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wicked.

Id. c. 2, 1.8.

Lustic:] Lustigh is the Dutch

word for lusty, chearful, pleasant. Id. 1. 23. O'er whom both sovereign power and father's voice-] They were his wards as well as his subjects. HENLEY. Id. l. 27. marry, to each, but one!] i. e. except one. Id. 1. 28. horse.

bay Curtal,] i. e. a bay, docked

Id. 1. 29. My mouth no more were broken-] A broken mouth is a mouth which has lost part of its teeth. JOHNSON.

Id. 1. 43. Let the white death, &c.] The white death is the chlorosis. The pestilence that ravaged England in the reign of Edward III. was called "the black death."

Id. l. 51. the rest is mute.] i. e. I have no more to say to you.

Id. l. 53. -ames-ace-] i. e. the lowest chance of the dice.

Id. 1. 61. Do all they deny her?] None of them have yet denied her, or deny her afterwards, but Bertram. The scene must be so regulated that Lafeu and Parolles talk at a distance, where they may see what passes between Helena and the lords, but not hear it, so that they know not by whom the refusal is made. JOHN

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Id. 1. 68 Into the staggers.] One species of the

staggers, or the horse's aploplexy, is a raging impatience, which makes the animal dash himself with a destructive violence against posts or walls. To this the allusion, I suppose, is made. JOHNSON.

Id. c. 2, 1. 5. whose ceremony

Shall seem expedient on the now-born brief,

And be perform'd to-night :] A brief, in ancient language, means any short and summary writing or proceeding. The now born

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brief is another phrase for the contract recently and suddenly made. The ceremony of it (says the king) shall seem to hasten after its short preliminary, and be performed t night, &c. STEEVENS.

The meaning of the present passage, I be lieve, is: Good-fortune, and the king's favo smile on this short contract; the ceremo part of which shall immediately pass-sha follow close on the troth now plighted tween the parties, and be performed this m the solemu feast shall be delayed to a fut time. MALONE.

Id. 1. 29. for two ordinaries.] Whilst I twice with thee at table. JOHNSON.

Id. 1. 35. taking up :] To take up is to cm tradict, to call to account; as well as to pa off the ground. JOHNSON.

Id.

1. 56. need.

in the default,] That is, at

Id. l. 61. for doing 1 am past; as I w thee, in what motion age will give me leave Mr. Edwards has, I think, given the true me ing of Lafeu's words. "I cannot do muc says Lafeu; doing I am past, as I will by an in what motion age will give me leave; as I will pass by thee as fast as I am able and he immediately goes out. It is a play the word past: the conceit indeed is poor, Shakspeare plainly meant it." MALONE 277, c 1, l. 35. That hugs his kicksy-wią &c.] Sir T. Hanmer, in his Glossary, obser that kicksy-wicksy is a made word in r and didain of a wife.

P.

Id. 1. 47. To the dark-house,] The dark house » house made gloomy by discontent.

SCENE IV.

Id. c. 2, l. 24. "But puts it off to a compel straint. MALONE.

Id. l. 34. —— probable need.] A specious appe rance of necessity.

P.

SCENE V.

Id. l. 50.a bunting.] The bunting is, in t ther, size, and form, so like the sky-lark, a require nice attention to discover the one fr the other; it also ascends and sings in the nearly in the same manner: but it has the no song, which gives estimation to the s lark. 278, c. 1, l. 3. You have made shift to r into't, boots and spurs and all, like him the leaped into the custard;] This odd allus not introduced without a view to satire was a foolery practised at city entertainme whilst the jester or zany was in vogue, for to jump into a large deep custard, set for purpose. Id. l. 15. Will to deserve." MALONE. Id. 1. 35. And rather muse,] To muse is to der.

Id. l. 54.

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possess,

-the wealth I own;] i. e. I

ACT III.

SCENE I.

Id. c. 2, l. 11. — I cannot yield,] I cannot infr you of the reasons. JOHNSON.

Id. l. 12. --an outward man,] i. e. one wot the secret of affairs.

