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lords,

Till he have cross'd the Severn.-Hap viness!
[Exeunt Lucius, and Lord.
Queen. He goes herce frowning: but it honours us
That we have given him cause.
Clo.
"Nis all the better;
Your valiant Britons have their vishes in it.

Cym. Lucius hath wrote already to the emperor
How it goes here. It fits us, therefore, ripely,
Our chariots and our horsemen be in ea firess:
The powers that he already hash in Galla
Will soon be drawn to head, fron whence he moves
His war for Britain.

Queen.

'Tis not sleepy busives; But must be look'd to speedily, and strongly

Cym. Our expectation that it would be thus,
Hath made us forward. But, my gem'e queen
Where is our daughter? She hath not appear'd
Before the Roman, nor to us hath tende.'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,
'Tis time must do.' 'Beseech your majesty,
Forbear sharp speeches to her: she's a lady
So tender of rebukes, that words are strokes,
And strokes death to her.

Re-enter an Attendant.

Cym.
Where is she, sir? How
Can her contemp` be answer'd?
Atten.
Please you, sir,
Her chambers are a'l lock'd; and there's no answer
That will be given to loud'st of noise we make.

Queen. My lord, when last I went to visit her,
She pray'd me to excuse her keeping close;
Whereto constrain'd by er infirmity,
She should that duty leave unpaid to you,
Which daily she was bound to proffer: this

Or, wing'a 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 ?

Clo.

'Tis certain, she is fled;
Go in, and cheer the king; he rages; none
Dare come about him.
Queen.
All the better; May
This night forestall him of the coming day !3
[Exit QUEEN
Clc. I love and hate her; for she's fair and roval;
han lady, ladies, woman;4 from every one
And that she hath all courtly parts more exquisite
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

Enter PISANIO.

Shall-Who is here? What! are you packing,
sirrah ?

Come hither: Ac, you precious pander! Villain,
Where is thy lady In a word; or else
Thou art straightway with the fiends.
Pis.

O, good my lord!
Clo. Where is thy lady? or, by Jupiter
I will not ask again. Ces villain,

I'll have this secret from thy heart or rip
Thy heart to find it. Is she with Posthumus?
From whose so many weights of baseless cannɔa
A dram of worth be drawn.

Pis.

Alas, novio,

Hov can she ne with him? When was SLA MIZE':

He is in Rome.

Clo.

Where is she, sır? Co na e Nɔ further halting: satisfy me home,

What is Deco.n、 of her?

Pis. O, my all worthy lord!
'lo.

All-worthy vill U

Discover where thy mistress is, at once,
At the next wo1,-No more of worthy lora,
Speak, or thy silence on the instant is
Thy condemnation an hy death.

Pis.

This paper is the hist、
Touching her flight.

Ther; si

o my knowledge

[Presenting a Letter Let's see—I will pursue he.

Clo.
Even to Augusts' throne
Pis.
Or 'his, or perish."
She's far enough; and what h、 learns by this, Aside.
May prove his travel, not her danger.
Clo.

Humph!
Pis. I'll write to my lord she's dead. O, Imogen,

She wish'd me to make know; ut our great court Safe may'st thou wander, safe ve, ɩrn again!
Made me to blame in memory.

Tym.

Г

Her acors lock'd?
Not seen of late? Grant, heavens, that wich I
Fear2 prove false !
Exit.
Queen.
Son, I say, follow the king.
Clo. That man of hers, Pisanio, ver old servant,
I have not seen these two days.
Queen.
Go, look after.-
[Eait CLOTEN.
Pisanio, thou that stand'st so for Posthumus!-
pray, his absence

He hath a drug of mine: T

Proceed by swallowing that; for he believes
It is a thing most precious. Bat for her,
Where is she gone? Haply, despair hath seizea her;

1 We should apparently read his grace and you,' or your grace and yours."

1 Fear must be pronounced as a dissyllab's to com plete the measure.

8 i. e. may his grief this night prevent him from ever seeing another day, by anticipated and premature de struction. Thus in Milton's Comus :

• Perhaps forestalling night prevented them.'

[Aside.

Clo. Sirrah, is this letter true? Pis. Si as I think. Clo. It is Posthumus' hand; I know't,-Sirrah, service; undergo those employments, wherein I if thou would'st not be a villain, but ds me true should have cause to use thee, with a serious indus · try,--that is, what vi lany soe'er I bid thee, to perform it directly and truly,-I would think thee an honest man: thou shouldest neither want na means for thy relief, nor my voice for thy preferment. Pis. Well, my good lord.

and constantly thou hast suck to the pare fortune Clo. Wilt thou serve ine? For since patiently

4 Than any lady, than all adies, than all wmmankind. There is a similar passage in All's Well that Ends Well, Act ii. Sc. 3:

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Pis. Sir, I will.

