CYMBELINE.

Thus smiling, as some fly had tickled slumber,
Not as death's dart, being laugh'd at: his right cheek
Reposing on a cushion.

Gui.
Arv.

Where?

O' the floor;

His arms thus leagu'd: I thought, he slept: and
put

My clouted brogues' from off my feet, whose rude

ness

Answer'd my steps too loud.

Gui.
If he be gone, he'll make his grave a bed;
Why, he but sleeps: 2
With female fairies will his tomb be haunted,
And worms will not come to thee."
Arv.
Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
With fairest flowers,
I'll sweeten thy sad grave: Thou shalt not lack
The flower, that's like thy face, pale primrose; nor
The azur'd harebell, like thy veins; no, nor
The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander,
Out-sweeten'd not thy breath: the ruddock would,
With charitable bill (O, bill, sore-shaming
Those rich-left heirs, that let their fathers lie
Without a monument!) bring thee all this;

Yea, and furr'd moss besides, when flowers are none,
To winter-grounds thy corse.

Gui.
And do not play in wench-like words with that
Pr'ythee, have done;
Which is so serious. Let us bury him,
And not protract with admiration what
Is now due debt.-To the grave,

Arv.

Say, where shall's lay him?
Gui. By good Euriphile, our mothor.
Arv.

Be't so:

And let us, Polydore, though now our voices
Have got the mannish crack, sing him to the ground,
As once our mother; use like note, and words,
Save that Euriphile must be Fidele.

Gui. Cadwal,

I cannot sing: I'll weep, and word it with thee:
For notes of sorrow, out of tune, are worse
Than priests and fanes that lie.

Arv.
Bel. Great griefs, I see, medicine the less: for
We'll speak it then.
Cloten

1 Clouted brogues' are coarse wooden shoes, strengthened with clout or hob-nails. In some parts of England thin plates of iron, called clouts, are fixed to the shoes of rustics.

2 'I cannot forbear (says Steevens) to introduce a passage somewhat like this from Webster's White Devil, or Vittoria Corombona [1612,] on account of its singular beauty :

Oh, thou soft natural death! thou art joint twin
To sweetest slumber! no rough-bearded comet
Stares on thy mild departure: the dull owl
Beats not against thy casement: the hoarse wolf
Scents not thy carrion :-pity winds thy corse,
While horror waits on princes!

3 Steevens imputes great violence to this change of person, and would read, come to him; but there is no impropriety in Guiderius's sudden address to the body itself. It might, indeed, be ascribed to our author's careless manner, of which an instance like the present occurs at the beginning of the next act, where Posthu

mus says,

you married ones,

If each of you would take this course, how many
Must murder wives much better than themselves.'
Douce,

4 The ruddock is the red-breast.
5 To winter-ground appears to mean to dress or deco-
rate thy corse with 'furred moss,' for a winter covering,
when there are no flowers to strew it with. In Cornu-
copia, or Divers Secrets, &c. by Thomas Johnson, 4to.
1596, sig. E. it is said, 'The robin red-breast, if he finds
a man or woman dead, will cover all his face with
mosse; and some thinke that if the body should remain
unburied that he would cover the whole body also.' The
reader will remember the pathetic old ballad of the
Children in the Wood.

6 So in a former passage of this play: a touch more rare Subdues all pangs and fears."

And in King Lear :

Where the greater malady is fix'd,

The lesser is scarce felt.'

And, though he came our enemy, remember,
Is quite forgot. He was a queen's son, boys:
He was paid for that: Though mean and mighty,
rotting

(That angel of the world,) doth make distinction
Together, have one dust; yet reverence,
Of place 'tween high and low. Our foe was
princely;

And though you took his life, as being our foe,
Yet bury him as a prince.
Gui.
Thersites' body is as good as Ajax,
Pray fetch him hither.
you,
When neither are alive.
Arv.

We'll say our song the whilst.-Brother, begin.
If you'll go fetch him,
[Exit BELARIUS.

Gui. Nay, Cadwal, we must lay his head to the

east;

My father hath a reason for't.
Arv.

