322 Art thou a feodary1 for this act, and look'st I am ignorant in what I am commanded." Pis. Madam, here is a letter from my lord. Imo. Who? thy lord? that is my lord? Leonatus? O, learn'd indeed were that astronomer, That knew the stars, as I his characters; He'd lay the future open.-You good gods, Let what is here contain'd relish of love, Of my lord's health, of his content,—yet not, That we two are asunder, let that grieve him,(Some griefs are med'cinable ;) that is one of them, For it doth physic love ;-of his content, All but in that!-Good wax, thy leave :-Bless'd be, You bees, that make these locks of counsel ! Lovers, And men in dangerous bonds, pray not alike; Though forfeiters you cast in prison, yet You clasp young Cupid's tables.-Good news, gods! [Reads. Justice, and your father's wrath, should he take me in his dominion, could not be so cruel to me as3 you, O the dearest of creatures, would not even renew me with your eyes. Take notice, that I am in Cambria, at Milford-Haven. What your own love will, out of this, advise you, follow. So, he wishes you all happiness, that remains loyal to his vow, and your, LEONATUS POSTHUMUS. increasing in love, 'st Pis. One score, 'twixt sun and sun, wagers, Where horses have been nimbler than the sands Go, bid my woman feign a sickness, say A riding suit; no costlier than would fit Pis. Madam, you're best12 consider. and ARVIRAGUS. you Bel. A goodly day not to keep house, with such Gui. Arv. Hail, heaven! Hail, heaven! Bel. Now, for our mountain sport: Up to yon hill, legs are young; I'll tread these flats. Consider, O, for a horse with wings!-Hear'st thou, Pisanio? hence: Why should excuse be born or e'er begot!$ 1 i. e. a subordinate agent, as a vassal to his chief. A feodary, however, meant also a prime agent, or steward, who received aids, reliefs, suits of service, &c. due to any lord.'-Glossographia Anglicana Nova, 1719. Yet after all, it may be doubted whether Shakspeare does not use it to signify a confederate or accom plice, as he does federary in The Winter's Tale, Act ii. Sc. 1: 'More, she's a traitor, and Camillo is 2 i. e. I am unpractised in the arts of murder. So in King Henry IV. Part I. : 'O, I am ignorance itself in this.' 3 As is here used for that. See Julius Caesar, Act i. Sc. 2. The word not in the next line, being accidentally omitted in the old copy, was supplied by Malone. 4 We should now write yours, increasing in love,' Your is to be joined in construction with Leonatus Posthumus, and not with increasing; the latter is a participle present, and not a noun. 5 i. e. her longing is further than beyond; beyond any thing that desire can be said to be beyond. 6 i. e. speak quick.' 7 That is in consequence of our going hence and returning back.' So in Coriolanus, Act ii. Sc. 1:'He cannot temperately support his honours From where he should begin and end.' When you above perceive me like a crow, you, Of courts, of princes, of the tricks in war: 17 to be paid with interest on his return from Jerusalem (or, as we should now speak, travelling thither for a wager,) defends it as an honest means of gaining the charges of his journey, especially when no meane lords, and lords' sommes, and gentlemen in our court, put out money upon a horse-race under themselves, yea, upon a journey afoote.' 10 It may be necessary to apprize the reader that the sand of an hour-glass used to measure time is meant. The figurative meaning is, swifter than the flight of time. 11 A franklin is a yeoman. 12 That is you'd best consider.' 13 'I see neither on this side nor on that, nor behind me; but find a fog in each of those quarters that my eye cannot pierce. The way to Milford is alone clear and open: Let us therefore instantly set forward.' By what ensues,' Imogen means what will be the consequence of the step I am going to take. 14 Strut, walk proudly. So in Twelfth Night, 'How he jets under his advanced plumes.' The idea of a giant was, among the readers of romances, who were almost all the readers of those times, always confounded with that of a Saracen 15 In any service done, the advantage rises not from the act, but from the allowance (i. e. approval) of it.' 16 i. e. scaly-winged beetle. See Antony and Cleopatra, Act iii. Sc. 2. The epithet full-winged, applied to the eagle, sufficiently marks the contrast of the poet's imagery; for whilst the bird can soar beyond the reach of human eye, the insect can but just rise above the 8 i. e. before the act is done for which excuse will surface of the earth, and that at the close of day. be necessary. 17 The old copy reads babe; the uncommon word 9 This practice was, perhaps, not much less preva-brabe not being familiar to the compositor. A brabe is lent in Shakspeare's time than it is at present. Fynes a contemptuous or proud look, word, or gesture; quasi, Moryson, speaking of his brother's putting out money a brave. Prouder, than rustling in unpaid-for silk: Have never wing'd from view o' the nest; nor know not What air's from home. Haply, this life is best, That have a sharper known: well corresponding A prison for a debtor, that not dares What should we speak of,3 Bel. How you speak!^ The fear's as bad as falling: the toil of the war, And hath as oft a slanderous epitaph, A storm, or robbery, call it what you will, Uncertain favour! But that two villains, whose false oaths prevail'd Where I have liv'd at honest freedom; paid The fore-end of my time.