PERSONS REPRESENTED. LEONTES, King of Sicilia. Appears, Act I. sc. 2. Act II. sc. 1; sc. 3. Act III. sc. 2. Act V. sc. 1; sc. 3. MAMILLIUS, son to Leontes. CAMILLO, a Sicilian lord. Appears, Act I. sc. 1; sc. 2. Act IV. sc. 1; sc. 3. ANTIGONUS, a Sicilian lord. CLEOMENES, a Sicilian lord. Appears, Act III. sc. 1; sc. 2. Act V. sc. 1. Appears, Act II. sc. 1; sc. 3. Act III. sc. 2. An Attendant on the young Prince Ma millius. Appears, Act II. sc. 3. Officers of a Court of Judicature. POLIXENES, King of Bohemia. Appears, Act I. sc. 2. Act IV. sc. 1; sc. 3. Act V. sc. 3. Appears, Act IV. sc. 3. Act V. sc. 1; sc. 3. Appears, Act I. sc. 1. A Mariner. Appears, Act III. sc. 3. HERMIONE, Queen to Leontes. Appears, Act I. sc. 2. Act II. sc. 1. Act III. sc. 2. Act V. sc. 3. PERDITA, daughter to Leontes and Hermione. Appears, Act IV. sc. 3. Act V. sc. 1; sc. 3. PAULINA, wife to Antigonus. EMILIA, a lady attending on the Queen. Two Ladies attending on the Queen. Appear, Act II. sc. 1. Appears, Act IV. sc. 3. Appears, Act IV. sc. 3. Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Satyrs for a Dance; Shepherds, Shepherdesses, Guards, &c. SCENE,- -SOMETIMES IN SICILIA; SOMETIMES IN BOHEMIA. SCENE I.-Sicilia. An Antechamber in Leontes' Palace. ARCH. If you shall chance, Camillo, to visit Bohemia, on the like occasion whereon my services are now on foot, you shall see, as I have said, great difference betwixt our Bohemia and your Sicilia. CAM. I think, this coming summer, the king of Sicilia means to pay Bohemia the visitation which he justly owes him. ARCH. Wherein our entertainment shall shame us we will be justified in our loves: for, indeed, CAM. 'Beseech you,ARCH. Verily, I speak it in the freedom of my knowledge: we cannot with such magnificence-in so rare-I know not what to say.-We will give you sleepy drinks, that your senses, unintelligent of our insufficience, may, though they cannot praise us, as little accuse us. CAM. You pay a great deal too dear for what's given freely. ARCH. Believe me, I speak as my understanding instructs me, and as mine honesty puts it to utterance. CAM. Sicilia cannot show himself over-kind to Bohemia. They were trained CAM. Yes; if there were no other excuse why they should desire to live. one. [Exeunt. SCENE II.-The same. A Room of State in the Palace. Enter LEONTES, POLIXENES, HERMIONE, MAMILLIUS, CAMILLO, and Attendants. POL. Nine changes of the wat'ry star have been The shepherd's note, since we have left our throne Without a burthen: time as long again Would be fill'd up, my brother, with our thanks; And yet we should, for perpetuity, Go hence in debt: And therefore, like a cipher Yet standing in rich place, I multiply, With one we-thank-you, many thousands more LEON. Stay your thanks awhile; And pay them when you part. a Vast. So the folio of 1623. That of 1632 reads vast sea. In 'Pericles' we have the line, "Thou God of this great vast, rebuke the surges." In the text vast probably has the meaning of great space. POL. Sir, that 's to-morrow. I am question'd by my fears, of what may chance, No sneaping winds at home, to make us say, "This is put forth too truly!"a Besides, I have stay'd To tire your royalty. LEON. POL. We are tougher, brother, Than you can put us to 't. LEON. One seven-night longer. POL. No longer stay. Very sooth, to-morrow. LEON. We'll part the time between 's then: and in that I'll no gainsaying. POL. Press me not, 'beseech you, so; There is no tongue that moves, none, none i' the world, LEON. Tongue-tied, our queen? speak you. HER. I had thought, sir, to have held my peace, until You had drawn oaths from him, not to stay. You, sir, All in Bohemia 's well: this satisfaction The by-gone day proclaim'd; say this to him, LEON. Well said, Hermione. HER. To tell he longs to see his son, were strong: But let him say so then, and let him go; But let him swear so, and he shall not stay, Yet of your royal presence [to POLIXENES] I 'll adventure The borrow of a week. When at Bohemia You take my lord, I'll give him my commission, To let him there a month, behind the gest V. a The construction of this passage is somewhat involved; but the meaning is, O that no sпeaping (ruffling) winds at home may blow, to make us say my presages were too true. To let is to hinder: and it is probably here used as a reflective verb-to stay himself. • Gest is literally a lodging; and the houses or towns where a prince had assigned to stop in his progress, and of which a list was prepared with dates, were so called. We have the expression in Webster sufficiently clear: "Like the gesse in the progress; You know where you shall find me." POL. Prefix'd for 's parting: yet, good deed, Leontes, What lady she her lord.-You'll stay? HER. Nay, but you will? POL. HER. Verily! POL. No, madam. I may not, verily. You put me off with limber vows: But I, Though you would seek to unsphere the stars with oaths, Should yet say, "Sir, no going." Verily, You shall not go; a lady's verily is As potent as a lord's. Will you go yet? Not like a guest; so you shall pay your fees, Your guest then, madam: HER. Was not my lord the verier wag o' the two? POL. We were as twinn'd lambs, that did frisk i' the sun, Was innocence for innocence; we knew not The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dream'd That any did: Had we pursued that life, And our weak spirits ne'er been higher rear'd With stronger blood, we should have answer'd heaven Boldly, "Not guilty;" the imposition clear'd, Hereditary ours d. Jar o' the clock-the ticking of the pendulum. • Lady she. For she Mr. Collier prints should, upon the authority of a MS. correction in the first folio. We doubt this. "What lady she" is what lady soever any lady. d Hereditary ours-being cleared from the taint of original sin. F |