ACT III. SCENE I. Britain. A Room of State in Cymbeline's Palace. Enter CYMBELINE, Queen, CLOTEN, and Lords, at one door; and at another, CAIUS LUCIUS, and Attendants. Cym. Now say, what would Augustus Cæsar with us? Luc. When Julius Caesar, (whose remembrance yet Becomes a warlike people, whom we reckon Shall, by the power we hold, be our good deed, tongues,Himself a king. Lives in men's eyes; and will to ears, Is left untender'd. Queen. Shall be so ever. Clo. And, to kill the marvel, There be many Cæsars, A world by itself; and we will nothing pay, Queen. Cæsar made here; but made not here his brag Clo. 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 more such Cesars: other of them may have crook'd noses: but, to owe such straight arms, none. Cym. Son, let your mother end. Clo. We have yet many among us can gripe as nard as Cassibelan; I do not say, I am one; but I have a hand.-Why tribute? why should we pay tribute? If Cæsar 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. Cým. You must know, Till the injurious Romans did extort This tribute from us, we were free: Caesar's ambi tion (Which swell'd so much, that it did almost stretch The sides o' the world,) against all colour,2 here Did put the yoke upon us; which to shake off, 1 '0, false and inconstant fortune! A giglot was a strumpet. So in Measure for Measure:Away with those giglots too.' And in Hamlet :- 'Out, out, thou strumpet fortune! The poet has transferred to Cassibelan an adventure which happened to his brother Nennius. See Holinshed, book iii. ch. xiii. 'The same historie also maketh mention of Nennius, brother to Cassibelane, who in fight happened to get Cæsar's sword fastened in his shield, by a blow which Cæsar stroke at him. But Nennius died, within 15 daies after the battel, of the hurt received at Cæsar's hand; although after he was hurt he slew Labienus, one of the Roman tribunes.' 2 i. e. without any pretence of right. 3 Some few hints for this part of the play are taken from Holinshed. i. e. at the extremity of defiance. So in Helyas Knight of the Swanne blk 1. no date:-'Here is my Luc. I am sorry, Cymbeline, That I am to pronounce Augustus Cæsar (Cæsar, that hath more kings his servants, than Thyself domestic officers,) thine enemy: In Caesar's name pronounce I 'gainst thee: look Receive it from me, then :-War, and confusion, For fury not to be resisted:-Thus defied, I thank thee for myself. Cym. Thou art welcome, Caius, Thy Cæsar knighted me; my youth I spent Much under him ;3 of him I gather'd honour; Which he, to seek of me again, perforce, Behoves me keep at utterance ;4 I am perfect," That the Pannonians and Dalmatians, for Their liberties, are now in arms: a precedent Which, not to read, would show the Britons cold: So Cæsar shall not find them. Luc. Make Let proof speak. Clo. His majesty bids you welcome. seek us afterwards in other terms, you shall find pastime with us a day, or two, longer: If you us in our salt-water girdle: if you beat us out o it, it is yours; if you fall in the adventure, our crows shall fare the better for you; and there's an end. SCENE II. Another Room in the same. Enter PISANIO. Pis. How! of adultery? Wherefore write you not That I have sent her, by her own command 7 Thy mind compared to hers is now as low as thy condition was compared to hers. According to modern notions of grammatical construction, it should be thy mind to hers.' 8 The words here read by Pisanio from his master's letter (as it is afterwards given in prose) are not found there, though the substance of them is contained in it Malone thinks this a proof that Shakspeare had no view to the publication of his pieces-the inaccuracy would hardly be detected by the ear of the spectator, though 11 could hardly escape an attentive reader Art thou a feodary1 for this act, and look'st I am ignorant in what I am commanded. Pis. Madam, nere is a letter from my lord. Justice, and father's wrath, should he take me in his don could not be so cruel to me as3 you, O the dearest of creatures, would not 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,4 LEONATUS POSTHUMUS. O, for a horse with wings!--Hear'st thou, Pisanio? He is at Milford Haven: Read, and tell me How far 'tis thither. If one of mean affairs May plod it in a week, why may not I Glide thither in a day?