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Nor get a messenger to bring it thee,
So fearful were they of infection.

Lau. Unhappy fortune! by my brotherhood,
The letter was not nice, but full of charge,
Of dear import; and the neglecting it
May do much danger: Friar John, go hence;
Get me an iron crow, and bring it straight
Unto my cell.

John. Brother, I'll go and bring't thee. {Exit.
Lau. Now must I to the monument alone;
Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake;
She will beshrew me much, that Romeo
Hath had no notice of these accidents:
But I will write again to Mautua,
And keep her at my cell till Romeo come;
Poor living corse, clos'd in a dead man's tomb!
[Exit.
SCENE III-A Church-Yard; in it, a Mo-
nument belonging to the CAPULETS.

Enter PARIS, and his PAGE bearing Flowers and a Torch.

Par. Give me thy torch, boy: Hence and
stand aloof;-

Yet put it out, for I would not be seen.
Under yon yew-trees lay thee all along,
Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground;
So shall no foot upon the church-yard tread,
(Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves,)
But thou shalt hear it: whistle then to me,
As signal that thou hear'st something approach.
Give me those flowers. Do as I bid thee, go.
Page. I am almost afraid to stand alone
Here in the church-yard; yet I will adventure.
[Retires.

Par. Sweet flower, with flowers I strew thy
bridal bed:

Sweet tomb, that in thy circuit dost contain
The perfect model of eternity;
Fair Juliet, that with angels dost remain,
Accept this latest favour at my hands;
That living honour'd thee, and, being dead,
With funeral praises do adorn thy tomb!

[The boy whistles. The boy gives warning, something doth approach.

What cursed foot wanders this way to-night,
To cross my obsequies, and true-love's rites ?
What, with a torch!-muffle me, night, a while.
[Retires.
Enter ROMEO and BALTHAZAR with a Torch,
Mattock, &c.

Rom. Give me that mattock, and the wrench-
ing iron.

Hold, take this letter; early in the morning
See thou deliver it to my lord and father.
Give me the light: Upon thy life I charge thee,
Whate'er thou hear'st or seest, stand all aloof,
And do not interrupt me in my course.
Why I descend into this bed of death,
Is partly, to behold my lady's face:
But, chiefly, to take hence from her dead finger
A precious ring; a ring that I must use
In dear employment:+ therefore hence, be-
But if thou, jealous, dost return to pry [gone :-
In what I further shall intend to do,

His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt.

[Retires.

Rom. Thou détestable maw, thou womb of

death

Gorg'd with the dearest morsel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open.

[Breaking open the Door of the Monument. And, in despite, I'll cram thee with more food! Par. This is that banish'd haughty Monta

gue,

That murder'd my love's cousin ;-with which

grief,

It is supposed the fair creature died,—
And here is come to do some villanous shame
To the dead bodies: I will apprehend him.—
[Advances.

Stop thy unhallow'd toil, vile Montague;
Can vengeance be pursu'd farther than death?
Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee:
Obey, and go with me; for thou must die.
Rom. I must, indeed; and therefore came 1

hither.

Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man,
Fly hence and leave me ;-think upon these

gone;

Let them affright thee.-I beseech thee, youth, Heap not another sin upon my head, By urging me to fury:-O be gone! By heaven, I love thee better than myself: For I come hither arm'd against myself: Stay not, begoue ;-live, and hereafter sayA madman mercy bade thee run away. Par. I do defy thy conjurations, * And do attach thee as a felon here. Rom. Wilt thou provoke me? then have at thee, boy. [They fight. Page. O lord! they fight: I will go call the watch. [Exit PAGE. Par. O I am slain! [Falls.]-If thou be merciful,

[Dies.

Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet.
Rom. In faith, I will:-Let me peruse this
face ;-

Mercutio's kinsman, noble county Paris :-
What said my man, when my betossed soul
Did not attend him as we rode ? I think,
He told me Paris should have married Juliet:
Said he not so ? or did I dream it so?
Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet,
To think it was so ?-O give me thy hand,
One writ with me in sour misfortune's book!
I'll bury thee in a triumphant grave,-
A grave? O no; a lantern,+ slaughter'd youth,
For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes
This vault a feasting presence full of light.
Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr'd.
[Laying PARIS in the Monument.
How oft when men are at the point of death
Have they been merry? which their keepers

call

A lightning before death: Oh! how may I
Call this a lightning ?-O my love! my wife!
Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath,
Hath had no power yet upon thy beanty:
Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet
Is crimson in thy lips, and in thy cheeks,
And death's pale flag is not advanced there.-
Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet?
Oh what more favour can I do to thee,

By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint,
And strew this hungry church-yard with thy Than with that hand that cut thy youth in

limbs :

The time and my intents are savage-wild ; More fierce, and more inexorable far, Than empty tigers, or the roaring sea.

twain,

To sunder his that was thine enemy? Forgive me, cousin!-Ah! dear Juliet, Why art thou yet so fair? Shall I believe

Bal. I will be gone, Sir, and not trouble That unsubstantial Death is amorous;

you.

