Act 3, Scene 1: A sea-port in Sicilia

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,
    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
    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!--
    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,
    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
    Even then will rush to knowledge. Go: fresh horses!
    And gracious be the issue!

    Exeunt