The Project Gutenberg EBook of Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies, by Samuel Johnson This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies Author: Samuel Johnson Editor: Arthur Sherbo Release Date: April 6, 2005 [EBook #15566] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES TO SHAKESPEARE *** Produced by David Starner, David King, and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY SAMUEL JOHNSON NOTES TO SHAKESPEARE Vol. III Tragedies Edited, with an Introduction, by Arthur Sherbo Los Angeles William Andrews Clark Memorial Library University of California 1958 GENERAL EDITORS Richard C. Boys, _University of Michigan_ Ralph Cohen, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Vinton A. Dearing, _University of California, Los Angeles_ Lawrence Clark Powell, _Clark Memorial Library_ ASSISTANT EDITOR W. Earl Britton, _University of Michigan_ ADVISORY EDITORS Emmett L. Avery, _State College of Washington_ Benjamin Boyce, _Duke University_ Louis Bredvold, _University of Michigan_ John Butt, _King's College, University of Durham_ James L. Clifford, _Columbia University_ Arthur Friedman, _University of Chicago_ Louis A. Landa, _Princeton University_ Samuel H. Monk, _University of Minnesota_ Ernest C. Mossner, _University of Texas_ James Sutherland, _University College, London_ H. T. Swedenberg, Jr., _University of California, Los Angeles_ CORRESPONDING SECRETARY Edna C. Davis, _Clark Memorial Library_ Introduction on Tragedies Dr. Johnson's reaction to Shakespeare's tragedies is a curious one, compounded as it is of deep emotional involvement in a few scenes in some plays and a strange dispassionateness toward most of the others. I suspect that his emotional involvement took root when he read Shakespeare as a boy--one remembers the terror he experienced in reading of the Ghost in _Hamlet_, and it was probably also as a boy that he suffered that shock of horrified outrage and grief at the death of Cordelia that prevented him from rereading the scene until be came to edit the play. Johnson's deepest feelings and convictions, Professor Clifford has recently reminded us, can be traced back to his childhood and adolescence. But it is surprising to learn, as one does from his commentary, that other scenes in these very plays (_Hamlet_ and _King Lear_, and in _Macbeth_, too) leave him unmoved, if one can so interpret the absence of any but an explanatory note on, say, Lear's speech beginning "Pray, do not mock me;/I am a very foolish fond old man." Besides this negative evidence there is also the positive evidence of many notes which display the dispassionate editorial mind at work where one might expect from Johnson an outburst of personal feeling. There are enough of these outbursts to warrant our expecting others, but we are too frequently disappointed. Perhaps Johnson thought of most of Shakespeare's tragedies as "imperial tragedies" and that is why he could maintain a stance of aloofness; conversely, "the play of _Timon_ is a domestick Tragedy, and therefore strongly fastens on the attention of the reader." But the "tragedy" of Timon does not capture the attention of the modern reader, and perhaps all attempts to fix Johnson's likes and dislikes, and the reasons for them, in the canon of Shakespeare's plays must circle endlessly without ever getting to their destination. TRAGEDIES Vol. IV MACBETH (392) Most of the notes which the present editor has subjoined to this play were published by him in a small pamphlet in 1745. I.i (393,*) _Enter three Witches_] In order to make a true estimate of the abilities and merit of a writer, it it always necessary to examine the genius of his age, and the opinions of his contemporaries. A poet who should now make the whole action of his tragedy depend upon enchantment, and produce the chief events by the assistance of supernatural agents, would be censured as transgressing the bounds of probability, be banished from the theatre to the nursery, and condemned to write fairy tales instead of tragedies; but a survey of the notions that prevailed at the time when this play was written, will prove that Shakespeare was in no danger of such censures, since he only turned the system that was then universally admitted, to his advantage, and was far from overburthening the credulity of his audience. The reality of witchcraft or enchantment, which, though not strictly the same, are confounded in this play, has in all ages and countries been credited by the common people, and in most, by the learned themselves. These phantoms have indeed appeared more frequently, in proportion as the darkness of ignorance has been more gross; but it cannot be shown, that the brightest gleams of knowledge have at any time been sufficient to drive them out of the world. The time in which this kind of credulity was at its height, seems to have been that of the holy war, in which the Christians imputed all their defeats to enchantments or diabolical opposition, as they ascribed their success to the assistance of their military saints; and the learned Dr. Warburton appears to believe (_Suppl. to the Introduction to Don Quixote_) that the first accounts of enchantments were brought into this part of the world by those _who_ returned from their eastern expeditions. But there is always some distance between the birth and maturity of folly as of wickedness: this opinion had long existed, though perhaps the application of it had in no foregoing age been so frequent, nor the reception so general. Olympiodorus, in Photius's extracts, tells us of one Libanius, who practised this kind of military magic, and having promised [Greek: choris opliton kata barbaron energein] to perform great things against the Barbarians without soldiers, was, at the instances of the empress Placidia, put to death, when he was about to have given proofs of his abilities. The empress shewed some kindness in her anger by cutting him off at a time so convenient for his reputation. But a more remarkable proof of the antiquity of this notion may be found in St. Chrysostom's book _de Sacerdotia_, which exhibits a scene of enchantments not exceeded by any romance of the middle age: he supposes a spectator overlooking a field of battle attended by one that points out all the various objects of horror, the engines of destruction, and the arts of slaughter. [Greek: Deichnuto de eti para tois enantiois kai petomenous hippous dia tinos magganeias, kai oplitas di' aeros pheromenous, kai pasaen goaeteias dunomin kai idean.] _Let him then proceed to shew him in the opposite armies horses flying by enchantment, armed men transported through the air, and every power and form of magic._ Whether St. Chrysostom believed that such performances were really to be seen in a day of battle, or only endeavoured to enliven his description, by adopting the notions of the vulgar, it is equally certain, that such nations were in his time received, and that therefore they were not imported from the Saracens in a later age; the wars with the Saracens however gave occasion to their propagation, not only as bigotry naturally discovers prodigies, but as the scene of action was removed to a great distance. The Reformation did not immediately arrive at its meridian, and though day was gradually encreasing upon us, the goblins of witchcraft still continued to hover in the twilight. In the time of queen Elizabeth was the remarkable trial of the witches of Warbois, whose conviction is still commemorated in an annual sermon at Huntingdon. But in the reign of king James, in which this tragedy was written, many circumstances concurred to propagate and confirm this opinion. The king, who was much celebrated for his knowledge, had, before his arrival in England, not only examined in person a woman accused of witchcraft, but had given a very formal account of the practices and illusions of evil spirits, the compacts of witches, the ceremonies used by them, the manner of detecting them, and the justice of punishing them, in his dialogues of _Daemonologie_, written in the Scottish dialect, and published at Edinburgh. This book was, soon after his accession, reprinted at London, and as the ready way to gain king James's favour was to flatter his speculations, the system of _Daemonologie_ was immediately adopted by all who desired either to gain preferment or not to lose it. Thus the doctrine of witchcraft was very powerfully inculcated; and as the greatest part of mankind have no other reason for their opinions than that they are in fashion, it cannot be doubted but this persuasion made a rapid progress, since vanity and credulity co-operated in its favour. The infection soon reached the parliament, who, in the first year of king James, made a law, by which it was enacted, chap. xii. "That if any person shall use any invocation or conjuration of any evil or wicked spirit; 2. or shall consult, covenant with, entertain, employ, feed or reward any evil or cursed spirit to or for any intent or purpose; 3. or take up any dead man, woman or child out of the grave,--or the skin, bone, or any part of the dead person, to be employed or used in any manner of witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or enchantment; 4. or shall use, practise or exercise any sort of witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or enchantment; 5. whereby any person shall be destroyed, killed, wasted, consumed, pined, or lamed in any part of the body; 6. That every such person being convicted shall suffer death." This law was repealed in our own time. Thus, in the time of Shakespeare, was the doctrine of witchcraft at once established by law and by the fashion, and it became not only unpolite, but criminal, to doubt it; and as prodigies are always seen in proportion as they are expected, witches were every day discovered, and multiplied as fast in some places, that bishop Hall mentions a village in Lancashire, where their number was greater than that of the houses. The jesuits and sectaries took advantage of this universal error, and endeavoured to promote the interest of their parties by pretended cures of persons afflicted by evil spirits; but they were detected and exposed by the clergy of the established church. Upon this general infatuation Shakespeare might be easily allowed to found a play, especially since he has followed with great exactness such histories as were then thought true; nor can it be doubted that the scenes of enchantment, however they may now be ridiculed, were both by himself and his audience thought awful and affecting. I.i.10 (396,5) Fair is foul, and foul is fair] I believe the meaning is, that _to us_, perverse and malignant as we are, _fair is foul, and foul is fair_. I.ii.14 (398,9) And Fortune, on his damned quarry smiling] Thus the old copy; but I am inclined to read _quarrel_. _Quarrel_ was formerly used for _cause_, or for _the occasion of a quarrel_, and is to be found in that sense in Hollingshed's account of the story of Macbeth, who, upon the creation of the prince of Cumberland, thought, says the historian, that he had _a just quarrel_, to endeavour after the crown. The sense therefore is, _Fortune smiling on his excrable cause_, &c. This is followed by Dr. Warburten. (see 1765, VI, 373, 4). I.ii.28 (400,4) Discomfort swells] _Discomfort_ the natural opposite to _comfort_. _Well'd_, for _flawed_, was an emendation. The common copies have, _discomfort swells_. I.ii.37 (400,5) As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks, So they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe] Mr. Theobald has endeavoured to improve the sense of this passage by altering the punctuation thus: --_they were As cannons overcharg'd, with double cracks So they redoubled strokes_-- He declares, with some degree of exultation, that he has no idea of a _cannon charged with double cracks_; but surely the great author will not gain much by an alteration which makes him say of a hero, that he _redoubles strokes with double cracks_, an expression not more loudly to be applauded, or more easily pardoned than that which is rejected in its favour. That a cannon is charged _with thunder_, or _with double thunders_, may be written, not only without nonsense, but with elegance, and nothing else is here meant by _cracks_, which in the time of this writer was a word of such emphasis and dignity, that in this play he terms the general dissolution of nature the _crack of doom_. The old copy reads, _They doubly redoubled strokes_. I.ii.46 (401,8) So should he look, that seems to speak things strange] The meaning of this passage, as it now stands, is, _so should he look, that looks as if he told things strange_. But Rosse neither yet told strange things, nor could look as if he told them; Lenox only conjectured from his air that he had strange things to tell, and therefore undoubtedly said, _What haste looks thro' his eyes? So should he look, that_ teems _to speak thinks strange_. He looks like one that _is big with_ something of importance; a metaphor so natural that it is every day used in common discourse. I.ii.55 (402,1) Confronted him with self-comparisons] [Theobald interpreted "him" as Cawdor; Johnson, in 1745, accused Shakespeare of forgetfulness on the basis of Theobald's error; and Warburton here speaks of "blunder upon blunder."] The second blunderer was the present editor. I.iii.6 (403,5) _Aroint thee, witch_!] In one of the folio editions the reading is _Anoint thee_, in a sense very consistent with the common accounts of witches, who are related to perform many supernatural acts by the means of unguents, and particularly to fly through the air to the places where they meet at their hellish festivals. In this sense, _anoint thee, Witch_, will mean, _Away, Witch, to your infernal assembly_. This reading I was inclined to favour, because I had met with the word _aroint_ in no other authour till looking into Hearne's Collections I found it in a very old drawing, that he has published, in which St. Patrick is represented visiting hell, and putting the devils into great confusion by his presence, of whom one that is driving the damned before him with a prong, has a label issuing out of his mouth with these words, OUT OUT ARONGT, of which the last is evidently the same with _aroint_, and used in the same sense as in this passage. I.iii.15 (405,8) And the very points they blew] As the word _very_ is here of no other use than to fill up the verse, it is likely that Shakespeare wrote _various_, which might be easily mistaken for _very_, being either negligently read, hastily pronounced, or imperfectly heard. I.iii.21 (405,9) He shall live a man forbid] Mr. Theobald has very justly explained _forbid_ by _accursed_, but without giving any reason of his interpretation. To _bid_ is originally _to pray_, as in this Saxon fragment, Ðe iÿ þiÿ þ bit y bote _He is wise that_ prays and makes amends. As to forbid_ therefore implies to _prohibit_, in opposition to the word _bid_ in its present sense, it signifies by the same kind of opposition to _curse_, when it is derived from the same word in its primitive meaning. I.iii.42 (409,3) are you aught/That man may question?] Are ye any beings with which man is permitted to hold converse, or of which it is lawful _to ask questions_? I.iii.53 (410,5) Are ye fantastical] By _fantastical_, he means creatures of fantasy or imagination; the question is, Are these real beings before us, or are we deceived by illusions of fancy? I.iii.97 (412,8) As thick as tale] [As thick as hail] Was Mr. Pope's correction. The old copy has, --_As thick_ as tale _Can_ post _with_ post;-- which perhaps is not amiss, meaning that the news came as _thick_ as a _tale_ can _travel_ with the _post_. Or we may read, perhaps yet better, --_As thick as tale_ Came _post with post_;-- That is, posts arrived as fast as they could be counted. I.iii.130 (414,4) This supernatural solliciting] _Solliciting_ is rather, in my opinion, _incitement_ than _information_. I.iii.134 (414,5) why do I yield] To _yield_ is, simply, to _give way to_. I.iii.137 (414,6) Present fears/Are less than horrible imaginings] [W: feats] _Present fears_ are _fears of things present_, which Macbeth declares, and every man has found, to be less than the _imagination_ presents them while the objects are yet distant. _Fears_ is right. I.iii.140 (415,7) single state of man] The _single state of man_ seems to be used by Shakespeare for an _individual_, in opposition to a _commonwealth_, or _conjunct body_. I.iii.40 (415,8) function/Is smother'd in surmise; and nothing is,/ But what is not] All powers of action are oppressed and crushed by one overwhelming image in the mind, and nothing is present to me, but that which is really future. Of things now about me I have no perception, being intent wholly on that which has yet no existence. I.iii.147 (415,9) Time and the hour runs through the roughest day] I suppose every reader is disgusted at the tautology in this passage, _Time and the hour_, and will therefore willingly believe that Shakespeare wrote it thus, _Come what come may_, Time! on!--_the hour runs thro' the roughest day_. Macbeth is deliberating upon the events which are to befall him, but finding no satisfaction from his own thoughts, he grows impatient of reflection, and resolves to wait the close without harrassing hinaelf with conjectures. _Come what come may_. But to shorten the pain of suspense, he calls upon Time In the usual stile of ardent desire, to quicken his motion, _Time! on!_ -- He then comforts himself with the reflection that all his perplexity must have an end, --_the hour runs thro' the roughest day._ This conjecture is supported by the passage in the letter to his lady, in which he says, _they referred me to the_ coming on of time, _with Hail, King that shalt be_. I.iii.149 (416,1) My dull brain was wrought] My head was _worked_, _agitated_, put into commotion. I.iv.9 (417,3) studied in his death] Instructed in the art of dying. It was usual to say _studied_, for _learned_ in science. I.iv.12 (417,4) To find the mind's construction in the face] The _construction of the mind_ is, I believe, a phrase peculiar to Shakespeare; it implies the _frame_ or _disposition_ of the mind, by which it is determined to good or ill. I.iv.26 (418,5) Which do but what they should, by doing everything, Safe toward your love and honour] Of the last line of this speech, which is certainly, as it is now read, unintelligible, an emendation has been attempted, which Dr. Warburton and Dr. Theobald once admitted as the true reading: --_our duties Are to your throne and state, children and servants, Which do but what they should, in doing every thing_ Fiefs _to your love and honour._ My esteem for these critics inclines me to believe that they cannot be much pleased with these expressions _fiefs to love_, or _fiefs to honour_, and that they have proposed this alteration rather because no other occured to them, than because they approved of it. I shall therefore propose a bolder change, perhaps with no better success, but _sua cuique placent_. I read thus, --_our duties Are to your throne and state, children and servants Which do but what they should, in doing_ nothing, Save _toward_ your love and honour. We do but perform our duty when we contract all our views to your service, when we act with _no other_ principle than regard to _your love and honour_. It is probable that this passage was first corrupted by writing _safe_ for _save_, and the lines then stood thus: --_doing nothing Safe toward your love and honour._ which the next transcriber observing to be wrong, and yet not being able to discover the real fault, altered to the present reading. Dr. Warburton has since changed _fiefs_ to _fief'd_, and Hanmer has altered _safe_ to _shap'd_. I am afraid none of us have hit the right word. I.v.2 (420, 6) _by the perfected report_] By the best intelligence. Dr. Warburton would read, _perfected_, and explains _report_ by _prediction_. Little regard can be paid to an emendation that instead of clearing the sense, makes it more difficult. I.v.23 (420, 7) thoud'st have, great Glamis,/That which cries, _Thus thou must do, if thou have it_] As the object of Macbeth's desire is here introduced speaking of itself, it is necessary to read, --_thoud'st have, great Glamis, That which cries_, thus thou must do, if thou have _me_. I.v.39 (422, 8) The raven himself is hoarse] Dr. Warburton reads, --_The raven himself's_ not _hoarse_. Yet I think the present words may stand. The messenger, says the servant, had hardly breath _to make up his message_; to which the lady answers mentally, that he may well want breath, such a message would add hoarseness to the raven. That even the bird, whose harsh voice is accustomed to predict calamities, could not _croak the entrance of_ Duncan but in a note of unwonted harshness. I.v.42 (422, 2) mortal thoughts] This expression signifies not _the thoughts of mortals_, but _murtherous, deadly_, or _destructive designs_. So in act 5, _Hold fast the_ mortal _sword_. And in another place, _With twenty_ mortal _murthers_. I.v.47 (422, 3) nor keep peace between/The effect, and it!] The intent of lady Macbeth evidently is to wish that no womanish tenderness, or conscientious remorse, may hinder her purpose from proceeding to effect; but neither this, nor indeed any other sense, is expressed by the present reading, and therefore it cannot be doubted that Shakespeare wrote differently, perhaps thus, _That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep_ pace _between Th' effect, and it_.-- To _keep_ pace _between_ may signify _to pass between_, to _intervene_. _Pace_ is on many occasions a favourite of Shakespeare's. This phrase is indeed not usual in this sease, but was it not its novelty that gave occasion to the present corruption? [The sense is, _that no compunctious visitings of nature_ may prevail upon her, to give place in her mind to _peaceful_ thoughts, or to rest one moment in quiet, from the hour of her purpose to its full completion in the effect. REVISAL.] This writer thought himself perhaps very sagacious that be found a meaning which nobody missed, the difficulty still remains how such a meaning is made by the words. (see 1765, VI, 394, 6) I.v.49 (423, 5) take my milk for gall] _Take_ away _my milk_, and put _gall_ into the place. I.v.51 (423, 6) You wait on nature's mischief!] _Nature's mischief_ is mischief done to nature, violation of nature's order committed by wickedness. I.v.55 (423,8) To cry, _hold, hold_!] On this passage there is a long criticism in the _Rambler_. I.v.58 (424,1) This ignorant present time] _Ignorant_ has here the signification of _unknowing_; that it, I feel by anticipation these future hours, of which, according to the process of nature, the present time would be _ignorant_. I.vi.3 (425,3) our gentle senses] _Senses_ are nothing more _than each man's sense_. _Gentle senses_ is very elegant, as it means _placid_, _calm_, _composed_, and intimates the peaceable delight of a fine day. (see 1765, VI,396,2) I.vi.7 (426,5) coigne of 'vantage] Convenient corner. I.vi.13 (426,7) How you should bid god-yield as for your pains] I believe _yield_, or, as it is in the folio of 1623, _eyld_, is a corrupted contraction of _shield_. The wish implores not _reward_ but _protection_. I.vii.1 (428,1) If it were _done_] A man of learning recommends another punctuation: _If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twere well. It were done quickly, if, &c._ I.vii.2 (428,2) If the assassination/Could tramel up the consequence] Of this soliloquy the meaning is not very clear; I have never found the readers of Shakespeare agreeing about it. I understand it thus, "If that which I am about to do, when it is once _done_ and executed, were _done_ and ended without any following effects, it would then be best _to do it quickly_; if the murder could terminate in itself, and restrain the regular course of consequences, if _its success_ could secure _its surcease_, if being once done _successfully_, without detection, it could _fix a period_ to all vengeance and enquiry, so that _this blow_ might be all that I have to do, and this anxiety all that I have to suffer; if this could be my condition, even _here_ in _this world_, in this contracted period of temporal existence, on this narrow _bank_ in the ocean of eternity, _I would jump the life to come_, I would venture upon the deed without care of any future state. But this is one of _these cases_ in which judgment is pronounced and vengeance inflicted upon as _here_ in our present life. We teach others to do as we have done, and are punished by our own example." (1773) I.vii.4 (428,3) With his surcease, success] I think the reasoning requires that we should read, _With its_ success surcease. I.vii.6 (429,4) shoal of time] This is Theobald's emendation, undoubtedly right. The old edition has _school_, and Dr. Warburton _shelve_. I.vii.22 (429,7) or heavens cherubin, hors'd/Upon the sightless couriers of the air] [W: couriers] _Courier_ is only _runner_. _Couriers of air_ are _winds_, air in motion. _Sightless_ is _invisible_. I.vii.25 (430,8) That tears shall drown the wind] Alluding to the remission of the wind in a shower. I.vii.28 (430,9) _Enter Lady_] The arguments by which lady Macbeth persuades her husband to commit the murder, afford a proof of Shakespeare's knowledge of human nature. She urges the excellence and dignity of courage, a glittering idea which has dazzled mankind from age to age, and animated sometimes the house-breaker, and sometimes the conqueror; but this sophism Macbeth has for ever destroyed, by distinguishing true from false fortitude, in a line and a half; of which it may almost be said, that they ought to bestow immortality on the author, though all his other productions had been lost: _I dare do all that become a man, Who dares do more, is none_. This topic, which has been always employed with too much success, is used in this scene with peculiar propriety, to a soldier by a woman. Courage is the distinguishing virtue of a soldier, and the reproach of cowardice cannot be borne by any man from a woman, without great impatience. She then urges the oaths by which he had bound himself to murder Duncan, another art of sophistry by which men have sometimes deluded their consciences, and persuaded themselves that what would be criminal in others is virtuous in them; this argument Shakespeare, whose plan obliged him to make Macbeth yield, has not confuted, though he might easily have shewn that a former obligation could not be vacated by a latter: that obligations laid on us by a higher power, could not be over-ruled by obligations which we lay upon ourselves. I.vii.41 (431,1) --Whouldst thou have that, Which then esteem'st the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem?] In this there seems to be no reasoning. I should read, Or _live a coward in thine own esteem_? Unless we choose rather, --_Wouldst thou_ leave _that_. I.vii.45 (431,2) Like the poor cat i' the adage?] The adage alluded to is, _The cat loves fish, but dares not wet her feet, Catus amat pisces, sed men vult tingere plantas_. I.vii.64 (432,5) Will I with wine and wassel so convince] To _convince_ is in Shakespeare to _overpower_ or _subdue_, as in this play, --_Their malady_ convinces _The great assay of art_. I.vii.67 (433,6) A limbeck only] That is, shall be only a vessel to emit _fumes_ or _vapours_. I.vii.71 (433,7) our great quell] _Quell_ is _murder_. _manquellers_ being in the old language the term for which _murderers_ is now used. II.i (434,8) _Enter Banquo, and Fleance with a torch before him_] The place is not mark'd in the old edition, nor is it easy to say where this encounter can be. It is not in the _hall_, as the editors have all supposed it, for Banquo sees the sky; it is not far from the bedchamber, as the conversation shews: it must be in the inner court of the castle, which Banquo might properly cross in his way to bed. II.i.25 (435,2) If you shall cleave to my consent, Then 'tis,/It shall make honour for you] Macbeth expressed his thought with affected obscurity; he does not mention the royalty, though he apparently has it in his mind, _If you shall cleave to my consent_, if you shall concur with me when I determine to accept the crown, _when 'tis_, when that happens which the prediction promises, _it shall make honour for you_. II.i.49 (437,6) Now o'er the one half world/Nature seems dead] That is, _over our hemisphere all action and motion seem to have ceased_. This image, which is perhaps the most striking that poetry can produce, has been adopted by Dryden in his _Conquest of Mexico_: _All things are hush'd as Nature's self lay dead, The mountains seem to nod their drowsy head; The little birds in dreams their song repeat, And sleeping flow'rs beneath the night dews sweat. Even lust and envy sleep!_ These lines, though so well known, I have transcribed, that the contrast between them and this passage of Shakespeare may be more accurately observed. Night is described by two great poets, but one describes a night of quiet, the other of perturbation. In the night of Dryden, all the disturbers of the world are laid asleep; in that of Shakespeare, nothing but sorcery, lust, and murder, is awake. He that reads Dryden, finds himself lull'd with serenity, and disposed to solitude and contemplation. He that peruses Shakspeare looks round alarmed, and starts to find himself alone. One is the night of a lover, the other, of a murderer. II.i.52 (438,8) --wither'd Murther, --thus with hia stealthy pace, With Tarquin's ravishing strides, tow'rds his design moves like a ghost.--] This was the reading of this passage [ravishing sides] in all the editions before that of Mr. Pope, who for _sides_, inserted in the text _strides_, which Mr. Theobald has tacitly copied from him, though a more proper alteration might perhaps have been made. A _ravishing stride_ is an action of violence, impetuosity, and tumult, like that of a savage rushing at his prey; whereas the poet is here attempting to exhibit an image of secrecy and caution, of anxious circumspection and guilty timidity, the _stealthy pace_ of a _ravisher_ creeping into the chamber of a virgin, and of an assassin approaching the bed of him whom he proposes to murder, without awaking him; these he describes as _moving like ghosts_, whose progression is so different from _strides_, that it has been in all ages represented te be, as Milton expresses it, _Smooth sliding without step_. This hemiatic will afford the true reading of this place, which is, I think, to be corrected thus: --_and wither'd Murder_. --_thus with his_ stealthy _pace_. _With Tarquin ravishing_, slides _tow'rds his design_, _Moves like a ghost_.-- _Tarquin_ is in this place the general name of a ravisher, and the sense is, Now is the time in which every one is a-sleep, but those who are employed in wickedness; the witch who is sacrificing to Hecate, and the ravisher, and the murderer, who, like me, are stealing upon their prey. When the reading is thus adjusted, he wishes with great propriety, in the following lines, that the _earth_ may not _hear his steps_. II.i.59 (439,3) And take the present horrour from the time,/Which now suits with it] Of this passage an alteration was once proposed by me, of which I have now a less favourable opinion, yet will insert it, as it may perhaps give some hint to other critics: _And take the present horrour from the time, Which now suits with it_.-- I believe every one that has attentively read this dreadful soliloquy is disappointed at the conclusion, which, if not wholly unintelligible, is, at least, obscure, nor can be explained into any sense worthy of the authour. I shall therefore propose a slight alteration: --_Thou sound and firm-set earth, Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear Thy very stones prate of my where-about, And talk--the present horrour of the time! That now suits with it_.-- Macbeth has, in the foregoing lines, disturbed his imagination by enumerating all the terrors of the night; at length he is wrought up to a degree of frenzy, that makes him afraid of some supernatural discovery of his design, and calls out to the stones not to betray him, not to declare where he walks, nor _to talk_.--As he is going to say of what, he discovers the absurdity of his suspicion, and pauses, but is again overwhelmed by his guilt, and concludes, that such are the horrors of the present night, that the stones may be expected to cry out against him: That _now suits with it_.-- He observes in a subsequent passage, that on such occasions _stones have been known to move_. It is now a very just and strong picture of a man about to commit a deliberate murder under the strongest conviction of the wickedness of his design. Of this alteration, however, I do not now see much use, and certainly see no necessity. Whether to _take horrour from the time_ means not rather to _catch_ _it_ as communicated, than to _deprive the time of horrour_, deserves te be considered. II.ii.37 (443,6) sleave of care] A skein of silk is called a _sleave_ of silk, as I learned from Mr. Seward, the ingenious editor of Beaumont and Fletcher. II.ii.56 (444,8) gild the faces of the grooms withal,/For it must seem their guilt] Could Shakespeare possibly mean to play upon the similitude of _gild_ and _guilt_. II.iii.45 (447,5) I made a shift to cast him] To _cast him up_, to ease my stomach of him. The equivocation is between _cast_ or _throw_, as a term of wrestling, and _cast_ or _cast up_. II.iii.61 (448,7) --strange screams of death; And prophesying, with accents terrible Of dire combustions, and confus'd events, New hatch'd to the woeful time: The obscure bird Clamour'd the live-long night: some say the earth Was feverous, and did shake] Those lines I think should be rather regulated thus: --_prophecying with accents terrible, Of dire combustions and cosfus'd events. New-hatch'd to th' woful time, the obscure bird Clamour'd the live-long night. Some say the earth Was fev'rous and did shake._ A _prophecy_ of an _event new hatch'd_, seems to be a _prophecy_ of an _event past_. And _a prophecy new hatch'd_ is a wry expression. The term _new hatch'd_ is properly applicable to a _bird_, and that birds of ill omen should be _new-hatch'd to the woful time_, that is, should appear in uncommon numbers, is very consistent with the rest of the prodigies here mentioned, and with the universal disorder into which nature is described as thrown, by the perpetration of this horrid murder. (see 1765, VI, 413, 7) II.iii.117 (452,3) Here, lay Duncan,/His silver skin lac'd with his golden blood] Mr. Pope has endeavoured to improve one of these lines by substituting _goary blood_ for _golden blood_; but it may easily be admitted that he who could on such an occasion talk of _lacing the silyer skin_, would _lace it_ with _golden blood_. No amendment can be made to this line, of which every word is equally faulty, but by a general blot. It is not improbable, that Shakespeare put these forced and unnatural metaphors into the mouth of Macbeth as a mark of artifice and dissimulation, to shew the difference between the studied language of hypocrisy, and the natural outcries of sudden passion. This whole speech so considered, is a remarkable instance of judgment, as it consists entirely of antithesis and metaphor. II.iii.122 (432,5) Unmannerly breech'd with gore] An _unmannerly dagger_, and a _dagger breech'd_, or as in some editions _breech'd with_, gore, are expressions not easily to be understood. There are undoubtedly two faults in this passage, which I have endeavored to take away by reading, --_daggers_ Unmanly drench'd _with gore_:-- _I saw_ drench'd _with the King's blood the fatal daggers, not only instruments of murder but evidence of cowardice_. Each of these words might easily be confounded with that which I have substituted for it, by a hand not exact, a casual blot, or a negligent inspection, [W: Unmanly reech'd] Dr. Warburton has, perhaps, rightly put _reach'd_ for _breech'd_. II.iii.138 (454,8) In the great hand of God I stand; and thence, Against the undivulg'd pretence I fight Of treasonous malice] _Pretence_ is not act, but _simulation_, a _pretence_ of the traitor, whoever he might be, to suspect some other of the murder. I here fly to the protector of innocence from any charge which, yet _undivulg'd_, the traitor may pretend to fix upon me. II.iii.147 (454,7) This murtherous shaft that's shot,/Hath not yet lighted] The design to fix the murder opon some innocent person, has not yet taken effect. II.iv.15 (456,9) minions of their race] Theobald reads, --_minions of_ the _race_, very probably, and very poetically. II.iv.24 (456,1) What good could they pretend?] To _pretend_ is here to _propose to themselves_, to _set before themselves_ as a motive of action. III.i.7 (457,2) As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine] _Shine_, for appear with all the _lustre_ of _conspicuous_ truth. III.i.56 (459,4) as, it is said,/Mark Anthony's was by Caesar] Though I would not often assume the critic's privilege of being confident where certainty cannot be obtained, nor indulge myself too far in departing from the established reading; yet I cannot but propose the rejection of this passage, which I believe was an insertion of some player, that having so much learning as to discover to what Shakespeare alluded, was not willing that his audience should be less knowing than himself, and has therefore weakened the authour's sense by the intrusion of a remote and useless image into a speech bursting from a man wholly possess'd with his own present condition, and therefore not at leisure to explain his own allusions to himself. If these words are taken away, by which not only the thought but the numbers are injured, the lines of Shakespeare close together without any traces of a breach. _My genius is rebuk'd. He chid the sisters._ This note was written before I was fully acquainted with Shakespeare's manner, and I do not now think it of much weight; for though the words, which I was once willing to eject, seem interpolated, I believe they may still be genuine, and added by the authour in his revision. The authour of the _Revisal_ cannot admit the measure to be faulty. There is only one foot, he says, put for another. This is one of the effects of literature in minds not naturally perspicacious. Every boy or girl finds the metre imperfect, but the pedant comes to its defence with a tribrachys or an anapaest, and sets it right at once by applying to one language the rules of another. If we may be allowed to change feet, like the old comic writers, it will not be easy to write a line not metrical. To hint this once, is sufficient. (see 1765, VI, 424, 2) III.i.65 (460,5) For Banquo's issue have I fil'd my mind] [W: 'filed] This mark of contraction is not necessary. To _file_ is in the bishop's _Bible_. III.i.69 (460,6) the common enemy of man] It is always an entertainment to an inquisitive reader, to trace a sentiment to its original source; and therefore, though the term _enemy of man_, applied to the devil, is in itself natural and obvious, yet some may be pleased with being informed, that Shakespeare probably borrowed it from the first lines of the Destruction of Troy, a book which he is known to have read. This expression, however, he might have had in many other places. The word _fiend_ signifies enemy. III.i.71 (461,7) come, Fate, into the list,/And champion me to the utterance!] This passage will be best explained by translating it into the language from whence the only word of difficulty in it is borrowed, "_Que la destinée se rende en lice, et qu'elle me donne un defi a l'outrance_." A challenge or a combat _a l'outrance_, _to extremity_, was a fix'd term in the law of arms, used when the combatants engaged with an _odium internecinum, an intention to destroy each other_, in opposition to trials of skill at festivals, or on other occasions, where the contest was only for reputation or a prize. The sense therefore is, _Let Fate, that has foredoom'd the exaltation of the sons of Banquo, enter the lists against me, with the utmost animosity, in defence of its own decrees, which I will endeavour to invalidate, whatever be the danger_. [Johnson quotes Warburton's note] After the former explication, Dr. Warburton was desirous to seem to do something; and he has therefore made _Fate_ the _marshal_, whom I had made the _champion_, and has left Macbeth to enter the lists without an opponent. III.i.88 (462,9) Are you so gospell'd] Are you of that degree of precise virtue? _Gospeller_ was a name of contempt given by the Papists to the Lollards, the puritans of early times, and the precursors of _protestantism_. III.i.94 (463,1) Showghes] _Showghes_ are probably what we now call _shocks_, demi-wolves, _lyciscae_; dogs bred between wolves and dogs. (1773) III.i.95 (463,2) the valued file] In this speech the word _file_ occurs twice, and seems in both places to have a meaning different from its present use. The expression, _valued file_, evidently means, a list or catalogue of value. A station in the _file_, and not in the worst rank, may mean, a place in the list of manhood, and not in the lowest place. But _file_ seems rather to mean in this place, a post of honour; the first rank, in opposition to the last; a meaning which I have not observed in any other place. (1773) III.i.112 (465,2) So weary with disasters, tug'd with fortune] _Tug'd with fortune_ may be, _tug'd_ or _worried_ by fortune. III.i.130 (465,4) Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time] What is meant by _the spy of the time_, it will be found difficult to explain; and therefore sense will be cheaply gained by a slight alteration.--Macbeth is assuring the assassins that they shall not want directions to find Banquo, and therefore says, _I will_-- _Acquaint you with_ a perfect spy _o' the time_. Accordingly a third murderer joins them afterwards at the place of action. _Perfect_ is _well instructed_, or _well informed_, as in this play, _Though in your state of honour I am_ perfect. though I am _well acquainted_ with your quality and rank. [Warburton explained this as "the critical juncture"] How the _critical juncture_ is the _spy o' the time_ I know not, but I think my own conjecture right. III.ii.38 (467,1) nature's copy's not eternal] The _copy_, the _lease_, by which they hold their lives from nature, has its time of termination limited. III.iii.1 (469,6) But who did bid thee join with us?] The meaning of this abrupt dialogue is this. The _perfect spy_, mentioned by Macbeth in the foregoing scene, has, before they enter upon the stage, given them the directions which were promised at the time of their agreement; yet one of the murderers suborned suspects him of intending to betray them; the other observes, that, by his exact knowledge of _what they were to do_, he appears to be employed by Macbeth, and needs not be mistrusted. III.iv.1 (470,9) You know your own degrees, sit down: at first,/And last the hearty welcome] As this passage stands [sit down:/At first and last], not only the numbers are very imperfect, but the sense, if any can be found, weak and contemptible. The numbers will be improved by reading, --_sit down at first, And last a hearty welcome_. But for _last_ should then be written _next_. I believe the true reading is, _You know your own degrees, sit down_.--_To first And last the hearty welcome_. All of whatever degree, from the highest to the lowest, may be assured that their visit is well received. III.iv.14 (471,1) 'Tis better thee without, than he within] The sense requires that this passage should be read thus: _'Tis better_ thee _without, than_ him _within_. That is, _I am better pleased that the blood of Banquo should be on thy face than in his body_. The authour might mean, _It is better that Banquo's blood were on thy face, than_ he _in this room_. Expressions thus imperfect are common in his works. III.iv.33 (472,2) the feast is sold] The meaning is,--That which ia not _given cheerfully_, cannot be called a _gift_, it is something that must be paid for. (1773) III.iv.57 (473,3) extend his passion] Prolong his suffering; make his fit longer. III.iv.60 (473,4) O proper stuff!] This speech is rather too long for the circumstances in which it is spoken. It had begun better at, _Shame itself_! III.iv.63 (473,5) Oh, these flaws, and starts, (Impostors to true fear,) would well become A woman's story at a winter's fire, Authoriz'd by her grandam] _Flaws_, are _sudden gusts_. The authour perhaps wrote, --_Those flaws and starts_, Impostures true to fear _would well become_; _A woman's story_,-- These symptoms of terrour and amazement might better become _impostures true_ only _to fear, might become a coward at the recital of such falsehoods as no man could credit, whose understanding was not weaken'd by his terrours; tales told by a woman over a fire on the authority of her grandam_. III.iv.76 (474,6) Ere human statute purg'd the gentle weal] The _gentle weal_, is, the _peaceable community_, the state made quiet and safe by _human statutes_. _Mollia securae peragebant otia gentes_. III.iv.92 (475,7) And all to all] I once thought it should be _hail_ to all, but I now think that the present reading is right. III.iv.105 (475,8) If trembling I inhabit] This is the original reading, which Mr. Pope changed to _inhibit_, which _inhibit_ Dr. Warburton interprets _refuse_. The old reading may stand, at least as well as the emendation. Suppose we read, _If trembling I_ evade _it_. III.iv.110 (476,9) Can such things be,/And overcome us, like a summer's cloud,/Without our special wonder?] [W: Can't] The alteration is introduced by a misinterpretation. The meaning is not that _these things are like a summer-cloud_, but can such wonders as these pass over us without wonder, as a casual summer cloud passes over us. III.iv.112 (477,1) You make me strange/Even to the disposition that I owe] You produce in me an _alienation of mind_, which is probably the expression which our author intended to paraphrase. III.iv.124 (477,2) Augurs, and understood relations] By the word _relation_ is understood the _connection_ of effects with causes; to _understand relations_ as _an angur_, is to know how these things _relate_ to each other, which have no visible combination or dependence. III.iv.141 (479,5) You lack the season of all natures, sleep] I take the meaning to be, _you want sleep_, which _seasons_, or gives the relish to _all nature_. _Indiget somni vitae condimenti_. III.v.24 (480,8) vaporous drop, profound] That is, a drop that has _profound_, _deep_, or _hidden_ qualities. III.v.26 (480,9) slights] Arts; subtle practices. III.vi (481,1) _Enter Lenox, and another Lord_] As this tragedy, like the rest of Shakespeare's, is perhaps overstocked with personages, it is not easy to assign a reason why a nameless character should be introduced here, since nothing is said that might not with equal propriety have been put into the mouth of any other disaffected man. I believe therefore that in the original copy it was written with a very common form of contraction Lenox and An. for which the transcriber, instead of Lenox and Angus, set down Lenox and _another Lord_. The author had indeed been more indebted to the transcriber's fidelity and diligence had he committed no errors of greater importance. III.vi.36 (482,3) and receive free honours] [_Free_ for grateful. WARBURTON.] How can _free_ be _grateful_? It may be either honours _freely bestowed_, not purchased by crimes; or honours _without slavery_, without dread of a tyrant. IV.i (484,5) As this is the chief scene of enchantment in the play, it is proper in this place to observe, with how much judgment Shakespeare has selected all the circumstances of his infernal ceremonies, and how exactly he has conformed to common opinions and traditions: _Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd_. The usual form in which familiar spirits are reported to converse with witches, is that of a cat. A witch, who was tried about half a century before the time of Shakespeare, had a cat named Rutterkin, as the spirit of one of these witches was Grimalkin; and when any mischief was to be done she used to bid Rutterkin _go and fly_, but once when she would have sent Rutterkin to torment a daughter of the countess of Rutland, instead of _going_ or _flying_, he only cried _mew_, from whence she discovered that the lady was out of his power, the power of witches being not universal, but limited, as Shakespeare has taken care to inculcate: _Though his bark cannot be lost, Yet it shall be tempest-tost._ The common afflictions which the malice of witches produced were melancholy, fits, and loss of flesh, which are threatened by one of Shakespeare's witches: _Weary sev'n nights, nine times nine, Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine._ It was likewise their practice to destroy the cattle of their neighbours, and the farmers have to this day many ceremonies to secure their cows and other cattle from witchcraft; but they seem to have been most suspected of malice against swine. Shakespeare has accordingly made one of his witches declare that she has been _killing swine_, and Dr. Harsenet observes, that about that time, _a sow could not be ill of the measles, nor a girl of the sullens, but some old woman was charged with witchcraft_. _Toad, that under the cold stone, Days and night has, thirty-one, Swelter'd venom sleeping got; Boil thou first i'the charm'd pot_. Toads have likewise long lain under the reproach of being by some means accessory to witchcraft, for which reason Shakespeare, in the first scene of this play, calls one of the spirits Padocke or Toad, and now takes care to put a toad first into the pot. When Vaninus was seized at Theleuse, there was found at his lodgings _ingens Bufo Vitro inclusus, a great toad shut in a vial_, upon which those that prosecuted him, _Veneficium exprebrabent, charged him_, I suppose, _with witchcraft_. _Fillet of fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bakae: Eye of newt, and toe of frog;-- For a charm, &c_. The propriety of these ingredients may be known by consulting the books _de Viribus Animalium_ and _de Mirabilibus Mundi_, ascribed to Albertus Magnus, in which the reader, who has time and credulity, may discover very wonderful secrets. _Finger of birth-strangled babe, Ditch deliver'd by a drab_;-- It has been already mentioned in the law against witches, that they are supposed to take up dead bodies to use in enchantments, which was confessed by the woman whom king James examined, and who had of a dead body that was divided in one of their assemblies, two fingers for her share. It is observable that Shakespeare, on this great occasion, which involves the fate of a king, multiplies all the circumstanaces of horror. The babe, whose finger is used, must be strangled in its birth; the grease must not only be human, but must have dropped from a gibbet, the gibbet of a murderer; and even the sow, whose blood is used, must have offended nature by devouring her own farrow. These are touches of judgment and genius. _And now about the cauldron sing-- Black spirits and white, Blue spirits and grey, Mingle, mingle, mingle, You that mingle say_. And in a former part, --_weyward sisters, hand in hand,-- Thus do go about, about. Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine. And thrice again to make up nine!_ These two passages I have brought together, because they both seem subject to the objection of too much levity for the solemnity of enchantment, and may both be shewn, by one quotation from Camden's account of Ireland, to be founded upon a practice really observed by the uncivilised natives of that country: "When any one gets a fall, _says the informer of Camden_, he starts up, and, _turning three times to the right_, digs a hole in the earth; for they imagine that there is a spirit in the ground, and if he falls sick in two or three days, they send one of their women that is skilled in that way to the place, where she says, I call thee from the east, west, north, and south, from the groves, the woods, the rivers, and the fens, from the fairies _red, black, white_." There was likewise a book written before the time of Shakespeare, describing, amongst other properties, the _colours_ of spirits. Many other circumstances might be particularised, in which Shakespeare has shown his judgment and his knowledge. IV.i.53 (489,6) yesty waves] That is, _foaming_ or _frothy waves_. IV.i.88 (491,1) the round/And top of sovereignty?] This _round_ is that part of the crown that encircles the head. The _top_ is the ornament that rises above it. IV.i.95 (492,3) Who can impress the forest] i.e. who can command the forest to serve him like a soldier impress'd. (1773) IV.i.97 (492,4) Rebellious head, rise never] Mr. Theobald, who first proposed this change ["head" for "dead"] rightly observes, that _head_ means _host_, or power. --_Douglas and the rebels met, A mighty and a fearful_ head _they are_. And again, _His divisions--are in three heads_. IV.i.113 (493,6) Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls] The expression of Macbeth, that the _crown_ sears _his_ eye-balls, is taken from the method formerly practised of destroying the sight of captives or competitors, by holding a burning bason before the eye, which dried up its humidity. Whence the Italian, _abacinare_, to _blind_. IV.i.113 (493,7) And thy air,/Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first:--/A third is like the former] In former editions, --_and thy_ hair, _Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first_:-- _A third is like the former_:-- As Macbeth expected to see a train of kings, and was only enquiring from what race they would proceed, he could not be surprised that the _hair_ of the second was _bound with gold_ like that of the first; he was offended only that the second resembled the first, as the first resembled Banquo, and therefore said, --_and thy_ air, _Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first_. This Dr. Warburton has followed. IV.i.144 (495,2) Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits] To _anticipate_ is here to _prevent_, by taking away the opportunity. IV.ii.9 (496,3) He wants the natural touch] Natural sensibility. He is not touched with natural affection. IV.ii.71 (498,7) To do worse to you, were fell cruelty] To do _worse_ is, to let her and her children be destroyed without warning. IV.iii.2 (500,9) Let us rather/Hold fast the mortal sword; and, like good men,/ Bestride our down-faln birthdom] In former editions, _Let us rather Hold fast the mortal sword; and, like good men, Bestride our_ downfal birthdoom.--] He who can discover what is meant by him that earnestly exhorts him to _bestride_ his _downfal birth-doom_, is at liberty to adhere to the present text; but it is probable that Shakespeare wrote, --_like good men, Bestride our_ downfaln birthdom-- The allusion is to a man from whom something valuable is about to be taken by violence, and who, that he may defend it without incombrance, lays it on the ground, and stands over it with his weapon in his hand. Our birthdom, or birthright, says he, lies on the ground, let us, like men who are to fight for what is dearest to them, not abandon it, but stand over it and defend it. This is a strong picture of obstinate resolution. So Falstaff says to Hal. _When I am down, if thou wilt_ bestride me, _so_. _Birthdom_ for _birthright_ is formed by the same analogy with _masterdom_ in this play, signifying the _privileges_ or _rights_ of a _master_. Perhaps it might be _birth-dame_ for _mother_; let us stand over our _mother_ that lies bleeding on the ground. IV.iii.19 (501,4) A good and virtuous nature may recoil/In an imperial charge] A good mind may _recede_ from goodness in the execution of a _royal commission_. IV.iii.23 (501,5) Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace,/Yet grace must look still so] This is not very clear. The meaning perhaps is this:--_My suspicions cannot injure you, if you be virtuous, by supposing that a traitor may put on your virtuous appearance. I do not say that your virtuous appearance_. _proves you a traitor; for virtue must wear its proper form, though that form be often counterfeited by villany_. IV.iii.26 (502,6) Why in that rawness left you wife and children] Without previous provision, without due preparation, without _maturity_ of counsel. IV.iii.33 (502,7) Wear thou thy wrongs] That is, _Poor country, wear thou thy wrongs_. IV.iii.69 (503,1) Sudden, malicious] [_Sudden_, for capricious. WARBUR.] Rather violent, passionate, hasty. IV.iii.85 (504,2) Than summer seeming lust] When I was younger and bolder I corrected it thus, _Than fume, or seething lust_. that is, Than angry passion, or boiling lust. (1773) IV.iii.135 (506,4) All ready at a point] [W: at appoint] There is no need of change. IV.iii.136 (506,5) and the chance of goodness/Be like our warranted quarrel!] The _chance of goodness_, as it is commonly read, conveys no sense. If there be not some more important errour in the passage, it should at least be pointed thus: --_and the chance, of goodness, Be like our warranted quarrel_!-- That is, may the event be, of the goodness of heaven, [_pro justitia divina_] answerable to the cause. The author of the _Revisal_ conceives the sense of the passage to be rather this: _And may the success of that goodness, which is about to exert itself in my behalf, be such as may be equal to the justice of my quarrel_. But I am inclined to believe that Shakespeare wrote, --and the chance, O goodness, Be like our warranted quarrel!-- This some of his transcribers wrote with a small _o_, which another imagined to mean _of_. If we adopt this reading, the sense will be, _and O thou sovereign Goodness, to whom we now appeal, may our fortune answer to our cause_. (see 1765, VI, 462, 7) IV.iii.170 (508,9) A modern ecstacy] I believe _modern_ is only _foolish_ or _trifling_. IV.iii.196 (509,2), fee-grief] A peculiar sorrow; a grief that hath a single owner. The expression is, at least to our ears, very harsh. IV.iii.216 (511,4) He has no children] It has been observed by an anonymous critic, that this is not said of Macbeth, who had children, but of Malcolm, who having none, supposes a father. V.i.86 (515,8) My mind she has mated] [Conquer'd or subdued. POPE.] Rather astonished, confounded. V.ii.24 (516,1) When all that is within him does condemn/Itself, for being there?] That is, when all the faculties of the mind are employed in self-condemnation. V.iii.1 (516,2) Bring me no more reports] _Tell me not any more of desertions--Let all ny subjects leave me--I am safe till,_ &c. V.iii.8 (517,3) English Epicures] The reproach of Epicurism, on which Mr. Theobald has bestowed a note, is nothing more than a natural invective uttered by an inhabitant of a barren country, against, those who have more opportunities of luxury. V.iii.22 (518,6) my way of life/Is fall'n into the sear] As there is no relation between the _way of life_, and _fallen into the sear_, I am inclined to think that the W is only an M inverted, and that it was originally written, --_my_ May _of life_. _I am now passed from the spring to the autumn of my days, but I am without those comforts that should succeed the spriteliness of bloom, and support me in this melancholy season._ The authour has _May_ in the same sense elsewhere. V.iv.8 (521,1) the confident tyrant/Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure/Our setting down before't] He was _confident_ of success; so _confident_ that he would not fly, but endure their _setting down_ before his castle. V.iv.11 (521,2) For where there is advantage to be given,/ Both more and less have given him the revolt] The impropriety of the expression, _advantage to be given_, and the disagreeable repetition of the word _given_ in the next line, incline me to read, --_where there is_ a 'vantage _to be_ gone, _Both more and less have given him the revolt._ _Advantage or 'vantage_, in the time of Shakespeare, signified _opportunity_. _He shut up himself and his soldiers_, (says Malcolm) _in the castle, because when there is an opportunity to be gone they all desert him_. _More and less_ is the same with _greater and less_. So in the interpolated _Mandeville_, a book of that age, there is a chapter of _India the More and the Less_. V.iv.20 (522,4) arbitrate]--_arbitrate_ is _determine_. V.v.11 (523,3) fell of hair] My hairy part, my _capillitium_. _Fell_ is _skin_. V.v.17 (523,7) She should have dy'd hereafter;/ There would have been a time for such a word] This passage has very justly been suspected of being corrupt. It is not apparent for what _word_ there would have been a _time_, and that there would or would not be a _time_ for any _word_ seems not a consideration of importance sufficient to transport Macbeth into the following exclamation. I read therefore, _She should have dy'd hereafter. There would have been a time for--such a_ world!