Flo. And he, and more Than he, and men; the earth, the heavens, and all: That, were I crown'd the most imperial monarch, Thereof most worthy; were I the fairest youth That ever made eye swerve; had force, and knowledge,

More than was ever man's,—I would not prize them, Without her love: for her, employ them all;

Commend them, and condemn them, to her service, Or to their own perdition.

Pol.

Cam. This shows a sound affection.

Shep.

Say you the like to him?

Per.

Fairly offer'd.

But, my daughter,

I cannot speak

So well, nothing so well; no, nor mean better:
By the pattern of my own thoughts I cut out
The purity of his.

Shep.

Take hands, a bargain ;And, friends unknown, you shall bear witness to❜t: I give my daughter to him, and will make Her portion equal his.

Flo.

O, that must be

I' the virtue of your daughter: one being dead,
I shall have more than you can dream of yet;
Enough then for your wonder: But, come on,
Contract us 'fore these witnesses.

Pol. Methinks, a father
Is, at the nuptial of his son, a guest

d more

and all:

narch,

th

know

them,

vice,

ter,

SC. III.

WINTER'S TALE.

89

That best becomes the table. Pray you, once more;
Is not your father grown incapable

Of reasonable affairs? is he not stupid

With age, and altering rheums? Can he speak? hear?
Know man from man? dispute his own estate 49?
Lies he not bed-rid? and again does nothing,

But what he did being childish?

Flo.

No, good sir;

He has his health, and ampler strength, indeed,
Than most have of his

Pol.

age.

By my white beard,

You offer him, if this be so, a wrong

Something unfilial: Reason, my son

Should choose himself a wife; but as good reason,
The father (all whose joy is nothing else

But fair posterity) should hold some counsel

In such a business.

Flo.

I yield all this;

But, for some other reasons, my grave sir,
Which 'tis not fit you know, I not acquaint
My father of this business.

Shep. Let him, my son; he shall not need to grieve

At knowing of thy choice.

Whom son I dare not call; thou art too base

To be acknowledg'd: Thou a sceptre's heir,

49 i. e. converse about his own affairs.' The phrase occurs again in Romeo and Juliet:-

'Let me dispute with thee of thy estate.'

t thus affect'st a sheep-hook!-Thou, old traitor, 1 am sorry, that, by hanging thee, I can but Shorten thy life one week.-And thou, fresh piece Of excellent witchcraft; who, of force, must know The royal fool thou cop'st with;

Shep.

O, my heart! Pol. I'll have thy beauty scratch'd with briars,

and made

More homely than thy state. For thee, fond boy,If I may ever know, thou dost but sigh,

That thou no more shalt never see this knack, (as

never

I mean thou shalt), we'll bar thee from succession;
Not hold thee of our blood, no, not our kin.
Far 50 than Deucalion off:-Mark thou my words;
Follow us to the court.-Thou churl, for this time,
Though full of our displeasure, yet we free thee
From the dead blow of it. And you, enchantment,-
Worthy enough a herdsman; yea, him too,
That makes himself, but for our honour therein,
Unworthy thee,-if ever, henceforth, thou
These rural latches to his entrance open,

Or hoop 51 his body more with thy embraces,
I will devise a death as cruel for thee,
As thou art tender to't.

Per.

I was not much afeard:
I was about to speak 52;

[Exit.

Even here undone! for once, or twice, and tell him plainly, 50 Far, in the old spelling farre, i. e. farther. The ancient comparative of fer was ferrer. This in the time of Chaucer was softened into ferre.

'Thus was it peinted, I can say no ferre.'

51 The old copy reads hope.

52 Warburton remarks that Perdita's character is here finely sustained. To have made her quite astonished at the king's discovery of himself had not become her birth; and to have given her presence of mind to have made this reply to the king, had not become her education.'

The selfsame sun,
that shines upon his court,
Hides not his visage from our cottage, but
Looks on alike 53-Will't please you, sir, be gone?
TO FLORIZEL.
I told you, what would come of this: 'Beseech you,
Of your own state take care: this dream of mine,-
Being now awake, I'll queen it no inch further,
But milk my ewes, and weep.

Cam.

Speak, ere thou diest.

Shep.

Why, how now, father,

I cannot speak, nor think,

Nor dare to know that which I know.—O, sir,

[To FLORIZEl.

You have undone a man of fourscore three 54,
That thought to fill his grave in quiet: yea,
To die upon the bed my father died,

To lie close by his honest bones: but now
Some hangman must put on my shroud, and lay me

53 To look on or look upon without any substantive annexed is a mode of expression, which, though now unusual, appears to have been legitimate in Shakspeare's time. So in Troilus and Cressida :

'He is my prize: I will not look upon.'

Sir John Davies in his Nosce Teipsum, 1599, has a similar thought:

'Thou like the sunne dost with indifferent ray

Into the palace and the cottage shine.'

and Habington in his Queen of Arragon has imitated it not inelegantly:

The stars shoot

An equal influence on the open cottage,

Where the poor shepherd's child is rudely nursed,
And on the cradle where the prince is rock'd

With care and whisper.'

54 This speech of the old clown is admirably characteristic ; his selfishness is seen by his concealing the adventure of Perdita, and here supported by the little regard he shows for his son or her: he is entirely taken up with himself though fourscore and three,

Where no priest shovels-in dust 55.

wretch !

O cursed [TO PERDITA. That knew'st this was the prince, and would'st ad

venture

To mingle faith with him.-Undone! undone !
If I might die within this hour, I have liv'd
To die when I desire.

Flo.

[Exit.

Why look you so upon

I am but sorry, not afeard! delay'd,

But nothing alter'd: What I was, I am :

me?

More straining on, for plucking back; not following My leash 56 unwillingly.

Cam.

Gracious my lord,

You know your father's temper: at this time
He will allow no speech,-which, I do guess,
You do not purpose to him;—and as hardly
Will he endure your sight as yet, I fear:
Then, till the fury of his highness settle,
Come not before him.

Flo.

I think, Camillo.

Cam.

I not purpose it.

Even he, my lord.

Per. How often have I told you, 'twould be thus? How often said, my dignity would last

But till 'twere known?

Flo.

It cannot fail, but by

The violation of my faith; And then

-

Let nature crush the sides o'the earth together,
And mar the seeds within!-Lift up thy looks:-
From my succession wipe me, father! I

Am heir to my affection.

55 Before the reform of the burial service by Edward VI. it was the custom for the priest to throw earth on the body in the form of a cross, and then sprinkle it with holy water.

56 Leash, a leading-string.