The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare


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Page 21

ANTIGONUS.
I swear to do this, though a present death
Had been more merciful.--Come on, poor babe:
Some powerful spirit instruct the kites and ravens
To be thy nurses! Wolves and bears, they say,
Casting their savageness aside, have done
Like offices of pity.--Sir, be prosperous
In more than this deed does require!--and blessing,
Against this cruelty, fight on thy side,
Poor thing, condemn'd to loss!

[Exit with the child.]

LEONTES.
No, I'll not rear
Another's issue.

SECOND ATTENDANT.
Please your highness, posts
From those you sent to the oracle are come
An hour since: Cleomenes and Dion,
Being well arriv'd from Delphos, are both landed,
Hasting to the court.

FIRST LORD.
So please you, sir, their speed
Hath been beyond account.

LEONTES.
Twenty-three days
They have been absent: 'tis good speed; foretells
The great Apollo suddenly will have
The truth of this appear. Prepare you, lords;
Summon a session, that we may arraign
Our most disloyal lady; for, as she hath
Been publicly accus'd, so shall she have
A just and open trial. While she lives,
My heart will be a burden to me. Leave me;
And think upon my bidding.

[Exeunt.]



ACT III.

SCENE I. Sicilia. A Street in some Town.

[Enter CLEOMENES and DION.]

CLEOMENES.
The climate's delicate; the air most sweet;
Fertile the isle; the temple much surpassing
The common praise it bears.

DION.
I shall report,
For most it caught me, the celestial habits,--
Methinks I so should term them,--and the reverence
Of the grave wearers. O, the sacrifice!
How ceremonious, solemn, and unearthly,
It was i' the offering!

CLEOMENES.
But of all, the burst
And the ear-deaf'ning voice o' the oracle,
Kin to Jove's thunder, so surprised my sense
That I was nothing.

DION.
If the event o' the journey
Prove as successful to the queen,--O, be't so!--
As it hath been to us rare, pleasant, speedy,
The time is worth the use on't.

CLEOMENES.
Great Apollo
Turn all to th' best! These proclamations,
So forcing faults upon Hermione,
I little like.

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Books | Photos | Paul Mutton | Fri 12th Sep 2025, 9:51