she tickled his chin ;-Indeed, she has a marvellous | There's a fellow!-Go white hand, I must needs confess. Cres. Without the rack. Pan. And she takes upon her to spy a white hair on his chin. Cres. Alas, poor chin! many a wart is richer. Pan. But there was such laughing;-Queen Hecuba laughed, that her eyes ran o'er. Cres. With mill-stones.1 Pan. And Cassandra laughed. Cres. But there was a more temperate fire under the pot of her eyes;-Did her eyes run o'er too? Pan. And Hector laughed. Cres. At what was all this laughing? Pan. Marry, at the white hair that Helen spied on Troilus' chin. Cres. An't had been a green hair, I should have laughed too. Pan. They laughed not so much at the hair, as at his pretty answer. Cres. What was his answer? a brave man, niece. Cres. O, a brave man! way, Hector;-There's brave Hector-Look, countenance: Is't not a Pan. Is 'a not? It does a man's heart goodLook you what hacks are on his helmet? look you yonder, do you see? look you there! There's no jesting: there's laying on; take't off who will, as they say there be hacks! Cres. Be those with swords? PARIS passes over. Pan. Swords? any thing, he cares not: an the devil come to him, it's all one: By God's lid, it does one's heart good:-Yonder comes Paris, yonder comes Paris: look ye yonder, niece; Is't not a gallant man too, is't not?-Why, this is brave now.-Who said, he came hurt home to-day? he's not hurt why, this will do Helen's heart good now. Ha! would I could see Troilus now!-you Cres. Who's that? HELENUS passes over. Pan. That's Helenus,-I marvel where Troilus is:-That's Helenus; I think he went not forth today-That's Helenus. Pan. Quoth she, Here's but one and fifty hairs on shall see Troilus anon. your chin, and one of them is white. Cres. This is her question. Pan. That's true; make no question of that. One and fifty hairs, quoth he, and one white: That white hair is my father, and all the rest are his sons. Jupiter! quoth she, which of these hairs is Paris my husband? The forked one, quoth he; pluck it out, and give it him. But, there was such laughing! and Helen so blushed, and Paris so chafed, and all the rest so laughed, that it passed.2 Cres. So let it now; for it has been a great while going by. Pan. Well, cousin, I told you a thing yesterday; think on't. Cres. So I do. Cres. Can Helenus fight, uncle? Pan. Helenus? no:-yes, he'll fight indifferent well:-I marvel, where Troilus is!-Hark; do you not hear the people cry, Troilus ?-Helenus is a priest. Cres. What sneaking fellow comes yonder? TROILUS passes over. Pan. Where? yonder? that's Deiphobus: "Tis Troilus! there's a man, niece!-Hem!-Brave Troilus! the prince of chivalry! Cres. Peace, for shame, peace! Pan. Mark him; note him ;-O brave Troilus! look well upon him, niece; look you, how his sword is bloodied, and his helm more hack'd than Hector's: And how he looks, and how he goes!O admirable youth! he ne'er saw three and twenty. Go thy way, Troilus, go thy way; had I a sister were a grace, or a daughter a goddess, he should take his choice. O admirable man! Paris ?-Paris is dirt to him; and, I warrant, Helen, to change, would give an eye to boot. Forces pass over the stage. and bran! porridge after meat! I could live and Cres. There is among the Greeks, Achilles; a better man than Troilus. Pan. Achilles? a drayman, a porter, a very camel. Cres. Well, well. Pan. Well, well ?-why, have you any discretion? have you any eyes? Do you know what a man is? Is not birth, beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood, learning, gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality, and such like, the spice and salt that season Par. That's Hector, that, that, look you, that; a man? To heare him speake, and pretty jests to tell, 'Et moveo Priamum, Priamoque Antenora junctum.' Cres. Ay, a minced man: and then to be baked | That, after seven years' siege, yet Troy walls with no date in the pie,-for then the man's date is out. Pan. You are such a woman! one knows not at what ward you lie. Cres. Upon my back, to defend my belly; upon my wit, to defend my wiles; upon my secrecy, to defend mine honesty; my mask, to defend my beauty; and you, to defend all these: and at all these wards I lie, at a thousand watches. Pan. Say one of your watches. Cres. Nay, I'll watch you for that; and that's one of the chiefest of them too; if I cannot ward what I would not have hit, I can watch you for teliing how I took the blow; unless it swell past hiding, and then it is past watching. Pan. You are such another! Enter TROILUS' Boy. stand; Sith every action that hath gone before, Do you with cheeks abash'd behold our works; But the protractive trials of great Jove, Boy. Sir, my lord would instantly speak with Puffing at all, winnows the light away; you. Cres. Adieu, uncle. Pan. I'll be with you, niece, by and by. Pan. Ay, a token from Troilus. Cres. By the same token-you are a bawd.