rogue, for being so far officious; for I am proof against that title, and what shame else belongs to't: To him will I present them, there may be matter in [Exit. it. ACT V. SCENE I. Sicilia. A Room in the Palace of Enter LEONTES, CLEOMENES, DION, PAULINA, and Others. Cleo. Sir, you have done enough, and have perform'd A saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make, Which you have not redeem'd; indeed, paid down More penitence, than done trespass: At the last, Do, as the heavens have done; forget your evil; With them, forgive yourself. Leon. Whilst I remember Her, and her virtues, I cannot forget My blemishes in them; and so still think of Paul. True, too true, my lord: If, one by one, you wedded all the world, Or, from the all that are, took something good,* To make a perfect woman; she, you kill'd, Would be unparallel'd. *Or, from the all that are, took something good,] This is a favourite thought; it was bestowed on Miranda and Rosalind before. JOHNSON. Leon. I think so. Kill'd! She I kill'd? I did so: but thou strik'st me Would have him wed again. Dion. If you would not so, You pity not the state, nor the remembrance Of his most sovereign dame; consider little, What dangers, by his highness' fail of issue, May drop upon his kingdom, and devour Incertain lookers-on. What were more holy, Than to rejoice, the former queen is well? What holier, than,-for royalty's repair, For present comfort and for future good,To bless the bed of majesty again With a sweet fellow to't? Paul. Respecting her that's gone. There is none worthy, Besides, the gods Will have fulfill'd their secret purposes: For has not the divine Apollo said, Is't not the tenour of his oracle, That king Leontes shall not have an heir, Till his lost child be found? which, that it shall, As my Antigonus to break his grave, sel, My lord should to the heavens be contrary, Oppose against their wills.-Care not for issue; [TO LEONTES. The crown will find an heir: Great Alexander Leon. Good Paulina,— Who hast the memory of Hermione, I know, in honour,-O, that ever I Had squar'd me to thy counsel!-then, even now, I might have look'd upon my queen's full eyes; Have taken treasure from her lips, Paul. More rich, for what they yielded. And left them Thou speak'st truth. Leon. No more such wives; therefore, no wife: one worse, And better us'd, would make her sainted spirit Again possess her corps; and, on this stage, (Where we offenders now appear,) soul-vex'd, Begin, And why to me? Had she such power, She had; and would incense me To murder her I married. Paul. I should so: Were I the ghost that walk'd, I'd bid you mark Leon. Stars, very stars, And all eyes else dead coals!-fear thou no wife, I'll have no wife, Paulina. Paul. Will you swear Never to marry, but by my free leave? 5 incense me - i. e. instigate me, set me on. • Shou'd rift -] i. e. split. Leon. Never, Paulina; so be bless'd my spirit! Yet, if my lord will marry,-if you will, sir, As, walk'd your first queen's ghost, it should take joy To see her in your arms. Leon. My true Paulina, That We shall not marry, till thou bidd'st us. Paul. Shall be, when your first queen's again in breath; Never till then. Enter a Gentleman. Gent. One that gives out himself prince Florizel, Son of Polixenes, with his princess, (she The fairest I have yet beheld,) desires access To your high presence. Leon. What with him? he comes not Like to his father's greatness: his approach, So out of circumstance, and sudden, tells us, Gent. And those but mean. Leon. But few, His princess, say you, with him? Gent. Ay, the most peerless piece of earth, I think, That e'er the sun shone bright on. Paul. O Hermione, As every present time doth boast itself Above a better, gone; so must thy grave Give way to what's seen now. Sir, you yourself Have said, and writ so, (but your writing now Is colder than that theme,) She had not been, Nor was not to be equall'd;-thus your verse Flow'd with her beauty once; 'tis shrewdly ebb'd, To say, you have seen a better. Gent. Pardon, madam; The one I have almost forgot; (your pardon,) The other, when she has obtain'd your eye, Will have your tongue too. This is such a creature, Would she begin a sect, might quench the zeal Of all professors else; make proselytes Of who she but bid follow. Paul. How? not women? Gent. Women will love her, that she is a woman More worth than any man; men, that she is The rarest of all women. Leon. Go, Cleomenes; Yourself, assisted with your honour'd friends, Bring them to our embracement.-Still 'tis strange, [Exeunt CLEOMENES, Lords, and Gentleman. He thus should steal upon us. Paul. Had our prince, (Jewel of children,) seen this hour, he had pair'd Well with this lord; there was not full a month Between their births. Leon. Pr'ythee, no more; thou know'st, He dies to me again, when talk'd of: sure, 8 Is colder than that theme,)] i. e. than the lifeless body of Hermione, the theme or subject of your writing. MALONE. |