GLEND. My daughter weeps; fhe will not part with you, She'll be a foldier too, fhe'll to the wars. MORT. Good father, tell her,—that fhe, and my aunt Percy, Shall follow in your conduct fpeedily. GLENDOWER Speaks to his daughter in Welsh, and fhe answers him in the fame. GLEND. She's defperate here; a peevish felfwill'd harlotry," 8 One no perfuafion can do good upon. [Lady M. Speaks to MORTIMER in Welfh. MORT. I understand thy looks: that pretty Welsh Which thou poureft down from thefe fwelling heavens," I am too perfect in; and, but for fhame, [Lady M. Speaks. I understand thy kiffes, and thou mine, 2 But I will never be a truant, love, Till I have learn'd thy language; for thy tongue Makes Welsh as fweet as ditties highly penn'd, 7 — a peevish felf-will'd harlotry,] Capulet, in Romeo and Juliet, reproaches his daughter in the fame terms: A peevish felf-will'd harlotry it is." RITSON. 8 One no perfuafion &c.] A common ellipfis for-One that no perfuafion &c. and fo the ancient copies redundantly read. STEEVENS. 9 Which thou poureft down from thefe fwelling heavens,] The defect of harmony in this line, induces me to fuppofe (with Sir T. Hanmer) that our author originally wrote Which thou pour'ft down from these two fwelling heavens, meaning her two prominent lips. STEEVENS. -a feeling difputation:] i. e. a conteft of fenfibility, a reciprocation in which we engage on equal terms. STEEVENS. Sung by a fair queen in a fummer's bower,' GLEND. Nay, if you melt, then will fhe run mad." MORT. O, I am ignorance itself in this." GLEND. She bids you Upon the wanton rushes lay you down,' 3 Sung by a fair queen &c.] Our author perhaps here intended compliment to Queen Elizabeth, who was a performer on the lute and the virginals. See Sir James Melvil's curious account. Memoirs, folio, p. 50. MALONE. 4 With ravishing divifion, to her lute.] This verfe may serve for a tranflation of a line in Horace : grataque fœminis "Imbelli cithara carmina divides." It is to no purpose that you (Paris) please the women by finging "with ravishing divifion," to the harp. See the Commentators, and Voffius on Catullus, p. 239. S. W. Divifions were very uncommon in vocal mufick during the time of Shakspeare. BURNEY. 5 Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad.] We might read, to complete the verse: Nay, if you melt, why then will fhe run mad. STEEVENS. 6 O, I am ignorance itself in this.] Maffinger ufes the fame expreffion in The Unnatural Combat, 1639: in this you fpeak, fir, "I am ignorance itself." STEEVENS. 7 She bids you Upon the wanton rufhes lay you down,] It was the custom in this country, for many ages, to ftrew the floors with rushes, as we now cover them with carpets. JOHNSON. It should have been observed in a note, that the old copies read on, not upon. This flight emendation was made by Mr. Steevens. I am now, however, inclined to adhere to the original reading, and would print the line as it ftands in the old copy: She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down. MALONE. We have; but there is the ftrongeft reafon for fuppofing fuch irregularities arofe from the badnefs of the playhouse copies, or the careleffness of printers. STEEVENS. 8 And reft your gentle head upon her lap, MORT. With all my heart I'll fit, and hear her fing: By that time will our book, I think, be drawn. 8 And on your eyelids crown the god of fleep,] The expreffion is fine; intimating, that the god of fleep fhould not only fit on his eyelids, but that he fhould fit crown'd, that is, pleafed and delighted. WARBURTON, The fame image (whatever idea it was meant to convey) occurs in Beaumont and Fletcher's Philafter: 66 who fhall take up his lute, "And touch it till he crown a filent fleep 66 Upon my eyelid." STEEVENS. The image is certainly a ftrange one; but I do not fufpect any corruption of the text. The god of fleep is not only to fit on Mortimer's eyelids, but to fit crowned, that is, with fovereign dominion. So, in Twelfth Night: "Him will I tear out of that cruel eve, "Where he fits crowned in his master's fpite," Again, in our poet's 114th Sonnet: "Or whether doth my mind, being crown'd with you, Again, in Romeo and Juliet: Upon his brow fhame is afham'd to fit, "For 'tis a throne, where honour may be crown'd Again, in King Henry V: "As if allegiance in their bofoms fat, "Crowned with faith and constant loyalty." MALONE. 9 Making fuch difference 'twixt wake and fleep,] She will lull you by her fong into foft tranquillity, in which you fhall be fo near to fleep as to be free from perturbation, and fo much awake as to be fenfible of pleasure; a ftate partaking of fleep and wakefulness, as the twilight of night and day. JOHNSON. 2 our book,] Our paper of conditions. JOHNSON, GLEND. Do fo; And thofe muficians that fhall play to you, LADY P. Go, ye giddy goose. GLENDOWER Speaks fome Welth words, Hor. Now I perceive, the devil understands And 'tis no marvel, he's fo humorous. LADY P. Then fhould you be nothing but mufical; for you are altogether govern'd by humours. Lie ftill, ye thief, and hear the lady fing in Welsh. Hor. I had rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish. LADY P. Would'st thou have thy head broken? Hor. No. 3 And thofe musicians that shall play to you, Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence; Yet ftraight they fhall be here :] The old copies-And—. STEEVENS. Glendower had before boafted that he could call spirits from the vafty deep; he now pretends to equal power over the fpirits of the air. Sit, fays he to Mortimer, and, by my power, you fhall have heavenly mufick. The musicians that fhall play to you, now hang in the air a thou fand miles from the earth: I will fummon them, and they fhall ftraight be here." And straight" is the reading of the moft authentick copies, the quarto 1598, and the folio 1623, and indeed of all the other ancient editions. Mr. Rowe first introduced the reading-Yet ftraight, which all the fubfequent editors have adopted; but the change does not seem abfolutely neceffary. MALONE. LADY P. Then be ftill. Hor. Neither; 'tis a woman's fault." LADY P. Now God help thee! Hor. To the Welsh lady's bed. LADY P. What's that? Hor. Peace! fhe fings, A Welsh SONG Jung by Lady M. HOT. Come, Kate, I'll have your song too. Hor. Not yours, in good footh! 'Heart, you fwear like a comfit-maker's wife! Not you, in good footh; and, As true as I live; and, As God shall mend me; and, As fure as day: And giv'ft fuch farcenet furety for thy oaths, 4 Neither; 'tis a woman's fault.] I do not plainly fee what is a woman's fault. JOHNSON. It is a woman's fault, is spoken ironically. FARMER. This is a proverbial expreffion. I find it in The Birth of Merlin, 1662: Again: " 'Tis a woman's fault: p- of this bashfulness." "A woman's fault, we are subject to it, fir." Again, in Greene's Planetomachia, 1585; —a woman's faulte, to thruft away that with her little finger, whiche they pull to them with both their hands." I believe the meaning is this: Hotfpur having declared his refolution neither to have his head broken, nor to fit ftill, flily adds, that fuch is the ufual fault of women; i. e. never to do what they are bid or defired to do. STEEVENS. The whole tenor of Hotfpur's converfation in this scene shows, that the ftillness which he here imputes to women as a fault, was fomething very different from filence; and that an idea was couched under these words, which may be better understood than explained.— He is ftill in the Welsh lady's bedchamber. WHITE. 5 As if thou never walk'dft further than Finfbury.] Open walks |