A Study of Shakespeare's Versification

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

C. F. CLAY, MANAGER LONDON : FETTER LANE, E. C. 4

NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS BOMBAY 1

CALCUTTA IMACMILLAN AND co., LTD.

MADRAS j

TORONTO : J. M. DENT AND SONS, LTD.

TOKYO : MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WITH AN INQUIRY INTO THE TRUSTWORTHINESS

OF THE

EARLY TEXTS

AN EXAMINATION OF THE 1616 FOLIO OF BEN JONSON'S WORKS

AND APPENDICES INCLUDING A REVISED TEXT OF ANTONT AND CLEOPATRA

BY

M. A. BAYFIELD, M.A.

Of Clare College, Cambridge Formerly Headmaster of Eastbourne College

Author of The Measures of the Poets, Editor of the Ion, Alcestis and Medea of Euripides, and of the Antigone and Electra of Sophocles, etc.

CAMBRIDGE

AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1920

t

TO

ALFRED WILLIAM POLLARD

A SMALL INSTALMENT OF AN UNPAYABLE DEBT.

PREFACE

1 I 1HE enterprise on which this book embarks is -L frankly a bold one, for it aims at two obj ects, distinct yet inseparable, which are nothing less than revolutionary, and this in so familiar and well-worked a field as the text of Shakespeare's plays. Its purpose is, first to give an intelligible and consistent account of the structure and characteristic features of his dramatic verse, the essential principles of which appear to have been wholly misconceived hitherto, and secondly to show that there are many thousands of lines of it that are given in modern texts not as their author intended them to be delivered, but clipped and trimmed to a featureless uniformity that he would have abhorred.

The plays as we have them present many problems, and among them one which forces itself upon our attention at every turn and therefore cannot be ignored. No solution of it has yet been found or, so far as I am aware, even sought, and it is for these reasons that it is here taken in hand. Its outlines may be briefly stated.

With the exception of certain of the Quartos — ex ceptions of prime significance, as will be seen — the texts, both early and modern, are strewn in varying proportions with abbreviated forms such as /<?'/, do1^ in't, by'ty fintreat, {'have, not oth'best^ tKgods^ tlifirst^ tKplat- form, tfihot duke (ttiol duke /), i'tti throat, ins hand^ and 's wife, tos (to us\ cram's (us\ ttiart (thou art\ fare (you

vi PREFACE

are), you shall hat (have /'/), the town is tane (taken}. The Folio even makes Cleopatra say,

Rather on Nylus' mudde Lay me starke-»ff^V, and let the water-flies Blow me into abhorring.

Besides these and others not mentioned, we often have such elegancies as " Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em " (Portia to Brutus), " We'll see urn starve first " (Lear to Cordelia), " I am certain on't" (Antony), " Ay, 'twas he that told me on her first" (Othello, on the Folio's testimony), " A (he) sought my life," " A was a goodly king." Several of the combinations of con sonants are unpronounceable as printed, while in others of the contractions the aspirate must be dropped ; and this in plays written by the master poet and playwright for no other purpose than to be acted on the stage. Sometimes it is a Quarto that imports these forms, sometimes the Folio, at one moment Tweedledum, at the next Tweedledee ; for they freely contradict pne another, and themselves. At times they make up their quarrel and agree to abbreviate together. The Folio, alas! our sole authority for twenty of the plays, is throughout more given to the practice than the Quartos. The contracted forms, if read as printed, frequently destroy the metre and even more frequently produce a false emphasis, making it appear that Shakespeare was either indifferent to such details or incapable of doing better. That he was largely indifferent is, I believe, a common opinion. The ordinary abbreviations still employed in verse, as /'//, hell, he s, 'tis etc., often occur where they should not, with the same injurious

PREFACE vii

effect. Speaking generally, the apparent object of this free use of the apostrophe is to reduce the line as far as possible to the plain norm without triplet or quad- risyllabic feet or double upbeat, whereas Shakespeare was from the first and throughout his literary career continually departing more and more from this primitive Gorboducian model.

Modern editors habitually alter tli to the> ttiart to thourt^ and (naturally not daring to leave it) fare to yourey retaining the rest ; but this is an arbitrary and partial method of procedure which does not solve the problem or even touch it, and is not justified by any sound principles of criticism. At the same time the retention of all the abbreviations except tti indicates an imperfect recognition of what was Shakespeare's ideal of dramatic verse — the ideal at which he was aiming almost from the first, and to which in the end he absolutely attained in the incomparable versification of Antony and Cleopatra. Yet attention has actually been drawn to " the irregular verse of the later plays." The result is that the most perfect of all dramatic verse has been systematically travestied; its native freedom is hampered as by fetters. As left by their author, the measures moved with the lightness and ease and rhyth mic grace of a beautiful and elaborate dance, and they made music to the ear. Read as we must read them, they stump about as it were in clogs ; their grace is gone and the music is "beastly dumb'd." Consequently the enjoyment of a play at home is marred by an irritation which grows in proportion to the beauty of the verse that is distorted, and in the theatre the actors

Vlll

PREFACE

are compelled to vex our ears and their own with halting measures that have no balance, and to deliver much of the finest of all drama in a jargon that is un worthy both of the author and themselves. This cobbled patchwork is given to us for Shakespeare's verse as he was satisfied to leave it, and while it is proclaimed with simple truth that he is the world's greatest poet, it has been found necessary to beg us to make allowances — yes, to make allowances for the numerous imperfections of his versification !

My endeavour in the following pages is to show that, if Shakespeare's verse is to be so presented that a modern reader may read it as the poet meant it to be delivered, the abbreviations in question must be ex panded into the corresponding full forms. In modern printing elision of a vowel or consonant implies that the elided letter is not to be pronounced, and it has hither to been the prevailing, if not the universal, opinion that Elizabethan texts are to be interpreted in the same way. Accordingly, and in default of conclusive evidence to the contrary at the time of writing, the argument pro ceeds on that assumption and arrives at the conclusion just mentioned. That the conclusion is sound I have never doubted, but from the first I had felt doubts as to the correctness of the belief that elision of a letter in Elizabethan texts always means that it is not to be uttered, and these doubts have been justified in a striking manner since the MS. of the book went to press. If the reader will glance at the examination of the 1616 Folio of Ben Jonson's works on pp. 294 ff., he will see that the conclusion which was apparently unavoidable

PREFACE ix

even with the accepted view of the meaning of the abbreviations, is placed beyond doubt by the discovery that in writing and printing of Elizabethan and early Jacobean days abbreviation by no means invariably implied that the suppressed letter was to be silent. It follows, therefore, that to reprint an Elizabethan text adlitteram may be to misrepresent completely for modern readers the manner of utterance intended. The evidence afforded by Jonson's Folio and the Quarto of his Sejanus is decisive on the point. If, however, anyone is disinclined to believe that the practice of Jonson and his printers was also that of the printers of the Quartos and First Folio of Shakespeare, there still remains the original argument, based upon the evidence furnished by a comparison of these latter texts with themselves and one another, and upon the ascertained character istics of Shakespeare's versification.

Some readers of this book, reluctant to make the complete volte-face apparently necessitated by the facts disclosed, may think that the conclusions arrived at ugo too far." Yet, as I have written in Ch. ix, although the results of the inquiry may be surprising or even astonishing, that is only what might have been expected in the circumstances, if we should ever reach the truth. We were confronted by so many otherwise irreconcil able phenomena, that by nothing short of a fundamental readjustment of our estimate or interpretation of the early texts were we likely to solve the problem which they present. I venture to request anyone who hesitates to go the whole way with me, to ask himself where and how the line is to be drawn between abbreviations to

x PREFACE

be rejected as merely ways of printing and those that are to be retained. The point has been considered carefully, but no criterion except the aesthetic or literary one seems to be discoverable, and that appears to demand the rejection of all which are not still used in verse. The presumption is wholly against any doubtful in stances, and I would ask the reader with some confidence whether he can discover a single line or measure which the retention of one of these would improve.

The revised text of Antony and Cleopatra given at the end of the volume will enable readers to judge of the cumulative effect of the proposed changes.

I have to thank the Editor of The Times for per mission to reproduce the substance of four articles which appeared in the Literary Supplement of that journal on May 23 and June 6, 1 3, 20, 1918. Appendix vi embodies the gist of a paper read before the Eliza bethan Literary Society on April 9, 1919.

M. A. B.

June 17, 1919.

CONTENTS

I. SHAKESPEARE'S VERSIFICATION.

•4

CHAPTER PAGE

I. THE PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC OF SHAKESPEARE'S

VERSE. METRICAL ANALYSIS . . . J . . i

II. METRE AND RHYTHM. LYRIC MEASURES IN THE BLANK

VERSE. THE VERSE PERIOD . . . .

II. THE EARLY TEXTS.

III. ABOLITION OF RESOLUTIONS AND OTHER ABBREVIATIONS

IN THE VERSE : Richard II and Richard HI examined . 50

IV. ABBREVIATIONS IN THE VERSE (continued) : the Quarto

Plays Hamlet, Othello, and Lear examined . . .

V. ABBREVIATIONS IN THE VERSE (continued) : the Folio Plays

Macbeth, The Tempest, Cymbeline, Cbriolankp, Antony and Cleopatra and Julius Caesar exzminedT(KTacb. p. 14.0, Temp. p. 154, Cymb. p. 160, Cor. p. 184, A. and C. p. 204, /. C. p. 226) . . . . . .139

VI. ELISION IN THE FINAL FOOT ...... 235

VII. ON CERTAIN SPELLINGS ....... 241

VIII. ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE ..... 262 IX. CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . 280

APPENDICES.

APP.

I. PURE TROCHAIC PENTAPODIES : List .... 315

II. OTHER LINES WITHOUT UPBEAT : Examples. ALCAICS 324 «._~.O S $W-

™

III. LINES CONTAINING MONOSYLLABIC FEET: Examples. THE ^

CROSS ACCENT: Examples . - . . . .334

IV. LINES CONTAINING QUADRISYLLABIC FEET : List . . 340

V. CERTAIN PRONUNCIATIONS : Lines exemplifying these . 390

VI. ORDER OF COMPOSITION OF THE PLAYS .... 395

VII. ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, a revised Text . . . .411

INDEX . . . . . . . . . '. «5r9

ERRATA.

p. 83, 1. 6. For "on nos. 152, 165 " read " no. 179."

p. 84, no. 165. Read \ "every man | unto his | charge."

p. 90, no. 200. Read " When | thou."

p. 1 1 3, 1. 9 from bottom. For "172" read "171 ."

p. 137, no. 74. The line should be scanned, with quadrisyllable,

Nay, no | tearing, | lady : I perjceive you | know it. p. 169, 1. 12. Scan, "Though • peril to my | modest|y." p. 1 8 8, 1. 3. Delete hyphen after sub. p. 212, no. 33. Delete apostrophe before "He." p. 218, bottom. For " trochaic " read " monosyllabic." p. 321. The true arrangement at Macb. 4. 2. 54 is, I think, Every | one. A j Who must | hang them ? Why the | honest | men. p. 322, bottom. Delete the line A. and C. 4. 15. 18. p. 443. Text : 2. 3. 1 6 ff. should be arranged thus :

Sooth. Caesar's. Therefore, O Antony, stay not by His side : thy daemon, that thy spirit which keeps thee, Is noble...

Delete footnote on v. 17.

p. 444. Text : 2. 5. 3 f. should read,

Let it alone, let us to billiards : come, Charmian.

Char. My arm is sore, best play with Mardian.

p. 458. Text : 3. i. 34 ff. should be arranged as follows:

We have jaded out of the field.

Si/. Where is he now ?

Ven. He | purposethll

To Athens ; whither, with what haste the weight We must convey with us will permit, we will Appear before him. On, there ! pass along.

p. 509. Text : 5. 2. 63 f. should be arranged as follows, " Pro- culeius " beginning a new line (delete the footnote) :

Proculeius, what thou hast done, thy master Caesar Knows, and | he hath | sent for thee : | for the | queen,

CHAPTER I

THE PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC OF SHAKESPEARE'S VERSE

OUR original authorities for the text of Shake speare's works are certain Quarto editions published at various dates during his life-time and the First Folio. The last, which was published in 1623, seven years after his death, contains the whole of the plays except Pericles, but not the poems. For the following twenty plays the Folio is our sole authority : The Tempest, The Two Gentle men, Measure for Measure, The Comedy of Errors, As Tou Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, All's Well that Ends Well, Twelfth Night, The Winter's Tale, King John, all three parts of Henry VI, Henry VIII, Coriolanus, Timon, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, Cymbeline*. If no Quarto has been lost, these were set up from play-house copies, but save perhaps one or two, prob ably none from Shakespeare's MS. A few of the Quarto texts, however, were probably printed from his original copy. Some of the Quartos ran through several editions, each being as a rule set up from its immediate predecessor and exhibiting an increase in the number of

1 These will be referred to hereafter as " Folio plays," and those also published in Quarto as " Quarto plays."

2 THE PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC

blunders. The Folio text of Quarto plays was in most cases printed from an existing Quarto, usually the latest and most incorrect edition. In some instances the Quarto appears to have been compared with a play-house copy, but it is generally agreed that the whole of the Folio text (both in Quarto and Folio plays) shows un mistakable signs of having been independently "edited" by the reviser or revisers who prepared it for the press. With the very doubtful exception of three pages of a play to which it is thought he may have contributed (Anthony Munday's Sir Thomas More), and a few authentic signatures, none of Shakespeare's handwriting has survived. It is also improbable that he had any opportunity of correcting any single proof of the plays published in Quarto. The ordinary practice of the time was for plays to be sold to the Company with which the playwright was connected, and thereafter he lost all control over them except such as the Com pany might permit, as for revision. The Folio and, with some exceptions, the Quartos are alike full of serious errors of various kinds. In the Quarto plays they continually present different readings, sometimes the Quarto being right and sometimes the Folio, and in many places what they agree in giving is undoubtedly wrong. The different Quarto texts and those of in dividual plays of the Folio are of various merit, those of the Quartos1 being usually the better, but sometimes the reverse. Accordingly, one conclusion to be drawn from this comparison is that the Folio is by no means to be trusted implicitly in the plays for which it is the sole

1 That is, the First Quarto of each play when there are two or more.

OF SHAKESPEARE'S VERSE 3

authority. It also follows that in many passages modern texts can represent no more than the judgement of each editor, or the agreement of several, on disputable points ; what the poet actually wrote here or there must always remain a matter of opinion and be open to argument.

These facts are here given at the outset of our inquiry because they are of the utmost importance in any endeavour to form an estimate of the trust worthiness of the early texts, and consequently have a direct bearing on the question of the versification. For by the habitual use of certain abbreviations, the sub stitution of different words and the misdivision of lines in a printed edition it is possible to make a poet's verse assume a character very different from that which it had when it left his hands. It will be my endeavour to show that Shakespeare's dramatic verse has suffered much in this way, and that, notwithstanding the enormous amount of learning and labour that has been spent upon his plays, their versification, both as a whole and in several important particulars, has been strangely mis understood and misrepresented from his own day down to the present time. Features, the recognition of which is essential to a proper appreciation of his handling of the blank verse line and other measures, have either been completely overlooked or regarded as blemishes, or have been thought to indicate corruptions of the text calling for correction.

It will be convenient to begin our inquiry by con sidering his use of the * resolved ' foot, that is, a metrical foot containing more than two syllables. An illustration will make the meaning of this technical term quite clear.

i — 2

4 THE PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC

If we compare the following two readings of the same line,

(a] These eyes could not *«[dure yt | beauties | wrack.

(b] These eies could | never *«|dure sweet | beauties | wrack.

we see that in (£) the syllable not of (a) has been re placed by the two syllables of never ; that is to say, there has been a breaking-up or { resolution ' of the stressed syllable, and the foot never en- is called a * resolved ' foot, (a) is the Folio's version of Richard III r, i. 2. 127, and (£) that of the Quarto. The latter is the true reading, as we shall see later, but several editors, as Furnivall, Craig, and A. H. Thompson, in the Leopold, Oxford, and Arden editions respectively, follow the Folio.

Anyone who looks through the notes in the Cam bridge Shakespeare soon discovers that the numerous editors of the plays from Rowe onwards, notwith standing their many divergences, are in unmistakable though tacit agreement upon one point : they plainly believe that Shakespeare's judgement as to the number of resolved feet to be introduced into blank verse was that they should be few, and the fewer the better. This view is disclosed by the readings adopted by editors in general where the Quartos and Folio offer a purely metrical choice (as in the example just given), by difficulties that have been felt where the text is really sound, and by the emendations proposed where it is corrupt or supposed to be so. Among these latter, which are countless, it is a rare thing to find one that exhibits a trisyllabic foot. Some editors, as Pope,

OF SHAKESPEARE'S VERSE 5

Hanmer, and Sidney Walker, even went so far as to alter the text systematically for the purpose of eliminating resolutions, and others more recent, who may for convenience and without discourtesy be called the disyllabists par excellence, pursue the same end in another way and even more thoroughly. Abbott, in his Shakespearian Grammar, first published about fifty years ago, went to great lengths in this direction, saying that innumerable syllables must be elided or slurred in delivery, but he is left far behind by this school, which includes, I believe, several leading Shakespearian scholars of the present day. They maintain that the actual pronunciation which the poet intended to be given to his verse was that shown in the following list, taken from Der Ver^ in Shaksperes Dramen, a book by one Goswin Koenig, who is the accepted authority of the disyllabists at the present time :

cu-|rios't yof nations — vill'ny — th'nose — th'throat — del'cate — qual'ty — hon'ying — pill'ry — mag'cal — trag'cal — pen'ry — - Hel'na — partic'lar — ridic'lous — des'late — perspic'ous — It'ly — Trip'li — wom'nish — Jess'ca — pit'ful — sorr'wful — Im'gen — prod'gal — conf'dent — app'tite — Jup'ter — vi'lent — ignom'ny or ignomy — duch'ss — do'ng — the'tre (theatre) — dite (diet) — quitely (quietly) — de'ty — Prime (Priam) — Plantaj'net — th'breach — whi'r (whither) — nour'sher (nourisher) — how came w'ashore ?

These examples are but a few selected from Koenig's exhaustive compilation. It will be noticed that some of the combinations are not to be achieved without a splutter, and that sometimes the aspirate must be dropped, as in

F{er|y ? th'fi'|ry dtike ? | Te~ll th'hot (that) \ duke that—

6 THE PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC

The pronunciation of proper names, it is declared, varied in successive lines, as in

'Tis death for any one in Mantua i To come to Pad'a (Pajja r").

Then stir Demetr'us up with bitter wrong, And sometime rail thou like Demetrius.

If Alcibi'des kill my countrymen, Let Alcibiades know this of Timon.

Being no humorist or even a punster, Shakespeare could make that " most del'cate fiend " the Queen in Cymbeline say (for evil-eyed} eel-eyed unto you, and make another say of her that she repented

The eels she hatch'd were not effected. 5. 5. 60.

It need hardly be said that practically every word in Koenig's enormous list of those requiring this painful treatment occurs also in positions where the full pro nunciation is necessary even with the ten-syllable scansion. We are to believe, therefore, that two kinds of English were habitually spoken by the same characters and in the same scene on Shakespeare's stage, the one a poet's carefully syllabised English, and the other that which we associate rather with the " Waterloo House young man." As the Saturday Review once said of an author's style, " if anyone likes this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing he would like " ; but until better reasons than any yet given have been offered on its behalf, one must hesitate to believe that either Shake speare or his audiences would have approved of it.

Signs of a bias against resolutions are found in the Quartos, but with great irregularity and more often in

OF SHAKESPEARE'S VERSE 7

some plays than in others. Their voice, therefore, is un certain. The Folio, however, is appealed to as decidedly favouring the view that Shakespeare was at pains to avoid resolutions. That it does so to a remarkable degree may readily be admitted by one who has arrived at the very opposite conclusion as to the poet's practice ; but he will make the concession in the spirit of the Clown's words to Cleopatra,

Yes, forsooth, I wish you joy of the worm,

for, as we shall see later, the Folio is in this connexion a fatal friend.

The prevailing view, then, is that Shakespeare's dramatic verse, as he wrote it, exhibited as few resolved rhythms as possible ; but was this his view ? Was it at any period of his production a principle with him to keep down the number to a negligible minimum ? Comparison of the Quartos and the Folio and a careful examination and analysis of the metrical features of the whole of the plays have convinced me that it was not ; that, on the contrary, the rhythms produced by the trisyllabic and quadrisyllable foot delighted his musical ear, and that he wrote with perhaps special satisfaction at various dates in his career such lines as the following, all of which contain three resolutions, and those starred as many as four :

— **• - _ i - »/ -.i - --

TV//, me, I ^|seech you, | which is the \ readiest \ way ?

T. S. i. 2. 220. Now are our \ brows A | bound with victorious \ wreaths.

Rich. HI i.i. $.

8 THE PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC

Welcome, my \ son : A | who are the \ violets \ now That strew the green lap of the new-come spring ?

Rich. II 5. 2. 46.

I • see no | more in you \ than in the \ ordinary

Of nature's sale-work. A. T. L. 3. 5. 42.

*He is \fallenin \ love with your \ foulness, and \ she will | fall In \ love with my \ anger1. A. Y. L. 3. 5. 66.

That in the \ captain is \ but a | choleric \ word, Which | in the j soldier is \ flat | blasphejmy.

M. M. 2. 2. 130.

Was he not \ born of | woman ? The \ spirits that \ know Ail • mortal | consequences \ have pro|nounced me | thus.

Mac. 5. 3. 4. *Hold theefrom \ this, for | ever. The \ barbarous \ Scythian

Lear I. I. 118.

*The | varying \ shore of the \ world. O | Antony, \ Antony, \\ Antony! \ Help, A | Charmian ! \ Help, Iras, \ help!2

A. and C. 4. 15. n f.

Cannot a\mend me: so\ciety | is no | comfort. Cymb. 4. 2. 12. Stepped before \ targes of \ proof, A | cannot be \ found.

ib. 5. 5. 5. *Dearly, my \ delicate \ Ariel. \ Do not approach.

Temp. 4. i. 49.

From the outset he appears to have employed resolved rhythms more freely than any of his con temporaries, among whom Greene perhaps comes nearest to him, and he gradually increased the number until at last they reached an amount to which Swinburne's work alone offers any parallel. My analysis shows the following averages for a few plays representative of various periods : Love's Labours Lost i in 2-8 lines, A

1 The texts print as prose. 2 The texts misdivide ; see p. 1 7.

OF SHAKESPEARE'S VERSE 9

Midsummer Night's Dream i in 2*34, The Merchant of Venice i in 2, Macbeth i in 1-7, Cymbeline i in r8, Coriolanus and The Tempest i in 1*5, Antony and Cleopatra i in 1*35. Few people will, I think, learn without surprise how closely the figure for Antony and Cleopatra approaches that of Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon^ which is i in i!2.

Shakespeare, then, as these figures show, had a decided and even remarkable affection fof resolved rhythms ; but if this is so, and if his text has hitherto been edited, from his own days down to the present, on the assumption that the contrary is the case, it becomes prima facie extremely probable that his ver sification has been freely falsified. It will, I believe, appear from the following pages that this is what has actually happened, and that only by reversing the principle on which the falsification has been made, can we restore a text approximating to what he probably wrote.

That this prevalence of resolutions in Shakespeare's dramatic work has not been recognised long ago is perhaps less remarkable than the cause which has prevented its recognition. This I take to be nothing else than our absurd and indefensible system of prosody, a system devised for the eye instead of for the ear. In literature at any rate there can hardly survive a wide spread delusion so extraordinary as the belief that it is a prosody at all. The frequency of trisyllabic and quadrisyllable feet in all English verse must remain effectually concealed from a reader, though not from a hearer, unless the lines are scanned on a trochaic base,

io THE PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC

so that the normal foot is represented by -i^.1 Our traditional and generally accepted metrical system pro ceeds on an iambic base (^ i), postulating the admission of a trochee with just the opposite stress, whenever it is found that the system would otherwise break down. Accordingly such rag-time scansions as

are of common occurrence, continuity of rhythm being regarded as of no importance. To take an example — scanned by the system in vogue, the lines

Whdt is | amfss ? | — You are, | and do | not know f] it.

Macb. i. 3. 102. Ring the | alar um-beU | Miirder | and trea||son ! ib. I. 3. 79.

appear to contain no triplet foot, while at the same time the poet is made guilty of adding a l hypermetrical ' syllable at the end of each. The trochaic base reveals two triplet feet in each line, which the ear, to which verse, as verse, makes its first and last appeal, cannot in any case fail to detect :

1 The terms trochee, trochaic, iambus, iambic are used merely for con venience, to denote the relative positions of the stressed and unstressed syllables. Greek prosody, from which these terms are borrowed, is based on quantity (the length of the syllables), and a trochee is strictly a long syllable followed by a short one of half its length, the relation being expressed by the symbols — w. An iambus is the reverse of this, w — . In English verse, although quantity plays a most important part, stress is the dominating factor, so that for the purposes of our prosody pity is a ' trochee ' equally with mainly, and whereat is an ' iambus.' It is unfortunate that we have no terms which could con veniently be substituted.

OF SHAKESPEARE'S VERSE 1 1

What is fl|mfss ? A | — Ton are, and \ d6 not | know it. || Ring the a larum-|be"ll. A | Murder and \ treason ! ||

It may be remarked in passing that this test by the ear — the only legitimate and conclusive test on the point — is the only one which could be applied by the public to twenty of Shakespeare's plays until the Folio was published, and to the other seventeen for some years after the production of each on the stage — a fact which appears to have been strangely overlooked.

Since an acquaintance with the main features of the trochaic system which I propose to substitute for that now accepted is indispensable for a proper understanding of Shakespeare's versification, I give a brief sketch of it here. A detailed examination of our traditional prosody will be found in the Modern Language Review, April 1918, and a full exposition of the trochaic system in my manual on English prosody, The Measures of the Poets.

The measure to which our blank verse is written consists of five metrical units commonly called 'feet.' The plain norm of the ' full ' line is

This is the measure employed by Dante in La Divina Commedia :

Nel \ mezzo | del cam min di | nostra | vita, || and it appears in lines like

I ' come to | bury | Caesar, | not to | praise him. ||

/. C. 3. 2. 791.

The last syllable is usually omitted in English verse

1 The references are to the numbering of the Globe edition.

12 THE PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC

(with a gain in strength), so that the prevailing type is the { checked ' form,

To ; sleep; perjchance to | dream : ay | there's the | rub. A I)1

Ham. 3. i. 65.

The five feet are counted from the first stress, the initial unstressed syllable or syllables (for there may be two) being merely an anacrusis or ' upbeat.' This upbeat, marked off by three vertical dots, is removable like the introductory note of a recurrent theme in music. When it is omitted and there is no other change in the plain norm, we get such pure trochaic pentapodies as

Come, sir, | we will | better | it in | Pisa. T. S. 4. 4. 7 1 .

O this | learning, | what a | thing it | is !

O this | woodcock, | what an | ass it | is ! ib. i. 2. 160 f.

As a rule, however, when there is no upbeat the first foot is resolved, as in M. N. D. 2. i. 173 f. :

Fetch me this \ herb ; and | be thou | here a|gain Ere the /?jvia]than can | swim a | league.

Any foot (even the last) may be trisyllabic, and any foot except the last may be quadrisyllable or quinquesyllabic, as for instance

A : caitiff | recreant | to my | cousin | Hereford. \\

Rich. II i. 2. 53. Mumbling of\ wicked | charms, A | conjuring the \ moon. A ||

Lear 2. I. 41. Might : easiliest \ harbour | in ? Thou | blessed | thing ! A ||

Cymb. 4. 2. 206.

We : know thy | charge, A | Brakenbury, and \ will o bey. A ||

Rich. Ill i. i. 105.

The sign A denotes the omission of an unstressed syllable.

OF SHAKESPEARE'S VERSE 13

Lines containing two resolutions (reckoning as a resolution the resolved or double upbeat, as in "/ have \ done the | deed ") are numerous ; there are 115 in so early a play as Richard If, and 2 1 9 in Othello ; and lines with three resolutions are frequent enough to cause no surprise. Here is one of seven instances in Richard II,

But for our \ trusty | brother-in-\law and the \ abbot, 5. 3. 137

and Othello shows twenty-four.

Any foot may be monosyllabic, either by prolonga tion of the stressed syllable or by a pause after it, whether a pause in the sense or the pause one naturally makes after a word to give it emphasis. Recognition of this feature, for which the iambic system can find no place, is of the utmost importance for the scansion of English verse, whether heroic or lyric, for without it thousands of lines become unmetrical or must exhibit a false stress. In Shakespeare's blank verse there are more than 5000 examples, and its occasional occurrence in his lyrics has provoked needless attempts at emenda tion. (In Shelley's lyrics it is particularly common.) Examples are

Is a \ bold | spirit | in a | loyal | breast. Rich. II i. i. 181.

Than the \ soft \ myrtle ; but | man, A | proud \ man.

M. M. 2. 2. 117. That my \ keen \ knife A j see not the | wound it | makes.

Mac. i. 5. 53. Dead \ art thou ! Ajlack, my | child is | dead,

R. and J. 4. 5. 63. Friends, A j Romans, | countrymen, | lend me your | ears.

/. C. 3. 2. 78.

i4 THE PREDOMINANT CHARACTERISTIC

Swifter | than the | moon's \ sphere ; M. N. D. 2. I. 7. Toad, that | under | cold \ stone, Mac. 4. 1.6.

Further illustrations of these features will be found in the Appendices. In Shakespeare's plays the measure is often extended to six feet, making an ' Alexandrine,' if the line is divided between two or more speakers, and occasionally when there is only one speaker.

This brief outline and the examples given will, I trust, not only illustrate the system sufficiently for our present purpose, but also, even in the absence of argument in defence of it, serve to show that it fits the verse perfectly and shows no such defects as those which make the iambic system unworkable. Anyone who will apply it to a few pages of Shakespeare and especially to some of the later plays, will, I believe, find that this is so, and that my statement as to his pre dilection for resolutions is fully substantiated. It need only be added here that the scansion of a line is to be distinguished from its rhythm. This important point is dealt with in Chapter n.

The Metrical Analysis which follows gives detailed information as to certain features of Shakespeare's versification, and will, I hope, be found useful for reference. Also it is hardly too much to say that its results cannot be safely neglected in any attempt to place the plays in the probable order of their composition. On this some remarks will be found in Appendix vi. I cannot vouch for the absolute correctness of every figure, but the compilation has been made with care, and will, I think, be found sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes and correct to one or two decimals.

OF SHAKESPEARE'S VERSE 15

One thing the Analysis shows clearly, the steady increase in the number of resolutions introduced by Shakespeare into his verse as he continued to write ; and judging from a similar but less detailed analysis of portions of the works of his contemporaries, this number was from the beginning greater than that to be found in any of them, and was soon considerably in excess. My notes on contemporary blank verse are as follows. The figures indicate the percentage of resolutions of all kinds. Marlowe's Faustus about 25. Arden of Feversham (anon.) about 25. Robin Hood (anon.) about 30*3. A few hundred lines each of Peele, Dekker, and Ben Jonson's Catiline 33*3. A few hundred lines of Beau mont and Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy and Philaster 40. Three hundred lines of Greene's Orlando 29-4. A detailed analysis of the whole of his James IV (1586 lines) gives the following results : Initial Resolutions (i.e. resolution of the first foot when there is no upbeat, the commonest resolution in the earlier verse) i8'i ; Internal Res. I21; Double Upbeat -18. Total of 'these 32. Monosyllabic Feet one in 36-3 lines'; Fourth Foot Res. one in 319; Fifth Foot Res. o ; Two or more Resolutions in one line once in 47 lines. There is perhaps one instance of a quadrisyllabic foot in the line, "Only this difference, he cannot fancy | two" ; but there are several Alex andrines in the play, and this may be one. In Shake speare it would be an undoubted quadrisyllabic. There are 9 pure trochaic lines without upbeat.

1 Note that the internal resolutions are much fewer than the initials. On this see Appendix vi.

1 6 METRICAL ANALYSIS

METRICAL ANALYSIS

Preliminary Note.

The figures immediately under the titles of the plays give the number of lines of verse, excluding songs and trochaics. An "initial resolution" is a resolution of the first foot of a line that has no upbeat, as in "Mumbling of\ wicked charms." An "internal resolution" is a resolution of any other foot in the line, or of the first foot if the line has an upbeat. The Total of Resolutions is found by adding together initial resolutions, internals, and double upbeats. The first four lines of figures are percentages. Thus C. of E. shows 20 initial resolutions in every 100 lines, and 38*4 resolutions of all kinds. It seemed desirable to give the figures for the remaining features differently, and " Monosyll. Ft. 17*3" under C. of E. means that the play shows one monosyllabic foot in every 17-3 lines. And so on with the remaining features, the numbers of which are included in the figures for initial and internal resolutions.

The figures for Henry VIII embrace only the parts which are usually assigned to Shakespeare. The reader will draw his own conclusions from the analysis of Pericles. To me the results seem to indicate that Shake speare can have had little to do with any part of the play except Act in. and Act v. Sc. i. The play acted before the King in Hamlet is omitted.

It is only proper to state that the analysis is made from an unpublished text in which certain abbreviations, such as to';, dot) ith\ 's («j, his] etc., which suggest a pronunciation that 1 believe was not intended, are

METRICAL ANALYSIS 1 7

restored to their full forms. Many of these do not eliminate a resolution, and the results would have been much the same if the Cambridge Shakespeare, for instance, had been used. In fact I began with that text, but soon found it necessary to abandon it, since the editors are vacillating and inconsistent in the matter of abbreviations, and appear to have worked on no fixed principle. In one place they will correct the early texts, in another they will retain an abbreviation that leaves the line with a palpably false stress. Moreover, there is no existing text in which many lines are not misdivided. Thus, for an illustration will not be out of place here, at A. and C. 4. 15. 1 1 f. we get in modern texts,

The | varying | shore o'the | world. O | Anton|y,

Antony, | Antony ! | Help, A | Charmian, | help, Iras, | help ;

Cleopatra is made to give to the first "Antony" a different rhythm from that given to the repetitions, and the second line is gratuitously made an Alexandrine. The Folio begins the second line with " Help," and its arrangement of the passage is otherwise absurd. Shake speare's arrangement was doubtless this,

The j varying | shore of the | world. O j Antony, | Antony, || Antony! | Help, A | Charmian! | help, Iras, | help!A||

the first line ending with a resolved fifth foot. But since such a line has hitherto been regarded as showing two c hypermetrical ' syllables, editors, out of con sideration for the poet, have been at pains to avoid the objectionable 'licence' wherever it was found possible. For the order in which the plays are given see Appendix vi.

B. 2

i8

METRICAL ANALYSIS

METRICAL ANALYSIS

L. L. L.

C. of E.

i Hen. VI

2 Hen. VI

3 Hen. VI

M. N. D.

1253

1410

2626

2552

2896

1353

%

<y

/o

%

o/ /o

°/ /o

%

Initial res. . .

IS-4

20

19

16-6

14-6

18-5

Internal res. .

J5

16

1 2-9

19-2

I5'4

23-2

Dble upbeat . .

4-2

2'I

0-6

1*2

I'l

i-i

TOTAL RES.

35

38-4

33

37-2

31

427

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

Monosyll. ft .

?

I7-3

35'5

21-6

H'3

26-2

4th ft res. . .

3I-3

3^3

28-2

307

35

26-8

5th ft res. . .

O

705

292

182

181

451

Two or more res.) in one line . ./

38

40

437

29

527

27

Quadrisyll. ft . .

418

235

164

213

483

169

King John

i Hen. IV

A. Y. L.

Rich. II

T. G.

2 Hen. IV

2520

1 6*1

932

2746

1627

1450

%

°/

/o

o/

/o

%

°/ /o

°/ /o

Initial res.

16

13-1

20

16-6

I7-3

1 6-6

Internal res. .

«.9

21*2

'9

19

22

22'4

Dble upbeat .

2'I

2'2

2-3

i'5

2'5

3

TOTAL RES.

37

367

42

37

4I-6

42-1

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

Monosyll. ft .

157

137

IO'I

15

19-9

9'5

4th ft res. . .

23-8

27

I7-6

20

407

I7-I

5th ft res. . .

840

415

104

161

957

289

Two or more res.*j in one line . .J

28-4

32

2O'2

22-5

29-4

25-9

Quadrisyll. ft . .

168

237

233

91-5

90

483

METRICAL ANALYSIS

METRICAL ANALYSIS— continued

Hen. V

Rich. Ill

Titus

R. and J.

M. Ado

M.ofV.

1864

3532

2381

2542

656

1959

°/

/o

%

°/ /o

°/ /o

°/ /o

%

Initial res.

18-1

21'3

2O'4

2O'3

18-2

18-5

Internal res. .

22

19

21-8

26-8

25-6

28-8

Dble upbeat .

2-8

2'2

17

2-5

3'3

2-6

TOTAL RES.

42-8

42-2

437

49-8

47

So

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

Monosyll. ft . .

9-6

H'3

?

I0'3

II'I

*4

4th ft res. . .

17-6

34

24-5

18

I7-3

42-3

5th ft res. . .

169-5

95'5

132

121

82

75

Two or more res.l in one line . .J

21*2

30

17*3

15

29

23-5

Quadrisyll. ft . .

124

168

108

6?

218

140

Tw. Night

All's W.

J.C.

T. and C.

T. Shr.

W. T.

Timon

860

1424

2286

2055

1847

2040

1565

o/

o/

o/

o/

0'

o/

/O

/o

/o

/O

/O

/O

/o

Initial res. .

16-1

1 6-6

15-4

23-2

12-5

13-5

Internal res. .

25-6

307

&fa

28-8

34

28-6

30

Dble upbeat.

2-9

4'3

2'5

3

3-2

5

47

TOTAL RES. .

44-6

52

47

47

60

46

48-1

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

Monosyll. ft. .

J I5-4

?

9*5

?

14-4

8-5

?

4th ft res. . .

* 19

13

28-3

15-5

26

16-2

16

5th ft res. . .

86

142

51-6

I87

56

68

I3I

Two or more res.1 in one line .J

16

13

1 6

17-4

14-4

2O'6

13

Quadrisyll. ft

107

I78

847

47

45

73

47'5

2—2

20

METRICAL ANALYSIS

METRICAL ANALYSIS— continued

Hamlet

Macb.

Hen. VIII

Cymb.

Othello

Lear

2525

1813

1166

2676

2675

2283

%

o/

/o

%

%

°/ /o

o/ /o

Initial res. . .

1 6-6

17-1

147

I3-6

18-2

19-2

Internal res. .

337

37-1

357

37'5

38-2

417

Dble upbeat .

4-3

5-2

4*3

5

5-3

4' 3

TOTAL RES.

547

59'3

54-9

55'3

61-5

657

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

Monosyll. ft . .

8

6-5

9

10

7

6-5

4th ft res. . .

16-3

i5'4

197

I3-3

I3-3

127

5th ft res. . .

83

194

35

46'!

' 43'8

53

Two or more res.| in one line . .J

25

117

1 1

127

1 1

97

Quadrisyll. ft . .

697

109

61-5

39'4

48-6

58-5

M.forM.

Cor.

Temp.

A. and C.

1524

2475

H74

2457

%

o/ /o

%

°/ /o

Initial res.

'9

15

I7-6

20'I

Internal res. .

42

43'5

427

47'6

Dble upbeat .

4-2

6-3

6-2

5'5

TOTAL RES.

65-2

65

65-8

73

one in

one in

one in

one in

Monosyll. ft . .

87

9

87

9-2

4th ft res.

I3-5

107

I3'5

H'5

5th ft res. . .

40

33

42-I

34*1

Two or more res.l in one line . .J

117

87

I2'4

8-4

Quadrisyll. ft .

47-6

50-5

43'3

4°'3

METRICAL ANALYSIS

21

METRICAL ANALYSIS-

Pericles

continued

Act I

Act II

IV,i&3

Total

Act III

Act V, i

43i

364

> 3 225

IO20

218

259

o/ /o

%

%

°/ /O

o/

/o

%

Initial res.

107

I3-5

147

13

17-5

17-4

Internal res. .

24

2O

27

237

30-3

32

Dble upbeat .

2

6

4'i

4

7

3'9

TOTAL RES.

36-9

40

46-2

407

54-5

53'I

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

one in

Monosyll. ft . .

24

21'5

12

19-2

8

8

4th ft res.

29

28

I7-25

2475

17

10-25

5th ft res. . .

215

121

225

170

109

259

Two or more res."| in one line . .J

33'i

30-3

32

31-8

13-6

9-6

Quadrisyll. ft . .

86

73

O

IO2

o

65

CHAPTER II

METRE AND RHYTHM. LYRIC MEASURES IN THE BLANK VERSE. THE VERSE PERIOD

Metre and Rhythm

A CONFUSION of metre and rhythm, which is, I believe, at the bottom of our false iambic system of prosody, is so common that it seems desirable to make some remarks on the subject before proceeding further. For this purpose, since I do not find myself able to put the matter more clearly in other language, I venture to borrow a little from what is said on the matter in my manual on English prosody1, where it is more fully discussed.

Rhythm and Metre, though they have elements in common, are as entities quite distinct. Metre has reference to the metrical units or feet into which a line of verse can be divided, all of which must be (theo retically at least) of equivalent time-value. If they were not, it would be impossible to compare two lines with one another in respect of their length, saying that the one has three feet and the other five ; there would be no common factor of measurement. It is because they can be divided into units and so measured, that verses are called * measures.' Rhythm in its widest sense denotes movement in regular succession^ or a succession of

1 The Measures of the Poets.

METRE AND RHYTHM 23

regular movements ; thus the pendulum of a clock and a dancer's feet move in rhythm. As applied to verse, the word usually denotes the movement, the mode of progression of a line as a whole. This total of move ment is made up of units of rhythm, which are of various kinds and lengths. Some are identical with the metrical feet of the measure employed, others are altogether independent of the foot-divisions ; as for instance, in our triple measures, such rhythmical units as ^ -, w - w, - ^ -, -> ^ - (delight^ delightful^ discontent^ with a cry] etc. Indeed it is no small part of the poet's art to see that his units of rhythm shall not correspond too frequently with the metrical feet. The units of rhythm must, however, be so adjusted to each other that they can be re-divided into the units of the metre, each of which, as said above, unlike the units of rhythm, must have the same time-value. This re-division is the function of scansion, which, though it is partly guided by the word-groupings on which sense and rhythm largely depend, is governed by the necessary stresses and proceeds on principles of its own. Further, the stresses of the metrical units, like those of the rhythm units, must recur at regular intervals, or they will fail to admit and account for the rhythms of the verse. To look at the matter from the opposite point of view, a poet may take a measure and write to it, introducing units of rhythm quite diverse from those of the measure, and different ones in different lines ; but if, when his verse is scanned, his rhythms do not fit the measure perfectly, with the stresses falling as the measure demands, he has written what we call an unmetrical line.

24 METRE AND RHYTHM

The following passage from A Midsummer Night's Dream 5. i. 7 ff. will illustrate this. The sign || marks here a change of rhythm, and is independent of the single lines occasionally inserted to mark the scansion, which is on the trochaic base.

The lunatic, [| the lover, and the. poet,

Are of imagination |j all compact : ||

One sees more devils || than | vast | hell can | hold, A ||

That is the madman ; the lover, all as frantic,

Sees Helen's beauty in a brow of Egypt : |j 5

The poet's eye, || in a | fine | frenzy j rolling, ||

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth || to heaven :||

And as imagination bodies forth

The forms of things unknown, the poet's pen ||

Turns them to shapes, and gives to aery nothing 10

A local habitation ||and a name.

The rhythms here are : The lunatic, iambic, but the rest of the line is trochaic. The 2nd line begins trochaic and ends with the rhythm of the f cretic ' - w - in all compact. The 3rd, by reason of the slight voice-pause at devils, begins trochaic, but it ends iambic. The 4th is altogether trochaic and follows the foot-divisions, but is saved by the resolutions and the pauses. So the 5th mainly ; but there is a slight voice-pause at beauty, and since there is no stress on in, in a brow gives the rhythm ^ ^ -*-, a delicate touch which, to my ear at least, makes the movement of the line as a whole peculiarly pleasing. In the 6th we have an iambic rhythm in The poet's eye, and then a trochaic sequence (to which in a becomes a double unbeat), instinctively steadied by the jnono&yllabic foot fine. The yth is mainly iambic, but ends trochaic ; for I fake irthat while neither heaven is

METRE AND RHYTHM 25

monosyllabic, the v and n of the second are to be said with very great distinctness, heav-n. The 8th is dominated by the trochees of imagination, but melts into the gth, which is iambic admirably relieved by the 'irrational' un- in unknown. The loth is a beautifully diversified line ; metrically it begins with a triplet dactyl, but as recited, with a trochee followed by an iambus. The an^ though scansionally belonging to the foot shapes and, attaches itself to gives as the upbeat of a fresh measure, so that we go on with an iambus and gives, but only to find that the rhythnl has imperceptibly melted into a trochaic movement in the two final feet. The last line is markedly trochaic in local habitation, but ends with the cretic and a name.

In the lyric measures now to be discussed the rhythmical units frequently coincide with the foot- divisions.

I — Lyric Measures in the Blank Verse

Shakespeare's songs exhibit alike his mastery of lyric measures and his delight in them. He had also a passion for music. Of this we have evidence in the many affectionate references to it, the numerous meta» phors and similes that he draws from it, and notably in the well-known emphatic pronouncement in The Mer chant of Venice 5. i. 83 ff.

The man that hath no music in himself,

Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,

Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils ;

The motions of his spirit are dull as night,

And his affections dark as Erebus :

Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.

'

26 LYRIC MEASURES IN

And Twelfth Night, which contains what is perhaps the most perfectly constructed of all his songs, "Come away, come away, death1," opens with a passage that is no less eloquent of his own enthusiasm for music than the one just quoted :

Duke. If music be the food of love, play on ; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again ! it had a dying fall : O it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour.

In The Two Gentlemen he shows how intimate was his appreciation of it in a single sentence which could only have been written by one to whom music was peculiarly dear: "Hark, what j?#<? change is in the music2." Now, songs are written to be set and sung to music, and one essential feature of music is the resolution of long notes into two or more shorter ones from moment to moment, as the fancy of the composer suggests. We cannot be far wrong, then, in attributing something of the beauty of his lyrics to this love of music and familiarity with it, and also in connecting his predilection for resolutions in blank verse with the same motive. More than this, his blank verse is throughout, even in the earliest plays,

1 But perfectly constructed only if we read this line as

Come ajway, come a|way, A | death, and not, as it is too often quoted,

Come away, | come away, | death.

2 He is writing prose, but the rhythmical balance of the words is that of a pentapody :

Hark, what | fine | change is | in the | music.

THE BLANK VERSE 27

embellished with actual lyric measures. This will be more readily apprehended if we first make a brief ex cursion into Greek prosody.

Besides the plain lyric schemes of two or more unresolved feet, the Greeks, who in the matter of verse measures have left us nothing to invent (unless it be three to be mentioned below), used the following among many others :

Dipody : (a) -^ ^ | - w ||.

Tripodies : (ft) -%/ w | _v | _w || (ist foot resolved).

(7) - w | -w w | - w || (2nd foot resolved).

Tetrapodies : (B) -^ ^ \ -^ \ -<*> \ -w|| (ist foot resolved).

(e) -^ | -w | -w | - w|| (2nd foot resolved)1.

All these they employed full or 'checked,' and singly or in combination. The tripodies and tetrapodies some times took upbeat, and could be varied by additional resolutions and the introduction of monosyllabic feet.

Now, one of the most remarkable features of Shakespeare's blank verse, as compared with that of his contemporaries and all successors except Swinburne, is the frequency with which it falls into one or other of theses-Pleasures2. Moreover he added to them three which I think he must have invented ; at any rate he was the first to make habitual use of them. They are, with or without upbeat,

Dipody : (£) ~ '

1 (a) Versus Adonius, but not so called when 'checked.' (/?) 1st Pherecratean. (y) 2nd Pherecratean. (8) ist Glyconic. (e) 2nd Glyconic.

2 He often uses (a) with an upbeat, and introduces quadrisyllables in all.

28 LYRIC MEASURES IN

Tripody : (17) - w | - • Tetrapody : (6} - w ( - ^ j _ ,

The characteristic of these is the resolution of the last foot, but the other feet also are sometimes resolved1. There are 22 examples in so early a play as The Two Gentlemen.

It is the employment of these lyric measures, even more than its ever-changing tone-colour, which makes his ; blank verse so musical. Its movement is continually varied by their varied lengths, by the change in the position of the resolutions and the multiplication of them, and by the further diversity which results from ^ the presence or absence of an upbeat. They do not of Vourse form anything like the staple of his verse, which consists largely of measures of plain sequence, but are used with a wise economy and so that the dignity of the whole is in no way impaired. In the result we have that infinite variety of rhythmical movement which, even from his own days, the texts have done their best to reduce to a dull monotony by excision of the resolutions.

There are two questions which it naturally occurs o one to ask at this point. Why did Shakespeare from the first introduce into his verse more resolutions than any of his contemporaries, tempting the actors to mangle by clipping the words when they could, and pro voking those responsible for the Quartos and the Folio,

1 These measures & ,, * might be regarded as variations of the prevjous five, but it seemed more helpful to classify them separately.

THE BLANK VERSE

29

and modern editors also, to do their best to eliminate them as improper ; and why did he go on increasing the number until it reached the extraordinary amount found in the later plays ? As has been said, he must have used them to begin with, as does any other poet, because he loved the music of the rhythms they produce ; and I suggest that he went on increasing the number because there came a moment when he made the discovery which has given us not only the finest of all dramatic verse, but the best type of it that the world has ever seen or is likely to see. The idea seems to have flashed upon him quite early, for there are signs of it even in King John and Richard 77; but though he then made a beginning, he was not able to make full use of the inspiration at once because his powers were not yet sufficiently mature. He was like a man who has discovered a gold mine, but who for lack of adequate equipment cannot work it more than partially. Having an ear that nothing escaped, he must have noticed that much of our most ordinary speech falls naturally into lyric form. Take such common remarks as the following : (a) " Give me the \ paper"; "Run to the * Mermaid.'" (ft) "Where did I leave my | hat?" (y) "Not much (8) " He • said he would

more than an \ hour.'

come and

there s no

(e) "Take your time;

(£) "The ef|fect was | ludicrous

dine to- need to (??) "It

morrow, hurry." seem'd

to be impossible" These are all exemplifications of the lyric measures mentioned above. We often speak in lyric pentapodies : "Will you be \ sure to

Yes, we'll send it early to

morrow

send it?" morning."

The question is the First Pherecratean, and the answer

3o LYRIC MEASURES IN

an excellent Sapphic. Only the other day I heard a man shout to another, "Bring the | barrer, | Bill; we shall \ want it later," which is also a perfect Sapphic with admirable rhythm. "Don't be | foolish, it's \ not worth | half the | money," is the classical Hendecasyllabic ; and one day passing along the Strand I heard a man say to another, "Caught him one on the \ jaw, and | knock'd him | silly," again a Hendecasyllabic, perfectly balanced and with a far better rhythm than Tennyson's "O you chorus of indolent reviewers." "I • saw him only yesterday \ at the | play," is an Alcaic. It does not matter that Shakespeare may not have known the names of all these measures. That he recognised and dis tinguished them is certain, for he uses them over and over again ; and the priceless discovery that he made was that the ideal blank verse for drama would not be of that formal and somewhat stilted style in which he and others were writing, cramped by its being composed mainly in a series of pentapodies, but verse made up of the lyric measures of various lengths into which speech instinctively falls — these measures to be some times wholly contained in one line and sometimes divided between two. The gain would be that, while the result would always be verse capable of scansion in pentapodies, yet it would fall on the ear in the spontaneous rhythms which belong to prose no less than to verse, and could be delivered with the naturalness of everyday talk. To effect this combination at last with perfect success was the final triumph of his art. As he was feeling his way towards it, the pentapody became of less and less importance as a unit of the whole ; he broke

THE BLANK VERSE 31

it up, writing rather for the various measures that have been mentioned. Three developments appeared at once — more frequent resolution of the fifth foot, and an increase in the number of monosyllabic and quadri syllable feet. Two other features also now become more noticeable — the use of short measures of two feet (I do not mean two-foot lines so written, but parts of pentapodies broken up in delivery), and the lengthening of the measures occasionally to as many as seven feet1. The following three examples will serve as preliminary illustrations of these changes.

1. Coriolanus is saying good-bye to his mother and .friends as he leaves Rome under sentence of banish ment :

Come, leave your tears :

A brief farewell :

The | beast with | many | heads A |

Butts me a|way. A ||

Nay, mother, | where is your | ancient | courage ?

\Here we have two dipodies, a tripody ending with a monosyllabic foot, the Versus Adonius with the last foot incomplete, and the First Glyconic varied by an additional resolution. But the pentapodies are

Come, leave your tears : a brief farewell : the beast With | many | heads | butts me ajway. A | Nay, mother, || Where is your ancient courage ? Cor. 4. i. i ff.

2. Believing that Cleopatra has put an end to herself as he had been told, Antony has just given himself a mortal wound, when Diomedes comes in saying he

1 He never lengthened the line to seven feet, though several such monstrosities still survive in modern texts.

32 LYRIC MEASURES IN

has a message from her. Antony, in surprise, asks the natural question,

When did she send thee ?

Dio. Now, my lord.

Ant. Where is she ?

Dio. Lock'd in her monument : She had a prophesying fear of what hath come to pass.

The first three sentences are pure prose, though the first is the Versus Adonius ; and the whole might be prose, even though "Lock'd in her | monument" is the First Pherecratean, and though the last sentence is an Alexandrine with the quadri syllabic foot "prophesying." In fact, however, we have two lines and a half of admirably varied verse : an Alexandrine divided between two speakers and four speeches, a pentapody with a quadrisyllable in the fourth place, and a tripody.

When did she | send thee ? |

Dio. Now, my | lord.

Ant. Where | is she? |

Dio. Lock'd

In her \ monu|ment : she | had a | prophesying | fear Of | what hath | come to j pass. A. and C. 4. 14. 119 ff.

The texts end the first line with "Where is she?" and give "Lock'd in her monument : she had a prophesying fear" as a line such as Shakespeare was content to write amid the 'irregular verse' of his later work! But there are plenty of examples of a five-foot or six-foot line ending with a monosyllable uttered by a fresh speaker. It should be noted that the double upbeat "In her" is used with " Lock'd" to form the first foot of the lyric measure 8.

THE BLANK VERSE 33

3. lago speaks, when Cassio has been wounded by Roderigo :

Light, A | gentlemen : I'll | bind it | with my | shirt.

Oth. 5. i. 73.

What could be worse from the Miltonic point of view or for ordinary poetry than these examples ? Yet for dramatic verse they are obviously the very pinnacle of perfection. See also Tempest 2. i. 38 ff. (quoted in Appendix iv), which should be printed as verse.

In the further illustrations that follow1, the lyric measures are referred to by the Greek letters by which they are distinguished above, and the arabic numerals denote plain measures according to the number of their feet. Thus

To | be, or | not to | be : A | that is the | question. (3 . a)

means that the line is composed of three unresolved feet of plain measure, w:-w|-w|_/\|, followed by the Greek measure designated above by the letter (a). The rhythm of the first six words, as distinct from their scansion, is iambic, but this disappears after the mono syllabic foot, and we have the rhythm | o^vy j -^||. We may note here the happy effect of the resolved foot ; if we had had that's the question, the demonstrative would have received too much emphasis, and the latter part of the line would have been trivial and somewhat dead. We may now proceed with our illustrations. The sign |]

1 In the quotations given below in the present chapter the con clusions of the succeeding chapters are so far anticipated that certain words which the texts abbreviate are printed in their full form.

34 LYRIC MEASURES IN

here marks a change of measure, and is independent of the single lines that mark the scansion.

As | mad as the | vex'd | sea, A || singing a|loud. A || (/? . a)

Lear 4. 4. 2. What a \ haste j looks through his | eyes ! A || So should he

look. A || (7. a) Mac. I. 2. 46.

Ring the alarum-jbell. A || Murder and | treason ! || (/3 . a)

Mac. 2. 3. 79. What is a|miss ? A || You are, and | do not | know it.|| (a . /3)

Mac. 2. 3. I O2.

Ay, Greek, | that is my | name. (7) T. and C. 1.3. 246. She is a|lone the Ajrabian | bird, || and I A || (S varied, i)

Cymb. I. 6. 17. I | am : A || what must we | understand by | this ? (i . 8)

A. Y. L. 4. 3. 95. All's | well, sir : || take my | power in the | court for | yours.

(i . e) Cymb. I. 6. 179. Mark it : || the | eldest | of them at | three years | old (i . e)

Cymb. i. i. 58.

Or | blessed | was it we | did ? (7) Temp. i. 2. 61. Dost thou | hear ? || — Your \ tale, sir, would | cure | deafness.

(2 ./3) Temp. i. 2. 1 06. Bore us some j leagues to | sea ; A || where they prejpared

(/3.a) Temp. i. 2. 145. What is the | time of the | day ? A || — Past the | mid-season. ||

(ft . £) Temp. i. 2. 239.

And | do my | spiriting | gently. || — Do so, and | after two | days (7-/3) Temp. i. 2. 298.

What shall I | do ? say | what ; A || what shall I | do ? (/3 . a)

Temp. i. 2. 300.

The following are from Antony and Cleopatra :

O | Anto|ny ! A || O thou Ajrabian | bird ! (2 .$) 3. 2. 12. He : shall to | Parthia. || (^) 2. 3. 32.

THE BLANK VERSE 35

Free, madam ! | no ; || I j made no | such rejport : A || He's | bound un to Oct avia. || (a . 3 . 17) 2. 5. 5 f. And | be un|done by them. || — Good your | highness, | patience.

(£-3) 2. 5. 100. For | I have | gain'd by it. || (£) 2. 6. 52.

The | higher | Nilus | swells, A jj The J more it | promises. || (3 . £) 2. 7. 20 f. Use me | well in it. || (£) 3. 2. 25.

No, A j sweet Oct|avia, ||

You shall | hear from me | still. A || (77 .7) 3. 3. 60 f.

Nay, I have | done. A || Here \ comes the | emperor. || Is it not | strange, Cajnidius ||

(a. £.77) 2.7. i8f.

My I very | hairs do | mutiny. || (77) 3. n. 13. And | earns a | place in the | story. || (7) -3. 13. 46. Caesar sits | down in | Alex|andria, || where I | will oppose his | fate. A || (d. 4) 3. 13. 168 f. He : will not | fight with | me, Do|mitius ? || — No. A || (9. i)

4. 2. I.

And \ leave his | master | Antony : || for this | pains A || Caesar hath hang'd him. (97 . 2 . a) 4. 6. 1 5 f. Kiss it, my | warrior. || (£) 4. 8. 24. A | wake, sir, ajwake ; A | speak to us. || (77) 4. 9. 28. And | time is | at his | period. || (17) 4. 14. 10. Too | late, good | Diomed. || (£) 4. 14. 128. Bejneath the | visiting | moon.|| — O, \ quietness, | lady. ||

(7. a) 4. 15. 68.

Hear me, good | madam. || (a) 5. 2. 100. This is my | treasurer : || let him | speak, my | lord. (£. 3)

5- 2. 141. To • meet Mark | Antony : |j sirrah | Iras, j go. (£. 3)

5. 2. 228.

The combinations (a . /3) and (y8 . a) are especially common.

3—2

3 6 THE VERSE PERIOD

The Verse Period

The point may be further illustrated by an examina tion of the structure of his verse periods. It was his constant aim, after the earliest years of production, so to manipulate the verse — by stops in the line, by linking the lines (enjambemenf), and by the introduction of short lines and Alexandrines — that it should not, when uttered, present a monotonous sequence of five-foot lengths. The result is that in its most perfect form it falls upon the ear as a succession of measures of continually varied length, like those of an elaborate lyric. As one listens, it is only occasionally possible to tell where the written lines begin and end. Even the plain talk of a council- chamber is thus instinctively modulated :

i. Duke. There is no composition in these news That gives them credit. ||

First Sen. Indeed they are disproportion'd ; ||

My letters say || a hundred and seven galleys. ||

Duke. And mine a hundred and forty. ||

Sec. Sen. And mine two hundred. ||

But though they jump not, on a just account — || As in these cases, || where the aim reports, || 'Tis oft with difference J| — yet do they all confirm A Turkish fleet, ||and bearing up to Cyprus. Oth. i. 3. i ff.

The actual measures of this period, much of which might be prose, are : 7. ^8. 2. y8. 7.2.5. 2. 3.^.5. 3. Here is a beautiful short one :

2. To cry to the sea that roar'd to us, || to sigh To the winds || whose pity, sighing back again, || Did us but loving wrong. Temp. I. 2. 1496°.

Period: S. a. .8.

THE VERSE PERIOD 37

The fine passage, Macbeth 2. 2. 48, affords an admirable example :

3. Why did you bring these daggers from the place ? || They must j lie | there : || go carry them, || and smear The sleepy grooms with blood. ||

Macb. I'll go no more : ||

I am afraid to thfnk what 1 have done ; || Look on it a gain I | dare not. ||

Lady M. Infirm of purpose ! ||

Give \ me the | daggers : || the sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures : || 'tis the eye of childhood || That fears a painted devil. || If he do bleed, || I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, || For • it must | seem | their guilt. || [Exit. Knocking within.

Macb. Whence is that knocking ? ||

How • is it | with me, || when | every | noise apjpals me?1 || What hands are here ? || ha ! they pluck out mine eyes ! || Will all great Neptune's oceSn || wash this blood Clean from my hand ? || No, this my hand || will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, || Making the green one red.

The period is, allowing for voice-pauses, 5.2.2.4.2.5. /2. 2 .2.5.3.3.2.5.3. (Knocking) a. 2. ft.z.fi.i). 4. 2. 6./3.

It has not been perceived that 'Lady Macbeth's speeches in the sleep-walking scene (Act v. Sc. i), which have always been printed as prose, are really verse, and very fine verse too. The reader will see how enormously they gain in solemnity by being delivered in measure, and that the lines drawn out in monosyllabic feet are as wonderfully effective as any that Shakespeare ever wrote.

1 The Folio gives 1st with a false stress. "How is it with you ?" (without abbreviation) occurs several times as a form of greeting.

3 8 THE VERSE PERIOD

But for the retention of the iambic scheme, the recog nition would doubtless have been made long ago ; but editors recognise no monosyllabic foot and would hesitate to produce lines with initial trochees. I number the lines from the beginning of the first quotation.

4. Lady M. Yet here's a spot.

*****

(a) Lady M. Out, A | damned | spot ! A || out, I say ! || — One : A | two : || why then 'tis time to do it. || —

Hell is murky ! || —

Fie, my lord, fie ! || a soldier, and afear'd ? || 5

What need we fear who knows it, || when none can call Our power to account ? || Yet who would have thought The old man to have had so | much blood | in him ! || (Doctor. Do you mark that ?) 9

(b) Lady M. The thane of Fife had a wife :l A || where is she

now ? || - —

What, will | these | hands | ntver be | clean ? 2 1| — No more of that, my lord, || no more of that : ||

You • mar | all with this | starting. || [3

***.**

The measures of the preceding lines are (a) vv. 2-8 : 3. 2. 2. 3. 2. a. 3. 3. 5. 7; (&)vv. 10-13: y. a. 5. 3. 2.y.

(c) Lady M. Here's the j smell of the | blood | still : A |j all

the | perfumes Of A|rabia|| will not | sweeten this | little | hand. || 15

Oh, | oh, | oh !

*****

A beautiful period: /3.T/ (with quadrisyllable). €.3.

1 These words seem to be part of a song or rime, or a parody of one with " thane " substituted perhaps for baillie, miller, or the like.

2 The Folio, with its passion for abbreviation even in prose, ab surdly gives the weak form ne're, and is followed by editors. The word is to be drawn out and dwelt upon ; we want both syllables and every letter.

THE VERSE PERIOD 39

(a) Lady M. Wash your hands : || put on your nightgown : ||

look not so | pale. j|

I tell you yet again, A || Banquo is buried ; || 18

He cannot come out of his grave. || — (Doct. Even so ?)

To bed, to bed. j|

There's knocking at the gate ; || come, come, come, come, || 20

Give me your hand. |j What's \ done | cannot be | un done. || — To bed, to bed, to bed. || [Exit.

Period: 2.2 .a. 3 .a. y8. 2. 3.2. a. y. 3. For the division of the Alexandrine, v. 1 7, into three even portions cp. the beautiful line, Lear 2. 2. 168,

Fortune, good night : || smile once more : || turn thy wheel !

5. Pros. The fringed curtains of thine eye advance, || And | say what thou | seest | yond. ||

Mir. What is it, a spirit ? ||

Lord, how it looks about ! || Believe me, sir, || It | carries a | brave | form, || but it is a spirit. ||

Pros. No, wench, it eats and sleeps || and hath such senses As we have, such. |] This gallant which thou seest Was in the wreck ; || and but he is something stain'd With grief, || that's beauty's canker, || thou mightst call him A goodly person : || he hath lost his fellows, || And strays about to find them. ||

Mir. , I might call him

A thing divine ; || for nothing natural I ever saw so noble. ||

Pros. [Aside.~\ It goes on, I see,

As my : soul | prompts it. || Spirit, fine spirit ! || I'll free thee Within two days for this. || Temp. I. 2. 408-21.

Allowing for voice-pauses, the period is: 5.y8.ct.y8.2. $. 2. fi. 6.5. 8. 2. €.3. 3. e.6. 5. a. 8. It will be noticed

40 THE VERSE PERIOD

that only the first of the three five-foot measures tallies with the line-divisions of the text.

The next example, Romeo and Juliet 5. 3. 112 ff., is printed as it would be delivered, with a fresh line for each measure. It is essentially a lyric.

6. Eyes, \ look your | last; A ||

Arms, take your | last emjbrace ; A ||

And lips, O you, the doors of breath, ||

Seal with a righteous | kiss A ||

A dateless bargain to engrossing death. ||

Come, bitter | conduct, ||

Come, un|savoury | guide ; A ||

Thou | desperate | pilot, | now at | once A ||

Run on the dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark ! ||

Here's to my love ! || [Drinks.

O true apothecary, thy drugs are quick ! || —

Thus with a kiss I die. |j

Period: 2.^.4.^.5^.7.8.6^.5.^.

The passage which follows is given first in its lyric form:

7. Cleo. Met'st thou my posts ?

Alex. Ay, madam, Twenty several messengers. Why do you send so thick ?

Cleo. Who's born that day When I forget to send to Antony, Shall die a beggar. Ink and | paper, | Charmian. |j Welcome, my good Alexas. Did I, | Charmian, || Ever love | Caesar | so ? A |j

Char. O that j brave | Caesar !

Cleo. Be choked with such another emphasis ! Say, the brave Antony.

THE VERSE PERIOD 41

Char. The valiant Caesar !

Cleo. By Isis, I will give thee bloody teeth, If thou with Caesar paragon again my man of men.

Char. By your most | gracious | pardon, I sing but after you. A. and C. I. 5. 61-73.

Period: a. 1 .6.01.2.5.2 .17. £.£.$. 3. 5. £.(1.5. 7.^8.3. Note again the variety of the measures. As written, the passage runs thus :

Cleo. Met'st thou my posts ?

Alex. Ay, madam, twenty several messengers. Why do you send so thick ?

Cleo. Who's born that day

When I forget to send to Antony, Shall die a beggar. Ink and paper, Charmian. Welcome, my good Alexas. Did I, Charmian, Ever love | Caesar | so ? A |

Char. O that | brave | Caesar !

Cleo. Be choked with such another emphasis ! Say, the brave Antony.

Char. The valiant Caesar !

Cleo. By Isis, I will give thee bloody teeth, If thou with Caesar paragon again My man of men.

Char. By your most gracious pardon, .

I sing but after you.

The next two passages are first printed according to the lyric measures.

8. Cleo. In praising Antony I have dispraised Caesar.

Char. Many times, madam.

Cleo. 'I am | paid for it | now. Lead me from hence, I faint : O Iras, Charmian ! — 'Tis no matter. Go to the fellow, good Alexas ;

42 THE VERSE PERIOD

Bid him re|port the | feature | of Ocjtavia, ||

Her years, her inclination ;

Let him | not leave out the colour of her hair :

Bring me j word | quickly. A. and C. 2. 5. 108-14.

Period: 5^.7.^8.^.2.8.5.3.6.2. The first line is a hendecasyllabic with upbeat. As written, the passage runs as follows :

Cleo. In praising Antony I have dispraised Caesar.

Char. Many times, madam.

Cleo. 'I am | paid for it | now. A | Lead me from j

hence,

I faint : O Iras, Charmian ! — 'Tis no matter. Go to the fellow, good Alexas ; bid him Re | port the j feature | of Ocjtavia, her | years, 112

Her inclination ; let him not leave out The colour of her | hair : bring me | word | quickly.

Note the divided quadrisyllable in v. 1 1 2 -tavia, her, the last syllable of which forms an upbeat for the next measure.

9. Pom. Show me which way.

Men. These \ three | world-sharers, [| These competitors, Are in thy vessel : Let me cut the cable ; And when we are put off, Fall to their throats :

All there • is is | thine. (F. there is thine.} Pom. Ah, this thou shouldst have done, And \ not have | spoke of it ! || In : me 'tis | villan|y ; In thee it had been good service.

A. and C. 2. 7. 75-81.

Period: a. £.3 .2 .3 .3. a. 2. 3. ^.3.^8. As written, the passage runs as follows :

43

Pom. Show me which way.

Men. These | three | world-sharers, | these competitors, Are in thy vessel : let me cut the cable ; And when we are put | off, A | fall to their throats : All there is is thine.

Pom. Ah, this thou shouldst have done,

And j not have | spoke of it ! In | me 'tis | villan|y ; 80

In thee it had been good service.

Note the divided quadrisyllable spoke of it ! In in v. 80. The Folio seems to have omitted a second is in v. 79 ; cp. v. 68 "Wilt thou be lord of the whole world?"

10. Ant. Come, let us all take hands, ||

Till that the conquering wine hath steep'd our sense [| In soft and delicate Lethe. A. and C. 2. 7. 112 ff.

Period: ft-S-y-

11. Messenger. Most gracious majesty, || —

Cleo. , Didst thou behold

Octavia ? ||

Mess. Ay, dread queen. [|

Cleo. Where ? ||

Mess. Madam, in Rome

I look'd her in the face, || and saw her led

Between her brother and Mark Antony. || Cleo. Is she as tall as me ? A || Mess. She is | not, madam. ||

Cleo. Didst hear her speak ? || Is she | shrill- A tongued or

low ? ||

Mess. Madam, I heard her speak; ||she is | low- A | voiced. A || Cleo. That's not so good. j| He cannot like her long. || Charm. Like her ! || O Isis ! 'tis impossible. || Cleo. I think so, Charmian : || dull of tongue and dwarfish. ||

What majesty is in her gait ? || Remember, ||

If e'er thou lookedst on majesty. A. and C. 3. 3. 7 ff.

Period: 3. 17. 2. i. 5. j.ft. £.2. 3. £. 2. 2. 3. i. 4. £.3. 4. i.e.

44 THE VERSE PERIOD

Measures of seven feet are the least frequent and (as in this example) not always employed for any special purpose. In the following fine passage, Antony and Cleo patra 5. 2. 55 ff., the extended measure occurs twice, in each case with calculated and remarkably powerful effect :

12. Cleo. ...Shall they | hoist me | up A ||

And show me to the shouting varletry Of censuring Rome ? || Rather a ditch in Egypt || Be | gentle | grave un to me ! || rather on Nilus' mud || 58 Lay me stark naked, || and let the water-flies || Blow me injto ab|horring ! || rather make My country's high pyramides my gibbet, || And hang me up in chains !

The period, again with allowance for the voice-pauses, is 3. 7. /?.3./3. a. 3«/3. 7. 3. By the lengthening of v. 58 to an Alexandrine we get in rather on Nilus1 mud an echo of the first /3, Rather a ditch in Egypt, which takes the ear with a peculiarly satisfying effect ; an effect that is even increased by the fact that the second ^8 is, with faultless instinct, in the checked form, in order that it may not be a mere repetition of the full form preceding. The symmetrical correspondence between the 3 . 7 at the beginning and the 7 . 3 at the end, though probably unintentional, is worth noticing. The whole period, which, whether for its structure or its poetry and dramatic power, seems to me as far beyond praise as anything that Shakespeare ever wrote, moves forward like a gathering wave. Rising rapidly to its full height at the first 7, it then gradually sinks in the shorter measures, though with no loss of energy, to the Adonius

THE VERSE PERIOD 45

Lay me stark naked, rises again with increasing strength to the second 7, and at last breaks suddenly with all its accumulated weight in the final tripody. The total effect is crowned by the unforced alliterations : shall, show, shouting, censuring; Rome, rather ; rather; Nilus, naked; blow, abhorring; make, my, pyramides, my, me; to which must be added, for their assonance cannot be missed, the initial consonants of gibbet and chains. It is a striking instance of the Folio's passion for abbreviations, that it actually gives nak'd in order to get rid of the resolution.

It was perceived long ago that, as he went on, Shakespeare steadily increased the number of lines written in the full measure, that is, ending with an unstressed syllable. If attention is paid to the termina tions of the lyric measures now under discussion, it will be found that from the time when he first began to break up the lines by pauses these measures frequently end in that manner. In other words, he very soon came to have little respect for the rule which, while admitting exceptions, directs that a break in the line should by preference occur after a syllable that is stressed. When he was approaching his maturity it had become for him no rule at all. The point seemed worth noticing because the canon, which was generally observed by the poets of the iyth and i8th centuries, is sometimes men tioned as a matter of importance in modern works on prosody.

It will be interesting to compare these periods with something very different. Julius Caesar as a whole exhibits this breaking and linking of the lines with not

46 THE VERSE PERIOD

much less frequency than do some of the later plays ; yet it would be difficult to find a passage which shows a more marked contrast to what had now become Shakespeare's practice than the first portion of Antony's famous speech over Caesar's body. It is composed of an almost uninterrupted succession of single verses, of which the first twelve are a fair specimen.

Friends, A | Romans, | countrymen, lend me your ears ;

I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is oft interred with their bones :

So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus

Hath told you Caesar was ambitious :

'If it | were so, it | was a grievous fault,

And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest —

For Brutus is an honourable man ;

So are they all, all honourable men —

Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.

Three only of the thirty-six verses of this first part of the speech are broken by a strong stop ; once only does the sense run on to the next line without a break, and in twenty-three cases the sense, if not the sentence, is complete at the end of the line. Five lines end with the same word, "ambitious," apparently with the scansion am\bitious x, in which case each is a tetrapody. But short lines have usually two or three feet, and the

1 Since the / had the sound of a soft c, it seems probable that the second i of this word and of ambition, ambitiously, was always slightly heard, about as much as the i in glorious. Thus they would always make a trisyllabic foot.

THE VERSE PERIOD 47

rarity of the four-foot length seems to show that Shake speare regarded it as the least satisfactory. If on the other hand we scan am\biciousf\ , we hardly improve the verse, and this scansion of the word does not occur elsewhere in Shakespeare. The opening line, although without upbeat, has no resolution before the third foot. It therefore not only belongs to a rhythmical type that he had long been careful to use sparingly, but is also a specimen of that type to which there are very few parallels ; for it begins with a monosyllabic foot followed by an unresolved trochee, "Friends, A | Romans | ." It would be impossible to begin a verse with a move ment more dull and heavy. Such a beginning is indeed admirably suited to the grief which Antony feels and wishes to display, but I incline to think that that was not the only reason for its employment. A few lines fall into the short measures that we have been considering, notably these two,

He was my friend, A || faithful and just to me. (a . ft) When that the poor have cried, A || Caesar hath wept, (ft . a)

but even with them the dominating single-line structure still vexes the ear. Besides all this, the frequent recurrence of words of trochaic rhythm coinciding with the foot-scansion (such as noble Brutus, bury Caesar, grievous, was ambitious, many captives, honourable, ransoms, coffers'] is peculiarly trying when one hears the speech delivered. It is hardly too much to say that, if one judged these thirty-six lines merely from the rhythmical point of view, one might seriously doubt whether they were not the work of a poet much inferior

48 THE VERSE PERIOD

to him who wrote the two speeches just made by Antony in the Senate House.

I do not know whether the rhythmic poverty of the passage has been the subject of remark, but in any case there can be only one explanation, — it is intentional. It is indeed just a superb tour de force in its affecta tion of artless simplicity, and never perhaps has Shake speare's unapproachable genius shown itself greater than in this achievement of the utmost oratorical effective ness in spite pf, and yet partly by means of, a deliberate rejection of rhythmical grace and form. Antony poses as a poor speaker, "no orator as Brutus is" but "a plain blunt man," the utmost of whose art is to "speak right on" ; and in that r61e, that he may gain the ear of his audience in preparation for his ultimate purpose, he adopts in this prelude a style which superficially is as inartistic as can well be imagined. The affectation of simpleness in public speaking is indeed very ancient, for Homer hints that it was largely the secret of Odysseus's persuasiveness :

But whenever Odysseus full of wiles rose up, he stood and looked down, with eyes fixed upon the ground, and waved not his staff whether backwards or forwards, but held it stiff, like to a man of no understanding ; one would deem him to be churlish and naught but a fool. But when he uttered his great voice from his chest, and words like unto the snowflakes of winter, then could no mortal man contend with Odysseus1.

Yet surely no orator either of ancient or later days has ever surpassed Shakespeare's Antony in this art of

1 Iliad in. 2i6ff. Leaf's Translation.

THE VERSE PERIOD 49

veiling art, nor yet again in the adroitness with which he slips off the self-imposed fetters when at last he feels it is safe to do so and the effect will be most telling. Then we get, after the pause he makes at "great Caesar fell,"

O, what a fall was there, my countrymen !

Then 'I, and you, and all of us f£ll down,

While blo6dy treason flourish'd over us.

O, now you weep ; || and I perceive you feel

The dint of pity : || these are gracious drops. ||

Kind souls, || what, weep you when you but behold

Our Caesar's vesture wounded ? || Look you here, ||

Here is himself, A || marr'd, as you see, with traitors. ||

Period: 5.5.5.2.5.3.1 .7.2 .a. /3.

Strikingly effective in this context, just because we feel, as they are forced upon the ear, that nothing could be better, are the three five-foot measures, hammered out in iambi in the second line and in strongly accentuated trochees in the third, and forming an admirable contrast to the varied measures that follow. We may also note the satisfying effect of the three trochees "Caesar's vesture wounded" in contrast to the immediately pre ceding iambic sequences of " you but behold."

CHAPTER III THE EARLY TEXTS

Abolition of Resolutions and other Abbreviations in the Verse : Richard II, Richard III

THE reader being now convinced, as I hope, that Shakespeare was distinguished from his contem poraries by an exceptional love of the rhythms produced by resolution, so that no preference for the plain norm is likely to have restrained him from introducing a resolved foot when its presence would be natural and unobjectionable, we may now proceed to discuss a question that is of cardinal importance in connexion with his versification, — how far the early texts are to be trusted in this respect. By "the early texts" I mean the Quartos and the First Folio.

As has been already said, the Folio is for twenty plays our sole authority. On comparison with the Quartos it is found to exhibit the same bias against resolutions as do modern editors, whose judgement, it may be supposed, has been largely influenced by it. While its text differs from that of the Quartos in numberless places and ways, its most characteristic differentia consists in the persistent elimination of this feature of the verse. In some plays this seems to have been done in almost every place where there was opportunity, so that only those resolutions would appear

THE EARLY TEXTS 51

to have survived which were fortunate enough to escape notice. Other plays have suffered less. As a rule the end is achieved by abbreviations, and so recklessly is this practice indulged in that often the line has become actually unmetrical, or the stressing of the words is false and absurd. The Quartos show the same tendency, but to nothing like the same extent save in the case of Lear and Othello. It may be added that those concerned in the production of the Quartos and Folio — whether scribes, revisers, or printers — appear to have been almost entirely unable to appreciate rhythmical variety in verse. They were happy if they could give the line ten syllables regardless of the emphasis required by particular words, but an eleventh, the so-called 'hypermetrical' syllable, they made continual efforts to abolish. In short, any line which departed much from the regular beat of the plain disyllabic norm evidently presented a problem which they made no effort to solve. Evidence of this is found in every play, and the notes on Richard II and Richard III which follow in the present chapter and those on other plays in the two succeeding chapters, together with the matter contained in Chapter vi, form but a small portion of the whole. Even at the risk of wearying the reader — who, however, can stop when he is satisfied — it seemed desirable to give the proofs at some considerable length, since the effect of the evidence in such an inquiry is largely cumulative, and if a smaller quantity were given, the case against the early texts might seem less overwhelming than it really is.

