William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (512 page)
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Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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POLIXENES
No, madam.
HERMIONE Nay, but you will?
POLIXENES I may not, verily.
HERMIONE Verily?
You put me off with limber vows. But I,
Though you would seek t‘unsphere the stars with
oaths,
Should yet say ‘Sir, no going.’ Verily
You shall not go. A lady’s ‘verily’ ’s
As potent as a lord’s. Will you go yet?
Force me to keep you as a prisoner,
Not like a guest: so you shall pay your fees
When you depart, and save your thanks. How say
you?
My prisoner? or my guest? By your dread ‘verily’,
One of them you shall be.
Though you would seek t‘unsphere the stars with
oaths,
Should yet say ‘Sir, no going.’ Verily
You shall not go. A lady’s ‘verily’ ’s
As potent as a lord’s. Will you go yet?
Force me to keep you as a prisoner,
Not like a guest: so you shall pay your fees
When you depart, and save your thanks. How say
you?
My prisoner? or my guest? By your dread ‘verily’,
One of them you shall be.
POLIXENES
Your guest then, madam.
To be your prisoner should import offending,
Which is for me less easy to commit
Than you to punish.
Which is for me less easy to commit
Than you to punish.
HERMIONE
Not your jailer then,
But your kind hostess. Come, I’ll question you
Of my lord’s tricks and yours when you were boys.
You were pretty lordings then?
Of my lord’s tricks and yours when you were boys.
You were pretty lordings then?
POLIXENES
We were, fair Queen,
Two lads that thought there was no more behind
But such a day tomorrow as today,
And to be boy eternal.
But such a day tomorrow as today,
And to be boy eternal.
HERMIONE Was not my lord
The verier wag o’th’ two?
POLIXENES
We were as twinned lambs that did frisk i‘th’ sun,
And bleat the one at th’other. What we changed
Was innocence for innocence. We knew not
The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dreamed
That any did. Had we pursued that life,
And our weak spirits ne‘er been higher reared
With stronger blood, we should have answered
heaven
Boldly, ‘Not guilty’, the imposition cleared
Hereditary ours.
And bleat the one at th’other. What we changed
Was innocence for innocence. We knew not
The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dreamed
That any did. Had we pursued that life,
And our weak spirits ne‘er been higher reared
With stronger blood, we should have answered
heaven
Boldly, ‘Not guilty’, the imposition cleared
Hereditary ours.
HERMIONE
By this we gather
You have tripped since.
POLIXENES
O my most sacred lady,
Temptations have since then been born to’s; for
In those unfledged days was my wife a girl.
Your precious self had then not crossed the eyes
Of my young playfellow.
In those unfledged days was my wife a girl.
Your precious self had then not crossed the eyes
Of my young playfellow.
HERMIONE
Grace to boot!
Of this make no conclusion, lest you say
Your queen and I are devils. Yet go on.
Th’offences we have made you do we’ll answer,
If you first sinned with us, and that with us
You did continue fault, and that you slipped not
With any but with us.
Your queen and I are devils. Yet go on.
Th’offences we have made you do we’ll answer,
If you first sinned with us, and that with us
You did continue fault, and that you slipped not
With any but with us.
LEONTES
Is he won yet?
HERMIONE
He’ll stay, my lord.
LEONTES
At my request he would not.
Hermione, my dearest, thou never spok’st
To better purpose.
To better purpose.
HERMIONE
Never?
LEONTES
Never but once.
HERMIONE
What, have I twice said well? When was’t before?
I prithee tell me. Cram’s with praise, and make’s
As fat as tame things. One good deed dying tongueless
Slaughters a thousand waiting upon that.
Our praises are our wages. You may ride’s
With one soft kiss a thousand furlongs ere
With spur we heat an acre. But to th’ goal.
My last good deed was to entreat his stay.
What was my first? It has an elder sister,
Or I mistake you. O, would her name were Gracel
But once before I spoke to th’ purpose? When?
Nay, let me have’t. I long.
I prithee tell me. Cram’s with praise, and make’s
As fat as tame things. One good deed dying tongueless
Slaughters a thousand waiting upon that.
Our praises are our wages. You may ride’s
With one soft kiss a thousand furlongs ere
With spur we heat an acre. But to th’ goal.
My last good deed was to entreat his stay.
What was my first? It has an elder sister,
Or I mistake you. O, would her name were Gracel
But once before I spoke to th’ purpose? When?
Nay, let me have’t. I long.