-- _Tomorrow_, &c. It is a broken speech in which only part of the thought is expressed, and may be paraphrased thus: _The queen is dead_. Macbeth. _Her death should have been deferred to some more peaceful hour; had she liv'd longer_, there would at length have been a time for the _honours due to her as a queen, and that respect which I owe her for her fidelity and love. Such is the_ world--such is the condition of human life, that we always think_ to-morrow _will be happier than to-day, but to-morrow and to-morrow steals over us unenjoyed and unregarded, and we still linger in the same expectation to the moment appointed for our end. All these days, which have thus passed away, have sent multitudes of fools to the grave, who were engrossed by the same dream of future felicity, and, when life was departing from them, were, like me, reckoning on to-morrow_. Such was once my conjecture, but I am now less confident. Macbeth might mean, that there would have been a more convenient _time_ for such a _word_, for such _intelligence_, and so fall into the following reflection. We say we send _word_ when we give intelligence. V.v.21 (524,8) To the last syllable of recorded time] _Recorded time_ seems to signify the time fixed in the decrees of Heaven for the period of life. The _record_ of _futurity_ is indeed no accurate expression, but as we only know transactions past or present, the language of men affords no term for the volumes of prescience, in which future events may be supposed to be written. V.v.23 (524,9) The way to dusty death] _Dusty_ is a very natural epithet. The second folio has, _The way to_ study _death_.-- which Mr. Upton prefers, but it is only an errour by an accidental transposition of the types. V.v.42 (525,2) I pull in resolution, and begin/To doubt the equivocation of the fiend,/ That lies like truth] Though this is the reading of all the editions, yet, as it is a phrase without either example, elegance or propriety, it is surely better to read, _I_ pall _in resolution,-- I languish in my constancy, my confidence begins to forsake as_. It is scarcely necessary to observe how easily _pall_ might be changed into _pull_ by a negligent writer, or mistaken for it by an unskilful printer. With this emendation Dr. Warburton and Mr. Heath concur. (see 1765, VI,478,8) V.viii.9 (529,3) the intrenchant air] That is, air which cannot be cut. V.viii.20 (529,5) That palter with us in a double sense] That _shuffle_ with ambiguous expressions. V.viii.48 (531,7) Had I as many sons as I have hairs, I would not wish them to a fairer death] This incident is thus related from Henry of Huntingdon by Camden in his _Remains_, from which our authour probably copied it. When Seyward, the martial earl of Northumberland, understood that his son, whom he had sent in service against the Scotchmen, was slain, he demanded whether his wounds were in the fore part or hinder part of his body. When it was answered, in the fore part, he replied, "I am right glad; neither wish I any other death to me or mine." General Observation. This play is deservedly celebrated for the propriety of its fictions, and solemnity, grandeur, and variety of its action; but it has no nice discriminations of character, the events are too great to admit the influence of particular dispositions, and the course of the action necessarily determines the conduct of the agents. The danger of ambition is well described; and I know not whether it may not be said in defence of some parts which now seem improbable, that, in Shakespeare's time, it was necessary to warn credulity against vain and illusive predictions. The passions are directed to their true end. Lady Macbeth is merely detested; and though the courage of Macbeth preserves some esteem, yet every reader rejoices at his fall. Vol. VII CORIOLANUS 1.i.19 (292,1) but they think, we are too dear] They think that the charge of maintaining us is more than we are worth. I.i.23 (292,3) ere we become rakes] It is plain that, in our authour's time, we had the proverb, _as lean as a rake_. Of this proverb the original is obscure. _Rake_ now signifies a _dissolute man_, a man worn out with disease and debauchery. But the signification is, I think, much more modern than the proverb. _Raekel_, in Islandick, is said to mean a _cur-dog_, and this was probably the first use among us of the word _rake_; _as lean as a rake_ is, therefore, as lean as it dog too worthless to be fed. 1.i.94 (294,4) I will venture/To scale't a little more] [Warburton had taken Theobald to task for emending to "stale't", offering two quotations to prove that "scale" meant "apply."] Neither of Dr. Warburton's examples afford a sense congruous to the present occasion. In the passage quoted, to _scale_ may be to _weigh_ and _compare_, but where do we find that _scale_ is to _apply_? If we _scale_ the two criticks, I think Theobald has the advantage. I.i.97 (295,5) fob off our disgraces with a tale] _Disgraces_ are _hardships, injuries_. I.i.104 (295,6) where the other instruments] _Where_ for _whereas_. I.i.112 (296,7) Which ne'er came from the lungs] with a smile not indicating pleasure, but contempt. I.i.120 (296,9) The counsellor heart] The heart was anciently esteemed the seat of prudence. _Homo cordatum_ is a _prudent man_. I.i.163 (297,1) Thou rascal, that art worst in blood, to ruin,/ Lead'st first, to win some 'vantage] I think, we may better read, by an easy change, _Thou rascal that art worst, in blood, to_ ruin [to run] _Lead'st first, to win_, &c. Thou that art the meanest by birth, art the foremost to lead thy fellows _to ruin_, in hope of some advantage. The meaning, however, is perhaps only this, Thou that art a hound, or running dog of the lowest breed, lead'st the pack, when any thing is to be gotten. (see 1765, VI, 493, 1) I.i.172 (298,4) What would you have, ye curs,/ That like not peace, nor war? The one affrights you,/ The other makes you proud] [W: likes] That _to like_ is _to please_, every one knows, but in that sense it is as hard to say why peace should not _like_ the people, as, in the other sense, why the people should not _like_ peace. The truth is, that Coriolanus does not use the two sentences consequentially, but reproaches them with unsteadiness, then with their other occasional vices. I.i.202 (300,6) I'd make a quarry/With thousands] Why a quarry? I suppose, not because he would pile them square, but because he would give them for carrion to the birds of prey. I.i.215 (300,7) To break the heart of generosity] To give the final blow to the _nobles_. _Generosity_ is _high birth_. I.i.231 (301,8) 'tis true, that yon have lately told us./The Volscians are in arms] Coriolanus had been but just told himself that _the Volscians were in arms_. The meaning is, _The intelligence which you gave us some little time ago of the designs of the Volscians is now verified; they are in arms._ I.i.255 (302,8) Your valour puts well forth] That is, You have in this mutiny shewn fair blossoms of valour. I.i.260 (303,9) to gird. To _sneer_, to _gibe_. So Falstaff uses the noun, when he says, _every man has a _gird _at me_. I.i.281 (304,3) in what fashion,/More than his singularity he goes/ Upon this present action] We will learn what he is to do, besides _going himself_; what are his powers, and what is his appointment. I.ii.28 (305,4) for the remove/Bring up your army] [W:'fore they] I do not see the nonsense or impropriety of the old reading. Says the senator to Aufidius, _Go to your troops, we will garrison Corioli_. If the Romans besiege us, bring up your army _to remove them_. If any change should be made, I would read, --_for_ their _remove_. I.iii.16 (307,5) brows bound with oak] The crown given by the Romans to him that saved the life of a citizen, which was accounted more honourable than any other. I.iv.14 (311,9) nor a man that fears you less than he,/That's lesser than a little] The sense requires it to be read, _nor a man that fears you_ more _than he_, Or more probably, _nor a man_ but _fears you less than he, That's lesser than a little_. I.v.5 (314,4) prize their hours] In the first edition it is, _prize their_ hours. I know not who corrected it [to _prize their honours_]. A modern editor, who had made such an improvement, would have spent half a page in ostentation of his sagacity. I.vi.36 (317,6) Ransoming him, or pitying] i.e. _remitting his ransom_. I.vi.61 (318,8) swords advanc'd] That is, swords lifted high. I.vi.83 (319,9) Please you to march,/And four shall quickly draw out my command,/Which men are best inclin'd] I cannot but suspect this passage of corruption. Why should they _march_, that _four_ might select those that were _best inclin'd_? How would their inclinations be known? Who were the _four_ that should select them? Perhaps, we may read, --_Please you to march, And_ fear _shall quickly draw out_ of _my command, Which men are_ least _inclin'd_. It is easy to conceive that, by a little negligence, _fear_ might be changed to _four_, and _least_ to _best_. Let us march, and that fear which incites desertion will free my army from cowards. (see 1765, VI, 512, 1) I.viii.11 (320,1) Wert thou the Hector,/That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny] The Romans boasted themselves descended from the Trojans, how then was Hector the _whip of their progeny_? It must mean the whip with which the Trojans scourged the Greeks, which cannot be but by a very unusual construction, or the authour must have forgotten the original of the Romans; unless _whip_ has some meaning which includes _advantage_ or _superiority_, as we say, _he has the_ whip-hand, for _he has the_ advantage. I.viii.14 (321,2) you have sham'd me/In your condemned seconds] For _condemned_, we may read _contemned_. You have, to my shane, sent me help _which I despise_. I.ix.12 (321,4) Here is the steed, we the caparisons!] This is an odd encomium. The meaning is, _this man performed the action, and we only filled up the show_. I.ii.14 (322,5) a charter to extol] A privilege to praise her own son. I.ix.29 (322,6) Should they not] That is, _not be remembered_. I.ix.72 (325,9) To the fairness of any power] [_Fairness_, for _utmost_. WARE.] I know not how _fairness_ can mean _utmost_. When two engage on _equal_ terms, we say it is _fair_; _fairness_ may therefore be _equality; in proportion equal to my power_. I.ix.76 (325,1) The best] The _chief_ men of Corioli. I.x.5 (326,3) Being a Volsce, be that I am] It may be just observed, that Shakespeare calls the _Volsci, Volsces_, which the modern editors have changed to the modern termination [Volscian]. I mention it here, because here the change has spoiled the measure. _Being a_ Volsce, _be that I am. Condition_. [Steevans restored _Volsce_ in the text.] I.x.17 (326,2) My valour's poison'd,/With only suffering stain by him, for him/ Shall flie out of itself] To mischief him, my valour should _deviate from_ its own native generosity. I.x.25 (327,4) At home, upon my brother's guard] In my own house, with my brother posted to protect him. II.i.8 (328,5) Pray you, who does the wolf love?] When the tribune, in reply to Menenius's remark, on the people's hate of Coriolanus, had observed that even _beasts know their friends_, Menenius asks, _whom does the wolf love_? implying that there are beasts which love nobody, and that among those beasts are the people. II.i.43 (329,6) towards the napes of your necks] With allusion to the fable, which says, that every man has a bag hanging before him, in which he puts his neighbour's faults, and another behind him, in which he stows his own. II.i.56 (330,7) one that converses more with the buttock of the night, than with the forehead of the morning] Rather a late lier down than an early riser. II.i.84 (330,1) set up the bloody flag against all patience] That is, declare war against patience. There is not wit enough in this satire to recompense its grossness. II.i.105 (331,2) herdsmen of beastly Plebeians] As kings are called [Greek: poimenes laon]. II.i.115 (331,3) Take my cap, Jupiter, and I thank thee] [W: cup] Shakespeare so often mentions throwing up caps in this play, that Menenius may be well enough supposed to throw up his cap in thanks to Jupiter. II.i.146 (333,4) possest of this?] _Possest_, in our authour's language, is fully informed. II.i.178 (334,6) Which being advanc'd, declines] Volumnia, in her boasting strain, says, that her son to kill his enemy, has nothing to do but to lift his hand up and let it fall. II.i.232 (337,3) Commit the war of white and damask, in/Their nicely gawded cheeks] [W: wars] Has the commentator never heard of roses _contending_ with lilies for the empire of a lady's cheek? The _opposition_ of colours, though not the _commixture_, may be called a war. II.i.235 (338,1) As if that whatsoever God] That is, _as if that God who leads him, whatsoever_ God he be. II.i.241 (338,2) From where he should begin, and end] Perhaps it should be read, _From where he should begin_ t'an _end_.-- II.i.247 (338,3) As he is proud to do't] [I should rather think the author wrote _prone_: because the common reading is scarce sense or English. WARBURTON.] _Proud to do_, is the same as, _proud of doing_, very plain sense, and very common English. II.i.285 (340,4) carry with us ears and eyes] That is, let us observe what passes, but keep our hearts fixed on our design of crushing Coriolanus. II.ii.19 (340,5) he wav'd indifferently] That is, _he would wave indifferently_. II.ii.29 (341,6) supple and courteous to the people; bonnetted] The sense, I think, requires that we should read, _unbonnetted_. Who have risen only by _pulling off their hats_ to the people. _Bonnetted_ may relate to _people_, but not without harshness. II.ii.57 (342,7) Your loving motion toward the common body] Your kind interposition with the common people. II.ii.64 (342,9) That's off, that's off] That is, that is nothing to the purpose. II.ii.82 (343,1) how can he flatter] The reasoning of Menenius is this: How can he be expected to practice flattery to others, who abhors it so much, that he cannot bear it even when offered to himself. II.ii.92 (343,2) When Tarquin made a head for Rome] When Tarquin, who had been expelled, _raised a power_ to recover Rome. II.ii.113 (344,6) every motion/Was tim'd with dying cries] The cries of the slaughter'd regularly followed his motions, as musick and a dancer accompany each ether. II.ii.115 (345,7) The mortal gate] The gate that was made the scene of death. II.ii.127 (345,8) He cannot but with measure fit the honours] That is, no honour will be too great far him; he will show a mind equal to any elevation. II.ii.131 (345,1) rewards His deeds with doing them; and is content To spend his time, to end it] I know not whether my conceit will be approved, but I cannot forbear to think that our author wrote thus. --he _rewards His deeds with doing them, and is content To spend his time, to spend it. To do great acts, for the sake of doing them; to spend his life, for the sake of spending it. II.iii.4 (348,2) We have power in ourselves to do it, but it is a power that we have no power to do] [Warburton saw this as "a ridicule on the Augustine manner of defining _free-will_."] A ridicule may be intended, but the sense is clear enough. _Power_ first signifies _natural power_ or _force_, and then _moral power_ or _right_. Davies has used the same word with great variety of meaning. _Use all thy_ powers _that heavenly_ power _to praise, That gave thee_ power _to do_.-- II.iii.18 (348,3) many-headed multitude] Hanmer reads, _many-headed_ monster, but without necessity. To be _many-headed_ includes _monstrousness_. II.iii.115 (352,7) I will not seal your knowledge] I will not strengthen or compleat your knowledge. The seal is that which gives authenticity to a writing. II.iii.122 (352,8) Why in this woolvish tongue should I stand here To beg of Bob and Dick, that do appear, Their needless vouches?] Why stand I here in this ragged apparel to beg of Bob and Dick, and such others as _make their appearance_ here, their _unnecessary votes_. I rather think we should read [instead of _voucher_], _Their needless_ vouches. But _voucher_ may serve, as it may perhaps signify either the act or the agent. II.iii.122 (352) this woolvish gown] Signifies this _rough hirsute_ gown. II.iii.182 (355,1) ignorant to see't?] [W: "ignorant" means "impotent"] That _ignorant_ at any time has, otherwise than consequentially, the same meaning with _impotent_, I do not know. It has no such meaning in this place. _Were you_ ignorant _to see it_, is, did you want knowledge to discern it. II.iii.208 (356,2) free contempt] That is, with contempt open and unrestrained. II.iii.227 (357,4) Enforce his pride] Object his pride, and enforce the objection. II.iii.258 (358,7) Scaling his present bearing with his past] That is, _weighing_ his past and present behaviour. II.iii.267 (359,8) observe and answer/The vantage of his anger] Mark, catch, and improve the opportunity, which his hasty anger will afford us. III.i.23 (360,9) prank them in authority] _Plume, deck, dignify_ themselves. III.i.58 (362,3) This paltring/Becomes not Rome] That is, this trick of dissimulation, this shuffling. _Let these be no more believ'd That_ palter _with us in a double sense_. Macbeth. III.i.60 (362,4) laid falsly] _Falsly_ for _treacherously_. III.i.66 (362,5) Let them regard me, as I do not flatter, and/ Therein behold themselves] Let them look in the mirror which I hold up to them, a mirror which does not flatter, and see themselves. III.i.89 (363,6) minnows] a _minnow_ is one of the smallest river fish, called in some counties a _pink_. III.i.90 (364,6) 'Twas from the canon] Was contrary to the established role; it was a form of speech to which he has no right. III.i.98 (364,9) Then vail your ignorance] [W: "ignorance" means "impotence."] Hanmer's transposition deserves notice --_If they have power, Let them have cushions by you; if none, awake Your dang'rous lenity; if you are learned, Be not as commmon fools; if you are not, Then vail your ignorance. You are Plebeians_, &c. I neither think the transposition of one editor right, nor the interpretation of the other. The sense is plain enough without supposing _ignorance_ to have any remote or consequential sense. _If this man has power, let the_ ignorance _that gave it him_ vail _or bow down before him._ III.i.101 (365,1) You are Plebeians, If they be Senators: and they are no less, When, both your voices blended, the greatest taste Most palates theirs] These lines may, I think, be made more intelligible by a very slight correction. --_they no less [than senators] When, both your voices blended, the great'st taste_ Must palate _theirs._ When the _taste_ of the _great_, the patricians, must _palate_, must _please_ [or must _try_] that of the plebeians. III.i.124 (366,3) They would not thread the gates] That is, _pass_ them. We yet say, to _thread_ an alley. III.i.129 (366,4) could never be the native] [_Native_ for natural birth. WARBURTON.] _Native_ is here not natural birth, but _natural parent_, or _cause of birth_. But I would read _motive_, which, without any distortion of its meaning, suits the speaker's purpose. III.i.151 (367,7) That love the fundamental part of state/More than you doubt the change of't] To _doubt_ is to _fear_. The meaning is, You whose zeal predominates over your terrours; you who do not so much fear the danger of violent measures, as wish the good to which they are necessary, the preservation of the original constitution of our government. III.i.158 (368,2) Mangles true judgment] _Judgment_ is _judgment_ in its common sense, or the faculty by which right is distinguished from wrong. III.i.159 (368,3) that integrity which should become it] _Integrity_ is in this place _soundness_, uniformity, consistency, in the same sense as Dr. Warburton often uses it, when he mentions the _integrity_ of a metaphor. To _become_, is to _suit_, to _befit_. III.i.221 (370,5) are very poisonous] I read, _are very_ poisons. III.i.242 (371,7) One time will owe another] I know not whether to _owe_ in this place means to _possess by right_, or to _be indebted_. Either sense may be admitted. _One time_, in which the people are seditious, will _give us power_ in some other time; or, _this time_ of the people's predominance will _run them in debt_; that is, will lay them open to the law, and expose them hereafter to more servile subjection. III.i.248 (372,8) Before the tag return] The lowest and most despicable of the populace are still denominated by those a little above them, _Tag, rag, and bobtail_. (1773) III.ii.7 (376,4) I muse] That is, _I wonder. I am at a loss_. III.ii.12 (376,5) my ordinance] My _rank_. III.ii.51 (378,8) Why force you] Why _urge_ you. III.ii.56 (378,9) bastards, and syllables/Of no allowance, to your bosom's truth] I read, _Of no_ alliance,-- therefore _bastards_. Yet _allowance_ may well enough stand, as meaning _legal right, established rank_, or _settled authority_. (see 1765, VI, 566, 7) III.ii.64 (379,1) I am in this/Your wife, your son] I rather think the meaning is, _I am in their_ condition, I am _at stake_, together with _your wife, your son_. III.ii.66 (379,2) our general lowts] Our _common clowns_. III.ii.69 (379,3) that want] The _want_ of their loves. III.ii.71 (379,4) Not what] In this place _not_ seems to signify _not only_. III.ii.77 (379,5) Waving thy head,/With often, thus, correcting thy stout heart] [W: thy hand,/Which soften thus] The correction is ingenious, yet I think it not right. _Head_ or _hand_ is indifferent. The _hand_ is _waved_ to gain attention; the _head_ is shaken in token of sorrow. The word _wave_ suits better to the hand, but in considering the authour's language, too much stress must not be laid on propriety against the copies. I would read thus, --_waving thy head_, With _often, thus, correcting thy stout heart_. That is, _shaking thy head_, and _striking_ thy breast. The alteration is slight, and the gesture recommended not improper. III.ii.99 (381,6) my unbarb'd sconce?] The suppliants of the people used to present themselves to them in sordid and neglected dresses. III.ii.113 (381,8) Which quired with my drum] Which played in concert with my drum. III.ii.116 (382,1) Tent in my cheeks] To _tent_ is _to take up residence_. III.ii.121 (382,2) honour mine own truth] [Greek: Panton de malis aischuneui sauton]. Pythagoras. III.ii.125 (382,3) let/Thy mother rather feel thy pride, than fear/ Thy dangerous stoutness] This is obscure. Perhaps, she means, Go, _do thy worst; let me rather feel the_ utmost _extremity that thy pride can bring upon us, than live thus in fear of thy dangerous obstinacy_. III.iii.17 (384,3) Insisting on the old prerogative And power in' the truth o' the cause] This is not very easily understood. We might read, --o'er _the truth o' the cause_. III.iii.26 (384,4) and to have his word/Of contradiction] _To have his word of contradiction_ is no more than, _he is used to contradict_; and _to have his word_, that is, _not to be opposed_. We still say of an obstinate disputant, _he will have the last word_. III.iii.29 (384,5) which looks/With us to break his neck] To _look_ is to _wait_ or _expect_. The sense I believe is, _What he has in his heart_ is waiting there _to help us to break his neck_. III.iii.57 (386,8) Rather than envy you] _Envy_ is here taken at large for _malignity_ or ill intention. III.iii.64 (386,9) season'd office] All _office established_ and _settled_ by time, and made familiar to the people by long use. III.iii.96 (387,1) has now at last] Read rather, --has _now at last_ [instead of _as now at last_]. III.iii.97 (387,2) not in the presence] _Not_ stands again for _not only_. III.iii.114 (388,3) My dear wife's estimate] I love my country beyond the rate at which I _value my dear wife_. III.iii.127 (389,4) Have the power still To banish your defenders'; till, at length, Your ignorance, (which finds not, till it feels)] _Still retain the power of banishing your defenders, till your undiscerning folly, which can foresee no consequences, leave none in the city but yourselves, who are always labouring your own destruction._ It is remarkable, that, among the political maxims of the speculative Harrington, there is one which he might have borrowed from this speech. _The people_, says he, _cannot see, but they can feel_. It is not much to the honour of the people, that they have the same character of stupidity from their enemy and their friend. Such was the power of our authour's mind, that he looked through life in all its relations private and civil. IV.i.7 (390,1) Fortune's blows,/When most struck home, being gentle wounded, craves/A noble cunning] This it the ancient and authentick reading. The modern editors have, for _gentle wounded_, silently substituted _gently warded_, and Dr. Warburton has explained _gently_ by _nobly_. It is good to be sure of our authour's words before we go about to explain their meaning. The sense is, When Fortune strikes her hardest blows, to be wounded, and yet continue calm, requires a generous policy. He calls this calmness _cunning_, because it is the effect of reflection and philosophy. Perhaps the first emotions of nature are nearly uniform, and one man differs from another in the power of endurance, as he is better regulated by precept and instruction. _They bore as heroes, but they felt as men_. (see 1765, VI, 577, 9) IV.i.33 (391,3) cautelous baits and practice] By artful and false tricks, and treason. IV.ii.15 (393,6) _Sic._ Are you mankind? _Vol._ Ay, fool; Is that a shame? Note but this fool. Was not a man my father?] The word _mankind_ is used maliciously by the first speaker, and taken perversely by the second. A _mankind_ woman is a woman with the roughness of a man, and, in an aggravated sense, a woman ferocious, violent, and eager to shed blood. In this sense Sicinius asks Volumnia, if she be _mankind_. She takes _mankind_ for a _human creature_, and accordingly cries out, --_Note but this, fool. Was not a man my father?_ IV.ii.18 (394,7) Hadst thou foxship] Hadst thou, fool as thou art, mean cunning enough to banish Coriolanus? IV.iii.9 (395,7) but your favour is well appear'd by your tongue] [W: well appeal'd] I should read, --_is well_ affear'd, That is, _strengthened, attested,_ a word used by our authour. _My title is_ affear'd. Macbeth. To _repeal_ may be _to bring to remembrance_, but _appeal_ has another meaning. IV.iii.48 (397,8) already in the entertainment] That is, tho' not actually encamped, yet already in _pay_. To _entertain_ an army is to take them into pay. IV.iv.22 (398,1) So, with me:-- My birth-place hate I, and my love's upon This enemy's town:--I'll enter: if he slay me] He who reads this [My country have I and my lovers left;/This enemy's town I'll enter] would think that he was reading the lines of Shakespeare: except that Coriolanus, being already in the town, says, he _will enter it_. Yet the old edition exhibits it thus --_So with me. My birth-place have I; and my loves upon This enemic towne; I'll enter if he slay me_, &c. The intermediate line seems to be lost, in which, conformably to his former observation, he says, that _he has_ lost _his birth-place, and his loves upon_ a petty dispute, and is trying his chance in _this enemy town_, he then cries, turning to the house of Anfidius, _I'll enter if he slay me_. I have preferred the common reading, because it is, though faulty, yet intelligible, and the original passage, for want of copies, cannot be restored. IV.v.76 (403,3) a good memory] The Oxford editor, not knowing that _memory_ was used at that time for _memorial_, alters it to _memorial_. IV.v.90 (403,4) A heart of wreak in thee] A heart of resentment. IV.v.91 (403,5) maims/Of shame] That is, disgraceful diminutions of territory. IV.v.207 (406,5) sanctifies himself with's hands] Alluding, improperly, to the act of _crossing_ upon any strange event. IV.v.212 (407,6) He will go, he says, and sowle the porter of Rome gates by the ears] That is, I suppose, drag him down by the ears into the dirt. _Souiller_, Fr. IV.v.214 (407,7) his passage poll'd] That is, _bared, cleared_. IV.v.238 (408,8) full of vent] Full of _rumour_, full of materials for _discourse_. IV.vi.2 (408,1) His remedies are tame i' the present peace] The old reading is, _His remedies are tame, the present peace_. I do not understand either line, but fancy it should be read thus, --_neither need we fear him; His remedies are ta'en, the present peace, And quietness o' the people_,-- The meaning, somewhat harshly expressed, according to our authour's custom, is this: _We need not fear him_, the proper _remedies_ against him _are taken_, by restoring _peace and quietness_. IV.vi.32 (410,2) affecting one sole throne,/Without assistance] That is, without _assessors_; without any other suffrage. IV.vi.51 (411,3) reason with the fellow] That is, have some _talk_ with him. In this sense Shakespeare often uses the word. IV.vi.72 (412,4) can no more atone] To _atone_, in the active sense, is to _reconcile_, and is so used by our authour. To _atone_ here, is, in the neutral sense, to _come to reconciliation_. To _atone_ is to _unite_. IV.vi.85 (412,5) burned in their cement] [W: "cement" for "cincture or inclosure"] _Cement_ has here its common signification. IV.vi.98 (413,5) The breath of garlick-eaters!] To smell of garlick was once such a brand of vulgarity, that garlick was a food forbidden to an ancient order of Spanish knights, mentioned by Guevara. IV.vi.112 (414,7) they charge him even As those should do that had deserv'd his hate, And therein shew'd like enemies] Their _charge_ or injunction would shew them insensible of his wrongs, and make them _shew like enemies_. I read _shew_, not _shewed, like enemies_. IV.vi.124 (414,8) They'll roar him in again] As they _hooted_ at his departure, they will _roar_ at his return; as he went out with scoffs, he will come back with lamentations. IV.vii.37 (417,1) whether pride, Which out of daily fortune ever taints The happy man; whether] Ausidius assigns three probable reasons of the miscarriage of Coriolanus; pride, which easily follows an uninterrupted train of success; unskilfulness to regulate the consequences of his own victories; a stubborn uniformity of nature, which could not make the proper transition from the _casque_ or _helmet_ to the _cushion_ or _chair of civil authority_; but acted with the same despotism in peace as in war. IV.vii.48 (418,2) he has a merit,/To choak it in the utterance] He has a merit, for no other purpose than to destroy it by boasting it. IV.vii.55 (418,4) Right's by right fouler] [W: fouled] I believe _rights_, like _strengths_, is a plural noon. I read, _Rights by rights_ founder, _strengths by strengths do fail_. That is, by the exertion of one right another right is lamed. V.i.20 (420,2) It was a bare petition] [_Bare_, for mean, beggarly. WARBURTON.] I believe rather, a petition unsupported, unaided by names that might give it influence. V.i.63 (422,4) I tell you, he does sit in gold] He is inthroned in all the pomp and pride of imperial splendour. [Greek: Chruzothronos Aerae]--Hom. V.i.69 (422,5) Bound with an oath to yield to his conditions] This if apparently wrong. Sir T. Hanmer, and Dr. Warburton after him, read, _Bound with an oath_ not to _yield to_ new _conditions_. They might have read more smoothly, --_to yield no new conditions_. But the whole speech is in confusion, and I suspect something left out. I should read, --_What he would do, He sent in writing after; what he would not, Bound with an oath. To yield to his conditions_. Here is, I think, a chasm. The speaker's purpose seems to be this: _To yield to his conditions_ is ruin, and better cannot be obtained, _so that all hope is vain_. V.ii.10 (424,7) it is lots to blanks] A _lot_ here is a _prize_. V.ii.17 (424,8) For I have ever verify'd my friends, (Of whom he's chief) with all the size that verity Would without lapsing suffer] [W: narrified] [Hanmer: magnified] If the commentator had given any example of the word _narrify_, the correction would have been not only received, but applauded. Now, since the new word stands without authority, we must try what sense the old one will afford. To _verify_ is _to establish by testimony_. One may say with propriety, he brought false witnesses to verify his title. Shakespeare considered the word with his usual laxity, as importing rather _testimony_ than _truth_, and only meant to say, _I_ bore witness _to my friends with all the size that verity would suffer_. V.ii.45 (426,1) the virginal palms of your daughters] [W: _pasmes_ or _pames_, French for "swooning fits." Warburton also quotes _Tarquin and Lucrece_, "To dry the old oak's sap, and cherish springs" and emends to "tarnish," from the French, meaning "to dry up," used of springs and rivers.] I have inserted this note, because it contains an apology for many others. It is not denied that many French words were mingled in the time of Elizabeth with our language, which have since been ejected, and that any which are known to have been then in use may be properly recalled when they will help the sense. But when a word is to be admitted, the first question should be, by whom was it ever received? in what book can it be shown? If it cannot be proved to have been in use, the reasons which can justify its reception must be stronger than any critick will often have to bring. Even in this certain emendation, the new word is very liable to contest. I should read, --_and_ perish _springs_. The verb _perish_ is commonly neutral, but in conversation is often used actively, and why not in the works of a writer negligent beyond all others of grammatical niceties? V.ii.60 (427,2) Back, I say, go; lest I let forth your half pint of blood;--back, that's the utmost of your having:--Back] [Warburton emended the punctuation] I believe the meaning never was mistaken, and therefore do not change the reading. V.ii.69 (428,3) guess by my entertainment with him] I read, _Guess_ by _my entertainment with him, if thou standest not i' the state of hanging_ [in place of _guess_ but _my entertainment_]. V.ii.80 (428,4) Though I owe/My revenge properly] Though I have a _peculiar right_ in revenge, in the power of forgiveness the Volacians are conjoined. V.ii.104 (429,5) how we are shent] _Shent_ is _brought to destruction_. V.iii.3 (430,6) how plainly/I have born this business] That is, _how openly, how_ remotely from artifice or concealment. V.iii.39 (431,7) The sorrow, that delivers us thus chang'd,/Makes you think so] Virgilia makes a voluntary misinterpretation of her husband's words. He says, _These eyes are not the same_, meaning, that he saw things with _other eyes_, or other _dispositions_. She lays hold on the word _eyes_, to turn his attention on their present appearance. V.iii.46 (431,8) Now by the jealous queen of heaven] That is, _by Juno_, the guardian of marriage, and consequently the avenger of connubial perfidy. V.iii.64 (432,1) The noble sister of Poplicola] Valeria, methinks, should not have been brought only to fill up the procession without speaking. V.iii.68 (432,2) epitome of yours] I read, --_epitome of you_. _An epitome of you_ which, _enlarged by the commentaries of time_, may equal you in magnitude. V.iii.74 (433,4) every flaw] That is, every _gust_, every _storm_. V.iii.100 (435,2) Constrains them weep, and shake] That is, _constrain_ the eye to _weep_, _and_ the heart to _shake_. V.iii.149 (436,3) the fine strains] The niceties, the refinements. V.iii.159 (436,5) he lets me prate,/Like one i' the stocks] Keep me in a state of ignominy talking to no purpose. V.iii.176 (437,6) Does reason our petition] Does _argue for_ us and our petition. V.iii.201 (438,7) I'll work/Myself a former fortune] I will take advantage of this concession to restore myself to my former credit and power. V.iii.206 (438,8) Come, enter with us,--Ladies, you deserve] [Warburton proposed to give the speech beginning "Ladies, you deserve" to Aufidius] The speech suits Aufidius justly enough, if it had been written for him; but it may, without impropriety, be spoken by Coriolanus: and since the copies give it to him, why should we dispossess him? V.iv.22 (439,1) He sits in state as a thing made for Alexander] In a foregoing note he was said to _sit in gold_. The phrase, _as a thing made for Alexander_, means, _as one made to resemble Alexander_. V.vi.39 (443,2) He wag'd me with his countenance] This is obscure. The meaning, I think, is, he _prescribed_ to me vith an air of authority, and gave me _his countenance_ for _my wages_; thought me sufficiently rewarded with good looks. V.vi.44 (443,3) For which my sinews shall be stretch'd upon him] This is the point on which I will attack him with my utmost abilities. V.vi.66 (444,4) answering us/With our own charge] That is, _rewarding us with our own expences_; making the cost of the war its recompence. V.vi.125 (446,5) his fame folds in/This orbe o' th' earth] His fame overspreads the world. (447) General Observation. The tragedy of Coriolanus is one of the most amusing of our author's performances. The old man's merriment in Menenius; the lofty lady's dignity in Volumnia; the bridal modesty in Virgilia; the patrician and military haughtiness in Coriolanus; the plebeian malignity and tribunitian insolence in Brutus and Sicinius, make a very pleasing and interesting variety: and the various revolutions of the hero's fortune fill the mind with anxious curiosity. There is, perhaps, too much bustle in the first act, and too little in the last. Vol. VIII JULIUS CAESAR I.i.20 (4,2) _Mar._ What meanest thou by that?] [Theobald gave this speech to Flavius] I have replaced _Marullus_, who might properly enough reply to a saucy sentence directed to his colleague, and to whom the speech was probably given, that he might not stand too long unemployed upon the stage. I.ii.25 (7,5) [_Sennet. Exeunt Caesar and Train_] I have here inserted the word _Sennet_, from the original edition, that I may have an opportunity of retracting a hasty conjecture in one of the marginal directions in _Henry_ VIII. _Sennet_ appears to be a particular tune or mode of martial musick. I.ii.35 (8,6) You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand] _Strange_, is alien, unfamiliar, such as might become a stranger. I.ii.39 (8,7) Vexed I am,/Of late, with passions of some difference] With a fluctation of discordant opinions and desires. I.ii.73 (9,9) To stale with ordinary oaths my love/To every new protester] To invite _every new protestor_ to my affection by the _stale_ or allurement of _customary_ oaths. I.ii.87 (10,1) And I will look on both indifferently] Dr. Warburton has a long note on this occasion, which is very trifling. When _Brutus_ first names _honour_ and _death_, he calmly declares them indifferent; but as the image kindles in his mind, he sets _honour_ above _life_. Is not this natural? I.ii.160 (12,6) eternal devil] I should think that our author wrote rather, _infernal devil_. I.ii.171 (13,7) chew upon this] Consider this at leisure; _ruminate_ on this. I.ii.186 (13,8) Looks with such ferret, and such fiery eyes] A ferret has red eyes. I.ii.268 (16,2) a man of any occupation] Had I been a mechanick, one of the Plebeians to whom he offered his threat. I.ii.313 (17,3) Thy honourable metal may be wrought/From what it is dispos'd] The best _metal_ or _temper_ may be worked into qualities contrary to its original constitution. I.ii.318 (17,4) If I were Brutus now, and he were Cassius,/He should not humour me] The meaning, I think, is this, _Caesar loves Brutus, but if Brutus and I were to change places, his love should not humour me_, should not take hold of my affection, so as to make me forget my principles. I.iii.1 (18,5) brought you Caesar home?] Did you attend Caesar home? I.iii.3 (18,6) sway of earth] The whole weight or _momentum_ of this globe. I.iii.21 (19,7) Who glar'd upon me] The first edition reads, _Who_ glaz'd _upon me_,-- Perhaps, _Who_ gaz'd _upon me_. I.iii.64 (20,8) Why birds, and beasts, from quality and kind] That is, Why they _deviate_ from quality and nature. This line might perhaps be more properly placed after the next line. _Why birds, and beasts, from quality and kind; Why all these things change from their ordinance._ I.iii.65 (20,9) and children calculate] [Shakespeare, with his usual liberty, employs the _species_ [calculate] for the _genus_ foretel]. WARB.] Shakespeare found the liberty established. _To calculate a nativity_, is the technical term. I.iii.l14 (22,2) My answer must be made] I shall be called to account, and must _answer_ as for seditious words. I.iii.117 (22,3) Hold my hand] Is the same as, _Here's my hand_. I.iii.118 (22,4) Be factious for redress] _Factious_ seems here to mean _active_. I.iii.129 (23,5) It favours, like the work] The old edition reads, It favours, _like the work_-- I think we should read, In favour's, _like the work we have in hand, Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible._ _Favour_ is _look, countenance, appearance_. (rev. 1778, VIII, 25, 7) II.i.19 (25,6) Remorse from power] [_Remorse_, for mercy. WARB.] _Remorse_ (says the Author of the _Ravisal_) signifies the conscious uneasiness arising from a sense of having done wrong; to extinguish which feeling, nothing hath so great a tendency as absolute uncontrouled power. I think Warbuton right. (1773) II.i.21 (25,7) common proof] Common experiment. II.i.26 (25,8) base degrees] Low steps. II.i.33 (26,9) as his kind] According to his nature. II.i.63 (27,3) Between the acting of a dreadful thing, And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream: The genius, and the mortal instruments Are then in council; and the state of man, Like to a little kingdom, suffers then The nature of an insurrection] The [Greek: deinon] of the Greek critics does not, I think, mean sentiments which _raise fear_, more than _wonder_, or any other of the tumultuous passions; [Greek: to deinon] is that which _strikes_, which _astonishes_, with the idea either of some great subject, or of the author's abilities. Dr. Warburton'a pompous criticism might well have been shortened. The _genius_ is not the _genius_ of a _kingdom_, nor are the _instruments, conspirators_. Shakespeare is describing what passes in a single bosom, the _insurrection_ which a conspirator feels agitating the _little kingdom_ of his own mind; when the _Genius_, or power that watches for his protection, and the _mortal instruments_, the passions, which excite him to a deed of honour and danger, are in council and debate; when the desire of action and the care of safety, keep the mind in continual fluctuation and disturbance. II.i.76 (29,5) any mark of favour] Any distinction of countenance. II.i.83 (30,6) For if thou path thy native semblance on] If thou _walk_ in thy true form. II.i.114 (31,7) No, not an oath. If not the face of men] Dr. Warburten would read _fate of men_; but his elaborate emendation is, I think, erroneous. _The_ face _of men_ is the _countenance_, the _regard_, the _esteem_ of the publick; in other terms, _honour_ and _reputation_; or _the face of men_ may mean the dejected look of the people. He reads, with the other modern editions, --_If_ that _the face of men_, but the old reading is, --_if_ not _the face_, &c. II.i.129 (32,1) Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous] This is imitated by Utway, _When you would bind me, is there need of oaths?_ &c. Venice preserved. II.i.187 (34,2) take thought] That is, _turn_ melancholy. II.i.196 (34,3) Quite from the main opinion he held once] _Main opinion_, is nothing more than _leading, fixed, predominant opinion_. II.i.225 (36,6) Let not our looks put on our purposes] Let not our faces _put on_, that is, _wear_ or _show_ our designs. II.ii.36 (42,3) death, a necessary end,/Will come, when it will come] This is a sentence derived from the Stoical doctrine of predestination, and is therefore improper in the mouth of Caesar. II.ii.41 (42,4) The Gods do this in shame of cowardice:/Caesar should be a beast without a heart] The ancients did not place courage but wisdom in the heart. II.ii.88 (44,7) and that great men shall press/For tinctures, stains, relicks, and cognisance] [Warburton conjectured some lines lost] I am not of opinion that any thing is lost, and have therefore marked no omission. This speech, which is intentionally pompous, is somewhat confused. There are two allusions; one to coats armorial, to which princes make additions, or give new _tinctures_, and new marks of _cognisance_; the other to martyrs, whose reliques are preserved with veneration. The Romans, says Brutus, all come to you as to a saint, for reliques, as to a prince, for honours. II.ii.104 (45,8) And reason to my love is liable] And reason, or propriety of conduct and language, is subordinate to my love. II.iii.16 (47,9) the fates with traitors do contrive] The fates join with traitors in contriving thy destruction. III.i.38 (51,2) And turn pre-ordinance and first decree/Into the lane of children] I do not veil understand what is meant by the _lane_ of children. I should read, the _law_ of children. It was, _change pre-ordinance and decree into the law of children_; into such slight determinations as every start of will would alter. _Lane_ and _laws_ in some manuscripts are not easily distinguished. III.i.67 (52,4) apprehensive] Susceptible of fear, or other passions. III.i.68 (52,5) but one] One, and only one. III.i.69 (52,6) holds on his rank] Perhaps, _holds on his_ race; continues his course. We commonly say, To _hold a rank_, and To _hold on_ a _course_ or _way_. III.i.75 (52,7) Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?] I would read, Do _not Brutus bootless kneel_! III.i.152 (55,9) Who else must be let blood, who else is rank] Who else may be supposed to have _overtopped_ his equals, and _grown too high_ for the public safety. III.i.257 (59,3) in the tide of times] That is, in the course of times. III.i.262 (60,4) A curse shall light upon the limbs of men] Hanmer reads, --kind _of men_. I rather think it should be, --_the_ lives _of men_. unless we read, --these lymms _of men_; That is, _these bloodhounds_ of men. The uncommonness of the word _lymm_ easily made the change. III.i.273 (60,5) Cry _Havock_] A learned correspondent has informed me, that, in the military operations of old times, _havock_ was the word by which declaration was made, that no quarter should be given. In a tract intitled, _The Office of the Conestable & Mareschall in the Tyme of Werre_, contained in the Black Book of the Admiralty, there is the following chapter: "The peyne of hym that crieth _havock_ and of them that followeth hym. etit. v." "Item Si quis inventus fuerit qui clamorem inceperit qui vecatur _Havok_." "Also that no man be so hardy to crye _Havok_ upon peyne that he that is begynner shal be deede therefore: & the remanent that doo the same or folow shall lose their horse & harneis: and the persones of such as foloweth & escrien shal be under arrest of the Conestable & Mareschall warde unto tyme that they have made fyn; & founde suretie no morr to offende; & his body in prison at the Kyng wylle.--" III.ii.116 (66,8) Caesar has had great wrong] [Pope has a rather ridiculous note on this] I have inserted this note, because it is Pope's, for it is otherwise of no value. It is strange that he should so much forget the date of the copy before him, as to think it not printed in Jonson's time. (see 1765, VII, 81, 1) III.ii.126 (68,9) And none so poor] The meanest man is now too high to do reverence to Caesar. III.ii.192 (68,2) And, in his mantle muffling up his face, Even at the base of Pompey's statue, Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!] [Warburton suggested transposing the second and third of these lines] The image seems to be, that the blood of Caesar flew upon the statue, and trickled down it. And the exclamation, _O what a fall was there--_ follows better after _-great Caesar fell,_ than with a line interposed, (see 1765, VII, 64, 3) III.ii.226 (70,4) For I have neither writ] The old copy reads instead of _wit_, _For I have neither_ writ, _nor words,--_ which may mean, I have no _penned_ and premeditated oration. IV.ii.4 (77,1 Your master, Pindarus, In his own change, or by ill officers, Hath given me some worthy cause to wish Things done, undone] [W: own charge] The arguments for the change proposed are insufficient. Brutus could not but know whether the wrongs committed were done by those who were immediately under the command of Cassius, or those under his officers. The answer of Brutus to the servant is only an act of artful civility; his question to Lucilius proves, that his suspicion still continued. Yet I cannot but suspect a corruption, and would read, _In his own change, or by ill_ offices. That is, either _changing_ his inclination _of himself_, or _by_ the _ill offices_ and bad influences of others. (see 1765, VII, 71, 8) IV.iii.30 (80,4) To hedge me in] That is, to limit my authority by your direction or censure. IV.iii.32 (80,5) To make conditions] That is, to know on what terms it is fit to confer the offices which are at my disposal. IV.iii.86 (82,7) A friend should bear a friend's infirmities, But Brutus makes mine greater than they are. _Bru._ I do not, till you practise them on me] The meaning is this; I do not look for your faults, I only see them, and mention them with vehemence, when you force them into my notice, _by practising them on me._ (see 1765, VII, 77, 6) IV.iii.100 (53,8) There is my dagger, And here my naked breast; within, a heart Dearer than Plutus' mine, richer than gold: If that thou be'st a Roman, take it forth] [W: thou needst a Roman's,] I am not satisfied with the change proposed, yet cannot deny, that the words, as they now stand, require some interpretation. I think he means only, that he is so far from Avarice, when the cause of his country requires liberality, that if any man should wish for his heart, he would not need enforce his desire any otherwise, than by showing that he was a Roman. V.i.5 (92,5) They mean to warn as at Philippi here] To warn, seems to mean here the same as to alarm. Hanmer reads, _They mean to_ wage _us_. V.i.43 (93,6) While damned Casca, like a cur behind,/Struck Caesar on the neck] Casca struck Caesar on the neck, coming _like_ a degenerate _cur behind him._ V.i.100 (96,2) Even by the rule of that philosophy, By which I did blame Cato for the death Which he did give himself; (I know not how, But I do find it cowardly and vile, For fear of what might fall, so to prevent The time of life:) arming myself with patience] Dr. Warburton thinks, that in this speech something is lost, but there needed only a parenthesis to clear it. The construction is this; I an determined to act according to that philosophy which directed me to blame the suicide of Cato, arming myself with patience. V.iv.12 (102,6) _Luc._ Only I yield to die:/There is so much, that then wilt kill me straight] Dr. Warburton has been much inclined to find _lacunae_, or passages broken by omission, throughout this play. I think he has been always mistaken. The soldier here says, _Yield, or thou diest_. Lucilius replies, I yield only on this condition, that I may die; here is so much gold as thou seest in my hand, which I offer thee as a reward for speedy death. What now is there wanting? (106) General Observation. Of this tragedy many particular passages deserve regard, and the contention and reconcilement of Brutus and Cassius is universally celebrated; but I have never been strongly agitated in perusing it, and think it somewhat cold and unaffecting, compared with some other of Shakespeare's plays; his adherence to the real story, and to Roman manners, seems to have impeded the natural vigour of his genius. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA I.i.9 (110,2) And is become the bellows, and the fan,/To cool a gypsy's lust] In this passage something seems to be wanting. The bellows and fan being commonly used for contrary purposes, were probably opposed by the author, who might perhaps have written, _--is become the bellows, and the fan_, To kindle and _to cool a gypsy's lust_. I.i.10 (110,3) gypsy's lust] Gypsy is here used both in the original meaning for an _Egyptian_, and in its accidental sense for a _bad woman_. 1.i.17 (110,6) Then must thou needs find out new heaven] Thou must set the boundary of my love at a greater distance than the present visible universe affords. 1.i.18 (110,7) The sum] Be brief, _sum_ thy business in a few words. I.i.33 (111,8) and the wide arch/Of the rang'd empire fall!] [Taken from the Roman custom of raising triumphal arches to perpetuate their victories. Extremely noble. WARBURTON.] I am in doubt whether Shakespeare had any idea but of a fabrick standing on pillars. The later editions have all printed the _raised_ empire, for the _ranged_ empire, as it was first given, (see 1765, VII, 107, 8) I.i.42 (112,1) Antony Will be himself. _Ant._ But stirr'd by Cleopatra] _But_, in this passage, seems to have the old Saxon signification of _without, unless, except. Antony_, says the queen, _will recollect his thoughts_. Unless _kept_, he replies, _in commotion by Cleopatra_. (see 1765, VII, 108,1) I.ii.5 (113,2) change his horns with garlands] [W: charge] Sir Thomas Hanmer reads, not improbably, _change_ for _horns_ his _garlands_. I am in doubt, whether to _change_ is not merely to _dress_, or _to dress with changes of_ garlands. I.ii.23 (114,3) I had rather heat my liver] To know why the lady is so averse from _heating_ her _liver_, it must be remembered, that a heated liver is supposed to make a pimpled face. I.ii.35 (114,5) Then, belike, my children shall have no names] If I have already had the best of my fortune, then I suppose _I shall never name children_, that is, I am never to be married. However, tell me the truth, tell me, _how many boys and wenches_? 1.ii.38 (114,6) If every of your wishes had a womb, and foretel every wish, a million] [W: fertil ev'ry] For _foretel_, in ancient editions, the latter copies have _foretold_. _Foretel_ favours the emendation, which is made with great acuteness; yet the original reading may, I think, stand. _If you had as many wombs as you will have wishes; and_ I should _foretel all those wishes, I should foretel a million of children._ It is an ellipsis very frequent in conversation; _I should shame you, and tell all_; that is, _and if I should_ tell all. _And_ is for _and if_, which was anciently, and is still provincially, used for _if_. I.ii.105 (117,8) extended Asia] To _extend_, is a term used for to _seize_; I know not whether that be not the sense here. I.ii.113 (118,9) Oh, when we bring forth weeds,/When our quick winds lie still] The sense is, that man, not agitated by censure, like soil not ventilated by _quick winds_, produces more evil than good. I.ii.128 (118,1) the present pleasure, By revolution lowring, does become The opposite of itself] [The allusion is to the sun's diurnal course; which rising in the _east_, and _by revolution lowering_, or setting in the _west_, becomes _the opposite of itself_. WARB.] This is an obscure passage. The explanation which Dr. Warburton has offered is such, that I can add nothing to it; yet perhaps Shakespeare, who was less learned than his commentator, meant only, that our pleasures, as they are _revolved_ in the mind, turn to pain. I.ii.146 (119,3) upon far poorer moment] For less reason; upon meaner motives. I.ii.169 (120,4) It shews to man the tailors of the earth; comforting therein] I have printed this after the original, which, though harsh and obscure, I know not how to amend. Sir Tho. Hanmer reads, They shew _to man the tailors of the earth comforting_ him therein. I think the passage, with somewhat less alteration, for alteration is always dangerous, may stand thus; _It shews to_ men _the tailors of the earth, comforting_ them, &c. I.ii.187 (121,6) more urgent touches] Things that touch me more sensibly, more pressing motives. I.ii.190 (121,7) Petition us at home] Wish us at home; call for us to reside at home. I.ii.201 (121,9) Say, our pleasure To such whose places under us, requires Our quick remove from hence] This is hardly sense. I believe we should read, Their _quick remove from hence_. Tell our design of going away to those, who being by their places obliged to attend us, must remove in haste. I.iii.3 (122,1) I did not send you] You must go as if you came without my order or knowledge. I.iii.37 (123,2) a race of heaven] [i.e. had a smack or flavour of heaven. WARB.] This word is well explained by Dr. Warburton; the _race_ of wine is the taste of the woil. Sir T. Hanmer, not understanding the word, reads, _ray_. I.iii.44 (124,3) Remains in use] The poet seems to allude to the legal distinction between the _use_ and _absolute possession_. I.iii.54 (124,4) should safe my going] [T: salve] Mr. Upton reads, I think rightly, --_safe_ my going. I.iii.62 (125,5) O most false love! Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill With sorrowful water?] Alluding to the lachrymatory vials, or bottles of tears, which the Romans sometimes put into the urn of a friend. I.iii.77 (125,6) the tears/Belong to Egypt] To me, the queen of Egypt. I.iii.90 (126,7) Oh, ny oblivion is a very Antony,/And I am all forgotten] [The plain meaning is, _My forgetfulness makes me forget myself_. WARBURTON.] [Hanmer explained "all forgotten" as "apt to forget everything"] I cannot understand the learned critic's explanation. It appears to me, that she should rather have said, _O my_ remembrance _is a very_ Antony, _And I am all forgotten._ It was her memory, not her oblivion, that, like Antony, vas forgetting and deserting her. I think a slight change will restore the passage. The queen, having something to say, which she is not able, or would not seem able to recollect, cries out, _O my oblivion_!