When the play under review is a Quarto play, the quotation is first given from the text of the authoritative

4—2

52 THE EARLY TEXTS

Quarto (QJ and the reading of the Folio is printed underneath it. An asterisk prefixed denotes that the lire, as given by the Quarto or Folio, is unmetrical or shows false stress1.

i. Disjburst I Disburst I

Richard II

duely | to his | highnesse | souldiers|j.

to his \ highnesse \ souldi\ers A ||. I. I. 127.

Soldier is a trisyllable in Shakespeare, and here, as else where, F. shortens the apparent Alexandrine; but the line shows a resolution in the fifth foot.

2. Thou | goest to | Coventry, A | there to be|hold.

go'st to i. 2. 45.

3. And \ why thou | comest thus | knightly | clad in | armes.

com'st thus i. 3. 12.

*4. Against whom comes thou ? and what's thy quarrell r

* com'st thou ? 1.3. 33.

Q.'s mere misprint and F.'s contraction rob the line of a foot. We should read,

A | gainst whom | comest | thou ? and | what is thy | quarrel ?

"What's" is too colloquial for such a formal speech, but the error is common and is perpetuated in modern texts.

5. That he is a traitour foule and dangerous, i. 3. 39. he's a

*6. Sweare by the duty that y'owe to God. i. 3. 180.

you owe to heaven.

The substitution of "heaven" for "God," charac-

1 Readers not acquainted with the early texts should note that they habitually spell "Ay" as "I" and "than" as "then."

RICHARD II 53

teristic of the Folio, was necessitated by an enactment in James I's reign.

7. Oh had't | beene a ] stranger, | not my | child. I. 3. 239.

F. omits the line. Q.'s abbreviation misplaces the stress and needlessly makes the line a 'pure trochaic.'

8. That \ thou re|turnest no | greeting | to thy | friends ?

te\turmt no \ I. 3. 254.

9. Which :' then blew | bitterjly a|gainst our | faces. ||

face. I. 4. 7.

To avoid the 'double ending.'

10. What \ comfort, | man ? how | ist with \ aged | Gaunt ?

2. i. 72.

And so F., to keep the line to ten syllables, as in count less cases.

11. Should \ dying | men A | flatter with | those that | live?

\flatter \ those 2. I. 88.

Q. is no doubt right, since the monosyllabic foot is followed by a resolution far more often than not. Cp. nos. 2, 74.

12. Thou • now a|dying | sayest thou | flatterest | me.

| sayst thou \flatterst \ me. 2. I. 90.

13. If • you doe | wrongfully seaze | Herefords | rightes.

| Herford's \ right.

2. I. 2O1.

14. Eart be disburdened | with a j liberall | tongue.

Er't be dis\burthen'd \ 2. I. 229.

Both wrongly abolish the double upbeat. The r was rolled, and we get the difficult combination errtbt.

*I5. Tends \ that thou wouldst | speake to the | Duke of |

Herford ? 2. I. 232. Tends \ that thoudst \ speake to ttf \ Du. of \ Here\ford ?

54

F. rightly gives Hereford, but abolishes two resolutions. Q.'s "Herford" robs the line of a foot.

1 6. That which his | noble | auncestors archived with j blowes. his | ancestors a\tchiev'd 2. I. 254.

F. shortens the apparent Alexandrine, but there is a quadrisyllabic. Cp. nos. 50, 52, and see on no. 70.

1 7. More than your | lord's departure | weep not, | more is not | seen. | moris

not | seene. 2. 2. 25.

1 8. Hath \ broken his | staffe, resignd his stewardship.

broke his 2. 2. 59.

19. My Lord, I had forgot to tel your Lordship : Today as I came by I called there. 2. 2. 94. *My lord, I had forgot

*To tell your lordship, to day I came by and call'd there.

F. is an habitual offender in the misdivision of lines, and here tumbles into mere prose.

20. What f are there no | posts disjpatcht for | Ire|land ? What, \ are there \ pastes 2. 2. 103.

The Ire- of "Ireland" is disyllabic, as was often the case , tire, dire, desire. See Appendix v.

21. Tone is my | soveraigne, whom | both my | oath. Ttfone is my 2. 2. 1 12.

Read "The one is" etc. Sovereign was a trisyllable.

22. Wei somewhat we must do : Come cousin

*Ile dispose of you : Gentlemen, go muster up your men, *And meete me presently at Barkly : *I should to Plashie too, but time will not permit : *A11 is uneven, and everything is left at sixe and seaven.

2. 2. 116 ff.

RICHARD II

55

And so F., except that it speciously adds "Castle" in v. 1 1 8, to make a pentapody. No doubt the true text is,

Well, • somewhat | we must | do : Come, A | cousin, | / will dis pose of | you : Gentlemen, go | muster | up your | men, and | meet me Presently at | Berkeley. I | should to | Flashy | too, But j time will | not perjmit ; A all is un even, And j everything is | left at | six and | seven. 23. For us to levie power

*Projportion|able | to the | ene[my || is all unpossible.

2. 2. 125.

F., according to its habit, gives th' enemy ', destroying the metre ; but Q. is right, save in its misdivision and misreading of " /^possible " as "##possible."

24. And And

that is the | wavering | commons, for their love that's the \

2. 2. 129.

25. We | three here | part that | nere shall | meete a|gaine.

nev'r shall 2. 2. 143.

F.'s apostrophe here can hardly mean that the elided vowel is not pronounced ; it appears to mark, as in many other cases (in tti dark^ for instance), that the vowel is an { extra' syllable, that is, that we have a tri syllabic foot. On the other hand, it may be that the Folio revisers forgot, as do some of their modern successors, that what they print for the eye was originally meant to be spoken on the stage, and were satisfied if their page showed a decasyllabic line. The question is not easy to decide positively, but the conclusion to which I have myself been led is that the apostrophe in the early texts sometimes means that the vowel is to be silent, and sometimes merely marks an c extra'

56 THE EARLY TEXTS

unstressed syllable. It maybe added that Q.'s nere cannot be genuine here ; the form was too common to have been altered into the rare nev'r. Cp. nos. 29, 51.

a

26. I had : thought, my | lord, to have | learned his | health of j

you. learned his 2. 3. 24.

27. Evermore | thanke's the exchequer | of the j poore

thankes, th1 exchequer 2. 3. 65.

28. I am a subject ; And I | challenge | law, atturnies are denied me.

And \ challenge 2. 3. 134.

29. And \ let him | never see | joy that breakes that oath.

nev'r see Cp. no. 25. 2. 3. 151.

30. Discomfortable coosen knowst thou not 3. 2. 36.

| knowest thou \ not

31. And darts his light through | every | guilty hole. 3. 2. 43.

lightning through \ ev'ry \

F.'s lightning is a false correction, but note ev'ry.

32. Can wash the balme off | from an an|ointed king.

balme from \ an an\ointed 3. 2. 55.

33. Over|throwes thy joies friends, fortune and thy state. Ore\throwes thy joy es, 3. 2. 72.

34 (a). A j gainst thy j majesty : | boies with womens voices.

majest\y : and j boyes with 3. 2. 113.

A trisyllabic foot followed by a pause is a favourite rhythm with Shakespeare, but the Folio regards it as improper, and converts the line into an Alexandrine.

34 (b). Three Judasses, each one thrise worse then Judas, Would \ they | make | peace r A | terrible hel, Make war upon their spotted soules for this. 3. 2.

The Folio gives

Would they make peace ? terrible Hell make warre Upon their spotted soules for this offence.

RICHARD II 57

Boggling at the finest of three exceptionally powerful lines, which he thinks wants a foot, the Folio reviser botches the passage with a paltry tag, so that the whole ends in bathos. This is no more than may be expected of the Folio anywhere, but it is not a little remarkable that the depravation should be accepted by modern editors, and apparently without misgiving. It must, however, be remembered that they are fettered by a prosody that does not fit the verse, and are therefore unable to allow for monosyllabic feet. The effect of these here is tremendous, as in

Out, A | damned | spot! A | out, I | say ! Macb. 5. I. 39. What, will | these | hands | never be | clean ? ib. 48.

It may be doubted whether the Quarto is right in making "hel" a vocative ; the sentence is surely an imprecation.

35. The power I have, discharge, and let themgoe. 3. 2. 211.

let 'em goe.

This example, which does not strictly belong here, illustrates F.'s tendency to interpolate vulgarisms, a point to be discussed later.

36. Lest you mis|take the | heavens are | over our | heads.

ore your \ bead.

3- 3- 17- Note that the Quarto line shows three resolutions.

37. And \ with him are the | Lord Aujmerle, Lord | Salisbury, And \ with him the \ Lord 3. 3. 27.

F. shortens the apparent Alexandrine, not recognising quadrisyllable feet. The line might be scanned, but less well, with resolution of the fifth foot,

And \ with him | are the | Lord Au merle, Lord | Salisbury, ||

5 8 THE EARLY TEXTS

38. Through brazen trumpet send the breath of

°f

parlee. || park. A |

3- 3- 33- F. abolishes the 'double ending.' Cp. nos. 40, 47.

39. Of fire and water, when their thundring shocke 3. 3. 56.

thundring smoake

The Qq. and F. alike are utterly inconsistent in their spelling of words with -er- like lingering, wandering, watery, etc. See no. 42 and Ch. vn.

40. Is dangerous treason : he is come to open || 3. 3. 92.

to ope A || Cp. no. 38.

41. I j talke but | idleley, | and you | laugh at | me.

idly 3. 3. 171.

42. Downe, downe I come, like | glistring \ Phaeton.

3- 3- J?8- So F. See no. 39.

43. They will \ talke of state, for every one doth so. 3. 4. 27. They'le \ talke

44. He that hath | suffered | this dis ordered | spring.

He that hath \ suffered \ this disorder' 'd \ spring. 3. 4. 48.

The Quarto may be right, for the rhythm of Macbeth i. 7. 80 closely resembles that of its line here and makes an equally disagreeable jingle :

Each corporal agent to this terrible feat.

On the other hand the assonance in F.'s line is only less unpleasing, and I incline to think that Shakespeare wrote

He that hath suffer'd this disordered spring.

See nos. 67, 72 ("disordered string").

45. Tis doubt he will be. Letters came last night

To a | deare | friend of the | good | Duke of | Yorkes.

3. 4.69 f.

RICHARD II 59

F. gives 'Tis doubted he will be, and unmetrically omits good.

46. Post you to | London and | you will | find it | so.

London \ and you1 1 \ finde it \ so. 3. 4. 90.

47. And am I last that knowes it ? Oh thou | thinkest. ||

think1 st. A || Cp. no. 38. 3. 4. 94.

48. Scornes to unsay what once it hath delivered. || 4. I. 9.

de\liver' 'd. \\

49. Aumerle, thou | liest, his | honour is as true 4. i. 44.

thou | fy'st, bis |

50. To j all his | landes and | signiories :

when he is rejturnd

when bee's returned 4. I. 89.

Cp. nos. 1 6, 52. F. would take the line to be an Alexandrine.

51. That \ honourable | day shall j never be | scene. 4. 1.91.

nire be \ seene.

52. Bull. Why B. (Bishop) is Norffolke dead ?

Carl. As | surely as I | live my | lord.

As sure as I \ live 4. I. 102.

F., knowing nothing of quadrisyllables, seeks to avoid having four feet in the last half of the Alexandrine. Cp. nos. 1 6, 50.

53. To unjdecke the pompous body of a king. 4. I. 250. T'un\deck

54- and made no deeper woundes ?

Oh | flattering | glasse. 4. I. 279.

So Q3, with misdivision ; the passage, as also no. 53, is absent from Qx and Q2. F. gives

And made no deeper wounds ? Oh flatt 'ring glasse.

55. He shall thinke that thou which | knowest the | way

know'st 5. i. 62.

60 THE EARLY TEXTS

56. Whilst | he from the | one side | to the | other | turning

. Whilst \ be from \ one side \ 5. 2. 1 8.

57. What \ newes from j Oxford ? do these justs and | triumphs j

hold ? | Hold those \ justs and \ triumphs ?

5. 2. 52.

F. again removes a quadrisyllable; cp. nos. 16, 50, 52.

58. What is the | matter my lord ? 5. 2. 73. What's the \ matter

Cp. no. 4 and note.

59. Ho, A | who is with|in there ? | saddle my | horse.

Ho, A | who's within 5. 2. 74.

60. Why, what | is it my | lord ? 5.2. 76. Why, what \ is't my \ lord ?

61. A | doozen of them | here have j tane the | sacrament,

5- 2. 97. So F. Cp. nos. 1 6, 50, 52. For tane see Ch. vn.

62. Can : no man tell me of [ my un|thriftie | sonne ?

tell of \ my' 5. 3. I.

63. And • from the | commonst \ creature | pluck a | glove.

5- 3- !?•

So Q. and F., but Q2, Q3 and Q4 give commonest, no doubt rightly.

64. As • disso|lute as | desperat, | yet through | both,

desperate 5. 3. 2O.

65. Our j scene is | altred | from a | serious ) thing,

altered 5. 3. 79.

See on no. 67.

66. I j know she is [ come to pray for your foule sinne.

/ | know she's \ come 5. 3. 82.

67. This | festred | joynt cut off, the rest rest sound.

fester'd 5. 3. 85.

See no. 65. It is difficult to believe that Shakespeare would have changed the character of such words as

RICHARD // 6 1

fester, alter, enter, so much as to write festred, altred, entred, etc., and it remains to decide between festered and fester' 'd. Considering the frequency with which the full forms occur in the better Quartos and the Folio's bias towards clipped forms, it seems probable that we should almost always print the full form where we find the form in -tred. A scribe or printer might naturally change festered into festred, but the mere addition of d is so common in past tenses and participles that he is not likely to have changed festerd, if he had found it, into festred. It must also be remembered that the apos trophe (as here in F.) does not always and necessarily mean that the vowel was silent (see on no. 25). More over, since the r was rolled, there is practically no difference in pronunciation between festrred,festerrd, and festered, if the last is said with a strong r. In other words, festred does not imply the pronunciation fest-red, any more than fester d implies festud, so that the tri syllabic foot still remains. If Shakespeare always wrote the full forms, the divergence would be explained by the tendency of the Folio and Quartos to eliminate 4 extra' syllables at least to the eye; it did not matter to them which e they omitted. See Ch. vn.

68. But for our | trusty | brother in | law and the | Abbot,

brother-in~\law, the \ Abbot,

5- 3- J37- The Folio's abolition of the resolution makes nonsense,

as the abbot was not the brother-in-law.

69. I cannot do it : yet He | hammer it | out. 5. 5. 5.

| hammer't \ out.

70. To • threede the | posterne of a | small | needles | eie.

of a | needles eye. 5« 5* I7*

62 THE EARLY TEXTS

The Folio's difficulty about the scansion has also been felt by modern scholars, some of whom have argued in all seriousness that Shakespeare must have spelt and pronounced needle as neeld. With the natural voice- pause after "postern" the verse runs quite smoothly; the quadrisyllabic is frequently broken by a pause (see Appendix iv).

71. May teare a passage | thorow the | flinty ribs 5. 5. 2O.

through the

72. To | checke time | broke in | a disordered | string.

disorder* d \ 5. 5. 46.

73. While I stand fooling heere his I jacke of the | clocke.

his \ jacke a'th* \ clocke.

5- 5- 60.

74. What art | thou, and | how | comest thou.j hither?

contst thou 5. 5. 69.

See nos. 3, 4.

75. So j proudly | as if | he dis|daind the | ground. 5. 5. 83.

proudly as \ if he \ had dis\dair?d

*j6. My lord, wilt please you to fall to ? 5. 5. 98. And so F. We should no doubt read,

My | lord, A | will it \ please you to | fall | to ?

The foregoing list gives the following results. The Folio abolishes 53 resolutions found in the Quarto, 3 of which are quadrisyllabic feet ; in 3 other cases the Folio converts a quadrisyllabic into a trisyllabic foot. The Folio only twice shows a resolution where the Quarto does not. Both Quarto and Folio fail to show a resolu tion in 12 places where there certainly or probably should be one. The Folio abolishes a 'double ending' found in the Quarto 5 times. Both agree in giving 5

RICHARD III 63

unmetrical lines, 4 of which are in the misdivided passage, no. 22, and the Folio shows 5 more, given correctly by the Quarto. The Quarto gives unmetrically one line given correctly by the Folio, and another un metrical line which is not in the Folio. In two or three cases only may it be doubted whether the Quarto is correct in showing a resolution.

Let us examine the evidence furnished by another play.

Richard III

The history of the text of Richard III, so far as it concerns us now, is briefly as follows. According to the latest and best opinion1, Shakespeare had no hand in the original composition of the play, but he revised or assisted in revising an existing play for production in (probably) 1593, of course contributing something here and there, and notably Richard's soliloquy in Act v. A few years later he again revised the work, and this second revision we have in Qj (published in 1597), which gives the play in a form shortened for acting by some 200 lines. The Quarto was printed from a copy, not written by Shakespeare, in which his corrections had not always been carefully made, and exhibits, besides printer's errors, others which must be assigned

1 See Mr A. W. Pollard's valuable articles on " The York and Lancaster Plays " in The Times Literary Supplement, Sept. 1 9 and 26, 1918.

64 THE EARLY TEXTS

to the copyist. The Folio text was set up from a copy of Q6 (a lineal descendant of QJ, corrected for the press by collation with a theatre copy of the 1593 revision. There is no question that the version which Q1 presents was made by Shakespeare himself, and therefore, apart from its omissions, it is the paramount authority for the text.

The following collation, which is not intended to be complete, embraces (together with a few other lines) all the passages I have been able to discover in which the Quarto and Folio exhibit a metrical divergence, and will be found to afford proof of Shakespeare's fondness for resolutions in a specially striking and decisive manner. For since we know that the Quarto embodies his revision of the version represented by the Folio, we are able to watch him at his work, as it were, and see him actually changing many disyllabic feet and checked lines which survived in the revision of 1593, into trisyllabic feet and verses not only of full measure but with the final foot resolved. The collation also illustrates very plainly the Folio's bias towards clipped forms, while it shows at the same time that the Quarto, like other Quartos, was not altogether free from the same tendency. The Quarto text is given first in each quotation, and that of the Folio underneath it.

I . Rich. Brother, good dayes, what meanes this armed gard That waites upon your grace ?

Clar. His majesty tendering my persons safety hath

appointed tendring

This conduct to convay me to the tower, i. i. 42 ff.

tV Tower.

RICHARD III 65

Both Q. and F. misdivide, but here merely in accordance with their space-saving practice. When a speaker began with a half line, they 'ran on' the whole of his next line, if there was room. The third line is of course, with a quadrisyllable,

Tendering my | person's safety hath appointed.

2. That you shal be new | christened | in the tower.

cbristned I. I. 50.

3. By heaven I | thinke there is | no man | is sejcurde,

| is no | man secure I. I. 71.

4. Heard ye (F. you) not what an humble suppliant

Lord Hastings was to her for his delivery. || I. I. 74 f.

was for | his de\liver\y ?

5. At i. i. 90 Q. and F. give

We speake no treason man, we say the King

Is wise and vertuous, and his noble Queene

Well stroke in yeres, faire and not jealous. (F. jealious]

We | say that | Shores wife | hath a | prety [ foote, 93

A cherry lippe, a bonny eie, a passing pleasing tongue :

And that the Queenes kindred are made gentlefolks.

It will be seen that v. 92 has only four feet, and that 94 has seven, while "Shore's" in 93 gets an improper stress, and "wife" loses the stress that is plainly required. Various corrections of 92 have been proposed, among which Hanmer's "fair and not owr-jealous" is so delightful that it deserves quotation, but all editors, I think, have left 94 untouched. There can be little doubt that, as elsewhere, the copyist or printer boggled at the resolution of the fourth foot in 92. All that need be done is to take up "We say" and "A cherry lip" into the preceding line in each case, and omit "that" B. 5

66 THE EARLY TEXTS

before "Shore's"; the misdivision having once been made, the word would inevitably be inserted in order to give the line the necessary number of syllables. The passage will now run,

We speak no treason, man ; we say the king

Is wise and virtuous, and his noble queen

Well': struck in | years, A j fair and not | jealous; we | say

Shore's • wife hath a | pretty foot, a cherry lip,

A bonny eye, a passing pleasing tongue ;

And that the | queen's | kindred | are made | gentlefolks. ||

The form of phrase "we say the king" is repeated quite naturally in "we say Shore's wife," and no less naturally the construction is taken up with "that" in the last line, in which the resolution of the fifth foot may be noticed.

6. And whatsoever you | will imploy me in, i. i. 108.

whatsoere you

7. Wife to thy Edward, to thy slaughtered sonne, i. 2. 10.

slaughtred

8. Either heaven with lightning strike the murtherer dead,

heaven with murttfrer I. 2. 64.

9. Villaine thou knowest no law of God nor man: I. 2. 70.

know'st no

10. Of these supposed evils to give me leave, i. 2. 76.

crimes to

It is strange that " crimes " should have been found even in the theatre copy, since Anne takes up Richard's phrase "supposed evils" immediately in v. 79,

Vouchsafe defused infection of a man

For (F. Of] these knowne evils but to give me leave

By circumstance to curse thy cursed selfe.

1 1 . These eies could | never in|dure sweet beauties wrack,

not en dure y* beauties wrack.

I. 2. 127.

RICHARD III 67

12. Blacke • night overjshade thy day, and death thy life.

ore\shade I. 2. 131.

13. Which if thou please to hide in this true bosome,

brest I. 2. 176.

14. I have already. | — Tush that was | in thy rage :

— That was I. 2. 187.

15. And if thy poore devoted suppliant may I. 2. 207.

servant

1 6. At Chertsie | monastery this noble king, I. 2. 215.

monastery

17. My selfe, to be a merveilous proper man. i. 2. 255.

marvellous

j8. Madame we | did : He desires to make attonement

/ Madam, he desires I. 3. 36.

19. I feare our happines is at the | highest. || I. 3. 41.

height.

20. A plague upon you all ! His royall | person, || 1.3. 58.

grace

21. Held in contempt, whilst many | faire projmotions, ||

while | great pro\moti\ons. I. 3. 80.

22. Thou slewest my husband Henry in the tower, i. 3. 119.

kiWdst

23. A murtherous villaine, and so still thou art. .1.3. 134.

murth'rous

24. Which of you trembles not that lookes on me ?

If not, that j I being | Queene you bow like subjects, / am

Yet that by you deposde you quake like rebels :

i. 3. i6off.

F.'s " I am " makes nonsense.

25. Denounst against thee, are all | fallen up|on thee,

falne up\on thee: I. 3. 180.

26. And the most mercilesse that | ever was | heard of.

ere was I. 3. 184.

Cp. nos. 68, 86, 114, 135.

5 2

68 THE EARLY TEXTS

27. Long : maiest thou | live to waile thy childrens losse.

may'st thou I. 3. 204.

28. And after many | lengthened | houres of griefe, I. 3. 208.

lengthened

29. Thy friends suspect for traitors while thou | livest, ||

//Vsf,

i. 3. 223.

30. O princely | Buckingham, | I will kisse thy hand

Buckingham, lie I. 3. 280.

31. And mockt the dead bones that lay | scattered | by.

scattred I. 4. 33.

32. To seeke the emptie vast and | wandering | aire,

find wand1 ring i. 4. 38.

33. O no, my dreame was lengthned after life. i. 4. 43.

lengthened

Q.'s spelling leaves the word indistinguishable in pro nunciation from "lengthened," and therefore trisyllabic, since the n is equivalent to a vowel, but F.'s " lengthen'd " abolishes the resolution. Cp. i. 3. in, where both Q. and F. give "And lesned be that small." To print, as modern texts do, "lessen'd" and "lengthen'd" is to impose the pronunciation which was not intended.

34. No | marveile my | lo:. though it affrighted you,

No marvel! lord, . 1.4. 64.

35. I ': promise you, | I am a|fraid to heare you tell it.

/ am affraid (me tbinkes) to heare you tell it. I. 4. 65.

36. In Gods name what are | you, and how j came you hither ? What wouldst thou fellow, and how camm'st thou hither?

i. 4. 85.

37. O j sir, it is | better | to be | briefe then | tedious, ||

"TV* j better \ (sir) then \ to be \ tedi\ous. i. 4. 89.

On revision the line gets two resolutions. F. makes a shocking line.

RICHARD III 69

38. lie to his | majesty, and | certifie his grace

That thus I have resignd my charge to you. I. 4. 98 f.

lie to the | King, and \ signifie to him That thus I have resign d to you my charge.

39. Doe so, it | is a point of wisedome. I. 4. 100. You may sir, 'tis a point of wisedome.

40. Remember our re|ward when the | deede is done.

when | th/ deed's \ done. I. 4. 125.

41. Where is thy [ conscience now ? 1.4. 130. Where's

42. It is a blushing shamefast spirit, i. 4. 142. 'Tis shamefaced

A prose example given to illustrate the tendency of printers and copyists to abbreviate. Four lines below in the same speech F. gives "It is."

43. Tell me who | are you, wherefore come you | hither? |j Who sent you hither? wherefore do you come ? I. 4. 176.

44. Thou didst receive the holy sacrament

To j fight in j quarell | of the | house of | Lancaster. |j

i. 4. 208 f.

Thou didst receive the sacrament to fight In quarrell of the house of \ Lancaster.

45. Take not the quarrell from his | powerfull | arme,

powrefull i. 4. 223.

But F.'s spelling may not imply an elision of the vowel sound; see no. 137.

46. 'Oh if you | love my brother, hate not me, i. 4. 232.

If \ you do | love

47. Tis he hath sent us hither now to | slaughter thee. ||

that sends us to destroy you heere. I. 4. 250.

Again the change produces a resolution of the fifth foot ; and so in the next example.

70 THE EARLY TEXTS

48. My soveraigne liege I doe beseech your | majesty ||

lord, bighnesse

2. I. 75.

49. Even in | his owne | garments, and | gave him|selfe. Even \ in his \ garment^ \ and did \ give him\selfe

2. I. 116.

In Shakespeare the stress is usually his own, mine own etc., not his 6wn.

50. God will re|venge it. But | come lets | in. 2. I. 138.

Come lords will you go ?

Q. robs the line of a foot, and no doubt we should read, "But | come, A let us | in."

51. Tell me good | Granam, is our father dead? 2. 2. I. Good Grandam tell us

52. And when he tould me so, he wept,

And • hugd me in his | arme, and kindly kist my cheeke.

2. 2. 23 f.

At i. 4. 251 Clarence says, in the Folio text,

It cannot be, for he be wept my fortune

And hugg'd me in his armes, and swore with sobs

That he would labour my delivery.

The Q. there gives

It cannot be, for when I parted with him He hugd me etc.

Mr P. A. Daniel (in his Preface to the Facsimile of the Quarto), pointing out the repetition of the phrase "he hugg'd me in his arms," suggests with great probability that we have here an instance of an incomplete or boggled revision of the first version. He writes, "The audience had witnessed this parting [between Clarence and Richard], and this account of it would strike them as fanciful, to say the least ; it was therefore probably

RICHARD III 71

proposed to take some part of Clarence's speech and give it to his son, in whose mouth it would be more appropriate." The Folio gives here,

And when my unckle told me so, he wept, An pittied me, and kindly kist my cheeke :

and Mr Daniel thinks that it was intended to omit "kindly" from the new Quarto version and to read,

And when my uncle told me so, he wept,

And hugg'd me in his arms and kiss'd my cheek.

At i. 4. 251 he thinks we were perhaps meant to have

It cannot be, for when I parted with him He swore he'd labour my delivery.

53. Why grow the branches, now the roote is | witherd ?

gone ?

2. 2. 41.

54. Why wither not the leaves, the | sap being | gone ?

that want their sap? 2. 2. 42.

55. To his \ new | kingdome | of perjpetuall | rest. 2. 2. 46.

nere-changing night.

56. And hast the comfort of thy children | left thee. |l

left. 2. 2. 56.

57. What stay had I but | Edward, and | he is | gone ?

| and he 's \ gone? 2. 2. 74.

58. What stay had we but | Clarence, and | he is | gone ?

| and he's \ gone?

2. 2. 75,

59. To give your censures in this waighty | busines. ||

] busi\nesse. 2. 2. 144.

60. Towards Ludlow | then, for we | will not stay behinde.

London \ t hen , for \ wee1 1 not 2. 2. 154.

F. gives a false stress to "we."

61. Neighbour well | met, A | whither away so | fast?

Good morrow neighbour^ 2. 3. I.

72

62. For emulation j now, A | who shall be | nearest : Will touch us all too neare, 2. 3. 25 f.

F. gives "For emulation, who shall now be neerest," with damage to the sense. Its text is plainly the result of * editing.'

63. And the \ Queenes | kindred | hauty and | proud,

sonsy and brothers, haught and proud.

2. 3. 28.

The Quarto line wants a foot, and apparently we have another imperfect correction ; but note the resolved foot "hauty and."

64. That if \ this were a | true | rule, he should be gratious. That if his rule were true, 2. 4. 2O.

65. That | should have | neerer toucht | his growth then | he

did j mine. 2. 4. 25. To \ touch his | growth, A | neerer then \ he toucht \ mine.

Q. improves the emphasis and adds a resolution.

66. How my prety | Yorke ? I pray thee let me heare it. How my yong j 2. 4. 26.

Q. gives a better epithet, producing a quadrisyllabic.

67. A perilous boy, go to you are too shrewde. 2. 4. 35.

parlous

At 3. I. 154 both Q. and F. give "Oh 'tis a perillous boy." Here "parlous" was introduced by Q3, and survived in Q6. Elsewhere in the plays "parlous" occurs only in A Midsummer Night's Dream 3. I. 14 (Snout speaking) and As Tou Like It 3. 2. 45 (Touchstone speaking), in prose in each case. This suggests that the form was a colloquial one, and that Shakespeare therefore avoided it in dignified speech. At Romeo and

RICHARD III 73

Juliet 1.3. 54 Capell, whom some modern editors follow, unwarrantably altered "perilous" to "parlous."

68. But sanctuary children | never till | now. 3. I. 56.

ne*re

Cp. nos. 26, 86.

69. My j Lo: you shall | overrule my minde for once.

| shall <?re-\rule 3. I. 57.

70. Thou knowest our reasons urgde upon the way.

know'st 3. I. 1 60.

7 1 . What \ thinkest thou ? | is it not an easie matter

think' st 3. I. 161.

72. Go gentle | Catesby, and | as it | were a farre | off,

were far re 3. I. 170.

73. And looke to have it | yeelded with | all | willingnes. ||

kindnesse.

3. i. 198.

74. First he commends him to your noble | lordship. ||

selfe. 3. 2. 8.

75. Which may make you and him to | rewe at the | other.

Mother.

3. 2. 14.

76. And j for his | dreames, I j wonder he | is so fond

| hee's so \ simple

3. 2. 26.

"For" frequently takes the slight normal foot-stress.

77. To trust the | mockery | of unquiet slumbers, 3. 2. 27.

mockery

78. To flie the boare before the boare purjsues us, || 3. 2. 28.

pur sues ^

79. What newes, what newes, in this our tottering state ?

totf ring 3. 2. 37.

80. It is a reeling world indeede my lo:

And I bejleeve it will | never stand upright, 3. 2. 39.

beleeve will

74 THE EARLY TEXTS

8 1. He send some packing that yet thinke not | on it. ||

on't. 3. 2. 63.

82. As thou and I, who as thou knowest are deare 3. 2. 69.

know'st

83. Was it more pretious | to me then | it is now. 3. 2. 82.

so precious to me, as 'tis now.

84. But yet you see how | soone the day | overjcast.

j day o1 re cast. 3. 2. 88.

85. But j come my lo: | let us a|way. 3. 2. 96.

let's

86. And I in better state then j ever I I was. 7. 2. 106.

I «-*

ere

It is improbable that Shakespeare accidentally left "ere" in the first version and altered it on revision ; more probably the copyist, printer, or reviser is to blame for its presence in the Folio. In any case the example is of considerable importance ; for the early texts frequently give "ne'er" and "e'er" where we may be sure, relying on this and other plain proofs of his preference, that he wrote "never" and "ever." Cp. nos. 26, 68, 106, 135.

87. How | now Lo: | Chamberlaine, what | talking | with a|

priest ? 3. 2. 114. What talking with a priest. Lord Chamberlaine ?

88. And supper too, although thou knowest it not. 3. 2. 123.

know'st

89. Which as thou knowest unjustly must be spilt. 3. 3. 22.

know'st

90. Which | I prejsume he will | take in gentle part.

heebie 3. 4. 21.

91. Now in good | time here comes the Duke himselfe.

In happie time 3. 4. 22.

92. William L: | Hastings had | now pronounst your part.

| had pro noun? d 3. 4. 28.

93. His masters sonne as worshipful he termes it, 3. 4. 41.

child j as | worshipful ly he tearmes it.

RICHARD III 75

F. is not the least likely to have introduced the resolu tion "worshipful|ly," which all the Quartos, following Q1} eliminate. The Cambridge editors, following their bias against resolutions, give Q.'s text ; the Leopold, Oxford, and Arden editions give the line as F., not of course for the sake of the resolution, but out of general respect for the Folio's trustworthiness ! Already, how ever, we know its true character pretty well, and we shall know it even better before we have done.

94. To I morrow in | mine opinion is too sodaine. 3. 4. 45.

| in my \ judgement

Is 'this Shakespeare greatly improving the rhythm of the line, or the Folio reviser bent on having no more than eleven syllables ? In either case Shakespeare probably wrote "my opinion" in order not to add another n to those of "opinion" and "sodaine."

95. When he doth bid good | morrow with | such a spirit.

| with such | spirit.

3- 4- 52.

96. I | thinke there is | never a | man in christendome,

there's 3. 4- 53-

Note "never a," for which we were more likely than not to get nere ay at least from F. Cp. no. 86 and note, and no. 106.

97. That can j lesser hide his love or hate then he : 3. 4. 54. Can '• lesser

98. To \ doome the offenders | whatsoever they | be :

To \ doome th' of \fendor s, \ whoso\ire they be. 3. 4. 67.

99. Is like a blasted sapling | withered | up. 3. 4. 71.

withered up :

100. Yet had we not determined | he should die, 3. 5. 52.

de termirfd

76 THE EARLY TEXTS

101. Unto the citizens, who | happily | may 3. 5. 60.

haply

102. To a|voyde the carping censures of the world. 3. 5. 68. Tavoid

103. But touch this | sparingly | as it | were farre | off.

Yet touch this \ sparingly, as \ 'twere farre \ off, 3. 5. 93.

The Folio destroys a rhythm of which Shakespeare was particularly fond, resolution of a measure's final foot. The Quarto gives us faithfully an example of the lyric measure £, mentioned on p. 27. The Cambridge editors and the Leopold, Oxford and Arden editions give "'twere."

104. And to give notice that no manner of | person

no manner \ person 3. 5- 108.

105. At \ any tyme | have recourse unto the princes.

Have any time recourse 3. 5. 109.

1 06. That it may be this day read | over in | Paules.

ore 3. 6. 3.

107. And yet within these five houres lived Lord | Hastings. ||

Hastings liv'd.

3. 6. 8.

1 08. The citizens are j mumme, and | speake not a | word.

mum, say \ not 3. 7. 3.

109. I did wyth the insatiate greedinesse of his desires,

3- 7- 5-7-

Nearly two lines have been excised in Q. without any regard for metre. The Folio has

I did, with his contract with Lady Lucy, And his contract by deputie in France, T'A'unsatiate greedinesse of his desire.

Note that Q. does not abbreviate "the"; nor does it elsewhere in the play.

RICHARD III 77

no. And when mine | orajtory | grew to an | ende, 3. 7. 2O.

drew toward end,

ill. To be spoke to, but by the Recorder. 3. 7. 30.

And so the Folio ; but none, of the authors concerned in this play could have written such a line. There can be little doubt we should read,

To be | spoken | to, but | by the | Re*cord|er, unless the mischief is more deep-seated.

112(0). At the | lower end of the hall hurld up their caps,

At \ lower 3. 7. 35.

H2(£). B6 not | spoken with all, but with | mighty | suite.

Be not you \ spoke with, but by 3. 7. 46.

A second resolution is added by the change.

113. Youshal \ see what | lean | do, get you | up to the j leads. Go, go I up to the \ leads, the Lord Maior knocks. 3. 7. 55.

It is worth noting that when the line is rewritten, it gets no less than three resolutions.

114. But sure I | feare we shall | never winne him to it.

feare we \ shall not 3. 7. 80.

Again the Folio forbears to give us too't for "to it." But as we shall see in a later chapter, the Histories have, as a class, practically escaped this clipping of words in the final foot which is so common in the Folio text of other plays. One guesses in vain at the reason. For "never" and "not" cp. no. 26 and reff.

115. This \ proffered | benefit of dignitie: 3. 7. 196.

' proffer 'd

1 1 6. Yet whether you accept our suite or no, 3. 7. 214. Yet know, where (whether)

An interesting case. The Folio, apart from its charac teristic abbreviation of "whether" into "where," has

7 8 THE EARLY TEXTS

preserved the reading of the first version ; but Shake speare remarked the ugly assonance of "know" and "no" (both stressed), and deleted the verb.

117. Come A | citizens, | zounds ile injtreat no j more.

Come citizens, we will entreat no more. 3. 7. 219.

We have here a good proof of how little Shakespeare's versification was understood by those responsible for the Folio text. I have given the Quarto's line with the scansion which marks, I believe, its intended rhythm. Now, it was necessary to excise "zounds" from the Folio in obedience to an Act of Parliament, passed by James I's command, which forbade such oaths on the stage; but if the corrector had read the line properly, he would have drawn his pen through the offending word and left the rest of the line as it was. Clearly he read it as

Come citizens, zounds He intredt no more, a verse which he thought would be ruined by the loss of a syllable. So not seeing that he could still leave the excellent line,

Come, A | citizens, | I'll enjtreat no | more, he writes what he expects to be delivered as,

Come • citi|zens, we | will en|treat no | more ; never dreaming that he was in fact restoring the rhythm of the original line in his own, which must be said thus,

Come, A | citizens, | we will enjtreat no | more. It is worth noting that Shakespeare gives us here (for I have no doubt that this particular line is his) a com bination of the two lyric measures £ . /?, mentioned above in Ch. n (p. 27).

RICHARD III 79

1 1 8. Call them againe, my | lord, and accept their sute. Call him againe sweet \ prince, ac\cept their suit.

3. 7. 221.

119. Coosin of | Buckingham, | and you sage grave men,

Buckingham, and \ sage 3. 7. 227.

1 20. To beare her burthen | whether I | will or no. 3. 7. 229.

where (whether) Cp. no. 116.

121. Wei madam, | and in health, but by your leave,

Right well, deare madame : by your \ pati\ence, 4. I. 15.

122. Qu. The King ? whie whose that ?

Lieu. I crie you | mercie, I | meane the Lord protector.

4. i. 19.

The Folio text is,

Qu. The King ? who's that r

Lieu. I meane, the Lord Protector.

Note that in rewriting Shakespeare instinctively gives a resolution to the new line, and that the Quarto copyist or printer spoils the tripody by abbreviating ; no doubt we ought to have "The • King? why j who is \ that?"

123. Let me but meete you | ladies an | houre j hence.

| one howre \ hence.

4. I. 29.

Note that when revising Shakespeare makes "houre" (sometimes spelt "hower") disyllabic, as elsewhere, in order to introduce a resolution.

124. Come madam, || you must j go with | me to | West

minster, || straight to \ Westminster,

4. I. 32.

Note the lyric measure 6 in the Quarto version (see p. 28).

12$. I wil resolve your grace im|mediat|lie. 4. 2. 26. you herein presently.

80 THE EARLY TEXTS

126. My lord, I know a discbntented | gentleman, j| 4. 2.. 36. / know a discontented gentleman,

127. Boy. His • name my | lord is | Tirrell.

King. Go | call him | hither | presentlie. ||

4. 2.41.

F. gives

Page. His name, my lord, is Tirrell. Rich. I partly know the man :

Goe, call him hither, boy.

The new version adds a resolution at the end of the line, producing the lyric measure r).

128. How now, what newes with you ? Darby. My lord, I heare the Marques | Dorset is \ fled

To Richmond, in those partes beyond the seas Where he abides. 4. 2. 45 ff.

So Q., but with a misdivision of the lines which I have corrected. F., also misdividing, gives

How now, Lord Stanley, what's the newes ? (4 ft.)

Stanley. Know my loving lord, The Marquesse Dorset as I heare, is fled To Richmond, in the parts where he abides.

Q. gets rid of the four-foot line "How now" etc., and adds a resolution of the fourth foot in the next line.

129. Catesby. — My | lord. A | — Rumor | it abroad

Come hither Catesby, rumor it abroad 4. 2. 50.

130. Art thou indeed ? — Prove me my gracious | soveraigne. ||

lord.

4. 2. 69.

"Soveraigne," as always, is a trisyllable, making a final resolution.

131. My lord, I have considered | in my mind, 4. 2. 86.

considered

RICHARD III 8 1

132. Stanley \ he is your | wifes | sonnes. Wei | looke to | it. Stanley, \ he is your \ wives Sonne : \ well, looke \ unto \ it.

4. 2. 90.

A poor line in F., amended by a monosyllabic foot in Q.

133. Whie then resolve me whether you will or no.

May it please you to resolve me in my suit. 4. 2. I2O.

The line is improved on revision, and a more defiant tone given to it.

134. Is it \ even so, rewardst he my true service

With such \ deepe contempt, made I him king for this ?

4. 2. I23f.

And is it thus ? rewards he my deepe service With \ such contempt ? made I him king for this ?

Two double upbeats appear on revision.

135. That from the prime creation | ever he | framed,

ere she framed 4. 3. 19.

136. Then Buckingham with his rash levied | armie : ||

strength

4- 3- 50.

137. My unblowne flowers, new appearing sweets, 4. 4. 10. My unblowed flowres

For "flowres" see Ch. vn.

138. The adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Gray,

TW adulterate 4. 4. 69.

139. Thy schoele-daies frightful, | desperate, | wild, and |

furious. || desperate 4.4.169.

140. Thy age confirmed, proud, subtile, bloudie, | trecherous. ||

slye and bloody,

4. 4. 171.

A great improvement on revision through the removal of "sly," which is feeble after ''subtle." Note also the resolved fifth foot.

82 THE EARLY TEXTS

141. The adjvancement of your children mightie ladie.

Th1 advancement 4. 4. 241.

142. Then in \ plaine | termes | tell her my | loving | tale. Then plainly to her tell my 4. 4. 359.

143. The crown usurpt disgrac't his kinglie | dignitie, ||

glory: 4. 4. 371.

144. The emperiall mettall circling now thy brow, 4. 4. 382. Ttfimperiall

145. Whie standst thou still ? and | goest not | to the Duke ? Why stay'st thou here, and \ go'st not \ 4. 4. 445.

146. What is it your highnes pleasure I shall do at Salisbury, What may it please you I shall do at Salisbury ? 4. 4. 452.

In Q.'s text "At Salisbury" should form a separate dipody. By the change made on revision Shakespeare introduces an excellent dramatic touch. Richard is half beside himself, and the exaggerated deference now put into Ratcliffe's words is meant to suggest that he is* in mortal fear of being snapped at as Catesby was. The actor's manner would also show this.

147. My j mind is | changd | sir, my | minde is | changd.

(Enter Lord Stanley.) How now, what newes with you ? 4. 4. 456 f.

The Folio gives, " My mind is chang'd : Stanley, what newes with you?" The new version is a decided im provement. For the testy repetition of "my mind is changed" see the next example and i. i. 70.

148. Well sir, | as you | guesse, A | as you | guesse.

Well, \ as you \ guesse. (short line.) 4. 4. 467.

149. Then tell me, j what doeth | he upon the sea ?

what makes \ he 4. 4. 474.

150. Cold friends to | Richard, what | doe they in the north ?

me: what 4. 4, 485.

RICHARD III 83

151. They have not bin commaunded mightie j soveraigne. ||

king :

4. 4. 487.

152. Well, go | muster men, but heare you, leave behinde Goe then, and \ muster men : but leave behind 4. 4. 496.

For the slightly stressed upbeat see on nos. 152, 165, 179. The feature is common.

153. Flocke to their aide, and still their power in|creaseth. Flocke to the rebels, and their power growes strong.

4. 4- 507. For F.'s "power" cp. no. 137.

1 54. My lord, the armie of the Duke of | Buckingham ||

great \ Buckingham 4. 4. 508.

It occurred to Shakespeare that this was not the moment to make a messenger speak of Buckingham as "great " to the furious Richard.

155. Hath any well advised | friend given | out, 4. 4. 517.

friend proclaim 'd

156. Now Margarets curse, is | fallen upjon my head.

falls heavy on my neck. 5. i. 25.

The undoubtedly genuine spelling "fallen" here and elsewhere shows that it should always be restored for the commoner "fame" ("fall'n" in modern texts). Even "falne" was probably often a matter of spelling, and did not mean that the vowel was to be elided in pronunciation. See Ch. vn.

157. Up with my tent there, | here will I | lie to night.

tent, here will I 5. 3. 7.

Probably a correction in F., in order to get rid of the extra syllable.

6—2

84 THE EARLY TEXTS

158. But where tojmorrow, well, | all is one for that. 5. 3. 8.

| well, alPs | one

A typical Folio abbreviation.

159. Yet one thing more, good Blunt before thou [ goest : Yet one thing more (good capta'ine] do for me. 5. 3. 33.

1 60. Kng. What is a clocke ? 5. 3. 47 f. Cat. It is | sixe of clocke, full supper time.

Q. omits "it" after "What is." F. gives

Rich. What «»/ a Clocke ?

Cat. Ifs supper time my Lord,

Ifs nine a clocke.

161. And put thy fortune I to the arlbitrement 5. ?. 80.

. , j . J ~> '

th arbitrement

162. The usurping helmets of our adversaries, 5. 3. 112. Th'usurping

163. Of butchered princes fight in thy behalfe, 5. 3. 122.

butchered

164. Doth | comfort thee | in thy | sleepe A | live and florish.

comfort | thee in \ sleepe 5. 3. 130.

165. Go A | gentlemen | every | man unto his | charge.

to his 5. 3. 307.

If Q. is right, the line is a remarkable foreshadowing of Shakespeare's later style.

1 66. Dreame on thy coosens | smothered | in the tower

5- 3- IS*-

The Folio also gives "smothered." How uncertain was the spelling of such words may be gathered from the progress of this particular one through the Quartos. Qj and Q2 have smothered ; Q3 smoothred\ Q4 smothred\ Q5 smoothred\ Q6 returns to the full form smoothered. It was from a copy of Q6, corrected for the press, that the Folio was printed, and it is strange that the corrector,

RICHARD III 85

while striking out an o, did not follow the bias he betrays elsewhere and write smothered. His not doing so suggests that the theatre copy gave "smothered." Considering the complete uncertainty of the early texts about words ending in -ered and -ened and some others, it would seem that a modern editor will most likely be right, if he recognises Shakespeare's love of resolutions and prints the full form wherever the rhythm would not be injured. At any rate, as we have seen, this is the practice of the best Quartos.

167. Perjurie, perjurie, in the | highest de|gree. 5. 3. 196. Perjurie in the ] highest de|gree.

Another characteristic abbreviation in the Folio, as is the next example.

1 68. Throng to the | barre, crying | all A j guiltie, guiltie. Throng \ all to'th' \ Barre, crying all, Guilty, Guilty.

5. 3. 199.

Q2 reads as Q1 ; Qq. 3—6 corrupt this, the undoubtedly true text, to "Throng all to the barre" etc. On F.'s reading (taken from Q6) Mr Daniel soundly remarks, "The printer of F., instead of striking out the re dundant all, tried to reduce the line to measure by contracting to the to fo'fh'." The point for us is that he might have left the resolved foot, but refused to do so.

169. Tis not yet neere day, come, go with me. 5. 3. 220.

And so F., needlessly making a pure trochaic line. To scan *'Tis j not yet ne-er" | stresses falsely.

170. And slaughtered those, that were the meanes to helpe him.

slaughter' d 5. 3. 249.

171. And thus my battaile shall be ordered. 5. 3. 292.

ordred.

86

Clearly ordred was pronounced ordered ; cp. i Henry VI , 4. 6. 1 8 "Of thy first fight, I soone encountred"

172. March on, joine bravelie, let us | to it pell | mell.

toft 5. 3. 312.

173. Whether \ if it please you we may now withdraw us. Whither \ (if you please] we may withdraw us. 5. 5. II.

In the following examples the Folio shows a resolu tion or full measure where the Quarto does not. We have already found evidence that the copy sent to press for the Quarto was far from perfect, and where the Folio reading appears to be right we may set down the Quarto's corruption to the copyist or printer. Of course, for reasons that seemed to him good, Shakespeare may sometimes have eliminated a resolution. In a few cases it is difficult to decide between the two texts. As before, the Quarto's reading is given first.

174. A \ batche|lor, a | handsome stripling too. I. 3. 101.

and a

F. is plainly right; Shakespeare liked a pause after a trisyllabic foot.

175. We followed then our lo: our lawfull king. I. 3. 147.

followed soveraigne king.

The epithet "lawful" makes a point, and Q. is no doubt right. "Followed" in Q. is a disyllabic, the e being the e mute of "followe" ; and so with other words, as for instance, "hallowed."

176. I pray thee gentle keeper stay by me. I. 4. 73. Keener, I prythee sit by me a-while.

The revision is an obvious improvement.

RICHARD III 87

177. SheV him | our commission, talke no more. i. 4. 92.

Let him \ see our com mission, and j talke no \ more.

The Quarto's bluntness is more in keeping.

178. I, milstones as he lessond us to weepe. i. 4. 246.

lessoned

F.'s resolution is a blunder introduced by Q6. Cp. no. 195.

179. Right as j snow in harvest, thou deceiv'st thy selfe, 'Tis he hath sent us hither now to | slaughter thee. ||

1.4. 249 f. F. has

Right as snow in harvest : | come, you de\ceive your selfe, 'Tis he that sends us to destroy you heere.

For the slight stress on "Right" in the upbeat, see on no. 152.

1 80. Tould me the King provoked by the Queene, 2. 2. 21.

provoked to it

Here F. seems right ; and so Pope thought, though of course he printed "to't."

181. That's the butt end of a mothers blessing. 2. 2. no. That is the

An open question; to me Q.'s blunt beginning seems preferable. Cp. no. 202.

182. The Earledome of | Hereford | and the moveables

anci | all 3. I. 195.

F. produces a quadrisyllabic, which with the voice-pause at "Hereford" of course offers no difficulty, and may well be right.

183. His grace lookes cheerfully and smooth to day,

this morning,

3- 4- 49- Q. avoids the doubled th.

88 THE EARLY TEXTS

184. Then be your eies the witnesse of this ill, 3. 4. 69.

their evil!.

F.'s version suits the context better.

185. I tooke him for the plainest harmlesse man 3. 5. 25.

creature

1 86. After, after, coosin Buckingham, 3. 5. 72. Goe after y after

F., in order to avoid the trochaic beginning, which is quite in place, inserts an upbeat ; but although one can say " Go, go" or "After, after," it is hardly natural to say "Go after, after."

187. Be not | easily wonne to our request :

Play the j maides | part, say \ no, but | take it.

3. 7. 50 f.

F. gives

And be not...

Play the \ maids | part, still answer nay, and take it.

The first line is doubtful; in the second Q.'s blunt trochaic beginning is perfectly natural, and its line does not look like an invention. F.'s line is weaker.

188. Then know it is your fault that you resigne 3. 7. 117. Know then it \

189. Which wee have noted in you to your kin, 3. 7. 212.

kindred,

190. But penetrable to your kind intreates, 3. 7. 225.

entreaties^

191. What saist \ thou ? speake sud'denlie, be briefe. 4. 2. 2O. What \ say'st thou \ now ?

F.'s "now" is a mere supplement. We have again caught the Q. abbreviating, and should no doubt read, "What sayest | thou?"

RICHARD III 89

192. Whose humble meanes match not his haughtie mind,

spirit : 4. 2. 37.

"Spirit" is the right word.

193. 'TV* no more but so, saie is it done, 4. 2. 81. There is no more but so : say it is done

Again Q. lapses into abbreviation, also transposing "it is" before "done." "It is no more" seems to be the preferable reading.

194. Al | though they were j flesht | villains, bloudie dogs, Al\beit they were \ 4. 3. 6.

Apparently an alteration by the Quarto copyist. F. is not likely to have introduced the quadrisyllable, nor Shakespeare to have removed it.

195. What good is coverd by the face of heaven,

To be discoverd that can do me good ? 4. 4. 239 f.

F. gives discovered, the form arising from a freak on the part of Q6, from which F. was printed. All the other Quartos have "discoverd." Cp. no. 178.

196. When thou comst there, dull unmindfull villaine, When thou conist thither 4. 4. 444.

The abbreviation "comst" is at the bottom of the mischief. We should read,

When thou \ comest | there, A | — dull unmindfull villain,

I take it that the Folio reviser, counting his syllables, "When thou comst there" etc., found there was one missing and substituted "thither" for "there."

197. What, from your grace I shall deliver them. 4. 4. 447.

to him.

The context shows that F. is right.

90 THE EARLY TEXTS

198. The greatest strength and power he can make,

power that he 4. 4. 449.

There are other instances of "power" forming a whole foot, but there can be little doubt that here "that" has been omitted from Q. by error.

199. Nor none so bad but it may well be told. 4. 4. 459.

but well may be reported.

We seem bound to adhere to the revised version.

200. Whe-n thou maist | tell thy tale a neerer way. 4. 4. 462.

mayest the neerest

The Quarto's contraction is probably unauthorised.

20 1. That's the best newes, that the Earle of Richmond That is the 4. 4. 534.

I should again be in favour of Q.'s bluntness. Cp. no. 181.

202. By the \ false | faith of him I trusted most : 5. I. 17.

whom most I trusted.

There is more force in Q.'s line, which we may take to give an authentic alteration.

203. Come sirs, conjvey me to the blocke of shame. 5. i. 28. Come \ leade me officers

Again Q. gives a better line ; there is a gain in bringing the verb closer to its object.

204. Fight A | gentlemen of | England, fight bold yeomen.

boldly 5- 3- 338-

"Boldly" is a sheer blunder on the part of the printer of Q2 which survived through all the Quartos and so reached the Folio.

It seemed better to consider the following four examples separately.

RICHARD III 91

205. What ? threat you me with telling of the King, Tell him and spare not, looke what I have said,

I will avouch in presence of the King : i. 3. 1 1.3 ff.

The Folio omits the second line, reads "I will avouch't" in the third, and then adds a line omitted from the Quarto,

I dare adventure to be sent to th' Towre.

We should of course retain Q.'s v. 114, and may there fore reject F.'s "V after "avouch," which was obviously inserted to make sense. We shall note, however, that F. instinctively abbreviates the pronoun, and in v. 1 1 6 avoids a resolution by giving "to th' Towre."

206. Then I | crie thee mercy, for I had thought. r. 3. 235. I cry thee mercie then :

F.'s line is more natural.

207. So hath this, both by the father and mother. 2. 3. 22. Why so hath this both by his

F. seems to be right in inserting "Why."

208. There at your meetst advantage of the time, 3. 5. 74.

meetest vantage

The Q. reading was carried on through the first five Quartos, and then Q6 gives "meetest advantage." As Mr Daniel remarks, having occasion to mention the line, " the F. reading looks very like a metrical correction of this corruption." Once more we note F.'s bias.

209. Yet another line may be mentioned for cor rection here. The restoration is easy and would doubt less have been made long ago, were it not that the general ear has become so demoralised through our

92 THE EARLY TEXTS

traditional prosody and undue reliance on faulty texts, that any number of false rhythms have been accepted as verse that satisfied Shakespeare. At 4. i. 54f. the Duchess of York laments,

O ill-dispersing winde of misery !

O my accursed wombe, the bed of death !

A | coca|trice hast j thou hatcht | to the | world,

Whose unavoided eye is murtherous.

So both Quarto and Folio, save that the Quarto mis prints "hatch" for "hatcht." But whoever may be the author of the passage, it is incredible that the man who wrote the other lines could have written the third of these, with its false stress and miserable rhythm. More over cockatrices are not hatched to the world, but into it. There can be no doubt that we must correct to

A • cockatrice | hast thou | hatch'd in to the | world,

restoring a rhythm with which even Shakespeare would not have found fault. Cp. no. 174.

In the examples numbered 1-173 of this list the Quarto shows 148 resolutions which do not appear in the Folio. Of these 73 are produced by a different wording of the lines on revision, and in the remaining 75 the Folio abolishes a resolution by abbreviation, giving scatter d^ know'st, toot^ o»V, tK etc. for the Quarto's full forms. The Folio also abbreviates twice where resolution is not in question, making the line unmetrical, and in nos. 160, 205 avoids resolution in lines not in the Quarto. Thus its total of false abbreviations is 79. Further, the Quarto shows 24 examples of the full measure where the Folio does not, with a resolution

RICHARD III 93

of the final foot in 1 2 places. The Quarto also produces three quadrisyllable feet, and F. two (nos. 182, 194).

In all the preceding 210 passages1, excluding two doubtful cases where it may be right (nos. 181, 201), the Quarto shows only nine improbable abbreviations, which may all be merely printer's errors, as against 79 of the Folio. The Quarto's spellings falne (once, against fallen twice), stolne (once), and tane (five times, against taken once both in Q. and F.) are discussed below in Ch. vii. In all these cases the Folio gives falne^ sto/ne, tane^ except once where it has a different reading, and the one example of taken.

The detailed examination of these two early plays, then, fully confirms the evidence afforded by the Metrical Analysis (pp. 1 8 ff.) as to Shakespeare's fond ness for resolutions. It also places beyond doubt the untrustworthiness of the Folio in the matter. Where we can check it by reference to an authoritative Quarto we see that, if we followed its guidance, we should adopt a text the versification of which is very different from that of Shakespeare ; and we reflect with something like dismay that it is our sole authority for twenty of the plays.

These conclusions are further supported by the plays examined in the next two chapters, and by the Table on the following page, which includes 14 of the 17 plays published in Quarto. The Merry Wives and Henry V are omitted because the Quartos of these are pirated editions so corrupt and imperfect as to be devoid of

1 There is a no. 1 1 2 (b) as well as 1 1 2 (a).

94

THE EARLY TEXTS

authority, and Pericles was not inserted in the First Folio. At the head of the columns, "F. elim." means that the Folio eliminates a resolution found in the Quarto; "Q. elim." that the Quarto eliminates one found in the Folio, and "Q.F. elim." that the Quarto

'Table I. Eliminated Resolutions.

F. elim.

Q. elim.

Q. F. elim.

Much Ado ...... Love's Labour's Lost . Midsummer Night's Dream. Merchant of Venice . Richard II

0 I

IO I

1 3

0

o I

2 2

0 0

15

0 I 2

I Henry IV

IQ

2

IO

2 Henry IV Richard III Troilus and Cressida . Titus Andronicus .... Romeo and Juliet Hamlet

7

I I

148 12 15

17 4-6

7 1 1

12

6

15 16

15

H

32 32 5°

IOI

King Lear ......

7?

24.

74.

Othello

86

84.

TOTALS

A.QA.

I 33

4.3Q

I

and Folio agree in elimination. This third column enumerates cases where, guided by the whole investiga tion and the revelations afforded by the first two columns^ I believe that a resolution should be restored against the combined testimony of Quarto and Folio. Of course

ELIMINATION OF RESOLUTIONS 95

it does not include countless instances in which a resolution is rightly avoided by elision. The bias of editors has led them to adopt many of the eliminations of one or other of the first two columns rather than the corresponding resolution, and an undeserved respect for the early texts on this point has similarly caused them to retain most of those of the third column. From time to time they even abolish a resolution on their own account. Certain editors obeying their instinct for rhythm, and yielding to the general impression produced by a study of Shakespeare's verse, have indeed corrected a few of the abbreviations made by a Quarto and the Folio in common, but this has been done only sporadically and on no definite and stated general principle. One may believe that they would have pursued this course further, if they had had the support of the evidence now offered.

It will be seen that the first two columns of the Table afford for every Quarto play evidence pointing in the same difection as that obtained from our examina tion of Richard II and Richard III. Allowing for occasional accidents, it is incredible that the resolutions as a whole should not be genuine, and we therefore reach the broad conclusion that, whereas Shakespeare had an exceptional love for resolved rhythms, their number tended to diminish as the plays passed through the hands of the scribes, revisers, and printers. We also note that the resolutions which have disappeared from the Folio are, except in the case of The Merchant of Venice and Troilus and Cressida, more numerous — in the majority of cases far more numerous — than those which,

96 THE EARLY TEXTS

while retained in the Folio, are wanting in the corre sponding Quarto. Two other noticeable points are the extreme irregularity of the figures in both columns, and the extraordinary variety of the proportion of the Folio's eliminations to those of the Quarto in each case. This proportion ranges from 10 against I in A Midsummer Night's Dream to an equality in Troilus and Cressida and an excess for the Quarto in The Merchant of Venice, where, however, the numbers are so small as to be negligible.

Deferring for the present any attempt to account for these remarkable phenomena, we need only register here one obvious conclusion which they suggest : namely that, while the Quartos, in varying degrees in different plays, were occasionally liable to disfigure the verse by an unwarranted abolition of resolutions, the Folio exhibits a set determination to reduce the verse as far as possible to the rhythm of the plain norm by this means. That is to say, it is continually endeavouring to give us the kind of verse which year by year Shakespeare him self was more and more bent upon abandoning. The importance of recognising this tendency in both classes of text cannot be exaggerated. The Folio in particular is plainly a metrical reactionary ; and if, as we have seen, it would be perverse to follow its guidance in this matter for the Quarto plays, it must be equally unsound to rely upon it as an authority for Shakespeare's views on rhythm in the plays for which we have no Quartos whereby to correct its interferences. Yet this is what has been universally done in modern editions in connexion with the plays preserved by the Folio only.

ELIMINATION OF RESOLUTIONS 97

Accordingly it is no uncommon thing to hear readers of Shakespeare who have an ear for verse deplore the number of bad lines they find in his pages, and it is not too much to say that more than a little of his finest and most delicate work is presented to us in a form which, for ugliness and crudity, is a libel on his genius.

CHAPTER IV

THE EARLY TEXTS (continued)

Abbreviations (continued) : Hamlet, Othello, King Lear

IN the present chapter we have to examine three more Quarto plays, but only selected examples will be given. As before, the Quarto text is given first, and that of the Folio underneath. Readings which are unmetrical or necessitate false stress are marked with an asterisk. Under Hamlet the readings of modern editions are usually mentioned ; for other plays this has been done only occasionally. As a rule editors follow the Folio in abbreviating, indifferent to false stressing or bad rhythm.

Hamlet Selected Abbreviations

I . Not so \ much my | lord, I am *Not \ so my | lord, I j am too

too much | in the | sonne. much z'/^'jsun.

i. 2. 67.

The Quarto's first "much" arises merely from the printer's confusing it with the second, but the Folio's "i'th"' and the consequent false stressing ruin the line. Editors give "i* the sun" in accordance with their uncritical practice of correcting one-half of such an abbreviated form and leaving the other. It is not clear how they expect their line to be delivered. If it is thus,

HAMLET 99

"I am too | much i'the | sun," the stress on "am," however slight, is false; neither "I" nor "am" should have the least stress. If it is, u I am | too much {'the | sun," the stress given to z', which they often make necessary elsewhere, is simply impossible. If the word is to have any stress it must of course be printed in full, in. The Quarto's stressing of the latter part of the line is undoubtedly the right one. Cp. no. 7.

2. A sable silver'd.

Ham. I will watch to nigh (sic)

Perchaunce twill walke againe.

Hora. I warn't it will. I. 2. 242 f.

The Folio gives "//<? watch to night" in the first line, thus destroying the metre, and in the second "wake againe" and "I | warrant \ you it | will." The original no doubt ran, " I | warrant it will," but in order to get rid of the resolution, the Quarto contracts to warnt., and the Folio adds youy making an Alexandrine.

3. *Bear't \ that /^'opjposed | may be[ware of | thee. i. 3. 67.

And so the Folio. The stressing is absurd and the rhythm bad, yet editors (printing the^ which makes no difference) are content to believe that this is what Shakespeare meant. Can anyone with an ear doubt that what he wrote was (the e of "opposed " being silent),

Bear it that | the opjposed may bejware of | thee.

4. Oph. I doe not knowe my Lord what I should thinke. Pol. Marry, | I will | teach you, thinke your selfe a babie

That you have tone these tenders for true pay.

i. 3. 104 ff.

The Folio, which heartily dislikes double upbeats but

.7—2

ioo THE EARLY TEXTS

is quite familiar with the well-established initial resolu tion of the old style, gives "Marry, Ik \ teach you," and editors accept its text, although the rhythm of the Quarto's line is decidedly more Shakespearian, and the slight stress on "I" just fits Polonius. Of course F. also gives "tane"; but Shakespeare would not have been guilty of the jingle of tane and tenders , and we should read taken,

5. At least I am sure it may be so in Denmarke. i. 5. 109.

fm

I'm (so Cambridge edd.) is rare, but cp. nos. 8 and 22.

6. Good my lord tell it. — No you will reveale it. I. 5. 118.

*you'l

The Folio reduces the line to four feet, each half of which has precisely the same rhythm, and the Globe edition follows it.

7. To tell us this. — Why | right, you are | in the | right.

*you | are /''/Bright.

i. 5. 127.

Editors give "i'the," indifferent to the false stress. Cp. no. i.

8. I am sorry they offend you hartily. i. 5. 134. Pm

The Cambridge editors give Tm^ others I am.

9. Oremastret as you may. 1.5. 140. O'remaster't

One would like to know how the Quarto's spelling arose ? Was the copyist writing from dictation and mechanically, not thinking of the sense ? The quaint word is extremely close in sound to what Shakespeare

HAMLET 101

must have written, "O'ermaster it." Editors, who in general seem to have a poor opinion of Shakespeare's ear, do not shrink from following the Folio, believing (one must suppose) either that he did not feel that "O'ermaster it as you may" is far better than "O'er- master't as you may," or that he did not care which he wrote (or said ?).

10. You shall doe | merviles \ wisely good Reynaldo. 2. I. 3. marvels

Both wrongly for " marvellous."

n. A savagenes.in unreclamed blood. 2. i. 34.

^unreclaimed

One of many such ruinous abbreviations which the Folio makes with a light heart.

12. *That bee's mad tis true, tis true, tis pitty, 2. 2. 97.

That he is mad

This Quarto is sometimes as wicked as the Folio. Cp. no. 14.

13. Hath there been such a | time, I would | faine know that,

Pde 2. 2. 153.

14. *When he lay couched in /^'omynous horse. 2. 2. 476.

the

15. Teares in his eyes, disjtraction | in his as|pect, 2. 2. 581.

in's

Editors follow the .Folio, apparently believing that Shakespeare would avoid a resolution of the fourth foot even at the cost of this hideous abbreviation. Yet the foot is resolved 153 times, or once in 16*4 lines, in this play. Cp. Othello , no. 65.

1 6. *Must give us pause, there's the respect

That makes calamity of so long life ; 3. I. 68 f.

102 THE EARLY TEXTS

And so the Folio, and editors also, although the line is robbed of a foot. Yet how simple to read,

Must f give us | pause. A | There is | the re|spect.

17. *The devill himselfe. — O tis too true. 3. i. 49.

*Oh 'tis true.

Both ruin the metre, and the editors follow them. Read, The :* devil himjself. A | — O it \ is too | true.

1 8. *The pangs of despiz'd love, the lawes delay. 3. I. 72.

dispriz'd

Of course we want "The • pangs of de\spised\ love."

19. Hazerd so | neer's \ as doth hourely grow. 3. 3. 6.

F. gives dangerous, but near us is more probably the true reading ; the context speaks of the need of sending Hamlet away. Q.'s "neer's" must be pronounced "ne-er's," ruining the line.

20. Much heate and him, He | silence me | even j here.

*silence j me e'ene \ heere.

3- 4- 4-

21. But yet to me tha'r strong. 4. 7. II.

they are

The Quarto's "tha'r" is extremely rare, but occurs twice in Lear, no. 23. Cambridge edd., they're.

22. I am lost in it my Lord. 4. 7. 55. I'm

23. King. Will you be rul'd by me ?

Laer. I my Lord,

*So j you will | not ore-\rule me | to a | peace. 4. 7. 60 f. *Ifso you' I not o'rerule

But Laertes takes up the word "rul'd," and if he is to make his point, it is absolutely necessary to read, So you j will not | over-\r\i\e me to a peace.

HAMLET 103

Also "will" is the word naturally stressed of the preceding four, however slightly. Editors as Q.

24. That showes his horry \ leaves in the | glassy streame.

*kore leaves | in the | 4. 7. 168.

Q. is right, but for the spelling horry. F.'s stress is false, but editors accept its reading.

25. She should in ground unsanctified been lodg'd. 5. I. 252.

have

All editions, I think, miss the true reading,

She • should in | ground unjsanctified | have been \ lodged. For the rhythm cp. Tempest, no. 9 ; Othello, nos. 16, 65.

26. Toretop old Pelion. 5. I. 276. To o'rejtop

27. The next passage is a very remarkable one.

Ham. S'wounds shew me what th'owt doe : Woo't weepe, won't fight, won't fast, woo't teare thy selfe, Woo't drinke up Esill, eate a Crocadile ? lie doo't, doost come heere to whine ? 5. I. 297 ff.

The Folio agrees, except that it gives thou It in the first line and "Dost thou come" in the last, and Come instead of "S'wounds." To take the points as they occur, "th'owt" is an obvious vulgarism which we must not assign to Shakespeare. The form woo't occurs in three other' passages. At Antony and Cleopatra 4. 2. 7 the Folio makes Antony say to Enobarbus, " Woo't thou fight well?" and at 4. 15. 59 Cleopatra is made to say to Antony, " Noblest of men, woo't die ?" At 2 Henry IV 2. i. 63 in the Quarto text the Hostess says to Falstaff, "thou wot, wot thou, thou wot, wot fa, do do thou rogue, do thou hempseed," having said a moment

io4 THE EARLY TEXTS

before, "Throw me in the channell ? He throw thee in the channel, wilt thou, wilt thou...a thou honisuckle villaine, wilt thou kill Gods officers and the Kings?" The Folio gives for "thou wot" etc. "Thou wilt not? thou wilt not ? Do, do " .... Woot was a vulgar or dialect form of wilt that still survives in the West Midlands and probably elsewhere, and Shakespeare is supposed to have used it in the three verse passages with a special purpose in each case. Aldis Wright's note on the word at Hamlet 5. I. 298 is, "a colloquialism, by which Hamlet marks his contempt for Laertes. In A. and C. iv. 2. 7 and iv. 15. 59 it indicates affectionate familiarity." He does not refer to the passage in 2 Henry IV ^ and the abstention was wise ; for the only thing to be said of it there would be that it marks a vulgar woman beside herself with fury. If his explanation of the use in the other passages is correct, the form is indeed a marvellous and convenient one ; but why, then, did not Shake speare employ it oftener ? There are hundreds of places where the subtle touch would have been equally effective, always supposing we could be sure of the word's temper at the moment, and know whether it spoke with affec tion or contempt or in "tantrums." But was Shakespeare a man likely to indulge in pointless vagaries of this kind? Although the form apparently belonged to the dialect of his native place, there is no reason to suppose it to have been confined to those parts. The vulgarism was doubtless widespread, and though he may possibly have used it himself as a boy, it is incredible that either with intention or by accident he should have written it, and for the stage, in just four places and no more, putting

HAMLET 105

it into the mouths of characters so unlike each other and in situations so diverse. Words belonging to a dialect may be used with advantage if there is a literary purpose to be served, but it is quite another thing to foist into the part of your Cleopatra or Hamlet or Antony the vulgar, even though dialectic, pronunciation of a word in everyday use. Let us suppose the form was confined to the Midlands. Would Shakespeare be likely to give some satirist the chance of saying that his Cleopatra talked like a Warwickshire lass, and his Antony and Hamlet like Stratford yokels ? Let us say it was wide spread. Then, for it certainly is not a literary form, it belonged to the speech of the vulgar, and it is only into the mouth of the vulgar that he puts vulgar language. It might therefore be genuine on the lips of Dame Quickly ; but the single occurrence would be highly suspicious, for we are not speaking of words once used but of a pronunciation of what was originally "wilt." Moreover, the Folio gives "wilt" in 2 Henry IP. The natural conclusion to be drawn from these four appearances of woof is that the form is one which was liable to fall from the lips of the actors (whether men or, as in two of the cases, boys) in unguarded moments ; that in all probability this sort of thing happened often, and that in these four places a particular specimen of their vernacular found its way into the copies. More over, the pirated Quarto of 1 603 has wi/t, though woof five times repeated is unforgettable. To defend it seems to me a degradation of Shakespearian scholar ship. Surely it is a vain thing to pretend, even to yourself, that' your authorities are more trustworthy

io6 THE EARLY TEXTS

than they really are, as though you felt the ground would crumble beneath your feet if you made any but the most obvious concessions. Sooner or later the truth will out, and in any case it must be a misdirected zeal which seeks to justify a Quarto or the Folio, or even both in agreement, at the cost of Shakespeare's reputa tion as a literary artist. Let us have courage and common sense. Let us be thankful that these texts are as good as they are, and use our brains, without prejudice or prepossessions, to make the best of them.

It will have been noticed that the last line of the passage from Hamlet that we are discussing is imperfect, wanting a foot. The Folio inserts "thou," but does not mend matters. If, however, we remove the two ab breviations and read

/ will | do it ! | Dost thou come | here to | whine ?

we get a pentapody with a rhythm to which there are several parallels in the plays (see Appendix u).

28. That on the view and | knowing of | these contents,

know of 5. 2. 44.

29. Give me your pardon, | sir, I have | done you wrong.

I've 5. 2. 237.

This contraction is very rare, but editors give it.

30. With a | sore distraction. 5. 2. 241. With \ sore

F. again removes a double upbeat ; and so editors.

31. If Hamlet from himselfe be fane away, 5. 2. 245.

tone

Editors adopt F.'s false correction, but Q.'s fane is doubtless a misprint forfa/ne, and the true rhythm will be restored by reading "fallen a|way."

HAMLE1 icy

32. Come for the | third Laertes, you j do but | dally.

[ you but | 5. 2. 207.

33. Thou \ livest, rejport me | and my | cause a|right.

liv'sty causes right. 5. 2. 350.

The preceding are but a selection from the total number of wrongful abbreviations in the play. My notes give the following further information.

Summary of Abbreviations in Q2 and F.

Resolutions abolished: Q. 36, F. ^.6\ Both by Q. and F. 101 presumably wrong, 9 doubtful, including 3 examples of tane.

Quadrisyllable Foot converted into trisyllabic: F. i ; both by Q. and F. 3.

th' (the} : Q. 4, F. 4, both Q. and F. 25.

't for // in dot, tot, ont (for of it or on //), inty is't, saw' t, hate (for haveit; Q.has this twice), etc. : Q. 3, F. I, both Q. and F. 41. F. has hat and have't once each.

Q. has a for he 33 times, including 20 prose examples ; F. never, either in the verse or the prose, presumably representing the practice of the best actors.

's for us: Q. i, F. i, both Q. and F. i.

tha'r for they are: Q. i. th' art for thou art: both Q. and F. i.

I've (which is very rare) : F. 2. I'm : F. 3. Q. never has either of the two last abbreviations either in verse or prose.

'gainst: both Q. and F. twice, each time wrongly.

1 That is, Q. abolishes 36 which F. preserves, and F. abolishes 46 which Q. retains. They contradict one another. And so with the other figures for Q. and F. separately.

io8 THE EARLY TEXTS

The Quarto once makes Polonius say Mother day (F. f other}.

Woot occurs five times both in Q. and F. at 5. i. 298 f.

This summary embraces only such passages as are found in both Q. and F. The passages which occur in Q. only are dealt with below. Adding passages in Q. only, Q. abolishes a resolution 44 times. The addition of passages occurring only in F. makes no difference to its total of 46 abolitions.

Passages found in Qz only

i. *I thinke it be no other | but en so. I. i. 108. To avoid the resolution in "no I other but I even

so.

2. *By \ their <?r^-lgrow'th of | some com plexti on, i. 4. 27.

"Their" must be "the" (see context), and this points plainly to the true reading, which has been missed,

By the \ overgrowth of some complexion.

3. the dram of eale Doth all the noble substance of a doubt To his own scandle. i . 4. 36 ff.

Among the numerous attempts made to emend this corrupt passage evil (for eale) and "Doth to all... offer doubt" have been proposed. I venture to suggest that the passage may have run thus,

the dram of evil

Doth of \ all the noble substance offer doubt To his • owner's scandal.

The printer or scribe from inadvertence omitted of, but

HAMLET 109

it remained in his mind and emerged later, so that instead of offer he gives of a, betrayed by the similarity of the sound of the syllables. Confusion between " owner V jcandal" and "own scandal" would be quite easy, especially if the copyist were writing from dictation. The Cambridge editors reject all proposals as unsatis factory, and of course more than plausible correction is impossible.

4. Hoist with his own petar, arft shall goe hard

But I will delve one yard belowe their mines, 3. 4. 207 f.

The Cambridge editors give "and't" ; the Oxford text "and it," which is of course right. "And't" is un pronounceable, but editors often forget that the plays were written for the stage. See on Macbeth, no. 1 2 .

5. Transports his poysned shot, 4. 1.43.

See Ch. vn. Editors give "poison'd," which must be wrong ; Shakespeare meant "poisoned."

6. This is /^'impostume of much wealth and peace. 4. 4. 27. To avoid the quadrisyllable "This is the im|postume."

7. God buy you sir. — WiFt please you goe my Lord ?

4. 4. 30.

And so editors, but the conjunction of consonants is almost unpronounceable, unless one dwells on the /, giving an absurd stress to "will't." This Shakespeare knew well, and he also knew that any actor would, for ease, be quite sure to say "will it."

8. Or thinking too precisely on /^'event. 4. 4. 41.

A most unlikely rhythm for Shakespeare, with these words; he must have written "on the event."

1 10 THE EARLY TEXTS

9, Sith I have cause, and strength, and will, and meanes

To doo't. Examples grosse as earth exhort me, 4. 4. 45 f.

This is plainly wrong for three reasons, (i) A heavy stop after the first stressed syllable is extremely rare in Shakespeare. (2) He therefore certainly would not have written "doo't" merely to avoid a resolution. (3) Long before he wrote this play he frequently made a measure which terminates within the line, end with one or even two unstressed syllables ; and as he went on, he increased the number of such endings, precisely as he increased the number of lines ending with an unstressed syllable.

10. That hurts by easing ; but to the quick of ^'ulcer :

4. 7. 124.

Modern editors, without a shred of justification, give "quick othe ulcer." Of course Shakespeare could not be guilty of such a rhythm as that of the Quarto's line, but he did not wish the verse to end with a canter; there is a strong stress on "quick" and a slight pause after it, and the line ends deliberately, "of" being pro nounced quite plainly. Save that it removes a resolu tion, the text is right :

That : hurts by | easing. But to the | quick of the j ulcer : Hamlet comes back :...

Summary

Resolutions abolished: 8. Quadrisyllable made into trisyllabic: I.

OTHELLO 1 1 1

Othello Selected Abbreviations

i. S'blood, but you will not heare me. i. i. 4. *>«'/

F. stresses falsely and needlessly produces a trochaic beginning.

.2. Doe | well | thrive by 'em, I. I. 53.

them

3. Keepe \ up your | bright | swords, for the dew will rust em.

them. I. 2. 59.

Altogether the Quarto gives ^em or em twelve times in the verse but twice only in the prose ; F. always gives them.

4. If he can carryV thus. i. I. 67.

carry1 1

And the editors give carry* t\

5. Zounds sir you are | robd, i. i. 87. Sir, fare

Q. shows a quadrisyllabic, and F., while expurgating, might have given the regular initial resolution, "Sir, you are," but it instinctively abbreviates and needlessly makes a pure trochaic line. A similar example is

My \ lord I | see you are | moov'd. A | — No, not | much moov'd, f| fare 3. 3. 224.

The Quarto never abbreviates you are ; the Folio gives yare four times and you re once. Modern editors never venture to print fare, but substitute you're; yet if the Folio is to be trusted at all for the abbreviation, its

1 1 2 THE EARLY TEXTS

yare must be accepted. The evidence, however, is against Shakespeare's ever having used either contraction. The Cambridge, Globe, Arden, and Oxford editions give you re in both these passages ; Furnivall gives "you are robb'd," but "you're mov'd."

6. Past thought : what said she to you ? get more tapers.

moe I. I. 167.

7. Would • ever | have (to injcurre a general mocke) I. 2. 69.

fencurre

8. There is no composition in these newes, I. 3. I. * There's

9. God bu'y I ha done. I. 3. 189.

have

The Quarto gives this form for have or hath 19 times in the verse and 5 in the prose, but the Folio never. Like Jem, the form is not only colloquial but also vulgar, and if actors and copyists and printers were capable of importing these into Shakespeare's verse and prose, a- fortiori they were liable to introduce anywhere any colloquialism which formed part of their daily speech. In other plays the Folio exhibits ha and ""em as well as other colloquialisms, and seeing that the Quartos and Folio contradict each other over and over again on the point, and that each class of text is in individual plays at variance with itself, it becomes impossible to defend any but the necessary abbreviations now used in verse. Even these are often incorrectly introduced, as for instance in no. 8.

