Thorough my rust! and how his piety Paul. Re-enter PAULINA. Woe the while! O, cut my lace; lest my heart, cracking it, 1 Lord. What fit is this, good lady? Paul. What studied torments, tyrant, hast for me? What wheels? racks? fires? What flaying? boiling, In leads, or oils? what old, or newer torture Must I receive; whose every word deserves To taste of thy most worst? Thy tyranny Together working with thy jealousies,Fancies too weak for boys, too green and idle For girls of nine!-O, think, what they have done, And then run mad, indeed; stark mad! for all Thy by-gone fooleries were but spices of it. That thou betray'dst Polixenes, 'twas nothing; That did but show thee, of a fool, inconstant, And damnable ungrateful: nor was 't much, 3 Does my deeds make the blacker!] This vehement retraction of Leontes, accompanied with the confession of more crimes than he was suspected of, is agreeable to our daily experience of the vicissitudes of violent tempers, and the eruptions of minds oppressed with guilt. Johnson. ▲ That thou betray'dst Polixenes, 'twas nothing; That did but show thee, of a fool, inconstant, And damnable ungrateful:] I have ventured at a slight alteration here, against the authority of all the copies, and for fool read -soul. It is certainly too gross and blunt in Paulina, though she might impeach the King of fooleries in some of his past actions and conduct, to call him downright a fool. And it is much more pardonable in her to arraign his morals, and the qualities of his mind, than rudely to call him idiot to his face. Theobald. show thee, of a fool,] So all the copies. show thee off, a fool, We should read: i. e. represent thee in thy true colours; a fool, an inconstant, &c. Warburton. Poor Mr. Theobald's courtly remark cannot be thought to deserve much notice. Dr. Warburton too might have spared his sagacity, if he had remembered that the present reading, by a mode of speech anciently much used, means only, It showed thee first a fool, then inconstant and ungrateful. Johnson. Damnable is here used adverbially. Malone.. Thou would'st have poison'd good Camillo's honour, 5 Of the young prince; whose honourable thoughts Not dropp'd down yet. 1 Lord. The higher powers forbid! Paul. I say, she 's dead; I'll swear 't: if word, nor oath, Prevail not, go and see: if you can bring The same construction occurs in the second Book of Phaer's version of the Eneid: "When this the yong men heard me speak, of wild they waxed wood." Steevens. 5 Thou wouldst have poison'd good Camillo's honour,] How should Paulina know this? No one had charged the King with this crime except himself, while Paulina was absent, attending on Hermione. The Poet seems to have forgotten this circumstance. 6 though a devil Malone. Would have shed water out of fire, ere don 't:] i. e. a devil would have shed tears of pity o'er the damned, ere he would have committed such an action. Steevens. Leon. Go on, go onė Thou canst not speak too much; I have deserv'd 1 Lord. Say no more; Howe'er the business goes, you have made fault I' the boldness of your speech. I am sorry for 't;" Paul. I do repent: Alas, I have show'd too much The rashness of a woman: he is touch'd To the noble heart.-What's gone, and what's past help, Should be past grief: Do not receive affliction At my petition, I beseech you; rather Let me be punish'd, that have minded you Of what you should forget. Now, good my liege, The love I bore your queen,-lo, fool again!- Who is lost too: Take your patience to you, Leon. Thou didst speak but well, When most the truth; which I receive much better To the dead bodies of my queen, and son: One grave shall be for both; upon them shall The causes of their death appear, unto Our shame perpetual: Once a day I'll visit The chapel where they lie; and tears, shed there, Nature will bear up with this exercise, So long I daily vow to use it. Come, [Exeunt. 7 I am sorry for 't;] This is another instance of the sudden changes incident to vehement and ungovernable minds. Johnson. what's past help, Should be past grief:] So, in King Richard II: "Things past redress, are now with me past care." Steevens. SCENE III. Bohemia. A desert Country near the Sea. Enter ANTIGONUS, with the Child; and a Mariner. Ant. Thou art perfect then, our ship hath touch'd upon The deserts of Bohemia? Ay, my lord; and fear Mar. Ant. Their sacred wills be done!-Go, get aboard Mar. Make your best haste; and go not Ant. I'll follow instantly. Mar. To be so rid o' the business. Ant. Go thou away; I am glad at heart [Exit. Come, poor babe : I have heard, (but not believ'd) the spirits of the dead So fill'd, and so becoming: in pure white robes, My cabin where I lay: thrice bow'd before me; 9 Thou art perfect then,] Perfect is often used by Shakspeare for certain, well assured, or well informed. Johnson. It is so used by almost all our ancient writers. Steevens. Of my poor babe, according to thine oath, There weef, and leave it crying; and, for the babe I fr'ythee, call 't: for this ungentle business, I did in time collect myself; and thought [Laying down the child. There lie; and there thy character:1 there these; [Laying down a bundle, Which may, if fortune please, both breed thee, pretty, And still rest thine.- -The storm begins: wretch, That, for thy mother's fault, art thus expos'd To be by oath enjoin'd to this.-Farewel! -Poor The day frowns more and more; thou art like to have The heavens so dim by day. I am gone for ever. 1 A savage clamour? 3. This is the chace; [Exit, pursued by a bear. thy character:] thy description; i. e. the writing afterwards discovered with Perdita. Steevens. 2 A lullaby too rough:] So, in Dorastus and Faunia: "Shall thy tender mouth, instead of sweet kisses, be nipped with bitter stormes? Shalt thou have the whistling winds for thy lullaby, and the salt sea-fome, instead of sweet milke?" Malone. 3 A savage clamour?] This clamour was the cry of the dogs and hunters; then seeing the bear, he cries, this is the chace, or, the animal pursued. Johnson. |