--'Tis _a very Antony_. The thought of which I was in quest is a very Antony, is treacherous and fugitive, and has irrevocably left me, _And I am all forgotten._ If this reading stand, I think the explanation of Hanmer must be received, (see 1765, VII, 122, 6) I.iv.3 (127,9) One great competitor] Perhaps, _Our_ great competitor. I.iv.12 (128,1) as the spots of heaven,/More fiery by night's blackness] If by spots are meant stars, as night has no other fiery spots, the comparison is forced and harsh, stars having been always supposed to beautify the night; nor do I comprehend what there is in the counter-part of this simile, which answers to night's blackness. Hanmer reads, --_spots_ on ermine Or fires, _by night's blackness_. I.iv.14 (128,2) purchas'd] Procured by his own fault or endeavour. I.iv.21 (128,3) say, this becomes him, (As his composure must be rare, indeed, Whom these things cannot blemish] This seems inconsequent. I read _And his composure_, &c. _Grant that this becomes him_, and _if it can become him, he must have in him something very uncommon_; yet, _&c._ I.iv.25 (128,4) So great weight in his lightness] The word _light_ it one of Shakespeare's favourite play-things. The sense is, His trifling levity throws so much burden upon us. I.iv.25 (129,5) If he fill'd His vacancy with his voluptuousness, Full surfeits, and the dryness of his bones, Call on him for't] _Call on him_, is, _visit him_. Says Caesar, _If Antony followed his debaucheries at a time of leisure, I should leave him to be punished by their natural consequences, by_ surfeits _and_ dry bones. I.iv.31 (129,6) boys; who being mature in knowledge] For this Hanmer, who thought the _maturity_ of a _boy_ an inconsistent idea, has put, --_who_, immature _in knowledge_, but the words _experience_ and _judgment_ require that we read _mature_; though Dr. Warburton has received the emendation. By _boys mature in knowledge_, are meant, _boys old enough to know their duty_. I.iv.38 (129,7) he is belov'd of these/That only have fear'd Caesar] Those whom not _love_ but _fear_ made adherents to Caesar, now shew their affection for Pompey. I.iv.49 (130,2) which they ear] To _ear_, is to _plow_; a common metaphor. I.iv.52 (130,3) Lack blood to think on't] Turn pale at the thought of it. I.v.4 (132,5) mandragora] A plant of which the infusion was supposed to procure sleep. Shakespeare mentions it in _Othello_: _Not poppy, nor_ mandragora, _Can ever med'cine thee to that sweet sleep_. I.v.38 (133,8) that great medicine hath/With his tinct gilded thee] Alluding to the philosopher's stone, which, by its touch, converts base metal into gold. The alchemists call the matter, whatever it be, by which they perform transmutation, a _medicine_. I.v.48 (134,9) arm-gaunt steed] [i.e. his steed worn lean and thin by much service in war. So Fairfax, _His_ stall-worn _steed the champion stout bestrode_. WARB.] On this note Mr. Edwards has been very lavish of his pleasantry, and indeed has justly censured the misquotation of _stall-worn_, for _stall-worth_, which means _strong_, but makes no attempt to explain the word in the play. Mr. Seyward, in his preface to Beaumont, has very elaborately endeavoured to prove, that an _arm-gaunt_ steed is a steed with _lean shoulders_. _Arm_ is the Teutonick word for _want_, or _poverty_. _Arm-gaunt_ may be therefore an old word, signifying, _lean_ for _want_, ill fed. Edwards's observation, that a worn-out horse is not proper for Atlas to mount in battle, is impertinent; the horse here mentioned seems to be a post horse, rather than a war horse. Yet as _arm-gaunt_ seems not intended to imply any defect, it perhaps means, a horse so slender that a man might clasp him, and therefore formed for expedition. Hanmer reads, --_arm-girt steed_. I.v.50 (134,1) Was beastly dumb by him] Mr. Theobald reads _dumb'd_, put to silence. _Alexas means_, (says he) _the horse made such a neighing, that if he had spoke he could not have been heard_. I.v.76 (136,3) Get me ink and paper: he shall have every day/ A several greeting, or I'll unpeople Aegypt] By sending out messengers. II.i (136,4) _Enter Pompey_, _Menecrates_, _and Menas_] The persons are so named in the first edition; but I know not why Menecrates appears; Menas can do all without him. II.i.4 (136,5) While we are suitors to their throne, decays/The thing we sue for] [W: delays] It is not always prudent to be too hasty in exclamation; the reading which Dr. Warburton rejects as _nonsense_, is in my opinion right; if _delay_ be what they sue for, they have it, and the consolation offered becomes superfluous. The meaning is, _While we are praying_, _the thing for which we pray_ is losing its value. II.i.38 (138,8) The ne'er-lust-wearied Antony] [Theobald emended "near lust-wearied" to "ne'er-lust-wearied"] Could it be imagined, after this swelling exultation, that the first edition stands literally thus, _The_ neere _lust wearied Antony_. II.i.45 (139,9) square] That is, quarrel. II.i.51 (139,1) Our lives upon] This play is not divided into acts by the authour or first editors, and therefore the present division may be altered at pleasure. I think the first act may be commodiously continued to this place, and the second act opened with the interview of the chief persons, and a change of the state of action. Yet it must be confessed, that it is of small importance, where these unconnected and desultory scenes are interrupted. II.ii.7 (140,2) Were I the wearer of Antonius' beard,/I would not shav't to-day] I believe he means, _I would meet him undressed_, _without shew of respect_. II.ii.25 (141,3) Nor curstness grow to the matter] Let not _ill-humour_ be added to the real _subject_ of our difference. II.ii.28 (141,4) _Caes_. Sit./_Ant_. Sit, sir!] [Antony appears to be jealous of a circumstance which seemed to indicate a consciousness of superiority in his too successful partner in power; and accordingly resents the invitation of Caesar to be seated: Caesar answers, _Nay then_--i.e. _if you are so ready to resent what I meant an act of civility, there can be no reason to suppose you have temper enough for the business on which at present we are met_. STEEVENS.] The following circumstance may serve to strengthen Mr. Steevens's opinion: When the fictitious Sebastian made his appearance in Europe, he came to a conference with the Conde de Lemos; to whom, after the firat exchange of civilities, he said, _Conde de Lemos, be covered_. And being asked by that nobleman, by what pretences he laid claim to the superiority expressed by such permission, he replied, I do it by right of my birth; I am Sebastian. (1773) II.ii.43 (142,5) their contestation/Was theam for you, you were the word of war] [W: theam'd] I am neither satisfied with the reading nor the emendation; _theam'd_ is, I think, a word unauthorised, and very harsh. Perhaps we may read, --_their contestation_ Had _theme_ from _you_, _you were the word o' th' war_. _The dispute derived its subject from you_. It may be corrected by mere transposition, --_their contestation_ You were theme for, _you were the word_. II.ii.51 (143,8) Having alike your cause?] The meaning seems to be, _having the same cause as you to be offended with me_. But why, because he was offended with Antony, should he make war upon Caesar? May it not be read thus, --_Did he not rather Discredit my authority with yours, And make the wars alike against my stomach_, Hating _alike_ our _cause_? II.ii.53 (143,9) As matter whole you have not to make it with] The original copy reads, _As matter whole you_ have _to make it with_. Without doubt erroneously; I therefore only observe it, that the reader may more readily admit the liberties which the editors of this authour's works have necessarily taken. II.ii.61 (144,1) fronted] i.e. _opposed_. II.ii.85 (145,4) The honour's sacred which he talks on now,/Supposing that I lack'd it] [_Sacred_, for unbroken, unviolated. WARB.] Dr. Warburton seems to understand this passage thus; _The honour which he_ talks _of me as_ lacking, _is_ unviolated, _I never lacked it_. This may perhaps be the true meaning, but before I read the note, I understood it thus: Lepidus interrupts Caesar, on the supposition that what he is about to say will be too harsh to be endured by Antony; to which Antony replies, _No, Lepidus, let him speak, the security of_ honour on which he now speaks, _on which this conference is held now_, is sacred, _even_ supposing that I lacked _honour_ before. II.ii.112 (146,5) your considerate stone] This line is passed by all the editors, as if they understood it, and believed it universally, intelligible. I cannot find in it any very obvious, and hardly any possible meaning. I would therefore read, _Go to then_, you _considerate_ ones. You, who dislike my frankness and temerity of speech, and are so _considerate_ and discreet, _go to_, do your on business. II.ii.113 (146,6) I do not much dislike the matter, but/The manner of his speech] I do not, says Caesar, think the man wrong, but too free of him interposition; _for't cannot be, we shall remain in friendship: yet if it were possible, I would endeavour it_. II.ii.123 (147,7) your reproof/Were well deserv'd] In the old edition, --_your_ proof _Were well deserv'd_-- Which Mr. Theobald, with his usual triumph, changes to _approof_, which he explains, _allowance_. Dr. Warburton inserted _reproof_ very properly into Hanmer's edition, but forgot it in his own. II.ii.159 (148,8) Lest my remembrance suffer ill report] Lest I be thought too willing to forget benefits, I must barely return him thanks, and then I will defy him. II.ii.210 (150,1) And what they undid, did] It might be read less harshly, _And what they did_, undid. II.ii.212 (150,2) tended her i' the eyes] Perhaps _tended her_ by th' _eyes_, discovered her will by her eyes. II.iii.21 (153,6) thy angel/Becomes a Fear] Mr.Uptan reads, _Becomes_ afear'd,-- The common reading is more poetical. II.iii.37 (154,7) his quails ever/Beat mine] The ancients used to match quails as we match cocks. II.iii.38 (154,8) inhoop'd, at odds] Thus the old copy. _Inhoop'd_ is _inclosed, confined_, that they may fight. The modern editions read, _Beat mine_, in whoop'd-_at odds_.-- II.v.1 (155,9) musick, moody food] [The _mood_ is the _mind_, or _mental disposition_. Van Haaren's panegyrick on the English begins, _Groot-moedig Volk, great-minded nation_.] Perhaps here is a poor jest intended between _mood_ the _mind_ and _moods_ of musick. II.v.41 (l57,4) Not like a formal man] [_Formal_, for ordinary. WARB.] Rather decent, regular. II.v.103 (161,8) Thou art not what thou'rt sure of!] For this, which is not easily understood, Sir Thomas Hanmer has given, _That_ say'st but _what thou'rt sure of!_ I am not satisfied with the change, which, though it affords sense, exhibits little spirit. I fancy the line consists only of abrupt starts. _Oh that his fault should make a knave of thee_, That art--not what?--Thou'rt sure on't.--Get thee hence. _That his fault should make a knave of thee that art_--but what _shall I say thou art not_? Thou art then sure of _this marriage._--Get thee hence. Dr. Warburton has received Sir T. Hanmer's emendation. II.v.115 (161,9) Let him for ever go] She is now talking in broken sentences, not of the messenger, but Antony. II.vi.24 (163,2) Thou canst not fear us] Thou canst not affright us with thy numerous navy. II.vi.28 (163,3) But since the cuckow builds not for himself] Since, like the cuckow, that seizes the nests of other birds, you have invaded a house which you could not build, keep it while you can. II.vii.1 (167,6) some o' their plants] _Plants_, besides its common meaning, is here used for the _foot_, from the Latin. II.vii.14 (167,9) a partizan] A pike. II.vii.16 (167,1) To be call'd into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster the cheeks] This speech seems to be mutilated; to supply the deficiencies is impossible, but perhaps the sense was originally approaching to this. _To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in it_, is a very ignominious state; great offices _are the holes where eyes should be, which_, if eyes be wanting, _pitifully disaster the cheeks_. II.vii.88 (170,2) thy pall'd fortunes] _Palled_, is vapid, past its time of excellence; _palled_ wine, is wine that has lost its original spriteliness. II.vii.102 (171,3) Strike the vessels] Try whether the casks sound as empty. II.vii.116 (171,4) The holding every man shall bear] Every man shall accompany the chorus by drumming on his sides, in token of concurrence and applause. [Theobald had emended "beat" to "bear"] (1773) III.i.1 (173,6) Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck] _Struck_ alludes to darting. Thou whose darts have so often struck others, art struck now thyself. (1773) III.ii.12 (175,8) Arabian bird!] The phoenix. III.ii.16 (176,9) Ho! hearts, tongues, figure, scribes, bards, poets, cannot Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number, ho!] Not only the tautology of _bards_ and _poets_, but the want of a correspondent action for the _poet_, whose business in the next line is only to _number_, makes me suspect some fault in this passage, which I know not how to mend. III.ii.26 (176,1) as my furthest bond] As I will venture the greatest pledge of security, on the trial of thy conduct. III.ii.40 (177,1) The elements be kind to thee, and make/Thy spirits all of comfort!] This is obscure. It seems to mean, _May the different_ elements _of the body, or principles of life, maintain such proportion and harmony as may keep you cheerful_. III.iv.26 (182,7) I'll raise the preparation of a war/Shall stain your brother] [T: strain] I do not see but _stain_ may be allowed to remain unaltered, meaning no more than _shame_ or _disgrace_. III.iv.30 (182,8) Wars 'twixt you 'twain would be/As if the world should cleave] The sense is, that war between Caesar and Antony would engage the world between them, and that the slaughter would be great in so extensive a commotion. III.v.8 (183,9) rivality] Equal rank. III.v.11 (183,1) Upon his own appeal] To _appeal_, in Shakespeare, is to _accuse_; Caesar seized Lepidus without any other proof than Caesar's accusation. III.v.21 (184,3) More, Domitius] I have something _more_ to tell you, which I might have told at first, and delayed my news. Antony requires your presence. III.vi.9 (184,4) made her/Of Lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia./Absolute queen] For _Lydia_, Mr. Upton, from Plutarch, has restored _Lybia_. III.vi.68-75 (187,6) Mr. Upton remarks, that there are some errours in this enumeration of the auxiliary kings; but it is probable that the authour did not much wish to be accurate. III.vi.95 (188,7) And gives his potent regiment to a trull] _Regiment_, is _government, authority_; he puts his _power_ and his empire into the hands of a false woman. It may be observed, that _trull_ was not, in our author's time, a term of mere infamy, but a word of slight contempt, as _wench_ is now. III.vii.3 (188,8) forespoke my being] To _forespeak_, is to _contradict_, to _speak against_, as _forbid_ is to order negatively. III.vii.68 (191,1) By Hercules, I think, I am i' the right. Can. Soldier, thou art: but his whole action grows Not in the power on't] That is, his whole conduct becomes, ungoverned by the right, or by reason. III.vii.77 (191,2) distractions] Detachments; separate bodies. III.x.6 (193,4) The greater cantle] [A piece or lump. POPE.] _Cantle_ is rather a _corner_. Caesar in this play mentions the _three-nook'd world_. Of this triangular world every triumvir had a corner. (see 1765, VII, 185, 6) III.x.9 (193,5) token'd pestilence] Spotted. III.x.10 (193,6) Yon' ribauld nag of Aegypt] The word is in the old edition _ribaudred_, which I do not understand, but mention it, in hopes others may raise some happy conjecture. [Tyrwhitt: hag] The brieze, or oestrum, the fly that stings cattle, proves that _nag_ is the right word. (1773) III.x.11 (193,7) Whom leprosy o'ertake!] _Leprosy_, an epidemical distemper of the Aegyptians; to which Horace probably alludes in the controverted line. _Contaminato cum grege turpium Morbo virorum._ III.x.36 (195,1) The wounded chance of Antony] I know not whether the author, who loves to draw his images from the sports of the field, might not have written, _The wounded_ chase _of Antony_,-- The allusion is to a deer wounded and chased, whom all other deer avoid. _I will_, says Enobarbus, _follow Antony_, though _chased_ and _wounded_. The common reading, however, may very well stand. III.xi.3 (195,2) so lated in the world] Alluding to a benighted traveller. III.xi.23 (196,3) I have lost command] I am not master of my own emotions. III.xi.35 (196,4) He at Philippi kept/His sword e'en like a dancer] In the Moriaco, and perhaps anciently in the Pyrrhick dance, the dancers held swords in their hands with the points upward. III.xi.39 (196,6) he alone/Dealt on lieutenantry] I know not whether the meaning is, that Caesar acted only as lieutenant at Philippi, or that he made his attempts only on lieutenants, and left the generals to Antony. III.xi.47 (197,7) death will seize her; but/Your comfort] _But_ has here, as once before in this play, the force of _except_, or _unless_. III.ii.52 (197,8) How I convey my shame] How, by looking another way, I withdraw my ignominy from your sight. III.ii.57 (197,9) ty'd by the strings] That is by the _heart string_. III.xii.18 (199,1) The circle of the Ptolemies] The diadem; the ensign of royalty. III.xii.34 (199,2) how Antony becomes his flaw] That is, how Antony conforms himself to this breach of his fortune. III.xiii.1 (200,3) Think, and die] [Hanmer: Drink] This reading, offered by sir T. Hanmer, is received by Dr. Warburton and Mr. Upton, but I have not advanced it into the page, not being convinced that it is necessary. _Think, and die_; that is, _Reflect on your folly, and leave the world_, is a natural answer. III.xiii.9 (201,4) he being/The meered question] The _meered_ question is a term I do not understand. I know not what to offer, except, _The_ mooted _question_.-- That is, the _disputed_ point, the subject of debate. _Mere_ is indeed a _boundary_, and the _meered question_, if it can mean any thing, may, with some violence of language, mean, the _disputed boundary_. III.xiii.25 (202, 5) I dare him therefore To lay his gay comparisons apart And answer me declin'd] I require of Caesar not to depend on that superiority which the _comparison_ of our different fortunes may exhibit to him, but to answer me man to man, in this decline of my age or power. III.xiii.42 (202,6) The loyalty, well held to fools, does make/Our faith meer folly] [T: Though loyalty, well held] I have preserved the old reading: Enobarbus is deliberating upon desertion, and finding it is more prudent to forsake a fool, and more reputable to be faithful to him, makes no positive conclusion. Sir T. Hanmer follows Theobald; Dr. Warburton retains the old reading. III.xiii.77 (204,9) Tell him, from his all-obeying breath I hear/The doom of Aegypt] _Doom_ is declared rather by an _all-commanding_, than an _all-obeying breath_. I suppose we ought to read, --_all_-obeyed breath. III.xiii.81 (205,1) Give me grace] Grant me the favour. III.xiii.109 (206,3) By one that looks on feeders?] One that waits at the table while others are eating. III.xiii.128 (207,4) The horned herd] It is not without pity and indignation that the reader of this great poet meets so often with this low jest, which is too much a favourite to be left out of either mirth or fury. III.xiii.151 (208,5) to quit me] To repay me this insult; to _requite_ me. III.xiii.180 (209,9) Were nice and lucky] [_Nice_, for delicate, courtly, flowing in peace. WARBURTON.] _Nice_ rather seems to be, _just fit for my purpose, agreeable to my wish_. So we vulgarly say of any thing that is done better than was expected, it is _nice_. IV.i.5 (210,1) I have many other ways to die] [Upton: He hath.../I laugh] I think this emendation deserves to be received. It had, before Mr. Upton's book appeared, been made by sir T. Hanmer. IV.i.9 (211,2) Make boot of] Take advantage of. IV.ii.8 (212,3) _take all_] Let the survivor take all. No composition, victory or death. IV.ii.14 (212,4) one of those odd tricks] I know not what obscurity the editors find in this passage. _Trick_ is here used in the sense in which it is uttered every day by every mouth, elegant and vulgar: yet sir T. Hanmer changes it to _freaks_, and Dr. Warburton, in his rage of Gallicism, to _traits_. IV.ii.26 (213,5) Haply, you shall not see me more; or if,/A mangled shadow] _Or if_ you see me more, you will see me _a mangled shadow_, only the external form of what I was. IV.ii.35 (213,6) onion-ey'd] I have my eyes as full of tears as if they had been fretted by onions. IV.iv.3 (215,8) Come, good fellow, put thine iron on] I think it should be rather, --mine _iron_-- IV.iv.5 (215,9) Nay, I'll help too] These three little speeches, which in the other editions are only one, and given to Cleopatra, were happily disentangled by sir T. Hanmer. IV.iv.10 (215,1) Briefly, sir] That is, _quickly_, sir. IV.v.17 (218,3) Dispatch. Enobarbus!] Thus [_Dispatch, my Eros_] the modern editors. The old edition reads, --_Dispatch Enobarbus_. Perhaps, it should be, --_Dispatch! To Enobarbus!_ (see 1765, VII, 208, 3) IV.vi.12 (219,6) persuade] The old copy has _dissuade_, perhaps rightly. IV.vi.34 (219,7) This blows my heart] All the latter editions have, --_This_ bows _my heart_; I have given the original word again the place from which I think it unjustly excluded. _This generosity_, (says Enobarbus) swells _my heart_, so that it will quickly break, _if thought break it not, a swifter mean_. IV.vii.2 (220,8) and our oppression] Sir T. Hanmer has received _opposition_. Perhaps rightly. IV.viii.1 (221,9) run one before,/And let the queen know of our guests] [W: gests] This passage needs neither correction nor explanation. Antony after his success intends to bring his officers to sup with Cleopatra, and orders notice to be given her of their _guests_. IV.viii.12 (222,1) To this great fairy] Mr. Upton has well observed, that _fairy_; which Dr. Warburton and sir T. Hanmer explain by _Inchantress_, comprises the idea of power and beauty. IV.viii.22 (222,2) get goal for goal of youth] At all plays of barriers, the boundary is called a _goal_; to _win a goal_, is to be superiour in a contest of activity. IV.viii.31 (223,4) Bear our hack'd targets like the men that owe them] i.e. hack'd as much as the men are to whom they belong. WARB.] Why not rather, _Bear our hack'd targets_ with spirit and exaltation, such as becomes the brave warriors _that own them_? IV.ix.15 (224,5) Throw my heart Against the flint and hardness of my fault; Which, being dried with grief, will break to powder, And finish all foul thoughts] The pathetick of Shakespeare too often ends in the ridiculous. It is painful to find the gloomy dignity of this noble scene destroyed by the intrusion of a conceit so far-fetched and unaffecting. IV.xii.13 (226,1) Triple turn'd whore!] She was first for Antony, then was supposed by him to have _turned_ to Caesar, when he found his messenger kissing her hand, then she _turned_ again to Antony, and now has _turned_ to Caesar. Shall I mention what has dropped into my imagination, that our author might perhaps have written _triple-tongued_? _Double-tongued_ is a common term of reproach, which rage might improve to _triple-tongued_. But the present reading may stand. IV.xii.21 (227,2) That pannell'd me at heels] All the editions read, _That_ pannell'd _me at heels_,-- Sir T. Hanmer substituted _spaniel'd_ by an emendation, with which it was reasonable to expect that even rival commentators would be satisfied; yet Dr. Warburton proposes _pantler'd_, in a note, of which he is not injur'd by the suppression; and Mr. Upton having in his first edition proposed plausibly enough, _That_ paged _me at heels_,-- in the second edition retracts his alteration, and maintains _pannell'd_ to be the right reading, being a metaphor taken, he says, from a _pannel_ of wainscot. IV.xii.25 (227,3) this grave charm] I know not by what authority, nor for what reason, _this_ grave _charm_, which the first, the only original copy exhibits, has been through all the modern editors changed to _this_ gay _charm_. By _this_ grave _charm_, is meant, _this sublime, this majestic beauty_. IV.xii.29 (227,4) to the very heart of loss] To the utmost loss possible. IV.xii.45 (228,7) Let me lodge, Lichas] Sir T. Hanmer reads thus, --thy _rage_ Led thee _lodge Lichas_--and-- _Subdue_ thy _worthiest self_.-- This reading, harsh as it is, Dr. Warburton has received, after having rejected many better. The meaning is, Let me do something in my rage, becoming the successor of Hercules, IV.xiv.19 (230,2) Pack'd cards with Caesar, and false play'd my glory/Unto an enemy's triumph] [Warburton had explained and praised Shakespeare's "metaphor"] This explanation is very just, the thought did not deserve so good an annotation. IV.xiv.39 (231,3) The battery from my heart] I would read, This _battery from my heart_.-- IV.xiv.49 (232,4) Seal then, and all is done] I believe the reading is, --seel _then, and all is done_-- To _seel hawks_, is to close their eyes. The meaning will be, --_since the torch is out, Lie down, and stray no further. How all labour Marrs what it does_.--Seel _then, and all is done_. Close thine eyes _for ever, and be quiet_. IV.xiv.73 (233,5) pleach'd arms] Arms folded in each other. IV.xiv.77 (233,6) His baseness that ensued?] The poor conquered wretch that followed. IV.xiv.86 (233,7) the worship of the whole world] The _worship_, is the _dignity_, the _authority_. IV.xv.9 (237,9) O sun, Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in!--darkling stand The varying shore o' the world] She desires the sun, to _burn_ his own _orb_, the vehicle of light, and then the earth will be dark. IV.xv.19-23 (237,1) I here importune death] [Theobald had regularized the versification and had added two words] Mr. Theobald's emendation is received by the succeeding editors; but it seems not necessary that a dialogue so distressful should be nicely regular. I have therefore preserved the original reading in the text, and the emendation below. IV.xv.28 (238,2) still conclusion] Sedate determination; silent coolness of resolution. IV.xv.32 (236,3) Here's sport, indeed!] I suppose the meaning of these strange words is, _here's_ trifling, _you_ do not work _in earnest_. IV.xv.39 (239,4) Quicken with kissing] That is, _Revive by my kiss_. IV.xv.44 (239,6) That the false huswife Fortune break her wheel] This despicable line has occurred before. IV.xv.65 (240,8) The soldier's pole] He at whom the soldiers pointed, as at a pageant held high for observation. IV.xv.72 (240,9) _Char_. Peace, peace, Iras. _Cleo_. No more--but e'en a woman] [W: peace, Isis] Of this note it may be truly said, that it at least deserves to be right, nor can he, that shall question the justness of the emendation, refuse his esteem to the ingenuity and learning with which it is proposed. Hanmer had proposed another emendation, not injudiciously. He reads thus, Iras. _Royal Aegypt! empress!_ Cleo. _Peace, peace, Iras. No more but a mere woman_, &c. That is, _no more an empress, but a mere woman_. It is somewhat unfortunate that the words, _mere woman_, which so much strengthen the opposition to either _empress_ or _Isis_, are not in the original edition, which stands thus, _No more but_ in a _woman_. _Mere woman_ was probably the arbitrary reading of Rowe. I suppose, however, that we muy justly change the ancient copy thus, _No more, but_ e'en a _woman_. which will enough accommodate either of the editors. I am inclined to think that she speaks abruptly, not answering her woman, but discoursing with her own thoughts, _No more--but_ e'en a _woman_. _I have_ no more _of my wonted greatness_, but am even a woman, _on the level with other women; were I what I once was_. --It were for me To throw my scepter, _&c_. If this simple explanation be admitted, how much labour has been thrown away. _Peace, peace, Iras_, is said by Charmian, when she sees the queen recovering, and thinks speech troublesome. V.i.15 (244,4) The round world/Should have shook lions into civil streets] I think here is a line lost, after which it is in vain to go in quest. The sense seems to have been this: _The round world should have shook_, and this great alteration of the system of things should send _lions into streets, and citizens into dens_. There is sense still, but it is harsh and violent. V.i.27 (244,5) but it is tidings/To wash the eyes of kings!] That is, May _the Gods rebuke me_, if this be not _tidings to make kings weep_. _But_, again, for _if not_. V.i.46 (245,7) that our stars,/Unreconciliable, should divide/Our equalness to this] That is, _should have made us_, in our equality of fortune, disagree _to_ a pitch like this, that one of us must die. V.i.52 (246,8) A poor Aegyptian yet; the queen my mistress] If this punctuation be right, the man means to say, that he is _yet an Aegyptian_, that is, _yet a servant of the queen of Aegypt_, though soon to become, a subject of Rome. V.i.65 (246,9) her life in Rome/Would be eternal in our triumph] Hanmer reads judiciously enough, but without necessity, _Would be_ eternalling _our triumph_. The sense is, _If she dies here, she will be forgotten, but if I send her_ in triumph at Rome, _her memory and my glory_ will be eternal. V.ii.3 (247,1) fortune's knave] The _servant_ of fortune. V.ii.4 (247,2) it is great To do that thing, that ends all other deeds; Which shackles accidents, and bolts up change; Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung, The beggar's nurse, and Caesar's] [Warburton added a whole line and emended "dung" to "dugg"] I cannot perceive the loss of a line, or the need of an emendation. The commentator seems to have entangled his own ideas; his supposition that _suicide_ is called _the beggar's nurse and Caesar's_, and his concession that the position is _intelligible_, show, I think, a mind not intent upon the business before it. The difficulty of the passage, if any difficulty there be, arises only from this, that the act of suicide, and the state which is the effect of suicide are confounded. Voluntary death, says she, is an act _which bolts up change_; it produces a state, _Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung, The beggar's nurse, and Caesar's_. Which has no longer need of the gross and terrene sustenance, in the use of which Caesar and the beggar are on a level. The speech is abrupt, but perturbation in such a state is surely natural. V.ii.29 (249,4) I am his fortune's vassal, and I send him/The greatness he has got] I allow him to be my conqueror; I own his superiority with complete submission. V.ii.34 (249,5) You see how easily she may be surpriz'd] This line in the first edition is given not to Charuian, but to Proculeius; and to him it certainly belongs, though perhaps misplaced. I would put it at the end of his foregoing speech, _Where he for grace is kneel'd to._ [Aside to Gallus.] _You see, how easily she may be surpriz'd._ Then while Cleopatra makes a formal answer, Gallus, upon the hint given, seizes her, and Proculeius, interrupting the civility of his answer, _--your plight is pity'd Of him that caus'd it._ Cries out, _Guard her till, Caesar come._ V.ii.40 (250,6) who are in this/Reliev'd, but not betray'd] [W: Bereav'd, but] I do not think the emendation necessary, since the sense is not made better by it, and the abruptness in Cleopatra's answer is more forcible in the old reading. V.ii.42 (250,7) rids our dogs of languish] For _languish_, I think we may read, _anguish_. V.ii.48 (251,8) Worth many babes and beggars] Why, death, wilt thou not rather seize a queen, than employ thy force upon _babes_ and _beggars_. (see 1765, VII, 238, 9) V.ii.50 (251,9) If idle talk will once be necessary] [This nonsense should be reformed thus, _If idle_ TIME _whill once be necessary._ i.e. if _repose_ be necessary to cherish life, I will not sleep. WARBURTON.] I do not see that the nonsense is made sense by the change. Sir T. Hanmer reads, _If idle talk will once be_ accessary; Neither is this better. I know not what to offer better than an easy explanation. That is, _I will not eat_, and _if it will be necessary now for once_ to waste a moment in _idle talk_ of my purpose, _I will not sleep neither_. In common conversation we often use _will be_, with as little relation to futurity. As, Now I am going, it _will be_ fit for me to dine first. V.ii.98 (254,2) yet to imagine An Antony, were Nature's piece 'gainst Fancy, Condemning shadows quite] [W: Nature's prize] In this passage I cannot discover any temptation to critical experiments. The word _piece_, is a term appropriated to works of art. Here Nature and Fancy produce each their _piece_, and the _piece_ done by Nature had the preference. Antony was in reality _past the size of dreaming_; he was more by _Nature_ than _Fancy_ could present in sleep. V.ii.121 (255,3) I cannot project mine own cause so well] [W: procter] Sir T. Hanmer reads, _I cannot_ parget _my own cause---_ meaning, I cannot _whitewash, varnish_, or _gloss_ my cause. I believe the present reading to be right. To _project a cause_ is to _represent_ a cause; to _project_ it _well_, is to _plan_ or _contrive_ a scheme of defense. V.ii.139 (256,4) "tis exactly valued, /Not petty things admitted] [T: omitted] Notwithstanding the wrath of Mr. Theobald, I have restored the old reading. She is angry afterwards, that she is accused of having reserved more than petty things. Dr. Warburton and sir T. Hanmer follow Theobald. V.ii.146 (257,5) seel my lips] Sew up my mouth. V.ii.163 (258,7) Parcel the sum of my disgraces by] _To parcel her disgraces_, might be expressed in vulgar language, _to bundle up her calamaties_. (see 1765, VII, 244, 8) V.ii.176 (259,8) _Cleo._ Be't known, that we, the greatest, are misthought for things that others do; and, when we fall, We answer others merits in our names; Are therefore to be pitied] I do not think that either of the criticks [Warburton and Hanmer] have reached the sense of the author, which may be very commodiously explained thus; We suffer at our highest state of elevation in the _thoughts of mankind for that which others do, and when we fall_, those that contented themselves only to think ill before, call us to _answer in our own names for the merits of others. We are therefore to be pitied. Merits_ is in this place taken in an ill sense, for actions _meriting_ censure. If any alteration be necessary, I should only propose, _Be 't known, that we_ at _greatest_, &c. V.ii.185 (259,1) Make not your thoughts your prisons] I once wished to read, _make not your thoughts your_ poison:-- Do not destroy yourself by musing on your misfortune. Yet I would change nothing, as the old reading presents a very proper sense. _Be not a prisoner in imagination, when in reality you are free._ V.ii.215 (261,2) scald rhimers] Sir T. Hanmer reads, --stall 'd _rhimers. Scald_ was a word of contempt, implying poverty, disease, and filth. V.ii.216 (261,3) quick comedians] The gay inventive players. V.ii.226 (261,5) Their most absurd intents] [T: assured] I have preserved the old reading. The design certainly appeared _absurd_ enough to Cleopatra, both as she thought it unreasonable in itself, and as she knew it would fail. V.ii.243 (263,7) the pretty worm of Nilus] _Worm_ is the Teutonick word for _serpent_; we have the _blind-worm_ and _slow-worm_ still in our language, and the Norwegians call an enormous monster, seen sometimes in the northern ocean, the _sea-worm_. V.ii.264 (263,9) the worm will do him kind] The serpent will act according to his nature. V.ii.305 (205,2) He'll make demand of her, and spend that kiss,/ Which is my heaven to have] He will enquire of her concerning me, and kiss her for giving him intelligence. V.ii.352 (267,5) something blown] The flesh is somewhat _puffed_ or _swoln_. (268) General Observation. This play keeps curiosity always busy, and the passions always interested. The continual hurry of the action, the variety of incidents, and the quick succession of one personage to another, call the mind forward without intermission from the first act to the last. But the power of delighting is derived principally from the frequent changes of the scene; for, except the feminine arts, some of which are too low, which distinguish Cleopatra, no character is very strongly discriminated. Upton, who did not easily miss what he desired to find, has discovered that the language of Antony is, with great skill and learning, made pompous and superb, according to his real practice. But I think his diction not distinguishable from that of others: the most tumid speech in the play is that which Caesar makes to Octavia. The events, of which the principal are described according to history, are produced without any art of connexion or care of disposition. TIMON OF ATHENS I.i.3 (271,3) _Poet_. Ay, that's well known: But what particular rarity! what strange, Which manifold record not matches? See, Magick of bounty!] The learned commentator's [Warburton's] note must shift for itself. I cannot but think that this passage is at present in confusion. The poet asks a question, and stays not for an answer, nor has his question any apparent drift or consequence. I would range the passage thus: Poet. _Ay, that's well known. Bat what particular rarity? what so strange, That manifold record not matches?_ Pain. _See!_ Poet. _Magick of--bounty, &c._ It may not be improperly observed here, that as there is only one copy of this play, no help can be had from collation, and more liberty must be allowed to conjecture. I.i.10 (272,4) breath'd as it were/To an untirable and continuate goodness] _Breathed_ is _inured by constant practice; so trained as not to be wearied. To _breathe_ a horse, is to exercise him for the course. I.i.20 (273,8) _Poet_. A thing slipt idly from me. Our poesy is as a gum, which oozes From whence 'tis nourished. The fire i' the flint Shews not, 'till it be struck: our gentle flame Provokes itself, and, like the current flies Each bound it chafes. What have you there!] This speech of the poet is very obscure. He seems to boast the copiousness and facility of his vein, by declaring that verses drop from a poet as gums from odoriferous trees, and that his flame kindles itself without the violence necessary to elicit sparkles from the flint. What follows next? that it, _like a current, flies each bound it chafes_. This may mean, that it expands itself notwithstanding all obstructions: but the images in the comparison are so ill-sorted, and the effect so obscurely expressed, that I cannot but think something omitted that connected the last sentence with the former. It is well knovn that the players often shorten speeches to quicken the representation; and it may be suspected, that they sometimes performed their amputations with more haste than judgment, (see 1765, VI, 169, 6) I.i.27 (274,9) _Poet_. Upon the heels of my presentment, sir.] As soon as my book has been presented to lord Timon. I.i.29 (274,1) This comes off weil and excellent] [By this we are to understand what the painters call the _goings off_ of a picture, which requires the nicest execution. WARBURTON.] The note I understand less than the text. The meaning is, This figure rises weil from the canvas. _C'est bien relevè._ I.i.37 (275,3) artificial strife] _Strife_ is either the contest or act with nature. _Hic ille est_ Raphael, _timuit, quo aospite vinci Rerum magna parens, & moriente, mori_. Or it is the contrast of forms or opposition of colours. I.i.43 (275,4) this confluence, this great flood of visitors] _Mane salutantúm totis vomit aedibus undam_. I.1.46 (275,5) Halts not particularly] My design does not stop at any single characters. I.1.47 (276,7) no levell'd malice Infects one comma in the course I hold; But flies an eagle-flight, bold, and forth on, Leaving no tract behind] To _level_ is to _aim_, to point the shot at a mark. Shakespeare's meaning is, my poem is not a satire written with any particular view, or _levelled_ at any single person; I fly like an eagle into the general expanse of life, and leave not, by any private mischief, the trace of my passage. I.i.51 (276,8) I'll unbolt] I'll open, I'll explain. I.i.53 (276,9) glib and slippery creatures] Hanmer, and Warburton after him, read, _natures_. _Slippery_ is _smooth_, unresisting. I.i.58 (276,1) glass-fac'd flatterer] That shows in his own look, as by reflection, the looks of his patron. I.i.65 (277,3) rank'd with all deserts] _Cover'd with ranks_ of all kinds of men. I.i.67 (277,4) To propagate their states] To advance or improve their various conditions of life. I.i.72 (277,5) conceiv'd to scope] Properly imagined, appositely, to the purpose. I.i.82 (278,8) through him/Drink the free air] That is, catch his breath in affected fondness. I.i.90 (278,9) A thousand moral paintings I can shew] Shakespeare seems to intend in this dialogue to express some competition between the two great arts of imitation. Whatever the poet declares himself to have shewn, the painter thinks he could have shewn better. (1773) I.i.107 (279,1) 'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,/But to support him after] This thought is better expressed by Dr. Madden in his elegy on archbishop Boulter. --_He thought it mean Only to help the poor to beg again._ I.i.129 (280,2) Therefore he will be, Timon] I rather think an emendation necessary, and read, _Therefore_ well be him, _Timon. His honesty rewards him in itself._ That is, _If he in honest_, bene fit illi, _I wish him the proper happiness of an honest man, but his honesty gives him no claim to my daughter_. The first transcriber probably wrote _will be him_, which the next, not understanding, changed to, _he will be_. (1773) I.i.149 (281,3) never may That state, or fortune, fall into my keeping, Which is not ow'd to you!] The meaning is, let me never henceforth consider any thing that I possess, but as _owed_ or _due_ to you; held for your service, and at your disposal. I.i.159 (281,4) pencil'd figures are/Even such as they give out] Pictures have no hypocrisy; they are what they profess to be. I.i.165 (282,5) unclew me quite] To _unclew_, is to _unwind_ a ball of thread. To _unclew_ a man, is to draw out the whole mass of his fortunes. I.i.171 (282,5) Are prized by their masters] Are rated according to the, esteem in which their possessor is held. I.i.178 (282,8) _Tim._ Good-morrow to thee, gentle Apemantua! _Apam._ 'Till I be gentle, stay for thy good-morrow. When thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves honest,--] [Warburton conjectured a line lost and added one of his own making] I think my punctuation may clear the passage without any greater effort. I.i.180 (283,9) Then thou art Timon's dog] When thou hast gotten a better character, and instead of being Timon, as thou art, shalt be changed to Timon's dog, and become more worth; of kindness and salutation. (1773) I.i.241 (284,9) That I had no angry wit to be a lord] [W: so hungry a wit] The meaning may be, I should hate myself for _patiently enduring to be a lord_. This is ill enough expressed. Perhaps some happy change may set it right. I have tried, and can do nothing, yet I cannot heartily concur with Dr. Warburton. I.i.259 (286,2) The strain of man's bred out/Into baboon and monkey] Man is exhausted and degenerated; his _strain_ or lineage is worn down into monkey. I.ii.12 (288,5) If our betters play at that game, we must not dare To imitate them. Faults that are rich, are fair] [Warburton gave the second line to Apemantus] I cannot see that these lines are more proper in any other mouth than Timon's, to whose character of generosity and condescension they are very suitable. To suppose that by _our betters_ are meant the Gods, is very harsh, because to imitate the Gods has been hitherto reckoned the highest pitch of human virtue. The whole is a trite and obvious thought, uttered by Timon with a kind of affected modesty. If I would make any alteration, it should be only to reform the numbers thus: _Our betters play that game; we must not dare T' imitate then; faults that are rich are fair._ I.ii.34 (289,6) thou art an Athenian,/Therefore welcome: I myself would have no power] If this be the true reading, the sense is, _all Athenians are welcome to share my fortune_; I would myself have no _exclusive right or power in this house_. Perhaps we might read, _I myself would have no_ poor. I would have every Athenian consider himself as joint possessor of my fortune. I.ii.38 (289,7) I scorn thy meat, 'twould choke me, for I should/ Ne'er flatter thee] [W: 'fore/I should e'er] Of this emendation there is little need. The meaning is, I could not swallow thy meat, for I could not pay for it with flattery; and what was given me with an ill will would stick in my throat. I.ii.41 (290,8) so many dip their meat/In one man's blood] The allusion is to a pack of hounds trained to pursuit by being gratified with the blood of the animal which they kill, and the wonder is that the animal on which they are feeding _cheers them_ to the chase. I.ii.52 (290,9) wind-pipe's dangerous notes] The notes of the windpipe seem to be the only indications which shew where the windpipe is. (see 1765, VI, 184, 4) I.ii.54 (290,1) My lord, in heart] That is, _my lord's health with sincerity_. An emendation hat been proposed thus: _My_ love _in heart_;-- but it is not necessary. I.ii.89 (292,2) we should think ourselves for ever perfect] That is, arrived at the perfection of happiness. I.ii.94 (292,4) did not you chiefly belong to my heart?] I think it should be inverted thus: _did I not chiefly belong to_ your hearts. Lacius wishes that Timon would give him and the rest an opportunity _of expressing some part of their zeals_. Timon answers that, _doubtless the Gods have provided that I should have help from you; how else are you my friends_? why are you stiled my friends, if--what? _if I do not love you_. Such is the present reading; but the consequence is not very clear; the proper close must be, _if you do not love me_, and to this my alteration restores it. But, perhaps, the old reading may stand. [The _Revisal_'s note on this line is quoted.] The meaning is probably this. Why are you distinguished from thousands by that title of endearment, was there not a particular connection and intercourse of tenderness between you and me. (see 1765, VI, 185, 8) I.ii.97 (293,5) I confirm you] I fix your characters firmly in my own mind. I.ii.99 (293,7) O joy, e'en made away, ere it can be born!] For this Hanmer writes, _O joy, e'en made a joy ere't can be born_; and is followed by Dr. Warburton. I am always inclinable to think well of that which is approved by so much learning and sagacity, yet cannot receive this alteration. Tears being the effect both of joy and grief, supplied our author with an opportunity of conceit, which he seldom fails to indulge. Timon, weeping with a kind of tender pleasure, cries out, _O joy, e'en made away_, destroyed, turned to tears, before _it can be born_, before it can be fully possessed. I.ii.110 (293,8) Mine eyes cannot hold water, methinks: to forget their faults, I drink to you] In the original edition the words stand thus: _mine eyes cannot hold out water, methinks. To forget their faults, I drink to you_. Perhaps the true reading is this, _Mine eyes cannot hold out_; they _water. Methinks, to forget their faults, I will drink to you_. Or it may be explained without any change. _Mine eyes cannot hold out water_, that is, cannot keep water from breaking in upon them, (see 1765, VI, 186, 2) I.ii.113 (294,9) _Apem_. Thou weep'st to make them drink] Hanmer reads, --_to make then drink_ thee, and is again followed by Dr. Warburton, I think without sufficient reason. The covert sense of Apemantus is, _what thou losest, they get_. I.ii.118 (294,1) like a babe] That is a _weeping babe_. I.ii.138 (295,3) They dance! They are mad women. Like madness is the glory of this life, As this pomp shews to a little oil and root] [Warburton conjectured some lines lost after the second verse] When I read this passage, I was at first of the same opinion with this learned man; but, upon longer consideration, I grew less confident, because I think the present reading susceptible of explanation, with no more violence to language than is frequently found in our author. _The glory of this life is very near to madness_, as may be made appear from _this pomp_, exhibited in a place where a philosopher is feeding on _oil and roots_. When we see by example how few are the necessaries of life, we learn what madness there is in so much superfluity. I.ii.146 (296,5) who dies, that bears/Not one spurn to their graves, of their friends gift?] That is, given them by their friends.(1773) I.ii.155 (297,6) mine own device] The mask appears to have been design'd by Timon to surprise his guests. I.ii.157 (297,7) _L Lady_. My lord, you take us even at the best] This answer seems rather to belong to one of the ladies. It was probably only mark'd _L_ in the copy. I.ii.169 (298,1) 'Tis pity, bounty has not eyes behind] To see the miseries that are following her. I.ii.170 (298,2) That man might ne'er be wretched for his mind] For nobleness of soul. I.ii.176 (298,3) to/Advance this jewel] To prefer it; to raise it to honour by wearing it. I.ii.230 (300,6) all the lands thou hast Lie in a pitch'd field. _Alc._ I' defiled land, my lord] This is the old reading, which apparently depends on a very low quibble. Alcibiades is told, that _his estate lies in a_ pitch'd _field_. Now _pitch_, as Falstaff says, _doth defile_. Alcibiades therefore replies, that his estate lies _in defiled land_. This, as it happened, was not understood, and all the editors published, _I defy land_,-- I.ii.237 (301,8) Serving of becks] [W: serring] The commentator conceives _beck_ to mean the _mouth_ or the _head_, after the French, _bec_, whereas it means a salutation made with the head. So Milton, "Nods and _becks_, and wreathed smiles." To _serve a beck_, is to offer a salutation. I.ii.238 (301,9) I doubt, whether their legs] He plays upon the word _leg_, as it signifies a _limb_ and a _bow_ or _act of obeisance_. I.ii.247 (302,1) I fear me, thou/Wilt give away thyself in paper shortly] [W: in proper] Hanmer reads very plausibly, --_thou Wilt give away thyself_ in perpetuum. I.ii.235 (302,2) I'll lock/Thy heaven from thee] The pleasure of being flattered. II.i.10 (304,5) No porter at his gate;/But rather one that smiles, and still invites] I imagine that a line is lost here, in which the behaviour of a surly porter was described. II.i.12 (304,6) no reason/Can found his state in safety] The supposed meaning of this [Can sound his state] must be, _No reason_, by _sounding_, fathoming, or trying, _his state_, can find it _safe_. But as the words stand, they imply, that _no reason can_ safely _sound his state_. I read thus, --_no reason Can_ found _his state in safety_.-- _Reason_ cannot find his fortune to have any _safe_ or solid _foundation_. The types of the first printer of this play were so worn and defaced, that _f_ and _s_ are not always to be distinguished. II.ii.5 (305,9) Never mind/Was to be so unwise, to be so kind] Of this mode of expression conversation affords many examples: "I was always to be blamed, whatever happened." "I am in the lottery, but I was always to draw blanks." (1773) II.ii.9 (306,1) Good even, Varro] It is observable, that this _good evening_ is before dinner; for Timon tells Alcibiades, that they will _go forth again as soon as dinner's done_, which may prove that by _dinner_ our author meant not the _coena_ of ancient times, but the mid-day's repast. I do not suppose the passage corrupt: such inadvertencies neither author nor editor can escape. There is another remark to be made. Varro and Isidore sink a few lines afterwards into the servants of Varro and Isidore. Whether servants, in our author's time, took the names of their masters, I know not. Perhaps it is a slip of negligence. II.ii.47 (308,4) _Enter Apemantus and a Fool_] I suspect some scene to be lost, in which the entrance of the fool, and the page that follows him, was prepared by some introductory dialogue, in which the audience was informed that they were the fool and page of Phrynia, Timandra, or some other courtesan, upon the knowledge of which depends the greater part of the ensuing jocularity. II.ii.60-66 (309,4) Poor rogues] This is said so abruptly, that I am inclined to think it misplaced, and would regulate the passage thus: Caph. _Where's the fool now?_ Apem. _He last ask'd the question._ All. _What are we, Apemantus?_ Apem. _Asses._ All. _Why?_ Apem. _That you ask me what you are, and do not know yourselves. Poor rogues', and usurers' men! bawds between gold and want! Speak_, &c. Thus every word will have its proper place. It is likely that the passage transposed was forgot in the copy, and inserted in the margin, perhaps a little beside the proper place, which the transcriber wanting either skill or care to observe, wrote it where it now stands. II.ii.71 (309,5) She's e'en setting on water to scald] The old name for the disease got at Corinth was the _brenning_, and a sense of _scalding_ is one of its first symptoms. II.ii.117 (311,7) with two stones more than's artificial one] Meaning the celebrated philosopher's stone, which was in those times much talked of. Sir Thomas Smith was one of those who lost considerable sums in seeking of it. II.ii.152 (312,9) Though you hear now, yet now's too late a time] [Warburton objected to this, an emendation by Hanmer] I think Hanmer right, and have received his emendation. Il.ii.155 (313,1) and at length/How goes our reckoning?] [W: Hold good our] It is common enough, and the commentator knows it is common to propose interrogatively, that of which neither the speaker nor the hearer has any doubt. The present reading may therefore stand. II.ii.171 (314,2) a wasteful cock] [i.e. a _cockloft_, a garret. And a _wasteful cock_, signifies a garret lying in waste, neglected, put to no use. HANMER.] Hanmer's explanation is received by Dr. Warburton, yet I think them both apparently mistaken. A _wasteful cock_ is a _cock_ or pipe with a turning stopple _running_ to _waste_. In this sense, both the terms have their usual meaning; but I know not that _cock_ is ever used for _cockloft_, or _wasteful_ for _lying in waste_, or that lying in waste is at all a phrase. Il.ii.187 (314,4) And try the arguments] [_Arguments_ for natures. _WARB_.] How _arguments_ should stand for natures I do not see. But the licentiousness of our author forces us often upon far fetched expositions. _Arguments_ may mean _contents_, as the _arguments_ of a book; or for _evidences_ and _proofs_. II.ii.209 (315,5) I knew it the most general way] _General_ is not speedy, but _compendious_, the way to try many at a time. II.ii.219 (316,6) And so, intending other serious matters] _Intending_ is _regarding, turning their notice_ to other things. II.ii.220 (316,7) these hard fractions] [Warburton saw an allusion to fractions in mathematics] This is, I think, no conceit in the head of Flavius, who, by _fractions_, means _broken_ hints, _interrupted_ sentences, _abrupt_ remarks. II.ii.221 (316,8) half-caps] A _half cap_ is a _cap_ slightly moved, not put off. II.ii.241 (317,3) I would, I could not] The original edition has, _I would, I could not think it, that thought_, &c. It has been changed ['Would], to mend the numbers, without authority. II.ii.242 (317,4) That thought is bounty's foe; Being free itself, it thinks all other so] _Free_, is _liberal_, not parsimonious. III.i.57 (319,6) Has friendship such a faint and milky heart, It turns in less than two nights?] Alluding to the _turning_ or acescence of milk. III.ii.3 (320,3) We know him for no less] That is, _we know him_ by report to be _no less_ than you represent him, though we are strangers to his person. III.ii.24 (321,5) yet had he mistook him, and sent him to me] [W: mislook'd] I rather read, _yet had he_ not _mistook him, and sent to me_. III.ii.45 (322,7) If his occasion were not virtuous] [_Virtuous_, for strong, forcible, pressing. _WARBURTON_.] The meaning may more naturally be;--If he did not want it for a good use. (1773) III.ii.51 (322,9) that I should purchase the day before for a little part, and undo a great deal of honour?] [T: a little dirt] This emendation is received, like all others, by sir T. Hanmer, but neglected by Dr. Warburton. I think Theobald right in suspecting a corruption; nor is his emendation injudicious, though perhaps we may better read, _purchase the day before for a little park_. III.ii.71 (323,1) And just of the same piece is every flatterer's soul] This is Dr. Warburton's emendation. The other editions read, _Why this is the world's soul; Of the same piece is every flatterer's_ sport. Mr. Upton has not unluckily transposed the two final words, thus, _Why, this is the world's_ sport: _Of the same piece is ev'ry flatterer's_ soul. The passage is not so obscure as to provoke so much enquiry. _This_, says he, _is the soul_ or spirit _of the world: every flatterer_ plays the same game, makes _sport_ with the confidence of his friend. (see 1765, VI, 211, 4) III.ii.81 (324,2) He does deny him, in respect of his, What charitable men afford to beggars] That is, _in respect of his_ fortune, what Lucius denies to Timon is in proportion to what Lucius possesses, less than the ususal alms given by good men to beggars. III.ii.90 (324,3) I would have put my wealth into donation, And the best half should ha' return'd to him] Hanmer reads, _I would have put my wealth into_ partition, _And the best half should have_ attorn'd _to him_. Dr. Warbarton receives _attorn'd_. The only difficulty is in the word _return'd_, which, since he had received nothing from him, cannot be used but in a very low and licentious meaning, (see 1765, VI, 212, 6) III.iii.5 (325,4) They have all been touch'd] That is, _tried_, alluding to the _touchstone_. III.iii.11 (325,5) His friends, like physicians,/Thrive, give him over?] The original reading is, --his friends, (_like physicians_) Thrive, give him over? which Theobald has misrepresented. Hanmer reads, _try'd_, plausibly enough. Instead of _three_ proposed by Mr. Pope, I should read _thrice_. But perhaps the old reading is the true. III.iii.24 (326,6) I had such a courage] Such an ardour, such an eager desire. III.iii.28 (326,8) The devil knew not what he did] I cannot but think that, the negative _not_ has intruded into this passage, and the reader will think so too, when he reads Dr. Warburton's explanation of the next words. III.iii.28 (326,9) The devil knew not what he did, when he made men politick; he cross'd himself by't: and I cannot think, but in the end the villainies of man will set him clear] [_Set him clear_ does not mean acquit him before heaven; for then _the devil_ must be supposed _to know what_ he did: but it signifies puzzle him, outdo him at his own weapons. WARBURTON.] How the devil, or any other being, should be _set clear_ by being _puzzled_ and _outdone_, the commentator has not explained. When in a crowd we would have an opening made, we say, _Stand clear_, that is, _out of the way of danger_. With some affinity to this use, though not without great harshness, to _set clear_, may be to _set aside_. But I believe the original corruption is the insertion of the negative, which was obtruded by some transcriber, who supposed _crossed_ to mean _thwarted_, when it meant, _exempted from evil_. The use of _crossing_, by way of protection or purification, was probably not worn out in Shakespeare's time. The sense of _set clear_ is now easy; he has no longer the guilt of tempting man. To cross himself may mean, in a very familiar sense, _to clear his score, to get out of debt, to quit his reckoning_. He knew not _what he did_, may mean, he knew not how much good he was doing himself. There is then no need of emendation. (1773) III.iii.42 (327,2) keep his house] i.e. keep within doors for fear of duns. III.iv (328,3) _Enter Varro, Titus, Hortense, Lucius_] Lucius is here again for the servant of Lucius. III.iv.12 (328,4) a prodigal's course/Is like the sun's] That is, like him in blaze and splendour. _Soles occidere et redire possunt._ Catul. III.iv.25 (329,5) I am weary of this charge] That is, of this _commission_, of this _employment_. III.iv.32 (329,6) Else, surely, his had equall'd] Should it not be, _else, surely, mine had equall'd_. III.iv.67 (330,7) _Enter Servilius_] It may be observed that Shakespeare has unskilfully filled his Greek story with Roman names. III.v.14 (333,6) He is a man, setting his fate aside, Of comely virtues: Nor did he soil the fact with cowardise; (An honour in him which buys out his fault)] I have printed these lines after the original copy, except that, for _an honour_, it is there, _and honour_. All the latter editions deviate unwarrantably from the original, and give the lines thus: _He is a man, setting his fault aside, Of virtuous honour, which buys out his fault; Nor did he soil_, &c. III.v.22 (333,3) He did behave, his anger ere 'twas spent, As if he had but prov'd an argument] The original copy reads not _behave_ but _behoove_. I do not well understand the passage in either reading. Shall we try a daring conjecture? --_with such sober and unnoted passion He did behold his adversary shent, As if he had but prov'd an argument_. He looked with such calmness on his slain adversary. I do not suppose that this is right, but put it down for want of better. (1773) III.v.24 (334,4) You undergo too strict a paradox] You undertake a paradox too _hard_. III.v.32 (334,5) and make his wrongs His outsides: to wear them like an argument, carelessly. We outside wear; hang like his] The present reading is better. III.v.46 (335,6) What make we/Abroad?] _What do we_, or _what have we to do in the field_. III.v.46 (335,7) what make we Abroad? why then, women are more valiant, That stay at home, if bearing carry it; The ass, more than the lion; and the fellow, Loaden with irons, wiser than the judge, If wisdom be in suffering] Here is another arbitrary regulation, the original reads thus, _what make we Abroad, why then women are more valiant That stay at home, if bearing carry it: And the ass more captain than the lion, The fellow, loaden with irons, wiser than the judge, If wisdom_, &c. I think it may be better adjusted thus: _what make we Abroad, why then the women are more valiant That stay at home; If bearing carry it, than is the ass More captain than the lion, and the_ felon _Loaden with irons, wiser than the judge, If wisdom_, &c. III.v.54 (336,8) sin's extreamest gust] _Gust_ is here in its common sense; the utmost degree of _appetite_ for sin. III.v.55 (336,9) by mercy, 'tis most just] [By _mercy_ is meant _equity_. WARBURTON] _Mercy_ is not put for equity. If such explanation be allowed, what can be difficult? The meaning is, _I call_ mercy _herself_ to witness, that defensive violence is just. III.v.68 (338,2) a sworn rioter] A _sworn rioter_ is a man who practises riot, as if he had by an oath made it his duty. III.v.80 (337,3) your reverend ages love/Security] He charges them obliquely with being usurers. III.v.96 (337,5) Do you dare our anger?/'Tis in few words, but spacious in effect] This reading may pass, but perhaps the author wrote, _our anger_? _'Tis few in words, but spacious in effect._ III.v.114 (338,7) I'll cheer up My discontented troops, and play for hearts. 