Iach.

All too soon I shall,

Unless thou would'st grieve quickly.—This Posthúmus, (Most like a noble lord in love, and one

That had a royal lover,) took his hint;

And, not dispraising whom we prais'd, (therein
He was as calm as virtue) he began

His mistress' picture; which by his tongue being made,
And then a mind put in 't, either our brags

Were crack'd of kitchen trulls, or his description
Prov'd us unspeaking sots.

Сут.

Nay, nay, to the purpose.

Iach. Your daughter's chastity-there it begins.
He spake of her, as Dian had hot dreams,
And she alone were cold: Whereat, I, wretch!
Made scruple of his praise; and wager'd with him
Pieces of gold, 'gainst this which then he wore
Upon his honour'd finger, to attain

In suit the place of his bed, and win this ring
By hers and mine adultery: he, true knight,
No lesser of her honour confident

Than I did truly find her, stakes this ring;
And would so, had it been a carbuncle

Of Phoebus' wheel;1 and might so safely, had it
Been all the worth of his car. Away to Britain
Post I in this design: Well may you, sir,
Remember me at court, where I was taught
Of your chaste daughter the wide difference
'Twixt amorous and villainous. Being thus quench'd
Of hope, not longing, mine Italian brain
'Gan in your duller Britain operate
Most vilely; for my vantage, excellent;
And, to be brief, my practice so prevail'd,
That I return'd with simular proof enough
To make the noble Leonatus mad,
By wounding his belief in her renown
With tokens thus, and thus; averring notes

9 as Dian] i. e. as if Dian. So, in The Winter's Tale: "he utters them as he had eaten ballads." See also, Vol. IX, p. 143, n. 2.

Malone.

a carbuncle &c.] So, in Antony and Cleopatra: "He has deserv'd it, were it carbuncled

"Like Phabue' car." Steevens.

Of chamber-hanging, pictures, this her bracelet,
(O, cunning, how I got it!) nay, some marks
Of secret on her person, that he could not
But think her bond of chastity quite crack'd,
I having ta'en the forfeit. Whereupon,―
Methinks, I see him now,

Post.

Ay, so thou dost, [Coming forward.

Italian fiend!-Ah me, most credulous fool,
Egregious murderer, thief, any thing

That's due to all the villains past, in being,

To come!-O, give me cord, or knife, or poison,
Some upright justicer!3 Thou, king, send out
For torturers ingenious: it is I

That all the abhorred things o' the earth amend,
By being worse than they. I am Posthúmus,
That kill'd thy daughter:-villain-like, I lie;
That caus'd a lesser villain than myself,
A sacrilegious thief, to do 't:-the temple
Of virtue was she; yea, and she herself.
Spit, and throw stones, cast mire upon me, set
The dogs o' the street to bay me: every villain
Be call'd, Posthú mus Leonatus; and

Be villainy less than 'twas!-O Imogen!.
My queen, my life, my wife! O Imogen,
Imogen, Imogen!

Imo.

Peace, my lord; hear, hearPost. Shall's have a play of this? Thou scornful page, There lie thy part.

2

Pis.

[Striking her: she falls.

O, gentlemen, help, help

averring notes -] Such marks of the chamber and pictures, as averred or confirmed my report. Johnson.

3 Some upright justicer!] I meet with this antiquated word in The Tragedy of Darius, 1603:

this day,

"Th' eternal justicer sees through the stars."

Again, in Law Tricks, &c. 1608:

"No: we must have an upright justicer."

Again, in Warner's Albion's England, 1602, B. X, ch. liv:

"Precelling his progenitors, a justicer upright." Steevens. Justicer is used by Shakspeare thrice in King Lear. Henley. The most ancient law books have justicers of the peace, as frequently as justices of the peace. Reed.

4

and she herself.] That is,-She was not only the temple of virtue, but virtue herself. Johnson.

Mine, and your mistress:-O, my lord Posthúmus!
You ne'er kill'd Imogen till now:-Help, help!-
Mine honour'd lady!

Сут.
Does the world go round?
Post. How come these staggers5 on me?

Pis.

Wake, my mistress!

Cym. If this be so, the gods do mean to strike me To death with mortal joy.

Pis.

How fares my mistress?

Imo. O, get thee from my sight;

Thou gav'st me poison: dangerous fellow, hence!
Breathe not where princes are.

Cym.

Pis. Lady,

The tune of Imogen!

The gods throw stones of sulphur on me, if
That box I gave you was not thought by me
A precious thing; I had it from the queen.
Cym. New matter still?

Imo.

