= = dies. 85:) Mr. Malone omits for. = 36:) — and throes - = = 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.=5:) And the gods yield you for't!] Le. reward you. 6:) - onion-ey'd;] I have my eyes as full ef tears as if they had been fretted by onions. = 7:) Ant. Hs, ho, ho!] i. e. stop, or desist. Antony desires his followers to cease weeping.=8:) "For I spake," &c. - MALONE.= It signs well, &c.] i. e. it is a good sign, it bodes well. = 10:) Mr. Malone omits my. 11:) Briefly, sir.] That is quickly, sir.=12:) To doff't—] To doff is to do off to pu off. 18:) More tight at this, than thou:] Tight is hands, adroit. = 14:) "Despatch: Enobarbus!" MALONE. = 15 Our will is, Antony be took alive;] It is observable with what judgment Shakspeare draws the character of Octavias Antony was his hero; so the other was not to shine: ya being an historical character, there was a necessity to draw him like. But the ancient historians, his flatterers, had de livered him down so fair, that he seems ready cut and dried for a hero. Amidst these difficulties Shakspeare has extri cated himself with great address. He has admitted all thest great strokes of his character as he found them, and ye has made him a very unamiable character, deceitful, meas spirited, narrow-minded, proud, and revengeful. WARBUR TON. 16:) Mr. Malone omits that. 17:) And feel I am w most.] i. e. I am pre-eminently the first, the greatest r Jain of the earth. To stand alone, is still used in that sense, where any one towers above his competitors. das feel I am so most, must signify, I feel or know it myself. more than any other person can or does feel it. REEB = 18:) This blows my heart:] This generosity, (says Eas barbus,) swells my heart, so that it will quickly break, thought break it not, a swifter mean.= 19:) but thongi will do't, I feel.] Thought, in this passage, as in many others, signifies melancholy.=20:) — and our oppressioni. e. the force by which we are oppressed or overpowered 21:)-clip your wives,] To clip is to embrace. =22: 1 this great fairy-] Mr. Upton has well observed, that fairy, which Dr. Warburton and Sir T. Hanmer explain by inchas tress, comprises the idea of power and beauty. Jonsso =23:) — proof of harness- i. e. armour of prost. Har nois, Fr. Arnese, Ital. = 24:) The world's great snare-) i. e. the war. = =25:) "our younger brown;" - MALONE. = 26:) Get goal for goal of youth. At all plays of barriers the boundary is called a goal; to win a goal, is to be a superior in a contest of activity. = 27:) Bear our back' targets like the men that owe them:] i. e. hack'd as much as the men to whom they belong; or perhaps, Bear our hack'd targets with spirit and exultation, such as becomes the brave warriors that own them. 28:)-tabourines ;) A tabourin was a small drum. It is often mentioned in our ancient romances, = 29:)— the court of guard:] i the guard-room, the place where the guard musters. The same expression occurs again in Othello. 30:) "list him."-MLONE. 31:) disponge upon me;] i. e. discharge, as a sponge, when squeezed, discharges the moisture it had in bibed. STEEVENS. = 82:) Throw my heart-] The pathe tic of Shakspeare too often ends in the ridiculous. It is painful to find the gloomy dignity of this noble scene des he alone || Dealt on lieutenantry,] i. e. fought by proxy, made war by his lieutenants, or on the strength of his lieutenants. 50:) He is unqualitied-] Perhaps, unqualitied signifies unmanned in general, disarmed of his usual faculties. 51:)—death will seize her; but-] But has here, as once before in this play, the force of except, or unless. =52:) How I convey my shame-] How, by looking another way, I withdraw my ignominy from your sight.=53:) - tied|| by the strings,] That is, by the heart-string. = 54:) - his schoolmaster: The name of this person was Euphronius. He was schoolmaster to Antony's children by Cleopatra.= 55:) as petty to his ends, || As is the morn-dew on the myrtle-leaf To his grand sea. His grand sea may mean his full tide of prosperity; or it may mean the sea from which the dew-drop is exhaled. Shakspeare might have considered the sea as the source of dews as well as rain. His is used instead of its. 56:) circle of the Ptolemies-] The diadem; the ensign of royalty, 57:)-friend,] i. e. paramour.58:) - how Antony becomes his flaw;] That is, how Antony conforms himself to this breach of his fortune. 59:) "What though"- MALONE. = 60:) Have nick'd his captainship;] i. e. set the mark of folly on it. 61:)he being The mered question:] Mered is, I suspect, a word of our author's formation, from mere: he being the sole, the entire subject or occasion of the war. MALONE. 62:) his gay comparisons apart, || And answer me declin'd,] I require of Cæsar 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. JOHNSON. 63:) - be stag'd to the show,] that is, exhibited, like conflicting gladiators, to the public gaze. 64:) --are || 4 parcel of their fortunes;] i. e, as we should say at present, are of a piece with them. = 65:)to square.] i. e. to quarrel. 66) Tell him, from his allobeying breath, &c.] All-obeying breath is, in Shakspeare's language, breath which all obey. Obeying for obeyed. So, inexpressive for inexpressible, delighted for delighting, &c.]troyed by the intrusion of a conceit so far-fetched and un= 67:) Give me grace-] Grant me the favour. = 68:) the fullest man,] The most complete and perfect. = 69:) Like boys unto a muss,] i. e. a scramble. =70:)—a gem of women, Beautiful horses, rich garments, &c. in Chapman's translations, are frequently spoken of as gems. "A jewel of a man, is a phrase still in use among the vulgar.71:) By one that looks on feeders?] A feeder, or an eater, was anciently the term of reproach for a servant. One who looks on feeders, is one who throws away her regard on servants, such as Antony would represent Thyrens to be. 72:) Luxuriously pick'd out :] Luxuriously means wantonly. 