- Words, vows, griefs, tears, and love's fult sacrifice, Men prize the thing ungain'd more than it is; [Exit. And what hath mass, or matter, by itself Nest. With due observance of thy godlike seat," But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage cut, Bounding between the two moist elements, courage, Returns to chiding fortune." SCENE III. The Grecian Camp. Before Agam-And, with an accent tun'd in self-same key, What grief hath set the jaundice on your cheeks? Fails in the promis'd largeness; checks and disas ters Grow in the veins of actions highest rear'd: Ulyss. Agamemnon,— Thou great commander, nerve and bone of Greece, 1 Dates were an ingredient in ancient pastry of al-his witte to something, and to give his minde unto it." most every kind. The same quibble occurs in All's Well that Ends Well, Act i. Sc. 1. 2 A metaphor from the art of defence. Falstaff, King Henry IV. Part I. says, 'Thou know'st my old ward; here I lay,' &c. 3 That she, means that woman. 4 Achievement is command; ungain'd, beseech. The meaning of this obscure line seems to be, Men after possession become our commanders; before it they are our suppliants.' The example cited by Malone, from The Nice Wanton. is not to the purpose, the word there is used as we now use to ply. As in another example from Baret, 'With diligent endeavour to applie their studies.' S Pegasus was strictly speaking Bellerophon's horse, but Shakspeare followed the old Troy Book. Of the blood that issued out [from Medusa's head] there engendered Pegasus or the flying horse. By the flying horse that was engendered of the blood issued from her head, is understood that of her riches issuing of that realme My heart's content,' in the next line, probably sig.he [Perseus] founded, and made a ship named Pegase, nifies my will, my desire. 5 Joined by affinity. The same adjective occurs in Othello: If partially affin'd, or leagu'd in office.' 6 The throne in which thou sittest like a descended god. 7 To apply here is used for to bend the mind, or atand particularly to Agamemnon's words. As in the following passage from Baret: To attende or applie and this ship was likened unto an horse flying, &c. In another place we are told that this ship, which the writer always calls Perseus' flying horse, flew on the sea like unto a bird.' Destruction of Troy, 4to. 1617, p. 155-164. 9 The gadfly that stings cattle. 10 It is said of the tiger, that in stormy and high winds he rages and roars most furiously. 11 1. e. replies to noisy or clamorous fortune. As venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver, Thou great, and wise, to hear Ulysses speak. Agam. Speak, prince of Ithaca; and be't of less expect That matter needless, of importless burden, Ulyss. Troy, yet upon his basis, had been down, And the great Hector's sword had lack'd a master, But for these instances. The specialty of rule3 hath been neglected: What honey is expected? Degree being vizarded, Observe degree, priority, and place, 1 How much the commentators have perplexed themselves and their readers about the following passage! speeches, which were such, As Agameronon and the hand of Greece -knit all the Greekish ears To his experienced tongue.' Ulysses evilently means to say that Agamemnon's peech should be writ in brass; and that venerable Nestor, with his silver hairs, by his speech should rivet the attention of all Greece. The phrase hatch'd in sil ter, which has been the stumbling-block, is a simile borrowed from the art of design; to hatch being to fill a design with a number of consecutive fine lines; and to hatch in silver was a design inlaid with lines of silver, a process often used for the hilts of swords, handles of dag. gers, and stocks of pistols. The lines of the graver on a plate of metal are still called hatchings. Hence hatch'd