| 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 | 5 |
| 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 | 10 |
| 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, | 15 |
| 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 | 20 |
| 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 | 25 |
| I list not prophecy; 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, | 30 |
| If ever you have spent time worse ere now; |
| If never, yet that Time himself doth say |
| He wishes earnestly you never may. |
| [Exit] |
The Winter's Tale: Plot Summary