Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

Ib. 1. 20. Banning, &c. i. e. cursing. So, in King Richard III.

"Fell banning hag." STEEVENS.

P. 15, 1. 22. Cheeks feels, read cheek; and in the following line, read cheek receives. P. 16, 1. 5. And all this dumb play, &c. From the present passage, I think it probable, that this first production of our author's muse was not composed till after he had left Stratford and became acquainted with the theatre. MALONE.

Ib. 1. 17.

help.

For one sweet look my help, &c.---read thy

Ib. 1. 22. Never grave it. Engrave it; i. e. make an impression on it.

P. 17, l. 1. Let go, and let me go. Let go my hand, and leave me at liberty; not let me go away, for his horse is gone, and he says,

"I pray you hence, and leave me here alone."

EDITOR.

P. 18, 1. 10. My love to love is love but to disgrace it. My inclination towards love is only a desire to render it contemptible: the sense is almost lost in the jin. gle of words. MALONE.

P. 19, 1.3. Thy Mermaids' voice, &c. Our ancient writers commonly use Mermaid for Syren. STEEVENS.

Ib. 1. 8. And invisible. I suspect, that both for the sake of better rhyme, and better sense, we should read invincible. These words are misprinted, alternately one for the other, in King Henry IV. P. II. and King John. STEEVENS.

An opposition was, I think, clearly intended between external beauty, of which the eye is the judge, and a melody of voice, (which the poet calls inward beauty) striking not the sight but the ear. I, therefore, believe invisible to be the true reading. MALONE.

I think the preceding line,

"Had I no eyes, but ears," &c.

confirms Mr. Malone's opinion. EDITOR.

Ib. 1. 13. Say, that the sense of reason, &c. In the octavo edition of 1595, we read feeling instead of

reason.

Ib. 1. 22. And bid suspicion double-lock the door. A bolder or happier personification than this will not readily be pointed out in any of our author's plays. MALONE.

P. 20, 1. 6. Foul flaws; i. e. violent blasts of wind. STEEVENS.

Ib. 1. 12. His words begun. Our author is inaccurate, he should have written began. MALONE.

Ib. 1. 24. Till his breath breath'd life into her again. Other copies have it,

"Till his breath breatheth life in her again."

P. 21, I. 13. Hairless face. Beardless.

[ocr errors]

P. 22, 1. 17. For fear of slips; i. e. of counterfeit money. STEEVENS.

Ib. I. 19. A thousand kisses buy, &c. Other copies read buys.

P. 22, 1. 23. Say for non-payment that the debt should double. The poet was thinking of a conditional bond's becoming forfeited for non-payment; in which case the entire penalty (usually the double of the prin

cipal sum lent by the obligee) was formerly recoverable at law. MALONE.

P. 23, 1. 2. Measure my strangeness; i. e. my bashfulness. MALONE.

P. 24, 1. 19. What wax so frozen, but dissolves with temp❜ring? It was the custom formerly to seal with soft wax, which was tempered between the fingers before the impression was made. MAIONE.

Ib. 1. 21.

Leave; i. e. licentiousness. STEEVENS. P. 25, 1. 4. What tho' the rose have pricks, yet it is pluck'd. Read--What tho' the rose have prickles, yet 'tis pluck'd.

Ib. 1. 5 and 6. Were beauty, &c. This couplet is exceedingly pretty, and would be an admirable motto for many of our modern farces, particularly "Love Laughs at Locksmiths." EDITOR.

Ib. 1. 12. Engaged in his breast. The octavo edition of 1596 has it incaged in his breast, and which, I think, is preferable to the above. EDITor.

Ib. 1. 15. Love's muster, &c. Thou, who art master me, the queen of love. MALOne.

Ib. 1. 24. Her belly. Read-his belly.

P. 26, 1. 6. To clip Elysium. To clip, in old language, is to embrace. MALONE.

P. 26, 1. 7. Even as poor birds, deceiv'd with painted grapes. Our author alludes to the celebrated picture of Zeuxis, mentioned by Pliny, in which some grapes were so well represented, that birds alighted on them to peck at them. MALONE.

Berries that afford

Ib. 1. 10. Helpless berries saw. no help; i. e. nourishment. STEEVENS.

Ib. 1. 11. The warm effects. I think we should read

[blocks in formation]

MALONE.

Cabin, in

deadly. So in Othello :--

"And you, ye mortal engines," &c.

P. 27, l. 19. His loathsome cabin still. the age of Queen Elizabeth, signified a small mean dwelling-place, and was much in use. The term still is used universally through Ireland, where the word cottage is scarcely ever employed. MALONE.

Ib. 1. 21.

Come not within his danger. This was a common expression in Shakespeare's time, and seems to have meant---Expose not yourself to one who has the power to do you mischief. MALONE.

These were, I

P. 28, I. 10. Doth cry, kill, kill. think, the words formerly uttered when orders were issued to an army for general slaughter. I have met with a passage to this purpose in a book of Shakespeare's age. MALONE.

Ib. 1. 12. As air and water doth abate the fire. Modern grammarians would read do; but a verb, with two or three nominative cases, may be either singular or plural; and it appears to me, that the singular was generally adopted at this time of writing. EDITOR.

Ib. 1. 14. Love's tender spring. I once thought that love's tender spring meant the tender blossoms of growing love; but I am now of opinion, that spring is used here, as in other places, for a young shoot or plant. MALONE.

P. 29, 1. 8.

Uncoupled. Read---uncouple.

Ib. 1. 14. To over-shut his troubles. I would read

over-shoot; i. e. fly beyond. STEEVENS.

To shut up, in Shakespeare's age, signified to conclude. I believe, therefore, the text is right.

LONE.

MA

Ib. l. 16. He cranks; i. e. He winds. So in Coriolanus, the belly says

[ocr errors]

"I send it through the rivers of your blood, "And through the cranks and offices of man.' Again, more appositely, in King Henry IV. P. I :--"See, how this river comes me cranking in."

MALONE. Ib. 1. 29. The many umsits, &c. Read musits, this being an error of the modern editions.

Musits are said, by the lexicographers, to be the places through which the hare goes for relief.

LONE.

MA

A muset is a gap in a hedge. See Cotgrave's explanation of the French word Troueé. STEEVENS.

Ib. 1. 19, 21, and 23. Sometime he runs, &c. Thus it is in all editions which I have seen, but not so in a preceding verse, (p. 28, l. 16) for others have it there, "That sometimes true news, sometimes false dotlr bring."

S is a very inharmonious letter in poetry, and should be as often omitted as possible. EDITOR.

Ib. 1. 23. Sorteth with a herd of deer. Sorteth means accompanies, consorts with. Sort, anciently, signified a troop or company. MALONE.

P. 30, 1. 1. Is smell. Read his; and in the succeeding line read hounds.

« ElőzőTovább »