I was about to say, enjoy your-
It is an office of the gods to venge it,
Not mine to speak on't.
Imo. You do seem to know
[you,
Something of me, or what concerns me; Pray
(Since doubting things go ill, often hurts more
Than to be sure they do: For certainties
Either are past remedies; or, timely knowing',
The remedy then born) discover to me
What both you spur and stop'.
To bathe my lips upon; this hand, whose touch,
Whose every touch, would force the feeler's soul
To the oath of loyalty; this object, which
Takes prisoner the wild motion of mine eye,
Fixing it only here: should I (damn'd then)
Slaver with lips as common as the stairs
That mount the Capitol; join gripes with hands
Made hard with hourly falsehood (falsehood, as
With labour); then lie peeping in an eye,
Base and unlustrous as the smoky light
That's fed with stinking tallow; it were fit,
That all the plagues of hell should at one time
Encounter such revolt.
Imo. My lord, I fear,
Has forgot Britain.
Jack. And himself. Not I,
Inclin'd to this intelligence, pronounce
The beggary of his change; but 'tis your graces
That from my mutest conscience, to my tongue,
Charms this report out.
(As I have such a heart, that both mine ears
Must not in haste abuse) if it be true,
How should I be reveng'd?
Jach. Should he make me
5 Live like Diana's priest, betwixt cold sheets;
Whiles he is vaulting variable ramps,
In your despight, upon your purse? Revenge it.
I dedicate myself to your sweet pleasure;
More noble than that runagate to your bed;
10 And will continue fast to your affection,
Still close, as sure.
Imo. What ho, Pisanio!
Iach. Let me my service tender on your lips.
Imo. Away!-I do condemn mine ears, that
So long attended thee.If thou wert honourable,
Thou would'st have told this tale for virtue, not
For such an end thou seek'st; as base, as strange.
Thou wrong'st a gentleman, who is as far
20 From thy report, as thou from honour; and
Solicit'st here a lady, that disdains
Thee and the devil alike :-What ho, Pisanio !-
The king my father shall be made acquainted
Of thy assault: if he shall think it fit,
25 A saucy stranger, in his court, to mart
As in a Romish stew, and to expound
His beastly mind to us; he hath a court
He little cares for, and a daughter whom
He not respects at all.What ho, Pisanio!
Jach. O'happy Leonatus! I may say;
The credit, that thy lady hath of thee,
Deserves thy trust: and thy most perfect goodness
Her assur'd credit!-Blessed live you long!
A lady to the worthiest sir, that ever
35 Country call'd his! and you his mistress, only
For the most worthiest fit! Give me your pardon.
I have spoke this, to know if your affiance
Were deeply rooted; and shall make your lord,
That which he is, new o'er: And he is one
40 The truest manner'd; such a holy witch,
That he enchants societies unto him:
Half all men's hearts are his.
Immo. Let me hear no more.
Jach. O dearest soul! your cause doth strike my
With pity that doth make me sick. A lady
So fair, and fastened to an empery, [ner'd
Would make the greatest king double! to be part-50
With tomboys, hir'd with that self-exhibition
Which your own coffers yield"! with diseas'd
Iach.Hesits 'mongst men, like a descended god?
45 He hath a kind of honour sets him off,
More than a mortal seeming. Be not angry,
Most mighty princess, that I have adventur'd
To try your taking of a false report; which hath
Honour'd with confirmation your great judge-
In the election of a sir so rare,
Which you know, cannot err: The love I bear him
Made me to fan you thus but the gods made you,
Unlike all others, clafless Pray, your pardon.
Imo. AR's well, sir: Take my power i' the
That play with all infirmities for gold [stuff,
Which rottenness can lend nature! such boil'd55
As well might poison poison! Be reveng'd;
Or she, that bore you, was no queen, and you
Recoil from your great stock.
How should I be reveng'd? If this be true,
lach. My humble thanks. I had almost forgot To intreat your grace but in a small request, And yet of moment too, for it concerns Your lord; myself, and other noble friends, [60 Are partners in the business.
'Rather, timely known. 2 What it is that at once incites you to speak, and restrains you from Empery is a word signifying sovereign command; now obsolete. A masculine, forward girl is still called a tomboy. Gross strumpets, hired with the very pension which you allow your Ausband.
I must aboard to-morrow.
lach. O, no, no.
Tach. Yes, I beseech; or I shall short my word,
By length'ning my return. From Gallia
cross'd the seas on purpose, and on promise
To see your grace.
Imo. I thank thee for your pains;
But not away to-morrow?
lach. O, I must, madaın :
10 Therefore, I shall beseech you, if you please
To greet your lord with writing, do't to-night:
I have out-stood my time; which is material
To the tender of our présent.