And that the lean abhorred monster keeps

Rom. So shalt thou show me friendship.-Thee here in dark to be his paramour?

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Will I set up my everlasting rest;
And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars
From this world-wearied flesh.-Eyes, look your
last!

Arms, take your last embrace! and lips, O you
The doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death!-
Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide!
Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on
The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark!
Here's to my love!-[Drinks.] O true apothe-
cary!

Thy drugs are quick.-Thus with a kiss I die.

[Dies.

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O much I fear some ill unlucky thing.

Bal. As I did sleep under this yew-tree here, 1 dreamt my master and another fought, And that my master slew him.

Fri. Romeo?

[Advances.

Alack, alack, what blood is this, which stains
The stony entrance of this sepulchre ?--
What mean these masterless and gory swords
To lie discolour'd by this place of peace?
[Enters the Monument.
Romeo! ob! pale !-Who else? what, Paris

too?

And steep'd in blood-Ah! what an unkind
bour

Is quilty of this lamentable chance!-
The lady stirs. [JULIET wakes and stirs.
Jul. O comfortable friar! where is my lord?
I do remember well where I should be,
And there I am :-Where is my Romeo?

[Noise within.

Fri. I hear some noise.-Lady, come from
that nest

Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep;
A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents; come, come away:
Thy busband in thy bosom there lies dead;
And Paris too :-come, I'll dispose of thee
Among a sisterhood of holy nuns :

Stay not to question, for the watch is coming;
Come, go, good Juliet,-[Noise again.] I dare
stay no longer.
[Exit.
Jul. Go, get thee hence, for I will not

away,

What's here? a cup, clos'd in my true love's

band?

Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end :-
O charl! drink all; and leave no friendly drop,
To Lelp me after ?-1 will kiss thy lips;
Haply, some poison yet doth hang on them,

• Conductor.

To make me die with a restorative.

Thy lips are warm!

[Kisses him.

i Watch. [Within.] Lead, boy :-Which way?

Jul. Yea, noise ?-then I'll be brief.-O happy dagger !

[Snatching ROMEO's Dagger. This is thy sheath; [Stabs herself.] there rust, and let me die.

[Falls on ROMEO's Body, and dies. Enter WATCH, with the PAGE of PARIS. Page. This is the place; there, where the torch doth burn.

1 Watch. The ground is bloody; Search about
the church-yard :

Go, some of you, whoe'er you find, attach.
[Exeunt some.
And Juliet bleeding; warm, and newly dead,
Pitiful sight; here lies the county slain ;-
Who here hath lain these two days buried.-
Raise up the Montagues,-some others search;-
Go, tell the prince,-run to the Capulets,-
We see the ground whereon these woes do lie;
[Exeunt other WATCHMEN.
But the true ground of all these piteous woes,
We cannot without circumstance descry.

Enter some of the WATCH, with BALTHAZAR.
2 Watch. Here's Romeo's man, we found him
in the church-yard.

1 Watch. Hold him in safety, till the prince
come hither.

Enter another WATCHMAN, with Friar
LAURENCE.

3 Watch. Here is a friar, that trembles,

sighs, and weeps:

We took this mattock and this spade from him,
As he was coming from this church-yard side.
1 Watch. A great suspicion; Stay the friar

too.

Enter the PRINCE and Attendants. Prince. What misadventure is so early up, That calls our person from our morning's rest? Enter CAPULET, Lady CAPULET, and others.

Cap. What should it be, that they so shriek
abroad?

La. Cap. The people in the street cry-
Romeo,

Some-Juliet, and some-Paris; and all run,
With open outcry toward our monument.

Prince. What fear is this, which startles in
our ears?

1 Watch. Sovereign, here lies the county
Paris slain;

And Romeo dead; and Juliet, dead before,
Warm and new kill'd.

Prince. Search, seek, and know how this foul
murder comes.

1 Watch. Here is a friar, and slaughter'd
Romeo's man;

With instruments upon them, fit to open
These dead men's tombs.

Cap. O heavens! O wife! look how our daugh-
ter bleeds!

This dagger hath mista'en,-for lo! his house ⚫
Is empty on the back of Montague,-
And is mis-sheathed in my daughter's bosom.
La. Cap. O me! this sight of death is as a

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Grief of my son's exile hath stopp'd her breath:
What further woe conspires against mine age?
Prince. Look, and thou shalt see.

