 | Philip |  |
SCENE THE FIRST.
Philip, Gomez.Phi.
What, above all things that this world can give,
Dost thou hold dear?
Gom.
Thy favour.
Phi.
By what means
Dost hope to keep it?
Gom.
By the means that gain'd it:
Obedience and silence.
Phi.
Thou art called
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Gom.
'Tis no new function:
Thou knowest that I ...
Phi.
I know that thou hast been,
Among the faithful, still most faithful found.
But on this day, on which my mind revolves
Affairs of import high, perchance my lips
Will utterance give to plans so new and vast,
That, as a prologue to my after-speech,
It seemed to me expedient to recall,
In a few words, thy duties to thy mind.
Gom.
Then may the mighty Philip, on this day,
More thoroughly than he has ever done,
Bring to the test my truth.
Phi.
The task is light
That I enjoin—and light alone to thee:
Never, no never, to another man.
The queen forthwith is coming. Thou wilt hear me
Converse with her at length. Meanwhile do thou
Watch the minutest workings of her countenance.
Fasten on her the inquisitorial look,
That look with which thou art skilful to unravel
The unspoken inmost inclinations
Of thy king's inmost heart, ere silently
Thou bodiest them in action.
| Philip | |