payment page
Continue reading with a SparkNotes PLUS trial
Already have an account? Log in
Original Text |
Modern Text |
|
A room in LEONTES ’ palace.
|
A room in LEONTES ’ palace.
|
|
Enter LEONTES , CLEOMENES , DION , PAULINA , and Servants
|
Enter LEONTES , CLEOMENES , DION , PAULINA , and Servants
|
|
CLEOMENES Sir, you have done enough, and have perform’d
A saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make,
Which you have not redeem’d; indeed, paid down
More penitence than done trespa at the last,
5 Do as the heavens have done, forget your evil;
With them forgive yourself.
|
CLEOMENES Sir, you have done enough, and have perform’d
A saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make,
Which you have not redeem’d; indeed, paid down
More penitence than done trespa at the last,
Do as the heavens have done, forget your evil;
With them forgive yourself.
|
|
LEONTES Whilst I remember
Her and her virtues, I cannot forget
My blemishes in them, and so still think of
10 The wrong I did myself; which was so much,
That heirless it hath made my kingdom and
Destroy’d the sweet’st companion that e’er man
Bred his hopes out of.
|
LEONTES Whilst I remember
Her and her virtues, I cannot forget
My blemishes in them, and so still think of
The wrong I did myself; which was so much,
That heirless it hath made my kingdom and
Destroy’d the sweet’st companion that e’er man
Bred his hopes out of.
|
|
PAULINA True, too true, my lord:
15 If, one by one, you wedded all the world,
Or from the all that are took something good,
To make a perfect woman, she you kill’d
Would be unparallel’d.
|
PAULINA True, too true, my lord:
If, one by one, you wedded all the world,
Or from the all that are took something good,
To make a perfect woman, she you kill’d
Would be unparallel’d.
|
|
LEONTES I think so. Kill’d!
20 She I kill’d! I did so: but thou strikest me
Sorely, to say I did; it is as bitter
Upon thy tongue as in my thought: now, good now,
Say so but seldom.
|
LEONTES I think so. Kill’d!
She I kill’d! I did so: but thou strikest me
Sorely, to say I did; it is as bitter
Upon thy tongue as in my thought: now, good now,
Say so but seldom.
|
|
CLEOMENES Not at all, good lady:
25 You might have spoken a thousand things that would
Have done the time more benefit and graced
Your kindness better.
|
CLEOMENES Not at all, good lady:
You might have spoken a thousand things that would
Have done the time more benefit and graced
Your kindness better.
|
|
PAULINA You are one of those
Would have him wed again.
|
PAULINA You are one of those
Would have him wed again.
|
|
DION 30 If you would not so,
You pity not the state, nor the remembrance
Of his most sovereign name; consider little
What dangers, by his highness’ fail of issue,
May drop upon his kingdom and devour
35 Incertain lookers on. What were more holy
Than to rejoice the former queen is well?
What holier than, for royalty’s repair,
For present comfort and for future good,
To bless the bed of majesty again
40 With a sweet fellow to’t?
|
DION If you would not so,
You pity not the state, nor the remembrance
Of his most sovereign name; consider little
What dangers, by his highness’ fail of issue,
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 present comfort and for future good,
To bless the bed of majesty again
With a sweet fellow to’t?
|
|
PAULINA There is none worthy,
Respecting her that’s gone. Besides, the gods
Will have fulfill’d their secret purposes;
For has not the divine Apollo said,
45 Is’t not the tenor of his oracle,
That King Leontes shall not have an heir
Till his lost child be found? which that it shall,
Is all as monstrous to our human reason
As my Antigonus to break his grave
50 And come again to me; who, on my life,
Did perish with the infant. ’Tis your counsel
My lord should to the heavens be contrary,
Oppose against their wills.
|
PAULINA There is none worthy,
Respecting her that’s gone. Besides, the gods
Will have fulfill’d their secret purposes;
For has not the divine Apollo said,
Is’t not the tenor of his oracle,
That King Leontes shall not have an heir
Till his lost child be found? which that it shall,
Is all as monstrous to our human reason
As my Antigonus to break his grave
And come again to me; who, on my life,
Did perish with the infant. ’Tis your counsel
My lord should to the heavens be contrary,
Oppose against their wills.
|
|
To LEONTES
|
To LEONTES
|
|
Care not for issue;
55 The crown will find an heir: great Alexander
Left his to the worthiest; so his successor
Was like to be the best.
|
Care not for issue;
The crown will find an heir: great Alexander
Left his to the worthiest; so his successor
Was like to be the best.
|
|
LEONTES Good Paulina,
Who hast the memory of Hermione,
60 I know, in honour, O, that ever I
Had squared me to thy counsel! then, even now,
I might have look’d upon my queen’s full eyes,
Have taken treasure from her lips—
|
LEONTES Good Paulina,
Who hast the memory of Hermione,
I know, in honour, O, that ever I
Had squared me to thy counsel! then, even now,
I might have look’d upon my queen’s full eyes,
Have taken treasure from her lips—
|
|
PAULINA And left them
65 More rich for what they yielded.
|
PAULINA And left them
More rich for what they yielded.
|
|
LEONTES Thou speak’st truth.
No more such wives; therefore, no wife: one worse,
And better used, would make her sainted spirit
Again possess her corpse, and on this stage,
70 Where we’re offenders now, appear soul-vex’d,
And begin, ‘Why to me?’
|
LEONTES Thou speak’st truth.