73:) 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.=74:) to quit me:] To repay me this insult to requite me. =75) With one that ties his points?] i. e. with a menial attendant. Points were laces with metal tags, with which the old trunkhose were fastened. 76:)· as it determines,] That is, as the hailstone dissolves.=77:) The next Cæsarion smite;] Cæsarion was Cleopatra's son by Julius Cæsar. 78:) and fleet,] Float and fleet were synonymous.—79:) I and my sword will earn our chro nicle;] I and my sword will do such acts as shall deserve to be recorded. 80:) Were nice and lucky,] Nice is trifling. 81:)-gaudy night:] This is still an epithet bestowed on feast days in the colleges of either university. Gaudy, or Grand days in the inus of court, are four in the year, Ascension day, Midsummer day, All-saints day, and Candlemas day. "The etymology of the word," says Blount, in his Dictionary, "may be taken from Judge Gawdy, who (as some affirm) was the first institutor of those days, or rather from gaudium, because (to say truth) they are days of joy, as bringing good cheer to the hungry students. In colleges they are most commonly called Gawdy, in inns of court Grand days, and in some other places they are called Collar days." Days of good cheer, in some of the foreign universities, are called Gaudeamus' days. = affecting. JOHNSON. = 33:) "sleep." MALONE. 34:) The Lichas on the horns o'the moon;] This image our poct may have taken from Seneca's Hercules, who says Lichas being Jaunched into the air, sprinkled the clouds with his blood; or more probably from Golding's version of Ovid's Metamorphoses. =46:) Than Telamon for his shield;] i. e. than Ajax Telamon for the armour of Achilles, the most valuable part of which was the shield. The boar of Thessaly was the boar killed by Melcager. 47:) Was never so emboss'd.] A hunting term; when a deer is hard run, and foams at the mouth, he is said to be imbost.=48:) They are black vesper's pageants.] The beauty both of the expression and the illusion is lost, unless we recollect the frequency and the nature of these shows in Shakspeare's age. = =49:) The rack dislimns ;] i. e. the fleeting away of the clouds destroys the picture.60;) "Unarm, Eros;"MALONE. 51:)-thy continent.] i. e. the thing that contains thee. = 52:)- Seal then, and all is done.] Metaphor taken from civil contracts, where, when all is agreed on, the sealing completes the contract; so he hath determined to die, and nothing remained but to give the stroke. = 53:) — pleach'd arms,] Arms folded in each other. 54:) His corrigible neck,] Corrigible for corrected, and afterwards penetrative for penetrating. 55:) His baseness that ensued?] The poor conquered wretch that followed. JOHNSON. = 56:) the worship of the whole world- The worship is the dignity, the authority.=57:) Mr. Malone omits yet. = 58:) She had dispos'd with Cæsar, To dispose, in this instance, perhaps signifies to make terms, to settle matters.=59:) “Woe, woe are we," &c. MALONE. =60:) "O sun," MALONE. 61:)—darkling- i. e. without light. 62:) In this passage, says Mr. Steevens, for the sake of somewhat like metre, one word has been omitted and others transposed. Mr. Malone arranges the passage thas: ——“O) Antony, Antony, Antony, || "Help, Charmian, help, Iras, help; help, friends || "Below," &c. = 63:) Bé brooch'd with me;] Be brooch'd, i. e. adorn'd. A brooch was an ornament formerly worn in the hat. = 64:) — still conclusion,] Sedate determination; silent coolness of resolution. =65:) Here's sport, indeed!] Cleopatra, perhaps, by this affected levity, this phrase which has no determined signification, only wishes to inspire Antony with cheerfulness, and encourage those who are engaged in the melancholy task of drawing him up into the monument. = 66:) — into heaviness,] Heaviness is here used equivocally for sorrow and weight. =67:) Quicken with kissing;] That is, Revive by my kiss. 68:) The soldier's pole-] He at whom the soldiers pointed, as at a pageant held high for observation.= 69) the meanest chares.] i. e. task-work. Hence our term chare-woman.— = - ACT V. 1:) Being so frustrate,] Frustrate, for frustrated, was the language of Shakspeare's time. 2:) — thus to us? i. e. with a drawn and bloody sword in thy hand. 8:)- but it is a tidings || To wash the eyes of kings.] That is, May the gods rebuke me, if this be not tidings to make kings weep. Mr. Malone omits a. — 4:)— But we do lance Discases in our bodies:] When we have any bodily complaint, that is curable by scarifying, we use the lancet; and if we neglect to do so, we are destroyed by it. Antony was to me a disease; and by his being cut off,! am made whole. We could not both have lived in the world together. MALONE. 5:)—his thoughts-] His is here used for its. = = 6:) 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. == 7:) — fortune's knave,] The servant of fortune. : 8:)- -And it is great, &c.] 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 Cæsar's. Which has no longer need of the gross and terrene sustenance, in the use of which Cæsar and the beggar are on a level. The speech is abrupt, but perturbation in such a state is surely natural. JOHNSON.