in silver, for silver-haired or gray-hair d. Thus in Love in a Maze, 1632:- Thy hair is fine as gold, thy chin is hatch'd 2 Expect for expectation. Strength should be lord of imbecility, And the rude son should strike his father dead: So doubly seconded with will and power, And this neglection of degree it is, Nest. Most wisely hath Ulysses here discover'd The fever whereof all our power1 is sick. Agam. The nature of the sickness found, Ulysses, What is the remedy? Ulyss. The great Achilles,--whom opinion crowns And with ridiculous and awkward action 14 Verbal eulogium. In Macbeth called mouth honour 15 Supreme, sovereign. And topless honours he bestow'd on thee.' Blind Beggar of Alexandria, 1598. 16 Malone's sagacious note informs us that the galleries of the theatre were sometimes called the scaffolds." 2 The particular rights of supreme authority This may be very true, but what has it to do with the 41. e. this globe. According to the system of Ptolemy, the stage, the wooden dialogue is between the player's present passage? The scaffoldage here is the floor of the earth is the centre round which the planets move. foot and the boards. A scaffold more frequently meant 3 The apparent irregular motions of the planets were supposed to portend some disasters to mankind: indeed the planets themselves were not thought formerly to be confined in any fixed orbits of their own, but to wander about ad libitum, as the etymology of their name de monstrates the stage itself than the gallery: Thus Baret, A scaf fold or stage where to behold plays. Spectaculum, theatrum. 17 i. e. overstrained, wrested beyond true semblance 18 i. e. unsuited, unfitted. Now play me Nestor ;-hem, and stroke thy beard, And then, forsooth, the faint defects of age Nest. And in the imitation of these twain, (A slave, whose gall coins slanders like a mint,) Ulyss. They tax our policy, and call it cowardice; Count wisdom as no member of the war; Forestall prescience, and esteem no act But that of hand: the still and mental parts,That do contrive how inany hands shall strike, When fitness calls them on: and know, by measure Of their observant toil, the enemies' weight,Why, this hath not a finger's dignity: They call this-bed-work, mappery, closet-war; So that the ram, that batters down the wall, For the great swing and rudeness of his poise, They place before his hand that made the engine; Or those, that with the fineness of their souls By reason guide his execution. Nest. Let this be granted, and Achilles' horse Makes many Thetis' sons. [Trumpet sounds. Agam. What trumpet? look, Menelaus. Enter ENEAS. Great Agamemnon's tent, I pray? Agam. Even this. Ene. May one, that is a herald, and a prince, Do a fair message to his kingly ears? Agam. With surety stronger than Achilles' arm 'Fore all the Greekish heads, which with one voice Call Agamemnon head and general. Ene. Fair leave, and large security. How may 1 Johnson says 'the allusion seems to be made to the parallels on a map. As like as east to west.' 2 Paralytic fumbling. 3 Grace exact seems to mean decorous habits. 4 i. e. carries himself haughtily; bridles up. Cotgrave in Se rengorger.' 5 How rank soever rounded in with danger. strongly soever encompassed by danger. So in Henry V.: See How King How dread an army hath enrounded him.' 6 And yet this was the seventh year of the war. Shakspeare, who so wonderfully preserves character, usually confounds the customs of all nations, and probably supposed that the ancients (like the heroes of chivalry) fought with beavers to their helmets. In the fourth act of this play, Nestor says to Hector: But this thy countenance, still lock'd in steel, I ask, that I might waken reverence, How? Which is that god in office, guiding men? Ene. Courtiers as free, as debonair, unarm'd, As bending angels; that's their fame in peace: But when they would seem soldiers, they have galls, Good arms, strong joints, true swords: and, Jove's accord: Nothing so full of heart." But peace, Æneas, transcends. Agam. Sir, you of Troy, call you yourself Æneas? Ene. Nor I from Troy come not to whisper him: Agam. Speak frankly as the wind; It is not Agamemnon's sleeping hour: That thou shalt know, Trojan, he is awake, He tells thee so himself. Ene. Trumpet, blow loud, Send thy brass voice through all these lazy tents ;And every Greek of mettle, let him know, What Troy means fairly, shall be spoke aloud. [Trumpet sounds. 