Bounding between the two moist elements, And flies fled under shade, why then, the thing of courage, As rous'd with rage, with rage doth sympathize, And with an accent tun'd in self-same key, Returns to chiding fortune'. Ulyss. Agamemnon, Thou great commander, nerve and bone of Greece, In whom the tempers and the minds of all Should be shut up, hear what Ulysses speaks. The which,-most mighty for thy place and sway,- I give to both your speeches, which were such, Should with a bond of air (strong as the axletree 6 — by the BRIZE,] The "brize" is the gad or horse-fly. 7 RETURNS to chiding fortune.] The quartos and folios have retires. Pope made the judicious change to "returns.” Retires is a more probable misprint for "returns" than for replies, which Sir Thomas Hanmer substituted. To his experienc'd tongue,] This is the better reading of the quartos: the folio gives the passage thus:"Should Thou great, and wise,-to hear Ulysses speak. Agam. Speak, prince of Ithaca; and be't of less expect9 That matter needless, of importless burden, Ulyss. Troy, yet upon his basis, had been down, The specialty of rule hath been neglected: What honey is expected? Degree being vizarded, The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre, Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, "Should with a bond of air, strong as the axletree In which the heavens ride knit all Greek's ears Speak, prince of Ithaca; and be❜t of less expect] "Expect" is here used for expectation. This and the four lines following are only in the folio. - his MASTIFF jaws,] In the folio it is printed " masticke jaws," but it is probably an error of the press. Malone changes mastick to "mastiff," without observation. 2 When that the general is NOT LIKE the hive,] "The meaning," says Johnson, "is,-When the general is not to the army like the hive to the bees, the repository of the stock of every individual, that to which each particular resorts with whatever he has collected for the good of the whole, what honey is expected? what hope of advantage?" Johnson's explanation may possibly be doubted, and in this passage, as in others, in "Measure for Measure," Vol. ii. p. 42, and in "Hamlet," A. ii. sc. 2, ""Twas caviare to the general," the word " general" might be taken for the general body of the people. Ulysses may mean to ask, what advantage can be expected when the subjects of a king are not like bees, which, after foraging among flowers, all repair to the hive with their honey. Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil, And posts, like the commandment of a king, Sans check, to good and bad. But when the planets, What plagues, and what portents! what mutiny ! The unity and married calm of states Quite from their fixure! O! when degree is shak'd, The enterprize is sick. How could communities, And the rude son should strike his father dead: So doubly seconded with will and power, And last eat up himself. Great Agamemnon, 3 Quite from their FIXURE!] The modern reading is fixture; but Shakespeare's word is "fixure," and he uses it also in "The Winter's Tale," and in "The Merry Wives of Windsor." - each thing MEETS] So the folio: the quartos have melts. The latter may be right, but the former seems preferable. This chaos, when degree is suffocate, And this neglection of degree it is, That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot, Agam. The nature of the sickness found, Ulysses, What is the remedy? Ulyss. The great Achilles, whom opinion crowns The sinew and the forehand of our host, Having his ear full of his airy fame, Grows dainty of his worth, and in his tent Lies mocking our designs. With him, Patroclus, Breaks scurril jests ; And with ridiculous and awkward action He pageants us: sometime, great Agamemnon, And, like a strutting player,-whose conceit 6 5 Troy in our weakness STANDS,] The quartos have "stands," the folio lites. and AWKWARD action] The quartos, " and silly action." 66 Which, from the tongue of roaring Typhon dropp'd, That's done;-as near as the extremest ends And then, forsooth, the faint defects of age Severals and generals of grace exact, 7 'tis Agamemnon RIGHT.] The folio reads, "'tis Agamemnon just." ""Tis Nestor right!" which occurs a few lines afterwards, both in the quarto and folio, seems to warrant adherence to the text of the quartos. 8 As broad Achilles: keeps his tent like him ;] This is the reading of the quartos: the folio injures the measure of the line by the insertion of and before "keeps." VOL. VI. D |