'Tis honour with most hands to be at odds] [Warburton had substituted "hands" for "lands"] I think _hands_ is very properly substituted for _lands_. In the foregoing line, for, _lay for hearts_, I would read, _play_ for _hearts_. III.vi.4 (339,7) Upon that were my thoughts tiring] A hawk, I think, is said to _tire_, when she amuses herself with pecking a pheasant's wing, or any thing that puts her in mind of prey. To _tire_ upon a thing, is therefore, to be _idly employed upon it_. III.vi.100 (342,9) Is your perfection] Your _perfection_, is _the highest of your excellence_. III.vi.101 (342,1) and spangled you with flatteries] [W: with your] The present reading is right. III.vi.106 (342,2) time-flies] Flies of a season. III.vi. 107 (342,5) minute-jacks!] Hanmer thinks it means _Jack-a-lantern_, which shines and disappears in an instant. What it was I know not; but it was something of quick motion, mentioned in Richard III. III.vi.108 (342,4) the infinite malady] Every kind of disease incident to man and beast. IV.i.19 (344,6) Degrees, observances, customs and laws, Decline to your confounding contraries, And yet confusion live!] Hanmer reads, _let_ confusion; but the meaning may be, _though by such confusion all things seem to hasten to dissolution_, yet _let not dissolution come, but the miseries of_ confusion _continue._ IV.ii (345,1) Enter Flavius] Nothing contributes more to the exaltation of Timon's character than the zeal and fidelity of his servants. Nothing but real virtue can be honoured by domesticks; nothing but impartial kindness can gain affection from dependants. IV.ii.10 (345,2) So his familiars from his buried fortunes/Slink all away] The old copies have _to_ instead of _from_. The correction is Hanmer's; but the old reading might stand (see 1765, VI, 231, 2) IV.ii.38 (346,4) strange unusual blood] Of this passage, I suppose, every reader would wish for a correction; but the word, harsh as it is, stands fortified by the rhyme, to which, perhaps, it owes its introduction. I know not what to propose. Perhaps, --_strange unusual_ mood, may, by some, be thought better, and by others worse. IV.iii.1 (347,5) O blessed, breeding sun] [W: blessing breeding] I do not see that this emendation much strengthens the sense. IV.iii.2 (347,6) thy sister's orb] That is, the moon's, this _sublunary_ world. IV.iii.6 (348,7) Not nature,/To whom all sores lay siege] I have preserved this note rather for the sake of the commentator [Warburton] than of the author. How _nature, to whom all sores lay siege_, can so emphatically express _nature in its greatest perfection_, I shall not endeavour to explain. The meaning I take to be this: _Brother, when his fortune is inlarged, will scorn brother_; for this is the general depravity of human nature, which, _besieged as it is by misery_, admonished as it is of want and imperfection, when _elevated by fortune, will despise_ beings of _nature like its own_. IV.iii.12 (349,9) It is the pastor lards the brother's sides,/The want that makes him leave] [W: weather's sides] This passage is very obscure, nor do I discover any clear sense, even though we should admit the emendation. Let us inspect the text as I have given it from the original edition, _It is the_ pastour _lards the_ brother's _sides, The want that makes him_ leave. Dr. Warburton found the passage already changed thus, _It is the_ pasture _lards the_ beggar's _sides, The want that makes him_ lean. And upon this reading of no authority, raised another equally uncertain. Alterations are never to be made without necessity. Let us see what sense the genuine reading will afford. Poverty, says the poet, _bears contempt hereditary_, and _wealth native honour_. To illustrate this position, having already mentioned the case of a poor and rich brother, he remarks, that this preference is given to wealth by those whom it least becomes; _it is the_ pastour _that greases or_ flatters _the rich_ brother, and will grease him on till _want makes him leave_. The poet then goes on to ask, _Who dares to say this man_, this pastour, _is a flatterer_; the crime is universal; through all the world _the learned pate_, with allusion to the pastour, _ducks to the golden fool_. If it be objected, as it may justly be, that the mention of pastour is unsuitable, we must remember the mention of _grace_ and _cherubims_ in this play, and many such anachronisms in many others. I would therefore read thus: _It is the pastour lards the brother's sides_, 'Tis _want that makes him leave_. The obscurity is still great. Perhaps a line is lost. I have at least given the original reading. IV.iii.27 (350,2) no idle votarist] No insincere or inconstant supplicant. _Gold_ will not serve me instead of _roots_. IV.iii.38 (351,5) That makes the wappen'd widow wed again] Of _wappened_ I have found no example, nor know any meaning. To _awhape_ is used by Spenser in his _Hubberd's Tale_, but I think not in either of the senses mentioned. I would read _wained_, for _decayed by time_. So our author in _Richard the Third_, _A beauty_-waining _and distressed widow_. IV.iii.41 (352,6) To the April day again] That is, _to the wedding day_, called by the poet, satirically, _April day_, or _fool's day_. IV.iii.44 (352,7) Do thy right nature] Lie in the earth where nature laid thee. IV.iii.44 (352,8) Thou'rt quick] Thou hast life and motion in thee. IV.iii.64 (353,9) I will not kiss thee] This alludes to an opinion in former times, generally prevalent, that the venereal infection transmitted to another, left the infecter free. I will not, says Timon, take the rot from thy lips by kissing thee. IV.iii.72 (353,1) _Tim._ Promise me friendship, but perform none. If Thou wilt not promise, the Gods plague thee, for Thou art a man; if thou dost perform, confound thee, For thou art a man!] That is, however thou may'st act, since thou art man, hated man, I wish thee evil. IV.iii.82 (354,2) Be a whore still! They love thee not that use thee; Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust: Make use of thy salt hours] There is here a slight transposition. I would read, --_They love thee not that use thee, Leaving with thee their lust; give them diseases; Make use of thy salt hours; season the slaves For tubs and baths_;-- IV.iii.115 (356,6) milk-paps,/That through the window-bars bore at mens' eyes] [W: window-lawn] The reading is more probably, --_window-bar_,-- The virgin that shews her bosom through the lattice of her chamber. IV.iii.119 (356,8) exhaust their mercy] For _exhaust_, sir T. Hanmer, and after him Dr. Warburton, read _extort_; but _exhaust_ here signifies literally to _draw forth_. IV.iii.120 (356,7) Think it a bastard, whom the oracle Hath doubtfully prunounc'd thy throat shall cut] An allusion to the tale of OEdipus. IV.iii.134 (357,8) And to make whores a bawd] [W: make whole] The old edition reads, _And to make whores a bawd._ That is, _enough to make a whore leave whoring, and a bawd leave making whores_. IV.iii.139 (357,9) I'll trust to your conditions] You need not swear to continue whores, I will trust to your inclinations. IV.iii.140 (358,1) Yet may your pains, six months,/Be quite contrary] The explanation [Warburton's] is ingenious, but I think it very remote, and would willingly bring the author and his readers to meet on easier terms. We may read, --_Yet may your pains six months Be quite_ contraried.-- Timon is wishing ill to mankind, but is afraid lest the whores should imagine that he wishes well to them; to obviate which he lets them know, that he imprecates upon them influence enough to plague others, and disappointments enough to plague themselves. He wishes that they may do all possible mischief, and yet take _pains six months_ of the year in vain. In this sense there is a connection of this line with the next. Finding _your pains contraried_, try new expedients, _thatch your thin roofs_, and _paint_. To _contrary_ is on old verb. Latymer relates, that when he went to court, he was advised not to _contrary_ the king. IV.iii.153 (359,3) mens' spurring] Hanmer reads _sparring_, properly enough, if there be any ancient example of the word. IV.iii.158 (359,5) take the bridge quite away Of him, that his particular to foresee Smells from the general weal] [W: to forefend] The metaphor is apparently incongruous, but the sense is good. To _foresee his particular_, is _to provide for his private advantage_, for which _he leaves the right scent of publick good_. In hunting, when hares have cross'd one another, it is common for some of the hounds _to smell from the general weal, and foresee their own particular_. Shakespeare, who seems to have been a skilful sportsman, and has alluded often to falconry, perhaps, alludes here to hunting. To the commentator's emendation it may be objected, that he used _forefend_ in the wrong meaning. To _forefend_, is, I think, never to _provide for_, but to _provide against_. The verbs compounded with _for_ or _fore_ have commonly either an evil or negative sense. IV.iii.182 (361,8) eyeless venom'd worm] The serpent, which we, from the smallness of his eyes, call the _blind worm_, and the Latins, _caecilia_. IV.iii.183 (361,9) below crisp heaven] [W: cript] Mr. Upton declares for _crisp_, curled, bent, hollow. IV.iii.188 (361,1) Let it no more bring out ingrateful man!] [W: out to ungrateful] It is plain that _bring out_ is _bring forth_, with which the following lines correspond so plainly, that the commentator might be suspected of writing his note without reading the whole passage. IV.iii.193 (362,2) Dry up thy marrows, vines, and plough torn leas] I cannot concur to censure Theobald [as Warburton did] as a _critic_ very _unhappy_. He was weak, but he was cautious: finding but little power in his mind, he rarely ventured far under its conduct. This timidity hindered him from daring conjectures, and sometimes hindered him happily. This passage, among many others, may pass without change. The genuine reading is not _marrows, veins_, but _marrows_, vines: the sense is this; _O nature! cease_ to _produce men, ensear thy womb_; but if thou wilt continue to produce them, at least cease to pamper them; _dry up thy marrows_, on which they fatten with _unctuous morsels_, thy _vines_, which give them _liquorish draughts_, and thy _plow-torn leas_. Here are effects corresponding with causes, _liquorish draughts_ with _vines_, and _unctuous morsels_ with _marrows_, and the old reading literally preserved. IV.iii.209 (363,3) the cunning of a carper] _Cunning_ here seems to signify _counterfeit appearance_. IV.ii.223 (364,4) moist trees] Hanmer reads very elegantly, --moss'd _trees_. IV.iii.37 (364,5) _Tim._ Always a villain's office, or a fool's. Dost please thyself in't? _Apem._ Ay. _Tim._ What! a knave too?] Such was Dr. Warburton's first conjecture ["and know't too"], but afterwards he adopted Sir T. Hanmer's conjecture, _What a knave_ thou! but there is no need of alteration. Timon had just called Apemantus _fool_, in consequence of what he had known of him by former acquaintance; but when Apemantus tells him, that he comes _to vex him_, Timon determines that to _vex_ is either _the office of a villain or a fool_; that _to vex by design_ is _villainy, to vex without design_ is _folly_. He then properly asks Apemantus whether he takes delight in _vexing_, and when he answers, _yes_, Timon replies, _What! and knave too?_ I before only knew thee to be a _fool_, but I now find thee likewise a _knave_. This seems to be so clear as not to stand in need of a comment. IV.iii.242 (365,6) Willing misery/Out-lives incertain pomp; is crown'd before] Arrives sooner at _high wish_; that is, at the _completion of its wishes_. IV.iii.247 (365,7) Worse than the worst, content] Best states contentless have a wretched being, a being worse than that of the worst states that are content. This one would think too plain to have been mistaken. (1773) IV.iii.249 (365,8) by his breath] It means, I believe, by his _counsel_, by his _direction_. IV. iii. 252 (366,l) Hadst thou, like us] There is in this speech a sullen haughtiness, and malignant dignity, suitable at once to the lord and the man-hater. The impatience with which he bears to have his luxury reproached by one that never had luxury within his reach, is natural and graceful. There is in a letter, written by the earl of Essex, just before his execution, to another nobleman, a passage somewhat resembling this, with which, I believe every reader will be pleased, though it is so serious and solemn that it can scarcely be inserted without irreverence. "God grant your lordship may quickly feel the comfort I now enjoy in my unfettered conversion, but that you may never feel the torments I have suffered for my long delaying it. _I had none but deceivers to call upon me, to whom I said, if my ambition could have entered into their narrow breasts, they would not have been so precise. But your lordship hath one to call upon you, that knoweth what it is you now enjoy; and what the greatest fruit and end is of all contentment that this world can afford._ Think, therefore, dear earl, that I have staked and buoyed all the ways of pleasure unto you, and left them as sea-marks for you to keep the channel of religious virtue. For shut your eyes never so long, they must be open at the last, and then you must say with me, _there is no peace to the ungodly_." IV.iii.252 (366,2) from our first swath] From infancy. _Swath_ is the dress of a new-born child. IV.iii.258 (366,3) precepts of respect] Of obedience to laws. IV.iii.259 (366,4) But myself] The connection here requires some attention. _But_ is here used to denote opposition; but what immediately precedes is not opposed to that which follows. The adversative particle refers to the two first lines. _Thou art a slave, whom fortune's tender arm With favour never claspt; but bred a dog. --But myself, Who had the world as my confectionary,_ &c. The intermediate lines are to be considered as a parenthesis of passion. IV.iii.271 (367,5) If thou wilt curse, thy father, that poor rag,/ Must be thy subject] If we read _poor rogue_, it will correspond rather better to what follows. IV.iii.276 (367,6) Thou hadst been knave and flatterer] Dryden has quoted two verses of Virgil to shew how well he could have written satires. Shakespeare has here given a specimen of the same power by a line bitter beyond all bitterness, in which Timon tells Apemantus, that he had not virtue enough for the vices which he condemns. Dr. Warburton explains _worst_ by _lowest_, which somewhat weakens the sense, and yet leaves it sufficiently vigorous. I have heard Mr. Bourke commend the subtilty of discrimination with which Shakespeare distinguishes the present character of Timon from that of Apemantus, whom to vulgar eyes he would now resemble. (see 1763, VI, 249, 6) (rev. 1778, VIII, 424, 4) IV.iii.308 (369,8) Ay, though it look like thee] Timon here supposes that an objection against hatred, which through the whole tenor of the conversation appears an argument for it. One would have expected him to have answered, Yes, _for it looks like thee_. The old edition, which always gives the pronoun instead of the affirmative particle, has it, _I, though it look like thee_. Perhaps we should read, _I_ thought _it_ look'd _like thee_. IV,iii.363 (371,2) Thou art the cap] i.e. the property, the bubble. WARBURTON.] I rather think, the _top_, the _principal_. The remaining dialogue has more malignity than wit. IV.iii.383 (372,4) 'Twixt natural, son and sire!'] [Greek: dia touton ouk adelphoi dia touton ou toxaeas. ANAC.] IV.iii.398 (373,6) More things like men?] This line, in the old edition, is given to Aremantus, but it apparently belongs to Timon. Hanmer has transposed the foregoing dialogue according to his own mind, not unskilfully, but with unwarrantable licence. IV.iii.419 (373,7) you want much of meat] [T: of meet] Such is Mr. Theobald's emendation, in which he is followed by Dr. Warburton. Sir T. Hanmer reads, --_you want much of_ men. They have been all busy without necessity. Observe the series of the conversation. The thieves tell him, that they are _men that much do want_. Here is an ambiguity between _much want_ and _want_ of _much_. Timon takes it on the wrong side, and tells them that their _greatest want is_, that, like other men, _they want much of meat_; then telling them where meat may be had, he asks, _Want? why want?_ (see 1765, VI, 254, 5) IV.iii.420 (374,8) the earth hath roots;/Within this mile break forth an hundred springs] _Vile plus, et duris haerentia mora rubetis Pugnantis stomachi composuere famen: Flumine vicino stultus sitit._ I do not suppose these to be imitations, but only to be similar thoughts on similar occasions. IV.iii.442 (375,2) The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves/The moon into salt tears] [W: The mounds] I am not willing to receive _mounds_, which would not be understood but by him that suggested it. The _moon_ is supposed to be humid, and perhaps a source of humidity, but cannot be _resolved_ by the _surges_ of the sea. Yet I think _moon_ is the true reading. Here is a circulation of thievary described: The sun, moon, and sea all rob, and are robbed. IV.iii.456 (376,3) 'Tis in the malice of mankind, that he thus advises us; not to have us thrive in our mystery] [Hanmer: his malice to] Hanmer's emendation, though not necessary, is very probable, and very unjustly charged with nonsense [by Warburton]. The reason of his advice, says the thief, is _malice to mankind_, not any kindness to us, or desire _to have us thrive in our mystery_. IV.iii.468 (378,5) What an alteration of honour has/Desperate want made!] [W: of humour] The original copy has, _What an alteration of honour has desperate want made!_ The present reading is certainly better, but it has no authority. To change _honour_ to _humour_ is not necessary. _An alteration of honour_, is an _alteration_ of an _honourable state_ to a state of disgrace. IV.iii.474 (378,8) Grant, I may ever love, and rather woe Those that would mischief me, than those that do!] [W: rather too/...that woo] In defiance of this criticism, I have ventured to replace the former reading, as more suitable to the general spirit of these scenes, and as free from the absurdities charged upon it. It is plain, that in this whole speech _friends_ and _enemies_ are taken only for those who _profess friendship_ and _profess enmity_; for the _friend_ is supposed not to be more kind, but more dangerous than the _enemy_. In the amendation, _those that would mischief_ are placed in opposition to _those that woo_, but in the speaker's intention _those that woo_ are _those that mischief_ most. The sense is, _Let me rather woo or caress those that_ would _mischief, that_ profess to mean me mischief, _than those_ that really _do_ me _mischief under false professions of kindness_. The Spaniards, I think, have this proverb; _Defend me from my friends, and from my enemies I will defend myself_. This proverb is a sufficient comment on the passage. IV.iii.484 (379,9) all/I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains] _Knave_ is here in the compounded sense of a _servant_ and a _rascal_. IV.iii.492 (379,1) Pity's sleeping] I do not know that any correction is necessary, but I think we might read, --_eyes do never give But thorough lust and laughter, pity sleeping_. _Eyes never flow_ (to _give_ is to dissolve as saline bodies in moist weather) _but by lust_ or _laughter_, undisturbed _by_ emotions of _pity_. IV.iii.499 (380,2) It almost turns my dangerous nature wild] [W: mild] This emendation is specious, but even this may be controverted. To _turn wild_ is _to distract_. An appearance so unexpected, says Timon, _almost turns my savageness_ to distraction. Accordingly he examines with nicety lest his phrenzy, should deceive him, _Let me behold thy face. Surely this man Was born of woman_. And to this suspected disorder of mind he alludes, _Perpetual, sober, Gods_!-- Ye powers whose intellects are out of the reach of perturbation. IV.iii.533 (381,3) thou shalt build from men] Away from human habitations. V.i (382,5) _Enter Poet and Painter_] The poet and the painter were within view when Apemantus parted from Timon, and might then have seen Timon, since Apemantus, standing by him could not see them: But the scenes of the thieves and steward have passed before their arrival, and yet passed, as the drama is now conducted within their view. It might be suspected that some scenes are transposed, for all these difficulties would be removed by introducing the poet and painter first, and the thieves in this place. Yet I am afraid the scenes must keep their present order; for the painter alludes to the thieves when he says, _he likewise enriched poor straggling soldiers with great quantity_. This impropriety is now heightened by placing the thieves in one act, and the poet and painter in another: but it must be remembered, that in the original edition this play is not divided into separate acts, so that the present distribution is arbitrary, and may be changed if any convenience can be gained, or impropriety obviated by alteration. V.i.47 (384,6) While the day serves, before black-corner'd night] [W: black-cornette] _Black-corner'd night_ is probably corrupt, but _black-cornette_ can hardly be right, for it should be _black-cornetted night_. I cannot propose any thing, but must leave the place in its present state. (1773) V.i.101 (386,8) a made-up villain] That is a villain that adopts qualities and characters not properly belonging to him; a hypocrite. V.i.105 (386,9) drown them in a draught] That is, _in the_ jakes. V.i.109 (388,1) But two in company-- Each man apart, all single and alone, Yet an arch villain keeps him company] This passage is obscure. I think the meaning is this: _but two in company_, that is, stand apart, _let only two be together_; for even when each stands single there are two, he himself and a villain. V.i.151 (388,3) Of its own fall] [The Oxford editor alters _fall_ to _fault_, not knowing that Shakespeare uses _fall_ to signify dishonour, not destruction. So in _Hamlet_, _What a_ falling_ off was there_! WARBURTON.] The truth is, that neither _fall_ means _disgrace_, nor is _fault_ a necessary emendation. _Falling off_ in the quotation is not _disgrace_ but _defection_. The Athenians _had sense_, that is, felt the danger _of their own fall_, by the arms of Alcibiades. V.i.151 (388,4) restraining aid to Timon] I think it should be _refraining aid_, that is, with-holding aid that should have been given _to_ Timon. V.i.154 (389,5) Than their offence can weigh down by the dram] This which was in the former editions can scarcely be right, and yet I know not whether my reading will be thought to rectify it. I take the meaning to be, We will give thee a recompence that our offences cannot outweigh, _heaps of wealth down by the dram_, or delivered according to the exactest measure. A little disorder may perhaps have happened in transcribing, which may be reformed by reading, --_Ay, ev'n such heaps And sums of love and wealth, down by the dram, As shall to thee_-- V.i.165 (389,6) Allow'd with absolute power] _Allowed_ is _licensed_, _privileged_, _uncontrolled_. So of a buffoon, in _Love's Labour lost_, it is said, that he is _allowed_, that is, at liberty to say what he will, a privileged scoffer. V.i.139 (390,7) My long sickness/Of health and living now begins to mend] The disease of life begins to promise me a period. V.i.211 (391,8) in the sequence of degree] Methodically, from highest to lowest. V.iii.4 (393,2) Some beast read this; here does not live a man] [W: rear'd] Notwithstanding this remark, I believe the old reading to be the right. _The soldier had only seen the rude heap of earth._ He had evidently seen something that told him _Timon was dead_; and what could tell that but his tomb? The tomb he sees, and the inscription upon it, which not being able to read, and finding none to read it for him, he exclaims peevishly, _some beast read this_, for it must be read, and in this place it cannot be read by man. There is something elaborately unskilful in the contrivance of sending a soldier, who cannot read, to take the epitaph in wax, only that it may close the play by being read with more solemnity in the last scene. V.iv.7 (394, 3) traverst arms] Arms across. V.iv.8 (394,4) the time is flush] A bird is _flush_ when his feathers are grown, and he can leave the nest. _Flush_ is _mature_. V.iv.18 (395,7) So did we woo Transformed Timon to our city's love, By humble message, and by promis'd means] [T: promis'd mends] Dr. Warburton agrees with Mr. Theobald, but the old reading may well stand. V.iv.28 (395,8) Shame, that they wanted cunning, in excess/Hath broke their hearts] [Theobald had emended the punctuation] I have no wish to disturb the means of Theobald, yet think some emendation nay be offered that will make the construction less harsh, and the sentence more serious. I read, _Shape that they wanted, coming in excess, Hath broke their hearts._ _Shame which they_ had so long _wanted at last_ coming in _its utmost_ excess. V.iv.36 (396,8) not square] Not regular, not equitable. V.iv.35 (397,9) uncharged ports] That is, _unguarded gates_. V.iv.59 (397,1) not a man/Shall pass his quarter] Not a soldier shall quit his station, or be let loose upon you; and, if any commits violence, he shall answer it regularly to the law. V.iv.76 (308.,3) our brain's flow; Hanmer and Dr. Warburton read, --brine's flow,-- Our brain's flow is our tears; but we any read our brine's flow, our salt tears. Either will serve. (see 1765, VI, 276, 6) (399) General Observation. The play of _Timon_ is a domestic tragedy, and therefore strongly fastens on the attention of the reader. In the plan there is not much art, but the incidents are natural, and the characters various and exact. The catastrophe affords a very powerful warning against that ostentations liberality, which scatters bounty, but confers no benefits, and buys flattery, but not friendship. In this tragedy are many passages perplexed, obscure, and probably corrupt, which I have endeavoured to rectify, or explain, with due diligence; but having only one copy, cannot promise myself that my endeavours shall be much applauded. TITUS ANDRONICUS (403,1) It is observable, that this play is printed in the quarto of 1611, with exactness equal to that of the other books of those times. The first edition was probably corrected by the author, so that here is very little room for conjecture or emendation; and accordingly none of the editors have much molested this piece with officious criticism. I.i.70 (406,2) Hail, Rome, victorious in thy mourning weeds!] [W: my] _Thy_ is as well as _my_. We may suppose the Romans in a grateful ceremony, meeting the dead sons of Andronicus with mourning habits. I.i.77 (407,3) Thou great defender of this Capitol] Jupiter, to whom the Capitol was sacred. I.i.168 (410,5) And fame's eternal date for virtue's praise!] [W: In] To _live in fame's date_ is, if an allowable, yet a harsh expression. To _outlive_ an _eternal date_, is, though not philosophical, yet poetical sense. He wishes that her life may be longer than his, and her praise longer than fame. I.i.309 (414,6) changing piece] Spoken of Lavinia. _Piece_ was then, as it is now, used personally as a word of contempt. II.i (421,8) In the quarto, the direction is, _Manet Aaron_, and he is before made to enter with Tamora, though he says nothing. This scene ought to continue the first act. II.i.9 (421,9) So Tamora--/Upon her wit doth earthly honour wait] [W: her will] I think _wit_, for which she is eminent in the drama, is right. II.i.116 (425,2) by kind] That is, by _nature_, which is the old signification of _kind_. II.ii (425,3) _Changes to a Forest_] The division of this play into acts, which was first made by the editors in 1623, is improper. There is here an interval of action, and here the second act ought to have begun. II.iii.8 (427,6) And so repose, sweet gold, for their unrest, That have their alms out of the empress' chest] This is obscure. It seems to mean only, that they who are to come at this gold of the empress are to suffer by it. II.iii.72 (430,9) swarth Cimmerian] _Swarth_ is _black_. The Moor is called Cimmerien, from the affinity of blackness to darkness. II.iii.85 (430,1) _Bas._ The king, my brother, shall have note of this. _Lav._ Ay, for these slips have made him noted long] He had yet been married but one night. II.iii.104 (431,2) Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly] This is said in fabulous physiology, of those that hear the groan of the mandrake torn up. II.iii.126 (432,3) And with that painted hope she braves your mightiness] [W: cope] _Painted hope_ is only _specious_ hope, or ground of confidence more plausible than solid. II.iii.227 (435,4) A precious ring, that lightens all the hole] There is supposed to be a gem called a carbuncle, which emits not reflected but native light. Mr. Boyle believes the reality of its existence. II.iv.13 (438,5) If I do dream, 'would all my wealth would wake me'] If this be a dream, I would give all my possessions to be delivered from it by waking. III.i.91 (443,8) It was my deer] The play upon _deer_ and _dear_ has been used by Waller, who calls a lady's girdle, _The pale that held my lovely_ deer. III.i.216 (447,1) And do not break into these deep extremes] [We should read, instead of this nonsense, --woe-_extremes_. i.e. extremes caused by excessive sorrow. But Mr. Theobald, on his own authority, alters it to _deep_, without notice given. WARB.] It is _deep_ in the old quarto of 1611, (rev. 1778, VIII, 510, 8) III.ii (450,2) _An apartment in Titus's house_] This scene, which does not contribute any thing to the action, yet seems to have the same author with the rest, is omitted in the quarto of 1611, but found in the folio of 1623. III.ii.45 (452,3) by still practice] By _constant_ or _continual_ practice. IV.i.129 (458,6) Revenge the heavens] It should be, _Revenge_, ye _Heavens_!-- _Ye_ was by the transcriber taken for _y'e_, the. IV.ii.85 (461,7) I'll broach the tadpole] A _broach_ is a _spit_. I'll _spit_ the tadpole. IV.ii.99 (462,8) Coal-black is better than another hue,/ In that it seems to bear another hue] We may better read, _In that it_ scorns _to bear another hue_. IV.iii.88 (466,1) Yet wrung with wrongs] To _wring_ a horse is to press or strain his back. IV.iv.90 (472,4) With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous,/ Than baits to fish, or honey-stalks to sheep] _Honey-stalks_ are clover-flowers, which contain a sweet juice. It is common for cattle to over-charge themselves with clover, and die. V.i.102 (476,7) As true a dog, as ever fought at head] An allusion to bull-dogs, whose generosity and courage are always shown by meeting the bull in front, and seizing his nose. V.ii.189 (484,1) And of the paste a coffin will I rear] A _coffin_ is the term of art for the cavity of a raised pye. V.iii.19 (486,2) break the parley] That is, _begin_ the parley. We yet say, he _breaks_ his mind. (492) General Observation. All the editors and critics agree with Mr. Theobald in supposing this play spurious. I see no reason for differing from them; for the colour of the stile is wholly different from that of the other plays, and there is an attempt at regular versification, and artificial closes, not always inelegant, yet seldom pleasing. The barbarity of the spectacles, and the general massacre, which are here exhibited, can scarcely be conceived tolerable to any audience; yet we are told by Jonson, that they were not only borne, but praised. That Shakespeare wrote any part, though Theobald declares it _incontestible_, I see no reason for believing. The testimony produced at the beginning of this play, by which it is ascribed to Shakespeare, is by no means equal to the argument against its authenticity, arising from the total difference of conduct, language, and sentiments, by which it stands apart from all the rest. Meeres had probably no other evidence than that of a title-page, which, though in our time it be sufficient, was then of no great authority; for all the plays which were rejected by the first collectors of Shakespeare's works, and admitted in later editions, and again rejected by the critical editors, had Shakespeare's name on the title, as we must suppose, by the fraudulence of the printers, who, while there were yet no gazettes, nor advertisements, nor any means of circulating literary intelligence, could usurp at pleasure any celebrated name. Nor had Shakespeare any interest in detecting the imposture, as none of his fame or profit was produced by the press. The chronology of this play does not prove it not to be Shakespeare's. If it had been written twenty-five years, in 1614, it might have been written when Shakespeare was twenty-five years old. When he left Warwickshire I know not, but at the age of twenty-five it was rather too late to fly for deer-stealing. Ravenscroft, who in the reign of Charles II, revised this play, and restored it to the stage, tells us, in his preface, from a theatrical tradition, I suppose, which in his time might be of sufficient authority, that this play was touched in different parts by Shakespeare, but written by some other poet. I do not find Shakespeare's touches very discernible, (see 1765, VI, 364) (rev. 1778, VIII, 559) Vol. IX. TROILUS AND CRESSIDA Prologue. (4,2) _And hither am I come A prologue arm'd; but not in confidence Of author's pen, or actor's voice; but suited In like conditions as our argument_] I come here to speak the prologue, and come in armour; not defying the audience, in confidence of either the author's or actor's abilities, but merely in a character suited to the subject, in a dress of war, before a warlike play. I.i.12 (8,3) And skill-less as unpractis'd infancy] Mr. Dryden, in his alteration of this play, has taken this speech as it stands, except that he has changed _skill-less_ to _artless_, not for the better, because _skill-less_ refers to _skill_ and _skilful_. I.i.58 (10,4) The cignet's down is harsh, and spirit of sense/Hard as the palm of ploughman!] _In comparison with_ Cressid's _hand_, says he, _the spirit of sense_, the utmost degree, the most exquisite power of sensibility, which implies a soft hand, since the sense of touching, as Scaliger says in his _Exercitations_, resides chiefly in the fingers, is hard as the callous and insensible palm of the ploughman. WARBURTON reads, --SPITE _of sense_: HANMER, --to th' _spirit of sense_. It is not proper to make a lover profess to praise his mistress in _spite of sense_; for though he often does it in _spite of the sense_ of others, his own senses are subdued to his desires. I.i.66 (10,5) if she be fair, 'tis the better for her; an she be not, she has the mends in her own hands] She may mend her complexion by the assistance of cosmeticks. I.ii.4 (12,1) Hector, whose patience/Is, as a virtue, fix'd] [W: Is as the] I think the present text may stand. Hector's patience was as a virtue, not variable and accidental, but fixed and constant. If I would alter it, it should be thus: --Hector, whose patience Is ALL a virtue fix'd,-- _All_, in old English, is the _intensive_ or enforcing particle. I.ii.8 (13,2) Before the sun rose, he was harness'd light] [Warburton stated that "harnessed light" meant Hector was to fight on foot] How does it appear that Hector was to fight on foot rather to-day than on any other day? It is to be remembered, that the ancient heroes never fought on horseback; nor does their manner of fighting in chariots seem to require less activity than on foot. I.ii.23 (14,4) his valour is crushed into folly] To be _crushed into folly_, is to be _confused_ and mingled with _folly_, so as that they make one mass together. I.ii.46 (15,6) Ilium] Was the palace of Troy. I.ii.120 (17,7) compass-window] The _compass-window_ is the same as the _bow-window_. (1773) I.ii.212 (20,2) _Cre._ Will he give you the nod? _Pan._ You shall see. _Cre._ If he do, the rich shall have more] [W: rich] I wonder why the commentator should think any emendation necessary, since his own sense is fully expressed by the present reading. Hanmer appears not to have understood the passage. That to _give the nod_ signifies to _set a mark of folly_, I do not know; the allusion is to the word _noddy_, which, as now, did, in our author's time, and long before, signify, _a silly fellow_, and may, by its etymology, signify likewise _full of nods_. Cressid means, that _a_ noddy _shall have more_ nods. Of such remarks as these is a comment to consist? I.ii.260 (22,3) money to boot] So the folio. The old quarto, with more force, Give _an eye_ to boot. (rev. 1778, IX, 25, 1) I.ii.285 (22,4) upon my wit to defend my wiles] So read both the copies) yet perhaps the author wrote, Upon my wit to defend my will. The terms _wit_ and _will_ were, in the language of that time, put often in opposition. I.ii.300 (23,5) At your own house; there he unarms him] [These necessary words added from the quarto edition. POPE.] The words added are only, _there he unarms him_. I.ii.313 (23,6) joy's soul lies in the doing] So read both the old editions, for which the later editions have poorly given, --the _soul's joy_ lies in doing. I.ii.316 (23,7) That she] Means, that woman. I.iii.31 (25,2) With due observance of thy godlike seat] [T: godlike seat] This emendation [for goodly seat] Theobald might have found in the quarto, which has, --the _godlike_ seat. I.iii.32 (25,3) Nestor shall apply/Thy latest words] Nestor _applies_ the words to another instance. I.iii.54 (26,7) Returns to chiding fortune] For _returns_, Hanmer reads _replies_, unnecessarily, the sense being the same. The folio and quarto have _retires_, corruptly. I.iii.62 (27,8) both your speeches; which are such, As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece Should hold up high in brass; and such again, As venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver, Should with a bond of air (strong as the axle-tree On which heaven rides) knit all the Greekish ears To his experienc'd tongue] Ulysses begins his oration with praising those who had spoken before him, and marks the characteristick excellencies of their different eloquence, strength, and sweetness, which he expresses by the different metals on which he recommends them to be engraven for the instruction of posterity. The speech of Agamemnon is such that it ought to be engraven in brass, and the tablet held up by him on the one side, and Greece on the other, to shew the union of their opinion. And Nestor ought to be exhibited in silver, uniting all his audience in one mind by his soft and gentle elocution. Brass is the common emblem of strength, and silver of gentleness. We call a soft voice a _silver_ voice, and a persuasive tongue a _silver_ tongue.--I once read for _hand_, the _band_ of Greece, but I think the text right.--To _hatch_ is a term of art for a particular method of _engraving_. _Hatcher_, to cut, Fr. I.iii.78 (28,1) The specialty of rule] The particular rights of supreme authority. I.iii.81 (29,2) When that the general is not like the hive] The meaning is, _When the general is not_ to the army _like the hive_ to the bees, the repository of the stock of every individual, that to which each particular resorts with whatever be has collected for the good of the whole, _what honey is expected_? what hope of advantage? The sense is clear, the expression is confused. I.iii.101 (30,5) Oh, when degree is shak'd] I would read, --So when degree is shak'd. (see 1765, VII, 431, 5) I.iii.103 (30,6) The enterprize] Perhaps we should read, _Then_ enterprize is sick!-- I.iii.104 (30,7) brotherhoods in cities] Corporations, companies, _confraternities_. I.iii.128 (31,8) That by a pace goes backward] That goes backward _step by step_. I.iii.128 (31,9) with a purpose/It hath to climb] With a design in each man to aggrandize himself, by slighting his immediate superior. I.iii.134 (31,1) bloodless emulation] An emulation not vigorous and active, but malignant and sluggish. I.iii.152 (31,2) Thy topless deputation] _Topless_ is that has nothing _topping_ or _overtopping_ it; supreme; sovereign. I.iii.167 (32,3) as near as the extremest ends/Of parallels] The parallels to which the allusion seems to be made are the parallels on a map. As like as East to West. I.iii.179 (32,4) All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes, Severals and generals of grace exact, Atchievements, plots] The meaning is this, All our good _grace exact_, means of _excellence irreprehensible_. I.iii.184 (32,5) to make paradoxes] _Paradoxes_ may have a meaning, but it is not clear and distinct. I wish the copies had given, --to make _parodies_. I.iii.188 (33,6) bears his head/In such a rein] That is, holds up his head as haughtily. We still say of a girl, _she bridles_. I.iii.196 (33,7) How rank soever rounded in with danger] A _rank weed_ is a _high weed_. The modern editions silently read, How _hard_ soever-- I.iii.202 (33,8) and know by measure/Of their observant toil the enemies' weight] I think it were better to read, --and know _the_ measure, _By_ their observant toil, _of_ th' enemies' weight. I.iii.220 (34,1) Achilles' arm] So the copies. Perhaps the author wrote, --_Alcides'_ arm. I.iii.262 (35,4) long continu'd truce] Of this long _truce_ there has been no notice taken; in this very act it is said, that _Ajax coped Hector yesterday in the battle_. I.iii.270 (36,7) (With truant vows to her own lips he loves)] That is, _confession made with idle vows to the lips of her whom he loves_. I.iii.319 (37,1) nursery] Alluding to a plantation called a nursery. I.iii.341 (38,4) scantling] That is, a _measure_, _proportion_. The carpenter cuts his wood to a certain _scantling_. I.iii.343 (38,5) small pricks] Small _points compared_ with the volumes. II.i (40,1) _The Grecian camp. Enter Ajax and Thorsites_] ACT II.] This play is not divided into acts in any of the original editions. II.i.13 (41,2) The plague of Greece] Alluding perhaps to the plague sent by Apollo on the Grecian army. II.i.15 (41,3) Speak then, thou unsalted leaven, speak] [T: unwinnow'dst] [W: windyest] Hanmer preserves _whinid'st_, the reading of the folio; but does not explain it, nor do I understand it. If the folio be followed, I read, _vinew'd_, that is _mouldy leven_. Thou composition of _mustiness_ and _sourness_.--Theobald's assertion, however confident, is false. _Unsalted_ leaven is in the old quarto. It means _sour_ without _salt_, malignity without wit. Shakespeare wrote first _unsalted_; but recollecting that want of _salt_ was no fault in leaven, changed it to _vinew'd_. II.i.38 (42,5) aye that thou bark'st at him] I read, _O_ that thou _bark'dst_ at him. II.i.42 (42,6) pun thee into shivers] _Pun_ is in the midland counties the vulgar and colloquial word for _pound_. (1773) II.i.125 (45,1) when Achilles' brach bids me] The folio and quarto read, _Achilles'_ brooch. _Brooch_ is an appendant ornament. The meaning may be, equivalent to one of _Achilles' hangers on_. II.ii.29 (47,2) The past-proportion of his infinite?] Thus read both the copies. The meaning is, _that greatness, to which no measure bears any proportion_. The modern editors silently give, The _vast_ proportion-- II.ii.58 (48,4) And the will dotes that is inclinable] [Old edition, not so well, has it, _attributive_. POPE.] By the old edition Mr. Pope means the old quarto. The folio has, as it stands, _inclinable_.--I think the first reading better; _the will dotes that attributes_ or gives _the qualities which it affects_; that first causes excellence, and then admires it. II.ii.60 (48,5) Without some image of the affected merit] The present reading is right. The will _affects_ an object for some supposed _merit_, which Hector says, is uncensurable, unless the _merit_ so _affected_ be really there. II.ii.71 (48,7) unrespective sieve] That is, into a _common voider_. _Sieve_ is in the quarto. The folio reads, --unrespective _fame_; for which the modern editions have silently printed, --unrespective _place_. II.ii.88 (49,9) why do you now The issue of your proper wisdoms rate; And do a deed that fortune never did, Beggar that estimation which you priz'd Richer than sea and land?] If I understand this passage, the meaning is, "Why do you, by censuring the determination of your own wisdoms, degrade Helen, whom fortune has not yet deprived of her value, or against whom, as the wife of Paris, fortune has not in this war so declared, as to make us value her less?" This is very harsh, and much strained. II.ii.122 (50,2) her brain-sick raptures/Cannot distaste the goodness of a quarrel] Corrupt; change to a worse state. II.ii.179 (52,3) benummed wills] That is, inflexible, inmoveable, no longer obedient to superior direction. II.ii.180 (52,4) There is a law in each well-ordered nation] What the law does in every nation between individuals, justice ought to do between nations. II.ii.188 (52,5) Hector's opinion/Is this in way of truth] Though considering _truth_ and _justice_ in this question, this is my opinion; yet as a question of honour, I think on it as you. II.ii.196 (53,6) the performance of our heaving spleens] The execution of spite and resentment. II.ii.212 (53,7) emulation] That is, envy, factious contention. II.iii.18 (54,8) without drawing the massy iron and cutting the web] That is, _without drawing their swords to cut the web_. They use no means but those of violence. II.iii.55 (55,1) decline the whole question] Deduce the question from the first case to the last. II.iii.108 (57,6) but it was a strong composure, a fool could disunite] So reads the quarto very properly; but the folio, which the moderns have followed, has, _it was a strong_ COUNSEL. II.iii.118 (57,7) noble state] Person of high dignity; spoken of Agamemnon. II.iii.137 (58,8) under-write] To _subscribe_, in Shakespeare, is to _obey_. II.iii.215 (60,2) pheese his pride] To _pheese_ is to _comb_ or _curry_. II.iii.217 (60,3) Not for the worth that hangs upon our quarrel] Not for the value of all for which we are fighting. II.iii.267 (62,6) _Ajax._ Shall I call you father? _Nest._ Ay, my good son] In the folio and in the nodern editions Ajax desires to give the title of _father_ to Ulysses; in the quarto, more naturally, to Nestor. III.i.35 (64,1) love's invisible soul] _love's_ visible _soul_.] So HANMER. The other editions have _invisible_, which perhaps may be right, and may mean the _soul of love_ invisible every where else. III.i.83 (65,3) And, my lord, he desires you] Here I think the speech of Pandarus should begin, and the rest of it should be added to that of Helen, but I have followed the copies. III.i.96 (65,4) with my disposer Cressida] [W: dispouser] I do not understand the word _disposer_, nor know what to substitute in its place. There is no variation in the copies. III.i.132 (67,6) _Yet that which seems the wound to kill_] _To kill the wound_ is no very intelligible expression, nor is the measure preserved. We might read, _These lovers cry, Oh! oh! they die!_ But _that which seems to kill, Doth turn_, &c. _So dying love lives still_. Yet as _the wound to kill_ may mean _the wound that seems mortal_, I alter nothing. III.ii.25 (69,1) tun'd too sharp in sweetness]--and _too sharp in sweetness_,] So the folio and all modern editions; but the quarto more accurately, --_tun'd_ too sharp in sweetness. III.ii.99 (71,4) our head shall go bare, 'till merit crown it] I cannot forbear to observe, that the quarto reads thus: _Our head shall go bare, 'till merit_ lower part no affection, _in reversion_, &c. Had there been no other copy, hov could this have been corrected? The true reading is in the folio. III.ii.102 (72,5) his addition shall be humble] We will give him no high or pompous titles. III.ii.162 (74,6) but you are wise, Or else you love not; to be wise and love, Exceeds man's might] I read, --but _we're not_ wise, Or else _we_ love not; to be wise and love, Exceeds man's might;-- Cressida, in return to the praise given by Troilus to her wisdom, replies, "That lovers are never wise; that it is beyond the power of man to bring love and wisdom to an union." III.ii.173 (74,8) Might be affronted with the match] I wish "my integrity might be met and matched with such equality and force of pure unmingled love." III.ii.184 (75,2) As true as steel, as plantage to the moon] _Plantage_ is not, I believe, a general term, but the herb which we now call _plantain_, in Latin, _plantago_, which was, I suppose, imagined to be under the peculiar influence of the moon. III.ii.187 (76,3) Yet after all comparisons of truth, As truth's authentic author to be cited _As true as Troilus_, shall crown up the verse] Troilus shall _crown the verse_, as a man _to be cited as the authentic author of truth_; as one whose protestations were true to a proverb. III.iii.1-16 (77,5) Now, princes, for the service I have done you] I am afraid, that after all the learned commentator's [Warburton's] efforts to clear the argument of Calchas, it will still appear liable to objection; nor do I discover more to be urged in his defence, than that though his skill in divination determined him to leave Troy, jet that he joined himself to Agamemnon and his army by unconstrained good-will; and though he came as a fugitive escaping from destruction, yet his services after his reception, being voluntary and important, deserved reward. This argument is not regularly and distinctly deduced, but this is, I think, the best explication that it will yet admit. III.iii.4 (78,6) through the sight I bear in things, to Jove] This passage in all the modern editions is silently depraved, and printed thus: --through the sight I bear in things to come. The word is so printed that nothing but the sense can determine whether it be _love_ or _Jove_. I believe that the editors read it as _love_, and therefore made the alteration to obtain some meaning. III.iii.28 (79,7) he shall buy my daughter; and her presence Shall quite strike off all service I have done, In most accepted pain] Sir T. HANMER, and Dr. WARBURTON after him, read, In most accepted _pay_. They do not seem to understand the construction of the passage. _Her presence_, says Calchas, shall strike off, or recompence _the service I have done_, even in these _labours_ which were _most accepted_. III.iii.44 (80,8) derision med'cinable] All the modern editions have _decision_. The old copies are apparently right. The folio in this place agrees with the quarto, so that the corruption was at first merely accidental. III.iii.96 (82,9) how dearly ever parted] I do not think that in the word _parted_ is included any idea of _division_; it means, _however excellently endowed_, with however _dear_ or precious _parts_ enriched or adorned. III.iii.113 (82,2) but the author's drift:/Who, in his circumstance] In the detail or circumduction of his argument. III.iii.125 (83,3) The unknovn Ajax] Ajax, who has abilities which were never brought into view or use. III.iii.134 (83,4) How some men creep in skittish Fortune's hall, While others play the idiots in her eyes!] To _creep_ is to _keep out of sight_ from whatever motive. Some men _keep out of notice in the hall of Fortune_, while others, though they but _play the idiot_, are always _in her eye_, in the way of distinction. III.iii.137 (83,5) feasting] Folio. The quarto has _fasting_. Either word may bear a good sense. III.iii.145 (84,6) Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back] This speech is printed in all the modern editions with such deviations from the old copy, as exceed the lawful power of an editor. III.iii.171 (85,2) for beauty, wit,/High birth, vigour of bone, desert in service] The modern editors read, For beauty, wit, high birth, desert in service, &c. I do not deny but the changes produce a more easy lapse of numbers, but they do not exhibit the work of Shakespeare, (see 1765, VII, 435, 2) III.iii.178 (85,3) And shew to dust, that is a little gilt, More laud than gilt o'er-dusted] [T: give to ... laud than they will give to gold] This emendation has been received by the succeeding editors, but recedes too far from the copy. There is no other corruption than such as Shakespeare's incorrectness often resembles. He has omitted the article _to_ in the second line: he should have written, _More laud than_ to _gilt o'er-dusted_. (1773) (rev. 1778, IX, 93, 7) III.iii.189 (86,4) Made emulous missions] The meaning of _mission_ seems to be _dispatches_ of the gods _from heaven_ about mortal business, such as often happened at the siege of Troy. III.iii.197 (86,5) Knows almost every grain of Pluto's gold] For this elegant line the quarto has only, Knows almost every _thing_. III.iii.201 (86,7) (with which relation/Durst never meddle)] There is a secret administration of affairs, which no _history_ was ever able to discover. III.iii.230 (87,9) Omission to do what is necessary Seals a commission to a blank of danger] By _neglecting_ our duty we _commission_ or enable that _danger_ of dishonour, which could not reach us before, to lay hold upon us. III.iii.254 (88,1) with a politic regard] With a _sly look_. IV.i.11 (91,1) During all question of the gentle truce] I once thought to read, During all _quiet_ of the gentle truce. But I think _question_ means intercourse, interchange of conversation. IV.i.36 (92,4) His purpose meets you] I bring you his meaning and his orders. IV.i.65 (93,6) Both merits pois'd, each weighs no less nor more, But he as he, the heavier for a whore] I read, But he as he, _each_ heavier for a whore. _Heavy_ is taken both for _weighty_, and for _sad_ or _miserable_. The quarto reads, But he as he, _the_ heavier for a whore. I know not whether the thought is not that of a wager. It must then be read thus: But he as he. Which heavier for a whore? That is, _for a whore_ staked down, _which is the heavier_. IV.i.78 (94,7) We'll not commend what we intend to sell] I believe the meaning is only this: though you practise the buyer's art, we will not practise the seller's. We intend to sell Helen dear, yet will not commend her. IV.ii.62 (96,4) My matter is so rash] My business is so _hasty_ and so abrupt. IV.ii.74 (97,6) the secrets of neighbour Pandar] [Pope had emended the Folio's "secrets of nature" to the present reading] Mr. Pope's reading is in the old quarto. So great is the necessity of collation. IV.iv.3 (99,1) The grief] The folio reads, The grief is fine, full perfect, that I taste, And no less in a sense as strong As that which causeth it.-- The quarto otherwise, The grief is fine, full, perfect, that I taste, And _violenteth_ in a sense as strong As that which causeth it.-- _Violenteth_ is a word with which I am not acquainted, yet perhaps it may be right. The reading of the text is without authority. IV.iv.65 (101,3) For I will throw my glove to death] That is, I will _challenge_ death himself in defence of thy fidelity. IV.iv.105 (103,5) While others fish, with craft, for great opinion, I, with great truth, catch mere simplicity.] The meaning, I think, is, _while others_, by their art, gain high estimation, I, by honesty, obtain a plain simple approbation. IV.iv.109 (103,6) the moral of my wit/Is, _plain and true_] That is, the _governing principle of my understanding_; but I rather think we should read, --the _motto_ of my wit Is, plain and true,-- IV.iv.114 (103,7) possess thee what she is] I will _make thee fully understand_. This sense of the word _possess_ is frequent in our author. IV.iv.134 (104,9) I'll answer to my list] This, I think, is right, though both the old copies read _lust_. IV.v.8 (105,1) bias cheek] Swelling out like the bias of a bowl. IV.v.37 (106,3) I'll make my match to live./The kiss you take is better than you give] I will make such _bargains_ as I may live by, _such as may bring me profit_, therefore will not take a worse kiss than I give. IV.v.48 (107,4) Why, beg then] For the sake of rhime we should read, Why beg _two_. If you think kisses worth begging, beg more than one. IV.v.52 (107,5) Never's my day, and then a kiss of you] I once gave both these lines to Cressida. She bids Ulysses beg a kiss; he asks that he may have it, When Helen is a maid again-- She tells him that then he shall have it: When Helen is a maid again-- _Cre._ I am your debtor, claim it when 'tis due; Never's my day, and then a kiss _for_ you. But I rather think that Ulysses means to slight her, and that the present reading is right. IV.v.57 (107,6) motive of her body] _Motive_ for _part that contributes to motion_. IV.v.59 (107,7) a coasting] An amorous address; courtship. IV.v.62 (107,8) sluttish spoils of opportunity] Corrupt wenches, of whose chastity every opportunity may make a prey. IV.v.73 (108,9) _Aga._ 'Tis done like Hector, but securely done] [Theobald gave the speech to Achilles] As the old copies agree, I have made no change. IV.v.79 (108,1) Valour and pride excel themselves in Hector] Shakespeare's thought is not exactly deduced. Nicety of expression is not his character. The cleaning is plain, "Valour (says AEneas) is in Hector greater than valour in other men, and pride in Hector is less than pride in other men. So that Hector is distinguished by the excellence of having pride less than other pride, and valour more than other valour." IV.v.103 (109,2) an impair thought] A thought suitable to the dignity of his character. This word I should have changed to _impure_, were I not over-powered by the unanimity of the editors, and concurrence of the old copies, (rev. 1778, IX, 120, 8) IV.v.105 (109,3) Hector in his blaze of wrath subscribes/To tender objects] That is, _yields, gives_ way. IV.v.112 (110,4) thus translate him to me] Thus _explain his character_. IV.v.142 (111,5) _Hect._ Not Neoptolemus so mirable] [W: Neoptolemus's sire irascible] After all this contention it is difficult to imagine that the critic believes _mirable_ to have been changed to _irascible_. I should sooner read, Not Neoptolemus th' admirable; as I know not whether _mirable_ can be found in any other place. The correction which the learned commentator gave to Hanmer, Not Neoptolemus' _sire_ so mirable, as it was modester than this, was preferable to it. But nothing is more remote from justness of sentiment, than for Hector to characterise Achilles as the father of Neoptolemus, a youth that had not yet appeared in arms, and whose name was therefore much less knovn than his father's. My opinion is, that by Neoptolemus the author meant Achilles himself; and remembering that the son was Pyrrhus Neoptolemus, considered Neoptolemus as the nomen gentilitium, and thought the father was likewise Achilles Neoptolemus. IV.v.147 (112,6) We'll answer it] That is, answer the _expectance_. IV.v.275 (117,5) Beat loud the tabourines] For this the quarto and the latter editions have, To taste your bounties.-- The reading which I have given from the folio seems chosen at the revision, to avoid the repetition of the word _bounties_ [273]. V.i.5 (118,1) Thou crusty batch of nature] _Batch_ is changed by Theobald to _botch_, and the change is justified by a pompous note, which discovers that he did not know the word _batch_. What is more strange, Hanmer has followed him. _Batch_ is any thing _baked_. V.i.19 (119,3) Male-varlet] HANMER reads _male-harlot_, plausibly enough, except that it seems too plain to require the explanation which Patroclus demands. V.i.23 (119,4) cold palsies] This catalogue of loathsome maladies ends in the folio at _cold palsies_. This passage, as it stands, is in the quarto: the retrenchment was in my opinion judicious. It may be remarked, though it proves nothing, that, of the few alterations made by Milton in the second edition of his wonderful poem, one was, an enlargement of the enumeration of diseases. V.i.32 (119,5) you ruinous butt; you whoreson indistinguishable cur] Patroclos reproaches Thersites with deformity, with having one part crowded into another. V.i.35 (119,6) thou idle immaterial skeyn of sley'd silk] All the terms used by Thersites of Patroclus, are emblematically expressive of flexibility, compliance, and mean officiousness. V.i.40 (119,7) Out, gall!] HANMER reads _nut-gall_, which answers well enough to _finch-egg_; it has already appeared, that our author thought the _nut-gall_ the bitter gall. He is called _nut_, from the conglobation of his form; but both the copies read, _Out, gall_! V.i.41 (120,8) Finch egg!] Of this reproach I do not know the exact meaning. I suppose he means to call him _singing bird_, as implying an useless favourite, and yet more, something more worthless, a singing bird in the egg, or generally, a slight thing easily crushed. V.i.64 (121,2) forced with wit] Stuffed with wit. A term of cookery.--In this speech I do not well understand what is meant by _loving quails_. V.i.73 (121,3) spirits and fires!] This Thersites speaks upon the first sight of the distant lights. V.ii.11 (124,1) And any man may sing her, if he can take her cliff] That is, her _key_. _Clef_, French. V.ii.41 (125,2) You flow to great distraction] So the moderns. The folio has, You _flow_ to great _distraction_.-- The quarto, You _flow_ to great _destruction_.-- I read, You _show too_ great distraction.-- V.ii.108 (128,7) But with my heart the other eye doth see] I think it should be read thus, But _my heart with_ the other eye doth see. V.ii.113 (128,8) A proof of strength she could not publish more] She could not publish a stronger proof. V.ii.125 (129,1) I cannot conjure, Trojan] That is, I cannot raise spirits in the form of Cressida. V.ii.141 (129,2) If there be rule in unity itself] I do not well understand what is meant by _rule in unity_. By _rule_ our author, in this place as in others, intends _virtuous restraint, regularity of manners, command of passions and appetites_. In Macbeth, He cannot buckle his distemper'd cause Within the belt of rule.