"Tis true.

Gui. Come on, then, and remove him.
Arv.

SONG.

Gui. Fear no more the heat o' the sun,"
Nor the furious winter's rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,

So,-begin.

Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages:
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.
Arv. Fear no more the frown o' the great,
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke ;
Care no more to clothe, and eat;

To thee the reed is as the oak:
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust.1o

Gui. Fear no more the lightning-flash,
Arv. Nor the all-dreaded thunder-stone;
Gui. Fear not slander, censure rash;
Arv. Thou hast finish'd joy and moan:
Both. All lovers young, all lovers must

Consign to thee, and come to dust,
Gui. No exorciser12 harm thee!
Arv. Nor no witchcraft charm thee!
Gui. Ghost unlaid forbear thee!
Arv. Nothing ill come near thee!
Both. Quiet consummation's have;

And renowned be thy grave !14

when in the dress of an old woman, says, 'I pay'd nothing 7 i. e. punished. Falstaff, after having been beaten, for it neither, but was paid for my learning.'

8 Reverence, or due regard to subordination, is the power that keeps peace and order in the world.

9 This is the topic of consolation that nature dictates to all men on these occasions.

death: neither the power of kings, nor the science of
10 The poet's sentiment seems to have been this:-
scholars, nor the art of those whose immediate study is
All human excellence is equally subject to the stroke of
the prolongation of life, can protect them from the final
destiny of man.'--Johnson.

with thee;' i. e. add their names to thine upon the regis
11 To consign to thee' is to seal the same contract
So in Romeo and Juliet :-
seal

A dateless bargain to engrossing death.

12 It has already been observed that exorciser ancient-
who lays them.
ly signified a person who could raise spirits, not one

Edward III. 1596 :-
13 Consummation is used in the same sense in King

My soul will yield this castle of my flesh,
This mingled tribute, with all willingness.
Milton, in his Epitaph on the Marchioness of Winches-
To darkness, consummation, dust, and worms.'
ter, is indebted to the passage before us:-

Gentle lady, may thy grave
Peace and quiet ever have.'

14 For the obsequies of Fidele (says Dr. Johnson) a
song was written by my unhappy friend, Mr. William
Collins of Chichester, a man of uncommon learning and
abilities. I shall give it a place at the end, in honour of
his memory.'

4 Irregulous must mean lawless, licentions, out of rule. The word has not hitherto been met with el-ewhere but in Reinolds's God's Revenge against Adul-done? tery, ed. 1671, p. 121, we have irregulated lust."

5 This is another of the poet's lap-es, rules we at tribute the error to the old printers, and read, thy head on. We must understand by this head, the head of Posthumus; the head that did belong to this body. 6 i. e. tis a ready, apposite conclusion.

7 Shakspeare appears to have meant brother to the

No harm by it, though the gods hear, I hope

Tnev'll pardon it. Say you, sir?

Luc.

I no.

Thy name?

CYMBELINE.

Cym. The time's troublesome :

[Aside. We'll slip you for a season; but our jealousy

Luc. Thou dost approve thyself the very same:
Fidele, sir.
Thy name well fits thy faith; thy faith, thy name.
Wit take thy chance with me? I will not say,
Thou shalt be so well master'd; bu', be sure,
No less belov'd. The Roman emperor's letters,
Sent by a consul to me, should not sooner
Than thine own worth prefer thee: Go with me.
Ino. Il follow, sir. But first, an't please the gods,
I'll hide my master from the flies, as deep
A these poor pickaxes' can dig; and when
With wild wood-leaves and weeds I have strew'd

his grave,

And on it said a century of prayers,
Sich as I can, twice o'er, I'll weep, and sigh;
And, leaving so his service, follow you,
So please you entertain me.
Luc.
And rather father thee, than master thee.--
Av, good youth;
My friends,

The boy hath taught us manly duties: Let us
Find out the prettiest daisied plot we can,
And make him with our pikes and partizans
A grave: Come, arm him.2-Boy, he is preferr'd
By thee to us; and he shall be interr'd,
As soldiers can. Be cheerful; wipe thine eyes:
Some falls are means the happier to arise.

