As he could make me with this eye or ear3 Imo. I would have broke mine eye-strings; crack'd them, but To look upon him; till the diminution Of space had pointed him sharp as my needle:5 The smallness of a gnat to air; and then Have turn'd mine eye, and wept.-But, good Pisanio, When shall we hear from him? Pis. With his next vantage. Be assur'd madam, 3 with this eye or ear-] [Old copy-his eye, &c.] But how could posthumus make himself distinguished by his ear to Pisanio? By his tongue he might to the other's ear, and this was certainly Shakspeare's intention. We must therefore read: As he could make me with this eye, or ear, The expression is demais, as the Greeks term it: the party -for so long As he could mark me with his eye, or I The reason of Sir T. Hanmer's reading was, that Pisanio de scribes no address made to the ear. Johnson. 4 As little as a crow, or less,] This comparison may be illustrated by the following in King Lear: 5 the crows that wing the midway air, "Show scarce so gross as beetles." till the diminution Steevens. Of space had pointed him as 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. Johnson. 6 next vantage.] Next opportunity. Johnson. So, in The Merry Wives of Windsor: "And when the doctor spies his vantage ripe," &c. Steevens. Imo. I did not take my leave of him, but had Most pretty things to say: ere I could tell him, How I would think on him, at certain hours, Such thoughts, and such; or I could make him swear Mine interest, and his honour; or have charg'd him, I am in heaven for him; or ere I could 7 - encounter me with orisons,] i. e. meet me with reciprocal prayer. So, in Macbeth: "See, they encounter thee with their hearts' thanks." Steevens. 8 I am in heaven for him;] My solicitations ascend to heaven on his behalf. Steevens. Give him that parting kiss, which I had set Betwixt two charming words,] Dr Warburton pronounces as absolutely as if he had been present at their parting, that these two charming words were-adieu Posthumus; but as Mr. Edwards has observed," she must have understood the language of love very little, if she could find no tenderer expression of it, than the name by which every one called her husband." Steevens. 1 like the tyrannous breathing of the north, Shakes all our buds from growing.] i. e. our buds of love, as our author has elsewhere expressed it. Dr. Warburton, because the buds of flowers are here alluded to, very idly reads-Shakes all our buds from blowing. The buds of flowers undoubtedly are meant, and Shakspeare himself has told us in Romeo and Juliet that they grow: "This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath 66 May prove a beauteous flower, when next we meet." Malone. 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. Johnson. Dr. Warburton's emendation may in some measure be confirmed by those beautiful lines in The Two Noble Kinsmen, which I have no doubt were written by Shakspeare. Emilia is speaking of a rose: "It is the very emblem of a maid. "For when the west wind courts her gentily, Lady. Enter a Lady. Desires your highness' company. The queen, madam, Imo. Those things I bid you do, get them despatch'd. I will attend the queen. Pis. Madam, I shall. SCENE V. [Exeunt. Rome. An Apartment in Philario's House. Enter PHILARIO, IACHIMO,2 a Frenchman, a Dutchman, and a Spaniard.3 Iach. Believe it, sir: I have seen him in Britain: he was then of a crescent note; expected to prove so worthy, as since he hath been allowed the name of: but I could then have look'd on him without the help of admiration; though the catalogue of his endowments had been tabled by his side, and I to peruse him by items. Phi. You speak of him when he was less furnish'd, than now he is, with that which makes him both without and within. "How modestly she blows, and paints the sun "With her chaste blushes?-when the north comes near her "Rude and impatient, then like chastity, "She locks her beauties in her bud again, "And leaves him to base briars." Farmer. I think the old reading may be sufficiently supported by the following passage in the 18th Sonnet of our author: "Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May." Again, in The Taming of the Shrew: "Confounds thy fame, as whirlwinds shake fair buds." Lyly, in his Euphues, 1581, as Mr. Holt White observes, has a similar expression: "The winde shaketh off the blossome, as well as the fruit." Steevens. 2 - Iachimo,] The name of Giacomo occurs in The Two Gentlewomen of Venice, a novel, which immediately follows that of Rhomeo and Julietta in the second tome of Painter's Palace of Pleasure. Malone. 