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James Boswell [1821], The plays and poems of William Shakspeare, with the corrections and illustrations of various commentators: comprehending A Life of the Poet, and an enlarged history of the stage, by the late Edmond Malone. With a new glossarial index (J. Deighton and Sons, Cambridge) [word count] [S10201].
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SCENE IV. A Room in Cymbeline's Palace. Enter Imogen and Pisanio.

Imo.
I would thou grew'st unto the shores o' the haven,
And question'dst every sail: if he should write,
And I not have it, 'twere a paper lost,
As offer'd mercy is2 note


. What was the last
That he spake to thee?

Pis.
'Twas, His queen, his queen!

Imo.
Then wav'd his handkerchief?

Pis.
And kiss'd it, madam.

Imo.
Senseless linen! happier therein than I!—
And that was all?

Pis.
No, madam; for so long
As he could make me with this eye or ear3 note
















-- 23 --


Distinguish him from others, he did keep
The deck, with glove, or hat, or handkerchief,
Still waving, as the fits and stirs of his mind
Could best express how slow his soul sail'd on,
How swift his ship.

Imo.
Thou should'st have made him
As little as a crow, or less4 note

, ere left
To after-eye him.

Pis.
Madam, so I did.

Imo.
I would have broke mine eye-strings; crack'd them, but
To look upon him; till the diminution
Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle5 note
:
Nay, follow'd him, till he had melted from
The smallness of a gnat to air; and then

-- 24 --


Have turn'd mine eye, and wept.—But, good Pisanio,
When shall we hear from him?

Pis.
Be assur'd, madam,
With his next vantage6 note


.

Imo.
I did not take my leave of him, but had
Most pretty things to say: ere I could tell him,
How I would think on him, at certain hours,
Such thoughts, and such; or I could make him swear
The shes of Italy should not betray
Mine interest, and his honour; or have charg'd him,
At the sixth hour of morn, at noon, at midnight,
To encounter me with orisons7 note
, for then
I am in heaven for him8 note; or ere I could
Give him that parting kiss, which I had set
Betwixt two charming words9 note

, comes in my father,
And, like the tyrannous breathing of the north,
Shakes all our buds from growing1 note












.

-- 25 --

Enter a Lady.

Lady.
The queen, madam,
Desires your highness' company.

Imo.
Those things I bid you do, get them despatch'd.—
I will attend the queen.

Pis.
Madam, I shall.
[Exeunt.

-- 26 --

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James Boswell [1821], The plays and poems of William Shakspeare, with the corrections and illustrations of various commentators: comprehending A Life of the Poet, and an enlarged history of the stage, by the late Edmond Malone. With a new glossarial index (J. Deighton and Sons, Cambridge) [word count] [S10201].
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