LEONTES
Why, that was when
Three crabbed months had soured themselves to death
Ere I could make thee open thy white hand
And clap thyself my love. Then didst thou utter,
‘I am yours for ever.’
Ere I could make thee open thy white hand
And clap thyself my love. Then didst thou utter,
‘I am yours for ever.’
HERMIONE
’Tis grace indeed.
Why lo you now; I have spoke to th’ purpose twice.
The one for ever earned a royal husband;
Th’other, for some while a friend.
The one for ever earned a royal husband;
Th’other, for some while a friend.
⌈
She gives her hand to Polixenes.
⌉They stand aside
LEONTES (aside)
Too hot, too hot:
To mingle friendship farre is mingling bloods.
I have tremor cordis on me. My heart dances,
But not for joy, not joy. This entertainment
May a free face put on, derive a liberty
From heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom,
And well become the agent. ’T may, I grant.
But to be paddling palms and pinching fingers,
As now they are, and making practised smiles
As in a looking-glass; and then to sigh, as ‘twere
The mort o’th’ deer—O, that is entertainment
My bosom likes not, nor my brows.—Mamillius,
Art thou my boy?
I have tremor cordis on me. My heart dances,
But not for joy, not joy. This entertainment
May a free face put on, derive a liberty
From heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom,
And well become the agent. ’T may, I grant.
But to be paddling palms and pinching fingers,
As now they are, and making practised smiles
As in a looking-glass; and then to sigh, as ‘twere
The mort o’th’ deer—O, that is entertainment
My bosom likes not, nor my brows.—Mamillius,
Art thou my boy?
MAMILLIUS
Ay, my good lord.
LEONTES
I’fecks,
Why, that’s my bawcock. What? Hast smutched thy
nose?
They say it is a copy out of mine. Come, captain,
We must be neat—not neat, but cleanly, captain.
And yet the steer, the heifer, and the calf
Are all called neat.—Still virginalling
Upon his palm?—How now, you wanton calf—
Art thou my calf?
nose?
They say it is a copy out of mine. Come, captain,
We must be neat—not neat, but cleanly, captain.
And yet the steer, the heifer, and the calf
Are all called neat.—Still virginalling
Upon his palm?—How now, you wanton calf—
Art thou my calf?
MAMILLIUS
Yes, if you will, my lord.
LEONTES
Thou want‘st a rough pash and the shoots that I have,
To be full like me. Yet they say we are
Almost as like as eggs. Women say so,
That will say anything. But were they false
As o’er-dyed blacks, as wind, as waters, false
As dice are to be wished by one that fixes
No bourn ‘twixt his and mine, yet were it true
To say this boy were like me. Come, sir page,
Look on me with your welkin eye. Sweet villain,
Most dear’st, my collop! Can thy dam—may’t be?—
Affection, thy intention stabs the centre.
Thou dost make possible things not so held,
Communicat‘st with dreams—how can this be?—
With what’s unreal thou coactive art,
And fellow’st nothing. Then ‘tis very credent
Thou mayst co-join with something, and thou dost—
And that beyond commission; and I find it—
And that to the infection of my brains
And hard’ning of my brows.
To be full like me. Yet they say we are
Almost as like as eggs. Women say so,
That will say anything. But were they false
As o’er-dyed blacks, as wind, as waters, false
As dice are to be wished by one that fixes
No bourn ‘twixt his and mine, yet were it true
To say this boy were like me. Come, sir page,
Look on me with your welkin eye. Sweet villain,
Most dear’st, my collop! Can thy dam—may’t be?—
Affection, thy intention stabs the centre.
Thou dost make possible things not so held,
Communicat‘st with dreams—how can this be?—
With what’s unreal thou coactive art,
And fellow’st nothing. Then ‘tis very credent
Thou mayst co-join with something, and thou dost—
And that beyond commission; and I find it—
And that to the infection of my brains
And hard’ning of my brows.
POLIXENES
What means Sicilia?
HERMIONE
He something seems unsettled.
POLIXENES
How, my lord!
LEONTES
What cheer? How is’t with you, best brother?
HERMIONE
You look
As if you held a brow of much distraction.
Are you moved, my lord?
Are you moved, my lord?
LEONTES
No, in good earnest.
How sometimes nature will betray its folly,
Its tenderness, and make itself a pastime
To harder bosoms! Looking on the lines
Of my boy’s face, methoughts I did recoil
Twenty-three years, and saw myself unbreeched,
In my green velvet coat; my dagger muzzled,
Lest it should bite its master, and so prove,
As ornament oft does, too dangerous.