No more such wives; therefore, no wife: one worse,
And better used, would make her sainted spirit
Again possess her corpse, and on this stage,
Where we’re offenders now, appear soul-vex’d,
And begin, ‘Why to me?’
|
|
PAULINA Had she such power,
She had just cause.
|
PAULINA Had she such power,
She had just cause.
|
|
LEONTES She had; and would incense me
75 To murder her I married.
|
LEONTES She had; and would incense me
To murder her I married.
|
|
PAULINA I should so.
Were I the ghost that walk’d, I’ld bid you mark
Her eye, and tell me for what dull part in’t
You chose her; then I’ld shriek, that even your ears
80 Should rift to hear me; and the words that follow’d
Should be ‘Remember mine.’
|
PAULINA I should so.
Were I the ghost that walk’d, I’ld bid you mark
Her eye, and tell me for what dull part in’t
You chose her; then I’ld shriek, that even your ears
Should rift to hear me; and the words that follow’d
Should be ‘Remember mine.’
|
|
LEONTES Stars, stars,
And all eyes else dead coals! Fear thou no wife;
I’ll have no wife, Paulina.
|
LEONTES Stars, stars,
And all eyes else dead coals! Fear thou no wife;
I’ll have no wife, Paulina.
|
|
PAULINA 85 Will you swear
Never to marry but by my free leave?
|
PAULINA Will you swear
Never to marry but by my free leave?
|
|
LEONTES Never, Paulina; so be blest my spirit!
|
LEONTES Never, Paulina; so be blest my spirit!
|
|
PAULINA Then, good my lords, bear witness to his oath.
|
PAULINA Then, good my lords, bear witness to his oath.
|
|
CLEOMENES You tempt him over-much.
|
CLEOMENES You tempt him over-much.
|
|
PAULINA 90 Unless another,
As like Hermione as is her picture,
Affront his eye—
|
PAULINA Unless another,
As like Hermione as is her picture,
Affront his eye—
|
|
CLEOMENES Good madam,—
|
CLEOMENES Good madam,—
|
|
PAULINA I have done.
95 Yet, if my lord will marry,—if you will, sir,
No remedy, but you will,—give me the office
To choose you a queen: she shall not be so young
As was your former; but she shall be such
As, walk’d your first queen’s ghost,
100 it should take joy
To see her in your arms.
|
PAULINA I have done.
Yet, if my lord will marry,—if you will, sir,
No remedy, but you will,—give me the office
To choose you a queen: she shall not be so young
As was your former; but she shall be such
As, walk’d your first queen’s ghost,
it should take joy
To see her in your arms.
|
|
LEONTES My true Paulina,
We shall not marry till thou bid’st us.
|
LEONTES My true Paulina,
We shall not marry till thou bid’st us.
|
|
PAULINA That
105 Shall be when your first queen’s again in breath;
Never till then.
|
PAULINA That
Shall be when your first queen’s again in breath;
Never till then.
|
|
Enter a Gentleman
|
Enter a Gentleman
|
|
GENTLEMAN One that gives out himself Prince Florizel,
Son of Polixenes, with his princess, she
The fairest I have yet beheld, desires access
110 To your high presence.
|
GENTLEMAN One that gives out himself Prince Florizel,
Son of Polixenes, with his princess, she
The fairest I have yet beheld, desires access
To your high presence.
|
|
LEONTES What with him? he comes not
Like to his father’s greatne his approach,
So out of circumstance and sudden, tells us
’Tis not a visitation framed, but forced
115 By need and accident. What train?
|
LEONTES What with him? he comes not
Like to his father’s greatne his approach,
So out of circumstance and sudden, tells us
’Tis not a visitation framed, but forced
By need and accident. What train?
|
|
GENTLEMAN But few,
And those but mean.
|
GENTLEMAN But few,
And those but mean.
|
|
LEONTES His princess, say you, with him?
|
LEONTES His princess, say you, with him?
|
|
GENTLEMAN Ay, the most peerless piece of earth, I think,
120 That e’er the sun shone bright on.
|
GENTLEMAN Ay, the most peerless piece of earth, I think,
That e’er the sun shone bright on.
|
|
PAULINA O Hermione,
As every present time doth boast itself
Above a better gone, so must thy grave
Give way to what’s seen now! Sir, you yourself
125 Have said and writ so, 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 shrewdly ebb’d,
To say you have seen a better.
|
PAULINA O Hermione,
As every present time doth boast itself
Above a better gone, so must thy grave
Give way to what’s seen now! Sir, you yourself
Have said and writ so, 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 shrewdly ebb’d,
To say you have seen a better.
|
|
GENTLEMAN 130 Pardon, madam:
The one I have almost forgot,—your pardon,—
The other, when she has obtain’d your eye,
Will have your tongue too. This is a creature,
Would she begin a sect, might quench the zeal
135 Of all professors else, make proselytes
Of who she but bid follow.
|
GENTLEMAN Pardon, madam:
The one I have almost forgot,—your pardon,—
The other, when she has obtain’d your eye,
Will have your tongue too. This is a creature,
Would she begin a sect, might quench the zeal
Of all professors else, make proselytes
Of who she but bid follow.
|
|
PAULINA How! not women?
|
PAULINA How! not women?
|
|
GENTLEMAN Women will love her, that she is a woman
More worth than any man; men, that she is
140 The rarest of all women.
|
GENTLEMAN Women will love her, that she is a woman
More worth than any man; men, that she is
The rarest of all women.
|
|
LEONTES Go, Cleomenes;
Yourself, assisted with your honour’d friends,
Bring them to our embracement.
|
LEONTES Go, Cleomenes;
Yourself, assisted with your honour’d friends,
Bring them to our embracement.
|
|
Exeunt CLEOMENES and others
|
Exeunt CLEOMENES and others
|
|
Still, ’tis strange
145 He thus should steal upon us.
|
Still, ’tis strange
He thus should steal upon us.
