In thy not chiding; for she was as tender, Pol. O, not by much. Paul. So much the more our carver's excellence; Which lets go by some sixteen years, and makes her As she liv'd now. Leon. As now she might have done, So much to my good comfort, as it is Now piercing to my soul. O, thus she stood, Per. And give me leave; And do not say, 'tis superstition, that I kneel, and then implore her blessing.-Lady, Give me that hand of yours, to kiss. Paul. O, patience : The statue is but newly fix'd, the colour's Cam. My lord, your sorrow was too sore laid on; Which sixteen winters cannot blow away, So many summers, dry: scarce any joy Did ever so long live; no sorrow, But kill'd itself much sooner. Pol. Dear my brother, Let him, that was the cause of this, have power To take off so much grief from you, as he Will piece up in himself. Paul. Indeed, my lord, If I had thought, the sight of my poor image Would thus have wrought you (for the stone is mine,) I'd not have show'd it. Leon. Do not draw the curtain. Paul. No longer shall you gaze on't; lest your fancy May think anon, it moves. Leon. Let be, let be. Would I were dead, but that, methinks, already— What was he, that did make it ?-See, my lord, Would you not deem, it breath'd? and that those veins Did verily bear blood? Pol. Masterly done : her lip. The very life seems warm upon Leon. The fixure of her eye has motion in't3, As we are mock'd with art'. Paul. I'll draw the curtain; My lord's almost so far transported, that He'll think anon, it lives. Leon. O sweet Paulina, Make me to think so twenty years together; No settled senses of the world can match The pleasure of that madness. Let't alone. Paul. I am sorry, sir, I have thus far stirr'd you: but I could afflict you further. Leon. Do, Paulina ; For this affliction has a taste as sweet As any cordial comfort.-Still, methinks, There is an air comes from her: What fine chizzel 2 Paul. Good my lord, forbear: wrought —] i. e. worked, agitated. 3 The fixure of her eye has motion in't,] The meaning is, though the eye be fixed, [as the eye of a statue always is,] yet it seems to have motion in it: that tremulous motion, which is perceptible in the eye of a living person, how much soever one endeavour to fix it. 4 As we are mock'd with art.] as in some other places, for "as if." As is used by our author here, The ruddiness upon her lip is wet; You'll mar it, if you kiss it; stain your own Per. Stand by, a looker on. Paul. Either forbear, So long could I Quit presently the chapel; or resolve you And take you by the hand: but then you'll think, By wicked powers. Leon. What you can make her do, I am content to look on: what to speak, Paul. It is requir'd, You do awake your faith: Then, all stand still; Or those, that think it is unlawful business I am about, let them depart. Come ; 'Tis time; descend; be stone no more: approach; [HERMIONE comes down from the Pedestal. You kill her double; Nay, present your hand: Leon. O, she's warm! [Embracing her. If this be magick, let it be an art Lawful as eating. Pol. She embraces him. Cam. She hangs about his neck; If she pertain to life, let her speak too. Pol. Ay, and make't manifest where she has liv'd, Or, how stol'n from the dead. That she is living, Paul. Her. [Presenting PERDITA, who kneels to HERMIONE. You gods, look down, And from your sacred vials pour your graces Upon my daughter's head!-Tell me, mine own, Where hast thou been preserv'd? where liv'd? how found Thy father's court? for thou shalt hear, that I,— Gave hope thou wast in being,-have preserv'd Paul. 5 You precious winners all;] You who by this discovery have gained what you desired, may join in festivity, in which I, who have lost what never can be recovered, can have no part. Partake to every one.] Partake here means participate. 519 O peace, Paulina ; Leon. Thou should'st a husband take by my consent, As I by thine, a wife: this is a match, And made between's by vows. Thou hast found mine; As I thought, dead; and have, in vain, said many (For him, I partly know his mind,) to find thee And take her by the hand: whose worth, and honesty, By us, a pair of kings.-Let's from this place.- My ill suspicion.-This your son-in-law, And son unto the king, (whom heavens directing,) [Exeunt'. 7 This play, as Dr. Warburton justly observes, is, with all its absurdities, very entertaining. The character of Autolycus is naturally conceived, and strongly represented. JOHNson. END OF THE THIRD VOLUME. |