-- But I know not how to apply the word in this sense to _unity_. I read, If there be rule in _purity_ itself, Or, If there be rule in _verity_ itself. Such alterations would not offend the reader, who saw the state of the old editions, in which, for instance, a few lines lower, _the almighty sun_ is called _the almighty fenne_.--Yet the words may at last mean, If there be _certainty_ in _unity_, if it be a _rule_ that _one is one_. V.ii.144 (130,3) Bi-fold authority!] This is the reading of the quarto. The folio gives us, _By foul_ authority!-- There is _madness_ in that disquisition in which a man reasons at once _for_ and _against himself upon authority_ which he knows _not to be valid_. The quarto is right. V.ii.144 (130,4) where reason can revolt Without perdition, and loss assume all reason Without revolt] The words _loss_ and _perdition_ are used in their common sense, but they mean the _loss_ or _perdition_ of _reason_. V.ii.157 (131,6) And with another knot five-finger-tied] A knot tied by giving her hand to Diomed. V.ii.160 (131,7) o'er-eaten faith] Vows which she has already swallowed _once over_. We still say of a faithless man, that he has _eaten his words_. V.ii.161 (131,8) _Ulyss._ May worthy Troilus be half attach'd With that which here his passion doth express!] Can Troilus really feel on this occasion half of what he utters? A question suitable to the calm Ulysses. V.iii.21 (133,2) For us to count we give what's gain'd by thefts, And rob in the behalf of charity] This is so oddly confused in the folio, that I transcribe it as a specimen of incorrectness: --do not count it holy, To hurt by being just; it were as lawful _For we would count give much to as violent thefts_, And rob in the behalf of charity. V.iii.23 (133,3) _Cas._ It is the purpose that makes strong the vow; But vows to every purpose must not hold] The mad prophetess speaks here with all the coolness and judgment of a skilful casuist. "The essence of a lawful vow, is a lawful purpose, and the vow of which the end is wrong must not be regarded as cogent." V.iii.27 (134,4) Life every man holds dear; but the dear man Holds honour far more precious dear than life] _Valuable_ man. The modern editions read, --_brave_ man. The repetition of the word is in our author's manner. V.iii.37 (134,5) Brother, you have a vice of mercy in you, Which better fits a lion, than a man] The traditions and stories of the darker ages abounded with examples of the lion's generosity. Upon the supposition that these acts of clemency were true, Troilus reasons not improperly, that to spare against reason, by mere instinct of pity, became rather a generous beast than a wise man. V.x.33 (137,9) Hence, broker lacquey!] For _brothel_, the folio reads _brother_, erroneously for _broker_, as it stands at the end of the play where the lines are repeated. Of _brother_ the following editors made _brothel_. V.iv.18 (138,2) the Grecians begin to proclaim barbarism, and policy grows into an ill opinion] To set up the authority of ignorance to declare that they will be governed by policy no longer. V.vi.11 (142,1) you cogging Greeks] This epithet has no particular propriety in this place, but the author had heard of _Graecia Mendax_. V.vi.29 (144,3) I'll frush it] The word _frush_ I never found elsewhere, nor understand it. HANMER explains it, to _break_ or _bruise_. V.viii.7 (146,1) Even with the vail and darkening of the sun] The _vail_ is, I think, the _sinking_ of the sun; not _veil_ or _cover_. (149) General Observation. This play is more correctly written than most of Shakespeare's compositions, but it is not one of those in which either the extent of his views or elevation of his fancy is fully displayed. As the story abounded with materials, he has exerted little invention; but he has diversified his characters with great variety, and preserved them with great exactness. His vicious characters sometimes disgust, but cannot corrupt, for both Cressida and Pandarus are detested and contemned. The comic characters seem to have been the favourites of the writer; they are of the superficial kind, and exhibit more of manners than nature; but they are copiously filled and powerfully impressed. Shakespeare has in his story followed, for the greater part, the old book of Caxton, which was then very popular; but the character of Thersites, of which it makes no mention, is a proof that this play was written after Chapman had published his version of _Homer_. CYMBELINE I.i.1 (153,2) You do not meet a man, but frowns: our bloods No more obey the heavens, than our courtiers' Still seen, as does the king's] [W: brows/No more] This passage is so difficult, that commentators may differ concerning it without animosity or shame. Of the two emendations proposed, Hanmer's is the more licentious; but he makes the sense clear, and leaves the reader an easy passage. Dr. Warburton has corrected with more caution, but less improvement: his reasoning upon his own reading is so obscure and perplexed, that I suspect some injury of the press.--I am now to tell my opinion, which is, that the lines stand as they were originally written, and that a paraphrase, such as the licentious and abrupt expressions of our author too frequently require, will make emendation unnecessary. _We do not meet a man but frowns; our bloods_--our countenances, which, in popular speech, are said to be regulated by the temper of the blood,--_no more obey_ the laws of _heaven_,--which direct us to appear what we really are,--_than our courtiers_;--that is, than the_ bloods of our courtiers_; but our bloods, like theirs,--_still seem, as doth the king's_. I.i.25 (155,3) I do extend him, Sir, within himself] I extend him within himself: my praise, however _extensive_, is _within_ his merit. I.i.46 (156,4) liv'd in court,/(Which rare it is to do) most prais'd, most lov'd] This encomium is high and artful. To be at once in any great degree _loved_ and _praised_ is truly _rare_. I.i.49 (156,5) A glass that feated them] _A glass that featur'd them_] Such is the reading in all the modern editions, I know not by whom first substituted, for A glass that _feared_ them;-- I have displaced _featur'd_, though it can plead long prescription, because I am inclined to think that _feared_ has the better title. _Mirrour_ was a favourite word in that age for an _example_, or a _pattern_, by noting which the manners were to be formed, as dress is regulated by looking in a glass. When Don Bellianis is stiled _The Mirrour of Knighthood_, the idea given is not that of a glass in which every knight may behold his own resemblance, but an example to be viewed by knights as often as a glass is looked upon by girls, to be viewed, that they may know, not what they are, but what they ought to be. Such a glass may _fear the more mature_, as displaying excellencies which they have arrived at maturity without attaining. To _fear_ is here, as in other places, to _fright_. [I believe Dr. Johnson is mistaken as to the reading of the folio, which is _feated_. The page of the copy which he consulted is very faintly printed; but I have seen another since, which plainly gives this reading. STEEVENS.] If _feated_ be the right word, it must, I think, be explained thus; _a glass that_ formed _them_; a model, by the contemplation and inspection of which they formed their manners. (see 1765, VII, 260, 4) I.i.86 (158,1) I something fear my father's wrath; but nothing (Always reserv'd my holy duty) what His rage can do on me] I say I do not fear my father, so far as I may say it without breach of duty. I.i.101 (158,2) Though ink be made of gall] Shakespeare, even in this poor conceit, has confounded the vegetable _galls_ used in ink, with the animal _gall_, supposed to be bitter. I.i.132 (160,4) then heapest/A year's age on me] Dr. WARBURTON reads, A _yare_ age on me. It seems to me, even from SKINNER, whom he cites, that _yare_ is used only as a personal quality. Nor is the authority of Skinner sufficient, without some example, to justify the alteration. HANMER's reading is better, but rather too far from the original copy: --thou heapest _many_ A year's age on me. I read, --thou heap'st _Years, ages_ on me. I.i.135 (160,5) a touch more rare/Subdues all pangs, all fears] _Rare_ is used often for _eminently good_; but I do not remember any passage in which it stands for _eminently bad_. May we read, --a touch more _near_. _Cura deam_ propior luctusque domesticus angit. _Ovid_. Shall we try again, --a touch more _rear_. _Crudum vulnus._ But of this I know not any example. There is yet another interpretation, which perhaps will remove the difficulty. _A touch more rare_, may mean _a nobler passion_. I.i.140 (161,6) a puttock] A _kite_. I.ii.31 (163,1) her beauty and her brain go not together] I believe the lord means to speak a sentence, "Sir, as I told you always, beauty and brain go not together." I.ii.32 (164,2) She's a good sign] [W: shine] There is acuteness enough in this note, yet I believe the poet meant nothing by _sign_, but _fair outward_ shew. I.iii.8 (165,2) for so long As he could make me with this eye, or ear, Distinguish him from others] [W: this eye] Sir T. HANMER alters it thus: --for so long As he could _mark_ me with his eye, or _I_ Distinguish-- The reason of Hanmer's reading was, that Pisanio describes no address made to the _ear_. I.iii.18 (165,3) till the diminution/Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle] _The diminution of space_, is _the diminution_ of which _space_ is the cause. Trees are killed by a blast of lightning, that is, by _blasting_, not _blasted_ lightning. I.iii.24 (166,4) next vantage] Next _opportunity_. I.iii.37 (166,6) Shakes all our buds from growing] A bud, without any distinct idea, whether of flower or fruit, is a natural representation of any thing incipient or immature; and the buds of flowers, if flowers are meant, _grow_ to flowers, as the buds of fruits _grow_ to fruits. I.iv.9 (167,1) makes him] In the sense in which we say, This will _make_ or _mar_ you. I.iv.16 (167,2) words him, I doubt not, a great deal from the matter] Makes the description of him very distant from the truth. I.iv.20 (167,3) under her colours] Under her banner; by her influence. I.iv.47 (168,6) I was then a young traveller; rather shunn'd to go even with what I heard, than in my every action to be guided by others' experiences] This is expressed with a kind of fantastical perplexity. He means, I was then willing to take for my direction the experience of others, more than such intelligence as I had gathered myself. I.iv,58 (169,7) 'Twas a contention in publick, which may, without contradiction, suffer the report] Which, undoubtedly, may be publickly told. I.iv.73 (169,8) tho' I profess myself her adorer, not her friend] Though I have not the common obligations of a lover to his mistress, and regard her not with the fondness of a friend, but the reverence of an adorer. I.iv.77 (169,9) If she went before others I have seen, as that diamond of yours out-lustres many I have beheld, I could not believe she excelled many] [W: could believe] I should explain the sentence thus: "Though your lady excelled, as much as your diamond, _I could not believe she excelled many_; that is, I too _could_ yet _believe that there are_ many _whom_ she did not excel." But I yet think Dr. Warburton right. (1773) I.iv.104 (171,l) to convince the honour of my mistress] [_Convince_, for overcome. WARBURTON.] So in _Macbeth_, --their malady _convinces_ "The great essay of art." I.iv.124 (171,2) abus'd] _Deceiv'd._ I.iv.134 (172,3) approbation] Proof. I.iv.148 (172,4) You are a friend, and therein the wiser. If you buy ladies' flesh at a million a dram, you cannot preserve it from tainting. But, I see, you have some religion in you, that you fear] _You are a friend_ to the lady, _and therein the wiser_, as you will not expose her to hazard; and that you _fear_, is a proof of your _religious_ fidelity. (see 1765, VII, 276, 1) I.iv.l60 (173,5) _Iach._ If I bring you no sufficient testimony that I have enjoy'd the dearest bodily part of your mistress, my ten thousand ducats are yours, so is my diamond too: if I come off, and leave her in such honour as you have trust in, she your jewel, this your jewel, and my gold are yours-- _Post._ I embrace these conditions] [W: bring you sufficient] I once thought this emendation right, but am now of opinion, that Shakespeare intended that Iachimo, having gained his purpose, should designedly drop the invidious and offensive part of the wager, and to flatter Posthumus, dwell long upon the more pleasing part of the representation. One condition of a wager implies the other, and there is no need to mention both. I.v.18 (176,1) Other conclusions] Other _experiments_. _I commend_, says WALTON, _an angler that tries_ conclusions, and improves his art. I.v.23 (175,2) Your highness/Shall from this practice but make hard your heart] Thare is in this passage nothing that much requires a note, yet I cannot forbear to push it forward into observation. The thought would probably have been more amplified, had our author lived to be shocked with such experiments as have been published in later times, by a race of men that have practised tortures without pity, and related then without shame, and are yet suffered to erect their heads among human beings. "Cape saxa manu, cape robora, pastor." I.v.33-44 (175,3) I do not like her] This soliloquy is very inartificial. The speaker is under no strong pressure of thought; he is neither resolving, repenting, suspecting, nor deliberating, and yet makes a long speech to tell himself what himself knows. I.v.54 (176,4) to shift his being] To change his abode. I.v.58 (118,5) What shalt thou expect,/To be depender on a thing that leans?] That _inclines_ towards its fall. I.v.80 (177,7) Of leigers for her sweet] A _leiger_ ambassador, is one that resides at a foreign court to promote his master's interest. I.vi.7 (178,9) Bless'd be those, How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills, Which seasons comfort] I am willing to comply with any meaning that can be extorted from the present text, rather than change it, yet will propose, but with great diffidence, a slight alteration: --Bless'd be those, How mean soe'er, that have their honest wills, _With reason's_comfort.-- Who gratify their innocent wishes with reasonable enjoyments. I.vi.35 (180,2) and the twinn'd stones/Upon the number'd beach?] I know not well how to regulate this passage. _Number'd_ is perhaps _numerous_. _Twinn'd stones_ I do not understand. _Twinn'd shells_, or _pairs of shells_, are very common. For _twinn'd_, we might read _twin'd_; that is, _twisted, convolved_; but this sense is more applicable to shells than to stones. I.vi.44 (181,3) Sluttery, to such neat excellence oppos'd, Should make desire vomit emptiness, Not so allur'd to feed] [i.e. that appetite, which is not allured to feed on such excellence, can have no stomach at all; but, though empty, must nauseate every thing. WARB.] I explain this passage in a sense almost contrary. Iachimo, in this counterfeited rapture, has shewn how the _eyes_ and the _judgment_ would determine in favour of Imogen, comparing her with the present mistress of Posthumus, and proceeds to say, that appetite too would give the same suffrage. _Desire_, says he, when it approached _sluttery_, and considered it in comparison with _such neat excellence_, would not only be _not so allured to feed_, but, seized with a fit of loathing, _would vomit emptiness_, would feel the convulsions of disgust, though, being unfed, it had nothing to eject. [Tyrwhitt: vomit, emptiness ... allure] This is not ill conceived; but I think my own explanation right. _To vomit emptiness_ is, in the language of poetry, to feel the convulsions of eructation without plenitude. (1773) I.vi.54 (182,4) He's strange, and peevish] He is a foreigner, easily fretted. I.vi.97 (184,5) timely knowing] Rather timely _known_. I.vi.99 (184,6) What both you spur and stop] What it is that at once incites you to speak, and restrains you from it. [I think Imogen means to enquire what is that news, that intelligence, or information, you profess to bring, and yet with-hold: at least, I think Dr. JOHNSON's explanation a mistaken one, for Imogen's request supposes Iachimo an agent, not a patient. HAWKINS.] I think my explanation true. (see 1765, VII, 286, 7) I.vi.106 (184,7) join gripes with hands Made hard with hourly falshood (falshood as With labour) then lye peeping in an eye] The old edition reads, --join gripes with hands Made hard with hourly falshood (_falshood _ as With labour) then by peeping in an eye, &c. I read, --then _lye_ peeping-- The author of the present regulation of the text I do not know, but have suffered it to stand, though not right. _Hard with falshood_ is, hard by being often griped with frequent change of hands. I.vi.122 (185,8) With tomboys, hir'd with that self-exhibition/Which your own coffers yield!] _Gross strumpets_, hired with the _very pension_ which you allow your husband. I.vi.152 (186,9) As in a Romish stew] The stews of Rome are deservedly censured by the reformed. This is one of many instances in which Shakespeare has mingled in the manners of distant ages in this play. II.i.2 (188,1) kiss'd the jack upon an up-cast] He is describing his fate at bowls. The _jack_ is the small bowl at which the others are aimed. He who is nearest to it wins. _To kiss the jack_ is a state of great advantage. (1773) II.i.15 (189,2) 2 _Lord_. No, my lord; nor crop the ears of them. [_Aside_.] This, I believe, should stand thus: 1 _Lord_. No, my lord. 2 _Lord_. Nor crop the ears of them, [_Aside_. II.i.26 (189,3) you crow, cock, with your comb on] The allusion is to a fool's cap, which hath a _comb_ like a cock's. II.i.29 (189,4) every companion] The use of _companion_ was the same as of _fellow_ now. It was a word of contempt. II.ii.12 (191,1) our Tarquin] The speaker is an Italian. II.ii.13 (191,2) Did softly press the rushes] It was the custom in the time of our author to strew chambers with rushes, as we now cover them with carpets. The practice is mentioned in _Caius de Ephemera Britannica_. II.iii.24 (194,2) _His steeds to water at those springs On chalic'd flowers that lies_] Hanmer reads, Each _chalic'd_ flower supplies; to escape a false concord: but correctness must not be obtained by such licentious alterations. It may be noted, that the _cup_ of a flower is called _calix_, whence _chalice_. II.iii.28 (195,3) _With, every thing that pretty bin_] is very properly restored by Hanmer, for _pretty is_; but he too grammatically reads, With _all the things_ that pretty _bin_. II.iii.102 (197,5) one of your great knowing/Should learn, being taught, forbearance] i.e. A man _who is taught forbearance should learn it_. II.iii.111 (198,7) so verbal] Is, so _verbose_, so full of talk. II.iii.118-129 (199,8) The contract you pretend with that base wretch] Here Shakespeare has not preserved, with his common nicety, the uniformity of character. The speech of Cloten is rough and harsh, but certainly not the talk of one, Who can't take two from twenty, for his heart, And leave eighteen.-- His argument is just and well enforced, and its prevalence is allowed throughout all civil nations: as for rudeness, he seems not to be mach undermatched. II.iii.124 (199,9) in self-figur'd knot] [This is nonsense. We should read, --SELF-FINGER'D _knot_; WARBURTON.] But why nonsense? A _self-figured knot_ is a knot formed by yourself. (see 1765, VII, 301, 8) II.iv.71 (204,4) And Cydnus swell'd above the banks, or for/The press of boats, or pride] [This is an agreeable ridicule on poetical exaggeration, which gives human passions to inanimate things: and particularly, upon what he himself writes in the foregoing play on this very subject: "--And made The water, which they beat, to follow faster, As amorous of their strokes." WARBURTON.] It is easy to sit down and give our author meanings which he never had. Shakespeare has no great right to censure poetical exaggeration, of which no poet is more frequently guilty. That he intended to ridicule his own lines is very uncertain, when there are no means of knowing which of the two plays was written first. The commentator has contented himself to suppose, that the foregoing play in his book was the play of earlier composition. Nor is the reasoning better than the assertion. If the language of Iachimo be such as shews him to be mocking the credibility of his hearer, his language is very improper, when his business was to deceive. But the truth is, that his language is such as a skilful villain would naturally use, a mixture of airy triumph and serious deposition. His gaiety shews his seriousness to be without anxiety, and his seriousness proves his gaiety to be without art. II.iv.83 (205,5) never saw I figures/So likely to report themselves] So near to speech. The Italians call a portrait, when the likeness is remarkable, a _speaking picture_. II.iv.84 (205,6) the cutter/Was as another nature, dumb, out-went her;/Motion and breath left out] [W: done; out-went her.] This emendation I think needless. The meaning is this, The _sculptor_ was as _nature_, but as _nature dumb_; he gave every thing that nature gives, but _breath_ and _motion_. In _breath_ is included _speech_. II.iv.91 (205,7) _Post._ This is her honour!] [T: What's this t'her honour?] This emendation has been followed by both the succeeding editors, but I think it must be rejected. The expression is ironical. Iachimo relates many particulars, to which Posthumus answers with impatience, This is her honour! That is, And the attainment of this knowledge is to pass for the corruption of her honour. II.iv.95 (206,8) if you can/Be pale] If you can forbear to flush your cheek with rage. II.iv.110 (207,9) The vows of women Of no more bondage be, to where they are made, Than they are to their virtues] The love vowed by women no more abides with him to whom it is vowed, than women adhere to their virtue. II.iv.127 (207,2) The cognizance] The badge; the token; the visible proof. III.i.26 (211,2) and his shipping,/(Poor ignorant baubles!) on our terrible seas] [_Ignorant_, for _of no use_. WARB.] Rather, _unacquainted_ with the nature of our boisterous seas. III.i.51 (212,3) against all colour] Without any pretence of right. III.i.73 (213,5) keep at utterance] [i.e. At extreme distance. WARB.] More properly, in a state of hostile defiance, and deadly opposition. III.i.73 (213,6) I am perfect] I am well informed. So, in Macbeth, "--in your state of honour _I am perfect_." (see 1765, VII, 314,7) III.ii.4 (214,2) What false Italian (As poisonous tongu'd as handed)] About Shakespeare's time the practice of poisoning was very common in Italy, and the suspicion of Italian poisons yet more common. III.ii.9 (214,3) take in some virtue] To _take in_ a town, is to _conquer_ it. III.ii.34 (215,6) For it doth physic love] That is, grief for absence, keeps love in health and vigour. III.ii.47 (215,8) _loyal to his vow, and your increasing in love_] I read, Loyal to his vow and _you_, increasing in love. III.ii.79 (216,1) A franklin's housewife] A _franklin_ is literally a _freeholder_, with a small estate, neither _villain_ nor _vassal_. III.ii.80 (217,2) I see before me, man, nor here, nor here, Nor what ensues; but have a fog in them, That I cannot look thro'] This passage may, in my opinion, be very easily understood, without any emendation. The lady says, "I can see neither one way nor other, before me nor behind me, but all the ways are covered with an impenetrable fog." There are objections insuperable to all that I can propose, and since reason can give me no counsel, I will resolve at once to follow my inclination. III.iii.5 (218,2) giants may jet through/And keep their impious turbans on] The idea of a _giant_ was, among the readers of romances, who were almost all the readers of those times, always confounded with that of a Saracen. III.iii.16 (218,3) This service it not service, so being done,/But being so allow'd] In war it is not sufficient to do duty well; the advantage rises not from the act, but the acceptance of the act. III.iii.23 (219,5) Richer, than doing nothing for a babe] I have always suspected that the right reading of this passage is what I had not in my former edition the confidence to propose: Richer, than doing nothing for a _brabe_. _Brabium_ is a badge of honour, or the ensign of an honour, or any thing worn as a mask of dignity. The word was strange to the editors as it will be to the reader: they therefore changed it to _babe_; and I am forced to propose it without the support of any authority. _Brabium_ is a word found in Holyoak's Dictionary, who terms it a _reward_. Cooper, in his _Thesaurus_, defines it to be a _prize, or reward for any game_. (1773) (rev. 1778, IX, 248, 8) III.iii.35 (219,6) To stride a limit] To overpass his bound. III.iii.35 (220,7) What should we speak of,/When we are as old as you?] This dread of an old age, unsupplied with matter for discourse and meditation, is a sentiment natural and noble. No state can be more destitute than that of him who, when the delights of sense forsake him, has no pleasures of the mind. III.iii.82 (221,9) tho' trained up thus meanly I' the cave, wherein they bow, their thoughts do hit The roof of palaces] [W: wherein they bow] HANMER reads, I' the cave, _here in this brow_.-- I think the reading is this: I' the cave, wherein the BOW, &c. That is, they are trained up in the _cave, where their thoughts_ in hitting the _bow_, or arch of their habitation, _hit the roofs of palaces_. In other words, though their condition is low, their thoughts are high. The sentence is at last, as THEOBALD remarks, abrupt, but perhaps no less suitable to Shakespeare. I know not whether Dr. WARBURTON's conjecture be not better than mine. III.iii.101 (223,2) I stole these babes] Shakespeare seems to intend Belarius for a good character, yet he makes him forget the injury which he has done to the young princes, whom he has robbed of a kingdom only to rob their father of heirs.--The latter part of this soliloquy is very inartificial, there being no particular reason why Belarius should now tell to himself what he could not know better by telling it. III.iv.15 (224,2) drug-damn'd Italy] This is another allusion to Italian poisons. III.iv.39 (225,4) Kings, queens, and states] Persons of highest rank. III.iv.52 (225,6) Some jay of Italy,/Whose mother was her painting] _Some jay of Italy_, made by art the creature, not of nature, but of painting. In this sense _painting_ may be not improperly termed her _mother_. (see 1765, VII, 325, 9) III.iv.63 (226,7) So thou, Posthumus,/Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men] HANMER reads, --lay the _level_-- without any necessity. III.iv.97 (228,1) That now thou tir'st on] A hawk is said to _tire_ upon that which he pecks; from _tirer_, French. III.iv.104 (228,2) I'll wake mine eye-balls blind first. _Imo._ Wherefore then] This is the old reading. The modern editions for _wake_ read _break_, and supply the deficient syllable by _ah_, wherefore. I read, I'll wake mine eye-balls _out_ first, or, _blind_, first. III.iv.111 (228,3) To be unbent] To have thy bow unbent, alluding to a hunter. III.iv.146 (229,4) Now, if you could wear a mind Dark as your fortune is, and but disguise That, which, to appear itself, must not yet be, But by self-danger] To wear a dark mind, is to carry a mind impenetrable to the search of others. _Darkness_ applied to the _mind_ is _secrecy_, applied to the _fortune_ is _obscurity_. The next lines are obscure. _You must_, says Pisanio, _disguise that_ greatness, _which, to appear_ hereafter _in its proper form_, cannot yet appear without great _danger to itself_. (see 1765, VII, 329, 6) III.iv.149 (230,5) full of view] With opportunities of examining your affairs with your own eyes. III.iv.155 (230,6) Though peril to my modesty, not death on't,/I would adventure] I read, _Through_ peril-- _I would for such means adventure_ through _peril of my modesty_; I would risque every thing but real dishonour. III.iv.162 (230,7) nay, you must Forget that rarest treasure of your cheek; Exposing it (but, oh, the harder heart! Alack, no remedy)] I think it very natural to reflect in this distress on the cruelty of Posthumus. Dr. WARBURTON proposes to read, --the harder _hap_!-- III.iv.177 (231,8) which you'll make him know] This is HANMER's reading. The common books have it, --which _will_ make him know. Mr. THEOBALD, in one of bit long notes, endeavours to prove, that it should be, --which will make him _so_. He is followed by Dr. WARBURTON. III.iv.184 (231,9) we'll even/All that good time will give us] We'll make our work _even_ with our _time_; we'll do what time will allow. III.v.71 (235,2) And that she hath all courtly parts more exquisite Than lady, ladies, woman; from every one The best she hath] [The second line is intolerable nonsense. It should be read and pointed thus, Than lady ladies; _winning_ from each one. WARBURTON.] I cannot perceive the second line to be intolerable, or to be nonsense. The speaker only rises in his ideas. _She has all courtly parts_, says he, _more exquisite than_ any _lady_, than all _ladies_, than all _womankind_. Is this nonsense? III.v.101 (236,3) _Pia._ Or this, or perish] These words, I think, belong to Cloten, who, requiring the paper, says, Let's see't: I will pursue her Even to Augustus' throne. Or this, or perish. Then Pisanio giving the paper, says to himself, She's far enough, &c. III.vi.12 (239,1) To lapse in fullness/Is sorer, than to lye for need] Is a _greater_, or _heavier_ crime. III.vi.23 (239,3) If any thing that's civil, speak; if savage,/Take, or lend] [W: Take 'or 't end.] I suppose the emendation proposed will not easily be received; it is strained and obscure, and the objection against Hanmer's reading is likewise very strong. I question whether, after the words, _if savage_, a line be not lost. I can offer nothing better than to read, --Ho! who's here? If any thing that's civil, _take or lend_, If savage, _speak_. If you are _civilised_ and _peaceable, take_ a price for what I want, or _lend_ it for a future recompence; if you are _rough inhospitable_ inhabitants of the mountain, _speak_, that I may know my state. III.vi.77 (242,4) then had my prize/Been less; and so more equal ballasting] HANMER reads plausibly, but without necessity, _price_, for _prize_, and _balancing_, for _ballasting_. He is followed by Dr. WARBURTON. The meaning is, Had I been a less prize, I should not have been too heavy for Posthumus. III.vi.86 (243,5) That nothing-gift of differing multitudes] [T: deferring] He is followed by Sir T. HANMER and Dr. WARBURTON; but I do not see why _differing_ may not be a general epithet, and the expression equivalent to the _many-headed_ rabble. III.vii.8 (244,2) and to you, the tribunes, For this immediate levy, he commands His absolute commission] The plain meaning is, he _commands_ the commission to be given to you. So we say, I _ordered_ the materials to the workmen. IV.ii.10 (245,1) Stick to your journal course: the breach of custom/ Is breach of all] Keep your _daily_ course uninterrupted; if the stated plan of life is once broken, nothing follows but confusion. IV.ii.17 (246,2) How much the quantity] I read, _As_ much the quantity.-- IV.ii.38 (247,3) I could not stir him] Not _move_ him to tell his story. IV.ii.39 (247,4) gentle, but unfortunate] _Gentle_, is _well born_, of birth above the vulgar. IV.ii.59 (248,6) And let the stinking elder, Grief, untwine/ His perishing root, with the encreasing vine!] Shakespeare had only seen _English vines_ which grow against walls, and therefore may be sometimes entangled with the _elder_. Perhaps we should read _untwine from the vine_. IV.ii.105 (251,9) the snatches in his vice,/And burst of speaking] This is one of our author's strokes of observation. An abrupt and tumultuous utterance very frequently accompanies a confused and cloudy understanding. IV.ii.111 (251,1) for the effect of judgment/Is oft the cause of fear] HANMER reads, with equal justness of sentiment, --for defect of judgment Is oft the _cure_ of fear.-- But, I think, the play of _effect_ and _cause_ more resembling the manner of our author. IV.ii.118 (252,2) I am perfect, what] I am _well informed_, what. So in this play, I'm _perfect_, the Pannonians are in arms. IV.ii.121 (252,3) take us in] To _take in_, was the phrase in use for to _apprehend_ an out-law, or to make him amenable to public justice. IV.ii.148 (253,5) the boy Fidele's sickness/Did make my way long forth] Fidele's sickness made my _walk forth_ from the cave _tedious_. IV.ii.159 (254,6) revenges/That possible strength might meet] Such pursuit of vengeance as fell within any possibility of opposition. IV.ii.168 (254,7) I'd let a parish of such Clotens blood] [W: marish] The learned commentator has dealt the raproach of nonsense very liberally through this play. Why this is nonsense, I cannot discover. I would, says the young prince, to recover Fidele, kill as many Clotens as would fill a _parish_. IV.ii.246 (258,1) He was paid for that] HANMER reads, He _has_ paid for that:-- rather plausibly than rightly. _Paid_ is for _punished_. So JONSON, "Twenty things more, my friend, which you know due, For which, or pay me quickly, or I'll _pay_ you." (see 1765, VII, 356, 3) IV.ii.247 (258,2) reverence,/(That angel of the world)] _Reverence_, or due regard to subordination, is the power that keeps peace and order in the world. IV.ii.268 (259,4) _The scepter, learning, physic, must/ All follow this, and come to dust_] The poet's sentiment seems to have been this. All human excellence is equally the subject to the stroke of death: neither the power of kings, nor the science of scholars, nor the art of those whose immediate study is the prolongation of life, can protect then from the final destiny of man. (1773) IV.ii.272 (260,5) _Fear not slander, censure rash_] Perhaps, Fear not _slander's_ censure rash. IV.ii.275 (260,6) Consign to thee] Perhaps, Consign to _this_. And in the former stanza, for _all follow this_, we might read, _all follow_ thee. IV.ii.280 (260,7) Both. _Quiet consummation have;/ And renowned be thy grave!_] For the obsequies of Fidele, a song was written by my unhappy friend, Mr. William Collins of Chichester, a man of uncommon learning and abilities. I shall give it a place at the end in honour of his memory. IV.ii.315 (262,1) Conspired with] The old copy reads thus, --thou Conspir'd with that irregulous divel, Cloten. I suppose it should be, Conspir'd with _th' irreligious_ devil, Cloten. IV.ii.346 (263,2) Last night the very gods shew'd me a vision] [W: warey] Of this meaning I know not any example, nor do I see any need of alteration. It was no common dream, but sent from _the very gods_, or the gods themselves. IV.ii.363 (264,3) who was he, That, otherwise than noble nature did, Hath alter'd that good figure?] Here are many words upon a very slight debate. The sense is not much cleared by either critic [Theobald and Warburton]. The question is asked, not about a _body_, but a _picture_, which is not very apt to grow shorter or longer. To _do_ a picture, and a picture is well _done_, are standing phrases; the question therefore is, Who has altered this picture, so as to make it otherwise than nature _did_ it. IV.ii.389 (266,5) these poor pickaxes] Meaning her fingers. IV.iii (266,1) _Cymbeline's palace_] This scene is omitted against all authority by Sir T. HANMER. It is indeed of no great use in the progress of the fable, yet it makes a regular preparation for the next act. IV.iii.22 (267,3) our jealousy/Does yet depend] My suspicion is yet undetermined; if I do not condemn you, I likewise have not acquitted you. We now say, the _cause_ is _depending_. IV.iii.29 (267,4) Your preparation can affront no less/Than what you hear of] Your forces are able to _face_ such an army as we hear the enemy will bring against us. IV.iii.44 (268,6) to the note o' the king] I will so distinguish myself, the king shall remark my valour. IV.iv.11 (269,1) a render/Where we have liv'd] An account of our place of abode. This dialogue is a just representation of the superfluous caution of an old man. IV.iv.13 (269,2) That which we have done, whose answer would be death] The _retaliation_ of the death of Cloten would be _death_, &c. IV.iv.18 (269,3) their quarter'd fires] Their fires regularly disposed. V.i (271,1) _Enter Posthumus, with a bloody handkerchief_] The bloody token of Imogen's death, which Pisanio in the foregoing act determined to send. V.i.1-33 (271,2) Yea, bloody cloth, I'll keep thee] This is a soliloquy of nature, uttered when the effervescence of a mind agitated and perturbed spontaneously and inadvertently discharges itself in words. The speech, throughout all its tenor, if the last conceit be excepted, seems to issue warm from the heart. He first condemns his own violence; then tries to disburden himself, by imputing part of the crime to Pisanio; he next sooths his mind to an artificial and momentary tranquility, by trying to think that he has been only an instrument of the gods for the happiness of Imogen. He is now grown reasonable enough to determine, that having done so much evil he will do no more; that he will not fight against the country which he has already injured; but as life is not longer supportable, he will die in a just cause, and die with the obscurity of a man who does not think himself worthy to be remembered. V.i.9 (271,3) to put on] Is to _incite_, to _instigate_. V.i.14 (272,4) To second ills with ills, each elder worse] For this reading all the later editors have contentedly taken, --each worse than other, without enquiries whence they have received it. Yet they know, or might know, that it has no authority. The original copy reads, --each elder worse, The last deed is certainly not the oldest, but Shakespeare calls the _deed_ of an _elder_ man an _elder deed_. V.i.15 (272,5) And make them dread it, to the doers' thrift] [T: dreaded, to] This emendation ia followed by HANMER. Dr. WARBURTON reads, I know not whether by the printer's negligence, And make them _dread_, to the doers' thrift. There seems to be no very satisfactory sense yet offered. I read, but with hesitation, And make them _deeded_, to the doers' thrift. The word _deeded_ I know not indeed where to find; but Shakespeare has, in another sense _undeeded_, in _Macbeth_: "--my sword "I sheath again _undeeded_."-- I will try again, and read thus, --others you permit To second ills with ills, each other worse, And make them _trade it_, to the doers' thrift. _Trade_ and _thrift_ correspond. Our author plays with _trade_, as it signifies a lucrative vocation, or a frequent practice. So Isabella says, "Thy sins, not accidental, but a _trade_." V.i.16 (273,9) Do your best wills,/And make me blest to obey!] So the copies. It was more in the manner of our author to have written, --Do your blest wills, And make me blest t' obey.-- V.iii.41 (276,3) A rout, confusion thick] [W: confusion-thick] I do not see what great addition is made to _fine diction_ by this compound. Is it not as natural to enforce the principal event in a story by repetition, as to enlarge the principal figure in a figure? V.iii.51 (276,4) bugs] Terrors. V.iii.53 (277,5) Nay, do not wonder at it] [T: do but] There is no need of alteration. Posthumus first bids him not wonder, then tells him in another mode of reproach, that wonder is all that he was made for. V.iii.79 (278,8) great the answer be] _Answer_, as once in this play before, is _retaliation_. V.iii.87 (278,9) That gave the affront with them] That is, that turned their faces to the enemy. V.iv.1 (279,1) You shall not now be stolen, you have locks upon you;/So, graze, as you find pasture] This wit of the gaoler alludes to the custom of putting a lock on a horse's leg, when he is turned to pasture. V.iv.27 (280,3) If you will take this audit, take this life,/And cancel those cold bonds] This equivocal use of _bonds_ is another instance of our author's infelicity in pathetic speeches. V.iv.45 (281,5) That from me my Posthumus ript] The old copy reads, That from me _was_ Posthumus ript. Perhaps we should read, That from _my womb_ Posthumus ript, Came crying 'mongst his foes. V.iv.146 (284,7) 'Tis still a dream; or else such stuff, as madmen Tongue, and brain not: either both or nothing: Or senseless speaking, or a speaking such As sense cannot untie. Be what it is, The action of my life is like it] The meaning, which is too thin to be easily caught, I take to be this: _This is a dream or madness, or both--or nothing--but whether it be a speech without consciousness_, as in a dream, _or a speech unintelligible_, as in madness, be it as it is, _it is like my course of life_. We might perhaps read, Whether _both, or nothing_-- V.iv,164 (285,8) sorry that you have paid too much, and sorry that you are paid too much] _Tavern bills_, says the gaoler, _are the sadness of parting, as the procuring of mirth--you depart reeling with too much drink; sorry that you have paid too much, and_--what? _sorry that you are paid too much_. Where is the opposition? I read, _And_ merry _that you are paid_ so _much_. I take the second _paid_ to be _paid_, for _appaid, filled, satiated_. V.iv.171 (286,9) debtor and creditor] For an _accounting book_. V.iv.188 (286,1) jump the after-enquiry] That is, _venture_ at it without thought. So _Macbeth_, "We'd _jump_ the life to come." (see 1765, VII, 382, 7) V.v.9 (288,1) one that promis'd nought/But beggary and poor looks] To promise _nothing but_ poor _looks_, may be, to give no promise of courageous behaviour. V.v.88 (291,2) So feat] So ready; so dextrous in waiting. V.v.93 (291,3) His favour is familiar to me] I am acquainted with his countenance. V.v.120 (292,4) One sand another/Not more resembles. That sweet rosy lad] [W: resembles, than be th' sweet] There was no great difficulty in the line, which, when properly pointed, needs no alteration. V.v.203 (296,8) averring notes/Of chamber-hanging, pictures] Such marks of the chamber and pictures, as _averred_ or confirmed my report. V.v.220 (297,9) the temple/Of virtue was she; yea, and she herself] That is, She was not only _the temple of virtue_, but _virtue herself_. V.v.233 (297,1) these staggers] This wild and delirious perturbation. _Staggers_ is the horse's apoplexy. V.v.262 (298,2) Think, that you are upon a rock; and now/Throw me again] In this speech, or in the answer, there is little meaning. I suppose, she would say, Consider such another act as equally fatal to me with precipitation from a rock, and now let me see whether you will repeat it. V.v.308 (300,3) By tasting of our wrath] [W: hasting] There is no need of change; the consequence is taken for the whole action; _by tasting_ is _by forcing us to make thee taste_. V.v.334 (301,5) Your pleasure was my near offence, my punishment,/ Itself, and all my treason] I think this passage may better be read thus, Your pleasure was my _dear_ offence, my punishment Itself _was_ all my treason; that I suffer'd, Was all the harm I did.-- The offence which cost me so _dear_ was only your caprice. My sufferings have been all my crime. V.v.352 (302,6) Thou weep'st, and speak'st. The service that you three have done is more Unlike than this thou tell'st] "Thy tears give testimony to the sincerity of thy relation; and I have the less reason to be incredulous, because the actions which you have done within my knowledge are more incredible than the story which you relate." The king reasons very justly. V.v.378 (303,7) When ye were so, indeed] The folio gives, When _we_ were so, indeed. If this be right, we must read, _Imo._ I, you brothers. _Arv._ When we were so, indeed. V.v.382 (303,8) fierce abridgment] _Fierce_, is _vehement, rapid_. V.v.459 (306,1) My peace we will begin] I think it better to read, _By_ peace we will begin.-- (307) General Observation. This play has many just sentiments, some natural dialogues, and some pleasing scenes, but they are obtained at the expence of much incongruity. To remark the folly of the fiction, the absurdity of the conduct, the confusion of the names, and manners of different times, and the impossibility of the events in any system of life, were to waste criticism upon unresisting imbecility, upon faults too evident for detection, and too gross for aggravation. KING LEAR I.i.4 (311,2) in the division of the kingdom] There is something of obscurity or inaccuracy in this preparatory scene. The king has already divided his kingdom, and yet when he enters he examines his daughters, to discover in what proportions he should divide it. Perhaps Kent and Gloucester only were privy to his design, which he still kept in his own hands, to be changed or performed as subsequent reasons should determine him. I.i.37 (313,7) express our darker purpose] [_Darker_, for more secret; not for indirect, oblique. WARBURTON.] This word may admit a further explication. _We shall express our darker purpose_: that is, we have already made known in some measure our design of parting the kingdom; we will now discover what has not been told before, the reasons by which we shall regulate the partition. This interpretation will justify or palliate the exordial dialogue. I.i.39 (313,8) and 'tis our fast intent] [This is an interpolation of Mr. Lewis Theobald, for want of knowing the meaning of the old reading in the quarto of 1608, and first folio of 1623; where we find it, --and 'tis our _first_ intent. WARBURTON.] _Fast_ is the reading of the first folio, and, I think, the true reading. I.i.44 (314,9) We have this hour a constant will] _constant will_ seems a confirmation of _fast_ intent. I.i.62 (314,2) Beyond all manner of so much I love you] Beyond all assignable quantity. I love you beyond limits, and cannot say it is _so much_, for how much soever I should name, it would yet be more. I.i.73 (315,4) I find, she names my very deed of love, Only she comes too short; that I profess] _That_ seems to stand without relation, but is referred to _find_, the first conjunction being inaccurately suppressed. I find _that_ she names my deed, I find that I profess, &c. I.i.76 (315,5) Which the most precious square of sense possesses] [Warburton explained "square" as the "four nobler senses"] This is acute; but perhaps _square_ means only _compass, comprehension_. I.i.80 (315,6) More pond'rous than my tongue] [W: their tongue] I think the present reading right. I.i.84 (316,8) Now our joy] Here the true reading is picked out of two copies. Butter's quarto reads, --_But_ now our joy, Although the last, not least in our dear love, What can you say to win a third, &c. The folio, --Now our joy, Although our last, _and_ least; to whose young love The vines of France, and milk of Burgundy, Strive to be int'ress'd. _What can you say?_ I.i.138 (318,5) The sway, revenue, execution of the rest] [W: of th' hest] I do not see any great difficulty in the words, _execution of the rest_, which are in both the old copies. The _execution of the rest_ is, I suppose, _all the other business_. Dr. Warburton's own explanation of his amendment confutes it; if _hest_ be a _regal comnand_, they were, by the grant of Lear, to have rather the _hest_ than the execution. 1.1.149 (319,6) Think'st thou, that duty shall have dread to speak, When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound, When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom, And in thy best consideration check This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgment, Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least] I have given this passage according to the old folio, from which the modern editions have silently departed, for the sake of better numbers, with a degree of insincerity, which, if not sometimes detected and censured, must impair the credit of ancient books. One of the editors, and perhaps only one, knew how much mischief may be done by such clandestine alterations. The quarto agrees with the folio, except that for _reserve thy state_, it gives, _reverse thy doom_, and has _stoops_ instead of _falls to folly_. The meaning of _answer my life my judgment_, is, _Let my life be answerable for my judgment_, or, _I will stake my life on my opinion_.--The reading which, without any right, has possessed all the modern copies is this; --to plainness honour Is bound, when majesty to folly falls. Reserve thy state; with better judgment check This hideous rashness; with my life I answer, Thy youngest daughter, &c. I am inclined to think that _reverse thy doom_ was Shakespeare's first reading, as more apposite to the present occasion, and that he changed it afterwards to _reserve thy state_, which conduces more to the progress of the action. I.i.161 (320,9) The true blank of thine eye] The _blank_ is the _white_ or exact mark at which the arrow is shot. _See better_, says Kent, _and keep me always in your view_. I.i.172 (320,1) strain'd pride] The oldest copy reads _strayed pride_; that is, _pride exorbitant_; pride passing due bounds. I.i.174 (320,3) Which nor our nature, nor our place, can bear;/ Our potency made good] [T: (Which ... bear) ... made good] [Warburton defended "make"] Theobald only inserted the parenthesis; he found _made good_ in the best copy of 1623. Dr. Warburton has very acutely explained and defended the reading that he has chosen, but I am not certain that he has chosen right. If we take the reading of the folio, _our potency_ made _good_, the sense will be less profound indeed, but less intricate, and equally commodious. _As thou hast come with unreasonable pride between the_ sentence _which I had passed, and the_ power _by which I shall execute it_, take thy reward _in another sentence which shall_ make good, _shall establish, shall maintain_, that power. If Dr. Warburton's explanation be chosen, and every reader will wish to choose it, we may better read, Which nor our nature, nor our state can bear, _Or_ potency make good.-- Mr. Davies thinks, that _our potency made good_ relates only to _our place_.--Which our nature cannot bear, nor our _place_, without departure from the _potency_ of that place. This is easy and clear.--Lear, who is characterized as hot, heady, and violent, is, with very just observation of life, made to entangle himself with vows, upon any sudden provocation to vow revenge, and then to plead the obligation of a vow in defence of implacability. I.i.181 (322,4) By Jupiter] Shakespeare makes his Lear too much a mythologist: he had Hecate and Apollo before. I.i.190 (322,6) He'll shape his old course] He will follow his old maxims; he will continue to act upon the same principles. I.i.201 (323,7) If aught within that little, seeming, substance] _Seeming_ is _beautiful_. I.i.209 (323,9) Election makes not up on such conditions] To _make up_ signifies to complete, to conclude; as, _they made up the bargain_; but in this sense it has, I think, always the subject noun after it. To _make up_, in familiar language, is, neutrally, _to come forward_, to _make advances_, which, I think, is meant here. I.i.221 (324,2) Sure her offence Must be of such unnatural degree, That monsters it: or your fore-vouch'd affection Fall into taint] The common books read, --or your fore-vouch'd affection Fall'n into taint:-- This line has no clear or strong sense, nor is this reading authorized by any copy, though it has crept into all the late editions. The early quarto reads, --or you for vouch'd affections Fall'n into taint.-- The folio, --or your fore-vouch'd affection Fall into taint.-- _Taint_ is used for _corruption_ and for _disgrace_. If therefore we take the oldest reading it may be reformed thus: --sure her offence Must be of such unnatural degree, That monsters it; or you for vouch'd affection Fall into taint. Her offence must be prodigious, or _you_ must _fal1 into reproach_ for having _vouched affection_ which you did not feel. If the reading of the folio be preferred, we may with a very slight change produce the same sense: --sure her offence Must be of such unnatural degree, That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection _Falls_ into taint.-- That is, _falls into reproach_ or _censure_. But there is another possible sense. _Or_ signifies _before_, and _or ever_ is _before ever_; the meaning in the folio may therefore be, _Sure her crime must be monstrous_ before _your affection can be affected with hatred_. Let the reader determine.--As I am not much a friend to conjectural emendation, I should prefer the latter sense, which requires no change of reading. I.i.243 (325,3) from the intire point] _Intire_, for right, true. WARB.] Rather, single, unmixed with other considerations. I.i.264 (326,5) Thou losest here, better where to find] _Here_ and _where_ have the power of nouns. Thou losest this residence to find a better residence in another place. I.i.282 (326,6) And well are worth the want that you have wanted] [This I take to be the poet's meaning, stript of the jingle which makes it dark: "You well deserve to meet with that _want_ of love from your husband, which you have professed to _want_ for our father." THEOBALD.] [W: have vaunted] I think the common reading very suitable to the manner of our author, and well enough explained by Theobald. I.i.283 (327,7) plaited cunning] i.e. _complicated, involved_ cunning. (1773) I.ii.3 (328,2) Stand in the plague of custom] The word _plague_ is in all the copies; I can scarcely think it right, nor can I yet reconcile myself to the emendation proposed, though I have nothing better to offer [Warburton had proposed _plage_]. I.ii.21 (330,7) Shall be the legitimate] [Hanmer: toe th'] Hanmer's emendation will appear very plausible to him that shall consult the original reading. Butter's quarto reads, --Edmund the base Shall _tooth'_ legitimate.-- The folio, --Edmund the base Shall _to th'_ legitimate.-- Hanmer, therefore, could hardly be charged with coining a word, though his explanation may be doubted. To _toe_ him, is perhaps to _kick_ him _out_, a phrase yet in vulgar use; or, to _toe_, may be literally to _supplant_. The word _be_ has no authority. I.ii.24 (331,1) subscrib'd his power!] To subscribe, is, to transfer by signing or _subscribing_ a writing of testimony. We now use the term, He _subscribed_ forty pounds to the new building. I.ii.25 (331,2) Confin'd to exhibition!] Is _allowance_. The term is yet used in the universities. I.ii.25 (331,3) All this done/Upon the gad!] So the old copies; the later editions read, --All _is gone_ Upon the gad!-- which, besides that it is unauthorized, is less proper. _To_ do upon the _gad_, is, to act by the sudden stimulation of caprice, as cattle run madding when they are stung by the gad fly. I.ii.47 (332,4) taste of my virtue] Though _taste_ may stand in this place, yet I believe we should read, _assay_ or _test_ of my virtue: they are both metallurgical terms, and properly joined. So in Hamlet, Bring me to the _test_. I.ii.51 (323,6) idle and fond] Weak and foolish. I.ii.95 (333,7) pretence] _Pretence_ is design, purpose. So afterwards in this play, _Pretence_ and purpose of unkindness. I.ii.106 (333,8) wind me into him] I once thought it should be read, _you_ into him; but, perhaps, it is a familiar phrase, like _do me this_. I.ii.107 (333,9) I would unstate myself to be in a due resolution] [i.e. I will throw aside all consideration of my relation to him, that I may act as justice requires. WARBURTON.] Such is this learned man's explanation. I take the meaning to be rather this, _Do you frame the business_, who can act with less emotion; _I would unstate myself_; it would in me be a departure from the paternal character, _to be in a due resolution_, to be settled and composed on such an occasion. The words _would_ and _should_ are in old language often confounded. I.ii.l09 (334,1) convey the business] [_Convey_, for introduce. WARB.] To _convey_ is rather to _carry through_ than to introduce; in this place it is to _manage artfully_: we say of a juggler, that he has a clean _conveyance_. I.ii.112 (334,2) These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us: tho' the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds itself scourg'd by the frequent effects] That is, though natural philosophy can give account of eclipses, yet we feel their consequences. I.ii.156 (338,8) I promise you, the effects he writes of, succeed unhappily] The folio edition commonly differs from the first quarto, by augmentations or insertions, but in this place it varies by omission, and by the omission of something which naturally introduces the following dialogue. It is easy to remark, that in this speech, which ought, I think, to be inserted as it now is in the text, Edmund, with the common craft of fortune-tellers, mingles the past and future, and tells of the future only what he already foreknows by confederacy, or can attain by probable conjecture. (see 1765, VI, 27, 6) I.ii.178 (339,1) that with the mischief of your person it would scarcely allay] This reading is in both copies; yet I believe the author gave it, _that_ but _with the mischief_ of your person it would scarce allay. I.iii.19 (341,2) Old fools are babes again; and must be us'd/ With checks, as flatteries when they are seen abus'd] These lines hardly deserve a note, though Mr. Theobald thinks them _very fine_. Whether _fools_ or _folks_ should be read is not worth enquiry. The controverted line is yet in the old quarto, not as the editors represent it, but thus: With checks as flatteries when they are seen abus'd. I am in doubt whether there is any error of transcription. The sense seems to be this: _Old men must be treated with checks_, when as _they are seen to be deceived with flatteries_: or, _when they are weak enough to be_ seen abused by flatteries, they are then weak enough to be _used with checks_. There is a play of the words _used_ and _abused_. To _abuse_ is, in our author, very frequently the same as to _deceive_. This construction is harsh and ungrammatical; Shakespeare perhaps thought it vicious, and chose to throw away the lines rather than correct them, nor would now thank the officiousness of his editors, who restore what they do not understand. I.iv.118 (347,5) Would I had two coxcombs, and two daughters] Two fools caps, intended, as it seems, to mark double folly in the man that gives all to his daughters. I.iv.133 (347,7) Lend less than thou owest] That is, _do not lend all that thou hast_. To _owe_, in old English, is _to possess_. If _owe_ be taken for _to be in debt_, the more prudent precept would be, Lend _more_ than thou owest. I.iv.153-170 (348,9) This dialogue, from _No, lad; teach me_, down to, _Give me an egg_, was restored from the first edition by Mr. Theobald. It is omitted in the folio, perhaps for political reasons, as it seemed to censure monopolies. I.iv.181 (349,2) Fools ne'er had less grace in a year] There never was a time when fools were less in favour; and the reason is, that they were never so little wanted, for wise men now supply their place. Such I think is the meaning. The old edition has _wit_ for _grace_. I.iv.219 (350,5) That's a sheal'd peascod] i.e. Now a mere husk, which contains nothing. The outside of a king remains, but all the intrinsic parts of royalty are gone: he has nothing to give. (1773) I.iv.245 (351,3) Whoop, Jug] There are in the fool's speeches several passages which seem to be proverbial allusions, perhaps not now to be understood. I.iv.256 (352,1) _Fool_. Which they will make an obedient father] [This line I have restored from the quarto. STEEVENS] This note [Tyrwhitt's, quoted by Steevens] is written with confidence disproportionate to the conviction which it can bring. Lear might as well know by the marks and tokens arising from sovereignty, knowledge, and reason, that he had or had not daughters, as he could know by any thing else. But, says he, if I judge by these tokens, I find the persuasion false by which I long thought myself the father of daughters. (1773) I.iv.302 (355,7) from her derogate body] [_Derogate_ for _unnatural_. WARB.] Rather, I think, _degraded; blasted_. I.iv.320 (356,9) That these hot tears, which break from me perforce, Should make thee worth them.--Blasts and fogs upon thee! The untented woundings of a father's curse Pierce every sense about thee!--Old fond eyes, Beweep this cause again] I will transcribe this passage from the first edition, that it may appear to those who are unacquainted with old books, what is the difficulty of revision, and what indulgence is due to those that endeavour to restore corrupted passages.