II. p. 150.

58. Is. Changed in the Coll. MS. to "are ;" but the singular verb is
often found with two singular subjects (Gr. 336). Cf. iii. 3. 99 and v. 2. 2
below.

61. My circumstances. That is, the particulars I shall give.

68. Watching. Keeping awake for. Gr. 394. For watching, cf. T. of
S. iv. i. 208: " She shall watch all night," etc. See also the noun in iiie
4. 40 below.

70. When she met her Roman, etc. Cf. A. and C. ii. 2. 191 fol.

!86 NOTES.

Johnson remarks : " lachimo's language is such as a skilful villain
would naturally use — a mixture of airy triumph aud serious deposition.
His gayety shows his seriousness to be without anxiety ; and his seri-
ousness proves his gayety to be without art."

73. Bravely. See on ii. 2. 15 above.

That it did strive, etc. That is, it was doubtful whether the workman-
ship or the value was the greater.

76. Since the true life on V was — . This is the folio pointing, and re-
moves all difficulty from the passage. Capell reads " Since the true life
was in it;" and the Coll. MS. has "on 't 't was." Other attempts at
emendation are unworthy of notice.

83. So likely to report themselves. That is, they were so lifelike that
one might expect them to speak.

84. Was as another nature, etc. "The sculptor was as nature, but as
nature dumb ; he gave every thing that nature gives but breath and mo-
tion. In breath is included speech " (Johnson).

88. Cherubins. The folio reading, changed by Rowe to " cherubims."
For the singular cherubin, see Temp. p. 115. Fretted= embossed. See
Ham. p. 205.

89. Winking. With eyes shut or blind. See on ii. 3. 21 above.

91. Depending on their brands. Leaning on their inverted torches.
Cf. Sonn.i$$. i : " Cupid laid by his brand and fell asleep ;" and Id. 154.
2 : " Laid by his side his heart-inflaming brand." Some have taken
brands to mean the part of the andirons on which the wood for the fire is
put.

This is her honour! The expression is ironical: "And the attain-
ment of this knowledge is to pass for the corruption of her honour !"
(Johnson).

95. Then, if you can, etc. K., followed by V., points the passage thus :

" Then, if you can
Be pale, I beg but leave to air this jewel;"

that is, seeing that he has produced no effect upon Posthumus as yet, he
now says, " If you can be pale, I will see what this jewel will do to make
you change countenance."

97. '7V.r up. That is, put up.

102. Oiitsell. The verb occurs again (the only other instance in S.) in
Hi. 5. 74 below.

107. Basilisk. The fabulous serpent that was supposed to kill by its
look. Cf. W. T. \. 2. 388 : " Make me not sighted like the basilisk." See
also Hen. V. p. 183 (note on The fatal balls], or R. and J. p. 1 86 (on
Death-darting eye}.

III. Bondage. Binding force, fidelity.

116. One of her. The reading of 2d folio ; the 1st omits of.

117. Hath stoFn. Hanmer reads "Might not have stoPn."

127. Cognizance. " The badge, the token, the visible proof" (Johnson).
Cf. I Hen. VI. ii. 4. 108 : " As cognizance of my blood-drinking hate."

146. Limbmeal. Limb from limb ; a compound like dropmeal, inch-
meal (see Temp. ii. 2. 3), and piecemeal^ which is still in use.

150. Pervert. Avert, turn aside.

ACT III. SCENE L jgy

SCENE V. — I. Is there no way, etc. Steevens compares Milton, P. L.
x. 888 fol.

8. Nonpareil. Paragon ; as in Temp. iii. 2. 108, T. N. i. 5. 273, etc.
II. Pudency. Modesty ; the only instance of the word in S.
14. Motion. Impulse. Cf. K. John, p. 137.

19. Change. Caprice ; as in Lear^ i. i. 291, etc. Perhaps change of
prides = variety of prides, as W. explains it. Cf. " change of honours " in
Cor. ii. i. 214, and see our ed. p. 222.

20. Nice. Squeamish, affected. Cf. A. Y. L. p. 185.

21. That may be nam'd. The reading of the 2d folio ; the 1st has
" that name." D. conjectures " that have a name," and Walker " that
man can (or " may ") name."

26. Write against them. " Denounce them, protest against them "
(Clarke).

ACT III.

SCENE I. — n. There be. Cf. Temp. iii. I. I : "There be some sports
are painful," etc. Gr. 300.

15. From 'j-. See on i. 1.4 above.

18. Bravery. " State of defiance " (Schmidt).

19. Paled in. Enclosed. Cf. A. and C. ii. 7. 74: " Whate'er the
ocean pales, or sky inclips," etc.

20. Rocks. The folios have " Oakes " or " Oaks ;" corrected by Han-
mer.

24. Came and saw and overcame. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. 3. 45 : " I may
justly say, with the hook-nosed fellow of Rome, I came, saw, and over-
came."

27. Ignorant. " Unacquainted with the nature of our boisterous seas "
(Johnson).

30. At point. On the point, about; as in iii. 6. 17 below. See also
Cor. p. 240.

31. Giglot. False, fickle. For the noun (= harlot), see M.for M. v. i.
352 : " Away with those giglots," etc. Cf. K. yohn> iii. I. 61 (and Ham.
ii. 2. 515): "strumpet fortune."

As Malone remarks, S. has here transferred to Cassibelan an advent-
ure which happened to his brother Nennius. " The same history," says
Holinshed, "also maketh mention of Nennius, brother to Cassibellane,
who in fight happened to get Caesar's sword fastened in his shield by a
blow which Caesar stroke at him." Nennius died a fortnight after the
battle of the hurt he had received at Caesar's hand, and was buried with
great pomp. Caesar's sword was placed in his tomb.

32. Lud's toivn. London. Cf. iv. 2. 100, 124, and v. 5. 480 below.

36. Moe. More ; used only with a plural or a collective noun. See
A. Y. L. p. 176.

37. Owe. Own ; as often. Gr. 290.

46. Injurious. Often used as a personal term of reproach = unjust, in-
solent, malicious, etc. Cf. iv. 2. 87 below, and see Cor. p. 247.

!88 NOTES.

49. Against all colour. Contrary to all show of right. Cf. I Hen. IV.
iii. 2. 100 : " of no right, nor colour like to right," etc.

52. We do. The folios make this a part of Cymbeline's speech : " Our
selues to be, we do. Say then to Ccesar" etc. The reading of the text
is that of the Coll. MS., and is adopted by D. and others. It is very like
Cloten to break in thus ; but W. prefers to follow Malone in reading
" Ourselves to be. We do say then to Caesar," etc.

55. Franchise. Free exercise. Whose refers of course to laws.

58. The first of Britain, etc. The title of the first chapter of the third
book of Holinshed's England is, " Of Mulmucius, the first king of Britain
who was crowned with a golden crown, his laws, his foundations, etc."

62. Moe. See on 36 above. The form was going out of use in the
time of S., as is evident from the frequent substitution of more in the
2d folio, printed in 1632.

70. He to seek of me, etc. His seeking of me, etc. Perforce— =by force ;
as in A. Y. L. i. 2. 21 (see our ed. p. 141), etc.

71. Keep at utterance. Keep at the extremity of defiance (the Fr. a
outrance], or defend to the uttermost. See Macb. p. 208, note on Champion
me to the utterance.

I am perfect. I am assured, I know well. Cf. W. T. iii. 3. I :

"Thou art perfect, then, our ship hath touch'd upon

The deserts of Bohemia?"
See also iv. 2. 119 below.

75. Let proof speak. Let -the trial show.

84. Remain. For the noun, cf. Cor. i. 4. 62 : "make remain " (r=stay).

SCENE II. — 2. Monster' 's her accuser. The folios have "monsters her
accuse ;" corrected by Capell. Pope reads " monsters have accus'd
her."

6. Hearing. Changed by Pope to "ear."

9. Take in. Subdue. Cf. Cor. i. 2. 24: " To take in many towns " (see
also iii. 2. 59) ; A. and C. i. 1. 23 : " Take in that kingdom and enfranchise
that" (see also iii. 7. 24 and iii. 13. 83), etc. The phrase occurs again in
iv. 2. 122 below.

10. Thy mind to her, etc. " Thy mind, compared to her fine nature, is
as low as were thy fortunes in comparison with her rank " (Clarke).

21. Fedary. Accomplice, confederate ("foedary" in the folios). Cf,
M.for M. ii. 4. 122: "If not a fedary," etc. We find federary in the
same sense in W.- T. ii. i. 90 : "A federary with her."

23. / am ignorant in what I am commanded. " I will appear not to
know of this deed which I am commanded to perform" (Clarke). We
have no doubt that this is the meaning ; but Steevens explains it, " I am
unpractised in the arts of murder."

27. Learn 'd. The usual form in S. is learned (dissyllabic), as now. Cf.
Cor. p. 238.

28. Characters. Handwriting. Cf. W. T. v. 2. 38 : " the letters of An-
tigonus, which they know to be his character," etc.

33. Medicinable. Spelt " medcinable " in the first three folios, indi-
cating the pronunciation. See Oth. p. 210.

ACT III. SCENE II. !gg

34. For it doth physic love. " That is, grief for absence keeps love in
health and vigour " (Johnson).

35. Good wax, thy leave. Cf. T. N. ii. 5. 103 : " By your leave, wax ;"
and Lear, iv. 6. 264 : " Leave, gentle wax."

38. Forfeiters. That is, those who forfeit the bonds to which they
have set their seal.

As V. remarks, the allusion shows technical familiarity with the laws
of that day. The seal was essential to the bond, though a signature was
not; *to& forfciters was the technical term for those who had broken a
contract and become liable to the legal penalty.

39. Tables. Tablets, letters. Cf. T. G. of V. ii. 7. 3 :

" Who art the table wherein all my thoughts
Are visibly character'd and engrav'd ;"

and T. and C. iv. 5. 60 :

" And wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts
To every ticklish reader."

41. Could not be so cruel to me, as you . . . would even renew me with
your eyes. If this is what S. wrote, the meaning seems to be : could not
be so cruel to me but that the sight of you would revive me. Pope
changes as to " but," and K. to " an ;" and Capell reads " would not
even." W. has " could not be cruel to me, so as you," etc. Clarke may
be right in assuming that " the phraseology is purposely obscure and enig-
matical, and conveys a double idea" — the one given above, and "a sec-
ondary one (perceptible to the reader of the play), .'could not be so cruel
to me as you ' (in the supposed wrong she has'done him who writes to
her)." St. also thinks that the passage may have been "intended to be
enigmatical."

47. O,for a horse, etc. Mrs. Jameson remarks : " In the eagerness of
Imogen to meet her husband there is all a wife's fondness, mixed up
with the breathless hurry arising from a sudden and joyful surprise ;
but nothing of the picturesque eloquence, the ardent, exuberant, Italian
imagination of Juliet, who, to gratify her impatience, would have her her-
alds thoughts ; press into her service the nimble-pinioned doves, and
wind-swift Cupids ; change the course of nature, and lash the steeds of
Phoebus to the west. Imogen only thinks * one score of miles, 'twixt sun
and sun,' slow travelling for a lover, and wishes for a horse with wings."

49. Mean affairs. Ordinary business.

53. Bate. Abate (but not that word contracted), qualify what I say.
Cf. Temp. i. 2. 250 : " bate me a full year," etc.

55. Beyond beyond. " Further than beyond ; beyond anything that
desire can be said to be beyond" (Reed). It is not a mere repetition
of beyond, as pointed in the folios and some modern eds.

Speak thick. Speak fast. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. .3. 24: "And speaking
thick, which nature made his blemish," etc. See our ed. p. 165.

63. And our return. Changed by Pope to "Till our return," and by
Capell to "To our return." Cf. Cor. ii. I. 240:

" He cannot temperately transport his honours
From where he should begin and end;"

I QO NOTES.

and see our ed. p. 225. In the present passage the irregular construction
is in keeping with the rest of the speech. " The elliptical style, the par-
enthetical breaks, the fluttering from point to point in the varied clauses,
all serve admirably to express the happy hurry of spirits and joyous
impatience of the excited speaker " (Clarke).

64. Or ere. Before. See on ii. 4. 14 above. The meaning is : " Why
should I contrive an excuse before the act is done for which excuse will
be necessary ?" (Malone).

72. That run f the clock's behalf. That is, the sands of the hour-glass,
which serve instead of a clock. Warb. calls it a " fantastical expression."
The Coll. MS. has "clocks by half/'

76. Franklin's. A franklin is literally a freeholder, with a small es-
tate, neither villain nor vassal" (Johnson). Cf. W. T. v. 2. 173: "Not
swear it, now I am a gentleman ? Let boors and franklins say it, I '11
swear it."

You \e best consider. You were best (it were best for you) to consider.
Cf. W. T.v. 2. 143 : "you were best say these robes are not gentlemen
born," etc. See also J. C. p. 166, or Gr. 230, 352 (cf. 190).

77. I see before me, etc. I see the course that lies before me; no oth-
er, whether here or there, nor what may follow, but is doubtful or ob-
scure. Mason would explain it thus : " When Imogen speaks these
words she is supposed to have her face turned towards Milford, and
when she pronounces the words nor here, nor here, she points to the
right and to the left. This being premised, the sense is evidently this : I
see clearly the way before me ; but that to the right, that to the left, and
that behind me, are all covered with a fog that I cannot penetrate.
There is no more therefore to be said, since there is no way accessible
but that to Milford." This is ingenious, but prosaic withal ; and it is
hardly possible that what ensues can mean " that behind me," though
Johnson explained it in the sam~ way.

SCENE III.— i. Keep house. Stay in the house. Elsewhere we find
keep the house (M.for M. iii. 2. 75), keep his house (T. of A. iii. 3. 42), etc.
Cf. the use of housekeeper ( = one who stays at home) in Cor. i. 3. 55 :
" You are manifest housekeepers."

2. Whose. For the relative after such, see on i. 4. 46 above. For Stoop,
the folios have " Sleepe" or « Sleep ;" corrected by Hanmer.

5. Jet. Strut, stalk. Cf. T. N. ii. 5. 36 : " Contemplation makes a rare
turkey-cock of him ! how he jets under his advanced plumes !" See our
ed. p. 142.

6. Turbans. As Johnson notes, giants in the time of S. were generally
represented as Saracens. The word is " Turbonds " or " Turbands " in
the folios, and Johnson spells it " turbants."

10. Yond. Not a contraction of yonder, as often printed. See Temp.
p. 121.

12. Like a crow. That is, "as little as a crow" (i. 3. 15 above).

16. This service, etc. " In war it is not sufficient to do duty well ; the
advantage rises not from the act, but the acceptance of the act " (John-
son). Pope changed This to "That."

ACT III. SCENE ///. ! 9 r

20. The sharded beetle. Cf. Macb. iii. 2. 42 : " The shard-borne beetle ;"
and A. and C. iii. 2. 20 : " They are his shards, and he their beetle." The
reference is to the horny wing-cases of the insect.

21. Full-whig1 d. "This epithet sufficiently marks the contrast of the
poet's imagery ; for whilst the bird can soar towards the sun beyond the
reach of the human eye, the insect can but just rise above the surface of
the earth, and that at the close of the day" (Henley).

22. Attending for a check. Doing service only to get a rebuke for it.
Cf. Oth. iii. 3.67: "To incur a private check," etc. So the verb — re-
buke ; as in J. C. iv. 3. 97 : " (Jheck'd like a bondman," etc. V. explains
it : "attending his prince only to suffer rejection or delay of his suit."

23. Doing nothing for a bribe. The folios have "for a Babe." Bribe
is Hanmer's emendation, and is adopted by K., D., V., W., Clarke, and
others. Rowe gave " bauble," which the Camb. editors prefer. Sr. reads
"brabe," a conjecture of Johnson's, and — reward (Latin, brabium}. The
Coll. MS. has " bob" (a rap, or blow), for which see A. Y. L. p. 164. Chal-
mers suggests "baubee." V. defends bribe thus : " It corresponds better
than any other word with the preceding word richer ; and the mistake
might easily have been made even in copying or printing from clearer
manuscript than most authors make. The sense is good : * Such a life
of activity is richer than that of the bribed courtier, even though he pock-
et his bribe without rendering any return.' Such a thought is natural in
Belarius, who had seen the vices of the great, and was perfectly intelligi-
ble to Shakespeare's audience, who lived in those 'good old times' when
the greatest, and sometimes the wisest, were not only accessible to bribes,
but expected them ; while every concern of life was dependent upon the
caprice or the* favour of those in power. A note in Knight's edition de-
duces the whole passage from some well-known lines of Spenser, in his
Mother Hubberds Tale, much resembling this train of thought. Our
Poet had seen enough of this sort of life not to be obliged to describe it
at second-hand ; yet he may have had Spenser's verses in his mind, and
they certainly throw light on his meaning and corroborate the proposed
correction of the text. The ' doing nothing for a bribe ' corresponds with
Spenser's satirical glance at court life :

'Or otherwise false Reynold would abuse
The simple suter, and wish him to chuse
His Master, being one of great regard
In Court, to cqmpas anie sute not hard.
In case his paines were recompenst with reason^
So would he worke the silly man by treason
To buy his Master's frivolous good will,
That h<id not power to doo him good or ill ' ?>

The passage in Spenser referred to by K. is the following :

" Full little knowest thou. that hast not tride,
What hell it is in suing long to bide :
To loose good dayes that might be better spent ;
To wast long nights in pensive discontent ;
To speed to day, to be put back to morrow ;
To feed on hope, to pine with feare and sorrow ;

I92 NOTES.

To have thy Princes grace, yet want her Peeres ;
To have thy asking, yet waite manie yeeres ;
To fret thy soule with crosses and with cares ;
To eate thy heart through comfortlesse despaires ;
To fawne, to crowche, to waite, to ride, to ronne,
To spend, to give, to want, to be undonne.
Unhappie wight, borne to desastrous end,
That doth his life in so long tendance spend!"

24. Prouder than rustling in unpaid-for silk. K. remarks : " As we
have had the nobler and richer life, we have now the prouder. The moun-
tain life is compared with that of rustling in unpaid-for silk. The illus-
trative lines which are added mean that such a one as does rustle in un-
paid-for silk receives the courtesy (gains the cap] of him that makes him
tine, yet he. the wearer of silk, keeps his, the creditor's, book uncrossed.
To cross the book is, even now, a common expression for obliterating the
entry of a debt. It belongs to the rude age of credit."

