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The pretty dimples of his chin, and cheek; his smiles;
The very mould and frame of hand, nail, finger :-
And, thou, good goddess nature, which hast made it
So like to him that got it, if thou hast

The ordering of the mind too, 'mongst all colours
No yellow in't; lest she suspect, as he does,

Her children not her husband's!

Leon.

A gross hag!

Hang all the husbands,

And, lozel,' thou art worthy to be hang'd,
That wilt not stay her tongue.

Ant.

That cannot do that feat, you'll leave yourself

Hardly one subject.

Leon.
Once more, take her hence.
Paul. A most unworthy and unnatural lord

Can do no more.

Leon.

Paul.

I'll have thee burn'd.

It is an heretick, that makes the fire,

I care not:

Not she, which burns in't. I'll not call you tyrant;
But this most cruel usage of your queen

(Not able to produce more accusation

Than your own weak-hing'd fancy,) something savours
Of tyranny, and will ignoble make you,
Yea, scandalous to the world.

Leon.

On your allegiance,

Out of the chamber with her. Were I a tyrant,
Where were her life? she durst not call me so,
If she did know me one. Away with her.

Paul. I pray you do not push me; I'll be gone. Look to your babe, my lord: 'tis yours: Jove send her A better guiding spirit!-What need these hands?— You that are thus so tender o'er his follies,

Will never do him good, not one of you.

So, so:-Farewell; we are gone.

[Exit.

Leon. Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this.

My child? away with't!-even thou, that hast

1

No yellow in't;] Yellow is the colour of jealousy.

lozel,]"A lozel is one that hath lost, neglected, or cast off, his own

good and welfare, and so is become lewde and carelesse of credit and honesty.”

-Verstegan's Restitution, 1605. p. 335.

A heart so tender o'er it, take it hence,

And see it instantly consum'd with fire;

Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up straight:
Within this hour bring me word 'tis done,

(And by good testimony,) or I'll seize thy life,
With what thou else call'st thine: If thou refuse,
And wilt encounter with my wrath, say so;
The bastard brains with these my proper hands
Shall I dash out. Go, take it to the fire;

For thou sett'st on thy wife.

Ant.

I did not, sir :

These lords, my noble fellows, if they please,
Can clear me in't.

1 Lord.

We can; my royal liege,

He is not guilty of her coming hither.

Leon. You are liars all.

1 Lord. 'Beseech your highness, give us better credit; We have always truly serv'd you; and beseech

So to esteem of us: And on our knees we beg,

(As recompense of our dear services,

Past, and to come,) that you do change this purpose;
Which being so horrible, so bloody, must

Lead on to some foul issue: We all kneel.

Leon. I am a feather for each wind that blows:

Shall I live on to see this bastard kneel

And call me father? Better burn it now,
Than curse it then. But, be it; let it live:

It shall not neither.-You, sir, come you hither;

[To ANTIGONUS.

You, that have been so tenderly officious
With lady Margery, your midwife, there,
To save this bastard's life: for 'tis a bastard,
So sure as this beard's grey," what will you
To save this brat's life?

Ant.

Any thing, my lord, That my ability may undergo,

And nobleness impose: at least, thus much;

m

adventure

- as sure as this beard's grey,] Leontes was under thirty, for he has himself told us that twenty-three years before he was unbreeched, in his green velvet coat, &c. The grey beard spoken of therefore is that of Antigonus.

I'll pawn the little blood which I have left,
To save the innocent: any thing possible.

Leon. It shall be possible: Swear by this sword,
Thou wilt perform my bidding.

Ant.

I will my lord.

Leon. Mark, and perform it; (seest thou?) for the fail Of any point in't shall not only be

Death to thyself, but to thy lew'd-tongu'd wife;
Whom, for this time, we pardon. We enjoin thee,
As thou art liegeman to us, that thou carry

This female bastard hence; and that thou bear it
To some remote and desert place, quite out
Of our dominions; and that there thou leave it,
Without more mercy, to its own protection,
And favour of the climate. As by strange fortune
It came to us, I do in justice charge thee,-
On thy soul's peril, and thy body's torture,-
That thou commend it strangely to some place,
Where chance may nurse or end it: Take it up.

