Shakespeare's Cymbeline Act 4 Scene 3

Cymbeline

Please see the bottom of the page for explanatory notes.

ACT IV SCENE III	A room in Cymbeline's palace.
	Enter CYMBELINE, Lords, PISANIO, and Attendants
CYMBELINE	Again; and bring me word how 'tis with her.
	[ Exit an Attendant.
	A fever with the absence of her son,
	A madness, of which her life's in danger. Heavens,
	How deeply you at once do touch me! Imogen,
	The great part of my comfort, gone; my queen
	Upon a desperate bed, and in a time
	When fearful wars point at me; her son gone,
	So needful for this present: it strikes me, past
	The hope of comfort. But for thee, fellow,
	Who needs must know of her departure and	10
	Dost seem so ignorant, we'll enforce it from thee
	By a sharp torture.
PISANIO	Sir, my life is yours;
	I humbly set it at your will; but, for my mistress,
	I nothing know where she remains, why gone,
	Nor when she purposes return. Beseech your highness,
	Hold me your loyal servant.
First Lord	Good my liege,
	The day that she was missing he was here:
	I dare be bound he's true and shall perform
	All parts of his subjection loyally. For Cloten,
	There wants no diligence in seeking him,	20
	And will, no doubt, be found.
CYMBELINE	The time is troublesome.
	[ To PISANIO ]
	We'll slip you for a season; but our jealousy
	Does yet depend.
First Lord	So please your majesty,
	The Roman legions, all from Gallia drawn,
	Are landed on your coast, with a supply
	Of Roman gentlemen, by the senate sent.
CYMBELINE	Now for the counsel of my son and queen!
	I am amazed with matter.
First Lord	Good my liege,
	Your preparation can affront no less
	Than what you hear of: come more, for more
	you're ready:	40
	The want is but to put those powers in motion
	That long to move.
CYMBELINE	I thank you. Let's withdraw;
	And meet the time as it seeks us. We fear not
	What can from Italy annoy us; but
	We grieve at chances here. Away!
	[ Exeunt all except Pisanio.
PISANIO	I heard no letter from my master since
	I wrote him Imogen was slain: 'tis strange:
	Nor hear I from my mistress who did promise
	To yield me often tidings: neither know I
	What is betid to Cloten; but remain	40
	Perplex'd in all. The heavens still must work.
	Wherein I am false I am honest; not true, to be true.
	These present wars shall find I love my country,
	Even to the note o' the king, or I'll fall in them.
	All other doubts, by time let them be clear'd:
	Fortune brings in some boats that are not steer'd.
	[ Exit.

Cymbeline, Act 4, Scene 4

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Explanatory Notes for Act 4, Scene 3
From Cymbeline. A.W. Verity. Cambridge, University Press.

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19. subjection, duty as subject.

21. And will, and he will (easily supplied from him).

22, 23. i.e. his suspicions are not satisfied: "if I do not condemn you, I likewise have not acquitted you" -- Johnson. Judgment, as we say, is suspended.

28. amazed: a stronger word then 'confounded.'

29, 30. "Your forces are able to face such an army as we hear the enemy will bring against us" -- Johnson.

34. annoy; in the old and stronger sense -- 'harm.'

44. Even to the note o' the king, so that even the king shall remark it.

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_4_3.html >.

How to cite the sidebar:
Mabillard, Amanda. Notes on Shakespeare. Shakespeare Online. 10 Dec. 2013. < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/cymbel_4_3.html >.

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Cymbeline Sources

Shakespeare relied upon Holinshed's Chronicles for the setting of the play and the name of the main character, Cymbeline. Holinshed reports on a king named Kymbeline, a descendant of King Lear, who ruled Britain from 33 B.C. to 2 A.D. The main plot of Cymbeline is an old and well-known story, retold time and again throughout the ages. Shakespeare no doubt had heard the tale, in many forms, of a man wagering that his lover is virtuous only to be made the fool. It seems that Shakespeare liked best the rendition of this timeless story told in Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron (second day, ninth novel), written in 1353. Read on...

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Introduction to Imogen

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Introduction to Cloten

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