|
|
PAULINA Had our prince,
Jewel of children, seen this hour, he had pair’d
Well with this lord: there was not full a month
Between their births.
|
PAULINA Had our prince,
Jewel of children, seen this hour, he had pair’d
Well with this lord: there was not full a month
Between their births.
|
|
LEONTES 150 Prithee, no more; cease; thou know’st
He dies to me again when talk’d of: sure,
When I shall see this gentleman, thy speeches
Will bring me to consider that which may
Unfurnish me of reason. They are come.
|
LEONTES Prithee, no more; cease; thou know’st
He dies to me again when talk’d of: sure,
When I shall see this gentleman, thy speeches
Will bring me to consider that which may
Unfurnish me of reason. They are come.
|
|
Re-enter CLEOMENES and others, with FLORIZEL and PERDITA
|
Re-enter CLEOMENES and others, with FLORIZEL and PERDITA
|
|
155 Your mother was most true to wedlock, prince;
For she did print your royal father off,
Conceiving you: were I but twenty-one,
Your father’s image is so hit in you,
His very air, that I should call you brother,
160 As I did him, and speak of something wildly
By us perform’d before. Most dearly welcome!
And your fair princess,—goddess!—O, alas!
I lost a couple, that ’twixt heaven and earth
Might thus have stood begetting wonder as
165 You, gracious couple, do: and then I lost—
All mine own folly—the society,
Amity too, of your brave father, whom,
Though bearing misery, I desire my life
Once more to look on him.
|
Your mother was most true to wedlock, prince;
For she did print your royal father off,
Conceiving you: were I but twenty-one,
Your father’s image is so hit in you,
His very air, that I should call you brother,
As I did him, and speak of something wildly
By us perform’d before. Most dearly welcome!
And your fair princess,—goddess!—O, alas!
I lost a couple, that ’twixt heaven and earth
Might thus have stood begetting wonder as
You, gracious couple, do: and then I lost—
All mine own folly—the society,
Amity too, of your brave father, whom,
Though bearing misery, I desire my life
Once more to look on him.
|
|
FLORIZEL 170 By his command
Have I here touch’d Sicilia and from him
Give you all greetings that a king, at friend,
Can send his brother: and, but infirmity
Which waits upon worn times hath something seized
175 His wish’d ability, he had himself
The lands and waters ’twixt your throne and his
Measured to look upon you; whom he loves—
He bade me say so—more than all the sceptres
And those that bear them living.
|
FLORIZEL By his command
Have I here touch’d Sicilia and from him
Give you all greetings that a king, at friend,
Can send his brother: and, but infirmity
Which waits upon worn times hath something seized
His wish’d ability, he had himself
The lands and waters ’twixt your throne and his
Measured to look upon you; whom he loves—
He bade me say so—more than all the sceptres
And those that bear them living.
|
|
LEONTES 180 O my brother,
Good gentleman! the wrongs I have done thee stir
Afresh within me, and these thy offices,
So rarely kind, are as interpreters
Of my behind-hand slackness. Welcome hither,
185 As is the spring to the earth. And hath he too
Exposed this paragon to the fearful usage,
At least ungentle, of the dreadful Neptune,
To greet a man not worth her pains, much less
The adventure of her person?
|
LEONTES O my brother,
Good gentleman! the wrongs I have done thee stir
Afresh within me, and these thy offices,
So rarely kind, are as interpreters
Of my behind-hand slackness. Welcome hither,
As is the spring to the earth. And hath he too
Exposed this paragon to the fearful usage,
At least ungentle, of the dreadful Neptune,
To greet a man not worth her pains, much less
The adventure of her person?
|
|
FLORIZEL 190 Good my lord,
She came from Libya.
|
FLORIZEL Good my lord,
She came from Libya.
|
|
LEONTES Where the warlike Smalus,
That noble honour’d lord, is fear’d and loved?
|
LEONTES Where the warlike Smalus,
That noble honour’d lord, is fear’d and loved?
|
|
FLORIZEL Most royal sir, from thence; from him, whose daughter
195 His tears proclaim’d his, parting with her: thence,
A prosperous south-wind friendly, we have cross’d,
To execute the charge my father gave me
For visiting your highne my best train
I have from your Sicilian shores dismiss’d;
200 Who for Bohemia bend, to signify
Not only my success in Libya, sir,
But my arrival and my wife’s in safety
Here where we are.
|
FLORIZEL Most royal sir, from thence; from him, whose daughter
His tears proclaim’d his, parting with her: thence,
A prosperous south-wind friendly, we have cross’d,
To execute the charge my father gave me
For visiting your highne my best train
I have from your Sicilian shores dismiss’d;
Who for Bohemia bend, to signify
Not only my success in Libya, sir,
But my arrival and my wife’s in safety
Here where we are.
|
|
LEONTES The blessed gods
205 Purge all infection from our air whilst you
Do climate here! You have a holy father,
A graceful gentleman; against whose person,
So sacred as it is, I have done sin:
For which the heavens, taking angry note,
210 Have left me issueless; and your father’s blest,
As he from heaven merits it, with you
Worthy his goodness. What might I have been,
Might I a son and daughter now have look’d on,
Such goodly things as you!
|
LEONTES The blessed gods
Purge all infection from our air whilst you
Do climate here! You have a holy father,
A graceful gentleman; against whose person,
So sacred as it is, I have done sin:
For which the heavens, taking angry note,
Have left me issueless; and your father’s blest,
As he from heaven merits it, with you
Worthy his goodness. What might I have been,
Might I a son and daughter now have look’d on,
Such goodly things as you!
