That mount the Capitol; join gripes with hands Imo. Has forgot Britain. Iach. My lord, I fear, And himself. Not I, Inclin'd to this intelligence, pronounce The beggary of his change; but 'tis your graces That, from my mutest conscience, to my tongue, Charms this report out. Imo. Let me hear no more. Iach. O dearest soul! your cause doth strike my heart 12 With pity, that doth make me sick. A lady With tomboys, hir'd with that self-exhibition 13, Which your own coffers yield! with diseas'd ventures, 11 Hard with falsehood is hard by being often griped with frequent change of hands. 12 Empery is a word signifying sovereign command, now obsolete. Shakspeare uses it in King Richard III.: Your right of birth, your empery your own.' 13 We still call a forward or rude hoyden a tomboy. But our ancestors seem to have used the term for a wanton. 'What humourous tomboys be these?— The only gallant Messalinas of our age.' So in W. Warren's Nurcerie of Names, 1581: 'Gross strumpets, hired with the very pension which you allow your husband.' That play with all infirmities for gold Which rottenness can lend nature! such boil'd stuff 14 As well might poison poison! Be reveng'd; Imo. you Reveng❜d! Iach. Should he make me Live like Diana's priest, betwixt cold sheets; In your despite, upon your purse? Revenge it. Imo. What ho, Pisanio! Iach. Let me my service tender on your lips. Thee and the devil alike.—What ho, Pisanio!- A saucy stranger, in his court, to mart As in a Romish 15 stew, and to expound 14 This allusion has been already explained. See Timon of Athens, Act ii. Sc. 3, p. 36. 15 Romish for Roman was the phraseology of Shakspeare's age. Thus in Claudius Tiberius Nero, 1607:-'In the loath His beastly mind to us; he hath a court Country call'd his! and you his mistress, only Half all men's hearts are his. Imo. You make amends. Iach. He sits 'mongst men, like a descended god 17: He hath a kind of honour sets him off, More than a mortal seeming. Be not angry, Most mighty princess, that I have adventur'd 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, some Romish stewes. Drant, in his translation of the first epistle of the second book of Horace, 1567, has— "The Romishe people wise in this, in this point only just.' And in other places we have the Romish cirque,' &c. he did in the general bosom reign 16 Of young and old, and sexes both enchanted- 17 So in Chapman's version of the twenty-third book of the Odyssey: : as he were A god descended from the starry sphere.' And in Hamlet: - a station like the herald Mercury New lighted on a heaven-kissing hill.' 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. Imo. All's well, sir: Take my power i' the court for yours. Iach. My humble thanks. I had almost forgot To entreat your grace but in a small request, And yet of moment too, for it concerns Your lord; myself, and other noble friends, Are partners in the business. Imo. Pray, what is't? Iach. Some dozen Romans of us, and your lord (The best feather of our wing 18), have mingled sums, To buy a present for the emperor; Which I, the factor for the rest, have done In France: 'Tis plate, of rare device; and jewels, Imo. Willingly; Iach. They are in a trunk, Attended by my men: I will make bold Imo. O, no, no. Iach. Yes, I beseech; or I shall short my word, By length'ning my return. From Gallia I cross'd the seas on purpose, and on promise To see your grace. 18 You are so great you would faine march in fielde, That world should judge you feathers of one wing.' Churchyard's Warning to Wanderers, 1593. 19 See note 6, p. 30 ante. Imo. I thank you for your pains; But not away to-morrow? Iach. Imo. [Exeunt. ACT II. SCENE I. Court before Cymbeline's Palace. Enter CLOTEN, and Two Lords. Clo. Was there ever man had such luck! when I kissed the jack upon an upcast1, 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. If his wit had been like him that broke it, it would have ran all out. [Aside. Clo. When a gentleman is disposed to swear, it is not for any standers-by to curtail his oaths: Ha? 1 He is describing his fate at bowls. The jack 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. The expression is of frequent occurrence in the old comedies. The jack is also called the mistress. |