Perhaps Shakspeare had Lyly's Alexander and Campaspe in his mind, when he wrote this song: who is 't now we hear? "None but the lark so shril and clear; "The morn not waking till she sings. "Hark, hark—.” Reed. 7 His steeds to water at those springs On chalic'd flowers that lies;] i. e. the morning sun dries up the dew which lies in the cups of flowers. Warburton. It may be noted that the cup of a flower is called calix, whence chalice. Johnson. those springs On chalic'd flowers that lies;] It may be observed, with regard to this apparent false concord, that in very old English, the third person plural of the present tense endeth in eth, as well as the singular; and often familiarly in es, as might be exemplified from Chaucer, &c. Nor was this antiquated idiom worn out in our author's time, as appears from the following passage in Romeo and Juliet: "And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttith hairs, "Which once untangled, much misfortune bodes." as well as from many others in the Reliques of ancient English Poetry. Percy. Dr. Percy might have added, that the third person plural of the Anglo-Saxon present tense ended in eth, and of the Dona-Saxon in es, which seems to be the original of such very ancient English idioms. Tollet. Shakspeare frequently offends in this manner against the rules of grammar. So, in Venus and Adonis: "She lifts the coffer-lids that close his eyes, Steevens. See also Vol. II, p. 62, n. 2; and Vol. IV, p. 394, n. 7. There is scarcely a page of our author's works in which similar false concords may not be found: nor is this inaccuracy peculiar to his works, being found in many other books of his time and of the preceding age. Following the example of all the former editors, I have silently corrected the error, in all places except where either the metre, or rhymes, rendered correction impossible. Whether it is to be attributed to the poet or his printer, it is such a gross offence against grammar, as no modern eye or ear could have endured, if from a wish to exhibit our author's writings with strict fidelity it had been preserved. The reformation there So, get you gone: If this penetrate, I will consider your musick the better: if it do not, it is a vice in her ears, which horse-hairs, and cats-guts, nor the voice of unpaved eunuch to boot, can never amend. 2 [Exeunt Musicians. Enter CYMBELINE and Queen. 2 Lord. Here comes the king. Clo. I am glad, I was up so late; for that 's the reason I was up so early: He cannot choose but take this service I have done, fatherly.-Good morrow to your majesty, and to my gracious mother. Cym. Attend you here the door of our stern daughter? Will she not forth? Clo. I have assail'd her with musick, but she vouchsafes no notice. Cym. The exile of her minion is too new; She hath not yet forgot him: some more time fore, it is hoped, will be pardoned, and considered in the same light as the substitution of modern for ancient orthography. 8 And winking Mary-buds begin Malone. To ope their golden eyes:] The marigold is supposed to shut itself up at sunset. So, in one of Brown's Pastorals: 9 66 the day is waxen olde, "And gins to shut up with the marigold." Steevens. pretty bin:] is very properly restored by Sir Thomas Hanmer, for pretty is; but he too grammatically reads: With all the things that pretty bin. Johnson. So, in Spenser's Fairy Queen, B. I, c. i: "That which of them to take, in diverse doubt they been." Again, in The Arraignment of Paris, 1584: Again: Again: 66 Sir, you may boast your flockes and herdes, that bin both fresh and fair." "As fresh as bin the flowers in May." "Oenone, while we bin disposed to walk." Kirkman ascribes this piece to Shakspeare. The real author was George Peale. Steevens. be 1- I will consider your musick the better:] i. e. I will pay you more amply for it. So, in The Winter's Tale, Act IV: ". ing something gently consider'd, I 'll bring you" &c. Steevens. cats-guts,] The old copy reads-calves-guts. Steevens. The correction was made by Mr. Rowe. In the preceding line voice, which was printed instead of vice, was corrected by the same editor. Malone. 2 Must wear the print of his remembrance out, Queen. You are most bound to the king; Who lets go by no vantages, that may Prefer you to his daughter: Frame yourself To orderly solicits ;3 and be friended With aptness of the season: make denials Increase your services: so seem, as if You were inspir'd to do those duties which You tender to her; that you in all obey her, Save when command to your dismission tends, And therein you are senseless. Clo. Senseless? not so. Enter a Messenger. Mess. So like you, sir, ambassadors from Rome; The one is Caius Lucius. Cym. A worthy fellow, But that's no fault of his: We must receive him And towards himself his goodness forespent on us 3 To orderly solicits;] i. e. regular courtship, courtship after the established fashion Steevens. The oldest copy reads-solicity. The correction was made by the editor of the second folio. Malone. and be friended &c.] We should read: and befriended With aptness of the season. That is, “ with solicitations not only proper but well timed.” So Terence says: "In tempore ad eam veni, quod omnium rerum est primum." M. Mason. 5 And towards himself his goodness forespent on us We must extend our notice] i. e. The good offices done by him to us heretofore. Warburton. That is, we must extend towards himself our notice of his good. ness heretofore shown to us. Our author has many similar ellip ses. So, in Julius Cæsar: "Thine honourable metal may be wrought See Vol. XI, p. 115, n. 9; and p. 341, n. 2. Malone. To employ you towards this Roman.-Come, our queen. [Knocks. I know her women are about her; What 6 Their deer to the stand of the stealer: and 'tis gold Enter a Lady. Lady. Who's there, that knocks? [Knocks. Than some, whose tailors are as dear as yours, Can justly boast of: What's your lordship's pleasure? Clo. Your lady's person: Is she ready? Lady. To keep her chamber. Ay, Clo. There's gold for you; sell me your good report. Lady. How! my good name? or to report of you What I shall think is good?-The princess Enter IMOGEN. Clo. Good-morrow, fairest sister: Your sweet hand. Imo. Good-morrow, sir: You lay out too much pains For purchasing but trouble: the thanks I give, Is telling you that I am poor of thanks, And scarce can spare them. Clo. Still, I swear, I love you. Imo. If you but said so, 'twere as deep with me: 6 false themselves,] Perhaps, in this instance, false is not an adjective, but a verb; and as such is used in The Comedy of Errors: Nay, not sure, in a thing falsing." Act II, sc. ii. Spenser often has it: 66 “ Thou falsed hast thy faith with perjury." Steevens. If you swear still, your recompense is still Clo. This is no answer. Imo. But that you shall not say I yield, being silent, Το your best kindness: one of your great knowing Clo. To leave you in your madness, 'twere my sin: I will not. If Imo. Fools are not mad folks. Clo. Imo. As I am mad, I do: Do you call me fool? you By being so verbal:9 and learn now, for all, (To accuse myself) I hate you: which I had rather Clo. one of your great knowing Should learn, being taught, forbearance.] i. e. A man who is taught forbearance should learn it. Johnson. 8 Fools are not mad folks.] This, as Cloten very well understands it, is a covert mode of calling him fool. The meaning implied is this: If I am mad, as you tell me, I am what you can never be, Fools are not mad folks. Steevens. 9 ― so verbal:] is, so verbose, so full of talk. Johnson. 1 The contract &c.] Here Shakspeare 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 much undermatched. Johnson. |