--Then, true Pisanio, (Who long'st, like me, to see thy lord; who long'stO, let me 'bate,--but not like me ;-yet long'st, But in a fainter kind :-0, not like me; For mine's beyond beyond3) say, and speak thick ;6 (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, 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 e'er begot! Pis. One score, 'twixt sun and sun, Where horses have been nimbler than the sands Go, bid my woman feign a sickness, say A riding suit; no costlier than would fit Pis. Madam, you're best12 considėj Imo. I see before me, man, nor here, nor here, Nor what ensues; but have a fog in them, That I cannot look through.13 Away, I pr'ythee Do as I bid thee: There's no more to say; Accessible is none but Milford way. [Exeur SCENE III. Wales. A mountainous Countr with a Cave. Enter BELARIUS, GUIDERIU and ARVIRAGUS. Bel. A goodly day not to keep house, with such Whose roof's as low as ours! Stoop, boys: Th gate Instructs you how to adore the heavens; and bot you, Of courts, of princes, of the tricks in war: to be paid with interest on his return from Jerusalem 1 i. e. a subordinate agent, as a vassal to his chief. A feodary, however, meant also a prime agent, or steward, who received aids, reliefs, suits of service, &c. due to any lord.'-Glossographia Anglicana Nova, 1719. Yet after all, it may be doubted whether Shak-yea, upon a journey afoote.' speare does not use it to signify a confederate or accomplice, as he does federary in The Winter's Tale, Act ii. Sc. 1: 'More, she's a traitor, and Camillo is 2 i. e. I am unpractised in the arts of murder. So in King Henry IV. Part I. :- 'O, I am ignorance itself in this.' 3 As is here used for that. See Julius Cæsar, Act i. Sc. 2. The word not in the next line, being accidentally omitted in the old copy, was supplied by Malone. 4 We should now write yours, increasing in love,' Your is to be joined in construction with Leonatus Posthumus, and not with increasing; the latter is a participle present, and not a noun. 5 i. e. her longing is further than beyond; beyond any thing that desire can be said to be beyond. 6 i. e. speak quick.' 7 That is 'in consequence of our going hence and returning back.' So in Coriolanus, Act ii. Sc. 1:'He cannot temperately support his honours From where he should begin and end.' 8 i. e. before the act is done for which excuse will be necessary. 10 It may be necessary to apprize the reader that the sand of an hour-glass used to measure time is meant. The figurative meaning is, swifter than the flight of time 11 A franklin is a yeoman. 12 That is you'd best consider.' 13 'I see neither on this side nor on that, nor behind me; but find a fog in each of those quarters that my eye cannot pierce. The way to Milford is alone clear and open: Let us therefore instantly set forward.' By | what ensues,' Imogen means what will be the conse quence of the step I am going to take. 14 Strut, walk proudly. So in Twelfth Night, How he jets under his advanced plumes.' The idea of a giant was, among the readers of romances, who were almost all the readers of those times, always confounded with that of 2 Saracen 15 In any service done, the advantage rises not from 9 This practice was, perhaps, not much less preva- brabe not being familiar to the compositor. Arabe is lent in Shakspeare's time than it is at present. Fynes a contemptuous or proud book, word, or gesturMoryson, speaking of his brother's putting out money | a braze. vasi Prouder, than rustling in unpaid-for silk: Such the gain of him, that makes him fine, cap Yet keeps his book uncross'd; no life to ours.1 Gui. Out of your proof you speak: we, poor unfledg'd, Have never wing'd from view o' the nest; nor know not What air's from home. Haply, this life is best, Bel. How you speak !4 The fear's as bad as falling: the toil of the war, And hath as oft a slanderous epitaph, one A storm, or robbery, call it what you will, Uncertain favour! Bel. My fault being nothing, (as I have told you oft,) But that two villains, whose false oaths prevail'd Where I have liv'd at honest freedom; paid The fore-end of my time.-But, up to the mountains; 1 i. e. compared to ours. 2. To stride a limit is to overpass his bound. 3 This dread of an old age unsupplied with matter for discourse and meditation, is a sentiment 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.'-Johnson. 