Act IV. Scene I

Enter Time, the Chorus.

Time. I, that please some, try all, both joy and terror
Of good and bad, that makes and unfolds error,
Now take upon me, in the name of Time,
To use my wings. Impute it not a crime
To me or my swift passage, that I slide
O'er sixteen years and leave the growth untried
Of that wide gap, since it is in my power
To o'erthrow law and in one self-born hour
To plant and o'erwhelm custom. Let me pass
The same I am, ere ancient'st order was
Or what is now received: I witness to
The times that brought them in; so shall I do
To the freshest things now reigning and make stale
The glistering of this present, as my tale
Now seems to it. Your patience this allowing,
I turn my glass and give my scene such growing
As you had slept between: Leontes leaving,
The effects of his fond jealousies so grieving
That he shuts up himself, imagine me,
Gentle spectators, that I now may be
In fair Bohemia; and remember well,
I mentioned a son o' the king's, which Florizel
I now name to you; and with speed so pace
To speak of Perdita, now grown in grace
Equal with wondering: what of her ensues
I list not prophesy; but let Time's news
Be known when 'tis brought forth. A shepherd's daughter,
And what to her adheres, which follows after,
Is the argument of Time. Of this allow,
If ever you have spent time worse ere now;
If never, yet that Time himself doth say
He wishes earnestly you never may. [Exit.

LINENOTES:

Act IV. Scene I] Actus Quartus, Scena Prima. Ff. om. Warburton. Act IV. Capell. See note (xii).

[1-32] Spurious. Heath conj.

makes and unfolds] Ff. make and unfold Rowe. mask and unfold Theobald.

growth] gulf Warburton.

[7-9] gap, since ... custom. Let] gap. Since ... custom, let Lloyd conj.

witness] witness'd Capell.

[17, 18, 19] leaving, ... jealousies ... himself, imagine] leaving,—jealousies ... himself;—imagine Staunton. leaving ... jealousies, ... himself. Imagine F1. leaving ... jealousies, ... himself, imagine F2 F3 F4.

The] To the Keightley conj.

[19, 20] imagine me, ... that I] imagine we ... that you Johnson conj.

I mentioned] F1. I mention here F2 F3 F4. There is Hanmer. I mention'd Capell.

which] whom Pope.

Scene II. Bohemia. The palace of Polixenes.

Enter Polixenes and Camillo.

Pol. I pray thee, good Camillo, be no more importunate:
'tis a sickness denying thee any thing; a death to grant this.

Cam. It is fifteen years since I saw my country:
though I have for the most part been aired abroad, I desire
to lay my bones there. Besides, the penitent king, my
master, hath sent for me; to whose feeling sorrows I might
be some allay, or I o'erween to think so, which is another
spur to my departure.

Pol. As thou lovest me, Camillo, wipe not out the rest
of thy services by leaving me now: the need I have of thee,
thine own goodness hath made; better not to have had thee
than thus to want thee: thou, having made me businesses,
which none without thee can sufficiently manage, must
either stay to execute them thyself, or take away with thee
the very services thou hast done; which if I have not enough
considered, as too much I cannot, to be more thankful to
thee shall be my study; and my profit therein, the heaping
friendships. Of that fatal country, Sicilia, prithee speak no
more; whose very naming punishes me with the remembrance
of that penitent, as thou callest him, and reconciled
king, my brother; whose loss of his most precious queen and
children are even now to be afresh lamented. Say to me,
when sawest thou the Prince Florizel, my son? Kings are
no less unhappy, their issue not being gracious, than they
are in losing them when they have approved their virtues.

Cam. Sir, it is three days since I saw the prince. What
his happier affairs may be, are to me unknown: but I have
missingly noted, he is of late much retired from court and
is less frequent to his princely exercises than formerly he
hath appeared.

Pol. I have considered so much, Camillo, and with some
care; so far, that I have eyes under my service which look
upon his removedness; from whom I have this intelligence,
that he is seldom from the house of a most homely shepherd;
a man, they say, that from very nothing, and beyond
the imagination of his neighbours, is grown into an unspeakable
estate.

Cam. I have heard, sir, of such a man, who hath a
daughter of most rare note: the report of her is extended
more than can be thought to begin from such a cottage.

Pol. That's likewise part of my intelligence; but, I
fear, the angle that plucks our son thither. Thou shalt accompany
us to the place; where we will, not appearing
what we are, have some question with the shepherd; from
whose simplicity I think it not uneasy to get the cause of
my son's resort thither. Prithee, be my present partner in
this business, and lay aside the thoughts of Sicilia.

Cam. I willingly obey your command.

Pol. My best Camillo! We must disguise ourselves. [Exeunt.

LINENOTES:

Scene II.] Scena Secunda. Ff.

The palace of Polixenes.]? Court of Bohemia. Pope. A room in Polixenes' Palace. Capell.

fifteen] sixteen Hanmer.

businesses] business Rowe (ed. 2).

my] thy Long MS.

[17, 18] heaping friendships] heaping friendship Hanmer. reaping friendships Warburton.

missingly] (missingly) Ff. musingly Hanmer. missing him Warburton.

care; so far,] Capell. care, so farre, F1 F2 F3. care so far, F4.

part] a part Theobald.

[41, 42] but, I fear, the angle] but (I fear) the Angle Ff. and, I fear, the Engle Theobald, and, I fear, the angle Hanmer. but, I fear the angle Steevens.

thither] thether F1.

Exeunt.] Rowe. Exit. Ff.

Scene III. A road near the Shepherd's cottage.

Enter Autolycus, singing.

When daffodils begin to peer,
With heigh! the doxy over the dale,
Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year;
For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale.

The white sheet bleaching on the hedge,
With heigh! the sweet birds, O, how they sing!
Doth set my pugging tooth on edge;
For a quart of ale is a dish for a king.

The lark, that tirra-lyra chants,
With heigh! with heigh! the thrush and the jay,
Are summer songs for me and my aunts,
While we lie tumbling in the hay.

I have served Prince Florizel and in my time wore three-pile;
but now I am out of service:

But shall I go mourn for that, my dear?
The pale moon shines by night:
And when I wander here and there,
I then do most go right.

If tinkers may have leave to live,
And bear the sow-skin budget,
Then my account I well may give,
And in the stocks avouch it.

My traffic is sheets; when the kite builds, look to lesser
linen. My father named me Autolycus; who being, as I
am, littered under Mercury, was likewise a snapper-up of
unconsidered trifles. With die and drab I purchased this
caparison, and my revenue is the silly cheat. Gallows and
knock are too powerful on the highway: beating and hanging
are terrors to me: for the life to come, I sleep out the
thought of it. A prize! a prize!

Enter Clown.

Clo. Let me see: every 'leven wether tods; every tod
yields pound and odd shilling; fifteen hundred shorn, what
comes the wool to?

Ant. [Aside] If the springe hold, the cock's mine.

Clo. I cannot do't without counters. Let me see; what
am I to buy for our sheep-shearing feast? Three pound of
sugar; five pound of currants; rice—what will this sister
of mine do with rice? But my father hath made her mistress
of the feast, and she lays it on. She hath made me
four and twenty nosegays for the shearers, three-man song-men
all, and very good ones; but they are most of them
means and bases; but one puritan amongst them, and he
sings psalms to hornpipes. I must have saffron to colour
the warden pies; mace; dates, none, that's out of my note;
nutmegs, seven; a race or two of ginger, but that I may
beg; four pound of prunes, and as many of raisins o' the sun.

Ant. O that ever I was born! [Grovelling on the ground.

Clo. I' the name of me—

Ant. O, help me, help me! pluck but off these rags;
and then, death, death!

Clo. Alack, poor soul! thou hast need of more rags to
lay on thee, rather than have these off.

Ant. O sir, the loathsomeness of them offends me more
than the stripes I have received, which are mighty ones and
millions.

Clo. Alas, poor man! a million of beating may come
to a great matter.

Ant. I am robbed, sir, and beaten; my money and apparel
ta'en from me, and these detestable things put upon me.

