Dol. Most sovereign creature, What a blessed limping verse these hemistichs give us! Had none of the editors an ear to find the hitch in its pace? There is but a syllable wanting, and that, I believe verily, was but of a single letter. I restore : The little O o' th' earth. i. e. the little orb or circle. Our poet, in other passages, chooses to express himself thus. Theobald. When two words are repeated near to each other, printers very often omit one of them. The text however may well stand. Shakspeare frequently uses O for an orb or circle. So, in King Henry V: can we cram "Within this wooden O the very casques," &c. Again, in A Midsummer Night's Dream: "Than all yon fiery oes, and eyes of light." Malone. 7 His legs bestrid the ocean: &c.] So, in Julius Cæsar: "Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world, "Like a Colossus." Malone. 8 his 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. Percy. 9 and that to friends;] Thus the old copy. The modern editors read, with no less obscurity: There was no winter in 't; an autumn 'twas, an Antony it was, There was certainly a contrast both in the thought and terms, designed here, which is lost in an accidental corruption. How could an Antony grow the more by reaping? I'll venture, by a very easy change, to restore an exquisite fine allusion; which carries its reason with it too, why there was no winter in his bounty: For his bounty, There was no winter in 't; an autumn 'twas, That grew the more by reaping. I ought to take notice, that the ingenious Dr. Thirlby likewise started this very emendation, and had marked it in the margin of his book. Theobald. Were dolphin-like; they show'd his back above Walk'd crowns, and crownets; realms and islands were As plates dropp'd from his pocket. Dol. Cleopatra, Cleo. Think you, there was, or might be, such a man As this I dream'd of? Dol. Gentle madam, no. Cleo. You lie, up to the hearing of the gods. But, if there be, or ever were one such,4 The following lines in Shakspeare's 53d Sonnet add support to the emendation: "Speak of the spring, and foison of the year, "And you in every blessed shape we know." By the other, in the third line, i. e. the foison of the year, the poet means autumn, the season of plenty. Again, in The Tempest: "How does my bounteous sister [Ceres]?" Malone. 2 His delights Were dolphin-like; &c.] This image occurs in a short poem inserted in T. Lodge's Life and Death of William Longbeard, the most famous and witty English Traitor, &c. 1593, 4to. bl. 1: "Oh faire of fairest, Dolphin-like, "Within the rivers of my plaint," &c. Steevens. 3 As plates - Plates mean, I believe, silver money. So, in Marlow's few of Malta, 1633: Again: "What's the price of this slave, 200 crowns?—— "Rat'st thou this Moor but at 200 plates ?" Steevens. 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. So Spenser, Fairy Queen, B. II, c. vii, st. 5: "Some others were new driven, and distent "But most were stampt, and in their metal bare, 4 — or ever were one such,] The old copy has-nor ever, &e. The emendation was made by Mr. Rowe. Malone. It 's past the size of dreaming: Nature wants stuff Dol. Hear me, good madam: Your loss is as yourself, great; and you bear it As answering to the weight: 'Would I might never By the rebound of yours, a grief that shoots" Cleo. I thank you, sir. Know you, what Cæsar means to do with me? Dol. Cleo. He'll lead me then in triumph? Dol. I know it. Though he be honourable, Madam, he will; Within. Make way there,-Cæsar. Enter CESAR, GALLUS, PROCULEIUS, MECENAS, SELEUCUS, and Attendants. Cas. Of Egypt? Dol. Cas. 'Tis the emperor, madam, [CLEO, kneels, You shall not kneel: I pray you, rise; rise, Egypt. Cleo. Which is the queen Arise, Sir, the gods Will have it thus; my master and my lord I must obey. Cas. Take to you no hard thoughts: 5 To vie strange forms-] To vie was a term at cards. See Vol. V, p. 280, n. Î; and Vol. VI, p. 71, n. 4. Steevens. 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. Johnson. 7 shoots - The old copy reads-suites. Steevens. The correction was made by Mr. Pope. The error arose from the two words, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, being pronounced alike. See Vol. IV, p. 61, n. 7. Malone The record of what injuries you did us, Though written in our flesh, we shall remember Cleo. Sole sir o' the world, I cannot project mine own cause so wells Been laden with like frailties, which before Cas. Cleopatra, know, We will extenuate rather than enforce: If you apply yourself to our intents, (Which towards you are most gentle) you shall find A benefit in this change; but if you seek To lay on me a cruelty, by taking Antony's course, you shall bereave yourself To that destruction which I'll guard them from, Cleo. And may, through all the world: 'tis yours; and we 3 I cannot project mine own cause so well-] Project signifies to invent a cause, not to plead it; which is the sense here required. It is plain that we should read: I cannot proctor my own cause so well. The technical term, to plead by an advocate. Warburton. I cannot parget my own cause — Meaning, I cannot whitewash, varnish, or gloss my cause. I believe the present reading to be right. To project a cause is to represent a cause; to project it well, is to plan or contrive a scheme of defence. Johnson. The old reading may certainly be the true one. Sir John Harrington, in his Metamorphosis of Ajax, 1596, p. 79, says—“ I have chosen Ajax for the project of this discourse." Again, in Looke About You, a comedy, 1600: "But quite dislike the project of your sute." Yet Sir Thomas Hanmer's conjecture may be likewise countenanced; for the word he wishes to bring in, is used in the 4th Eclogue of Drayton : "Scorn'd paintings, pargit, and the borrow'd hair." And several times by Ben Jonson. So, in The Silent Woman: she 's above fifty too, and pargets. Steevens. In Much Ado about Nothing, we find these lines: She cannot love, "Nor take no shape nor project of affection, "She is so self-endear'd." I cannot project, &c. means, therefore, I cannot shape or form my cause, &c. Malone. Your 'scutcheons, and your signs of conquest, shall Not petty things admitted.1-Where 's Seleucus? Cleo. This is my treasurer; let him speak, my lord, Upon his peril, that I have reserv'd To myself nothing. Speak the truth, Seleucus. I had rather seel my lips, than, to my peril, Cleo. What have I kept back? Sel. Enough to purchase what you have made known. Cas. Nay, blush not, Cleopatra; I approve Your wisdom in the deed. Cleo. See, Cæsar! O, behold, How pomp is follow'd! mine will now be yours; Even make we wild:-O slave, of no more trust "You shall advise me in all for Cleopatra.] You shall yourself be my counsellor, and suggest whatever you wish to be done for your relief. So, afterwards: 1 "For we intend so to dispose you, as "Yourself shall give us counsel." Malone. 'tis exactly valued; Not petty things admitted.] Sagacious editors! Cleopatra gives in a list of her wealth, says, 'tis exactly valued; but that petty things are not admitted in this list and then she appeals to her treasurer, that she has reserved nothing to herself. And when he betrays her, she is reduced to the shift of exclaiming against the ingratitude of servants, and of making apologies for having secreted certain trifles. Who does not see, that we ought to read: Not petty things omitted? For this declaration lays open her falsehood; and makes her angry, when her treasurer detects her in a direct lie. Theobald. Notwithstanding the wrath of Mr. Theobald, I have restored the old reading. She is angry afterwards, that she is accused of having reserved more than petty things. Dr. Warburton and Sir Thomas Hanmer follow Theobald. Johnson. 2 seel my lips,] Sew up my mouth. Johnson. It means, close up my lips as effectually as the eyes of a haw★ are closed. To seel hawks was the technical term. Steevens . |