=9:) -that will pray in aid for kindness,] Praying in aid is a term used for a petition made in a court of justice for the calling in of help from another that hath an interest in the cause in question. — 10:)—— send_him || The greatness he has got.] i. e. her crown which he has won. 11:) Worth many babes and beggars!] Why, death, wilt thou not rather seize a queen, than employ thy force upon babes and beggars? 12:)' = will once be necessary,] Once may mean sometimes. 13:) Mr. Malone omits as. = 14:) rear'd arm Crested the world:] Alluding to some of the old crests in heraldry, where a raised arm on a wreath was mounted on the helmet. = 15:) As plates-] Mr. Steevens justly interprets plates to mean silver money. It is a term in heraldry. The balls or roundels in an escutcheon of arms, according to their different colours, have different names. If gules, or red, they are called torteauxes; if or, or yellow, bezants; if argent, or white, plates, which are buttons of silver without any impression, but only prepared for the stamp. = 16:) To vie strange forms-] To vie was a term at cards. 17:) -- yet, to imagine || An Antony, were nature's piece 'gainst fancy, Condemning shadows quite.] 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. = 18:) I cannot his account. = project-] i. e. I cannot shape or form my cause, &c.=19:) scel my lips,] It means, close up my lips as effectually as the eyes of a hawk are closed. To seel hawks was the technical term. = =20:) 0 rarely base!] i. e. base in an oncommon degree. = 21:) Parcel the sum of my disgraces by-] The meaning either is, "that this fellow should add one more parcel or item to the sum of my disgraces, namely, his own malice;" or, "that this fellow should tot up the sum of my disgraces, and add his own malice to the 22:)-modern friends-] Modern means here, as it generally does in these plays, common or ordinary. =23:) With one-] With, in the present instance, has the power of by. = 24:) Through the ashes of my chance:] Or fortune. The meaning is,"Begone, or I shall exert that royal spirit which I had in my prosperity, in spite of the imbecility of my present weak condition.=25:) We answer others' merits-] As demerits was often used, in Shakspeare's time, as synonymous to merit, so merit might have been used in the sense which we now affix to demerit; or the meaning may be only, - we are called to account, and to answer in our own names for acts, with which others, rather than we, deserve to be charged. 26:) and scald rhymers-] Scald was a word of contempt, implying poverty, disease, and filth. 27:) the quick comedians -] The lively, inventive, quick-witted comedians.28:)-boy my greatness-] The parts of women were acted on the stage by boys. 29:) "What poor," &c. - MALONE. 80:) --- = now the fleeting moon-] Fleeting is inconstant. = 81:) the pretty worm of Nilus-] Worm is the Teutonic 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. =32:)-will do his kind.] The serpent will act according to his nature. 33:) Yare, yare,] i. e. make haste, be nimble, be ready. 34:) Have I the aspick in my lips?] are my lips poison'd by the aspick, that my kiss has destroy'd thee? 35:) Dost fall?) Iras must be supposed to have applied an asp to her arm while her mistress was settling her dress, or I know not why she should fall so soon. STEEVENS. = 36:) He'll make demand of her;] He will enquire of her concerning me, and kiss her for giving him intelligence. = 87:) "Come, thou mortal wretch," &c. - MALONE. - 88:)- - ass | Unpolicied!] i. e. an ass without more policy than to leave the means of death within my reach, and thereby deprive his triumph of its noblest decoration. 39:) = Downy windows, close;] Charmian, in saying this must be conceived to close Cleopatra's eyes; one of the first ceremonies performed toward a dead body.=40:) and then play.] i. e. play her part in this tragic scene by destroying herself: or she may mean, that having performed her last office for her mistress, she will accept the permission given her before, to "play till doomsday." 41:). something blown:] The flesh is somewhat puffed or swoln. =42:) She hath pursu'd conclusions infinite-] To pursue conclusions, is to try experiments. = 43:) shall clip-] i. e. infold. 44:)--their story is No less in pity, than his glory, &c.] i. e. the narrative of such events demands not less compassion for the sufferers, than glory on the part of him who brought on their sufferings. = XXXI. CYMBELINE. ACT I.=1:) You do not meet a man, but frowns: our bloods No more obey the heavens, than our courtiers; || Still seem, as does the king's.] This passage is so difficult, that commentators may differ concerning it without animosity or shame. 1 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. JOHNSON. Mr. Malone reads "-- than our courtiers | Still seem," &c. = 2:) You speak him far.] i, e. you praise him extensively. = 3:) Tenantius,] was the father of Cymbeline, and nephew of Cassibelan, being the younger son of his elder brother Lud, king of the southern part of Britain; on whose death Cassibelan was admitted king. Cassibelan repulsed the Romans on their first attack, but being vanquished by Julius Cæsar on his second invasion of Britain, he agreed to pay an annual tribute to Rome. After his death, Tenantius, Lud's younger son (his elder brother Androgeus having fled to Rome) was established on the throne, of which they had been unjustly deprived by their uncle. According to some authorities, Tenantius quietly paid the tribute stipulated by Cassibelan; according to others, he refused to pay it, and warred with the Romans. Shakspeare supposes the latter to be the truth. 