Clo. What, by a horseman, or a footman?

Ant. A footman, sweet sir, a footman.

Clo. Indeed, he should be a footman by the garments
he has left with thee: if this be a horseman's coat, it hath
seen very hot service. Lend me thy hand, I'll help thee:
come, lend me thy hand.

Ant. O, good sir, tenderly, O!

Clo. Alas, poor soul!

Ant. O, good sir, softly, good sir! I fear, sir, my
shoulder-blade is out.

Clo. How now! canst stand?

Ant. Softly, dear sir [picks his pocket]; good sir, softly.
You ha' done me a charitable office.

Clo. Dost lack any money? I have a little money for
thee.

Ant. No, good sweet sir; no, I beseech you, sir: I have
a kinsman not past three quarters of a mile hence, unto
whom I was going; I shall there have money, or any thing I
want: offer me no money, I pray you; that kills my heart.

Clo. What manner of fellow was he that robbed you?

Ant. A fellow, sir, that I have known to go about with
troll-my-dames: I knew him once a servant of the prince:
I cannot tell, good sir, for which of his virtues it was, but
he was certainly whipped out of the court.

Clo. His vices, you would say; there's no virtue whipped
out of the court: they cherish it to make it stay there;
and yet it will no more but abide.

Aut. Vices I would say, sir. I know this man well:
he hath been since an ape-bearer; then a process-server,
a bailiff; then he compassed a motion of the Prodigal Son,
and married a tinker's wife within a mile where my land
and living lies; and, having flown over many knavish professions,
he settled only in rogue: some call him Autolycus.

Clo. Out upon him! prig, for my life, prig: he haunts
wakes, fairs and bear-baitings.

Aut. Very true, sir; he, sir, he; that's the rogue that
put me into this apparel.

Clo. Not a more cowardly rogue in all Bohemia: if
you had but looked big and spit at him, he'ld have run.

Aut. I must confess to you, sir, I am no fighter: I am
false of heart that way; and that he knew, I warrant him.

Clo. How do you now?

Aut. Sweet sir, much better than I was; I can stand
and walk: I will even take my leave of you, and pace softly
towards my kinsman's.

Clo. Shall I bring thee on the way?

Aut. No, good-faced sir; no, sweet sir.

Clo. Then fare thee well: I must go buy spices for our
sheep-shearing.

Aut. Prosper you, sweet sir! [Exit Clown.] Your purse
is not hot enough to purchase your spice. I'll be with you
at your sheep-shearing too: if I make not this cheat bring
out another and the shearers prove sheep, let me be unrolled
and my name put in the book of virtue!

Song. Jog on, jog on, the foot-path way,
And merrily hent the stile-a:
A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a. [Exit.

LINENOTES:

Scene iii.] Scena Tertia. Ff. Scene ii. Warburton.

A road....] Malone. om. Ff. The country. Pope. Fields near the Shepherd's. Capell.

daffodils] Johnson. daffadils Ff.

[3, 4] comes ... For ... reigns in the winter's] comes ... For ... reigns o'er the winter's Hanmer. come ... 'Fore ... reins in the winter Warburton. comes ... For ... runs in the winter Thirlby conj. comes ... For ... runs in the winters Mason conj.

heigh] Hey Ff.

pugging] progging Hanmer. prigging Collier MS.

on] Theobald. an Ff.

that] with Rowe (ed. 2).

tirra-lyra] tirra-Lyra F1 F2. tirra Lyra F3. tirra Lycra F4.

With heigh! with heigh!] With heigh, with heigh F2 F3 F4. With heigh, F1. With heigh ho! S. Walker conj.

most go] go most Pope.

sow-skin] show-skin? F4.

budget] Rowe. bowget Ff.

[24, 25] Autolycus; who ... was likewise] Autolicus, being littered under Mercury, who, as I am, was likewise Theobald.

this] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.

silly] sly Hanmer.

knock] knocks Hanmer.

[28, 29] beating and hanging] hanging and beating Collier conj.

Scene iii. Warburton.

'leven wether] 'leven weather Capell. Leaven-weather Ff. eleven weather Rowe. eleventh-weather Hanmer. living wether Malone conj.

tod] F1. told F2 F3 F4.

pound and odd] a pound and one odd Hanmer.

[Aside] Rowe.

counters] Capell. compters Ff.

sugar] sugar [reading out of a Note. Capell.

currants] Rowe. currence Ff.

three-man] they're men or they're main or thrum-men Theobald conj.

amongst] among F4.

prunes] Pope. Prewyns Ff. pruns Rowe (ed. 1). pruins Id. (ed. 2).

raisins] Pope. reysons F1 F2. reasons F3 F4. rasins Rowe.

[Grovelling....] Rowe.

me—] Rowe. me. Ff. the— Theobald conj. om. Johnson conj. See note (xiii).

offends] F2 F3 F4. offend F1.

detestable] derestable F1.

[Helping.... Rowe. om. Ff.

[picks....] Capell. om. Ff.

Cuts his purse. Collier (Collier MS.).

ha'] ha Ff.

troll-my-dames] troll-madams Hanmer.

him] him him F2.

a bailiff] to a bailiff Edd. conj.

compassed] compos'd Long MS.

where] of where Keightley conj.

rogue] a rogue Warburton.

do you] do you do F4.

the way] thy way F4.

fare thee well] fartheewell F1. farewell F2. farewel F3 F4.

buy] F1. to buy F2 F3 F4.

[Exit Clown.] Capell. Exit. Ff (after line 108).

[112, 113] unrolled] unrold Ff. enrolled Collier (Collier MS.). unrogued W. N. L. (N. and Q.). conj.

hent] hend Hanmer.

[115-117] stile-a ... mile-a] stile, o ... mile, o The Dancing Master (1650). stil-e ... mil-e Lewis conj.

Scene IV. The Shepherd's cottage.

Enter Florizel and Perdita.

Flo. These your unusual weeds to each part of you
Do give a life: no shepherdess, but Flora
Peering in April's front. This your sheep-shearing
Is as a meeting of the petty gods,
And you the queen on't.

Per. Sir, my gracious lord,
To chide at your extremes it not becomes me:
O, pardon, that I name them! Your high self,
The gracious mark o' the land, you have obscured
With a swain's wearing, and me, poor lowly maid,
Most goddess-like prank'd up: but that our feasts
In every mess have folly and the feeders
Digest it with a custom, I should blush
To see you so attired, sworn, I think,
To show myself a glass.

Flo. I bless the time
When my good falcon made her flight across
Thy father's ground.

Per. Now Jove afford you cause!
To me the difference forges dread; your greatness
Hath not been used to fear. Even now I tremble
To think your father, by some accident,
Should pass this way as you did: O, the Fates!
How would he look, to see his work, so noble,
Vilely bound up? What would he say? Or how
Should I, in these my borrow'd flaunts, behold
The sternness of his presence?

Flo. Apprehend
Nothing but jollity. The gods themselves,
Humbling their deities to love, have taken
The shapes of beasts upon them: Jupiter
Became a bull, and bellow'd; the green Neptune
A ram, and bleated; and the fire-robed god,
Golden Apollo, a poor humble swain,
As I seem now. Their transformations
Were never for a piece of beauty rarer,
Nor in a way so chaste, since my desires
Run not before mine honour, nor my lusts
Burn hotter than my faith.

Per. O, but, sir,
Your resolution cannot hold, when 'tis
Opposed, as it must be, by the power of the king:
One of these two must be necessities,
Which then will speak, that you must change this purpose,
Or I my life.

Flo. Thou dearest Perdita,
With these forced thoughts, I prithee, darken not
The mirth o' the feast. Or I'll be thine, my fair,
Or not my father's. For I cannot be
Mine own, nor any thing to any, if
I be not thine. To this I am most constant,
Though destiny say no. Be merry, gentle;
Strangle such thoughts as these with any thing
That you behold the while. Your guests are coming:
Lift up your countenance, as it were the day
Of celebration of that nuptial which
We two have sworn shall come.