25. Cap. Cf. Cor. ii. i. 77 : " You are ambitious for poor knaves' caps
and legs" (that is, for their obeisance) ; i Hen. IV. iv. 3. 168 : "The
more and less came in with cap and knee," etc.

The folios have "makes him;" corrected by Capell. K. retains
"makes him," changing gain to "gains." Him refers of course to the
merchant who has sold the silk which makes them fine. Cf. T. of S. ii. I.
319 : "my Katherine shall be fine ;" and Id. iv. i. 139 :

"There were none fine but Adam, Ralph, and Gregory;
The rest were ragged, old, and beggarly."

26. No life to ours. That is, that can be compared with ours. For to
in this sense, see Gr. 187.

27. Proof. Experience ; as in i. 6. 69 above.

29. What air V from home. What the air is away from home. For
from, see on i. 4. 14 above.

34. Prison for. The folios have " prison, or ;" corrected by Pope.

35. To stride a limit. " To overpass his bound" (Johnson).

What should we speak of, etc. Johnson remarks : " This dread of an
old age unsnpplied with matter for discourse and meditation is a senti-
ment natural and noble. No state can be more destitute than that of
him who, when the delights of sense forsake him, has no pleasures of the
mind."

40. Beastly. Like mere beasts.

41. Like warlike. Cf. Temp. iii. 3. 66 : "like invulnerable, etc.
58. Note. See on i. 4. 2 above.

63. Hangings. That is, the fruit hanging on the tree.

73. Fore-end. Earlier part ; used by S. only here.

83. /' the cave wherein they bow. That is, which is so low that they
must bow or stoop in entering it. Cf. 2 above. The folios have "
Caue, whereon the Bowe" (or "Bow") ; corrected by Warb.

85. Prince it. Play the prince, bear themselves like princes. Gr. 226.

87. Who. Changed to "whom" in the 2d folio. See on i. 6. 153
above.

go. Spirits. Monosyllabic (-sprite] ; as often. Gr. 463.

99. Knows. Changed by Pope to " know ;" but see on ii. 4. 58 above.

ACT III. SCENE IV.

193

100. Whereon. We should now use whereupon.

103. Reffst. The folios have "refts." For similar euphonic forms,
see Gr. 340.

105. Her grave. Changed by Hanmer to " thy grave ;" but see on i.
6. 131 above. Malone compares Acts, xvii. 2, 3.

SCENE IV. — i. When we came from horse. "Serving to show that
they have performed the previous portion of their long journey by riding,
and have now alighted on account of the more rugged and mountainous
district through which their way lies" (Clarke).

3. Have now. That is, have now longed.

6. Inward. For the noun, cf. Sonn. 128. 6: "To kiss the tender in-
ward of thy hand." So outward in i. I. 23 above.

9. Haviour. As Steevens notes, this should not be printed as a con-
traction of behaviour. Cf. JR. and J. p. 1 66.

11. Tender" si . . . untender. This kind of jingle or play upon words
of the same or similar sound is common in S. See Dr. Ingleby's Shake-
speare Hermeneutics, p. 26 fol. Pope changed tender" st to " offer'st."

12. Summer news. Cf. Sonn. 98. 4:

" Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell
Of different flowers in odour and in hue,
Could make me any summer's story tell."

15. Dnig-damifd. Alluding to the notoriousness of Italian poisoning
(Johnson). Cf. iii. 2. 5 above.

Out-craftied. The folio form; changed by some to "out-crafted." S.
uses the word only here.

17. Take off some extremity. That is, may break the bad news more
gently than the letter.

22. Lie bleeding in me. That is, " my heart bleeds inwardly " (2 Hen.
IV. ii. 2. 51) on account of them.

25. With. By. Gr. 193.

32. What shall I need, etc. Why need I, etc. This use of what
(=why) is especially common with need. Cf. C. of E. iii. 2. 15, Hen.
VIII.\\. 4. 128, J. C. ii. i. 123, etc. Gr. 253.

34. Worms. Serpents. Cf. A. and C. v. 3. 243, 256, 261, 268, 282, etc.
See also Macb. p. 215.

Nile. Like Nihts, always without the article in S. except in A. and C.
ii. 7. 20. Cf. Tiber in Cor. iii. i. 262, J. C. i. I. 50, 63, i. 2. 114, iii. 2,254,
etc.

35. Posting winds. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ind. 4 : " making the wind my post-
horse."

36. States. Explained by Johnson and Steevens as — " persons of high-
est rank." Cf. K. John, ii. i. 395, etc.

39. False to his bed! Mrs. Jameson remarks here: "In her first ex-
clamations we trace, besides astonishment and anguish, and the acute
sense of the injustice inflicted on her, a flash of indignant spirit, which
we do not find in Desdemona or Hermione. This is followed by that
affecting lamentation over the falsehood and injustice of her husband,

N

I94 NOTES.

in which she betrays no atom of jealousy or wounded, self-love, but ob-
serves in the extremity of her anguish, that after his lapse from truth,
'all good seeming would be discredited,' and she then resigns herself to
his will with the most entire submission."

40. In watch. Awake. Cf. Ham. ii. 2. 148 : " Thence to a watch," etc.
See our ed. p. 204. Cf. also the verb in 11.4. 68 above.

41. If sleep charge nature, etc. "And if sleep take hold of nature,
then to break," etc. (J. H.).

42. Fearful. Full of fear, anxious. Cf. Rich. II. p. 190.

43. Favour 's. See on i. 6. 41 above.

Jay. Used as a term of reproach ( — harlot) ; as in M. W. iii. 3. 44 :
"we '11 teach him to know turtles from jays." Warb. notes that the
Italian /Z///0 (=jay) is used in the same figurative sense.

49. Whose mother was her painting. Who owed her beauty to her
painted face ; a figure not unlike that in iv. 2. 82 below:

" No, nor thy tailor, rascal,

Who is thy grandfather; he made those clothes,
Which, as it seems, make thee."

Cf. Lear, ii. 2. 60 : "a tailor made thee." Theo. conjectured " planting "
for painting, and Hanmer changed mother to " feathers " (Capell, "feath-
er"). Coll. adopts the reading of the Coll. MS. : " Who smothers her
with painting." The Camb. editors remark : " If the text be right, the
meaning probably is, whose mother aided and abetted her daughter in
her trade of seduction." K. suggests " muffler " for mother.

51. For I am richer, etc. Because (Gr. 151) I am too valuable to be
hung up like an old-fashioned garment. Malone saw an allusion to
tapestry hangings which " being sometimes wrought with gold and sil-
ver, were, it should seem, occasionally ripped and taken to pieces for
the sake of the materials;" but the preceding line shows plainly enough
that the reference is to ripping up an old garment. The play on ripp'd
is obvious. Cf. iii. 5. 86 below.

58. Sinotfs weeping. It was Sinon who persuaded the Trojans to ad-
mit the wooden horse into their city. On iveeping, cf. Virgil, sEn. ii. 195 :

*c Talibus insidiis perjurique arte Sinonis
Credita res, captique dolis lacrimisque coactis,
Quos neque Tydides, nee Larissaeus Achilles,
Non anni domuere decem, non mille carinae."

For other allusions to Sinon, see R. of L. 1521, 1529, 3 Hen. VI. iii. 2.
190, and T. A. v. 3. 85.

61. Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men. That is, "wilt infect and
corrupt their good name (like sour dough that leaveneth the whole
mass), and wilt render them suspected " (Upton). Cf. Hen. V. ii. 2. 126 :

" O. how hast thou with jealousy infected
The sweetness of affiance ! . . .

And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot
To mark the full-fraught man and best indued
With some suspicion.'*

ACT III. SCENE IV. !95

Proper is explained by the goodly and gallant in the next line. Cf.
M. of V. p. 132, note on A proper man 's picture.

63. Fail. Upton conjectured "fall ;" but S. has fail several times as
a noun. Cf. W. T. ii. 3. 170, v. 1. 107, Hen. VIII. i. 2. 145, ii. 4. 198, etc.

65. A little witness, etc. Bear some little testimony to, etc.

76. There is a prohibition so divine, etc. Cf. Ham. \. 2. 132 :

" Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter."

See our ed. p. 182. S. uses self -slaughter only in these two passages.

For the relative after so, see Gr. 279.

78. Afore 't. The folios have " a-foot ;" corrected by Rowe. The
Coll. MS. has " in front."

80. Scriptures. Imogen uses the word for the antithesis to heresy.
Rowe inserts here the stage-direction, " Pulling his letter [Pope, "let-
ters "] out of her bosom."

87. Set up. Instigate. Set on is more common in this sense. Cf. i. 5.
73 above.

90. Princely fellows. Those who were fellows or equals with myself
in princely rank. The Coll. MS. has " followers."

91. Common passage. Common occurrence. Cf. A. W.\.\.2Q\ "how
sad a passage 't is !"

93. Disedg^d. Surfeited (having the edge of one's appetite taken off).
Cf. Temp. iv. I. 28 and Ham. iii. 2. 260.

94. 7Wst on. To tire was to feed on ravenously, like a bird of prey.
Cf. V. and A. 56 :

" Even as an empty eagle, sharp by fast,
Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh, and bone,
Shaking her wings, devouring all in haste,
Till either gorge be stuff' d or prey be gone;"

" like an empty eaj
and of i

and 3 Hen. VI. i. i. 269 :

Tire on the flesh of me and of my son.'
95. Pangd. Cf. Hen. VIII. ii. 3. 15 :

" 't is a sufferance panging
As soul and body's severing."

101. 7 '// wake mine eye-balls blind first. The folios read " He wake
mine eye-balles first." Hanmer inserted blind. Johnson conjectured
" out first." The Coll. MS. has " crack mine eye-balls first."

105. The perturb" d court, etc. That is, the court perturbed ori account
of my absence. See on ii. 3. 94 above.

108. To be unbent. To have thy bow unbent. Stand is used in the
same technical sense as in ii. 3. 68 above.

109. The elected deer. The chosen deer. Cf. P. P. 300 :

" When as thine eye hath chose the dame
And stall'd the deer that thou shouldst strike," etc.

ill. Considered of. Cf. Hen. V. ii. 4. 113, iii. 6. 133, y. C. iii. 2. 114,
Macb. iii. I. 75, etc.

I96 NOTES.

115. Ttnt. Probe; as in Ham. ii. 2. 626: "I '11 tent him to the
quick," etc. See also the noun in T. and C. ii. 2. 16 :

" the tent that searches
To the bottom of the worst."

120. Abused. Deceived, deluded. See on i. 6. 130 above.

125. For V is commanded, etc. Some of the critics say that this is not
in the letter ; but it is implied in the injunction, "to make me certain it
is done," which Pisanio is left to interpret in his own way.

126. Shall. Will. Cf. Gr.3i5.

132. With that harsh, noble, etc. This line is evidently defective, though
the sense is clear. The Coll. MS. inserts "empty" after simple. Theo.
has " simple nothing, Cloten." Nicholson conjectures " ignoble " for
noble.

136. Hath Britain, etc. K. remarks : "It seems probable that here,
as also on a similar occasion in Rich. II. [see i. 4. 275 fol.], S. had in his
thoughts a passage in Lyly's Euphues : * Nature hath given to no man
a country, no more than she hath house, or lands, or living. Plato would
never account him banished that had the sun, air, water, and earth, that
he had before : where he felt the winter's blast, and the summer's blaze ;
where the same sun and the same moon shined : whereby he noted that
every place was a country to a wise man, and all parts a palace to a
quiet mind.' "

140. There 'j. Cf. iv. 2. 372 below: " There is no more such masters,"
etc. See also iv. 2. 284, v. 5. 233, etc. Gr. 335.

144. Dark as your fortune is. As impenetrable to others, as your
fortune is doubtful or obscure.

145. That which, etc. Her personal identity as woman and princess
(Clarke).

147. Pretty, and full of view. Fair and full of promise. Pretty has
been suspected, and the Coll. MS. substitutes " Privy ;" hut the emenda-
tion, though specious, has met with little favour among the editors. Full
of view may mean " affording an ample prospect, a complete opportunity
of discerning circumstances which it is your interest to know" (Steevens) ;
or that meaning, as Clarke suggests, may be combined with the one
given above. A Yankee might say " with a good look-out " in the same
double sense.

152. Though. Rann reads " Through" (the conjecture of Johnson and
Heath), but the ellipsis is not unlike many others in S.

153. Adventure. Venture, run the risk. See on i. 6. 171 above.

155. Niceness. Coyness; the only instance of the word in S. Cf. the
adjective in T. G. of V. iii. i. 82, A. W.v. I. 15, Hen. V. v. 2. 293, 299, etc.

157. It pretty self. For this old possessive it, cf. W. T. iii. 2. 101 : "in
it most innocent mouth ;" and see our ed. p. 155. Gr. 228.

159. Quarrellous. The word is used by S. only here, and quarrelsome
only in A. Y. L. v. 4. 85, 99, and T. of S. i. 2. 13. For the simile, ct.
I Hen. IV. ii. 3. 81 :

" A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen
As you are toss'd with."

ACT HI. SCENE V. !97

Steevens says that " this character of the Weasel is not warranted by
naturalists." The animal was formerly kept in houses instead of a cat
for ihe purpose of killing rats and mice.

161. The harder heart! " This too hard heart of mine !" (J. H.). Cf.
the use of the comparative in Latin. Johnson makes it refer to Posthu-
nms.

163. Common-kissing Titan. The sun that kisses any body and any
thing. Cf. I Hen. IV. ii. 4. 133 : " Didst thou never see Titan kiss a
dish of butter?" Steevens cites Oth. iv. 2. 78: "The bawdy wind that
kisses all it meets."

164. Laboursome. Elaborate. Cf. Ham. i. 2. 59 : " laboursome peti-
tion." Trims (^apparel) is the only instance of the plural in S.

168. Fore -thinking. Anticipating; as in I Hen. IV. iii. 2. 38 : "Pro-
phetically do fore-think thy fall."

170. In their serving. With the help they may give you.
174. Happy. Fortunate, gifted. Cf. T. G. of K iv. I. 34 :

" 2 Outlaw. Have you the tongues ?
Valentine. My youthful travel therein made me happy."

You Y/ make him know. The folios have " will make him know."
Theo. reads " will make him so." The reading in the text is Hanmer's.
St. conjectures " will make him bow."

177- Your means abroad. For your means, as to your means.

179. Supplement. " Continuance of supply " (D.) ; used by S. only here.

lot. We '// even, etc. " We '11 make our work even with our time;
we '11 do what time will allow " (Johnson) ; or " we '11 profit by any ad-
vantage offered " (Schmidt). Cf. A. W. \. 3. 3 : " to even your content ;"
and see our ed. p. 140.

183. lam soldier to. " I have enlisted and bound myself to it " (Warb.),
or " I am firmly and constantly devoted to it " (Schmidt). Steevens
thinks it is simply = " I am up to it, I have ability for it;" and that ex-
planation is perhaps to be preferred.

187. Your carriage. Carrying you off.

190. At land. This might seem suggested l>y the preceding at sea,
but we find it in other connections ; as in A. and C. iii. 7. 54, iv. 5. 3, etc.
Cf. Or. 143, 144.

SCENE V. — 3. And am. For the ellipsis of the subject, see Gr. 400,
401. For ye, see Gr. 236.

7. So, sir. For the " acquiescent" use of so, cf. iii. I. 82 above. The
pointing is that of the folios. Some follow Capell in connecting the
words with what follows : " So, sir, I desire," etc.

8. Conduct. Safe-conduct, escort.

9. And you! The folios join this to the preceding speech. We fol-
low the Camb. editors (Globe ed.) in giving it to the Queen. Rann reads
" his grace and you."

14. The event. The issue ; as in T. of S. iii. 2. 129 : " I '11 after him,
and see the event of this," etc.

21. Wrote. Cf. 2 above. The common form in S. is writ or written.
• 22. Fits. Befits, becomes ; as in v. 5. 98 below.

198 NOTES.

Ripely. Promptly (the time being ripe for it) ; the one instance of the
adverb in S.

25. Drawn to head. Gathered in arms. Cf. X. John, v. 2. 113 : " Be-
fore I drew this gallant head of war ;" and see our ed. p. 174.

32. Looks its like. Seems to us like. The us is the dative, as in " do
us the favour," etc. Cf. Gr. 220. The ist folio reads "looke vs like,"
which the 2d changes to "lookes as like."

35. Slight in sufferance. The 2d folio changes slight to " light." The
meaning is, We have been too easy or careless in allowing it.

36. Exile. Accented by S. on either syllable, according to the meas-
ure. Cf. ii. 3. 39 above and iv. 4. 26 below. See also A. Y. L. p. 149.

40. Tender of. Sensitive to.

44. Loud' st. See on i. I. 96 above. The folios read " lowd (or "loud ")
of noise;" corrected by Capell. Rowe gives "loudest noise," and the
Coll. MS. "loud'st noise."

50. Our great court, etc. Our important court business (with the Ro-
man ambassador) made me forget it.

56. Stand 'st so for. Dost stand up so for, as we say ; art so earnest a
partisan of. Cf. M. W. in. 2. 62 : " I stand wholly for you," etc.

69. Forestall him of. That is, prevent his living to see.

71. And that. And/^r that, and because. Gr. 151, 285.

72. Than lady, ladies, woman. An elliptical climax="than any lady,
than all ladies, than all womankind " (Johnson). Hanmer reads " Than
any lady, winning from each one ;" and Warb. " Than lady ladies ; win-
ning from each one."

74. Outsells. Outvalues ; as in ii. 4. 102 above. Coll. conjectures
" Excels."

80. Are you packing? Explained by some, and perhaps rightly, as =
are you plotting? Cf. T. of S. v. i. 121 : "Here's packing, with a wit-
ness, to deceive us all," etc. It may, however, mean (as Schmidt and
others make it), Are you running off? Cf. I Hen. VI. iv. i. 46, Ham.
iii. 4. 211, etc.

83. Good my lord. See Gr. 13.

85. Close. Sly, secret. Cf. Macb. iii. 5. 7 : " The close contriver of all
harms," etc.

86. Rip Thy heart. Cf. Lear, iv. 6. 265 : " To know our enemies' minds,
we 'd rip their hearts."

92. Home. Thoroughly, fully. Cf. Temp. v. i. 71 : "I will pay thy
graces home." See also Ham. p. 232, note on Tax him home.