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. JOHNSON. = 5:) A glass that feated them;] A glass that formed them; a model by the contemplation and inspection of which they formed their manners. Feat Min = = - a flower is called calix, whence chalice. 8:) And winking sheu interprets, fine, neat, brave. = 6:)— to his mistress,] || up the dew which lies in the cups of flowers: The cup of means as to his mistress. 7:) "the gentleman," the queen, &C. STEEVENS, edit. 1793. = 8:) (Always reserv'd mý holý|| duty,)] I say I do not fear my father, so far as I may say it without breach of duty.=9:) i. c. he gives me a valuable consideration in new kindness (purchasing, as it were, the wrong I have done him,) in order to renew our amity, and make us friends again. MALONE.=10:) And sear up i. e. close up. 11:) While sense can keep it on!] i, e. while sense can maintain its operations; while sense continues to have its usual power. To keep on signifies to continue in a state of action. 12:) - -a manacle-] A manacle properly means what we now call a hand-cuff.: 13:) touch more rare || Subdues all pangs, all fears.] i, e. a more exquisite feeling; a superior sensation.=14:)—a puttock.] A puttock is a mean degenerate species of hawk, too worthless to deserve training. : 15:) overbuys me || Almost the sum he pays.] So small is my value, and so great is his, that in the purchase he has made (for which he paid himself), for much the greater part, and nearly the whole, of what he has given, he has nothing in return. The most minute portion of his worth would be too high a price for the wife he has acquired. = 16:) your best advice] i. e. consideration, reflection.17:) - 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" JOHNSON. = 18;)—she's a good sign, but I have seen small reflection of her wit.] She has a fair outside, a specious appearance, but not wit. But to understand the whole force of Shakspeare's idea, it should be remembered, that anciently almost every sign had a motto, or some attempt at a witticism underneath it. = 19:)—-'twere a paper lost, As offer'd mercy is.] Perhaps the meaning is, that the loss of that paper would prove as fatal to her, as the loss of a pardon to a condemned criminal, == 20:) — next vantage.] Next opportunity. = 21:) encounter me with orisons,i.e. meet me with reciprocal prayer.=22:) makes him - Makes him, means forms him. — 23:)—words him, --a great deal from the matter.] Makes the description of him very distant from the truth. = 24:)-under her colours,] Under her banner; by her influence. 25:) "less quality." MALONE.=26:) — 1 did atone, &c.] To atone siguifies in this place to reconcile. = 27:) — upon importance of so slight and trivial a nature.] Importance is here, as elsewhere in Shakspeare, importunity, instigation. 28:) rather shunned to go even with what I heard, &c.] i. e. he rather studied to avoid conducting himself by the opinions of other people, than to be guided by their experience. 29:) confounded one the other, To confound, in our author's time, signified to destroy. = 80:) which may, without contradiction,] Which, undoubtedly, may be publicly told. 31:) though I profess, &c.] Posthumus means to bestow the most exalted praise on Imogen, a praise the more valuable as it was the result of reason, not of amorous dotage. I make my avowal, says he, in the character of her adorer, not of her possessor. — I speak of her as a being 1 reverence, not as a beauty whom I enjoy. — 1 rather profess to describe her with the devotion of a worshipper, than the raptures of a lover. 32:) to convince-] Convince for overcome. 33:) abused-] Deceived. = 84:) approbation] Proof.=35:) "I wonder," MALONE. 36:) Other conclusions?] Other experiments. = 87:) - quench ;] i. e grow cool. 38:)—to shift his being,] To change his abode. 39:)-that leans?] That inclines towards its fall. 40:) Think what a chance thou changest on ;] i. e. think with what a fair prospect of mending your fortunes you now change your present service.=41:) ̊Of liegers for her sweet;] A lieger ambassador is one that resides in a foreign court to promote his master's interest. 42:) "your trust." -MALONE. = 43:) he || Is strange and peevish.] He is a foreigner and easily fretted: but strange may signify shy or backward: and peevish anciently meant weak, silly. 44:) "account his," MALONE.= 45:) What both you spur and stop.] What it is that at once incites you to speak, and restrains you from it. JOHNSON. = 46:) to an empery,] Empery is a word signifying sovereign command; now obsolete. 47:) With tomboys,] We still call a masculine, a forward girl, tomboy. = 48:) — hir'd with that self-exhibition, &c. Gross strumpets, hired with the very pension which you allow your husband. 49:) "of a false report;" MALONE. 50:) — being strange,] i. e. being a stranger. = ACT II. = 1:) kissed 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. 2:)—every companion The use of companion was the same as of fellow now. It was a word of contempt. = 3:) - 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. = 4:) Under these windows:] i. e. her eyelids, 5:)-like the crimson drops || l'the bottom of a cowslip.] This simile contains the smallest out of a thousand proofs that Shakspeare was an observer of nature, though, in this instance, no very accurate describer of it, for the drops alluded to are of a deep yellow. STEEVENS. 6:) - you dragons of the night!] The task of drawing the chariot of night was assigned to dragons, on account of their supposed watchfulness. == 7:) His steeds to water at those springs || On chalic'd flowers that lies;) i. e. the morning sun dries = ACT III. = 1:) thine uncle,] Cassibelaa was great uncle to Cymbeline, who was son to Tenantius, the nephew of Cassibelan. = 2:) (0, giglot fortune!)] 