|
|
Enter a Lord
|
Enter a Lord
|
|
LORD 215 Most noble sir,
That which I shall report will bear no credit,
Were not the proof so nigh. Please you, great sir,
Bohemia greets you from himself by me;
Desires you to attach his son, who has—
220 His dignity and duty both cast off—
Fled from his father, from his hopes, and with
A shepherd’s daughter.
|
LORD Most noble sir,
That which I shall report will bear no credit,
Were not the proof so nigh. Please you, great sir,
Bohemia greets you from himself by me;
Desires you to attach his son, who has—
His dignity and duty both cast off—
Fled from his father, from his hopes, and with
A shepherd’s daughter.
|
|
LEONTES Where’s Bohemia? speak.
|
LEONTES Where’s Bohemia? speak.
|
|
LORD Here in your city; I now came from him:
225 I speak amazedly; and it becomes
My marvel and my message. To your court
Whiles he was hastening, in the chase, it seems,
Of this fair couple, meets he on the way
The father of this seeming lady and
230 Her brother, having both their country quitted
With this young prince.
|
LORD Here in your city; I now came from him:
I speak amazedly; and it becomes
My marvel and my message. To your court
Whiles he was hastening, in the chase, it seems,
Of this fair couple, meets he on the way
The father of this seeming lady and
Her brother, having both their country quitted
With this young prince.
|
|
FLORIZEL Camillo has betray’d me;
Whose honour and whose honesty till now
Endured all weathers.
|
FLORIZEL Camillo has betray’d me;
Whose honour and whose honesty till now
Endured all weathers.
|
|
LORD 235 Lay’t so to his charge:
He’s with the king your father.
|
LORD Lay’t so to his charge:
He’s with the king your father.
|
|
LEONTES Who? Camillo?
|
LEONTES Who? Camillo?
|
|
LORD Camillo, sir; I spake with him; who now
Has these poor men in question. Never saw I
240 Wretches so quake: they kneel, they kiss the earth;
Forswear themselves as often as they speak:
Bohemia stops his ears, and threatens them
With divers deaths in death.
|
LORD Camillo, sir; I spake with him; who now
Has these poor men in question. Never saw I
Wretches so quake: they kneel, they kiss the earth;
Forswear themselves as often as they speak:
Bohemia stops his ears, and threatens them
With divers deaths in death.
|
|
PERDITA O my poor father!
245 The heaven sets spies upon us, will not have
Our contract celebrated.
|
PERDITA O my poor father!
The heaven sets spies upon us, will not have
Our contract celebrated.
|
|
LEONTES You are married?
|
LEONTES You are married?
|
|
FLORIZEL We are not, sir, nor are we like to be;
The stars, I see, will kiss the valleys first:
250 The odds for high and low’s alike.
|
FLORIZEL We are not, sir, nor are we like to be;
The stars, I see, will kiss the valleys first:
The odds for high and low’s alike.
|
|
LEONTES My lord,
Is this the daughter of a king?
|
LEONTES My lord,
Is this the daughter of a king?
|
|
FLORIZEL She is,
When once she is my wife.
|
FLORIZEL She is,
When once she is my wife.
|
|
LEONTES 255 That ‘once’ I see by your good father’s speed
Will come on very slowly. I am sorry,
Most sorry, you have broken from his liking
Where you were tied in duty, and as sorry
Your choice is not so rich in worth as beauty,
260 That you might well enjoy her.
|
LEONTES That ‘once’ I see by your good father’s speed
Will come on very slowly. I am sorry,
Most sorry, you have broken from his liking
Where you were tied in duty, and as sorry
Your choice is not so rich in worth as beauty,
That you might well enjoy her.
|
|
FLORIZEL Dear, look up:
Though Fortune, visible an enemy,
Should chase us with my father, power no jot
Hath she to change our loves. Beseech you, sir,
265 Remember since you owed no more to time
Than I do now: with thought of such affections,
Step forth mine advocate; at your request
My father will grant precious things as trifles.
|
FLORIZEL Dear, look up:
Though Fortune, visible an enemy,
Should chase us with my father, power no jot
Hath she to change our loves. Beseech you, sir,
Remember since you owed no more to time
Than I do now: with thought of such affections,
Step forth mine advocate; at your request
My father will grant precious things as trifles.
|
|
LEONTES Would he do so, I’ld beg your precious mistress,
270 Which he counts but a trifle.
|
LEONTES Would he do so, I’ld beg your precious mistress,
Which he counts but a trifle.
|
|
PAULINA Sir, my liege,
Your eye hath too much youth in’t: not a month
’Fore your queen died, she was more worth such gazes
Than what you look on now.
|
PAULINA Sir, my liege,
Your eye hath too much youth in’t: not a month
’Fore your queen died, she was more worth such gazes
Than what you look on now.
|
|
LEONTES 275 I thought of her,
Even in these looks I made.
|
LEONTES I thought of her,
Even in these looks I made.
|
|
To FLORIZEL
|
To FLORIZEL
|
|
But your petition
Is yet unanswer’d. I will to your father:
Your honour not o’erthrown by your desires,
280 I am friend to them and you: upon which errand
I now go toward him; therefore follow me
And mark what way I make: come, good my lord.
|
But your petition
Is yet unanswer’d. I will to your father:
Your honour not o’erthrown by your desires,
I am friend to them and you: upon which errand
I now go toward him; therefore follow me
And mark what way I make: come, good my lord.
|
|
Exeunt
|
Exeunt
|
Original Text |
Modern Text |
|
A room in LEONTES ’ palace.
|
A room in LEONTES ’ palace.