[Exeunt.
SCENE III. A Room in Cymbeline's Palace.
Enter CYMBELINE, Lords, and PISANIO.
Cym. Again; and bring me word, how 'tis with

her.

A fever with the absence of her son:
A madness, of which her life's in danger :-

Heavens,

How deeply you at once do touch me! Imogen,
The great part of my comfort, gone: my queen
Upon a desperate bed and in a time
When fearful wars point at me, her son gone,
So needful for this present: It strikes me, past
The hope of comfort.-But for thee, fellow,
Who needs must know of her departure, and
Dost seem so ignorant, we'll enforce it from thee
By a sharp torture.

Pis.

Sir, my life is yours,

I humbly set it at your will: But, for my mistress,
I nothing know where she remains, why gone,
Nor when she
purposes return. 'Beseech
highness,
Hold me your loyal servant.

1 Lord.

Good my liege,

The day that she was missing, he was here:
I dare be bound he's true, and shall perform
All parts of his subjection loyally.

For Cloten,

There wants no diligence in seeking him,
And will,3 no doubt, be found.

1 Meaning her fingers.

your

Does yet depend.^

I Lord.

833

[TO PISANIO.

The Roman legions, all from Gallia drawn,
So please your majesty,
Are landed on your coast; with a supply
Of Roman gentlemen, by the senate sent.
Cym. Now for the counsel of my son, and

queen!-

I am amaz'd with matter."

1 Lord.

Good my liege,

Your preparation can affront no less
Than what you hear of; come more, for more
you're ready:

The want is, but to put those powers in motion,
That long to move.

[Exeunt.

Cym.
I thank you: Let's withdraw;
And meet the time, as it seeks us.
What can from Italy annoy us; but
We fear not
We grieve at chances here.--Away.
Pis. I heard no letter from my master, since
I wrote him, Imogen was slain: "Tis strange:
Nor hear I from my mistress, who did promise
To yield me often tidings; Neither know I
What is betid to Cloten; but remain
Wherein I am false, I am honest; not true, to be
Perplex'd in all. The heavens still must work:

truc.

These present wars shall find I love my country,
Even to the noto o the king, or I'll fall in them.
All other doubts, by time let them be clear'd:
Fortune brings in some boats, that are not steer'd.
SCENE IV. Before the Cave. Enter BELARIUS,
[Exit.
GUIDERIUS, and ARVIRAGUS.

Gui. The noise is round about us.
Bel.
Let us from it.
Arv. What pleasure, sir, find we in life, to lock it
From action and adventure?

That when they hear the Roman horses neigh,
Behold their quarter'd fires," have both their eyes
And ears so cloy'd importantly as now,
That they will waste their time upon our note,

2 That is take him up in your arms.' So in Flet-To know from whence we are. cher's Two Noble Kinsmen:

9 i. e. rerolters. As in King John :

Lead me to the recolts of England here."
10 An account of our place of abode. This dialogue
is a just representation of the superfluous caution of
an old man.

Render is used in a similar sense in a future scene of
this play :-

My boon is, that this gentleman may render
Of whom he had this ring.'

11 i. e. the fires in the respective quarters of the Roman
army. Their beacon or watch-fires. So in King Henry

V.

'Fire answers fire: and through their paly flames
Each battle sees the other's umber'd face."

$54

Bel. O, I am known

Of many in the army: many years,

Though Cloten then but young, you see, hot wore
him

From my remembrance. And, besides, the king
Hath not deserv'd my service, nor your loves;
Who find in my exile the want of breeding,
The certainty of this hard life; ay, hopeless
To have the courtesy your cradle promis'd,
But to be still hot summer's tanlings, and
The shrinking slaves of winter.

Gui.
Than be so,
Better to cease to be. Pray, sir, to the army:
I and my brother are not known; yourself,
So out of thought, and thereto so o'ergrown,
Cannot be question'd.

Arv.