Per. O lady Fortune,
Stand you auspicious!

Flo. See, your guests approach:
Address yourself to entertain them sprightly,
And let's be red with mirth.

Enter Shepherd, Clown, Mopsa, Dorcas, and others, with Polixenes and Camillo disguised.

Shep. Fie, daughter! when my old wife lived, upon
This day she was both pantler, butler, cook,
Both dame and servant; welcomed all, served all;
Would sing her song and dance her turn; now here,
At upper end o' the table, now i' the middle;
On his shoulder, and his; her face o' fire
With labour and the thing she took to quench it,
She would to each one sip. You are retired,
As if you were a feasted one and not
The hostess of the meeting: pray you, bid
These unknown friends to's welcome; for it is
A way to make us better friends, more known.
Come, quench your blushes and present yourself
That which you are, mistress o' the feast: come on,
And bid us welcome to your sheep-shearing,
As your good flock shall prosper.

Per. [To Pol.] Sir, welcome:
It is my father's will I should take on me
The hostess-ship o' the day. [To Cam.] You're welcome, sir.
Give me those flowers there, Dorcas. Reverend sirs,
For you there's rosemary and rue; these keep
Seeming and savour all the winter long:
Grace and remembrance be to you both,
And welcome to our shearing!

Pol. Shepherdess,
A fair one are you, well you fit our ages
With flowers of winter.

Per. Sir, the year growing ancient,
Not yet on summer's death, nor on the birth
Of trembling winter, the fairest flowers o' the season
Are our carnations and streak'd gillyvors,
Which some call nature's bastards: of that kind
Our rustic garden's barren; and I care not
To get slips of them.

Pol. Wherefore, gentle maiden,
Do you neglect them?

Per. For I have heard it said
There is an art which in their piedness shares
With great creating nature.

Pol. Say there be;
Yet nature is made better by no mean,
But nature makes that mean: so, over that art
Which you say adds to nature, is an art
That nature makes. You see, sweet maid, we marry
A gentler scion to the wildest stock,
And make conceive a bark of baser kind
By bud of nobler race: this is an art
Which does mend nature, change it rather, but
The art itself is nature.

Per. So it is.

Pol. Then make your garden rich in gillyvors,
And do not call them bastards.

Per. I'll not put
The dibble in earth to set one slip of them;
No more than were I painted I would wish
This youth should say 'twere well, and only therefore
Desire to breed by me. Here's flowers for you;
Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram;
The marigold, that goes to bed wi' the sun
And with him rises weeping: these are flowers
Of middle summer, and I think they are given
To men of middle age. You're very welcome.

Cam. I should leave grazing, were I of your flock,
And only live by gazing.

Per. Out, alas!
You'ld be so lean, that blasts of January
Would blow you through and through. Now, my fair'st friend,
I would I had some flowers o' the spring that might
Become your time of day; and yours, and yours,
That wear upon your virgin branches yet
Your maidenheads growing: O Proserpina,
For the flowers now, that frighted thou let'st fall
From Dis's waggon! daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty; violets dim
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes
Or Cytherea's breath; pale primroses,
That die unmarried, ere they can behold
Bright Phœbus in his strength, a malady
Most incident to maids; bold oxlips and
The crown imperial; lilies of all kinds,
The flower-de-luce being one! O, these I lack,
To make you garlands of; and my sweet friend,
To strew him o'er and o'er!

Flo. What, like a corse?

Per. No, like a bank for love to lie and play on;
Not like a corse; or if, not to be buried,
But quick and in mine arms. Come, take your flowers:
Methinks I play as I have seen them do
In Whitsun pastorals: sure this robe of mine
Does change my disposition.

Flo. What you do
Still betters what is done. When you speak, sweet,
I'ld have you do it ever: when you sing,
I'ld have you buy and sell so, so give alms,
Pray so; and, for the ordering your affairs,
To sing them too: when you do dance, I wish you
A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do
Nothing but that; move still, still so,
And own no other function: each your doing,
So singular in each particular,
Crowns what you are doing in the present deeds,
That all your acts are queens.

Per. O Doricles,
Your praises are too large: but that your youth,
And the true blood which peeps fairly through 't,
Do plainly give you out an unstain'd shepherd,
With wisdom I might fear, my Doricles,
You woo'd me the false way.

Flo. I think you have
As little skill to fear as I have purpose
To put you to't. But come; our dance, I pray:
Your hand, my Perdita: so turtles pair,
That never mean to part.

Per. I'll swear for'em.

Pol. This is the prettiest low-born lass that ever
Ran on the green-sward: nothing she does or seems
But smacks of something greater than herself,
Too noble for this place.

Cam. He tells her something
That makes her blood look out: good sooth, she is
The queen of curds and cream.

Clo. Come on, strike up!

Dor. Mopsa must be your mistress: marry, garlic,
To mend her kissing with!

Mop. Now, in good time!

Clo. Not a word, a word; we stand upon our manners.
Come, strike up!

[Music. Here a dance of Shepherds and Shepherdesses.

Pol. Pray, good shepherd, what fair swain is this
Which dances with your daughter?

Shep. They call him Doricles; and boasts himself
To have a worthy feeding: but I have it
Upon his own report and I believe it;
He looks like sooth. He says he loves my daughter:
I think so too; for never gazed the moon
Upon the water, as he'll stand and read
As 'twere my daughter's eyes: and, to be plain,
I think there is not half a kiss to choose
Who loves another best.

Pol. She dances featly.

Shep. So she does any thing; though I report it,
That should be silent: if young Doricles
Do light upon her, she shall bring him that
Which he not dreams of.

Enter Servant.

Serv. O master, if you did but hear the pedlar at the
door, you would never dance again after a tabor and pipe;
no, the bagpipe could not move you: he sings several tunes
faster than you'll tell money; he utters them as he had
eaten ballads and all men's ears grew to his tunes.

Clo. He could never come better; he shall come in. I
love a ballad but even too well, if it be doleful matter
merrily set down, or a very pleasant thing indeed and sung
lamentably.

Serv. He hath songs for man or woman, of all sizes;
no milliner can so fit his customers with gloves: he has the
prettiest love-songs for maids; so without bawdry, which is
strange; with such delicate burthens of dildos and fadings,
'jump her and thump her;' and where some stretch-mouthed
rascal would, as it were, mean mischief and break a foul
gap into the matter, he makes the maid to answer 'Whoop,
do me no harm, good man;' puts him off, slights him, with
'Whoop, do me no harm, good man.'

Pol. This is a brave fellow.

Clo. Believe me, thou talkest of an admirable conceited
fellow. Has he any unbraided wares?

Serv. He hath ribbons of all the colours i' the rainbow;
points more than all the lawyers in Bohemia can learnedly
handle, though they come to him by the gross: inkles, caddisses,
cambrics, lawns: why, he sings 'em over as they
were gods or goddesses; you would think a smock were a
she-angel, he so chants to the sleeve-hand and the work
about the square on't.

Clo. Prithee bring him in; and let him approach singing.

Per. Forewarn him that he use no scurrilous words in's
tunes. [Exit Servant.

Clo. You have of these pedlars, that have more in them
than you'ld think, sister.

Per. Ay, good brother, or go about to think.

Enter Autolycus, singing.

Lawn as white as driven snow;
Cypress black as e'er was crow;
Gloves as sweet as damask roses;
Masks for faces and for noses;
Bugle bracelet, necklace amber,
Perfume for a lady's chamber;
Golden quoifs and stomachers,
For my lads to give their dears;
Pins and poking-sticks of steel,
What maids lack from head to heel:
Come buy of me, come; come buy, come buy;
Buy, lads, or else your lasses cry:
Come buy.

Clo. If I were not in love with Mopsa, thou shouldst take
no money of me; but being enthralled as I am, it will also
be the bondage of certain ribbons and gloves.

Mop. I was promised them against the feast; but
they come not too late now.

Dor. He hath promised you more than that, or there
be liars.