15 Send your trunk to me; it shall safe be kept, And truly yielded you; You are very welcome. [Exeunt.
SCENE I.
Cymbeline's Palace.
Enter Cloten, and two Lords.
Clot. WAS there ever man had such luck! 30 when I kiss'd the jack' upon an upcast, to be hit away! I had a hundred pound on't: And then a whoreson jackanapes must take me up for swearing; as if I borrow'd my oaths of him, and might not spend them at my pleasure. 35 1 Lord. What got he by that? You have broke his pate with your bowl.
2 Lord. If his wit had been like him that broke it, it would have run all out.
Clot. When a gentleman is dispos'd to swear, it 40 is not for any standers-by to curtail his oaths: Ha 2 Lord. No, my lord; nor crop the ears of
[Aside. them. Clot. Whoreson dog!-I give him satisfaction? 'Would, he had been one of my rank! [Aside. 2 Lord. To have smelt like a fool. Clot. I am not vex'd more at any thing in the earth,-A pox on't! I had rather not be so noble as I am; they dare not fight with me, because of the queen my mother: every jack-slave 50 hath his belly full of fighting, and I must go up and down like a cock that no body can match. 2 Lord. You are a cock and a capon too; and you crow, cock, with your comb on'.
1 Lord. It is not fit your lordship should undertake every companion that you give offence
Clot. No, I know that; but it is fit, I should commit offence to my inferiors.
2 Lord. Ay, it is fit for your lordship only.
Clot. Why, so I
1 Lord. Did you hear of a stranger, that's come to court to-night?
Clot. A stranger! and I not know on't! 2 Lord. He's a strange fellow himself,and knows [Aside. it not. 1 Lord. There's an Italian come; and,'tis thought, one of Leonatus' friends.
Clot. Leonatus! a banish'd rascal; and he's another, whatsoever he be. Who told you of this stranger?
1 Lord. One of your lordship's pages.
Cot. Is it fit I went to look upon him? Is there
no derogation in't?
1 Lord. You cannot derogate, my lord.
Clot. Not easily, I think.
2 Lord. You are a fool granted; therefore your
[Aside.
issues being foolish, do not derogate.
Clot. Come, I'll go see this Italian: What I
have lost to-day at bowls, I'll win to-night of
him. Come, go.
2 Lord. I'll attend your lordship.
[Exeunt Cloten, and first Lord.
That such a crafty devil as his mother
Should yield the world this ass! a woman, that
Bears all down with her brain; and this her son
Cannot take two from twenty for his heart,
And leave eighteen. Alas, poor princess,
Thou divine Imogen, what thou endur'st!
Betwixt a father, by thy step-dame govern'd;
A mother hourly coining plots; a wooer,
More hateful than the foul expulsion is
Of thy dear husband, than that horrid act
160 Ofthe divorce he'd make! The heavens hold firm
The jack is the small bowl at which the others are aimed. He 3 The allusion is to a who is nearest to it wins.-To kiss the jack is a state of great advantage. i. e. every fellow. The fool's cap, which hath a comb like a cock's.
The walls of thy dear honour; keep unshak'd
That temple, thy fair mind; that thou may'st stand,
To enjoy thy banish'd lord, and this great land
[Exit.
A Bed-chamber; in one part of it, a Trunk. Imogen reading in her bed; a Lady attending. Imo. Who's there? my woman Helen? Lady. Please you, madam.
Imo. What hour is it?
Lady. Almost midnight, madam,
Imo. I have read three hours then: mine eyes are
Fold down the leaf where I have left; To bed:
Take not away the taper, leave it burning;
And if thou canst awake by four o' the clock,
I pr'ythee, call me. Sleep hath seiz'd me wholly.
[Exit Lady.
To your protection I commend me, gods!
From fairies, and the tempters of the night,
Guard me, beseech ye!
[Sleeps. [Iachimo, from the trunk. Iach. The crickets sing, and man's o'er-labour'd
Repairs itself by rest: Our Tarquin thus
Did softly press the rushes', ere he waken'd
The chastity he wounded.-Cytherea,
How bravely thou becom'st thy bed! fresh lily!
And whiter than the sheets! That I might touch! 30
But kiss one kiss!-Rubies unparagon'd,
How dearly they do 't!-'Tis her breathing that
Perfumes the chamber thus: The flame o'the taper
Bows toward her; and would under-peep her lids,
To see the inclosed lights, now canopy'd
Under these windows: White and azure! lac'd
With blue of heaven's own tinct.-But my design?
To note the chamber:-I will write all down:-
Such, and such pictures;-There the window:-
Such
The adornment of her bed;-The arras, figures?
Why, such, and such:-And the contents o' the
One, two, three:-Time, time!
[Goes into the trunk: the scene closes.
SCENE III.
Another Room in the Palace.
Enter Cloten and Lords.
