But yet thou shalt have freedom : so, so, so. To the king's ship, invisible as thou art : There shalt thou find the mariners asleep Under the hatches; the master and the boat swain Being awake, enforce them to this place, 100 And presently, I prithee. Ari. I drink the air before me, and return Or ere your pulse twice beat. [Exit. Gon. All torinent, trouble, wonder and amazement Inhabits here: some heavenly power guide us Out of this fearful country ! Pros. Behold, sir king, The wronged Duke of Milan, Prospero : For more assurance that a living prince Does now speak to thee, I embrace thy body ; And to thee and thy company I bid 110 A hearty welcome. Alon. Whether thou be’st he or no, Or some enchanted trifle to abuse me, As late I have been, I not know : thy pulse Beats as of flesh and blood ; and, since I saw thee, Prospero First, noble friend, 120 Let me embrace thine age, whose honor can not Whether this be You do yet taste Some subtilties o' the isle, that will not let you Believe things certain. Welcome, my friends all! (Aside to Seb. and Anr.) But you, my brace of lords, were I so minded, I here could pluck his highness' frown upon you And justify you traitors: at this time will tell no tales Seb. (Aside] The devil speaks in him. Pros. No. For you, most wicked sir, whom to call bro ther Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive Thy rankest fault ; all of them ; and require My dukedom of thee, which perforce, I know, Tliou must restore. Alon. If thou be'st Prospero, Give us particulars of thy preservation ; How thou hast met us here, who three hours since Were wreck'd upon this shore ; where I have lostHow sharp the point of this remembrance is ! My dear son Ferdinand. Pros. I am woe fort, sir Alon. Irreparable is the loss, and patience Says it is past her cure, 141 Pros. I rather think grace You the like loss! portable To make the dear loss, have I means much weaker A daughter? Naples, The king and queen there! that they were, I wishi Myself were mudded in that oozy bed Where my son lies. When did you lose your daughter ? Pros. In this last tempest. I perceive, these lords At this encounter do so much admire That they devour their reason and soarce think Their eyes do offices of truth, their words Are natural breath : but, howsoe'er you have Been justled from your senses, know for cer tain That I am Prospero and that very duke Which was thrust forth of Milan, who most strangely 160 Upon this shore, where you were wreck'd, was landed, To be the lord on't. No more yet of this ; For 'tis a chronicle of day by day, Not a relation for a breakfast nor Befitting this first meeting. Welcome, sir; This cell's my court: here have I few attend ants And subjects none abroad : pray yon, look in. My dukedom since you have given me again, I will requite you with as good a thing ; At least bring forth a wonder, to content ye As much as me my dakedom. 171 Flere Prospero discovers FERDINAND and MI RANDA playing at chess. No, my dear'st love, shoulá wrangle, If this prove A most high miracle ! merciful; I have cursed them without cause. [Kneels Alon. Now all the blessings Of a glad father compass thee about ! 180 Arise, and say how thou camest here trod; Mir. O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here ! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't ! Pros. 'Tis new to thee. Alon. What is this maid with whom thou wast at play ? Your eld’st acquaintance cannot be three hours : Sir, she is mortal ; I am hers : There, sir, stop: I have inly wept, 200 Or should have spoke ere this. Look down, you gods, And on this couple drop a blessed crown ! For it is you that have chalk'd forth the way Which brought us hither. Alon, I say, Amen, Gonzalo ! Gon. Was Milan thrust from Milan, that his issue Should become kings of Naples ? O, rejoice Beyond a common joy, and set it down With gold on lasting pillars : In one voyage Did Claribel her husband find at Tunis And Ferdinand, her brother, found a wife 210 Where he himself was lost, Prospero his duke dom hands: Be it so! Amen! Re-enter ARIEL, with the Master and Boat swain amazedly following. 