How like, methought, I then was to this kernel,
This squash, this gentleman.—Mine honest friend,
Will you take eggs for money?
Its tenderness, and make itself a pastime
To harder bosoms! Looking on the lines
Of my boy’s face, methoughts I did recoil
Twenty-three years, and saw myself unbreeched,
In my green velvet coat; my dagger muzzled,
Lest it should bite its master, and so prove,
As ornament oft does, too dangerous.
How like, methought, I then was to this kernel,
This squash, this gentleman.—Mine honest friend,
Will you take eggs for money?
MAMILLIUS
No, my lord, I’ll fight.
LEONTES
You will? Why, happy man be’s dole!—My brother,
Are you so fond of your young prince as we
Do seem to be of ours?
Are you so fond of your young prince as we
Do seem to be of ours?
POLIXENES
If at home, sir,
He’s all my exercise, my mirth, my matter;
Now my sworn friend, and then mine enemy;
My parasite, my soldier, statesman, all.
He makes a July’s day short as December,
And with his varying childness cures in me
Thoughts that would thick my blood.
Now my sworn friend, and then mine enemy;
My parasite, my soldier, statesman, all.
He makes a July’s day short as December,
And with his varying childness cures in me
Thoughts that would thick my blood.
LEONTES
So stands this squire
Officed with me. We two will walk, my lord,
And leave you to your graver steps. Hermione,
How thou lov’st us show in our brother’s welcome.
Let what is dear in Sicily be cheap.
Next to thyself and my young rover, he’s
Apparent to my heart.
And leave you to your graver steps. Hermione,
How thou lov’st us show in our brother’s welcome.
Let what is dear in Sicily be cheap.
Next to thyself and my young rover, he’s
Apparent to my heart.
HERMIONE
If you would seek us,
We are yours i’th’ garden. Shall’s attend you there?
LEONTES
To your own bents dispose you. You’ll be found,
Be you beneath the sky. (
Aside
) I am angling now,
Though you perceive me not how I give line.
Go to, go to!
How she holds up the neb, the bill to him,
And arms her with the boldness of a wife
To her allowing husband!
Be you beneath the sky. (
Aside
) I am angling now,
Though you perceive me not how I give line.
Go to, go to!
How she holds up the neb, the bill to him,
And arms her with the boldness of a wife
To her allowing husband!
Exeunt Polixenes and Hermione
Gone already.
Gone already.
Inch-thick, knee-deep, o‘er head and ears a forked
one!—
Go play, boy, play. Thy mother plays, and I
Play too; but so disgraced a part, whose issue
Will hiss me to my grave. Contempt and clamour
Will be my knell. Go play, boy, play. There have been,
Or I am much deceived, cuckolds ere now,
And many a man there is, even at this present,
Now, while I speak this, holds his wife by th’arm,
That little thinks she has been sluiced in’s absence,
And his pond fished by his next neighbour, by
Sir Smile, his neighbour. Nay, there’s comfort in‘t,
Whiles other men have gates, and those gates opened,
As mine, against their will. Should all despair
That have revolted wives, the tenth of mankind
Would hang themselves. Physic for’t there’s none.
It is a bawdy planet, that will strike
Where ’tis predominant; and ‘tis powerful. Think it:
From east, west, north, and south, be it concluded,
No barricado for a belly. Know’t,
It will let in and out the enemy
With bag and baggage. Many thousand on’s
Have the disease and feel’t not.—How now, boy?
one!—
Go play, boy, play. Thy mother plays, and I
Play too; but so disgraced a part, whose issue
Will hiss me to my grave. Contempt and clamour
Will be my knell. Go play, boy, play. There have been,
Or I am much deceived, cuckolds ere now,
And many a man there is, even at this present,
Now, while I speak this, holds his wife by th’arm,
That little thinks she has been sluiced in’s absence,
And his pond fished by his next neighbour, by
Sir Smile, his neighbour. Nay, there’s comfort in‘t,
Whiles other men have gates, and those gates opened,
As mine, against their will. Should all despair
That have revolted wives, the tenth of mankind
Would hang themselves. Physic for’t there’s none.
It is a bawdy planet, that will strike
Where ’tis predominant; and ‘tis powerful. Think it:
From east, west, north, and south, be it concluded,
No barricado for a belly. Know’t,
It will let in and out the enemy
With bag and baggage. Many thousand on’s
Have the disease and feel’t not.—How now, boy?
MAMILLIUS
I am like you, they say.
LEONTES
Why, that’s some comfort.
What, Camillo there!