10. Patience her injury a mockery makes, i. 3. 207.

mockery

11. That the \ bruised \ heart was pierced through with care.

bruised I. 3. 219.

OTHELLO 113

12. Beit \ at her fathers. — lie not have it so. I. 3. 241. Why at her \ fathers ? — / | will

"Be it at" is right. With Q.'s contraction the audience would hear, "Beat at her father's" ! lie too is wrong.

13. And if my simplenesse — I. 3. 246. T*5 'assist my

14. Either for | stay or | going, the af|faires cry hast. Either j for her \ stay or | going, tV\affaire cries hast :

i. 3. 277.

F. removes the quadrisyllabic, Q. the double upbeat.

15. What • saiest thou | noble heart? i. 3. 302.

saist

1 6. I ha*t, it is ingender'd : Hell and night I. 3. 409.

havit engendred

Read, " I \ have it, it | is engendered : " and for ha see no. 9. Since the r was rolled, we ought not to suggest the false pronunciation engen-dred^ but to print the word in full, as the Quarto gives it in M. of V. 3. 2. 67, ltlt • is engendered \ in the eyes." Note that in each case the full form gives a rhythm that was a favourite with Shakespeare, — a resolution before a final cretic (- ^ -). The spelling of such words is discussed in Ch. vii. Cp. no. 65, Rich. Ill, no. 172, Tempest, no. 9.

17. *An indistinct regard. — Come, | lefs do | so. 2. i. 40.

and so F., but the stress is false ; read, " Come, let us \ do so."

1 8. He has j had most favourable and happy speede. 2. i. 67. Has had

See A. and C., no. 16, Macbeth^ no. 8.

19. Come on, come on, you are pictures out adores, 2. I. 109.

you are of door e

B. 8

1 1 4 THE EARLY TEXTS

F. prints the passage as prose, which probably accounts for "you are" not becoming "y'are."

2O. He held 'em sixpence all too deere, 2. 3. 94. them

21 (a). He '• is a souldier fit to stand by Caesar, 2. 3. 127. •Hfs

21 (b). *If • drinke | rocke not his j cradle. — Twere \ well

// were

2. 3. 136. Q. robs the line of a foot.

22. Of a • night | brawler? give me answer tt?t. 2. 3. 196.

to it.

But at v. 21 7 F. gives "'Tis monstrous (i.e. monsterous) : lago, who began t?"

23. Cos. Good night honest lago.

lag. *And \ what's he | then that | sayes I play the villaine, 2. 3. 342.

So F. and edd. falsely for "And j what is \ he, then."

24. Thou | knowest we ) worke by wit, 2. 3. 379.

know'st

25. I humbly thanke you | for it : I | never knew 3. J. 42.

for't

26. The next six passages show the Folio reviser to be capable de tout :

Not now sweete Desdemona some | other time. 3. 3. 55.

Desdemon Farewell my Desdo|mena, I'le | come to thee straight.

Desdemona 3. 3. 87.

O Desdejmona, a|way, away, away. 4. 2. 42. A h Desdemon^ Have you • prayed to night, | Desdemona ? — I my Lord.

*Desdemon ? 5. 2. 25.

Poore Desdejmona, I am | glad thy father's dead.

Desdemon : 5. 2. 204.

Note the quadrisyllable in Q.

OTHELLO n 5

0 Desdemona, Desdemona dead, O, o, o. 5. 2. 28 11.

*0h Desdemon ! dead Desdemon : dead. Oh, Oh!

The Q. is of course right, save that the groans form a fresh line. It is worth noting that some editors have accepted this "Desdemon" in all the passages !

27. To in|curre a private checke : 3. 3. 66. T^incur

28. Or stand so | muttering j on ? 3. 3. 69.

mam* ring

29. I heard thee | say even \ now, thou lik'st not that.

3- 3- I09-

So F., and so no doubt the actors, although the past tense likedst is required. There are several other examples. Read "thou | likedst not | that."

30. And • for I | know, thou art | full of | love and | honesty,||

thourt 3. 3. 1 1 8.

1 | know thou didst | not, thou | art not | such a | villaine :

*thou?rt 5. 2. 174.

Clearly the Folio reviser or printer read the line with two false stresses : " I know thou didst not, thou'rt not"....

31. And \ weighest thy j words, before thou give em breath.

weigh1 st (= waste) giv'st them

3-3- "9-

32. Although no abbreviation is in question, I cannot forbear correcting here two misdivisions in Q.

1 James Thomson imitated the rhythm in his Sophonisba with the line " O Sophonisba, Sophonisba, O ! " The story goes that a wag cried out " O Jemmy Thomson, Jemmy Thomson, O !," and that the play was ruined.

8—2

1 1 6 THE EARLY TEXTS

and F. which are perpetuated in modern texts. The passage 3. 3. 126 ff. runs thus (Folio text) :

Oth. I thinke so too. A |

lag. M6n should be | what they | seeme,

Or j those that | be not, would they might seeme | none.

Otb. Certaine, men should be what they seeme.

lag. Why then I thinke Cassio's an honest man.

Otb. Nay yet there's more in this ? 130

I prithee speake to me, as (om. Q.) to thy thinkings, As thou dost ruminate, and give thy worst of thoughts The worst of words.

V<u. 128 and 131 have only four feet, while 130 has three and 132 has six. If we are to give "think" in 129 the malicious stress it was doubtless meant to have, we must scan,

Why | then I | think | Cassio's an | honest | man,

producing a poor line. We can give it some rhythm by removing the abbreviation and scanning,

Why | then I think | Cassio j is an | honest | man,

but now we have lost the stress on "think." I would arrange thus,

Oth. Certain, | men should be | what they seem.

lag. Why, then I think

Cassio's an honest man.

Oth. Nay, yet there's more in this. 128

I • prithee, | speak to me | as to thy | thinkings, as | thou Dost ruminate, and give thy worst of thoughts The worst of words.

Vv. 127-8 reproduce the common feature, an Alexan drine divided between two speakers. The next line, like many of Shakespeare's, gallops if spoken as a whole

OTHELLO 117

and at a breath, but it would not be delivered so. The. words "as thou" belong to the next measure and are pre ceded by a pause, while the other words, " I j prithee, speak to me | as to thy | thinkings," fall into the familiar lyric measure e, varied by an additional resolu tion. Thus the third resolution in the line disappears in delivery, just as a divided quadrisyllable does. Cp. no. 34. lago's remark, "Why, then I think" etc., of course means, "Cassio seems to be an honest man, but men are not always what they seem."

33. Thinkst thou Fde \ make a | life of | jealousjie? 3. 3. 177.

And so F., but the line gains greatly in dignity, if we read,

Thinkest thou | / would \ make a | life of | jealousy ? ||

34. By way of parallel to some corrections here proposed, I give a line that for rhythm is characteristic of Shakespeare's mature work :

As my j thoughts A | aim not at. j Cassio's my | worthy | friend. 3. 3. 223.

We have the lyric measures £ . fi and (with the double upbeat) three resolutions, one of which is a quadri- syllabic.

35. And knowes all qualities with a learned spirit. 3. 3. 259.

*learn'd

F. ruins the line. Cp. for the rhythm Tempest, no. 9 and note.

36. Pie not bejleeve it. — How | now, my deare Othello ?

beleevit 3. 3. 279.

Editors follow the Folio, but to end a speech with such

1 1 8 THE EARLY TEXTS

a dipody as "I'll not believe't" is just the thing Shake speare would not have done. The absurdity of supposing that he would not allow Othello to speak naturally and say "believe it," for fear of making a resolved foot with the upbeat of a new speaker's new measure, has not been perceived. Cp. no. 39, second line.

37. And | to the advantage, | I being j here, took't \ up.

to tti 'advantage tootft 3. 3. 312.

But tooktup is impossible, at any rate on the stage.

38. Looke here it is. — A good wench, give it me. 3. 3. 313.

*'/w

It is nothing to the Folio that it robs the line of a foot.

39. What will you | doe with | it, that | you have | bin

So • earnest to | have me ) filch it ? — Why, what's | that to | you? 3. 3. 314^

So the Quarto correctly, with a quadrisyllable in the second line. The Folio prints as far as "filch it?" as prose, reading "do with't" which must therefore be a purely gratuitous abbreviation. It also gives "Why, what is that to you?" (lago's words), probably taking this to be verse and, as usual, removing the double upbeat. It is a striking instance of the prevailing mis conception of Shakespeare's verse that modern editors adopt Theobald's text and give,

What will you do with'ty that you have been so earnest To have me filch it ? — Why, what is that to you ?

The first line is atrocious, whether we give a false stress to "that" ("do with't, | that you have") or make the second foot a broken trisyllabic, scanning | "do with't, that | you have" etc. Whichever way it is

OTHELLO 119

scanned, there is not a single genuine verse of Shake speare with such an uncouth rhythm. Also, in either case Emilia's simple question takes on a "bustled" air, while lago's rejoinder, "Why, what is that to you?" has the deliberate tone which her words would naturally assume. This is not the Shakespearian manner (which the Quarto has happily preserved), but just the oppo site. Emilia asks her question quietly and calmly, "What will you do with it, that you have been so earnest to have me filch it?" and lago snaps back with evident irritation, "Why, what's • that to you?" It is on points like this, seemingly trivial yet not really so, that Shakespeare's touch is always sure and unmistakable. It should be observed that the Folio, which in no. 36 gave "beleeve't" in order to avoid a trisyllabic foot, here prints "filch it," because it thought it was dealing with prose and had no idea that it was forming a quad- risyllabic with the next speaker's double upbeat.

40. If it; : be not for some purpose of import, 3. 3. 316.

So Qj and F. The example is interesting because Q2 gives "If't," showing that the printers did not hesitate to make the text square with their own notions of the best blank verse. Similar cases are numerous.

4 1 . What | sense had | I of | her stolne \ houres of | lust ?

7, in stolne 3. 3. 338.

The false stress on "her" is intolerable, yet incredible as it may seem, editors are content to perpetuate this (with j/o/'»), not perceiving that if Shakespeare wrote such a verse, he was a bungler. Of course we should read, | "I of her stolen \ hours." The example is a

I2O

plain proof that in no case can we trust the early texts with regard to the spellings stolne and falne and others similar. Cp. Hamlet^ no. 31, Lear, no. 24.

42. To bring em to that prospect, dam em then, 3. 3. 398.

them them

See on no. 3.

43. Will give you satisfaction, you may heft. 3. 3. 408.

might have*t.

Cp. no. 9.

44. Give me a living | reason that | shee's disloyall. 3. 3. 409.

F., followed by editors, omits "that"; but Q. would not have inserted it.

45. See Cassio wipe his beard with. — Ift be that —

lf 'lt 3- 3- 439-

See on no. 40.

46. How • is it | with you my | lord ? 3. 4. 33.

•«** How • is it | with you | my most j fair Bi anca ?

•iff 3. 4. 170.

The second quotation shows the proper stressing of this common phrase beyond any possibility of doubt; yet editors follow the Folio in the first passage, undeterred by its folly in the second. Apparently, like the Folio, they would rather have a false stress than a resolved foot. Thus in Macbeth 2. 2. 58, rather than desert the Folio, they give

How \ is't with | me when | every | noise apjpals me ? instead of

How j is it | with me when | every noise appals me ?

OTHELLO 121

For similar abbreviations of it cp. the next three ex amples and Macbeth, no. 10 (Ch. v).

47. Then would to God that I had never scene it. 3. 4. 77.

seene't.

48. Pst \ lost ? i'st | gone ? speake, is it \ out o'the \ way ?

3. 4. 80.

So the Quarto, probably stressing as marked. F. gives Is't lost ? is't gone ? speake, is't out o'/£'way ?

Editors follow the Quarto, probably with the same stresses, for they would not admit two resolutions if it could be helped. But "iztlost" and "iztgon" cannot be said without an ugly effort, and no one would attempt to say them on the stage if it could be avoided. On the other hand, when one says "is it lost? is it gone ?" the / and /and the / and g fall slightly apart and there is no difficulty. Beyond doubt the true text is

Is it I lost ? is it | gone ? A | speak, is it \ out of the | way ?

49. Des. I \ say it j is not | lost.

Oth. Fetch1 ty | let me | see it. 3. 4. 86.

Fetch't, seit.

The Globe, Leopold, and Oxford editions follow the Folio ; the Cambridge and Arden follow the Quarto. All probably stress as marked for the Quarto ; but of course "Fetch" must be stressed, and if so, "Fetch't" followed by a pause is wholly unnatural. What would a man say ? For what he would naturally say, that Shake speare would make him say in this simple talk, — "Fetch it, | let me j see it." The line is an Alexandrine, I j say it | is not | lost. A | — Fetch it, let me see it1.

1 Or it may be a pentapody with a quadrisyllable in the fourth place, " Fetch it, let me."

122 THE EARLY TEXTS

For the absurd abbreviation "see't" ("let me seat"\) see a delicious example, Lear, no. 40. I ask the reader's indulgence for dwelling on these elementary points ; he will see it is not my fault, and I am as much out of patience as he can be.

50. There is no other way, tis she must doe it. 3. 4. 107.

doo't. Editors as F.

51. But jealous for they are jealous : tis a monster 3. 4. 161.

*for they're

52. As like enough it will, Fde have it coppied. 3. 4. 190.

I would

53. Or I shall say you are all in all in spleene, 4. i. 89.

y'are

Editors inconsistently follow the Quarto. Cp. no. 5.

54. *By my • troth, I am | glad on't.

Oth. In|deed !

Des. My | lord?

4. I. 248.

So Q., losing a foot. F. gives "Trust me, I am | glad on't." Some editors follow Q., others F. ; all give " on't." But in either case " of it" is required. With Q.'s text there is a double upbeat, and with F.'s a quadri- syllabic :

By my : troth, I am | glad of | it. — In|deed ! — My | lord ? Trust me, I am | glad of | it. — In | deed ! — My | lord ?

55. Given to cap|tivity | me and my | utmost | hopes.

4. 2. 51.

So the Folio. Q. omits "utmost," probably stressing thus, "Given to captivity- me and my hopes"!

56. That the sence akes at thee, would thou hadst ne'er bin

borne. 4. 2. 69.

OTHELLO 123

But the reviser having missed an opportunity, the Folio gives the line rightly thus,

That the j sense | akes at thee, | would thou hadst | never bin | borne.

Needless to say, editors prefer the Quarto text. Yet on the stage, at any rate, neer would be weak. It is somewhat strange that Shakespeare should be thought not to have been alive to these points. It is true the line has four resolutions, but there is a pause in the middle and the tone of voice is cnanged. Moreover, the reso lutions all belong to the natural and spontaneous rhythm of prose. A man speaking prose might say, ". . .that my senses ache at you ; 1 wish you had never been b6rn ! " ; — a sentence which contains a quadrisyllabic that is not in the verse. This is the secret of the absolute satisfactoriness of Shakespeare's mature dramatic manner.

57. Des. I am a child at (F. to) chiding.

lag. What is the matter Lady ? 4. 2. 114.

And so the Folio; yet editors strangely follow F4 (!) in reading What's. lago would not use this uncere monious form to Desdemona. It is only remarkable that both Q. and F. have the correct form here, for there are several places in the play where one or the other wrongly gives the abbreviation, and there are many cases elsewhere.

58. It is my wretched fortune. — Beshrew him for it ;

for't ; 4.2. 128.

59. Ift' were no other —

lag. Tis but so I warrant you. 4. 2. 168.

It is but so, I warrant.

From which we gather that the true reading is

If it | were no | other — It | is but | so, I | warrant you. ||

i24 THE EARLY TEXTS

60. O | pardon me, | it shall | doe me good to walke. 4. 3. 2.

j me : 'twill \

Q. gives the unmistakable Shakespearian rhythm, with a pause at the end of a trisyllabic foot. Cp. no. 16, Tempest, nos. 9, 24, A. and C. 41, 51, 58. Edd. as F.

61. Nor :* I | neither | by this | heavenly | light,

I might ' doe it as | well in the | darke. 4. 3. 66 f. ' doSt ?tV

The Cambridge editors print this as prose, but it is clearly verse, as others have seen. Of course all give "do't" and "i'the."

62. Two or three grones, it is a heavy night. 5. I. 42.

*groane. "Tis heavy night.

F. destroys the metre.

63. How is it brother ? — My leg is cut in two. 5. I. 71.

isyt

64. And | yet I | feare you, for | you are | fatall | then,

*\ for you're \ 5-2-37.

F. produces false stress and bad rhythm.

65. By heaven I saw my | handkercher | in his | hand.

handker\chiefe in1! \ 5. 2. 62.

For the characteristic rhythm which F. ruins, see no. 1 6, and cp. Timon i. i. 81 and 3. 5. 34, lines with identical rhythm given correctly by F. :

Rain sacrificial | whisperings | in his | ear.

And ne'er (never ?] prefer his | injuries | to his | heart.

66. *Honest lago | hath tone \ order for't. 5. 2. 72.

So Q. and F. with false stress and making an extremely bad line, which the editors accept. Read,

Honest Ijago hath | taken \ order j for it.

OTHELLO 125

67. O good my lord, Vde speake a word with you. 5. 2. 90.

/ would

68. My wife, my wife, my wife \ I | ha no | wife : 5. 2. 97. My wife, my wife : what wife ? I have no wife.

69. I, with | Cassio : | nay, had she bin true, 5. 2. 143. I, with | Cassi o : had \ she

70. Emil. My husband ?

Oth. I, twas he that told me first. 5. 2. 147.

I 'twas he that told me on her first.

And yet we are asked to respect the Folio in other cases where its gratuitous vulgarity is not quite so shocking.

71. What | needes this iter ation ? | woman, I say thy husband. What | needs this | itterance, \ woman ? 5. 2. 150.

A clear case of deliberate alteration by the Folio reviser, who boggled at the quadrisyllable, but points rightly.

72. Let heaven, and men, and di veils, let em all,

them All, all cry shame against me, yet I'le speake. 5. 2. 221 f.

Is this perchance the boy-actor "letting himself go" as he dictates what is perhaps his own part to the copyist ?

73. He beg'd of me to steale it. 5. 2. 229.

stealet.

74. Roderigo meant to have sent this damned villaine,

Shave 5. 2. 316.

With F.'s abbreviation we must, as elsewhere, drop the h and say taw. Cp. Lear, no. 13, Macbeth^ no. 37, A. and C.r no. 62.

126 THE EARLY TEXTS

King Lear

Selected Abbreviations

1. Meane time we will expresse our darker | purposes. |[

purpose.

I. i. 37.

2. *The map there; know we have divided i. i. 38.

Give me the \ map there. | Know that we \ have divided

3. *onely she came short, That I professe I. i. 74.

Onely she | comes too \ short

F. rightly gives the resolution "Only she"; Q. mis- divides the lines.

4. Then that confirm'd on | Gonerill, but | now our joy,

conferred on \ Gonerill. \ Now 1 . 1 . 84.

F. converts the quadrisyllable into a trisyllabic.

5. Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak

When power to flattery bows ? To plainness honour's bound When majesty stoops to folly, i. i. 148 ff.

So editors, making v. 149 an Alexandrine. F. makes two three-foot lines of it, and Q. misdivides the whole passage. But 148 becomes a more vigorous and charac teristic line, if we take up "when power" and scan "duty shall have" as a quadrisyllable:

Think'st thou that | duty shall have | dread to j speak

when | power

To flattery bows ? To plainness honour's bound When majesty stoops to folly.

6. Thy | safety | being the | motive, j — Out of my \ sight.

being motive. I. I. 159.

Note that both Q. and F. give of, not o '. Usually F. at any rate gives o1 in a trisyllabic foot.

KING LEAR 127

7. Thou : swearest thy | gods in vaine. I. i. 163.

swear'st

8. Which I we durst | never | yet ; and with | straied \ pride,

* | with strain'd \

I. I. 172.

Q. clearly meant to print " strained." F.'s stress is false, yet editors hand it on as Shakespeare's.

9. To a j vert your | liking i. i. 214. T* avert

10. Aljmost to acknowledge hers. i. i. 216. Al\most f acknowledge

11. He do't before I speake, I. i. 229. So both Q. and F.

12. No uncleane action or &\s\honord \ step i. i. 231.

unchaste dishonoured \

13. Then • not to have | pleas'd me better, i. i. 237.

fhave

Note that tave must be said. Cp. Othello, no. 74, Macbeth, no. 37, A. and C., no. 62.

14. Aloofe from the intire point wil you have her ? i. i. 243.

tb'intire

Q. is right. F. converts a quadrisyllabic foot into a trisyllabic; for -tire of "entire" being a disyllabic (see Appendix v), the scansion is,

A | loof from the en tire | point. A | Will you | have her ?

15. Be it \ lawfull I take up i. i. 256.

So Q. and F., but it is remarkable that one or other does not give bet^ which is extremely common.

16. goe to the creating of a. whole tribe of fops. i. 2. 14. Goe to /£'cre|ating a | whole [ tribe

The true text will show a quadrisyllabic, "Go to the

1 2 8 THE EARLY TEXTS

creating," which F. seeks in vain to abolish, since its combination of consonants thcr is unpronounceable. Q.'s "of" is of course an interpolation; it prints the whole speech as prose.

17. [So may it come,] thy maister whom thou lovest I. 4. 6.

• lov'st

Q. omits the words in brackets.

1 8. more hideous when thou | she west thee | in a child

shew'st I. 4. 281.

Q. prints as prose.

19. y'are much more attaskt for want of wisdome I. 4. 365. You \ are

Q. as prose. Cp. no. 50.

20. Which are to intrench, to inloose 2. 2. 81.

fintrince, f unloose

The true text is "Which are • too intrinse to un loose."

21. *and (i.e. if] they will tak't so, If not he's plaine,

And they will take It 2. 2. 106.

Q. misdivides.

22. all | wearie and | overjwatch Take vantage heavie eyes 2. 2. 177.

F. gives "All | weary | and oV^-|watch'd." Q. rightly meant to print "overwatcht." The error of F. is common ; cp. Richard III, no. 84 (Ch. in), A. and C.y no. 27 (Ch. v).

23. Denie to speake with me, th'are sicke, th'are weary ?

they are sicke, they are 2. 4. 89.

24. And am | fallen \ out with my more headier will.

2. 4. no.

KING LEAR 129

So Q. and F. ; but falne is extremely common in the plays in order to abolish a resolution, and one would not have been surprised to find here "And \ am falne \ out." Thus at 4. 6. 56 F. gives falne, where Q. has "But have I fallen or no?" See Othello, no. 41.

25. Against my coming in, thou better knowest 2. 4. 180.

knoufst

26. Thy | halfe of the | kingdome, 2. 4. 183.

27. Dwels in the fickle grace of her a followes. 2. 4. 189.

he Now out-lawed from my bloud, a sought my life.

be 3. 4. 172.

A has some reason. 4. I. 33. He

A had a thousand noses. 4. 6. 70. tfft

In this play at any rate the Folio rejects the vulgarism.

28. Lear. O Regan wilt thou take her by the hand ?

Gon. Why \ not by the | hand sir, how have I offended ? t ft hand 2. 4. 197 f.

29. To wage against the j enmitie j of the | ayre, 2. 4. 212.

*enmi tie o't

Cp. no. 34. Q. gives the Shakespearian rhythm ; see Othello, nos. 16, 65, and Tempest, no. 9.

30. Must be content to | thinke you are | old, and so

thinke you old 2. 4. 238.

3 1 . Why nature needs not, what thou gorgeous wearest

wear'st

2. 4. 272.

32. This house is little, the | old man | and his | people

*the old man and's \ people 2. 4. 291.

Note how F. counts syllables, regardless of all else. B. 9

1 30 THE EARLY TEXTS

33. Tis his own blame hath put himselfe from rest, And needs must tast his folly. 2. 4. 293 f.

So Q. and F., but I have no doubt we should read, 'Tis j his own | blame ; he hath | put himself from rest.

See Othello, no. 18, A. and C., no. 16, Macbeth, no. 8. The Shakespearian stress is often "his own" etc., not "his 6wn."

34. You sulpherous and thought-executing fires, 3. 2. 4.

sulphurous

Vaunt-currers to oke-cleaving thunder boults, 3. 2. 5. Vaunt-currion of

Smite flat the thicke ro|tunditie | of the | world. 3. 2. 7. *ro[tundi|ty 0V£'[world.

See on no. 29 above. So little is the true character of Shakespeare's versification understood that in such cases editors one and all habitually give such lines as the last with a rhythm which he would have condemned. Here, for instance, they print "ro|tundi|ty o'the \ world," instead of the true rhythm given by the Quarto.

3$. Such grones of roaring winde and rayne I ne're

never

Re- member to have | heard, mans nature cannot cary The affliction nor the force. 3. 2. 47 ff. T£'af:fliction

The improper abbreviation of never is common. Note that the quadrisyllabic in v. 48 has survived in the Folio (we do not get fhave as in no. 13), probably because the verse was supposed to be an Alexandrine. Q. misdivides the lines.

36. From seasons such as these, O I have tone Too little care of this. 3. 4. 32 f.

KING LEAR 131

So Q. and F. altogether gratuitously. See Ch. vn, and cp. nos. 58, 65.

37. To ojbay in all. 3. 4. 153. Tobe'y

38. * What a nights this? I doe beseech your grace. 3.4.175. And so F., for "What a | night is \ this!"

39. Corn. Bind him I say.

Reg. Hard hard, O filthie traytor !

Glost. Unmerciful lady as you are, I am true. 3. 7. 32 f.

Vme none.

40. Seit shalt thou never, fellowes hold the chaire. 3. 7. 67.

So F. Capell recognised the impossibility of this on the stage, and printed "See it" ; but later editors have not perceived that what the audience would hear from the text of Q. and F. is "Seaf shalt thou never; fellows, hold the chair"

41. Then still contemn'd and | flattered | to be worst.

flatter' d 4. i. 2.

42. In the ' last nights storme I such a fellow saw. 4. i. 34. /'/£': last

43. Bad is the | trade that must j play the | foole to | sorrow.

*that | mustp/ay \ foole 4. i. 40.

Once more F. counts syllables.

44. Thou \ bearest a | cheeke 4. 2. 51.

bear'st

45. Tell me what more thou knowest. 4. 2. 98.

know* st.

Thus we see that the Folio did not agree with Shake speare as to what is a desirable rhythm for the con cluding words of a scene. In the earlier plays the scenes rarely end with a tripody, but in the later ones they

9—2

1 32 THE EARLY TEXTS

often do so, and the last foot is frequently completed, so that the last syllable is unstressed. There are three instances each in Lear and Macbeth, four each in The Winter s Tale and Coriolanus, and eleven in Antony and Cleopatra. Hamlet in. 4 ends with "Good night, mother," and M. for M. n. i with "Come, sir." M. for M.. iv. 5 and even C. of E. n. I end with a resolved fifth foot.

46. Kent, father, sisters, what ith storme ith night ! 4. 3. 30.

What a line for Shakespeare! Read and scan (with slightly stressed upbeat),

Kent ! \ father ! j sisters ! what, | in the \ storm, in the night !

Editors print "i'the storm," but-/' cannot take the stress that is required if the line is not to become absurd. This scene is not in the Folio.

47. Kent. Was this before the king returnd.

Gent. No since.

Kent. Well sir, the | poore distressed | Lear's ith \ towne.

4- 3- 39 f-

And so the Globe, Cambridge, and Arden editions (printing ithe] ; but Shakespeare could not write such a lamely moving line. Still more impossible are the Leopold and Oxford texts :

Well, sir, the | poor dh\trhsd Lear's | i'the | town.

One is immediately impelled to ask where the un- distressed Lear is. The fact is, the words "Well, sir" belong to the previous line, and both ith and i'the ruin the line that remains. Read,

KING LEAR 133

Kent. Was \ this be|fore the | king re turn'd ? A | Gent. No, | since. A j

Kent. Well, sir,

The | poor distressed | Lear is \ in the \ town.

A new speaker often supplies the last foot of a six-foot line. Cp. the passage A. and C. 4. 14. 119 ff., quoted in Ch. n, p. 32, and Coriolanus, no. ,13.

48. *But | love, deere | love, and | our agd \ fathers | right

4. 4. 28.

And so F. and the Leopold and Oxford texts ; but the stress is false, and we must read "and our | agld \ father's right."

49. Methinks thy voyce is altered and thou speakest 4. 6. 7.

altered speak'st

50. Y'ar much deceaved, in nothing am I chang'd 4. 6. 9. rare

*Tar a spirit I know, where did you dye ? 4. 7. 49.

You are Methinks far better spoken. 4. 6. 10.

fare Have followed your sad steps. — Tottr welcome hither.

You are 5. 3. 289.

For the abbreviated forms see on A. and C., no. 19 (Ch. v), and note the vacillation of the Folio in these four passages. In no. 19 it gives you are.

51. And dizi tis to cast ones eyes so low. 4. 6. 12.

dlzie 'tis

But Shakespeare could not have written such a jingle as " dizzy 'tis," to say nothing of the rhythm, and we must read, "And • dizzy /'/ | M."

52. That on the unnumbred idle peeble chaffes 4. 6. 21.

th'unnumbred peeble chafes

Unless we are prepared to pronounce unnum-bred^ which

i34 THE EARLY TEXTS

could not have been Shakespeare's practice, a modern edition should give the spelling which suggests the Elizabethan pronunciation to modern eyes. That pro nunciation I take to have been "unnumbered" with the first e only slightly heard. See Ch. vii and no. 73. Cp. Richard ///, no. 171, p. 85.

53. Thou hadst shiverd like an egge, 4. 6. 51. Thou'dst

54. Hast heavy substance, bleedst not, speakest, art sound.

speat'st, 4. 6. 52.

Even in the absence of a Quarto " speakest" might have been restored with certainty as giving the Shakespearian rhythm because of the pause after the word. See on A. and C, no. 67, and cp. nos. 45, 57.

55. Upon the crowne of the cliffe 4. 6. 67.

rtf#

56. *Then (than) my \ daughters | got | tweene the | lawfull |

sheets. 4. 6. 117.

So F., but the metre demands between. Prose in Q.

57. Thou knowest the first time that we smell the aire,

know' sty 4. 6. 183.

The Folio rightly marks the voice-pause after "know'st," but it is just in such a case that Shakespeare would give a light syllable before the pause. See nos. 45, 54.

58. No reskue, what a prisoner, I am eene The naturall foole of Fortune. 4. 6. 194.

F. rightly gives even. The false abbreviation is common.

59. I am cut to the braines 4. 6. 197.

tttV

60. *To be acknowledgd madam | is 0n?|payd. 4. 7. 4.

KING LEAR 135

So F., but the stress is false; we want "is j over-paid." Cp. no. 22 and note.

61. *Iam j mightijly ajbusd, I | should ene dye with j pitie.

ev'n 4. 7. 53.

F. apparently means "ev'n" to be a monosyllable, though it cannot be so said, and both appear to have scanned the line as an Alexandrine without resolution, and with a false stress on "should." It is in fact a pentapody with two resolutions, one being a quadri syllable :

I am | mightily a|bused, I should | even \ die with | pity.

The Cambridge edition gives eeny indifferent to the false stress.

62. *Sir you speake nobly. — Why is this reasoned! 5. I. 28.

And so editors; but we must have reasoned for the metre. The line is not in the Folio.

63. Combine togither gainst the enemy, For these domestique dare particulars

and particurlar broths Are not to question here.

Alb. Let us then determine

Lets With the auntient of warre on our proceedings.

5. i. 29 ff.

F. agrees in reading 'gainst, but the natural and Shake spearian rhythm will be given by against. F.'s "particurlar broiles" has all the air of a not very happy correction, especially as it fails to account for the unintelligible "dore" of the Quarto. This cannot have arisen out of the Folio's reading, and until it is explained, it is

1 3 6 THE EARLY TEXTS

entirely uncritical to follow the Folio, as editors in general do. The case resembles those that occur from time to time in Greek and Latin literature, where the worst text is the best guide to the true reading. Collier saw this, and his "in-door particulars" gives the needed explanation of the unintelligible "dore." It is surprising that it has not been adopted.

64. *Why fare thee well, I | will ore-\looke the paper.

thy 5. i. 50.

To correct the false stress, read, "I will [ over\look." Cp. nos. 22, 60.

65. King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter tame. 5. 2. 6.

tane.

See on nos. 36, 58.

66. The good shall devoure emt fleach and fell

The good yeares shall devoure them, flesh and fell,

Ere they shall make us weepe ! wele see urn starve first, come. 'em 5. 3. 24 f.

67. About it, and write j happy when | thou hast | don.

happy, j when th'hast \ done.

5- 3- 35-

68. If| more, the j more thou hast | wrongd me. 5. 3. 168.

th'hast

69. To morrow, or at further space to appeare 5. 3. 53.

fappeare

70. Himselfe, what | saiest thou | to him ? — Draw thy sword.

saist 5. 3. 126.

Conspicuate gainst this high illustrious prince, 5. 3. 135. Conspirant 'gainst

F.'s jumble of consonants is unpronounceable ; we must have "Conspirant against"

KING LEAR 137

71. And from thixtreamest upward of thy head, 5. 3. 136.

tV extreme st

72. By the j law of armes thou art not bound to answere

By if? law wast 5. 3. 152.

73. But cozned and beguild. 5. 3. 154.

cozeri'd

The pronunciation coz-ned cannot be intended, and we should therefore suggest the true sound of the word by printing cosened, a trisyllable with the first e only slightly heard. See Ch. vu and no. 52.

74. Nay no \ tearing Lady, I perceive you knowi't. 5. 3. 157. No • tearing know it.

It is usually the Folio which abbreviates a final "it." In the next line both Q. and F. give, "Who shall arraign me/orV?"

75. I do forgive thee. — Let's exchange charity. 5. 3. 166.

So F., but rhythm demands, | "Lef us exjchange

charity. ||"

76. Thou hast | spoken truth, 5. 3. 173. Ttfhast right.

77. To assume a semblance 5. 3. 187. T'assume

78. Be briefe, int /o^'castle for my writ, 5. 3. 245. (Be briefe in it] to1 tk* castle, for my writ

Is on the life of Lear...

Q. destroys the metre, and F. the rhythm; we must have,

Quickly send — Be \ brief in it — | to the \ castle ; j for my j writ...

79. What ist thou | sayest, her | voyce was ever soft,

is't saist ? 5. 3. 272.

1 3 8 THE EARLY TEXTS

Q. removes 24 resolutions, and F. 75. Altogether there are in the verse of Lear about 210 abbreviations in the Quarto or Folio or both that call for correction. This total includes about 50 cases of th\ The| Quarto (Qa) is a decidedly bad one, with many misdivisions of the lines and a great quantity of the verse printed as prose.

CHAPTER V

THE EARLY TEXTS (continued}

Abbreviations in some plays in the Folio only — Macbeth, 'The 'Tempest, Cymbeline, Coriolanus, Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar

OUR examination of the five Quarto plays Richard II, Richard III, Hamlet, Othello, King Learhzs revealed the fact that the Quartos and the Folio are continually contradicting one another in the matter of abbreviations made for the purpose of abolishing resolutions. Some times the Quarto is the offender, sometimes the Folio. We had three criteria by which to decide which was right in each case: (i) false metre, (2) false stressing, (3) our knowledge of certain characteristics of Shake speare's dramatic verse. We also knew before we started that the Quartos of Hamlet, Othello, and Lear were on general grounds regarded by scholars as inferior to those of Richard I I and Richard III. Only a selection of abbreviations from the former three was given, but my complete analysis shows that in every Quarto play the Folio abbreviates wrongly oftener than the Quarto (see Table I, p. 94), even when the Quarto is one generally classed as inferior. For the six Folio plays of which a partial analysis is given in the present chapter, we have no longer the assistance of a Quarto, but we can proceed with hardly less confidence. We have still

1 40 THE EARLY TEXTS

our three criteria, and our reliance on the third of them has been greatly strengthened by the concurrent testimony of the Quartos as a class. We shall find that the Folio fully maintains its character for untrust- worthiness in the matter of abbreviations.

The Folio's text is given first in each case, and underneath it in round brackets what appears to be the true reading.

Macbeth Selected Abbreviations

i. The passage i. 2. 19 ff. appears to have lost a line after "faced the slave," but what we have can be arranged in better verse than that of the Folio and other texts, if some abbreviations are removed. The Folio reads and divides thus :

(Like Valours minion) carv'd out his passage, Till he fac'd the slave :

Which nev'r shooke hands, nor bad farewell to him, Till he unseam'd him from the nave to /^'chops, And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

I would suggest,

Like Valour's minion carved out his passage Until he faced the slave :

* * which never shook hands

Nor bade farewell to him, till he unseam'd him From the • navel to the chaps, and fix'd his head Upon our battlements.

2. That | looke not | like ^'in|habit|ants o'tb' earth,

(the inhabitants | of the \ earth,) And yet are on't. i. 3. 41 f. (on it.}

MACBETH 141

The Globe and Cambridge editions give the and othe\ the Leopold, Oxford, and Arden tti and oy the; but the rhythm of all alike is shocking with its intolerable stress on the last syllable of "inhabitants." For the true rhythm of v. 41 see Tempest, nos. 9,24, Othello, 16, 65, and A. and C. 41. For the improbability of ont cp. no. 10 note and "Upon their pillows" in no. 18, and Othello, nos. 36, 39.

3. * To ^'selfe-same tune, and words. Who's here ? t. 3. 88.

Editors retain "Who's," but the line has lost a foot. Read,

To the self-same tune and | words. A ) Who is \ here ?

Cp., by way of contrast to F.'s "To th'" here, its readings elsewhere in the play,

And fill me from the j crowne to the \ toe top-full I. 5. 43.

Given to the common enemie of man, 3. i. 69.

Now J goe to the \ doore, and stay there till we call. 3. i. 73.

4. Winne us with honest trifles, to betray's. i. 3. 125.

(betray us.]

What object could Shakespeare have had in making his words sound like betracel So

I, my good lord: our time does call upons. 3. i. 37.

Shall take upon's what else remaines to do. 5. 6. 5.

But at 2. 3. 135 we have

To know it further. Feares and scruples shake us.

5. The king conies here to night.

Lady M. Thou'rt mad to say it.

*Is not thy master with him ? | who, wer't | so, i. 5. 32 f.

(who, | were it \ so,)

F. falsely stresses "who." For thourt see Othello, no. 30.

1 42 THE EARLY TEXTS

6. And take my milke for gall, you murth'ring ministers,

(murthering) I. 5. 49.

Similarly we have in this play off'rings^ temperate, temp'- rance, towering, mock'ry, vap'rous ; but also murtherous^ murtherer (2), flattering^ suffering.

7. But be the serpent undent. He that's coming i. 5. 67.

(finder it.)

Cp. no. 2 and note, and for the true rhythm see on Othello 1 6. At i. 7. 14 F. spares the true rhythm: Who should against his murtherer shut the doore.

8. He has \ almost supt : A | why have you | left the | chamber?

1. 7. 29. He bath \ honour'd me of late, and I have bought i. 7. 32.

The examples are worth noting because the pronoun is sometimes unjustifiably omitted, as by Q. and F. in Lear, no. 33 and by F. at Othello 2. i. 67, where the Quarto has,

He has \ had most favourable and happy speed.

9. How tender 'tis to love the babe that milkes me. I. 7. 55.

Shakespeare must have written it is, if only because no one with an ear would write " /ender /is /o."

10. They that have don't? — Who dares receive it other,

(done it ?) i. 7. 77.

See nos. 2 and 7. At 2. 3. 68 we have in the same place in the line, "A j fellow | to it." And at 2. 2. 30, "Consider it not so deeply." As a rule, however, in this play the Folio abbreviates the word :

Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had don't. My husband ?

2. 2. 14.

MACBETH 143

*How is't with | me, when j every noyse appals me ? (How is it | with me,) 2. 2. 58.

Here the stress is wrong; the phrase "How • is it with you?", so stressed, occurs several times. Cp. Othello, nos. 46-49.

lit nights predominance, 2. 4. 8.

But "Is't night's" is hardly to be said without a splutter. And so 2. 4. 22, "/fV known who did..."; 3. i. 24} "JjV farre you ride?" ; 3. 4. 44, "What wVthat moves your highnesse?"; 4. i. 140, "Who w<wV came by ? " and 2. i. 3, "I taket 'tis later, Sir." None of these can be said without an effort as disagreeable to the listener as to the speaker, and for that reason Shakespeare could not have written them, even if he had disliked resolutions.

What is amisse ? — You are, and doe not know't.

2. 3. IO2.

Those of his chamber, as it seem'd, had don't. 2. 3. 106. To heare the men deny't. So that I say, 3. 6. 16.

1 1 . *If you would grant the time. — At j your kindest \ leysure.

2. I. 24.

The stress is misplaced. Read "At your kindest \ leisure."

12. (As, and't please heaven he shall not) they should finde

3. 6. 19.

Since the combination dtp is unpronounceable, Shake speare, who was composing for the stage, must have written and it, which anyhow much improves the rhythm of the line. So far as my investigations go, I find no reason for believing that he ever wrote the words other wise ; for although ant is common in the early texts,

144 THE EARLY TEXTS

so is and it. In the prose, according to my impression, the latter is more common. In the verse ant would only be used to avoid a resolution, and of his mind on that point there is no room for doubt. That the actors may often have said ant is another matter.

13. And weares upon his baby-brow the round

And '• top of | soveraign|ty ? A | — Listen, but | speake not j Hit, 4. i. 88f.

But why this sudden drop from exalted language to a common colloquialism? Further, — and although the point may seem trivial, for Shakespeare's verse it is not really so — while neither toot nor to it should have any stress, the monosyllable too't cannot be said without one, but to it can. A similar case (one of very many) is Lear i. 4. 282, where shewest (Q.), not shewst (F.), is no doubt right : " More hideous when thou showest thee in a child."

14. To crown my thoughts with | acts: belt \ thoght and done.

4. i. 149.

It is only surprising that we do not find bet, as for instance in A. and C. 2. i. 50, "Bee't as our gods will havetr

15. Be not a niggard of your speech : how gos't ? 4. 3. 180.

See no. 10. Where we can compare the Folio with a Quarto, as in the plays examined in Chapters in and iv, we find that it is its usual practice to abbreviate /'/, but that in a Quarto this is exceptional. Both classes show an unintelligible inconsistency.

1 6. I know this is a joy full trouble to you, *But | yet 'tis \ one. 2. 3. 53 f.

MACBETH 145

The stress is absurdly false, yet editors continue to print "'tis one." One guesses in vain at an explanation. Do they really believe that Shakespeare was habitually guilty of offences which, as reviewers of a modern play, they would properly gibbet without mercy? Or are they so infatuated with the Folio's charms that they cannot see that "Kate doth limp " ? We must of course read, "But • yet /'/ j is one."

17. Most sacrilegious murder | hath broke | ope

*The | Lord's an oynted | temple, | and stole \ thence The life <?'//>'building. — What is't you say, the life ?

2. 3. 72 ff.

Ope is suspicious, for this form of the adjective occurs only in Folio plays, twice to avoid a double ending and four times to avoid a resolution. On the other hand, open makes a double ending eight times and a resolution five times. Cp. Richard II, no. 40, p. 58, where Q. ends the line, "is come to open," and the Folio gives ope. Here ope is no gain, while open would improve the rhythm in conjunction with the next line. We should, however, scan "murder | hath broke open" (not "murder hath | broke | open"), because a light word like "hath" here frequently takes the foot-stress before compound verbs such as "take up," "make good." Cp. v. 60 of this scene, "Our chimneys | were blown j down," and see Appendix in. 2. Stole is of course wrong, since the word must be stressed and the line as it stands is simply bad. The uncritical o'the of modern texts is especially indefensible here, inasmuch as the words are to be said slowly and with solemnity. If we

B. 10

i46 THE EARLY TEXTS

remove these blemishes, we get something worthy of the poet :

Most sacrilegious murder hath broke open

The Lord's anointed temple, and stolen thence

The life of the building. — What is it you say, the life ?

1 8. So were their daggers, which unwip'd we found Upon their pillowes : they star'd and were distracted,

No man's life was to be trusted with them. 2. 3. 109 ff.

So the Folio, and beyond doubt correctly. Yet so little is Shakespeare's use of trochaic beginnings and pure trochaic lines understood, that the Cambridge, Globe, Leopold, and Arden editions divide thus :

Upon their pillows:

They stared and were distracted ; no man's life

Was to be trusted with them.

The Oxford edition gives "Upon their... life" as one line with seven feet ! But nowhere could the trochaic beginning ("No man's life") be more in place, and plain as the line is in structure, its admirable balance, effected by the dropping of two stresses and the position of the strongest of the three that remain, is proof enough that it came from the master-hand. It may be said that the line might be mere prose. It might indeed ; but it is precisely in this production of verse which has all the naturalness of prose that Shakespeare's dramatic versification at its best reaches the height that has never been even approached.

19. There's one did laugh in's sleep. 2. 2. 23.

And so editors. But inzsleep cannot be said; one must say, separating the words, inz sleep. If the reader will

MACBETH 147

repeat the line aloud in a distinct stage-voice, with z»z, not ince, he will perceive how easily the most well- meaning abbreviator may come to be disliked by the poet whose language he clips. The case is different in "men's smiles" (see no. 22) ; there "men's" is stressed and is naturally followed by a slight pause. "In his sleep" is quite easy to say because the n does not immediately precede the % sound.

Courage to make'* love knowne ? 2. 3. 124.

Again editors print as F., but kzl too is unsayable. What would be heard is "makes love known." Was the greatest of dramatic poets so dull a craftsman that he never thought of ,these things ?

He cannot come out on's grave. 5. I. 70.

This can be said, but it suggests a vision of Banquo coming out of his grave and standing on it. In any case on for of is a vulgarism. For all three examples cp. Othello, no. 65 and note.

2O. Of treasonous mallice. 2. 3. 138.

An example of the Folio's inconsistency, for at Timon 3. 4. 52 we get

And : take downe | th'intrest into their g/utt'nous mawes.

On which it may be remarked that the Shakespearian stress is not "take down" but "take down" (see no. 17), and we must read, as we should probably have had it in a good Quarto,

And take j down the \ interest \ into their | gluttonous maws.

10 — 2

i48 THE EARLY TEXTS

21. And meet /'/^'hall together. 2. 3. 140. Note the dropped h.

22. There's \ daggers in | men's | smiles; the neere in blood, The neerer bloody. 2. 3. 146 f.

Plainly neere is substituted for the necessary neerer merely to avoid the resolution. Editors observe that "neere" was an old comparative. So it was, but one would rather not believe that Shakespeare was stupid. It is true that at Richard II 3. 2. 64 both Q. and F. give

Nor neare nor farther off, my gratious lord,

Than this weake arme :

and at 5. i. 88 of the same play,

Better far off, than neere, be nere the neare;

but the question narrows itself to this. If the early texts are right in these three passages, then Shakespeare, for no ascertainable reason, preferred to be obscure, if not (as in the last case) absolutely unintelligible, rather than introduce a resolved foot or a double ending. The last line would have sounded like pure nonsense to his audience ; for I gather that there is no reason to suppose that neere was in use as a comparative in Elizabethan days. Professor Herford's note on the word at Richard II 3. 2. 64 is, "probably rather a con traction of nearer by slurring than a survival of the M.E. comparative." But why slur, and was Shakespeare given to slurring ? Where is the proof? The one thing that is certain to those who have examined the Quartos and the Folio, is that those who produced these texts continually removed "extra syllables" from his verse

MACBETH 149

from sheer inability to understand it. I may add that I strongly suspect the true reading \n Richard II $. i. 88 to be "never the nearer." See Richard III (Ch. in), nos. 26, 68, 86.

23. A faulcon towring in her pride of place. 2. 4. 12.

24. Contending 'gainst obedience, 2.4. 17.

The abbreviation is gratuitously ugly with its juxta position of the two ^'s.

25. Thine owne lives meanes: then 'tis most like, 2. 4. 29. The line loses a foot ; read,

Thine | own life's | means ! A | Then it \ is most j like.

26. No sonne of mine succeeding: if't be so, 3. i. 64.

(if it be | so,)

Capell read If it.

27. And ': champion | me to ^'|utterjance. Who's there ?

3. i. 72.

A shocking rhythm for Shakespeare, who must have written (with what is hardly a quadrisyllable, since the / of "champion" is almost ajy),

And j champion me j to the \ utterjance. Who's there ?

28. Now, if you have a station in the file

Not ?tW worst ranke of manhood, soft. 3. i. 102 f.

The line wants a foot ; read,

Not in the \ worst | rank of | manhood, | say it. In contrast to this final sayt (sate !) we have from F. in this play alone

• The king comes here to night. — Thou'rt mad to say it.

i. 5. 32.

Keepe it not from me, quickly let me have it. 4. 3. 200. Convert to anger : blunt not the heart, enrage it. 4. 3. 229.

1 50 THE EARLY TEXTS

29. To j mend it | or be | rid orft. \

Macb. Both of | you

Know \ Banquo | was your | enemy. \

Both Mur. True my lord. 3. i. 1141".

The first line has been robbed of the characteristic rhythm which the second shows. Cp. Othello^ nos. 16, 65, Tempest^ 9, 24. Macbeth's sentence, which is in fact a pentapody, is so bald and so halts for want of a stress on "Know," that I strongly suspect Shakespeare wrote, with "know" in the first line,

Both of you know That Banquo was your enemy.

See on Richard III, no. 5, p. 65.

30. I take this opportunity to suggest a better arrangement of 3. 2. 26 ff. thus :

Can | touch him | further.

Lady M. Come | on, A | gentle my | lord ;

Sleek o'er your rugged looks, be bright and | jovial || Among your guests to-night.

Macb. So shall I love ;

And so, I pray, be | you : A (let your remembrance Apply to Banquo; present him eminence, Both with \ eye and tongue : unsafe the while that we Must lave our honours in these flattering streams, And make our faces vizards to our hearts, Disguising what they are.

Editors begin the lines, " Gentle my "...," Be bright " . . . , "So shall"..., "Let your"..., "Present him"..., "Un safe"..., making "Unsafe the while that we" a short line. In this they follow the Folio, except that it gives two tetrapodies, "Unsafe... lave" and "Our honours...

MACBETH 151

streams." Difficulties have been felt about the words "Unsafe the while." I take "while" to be a substantive and subject of the sentence, and the expression to be exclamatory, as in "Alas the while ! " M. ofV. 2. i. 31, and "Bad world the while!" King John 4. 2. 100. Thus the meaning is, "Unsafe is the while, the interim during which we" etc.

31. *Already | are /VA'jcourt. 3. 3. n.

False stress for "Alj ready are in the | court."

32. *Thou art the best <?V£'cut-throats, | yet his \ good That did the like for Fleance. 3. 4. 17 f.

False stress ; read,

Thou art the | best of the | cut-throats, yet | he is \ good.

33. I drinke to f^'generall joy o'/^'whole table. 3. 4. 89. (I drink to the general joy of the | whole | table.)

34. The arm'd rhinoceros, or | f^'Hircan | tiger. 3. 4. 101. (The arm'd rhinoceros, | or the \ Hyrcan tiger.)

The characteristic rhythm is again destroyed ; cp. no. 29 and note.

35. Unreal mock'ry hence. Why so, being gone, 3. 4. 107.

36. What 'twere to kill a father. 3. 6. 20.

Editors continue to print this, as though Shakespeare would have expected an actor to be at the trouble of saying "what 'twere" when he might say the far easier "What it • were." But a double upbeat is saved!

37. Advise him to a caution, fhold what distance 3. 6. 44.

This is the Folio at its best, but cp. Othello^ no. 74, ..ear, no. 13, A. and C., no. 62.

1 52 THE EARLY TEXTS

38. Say | if th'hadst \ rather | heare it from | our | mouthes, (Say I if thou hadst \ rather] 4. I. 62.

Editors print thoudst (without justification), but the Folio prefers thadst. The slightly stressed upbeat is common.

39. Or from our masters. — Call 'em: let me see 'em. 4. I. 63. No they were wel at peace when I did leave 'em.

4- 3- 179- Then you'l • buy 'em to sell againe. 4. 2. 41.

In the second line Ross is speaking to MacdufF of the latter's murdered family ! There are only these four instances of 'em in the verse; them occurs 16 times, besides six examples which require emphasis and there fore could not have been shortened.

40. 2 Appar. Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth.

Macb. Had I three eares, I' Id heare thee. 4. I. 78.

(Had I | thre'e ears, | / would \ hear thee.)

The stress is absurdly false, yet the modern texts perpetuate it.

41. The flighty purpose never | is o're-^ooke 4. i. 145.

(never is | over-\took]

Again the stress is false, and the rhythm poor, but so modern editions. See on Lear, no. 22.

42. Seize upon Fife; give to /£'edge <?'/£'sword 4. i. 151.

A shocking line; and so 4. 2. 17, "The fits o tti season."

43. Shall \ not be long but He be heere againe. 4. 2. 23.

Read "//shall : not" or "/shall : not." One of the suggested words is omitted to save the double upbeat ; cp. Othello, no. 18.

MACBETH 153

44. 7"' 'appease an angry god. 4. 3. 17.

45. All continent impediments would I o're-beare 4. 3. 64.

No doubt scanned by F. as an Alexandrine. Even if we scan "All j continent imjpedi ments," with a quadrisyllabic, in order to make a pentapody, we get a rhythm impossible for Shakespeare. Read,

All continent impediments | would I | over\beary and for the rhythm cp. Othello, nos. 16, 60, 65, etc.

46. The abbreviations in Lady Macbeth's speeches in Act v. Sc. i, which I believe to be verse (see p. 37), confirm that belief:

One : A | two : why then 'tis time to doo't. 5. I. 40. No more 0'that my lord, no more 0'that: 5. I. 49. He cannot come out on's grave. 5. I. 70.

With its habitual inconsistency the Folio gives of the in v. 56,

Here's the | smell of the \ blood | still : A | all the | per fumes. . .

47. Send out moe horses, 5. 3. 35.

This is the only place in which the form occurs in the play.

48. Would scowre these English | hence: A

them? (

bear'st thou | of hearest thou \ )

5- 3- 56-

The line needs the relief of the resolution, and it would be characteristic.

49. I say a moving grove. — If thou speak1 st false, 5. 5. 38.

(If thou | speakest \ false,)

Misplaced stress, but so modern editions.

1 54 THE EARLY TEXTS

50. And breake it to our hope. lie not fight with thee.

5. 8. 22.

Another misplaced stress, and retained in modern texts. Read, with a quadrisyllable,

And \ break it to our | hope. 7 | will not | fight with j thee ||.

Cp. 5. 8. 27, where with characteristic inconsistency the Folio does not abbreviate,

Heere may you | see the | tyrant. — / | will not | yield.

51. Th'usurpers cursed head: 5. 8. 55.

But anyone who endeavours to say this finds himself inserting the elided vowel. As in so many other cases, we have only an elision for the eye.

Altogether the play shows about 1 80 false abbrevia tions, of which 39 are instances of tti for the : 22 before a vowel, 15 before a consonant, and 2 before the aspirate.

'The Tempest Selected Abbreviations

The Folio text is given first, and what appears to be the true reading underneath it in round brackets.

i . * Which thovi heardst cry, which thoii saw'st sfnke : sit downe

I. 2. 32.

THE TEMPEST 155

No doubt read by the Folio reviser with stressing as marked, but even if we stress properly, Shakespeare is not likely to have given the first two dipodies precisely the same rhythm or to have written saw'st sink \ Read,

Which thou \ heardst | cry, which thou | sawest \ sink: sit | down.

2. *Yf thou re|membrest | ought ere | thou cam'st \ here, How \ thou cam'st \ here thou | maist. I. 2. 51 f.

"Thou" is twice stressed falsely. The Cambridge and Globe editions are ambiguous, since they always print in full verbs ending with an e mute, whether the e is heard or not, as "ashamed, givest, earnest," not"asham'd, giv'st, cam'st." The Leopold and Oxford texts give "cam'st," retaining the false stress. Read,

If thou re\memberest \ aught ere thou | earnest \ here, How thou • earnest \ here, thou | may'st.

3. And suckt my verdure out on't : thou attend'st not.

( out of it: ) i. 2. 87.

Ont replaces a characteristic rhythm (a trisyllabic foot followed by a pause or a final cretic, - w -, or both) by an ugly one. See Chapter n. p. 35, nos. 9, 24, below, and on Othello^ nos. 16, 65.

4. Confederates

(so drie he was for | sway) with \ king of Naples. I. 2. 112. ( | sway^ with the \ king)

5. *The gates of Millaine, | and zV^'dead of darknesse

(and | in the dead] I. 2. 130.

Modern editions give, as elsewhere, ithe^ with either a false stress on "and" or an impossible one on /'. Cp. Hamlet^ no. i.

156 THE EARLY TEXTS

6. On the curld \ clowds: to thy strong bidding, taske

(On the curled clouds:) I. 2. 192.

The Folio reviser probably read the line with stressing as marked, but if Shakespeare wrote "curld," he must have scanned, "On the • curld | clouds," which would give rather too much emphasis to the word.

7. Exactly is perform'd: but there 's more work. i. 2. 238.

(but | there is \ more work||.)

False stress with abolition of double ending.

8. Whom now I keepe in service, thou best know'st i. 2. 286.

(knowesf)

Shakespeare is not likely to have written such an ugly assonance as "best know'st " rather than best knowest.

9. And shew'd thee all the | qualities 0V£'|isle, i. 2. 337.

(qualities \ of the \ isle)

The Folio's rhythm is impossible for Shakespeare, and othe given in modern editions does not mend it. Cp. no. 24, Othello^ 16, 65, and Hamlet 2. 2. 90, "Therefore, since | brevity \ is the soul of | wit," where both Q. and F. correctly give is, not brevity's.

10. *Oh ho, oh ho, would't had bene done: i. 2. 349.

And so the Globe and Cambridge editions, docking the line of a foot. Read,

Oh | ho, oh | ho ! A | would it \ had been | done !

11. *And | say what | thou seist \ yond. i. 2. 409.

False stress. Read, "And \ say what thou setstyond."

12. If n6w 'twere fit to dfft: At the" first sight i. 2. 440. So F., in order to reduce the line to ten syllables, and

THE TEMPEST 157

no doubt stressing as marked. Read, with a quadri- syllabic and a monosyllabic, neither of which the Folio would allow for,

If now 'twere fit to | do it. At the | first | sight They have \ changed | eyes.

13. *And were the king <?«V, what would I do ? 2. I. 145. And so modern editors, though the line loses a foot. Read,

And

14. *No

were the | king of \ ity A | what would I j do ? soveraign ty. A | — Yet he ) would be | king on't.

2. i. 156.

And so editors, satisfied apparently with the rhythm, which must be as marked! Read,

No : sovereignly. — Yet | he would be | king of \ it.

At v. 1 94 F. has

Do not o|mit the | heavy | offer | of it.

15. It | is the | qualijty o'/£'|clymate. |

Set. Why

Doth | it not then our | eye-lids | sinke ? I | finde Not myjselfe dispos'd to sleep.

Ant. Nor I, my spirits are nimble: 2. i. 200 ff.

A typical example of F.'s practice of counting syllables. For the first line cp. nos. 9, 22, 24. Editors, after Rowe, end the second line with "I find not," but the Folio's misdivision goes further, I think. The emphasis on "it" is unnatural, and I would arrange thus:

It \ is the | quality | of the \ climate. |

Seb. Why doth | it

Not \ then our | eyelids | sink ? I | find not my|self

Disposed to sleep.

Ant. Nor I ; my spirits are nimble.

1 5 8 THE EARLY TEXTS

1 6. ...to mischief: I Bejyond all | limit | of what | else ?tW world Do love, prize, honor you. 3. I. 72.

Read,

Bejyond all | limit | of what | else in the \ world.

17. *You • may de|nie me, | but He \ be your | servant

3.1-85.

A dreadful rhythm for Shakespeare, but modern editions give the line so. Read,

You | may dejny me, but | / will \ be your | servant.

18. *And | mine, with | my heart | in't; and | now farewel.

3- I- 9°-

Another shocking rhythm and false stress which modern editions perpetuate. Read,

And j mine, with my | heart | in zY; and | now fare|well.

19. *Thou shalt be | lord of | it, and | lie serve | thee.

3. 2. 65.

And so the editors. Read,

Thou shalt be | lord of | it, and | / will \ serve thee.

20. Ifthou \ beest a | man, A | shew thy selfe in thy | likenes : *If thou j beest a | divell, j takit as thou j list.

3. 2. 137 f.

So the Folio, rightly taking the passage to be verse, yet losing a foot. Modern editors print it as prose, beguiled by the abbreviation. -Read,

If thou | beest a | devil, | take it \ as thou | list.

21. *Yoii doe | looke (my | son) in | a mov'd \ sort.

4. i. 146.

And so the Leopold and Oxford editions, despite the false stress. The Globe and Cambridge texts print

THE TEMPEST 159

"moved" ambiguously. The line has a trochaic be ginning ; read,

You do | look, my | son, in a | moved | sort.

22. Some j subtlejties o'^'jisle, that will nor let you 5. I. 124.

Not the Shakespearian rhythm. Cp. nos. 9, 24, and read,

Some | subtilties | of the \ isle, that will not let you.

23. *Arise, and | say how | thou cam'st \ heere. O wonder !

5. i. 181.

The Leopold and Oxford editions repeat the false stress. The Cambridge and Globe are ambiguous. Read "say how thou | earnest"

24. But | by immortall | provijdence, she's mine; 5. I. 189. And so editors. For the true rhythm,

But by immortal | Providence | she is

mine.

cp. nos. 9, 22.

The play contains many more lines similarly ruined by the Folio.

i6o THE EARLY TEXTS

Cymbeline Selected Abbreviations

The Folio text is given first, with occasional correc tions of its punctuation where that is misleading, and underneath it, in round brackets, what I believe to be the true reading in cases where this seemed to be necessary.

i . His daughter, and the heire ofs kingdome, whom 1 . 1.4. Still waving, as the fits and stirres ofs mind I. 3. 12. I know the shape ofs legge : this is his hand 4. 2. 309. In suite the place ofs bed, and winne this ring 5. 5. 186. Bin all the worth ofs carre. Away to Britaine 5. 5. 191.

In other plays "of his," if abbreviated, almost invariably becomes otis, but in this one we find only ofs, of which these five are all the instances that occur. This pecu liarity in one play is obviously significant.

7«'s spring became a harvest : I . i . 46. See on Macbeth, no. 19.

Your lord I mean, laughs fronts free lungs, cries oh,

1.6. 68.

The stress is false, and the sound of "laughs from's free" is hideous; read,

Your • lord, I mean, | laughs from his \ free I lungs, cries 'Oh.' ^

What woman is, yea what she cannot choose But | must be, | will's free | hoiires | languish For assured bondage ? i. 6. 71 ff.

CTMBELINE 161

Rowe and Steevens rightly corrected this false stress to

But j must be, | will his \ fre6 hours | languish | for Assured bondage ?

Note that, as in countless other cases, the abbreviation was made merely from habit, since it destroys the metre of a perfectly simple line.

One score 'twixt sun and sun, Mddani's ejnough for you : and too much too. (Madam, \ is ejnough)

Imo. Why one that rode fa's execution, man, 3. 2. 70 ff.

The abbreviation of is gives "Madam" too much stress.

And j cry my selfe a|wake? that's | false to's \ bed, A | is it?

(false to bis) 3-4. 46.

Note the quadrisyllabic, and that "is it" is unabbre viated.

In d6ing this for' s cotintry. Athwart the lane 5. 3. 18.

The stress is wrong ; we want, "In j doing this | for his country."

If it \ could so | roare to | me. I | cut off's \ head;

5- 5- 295-

The line is disagreeably checked and the relief of the characteristic resolution in the fourth foot is indis pensable. Note that "If it" is not abbreviated.

2. A | sample | to the | yongest: to /^'jmore mature i. i. 48. A dreadful rhythm ; read, with a quadrisyllabic,

A | sample to the | youngest, | to the \ more majture.

3. Evil- • ey'd un to you. ) Tou're my \ prisoner, | but i. i. 72.

(You | are my | )

" You" gets an unnatural stress. As in other cases, the

B. II

1 62 THE EARLY TEXTS

upbeat is slightly stressed. We might scan, with a quadrisyllable, "Evil-eyed un|to you," but not so well, I think. The reference is to the "evil eye," and a person who has the "evil e^e" is "evil-eyed."

4. With thy unworthinesse, thou dyest. A way, Thourt poyson to my blood. I. I. 127 f.

"Diest," which is frequently abbreviated to dyst^ is here spared, but in 5. 5. 1 14 we have,

Am something merer. — Wherefore ey'st him so ?

Thourt (never Mart in this play) occurs altogether three times, and thou art four times. The following are the passages :

Fidele, sir.

Cym. Thou'rt my good youth : my page He be thy master : 5. 5. 118 f.

Editors punctuate, "Thou'rt my good youth, my page" ; which implies that "a good youth" is an alternative term for a page. But how could it be ? Let us remove the abbreviation and punctuate thus,

Fidele, sir. — Thou \ art,- my good | youth, my | page ; I'll be thy master.

Endure our law. Thou'rt dead. — That headlesse man

5. 5. 299. I thanke thee for my selfe. — Thou art welcome Caius,

3- i- 69-

Be | ginning j nor supjplyment. — Thou art \ all the comfort

3. 4. 182.

Here the unabbreviated form makes a quadrisyllable ; perhaps it escaped because the line was read as an Alexandrine.

Thou art Thou art

CTMBELINE 163

straightway with the fiends. 3. 5. 83. one 0V£'false ones : now I thinke on thee,

3. 6. 15.

It is clear that, if both the abbreviated and unabbre viated forms are genuine in these passages, Shakespeare had no views whatever about the rhythm of verse, but simply wrote what happened to drop from his pen ; and the same remark might be made in many other cases.

5. they were parted

By gentlemen at hand. — / am very glad on't. i. I. 163 f.

It is rare for "gentleman" or "gentlemen" to form a foot and a half, and the words often help to make a quadrisyllable, which we should have here. The line as it stands is utterly un-Shakespearian, and we should read,

By | gentlemen at | hand. — I am | very | glad of\ it.

6. I would thou grew'st unto the shores <?'//>'haven, And questioned' st every saile : if he should write, And I not have it, "'twere a paper lost, 1.3. I ff.

The needless ugliness of grew'st and the necessity of dropping the h of "haven" speak for themselves. The printing of questioned 'sf is noteworthy. Clearly the printer found "questionedst," and made a muddle of the intended abbreviation. Editors print question dsty but they have not thought how it would sound on the stage. In the third line the abbreviation gives an unde sirable emphasis to 'twere ; and how, one may ask, could Shakespeare possibly have written the verse so, rejecting the more natural and peculiarly pleasing rhythm of

And \ I not | have it, it | were a | paper | lost As offer'd mercy is.

II 2

164 THE EARLY TEXTS

7. T* encounter me with orisons, I. 3. 32.

8. Heere comes a flattering rascall, | upon | him Will I first worke : heis for his master, And enemy to my sonne. I. 5. 27 ff.

The line has lost a foot and has a bad rhythm even as a tetrapody ; read,

Will I j first | work :f\\heis\ for his | master.

9. Strange lingering poysons : I do know her spirit, i. 5. 34. Should by the minute feede on life, and lingering 5. 5. 51. Lolling the tongue with slaughtering : having worke

5. 3. 8.

On the other hand the play shows flattering (twice), smothering^ differing^ suffering^ covering.

10. So much as but to prop him ? j Thou tak'st | up Thou knoufst not what : i. 5. 60 f.

False stress for " Thou takest up." Also Shakespeare is more likely to have written, " Thou knowest not what," as commonly in the Quartos; see on Macbeth, no. 13.

11. He move the king To any shape of thy preferment, such As thou'lt desire : i. 5. 70 fF.

Thou It is the abbreviation of "thou wilt," not of "thou shalt," and "shalt" is the word required here. More over, "thou" gets improper emphasis. We must read, "As thou shalt desire."

12. Vexations if it. Had I bin

As my two brothers, happy : i . 6. 5 f.

"Of it," which survives only here in the play, has been spared in order to supply the tenth syllable ; elsewhere we have the abbreviation ont. But the irony of the

CTMBELINE 165

matter is that "of it" none the less forms part of a resolved foot, for the scansion is,

Vex|ations | of it. Had | I been | th\ef-\sto/en.

The abbreviation stolne occurs in five other places, where, as here, it checks the flow of the verse unnaturally and produces an unpleasant rhythm. The following are the passages :

Marke it) the eldest of them at three yeares old,

Vth"1 \ swathing | cloathes the | other, | from their | nursery ||

Were sto/net and to this hour I. I. 58 ff.

More evident then this : for this was stolne. 2. 4. 120.

r

I have stolne nought, nor would not, though I had found Gold strew'd Wfloore. 3. 6. 49 f.

Editors in deference to the Folio, as one must suppose, continue to print stolen here as well as in the other passages, although anyone who believes it to be what Shakespeare meant can have but a poor opinion of his ability as a versifier. If the text is right, he was, at times at any rate, nothing better than a bungler. He wanted to say what would run thus in prose, "I have stolen nothing, nor would I have done such a thing, even though I had found gold lying about on the fl6or apparently uncared-for." Yet, as in no. 56, when he attempts to express this in measure he is unable to give any one of the emphatic words the prominence it requires ; for even "stolen" is half choked by the abbreviation, and "would" and "gold" get no stress at all. Further, if he wrote "t» the floor" when he meant "on the floor," he can hardly have known what he was doing ; elsewhere, when he means "on" he writes it, as at 4. 2. 212,

1 66 THE EARLY TEXTS

though the Folio of course alters "on the" to otti and spoils the natural rhythm of the line :

Reposing on a cushion. — | Where ? A | — On the \ floor. There can be no least doubt that he wrote,

I have • stolen \ naught, nor | would not, though | I had

found | gold Strew'd on the floor.

You shall not now be stolne, you have lockes upon you :

5- 4- i.

Here again the contraction chokes the strong emphasis with which the word must be uttered.

Thy two sonnes forth : who by Belarius stolne, For many yeares thought dead, 5. 5. 455 f.

It is both unnatural and difficult to say stolne before a pause, yet that is the position of the word in every one of these cases, except 3. 6. 49. Cp. Coriolanus> no. 61.

,13. All of her that is out of door *, most rich : I. 6. 15. For notes of sorrow out of tune are worse 4. 2. 241.

In other plays we are liable to get out odoores (or adores)

and out o1 tune. Cp. A. and C. 5. 2. 216, "ballad us out

'i_ " o tune.

14. Theyfr/V orbes above, 1.6.35.

15. It cannot be fM'eye : for apes and monkeys 'Twixt two such she's, would chatter this way, and Contemne with mowes the other, nor /'^'judgement : For idiots in this case of favour would

Be wisely definit : nor /'/^'appetite. I. 6. 39 fF.

In each case natural emphasis requires in the^ — "It • cannotbe | in the eye" — "nor | in the judgement" —

CTMBELINE 167

" nor in the \ appe|tite." The last line shows a quadri syllable :

Be : wisely | definite : nor | in the | appe|tite.

The false form itti in a position of stress is extremely common, and the error is perpetuated in modern editions, which do not improve matters by printing ithe.

16. He did incline to sadnesse, and oft times I. 6. 62.

(and often \ times]

In all the plays oft times is found only here, where it gives a false stress ; often times is fairly frequent.

17. Which | your owne | coffers | yeeld : with | diseased

ventures i. 6. 123. (yield ! with diseased]

Note that, as elsewhere, Shakespeare stresses the "your" of "your own."

18. Solicites heere a lady that disdaines I. 6. 147. (Solicitest)

The first verb is 2nd pers. sing., and although "thou solicits" would be an Elizabethan idiom and "solicite" an Elizabethan spelling, it is much more probable that the printer left out the final /, as in Hamlet i. 4. 53, " Revisites /hus" (Q.) and ib. i. 5. 84, "pursues /his" (Q.), where F. gives Revisit1 st and pursuest.

19. I have spoke this, to know if your affiance i. 6. 163. False stress for "I have • spoken \ this."

20. He \ sits Amongst \ men A | like a descended | god

i. 6. 169. Be sprightly, for you fall Amongst friends.

Imo. 'Mongst friends ? 3. 6. 75.

I do not think there is a single passage in the plays

1 68 THE EARLY TEXTS

where it can be thought probable that Shakespeare wrote 'mongst, save on the assumption that he was ever on the alert to reduce the number of resolutions in the verse to a minimum. To my ear both these lines are spoilt by the abbreviation. In 4. 2. 283 (see no. 28) we have a similar abbreviation of about in the horrible collocation "but 'bout midnight." Yet in L.L.L. 3. i. 194 Shake speare does not give us right , as he might have done, but the full form making a second resolution in the line :

And \ never | going a right^ A [ being ajwatch, But being watch'd that it may still go right.

21. T'intreat your grace I. 6. 181.

T* enjoy thy banish 'd lord. 2. i. 70. Would testifie, f enrich mine inventorie. 2. 2. 30. lie make a journey twice as farre, t 'enjoy 2. 4. 43. T'unbarre these lockes. 5. 4. 8.

22. Are partners in the businesse. — Pray what iff ?

1. 6. 184.

To greet your lord with writing, doo't to night, i. 6. 206. How \ deerely they j doo'tl f\ | 'Tis her | breathing | that Perfumes the chamber thus : the flame o'/^'taper

2. 2. i8f. which I had rather

You felt, then make't my boast. 2. 3. 115 f.

Last night "'twas on mine arme ; I kiss'd it, 2. 3. 151.

This line wants a foot. Several emendations have been proposed, but we only need to remove the abbreviation. We then get the trochaic line,

Last night it was on mine arm, I kiss'd it. For the stress on "Last" of "last night" cp.

He • held me | last night | at <the> least nine hours,

i Hen. I/7 3. i. 156.

CTMBELINE

169

Strengthen your patience in our | last night's | speech.

Ham. 5. I. 317. In the \ last night's storm I such a fellow saw.

Lear 4. I. 34.

If you will makit an action, call witnesse to't. 2. 3. 1 56. Our Britaine seems as of it, but not irit : 3. 4. 141. Though | perill | to my | modestjie, not | death <?«V|| I would adventure. 3. 4. 155 f.

The last example makes a line that Shakespeare simply could not have written. What he wrote was a beautiful and musical line, with a quadrisyllable,

Though • peril | to my modesty, not | death of\ it I would adventure.

Best draw my sword ; and if mine enemy

But feare the sword like me, hee'l scarcely looke on't.

Such a foe, good heavens ! 3. 6. 26 ff.

The natural rhythm is lost and the line ends awkwardly. We want "he'll | scarcely look on it ||," with a resolu tion of the final foot, which Shakespeare was so far from avoiding that the plays show more than 800, and this play 58.

Would (Polidore) thou hadst not donit, though valour Becomes thee well enough.

Arv. Would I had donit ! 4. 2. 155 f.

Hath alter'd that good picture ? What's thy | interest || In this sad wracke ? How camet ? Who ift ? 4. 2. 365 f. Then to j worke | any. | Will you <a> | rime up\on't ? And vent it for a moctfrie ? Heere is one : 5. 3. 55 f.

For mock'rie see on no. 46.

To be z'^'field, and aske * what newes ? ' of me ! To day how many would have given their honours To have \ sav'd their carkasses ! tooke heele to doo't^ And yet \ died | too ! 5. 3. 65 ff.

THE EARLY TEXTS

Natural speech is, " To be | in the \ field." "To have" is noted because in other plays we sometimes get fhave, as in Othello^ no. 74, Lear, no. 13, Macbeth, no. 37, A. and C. 62.

Upon my banishment : I moov'd her too'ty 5. 5. 342.

These are 17 out of the 29 examples in the play of the abbreviation of //; the others are given below. Many of them are made for the sole purpose of reducing the number of double endings, and this in one of the late plays ! On the other hand, the play shows six examples of a final "it" unabbreviated :

What is more cordiall. Nay, I prithee, take it. i. 5. 64.

It is the woman's part : be it lying, note it

The woman's : flattering hers ; 2. 5. 22 f.

And j cry my selfe ajwake ? that's j false to's \ bed, A |

hit? 3.4.46. Stealing so poorely. — I love thee : I have spoke it :

4. 2. 16.

What pleasure sir, we finde in life, to locke it 4. 4. 2. (find we]

23. By lengthening my returne. I. 6. 2OI. But we also find,

Both fill'd and running : ravening first the lambe i. 6. 49. Beleeve her lips in opening it. Proceed. 5. 5. 42.

24. And if thou canst awake by foure o'/A'clocke, 2. 2. 6.

25. Will force him thinke / have pick'd the lock, and fane

2. 2. 41.

To be un-bent when thou hast 'tane thy stand, Th"1 elected deere before thee ? 3. 4. 1 1 1 f.

With | his owne j sword,

Which he did wave against my throat, I have tone His head from him : He throw9 1 into the creeke 4. 2. 149 fF.

CTMBELINE 171

The reader will note how pleasingly throw V echoes throat, yet editors print it. No doubt Shakespeare meant the sentence to be stressed thus,

I have | taken His • head | from him : I'll | throw it | into the | creek.

Gods, if you

Should j hive 'tane vengeance on my faults, I never Had liv'd to put on this. 5. I. 6ff.

False stress for, "Should have • taken."

'Tone off by poison. 5. 5. 47.

Yea, though thou do demand a prisoner,

The noblest tane. — I humbly thanke your highnesse.

5. 5. 99 f.

I having ''tane the forfeyt. 5. 5. 208. A certaine stuffe which, being tane, would cease The present powre of life, but in short time All offices of nature should againe

Do their due functions. Have you tane of it ? 5. 5. 255 ff.

(taken \ of it?)

In the song in Act iv. Sc. 2 we have

Feare no more the heate <?'/£'sun, Nor the furious winters rages Thou thy worldly task hast don, Home art gon, and tane thy wages.

Resolutions are not numerous in trochaics, but we have already one in each of the first two lines of this stanza, "heat of the sun" (not "heat o' the" even in a song) and "furious." In the last line the e of "taken" should of course be very light, no more than is suggested by the spelling tak'n.

The preceding are the ten examples of tane in the play. It will have been perceived that not one of them can be

1 72 THE EARLY TEXTS

defended, unless it can be first shown that Shakespeare thought dramatic blank verse should have as few reso lutions as possible ; or that, with an indifference to syllabisation somewhat rare in great poets, he really did not care whether he wrote taken or /##<?, and perhaps hardly knew which he was putting on the paper. For strangely enough at 5. 3. 84 we have

Great Jupiter be | prais'd, A | Lucius is | taken.

It may be added that the by-forms 'tane and tane suggest that the printer did not find tane in his copy, and occasionally debated the important question, whether he should put in an apostrophe or not, and when he decided to insert one, could not make up his mind where it ought to go. See Ch. vn.

26. T'employ you towards this Romane. 2. 3. 68.

27. yeeld up

Their deere to M'stand o'/^'stealer : 2. 3. 74 f.

This, although thstand and thstealer with a soft th are unpronounceable.

28. To | be but | nam'd of | thee. His | mean'st \ garment,

2. 3. 138.

His | meanest \ garment ! Well. 2. 3. 161. The loyalist husband that did ere plight troth. I. I. 96. Here's a few | flowres^ but | ''bout \ midnight j more : The hearbes that have on them cold dew 0V£'night Are strewingsyfo'tf for graves. | Upon their faces. — You were 2& flowre^ now wither'd : 4. 2. 283 fF. Two of the sweefst companions in the world. 5. 5. 349.

Read meanest, loyallest, fittest, sweetest.

In i . 6. 121," Would make the great'st king double," the contracted form is probably correct.

CTMBELINE 173

29. Frighted, and angred worse. 2. 3. 145. See pp. 61, 84 f. and Ch. vir.

30. Phi. Was Caius Lucius in the Britaine court When you were there ?

lack. He was expected then,

But not approach'd.

Post. All is well yet : 39

Sparkles this stone as it was wont, or is't not Too dull for your good wearing ? 2. 4. 37 ff.

And so editors; but v. 39 has only four feet, and tetrapodies are so rare that they must always be re garded with suspicion. We can mend the metre easily by removing the abbreviation and taking up " sparkles " :

But not approach'd.

Post. All is well yet : sparkles

This stone as it was wont, or is it not Too dull for your good wearing ?

31. I will con|firm with | oath, A | which I | doubt not Tott'l give me leave to spare, when you shall finde

2. 4. 64 f.

Since the monosyllabic foot is preferably, and according to Shakespeare's practice usually, preceded or followed by a resolution, we should probably read here,

I will con|firm with oath, which I | doubt not | you Will give me leave to | spare, A | when you shall | find You need it not.

32. Which I wonder'd Could be so rarely and exactly wrought, Since the true life ont was —

Post. This is true : 2. 4. 74 ff.

i74 THE EARLY TEXTS

The passage has called forth no less than nine attempts at emendation, but all that is needed is to read,

Since the true | life of \ it was — This is true.