Mop. He hath paid you all he promised you: may be, he
has paid you more, which will shame you to give him again.

Clo. Is there no manners left among maids? will they
wear their plackets where they should bear their faces? Is
there not milking-time, when you are going to bed, or kiln-hole,
to whistle off these secrets, but you must be tittle-tattling
before all our guests? 'tis well they are whispering:
clamour your tongues, and not a word more.

Mop. I have done. Come, you promised me a tawdry-lace
and a pair of sweet gloves.

Clo. Have I not told thee how I was cozened by the
way and lost all my money?

Ant. And indeed, sir, there are cozeners abroad; therefore
it behoves men to be wary.

Clo. Fear not thou, man, thou shall lose nothing here.

Ant. I hope so, sir; for I have about me many parcels
of charge.

Clo. What hast here? ballads?

Mop. Pray now, buy some: I love a ballad in print o'
life, for then we are sure they are true.

Ant. Here's one to a very doleful tune, how a usurer's
wife was brought to bed of twenty money-bags at a burthen
and how she longed to eat adders' heads and toads carbonadoed.

Mop. Is it true, think you?

Ant. Very true, and but a month old.

Dor. Bless me from marrying a usurer!

Ant. Here's the midwife's name to't, one Mistress
Tale-porter, and five or six honest wives that were present.
Why should I carry lies abroad?

Mop. Pray you now, buy it.

Clo. Come on, lay it by: and let's first see moe ballads;
we'll buy the other things anon.

Ant. Here's another ballad of a fish, that appeared upon,
the coast on Wednesday the fourscore of April, forty thousand
fathom above water, and sung this ballad against the
hard hearts of maids: it was thought she was a woman, and
was turned into a cold fish for she would not exchange flesh
with one that loved her: the ballad is very pitiful and as true.

Dor. Is it true too, think you?

Ant. Five justices' hands at it, and witnesses more
than my pack will hold.

Clo. Lay it by too: another.

Ant. This is a merry ballad, but a very pretty one.

Mop. Let's have some merry ones.

Ant. Why, this is a passing merry one and goes to the
tune of 'Two maids wooing a man:' there's scarce a maid
westward but she sings it; 'tis in request, I can tell you.

Mop. We can both sing it: if thou'lt bear a part, thou
shalt hear; 'tis in three parts.

Dor. We had the tune on't a month ago.

Ant. I can bear my part; you must know 'tis my
occupation: have at it with you.

Song.

A. Get you hence, for I must go
Where it fits not you to know.
D.. Whither? M. O, whither? D. Whither?
M. It becomes thy oath full well,
Thou to me thy secrets tell:
D. Me too, let me go thither.

M. Or thou goest to the grange or mill:
D. If to either, thou dost ill.
A. Neither. D. What, neither? A. Neither.
D. Thou hast sworn my love to be;
M. Thou hast sworn it more to me:
Then whither goest? say, whither?

Clo. We'll have this song out anon by ourselves: my
father and the gentlemen are in sad talk, and we'll not
trouble them. Come, bring away thy pack after me.
Wenches, I'll buy for you both. Pedlar, let's have the
first choice. Follow me, girls. [Exit with Dorcas and Mopsa.

Ant. And you shall pay well for 'em. [Follows singing.

Will you buy any tape,
Or lace for your cape,
My dainty duck, my dear-a?
Any silk, any thread,
Any toys for your head,
Of the new'st, and finest, finest wear-a?
Come to the pedlar;
Money's a medler,
That doth utter all men's ware-a. [Exit.

Re-enter Servant.

Serv. Master, there is three carters, three shepherds,
three neat-herds, three swine-herds, that have made themselves
all men of hair, they call themselves Saltiers, and
they have a dance which the wenches say is a gallimaufry of
gambols, because they are not in't; but they themselves
are o' the mind, if it be not too rough for some that know
little but bowling, it will please plentifully.

Shep. Away! we'll none on't: here has been too much
homely foolery already. I know, sir, we weary you.

Pol. You weary those that refresh us: pray, let's see
these four threes of herdsmen.

Serv. One three of them, by their own report, sir, hath
danced before the king; and not the worst of the three but
jumps twelve foot and a half by the squier.

Shep. Leave your prating: since these good men are
pleased, let them come in; but quickly now.

Serv. Why, they stay at door, sir. [Exit.
Here a dance of twelve Satyrs.

Pol. O, father, you'll know more of that hereafter.
[To Cam.] Is it not too far gone? 'Tis time to part them.
He's simple and tells much. How now, fair shepherd!
Your heart is full of something that does take
Your mind from feasting. Sooth, when I was young
And handed love as you do, I was wont
To load my she with knacks: I would have ransack'd
The pedlar's silken treasury and have pour'd it
To her acceptance; you have let him go
And nothing marted with him. If your lass
Interpretation should abuse and call this
Your lack of love or bounty, you were straited
For a reply, at least if you make a care
Of happy holding her.

Flo. Old sir, I know
She prizes not such trifles as these are:
The gifts she looks from me are pack'd and lock'd
Up in my heart; which I have given already,
But not deliver'd. O, hear me breathe my life
Before this ancient sir, who, it should seem,
Hath sometime loved! I take thy hand, this hand,
As soft as dove's down and as white as it,
Or Ethiopian's tooth, or the fann'd snow that's bolted
By the northern blasts twice o'er.

Pol. What follows this?
How prettily the young swain seems to wash
The hand was fair before! I have put you out:
But to your protestation; let me hear
What you profess.

Flo. Do, and be witness to't.

Pol. And this my neighbour too?

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. Fairly offer'd.

Cam. This shows a sound affection.

Shep. But, my daughter,
Say you the like to him?

Per. I cannot speak
So well, nothing so well; no, nor mean better:
By the pattern of mine 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.

Shep. Come, your hand;
And, daughter, yours.

Pol. Soft, swain, awhile, beseech you;
Have you a father?

Flo. I have: but what of him?

Pol. Knows he of this?

Flo. He neither does nor shall.

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

Pol. 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.

Pol. Let him know't.

Flo. He shall not.

Pol. Prithee, let him.

Flo. No, he must not.

Shep. Let him, my son: he shall not need to grieve
At knowing of thy choice.

Flo. Come, come, he must not.
Mark our contract.

Pol. Mark your divorce, young sir, [Discovering himself.
Whom son I dare not call; them art too base
To be acknowledged: thou a sceptre's heir.
That thus affects a sheep-hook! Thou old traitor,
I am sorry that by hanging thee I can
But shorten thy life one week. And them, fresh piece
Of excellent witchcraft, who of force must know
The royal fool them copest with,—

Shep. O, my heart!

Pol. I'll have thy beauty scratch'd with briers, and made
More homely than thy state. For thee, fond boy,
If I may ever know them dost but sigh
That them no more shalt 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 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 his body more with thy embraces,
I will devise a death as cruel for thee
As thou art tender to't. [Exit.

Per. Even here undone!
I was not much afeard; for once or twice
I was about to speak and tell him plainly,
The selfsame sun that shines upon his court
Hides not his visage from our cottage, but
Looks on alike. Will't please you, sir, be gone?
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 farther,
But milk my ewes and weep.

Cam. Why, how now, father!
Speak ere thou diest.

Shep. I cannot speak, nor think,
Nor dare to know that which I know. O sir!
You have undone a man of fourscore three,
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
Where no priest shovels in dust. O cursed wretch,
That knew'st this was the prince, and wouldst adventure
To mingle faith with him! Undone! undone!
If I might die within this hour, I have lived
To die when I desire. [Exit.

Flo. Why look you so upon me?
I am but sorry, not afeard, delay'd,
But nothing alter'd: what I was, I am;
More straining on for plucking back, not following
My leash 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 not purpose it.
I think, Camillo?

Cam. 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.

Cam. Be advised.

Flo. I am, and by my fancy: if my reason
Will thereto be obedient, I have reason;
If not, my senses, better pleased with madness,
Do bid it welcome.