|
|
Enter LEONTES , CLEOMENES , DION , PAULINA , and Servants
|
Enter LEONTES , CLEOMENES , DION , PAULINA , and Servants
|
|
CLEOMENES Sir, you have done enough, and have perform’d
A saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make,
Which you have not redeem’d; indeed, paid down
More penitence than done trespa at the last,
5 Do as the heavens have done, forget your evil;
With them forgive yourself.
|
CLEOMENES Sir, you have done enough, and have perform’d
A saint-like sorrow: no fault could you make,
Which you have not redeem’d; indeed, paid down
More penitence than done trespa at the last,
Do as the heavens have done, forget your evil;
With them forgive yourself.
|
|
LEONTES Whilst I remember
Her and her virtues, I cannot forget
My blemishes in them, and so still think of
10 The wrong I did myself; which was so much,
That heirless it hath made my kingdom and
Destroy’d the sweet’st companion that e’er man
Bred his hopes out of.
|
LEONTES Whilst I remember
Her and her virtues, I cannot forget
My blemishes in them, and so still think of
The wrong I did myself; which was so much,
That heirless it hath made my kingdom and
Destroy’d the sweet’st companion that e’er man
Bred his hopes out of.
|
|
PAULINA True, too true, my lord:
15 If, one by one, you wedded all the world,
Or from the all that are took something good,
To make a perfect woman, she you kill’d
Would be unparallel’d.
|
PAULINA True, too true, my lord:
If, one by one, you wedded all the world,
Or from the all that are took something good,
To make a perfect woman, she you kill’d
Would be unparallel’d.
|
|
LEONTES I think so. Kill’d!
20 She I kill’d! I did so: but thou strikest me
Sorely, to say I did; it is as bitter
Upon thy tongue as in my thought: now, good now,
Say so but seldom.
|
LEONTES I think so. Kill’d!
She I kill’d! I did so: but thou strikest me
Sorely, to say I did; it is as bitter
Upon thy tongue as in my thought: now, good now,
Say so but seldom.
|
|
CLEOMENES Not at all, good lady:
25 You might have spoken a thousand things that would
Have done the time more benefit and graced
Your kindness better.
|
CLEOMENES Not at all, good lady:
You might have spoken a thousand things that would
Have done the time more benefit and graced
Your kindness better.
|
|
PAULINA You are one of those
Would have him wed again.
|
PAULINA You are one of those
Would have him wed again.
|
|
DION 30 If you would not so,
You pity not the state, nor the remembrance
Of his most sovereign name; consider little
What dangers, by his highness’ fail of issue,
May drop upon his kingdom and devour
35 Incertain lookers on. What were more holy
Than to rejoice the former queen is well?
What holier than, for royalty’s repair,
For present comfort and for future good,
To bless the bed of majesty again
40 With a sweet fellow to’t?
|
DION If you would not so,
You pity not the state, nor the remembrance
Of his most sovereign name; consider little
What dangers, by his highness’ fail of issue,
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 present comfort and for future good,
To bless the bed of majesty again
With a sweet fellow to’t?
|
|
PAULINA There is none worthy,
Respecting her that’s gone. Besides, the gods
Will have fulfill’d their secret purposes;
For has not the divine Apollo said,
45 Is’t not the tenor of his oracle,
That King Leontes shall not have an heir
Till his lost child be found? which that it shall,
Is all as monstrous to our human reason
As my Antigonus to break his grave
50 And come again to me; who, on my life,
Did perish with the infant. ’Tis your counsel
My lord should to the heavens be contrary,
Oppose against their wills.
|
PAULINA There is none worthy,
Respecting her that’s gone. Besides, the gods
Will have fulfill’d their secret purposes;
For has not the divine Apollo said,
Is’t not the tenor of his oracle,
That King Leontes shall not have an heir
Till his lost child be found? which that it shall,
Is all as monstrous to our human reason
As my Antigonus to break his grave
And come again to me; who, on my life,
Did perish with the infant. ’Tis your counsel
My lord should to the heavens be contrary,
Oppose against their wills.
|
|
To LEONTES
|
To LEONTES
|
|
Care not for issue;
55 The crown will find an heir: great Alexander
Left his to the worthiest; so his successor
Was like to be the best.
|
Care not for issue;
The crown will find an heir: great Alexander
Left his to the worthiest; so his successor
Was like to be the best.
|
|
LEONTES Good Paulina,
Who hast the memory of Hermione,
60 I know, in honour, O, that ever I
Had squared me to thy counsel! then, even now,
I might have look’d upon my queen’s full eyes,
Have taken treasure from her lips—
|
LEONTES Good Paulina,
Who hast the memory of Hermione,
I know, in honour, O, that ever I
Had squared me to thy counsel! then, even now,
I might have look’d upon my queen’s full eyes,
Have taken treasure from her lips—
|
|
PAULINA And left them
65 More rich for what they yielded.
|
PAULINA And left them
More rich for what they yielded.
|
|
LEONTES Thou speak’st truth.
No more such wives; therefore, no wife: one worse,
And better used, would make her sainted spirit
Again possess her corpse, and on this stage,
70 Where we’re offenders now, appear soul-vex’d,
And begin, ‘Why to me?’
|
LEONTES Thou speak’st truth.
No more such wives; therefore, no wife: one worse,
And better used, would make her sainted spirit
Again possess her corpse, and on this stage,
Where we’re offenders now, appear soul-vex’d,
And begin, ‘Why to me?’
|
|
PAULINA Had she such power,
She had just cause.
|
PAULINA Had she such power,
She had just cause.
|
|
LEONTES She had; and would incense me
75 To murder her I married.
|
LEONTES She had; and would incense me
To murder her I married.
|
|
PAULINA I should so.