33. The roofe 0V£'chamber

With | golden | cheru|bins is | fretted. Her | andirons || (I had forgot them) were two winking Cupids 2. 4. 87 ff.

V. 86, being supposed to be an Alexandrine, has provoked correction, but "andirons" is a disyllabic; Middle English spellings were anderne,aunderne, aundirne. Thchamber is of course unsayable.

34. Thou'st made me cuckold. 2. 4. 146. But at 4. 2. 159 we have

Thou hast \ robb'd me of this deed.

35. I will go there and doo't, /VA'court, before 2. 4. 148. Again a quadrisyllable divided by a pause is abolished,

I will go | th£re and | do it, in the \ court, bef6re Her father.

36. Ere such another Julius : Britainis a world By it selfe, and we will nothing pay

For wearing our owne noses. 3. I. i2fF.

The second line wants a foot. Pope rightly corrected by reading "Britain is || A world."

37. Which then they had to take front's, to resume 3. I. 15. Did put the yoake up\on's, A | which to shake off,

3- I- 52.

Is now due debt. To /^'grave. | Say, where shall"1* lay him ?

4. 2. 233.

Where we have liv'd ; and so extort front's that 4. 4. 1 2. Sha/l's have a play of this ? 5. 5. 228. But I will prove that two one's are as good 5. 5. 311.

(of us]

CTMBELINE 175

F.'s "one's" is a misprint for ons. These are all the cases of 'j for us. As against them we have us at the end of the line four times :

Now say, what would Augustus | Caesar J with us ?

3. i. i.

The boy hath taught us manly duties : | let us 4. 2. 397. Must, or for Britaines slay us or rejceive us 4. 4. 5. Wee'l higher to the mountaines, there sejcure us. 4. 4. 8.

38. As Neptunes | parke, A | ribb'd and paVd in 3. i. 19.

(pared]

39. Caesar, that hath moe kings his servants then (than) Thy selfe domesticke officers, 3. i. 64 f.

The form is impossible here. When the line is properly delivered, the word has a considerable secondary stress and is somewhat lengthened, — "more kings."

Being an ugly monster,

'Tis strange he hides him in fresh cups, soft beds, Sweet words ; or hath moe ministers than we That draw his knives /V^'war. 5. 3. 70 ff.

Here again the paltry form ruins the line. Read "or hath | more | ministers." See Appendix v.

40. In Caesars name pronounce I 'gainst thee: looke 3. I. 67.

and wager'd with him Peeces of gold, 'gainst this, which then he wore

5. 5-182 f.

In , each case the natural rhythm of the line is spoilt merely for the purpose of reducing it to ten syllables; Moreover, in the second there is a voice-pause after "gold" (indicated by the Folio's comma) which, since it affords plenty of time for the a of "against," makes it merely perverse to resume with the abbreviated form.

176 THE EARLY TEXTS

41. 'Shall give thee opportunity.' | Oh damrfd \ paper !

3. 2. 19.

This may be right, but the scansion must be

* Shall \ give thee | opportunity.' O | damrfd \ paper !

See on Tempest ', no. 9.

42. T'inherit such a haven. 3. 2. 63. Yet three lines below this we find,

And \ our rejturne to ex\cuse : but | first how | g£t hence :

43. That run /'/^'clocks behalfe. But this is foolrie : 3. 2. 75.

44. Madam you're \ best consider. 3. 2. 79. (Madam, you were \ best consider.)

This abbreviation, which was made to avoid the quadri syllable, is, I believe, unique for you were.

45. Instructs you how f adore the heavens... 3. 3. 3.

46. Is certaine falling, or so slippery that 3. 3. 48. And hath as oft a slanderous epitaph. 3. 3. 52.

Yet we have in this play flattery (twice), sluttery, sufferance, viperous. Cp. no. 43.

47. Thinking to barre thee of succession, as Thou | refts me | of my lands. 3. 3. 102 f. (Thou | reftest \ me of my | lands.)

"Me" requires stress.

48. Why tender 'st thou that paper to me with A looke untender ? If't be summer newes, Smile too't before : if winterly, thou need'st But keepe that countenance still. 3. 4. 1 1 flf.

or countenance cp. no. 66. Read, with a quadrisyllable, Smile to it be|fore."

CTMBELINE 177

49. Thou then lootfdst like a villaine : now me thinkes

(lookedst] 3. 4. 50.

It is impossible to say look'dst without a splutter, and Shakespeare is not likely to have forgotten this.

50. Put | on for | villan|y; not | borne where 't growes, But worne a baite for ladies. 3. 4. 58 f.

The second sentence needs the relief of the resolution where it, so that in effect it forms a pentapody, divided between two lines, with a rhythm of which there are many examples :

Not | born where it | grows, but worn a bait for ladies.

51. Dead to my husband ?

Pis. If you'' I backe to f^'court — 3. 4. 133.

(If | you will | back to the \ court)

The correction restores both the natural form of speech and the rhythm.

52. That which, fappeare it selfe, must not yet be 3. 4. 148.

53. And am right sorry that I must report ye My masters enemy. 3. 5. 3.

Lucius speaks to Cymbeline. This is the only passage in the verse or prose of the play where the colloquial and familiar ye for you (singular number) is found, and it is used by an envoy to a king.

54. Will poore folkes lye That have afflictions on them, knowing 'tis A punishment or triall ? 3. 6. 9 ff.

A most unlikely rhythm for Shakespeare. As in no. 50 above, we have a pentapody divided between two lines, and I cannot doubt that he wrote, "knowing it \ is a punish|ment or | trial?"

B. 12

1 7 8 THE EARLY TEXTS

55. Here is a path too't : 'tis some savage hold 3. 6. 18.

(path to it :)

See on Othello^ nos. 16, 65 and Tempest^ no. 9.

56. *There fs cold meat /V^'cave, we'l brouz on that Whil'st what we have kill'd be cook'd. 3. 6. 38 f.

What Shakespeare wrote was of course " There is \ cold meat in the cave"; yet modern editions, while printing ithe^ repeat the Folio's offence, as though Shakespeare were incapable of putting the simplest speech into verse without stressing it falsely. Cp. 3. 6. 49, quoted under no. 12.

57. *With pray'rs for the provider. 3. 6. 53.

Another case nearly as bad as the last. "Prayers" should be definitely a disyllabic occupying a whole foot : "With j prayers | for the projvider." Cp. Richard II 5- 3- 109,

Our prayers do out-pray his ; then let them have That • mercy j which true | prayer \ ought to | have.

There are other examples.

58. Would I coulAfree't! Or I, what ere it be. 3. 6. 80.

59. Since Leonatus false. 3. 6. 89. (Since | Leo|natus is \ false.)

The Cambridge Shakespeare prints an apostrophe after "Leonatus," which would not be of much assistance to an audience, and the Globe edition, with a quaint mixture of courage and timidity and something worse, gives "Leonatus's." Cp. no. 70.

60. The night to fA'owle, and morne to Clarke lesse welcome.

3. 6. 94.

Thlark, with soft tht is unpronounceable.

CTMBELINE 179

61. To • one not | sociable : I | am not | very | sicke,

Since • I can | reason of it : | pray you | trust me | heere,

4.2. 13 f.

And so editors. With this arrangement "reason of it" forms a quadrisyllable ; to which per se there is of course no objection ; but it is highly improbable that Shake speare would have one in the same position in two successive lines, and we get a more natural and other wise preferable rhythm, if we divide thus :

To \ one not | sociable : I | am not | very sick, j since I can j reason | of it : | pray you, trust me here.

With the Folio's arrangement the words "very sick" seem to get a little too much prominence.

62. Vme not their father, yet who this should bee, 4. 2. 28.

Only here in the play do we get this abbreviation ; / am occurs 22 times. In other plays the abbreviation, which of course emerges only by accident, is com paratively rare.

63. 'Tis the • ninth I houre o'/^'lmorne. — Brother, farewell.

«J '

4- 2. 30.

We can scan this by making "ninth" a monosyllabic foot, but the printer no doubt thought only of his ten syllables. The natural thing to say, and what Shake speare must have written, is

'Tis the • ninth hour | of the \ morn.

64. A thing

More slavish did I nire^ then answering A slave without a knocke. 4. 2. 72 ff.

The abbreviation is absurdly weak in the situation, and

12 — 2

1 80 THE EARLY TEXTS

it occurs only once again in the play, in the corrupt passage 5. 5. 95 f., where perhaps we should read,

And art mine own, I know not why. Wherefore I | say, A | live, boy ; ne'er \ thank thy master, live,

On the other hand, never, which throughout the plays is far more often abbreviated than not, where it would make a resolution or double ending, occurs at the end of a line four times. The following are the passages.

If it be so to do good service, never

Let me be counted serviceable. 3. 2. 14 f.

For my being absent ? whereunto I never

Purpose returne. 3. 4. 109 f.

*Ile thither : what <a> thing is't that I never

Did see man dye, 4. 4. 35 f.

Note that 1st makes the last line unmetrical.

*Should have 'tane vengeance on my faults, I never Had liv'd to put on this : 5. i. 8 f.

65. I cannot tell : long is it since I saw him, 4. 2. 102.

"Is it" has escaped because it was not perceived that when the line is properly stressed, the words form part of a resolved foot :

I | cannot | tell : A | long is it | since I saw him.

66. More perillous then the head. — Let ordinance 4. 2. 145.

(ordinance)

Cp. countenance, no. 48.

67. *(Their royall blood enchdf'd) as the rud'st wfnde

(rudest] 4. 2. 174.

68. *Since d£ath of my deer'st mother 4. 2. 190.

(dearest}

69. By | good Eujriphijle our | mother. | — Beit so.

4. 2. 234.

CTMBELINE 181

Instead of this atrocious line Shakespeare must have written, with a quadrisyllable,

By : good Eujriphile our | mother. | — Be it \ so.

70. Last night the very gods shew'd me a vision

(I fast and pray'd for their intelligence) thus : 4. 2. 346 f. (fasted)

Cp. no. 59.

71. Finde such another master. — *lacke good youth: 4. 2. 374. Nay, be not angry sir. — 'lacke to what end ? 5. 3. 59.

According to the Concordance, the unabridged "Alack" occurs nine times in the plays ; the clipped form is found only here. Read | "master. — A|lack," and "angry | sir. — A|lack, to what | end?"

72. He follow sir. But first, and't please the gods 4. 2. 387. See on Macbeth, no. 12. At 2. 4. 139 we have

This \ staine upjon her ? | — I, and it \ doth con|firme.

73. With \ wild wood-jleaves and weeds I ha1 strew'd his grave,

4. 2. 390.

This is the only example of ha which the play shows, either in the verse or the prose. It would be better to omit the hyphen after "wood" and place it after "wild." Leaves of "the wild wood" are referred to.

74. *A grave : come, arme him : Boy, bee's preferr'd

4. 2. 400.

The line becomes unmetrical.

75. Some falls are meanes the | happier | to a\rise 4. 2. 403.

It is only remarkable that the rhythm has not been spoiled, as frequently elsewhere, by printing "happier /'arise." Cp. no. 55 and note.

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76. your selfe,

*So out of thought, and thereto s6 (fre-gr Cannot be question'd. 4. 4. 32 ff.

The stress is false and the rhythm poor ; we want,

So | out of | thought, and therejto so | over-\grown. The false abbreviation of over is common.

77. But none of 'em can be found. 5. 3. 88.

This is the only instance of 'em in the verse, and it occurs only once in the prose. In The Tempest we get 'em eleven times in the verse.

78. Will | serve our | long inter\roga\tories. \ See, 5. 5. 392. So at King John 3. i. 147 we have the full form,

What | earthy | name to | interrogatories.

But in M.ofV. 5. i. 298 ff. we get the clipped forms inter gotories^ intergory (Heyes Quarto, Dev.), intergotory (Heyes Q. Cap.), and intergatories^ intergatory from the Folio. Also at AlPs Well 4. 3. 207 (prose) the Folio gives intergatories. In face of the evidence furnished by the passages in Cymbeline and King John, it is difficult to see why editors accept the corrupt forms in the other two plays. The lines in M. of V. will run,

And :* charge us | there upon | inter|rogator|ies, And we will answer all things faithfully.

Gra. Let it | be so : the | first inter|rogator|y That my Nerissa shall be sworn on is...

There are in all over 300 of these corruptions in the play.

CTMBELINE 183

The Prose

An analysis of the prose, like that of the other plays, shows how entirely accidental is the emergence of the abbreviations, and proves at the same time that they are made in the verse solely for the purpose of eliminating resolutions. The figures are as follows.

(a) Spoken by Gentlefolk. — th' 4, the 15 ; o tti i, of the 4 ; 's (us) i, us 5 ; ont (of it) 3, int i, ist 2, knowt i, but of it) from it, to it, if it, it will, it would, as it was, and /'/ after verbs, in all 1 1 ; it's i, 'tis i, it is 9 ; ore i, over roasted i ; 'em (said by Philario) i, them 5. The following unabbreviated forms also occur: of his 2, on his i, and his i, even 2, you are 4, we are i, / will 5, we will i, I am 6, I had i, have (not ha] 12, to have (not fhave] 2, thou hast (not ttihasi) i, he (not a) i, in the 4, of not before // or the, but as in "one of your," 16. Totals: abbreviations 17, all full forms in.

(£) Spoken by the Vulgar (Gaoler) : int i ; in-s i ; you 1 1. Total 3. He uses the following unabbreviated forms : is, you are, you have 2, of 4, /^£, ^ (not a] 2, wzV^ ^w (not wittis), I have (not &?), them 2, 1 am 2, never 2, on my conscience (not o'my, as sometimes in the verse). It will be observed that he never says 'em. Total of un abbreviated forms 20.

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Coriolanus Selected Abbreviations

The versification of this play, which is not surpassed by any other in delicacy and variety, has suffered perhaps more than any as it passed through the hands of those responsible for its present condition. The misdivisions are extraordinarily numerous. The Folio text is given first, with occasional correction of its punctuation where that is misleading, and what I conceive to be the true reading underneath it, except where it seemed un necessary.

1. The helmes 0'^'state ; 1.1.79. /'/^'midd'st a th'body, I. I. IO2.

Even to the | court, the heart, to tb'seate JtWbraine,

i. i. 140.

Touching the weale a tti * common, i. i. 155. For that being one o'tb' lowest, i. i. 161. Where is the enemy? Are you lords a* th* field? i. 6. 47. From th'' noise of our owne drummes. 2. 3. 60.

These are eight out of 100 examples of th' before a consonant, practically all of which are unpronounceable without introducing the vowel which it is sought to elide. Before a vowel we get tli 27 times, and before the aspirate, which must be dropped, 7 times.

2. * Of the whole body, the belly answer 'd. i. i. 109.

A striking example of the copyists' or printers' practice of merely counting the syllables. But for the desire to keep ten, we should have had "oVA' whole" here, as we have at i. 3. 33, uSee him plucke Auffidius downe

CORIOLANUS 185

by //^'haire," and in 3. 3. 51, "Like graves z'/^'holy churchyard." Read and scan,

Of the \ whole | body, the | belly | answer\ed —

3. *Which ne"re came from the lungs, but even thus: (Which \ never \ came from the | lungs,) I. I. 112.

"Ne're" cause>-a false stress, yet editors print it here and in countless other places where the same thing happens.

4. *The kingly crowned head, the vigilant eye, I. I. 119.

(crowned)

Again the ten syllables were counted, as in no. 2. Parallels are numberless.

5. Patience awhile; you'st heare the bellies answer. I. I. 130.

This vulgarism does not recur in the play. Editors print you '//, but you'st is for you shall, which the context requires.

6. (a) IT are long about it. I. I. 131.

(b) ^And_welcome .generalyand fare welcome all.

~£^&rx4itof( 2. 1. 199.

(c) Oh fare well met": ^'hoorded plague «V/>'gods 4.2. n.

(d) Y^are goodly things, you voyces. 4. 6. 147.

In (a] and (</) there is a needless abolition of the double upbeat. In (£) there is a("false stress; the line should run, with a quadrisyllable broken by a pause as often,

And \ welcome | general, and | you are \ welcome | all. In (c] there is a false stress ; read,

Oh, \ you are well | met : the hoarded plague of the gods

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7. What's done /VA'Capitoll : who's like to rise, I. I. 196.

The characteristic rhythm is lost ; cp. A. and C., nos. 17, 60, 8 1, Tempest^ no. 9, and reff. Read,

What's :* done in the \ Capitol; | who is \ like to rise.

8. What | sayes the | other | troope ? | — They are dis|solv'd : A j

hang em. i. I. 208.

As I 'tis to | laugh at 'em. My | mother, you | wot | well My hazards still have beene your solace, 4. I. 27 f.

Altogether 'em occurs n times, sometimes at the end of the line, sometimes in the middle. If the cases were genuine, it would be quite clear that Shakespeare never knew what he might write next, for them occurs in an unstressed position at least 32 times, and. often at the end of the line, as for instance,

May they perceive '5 intent: he will require them

2. 2. 160.

You must not speak 0/"that, you must desire them

To thinke upon you. — Thinke upon me ? Hang 'em.

2. 3. 61 f.

As they would hang them on the homes ath moone,

i. i. 217.

The very way to catch them. — You speake a'^'people

3. i. 80.

Ere yet the fight be done, packe up : downe with them !

i. 5. 9.

If Shakespeare ever wrote 'em, surely he would have done so here. It would at least have been more in keeping than it is at Julius Caesar 2. i. 298 where editors still permit Portia to say,

Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em.

9. *Of their owne choice. One's Junius Brutus, i. i. 220.

CORIOLANUS 187

The metre is gone ; read,

Of \ their own | choice. A | One is \ Junius | Brutus. For the stress "their own," see on Lear, no. 33. 10. I am glad <?»'/, then we shall ha meanes to vent i. i. 229.

The form ha occurs again twice in 2. 3. 75 ff., a passage which I give at length because all editors follow the Folio in printing it as prose :

Cor. No, sir, 'twas never my dejsire | yet 75

To trouble the poor with begging.

Third Cit. You must think,

If we | give you | anything, we | hope to | gain by | you.

Cor. Well then I pray, your price ^'^Vonsitlship ? ^^

First Cit. The price is, to aske it kindly.

Cor. Kindly ! Sir,

I • pray let me | heft : \ I have \ wounds to shew you, 80 Which shall be yours in private : your good voice, sir,^,

hat say you ? 3

Sec. Cit. You shall | ba't \ worthy sir. &

Cor. A match, sir. *

There's in | all two worthie voyces begg'd ; 83

I have your almes, adieu.

Third Cit. But this is something odde.

Sec. Cit. And 'twere to give againe, — but 'tis no matter.

We must of course read, "of the consulship" in v. 78 and have it in vv. 80 and 82, the latter of which will

C'LOW a quadrisyllable divided between two speakers: What | say you ? — You shall | have it, \ worthy sir. — A match, sir.

For "desire" as a trisyllable in v. 75 see Appendix v. In v. 83 read "There is in all," and in 85 "And it- were." See on Macbeth, no. 12.

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11. Your | companjy to //>'Capitol, where I know I. I. 248.

False rhythm for " Your j company | to the \ Capitol"; sec on no. 56 sub-fin.

12. That they of Rome are entred in our counsailes, I. 2. 2.

His pupill age

Man-entred thus, he waxed like a sea, 2. 2. 102 f. Was tim'd with dying cryes : alone he entred The mortall gate o/^'citie, 2. 2. 114 f.

Of tK is rare ; we usually get a tli or oth\ It was, however, to be expected that a person whose practice was to abbreviate both words would occasionally miss one or the other, and it is for that reason that we some times find othe. The twofold divergence points to an original of the for every case.

Are entred in the Roman territories, 4. 6. 40.

For the spelling entred see Ch. vn, and cp. nos. 21, 26, 41, 58, below.

13. If • they set | downe be\fore's : \ for the re|move I. 2. 28.

(before us) We cannot keepe the towne.

Lieut. Feare not our care sir.

Lart. Hence ;

And shut your gates upon's : our guider, come, To ^'Roman campe conduct us. I. 7. 5 ff.

Editors follow the Folio in making v. 6 a needless tetrapody, " Hence, and shut your gates upon's," but the arrangement given above is no doubt the right one. As often, v . 5, an Alexandrine, ends with a monosyllable uttered by a fresh speaker. See on Lear, no. 47.

Readie when | time shall | prompt them, \ to make | roade Upon1 s againe. 3. i. 5 f .

CORIOLANUS 189

For the scansion " to make | road" see on Macbeth, no. 17.

Supplied with worthy men, plant love amongs. 3. 3. 35. Com. fare goodly things, you voyces. Men. You have made good worke. You and your cry. Shal's to the Capitoll ? Com. Oh I (ay), what else? 4. 6. 146 ff.

Editors divide thus, reading "Ye Ye" or "You Ye,"

Ye're goodly things, you voices. — You have made Good work, you and your cry. Shall's to the Capitol ?

But we shall get nearer to the original form of the passage, if we read and divide thus :

Com. You are \ goodly | things, you j voices. Men. You have | made good | work,

You and your ) cry. Shall | we to the | Capitol ?

A quadrisyllabic ("voices. You have") divided between two speakers is extremely common, and when we restore "we" and give it the stress required by the context, we do not credit the poet with a line of which he would have been ashamed.

Upbraid1 s with our distress. 5. I. 35.

And dye among our neighbours: nay, behold' s: 5. 3. 173.

These seven examples speak for themselves. Let's occurs as a false form with considerable frequency throughout the plays. In the first two of the four following examples it is wrong because it gives an un desirable prominence to the word "pray";

Will j not have | earth to | know. A | — Prdy let's \ go.

4. 2. 36. Would | buy this | for a | lye. A | Prdy let's \ go.

4. 6. 161.

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In the next case "Therefore" is undesirably stressed :

For mercy to his countrey : j therefore let's \ hence,

5-' i. 73-

If we restore let us and a divided quadrisyllable, we get a rhythm at once Shakespearian and much superior to that of the Folio's line :

For | mercy | to his | country. Therefore, | let us | hence, And with our fair entreaties haste them on.

At 5. 6. 146 ff. (where the "impatience" is that of Coriolanus) we have,

Sec. Lord. His owne impatience

Takes from Auffidius a great part of blame : Let's make the best of it.

Here the situation and the speaker's gravity seem to suggest "Let us" as more likely.

14. Call | hither | all the | officers a /£'|towne, I. 5. 28.

(officers | of the \ ]

For the true Shakespearian rhythm see on Othello, no. 1 6.

15. That both our j powers, with | smiling fronts encountring,

(en countering ||,) i. 6. 8. Ransoming | him or | pittying, [ threatning \ th'other,

( | threatening the j other,] I. 6. 36.

For the spellings see Ch. vn. In the last example the quadrisyllable in the fourth foot may be noted.

1 6. *By th'blood we have shed together, by th\owes

(By the \ blood] (by the] I. 6. 57.

The line is unmetrical, but there are ten syllables.

CORIOLANUS 191

1 7. (a) Hath | over tane mine act. I. 9. 19.

(b) Of all the horses, *Where6f we have ta'ne good, and good store of all The treasure in this field atchieved, and citie,

*We render you the tenth, to b6 ta'ne f6rth. I. 9. 31 ff.

(c) The towne is tane. i. 10. I.

(d) You should have ta'ne /^'advantage of his choller,

2. 3. 206.

(e) They say she's mad. — They have tane note of us :

4. 2. 9.

In (#) and (d] the contracted form is clearly used to avoid a resolution ; in the latter line a quadrisyllable has disappeared. The two examples in (p) and the one in (e) produce a shockingly false stress, (c) gives the opening words of a scene, and they are uttered with emphasis. Is it within the remotest bounds of possi bility that Shakespeare wrote "The town is tane!"? Modern editors, may seek to beguile us by printing "ta'en," but that does not mend the matter; the sound of the syllables is unchanged. What should we think of a modern poet who wrote, "The Seine is seen," or "The lane is lone," or "The main doth moan," or "The sullen tarn awaked her teen" ? Yet we are quite ready to assign to Shakespeare the most preposterous of the Folio's vagaries. It is hardly too much to say that, if the various phenomena we are considering were genuine, he must, as he wrote his plays, have been sub ject from moment to moment to recurrent fits of lunacy.

1 8. Well might they fester 'gainst ingratitude, I. 9. 30.

(against)

19. Marcus | Caius | Coriolanus. — /w*7/goe wash: i. 9. 68. So the Folio, but by a mere oversight ; in such a line

1 92 THE EARLY TEXTS

we are more likely than not to find the abbreviation Ik. Thejme is an

20. Of my lord generall. — Takity 'tis yours: what tit?

i. 9. 81.

Hath not that honor in't it had: I. 10. 13. Their needlesse vouches : custome calls me too't. What custome wills in all things should we do<?t?

2. 3..i24f.

't) and live with such as cannot rule, for ever will be ruled. — CaH't not a plot: 3. i. 40 f. JThis was my speech, and I will speake't againe. 3. i. 62.

that integrity which should become t: 3. i. 159. When we shall hap to givit them. 3. 3. 24. To have't with saying 'Good morrow.' 3. 3. 93. Beleevit not lightly, 4. i. 29.

Though they themselves did suffer by't, behold 4. 6. 6. With |hisun|kindnesse? | Say'tbe \ so? — Yet | your good

will 5. i. 45. He undertake^. 5. i. 47.

'Fore \ your owne | eyes and | eares ? A | — Let him | dye for't. (ears ? — Let him \ die \

for it.} 5. 6. 120.

These are sixteen out of forty-eight specimens of the way in which ihe_J±oJici__clej;ac^ work

by itfi passifm— for abbreviating V?T) Contrast the fol lowing nine lines, which have accidentally escaped this injury :

My hate to Martius. Where I finde him,

At home, upon my brothers guard, even there i. 10. 24 f.

Than the rebuke you | give it. — He | loves your people :

2. 2. 68. Than one of his ears to I heahjfT Projceed, Co|minius. ||

2. 2. 85.

F. has on one's eares (for one ons} in this line.

CORIOLANUS 193

The : violent j fit a th'\time A | craves it as | physicke

3- 2- 33- You ajdopt a | policy, | how is it \ lesse or worse,

3. 2. 48. That • doth distribute /'/. | In the | name a /^'[people

3- 3- 99- And make my misery serve thy turne : so use it 4. 5. 94.

Be it \ so, go back: the vertue of your name 5. 2. 12. Makes the survivor heyre of all. — I know it. 5. 6. 19.

21. With onely suffering staine by him: I. 10. 18.

So we have clambring, paltring, pestring, murdering, won- d'ringy hardningy threading, encountring. Cp. nos. 12, 26, 41,58.

22. Wash my fierce | hand in's \ heart. Go | you to f£'|citie,

I. 10. 27.

[Death, that darke spirit, in's nervie arme doth lye, Which being advanc'd, declines, and then men dye.]

2. i. 177 f.

Surely the author of this wretched bombast was not Shakespeare ? It reads like actor's ( gag,' and ins is for once probably genuine.

A curse begin at very root en's heart. 2. I. 2O2. We must suggest the people in what hatred *He still hath held them : | that to's \ power he would Have made them mules, 2. I. 261 ff.

False stress for "that t6 his."

Then on ones (for one on's] eares to heare it. 2. 2. 85. May they per ceive's in tent : he will require them

2. 2. l6o.

'Tis warme at's heart. 2. 3. 160.

His marks of merit, wounds receiv'd fir's countrey.

2. 3. 172. Or Jove,yor'5 power to thunder: 3. i. 257.

B. 13

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Tye leaden pounds too's heeles. 3. I. 314.

Fur's private friends: 5. I. 24.

More bound to's mother, yet heere he let's me prate

5- 3- J59- Only one opportunity has been missed :

To his \ sur-name Coriolanus longs more pride 5. 3. 170.

23. I am attended at the Cyprus grove. I pray you ('TiV south the city mils) bring me word thither How the world goes : that to the pace of it

I may spur on my journey, i. 10. 30 ff.

So the Folio, which editors follow apparently without suspicion, although the first line is a purposeless Alex andrine. The abbreviation 'Tis is at the bottom of the mischief, and we should read and arrange thus :

I am attended at the Cyprus grove.

I pray you, — it is south the city mills —

Bring me \ word thither \ how the \ world goes, that to

The • pace of it j I may \ spur on my [ journey. — I shall, sir.

24. Her richest lockram ''bout her reechie necke, 2. I. 225.

25. *To winne a vulgar station: our veyTd dames 2. I. 231.

(our \ veiled \ )

26. He cannot temperately transport his honours, 2. I. 240. Cp. nos. 12, 21, 41, 58.

27. Then we to stretch it out. Masters tfV^'people, 2. 2. 55.

But in v. 8 1 of the scene we find the same words in the same position with the quadrisyllable uninjured :

To heare my nothings monster'd.

Menen. \ Masters of the \ people,

28. *An o're-prest Roman, \ and /'^'[consuls view 2. 2. 97.

(and \ in the \ )

The stress is false.

CORIOLANUS 195

29. He lurcht all | swords of the \ garland: for this last

2. 2. 105.

The play shows altogether ten survivals of by the^ of the, to the, in the, or for the.

30. And with a sudden re-inforcement strucke *Carioles like a planet: now alPs (his: 2. 2. 117 f.

(now | all is \ his :)

31. *Runne reeking o're the lives of men : as if "'twere A perpetuall spoyle: and till we call'd 2. 2. 123 f.

Editors correct by beginning the second line with "'Twere," but if and 'twere get intolerable emphasis and the rhythm is ruined. Clearly the second line must begin with "// were" so that the words may run, "as | if it were a perjpetual | spoil."

32. The two following lines, which occur close to each other, present an instructive contrast :

The mortall gate ofttfcitie., 2. 2. 115. The common muck of the world: 2. 2. 130.

33. *To spend the time to end it. j — He's right | noble

(He is | right |) 2. 2. 133.

There should be no stress at all on "He."

34. Here come • moe \ voyces. 2. 3. 132.

While there is no reason to suppose that Shakespeare ever used this form, it is certainly impossible he should have used it here, since the word must be stressed according to the scansion given, as the context shows. More is indispensable. Moe, which does not occur in the prose of this play, is found once again at 4. 2. 21,

13—2

1 96 THE EARLY TEXTS

where also it must have stress, though it forms the upbeat :

Volum. Had'st thou foxship

To banish him that strooke more blowes for Rome Than thou hast spoken words ?

Sicin. Oh blessed heavens !

Folum. Moe noble blowes, then ever you wise words.

35. 77>'apprehension of his present portance. 2. 3. 232. A gratuitously trochaic line. 56. In soothing them, we nourish 'gainst our Senate 3. I. 69.

The abbreviation checks the flow of the line, and at 2. 3. 241 we find against making a resolution in precisely the same position :

and that your minds

Pre-occupy'd with what you rather must do >£ ,& Then • what you | should, A | made you algainst the |

VcyF sraine ,.

1 o voyce him consul!.

*g The first syllable survived here because it was not per ceived that the line would have been at least metrical, owing^Jo_^he_jnojio^ynabic foot, even though only nine syllables had been left. Ten" syllables were therefore > retained.

37. When, both your voices blended, the | greatest \ taste Still palates theirs. 3. I. 103 f.

Editors continue to print this, notwithstanding the '; hideous cacophony of "great'st taste," and although the ^ words cannot be pronounced without a splutter.

*v ' .1. __ __._.. ..--,, T^ _ •

38. *Did not deserve corne gratis. | Being z'Wjwarre, Their mutinies and revolts,... 3. i. 125 f.

u

CORIOLANUS 197

The stress required is, "Being | in the \ war,'' as the context shows.

39. Not having the power to do the good it would For th'\\\ which doth controul't.

Bru. Has said enough.

Si'cin. Ha*s spoken like a traitor. 3. i. i6off.

We have seen enough of the Folio's abolitions of resolved feet and double upbeats to feel tolerably sure that it has omitted "He" before "has" in each of these lines. See Othello, no. 18, A. and C., no. 16, Macbeth, no. 8.

40. *Weel surety him. — Ag'd sir, hands off. 3. I. 178.

The line has lost a foot; read,

We will | surety him. j — Aged \ sir, hands | off!

41. And temperately proceed to what you would. 3. I. 219. But at 3. 3. 67 we get,

How ? A | Traytor ? — Nay | temperate\ly : your | promise. Cp. nos. 12, 21, 26, 58.

42. *Like interrupted waters, | and <?re-\beare What they are us'd to beare. 3. I, 249 f.

Plainly we must read (see on Lear, no. 22), Like interrupted | waters, and overbear.

43. The noble tribunes are the peoples mouths,

*And we their hands. — He shall, < be > | sure ont. \ —Sir, A | sir. 3. I. 271 f.

Be seems necessary, as well as " sure of it. \

44. Consider this: he ha's bin bred f/^'warres Since a could draw a sword. 3. 1 . 320 f.

Living to time. — A shall not tread on me: 5. 3. 127.

1 98 THE EARLY TEXTS

These are the only two places where the vulgarism a for he occurs in the verse. In the prose the one instance falls by bad luck to Menenius ; the rabble, in spite of their many chances, never use it.

45. *In our \ first f way. — lie bring him to you. 3. i. 334.

The line is ruined ; read,

In our | first | way. A | — / will \ bring him | to you.

46. /'//&' warre do grow together: grant that, and tell me

*In p&ce, what each of th6m by th1 other loose, 3. 2. 43 f. (what | each of them | by the \ other | lose,)

47. Volum. Because, that

*Now it lyes you on to speake to /£ 'people :

Not by your owne instruction, nor by'/^'matter

*Which your heart prompts you, but with such words

*That are but roated in your tongue ;

*Though but bastards, and syllables

Of no allowance, to your bosomes truth. 3. 2. 52 ff.

Numerous changes in the wording have been proposed, and both rated and rooted have been adopted for roated. The Cambridge editors arrange thus :

Because that now it lies you on to speak

To the petople ;,not by your own in|structi on,

HOT by|themaiBter__whi«:h k"»r heart pj-pmpts. you,

But with sucTTwords that [are but roted in 55

Your tongue, though but bastards and syllables

Of no allowance to your bosom's truth.

V. 54 can be scanned, ifjge_make "heart" a monosyllabic foot, but it has no rhythm and is not such a line as Shakespeare would have written. I venture to suggest the following arrangement. There can be no omission

CORIOLANUS 199

of own before " heart," as Badham suggests ; the anti thesis is hehw&enT]s_heaft and his

Because that now it lies you on to speak

To the people; not by your own instruction, nor

By the • matter | which your | heart | prompts you, but |

with

Such words that are but rooted in your tongue, 55

Though but • bastards and | sylla bles of | no allowance To your | bosom's truth.

The play itself, to go no further, affords abundant parallels to the enjambement at vv. 53 and 54.

48. *Must I goe shew them my unbartfd sconce ? 3. 2. 99.

(unbarbed}

49. Make motion through my lips, and my arrrfd knees

(and my \ armed \ )

3. 2. 118.

50. *Set downe by'th pole ? — I have: 'tis ready. 3. 3. 10. We restore the metre by reading,

Set \ down by the | poll ? — I | have : A | /'/ is \ ready.

51. And power ?th truth a'th cause. — I shall inform them.

3- 3- 18.

A typical specimen of what a copyist or reviser or printer could make of Shakespeare's verse.

52. *I, as an hostler, that fourth poorest peece

Will bear the knave by ^'volume : f^'honor'd goddes

3- 3- 32 f.

The first line should read, "that J for the poorest."

53. Eifn from this instant, banish him our citie 3. 3. 101.

The abbreviation, though always gratuitous^Js very common in the plays, usually in £Ke form eene. In

200 THE EARLY TEXTS

this play this is the only instance, and even, making a resolution, is given five times :

Even Even

Even Even

like a fawning grey-hound I. 6. 38. when the navell of the state was touch'd.

as she speaks, 3. 2. 87.

3-

he> 5- 3- 77- With bloody passage led your | warres even | to 5. 6. 76.

54. jT/>'hoorded plague a'/£'gods 4. 2. II.

55. Many an hey re Of • these faire | edi|fices | fore my | warres Have I heard groane, and drop : 4. 4. 2 ff.

We shall restore the Shakespearian rhythm by reading,

Of • these fair | edifijces be\fore my | wars.

56. Auf. * Whence com'st thou ? What wouldst thou ? Thy

name ?

*Why speak' st not ? Speake man : what's thy name ? Carlo. *If Tullus not yet thou know'st... 4. 5. 58 ff.

The Folio continues Coriolanus's speech as prose. Editors follow it in the first two lines, and then, making "If, Tullus," a short line, rightly go on in verse. Their arrangement, however, is hardly satisfactory, for a tri- pody, a tetrapody, and a monopody in succession form a sequence that is, I should say, without parallel. The fact is, nothing can be done with the lines, if the Folio's abbi^LviatioiLS^are retained, and I would read and arrange as follows :

Auf. Whence \ com'st thou ? What | wouldst thou ?

Thy | name ? Why | speakest \ not ? Speak, man : | what is thy | name ? A |

Cor. [ Unmuffling] If, A | Tullus, 59

Not \ yet thou | knowest \ me, and j seeing me, | dost not

CORIOLANUS 201

Think me for the | man I | am, nejcessijty Commands me name myself.

V. 59 is now of the common type which has a trochaic beginning immediately followed by a resolution:"" "If" properly occupies a whole foot because of the pause made after it for emphasis. Such a pause must be made in delivering the words, whatever arrangement be adopted, and since it is important, the poet naturally so pro vided for it. Coriolanus, who speaks in the low and life- -•- less tones of a broken man, begins very slowly and with great solemnity, his manner forming a fine dramatic^, contrast to the impatiently sharp and jerky sentences of Aufidius. It is a telling^ situation, if well acted, and Shakespeare, even though he was Shakespeare, must have expended some little thought upon it. I cannot forbear drawing attention to the perfect rhythm of the three lines uttered by Coriolanus. But for the trifling inversion "not yet knowest" for "knowest not yet," the sentence has the balance of natural and musical prose; indeed, if it were not marked oTFmfo'llTres} many would take it for prose, as did the reviser of the Folio. Yet it is verse of Shakespeare's very best for rhythm and balance, and the art shown in one point in par ticular, the quadrisyllable "Think me For the," is worth noting. He might have written "Think me the | man I | am," but he does not. With that sense of dramatic 'fitness which- nev€f ceases-~4a-_ajlia^e_;u^.jusj^in order that Coriolanus may not too obviously be speaking in verse at such a moment, he modifies the ordinary rhythm the introduction of the single syllable "for," and the sguise is as complete as it need be. It would be

202 THE EARLY TEXTS

difficult to find a better illustration of the ideal of blank verse at which he aimed in his mature work, — prose that is also verse, and verse that is not and yet might be prose. The succeeding lines are equally of his best when we have removed the Folio's defacements. Aufidius repeats his imperative question :

Auf. What is thy name ?

Cor. A • name un [musical | to the | Volscians' ears, 64 And harsh in sound to thine.

Auf. Say, what is thy | name ?

Thou hast a grim appearance, and thy face Bears a com|mand in it : \ though thy tackle's torn, 67 Thou • showest a | noble | vessel : | what is thy | name ?

The Folio ruins this by abbreviating to "what's thy name?" twice (but not in v. 63), and to zV/and shew st. The form "what's," which is often improperly given, here robs Aufidius's questions both of dignity and courtesy. Int destroys the genuine Shakespearian rhythm in v. 67, which has somewhat surprisingly escaped disfigurement in 64, for it can only be by an oversight that we have not "un|musicall to M'|Volcians eares" (see no. n, Othello, nos. 16, 65 and Tempest, no. 9). If "showest" is contracted, it inevitably gets an undesirable stress which checks the rhythm.

57. *And : suffer'd me by th'voyce of slaves to be 4. 5. 83.

False stress and false rhythm for | "suffer'd me by the | voice."

58. Against my cankred countrey, with the spleene 4. 5. 97.

(cankered]

CORIOLANUS 203

Similarly we get,

We shall be shortned in our ayme, which was I. 2. 23. To heare themselves remembred. — Should they not,

i. 9. 29. And you are darkned in this action sir, 4. 7. 5.

But inconsistently,

The j one part | suffered, the | other | will I | doe.

2. 3. 131.

And \ watered his \ new | plants with | dewes of | flattery. \\

5. 6. 23.

That prosperously I have attempted, and With bloody passage led your warres, even to The gates of Rome. 5. 6. 75 ff.

Cp. nos. 12, 21, 26, 41.

59. The army marveyl'd | at it, and | in the \ last 5. 6. 42.

One would have expected the Folio to spoil the rhythm by giving | "and z'M'jlast."

60. But tell the traitor in the | highest dejgree 5. 6. 85.

In Richard III 5. 3. 196 the Folio, followed by editors against the Quarto, gives,

[Perjury,] Perjurie in the | highest de|gree.

61. *Ile grace thee with that robbery, thy stolne name Coriolanus ? 5. 6. 89 f.

The stress is false, and we must read, with a broken quadrisyllable,

I'll grace thee with that | robbery, thy | stolen \ name.

Three lines below in the same scene "given" is not abbreviated to giv'n^ ^and rhythm is spared:

He ha's betray'd your | businesse, and | given | up... See Cymbeline, no. 12.

204 THE EARLY TEXTS

Except that they print the for th\ editors almost always retain the Folio's abbreviations, as we have seen in the previous plays.

Including 134 cases of tK for the, the text requires

about 350 corrections, only some three or four of which

/might be regarded as of doubtful necessity. The Folio

(makes 14 lines actually unmetrical, and in 45 gives a

Valse stress.

The Prose. — In the prose I count 62 abbreviations and vulgarisms against 152 abstentions. The latter number does not include occurrences of he, for which a occurs once, spoken by Menenius. The following figures show how entirely accidental are the abbrevia tions. We get thJ after prepositions 1 9, the 3 1 ; 'j (his) 3, his 10 ; V 1 5, /'/ 5 ; 'em 3, them 1 5 ; th'art (thou art) once, spoken by Coriolanus.

Antony and Cleopatra Selected Abbreviations

The Folio text is given first, and underneath it in round brackets what I believe to be the true reading, except where it seemed to be needless.

I. Of the raing'd empire fall : heere is my space, I. I. 34.

"Of the" has survived because the ten syllables were counted. Read, "Of the \ ranged \ empire."

2. At i. 2. 103 ff. the Folio divides the lines im possibly. The Cambridge editors arrange thus:

CLEOPATRA 205

I hear him as he flatter'd.

Mess. Labienus —

This is stiff news — hath with his Parthian force Extended Asia from Euphrates, 105

His conquering banner shook from Syria To Lydia and to Ionia, Whilst—

Ant. Antony, thou wouldst say —

And so others, save that they end 107 with "whilst." But this is not Shakespeare's verse of this period, if of any; vv. 105-6 are extremely wooden, 107 is shocking, and "stiff" in 104 requires stress. If we are no more afraid of quadrisyllabics than the poet was, we shall not hesitate to give the passage thus (nearly as Pope) :

I hear him as he | flatter'd.

Mess. Labijenus — | this is | stiff news —

Hath with his Parthian force extended Asia From Euphrates, his conquering banner shook From | Syria to | Lydia | and to Ijonija,

In 103 we have, as so often, an Alexandrine divided between two speakers, the second part beginning with the latter half of a broken quadrisyllable. For examples see Appendix iv.

3. Whafs your pleasure, sir ? — I must with haste from hence.

I. 2. 135.

The pure trochaic line is improbable here, and Enobarbus would in any case begin more courteously by saying, "What is your pleasure?" So in several other places we should read What is for the too abrupt and colloquial Whafs.

206 THE EARLY TEXTS

4. *You are \ too injdulgent. | Let's grant | it is | not Amiss to tumble on the bed of Ptolemy, i. 4. 16 f.

If we would restore Shakespeare's rhythm, we must read,

You are • too injdulgent. Let's | grant it is | not a|miss with re-division and a quadrisyllable.

5. And the ebb'd man,

Nire lov'd, till nire worth love, i. 4. 43.

Editors print as one line, but a line capable of scansion only by grotesquely making the second "ne're " a mono syllabic foot, thus,

And the \ ebb'd | man, ne'er | loved till | ne'er | worth love; ||

or by dividing thus, with no stress on "loved,"

And the .: ebb'd | man, A | ne'er loved | till ne'er | worth love.

If this is Shakespeare's versification, they do well who sometimes apologise for him ; but we ;,have only to remove the abbreviations and we find the poet again :

And the | ebb'd man, | never | loved till | never \ worth love.

6. Was beaten from Medena, where thou s/ew'st I. 4. 57.

7. *The barkes of trees thou | browfd. A | On the Alps

i. 4. 66.

We certainly want browsed^ since the monosyllabic foot is usually preceded or followed by a resolution, and it is difficult to believe Shakespeare did not write browsedst. He liked the complete foot for the conclusion of a sen tence, and the line would be improved by it here.

8. Thou eunuch Mardian. — What's your graces pleasure ?

i. 5. 8. A servant must say, "What is" ; cp. no. 3.

ANrONT AND CLEOPATRA 207

9. Do bravely horse, for wofst thou whom thou mov'st,

i. 5. 22.

Shakespeare would have varied the forms : "for | wot'st thou | whom thou j movest."

10. Be/'t as our gods will hdvit. 2. I. 50.

That is, "beet as our gods will have't" ! Note again the determination to make the sentence end with a stressed syllable. Read "Be it • as our gods will have it."

11. I would not shave't to day. 2. 2. 8.

But this cannot be said without a splutter.

12. Serves for the matter that is then borne int. 2. 2. 10. A dreadful rhythm ; read,

Serves for the matter that | is then | born in \ it.

13. It not concern'd me. — My being in Egypt Caesar, What was't to you ? 2. 2. 36 f.

Cp. no. 1 1 . The contraction makes it impossible to say the word without undue stress.

14. So many mer-maids tended her *'/£'eyes. 2. 2. 212.

An un-Shakespearian rhythm ; read " tended her j in the | eyes." Cp. Othello^ nos. 16, 65, Tempest, no. 9.

15. Becomes a feare : as being o're-|/0wW, j therefore

(power d) 2. 3. 22.

1 6. He hath \ spoken true. 2. 3. 33.

Examples such as this are worth noting because, in order to avoid the double upbeat, the "he" is some times omitted. The omission is indeed an Elizabethan idiom, but knowing the early texts as we now do, we may doubt whether any instances in Shakespeare are

208 THE EARLY TEXTS

genuine. See Othello^ no. 18, where the Folio gives "Has had" for "He has | had" of the Quarto.

17. Sir, Marke Antony

*Will ine but kisse Octavia, | and week \ follow. 2. 4. 3.

False stress ; we must read, with a quadrisyllable, " Oc tavia, and | we will | follow." "E'ne" may of course be right, but considering the Folio's tendency, every in stance is suspicious. As against this example and 3. ii. 36, "His sword ene like a dancer," we have in this play alone "even" making a resolution at least three times :

Even Even Even

this repays me. 3. n. 71.

with his pestilent sythe. 3. 13. 194.

make me wilde. 5. 2. 154. Cp. Cor., no. 53 note.

1 8. Give me mine Angle, weele /o'^'River there 2. 5. 10. with soft tb thriver becomes the river.

19. And say, ah ha : y'are caught. 2. 5. 15.

T'are falne into a princely hand, feare nothing. 5. 2. 22.

This form and "you're" occur at hap-hazard in the early texts to abolish the resolution made by^0# are. There is no reason to suppose that either abbreviation is genuine, unless we assume that Shakespeare never knew what he might write next. This play shows two examples of you are and two of fare ; you re does not occur. Cp. nos. 4, 19, 74.

20. And friends with Caesar. — T ft art an honest man.

2. 5. 47.

This hideous form occurs four times in the play, and

ANTONT AND CLEOPATRA 209

thou art twice. For other examples of "th'art" see nos. 23, 34, and 4. 12. 39, "Tis well th'art gone." The Cambridge editors and others substitute "thou'rt" for it, which is a hardly defensible proceeding. "Th'art" is definitely a monosyllable, and "thou'rt" is not, and it is no compliment to Shakespeare to suppose he was indifferent to the form he wrote, assuming that he ever wrote either. Personally I am convinced that he always meant the words to be said in full (cp. no. 77). Here it is plain that the line should run,

And | friends with | Caesar. — Thou | art an j honest | man.

21. *In state of health thou safst, and thou saist, fr£e.

2. 5. 56.

False stress; read, "and thou | sayest, \ free."

22. *A cesterne for scaled snakes. Go get thee hence.

2. 5. 95.

If we scan, "A • cistern for ] scal'd snakes," the epithet gets too much prominence ; we must read "scaled." Cp. T. and C. 5. 5. 22, "And there they flye or dye, like scaled sculs (schools ?) Before the belching whale." No doubt the Folio printer (?) read the line as "A cistern for scal'd snakes."

23. That art not what ttfart sure of. 2. 5. 103. See on no. 20.

24. Cleo. lye they upon thy hand And be undone by em. 2. 5. 106.

In the verse of this play the Folio gives them 19 times and em three. See no. 68. In the prose we find them 4 times, ""em never.

B. 14

2 io THE EARLY TEXTS

25. *There saw you labouring for him. What wds't That mov'd pale Cassius... 2. 6. 14 f.

There is a false stress on "him" ; the line should run,

There j saw you | labouring | for him. | What was \ it That mov'd...

26. With the arnCd rest, courtiers of beautious freedome,

2. 6. 17.

Read, "With the j armed \ rest."

27. Weele speake with thee at sea. At land thou know'st *How much we do o 're-count thee. — At land indeed *Thou dost orecount me of my fatherrs house : 2. 6. 25 ff.

The full form "over-count" is required,

How • much we do | over-|count thee. — At j land in|deed Thou dost • over-|count me...

The changes were 'plainly made to get rid of the reso lutions. Cp. nos. 53, 76.

28. I never lov'd you much, but I ha1 prais'd yey 2. 6. 78. Do something | mingle with our | yonger brown, yet hd* we A braine that nourishes our nerves. 4. 8. 20 f.

Is thine if thou wilt heft. 2. 7. 75.

Enob. Ha my brave emperour, shall we daunce now The Egyptian Backenals, and celebrate our drinke ?

Pom. Let's heft good souldier. 2. 7. 109 ff.

It would require some ingenuity to suggest a reason why Shakespeare should have used this vulgar form in these four places in the play, and not in others. By way of contrast we have 1 3 examples of / have (I've, which is found two or three times elsewhere, does not occur), two of we have, and two of you have, with yhave once, making a total for have of 18. The guilty person,

ANTONT AND CLEOPATRA 2 1 1

therefore, would rather seem to be the man who spelt " Backenals." "The" before "Egyptian" has perhaps escaped elision because the Folio prints the passage as prose. As in the first of these four examples, the collo quial ye for you (singular) turns up in the plays from time to time when least expected, somewhat after the manner of the harlequin in a pantomime. In this play it makes one more appearance, when Dolabella interrupts Cleopatra's fine panegyric of Antony at 5. 2. 76 :

Cleo. I dream'd there was an emperor Antony : O, such another sleep, that I might see But such another man !

Do/. If it might please ye, —

29. Will you leade lords ? — Skew's the way, sir. — Come.

2. 6. 83.

This elegancy occurs nine times in the play (not counting three examples of lei's). Cp. no. 40.

30. And \ you by | land. — / w ill \ praise j any | man That will \ praise | me, though // | cannot | be de|nied What | I have \ done by | land. — Nor what | I have \ done

by | water. 2. 6. 91 ff.

This passage is quoted as an example of Shakespeare's style when it has escaped the mutilation to which it was exposed, and by way of contrast to the four examples of ha quoted under no. 28 above. The secret of its escape is that of some other similar escapes. The Folio reviser took it to be prose; and modern editors do the same.

31. Thus do they sir : they take the flow 0'//>'Nyle By certaine scales z'/£'pyramid : they know

By ^'height, the lownesse, or the meane : If dearth

Or foizon follow. The higher Nylus swels... 2. 7. 19 ff.

Here we return to the patchwork again.

14 — 2

2 1 2 THE EARLY TEXTS

32. And shortly come to harvest.

Lep. Y'have strange serpents there ?

2. 7. 26.

See on no. 19. Modern editors unwarrantably print you've with false stress.

77. ' */ am not so well as I should be : But I 'He nere \ out.

+J*J

2. 7. 34.

False stress; read, "I'll | never \ out."

34. Rise from thy stoole. —

Pom. I thinke iff art mad : the matter ?

Men. I have \ ever held my cap off to thy fortunes. Pom. Thou hast \ serv'd me with much good faith.

2. 7. 62 ff.

See on no. 20, and also nos. 23, 77.

35. Wilt thou be | lord of the \ whole | world? That's j twice.

2. 7. 68.

A rare survival of of the ; but the line has only ten syllables and the copyist or printer no doubt scanned, "Wilt thoii be 16rd of the whole w6rld?"

36. *Thou art, if thou dar'st b£, the earthly Jove. 2. 7. 73. False stress; read, "Thou • art, if thou | darest \ be."

37. And not have spoke on't. In me 'tis villanie, In thee *t had been good service. 2. 7. 8of.

Read, " And j not have | spoke of \ it. In | me 'tis villany.l!"

38. *Ile neVer follow thy pauFd fortunes more. 2. 7. 88. False stress ; read,

I'll j never | follow thy | palled | fortunes | more.

ANrONT AND CLEOPATRA 2 1 3

39. It's monstrous labour when I wash my braine

And it grow fouler. — Be a child o'tb'time. 2. 7. 105 f.

Editors print othe where they find oyth\ but this is un critical. If the early texts cannot be trusted for the one abbreviation, they can afford no authority for the other, and rejecting th\ we have to ask whether it is probable that Shakespeare ever wrote o for of. My own investi gations lead me to think he did not, since o/"has survived in so many places where o might have seemed excusable or even appropriate. Thus in no. 35 above of the has escaped elision because the monosyllabic foot was not allowed for, and although "wilt thou be | lord othe\ whole | world " might not have seemed out of place in the mouth of a rough sea-captain, Shakespeare appears not to have written it.

40. And shall, sir : give's your hand. 2. 7. 134. "Us" means Antony and Caesar.

41. with what hast(e)

The waight we must convay with's, will permit. 3. I. 35 f.

Cp. nos. 29, 40. The abbreviation is the more gra tuitous because of the voice-pause, which the Folio has actually marked by a comma. Wittis is in any case ex tremely difficult to say, and to attempt to say it before a pause is simply asking for trouble. As Shakespeare wrote it, the verse had a characteristic rhythm, the lyric measure 77 (see p. 28) followed by a checked dipody:

The j weight we must conjvey with us, \\ will per|mit. A ||

The Folio's line is one of which he would have been ashamed. Cp. Tempest, no. 9, and nos. 51, 53, 58 below.

2 1 4 THE EARLY TEXTS

42. If ere thou look'st on majestic. 3. 3. 21.

Since the past tense is required, editors print "look'dst," which cannot be pronounced, though it may satisfy the eye. Why should Shakespeare not have made Cleopatra say what he wanted her to say, writing,

If e'er thou j lookedst on | majesty ?

43. *In Habiliments of the goddesse Isis. 3. 6. 16.

A striking example of the reckless incompetence of those responsible for the Folio, if the e of the is silent.

44. *Be ever knowne to patience. My deer'st sister. 3. 6. 98. Read, " My dearest sister."

45. And say'st it is not fit. — Well : is it, is it. 3. 7. 4. What «'/ you say ? 3. 7. 10.

Here comes the emperor. — | Is it not | strange Cajnidius ||

3. 7. 21.

The contradictions speak for themselves. The mono syllabic form say st in the first quotation gives the word slightly too much stress ; we want to run on easily to the stressed word "fit" by reading, "And • sayest it is not | fit." Note that in the last line Shakespeare wrote is it, although he was thereby producing a third resolution.

46. Take from his j heart, A | take from his \ braine, from 's \

time, 3. 7. 12.

The true Shakespearian rhythm is destroyed, but no doubt the copyist or printer was satisfied when he could produce,

Take from his heart, take from his brafne, from's time* For from's cp. no. 60.

ANTONT AND CLEOPATRA 2 1 5

47. He could so quickly | cut the Ijonian | Sea

And take in Troine. You have heard on V (sweet ?)

3- 7- 23 f.

Another example destroying a characteristic rhythm, the y of our lyric measures ; read,

And take in Toryne. You have heard of it, \ sweet?

Note that in the first line, which has two resolutions, the has been spared.

48. And with the rest full mann'd, from /£'head of Action *Beat /^'approaching | Caesar. But | if we faile, We then can do ft at land. 3. 7. 52 ff.

Of the original five resolutions the only one that sur vives is the one that defied abbreviation ("Caesar. But"), and the second line has a gratuitous trochaic beginning. Compare the verse as it left Shakespeare's pen :

And with the rest full-mann'd, from the head of Actium Beat the approaching Caesar. But if we fail, We then can do it at land.

49. *By Hercules I thinke I am /'/bright. 3. 7. 68.

False stress for "I | think I am in the right." Cp. Hamlet^ no. i.

50. Set we our squadrons 6n yond side o'th'hill, 3. 9. I.

The Folio is satisfied, having reduced the line to ten syllables without a resolution, though Shakespeare's line must have shown three :

Set we our j squadrons on | yond side of the \ hill.

Note that the Folio is content to drop the h of "hill" here, and of "head" in no. 48 above.

2 1 6 THE EARLY TEXTS

51. Thantoniad, the Egyptian admirall. 3. 10. 2.

Save for the initial abbreviation, the text has spared a characteristic rhythm :

The An|toniad, | the Ejgyptian (Egypciari) admirall. (i . e)

52. To seit, mine eyes are blasted. 3. 10. 4.

But what the audience would hear is "To seat" \ Cp. Lear, no. 40, a quite comic example.

53. Yon ribaudred nagge of Egypt, (Whom leprojsie o're-jtake) ?tW midst 0'/£'|fight, When vantage like a payre o/"twinnes appear'd

3. 10. 10 ff.

Again the ten syllables are achieved, but with a rhythm that is not Shakespeare's ; we must read,

Whom ; lepro|sy o'er|take, In the \ midst of the \ fight.

For o'retake cp. nos. 27, 76, but I think "Whom • lepro|sy o'erjtake " is right here.

54. 'Tis easie toot. 3. 10. 32.

There was an Elizabethan verb toot, meaning to dote, as in the line,

Or fair Narcissus tooting on his shade,

which is, I think, from Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Eungay. Shakespeare, who, if any man, had an ear for a pun, must have known the word, and therefore, to say nothing of his views on dramatic versification, was little likely to write "'Tis easy toot," or to mean "let us toot pell mell" in Richard III, or to perpetrate the am biguity in other places.

ANrONT AND CLEOPATRA 217

55. *Heis un|qualit|ed (sic) with | very | shame. 3. n. 43.

A false stress on "He" (for "He • is un|quali}tied") and a pointless trochaic beginning.

56. We I sent our | schoole|master, | is a come | backe ?

3. ii. 72.

This vulgarism appears also at 3. 13. 132,

Soundly my Lord. — Cried be ? and begg'd a pardon ?

Shakespeare is little likely to have introduced it twice and twice only.

57. As \ /''/£' com | man d of Caesar. 3. 13. 25.

But /' cannot take the foot-stress however slight it may be, and we must have, "As \ in the com|mand." Cp. no. 49.

58. Unstate his happinesse, and be stag'd to'tb'shew.

3- 13- 3°-

Another impossible combination of consonants ; cp. nos. ii, 41. Note the line's rhythm (£.y).

59. *To follow with allegeance kfalne lord. 3. 13. 44.

False stress ; read "a | fallen \ lord." Yet editors print "fall'n."

60. To lay my crowne afs feet. 3. 13. 76.

Will Caesar weepe ? — He ha's a cloud ins face. 3. 2. 51.

Cp. no. 46, which with these makes three examples of 'j for his. Yet we have at i. 3. 74,

And \ give true | evidence | to his \ love, which stands,

where the resolution might have been avoided by writing, "And j give true | evidence tos \ love."

2 1 8 THE EARLY TEXTS

61. But when we in our viciousnesse grow hard (Oh misery onf) the wise gods seele our eyes

In our own filth, drop our cleare judgements, make us

Adore our errors, laugh afs while we strut

To our confusion. — Oh, /V/ come to this ? 3. 13. 1 1 1 ff.

We want, "Oh the \ misery | of it!" and "Oh, | is it \ come." The inconsistency of "make us" and "laugh afs" is to be noticed.

62. I had thought (have held it poore. 3. 13. 186.

For fhave and fhold, cp. Othello, no. 74, Lear, no. 13, Macbeth, no. 37.

To vie strange forms with fancie, yet /'imagine 5. 2. 98. Yet we have

And shall become you | well, to in|treat your captaine

2. 2. 2. To exjcuse their after wrath. 5. 2. 290.

63. Ant. To morrow soldier, By sea and land He fight : or I will live, Or bathe my dying honor in the blood

Shall make it live againe. Wo(?t thoii fight well ?

4. 2. 4 ff. See on Hamlet, no. 27.

64. A mangled shadow : perchance tomorrow

You'l serve another master. I look on you 4. 2. 27 f.

The first line wants a foot, and we should read,

A mangled shadow : perchance to-morrow you Will serve another master.

65. Hearke. — Musicke fft&'ayre. — Under the earth. 4. 3. 13.

Another good line spoilt ; and notice the inconsistency of i iK and the. The verse is one of a common type in the plays ; there is a trochaic beginning immediately

ANIONY AND CLEOPATRA 2 1 9

relieved by a resolution, in this case a quadrisyllable with a voice-pause in delivery after the first half:

2nd Sol. Hark ! A |

15* Sol. Music — in the | air ! A |

yd Sol. Under the | earth !

66. And go too't with delight. 4. 4. 21. See on no. 54.

67. Some ditch wherein to dye : ihefou/'st best fits. 4. 6. 38.

The ugliness of fouFst best is its condemnation. More over there is a slight voice-pause for emphasis, and this makes foulest the natural form to use.

68. Wee'l beat 'em into bench-holes, 4. 7. 9. And snatch 'em up, /'£. 18.

Cp. no, 24 above.

69. Before the sun shall see's, wee'l spill the blood 4. 8. 3.

But what the audience would hear is, "Before the sun shall cease."

70. By th' second houre i'th'morne. — This last day was A shrewd one too's. 4. 9. 4 f.

A • wake sir, a|wake, A | speake to us. \ — Heare you | sir.

4. 9. 28.

A line with the true Shakespearian rhythm unspoiled.

71. *I would they'ld fight i'tb'fire, or i'tk'zyre. 4. 10. 3.

The metre is gone ; we must have, "*'# the \ fire, or | in the \ air."

72. Ant. Yet they are not join'd

Where yon'd pine does stand, I shall discover all. He bring thee word straight, how 'ris (sic] like to go. Scarr. Swallows have built 4. 12. I ff.

220 THE EARLY TEXTS

So the Folio, misdividing. Editors begin the second and third lines, "I shall"... and "Straight, how 'tis like to go"; but a better division, with correction of the abbreviations, is,

Ant. Yet they are not join'd : where yonder pine does

stand

I shall discover all. I'll j bring thee | word straight, How it is | like to | go.

Scar. Swallows have built...

73. Helpe me my women : Oh bee's more mad 4. 13. I.

Read, "Oh, he is \ more j mad."

74. Was never so imbost. — To ^'monument,

There locke your selfe and send him word you are dead.

4- 13- 3f-

For you are cp. no. 4 ; in no. 1 9 we have yare twice.

75. Whose heart I thought I had, for she had mine : Which whil'st it was mine, had annext untoot A million moey (now lost :) 4. 14. i6ff.

This is the only example of moe in the play, in verse or prose, yet editors retain it, as though it were a Shake spearian caprice.

76. I | will o're- take thee Cleopatra, and Weepe for my pardon. 4. 14. 44 f.

False stress for "I will | overtake thee, Cleopatra, And weep." Cp. nos. 27, 53.

77. I am conqueror of my selfe. Thou art sworne Eros,

4. 14. 62.

The Shakespearian rhythm. Cp. 2. 3. 26, "Thou art • sure to lose."

ANTONT AND CLEOPATRA 2 2 1

78. So it should be, that none but Anthony

Should conquer Anthony, but woe 'tis so. 4. 15. 16 f.

Read, "but woe // | is so," to avoid the rime.

79. Noblest of men, woo't dye? 4. 15. 59. Cp. no. 63, and see on Hamlet, no. 27.

80. And then, what's brave, what's noble, Let's doo't after the high Roman fashion,

And make death proud to take us. 4. 15. 86 ff.

Thus does the Folio take some of the finest things that a poet ever penned and reduce them to bathos with collo quialisms. And even modern editors, although they have seen that doot is intolerable here, still retain the everyday lefs. If this was the style of the actors, and it is to be feared it was, they must have well-nigh broken Shakespeare's heart. Read and scan,

Let us • do it I after | the high | Roman | fashion.

81. *Sir, I will eate no meate, lie not drinke sir, If idle talke will once be necessary

lie n6t sleepe neither. This mortall house He ruine.

5. 2. 49 ff.

The first lie is plainly wrong, and the second makes Cleopatra lay her chief stress on u neither," like an angry washerwoman. Read,

Sir, I will eat no meat, I will not drink, sir, — If idle talk will once be necessary, — I j will not | sl£ep neither. This | mortal | house I'll | ruin.

There are abundant parallels to the opening rhythm of the third line, our lyric measure £ (see p. 27). For the

222 THE EARLY TEXTS

last foot of this measure beginning a quadrisyllable, cp.

In * base appliances. This | outward-jsainted | deputy. ||

M. M. 3. i. 88.

To | nothing | temporal. — Well, | come to | me to morrow. M. M. 2. 2. 155.

And in so early a play as The Two Gentlemen, 2. 2. i,

Have • patience, [ gentle | Julia. — I | must where | is no | remedy. ||

82. rather on Nylus mudde

Lay me starke-|wo^V, and | let the water-flies 5. 2. 58 f.

"Naked" occurs some fifty times, but the Folio does not touch this height elsewhere.

83. His face was as the heav'ns^ and therein stucke

A sunne and moone, which kept their course, and lighted This little 0'/£'earth. 5. 2. 79 ff.

For "This | little O, the | earth." (Steevens)

84. The ingratitude of this Seleucus, does

Even \ make me wilde. Oh slave, of no more trust Then love that's hyr'd ! What | goest thou | backe, thou

shalt

Go | backe I | warrant thee : | but He catch thine eyes Though they had wings. 5. 2. I53ff.

Both go'st and warnt, which happen not to occur in this play, are common enough elsewhere.

85. Through /^'ashes of my chance. 5. 2. 174.

86. *Put | we /'//>'|roll of conquest : still beit yours,

5. 2. 181. False stress ; we want,

Put we \ in the \ roll of j conquest : | still be it \ yours.

87. Ballad us out a tune. 5. 2. 216.

But in Hamlet 3. i. 166 we have, both from Q. and F.,

ANTONT AND CLEOPATRA 223

"Like sweet bells jangled out of time (tune F.) and harsh." Cp. Cymb., no. 13.

88. * Remember' st thou any that have dyed orft ? 5. 2. 249.

The metre is ruined, yet the Leopold and Oxford edi tions give this. The Cambridge and Arden give "Re- memberest" and "on't." Read, with a quadrisyllable,

Re\memberest thou | any | that have | died of\ it?

89. At 5. 2. 260 the Clown completes a line that Cleopatra has begun,

Cleo. Get thee j hence, fare|well.

Clown. I | wish you all | joy of the \ worme.

And here the Folio, not perceiving that it is dealing with verse, abstains from abbreviating. At ib. 281 he makes his exit with an admirable verse of characteristic rhythm, detecting which, the scribe, reviser, or printer of course abbreviated, and we get,

Yes forsooth: I wish you joy 0'/^'worm.

For the rhythm of the line as Shakespeare must have written it,

Yes, forsooth, I wish you joy of the worm, Cp. C. ofE. 4. 4. 71,

Dined at j home, thou | villain ! j what sayest | thou ? and other examples given in Appendix n.

90. The Folio gives 3. 2. 30 ff. thus:

be the ram to batter

The fortress of it ; for better might we 31

Have loved without this mean, if on both parts This be not cherish'd.

224 THE EARLY TEXTS

And this is the arrangement and reading of modern texts. V. 3 1 has indeed ten syllables, but only four feet, while both in v. 32 needs emphasis. We shall get this, and at the same time lines with Shakespearian rhythm, if we divide thus :

The fortress of it :

For better might we have loved without this mean,

If on j both parts | this be not | cherish 'd.

Ant. Make me not

Offended in your distrust.

91. Mess. Madam, madam.

Cleo. Anthony <?s dead,

If thou say so villaine, thou kil'st thy mistris : But well and free,... 2. 5. 25 if.

So the Folio. Editors give,

Mess. Madam, madam, —

Cleo. Antonius dead ! If thou say so, villain,

Thou kill'st thy mistress: but well and free, —

But the Latin form of the name is as false here as the Italian, and we must say misteress, an unlikely pronuncia tion from Cleopatra in this sentence. I would suggest,

Mess. Madam, madam,

Antony — |

Cleo. O, is | dead ? A | If thou say | so, Villain, thou kill'st thy mistress; but well and free, —

There is a curious parallel to the corruption at 5. 2. 81, where F. gives "The little o'th'earth" for "The little O, the earth."

Altogether I find over 260 wrongful abbreviations in the verse of the play, made with the object of avoiding

ANrONTAND CLEOPATRA 225

a resolution or a double ending. Of these 72 are in stances of tli for the. TK occurs 24 times before a vowel, 45 times before a consonant, and three times before the aspirate, entailing a dropped h.

In the prose the abbreviations are fewer in propor tion to the amount of matter than in some other plays, being eleven in all: — ene as the oV^-flowing Nylus1 — but they'ld doot — you staid well byt in Egypt — cannot weep't backe againe — yhave said Sir — /0V/^'drinke — to move int — what, manner 0' thing — in the warres 'gainst Pompey — she makes a verie good report o'/^'worme. The language of the Clown, who is the only "vulgar" speaker, is singularly free from abbreviations and vul garisms, in spite of several traps such as Hamlet falls into almost as a matter of course.

1 But this sentence is probably a verse, in which case overflowing would be right :

Even | as the o'er|flowing | Nilus prejsageth | famine.

226 THE EARLY TEXTS

Julius Caesar Selected Abbreviations

When looked at in connexion with the plays already examined, the statistics for Julius Caesar, of which again there is no Quarto, are remarkably significant. The Cambridge editors write in their preface, "It is more correctly printed than any other play, and may perhaps have been (as the preface [to the First Folio] falsely implied that all were) printed from the original manu script of the author." They are of course speaking generally and without any reference whatever to the abbreviations we are considering, since it is their practice to accept these as authentic, except that they occasionally correct one that makes the line glaringly unmetrical and print the for th\ In respect of these clipped forms it is not a fact that the play is printed more correctly than any other; the texts which show fewest are Fisher's Quarto of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Heyes's Quarto of The Merchant of Venice^ and the First Quarto of the First Part of Henry IV. Setting these aside, however, Julius Caesar presents a striking contrast to the rest of the Quartos in the matter of abbreviations, and differs still more conspicuously from the other nineteen plays for which the Folio is our sole authority. The number of erroneous abbreviations in the verse of the five Folio plays we have just been examining is, according to my

JULIUS CAESAR 227

estimate, approximately as follows : Macbeth 180, Antony and Cleopatra 280, Coriolanus 350, Cymbeline 300, The Tem pest 170, making a total of 1280 and showing an average of 256. The number in Julius Caesar is only 55, made up as follows : tli before a vowel 5, before a consonant o (the before a vowel and making a resolution 2) ; ont I ; 'j (#j) 2 (us making a resolution 2) ; 's for w wrongly i (// M occurs in a quadri syllabic) ; is't 3 ; ant I ; dooV I (do it making a resolution i) ; y'have I ; / ha I ; /';»<? I ; 'em 5 (/fo;» about 30) ; nere i ; where for whether 2 (but whether making a resolution i). Total for this class, 25. The forms otK, ith\ 's for his, and e'ne, do not occur, but we have of the 3, in the 4, to the i, ^/V i, even 10, all making a resolution. The remainder con sist of the following spellings : know'st (2), speak* st, mak'st, com'st (2), not'st, stolne^ unnumbred^ engendred^ r<?Wra/(2), chose, threatning^ o* re-shot, o 're-read, ore-watch ' d (where over- is required), towres, powres, dangrous, slan- d'rous, murderous, tane (6), moe (i), mo (i). As against these, we get the following unabbreviated forms : mayest, "Ldyest thou thy leaden | mace" (producing a quad- risyllabic), dyest, receivest (at the end of a line), indiffer ently, sufferance, suffering, lottery, severall (2), general/ (2), severally, slippery, utterance, quartered, flatterer, power, per- sonall, given (3).

The following are examples of the abbreviations.

i. *Set honor fn one eye, and d£ath /'Mother, i. 2. 86. We want

Set \ honour in | one | eye, and | death In the \ other.

15—2

228 THE EARLY TEXTS

2. Write them together, yours is as faire a name : Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well :

Weigh them, it is as heavy : conjure with 'em, i. 2. 1446°.

3. Besides, I be? not since put up my sword, I. 3. 19.

4. / am glad on't. What a fearefull night is this ! i. 3. 137.

Ont is simply unnatural; see on Macbeth, no. 2.

5. *A11 but Metellus Cymber, and bee's gone To seeke you at your house. 1.3. 149 f.

False stress for "and | he is \ gone." Cp. Richard III , nos. 57, 58, p. 71.

6. Is he alone ?

No, sir, there are | m&e \ with him. | — Doe you | know them? 2. I. 71 f.

Moe is absurd in the position of stress ; but of course the printer read the words, as do some nowadays, " No, sir, there are more."

7. That | by no meanes I may discover them By any marke of favour.

Eru. Let 'em enter. 2. i. 75 f.

The slave Lucius is more careful in his speech than his master ; but perhaps, like woof in Antony and Cleopatra, ''em here "indicates affectionate familiarity."

8. And after seeme to chide 'em. 2. i. 177. Brutus again, but in a solemn and noble speech.

9. The morning comes upons : wee'l leave you Brutus.

2. i. 221. But at i. 2. 176, making a quadrisyllable with I am,

Is I like to | lay up\on us. — I am | glad that | my weake words. . .

JULIUS CAESAR 229

10. Nor for \ yours | neither. | T'have un|gently, | Brutus,

2. i. 237.

11. Tell me your counsells, I will not disclose 'em. 2. i. 298.

This from Portia !

12. *O what a tfme have you chose out, brave Caius,

(have you | chosen \ out,) 2. I. 314.

False stress.

13. Caesar was nere so much your enemy 2. 2. 112. The feebleness of the form spoils the line.

14. *Trebonius doth desire you | to ore-\read 3. 1.4.

*I • have <? re- shot my selfe to tell you of it. 3. 2. 155.

(I have \ over-\shot) *Poore knave, I blame thee not, thou | art ore-watcVd.

(thou art | over^watctfd.} 4. 3. 241. Cp. Lear, no. 22 ; Macbeth, 41.

15. And say you do ft by our permission : 3. i. 247.

1 6. Those that will heare me speake, let 'em stay here.

3. 2. 5.

Brutus again ; this time speaking from the rostrum to the people !

17. *And publike reasons shall be rendred. 3. 2. 7. *When \ severally we heare them rendred. 3. 2. 10.

These two examples, which appear to dock the lines of a foot, prove conclusively one of two things ; either that the spelling was not meant to indicate a disyllabic pronunciation, or that on such points the Elizabethan printers are not entitled to a scintilla of respect. For the purpose of my thesis it does not matter which view is taken. My own belief is that they frequently abbre-

23 o THE EARLY TEXTS

viated from mere habit, without thinking of the require ments of the verse at all. See Rich. ///, no. 172, p. 86.

1 8. Nay presse not so upon me, stand farre off. 3. 2. 171.

Since Antony did not wish them to stand far off, but only further off, for he wanted them to see Caesar's wounds, the ambiguity of the form is absurd, even supposing/am? survived as a comparative in Elizabethan days. But if one may draw a conclusion from the silence of editors, the Folio itself seems to be our only authority for this, giving it for further or farther also in The Winter s Tale 4. 4. 442 : "Fdrre then (than) Deucalion off." Even that passage, however, proves nothing ; we have only to add one to Shakespeare's total of quadri- syllabic feet, of which there are nearly 900, and read, " Farther than Deu|calion | off." Moreover, the Middle English comparative ferre was not a monosyllable but a disyllabic, so that its use in these two places becomes doubly pointless, for we do not even eliminate the tri syllabic and quadrisyllable feet, if that was the object. And if it was not, what was ? The usual M.E. com parative form was ferrer^ and this Shakespeare may conceivably have written ; yet is it even faintly credible that in these two places only (whether writing farre as a comparative or farrer) he made purely capricious ex ceptions to his practice ? According to the Concordance we have farther 27 times, including 5 instances of "farther off," and further 195 times, including 4 instances of "further off." That is, the ordinary forms 222 times against these two gratuitous ambiguities. Surely here, if nowhere else, common sense may tell pedantry to

JULIUS CAESAR 231

hold its tongue. See on neere in Macbeth^ no. 22, p. 148.

19. That | made them | do it : they are | wise and | honour-

a[ble. 3. 2. 218.

Do it has survived, although it forms part of a quadri- syllabic, because the line was supposed to be an Alex andrine.

20. For I have scene more yeeres Pme sure then yee.

4. 3. 132.

21. Ldyest thou thy j leaden mace upon my boy, 4. 3. 268.

Editors unwarrantably give layst after Rowe. It is a striking example of the manner in which Shakespeare's verse has been misunderstood and depraved from the first.

22. *Thy evill spirit Brutus. | — Why confst \ thou ?

4. 3. 282.

False stress.

23. Now, Tijtinius ! | Now some | light. O | he

Lights too. He's tone. And hearke, they shout for joy.

5- 3- 31 f-

In the Folio and modern texts the first line ends with "lights too." This makes "Now, Ti-" a double upbeat, although "Now" should be the most strongly stressed syllable in the line. It must have been supposed that Shakespeare thought the stressing good enough for mere verse, and the line is certainly not worse than hundreds of others, as we have them ; but it tempts one to parody Imogen and exclaim, "Such a versifier, good heavens ! "

To see my best friend tane before my face. 5. 3. 35.

23 2 THE EARLY TEXTS

For three other examples of tane in this play see Ch. vn, pp. 256 f.

24. Thou never corrfst unto a happy byrth,

But kil'st the mother that engendred thee. 5. 3. 70 f.

If Shakespeare was anxious to write after the style of Gorboduc, no doubt he may have written the lines thus : but if he had any idea of modulating his verse and making it musical, he could easily have done so by writing,

Thou • never | earnest un to a happy birth, But kill'st the mother that engendered thee.

Comst checks the flow of the line, and the abbreviation inevitably causes the word to receive too much stress ; at the same time it is just for these two reasons that he would write "kill'st" and not "killest" in the second line, which, it may be added, receives a pleasing un hurried finish from the full form "engendered." These are elementary principles of versification ; yet if the early texts are to be trusted, the greatest of all poets was largely indifferent to them. His ear was so imperfect that he violated them continually, and his best work would seem to have been produced less with conscious or instinctive obedience to them than by some happy accident. How much his ear must have needed training appears plainly enough from 5. 5. 3 of this play, where he wrote — we have it on the authority of the Folio- He came not backe : he is or tane or slaine.

25. Looke, where he | have not | crown'd dead | Cassijus !

(whether] 5. 3. 97.

And j see where \ Brutus be alive or dead. 5. 4. 30. (whether]

JULIUS CAESAR 233

26. Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe mo teares

To this dead man then you shall see me pay. 5. 3. 101 f.

What an ear our greatest must have had !

'The Prose

In the prose there are only three abbreviations, all put into the mouths of the educated : was't and " He nere looke you /"M'face againe," where nere is weak and not natural, and spoils the balance of the sentence. In fact, like many another sentence in Shakespeare's prose and much of our ordinary speech, the words fall into a pentapody, "I'll never look you in the face again." The vulgar never use the colloquial forms, not even 'em and '5 for his, which give their special flavour to so much of what is accepted as Shakespeare's verse. On the con trary, we get " I am indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes ; when they are in great danger, I recover them" — "rejoyce in his triumph" — "Tearehirn/or^'j bad verses" — "plucke but his name out of his heart." From the educated we have, to take but one example, "Tell us the manner of it" In another play, Coriolanus for instance, we might almost have counted on finding, " TeWs the manner otit" and "plucke but V name out ons heart."