Id. 1. 19. the younger of our nature.] 1 as we say at present, our young fellows.

P. 278, c. 2, l. 36. mend the ruff,] The tops of the boots, in our author's time, turned down, and hung loosely over the leg. The folding is what the clown means by the ruff. Ben Jonson calls it ruffle; and perhaps it should be so here. P. 279, c. 1, 7. 4. Can woman me-] i. e. affect me suddenly and deeply, as my sex are usually affected.

Id. 1. 11. When thou canst get the ring upon my finger, i. e. when thou canst get the ring, which is on my finger, into thy posses

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Id 1 21. If thou engrossest all the griefs are thine, &c.] This sentiment is elliptically expressed. If thou keepest all thy sorrows to thyself, i. e."all the griefs that are thine," &c. Id. 1. 52. a deal of that, too much,

Which holds him much to have ] That is, his vices stand him in stead,

Id. 1. 61. Not so, &c.] The gentlemen declare

that they are servants to the Countess; she replies,-No otherwise than as she returns the same offices of civility. JOHNSON.

Jd. L. 76. move the still-piecing air,

That sings with piercing,] Warburton says the words are here oddly shuffled into nonsense; but the commentators have not suc. ceeded in making sense of them.

'd. c. 2, 1. 3. the ravin lion] i. e. the ravenous or ravening lion. To ravin is to swallow voraciously.

d. 1.7. Whence honour but of danger, &c.] The sense is, from that abode, where all the advantages that honour usually reaps from the danger it rushes upon, is only a scar in testimony of its bravery, as on the other hand, it often is the cause of losing all, even life itself. HEATH.

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Id

1. 41. - I would have that drum or another, or hic jacet.] i. e. Here lies; the usual be ginning of epitaphs. I would (says Parolles) recover either the drum I have lost, or another belonging to the enemy; or die in the attempt. MALONE.

Id. l. 55. · -I will presently pen down my dilemmas,] i. e. he will pen down his plans on the one side, and the probable obstructions he was to meet with, on the other.

Id.

1. 65. Par. I love not many words.

Lord. No more than a fish loves water,] Here we have the origin of this boaster's name; which, without doubt (as Mr. Steevens has observed), ought, in strict propriety, to be written Paroles. But our author certainly intended it otherwise, having made it a trisyllable:

"Rust sword, cool blushes, and Parolles live."

He probably did not know the true pronunciation. MALONE.

Id. c. 2, l. 2. we have almost emboss'd him,] To emboss a deer is to inclose him in a wood. Id. 1.6.. ere we case him.] That is, before we strip him naked.

Id. l. 19. --we have the wind,] To have one in the wind, is enumerated as a proverbial saying, by Ray.

SCENE VII.

Id. 1. 30. But I shall lose the grounds I work upon.] i. e. by discovering herself to the Count.

Id. 1. 52. Now his important-] Important, here, is importunate.

Id. l. 53. the county wears,] i. e. the Count

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Id. c. 2, 1. 73. What is not holy, that we swear not by,] The sense is- We never swear be what is not holy, but swear by, or take to witness, the Highest, the Divinity. The tenor of the reasoning contained in the following lines perfectly corresponds with this: If I should swear by Jove's great attributes, that I loved you dearly, would you believe my oaths, when you found by experience that I loved you ill, and was endeavouring to gain credit with you in order to seduce you to your ruin? No, surely; but you would conclude that I had no faith either in Jove or his attributes, and that my oaths were mere words of course. For that oath can certainly have no tie upon us, which we swear by him we profess to love and honour,

when at the same time we give the strongest proof of our disbelief in him, by pursuing a course which we know will offend and dishonour him. HEATH.

P. 283, c. 1, l. 10. 1 see, that men make hopes, in such affairs,] i. e. I perceive that while our loves are making professions of love, they entertain hopes that we shall be betrayed by our passions to yield to their desires. Mr. Malone reads, "in such a scene."

Id. 1. 52. Since Frenchmen are so braid,] i. e. crafty or deceitful.