99. This paper. The " feigned letter " of v. 5. 279 below. It seems to
have been prepared by Pisanio to account for Imogen's absence in case
he should be charged with aiding and abetting her flight.

101. Or this, or perish. I must resort to this trick, or fall a victim to
his fury. Johnson conjectured that the words belong to Cloten.

log. Undergo. Undertake. Cf. i. 4. 153 above. See also W. T. p. 202.
. 137. Insultment. The only instance of the word in S.

140. Knock. Changed by Hanmer to " kick."
.153. My loss. The Coll. MS. has " thy loss."

155. Most true. " It is characteristic of the faithful-hearted Pisanio that

ACT II L SCENE VI.

199

he never swerves from his conviction that Posthumus is good and true,
notwithstanding the cruel letter commanding Imogen's destruction. He
believes what he has told her; that Posthumus has been deceived by
' some villain,' who has worked this 'injury ' to both " (Clarke). Hanmer
changed him to " her."

SCENE VI. — 6. Within a ken. Within sight, as in 2 Hen. IV. iv. i.
151 : "within a ken our army lies."

7. Foundations. " Quibbling between fixed places and charitable estab-
lishments " (Schmidt).

13. Sorer. " A greater or heavier crime " (Johnson).

16. Even before. Just before ; as in K. John, iii. I. 233 : "And even
before this truce, but new before," etc.

17. At point. See on iii. I. 30 above. For food— fa* want of food.
Cf. A. Y.L. ii. 7. 104: " I almost die for food." See our ed. p. 159, note
on Faints for succour.

19. I were best. See on iii. 2. 76 above.

20. Clean. Quite, entirely. See Rich. II. p. 188.

21. Breeds. Changed by Hanmer to "breed;" but see on ii. 4. 58
above.

Hardness =• hardship ; as in Oth. i. 3. 234:

"A natural and a prompt alacrity
I find in hardness," etc.

22. Hardiness. Bravery; as in Hen. V. i. 2. 220 : "hardiness and policy."
For the jingle, cf. iii. 4. 1 1 above.

23. Civil. Civilized ; as the antithesis of savage shows. Cf. Oth.
p. 196.

24. Take or lend. Take pay for food, or lend it ; as Malone explains
it, referring to 47 below. Johnson wanted to transpose civil and savage ;
and Schmidt conjectures " take or leave " (that is, " destroy me or let me
live").

25. Best draw my sword. Steevens quotes Milton, Comus, 487 : " Best
draw and stand upon our guard."

27. Such a foe, good heavens ! " Exquisitely feminine throughout is this
speech. Its confession of limb- weary fatigue, of faintness from exhaus-
tion, its moral strength amid physical weakness, its tender epithet for the
husband whose cruel injustice is felt none the less deeply for the irremov-
able love she still cherishes for him, its timid hesitation in calling for help,
its vague thought of defence in best draw my sword, its avowal of greater
dread at the very sight of the sword than the sword-drawer can hope to
inspire by use of the weapon, together with the final softly smiling, half
self-pitying exclamation, half aspiration for divine aid, are all intensely
true to the mingled mental courage and bodily delicacy of such a wom-
an as Imogen, who is the very embodiment of supreme womanhood "
(Clarke).

28. Woodman. Hunter ; the common acceptation of the word in the
time of S. (Steevens). Cf. R. of L. 580 :

" He is no woodman that doth bend his bow
To strike a poor unseasonable doe ;"

200 NOTES.

and M. W. v. 5. 30: Am I a woodman, ha? speak I like Herne the
hunter ?"

30. Match. Agreement, compact; as in W. T. v. 3. 137, Cor. ii. 3. 86, etc.

34. Resty. Too fond of rest, lazy, torpid. Cf. Sonn. 100. 9 : " Rise,
resty muse." We find " resty-stiff " in Edw. III. iii. 3.

36. Throughly. See on ii. 4. 12 above.

44. An earthly paragon. Cf. T. G. of K ii. 4. 146 : " No ; but she is an
earthly paragon."

50. /' the floor. Changed by Hanmer to "o' th' floor;" but in was
sometimes --on. Cf. Gr. 160.

52. Parted. Departed ; as in Cor. v. 6. 73 : " when I parted hence,"
etc. See M. of F. p. 145.

55. Of. By. Gr. 170.

58. Made it. Cf. W. T. iii. 2. 218 : " All faults I make," etc. See our
ed. p. 178.

64. /;/. Into ; as very often. Cf. Oth. v. 2. 292 : " Fallen in the prac-
tice of a cursed slave," etc. Gr. 159.

66. Well encountered! Well met ! Cf. i. 3. 32 above.

70. But be. For the use of but, see Gr. 126.

71. I bid for you as I V buy. "I bid for you with a sincere desire to
have you" (J. H.); "I bid for your affection as I do buy it with mine
own to you " (Clarke). Hanmer has " I'd bid."

75. Sprightly. In good spirits.

77. Prize. Estimation, value. Clarke paraphrases the passage thus :
" then would the prize which Leonatus gained in winning the heiress to
the crown have been lessened by my being but sister to the royal heirs."
Heath explains it : " Then had the prize thou hast mastered in me been
less, and not have sunk thee, as I have done, by over-lading thee ;" but
this is pressing the metaphor too far.

79. Wrings. Writhes, as in anguish. Cf. Much Ado, v. I. 28: " those
that wring under the load of sorrow ;" and Hen. F. iv. I. 253 :

" whose sense no more can feel
But his own wringing.''

85. Laying by, etc. Setting aside that worthless tribute of obsequious
adoration which the fickle crowd pay to rank. Johnson explains differing
multitudes as = "the many-headed rabble;" but it seems rather to be^
" the still discordant, wavering multitude " of 2 Hen. IV. ind. 19.

87. Otit-peer. Excel, surpass ; used by S. only here.

89. Leonatus"1. The folios have simply " Leonatus," which V, and W.
retain ; but we prefer to print Leonatus'' , as D., Sr., and Clarke do. Cf.
Lear, p. 246, note on This\ or Gr. 461.

90. Hunt. That is, the game taken in the hunt.

92. Mannerly. Adjectives in -ly are often used adverbially. Cf. Miich
Ado, ii. i. 79: "mannerly modest;" and M. of V. ii. 9. 100: "Cupid's
post that comes so mannerly." See also on ii. 3. 33 above.

SCENE VII. — 4. And that. And since that. See on iii. 5. 71 above.
6. Fair n off. Revolted. Cf. I Hen. IV. i. 3. 94 :

ACT IV, SCENES L AND II. 2oi

"Revolted Mortimer!
He never did fall off, my sovereign liege,
But by the chance of war," etc.

9. Commands. Changed by Theo. to "commends ;" but the meaning,
as Johnson remarks, may be " commands the commission to be given to
you." The expression is not more elliptical than many in the present
play. K., V., W., Clarke, and others retain commands.

14. Suppliant. Supplementary, auxiliary ; the only instance of the
adjective in S. Capell and some other editors spell it " supplyant." The
accent is of course on the penult.

ACT IV.

SCENE I. — 4. Saving reverence of. Begging pardon of. Saving your
reverence was a common apology for an offensive or unseemly word. Cf.
M.for M. ii. I. 92, Much Ado, iii. 4. 32, M. of V. ii. 2. 27, 139, etc.

12. Single oppositions. Single encounters or combats. Cf. I Hen. IV.
'• 3- 99 : " I11 single opposition, hand to hand," etc. Schmidt explains
it as = " when compared as to particular accomplishments;" which per-
haps suits the context quite as well.

Imperseverant. " Giddy - headed, flighty, thoughtless " ( Schmidt ).
Some explain it as "obstinately persevering, stubborn." The folios
spell the word " imperseuerant," which D. and others change to "im-
perceiverant ;" but that is hardly an admissible derivative from per-
ceive.

What mortality is ! What a thing mortality is ! Cf. M. of V. \. 3.
162 : " O father Abram, what these Christians are !" Gr. 256.

15. Enforced. Cf. M. N. D. iii. i. 205 : " enforced chastity," etc.

Hanmer changed thy face to " her face ;" but the confusion of pro-
nouns, as Clarke remarks, is "in Cloten's usual blundering, headlong
manner."

17. Spiirn her home. Cf. iii. 5. 141 above.

Happily. The folio reading, changed by Johnson to "haply." Cf. T.
of S. iv. 4. 54 : " And happily we might be interrupted," etc. See T. N.
p. 158, or Gr. 42.

19. Power of. Control over ; as in Ham. ii. 2. 27 : " the sovereign
power you have of us."

SCENE II. — 8. Citizen. " Cockney-bred, effeminate " (Schmidt). For
wanton (=one brought up in luxury), cf. K. John, v. I. 70: "a beardless
boy, A cocker'd silken wanton ;" and Rich. II. v. 3. 10 : " While he,
young wanton and effeminate boy " (where wanton is a noun, as here).
See also Ham. p. 275, note on Make a wanton of me.

10. Journal. Diurnal, daily; as in M. for M. iv. 3. 92 : "Ere twice
the sun hath made his journal greeting," etc. Johnson paraphrases the
passage thus : " Keep your daily course uninterrupted ; if the stated plan
of life is once broken, nothing follows but confusion."

202 ArOT£S.

14. Reason of it. Talk about it. Cf. M. of V. ii. 8. 27 : "I reason'd
with a Frenchman yesterday," etc.

17. How much, etc. However much, etc. See Much Ado, p. 141, and
cf. Gr. 46. Capell changed How to " As."

24. Strain. Explained by Schmidt as "impulse," but the context
shows that it carries with it the idea of hereditary disposition. Cf. its
use=stock, race ; as in J. C. v. i. 59 : " the noblest of thy strain." See
also Hen. V. p. 160.

26, 27. Cowards father . . . and grace. In the folio these lines are
printed thus :

u Cowards father Cowards, & Base things Syre Bace ;
" Nature hath Meale, and Bran ; Contempt, and Grace.

It must not, however, be inferred that the couplet is a quotation. D. has
shown (Remarks, etc., 1844, p. 207) that maxims, apothegms, etc., used
often to be printed in this way. Cf. T. and C. i. 2. 319, where the line
("Achievement is command," etc.) has the inverted commas in the folio,
because, as the preceding line states, it is a "maxim." See the note on
the passage in W., vol. ix. p. 142.

29. Miracle. Schmidt is in doubt whether this is verb or noun ; but it
can well enough be explained as the latter. The meaning seems to be :
yet this youth, whoever he may be, accomplishes a very miracle in being
loved before me. For who, cf. y. C. i. 3. 80 : " Let it be who it is," etc.

31. So please yoii, sir. Tyrwliitt wished to transfer these words to
Imogen, as a " courtly phrase " out of place in the mouth of Arviragus ;
but, as Capell suggests, they are probably addressed to Belarius, who,
after saying ' T is the ninth hour, etc., takes down some of their hunting
weapons and hands one to Arviragus. The three men may be supposed
to be equipping themselves for the hunt during the following speech of
Imogen.

35. Imperious. "Imperial" (Malone). Cf. Ham. v. i. 236: "Im-
perious Caesar" (the quarto reading) ; T. and C. iv. 5. 172 : " most im-
perious Agamemnon," etc.

38. Stir him. " Move him to tell his story " (Johnson).

39. Gentle. Of gentle birth, well-born.

40. Dishonestly afflicted. The victim of others' dishonesty, or dis-
honourable conduct.

45. Huswife. The usual spelling in the early eds., indicating the pro-
nunciation. Cf. Cor. p. 205.

46. And shalt be ever. Belarius plays upon the word bound. It
would hardly be necessary to refer to this, if Warb. had not changed
shalt to "shall." Heath, besides making this change, joined the words
to Imogen's speech.

47. Appears he hath had. A "confusion of construction" (Gr. 411).
K. reads : " howe'er distress'd he appears, hath had." Clarke makes
appears^" shows, makes manifest ;" but we cannot believe that the word
is ever used transitively. See Cor. p. 251, note on Is well appeared.

49. His neat cookery ! Mrs. Lennox has objected to this as inconsist-
ent with the rank of Imogen ; but see p. 22 above. The folios give what

ACT IV. SCENE II. 203

follows to "Arui.t" but Capell is clearly right in continuing the speech
to Guiderius.

50. In characters. In the shape of letters. Steevens quotes Fletcher,
Elder Brother: " And how to cut his meat in characters."

51. As. As if. Gr. 107.

52. Dieter. The only instance of the word in S.

53-57. As if . . . rail at. Put in the margin as spurious by Pope
and Hanmer.

58. Him. The folios have " them ;" corrected by Pope.

59. Spurs. " The longest and largest leading roots of trees " (Malone).
Cf Temp. v. I. 47 :

" and by the spurs pluck'd up
The pine and cedar."

61. With. The preposition has troubled some of the commentators,
but the twined implied in untwine is " understood " before with ; or we
may say, with Malone, that untwine = " cease to twine." Hanmer
changed with to " from."

62. Great morning. Late in the morning. The expression occurs
again in T. and C. iv. 3. I. Steevens compares the Fr. grand jour. So
de grand matin = very early.

67. Saw him not. Have not seen him. Cf. 191 below. Gr. 347.

75. A slave. That word slave; including perhaps the other meaning
also : a slave who calls me a slave.

77. To who ? See on iii. 3. 87 above. Cf. Oth. pp. 160, 200.

80. My dagger in my mouift. Cf. for a different use of the figure Much
Ado, ii. i. 255: "She speaks poniards;" and Ham. iii. 2. 414: "I will
speak daggers to her."

84. Make thee. See on iii. 4. 49 above.

87. Injurious. Insolent. See on iii. i. 46 above.

91. Or adder, spider. Omitted by Capell. Hanmer ends the line at
toad, and begins the next with " Adder, or spider, it would," etc.

93. Mere. Absolute. See J. C. p. 129, note on Merely upon myself.
Cf. v. 3. n below.

95. Afeard. Used by S. interchangeably with afraid. See Macb. p.
163, note on Nothing afeard.

97. Die the death. The form of a judicial sentence (cf. M.for M. ii. 4.
165), and hence used of a violent death. See also M. N. D. p. 126.

98. Proper. Own ; as in Temp. iii. 3. 60 : " Their proper selves," etc.
100. Lad's town. See on iii. I. 32 above.

105. Favour. Personal appearance. See on i. 6. 41 above, and cf.
iii. 4. 48.

107. Absolute. Positive, certain ; as in Ham. v. i. 148 : " How abso-
lute the knave is ?" Cf. perfect in 1 19 below.

1 10. Fell. Fierce, cruel ; as in T. and C. iv. 5. 269 : "-fell as death,"
etc.

in. Apprehension. Conception, appreciation ; not = dread. Cf. Hen.
V. iii. 7. 145 : " If the English had any apprehension, they would run
away ;" and see our ed. p. 171.

112. Defect. Changed by Theo. to "effect." Hanmer changed cause

204

NOTES.

in the next line to " cure." Sundry other emendations have been pro-
posed, none of which seem to us at all satisfactory. The passage, as it
stands, appears to say the opposite of what is meant ; but we are in-
clined to think it one of those inadvertencies in the use of negatives
to which the poet appears to have been prone. He not unfrequently
got in one too many (see on i. 4. 20 above), and sometimes one too
few (cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 31, and see our ed. p. 156, note on No more do
yours}. The present instance seems to us to belong to the latter list.
Fear is elliptically — defect of fear, the word in the former part of the
sentence being made to do duty by implication in the latter. Schmidt
does not include this passage among his examples of a negative "want-
ing, as being borne in mind, though not expressed" (Lexicon, p. 1421),
but we think it is clearly analogous to some that he does give — especially
the one in A. Y. L. iii. 2. 31. See, however, p. 226 below.

117. / not doing this. If I had not done this. Gr. 377.

119. Perfect. See on iii. I. 71 above.

122. Take us in. Overcome us. See on iii. 2. 9 above.

130. For. Because ; as in iii. 4. 51 above.

132. Safe. Sound ; as in Lear, iv. 6. 81 : " The safer sense," etc.

133. Humour. The folios have " honor " or " honour ;" corrected by
Theo.

137. To bring him here. For the ellipsis of as, see Gr. 281.

139. Cave. The only instance of the verb in S.

140. Head. Armed force. See on iii. 5. 25 above.

142. Fetch us in. Capture us ; as in A. and C. iv. I. 14 : ' Enough to
fetch him in." Cf. 122 above.

146. Ordinance. That which is ordained by the gods. Cf. Rich. III.
iv. 4. 183 : " by God's just ordinance," etc.

147. Howsoever. However this may be.

150. Did make my way long forth. "Made my walk forth from the
cave tedious " (Johnson).

155. Reck. Care. The word is spelt " reake " or " reak " in the folios.
Cf. A. Y. L. p. 159 ; and see also Cor. p. 237, note on Reckless.

159. Brotherly. See on mannerly, iii. 6. 92 above.

1 60. Revenges, etc. " Such pursuit of vengeance as fell within any
possibility of opposition " (Johnson).

161. Seek us through. Seek us out, follow us up.

168. To gain his colour. " To restore him to the bloom of health "
(Steevens).

169. Let . . . blood. Cf. J. C. iii. I. 152 : " Who else must be let blood,"
etc.

Parish is evidently = " as many as would fill a parish" (Johnson), but
Hanmer changed it to "marish." Edwards takes the trouble to inform
us that the meaning is not " I would let out a parish of blood ;" and Ma-
lone says : " Mr. Edwards is, I think, right '"for, as he adds, we find " a
band of Clotens " in v. 5. 304 below.

171. Divine. For the accent, see on ii. I. 55 above.

175. Enchafd. Excited, enraged. Cf. Oth. ii. I. 17: "On the en-
chafed flood," See J. C. p. 131, on The troubled Tiber chafing, etc. .

ACT IV. SCENE II. 2O5

For rudest, see on I. i. 96 above and cf. 191 below. Pope has "rude."
176. By the top doth take, etc. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iii. i. 22 :

" the winds,
Who take the ruffian billows by the top," etc.

178. Instinct. For the accent, cf. Rich. III. ii. 3. 42, Cor. v. 3. 35, etc.
See also 2 Hen. IV. p. 149. Gr. 490.

180. Other. Cf. iii. i. 36 above. Gr. 12.

185. Clotpoll. Head. For its contemptuous personal use (=block-
head), see Lear, p. 184.

187. Ingenious. The folios have " ingenuous ;" corrected by Rowe.
The words are used indiscriminately in the early eds.

192. It did not speak. See on 67 above. Gr. 347.

193. Answer. Answer to, correspond to. Cf. v. 5. 449 below.

194. Toys. Trifles. Cf. I Hen. VI. iv. I. 145 : "a toy, a thing of no
regard," etc.

199. Made so much on. Cf. Cor. iv. 5. 203 : " he is so made on here,"
etc. For the interchange of on and of, see Gr. 181.

