34. For it doth physic love. "That is, grief for absence keeps love in health and vigour" (Johnson).

35. Good wax, thy leave. Cf. T. N. ii. 5. 103: "By your leave, wax ;" and Lear, iv. 6. 264: "Leave, gentle wax.'

38. Forfeiters. That is, those who forfeit the bonds to which they

have set their seal.

As V. remarks, the allusion shows technical familiarity with the laws of that day. The seal was essential to the bond, though a signature was not; and forfeiters was the technical term for those who had broken a contract and become liable to the legal penalty.

39. Tables. Tablets, letters. Cf. T. G. of V. ii. 7. 3:

"Who art the table wherein all my thoughts

Are visibly character'd and engrav'd;"

and T. and C. iv. 5. 60:

"And wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts

To every ticklish reader."

would even renew me with

41. Could not be so cruel to me, as you your eyes. If this is what S. wrote, the meaning seems to be: could not be so cruel to me but that the sight of you would revive me. Pope changes as to "but," and K. to "an ;" and Capell reads "would not Clarke may

even."

W. has "could not be cruel to me, so as you," etc.

be right in assuming that "the phraseology is purposely obscure and enigmatical, and conveys a double idea "-the one given above, and "a secondary one (perceptible to the reader of the play), 'could not be so cruel to me as you' (in the supposed wrong she has done him who writes to her)." St. also thinks that the passage may have been "intended to be enigmatical."

47. O, for a horse, etc. Mrs. Jameson remarks: "In the eagerness of Imogen to meet her husband there is all a wife's fondness, mixed up with the breathless hurry arising from a sudden and joyful surprise; but nothing of the picturesque eloquence, the ardent, exuberant, Italian imagination of Juliet, who, to gratify her impatience, would have her heralds thoughts; press into her service the nimble-pinioned doves, and wind-swift Cupids; change the course of nature, and lash the steeds of Phoebus to the west. Imogen only thinks 'one score of miles, 'twixt sun and sun,' slow travelling for a lover, and wishes for a horse with wings." 49. Mean affairs. Ordinary business.

53. Bate. Abate (but not that word contracted), qualify what I say. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 250: "bate me a full year," etc.

55. Beyond beyond. "Further than beyond; beyond anything that desire can be said to be beyond" (Reed). It is not a mere repetition of beyond, as pointed in the folios and some modern eds. Speak thick. Speak fast. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 3. 24: "And speaking thick, which nature made his blemish," etc. See our ed. p. 165.

63. And our return. Changed by Pope to "Till our return," and by Capell to "To our return." Cf. Cor. ii. 1. 240:

"He cannot temperately transport his honours
From where he should begin and end;"

and see our ed. p. 225. In the present passage the irregular construction is in keeping with the rest of the speech. "The elliptical style, the parenthetical breaks, the fluttering from point to point in the varied clauses, all serve admirably to express the happy hurry of spirits and joyous impatience of the excited speaker" (Clarke).

"Why

64. Or ere. Before. See on ii. 4. 14 above. The meaning is: " should I contrive an excuse before the act is done for which excuse will be necessary?" (Malone).

72. That run i' the clock's behalf. That is, the sands of the hour-glass, which serve instead of a clock. Warb. calls it a "fantastical expression.' The Coll. MS. has "clocks by half."

76. Franklin's. A franklin is literally a freeholder, with a small estate, neither villain nor vassal" (Johnson). Cf. W. T. v. 2. 173: "Not swear it, now I am a gentleman? Let boors and franklins say it, I'll

swear it."

You're best consider. You were best (it were best for you) to consider. Cf. W. T. v. 2. 143: "you were best say these robes are not gentlemen born," etc. See also . C. p. 166, or Gr. 230, 352 (cf. 190).

77. I see before me, etc. I see the course that lies before me; no other, whether here or there, nor what may follow, but is doubtful or obscure. Mason would explain it thus: When Imogen speaks these words she is supposed to have her face turned towards Milford, and when she pronounces the words nor here, nor here, she points to the right and to the left. This being premised, the sense is evidently this: I see clearly the way before me; but that to the right, that to the left, and that behind me, are all covered with a fog that I cannot penetrate. There is no more therefore to be said, since there is no way accessible but that to Milford." This is ingenious, but prosaic withal; and it is hardly possible that what ensues can mean "that behind me," though Johnson explained it in the same way.

SCENE III-1. Keep house. Stay in the house. Elsewhere we find keep the house (M. for M. iii. 2. 75), keep his house (T. of A. iii. 3. 42), etc. Cf. the use of housekeeper (=one who stays at home) in Cor. i. 3. 55: You are manifest housekeepers."