Cam. This is desperate, sir.

Flo. So call it: but it does fulfil my vow;
I needs must think it honesty. Camillo,
Not for Bohemia, nor the pomp that may
Be thereat glean'd; for all the sun sees, or
The close earth wombs, or the profound sea hides
In unknown fathoms, will I break my oath
To this my fair beloved: therefore, I pray you,
As you have ever been my father's honour'd friend,
When he shall miss me,—as, in faith, I mean not
To see him any more,—cast your good counsels
Upon his passion: let myself and fortune
Tug for the time to come. This you may know
And so deliver, I am put to sea
With her whom here I cannot hold on shore;
And most opportune to our need I have
A vessel rides fast by, but not prepared
For this design. What course I mean to hold
Shall nothing benefit your knowledge, nor
Concern me the reporting.

Cam. O my lord!
I would your spirit were easier for advice,
Or stronger for your need.

Flo. Hark, Perdita. [Drawing her aside.
I'll hear you by and by.

Cam. He's irremoveable,
Resolved for flight. Now were I happy, if
His going I could frame to serve my turn,
Save him from danger, do him love and honour,
Purchase the sight again of dear Sicilia
And that unhappy king, my master, whom
I so much thirst to see.

Flo. Now, good Camillo;
I am so fraught with curious business that
I leave out ceremony.

Cam. Sir, I think
You have heard of my poor services, i' the love
That I have borne your father?

Flo. Very nobly
Have you deserved: it is my father's music
To speak your deeds, not little of his care
To have them recompensed as thought on.

Cam. Well, my lord,
If you may please to think I love the king,
And through him what is nearest to him, which is
Your gracious self, embrace but my direction,
If your more ponderous and settled project
May suffer alteration, on mine honour
I'll point you where you shall have such receiving
As shall become your highness; where you may
Enjoy your mistress, from the whom, I see,
There's no disjunction to be made, but by
As heavens forefend! your ruin; marry her,
And, with my best endeavours in your absence,
Your discontenting father strive to qualify
And bring him up to liking.

Flo. How, Camillo,
May this, almost a miracle, be done?
That I may call thee something more than man
And after that trust to thee.

Cam. Have you thought on
A place whereto you'll go?

Flo. Not any yet:
But as the unthought-on accident is guilty
To what we wildly do, so we profess
Ourselves to be the slaves of chance, and flies
Of every wind that blows.

Cam. Then list to me:
This follows, if you will not change your purpose
But undergo this flight, make for Sicilia,
And there present yourself and your fair princess,
For so I see she must be, 'fore Leontes:
She shall be habited as it becomes
The partner of your bed. Methinks I see
Leontes opening his free arms and weeping
His welcomes forth; asks thee the son forgiveness,
As 'twere i' the father's person; kisses the hands
Of your fresh princess; o'er and o'er divides him
'Twixt his unkindness and his kindness; the one
He chides to hell and bids the other grow
Faster than thought or time.

Flo. Worthy Camillo,
What colour for my visitation shall I
Hold up before him?

Cam. Sent by the king your father
To greet him and to give him comforts. Sir,
The manner of your bearing towards him, with
What you as from your father shall deliver,
Things known betwixt us three, I 'll write you down:
The which shall point you forth at every sitting
What you must say; that he shall not perceive
But that you have your father's bosom there
And speak his very heart.

Flo. I am bound to you:
There is some sap in this.

Cam. A course more promising
Than a wild dedication of yourselves
To unpath'd waters, undream'd shores, most certain
To miseries enough: no hope to help you,
But as you shake off one to take another:
Nothing so certain as your anchors, who
Do their best office, if they can but stay you
Where you'll be loath to be: besides you know
Prosperity's the very bond of love,
Whose fresh complexion and whose heart together
Affliction alters.

Per. One of these is true:
I think affliction may subdue the cheek,
But not take in the mind.

Cam. Yea, say you so?
There shall not at your father's house these seven years
Be'born another such.

Flo. My good Camillo,
She is as forward of her breeding as
She is i' the rear o' our birth.

Cam. I cannot say 'tis pity
She lacks instructions, for she seems a mistress
To most that teach.

Per. Your pardon, sir; for this
I'll blush you thanks.

Flo. My prettiest Perdita!
But O, the thorns we stand upon! Camillo,
Preserver of my father, now of me,
The medicine of our house, how shall we do?
We are not furnish'd like Bohemia's son,
Nor shall appear in Sicilia.

Cam. My lord,
Fear none of this: I think you know my fortunes
Do all lie there: it shall be so my care
To have you royally appointed as if
The scene you play were mine. For instance, sir,
That you may know you shall not want, one word. [They talk aside.

Re-enter Autolycus.

Aut. Ha, ha! what a fool Honesty is! and Trust, his
sworn brother, a very simple gentleman! I have sold all
my trumpery; not a counterfeit stone, not a ribbon, glass,
pomander, brooch, table-book, ballad, knife, tape, glove,
shoe-tie, bracelet, horn-ring, to keep my pack from fasting:
they throng who should buy first, as if my trinkets had been
hallowed and brought a benediction to the buyer: by which
means I saw whose purse was best in picture; and what I
saw, to my good use I remembered. My clown, who wants
but something to be a reasonable man, grew so in love with
the wenches' song, that he would not stir his pettitoes till
he had both tune and words; which so drew the rest of the
herd to me, that all their other senses stuck in ears: you
might have pinched a placket, it was senseless; 'twas nothing
to geld a codpiece of a purse; I would have filed keys off
that hung-in chains: no hearing, no feeling, but my sir's
song, and admiring the nothing of it. So that in this time
of lethargy I picked and cut most of their festival purses;
and had not the old man come in with a whoo-bub against
his daughter and the king's son and scared my choughs
from the chaff, I had not left a purse alive in the whole army.

[Camillo, Florizel, and Perdita come forward.

Cam. Nay, but my letters, by this means being there
So soon as you arrive, shall clear that doubt.

Flo. And those that you'll procure from King Leontes—

Cam. Shall satisfy your father.

Per. Happy be you!
All that you speak shows fair.

Cam. Who have we here? [Seeing Autolycus.
We'll make an instrument of this; omit
Nothing may give us aid.

Aut. If they have overheard me now, why, hanging.

Cam. How now, good fellow! why shakest thou so?
Fear not, man; here's no harm intended to thee.

Aut. I am a poor fellow, sir.

Cam. Why, be so still; here's nobody will steal that
from thee: yet for the outside of thy poverty we must
make an exchange; therefore discase thee instantly,—thou
must think there's a necessity in't,—and change garments
with this gentleman: though the pennyworth on his side be
the worst, yet hold thee, there's some boot.

Aut. I am a poor fellow, sir. [Aside] I know ye well
enough.

Cam. Nay, prithee, dispatch: the gentleman is half
flayed already.

Aut. Are you in earnest, sir? [Aside] I smell the
trick on't.

Flo. Dispatch, I prithee.

Aut. Indeed, I have had earnest; but I cannot with
conscience take it.

Cam. Unbuckle, unbuckle.

[Florizel and Autolycus exchange garments.

Fortunate mistress,—let my prophecy
Come home to ye!—you must retire yourself
Into some covert: take your sweetheart's hat
And pluck it o'er your brows, muffle your face,
Dismantle you, and, as you can, disliken
The truth of your own seeming; that you may—
For I do fear eyes over—to shipboard
Get undescried.

Per. I see the play so lies
That I must bear a part.

Cam. No remedy.
Have you done there?

Flo. Should I now meet my father,
He would not call me son.

Cam. Nay, you shall have no hat.

[Giving it to Perdita.

Come, lady, come. Farewell, my friend.

Aut. Adieu, sir.

Flo. O Perdita, what have we twain forgot!
Pray you, a word.

Cam. [Aside] What I do next, shall be to tell the king
Of this escape and whither they are bound;
Wherein my hope is I shall so prevail
To force him after: in whose company
I shall review Sicilia, for whose sight
I have a woman's longing.