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SON.

Id. l. 8. — in usurping his spurs so long.] These words allude to the ceremonial degradation of a knight. Id. l. 48.

- that had the whole theoric-] i. e.

theory. 1d. l. 59. -I con him no thanks for't,] To con thanks exactly answers the French savoir gré. To con is to know.

Id. 1. 67.if I were to live this present hour, &c.] Perhaps we should read:- if I were to live but this present hour. STEEVENS. Id. 1. 76. - off their cassocks,] Cassock sig

nifies a horseman's loose coat, and is used in that sense by the writers of the age of Shakspeare.

Id. c. 2, l. 1. my conditions,] i. e. my disposition and character. Mr. Malone reads condition. intergatories:] i. e. interrogato

Id. l. 12.

ries. Id. 1. 20. - though I know his brains are forfeit to the next tile that falls.] In Lucian's Contemplantes, Mercury makes Charon remark a man that was killed by the falling of a tile upon his head, whilst he was in the act of putting off an engagement to the next day. Id. . 56. Half won, is match well made; match, and well make it ;] The meaning is," a match well made, is half won; make your match, therefore, but make it well."

P. 285, c. 1, 1. 3.—an egg out of a cloister ;] He will steal any thing, however trifling, from any place, however holy. Robbing the spital, is a common phrase, of the like import.

Id. 1. 31. for a quart d'ecu-] The fourth part of the smaller French crown; about eightpence of our money.

Id. L. 36. Why does he ask him of me?] This is nature. Every man is, on such occasions, more willing to hear his neighbour's character than his own. JOHNSON.

I. 1. 50,--to beguile the supposition-] That is, to deceive the opinion, to make the Count think me a man that deserves well.

SCENE IV.

Id c. 2, 1. 40. --my motive-] Motive for assistant, or rather for mover.

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Id.

p.

Id.

sentences.

1. 58. —— still the fine's the crown ;] i. e. t end, finis coronat.

Id. l. 64.—whose villainous saffron-] He some particularities of fashionable dress a ridiculed. Snipt taffata needs no explanat but villainous saffron alludes to a fanta fashion, then much followed, of using y 286, c.1, 1. 28. —to suggest] i. e. sedie starch for their bands aud ruffs. 1. 30. I am a woodland fellow, sir, & Shakspeare is but rarely guilty of such impr trash. And it is observable, that then be ways puts that into the mouths of his fi which is now grown the characteristic of fine gentleman. WARBURTON. Id. l. 46. unhappy.] i. e. mischievously we Id. c. 2, 1. 7. carbonadoed —] i. e. scol gish, unlucky. like a piece of meat for the gridiron.

Id.

ACT V.

SCENE 1.

1. 23. Enter a gentle Astringer.] A get astringer is a gentleman falconer. The w is derived from ostercus or austercus, a hawk; and thus, says Cowell, in his L Dictionary: "We usually call a falconet, keeps that kind of hawk, an austringer" Id. 1. 57. Our means will make us means.] Sh speare delights much in this kind of redup tion, sometimes so as to obscure his me Helena says, they will follow with such anas the means which they have will give in ability to exert.

Id.

SCENE II.

1. 66. Lavatch,] This is an undo and perhaps irremediable, corruption of se French word or perhaps la vache. Id. l. 70. "mood."- MALONE.

Id. l. 75. · allow the wind.] i. e. stand to leeward of me. P. 287, c. 1, l. 31.

save your word.] k| you need not ask ;-here it is. Id. l. 47. you shall eat;] Parolles has of the lineaments of Falstaff, and seems the character which Shakspeare delighte draw, a fellow that had more wit than Though justice required that he shou detected and exposed, yet his vices sit s in him that he is not at last suffered to sta JOHNSON.

SCENE III.

Id. l. 53. — esteem-] Meaning that his est was lessened in its value by Bertram's mis duct; since a person who was honoured it could be so 'ill-treated as Helena had be and that with impunity.

