William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (516 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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ANTIGONUS
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 does require; (
to the babe
) and
blessing
Against this cruelty, fight on thy side,
Poor thing, condemned to loss.
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 does require; (
to the babe
) and
blessing
Against this cruelty, fight on thy side,
Poor thing, condemned to loss.
Exit with the babe
LEONTES
No, I’ll not rear
Another’s issue.
Enter a Servant
SERVANT
Please your highness, posts
From those you sent to th’oracle are come
An hour since. Cleomenes and Dion,
Being well arrived from Delphos, are both landed,
Hasting to th’ court.
An hour since. Cleomenes and Dion,
Being well arrived from Delphos, are both landed,
Hasting to th’ court.
A LORD (to Leontes)
So please you, sir, their speed Hath been. beyond account.
LEONTES
Twenty-three days
They have been absent. ’Tis good speed, foretells
The great Apollo suddenly will have
The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords.
Summon a session, that we may arraign
Our most disloyal lady; for as she hath
Been publicly accused, so shall she have
A just and open trial. While she lives
My heart will be a burden to me. Leave me,
And think upon my bidding.
The great Apollo suddenly will have
The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords.
Summon a session, that we may arraign
Our most disloyal lady; for as she hath
Been publicly accused, so shall she have
A just and open trial. While she lives
My heart will be a burden to me. Leave me,
And think upon my bidding.
Exeunt severally
Enter Cleomenes and Dion
CLEOMENES
The climate’s delicate, the air most sweet;
Fertile the isle, the temple much surpassing
The common praise it bears.
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‘th’ off’ring!
Methinks I so should term them—and the reverence
Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice-
How ceremonious, solemn, and unearthly
It was i‘th’ off’ring!
CLEOMENES
But of all, the burst
And the ear-deaf‘ning voice o’th’ oracle,
Kin to Jove’s thunder, so surprised my sense
That I was nothing.
Kin to Jove’s thunder, so surprised my sense
That I was nothing.
DION
If th‘event o’th’ 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.
As it hath been to us rare, pleasant, speedy,
The time is worth the use on’t.
CLEOMENES
Great Apollo
Turn all to th’ best! These proclamations,
So forcing faults upon Hermione,
I little like.
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 sealed up,
Shall the contents discover, something rare
Even then will rush to knowledge. Go. Fresh horses!
And gracious be the issue.
Thus by Apollo’s great divine sealed up,
Shall the contents discover, something rare
Even then will rush to knowledge. Go. Fresh horses!
And gracious be the issue.
Exeunt
3.2Enter Leontes, Lords, and Officers
LEONTES
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 beloved. Let us be cleared
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.
Even pushes ’gainst our heart: the party tried
The daughter of a king, our wife, and one
Of us too much beloved. Let us be cleared
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.
OFFICER
It is his highness’ pleasure
That the Queen appear in person here in court.
Enter Hermione guarded, with Paulina and Ladies
Silence.
LEONTES Read the indictment.
OFFICER (
reads
) 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 pretence 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.
reads
) 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 pretence 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.
HERMIONE
Since what I am to say must be but that
Which contradicts my accusation, and
The testimony on my part no other
But what comes from myself, it shall scarce boot me
To say ‘Not guilty’. Mine integrity
Being counted falsehood shall, as I express it,
Be so received. But thus: if powers divine
Behold our human actions—as they do—
I doubt not then but innocence shall make
False accusation blush, and tyranny
Tremble at patience. You, my lord, best know—
Who least will seem to do so—my past life
Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true
As I am now unhappy; which is more
Than history can pattern, though devised
And played to take spectators. For behold me,
A fellow of the royal bed, which owe
A moiety of the throne; a great king’s daughter,
The mother to a hopeful prince, here standing
To prate and talk for life and honour, fore
Who please to come and hear. For life, I prize it
As I weigh grief, which I would spare. For honour,
‘Tis a derivative from me to mine,
And only that I stand for. I appeal
To your own conscience, sir, before Polixenes
Came to your court how I was in your grace,
How merited to be so; since he came,
With what encounter so uncurrent I
Have strained t’appear thus. If one jot beyond
The bound of honour, or in act or will
That way inclining, hardened be the hearts
Of all that hear me, and my near‘st of kin
Cry ‘Fie’ upon my grave.