Flo. Fortune speed us!
Thus we set on, Camillo, to the sea-side.

Cam. The swifter speed the better.

[Exeunt Florizel, Perdita, and Camillo.

Aut. I understand the business, I hear it: to have an
open ear, a quick eye, and a nimble hand, is necessary for a
cut-purse; a good nose is requisite also, to smell out work
for the other senses. I see this is the time that the unjust
man doth thrive. What an exchange had this been without
boot! What a boot is here with this exchange! Sure the
gods do this year connive at us, and we may do any thing
extempore. The prince himself is about a piece of iniquity,
stealing away from his father with his clog at his
heels: if I thought it were a piece of honesty to acquaint the
king withal, I would not do't: I hold it the more knavery
to conceal it; and therein am I constant to my profession.

Re-enter Clown and Shepherd.

Aside, aside; here is more matter for a hot brain: every
lane's end, every shop, church, session, hanging, yields a
careful man work.

Clo. See, see; what a man you are now! There is no
other way but to tell the king she's a changeling and none
of your flesh and blood.

Shep. Nay, but hear me.

Clo. Nay, but hear me.

Shep. Go to, then.

Clo. She being none of your flesh and blood, your flesh
and blood has not offended the king; and so your flesh and
blood is not to be punished by him. Show those things
you found about her, those secret things, all but what she
has with her: this being done, let the law go whistle: I
warrant you.

Shep. I will tell the king all, every word, yea, and his
son's pranks too; who, I may say, is no honest man, neither
to his father nor to me, to go about to make me the king's
brother-in-law.

Clo. Indeed, brother-in-law was the farthest off you
could have been to him and then your blood had been the
dearer by I know how much an ounce.

Aut. [Aside] Very wisely, puppies!

Shep. Well, let us to the king: there is that in this
fardel will make him scratch his beard.

Aut. [Aside] I know not what impediment this complaint
may be to the flight of my master.

Clo. Pray heartily he be at palace.

Aut. [Aside] Though I am not naturally honest, I am
so sometimes by chance: let me pocket up my pedlar's
excrement. [Takes off his false beard.] How now, rustics!
whither are you bound?

Shep. To the palace, an it like your worship.

Aut. Your affairs there, what, with whom, the condition
of that fardel, the place of your dwelling, your names,
your ages, of what having, breeding, and any thing that is
fitting to be known, discover.

Clo. We are but plain fellows, sir.

Aut. A lie; you are rough and hairy. Let me have no
lying: it becomes none but tradesmen, and they often give us
soldiers the lie: but we pay them for it with stamped coin,
not stabbing steel; therefore they do not give us the lie.

Clo. Your worship had like to have given us one, if you
had not taken yourself with the manner.

Shep. Are you a courtier, an't like you, sir?

Aut. Whether it like me or no, I am a courtier. Seest
thou not the air of the court in these enfoldings? hath not
my gait in it the measure of the court? receives not thy
nose court-odour from me? reflect I not on thy baseness
court-contempt? Thinkest thou, for that I insinuate, or
toaze from thee thy business, I am therefore no courtier? I
am courtier cap-a-pe; and one that will either push on or
pluck back thy business there: whereupon I command thee
to open thy affair.

Shep. My business, sir, is to the king.

Aut. What advocate hast thou to him?

Shep. I know not, an't like you.

Clo. Advocate's the court-word for a pheasant: say you
have none.

Shep. None, sir; I have no pheasant, cock nor hen.

Aut. How blessed are we that are not simple men!
Yet nature might have made me as these are,
Therefore I will not disdain.

Clo. This cannot be but a great courtier.

Shep. His garments are rich, but he wears them not
handsomely.

Clo. He seems to be the more noble in being fantastical:
a great man, I'll warrant; I know by the picking on's teeth,

Aut. The fardel there? what's i' the fardel? Wherefore
that box?

Shep. Sir, there lies such secrets in this fardel and box,
which none must know but the king; and which he shall
know within this hour, if I may come to the speech of him.

Aut. Age, thou hast lost thy labour.

Shep. Why, sir?

Aut. The king is not at the palace; he is gone aboard a
new ship to purge melancholy and air himself: for, if thou
beest capable of things serious, thou must know the king is
full of grief.

Shep. So 'tis said, sir; about his son, that should have
married a shepherd's daughter.

Aut. If that shepherd be not in hand-fast, let him fly:
the curses he shall have, the tortures he shall feel, will
break the back of man, the heart of monster.

Clo. Think you so, sir?

Aut. Not he alone shall suffer what wit can make heavy
and vengeance bitter; but those that are germane to him,
though removed fifty times, shall all come under the hangman:
which though it be great pity, yet it is necessary. An
old sheep-whistling rogue, a ram-tender, to offer to have his
daughter come into grace! Some say he shall be stoned; but
that death is too soft for him, say I: draw our throne into
a sheep-cote! all deaths are too few, the sharpest too easy.

Clo. Has the old man e'er a son, sir, do you hear, an't
like you, sir?

Ant. He has a son, who shall be flayed alive; then
'nointed over with honey, set on the head of a wasp's nest;
then stand till he be three quarters and a dram dead; then
recovered again with aqua-vitae or some other hot infusion;
then, raw as he is, and in the hottest day prognostication
proclaims, shall he be set against a brick-wall, the sun
looking with a southward eye upon him, where he is to
behold him with flies blown to death. But what talk we of
these traitorly rascals, whose miseries are to be smiled at,
their offences being so capital? Tell me, for you seem to be
honest plain men, what you have to the king: being something
gently considered, I'll bring you where he is aboard,
tender your persons to his presence, whisper him in your
behalfs; and if it be in man besides the king to effect your
suits, here is man shall do it.

Clo. He seems to be of great authority: close with
him, give him gold; and though authority be a stubborn
bear, yet he is oft led by the nose with gold: show the inside
of your purse to the outside of his hand, and no more
ado. Remember 'stoned,' and 'flayed alive.'

Shep. An't please you, sir, to undertake the business
for us, here is that gold I have: I'll make it as much more
and leave this young man in pawn till I bring it you.

Aut. After I have done what I promised?

Shep. Ay, sir.

Aut. Well, give me the moiety. Are you a party in this
business?

Clo. In some sort, sir: but though my case be a pitiful
one, I hope I shall not be flayed out of it.

Aut. O, that's the case of the shepherd's son: hang
him, he'll be made an example.

Clo. Comfort, good comfort! We must to the king and
show our strange sights: he must know 'tis none of your
daughter nor my sister; we are gone else. Sir, I will give
you as much as this old man does when the business is
performed, and remain, as he says, your pawn till it be
brought you.

Aut. I will trust you. Walk before toward the sea-side;
go on the right hand: I will but look upon the hedge and
follow you.

Clo. We are blest in this man, as I may say, even
blest.

Shep. Let's before as he bids us: he was provided to
do us good. [Exeunt Shepherd and Clown.

Aut. If I had a mind to be honest, I see Fortune would
not suffer me: she drops booties in my mouth. I am courted
now with a double occasion, gold and a means to do the
prince my master good; which who knows how that may
turn to my advancement? I will bring these two
moles, these blind ones, aboard him: if he think it fit to
shore them again and that the complaint they have to the
king concerns him nothing, let him call me rogue for
being so far officious; for I am proof against that title and
what shame else belongs to't. To him will I present them:
there may be matter in it. [Exit.

LINENOTES:

Scene iv.] Scene iii. Capell.

The Shepherd's cottage.] The prospect of a Shepherd's Cotte. Theobald. A Room in the Shepherd's House. Capell.

Enter F. and P.] Rowe. Enter F., P., Shepherd, Clowne, Polixenes, Camillo, Mopsa, Dorcas, Servants, Autolicus. Ff.

Do] Theobald. Do's Ff. Does Rowe.

Is as] Is Rowe.

a meeting] F1. a merry meeting F2 F3 F4.

Sir] Sure Collier (Collier MS.).

Digest it] F2 F3 F4. Digest F1.

