50

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'll tell thee on the instant thou art then
As great as is thy master, greater, for
His fortunes all lie speechless and his name
Is at last gasp : return he cannot, nor
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 bim ? [The Queen drops the

box: Pisanio takes it up.] Thou takest 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 'll move the king 70
To any shape of thy preferment such
As thou 'lt 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 shaked; the agent for 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,
Except she bend her humour, shall be assured
To taste of too.

80

Re-enter PISANIO and Ladies.

So, so : well done, well done:
The violets, cowslips, and the primroses,
Bear to my closet. Fare thee well, Pisanio ;
Think on my words. [Exeunt Queen and Ladies.
Pis.

And shall do:
But when to my good lord I prove untrue,
I'll choke myself: there's all I'll do for you. [Exit.

SCENE VI.

The same.

Another room in the palace.

Enter I MOGEN.

Imo. A father cruel, and a step-dame false ;
A foolish suitor to a wedded lady,
That hath her husband banish'd ;—O, that hus-

band!
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 's glorious : blest be those,

78. hand-fast, marriage en bassadors,' agents, advocates. gagement. 80. liegers, 'resident am. 7. glorious, bent on glory.

How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills, Which seasons comfort. Who may this be? Fie!

Enter PISANIO and IACHIMO.
Pis. Madam, a noble gentleman of Rome,
Comes from my lord with letters.
Iach.

Change you, madam?
The worthy Leonatus is in safety
And greets your highness dearly.

[Presents a letter. Imo.

Thanks, good sir :
You 're kindly welcome.
Iach. [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;
Rather, directly fly.

Imo. [Reads] 'He is one of the noblest note, to whose kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon him accordingly, as you value your trust

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. lach.

Thanks, fairest lady.

20

30

9. Which, i.e. to have their Phenix. wills.

25. trust~; she breaks off 9. seasons comfort, give zest abruptly without reading the to happiness.

rest' aloud. The dash indicatII. Change, change colour. ing this was substituted for the 17. the Arabian bird, the period of the Ff by Boswell. VOL. IV

145

L

40

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 number'd beach ? and can we not
Partition make with spectacles so precious
'Twixt fair and foul ?
Imo.

What makes your admiration ?
Iach. 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 judge

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

Imno. What is the matter, trow?
Juch.

The cloyed will,
That satiate yet unsatisfied desire, that tub
Both filled and running, ravening first the lamb
Longs after for the garbage.
Imo.

What, dear sir,
Thus raps you? Are you

well ?

50

33. crop, teeming expanse. 40. shes, women.

35. tivinn'd, indistinguishably ib. chatter this way, show similar.

their preference for one by 36. number'd, made up of a chattering in her direction. host of small parts (pebbles). 42. case of favour, question Cf. 'the pebbled shore,' Sonn. of relative beauty. lx. Theobald conjectured un 44, 45. Sluttishness, when number'd.

confronted with such absolute 37. Partition make, distin excellence, would excite qualms guish.

of loathing in Lust itself. 37. spectacles, organs of vision.

47. trow, I wonder. 38. admiration, wonder.

51. raps you, transports you.

60

Iach. Thanks, madam; well. [To Pisanio]

Beseech you, sir, desire
My man's abode where I did leave him: he
Is strange and peevish.
Pis.

I was going, sir,
To give him welcome.

[Exit. Imo. Continues well my lord ? His health,

beseech you? Iach. Well, madam. Imo. Is he disposed to mirth ? I hope he is.

Iach. Exceeding pleasant ; none a stranger there
So merry and so gamesome : he is callid
The Briton reveller.
Imo.

When he was here,
He did incline to sadness, and oft-times
Not knowing why.
Iach.

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
But must be, will his free hours languish for
Assured bondage ?!
Imo.

Will my lord say so?
Iach. 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,

70

(like fire).

52. desire my man's abode, bid my servant stay.

66. furnaces, belches forth

70. proof, experience.