9, look, sir, look, sir ! here is inore of us : 1 prophesied, if a gallows were on land, This fellow could not drown. Now, blas phemy, That swear'st grace o'erboard, not an oath on shore ? Hast thou no mouth by land ? What is the 220 Boats. The best news is, that we have safely found Our king and company ; the next, our shipWhich, but three glasses since, we gave out split Is tight and yare and bravely rigg'd as when. We first put out to sea. Ari. (Aside to Pros.] Sir, all this service Have I done since I went. Pros. [Aside to Ari.] My tricksy spirit ! Alon. These are not natural events ; they strengthen From strange to stranger. Say, how came! you hither ? Boats. If I did think, sir, I were well awake, I’ld strive to tell you. We were dead of sleep, Avd-how we know not-all clapp'd under hatches ; [noises Where but even now with strange and several Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingiing chains, And more diversity of sounds, all horrible We were awaked ; straightway, at liberty; Where we, in all her trim, freshly beheld Our royal, good and gallant ship, our master Capering to eye her : on a trice, so please you, Even in a dream, were we divided from then. And were brought moping hither. Ari. (Aside to Pros.] Was't well done ? 240 Pros." (Asielo 10 Ari.] Bravely, my diligence. Thou shalt be free. Alon. This is as strange a maze as e'er men And there is in this business more than nature Was ever conduct of : some oracle Must rectify our knowledge. Pros. Sir, my liege, Do not infest your mind with beating on The strangeness of this business ; at pick'd leisure Which shall be shortly, single I'll resolve you, Which to you shall seem probable, of every These happen'd accidents ; till when, be cheerful 250 And think of each thing well. (Aside to Ari.] Come hither, spirit: Set Caliban and his companions free ; Untie the spell. [Exit Ariel.] How fares iny gracious sir? There are yet missing of your company Some few odd lads that you remember not. Re-enter ARIEL, driving in CALIBAN, STEPHANO and TRINCULO, in their stolen apparel. Ste. Every man shift for all the rest, and let no man take care for himself ; for all is but fortune. Coragio, bully-monster. coragio! T'rin. If these be true spies which I wear in my head, here's a goodly sight. 260 Cal. O Setebos, these be brave spirits in deed ! Ha, ha ! Very like ; one cf them Is a plain fish, and, no doubt, marketable. Pros. Mark but the badges of these men, my lords news ? For this one night ; which, part of it, I'll waste With such discourse as, I not doubt, shall make it Go quick away; the story of my life And the particular accidents gone by Since I came to this isle : and in the morn I'll bring you to your ship and so to Naples, Where I have hope to see the nuptial Of these our dear-beloved solemnized ; And thence retire me to my Milan, where 310 Every third thought shall be my grave. Alon. I long To hear the story of your life, which must Take the ear strangely. Pros. I'll deliver all ; And promise you calm seas, auspicious gales And sail so expeditious that shall catch Your royal fleet far off. · [Aside to Ari.] My Ariel, chick, That is thy charge : then to the elements Be free, and fare thou well! Please you, draw near, (Exeunt 1 Then say if they be true. This mis-shapen knave, His mother was a witch, and one so strong That could control the moon, make flows and ebbs, 270 And deal in her command without her power. These three have robb'd me ; and this demi devilFor he's a bastard one-had plotted with them To take my life. Two of these fellows you Must know and own ; this thing of darkness I Acknowledge mine. Cal. I shall be pinch'd to death. Alon. Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler ? Seb. He is drunk now: where had he wine ? Alon. And Trinculo is reeling ripe : where should they Find this grand liquor that hath gilded 'em ? How camest thou in this pickle ? 281 Trin. I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of my bones : I shall not fear fly-blowing. Seb. Wiy, how now, Stephano ! but a cramp Pros. You'ld be king o' the isle, sirrah? Ste. I should have been a sore one then. Alon. This is a strange thing as e'er I look'd on. [Pointing to Caliban. Pros. He is as disproportion'd in his man 290 As in his shape. Go, sirrah, to my cell ; Take with you your companions ; as you look To have my pardon, trin it handsomely. Cal. Ay, that I will ; and I'll be wise here after And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass Was I, to take this drunkard for a god And worship this dull fool! Pios. Go to ; away! Alon. Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it. Seb. Or stole it, rather. [Ereunt Cal., Ste., and Trin. Pros. Sir, I invite your higliness and your train 300 To my poor cell, where you shall take your rest EPILOGUE. ners SPOKEN BY PROSPERO. Now my charms are all o'erthrown, And what strength I have's mine own, Which is most faint : now, 'tis true, I must be here confined by you, Or gent to Naples. Let me not, Since I have my dukedom got And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell In this bare island by your spell; But release me from my bands With the help of your good hands : 10 Gentle breath of yours ny sails Must fill, or else my project fails, Which was to please. Now I want Spirits to enforce, art to enchant, And my ending is despair, Unless I he relieved by prayer, Which pierces so that it assaults Mercy itself and frees all faults. As you from crimes would pardon'd be, Let your indulgence set me free, 20 THE WINTER'S TALE. (WRITTEN ABOUT 1610-11.) INTRODUCTION. The Winter's Tale was seen at the Globe on May 15, 1611, by Dr. Forman, and is described in his MS. Booke of Plaies and Notes thereof: The versification is that of Shakespeare's latest group of plays : no tive-measure lines are rhymed ; run-on lines and double endings are numerous. Its tone and feeling place it in the same period with The Tempest and Cymbeline; its breezy air is surely that which blew over Warwickshire fields upon Shakespeare now returned to Stratford ; its country lads and lasses, and their junketings, are those with which the poet had in a happy spirit renewed his acquaintance. The Winter's Tale is perhaps the last complete play that Shakespeare wrote. It is founded upon Greene's Pandosto (or, as it was afterward named, Dorastus and Faunia) first published in 1588. The idea of introducing Time as a chorus comes from Greene, and all the principal characters, except Pauline and the incomparable rogue Autolycus. After his manner, Shakespeare drives forward to what chieily interests him in the subject. The jealousy of Leontes is not a detailed dramatic study like the love and jealousy of Othello. It is a gross madness which mounts to the brain, and turns Leontes' whole nature into unreasoning passion. The character of the noble sufferer Hermione is that with which the dramatist is above all concerned-this first; and, secondly, the grace, beauty, and girlish happiness of Perdita ; while of the subordinate persons of the drama, Shakespeare delights chiefly in his own creation, Autolycus, the most charming of rogues and rovers. Hermione may be placed side by side with the Queen Katharine of llenry III., which play belongs to this period. Both are noble sufferers, who by the dignity and purity of their natures transcend all feeling of vulgar resentment. Deep and even quick feeling never renders Hermione incapable of an admirable justice, nor deprives her of a true sense of pity for him who so gravely wrongs both her and himself.' The meeting of kindred, with forgiveness and reconciliation, if these are called for by past offences, forms the common ending of the last plays of Shakespeare. Perdita belongs to the group of exquisite youthful figures set over against those of their graver and sadder elders in the plays of this period. She is one of the same company with Miranda and Marina, and the youthful sons of Cymbeline. The shepherdess-princes., * queen of curds and cream, is less a vision than Miranda, the child of wonder, but more perhaps a creature of this earth. There is nothing lovelier or more innocently joyous in poetry than Perdita at the rustic merry-making, sharing her flowers with old and young. And in Florizel she has found a lover, full of the innocence and chivalry of wnstained early manhood. Autolycus stands by himself among the creations of the dramatist. The art of thieving as practiseil by him is no crime, but the gift of some knavish god. He does not trample on the laws of morality, but dances or leaps over them with so nimblo a foot that we forbear to stay him. In the sad world which contains a Leontes and can lose a Marillius, 80 light-hearted a wanderer must be pardoned even if he be light-fingered, and sometimes mistakes for his own the sheet bleaching on the hedge, which happens to be ours. DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. CAMILLO, ANTIGONUS, CLEOMENES, DION, one. LEONTES, king of Sicilia. A Gaoler. MAMILLIUS, young prince of Sicilia. HERMIONE, queen to Leontes. PERDITA, daughter to