221. In my respect. In my eyes, in my view. Cf. the use of the 228. Daphne. T. and C. i. I. 101. Cf. Cymb. ii. 3. 140: "His meanest garment, That ever hath but clipp'd his body, is dearer verb in i. 1. 160 above. The same myth is alluded to in T. of S. ind. 2. 59, and 229. Griffin. Mentioned by S. only here and in 1 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 152: "A clip-wing'd griffin." 230. Makes speed. Makes haste; as in Sonn. 50. 8, T. G. of V. iii. 1. 169, 3 Hen. VI. ii. 5. 135, etc. 232. Stay. Stay or wait for; as in v. 1. 248 below. 40; Rich. II. i. 3. 4, etc. 234. But. See Gr. 122. Cf. M. of V. ii. 8. 235. The field. So in Ist quarto; the other early eds. have "and field." 241. To die. For the use of the infinitive, see Gr. 356. 242. Fare thee well. For thee probably thou, see Gr. 212. 246. Where. Metrically a dissyllable. Gr. 480. Pope changed it to "whereon." 247. Oxlips. "The greater cowslip, Primula elatior" (Schmidt). Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 125: "bold oxlips." Steevens quotes Drayton, Polyolbion, XV. : "To sort these flowers of showe, with other that were sweet, 66 66 248. Over-canopied with luscious woodbine. The early eds. have overcanopi'd," overcanoped," or "over - cannoped." For luscious Theo. suggested "lush," which is also in the Coll. MS. Luscious is used by S. nowhere else except in Oth. i. 3. 354. Lush occurs only in Temp. ii. 1. 52. Luscious may be metrically a monosyllable. Cf. Gr. 470, 471. 249. Musk-roses. Mentioned also in ii. 2. 3 and iv. 1. 3 below; nowhere else in S. The only other reference to the eglantine is in Cymb. iv. 2. 223. 250. Sometime of. "Sometimes during" (Gr. 176). 251. Flowers. The Coll. MS. has "bowers," which W. adopts, though Coll. does not. 253. Weed. Robe, garment. Cf. ii. 2. 71 below: "Weeds of Athens." See also Cor. ii. 3. 229; Lear, iv. 7. 7, etc. 263. Fond on her. Cf. J. C. i. 2. 71: "jealous on me." Gr. 180. 264. Look thou meet. For the subjunctive after verbs of command, see Gr. 369. Cf. ii. 1. 19 above. 265. Shall. See Gr. 315. SCENE II.-1. Roundel. The word here probably means a dance in a S. uses the word nowhere else. circle; like round in ii. 1. 137 above. "you'd have your daughters and maids Dance o'er the fields like faies to church, this frost. The usual meaning of roundel is "a kind of rhyming sonnet." 2. The third part of a minute. Warb. wanted to read "of the midnight;" but, as Halliwell remarks, "the quaint subdivision of time exactly suits the character of the fairy speaker and her diminutive world." 3. Cankers. Canker-worms; as in V. and A. 656, Sonn. 35. 4, 95. 2, Temp. i. 2. 415, etc. It means the wild rose in Much Ado, i. 3. 28, and 1 Hen. IV. i. 3. 176. Cf. Milton, Lycidas, 45: "As killing as the canker to the rose.' The musk-rose is not the flower now known by that name in England, which is of more recent introduction. Titania's rose is described by Gerard in his Herbal, 1597, the Latin name being given as Rosa Moschata: "The single muske-rose hath divers long shootes of a greenish colour, and woodie substance, armed with very sharpe prickles, dividing it selfe into divers branches: whereon do growe long leaves, smooth and shining, made of divers leaves set upon a middle rib, like the other roses. The flowers growe on the tops of the branches of a white colour, and pleasant sweete smell, like that of muske, whereof it took his name; having certaine yellow seedes in the middle, as the rest of the roses have," etc. 4. Rere-mice. Bats. Also spelled rear-mice. Cf. Golding's Ovid, Met. iv. "And we in English language bats or reremice call the same;" Ben Jonson, New Inn, iii. 4: "Once a bat and ever a bat,-a rere-mouse, Holland's Pliny, x. 61: "The rere-mouse, or bat, alone of all creatures that fly, bringeth forth young alive, and none but she hath wings made of pannicles or thin skins," etc. 6. Clamorous. Perhaps, as Walker suggests, here compares Virgil, Æn. iv. 462 : "Solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo Saepe queri, et longas in fletum ducere voces." = wailing. He It may have the same sense in Rich. II. v. 5. 56: "Clamorous groans." The noun clamour is evidently often used by S. in the sense of wailing; as in R. of L. 681, 1804, Lear, iv. 3. 33, v. 3. 208, etc. So the verb in Macb. ii. 3. 