4 Otway seems to have taken many hints for the conversation which passes between Acasto and his sons from the scene before us. 5 Thus in Timon of Athens : "That numberless upon me stuck, as leaves : nulla aconita, bibuntur Fictilibus; tunc illa time, cum pocula sumes Gemmata, et lato Setinum ardebit in auro.' · Juv. Shakspeare seems to intend Belarius for a good character vet he makes him forget the injury which he In place of greater state." I'll meet you in the valleys. [Exeurt Gui. and ARV. How hard it is, to hide the sparks of nature! These boys know little, they are sons to the king; Nor Cymbeline dreams that they are alive. They think, they are mine: and, though train'd thus meanly up I' the cave, wherein they bow, their thoughts do hi Strikes life into my speech, and shows much more 8 And every day do honour to her grave: SCENE IV. Near Milford Haven. Enter PISA Imo. Thou told'st me, when we came from horse, the place Was near at hand: Ne'er long'd my mother so 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" Why tender'st thou that to paper with A look untender? If it be summer news, Smile to't before if winterly, thou need'st But keep that countenance still.-My husband's hand! me, That drug-damn'd Italy hath out-craftied him, May take off some extremity, which to read Pis. Imo. [Reads.] Thy mistress, Pisanio, hath playe the strumpet in my bed; the testimonies whereof lis bleeding in me. I speak not out of weak surmises ; has done to the young princes, whom he has robbed o a kingdom, only to rob their father of heirs. The latte: part of this soliloquy is very inartificial, there being ro particular reason why Belarius should now tell to him self what he could not know better by telling it.'---Joltre 8 i. e. to the grave of Euriphile; or to the grave of 'their mother,' as they supposed it to be. The grammati cal construction requires that the poet should have writ ten to thy grave; but we have frequent instances of this change of persons, not only in Shakspeare, but in all the writings of his age. 9 The true pronunciation of Greek and Latin names was not much regarded by the writers of Shakspeare's age. The poet has, however, differed on himself. and given the true pronunciation when the name first occurs, and in one other place :- 'To his protection; call him Posthumus.' from proof as strong as my grief, and as certain as I expect my revenge. Thut part, thou, Pisanio, must a for me, if thy faith be not tainted with the breach of hers. Let thine own hands take away her life: shall give thee opportunities at Milford 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. Pis. What shall I need to draw my sword? the paper Hath cut her throat already.-No, 'tis slander; Ontvenoms all the worms' of Nile; whose breath weep nature, To break it with a fearful dream of him, And cry myself awake? that's false to his bed? Poor I am stale, a garment out of fashion ; Pis. Were, in his time, thought false: and Sinon's Did scandal many a holy tear: took pity From most true wretchedness: So, thou, humus, 5 tray'd Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor And thou, Posthumus, thou that didst set up When I desire it too. Do't, and to bed then. Didst undertake it? Why hast thou abus'd Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men: 1 It has already been observed that worm was the general name for all the serpent kind. See Antony and Cleopatra, Act v. Sc. 2 2 i. e. persons of the highest rank. Steevens above three thousand dresses behind her. 5 6, 7, 8. Thy failure, Posthumus, will lay falsehood to the charge of men without guile : make all suspected. 6 That makes me afraid to put an end to my own Hamlet exclaims : 'Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men.' 3 Putta, in Italian, signifies both a jay and a whore. The leaven is, in Scripture phraseology, 'the whole We have the word again in The Merry Wives of Wind-wickedness of our sinful nature.' See 1 Corinthians, v sor-Teach him to know turtles from jays. Some jay of Italy, whose mother was her painting, i. c. made by art; the creature not of nature, but of painting, In this sense painting may be said to be her mother. Steevens met with a similar phrase in some old play :-'A parcel of conceited feather-eaps, whose fathers were their garments.' 4 That is, to be hung up as useless among the neglect ed contents of a wardrobe. So in Measure for Mea sure: life.' 