The abbreviations in Julius Caesar, then, are excep tionally few and, as we have seen, are of such a nature that we cannot assign them to the poet. On the other hand, we violate no probability, if we conclude that the printer is responsible for every one of them. If the text was set up from Shakespeare's manuscript, — and there

234 THE EARLY TEXTS

appears to be no reason why it should not have been — the fact will readily account for all the phenomena. The copyist is eliminated, and also the reviser ; for the latter would hardly dare to correct the poet's autograph, and if he had tampered with it, there is no doubt that several more resolutions would have disappeared. Remains the printer. He would naturally treat the manuscript with more than ordinary respect, and this would explain the unusual accuracy of his work as a whole. At the same time he would not be able to over come altogether his inveterate tendency to introduce colloquial forms and to reduce the lines to the ten OF eleven syllables which represented his notion of blank verse. Thus we should get that sprinkling of abbre viations which in fact we find. The inconsistency in certain spellings (as dangrous^ slanderous side by side with utterance ', slippery r, flatterer) is a common phenomenon throughout the Quartos and Folio ; and even when one Quarto is printed from another, the second will show deviations from the first in the spelling of such words, sometimes introducing an abbreviation and sometimes reversing the process. If the manuscript used was not the original but only an unusually good copy, the general inference to be drawn is the same : the nearer we get to Shakespeare 's own manuscripts, the fewer are the abbrevia tions found in the early texts. And that is the back-bone of the main contention of this volume. It is the con clusion irresistibly suggested by the best Quartos, and now we find it forced upon us with equal plainness by the only Folio play which can claim to rank with them in general accuracy.

CHAPTER VI

ELISION IN THE FINAL FOOT

IT was stated in Ch. i that the full measure of our blank verse is represented by lines which complete the last foot, as for instance,

I | come to | bury | Caesar, | not to | praise him, \\

and that our poets usually employ the * checked' form, in which the last syllable is omitted. One result of this is that the end of the line at any rate gets an iambic rhythm, a fact that probably caused the adoption of an iambic base for our prosody, according to which the last syllable of the line just quoted is called "hypermetrical" :

I come | to burjy Ca£jsar, not | to praise || htm.

Obviously the end of the checked line is stronger than that of the full measure, and accordingly the latter is commonly described as having a feminine or double ending. Shakespeare, like his predecessors, used the full line sparingly at first, but in proportion as he aban doned the single-line structure of his early work, carrying on the sense from verse to verse without a break, the number of lines having the full measure naturally in creased1. In such cases the last foot of the line is not

1 We found him adding twenty-four of them to Richard III when he revised it in 1596 or 1597, even though the play shows few ex amples of enjambement. Plainly he recognised the advantage of the variety in rhythm thus obtained.

236 ELISION IN THE FINAL FOOT

in fact an end ; for the ear it begins or occurs in the middle of a new measure which is independent of the division into verses, so that the objection felt to the multiplying of such line-endings disappears. The following passage, Cor. 5. 3. 101 ff., will illustrate this:

Making the | mother, | wife and | child to | see A || The j son, the | husband | and the | father | tearing \\ His \ country's | bowels | out. And to | poor | we A || Thine j enmity | is most | capital : thou | barrest \ us1 1| Our j prayers | to the | gods, which | is a j comfort || That • all but | we en|joy ;

Delivered with the natural voice-pauses, the pentapodies are broken up thus :

Making the mother, wife and child 4 ft. To see the son, the husband and the father 5 ft. , Tearing his \ country's bowels out. 4 ft.

And to \ poor | we thine | enmity | is most | capital : 5 ft. Thou \ barrest \ us our prayers | to the | gods, 5 ft. Which • is a | comfort that \ all but | we enjjoy ; 5 ft.

Now, as we have seen in the previous chapters, the idea of blank verse at its best, cherished by the copyists, revisers and printers who contributed to the formation of the Folio text, apparently was that it should contain ten syllables and no more. Accordingly, not under standing the poet's motive for the innovation, and deaf

1 The Folio, our sole authority for Coriolanus, gives "enmity's" and "barr'st us"; but since it has shown itself to be devoid of all authority on a question of rhythm, we need not hesitate to read the line as it is given above.

ELISION IN THE FINAL FOOT 237

to the beauties of varied rhythm, they were as much at pains to reduce the last foot to one syllable as they were to confine the others to two. The statistics of the following: Table exhibit the Folio's remarkable treatment

D

of this feature in the various plays, and the figures for the Quarto plays stand good for the Quarto editions also, except that the Quarto of Richard III shows no elision, that of Lear one fewer than the Folio, and that of Othello four fewer. The Merry Wives and Henry V are classed as Folio plays (i.e. as plays found in the Folio only) for the reasons already given in connexion with Table I, p. 94.

The total number of opportunities for elision of the final syllable of the full measure in the thirty-six plays (Pericles not being in the Folio) is, according to my count, 552, made up thus : — possible elisions of it 476, of us 27, of taken (tane] 15, of verbs (knowest, knowst and the like) 24, of stolen ^ fallen (stolne, falne) and the like 10. Table II shows the results for // and us, which taken together offer 503 opportunities.

It will be seen that the elisions in the Quarto plays are almost entirely confined to the three, Hamlet, Lear, and Othello, the Quarto texts of which are by general consent classed as 'inferior.' The other Quarto texts (since the elision marked to Richard III \s only found in the Folio) show in common with the Folio only 4 cases, of which the two in Love's Labour s Lost are made for the sake of the rime. It is worthy of note that, although The Merchant of Venice offers 17 opportunities for elision, not one was made ; the Quarto is one of the best, and the Folio was printed from it.

238

ELISION IN THE FINAL FOOT

Table II. Elision of "It" and "Us " (final) in the Folio.

Quarto Plays

Plays in Folio only

Non- elision

Elision

Non- elision

Elision

Much Ado .

4

O

Tempest .

12

I

L. L. L. . .

7

21

Two G. . .

I I

I

M. N. D. .

i

O

M. W. W. .

2

I

M. ofV. .

'7

O

M. M. . .

8

I I

C. of E. . .

12

0

Rich. II . .

7

o

A. Y. L. . .

A.

o

i Hen. IV .

/

4

0

T. the S. .

T

7

2

2 Hen. IV .

2

0

All's Well .

6

9

Rich. Ill .

22

I

Tw. Night .

2

3

W. T. . .

8

21

T. and C. .

IO

2

Titus .

6

0

K. John . .

5

I

R. and J. .

5

O

Hen. V . .

1 1

O

Hamlet . .

i5

9

i Hen. VI .

5

I

Lear .

9

8

2 Hen. VI .

9

O

Othello . .

20

21

3 Hen. VI .

8

0

Hen. VIII .

22

7

Coriolanus .

18

22

Timon .

9

7

J. C. . . .

5

o

Macbeth . .

1 1

7

A. and C. .

12

18

Cymbeline .

'9

13

TOTALS .

I29

43

TOTALS .

206

125

1 For rime (4. I. 27, 5. 2. 145), but not therefore necessarily authentic, as is plain from many inexact rimes in V. and A. and Lucrece.

ELISION IN THE FINAL FOOT 239

If we examine the details for the Folio plays we are at once struck by two things, — the extraordinary increase in the number of elisions and the irregularity with which they occur. The proportion of elisions to full forms in the Quarto plays is as i to 3, in the Folio plays as i to i|-, or more than twice as great. Whereas in the Quarto plays, excepting Othello, non-elision always preponderates, and does so in 16 Folio plays belonging to different periods of Shakespeare's career, in 6 of these latter we get an actual excess of elision over non-elision, which reaches its highest in the four plays, Measure for Measure, All's Well) The Winter s Tale, Antony and Cleopatra. It is impossible to attribute this inconsistency and vacil lation to the poet. If they do not reproduce a manner of delivery adopted by the actors (and no doubt they do to some extent), it is plain that the abbreviations are made on metrical grounds, merely to avoid the double ending ; but as has been noted long ago, Shakespeare progressively increased the number of such endings until at last they reached a very high figure. To take two moderately late plays only, the total number in Cymbeline is about 750, of which less than 40 are capable of being reduced to a monosyllable ; and the number in The Winter s Tale is about 600, of which only about 35 could be abbre viated. It is difficult to believe that he could have seen any reason for diminishing these totals by making at hap-hazard 13 out of 32 possible elisions in the former play, and 21 out of 29, a quite different and far larger proportion, in the latter. It would seem that we have no choice but to reject the whole or nearly the whole of these attempts to reduce the verse to a certain

24o ELISION IN THE FINAL FOOT

elementary pattern, and to recognise in the treatment of this feature in the early texts the same tendency as we have noticed in connexion with resolutions. Modern texts, relying blindly on the Folio, retain the abbre viations, but unless the evidence is ignored, they are in capable of defence.

Our analysis of elisions which rob the verse of its full measure thus points in the same direction as those which dealt with the tendency to diminish Shakespeare's other departures from the prevailing Elizabethan norm. Here again we find the Folio and the inferior Quartos rebelling against the poet's development of the measure by means of ever fresh variations of its rhythms, and obstinately endeavouring to prune the luxuriance of his verse to the hideous uniformity of Gorboduc.

CHAPTER VII ON CERTAIN SPELLINGS

(POWRE; FLOITRE; TOWRE ; FALNE ; STOLNE ; TANE ; words ending in -ened and -ered)

ELIZABETHAN spelling being far from fixed, we find a variety of forms for innumerable words, as day, dale — dew, deawe — -four, fower — hour, houre, hower — -follow,followe — answere, answer — know, knowe — weight, waight, etc. Most of these do not concern us, since they do not affect the metre, but the following are of impor tance for our present inquiry.

i. Hour, though usually a monosyllable, is occa sionally a disyllabic, whatever its spelling, as is also our, which is always so spelt. Powre (powrefu/fy frequently occurs in the Folio, and less often fiowre and towre. In the Quartos these spellings are comparatively rare. We may therefore suspect the Folio, knowing its idiosyn crasies as we now do, of desiring to avoid a resolution or double ending by such spellings. On the other hand, the difference in pronunciation is slight, and it is possible that we have a variation employed without any special intention. Nevertheless, the two following cases are decidedly suspicious. Quarto and Folio give in i Henry IV $. i. 210,

Sung by a faire queene in a summers bowre, and in Twelfth Night i. i. 41 the Folio has

Love-thoughts lye rich when canopy'd with bowres. B. 1 6

242 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

In the other six places where the word occurs we have bowers, both in the Quarto and Folio. It may be worth noting that this last is the spelling (three times) in the Quarto of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is perhaps the most accurately printed of all.

2. Falne and Fallen*. — The spelling falne, where it occurs, abolishes either a resolution or a double ending. In nine Quarto plays concerned (M. N. D.,M. ofV.,Rich. Ill, T. and C., Titus, R. and /., Hamlet, Lear, Othello] the word occurs as fallen or falne 1 8 times, once at the end of a line, and three times as the first word. In the last cases the spelling falne avoids a quadrisyllable foot. The Quartos give 7 fallen and 1 1 falne, and there is one line (T. and C. 3. 3. 161) omitted from the Quarto. The Folio gives 4 fallen and 1 3 falne (once in the line that is not in the Quarto), and in two places has a different reading, "now falls" and "fall." In the better Quartos the proportion is 4 fallen, 3 falne : M. N. D. gives fallen i, falne o; M. of V. fallen o, falne i ; Rich. I I I, fallen 2, falne i ; Titus, fallen i , falne o ; R. and J., Q2 fallen o, falne i. (But the imperfect Q1 gives fallen at 3. 4. i, the only place where the word occurs.) The figures for the other Quartos are : T. and C., fallen o, falne i ; Hamlet, fallen o, falne 3 ; Lear, fallen 3, falne i ; Othello, fallen o, falne 3. In every case the rhythm would be improved by reading fallen, and Shakespeare is not likely

1 In the discussion of this and the remaining words no notice is taken of the cases where the early texts give the full forms in obedience to the requirements of the metre, as in " Humanely | taken, \ all, all lost." In modern texts falne is represented by falfn, stolne by stofn, and tane by to! en.

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 243

to have written falne to avoid a resolution. If he wrote "That | fallen am I " in M. N. Z>., he is pretty sure to have written also in M. of V. "that | I am | fallen to | this." At Richard III 1.3. 180 the Quarto gives,

Denounst, against thee, are all | fallen up|on thee, and at 5. i. 25,

Now Margarets curse is | fallen up|on my head.

Is it, then, reasonable to believe that at 3. 3. 15 he wrote ? —

Now Margarets curse is | falne up|on our heads.

If he did, he must have meant falne to have the pro nunciation of fallen^ and a modern text should so spell the word. At T. and C. 3. 3. 161, which is omitted from the Quarto, we have in the Folio

Or f like a | gallant | horse falne \ in first | ranke, Lye there for pavement to the abject, neere Ore-run and trampled on.

It is agreed that we should correct in the second line to "abject rear," but the false stress in the first requires us to read,

Or \ like a | gallant | horse, A | fallen in \ first rank. ||

At T. and C. 3. 3. 75 also both Q. and F. give a false stress,

Tis • certaine, | greatnesse j oncefatne | out with | fortune. Here we clearly want the full form :

'Tis • certain, | greatness, once | fallen | out with | fortune.

"Fallen" needs all its syllables, while "once" receives the slight stress of an £ irrational ' long. There is a slight

1 6 — 2

244 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

voice-pause after "greatness." At Hamlet 2. 2. 165 we want to hear both the o in reason, which is followed by a very slight voice-pause, and the e in fallen :

And be not from his reason | fallen therejon.

At Hamlet 5. 2. 396 we get, with an abbreviation of the unusual in a Quarto, but made in order to avoid the quinquesyllabic foot,

And in this upshot, purposes mistooke, Falne on th'inventers heads : all this can I Truly deliver.

But again we need the full form, " Fallen on the in ven ters' | heads1." One may suspect that the form "mis took" is used in the first line, not only to vary the trochaic rhythm of the first part of the line by an iambic rhythm at the end, but also to avoid the jingle between "mistaken" and "fallen." In Lear the Quarto gives, We did | hold her so, but now her prise is | fallen.

I. I. 200.

And am '-fallen \ out with my more hedier will. 2. 4. in. But • have I | fallen or | no ? 4. 6. 56.

This points plainly enough to reading in the fourth passage, i. i. 224, not fa/ne, but "Fallen into | taint." And so we must read, if only for dignity,

Fallen in the | practice of a damned slave. Oth. 5. 2. 292.

In twelve Folio plays the word occurs 1 8 times within the line, and 5 times at the end ; it never begins

1 For the quinquesyllabic foot see Appendix iv, but we should pro bably divide thus : " Fallen on j the injventors' | heads : all | this A || Can I i truly...."

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 245

a line. In every case, as we might expect, it is spelt falne. In tfye following three cases the form gives a positively false stress :

(a) Bright j starre of | Venus, | falne downe | on the | earth.

i Hen. VI i. 2. 144.

(b] I •' am a | poor falne | man, un|worthy | now

Hen. VIII 3. 2. 413.

(<:) To • follow | with aljlegeance | zfa/ne \ lord.

A. and C. 3. 13. 44.

We must read, not hurrying the light syllables "on the" in the first line,

(a) Bright \ star of | Venus, | fallen | down on the j earth.

(b) I | am a po&r | fallen | man, unjworthy | now.

Here "poor" gets the slight stress of an 'irrational* long (as does, for instance, "one" in "Making the green 6ne red"), and "man" has no more than the ordinary foot-stress.

(r) To • follow | with aljlegiance a | fallen | lord.

In other cases the rhythm is un-Shakespearian, and in all the line would be improved by reading the full form. I mention one other example because, owing to an abbreviation of "she will" into "shee'll" the whole passage has hitherto been printed as prose. The Folio gives As Ton Like It 3. 5. 66 as impossible verse, thus :

Hee's falne in love with your foulnesse, and sbee'll Fall in love with my anger. If it be so, as fast As she answeres thee with frowning lookes, ile sauce Her with bitter words: why looke you so upon me.

All later editors print the passage as prose, but it only

246 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

needs the correction of "shee'll" to "she will" and re arrangement thus : ,

He's | fallen in | love with your | foulness, and | she will |

fall

In | love with my | anger. If it be | so, as | fast As she \ answers | thee with | frowning | looks, I'll | sauce

her With bitter words : why look you so upon me ?

Note the stress on the upbeat in "He's | fallen."

3. Stolen, Stolne, and Stole. — The shorter forms, where they occur, remove either a resolution or a double ending. In eight Quarto plays we have the word twenty times (M. N. D. 7 ; M. of V. 2 ; 2 Henry IV, 2 ; Rich. Ill, i ; T. and C. i ; R. and J. 2 ; Lear, I ; Othello, 4). The Quarto spellings are these. In two cases the word stands at the end of a line, spelt stolne. For the 1 8 within the line we have stollen 3, stolne 13, stole 2. In one instance, to be noticed immediately, the word begins the line and is spelt stolne. The Folio gives stolne in every case but one, M. N. D. 3. 2. 51.

At the end of the line stolne is plainly weak and un natural ; the following are the examples as in the Quarto text :

He was some hilding fellow that had stolne The horse he rode on, 2 Hen. IP i. i. 57. He that is rob'd, not wanting what is stolne, Let him not know't, and hee's not rob'd at all.

Oth. 3. 3. 342.

It will also be noticed that the (bad) Quarto of Othello spoils the last line by the abbreviation "know't."

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 247

In four cases stolne gives an utterly false stress :

Thou | hast stolne \ that, which | after | some few | houres

2 Hen. IV 4. 5. 102. That \ wee have | stolne^ what | w<§ do | feare to | keepe.

T. and C. 2. 2. 93. I j married | them, and | their stolne \ marriage | day

R. and J. 5. 3. 233. What • sense had | I of | her stolne \ houres of | lust ?

Oth- 3- 3- 338- Clearly these lines are to be read thus :

Thou hast • stolen | that which | after | some few | hours. That | we have | stolen | what we do j fear to | keep. I | married them, | and their | stolen | marriage-|day. What | sense had | I of her | stolen | hours of | lust ?

It will be worth while to examine the rest of the ex amples one by one, for it may be we shall learn some thing more than how not to spell stolen.

(a) And • stolne the imjpression of her phantasie.

M.N.D. i. i. 32.

This is the only passage where I can imagine anyone with an ear preferring the monosyllabic form ; and yet we get a more characteristically Shakespearian rhythm, if we read,

And \ stolen the im pression of her fantasy.

He was fond of quadrisyllabic feet, and of the total of 872 there are eight in this early play.

(b) Because that she, as her attendant, hath

A | lovely | boy stollen, \ from an | Indian | king.

M.N.D. 2. i. 22.

Note the peculiarly Shakespearian rhythm produced by the lyric measure £ (see p. 27) in "A | lovely boy

248 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

stolen ||." All editors place the comma after "boy," but the punctuation is probably that of the poet, who wished to make his meaning clear and to prevent an admirable line from being spoilt. Q2 omits the comma but gives stollen. The Folio, though printed from Q2, gives sto/ne, a fact full of significance.

(c) When thou hast | stolen a\way from Fairy land.

M.N.D. 2. i. 65.

(d) Thou toldst me they were | stolne un|to this wood.

ib. 2. I. 191.

(e) As he to me, would he have | stollen a\way ib. 3. 2. 51.

(f) They would have | stolne a\way, they would Demetrius.

ib. 4. i. 161.

These last five examples speak for themselves, and stolne is no more justified in the next :

(g) And | stolne my | loves heart from him ? ib. 3. 2. 284. The Quarto gives M.ofV. 2. 8. 19 ff. thus,

(h) of | double | ducats, | stolne from me | by my | daughter, and Jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones, Stolne by my | daughter.

But the passage was not written for readers, but to be delivered on the stage, and the force of it is lost unless we read stolen in each case and give the word its fullest value. For the lamentation was meant to be jerked out in scraps, with shrieking emphasis, thus :

A sealed bag — two sealed bags — of ducats — Of double ducats — stolen from me — by my daughter! And jewels — two stones — two rich and precious stones — STOLEN— by my DAUGHTER/

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 249

(/) With : °ld odde | ends stolne \ out of | holy | writ.

Rich. HI i. 3. 337.

Here, since the word is not in the place of stress, it cannot receive the moderate emphasis it requires, but gets strangled, unless we say stolen with the full form. Of course the scansion may be

With | old odd | ends A | stolne out of | holy | writ,

but in either case one finds oneself saying "stolnout," unless there is a voice-pause, however slight, between the two words ; and if there is such a pause, it is more natural to say "stolen" than to make a break after "stolne."

(k) And on my life hath | stolne him | home to bed.

R. and J. 2. I. 4.

Here, unless one says "stolen," it is extremely difficult not to drop the aspirate of "him."

(/) And when I have stole upon these sonne in lawes,

Lear 4. 6. 190.

Here "stole" is no doubt right. F.'s stolne is altogether weak, and stolen would spoil the line, which requires the strong monosyllable.

(m) She | is abjus'd, A | stolne from me ) and corrupted.

Oth. i. 3. 60.

This example is very like (^) above, and we need the full form.

(n) Hast stole it from her? Oth. 3. 3. 310.

F. alters to stolne^ but the text is quite satisfactory.

In seventeen Folio plays, ranging from the earliest to the latest, the word occurs 25 times, 24 times as

2 50 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

and once as stole. In four cases it ends the line, where of course it can hardly be defended. The Cambridge editors read stolen in ten of the passages, on what prin ciple does not appear ; and it is difficult to divine why they retained the monosyllabic spelling stoTn in the rest. We need only examine eight cases, where the contracted form, if meant to be a monosyllable, is palpably wrong.

(0) O • villaine, | thou hast | stolne \ both mine | office | and my | name. C.ofE.%. i. 44.

This is a seven-foot line of riming doggerel, and stolen is obviously required.

(p) Maister, ha's my | fellow | Tranio | stolne your | clothes, Or you stolne his, or both ? T.S.i.i. 228 f.

This is given as prose in the Folio, though not with the prose spelling stolen ; but it is verse and we must have the full form :

Master, has my | fellow | Tranio | stolen | your clothes, Or \ you stolen | his, or | both ?

(q) I (Ay\ and | make it | manifest | where she ha's | liv'd, Or j how stolne \ from the | dead. W. T. 5. 3. 114 f.

The second line must run, "Or how • stolen j from the dead."

(r) dost thou thinke

He I grace thee | with that | Robbery | thy" stolne \ name Coriolanus in Corioli ? Cor. 5. 6. 88 ff.

The Cambridge editors and all others, so far as I am aware, retain stolne^ but plainly we must read, with a quadrisyllable,

I'll | grace thee | with that | robbery, thy | stolen \ name.

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 2 5 1

(s) Most | sacrilegious | Murther | hath broke ope

The • Lord's an oynted | Temple, and | stole \ thence The Life o'th'Building. Mac. 2. 3. 72 ff.

And so modern editors, but unless we are to have an unnatural monosyllabic foot, we must read,

The | Lord's anjointed | temple, and | stolen \ thence.

The Folio reviser or printer no doubt read with the rhythm, "temple, | and stole thence." (See p. 145.)

(/) from their nursery

Were stolne, and to this houre, no ghesse in knowledge Which way they went. Cymb. I. i. 59 ff.

But Shakespeare would not pause at the second syllable of the line on a word with so weak and muffled a sound as "stolne." If the word had a full sound and a con siderable stress, he might make such a pause, as in Lear 4. 2. 24, " Conceive, and fare thee well" ; otherwise the pause would come after the third syllable, as when we read, "Were j stolen, and | to this j hour." See (w) below.

(•y) I j have stolne | nought, nor j would not, | though I had |

found Gold strew'd i'th'Floore. Cymb. 3. 6. 49 f.

And so editors, instead of, "I have • stolen naught." See on Cymbeline, no. 12, p. 165, where the text is further discussed.

(w) You shall not now be stolne, you have lockes upon you.

Cymb. 5. 4. I.

The objection to this is again the check on such a weak- sounding word as "stolne" in a position of stress. If we read stolen, we get such a rhythm as Shakespeare

252 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

would have found pleasing, and especially after his earliest period, when he was more and more given to making a break after an unstressed syllable :

You | shall not | now be | stolen, you have | locks up|on you.

The introduction of a quadrisyllable is far from being an objection. At the time when Cymbeline was written he employed them freely, and there are 69 in the play.

4. Taken and Tane. — Like the contracted forms already discussed, tane is given in the early texts in order to avoid a resolution or a double ending. In twelve Quarto plays the Quarto texts give tane 32 times, taken 4 times, and tooke once. We may deal with the last case first; it is Lear 2. 2. 166,

The • Dukes to | blame in | this, twill be | ill j tooke.

The Folio gives taken, which on rhythmical grounds is preferable, and seems more probable. For in the first place, the Folio reviser would hardly have given the full form if it had not been in the manuscript used ; it is only remarkable that he did not print fane, the form that he is also most likely to have adopted if he was merely correcting tooke. Secondly the rhythm of " 'twill be | ill took" is very lame.

Three of the four examples of taken end the line, and so do three of the 32 of tane. If we place these six instances together, we shall see how little tane is likely to have been the form that came from Shake speare's pen.

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 253

Of your faire flesh, to be cut off and taken In what part of your bodie pleaseth me.

M. of V. I. 3. 151 f.

Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken.

I Hen. IV I. I. 41.

My liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken.

Rich. Ill 4. 4. 533.

shall we divide our right According to our threefold order tane ?

i Hen. IF 3. i. 70 f.

From seasons such as these ? O I have tane Too little care of this. Lear 3. 4. 32 f.

King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter taine.

Lear 5. 2. 6.

The other example of taken is within the line, L. L. L. 4. i. 108,

Thou | hast mistaken his | letter. | Come lords a|way.

Elsewhere within the line (29 cases) the Quartos always give taney but in one case the Folio gives taken for tane of the Quarto, 2 Hen. IF 4. 2. 26 :

In | deedes dis|honora|ble. You | have tane \ up...

Here the false stress is plainly wrong, yet the Cambridge editors retain it. The Leopold and Oxford editions wisely follow the Folio.

Strangely enough the Folio again gives taken in Lear i. 4. 353, which is omitted from the Quarto :

Let me still take away the harmes I feare,

Not | feare | still to be | taken. I | know his | heart.

Elsewhere the Folio follows the Quarto in giving tane.

254 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

In four other places the Quarto's contraction gives a false stress :

And his corruption | being | tane from | us,

I Hen. IV 5. 2. 22.

We want "taken | from us ||."

Have • but their | stings and | teeth A | newly tane \ out.

2 Hen. IV 4. 5. 206.

The emphatic words are "taken out," not "newly," though that takes a secondary stress. In delivery there is a slight pause after "teeth" :

Have but their stmgs and teeth n^wly taken oflt. At T. and C. 5. 6. 22 we have,

Ajax hath tane Aeneas, shall it be ?

No by the flame of yonder glorious heaven

He j shall not | carry j him, A | ile be tane \ to.

The jingle of the closely repeated «'s in "tane Aeneas" is intolerable, but we do not notice them if we hear the strong k of taken, to say nothing of the weight now given to the words and the rhythmical gain to the line as a whole. The third line, as it now stands, is beneath contempt ; yet it is so printed in the Globe, Cambridge, Oxford, and Arden editions. In the Leopold edition Furnivall gives taken, which of course we must read, and probably also "I will" for "ile" :

He | shall not | carry him ; | I will be | taken j too.

Note now the lyric measure £ with which the verse begins.

In Richard III 4. i. 52 we have an unrelieved

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 255

jingle with the letter / similar to that just noticed, and also a false stress :

Be not tone \ tardie by unwise delaie. Again we want the k of taken ^ and must read, Be not \ taken | tardy | by unwise delay.

At Rich. Ill 5. 3. 225 we get yet another un-Shake- spearian cacophony, to be relieved by reading taken :

That you have tane a tardie sluggard here.

Othello 5. 2. 72 is a shocking case of false stress, yet it is perpetuated by all editors :

Honest Ijago | hath tane \ order | for't.

Shakespeare was not the man to write this when he could have written,

Honest Ilago hath | taken | order | for it.

In two lines the contraction produces an abominable rime:

But whether they be tane or slaine we heare not.

Rich. II 5. 6. 4. Patroclus tane or slainey and Palamedes

T. and C. 5. 5. 13.

An Elizabethan actor may perhaps have liked this sort of thing, but surely we show little respect for as deli cate an ear as man ever had by attributing it to Shake speare. It is hardly less dishonouring to credit him with the feebleness of the next three examples :

Let me be tane, let me be put to death. R. and J. 3. 5. 17.

This from Romeo to Juliet when in a moment of passionate devotion he declares that, if she wills him to

256 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

throw away his life by staying longer, he is content to do it. "Let me be fane!" he exclaims.

If Hamlet from himselfe be tone away,

And when his not himselfe does wrong Laertes,

Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.

Ham. 5. 2. 245 ff.

So Hamlet- in dignified apology to his injured friend ! For the true reading, "fallen away," see Hamlet^ no. 31, p. 1 06 ; tane is an invention of the Folio.

And old Capulet weakly robs his grim conceit of any dignity when (scrupulously avoiding a resolved foot !) he says at R. and J. 5. 3. 203,

This dagger hath mistane^ for loe his house

Is emptie on the back of Montague,

And it mis-sheathed in my daughters bosome.

In the remaining examples in the Quarto plays all we get from tane is a bald and inferior rhythm.

In sixteen Folio plays the word occurs 64 times. The full form taken is found six times at the end of a line, tane seven times. Only once does taken occur within the line, and then it is the first word, in which place it would naturally be so spelt : "Taken as scene" : A. and C. 1.4. 54. The weakness and improbability of the contracted form at the end of the line we have already noticed, but one striking example from the list may be considered here. At Julius Caesar 5. 4. 16 two soldiers bring along as a prisoner Lucilius, whom they wrongly suppose to be Brutus himself. Their delight and excitement are great, "A noble prisoner !" exclaims one ; and we should expect Shakespeare to make them use, when announcing their capture, forms of speech

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 257

sufficiently vigorous to express these feelings adequately. But no ; they start admirably with a blunt monosyllable at the beginning of the first line, but after that there is a pitiable falling off. This is what the Folio gives us :

2 Sold. Roome A | hoe : tell | Antony, | Brutus is | tone. i Sold. 'lie tell the | newes. Heere comes the generall, Brutus is | tane^ A | Brutus is tone my | lord.

Three times do we get this miserably weak form, and twice even from the man who is so jealous of his pri vilege as First Soldier, and so eager to be himself the spokesman and do justice to the announcement, that he has snubbed the other's forwardness, and pushing him aside, has said, "/'// tell the news."

The general story of the Folio passages is precisely similar to that of the Quarto list, and we need only examine a few of them. In six cases there is a defi nitely false stress :

1. the thorny point

Of • bare disltresse, hath | tone from | me the | shew Of smooth civility. A. Y. L. 2. 7. 94 ff.

There should be a slight voice-pause after "me," and we must read, "hath | taken from me the | show." It will be quite after Shakespeare's manner, if "from" gets as much stress as "taken" has here.

2. Once in a sea-fight 'gainst the Count his gallies, I did some service, of such note indeede,

That : were I | tane heere, | it would | scarse be | answer'd.

Tw. N. 3. 3. 26 if.

"Here" is as important as "taken," and this requires us to read,

That • were I taken | here, it would | scarce be | answer'd.

B. 17

258 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

3. Of all the horses,

Where j of we | have tane \ good, and good | store, of | all The treasure... Cor. i. 9. 31 ff.

What we want is,

Where -of we have | taken | good, and good store, of all...

4. We | render | you the | tenth, to | be ta'ne forth, Befo/e the common distribution. Cor. i. 9. 34 f.

Read,

We j render | you the | tenth, to be | taken | forth.

5. They j have tane \ note of | us : keepe on your way.

Cor. 4. 2. 10. Read,

They have j taken | note of | us ; keep | on your | way.

6. Gods, if you

Should \ have 'tane vengeance on my faults, I never Had liv'd to put on this. Cymb. 5. i. 7 ff.

Read, " Should have • taken vengeance." In spite ot the shocking falseness of the stress, modern editors are content to follow the Folio.

In the Quarto plays we found two cases where tane produced a disagreeable rime, and the Folio plays give us four more. The additional ones are :

Too late comes rescue, he is tane or slaine.

I Hen. VI 4. 4. 42.

He came not backe : he is or tane or dame. J. C. 5. 5. 3. A worthy fellow, and hath tane much palne.

Hen. Fill 3. 2. 72. I should have tane some paines to bring together.

Hen. Fill 5. i. 119.

At Coriolanus 1.9. i, that is, as the opening words of the scene, we have this impressive exclamation, "The Towne is tane!'''' (See p. 191.)

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 259

The following are a few more passages (a selection from a much larger number) in which the contracted form is painfully weak :

If you be tane^ we then should see the bottome Of all our fortunes. 2 Hen. VI 5. 2. 78 f. Yea, though thou do demand a prisoner, The noblest tone.

Imo. I humbly thanke your highnesse.

Cymb. 5. 5. 99 f.

Now they are almost on him :

Now Ti|tinius. | Now some light : O he 31

Lights too. Hee's tane. And hearke, they shout for joy.

Cassi. Come downe, behold no more : O coward that I am, to live so long, To see my best friend tane before my face !

/. (7.5.3.30 fF.

The Folio and editors misdivide w. 31 and 32, having "lights too" in 31, and so giving it six feet and leaving 32 with four.

Words ending in -ered. — Such words occur with three spellings, as slaughtered^ slaughterd (or -^rV), and slaughtred. An examination of all the cases which the Concordance gives of slaughtered^ scattered^ flattered^ suffered in their various forms in the verse, shows that in the Quarto plays the Quartos give the full form of the four words 12 times, making a resolution, and the forms in -erd and -tred or -fred 9 times each. The Folio gives for the same plays a very different proportion : the full forms only 4 times, the form in -erd 1 6 times, and that in -red 10 times. In the Folio plays the Folio gives the full form 6 times, forms in -erd 1 9, and in -red 7 times. Anyone who examines the passages will, I

17—2

260 CERTAIN SPELLINGS

think, conclude that, in Shakespeare's intention at least, the spellings slaughtred^ scattred^ suffred {flattred does not occur), if ever they came from his pen, are not meant to indicate a strictly disyllabic foot — slaught-red^ but a trisyllabic with a very light e sound in the middle. The definitely disyllabic pronunciation is altogether un natural, and since it is nevertheless suggested to modern eyes by the spelling slaughtred (etc.), it would be desir able to print slaughtered wherever slaughtred occurs. When he wanted a disyllabic, he apparently used the form in -erd. This view is strengthened by the spellings given for entered. The full form, strangely enough, is never found either in the verse or the prose ; yet it is unbelievable that Shakespeare habitually avoided the form and preferred a disyllabic pronunciation ent-red^ which takes away half the character of the word. In the Quarto plays the Quartos give in the verse entred 3, enterd 2 ; while the Folio gives entred 4 and enter d i for the same passages. In the plays peculiar to itself the Folio gives in the verse entred 13, enter d 5 ; and in the prose entred twice.. In the prose of the Quarto plays the Quartos give entred 5, enterd o ; the Folio has entred 2, enter d 3. In i Henry VI i. 2. 132 the Folio gives entred where the metre plainly requires entered'.

Since I have entred into these warres.

The spelling of present participles in -ering points in the same direction. In the verse of the Quarto plays the Quartos give the full forms of slaughtering, scattering^ flattering^ suffering^ 1 1 times, and one example each of the forms slaughtring^ suffring^ flattring^ usually without

CERTAIN SPELLINGS 261

apostrophe. The Folio gives the full forms 1 1 times (including one case of flattering in a line not in the Quarto), flat? ring three times, and suffering once. The full forms should no doubt be restored in every case.

In the Folio plays we have the full forms of these present participles 1 2 times, and contracted forms thrice.

In one instance the form in -ered is possibly wrong. It is hardly likely that Shakespeare wrote at Richard II 3- 4- 48,

He that hath suffered this disord^rW spring, and we should perhaps read,

He that hath suffered this disordered spring. Two lines above the Quarto text gives

Her knots disordered and her holesome hearbs.

The Folio has disorder d in each case and suffer d^ which editors agree in accepting. But Shakespeare is less likely to have written "suffer'd — disorder'd" than " suffered — disordered.

What has been said above as to the apparently correct spelling of words ending in -ered and -ering applies also to those ending in -enedzrvA. -ening^ as lessened^ hardened^ lessening^ hardening^ etc.

CHAPTER VIII

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE

CERTAIN abbreviations are commonly used nowa days both in conversation and in poetry, as /'//, he 77, will, you II, they'll, 'tis, 'twas, "'twere, I'd, etc. They of course occur frequently in Shakespeare ; but in the early texts of his plays we find also the following in the prose as we have already found them in the verse : — y'are, you re, ha (have), 's (us, his], f (to), i (in), o (of, on), tti, i'tti, o'th', tit and toot (to it), dot, in't, with 't, for V, on't, byt, ist or ist, tane (taken), together with the unmis takable vulgarisms a for he and have (occasionally for it), on't for of it, and 'em for them. Also moe or mo occurs thirty-three times for more, twenty-six times in the prose and seven times in the verse. No doubt some of these forms (but surely not all ?) were employed by Elizabethan gentlefolk in conversation, and it has con sequently been supposed that Shakespeare introduced them not only into his prose but also into his dramatic verse, in order to render it more natural and life-like. We have, however, no evidence that they were used in dignified and formal speech, either in private or on public occasions. We ourselves fall into several locu tions in familiar talk that are carefully avoided in such circumstances. The employment of those in question by Elizabethans in ordinary speech, therefore, affords

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE 263

no presumption that Shakespeare would have considered them suitable for verse delivered on the stage. If, how ever, he did import them into his verse, he would cer tainly not have rejected them from the prose scenes ; so that it becomes a matter of no little importance to establish them there before they can be admitted into the verse. At the same time, although they should be so established, it does not follow that he would have thought modes of speech admissible in prose unobjec tionable also in verse. If, on the other hand, we find it improbable that the forms had any place even in the prose of his own manuscripts, we shall be driven to conclude that a fortiori they should be banished from the verse of our texts. Let us look at the evidence.

One of the best of the Quartos, which are of widely varying merit, is that known as Fisher's Quarto (Q^ of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It has as good a claim as any to have been printed from Shakespeare's original manuscript. Now, of the abbreviations we are con sidering the whole play exhibits only nine — six in the verse and three in the prose. The verse passages are these :

Marking /^'embarked traders on the flood. 2. i. 127.

and so displease

Her brothers noonetide with /£' Antipodes. 3. 2. 54 f. 1st not enough, 1st not enough, young man, 2. 2. 125. Why ? get you gon. Who 1st that hinders you ? 3. 2. 318. My selfe, the man ith Moone, doe seeme to be. 5. I. 249.

The abbreviations are tti twice, ist three times, and ith once. Our previous investigations show that these may

264 ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE

be easily disposed of; they are all plainly due to an en deavour to reduce the line to the plain norm of ten syllables. As to th\ we have the word unelided in 4. i. 158,

Without the perill of the Athenian lawe ;

and, as we have seen in the previous chapters, the abbrevia tion appears with such recklessness and inconsistency throughout the early texts, often destroying the metre, that modern editors habitually print the word in full. The first line was doubtless scanned by the printer (if he did more than- count the syllables) with an ' inver sion' thus, "Marking th'embarked tra|ders" etc.; but we really have a quadrisyllabic, as in seven other cases in the play, although it is one of the earliest :

Marking the em|barked traders on the flood.

The first ist abolishes a double upbeat, a feature of which the play affords thirteen examples. As being obviously made in order to get rid of resolutions, and since they only damage the rhythm of the lines and produce an ugly and difficult combination of consonants, none of these instances of ist can have come from the poet's pen. Equally indefensible is ith in 5. i. 249, where the two commas are apparently meant to mark the voice-pauses. Here again the rhythm of the verse is spoilt, and editors, feeling this, print ithe — an uncritical remedy, since the two abbreviations /' and tti must stand or fall together. Each has equal authority, such as it is.

For the prose passages I give the text of Qx, and underneath it the variants of Q2 (printed from Q1 nine-

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE 265

teen years later) and the Folio, which was printed from Q2.

Bottom. ...and we ought to looke toote. 3. I. 34.

Q2 and F. to it. Duke. How is it else the man ith Moone ? 5. i. 252.

So Q2 and F.

Moonshine. I the man ith Moone. 5. i. 262. Q2 and F. in the

With the exception of a few lines in Act v, the whole of the prose is spoken by the "crew of patches, rude mechanicals " who perform before Theseus, and into whose mouths, if into any, Shakespeare might have been expected to put a large selection of the forms we are discussing. The opportunities for doing so in the 430 lines of prose are 123 according to my count, yet we find only toote once and ith twice. Clearly these excep tions, if genuine, could only have been made in pure and unintelligible caprice. The Duke's ith is in any case obviously false, inasmuch as the preposition requires stress. His words are, "the man should be put into the lanthorne. How is it else the man in the moone ?" In the immediate neighbourhood of the two cases of ith we get " he is in the wane " and " all these should be in the lanthorne, for all these are in the Moone."

As shown above, Q2, which was printed from Qn alters toote to to if, and ith to in the. These and other variants of Q2 are of the utmost significance, as showing what changes a compositor could make, both intentionally and unintentionally, even when setting up from printed copy. Besides other numerous divergences of spelling etc.

266 ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE

which do not now concern us, Q2 gives the following full forms where Qx abbreviates : — -

Prose (3). Verse (5).

let us for lets preposterously for prepost'rously

to it toote spirit sprite

in the ith enamored enamourd

(Trip we | after | (Trippe we | after the nights | shade) nights | shade)

let us recount lets recount

In the last case ("let us recount," 4. i. 204) both Quartos print verse as prose. In the last but one, the before nights is an intentional but false correction made for the sake of metre ; like several editors of later days, the man did not recognise the monosyllabic foot. Q2 also gives the following abbreviations where Q1 has the full forms : —

Prose (l). Verse (continued).

saist for sayest shee's for she is

he's he is

Verse (15). betroth'd betrothed

through (5) for thorough (5) that I ere l I that I ever l \ speak'st speakest heard heard

Fairy (2) Faiery (2) i wher's mY I 'I Where 1S m7 i

airy (2) aery (2)

It will be noticed that Q2's new abbreviations in the verse (all made in order to get rid of a resolution) are three times as numerous as the full forms replacing clipped ones, — 15 against five. But if a compositor can abbreviate thus freely when setting up from print, plainly the compositor of Fisher's Quarto is more likely than not to have been doing the same thing now and again when setting up from the manuscript copy.

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE 267

Judging from this play, then, Shakespeare resolutely banished the forms in question from his prose, even when the characters were of the vulgar. Let us look

o

at another. The Heyes Quarto of The Merchant of Venice (Q2), also one of the best, although 205 oppor tunities are offered by the 600 lines of prose, gives only eight of these clipped forms, and the variants of the Roberts Quarto (Qj), a reprint of Q2, are again instruc tive1. According to the text of Q2 the passages are: "though I say't" — "let his Father be what a witt"- "at sixe a clocke ith (Q1 in the] morning... in /^after- noone" — "no ill luck stirring but what lights a (Q1 on) my shoulders, no sighs but a (Qx <?/) my breathing, no teares but a (Q1 o/") my shedding" — "be a good chere." Qj thus corrects four cases ; but at the same time it adds four of its own : " I ha nere a tongue " — " ist true ? ist true?"-— "I am very glad ont" for which Q2 gives the full forms. As in the case of A Midsummer Night1 s Dream, the only conclusion to be drawn seems to be that in the earlier Quarto of Heyes we are dealing with the vagaries of the compositor no less than in the case of the additional abbreviations in the Roberts Quarto.

A collation of the two Quartos of Othello gives the same results. Q1 is a decidedly bad Quarto, and Q2 was printed from it, but contains many additional lines obtained apparently by consultation of a prompt-

1 The Roberts Quartos of M. N. D. (Q2) and M. of V. (Q,), although falsely dated 1600, were both in fact printed in 1619. This fact has only recently been discovered, and it would now be inconvenient to reverse the numbering of the M. ofV, Quartos.

268 ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE

copy. It shows no less than twenty-five additional abbreviations.

i'th (4) for by'th to'th

i'the (4) bi'the to the

T'is (2) for't

It is (2) for it

1ft

Kit

carry 't What's (2)

carry'et What is

chose for

chosen

saist thinkst

sayest thinkest

keep'st small'st

keepest smallest

Desdemon (6) twixt

Desdemona betweene

Some of these are in the verse and some in the prose ; my note unfortunately does not distinguish them. It might be thought that "Desdemon" is a mere mis print, but it is nothing of the sort. The atrocious form does not recur in a Quarto, but the Folio gives it six times and deliberately, by this one word damning itself for ever as an authority on metre or rhythm or taste1.

It has not seemed worth while to collate more Quartos in search of further examples of this wilfulness or care lessness on the part of the printers, but I have small doubt that every text printed from another would present some2. Those already quoted, however, seem sufficient to substantiate my immediate point, which is so impor tant that I venture to repeat it : if compositors intro duced these abbreviations when setting up from print,

1 See on Othello, no. 26, p. 114.

2 I happen to have noted the following in Richard 11. Qj : knowest, tottered (battlements), | flatter with | ; Q2 , printed from Qj : knoutst, tatter1 'd, flatter. The Second Quarto (1617), printed from Qj (1598), of The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth gives (according to Mr Daniel) ablest, sayest (2), there is, mayest, knowest, for ailst, saist, there's, maist, knowst of Q .

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE 269

it would be against reason to suppose that they did not do it when setting up from manuscript. In his "Richard II. A New Quarto" Mr A. W. Pollard uses words so apt to my purpose that it is impossible to refrain from borrowing them : " Save in so far as they suggest that the writing of the manuscript was bad, or that it was crabbedly corrected, the seventeen blunders, far from discrediting the manuscript, bring vividly before us the ease with which errors were introduced in the process of printing and the extreme danger of assuming that the faultiness of a printed text involves a corre sponding faultiness in the manuscript which it follows" (p. 38). At the time of writing (1916) he knew nothing of my present contention, but was referring to errors in general ; the independent pronouncement of such an authority therefore lends my argument a support for which I am proportionately grateful.

Let us return to the main subject, and take a third play. The First Quarto of I Henry /Fis also by general consent an excellent one and the best authority for the text. The speakers in the prose scenes are Prince Henry, Poins, Gadshill, Peto, Bardolph, Mistress Quickly, a vintner, the chamberlain of an inn, drawers and carriers. Surely, if Shakespeare ever put these colloquialisms and vulgarisms into the mouths of any of his characters, he will do so here. That they all used them freely in real life we cannot doubt ; even the roistering prince may have descended to them at times when in this com pany. But did Shakespeare choose that they should bring them out on the stage ? Well, according to the Quarto, he made use of six opportunities only out of

2JO

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE

Table III. Prose of the Quarto Plays. (Quarto text.)

Abbreviations

Actual number of

Abbre

i>,,..

viations

Possible

in Q.

per

them

'em

taken

tane

in Fol.

centage

M. N. D.

123

3

2<4

9

0

O

O

2

M. ofV. .

205

7

3'4

13

O

0

O

71

i H. IV .

467

6

1-3

48

O

4

2

1 1

L. L. L. .

237

6

2-5

15

0

7

0

5

M. Ado .

580

30

5'2

39

O

i

3

26

R. and J. .

122

5

4'I

5

0

O

0

7

2 H. IV .

480

76

16

'9

0

2

0

52

T. and C.

239

43

18

H

0

2

O

473

Hamlet .

409

774

18-8

21

O

I

O

46»

Lear . . .

214

3°

H

12

2

O

O

44

Othello .

135

23

17

I

2

I

O

8

1 The Roberts Q. has only 3 of Q2's abbreviations, <$«/ adds 4.

2 Note the extraordinary discrepancy between the 5 abbreviations in F. and the 76 in Q.

3 F. omits 3 of Q.'s abbreviations, but adds 7.

4 Thirty- three of these are in 5. I. 1-234; tnat is> nearly half of the abbreviations are found in about one-fifth of the whole.

5 F. has 1 3 more abbreviations in lines that are not in Q. Q. also gives where for whether once, and mo once (" no mo marriage," 3. 1 . 155) against more 22 times. F. gives 'em once. F. gives 'em 7 times in Lear, but never in Othello.

The abbreviations in this Table do not include 'tis, 'twas, 'twere, th', ffaith, moe, nor abbreviations now in use, as o'clock, let's, he's, I'll, etc.

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE 271

467 : V (//) three times, a (on) twice, and tane (taken} once. Can anything but perversity dispose one to believe that these came from his pen ?

Another of the good Quartos, that of Love s Labour s Lost, shows six of the forms with 237 opportunities, and five of them (including a for he and a for of twice each), so far from being assigned to the vulgar, are divided between the courtiers Biron and Boyet.

When we leave these four plays, we find the number increasing with the general inferiority of the Quarto, as Table III on the opposite page shows. That it grows in any regular ratio to the defects of the Quarto in each case, I would not venture to say. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to arrange the Quartos in any accurate order of merit ; but the point is of no importance, since the broad significance of the Table is plain. In Quartos that have no pretence to rank in general accuracy with those already mentioned, the average of the clipped forms rises, as against 1*3 per cent, in i Henry IV to 14 per cent, in Lear, 16 in 2 Henry IV, 17 in Othello , 1 8 in Troilus and Cressida, and, at the bottom of the list, i8'8 in Hamlet. In Much Ado, although the speakers in most of the scenes are gentlefolk, the proportion has increased to threefold that of i Henry IV, and even Beatrice is credited with three examples of the pure vulgarism a for he. Of the thirteen instances of that particular form in the play seven are shared between her, the Prince, Benedict, and Claudio, and six between Dogberry, the Watchmen, and Borachio. In Troilus and Cressida it is chiefly the undignified persons Pandarus and Thersites who utter the prose and are made to drop

272 ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE

into this style of speech. In Hamlet, on the contrary, the clipper is chiefly Hamlet himself, and the inconsistency with which the forms occur is so significant that it is worth while to give the statistics in detail.

Hamlet. (Quarto text.)

Abbre viations

Full forms

Abbre viations

Full forms

Jbr't . . .

I

0

ha' (have)

2

?

to'f . . .

6

O

's (his) . .

5

30

in't . . .

9

I

ftK . . .

12

21

on't (on) .

2

O

a (on) . . .

4

4

on'f (of) . .

3

6

',(«). . .

o

7

'/ after other

tf (of) . .

O

93

preps. .

0

3

y'are .

o

13

/// . . .

3

2

'em . . .

o

21

'/ after other

JtK (of the] .

o

23

words .

2

44

o'th' (on the) .

0

2

a (he) . . .

25

21

tane (taken) .

o

I

a (have) . .

I

4°

Add within s for within these and shall have tribute on (for o/) me.

How accidental is the appearance of the abbreviations, in the plays as a whole, is further indicated by the figures in the last (Folio) column of Table III. In six of the eleven plays under consideration the Folio gives fewer than the Quarto, in one case (M. of F.} the same number but not the same examples, and in four cases it gives more. In 2 Henry /Fthe discrepancy is extreme, the Quarto

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE 273

showing 76, and the Folio 5*. I add here two illustra tions of the inconsistent manner in which the same abbre viation is treated in different plays. In Hamlet ha occurs twice and a once for hav £, whereas ha is found in Othello eight times. In 2 Henry IV we get 0' for of seven times, in Hamlet never.

As will be seen from Table IV on the next page, the Folio plays exhibit the same extraordinary variety as those we have already examined. Again the texts which are generally regarded as the best show fewest abbreviations, either in their actual number or on their average. Julius Caesar, with 25 opportunities, gives only w#//and i'th'face. The Comedy of Errors gives only tttiwheele and a (he) turnes back, with 90 opportunities. In As Tou Like It there are only 17 abbreviations where 483 were possible. In The Merry Wives Shakespeare, if it is indeed he, abbreviated only 39 times, although he had given himself 817 chances. On the other hand, when we come to a thoroughly bad text like that of Timon, we find that these clipped forms amount to as many as 44 out of 120 possible, or 36-6 per cent. This play also gives 'em 8 times as against them 4 times, a proportion which no other play approaches. The Merry Pelves, by way of contrast, has them 38 times and 'em once, and the Quarto of i Henry //^also gives 'em once only, but them 48 times.

1 In all the early texts, whether Quartos or Folio, the ordinary abbreviations, as his, /'//, we'll, etc., which are so common in the verse (often of course rightly used, but often wrongly), and might have been expected to prevail in the prose, are decidedly less frequent there than the full forms.

B. 18

274

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE

Table IV. Prose of the Folio Plays.

Abbreviations

Actual number of

Possible

Actual

Per centage

them

'em

taken

tane

T. G. . . .

50

6

12

2

0

I

I

M. W. W. .

8l7

39

4-8

38

I

I

I

M. for M. . .

296

H

47

10

o

0

O

C. of E. . .

90

2

2'2

8

o

O

O

A. Y. L. . .

483

17

3'5

25

I

2

3

T. the S. . .

1 06

15

H

5

I

O

i

All's W. . .

543

69

127

»9

4

4

o

Tw. Night

506

77

I5-2

17

4

2

o

W. T. . . .

3 <>o

3C

IO

10

4.

I

I

Hen. V. . .

j j

517

J J

38J

7'3

y

15

T I

I

0

2 Hen. VI. .

177

9

5'i

20

I

O

o

Cor.

no

28

25-4

13

2

o

o

J.C. . . .

25

2

8

2

O

2

o

Timon .

1 20

44

36-6

42

8

0

o

Macb. . . .

35

4

11-4

0

o

0

o

A. and C. . .

52

8

J5'4

4

o

O

0

Cymb. .. . .

150

19

127

7

I

0

0

Temp. .

137

23

17

2

I

O

0

1 Fifteen of the 38 are cases of a for he occurring all together in the account of Falstaff's death in Act n. Sc. 3.

2 Three of these four occur in Timon's speech at the dinner of derision.

The same abbreviations and full forms are reckoned as in Table V.

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE 275

In face of the figures shown in Tables III and IV, and considering the circumstances attending the publi cation of the Quartos and Folio, it becomes difficult to believe that these two-dozen now disused abbreviations found a place in the prose of Shakespeare's manu scripts, and a fortiori in the verse. The utter irregularity of the distribution shows that their presence cannot be the result of design ; it is plainly accidental. Everything points to this, and a compact but conclusive proof is found in the fact that, as in the case of the two Quartos of The Merchant of Venice and others, a text printed from another will omit existing abbreviations and spon taneously introduce fresh ones. If, with an invincible confidence in the litter a impressa^ we still hold to the belief that they are genuine, we attribute to Shakespeare a style marked not by the sure touch of a master, but by the vacillating uncertainty of a literary tiro, and must admit that the defect seems to have grown rather than diminished as years went on. Characterisation, a point in which he stands supreme, is effected in drama not only by what the actors in it are made to do and say, but also by the manner of their speech. In this last respect he differentiates his characters by various subtle means, so effective in their sum as to show that he had no need to use these colloquial forms even to distinguish the speech of the vulgar, to whom they are most appro priate. The talk of the Athenian craftsmen in A Mid summer Night's Dream has its own unmistakable flavour, although they do not employ them, and the Grave- digger in Hamlet would still have his own manner left to him, even if we allowed him to say, "Will you have

18— 2

276 ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE

the truth of it?" and "To it again," instead of ha and ont and tot. Shakespeare, being what he was, could dispense with these mechanical devices. Moreover, he must have known that the actors might be counted on to play up to a vulgar part by abbreviating freely on their own account. But, it will be said, the abbreviations were not meant to differentiate gentle and simple. Clearly they were not so intended by those who im ported them into the texts, although there can be no doubt that they were of the very essence of the speech of the common people. But it is part of my argument that in the plays they are not either habitually or pre dominantly found on the lips of those to whom they would have been most natural, and whose exclusive use of them would have been a justification of their presence. Yet what is the purpose of their employment as by Shakespeare, if it is not this ? Did gentlefolk habitually speak in this way? If so, then why does he not make them do it habitually on the stage ? Why do they talk at considerable length without a single abbreviation, and then suddenly lapse like a man who is uncertain of his aitches ? What purpose in drama is served by the adop tion of a style so wanting in consistency ? It does not present to us people speaking "in character"; it is simply meaningless, for one may seek in vain for any point in the use of the form in this place or that. More over, whole plays differ from one another in the matter ; in one we get practically none of the forms in question, in another they are numerous. Again, they are liable to appear in constellations, as in the account of FalstafFs death in Henry V^ Act n. Sc. 3, where we have within

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE 277

a few lines fifteen of the twenty-two cases of a for he which the play presents. It may be noted as a further remarkable fact, that these twenty-two instances of a for he form nearly two-thirds of the total number of abbre viations in the play ; no other except 2 Henry IVy I think, showing anything like such a proportion. I have noted separately the figures for a and he and moe or mo for more in the whole of the plays, and they are given in Tables V and VI. Attention may be drawn to some details. Henry /^shows he 81 times and a 22 times out of a total of 3 8 abbreviations of all the kinds under con sideration ; 2 Henry IV ^ he 67, a 40, total of abbrevia tions 76 ; Much AdO) he 12 1, a 14, total of abbreviations 30; Hamlet^ he 21, a 25 (note the excess), total of abbreviations 77. That is, in Hamlet a for he furnishes 32*5 per cent, of the abbreviations, in Much Ado 47 per cent., in 2 Henry IV 52*6 per cent., and in Henry ^58 per cent. No other play shows any such proportions.

It may be added that, if we compare Tables III and IV, we obtain the following significant information. The average percentage of abbreviations in the first six Quarto plays is 3*15. In the five inferior Quartos the figure rises to an average of i6'8, and these texts raise the average for the eleven Quarto plays to 9-3. Never theless, it is still lower than the average for the Folio plays, which is 12*2, or nearly four times as great as that of the first six Quartos, though it is lower than that of the inferior ones.

278 ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE

'Table V, a for he in the Prose.

Quarto Plays (Quarto Text)

a

he

Total abbre viations

Folio Plays

a

he

Total

abbre viations

M. N. D. .

O

?

3

T. G. . . .

O

IO

6

M. of V. .

I

?

7

M. W. W.

O

165

39

L. L. L. .

3

?

6

M. for M.

0

56

H

Much Ado

H

121

3°

C. ofE. .

I

12

2

R. and J. .

3

?

5

A. Y. L. .

o

83

17

T. and C. .

8

?

43

T. the S. .

I

2O

15

i Hen. IV

o

?

6

All's W. .

6

78

69

2 Hen. IV

40

67

76

Tw. Night

0

76

77

Hamlet . .

25

21

77

W. T.

o

46

35

Lear . . .

i

?

30

Henry V .

22

81

38

Othello . .

i

?

23

2 Hen. VI

3

32

9

Cor. . . .

I

71

28

J. C. . . .

0

30

2

Timon . .

o

43

44

Macbeth .

o

3

4

A. and C. .

I

9

8

Cymb. . .

o

17

'9

Temp. . .

0

15

23

NOTE.

Tempest never gives Az (have).

ABBREVIATIONS IN THE PROSE 279

'Table VI. moe (mo) for more in Prose and Verse*.

Quarto Plays (7) (Quarto Text)

Folio Plays (13)

Prose

Verse

Prose

Verse

Much Ado .

O

I1

M. for M. .

0

2

M. of V.

0

I

A. Y. L.

I

O

Rich. II ...

0

I

W. T. ...

2

I

I Hen. IV .

I

I

Temp. . . .

O

Z

Rich. Ill . .

O

3

K. John . . .

O

I

Hamlet . . .

I

0

3 Hen. VI .

O

I

Othello . . .

O

22

Hen. VIII .

O

3

Cor

O

2

Timon . . .

I

2

J. c

O

I

Macbeth . .

O

I

A. and C. . .

O

I

Cymb. . . .

I

O

TOTAL . .

2

9

TOTAL . .

5

I?

1 In a song for rime.

2 Both in a line of the song "Willow, Willow," which is omitted from the Quarto. The Folio gives in addition moe at i. i. 167 for Q.'s "Get more tapers."

It will be noted that five of the seven examples in prose occur in Folio plays.

* This Table is based on Bartlett's Concordance, which is based on the text of the Globe edition. I have checked it for the Quarto texts, adding the example from Hamlet. I have also added the example from A. and C. 4. 14. 1 8, where the Globe editors give "more." The list may not be complete, but cannot be far short. The Concordance quotes no examples for the 1 7 plays omitted, — again a significant fact.

CHAPTER IX CONCLUSIONS

THE cumulative weight of the evidence set forth in the preceding pages is so overwhelming that prosecuting counsel is spared the necessity of addressing the court at any length as he asks for a verdict of f Guilty on all counts' against the conspirators. The reader has had the facts placed before him both in summary and detail, and they speak for themselves. What, then, are the conclusions to which we seem to be compelled as the result of our somewhat tedious in quiry ? They may be briefly stated as follows.

i. Abbreviations in the Prose. — It is impossible to believe that Shakespeare ever used the four-and-twenty suspected abbreviations in prose spoken by gentlefolk. He may perhaps have put some of them into the mouths of vulgar characters like servants and the Grave-digger in Hamlet, yet even this is improbable. Nowhere would they have been more in place than on the lips of Bottom and his friends in A Midsummer Night's Dream and of the roisterers and others in the First Part of Henry IV. Yet these plays, as they left his hands, must have been absolutely free from them. For no one, I imagine, will seriously contend that the three in the former and the six in the latter are genuine, unless he is also prepared to

CONCLUSIONS 281

say that our greatest, having no fixed principles of com position, was subject to ridiculous caprices. But since this clipped style of speaking was, to say the least, not the best form of speech, if he did not think it suited the dignity of the stage for people of the lower classes to talk in that way, he was not likely to allow princes and courtiers to adopt it. Do these two plays, then, with more than half-a-dozen others, form a class apart, and was he writing in two styles at the same time, abbre viating freely in one play and not in the next ? Or will someone maintain the paradox that all the plays were originally full of these forms, and that Timon with its 36*6 per cent, and Coriolanus with 25-4 are the really faithful representatives of the Shakespearian manner, but that copyists and printers, having a more delicate sense of literary and dramatic propriety, now and again reduced the number, although with an unfortunate irregularity ? This view was, I believe, actually put forward by Delius with regard to the abbreviations in the verse and, as its author, he may be excused for not seeing the humour of it. That the scribes and printers did take liberties with their copy is certain, we have seen them at it, but there can be no question as to the direction in which their bias lay. It was towards abbreviation. Indeed the printers both of the Quartos and the Folio appear to have abbreviated frequently for no other reason than to save running over into a fresh line. This, however, would account for no more than a fraction of the cases, and the question is, can any of them be assigned with any probability to Shakespeare ? No one who has been at pains to read the preceding chapter and the Tables

282 CONCLUSIONS

numbered III to VI, noting the irregularity and incon sistency with which the abbreviations occur, the contra dictions between the Quartos and Folio, and how Quartos printed from a predecessor always increase the number, can, I think, believe that they were found in his manuscripts. He cannot even have inserted a few of them ; for (and this is no paradox) the smaller the number in a play, the more impossible it is to believe that he introduced just those few and no more. Such a phenomenon would imply that from time to time he was hardly responsible, and did not know what his pen was doing. Sane writers are not given to such vagaries. What should we think, if a modern author made his gentlefolk, even ladies, say some half-dozen or dozen times, and no more, such things as "'Tain't likely," "Will you gimme your word for it?" and "Your suggestion is a good un"? It may be said that Shake speare did not differentiate the full and clipped forms as proper and improper. For a reply we have only to look at the evidence, which clearly shows that for the stage he did. Let us, however, suppose the abbreviations not to have been mere colloquialisms, but to have been used habitually in dignified speech and on public occasions. If that were so, then Shakespeare would have made them the normal method of utterance for his characters. Otherwise their manner would have seemed unnatural and even affected ; their utterances would have had the priggish air of the language of precisians. But on the showing of the early texts at their worst, it is the full forms that prevail ; the abbreviations are exceptions, and even in Timon do not amount to more than 36*6 per

CONCLUSIONS 283

cent, of the opportunities. If it is said that he used them now and again for variety, the answer is that the 3*15 per cent, of the first six Quartos (when averaged) and the actual two abbreviations in Julius Caesar do not produce variety in the sense intended ; if genuine, they are mere freaks. These objections having been an ticipated, there is no need to weary the reader with further argument. It will be sufficient to conclude this paragraph by repeating one simple fact, already men tioned at the conclusion of the analysis of Julius Caesar, which seems to me to sum up and decide the whole matter. The nearer we get to Shakespeare's manuscripts^ the fewer are the abbreviations , and in the best of the early texts they are so few as to be negligible. Until that fact is explained away, the position taken up in this work would appear to be impregnable.

2. Abbreviations in the Verse. — If Shakespeare did not use these abbreviations in his prose, it is a fortiori incredible that he should have done so in his verse, unless it were in obedience to the requirements of metre or rhythm. The characteristic features of his dramatic versification, however, were set forth in Chapters i and n, and it was shown in the succeeding chapters that, so far from metre or rhythm demanding these abbreviations, one or the other was continually ruined by their intru sion. The object of their employment was unmistakable. It was, as we saw repeatedly, the elimination of a reso lution or double ending, whereas he was steadily in creasing the number of these from the beginning to the end of his literary career. To employ the clipped forms

284 CONCLUSIONS

for either purpose would therefore have been to run counter to his own inclinations and practice. We also observed the same irregularity and inconsistency in the use of the abbreviations in the verse as we have since found in the prose, the same contradictions between the Quartos and the Folio and even between one line and another in the same play in the same text, and a similar increase in the number of abbreviations of various kinds in successive Quartos printed one from the other. Further, it was discovered that the Folio text as a whole was distinguished from the Quartos by a marked excess in the number of abbreviations. Besides all this, we have seen that in numberless cases the metre or rhythm of the line has been destroyed by the wrongful use of the common abbreviated forms still employed in verse, such as /'//, he '//, 'tis, his, what's, let's, etc. In short, it became increasingly clear in the course of our inquiry that the copyists, printers, and reviser or revisers of the Folio were habitually endeavouring by means of abbreviations to reduce the lines to a plain form that was the very opposite of that at which he was aiming with settled purpose. Their ideal of dramatic verse was the featureless monotony of Gorboduc, his was that which the infinitely varied modulations of Antony and Cleopatra embody in its utmost perfection. The poet and those responsible for the production of the texts were throughout at cross purposes ; whereas his endeavour was to make the verse musical and a thing of beauty, they followed a bent which has left much of it simply hideous.

It may be added that moe, which is found only seven

CONCLUSIONS 285

times in the prose, occurs nearly four times as often in the verse, yet in neither sufficiently often for its use, if authentic, to be assigned to any cause except mere caprice ; and that V/0, which is so rare in the prose, appears in the verse with painful frequency. For in stance, in the verse of The Tempest we ought to find them forty times, but in eleven of the passages it has been ousted by the clipped form.

Throughout our investigation it is Shakespeare himself who has been our guide. It is he and none other who has taught us what may be made of dramatic verse by a master hand, and has furnished us with the criteria by which verse purporting to come from him is to be judged. We have thus been able .to proceed with a confidence that would have been wanting, if the standard applied had been merely subjective; for while personal preference can afford no sure basis for criticism, our appeal has been to the author's own work. We have no choice, therefore, but to accept the results at which we have arrived. These results may be surprising, or even astonishing, but in the circumstances this might have been expected, if we should ever reach the truth. We were face to face with so many otherwise irre concilable phenomena, that by nothing short of a fun damental readjustment of our estimate of the early texts were we likely to solve the problem which they present. In another department this has been shown by Mr A. W. Pollard in his masterly articles on the York and Lan caster plays ; and it will not be irrelevant to add here that much verse in those plays which is rejected as not Shakespearian by the method of analysis adopted in this

286 CONCLUSIONS

book, is equally rejected by him on purely biblio graphical grounds. The soundness of the method is thus independently confirmed. The upshot of our inquiry, then, is that we are left with no choice but to banish the suspect abbreviations from the verse as mercilessly as from the prose ; and we shall do so with a sense of no little satisfaction and relief. For while we shall be doing such justice as is possible, however tardy, to the poet himself, we shall remove from his pages blots and defects which are as offensive to those whose ears he has taught to hear as they are unworthy of his genius.

3. A third general conclusion forced upon us re peatedly throughout our investigation is that no reliance can be placed on the Folio, alas ! our sole authority for twenty of the plays, whenever a point of versification or division of the lines arises, and that even the Quartos can only command a limited deference in this respect.

If these twenty-four types of abbreviated forms do not come from Shakespeare's hand, it is easy to suggest some probable causes for their casual emergence which would operate in combination.

The use of clipped forms marked essentially the speech of the lower orders in those days as it does now, and though it was adopted to a certain extent by the upper classes, it cannot have been regarded as the best and most proper manner of speaking. It is not found in stage-directions or proclamations or letters in the plays, because it was the vernacular ; and for that same reason Shakespeare, who had no need of it to enhance the vraisemblance of his characters, rejected it as unsuited

CONCLUSIONS 287

to the dignity of the drama and utterance on the stage. At the same time his plays were altogether in the hands of people to whom this way of speaking was habitual, — the actors, the copyists, and the printers. That these last were liable to introduce the clipped forms spon taneously, we have already seen. It does not matter whether we suppose them to have done this deliberately, in order to make the verse accord as far as possible with a certain type which they thought more correct ; or heedlessly, setting up the words as they sounded in their ear. In any case they are certainly responsible for a large number, and both causes may have been at work. The bulk of the abbreviations, however, would probably be due not to the printers but to the scribes. These would be actors belonging to the Company ; for, as Mr Pollard has pointed out, the employment of a professional scrivener is unlikely, since there would be the risk of his making a second copy and selling it to some piratical publisher1. Now, certain contractions in writing were made merely to save time, and did not imply that the elided vowel was silent. While an author, and especially a dramatist, would probably refrain from using some of these lest his work should be misinter-

o

preted, a scribe need not be supposed to have felt the same scruple ; in any case, however good his intentions, he would be liable to employ them by inadvertence. This would account for the irregularity and inconsis tency with which // and V, to take one very large class, are found to occur. In the prose of Measure for Measure we have it 47 times and V 10 times, but in Hamlet there 1 Shakespeare's Fight with the Pirates, pp. 5 7 f.

288 CONCLUSIONS

are 26 cases of V against 56 of /'/. The Merchant of Venice and Love's Labour's Lost give V in the prose once each only. Beyond doubt the same uncertainty pre vailed in connexion with this word throughout the verse also. But however it may be as concerns contractions not meant to abolish the vowel sound, with regard to abbreviations in general the scribe would obviously be liable to write the words as they sounded in his ear, that is, as he himself habitually pronounced them. This he would be likely to do equally with the compositors, even when copying without assistance.

I say "even when copying without assistance" be cause there can be little doubt that the plays were largely written from the dictation of a second man or boy. That this practice obtained, no one who has ever had an im position of '500 lines' to write at school will hesitate to believe. When we could, and for so long as we could, if only for half an hour, we induced a friend to read aloud the Vergil while we wrote. The gain in time to the scribe would have been enormous, since he would not have to look up from his work or pause to make out words difficult to decipher ; the reader would have plenty of time to do that while the other was writing. The compositor would be equally assisted by dictation, though in his case it would be much less common. Now, what might be expected from this reader ? Surely, that from time to time he would deliver the words with the abbreviations and vulgar forms which characterised his own daily speech. Thus, even though the scribe might allow for some, the number in the new copy would be considerably increased, since he would not now have

-

CONCLUSIONS 289

the assistance of his eyes to control his own natural ten dency in the same direction. Indeed, unless we assume dictation on a large scale, it is difficult to account for the frequent misdivision of the lines in the verse, and the appearance of verse as prose and of prose printed in irregular lines as though it were verse. A man copying without assistance would see his mistake the next time he glanced at the original, and it would be quite im possible for him to go on misdividing or (in the case of prose) falsely spacing half-a-dozen or a dozen lines in succession, as has frequently happened. If such errors were afterwards discovered, the copyist might well say that it could not be helped and did not matter ; and so far as delivery on the stage goes, he would not be far wrong, since after his earlier days of production Shake speare sought more and more to break up his lines into just such measures of irregular lengths as these false divisions often present. A few misdivisions no doubt arose from corrections or additions written in the margin in false lengths for want of space.

The writing of verse as prose has sometimes been explained as due to a desire to economise paper ; but the amount saved would be negligible, and it is un likely that an official copy would be deliberately dis figured in this way. Moreover, the supposed economiser of paper is found wasting it in other places by writing prose in short lines as verse. It seems more probable that, in the absence of warning from the reader whose dictation he followed, the scribe was often unable to distinguish the verse from prose ; and if he did not recognise the opening words of a speech as verse, he

B. 19

290 CONCLUSIONS

would be likely to continue to write it to the end as he had begun. In broken dialogue this error would be specially liable to happen.

The printing of prose as verse in some of the plays has long been a puzzle, but if the copy was written from dictation, again the solution is easy. The reader, without giving notice of the change to prose, delivers it in what he thinks will be convenient lengths for the scribe or compositor, who believes each instalment to be a line of verse. It is not his business to attempt to scan it, and not infrequently the prose would actually have the rhythm of verse. None of these blunders — misdivision, verse as prose, prose as verse — could be made by a copyist who had the original under his eye.

With regard to the abbreviations in the verse, while all these causes of error would be operative there no less than in the prose, it must be remembered that the actors themselves would have a settled tendency to reduce the rhythm as far as possible to that of the plain norm. That being the original form, it persisted as the ideal of blank verse, and was the type with which they were most familiar. Before Shakespeare the in crease in the number of resolutions was slight, and it would probably be impossible to discover in the works of any of his contemporaries a single passage of con siderable length showing such an average of them as do the plays of his maturity. If even to-day this charac teristic of his verse is apprehended but imperfectly or even actually repudiated, as by the disyllabists, still more was this likely to be so in his own day. It may be doubted whether more than one or two even of his

CONCLUSIONS 291

brother dramatists regarded the changes he was making as improvements. In any case we may be sure that the actors continually vexed his ear and tried his temper by their failure to reproduce delicate refinements of rhythm which they had not the perception to appreciate. His plays were at any period of his career very far from being the only ones presented even by his own Com pany, and the bulk of their repertoire would consist of verse that was predominantly of the disyllabic type. It is therefore much more likely than not that they habitually clipped the embarrassing exuberances which the measure presented as handled by him, in order to reduce it to the model to which they were most accus tomed and which alone they could comfortably manage. Personally I feel little doubt that it was this habit of crushing out the light syllables of his verse and de livering lines like A. and C. 3. 13. 144,

And at this time most easie it is to do it, with the dull and ugly rhythm of the Folio text, And at this time most easie 'tis to doot^

which he had in his mind more than anything else when he made Hamlet say to the players, " Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue" Where there are few resolutions, there is little scope for the delicate enunciation which he suggests by this metaphor from the light and unlaboured move ments of a dancer's feet. The first fifty lines of this scene (in. 2) have no bearing on the development of the action, but he seizes an opportunity to repeat in public some criticisms which he had often had occasion

19—2

292 CONCLUSIONS

to make in private at rehearsals; and he opens the budget of his grievances with words that can, I think, refer to nothing so aptly as the proper delivery of lines with resolutions — the clear and uncramped enunciation of trisyllabic and quadrisyllable feet. Now, the stage manner would be pretty sure to reappear in the actor- copyist's manuscript. He was familiar with the plays as acted, and had taken parts, perhaps important parts, in them himself. What wonder, then, that the verse of the texts is disfigured by clippings and vulgarisms which Shakespeare himself abhorred, and this with an incon sistency and absence of method that are otherwise un accountable ? The phenomenon is one which, in the circumstances, might have been predicted.

The Folio, as we have seen in the previous chapters (cp. Table I, p. 94, and II, p. 238), offends in respect of abbreviations in the verse more persistently than the Quartos, a fact which indicates that some additional agency was at work to the same end. When that edi tion was being prepared for the press, the plays of course passed through the hands of a general reviser1, and from the state in which he has left the text as a whole it is evident that he had his own notions of what blank verse should be, and held views on the matter which differed widely from Shakespeare's. Whoever he was, he seems to have had but a rudimentary knowledge of metre, and to have been wholly unable to appreciate the varied beauties of the poet's more mature and elaborated versification. It was plainly a settled purpose with him

1 Or revisers ; for again there is inconsistency, one play suffering more than another.

CONCLUSIONS 293

to diminish the number of resolutions, and where he has not done his work as thoroughly as he might, it is probably only through inadvertence. His treatment of final syllables (see Table II) is a clear indication of his bias on this point, and at the same time it betrays his inability to perceive the rhythmical effects that Shake speare wished to produce by his increasing employment of the full measure and the linking of the lines1. So ingrained indeed was this proneness to abbreviate, both in the reviser and in the copyists, that we have, as one result of it, numberless lines that are positively un- metrical or show false stresses2.

It need hardly be said that this attempt to account for the facts set forth in the preceding pages stands quite apart from the facts themselves. Whether the explanation on which I have ventured is right or wrong, or only partially correct, they remain ; and they carry with them a corollary. They point to the need and the possibility of an extensive revision of Shakespeare's text, to be made, not on mere conjecture or in the indulgence of personal predilections, but on sound principles of criticism. So far as I am aware, the details and statistics here collected have never been brought together before ; indeed no one whose suspicions had not been thoroughly aroused would be likely to embark on such an enterprise. While the facts lay scattered, their significance naturally escaped notice ; but now that they are brought into focus, it is unmistakable, and leaves us, I submit, no choice but to deal with the text on the lines indicated. To continue to follow the early texts on the points in 1 See Ch. ii. 2 See Chs. m-v passim.

294 CONCLUSIONS

question, in defiance of evidence so overpowering, would seem to be uncritical to the last degree. As things are new, lovers of Shakespeare with an ear for the beauty of rhythm are continually offended by the numerous blemishes that they find in his work, and the impression they receive is (as a literary friend expressed it to me) that " Shakespeare wrote a large number of very bad lines."

POSTSCRIPT

Up to this point the argument has proceeded on the assumption that the abbreviations under discussion were always intended by the Elizabethan printers to imply that the elided letter was not to be pronounced. If one may judge from modern editions, this is the prevailing, if not the universal, opinion. At any rate, no other sug gestion was made throughout the controversy in The Times Literary Supplement last year. Though not with out considerable misgivings as to its correctness, I accepted this view of the elisions in deference to the general consent, and because up to the time of writing these words I was unable to offer any substantial grounds for my doubts. To argue on the unsupported assumption that the elided letter was not invariably meant to be silent, would have looked very much like begging the question at issue. The preceding pages are left as they were written because I believe the argument, as from the premisses, and in any case the conclusions arrived at to be sound; and also because, even after reading the remaining pages of this chapter, some may still be

CONCLUSIONS 295

disposed to retain the generally accepted view of the abbreviations. My own doubts on the point have, how ever, been confirmed in a remarkable manner since the book went to press, with the result that its chief con tention gains a support which is as welcome as it was unexpected.

The 1616 Folio of Ben Jonson's works throws a flood of light on the whole matter. Mr Percy Simpson, to whose kindness I am indebted for the loan of his copy for a short time, tells me that it is one of the most carefully and correctly printed books of its time. He also says — and there is no one better entitled to offer a decided opinion on the point — that he has good grounds for regarding it as certain that Jonson himself corrected the proofs. As can be seen from a mere hasty glance through the volume, the accuracy of the printing and punctuation is such that one can well believe this, even without the detailed evidence which Mr Simpson has discovered. We may take it, then, that Jonson did cor rect the proofs. We must not demand from him the extraordinary efficiency of a modern professional proof reader, but he was a scholar with a scholar's habits of accuracy, a careful writer, and a punctilious man who paid great attention to detail. Moreover, he was pecu liarly sensitive to criticism, and would therefore leave as little as possible to be pounced upon by cavillers. Mr Simpson describes him as "a meticulous editor." We may suppose, therefore, that he went through the sheets with care. Let us see what can be learned from the text of Sejanus that may bear on the Shakespearian inquiry. It is the only play I have been able to examine

296 CONCLUSIONS

thoroughly, but a rapid inspection reveals in others the same phenomena as those mentioned below.

Sejanus, a play of some 3400 lines wholly in verse, was originally written in collaboration with some un known friend and was first acted in 1603, when it proved a failure. In 1605 Jonson produced a second edition wholly written by himself, and the play appears to have had some success. We cannot be wrong in sup posing that in the circumstances he took special pains both with the matter and the versification. The play was published in Quarto the same year, and the Folio was printed from the Quarto. It exhibits traces of re vision, but not extensive revision, Mr Simpson tells me. The 1640 Folio of Jonson's works, published three years after his death and printed from the edition of 1616, is (to quote Mr Simpson again) "an inferior edition typographically, but with some traces of revision, which I attribute to the author."

Jonson's blank verse lacks the music and variety of Shakespeare's and shows a good many lines which, for their defective balance, Shakespeare would not have passed. Nevertheless, he has given us many passages of as fine verse as could be wished, and it is plain that he had definite views about rhythm. Resolutions he introduces with decidedly less frequency than Shake speare, not as avoiding them if they happened to come, for we often find lines containing two, but evidently be cause a plainer style was natural to him and, as we may suppose, he preferred it. Monosyllabic feet are common, but whereas in Shakespeare these are usually followed or preceded by a resolution, Jonson is at no pains to

CONCLUSIONS 297

give the verse this relief. There are in Sejanus 22 in stances of resolution of the fifth foot, 1 2 with ordinary words and 10 with proper names. Resolution of the fourth foot is common.