Which contradicts my accusation, and
The testimony on my part no other
But what comes from myself, it shall scarce boot me
To say ‘Not guilty’. Mine integrity
Being counted falsehood shall, as I express it,
Be so received. But thus: if powers divine
Behold our human actions—as they do—
I doubt not then but innocence shall make
False accusation blush, and tyranny
Tremble at patience. You, my lord, best know—
Who least will seem to do so—my past life
Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true
As I am now unhappy; which is more
Than history can pattern, though devised
And played to take spectators. For behold me,
A fellow of the royal bed, which owe
A moiety of the throne; a great king’s daughter,
The mother to a hopeful prince, here standing
To prate and talk for life and honour, fore
Who please to come and hear. For life, I prize it
As I weigh grief, which I would spare. For honour,
‘Tis a derivative from me to mine,
And only that I stand for. I appeal
To your own conscience, sir, before Polixenes
Came to your court how I was in your grace,
How merited to be so; since he came,
With what encounter so uncurrent I
Have strained t’appear thus. If one jot beyond
The bound of honour, or in act or will
That way inclining, hardened be the hearts
Of all that hear me, and my near‘st of kin
Cry ‘Fie’ upon my grave.
LEONTES
I ne’er heard yet
That any of these bolder vices wanted
Less impudence to gainsay what they did
Than to perform it first.
Less impudence to gainsay what they did
Than to perform it first.
HERMIONE
That’s true enough,
Though ’tis a saying, sir, not due to me.
LEONTES
You will not own it.
HERMIONE
More than mistress of
Which comes to me in name of fault, I must not
At all acknowledge. For Polixenes,
With whom I am accused, I do confess
I loved him as in honour he required;
With such a kind of love as might become
A lady like me; with a love, even such,
So, and no other, as yourself commanded;
Which not to have done I think had been in me
Both disobedience and ingratitude
To you and toward your friend, whose love had spoke
Even since it could speak, from an infant, freely
That it was yours. Now for conspiracy,
I know not how it tastes, though it be dished
For me to try how. All I know of it
Is that Camillo was an honest man;
And why he left your court, the gods themselves,
Wotting no more than I, are ignorant.
At all acknowledge. For Polixenes,
With whom I am accused, I do confess
I loved him as in honour he required;
With such a kind of love as might become
A lady like me; with a love, even such,
So, and no other, as yourself commanded;
Which not to have done I think had been in me
Both disobedience and ingratitude
To you and toward your friend, whose love had spoke
Even since it could speak, from an infant, freely
That it was yours. Now for conspiracy,
I know not how it tastes, though it be dished
For me to try how. All I know of it
Is that Camillo was an honest man;
And why he left your court, the gods themselves,
Wotting no more than I, are ignorant.
LEONTES
You knew of his departure, as you know
What you have underta’en to do in’s absence.
HERMIONE Sir,
You speak a language that I understand not.
My life stands in the level of your dreams,
Which I’ll lay down.
My life stands in the level of your dreams,
Which I’ll lay down.
LEONTES
Your actions are my ‘dreams’.
You had a bastard by Polixenes,
And I but dreamed it. As you were past all shame—
Those of your fact are so—so past all truth;
Which to deny concerns more than avails; for as
Thy brat hath been cast out, like to itself,
No father owning it—which is indeed
More criminal in thee than it—so thou
Shalt feel our justice, in whose easiest passage
Look for no less than death.
And I but dreamed it. As you were past all shame—
Those of your fact are so—so past all truth;
Which to deny concerns more than avails; for as
Thy brat hath been cast out, like to itself,
No father owning it—which is indeed
More criminal in thee than it—so thou
Shalt feel our justice, in whose easiest passage
Look for no less than death.
HERMIONE
Sir, spare your threats.
The bug which you would fright me with, I seek.
To me can life be no commodity.
The crown and comfort of my life, your favour,
I do give lost, for I do feel it gone
But know not how it went. My second joy,
And first fruits of my body, from his presence
I am barred, like one infectious. My third comfort,
Starred most unluckily, is from my breast,
The innocent milk in it most innocent mouth,
Haled out to murder; myself on every post
Proclaimed a strumpet, with immodest hatred
The childbed privilege denied, which ‘longs
To women of all fashion; lastly, hurried
Here, to this place, i’th’ open air, before
I have got strength of limit. Now, my liege,
Tell me what blessings I have here alive,
That I should fear to die. Therefore proceed.
But yet hear this—mistake me not—no life,
I prize it not a straw; but for mine honour,
Which I would free: if I shall be condemned
Upon surmises, all proofs sleeping else
But what your jealousies awake, I tell you
’Tis rigour, and not law. Your honours all,
I do refer me to the oracle.
Apollo be my judge.
To me can life be no commodity.
The crown and comfort of my life, your favour,
I do give lost, for I do feel it gone
But know not how it went. My second joy,
And first fruits of my body, from his presence
I am barred, like one infectious. My third comfort,
Starred most unluckily, is from my breast,
The innocent milk in it most innocent mouth,
Haled out to murder; myself on every post
Proclaimed a strumpet, with immodest hatred
The childbed privilege denied, which ‘longs
To women of all fashion; lastly, hurried
Here, to this place, i’th’ open air, before
I have got strength of limit. Now, my liege,
Tell me what blessings I have here alive,
That I should fear to die. Therefore proceed.
