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Torments me to conceal. By villany

I got this ring; 'twas Leonatus' jewel,

Whom thou didst banish, and, which more may grieve thee,

As it doth me, a nobler Sir ne'er liv'd

'Twixt fky and ground. Will you hear more, my Lords?

1

Cym. All that belongs to this.

Iach. That paragon, thy daughter,

For whom my heart drops blood, and my falfe fpirits Quail to remember-give me leave, I faint.

Cym. My daughter, what of her? renew thy
ftrength;

I'd rather thou fhouldft live, while nature will,
Than die ere I hear more. Strive, man, and fpeak.
Iach. Upon a time, unhappy was the clock,
That ftruck the hour; it was in Rome, accurs'd
The manfion where; 'twas at a feast, oh, 'would
Our viands had been poifon'd, or at leaft,
Thofe which I heav'd to head; the good Pofthumus
What should I fay? he was too good to be
Where ill men were; and was the beft of all
Amongst the rar'ft of good ones-fitting fadly,
Hearing us praise our Loves of Italy

For Beauty, that made barren the fwell'd Boaft
Of him that beft could speak, 3 for Feature, laming
The shrine of Venus, or ftraight-pight Minerva,
Poftures,

3-for feature, laming] Feature, for proportion of parts, which Mr. Theda'd not understanding, would alter to ftature, for feature, laming The Shrine of Venus, or ftraightpight Minerva, Poffures beyond brief nature;] i. e. The ancient ftatues of Venus and Minerva, which exceeded,

in beauty of exact proportion,
any living bodies, the work of
brief nature, i, e. of hafty, un-
elaborate nature, He gives the
fame character of the beauty of
the Antique in Antony and Cleo-
patra:

O'er picturing that Venus where
we fee
The fancy out-work nature,

Poftures, beyond brief nature; for condition,

A fhop of all the qualities, that man

Loves woman for; befides that hook of wiving,
Fairness, which ftrikes the eye-

Cym. I ftand on fire.

Come to the matter.

Iach. All too foon I fhall,

Unless thou wouldst grieve quickly.-This Pofthumus,
Moft like a noble Lord in love, and one

That had a royal lover, took his hint;
And, not difpraifing whom we prais'd, therein.
He was as calm as virtue, he began

It appears, from a number of fuch paffages as thefe, that our author was not ignorant of the fine arts. A paffage in De Piles' Cours de peinture par principes will give great light to the beauty of the text.-Peu de fentimens ont été partagez fur la beauté de l'antique. Les gens d'efprit qui aiment les beaux arts ont eftimé dans tous les tems ces merveilleux ouvrages. Nous voyons dans les anciens Auteurs quantité de pafJages ou pour louer les beautez vivantes on les comparoit aux ftatues. Ne vous imaginez (dit Maxime de Tyr) de pouvoir jamais trouver une beauté naturelle, qui le difpute aux ftatues. Ovid, ou il fait la defcription de Cyllare, le plus beau de Centaures, dit Qu'il avoit une fi grande vivacité dans le vifage, que le col, les épaules, les mains, & l'eftomac en etoient fi beaux qu'on pouvoit affurer qu' en tout ce qu'il avoit de l'homme c'etoit la meme beauté que l'on remarque dans les ftatues les plus parfaites. Et Philoftrate, parlant de la beauté

de Neoptoleme, & de la reffemblance qu' il avoit avec fon pere Achille, dit, Qu'en beauté fon pere avoit autant d' avantage fur lui que les ftatuës en ont fur les beaux hommes. Les auteurs modernes ont fuivi ces mêmes fentimens fur la beauté de l' Antique. Fe reporterai feulement celui de Scaliger. Le Moyen, dit il, que nous puiffions rien voir qui aproche de la perfection des belles ftatues, puifqu'il eft permis à l'art de choifir, de retrancher, d'adjoûter, de diriger, & qu' au contraire, la nature s' eft toujours alterée depuis la creation du premier homme en qui Dieu joignit la beauté de la forme à celle de l' innocence. This last quotation from Scaliger well explains what Shakespear meant by

Brief Nature;

i. e. inelaborate, hasty, and carelefs as to the elegance of form, in respect of art, which uses the peculiar addrefs, above explained, to arrive at perfection.

Cc 4

WARBURTON.

His

His mistress' picture; which by his tongue being made,

And then a mind put in 't, either our brags
Were crack'd-of kitchen-trulls, or his description
Prov'd us unfpeaking fors.

Cym. Nay, nay, to th' purpofe.