3 -a Dutchman, and a Spaniard.] Thus the old copy; but Mynheer, and the Don, are mute characters. Shakspeare, however, derived this circumstance from whatever translation of the original novel he made use of. Thus, in the ancient one described in our Prolegomena to this drama: "Howe iiii merchauntes met all togyther in on way, whyche were of iiii dyverse landes," &c. Steevens. D VOL. XVI. French. I have seen him in France: we had very many there, could behold the sun with as firm eyes as he. Iach. This matter of marrying his king's daughter, (wherein he must be weigh'd rather by her value, than his own,) words him, I doubt not, a great deal from the matter.5 French. And then his banishment: Iach. Ay, and the approbation of those, that weep this lamentable divorce, under her colours, are wonderfully to extend him; be it but to fortify her judgment, which else an easy battery might lay flat, for taking a beggar without more quality. But how comes it, he is to sojourn with you? How creeps acquaintance? 4 makes him—] In the sense in which we say, This will make or mar you. Johnson. So, in Othello: This is the night "That either makes me, or fordoes me quite." Steevens. Makes him, in the text, means forms him. M. Mason. 5 words him, —a great deal from the matter,] Makes the description of him very distant from the truth. Johnson. 6 7 under her colours,] Under her banner; by her influence. Johnson. and the approbation of those,- -are wonderfully to extend him;] This grammatical inaccuracy is common in Shakspeare's plays. So, in Julius Cæsar: "The posture of your blows are yet unknown." The modern editors, however, read-approbations. Extend has here the same meaning as in a former scene. See p. 7, n. 4. I perceive no inaccuracy on the present occasion. "This matter of his marrying his king's daughter,"-" and then his banishment;"-" and the approbation of those," &c. "are (i. e. all these circumstances united) wonderfully to extend him.” Steevens. 8 without more quality.] The folio reads less quality. Mr. Rowe first made the alteration. Steevens. Whenever less or more is to be joined with a verb denoting want, or a preposition of a similar import, Shakspeare never fails to be entangled in a grammatical inaccuracy, or rather, to use words that express the very contrary of what he means. In a note on Antony and Cleopatra, I have proved this incontestably, by comparing a passage similar to that in the text with the words of Plutarch on which it is formed. The passage is: 66 I-condemn myself to lack "The courage of a woman, less noble mind Again, in The Winter's Tale: Phi. His father and I were soldiers together; to whom I have been often bound for no less than my life: Enter POSTHUMUS. Here comes the Briton: Let him be so entertained amongst you, as suits, with gentlemen of your knowing, to a stranger of his quality.-I beseech you all, be better known to this gentleman; whom I commend to you, as a noble friend of mine: How worthy he is, I will leave to appear hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing. French. Sir, we have known together in Orleans. Post. Since when I have been debtor to you for courtesies, which I will be ever to pay, and yet pay still.9 French. Sir, you o'er-rate my poor kindness: I was glad I did atone my countryman and you;1 it had been pity, you should have been put together with so mortal a purpose, as then each bore, upon importance of so slight and trivial a nature.2 "That any of these bolder vices wanted "Less impudence, to gainsay what they did, Again, in King Lear: I have hope "You less know how to value her deserts See note on Antony and Cleopatra, Act IV, sc. xii. Mr. Rowe and all the subsequent editors read-without more quality, and so undoubtedly Shakspeare ought to have written. On the stage, an actor may rectify such petty errors; but it is the duty of an editor to exhibit what his author wrote. Malone. As on this occasion, and several others, we can only tell what Hemings and Condel printed, instead of knowing, with any degree of certainty, what Shakspeare wrote, I have not disturbed Mr. Rowe's emendation, which leaves a clear passage to the reader, if he happens to prefer an obvious sense to no sense at all. Steevens. 9 which I will be ever to pay, and yet pay still.] So, in All's Well that Ends Well: "Which I will ever pay, and pay again, "When I have found it." Again, in our author's 30th Sonnet: "Which I new pay, as if not pay'd before." Malone. 1 I did atone &c.] To atone signifies in this place to recon cile. So, Ben Jonson, in The Silent Woman: "There had been some hope to atone you." Again, in Heywood's English Traveller, 1633: "The constable is call'd to atone the broil." Steevens. |