'O, that the everlasting had not fix'd 7 Shakspeare here means Leo..atus's letters, but there 9 'That have, like unscour'd armour, hung by the wall. Clothes were not formerly, as at present, made of slight materials, were not kept in drawers, or given away as soon as lapse of time or change of fashion had impaired | It is probable that the first, as well as the last, of these their value. On the contrary, they were hung up on metaphorical expressions is from falconry. A bird of wooden pegs, in a room appropriated to the sole purpose prey may be said to be disedged when the keenness of of receiving them; and though such cast off things as its appetite is taken away by tiring, or feeding, upon were composed of rich substances were occasionally some object given to it for that purpose. Thus in Hamripped for domestic uses, articles of inferior quality were let:-suffered to hang by the walls till age and moths had destroyed what pride would not permit to be worn by servants or poor relations : No, on my life I'll give but notice you are dead, and send him Why, good fellow, Pis. Where then? Pis. Imo. O, for such means! Though peril to my modesty, not death on't, I would adventure. Pis. Well, then, here's the point. Imo. Nay, be brief. I see into thy end, and am almost Pis. First, make yourself but like one, ('Tis in my cloak-bag) doublet, hat, hose, all From youth of such a season, 'fore noble Lucius If that his head have ear in music,) doubtless, 8 Imo. Pis. Well, madam, we must take a short farewel Amen: I thank thee. Cym. Thus far; and so farewell. Thanks, royal sir. My emperor hath wrote; I must from hence; houses instead of cats, for the purpose of killing vermin. in one of Shakspeare's poems in The Passionate Pil- Phædrus notices this their feline office in the first and grim, 1599: "When as thine eye hath chose the dame And stall'd the deer that thou shouldst strike. 1 This line requires some word of two syllables to complete the measure. Steevens proposed to read ;'With that harsh, noble, simple, nothing, Cloten; That Cloten,' &c. 2 The poet may have had in his mind a passage in Lyly's Euphues, which he has imitated in King Richard yly's X. To wear a dark mind is to carry a mind impenetrable to the search of others. Darkness, applied to the mind, is secrecy; applied to the fortune, is obscurity. The next lines are obscure. You must (says Pisanio) disguise that greatness which, to appear hereafter in its proper form, cannot yet appear without great danger to itself. 4 Full of view appears to mean of ample prospect, affording a complete view of circumstances which it is your interest to know. Thus in Pericles, Full of face' appears to signity amply beautiful:' and Duncan assuies Banquo that he will labour to make him full of growing,' i. e. of ample growth 5 So in King Henry IV. Part 1 ' A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen This character of the weasel is not mentioned by natu ralists Weast's were formerly, it appears, kept in fourth fables of his fourth book. The poet, no doubt, speaks from observation; while a youth he would have frequent opportunities to ascertain their disposition. Perhaps this note requires the apology which Steevens has affixed to it:-Rrivola hæc fortassis cuipiam et nimis levia esse videantur sed curiositas nihil recusat * Vopiscus in Vita Aureliani, c. x. 6 Thus in Othello :- The bawdy wind that kisses all it meets.' So in Sidney's Arcadia, lib. iii. And beautiful might have been if they had not suffered greedy Phœbus over often and hard to kisse them.’ 7 i. e. wherein you are accomplished. 9 As for your subsistence abroad, you may rely on me.' 9 Steevens has a note on this passage no less disgust ing than absurd, making the pure Imogen allude to the spare regimen prescribed in some diseases. The interpretation was at once gross and erroneous. When Iago talks of dieting his revenge, he certainly does not mean putting it on a spare diet. This, and a note on a former passage of this play by Mr. Whalley, which could only have been the offspring of impure imagina tions, were justly stigmatized and degraded by the late Mr. Boswell, at the suggestion of Mr. Douce. 10 We'll make our work even with our time; we'l do what time will allow. 11 i. e equal to, or have ability for it. |