Mon. O thou untaught! what manners is in
this,

To press before thy father to a grave?

Prince. Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while,

'Till we can clear these ambiguities,

And know their spring, their head, their true descent;

And then will I be general of your woes,

All this I know; and to the marriage
Her nurse is privy: And, if aught in this
Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
Be sacrific'd some hour before his time,
Unto the rigour of severest law.

Prince. We still have known thee for a boly

man.

Where's Romeo's man? what can he say in this?

Bal. I brought my master news of Juliet's death;

And then in post he came from Mantua,

And lead you even to death: Meantime for- To this same place, to this same monument.

bear,

And let mischance be slave to patience.—
Bring forth the parties of suspicion.

Fri. I am the greatest, able to do least,
Yet most suspected, as the time and place
Doth make against me, of this direfui mur-
der;

And here I stand, both to impeach and purge
Myself condemned and myself accus'd.

Prince. Then say at once what thou dost
know in this.

Fri. I will be brief, for my short date

breath

of

Is not so long as is a tedious tale.
Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Ju-
liet;

And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful
wife :

I married them; and their stolen-marriageday

Was Tybalt's doomsday, whose untimely death
Banish'd the new-made bridegroom from this
city;

For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pin'd.
You-to remove that siege of grief from her,
Betroth'd, and would have married her per-
force,

To County Paris :-Then comes she to me;
And, with wild looks, bid me devise some

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But he which bore my letter, friar John,
Was staid by accident; and yesternight
Return'd my letter back: Then all alone,
At the prefixed hour of her waking,
Came to take her from her kindred's vault;
Meaning to keep her closely at my cell,
Till I conveniently could send to Romeo :
But when I came, (some minute ere the time
Of her awakening,) here untimely lay
The noble Paris, and true Romeo, dead.
She wakes; and I entreated her come forth,
And bear this work of heaven with patience:
But then a noise did scare me from the tomb;
And she too desperate, would not go with me,
But (as it seems,) did violence on herself.

• Seat.

This letter he early bid me give his father;
And threaten'd me with death, going in the

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lady's grave;

And bid me stand aloof, and so I did:
Anon, comes one with light to ope the tomb;
And, by and by, my master drew on him;
And then I ran away to call the watch.

Prince. This letter doth make good the
friar's words,

Their course of love, the tidings of her death:
And here he writes-that he did buy a poison
Of a poor 'pothecary, and therewithal
Came to this vault to die, and lie with Ju-
liet.-

Where be these enemies? Capulet! Monta-
gue!-

See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
That heaven finds means to kill your joys

with love!

And I, for winking at your discords too,
Have lost a brace of kinsmen: all are pun-
ish'd.

Cap. O brother Montague, give me thy
band:

This is my daughter's jointure, for no more
Can I demand.

Mon. But I can give thee more:
For I will raise her statue in pure gold;
That, while Verona by that name is known,
There shall no figure at such rate be set,
As that of true and faithful Juliet.

Cap. As rich shall Romeo by his lady lie;
Poor sacrifices of our enmity!
Prince. A glooming peace this morning with
it brings;

The sun for sorrow will not show his bead: Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;

Some shall be pardon'd, and some pun-
ished : +

For never was a story of more woe,
Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Mercutio and Paris.

[Exeunt.

In the original story (to which this line refers) the prince tortures and hangs the apothecary; banishes the old nurse; pardons Romeo's servant; and allons Friar Laurence to retire to a hermitage in the vicinity of Verona.

AS a piece for dramatic exhibition, this tragedy has been essentially improved by the celebrated Mr. Garrick: not only in the style and language, by which the jingle and quibble of many of its passages are expunged, but also by the transposition of several scenes, and by the following essential deviation from the original plot : As amended by him, and represented at present, no mention is made of Rosaline, and the sudden and unnatural change af Romeo's affection from her to Juliet is thereby avoided : Juliet also revives from her death-like slumber before the potion has fully operated upon the frame of Romeo, and he dies in her arms, after attempting to carry her from the tomb. By this most judicious alteration, the pathos of the scene is heightened to its highest pitch; for nothing can be more melting than the incidents and expressions which so highly-wrought a catastrophe affords. In the Italian story upon which the play is founded, such was actually the development of the plot; but Shakspeare had certainly recourse to the English or French translation; in which this addition to the tale was upon semt account emitted.

CYMBELINE.

LITERARY AND HISTORICAL NOTICE.