65: "the obscure bird Clamour'd the livelong night." Chapman translates kwкvry in Iliad, X. 408, by clamour: "About both, the people prostrate lay, Held down with clamour; all the town veil'd with a cloud of tears;" and again κωκυτοῦ δ ̓ ἤκουσε καὶ οἰμωγῆς ἀπὸ πύργου (χ. 447) is rendered, 7. Quaint spirits. "But now the clamour flew Up to her turret." Quaint="fine, neat, pretty, pleasant" (Schmidt). "My quaint Ariel;" Much Ado, iii. 4. 22: "a fine, quaint, graceful, and excellent fashion," etc. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 317: For spirits Warb. substituted "sports;" and, according to Farmer, spirit was sometimes used for sports. He quotes Dekker's If it be not Good, etc.: "Now Shalcan, some new spirit?" where the connection shows that it refers to a game of leap-frog. But in the present passage spirits probably means fairies. 8. Offices. Duties, employments; as often. Cf. R. of L. 1000; Temp. i. 1. 40, i. 2. 312, v. 1. 156; M. of V. ii. 6. 43, ii. 9. 61, etc. 9. Double tongue. Forked tongue. Cf. iii. 2. 72: "An adder did it; for with doubler tongue Than thine, thou serpent, never adder stung ;" and Temp. ii. 2. 13: "All wound with adders, who with cloven tongues," etc. II. Newts and blind-worms. The newt was supposed to be poisonous. Topsell, in his Historie of Serpents, 1608, says that when it is "mooved to anger," its whole body becomes white, "through a kind of white humour or poyson," etc. The blind-worm is the slow-worm, of which the same writer says that "it is harmlesse except being provoked," when "the poyson thereof is very strong." Eye of newt" and "blind-worm's sting" are ingredients of the Witches' cauldron, Macb. iv. 1. See note in our ed. p. 228. 66 13. Philomel. The nightingale. Cf. R. of L. 1079: "By this, lamenting Philomel had ended The well-tun'd warble of her nightly sorrow.' See also Id. 1128; Sonn. 102. 7; etc. We have the full name Philomela in P. P. 197; T. A. ii. 4. 38, and iv. I. 53. 14. Our. your." The quarto reading; the folios have " 15. A similar burden is found in several old songs. One, printed in 1530, begins "By, by, lullaby, rockyd I my chyld” (Halliwell). 20. Spiders. Topsell says: "Our spyders in England are not so venomous as in other parts of the world, and I have seene a madde man eate many of them without eyther death or death's harme, or any other manifest accident or alteration to ensue," etc. Cowdray, Treasurie of Similies, 1600, remarks: "the spider gathereth poyson to the same flowers, that the bee gathereth honie; so in the Word of God," etc. 25. Hence, away, etc. In the old eds. this is made part of the song; but, as Steevens has noted, it appears to be spoken after the song is over. 30. Ounce. 31. Pard. The Felis uncia (Schmidt); mentioned by S. only here. 66 'more pinch-spotted make them Than pard or cat o' mountain." 35. With. See Gr. 193. 36. Troth. Truth. Cf. Cor. iv. 5. 198: " to say the troth on't;" Cymb. v. 5. 274: "I'll speak troth," etc. On forgot, see Gr. 343; and on the reflexive use of us in next line, Gr. 223. 45. O, take the sense, etc. "Understand the meaning of my innocence, or my innocent meaning. Let no suspicion of ill enter thy mind" (Johnson). 46. Lo takes the meaning, etc. "In the conversation of those who are assured of each other's kindness, not suspicion but love takes the meaning. No malevolent interpretation is to be made, but all is to be received in the sense which love can find, and which love can dictate" (Johnson). Henley says: "The idea is exactly similar to that of St. Paul: Love thinketh no evil.'" The Coll. MS. has "confidence" for conference. 48. We can. So in the quartos; the folios read " can you." 49. Interchained. The quarto reading, which, as Halliwell remarks, is "far more forcible and pertinent" than the "interchanged" of the folios. 54. Beshrew. "Originally a mild, indeed very mild, form of imprecation=woe to; sometimes so far from implying a curse, as to be uttered coaxingly, nay even with some tenderness" (Schmidt). In phrases like the present it is "a form of simple asseveration." Cf. v. 1. 295 below: "Beshrew my heart, but I pity the man;" M. of V. ii. 6. 52: "Beshrew me, but I love her heartily," etc. Beshrew is used by S. only in the Ist person of the present, except in R. and J. v. 2. 26: "She will beshrew me much;" and the pronoun I is expressed only in L. L. L. v. 2. 46: "I beshrew all shrews." 