Ant. I swear to do this, though a present death
Had been more merciful.-Come on, poor babe :
Some powerful spirit instruct the kites and ravens,
To be thy nurses! Wolves, and bears, they say,
Casting their savageness aside, have done
Like offices of pity.-Sir, be prosperous

In more than this deed doth require! and blessing,
Against this cruelty, fight on thy side,

Poor thing, condemn'd to loss !P

Leon.

Another's issue.

1 Atten.

Exit with the Child. No, I'll not rear

Please your highness, posts,

From those you sent to the oracle, are come

An hour since: Cleomenes and Dion,

Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed,
Hasting to the court.

n

Swear by this sword,] It was anciently the custom to swear by the cross on the handle of a sword.-STEEVENS.

commend it strangely to some place,] Commit it to some place, as a stranger, without more provision.-JOHNSON.

P

to loss!] i. e. To be exposed as a thing lost.

1 Lord.

So please you, sir, their speed

Hath been beyond account.

Leon.

Twenty-three days

They have been absent: "Tis good speed; foretels,
The great Apollo suddenly will have

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The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords;
Summon a session, that we may arraign
Our most disloyal lady: for, as she hath
Been publickly accus'd, so shall she have
A just and open trial. While she lives,
My heart will be a burden to me.
And think upon my bidding.

ACT III.

Leave me :

L

[Exeunt.

SCENE I.The same. A Street in some Town.

Enter CLEOMENES and DION.

Cleo. The climate's delicate; the air most sweet; Fertile the isle ; the temple much surpassing

The common praise it bears.

Dion.

I shall report,

For most it caught me, the celestial habits,

(Methinks, I so should term them,) and the reverence Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice!

How ceremonious, solemn, and unearthly

It was i'the offering!

Cleo.

But, of all, the burst

And the ear-deafening voice o'the oracle,

Kin to Jove's thunder, so surpriz'd my sense,

That I was nothing.

Dion.

If the event o'the journey

Prove as successful to the queen,-O, be't so!-
As it hath been to us, rare, pleasant, speedy,

The time is worth the use on't."

a Fertile the isle ;] Throughout this play the town of Delphi, where the celebrated temple of Apollo was situated, and which was on the continent, has been spoken of as Delphos, and called an island. The mistake originated with the author of Dorastus and Fawnia, from whom Shakspeare borrowed his plot.

The time is worth the use on't.] The time is worth the use on't, means, the time which we have spent in visiting Delos, has recompensed us for the trouble of so spending it.-JOHNSON.

Cleo.

Great Apollo,

Turn all to the best! These proclamations,

So forcing faults upon Hermione,

I little like.

Dion.

The violent carriage of it

Will clear, or end, the business: When the oracle, (Thus by Apollo's great divine seal'd up,)

Shall the contents discover, something rare,

Even then will rush to knowledge.Go, fresh

horses ;

And gracious be the issue!

SCENE II.

The same. A Court of Justice.

[Exeunt.

LEONTES, Lords, and Officers, appear properly seated. Leon. This sessions (to our great grief, we pronounce,)

Even pushes 'gainst our heart: The party tried,

The daughter of a king; our wife; and one

Of us too much belov'd.-Let us be clear'd

Of being tyrannous, since we so openly
Proceed in justice; which shall have due course,
Even to the guilt, or the purgation.

Produce the prisoner.

Offi. It is his highness' pleasure, that the queen Appear in person here in court.-Silence!

HERMIONE is brought in, guarded; PAULINA and Ladies attending.

Leon. Read the indictment.

Offi. Hermione, queen to the worthy Leontes, king of Sicilia, thou art here accused and arraigned of high treason, in committing adultery with Polixenes, king of Bohemia; and conspiring with Camillo to take away the life of our sovereign lord the king, thy royal husband: the pretences whereof being by circumstances partly laid open, thou Hermione, contrary to the faith and allegiance of a true subject, didst counsel and aid them, for their better safety, to fly away by night.

pretence]-is, in this place, taken for a scheme laid, a design formed. To pretend means to design, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona.-JOHNSON.

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