0 false and 19 constant fortune! A giglot was a strumpet = 3:)-agen all colour,] Without any pretence of right. = 4:) "Mun tius made our laws." MALONE. 5:)—keep at utterance, Means to keep at the extremity of defiance. Combat è s trance is a desperate fight, that must conclude with tow life of one of the combatants. 6:) I am perfect,} i an well informed. = 7:) What false Italian (As poissness tongue'd, as handed,)] About Shakspeare's time the practic of poisoning was very common in Italy, and the suspicion of Italian poisons yet more common, 8:)-take in som virtue.] To take in a town, is to conquer it.=9:) Thy min to her is now as low,] That is, thy mind compared to het is now as low, as thy condition was, compared to hers. = 10:) Art thou a feodary for this act, Feodary means, here. a confederate, or accomplice. = 11:) I am ignorant in what I am commanded.] i. e. I am unpractised in the arts of murder. 12:) For it doth physic love;] That is, ne for absence keeps love in health and vigour. 13:)-speat thick,] i. e. croud one word on another, as fast as possible =14:) Why should excuse be born or e'er begot?) Was should I contrive an excuse, before the act is done, let which excuse will be necessary. = 15:) A franklin's house wife.] A franklin is literally a freeholder, with a estate, neither villain nor vassal. = 16:)—may jet-]Ĺ‚¢ strut, walk proudly. = 17:) — their impious turbands 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. 18:) This service not service, &c.] In war it is not sufficient to do duty well the advantage rises not from the act, but the acceptance of the act. 19:) The sharded beetle-] i. e. the bec whose wings are enclosed within two dry husks or shards. = 20:) — attending for a check;] Check may mean, in this place, a reproof; but I rather think it signifies command, controul. Thus, in Troilus and Cressida, the restriccies of Aristotle are called Aristotle's checks, STEEVENS.=1: -than doing nothing for a babe;] As it was once the cas tom in England for favourites at court to beg the wardship of infants who were born to gr. at riches, our anther way allude to it on this occasion. Frequent complaints were made that nothing was done towards the education of tacs = neglected orphans. = 22:)—no life to ours] i. e. compared with ours. 23:) To stride a limit] To overpass his bound. 24:) What should we speak of,] 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. JoHNSON.25:) -I stole these babes;] Shakspeare 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. JOHNSON. 26:)haviour This word, as often as it occurs in Shakspeare, should not be printed as an abbreviation of behaviour. Haviour was a word commonly used in his time. 27:) drug-damn'd-] This is another allusion to Italian poisons. 28:) states,] Persons of highest rank. 29:) 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 not be improperly termed her mother. 30:) And, for I am richer than to hang by the walls, I must be ripp'd:] To hang by the walls, does not mean, to be converted into hangings for a room, but to be hung up, as useless among the neglected contents of a wardrobe. 31:) Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men; &c.] i. e. says Mr. Upton, "wilt infect and corrupt their good name, (like sour dough that leaveneth the whole mass,) and wilt render them suspected."=32:) That cravens my weak hand.] i. e. makes me a coward. 33:) That now thou tir'st on,] A hawk is said to tire upon that which she pecks; from tirer, French.34:) To be unbent,] To have thy bow unbent, alluding to a hunter. = 35:) "into"- MALONE. 36:) As quarrellous as the weasel:] This character of the weasel is not warranted by naturalists. Weasels, however, were formerly kept in houses instead of cats, for the purpose of killing vermin. = 37:) Wherein you are happy,] i. e. wherein you are accomplished. = 38:) — Your means abroad, &c.] As for your subsistence abroad, you may rely on me. =39:)- This attempt || I'm soldier to,] i. e. I am equal to this attempt; I have enough of ardour to undertake it. == 40:)May This night forestall him of the coming day i. e. may his grief this night prevent him from ever seeing another day, by an anticipated and premature destruction!= = 41:) And that she hath all courtly parts more exquisite || Than lady, ladies, woman;] She has all courtly parts, says he, more exquisite than any lady, than all ladies, than all womankind. = 42:) To him that is most true.] Pisanio, notwithstanding his master's letter, commanding the murder of Imogen, considers him as true, supposing, as he has already said to her, that Posthumus was abused by some villain, equally an enemy to them both. 43:) If any thing that's civil,] Civil, for human creature. 44:) woodman,] A woodman, in its common acceptation (as in the present instance) siguities a hunter.=45:)-'tis our match: i. e, our compact. = 46:) "resty_sloth' LONE. 47:) Mr. Malone omits sir. 48:) I am fallen in this offence.1 In, according to the ancient mode of writing, is here used instead of into.=49:) He wrings at some distress.] i. e. writhes with anguish. = 50:) That nothing gift of differing multitudes,)] The poet must mean, that court, that obsequious adoration, which the shifting vulgar pay to the great, is a tribute of no price or value.51:) -- and to you the tribunes, || For this immediate levy, he commands || His absolute commission.] He commands the commission to be given to you. So we say, I ordered the materials to the workmen. = ACT IV. MA 1:)-for-] i. e. because. 