Leontes and Hermi. Four Lords of Sicilia. PAULINA, wife to Antigonus. EMILIA, a lady attending on Hermione. DORCAS, Shepherdesses. Old Shepherd, reputed father of Perdita +.14 $ Other Lords and Gentlemen, Ladies, Officers, and Servants, Shepherds, and Shepherdessen Time, as Chorus. (1073) FLORIZEL, prince of Bohemia erialas Clown, his son. 68 moe us. ACT I. SCENE I. Antechamber in LEONTES' palace. Enter CAMILLO and ARCHIDAMCS. Arch. If you shall chauce, Camillo, to visit Bohemia, on the like occasion whereon my services are now on foot, you shall see, as I have said, great difference betwixtour Bohemia and your Sicilia Cinn. I think, this coining summer, the King of Sicilia means to pay Bohemia the visitation which he justly owes liin. Arch. Wherein our entertainment shall shame us we will be justified in our loves ; for indeed 10 Cam. Beseech you, Arch. Verily, I speak it in the freedom of my knowledge : we cannot with such magnificence—in so rare-I know not what to say. We will give you sleepy drinks, that your senses, unintelligent of our insutħcience, may, though they cannot praise us, as little accuse Cam. You pay a great deal too dear for what's given freely. 19 Arch. Believe me, I speak as my understanding instructs meand as mine honesty puts it to utterance. Cam. Sicilia camot show himself over-kind to Bohemia. They were trained together in their childhoods; and there rooted betwixt them then such an affection, which cannot choose but branch now. Since their more mature dignities and royal necessities made separation of their society, their encounters, though not personal, have been royally attorneyed with interchange of gifts, letters, loving embassies ; that they have seemed to be together, though absent, shook hands, as over a vast, and embraced, as it were, from the ends of opposed winds. The heavens continue their loves ! Arch. I think there is not in the world either malice or matter to alter it. You have an imspeakable comfort of your young prince Mamillius: it is a gentleman of the greatest promise that ever came into my note. 40 Cam. I very well agree with you in the hopes of him : it is a gallant child ; one that indeed physics the subject, makes old hearts fresh : they that went on crutches ere he was born desire yet their life to see him a man. Arch. Would they else be content to die? Cam. Yes ; if there were no other excuse why they should desire to live. Arch. If the king had no son, they would desire to live on crutches till he had one. 50 [Eceunt. SCENE II. A room of state in the same. Enter LEONTES, HERMIONE, MAMILLIUS, POLIXENES, CAMILLO, and Attendants. Pol. Nine changes of the watery star hath been The shepherd's note since we have left our throne Without a burth en : time as long again Would be fill'd up, my brother, with our thanks ; And yet we should, for perpetuity, Go hence in debt : and therefore, like a cipher, Yet standing in rich place, I multiply With one We thank you' many thousands That go before it. Leon. Stay your thanks a while ; And рау them when you part. Pol. Sir, that's to-morrow. 10 I am question'd by my fears, of what may chance Or breed upon our absence ; that may blow No sneaping winds at home, to make us say * This is put forth too truly : ' besides, I have stay'd To tire your royalty. Leon. We are tougher, brother, No longer stay. Very sooth, to-morrow. and in that I'll no gainsaying. Pol. Press me not, beseech you, so. There is no tongue that moves, none, pone i' the world, 20 So soon as yours could win me : so it should now, Were there necessity in your request, although "Twere needful I denied it. My affairs Do even drag me homeward : which to hinder Were in your love a whip to me; my stay To you a charge and trouble : to save both, Farewell, our brother. Leon. Tongne-tied, our queen? speak you. peace until You have drawn oaths from him not to stay. You, sir, Charge him too coldly. Tell him, you are sure All in Bohemia's well ; this satisfaction The by-gone day proclaim'd: say this to him, He's beat from his best ward. Leon. Well said, Hermione. Her. To tell, he longs to see his son, were strong: But let him say so then, and let him go ; But let him swear so, and he shall not stay, We'll thwack him hence with distaffs. Yet of your royal presence I'll adventure The borrow of a week. When at Bohemia You take my lord, I'll give him my commission 40 No, madam I may not, verily, |