Iach. Your daughter's chastity-there it begins-
He spake of her, as Dian had hot dreams,
And the alone were cold; whereat, I, wretch!
Made fcruple of his praife: and wag'd with him
Pieces of gold, 'gainft this which then he wore
Upon his honour'd finger, to attain

In fuit the place of 's bed, and win this ring
By hers and mine adultery. He, true Knight,
No leffer of her honour confident

Than I did truly find her, ftakes this ring;
And would fo, had it been a carbuncle
Of Phabus' wheel; and might fo fafely, had it
Been all the worth of's Car. Away to Britain
Poft I in this defign. Well may you, Sir,
Remember me at court, where I was taught
By your chafte daughter, the wide difference
'Twixt amorous, and villainous. Being thus quench'd
Of Hope, not Longing, mine Italian brain
'Gan in your doller Britain operate
Moft vilely, for my vantage excellent;
And, to be brief, my practice fo prevail'd,
That I return'd with fimular proof enough
To make the noble Leonatus mad, `
By wounding his belief in her renown,
With tokens thus, and thus; 4 averring notes
Of chamber-hanging, pictures, this her bracelet,
Oh, cunning! how I got it; nay, fome marks
Of fecret on her perfon; that he could not
But think her bond of chastity quite crack'd,

4-averring notes] Such marks of the chamber and pictures, as averred or confirmed my report.

I having

I having ta'en the forfeit; whereupon-
Methinks, I fee him now-

Poft. Ay, fo thou do'st,

393

[Coming forward.

Italian fiend!-ah me, moft credulous fool,
Egregious murderer, thief, any thing
That's due to all the villains paft, in Being,
To come-Oh, give me cord, or knife, or poifon,
Some upright jufticer! Thou, King, fend out
For torturers ingenious; it is I

That all th' abhorred things o' th' earth amend,
By being worse than they. I am Pofthumus
That kill'd thy daughter;-villain-like, I lie
That caus'd a leffer villain than myself,
A facrilegious thief, to do 't. The temple
Of Virtue was fhe, yea, 5 and She herself.
Spit, and throw ftones, caft mire upon me, fet
The dogs o' th' ftreet to bay me; every villain
Be call'd Poft bumus Leonatus, and

Be villainy less than 'twas!-Oh Imogen!
My Queen, my life, my wife! oh Imogen,
Imogen, Imogen!

Imo. Peace, my lord, hear, hear-
Poft. Shall's have a Play of this?

Thou fcornful page, there lie thy part.

Pif. Oh, gentlemen, help,

[Striking her, fhe falls.

Mine, and your miftrefs-Oh, my lord Pofthumus!

You ne'er kill'd Imogen 'till now

Mine honour'd lady.

Cym. Does the world go round?

-Help, help,

Poft. How come thefe ftaggers on me?

Pif. Wake, my mistress!

Cym, If this be fo, the Gods do mean to ftrike me

To death with mortal joy.

Pif. How fares my mistress?

5-and She herself.] That is, She was not only the temple of Virtue, but Virtue herfelf.

-thefe faggers-] This wild and delirious perturbation. Staggers is the horfe's apoplexy.

Imo. O, get thee from my fight;

Thou gav'ft me poison: dang'rous fellow, hence!
Breathe not, where Princes are.

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Cym. The tune of Imogen!

Pif. Lady, the Gods throw ftones of fulphur on me, If what I gave you was not thought by me

A precious thing: I had it from the Queen.
Cym. New matter ftill?

Imo. It poifon'd me.

Cor. Oh Gods!

I left out one thing which the Queen confefs'd,
Which must approve thee honeft. If Pifanio
Have, faid fhe, giv'n his mistress that confection,
Which I gave him for cordial, fhe is ferv'd
As I would serve a rat.

Cym. What's this, Cornelius?

Cor. The Queen, Sir, very oft importun'd me
To temper poisons for her; ftill pretending
The fatisfaction of her knowledge, only
In killing creatures vile, as cats and dogs
Of no esteem; I, dreading that her purpose
Was of more danger, did compound for her
A certain ftuff, which, being ta'en would cease
The prefent power of life; but, in fhort time,
All offices of nature fhould again

Do their due functions. Have you ta'en of it?
Imo. Moft like I did, for I was dead.

Bel. My boys, there was our error.

Guid. This is, fure, Fidele.

Imo. Why did you throw your wedded lady from you?

7 Think, that you are upon a rock, and now Throw me again.

7 Think, that you are upon a rock,- In this fpeech, or in the anfwer, there is little meaning. I fuppofe, she would

fay, Confider fuch another act as equally fatal to me with precipitation from a rock, and now let me fee whether you will repeat it.

Poft.

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