MALONE supposes that Shakspeare wrote Cymbeline in the year 1605. The main incidents upon which the plot terus, occur in a novel of Boccaccio's; but our poet obtained them in a different shape, from an old storybook entitled Westward for Smelts. Cymbeline, who gives name to the play, but is a cipher of royalty, began to reign over Britain in the 19th year of Augustus Caesar. He filled the throne during thirty-five years, leaving two sons, Guiderius and Arviragus. The play commences in the 16th year of the Christian era, which was the 24th year of Cymbeline's reign, and the 42nd of Augustus's. The subject of the piece is disjointed and much too diffuse: it exhibits some monstrous breaches of dramatic unity, and several very languid and make-shift scenes. Bet the part of Imogen is most delicately and delightfully drawn ; her ideas are remarkably luxuriaat, yet restrained; and the natural warmth of her affections is, in many instances, most beautifully expressed. Cloten is an incongruous animal, with some strong points about him; and a fine contrast to Posthumus, who is sketched with great judgment, feeling, and consistency. The Queen is an unfinished character, desirous of producing mischief, but possessing neither energy nor ability to accomplish her schemes; and though lachimo's cunning is portrayed with uncommon skill in his first attempt upon Imogen's virtue, yet his subsequent penitence and candour (however conducive to the moral) are not consistent with the usual hardihood of so thorough-paced a villain. Notwithstanding its fine passages and affecting incidents, this play was lost to the stage until Garrick undertook to revise it, by the abridgment of some scenes, and the transposition of others, it was reduced within the compass of a night's performance; and has since continued a periodical favourite with the public. Dr. Johnson decides the merits of this historical drama in the following summary manner t "To remark the folly of the fiction, the absurdity of the conduct, the confusion of the names and manners of different times, and the impossibility of the events in any system of life, were to waste criticism upon unresisting imbecility, upon faults too evident for detection, and too gross for aggravation." No one can deny the elegance or point of the Doctor's critical sentences, nor their murderous efficiency when meant to despatch an adversary at a single blow; but the greatest fault of our poet consists in his having christened some characters of the first century with names which belonged to the fifteenth; and in his having seasoned their antique Roman bouesty with a smattering of modern Italian villany.

CYMBELINE, King of Britain.

DRAMATIS PERSONE.

JA ROMAN CAPTAIN.

TWO BRITISH CAPTAINS. CLOTEN, Son to the Queen by a former hus- PISANIO, Servant to Posthumus. band.

CORNELIUS, a Physician.

LEONATUS POSTHUMUS, a Gentleman, Hus-Two GENTLEMEN.

band to Imogen.

BELARIUS, a banished Lord, disguised under
the name of Morgan.
Sons to Cymbeline, disguised
under the names of Poly-
dore and Cadwal, supposed
Sons to Belarius.

GUIDERIUS,
ASVIRAGUS,

Italians.

PHILARIO, Friend to Posthumus,
JACHIMO, Friend to Philario,
A FRENCH GENTLEMAN, Friend to Philario.
CAIUS LUCIUS, General of the Roman Forces.

TWO JAILERS.

QUEEN, Wife to Cymbeline.
IMOGEN, Daughter to Cymbeline by a former
Queen.
HELEN, Woman to Imogen.

Lords, Ladies, Roman Senators, Tribunes,
Apparitions, a Soothsayer, a Dutch Gentle-
man, a Spanish Gentleman, Musicians, Of-
ficers, Captains, Soldiers, Messengers, and
other Attendants.

SCENE, sometimes in Britain; sometimes in Italy.

ACT I.

SCENE 1.-Britain.-The Garden behind
CYMBELINE's Palace.

Enter two GENTLEMEN.

1 Gent. His daughter, and the heir of his
kingdom, whom

He purpos'd to his wife's sole son, (a widow,
That late be married,) hath referr'd herself
Unto a poor but worthy gentleman: She's wedded;
Her husband banish'd; she imprison'd all

1 Geat. You do not meet a man, but frowns: Is outward sorrow; though, I think, the king our bloods.

No more obey the heavens, than our courtiers;

Still seem, as does the king's. †

2 Gent. But what's the matter?

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Be touch'd at very heart.

2 Gent. None but the king?

1 Gent. He, that hath lost her, too: so is the queen, [tier, That most desir'd the match: But not a courof the king's looks, hath a heart that is not Although they wear their faces to the bent Glad at the thing they scowl at.

2 Gent. And why so?

1 Gent. He that hath miss'd the princess, is thing

a

Too bad for bad report: and he that hath her,
(I mean, that married her, alack, good man!
And therefore banish'd) is a creature such
As, to seek through the relgions of the earth
For one his like, there would be something
failing

In him that should compare. I do not think
So fair an outward, and such stuff within,
Endows a man but he.