Were I the ghost that walk’d, I’ld bid you mark
Her eye, and tell me for what dull part in’t
You chose her; then I’ld shriek, that even your ears
80 Should rift to hear me; and the words that follow’d
Should be ‘Remember mine.’
|
PAULINA I should so.
Were I the ghost that walk’d, I’ld bid you mark
Her eye, and tell me for what dull part in’t
You chose her; then I’ld shriek, that even your ears
Should rift to hear me; and the words that follow’d
Should be ‘Remember mine.’
|
|
LEONTES Stars, stars,
And all eyes else dead coals! Fear thou no wife;
I’ll have no wife, Paulina.
|
LEONTES Stars, stars,
And all eyes else dead coals! Fear thou no wife;
I’ll have no wife, Paulina.
|
|
PAULINA 85 Will you swear
Never to marry but by my free leave?
|
PAULINA Will you swear
Never to marry but by my free leave?
|
|
LEONTES Never, Paulina; so be blest my spirit!
|
LEONTES Never, Paulina; so be blest my spirit!
|
|
PAULINA Then, good my lords, bear witness to his oath.
|
PAULINA Then, good my lords, bear witness to his oath.
|
|
CLEOMENES You tempt him over-much.
|
CLEOMENES You tempt him over-much.
|
|
PAULINA 90 Unless another,
As like Hermione as is her picture,
Affront his eye—
|
PAULINA Unless another,
As like Hermione as is her picture,
Affront his eye—
|
|
CLEOMENES Good madam,—
|
CLEOMENES Good madam,—
|
|
PAULINA I have done.
95 Yet, if my lord will marry,—if you will, sir,
No remedy, but you will,—give me the office
To choose you a queen: she shall not be so young
As was your former; but she shall be such
As, walk’d your first queen’s ghost,
100 it should take joy
To see her in your arms.
|
PAULINA I have done.
Yet, if my lord will marry,—if you will, sir,
No remedy, but you will,—give me the office
To choose you a queen: she shall not be so young
As was your former; but she shall be such
As, walk’d your first queen’s ghost,
it should take joy
To see her in your arms.
|
|
LEONTES My true Paulina,
We shall not marry till thou bid’st us.
|
LEONTES My true Paulina,
We shall not marry till thou bid’st us.
|
|
PAULINA That
105 Shall be when your first queen’s again in breath;
Never till then.
|
PAULINA That
Shall be when your first queen’s again in breath;
Never till then.
|
|
Enter a Gentleman
|
Enter a Gentleman
|
|
GENTLEMAN One that gives out himself Prince Florizel,
Son of Polixenes, with his princess, she
The fairest I have yet beheld, desires access
110 To your high presence.
|
GENTLEMAN One that gives out himself Prince Florizel,
Son of Polixenes, with his princess, she
The fairest I have yet beheld, desires access
To your high presence.
|
|
LEONTES What with him? he comes not
Like to his father’s greatne his approach,
So out of circumstance and sudden, tells us
’Tis not a visitation framed, but forced
115 By need and accident. What train?
|
LEONTES What with him? he comes not
Like to his father’s greatne his approach,
So out of circumstance and sudden, tells us
’Tis not a visitation framed, but forced
By need and accident. What train?
|
|
GENTLEMAN But few,
And those but mean.
|
GENTLEMAN But few,
And those but mean.
|
|
LEONTES His princess, say you, with him?
|
LEONTES His princess, say you, with him?
|
|
GENTLEMAN Ay, the most peerless piece of earth, I think,
120 That e’er the sun shone bright on.
|
GENTLEMAN Ay, the most peerless piece of earth, I think,
That e’er the sun shone bright on.
|
|
PAULINA O Hermione,
As every present time doth boast itself
Above a better gone, so must thy grave
Give way to what’s seen now! Sir, you yourself
125 Have said and writ so, 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 shrewdly ebb’d,
To say you have seen a better.
|
PAULINA O Hermione,
As every present time doth boast itself
Above a better gone, so must thy grave
Give way to what’s seen now! Sir, you yourself
Have said and writ so, 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 shrewdly ebb’d,
To say you have seen a better.
|
|
GENTLEMAN 130 Pardon, madam:
The one I have almost forgot,—your pardon,—
The other, when she has obtain’d your eye,
Will have your tongue too. This is a creature,
Would she begin a sect, might quench the zeal
135 Of all professors else, make proselytes
Of who she but bid follow.
|
GENTLEMAN Pardon, madam:
The one I have almost forgot,—your pardon,—
The other, when she has obtain’d your eye,
Will have your tongue too. This is a creature,
Would she begin a sect, might quench the zeal
Of all professors else, make proselytes
Of who she but bid follow.
|
|
PAULINA How! not women?
|
PAULINA How! not women?
|
|
GENTLEMAN Women will love her, that she is a woman
More worth than any man; men, that she is
140 The rarest of all women.
|
GENTLEMAN Women will love her, that she is a woman
More worth than any man; men, that she is
The rarest of all women.
|
|
LEONTES Go, Cleomenes;
Yourself, assisted with your honour’d friends,
Bring them to our embracement.
|
LEONTES Go, Cleomenes;
Yourself, assisted with your honour’d friends,
Bring them to our embracement.
|
|
Exeunt CLEOMENES and others
|
Exeunt CLEOMENES and others
|
|
Still, ’tis strange
145 He thus should steal upon us.
|
Still, ’tis strange
He thus should steal upon us.
|
|
PAULINA Had our prince,
Jewel of children, seen this hour, he had pair’d
Well with this lord: there was not full a month
Between their births.