V. quotes Mrs. Radcliffe here : " No master ever knew how to touch
the accordant springs of sympathy by small circumstances like our own
Shakespeare. In Cymbeline, for instance, how finely such circumstances
are made use of to awaken, at once, solemn expectation and tenderness,
and, by recalling the softened remembrance of a sorrow long past, to pre-
pare the mind to melt at one that was approaching ; mingling at the same
time, by means of a mysterious occurrence, a slight tremor of awe with
our pity ! Thus, when Belarius and Arviragus return to the cave where
they had left the unhappy and worn-out Imogen to repose, while they are
yet standing before it, and Arviragus — speaking of her with tenderest
pity as 'poor sick Fidele' — goes out to inquire for her, solemn music
is heard from the cave, sounded by that harp of which Guiderius says,
4 Since the death of my dearest mother it did not speak before. All
solemn things should answer solemn accidents.' Immediately, Arvira-
gus enters with Fidele senseless in his arms :

' The bird is dead that we have made so much on. ...
Guiderius. Why, he but sleeps. . . .
Arviragus. With fairest flowers,
While summer lasts, AND I LIVE HERE, FIDELE,
I '11 sweeten thy sad grave.'

Tears alone can speak the touching simplicity of the whole scene."

206. Crare. A kind of small vessel. The folios have "care," and
crare is the emendation of Steevens (the conjecture of Simpson). Theo.
and Hanmer have "carack" (the suggestion of Warb.), for which see
Oth. p. 1 60. Steevens gives many examples of crare (also spelt craer, ,
cray or craye, crea, etc.) from B. and F., Drayton, Heywood, and other
writers of the time. It occurs also in Holinshed, North's Plutarch, Hak-
luyt's Voyages, etc. Malone cites Florio, Ital. Diet. : " Vurchio. A hulke,
a crayer, a lyter, a wherrie, or such vessel of burthen."

208. But I. That is, but I know. Rowe (2d ed.) reads "but ah !"
210. Stark. Cf. the effect of the sleeping-potion in •A*, and J. iv. i.
103:

2o6 NOTES.

" Each part, depriv'd of supple government,
Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death."

215. Clouted brogues. Heavy shoes strengthened with clouts, or hob-
nails (Steevens). Cf. 2 Hen. VI. iv. 2. 195 : "clouted shoon." Accord-
ing to others, clouted— patched. This would seem to be the meaning in
Josh. ix. 5 : " old shoes and clouted." Cf. Latimer, Sermons : " he should
not have clouting leather to piece his shoes with." See also Wb.

219. To thee. Changed by Hanmer to "near him," and by Rann to
" to him ;" but we have already had several examples of this confusion of
pronouns in the present play. See on iii. 3. 105 above. " Here Guide-
rius replies to his brother's remark upon Fidele's looking but as if
asleep, and continues speaking of the gentle lad in the third person until,
looking upon the beautiful form that lies apparently dead before him, a
sense of its loveliness and his own impassioned regret at having to con-
sign it to the grave comes full upon him, and he ends with addressing it
rather than speaking of it " (Clarke).

With fairest flowers, etc. V. remarks here : " ' The White Devil, or
Vittoria Corombona, a tragedy by John Webster,' is one of the most re-
markable productions of Shakespeare's contemporaries. The principal
character is a bold and beautiful conception of daring female guilt, which
may almost vie with Lady Macbeth, and may have been suggested by
her", though in no respect a copy. But the play contains several passages
in which the author is certainly indebted to his recollections of ' Master
Shakspeare,' whose ' right happy and copieous industry ' he commends
in his preface. One passage is directly from Hamlet. A lady, resem-
bling Ophelia in her grief and distraction, thus addresses her friends :

'you're very welcome.
Here's rosemary for you, and rue for you;
Heart' s-ease for you : I pray you make much of it :
I have left more for myself.'

" Imogen's apparent soft and smiling death, as described in the text,
has been supposed to be the origin of the following beautiful lines :

4 Oh, thou soft natural death ! thou art joint-twin
To sweetest slumber : no rough-bearded comet
Stares on thy mild departure : the dull owl
Beats not against thy casement : the hoarse wolf
Scents not thy carrion: — pity winds thy corse,
While horror waits on princes!'

" Cornelia's distraction over her dead son, again, owes something to the
last scene of Lear ; while the funeral dirge for young Marcello, sung by
her, is still more directly borrowed from this scene :

'Call for the robin-redbreast and the wren,

Since o'er shady grove they hover,

And with leaves and flowers do cover
v The friendless bodies of unburied men.

Call unto his funeral dole,

The ant, the field-mouse, and the mole,
To raise him hillocks that shall keep him warm,
And (when gay tombs are robb'd) sustain no harm ;
But keep the wolf far hence, that 's foe to men,
For with his nails he'll dig them up again,' etc.

ACT IV. SCENE II.

207

"The last generation of critics perceived the resemblance, but were
perplexed by the fact that Webster's play was printed in 1612, eleven years
before the first edition of Cymbeline ; so that it was not quite clear to
them whether Shakespeare had not himself borrowed from the two last-
quoted passages. But since their day we have learned from Dr. Forman
that Cymbeline was acted at least one year before Webster's White
Devil, so that Webster, who was originally an actor, was doubtless fa-
miliar with its poetry as represented, and had, perhaps, himself delivered
the lament of Arviragus. Indeed, his imitations are not direct copies,
like those of a plagiarist from the book, but are rather the vivid results
of the impression made upon the younger poet, by the other's fancy and
feeling thus reproducing themselves, mingled with the new conceptions
of a congenial mind."

222. Pale primrose. Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 122 :

"pale primroses,
That die unmarried ;"

and 2 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 63 : " Look pale as primroses."

224. Whom. Often used " to personify irrational antecedents "(Gr. 264).

225. Ruddock. The redbreast ; spelt " raddocke " or " raddock " in the
folios. Cf. Spenser, Epithalamion : "the Ruddock warbles soft."

230. Winter-ground. This seems to have been a term for covering
plants with straw, etc., to protect them during the winter. Theo. changed
it to "winter-gown" (the suggestion of Warb.), and the Coll. MS. has
"winter-guard."

The notion that the redbreast covered the dead with leaves appears to
be older than the ballad of The Babes in the Wood. Reed quotes Thos.
Johnson, Cornucopia, 1596 : "The robin redbrest if he find a rnan or
woman dead, will cover all his face with mosse, and some thinke that if
the body should remaine unburied that he would cover the whole body
also." Cf. Drayton, The Owl:

"Cov'ring with moss the dead's unclosed eye,
The little red-breast teacheth charitie."

231. Wench-like. Womanish.

233. Admiration. The word combines here the senses of wonder and
veneration. For the former, see on i. 6. 37 above.

234. Shall 'j. Shall us ; that is, shall we. Cf. Cor. iv. 6. 148 : " Shall 's
to the Capitol ?" See also W. T. i. 2. 178, Per. iv. 5. 7, and v. 5. 228 be-
low. Gr. 215.

238. Our. The folios have " to our ;" corrected by Pope.
244. Great griefs, I see, etc. See on i. i. 135 above. For medicine as
a verb, cf. Oth. iii. 3. 332.

247. Paid. Punished ; as in v. 4. 161 below.

248. Reverence, etc. " Reverence, or due regard to subordination, is the
power that keeps peace and order in the world " (Johnson).

253. Thersites\ Cf. T. and C. i. 3. 73, etc. ; and for Ajax\ Id. i. 2. 14,
etc.

254. Are. The Coll. MS. has " is." For the plural, cf. L. L. L. ii. I.
133 : " But say that he or we, as neither have," etc.

208 NOTES.

256. To the east. For old superstitions concerning the position of
graves, etc., see Brand's Popular Antiquities (Bohn's ed.), vol. ii. p. 295
fol. Cf. p. 37 above ; and also Ham. p. 259, note on Straight.

259. Fear no more, etc. Several of the editors quote Collins's imitation
of this dirge, which, as V. observes, " exhibits his usual exquisite taste and
felicity of expression, although inferior to the original in condensation and
characteristic simplicity :"

"To fair Fidele's grassy tomb

Soft maids and village hinds shall bring
Each opening sweet of earliest bloom,
And rifle all the breathing spring.

No wailing ghost shall dare appear

To vex with shrieks this quiet grove ;
But shepherd lads assemble here,

And melting virgins own their love.

No withered witch shall here be seen ;

No goblins lead their nightly crew ;
The female fays shall haunt the green,

And dress thy grave with pearly dew.

The red-breast oft, at evening hours,

Shall kindly lend his little aid.
With hoary moss and gathered flowers,

To deck the ground where thou art laid.

When howling winds and beating rain

In tempests shake the sylvan cell ;
Or, midst the chase, on every plain,

The tender thought on thee shall dwell : —

Each lonely scene shall thee restore ;

For thee the tear be truly shed ;
Beloved till life can charm no more,

And mourned till pity's self be dead."

K. remarks : " There is nothing to us more striking than the contrast
which is presented between the free natural lyric sung by the brothers
over the grave of Fidele and the elegant poem which some have thought
so much more beautiful. The one is perfectly in keeping [' barring,' say
we, the closing couplets of the stanzas] with all that precedes and all that
follows ; the other is entirely out of harmony with its associations. 4 To
fair Fidele's grassy tomb ' is the dirge of Collins over Fidele ; ' Fear no
more the heat o' the sun' is P'idele's proper funeral song by her bold
brothers."

263, 264. Golden lads, etc. St. remarks (and we fully agree with him) :
"There is something so strikingly inferior, both in the thoughts and ex-
pression of the concluding couplet to each stanza in this song, that we
may fairly set them down as additions from the same hand which fur-
nished the contemptible Masque or Vision that deforms the last act."

¥ or girls all the Coll. MS. has "lasses."

272. Thunder-stone. Thunder-bolt. Cf. J. C. p. 138.

276. Consign to thee. Come to the same state, submit to the same
terms. Johnson conjectured " this " for thee.

ACT IV. SCENE II.

209

277. Exerciser. Conjurer, one who raised spirits. Cf. exorcist in A.
W. v. 3. 305 and J. C. ii. I. 323 (see our ed. p. 150).

281. Consummation. The final summing-up or end of mortal life. Cf.
Ham. ill. I. 63 : « a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd."

Steevens quotes Edw. III. : " To darkness, consummation, dust, and
worms."

286. Faces. Malone objected to the plural, as Cloten's corpse was
headless, and Hanmer gave " Upon the face — " Clarke takes it to re-
fer to " the faces of corpses generally."

288. Herblets. The only instance of the diminutive in S.

291. So is. The folio has "so are ;" probably in this instance an ac-
cidental repetition of the are just before.

294. 'Ods pittikins! One of the petty oaths of the time, corrupted
from " God's pity !" Cf. 'Ods pity (Oth. iv. 3. 75), "Ods heartlings (M. W.
iii. 4. 59), 'Ods lifelings ( T. N. v. i. 187), etc.

For mile, cf. Macb. v. 5. 37 : " within this three mile," etc. See Rich.
II. p. 182, note on a thousand pound.

299. Cave-keeper. Dweller in a cave ; like housekeeper, etc. Pope
changes so to "sure," and the Coll. MS. gives " lo !"

302. Fumes. Vapours, phantoms ; as in Temp, v. I. 67 :

"their rising senses

Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle
Their clearer reason ;"

and Macb. i. 7. 66 :

"memory, the warder of the brain,
Shall be a fume," etc.

306. Fear' d gods. Changed by Pope to "oh gods !"

311. Mercurial. " Light and nimble like that of Mercury " (Schmidt) ;
the only instance of the adjective in S.

312. Brawns. Brawny arms. Cf. Cor. iv. 5. 126: "to hew thy tar-
get from thy brawn," etc. Pope changes the word to " arms."

Jovial. Like that of Jove ; used by S. only here and in v. 4. 105 below.
314. Madded. See on ii. 2. 37 above. For Hecuba, cf. Ham. ii. 2. 523,
584, T. and C. i. 2. i, etc.

316. Irregulous. Apparently = irregular, lawless; a word found no-
where else. Johnson conjectured " th' irreligious.'1

317. Hast. The folios have " Hath ;" corrected by Pope.
320. Most bravest. See on i. 6. 161 above.

324. This head. Evidently=the head belonging to this body; but
changed in the 3d folio to " his head," and by Hanmer to "thy head."

326, Pregnant. Full of probability. Cf. M.for M. ii. I. 2'3 : " 'Tis
very pregnant," etc. See also Lear, p. 198.

329. Home. Fully. See on iii. 5. 92 above.

333. Which. Who. Cf. ii. 3. 105 above. Gr. 265.

334. To them. In addition to them. Cf. K. John, i. I. 144 : " And, to
his shape, were heir of all this land," etc. Gr. 185.

338. Confiners. Probably = inhabitants (Schmidt), not "borderers,"

o

2IO NOTES.

as generally explained. - Cf. the use of confines— territory ; as in A. Y. L.
ii. i. 24, Rich. II. i. 3. 137, J. C. iii. I. 272, etc.

342. Sienna's brother. Brother to the ruler of Sienna.

343. Benefit o1 the wind. Cf. Ham. \. 3. 2 : " as the winds give benefit."
348. Fast. Fasted. " In verbs in which the infinitive ends in -/, -edis

often omitted in the past indicative for euphony" (Gr. 341). Cf. lift in
John, xiii. 18 (lifted in the "Revised Version" of 1881), roast in Exod.
xii. 8, etc.

350. Spongy south. See on ii. 3. 129 above.

352. Abuse. Corrupt, pei vert.

361. Instruct us of. Equivalent to inform us of'm next line.

363. Crave to be demanded. Call for investigation.

365. That, otherwise than nature, etc. " Who has altered this picture,
to make it otherwise than nature did it ?" (Johnson).

367. Wrack. See on i. 6. 83 above.

372. There is. See on iii. 4. 140 above.

378. If I do lie, etc. "Into the mouth of the pure-souled Imogen S.
has characteristically put this shrinking from the necessity for untruth,
and the appeal to Heaven for divine forgiveness for her reluctantly com-
mitted error. He has depicted the same -aversion to falsehood in the
innocent and royal-natured Perdita; while he has made even the princely
Florizel condescend to misstatements for the sake of needful conceal-
ment. Thus clearly does the man and poet Shakespeare denote his
genuine perception and appreciation of the sacredness of truth, at the
very time that the dramatic Shakespeare allows of equivocation as a
necessary part of dramatic disguise" (Clarke).

380. Say you, sir? See on ii. I. 24 above.

381. Approve. Prove ; as in v. 5. 245 below.

387. Prefer. Recommend. See on ii. 3. 44 above, and cf. 401 below.

390. Pickaxes. " Meaning her fingers " (Johnson).

392. Century. Hundred. Elsewhere (Cor. i. 7. 3 and Lear, iv. 4. 6) it
means a company of a hundred men.

395. Entertain. Employ, take into service ; as in Much Ado, i. 3. 60 :
" entertained for a perfumer ;" Lear, iii. 6. 83 : " You, sir, I entertain for
one of my hundred," etc.

400. Partisans. Halberds. Cf. Ham. p. 176.

401. Arm him. Take him in your arms. Steevens cites Fletcher,

Two Noble Kinsmen :

"Arm your prize ;
I know you will not lose her."

SCENE III. — Pope and Hanmer made this scene the 8th of act iii.
6. Upon a desperate bed. That is, hopelessly (or very dangerously) sick.
II. Enforce. " Force " (Pope's emendation). Cf. R. and J. v. 3. 47 :
"Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open," etc. See also iv. i. 15 above.

21. And will. For the ellipsis of the subject, see Gr. 399, 400. Han-
mer reads " He will," and Capell " And he '11."

22. Slip you. Let you go. Cf. 3 Hen. VI. ii. 2. 162 : " Had slipp'd our
chain until another age," etc.

23. Depend. Impend; or perhaps = remain in suspense.

ACT IV. SCENE IV. 2 r r

28. Amaz'd. In a maze, bewildered, confused. Cf. V. and A. 684 : " a
labyrinth to amaze his foes;" K. John, iv. 3. 140: "I am amaz'd, me-
thinks, and lose my way," etc. Matter— business.

29. Affront. Confront, encounter ; as in Ham. iii. I. 31 :

"That he, as 't were by accident, may here
Affront Ophelia," etc.

The meaning is : " Your forces are able to face such an army as we hear
the enemy will bring against us" (Johnson).

36. I heard no letter. I have heard nothing (that is, by letter], as we
still are in the habit of saying. For the use of the past tense with since,
cf. iv. 2. 191 above. Hanmer changes I heard to " I 've had," and Coll.
to "I had" (Mason's conjecture). Malone and Schmidt take letter in
the alphabetical sense. I heard no letter is then = I have heard no jot, I
have not heard a syllable. But, on the other hand, as W. notes, we say
" I have not heard a line"

40. Betid. Befallen (from betide]. For the form, cf. Rich. II. v. i. 42 :
"long ago betid," etc.

44. Even to the note rf the king. " I will so distinguish myself, the
king shall remark my valour" (Johnson).

SCENE IV. — 2. Find we. The ist folio has " we finde ;" corrected in
the 2d.
4. This way. If we take this course.

6. Revolts. " Revolters " (Pope's reading), or deserters. Cf. K. John,
v. 2. 151 : " And you degenerate, you ingrate revolts ;" and Id. v. 4. 7 :
"Lead me to the revolts of England here."

7. During their use. While they can use us, while they have need of
us. For the adverbial use of after, see Gr. 26.

II. May drive us to a render, etc. May compel us to render an ac-
count of where we have been living. For render as a noun, cf. v. 4. 1 7
below. Johnson remarks : " This dialogue is a just representation of
the superfluous caution of an old man."

13. Answer. Penalty, punishment ; as in T. of A. v. 4. 63 : " At
heaviest answer," etc.

1 8. Their quartered fires. Their camp fires, the fires in their quarters.