-But, up to the mountains; 1 i. e. compared to ours. 2 To stride a limit is to overpass his bound. 3 This dread of an old age unsupplied with matter for discourse and meditation, is a sentiment natural and noble. No state can be more destitute than that of him, who, when the delights of sense forsake him, has no pleasures of the mind.-Johnson. 4 Otway seems to have taken many hints for the conversation which passes between Acasto and his sons from the scene before us. 5 Thus in Timon of Athens : "That numberless upon me stuck, as leaves € nulla aconita, bibuntur In place of greater state." I'll meet you in the I' the cave, wherein they bow, their thoughts do hit Strikes life into my speech, and shows much more At three, and two years old, I stole these babes;" And every day do honour to her grave: [Exit. SCENE IV. Near Milford Haven. Enter PISA. NIO and IMOGEN. Imo. Thou told'st me, when we came from horse, the place Was near at hand: Ne'er long'd my mother so From the inward of thee? One, but painted thus, That drug-damn'd Italy hath out-craftied him," And he's at some hard point.-Speak, man; thy tongue Pis. May take off some extremity, which to read Imo. [Reads.] Thy mistress, Pisanio, hath playe the strumpet in my bed; the testimonies whereof lie bleeding in me. I speak not out of weak surmises; has done to the young princes, whom he has robbed of a kingdom, only to rob their father of heirs. The latter part of this soliloquy is very inartificial, there being no particular reason why Belarius should now tell to him self what he could not know better by telling it.'-John son. 8 i. e. to the grave of Euriphile; or to the grave of 'their mother,' as they supposed it to be. The grammati cal construction requires that the poet should have writ ten to thy grave; but we have frequent instances of this change of persons, not only in Shakspeare, but in bare,all the writings of his age. 9 The true pronunciation of Greek and Latin names was not much regarded by the writers of Shakspeare's age. The poet has, however, differed from himself, and given the true pronunciation when the name first occurs, and in one other place : To his protection; call him Posthamus.' 324 from proof as strong as my grief, and as certain as I expect my revenge. That part, thou, Pisanio, must act for me, if thy faith be not tainted with the breach of hers. Let thine own hands take away her life: shall give thee opportunities at Milford Haven: she hath my letter for the purpose; Where, if thou fear to strike, and to make me certain it is done, thou art the pander to her dishonour, and equally to me disloyal. Pis. What shall I need to draw my sword? the paper Hath cut her throat already.-No, 'tis slander; tongue Outvenoms all the worms' of Nile; whose breath nature, To break it with a fearful dream of him, Pis. Alas, good lady! Imo. I false? Thy conscience witness :-Iachimo, him: Poor I am stale, a garment out of fashion; A little witness my obedience: Look! Thou shalt not damn Hence, vile instrument! my hand. Imo. Something's afore't: Soft, soft; we'll no defence; Do feel the treason sharply, yet the traitor And thou, Posthumus, thou that didst set up When I desire it too. That now thou tir'st" on, how thy memory Will then be pang'd by me.-Pr'ythee, despatch: The lamb entreats the butcher: Where's thy knife? Thou art too slow to do thy master's bidding, Pis. O, gracious lady, Since I receiv'd command to do this business, I have not slept one wink. Good madam, hear me. Imo. True honest men being heard, like false Æneas, Pis. Imo. Didst undertake it? Why hast thou abus'd Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men: 1 It has already been observed that worm was the general name for all the serpent kind. See Antony and Cleopatra, Act v. Sc. 2 2 í. e. persons of the highest rank. 5 Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men.' 3 Putia, in Italian, signifies both a jay and a whore. The leaven is, in Scripture phraseology, the whole See 1 Corinthians, v. We have the word again in The Merry Wives of Wind-wickedness of our sinful nature.' sor-Teach him to know turtles from jays. Some 6, 7, 8. Thy failure, Posthumus, will lay fulsehood jay of Italy, whose mother was her painting, i. c. made charge of men without guile : make all suspected.' by art; the creature not of nature, but of painting. In That makes me afraid to put an end to my own this sense painting may be said to be her mother. Stee- life.' Hamlet exclaims :vens met with a similar phrase in some old play :- A parcel of conceited feather-caps, whose fathers were their garments.' 4 That is, to be hung up as useless among the neglect ed contents of a wardrobe. So in Measure for MeaBure: That have, like unscour'd armour, hung by the wall. Clothes were not formerly, as at present, made of slight materials, were not kept in drawers, or given away as soon as lapse of time or change of fashion had impaired their value. On the contrary, they were hung up on wooden pegs, in a room appropriated to the sole purpose of receiving them; and though such cast off things as were composed of rich substances were occasionally ripped for domestic uses, articles of inferior quality were suffered to hang by the walls till age and moths had destroyed what pride would not permit to be worn by servants or poor relations :— 'Comitem horridulum trita donare lacerna,' seems not to have been customary among our ancestors. When Queen Elizabeth died, she was found to have left |