2:)—in single oppositions:] In single combat. 3:) imperseverant—] Imperseverant may mean no more than perseverant, like imbosomed, impassioned, immasked. = 4:) 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.=5:) The imperious seas] Imperious was used by Shakspeare for imperial. 6:) I could not stir him:] Not move him to tell his story. 7:)-gentle, but unfortunate;] Gentle, is wellborn, of birth above the vulgar. = 8:) Mingle their spurs together.] Spurs are the longest and largest leading roots of trees. = 9:) It is great morning.] A Gallicism. Grand jour. 10:) Yield, rustic mountaineer.] I believe, upon examination, the character of Cloten will not prove a very consistent one. Act I. sc. iv. the lords who are conversing with him on the subject of his rencontre with Posthumus, represent the latter as having neither put forth his strength or courage, but still advancing forwards to the prince, who retired before him; yet at this his last appearance, we see him fighting gallantly, and falling by the hand of Guiderius. The same persons afterwards speak of him as of a mere ass or idiot; and yet, Act III. sc. i. he returns one of the noblest and most reasonable answers to the Roman envoy: and the rest of his conversation on the same occasion, though it may lack form a little, by no means resembles the language of folly. He behaves with proper dignity and civility at parting with Lucius, and yet is ridiculous and brutal in his treatment of Imogen. Belarius describes him as not having sense enough to know what fear is (which he defines as being sometimes the effect of judgment;) and | yet he forms very artful schemes for gaining the affection of his mistress, by means of her attendants; to get her person into his power afterwards; and seems to be no less acquainted with the character of his father, and the ascendancy the queen maintained over his uxorious weakness. We find Cloten, in short, represented at once as brave and dastardly, civil and brutish, sagacious and foolish, without that subtilty of distinction, and those shades of gradation between sense and folly, virtue and vice, which constitute the excellence of such mixed characters as Polonius in Hamlet, and the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet. STEEVENS.=11:) the snatches in his voice, || And burst of speaking,] This is one of our author's strokes of observation. Au ab-. rupt and tumultuous utterance very frequently accompanies a confused and cloudy understanding. 12:) "the cure of fear:"MALONE. = 13:) I am perfect, what:] I am well informed, what. = 14:) take us in,] i. e. conquer, or subdue us. = 15:) For we do fear the law?] For is here used in the sense of because. == 16:) Did make my way long forth.] Fidele's sickness made my walk forth from the cave tedious. = 17:) To gain his colour,] i. e. to restore him to the bloom of health, to recall the colour of it into his cheeks. 18:) lamenting toys,] Toys formerly signified freaks, or frolics. 19:) what coast thy sluggish crare-] A crare is a small trading vessel, called in the Latin of middle ages, crayera. = 20:) Stark,] i. e. stiff. = 21:) clouted brogues are shoes strengthened with clout or hob-nails. In some parts of England, thin plates of iron called clouts, are likewise fixed to the shoes of ploughmen and other rústics. Brog is the Irish word for a kind of shoe peculiar to that kingdom. 22:) The ruddock is the red-breast, and is so called by Chaucer and Spenser.=23;) To winter-ground thy corse.] To winter-ground a plant, is to protect it from the inclemency of the winter-season, by straw, dung, &c. laid over it. This precaution is commonly taken in respect of tender trees of flowers, such as Arvíragus, who loved Fidele, represents her to be. = : 24:) He was paid for that:] Paid is for punished. — 25:)– --reverence, (That angel of the world,)) Reverence or due regard to subordination, is the power that keeps peace and order in the world.=26:) Consign to thee,] Perhaps to consign to thee, is to seal the same contract with thee, i. e. add their names to thine upon the register of death. 27:) No exorciser harm thee!] Shakspeare invariably uses the word exorciser to express a person who can raise spirits, not one who lays them. = 28:) 'Ods pittikins!] This diminutive adjuration is derived from God's my pity, which likewise occurs in Cymbeline. = 29:) — his Jovial face—] Jovial face signifies in his place, such a face as belongs to Jove. It is frequently used in the same sense by other old dramatic writers. 30:) that irregulous devil,] Irregulous (if there be such a word) must mean lawless, licentious, out of rule, jura negans sibi nata.31:) the maintop!ji. e. the top of the mainmast. = 32:)—'tis pregnant, pregnant!] i, e. 'tis a ready, apposite conclusion. = 33:) Sienna's brother.] i. e. (as) suppose Shakspeare to have meant) brother to the prince of Sienna; but, unluckily, Sienna was a republic. STEEVENS. = 34:) "Fidele, sir.' MALONE. 35:)-these poor pickaxes-] Meaning her fin36:) gers. = arm him.] That is, Take him up in your arms. 37:) I am amaz'd with matter.] i. e. confounded by a variety of business. 38:) Your preparation can affront, &c.] Your forces are able to face such an army as we hear the enemy will bring against us.39:)-to the note o'the king, I will so distinguish myself, the king shall remark my valour. = 40:) — revolts-] i. e. revolters. = 41:) 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. 42:)—their quarter'd fires,] Quarter'd fires, probably means no more than fires in the respective quarters of the Roman army.