1 Lord. Your lordship is the most patient man in loss, the most coldest that ever turn'd up ace. Clot. It would make any man cold to lose. 1 Lord. But not every man patient, after the noble temper of your lordship; You are most hot, and furious, when you win.
Clot. Winning will put any man into courage: If I could get this foolish Imogen, I should have gold enough: It's almost morning, is't not? 1 Lord. Day, my lord.
Clot. I would this musick would come: I am advis'd to give her musick o' mornings; they say, it will penetrate.
Come on; tune: If you can penetrate her with
your fingering, so; we'll try with tongue too;
if none will do, let her remain; but I'll never
give o'er. First, a very excellent good-conceited
thing; after a wonderful sweet air, with admi-
rable rich words to it,-and then let her consider
SONG.
Hark! hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings,
And Pluebus 'gins arise,
His steeds to water at those springs
On chalic'd flowers that lies';
And winking Mary-buds begin
ope their golden eyes;
every thing that pretty bin: My lady sweet, arise;
So, get you gone: If this penetrate, I will consider
your musick the better3: if it do not, it is a vice in
her ears, which horse-hairs, and cats-guts, nor
the voice of unpaved eunuch to boot, can never
amend.
[Exeunt Musicians.
Ah, but some natural notes about her body,
(Above ten thousand meaner moveables
Would testify) to enrich nine inventory.
O sleep, thou ape of death, lie dull upon her!
And be her sense but as a monument,
Thus in a chapel lying! Come off, come off;-
[Taking off a bracelet.
As slippery, as the Gordian knot was hard!-
'Tis mine; and this will witness outwardly,
As strongly as the conscience does within,
To the madding of her lord. On her left breast
A mole cinque-spotted, like the crimson drops
I' the bottom of a cowslip: Here's a voucher,
Stronger than ever law could make this secret
Will force him think I have pick'd the lock, and
ta'én
[end?
The treasure of her honour. No more.-To what 60 mother,
We have in a former play observed, that it was the custom chambers with rushes, as we now cover them with carpets. dw which lies in the cups of flowers. It may be noted, that the whence chalice. i. e. I will pay you more amply for it.
in the time of our author to strew i. e. the morning sun dries up the cup of a flower is called calix,
Cym, Attend you here the door of our stern). daughter?
Clot. I have assail'd her with musicks, but she vouchsafes no notice.
Cym. The exile of her minion is too new ;
She hath not yet forgot him: some more time
Must wear the print of his remembrance out,
And then she's yours.
Queen. You are most bound to the king;
Who lets go by no vantages, that may
Prefer you to his daughter: Frame yourself
To orderly solicits'; and be friended
With aptness of the season: make denials
Increase your services: so seem, as if
You were inspir'd to do those duties which
You tender'd to her; that you in all obey her,
Save when command to your dismission tends,
And therein you are
senseless.
Clot. Senseless! not so.
Enter a Messenger.
Mes. So like you, sir, ambassadors from Rome; The one is Caius Lucius.
Clot. Still, I swear, I love you.
Imo. If you but said so, 'twere as deep with me:
If you swear still, your recompence is still
That I regard it not.
Imo. But that you shall not say I yield, being.
I would not speak. I pray you, spare me: faith,
I shall unfold equal discourtesy
To your best kindness: one of your great knowing
Should learn, being taught, forbearance.
Clot.To leave you in your madness, 'twere my sin:
I will not.
Imo. Fools are not mad folks.
Clot. Do you call me fool?
Imo. As I am mad, I do:
25 If you'll be patient, I'll no more be mad;
That cures us both. I am much sorry, sir,
You put me to forget a lady's manners,
By being so verbal and learn now, for all,
That I, which know my heart, do here pronounce,
By the very truth of it, I care not for you;
And am so near the lack of charity,
Albeit he comes on angry purpose now;
But that's no fault of his: We must receive him
According to the honour of his sender;
And towards himself, his goodness forespent on us,
We must extend our notice.—Our dear son,
Whenyouhavegivengoodmorningtoyour mistress, 30
Attend the queen, and us; we shall have need
To employ you toward this Roman.-Come, our
[Exeunt.
queen.
Clot. If she be up, I'll speak with her; if not,
Let her lie still, and dream.-By your leave, ho!-
[Knocks.
I know, her women are about her; What
If I do line one of their hands; 'Tis gold
Which buys admittance; oft it doth; yea,
Diana's rangers false themselves, yield up
Their deer to the stand o' the stealer: and 'tis gold
Which makes the true man kill'd, and saves the
thief;
[What
To accuse myself) I hate you: which I had rather
You felt, than make't my boast.
