Leo. Force her hence. Paul. Let him, that makes but trifles of his eyes, Leo. Out! [Laying down the child A mankind witch! Hence with her, out o' door: Paul. Not so: I am as ignorant in that, as you In so entitling me: and no less honest Than you are mad; which is enough, I'll warrant, Leo. Traitors! Will you not push her out? Give her the bastard :— Thou, dotard, [To ANTIGONUS.] thou art woman-tir'd,' unroosted By thy dame Partlet here,-take up the bastard; Take't up, I say; give't to thy crone.' Paul. For ever Unvenerable be thy hands, if thou Take'st up the princess, by that forced baseness Which he has put upon't! Leo. He dreads his wife. Paul. So, I would, you did; then, 'twere past all doubt. You'd call your children yours. Leo. A nest of traitors! Ant. I am none, by this good light. Paul. Nor I; nor any, But one, that's here; and that's himself: for he The sacred honour of himself, his queen's, [8] A mankind woman is yet used in the midland counties, for a woman violent, ferocious, and mischievous. It has the same sense in this passage. Witches are supposed to be mankind, to put off the softness and delicacy of women; therefore Sir Hugh, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, says of a woman sus pected to be a witch, "that he does not like when a woman has a beard." JOHNSON [9] Woman-tir'd, is peck'd by a woman; hen-peck'd. The phrase is taken from falconry, and is often employed by writers contemporary with Shakespeare. STEEVENS. [1] i. e. thy old worn-out woman. A croan is an old toothless sheep; thence an old woman. STEEVENS. [2] Leontes had ordered Antigonus to take up the bastard; Paulina forbids him to touch the Princess under that appellation. Forced is false, uttered with violence to truth JOHNSON at His hopeful son's, his babe's betrays to slander, Whose sting is sharper than the sword's; and will not Leo. A callat, Of boundless tongue; who late hath beat her husband, It is the issue of Polixenes: Hence with it; and, together with the dam, Paul. It is yours; And, might we lay th' old proverb to your charge, The trick of his frown, his forehead; nay, the valley, The ordering of the mind too, 'mongst all colours Leo. A gross hag!— And, lozel,' thou art worthy to be hang'd, That wilt not stay her tongue. Ant. Hang all the husbands, That cannot do that feat, you'll leave yourself Leo. Once more, take her hence. Paul. A most unworthy and unnatural lord Can do no more. Leo. I'll have thee burn'd. [3] Yellow is the colour of jealousy. JOHNSON. [4] In the ardour of composition Shakespeare seems here to have forgotten the difference of sexes. Unless she were herself "a bed-swerver," (which is not supposed,) she could have no doubt of his being the father of her children. However painful female jealousy may be to her that feels it, Paulina, therefore, certainly attributes to it in the present instance, a pang that it can never give. MALONE. I regard this circumstance as a beauty, rather than a defect. The seeming absurdity in the last clause of Paulina's ardent address to Nature, was undoubtedly designed, being an extravagance characteristically preferable to languid correctness and chastised declamation. STEEVENS. [5] This is a term of contempt frequently used by Spenser. STEEVENS, Paul. I care not: It is an heretick, that makes the fire, Not she which burns in't. I'll not call you tyrant ; (Not able to produce more accusation Than your own weak-hing'd fancy,) something savours Leo. On your allegiance, Out of the chamber with her. Were I a tyrant, Paul. I pray you, do not push me; I'll be gone. So, so :-Farewell; we are gone. Leo. Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this. And see it instantly consum'd with fire ; [Exit. Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up straight: (And by good testimony) or I'll seize thy life, With what thou else call'st thine: If thou refuse, Ant. I did not, sir: These lords, my noble fellows, if they please, 1 Lord. We can ; my royal liege, He is not guilty of her coming hither. 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; Lead on to some foul issue: We all kneel. Leo. I am a feather for each wind that blows : Shall I live on, to see this bastard kneel To save this bastard's life :-for 'tis a bastard, [TO ANT. So sure as this beard's grey,—what will you adventure To save this brat's life? Ant. Any thing, my lord, That my ability may undergo, And nobleness impose: at least, thus much; I'll pawn the little blood which I have left, To save the innocent: any thing possible. Leo. It shall be possible: Swear by this sword," Thou wilt perform my bidding. Ant. I will, my lord. Leo. Mark, and perform it; (seest thou ?) for the fail Of any point in't shall not only be Death to thyself, but to thy lewd-tongu'd wife; Ant. I swear to do this, though a present death [6] The King must mean the beard of Antigonus, which perhaps both here and on the former occasion, (See p. 192, n. 2,) it was intended, he should lay hold of. Leontes has himself told us that twenty-three years ago he was unbreech'd, in his green velvet coat, his dagger muzzled; and of course his age at the opening of this play must be under thirty. He cannot therefore mean his own beard. MALONE. [7] It was anciently the custom to swear by the cross that was on the handle of a sword. STEEVENS. I remember to have seen the name of Jesus engraved upon the pummel of the sword of a Crusader in the Church at Winchelsea. DOUCE. Like offices of pity.-Sir, be prosperous In more than this deed doth require! and blessing, Another's issue, [Exit with the child. 1 Atten. Please your highness, posts, From those you sent to the oracle, are come Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed, 1 Lord. So please you, sir, their speed Hath been beyond account. Leo. Twenty-three days They have been absent: 'Tis good speed; foretels, The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords; ACT III. Leave me ; [Exeunt. SCENE I.-The same. A Street in some Town. Enter CLEOMENES and DION. Cleomenes. THE climate's delicate; the air most sweet; 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' offering! Cleo. But, of all, the burst And the ear-deafening voice o' th' oracle, Kin to Jove's thunder, so surpris'd my sense, That I was nothing. |