By this sun that shines,
I'll thither: What thing is it, that I never
Did see man die? scarce ever look'd on blood,
But that of coward hares, hot goats, and venison?
Never b strid a horse, save one, that had
A rider like myself, who ne'er wore rowel
Nor iron on his heel? I am asham'd
To look upon the holy sun, to have
The benefit of his bless'd beams, remaining
So long a poor unknown,

Gui.

By heavens, I'll go: If you will bless me, sir, and give me leave, I'll take the better care; but if will not, you The hazard therefore due fall on me, by The hands of Romans!

Arv.

So say I; Amen.

Bel. No reason I, since on your lives you set
So slight a valuation, should reserve

My crack'd one to more care. Have with you, boys:
If in your country wars you chance to die,
That is my bed too, lads, and there I'll lie:
Lead, lead.-The time seems long; their
thinks scorn,
Till it fly out, and show them princes born.

ACT V.

blood [Aside. [Exeunt.

SCENE I. A Field between the British and Ro.
man Camps. Enter POSTHUMUS, wtih a bloody
Handkerchief.

Post. Yea, bloody cloth, I'll keep thee; for I wish'd
Thou should'st be colour'd thus. You married ones,
If each of you would take this course, how many
Must murder wives much better than themselves,
For wrying but a little ?-O, Pisanio!
Every good servant does not all commands:
No bond, but to do just ones.-Gods! if you
Should have ta'en vengeance on my faults, I never
Had liv'd to put on this: so had you saved
The noble Imogen to repent; and struck
Me, wretch, more worth your vengeance. But, alack,

1 That is, the certain consequence of this hard life.' 2 The bloody token of Imogen's death, which Pisanio. in the foregoing act, determined to send.

You snatch some hence for little faults; that's love
To have them fall no more: you some permit
To second ills with ills, each elder worse;
And make them dread it to the doer's shrift.
But Imogen is your own: Do your best wills,
And make me bless'd to obey !-I am brought hither
Among the Italian gentry, and to fight
Against my lady's kingdom: 'Tis enough
That, Britain, I have kill'd thy mistress; peace!
I'll give no wound to thee. Therefore, good heavens,
Hear patiently my purpose: I'll disrobe me
Of these Italian weeds, and suit myself
As does a Briton peasant: so I'll fight
Against the part I come with; so I'll die
For thee, O, Imogen, even for whom my life
Is, every breath, a death: and thus, unknown,
Pitied nor hated, to the face of peril
Myself I'll dedicate. Let me make men know
More valour in me, than my habits show.
Gods put the strength o' the Leonati in me!
To shame the guise o' the world, I will begin
The fashion, less without, and more within. [Erti.
SCENE II. The same. Enter at one side, LuCIUS,
IACHIMO, and the Roman Army; at the other
side, the British Army; LEONATUS POSTHUMUS
following it, like a poor Soldier. They march over,
and go out. Alarums. Then enter again in shir
mish, IACHIMO and POSTHUMUS: he vanquisheth
and disarmeth IACHIMO, and then leaves him.

Iach. The heaviness and guilt within my bosom
Takes off my manhood: I have belied a lady,
The princess of this country, and the air on't
Revengingly enfeebles me; Or could this carl,'
A very drudge of nature's, have subdu'd me,
In my profession? Knighthoods and honours, borne
As I wear mine, are titles but of scorn.
If that thy gentry, Britain, go before
This lout, as he exceeds our lords, the odds
Is, that we scarce are men, and you are gods. [Ezil.
The Battle continues; the Britons Ay; CYMBELINE
is taken: then enter to his rescue, BELARIUS,
GUIDERIUS, and ARVIRAGUS.

Bel. Stand, stand! We have the advantage of
the ground;

The lane is guarded: nothing routs us, but
The villany of our fears.
Gui. Arv.

Stand, stand, and fight!
Enter POSTHUMUS, and seconds the Britons: They
rescue CYMBELINE, and exeunt. Then, enter
LUCIUS, IACHIMO, and IMOGEN.