Clo. Give me thy hand, here's my purse. Hast any of thy late master's garments in thy possession? Pis. I have, my lord, at my lodging, the same suit he wore when he took leave of my lady and

mistress.

of that beggar Posthumus, thou canst not in the Is worse in kings, than beggars.—My dear lord! course of gratitude but be a diligent follower of Thou art one of the false ones: Now I think on thee mine. Wilt thou serve me? My hunger's gone; but even before, I was At point to sink for food.-But what is this? hold. Here is a path to it: "Tis some savage I were best not call; I dare not call; yet famine, Ere clean it o'erthrow nature, makes it valiant. Plenty, and peace, breeds cowards; hardness ever Of hardiness is mother.-Ho! who's here? if savage, | If any thing that's civil, speak; Take, or lend.-Ho!-No answer? then I'll enter. Best draw my sword; and if mine enemy But fear the sword like me, he'll scarcely look on't. Such a foe, good heavens! [She goes into the Cave. Enter BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, and ARVIRAGUS. Bel. You, Polydore, have prov'd best wood5 man, and

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

Pis. I shall, my lord.

[Exit. Clo. Meet thee at Milford Haven :-I forgot to ask him one thing; I'll remember't anon:-Even there, tho villain, Posthumus, will I kill thee.-I She said upon. would these garments were come. a tim, (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 person, 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 torment to her contempt. He on the ground, my speech of insultment 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'll knock her back, foot her home again. She hath in my redespised me rejoicingly, and I'll be merry

venge.

Re-enter PISANIO, with the Clothes.

Be those the garments?

Pis. Ay, my noble lord.

Are master of the feast: Cadwal, and I,
Will play the cook and servant; 'tis our match.
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 restie" sloth
Finds the down pillow hard.-Now, peace be here,
Poor house, that keep'st thyself!
Gui.
I am thoroughly weary.
Arv. I am weak with toil, yet strong in appetite.
Gui. There is cold meat i' the cave; we'll browze
on that,
Whilst what we have kill'd be cook’d.

Bel.

Stay; come not in
[Looking in.

But that it eats our victuals, I should think

Clo. How long is't since she went to Milford Here were a fairy.

Haven?

Pis. She can scarce be there yet.

Clo. Bring this apparel to my chamber; that is the second thing that I have commanded thee: the third is, that thou shalt be a voluntary mute to my design. Be but duteous, and true preferment shall tender itself to thee.-My revenge is now at Milford; 'Would, I had wings to follow it!-Come, [Exit. Pis. Thou bidd'st me to my loss: for, true to thee, Were to prove false, which I will never be, To him that is most true.'-To Milford go, And find not her whom thou pursu'st. Flow, flow, You heavenly blessings, on her! This fool's speed Be cross'd with slowness; labour be his meed!

and be true.

SCENE VI. Before the Cave of Belarius.
IMOGEN, in Boy's Clothes.

Imo. 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:2 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 'tis
A punishment, or trial? Yes; no wonder,
When rich ones scarce tell true: To lapse in fulness
Is sorer,3 than to lie for need; and falsehood

1 Pisanio, notwithstanding his master's letter commanding the murder of Imogen, considers him as true, supposing, as he has already said to her, that Posthu. mus was abused by some villain equally an enemy to .hem both.

2 Thus in the fifth Eneid :

'Italiam sequimur fugientem' 3 i. e. is a greater or heavier crime. 4 Civil is here civilized, as opposed to savage, wild, ude, or uncultivated. 'If any one dwell here.'

5 Á woodman in its common acceptation, as here, signifies a hunter. So in The Rape of Lucrece :'He is no woodman that doth bend his bow Against a poor unseasonable doc.'

6 i. e. our compact.

Restie, which Steevens unwarrantably changed to

Gui.
What's the matter, sir?
Bel. By Jupiter, an angel! or,
if not,
An earthly paragon!-Behold divineness
No elder than a boy!

Enter IOGen.

Imo. Good masters, harm me not:
Before I enter'd here, I call'd: and thought
To have begg'd, or bought, what I ha e took: Good
troth,

I have stolen 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.

Gui.

Money, youth?
Arv. All gold and silver rather turn to dirt
As 'tis no better reckon'd, but of those
Who worship dirty gods.

Imo.
I see, you are angry:
Know, if you kill me for my fault, I should
Have died, had I not made it.

Bel.

Whither bound?

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Imo. To Milford Haven.
Bel.
What is
Imo. 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 fallen in this offence.

Bel.
Pr'ythee, fair youth,
Think us no churls; nor measure our good minds
By this rude place we live in. Well encounter'd!
restive, signifies here dull, heavy, as it is explained in
Bullokar's Expositor, 1616. So Milton uses it in his
Eiconoclastes, sec. 24, 'The master is too resty, or too
rich, to say his own prayers, or to bless his own table'
What between Malone's resty, rank, mouldy,' and
Steevens's 'restive, stubborn, refractory,' the reader
is misled and the passage left unexplained; or what is
worse, explained erroneously in all the variorum edi-
tions.

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28

ACT IV

'Tis almost night: you shall have better cheer
Ere you depart; and thanks, to stay and eat it.—
Boys, bid him welcome.
Gui.
Were you a wɔman, youth,
I should woo hard, but be your groom.-In honesty,
I bid for you, as I'd buy.
Arv.
I'll make't my comfort,
He is a man; I'll love him as my brother:-
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.
Imo.