Obedience, which you owe your father. For
The contract you pretend with that base wretch,
(One, bred of alms, and foster'd with cold dishes,
With scraps o' the court) it is no contract, none;
And though it be allow'd in meaner parties,
40(Yet who, than he, more mean?) to knit their souls'
On whom there is no more dependency
But brats and beggary) in self-figur'd knot*;
Yet you are curb'd from that enlargement by
The consequence o' the crown; and must not soil
The precious note of it with a base slave,
A hilding for a livery, a squire's cloth,
A pantler, not so eminent.
Nay, sometime, hangs both thief and true man:45
Can it not do, and undo? I will make
One of her women lawyer to me; for
I yet not understand the case myself.
By your leave.
Lady. Who's there that knocks?
Clot. A gentleman.
Lady. No more?
Clot. Yes, and a gentlewoman's son.
Lady. That's more
Than some, whose taylors are as dear as yours,
Can justly boast of: What's yourlordship'spleasure?
Clot. Your lady's person: Is she ready?
Lady. Ay, to keep her chamber,
Wert thou the son of Jupiter, and no more, 50 But what thou art, besides, thou wert too base To be his groom: thou wert dignify'd enough, Even to the point of envy, if 'twere made Comparative for your virtues, to be styl'd The under-hangman of his kingdom; and hated 55 For being preferr'd so well.
Clot. The south-fog rot him!
Imo. He never can meet more mischance, than To be but nam'd of thee. His meanest garment, That ever hath but clip'd his body, is dearer,
Clot. There's gold for you; sell me your good 60 In my respect, than all the hairs above thee,
1i. e. regular courtship.
i. e. the good offices done by him to us heretofore.
here means so verbose, so full of talk.
A self-figured knot is a knot formed by yourself. Were
Clot. His garment? Now, the devil
Imo. To Dorothy my woman hie thee present-
Clot. His garment?
Imo. I am sprighted with a fool';
Frighted, and anger'd worse:-Go, bid my wo-
Search for a jewel, that too casually
Hath left mine arm2; it was thy master's; shrew me,
If I would lose it for a revenue
Of any king's in Europe. I do think,
I saw't this morning: confident I am,
Last night 'twas on mine arm; I kissed it :
I hope, it be not gone, to tell my lord
That I kiss aught but him.
Pisan. 'Twill not be lost.
Imo. I hope so: go and search. [Exit Pisanio.
Clot. You have abus'd me:-
His meanest garment?
Imo. Ay; I said so, sir:
If you will make 't an action, call witness to 't.
Clot. I will inform your father.
Imo. Your mother too;
She's my good lady; and will conceive, I hope,
But the worst of me. So I leave you, sir,
To the worst of discontent.
His meanest garment?———Well.
SCENE IV.
ROME.
An Apartment in Philario's House.
Enter Posthumus, and Philario.
Post. Fear it not, sir: I would, I were so sure
To win the king, as I am bold, her honour
Will remain hers,
Phil. What means do you make to him?
Post. Not any; but abide the change of time;
Quake in the present winter's state, and wish
That warmer days would come: In these fear'd 40
hopes,
I barely gratify your love; they failing,
I must die much your debtor.
Phil. Your very goodness, and your company,
O'erpays all I can do. By this, your king
Hath heard of great Augustus: Caius Lucius
Will do his commission throughly: And, I think,
He'll grant the tribute, send the arrearages,
Or look upon our Romans, whose remembrance
Is yet fresh in their grief.
Iach. Good, sir, we must,
If you keep covenant: Had I not brought
The knowledge of your mistress home, I grant
We were to question further; but I now
Profess myself the winner of her honour,
Together with your ring; and not the wronger
Of her, or you, having proceeded but
By both your wills.
Post. If you can make it apparent
That you have tasted her in bed, my hand,
And ring, is yours: If not, the foul opinion
You had of her pure honour, gains, or loses,
Your sword, or mine; or masterless leaves both
50 To who shall find them.
Jach. Sir, my circumstances,
Being so near the truth, as I will make them,
Must first induce you to believe: whose strength
I will confirm with oath; which, I doubt not,
55 You'll give me leave to spare, when you shall find
You need it not.
(Statist though I am none, nor like to be)
That this will prove a war; and you shall hear
The legions, now in Gallia, sooner landed
In our not-fearing Britain, than have tidings
Of any penny tribute paid, Our countrymen
Are men more order'd, than when Julius Cæsar
Smil'd at their lack of skill, but found their courage
Worthy his frowning at; Their discipline
(Now mingled with their courages) will make 60
Post. Proceed.
Iach. First, her bed-chamber,
Where, I confess, I slept not; but, profess,
Had that was well worth watching) It was hang'd
With tapestry of silk and silver; the story,
2i. e. too many chances of losing it have arisen i. e. statesman. i. e. to those who try them.
i. e. I am haunted by a fool, as by a spright. from my carelessness. 3 Or for ere.
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