| ACT III SCENE I | A sea-port in Sicilia. | |
| [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, | 5 |
| 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 | 10 |
| And the ear-deafening 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!-- | 15 |
| As it hath been to us rare, pleasant, speedy, |
| The time is worth the use on't. |
| CLEOMENES | Great Apollo |
| Turn all to the best! These proclamations, |
| So forcing faults upon Hermione, | 20 |
| I little like. |
| DION | The violent carriage of it |
| Will clear or end the business: when the oracle, |
| Thus by Apollo's great divine seal'd up, |
| Shall the contents discover, something rare | 25 |
| Even then will rush to knowledge. Go: fresh horses! |
| And gracious be the issue! |
| [Exeunt] |
The Winter's Tale: Plot Summary