10 We have, great Agamemnon, here in Troy, 7 Malone and Steevens see difficulties in this passage; the former proposed to read Jove's a god,' the latter, Love's a lord.' There is no point after the word accord in the quarto copy, which reads 'great Jove's accord.' Theobald's interpretation of the passage is, I think, nearly correct: They have galls, good arms, &c. and Jove's consent :-Nothing is so full of heart as they. I have placed a colon at accord, by which the sense is rendered clearer. 8 So Jaques, in As You Like It;I must have liberty • Withal, as large a charter as the wind, To blow on whom I please.' 9 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.' Shakspeare found in the seventh Those who are acquainted with the embellishments of chapter of the third book of The Destruction of Troy, ancient manuscripts and books, well know that the ar-that a truce was agreed on, at the desire of the Trojans, tists gave the costume of their own time to all ages. for six months. But in this anachronism they have been countenanced by other ancient poets as well as Shakspeare. 10 Confession for profession, made with idle vows to the lips of her whom he loves,' If any come, Hector shall honour him; Nest. Tell him of Nestor, one that was a man Agam. Fair lord Eneas, let me touch your hand; So shall each lord of Greece, from tent to tent: [Exeunt all but ULYSSES and NESTOR. Ulyss. Nestor, Nest. What says Ulysses? Ulyss. I have a young conception in my brain, Be you my time to bring it to some shape. Nest. What is't? Ulyss. This 'tis : Blunt wedges rive hard knots: The seeded pride In rank Achilles, must or now be cropp'd, Or, shedding, breed a nursery of like evil, To overbulk us all. Nest. Well, and how? It is most meet; Whom may you else oppose, For here the Trojans taste our dear'st repute Of things to come at large. It is suppos'd, Nest. I see them not with my old eyes; what are Ulyss. What glory our Achilles shares from Hector, And we were better parch in Afric sun, Ulyss. This challenge that the gallant Hector And, by device, let blockish Ajax draw sends, However it is spread in general name, Relates in purpose only to Achilles. Nest. The purpose is perspicuous even as sub- Whose grossness little characters sum up :5 Ulyss. And wake him to the answer, think you? Yes. 1 Steevens remarks that this is the language of romance. Such a challenge would have better suited Palmerin or Amadis, than Hector or Æneas. 2 An armour for the arm. Avant bras. Milton uses the word in Samson Agonistes, and Heywood in his Iron Age, 1632: peruse his armour, The dint's still in the vanthrace." 3 Be you to my present purpose what time is in respect of all other schemes, viz. a ripener and bringer of them to maturity. 4 Thus in the Rape of Lucrece : How will thy shame be seeded in thine age, When thus thy vices bud before thy spring!" 5 The intent is as plain and palpable as substance, and it is to be collected from small circumstances, as a gross body is made up of many small parts.' This is the Scope of Warburton's explanation, to which I incline. Steevens says that substance is estate, the value of which is ascertained by the use of small characters, i. e. numerals: grossness is the gross sum.' 6 Make no difficulty, no doubt, when this duel comes to be proclaimed, but that Achilles, dull as he is, will discover the drift of it. Thus in a subsequent scene Ulysses says: "I do not strain at the position, The sort to fight with Hector: Among ourselves, Now I begin to relish thy advice: 'When 7 A scantling is a measure, a proportion. The lustre of the better, yet to show But as the quarto copy of the play is generally more 10 Opinion for estimation or reputation. See King Henry IV. Part I. Act v. Sc. iv. The word occurs be fore in this scene, in the same sense : 'Yet in the trial much opinion dwells.' 11 Lot. Sort, Fr. sors, Lat. Thus Lydgate :— 'Of sorte also and divynation.' 12 Shakspeare, misled by The Destruction of Troy, appears to have confounded Ajax Telamonius with Ajax Oileus, for in that book the latter is called simply Ajax, as the more eminent of the two. Ajar was of a huge stature, great and large in the shoulders, great armes, and always was well clothed, and very richly, and was of no great enterprise, and spake very quicko,' 13 See note 10. |