19. So cloy" d importantly. So momentously and completely occupied.
Importantly is used by S. only here.

20. Upon our note. In taking note of us.

23. Not ivore him. For the transposition of not, see on i. 6. 154 above.
Gr. 305.

27. The certainty. " The certain consequence " (Malone). Clarke
thinks it may also mean " the actual experience."

29. But to be still, etc. " But doomed to be still," etc. Tanlings is used
by S. nowhere else.

33. Thereto so overgrown. In addition thereto so overgrown with
hair ; referring to his beard and bushy head. Cf. v. 3. 17 below. For
//fcmtf0= besides, cf. W. T. i. 2. 391 and Oth. ii. i. 133. Schmidt thinks
that overgrown may possibly mean grown old ; as in M. for M. i. 3. 22.

2I2 NOTES.

35. What thing is it, etc. What a thing it is, etc. Cf. J. C. i. 3. 42 :
" What night is this !" etc. Gr. 86.

38. Bestrid. Cf. Rich. II. v. 5. 79 : " That horse that thou so often hast
bestrid," etc.

48. Of. Changed by Capell to " on ;" but, as we have seen, the two
prepositions are often interchanged. Gr. 175, 181, 182.

50. Have with you! Take me with you, I '11 go with you ; a common
idiom. Cf. M. W. ii. I. 161, 229, 239, iii. 2. 93, Cor. ii. I. 286, etc.

53. Thinks scorn. Disdains the thought of any thing else.

ACT V.

SCENE I. — I. I wished. The folios have "I am wisht;" corrected by
Pope. Sr. (2d ed.) reads " I e'en wish'd."

5. Wrying. Going astray. Cf. the verb in bed-swerver ( W. T. ii.

I- 93)-
9. Put on. Incite, instigate (Johnson). Cf. Ham. pp. 257, 277.

14. Each elder worse. Here elder seems to be = later, or " committed at
a more advanced age " (Schmidt). Rowe reads " worse than other," Coll.
(from his MS.) "later worse," and Sr. (2d ed.) "alder-worse."

15. And make them dread it, to the doers'' thrift. If this be what S.
wrote, Mason's explanation seems on the whole the most in keeping with
the context : " Some you snatch from hence for little faults ; others you
suffer to heap ills on ills, and afterwards make them dread their having
done so [dreading the consequences, or the punishment, we should prefer
to say], to the eternal welfare of the doers." He adds : "It is not the
commission of the crimes that is supposed to be for the doers' thrift, but
his dreading them afterwards, and of course repenting, which ensures his
salvation." J. H. takes to to be=in addition to (cf. iv. 2. 334 above), and
paraphrases the line thus : " And make it a dread to them, along with
any advantage they may have gained by it." The passage may be cor-
rupt, but the emendations seem to us less intelligible than the original
text. Theo. changes dread it to "dreaded;" the Coll. MS. has "make
men dread it ;" and Sr. (2d ed.) reads "dreaded, to the doers' shrift."

23. Weeds. Garments ; as in M. N. D. ii. 2. 71 : " Weeds of Athens he
doth wear," etc. Suit myself— dress myself; as in A. Y. L. i. 3. 118:
"suit me all points like a man," etc.

26. For whom my life, etc. " One of Shakespeare's paradoxically and
powerfully expressed sentences ; the paradoxical phraseology aiding to
make the powerful effect the more striking. Intense is the expression
thus produced of the ever-living agony that pierces the husband's re-
morse-stricken heart, and stabs him with perpetual regret for. his loss of
her whose excellence he involuntarily recognizes. This survival of Post-
humus's sense of Imogen's true worth over his sense of her supposed
fault is precisely one of Shakespeare's subtleties in indirect tribute to
virtue and innocence " (Clarke).

30. Habits. Dress; or perhaps^ out ward appearance, in a more gen-
eral sense.

ACT V. SCENES II. AND II L 213

- 32. The guise o1 the world. The way or fashion of the world, which is
to make the most of the outward show, to seem better than one really is.

SCENE II. — 4. Carl. Churl, peasant; the only instance of the word
in S. Cf. carlot in A. Y. L. in. 5. 108.

5. Nature's. "Natures" in the folios; changed to "nature" by Pope.

10. Is. Cf. Cor. iii. I. 245 : " 't is odds beyond arithmetic," etc. On
the other hand, we find " these odds " in M.for M. iii. I. 41.

1 6. As. As if. Cf. iv. 2. 51 above.

SCENE III. — 4. The heavens fought. Steevens quotes Judges, v. 20.

The king himself, etc. S. found this incident in Holinshed's Scotland,
where it is told of the Hays, father and two sons. This is evident from
the following coincidence in phraseology : " Hay, beholding the king,
with the most part of the nobles, fighting with great valiancy in the mid-
dle ward, now destitute of the wings" etc. The scene of the fight is,
moreover, " a long lane fenced on the side with ditches and walls made of
turf."

7. Full-hearted. Full of courage and confidence.

1 1. That. So that. Gr. 283. Cf. 35 below.

15. Ancient. Aged. Cf. W. T. p. 189.

1 6. Who deserved, etc. Who deserved as long a life as his white beard
indicated.

20. Base. The game called " prison-base," in which he who runs the
fastest is the winner. Cf. V. and A. 303 : " To bid the wind a base he
now prepares " (that is, challenges the wind to run a race) ; and T. G. of
V. i. 2. 97 : " Indeed, I bid the base for Proteus " (where there is a play
•upon the word). Steevens quotes Drayton, Polyolbion : " At hood-wink,
barley-brake, at tick, or prison-base; and The Antipodes, 1638: "my
men can run at base." See also Spenser, Shep. Kal. Oct. 5 : "In rymes,
in ridles, and in bydding base."

22. Shame. Modesty ; the "bashful shame" of V.andA. 49. Cas'*d=
masked, covered.

26. Will give you that, etc. " Will give you that death like beasts,
which you shun like beasts, and which you might save yourselves from,
only by looking back with a bold frown of defiance" (Clarke). For
beastly, cf. iii. 3. 40 above.

29. Three thousand confident. Three thousand in confidence or courage*

32. More charming. Charming others ; that is, influencing them as by
enchantment. Cf. i. 3. 35 above.

35. That. So that; as in n above.

37. Can. Began. See on ii. 3. 18 above.

40. Retire. Retreat. Cf. K. John, ii. I. 326 : " the onset and retire ;"
Id. v. 5. 4 : " In faint retire," etc.

42. Stooped. The folios have " stopt ;" corrected by Rowe.

43. The strides they victors made. That is, retracing as slaves the on-
ward strides they had made as victors. The folios misprint " the " for
they ; corrected by Theo.

44. Fragments. Doubtless referring to the last remnants of food on

214

NOTES.

board. J. H. explains it as " spars and other pieces of timber ;" as if
hard voyage meant a shipwreck and not merely a voyage prolonged by
bad weather or other difficulties.

49. Slaughter - man. Cf. Hen. V. iii. 3. 41: "Herod's bloody-hunting
slaughter-men." See also I Hen. VI. iii. 3. 75, 3 Hen. VI. i. 4. 169, etc.

50. Or ere. Sooner than. See on iii. 2. 64 above.

51. Mortal bugs. Deadly bugbears. Cf. Ham.v. 2. 22: "such bugs
and goblins ;" and see our ed. p. 267.

53. Do not wonder, etc. " Posthumus first bids him not wonder, then
tells him in another mode of reproach that wonder is all that he was
made for" (Johnson). Theo. changed not to "but," and St. conjectures
" Ay, do but," etc.

60. Stand. Face, withstand. Cf. i. 2. 13 above.

64. Still going? Running away from me also? "Said in contemptu-
ous allusion to his having * come from the fliers,"1 and to his being one
that will ' quicklyy^/' a poor-looking man's friendship" (Clarke).

This is a lord! Ritson conjectured "This a lord !" Noble misery is
= miserable nobility.

68. Charm1 d. Protected as by a charm, or bearing "a charmed life"

72. Moe. See on iii. i. 36 above. The 3d folio has "more."
74. To the Briton. Hanmer changed Briton to " Roman ;" but now is
=just now, and No more a Briton is opposed to the preceding clause :
Having been on the side of the Briton, but no longer a Briton, I have
resumed, etc. V. says : " In the original reading I understand Posthu-
mus as continuing his figurative search of Death. As a Briton, he could
not find Death where he 'did hear him groan,' etc. But he 'will find
him,' for he (Death) is now a favourer of the Britons, and therefore Post-
humus, ' no more a Briton,' resumes again his Roman character, in order
thus to reach his wished-for death." This explanation is due to Capell,
but we cannot accept it.

78. Once touch my shoulder. In token of arrest. Cf. shoulder-clapper
= bailiff, in C. of E. iv. 2. 37, and see our ed. p. 136.

79. Answer. Reprisal, retaliation.

86. Silly. Simple, rustic. Malone quotes the novel on which the play
is founded as it appears in the translation of the Decamerone, 1620: "The
servant, who had no great good will to kill her, very easily grew pitifull,
took off her upper garment, and gave her a poore ragged doublet, a silly
chapperone " [hood], etc.

87. Gave the affront. Faced or confronted the enemy. Cf. affront in
iv. 3. 29 above. The noun occurs nowhere else in S.

90. Seconds. Others to second or aid him. Cf. Cor. \. 4. 43 : "now
prove good seconds ;" and Id. i. 8. 15 :

" Officious and not valiant, you have sham'd me
In your condemned seconds."

91. Had answered him. Had done like him.

SCENE IV. — i. You shall not ncnv be stoVn, etc. " The wit of the gaoler

ACT V. SCENE IV. 2I5

alludes to the custom of putting a lock on a horse's leg when he is turned
to pasture " (Johnson).

10. The penitent instrument, etc. The penitential means of freeing my
conscience of its guilt.

14. I cannot do it better, etc. This passage has been a stumbling-block
to the commentators, but Dr. Ingleby's explanation (Shakes. Hermeneutics,
p. 100) seems to us perfectly satisfactory. He says : " Posthumus re-
joices in his bodily thraldom, because its issue will be death, which will
set him free : certainly from bodily bondage, and possibly from spiritual
bondage — the worse of the twain. So he prays for * the penitent instru-
ment to pick that bolt,' the bolt which fetters his conscience worse than
the cold gyves constrain his shanks and wrists : that is, for the means of
a repentance which may be efficacious for pardon and absolution. He
then enters into these means in detail, following the order of the old
Churchmen: namely, sorrow for sin, or attrition: 'Is 't enough I am
sorry ?' etc. : then penance, which was held to convert attrition into con-
trition : * Must I repent ?' etc. : then satisfaction for the wrong done. As
to this last he says, if the main condition of his spiritual freedom be that
(* To satisfy '), let not the gods with that object require a stricter render
than his all — his life. These are the three parts of absolution. The
third he expands in the last clause. He owns that his debt exceeds his
all. He says, in effect : * Do not call me to a stricter account than the
forfeiture of my all towards payment. Take my all, and give me a re-
ceipt, not on account, but in full of all demands. Earthly creditors take
of their debtors a fraction of their debt and less than their all, " letting
them thrive again on their abatement;" but I do not desire that indul-
gence of your clemency. Take life for life — my all : and though it is not
worth so much as Imogen's, yet 't is a life, and of the same divine origin ;
a coin from the same mint. Between man and man light pieces are cur-
rent for the sake of the figure stamped upon them : so much the rather
should the gods take my life, which is in their own image, though it is
not so dear, or precious, as Imogen's.'

" The old writers compared the hindrances of the body to gyves. So
Walkington in the Optick Glasse of Humors, 1607 : ' Our bodies were the
prisons and bridewils of our soules, wherein they lay manicled and fet-
tered in Gives,' etc. And when Posthumus says * Cancel these cold
bonds,' he means free the soul from the body, as in Macb. iii. 2. 49 :

' Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale ! '

(where Mr. Staunton plausibly reads paled] ; but the epithet cold has
reference to the material gyves, which were of iron. Cf. The Two Noble
Kinsmen, iii. I, where Palamon says ' Quit me of these cold gyves ' — that
is, knock off my fetters."

30. Solemn music, etc. Pope, who put 30-201 in the margin as spuri-
ous, remarks : " Here follow a vision, a masque, and a prophecy, which
interrupt the fable without the least necessity, and unmeasurably lengthen
this act. I think it plainly foisted in afterwards for mere show, and ap-
parently not of Shakespeare." Malone calls it " contemptible nonsense,"

2i6 NOTES.

and Ritson considers the margin " too honourable a place for so imper-
tinent an interpolation." The editors and critics, almost without excep-
tion (see p. 1 1 above), have been of the same opinion. Schlegel remarks :
" Steevens accedes to the opinion of Pope respecting the apparition of
the ghosts and of Jupiter in Cymbeline, while Posthumus is sleeping in
the dungeon. But Posthumus finds, on waking, a tablet on his breast,
with a prophecy on which the denouement of the piece depends. Is it
to be imagined that Shakspeare would require of his spectators the be-
lief in a wonder without a visible cause ? Is Posthumus to dream this
tablet with the prophecy? But these gentlemen do not descend to this
objection. The verses which the apparitions deliver do not appear to
them good enough to be Shakspeare's. I imagine I can discover why
the poet has not given them more of the splendour of diction. They are
the aged parents and brothers of Posthumus, who, from concern for his
fate, return from the world below : they ought, consequently, to speak
the language of a more simple olden time, and their voices ought also to
appear as a feeble sound of wailing, when contrasted with the thunder-
ing oracular language of Jupiter. For this reason Shakspeare chose a
syllabic measure, which was very common before his time, but which was
then getting out of fashion, though it still continued to be frequently used,
especially in translations of classical poets. In some such manner might
the shades express themselves in the then existing translations of Homer
and Virgil. The speech of Jupiter is on the other hand majestic, and in
form and style bears a complete resemblance to the sonnets of Shak-
speare." But, as K. replies, the objection to the passage is not that its
language is that of " a more simple olden time," but that it is not the
language of poetry, such as S. would have chosen " to express a feeble
sound of wailing."

38. Attending. Awaiting.

43. Lucina. The goddess who assisted women in labour. Cf. Per. i.
I. 8, iii. i. 10.

45. That. So that. See on v. 3. 1 1 above. On the passage, cf. Macb.
v. 8. 1 6.

60. Leonati seat. Cf. J. C. v. 5. 19 : " Philippi fields;" T. of S. ii. i.
369 : " Pisa walls," etc. Gr. 22.

67. And to become, etc. And suffer Posthumus to become, etc. Geck=
dupe ; as in T. N. v. i. 351 : "And made the most notorious geek and
gull," etc.

75. Hardiment. " Hard fighting, valorous service " (Clarke). Cf.
I Hen. IV. p. 152, note on Changing har dim ent.

78. Adjourned. Delayed, deferred.

89. Synod. The word refers to an assembly of the gods in five out of
six instances in which S. uses it. See A. Y. L. p. 173, note on Heavenly
synod.

102. Delighted. Delightful ; as in Oth. \. 3. 290 : " If virtue no de-
lighted beauty lack." See Gr. 294, 374.

105. Jovial. See on iv. 2. 312 above.

116. As. As if. Cf. iv. 2. 51 and v. 2. 16 above. Foot us = se\ze us in
his talons.

ACT V. SCENE V. 2Iy

1 1 8. Prunes. That is, picks off the loose feathers, to smooth the rest.
See i Hen. IV. p. 142.

Cloys. Claws, or strokes with his claws ; " an accustomed action with
hawks and eagles" (Steevens).

125. Scorn. Mockery.

129. Swerve. Err.

133. Book. The tablet of 109 above.

134. Fangled. " Gaudy, vainly decorated ; perhaps the only instance
in which the word occurs without new being prefixed to it " (Malone).

138. Whenas. When. Cf. C. of E. p. 142.

145. Tongue and brain not. Speak without understanding. Cf. M.
for M. iv. 4. 28 : " How might she tongue me !" S. does not use brain
elsewhere as a verb, except in the sense of beat out the brains.

147. Be what it is. Be it what it may. Gr. 404.

148. Action. Course.

155. The shot. Cf. Falstaff's play upon the word in I Hen. IV. v. 3.
31 : " Though I could scape shot-free at London, I fear the shot here."

158. Often. Some one has conjectured "as often," but the ellipsis is
a common one. See Gr. 276.

161. Are paid. With a play on the sense of punished. Cf. iv. 2. 247
above.

163. Drawn. Drawn dry, emptied. The metaphor is probably taken
from drawing off the contents of a cask, not from removing the entrails
of a fowl, as Steevens makes it.

166. Debitor and creditor. An account book (Johnson and Schmidt).
Delius hyphens the words, which formed the title of certain old treatises
on book-keeping. Cf. Oth. p. 156.

167. Counters. Round pieces of metal used in calculations. Cf. W. T.
iv- 3- 38 : "I cannot do 't without counters." See also A. Y. L. p. 164 ;
and cf. Oth. p. 156, note on Counter-caster.

176. So pictured. Being represented as a skeleton.

177. Or take. The folios have " or to take ;" corrected by Capell.

178. Jump. Risk, hazard. Cf. Macb. \. 7. 7 : "jump the life to come."
See also Cor. p. 239.

179. How you shall speed. How you shall fare, what luck you shall
have ; as in T. of S. ii. i. 283, K. John, iv. 2. 141, etc.

182. Wink. Shut their eyes. See on ii. 3. 21 above.
195. Prone. That is, eager for the gallows.

200. Gallowses. Doubtless intended as a vulgar plural. Elsewhere
we find gallows; as in I Hen. IV. ii. i. 74: "a fat pair of gallows,"
etc.

201. Hath a preferment in V. Apparently = hath the prospect of pro-
motion in it ; that is, in a better state of society he would probably have
a better office than that of gaoler.

SCENE V. — 2. Woe is my heart. That is, to my heart. Cf. " woe is
me " in Ham. iii. i. 168, etc.

5. Targes. Targets, shields. Cf. Z. Z. Z. v. 2. 556 : " with targe and
shield," etc. Here the word is a monosyllable. See Gr. 471. For

2I8T NOTES.

proof— resisting power (a technical term with reference to armour), cf.
Rich. II. p. 162.

II. Searched. Sought.

13. The heir of his reward. That is, the reward meant for him re-
verts to me.

27. Who. Changed to " Whom " in the 2d folio. Cf. iv. 2. 77 above.

28. Consider. Remember, bear in mind.

30. How ended she ? For *;/*/= die, cf. T. N. ii. I. 22, 2 Hen. IV. iv. 5.
80, Hen. VIII. v. i. 20, etc.

38. A/ected. Loved ; as in T. G. of V. iii. I. 82 :

" There is a lady in Verona here
Whom I affect," etc.

