Shakespeare's Cymbeline Act 1 Scene 3

Cymbeline

Please see the bottom of the page for explanatory notes.

ACT I SCENE III	A room in Cymbeline's palace.
	Enter IMOGEN and PISANIO.
IMOGEN	I would thou grew'st unto the shores o' the haven,
	And question'dst every sail: if he should write
	And not have it, 'twere a paper lost,
	As offer'd mercy is. What was the last
	That he spake to thee?
PISANIO	It was, "His queen, his queen!"
IMOGEN	Then waved his handkerchief?
PISANIO	And kiss'd it, madam.
IMOGEN	Senseless Linen! happier therein than I!
	And that was all?
PISANIO	No, madam; for so long
	As he could make me with this eye or ear
	Distinguish him from others, he did keep	10
	The deck, with glove, or hat, or handkerchief,
	Still waving, as the fits and stirs of's mind
	Could best express how slow his soul sail'd on,
	How swift his ship.
IMOGEN	Thou shouldst have made him
	As little as a crow, or less, ere left
	To after-eye him.
PISANIO	Madam, so I did.
IMOGEN	I would have broke mine eye-strings; crack'd them, but
	To look upon him, till the diminution
	Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle,
	Nay, follow'd him, till he had melted from	20
	The smallness of a gnat to air, and then
	Have turn'd mine eye and wept. But, good Pisanio,
	When shall we hear from him?
PISANIO	Be assured, madam,	30
	With his next vantage.
IMOGEN	I did not take my leave of him, but had
	Most pretty things to say: ere I could tell him
	How I would think on him at certain hours
	Such thoughts and such, or I could make him swear
	The shes of Italy should not betray
	Mine interest and his honour, or have charged him,	30
	At the sixth hour of morn, at noon, at midnight,
	To encounter me with orisons, for then
	I am in heaven for him; or ere I could
	Give him that parting kiss which I had set
	Betwixt two charming words, comes in my father
	And like the tyrannous breathing of the north
	Shakes all our buds from growing.
	Enter a Lady.
Lady	The queen, madam,
	Desires your highness' company.
IMOGEN	Those things I bid you do, get them dispatch'd.
	I will attend the queen.
PISANIO	Madam, I shall.
	[ Exeunt.

Cymbeline, Act 1, Scene 4

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Explanatory Notes for Act 1, Scene 3
From Cymbeline. A.W. Verity. Cambridge, University Press.

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3, 4. "The loss of that paper would prove as fatal to her, as the loss of a pardon to a condemned criminal" -- Steevens.

9, 10. this; emphasised by the gesture of pointing; the Folios have his, due probably to he (twice) and him, occurring in the two lines.

24. With his next vantage, at the earliest opportunity.

29. shes, women; cf. I. 6. 39, and As You Like It, III. 2. 9, 10:

"Run, run, Orlando; carve on every tree
The fair, the chaste and unexpressive she."

So he = 'man,' e.g. in Romeo and Juliet, V. 1. 66, 67:

"Such mortal drugs I have; but Mantua's law
Is death to any he that utters them."

32. encounter me, meet me reciprocally.

33. I am in heaven for him; "my solicitations ascend to heaven on his behalf" -- Steevens.

35. charming, which should act like a charm, i.e. in protecting him, e.g. 'fare well!'

How to cite the explanatory notes:
Shakespeare, William. Cymbeline. Ed. A.W. Verity. Cambridge, University Press, 1899. Shakespeare Online. 10 Dec. 2013. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/cymbel_1_3.html >.

How to cite the sidebar:
Mabillard, Amanda. Notes on Shakespeare. Shakespeare Online. 10 Dec. 2013. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/cymbel_1_3.html >.

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Introduction to Imogen

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Introduction to Cymbeline

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