ACT V. SCENE I.

Sicilia. A Room in the Palace of Leontes.

Enter LEONTES, CLEOMENES, DION, PAULINA, and Others.

Cleo. Sir, you have done enough, and have perform'd A faint-like forrow: no fault could you make, Which you have not redeem'd; indeed, paid down More penitence, than done trefpafs: At the laft, Do, as the heavens have done; forget your evil With them, forgive yourself.

Leon. Whilft I remember

1;

Her, and her virtues, I cannot forget
My blemishes in them; and fo ftill think of
The wrong
I did myself: which was fo much,
That heirlefs it hath made my kingdom; and
Destroy'd the fweet'ft companion, that e'er man
Bred his hopes out of.

Paul. True, too true, my lord 7:

If, one by one, you wedded all the world,
Or, from the all that are, took fomething good,
To make a perfect woman; fhe, you kill'd,
Would be unparallel'd.

Leon. I think fo. Kill'd!

She I kill'd! I did fo: but thou strik'st me

Sorely, to fay I did; it is as bitter

Upon thy tongue, as in my thought: Now, good now, Say fo but feldom.

Cleo. Not at all, good lady;

You might have spoken a thousand things, that would Have done the time more benefit, and grac'd

Your kindness better.

7 True, too true, my Lord.] The firft of thefe words, in the old copy, makes part of Leontes' fpeech. The prefent regulation (which is certainly right) was made by Mr. Theobald. MALONE.

8 Or, from the all that are, took something good,] This is a favourite thought; it was bestowed on Miranda and Rolalind before. JOHNSON.

Paul.

Paul. You are one of those, Would have him wed again,

Dion. If you would not fo,

You pity not the ftate, nor the remembrance
Of his moft fovereign name; confider little,
What dangers, by his highnefs' fail of iflue,
May drop upon his kingdom, and devour
Incertain lookers on. What were more holy,
Than to rejoice, the former queen is well?
What holier, than,-for royalty's repair,
For prefent comfort, and for future good,-
To blefs the bed of majesty again
With a fweet fellow to't?

Paul. There is none worthy,

Respecting her that's gone.

Befides, the gods

Will have fulfill'd their fecret purposes:
For has not the divine Apollo faid,

Is't not the tenour of his oracle,

That king Leontes fhall not have an heir,

Till his loft child be found? which, that it fhall,
Is all as monftrous to our human reason,

As my Antigonous to break his grave,

And come again to me; who, on my life,

Did perish with the infant. 'Tis your counsel,

My lord fhould to the heavens be contrary,

Oppofe against their wills.-Care not for iffue; [to Leon. The crown will find an heir: Great Alexander

Left his to the worthiest; so his successor

Was like to be the best.

Leon. Good Paulina.

Who haft the memory of Hermione,

9-the former queen is well?] i. e. at reft; dead. In Antony and Cleopatra, this phrafe is faid to be peculiarly applicable to the dead : "Mel. First, madam, he is well?

"Cleop. Why there's more gold; but firrah, mark;
"We ufe to say, the dead are well; bring it to that,
"The gold I give thee will I melt, and pour
"Down thy ill-uttering throat."

So, in Romeo and Juliet, Balthazar fpeaking of Juliet, whom he imagined to be dead, fays:

Then the is well, and nothing can be ill" MALONE.

I know,

I know, in honour,-O, that ever I

Had fquar'd me to thy counsel! then, even now,
I might have look'd upon my queen's full eyes;
Have taken treasure from her lips,-

Paul. And left them

More rich, for what they yielded.
Leon. Thou speak'ft truth.

No more fuch wives; therefore, no wife: one worse,
And better us'd, would make her fainted spirit
Again poffefs her corps; and, on this ftage,

(Where we offenders now appear,) foul-vex'd,
Begin, And why to me1?

Paul. Had the fuch power,

She had just cause 2.

(Where we offenders now appear,) foul-vex'd,

Begin, And why to me?] The old copy reads-And begin, why to me? The tranfpofition now adopted was propofed by Mr. Steevens. Mr. Theobald reads

and on this stage

(Where we offend ber now) appear foul-vex'd, &c.

Mr. Heath would read-(Were we offenders now) appear &c. " that is, if we should now at last so far offend her." Mr. Mason thinks that the fecond line fhould be printed thus

And begin, why? to me.