43. Bore in hand. Pretended. Cf. Macb. iii. I. 80 : " How you were
borne in hand " (flattered with false hopes) ; and see our ed. p. 208.

47. Delicate. Explained by Schmidt as " ingenious, artful ;" but it is
probably = lovely (cf. 63 below), and put in strong antithesis to fend. Cf.
R. and J. iii. 2. 75 : " fiend angelical !"

50. Mortal mineral. Deadly poison. Cf. Oth. ii. i. 306: "like a poi-
sonous mineral," etc. W. remarks : " There can be little doubt that the
slow poisons of the i6th and I7th centuries were all preparations of
white arsenic, the mortal mineral still most effectual for the poisoner's
purposes." For took) cf. iii. 6. 48 above.

54. And in time. The 2d folio has " yes and in time." Walker con-
jectures " and in due time," and Jervis " and so in time."

55. Fitted you. Prepared you, got you into a fit frame of mind.

58. Shameless - desperate. For compound adjectives in S., see Gr. 2.
The hyphen was first inserted by Capell. Operfd= disclosed, revealed.

62. Mine eyes. Hanmer reads " Yet mine eyes."

64. Heard. The reading of the 3d folio ; the ist and 2d have " heare."

70. Raz'd. The folios have " rac'd ;" corrected by Theo.

74. Estate. State, condition. See M. of V. p. 151.

80. Sufficeth. It suffices. For the ellipsis, cf. T. of S. i. I. 252, iii. 2.
108, 2 Hen. VI. iv. 10. 24, etc. Gr. 404.

83. Peculiar. Personal ; as in Ham. iii. 3. n : "The single and pe-
culiar life ;" Oth. i. i. 60 : " for my peculiar end," etc.

87. Over his occasions. H. thinks this is = " beyond what the occasions
required ;" but it may mean in regard to what was required. Cf. W. T.
ii. 3. 128 : "tender o'er his follies." Schmidt strangely explains it : "so
nicely sensible of his wants."

88. Feat. " Ready, dexterous in waiting " (Johnson). Cf. Temp. p. 120,
note on Foot it featly. See also on the verb, in i. i. 49 above.

Clarke remarks : " This gentle adaptation of herself and her womanly
accomplishments to her assumed office of page crowns the perfection of
Imogen's character. Her power, too, of attracting and attaching all who
come near her — her father, who loves her in spite of the harshness he
has shown her under the influence of his fiendish queen ; her husband
who has been her * play-fellow ' when a boy, and her lover in manhood,
even after her supposed death ; her faithful servant, Pisanio ; her broth-

ACT V. SCENE V. 2I9

ers, who know her but as a poor, homeless boy; Belarius, whose sym-
pathy for the sick youth makes the way forth seem tedious ; and Lucius,
who pleads for the gentle lad's life with so earnest a warmth, while bear-
ing so affectionate a testimony to his qualities as a page — this power of
hers speaks indirectly, but indisputably, in testimony of her bewitching
nature."

93. Favour. Face. See on i. 6. 41 above.

94. Looked thyself into my grace. Won my favour by thy looks.

95. Nor wherefore. The nor, omitted in the folios, was supplied by
Rowe.

103. A thing, etc. " The ring on lachimo's finger " (J. H.).

119. Walk with me. Withdraw with me. See on i. 1. 176 above.

120. One sand another, etc. This has been suspected of corruption,
but it is probably only one of the many elliptical constructions in the
play. Hanmer reads :

" One sand

Another doth not more resemble than
He the sweet rosy lad who died, and was
Fidele ;»
and Capell : « One sand

Another not resembles more than he

That sweet and rosy lad who died, and was

Fidele."

Johnson put a period after resembles. K., D., W., the Camb. ed., Clarke,
and others retain the old text.

126. Saw. The folios have "see ;" corrected by Rowe.

135. Render. State, tell. Cf. ii. 4. 119 above.

143. Jewel. See on i. 4. 142 above.

145. Sir. See on i. 6. 159 above.

154. Struck. The folios have "strooke" or "strook," as in many
other passages ; oftener than struck, which Rowe substituted here.

1 60. Rarest. See on i. I. 96 above.

Sitting sadly, etc. This does not exactly agree with the circumstances
as they appear in i. 4 above ; but such variations are not uncommon in
S. " In the present case," as Clarke remarks, " he may either have
made it to give the effect of that inaccuracy of memory which often
marks the narration of a past occurrence even in persons habitually
truthful, or in order to denote lachimo's innate untruthfulness and un-
scrupulousness, which lead him to falsify in minor matters as in those of
greater moment."

163. Feature. Shape, figure ; as often. Cf. T. G. of V. ii. 4. 73 : " He
is complete in feature and in mind," etc. Laming— making seem lame
or deformed.

164. Shrine. Image, statue. Cf. M. of V. ii. 7. 40 : " To kiss this
shrine, this mortal-breathing saint." See also R. of L. 194 and R. and J.
\. 5. 96.

Straight-pight. Straight-fixed, erect. Cf. pig/it (-fixed, in a figura-
tive sense) in Lear, ii. i. 67 ; and see our ed. p. 197.

165. Postures beyond brief nattire. " Postures of beings that are im-
mortal " (J. H.).

220 NOTES.

Condition— disposition, character. Cf. M. of V. i. 2. 143 : " the condi-
tion of a saint, and the complexion of a devil," etc.

1 66. Shop. Storehouse.

172. Lover. For the feminine use, cf. T. G. of V. i. I. 116, A. Y. L. iii.
4. 46, A. and C. iv. 14. 101, etc.

177. Were cracked of kitchen-trulls. Were made in praise of mere
kitchen -wenches. Crack was sometimes ^bluster, swagger. Cf. the
noun in K. John, ii. I. 147 : " What cracker is this same that deafs our
ears," etc. ; and see our ed. p. 143.

178. Unspeaking sots. Fools incapable of speech. For sots, cf. Temp.
p. 132, or C. of E. p. 123.

1 80. As. As if. See on v. 4. 116 above.

182. Made scruple. Expressed doubt. Cf. the play on scritple in
2 Hen. IV. \. 2. 149 : " the wise may make some dram of a scruple, or
indeed a scruple itself."

190. Of Phoebus'* wheel. Cf. A. and C. iv. 8. 28 :

"He has deserv'd it, were it carbuncled
Like holy Phoebus' car."

193. Taught of. Cf. Isa. liv. 13, John, vi. 45, I Thess. iv. 9, etc.

197. Can. See on ii. 3. 18 and v. 3. 37 above.

198. Vantage. Advantage. See K. John, p. 150.

199. Practice. Artifice, stratagem. Cf. Ham. p. 255, or A. K L. p. 156.

200. Simular. Counterfeited, false. Cf. Lear, iii. 2. 54 : " Thou per-
jur'd and thou simular of virtue ;" where the quartos have " simular
man."

203. Averring. Alleging. Some make it an adjective = confirmatory.

205. It. Omitted in the 1st folio.

206. That. So that. See on v. 3. 1 1 above.

207. Crack? d. Broken ; as in i. 3. 17, and iii. I. 28 above.

214. Justicer. Judge ; as in Lear, iii. 6. 59 : " False justicer, why hast
thou let her scape ?" See our ed. p. 226. Steevens quotes Law Tricks,
1608 : " No ; we must have an upright justicer ;" and Warner, Albions
England, 1602 : " a justicer upright."

216. Amend. Improve upon, surpass; or perhaps = " make to seem
less vile " (J. H.).

221. And she herself. " That is, she was not only the temple of Vir-
tue, but Virtue herself" (Johnson).

222. Spit. The 2d and 3d folios have " spet," for which see M. of V.

P- 135-

223. Bay me. Bark at me. Cf. J. C. iv. 3. 27 : "I had rather be a
dog, and bay the moon," etc. The 3d and 4th folios have "bait."

228. Shall Js. See on iv. 2. 234 above.

229. There lie thy part. Play thy part by lying there.

233. Comes. The folio reading ; changed by Rowe to " come." See
on iii. 4. 140 above.

These staggers — "t\i\s wild and delirious perturbation" (Johnson).

238. Tune. Voice, accent. Cf. Sonn. 141. 5 : " thy tongue's tune ;"
Cor. ii. 3. 92 : " the tune of your voices," etc.

ACT V. SCENE V. 22I

245. Approve. Prove ; as in iv. 2. 381 above.

249. Importuned. Accented on the second syllable, as regularly in S.
Gr. 492.

250. Temper. Compound, mix ; used vi poisons in Much Ado, ii. 2. 21,
R. and J. iii. 5. 98, and Ham. v. 2. 339.

259. Dead. Insensible, like one dead. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. iv. 7. 9 :

" For she, deare Ladie, all the way was dead
Whilest he in armes her bore ; but when she felt
Her selfe downe soust, she waked out of dread," etc.

262. Think that you are upon a rock. This has perplexed some of the
critics, and sundry changes have been proposed ; but if we suppose that
Imogen here throws her arms about her husband's neck (according to
the stage-direction first inserted by Hanmer), all is clear enough. Hav-
ing done this, she says, "Now imagine yourself on some high rock, and
throw me from you again — if you have the heart to do it." This action
is necessary also to explain the reply of Posthumus, Hang there, etc.

265. Mak'st thou me a dullard, etc. " Do you give me in this scene,
the part only of a looker-on? S. was thinking of the stage" (St.).

271. Naught. Worthless, wicked. See A. Y. L. p. 142, or Rich. III.
p. 182.

Long of her. Because of her, owing to her. Cf. M. N. D. iii. 2. 339 :
" You, mistress, all this coil is long of you," etc. Long is equivalent to
along, but not a contraction of it. See Wb.

274. Troth. Truth ; as in M. N. D. ii. 2. 36 : " And to speak troth, I
have forgot our way," etc. The 4th folio reads " truth."

283. Enforced. Got by force. Cf. iv. 3. n above.

284. With unchaste purpose. Some critic has objected that Cloten
does not tell his purpose while Pisanio is on the stage in iii. 5 above ; but
in line 149 he intimates that he intends to make the latter a confidant of
his design, and we may assume that he does so afterwards.

287. For/end. Forbid. See Oth. p. 206.

292. Incivil. Changed by Capell to " uncivil ;" but S. uses incertain,
ingrateful, infortunate, insociable, etc., as well as the forms in un-. Cf. Gr.
442.

305. Scar. The word has been suspected, and " sense," " score," etc.,
have been proposed as emendations ; but, as Clarke notes, the expres-
sion is " a very characteristic one for a veteran soldier to use, who can
conceive no better claim to merit than having plenteous scars to show."
W. prints " scarre " (as in the folio), which he takes to be the same ob-
scure word that has perplexed the critics in A. W. iv. 2. 38.

308. Tasting of. Testing, trying. Cf. T. N. iii. 4. 267 : " men that put
quarrels purposely on others, to taste their valour," etc. See also the
noun in 2 Hen. IV. ii. 3. 52, Lear, i. 2. 47, etc.

310. We will die all three, etc. We will all die if I do not prove, etc.
We follow the pointing of the folio, as Clarke does. The editors gener-
ally put a colon after three.

313. For mine own part, etc. That is, dangerous for myself. For the
transposition, see Gr. 419^. Cf. ii. 3. 94 above.

222 NOTES.

315. Have at it then. Here 's for it then, I '11 tell the story. Cf. IV. T.
iv. 4. 302 : " Have at it with you," etc.

319. Assumed this age. That is, assumed or acquired it with the lapse
of time. He speaks thus, as Henley suggests, with reference to the change
in his appearance since Cymbeline last saw him. Tyrwhitt wanted to
read " this gage."

323. Confiscate. For the form, cf. C. of E. i. i. 21, i. 2. 2, M. of V. iv. i.
311, 332, etc. S. accents the word on either the first or second syllable,
as suits the measure.

326. Prefer. Promote, advance. See on ii. 3. 129 above.

334. Your pleasure, etc. " My crime, my punishment, and all the trea-
son that I have committed, originated in and were founded on your
caprice only " (Malone). For mere the folios have " neere " or " near ;"
corrected by Rann (the conjecture of Tyrwhitt). Johnson suggested
"dear."

338. Those . . . as. See Gr. 280.

344. Beaten. My being beaten.

345. Dear loss. Loss so deeply felt. See Rich. II. p. 164, or Temp.
p. 124.

346. Shaped Unto my end. Shaped itself to, or suited, my purpose.
349. Sweetest. See on i. i. 96 above.

352. Thou weep'st, and speak X etc. " Thy tears give testimony to the
sincerity of thy relation ; and I have the less reason to be incredulous
because the actions which you have done within my knowledge are more
incredible than the story which you relate " (Johnson).

360. Lapped. Wrapped. Cf. Rich. III. ii. i. 1 15 :

" he did lap me
Even in his garments," etc.

362. Probation. Proof, evidence; as in Ham. i. i. 156 :

" and of the truth herein
The present object made probation."

See also Oth. iii. 3. 365, Macb. iii. i. 80, etc.

364. A mole, etc. " Most poetically, as well as with most subtle philo-
sophical knowledge of Nature's workings -in the matter of kindred and
inherited distinctive marks, has S. given to the prince brother an almost
precisely similar personal badge-spot with the one which lies upon the
snow of the princess sister's breast. Imogen's * mole cinque-spotted,
like the crimson drops i' the bottom of a cowslip,' and Guiderius's * mole,
a sanguine star,' are twinned in beauty with a poet's imagination and a
naturalist's truth" (Clarke). -Cf. p. 35 above.

369. Mother. The object of the verb, deliverance being the subject.

370. Pray. Needlessly, not to say badly, changed by Rowe to " may."
The elliptical construction is quite like many others already noted in the
play.

371. Orbs. Orbits, or, more properly, the " spheres " of the old Ptole-
maic astronomy. See I Hen. IV. p. 194, or Ham. p. 254 (note on Sphere).

378. When ye. The folios have " When we ;" corrected by Rowe.
380. He died. As Clarke notes, the use of the pronouns in this line

ACT V. SCENE V. 223

and the next is very natural, though Hanmer tried to spoil it by changing
he to "she." Guiderius is so accustomed to think of his sister as a boy
that, in reverting to their experiences in the forest, he inadvertently
speaks of her as he ; while Cornelius, who has known her only in her
true sex, of course calls her she.

381. Instinct. For the accent, see on iv. 2. 178 above.

382. Fierce. Either^" vehement, rapid " (Johnson), or = " disordered,
irregular " (Schmidt). Perhaps it combines the ideas of hurried and wild
or disordered.

384. Distinction should be rich in. " Ought to be rendered distinct by
a liberal amplitude of narrative" (Steevens); or, a more distinct and de-
tailed statement ought to bring out fully.

388. Your three motives. The motives of you three.

392. Inter1 gatories. The folios have " interrogatories ;" but the con-
tracted form (for which see M. of V. p. 165, or A. W. p. 170) suits the
measure better, and was introduced by Malone at Tyrwhitt's suggestion.

393. Anchors. For the figure, cf. M.for M. ii. 4. 3 :

"Whilst my invention, hearing not my tongue,
Anchors on Isabel."

395. Her master. That is, Lucius.

396. The counter change, etc. This is reciprocated each by each.

405. Forlorn. Accented on the first syllable before the noun, as in
Sonn. 33. 7 and T. G. of V. i. 2. 124 ; but on the last when in the predi-
cate, as in R. of L. 1500, etc. Cf. ii. I. 55 above.

406. Beconi'd. Changed by Warb. to "become;" but the form oc-
curs also in R. and J. iv. 2. 26 and A. and C. iii. 7. 26. Cf. misbecomed in
L. L. L. v. 2. 778.

408. Company. The only instance of the verb in S.

409. Beseeming. Seeming, appearance. Fitment = equipment. The
former is used by S. only here ; the latter occurs in Per. iv. 6. 6 (not
Shakespeare's part of the play), where it is=what is fit, or duty.

412. Alade you finish. Put an end to you. Cf. 36 above.

418. The power that I have on you. Cf. R. and J. v. 3. 93 : " Hath had
no power yet upon thy beauty." See also T. G. of V. iii. i. 238, Macb.
v- 3- 7> etc. Elsewhere have power is followed by in (Much Ado, iv. I. 75,
etc.), by over (Rich. III. i. 2. 47, etc.), and by unto (A. and C. ii. 2. 146,
etc.).

419. Forgive you. The plays of Shakespeare's " fourth period " (see
Mr. FurnivalFs classification, A. Y. L. p. 26) are " all of reunion, of rec-
onciliation and forgiveness." Even lachimo — "a kind of less absolutely
evil lago," as Dowden calls him — repents in time to share in the general
pardon.

422. Holp. Used as the past tense of help, except in Rich. III. v. 3.
167 and Oth. ii. i. 138 ; also the common form for the participle.

424. Joy^d. For the transitive use, cf. Rich. III. \. 2. 220 and Per. i.
2.9.

428. Spritely shows. Ghostly apparitions.

431. From. Away from, far from. Cf. i. 4. 14 above.

224

NOTES.

432. No collection of it. No inference from it. S. uses collection else-
where only in Ham. iv. 5. 9 and v. 2. 199, where the sense is similar.

435- Whenas. When; as in v. 4. 138 above. W. considers that the
scroll and the four following speeches are " plainly not from Shake-
speare's pen." It is not improbable that this part of the scene was
" tinkered " to make it jibe with the interpolated masque in v. 4. Coll.
suggests that both vision and scroll formed part of an older play. Such
riddles were popular on the earlier stage.

_ 447. Mulier. It is hardly necessary to say that the word is not de-
rived from mollis aer.

448. This. Changed by Capell to " thy," and by Keightley to " this
thy." Delius conjectures " your." These emendations are intended to
furnish an antecedent for who in the next line ; but it is better to assume
that who refers to wife, and that there is a change in construction in were
clipped, perhaps due to the you in the same line. Cf. Gr. 415.

450. Clipped. Clasped, embraced. See on ii. 3. 132 above.

453. Point . . . forth. Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 572 : " The which shall point
you forth," etc.

463. Whom heavens, etc. Another example of confused construction
in a relative clause. See Gr. 249, and cf. 394. Hers=\isx son Cloten.