CAMILLO [
coming forward
] Ay, my good lord.
coming forward
] Ay, my good lord.
LEONTES
Go play, Mamillius, thou’rt an honest man.
Exit Mamillius
Camillo, this great sir will yet stay longer.
CAMILLO
You had much ado to make his anchor hold.
When you cast out, it still came home.
When you cast out, it still came home.
LEONTES Didst note it?
CAMILLO
He would not stay at your petitions, made
His business more material.
His business more material.
LEONTES
Didst perceive it?
(Aside) They’re here with me already, whisp‘ring,
rounding,
‘Sicilia is a so-forth’. ’Tis far gone
When I shall gust it last.—How came’t, Camillo,
That he did stay?
rounding,
‘Sicilia is a so-forth’. ’Tis far gone
When I shall gust it last.—How came’t, Camillo,
That he did stay?
CAMILLO
At the good Queen’s entreaty.
LEONTES
‘At the Queen’s’ be’t. ‘Good’ should be pertinent,
But so it is, it is not. Was this taken
By any understanding pate but thine?
For thy conceit is soaking, will draw in
More than the common blocks. Not noted, is’t,
But of the finer natures? By some severals
Of head-piece extraordinary? Lower messes
Perchance are to this business purblind? Say.
But so it is, it is not. Was this taken
By any understanding pate but thine?
For thy conceit is soaking, will draw in
More than the common blocks. Not noted, is’t,
But of the finer natures? By some severals
Of head-piece extraordinary? Lower messes
Perchance are to this business purblind? Say.
CAMILLO
Business, my lord? I think most understand
Bohemia stays here longer.
Bohemia stays here longer.
LEONTES Ha?
CAMILLO Stays here longer.
LEONTES Ay, but why?
CAMILLO
To satisfy your highness, and the entreaties
Of our most gracious mistress.
Of our most gracious mistress.
LEONTES Satisfy?
Th‘entreaties of your mistress? Satisfy?
Let that suffice. I have trusted thee, Camillo,
With all the near’st things to my heart, as well
My chamber-counsels, wherein, priest-like, thou
Hast cleansed my bosom, I from thee departed
Thy penitent reformed. But we have been
Deceived in thy integrity, deceived
In that which seems so.
Let that suffice. I have trusted thee, Camillo,
With all the near’st things to my heart, as well
My chamber-counsels, wherein, priest-like, thou
Hast cleansed my bosom, I from thee departed
Thy penitent reformed. But we have been
Deceived in thy integrity, deceived
In that which seems so.
CAMILLO
Be it forbid, my lord.
LEONTES
To bide upon’t: thou art not honest; or
If thou inclin‘st that way, thou art a coward,
Which hoxes honesty behind, restraining
From course required. Or else thou must be counted
A servant grafted in my serious trust
And therein negligent, or else a fool
That seest a game played home, the rich stake drawn,
And tak’st it all for jest.
If thou inclin‘st that way, thou art a coward,
Which hoxes honesty behind, restraining
From course required. Or else thou must be counted
A servant grafted in my serious trust
And therein negligent, or else a fool
That seest a game played home, the rich stake drawn,
And tak’st it all for jest.
CAMILLO
My gracious lord,
I may be negligent, foolish, and fearful.
In every one of these no man is free,
But that his negligence, his folly, fear,
Among the infinite doings of the world
Sometime puts forth. In your affairs, my lord,
If ever I were wilful-negligent,
It was my folly. If industriously
I played the fool, it was my negligence,
Not weighing well the end. If ever fearful
To do a thing where I the issue doubted,
Whereof the execution did cry out
Against the non-performance, ‘twas a fear
Which oft infects the wisest. These, my lord,
Are such allowed infirmities that honesty
Is never free of. But beseech your grace
Be plainer with me, let me know my trespass
By its own visage. If I then deny it,
’Tis none of mine.
In every one of these no man is free,
But that his negligence, his folly, fear,
Among the infinite doings of the world
Sometime puts forth. In your affairs, my lord,
If ever I were wilful-negligent,
It was my folly. If industriously
I played the fool, it was my negligence,
Not weighing well the end. If ever fearful
To do a thing where I the issue doubted,
Whereof the execution did cry out
Against the non-performance, ‘twas a fear
Which oft infects the wisest. These, my lord,
Are such allowed infirmities that honesty
Is never free of. But beseech your grace
Be plainer with me, let me know my trespass
By its own visage. If I then deny it,
’Tis none of mine.
LEONTES
Ha’ not you seen, Camillo—
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