Thou hast thy mistress still; to boot, my son, As thou❜lt desire; and then myself, I chiefly, To load thy merit richly. Call my women: [Exit PISANIO A sly and constant knave, Not to be shak'd; the agent for his master, And the remembrancer of her, to hold The hand-fast to her lord.—I have given him that, Which, if he take, shall quite unpeople her 5 Of liegers for her sweet; and which she after, Re-enter PISANIO, and Ladies. [Exeunt QUEEN and Ladies. And shall do ; Bear to my closet. Fare thee well, Pisanio: Think on my words. Pis. But when to my good lord I prove untrue, I'll choke myself: there's all I'll do for you. [Exit. SCENE VII. Another Room in the Same. Enter IMOGEN. Imo. A father cruel, and a step-dame false; A foolish suitor to a wedded lady, That hath her husband banish'd: band! -O, that hus My supreme crown of grief! and those repeated A lieger is an ambassador; one that resides in a foreign court to promote his master's interest. Vexations of it! Had I been thief-stolen, As my two brothers, happy! but most miserable Is the desire that's glorious: Blessed be those, How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills, Which seasons comfort.' Who may this be? Fie Enter PISANIO and IACHIMO. Pis. Madam, a noble gentleman of Rome Comes from my lord with letters. Iach. Change you, madam? The worthy Leonatus is in safety, And greets your highness dearly. [Presents a Letter. Imo. You're kindly welcome, Thanks, good sir: Tach. [Aside.] All of her, that is out of door, most rich! If she be furnish'd with a mind so rare, She is alone th' Arabian bird, and I Have lost the wager. Boldness be my friend! Or, like the Parthian, I shall flying fight; Imo. [Reads.] He is one of the noblest note, to whose kindnesses I am most infinitely tied. Reflect upon him accordingly, as you value your truest 2 So far I read aloud; But even the very middle of my heart LEONATUS. 1 To season a thing is to give it a relish or zest: the word is constantly so used in cookery.-The meaning of the passage is, the homely freedom of those who dwell in the poorest cottages, those who are left to the enjoyment of their honest wills, is what puts a relish into the comforts of life, and makes them blessings indeed. The sentiment is worthy of a son of old England. H. 2 The old copy reads, trust. The emendation was suggested by Mason, is defended by Steevens, and opposed by Malone Is warm'd by th' rest, and takes it thankfully. — Have words to bid you; and shall find it so, Iach. Thanks, fairest lady. What! are men mad? Hath nature given them eyes Imo. What makes your admiration? Tach. It cannot be i'the eye; for apes and mon keys, 4 "Twixt two such shes, would chatter this way, and 3 That is, which can distinguish betwixt the pebbles, though as like one another as twins, that lie numberless on the beach. The original reads, "the number'd beach;" out of which it is not easy to extract a meaning. "Th' unnumber'd beach" was proposed by Theobald, has been approved by several, and is found in Mr. Collier's second folio. Of course, unnumber'd has the sense of numberless or innumerable; a frequent usage in the Poet's time. It has also been proposed to read cope instead of crop, in the third line above; but this would make but an ugly tautology on vaulted arch: besides, it would require of to be changed into o'er: both which changes are indeed made in Collier's second folio. But these changes will not go besides, no change is wanted here, the sense being clear enough, and natural enough, as the text stands. 4 To mow, or moe, is to make mouths. H. • In the original to is wanting; and much ingenuity has been Imo. What is the matter, trow? Iach. (That satiate yet unsatisfied desire, The cloyed will, That tub both fill'd and running,) ravening first My man's abode where I did leave him: he Is strange and peevish." Pis. To give him welcome. I was going, sir, [Exit PISANIO. Imo. Continues well my lord? His health, he seech you? Iach. Well, madam. Imo. Is he dispos'd to mirth? I hope he is. Iach. Exceeding pleasant; none a stranger there and so gamesome: he is call'd So merry The Briton reveller. Imo. When he was here, He did incline to sadness; and oft-times Not knowing why. Iach. I never saw him sad. There is a Frenchman his companion, one, spent in trying to explain the meaning of vomit emptiness, this be ing a somewhat difficult thing to throw up. The preposition is supplied in Collier's second folio, and seems needful alike to the sense and the metre. H. 6 That is, he is a foreigner or stranger, and foolish, or silly. 7 We have the same expression in Chapman's preface to his translation of the Shield of Homer, 1598: "Furnaceth the universal sighes and complaintes of this transposed world." And in As You Like It: "Sighing like furnace, with a woful ballad." The thick sighs from him; whiles the jolly Briton (Your lord, I mean) laughs from 's free lungs; cries, "O! Can my sides hold, to think that man - who knows What woman is, yea, what she cannot choose Imo. Will my lord say so? Iach. Ay, madam; with his eyes in flood with laughter: It is a recreation to be by, And hear him mock the Frenchman. But, heavens know, Some men are much to blame. Imo. Not he, I hope. Tach. Not he: but yet Heaven's bounty towards him might Be us'd more thankfully. In himself, 'tis much; To pity too. Imo. What do you pity, sir? Iach. Two creatures, heartily. Imo. - You look on me: what wreck discern you in me, Deserves your pity? Iach. Lamentable! What! To hide me from the radiant sun, and solace Imo. I pray you, sir, 8 That is, on his own account merely, or in respect of himself, let alone his wife, his conduct is bad enough; but when I consider the grossness of his sin in respect of you, I am bound, &c. In was, and indeed still is, often used with the sense of in respect of H. |