But yet hear this—mistake me not—no life,
I prize it not a straw; but for mine honour,
Which I would free: if I shall be condemned
Upon surmises, all proofs sleeping else
But what your jealousies awake, I tell you
’Tis rigour, and not law. Your honours all,
I do refer me to the oracle.
Apollo be my judge.
A LORD
This your request
Is altogether just. Therefore bring forth,
And in Apollo’s name, his oracle.
And in Apollo’s name, his oracle.
[
Exeunt certain Officers
]
Exeunt certain Officers
]
HERMIONE
The Emperor of Russia was my father.
O that he were alive, and here beholding
His daughter’s trial; that he did but see
The flatness of my misery—yet with eyes
Of pity, not revenge.
O that he were alive, and here beholding
His daughter’s trial; that he did but see
The flatness of my misery—yet with eyes
Of pity, not revenge.
[
Enter Officers with Cleomenes and Dion
]
OFFICER
You here shall swear upon this sword of justice
That you, Cleomenes and Dion, have
Been both at Delphos, and from thence have brought
This sealed-up oracle, by the hand delivered
Of great Apollo’s priest; and that since then
You have not dared to break the holy seal,
Nor read the secrets in’t.
That you, Cleomenes and Dion, have
Been both at Delphos, and from thence have brought
This sealed-up oracle, by the hand delivered
Of great Apollo’s priest; and that since then
You have not dared to break the holy seal,
Nor read the secrets in’t.
CLEOMENES and DION All this we swear. LEONTES Break up the seals, and read.
OFFICER (
reads
) Hermione is chaste, Polixenes blameless, Camillo a true subject, Leontes a jealous tyrant, his innocent babe truly begotten, and the King shall live without an heir if that which is lost be not found.
reads
) Hermione is chaste, Polixenes blameless, Camillo a true subject, Leontes a jealous tyrant, his innocent babe truly begotten, and the King shall live without an heir if that which is lost be not found.
LORDS
Now blessèd be the great Apollo!
HERMIONE
Praised!
LEONTES Hast thou read truth?
OFFICER
Ay, my lord, even so as it is here set down.
LEONTES
There is no truth at all i’th’ oracle.
The sessions shall proceed. This is mere falsehood.
The sessions shall proceed. This is mere falsehood.
Enter a Servant
SERVANT
My lord the King! The King!
LEONTES What is the business?
SERVANT
O sir, I shall be hated to report it.
The prince your son, with mere conceit and fear
Of the Queen’s speed, is gone.
The prince your son, with mere conceit and fear
Of the Queen’s speed, is gone.
LEONTES
How, ‘gone’?
SERVANT
Is dead.
LEONTES
Apollo’s angry, and the heavens themselves
Do strike at my injustice.
Do strike at my injustice.
Hermione falls to the groundHow now there?
PAULINA
This news is mortal to the Queen. Look down
And see what death is doing.
And see what death is doing.
LEONTES
Take her hence.
Her heart is but o’ercharged. She will recover.
I have too much believed mine own suspicion.
Beseech you, tenderly apply to her
Some remedies for life.
I have too much believed mine own suspicion.
Beseech you, tenderly apply to her
Some remedies for life.
Exeunt Paulina and Ladies, carrying Hermione
Apollo, pardon
My great profaneness ’gainst thine oracle.
I’ll reconcile me to Polixenes,
New woo my queen, recall the good Camillo,
Whom I proclaim a man of truth, of mercy;
For being transported by my jealousies
To bloody thoughts and to revenge, I chose
Camillo for the minister to poison
My friend Polixenes, which had been done,
But that the good mind of Camillo tardied
My swift command. Though I with death and with
Reward did threaten and encourage him,
Not doing it, and being done, he, most humane
And filled with honour, to my kingly guest
Unclasped my practice, quit his fortunes here—
Which you knew great—and to the certain hazard
Of all incertainties himself commended,
No richer than his honour. How he glisters
Through my rust! And how his piety
Does my deeds make the blacker!
I’ll reconcile me to Polixenes,
New woo my queen, recall the good Camillo,
Whom I proclaim a man of truth, of mercy;
For being transported by my jealousies
To bloody thoughts and to revenge, I chose
Camillo for the minister to poison
My friend Polixenes, which had been done,
But that the good mind of Camillo tardied
My swift command. Though I with death and with
Reward did threaten and encourage him,
Not doing it, and being done, he, most humane
And filled with honour, to my kingly guest
Unclasped my practice, quit his fortunes here—
Which you knew great—and to the certain hazard
Of all incertainties himself commended,
No richer than his honour. How he glisters
Through my rust! And how his piety
Does my deeds make the blacker!
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