--_That these hot tears, that breake from me perforce, should make the worst blasts and fogs upon the untender woundings of a father's curse, peruse every sense about the old fond eyes, beweep this cause again, &c._ I.iv.362 (358,3) compact it more] Unite one circumstance with another, so as to make a consistent account. I.iv.366 (358,4) You are much more at task for want of wisdom] It is a common phrase now with parents and governesses. _I'll take you to task_, i.e. _I will reprehend and correct you. To be at task_, therefore, is to be liable to _reprehension and correction_. (1773) I.v.5 (358,1) I shall be there afore you] He seems to intend to go to his daughter, but it appears afterwards that he is going to the house of Glo'ster. I.v.25 (359,2) I did her wrong] He is musing on Cordelia. I.v.42 (359,3) To take it again perforce!] He is meditating on the resumption of his royalty. II.i.9 (360,1) ear-kissing arguments] Subjects of discourse; topics. II.i.19 (361,2) queazy question] Something of a _suspicious, questionable, and uncertain nature_. This is, I think, the meaning. II.i.27 (361,4) have you nothing said/Upon his party 'gainst the duke of Albany?] I cannot but think the line corrupted, and would read, _Against_ his party, _for_ the duke of Albany? II.i.57 (363,7) gasted] Frighted. II.i.59 (363,8) Not in this land shall he remain uncaught;/And found--Dispatch] [Not in this land shall he remain uncaught; And found dispatch--the noble duke, &c.] [W: found, dispatch'd.] I do not see how this change mends the sense: I think it may be better regulated as in the page above. The sense is interrupted. He shall be caught--and found, _he shall be punished_. Dispatch. II.i.67 (363,2) And found him pight to do it, with curst speech] _Pight_ is _pitched_, fixed, settled. _Curst_ is severe, harsh, vehemently angry. II.i.122 (366,7) Occasions, noble Glo'ster, of some prize] [W: poize] _Prize_, or _price_, for value. (1773) II.i.126 (366,8) from our home] Not at home, but at some other place. II.ii.9 (367,1) Lipsbury pinfold] The allusion which seems to be contained in this line I do not understand. In the violent eruption of reproaches which bursts from Kent in this dialogue, there are some epithets which the commentators have left unexpounded, and which I am not very able to make clear. Of a _three-suited knave_ I know not the meaning, unless it be that he has different dresses for different occupations. _Lilly-liver'd_ is _cowardly_; _white-blooded_ and _white-liver'd_ are still in vulgar use. An _one-trunk-inheriting slave_, I take to be a wearer of old cast-off cloaths, an inheritor of torn breeches. II.ii.36 (368,4) barber-monger] Of this word I do not clearly see the force. II.ii.39 (368,5) Vanity the puppet's] Alluding to the mysteries or allegorical shews, in which vanity, iniquity, and other vices, were personified. II.ii.45 (369,6) neat slave] You mere slave, you very slave. II.ii.69 (369,8) Thou whoreson zed; thou unnecessary letter!] I do not well understand how a man is reproached by being called _zed_, nor how Z is an _unnecessary letter_. Scarron compares his deformity to the shape of Z, and it may be a proper word of insult to a crook-backed man; but why should Gonerill's steward be crooked, unless the allusion be to his bending or cringing posture in the presence of his superiors. Perhaps it was written, _thou whoreson_ C (for cuckold) _thou unnecessary letter_. C is a letter unnecessary in our alphabet, one of its two sounds being represented by S, and one by K. But all the copies concur in the common reading. II.ii.87 (371,3) epileptic visage!] The frighted countenance of a man ready to fall in a fit. II.ii.103 (372,5) constrains the garb/Quite from his nature] Forces his _outside_ or his _appearance_ to something totally _different from_ his natural disposition. II.ii.109 (372,8) Than twenty silly ducking observants] [W: silky] The alteration is more ingenious than the arguments by which it is supported. II.ii.119 (373,8) though I should win your displeasure to intreat me to't] Though I should win you, displeased as you now are, to like me so well as to intreat me to be a knave. II.ii.167 (375,3) Good king, that must approve the common saw! Thou out of heaven's benediction com'at To the warm sun!] That art now to exemplify the common proverb, _That out of_, &c. That changest better for worse. Hanmer observes, that it is a proverbial saying, applied to those who are turned out of house and home to the open weather. It was perhaps first used of men dismissed from an hospital, or house of charity, such as was erected formerly in many places for travellers. Those houses had names properly enough alluded to by _heaven's benediction_. II.ii.173 (376,4) I know 'tis from Cordelia; Who hath most fortunately been inform'd Of my obscur'd coarse, and shall find time From this enormous state, seeking to give Losses their remedies] This passage, which some of the editors have degraded, as spurious, to the margin, and others have silently altered, I have faithfully printed according to the quarto, from which the folio differs only in punctuation. The passage is very obscure, if not corrupt. Perhaps it may be read thus: --Cordelia--has been--informed. Of my obscur'd course, and shall find time From this enormous state-seeking, to give Losses their remedies.-- Cordelia is informed of our affairs, and when the _enormous_ care of _seeking her fortune_ will allow her time, she will employ it in remedying losses. This is harsh; perhaps something better may be found. I have at least supplied the genuine reading of the old copies. _Enormous_ is unwonted, out of rule, out of the ordinary course of things. II.iii.18 (377,2) Poor pelting villages] _Pelting_ is, I believe, only an accidental depravation of _petty_. Shakespeare uses it in the _Midsummer-Night's Dream_ of _small brooks_. II.iii.20 (378,3) Poor Turlygood! poor Tom!] [W: Turlupin] Hanmer reads, _poor_ Turlurd. It is probable the word _Turlygood_ was the common corrupt pronunciation. II.iii.21 (378,4) Edgar I nothing am] As Edgar I am out-lawed, dead in law; I have no longer any political existence. II.iv (378,1) _Changes again to the earl of Glo'ster's castle_] It is not very clearly discovered why Lear comes hither. In the foregoing part he sent a letter to Glo'ster; but no hint is given of its contents. He seems to have gone to visit Glo'ster while Cornwall and Regan might prepare to entertain him. II.iv.24 (380,4) To do upon respect such violent outrage] To violate the public and venerable character of a messenger from the king. II.iv.46 (380,7) Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese fly that way] If this be their behaviour, the king's troubles are not yet at an end. II.iv.70 (381,9) All that follow their noses are led by their eyes, but blind men; and there's not a nose among twenty, but can smell him that's stinking] There is in this sentence no clear series of thought. If he that follows his nose is led or guided by his eyes, he wants no information from his nose. I persuade myself, but know not whether I can persuade others, that our author wrote thus:--"All men are led by their eyes, but blind men, and they follow their noses; and there's not a nose among twenty but can smell him that's stinking."--Here is a succession of reasoning. You ask, why the king has no more in his train? why, because men who are led by their eyes see that he is ruined; and if there were any blind among them, who, for want of eyes, followed their noses, they might by their noses discover that it was no longer fit to follow the king. II.iv.83 (382,2) But I will tarry; the fool will stay, And let the wise man fly; The knave turns fool, that runs away; The fool no knave, perdy] I think this passage erroneous, though both the copies concur. The sense mill be mended if we read, But I will tarry; the fool will stay, And let the wise man fly; The fool turns knave, that runs away; The knave no fool,-- That I stay with the king is a proof that I am a fool, the wise men are deserting him. There is knavery in this desertion, but there is no folly. II.iv.116 (383,3) Is practice only] _Practice_ is in Shakespeare, and other old writers, used commonly in an ill sense for _unlawful artifice_. II.iv.122 (384,4) Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the eels, when she put them i' the paste alive] Hinting that the eel and Lear are in the same danger. II.iv.142 (384,7) Than she to scant her duty] The word _scant_ is directly contrary to the sense intended. The quarto reads, --_slack_ her duty, which is no better. May we not change it thus: You less know bow to value her desert, Than she to _scan_ her duty. To _scan_ may be to _measure_ or _proportion_. Yet our author uses his negatives with such licentiousness, that it is hardly safe to make any alteration.--_Scant_ may mean to _adapt_, to _fit_, to _proportion_; which sense seems still to be retained in the mechanical term scantling. (see 1765, VI, 67, 4) II.iv.155 (385,1) Do you but mark how this becomes the house?] [T: the use?] [Warburton called "becomes the house" "a most expressive phrase"] with this _most expressive phrase_ I believe no reader is satisfied. I suspect that it has been written originally, Ask her forgiveness? Do you but mark how this becometh--thus. Dear daughter, I confess, &c. _Becomes the house_, and _becometh thus_, might be easily confounded by readers so unskilful as the original printers. II.iv.157 (386,2) _Age is unnecessary_] i.e. Old age has few wants. II.iv.162 (386,3) Look'd black upon me] To _look black_, may easily be explained to _look cloudy_ or _gloomy_. See Milton: "So frown'd the mighty combatants, that hell Grew darker at their frown."-- II.iv.170 (386,4) To fall, and blast her pride!] Thus the quarto: the folio reads not so well, _to fall and blister_. I think there is still a fault, which may be easily mended by changing a letter: --Infect her beauty, Ye fen-suck'd fogs, drawn by the powerful sun, _Do_, fall, and blast her pride! II.iv.174 (387.6) Thy tender-hested nature shall not give/Thee o'er to harshness] This word, though its general meaning be plain, I do not critically understand. II.iv.178 (387,7) to scant my sizes] To contract my allowances or proportions settled. II.iv.203 (388,9) much less advancement] The word _advancement_ is ironically used here for _conspicuousness_ of punishment; as we now say, _a man is advanced to the pillory_. We should read, --but his own disorders Deserv'd much _more_ advancement. II.iv.204 (388,1) I pray you, father, being weak, seem so] [W: deem't so] The meaning is, since _you are weak_, be content to think yourself weak. No change is needed. II.iv.218 (389,3) base life] i.e. In a _servile_ state. II.iv.227 (390,5) embossed carbuncle] _Embossed_ is _swelling, protuberant_. II.iv.259 (391,6) Those wicked creatures yet do look well-favour'd:/ When others are more wicked] Dr. Warburton would exchange the repeated epithet _wicked_ into _wrinkled_ in both places. The commentator's only objection to the lines as they now stand, is the discrepancy of the metaphor, the want of opposition between _wicked_ and _well-favoured_. But he might have remembered what he says in his own preface concerning _mixed modes_. Shakespeare, whose mind was more intent upon notions than words, had in his thoughts the pulchritude of virtue, and the deformity of wickedness; and though he had mentioned _wickedness_, made the correlative answer to _deformity_. III.i.7 (394,1) That things might change, or cease: tears his white hair] The first folio ends the speech at _change, or cease_, and begins again with Kent's question, _But who is with him?_ The whole speech is forcible, but too long for the occasion, and properly retrenched. III.i.18 (395,3) my note] My observation of your character. III.i.29 (395,6) _are but furnishings_] _Furnishings_ are what we now call _colours, external pretences_. (1773) III.i.19 (395,8) There is division, Although as yet the face of it is cover'd with mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Cornwall; _Who have (as who have not, whom their great stars Throne and set high?) servants, who seem no less; Which are to France the spies and speculations Intelligent of our state. What hath been seen, Either in snuffs and packings of the dukes; Or the hard rein, which both of them have borne Against the old kind king; or something deeper, Whereof, perchance, these are but furnishings._ [But, true it is, from France there comes a power Into this scatter'd kingdom; who already, Wise in our negligence, have secret fee In some of our best ports, and are at point To shew their open banner.--Now to you:]] The true state of this speech cannot from all these notes be discovered. As it now stands it is collected from two editions: the lines which I have distinguished by Italics are found in the folio, not in the quarto; the following lines inclosed in crotchets are in the quarto, not in the folio. So that if the speech be read with omissions of the Italics, it will stand according to the first edition; and if the Italics are read, and the lines that follow them omitted, it will then stand according to the second. The speech is now tedious, because it is formed by a coalition of both. The second edition is generally best, and was probably nearest to Shakespeare's last copy, but in this passage the first is preferable; for in the folio, the messenger is sent, he knows not why, he knows not whither. I suppose Shakespeare thought his plot opened rather too early, and made the alteration to veil the event from the audience; but trusting too much to himself, and full of a single purpose, he did not accommodate his new lines to the rest of the scene.--The learned critic's [Warburton] emendations are now to be examined. _Scattered_ he has changed to _scathed_; for _scattered_, he says, gives _the idea of an anarchy, which was not the case_. It may be replied that _scathed_ gives the idea of ruin, waste, and desolation, _which was not the case_. It is unworthy a lover of truth, in questions of great or little moment, to exaggerate or extenuate for mere convenience, or for vanity yet less than convenience. _Scattered_ naturally means _divided, unsettled, disunited_.--Next is offered with great pomp a change of _sea_ to _seize_; but in the first edition the word is _fee_, for _hire_, in the sense of having any one in _fee_, that is, at _devotion for money_. _Fee_ is in the second quarto changed to _see_, from which one made _sea_ and another _seize_. III.ii.4 (398,1) thought-executing] Doing execution with rapidity equal to thought. III.ii.19 (399,4) Here I stand, your slave] [W: brave] The meaning is plain enough, he was not their _slave_ by right or compact, but by necessity and compulsion. Why should a passage be darkened for the sake of changing it? Besides, of _brave_ in that sense I remember no example. III.ii.24 (399,5) 'tis foul] Shameful; dishonourable. III.ii.30 (399,6) So beggars marry many] i.e. A beggar marries a wife and lice. III.ii.46 (400,1) Man's nature cannot carry/The affliction, nor the fear] So the folio: the later editions read, with the quarto, _force_ for _fear_, less elegantly. III.ii.56 (401,3) That under covert and convenient seeming] _Convenient_ needs not be understood in any other than its usual and proper sense; _accommodate_ to the present purpose; _suitable_ to a design. _Convenient seeming_ is _appearance_ such as may promote his purpose to destroy. III.ii.53 (401,4) concealing continents] _Continent_ stands for that which _contains_ or _incloses_. III.ii.72 (401,(5) Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart,/ That's sorry yet for thee] Some editions read, --_thing_ in my heart; from which Hanmer, and Dr. Warburton after him, have made _string_, very unnecessarily; both the copies have _part_. III.ii.74 (402,7) _He that has a little tiny wit,-- With heigh ho, the wind and the rain; Must make content with his fortunes fit, Though the rain it raineth every day_] I fancy that the second line of this stanza had once a termination that rhymed with the fourth; but I can only fancy it; for both the copies agree. It was once perhaps written, With heigh ho, the wind and the rain _in his way_. The meaning seems likewise to require this insertion. "He that has wit, however small, and finds wind and rain in his way, must content himself by thinking, that somewhere or other _it raineth every day_, and others are therefore suffering like himself." Yet I am afraid that all this is chimerical, for the burthen appears again in the song at the end of _Twelfth Night_, and seems to have been an arbitrary supplement, without any reference to the sense of the song. (see 1765, VI, 84, 6) III.ii.80 (402,8) I'll speak a prophecy ere I go] [W: or two ere] The sagacity and acuteness of Dr. Warburton are very conspicuous in this note. He has disentangled the confusion of the passage, and I have inserted his emendation in the text. _Or e'er_ is proved by Mr. Upton to be good English, but the controversy was not necessary, for _or_ is not in the old copies. [Steevens retained "ere"] III.ii.84 (403,1) No heretics burnt, but wenches' suitors] The disease to which _wenches' suitors_ are particularly exposed, was called in Shakespeare's time the _brenning_ or _burning_. III.iv.26 (406,1) In, boy; go first. [_To the Fool._] You houseless poverty-- Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep] These two lines were added in the author's revision, and are only in the folio. They are very judiciously intended to represent that humility, or tenderness, or neglect of forms, which affliction forces on the mind. III.iv.52 (407,3) led through fire and through flame] Alluding to the _ignis fatuus_, supposed to be lights kindled by mischievous beings to lead travellers into destruction. III.iv.54 (407,4) laid knives under his pillow] He recounts the temptations by which he was prompted to suicide; the opportunities of destroying himself, which often occurred to him in his melancholy moods. III.iv.60 (407,5) Bless thee from whirlwinds, star-blasting, and taking!] To _take_ is to blast, or strike with malignant influence: --strike her young limbs, Ye taking airs, with lameness. III.iv.77 (408,6) pelican daughters] The young pelican is fabled to suck the mother's blood. III.iv.95 (408,8) light of ear] [i.e. Credulous. WARBURTON.] Not merely _credulous_, but _credulous of evil_, ready to receive malicious reports. (1773) III.iv.103 (409,1) says suum, mun, ha no nonny, dolphin my boy, boy, Sessy: let him trot by] Of this passage I can make nothing. I believe it corrupt: for wildness, not nonsense, is the effect of a disordered imagination. The quarto reads, _hay no on ny, dolphins, my boy, cease, let him trot by_. Of interpreting this there is not much hope or much need. But any thing may be tried. The madman, now counterfeiting a proud fit, supposes himself met on the road by some one that disputes the way, and cries _Hey!--No--but altering his mind, condescends to let him pass, and calls to his boy _Dolphin_ (Rodolph) not to contend with him. _On--Dolphin, my boy, cease. Let him trot by_. III.iv.122 (410,3) web and the pin] Diseases of the eye. III.iv.125 (411,4) Saint Withold footed thrice the void; He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold; Bid her alight, and her troth plight, And aroynt thee, witch, aroynt thee!] In the old quarto the corruption is such as may deserve to be noted. "Swithold footed thrice the old another night moore and her nine fold bid her, O light, and her troth plight, and arint thee, with arint thee." III.iv.144 (412,6) _small deer_] Sir Thomas Hanmer reads _geer_, and is followed by Dr. Warburton. But _deer_ in old language is a general word for wild animals. III.iv.187 (414,8) _Child Rowland_] This word is in some of our ballads. There is a song of _Child Walter, and a Lady_. III.v.21 (415,2) If I find him comforting the king] He uses the word in the juridical sense for _supporting, helping_, according to its derivation; _salvia_ comfortat _ne vos_.--_Schol. Sal._ (rev. 1778, IX, 477, 3) III.vi.20 (416,2) a horse's health] [W: heels] Shakespeare is here speaking not of things maliciously treacherous, but of things uncertain and not durable, A horse is above all other animals subject to diseases. III.vi.26 (416,3) Wantest thou eyes at trial, madam?] It may be observed that Edgar, being supposed to be found by chance, and therefore to have no knowledge of the rest, connects not his ideas with those of Lear, but pursues his own train of delirious or fantastic thought. To these words, _At trial, madam?_ I think therefore that the name of Lear should be put. The process of the dialogue will support this conjecture. (1773) III.vi.27 (417,4) _Come oe'er the broom, Bessy, to me_] As there is no relation between _broom_ and a _boat_, we may better read, Come o'er the _brook_, Bessy, to me. III.vi.43 (417,6) _Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd? Thy sheep be in the corn; And for one blast of thy minikin mouth, Thy sheep shall take no harm.] This seems to be a stanza of some pastoral song. A shepherd is desired to pipe, and the request is enforced by a promise, that though his sheep be in the corn, i.e. committing a trespass by his negligence, implied in the question, _Sleepest thou or wakest?_ Yet a single tune upon his pipe shall secure them from the pound. (1773) III.vi.77 (419,8) Sessy, come] Here is _sessey_ again, which I take to be the French word _cessez_ pronounced _cessey_, which was, I suppose, like some others in common use among us. It is an interjection enforcing cessation of any action, like, _be quiet, have done_. It seems to have been gradually corrupted into, _so, so_. III.vi.78 (419,9) thy horn is dry] Men that begged under pretence of lunacy used formerly to carry a horn, and blow it through the streets. III.vi.103-121 (420,2) [_Kent._ Opprest nature sleeps] The lines inserted from the quarto are in crotchets. The omission of them in the folio is certainly faulty: yet I believe the folio is printed from Shakespeare'a last revision, carelessly and hastily performed, with more thought of shortening the scenes, than of continuing the action. III.vi.111 (421,4) free things] States clear from distress. III.vi. 117 (421,5) Mark the high noises! and thyself bewray, When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee, In thy just proof, repeals, and reconciles thee] Attend to the great events that are approaching, and make thyself known. Then that _false opinion_ now prevailing against thee shall, in consequence of _just proof_ of thy integrity, revoke its erroneous sentence, and recall thee to honour and reconciliation. III.vii.13 (421,6) ray lord of Glo'ster] Meaning Edmund, newly invested with his father's titles. The steward, speaking immediately after, mentions the old duke by the same title. III.vii.24 (422,3) Though well we may not pass upon his life Without the form of justice; yet our power Shall do a courtesy to our wrath] _To do a courtesy_ is to gratify, to comply with. _To pass_, is to pass a judicial sentence. (1773) III.vii.29 (422,4) corky arms] Dry, wither'd, husky arms. III.vii.54 (424,9) I am ty'd to the stake, and I must stand the course] The running of the dogs upon me. III.vii.65 (425,2) All cruels else subscrib'd] Yielded, submitted to the necessity of the occasion. III.vii.99-107 (426,3) I'll never care what wickedness I do] [This short dialogue I have inserted from the old quarto, because I think it full of nature. Servants could hardly see such a barbarity committed on their master, without pity; and the vengeance that they presume canst overtake the actors of it is a sentiment and doctrine well worthy of the stage. THEOBALD.] It is not necessary to suppose them the servants of Glo'ster; for Cornwall was opposed to extremity by his own servant. IV.i.1 (427,1) Yet better thus, and known to be contemn'd] The meaning is, _'Tis better_ to be _thus contemned, and_ known _to yourself_ to be contemned. Or perhaps there is an error, which may be rectified thus: Yet better thus unknown to be contemn'd. When a man divests himself of his real character he feels no pain from contempt, because he supposes it incurred only by a voluntary disguise which he can throw off at pleasure. I do not think any correction necessary. IV.i.20 (429,3) Our mean secures us] [i.e. Moderate, mediocre condition. WARBURTON.] Banner writes, by an easy change, _meanness_ secures us. The two original editions have, Our _meanes_ secures us.-- I do not remember that _mean_ is ever used aa a substantive for low fortune, which is the sense here required, nor for mediocrity, except in the phrase, the _golden mean_. I suspect the passage of corruption, and would either read, Our means _seduce_ us:-- Our powers of body or fortune draw us into evils. Or, Our _maims_ secure us.-- That hurt or deprivation which makes us defenceless, proves our safeguard. This is very proper in Glo'ster, newly maimed by the evulsion of his eyes. IV.i.59-64 (431,8) [Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once; of lust, as _Obidicut_; _Hobbididance_, prince of dumbness; _Mahu_, of stealing; _Modo_, of murder; and _Flibbertigibbet_, of mopping and mowing; who since possesses chamber-maids and waiting-women. So bless thee, master!]] The passage in crotchets is omitted in the folio, because I suppose as the story was forgotten, the jest was lost. IV.i.68 (432,1) Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man] Lear has before uttered the same sentiment, which indeed cannot be too strongly impressed, tho' it may be too often repeated. IV.i.69 (432,2) That slaves your ordinance] [W: braves] The emendation is plausible, yet I doubt whether it be right. The language of Shakespeare is very licentious, and his words have often meanings remote from the proper and original use. To _slave_ or _beslave_ another is to _treat_ him _with terms of indignity_; in a kindred sense, to _slave the ordinance_, may be, to _slight_ or _ridicule_ it. IV.ii.1 (433,1) our mild husband] It must be remembered that Albany, the husband of Gonerill, disliked, in the end of the first act, the scheme of oppression and ingratitude. IV.ii.29 (434,5) I have been worth the whistle] This expression is a reproach to Albany for having neglected her; _though you disregard me thus_, I have been worth the whistle, _I have found one that thinks me worth calling_. (1773) IV.ii.35 (435,9) From her maternal sap] [W: material] I suppose no reader doubts but the word should be _maternal_. Dr. Warburton has taken great pains without much success, and indeed without much exactness of attention, to prove that _material_ has a more proper sense than _maternal_, and yet seemed glad at last to infer from an apparent error of another press that _material_ and _maternal_ meant the same. IV.ii.45 (436,2) A man, a prince by him so benefited?] [After this line I suspect a line or two to be wanting, which upbraids her for her sister's cruelty to Glo'ster. WARBURTON.] Here is a pompous note to support a conjecture apparently erroneous, and confuted by the next scene, in which the account is given for the first time to Albany of Glo'ster's sufferings. IV.ii.50 (436,3) Like monsters of the deep] Fishes are the only animals that are known to prey upon their own species. IV.ii.62 (437,5) Thou changed, and self-cover'd thing] Of these lines there is but one copy, and the editors are forced open conjecture. They have published this line thus; Thou chang'd, and _self-converted_ thing; but I cannot but think that by _self-cover'd_ the author meant, thou that hast _disguised_ nature by wickedness; thou that hast _hid_ the woman under the fiend. IV.ii.83 (438,6) One way, I like this well] Gonerill is well pleased that Cornwall is destroyed, who was preparing war against her and her husband, but is afraid of losing Edmund to the widow. IV.iii (439,1) _The French camp, near Dover. Enter Kent, and a Gentleman_] This scene seems to have been left out only to shorten the play, and is necessary to continue the action. It is extant only in the quarto, being omitted in the first folio. I have therefore put it between crotchets. IV.iii (439,2) _a Gentleman_] The gentleman whom he sent in the foregoing act with letters to Cordelia. IV.iii.26 (440,4) Made she no verbal question?] I do not see the impropriety of _verbal question_; such pleonasms are common. So we say, _my ears have heard, my eyes have beheld_. Besides, where is the word _quest_ [Warburton's emendation] to be found? IV.iii.33 (440,6) And clamour-moisten'd] _Clamour moisten'd her_; that is, _her out-cries were accompanied with tears_. IV.iii.36 (441,7) one self-mate and mate] The same husband and the same wife. IV.iii.51 (441,9) 'Tis so they are a-foot] Dr. Warburton thinks it necessary to read, _'tis said_; but the sense is plain, _So it is_ that _they are on foot_. IV.iv.4 (442,1) With bur-docks, hemlock] I do not remember any such plant as a _hardock_, but one of the most common weeds is a _burdock_, which I believe should be read here; and so Hanmer reads. IV.iv.20 (443,2) the means to lead it] The reason which should guide it. IV.iv.26 (443,3) My mourning and important tears hath pitied] In other places of this author for _importunate_. IV.iv.27 (443,4) No blown embition] No inflated, no swelling pride. Beza on the Spanish Armada: "Quem bene te ambitio mersit vanissima, ventus, Et tumidos tumidae voa superastis aquae." IV.v.4 (444,1) _Reg._ Lord Edmund spake not with your lady at home?] The folio reads, _your lord_; but lady is the first and better reading. IV.v.22 (444,3) Let me unseal the letter./_Stew._ Madam, I had rather] I know not well why Shakespeare gives the steward, who is a mere factor of wickedness, so much fidelity. He now refuses the letter; and afterwards, when he is dying, thinks only how it may be safely delivered. IV.v.29 (445,5) I do advise you, take this note] _Note_ means in this place not a _letter_ but a _remark_. Therefore _observe_ what I am saying. IV.v.32 (446,6) You may gather more] You may infer more than I have directly told you. IV.vi (446,1) _The country near Dover. Enter Glo'ster, and Edgar as a peasant_] This scene, and the stratagem by which Glo'ster is cured of his desperation, are wholly borrowed from Sidney's _Arcadia_. IV.vi.7 (447,2) thy voice is alter'd] Edgar alters his voice in order to pass afterwards for a malignant spirit. IV.vi.11 (447,5) How fearful/And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low!] This description has been much admired since the time of Addison, who has remarked, with a poor attempt at pleasantry, that "he who can read it without being giddy, has a very good head, or a very bad one." The description is certainly not mean, but I am far from thinking it wrought to the utmost excellence of poetry. He that looks from a precipice finds himself assailed by one great and dreadful image of irresistible destruction. But this overwhelming idea is dissipated and enfeebled from the instant that the mind can restore itself to the observation of particulars, and diffuse its attention to distinct objects. The enumeration of the choughs and crows, the samphire-man, and the fishers, counteracts the great effect of the prospect, as it peoples the desert of intermediate vacuity, and stops the mind in the rapidity of its descent through emptiness and horror. IV.vi.19 (447,4) her cock] Her cock-boat. IV.vi.43 (448,6) when life itself/Yields to the theft] When life is willing to be destroyed. IV.vi.47 (449,7) Thus might he pass, indeed] Thus he might _die_ in reality. We still use the word _passing_ bell. IV.vi.53 (449,9) Ten masts at each make not the altitude] [Pope: attacht] Mr. Pope's conjecture may stand if the word which he uses were known in our author's time, but I think it is of later introduction. He may say, Ten masts _on end_-- IV.vi.57 (449,1) chalky bourn] _Bourn_ seems here to signify a _hill_. Its common signification is a _brook_. Milton in _Comus_ uses _bosky bourn_ in the same sense perhaps with Shakespeare. But in both authors it may mean only a _boundary_. IV.vi.73 (450,2) the clearest gods] The purest; the most free from evil. IV.vi.80 (450,3) Bear free and patient thoughts] To be melancholy is to have the mind _chained down_ to one painful idea; there is therefore great propriety in exhorting Glo'ster to _free thoughts_, to an emancipation of his soul from grief and despair. IV.vi.81 (450,4) The safer sense will ne'er accommodate/His master thus] [W: sober sense] I read rather, The _saner_ sense will ne'er accoomodate His master thus. "Here is Lear, but he must be mad: his sound or _sane_ senses would never suffer him to be thus disguised." IV.vi.87 (451,5) That fellow handles his bow like a crow-keeper] This _crow-keeper_ was so common in the author's time, that it is one of the few peculiarities mentioned by Ortelius in his account of our island. IV.vi.93 (451,8) Give the word] Lear supposes himself in a garrison, and before he lets Edgar pass, requires the watch-word. IV.vi.97 (452,7) Ha! Gonerill!--with a white beard!] So reads the folio, properly; the quarto, whom the later editors have followed, has, _Ha! Gonerill, ha! Regan! they flattered me_, &c. which is not so forcible. IV.vi.98 (452,8) They flattered me like a dog] They played the spaniel to me. IV.vi.121 (453,2) Whose face between her forks] I believe that the _forks_ were two prominences of the ruff rising on each side of the face. IV.vi.124 (453,4) nor the soyled horse] _Soiled_ horse is probably the same as _pampered_ horse, _un cheval soûlé_. IV.vi.169 (454.5) Robes and furr'd gowns hide all] From _hide all_ to _accuser's lips_, the whole passage is wanting in the first edition, being added, I suppose, at his revisal. IV.vi.187 (455,8) This a good block!] I do not see how this _block_ corresponds either with his foregoing or following train of thoughts. Madmen think not wholly at random. I would read thus, _a good flock_. _Flocks_ are wool moulded together. The sentence then follows properly: It were a delicate stratagem to shoe A troop of horse with felt;-- i.e. with _flocks_ kneaded to a mass, a practice I believe sometimes used in former ages, for it is mentioned in _Ariosto_: "--Fece nel cader strepito quanto Avesse avuto sotto i piedi il _feltro_." It is very common for madmen to catch an accidental hint, and strain it to the purpose predominant in their minds. Lear picks up a _flock_, and immediately thinks to surprize his enemies by a troop of horse shod with _flocks_ or _felt_. Yet _block_ may stand, if we suppose that the sight of a block put him in mind of mounting his horse. IV.vi.199 (457,1) Why, this would make a man, a man of salt] Would make a man melt away like salt in wet weather. IV.vi.206 (457,2) Then there's life in't] The case is not yet desperate. IV.vi.217 (457,3) the main descry/Stands on the hourly thought] The _main_ body is _expected_ to be _descry'd_ every hour. The expression is harsh. IV.vi.246 (459,7) che vor'ye] _I warn you_. Edgar counterfeits the western dialect. IV.vi.281 (460,3) Thee I'll rake up] I'll _cover_ thee. In Staffordshire, to _rake_ the fire, is to cover it with fuel for the night. IV.vi.234 (460,4) the death-practis'd duke] The duke of Albany, whose death is machinated by _practice_ or treason. IV.vii.3 (461,1) every measure fail me] All good which I shall allot thee, or _measure out_ to thee, will be scanty. IV.vii.9 (461,4) shortens my made intent] [W: laid] An intent _made_, is an intent _formed_. So we say in common language, to _make a design_, and to _make a resolution_. IV.vii.41 (464,2) 'Tis wonder, that thy life and wits, at once,/Had not concluded all] [W: concluded.--Ah!] The plain construction is this: _It is wonder that the wits and life had not all ended_. IV.vii.85-97 (466,9) [_Gent_. Holds it true, Sir, That the duke of Cornwall was so slain?] What is printed in crotchets is not in the folio. It is at least proper, if not necessary; and was omitted by the author, I suppose, for no other reason than to shorten the representation. V.i.4 (467,2) his constant pleasure] His settled resolution. V.i.54 (470,7) We will greet the time] We will be ready to meet the occasion. V.i.61 (470,8) carry out my side] Bring my purpose to a successful issue, to completion. _Side_ seems here to have the sense of the French word _partie_, in _prendre partie, to take his resolution_. V.i.68 (471,9) for my state/Stands on me to defend, not to debate] I do not think that _for_ stands in this place as a word of inference or causality. The meaning is rather: _Such is my determination concerning Lear_; _as_ for my state _it requires now, not_ deliberation, _but_ defence _and support_. V.iii.16 (472,1) And take upon us the mystery of things,/As if we were God's spies] As if we were angels commissioned to survey and report the lives of men, and were consequently endowed with the power of prying into the original motives of action and the mysteries of conduct. V.iii.18 (472,2) packs and sects] Packs is used for _combinations_ or _collection_, as is a _pack of cards_. For _sects_ I think _sets_ might be more commodiously read. So we say, _affairs are now managed by a new_ set. _Sect_, however, may well stand. V.iii.24 (473,6) flesh and fell] Flesh and skin. V.iii.54 (475,1) [At this time We sweat and bleed: the friend hath lost his friend; And the best quarrels, in the heat, are curs'd By those that feel their sharpness:-- The question of Cordelia, and her father, Requires a fitter place.]] This passage, well worthy of restoration, is omitted in the folio. V.iii.65 (475,4) The which immediacy] [_Immediacy_, for representation. WARBURTON.] _Immediacy_ is rather _supremacy_ in opposition to _subordination_, which has _quiddam medium_ between itself and power. V.iii.79 (476,7) The lett alone lies not in your good will] Whether he shall not or shall depends not on your choice. V.iii.89 (476,8) An interlude!] This short exclamation of Gonerill is added in the folio edition, I suppose, only to break the speech of Albany, that the exhibition on the stage might be more distinct and intelligible. V.iii.129 (478,1) Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours,/My oath, and my profession] The _privilege_ of this _oath_ means the privilege gained by taking the oath administered in the regular initiation of a knight professed. V.iii.151 (479,3) _Alb._ Save him, save him! _Gon._ This is mere practice, Glo'ster] He desired that Edmund's life might be spared at present, only to obtain his confession, and to convict him openly by his own letter. V.iii.166 (480,6) Let us exchange charity] Our author by negligence gives his heathens the sentiments and practices of Christianity. In _Hamlet_ there is the same solemn act of final reconciliation, but with exact propriety, for the personages are Christians. V.iii. 204-221 (481,2) [Edg;.--This would have seem'd a period] The lines between crotchets are not in the folio. V.iii.229 (433,4) Here comes Kent, Sir] The manner in which Edgar here mentions Kent, seems to require the lines which are inserted from the first edition in the foregoing scene. V.iii.264 (485,7) _Edg._ Or image of that horror? _Alb._ Fall, and cease!] These two exclamations are given to Edgar and Albany in the folio, to animate the dialogue, and employ all the persons on the stage; but they are very obscure. V.iii.301 (487,4) With boot] With advantage, with increase. (488) General Observation. The tragedy of Lear is deservedly celebrated among the dramas of Shakespeare. There is perhaps no play which keeps the attention so strongly fixed; which so much agitates our passions and interests our curiosity. The artful involutions of distinct interests, the striking opposition of contrary characters, the sudden changes of fortune, and the quick succession of events, fill the mind with a perpetual tumult of indignation, pity, and hope. There is no scene which does not contribute to the aggravation of the distress or conduct of the action, and scarce a line which does not conduce to the progress of the scene. So powerful is the current of the poet's imagination, that the mind, which once ventures within it, is hurried irresistibly along. On the seeming improbability of Lear's conduct it may be observed, that he is represented according to histories at that time vulgarly received as true. And, perhaps, if we turn our thoughts upon the barbarity and ignorance of the age to which this story is referred, it will appear not so unlikely as while we estimate Lear's manners by our own. Such preference of one daughter to another, or resignation of dominion on such conditions, would be yet credible, if told of a petty prince of Guinea or Madagascar. Shakespeare, indeed, by the mention of his earls and dukes, has given us the idea of times more civilized, and of life regulated by softer manners; and the truth is, that though he so nicely discriminates, and so minutely describes the characters of men, he commonly neglects and confounds the characters of ages, by mingling customs ancient and modern, English and foreign. My learned friend Mr. Warton, who has in the _Adventurer_ very minutely criticised this play, remarks, that the instances of cruelty are too savage and shocking, and that the intervention of Edmund destroys the simplicity of the story. These objections may, I think, be answered, by repeating, that the cruelty of the daughters is an historical fact, to which the poet has added little, having only drawn it into a series by dialogue and action. But I am not able to apologize with equal plausibility for the extrusion of Glo'ster's eyes, which seems an act too horrid to be endured in dramatic exhibition, and such as must always compel the mind to relieve its distress by incredulity. Yet let it be remembered that our author well knew what would please the audience for which he wrote. The injury done by Edmund to the simplicity of the action is abundantly recompensed by the addition of variety, by the art with which he is made to co-operate with the chief design, and the opportunity which he gives the poet of combining perfidy with perfidy, and connecting the wicked son with the wicked daughters, to impress this important moral, that villainy is never at a stop, that crimes lead to crimes, and at last terminate in ruin. But though this moral be incidentally enforced, Shakespeare has suffered the virtue of Cordelia to perish in a just cause, contrary to the natural ideas of justice, to the hope of the reader, and, what is yet more strange, to the faith of chronicles. Yet this conduct is justified by _The Spectator_, who blames Tate for giving Cordelia success and happiness in his alteration, and declares, that, in his opinion, _the tragedy has lost half its beauty_. Dennis has remarked, whether justly or not, that, to secure the favourable reception of _Cato, the town was poisoned with much false and abominable criticism_, and that endeavours had been used to discredit and decry poetical justice. A play in which the wicked prosper, and the virtuous miscarry, may doubtless be good, because it is a just representation of the common events of human life: but since all reasonable beings naturally love justice, I cannot easily be persuaded, that the observation of justice makes a play worse; or, that if other excellencies are equal, the audience will not always rise better pleased from the final triumph of persecuted virtue. In the present case the public has decided. Cordelia, from the time of Tate, has always retired with victory and felicity. And, if my sensations could add any thing to the general suffrage, I night relate, I was many years ago so shocked by Cordelia's death, that I know not whether I ever endured to read again the last scenes of the play till I undertook to revise them as an editor. There is another controversy among the critics concerning this play. It is disputed whether the predominant image in Lear's disordered mind be the loss of his kingdom or the cruelty of his daughters. Mr. Murphy, a very judicious critic, has evinced by induction of particular passages, that the cruelty of his daughters is the primary source of his distress, and that the loss of royalty affects him only as a secondary and subordinate evil. He observes with great justness, that Lear would move our compassion but little, did we not rather consider the injured father than the degraded king. The story of this play, except the episode of Edmund, which is derived, I think, from Sidney, is taken originally from Geoffry of Monmouth, whom Hollinshed generally copied; but perhaps immediately from an old historical ballad. My reason for believing that the play was posterior to the ballad, rather than the ballad to the play, is, that the ballad has nothing of Shakespeare's nocturnal tempest, which is too striking to have been omitted, and that it follows the chronicle; it has the rudiments of the play, but none of its amplifications: it first hinted Lear's madness, but did not array it in circumstances. The writer of the ballad added something to the history, which is a proof that he would have added more, if more had occurred to his mind, and more must have occurred if he had seen Shakespeare. [Johnson appends "A lamentable SONG of the Death of King Leir and his Three Daughters"] Vol. I ROMEO AND JULIET I.i.82 (9,7) Give me my long sword] The _long sword_ was the sword used in war, which was sometimes wielded with both hands. I.i.158 (11,2) As is the bud bit with an envious worm, Ere he can spread his sweet leaves to the air, Or dedicate his beauty to the same] I cannot but suspect that some lines are lost, which connected this simile more closely with the foregoing speech; these lines, if such there were, lamented the danger that Romeo will die of his melancholy, before his virtues or abilities were known to the world. I.i.176 (12,3) Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still, Should, without eyes, see path-ways to his will.] Sir T. Hanmer, and after him Dr. Warburton, read, to his _ill_. The present reading has some obscurity; the meaning may be, that _love_ finds out means to pursue his _desire_. That the _blind_ should _find paths to ill_ is no great wonder. I.i.183 (13,4) O brawling love! O loving hate!] Of these lines neither the sense nor occasion is very evident. He is not yet in love with an eneny, and to love one and hate another is no such uncommon state, as can deserve all this toil of antithesis. I.i.192 (14,5) Why, such is love's transgression] Such is the consequence of unskilful and mistaken kindness. (see 1765, VIII, 12, 2) 1.1.198 (14,6) Being purg'd, a fire sparkling in lovers' eyes] The author may mean _being purged of smoke_, but it is perhaps a meaning never given to the word in any other place. I would rather read, _Being_ urged, _a fire sparkling_. Being excited and inforced. To _urge_ the fire is the technical term. I.i.199 (14,7) Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with lovers' tears] As this line stands single, it is likely that the foregoing or following line that rhym'd to it, is lost. I.i.206 (14,8) Tell me in sadness] That is, tell me _gravely_, tell me in _seriousness_. I.i.217 (15,1) in strong proof] In chastity _of proof_, as we say in armour _of proof_. I.i.222 (15,2) O, she is rich in beauty; only poor That when she dies, with beauty dies her store] Mr. Theobald reads, "_With_ her dies beauties _store_;" and is followed by the two succeeding editors. I have replaced the old reading, because I think it at least as plausible as the correction. _She is rich_, says he, _in beauty_, and _only poor_ in being subject to the lot of humanity, that _her store_, or riches, _can be destroyed by death_, who shall, by the same blow, put an end to beauty. I.ii.15 (17,2) She is the hopeful lady of my earth] _The lady of his earth_ is an expression not very intelligible, unless he means that she is heir to his estate, and I suppose no man ever called his lands his earth. I will venture to propose a bold change: She is the hope _and stay_ of my _full years_. I.ii.25 (18,3) Earth-treading stars that make dark heaven light] [W: dark even] But why nonsense [Warburton's comment]? Is any thing mere commonly said, than that beauties eclipse the sun? Has not Pope the thought and the word? "Sol through white curtains shot a tim'rous ray, "And spe'd those eyes that must _eclipse the day_." Both the old and the new reading are philosophical nonsense, but they are both, and both equally poetical sense. I.ii.26 (18,4) Such comfort as do lusty young men feel] To say, and to say in pompous words, that a _young man shall feel_ as much in an assembly of beauties, _as young men feel in the month of April_, is surely to waste sound upon a very poor sentiment. I read, Such comfort as do lusty _yeomen_ feel. You shall feel from the sight and conversation of these ladies, such hopes of happiness and such pleasure, as the farmer receives from the spring, when the plenty of the year begins, and the prospect of the harvest fills him with delight. I.ii.32 (18,5) Such, amongst view of many, mine, being one. May stand in number, the' in reckoning none] The first of these lines I do not understand. The old folio gives no help; the passage is there, _Which_ one _more view_. I can offer nothing better than this: _Within your view_ of many, mine being one, May stand in number, &c. I.iii.13 (22,1) to my teen] To my sorrow. I.iii.66 (24,4) It is an honour] The modern editors all read, _it is an honour_. I have restored the genuine word ["hour"], which is more seemly from a girl to her mother. _Your, fire_, and such words as are vulgarly uttered in two syllables, are used as dissyllables by Shakespeare. [The first quarto reads _honour_; the folio _hour_. I have chosen the reading of the quarto. STEEVENS.] (rev. 1778, X, 28, 2) I.iii.92 (25,9) That in gold clasps locks in the golden story] The _golden story_ is perhaps the _golden legend_, a book in the darker ages of popery much read, and doubtless often exquisitely embellished, but of which Canus, one of the popish doctors, proclaims the author to have been _homo ferrei oris, plumbei cordis_. I.iv.6 (27,2) like a crow-keeper] The word _crow-keeper_ is explained in Lear. I.iv.37 (28,8) for I am proverb'd with a grand-sire phrase] The grandsire phrase is--_The black ox has trod upon my foot_. I.iv.42 (30,1) Or (save your reverence) love] The word _or_ obscures the sentence; we ahould read _O_! for _or love_. Mercutio having called the affection vith which Romeo was entangled by so disrespectful a word as _mire_, cries out, O! save your reverence, love. I.iv.84 (34,7) Spanish blades] A sword is called a toledo, from the excellence of the Toletan steel. So Gratius, "--Ensis Toletanus "Unda Tagi non est alie celebranda metallo, Utilis in cives est ibi lamna sues." I.iv.113 (35,9) Direct my sail:] [I have restored this reading from the elder quarto, as being more congruous to the metaphor in the preceding line. _Suit_ is the reading of the folio. STEEVENS.] _Direct my suit_! Guide the _sequel_ of the adventure. I.v.27 (37,4) You are welcome, gentlemen. Come musicians, play. A ball! a ball! Give room. And foot it, girls] These two lines, omitted by the modern editors, I have replaced from the folio. I.v.32 (37, 6) good cousin Capulet] This _cousin_ Capulet is _unkle_ in the paper of invitation; but as Capulet is described as old, _cousin_ is probably the right word in both places. I know not how Capulet and his lady might agree, their ages were very disproportionate; he has been past masking for thirty years, and her age, as she tells Juliet, is but eight-and-twenty. II.Prologue (42,3) _Enter CHORUS_] The use of this chorus is not easily discovered; it conduces nothing to the progress of the play, but relates what is already known, or what the next scenes will shew; and relates it without adding the improvement of any moral sentiment. II.ii.1 (45,1) He jests at scars] That is, Mercutio jests, whom he overheard. II.ii.7 (45,2) Be not her maid] Be not a votary to the moon, to Diana. II.ii.10 (45,3) It is my lady; O! it is my love; O, that she knew we were!] This line and half I have replaced. II.ii.39 (47,7) Thou art thyself, though not a Montague] I think the true reading is, Thou art thyself, _then_ not a Montague. Thou art a being of peculiar excellence, and hast none of the malignity of the family, from which thou hast thy name.--Hanmer reads, Thour't not _thyself_ so, _though_ a Montague. II.iii.15 (53,6) the powerful grace, that lies/In plants] Efficacious virtue. II.iii.27 (53,7) Two such opposed foes encamp them still] [W: opposed kin] _Foes_ may be the right reading, or _kings_, but I think _kin_ can hardly be admitted. Two _kings_ are two opposite _powers_, two contending _potentates_, in both the natural and moral world. The word _encamp_ is proper to _commanders_. (see 1765, VIII, 46, 2) II.iv.20 (57,3) courageous captain of compliments] A complete master of all the laws of ceremony, the principal man in the doctrine of punctilio. "A man of compliments, whom right and wrong "Have chose as umpire;" says our author of Don _Armado_, the Spaniard, in _Love's Labour Lost_. II.iv.27 (57,6) the hay!] All the terms of the modern fencing-school were originally Italian; the rapier, or small thrusting sword, being first used in Italy. The _hay_ is the word _hai_, you _have_ it, used when a thrust reaches the antagonist, from which our fencers, on the same occasion, without knowing, I suppose, any reason for it, cry out, _ha_! II.iv.35 (58,9) these pardonnez-moy's] _Pardonnez-moi_ became the language of doubt or hesitation among men of the sword, when the point of honour was grown so delicate, that no other mode of contradiction would be endured. II.iv.64 (59,3) then is my pump wall flower'd] Here is a vein of wit too thin to be easily found. The fundamental idea is, that Romeo wore _pinked_ pumps, that is, pumps punched with holes in figures. II.iv.87 (60,7) a wit of cheverel] _Cheverel_ is soft-leather for gloves. II.iv.138 (62,8) No hare, Sir] Mercutio having roared out, _So ho_! the cry of the sportsmen when they start a hare; Romeo asks _what he has found_. And Mercutio answers, _No hare_, &c. The rest is a series of quibbles unworthy of explanation, which he who does not understand, needs not lament his ignorance. II.iv.162 (63,1) none of his skains-mates] The word _skains-mate_, I do not understand, but suppose that _skains_ was some low play, and _skains-mate_, a companion at such play. II.iv.200 (64,2) like a tackled stair] Like stairs of rope in the tackle of a ship. II.iv.222 (65,4) Ah, mocker! that's the dog's name. R is for the nonce; I know it begins with another letter] This passage is thus in the old folio. _A mocker, that's the dog's name. R is for the_ no, _I know it begins with some other letter._ In this copy the error is but small. I read, _Ah, mocker. that's the dog's name. R is for the_ nonce, _I know it begins with another letter._ For the _nonce_, is for some _design, for a sly trick_. II.vi.15 (70,2) Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow] He that travels too fast is as long before he comes to the end of his journey, as he that travels slow. Precipitation produces mishap. III.i.2 (71,1) The day is hot] It is observed, that in Italy almost all assassinations are committed during the heat of summer. III.i.124 (75,6) This day's black fate on more days does depend] This day's unhappy destiny _hangs over_ the days yet to come. There will yet be more mischief. III.i.141 (78,7) Oh! I am fortune's fool] I am always running in the way of evil fortune, _like_ the fool in the play. _Thou art death's fool_, in _Measure for Measure_. See Dr. Warburton's note. III.i.153 (77,8) as thou art true] As thou art _just_ and _upright_. III.i.159 (77,9) How nice the quarrel] How _slight_, how _unimportant_, how _petty_. So in the last act, The letter was not _nice_, but full of charge Of dear import. III.i.182 (78,2) Affection makes him false] The charge of falshood on Bonvolio, though produced at hazard, is very just. The author, who seems to intend the character of Bonvolio as good, meant perhaps to shew, how the best minds, in a state of faction and discord, are detorted to criminal partiality. III.i.193 (78,3) I have an interest in your hate's proceeding: Sir Thomas Hanmer saw that this line gave no sense, and therefore put, by a very easy change, I have an interest in your _heat's_ proceeding! which is undoubtedly better than the old reading which Dr. Warburton has followed; but the sense yet seems to be weak, and perhaps a more licentious correction is necessary. I read therefore, I _had no_ interest in your _heat's preceding_. This, says the prince, is no quarrel of mine, _I had no interest in your former discord_; I suffer merely by your private animosity. III.ii.5 (79,3) Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,/That run-away's eyes may wink] [Warburton explained the "run-away" as the "sun"] I am not satisfied with this explanation, yet have nothing better to propose. III.ii.10 (80,4) Come, civil night] _Civil_ is _grave, decently solemn_. III.ii.14 (80,5) unmann'd blood] Blood yet unacquainted with man. III.ii.25 (81,6) the garish sun] Milton had this speech in his thoughts when he wrote _Il Penseroso_. "--Civil night, "Thou sober-suited matron."--_Shakespeare_. "Till civil-suited morn appear."--_Milton_. "Pay no worship to the gairish sun."--_Shakespeare_. "Hide me from day's gairish eye."--_Milton_. III.ii.46 (82,7) the death-darting eye of cockatrice] [The strange lines that follow here in the common books are not in the old edition. POPE.] The strange lines are these: I am not I, if there be such an I, Or these eyes shot, that makes thee answer I; If he be slain, say I; or if not, no; Brief sounds determine of my weal or woe. These lines hardly deserve emendatien; yet it may be proper to observe, that their meanness has not placed them below the malice of fortune, the two first of them being evidently transposed; we should read, --That one vowel _I_ shall poison more, Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice, Or these eyes shot, that make thee answer, I. I am not I, &c. III.ii.114 (85,9) Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts] Hath put Tybalt out of my mind, as if out of being. III.ii.120 (85,1) Which modern lamentation might have mov'd] This line is left out of the later editions, I suppose because the editors did not remember that Shakespeare uses _modern_ for _common_, or _slight_: I believe it was in his time confounded in colloquial language with _moderate_. III.iii.112 (89,4) Unseemly woman in a seeming man! And ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!] [W: seeming groth] The old reading is probable. _Thou art a beast of ill qualities, under the appearance both of a woman and a man_. III.iii.135 (90,5) And thou dismember'd with thine own defence] And thou torn to pieces with thy own weapons. III.iii.166-168 (91,6) Go hence. Good night] These three lines are omitted in all the modern editions. III.iii.166 (91,7) here stands all your state] The whole of your fortune depends on this. III.iv.12 (92,9) Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender/Of my child's love] _Desperate_ means only _bold, advent'rous_, as if he had said in the vulgar phrase, _I will speak a_ bold _word_, and venture _to promise you my daughter_. III.v.20 (94,1) 'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow] The appearance of a cloud opposed to the moon. III.v.23 (94,2) I have more care to stay, than will to go] Would it be better thus, _I have more will to stay, than care to go_? III.v.31 (94,3) Some say, the lark and loathed toad chang'd eyes] This tradition of the toad and lark I hare heard expressed in a rustick rhyme, --_to heav'n I'd fly, But the toad beguil'd me of my eye._ III.v.33 (95,4) Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray, Hunting thee hence with huntaup to the day] These two lines are omitted in the modern editions, and do not deserve to be replaced, but as they may shew the danger of critical temerity. Dr. Warburton's change of _I would_ to _I wot_ was specious enough, yet it it is evidently erroneous. The sense is this, _The lark, they say, has lost her eyes to the toad, and now_ I would _the toad had her voice too, since she uses it to the disturbance of lovers_. III.v.86 (97,3) _Jul._ Ay, Madam, from the reach of these my hands: 'Would, none but I might venge my cousin's death.!] Juliet's equivocations are rather too artful for a mind disturbed by the loss of a new lover. III.v.91 (98,4) That shall bestow on hin so sure a draught] [Thus the elder quarto, which I have followed in preference to the quarto 1609, and the folio 1623, which read, less intelligibly, "Shall give him such an unaccustom'd dram." STEEVENS.] --_unaccustomed dram_.] In vulgar language, Shall give him a _dram_ which he is _not used_ to. Though I have, if I mistake not, observed, that in old books _unaccustomed_ signifies _wonderful, powerful, efficacious_. III.v.112 (98,6) in happy time] _A la bonne heure_. This phrase was interjected, when the hearer was not quite so well pleased as the speaker. III.v.227 (103,3) As living here] Sir T. HANMER reads, _as living_ hence; that is, at a dsitance, in banishment; but _here_ may signify, _in this world_. IV.i.3 (104,1) And I am nothing alow to slack his haste] _His haste shall not be abated by my slowness_. It might be read, And I an nothing slow to _back_ his haste: that is, I am diligent to _abet_ and _enforce_ his haste. IV.i.l8 (104,2) _Par._ Happily met, my lady and my wife! _Jul._ That may be, Sir, when I may be a wife] As these four first lines seem intended to rhyme, perhaps the author wrote thus: --my lady and my _life_! IV.i.62 (106,3) this bloody knife/Shall play the umpire] That is, this knife shall decide the struggle between me and my distress. IV.i.64 (106,4) commission of thy years and art] _Commission_ is for _authority_ or _power_. IV.i.79 (106,5) Or chain me to some sleepy mountain's top, Where rearing bears and savage lions roam; Or shut me nightly in a charnel house] [Or walk in thievish ways, or bid me lurk Where serpents are; chain me with rearing bears, Or hide me nightly, &c. It is thus the editions vary. POPE.] my edition has the words which Mr. Pope has omitted; but the old copy seems in this place preferable; only perhaps we might better read, Where _savage_ bears and _rearing_ lions roam. IV.i.119 (108,8) If no unconstant toy] If no _fickle freak_, no _light caprice_, no _change of fancy_, hinder the performance. IV.ii.38 (110,2) We shall be short] That is, we shall be _defective_. IV.iii.3 (110,3) For I have need of many orisons] Juliet plays most of her pranks under the appearance of religion: perhaps Shakespeare meant to punish her hypocrisy. IV.iii.46 (112,6) Alas, alas! it is not like that I] This speech is confused, and inconsequential, according to the disorder of Juliet's mind. IV.iv.4 (113,1) The curfeu bell] I knew not that the morning-bell is called the _curfeu_ in any other place. IV.iv.107 (119,9) O, play me some merry dump] This is not in the folio, but the answer plainly requires it. V.i (121,1) ACT V. SCENE I. MANTUA] The acts are here properly enough divided, nor did any better distribution than the editors have already made, occur to me in the perusal of this play; yet it may not be improper to remark, that in the first folio, and I suppose the foregoing editions are in the same state, there is no division of the acts, and therefore some future editor may try, whether any improvement can be made, by reducing them to a length more equal, or interrupting the action at more proper intervals. V.i.1 (121,2) If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep] The sense is, _If I may only trust the_ honesty _of sleep_, which I know however not to be so nice as not often to practise _flattery_. V.i.3 (121,3) My bosom's lord sits lightly on his throne; And all this day an unaccustom'd spirit Lifts me above the ground with chearful thoughts] These three lines are very gay and pleasing. But why does Shakespeare give Romeo this involuntary cheerfulness just before the extremity of unhappiness? Perhaps to shew the vanity of trusting to these uncertain and casual exaltations or depressions, which many consider as certain foretokens of good and evil. V.i.45 (123,6) A beggarly account of empty boxes] Dr. Warburton would read, a _braggartly_ account; but _beggarly_ is probably right: if the _boxes_ were _empty_, the _account_ was more _beggarly_, as it was more pompous. V.iii.31 (127,1) a ring that I must use/In dear employment] That is, _action of importance_. Gems were supposed to have great powers and virtues. V.iii.86 (129,4) her beauty makes/This vault a feasting presence full of light] A _presence_ is a _public room_. V.iii.90 (129,5) O, how may I/Call this a lightning?] I think we should read, --_O_, now _may I Call this a lightning_!