Luc. Away, boy, from the troops, and save thyself;
For friends kill friends, and the disorder's such
As war were hoodwink'd.
Iach.
"Tis their fresh supplies.
Luc. It is a day turn'd strangely: or betimes
Let's reinforce, or fly.

4 To put on is to incite, instigate.

[Exeunt.

5 The last deed is certainly not the oldest; but Shakspeare calls the deed of an elder man an elder deed. Where corruptions are, they grow with years, and the

6 The old copy reads:

This is a soliloquy of nature, uttered when the effer. vescence of a mind agitated and perturbed, spontaneous-oldest sinner is the greatest. ly and inadvertently discharges itself in words. The speech throughout all its tenor, if the last conceit be And make them dread it to the doer's thrift,' excepted, seems to issue warm from the heart. He first Which the commentators have in vain tormented themcondemns his own violence; then tries to disburden selves to give a meaning to. Mason endeavoured to himself by imputing part of the crime to Pisanio; he give the sense of repentance to thrift: but his explana next sooths his mind to an artificial and momentary tion better suits the passage as it now stands :-"Some tranquillity, by trying to think that he has been only an you snatch hence for little faults: others you suffer to instrument of the gods for the happiness of Imogen.-heap ills on ills, and afterwards make them dread hav He is now grown reasonable enough to determine that,ing done so, to the eternal welfare of the doers. having done so much evil, he will do no more; that he will not fight against the country which he has already injured; but, as life is no longer supportable, he will die in a just cause, and die with the obscurity of a man who does not think himself worthy to be remembered.' -Johnson.

8 This uncommon verb is used by Stanyhurst in the third book of the translation of Virgil:-

the may-ters wrye their vessells.' And in Sidney's Arcadia, lib. i. ed. 1633, p. 67:- That from the right line of virtue are tryed to these crooked shifts,

Shrift

is confession and repentance. The typographical error would easily arise in old printing, sh and th were frequently confounded.

7 Carl or churl, is a clown or countryman, and is used by our old writers in opposition to a gentleman. Palsgrave, in his Eclaircissement de la Langue Francoise, 1530, explains the words carle, chorle, churle, by vilain, vilain lourdier; and churlyshnesse by vilaire, rusticite. The thought seems to have been imitated in Philaster :

The gods take part against me; could this boor Have held me thus else?'

Post. No blame be to you, sir; for all was lost,
But that the heavens fought: The king himself
Of his wings destitute, the army broken,
And but the backs of Britons seen, all tiying
Through a strait lane; the enemy full-hearted,
Lolling the tongue with slaughtering, having work
More plentiful than tools to do't, struck down
Some mortally, some slightly touch'd, some falling
Merely through fear; that the strait pass was

As if he were of note: bring him to the king.
Enter CYMBELINE, attended: BELARIUS, GUIDE
RIUS, ARVIRAGUS, PISANIO, and Roman Cap-
tives. The Captains present PoOSTHUMUS to CYм-
BELINE, who delivers him over to a Gaoler: after
which, all go out.

SCENE IV. A Prison. Enter POSTHUMUS, and

1 Gaol. You shall not now be stolen, you have locks upon you;10 So graze, as you find pasture.

2 Gaol. Ay, or a stomach. [Exeunt Gaolers.
Post. Most welcome, bondage! for thou art a way,
I think, to liberty: Yet am I better
Than one that's sick o'the gout: since he had
rather

Groan so in perpetuity, than be cur'd
By the sure physician, death; who is the key

6 i. e. retaliation. As in a former scene:-
That which we've done, whose unsicer would be death.'
7 Silly is simple or rustic. Thus in the novel of Bot.
caccio, on which this play is formed:-'The servant,
who had no great good will to kill her, very easily grew
pitifall, took off her upper garment, and gave her a
poore ragged doublet, a silly chapperone.'
8 i. e. the encounter.

9 This stage direction for inexplicable dumb show' is probably an interpolation by the players. Shak. speare has expressed his contempt for such mummery in Hamlet.

10 The wit of the Gaoler alludes to the custom of putting a lock on a horse's leg when he is turned out to pas

ture.