1 Atten. Madam, he hath not slept to-night; commanded None should come at him. Paul. Not so hot, good sir; I come to bring him sleep.-'Tis such as you,- Do come with words as med'cinal as true; Leo. What noise there, ho? Paul. No noise, my lord; but needful conference, About some gossips for your highness. Leo. How? Away with that audacious lady: Antigonus, I charg'd thee, that she should not come about me, Ant. I told her so, my lord, On your displeasure's peril, and on mine, Leo. What, canst not rule her? Paul. From all dishonesty, he can in this, Ant. Lo you now; you hear! When she will take the rein, I let her run; Paul. Good my liege, I come, And, I beseech you, hear me, who profess Than such as most seem yours :-I say, I come Leo. Good queen! Paul. Good queen, my lord, good queen: I say, good queen; And would by combat make her good, so were I A man, the worst about you. [7] To comfort, in old language, is to aid and encourage. Evils here mean wicked MALONE. courses. 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 In so entitling me that, as you 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; Paul. For ever Unvenerable be thy hands, if thou" Take'st up the princess, by that forced baseness Leo. He dreads his wife. Faul. 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 on the softness and delicacy of women: therefore Sir Hugh, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, says of a woman suspected to be a witch, that he does not like when a woman has a beard." JOHNSON. [3] 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 oman. STEEVENS. [2] Leontes had ordered Antigonus to take up the bastard; Paulina forbids him to tocch the Princess under that appellation. Forced is false, uttered with violence to truth. JOHNSON. His hopeful son's, his babe's betrays to slander, Whose sting is sharper than the sword's; and will not (For, as the case now stands, it is a curse He cannot be compell'd to't,) once remove The root of his opinion, which is rotten, Leo. A callat, Of boundless tongue; who late hath beat her husband, And now bates me !-This brat is none of mine; 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 Hardly one subject. 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. -Look to your babe, my lord; 'tis your's: Jove send her A better guiding spirit !-What need these hands ?You, that are thus so tender o'er his follies, Will never do him good, not one of you. So, so-Farewell; we are gone. Leo. Thou, traitor, hast set on thy wife to this.My child? away with't!-even thou, that hast A heart so tender o'er it, take it hence, And see it instantly consum'd with fire; [Exit. Even thou, and none but thou. Take it up straight: Within this hour bring me word 'tis done, (And by good testimony) or I'll seize thy life, With what thou else call'st thine: If thou refuse, The bastard brains with these my proper hands 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. Leo. You are liars all. 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; Which, being so horrible, so bloody, must 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 And call me father? Better burn it now, It shall not neither.-You, sir, come you hither; 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. |