-home.] That is, completely,

P. 287, c. 1, l. 58. in its full extent. Id. 1.72 Of richest eyes;] Shakspeare means that her beauty had astonished those, who, having seen the greatest number of fair women, might be said to be the richest in ideas of beauty. Id. c. 2, l. 1. the first view shall kill

All repetition:] The first interview shall put an end to all recollection of the past. Shakspeare is now hastening to the end of the play, finds his matter sufficient to fill up his remaining scenes, and therefore, as on such other occasions, contracts his dialogue and precipitates his action. Decency required that Bertram's double crime of cruelty and disobedience, joined likewise with some hypocrisy, should raise more resentment; and that though his mother might easily forgive him, his king should more pertinaciously vindicate his own authority and Helen's merit. Of all this Shakspeare could not be ignorant, but Shakspeare wanted to conclude his play. JOHNSON. Id. l. 16. I am not a day of season,] That is, of uninterrupted rain; one of those wet days that usually happen about the vernal equi

nox.

Id. 1. 21. My high-repented blames,] High repented blames, are faults repented of to the height, to the utmost.

P. 288, c. 1, l. 7. In Florence was it from a casement thrown me,] Bertram still continues to have too little virtue to deserve Helen. He did not know indeed that it was Helen's ring, but he knew that he had it not from a window. JOHNSON.

Id l. 9. noble she was, and thought

I stood ingag'd:] Ingaged' in the sense of uningaged, is a word of exactly the same formation as inhabitable, which is used by Shakspeare and the contemporary writers for unin habitable. MALONE.

Id. l. 16. Plutus himself.

That knows the tinct and multiplying medicine, Plutus, the grand alchemist, who knows the tincture which confers the properties of gold upon base metals, and the matter by which gold is multiplied, by which a small quantity of gold is made to communicate its qualities to a large mass of base metal.

Id. 1.20. Then, if you know

That you are well acquainted with yourself, Confess 'twas hers,] The true meaning of this expression is, If you know that your faculties are so sound, as that you have the proper consciousness of your own actions, and are able to recollect and relate what you have done, tell me, &c. JOHNSON. Id. 1. 41. My fore-past proofs, &c.] The proofs which I have already had are sufficient to show that my fears were not vain and irrational. I have rather been hitherto more easy

Id.

Id.

than I ought, and have unreasonably had too little fear. JOHNSON.

1. 52. Who hath, for four or five removes, come short, &c.] Who hath missed the opportunity of presenting it in person to your majesty either at Marseilles, or on the road from thence to Rousillon, in consequence of having been four or five removes behind you. MALONE. 1. 70. I will buy me a son in-law in a fair, and toll him:] i. e. I'll buy me a son-in-law as they buy a horse in a fair; toul him, i. e. enter him on the toul or toll-book, to prove I came honestly by him, and ascertain my title to him. Mr. Malone reads the passage thus: 1 will buy me a son-in-law in a fair, and toll for this: I'll none of him." Id. c. 2, l. 13.

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die. ld. l. 47.value. Id. 1. 56.

shall cease,] i. e. decease,

and rich validity,] Validity means

Methought you said,] The poet has here forgot himself, Diana has said no such thing. BLACKSTONE.

Id. 1. 63. He's quoted-] i. e. noted, or observed. Id. 1. 65. Whose nature sickens, but to speak a truth: i. e. only to speak a truth.

Id. l. 73. all impediments in fancy's course, &c.] Every thing that obstructs love is an occasion by which love is heightened. And, to conclude, her solicitation concurring with her fashionable appearance, she got the ring. I am not certain that I have attained the true meaning of the word modern, which, perhaps, signifies rather meanly pretty. JOHNSON. 289, c. 1, 1. 2. May justly, diet me.] May justly make me fast by depriving me (as Desdemona says) of the rites for which I love you. companion] i. e. fellow.

P.

Id. 1. 39. Id. 1. 56.

But thou art too fine-] Too fine, too full of finesse, too artful. A French expression trop fine.

Id. c. 2, l. 7.--customer-] i. e. a common

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