-- V.iii.178 (135,1) Raise up the Montagues.--Some others; search:-- We see the ground whereon these woes do lie; But the true ground of all these piteous woes We cannot without circumstance descry] Here seems to be a rhyme intended, which may be easily restored; "Raise up the Montagues. Some others, go. "We see the ground whereon these woes do lie, "But the true ground of all _this_ piteous _woe_ "We cannot without circumstance descry." V.iii.194 (136,2) What fear is this, which startles in our ears?] [Originally _your ears_] Read, "What fear is this, which startles in _our_ ears? V.iii.229 (138,6) _Fri._ I will be brief] It is much to be lamented, that the poet did not conclude the dialogue with the action, and avoid a narrative of events which the audience already knew. (141) General Observation. This play is one of the most pleasing of our author's performances. The scenes are busy and various, the incidents numerous and important, the catastrophe irresistibly affecting, and the process of the action carried on with such probability, at least with such congruity to popular opinions, as tragedy requires. Here is one of the few attempts of Shakespeare to exhibit the conversation of gentlemen, to represent the airy sprightliness of juvenile elegance. Mr. Dryden mentions a tradition, which might easily reach his time, of a declaration made by Shakespeare, that _he was obliged to kill Mercutio in the third act, lest he should have been killed by him_. Yet he thinks him _no such formidable person, but that he might have lived through the play, and died in his bed_, without danger to a poet. Dryden well knew, had he been in quest of truth, that, in a pointed sentence, more regard is commonly had to the words than the thought, and that it is very seldom to be rigorously understood. Mercutio's wit, gaiety, and courage, will always procure him friends that wish him a longer life; but his death is not precipitated, he has lived out the time allotted him in the construction of the play; nor do I doubt the ability of Shakespeare to have continued his existence, though some of his sallies are perhaps out of the reach of Dryden; whose genius was not very fertile of merriment, nor ductile to humour, but acute, argumentative, comprehensive, and sublime. The Nurse is one of the characters in which the author delighted: he has, with great subtilty of distinction, drawn her at once loquacious and secret, obsequious and insolent, trusty and dishonest. His comic scenes are happily wrought, but his pathetic strains are always polluted with some unexpected depravations. His persons, however distressed, _have a conceit left them in their misery, a miserable conceit_. HAMLET (145,2) This play is printed both in the folio of 1623, and in the quarto of 1637, more correctly, than almost any other of the works of Shakespeare. I.i.29 (147,7) approve our eyes] Add a new testimony to that of our eyes. I.i.33 (147,8) What we two nights have seen] This line is by Hanmer given to Marcellus, but without necessity. I.i.63 (149,9) He smote the sledded Polack on the ice] Polack was, in that age, the term for an inhabitant of Poland: Polaque, French. As in a translation of Passeratius's epitaph on Henry III. of France, published by Camden: "Whether thy chance or choice thee hither brings, "Stay, passenger, and wail the best of kings. "this little stone a great king's heart doth hold, "Who rul'd the fickle French and Polacks bold: "So frail are even the highest earthly things, "Go, passenger, and wail the hap of kings." (rev. 1776, I, 174,3) I.i.65 (149,2) and just at this dead hour] The old reading is, _jump at this same hour; same_ is a kind of correlative to _jump; just_ is in the oldest folio. The correction was probably made by the author. I.i.68 (149,4) gross and scope] General thoughts, and tendency at large. (1773) I.i.93 (151,7) And carriage of the articles design'd] _Carriage_, is _import; design'd_, is _formed, drawn up between them_. I.i.96 (151,8) Of unimproved mettle hot and full] _Full of unimproved mettle_, is full of spirit not regulated or guided by knowledge or experience. I.i.100 (151,1) That hath a stomach in't] _Stomach_, in the time of our author, was used for _constancy, resolution_. I.i.107 (152,3) romage] Tumultous hurry. (1773) I.i.108-125 (152,3) These, and all other lines confin'd within crotchets throughout this play, are omitted in the folio edition of 1623. The omissions leave the play sometimes better and sometimes worse, and seen made only for the sake of abbreviation. I.i.109 (152,4) Well may it sort] The cause and the effect are proportionate and suitable. (1773) I.i.121 (152,7) Was even the like precurse of fierce events] Not only such prodigies have been seen in Rome, but the elements have shewn our countrymen like forerunners and foretokens of violent events. (1773) I.i.128 (153,1) If thou hast any sound] The speech of Horatio to the spectre is very elegant and noble, and congruous to the common traditions of the causes of apparitions. I.i.153 (154,2) Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, The extravagant and erring spirit hies To his confine] According to the pneumatology of that tine, every element was inhabited by its peculiar order of spirits, who had dispositions different, according to their various places of abode. The meaning therefore is, that all _spirits extravagant_, wandering out of their element, whether aerial spirits visiting earth, or earthly spirits ranging the air, return to their station, to their proper limits in which they are _confined_. We might read, "--And at his warning "Th' extravagant and erring spirit hies "To his confine, whether in sea or air, "Or earth, or fire. And of, &c. But this change, tho' it would smooth the construction, is not necessary, and being unnecessary, should not be made against authority. I.i.163 (154,5) No fairy takes] No fairy _strikes_, with lameness or diseases. This sense of _take_ is frequent in this author. I.ii.37 (156,8) more than the scope/Of these dilated articles allows] More than is comprised in the general design of these articles, which you may explain in a more diffuse and dilated stile. (1773) I.ii.47 (157,9) The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth, Than to the throne of Denmark is thy father] [W: The blood ... Than to the throne] Part of this emendation I have received, but cannot discern why the _head_ is not as much _native to the heart_, as the _blood_, that is, _natural_ and _congenial_ to it, _born with it_, and co-operating with it. The relation is likewise by this reading better preserved, the _counsellor_ being to the _king_ as the _head_ to the _heart_. I.ii.62 (158,1) Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine, And thy best graces spend it at thy will] I rather think this line is in want of emendation. I read, --_Time is thine_, _And_ my best _graces; spend it at thy will_. I.ii.65 (158,2) A little more than kin, and less than kind] _Kind_ is the Teutonick word for _child_. Hamlet therefore answers with propriety, to the titles of _cousin_ and _son_, which the king had given him, that he was somewhat more than _cousin_, and less than _son_. I.ii.67 (159,3) too much i' the sun] He perhaps alludes to the proverb, _Out of heaven's blessing into the warm sun_. I.ii.70 (159,4) veiled lids] With lowering eyes, cast down eyes. (1773) I.ii.89 (160,5) your father lost a father;/That father lost, lost his] I do not admire the repetition of the word, but it has so much of our author's manner, that I find no temptation to recede from the old copies. I.ii.92 (160,6) obsequious sorrow] _Obsequious_ is here from _obsequies_, or _funeral ceremonies_. I.ii.103 (161,9) To reason most absurd] Reason is here used in its common sense, for the _faculty_ by which we form conclusions from arguments. I.ii.110 (161,1) And with no less nobility of love] [_Nobility_, for _magnitude_. WARBURTON.] _Nobility_ is rather _generosity_. I.ii.112 (161,2) Do I impart toward you] I believe _impart_ is, _impart myself_, _communicate_ whatever I can bestow. I.ii.125 (162,4) No jocund health] The king's intemperance is very strongly impressed; every thing that happens to him gives him occasion to drink. I.ii.163 (164,9) I'll change that name] I'll be your servant, you shall be my friend. (1773) I.ii.164 (164,1) what make you] A familiar phrase for _what are you doing_. I.ii.167 (164,2) good Even, Sir] So the copies. Sir Th. Hanmer and Dr. Warburton put it, _good morning_. The alteration is of no importance, but all licence is dangerous. There is no need of any change. Between the first and eighth scene of this act it is apparent, that a natural day must pass, and how much of it is already over, there is nothing that can determine. The king has held a council. It may now as well be _evening_ as _morning_. I.ii.182 (165,3) 'Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven] _Dearest_, for _direst_, most dreadful, most dangerous. I.ii.192 (165,5) Season your admiration] That is, _temper_ it. I.ii.204 (166,6) they, distill'd/Almost to jelly with the act of fear,/Stand dumb] [W: th' effect of] Here is an affectation of subtilty without accuracy. _Fear_ is every day considered as an _agent_. _Fear laid hold on him; fear drove him away_. If it were proper to be rigorous in examining trifles, it might be replied, that Shakespeare would write more erroneously, if he wrote by the direction of this critick; they were not _distilled_, whatever the word may mean, _by the effect of fear_; for that _distillation_ was itself the _effect_; _fear_ was the cause, the active cause, that _distilled_ them by that force of operation which we strictly call _act_ involuntary, and _power_ in involuntary agents, but popularly call _act_ in both. But of this too much. I.iii.15 (169,9) The virtue of his will] _Virtue_ seems here to comprise both _excellence_ and _power_, and may be explained the _pure effect_. I.iii.21 (169,1) The sanity and health of the whole state] [W: safety] HANMER reads very rightly, _sanity_. _Sanctity_ is elsewhere printed for _sanity_, in the old edition of this play. I.iii.32 (170,2) unmaster'd] i.e. _licentious_. (1773) I.iii.34 (170,3) keep you in the rear of your affection] That is, do not advance so far as your affection would lead you. I.iii.49 (170,4) Whilst, like a puft and reckless libertine] [W: Whilest he] The emendation is not amiss, but the reason for it is very inconclusive; we use the same mode of speaking on many occasions. When I say of one, _he squanders like a spendthrift_, of another, _he robbed me like a thief_, the phrase produces no ambiguity; it is understood that the one is a _spendthrift_, and the other a _thief_. I.iii.64 (172,7) But do not dull thy palm with entertainment/Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade] The literal sense is, _Do not make thy palm callous by shaking every man by the hand_. The figurative meaning may be, _Do not by promiscuous conversation make thy mind insensible to the difference of characters_. I.iii.81 (173,1) my blessing season this in thee!] [_Season_, for _infuse_. WARBURTON.] It is more than to _infuse_, it is to infix it in such a manner as that it never may wear out. I.iii.83 (173,3) your servants tend] i.e. your servants are waiting for you. (1773) I.iii.86 (173,4) 'Tis in my memory lock'd,/And you yourself shall keep the key of it] That is, By thinking on you, I shall think on your lessons. I.iii.107 (174,6) Tender yourself mere dearly; Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase) Wronging it thus, you'll tender me a fool] I believe the word _wronging_ has reference, not to the phrase, but to Ophelia; if you go on _wronging it thus_, that is, _if you continue to go on thus wrong_. This is a mode of speaking perhaps not very grammatical, but very common, nor have the best writers refused it. _To sinner it or saint it_, is in Pope. And Rowe, --_Thus to_ coy it, _To one who knows you too._ The folio has it, --_roaming it thus_,-- That is, _letting yourself loose to such improper liberty_. But _wronging_ seems to be more proper. I.iii.112 (175,7) fashion you may call it] She uses _fashion_ for _manner_, and he for a _transient practice_. I.iii.122 (175,8) Set your intreatments] _Intreatments_ here means _company, conversation_, from the French _entrétien_. I.iii.125 (175,9) larger tether] _Tether_ is that string by which an animal, set to graze in grounds uninclosed, is confined within the proper limits. (1773) I.iii.132 (176,2) I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth,/ Have you so slander any moment's leisure] [The humour of this is fine. WARBURTON.] Here is another _fine_ passage, of which I take the beauty to be only imaginary. Polonius says, _in plain terms_, that is, not in language less elevated or embellished than before, but _in terms that cannot be misunderstood_: _I would not have you so disgrace your most idle moments, as not to find better employment for them than lord Hamlet's conversation_. I.iv.9 (177,3) the swaggering up-spring] The blustering upstart. I.iv.17 (177,4) This heavy-headed revel, east and west] I should not have suspected this passage of ambiguity or obscurity, had I not found my opinion of it differing from that of the learned critic [Warburton]. I construe it thus, _This heavy-headed revel makes us traduced east and west, and taxed of other nations_. I.iv.22 (178,5) The pith and marrow of our attribute] The best and most valuable part of the praise that would be otherwise attributed to us. I.iv.32 (178,7) fortune's scar] In the old quarto of 1637, it is --_fortune's_ star: But I think _scar_ is proper. I.iv.34 (178,8) As infinite as man may undergo] As large as can be accumulated upon man. I.iv.39-57 (179,2) Angels and ministers of grace defend us!] Hamlet's speech to the apparition of his father seems to me to consist of three parts. When first he sees the spectre, he fortifies himself with an invocation. _Angel and ministers of grace defend us!_ As the spectre approaches, he deliberates with himself, and determines, that whatever it be he will venture to address it. _Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd, Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitable, Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, That I will speak to thee. I'll call thee_, &c. This he says while his father is advancing; he then, as he had determined, _speaks to him_, and _calls him--Hamlet, King, Father, Royal Dane: oh! answer me_. (1773) I.iv.43 (180,4) questionable shape] [By _questionable_ is meant provoking question. HANMER.] So in _Macbeth_, _Live you, or are you aught That man may_ question? I.iv.46 (180,5) tell,/Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death,/ Have burst their cearments?] [W: in earth] It were too long to examine this note period by period, though almost every period seems to me to contain something reprehensible. The critic, in his zeal for change, writes with so little consideration, as to say, that Hamlet cannot call his father _canonized_, because _we are told he was murdered with all his sins fresh upon him_. He was not then told it, and had so little the power of knowing it, that he was to be told it by an apparition. The long succession of reasons upon reasons prove nothing, but what every reader discovers, that the king had been buried, which is implied by so many adjuncts of burial, that the direct mention of _earth_ is not necessary. Hamlet, amazed at an apparition, which, though in all ages credited, has in all ages been considered as the most wonderful and most dreadful operation of supernatural agency, enquires of the spectre, in the most emphatic terms, why he breaks the order of nature, by returning from the dead; this he asks in a very confused circumlocution, confounding in his fright the soul and body. Why, says he, have _thy bones_, which with due ceremonies have been intombed _in death_, in the common state of departed mortals, _burst_ the folds in which they were embalmed? Why has the tomb, in which we saw thee quietly laid, opened his mouth, that mouth which, by its weight and stability, seemed closed for ever? The whole sentence is this: _Why dost thou appear, whom we know to be dead?_ Had the change of the word removed any obscurity, or added any beauty, it might have been worth a struggle; but either reading leaves the sense the same. If there be any asperity in this controversial note, it must be imputed to the contagion of peevishneas, or some resentment of the incivility shewn to the Oxford editor, who is represented as supposing the ground _canonized_ by a funeral, when he only meant to say, that the _body_ has deposited in _holy ground_, in ground consecrated according to the _canon_. I.iv.65 (183,9) I do not set my life at a pin's fee] The value of a pin. (1773) I.iv.73 (183,1) deprive your sovereignty] I believe _deprive_ in this place signifies simply to _take away_. I.iv.77 (184,4) confin'd to fast in fires] I am rather inclined to read, _confin'd to_ lasting _fires_, to fires _unremitted_ and _unconsumed_. The change is slight. I.v.30 (186,7) As meditation or the thoughts of love] The comment [Warburton's] on the word _meditation_ is so ingenious, that I hope it is just. I.v.77 (188,6) Unhonsel'd, disappointed, unaneal'd] This is a very difficult line. I think Theobald's objection to the sense of _unaneal'd_, for _notified by the bell_, must be owned to be very strong. I have not yet by my enquiry satisfied myself. Hanmer's explication of _unaneal'd_ by _unprepar'd_, because to _anneal_ metals, is to _prepare_ them in manufacture, is too general and vague; there is no resemblance between any funeral ceremony and the practice of _annealing_ metals. _Disappointed_ is the same as _unappointed_, and may be properly explained _unprepared_; a man well furnished with things necessary for any enterprize, was said to be well _appointed_. I.v.80 (190,7) Oh, horrible! oh, horrible! most horrible!] It was ingeniously hinted to me by a very learned lady, that this line seems to belong to Hamlet, in whose mouth it is a proper and natural exclamation; and who, according to the practice of the stage, may be supposed to interrupt so long a speech. (1773) I.v.154 (193,5) Swear by my sword] [Here the poet has preserved the manners of the ancient Danes, with whom it was _religion_ to swear upon their swords. WARBURTON.] I was once inclinable to this opinion, which is likewise well defended by Mr. Upton; but Mr. Garrick produced me a passage, I think, in _Brantoms_, from which it appeared, that it was common to swear upon the sword, that is, upon the cross which the old swords always had upon the hilt. II.i.25 (197,8) drinking, fencing, swearing] I suppose, by _fencing_ is meant a too diligent frequentation of the fencing-school, a resort of violent and lawless young men. II.i.46 (197,4) _Good Sir_, or so, or _friend_, or _gentleman_] [W: sire] I know not that _sire_ was ever a general word of compliment, as distinct from _sir_; nor do I conceive why any alteration should be made. It is a common mode of colloquial language to use, _or so_, as a slight intimation of more of the same, or a like kind, that might be mentioned. We might read, but we need not, _Good sir_, forsooth, _or friend, or gentleman_. _Forsooth_, a term of which I do not well know the original meaning, was used to men as well as to women. II.i.71 (198,5) Observe his inclination in yourself] HANMER reads, _e'en_ yourself, and is followed by Dr. Warburton; but perhaps _in_ yourself means, _in your own person_, not by spies. II.i.112 (200,7) I had not quoted him] To _quote_ is, I believe, to _reckon_, to take an account of, to take the _quotient_ or result of a computation. II.i.114 (201,8) it as proper to our age To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions, As it is common for the younger sort To lack discretion] This is not the remark of a weak man. The vice of age is too much suspicion. Men long accustomed to the wiles of life _cast_ commonly _beyond themselves_, let their cunning go further than reason can attend it. This is always the fault of a little mind, made artful by long commerce with the world. II.ii.24 (202,2) For the supply and profit of our hope, Your visitation shall receive such thanks] That the hope which your arrival has raised may be completed by the desired effect. II.ii.47 (203,4) the trail of policy] The _trail_ is the _course of an animal pursued by the scent_. Il.ii.52 (203,5) My news shall be the fruit of that great feast] The _desert_ after the meat. II.ii.84 (204,7) at night we'll feast] The king's intemperance is never suffered to be forgotten. II.ii.86-167 (205,8) My liege, and Madam, to expostulate] This account of the character of Polonius, though it sufficiently reconciles the seeming inconsistency of so much wisdom with so much folly, does not perhaps correspond exactly to the ideas of our author. The commentator Warburton makes the character of Polonius, a character only of manners, discriminated by properties superficial, accidental, and acquired. The poet intended a nobler delineation of a mixed character of manners and of nature. Polonius is a man bred in courts, exercised in business, stored with observations, confident of his knowledge, proud of his eloquence, and declining into dotage. His mode of oratory is truly represented as designed to ridicule the practice of those times, of prefaces that made no introduction, and of method that embarrassed rather than explained. This part of his character is accidental, the rest is natural. Such a man is positive and confident, because he knows that his mind was once strong, and knows not that it is become weak. Such a man excels in general principles, but fails in the particular application. He is knowing in retrospect, and ignorant in foresight. While he depends upon his memory, and can draw from his repositories of knowledge, he utters weighty sentences, and gives useful counsel; but as the mind in its enfeebled state cannot be kept long busy and intent, the old man is subject to sudden dereliction of his faculties, he loses the order of his ideas, and entangles himself in his own thoughts, till he recovers the leading principle, and falls again into his former train. This idea of dotage encroaching upon wisdom, will solve all the phaenomena of the character of Polonius. II.ii.109 (207,1) _To the celestial, and my soul's idol, the most beautified Ophelia_] [T: beatified] Both Sir Thomas Hanmer and Dr. Warburton have followed Theobald, but I am in doubt whether _beautified_, though, as Polonius calls it, a _vile phrase_, be not the proper word. _Beautified_ seems to be a _vile phrase_, for the ambiguity of its meaning, (rev. 1778, X, 241, 3) II.ii.126 (208,2) more above] is, _moreover, besides_. II.ii.145 (209,6) she took the fruits of my advice] She took the _fruits_ of advice when she obeyed advice, the advice was then made _fruitful_. II.ii.181 (211,9) For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog,/Being a god, kissing carrion] [This is Warburton's emendation for "a good kissing"] This is a noble emendation, which almost sets the critic on a level with the author. II.ii.265 (214,2) the shadow of a dream] Shakespeare has accidentally inverted an expression of Pindar, that the state of humanity is the _dream_ of a _shadow_. II.ii.269 (215,3) Then are our beggars, bodies] Shakespeare seems here to design a ridicule of these declamations against wealth and greatness, that seem to make happiness consist in poverty. II.ii.336 (217,7) shall end his part in peace] [After these words the folio adds, _the clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickled o' th' sere_. WARBURTON.] This passage I have omitted, for the same reason, I suppose, as the other editors: I do not understand it. II.ii.338 (217,8) the lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse shall halt for't] _The lady shall have no obstruction, unless from the lameness of the verse._ II.ii.346 (217,9) I think, their inhibition comes by the means of the late innovation] I fancy this is transposed: Hamlet enquires not about an _inhibition_, but an _innovation_; the answer therefore probably was, _I think, their_ innovation, _that is_, their new practice of strolling, _comes by the means of the late_ inhibition. II.ii.352-379 (218,1) _Ham._ How comes it? do they grow rusty?] The lines marked with commas are in the folio of 1623, but not in the quarto of 1637, nor, I suppose, in any of the quartos. II.ii.355 (218,2) cry out on the top of question] The meaning seems to be, they ask a common question in the highest notes of the voice. II.ii.362 (218,3) escoted] Paid. II.ii.362 (218,4) Will they pursue quality no longer than they can _sing_?] Will they follow the _profession_ of players no longer than they keep the voices of boys? So afterwards he says to the player, _Come, give us a taste of your_ quality; come, _a passionate speech_. II.ii.370 (219,6) to tarre them on to controversy] To provoke any animal to rage, is _to tarre him_. The word is said to come from the Greek. (1773) II.ii.380 (219,8) It is not very strange, for mine uncle is king of Denmark] I do not wonder that the new players have so suddenly risen to reputation, my uncle supplies another example of the facility with which honour is conferred upon new claimants. II.ii.412 (220,2) Buz, buz!] Mere idle talk, the _buz_ of the vulgar. II.ii.414 (220,3) _Then came each actor on his ass_] This seems to be a line of a ballad. II.ii.420 (221,6) For the law of writ, and the liberty, these are the only men] All the modern editions have, _the law of_ wit, _and the liberty_; but both my old copies have, _the law of_ writ, I believe rightly. _Writ_, for _writing, composition_. Wit_ was not, in our author's time, taken either for _imagination_, or _acuteness_, or _both together_, but for _understanding_, for the faculty by which we _apprehend_ and _judge_. Those who wrote of the human mind distinguished its primary powers into _wit_ and _will_. Ascham distinguishes _boys_ of tardy and of active faculties into _quick wits_ and _slow wits_. II.ii.438 (221,8) the first row of the pious chanson] [It is _pons chansons_ in the first folio edition. POPE.] It is _pons chansons_ in the quarto too. I know not whence the _rubric_ has been brought, yet it has not the appearance of an arbitrary addition. The titles of old ballads were never printed red; but perhaps _rubric_ may stand for _marginal explanation_. II.ii.439 (222,9) For, look, where my abridgment comes] He calls the players afterwards, _the brief chronicles of the time_; but I think he now means only _those who will shorten my talk_. II.ii.448 (223,2) be not crack'd within the ring] That is, _crack'd too much for use_. This is said to a young player who acted the parts of women. II.ii.450 (223,3) like French faulconers] HANMER, who has much illustrated the allusions to falconry, reads, _like_ French _falconers. [French falconers_ is not a correction by Hanmer, but the reading of the first folio. STEEVENS.] (see 1765, VIII, 198, 1) II.ii.459 (223,5) (as I received it, and others whose judgment in such matters cried in the top of mine)] [i.e. whose judgment I had the highest opinion of. WARBURTON.] I think it means only that _were higher than mine_. II.ii.466 (224,8) but called it, an honest method] Hamlet is telling how much his judgment differed from that of others. _One said, there was no salt in the lines_, &c. _but call'd it an honest method_. The author probably gave it, _But I called it an honest method_, &c. II.ii.525 (226,9) _the mobled queen] Mobled signifies _huddled, grossly covered_. II.ii.587 (228,5) the cue for passion] The _hint_, the _direction_. II.ii.589 (228,6) the general ear] The ears of all mankind. So before, _Caviare to the_ general, that is, to the _multitude_. II.ii.595 (229,7) unpregnant of my cause] [_Unpregnant_, for _having no due sense of_. WARBURTON.] Rather, _not quickened with a new desire of vengeance; not teeming with revenge_. II.ii.598 (229,8) A damn'd defeat was made] [_Defeat_, for _destruction_. WARBURTON.] Rather, _dispossession_. II.ii.608 (229,1) kindless] _Unnatural_. II.ii.616 (229,3) About, my brain!] _Wits, to your work_. _Brain_, go _about_ the present business. II.ii.625 (230,5) tent him] Search his wounds. II.ii.632 (230,7) More relative than this] [_Relative_, for _convictive_. WARB.] _Convictive_ is only the consequential sense. _Relative_ is, _nearly related, closely connected_. III.i.17 (231,2) o'er-raught on the way] _Over-raught_ is _over-reached_, that is, _over-took_. III.i.31 (232,4) Affront Ophelia.] To _affront_, is only _to meet directly_. III.i.47 (233,5) 'Tis too much prov'd] It is found by too frequent experience. III.i.52 (233,6) more ugly to the thing that helps it] That is, _compared with_ the thing that helps it. III.i.56-88 (233,7) To be, or not to be?] Of this celebrated soliloquy, which bursting from a man distracted with contrariety of desires, and overwhelmed with the magnitude of his own purposes, is connected rather in the speaker's mind, than on his tongue, I shall endeavour to discover the train, and to shew how one sentiment produces another. Hamlet, knowing himself injured in the most enormous and atrocious degree, and seeing no means of redress, but such as must expose him to the extremity of hazard, meditates on his situation in this manner: _Before I can form any rational scheme of action under this pressure of distress_, it is necessary to decide, whether, _after our present state, we are_ to be or not to be. That is the question, which, as it shall be answered, will determine, _whether 'tis nobler_, and more suitable to the dignity of reason, _to suffer the outrages of fortune_ patiently, or to take arms against _them_, and by opposing end them, _though perhaps_ with the loss of life. If _to die_, were _to sleep_, no more, _and by a sleep to end_ the miseries of our nature, such a sleep were _devoutly to be wished_; but if _to sleep_ in death, be _to dream_, to retain our powers of sensibility, we must _pause_ to consider, _in that sleep of death what dreams may come_. This consideration _makes calamity_ so long endured; for _who would bear_ the vexations of life, which might be ended _by a bare bodkin_, but that he is afraid of something in unknown futurity? This fear it is that gives efficacy to conscience, which, by turning the mind upon _this regard_, chills the ardour of _resolution_, checks the vigour of _enterprize_, and makes the _current_ of desire stagnate in inactivity. We may suppose that he would have applied these general observations to his own case, but that he discovered Ophelia. III.i.59 (234,8) Or to take arms against a sea of troubles] [W: against assail] Mr. Pope proposed _siege_. I know not why there should be so much solicitude about this metaphor. Shakespeare breaks his metaphors often, and in this desultory speech there was less need of preserving them. III.i.70 (235,2) the whips and scorns of time] [W: of th' time] I doubt whether the corruption of this passage is not more than the editor has suspected. _Whips_ and _scorns_ have no great connexion with one another, or with _time: whips_ and _scorns_ are evils of very different magnitude, and though at all _times scorn_ may be endured, yet the _times_ that put men ordinarily in danger of _whips_, are rery rare. Falstaff has said, that the _courtiers would_ whip _him with their quick wits_; but I know not that _whip_ can be used for a _scoff_ or _insult_, unless its meaning be fixed by the whole expression. I am afraid lest I should venture too far in correcting this passage. If _whips_ be retained, we may read, _For who would bear the whips and scorns of_ tyrant. But I think that _quip_, a _sneer_, a _sarcasm_, a _contemptuous_ jest, is the proper word, as suiting very exactly with _scorn_. What then must be done with _time_? it suits no better with the new reading than with the old, and _tyrant_ is an image too bulky and serious. I read, but not confidently, _For who would bear the_ quips _and scorns of_ title. It say be remarked, that Hamlet, in his enumeration of miseries, forgets, whether properly or not, that he is a prince, and mentions many evils to which inferior stations only are exposed. III.i.77 (236,4) To groan and sweat] All the old copies have, _to_ grunt _and sweat_. It is undoubtedly the true reading, but can scarcely be borne by modern ears. III.i.89 (237,5) Nymph, in thy orisons] This is a touch of nature. Hamlet, at the sight of Ophelia, does not immediately recollect, that he is to personate madness, but makes her an address grave and solemn, such as the foregoing meditation excited in his thoughts. III.i.107 (237,6) That if you be honest and fair, you should admit no discourse to your beauty] This is the reading of all the modern editions, and is copied from the quarto. The folio reads, your honesty _should admit no discourse to your beauty_. The true reading seems to be this, _If you be honest and fair, you should admit_ your honesty _to no discourse with your beauty_. This is the sense evidently required by the process of the conversation. III.i.127 (238,7) I have thoughts to put them in] _To put a thing into thought_, is _to think on it_. III.i.148 (239,8) I have heard of your paintings too, well enough] This is according to the quarto; the folio, for _painting_, has _prattlings_, and for _face_, has _pace_, which agrees with what follows, _you jig, you amble_. Probably the author wrote both. I think the common reading best. III.i.152 (239,9) make your wantonness your ignorance] You mistake by _wanton_ affectation, and pretend to mistake by _ignorance_. III.i.161 (239,2) the mould of form] The model by whom all endeavoured to form themselves. III.ii.12 (241,3) the groundlings] The meaner people then seem to have sat below, as they now sit in the upper gallery, who, not well understanding poetical language, were sometimes gratified by a mimical and mute representation of the drama, previous to the dialogue. III.ii.14 (242,4) inexplicable dumb shews] I believe the meaning is, _shews, without words to explain them_. III.ii.26 (242,6) the very age and body of the time, his form and pressure] The _age_ of the _time_ can hardly pass. May we not read, the _face_ and _body_, or did the author write, the _page_? The _page_ suits well with _form_ and _pressure_, but ill with _body_. III.ii.28 (242,7) pressure] Resemblance, as in a _print_. III.ii.34 (242,8) (not to speak it profanely)] _Profanely_ seems to relate, not to the praise which he has mentioned, but to the censure which he is about to utter. Any gross or indelicate language was called _profane_. III.ii.66 (243,9) the pregnant hinges of the knee] I believe the sense of _pregnant_ in this place is, _quick, ready, prompt_. III.ii.68 (244,1) my dear soul] Perhaps, my _clear_ soul. III.ii.74 (244,2) Whose blood and judgment] According to the doctrine of the four humours, _desire_ and _confidence_ were seated in the blood, and _judgment_ in the phlegm, and the due mixture of the humours made a perfect character. III.ii.89 (244,3) Vulcan's stithy] _Stithy_ is a smith's _anvil_. III.ii.103 (245,4) nor mine now] A man's words, says the proverb, are his own no longer than he keep them unspoken. III.ii.112 (245,5) they stay upon your patience] May it not be read more intelligibly, _They stay upon your_ pleasure. In _Macbeth_ it is, "Noble Macbeth, we stay upon your _leisure_." III.ii.123 (245,6) Do you think I meant country matters?] I think we must read, _Do you think I meant country_ manners? Do you imagine that I meant to sit in your lap, with such rough gallantry as clowns use to their lasses? III.ii.137 (246,7) Nay, then, let the devil wear black, for I'll have a suit of sables] I know not why our editors should, with such implacable anger, persecute our predecessors. The dead, it is true, can make no resistance, they may be attacked with great security; but since they can neither feel nor mend, the safety of mauling them seems greater than the pleasure; nor perhaps would it much misbeseem us to remember, amidst our triumphs over the _nonsensical_ and the _senseless_, that we likewise are men; that _debemur morti_, and, as Swift observed to Burnet, shall soon be among the dead ourselves. I cannot find how the common reading is nonsense, nor why Hamlet, when he laid aside his dress of mourning, in a country where it was _bitter cold_, and the air was _nipping and eager_, should not have a _suit of sables_. I suppose it is well enough known, that the fur of sables is not black. III.ii.147 (249,1) Marry, this is miching maliche; it means mischief] [W: malhechor] I think Hanmer's exposition most likely to be right. Dr. Warburton, to justify his interpretation, must write, _miching_ for _malechor_, and even then it will be harsh. III.ii.167 (250,3) sheen] Splendor, lustre. III.ii.177 (250,4) For women fear too much, even as they love] Here seems to be a line lost, which should have rhymed to _love_. III.ii.192 (251,6) The instances, that second marriage move] The _motives_. III.ii.202 (252,7) Most necessary 'tis, that we forget To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt] The performance of a resolution, in which only the _resolver_ is interested, is a debt only to himself, which he may therefore remit at pleasure. III.ii.206 (252,8) The violence of either grief or joy, Their own enactures with themselves destroy] What grief or joy _enact_ or determine in their violence, is revealed in their abatement. _Enactures_ is the word in the quarto; all the modern editions have _enactors_. III.ii.229 (252,9) An anchor's cheer in prison be my scope] May my whole liberty and enjoyment be to live on hermit's fare in a prison. _Anchor_ is for _anchoret_. III.ii.250 (253,1) Baptista] _Baptista_ is, I think, in Italian, the name always of a man. III.ii.262 (254,4) So you must take your husbands] Read, _So you_ must take _your husbands_ [in place of "mistake"]; that is, _for better, for worse_. III.ii.288 (255,5) with two provencial roses on my rayed shoes] When shoe-strings were worn, they were covered, where they met in the middle, by a ribband, gathered into the form of a rose. So in an old song, Gil-de-Roy _was a bonny boy_, _Had_ roses _tull his_ shoen. _Rayed_ shoes, are shoes _braided_ in lines. III.ii.304 (256,1) For if the king like not the comedy/Why, then, belike] Hamlet was going on to draw the consequence when the courtiers entered. III.ii.314 (256,2) With drink, Sir?] Hamlet takes particular care that his uncle's love of drink shall not be forgotten. III.ii.346 (257,3) further trade] Further business; further dealing. III.ii.348 (257,4) by these pickers] By these hands. III.ii.373 (258,6) ventages] The holes of a flute. III.ii.401 (259,9) they fool me to the top of my bent] They compel me to play the fool, till I can endure to do it no longer. III.iii.7 (261,4) Out of his lunes] [The old quartos read, _Out of his_ brows. This was from the ignorance of the first editors; as is this unnecessary Alexandrine, which we owe to the players. The poet, I am persuaded, wrote, --_us doth hourly grow_ _out of his_ lunes. i.e. his _madness, frenzy_. THEOBALD.] _Lunacies_ is the reading of the folio. I take _brows_ to be, properly read, _frows_, which, I think, is a provincial word for _perverse humours_; which being, I suppose, not understood, was changed to _lunacies_. But of this I an not confident. [Steevens adopted Theobald's emendation] III.iii.33 (262,7) of vantage] By some opportunity of secret observation. III.iii.56 (263,9) May one be pardon'd, and retain the offence?] He that does not amend what can be amended, _retains_ his _offence_. The king kept the crown from the right heir. III.iii.66 (263,1) Yet what can it, when one cannot repent?] What can repentance _do for a man that cannot be penitent_, for a man who has only part of penitence, distress of conscience, without the other part, resolution of amendment. III.iii.77 (264,1) I, his sole son, do this same villain send] The folio reads foule son, a reading apparently corrupted from the quarto. The meaning is plain. _I, his_ only _son_, who am bound to punish his murderer. III.iii.88 (264,2) Up, sword, and know thou a more horrid hent] [T: bent] This reading is followed by Sir T. HANMER and Dr. WARBURTON; but _hent_ is probably the right vord. To _hent_ is used by Shakespeare for, to _seize_, to _catch_, to _lay hold on_. _Hent_ is, therefore, _hold_, or _seizure_. _Lay hold_ on him, sword, at a more horrid time. III.iii.94 (265,3) his soul may be as damn'd and black/As hell, whereto it goes] This speech, in which Hamlet, represented as a virtuous character, is not content vith taking blood for blood, but contrives damnation for the man that he would punish, is too horrible to be read or to be uttered. III.iv.4 (266,4) I'll silence me e'en here:/Pray you, be round vith him] Sir T. HANMER, who is folloved by Dr. WARBURTON, reads, --_I'll_ sconce _me here_. _Retire_ to a place of _security_. They forget that the contrivance of Polonius to overhear the conference, was no more told to the queen than to Hamlet.--_I'll silence me even here_, is, _I'll use no more words_. III.iv.48 (268,8) Heaven's face doth glow; Yea, this solidity and compound mass, With tristful visage, as against the doom, It thought-sick at the act] [W: O'er this ... visage, and, as 'gainst] The word _heated_ [from the "old quarto"], though it agrees well enough with _glow_, is, I think, not so striking as _tristful_, which was, I suppose, chosen at the revisal. I believe the whole passage now stands as the author gave it. Dr. WARBURTON's reading restores two improprieties, which Shakespeare, by his alteration, had removed. In the first, and in the new reading: _Heaven's_ face _glows with tristful_ visage; and, _Heaven's face is_ thought-sick. To the common reading there is no just objection. III.iv.52 (268,9) what act,/That roars so loud, and thunders in the index?] The meaning is, _What is_ this act, of which the _discovery_, or _mention_, cannot be made, but with this violence of clamour? III.iv.82 (270,5) Rebellious hell,/If thou canst mutiny in a matron's bones] I think the present reading right, but cannot admit that HANMER's emendation ["Rebellious heat"] produces nonsense. May not what is said of _heat_, be said of _hell_, that it will mutiny wherever it is quartered? Though the emendation be elegant, it is not necessary. (1773) III.iv.88 (271,6) reason panders will] So the folio, I think rightly; but the reading of the quarto is defensible; --_reason_ pardons _will_. III.iv.90 (271,7) grained] Dyed in grain. III.iv.92 (271,8) incestuous bed] The folio has _enseamed_, that is, _greasy_ bed. III.iv.98 (271,9) vice of kings!] a low mimick of kings. The vice is the fool of a farce; from whom the modern _punch_ is descended. III.iv.102 (272,2) A king of shreds and patches] This is said, pursuing the idea of the _vice of kings_. The _vice_ was dressed as a fool, in a coat of party-coloured patches. III.iv.107 (272,3) lap's in time and passion] That, having suffered _time_ to _slip_, and _passion_ to _cool, lets go_, &c. III.iv.151 (274,6) And do not spread the compost on the weeds/To make them ranker] Do not, by any new indulgence, heighten your former offences. III.iv.155 (274,7) curb] That is, _bend_ and _truckle_. Fr. _courber_. III.iv.161 (274,8) That monster custom, who all sense doth eat/ Of habits evil, is angel yet in this] [Thirlby: habits evil] I think THIRLBY's conjecture wrong, though the succeeding editors have followed it; _angel_ and _devil_ are evidently opposed. [Steevens accepted "evil"] III.iv.203 (277,5) adders fang'd] That is, adders with their _fangs_, or _poisonous teeth_, undrawn. It has been the practice of mountebanks to boast the efficacy of their antidotes by playing with vipers, but they first disabled their fangs. IV.i (278,l) _A royal apartment. Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern_] This play is printed in the old editions without any separation of the acts. The division is modern and arbitrary; and is here not very happy, for the pause is made at a time when there is more continuity of action than in almost any other of the scenes. IV.i.18 (278,2) out of haunt] I would rather read, _out of_ harm. IV.i.25 (279,3) his very madness, like some ore among a mineral of metals base, Shews itself pure] Shakespeare seems to think _ore_ to be _or_, that is, gold. Base metals have _ore_ no less than precious. IV.ii.19 (281,5) he keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw] The quarto has _apple_, which is generally followed. The folio has _ape_, which HANMER has received, and illustrated with the following note. "It is the way of monkeys in eating, to throw that part of their food, which they take up first, into a pouch they are provided with on the side of their jaw, and then they keep it, till they have done with the rest." IV.ii.28 (281,6) The body is with the king] This answer I do not comprehend. Perhaps it should be, _The body is_ not _with the king_, for _the king is not with the body_. IV.ii.32 (282,7) Of nothing] Should it not be read, _Or_ nothing? When the courtiers remark, that Hamlet has contemptuously called the _king a thing_, Hamlet defends himself by observing, that the king must be a _thing_, or _nothing_. IV.ii.46 (283,9) the wind at help] I suppose it should be read, _The bark is ready, and the wind at_ helm. IV.ii.68 (284,3) And thou must cure me: till I know 'tis done,/ Howe'er my haps, my joys will ne'er begin] This being the termination of a scene, should, according to our author's custom, be rhymed. Perhaps he wrote, _Howe'er my_ hopes, _my joys_ are not begun. If _haps_ be retained, the meaning will be, _'till I know 'tis done, I shall be miserable_, whatever befall me (see 1785, VIII, 257, 3) IV.iv.33 (286,4) What is a man, If his chief good and market of his time Be but to sleep and feed?] If his highest good, and _that for which he sells his time_, be to sleep and feed. IV.iv.36 (286,5) large discourse] Such latitude of comprehension, such power of reviewing the past, and anticipating the future. IV.iv.53 (286,6) Rightly to be great,/Is not to stir without great argument] This passage I have printed according to the copy. Mr. THEOBALD had regulated it thus: --_'Tis not to be great, Never to stir without great argument; But greatly_, &c. The sentiment of Shakespeare is partly just, and partly romantic. --_Rightly to be great, Is not to stir without great argument_; is exactly philosophical. _But greatly to find quarrel in a straw, When honour is at stake_, is the idea of a modern hero. _But then_, says he _honour is an argument, or subject of debate_, sufficiently great, _and_ when honour is at stake, we must _find cause of quarrel in a straw_. IV.iv.56 (287,7) Excitements of my reason and my blood] Provocations which excite both my reason and my passions to vengeance. IV.v.37 (289,4) _Larded all with sweet flowers_] The expression is taken from cookery. (1773) IV.v.53 (290,6) _And dupt the chamber-door_] To _dup_, is to _do up_; to lift the latch. It were easy to write, _And_ op'd-- IV.v.58 (290,7) _By Gis_] I rather imagine it should be read, _By_ Cis,-- That is, by St. Cecily. IV.v.83 (291,8) but greenly] But _unskilfully_; with _greenness_; that is, without_ maturity_ of judgment. IV.v.84 (291,9) In hugger-mugger to inter him] All the modern editions that I have consulted give it, _In_ private _to inter him_;-- That the words now replaced are better, I do not undertake to prove; it is sufficient that they are Shakespeare's: if phraseology is to be changed as words grow uncouth by disuse, or gross by vulgarity, the history of every language will be lost; we shall no longer have the words of any author; and, as these alterations will be often unskilfully made, we shall in time have very little of his meaning. IV.v.89 (292,1) Feeds on his wonder] The folio reads, Keeps _on his wonder_,-- The quarto, Feeds _on_ this _wonder_.-- Thus the true reading is picked out from between them. HANMER reads unnecessarily, Feeds _on his_ anger.-- IV.v.92 (292,2) Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd,/ Will nothing stick our persons to arraign] HANMER reads, Whence animosity, _of matter beggar'd_. He seems not to have understood the connection. _Wherein_, that is, _in which pestilent speeches, necessity_, or, _the obligation of an accuser to support his charge, will nothing stick_, &c. IV.v.99 (293,4) The ocean, over-peering of his list] The lists are the barriers which the spectators of a tournament must not pass. IV.v.105 (293,5) The ratifiers and props of every ward] [W: ward] With this emendation, which was in Theobald's edition, Hanmer was not satisfied. It is indeed harsh. HANMER transposes the lines, and reads, _They cry_, "Chuse we Laertes for our king;" The ratifiers and props of every word, _Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds_. I think the fault may be mended at less expence, by reading, _Antiquity forgot, custom not known, The ratifiers and props of every_ weal. That is, of every _government_. IV.v.110 (294,6) Oh, this is counter, you false Danish dogs] Hounds run _counter_ when they trace the trail backwards. IV.v.161 (296,9) Nature is fine in loves and, where 'tis fine, It sends some precious instance of itself After the thing it loves] These lines are not in the quarto, and might hare been omitted in the folio without great loss, for they are obscure and affected; but, I think, they require no emendation. _Love_ (says Laertes) is the passion by which _nature is most_ exalted and _refined_; and as substances _refined_ and subtilised, easily obey any impulse, or follow any attraction, some part of nature, so purified and _refined_, flies off after the attracting object, after the thing it loves. _As into air the purer spirits f1ow, And separate from their kindred dregs below, So flew her soul_.-- IV.v.171 (297,1) O how the wheel becomes it!] [W: weal] I do not see why _weal_ is better than _wheel_. The story alluded to I do not know; but perhaps the lady stolen by the steward was reduced to _spin_. IV.v.175 (297,2) There's rosemary, that'll far rememberance. Pray you, love, remember. And there's pansies, that's for thoughts] There is probably some mythology in the choice of these herbs, but I cannot explain it. _Pansies_ is for _thoughts_, because of its name, _Pensées_; but _rosemary_ indicates _remembrance_, except that it is an ever-green, and carried at funerals, I have not discovered. IV.v.214 (300,7) No trophy, sword, nor batchment] It was the custom, in the times of our author, to hang a sword over the grave of a knight. IV.v.218 (300,8) And where the offence is, let the great axe fall] [W: tax] _Fall_ corresponds better to _axe_. IV.vi.26 (301,9) _for the bore of the matter_] The _bore_ is the calibier of a gun, or the capacity of the barrel. _The matter_ (says Hamlet) _would carry the heavier words_. IV.vii.18 (302,1) the general gender] The _common race_ of the people. IV.vii.19 (302,2) dipping all his faults in their affection, Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone, Convert his gyves to graces] This simile is neither very seasonable in the deep interest of this conversation, nor very accurately applied. If the _spring_ had changed base metals to gold, the thought had been more proper. IV.vii.27 (302,3) if praises may go back again] If I may praise what has been, but is now to be found no more. IV.vii.77 (304,5) Of the unworthiest siege] Of the lowest rank. _Siege_, for _seat, place_. IV.vii.82 (304,6) Importing health and graveness] [W: wealth] _Importing_ here may be, not _inferring_ by logical consequence, but _producing_ by physical effect. A young man regards show in his dress, an old man, _health_. IV.vii.90 (305,7) I, in forgery of shapes and tricks/Come short of what he did] I could not contrive so many proofs of dexterity as he could perform. IV.vii.98 (305,8) in your defence] That is, _in the science of_ defence. IV.vii.101 (305,9) The scrimers] The _fencers_. IV.vii.112 (305,1) love is begun by time] This is obscure. The meaning may be, _love_ is not innate in us, and co-essential to our nature, but begins at a certain time from some external cause, and being always subject to the operations of time, suffers change and diminution. (1773) IV.vii.113 (300,2) in passages of proof] In transactions of daily experience. IV.vii.123 (306,4) And then this _should_ is like a spendthrift sigh/ That hurts by easing] [W: sign] This conjecture is so ingenious, that it can hardly be opposed, but with the same reluctance as the bow is drawn against a hero, whose virtues the archer holds in veneration. Here may be applied what Voltaire writes to the empress: _Le genereux Francois-- Te combat & t'admire._ Yet this emendation, however specious, is mistaken. The original reading is, not a _spendthrift's_ sigh, but a _spendthrift_ sigh; a _sigh_ that makes an unnecessary waste of the vital flame. It is a notion very prevalent, that _sighs_ impair the strength, and wear out the animal powers. IV.vii.135 (307,5) He being remiss] He being not vigilant or cautious. IV.vii.139 (307,7) a pass of practice] Practice is often by Shakespeare, and other writers, taken for an _insidious stratagem_, or _privy_ treason, a sense not incongruous to this passage, where yet I rather believe, that nothing more is meant than a _thrust for exercise_. IV.vii.151 (308,8) May fit us to our shape] May _enable_ us to _assume proper characters_, and to act our part. IV.vii.155 (308,9) blast in proof] This, I believe, is a metaphor taken from a mine, which, in the proof or execution, sometimes breaks out with an ineffectual _blast_. V.i.3 (310,1) make her grave straight] Make her grave from east to west in a direct line parallel to the church; not from north to south, athwart the regular line. This, I think, is meant. V.i.87 (313,1) which this ass now o'er-reaches] In the quarto, for _over-offices_ is, _over-reaches_, which agrees better with the sentence: it is a strong exaggeration to remark that an _ass_ can _over-reach_ him who would once have tried to _circumvent_.