We will now proceed to examine the text. If apo strophe with elision implied that the elided letter is not to be pronounced, the thirteen lines given in list A below, judged by Jonson's own standard, appear to be altogether unworthy of him ; he cannot have intended them to be uttered in the form in which modern eyes naturally read them. The references are to the pages and lines of the Folio: 423. 17 indicates the I7th line from the top, 423. 2 b the second line from the bottom, and 423 b the bottom line.

A. Apparently Faulty Lines in " Sejanus "

1. Wise \ Brutus | temperance, and every vertue 363. 7 b. We want "temperance."

2. His the | noblest Romane, where he takes — 366. 23.

The Quarto reads "He is," and there can be no doubt that this is what Jonson expected to be said even as from the Folio text ; for when a line has no upbeat, his habit is to follow the rule and make the first foot a triplet. There are only seven exceptions in the play. But how are we to account for the Folio's alteration ? No resolu tion was more familiar to Elizabethan printers than the initial one in a line without upbeat ; it was the earliest and easiest to recognise, and before Shakespeare far the most common. The explanation must be that the printer

298 CONCLUSIONS

of the Folio believed he was printing what was in effect the same thing as he found in his copy, and Jonson was apparently of the same opinion. The example is highly significant.

3. I (Ay), where he is, and | not writ | emp'jrour. 373. 7. "Emperor" must be said: cp. no. i.

4. With your swolne fortunes rage. — A noble prince !

373. 22.

Cp. Othello 3. 3. 338,

What sense had I of h£r stolne houres of lust ?

In each case the stress is grotesquely false, if "swolne" and "stolne" imply a monosyllabic pronunciation. We want "swollen" and "stolen," yet modern texts print "swoln" in Sejanus and "stol'n" in Othello.

5. And such corrupted | ministers | o' the | state. 391. 12.

This is an important example because it is typical of many in Shakespeare. The Quarto gives "ministers | of the | state," while at 392. 26, where the Folio gives "Gallus on that side to (too)?" the Quarto, from which it was printed, has "Gallus o' that." It is plain that the full form and the abbreviation were used in differently by the printers.

6. Nothing but | Emp'|rour. — The | name Tijberius||

365. 2b.

Cp. nos. i and 3.

7- transferring quite

The substance of their makers j int' themjselves 401. 12 b.

Can we believe that Jonson meant "int"' to be said in

CONCLUSIONS 299

order to avoid an easy resolution ? Resolution of the fourth foot is a common feature of his verse.

8. By | trusted | messengers. IPt | be en|quir'd 402. 7.

Jonson would have felt the line to be a disgrace, if read according to the scansion. Jn this play he has a good many times the rhythm of which Shakespeare was so fond — a pause after a completed triplet foot, as for in stance in D, no. 14 and at 408. 23,

In honourable | vigilance. | You do well.

It cannot be doubted that what he wanted said is the admirable line,

By trusted | messengers. | If it be enquir'd.

9. Thy selfe and I (Without our boast) are | a'most | all the few

Left to be honest in these impious times. 409. 6 b.

Admirers of the poet will believe that he meant, if he did not actually write, "are almost | all the | few."

10. The j tribun|iciall | dignitie. — Is't | true? 425. 21.

Jonson was not the man to spoil an excellent line and produce a hideous cacophony for the sake of avoiding a resolution. Cp. no. 8 and see note there. We are ex pected to say

The tribuniciall dignitie. j — Is it | true ?

1 1 . But j that, and | th'unjfortunate | trunke were | seiz'd,

434- b.

12. Let this example j moove th' insolent man. 437. b.

We must say "the" in this and the preceding line.

13. For we are far from | flatt'r|ing our friend. 372. 19 b. The 1640 Folio gives "flattering."

300 CONCLUSIONS

It is merely incredible that such an editor as Jonson, editing his own work, could in one play have passed as correct the examples in this list, together with those in lists D and F below, if the contractions ruined them for a reader of his own day as they do for us, either as making them unmetrical or entailing a false stress, or for other reasons. Nor could he have overlooked them all. On the contrary, \:here is good reason for believing he found the printing quite to his mind, for the apo strophe is used in a peculiar manner throughout the volume. It is habitually employed to mark that the vowels between which it is placed form part (or one of them does) of a resolved foot or double upbeat. Some times both vowels are printed, which I take to be the original and proper use of the device, at others one is omitted. In the following 25 instances both vowels are retained.

B. Apostrophe marks a Resolution^ both Vowels being retained*-

1. He was a man most like to | vertue' ; In | all 363. n.

2. Thus men, in nature ; of a | body 'as | faire 363. 14.

1 In his note on Every Man In his Humour I. I. 5, Mr Simpson gives examples of this use from Donne and Spenser. He describes it as "a metrical punctuation used by some poets of the time to indicate a syllable lightly pronounced in scansion." He does not say to which syllable of the two concerned he refers, but his account of the apo strophe is in effect identical with mine ; both syllables of a double upbeat and the last two of a resolved foot are lightly pronounced. It is plain that generally the intention is to mark the presence of what is sometimes called an ' extra syllable,' but there is also an exceptional use, to be noticed later. — The lists given are, I think, complete.

CONCLUSIONS 301

3. And had his | secon'ds there, | sent by Tiberius. 364. 9.

In Sejanus at any rate the use of the apostrophe here is exceptional, for there is no juxtaposition of vowels. Elsewhere in the play such resolved feet are usually not marked in any way, and there are some hundreds of them. But cp. D, nos. 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, 19, 22.

4. In mites as small as | atom|i, to'unjdoe 366. 12.

5. And can but deedes of men : 'twere | glory 'ijnough

371. 16.

6. The meanes that wrought it. | How do'I | looke to day ?

375- 10.

7. Intelligence by | augurie'jof our practice. 381. 22.

8. They'are : growne exceeding circumspect, and wary.

383- 5- Cp. C, nos. 6, 8, 10, n.

q. And what of I that? — I'am I dad I gave it not. 785. 10.

j/ I I • w * w *-* -^

Cp. C, no. 9.

10. Our mother great Au|gusta, 'is j strooke with time,

387. 5-

11. Mustred to | kill, Tarn | fortified against 393. 16.

12. Sir — I'have | been so long train'd up in grace, 397. 16.

The Folio has inserted the apostrophe, which is wanting in the Quarto.

13. And yet, for any | weightie, 'and | great affaire, 399. 7 b.

14. What choise would | not. I'have | heard that aconite

400. 10 b.

15. Do'I | see and heare ? 411. 6.

1 6. And at each step I j feele my'adjvanced head 415. lib.

Cp. D, no. 19, "m'instructions."

302 CONCLUSIONS

17. |It is our griefe, and | will be'our | losse, to know 416. 2.

1 8. You | carry | things too — | let me | borrow'a | man,

419. 15.

19. If they de|mand you'of | me : A | say, I have | tane Fresh horse, and am departed. 419. 21 f.

We ought to have had, with apostrophe, "say, I'have." The scansion cannot be " say, | I have tane," for " I " must not be stressed. The Quarto gives "tane" with a circumflex accent. This I take to be Jonson's actual manner of writing the word ; the circumflex indicating that what he wrote was merely a contraction of a word that was to be pronounced in full, "taken." Similarly in the Folio of Shakespeare there are perhaps a score of instances where the word is printed tane, fane^ or ''tane.

20. I'have • not observ'd it. 423. 17.

21. Let not my | lord be'ajmus'd. 423. 2 b.

22. Crying, they'are | glad, A | say, they could ne're abide

him. 434. 24.

Note the quadrisyllable.

23. To the' j Aediles. — You have well advis'd. 396. 20.

24. You'are a | friend most welcome. 418. 10.

25. The : knotted | bed — A | — You'are objserv'd, Ar|runtius.

366. 13.

This is the Quarto text ; the Folio omits the apostrophe.

C. Accidental Omission of the Apostrophe

1. Come, you are \ modest now, 367. 16.

2. Which was the | wittiest, \ meriest, \ wantonjnest ?

367. 26.

3. Amongst a field of Romanes, | worthiest \ Macro. 401. 19.

CONCLUSIONS 303

The reader may be surprised at the inclusion of this and the preceding line, but it is a fact that we ought to have "witti'est, meri'est," for I find in Epigram 48

And hath no honour lost, our | Due'llists | say.

4. Or ) none. — This 's | quicke ! A | What should be \ his

disjease ? 385. 6.

5. If they dejmand you'of | me : A | say, I have \ tane Fresh horse, and am departed. 419. 21 f.

6. You are our \ trust: and till our owne cohorts 423. n.

7. To \ beare thy 0£|sequious fatnesse, like thy peeres. 426. 2 b.

The Quarto has "thy 'obsequious" with the apostrophe.

8. They are \ met ! 442. b. Cp. B, no. 22.

9. / am jHW|pocrates. A | — Can you assure it ? 425. 31.

For "I am" cp. B, nos. 9, n.

10. 0 they are satisfied, no more. — Alas! 434. iob.

11. You are \ troublesome. — The mood is chang'd. — Not

speake ? 426. 6.

The Quarto gives the apostrophe, "You'are."

12. Then doth his Father lose. Beleeve me, I love him.

362. 3 b.

The Quarto inserts the apostrophe, "me'I."

13. Had meanes to | know him, withjin ; 363. 9.

The Quarto has the apostrophe, "know'him."

These are all the instances of omission that I have noticed.

From list B we have been able to deduce the rule, and in C we have seen it violated by accidental omis sion of the apostrophe. In the next 30 examples (D) the apostrophe which marks resolution is inserted, but

3o4 CONCLUSIONS

one of the vowels is omitted, though in most cases it could not possibly have been meant to be silent. For instance, one cannot believe that Jonson expected any one to say "yo" for "you," or Tihad^ Khath^ ti would without pronouncing the vowel of "he."

D. Extension of the Rule exemplified in B

1. To1 are \ rarely met in court ! 360. 2.

Cp. B, nos. 19, 24 and C, nos. i, 5, 6, 9, 1 1.

2. How \ stands Waf jfected to the present state ? 362. 10.

3. To are \ in a muse, Eudemus? 366. 17.

4. To1 are a | subtill nation, you Physitians. 367. 12.

5. Nay, • now yo'have \ made it worse. 375. 18.

6. To1 are \ too suspitious, Silius. 384. 9 b.

7. Dying? — that's | strange! — Ttfwere \ with him yesternight.

385. 2.

Cp. B, no. 3, note.

8. Or : none. — This's \ quicke ! What should be his disease ?

385.6.

9. O' | your owne | bulke ; buft \ shall be on the crosse.

373- *9-

10. That \ though tfhad \ proper issue of his owne, 387. 22.

The Quarto gives "he had" without apostrophe.

11. H'hath | spoke inough... 393. 4.

The Quarto gives "He'hath" with apostrophe.

12. As | worthiest \ men ; 395. 20. See note on C, no. 3,

Amongst a field of Romanes, | worthiest \ Macro.

CONCLUSIONS 305

13. transferring quite

The substance of their makers | zWthem|selves.

401. 12 b.

14. His minions drifts ; or, if he | do, h'is \ not 411. 7 b.

15. I like it not. I j muse h1 would \ not attempt 415. 3.

16. He doth repent it | now ; but h'\bas employ'd 415. 6.

17. H^has \ sure a veine of mercury in his feet. 418. 14 b.

18. I | doe exjceed nfin structions, to acquaint 424. 13.

Cp. B, no. 1 6, | "feele ^j'^jvanced head."

19. They ever did prejsage tfwould \ come to this. 434. 27.

20. Our citi's now

Devided as in | time <?'/£' civill warre, 382. 14 f.

(a) Cut's is curious, but means citie is, not cities : Q. gives "citty's." (£) Thcivill cannot be said without sounding at least slightly the e of "the," and this Jonson must have expected to be done.

21. T'a \ princes state, then his owne innocence. 370. 15 b.

The Quarto has "To a" without apostrophe. Cp. B, no. 4, "atomi /o'##doe."

22. To fright us | from it. — 'T* | hath so, | on Sabinus.

409. 2 b.

There would be a pause between the two sentences, and we can hardly believe that a poet like Jonson would wish his actor to say Tath rather than let him make a resolved foot with the last words of the previous speaker.

23. Lives in their lookes, their gate, their | forme f'w/>|braide us.

378. 15-

24. As now they sticke not to be|leeve they're \ such. 379. 9.

Cp. B, no. 8, "they are growne."

B. 20

306 CONCLUSIONS

25. Their often meeting. You for|got /'*#|toll. 381. 14 b.

26. Brutus, and | Cassius, | I am | charg'd, Shave \ prays'd.

395. 10.

27. That can be catch'd at. Nor is | now /£V|vent. 410. 8 b.

28. Then at this present. — Takes he | well /^'«|cape ?

414. 3b.

With the last two examples cp. B, no. 23 and Catiline 690. 24,

In the \ dull | face ? — Hee's zealous | for /^'o/"|faire.

29. T'bave | parallel'd him with great Alexander. 363. 20.

Cp. nos. 21, 22 and notes.

30. And forward in her | fit. — She's j so, my lord. 367. 17.

The Quarto gives the full form, "She is so," but with out apostrophe.

E. Another Use of the Apostrophe

In the two following examples the sign merely marks the juxtaposition of two vowels where there is no ques tion of resolution, but it appears to be oftener omitted than inserted.

1. Of Agripjpina ; | 'and for \ deare reguard 397. 5 b.

2. For whom the morning saw so great and high,

Thus low and little, | 'fore tbe'\even doth | lie. 437. lof.

F. Apostrophe used as in E, but with one Vowel elided

I. tfh allied to him, and doth trust him well. 405. 5 b.

This obviously means, as we actually find it printed in the Quarto,

Re \ h al|lied to him, | and doth trust him well.

CONCLUSIONS 307

We may note the pause after a completed triplet foot to which reference was made under A, no. 8.

2. That the Consul

Can • best de|liver you. | — When h^is ajway. 418. 8 b.

For the rhythm see previous note. The 1640 Folio gives " deliver | you. — When hes a|way." But this cannot be a correction by Jonson, for the context ex cludes any stress on " he " and demands a slight one on "When":

Can | best de|liver you. | — When he | is away.

G. Elision of it final

The play shows 15 instances of "it" making a double ending, as in

Betweene your father, and his, may better | doe it,

385. 4 b. but only one case of elision,

Thy wisedome and thy innocence. — Where | lit ?

389. 10.

Catiline shows 31 examples of non-elision, including "on it" once, "of it" twice, and c'carrie it" making a final triplet foot. Against these we find " to't " once (possibly for want of space) and "match on't," "into't," " place for't." In the last three instances the full form would make a final triplet foot, of which there are 22 other examples in the play. Besides these elisions of "it," we have at 699. 24

Will : carry | it for | him. — Do's | he stand | for't?

Jonson could not have meant his readers to place these

20 — 2

3o8 CONCLUSIONS

shocking stresses on "him" and "he" and "for," and it is plain that the line was intended to be read thus,

Will | carry it ] for him. | — Do's he | stand for \ it ?

Catiline also shows instances of "us" final in a com pleted foot, including "let us" and "of us," which so often become "let's" and "on's" in Shakespeare, but no elision of "us" final. We have "taken" final three times, but "tane" final never.

My collation of the Quarto is limited to the pas sages I had noted in the Folio, and with these I could not go beyond p. 427, since all after that is wanting in the British Museum copy of the Quarto. A complete collation would no doubt reveal more of interest.

Varieties of spelling

As in the early texts of Shakespeare, we find many varieties of spelling. The following are a few examples. Weightie, waight, waightie ; jealousies, jealosies; forth, foorth; tyranne (tyrant) 3, tyran i; Pompey 5, Pompei 3. Have and ha , them and 'hem occur with the utmost irregularity1. The apostrophe once marks the omission of e in thumb's (plural). Favouring, suffering (3), mur dering, staggering occur, but also whispring, favring, offring, suffrings, lingring, flatfring. (All full forms quoted make a triplet foot.) We find intemperate, but tempered and distempered; slavery, flattery, slippery etc., but imag'rie, brav'rie; soveraigne (2), soveraigntie (2),

1 Throughout the voluminous notes in the MS. of The Masque of Queenes the full form them occurs frequently, 'hem or 'em never.

CONCLUSIONS 309

but sov'raigne, sov'raigntie twice each ; confederates \ withy confederacy^ but confederacies; every many times, ev'ry twice. Plainly Jonson considered the apostrophe as good as the vowel.

o

We can hardly hesitate as to the conclusion to be drawn from all this. Jonson himself corrected the sheets of his Folio of 1616, and sometimes, Mr Simp son tells me, even stopped the printing-off to insert corrections which are found in some copies of the book but not in others. If we can rely on this text^ to the exceptional trustworthiness of which everything points, it would appear that in numberless instances elision of a vowel or consonant does not mean that the elided letter is not to be pronounced. It often does mean this, but it often does not. The contraction was merely a way of writing and printing, like "ye" for "the," "you" for "you," "yor" and "your" for "your," "w'J1" for "with" and the like. The double practice is con fusing to us, but to Elizabethans it apparently was not ; or if it was to some extent, it must have been held that any disadvantages attaching to the method were more than counterbalanced by its advantages. At any rate there appears to be no other way of explaining the phenomena presented by Jonson's Folio, which was printed, as we must suppose, in a manner approved of by its author. From the care taken over the printing of the Quarto of Sejanus, which contains notes with Latin quotations from historians and poets, it seems more than probable that he corrected the proofs of this edition also. A comparison of the two editions shows that, as a matter of printing, he was satisfied with either

3io CONCLUSIONS

of the following variants in each case: Q. "He is the," F. "He's the"; Q. "ministers | of the | state," F. "ministers | o'the | state"; Q. "though he had," F. "though h'had"; Q. "He hath : spoke inough," F. "H'hath : spoke"; Q. "To a | princes state," F. "T'a i princes state"; Q. "He • is allied," F. "H'iis al|lied." The MS. of The Masque of Queenes gwts'ha'ue and ha\ o/and 0', in precisely similar positions, showing that no difference in pronunciation can have been in tended.

This interpretation of the elisions can obviously be applied to the Quartos and Folio of Shakespeare, and it affords an equally satisfactory explanation of the precisely similar and hitherto puzzling phenomena which those texts exhibit. Indeed, the Shakespearian texts, as has appeared throughout the previous pages, are stuffed with evidence that the practice of Jonson's printers with regard to elision was that of other printers also. The correspondences and absolutely identical ex amples are too numerous to admit of doubt upon the point. What I myself thought (and what, in respect of many lines at least, others also have thought) were perversities of copyists or printers, are now seen, in a very large number of instances, to be nothing but re cognised contractions in writing and printing which, when used, had not the significance that we have hither to attached to them. As authors and printers sometimes varied their spellings, so they sometimes employed these abbreviations and sometimes did not. T'are, stihas, Mart, fo's, dot) taket) tli and the like in Shakespeare were not meant to suggest clipped pronunciations, but

CONCLUSIONS 311

the contrary. They do not betray caprice or indifference as to the way in which the words were to be spoken, and they find a modern analogy in the practice of writing "would, could, should" sometimes in full, and some times as "wd, cd, shd." At the same time, if we may judge from such Quartos as those of A Midsummer Night's Dreamy The Merchant of Venice and i Henry IV, and the Folio text of Julius Caesar^ Shakespeare appears to have made but sparing use, if any, of such contractions in his own handwriting. Thus my main contention as to the falsity of the Shakespearian texts, as we moderns have hitherto interpreted their printing, is amply substan tiated. However he may have written them, there are thousands of lines of Shakespeare's verse and much in his prose which he did not intend to be uttered in the manner that is implied by the perpetuation of the elisions in modern editions. In printing of the present day elision of a letter means that it is not to be pronounced, and it means nothing else ; Ben Jonson's Folio shows that in his day it often indicated the contrary. In fact (and oh, the irony of it!) apostrophe with elision was a recognised signal drawing attention to the resolution which we thought it was meant to abolish.

An examination of the Folio texts of 1 6 of Shake speare's plays reveals 88 indisputable examples of the apostrophe inserted to mark a resolution as in lists B and D above. Nearly all are instances of toth\ to't/i, or bytti with apostrophe after to and by, but ttihave, th'ave, ttiare, S'incapeabk, Whave^ W are, occurring once each, are included as certainties. The shortening of the to thy or th was so common that the word may always be

3i2 CONCLUSIONS

regarded as printed in full, as in fact we find it in Lear 3. 7. 54, "I am j tyed to the stake" (Q1} 1608, toffi). The following are the plays examined, with their figures. The Tempest, Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, o ; As Ton Like It, All's Well, Macbeth, Hamlet, i each ; Troilus and Cressida 2 ; The Winter s Tale 3 ; Othello 3 (two of these are in the 1622 Quarto only); Lear 5 (the Quartos of Lear and Hamlet have not been examined) ; Henry VIII 1 1 ; Cymbeline 2 6 ; Coriolanus 17; Antony and Cleopatra 17. Thus 71 of the 88 occur in four late plays, a striking fact which may be accounted for by further inquiry. As compared with the other plays, the number in Cymbeline is remarkable, but in other respects also this text is printed with unusual care. The examples show that the printers of the Folio were acquainted with the device of signalling by the apostrophe without elision, but their habitual practice, which was also the commoner practice of Jonson's printers, was to elide as well. At the same time, even with this new light on the matter, I do not find myself able to withdraw altogether the charge made against the Folio revisers of an unwarranted bias towards re ducing the number of resolved feet. The text still gives evidence of this in many places.

The alternative appears to be to reject the evidence for Jonson's correction of the proofs of his Folio and, in view of its consequently imputed inconsistencies, to consider it to be no sure guide even for his own verse. Anyone who comes to this conclusion will not regard the book as one of the most accurately printed of its day, but must hold it to be one of the most faulty ; for

CONCLUSIONS 313

it presents the anomalies and apparent depravations of Shakespeare's texts in an aggravated and peculiarly per verse form. In one place it is seen to be careful to draw attention to a resolution, in another it is, ex hypothesi, equally at pains to elide a- syllable even though the metre is ruined by its loss. The difficulties in the way of adopting this alternative, I must confess, appear to me to be insuperable.

Yet, even though the other view be taken, the path of an editor of Shakespeare's plays will not be alto gether free from embarrassment. He will be- assured that many contractions may and must be expanded, if the text is to represent to modern readers what its author expected to be said on the stage (and this, I take it, should be the predominant purpose of an edition prepared for the general public), but there will be some doubtful cases legitimately open to discussion, and about these opinions may be expected to differ. The safest general guide will be the ascertained characteristics of the poet's dramatic versification, on which it is hoped that the present work may have succeeded in throwing some light.

APPENDIX I PURE TROCHAIC PENTAPODIES

THIS list, which contains 192 examples, is nearly if not quite complete. The Two Gentlemen (5) :

Well, sir, here is for your pains. What said she ? Truly, sir, I think you'll hardly win her. i. i. 140 f. Sir, your glove. — Not mine, my gloves are on. 2. i. i. Go with me. Once more, new servant, welcome.

2. 4. 118. Madam, if your heart be so obdurate, 4. 2. 120.

Measure for Measure (10 — see p. 323):

Grace go with you, Benedictte ! 2. 3. 39. Say you so ? then I shall pose you quickly. 2. 4. 51. Mark what I say, which you shall find by every Syllable a faithful verity : 4. 3. 130 f.

The Folio and texts make the first line a tetrapody ending with "shall find."

Joint by joint, but we will know his purpose. What, 'unjust' ? — Be not so hot ; the duke 5. i. 314 f. What, resists he ? Help him, Lucio. 5. i. 355. Wherein have I so deserved of you, 5. i. 508.

To these should be added 3. i. 108, from which a final monosyllable has apparently dropped out. Claudio answers Isabella distractedly with a brief " Yes," and continues with his own reflections, which seem to need "then" to connect them with what has gone before.

Yes. Has he affections in him, <then,>

That thus can make him bite the law by the nose

When he would force it ?

316 APPENDIX I

The Comedy of Errors (i) :

Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard ? 5. I. 408.

Much Ado (3) :

Dear my lord, if you, in your own proof, 4. i . 46. Yea, and I will weep a | while | longer. 4. i. 258. Boys, A | apes, A | braggarts, | jacks, A | milksops !

5. 1.91.

Merchant of Venice (i) :

Stamp'd in gold, but that's insculp'd upon. 2. 7. 57. As You Like It (3) :

Peace, I say. Good even to you, friend. 2. 4. 69. Then the whining school-boy with his satchel. 2. 7. 145. Bring us to this sight, and you shall say 3. 4. 61.

Taming of the Shrew (24) :

Madam wife, they say that I have dream'd Induct. 2. 114.

Gentlemen, importune me no further, i. i. 48.

Gentlemen, that I may soon make good i. i. 74.

O this learning, what a thing it is !

O this woodcock, what an ass it is ! i. 2. i6of.

Will he woo her ? — Ay, or I will hang her. i. 2. 198.

No such jade as you, if me you mean. 2. i. 202.

In his | tail. A | — In his | tongue. A j — Whose tongue ?

2. i. 215. Go, A | fool, and whom thou keep'st command.

2. i. 259.

C fa ut, that loves with all affection : D so! re, one clef, two notes have I : E la mi, show pity, or I die. 3. I. 76 ff. Come, where be these gallants ? Who's at home ?

3. 2. 89.

Were it better, I should rush in thus. 3. 2. 93. Hark, A j hark ! I hear the minstrels play. 3. 2. 185. Where are those — Sit | down, A | Kate, and welcome.

4. i. 144. Out, you rogue ! you pluck my foot awry. 4. i. 150.

PURE TROCHAIC PENTAPODIES 3 1 7

Go with me to clothe you as becomes you. 4. 2. 120.

Ay, what else ? and but I be deceived, 4. 4. 2.

Come, sir, we will better it in Pisa. 4. 4. 71.

Right son to the right Vincentio. 5. i. 118.

Head, and butt ! an hasty-witted body. 5. 2. 40.

Son, I'll be your half, Bianca conies. 5. 2. 78.

Worse and worse ; she will not come ! O vile ! 5. 2. 93.

All's Well (i) i

Youth, A ] beauty, wisdom, courage, all 2. i. 185.

Twelfth Night (4) :

Seek him out, and play the tune the while. 2. 4. 13. Like the old age. — Are you ready, sir ? 2. 4. 49. Give me leave, beseech you. I did send 3. I. 109. Pray, sir, put your sword up, if you please. 3. 4. 53.

The Winters Tale (2) :

Pray, good shepherd, what fair swain is this ? 4. 4. 166. She I kill'd ! I did so: but thou strik'st me 5. i. 17.

King John (2) :

Must you with hot irons burn out both mine eyes ?

4. i. 39.

This might be scanned with an initial quadrisyllable, but it seems decidedly better to make it an Alexandrine. A third alternative is to scan, " Must you with j hot irons" etc.

Nay, 'tis in a manner done already. 5. 7. 89.

Richard II (5) :

Many years of happy days befal i. i. 2O.

Stay, the king hath thrown his warder down. i. 3. 118.

Darest with thy frozen admonition 2. i. 117.

What says he ? — Nay, nothing ; all is said. 2. i. 148.

Yea, my lord. How brooks your grace the air 3. 2. 2.

3i8 APPENDIX I

1 Henry IV (5) :

Mordake, earl of Fife, and eldest son i. i. 71. Worcester, get thee gone ; for I do see i. 3. 15. Bootless home and weather-beaten back. 3. i. 67. On his follies : never did I hear 5. 2. 71. Come, my lord, I'll lead you to your tent. 5. 4. 9.

2 Henry IV (i) :

God put in thy mind to take it hence. 4. 5. 79.

1 Henry VI (8) :

Call'd the brave Lord Pontron de Santrailles. i. 4. 28. Rescued is Orleans from the English, i. 6. 2. Am I not Protector, saucy priest ? 3. i. 45. Signior, hang ! base muleters of France ! 3. 2. 68. Hear you, captain, are you not at leisure ? 5. 3. 97. Well, go to ; we'll have no bastards here. 5. 4. 70. Yes, my lord, her father is a king. 5. 5. 39. Wh6reas the contrary bringeth bliss. 5. 5. 64.

2 Henry VI (5) :

Go, take hence that traitor from our sight. 2. 3. 102. Cap. Yes, Pole. | Sujf. Pole ! A |

Cap. Pool ! A | Sir Pool ! | lord !

4. i. 70. No, my love, I should not mourn, but die for thee.

4. 4. 25. Prayers and tears have moved me, gifts could never.

4- 7- 73- Tut, when struck'st thou one blow in the field? 4. 7. 84.

3 Henry VI (5) :

Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king. i. i. 131. There is thy reward : be gone. But, Warwick, Thou and Oxford, with five thousand men, 3. 3. 233 f. But the safer when 'tis back'd with France. 4. i. 41. This is it that makes me bridle passion, 4. 4. 19.

PURE TROCHAIC PENTAPODIES 3 1 9

Richard III (10) :

Sirs, take up the corse. — Towards Chertsey, lord ? 1.2. 225. Show him our commission ; talk no more. i. 4. 90. That's the butt end of a mother's blessing. 2. 2. no. Well, A | let them rest. Come, hither, Catesby. 3.1.157. TelPst thou me of 'ifs'? Thou art a traitor! 3. 4. 77. To be | spoke to | but by | the recorder. 3. 7. 30.

A dreadful line, which can be improved a little by reading, as no doubt we should, "To be • spoken \

to A

etc.

but by

When thou com'st there, — dull unmindful villain !

4. 4. 444.

Well, sir, as you | guess, A | as you guess ? 4. 4. 467. That's the best news : that the Earl of Richmond 4. 4. 534. Set it down. Is ink and paper ready? 5. 3. 75.

Henry VIII (3) :

Dangers, | doubts, A | wringing of the conscience, 2.2.28. Seek me out, and that way I am wife in, 3. I. 39. Say his | long | trouble now is passing 4. 2. 162.

Troilus and Cressida (2) :

Wish'd, my lord? The gods grant — O, my lord! 3. 2. 67.

0 'tis true. Ho! bid my trumpet sound. 5. 3. 13.

Coriolanus (10) :

At a poor man's house; he used me kindly, I. 9. 83. Or possibly the scansion is, "At a • poor | man's | house."

Call our | cares A | fears; which will in time 3. I. 137.

Peace, A | peace, A | peace ! A | Stay, A | hold ! A | Peace !

3. i. 188.

No! | No! | no! | no! | no! 3. i. 281.

But | owe thy | pride thyjself. A |

Cor. Pray, be con tent, mother, ||

1 am | going | to the | market-] place : 3. 2. I3of.

320 APPENDIX I

The Folio and texts have "mother" at the beginning of the second line, with a colon at "content." But "mother" must belong to the first clause, and it is therefore necessary to place it at the end of the first line. A double upbeat concluding a lyric measure would be unexampled.

Know, I pray you. — I will know no further. 3. 3. 87. Should from | yond | cloud speak | divine | things,

4. 5. no. Were you | in my | stead, would you have heard

5- 3- J92- Hail, A | lords! I am return'd your soldier, 5. 6. 71.

Kill, A | kill, A | kill, A | kill, A | kill him! 5. 6. 131.

Titus Andronicus (7) :

Suum culque is our Roman justice. I. I. 280. Faith, not me. — Nor me, so I were one. 2. I. 102. Yet I think we are not brought so low 3. 2. 76. 'Zounds, ye whore ! is black so base a hue? 4. 2. 71. Arm, my lords ! Rome never had more cause. 4. 4. 62. Titus, I am come to talk with thee 5. 2. 16. Tear for tear, and loving kiss for kiss. 5. 3. 156.

Romeo and Juliet (6) :

Draw, Benvolio, beat down their weapons. 3. I. 89. Courage, man ; the hurt can not be much. 3. i. 98. All forsworn, all | naught, A | all dissemblers. 3. 2. 87. Which you weep for. — Feeling so the loss 3. 5. 77. Day, night, hour, tide, [time,] work, play, 3. 5. 177.

The line is probably a monosyllabic Alexandrine, "time" being an erroneous duplicate of "tide."

Nurse! A | Wife! What, ho! What, Nurse, I say!

4. 4. 24.

PURE TROCHAIC PENTAPOD1ES 32 1

Timon of Athens (5) :

Let me stay at thine apperil, Timon. I. 2. 32. Here, my lord, a trifle of our love. I. 2. 213. Prithee, man, look cheerly. These old fellows 2. 2. 223. Hear you, master steward, where's our master? 4. 2. I. Ha! you gods, why this? What this, you gods? Why, this 4. 3. 30.

Julius Caesar (10) :

Sir, A | March is wasted fourteen days. 2. I. 59. We are bless'd that Rome is rid of him. 3. 2. 75. Read the will; we'll hear it, Antony. 3. 2. 152. Kill ! A | Slay ! Let not a traitor live ! 3. 2. 209. Peace there! Hear the noble Antony. 3. 2. 211. Never, never. Come, away, away! 3. 2. 258. Pluck down | forms, A | windows, any thing.' 3. 2. 264. Stand, ho ! Stand, ho ! Speak the word along. 4. 2. 32. Fellow, thou, awake! — My lord? — My lord? 4. 3. 301. Flatterers! Now, Brutus, thank yourself 5. i. 44.

Macbeth (9) :

Who comes there ? — The worthy thane of Ross. I. 2. 45. Not so happy, yet much happier I. 2. 66. Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be i. 5. 16. Glamis hath murdered sle'ep, and therefore Cawdor

2. 2. 42.

No man's life was to be trusted with them. 2. 3. no. Who must hang them ? — Why, the honest men. 4. 2. 54. Out, A | damned | spot ! A | out, I | say !— One, A | two: why, then 'tis time to do it. 5. i. 39 f. Hail, A I King of | Scotland ! | Hail, A | King of | Scot land! 5. 8. 59.

Hamlet (4) :

Stay ! A | speak, A | speak ! I charge thee, speak! 1.1.51. Lends the | tongue | vows: these blazes, daughter,

i. 3. 117.

B. 21

322 APPENDIX I

Look to it, I charge you: come your ways. i. 3. 135* Yes, it is already garrison'd. 4. 4. 24.

King Lear (9) :

Who is it can tell me who I am? i. 4. 250. Hear, A | nature, hear; dear goddess, hear! i. 4. 297. Weapons, arms? What's the matter here? 2. 2. 51. Knowing naught, like dogs, but following 2. 2. 86. Vengeance ! | plague ! A | death ! con|fusi on ! 2. 4. 96.

0 the difference of man and man ! 4. 2. 26.

Ay, and laying autumn's dust. — Good sir, 4. 6. 201. Save him, save him ! — This is practice, Gloucester.

5- 3- I5i. Never, never, never, never, never ! 5. 3. 308.

Othello (6) :

Sir, sir, sir, — — But thou must needs be sure i. i. 102.

1 am changed. I'll go sell all my land. i. 3. 387. Worse and | worse. A | — How, if fair and foolish ?

2. i. 135.

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy. 3. 3. 167. Do you triumph, Roman? do you triumph? 4. i. 121.

0 ! A | O ! A | O ! — Nay, lay thee down and roar ;

5. 2. 198.

Antony and Cleopatra (5) :

Hark, Ventidius. — I do not know 2. 2. 16.

Here's to Caesar! — I could well forbear it. 2. 7. 104.

Come, good fellow, put mine iron on. 4. 4. 3.

1 will overtake thee, Cleopatra,

And weep for my pardon. 4. 14. 44 f.

The Folio and texts end the first line with "and," thus giving the word an intolerable stress.

I am | dying, Egypt, dying: only 4. 15. 18.

PURE TROCHAIC PENTAPODIES 323

Cymbeline (5) :

I was going, sir, to give him welcome, i. 6. 54. One, A | two, A | three: A | time, A | time. 2. 2. 51. Last night it was on my arm, I kiss'd it. 2. 3. 151. Take or | lend. A [ Ho ! No answer ? then I'll enter.

3. 6. 24. Tongue, and brain not; either both or nothing. 5. 4. 147.

The Tempest (4) :

Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since. I. 2. 53. O good sir, I do. — I pray thee, mark me. i. 2. 88. Ay, sir, where lies that? if 'twere a kibe, 2. i. 276. This is strange: your father's in some passion 4. i. 143.

Pericles (n) :

Loath to bid farewell, we take our leaves. 2. 5. 13.

Ay, so well that you must be her master. 2. 5. 38.

Therefore, hear you, mistress; either frame 2. 5. 81.

Soft ! it smells most sweetly in my sense. 3. 2. 60.

Pray, walk softly, do not heat your blood. 4. i. 49.

Or my life imply her any danger? 4. i. 82.

Fare thee well. Thou art a piece of virtue, 4. 6. 118.

Hangs upon mine | eyes: A | let me rest. 5. i. 236.

At Pentapolis the fair Thaisa 5. 3. 4.

Thrown upon this shore. I oped the coffin, 5. 3. 23.

How she came placed | here | in the temple; 5. 3. 67.

Add from M. for M. :

Heaven keep your honour safe ! — Amen : 2. 2. 157.

From our faults, as faults from seeming, free. 3. 2. 41.

21 — 2

APPENDIX II

(A) OTHER LINES WITHOUT UPBEAT

OF these there are, including all subdivisions, more than 1 80, the largest class being those under section i.

i. Checked lines beginning with a trochee followed by a resolution

(Selected examples]

Taming of the Shrew:

Full of | rose-water | and bestrew'd with flowers.

Ind. i. 56.

What! this | gentleman | will out-talk us all. i. 2. 248. Signior | Gremio, | came you from the church ? 3.2. 151. Well, Pejtruchio, | this has put me in heart. 4. 5. 77. Sirrah | Grumio, | go to your mistress; say, 5. 2. 95.

Midsummer Night's Dream :

With the | love-juice, as | I did bid thee do? 3. 2. 37. When I | come where he | calls, then he is gone.

3. 2. 416.

King John :

What doth | move you to | claim your brother's land?

i. i. 91.

Let it | be so. Say, where will you assault? 2. i. 408. If I | talk to him, | with his innocent prate 4. i. 25. Lead me | to the rej volts of England here. 5. 4. 7.

Julius Caesar:

I will | do so. But | look you, Cassius, i. 2. 182. He and | Lepidus | are at Caesar's house. 3. 2. 270.

OTHER LINES WITHOUT UPBEAT 325

Let us | do so : for | we are at the stake. 4. 1 . 48. Speak no [ more of her. | Give me a bowl of wine.

4. 3. 158. Ho, Lujcilius! | hark, a word with you. 5. I. 69.

Now, Tijtinius ! | — Now some light : O, he

Lights too. He's taken ! and hark, they shout for joy.

5- 3- 3lf-

These two lines are misdivided in the Folio and modern texts.

Hamlet:

Shall I | strike at it | with my partisan? I. I. 140.

If it | be so, — as | so 'tis put on me, I. 3. 94.

Yes, faith, | heartily. — There's | no offence, my lord.

I- 5- 135. Othello:

Do not | weep, do not | weep. Alas the day! 4. 2. 124. What are | you there ? Come | in, and give some help.

5- i- 59- Ay, with | Cassio. | Nay, had she been true. 5. 2. 143.

King Lear:

Fare thee | well, king : sith | thus thou wilt appear,

1.1.183.

Leaving | free things and | happy shows behind : 3.6.112. He that | helps him, take | all my outward worth. 4. 4. 10. I am j doubtful that | you have been conjunct 5. I. 10.

The Tempest:

Do not j smile at me, | that I boast her off. 4. 1.9. Dove-drawn | with her. Here | thought they to have done

4. i. 94.

Hear a | foot-fall: we | now are near his cell. 4. I. 195. In the | line-grove which | weather-fends your cell.

5. i. 10. Mine would, | sir, were I | human. — And mine shall.

5. i. 2O. Since I | came to this | isle: and in the morn 5. i. 306.

326 APPENDIX II

2. Hendecasyllabics

It will be noticed that all the preceding are checked lines ; when the last foot is completed we get the clas sical 'hendecasyllabic,' as in the following. There are at least 25 examples of this type.

Therefore, | know thou, for | this I entertain thee.

r. G. 4. 4- 75.

Where Bal|thasar and | I did dine together.

C. ofE. 5. i. 223. When the | moon shone, we | did not see the candle.

M. ofV. 5. i. 92. Call her | forth, brother ; | here's the friar ready.

M. Ado 5. 4. 39. Who is | he that shall | buy this flock and pasture ?

A. T. L. 2. 4. 82. Tell me, | sirrah, but | tell me true, I charge you,

Airs W. 5. 3. 234. No, in|deed is it | not; and I I would to heaven

K. J. 4. i. 23. Here the third foot also is resolved.

Less apjpear so in | comforting your evils. W. T. 2. 3. 56. If thou | dost, I shall | never love thee after.

Oth. i. 3. 307. Let it | be so ; thy j truth, then, be thy dower.

Lear i. I. 109. You do | climb up it j now : look how we labour.

Lear 4. 6. 2. Tell us | this: have you | anything to take to?

T. G. 4. i. 42. Villains, | answer you | so the Lord Protector?

i Hen. VI i. 3. 8. Now do | thou watch, for | I can stay no longer.

I Hen. n I. 4. 1 8. That you | take with un|thankfulness his doing.

Rich. Ill 2. 2. 90.

OTHER LINES WITHOUT UPBEAT 327

3. Lines beginning with a monosyllabic foot

(A Selection]

Who?A | Silvia? — Ay, | Silvia; | for your j sake1.

r. G. 4. 2. 23.

Well, A | give her that ring, and therewithal

T. G. 4. 4. 90.

Maud, A | Bridget, Marian, Cicely, Gillian, Ginn ! Mome, A | malt-horse, capon, coxcomb, idiot, patch !

C. ofE. 3. i. 31 f. Hold! A | here, take this: tell gentle | Jessica, ||

M. of V. 2. 4. 20.

No? A | sayest thou | so, A j friend? What | countryman ? ||

T. S. i. 2. 190. Peace! A | — Hear the crier. — What the devil art thou?

K. J. 2. i. 134.

Do, A | child, A j go to it grandam, child. K. J. 2. I. 160. Well, A | Suffolk, thou shalt not see me blush.

2 Hen. VI 3. I. 198. Yea, A j brother of Clarence, art thou here too ?

3 Hen. VI 4. 3. 41. Young, A | valiant, wise, and no doubt right royal,

Rich. HI i. 2. 244. How ! A | traitor ! — Nay, temperately ; your promise.

Cor. 3. 3. 67. Dead A | art thou ? A lack, my child is dead,

R. and J. 4. 5. 63. Friends, A | Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

/. C. 3. 2. 78.

Safe, A | Antony: Brutus is safe enough. /. C. 5. 4. 20. Die, A | perish ! Might | but my | bending | down Reprieve thee from thy fate, it should proceed.

M. M. 3. i. 144 f.

1 In this phrase the stress is usually on the "for."

328 APPENDIX II

4. Lines beginning with two trochees

(A Selection]

You do | not? A | — No, madam, 'tis too sharp.

T. G. i. 2. 91. S6 I | fly from j her that would be my wife.

C. ofE. 3. 2. 153.

If I | dream not, | thou art Aejmili|a. C. of E. 5. i. 346. If you | go on | thus, you will | kill your|self.

M. Ado 5. i. i. Fare thee | well, nymph : | ere he do leave this grove,

M. N. D. 2. i. 245. Ho, ho, | ho ! A | Coward, why comest thou not ?

M. N. D. 3. 2. 421. In my | school-days, | when I had | lost 6ne | shaft,

M. of P. I. i. 140.

Talk not | to me. | I will go sit and weep. T. S. 2. i. 35. If you | like me, | she shall have me and mine.

T. S. 2. i. 385. Yond light | is not | daylight ; I know it, I :

R. and J. 3. 5. 12. Death lies | on her | like an untimely frost

R. and J. 4. 5. 28. If the | first that | did the e|dict in fringe,

M. M. 2. 2. 92.

Now will | I write | letters to Angelo, M. M. 4. 3. 97. Art thou | my boy ? | — Ay, my good lord. — I'fecks !

W. T. i. 2. 120. Praise her | but for | this, her with | out-door | form.

W. T. 2. i. 69. Kneel thou j down | Philip, but | rise more | great.

K. J. i. i. 161. Look'st thou | pale, France ? | do not let go thy hand.

K. J. 3. i. 195. Will the | hateful | commons perform for us.

Rich. II 2. 2. 138. Whither | I go, | thither shall you go too.

I Hen. IV 2. 3. 1 1 8.

OTHER LINES WITHOUT UPBEAT 329

O Dieu | vivant ! | shall a few | sprays of | us

Hen. V 3. 5. 5- Marriage | is a | matter of | more j worth

I Hen. VI 5. 5. 55. Are my | chests fill'd | up with extorted gold ?

2 Hen. PI 4. 7. 198. But that | he was | bound by a solemn oath ?

2 Hen. VI 5. i. 190. Tell the | clock there. | Give me a calendar.

Rich. Ill 5. 3. 276. So; now | bring them | in, for I'll play the cook,

Titus 5. 2. 205. Come, A | come, thou | reverend man of Rome,

Titus 5. 3. 137. Come, A | come, thou j boy-queller, show thy face.

T. and C. 5. 6. 45. O, 'tis | treason ! | — Madam, I trust not so.

A. and C. i. 5. 7. That is | my bed | too, lads, and there I'll lie:

Cymb. 4. 4. 52.

You do [ look, my | son, in a moved sort, Temp. 4. i. 146. Good my | lord, A | give me your favour still.

Temp. 4. I. 203. That is | thy charge : | then to the elements

Temp. 5. I. 317.

When the last foot is completed and the third foot only is resolved, lines so beginning are Sapphics. I have noted the following, 16 in number, but there may be one or two more.

If you | turn not, | you will rejturn the | sooner.

T. G. 2. 2. 4.

Being | nimble-|footed, he | hath out|run us.

T. G. 5. 3- 7- If it ] prove so, | I will be | gone the | sooner.

C. of E. i. 2. 103. Come your | way, sir. | Bless you, good | father | friar.

M. M. 3. 2. 10.

330 APPENDIX II

How thou | lov'st us, | show in our | brother's | welcome.

W. T. 4. i. 23. Well, would | I were | gently put | out of | office.

Timon i. 2. 207. Bear with | me, good | boy, J am | much forjgetful.

/. C. 4- 3- 255- I will to-morrow, And be|times I | will, to the | weird | sisters.

Mac. 3. 4. 133. Let it | be so: | yet have I | left a | daughter.

Lear I. 4. 300. Some time | I shall | sleep out, the | rest I'll | whistle.

Lear 2. 2. 149.

Save you, | worthy | general ! — With | all my | heart, sir.

Oth. 4. I. 229.

Here the resolution is a quadrisyllable.

What may | you be ? | are you of | good or | evil ?

Oth. 5. i. 65.

Dost thou | hear? — Your | tale, sir, would | cure | deaf ness. Temp. i. 2. 1 06.

" Cure " is a disyllabic, as the syllable -ure is elsewhere. See Appendix v.

Say a|gain, A | where didst thou | leave these | varlets?

Temp. 4. i. 170. Where my j son lies, j When did you | lose your | daughter?

Temp. 5. I. 152.

Better thus, I think, than "Where my • son lies." W<e might include /. C. 2. i. 72, scanning thus,

No, sir, | there are | more with him. | — Do you j know them ?

But to my ear the line should run, with an initial quadrisyllable,

No, sir, there are | more | with him. j — Do you know them ?

OTHER LINES WITHOUT UPBEAT 331

She's dead | too, our | sovereign1. | — Lady! | — Madam!

A. and C. 4. 15. 69.

5. Lines beginning with three trochees

These are not numerous ; the following list, which shows 28 examples, is probably complete.

Sir, we | are unjdone ; A | these are the | villains.

r. G. 4. i. 5-

Dined at | home, thou j villain ! | what sayest | thou ?

C. of E. 4. 4. 71. Bear thee | well in | it, and | leave us ajlone.

M. Ado 3. i. 13. Thanks, A | gentle | uncle. | Come, lords, ajway.

M. Ado 3. i. 42.

Gentle|men, content ye; | I am rejsolved. T. S. i. i. 90. Baccajre ! A | you are | marvellous | forward.

T. s. 2. i. 73.

Must he j needs | die ? A j — Maiden, no | remedy. ||

M. M. 2. 2. 48. Are you | moved, my | lord? A j — No, in good | earnest.

W.1.\. 2. 150.

What, Cajmillo | there? A | — Ay, my good | lord.

W.T. i. 2. 209. Art thou | not ajshamed ? But | sirrah, hencejforth

i Hen. IP i. 3. 118. To it, | boy ! A j Marcus, | loose when I | bid.

Titus 4. 3. 58. Tut, you | saw her | fair, none | else being | by.

R. and J. 1.2. 99.

This is | she Peace, | peace, Merjcutio, | peace !

R. and J. 1.4. 95. Where the | devil | should this | Romeo | be?

R. andJ. 2. 4. i.

1 Sovereign is always a trisyllable in Shakespeare. Even the Folio, I think, never elides the middle syllable.

332 APPENDIX II

Peaceful | commerce | from dijvidable | shores,

T. and C. i. 3. 105. Good, A | good my | lord ; the | secrets of | nature

T. and C. 4. 2. 74. Make the | sun dance. | Hark you, | this is good | news.

Cor. 5. 4. 54. You have | added | worth unjto it and | lustre.

Timon I. 2. 154. If there | were no | foes, A | that were ejnough

Timon 3. 5. 71. One word | more, good | lady. | — What shall I | do?

Hamlet 3. 4. 180. What, will | these | hands | never be | clean ?

Macb. 5. i. 48. Stay till | I have | read the | letter. — I | was for|bid it.

Lear 5. I. 47. Ha! I | like not j that. A | — What dost thou | say?

Othello 3. 3. 35. O ! my j fear interprets : | what, is he | dead ?

Othello 5. 2. 73. I have | sixty | sails, | Caesar none | better.

A. and C. 3. 7. 50. Being j so frustrate, A | tell him he | mocks

A. and C. 5. I. 2 (corrupt?). Yes, for sooth, I | wish you | joy of the | worm.

A. and C. 5. 2. 281. Peace, A | peace, and | give exjperience | tongue.

Per. i. 2. 37.

6. Lines with resolution of the last foot only

The following list is probably complete.

O, he | sends you | for a | picture. | — Ay, madam. ||

T. G. 4. 3. 120. Quick, dis|patch, and | send the | head to | Angelo. ||

M. M. 4. 3. 96. Yield, my | lord Projector; | yield, A | Winchester. ||

I Hen. VI 3. i. 112.

ALCAICS 333

Peace, A | son! and | show some reason, j Buckingham. ||

2 Hen. VI i. 3. 117. Whither | wilt thou j go? Take | good Cojminius. ||

Cor. 4. i. 34.

(B) ALCAICS

These are naturally numerous. The following five occur in The Tempest, Act i. Sc. 2. The scheme is

-|- All-

To closeness and the | bettering | of my mind. 90.

The King of Naples, | being an | enemy 121.

In troops I have dispersed them ajbout the isle. 220.

The Folio of course gives ''bout.

And, for thou wast a | spirit too | delicate 272.

To whom I am sub|dued, are but | light to me, 489.

APPENDIX III

THE MONOSYLLABIC FOOT AND THE CROSS ACCENT

i. 'The Monosyllabic Foot

THE monosyllabic foot occurs with great frequency; in the eleven latest plays there is an average of one in 8^ lines, and in Macbeth and Lear one in 6^ lines. In the earlier plays (the Comedies) the average is much lower, one in 15 lines, A Midsummer Night's Dream showing only one in 26^ lines. In the Histories the average is lower still, one in 17. Of these the three parts of Henry VI^ which contain so little that is Shake speare's, show fewest, an average of one in 27. The First Part stands at the bottom of the whole list, with one in 35^-. On the other hand, the average for 2 Henry /^and Henry V\s one in 9^, and that for Shake speare's share of Henry VIII (a late play) one in 9.

Numerous examples have emerged in the previous pages, and the following — mainly instances of the foot's occurrence in the fourth place (or fifth in an Alexan drine), where it is least frequent — will serve to illustrate further the use of this important feature.

Would | they j make | peace ? A | Terrible hell Make war upon their spotted souls for this !

Rich. II 3. 2. 1 33 f.

THE MONOSYLLABIC FOOT

335

Cleo. Is Antony or we in fault for this?

Eno. Antony only, that would make his will Lord of his reason. What though | you | fled From that great face of war, whose several ranges Frighted each other? why should j he | follow?

A. and C. 3. 13. 2 ff. Than with an old one dying.

Ant. Moon and | stars ! A | Whip him.

Were it \ twenty | of the j greatest | tributaries

A. and C. 3. 13. 95 f.

The Folio and modern texts begin the second line with "Whip him," ruining it. The first line, like countless others, is an Alexandrine divided between two speakers.

There is • hope in it | yet. A |

Cleo. That's my | brave | lord !

A. and C. 3. 13. 177. Finish, good lady; the | bright | day is done.

A. and C. 5. 2. 192. Shall be | brought | drunken forth, and I shall see

A. and C. 5. 2. 219. Do not dejny A | to him | that you | love me.

R. and J. 4. i. 24.

As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd But to '• fine I issues, nor Nature never lends

M. M. i. i. 36 f. Not the j king's | crown, A j nor the de|puted | sword,

M. M. 2. 2. 60. Let him \ go, A | Gertrude ; do not fear our person :

Hamlet 4. 5. 122. With the \ Moor, A | say'st thou? Othello i. i. 165.

As in the four last examples, the occurrence is common after a double upbeat.

Time is the nurse and breeder of | all good.

r. G. 3. i. 243. That's on some shallow story of | deep | love.

r. G. 1. 1. 21.

336 APPENDIX III

O, knowest thou not his looks are my | soul's | food ?

T. G. 2. 7. 15. Assure thyself my love is burijed.

Pro. Sweet lady, let me rake it from the earth. Si!. Go to thy j lady's | grave and call | her's | thence.

T. G. 4. 2. iisff.

If it were a substance, you would sure deceive it, And make it but a shadow, as | I | am. T. G. 4. 2. 127 f. I'll woo you like a soldier, at | arm's | end. T. G. 5. 4. 57. Than the j soft j myrtle : but | man, A | proud | man,

M. M. i. 2. 117. Thou art \ in the | right, A | girl : A | more of | that.

M. M. 2. 2. 129. You had \ marr'd j all A | else.

M. M. 2. 2. 148 (a tripody). As • fancy | values | them ; but with | true | prayers,

M. M. 2. 2. 151. And he that got it, sentenced ; a | young | man

M. M. 2. 3. 13. Yes, as I love the woman that | wrong'd | him.

M. M. 2. 3. 25.

Igno|miny in | ransom and | free | pardon Are of | two | houses: | lawful | mercy Is nothing kin to foul redempti on. M. M. 2.4. 1 1 1 ff.

In the first line the Folio, followed by modern texts, gives the absurd form " ignomie." From the second line an epithet of "houses," as "different" or "opposed," may have dropped out. There are very few trochaic lines without resolution and showing a monosyllabic foot.

And death unloads thee. | Friend | hast thou none ;

M. M. 3. i. 28. That | age, A | ache, A | penury | and imprisonment ||

M. M. 3. i. 130. Wilt | thou be | made a | man out of | my | vice? Is it not a kind of incest, to | take | life From thine own sister's shame? M. M. 3. i. I38ff.

THE MONOSYLLABIC FOOT

337

I j boarded the | king's | ship, A | now on the | beak,

Temp. I. 2. 196. I'll see before I doubt; when I | doubt, A | prove;

Oth. 3. 3. 190. Farewell the plumed troop and the | big | wars,

Oth. 3. 3. 349.

Grew fat with feasting there. — You have | heard much.

A. and C. 2. 6. 66. The April's in her eyes: it is j love's | spring,

A. and C. 3. 2. 43.

Note that the Folio (doubtless stressing " it is love's spring") forbears here, as also elsewhere, to abbreviate "it is" to V/j, in order to save the tenth syllable, which is not required by the metre, though it is for the rhythm.

Were publicly enthroned : at the | feet sat

Caesarion, A. and C. 3. 6. 5 f.

I would have had thee there, and here again,

Ere I can | tell thee | what thou shouldst | do | there.

/. C. 2. 4. 4 f. If we be conquer 'd, let | men | conquer us,

Rich. Ill 5. 3/332. Be thankful even for hate that is | meant love.

R. andJ. 3. 5. 149.

Adoption strives with nature, and choice | breeds A native slip to us from foreign seeds. All's W. i. 3. 151 f. Thank me | no | thankings, and | proud me no | prouds,

R. andJ. 3. 5. 153.

I am \ sick | still, A | heart-sick. Pijsani

Cymb. 4. 2. 37.

2. The Cross Accent

It is sometimes not obvious whether we have a monosyllabic foot or a cross accent, and the decision is often a matter for individual taste. By the cross accent

22

338

APPENDIX III

I mean the feature which is presented by Coleridge's line,

The | night is | chilly | but not dark,

where "but" receives only so much (and so little) stress as serves to mark the beat, and "not" takes a just perceptible amount more. As with all the poets, the rhythm is common in Shakespeare, and the effect is sometimes peculiarly pleasing. I take the following to be illustrative examples.

The gold I gave to Dromio j is laid \ up C. of E. 2. 2. i. Were | thinly | scattered | to make | up a | show.

R. and J. 5. i. 48.

Most sacrilegious murder | hath broke | open The Lord's anointed temple, Macbeth 2. 3. 72 f. That he \ dined | not at | home, but | was locked \ out.

C.ofE. 5. i. 255. O God, I fear thy justice | will take | hold

On

me

Rich. HI 2. i. 131 f.

Where never Roman j shall take | note of him.

/. C. 5. 3. 50. The king himself in person | is set | forth

I Hen. IP 4. 1.91. My | body | shall make | good upon this earth.

Rich. II i. i. 37.

The preceding examples are all produced by compound verbs, and these furnish by far the largest number of such cases.

Namely, to apjpeal each | other | of high \ treason.

Rich. II i. i. 27. As motion | and long-|during action tires

L. L. L. 4. 3. 307.

Love's feeling | is more | soft and sensible Than are the tender horns of cockled snails ;

L. L. L. 4. 3. 337 f.

THE CROSS ACCENT

339

If frosts and fasts, hard lodging | and thin | weeds

L. L. L. 5. 2. 811. And never from this palace | of dim | night

R. and J. 5. 3. 107. Drops bloody sweat from | his war-|wearied limbs,

I Hen. VI 4. 4. 1 8. Now trust me, 'tis an office | of great | worth,

r. G. i. 2. 44. I am a soldier | and now | bound to France.

K. J. i. i. 150. Her dowry | shall weigh | equal with a queen :

K. J. 2. i. 486. With tears augmenting | the fresh | morning's dew,

R. and J. I. I. 138. Then be not poor, but break it, | and take | this.

R. and J. 5. i. 74. Come, cordial j and not | poison, go with me

R. and J. 5. i. 85. The noble Paris | and true | Romeo dead.

R. and J. 5. 3. 259. How \ now, Hojratio ! you | tremble | and look | pale.

Hamlet I. I. 53. Dangerous conjectures | in ill-|breeding minds.

Hamlet 4. 5. 15. Descended into perjury | to love | me.

r. G. 5.4. 49.

APPENDIX IV

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT

THE following list of 844 quadrisyllable feet and 1 8 quinquesyllabics is, I hope, complete ; but it is quite possible that a few have been overlooked. The quadrisyllables in the doggerel of The Comedy of Errors and Love's Labour s Lost are not included in this total, and only a few of the examples from it are given below.

The Two Gentlemen (18):

Thou, Julia, | thou hast metamorphosed me. i. i. 66. Have patience, gentle | Julia. — I | must, where | is no j

remedy. |j 2. 2. i.

Julia, fare|well ! What, gone without a word? 2. 2. 16. Silvia, I | speak to | you, and | you, Sir | Thurio;j|

2. 4. 84. Servant, you are | welcome to a worthless mistress.

2. 4. 113.

Sovereign1 to | all the creatures on the earth. 2. 4. 153. Plotted and ajgreed on for my happiness. 2. 4. 183.

The Folio gives "'greed."

Julia I | lose, and Valentine I lose: 2. 6. 19. Proteus2, I | thank thee for thine honest care; 3. i. 22. Silvia, this | night I will enfranchise thee. 3. i. 151. Nothing but my | fortune. 4. i. 43. Who? A | Silvia! — Ay, | Silvia; | for your | sake3.

4. 2. 23.

1 Sovereign is always a trisyllable in Shakespeare.

2 Proteus is trisyllabic throughout the play.

1 The for of " for my sake " generally has the foot-stress.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 341

I will not fail your | ladyship. Good | morrow, gentle lady.

4- 3- 45- Gentlewoman, good | day ! I pray you, be my mean

4- 4- 113- A quinquesyllabic.

A virtuous | gentlewoman, | mild and beautiful. 4.4. 185. That \ Silvia at | Friar Patrick's cell should meet me.

5- i- 3- And woo you like a J soldier1, at | arms' | end. 5. 4. 57.

Ruffian, let | go that rude uncivil touch. 5. 4. 60.

Measure for Measure (31):

Heaven doth with | us as we with torches do, i. I. 33. From \ too much | liberty, my | Lucio, | liberjty:

1. 2. 129. To teeming [ foison, even | so her plenteous womb

i. 4. 43. To | soften Angelo ; and | that's my pith of business.

1. 4. 70.

Guiltier than | him they try; what's open made 2. i. 21. Bring him his conjfessor, let him be prepared; 2. i. 35.

But perhaps " confessor," the more usual stress.

But j yet, — poor | Claudio ! There | is no j reme|dy.

2. i. 299.

Is it your | will | Claudio shall | die to-morrow? 2. 2. 7. And what a | prisoner. — Ay, | touch him, there's the vein.

2. 2. 70. To nothing | temporal. — Well, | come to me to-morrow.

2. 2. 155. To sin in loving virtue : | never could the | strumpet,

2. 2. 183.

To several subjects: | heaven hath my | empty words,

2. 4. 2.

One \ Isabel, a | sister, de|sires acjcess to | you. 2. 4. 18. 1 Soldier is a trisyllable in Shakespeare.

342 APPENDIX IV

Your sense pursues not | mine : A | either you are | ignorant,

2. 4. 74. And I credulous to j false | prints. — I think it well :

2. 4. 130. He shall not, | Isabel, if | you <will> | give me | love.

2. 4. 144.

The Folio omits "will," which seems to be required.

In base apjpliances. This | outward-sainted deputy,

3- i. 89- The vaporous night approaches.

Mariana. Will it | please you walk aside ? 4.1. 59. There to give | up their | power. If you | can, A | pace

your wisdom 4. 3. 137. And dull to all proceedings. A dejflower'd maid,

4. 4. 24. As cause doth | minister. Go | call at Flavius' house,

4. 5. 6.

For j inequality; but | let your reason serve 5. i. 65. For the \ benefit of | silence, would thou wert so too !

5. i. 191.

Upon these | slanderers. — My | lord, we'll do it throughly.

5. i. 260. Slander to the j state ! Away with him to prison !

5- I- 325- Is all the grace I beg. — Come | hither, Marijana.

5- !• 379- Labouring to | save his life, and would not rather

5. i. 396.

Sirrah, thou art | said to have a stubborn soul, 5. i. 485. I | leave him to your | hand. What muffled fellow's that ?

5- I- 491- You, A | sirrah, that | knew me for a | fool, a | coward,

5. i. 505. Slandering a | prince deserves it. 5. i. 530.

Loves Labour s Lost (3 besides those in the doggerel) : Come to our pajvilion: Boy jet is disjposed. 2. i. 249.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 343

Then was j Venus | like her | mother, for her father | is

but | grim. 2. I. 255. He rejputes me a | cannon, and the | bullet, that's | he —

3- i- 65- It is : writ to | Jaquejnetta. — We will | read it, I | swear.

4. i. 58. Else your \ memory is | bad, going | o'er it erejwhile.

4. i. 99.

This Arjmado is a | Spaniard, that | keeps here in | court: A j phantasm, a Monjarcho, and | one that makes | sport.

4. i. i oof.

Both the Quarto and Folio give phantasime, which appears to be merely a mis-spelling, perhaps for phan- tasma as in /. C. 2. i. 65, "Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream." The preceding are from the doggerel, in which there are several more examples.

Beauteous as | ink. 5. 2. 41.

Following the | signs, A | woo'd but the | sign of | she.

5. 2. 469. Varying in | subjects, as the eye doth roll 5. 2. 774.

'The Comedy of Errors (5) :

Dromio, go | bid the servants spread for dinner. 2. 2. 189. Dromio, thou | drone, thou snail, thou slug, thou sot !

2. 2. 196. Dost thou | conjure for | wenches, that thou [ call'st for

such | store? 3. i. 34.

The j porter | for this | time, sir, and my name is j Dromijo.

3- I- 43-

The two last examples are from the doggerel.

Smothered in | errors, feeble, shallow, weak. 3. 2. 35. Dromio, nor | thou? — Trust me, sir, nor I. 5. i. 302. Dromio, what | stuff of mine hast thou embark'd?

5. i. 409.

344 APPENDIX IV

A Midsummer Night's Dream (7) :

Emptying our | bosoms of their counsel sweet, i. i. 216. Marking the emjbarked traders on the flood; 2. i. 127. Following — her | womb then rich with my young squire, —

2. i. 131.

Uttering such | dulcet and harmonious breath, 2. i. 151. For j lying | so, A | Hermia, I j do not lie. 2. 2. 52. Opening on | Neptune with fair blessed beams, 3. 2. 392. Un \ couple in the | western valley; let them go:

4. i. 112. The Merchant of Venice (14) :

Is | not so | estimable, j profitable | neither, i. 3. 167. Heaven and thy j thoughts are witness that thou art.

2. 6. 32.

Portia, adieu. I have too grieved a heart 2. 7. 76. Of double ducats, | stolen from me | by my daughter !

2. 8. 19.

Stolen by my | daughter ! Justice ! find the girl ! 2. 8. 21 . Which '• pries not | to the inferior, but, | like the | martlet,

2. 9. 28.

Even in the | force and road of casualty. 2. 9. 30. Happiest of | all is | that her | gentle | spirit 3. 2. 165. A ) stony | adversary, | an inhuman wretch 4. i. 3. Every ofjfence is not a hate at first. 4. i . 68. Troilus, mejthinks, A | mounted the Troyan walls,

5. i. 4.

Never Troy-lus : see 5. 6. 2 | "Tro-i|lus," p. 360.

Fetching mad | bounds, A | bellowing and neighing loud,

5- I- 73- I am the unjhappy subject of these quarrels. 5. i. 238.

Portia, forjgive me this enforced wrong ; 5.1. 240.

As You Like It (4) :

"The flux of j company": anon, a careless herd,

2. i. 52. Wearying thy | hearer in thy mistress' praise. 2. 4. 38.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 345

Even in the | cannon's mouth. And then the justice,

2. 7. 153. Silvius, the | time was that I hated thee; 3. 5. 92.

AlVs Well that Ends Well (8) :

I • have forjgot him: my imagination carries No favour in it but Bertram's, i. i. 93 f.

The Folio and modern texts begin the second line with "Carries," thus needlessly making it an improbable tetrapody, besides ruining v. 93.

And of his old experience the | only darling, 2. i. no.

and | great | seas have dried When j miracles have | by the greatest been denied.

2. i. 143 f.

France is a dog-hole, and it no more merits The | tread of a | man's foot. To the | wars !

2. 3. 291 f. The second line is a tripody.

Therefore, to the | war! 2. 3. 302. Ri|naldo, you did | never lack advice so much 3. 4. 19. That is Anitonio, the | duke's | eldest son; 3. 5. 79. He were j much | goodlier : | is it not a j handsome j gentleman ?|l 3. 5. 83.

Much Ado (3) :

So angle we for | Beatrice, who | even now 3. i. 29. Thou pure imjpiety and | impious purity! 4. i. 105. Valuing of | her, — why, she, O, she is fallen 4. i. 141.

'The Taming of the Shrew (44) :

Hark, Tranio ! | thou may'st hear Minerva speak, i. i. 84. Tranio, I | burn, I pine, I perish, Tranio, i. i. 160. Tranio, I | saw her coral lips to move, i. i. 179. 'Tis hatch'd and shall be so : A | Tranio, at | once

I. I. 211. Tranio is | changed into Lucentio. i. i. 242.

346 APPENDIX IV

That Lujcentio injdeed had Bap|tista's younger daughter.

i. i. 245.

Happily to | wive and thrive as best I may: i. 2. 56. Peace, j Grumio, it | is the rival of my love. i. 2. 142. Pejtruchio, stand by a | while, i. 2. 143. Hark you, sir; I'll | have them very fairly bound:

i. 2. 147. Trow you | whither I am going? To Bapjtista | Minojla.

i. 2. 165.

Gremio, 'tis | now no time to vent our love: i. 2. 179. But | if you have a | stomach, | to it in | God's | name :

I. 2. 195.

Gentlemen, God | save you ! If I may be bold, Tell me, I be|seech you, which is the readiest way

1. 2. 219 f. He that has two fair | daughters ? is it j he you mean ?

I. 2. 222. Are you a suitor to the | maid you talk of, yea or nor

1. 2. 230. Good morrow, neighbour | Gremio. God [ save you, |

gentlemen! || 2. 1.41. Now, Signior Pejtruchio, how sped you with my daughter ?

2. i. 283. Hark, Pe|truchio; she | says she'll see thee hang'd first.

2. i. 302. Be patient, | gentlemen; I | chose her for myself:

2. i. 304. Gremio, 'tis | known my father hath no less

Than three great | argosies; bejsides two | galliassjes,

2. i. 380 f.

For such an | injury would | vex a very saint, 3. 2. 28. Tedious it | were to tell and harsh to hear: 3. 2. 107. Gentlemen and | friends, I thank you for your pains :

3. 2. 1 86. Now, if you love me, stay. A — Grumio, my | horse.

3. 2. 206. She I shall, Lujcentio. | Come, gentlemen, | let us | go.

3- 2.^254.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 347

Where is my spaniel Troilus? | Sirrah, get you | hence,

4. i. 153. This way the | coverlet, anjother way the sheets :

4. i. 205. Is it | possijble, friend | Licio, that | Mistress Bijanca

4. 2. i. Tranio, you | jest : but have you both forsworn me ?

4. 2. 48. My name is call'd Vin|centio; my | dwelling Pisa;

4- 5- 55- Then nast thou taught Hor tensio to | be unjtoward.

4- 5- 79- Here's j packing with a | witness, | to dejceive us | all !

5, i. 122. Cambio is | changed into Lucentio. 5. i. 126.

Padua affords this | kindness, | son Petruchio.|| Padua afjfords no thing but what is kind. 5. 2. 13 f. You are : very | sensible, and | yet you miss my sense :

5. 2. 18. Let us j each one | send unto his | wife:

5. 2. 66 (a tripody).

Katharine, that | cap of yours becomes you not : 5.2.121. Katharine, I | charge thee, tell these headstrong women

5. 2. 130. That • seeming to be | most which we indeed least are.

5. 2. 175.

Twelfth Night (8) :

As you have for O|livia: you | cannot love her; 2. 4. 94. I'll be your | purse-bearer and j leave you for an hour.

Ant. To the \ Elephant. |

Seb. I will rejmember. 3. 3. 47 f.

Modern texts follow the Folio in ending the first line with "leave you," which spoils both lines.

Just the | contrary; the | better for thy friends. 5. i. 14. "Just the contrary" is a possible scansion.

348 APPENDIX IV

Here in the | streets, A | desperate of | shame and | state,

5. i. 67. Orsino's J enemy. A | witchcraft drew me hither :

5- i- 79- Like to the Ejgyptian thief at point of death, 5. i. 121.

How now, Malvolio ! | — Madam, you have | done me

wrong, 5. i. 336. Upon thee in the letter. | Prithee, be con|tent: 5. i. 359.

the Winters Tale (28):

I'll no gainsaying. | — Press me not, bejseech you, so.

I. 2. 19.

They • say it is a copy | out of | mine. A | Come, cap tain, || i. 2. 122.

Would | hang them selves. A | Physic for it | there is j none; I. 2. 2OO.

Kissing with | inside | lip? A | stopping the cajreer

i. 2. 286.

Do it, and thou | hast the one half of my heart ; 1.2. 348.

That | I think | honourable : therefore mark my counsel,

1. 2. 408.

Clear them of the | city. | For my [self, I'll | put i. 2.439. Must it be | violent; and | as he does conceive I. 2. 454. They will : bring | all ; whose | spiritual | counsel | had,

2. i. 186.

The whole of the passage 2. 2. 6-21 should, I believe, be rearranged thus, showing quadrisyllables in vv. 7 (two), 12, and 13 :

Paul. Pray you, then,

Con | duct me to the | queen.

Gaol. I | may not, | madam; to the | contrary

I have express commandment.

Paul. Here's ado,

To lock up honesty and honour from The ac | cess of gentle visitors! Is it lawful, 10

Pray you, to see her women ? any of them ?

THE QUADR1SYLLABIC FOOT 349

E|milia?

Gaol. So | please you, madam, to put apart These your attendants, I shall | bring Elmilia | forth. [3

Paul. I pray now, call her. Withdraw yourselves.

Gaol. And, madam,

I must be present at your conference.

Paul. Well, be it so, prithee. Here's such ado, to

make

No stain a stain, as passes colouring. Dear gentlewoman, how fares our gracious lady ?

As boldness from my bosom, let it | not be doubted

2. 2. 53.

Given to the | fire, a moiety of my rest 2. 3. 8. Take it \ up, I | say; A | give it to thy | crone. — For i

ever 2. 3. 76.

Not she which | burns in it. I | will not call you tyrant ;

F. lie 2. 3. 1 1 6.

And | by good | testimony, | or I'll seize thy life, 2.3.137. So to es teem of us : and j on our knees we beg, 2. 3. 149. Hasting to the | court. 2. 3. 197. You • knew of his departure, as you knew what you Have undertaken to do in his absence. — Sir, 3. 2. 78 f.

The lines are misdivided in the Folio and modern texts.

I have heard, but not believed, the | spirits of the | dead

3- 3; l6- Op. : posed, as it | must be | by the | power of the | king:

4- 4- 37- That which you | are, A | mistress of the | feast : come

on 4. 4. 68. I would I had some | flowers of the | spring that might

4- 4- "3- Farther (?) than Deu!calion off: 4. 4. 442.

The Folio gives "Farre," for which see on Julius Caesar, no. 1 8, p. 230.

Thou \ art Herjmione ; or rather, thou art she 5. 3. 25. Knowing by Paul|ina that the oracle 5. 3. 126.

35°

King John ( 1 6) :

Brother by the | mother's | side, A | give me your | hand :

1. i. 163.

Sir Robert could do well : A marry, to conjfess, i. i. 236. Shadowing their | right under your wings of war: 2. i. 14. Sirrah, | look to it; in j faith, I will, in faith. 2. I. 140.

The Folio gives "i'faith," and this form is perhaps genuine in many cases, but here at any rate the less common "in faith" seems to be required.

Austria and | France A shoot in each other's mouth :

2. i. 414. Poictiers and An| jou, A | these five | provinces, 2. 1.528.

A qujnquesyllabic. If we scan "Poic-tiers and An jou," we have a quadrisyllable : perhaps Poictiers and Anjou.

Resembling | majesty, which, j being touch'd and tried,

3. i. 100. Thou shalt not | need. A j England, I will | fall from thee.

3. i. 320. Set at | liberty: the | fat ribs of | peace 3. 3. 9.

The sun is in the j heaven, and the | proud day, 3. 3. 34. I'll | send those powers over to your | majesty. 3.3.70.

Modern texts accept the Folio's "o're," though it gives the line a dreadful rhythm.

Holding the e|ternal spirit, against her will, 3. 4. 19. Death, A | death, O | amiable | lovely death! 3. 4. 25. Offending | charity: if | but a dozen French 3. 4. 173. With open | mouth A | swallowing a | tailor's news ;

4. 2. 195. Will serve to | strangle thee ; a | rush will be a beam

4. 3. 129. Richard II (31):

Namely, to apjpeal each | other | of high | treason.

i. i. 27.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 351

Tendering the | precious safety of my prince, i. i. 32. Even to the | frozen ridges of the Alps, i. i. 64. Even from the | tongueless caverns of the earth, i. i. 105. Edward's seven | sons, whereof thyself art one, i. 2. n. Rouse up thy youthful blood, be | valiant and | live.

1. 3- 83. Uncle, even | in the glasses of thine eyes i. 3. 208.

As blanks, belnevolences, | and I wot not what : 2. i. 250. Sir John j Norbery, Sir Robert | Waterton, and j Francis j

Quoint, 2. i. 284.

Persuades me it is | otherwise; how|e'er it be, 2. 2. 29. The Lord Northumberland, his | young son Henry Percy,

2. 2. 53. Uncle, for | God's | sake, speak comfortable j words1.

2. 2. 76. The : nobles they are | fled, the commons they are cold,

2. 2. 88. Come, sister, | — cousin, I would | say, — pray, | pardon |

me. 2. 2. 105. Gentlemen, will | you go | muster | men ? If I | know

2. 2. 108.

The whole of the passage 2. 2. 108-120 is misdivided in the Folio and modern texts ; see pp. 54 f.

Gentlemen, go | muster up your men, and meet me Presently at | Berkeley. I should to Plashy too, 2. 2. 1 18 f. And • in it are the | Lords of | York, A | Berkeley, and

Seymour ; 2. 3. 55.

My Lord of | Hereford, my | message is to you. 2. 3. 69. A happy | gentleman in | blood and lineaments, 3. 1.9. Condemns you to the I death. A I See them deliver'd over

3. i. 28.

After your | late | tossing on the | breaking seas? 3. 2. 3. Of • Boling|broke, A | covering your fearful | land

3. 2. no.

] But the scansion may be, " Uncle, j for God's | sake, speak | comfortable | words."

352 APPENDIX IV

Controlling | majesty: ajlack, alack, for woe, 3. 3. 70. And as I am a | gentleman, I | credit him. 3. 3. 120. Here, cousin ; on | this side my hand, on that side thine.

4. i. 183.

To | bury mine injtents, but | also | to efjfect 4. i. 329. What news from | Oxford? do these | justs and triumphs

hold? 5. 2. 52. 'Tis \ nothing but some | bond that he is entered into

5. 2. 65. A j dozen of them | here have taken the sacrament,

5. 2. 96.

i Henry IV (6) :

Trembling | even at the j name of Mortimer, i. 3. 144. Gelding the opjposed continent as much 3. i. no. That were his lackeys: I cried 'hum' and 'well, Go | to,' but | mark'd him not a | word. A | O, he | is As \ tedious as a | tired | horse, a railing wife. 3. i. I58ff.

V. 1 60 shows a quinquesyllabic, "tedious as a." The lines are misdivided in the texts, the third beginning, "As a tired," and the second, "But mark'd."

Of all our | fortunes.

Doug. Faith, and | so we should : where now

Remains a sweet reversion, we may boldly Spend upon the | hope of | what is to come | in : A comfort of retirement lives in this. 4. i. 52 ff.

The Quarto gives the lines as, "Where now... rever sion," and "We may boldly... come in." Editors make "Is to come in" a separate short line, and consider the passage to be corrupt. But the arrangement and punc tuation here offered give both good sense and unim peachable verse. It does not matter whether we regard v. 52 as an Alexandrine or as showing a quadrisyllable; to me the latter seems preferable.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT

353

2 Henry IV (3) : Rendering faint

quittance, wearied and out-breathed.

j. i. 108.

Flattering himjself in project of a power, i. 3. 29. Figuring the | nature of the times deceased, 3. i. 81.

Henry ^(14):

Turning the accomplishment of many years Pro/. 30. Up | on our | spiritual j convocation i. i. 76. What was the impediment that broke this off? i. i. 90. In terram Salicam | mulieres | ne succedant: i. 2. 38.

" Mulieres " makes an ugly foot, but the words are plainly meant to form a pentapody.

In aid whereof A | we of the | spiritualjty. i. 2. 132. Tell him, he hath | made a match with such a wrangler

i. 2. 264.

Following the | mirror of all Christian kings, n. Pro!. 6. My Lord of | Cambridge, and my | kind | Lord of Mas- ham, 2. 2. 13.

Than is your | majesty: there's | not, I think, a subject

2. 2. 26.

Let | housewifery apjpear: keep close, I thee command.

2. 3. 64.

Covering discretion with a coat of folly; 2. 4. 38. Katharine his | daughter, and with her, to dowry,

in. Pro/. 30.

Dejfy us to our | worst: for as I am a soldier, 3. 3. 5. So j tediously ajway. The poor condemned English,

iv. Prol. 22.

A quinquesyllabic.

i Henry VI (16) :

Conjurers and | sorcerers, that, afraid of him, i. i. 26. Reignier, is it thou that thinkest to beguile me? 1.2.65. Heaven and our | Lady gracious hath it pleased i. 2. 74. How may I | reverently | worship thee enough i. 2. 145. E. 23

354 APPENDIX IV

Presently we'll | try. Come, let us away about it :

i. 2. 149.