468. Yet this. Changed by Theo. and the more recent editors (except
W.) to "this yet," the reading of the 3d folio; but the transposition of
yet is so common in S. (cf. Gr. 76) that we are not justified in altering
the original text. See on ii. 3. 73 above.

471. Herself. For the feminine eagle, cf. Hen. V. i. 2. 169 :

" For once the eagle England being in prey,
To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot
Comes sneaking," etc.

480. Friendly. For the adverbial use, cf. iii. 5. 13 above.

483. Set on. Like set forward in 478 above, —march on. Cf. Rich. II.
p. 197, or Hen. VIII. p. 180.

Did cease. For the ellipsis of the relative, see Gr. 244.

Johnson (cf. p. 15 above) sums up his estimate of Cymbeline thus :
" This play has many just sentiments, some natural dialogues, and some
pleasing scenes, but they are obtained at the expense of much incongruity.
To remark the folly of the fiction, the absurdity of the conduct, the con-
fusion of the names and manners of different times, and the impossibility
of the events in any system of life, were to waste criticism upon unresist-
ing imbecility, upon faults too evident for detection, and too gross for
aggravation."

ADDENDA.

THE " TIME-ANALYSIS " OF THE PLAY. — We give below the summing-
up of Mr. P. A. Daniel's " time-analysis " in his valuable paper " On the
Times or Durations of the Action of Shakspere's Plays " (Trans, of New
Shaks. Soc. 1877-79, p. 247), with a few explanatory extracts from the
preceding pages appended as foot-notes :

ADDENDA. 225

" The time of the drama includes twelve days represented on the stage;
with intervals.

" Day I. Act I. sc. i.-iii.

An Interval. Posthumus's journey to Rome.
" 2. Act I. sc. iv.

An Interval. lachimo's journey to Britain.
" 3. Act I. sc. v.* and vi., Act II. sc. i. and part of sc. ii.
" 4. Act II. sc. ii., in part, and sc. iii. [Act III. sc. i. also belongs

to this dayt].

An Interval. lachimo's return journey to Rome.
" 5. Act II. sc. iv. and v.

An Interval. Time for Posthumus's letters from Rome to

arrive in Britain.
[Act III. sc. i. See Day No. 4.]
" 6. Act III. sc. ii. and iii.

An Interval, including one clear day. Imogen and Pisanio

journey to Wales.
:IILs '

" 7. Act III. sc. iv.

An Interval, including one clear day. Pisanio returns to

Court.
" 8. Act III. sc. v. and vi.

[Act III. sc. vii. In Rome. Time, between Days 5 and 6.J]
An Interval, including one clear day. Cloten journeys to

Wales.
" 9. Act IV. sc. i. and ii.

An Interval— -A. few days perhaps.
" 10. Act IV. sc. iii.
" n. Act IV. sc. iv.
" 12. Act V. sc. i.-v."

Truest (p. 175). — Since the note on this passage was in type, it has oc-
curred to us that the interpretation there given is confirmed by the fact
that Imogen has been reading the letter to herself during the preceding

* " Another possible arrangement in time for this sc. v. would be to make it concur-
rent with Day No. 2 ; or again, it might have a separate day assigned to it, to be placed
in the interval marked for lachimo's journey to Britain. ... Its position as the early
morning of Day 3, ' whiles yet the dew 's on ground,' is, however, quite consistent with
my scheme of time."

t "Act III. sc. i. Britain. Cymbeline and his Court receive in state Caius Lucius,
the ambassador, who comes to demand the tribute till lately paid to Rome. The tribute
is denied, and Lucius denounces in the Emperor's name war against Britain. His office
discharged, he is welcomed to the court, and bid ' make pastime with us a day or two,
or longer.' The time of this scene is so evidently that of Day No. 4, that I am com-
pelled to place it here within brackets, as has been done in other cases where scenes are
out of their due order as regards time."

i "Act III. sc vii. Rome. Enter two Senators and Tribunes. We learn that Lucius
is appointed general of the army to be employed in the war in Britain. This army is to
consist of the forces ' remaining now in Gallia,' supplemented with a levy of the gentry
of Rome. This scene is evidently out of place. In any time-scheme it must come much
earlier in the drama. ... It may be supposed to occupy part of the interval I have
marked as ' Time for Posthumus's letters from Rome to arrive in Britain.' "

226 ADDENDA.

speech (aside) of lachimo. Having come to the end of it, she now turns
to him and reads aloud the closing lines with their reference to himself.
It was, moreover, natural that Pisanio should first write the loving mes-
sages that would form the substance of an absent husband's letter to his
wife, and then close with commending the bearer to her courtesy. We
can imagine that what Imogen reads aloud was preceded by something
like "I send you this by my friend lachimo, who is going to Britain."

Doing nothing for a bribe (p. 191). — Since this note was written, we
see that Dr. Ingleby (Shakespeare : the Man and the Book, Part II. p. 10)
reads "badge" for bribe. He says : "Badge is one of those very slight
and effective alterations of the text which deserve the name of emenda-
tions. The badge was an ornamental cognizance worn by the clients
and hangers-on of a great nobleman or courtier, and was valued as peo-
ple now value a blue or red ribbon. This felicitous emendation was
due to the sagacity of Mr. A. E. Brae." It is certainly very plausible,
and perhaps suits the context better than bribe.

On sharded, just above, Dr. Ingleby remarks : " Observe that when
Shakespeare speaks of the crawling beetle he calls him sharded, that is,
covered by his shards ; but when he speaks of the flying beetle he calls
him shard-borne, that is, supported in air by his outstretched shards."

Command into obedience, etc. (iii. 4. 155). — Dr. Ingleby (p. 36) puts this
among the instances in which S. seems to say the reverse of what he
means. He says : "if she were bid to * change fear and niceness into a
waggish courage,' she must be bid to 'change obedience into com-
mand.' " But is not Pisanio thinking of her forgetting to be a princess
as well as a woman, and entering the service of Lucius, as he goes on to
suggest ?

Defect of judgment, etc. (p. 203). — In writing the note on this passage,
we overlooked Dr. Ingleby's explanation (Part I. of the work cited
above, p. 151), which clears it up in a simpler and better way. He says :
"'Defect of judgment,' which all commentators have taken to mean the
total absence of judgment, means the defective use of judgment. They
were betrayed into this mistake by another : interpreting the phrase
* scarce made up to man ' as if it referred to Cloten's youth (' before he
arrived to man's estate,' says Knight), whereas Cloten was a middle-aged
man. ... On the contrary, the phrase made up to man signified — in the
full possession of a man's judgment ; and when it is said that a certain
person is 'scarce made up,' it means that he had not a man's judgment.
Cloten, being scarce made up, took no heed of terrors that roared loud
enough for men with their wits about them, and thus he braved dan-
ger; for it is the defective use of judgment (when men have any) which
is oft the cause of fear. Cf. 'defect of judgment' in Cor. iv. 7. 39, and
' defects of judgment ' in A. and C. ii. 2. 55." On scarce made up, cf.

INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES
EXPLAINED.

absolute (—certain), 203.
abuse (^corrupt), 210.
abuse (^deceive), 172, 178,

196.

acquainted of, 178.
act (=action), 173.
action (—course), 217.
adjourned (—delayed), 216.
admiration (=wonder), 170,

176, 207. e
adorer, not friend, 171.
adventured ( = ventured ),

179, 196.

advice(=consideration), 168.
afeard, 203.
affected (=loved), 218.
affiance, 179.
affirmation, 171.
affront (=confront), 211.
affront (noun), 214.
Afric (= Africa), 168.
after (= afterwards), 181,211.
after-eye, 169.
against all colour, 188.
Ajax, 207.

amazed (=in a maze), 211.
amend (=surpass), 220.
anchors (figurative), 223.
ancient (=aged), 213.
answer (=answer to), 205.
answer (=penalty), 211.
answer (=reprisal\ 214.
answered (—done like), 214.
ape, 181.
apparent, 185.
appears he hath had, 202.
apprehension, 203.
approbation (^proving), 172.
approve (=prove), 210, 221.
approvers, 185.
Arabian bird, 175.
arm (—take in arms), 210.
arras-figures, 181.
articles, 172.
as ( =as if), 203, 213, 21

220.

as (=fpr), 178.
as (omitted), 204.

203-

assumed this age, 222.

cave (verb), 204.

3.

at heaven's gate, 181.

cave-keeper, 209.

'2, i y8,

at land, 197.

century (^hundred), 210.

at point, 187, 199.

chance thou changest on, 1 73.

atone, 170.

change (=caprice), 187.

attemptable, 171.

characters (^letters), 203.

attending (^awaiting), 216.

characters (=writing), 188.

), 216.

attending for a check, 191.

charmed, 214.

r), 17°*

averring, 220.

charming, 169, 213.

avoid (= begone), 167.

check (=rebuke), 191.

i.

cherubins, 186.

tured ),

base (—prison-base), 213.

cinque-spotted, 181.

basilisk, 186.

circumstances ( —-details ),

n),i68.

bate (—abate), 189.

.185.

bay (=bark at), 220.

citizen (=effeminate^, 201.

3.

be what it is, 217.

civil (—civilized), 199.

beastly, 192, 213.

clean (adverb), 199.

becomed, 223.

clip (^embrace), 184, 224.

ii.

benefit o' the wind, 210.

close (=secret), 198.

bent, to the, 165.

clotpoll, 205.

beseech your patience, 168.

clouted brogues, 206.

81,211.

beseeming (noun), 223.

cloy (=claw), 217.

best, you 're, 190, 199.

cloyed importantly, 211.

bestrid, 212.

cognizance, 186.

betid, 211.

collection (—inference), 224.

, 211.

beyond beyond, 189.

common-kissing Titan, 197.

bloods, 165.

companion (—fellow), 180.

23-
205.

bold (that), 185.
bondage (=fidelity), 186.
bore in hand, 218.

company (verb), 223.
comparative for, 184.
conclusions (— experiments^,

II.

bound (play upon), 202.

173.

14.

brain (verb), 217.

condition ( = disposition ),

e), 214.

brands (=torches), 186.

220.

bravely, 180, 186.

conduct (=escort), 197.

bravery (=defiance), 187.

confiners, 209.

202.

brawns, 209.

confiscate (accent), 222.

bring (—accompany), 168.

confounded, 171.

g),I72-
0, 221.

brotherly (adverb), 204.
bugs (=bugbears), 214.

consequence, 184.
consider, 218.

by-peeping, 178.

consider (=requite), 182.

considered of, 195.

210.

calves' -guts, 182.

consign to thee, 208.

cap (^obeisance), 192.

constant-qualified, 171.

capon (play upon), 180.

consummation, 209.

3> 216,

carl, 213.

content thee, 173.

carnage (=carrying off), 197.

conveyed (^stolen), 166.

cased (—masked), 213.

convince (^overcome), 171.

Cassibelan, 165.

cordial (^reviving), 173.

228 INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED.

counters, 217.

estate (=state), 218. N

gain his colour, 204.

courages, 185.

even (verb), 197.

gall, 1 66.

court (=court affairs), 198.

even before, 199.

Gallian, 177.

crack (=bluster), 220.

event (=issue), 197.

gallowses, 217.

cracked (^broken), 169, 220.

exhibition (^allowance), 1 78.

gan, 213, 220.

crare, 205.

exile (accent), 198.

gave the affront, 214.

crave to be demanded, 210.

exorciser. 209.

gave you ground (play upon),

crescent note, 170.

extend him, 170.

169.

crop (verb), 175.

extend him within himself,

geek, 216.

cross the book, 192.

165.

gentle (= well -born), 202.

curbed from enlargement,

giglot, 187.

184.

fail (noun), 195.

gins, 1 8 1.

curious (—careful), 179.

fairies (malignant), 180.

go back, 172.

Cytherea, 180.

fallen off (=revolted), 200.

go even, 171.

false (verb), 182.

S)od wax, thy leave ! 189.

dagger in my mouth, 203.

fan (metaphor), 179.

ordian knot, 181.

dead (—as if dead), 221.

fangled, 217.

groat morning, 203.

dear loss, 222.

fast (=fasted), 210.

great' st, 178.

debitor and creditor, 217.

fatherly (adverb), 182.

guise of the world, 213.

decay (— destroy), 173.

favour (=beauty), 176.

deep (of swearing), 183.

favour (= personal appear-

habits (=dress), 212.

defect, 203, 226.

ance), 194, 203, 219.

hand-fast, 174.

definite, 176.

feared, 185.

hangings, 192.

delicate, 218.

fearful (=full of fear), 194.

happily (=haply), 201.

delighted (^delightful), 216.
depend (—impend), 210.

feat (adjective), 218.
feated, 166.

happy (=fortunateS 197.
harder (=too hard), 197.

depending on their brands,

feature (=shape), 219.

hardiment, 216.

186.

fedary, 188.

hardiness, 199.

desire my man's abode, 177.

fell (=cruel), 203.

hardness (=hardship), 199.

desperate bed, 210.

fetch u> in, 194, 204.

hark thee, 173.

Diana's rangers, 182.

fierce, 223.

have at it, 222.

die the death, 203.

fitment, 223.

have with you ! 212.

dieter, 203.

fits (=befits), 197.

having (noun), 169.

differing multitudes, 200.
diminution of space, 169.

fitted (—prepared), 218.
fled forward 168.

haviour, 193.
head (—armed force', 204.

disedged, 195.

fools are not mad folks, 184.

heard no letter, 211.

dishonestly afflicted, 202.

foot us, 216.

Hecuba, 209.

distinction should be rich in,

for (^because), 204.

herblets, 209.

223.

for food (=for want of food),

hilding, 184.

divine (accent), 180, 204.

I9Q.

holp, 223.

doers' thrift, to the, 212.

for his heart, 180.

home (adverb), 198, 209.

doing nothing for a bribe,

fore-end, 192.

how (=however), 202.

191, 226.

forespent, 182.

howsoe'er, 204.

doubting things go ill, 177.

forestall him of, 198.

hunt (=game), 200.

dragons of the night, 181.

fore-thinking, 197.

huswife, 202.

drawn (—emptied), 217.

forfeiters, 189.

drawn to head, 198.

forfend, 221.

I am in heaven, 169.

drive us to a render, 211.

forlorn (accent), 223.

I bid for you as I 'd buy, 200.

drug-damned, 193.

foundations (play upon), 199.

gnorant, 187.

dullard, 221.

fragments, 213.

mperceiverant. 201.

during their use, 211.

franchise, 188.

mperious (—imperial), 202.

franklin, 190.

mportance (—import), 171.

each elder worse, 212.

fraught (noun), 167.

mportantly, 2 1 1.

eagle (feminine), 224.

fretted (^embossed), 186.

mportuned (accent), 221.

elected deer, 195.

friend (Clover), 171.

n (=into), 200.

election, a true, 169.

friendly (adverb), 224.

n (-—on). 200.

empery, 178.

from (=away from), 170, 192,

' the clock's behalf, 190.

enchafed, 204.

223.

n their serving, 197.

encounter, 169, 200.

full of view, 196.

n watch, 194.

encounter revolt, 178.

full-hearted, 213.

ncivil, 221.

end (—die), 218.

full-winged, 191.

ngeniovss, 205.

enforce (—force), 210, 221.

fumes, 209.

njurior.r., 187, 203.

entertain (=employ), 210.

furnaces (verb), 177.

instinct (accent), 205, 223.

INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED,

229

instruct of, 210.

make them dread it, to the outsell, 186, 198.

insultment, 198.

doers' thrift, 212. j outstood, 179

inter gatories, 223.

makes him, 170. j outward (noun\ 161;.

inward (noun), 193.

makes your admiration, 1 76.

o'ergrown, 2 it.

irregulous, 209.

mannerly (adverb), 200.

over his occasions, 218.

issues (=acts), 180.

Mary-buds, 182.

owe (=own), 187.

it (possessive), 196.

match (=compact^, 200.

matter (=business), 2 1 1.

packing, 198.

jack (in bowling), 179.
Jack-slave, 180.
jet (=strut), 190.

mean affairs, 189.
medicinable, 188.
medicine (verb\ 207.

paid (play upon), 217.
paid (^punished), 207.
paled in, 187.

jewel, 172, 184,219.

Mercurial, 209.

panged, 195.

join his honour, 165.

mere (^absolute), 203.

pantler, 184.

journal (=diurnal), 201.

mile (plural), 209.

parish, 204.

Jovial, 209, 216.

mineral (=poison), 218.

parted (^departed), 200.

joyed (transitive\ 223.

minion (=darling), 182.

partisans (=halberds), 210.

jump (—risk), 217.

miracle, 202.

passable, 168.

justice r, 220.

keep at utterance, 188.
keep house, 190.

moe, 187, 1 88, 214.
moiety, 172.
monument, as a, 181.
mortal (— deadly), 170, 214,

passage (occurrence), 195.
peculiar (=personal),2i8.
peevish (=silly), 177.
perfect (—assured), 188,204.

ken, within a, 199.

218.

perforce, 188.

kissed the jack, 179.

most bravest, 209.

pervert (—avert), 186.

kitchen-trulls, 220.

most coldest, 181.

Phcebus' wheel, 220.

knowing (noun), 170, 183.
known together, 170.

most worthiest, 179.
motion (=impulse), 187.

pickaxes (=fingers), 210.
pinch (=pang), 167.

laboursome, 197.

mows (^grimaces), 176.
mulier (derivation^, 224.

pleaseth (=if it please), 173.
point forth, 224.

lady, ladies, woman, 198.

Mulmucius, 164, 188.

Posthumus (accent), 166.

laming, 219.

mutest, 178.

posting winds, 193.

lapped, 222.

postures beyond brief nat-

lay (=wager), 172.

naught, 221.

ure, 2 19.

leaned unto, 166.

nice (^affected), 187.

power of, 201.

learn'd (^learned), 188.

niceness, 196.

power on you, 223.

learned (= taught), 173.

Nile (without article?, 193.

practice (^artifice), 220.

learnings, rf>6.

noble misery, 214.

prefer (=recommend), 182,

leave (=leave off), 172, 180,

none a, 177."

2IO.

Leonati seat, 216.

nonpareil, 187.

preferment, 217.

Leonatus1, 200.

north (=wind), 169.

preferred (^promoted), 184,

let blood, 204.

not (transposed), 179, 211.

222.

let proof speak, 188.

note (^distinction), 170, 175,

pregnant (=probable), 209.

lie bleeding in me, 193.