= ACT V. =1:) - bloody Handkerchief.] The bloody token of Imogen's death, which Pisanio in the foregoing Act determined to send. = 2:) Yea, bloody cloth, &c.] 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 soothes his mind to an artificial and momentary tranquillity, 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. JOHNSON. = 3:) to put on ] Is to incite, to instigate.=4:) And make them dread it to the doers' thrift.] Of the various meanings assigned by the commentators, the following appears the most intelligible:-"Some you snatch from hence for little faults; others you suffer to heap ills on ills, and afterwards make them dread their having done so, to the eternal welfare of the doers." The whole speech is in a religious strain. Thrift signifies a state of prosperity. It is not the commission of the crimes that is supposed to be for the doer's thrift, but his dreading them afterwards, and of course re = = penting, which ensures his salvation.= 5:) this carl,] Carl or churl, (ceopl, Sax.) is a clown or husbandman, 6:) The country base,] i. e. a rustic game called prison-bars, vulgarly prison base. = 7:) for preservation cas'd, or shame,)] Shame for modesty. = 8:) - bugs-] Terrors. 9:) Nay, do not wonder at it:] Posthumus first bids him not wonder, then tells him in another mode of reproach, that wonder is all that he was made for. 10:) I, in mine own woe, charm'd,] Alluding to the common superstition of charms being powerful enough to keep men unhurt in battle. It was derived from our Saxon ancestors, and so is common to us with the Germans, who are above all other people given to this superstition. 11:)- great the answer be-] Answer, as once in this play before, is retaliation. 12:) - a silly habit,] Silly is simple or rustic. 13:) That gave the affront with them.] That is, that turned their faces to the enemy. 14:) Enter Cymbeline, &c.] This is the only instance in these plays of the business of the scene being entirely performed in dumb show. The direction must have proceeded from the players, as it is perfectly unnecessary, and our author has elsewhere [in Hamlet expressed his contempt of such mummery, RITSON. 15:) Solemn Music, &c.] It is the universal opinion that this vision, masque, and prophecy, were the interpolation of the players. One would think that, Shakspeare's style being too refined for his audiences, the managers had employed some playwright of the old school to regale them with a touch of King Cambyses' vein." The margin would be too honourable a place for so impertinent an interpolation. 16:) And to become the geck-] A geck is a fool. =17:) -to foot us:] i. e. to grasp us in his pounces. =18:) sorry that you have paid too much, and sorry that you are paid too much ;] i. e. sorry that you have paid too much out of your pocket, and sorry that you are paid, or subdued, too much by the liquor. 19:)-being drawn of heaviness:] Drawn is embowelled, exenterated. So in common language a fowl is said to be drawn, when its intestines are taken out. 20:)—jump the after-enquiry-] That is, venture at it without thought. = 21:) — I never saw one so prone.] i. e. forward. = 22:) Scene F.] Let those who talk so confidently about the skill of Shakspeare's contemporary, Jonson, point out the conclusion of any one of his plays which is wrought with more artifice, and yet a less degree of dramatic violence than this. In the scene before us, all the surviving characters are assembled; and at the expense of whatever incongruity the former events may have been produced, perhaps little can be discovered on this occasion to offend the most scrupulous advocate for regularity: and, I think, as little is found wanting to satisfy the spectator by a catastrophe which is intricate without confusion, and not more rich in ornament than in nature. STEEVENS. = 23:)-bore in hand to love—] i. e. insidiously taught to depend on her love. 24:) So feat,] So ready; so dexterous in waiting.=25:) His favour is familiar-] I am acquainted with his countenance. 26:) I know not why, nor wherefore, To say, live, boy:] I know not what should induce me to say, live, boy. = 27:) Quail to remember,] To quail, is to sink into dejection. 28:) - -as Dian] i. e. as if Dian. = 29:)-averring notes] Such marks of the chamber and pictures, as averred or confirmed my report. 30:) Some upright justicer!] Justicer is used by Shakspeare thrice in King Lear. The most ancient law books have justicers of the peace, as frequently as justices of the 31:) peace. = and she herself.] That is, she was uot only the temple of virtue, but virtue herself. =32:) — these staggers-1 This wild and delirious perturbation. Staggers is the horse's apoplexy.=33:) Think, that you are upon a rock;] In this speech, or in the answer, there is little meaning. Perhaps, 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. 34:)—a dullard] In this place means a person stupidly unconcerned. 35:) Your pleasure was my mere offence, &c.] My crime, my punishment, and all the treason that I committed, originated in, and were founded on, your caprice only. 36:) Thou weep'st, and speak'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. JOHNSON. 37:)-fierce abridgement-] Fierce is vchement, rapid. =38:)- which || Distinction should be rich in.] i, e. which ought to be rendered distinct by a liberal amplitude of narrative. 39:) And your three motives to the battle,] That is, though strangely expressed, the motives of you three for engaging in the battle. = 40:) spritely shows-] are groups of sprites, ghostly appearances. =41:) Make no colfection of it;] collection is a corollary, a consequence deduced from premises.: = = XXXII. TITUS ANDRONICUS. АСТ І. 1:)-my successive title-] i. e. my title to the succession. 