2 Gent. You speak him far. *

1 Gent. I do extend him, Sir, within himself; Crush him together, rather than unfold His measure duly.

2 Gent. What's his name, and birth?

1 Gent. I cannot delve him to the root: His
father

Was call'd Sicilius, who did join his honour
Against the Romans, with Cassibelan;
But had his titles by Tenantius, + whom
He serv'd with glory and admir'd success;
So gain'd the sur-addition, Leonatus:
Aud had, besides this gentleman in question,
Two other sons, who, in the wars o'the time,
Died with their swords in hand; for which their
father

So soon as I can win the offended king,

I will be known your advocate: marry, yet
The fire of rage is in him; and 'twere good
You lean'd unto his sentence, with what pa-

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Imo. O

Dissembling courtesy! How fine this tyrant
Can tickle where she wounds! My dearest
husband,
[thing

I something fear my father's wrath; but no-
(Always reserv'd my holy duty,) what

His rage can do on me: You must be gone;
And I shall here abide the hourly shot
Of angry eyes; nor comforted to live,
But that there is this jewel in this world,
That I may see again.

Post. My queen! my mistress!

O lady, weep no more; lest I give cause
To be suspected of more tenderness
Than doth become a man! I will remain

(Then old and fond of issue,) took such sorrow, The loyal'st husband that did e'er plight troth.
That he quit being; and his gentle lady,
Big of this gentleman, our theme, deceas'd
As he was born. The king, he takes the babe
To his protection; calls him Posthumus;
Breeds him, and makes him of his bed-chamber:
Puts him to all the learnings that his time
Could make him the receiver of; which he
took,

As we do air, fast as 'twas minister'd; and
In his spring became a harvest: Liv'd in court,
(Which rare it is to do,) most prais'd, most
lov'd t
[ture,
A sample to the youngest; to the more ma-
A glass that feated them; and to the graver,
A child that guided dotards: to his mistress,
For whom he now is banish'd,-her own price
Proclaims how she esteem'd him and his virtue;
By her election may be truly read,
What kind of man he is.

My residence in Rome at one Philario's;
Who to my father was a friend, to me
Known but by letter: thither write, my queen,
And with mine eyes I'll drink the words you
send,
Though ink be made of gall.

Re-enter QUEEN.

Queen. Be brief, I pray you:
If the king come, I shall incur I know not
How much of his displeasure:-Yet I'll move
[Aside.

him

To walk this way: I never do him wrong,
But he does buy my injuries, to be friends;
Pays dear for my offences.

Post. Should we be taking leave

[Erit.

As long a term as yet we have to live,
The loathness to depart would grow: Adien!
Imo. Nay, stay a little :

But, 'pray you, tell me, Were you but riding forth to air yourself,

2 Gent. I honour bim Even out of your report. Is she sole child to the king ? 1 Gent. His only child. He had two sons, (if this be worth your hearing, Mark it,) the eldest of them at three years old, I'the swathing clothes the other, from their nursery [knowledge Were stolen and, to this hour, no guess in Which way they went.

2 Gent. How long is this ago? 1 Gent. Some twenty years.

2 Gent. That a king's children should be
convey'd !

So slackly guarded! And the search so slow,
That could not trace them!

1 Gent. Howsoe'er 'tis strange,

Or that the negligence may well be laugh'd at,
Yet is it true, Sir.

2 Gent. I do well believe you.

so

I Gent. We must forbear: Here come the queen and princess.

SCENE II.-The same.

Exeunt.

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Such parting were too petty. Look here, love;
This diamond was my mother's: take it, heart;
But keep it till you woo another wife,
When Imogen is dead.

Post. How! how! another?-
You gentle gods give me but this I have,
my embracements from a Dext
And sear up
With bonds of death!-Remain thou here
[Putting on the Ring.
While sense can keep it on! And sweetest,
fairest,

As I my poor self did exchange for you,

To your so infinite loss; so, in our trifles

I still win of you: For my sake, wear this;

It is a manacle of love: I'll place it

Upon this fairest prisoner.

[Putting a Bracelet on her Arm.

Imo. O the gods!

When shall we see again?

Enter CYMBELINE and LORDS.

Post. Alack, the king!

Cym. Thou basest thing, avoid! hence, from

my sight!

If, after this command, thou fraught the court
With thy unworthiness, thou diest: Away !
Thou art poison to my blood.

Post. The gods protect you!
And bless the good remainders of the court!
I am gone.

Imo. There cannot be a pinch in death
More sharp than this is.

Cym. O disloyal thing,

• Close up.

[Exit.

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