The soldier that did company these three The purpose I then followed.-That I was he, Iach. I am down again; [Kneeling. And here the bracelet of the truest princess, Post. Kneel not to me; The power that I have on you, is to spare you; Сут. We'll learn our freeness of a son-in-law; Pardon's the word to all. Arv. Nobly doomed. You holp us, sir, As you did mean indeed to be our brother; Post. Your servant, princes.-Good my lord of Call forth your soothsayer. As I slept, methought, Appeared to me, with other spritely shows1 Luc. Sooth. Here, my good lord. Philarmonus, 1 Spritely shows are groups of sprites, ghostly appearances. 2 A collection is a corollary, a consequence deduced from premises. So the queen in Hamlet says: 66 Her speech is nothing, Yet the unshaped use of it doth move The hearers to collection." Whose containing means the contents of which. Luc. Sooth. [Reads.] When as a lion's whelp shall, to himself unknown, without seeking find, and be embraced by a piece of tender air; and when from a stately cedar shall be lopped branches, which, being dead many years, shall after revive, be jointed to the old stock, and freshly grow; then shall Posthumus end his miseries, Britain be fortunate, and flourish in and plenty. Read and declare the meaning. Thou, Leonatus, art the lion's whelp; The piece of tender air, thy virtuous daughter, peace [To CYMBELINE. Which we call mollis aer; and mollis aer Сут. This hath some seeming. Sooth. The lofty cedar, royal Cymbeline, Personates thee; and thy lopped branches point Thy two sons forth; who, by Belarius stolen, For many years thought dead, are now revived, To the majestic cedar joined; whose issue Promises Britain peace and plenty. Well, Cym. To pay our wonted tribute, from the which 1 It should apparently be, "By peace we will begin. The soothsayer says, that the label promised to Britain "peace and plenty." To which Cymbeline replies, "We will begin with peace, to fulfil the prophecy." 2 i. e. have laid most heavy hand on. Many such elliptical passages are found in Shakspeare. Sooth. The fingers of the powers above do tune His favor with the radiant Cymbeline, Cym. Laud we the gods; And let our crooked smokes climb to their nostrils To all our subjects. Set we forward. Let A Roman and a British ensign wave Friendly together; so through Lud's town march ; Our peace we'll ratify; seal it with feasts.- Ere bloody hands were washed, with such a peace. [Exeunt. THIS play has many just sentiments, some natural dialogues, and some pleasing scenes; but they are obtained at the expense of much incongruity. To remark the folly of the fiction, the absurdity of the conduct, the confusion of the names and manners of different times, and the impossibility of the events in any system of life, were to waste criticism upon unresisting imbecility, upon faults too evident for detection, and too gross for aggravation.* JOHNSON. * On this critique of Johnson, Mr. Singer remarks:-"It is hardly necessary to point out the extreme injustice of the unfounded severity of Johnson's animadversions upon this exquisite drama. The antidote will be found in the reader's appeal to his own feelings after reiterated perusal. It is with satisfaction I refer to the more just and discriminative opinion of a foreign critic, to whom every lover of Shakspeare is deeply indebted, cited in the Preliminary Remarks." A SONG, SUNG BY GUIDERIUS AND ARVIRAGUS OVER FIDELE, SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD. BY MR. WILLIAM COLLINS. To fair Fidele's grassy tomb, Soft maids and village hinds shall bring No wailing ghost shall dare appear, And melting virgins own their love. No withered witch shall here be seen, Nor goblins lead their nightly crew: The redbreast oft at evening hours When howling winds, and beating rain, The tender thought on thee shall dwell. Each lonely scene shall thee restore; |