SCENE II.
Another Room in the Same.
Enter Pisanio.
Pis.
How! of adultery? Wherefore write you not
What monster's her accuser1 note?—Leonatus!
O, master! what a strange infection
Is fallen into thy ear? What false Italian
(As poisonous tongue'd, as handed2 note
,) hath prevail'd
On thy too ready hearing?—Disloyal? No:
She's punish'd for her truth; and undergoes,
-- 99 --
More goddess-like than wife-like, such assaults
As would take in some virtue3 note
.—O, my master!
Thy mind to her is now as low4 note, as were
Thy fortunes.—How! that I should murder her?
Upon the love, and truth, and vows, which I
Have made to thy command?—I, her?—her blood?
If it be so to do good service, never
Let me be counted serviceable. How look I,
That I should seem to lack humanity,
So much as this fact comes too? Do't. The letter
[Reading.
That I have sent her, by her own command
Shall give thee opportunity5 note
:—O damn'd paper!
Black as the ink that's on thee! Senseless bauble,
-- 100 --
Art thou a feodary for this act6 note
, and look'st
So virgin-like without? Lo, here she comes.
Enter Imogen.
I am ignorant in what I am commanded7 note
.
Imo.
How now, Pisanio?
Pis.
Madam, here is a letter from my lord.
-- 101 --
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 him8 note
,—
(Some griefs are med'cinable; that is one of them,
For it doth physick love9 note
;)—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* note you cast in prison, yet
You clasp young Cupid's tables1 note
.—Good news, gods!
[Reads.
-- 102 --
Justice, and your father's wrath, should he take
me in his dominion, could not be so cruel to me, as
you, O the dearest of creatures, would not even renew
me with your eyes2 note
. 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 vow3 note,
and your, increasing in love4 note,
Leonatus Posthumus.
O, for a horse with wings!—Hear'st thou, Pisanio?
He is at Milford-Haven: Read, and tell me
How far 'tis thither. If one of mean affairs
May plod it in a week, why may not I
Glide thither in a day?—Then, true Pisanio,
-- 103 --
(Who long'st, like me, to see thy lord; who long'st,—
O, let me 'bate,—but not like me:—yet long'st,—
But in a fainter kind:—O, not like me;
For mine's beyond beyond5 note
,) say, and speak thick6 note
,
(Love's counsellor should fill the bores of hearing,
To the smothering of the sense,) how far it is
To this same blessed Milford: And, by the way,
Tell me how Wales was made so happy, as
To inherit such a haven: But, first of all,
How we may steal from hence; and, for the gap
That we shall make in time, from our hence-going,
And our return7 note
, to excuse:—but first, how get hence:
Why should excuse be born or e'er begot8 note?
-- 104 --
We'll talk of that hereafter. Pr'ythee, speak,
How many score of miles may we well ride
'Twixt hour and hour?
Pis.
One score, 'twixt sun and sun,
Madam, 's enough for you; and too much too.
Imo.
Why, one that rode to his execution, man,
Could never go so slow: I have heard of riding wagers9 note
,
Where horses have been nimbler than the sands
That run i' the clock's behalf1 note:—But this is foolery:—
Go, bid my woman feign a sickness; say
She'll home to her father: and provide me, presently,
A riding suit; no costlier than would fit
A franklin's housewife2 note.
Pis.
Madam, you're best consider3 note
.
Imo.
I see before me, man, nor here, nor here,
Nor what ensues; but have a fog in them,
-- 105 --
That I cannot look through4 note
. Away, I pr'ythee;
Do as I bid thee: There's no more to say;
Accessible is none but Milford way.
[Exeunt.
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].