184, 192.

presently, 184.

liegers, 174.

note (=list), 173.

pretty and full of view, 196.

like (^equally), 192.

nothing (adverb \ 166, 171.

priest (feminine), 178.

like (=please), 182.

now (=rjust now), 214.

prince it, 192.

like a crow, 190.

princely fellows, 195.

likely to report themselves,

odds (number), 213.

prize (=value), 200.

1 86.

'od? pittikins, 209.

probation (=proof), 222.

limbmeal, 186.

of (=by), 200.

profane (accent), 184.

line, 182.

of (=on), 212.

prone, 217.

long of, 22 1.

of 's, 165.

proof (—experience), 1 77, 192.

look upon (=face), 185.

offered mercy, 169. j proof (of armour), 218.

looks us like, 198.

on (=of), 1 68, 205. proof (=trial). 188.

loud'st, 198.

opened (—disclosed), 218. proper (=goodly), 195.

lover (feminine), 220.

oppositions, 201. proper (=own), 203.

loyal'st, 166. or (=before), 185. prunes (verb), 217.

Lucina, 216. | or ere (—before), 190, 214. pudency, 187.

Lud's town, 187, 203. j orbs (Ptolemaic), 222.

put on (—incite), 212.

' ordered (=disciplined), 185.

puttock, 168.

mad (verb), 181, 209. 1 ordinance, 204.

made fault, 200. other (plural), 205.

quarrellous, 196.

made much on, 205. ! out-craftied, 193. ' quartered fires, 211.

made scruple, 220. out-peer, 200. ' quench (intransitive), 173.

230

INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED.

ramps, 178.

simular, 220.

tender (= presentation), 179.

rangers, 182.

single oppositions, 201.

tender of, 198.

rank (play upon), 180.

Sinon's weeping, 194.

tent (=probe), 196.

raps, 176.

sir, 179, 219.

Tereus, 181.

rar'st, 219.

slaughter-man, 214.

that (affix), 198.

ravening, 176.

slight in sufferance, 198.

thee (=thou), 173.

ready (=dressed), 183.
reason (=talk), 202.

slip you, 210.
snuff, 177.

then to shift it, 168.
there be, 187.

reck (=care), 204.

so (=be it so), 181, 197.

thereto (^besides), 211.

recoil (=fall off', 178.

so (omitted), 213, 216, 220.

Thersites, 207.

refts (=reft'st), 193.

solace (intransitive), 177.

thinks scorn, 212.

remain (noun), 188.

soldier to, 197.

those ... as, 222.

render (noun), 211.

solicits (noun), 182.

three thousand confident,

render (=state,, 219.

something (adverb), 166, 172.

213.

resty, 200.

sots (— fools', 220.

throughfare, 168.

retire (noun), 213.

south-fog rot him ! 184.

throughly, 185, 200.

revenue (accent), 185.

speak him far, 165.

thunder-stone, 208.

revolt (—faithlessness), 178.

speak thick, 189.

tinct, 1 80.

revolts (= deserters), 211.

spectacles- (=eyes), 176.

tir'st on, 195.

rip thy heart, 198.

speed (=fare), 217.

to (=compared with), 192. -

ripely, 198.

spirits (monosyllable), 192-

to (=in addition to), 209.

Romish, 179.

spongy south, 210.

to (omitted), 181.

ruddock, 207.

sprightly, 200.

to friend, 172.

rud'st, 205.

sprited with, 184.

to the note o' the king,

rushes (for floors), 180.

spritely shows, 223.

211.

spur and stop, 177.

tomboys, 178.

safe (=sound), 204.

spurs (of trees), 203.

tongue (verb), 217.

saucy, 179.

squire's cloth, 184.

touch more rare, a, 168.

saving reverence of, 201.

staggers (noun), 220.

touch my shoulder, 214.

say you, sir? 210.

stand (in hunting), 182, 195.

toys (=trifles), 205.

sayest thou? 180.

stand (^withstand), 214.

trims, 197.

scar, 221.

stand for, 198.

troth (=truth),22i.

scorn (=mockery), 217.

starve (with cold), 173.

true (^honest), 182.

scriptures, 195.

states (—persons), 193.

tune (=voice), 220.

sear, 167.

statist, 185.

turbans, 190.

searched (=sought), 218.

stir him, 202.

twinned, 175-

seasons comfort, 174.

story (verb), 170.

seconds (noun), 214.

straight-pight, 219.

under her colours, 170.

see (=see each other), 167.

strain (—race), 202.

undergo (^undertake), 172,

seek us through, 204.
self (—same), 178.

strange (^foreign), 177.
stride a limit, 192.

198.
undertake every companion,

self-figured, 184.

such . . . that, 171, 178, 185,

1 80.

senseless (double meaning),

190.

unlustrous, 178.

182.

sufficeth (=it suffices), 218.

unnumbered (beach), 176.

senseless of, 168.

summer news, 193.

unshaked, 180.

set on (^march on\ 224.

suppliant (^auxiliary), 201.

unspeaking, 220.

set up (—instigate), 195.

supplyment, 197.

untwine with, 203.

shaked, 174.

supreme (accent), 174.

up (=put lip), 1 86.

shall (=will), 196.

sur-addition, 165.

up-cast, 1 80.

shall 's, 207, 220.

sweet' st, 222.

upon a desperate bed, 210.

shame (=modesty), 213.

swerve (=err), 217-

upon our note, 211.

shameless-desperate. 218.

synod, 216.

utterance, at, 188.

sharded beetle, 191. 226.

shes, 169, 176.

tables (—letters^, 189.

vantage, 169, 182, 220.

shift his being, 173.

take in (—subdue), 188, 204.

venge, 177.

shop (^storehouse), 220.

take me up, 180.

verbal (= verbose), 184.

short (verb), 179.

take off some extremity, 193.

vomit emptiness, 176.

shot (= reckoning), 217.

take or lend, 199.

voyage upon her, 173.

:shrew me, 184.

targes, 217.

shrine (=image), 219.
Sienna's brother, 210.

tasting of, 221.
taught of, 220.

wage (=wager), 172.
wake mine eyeballs blind,

sign (=outward show), 169.
silly (^rustic), 214.

temper (=mix), 221.
Tenantius, 165.

T95-
walk (^withdraw), 168, 219.

INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES EXPLAINED.

231

wanton (masculine), 201.

warrant of bloody affirma-
tion, 171.

watching, 185.

weeds (— garments', 212.

wench-like, 207.

what (—why1, 193.

what mortality is! 201.

what thing is it! 212.

whenas, 217, 224.

whereon, 193.

which (—who), 184, 209.

whiles, 173.

whiter than the sheets,
1 80.

who (—whom), 179, 192, 203, woe is my heart, 217.

218.

woodman (— hunter), 199.

whom (=which), 207.

words him, 170.

whom (=who), 172.

worms (=serpents), 103.

whose mother was her paint- wrack, 177, 210.

ing, 194. ; wrings (--writhes), 200.

will not from it, 173.

write against, 187.

windows (=eyelids), 180.

wrote (= written), 197.

winds of all the corners, ; wrying, 212.

185.

winking, 182, 186,217.

ye, 197.

winter-ground, 207.

year's age, 167.

wisely definite, 176.

yet (transposed), 183, 224.

witch (masculine), 179.

yond, 190.

with (—by), 184, 193.

you 're best consider, 190.

SHAKESPEARE.

WITH NOTES BY WM. J. ROLPB, A.M.

The Merchant of Venice.

The Tempest.

Julius Caesar.

Hamlet.

As You Like It.

Henry the Fifth.

Macbeth.

Henry the Eighth.

A Midsummer -Night's Dream.

Richard the Second.

Richard the Third.

Much Ado About Nothing.

Antony and Cleopatra.

Romeo and Juliet.

Othello.

Twelfth Night.

The Winter's Tale.

King John.

Henry IV. Part I.

Henry IV. Part II.

King Lear.

The Taming of the Shrew.

All >s Well That Ends Well.

Coriolanus.

Comedy of Errors.

Cymbeline.

Merry Wives of Windsor.

Measure for Measure.

Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Lore's Labour 's Lost.

Timon of Athens.

Henry VI. Part I.

Henry VI. Part II.

Henry VI. Part III.

Troilus and Cressida.

Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

The Two Noble Kinsmen.

Poems.

Sonnets.

Titus Andronicus.

ILLUSTRATED. 16MO, CLOTH, 56 CTS. PER VOL. ; PAPER, 40 CTS. PER VOL.

In the preparation of this edition of the English Classics it has been
the aim to adapt them for school and home reading, in essentially the
same way as Greek and Latin Classics are edited for educational pur-
poses. The chief requisites are a pure text (expurgated, if necessary),
and the notes needed for its thorough explanation and illustration.

Each of Shakespeare's plays is complete in one volume, and is pre-
ceded by an Introduction containing the " History of the Play," the
" Sources of the Plot," and " Critical Comments on the Play."

From HORACE HOWARD FURNESS, Ph.D., LL.D., Editor of the "New Vario-
rum Shakespeare"

No one can examine these volumes and fail to be impressed with the
conscientious accuracy and scholarly completeness with which they are
edited. The educational purposes for which the notes are written Mr.
Rolfe never loses sight of, but like "a well-experienced archer hits the
mark his eve doth level at,"

Rolfe's Shakespeare.

From F. J. FURNIVALL, Director of the New Shakspere Society, London.

The merit I see in Mr. Rolfe's school editions of Shakspere's Plays
over those most widely used in England is that Mr. Rolfe edits the plays
as works of a poet, and not only as productions in Tudor English. Some
editors think that all they have to do with a play is to state its source
and explain its hard words and allusions ; they treat it as they would a
charter or a catalogue of household furniture, and then rest satisfied.
But Mr. Rolfe, while clearing up all verbal difficulties as carefully as any
Dryasdust, always adds the choicest extracts he can find, on the spirit
and special " note " of each play, and on the leading characteristics of its
chief personages. He does not leave the student without help in getting
at Shakspere's chief attributes, his characterization and poetic power.
And every practical teacher knows that while every boy can look out
hard words in a lexicon for himself, not one in a score can, unhelped,
catch points of and realize character, and feel and express the distinctive
individuality of each play as a poetic creation.

From Prof. EDWARD DOWDEN, LL.D., of th* University of Dublin,
Author of '" Shakspere : His Mind and Art"

I incline to think that no edition is likely to be so useful for school and
home reading as yours. Your notes contain so much accurate instruc-
tion, with so little that is superfluous ; you do not neglect the aesthetic
study of the play ; and in externals, paper, type, binding, etc., you make
a book " pleasant to the eyes " (as well as " to be desired to make one
wise ") — no small matter, I think, with young readers and with old.

From EDWIN A. ABBOTT, M.A., Author of '" Shakespearian Grammar.'1''
I have not seen any edition that compresses so much necessary infor-
mation into so small a space, nor any that so completely avoids the com-
mon faults of commentaries on Shakespeare — needless repetition, super-
fluous explanation, and unscholar-like ignoring of difficulties.

From HIRAM CORSON, M.A., Professor of Anglo-Saxon and English

Literature, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.

In the way of annotated editions of separate plays of Shakespeare, for
educational purposes, I know of none quite up to Rolfe's.

Rolfe's Shakespeare.

From Prof. F. J. CHILD, of Harvard University.

I read your " Merchant of Venice" with my class, and found it in every
respect an excellent edition. I do not agree with my friend White in the
opinion that Shakespeare requires but few notes — that is, if he is to be
thoroughly understood. Doubtless he may be enjoyed, and many a hard
place slid over. Your notes give all the help a young student requires,
and yet the reader for pleasure will easily get at just what he wants.
You have indeed been conscientiously concise.

Under date of July 25, 1879, Prof. CHILD adds : Mr. Rolfe's editions
of plays of Shakespeare are very valuable and convenient books, whether
for a college class or for private study. I have used them with my
students, and I welcome every addition that is made to the series. They
show care, research, and good judgment, and are fully up to the time in
scholarship. I fully agree with the opinion that experienced teachers
have expressed of the excellence of these books.

From Rev. A. P. PEABODY, D.D., Professor in Harvard University.

\ regard your own work as of the highest merit, while you have turned
the labors of others to the best possible account. I want to have the
higher classes of our schools introduced to Shakespeare chief of all, and
then to other standard English authors ; but this cannot be done to ad-
vantage, unless under a teacher of equally rare gifts and abundant leisure,
or through editions specially prepared for such use. I trust that you
will have the requisite encouragement to proceed with a work so hap-
pily begun.

From the Examiner and Chronicle ', N". Y.

We repeat what we have often said, that there is no edition of Shake-
speare's which seems to us preferable to Mr. Rolfe's. As mere specimens
of the printer's and binder's art they are unexcelled, and their other
merits are equally high. Mr. Rolfe, having learned by the practical ex-
perience of the class-room what aid the average student really needs in
order to read Shakespeare intelligently, has put just that amount of aid
into his notes, and no more. Having said what needs to be said, he stop:
there. It is a rare virtue in the editor of a classic, and we are propor-
tionately grateful for it.

Rolfe's Shakespeare.

From the N. Y. Times.

This work has been done so well that it could hardly have been clone
better. It shows throughout knowledge, taste, discriminating judgment,
and, what is rarer and of yet higher value, a sympathetic appreciation of
the poet's moods and purposes.

From the Pacific School Journal, San Francisco.
This edition of Shakespeare's plays bids fair to be the most valuable
aid to the study of English literature yet published. For educational pur-
poses it is beyond praise. Each of the plays is printed in large clear type
and on excellent paper. Every difficulty of the text is clearly explained
by copious notes. It is remarkable how many new beauties one may dis-
cern in Shakespeare with the aid of the glossaries attached to these books.
. . . Teachers can do no higher, better work than to inculcate a love
for the best literature, and such books as these will best aid them in
cultivating a pure and refined taste.

Front the Christian Union, N. Y.

Mr. W. J. Rolfe's capital edition of Shakespeare — by far the best edi-
tion for school and parlor use. We speak after some practical use of it
in a village Shakespeare Club. The notes are brief but useful ; and the
necessary expurgations are managed with discriminating skill.

From the Academy, London.

Mr. Rolfe's excellent series of school-editions of the Plays of Shake-
speare. . . . Mr. Rolfe's editions differ from some of the English ones
in looking on the plays as something more than word-puzzles. They give
the student helps and hints on the characters and meanings of the plays,
while the word-notes are also full and posted up to the latest date. . . .
Mr. Rolfe also adds to each of his books a most useful " Index of Words
and Phrases explained."

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.

&3F* Any of the above "Works will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the
United States, on receipt of the price.

OLIVER GOLDSMITH.

SELECT POEMS OF OLIVER GOLDSMITH. Edited,
with Notes, by WILLIAM J, ROLFE, A.M., formerly Head
Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Illus-
trated. i6mo, Paper, 40 cents ; Cloth, 56 cents. (Uni-
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The carefully arranged editions of " The Merchant of Venice " and
other of Shakespeare's plays prepared by Mr. William J. Rolfe for the
use of students will be remembered with pleasure by many readers, and
they will welcome another volume of a similar character from the same
source, in the form of the " Select Poems of Oliver Goldsmith," edited
with notes fuller than those of any other known edition, many of them
original with the editor. — Boston Transcript.

Mr. Rolfe is doing very useful work in the preparation of compact
hand-books for study in English literature. His own personal culture,
and his long experience as a teacher, give him good knowledge of what
is wanted in this way. — The Congregationalist, Boston.

Mr. Rolfe has prefixed to the Poems selections illustrative of Gold-
smith's character as a man and grade as a poet, from sketches by Ma-
caulay, Thackeray, George Colman, Thomas Campbell, John Forster,
and Washington Irving. He has also appended, at the end of the
volume, a body of scholarly notes explaining and illustrating the poems,
and dealing with the times in which they were written, as well as the
incidents and circumstances attending their composition. — Christian
Intelligencer, N. Y.

The notes are just and discriminating in tone, and supply all that is
necessary either for understanding the thought of the several poems, or
for a critical study of the language. The use of such books in the school-
room cannot but contribute largely toward putting the study of English
literature upon a sound basis ; and many an adult reader would find in
the present volume an excellent opportunity for becoming critically ac-
quainted with one of the greatest of last century's poets. — Appleton's
Journal, N. Y.

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.

H3T" Sent by mall, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of

the Price,

THOMAS GRAY.

SELECT POEMS OF THOMAS GRAY. Edited, with
Notes, by WILLIAM J. ROLFE, A.M., formerly Head
Master of the High School, Cambridge, Mass. Illus-
trated. Square i6mo, Paper, 40 cents; Cloth, 56 cents.
(Uniform with Rolfe's Shakespeare.}

Mr. Rolfe has done his work in a manner that comes as near to per-
fection as man can approach. He knows his subject so well that he is
competent to instruct all in it ; and readers will find an immense amount
of knowledge in his elegant volume, all set forth in the most admirable
order, and breathing the most liberal and enlightened spirit, he being a
warm appreciator of the divinity of genius. — Boston Traveller.

The great merit of these books lies in their carefully-edited text, and in
the fulness of their explanatory notes. Mr. Rolfe is not satisfied with
simply expounding, but he explores the entire field of English literature,
and therefrom gathers a multitude of illustrations that are interesting in
themselves and valuable as a commentary on the text. He not only in-
structs, but stimulates his readers to fresh exertion ; and it is this stimu-
lation that makes his labors so productive in the school-room. — Saturday
Evening Gazette, Boston.

Mr. William J. Rolfe, to whom English literature is largely indebted
for annotated and richly-illustrated editions of several of Shakespeare's
Plays, has treated the " Select Poems of Thomas Gray " in the same way
— just as he had previously dealt with the best of Goldsmith's poems. —
The Press, Phila.

Mr. Rolfe's edition of Thomas Gray's select poems is marked by the
same discriminating taste as his other classics. — Springfield Republican.

Mr. Rolfe's rare abilities as a teacher and his fine scholarly tastes ena-
ble him to prepare a classic like this in the best manner for school use.
There could be no better exercise for the advanced classes in our schools
than the critical study of our best authors, and the volumes that Mr. Rolfe
has prepared will hasten the time when the study of mere form will give
place to the study of the spirit of our literature. — Lotiisville Cotirier-
Journal.

An elegant and scholarly little volume. — Christian Intelligencer, N. Y.

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.

JSP" Sent by mail, postage, prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of th&
price and one sixth additional for postage.

LOAN DBPT

YB 77458