66

2. Whose. For the relative after such, see on i. 4. 46 above. For Stoop, the folios have "Sleepe" or "Sleep ;" corrected by Hanmer.

5. Fet. Strut, stalk. Cf. T. N. ii. 5. 36: "Contemplation makes a rare turkey-cock of him! how he jets under his advanced plumes!" See our ed. p. 142.

6. Turbans. As Johnson notes, giants in the time of S. were generally represented as Saracens. The word is "Turbonds or "Turbands" in the folios, and Johnson spells it "turbants."

10. Yond. Not a contraction of yonder, as often printed. See Temp.

p. 121.

12. Like a crow.

That is, "as little as a crow

(i. 3. 15 above). 16. This service, etc. "In war it is not sufficient to do duty well; the advantage rises not from the act, but the acceptance of the act" (Johnson). Pope changed This to "That."

191

20. The sharded beetle. Cf. Macb. iii. 2. 42: "The shard-borne beetle ;" and A. and C. iii. 2. 20: “They are his shards, and he their beetle." The reference is to the horny wing-cases of the insect.

21. Full-wing'd. "This epithet sufficiently marks the contrast of the poet's imagery; for whilst the bird can soar towards the sun beyond the reach of the human eye, the insect can but just rise above the surface of the earth, and that at the close of the day" (Henley).

22. Attending for a check. Doing service only to get a rebuke for it. Cf. Oth. iii. 3. 67: “To incur a private check,” etc. So the verb = rebuke; as in 7. C. iv. 3. 97: "Check'd like a bondman," etc. V. explains it: "attending his prince only to suffer rejection or delay of his suit."

23. Doing nothing for a bribe. The folios have "for a Babe." Bribe is Hanmer's emendation, and is adopted by K., D., V., W., Clarke, and others. Rowe gave "bauble," which the Camb. editors prefer. Sr. reads "brabe," a conjecture of Johnson's, and reward (Latin, brabium). The Coll. MS. has "bob" (a rap, or blow), for which see A. Y. L. p. 164. Chalmers suggests "baubee." V. defends bribe thus: It corresponds better than any other word with the preceding word richer; and the mistake might easily have been made even in copying or printing from clearer manuscript than most authors make. The sense is good: 'Such a life of activity is richer than that of the bribed courtier, even though he pock et his bribe without rendering any return.' Such a thought is natural in Belarius, who had seen the vices of the great, and was perfectly intelligible to Shakespeare's audience, who lived in those 'good old times' when the greatest, and sometimes the wisest, were not only accessible to bribes, but expected them; while every concern of life was dependent upon the caprice or the favour of those in power. A note in Knight's edition deduces the whole passage from some well-known lines of Spenser, in his Mother Hubberds Tale, much resembling this train of thought. Our Poet had seen enough of this sort of life not to be obliged to describe it at second-hand; yet he may have had Spenser's verses in his mind, and they certainly throw light on his meaning and corroborate the proposed correction of the text. The 'doing nothing for a bribe' corresponds with Spenser's satirical glance at court life:

'Or otherwise false Reynold would abuse
The simple suter, and wish him to chuse
His Master, being one of great regard
In Court, to compas anie sute not hard.

In case his paines were recompenst with reason,

So would he worke the silly man by treason

To buy his Master's frivolous good will,

That had not power to doo him good or ill.'"

The passage in Spenser referred to by K. is the following:

"Full little knowest thou, that hast not tride,
What hell it is in suing long to bide:

To loose good dayes that might be better spent ;
To wast long nights in pensive discontent;

To speed to day, to be put back to morrow;

To feed on hope, to pine with feare and sorrow;

To have thy Princes grace, yet want her Peeres;
To have thy asking, yet waite manie yeeres;
To fret thy soule with crosses and with cares;
To eate thy heart through comfortlesse despaires;
To fawne, to crowche, to waite, to ride, to ronne,
To spend, to give, to want, to be undonne.
Unhappie wight, borne to desastrous end,

That doth his life in so long tendance spend!"

24. Prouder than rustling in unpaid-for silk. K. remarks: "As we have had the nobler and richer life, we have now the prouder. The mountain life is compared with that of rustling in unpaid-for silk. The illus trative lines which are added mean that such a one as does rustle in unpaid-for silk receives the courtesy (gains the cap) of him that makes him fine, yet he, the wearer of silk, keeps his, the creditor's, book uncrossed. To cross the book is, even now, a common expression for obliterating the entry of a debt. It belongs to the rude age of credit."