61. Thy love ne'er alter, etc. For "the subjunctive used optatively or imperatively," as here and in 63, 64, and 65 below, see Gr. 364, 365. 67. Found. So in Ist quarto; "find" in the other early eds. There is little to choose between the two. 68. Approve. Prove. Cf. M. of V. iii. 2. 79: "approve it with a text," etc. 71. Weeds. See on ii. 1. 253 above. 72. Despised. On the omission of the relative, see Gr. 244; and for the measure of this and the following lines, Gr. 504. 77. The metre of this line has sorely troubled the critics. Pope changed it to "Near to this lack-love, this kill-curtesie ;" Theo. to "Near to this kill-courtesie;" Warb. to "Near to this lack-love killcurtesie;" Steevens and the Coll. MS. to "Near this lack-love, killcourtesy." Walker suggested "Nearer this lack-love, this kill-courtesy." Abbott (Gr. 504) says: "It is of course possible that kill-curt'sy may have the accent on the first; but thus we shall have to accent the first this and love with undue emphasis." On the whole, however, this seems better than the scanning which Abbott prefers: "(Near this) láck-love, this kill-courtesy." 79. Owe. Own, possess; as very often. jeweller that owes the ring is sent for," etc. owe, see iii. 2. 85 below. 80, 81. Cf. Macb. i. 3. 19: Cf. A. W. v. 3. 297: "The "Sleep shall neither night nor day Hang upon his pent-house lid.” 86. Darkling. In the dark. Cf. Lear, i. 4. 237: "So out went the candle, and we were left darkling ;" A. and C. iv. 15. 10: Palsgrave (1530) translates “I went darkeling" by "je alloye sans chandelle." Milton uses the word once, in P. L. iii. 39: "as the wakeful bird Sings darkling," etc. See also Johnson, Vanity of Human Wishes, 346: and again, in one shine," etc. of his hymns: "On darkling man in pure effulgence I will go alone. Gr. 420, 421. 87. I alone, etc. 89. The lesser is my grace. S. often uses lesser both as adjective and as adverb. For an example of the latter, see Macb. v. 2. 13. Grace here either=favour, as Johnson explains it (the less favour I gain), or good fortune, happiness (Schmidt), as in M. for M. i. 4. 69: "Unless you have the grace by your fair prayer To soften Angelo," etc. 99. Compare. Think myself equal (Schmidt); attempt rivalry (J. H.). Cf. T. N. i. 3. 126: "I will not compare with an old man ;" 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 180: "Shall pack-horses ... Compare with Cæsars," etc. Sphery=starlike, heavenly. For eyne, see on i. I. 242. 104. Nature shows art. The quarto reading. The 1st folio has "Nature her shewes ;" and the later folios, "Nature here shews." Halliwell and some other editors follow Malone's "Nature shows her art." Steevens, who retains "here," explains the passage thus: "On this occasion, says Lysander, the work of nature resembles that of art, namely (as our author expresses it in L. C. 286) an object 'glaz'd with crystal.' 108, 109. Lines like these, and 125, 126 below, certainly give support to the theory that parts at least of this play were written even earlier than 1594. As W. suggests, "this Dream may have been one of the very first conceptions of the young poet," and was perhaps partly written before he went to London, where, after being laid aside for some years, it was resumed and finished in its present form. 113. Helena I love. So in 1st quarto; the other early eds. have "Helena now I love." 118. Ripe not. "Not ripe;" which Rowe substituted. For transpositions of not in S., see Gr. 305, 420. Schmidt strangely makes ripe here a verb. 119. Touching now the point, etc. Cf. Hen. VIII. iii. 2. 223: "I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness." 120. Reason becomes the marshal, etc. "Reason is now the director of my will" (Halliwell). Cf. Macb. ii. 1. 42: "Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going." 121. O'erlook. Look over, peruse. Cf. T. G. of V. i. 2. 50: "And yet I would I had o'erlooked the letter;" Lear, v. 1. 50: "I will o'erlook thy paper," etc. 122. Love's stories. Walker suggested "love-stories." 129. Good troth. Cf. Hen. VIII. ii. 3. 33: “Nay, good troth," etc. It is a contraction of in good troth (T. and C. iii. 1. 124). The commonest form of the asseveration is by my troth (M. W. i. 1. 199, etc.). In good sooth and good sooth are both common; so in sooth and sooth (iii. 2. 265 below). Sooth, like troth, originally truth. See Mer. p. 127. |