Cardinal, I'll | be no breaker of the law; I. 3. 80. Prisoner ! to | whom ? — To me, blood-thirsty lord ;

2- 3- 34- If | I were | covetous, amjbitious, or perverse1, 3. I. 29.

Injferior to | none but to his majesty; 3. i. 96. Valiant and | virtuous, full of haughty courage, 4. i. 35. Prettily, mejthought, did play the orator. 4. i. 175. Tendering my | ruin and assail'd of none, 4. 7. 10. Valiant Lord | Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury ? 4. 7. 61. Margaret my | name, and daughter to a king, 5. 3. 51. Virtuous and | holy ; chosen from above, 5. 4. 39. Margaret shall | now be queen, and rule the king;

5. 5. 107.

2 Henry VI (12) :

Salisbury and | Warwick; i. i. 70.

Then let us make haste away, and | look unto the | main.

i. i. 208.

Salisbury and | Warwick are no simple peers, i. 3. 77. Eleanor, the j law, thou seest, hath judged thee: 2. 3. 15. How proud, how I peremptory, I and unlike himself ?

3. i. 8. But, my lord | cardinal, and | you, my lord of Suffolk,

3. i. 246.

Gualtier or | Walter, which it is I care not. 4. i. 38. They call false caterpillars, and injtend their death.

4- 4- 37- Soldiers, this | day you have redeem'd your lives, 4. 9. 15.

That Alexander | Iden, an esjquire of Kent, 4. 10. 46. Buckingham, doth | York intend no harm to us, 5. i. 56- To die in ruffian | battle? Even | at this sight 5. 2. 49.

3 Henry VI (6) :

Flattering me | with impossibilities. 3. 2. 143.

My lord amjbassador, these | letters are for you, 3. 3. 163.

1 In this example only is the foot not initial in this play.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 355

Now, | messenger, what | letters or what news from France ?

4. i. 84.

Ay, gracious | sovereign ; they | are so link'd in friendship,

4. i. 116.

Lewis and the | Lady Bona send to him. 4. 3. 56. Thanks, brave Montgomery, and | thanks unto you all:

4- 7- 77- Richard III (28):

Tendering my j person's safety, hath appointed i. i. 44. We • know thy | charge, A | Brakenbury, and | will o|bey.

i. i. 105. A quinquesyllabic.

Open their con|gealed | mouths and bleed afresh, i. 2. 56. If we retain congeal' d of Q. and F., -geaVd is a mono syllabic foot.

Enjviron'd me ajbout, and howled in mine ears

1. 4. 59. To fight in | quarrel of the house of Lancaster.

i. 4. 209. For | Edward, for my | brother, | for his | sake : why, |

sirs, i. 4. 217. And \ hugg'd me in his | arm, and kindly kiss'd my cheek ;

2. 2. 24.

Marry, we were | sent for to the justices. 2. 3. 46. How, my pretty | York? I pray thee, let me hear it.

2. 4. 26. My | lord of | Buckingham, if | my weak | orator|y

3- i- 37- Of blessed sanctuary! | not for all this land 3. i. 42.

And \ being but a | toy, which is no grief to give.

3. i. 114.

Thou art : sworn as | deeply to ef|fect what we intend

3. i. 158.

The earldom of | Hereford and | all the movables

3. i. 195.

How now, Lord | Chamberlain ? what, | talking with a priest? 3. 2. 114.

23—2

356 APPENDIX IV

Where is my | lord Projector ? I have | sent for those |

strawberries.|| 3. 4. 49.

This is the in|dictment of the good Lord Hastings ; 3. 6. i. Go | thou to j sanctuary, | and good thoughts possess thee !

4. i. 94. Where he a|bides.A

K. Rich. Catesby !

Gate. My lord ?A

K. Rich. Rumour it ajbroad 4. 2. 48.

Bettering thy | loss A | makes the bad causer worse :

4. 4. 122.

Aery suc|ceeders of intestate joys, 4. 4. 128. Virtuous and | fair, A | royal and | gracijous. 4. 4. 204. Every man's | conscience is a thousand swords, 5. 2. 17. Six or seven | thousand is their utmost power. 5. 3. TO. Virtuous and | holy, be thou conqueror! 5. 3. 128. Fight, A | gentlemen of | England, fight, bold yeomen !

5- 3- 338. Sir \ Robert | Brakenbury, | and Sir William Brandon.

5- 5- 14-

Henry VIII \ (a] the scenes assigned to Shakespeare (18):

Was cried injcomparable ; | and the ensuing night

i. i. 27.

In honour | honesty, the | tract of everything i. i. 40. In|fecting one anjother, yea, reciprocally — i. i. 162.

I stood in the level Of a \ full-|charged confederacy, | and give thanks

1. 2. 2 f .

Whose \ honour heaven | shield from soil ! — even he es capes not i. 2. 26.

Daring the ejvent to the teeth, are all in uproar, i. 2. 36. As soul and body's | severing. — Ajlas, poor lady ! 2. 3. 16. Is • taken of your | many | virtues, the | king's | majesty ||

2. 3. 60.

A thousand pound a | year, A | annual supjport 2. 3. 64. More worth than empty | vanities ; yet | prayers and

wishes 2. 3. 69.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 357

Sovereign and | pious else, could speak thee out,

2. 4. 140.

Our daughter | Mary : in the | progress of this business,

2. 4. 175.

Katharine our | queen, before the primest creature

2. 4. 229.

Reject 3. i. 35, which should begin "By every."

Heaven is above all yet; there sits a judge 3. i. 100. Will make this sting the sooner. | Cardinal Camjpeius

3. 2. 56. Look'd he on the | inside | of the | paper? j — Presently ||

3. 2. 78. Shower'd on me | daily, have been more than could

3. 2. 167. Of the | rolls, and the | king's | secretary; | further, | sir,

5- 1-35-

(£) the non-Shakespearian scenes (9) :

Good my lord | cardinal : I have | half a dozen healths

1. 4- 105. A quinquesyllabic.

Cardinal Camjpeius is arrived, and lately; 2. i. 160. Between us and the | emperor, tHe | queen's great nephew,

2. 2. 26. These news are everywhere ; | every tongue speaks them,

2. 2. 39. Cardinal of | York, are join'd with me their servant

2. 2. I06. Those j articles, my | lord, are | in the | king's | hand :

3. 2. 299.

He to be earl | marshal : you may read the rest. 4. i. 19. Deserve we no more | reverence? — You | are to blame,

4. 2. 101. Power, as he | was a counsellor, to try him, 5. 3. 143.

Troi/us and Cressida (42) :

Let him to | field; A | Troilus, ajlas! hath none. i. i. 5.

358 APPENDIX IV

By whom, Aeneas? | — Troilus, by | Menelaus.

i. i. 113.

There is no justification for the fancy that Shakespeare meant Troilus to be pronounced as a disyllabic, Troy-lus, although Q. spells "Troylus." See 5. 6. 2 below.

As, | venerable | Nestor, hatch'd in silver, should With a bond of air, strong as the axle-tree i. 3. 65 f.

All the texts wrongly begin the second line with "Should."

Speak, | Prince of | Ithaca ; and | be it of less expect

i. 3. 70. What ' honey is exlpectedr Degree being vizarded,

1. 3- S3- Power into | will, A | will into | appejtite; i. 3. 120.

Of - parallels, as | like as Vulcan and his wife: i. 3. 168. Severals and | generals of grace exact, i. 3. 180. With an im perial | voice — A | many are in|fect.

i. 3. 187.

Courtiers as | free, as debonair, unarm 'd, i. 3. 235. If not Ajchilles ? Though it | be a sportful combat,

!• 3- 335- Ajax. Fare \ well. A | Who shall answer him?

Ach'ill. I know not:

'Tis put to lottery; | otherwise he j knew his man.

2. I. 139 f.

The texts misdivide the lines.

Every tithe | soul, amongst | many thousand dismes,

2. 2. 19. U/yss. The j amity that | wisdom | knits not, | folly

may | easily || Untie. Here comes Patroclus.

Nest. No Achilles with him ?

Ulyss. The j elephant hath | joints, but | none for |

courtesy ; || His legs are legs for necessity, not for flexure. 2. 3. 1 10 ff.

The passage is printed as prose in the texts.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 359

We come to j speak with him. U|lysses, enter you.

2. 3. 150. Cry <No rejcovery.' Let k Ajax go to him. 2. 3. 188.

Ajax. Can he not be | socia|ble?

U/yss. The raven chides 1 blackness. 2. 3. 220.

He • should not | bear it | so, he should | eat his I words ; first: || Shall | pride | carry it ?

Nest. And it j would, yoti would | carry j half.

2. 3. 227 ff.

Prose in texts. Q. gives "A should not beare it so, a should eate swords first?... And two'od yow'd carry."

Would he were a | Trojan ! 2. 3. 245.

To greet the | warriors. Sweet | Helen, I must woo you

3. i. 162. As misers do by beggars, neither | gave to me

Good word nor look: 3. 3. I43f.

You told how | Diomed, a | whole | week by days,

4. i. 9.

Troilus had | rather Troy were borne to Greece 4. i. 46. And tell me, noble | Diomed; faith, | tell me true,

4. i. 51. As | tediously as | hell, but flies the grasp of love 4. 2. 13.

A quinquesyllabic.

If ever she leave | Troilus ! Time, | force, and death,

4. 2. 107. With sounding | Troilus. I | will not go from Troy.

4. 2. 114. And j haste her to the | purpose. — Walk into her house ;

4- 3- 5- As j infinite as | imminent! but | I'll be | true. 4. 4. 71.

Brother, | Troilus ! — Good | brother, come you hither ;

4. 4. 101.

As Priam is in | Ilion. Fair | Lady Cressid, 4. 4. 118. Labouring for | destiny, make cruel way 4. 5. 184. Shall I desjtroy him ? whether | there, or there, or there ?

4- 5- 243-

360 APPENDIX IV

Troilus, farejwell! one eye yet looks on thee ; 5. 2. 107. Bi-fold authority! where j reason can revolt 5. 2. 143. Beckoning with | fiery truncheon my retire; 5. 3. 53. Epistrophus and | Cedius; Poljyxenes is slain ; 5. 5. n. Troilus ! thou | coward Troilus ! — Ay, there, there.

5- 5- 43- Troilus, thou | coward Troilus, show thy head! 5.6. 1.

Troilus, I | say ! where's | TVWJlus ? — What | wouldst

thou? 5. 6. 2.

Ere : that correction. | Troilus, I | say ! what, | Troilus ! ||

5. 6. 5.

Coriolanus (51) :

What's done in the | Capitol ; who's | like to rise, who

thrives And who declines; side factions, and give out I. I. 196 f.

The Folio begins the second line with "Who thrives," making it an Alexandrine.

Yet are they passing | cowardly. But | I beseech you,

i. i. 207.

Sijcinius Veljutus, and I know not — 'Sdeath ! i. i. 221. Marcius, 'tis | true that you have lately told us;

1. i. 231.

Tullus Au|fidius, is | he within your walls? i. 4. 13. Following the | fliers at the very heels, i . 4. 49.

Irons of a | doit, A | doublets that hangmen would i. 5. 5. Ransoming him, or pitying, | threatening the | other ;

i. 6. 36. Wrench up thy | power to the | highest. — Wert thou the

Hector i. 8. 11. In the field prove | flatterers, let | courts and cities be

i. 9. 43.

Marcius, his | name? i. 9. 90. Know, Rome, that | all a|lone A | Marcius did | fight

2. i. 179. Clambering the | walls to eye him : stalls, bulks, windows,

2. i. 226.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 361

Most : reverend and | grave | elders, to desire 2. 2. 46. Than we to stretch it | out. A | Masters of the | people,

2. 2. 54. To hear my nothings monster'd. | — Masters of the

people, 2. 2. 81. Show them the unjaching scars which I should hide,

2. 2. 152. Which | our dijvinesA | lose by them. — You'll | mar | all:

2. 3. 64.

Tying him to | aught; so, putting him to rage, You should have | taken the advantage of his choler

2. 3. 205 f.

After the in|veterate hate he bears you. — Lay 2. 3. 234. Suffer it, and | live with such as cannot rule 3. i. 40. The • cockle of rejbellion, insolence, sedition, 3. i. 70. They never did service | for it: being | press'd to the war,

3. i. 122. Did not deserve corn | gratis. Being | in the | war,

3. i. 125.

Where j one part does dis|dain with cause, the other insult Without all reason ; where gentry, title, wisdom,

3. i. 143 f.

The Folio begins the second line with "Insult," making it an Alexandrine, but "does" in the first line is better without even the foot-stress.

For the j ill which doth conjtrol it. — He has | said enough.

3. i. 161. The Folio omits "He."

And throw their | power in the | dust. 3. i. 171. We were elected | theirs, A | Marcius is | worthy

3. i. 211. Bear him to the | rock Tarpeian, and from thence

3. i. 213. Where the disease is | violent. Lay | hands upon him,

3. i. 222. Action is | eloquence, and the | eyes of the | ignorjant

3. 2. 76. A quinquesyllabic.

362 APPENDIX IV

Think me for the | man I am, necessity 4. 5. 62.

To thee particularly, | and to all the Volsces, 4. 5. 72.

Join'd with Aufidius, leads a j power against | Rome,

4. 6. 66. All the regions

Do j smilingly rejvolt; and who resist are mock'd For valiant j ignorance, and j perish constant fools. Who is it can | blame him ? Your | enemies and his Find something | in him. We are | all undone, unless The noble man have mercy. 4. 6. iO2ff.

The Folio and editors misdivide the lines throughout, beginning, "Are mock'd," "And perish," "Your ene mies," "We are all."

And so did I.

Third Cit. And so did I : and to say the truth, So did very | many | of us: | that we | did, We did for the best; and though we willingly Conjsented | to his | banishment, | yet it | was Against our will.

Com. You are \ goodly | things, you | voices !

Men. You have | made good | work,

You and your cry ! Shall w6 to the Capitol? 4. 6. 141 ff.

. The Folio and editors give the Third Citizen's speech

as prose, and the last line (reading "Shall's") most improbably thus,

Good work, you and your cry ! Shall's to the Capitol ?

S6 | hated, | and s6 | banish 'd: but he | has a merit,

.4.7. 48. In a most | dear particular. He | call'd me father :

5- I- 3- For mercy to his | country. Therefore, | let us hence,

5- I- 73-

Murdering impossibility, to make 5. 3. 61. Thine \ enmity | is most j capital : thou | barrest | us

5. 3. 104.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 363

The Folio ruins the line by abbreviating thus, Thine enmity's most capital : thou barr'st us. Think'st thou it | honourable | for a noble man 5.3. 154. I | had been | mercenary. | — So he did, my lord :

5.6.41.

The | charges | of the | action. We have | made | peace

5. 6. 79. Counsel of the | war, but at his nurse's tears 5. 6. 97.'

'Titus Andronkm (22) :

Rome's readiest | champions, rejpose you here in rest,

i. i. 151.

Tendering our | sister's honour and our own. i. i. 476.

Seest thou this | letter? take it up, I pray thee, 2. 3. 46.

Ay, come, Sejmiramis, nay, | barbarous Tamora ; 2. 3. 1 18.

Do this, and be a | charitable [ murderer. 2. 3. 178.

Threatening the | welkin with | his big-|swollen | face?

3. i. 224.

Gnawing with thy | teeth ; and be this dismal sight

3. i. 263.

Flattering myself, as if it were the Moor 3. 2. 72. Lucius, I | will. 4. i. 29.

Lucius, what | book is that she tosseth so? 4. i. 41. My mother | gave it me. — For | love of her that's gone,

4- I- 43- Lucius, I'll | fit thee; and withal, my boy 4. i. 114.

Lucius and | I will go brave it at the court: 4. i. 121. Ay, marry, | will we, sir; and | we'll be waited on.

4. i. 122. Thou hast undone our mother. | — Villain, I have

done1... 4. 2. 76. Publius, how | now ! how now, my masters ! What !

4- 3- 35-

Publius, come | hither, Caius, and Valentine! 5. 2. 151. Then, noble | auditory, | be it known to you, 5. 3. 96. Lo, hand in hand, A | Lucius and | I will fall. 5. 3. 136.

1 Two words at the end of the line are here omitted.

36.4 APPENDIX IV

Lucius our | emperor; for well I know 5. 3. 139. Lucius, all | hail! Rome's royal emperor! 5. 3. 141. Lucius, all | hail! Rome's gracious governor! 5. 3. 146.

Romeo and Juliet (38) :

JuL How now ! who calls ?

Nurse. Your mother.

JuL | Madam, I am | here.

i- 3- 5-

Sitting in the [ sun under the dove-house wall; i. 3. 27.

I | never should for) get it : 'Wilt thou not, Jule ?' quoth he ;

I- 3- 47- Tempering extremities with extreme sweet, n. Pro/. 14.

Romeo ! my | cousin Romeo ! Romeo ! — He is wise ;

2. i. 3.

Romeo, good | night: I'll to my truckle-bed; 2. i. 39. Romeo ! — My | dear ? — At what o'clock to-morrow ?

2. 2. 168. Chequering the | eastern clouds with streaks of light ;

2. 3. 2.

Romeo shall | thank thee, daughter, for us both. 2. 6. 22. Gentlemen, good | den; a word with one of you. 3.1.41. Romeo, ajway! begone! 3. i. 137. Romeo, that j spake him fair, bid him bethink 3. i. 158. Romeo slew | Tybalt, Romeo must not live. 3. i. 186. Romeo slew | him, he [ slew Mercutijo; 3. i. 187. Romeo, that | kilFd him, he is banished; 3. 2. 70. 'Romeo is | banish|ed'; to speak that word, 3. 2. 122. All slain, all dead: A | 'Romeo is | banished' ! 3. 2. 124. Romeo, come | forth; come forth, thou fearful man :

3- 3- i- Being a dijvine, a | ghostly | confess|or, 3. 3. 49.

Wert thou as young as | I, A j Juliet thy | love, 3. 3. 65. Hark, how they knock! — Who's there ? — | Romeo, ajrise;

3- 3- 74- Piteous prejdicament ! | — Even so lies she, 3. 3. 86.

Thy j tears are | womanish, thy | wild | acts dejnote

3. 3. no.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 365

Every good | hap to you that chances here: 3. 3. 171. Look to it, | think on it, I | do not use to jest. 3. 5. 191. Trust to it, bejthink you ; I will not be forsworn.

3- 5- !97- Romeo's a | dishclout to him : an eagle, madam,

3. 5. 221.

Juliet, on | Thursday early will I rouse you: 4. i. 42. Romeo, I | come! this do I drink to thee. 4. 3. 58. Marry, and ajmen, how sound is she asleep! 4. 5. 8. Flower as she | was, dejflowerjed by | him. 4. 5. 37. Well, A | Juliet, I will | lie with thee to-night. 5. i. 34.

A quinquesyllabic. .

Tybalt, liest | thou there | in thy | bloody | sheet?

5- 3- 97- Romeo, O, | pale! — Who else? what, Paris too?

5- 3- '44- Come, go, good | Juliet; I | dare no longer stay. 5.3. 159.

Sovereign, here | lies the County Paris slain; 5. 3. 195. Look, and thou shalt | see. 5. 3. 213 (a dipody). Romeo, there | dead, was husband to that Juliet;

5- 3- 23r- Timon of Athens (36):

Good | day, sir. — I am | glad you are | well.

I. I. i (a tripody). A most incomparable | man, breathed, as it were,

i. i. 10.

Periods his | comfort.— Noble Ventidius ! Well; i. 1.99. My daughter. — Does she | love him? — She is | young and

apt: i. i. 131. And all this | courtesy ! The | strain of man's bred out

i. i. 259. Nay, my lords, | ceremony | was but dejvised at | first

i. 2. 15. Fie, thou art a | churl ; you have got a humour there

i. 2. 26.

They \ say, my lords, | ira furor brevis est, But j yond man is | ever | angry. | Go, let him | have

366 APPENDIX IV

A \ table by him|self, for | he does | neither af|fect Company, nor | is he fit for it indeed, i. 2. 28 ff.

Most of the passage w. 28-53 *s misdivided in the Folio, and printed as prose by the Cambridge editors.

Prithee, let my | meat make thee | silent, i. 2. 36. What a number of | men eat | Timon, and he | sees them

not! i. 2. 41.

If j I were a | huge man, I should | fear to drink at meals,

i. 2. 51.

Happier is | he that has no friend to feed i. 2. 209. Do what they | would ; are sorry — you are | honourable —

2. 2. 215.

He might have tried Lord | Lucius, or Lu cullus ; and now Ven|tidius is | wealthy | too, whom he rejdeem'd From j prison : | all these | owe their es tates un to him.

Serv. My | lord, 3. 3. 2 ff.

•

The lines are misdivided in the Folio and modern texts.

He has | much disjgraced me | in it; lam | angry | at him,

3- 3- J3- Excellent !

Your lordship is a goodly villain. The devil

Knew not what he | did when he | made man | politic;

He | cross'd himself | by it; | and I cannot think

But in the end the villainies of man

Will set him clear. How fairly this lord strives

To ap | pear foul ! takes | virtuous | copies to be | wicked,

Like those that | under hot | ardent zeal would set

Whole realms on fire: 3. 3. 27 fF.

The passage is printed as prose in all texts.

Is | money. — So is | theirs and ours. — And Sir Philotus too! 3. 4. 5.

What do you think the hour? A | — Labouring for | nine.

3- 4- 7- I wonder | on it; he was | wont to shine at seven. 3. 4. 9.

Ay, but the days are wax'd | shorter | with him: you must

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 367

Consider that a | prodigal course is like the sun's,

But not, like his, recoverable : I fear

'Tis deepest winter in Lord Timon's purse; 3. 4. loff.

The lines are misdivided in the Folio and modern texts.

Tear me, | take me ; and the | gods | fall upjon you !

3. 4. 100.

Lucius, Lu|cullus, and Sempronius; all: 3. 4. 112. A j moderate | table. — Be it | not in | thy care; | go,

3. 4. 117.

Is valour misbegot, and | came into the | world 3. 5. 29. He has j made too | much | plenty | with them ; he | is A j sworn | rioter; he | has a sin that often 3. 5. 67 f.

Misdivided in Folio and modern texts.

With it beat j out his | brains ! A | Piety and | fear,

4. i. 15. With | thy most | operant | poison ! What is | here ? A j

gold? Yellow, | glittering, | precious | gold ! A | No, gods,

4. 3. 25 f.

Modern texts, partly following the F., ruin both these fine lines by beginning the second with "Gold!"

The Folio, after its habit of reducing lines to the plain norm, has made havoc of the passage iv. 3. 102 ff. Editors have perceived this, but have failed to mend matters, largely, no doubt, because precluded by the traditional prosody from recognising certain normal features of Shakespeare's verse. F. gives :

Tim. Warr'st thou 'gainst Athens?

Ak. I Timon, and have cause.

Tim. The gods confound them all in thy conquest, And thee after, when thou hast conquer'd.

Ak. Why me, Timon?

Tim. That by killing of villaines 105

Thou was't borne to conquer my country. Put up thy gold. Go on, heeres gold, go on ;

368 APPENDIX IV

Be as a planetary plague when Jove 108

Will o'er some high-vic'd city, hang his poison In the sicke ayre:...

Shakespeare's division must have been this :

Tim. Warrest thou Against | Athens?

Ale. Ay, Timon, | and have | cause.

Tim. The • gods conjfound them all j in thy | conquest,

and | thee After, when j thou hast | conquer'd !

Ale. Why j me, A [ Timon? 104

Tim. That by killing of villains thou wast born to

conquer

My country. Put up thy gold. Go on ! — here's gold, — Go j on ! A | be as a | planetary \ plague, when j Jove. . . 107

"Conquest" in v. 103 is strongly emphatic, the meaning being " by thy conquering." In " The gods. . .conquer'd " we have the 4-foot lyric measure e repeated, and the lines are now musical and perfect. Note that in repeat ing the measure this veritable "Arabian bird" among metrists instinctively varies its rhythm ; the pause at "after" makes all the difference. This is the sort of thing he did without stopping to think for a moment. By good hap F.'s division shows the measures.

Dost it enforcedly; thou wouldst | courtier | be again, Wert thou not beggar. 4. 3. 241 f.

A quinquesyllabic. F. gives "thou'dst," but we want wouldst in full to bring out the sense. Metrically the two clauses are distinct ; the first, like countless others, ends with a trisyllabic foot, and the second begins with a double upbeat. Shakespeare was not writing for the pentapody as such, but for varied measures made to fall into pentapodies for form's sake ; accordingly, and especially since there is a decided pause before "thou,"

THE QUADRISYLLAB1C FOOT 369

his ear would find no more objection in the resultant quinquesyllabic than in numerous other places where one line ends with a trisyllabic foot and the next begins with a double upbeat. This happens even where there is enjambement.

Would poison were ojbedient and | knew my mind !

4. 3. 297.

To their | whole | being ! I am | rapt, and cannot cover

5. i. 67. Offering the | fortunes of his former days, 5. I. 127.

Julius Caesar (28) :

So soon as that spare Cassius. He | reads much ; 1.2.201. Your ear is good. | Cassius, what < a > | night is this !

i. 3. 42.

A quinquesyllabic, if we insert "a," which seems to be required.

Cassius from | bondage will deliver Cassius: i. 3. 90. O Cassius, if you could but win the noble Brutus to our | party, — i . 3. 1 40 f.

The lines are misdivided in the Folio and modern texts.

Decius, well | urged: I think it is not meet, 2. i. 155. Let us be | sacrifices, | but not butchers, Caius. 2.1. 166. Portia, what | mean you? wherefore rise you now?

2. i. 234.

Portia is | Brutus' mistress, not his wife. 2. i. 287. Hark, hark ! one | knocks : A | Portia, go | in awhile ;

2. i. 304.

Decius, go | tell them Caesar will not come. 2. 2. 68. Cassius or | Caesar never shall turn back,

For I will slay my|self. A | — Cassius, be | constant:

3. i. 21 f. Cassius, go | you into the other street, 3. 2. 3.

They were \ villains, murderers: the | will ! A | read the J

will. 3. 2. 160. B. 24

37°

APPENDIX IV

142.

147.

Room for [ Antony, most | noble | Antonjy! 3. 2. 170. That made them | do it ; they are | wise and honourable,

3. 2. 218.

And Brutus | Antony, there | were an Antony 3. 2. 231. Peace, A | ho ! hear | Antony. Most | noble Antonjy !

3- 2. 239-

Then in my tent, A | Cassius, enjlarge your griefs, 4. 2. 46. Im j mediately | to us. | — Lucius, a | bowl of wine !

4. 3. No man bears sorrow better : — | Portia is | dead.

4- 3-

Lucius! My | gown. Farewell, good Messala: 4. 3. 231. Answering bejfore we do demand of them. 5. i. 6. Took it too | eagerly: his | soldiers fell to spoil, 5. 3. 7. I shall | find | time, A | Cassius, I shall | find | time.

5- 3- I03-

A quinquesyllabic, as I read the line ; but its rhythm is as difficult to decide upon as is that of Tennyson's "Take your own time, Annie, take your own time."

Labeo and | Flavius, set our battles on: 5. 3. 108. Hark thee, Dar|danius. — Shall | I do such a deed?

5. 5- 8. Macbeth (18):

Might have been | mine ! A | only I have | left to | say,

i. 4. 20. Which | do but what they | should, by doing every thing

1. 4. 26. Chief | nourisher in | life's | feast, — A

Lady M. What do you

Look on it ajgain I dare not. — Infirm of purpose ! 2. 2. 52. Who can be | wise a|mazed, | temperate and | furious, ||

2. 3- 95- Beauteous and | swift, the minions of their race, 2. 4. 15.

Contending against o|bedience, as | they would make

2. 4. 17. Given to the | common enemy of man, 3. i. 69.

mean? 2. 2. 40.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 371

And j champion me [ to the | utterance ! Who's | there ?

3- I- 72. The moment | of it ; for it | must be done to-night,

3- '• I3I- Prej pares for | some atjtempt of war. A | — Sent he to

Macjduff? 3. 6. 39. And j top of | sovereignty. | — Listen, but speak not to it.

4. i. 88.

Oftener up|on her knees than on her feet, 4. 3. no. To thy good truth and honour. | Devilish Macjbeth

4- 3- I17- The spirits that know

All j mortal | consequences | have pronounced me thus.

5- 3- 4 f- Our sitting down bejfore it. — 'Tis his | main | hope:

5. 4. 10. Signifying | nothing. 5. 5. 28.

And '- break it to our | hope. I will not fight with thee.

5. 8. 22. Hamlet (39) :

How now, Hojratio! you | tremble | and look | pale:

i. 1.53.

Did • slay this | Fortinbras; who, | by a | seal'd com|pact,

i. i. 86.

The j memory be | green, and that it us befitted i. 2. 2.

That father lost, lost | his, and the survivor bound

i. 2. 90. Perhaps an Alexandrine.

Fie on it! ah | fie! 'tis an unweeded garden, i. 2. 135. Hail to your | lordship ! — I am | glad to see you well :

i. 2. 160.

Indeed ? I | heard it not ; it | then draws near the season

i. 4. 5. Perhaps an Alexandrine. F. gives " then it."

Carrying, I | say, the stamp of one defect, i. 4. 31. Heaven will direct it. — Nay, let's follow him. i. 4. 91. Whither wilt thou | lead me? speak; I'll go no further.

i. 5. i.

24 — -2

372 . APPENDIX IV

Y£s, faith, | heartily. — There's | no offence, my lord.

i-5- 135- A worthy | pioner ! Once | more remove, good friends.

i. 5. 163. Or j 'If we | list to | speak,' or 'There | be, and if they |

might,' 1.5. 177. God : willing, shall not | lack. A | Let us go | in together;

1. 5. 187.

He closes thus : I know the | gentleman ; I | saw him Yesterday, or the other day, or then

Or then, with such or such, and as you say, 2. i. 55 ff.

All texts end ^.55 with "gentleman," and 56 with "day," making 57 a needless and dreadfully bad Alex andrine.

Videlicet a | brothel, or j so forth. See you now ; 2. i. 62. So Q. and F. Editors make "See you now" a short line.

I had not | quoted him : I | fear'd he did but trifle,

2. i. 112. Run barefoot up and | down, A | threatening the j flames

2. 2. 528. Yet I, a dull and | muddy-mettled | rascal, peak,

2. 2. 593.

Editors make "Yet I" a separate dipody.

Tweaks me by the | nose ? A | gives me the lie in the throat,

2. 2. 601. Out of his | lunacies. — We | will ourselves provide :

3- 3- 7- Pray you, be | round with him.

Ham. (without) Mother, mother, mother ! Queen. I'll | warrant you, | fear me j not.

Withdraw, I hear him coming. 3. 4. 5 f.

This is the arrangement of Q. and F. The Cambridge Shakespeare prints the Queen's words as prose ; the Globe edition begins i>. 6 with "Fear me not."

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 373

Hamlet's words, omitted by Q., are extra metrum. The line may be an Alexandrine, beginning "Pray you, be j round j with him."

To serve in such a | difference. What | devil was it

3- 4- 76. Stew'd in corruption, | honeying and | making love

3- 4- 93- But \ never the of jfence. To bear all smooth and even,

4- 3- /• Follow him at | foot; tempt him with speed aboard;

4. 3- 56. Bestial objlivion, or some craven scruple 4. 4. 40.

Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds. 4. 5. 15. O'erbears your | officers. The | rabble call him lord;

4. 5. 102. Of your j dear | father, is it | writ in your revenge

4. 5. 140.

O heavens! is it | possible a | young maid's wits 4.5. 159. Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke; 4. 7. 174. As to | peace-|parted | souls. A | — Lay her in the | earth :

5. i. 261.

A | ministering | angel shall my sister be, 5. i. 264. Subscribed it, | gave it the imjpression, placed it safely,

5. 2. 52. Of mighty | opposites. — Why, | what a king is this !

5. 2. 62. To | quit him with this | arm ? and j is it not | to be i

damn'd, 5. 2. 68. And hurt my | brother. — I am | satisfied in nature,

5- 2. 255. Fallen on the injventors' heads: all this can I 5. 2. 396.

A quinquesyllabic.

King Lear (40) :

Interest of | territory, | cares of state, i . i . 51. That troop with | majesty. Our|self, by monthly course,

i. i. 134.

374

APPENDIX IV

The \ sway, rejvenue, execution | of the | rest, I. i. 139. The | region of my | heart : be Kent unmannerly,

i. i. 147. To wage against thine | enemies ; nor | fear to lose it,

i. i. 158. Dower'd with our | curse, and stranger'd with our oath,

i. i. 207.

Fallen into | taint: which to believe of her, i. i. 224. To speak and | purpose not; since | what I well intend,

i. i. 228. Fairest Cor|delia, that | art most rich, being poor,

i. i. 253.

The | curiosity of | nations to deprive me, i. 2. 4. In rank and | not-to-be-en-|dured | riots, j Sir, i. 4. 222. As you are old and | reverend, you [ should be wise, i . 4. 26 1 . Shows like a riotous | inn : A | epicurism and | lust

i. 4- 265. A quinquesyllabic.

Woe, that too | late rejpents, — A | O, sir, are you | come ?

i. 4- 279.

'Tis | politic and | safe to let him keep at point A hundred | knights : A | yes, that on every dream

i. 4. 347 f-

The Folio and editors begin the second line with "At point," making it an Alexandrine. The passage is not in the Quarto.

In | cunning I must j draw my sword upon you : draw, Seem to defend yourself: now quit you well. 2. i. 31 f.

The Folio and editors begin the second line with "Draw," again producing a gratuitous Alexandrine, since the word must be strongly stressed. The Quarto prints as prose, omitting the second " draw."

Mumbling of wicked charms, A | conjuring the | moon

2. i. 41.

Bold in the quarrel's right, A | roused to the enjcounter,

2. i. 56.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 375

Who wears no | honesty. Such | smiling rogues as these,

2. 2. 79.

Under the allowance of your great aspect, 2. 2. 112.

What was the of [fence you gave him ? — I never gave him any: 2. 2. 121.

Losses their | remedies. All | weary and over-watch'd,

2. 2. 177.

Enforce their | charity. Poor | Turlygood ! poor Tom !

2. 3. 20.

* Fiery ' ? what, | * quali ty ' ? why, Gloucester, Gloucester,

2. 4. 97.

Fiery ? the | fiery | duke ? A | Tell the hot duke that —

2. 4. 105.

Age is unnecessary : | on my knees I beg 2. 4. 157. No! A | rather I abjure all roofs, and choose 2. 4. 211. Hold | amity? 'Tis | hard, almost impossible. 2. 4. 245. The body's j delicate: the | tempest in my mind 3.4. 12. Save • what beats | there. A | Filial ingratitude! 3. 4. 14. For lifting | food to it? But | I will punish home:

3. 4. 16. And what conjfederacy | have you with the traitors

3- 7- 44- Angering itjself and others. Bless thee, master! 4. 1.41.

Let the superfluous and | lust-jdieted | man 4. i. 70.

Which | tie him to an | answer. Our wishes on the way

4. 2. 14.

I will be | jovial : come, come, I am a king, 4. 6. 203. To be my child Corjdelia. — And | so I am, I am. 4. 7. 70. De'sire him | to go in; A | trouble him no | more

4. 7. 81. Shunn'd my abhorr'd sojciety ; but | then, A | finding

5. 3. 210.

Cor jdelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha! 5.3.271.

Othello (55):

Despise me, if I do not. Three | great ones of the | city,

i. i. 8.

376 APPENDIX IV

For naught but | provender, and | when he's old, cashier'd :

i. i. 48. Do | well [ thrive by them, and | when they have lined

their coats, i. i. 53. 'Zounds, sir, you are [ robb'd; for shame, put on your

gown ; I.I. 86. Sir, I will | answer | anything. But | I be|seech you,

I. I. 121.

0 heaven ! How got she out ? O j treason of the | blood ;

i. i. 170.

1 did full hard for|bear him. But I | pray you, sir,

i. 2. 10. Without a prompter. | Whither will you | that I | go

i. 2. 84.

She is abused, A | stolen from me | and corrupted i. 3. 60. In • speaking for my|self. Yet, by your gracious patience,

1. 3. 89. And sold to | slavery, of | my redemption thence,

i. 3. 138. I humbly beseech you, projceed to the af |fairs of state.

i. 3. 220. Either j for her | stay or | going: the afjfair cries | haste,

1. 3. 277.

Cassio's a | proper | man : A | let me | see now; i. 3. 398. Even • till we | make the j main and the ajerial | blue

2. I. 39. Does tire the | ingener. How | now ! A | who has put j

in? 2. i. 65.

'Tis one lago, | ancient to the | gener|al. 2. i. 66. Players in your | housewifery, and | housewives | in your

beds. 2. i. 113. And Cassio | following him with determined sword,

2. 3. 227. Making it light to Cassio. | Cassio, I | love thee,

2. 3. 248. Does it j not go | well ? A | Cassio hath | beaten thee,

2. 3. 380. I never knew a | Florentine more | kind and honest.

3- i- 42-

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 377

And great afjfinity, and | that in wholesome wisdom

3. i. 49.

To the j last | article: my | lord shall never rest; 3. 3. 22. Cassio, my | lord ! No, sure, I cannot think it, 3. 3. 38.

Oth. Certain, | men should be | what they | seem. Iag°- Why, | then I | think

Cassio's an | honest man.

Oth. Nay, yet there's more in this :

3. 3. I28f. For the rearrangement see no. 32, p. 115.

Matching thy | inference. 'Tis | not to make me jealous

3-3- l83- And \ not their j appetites ! I had | rather be a toad,

3. 3. 270. A quinquesyllabic.

Give it me a|gain: poor lady, she'll run mad 3. 3. 317. Dangerous conjceits are in their natures poisons,

3- 3- 326- Pioners and | all, had tasted her sweet body, 3. 3. 346.

Prick'd to it by | foolish honesty and love, 3. 3. 412. 'Twould make her | amiable j and subdue my father

3- 4- 59- Our other healthful | members even | to that | sense

3. 4. 147. I will go seek him. | Cassio, walk | hereabout:

3- 4- 165.

Cassio came | hither: I shifted him away, 4. i. 79. That dotes on | Cassio; as | 'tis the strumpet's plague

4. 1.97. Save you | worthy | general ! — With | all my j heart, sir.

4. i. 229. Truly an ojbedient lady: 4. i. 259.

Very o|bedient. Projceed you in your tears. 4. i. 267. Y6s, you have | seen | Cassio and | she to|gether. 4. 2. 3. Given to cap|tivity me and my utmost hopes, 4. 2. 51. A halter | pardon him ! and | hell | gnaw his bones !

4. 2. 136.

378 APPENDIX IV

The | poor soul sat | sighing by a | sycamore | tree,

4. 3. 41 (song).

The voice of | Cassio: Ijago keeps his word. 5. I. 28. Light, A | gentlemen: I'll | bind it with my shirt. 5. I. 73. Do you • see, A | gentlemen ? nay, | guiltiness will speak,

5. i. 109.

Cassio hath | here been set on in the dark 5. i. 112. Since | guiltiness I | know not ; but yet I feel I fear.

5. 2. 39.

Cassio, my | lord, has kill'd a young Venetian 5. 2. 112. What | needs this iteration, woman ? I say thy husband.

5. 2. 150. Poor | Desde|mona! I am | glad thy father's dead:

5. 2. 204. A thousand times committed; | Cassio conjfess'd it:

5. 2. 212. 1 1 am not | sorry neither, | I would | have thee | live ;

5. 2. 289.

Antony and Cleopatra (62) :

Fulvia per|chance is angry; or, who knows i. i. 20. Call | in the | messengers. As | I am Egypt's queen,

i. i. 29. Is Caesar's | homager, else | so thy cheek pays shame

i. i. 31. Lord Ajlexas, | sweet Ajlexas, most j anything Ajlexas,

i. 2. i.

Prose in the texts.

Fulvia thy | wife first came into the field. I. 2. 92. I hear him as he | flatter'd. — Labijenus — j this is | stiff news — i. 2. 103.

V'v. 103 ff. need re-division; see p. 204, no. 2.

From | Syria to | Lydia | and to I|onia. i. 2. 106. Sec. Mess. Fulvia thy | wife is dead. Ant. Where died she?

Sec. Mess. In Sicyon :

i. 2. 122.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 379

For the | main | soldier : whose | quality, going on,

1. 2. 197.

More I womanly than | he : A | hardly gave | audience, | or

1.4. 7.

More | fiery by night's | blackness; hereditary, 1.4. 13. You are : too injdulgent. Let us | grant it is | not ajmiss

i. 4. 16. The texts, ending with "not," misdivide, I think.

Goes ;' to and | back, A | lackeying the | varying | tide,

1. 4- 4°-

They make in | Italy; the | borders maritime i. 4. 51. Hirtius and | Pansa, consuls, at thy heel i. 4. 58.

So j much as | lank'd not. — 'Tis | pity of him. | — Let his | shames i. 4. 71.

The texts misdivide.

With looking on his life. A | — Sovereign of | Egypt, hail !

I- 5- 34- Looking for | Antony. But all the charms of love,

2. I. 20.

Chiefly in the | world ; more laugh'd at, that I should Once | name you j derogately, | when to sound your name

2. 2. -33 f. Before did | satisfy you. If | you will patch a quarrel,

2. 2. 52.

A quinquesyllabic. If we retain F.'s "you'll," there is a quadrisyllabic ; but the stresses then fall unnaturally. Perhaps the line is an Alexandrine.

Go | to, then; your conjsiderate stone. 2. 2. 112. Fly offour loves again. A | — Happily, ajmen ! 2. 2. 155. Whistling to the | air; which, but for vacancy, 2. 2. 221. Her j infinite va|riety: other women cloy 2. 2. 241. Thither! — If you | can, your reason? — I see it in

2. 3. 12.

Report the feature of Ocjtavia, her | years, 2. 5. 112. With the j arm'd | rest, A | courtiers of | beauteous free dom, 2. 6. 17.

38o APPENDIX IV

Better to leave | undone, than | by our deed acquire Too high a fame when him we serve is away. 3. I. 15 f.

The Folio and editors make the second line an Alex andrine, beginning with "Acquire."

He | purposeth to j Athens: whither, with what haste

3- i- 35- Though you be j therein | curious, the | least | cause

3- 2. 35- He j gave to Alexander ; to Ptolemy he assign'd

Syria, Cijlicia, and Phoenicia: she 3. 6. i^.f. Of Paphla gonia ; the | Thracian king Adallas; 3.6.71. Only the a|dulterous Antony, most large 3. 6. 93. Soldier, thou | art: but his whole action grows 3. 7. 59. I will j ask j Antony. Sir, sir, thou art so leaky 3. 13. 63. Authority | melts from me : of | late, when I cried 'Ho!'

3. 13. 90.

It is my | birth-day : I had | thought to have held it poor, But since my lord is Antony again, I will be | Cleo patra. — We will | yet do | well.

3. 13. 185 ff. I have re-divided the lines.

Soldiers, have | careful watch. — And you. Good night,

good night. 4. 3. 7. Hark! A | — Music, in the | air. A | — Under the earth.

4- 3- 13- Do you | hear, A | masters, do you | hear?

4. 3. 21 (a tripody).

Early though it | be, have riveted on their trim, 4. 4. 22. He goes forth | gallantly. That | he and Caesar might

4. 4. 36. Then | Antony — but | now — well, on. 4. 4. 38.

A tripody, closing the scene.

Antony is | come in|to the field. — Go charge Agrippa

4. 6. 7.

Do something | mingle with our | younger brown, yet have we 4. 8. 20.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 38 1

Mardian, go | tell him I have slain myself; 4. 13. 7. And word it, prithee, piteously : hence, Mardian, and | bring me how he takes my death.

4- 13- 9f-

With re-division. With the usual division "piteously" is a quadrisyllable ; but there is a gain in the pathetic prolongation of the syllables over two feet.

And time is at his | period. — A|las, and woe! 4. 14. 107.

Ant. When did she send thee?

Dlo. Now, my lord.

Ant. Where is she ?

Dio. Lock'd

In her j monu|ment : she | had a | prophesying | fear

4. 14. 119 f.

The Folio and editors begin v. 120 with "Lock'd." The arrangement is impossible, for it entails two quadrisyllables in the line, which must then begin, "Lock'd in her | monument : she | had." We must make v. 1 1 9 an Alexandrine, the final syllable of which is supplied by a fresh speaker. There are abundant parallels to this; cp. in this play 2. 6. 72, 76, 83, and 4. 2. i. See also pp. 31 f.

His death's up|on him, but not | dead. 4. 15. 7 (atripody). Valiantly | vanquish'd. Now my spirit is going ; 4.15.58. The breaking of so great a thing should make A | greater | crack: the | round world | should have shook |

lions

Into | civil streets, and citizens to their dens: The death of | Antony is | not a single doom ; In the j name lay a moiety j of the j world.

Der. He is | dead, A | Caesar, 5. I. 14 ff.

The Folio ends v. 15 with "round world." Various conjectures have been proposed in order to mend the line, but perhaps only rearrangement is needed.

382 APPENDIX IV

Did steer hu|manity : but | you, A | gods, will give us

5. i. 32.

Look him in the | face. A | — This I'll rejport, dear | lady.

5. 2. 32.

I ': will not | sleep neither : this | mortal house I'll | ruin,

5. 2. 51. See note on no. 81, p. 221.

Rejmemberest thou | any that have died of it? 5. 2. 248. What work is here ! A | Charmian, is j this well done ?

5. 2. 328.

That you did fear is done. A | — Bravest at the last, She | levell'd at our | purpos es, and j being | royal,

5. 2. 338 f. Cymbeline (68):

Unto a poor but worthy | gentleman : she's | wedded ;

I. i. 7. A : sample to the | youngest, | to the | more ma|ture

1. i. 48. Leave us to our selves, and make yourself some comfort

i. i. 155.

By j gentlemen at | hand. — I am very glad of it. i. i. 164. Senseless | linen! | happier therein than | I! i. 3. 7. Be wisely | definite: nor | in the appetite; i. 6. 43. Takes | prisoner the | wild | motion of mine eye, 1.6.103. So long attended thee. If | thou wert honourable,

i. 6. 142. All's well, sir : take my | power in the | court for yours.

1. 6. 179. The • treasure of her | honour. No | more. A | To what |

end? 2. 2. 42. Screw'd to my | memory ? She hath been reading late

2. 2. 44.

The one is Caius | Lucius. — A | worthy fellow, 2. 3. 60. A hilding for a | livery, a | squire's | cloth, 2. 3. 128. A pander, not so j eminent. — Projfane | fellow !

2. 3. 129. The | wager you have | laid. — Then, if you can, be pale;

2. 4. 95. Misdivided in the texts.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 383

All sworn and | honourable : — | they induced to steal it !

2. 4. 125. I will go there and | do it, in the | court, before

2. 4. 148.

A | pudency so | rosy, the | sweet | view of | it 2. 5. n. Thyself domestic | officers — thine | enejmy: 3. i. 65. 'Shall give thee opportunity.' O | damn'd | paper!

3. 2. 19. Some griefs are medicinable ; j that is one of them,

3- 2. 33.

A | franklin's j housewife, j — Madam, you were | best con-[ sider. 3. 2. 79.

The Folio gives "you're," but see p. 176, no. 44.

In place of greater state. I'll meet you in the | valleys.

3- 3- 78. Smile to it bejfore: if winterly, thou need'st 3. 4. 13.

And j cry myself ajwake ? that's | false to his | bed, A j is

it? 3. 4. 46. My disobedience ajgainst the king my father, 3. 4. 91.

The Folio gives "'gainst.."

I have not slept one wink. A | — Do it, and to | bed then.

3. 4. 103.

Lucius the | Roman, comes to Milford-Haven 3. 4. 145. Though | peril to my | modest|y, not | death of | it,

3- 4- 155. With : joy he will em|brace you, for | he is | honourable,

3. 4. 179. So farewell, noble | Lucius. — Your | hand, my lord.

3- 5- 12.

Lucius hath | wrote al| ready to the | emperor 3. 5. 21. And | strokes | death | to her. — Where | is she, | sir? How can her conjtempt be answer'd ? — Please you, sir,

3. 5. 41 f.

The texts end the first line with "How."

384

APPENDIX IV

That I will be | given to the | loud'st of noise we make.

3- 5- 44- Made me to blame in | memory. — Her | doors are lock'd ?

3- 5- 51- Lucius pro|consul : and to you the tribunes, 3. 7. 8.

To | one not | sociable: I | am not | very sick, | since I can | reason | of it : | pray you, trust me here : 4. 2.

The Folio and texts begin the second line with "Since." This makes " reason of it" a quadrisyllable, but I know of no example of a measure and sentence ending with a completed quadrisyllable. See no. 61, p. 179.

I am j bound to you. — And | shalt be | ever.

4. 2. 46 (a tripody).

But his | neat | cookery ! he | cut our | roots in | charac- 4. 2. 49.

Dowden (Arden edition) writes, "I believe the scansion [on iambic base] to be 'But his neat cookjry' he cut J our roots | in ch'racters.'"

I | cannot | tremble at it : | were it Toad, or Adder, Spider, 'twould | move me | sooner. — To thy | further j fear, 4. 2. 90 f.

Or the second line, divided between two speakers, may have six feet, but not so well; "To" is better without any stress whatever. The Folio and later texts include "Spider" in the first line. I incline to think it may have been interpolated from Richard III i. 2. 19, "adders, spiders, toads."

Or \ they so | suffering : then | on good ground we fear,

4- 2. 143.

Might j easiliest | harbour in ? Thou blessed thing !

4. 2. 206.

By good Eu|riphile our | mother. — Be it so: 4. 2. 234.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 385

Have got the mannish crack, A | sing him to the | ground,

4. 2. 236.

Save that 'Eujriphile' must | be 'Fidele.' — Cadwal,

4. 2. 238.

Editors make "Cadwal" a separate monopody.

This bloody man the | care of it. I | hope I dream ;

4. 2. 297. With | out me | as withjin me; not im|agined, felt.

4. 2. 307. Murderous to the | senses? That confirms it home:

4. 2. 328. And j gentlejmen of | Italy, most | willing | spirits

4-2.338. With the j next | benefit of the | wind. — This forwardness

4. 2. 342. A quinquesyllabic.

And rather father thee than ) master thee. My | friends,

4. 2. 395.

Editors make "My friends" a separate monopody.

All parts of his subjection | loyally. For | Cloten,

4. 3. 19.

What • can from | Italy an|noy us, but we grieve At chances here. Away ! 4. 3. 34 f. (a tripody).

The Folio and editors make the second line a tetrapody beginning with "We grieve."

Even to the | note of the | king, or I'll | fall in | them.

4. 3. 44. Better to | cease to | be. A | Pray, sir, to the | army:

4. 4. 31.

Every good | servant does not all commands: 5. 1.6. Re|vengingly en|feebles me; or could this carl, 5. 2. 4. As | if he | were of | note: A | bring him to the j king.

5- 3- 94-

You shall not now be | stolen, you have j locks upon you :

5- 4- I-

386 APPENDIX IV

And | so I am ajwake. Poor wretches that depend

5. 4. 127. But | beggary and | poor j looks. — No tidings of him?

5. 5. 10. For | you a | mortal | mineral ; which, | being | took,

5- 5- 50. 'Twixt | amorous and | villanjous.A | Being thus quench'd

5- 5- 195- Speak, Ijachimo : I | had you down and might 5. 5. 41 1.

We | term it | mulier : which | mulier^ I divine 5.5.448. Answering the | letter of the oracle, 5. 5. 450.

'The 'Tempest (42) :

But that the sea, | mounting to the | welkin's cheek,

i. 2. 4.

And | Prospero, the | prime duke, being so reputed i. 2. 72. Of : officer and | office, | set all | hearts in the | state

i. 2. 84.

He thinks me now in|capable: con federates — i. 2. in. Fated to the | purpose did Antonio open 1.2. 129. Out of his | charity, who being then appointed, i. 2. 162. Ariel and | all his quality. — Hast thou, spirit, i. 2. 193. And his \ great | person | perish. | Ariel, thy | charge

i. 2. 237. For • mischiefs | manifold and | sorceries | terrijble

i. 2. 265. Thou | strokedst me, and madest j much of me; wouldst |

give me 1.2.333.

Being ': capable of | all | ill! I pitied thee, i. 2. 353. If now 'twere fit to | do it. At the | first | sight They have \ changed | eyes. i. 2. 440 f.

The beginning of Act u., printed as prose in the texts, is excellent verse in Shakespeare's latest manner. The following are some lines that show quadrisyllabics :

Set. Yet—:

Adr. Yet—

Ant. He | could not | miss it.

Adr. It must I needs I be

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 387

Of subtle, tender and delicate temperance. *

Ant. Temperance was a | delicate | wench. A | 43

Seb. Ay, and a | subtle,

As he most learnedly de|liver'd.

Adr. The | air

Breathes upon us | here most j sweetly.

Seb. As | if it had lungs,

And | rotten j ones.

Ant. Or | as it | were per|fumed by a | fen.

Gon. Here is \ every | thing advanjtageous to | life. A | ^ Ant. True,

Save means to live.

Seb. Of that there's none, or little.

Gon. How lush and lusty the j grass | looks ! how green !

Ant. The ground indeed is | tawny.

Seb. With an | eye of | green | in it.

2. i.38ff.

The plays contain no better example of the art with which Shakespeare moulded the natural rhythms of prose into blank verse. In v. 43 "Temperance was a" is a quinquesyllabic.

Than ] we bring | men to j comfort them : the | fault's

your | own.

A Ion. So is the | dearest of the | loss. Gon. My j lord Se|bastian, ||

2. i. 134 f. The lines are misdivided in the texts.

The \ latter end | of his | commonwealth for gets the be ginning. 2. i. 158. Processes to per|suade, — the king his son's alive, 2. i. 236. Whom j I, with this o bedient | steel, three inches of it,

2. I. 283. That's | verily. 'Tis | best we stand upon our guard,

2. i. 321.

Prospero my | lord shall know what I have done: 2. i. 326. And I will kiss thy foot : 1 1 prithee, be my | god. 2. 2. 1 53. To | hearken once ajgain to the suit I made to thee ?

3. 2. 45.

388 APPENDIX IV

*CaL As I j told thee be|fore, I am | subject | to a j tyrant, A • sorcerer, that | by his cunning hath cheated me Of the island.

Ari. Thou | liest. |

Cal. Thou liest, thou | jesting | monkey, | thou :

3. 2.48ff.

The first sentence is printed as prose in the texts.

Lingering perjdition — worse than any death 3. 3. 77. Perform'd, my | Ariel ; a | grace it had, devouring :

3- 3- 84- All three of them are | desperate : their | great | guilt,

3. 3. 104.

Of the \ beast | Caliban and j his confederates 4. I. 140. How fares the king and his | followers? — Con|fined together

5- i. 7- In : virtue than in | vengeance : they being penitent

5. i. 28.

Ir | reparable | is the | loss, and | pati|ence 5. i. 140. Where he himself was | lost, A j Prospero his | dukedom

5. I. 211. And • more diversity of | sounds, all | horri|ble, 5. i. 234.

Capering to | eye her: on a trice, so please you, 5. i. 238. Will | money | buy them ? — Very | like ; A | one of | them

5. I. 265. And • Trinculo is | reeling | ripe : A | where should they |

find This j grand | liquor that hath gilded them ? 5. i. 279 f.

The texts begin the second line with "Find."

Every third | thought shall | be my | grave. — I | long

5. i. 311.

If now 'twere fit to | do it. At the | first | sight

i. 2. 440. Spirits to en [force, A | art to enjchant, Epil. 14.

Pericles (i ) :

Heaven, that I | had thy head ! he has found the meaning:

I. i. 109. Antioch, farejwell ! for wisdom sees, these men i. i. 134-.

THE QUADRISYLLABIC FOOT 389

Thaliard, bejhold, here's poison, and here's gold : i. I. 155. Thaliard, adieu ! Till Pericles be dead, I. i. 170. Or till the | Destinies do | cut his thread of life. i. 2. 108. It pleaseth you, my royal | father, to ex ess 2. 2. 8. He : seems to be a | stranger; but his present is 2. 2. 42. And | furthermore | tell him, we dejsire to know of him

2- 3- 73- A ' gentleman of | Tyre ; my | name, A | Peri|cles ;

2. 3. 81.

Come, A | gentlemen, we | sit too long on trifles, 2. 3. 92. Gentlemen, there's | some of worth would come aboard :

5. i. 9. Being on | shore, A | honouring of | Neptune's triumphs,

5- I- 17- Is it not a | goodly | presence? — She | is a | gallant | lady.

5. i. 66.

If that thy | prosperous and | artificial feat 5. i. 72. This is your | wife. A | — Reverend apjpearer, | no :

5. 3- 18.

APPENDIX V CERTAIN PRONUNCIATIONS

THE word hour (sometimes spelt hower in the Quartos) is common as a disyllabic, and -ire and perhaps -ure are not infrequently disyllabic. Not a few of the examples are from work that is not Shake speare's, and one or two might be read differently.

Trenched in ice, which with an I hour's I heat

T.G. 3.2.7. Or vainly comes the adjmired j princess hither.

L. L. L. i. i. 141.

I promised to injquire | carefully T. S. i. 2. 165. Being \ but the | one half | of an en|tire | sum

L. L. L. 2. i. 131. And f hire | post-horses ; | I will hence to-night.

R.andJ. 5. i. 26. Have • hired | me to undermine the duchess

2 Hen. VI I. 2. 98.

Cowards \ father | cowards, and | base things | sire | base.

Cymb. 4. 2. 26. Being :* purged, a | fire | sparkling in lovers' eyes ;

R. and J. i. i. 197. And, brother York, thy acts in | Irejland,

2 Hen. VI i. i. 194. Lives not alone im|mured | in the brain ;

L. L. L. 4. 3. 328. Shall we | hear from him? | — Be asjsured, | madam,

Cymb. i. 3. 23.

So occasionally other syllables with r following a vowel :

•

CERTAIN PRONUNCIATIONS

Buried some | dear j friend? Hath not | else his | eye

C. ofE. 5. i. 50. Shall pay full | dearjly for this encounter,

I Hen. If $. i. 84. Ap|pear j thus to us? | — I am call'd Dercetas.

A. and C. 5. i. 5. His legs bestrid the ocean, his | rear'd | arm

A. and C. 5. 2. 82. Who hadst deserved | more | than a prison.

Temp. i. 2. 362. And '• let it be | more | than Alcides' twelve.

T.S.i. 2. 258. That Richard be restored | to his blood.

i Hen. VI 3. i. 159. And with my sword I'll keep this | door | safe.

Titus i. i. 288. We | stand up | peer less. A | — Excellent | falsehood !

A. and C. i. i. 40.

Marshal sometimes retains the e of the French marechal, but the example is not Shakespeare's :

Great \ Mar(e)jshal to | Hen(e)rjy the | Sixth.

I Hen. VI 4. 7. 70.

Sometimes a lost e before r is retained, and / is occasionally vocalised :

You that durst swear that your | mist(e)r|ess Bijanca

T. S. 4. 2. 12.

Fair sir, and you my merry | mist(e)ress, T. S. 4. 5. 53. Lavinia will I make my | emp(e)ress. Titus i. i. 240. After the prompter, for our | ent(e)rjance :

R. andJ. i. 4. 8. And common profit of his | count(e)r|y.

2 Hen. VI I. i. 206. Or | be ye not | henceforth | call'd my | child(e)ren.

Titus 2. 3.. 115.

Give Mutius burial with our | breth(e)r|en.

Titus i. i. 348.

But who is man that is not | ang(e)r|y ? Timon 3. 5. 57.

392 APPENDIX V

'Tis | monst(e)r ous. I ago, | who bejgan it ?

Oth. 2. 3. 217. With 'God preserve the good Duke | Humph(e)r|y !'

2 Hen. VI i. I. 162. But how he died, God knows, not | Hen(e)r|y.

2 Hen. VI 3. 2. 131.

Good morrow to this fair assembly. M. Ado 5. 4. 34. Lord | Dougljas, go you and tell him so.

i Hen. IV 5. 2. 33.

A rotten case abides no | handling. 2 Hen. IV 4. i. 161. Methinks his lordship should be | humbl|er ;

i Hen. VI 3. I. 56. She and the Dauphin have been | juggljing.

1 Hen. VI 5. 4. 68. The friends of France our shrouds and | tackl|ings?

3 Hen. VI 5. 4. 1 8.

Prayer occurs several times as distinctly a disyllabic, Gloucester and marriage as trisyllables occasionally, and pageant once :

Ere sun-rise, | prayers | from preserved souls,

M. M. 2. 2. 153.

Open the gates; 'tis | Gloucester that calls.

i Hen. yi i. 3. 4.

To rid her from this second | marri|age,

R. and J. 5. 3. 241.

To play my part in Fortune's | pagejant.

2 Hen. VI i. 2. 67.

In T. G. i. 2. 137 the lost e of moneth (month") reappears in the pronunciation, and probably Grant White is right in restoring it to the text :

I see you have a mon(e)tb's mind to them.

Sometimes the e of the affix -ed is pronounced in verbs ending with a vowel, as su-ed (Titus i. i. 453), buri-edy valu-ed, marri-ed.

CERTAIN PRONUNCIATIONS 393

Many words are either occasionally or always stressed otherwise than in modern speech, as acc&s, aspect, advertised, canonized, character, cement, commendable, com pact (subst.), cdmplete, confessor, conduct (subst.), c6rrosive, confiscate, consort (subst.), contrary, contract (subst.), chas tised, edict, effigies (a four-syllabled word, as in Latin, in A. T. L. 2. 7. 193, "And as mine eye doth his efjfigies witness"), envy, exile, extreme, exact, forlorn, humane, Epicurean, increase (subst.), instinct, maintain, observants, obdurate, opportune, outrage (subst.), perseverance, perspec tive, portent, precepts, plebeians, pursue, pursuit, purveyor, quintessence, receptacle, record (subst.), rheumatic, solemnized, successive, successor, supreme, sepulchre, sinister, sweetheart, secure, sequester d, triumphing; intd, unto, t6-wards (disyll.), without (this occurs in modern poets and is sometimes heard now). Abbott, to whom I am indebted for some words in this list, includes several wrongly, as I think. Among others he gives mature and 6bscure, but it is more probable that in mature, if not in obscure, -ure is a disyllabic (see p. 390 above) :

Of • murderous | lechers: and | in the ma|ture | time

Lear 4. 6. 228. To | rib her | cerejcloth | in the objscure | grave.

M. y. 2. 7. 51.

His | means of | death, his objscure | funer|al.

Hamlet 4. 5. 213.

In the Folio's exhaWd (exhaled], i Hen. IV 5. i. 19, we probably have an instance of improper abbreviation made in order to avoid the resolved foot, and should read (even though Q. has " exhalde "),

And | be no | more an exjhaled | metejor.

394 APPENDIX V

Nor is conjure (entreat) necessarily to be added. It occurs several times, and more than once is obviously stressed as nowadays :

And ' even | in kind | love I | do con|jure thee, ||

r. G. 2. 7. 2.

For | he conjjured her | she should ever keep it.

Oth, 3. 3. 294.

In all the other places -jure may be disyllabic as in

I con j jure | you, by that which you profess,

Macb. 4. i. 50. I conjjure | thee by all the saints in heaven !

C. E. 4. 4. 60.

Shakespeare appears to have distinguished the two senses of the word by the pronunciation, as we do, for it occurs several times with the other meaning, stressed in the modern manner :

Weigh them, it | is as | heavy ; | conjure | with them, Brutus will start a spirit as soon as Caesar.

/. C. i. 2. 146 f.

The following lines, and some others, which might at first sight seem to present examples of unusual accentuation, only need to be properly scanned:

I | speak not of your | soul : our com\pe/Fd \ sins Stand | more for | number than | for ac|compt.

ha. How | say you?

M. M. 2. 4. 57 f. This com'-pelFd \ fortune! — have your mouth fill'd up

Hen. I/ III 2. 3. 87.

Where is she, and how doth she ? and what says My con\ceaPd \ lady to our cancell'd love ? R. andJ. 3. 3. 98. That • thus we | die, while re miss \ traitors j sleep.

i Hen. VI 4. 3. 29. And \ Henry | is my | king, A | Warwick his | subject. ||

3 Hen. PI 5. i . 38.

Not an Alexandrine ending "Warwick | his subjject."

APPENDIX VI1 THE ORDER OF COMPOSITION OF THE PLAYS

NY attempt to place the plays in a precise order of composition lies altogether outside the scope of this book, but since the Metrical Analysis (pp. 16 ff.) seems to have an important bearing on the subject and may possibly be found to modify some existing opinions, a brief reference to it will not, I hope, be thought out of place.

It will have been noticed that the Analysis follows an unusual order. Let me say at once that this is not to be taken as the order in which I should myself place the plays ; beyond what may be said below, I refrain from offering any personal opinions on the question. The order is that in which the Analysis itself appears to place them, unassisted and without reference to any other considerations whatever. What I wish to explain is the method of arriving at this order.

The Analysis was made in the first instance solely for the purpose of showing in tabulated form the frequency of resolutions in Shakespeare's verse, and in its com pilation the plays were examined in no previously determined sequence ; I took next the play which I felt inclined to read next. Of course I was already aware

1 This appendix embodies the substance of a paper read before the Elizabethan Literary Society on April 9, 1919.

396 APPENDIX VI

that the later plays contained a good many more resolu tions than the earliest, but one does not count as one reads, and it was with some surprise that, on completing the Analysis, I found the totals showed a steadily pro gressive increase. There was no sudden break in the figures. At the same time it was plain that this pro gression could not represent the chronological order in detail. The Taming of the Shrew, for instance, was placed by its total of resolutions between Macbeth and Othello. On the other hand, this order by progression of totals was not altogether unreasonable; with exceptions, it accorded at least roughly with opinions generally held. It then occurred to me to see what would be the result, if the various kinds of resolution composing the totals were taken separately into account, since some might be more significant than others. In plays known to be of later date certain features are, in proportion to the total number of resolutions, decidedly commoner than in plays known to be earlier, viz. the double upbeat, resolution of the fifth foot, the quadrisyllabic foot, and the presence of two or more resolutions in the same line. To these must be added the monosyllabic foot and an increase in the proportion of internal to initial resolutions. Using these facts as a guide with what fairness I could, and resolutely endeavouring to dis regard all prepossessions, I proceeded with the test, and the game soon became extremely interesting.

The earliest resolution introduced into blank verse often enough to become a distinct feature was the initial; that is, resolution of the first foot of a line that has no upbeat. In Sackville and Norton's Gorboduc, which

ORDER OF COMPOSITION 397

appeared in 1565 and was the first dramatic blank verse published, there is, if I remember aright, a fair number of initial resolutions but comparatively few internals; and double upbeats, if there are any at all, are extremely rare. Now, only in Shakespeare's earliest plays do we find this proportion. The following tabulation gives percentages :

L. L. L. C. of E. i Hen. VI A. Y. L. Rich. Ill Initials . . 15-4 20 19 20 21-3

Internals . . 15 16 12^9 19 19

The difference between the two numbers in i Henry VIy which contains so little of Shakespeare's verse, though it might have been expected to be the greatest, is remarkable ; the difference in Richard III was no doubt larger before the play was revised. In Shakespeare's subsequent work the proportion is reversed, and while the number of initial resolutions tends to decrease, the number of internals gets larger. Thus in a fairly late play like Cymbeline the percentage of initials is ij'6, and that of internals 37' 5. Accordingly, when in dealing with the earlier and middle plays it is found that any two show the same or about the same total percentage of resolutions, the one that has the larger proportion of initials is presumably the earlier. This distinction does not hold as between plays that come in the last third of the list, these having been written at a time when resolutions of all kinds had become numerous and certain particular kinds had become more prominent. Judged thus The Taming of the Shrew will take an earlier place than that suggested by its total. It has a larger percentage of initial resolutions than any other play,

398 APPENDIX VI

and contains a certain amount of doggerel, which prob ably increases the total by about 5 per cent. If, as I believe, the play contains much verse that is not Shake speare's, it will always be difficult to place, even when all considerations are taken into account. The other features mentioned above were similarly reckoned with; that is to say, a play that for instance showed fewer quadrisyllables or resolutions of the fifth foot was con sidered to demand an earlier place than its neighbour which, with about the same total of resolutions of all kinds, showed more. And so with double upbeats. In a few cases decision was difficult, and another might handle the figures so as to transpose one or two of the items. However that may be, the arrangement as given may, I think, be taken to represent with fair accuracy the indications of the Analysis. The first fifteen are Love's Labour s Lost, A Comedy of Errors, the three parts of Henry VI (anywhere about here or they may come first), A Midsummer Night's Dream, King John, i Henry IV, As Tou Like It, Richard II, The Two Gentle men, i Henry IV, Henry V, the revised edition of Richard III as given in the First Quarto, Titus Andronicus. The next nine fall into something like the following order : Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, All's Well, Julius Caesar, Troilus and Cressida, The Taming of the Shrew, The Winter s Tale. The last twelve appear to arrange themselves thus : Timon, Hamlet, Macbeth, Act Hi. and Act v. Sc. I of Pericles*, Henry VIII (Shakespeare's share), Cymbeliney

1 The Analysis declares that Shakespeare can have had little to do with any other parts of the play.

ORDER OF COMPOSITION 399

Othello^ King Lear^ Measure for Measure^ Coriolanus, The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra.

That any mere verse test should be able of itself to place the plays in an order that could be accepted as presumably correct is not to be expected, and we must not ask it of this one. The totals of resolutions range only from 31 per cent, in 3 Henry VI to 73 per cent, in Antony and Cleopatra^ showing a difference between the highest and lowest of no more than 42. But we are dealing with as many as 36 plays, a number which leaves no room for more than trifling differences between one and another; and though it is plain that Shakespeare did progressively increase the number of resolutions, such an onward movement would naturally be subject to considerable fluctuations. Nevertheless, the order is so far from being absurd or impossible that it evidently affords a substantial basis for final decisions, and I find myself disposed to treat the Analysis with considerable respect in this connexion. With one or two exceptions, its arrangement does not differ from others already proposed much more than they differ from one another, and it has something to say for itself on some of the points where it is in contradiction. Leaving out of account the three parts of Henry VI ^ which cannot be placed with any precision because they contain so little of Shakespeare's work, L. L. L., as we have seen, stands earliest, closely followed by C. ofE. Then comes M. N. D., followed by King John, i Henry IV^ As Ton Like //, Richard 77, and The Two Gentlemen. The totals of resolutions for these six are fairly close, but con sideration of the details mentioned above seems to

400 APPENDIX VI

suggest that M. N. D. is the earliest and T. G. the latest. The last shows twice as many double upbeats as M. N. -D., five times as many resolutions of the fifth foot, and nearly twice as many quadrisyllable feet. As Tou Like It was difficult to place in the group because, although its initial resolutions slightly exceed the in ternals, which might suggest an earlier position, it picks up on some other points.

It has been debated whether King John preceded or followed Richard II ; some high authorities think King John is the later. The total percentage of resolutions is the same for both, but Richard II shows rather more of the fourth foot, five times as many of the fifth, more than twice as many examples of three resolutions in the same line, and nearly twice as many quadrisyllables. These facts seem to me to be decisive. It is true that there are some passages in rime in Richard II which might suggest that it is the earlier of the two, but on the whole the versification is more polished and delicate. Also it is possible to make too much of the rime test as between plays of this period.

The Analysis has nothing to say as to the first appearance of Richard III, since I have not analysed the Folio's text (for what that might be worth) ; but there are independent grounds, as Mr A. W. Pollard has shown, for believing that it followed closely on 3 Henry VI. My figures would place the revised ver sion, that of the First Quarto, close to 2 Henry IV. Titus has been a fruitful subject for discussion. The Analysis declares that, if Shakespeare wrote it all, he did so at a very early date, put it by, and revised it

ORDER OF COMPOSITION 401

later. It does not, however, think for a moment that he wrote the whole of the play; it affirms that he could never have penned such wooden Gorboducian verse as that which forms the bulk of it. At the same time it is strongly disposed to think he lent a hand as reviser of someone else's work. For notwithstanding the large amount of dull purely disyllabic lines, yet thanks to a good deal of verse of a very different kind, the figures place the play by the side of 2 Henry IV and Henry V. As compared with the former, it shows more than twice as many resolutions of the fifth foot, nearly twice as many lines with two or more resolutions, and more than four times as many quadrisyllables, indeed rather more than the number in Henry V. As is the case with Richard III, the versification is extraordinarily uneven. The 47 lines which end Act n. show the quite remark able number of 27 resolutions, an average of 61-7 per cent., or rather more than that of Othello. For these reasons the Analysis is against a very early date for the appearance of the play as (presumably) revised.

The Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet the Analysis would place later than A Midsummer Night's Dream and As Tou Like It, and its figures are, I think, worthy of consideration. In any case it is strong against putting The Merchant of Venice before A Midsummer Night's Dream, as Furnivall does, and still stronger against dating Romeo and Juliet three years earlier than M. N. D. and as early as 1592. It roundly declares that Shakespeare was not writing the kind of verse we find in the Romeo and Juliet of Q2 at that early date or for some years after. Mr Dowden, who believes that

B. 26

402 APPENDIX VI

in an early form the play was first acted in 1591, and that it appeared in its present form as a revision in 1596-7, places The Merchant of Venice and this revised edition of Romeo and Juliet together and about where the Analysis does in the general scheme.

With regard to the position of The Winter s Tale the Analysis finds itself in painful conflict with prevail ing opinion. It asserts that the play must have been written some years before the generally received date 1610, which places it last but one or two in the whole list. I have appealed to it to reconsider this startling decision, but it refuses to budge, and has even con strained me for the nonce, and until better advised, to hold a brief in its favour. It suggests that the perform ance at the Globe theatre on May 15, 1611, recorded in Dr Forman's diary, which is relied upon as fixing the date of the play's first appearance, must refer to a revival, and it draws attention to the following facts. If we average separately the different kinds of resolu tions in the following eight latest plays — Henry VIII, Cymbeline, Othello, Lear, Measure for Measure, Coriolanus, The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra, and compare the percentages one by one with those for The Winters Tale, we get these figures :

W.T. The eight

Initial Resolutions 12-5 17*2

Internal „ 27-6 41-1

Double Upbeat 4'8 5-1

TOTAL RESOLUTIONS 44-4 63-3

4th Ft resolved 5-9 7-2

5th Ft resolved ...... 1-37 2-7

More than one Res. rn one line . 4'54 9'3

Quadrisyllables 1-3 2

ORDER OF COMPOSITION 403

In every feature, , for as has, been said, initial resolu tions cease to be of counter importance in the third period, The Winter s Tale shows evidence of being of a decidedly earlier date than the eight plays compared. Its: versification is in fact of a quite different period, and the figures, considered in detail, place it near Troilus and Cressida^The Taming of the 'Shrew -and Timon.

It is, L believe, \a common opinion that Shakespeare composed .the great tragedies during a period, of gloom and disappointment,, when* he co.uld look only on the dark side of thingsiand all the bewildering tangle of life perplexed .and saddened him as. never before, so that. he could bring;himself to >write, of nothing else. The only themes congenial to. • hi& burdened . soul were murder and madnesSj filial ingratitude, the faithlessness of wives and the insincerity of fairweather friends, slander, jea- lousy,.the fickleness, of popular favour and the instability of earthly. greatness, how men will wreck. a noblercareer for a woman's kiss. In shorty the ; tragic, and the evil that is also tragic.. Not having given much .thought .to these uglier aspects of human life before, .he is supposed to have been absorbed in them to. the exclusion of all others for some five or six: years, writing *out of the depths^' as it has been phrased.. Then the cloud passes, and in, a. more serene, atmosphere ' on the heights,' he writes- the. happier and so-called ' romantic' plays, Cymbeline, The Tempest, ,and The Winters 7^,— a trio not very happily brought, under one. category.

Now, this may. appeal to us with \ a .certain fallacious plausibility by stirring our sympathy for the suffering poet,, but. is it: more than, so much pure fancy?'. It

26 — 2

4o4 APPENDIX VI

certainly lacks any foundation of ascertainable fact. Must a great poet — in this case Shakespeare — wait until his own life has been deeply wounded before he can handle a tragic theme with success ? Are not the Histories full of poignant tragedy, and that not merely the tragedy of so many violent deaths, but also of perjuries and treasons and hideous cruelties, and the sufferings of the innocent ? And did not Shakespeare realise it all as he dealt with those plays ? Romeo and Juliet is one of his earlier works, yet even a careless reader will find more than a touch of tragedy in it. Was not the slandering of Hero a tragedy beyond words? Would not his own death have been far less tragic to Troilus than the discovery of the perjuries and wantonness of Cressida ? Yet these plays were all writ ten before the period of gloom. It is true that in the great plays the strings of the harp are swept with a surer touch and greater power, but that is not the question. We are asking whether it was necessary for Shakespeare's own life to be invaded by tragedy, of whatever kind, before he would be impelled to make it the motive of his dramatic work. Surely he wrote the great tragedies when he did because he felt that he was ripe for them and could treat them effectively. He could not but be conscious of his maturing power, and he sought subjects worthy of it. He believed that he could now make something great of these great themes, — and he did. I do not know who first imagined this period of gloom, but it certainly rests on nothing but the most doubtful conjecture. Moreover, it is difficult to believe that a mind so overcast and embittered by

ORDER OF COMPOSITION 405

personal experiences, as has been supposed, could have produced not only its own best work, but the greatest in its kind that the world has ever seen.

Further, although Cymbeline has been called a ro mantic drama, in order to assign it to the period of calm to which the storm is thought to have given place, the description is perhaps the last that would have occurred to anyone who had not that motive for apply ing it. Until the denoument the story persistently strikes the note of pain, and its tone is tragic. It is true the curtain does not fall on a number of dead bodies, but the peculiar cruelty of the wound dealt to Imogen's innocent soul by her husband's suspicions, stunning by their suddenness and heart-breaking because harboured by the man on whose trust in her she would have staked her life, the feeling of shipwreck and desolation, the ever freshly stabbing sense of injustice and insult, — all this, lived through and crowned by the finding of Posthumus's headless body (as she thought), is far more piercingly tragic than so many mere deaths. There is the further sting of the bitter irony of the accusation. She disloyal ?

False to his bed ! What is it to be false ?

To lie in watch there and to think on him?

To weep 'twixt clock and clock ? if sleep charge nature,

To break it with a fearful dream of him,

And cry myself awake? that's false to his bed, is it?

To one so suffering death would have been a blessed

anodyne. She asks for it :

Where is thy knife?

Thou art too slow to do thy master's bidding, When I desire it too.

4o6 APPENDIX VI

I have heard I am a strumpet; and mine ear, Therein false struck, can take no greater wound, Nor tent to bottom that.

It is about the untempered anguish of this tortured soul that the whole play is built, and "A Soul's Tragedy" (if I may borrow from Browning) would be an apt description of it, as Shakespeare himself must have felt, since that is what he has made it. And had he left off looking on the dark side of things, was he con the heights,' when he drew lachimo? When he looked into the heart of that cruel and callous black guard, he was looking into the lowest pit of any imaginable hell ; and save that lachimo afterwards re pents (he is a younger, man), there is nothing to choose between him and the hardened fiend lago. In one respect lachimo is the more wanton villain of the two. For whereas lago was moved by a desire for revenge and to gain a position that he coveted, this wretch, at once scoundrel and coxcomb, merely wanted to win a bet ! Romance ? Written l on the heights ' ? To dis tinguish Cymbeline as * romantic' from the plays that are technically tragedies is surely a mere misuse of words, if we are to judge it, as plays should be judged, by the effect produced upon our feelings. It moves to pity and it awakens fear; and as a wise man .told the world long ago, that is tragedy's very essence.