'Mongst friends,

If brothers!-'Would, it had been so, that they

Had been my father's sons! then had my prize1

Aside.

ACT IV.

SCENE I. The Forest, near the Cave. Enter
CLOTEN.

Clo. 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 for 'tis said, a woman's fitness comes by fits. fit too? the rather, (saving reverence of the word,) Therein I must play the workman. I dare speak it to myself, (for it is not vain-glory for a man and his glass to confer; 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 imperseverant thing loves him in my despite. What mortality is! Posthumus, thy head, which Or I; whate'er it be, now is growing upon thy shoulders, shall within What pain it cost, what danger! Gods! this hour be off; thy mistress enforced; thy gar Bel. Hark, boys.ments cut to pieces before thy face: and all this [Whispering. done, spurn her home to her father: who haply, be a little angry for my so rough usage: but my mother, having power of his testiness, shall turn safe: Out, sword, and to a sore purpose! Fortune, all into my commendations. My horse is tied up put them into my hand! This is the very descrip tion of their meeting-place: and the fellow dares

Been less; and so more equal ballasting
To thee, Posthumus.
Bel.

He wrings2 at some distress.

Gui. 'Would, I could free't!
Arv.

Imo. 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 differing3 multitudes,)
Could not out-peer these twain. Pardon me, gods!
I'd change my sex to be companion with them,
Since Leonatus false.4

Bel.

It shall be so:

Boys, we'll go dress our hunt.-Fair youth, come in:
Discourse is heavy, fasting; when we have supp'd,
We'll mannerly demand thee of thy story,
So far as thou wilt speak it.
Gui.

Pray draw near.

Arv. The night to the owl, the morn to the lark,
less welcome.

Imo. Thanks, sir.
Arv.
I pray, draw near. [Exeunt.
SCENE VII. Rome. Enter Two Senators and
Tribunes.

1 Sen. This is the tenor 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 fallen off Britons; that we do incite
The gentry to this business: He creates
Lucius pro-consul: and to you, the tribunes,
For this immediate levy, he commands
His absolute commission. Long live Caesar!
Tri. Is Lucius general of the forces?
2 Sen.

Tri. Remaining now in Gallia ?
1 Sen.

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1 I have elsewhere observed that prize, prise, and price were confounded, or used indiscriminately by our ancestors, Indeed it is not now uncommon at this day, as Malone observes, to hear persons above the vulgar confound the words, and talk of high-priz'd and lowpriz'd goods. Prize here is evidently used for value, estimation. The reader who wishes to see how the words were formerly confounded, may consult Baret's Alvearie, in v. price.

2 To wring is to writhe. So in Much Ado about Nothing, Act v Sc. 1:

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SCENE II. Before the Cave. Enter, from the
Cave, BELARIUS, GUIDERIUS, ARVIRAGUS, and
IMOGEN.

Bel. You are not well: [To IMOGEN.] remain
here in the cave:

We'll come to you after hunting.
Arv.

Are we not brothers?
Imo.

Brother, stay here:
[TO IMOGEN.

But clay and clay differs in dignity,
Whose dust is both alike. I am very sick.
Gui. Go you to hunting. I'll abide with him.
Imo. So sick I am not; yet I am not well:
But not so citizen a wanton, as

So man and man should be

To seem to die, ere sick : So please you leave me
Stick to your journal course: the breach of customi
Is breach of all. I am ill; but your being by me
Cannot amend me: Society is no comfort
To one not sociable: I'm not very sick,
Since I can reason of it. Pray you, trust me here
I'll rob none but myself; and let me die,
Stealing so poorly.
Gui.
I love thee; I have spoke it:
How much the quantity, the weight as much,
As I do love
my father.
Bel.

What? how? how?
Arv. If it be sin to say so, sir, I yoke me

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that he used since Leonatus' false' for 'since Leonatus
is false.' Steevens doubts this, and says that the poe!
may have written' Since Leonate is false,' as he calls
Enobarbus, Enobarbe; and Prospero, Prosper, in
other places.

we say, I ordered the materials to the workmen.
5 He commands the commission to be given you. So.
6 i. e. cause.

Act i. Sc. 3:-
7 'In single combat.' So in King Henry IV. Part I

"In single opposition, hand to hand,

He did confound the best part of an hour
An opposite, in the language of Shakspeare's age, was
In changing hardiment with great Glendower.'
the common phrase for an antagonist.

Imperseverant probably means no more than perse verant, like imbosomed, impassioned, immasked.

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"To those that wring under the load of sorrow.' 3 Differing multitudes are varying or wavering mul- face.' Malone says, that Shakspeare may have inten 8 Warburton thought we should read, 'before her titudes. So in the Induction to the Second Part of King|tionally given this absurd and brutal language to Cloten Henry VI. :

'The still discordant wavering multitude.'

6

The Clown in The Winter's Tale says, 'If thou It see a thing to talk of after thou art dead.'

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4 Malone says, 'As Shakspeare has used in other places Menelaus' tent, and thy mistress' ear for Mene-plan of life is once broken, nothing follows but confu 9 Keep your daily course uninterrupted; if the stated lauses tent' and 'thy mistresses ear: it is probable sion.'-Johnson.

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