25. Cap. Cf. Cor. ii. i. 77: "You are ambitious for poor knaves' caps and legs" (that is, for their obeisance); 1 Hen. IV. iv. 3. 168: “The more and less came in with cap and knee," etc.

The folios have "makes him;" corrected by Capell. K. retains "makes him," changing gain to "gains." Him refers of course to the merchant who has sold the silk which makes them fine. Cf. T. of S. ii. 1. 319: "my Katherine shall be fine;" and Id. iv. I. 139:

"There were none fine but Adam, Ralph, and Gregory;

The rest were ragged, old, and beggarly.'

26. No life to ours. That is, that can be compared with ours. in this sense, see Gr. 187.

27. Proof. Experience; as in i. 6. 69 above.

For to

29. What air 's from home. What the air is away from home. For from, see on i. 4. 14 above.

34. Prison for. The folios have "prison, or ;" corrected by Pope. 35. To stride a limit. "To overpass his bound" (Johnson).

What should we speak of, etc. Johnson remarks: "This dread of an old age unsupplied with matter for discourse and meditation is a sentiment natural and noble. No state can be more destitute than that of him who, when the delights of sense forsake him, has no pleasures of the mind."

40. Beastly. Like mere beasts.

41. Like warlike. Cf. Temp. iii. 3. 66: "like invulnerable," etc.

58. Note. See on i. 4. 2 above.

63. Hangings. That is, the fruit hanging on the tree.

73. Fore-end. Earlier part; used by S. only here.

83. I' the cave wherein they bow. That is, which is so low that they must bow or stoop in entering it.

Cf. 2 above. The folios have "I' th'

Caue, whereon the Bowe" (or "Bow"); corrected by Warb.

85. Prince it. Play the prince, bear themselves like princes. Gr. 226. 87. Who. Changed to "whom" in the 2d folio. See on i. 6. 153 above.

90. Spirits. Monosyllabic (=sprite); as often. Gr. 463. 99. Knows. Changed by Pope to "know;" but see on ii. 4. 58 above.

100. Whereon. We should now use whereupon.

103. Reft'st. The folios have "refts." For similar euphonic forms, see Gr. 340.

105. Her grave. Changed by Hanmer to "thy grave;" but see on i 6. 131 above. Malone compares Acts, xvii. 2, 3.

SCENE IV.-1. When we came from horse. "Serving to show that they have performed the previous portion of their long journey by riding, and have now alighted on account of the more rugged and mountainous district through which their way lies" (Clarke).

3. Have now. That is, have now longed.

6. Inward. For the noun, cf. Sonn. 128. 6: "To kiss the tender inward of thy hand." So outward in i. 1. 23 above.

9. Haviour. As Steevens notes, this should not be printed as a contraction of behaviour. Cf. R. and J. p. 166.

II. Tender'st. untender. This kind of jingle or play upon words of the same or similar sound is common in S. See Dr. Ingleby's Shakespeare Hermeneutics, p. 26 fol. Pope changed tender'st to "offer'st." 12. Summer news. Cf. Sonn. 98. 4:

"Yet nor the lays of birds, nor the sweet smell

Of different flowers in odour and in hue,
Could make me any summer's story tell."

15. Drug-damn'd. Alluding to the notoriousness of Italian poisoning (Johnson). Cf. iii. 2. 5 above.

Out-craftied. The folio form; changed by some to "out-crafted." S. uses the word only here.

17. Take off some extremity. That is, may break the bad news more gently than the letter.

22. Lie bleeding in me. That is, "my heart bleeds inwardly" (2 Hen. IV. ii. 2. 51) on account of them.

25. With. By. Gr. 193.

32. What shall I need, etc. Why need I, etc. This use of what (=why) is especially common with need. Cf. C. of E. iii. 2. 15, Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 128, J. C. ii. 1. 123, etc. Gr. 253.

34. Worms. Serpents. Cf. A. and C. v. 3. 243, 256, 261, 268, 282, etc. See also Mach. p. 215.

Nile. Like Nilus, always without the article in S. except in A. and C. ii. 7. 20. Cf. Tiber in Cor. iii. 1. 262, J. C. i. I. 50, 63, i. 2. 114, iii. 2. 254,

etc.

35. Posting winds. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ind. 4: “making the wind my posthorse."

36. States. Explained by Johnson and Steevens as="persons of highest rank." Cf. K. John, ii. 1. 395, etc.

39. False to his bed! Mrs. Jameson remarks here: "In her first exclamations we trace, besides astonishment and anguish, and the acute sense of the injustice inflicted on her, a flash of indignant spirit, which we do not find in Desdemona or Hermione. This is followed by that affecting lamentation over the falsehood and injustice of her husband,

N