"that is, begin to call me to account." There is fo much harsh and involved conftruction in this play, that I am not sure but the old copy, perplexed as the fentence may appear, is right. Perhaps the author intended to point it thus:

Again poffefs her corps, (and on this stage

Where we offenders now appear foul-vex'd,)

And begin, why to me?

Why to me did you prefer one lefs worthy, Leontes infinuates would be the purport of Hermione's fpeech. There is, I think, fomething awkward in the phrafe-Where we offenders now appear. By removing the parenthesis, which in the old copy placed after appear, to the end of the line, and applying the epithet foul-vex'd to Leontes and the rest who mourned the lofs of Hermione, that difficulty is obviated. MALONE. 2 Had he fuch power,

She bad juft caufe.] The old copy reads➡She had just such cause, But there is nothing to which the word fuch can be referred. It was, I have no doubt, inferted by the compofitor's eye glancing on the preceding line. The metre is perfect without this word, which confirms the obfervation. Since the foregoing remark was printed in the SECOND APPENDIX to my SUPP. to SHAKSP. 1783, I have obferved that the editor of the third folio made the fame correction. MALONE. Leon.

Leon. She had; and would incenfe* me To murder her I married.

Paul. I fhould fo :

Were I the ghoft that walk'd, I'd bid you mark
Her eye; and tell me, for what dull part in't
You chofe her: then I'd fhriek, that even your ears.
Shou'd rift to hear me; and the words that follow'd
Should be, Remember mine.

Leon. Stars, ftars,

And all eyes elfe, dead coals!-fear thou no wife,
I'll have no wife, Paulina.

Paul. Will you fwear

Never to marry, but by my free leave?

1

Leon. Never, Paulina; fo be blefs'd my fpirit!

Paul. Then, good my lords, bear witness to his oath. Cleo. You tempt him over-much.

Paul. Unless another,

As like Hermione as is her picture,

Affront his eye 3.

Cleo. Good madam,

Paul. I have done 4.

Yet, if my lord will marry,-if you will, fir,

No remedy, but you will; give me the office

To choose you a queen: fhe fhall not be so young

As was your former; but the shall be fuch,

As, walk'd your firft queen's ghoft, it fhould take joy To fee her in your arms.

Leon. My true Paulina,

We shall not marry, till thou bid'st us.

Paul. That

Shall be, when your firft queen's again in breath;
Never till then.

•-incenfe-] is generally ufed by Shakspeare in the fenfe of infti

gate.

MALONE.

3 Affront his eye.] To affront, is to meet. JOHNSON.

4 Paul. I bave done.] Thefe three words in the old copy make part of the preceding fpeech. The prefent regulation, which is clearly right, was fuggefted by Mr. Steevens. MALONE.

Enter

Enter a Gentleman.

Gent. One that gives out himfelf prince Florizel, Son of Polixenes, with his princefs, (fhe

The fairest I have yet beheld,) defires

Access to your high prefence.

Leon. What with him? he comes not
Like to his father's greatnefs: his approach,
So out of circumftance, and fudden, tells us,
'Tis not a vifitation fram'd, but forc'd
By need, and accident. What train ?
Gent. But few,

And thofe but mean.

Leon. His princefs, fay you, with him?

Gent. Ay; the most peerless piece of earth, I think, That e'er the fun fhone bright on.

Paul. O Hermione,

As every present time doth boast itself

Above a better, gone; fo must thy grave

Give way to what's feen now. Sir, you yourself
Have faid, and writ fo°, (but your writing now
Is colder than that theme',) She had not been,
Nor was not to be equall'd;-thus your verse
Flow'd with her beauty once; 'tis fhrewdly ebb'd,
To fay, you have seen a better.

Gent. Pardon, madam:

The one I have almoft forgot; (your pardon)
The other, when she has obtain'd your eye,
Will have your tongue too. This is a creature,
Would the begin a fect, might quench the zeal
Of all profeffors elfe; make profelytes

Of who fhe but bid follow.

Sfo muft thy grave

Give way to what's feen now.] Thy grave here means thy beauties, which are buried in the grave; the continent for the contents.

6

Sir, you yourfelf

EDWARDS.

Have faid, and writ fo,] The reader muft obferve, that fo relates not to what precedes, but to what follows; that, she had not beensquall'd. JOHNSON.

7 Is colder than that theme:] i. e. than the lifeless body of Hermione, the theme or fubject of your writing. MALONE.

4

Paul.