|
PAULINA Had our prince,
Jewel of children, seen this hour, he had pair’d
Well with this lord: there was not full a month
Between their births.
|
|
LEONTES 150 Prithee, no more; cease; thou know’st
He dies to me again when talk’d of: sure,
When I shall see this gentleman, thy speeches
Will bring me to consider that which may
Unfurnish me of reason. They are come.
|
LEONTES Prithee, no more; cease; thou know’st
He dies to me again when talk’d of: sure,
When I shall see this gentleman, thy speeches
Will bring me to consider that which may
Unfurnish me of reason. They are come.
|
|
Re-enter CLEOMENES and others, with FLORIZEL and PERDITA
|
Re-enter CLEOMENES and others, with FLORIZEL and PERDITA
|
|
155 Your mother was most true to wedlock, prince;
For she did print your royal father off,
Conceiving you: were I but twenty-one,
Your father’s image is so hit in you,
His very air, that I should call you brother,
160 As I did him, and speak of something wildly
By us perform’d before. Most dearly welcome!
And your fair princess,—goddess!—O, alas!
I lost a couple, that ’twixt heaven and earth
Might thus have stood begetting wonder as
165 You, gracious couple, do: and then I lost—
All mine own folly—the society,
Amity too, of your brave father, whom,
Though bearing misery, I desire my life
Once more to look on him.
|
Your mother was most true to wedlock, prince;
For she did print your royal father off,
Conceiving you: were I but twenty-one,
Your father’s image is so hit in you,
His very air, that I should call you brother,
As I did him, and speak of something wildly
By us perform’d before. Most dearly welcome!
And your fair princess,—goddess!—O, alas!
I lost a couple, that ’twixt heaven and earth
Might thus have stood begetting wonder as
You, gracious couple, do: and then I lost—
All mine own folly—the society,
Amity too, of your brave father, whom,
Though bearing misery, I desire my life
Once more to look on him.
|
|
FLORIZEL 170 By his command
Have I here touch’d Sicilia and from him
Give you all greetings that a king, at friend,
Can send his brother: and, but infirmity
Which waits upon worn times hath something seized
175 His wish’d ability, he had himself
The lands and waters ’twixt your throne and his
Measured to look upon you; whom he loves—
He bade me say so—more than all the sceptres
And those that bear them living.
|
FLORIZEL By his command
Have I here touch’d Sicilia and from him
Give you all greetings that a king, at friend,
Can send his brother: and, but infirmity
Which waits upon worn times hath something seized
His wish’d ability, he had himself
The lands and waters ’twixt your throne and his
Measured to look upon you; whom he loves—
He bade me say so—more than all the sceptres
And those that bear them living.
|
|
LEONTES 180 O my brother,
Good gentleman! the wrongs I have done thee stir
Afresh within me, and these thy offices,
So rarely kind, are as interpreters
Of my behind-hand slackness. Welcome hither,
185 As is the spring to the earth. And hath he too
Exposed this paragon to the fearful usage,
At least ungentle, of the dreadful Neptune,
To greet a man not worth her pains, much less
The adventure of her person?
|
LEONTES O my brother,
Good gentleman! the wrongs I have done thee stir
Afresh within me, and these thy offices,
So rarely kind, are as interpreters
Of my behind-hand slackness. Welcome hither,
As is the spring to the earth. And hath he too
Exposed this paragon to the fearful usage,
At least ungentle, of the dreadful Neptune,
To greet a man not worth her pains, much less
The adventure of her person?
|
|
FLORIZEL 190 Good my lord,
She came from Libya.
|
FLORIZEL Good my lord,
She came from Libya.
|
|
LEONTES Where the warlike Smalus,
That noble honour’d lord, is fear’d and loved?
|
LEONTES Where the warlike Smalus,
That noble honour’d lord, is fear’d and loved?
|
|
FLORIZEL Most royal sir, from thence; from him, whose daughter
195 His tears proclaim’d his, parting with her: thence,
A prosperous south-wind friendly, we have cross’d,
To execute the charge my father gave me
For visiting your highne my best train
I have from your Sicilian shores dismiss’d;
200 Who for Bohemia bend, to signify
Not only my success in Libya, sir,
But my arrival and my wife’s in safety
Here where we are.
|
FLORIZEL Most royal sir, from thence; from him, whose daughter
His tears proclaim’d his, parting with her: thence,
A prosperous south-wind friendly, we have cross’d,
To execute the charge my father gave me
For visiting your highne my best train
I have from your Sicilian shores dismiss’d;
Who for Bohemia bend, to signify
Not only my success in Libya, sir,
But my arrival and my wife’s in safety
Here where we are.
|
|
LEONTES The blessed gods
205 Purge all infection from our air whilst you
Do climate here! You have a holy father,
A graceful gentleman; against whose person,
So sacred as it is, I have done sin:
For which the heavens, taking angry note,
210 Have left me issueless; and your father’s blest,
As he from heaven merits it, with you
Worthy his goodness. What might I have been,
Might I a son and daughter now have look’d on,
Such goodly things as you!
|
LEONTES The blessed gods
Purge all infection from our air whilst you
Do climate here! You have a holy father,
A graceful gentleman; against whose person,
So sacred as it is, I have done sin:
For which the heavens, taking angry note,
Have left me issueless; and your father’s blest,
As he from heaven merits it, with you
Worthy his goodness. What might I have been,
Might I a son and daughter now have look’d on,
Such goodly things as you!
