I'll sweeten thy sad grave. Thou shalt not lack Those rich-left heirs, that let their fathers lie Yea, and furred moss besides, when flowers are none, Gui. 2 Pr'ythee, have done; And do not play in wench-like words with that 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 mother. Be't so. And let us, Polydore, though now our voices Have got the mannish crack, sing him to the ground Gui. Cadwal, I cannot sing: I'll weep, and word it with thee; Than priests and fanes that lie. Arv. We'll speak it then. Bel. Great griefs, I see, medicine the less; 3 for Cloten Is quite forgot. He was a queen's son, boys; And, though he came our enemy, remember, 4 He was paid for that. Though mean and mighty, rotting 1 The ruddock is the redbreast. 2 To winter-ground appears to mean to dress or decorate thy corse with "furred moss," for a winter covering. Together, have one dust; yet reverence (That angel of the world) doth make distinction 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. Pray you, fetch him hither. Thersites' body is as good as Ajax, When neither are alive. Arv. 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. So,-begin. Gui. Fear no more the heat o'the sun, Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages. Golden lads and girls all must, Arv. Fear no more the frown o' the great; Care no more to clothe, and eat; To thee the reed is as the oak. 1 Gui. Fear no more the lightning-flash. 1 The Poet's sentiment seems to have been this:-All human excellence is equally subject to the stroke of death: neither the power of kings, nor the science of scholars, nor the art of those whose immediate study is the prolongation of life, can protect them from the final destiny of man. Gui. Fear not slander, censure rash; Consign to thee,1 and come to dust Gui. No exorciser 2 harm thee! And renowned be thy grave! Re-enter BELARIUS, with the body of CLOTEN. Gui. We have done our obsequies; come, lay him down. Bel. Here's a few flowers, but about midnight, more; The herbs, that have on them cold dew o'the night, Are strewings fitt'st for graves.-Upon their faces: You were as flowers, now withered; even so These herb'lets shall, which we upon you strow.Come on, away; apart upon our knees. The ground, that gave them first, has them again; Their pleasures here are past, so is their pain. [Exeunt BEL., GUI., and ARV. Imo. [Awaking.] Yes, sir, to Milford-Haven; which is the way?— I thank you.-By yon bush ?-Pray, how far thither? 'Ods pitikins! Can it be six miles yet? 3 I have gone all night.-'Faith, I'll lie down and sleep. 1 To "consign to thee" is to "seal the same contract with thee;" i. e. add their names to thine upon the register of death. 2 It has already been observed, that exorciser anciently signified a per son who could raise spirits, not one who lays them. 3 This diminutive adjuration is derived from God's pity, by the addition of kin. In this manner we have also 'Od's bodikins. VOL. VI. 38 Good faith, And cook to honest creatures. But 'tis not so; 2 The brawns of Hercules; but his Jovial face1 Where is thy head? where's that? ah me! where's that? Pisanio might have killed thee at the heart, And left this head on.3-How should this be? Pisanio? Murderous to the senses? That confirms it home; 1 “Jovial face" here signifies such a face as belongs to Jove. The epithet is frequently so used in the old dramatic writers. 2 Irregulous must mean lawless, licentious, out of rule. The word has not hitherto been met with elsewhere. 3 We must understand by "this head," the head of Posthumus; the head that did belong to this body. 4 i. e. 'tis a ready, apposite conclusion. 4 That we the horrider may seem to those Which chance to find us. O my lord, my lord! Enter LUCIUS, a Captain, and other Officers, and a Soothsayer. Cap. To them the legions garrisoned in Gallia, After your will, have crossed the sea; attending You here at Milford-Haven, with your ships. They are here in readiness. Luc. But what from Rome? Cap. The senate hath stirred up the confiners, Luc. When expect you them? Cap. With the next benefit o'the wind. Luc. This forwardness Makes our hopes fair. Command, our present numbers Be mustered; bid the captains look to't.—Now, sir, What have you dreamed, of late, of this war's purpose? Sooth. Last night the very gods showed me a vision, (1 fast, and prayed, for their intelligence,) thus: I saw Jove's bird, the Roman eagle, winged From the spongy south to this part of the west, There vanished in the sunbeams; which portends (Unless my sins abuse my divination) 2 Success to the Roman host. Dream often so, Luc. With the defunct, or sleep upon the dead.- 1 Shakspeare appears to have meant brother to the prince of Sienna. He was not aware that Sienna was a republic, or possibly did not heed it. 2 Fast for fasted, as we have in another place of this play lift for lifted. Similar phraseology will be found in the Bible. |