--I believe both the words were Shakespeare's. An author in revising his work, when his original ideas have faded from his mind, and new observations have produced new sentiments, easily introduces images which have been more newly impressed upon him, without observing their want of congruity to the general texture of his original design. V.i.96 (314,2) and now my lady Worm's] The scull that was _my lord Such a one's_, is now my _lady Worm's_. V.i.100 (314,3) to play at loggats with 'em?] A play, in which pins are set up to be beaten down with a bowl. V.i.149 (316,5) by the card] The _card_ is the paper on which the different points of the compass were described. _To do any thing by the card_, is, _to do it with nice observation_. V.i.151 (316,6) the age is grown so picked] So _smart_, so _sharp_, says HANMER, very properly; but there was, I think, about that time, a _picked_ shoe, that is, _a shoe with a long pointed toe_, in fashion, to which the allusion seems likewise to be made. _Every man now is smart; and every man now is a man of fashion_. V.i.239 (319,7) winter's flaw!] Winter's _blast_. V.i.242 (319,8) maimed rites!] Imperfect obsequies. V.i.244 (319,9) some estate] Some person of high rank. V.i.255 (319,2) Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants] I have been informed by an anonymous correspondent, that _crants_ is the German word for _garlands_, and I suppose it was retained by us from the Saxons. To carry _garlands_ before the bier of a maiden, and to hang them over her grave, is still the practice in rural parishes. _Crants_ therefore was the original word, which the author, discovering it to be provincial, and perhaps not understood, changed to a term more intelligible, but less proper. _Maiden rites_ give no certain or definite image. He might have put _maiden wreaths_, or _maiden garlands_, but he perhaps bestowed no thought upon it, and neither genius nor practice will always supply a hasty writer with the most proper diction. V.i.310 (323,6) When that her golden couplets] [W: E'er that] Perhaps it should be, _Ere yet_-- _Yet_ and _that_ are easily confounded. V.ii.6 (324,7) mutinies in the bilboes] _Mutinies_, the French word for seditious or disobedient fellows in the army or fleet. _Bilboes_, the _ship's prison_. V.ii.6 (324,8) Rashly,/And prais'd be rashness for it--Let us know] Both my copies read, --Rashly, _And prais'd be rashness for it_, let _us know_. Hamlet, delivering an account of his escape, begins with saying, that he _rashly_--and then is carried into a reflection upon the weakness of human wisdom. I rashly--praised be rashness for it--_Let us_ not think these events casual, but _let us know_, that is, _take notice and remember_, that we sometimes succeed by _indiscretion_, when we _fail_ by _deep plots_, and infer the perpetual superintendance and _agency_ of the _Divinity_. The observation is just, and will be allowed by every human being who shall reflect on the course of his own life. V.ii.22 (325,9) With, ho! such bugs and goblins in my life] With _such causes of terror_, arising from my character and designs. V.ii.29 (325,2) Being thus benetted round with villainies,/ Ere I could make a prologue to my brains] [W: mark the prologue ... bane] In my opinion no alteration is necessary. Hamlet is telling how luckily every thing fell out; he groped out their commission in the dark without waking them; he found himself doomed to immediate destruction. Something was to be done for his preservation. An expedient occurred, not produced by the comparison of one method with another, or by a regular deduction of consequences, but before he _could make a prologue to his brains, they had begun the play_. Before he could summon his faculties, and propose to himself what should be done, a complete scheme of action presented itself to him. His mind operated before he had excited it. This appears to me to be the meaning. V.ii.41 (326,5) As peace should still her wheaten garland wear,/ And stand a comma 'tween their amities] HANMER reads, _And stand a_ cement-- I am again inclined to vindicate the old reading. The expression of our author is, like many of his phrases, sufficiently constrained and affected, but it is not incapable of explanation. The _comma_ is the note of _connection_ and continuity of sentences; the _period_ is the note of _abruption_ and disjunction. Shakespeare had it perhaps in his mind to write, That unless England complied with the mandate, _war should put a_ period _to their amity_; he altered his mode of diction, and thought that, in an opposite sense, he might put, that _Peace should stand a_ comma between their amities_. This is not an easy stile; but is it not the stile of Shakespeare? V.ii.43 (327,6) as's of great charge] _Asses_ heavily _loaded_. A quibble is intended between _as_ the conditional particle, and _ass_ the beast of burthen. That _charg'd_ anciently signified _leaded_, may be proved from the following passage in _The Widow's Tears_, by Chapman, 1612. "Thou must be the _ass charg'd with crowns_ to make way." (see 1765, VIII, 294, 2) V.ii.53 (327,7) The changeling never known] A _changeling_ is a _child_ which the fairies are supposed to leave in the room of that which they steal. V.ii.68 (328,1) To quit him] To requite him; to pay him his due. V.ii.84 (329,2) Dost know this water-fly] A _water-fly_, skips up and down upon the surface of the water, without any apparent purpose or reason, and is thence the proper emblem of a busy trifler. V.ii.89 (329,3) It is a chough] A kind of jackdaw. V.ii.112 (330,5) full of most excellent differences] Full of _distinguishing_ excellencies. V.ii.114 (330,6) the card or calendar of gentry] The general preceptor of elegance; the _card_ by which a gentleman is to direct his course; the _calendar_ by which he is to choose his time, that what he does may be both excellent and seasonable. V.ii.115 (330,7) for you shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see] _You shall find him containing_ and comprising every _quality_ which a _gentleman_ would desire to _contemplate_ for imitation. I know not but it should be read, _You shall find him the continent_ V.ii.119 (330,9) and yet but raw neither in respect of his quick sail] [W: but slow] I believe _raw_ to be the right word; it is a word of great latitude; _raw_ signifies _unripe, immature_, thence _unformed, imperfect, unskilful_. The best account of him would be _imperfect_, in respect of his quick sail. The phrase _quick sail_ was, I suppose, a proverbial term for _activity of mind_. V.ii.122 (330,1) a soul of great article] This is obscure. I once thought it might have been, _a soul of great altitude_; but, I suppose, _a soul of great article_, means _a soul of_ large comprehension, of many contents; the particulars of an inventory are called _articles_. V.ii.122 (331,2) his infusion of such dearth and rareness] _Dearth_ is _dearness_, value, price. And his internal qualities of such value and rarity. V.ii.131 (331,3) Is't not possible to understand in another tongue? you will do't, Sir, really] Of this interrogatory remark the sense ie very obscure. The question may mean, _Might not all this be understood in plainer language_. But then, _you will do it, Sir, really_, seems to have no use, for who could doubt but plain language would be intelligible? I would therefore read, _Is't possible_ not to be understood in a mother _tongue_. You will do it, Sir, really. V.ii.140 (331,4) if you did, it would not much approve me] If you knew I was not ignorant, your esteem would not nuch advance my reputation. To _approve_, is to _recommend to approbation_. V.ii.145 (331,5) I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him in excellence] I dare not pretend to know him, lest I should pretend to an equality: no man can completely know another, but by knowing himself, which is the utmost extent of human wisdom. V.ii.149 (332,6) in his meed] In his excellence. V.ii.156 (332,7) impon'd] Perhaps it should be, _depon'd_. So Hudibras, "I would upon this cause _depone_, "As much as any I have known." But perhaps _imponed_ is pledged, _impawned_, so spelt to ridicule the affectation of uttering English words with French pronunciation. V.ii.165 (332,9) more germane.] More_a-kin_. V.ii.172 (333,1) The king, Sir, hath laid, that in a dozen passes between yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits; he hath laid on twelve for nine] This wager I do not understand. In a dozen passes one must exceed the other more or less than three hits. Nor can I comprehend, how, in a dozen, there can be twelve to nine. The passage is of no importance; it is sufficient that there was a wager. The quarto has the passage as it stands. The folio, _He hath one twelve for mine_. V.ii.193 (333,2) This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head] I see no particular propriety in the image of the lapwing. Osrick did not run till he had done his business. We may read, _This lapwing_ ran _away_--That is, _this fellow was full of unimportant bustle from his birth_. V.ii.199 (334,4) a kind of yesty collection, which carries them through and through the most fond and winnowed opinions] [W: most fann'd] This is a very happy emendation; but I know not why the critic should suppose that _fond_ was printed for _fann'd_ in consequence of any reason or reflection. Such errors, to which there is no temptation but idleness, and of which there was no cause but ignorance, are in every page of the old editions. This passage in the quarto stands thus: "They have got out of the habit of encounter, a kind of misty collection, which carries them through and through the most profane and renowned opinions." If this printer preserved any traces of the original, our author wrote, "the most fane and renowned opinions," which is better than fann'd and winnow'd. The meaning is, "these men have got the cant of the day, a superficial readiness of slight and cursory conversation, a kind of frothy collection of fashionable prattle, which yet carried them through the most select and approved judgment. This airy facility of talk sometimes imposes upon wise men." Who has not seen this observation verified? V.ii.201 (335,6) and do but blow them to their trials, the bubbles are out] These men of show, without solidity, are like bubbles raised from soap and water, which dance, and glitter, and please the eye, but if you extend them, by blowing hard, separate into a mist; so if you oblige these specious talkers to extend their compass of conversation, they at once discover the tenuity of their intellects. V.ii.216 (335,7) gentle entertainment] Mild and temperate conversation. V.ii.234 (336,1) Since no man knows aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes?] The reading of the quarto was right, but in some other copy the harshness of the transposition was softened, and the passage stood thus: _Since no man knows aught of what he leaves_. For _knows_ was printed in the later copies _has_, by a slight blunder in such typographers. I do not think Dr. Warburton's interpretation of the passage the best that it will admit. The meaning may be this, Since _no man knows aught of_ the state of life which _he leaves_, since he cannot judge what others years may produce, why should he be afraid of _leaving_ life betimes? Why should he dread an early death, of which he cannot tell whether it is an exclusion of happiness, or an interception of calamity. I despise the superstition of augury and omens, which has no ground in reason or piety; my comfort is, that I cannot fall but by the direction of Providence. Hanmer has, _Since no man_ owes _aught_, a conjecture not very reprehensible. Since _no man can call any possession certain_, what is it to leave? V.ii.237 (337,2) Give me your pardon, Sir] I wish Hamlet had made some other defence; it is unsuitable to the character of a good or a brave man, to shelter himself in falsehood. V.ii.272 (338,5) Your grace hath laid upon the weaker side] Thus Hanmer. All the others read, _Your grace hath laid the odds o' the weaker side._ When the odds were on the side of Laertes, who was to hit Hamlet twelve times to nine, it was perhaps the author's slip. V.ii.310 (340,7) you make a wanton of me] A _wanton_ was, a man feeble and effeminate. In _Cymbeline_, Imogen says, "I am not so citizen a _wanton_, To die, ere I be sick." V.ii.346 (342,8) That are but mutes or audience to this act] That are either mere _auditors_ of this _catastrophe_, or at most only _mute performers_, that fill the stage without any part in the action. V.ii.375 (344,2) This quarry cries, on havock!] Hanmer reads, --_cries_ out, _havock!_ To _cry on_, was to _exclaim against_. I suppose, when unfair sportsmen destroyed more _quarry_ or _game_ than was reasonable, the censure was to cry, _Havock_. (346) General Observation. If the dramas of Shakespeare were to be characterised, each by the particular excellence which distinguishes it from the rest, we must allow to the tragedy of Hamlet the praise of variety. The incidents are so numerous, that the argument of the play would make a long tale. The scenes are interchangeably diversified with merriment and solemnity; with merriment that includes judicious and instructive observations, and solemnity, not strained by poetical violence above the natural sentiments of man. New characters appear from time to time in continual succession, exhibiting various forms of life and particular modes of conversation. The pretended madness of Hamlet causes much mirth, the mournful distraction of Ophelia fills the heart with tenderness, and every personage produces the effect intended, from the apparition that in the first act chills the blood with horror, to the fop in the last, that exposes affectation to just contempt. The conduct is perhaps not wholly secure against objections. The action is indeed for the most part in continual progression, but there are some scenes which neither forward nor retard it. Of the feigned madness of Hamlet there appears no adequate cause, for he does nothing which he might not have done with the reputation of sanity. He plays the madman most, when he treats Ophelia with so much rudeness, which seems to be useless and wanton cruelty. Hamlet is, through the whole play, rather an instrument than an agent. After he has, by the stratagem of the play, convicted the king, he makes no attempt to punish him, and his death is at last effected by an incident which Hamlet had no part in producing. The catastrophe is not very happily produced; the exchange of weapons is rather an expedient of necessity, than a stroke of art. A scheme might easily have been formed to kill Hamlet with the dagger, and Laertes with the bowl. The poet is accused of having shewn little regard to poetical justice, and may be charged with equal neglect of poetical probability. The apparition left the regions of the dead to little purpose; the revenge which he demands is not obtained, but by the death of him that was required to take it; and the gratification which would arise from the destruction of an usurper and a murderer, is abated by the untimely death of Ophelia, the young, the beautiful, the harmless, and the pious. OTHELLO I.i.20 (358,4) One Michael Cassio, a Florentine, A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife] This is one of the passages which must for the present be resigned to corruption and obscurity. I have nothing that I can, with any approach to confidence, propose. I cannot think it very plain from Act 3. Scene 1. that Cassio was or was not a Florentine. I.i.30 (361,6) must be belee'd and calm'd] [--_must be_ LED _and calm'd_. So the old quarto. The first folio reads _belee'd_: but that spoils the measure. I read LET, hindered. WARBURTON.] _Belee'd_ suits to _calm'd_, and the measure is not less perfect than in many other places. I.i.36 (361,7) Preferment goes by letter] By _recommendation_ from powerful friends. I.i.37 (361,8) And not by old gradation] [W: Not (as of old)] _Old gradation_, is _gradation_ established by_ancient_ practice. Where is the difficulty? I.i.39 (361,9) If I in any just term am affin'd] _Affine_ is the reading of the third quarto and the first folio. The second quarto and all the modern editions have _assign'd_. The meaning is, _Do I stand_ within _any such_ terms _of propinquit_ or _relation to the Moor, as that it is my duty to love him_? I.i.49 (362,1) honest knaves] _Knave_ is here for _servant_, but with a mixture of sly contempt. I.i.63 (362,2) In compliment extern] In that which I do only for an outward shew of civility. I.i.76 (363,3) As when, by night and negligence, the fire/Is spied in populous cities] [Warburton, objecting to "by": Is spred] The particle is used equivocally; the same liberty is taken by writers more correct. _The wonderful creature! a woman of reason! Never grave_ out of _pride, never gay_ out of _season_. I.i.115 (364,4) What profane wretch art thou?] That is, _what wretch of gross and licentious language?_ In that sense Shakespeare often uses the word _profane_. I.i.124 (365,6) this odd even] The _even_ of _night_ is _midnight_, the time when night is divided into _even_ parts. I.i.149 (366,7) some check] Some rebuke. I.i.150 (366,8) cast him] That is, _dismiss_ him; _reject_ him. We still say, a _cast_ coat, and a _cast_ serving-man. I.i.162 (366,9) And what's to come of my despised time] [W: despited] _Despised time_, is _time of no value_; time in which "There's nothing serious in mortality, The wine of life is drawn, and the mere dregs Are left, this vault to brag of." _Macbeth_. I.i.173 (367,2) By which the property of youth and maidhood/May be abus'd?] By which the faculties of a young virgin may be infatuated, and made subject to illusions and to false imagination. "Wicked dreams _abuse_ The curtain'd sleep." _Macbeth._ I.ii.2 (368,3) stuff o' the conscience] This expression to common readers appears harsh. _Stuff_ of the _conscience_ is, _substance_, or _essence_ of the conscience. _Stuff_ is a word of great force in the Teutonic languages. The elements are called in Dutch, _Hoefd stoffen_, or _head stuffs_. I.ii.13 (368,4) And hath, in his effect, a voice potential/As double as the duke's] [Warburton had given a source in Dioscorides and Theocritus for "double"] This note has been much censured by Mr. Upton, who denies, that the quotation is in Dioscorides, and disputes, not without reason, the interpretation of Theocritus. All this learning, if it had even been what it endeavours to be thought, is, in this place, superfluous. There is no ground of supposing, that our author copied or knew the Greek phrase; nor does it follow, that, because a word has two senses in one language, the word which in another answers to one sense, should answer to both. _Manus_, in Latin, signifies both a _hand_ and _troop of soldiers_, but we cannot say, that _the captain marched at the_ head _of his_ hand; or, that _he laid his_ troop _upon his sword_. It is not always in books that the meaning is to be sought of this writer, who was much more acquainted with naked reason and with living manners. _Double_ has here its natural sense. The president of every deliberative assembly has a _double voice_. In our courts, the chief justice and one of the inferior judges prevail over the other two, because the chief justice has a _double_ voice. Brabantio had, _in his effect_, though not by law, yet by _weight_ and _influence_, a voice not _actual_ and formal, but _potential_ and operative, as _double_, that is, a voice that when a question was suspended, would turn the balance as effectually _as the duke's_. _Potential_ is used in the sense of science; a _caustic_ is called _potential_ fire. I.ii.23 (370,7) speak, unbonnetted] [Pope: unbonnetting] I do not see the propriety of Mr. Pope's emendation, though adopted by Dr. Warburton. _Unbonnetting_ may as well be, _not putting on_, as _not putting off_, the bonnet. Hamner reads _e'en_ bonnetted. I.ii.26 (370,8) unhoused] Free from _domestic_ cares. A thought natural to an adventurer. I.ii.28 (370,9) For the sea's worth] I would not marry her, though she were as rich as the Adriatic, which the Doge annually marries. I.ii.30 (371,2) a land-carrack] A _carrack_ is a ship of great bulk, and commonly of great value; perhaps what we now call a _galleon_. I.ii.55 (372,3) be advis'd] That is, be _cool_; be _cautious_; be _discreet_. I.ii.68 (372,4) The wealthy curled darlings of our nation] _Curled_ is _elegantly and ostentatiously dressed_. He had not the hair particularly in his thoughts. I.ii.74 (373,6) Abused her delicate youth with drugs, or minerals,/ That weaken notion] [T: notion] Hanmer reads with equal probability, _That_ waken motion. [Originally _motion_]. I.iii.6 (375,9) As in these cases where they aim reports] [W: the aim] The folio has, --_the_ aim reports. But, _they aim reports_, has a sense sufficiently easy and commodious. There men _report_ not by certain knowledge, but by _aim _and conjecture. I.ii.18 (375,1) By no assay of reason] Bring it to the _test_, examine it by reason as we examine metals by the _assay_, it will be found counterfeit by all trials. I.iii.23 (376,2) facile question] _Question_ is for the _act of seeking_. With more _easy endeavour_. I.iii.24 (376,4) warlike brace] State of defence. To arm was called to _brace on_ the armour. I.iii.42 (376,5) And prays you to believe him] The late learned and ingenious Mr. Thomas Clark, of Lincoln's Inn, read the passage thus: _And prays you to_ relieve _him_. But the present reading may stand. _He intreats you not to doubt the truth of this intelligence_. I.iii.54 (377,6) Hath rais'd me from my bed; nor doth the general care] The word _care_, which encumbers the verse, was probably added by the players. Shakespeare uses _the general_ as a substantive, though, I think, not in this sense. I.iii.69 (373,8) though our proper son/Stood in your action] Were the man exposed to your _charge_ or _accusation_. I.iii.80 (378,9) The very head and front of my offending] The _main_, the _whole_, unextenuated. I.iii.85 (379,2) Their dearest action] That is _dear_, for which much is paid, whether money or labour; _dear action_, is action performed at great expence, either of ease or safety. I.iii.107 (380,4) overt test] Open proofs, external evidence. I.iii.108 (380,5) thin habits and poor likelihoods/Of modern seeming] Weak shew of slight appearance. I.iii.139 (381,6) And portance in my travel's history] [I have restored, _And with it all my travel's history_: From the old edition. It is in the rest, _And portance in my travel's history_. Rymer, in his criticism on this play, has changed it to _portents_, instead of _portance_. POPE.] Mr. Pope has restored a line, to which there is little objection, but which has no force. I believe _portance_ was the author's word in some revised copy. I read thus, _Of being----sold To slavery, of my redemption, thence, And portance in't; my travel's history._ My redemption from slavery, and behaviour in it. I.iii.140-170 (381,7) Wherein of antres vast, and desarts idle] Whoever ridicules this account of the progress of love, shows his ignorance, not only of history, but of nature and manners. It is no wonder that, in any age, or in any nation, a lady, recluse, timorous, and delicate, should desire to hear of events and scenes which she could never see, and should admire the man who had endured dangers and performed actions, which, however great, were yet magnified by her timidity. [Pope: deserts wild] Every mind is liable to absence and inadvertency, else Pope could never have rejected a word so poetically beautiful. Idle is an epithet used to express the infertility of the chaotic state, in the Saxon translation of the Pentateuch. (1773) I.iii.140 (382,8) antres] [French grottos. POPE.] Rather _caves_ and _dens_. I.iii.142 (382,9) It was my hint to speak] [W: hent] _Hent_ is not used in Shakespeare, nor, I believe, in any other author; _hint_, or _cue_, is comnonly used for occasion of speech, which is explained by, _such was the process_, that is, the course of the tale required it. If _hent_ be restored, it may be explained by _handle_. I had a _handle_, or _opportunity_, to speak of cannibals. I.iii.144 (382,1) men whose heads/Do grow beneath their shoulders] Of these men there is an account in the interpolated travels of Mondeville, a book of that time. I.iii.199 (384,4) Let me speak like yourself;] [W: our self] Hanmer reads, _Let me_ now speak _more_ like your self. Dr. Warburton's emendation is specious; but I do not see how Hanmer's makes any alteration. The duke seems to mean, when he says he will speak like Brabantio, that he will speak sententiously. I.iii.213 (385,6) But the free comfort which from thence he hears] But the moral precepts of consolation, which are liberally bestowed on occasion of the sentence. I.iii.232 (386,8) thrice-driven bed of down] A _driven_ bed, is a bed for which the feathers are selected, by _driving_ with a fan, which separates the light from the heavy. I.iii.237 (337,9) I crave fit disposition for my wife; Due reverence of place, and exhibition] I desire, that a proper _disposition_ be made for my wife, that she may have _precedency_, and _revenue_, accommodation, and _company_, suitable to her rank. For _reference_ of place, the old quartos have _reverence_, which Hanmer has received. I should read, _Due_ preference _of place_.-- I.iii.246 (387,1) And let me find a charter in your voice] Let your favour _privilege_ me. I.iii.250 (387,2) My down-right violence and storm of fortunes] [W: to forms, my fortunes] There is no need of this emendation. _Violence_ is not _violence suffered_, but _violence acted_. Breach of common rules and obligations. The old quarto has, _scorn_ of fortune, which is perhaps the true reading. I.iii.253 (388,3) I saw Othello's visage in his mind] It must raise no wonder, that I loved a man of an appearance so little engaging; I saw his face only in his mind; the greatness of his character reconciled me to his form. I.iii.264 (386,4) Nor to comply with heat (the young affects, In me defunct) and proper satisfaction] [T: me distinct, i.e. with that heat and new affections which the indulgence of my appetite has raised and created. This is the meaning of _defunct_, which has made all the difficulty of the passage. WARBURTON.] I do not think that Mr. Theobald's emendation clears the text from embarrassment, though it is with a little imaginary improvement received by Hanmer, who reads thus: _Nor to comply with heat_, affects the young _In my_ distinct _and proper satisfaction_. Dr. Warburton's explanation is not more satisfactory: what made the difficulty, will continue to make it. I read, --_I beg it not, To please the palate of my appetite, Nor to comply with heat (the young affects In me defunct) and proper satisfaction; But to be free and bounteous to her mind._ _Affects_ stands here, not for _love_, but for _passions_, for that by which any thing is affected. _I ask it not_, says he, _to please appetite, or satisfy loose desires_, the passions of youth which I have now outlived, or _for any particular gratification of myself, but merely that I may indulge the wishes of my wife_. Mr. Upton had, before me, changed _my_ to _me_; but he has printed young _effects_, not seeming to know that _affects_ could be a noun. (1773) I.iii.290 (391,6) If virtue no delighted beauty lack] [W: belighted] Hanmer reads, more plausibly, _delighting_. I do not know that _belighted_ has any authority. I should rather read, _If virtue no_ delight or _beauty lack_. _Delight_, for _delectation_, or _power of pleasing_, as it is frequently used. I.iii.299 (391,8) best advantage] Fairest opportunity. I.iii.317 (392,9) a Guinea-hen] A showy bird with fine feathers. I.iii.346 (392,1) defeat thy favour with an usurped beard] [W: disseat] It is more English, to _defeat_, than _disseat_. To _defeat_, is to _undo_, to _change_. I.iii.350 (393,2) It was a violent commencement in her, and thou shalt see an answerable sequestration] There seems to be an opposition of terms here intended, which has been lost in transcription. We may read, _It was a violent_ conjunction, _and thou shalt see an answerable sequestration_; or, what seems to me preferable, _It was a violent commencement, and thou shalt see an answerable sequel_. I.iii.363 (393,4) betwixt an erring Barbarian] [W: errant] Hanmer reads, _errant_. _Erring_ is as well as either. II.i.15 (396,1) And quench the guards of the ever-fixed pole] Alluding to the star _Arctophylax_. II.i.48 (397,3) His bark is stoutly timber'd, and his pilot Of very expert and approv'd allowance; Therefore my hopes, not surfeited to death, Stand in bold cure] I do not understand these lines. I know not how _hope_ can be _surfeited to death_, that is, _can be encreased, till it is destroyed_; nor what it is _to stand in bold cure_; or why _hope_ should be considered as a disease. In the copies there is no variation. Shall we read Therefore my fears, not surfeited to death, Stand in bold cure? This is better, but it is not well. Shall we strike a bolder stroke, and read thus? _Therefore my hopes, not_ forfeited _to death_, _Stand_ bold, not sure. II.i.49 (398,4) Of very expert and approv'd allowance] I read, _Very expert, and of approv'd allowance_. II.i.64 (308,5) And in the essential vesture of creation/Does bear all excellency; We in terrestrial] I do not think the present reading inexplicable. The author seems to use _essential_, for _existent, real_. She excels the praises of invention, says he, and in _real qualities_, with which _creation_ has _invested_ her, _bears all excellency_. _Does bear all excellency_----] Such is the reading of the quartos, for which the folio has this, _And in the essential vesture of creation_ Do's tyre the ingeniuer. Which I explain thus, _Does tire the_ ingenious verse. This is the best reading, and that which the author substituted in his revisal. II.i.112 (401,9) Saints in your injuries] When you have a mind to do injuries, you put on an air of sanctity. II.i.120 (402,1) I am nothing, if not critical] That is, _censorious_. II.i.137 (402,2) _She never yet was foolish_] We may read, She ne'er was yet so foolish that was fair, But even her folly help'd her to an heir. Yet I believe the common reading to be right; the lay makes the power of cohabitation a proof that a man is not a _natural_; therefore, since the foolishest woman, if _pretty_, may have a child, no _pretty woman_ is ever foolish. II.i.146 (403,3) put on the vouch of very malice itself] _To put on the vouch of malice_, is to assume a character vouched by the testimony of malice itself. II.i.165 (404,5) profane] Gross of language, of expression broad and brutal. So Brabantio, in the first act, calls Iago _profane_ wretch. II.i.165 (404,6) liberal counsellor.] _Counsellor_ seems to mean, not so much a man that _gives counsel_, us one that discourses fearlessly and volubly. A talker. II.i.177 (405,8) well kiss'd! an excellent courtesy!] [--_well kissed_, and _excellent courtesy_;--] This I think should be printed, _well kiss'd_! an _excellent courtesy_! Spoken when Cassio kisses his hand, and Desdemona courtesies. [The old quarto confirms Dr. Johnson's emendation. STEEVENS.] II.i.208 (406,1) I prattle out of fashion] Out of method, without any settled order of discourse. II.i.211 (406,2) the master] The pilot of the ship. II.i.223 (406,3) Lay thy finger thus] On thy mouth, to stop it while thou art listening to a wiser man. II.i.252 (407,5) green minds] Minds unripe, minds not yet fully formed. II.i.254 (408,6) she is full of most bless'd condition] Qualities, disposition of mind. II.i.274 (408,7) tainting his discipline] Throwing a slur upon hie discipline. II.i.279 (408,8) sudden in choler] _Sudden_, is precipitately violent. II.i.283 (408,9) whose qualification shall come into no true taste again] Whose resentment shall not be so _qualified_ or _tempered_, as to be _well tasted_, as not to retain _some bitterness_. The phrase is harsh, at least to our ears. II.i.306 (409,1) like a poisonous mineral] This is philosophical. Mineral poisons kill by corrosion. II.i.314 (411,4) I'll have our Michael Cassio on the hip] A phrase from the art of wrestling. II.i.321 (411,6) Knavery's plain face is never seen] An honest man acts upon a plan, and forecasts his designs; but a knave depends upon temporary and local opportunities, and never knows his own purpose, but at the time of execution. II.iii.14 (413,8) Our general cast us] That is, _appointed us to our stations_. To _cast the play_, is, in the stile of the theatres, to assign to every actor his proper part. II.iii.26 (413,9) And when she speaks, is it not an alarum to love?] The voice may _sound_ an _alarm_ more properly than the _eye_ can _sound_ a _parley_. II.iii.46 (413,1) I have drunk but one cap to-night, and that was carefully qualified too] Slily mixed with water. II.iii.59 (414,2) The very elements; As quarrelsome as the as the _discordia semina rerum_; as quick in opposition as fire and water. II.iii.64 (414,3) If consequence do but approve my dream] [T: my deer] This reading is followed by the succeeding editions. I rather read, _If consequence do but approve my scheme_. But why should _dream_ be rejected? Every scheme subsisting only in the imagination may be termed a _dream_. II.iii.93-99 (416,6) _King Stephen was a worthy peer_] These stanzas are taken from an old song, which the reader will find recovered and preserved in a curious work lately printed, intitled, _Relicks of Ancient Poetry_, consisting of old heroic ballands, songs, &c. 3 vols. 12. II.iii.95 (416,7) _lown_] Sorry fellow, paltry wretch. II.iii.135 (417,8) He'll watch the horologe a double set] If he have no drink, he'll keep awake while the clock strikes two rounds, or four and twenty hours. Chaucer uses the ward _horologe_ in more places than one. "Well skirer was his crowing in his loge "Than is a clock or abbey _horologe_."] The bracketed part of Johnson's note is taken verbatim from Zacbary Gray, _Critical ... Notes on Shakespeare_, 1754, II, 316.] (see 1765, VIII, 374, 6) (rev. 1778, I, 503, 9) II.iii.145 (418,9) ingraft infirmity; An infirmity _rooted, settled_ in his constitution. II.iii.175 (419,3) it frights the isle/From her propriety] From her regular and _proper state_. II.iii.180 (419,4) In quarter] In their quarters; at their lodging. II.iii.194 (420,5) you unlace your reputation thus] Slacken, or _loosen_. Put in danger of dropping; or perhaps strip of its ornaments. II.iii.195 (420,6) spend your rich opinion] Throw away and squander a reputation as valuable as yours. II.iii.202 (420,7) self-charity] Care of one's self. II.iii.211 (421,9) he that is approv'd in this offence] He that is convicted by proof, of having been engaged in this offence. II.iii.274 (423,1) cast in his mood] Ejected in his anger. II.iii.343 (425,4) this advice is free] This counsel has an appearance of honest openness, of frank good-will. II.iii.348 (425,5) free elements] Liberal, bountiful, as the elements, out of which all things are produced. II.iii.355 (425,6) to this parallel course] i.e. a course level, and even with his design. II.iii.363 (425,8) That she repeals him] That is, recalls him. II.iii.382 (426,1) Though ether things grew fair against the sun, Yet fruits, that blossom first, will first be ripe] Of many different things, all planned with the same art, and promoted with the same diligence, some must succeed sooner than others, by the order of nature. Every thing cannot be done at once; we must proceed by the necessary gradation. We are not to _despair_ of slow events any _more_ than of tardy fruits, while the causes are in regular progress, and the fruits _grow fair against the sun_. Hanmer has not, I think, rightly conceived the sentiment; for he reads, _Those fruits which blossom first_, are not first _ripe_. I have therefore drawn it out at length, for there are few to whom that will be easy which was difficult to Hanmer. III.i.3 (427,2) Why, masters, have your instruments been in Naples, that they speak i' the nose thus?] The venereal disease first appeared at the siege of Naples. III.iii.14 (430,6) That policy may either last so long, Or feed upon such nice and waterish diet, Or breed itself so out of circumstance, That I, being absent, and my place supplied, My general will forget my love and service] He may either of himself think it politic to keep me out of office so long, or he may be satisfied with such slight reasons, or so many accidents may make him think my re-admission at that time improper, that I may be quite forgotten. III.iii.23 (431,7) I'll watch him tame] It is said, that the ferocity of beasts, insuperable and irreclaimable by any other means, is subdued by keeping them from sleep. III.iii.47 (431,8) His present reconciliation take] [W: make] To _take his reconciliation_, may be to accept the submission which he makes in order to be reconciled. III.iii.65 (432,1) the wars must make examples/Out of their best] The severity of military discipline must not spare the _best men_ of the army, when their punishment nay afford a wholesome _example_. III.iii.90 (433,2) Excellent wretch!--Perdition catch my soul,/But I do love thee!] The meaning of the word _wretch_, is not generally understood. It is now, in some parts of England, a term of the softest and fondest tenderness. It expresses the utmost degree of amiableness, joined with an idea, which perhaps all tenderness includes, of feebleness, softness, and want of protection. Othello, considering Desdemona as excelling in beauty and virtue, soft and timorous by her sex, and by her situation absolutely in his power, calls her _Excellent wretch!_ It may be expressed, _Dear, harmless, helpless Excellence._ III.iii.91 (433,3) when I love thee not,/Chaos is come again] When my love is for a moment suspended by suspicion, I have nothing in my mind but discord, tumult, perturbation, and confusion. III.iii.123 (435,4) They are close delations working from the heart,/ That passion cannot rule] _They are_ cold dilations _working from the heart,/That passion cannot rule_.] I know not why the modern editors are satisfied with this reading, which no explanation can clear. They might easily have found, that it is introduced without authority. The old copies uniformly give, _close dilations_, except that the earlier quarto has _close denotements_; which was the author's first expression, afterwards changed by him, not to _cold dilations_, for _cold_ is read in no ancient copy; nor, I believe, to _close dilations_, but to _close delations_; to _occult_ and _secret accusations, working_ involuntarily _from the heart_, which, though resolved to conceal the fault, cannot rule its _passion_ of resentment. III.iii.127 (435,5) Or, those that be not, 'would they might seem none!] [W: seem knaves] I believe the meaning is, _would they might no longer seem_, or bear the shape of _men_. III.iii.140 (436,6) Keep leets and law-days] [i.e. govern. WARBURTON.] Rather _visit_ than _govern_, but visit with authoritative intrusion. III.iii.149 (437,8) From one that so improbably conceits]--imperfectly _conceits_,] In the old quarto it is, --improbably _conceits_, Which I think preferable. III.iii.166 (437,9) the green-ey'd monster, which doth make/The meat it feeds on] _which doth_ mock _The meat it feeds on_.] I have received Hanmer's emendation ["make"]; because _to mock_, does not signify _to loath_; and because, when Iago bids Othello _beware of jealousy, the green-eyed monster_, it is natural to tell why he should beware, and for caution he gives him two reasons, that jealousy _often_ creates its own cause, and that, when the causes are real, jealousy is misery. III.iii.173 (438,1) But riches, fineless] Unbounded, endless, unnumbered treasures. III.iii.180 (438,3) Exchange me for a goat, When I shall turn the business of my soul To such exsuffolate and blown surmises, Matching thy inference] This odd and far-fetched word was made yet more uncouth in all the editions before Hanmer's, by being printed, _exsufflicate_. The allusion is to a bubble. Do not think, says the Moor, that I shall change the noble designs that now employ my thoughts, to suspicions which, like bubbles _blown_ into a wide extent, have only an empty shew without solidity, or that in consequence of such empty fears, I will close with thy inference against the virtue of my wife. III.iii.188 (439,4) Where virtue is, those are most virtuous] An action in itself indifferent grows virtuous by its end and application. III.iii.201 (439,6) I know our country disposition well; In Venice they do let heaven see the pranks] Here Iago seems to be a Venetian. III.iii.207 (440,7) And, when she seem'd to shake, and fear your looks,/She lov'd them most] This and the following argument of Iago ought to be deeply impressed on every reader. Deceit and falsehood, whatever conveniencies they may for a time promise or produce, are, in the sum of life, obstacles to happiness. Those, who profit by the cheat, distruat the deceiver, and the act, by which kindness was sought, puts an end to confidence. The same objection may be made with a lower degree of strength against the imprudent generosity of disproportionate marriages. When the first heat of passion is over, it is easily succeeded by suspicion, that the same violence of inclination, which caused one irregularity, may stimulate to another; and those who have shown, that their passions are too powerful for their prudence, will, with very alight appearances againat them, be censured, as not very likely to restrain them by their virtue. (see 1765, VIII, 397, 1) III.iii.210 (440,8) To seel her father's eyes up, close as oak] There is little relation between _eyes_ and _oak_. I would read, _She seel'd her father's eyes up close as_ owl's. _As blind as an owl_, is a proverb. III.iii.222 (441,1) My speech would fall into such vile success] [_Success_, far succession, i.e. conclusion; not prosperous issue. WARB.] I rather think there is a depravation, and would read, _My speech would fall into such vile_ excess. If _success_ be the right word, it seems to mean _consequence_ or _event_, as _successo_ is used in Italian. III.iii.232 (441,2) will most rank] _Will_, is for wilfulness. It is so used by Ascham. A _rank will_, is _self-will_ overgrown and exuberant. III.iii.249 (442,3) You shall by that perceive him, and his means] You shall discover whether he thinks his best _means_, his most powerful _interest_, is by the solicitation of your lady. III.iii.250 (442,4) strain his entertainnent] Press hard his re-admission to his pay and office. _Entertainment_ was the military term for admission of soldiers. III.iii.256 (442,5) Fear not my government] Do not distrust ay ability to contain my passion. III.iii.259 (442,6) knows all qualities, with a learned spirit,/Of human dealings] The construction is, He knows with a learned spirit all qualities of human dealings. III.iii.260 (442,7) If I do prore her haggard] A _haggard_ hark, is a _wild_ hawk, a _hawk unreclaimed_, or _irreclaimable_. III.iii.262 (443,8) I'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind,/ To prey at fortune] The falconers always let fly the hawk against the wind; if she flies with the wind behind her, she seldom returns. If therefore a hawk was for any reason to be dismissed, she was _let down the wind_, and from that time shifted far herself, and _preyed at fortune_. This was told me by the late Mr. Clark. III.iii.276 (443,9) forked plague] In allusion to a _barbed_ or _forked_ arrow, which, once infixed, cannot be extracted. III.iii.312 (445,2) And, to the advantage, I, being here, took it up] I being _opportunely_ here, took it up. III.iii.319 (445,3) Be not you known on't] Should it not rather be read, _Be not you known_ in't? The folio reads, _Be not_ unknown _on't_. The sense is plain, but of the expression I cannot produce any example. III.iii.332 (446,5) that sweet sleep,/Which thou owedst yesterday] To _owe_ is, in our author, oftener to _possess_, than _to be indebted_, and such was its meaning here; but as that sense was growing less usual, it was changed unnecessarily by the editors to _hadst_; to the sane meaning, more intelligibly expressed. III.iii.351 (447,6) Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife] Dr. Warburton has offered _fear-spersing_, for _fear-dispersing_. But _ear-piercing_ is an epithet so eminently adapted to the _fife_, and so distinct from the shrillness of the trumpet, that it certainly ought not to be changed. Dr. Warburton has been censured for this proposed emendation with more noise than honesty, for he did not himself put it in the text. III.iii.369 (449,8) abandon all remorse] [_Remorse_, for repentance. WARBURTON.] I rather think it is, Let go all scruples, throw aside all restraints. III.iii.429 (451,4) _Oth._ 'tis a shrewd doubt] [The old quarto gives this line, with the two following, to Iago; and rightly. WARB.] I think it more naturally spoken by Othello, who, by dwelling so long upon the proof, encouraged Iago to enforce it. III.iii.448 (452,8) hearted throne] [W: parted] _Hearted_ throne, is the heart on which thou wast _enthroned_. _Parted_ throne has no meaning. III.iii.467 (453,3) Let him command, And to obey, shall be in me remorse, What bloody business ever] [Pope: Not to obey] [T: Nor, to obey.] [W: me. Remord] Of these two emendations, I believe, Theobald's will have the greater number of suffrages; it has at least mine. The objection against the propriety of the declaration in Iago is a cavil; he does not say that he has no principle of remorse, but that it shall not operate against Othello's commands. _To obey shall be in me_, for _I will obey you_, is a mode of expression not worth the pains here taken to introduce it; and the word _remords_ has not in the quotation the meaning of _withhold_, or _make reluctant_, but of _reprove_, or _censure_; nor do I know that it is used by any of the contemporaries of Shakespeare. I will offer an interpretation, which, if it be received, will make alteration unnecessary, but it is very harsh and violent. Iago devotes himself to wronged Othello, and says, _Let him command whatever bloody business_, and in me it shall be an act, not of cruelty, but _of tenderness, to obey him_; not of malice to other, but of _tenderness_ for him. If this sense be thought too violent, I see nothing better than to follow Pope's reading, as it is improved by Theobald. III.iv.26 (457,5) cruzadoes] [A Portugueze coin, in value three shillings sterling. Dr. GREY.] So called from the cross stamped upon it. III.iv.46 (458,6) The hearts, of old, gave hands] [Warburton explains this is an allusion to James the First's practice of creating baronets for money and emends to "The hands of old gave hearts"] The historical observation is very judicious and acute, but of the emendation there is no need. She says, that her hand gave away _her heart_. He goes on with his suspicion, and the hand which he had before called _frank_, he now terms _liberal_; then proceeds to remark, that _the hand was formerly given by the heart_; but now it neither gives it, nor is given by it. III.iv.51 (459,7) salt and sullen rheum]--_salt and_ sorry rheum] The old quarto has, --_salt and_ sullen _rheum_--- That is, a _rheum obstinately troublesome_. I think this better. III.iv.70 (459,8) A Sybil, that had numbred in the world The sun to course two hundred compasses] The expression is not very infrequent; we say, _I counted the clock to strike four_; so she _number'd_ the sun _to course_, to run _two hundred compasses_, two hundred annual circuits. III.iv.79 (460,1) Why do you speak so startingly, and rash?] Is _vehement, violent_. III.iv.103 (461,2) 'Tis not a year, or two, shews us a man] From this line it may be conjectured, that the author intended the action of the play to be considered as longer than is marked by any note of time. Since their arrival at Cyprus, to which they were hurried on their wedding-night, the fable seems to have been in one continual progress, nor can I see any vacuity into which a _year or two_, or even a month or two, could be put. On the night of Othello's arrival, a feast was proclaimed; at that feast Cassio was degraded, and immediately applies to Desdemona to get him restored. Iago indeed advises Othello to hold him off a while, but there is no reason to think, that he has been held off long. A little longer interval would increase the probability of the story, though it might violate the rules of the drama. See Act. 5. Sc. 2. (see 1765, VIII, 416, 1) III.iv.113 (461,3) the duty of my heart] --_the office _of my heart_.] The elder quarto reads, --_the_ duty _of my heart_. The author used the more proper word, and then changed it, I suppose, for fashionable diction; but, as fashion is a very weak protectress, the old word is now ready to resume its place. III.iv.119 (462,4) But to know so, must be my benefit] "Si nequeo placidas affari Caesaris aures, "Saltem aliquis veniat, qui mihi dicat, abi." III.iv.125 (462,7) in favour] In _look_, in _countenance_. III.iv.128 (462,8) within the blank of his displeasure] Within the _shot_ of his anger. III.iv.141 (463,9) some unhatch'd practice] Some treason that has not taken effect. III.iv.146 (463,1) for let our finger ach, And it endues our other healthful members Even to that sense of pain] _Endue with a sense of pain_, is an expression, which, though it might be endured, if it were genuine, cannot deserve to be introduced by artifice. The copies, both quarto and folio, read, _Endue our other healthful members even to a sense of pain_. I believe it should be rather, SUBDUE _our other healthful members to a sense of pain_. III.iv.151 (463,2) (unhandsome warrior as I am)] [W: wrangler] _Unhandsome warrior_, is evidently _unfair assailant_. III.iv.178 (464,3) a more continuate time]--_more_ convenient _time_] The folio has, --_more_ continuate _time_; Time _less interrupted_, time which I can call more my own. It gives a more distinct image than _convenient_. III.iv.180 (464,4) Take me this work out] The meaning is not, "Pick out the work, and leave the ground plain;" but, "Copy this work in another handkerchief." IV.i.5 (466,6) Naked in bed, Iago, and not mean harm? It is hypocrisy against the devil] _Hypocrisy against the devil_, means hypocrisy to cheat the devil. As common hypocrites cheat men, by seeming good, and yet living wickedly, these men would cheat the devil, by giving him flattering hopes, and at last avoiding the crime which he thinks them ready to commit. IV.i.22 (467,8) Boding to all] Thus all the old copies. The moderns, less grammatically, _Boding to_ ill-- IV.i.42 (468,2) without sone instruction] [W: induction] This is a noble conjecture, and whether right or wrong does honour to its author. Yet I am in doubt whether there is any necessity of emendation. There has always prevailed in the world an opinion, that when any great calamity happens at a distance, notice is given of it to the sufferer by some dejection or perturbation of mind, of which he discovers no external cause. This is ascribed to that general communication of one part of the universe with another, which is called sympathy and antipathy; or to the secret monition, _instruction_, and influence of a superior Being, which superintends the order of nature and of life. Othello says, _Nature could not invest herself in such shadowing passion without_ instruction. _It is not words that shake me thus._ This passion, which spreads its clouds over me, is the effect of some agency more than the operation of words; it is one of those notices which men have of unseen calamities. IV.i.76 (471,4) Confine yourself but in a patient list] For attention; act of listening. IV.i.82 (471,5) encave yourself] Hide yourself in a private place. IV.i.89 (471,6) Or I shall say, you are all in all in spleen,/And nothing of a man] I read, _Or shall I say, you're all in all a spleen_. I think our author uses this expression elsewhere. IV.i.121 (472,8) Do you triumph, Roman? do you triumph?] Othello calls him _Roman_ ironically. _Triumph_, which was a Roman ceremony, brought Roman into his thoughts. _What_ (says he) _you are now_ triumphing _as great as a Roman_? IV.i.123 (472,9) a customer!] A common woman, one that invites custom. IV.i.130 (473,1) Have you scar'd me? Have you made my reckoning? have you settled the term of my life? The old quarto reads, _stored_ me. Have you disposed of me? have you laid me up? IV.i.150 (473,2) 'Tis such another fitchew! marry, a perfum'd one] Shakespeare has in another place mentioned the lust of this animal. He tells Iago, that she is as lewd as the _polecat_, but of better scent, the polecat being a very stinking animal. IV.i.244 (476,4) atone them] Make them _one_; reconcile them. IV.i.256 (477,5) If that the earth could teem with woman's tears, Each drop she falls would prove a crocodile] If womens tears could impregnate the earth. By the doctrine of equivocal generation, new animals were supposed producible by new combinations of matter. See Bacon. IV.i.277 (478,7) whose solid virtue The shot of accident, nor dart of chance, Could neither graze nor pierce] [T: of change] To _graze_ is not merely to touch superficially, but to strike not directly, not so as to bury the body of the thing striking in the matter struck. Theobald trifles, as is usual. _Accident_ and _chance_ may admit a subtle distinction; _accident_ may be considered as the _act_, and _chance_ as the _power_ or _agency_ of fortune; as, _It was_ by chance _that this_ accident _befel me_. At least, if we suppose all corrupt that is inaccurate, there will be no end of emendation. IV.ii.57 (482,1) garner'd up my heart] That is, _treasured_ up; the _garner_ and the _fountain_ are improperly conjoined. IV.ii.62 (482,2) Turn thy complexion there! Patience, thou young and rose-lipp'd cherubim; Ay, there, look grim as hell] At such an object do thou, _patience_, thyself _change colour_; at this do thou, even thou, _rosy cherub_ as thou art, _look grim as hell_. The old editions and the new have it, _I here look grim as hell._ _I_ was written for _ay_, and not since corrected. IV.ii.109 (484,4) The small'st opinion on my great'st abuse] The old quarto reads [for "least misuse"], _The small'st opinion on my_ great'st abuse. Which I think is better. IV.ii.140 (486,6) Some base notorious knave] For _gross_, not in its proper meaning for _known_. IV.ii.144 (486,7) Speak within door] Do not clamour so as to be heard beyond the house. IV.ii.146 (486,8) the seamy side without] That is, _inside out_. IV.iii.27 (490,2) and he, she lov'd, prov'd mad,/And did forsake her] I believe that _mad_ only signifies _wild, frantick, uncertain_. IV.iii.31 (490,3) I have much to do,/But to go hang my head] I _have much_ ado to do any thing _but hang my head_. We might read, Not _to go hang my head_. This is perhaps the only insertion made in the latter editions which has improved the play. The rest seem to have been added for the sake of amplification, or of ornament. When the imagination had subsided, and the mind was no longer agitated by the horror of the action, it became at leisure to look round for specious additians. This addition is natural. Desdemona can at first hardly forbear to sing the song; she endeavours to change her train of thoughts, but her imagination at last prevails, and she sings it. IV.iii.41 (491,4) _Des._ "The poor soul sat singing by a sycamore-tree, "Sing all a green willow] This song, in two parts, is printed in a late collection of old ballads; the lines preserved here differ somewhat from the copy discovered by the ingenious collector. IV.iii.55 (491,5) _Des._ "I call'd my love false love; but what said "he then? "Sing willow, &c.] This couplet is not in the ballad, which is the complaint, not of a woman forsaken, but of a man rejected. These lines were probably added when it was accommodated to a woman. IV.iii.94 (493,6) our former having] Our former allowance of experience. IV.iii.107 (493,7) heaven me such usage send] --_heaven me such_ uses _send_,] Such is the reading of the folio, and of the subsequent editions; but the old quarto has, --_such_ usage _send_.-- _Usage_ is an old word for _custom_, and, I think, better than _uses_. V.i.11 (494,1) I have rubb'd this young quat _almost to the sense_] In some editions, _I've rubb'd this young_ gnat _almost to the sense, And he grows angry_.] This is a passage much controverted among the editors. Sir T. Hanner reads _quab_, a _gudgeon_; not that a gudgeon can be _rubbed_ to much _sense_, but that a man grossly deceived is often called a _gudgeon_. Mr. Upton reads _quail_, which he proves, by much learning, to be a very choleric bird. Dr. Warburton retains _gnat_, which is found in the early quarto. Theobald would introduce _knot_, a small bird of that name. I have followed the text of the folio, and third and fourth quartos. A _quat_ in the midland counties is a _pimple_, which by rubbing is made to smart, or is _rubbed to sense_. Roderigo is called a _quat_ by the same mode of speech, as a low fellow is now termed in lay language a _scab. To rub to the sense_, is _to rub to the quick_. V.i.37 (496,2) No passage?] No passengers? No body going by? V.i.42 (499,4) a heary night] A _thick cloudy_ night, in which an ambush may be commodiously laid. V.ii.1 (499,4) It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul;--/Let me not name it] The abruptness of this soliloquy makes it obscure. The meaning, I think, is this: "I am here (says Othello in his mind) overwhelmed with horror. What is the reason of this perturbation? Is it want of resolution to do justice? Is it the dread of shedding blood? No; it is not the action that shocks me, but _it is the cause, it is the cause, my soul; let me not name it to you, ye chaste stars; it is the cause_." V.ii.20 (500,7) I must weep, But they are cruel tears: this sorrel's heavenly; It strikes, where it doth love.--She wakes--] This tenderness, with which I lament the punishment which justice compels me to inflict, is a holy passion. I wish these two lines could be honestly ejected. It is the fate of Shakespeare to counteract his own pathos. V.ii.65 (502,8) A murder, which I thought a sacrifice] This line is difficult. _Thou hast hardened my heart, and makest me_ kill thee with the rage of a _murderer_, when _I thought to have sacrificed_ thee to justice with the calmness of a priest striking a victim. It must not be omitted, that one of the elder quartos reads, _thou dost stone_ thy _heart_; which I suspect to be genuine. The meaning then will be, _thou forcest me_ to dismiss thee from the world in the state of the _murdered_ without preparation for death, _when I intended_ that thy punishment should have been a _sacrifice_ atoning for thy crime. I am glad that I have ended my revisal of this dreadful scene. It is not to be endured. V.ii.134 (505,3) false as water] As water that will support no weight, nor keep any impression. V.ii.151 (506,4) villainy has made mocks with love] _Villainy_ has taken advantage to _play upon_ the weakness of a violent passion. V.ii.162 (506,5) Thou hast not half that power to do me harm, /As I have to be hurt] [Hamner: to bear hurt] The Oxford Editor saw well the meaning of his author, but weakened his expression. She means to say, _I have in this cause power to endure more than thou hast power to inflict_. V.ii.183 (507, 6) charm your tongue] I know not whether I have read, or whether my own thoughts hare suggested, an alteration of this passage. It seems to me not improbable, that Shakespeare wrote _clam_ your tongue; to _clam_ a bell, is to cover the clapper with felt, which drowns the blow, and hinders the sound. V.ii.211 (509,7) she with Cassio had the act of shame/A thousand times committed] This is another passage which seems to suppose a longer space comprised in the action of this play than the scenes include. V.ii.253 (512,2) It was a sword of Spain, the ice-brook's temper] [In the first edition it is, _Isebroke's temper_. Thence corrupted to _Ice-brook's_.--_Ebro's temper_; the waters of that river of Spain are particularly famous for tempering of steel. POPE.] I believe the old reading changed to _ice-brook_ is right. Steel is hardened by being put red hot into very cold water. V.ii.286 (513,3) I look down towards his feet; but that's a fable. If that thou be'st a devil, I cannot kill thee] To see if, according to the common opinion, his feet be cloven. V.ii.292 (513,4) Fall'n in the practice of a cursed slave] In the _snare_, by the _stratagem_. V.ii.317 (514,5) in the interim] The first copy has, _in the_ nick. It was, I suppose, thought upon revisal, that _nick_ was too familiar. V.ii.342 (515,6) Speak of me as I am] The early copies read, _Speak of them as they are_. The present reading has more force. (rev. 1778, X, 622, 6) (520,2) General Observation. The beauties of this play impress themselves so strongly upon the attention of the reader, that they can draw no aid from critical illustration. The fiery openness of Othello, magnanimous, artless, and credulous, boundless in his confidence, ardent in his affection, inflexible in his resolution, and obdurate in his revenge; the cool malignity of Iago, silent in his resentment, subtle in his designs, and studious at once of his interest and his vengeance; the soft simplicity of Desdemona, confident of merit, and conscious of innocence, her artless perseverance in her suit, and her slowness to suspect that she can be suspected, are such proofs of Shakespeare's skill in human nature, as, I suppose, it is vain to seek in any modern writer. The gradual progress which Iago makes in the Moor's conviction, and the circumstances which he employs to inflame him, are so artfully natural, that, though it will perhaps not be said of him as he says of himself, that he is _a man not easily jealous_, yet we cannot but pity him, when at last we find him _perplexed in the extreme_. There is always danger, lest wickedness, conjoined with abilities, should steal upon esteem, though it misses of approbation; but the character of Iago is so conducted, that he is from the first scene to the last hated and despised. Even the inferior characters of this play would be very conspicuous in any other piece, not only for their justness, but their strength. Cassio is brave, benevolent, and honest, ruined only by his want of stubbornness to resist an insidious invitation. Roderigo's suspicious credulity, and impatient submission to the cheats which he sees practised upon him, and which by persuasion he suffers to be repeated, exhibit a strong picture of a weak mind betrayed by unlawful desires to a false friend; and the virtue of Aemilia is such as we often find, worn loosely, but not cast off, easy to commit small crimes, but quickened and alarmed at atrocious villainies. The scenes from the beginning to the end are busy, varied by happy interchanges, and regularly promoting the progression of the story; and the narrative in the end, though it tells but what is known already, yet is necessary to produce the death of Othello. Had the scene opened in Cyprus, and the preceding incidents been occasionally related, there had been little wanting to a drama of the most exact and scrupulous regularity. (LI 2) Appendix. Some apology perhaps is necessary for the inconvenience of an Appendix, which, however, we can justify by the strongest of all pleas, the plea of necessity. The Notes which it contains, whether communicated by correspondents, or collected from published volumes, were not within our reach when the plays were printed, to which they relate. Of that which chance has supplied, we could have no previous knowledge; and he that waited till the river should run dry, did not act with less reason than the Editor would do, who should suspend his publication for possibilities of intelligence, or promises of improvement. Had we foreseen the _Oxford_ edition, the assistance we expected from it might have persuaded us to pause; but our volumes were completely finished before its publication. [There are no notes by Johnson in this Appendix; several are by Steevens.] End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies, by Samuel Johnson *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NOTES TO SHAKESPEARE *** ***** This file should be named 15566-8.txt or 15566-8.zip ***** This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/5/6/15566/ Produced by David Starner, David King, and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be renamed. Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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