More monftrous ftanding by; whereof I reckon
The cafting forth to crows thy baby-daughter,
To be, or none, or little; tho' a devil

Would have shed water out of fire, ere don't:
Nor is't directly laid to thee, the death

Of the young Prince, whofe honourable thoughts
(Thoughts high for one fo tender) cleft the heart,
That could conceive a grofs and foolish Sire
Blemish'd his gracious Dam: this is not, no,
Laid to thy anfwer; but the laft, O lords,

When I have faid, cry, woe! the Queen, the Queen,The fweeteft, deareft, creature's dead; and vengeance for't

Not dropt down yet.

Lord. The higher Powers forbid !

Pau. I fay, fhe's dead: I'll fwear't: if word, nor
oath,

Prevail not, go and fee: if you can bring
Tincture or luftre in her lip, her eye,

Heat outwardly, or breath within, I'll ferve you
As I would do the Gods. But, O thou tyrant!
• Do not repent thefe things; for they are heavier
Than all thy woes can ftir: therefore betake thee
To nothing but Defpair. A thousand knees,
Ten thousand years together, naked, fafting,
Upon a barren mountain, and ftill winter.
In ftorm perpetual, could not move the Gods
To look that way thou wert.

Leo. Go on, go on :

Thou canst not speak too much; I have deferv'd
All tongues to talk their bittereft.

Lord. Say no more;

Howe'er the bufinefs goes, you have made fault
I'th' boldness of your fpeech.

Pau. I am forry for❜t.

All faults I make, when I fhall come to know them, I do repent: alas, I've fhew'd too much

The

The rafhness of a woman; he is touch'd

To th' noble heart. What's gone, and what's past

help,

Should be past grief. Do not receive affliction
At my petition, I befeech you; rather

Let me be punish'd, that have minded you

Of what you should forget. Now, good my liege,
Sir, royal Sir, forgive a foolish woman;

The love I bore your Queen-lo, fool again!-
I'll fpeak of her no more, nor of your children:
I'll not remember you of my own lord,

Who is loft too. Take you your patience to you,
And I'll fay nothing.

Leo. Thou didft fpeak but well,

When most the truth; which I receive much better
Than to be pitied of thee. Pr'ythee, bring me
To the dead bodies of my Queen and fon;
One Grave shall be for both. Upon them fhall
The causes of their death appear unto
Our fhame perpetual; once a day I'll vifit
The Chapel where they lye, and tears, shed there,
Shall be my recreation. So long as nature
Will bear up with this exercise, so long

I daily vow to use it. Come, and lead me
To these forrows.

SCENE VI.

[Exeunt.

Changes to Bohemia. A defart Country; the Sea at a little Distance.

Enter Antigonus with a Child, and a Mariner.

Ant. THOU

HOU art perfect then, our fhip hath touch'd upon

The defarts of Bohemia ?

Mar. Ay, my lord; and fear,

We've landed in ill time: the skies look grimly, And threaten present blufters. In my confcience, The heav'ns with that we have in hand are angry, And frown upon's.

Ant. Their facred wills be done! get thee aboard, Look to thy bark, I'll not be long before I call upon thee.

Mar. Make your best hafte, and go nót

Too far i'th' land; 'tis like to be loud weather.
Befides, this place is famous for the creatures
Of prey, that keep upon't.
Ant. Go thou away.

I'll follow inftantly.

Mar. I'm glad at heart To be fo rid o' th' business.

Ant. Come, poor babe;

[Exit.

I have heard, but not believ'd, the fpirits of the dead
May walk again; if fuch thing be, thy mother
Appear'd to me laft night; for ne'er was dream
So like a waking. To me comes a creature,
Sometimes her head on one fide, fome another,
I never faw a veffel of like forrow

So fill'd, and fo becoming; in pure white robes,
Like very fanctity, fhe did approach

My cabin where I lay; thrice bow'd before me,
And, gafping to begin fome fpeech, her eyes
Became two fpouts; the fury spent, anon
Did this break from her. Good Antigonus,
Since fate, against thy better difpofition,
Hath made thy perfon for the thrower-out
Of my poor babe, according to thine oath,
Places remote enough are in Bohemia,

There weep, and leave it crying; and, for the babe
Is counted loft for ever and ever, Perdita,

I pr'ythee, call't. For this ungentle business,
Put on thee by my lord, thou ne'er fhalt fee
Thy wife Paulina more.

And fo, with fhrieks,

She

She melted into air. Affrighted much,
I did in time collect myfelf, and thought
This was fo, and no flumber: Dreams are toys,
Yet for this once, yea, fuperftitiously,

I will be fquar'd by this. I do believe,
Hermione hath fuffer'd death; and that
Apollo would, this being indeed the iffue
Of King Polixenes, it fhould here be laid,
Either for life or death, upon the earth
Of its right father. Bloffom, fpeed thee well!
[Laying down the child.
There lye, and there thy character: there thefe,
Which may, if fortune please, both breed thee, pretty

one,

And ftill reft thine. The ftorm begins;

wretch,

That for thy mother's fault art thus expos'd
To lofs, and what may follow, (weep I cannot,
But my heart bleeds: and moft accurft am I
To be by oath enjoin'd to this.) Farewel!

Poor

The day frowns more and more; thou art like to

have

A lullaby too rough: I never faw

The heav'ns fo dim by day. A favage clamour!
Well may I get aboard! this is the chace;

I am gone for ever.

S

[Exit, purfued by a bear.

Shep. "I would there were no age between ten and "three and twenty, or that youth would fleep out "the reft: for there is nothing in the between but getting wenches with child, wronging the ancientry,

66

5 This was so,] I rather think Shakespear wrote sooтH, i. e. a truth, a reality.

66

ftealing, fighting hark you now! would any but these boil'd brains of nineteen, and two "and twenty, hunt this weather? They have fcar'd "away two of my beft fheep, which, I fear, the "wolf will fooner find than the master; if any where "I have them, 'tis by the fea-fide, brouzing of ivy. "Good luck, an't be thy will! what have we here? [Taking up the child.] Mercy on's, a bearne! a very pretty bearne! a boy, or a child, I wonder! a pret66 ty one, a very pretty one; fure, fome 'fcape: tho' "I am not bookish, yet I can read waiting-gentlewo"man in the 'fcape. This has been some stair-work, "fome trunk-work, fome behind-door-work :" they were warmer that got this, than the poor thing is here. I'll take it up for pity, yet I'll tarry 'till my fon come: he hollow'd but even now; Whoa, ho-hoa!

66

Clo. Hilloa, loa!

Enter Clown.

Shep. What, art fo near? if thou'lt fee a thing to talk on when thou art dead and rotten, come hither. What ail'ft thou, man?

Clo. I have feen two fuch fights, by fea and by land; but I am not to fay, it is a fea; for it is now the sky; betwixt the firmament and it you cannot thrust a bodkin's point.

Shep. Why, boy, how is it?

Clo." I would, you did but fee how it chafes, how it rages, how it takes up the fhore; but that's not to "the point; oh, the most piteous cry of the poor "fouls, fometimes to fee 'em, and not to see 'em: "now the fhip boring the moon with her main-mast, "and anon fwallow'd with yeft and froth, as you'd "thrust a cork into a hogfhead. And then for the

6

6 And then for the land fervice,] Every one fees the humour of this military expreffion of land-fervice; and how well it is adapted to the character. Yet the Oxford Editor alters it to landfight.

"land