[12, 13] custom, I should blush ... think,] custom (sworn I think) To see you so attired, I should blush Steevens conj.

sworn] F3 F4. sworne F1 F2. swoon Hanmer (Theobald conj.). scorn Mitford conj. so worn Collier (Jackson conj.).

[13, 14] sworn, I think ... glass] swoon, I think, To see myself i' the glass Theobald conj. and more I think ... a glass Ingleby conj. frown, I think, ... a glass or sorely shrink ... i' th' glass or more, I think ... a glass or more, I think ... i' th' glass Bailey conj.

Vilely] Hanmer. Vildly Ff.

the green] sea green Anon. conj.

[31, 32] now. Their ... beauty rarer,] Rowe. now. Their ... beauty, rarer, Ff. now:—Their ... beauty rarer,— Dyce.

in a way] any way Collier (Ritson conj.).

faith] faith does Keightley conj.

sir] F1. deere sir F2. dear sir F3 F4.

must be necessities] necessities must be Hanmer.

dearest] F3 F4. deer'st F1. deerest F2.

gentle] gentlest Hanmer. girl Collier (Collier MS.).

your] you F4.

it were] 'twere Pope.

Enter....] Enter All. F2 F3 F4 (after auspicious! line 52). om. F1.

Scene v. Pope.

and] and on Keightley conj.

thing] things F4.

come on] Pol. Come on Theobald conj.

[To Pol.] Sir, welcome] Malone. Sir, welcome, Ff. Sirs, welcome [To Polix. and Cam. Rowe. Sirs, you're welcome [To Pol. and Cam. Hanmer. Welcome, sir Capell.

[To Cam.] Malone.

sir] sirs Rowe.

to you] unto you Pope.

[78, 79] well ... winter.] will ... winter? Staunton conj.

fairest] fair'st S. Walker conj.

gillyvors] Gilly-vors Ff. giily-flowers Rowe. See note (xiv).

call] cail F2.

garden's] F2 F3 F4. gardens F1.

over] o'er Capell. ever or e'er Anon. conj. even Craik conj.

scion] Steevens (1793). sien Ff. scyon Pope, scyen Capell. cyon Steevens (1778).

wildest] wilder Anon. conj.

your] you F1.

gillyvors] Gilly 'vors Ff. gillyflowers Rowe.

mints] mint S. Walker conj. (withdrawn).

wi' the] Capell. with' Ff. with th' Rowe.

You're] Y'are Ff.

very welcome] welcome F4.

my fair'st friend] Ff. my fairest friends Rowe (ed. 2). fairest friend Hanmer.

Dis's] Dysses F1. Disses F2 F3 F4.

daffodils] early daffodils Hanmer. golden daffodils Coleridge conj. yellow daffodils Keightley conj.

bold] gold Hanmer.

flower-de-luce] flower-de-lis Rowe.

Whitsun] Johnson. Whitson Ff. Whitsund' Hanmer.

[137, 138] I'ld] F1 F2 F3. I'le F4. I'll Rowe.

move] but so move Keightley conj.

still so] still so, my fair Capell.

[142, 143] still so, And own no] still so, and own No Malone.

you are] you're Pope.

deeds] deed Spedding conj.

queens] queen's Singer.

peeps ... through't] F3 F4. peepes ... through't F1 F2. peeps forth ... through it Rowe. peeps so ... through t' Capell. fairly peeps through it Steevens (1793). peeps ... through it Collier. through it ... peeps Staunton conj. peepeth ... through't Anon. conj.

to fear] in fear Hanmer.

[155, 156] Per. I'll ... 'em. Pol. This] Pol. [Aside] I'll ... This Johnson conj.

I'll swear] Elsewhere Jackson conj.

for 'em] for them [Music. Dance forming. Capell. for one Rann (Theobald and Ritson conj.).

green-sward] Steevens. greensord Ff.

seems] says Collier (Collier MS.). deems Anon. conj.

makes ... out] wakes her blood: look on't Collier (Collier MS.).

look out] Theobald. look on't Ff.

[162, 163] Arranged as in Capell. As prose in Ff.

marry, garlic, To ... with!] marry Garlick to ... with. Ff. marry, garlick to ... with— Johnson.

strike up] strike up, pipers Capell, ending lines 166, 167 at what ... daughter?

[Music.] Malone. om. Ff.

Pray] I pray Hanmer. Pray you S. Walker conj.

Which] Who Pope.

and boasts] and he boasts Rowe. he boasts Capell. 'a boasts Steevens conj.

feeding] breeding Hanmer.

but I have it] I have it but Hunter conj.

Who loves another] Which loves the other Hanmer. Who loves the other Mason conj.

So she] She Warburton.

Scene vi. Pope.

grew] grow Rowe (ed. 2).

fadings] fapings Rowe (ed. 2). fa-dings Theobald.

gap] jape Singer (Collier MS.).

admirable conceited] Ff. admirable-conceited Theobald.

unbraided] braided Johnson conj. embroided Collier (Collier MS.).

wares] warres F2.

or] and Pope.

sleeve-hand] sleeve-band Hanmer. Silesia or sleasie holland Peck conj.

Exit....] Capell.

them] 'em Warburton.

Cypress] Cyprus Rowe (ed. 2).

Bugle bracelet] Bugle-bracelets F4.

come;] come buy; Keightley conj.

[226, 227] Buy ... Come buy.] Buy ... Come buy, &c. Theobald. As one line in Ff.

bear] wear Warburton.

[239, 240] kiln-hole] Malone. kill-hole Ff.

whistle off] Hanmer. whistle of Ff. whisper off Collier MS.

clamour] charm Hanmer. chamber Jackson conj. chommer Cornish conj. clammer Keightley conj. chawmer Singer conj.

ballad] F3 F4. ballet F1 F2.

[253, 254] o' life] o'-life Collier, a life Ff. or a life Rowe (ed. 2). a'-life Malone.

of] F1 F2. with F3 F4.

burthen] birth Anon. conj.

midwife's] Rowe. midwives Ff.

wives] wives' Steevens. See note (xv).

moe] more Rowe (ed. 2).

ballad of] Ff. ballad, Of Capell.

Wednesday] Wensday F1 F2.

fathom] Johnson, fadom Ff.

cold] cod Anon conj.

Song] See note (xvi).

Where it] Whither Collier (Collier MS.).

[290, 299] whither] F4. whether F1 F2 F3.

thither] F3 F4. thether F1 F2.

gentlemen] Rowe. Gent. Ff.

Exit....] Dyce om. Ff. Exeunt Cl., A., D., and M. Rowe (after line 314).

[Follows singing.] Edd. Song. Ff.

[306-314] As six lines in Ff.

buy] by Pope (ed. i).

cape] crpe F1.

Any ... any] And ... and Theobald.

wear-a] ware-a Rowe.

Scene vii. Pope.

Re-enter....] Enter a Servant. Rowe.

Master] Mayster F1.

there is] there are Rowe.

carters] goatherds Theobald.

three swine-herds] and three swine-herds Rowe.

squier] squire Ff. square Rowe. See note (xvii).

Serv. Why ... sir] Ff. Omitted by Rowe and all Edd. before Capell.

[Exit.] Capell.

Here....] Ff. Enter twelve Rusticks, presenting Satyrs. Company seat themselves. Dance, and Exeunt Rusticks. Capell.

[332, 333] Pol. O, father ... Is it] Flo. O, father ... hereafter (Here a dance of twelve Satyrs). Pol. Is it Hanmer.

[Aside. Johnson. [Rising from beside the Shepherd. Capell.

[To Cam.] Edd [Aside. Capell.

handed] handled Collier (Collier MS.).

reply, at least] reply, at least, Theobald, reply at least, Ff.

a care] care Theobald.

life] love Theobald.

who] whom F1.

[353, 354] Or ... o'er] Arranged as in F1. In F2 F3 F4 line 353 ends at snow.

Ethiopian's] Ethiop's Dyce conj. Ethiop Lettsom conj.

blasts] F1. blast F2 F3 F4.

