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 contain'd relish of love,
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,

We house i'the rock, yet use thee not so hardly

Gui. Hail, heaven!
Arv. Hail, heaven!

Bel. Now, for our mountain sport: Up to
yon hill,

Your legs are young; I'll tread these flats.
Consider,

For it doth physic love ;-of his content,
All but in that !-Good wax, thy leave:-As prouder livers do.
Bless'd be
[Lovers,
You bees, that make these locks of counsel!
And men in dangerous bonds pray not alike;
Though forfelters you cast in prison, yet
You clasp young Cupid's tables. Good news,
gods!
[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 not even renew me with your eyes.
Take notice, that I am in Cambria, at Mil-
ford-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!-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'st,

O let me 'bate,-but not like me :-yet longs't,-
But in a fainter kind :-O not like me;
For mine's beyond, beyond,) say and speak
thick,

ing,
(Love's counsellor should fill the bores of hear-
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
[going,
That we shall make in time, from our hence-
And our return, to excuse :-but first, how get
hence :

Why should excuse be born or e'er begot?
We'll talk of that hereafter. Pr'ythee, speak,
How many score of miles may we well ride
Twixt hour and hour?

Pis. One score, 'twixt sun and sun,
Madam's enough for you; and too much too.
Imo. Why, one that rode to his execution,

man,

Could never go so slow: I have heard of riding wagers,

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,

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
Than is the full-wing'd eagle. O this life
Is nobler, than attending for a check;
Richer, than doing nothing for a babe;
Prouder, than rustling in unpaid-for silk:
Such gain the cap of him, that makes them
fine,

Yet keeps his book uncross'd: no life to ours. t
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,
If quiet life be best; sweeter to you,
That have a sharper known; well corresponding
With your stiff age; but, unto us, it is
A cell of ignorance; travelling abed;
A prison for a debtor, that not dares
To stride a limit. §

Arv. 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? We have seen noth-
ing:

We are beastly; subtle as the fox, for prey;
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 bird,
And sing our bondage freely.

Bel. 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 of the war
A pain that only seems to seek out danger
I'the name of fanie and honour, which dies i'the
search,

She'll home to her father; and provide me, And hath as oft a slanderous epitaph,
presently,

A riding suit; no costlier than would fit
A franklin's bousewife.

Pis. Madam, you're best consider.

Imo. 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 pr'ythee;
Do an I bid thee: There's no more to say;
Accessible is none but Milford way. [Exeunt.

• Crowd one word on another, as fast as possible. † A freeholder.

As record of fair act; nay, many times,
Doth ill deserve by doing well; what's worse,
Must court'sey 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

Whose boughs did bend with fruit: but in one | Why tender'st thou that paper to me, with
night,
A look untender? If it be summer news,
Smile to't before: if winterly, thou need'st

A storm, or robbery, call it what you will,

Snook down my mellow hangings, nay, my But keep that countenance still.-My husband's

leaves,

And left me bare to weather.

Gui. Uncertain favour!

Bel. My fault being nothing (as I have told you oft,)

hand!

That drug-damn'd Italy hath out-craftied him, And he's at some hard point.-Speak, man; thy tongue

May take off some extremity, which to read

But that two villains, whose false oaths pre-Would be even mortal to me.

vail'd

Before my perfect honour, swore to Cymbeline,
I was confederate with the Romans: 80,
Follow'd my banishment; and, this twenty
years,

This rock, and these demesnes, have been my
world:

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
tains;
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

Pis. Please you, read;

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

Imo. [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 ; from proof as strong as my grief, and as certain as I expect my revenge. That part, thou Pisanio, must act for moun-me, if thy faith be not tainted with the breach of hers. Let thine own hands take away her life: I shall give thee opportunities at MilfordHaven: 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 In place of greater state. I'll meet you in the|ker dishonour, and equally to me disloyal. valleys. [Exeunt GoI, 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
up thus meanly
[hit
I'the cave wherein they bow, their thonghts do
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, whom
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
ont

Into my story: say,-Thus mine enemy fell;
And thus I set my foot on his neck; even
then

The princely blood flows in his cheek, he sweats, Strains his young nerves, and puts himself in posture

[wal,

Pis. What shall I need to draw my sword ?
the paper

Hath cut her throat already.—No, 'tis slander;
Whose edge is sharper than the sword; whose
tongue
[breath
Outvenoms all the worms of Nile; whose
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?

Imo. False to his bed! What is it, to be false?
To lie in watch there, and to think on him?
To weep 'twixt clock and clock? if sleep charge

That acts my words. The younger brother, Cad-Thou didst accuse him of incontinency; (Once, Arviragus,) in as like a figure, Thou then look'dst like a villain; now, meStrikes life into my speech, and shows much thinks,

more

Thy favour's good enough.-Some jay⚫ of Italy, His own conceiving. Hark! the game is rous'd!-Whose mother was her painting, hath betray'd O Cymbeline! heaven, and my conscience, knows,

Thou didst unjustly banish me: whereon,

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,

him:

Poor I am stale, a garment out of fashion:
And, for I am richer than to hang by the walls,
I must be ripp'd :-to pieces with me!-Oh!
Men's vows are women's traitors! All good-
seeming,

Thou wast their nurse; they took thee for their By thy revolt, O husband, shall be thought

SCENE IV.-Near Milford-Haven.

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

Was near at band: 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

nto a 'baviour of less fear, ere wildness
anquish my staider senses. What's the mat-
ter ?

For behaviour.

Put on for villany; not born, where't grows;
But worn, a bait for ladies.

Pis. Good madam, hear me.

Æneas,

Imo. True houest inen being heard, like false
[weeping
Were, in his time, thought false: and Simon's
Did scandal many a holy tear; took pity
From most true wretchedness: so thou, Post-
húmus,

Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men ;
Goodly, and gallant, shall be false and perjurʼð,
From thy great fail.-Come, fellow, be thou
honest:
[him,

Do thou thy master's bidding: when thou see'st
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; 'tis empty of all things, but grief:
Thy master is not there; who was, indeed,
The riches of it: Do his bidding; strike.
Thou mayst be valiant in a better cause;
But now thou seem'st a coward.

• Patta, in Italian, signifies both a jay and a whore. ↑ Likeness.

What shall I do the while? Where bide? How Will drive away distemper.-To some shade,

SCENE V.-A Room in CYMBELINE's Palace. | Not seen of late? Grant, heavens, that which

fear

Is yet to name the winner; Fare you well.
Cym. Leave not the worthy Lucius, good my
lords,

Till be have cross'd the Severn.-Happiness!
[Exeunt LUCIUS and LORDS.
Queen. He goes heuce frowning: but it
honours us,

That we have given him cause.
Clo. 'Tis all the better;

Your valiant Britons have their wishes in it.
Cym. Lucius hath wrote already to the em-

peror

[Exit.

Queen. Son, I say, follow the king.
Clo. That man of her's, 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 !-
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
seiz'd her;

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?

Clo. 'Tis certain she is filed:

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!
[Exit QUEEN.
Clo. I love, and hate her; for she's fair and

royal:

And that she hath all courtly parts more ex-
quisite

Than lady, ladies, woman: from every one
The best she hath, and she, of all compounded,
Outsells them all; I love her therefore; Bat,
Disdaining me, and throwing favours on
The low Posthumous, slanders so her judgment,
That what's else rare, is chok'd; and in that
point,

How it goes here. It fits us therefore, ripely,
Our chariots and our horsemen be in readi-I will conclude to bate her, nay, indeed,

ness:

The powers that he already hath in Gallia
Will soon be drawn to head, from whence he

To be reveng'd upon her. For, when fools