Chapter V: Part 5

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_.