I have] I've Pope.

the heavens] and heavens F4.

force] sense Collier MS.

him?] Rowe. him. Ff.

your] you F4.

awhile, beseech you;] Capell. a-while, beseech you, F1. a-while; 'beseech you, F2 F3 F4.

dispute] compute Johnson conj. dispose Collier MS. dispense Anon. conj.

my] the Anon. conj.

[Discovering ...] Rowe.

acknowledged] acknowledge F1.

affects] Ff. affect'st Pope.

I am] I'm Pope.

[410, 411] can But shorten] can but Shorten Warburton.

who] whom F1.

copest with,—] coap'st with— Pope. coap'st with. Ff.

Shep.] Per. Theobald conj.

fond] found F4.

shalt] Rowe. shalt never Ff. See note (xviii).

Far than] F4. Farre then F1. Farre than F2 F3. Less than Hanmer. Far' than Warburton. Far as Capell (Johnson conj.). Farther than Heath conj. Far'r than Grant White.

dead] dread Anon. conj.

you] your F3 F4. thou Anon. conj.

thee,—if] thee. If Ff.

hoop] hoope Pope. hope Ff.

to't] to it Rowe.

[Exit.] Rowe.

Scene viii. Pope.

afeard] afraid Rowe.

on] on both Malone conj. on all

Singer (Hunter conj.). on's Anon. conj.

Will't] Hanmer. Wilt Ff.

[To Flo. Rowe.

this dream of mine,—] Johnson. this dream of mine, Ff. from this my dream Hanmer. as for this dream of mine,— Capell conj.

[To Flo. Rowe.

died] died on Keightley conj.

[To Perdita. Rowe.

Scene ix. Pope.

upon me] om. Steevens conj.

afeard] afraid Rowe.

your] my F1.

sight as yet] Hanmer. sight, as yet Ff.

Camillo?] Camillo?—Johnson.

Camillo. Ff. Camillo— Theobald.

fail] fall Anon. conj.

my] thy Capell.

better pleased with madness,] F1. better (pleas'd with madness) F2 F3 F4.

thereat] thereout Hanmer.

all] F1. all that F2 F3 F4.

or] om. Long MS.

sea hides] Capell. seas hides F1. seas hide F2 F3 F4.

fathoms] Johnson. fadomes Ff.

As you have ever] Ff. As you have e'er Malone. As y' have e'er S. Walker conj.

honour'd] F1. om. F2 F3 F4.

whom] F2 F3 F4. who F1.

our] Theobald. her Ff. the Capell.

[Drawing....] Capell.

[To Camillo. Theobald.

irremoveable] immovable Anon. conj.

Resolved] Rosolv'd F2.

curious] serious Collier MS.

[Going. Malone. See note (xix).

through him what is] Hanmer. through him, what's Ff. thorough him, what's Theobald.

nearest] near'st S. Walker conj.

alteration, on] alteration. On F1. alteration: On F2 F3 F4.

And] I'll Long MS.

discontenting] discontented Rowe.

strive to qualify] I'll strive to qualifie Rowe (ed. 2). I will strive To qualifie Hanmer.

him up] om. Rowe.

To] Of Rowe. Towards Hanmer.

asks] ask Long MS.

thee the son] F3 F4. thee there Sonne F1 F2. there the son Ritson conj.

kisses] kiss Long MS.

divides] divide Long MS.

comforts] comfort Anon conj.

sitting] fitting Theobald. sifting Thirlby conj.

[558, 559] another: Nothing] another Nothing Hanmer.

who] which Hanmer.

She is] Pope. She's Ff.

She is i' the rear o' our birth] Rowe (ed. 2). She is i' th' reare 'our birth F1 F2 F3. She is i' th' reare 'our birth F4. She is i' the rear o' her birth Rowe (ed. 1). I' th' rear of birth Hanmer. She is i' th' rear of birth Johnson. She is i' the rear our birth Boswell. She is i' th' rear'f our birth Grant White.

sir; for this] Hanmer. sir, for this, F1. sir, for this, F2 F3 F4.

medicine] medecin Theobald conj.

appear in Sicilia.] appeare in Sicilia. F1. appeare in Sicily. F2. appear in Sicily. F3 F4. appear in Sicily— Rowe. appear in Sicilia— Boswell. appear't in Sicilia. Collier (Collier MS.). appear so in Sicilia. Staunton conj.

mine] true Collier MS.

[They talk aside.] Rowe.

brooch] Steevens. browch Ff. broch Capell.

fasting] F1. fastning F2 F3 F4.

throng] thronged Collier (Collier MS.).

picture] pasture Anon. conj.

My clown] My good clown Rowe.

wenches'] Johnson. wenches Ff.

ears] their ears Rann (Mason conj.).

would] could Long MS.

filed keys off] F3 F4. fill'd keyes of F1 F2.

nothing] noting Anon. conj.

[Camillo....] Theobald.

Leontes—] Rowe. Leontes? Ff.

Who] Whom Collier.

[Seeing A.] Theobald.

[Aside. Theobald.

[613, 614] As three lines in Ff, ending fellow ... man ... thee; as prose first in Malone.

why] come, why Hanmer. wherefore Capell, reading 613, 614 as two lines of verse.

a necessity] necessity Steevens.

[Giving money. Dyce.

[622, 626] [Aside]. Indicated by brackets in Ff.

dispatch ... gentleman is] now dispatch ... gentleman 'S Capell, reading as verse.

flayed] fled Ff. flead Rowe.

[Florizel....] Capell.

your] thy Boswell.

over] over you Rowe. ever Collier (Egerton and Collier MS.). overt Jervis conj.

[642, 643] no hat ... friend] As one line in Hanmer.

[Giving....] Capell.

Adieu, sir.] Adieu, sir. [retiring, Capell.

[Talking with her aside. Capell.

[Aside] Rowe.

whose] his Anon. conj.

[Exeunt....] Capell. Exit Ff. Exit Flo and Per. (after 652). Exit (after line 653) Rowe.

Scene xi. Pope.

hear] heard Hanmer.

[663, 664] thought it were ... would not do't] thought it were not ... would do't Hanmer. thought not it were ... would do't Capell.

Re-enter....] Dyce. Enter.... Ff.

here is] F1 F2. here's F3 F4.

those] these Theobald.

know] know not Hanmer.

[Aside] Rowe.

[690, 700] fardel] Steevens. Farthell F1 F2 F3. Farthel F4. And passim.

[691, 694] [Aside] So marked by Capell.

at palace] at 'Pallace F1. at Pallace F2 F3 F4. at the palace Rowe. See note (xx).

[Takes off....] Steevens (1793).

an] Hanmer. and Ff.

ages] age Rowe (ed. 2).

to be] for to be Rowe (ed. 2).

not stabbing] note-stabbing Theobald conj.

not give] give Hanmer.

manner] manour Hanmer.

an't] Hanmer. and't F1 F2 F3. and' F4. and Rowe.

or] F2 F3 F4. at F1. to Capell. and Malone. See note (xxi).

pluck] push Rowe (ed. 2).

[722, 759,
781] an't] Hanmer. and't Ff.

pheasant] present Kenrick conj.

pheasant, cock] Capell. pheazant cock, Ff (pheasant F4).

blessed] Ff. bless'd Pope.

be but] but be Hanmer.

to be] to me S. Walker conj.

on's] of's Capell conj.

fardel] Steevens. Farthell F1 F2. Farthel F3 F4.

hand-fast] band, fast Grant White conj.

germane] Iermaine F1 F2. Jermain F3 F4.

then stand] there stand Capell.

behalfs] behalf F4.

man] F1 F2. a man F3 F4. the man Long MS.

look] F3 F4. looke F1 F2. leake Theobald conj.

[801, 802] blest] bless'd Ff.

Exeunt S. and C.] Rowe. Exeunt. F2 F3 F4. om. F1.

luck Collier (Collier MS.).

[Exit.] Rowe. [Exeunt. Ff.