Cor.

It poison'd me.

O Gods!I left out one thing which the queen confess'd, Which must approve thee honest: If Pisanio Have, said she, given his mistress that confection Which I gave him for a cordial, she is serv'd As I would serve a rat.

Cym.

What's this, Cornelius?
Cor. The queen, sir, very oft impórtun'd me
To temper poisons for her; still pretending
The satisfaction of her knowledge, only
In killing creatures vile, as cats and dogs,
Of no esteem: I, dreading that her purpose
Was of more danger, did compound for her
A certain stuff, which, being ta'en, would cease
The present power of life; but, in short time,
All offices of nature should again

Do their due functions.-Have you ta'en of it?
Imo. Most like I did, for I was dead.
Bel.

There was our error.

My boys,

Gui.

This is sure, Fidele.

5- these staggers-1 This wild and delirious perturbation. Staggers is the horse's apoplexy. Johnson.

Imo. Why did you throw your wedded lady from you? Think, that you are upon a rock;6 and now

Throw me again.

Post.

Till the tree die!

Сут.

[Embracing him.

Hang there like fruit, my soul,

What, mak'st thou me a dullard in this act?
Wilt thou not speak to me?

Imo.

How now, my flesh, my child?

Your blessing, sir. [Kneeling.

[To GUI. and ARV.

Bel. Though you did love this youth, I blame ye not; You had a motive for 't.

Cym.
My tears, that fall,
Prove holy water on thee! Imogen,

Thy mother's dead.

Imo.

I am sorry for 't, my lord.

Cym. O, she was naught; and 'long of her it was, That we meet here so strangely: But her son

6 Think, that you are upon a rock;] In this speech, or in the answer, there is little meaning. I suppose, she would say,-Consider such another act as equally fatal to me with precipitation from a rock, and now let me see whether you will repeat it. Johnson.

Perhaps only a stage direction is wanting to clear this passage from obscurity. Imogen first upbraids her husband for the violent treatment she had just experienced; then confident of the return of passion which she knew must succeed to the discovery of her innocence, the poet might have meant her to rush into his arms, and while she clung about him fast, to dare him to throw her off a second time, lest that precipitation should prove as fatal to them both, as if the place where they stood had been a rock. To which he replies, hang there, i. e. round my neck, till the frame that now supports you shall decay.

Though the speeches that follow are necessary to the complete evolution of our author's plot, the interest of the drama may be said to conclude with the re-union of Posthumus and Imogen:

"Fœdus, et intrepidos nox conscia jungit amantes."

In defence of this remark, I may subjoin, that both Aristarchus, and Aristophanes the grammarian, were of opinion that the Odyssey should have concluded when Ulysses and Penelope

7

669

6 3 Ασπάσιοι λέκτροιο παλαιό θεσμὸν ἵκοντο.” Steevens.

- a dullard — ] In this place means a person stupidly unconcerned. So, in Histriomastix, or the Player whipt, 1610: "What dullard! would'st thou doat in rusty art?" Again, Stanyhurst in his version of the first Book of Virgil, 1582: "We Moores, lyke dullards, are not so wytles abyding."

Steevens.

Is gone, we know not how, nor where.

Pis.

My lord, Now fear is from me, I'll speak troth. Lord Cloten,

Upon my lady's missing, came to me

With his sword drawn; foam'd at the mouth, and swore,
If I discover'd not which way she was gone,
It was my instant death: By accident,

8

I had a feigned letter of my master's
Then in my pocket; which directed him
To seek her on the mountains near to Milford;
Where, in a frenzy, in my master's garments,
Which he inforc'd from me, away he posts
With unchaste purpose, and with oath to violate
My lady's honour: what became of him,

I further know not.

Gui.

I slew him there.

Cym.

Let me end the story:

Marry, the gods forfend!

I would not thy good deeds should from my lips
Pluck a hard sentence: pr'ythee, valiant youth,
Deny 't again.

Gui.

I have spoke it, and I did it.

Cym. He was a prince.

Gui. A most uncivil one: The wrongs he did me
Were nothing prince-like; for he did provoke me
With language that would make me spurn the sea,
If it could so roar to me: I cut off's head;
And am right glad, he is not standing here
To tell this tale of mine.

Cym.
I am sorry for thee;"
By thine own tongue thou art condemn'd, and must
Endure our law: Thou art dead.

8 ·which directed him —] Which led or induced him.

9 I am sorry for thee:] The old copy has

I am sorrow for thee.

Malone.

This obvious error of the press was corrected in the second folio.

Malone.