2:) "chastis'd with his arms. -MALONE. 3:) Thou great defender of this Capitol,] Jupiter, to whom the Capitol was sacred.=4:) To hover on the dreadful shore of Styx!] Here we have one of the numerous classical notions that are scattered with a pedantic profu sion through this piece. MALONE, 5:) Nor we disturb'd with prodigies on earth.] It was supposed by the ancients, that the ghosts of unburied people appeared to their friends and relations, to solicit the rites of funeral. = = 6:) Patient yourself, &c.] Patient is here a verb.=7:) "here in rest," MALONE.= 8:) And fame's eternal date, for virtue's praise!] To outlive an eternal date is, though not philoso phical, yet poetical sense. He wishes that her life may be longer than his, and her praise longer than fame. JOHNSON :) That hath aspir'd to Solon's happiness,] The maxim of Solon here alluded to is, that no man can be pronounced to be happy before his death. =10:)don this robe,] i, e. do on this robe, put it on.=11:) In Mr. Steevens' edition, 15 vol. 1793, the following line occurs here, which is omitted in the subsequent editions: "And led my country's strength successfully.' 12:) Titus, thou shalt obtain and ask the empery] Here is rather too much of the 109 AROUSSY. — 18:) Lav. Not I, my lord;] It was pity to part a couple who seem to have corresponded in disposition so exactly as Saturninus and Lavinia. Saturninus, who has just promised to espouse her, already wishes he were to choose again; and she, who was engaged to Bassianus, (whom she afterwards marries,) expresses no reluctance when her father gives her to Saturninus. Her subsequent raillery to Tamera is of so coarse a nature, that if her tongue had been all she was condemned to lose, perhaps the author (whoever he was) might have escaped censure on the score of poetic justice. STEEVENS. 14:) Mr. Malone omits of. = 15) changing piece -] Spoken of Lavinia. Piece was then, as it is now, used personally as a word of contempt. = 16) To ruffle in the commonwealth of Rome.] A ruffler vas a kind of cheating bully; and is so called in a statute made for the punishment of vagabonds in the 27th year of hing Henry VIII. Hence, perhaps, this sense of the verb, to ruffle. Rufflers are likewise enumerated among other vagabonds, by Holinshed, Vol. I. p. 183.=17:) I am not bid-] 1. e. invited. 18:)-play'd your prize;] A technical term in the ancient fencing-school. = ACT II. = clubs!] This was the usual outery for assistance, when any 1:) "this nymph," MALONE. = 2:) Clubs, riot in the street happened. 3:) to steal a shive,] A shive is a slice. 4:) "yet worn"-Mr. Malone omits get, and makes a dissyllable of worn. Mr. Steevens very pro perly says, "Let him who can read worn as a dissyllable, read it so." = = 5:) To square for this?] To square is to quarrel. 6:) by kind-] That is, by nature, which is the old signification of kind. — 7:) — with her sacred wit Sacred here signifies accursed; a Latinism. 8:) - file our engines with advice,] i. e. remove all impediments from our designs by advice. The allusion is to the operation of the file, which, by conferring smoothness, facilitates the motion of the wheels which compose an engine or piece of machinery. 9:) to inherit it.] To inherit formerly siguified to possess. 10:) — for their unrest,] Unrest, for disquiet, is a word frequently used by the old writers.=11:) That hare their alms, &c.] This is obscure. It seems to mean only they who are to come at this gold of the empress are to suffer by it. 12:) --as is a nurse's song Of lullaby, to bring her babe asleep.] Dr. Johnson, in his Dictionary, says, "It is observable that the nurses call sleep by, by; lullaby is therefore lull to sleep." But to lull originally signified to sleep. To compose to sleep by a pleasing sound is a secondary sense retained after its primitive import became obsolete. The verbs to loll and lollop evidently spring from the same root. And by meant house; go to by is to go to house or cradle. The common compliment at parting. good by is good house, may your house prosper; and Selby, The archbishop of York's palace, is great house. So that lullaby implies literally sleep in house, i, e. the cradle. HOLT WHITE. = = 13:) Should drive-] i. e. fly with impetuosity at him. 14:) - swarth Cimmerian-] Swarth is black. Tho Moor is called Cimmerian, from the affinity of blackness to darkness. 15:) "but with" - MALONE. = 16) urchins,] i. e. hedgehogs. 17:) Should straight fail mad, or else die suddenly.] This is said in fabulous physiology, of those that hear the groan of the mandrake tora up.=18:) And with that painted hope braves your mighticonfidence more plausible than solid. JOHNSON.= 19) “obness:] Painted hope is only specious hope, or ground of ject hurt"- MALONE.=20:) "who it is;"- Malone. =21:) | A precious ring,] 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. JOHNSON. = 22) = timeless- i. e. untimely. = 23:) "scrowl.”. MALONE = 24:) 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. JOHNSON, 25:) Mr. Malone omits withal. 26:)- Thracian poet's-] Orpheus.: ACT III.1:) "good tribunes,"-MALONE.=2:) “Why, 'tis no matter, man: or if they did mark, They would not pity me, yet plead I must, || All bootless unto them." MaLONE.3:) "aged" — MALONE, in his last edition. =4:) “her true tears"-MALONE. 5:) as limbo is from bliss! The Limbus patrum, as it was called, is a place that the schoolmen supposed to be in the neighbourhood of hell, where the souls of the patriarchs were detained, and those good men |