|
|
Enter a Lord
|
Enter a Lord
|
|
LORD 215 Most noble sir,
That which I shall report will bear no credit,
Were not the proof so nigh. Please you, great sir,
Bohemia greets you from himself by me;
Desires you to attach his son, who has—
220 His dignity and duty both cast off—
Fled from his father, from his hopes, and with
A shepherd’s daughter.
|
LORD Most noble sir,
That which I shall report will bear no credit,
Were not the proof so nigh. Please you, great sir,
Bohemia greets you from himself by me;
Desires you to attach his son, who has—
His dignity and duty both cast off—
Fled from his father, from his hopes, and with
A shepherd’s daughter.
|
|
LEONTES Where’s Bohemia? speak.
|
LEONTES Where’s Bohemia? speak.
|
|
LORD Here in your city; I now came from him:
225 I speak amazedly; and it becomes
My marvel and my message. To your court
Whiles he was hastening, in the chase, it seems,
Of this fair couple, meets he on the way
The father of this seeming lady and
230 Her brother, having both their country quitted
With this young prince.
|
LORD Here in your city; I now came from him:
I speak amazedly; and it becomes
My marvel and my message. To your court
Whiles he was hastening, in the chase, it seems,
Of this fair couple, meets he on the way
The father of this seeming lady and
Her brother, having both their country quitted
With this young prince.
|
|
FLORIZEL Camillo has betray’d me;
Whose honour and whose honesty till now
Endured all weathers.
|
FLORIZEL Camillo has betray’d me;
Whose honour and whose honesty till now
Endured all weathers.
|
|
LORD 235 Lay’t so to his charge:
He’s with the king your father.
|
LORD Lay’t so to his charge:
He’s with the king your father.
|
|
LEONTES Who? Camillo?
|
LEONTES Who? Camillo?
|
|
LORD Camillo, sir; I spake with him; who now
Has these poor men in question. Never saw I
240 Wretches so quake: they kneel, they kiss the earth;
Forswear themselves as often as they speak:
Bohemia stops his ears, and threatens them
With divers deaths in death.
|
LORD Camillo, sir; I spake with him; who now
Has these poor men in question. Never saw I
Wretches so quake: they kneel, they kiss the earth;
Forswear themselves as often as they speak:
Bohemia stops his ears, and threatens them
With divers deaths in death.
|
|
PERDITA O my poor father!
245 The heaven sets spies upon us, will not have
Our contract celebrated.
|
PERDITA O my poor father!
The heaven sets spies upon us, will not have
Our contract celebrated.
|
|
LEONTES You are married?
|
LEONTES You are married?
|
|
FLORIZEL We are not, sir, nor are we like to be;
The stars, I see, will kiss the valleys first:
250 The odds for high and low’s alike.
|
FLORIZEL We are not, sir, nor are we like to be;
The stars, I see, will kiss the valleys first:
The odds for high and low’s alike.
|
|
LEONTES My lord,
Is this the daughter of a king?
|
LEONTES My lord,
Is this the daughter of a king?
|
|
FLORIZEL She is,
When once she is my wife.
|
FLORIZEL She is,
When once she is my wife.
|
|
LEONTES 255 That ‘once’ I see by your good father’s speed
Will come on very slowly. I am sorry,
Most sorry, you have broken from his liking
Where you were tied in duty, and as sorry
Your choice is not so rich in worth as beauty,
260 That you might well enjoy her.
|
LEONTES That ‘once’ I see by your good father’s speed
Will come on very slowly. I am sorry,
Most sorry, you have broken from his liking
Where you were tied in duty, and as sorry
Your choice is not so rich in worth as beauty,
That you might well enjoy her.
|
|
FLORIZEL Dear, look up:
Though Fortune, visible an enemy,
Should chase us with my father, power no jot
Hath she to change our loves. Beseech you, sir,
265 Remember since you owed no more to time
Than I do now: with thought of such affections,
Step forth mine advocate; at your request
My father will grant precious things as trifles.
|
FLORIZEL Dear, look up:
Though Fortune, visible an enemy,
Should chase us with my father, power no jot
Hath she to change our loves. Beseech you, sir,
Remember since you owed no more to time
Than I do now: with thought of such affections,
Step forth mine advocate; at your request
My father will grant precious things as trifles.
|
|
LEONTES Would he do so, I’ld beg your precious mistress,
270 Which he counts but a trifle.
|
LEONTES Would he do so, I’ld beg your precious mistress,
Which he counts but a trifle.
|
|
PAULINA Sir, my liege,
Your eye hath too much youth in’t: not a month
’Fore your queen died, she was more worth such gazes
Than what you look on now.
|
PAULINA Sir, my liege,
Your eye hath too much youth in’t: not a month
’Fore your queen died, she was more worth such gazes
Than what you look on now.
|
|
LEONTES 275 I thought of her,
Even in these looks I made.
|
LEONTES I thought of her,
Even in these looks I made.
|
|
To FLORIZEL
|
To FLORIZEL
|
|
But your petition
Is yet unanswer’d. I will to your father:
Your honour not o’erthrown by your desires,
280 I am friend to them and you: upon which errand
I now go toward him; therefore follow me
And mark what way I make: come, good my lord.
|
But your petition
Is yet unanswer’d. I will to your father:
Your honour not o’erthrown by your desires,
I am friend to them and you: upon which errand
I now go toward him; therefore follow me
And mark what way I make: come, good my lord.
|
|
Exeunt
|
Exeunt
|
Test your knowledge
Take the Act 5, Scenes i-iii Quick Quiz
Read the Summary
Read the Summary of Act 5, Scenes i-iii.
Shakespeare’s Life & Times
Dive into our comprehensive guide to ace your Shakespeare assignments
Did you know you can highlight text to take a note?
x