There is another line of argument for placing Cymbeline and The Winter s Tale earlier than Othello and Lear which, I have not space to treat fully, and can only indicate. Cymbeline, in his hasty condemnation of Belarius and unfeeling treatment of a loving daughter,

ORDER OF COMPOSITION 407

naturally turns our thoughts to his counterpart, the headstrong Lear. At the same time, the main motive of the play to which he gives his name is identical with that of Othello , and similarly the baseless jealousy of Leontes is the mainspring of the plot of The Winter 's Tale. Both he and Posthumus therefore at once invite comparison with the deluded Moor, while Leontes's disastrous obstinacy reminds us again of Lear. We note, however, that whereas Othello and Posthumus are worked upon by the cunning "practice of a damned slave " in such a way that their persuasion is made to appear inevitable, the suspicions of Leontes spring- mysteriously out of nothing and startle us like thunder out of a clear sky. It is impossible that Hermione should have said or done or looked anything to which a sane man could take exception, and we have not been told that he is naturally suspicious, yet he suddenly falls into an absurd fury of jealousy against the best of wives and his boyhood's friend. A man might be such a fool — men have been, but on the stage it is better craftsmanship to lend the thing some air of probability. Now, in Lear and Othello^ as we are all agreed, these matters are handled and the characters drawn so admir ably that criticism is dumb. In Cymbeline, saving that Imogen is made to live before us in all her sweet per fections with a skill that makes praise impertinent, the success achieved by the whole is confessedly not com parable with that of these two plays, while of The Winter s Tale we can only say, as is said in a different connexion, 'also ran.' This being so, which is the more likely, which accords with our experience, — that the

4o8 APPENDIX VI

latter plays are, in fact though not in design, adumbra tions of the other two, which grew out of them some what as the masterpieces of painters are developed from experimental cartoons, or that Shakespeare, having done what he set himself to do in Othello and Lear so perfectly that we cannot imagine it being done better, should give us an lachimo after the creation of lago, and after Othello should produce, not only his inferior double Posthumus, but even a person so unconvincing as is Leontes both in his fantastic jealousy and his subsequent refusals to listen to reason ? He had achieved two successes that must have surprised even himself, and if he handled the same subjects a second time, he could not hope for anything but less satisfactory results and a mere succes d'estime. I say "could not hope" because great artists know when they have done a great thing, and when they have reached the utmost limits of their art and their own powers. They have a more intimate appreciation of these things than we ordinary mortals have. Shakespeare therefore knew what he had achieved in Othello and Lear, and being a peculiarly sensible and level-headed man, not even approaching his dotage, he would know better than to use their themes again. He would know that any effort to improve upon what he had done would be to attempt the impossible, and he would have no motive for producing works that would suffer by a gratuitously provoked comparison. Some who place Cymbeline and The Winter s Tale after Othello and Lear are at pains to assure us that there is no falling off in intellectual capacity; but there is, if their order is right. There is a weakening of the judgement and

ORDER OF COMPOSITION 409

power of self-criticism which are always part of the equipment of real genius. To go no further into the matter, and to say nothing of the well-known general defects of The Winter s Tale and Cymbeline, these con siderations alone, I submit, confirm the verdict of the Metrical Analysis.

One thing at any rate is certain. If Cymbeline and The Winter s Tale were written after Antony and Cleopatra, then Shakespeare suddenly made an extraordinary and positively inexplicable change in the whole manner of his versification. He sharply arrested, and indeed re versed, the onward movement which had steadily increased the number of resolutions, and especially of quadrisyllables and resolutions of the fifth foot, and we get in the totals a drop from 73 per cent, in Antony and Cleopatra to 44*4 in The Winter's Tale; that is, to a little more than half. The resolutions of the fifth foot fall to considerably less than half, and the quadrisyllables to little more than two-thirds. The total for Cymbeline is 55"3> so tnat even tms and The Winter 's Tale cannot be placed close together; there is too great a discre pancy in the figures. Moreover, this change of style, if there was a change, was not only made for no reason that we can divine, but with evident loss rather than gain. In Antony and Cleopatra he embodies in its ut most perfection that ideal of dramatic verse at which he had long been aiming ; more than from any other play one receives the impression of an art completely mas tered. The sureness of touch and the ease, one might almost say the nonchalance, with which the thing is done are so marvellous that one is reminded of the bewilder-

4io APPENDIX VI

ing performances of a Japanese juggler, while the result is such as no one would have believed possible unless it had been achieved. Here indeed he was 'on the heights/ Is it credible that he would descend to the distinctly inferior style of The Winter 's Tale ? Not only do we miss there the incomparable power and facility with which the verse is manipulated throughout in the other play, but the whole manner of the versification shows that its author was still some distance from the goal that he reached at last.

In contrast to others, some defenders of the received order for these plays believe that the poet had practically written himself out in the production of the great tragedies. The power was ebbing, the old spontaneity had gone, and the tired voice was losing its tone and flexibility. To me The Winter s Tak alone of the three ' romantic ' plays seems to betray signs of effort, and I would rather suggest that the period of lassitude, if there ever was one, followed the production of Julius Caesar. The four plays which the Analysis appears to place next form a curious quartet.

It may be added that the Analysis offers no reason why The Tempest should not have followed Antony and Cleopatra, if there are grounds for adopting that order. The smaller number of resolutions in The Tempest — a number still large — would be quite accounted for by the world-wide difference of subject-matter and the fact that it contains (proportionately) more long speeches, while the whole tone and manner of the dialogue are, if one may so put it, less conversational.

APPENDIX VII

THIS text, which aims at carrying .out the con clusions arrived at in the preceding pages, needs but a brief preface.

In the following places1, with a few others that do not call for mention, the arrangement of the lines departs from that of the Folio and later texts: — i. i. 59ff. 1.2. iff., 32, 84 fF., 95, i.oo. 1.3. 57 f. 1.4. 16,71 f. i-5- i>34f-,72- 2.2.9, 83 fF., 157 fF., 230 f. 2-5-25> 30 f. 2. 6. 34 f, 82-86, 122 fF. 2. 7. 60 iF., 77, 97 fF., i24ff. 3.2.3ifF. 3. 3. 7 f., 26 f. .3., 6.24 f. 3., 7.27 ff. *3. n. 16, 26 iF. *3. 13. 34 f, 66 fF., 91, 94, *io2, i84fF. 4.1.5. 4.2.27. 4. 6. 25 fF. 4.10.7. 4.12.2. 4. i3.9fF. *.4. 14.44, 117, I23ff- 4. 15- LI> r.5~21-

5. ,i. 24 fF. 5. 2. 62 fF., *i3Q, *i47., *i56fF,, As is well known, the division of the lines is a point on which the Folio is continually at fault. Some of the changes are briefly discussed in the notes, and the rest, it is hoped, will justify themselves. A four-foot line, it is generally agreed, is always prima facie improbable save in the Chronicle plays, and in several places such a line has been made to disappear .by the restoration of a six- foot line divided between two .speakers — a common

1 The numbering is that of the present text.

4i2 APPENDIX VII

feature of the plays. Elsewhere a needless multiplica tion of short lines has been avoided by the same means. Since the plays exhibit nearly 500 lines beginning with a trochee and without upbeat, I have not scrupled to restore one or two where this seemed to be required. A few passages hitherto printed as prose have been arranged as verse.

The seven passages starred in the list given above are of special importance. It is common for lines to end with or, if, and, but etc. or with auxiliaries not capable of emphasis as used, such as shall, will, must, but if one of these words forms the whole of the final foot, the next line must begin with an upbeat. If it does not, one gets such sentences as "you shall Have \ letters from me to some friends that | will A Sweep your way for you" (3. 1 1. 15 ff.), where "shall Have" is right but "will A | Sweep" necessitates a pause and conse quent stress on "will" that are intolerable. (See on Coriolanus, no. 31, p. 195.)

Modern practice has been followed in printing changed, loved, moved, etc. even when the e is silent. Only rarely can there be any doubt whether such a word is monosyllabic or not, and in one or two places where it seemed desirable to avoid ambiguity the apo strophe (as mov'st, 4. 15. n) or the grave accent (as movest, i. 5. 19) has been used. The Folio's spelling of words like sever d, suffer d has been respected, although, judging by the best Quartos, this is probably not always right ; but for murdred(^. 5. 1 7), unregistred (3. 13. 1 1 9), and rendred (4. 14. 33) the full form is given as best suggesting the intended pronunciation to modern readers

REVISED TEXT OF A. AND C. 413

(see pp. 259 ff.). At 2. 6. 5 modern texts print consider 'dy and at 2. 2. %<) poison* dy against considered and poysoned of F. I couid not resist giving withered at 4. 15. 63.

Some half-dozen conjectural supplements, apparently required for metre or sense or both, have been marked by pointed brackets.

At 5. 2. 34 I assume that Shakespeare, departing from Plutarch, made Gallus (not Proculeius) enter the monument ; he would not leave Gallus and Cleopatra staring at each other in silence for at least two minutes while the entry was made.

In the punctuation an endeavour has been made to combine modern * logical' pointing with that intended by the Folio. I say "intended" because in practice it frequently gives what is nothing but a punctuation pour rire> being as incapable in this respect as it is in division of the lines1. According to this system the modern full stop is usually represented by a colon, except at the end of a speech ; within a speech it is reserved for a con siderable pause, as when the speaker turns to a fresh thought or speaks to someone other than the person just addressed. The semi-colon is but sparingly used.

The notes, which are necessarily limited in number, deal almost exclusively with new line-divisions and points of metre or rhythm. I regret to find at the last moment that the lists of pure trochaic lines and quadrisyllable feet given for this play in preceding appendices are not quite complete; the omissions have therefore been supplied in the notes.

1 The Folio's pointing differs widely in accuracy in different plays.

THE TRAGEDY

OF ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

MARK ANTONY, \

OCTAVIUS CAESAR, v triumvirs.

LEPIDUS, • )

SEXTUS POMPEIUS.

DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS,

VENTIDIUS,

EROS,

SCARUS,

DERCETAS,

DEMETRIUS,

PHILO,

MAECENAS,

AGRIPPA,

friends to Antony.

DoLABELLA,

>. friends to Caesar.

i j

IATES, > fri< s, )

PROCULEIUS,

THYREUS,

GALLUS,

MENAS,

MENECRATES, V friends to Pompey.

VARRIUS,

TAURUS, lieutenant-general to Caesar.

CANIDIUS, lieutenant-general to Antony.

SILIUS, an officer in Ventidius's army.

EUPHRONIUS, an ambassador from Antony to Caesar.

ALEXAS, )

MARDIAN, a eunuch, V attendants on Cleopatra.

DlOMEDES,

SELEUCUS, treasurer to Cleopatra. A Soothsayer. A Clown.

CLEOPATRA, queen of Egypt.

OCTAVIA, sister to Caesar, and wife to Antony.

CHARMIAN, 1 , ^,

j }- attendants on Cleopatra.

Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and other attendants. SCENE : In several parts of the Roman empire.

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA

ACT I

SCENE I. Alexandria. A room in Cleopatra's palace.

Enter DEMETRIUS and PHILO.

Phi. Nay, but this dotage of our General's O'erflows the measure: those his goodly eyes That o'er the files and musters of the war Have glow'd like plated Mars, now bend, now turn The office and devotion of their view 5

Upon a tawny front: his captain's heart, Which in the scuffles of great fights hath burst The buckles on his breast, reneages all temper, And is become the bellows and the fan To cool a gypsy's lust.

Flourish. Enter ANTONY, CLEOPATRA, her Ladies^ the Traify with Eunuchs fanning her.

Look where they come: 10

Take but good note, and you shall see in him The triple pillar of the world transform'd Into a strumpet's fool : behold and see.

Cleo. If it be love indeed, tell me how much.

Ant. There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd. 15

Cleo. I'll set a bourn how far to be belov'd.

Ant. Then must thou needs find out new heaven, new earth.

Enter an Attendant.

Att. News, my good lord, from Rome.

Ant. Grates me: the sum.

Cleo. Nay, hear them, Antony.

Fulvia perchance is angry : or who knows 20

If the scarce-bearded Caesar hath not sent His powerful mandate to you, 'Do this, or this;

B. 27

I. I 418

Take in that kingdom, and enfranchise that: Perform it, or else we damn thee.'

Ant. How, my love !

Cleo. Perchance — nay, and most like, 25

You must not stay here longer, your dismission Is come' from Caesar, therefore hear it, Antony. Where's Fulvia's process? — Caesar's I would say — both? Call in the messengers. As I am Egypt's queen, Thou blushest, Antony, and that blood of thine 30

Is Caesar's homager, else so thy cheek pays shame When shrill-tongued Fulvia scolds. The messengers !

Ant. Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch Of the ranged empire fall ! Here is my space : Kingdoms are clay: our dungy earth alike 35

Feeds beast as man : the nobleness of life

Is to do thus, when such a mutual pair [Embraces Cleopatra. And such a twain can do it ; in which I bind, On pain of punishment, the world to weet We stand up peerless.

Cleo. [Aside'} Excellent falsehood ! 40

Why, did he marry Fulvia and not love her? I'll seem the fool I am not. — [Aloud] Antony Will be himself.

Ant. But stirr'd by Cleopatra.

Now for the love of Love, and her soft hours, Let us not confound the time with conference harsh ; 45

There's not a minute of our lives should stretch Without some pleasure now. What sport to-night?

Cleo. Hear the ambassadors.

Ant. Fie, wrangling queen !

Whom every thing becomes, to chide, to laugh, To weep; whose every passion fully strives 50

To make itself, in thee, fair and admired. No messenger but thine ! and all alone To-night we'll wander through the streets, and note The qualities of <the> people. Come, my queen, Last night you did desire it. — Speak not to us. 55

[Exeunt Ant. and Cleo. with their train.

54. The insertion of the seems to be required, since the refer ence is doubtless to the populace, the lower orders. Also it greatly improves the rhythm.

419 i.2

Dem. Is Caesar with Antonius prized so slight?

Phi. Sir, sometimes, when he is not Antony, He comes too short of that great property Which still should go with Antony.

Dem. I am

Full sorry that he approves the common liar, 60

Who thus speaks of him at Rome, but 1 will hope Of better deeds to-morrow. Rest you happy ! [Exeunt.

SCENE II. The same. Another room. Enter CHARMIAN, IRAS, ALEXAS, and a Soothsayer.

Char. Lord Alexas, sweet Alexas, most any thing Alexas, Almost most absolute Alexas, where

Is the soothsayer that you praised so to the queen ? %

O that I knew this husband, which you say Must charge his horns with garlands !

Alex. Soothsayer !

Sooth. Your will? 5

Char. Is this the man? Is it you, sir, that know things?

Sooth. In nature's infinite book of secrecy A little I can read.

Alex. Show him your hand.

Enter ENOBARBUS.

Eno. Bring in the banquet quickly, wine enough Cleopatra's health to drink. 10

Char. Good sir, give me good fortune.

Sooth. I make not, but foresee.

Char. Pray then, foresee me one.

Sooth. You shall be yet

Far fairer than you are.

Char. He means in flesh.

Iras. No, you shall paint when you are old.

Char. Wrinkles forbid!

Alex. Vex not his prescience, be attentive.

Char. Hush! 15

I. Scan, 'most | any thing A|lexas.' The scene appears to be wholly in verse as far as v. 1 6

5. Soothsayer! — Your is a quadrisyllable.

6. Scan, « man ? A | Is it | you, sir, that | know things ? '

27 — 2

I. 2 420

Sooth. You shall be more beloving than beloved.

Char. I had rather heat my liver with drinking.

Alex. Nay, hear him.

Char. Good, now, some excellent fortune. Let me be married to three kings in-a forenoon, and widow them all : [20 let me have a child at fifty, to whom Herod of Jewry may do homage. Find me to marry me with Octavius Caesar, and companion me with my mistress.

Sooth. You shall outlive the lady whom you serve.

Char. O excellent ! I love long life better than figs. 25

Sooth. You have seen and proved a fairer former fortune Than that which is to approach.

Char. Then belike my children shall have no names: prithee, How many boys and wenches must I have?

Sooth. If every of your wishes had a womb, 30

And fertile every wish, a million.

Char. Out, fool ! I forgive thee for a witch.

Alex. You think

None but your sheets are privy to your wishes.

Char. Nay come, tell Iras hers.

Alex. We'll know all our fortunes.

Eno. Mine and most of our fortunes to-night shall be — drunk to bed. 36

Iras. There's a palm presages chastity, if nothing else.

Char. Even as the o'erflowing Nilus presageth famine.

Iras. Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay.

Char. Nay, if an oily palm be not a fruitful prognostication, I cannot scratch mine ear. Prithee, tell her but a worky- [41 day fortune.

Sooth. Your fortunes are alike.

Iras. But how, but how? give me particulars.

Sooth. I have said. 45

Iras. Am I not an inch of fortune better than she?

Char. Well, if you were but an inch of fortune better than I, where would you choose it?

Iras. Not in my husband's nose.

Char. Our worser thoughts heavens mend ! Alexas — [50 come, his fortune, his fortune ! O, let him marry a woman that

19. Good : a vocative (meaning here 'Good sir') as in I. 3. 78 ; W. T. 5. 1 . 1 9, ' nay, good, now, Say so but seldom ' ; Temp. 1 . 1 . 15, ' Nay, good, be patient.'

421 I. 2

cannot go, sweet Isis, I beseech thee ! and let her die too, and give him a worse; and let worse follow worse, till the worst of all follow him laughing to his grave, fifty-fold a cuckold ! Good Isis, hear me this prayer, though thou deny me a matter of more weight : good Isis, I beseech thee ! 56

Iras. Amen. Dear goddess, hear that prayer of the people ! For, as it is a heart-breaking to see a handsome man loose-wived, so it is a deadly sorrow to behold a foul knave uncuckolded: therefore, dear Isis, keep decorum, and fortune him accordingly.

Char. Amen. 61

Alex. Lo now, if it lay in their hands to make me a cuckold, they would make themselves whores but they'ld do it.

Eno. Hush, here comes Antony.

Char. Not he ; the queen.

Enter CLEOPATRA.

Cleo. Saw you my lord? Eno. No, lady.

Cleo. Was he not here ?

Char. No, madam.

Cleo. He was disposed to mirth, but on the sudden 66

A Roman thought hath struck him. Enobarbus! Eno. Madam ?

Cleo. Seek him, and bring him hither. Where is Alexas? Alex. Here, at your service. My lord approaches. 70

Cleo. We will not look upon him : go with us. [Exeunt.

Enter ANTONY with a Messenger and Attendants.

Mess. Fulvia thy wife first came into the field.

Ant. Against my brother Lucius?

Mess. Ay:

But soon that war had end, and the time's state 75

Made friends of them, jointing their force against Caesar, Whose better issue in the war, from Italy Upon the first encounter drave them.

Ant. Well, what worst?

M ess. The nature of bad news infects the teller.

Ant. When it concerns the fool or coward : on. 80

Things that are past are done, with me. 'Tis thus ; Who tells me true, though in his tale lie death,

I. 2 422

I hear him as he flatter'd.

Mess. Labienus — this is stiff news —

Hath with his Parthian force extended Asia From Euphrates, his conquering banner shook 85

From Syria to Lydia, and to Ionia, Whilst—

Ant. Antony, thou wouldst say, —

Mess. O, my lord !

Ant. Speak to me home, mince not the general tongue, Name Cleopatra as she is call'd in Rome :

Rail thou in Fulvia's phrase, and taunt my faults 90

With such full license as both truth and malice Have power to utter. O, then we bring forth weeds When our quick minds lie still, and our ills told us Is as our earing. Fare thee well awhile. 94

Mess. At your noble pleasure. [Exit.

Ant. From Sicyon, ho, the news ! Speak there.

First Att. The man from Sicyon ! is there such an one ?

Sec. Att. He stays upon your will.

Ant. Let him appear.

These strong Egyptian fetters I must break, Or lose myself in dotage.

Enter another Messenger^ with a letter.

What are you?

Sec. Mess. Fulvia thy wife is dead.

Ant. Where died she?

Sec. Mess. In Sicyon: 100

Her length of sickness, with what else more serious Importeth thee to know, this bears. [Gives letter.

Ant. Forbear me.

[Exit Sec. Messenger.

There is a great spirit gone : thus did I desire it. What our contempts do often hurl from us, We wish it ours again : the present pleasure, 105

By revolution lowering, does become The opposite of itself: she's good, being gone; The hand could pluck her back that shoved her on.

83 ff. For the arrangement (which is Pope's, save that he puts a semicolon at 'Asia ' and omits ' to ' before ' Ionia ') see on A. and C., no. 2, pp. 204 f.

423 i. 2

I must from this enchanting queen break off;

Ten thousand harms, more than the ills I know, no

My idleness doth hatch. Ho, now, Enobarbus!

Enter ENOBARBUS.

Eno. What is your pleasure, sir?

Ant. I must with haste from hence.

Eno. Why, then we kill all our women. We see how

mortal an unkindness is to them ; if they suffer our departure,

death's the word. 115

Ant. I must be gone.

Eno. Under a compelling occasion let women die. It were pity to cast them away for nothing, though between them and a great cause they should be esteemed nothing. Cleopatra, catching but the least noise of this, dies instantly: I have seen her [120 die twenty times upon far poorer moment : I do think there is mettle in death which commits some loving act upon her, she hath such a celerity in dying.

Ant. She is cunning past man's thought. 124

Eno. Alack, sir, no; her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love. We cannot call her winds and waters sighs and tears : they are greater storms and tempests than almanacs can report. This cannot be cunning in her; if it be, she makes a shower of rain as well as Jove.

Ant. Would I had never seen her! 130

Eno. O, sir, you had then left unseen a wonderful piece of work, which not to have been blest withal would have discre dited your travel.

Ant. Fulvia is dead.

Eno. Sir? 135

Ant. Fulvia is dead. Eno. Fulvia ! Ant. Dead.

Eno. Why, sir, give the gods a thankful sacrifice : when it pleaseth their deities to take the wife of a man from him, [140 it shows to man the tailors of the earth ; comforting therein, that when old robes are worn out, there are members to make new. If there were no more women but Fulvia, then had you indeed a cut, and the case to be lamented : this grief is crowned with consolation, your old smock brings forth a new petticoat ; [145 and indeed the tears live in an onion that should water this sorrow.

i- 3 424

Ant. The business she hath broached in the state Cannot endure my absence. 149

Eno. And the business you have broach'd here cannot be without you, especially that of Cleopatra's, which wholly depends on your abode.

Ant. No more light answers: let our officers Have notice what we purpose. I shall break The cause of our expedience to the queen, 155

And get her leave to part. For not alone The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, Do strongly speak to us, but the letters too Of many our contriving friends in Rome

Petition us at home. Sextus Pompeius 160

Hath given the dare to Caesar, and commands The empire of the sea : our slippery people, Whose love is never link'd to the deserver Till his deserts are past, begin to throw

Pompey the great and all his dignities 165

Upon his son, who high in name and power, Higher than both in blood and life, stands up For the main soldier ; whose quality, going on, The sides of the world may danger. Much is breeding Which, like the courser's hair, hath yet but life, 170

And not a serpent's poison. Say our pleasure, To such whose place is under us, requires Our quick remove from hence.

Eno. I shall do it. \Exeunt.

SCENE III. The same. Another room. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, ALEXAS, and IRAS.

Cleo. Where is he ?

Char. I did not see him since.

Cleo. See where he is, who's with him, what he does : I did not send you. If you find him sad,

Say I am dancing; if in mirth, report 5

That I am sudden sick. Quick, and return. [Exit Alexas.

Char. Madam, methinks, if you did loye him dearly, You do not hold the method to enforce The like from him.

Cleo. What should I do, I do not ?

425 i. 3

Char. In each thing give him way, cross him in nothing. Cleo. Thou teachest, like a fool, the way to lose him. 1 1 Char. Tempt him not so too far, I wish ; forbear :

In time we hate that which we often fear.

But here comes Antony.

Enter ANTONY.

Cleo. I am sick and sullen.

Ant. lam sorry to give breathing to my purpose, — 15

Cleo. Help me away, dear Charmian, I shall fall : It cannot be thus long, the sides of nature Will not sustain it.

Ant. Now, my dearest queen, —

Cleo. Pray you, stand farther from me.

Ant. What's the matter?

Cleo. I know by that same eye there's some good news : What says the married woman ? You may go : 2 1

Would she had never given you leave to come ! Let her not say 'tis I that keep you here, I have no power upon you, hers you are.

Ant. The gods best know —

Cleo. O, never was there queen 25

So mightily betray'd ! yet at the first I saw the treasons planted.

Ant. Cleopatra, —

Cleo. Why should I think you can be mine and true, Though you in swearing shake the throned gods, Who have been false to Fulvia? Riotous madness, 30

To be entangled with those mouth-made vows, Which break themselves in swearing!

Ant. Most sweet queen, —

Cleo. Nay, pray you, seek no colour for your going, But bid farewell and go : when you sued staying, Then was the time for words: no going then; 35

Eternity was in our lips and eyes, Bliss in our brows bent, none our parts so poor

12. F. points, 'too farre. I wish forbear'; and so edd. with a comma at 'wish.' The pointing of the text seems a slight improve ment, but anyhow ' I wish ' with an imperative is wholly unnatural, and these two words may be corrupt. Perhaps the sentence originally began with ' You,' which might easily drop out because the words would not be immediately intelligible owing to the inversion.

i. 3 426

But was a race of heaven: they are so still, Or thou, the greatest soldier of the world, Art turn'd the greatest liar.

Ant. How now, lady ! 40

Cleo. I would I had thy inches, thou shouldst know There were a heart in Egypt !

Ant. Hear me, queen:

The strong necessity of time commands Our services awhile, but my full heart

Remains in use with you. Our Italy 45

Shines o'er with civil swords; Sextus Pompeius Makes his approaches to the port of Rome; Equality of two domestic powers

Breeds scrupulous faction. The hated, grown to strength, Are newly grown to love ; the condemn'd Pompey, 50

Rich in his father's honour, creeps apace Into the hearts of such as have not thrived Upon the present state, whose numbers threaten ; And quietness, grown sick of rest, would purge By any desperate change: my more particular, 55

And that which most with you should safe my going, Is Fulvia's death.

Cleo. Though age from folly could

Not give me freedom, it does from childishness. Can Fulvia die ?

Ant. She is dead, my queen.

Look here, and at thy sovereign leisure read 60

The garboils she awaked : at the last, best, See when and where she died.

Cleo. O, most false love !

Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill With sorrowful water ? Now I see, I see, In Fulvia's death, how mine received shall be. 65

Ant. Quarrel no more, but be prepared to know The purposes I bear; which are, or cease, As you shall give the advice. By the fire That quickens Nilus' slime, I go from hence Thy soldier, servant, making peace or war 70

As thou affect'st.

Cleo. Cut my lace, Charmian, come !

62. Scan, ' died. A | O, most | false | love ! '

427 i. 3

But let it be, I am quickly ill, and well, So Antony loves.

Ant. My precious queen, forbear,

And give true evidence to his love, which stands An honourable trial.

Cleo. So Fulvia told me. 75

I prithee, turn aside and weep for her, Then bid adieu to me, and say the tears Belong to Egypt. Good, now, play one scene Of excellent dissembling, and let it look Like perfect honour.

Ant. You'll heat my blood: no more! 80

Cleo. You can do better yet, but this is meetly.

Ant. Now, by my sword, —

Cleo. And target ! Still he mends,

But this is not the best. Look, prithee, Charmian, How this Herculean Roman does become The carriage of his chafe. 85

Ant. I will leave you, lady.

Cleo. Courteous lord, one word :

Sir, you and I must part, but that's not it: Sir, you and I have loved, but there's not it: That you know well: something it is I would, — O, my oblivion is a very Antony, 90

And I am all forgotten.

Ant. But that your royalty

Holds idleness your subject, I should take you For idleness itself.

Cleo. 'Tis sweating labour

To bear such idleness so near the heart

As Cleopatra this. But, sir, forgive me, 95

Since my becomings kill me when they do not Eye well to you. Your honour calls you hence ; Therefore be deaf to my unpitied folly, And all the gods go with you ! Upon your sword Sit laurel'd victory, and smooth success 100

Be strew'd before your feet !

Ant. Let us go. Come :

Our separation so abides and flies, That thou, residing here, goest yet with me, And I, hence fleeting, here remain with thee. Away ! [Exeunt. 1 05

1.4

SCENE IV. Rome. A room in Caesar's house.

Enter OCTAVIUS CAESAR, reading a letter^ LEPIDUS, and their Train.

Caes. You may see, Lepidus, and henceforth know, It is not Caesar's natural vice to hate Our great competitor. From Alexandria This is the news: he fishes, drinks, and wastes The lamps of night in revel, is not more manlike 5

Than Cleopatra, nor the queen of Ptolemy More womanly than he : hardly gave audience, or Vouchsafed to think he had partners. You shall find there A man who is the abstract of all faults That all men follow.

Lep. I must not think there are 10

Evils enow to darken all his goodness : His faults, in him, seem as the spots of heaven, More fiery by night's blackness; hereditary, Rather than purchased; what he cannot change, Than what he chooses. 15

Caes. You are too indulgent. Let's grant it is not amiss To tumble on the bed of Ptolemy, To give a kingdom for a mirth, to sit And keep the turn of tippling with a slave, To reel the streets at noon, and stand the buffet 20

With knaves that smell of sweat : say this becomes him, — As his composure must be rare indeed Whom these things cannot blemish — yet must Antony No way excuse his soils, when we do bear

So great weight in his lightness. If he fill'd 25

His vacancy with his voluptuousness, Full surfeits, and the dryness of his bones, Call on him for it; but to confound such time, That drums him from his sport, and speaks as loud As his own state and ours, 'tis to be chid; 30

As we rate boys who, being mature in knowledge, Pawn their experience to their present pleasure,

I. Trochaic beginning : 'You may | see, A j Lepidus, and | ....' i6f. F. and texts begin v. 17 with 'Amiss.'

4^9 i. 4

And so rebel to judgement.

Enter a Messenger.

Lep. Here is more news.

Mess. Thy biddings have been done, and every hour, Most noble Caesar, thou shalt have report 35

How it is abroad. Pompey is strong at sea, And it appears he is beloved of those That only have fear'd Caesar : to the ports The discontents repair, and men's reports Give him much wrong'd.

Caes. I should have known no less : 40

It hath been taught us from the primal state That he which is, was wish'd until he were, And the ebb'd man, never loved till never worth love, Comes dear'd by being lack'd. This common body, Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream, 45

Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide, To rot itself with motion.

Mess. Caesar, I bring thee word,

Menecrates and Menas, famous pirates, Make the sea serve them, which they ear and wound With keels of every kind : many hot inroads 50

They make in Italy; the borders maritime Lack blood to think on it, and flush youth revolt : No vessel can peep forth, but 'tis as soon Taken as seen, for Pompey's name strikes more Than could his war resisted.

Caes. Antony, 55

Leave thy lascivious wassails. When thou once Wast beaten from Modena, where thou slewest Hirtius and Pansa, consuls, at thy heel Did Famine follow, whom thou fought'st against, Though daintily brought up, with patience more 60

Than savages could suffer: thou didst drink The stale of horses, and the gilded puddle Which beasts would cough at : thy palate then did deign The roughest berry on the rudest hedge;

Yea, like the stag when snow the pasture sheets, 65

The barks of trees thou browsedst. On the Alps It is reported thou didst eat strange flesh, Which some did die to look on : and all this —

i- 5 43°

It wounds thine honour that I speak it now —

Was borne so like a soldier, that thy cheek 70

So much as lank'd not.

Lep. 'Tis pity of him.

Cats. Let his shames

Quickly drive him to Rome. 'Tis time we twain Did show ourselves in the field, and to that end Assemble we immediate council; Pompey Thrives in our idleness.

Lep. To-morrow, Caesar, 75

I shall be furnish'd to inform you rightly Both what by sea and land I can be able, To front the present time.

Caes. Till which encounter, it is

My business too. Farewell.

Lep. Farewell, my lord: what you shall know meantime Of stirs abroad, I shall beseech you, sir, 8 1

To let me be partaker.

Caes. Doubt not, sir;

I knew it for my bond. [Exeunt.

SCENE V. Alexandria. A room in Cleopatra's palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and MARDIAN.

Cleo. Charmian !

Char. Madam ?

Cleo. Ha, ha, give me to drink mandragora.

Char. Why, madam?

Cleo. That I might sleep out this great gap of time My Antony is away.

Char. You think of him too much.

Cleo. O, 'tis treason !

Char. Madam, I trust not so. 5

Cleo. Thou, eunuch Mardian !

Mar. What is your highness' pleasure?

Cleo. Not now to hear thee sing; I take no pleasure In aught an eunuch has. 'Tis well for thee That, being unseminar'd, thy freer thoughts May not fly forth of Egypt. Hast thou affections? 10

Mar. Yes, gracious madam.

Cleo. Indeed ?

431 i-5

Mar. Not in deed, madam, for I can do nothing But what indeed is honest to be done; Yet have I fierce affections, and think What Venus did with Mars.

Cleo. O, Charmian, 15

Where think'st thou he is now? stands he, or sits he? Or does he walk? or is he on his horse? O happy horse to bear the weight of Antony ! Do bravely, horse, for wot'st thou whom thou movest? The demi-Atlas of this earth, the arm 2O

And burgonet of men. He is speaking now, Or murmuring 'Where's my serpent of old Nile?' For so he calls me : now I feed myself With most delicious poison. Think on me, That am with Phoebus' amorous pinches black, 25

And wrinkled deep in time. Broad-fronted Caesar, When thou wast here above the ground, I was A morsel for a monarch, and great Pompey Would stand and make his eyes grow in my brow; There would he anchor his aspect, and die 30

With looking on his life.

Enter ALEXAsfrom Antony.

Alex. Sovereign of Egypt, hail !

Cleo. How much unlike art thou Mark Antony ! Yet, coming from him, that great medicine hath With his tinct gilded thee. How goes it with My brave Mark Antony?

Alex. Last thing he did, dear queen, 35

He kiss'd, the last of many doubled kisses, This orient pearl. His speech sticks in my heart.

Cleo. Mine ear must pluck it thence.

Alex. 'Good friend,' quoth he,

'Say the firm Roman to great Egypt sends This treasure of an oyster, at whose foot, 40

To mend the petty present, I will piece Her opulent throne with kingdoms : all the east,

24 ff. Think on me.. .time. Editors adopt Capell's note of interro gation at ' time,' taking the words to mean, ' Can it be that he thinks on me ? ' This, however, is hardly better than the text. One would like to read, 'He thinks on me... deep in time!' an exclamation.

i. 5 432

Say thou, shall call her mistress.' So he nodded,

And soberly did mount an arm-gaunt steed,

Who neigh'd so high, that what I would have spoke 45

Was beastly dumb'd by him.

Cleo. What, was he sad or merry?

Alex. Like to the time of [the] year between the extremes Of hot and cold, he was nor sad nor merry.

Cleo. O well-divided disposition! Note him, Good Charmian, 'tis the man ; but note him : 50

He was not sad, for he would shine on those That make their looks by his; he was not merry, Which seem'd to tell them, his remembrance lay In Egypt with his joy, — but between both.

0 heavenly mingle ! Beest thou sad or merry, 55 The violence of either thee becomes

So does it no man else. — Met'st thou my posts ?

Alex. Ay, madam, twenty several messengers: Why do you send so thick ?

Cleo. Who's born that day

When I forget to send to Antony, 60

Shall die a beggar. — Ink and paper, Charmian ! — Welcome, my good Alexas ! — Did I, Charmian, Ever love Caesar so?

Char. O, that brave Caesar !

Cleo. Be choked with such another emphasis ! Say 'the brave Antony!'

Char. The valiant Caesar! 65

Cleo. By Isis, I will give thee bloody teeth, If thou with Caesar paragon again My man of men.

Char. By your most gracious pardon,

1 sing but after you.

Cleo. My salad days,

When I was green in judgement, cold in blood, 70

To say as I said then. But come, away, Get me ink and paper : he shall have every day A several greeting, or I'll unpeople Egypt. [Exeunt.

ACT II

SCENE I. Messina. In Pompey's house. Enter POMPEY, MENECRATES, and MENAS, in warlike manner.

Pom. If the great gods be just, they shall assist The deeds of justest men.

Mene. Know, worthy Pompey,

That what they do delay, they not deny.

Pom. Whiles we are suitors to their throne, decays The thing we sue for.

Mene. We, ignorant of ourselves, 5

Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers Deny us for our good: so find we profit By losing of our prayers.

Pom. I shall do well :

The people love me, and the sea is mine;

My powers are crescent, and my auguring hope 10

Says it will come to the full. Mark Antony In Egypt sits at dinner, and will make No wars without doors : Caesar gets money where He loses hearts: Lepidus flatters both,

Of both is flatter'd, but he neither loves, 15

Nor either cares for him.

Menas. Caesar and Lepidus

Are in the field, a mighty strength they carry.

Pom. Where have you this? 'tis false.

Menas. From Silvius, sir.

Pom. He dreams: I know they are in Rome together, Looking for Antony : but all the charms of love, 20

Salt Cleopatra, soften thy waned lip ! Let witchcraft join with beauty, lust with both, Tie up the libertine in a field of feasts, Keep his brain fuming ! Epicurean cooks

Sharpen with cloy less sauce his appetite, 25

That sleep and feeding may prorogue his honour,

28

ii. 2 434

Even till a Lethe'd dulness !

Enter VARRIUS.

How now, Varrius?

Var. This is most certain, that I shall deliver: Mark Antony is every hour in Rome

Expected : since he went from Egypt, it is 30

A space for further travel.

Pom. I could have given less matter

A better ear. Menas, I did not think This amorous surfeiter would have donn'd his helm For such a petty war : his soldiership

Is twice the other twain : but let us rear 35

The higher our opinion, that our stirring Can from the lap of Egypt's widow pluck The ne'er lust-wearied Antony.

Menas. I cannot hope

Caesar and Antony shall well greet together; His wife that's dead, did trespasses to Caesar, 40

His brother warr'd upon him, although, I think, Not moved by Antony.

Pom. I know not, Menas,

How lesser enmities may give way to greater: Were it not that we stand up against them all, 'Twere pregnant they should square between themselves, 45 For they have entertained cause enough To draw their swords : but how the fear of us May cement their divisions, and bind up The petty difference<s>, we yet not know. Be it as our gods will have it; it only stands 50

Our lives upon, to use our strongest hands. Come, Menas. [Exeunt.

SCENE II. Rome. In the house of Lepidus. Enter ENOBARBUS and LEPIDUS.

Lep. Good Enobarbus, 'tis a worthy deed, And shall become you well, to entreat your captain To soft and gentle speech.

Eno. I shall entreat him

To answer like himself: if Caesar move him, Let Antony look over Caesar's head, 5

435 n. 2

And speak as loud as Mars. By Jupiter, Were I the wearer of Antonius' beard, I would not shave it to-day.

Lep. 'Tis not a time for private stomaching.

Eno. Every time

Serves for the matter that is then born in it. 10

Lep. But small to greater matters must give way.

Eno. Not if the small come first.

Lep. Your speech is passion :

But, pray you, stir no embers up. Here comes The noble Antony.

Enter ANTONY and VENTIDIUS. Eno. And yonder, Caesar.

Enter CAESAR, MAECENAS, and AGRIPPA.

Ant. If we compose well here, to Parthia : 1 5

Hark, Ventidius.

Caes. I do not know,

Maecenas, ask Agrippa.

Lep. Noble friends,

That which combined us was most great, and let not A leaner action rend us : what is amiss,

May it be gently heard. When we debate 20

Our trivial difference<s> loud, we do commit Murder in healing wounds. Then, noble partners, The rather for I earnestly beseech, Touch you the sourest points with sweetest terms, Nor curstness grow to the matter.

Ant. 'Tis spoken well : 25

Were we before our armies, and to fight, I should do thus. [Flourish.

Caes. Welcome to Rome.

Ant. Thank you.

Caes. Sit.

Ant. Sit, sir.

Caes. Nay, then.

Ant. I learn you take things ill which are not so, Or being, concern you not.

Caes. I must be laugh'd at, 30

If or for nothing, or a little, I

28—2

ii. 2 436

Should say myself offended, and with you

Chiefly in the world ; more laugh'd at, that I should

Once name you derogately, when to sound your name

It not concern'd me. 35

Ant. My being in Egypt, Caesar, what was it to you ?

Caes. No more than my residing here at Rome Might be to you in Egypt: yet if you there Did practise on my state, your being in Egypt Might be my question.

Ant. How intend you < practised '? 40

Caes. You may be pleased to catch at mine intent By what did here befal me. Your wife and brother Made wars upon me, and their contestation Was theme for you, you were the word of war.

Ant. You do mistake your business : my brother never 45 Did urge me in this act; I did inquire it, And have my learning from some true reports That drew their swords with you. Did he not rather Discredit my authority with yours,

And make the wars alike against my stomach, 50

Having alike your cause? Of this my letters Before did satisfy you. If you will patch a quarrel, As matter whole you have <not> to make it with, It must not be with this.

Caes. You praise yourself

By laying defects of judgement to me, but 55

You patch'd up your excuses.

Ant. Not so, not so :

I know you could not lack, I am certain of it, Very necessity of this thought, that I, Your partner in the cause against which he fought, Could not with graceful eyes attend those wars 60

Which fronted mine own peace. As for my wife, I would you had her spirit in such another : The third of the world is yours, which with a snaffle You may pace easy, but not such a wife.

Eno. Would we had all such wives, that the men might go To wars with the women! 66

53. Rowe inserted not.

64. Scan, ' You may j pace | easy, but | not | such a | wife.'

65 f. Prose in F. and modern texts.

437 "• 2

Ant. So much uncurbable her garboils, Caesar, ^Made out of her impatience, — which not wanted Shrewdness of policy too — I grieving grant Did you too much disquiet: for that, you must 70

But say I could not help it.

Caes. I wrote to you

When rioting in Alexandria; you Did pocket up my letters, and with taunts Did gibe my missive out of audience.

Ant. Sir,

He fell upon me ere admitted: then 75

Three kings I had newly feasted, and did want Of what I was in the morning; but next day I told him of myself, which was as much As to have ask'd him pardon. Let this fellow Be nothing of our strife ; if we contend, 80

Out of our question wipe him.

Caes. You have broken

The article of your oath, which you shall never Have tongue to charge me with.

Lep. Soft, Caesar!

Ant. No, Lepidus,

Let him speak; the honour is sacred which He talks on now, supposing that I lack'd it. 85

But on, Caesar, the article of my oath.

Caes. To lend me arms and aid when I required them, The which you both denied.

Ant. Neglected, rather,

And then when poisoned hours had bound me up From mine own knowledge. As nearly as I may, 90

I'll play the penitent to you, but mine honesty Shall not make poor my greatness, nor my power Work without it. Truth is, that Fulvia, To have me out of Egypt, made wars here,

8 3 f. Scan, ' Have j tongue to charge | me with. | Soft, A | Caesar ! | No, A | Lepidus, j Let him | speak.' The usual arrangement produces a needless short line. The trochaic beginning, ' Let him ' is the third foot of the lyric measure e : * No, A | Lepidus, j let him | speak.' See p. 27.

93. The scansion appears to be, 'Work without | it. A | Truth is,... .' but it may be * Work withjout it.'

ii. 2 438

For which myself, the ignorant motive, do 95

So far ask pardon as befits mine honour To stoop in such a case.

Lep. 'Tis noble spoken.

Maec. If it might please you, — to enforce no further. The griefs between ye, to forget them quite, Were to remember that the present need 100

Speaks to atone you.

Lep. Worthily spoken, Maecenas.

Eno. Or if you borrow one another's love for the instant, you may, when you hear no more words of Pompey, return it again : you shall have time to wrangle in when you have nothing else to do. 105

Ant. Thou art a soldier only, speak no more.

Eno. That truth should be silent, I had almost forgot.

Ant. You wrong this presence, therefore speak no more.

Eno. Go to, then : your considerate stone.

Caes. I do not much dislike the matter, but no

The manner of his speech ; for it cannot be We shall remain in friendship, our conditions So differing in their acts. Yet if I knew What hoop should hold us staunch, from edge to edge Of the world I would pursue it.

Agr. Give me leave, Caesar. 115

Caes. Speak, Agrippa.

Agr. Thou hast a sister by the mother's side, Admired Octavia: great Mark Antony Is now a widower, —

Caes. Say not so, Agrippa;

If Cleopatra heard you, your reproof 120

Were well deserved, of rashness.

Ant. I am not married, Caesar, let me hear Agrippa further speak.

Agr. To hold you in perpetual amity,

To make you brothers, and to knit your hearts 125

With an unslipping knot, take Antony Octavia to his wife ; whose beauty claims No worse a husband than the best of men ; Whose virtue, and whose general graces, speak That which none else can utter. By this marriage, 130

All little jealousies which now seem great, And all great fears which now import their dangers,

439 ii- 2

Would then be nothing : truths would be tales,

Where now half tales be truths; her love to both

Would each to other, and all loves to both, 135

Draw after her. Pardon what I have spoke,

For 'tis a studied, not a present thought,

By duty ruminated.

Ant. Will Caesar speak?

Caes. Not till he hears how Antony is touch'd With what is spoke already.

Ant. What power is in Agrippa, 140

If I would say, 'Agrippa, be it so,' To make this good?

Caes. The power of Caesar, and

His power unto Octavia.

Ant. May I never

To this good purpose, that so fairly shows, Dream of impediment ! Let me have thy hand : 145

Further this act of grace, and from this hour The heart of brothers govern in our loves, And sway our great designs !

Caes. There is my hand :

A sister I bequeath you whom no brother

Did ever love so dearly : let her live 1 50

To join our kingdoms and our hearts, and never Fly off our loves again !

Lep. Happily, amen !

Ant. I did not think to draw my sword against Pompey, For he hath laid strange courtesies, and great, Of late upon me: I must thank him only, 155

Lest my remembrance suffer ill report, At heel of that, defy him.

Lep. Time calls upon us: of us must Pompey presently Be sought, or else he seeks out us.

Ant. Where lies he?

Caes. About the Mount Misena.

Ant. What is his strength 160

133. Unless we are to read ' half truths,' which seems not very probable, ' truths ' forms a monosyllabic foot.

i 5 8 f. The rearrangement avoids the four-foot line ' Or else he seeks out us. Where lies he ? ' of the texts. ' Presently ' is a resolved foot making a quadrisyllable with ' Be' of the next line. Cp. vv. 167 f.

ii. 2 44°

By land?

Caes. Great and increasing, but by sea He is an absolute master.

Ant. So is the fame:

Would we had spoke together ! Haste we for it : Yet ere we put ourselves in arms, despatch we The business we have talk'd of.

Caes. With most gladness, 165

And do invite you to my sister's view, Whither straight I will lead you.

Ant. Let us, Lepidus,

Not lack your company.

Lep. Noble Antony,

Not sickness should detain me.

[Flourish. Exeunt Caesar, Antony, and Lepidus.

Maec. Welcome from Egypt, sir. 170

Eno. Half the heart of Caesar, worthy Maecenas! My honourable friend Agrippa !

Agr. Good Enobarbus!

Maec. We have cause to be glad that matters are so well disgested. You stayed well by it in Egypt. 175

Eno. Ay, sir, we did sleep the day out of countenance, and made the night light with drinking.

Maec. Eight wild-boars roasted whole at a breakfast, and but twelve persons there ! is this true ?

Eno. This was but as a fly by an eagle : we had much [i 80 more monstrous matter of feast, which worthily deserved noting.

Maec. She is a most triumphant lady, if report be square to her.

Eno. When she first met Mark Antony she pursed up his heart, upon the river of Cydnus. 185

Agr. There she appear'd indeed, or my reporter devised well for her.

Eno. I will tell you:

The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burn'd on the water: the poop was beaten gold, 190

Purple the sails, and so perfumed that

The winds were love-sick with them : the oars were silver, Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made

167. Scan, 'Whither \ straight | I will | lead you.'

441 ". 2

The water which they beat to follow faster,

As amorous of their strokes. For her own person, 195

It beggar'd all description ; she did lie

In her pavilion — cloth of gold; of tissue —

O'er-picturing that Venus where we see

The fancy out-work nature. On each side her

Stood pretty dimpled boys, like smiling Cupids, 200

With divers-colour'd fans, whose wind did seem

To glow the delicate cheeks which they did cool,

And what they undid did.

Agr. O, rare for Antony !

Eno. Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides, So many mermaids, tended her in the eyes, 205

And made their bends adornings : at the helm A seeming mermaid steers: the silken tackle Swells with the touches of those flower-soft hands, That yarely frame the office : from the barge A strange invisible perfume hits the sense 210

Of the adjacent wharfs. The city cast Her people out upon her, and Antony, Enthroned in the market-place, did sit alone, Whistling to the air, which, but for vacancy, Had gone to gaze on Cleopatra too, 215

And made a gap in nature.

Agr. Rare Egyptian !

Eno. Upon her landing, Antony sent to her, Invited her to supper: she replied, It should be better he became her guest,

Which she entreated : our courteous Antony, 22O

Whom never the word of 'No' woman heard speak, Being barber'd ten times over, goes to the feast, And for his ordinary, pays his heart For what his eyes eat only.

Agr. Royal wench !

She made great Caesar lay his sword to bed ; 225

He plough'd her, and she cropp'd.

Eno. I saw her once

Hop forty paces through the public street ; And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted, That she did make defect perfection, And breathless, power breathe forth.

Maec. Now Antony 230

Must leave her utterly.

Eno. Never, he will not :

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety: other women cloy The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry Where most she satisfies ; for vilest things 235

Become themselves in her, that the holy priests Bless her when she is riggish.

Maec. If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle The heart of Antony, Octavia is A blessed lottery to him.

Agr. Let us go. 240

Good Enobarbus, make yourself my guest Whilst you abide here.

Eno. Humbly, sir, I thank you. [Exeunt.

SCENE III. The same. In Caesar's house.

Enter ANTONY, CAESAR, OCTAVIA between them, and Attendants.

Ant. The world and my great office will sometimes Divide me from your bosom.

Octa. All which time

Before the gods my knee shall bow my prayers To them for you.

Ant. Good night, sir. My Octavia,

Read not my blemishes in the world's report : 5

I have not kept my square, but that to come Shall all be done by the rule. Good night, dear lady. Good night, sir.

Caes. Goodnight. [Exeunt Caesar^Octavia, and Attendants.

Enter Soothsayer.

Ant. Now, sirrah, do you wish yourself in Egypt? 10

Sooth. Would I had never come from thence, nor you Thither !

Ant. If you can, your reason?

Sooth. I see it in

My motion, have it not in my tongue; but yet

236. Scan, ' Bejcome themselves | in her, j * 4. ' To them • for you.'

443

"•3

Hie you to Egypt again.

Ant. Say to me,

Whose fortunes shall rise higher, Caesar's or mine?

Sooth. Caesar's.

Therefore, O Antony, stay not by his side : Thy daemon, that thy spirit which keeps thee, is Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable, Where Caesar's is not ; but near him, thy angel Becomes a fear, as being o'erpower'd : therefore Make space enough between you.

Ant. Speak this no more.

Sooth. To none but thee, no more but when to thee. If thou dost play with him at any game, Thou art sure to lose, and of that natural luck, He beats thee against the odds. Thy lustre thickens When he shines by: I say again, thy spirit Is all afraid to govern thee near him, But he away, 'tis noble.

Ant. Get thee gone :

Say to Ventidius, I would speak with him.

2O

He shall to Parthia. Be it art or hap, He hath spoken true : the very dice obey him, And in our sports my better cunning faints Under his chance: if we draw lots, he speeds; His cocks do win the battle still of mine When it is all to nought, and his quails ever Beat mine, inhoop'd, at odds. I will to Egypt; And though I make this marriage for my peace, In the east my pleasure lies.

Enter VENTIDIUS.

O, come, Ventidius;

You must to Parthia, your commission's ready: Follow me, and receive it.

[Exit Soothsayer. 30

35

1 7. Scan, ' spirit which | keeps | thee,'

27. Scan, 'govern thee | near | him,' and so in v.

[Exeunt. 40

19.

ii. 4 444

SCENE IV. The same. A street. Enter LEPIDUS, MAECENAS, and AGRIPPA.

Lep. Trouble yourselves no further : pray you, hasten Your generals after.

Agr. Sir, Mark Antony

Will even but kiss Octavia, and we will follow.

Lep. Till I shall see you in your soldier's dress, Which will become you both, farewell.

Maec. We shall, 5

As I conceive the journey, be at the Mount Before you, Lepidus.

Lep. Your way is shorter,

My purposes do draw me much about ; You'll win two days upon me.

Maec. Agr. Sir, good success!

Lep. Farewell. \Exeunt.

SCENE V. Alexandria. In Cleopatra's palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEX AS.

Cleo. Give me some music, — music, moody food Of us that trade in love.

All. The music, ho !

Enter MARDIAN the Eunuch,

Cleo. Let it alone, let's to billiards : come, Charmian.

Char. My arm is sore, best play with Mardian.

Cleo. As well a woman with an eunuch play'd 5

As with a woman. Come, you will play with me, sir?

Mar. As well as I can, madam.

Cleo. And when good will is show'd, though it come too

short,

The actor may plead pardon. — I'll none now, Give me mine angle, we'll to the river: there, 10

My music playing far off, I will betray Tawny-finn'd fishes, my bended hook shall pierce Their slimy jaws, and as I draw them up, I'll think them every one an Antony,

445 ii. 5

And say <Ah ha. you are caught !' /"*/, k0«r. 'Twas merry, when 15

You wager'd on your angling, when your diver Did hang a salt fish on his hook, which he With fervency drew up.

Cleo. That time — O, times

[ laugh'd him out of patience, and that night I laugh'd him into patience, and next morn, 2O

Ere the ninth hour, I drunk him to his bed; Then put my tires and mantles on him, whilst I wore his sword Philippan.

Enter a Messenger.

O, from Italy !

Ram thou thy fruitful tidings in mine ears, That long time have been barren.

Mess. [Hesitating] Madam, madam, 25

Antony —

Cleo. O, is dead ? If thou say so, Villain, thou kill'st thy mistress ! but well and free, If so thou yield him, there is gold, and here My bluest veins to kiss, a hand that kings Have lipp'd, and trembled kissing.

Mess. First, madam, he is well. 30

Cleo. Why, there is more gold. But, sirrah, mark, we use To say the. dead are well: bring it to that, The gold I give thee will I melt and pour Down thy ill-uttering throat.

Mess. Good madam, hear me.

Cleo. Well, go to, I will : 35

But there's no goodness in thy face : if Antony Be free and healthful, <why> so tart a favour To trumpet such good tidings? if not well, Thou shouldst come like a Fury crown'd with snakes,

26. See on A. and C., no. 91, p. 224.

37. Editors hesitate to accept Rowe's indispensable 'why,' as though F. never dropped a word or punctuated falsely.

3 8 f. Scan, ' if j not j well, A | Thou shouldst | come like a | Fury.' As in numberless instances of words so placed, ' Thou ' takes no noticeable stress; cp. 3. 2. 60, 'You shall | hear from me | still.'

ii. 5 446

Not like a formal man.

Mess. Will it please you hear me? 40

Cleo. I have a mind to strike thee ere thou speak'st : Yet if thou say, Antony lives, is well, Or friends with Caesar, or not captive to him, I'll set thee in a shower of gold, and hail Rich pearls upon thee.

Mess. Madam, he is well.

Cleo. Well said. 45

Mess. And friends with Caesar.

Cleo. Thou art an honest man.

Mess. Caesar and he are greater friends than ever.

Cleo. Make thee a fortune from me.

Mess. But yet, madam, —

Cleo. I do not like 'But yet,' it does allay

The good precedence, fie upon cBut yet' ! 50

'But yet' is as a gaoler to bring forth Some monstrous malefactor. Prithee, friend, Pour out the pack of matter to mine ear, The good and bad together: he's friends with Caesar, In state of health, thou say'st, and thou sayest, free. 55

Mess. Free, madam ! no : I made no such report, He is bound unto Octavia.

Cleo. For what good turn ?

Mess. For the best turn in the bed.

Cleo. I am pale, Charmian.

Mess. Madam, he is married to Octavia.

Cleo. The most infectious pestilence upon thee ! 60

[Strikes him down.

Mess. Good madam, patience.

Cleo. What say you? Hence,

[Strikes him again.

Horrible villain, or I'll spurn thine eyes Like balls before me ! I'll unhair thy head,

\_She hales him up and down.

Thou shalt be whipp'd with wire, and stew'd in brine, Smarting in lingering pickle !

Mess. Gracious madam, 65

I that do bring the news, made not the match.

Cleo. Say it is not so, a province I will give thee, And make thy fortunes proud ; the blow thou hadst Shall make thy peace for moving me to rage,

447 ii. 5

And I will boot thee with what gift beside 70

Thy modesty can beg.

Mess. He is married, madam.

Cleo. Rogue, thou hast lived too long. [Draws a knife.

Mess. Nay then, I'll run.

What mean you, madam? I have made no fault.

Char. Good madam, keep yourself within yourself; The man is innocent. 75

Cleo. Some innocents scape not the thunderbolt. Melt Egypt into Nile ! and kindly creatures Turn all to serpents ! Call the slave again ; Though I am mad, I will not bite him : call.

Char. He is afeard to come.

Cleo. I will not hurt him. 80

[Exit Charmian.

These hands do lack nobility, that they strike A meaner than myself, since I myself Have given myself the cause.

Re-enter CHARMIAN and Messenger.

Come hither, sir.

Though it be honest, it is never good

To bring bad news: give to a gracious message 85

An host of tongues, but let ill tidings tell Themselves, when they be felt.

Mess. I have done my duty.

Cleo. Is he married ? I cannot hate thee worser than I do, If thou again say 'Yes.'

Mess. He is married, madam.

Cleo. The gods confound thee! dost thou hold there still?

Mess. Should I lie, madam?

Cleo. O, I would thou didst, 91

So half my Egypt were submerged, and made A cistern for scaled snakes! Go, get thee hence: Hadst thou Narcissus in thy face, to me Thou wouldst appear most ugly. He is married? 95

Mess. I crave your highness' pardon.

Cleo. He is married?

Mess. Take no offence that I would not offend you ; To punish me for what you make me do Seems much unequal : he's married to Octavia.

88. Scan 'worser than I ' as a quadrisyllable.

ii. 6 • 44^

Cleo. O, that his fault should make a knave of thee, TOO That art not what thou art sure of! Get thee hence: The merchandise which thou hast brought from Rome Are all too dear for me : lie they upon thy hand, And be undone by them ! [Exit Messenger.

Char. Good your highness, patience.

Cleo. In praising Antony I have dispraised Caesar. 105

Char. Many times, madam.

Cleo. I am paid for it now : lead me from hence, I faint : O Iras, Charmian ! — 'tis no matter. Go to the fellow, good Alexas, bid him

Report the feature of Octavia, her years, no

Her inclination : let him not leave out The colour of her hair: bring me word quickly.

[Exit Alexas.

Let him for ever go ! let him not — Charmian, Though he be painted one way like a Gorgon, The other way is a Mars. [To Mardlan\ Bid you Alexas Bring me word how tall she is. — Pity me, Charmian, 116 But do not speak to me. Lead me to my chamber.

[Exeunt.

SCENE VI. Italy. Near Misenum.

Flourish. Enter from one side POMPEV and MEN AS, with Drum and Trumpet : from the other CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, ENOBARBUS, MAECENAS, with sol diers marching.

Pom. Your hostages I have, so have you mine, And we shall talk before we fight.

Caes. Most meet

That first we come to words, and therefore have we Our written purposes before us sent ;

Which if thou hast considered, let us know 5

If 'twill tie up thy discontented sword, And carry back to Sicily much tall youth That else must perish here.

Pom. To you all three,

The senators alone of this great world,

Chief factors for the gods, I do not know 10

Wherefore my father should revengers want,

449

ii. 6

Having a son and friends, since Julius Caesar,

Who at Philippi the good Brutus ghosted,

There found you labouring for him. What was it

That moved pale Cassius to conspire? and what 15

Made the all-honour'd honest Roman, Brutus,

With the armed rest, courtiers of beauteous Freedom,

To drench the Capitol, but that they would have

One man but a man ? And that is it

Hath made me rig my navy, at whose burden 2O

The anger'd ocean foams, with which I meant

To scourge the ingratitude that despiteful Rome

Cast on my noble father.

Caes. Take your time.

Ant. Thou canst not fear us, Pompey, with thy sails, We'll speak with thee at sea: at land thou knowest 25

How much we do over-count thee.

Pom. At land indeed

Thou dost over-count me of my father's house : But since the cuckoo builds not for himself, Remain in it as thou mayst.

Lep. Be pleased to tell us —

For this is from the present — how you take 30

The offers we have sent you.

Caes. There's the point.

Ant. Which do not be entreated to, but weigh What it is worth embraced.

Caes. And what may follow,

To try a larger fortune.

Pom. You have made me

Offer of Sicily, Sardinia; and I must 35

Rid all the sea of pirates ; then, to send Measures of wheat to Rome : this agreed upon, To part with unhack'd edges, and bear back Our targes undinted.

Caes. Ant. Lep. That's our offer.

Pom. Know, then,

19. A pure trochaic line, ' One man | but a | man?' F: and the texts divide, ' Have one man,' but both this and the preceding line are improved by the rearrangement. Cp. 4. I. 5, 4. 14. 44.

35. F. and texts end v. 34 with ' ofter ' ; but this necessitates the sprawling rhythm * Sarjdini|a.' The text runs, with a divided quadri syllable, 'Offer of | Sicil|y, Sardinia; and | I....'

B. 29

ii. 6 45°

I came before you here a man prepared 40

To take this offer ; but Mark Antony

Put me to some impatience. Though I lose

The praise of it by telling, you must know,

When Caesar and your brother were at blows,

Your mother came to Sicily, and did find 45

Her welcome friendly.

Ant. I have heard it, Pompey,

And am well studied for a liberal thanks Which I do owe you.

Pom. Let me have your hand:

I did not think, sir, to have met you here.

Ant. The beds in the east are soft; and thanks to you, 50 That call'd me timelier than my purpose hither, For I have gain'd by it.

Caes. Since I saw you last,

There is a change upon you.

Pom. Well, I know not

What counts harsh fortune casts upon my face, But in my bosom shall she never come, 55

To make my heart her vassal.

Lep. Well met here.

Pom. I hope so, Lepidus. Thus we are agreed: I crave our composition may be written, And seal'd between us.

Caes. That's the next to do.

Pom. We'll feast each other ere we part, and let us 60 Draw lots who shall begin.

Ant. That will I, Pompey.

Pom. No, Antony, take the lot : but first Or last, your fine Egyptian cookery Shall have the fame. I have heard that Julius Caesar Grew fat with feasting there. 65

Ant. You have heard much.

Pom. I have fair meanings, sir.

Ant. And fair words to them.

Pom. Then so much have I heard :

And I have heard, Apollodorus carried —

Eno. No more of that : he did so.

Pom. What, I pray you ?

Eno. A certain queen to Caesar in a mattress. 70

Pom. I know thee now: how farest thou, soldier?

Eno. Well ;

45 I ii. 6

And well am like to do, for I perceive Four feasts are toward.

P0fn. Let me shake thy hand,

I never hated thee: I have seen thee fight, When I have envied thy behaviour.

Eno. Sir, 75

I never loved you much, but I have praised you When you have well deserved ten times as much As I have said you did.

Pom. Enjoy thy plainness,

It nothing ill becomes thee.

Aboard my galley I invite you all : 80

Will you lead, lords?

Caes. Ant. Lep. Show us the way, sir.

Pom. Come.

[Exeunt all but Menas and Enobarbus.

Men. [Aside'] Thy father, Pompey, would never have made

this treaty. — You and I have known, sir.

Eno. At sea, I think.

Men. We have, sir.

Eno. You have done well by water.

Men. And you by land.

Eno. I will praise any man that will praise me; 85

Though it cannot be denied what I have done by land.

Men. Nor what I have done by water.

Eno. Yes, something you can deny for your own safety : You have been a great thief by sea.

Men. And you by land.

Eno. There I deny my land service. But give me [90 your hand, Menas : if our eyes had authority, here they might take two thieves kissing.

Men. All men's faces are true, whatsoe'er their hands are.

Eno. But there is never a fair woman has a true face.

Men. No slander, they steal hearts. 95

Eno. We came hither to fight with you.

Men. For my part I am sorry it is turned to a drinking : Pompey doth this day laugh away his fortune.

8 £. Each ' praise ' forms a monosyllabic foot. 86. Scan, with a quadrisyllable, 'Though it \ cannot be de-| nied....'

29—2

ii. 7 452

Eno. If he do, sure he cannot weep it back again.

Men. You have said, sir. We looked not for Mark [100 Antony here: pray you, is he married to Cleopatra?

Eno. Caesar's sister is call'd Octavia.

Men. True, sir, she was the wife of Caius Marcellus.

Eno. But she is now the wife of Marcus Antonius.

Men. Pray you, sir? 105

Eno. 'Tis true.

Men. Then is Caesar and he for ever knit together.

Eno. If I were bound to divine of this unity, I would not prophesy so.

Men. I think the policy of that purpose made more [no in the marriage than the love of the parties.

Eno. I think so too ; but you shall find the band that seems to tie their friendship together will be the very strangler of their amity : Octavia is of a holy, cold, and still conversation.

Men. Who would not have his wife so? 115

Eno. Not he that himself is not so, which is Mark Antony. He will to his Egyptian dish again : then shall the sighs of Octavia blow the fire up in Caesar, and as I said before, that which is the strength of their amity shall prove the immediate author of their variance. Antony will use his affection [120 where it is; he married but his occasion here.

Men. And thus it may be. Come, sir, will you aboard? I have a health for you.

Eno. I shall take it, sir :

We have used our throats in Egypt.

Men. Come, let us away. [Exeunt.

SCENE VII. Misenum. On board Pompey's galley. Music plays. Enter two or three Servants with a banquet.

First Serv. Here they'll be, man : some of their plants are ill rooted already, the least wind in the world will blow them down.

Sec. Serv. Lepidus is high-coloured.

First Serv. They have made him drink alms-drink. 5

Sec. Serv. As they pinch one another by the disposition, he cries out 'No more!' reconciles them to his entreaty and him self to the drink.

453 ii. 7

First Serv. But it raises the greater war between him and his discretion. To

Sec. Serv. Why, this it is to have a name in great men's fellowship : I had as lief have a reed that will do me no service, as a partisan I could not heave.

First Serv. To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in it, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster the cheeks. 16

A sennet sounded. Enter CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, POMPEY, AGRIPPA, MAECENAS, ENOBARBUS, MENAS, with other captains.

Ant. [To Caesar] Thus they do, sir: they take the flow of

the Nile

By certain scales in the pyramid : they know By the height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth Or foison follow: the higher Nilus swells, 20

The more it promises : as it ebbs, the seedsman Upon the slime and ooze scatters his grain, And shortly comes the harvest.

Lep. You have strange serpents there.

Ant. Ay, Lepidus.

Lep. Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun : so is your crocodile. , 26

Ant. They are so.

Pom. Sit, — and some wine ! A health to Lepidus !

Lep. I am not so well as I should be, but I'll never out. 29

Eno. Not till you have slept : I fear me you'll be in till then.

Lep. Nay, certainly I have heard the Ptolemies' pyramises are very goodly things: without contradiction I have heard that.

Men. [Aside to Pom.] Pompey, a word.

Pom. [Aside to Men.] Say in mine ear: what is it?

Men. [Aside to Pom.] Forsake thy seat, I do beseech thee,

captain. And hear me speak a word.

Pom. [Aside to Men.] Forbear me till anon. — 35

This wine for Lepidus !

Lep. What manner of thing is your crocodile?

Ant. It is shaped, sir, like itself, and it is as broad as it hath breadth ; it is just so high as it is, and moves with it own organs : it lives by that which nourisheth it, and the elements once out of it, it transmigrates. 41

n. 7 454

Lep. What colour is it of ?

Ant. Of it own colour too.

Lep. 'Tis a strange serpent.

Ant. 'Tis so, and the tears of it are wet. 45

Caes. Will this description satisfy him?

Ant. With the health that Pompey gives him, else he is a very epicure.

Pom. [Aside to Men.~] Go hang, sir, hang ! Tell me of that ?

Away ! Do as I bid you. — Where's this cup I call'd for? 50

Men. If for the sake of merit thou wilt hear me, Rise from thy stool.

Pom. I think thou art mad: the matter?

[Rises, and goes aside with Menas.

Men. I have ever held my cap off to thy fortunes.

Pom. Thou hast served me with much faith : what's else to

say ? — Be jolly, lords.

Ant. These quicksands, Lepidus, 55

Keep off them, for you sink.

Men. Wilt thou be lord of all the world?

Pom. What say'st thou ?

Men. Wilt thou be lord of the whole world? that's twice.

Pom. How should that be?

Men. But entertain it, and though thou think me poor, 60 I am the man will give thee all the world. .

Pom. Hast thou drunk well?

Men. No, Pompey, I have kept me from the cup. Thou art, if thou darest be, the earthly Jove : Whate'er the ocean pales, or sky inclips, 65

Is thine, if thou wilt have it.

Pom. Show me which way.

Men. These three world-sharers, these competitors, Are in thy vessel : let me cut the cable, And when we are put off, fall to their throats : All there is <is> thine.

Pom. Ah, this thou shouldst have done, 70

And not have spoke of it: in me 'tis villany, In thee it had been good service : thou must know,

70. F. seems to have dropped a second ' is ' ; cp. vv. 57, 58, 6 1, of which the words are an echo. Then and theirs have been proposed.

455 ". 7

'Tis not my profit that does lead mine honour ;

Mine honour, it. Repent that e'er thy tongue

Hath so betray'd thine act: being done unknown, 75

I should have found it afterwards well done,

But must condemn it now. Desist, and drink.

Men. [Aside} For this,

I'll never follow thy palled fortunes more : Who seeks, and will not take when once 'tis offer'd, Shall never find it more.

Pom. [Returning] This health to Lepidus ! 80

Ant. Bear him ashore. I'll pledge it for him, Pompey.

Eno. Here's to thee, Menas !

Men. Enobarbus, welcome !

Pom. Fill till the cup be hid.

Eno. There's a strong fellow, Menas.

[Pointing to the Attendant who carries off Lepidus.

Men. Why? 84

Eno. He bears a third part of the world, man : seest not ?

Men. The third part, then, is drunk: would it were all, That it might go on wheels!

Eno. Drink thou, increase the reels.

Men. Come.

Pom. This is not yet an Alexandrian feast.

Ant. It ripens towards it. Strike the vessels, ho ! 90

Here's to Caesar !

Caes. I could well forbear it;

It's monstrous labour when I wash my brain, And it grow fouler.

Ant. Be a child of the time.

Caes. Possess it, I'll make answer :

But I had rather fast from all, four days, 95

Than drink so much in one.

Eno. [To Antony] Ha, my brave emperor, shall we dance now The Egyptian Bacchanals, and celebrate our drink?

Pom. Let's have it, good soldier.

4nt. Come, let us all take hands,

Till that the conquering wine hath steep'd our sense 100

In soft and delicate Lethe.

Eno. All take hands.

93. And it: i.e. ' if it.' And should be stressed.

97. Scan, ' Ha, my brave j emperor, | shall we | dance | now '

ii. 7 456

Make battery to our ears with the loud music ! The while I'll place you ; then the boy shall sing : The holding every man shall bear as loud

As his strong sides can volley. 105

[Music plays. Enobarbus places them hand in hand.

THE SONG.

Come, thou monarch of the vine, Plumpy Bacchus with pink eyne! In thy fats our cares be drown'd, With thy grapes our hairs be bound: no

Cup us till the world go round,

Cup us till the world go round !

Caes. What would you more ? Pompey, good night. Good

brother,

Let me request you off : our graver business Frowns at this levity. Gentle lords, let's part, 1 1 5

You see we have burnt our cheeks. Strong Enobarb Is weaker than the wine, and mine own tongue Splits what it speaks: the wild disguise hath almost Antick'd us all. What needs more words? Good night. Good Antony, your hand.

Pom. I'll try you on the shore. 120

Ant. And shall, sir: give us your hand.

Pom. O Antony,

You have my father's house, — but what r we are friends ! Come down into the boat.

Eno. Take heed you fall not.

[Exeunt all but Enobarbus and Menas. Menas, I'll not on shore.

Men. No, to my cabin. These drums,

These trumpets, flutes! what! Let Neptune hear 125

We bid a loud farewell to these great fellows. Sound and be hang'd, sound out! \_A flourish, with drums.

Eno. Hoo ! says a, there's my cap.

Men. Hoo! Noble captain, come. [Exeunt.

127. Hoo! says a. There is no difficulty in accepting the vulgarism here, for it is more than justified by the speaker's condition and the situa tion. But plainly a is not for he, as elsewhere ; 'says a' must be for say I.

ACT III

SCENE I. A plain In Syria.

Enter VENTIDIUS as it were in triumph, with the dead body of Pacorus borne before him, SILIUS, and other Roman Officers and Soldiers.

Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck, and now Pleased Fortune does of Marcus Crassus' death Make me revenger. Bear the king's son's body Before our army. Thy Pacorus, Orodes, Pays this for Marcus Crassus.

5/7. Noble Ventidius, 5

Whilst yet with Parthian blood thy sword is warm, The fugitive Parthians follow : spur through Media, Mesopotamia, and the shelters whither The routed fly. So thy grand captain Antony Shall set thee on triumphant chariots, and 10

Put garlands on thy head.

Pen. O Silius, Silius,

I have done enough ; a lower place, note well, May make too great an act: for learn this, Silius,— Better to leave undone, than by our deed acquire Too high a fame when him we serve's away. 1 5

Caesar and Antony have ever won More in their officer than person : Sossius, One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant, For quick accumulation of renown,

Which he achieved by the minute, lost his favour. 20

Who does in the wars more than his captain can, Becomes his captain's captain ; and ambition, The soldier's virtue, rather makes choice of loss Than gain which darkens him.

I could do more to do Antonius good, 25

But 'twould offend him, and in his offence Should my performance perish.

Si/. Thou hast, Ventidius, that

Without the which a soldier and his sword

14. See p. 380, top.

III. 2

458

Grant scarce distinction. Thou wilt write to Antony?

Ven. I'll humbly signify what in his name, 30

The magical word of war, we have effected ; How, with his banners and his well-paid ranks, The ne'er yet beaten horse of Parthia We have jaded out of the field.

Si/. Where is he now?

fen. He purposeth to Athens; whither, with what haste The weight we must convey with us will permit, 36

We will appear before him. On, there ! pass along. [Exeunt.

SCENE II. Rome. An ante-chamber in Caesar's house. Enter AGRIPPA at one door, ENOBARBUS at another.

Agr. What, are the brothers parted ?

Eno. They have despatch'd with Pompey, he is gone; The other three are sealing. Octavia weeps To part from Rome, Caesar is sad, and Lepidus Since Pompey's feast, as Menas says, is troubled 5

With the green-sickness.

Agr. 'Tis a noble Lepidus.

Eno. A very fine one : O, how he loves Caesar !

Agr. Nay but how dearly he adores Mark Antony !

Eno. Caesar! why he's the Jupiter of men.

Agr. What's Antony? the god of Jupiter ! 10

Eno. Spake you of Caesar ? ho, the nonpareil !

Agr. O Antony! O thou Arabian bird!

Eno. Would you praise Caesar, say 'Caesar !' go no further.

Agr. Indeed he plied them both with excellent praises.

Eno. But he loves Caesar best ; yet he loves Antony. 1 5 Hoo ! hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets, Cannot think, speak, cast, write, sing, number, hoo! His love to Antony ; but as for Caesar, Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.

Agr. Both he loves.

Eno. They are his shards, and he their beetle. [Trumpet •within] So : 2O

This is to horse. Adieu, noble Agrippa.

Agr. Good fortune, worthy soldier, and farewell.

1 6. Hoo! is a monosyllabic foot.

459 ni. 2

Enter CAESAR, ANTONY, LEPIDUS, and OCTAVIA.

Ant. No further, sir.

Caes. You take from me a great part of myself; Use me well in it. Sister, prove such a wife 25

As my thoughts make thee, and as my farthest band Shall pass on thy approof. Most noble Antony, Let not the piece of virtue which is set Betwixt us as the cement of our love,

To keep it builded, be the ram to batter 30

The fortress of it :

For better might we have loved without this mean, If on both parts this be not cherish'd.

Ant. Make me not

Offended in your distrust.

Caes. I have said.

Ant. You shall not find,

Though you be therein curious, the least cause 35

For what you seem to fear : so the gods keep you, And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends ! We will here part.

Caes. Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well: The elements be kind to thee, and make 40

Thy spirits all of comfort ! fare thee well.

Oct. My noble brother !

Ant. The April's in her eyes; it is love's spring, And these the showers to bring it on. Be cheerful.

Oct. Sir, look well to my husband's house, and —

Caes. What, 45

Octavia ?

Oct. I will tell you in your ear.

Ant. Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can Her heart inform her tongue, the swan's down-feather,

3 1 ff. The arrangement of F. and the texts makes v. 31 a tetra- pody, and gives false stressing to 'if on both parts' in v. 33. Scan, * If on • both parts j '

46. I have restored * I will tell ' for '/'// tell ' of F. and the texts. Shakespeare, to whom the point was not a trifle, could not have writ ten such a line as that of the texts, beginning 'Oc-tavi|a?' — least of all for the mere purpose ef avoiding a resolution.

48. Scan, ' the | swan's | down-feather, || ' The * feather ' appears to be her tongue, and her heart the balanced tide.

HI. 3

That stands upon the swell at the full of tide,

And neither way inclines. 50

Eno. [Aside to Agr.~] Will Caesar weep ?

Agr. [Aside to Eno.'] He has a cloud in his face.

Eno. [Aside to Agr.~\ He were the worse for that, were he

a horse, So is he being a man.

Agr. [Aside to Eno.] Why, Enobarbus, When Antony found Julius Caesar dead,

He cried almost to roaring; and he wept 55

When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.

Eno. [Aside to Agr.~] That year indeed he was troubled

with a rheum :

What willingly he did confound he wail'd, Believe it, till I wept too.

Caes. No, sweet Octavia,

You shall hear from me still ; the time shall not 60

Out-go my thinking on you.

Ant. Come, sir, come, [Embraces him.

I'll wrestle with you in my strength of love: Look, here I have you, thus I let you go, And give you to the gods.

Caes. Adieu, be happy !

Lep. Let all the number of the stars give light 65

To thy fair way !

Caes. Farewell, farewell ! [Kisses Octavia.

Ant. Farewell !

[Trumpets sound. Exeunt.

SCENE III. Alexandria. In Cleopatra's palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and ALEXAS.

Cleo. Where is the fellow?

Alex. Half afeard to come.

Cleo. Go to, go to.

Enter the Messenger as before.

Come hither, sir*

Alex. Good majesty,

Herod of Jewry dare not look upon you

461 in. 3

But when you are well pleased.

Cleo. That Herod's head

I'll have : but how, when Antony is gone, 5

Through whom I might command it? Come thou near.

Mess. Most gracious majesty.

Cleo. Didst thou behold Octavia?

Mess. -Ay, dread queen.

Cleo. Where ?

Mess. Madam, in Rome;

I look'd her in the face, and saw her led Between her brother and Mark Antony. 10

Cleo. Is she as tall as me ?

Mess. She is not, madam.

Cleo. Didst hear her speak ? is she shrill-tongued or low ?

Mess. Madam, I heard her speak, she is low-voiced.

Cleo. That's not so good: he cannot like her long.

Char. Like her! Olsis! 'tis impossible. 15

Cleo. I think so, Charmian : — dull of tongue and dwarfish. What majesty is in her gait? remember, If ere thou lookedst on majesty.

Mess. She creeps:

Her motion and her station are as one :

She shows a body rather than a life, 20

A statue than a breather.

Cleo. Is this certain?

Mess. Or I have no observance.

Char. Three in Egypt

Cannot make better note.

Cleo. He's very knowing,

I do perceive it: there's nothing in her yet. The fellow has good judgement.

Char. Excellent. 25

Cleo. Guess at her years, I prithee.

Mess. Madam, she was a widow, —

Cleo. Widow ! Charmian, hark !

Mess. And I do think she's thirty.

Cleo. Bear'st thou her face in mind ? is it long or round ?

Mess. Round, even to faultiness.

Cleo. For the most part too, they are foolish that are so.

29. Scan, 'Round, A even to | faultiness. ||'

in. 4 462

Her hair, what colour ?

Mess. Brown, madam, and her forehead 31

As low as she would wish it.

Cleo. There's gold for thee.

Thou must not take my former sharpness ill : I will employ thee back again, I find thee

Most fit for business: go make thee ready, 35

Our letters are prepared. [Exit Messenger.

Char. A proper man.

Cleo. Indeed he is so, I repent me much That I so harried him. Why, methinks, by him This creature's no such thing.

Char. Nothing, madam.

Cleo. The man hath seen some majesty, and should know.

Char. Hath he seen majesty? Isis else defend, 41

And serving you so long.

Cleo. I have one thing more to ask him yet, good Charmian, — But 'tis no matter, thou shalt bring him to me Where I will write. All may be well enough. 45

Char. I warrant you, madam. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV. Athens. A room in Antony's house. Enter ANTONY and OCTAVIA.

Ant. Nay, nay, Octavia, not only that; — That were excusable, that and thousands more Of semblable import : — but he hath waged New wars against Pompey ; made his will, and read it To public ear ; 5

Spoke scantly of me: when perforce he could not But pay me terms of honour, cold and sickly He|vented them, most narrow measure lent me ; When the best hint was given him he not took it, Or did it from his teeth.

Oct. O my good lord, 10

Believe not all ; or if you must believe, Stomach not all. A more unhappy lady,

32. Scan, 'There's | gold | for thee.'

i. Monosyllabic beginning: 'Nay, A j nay, Ocjtavia, n6t | only | that;'

4^3 in. 5

If this division chance, ne'er stood between,

Praying for both parts:

The good gods will mock me presently, 15

When I shall pray, <O bless my lord and husband!'

Undo that prayer by crying out as loud,

<O bless my brother!' l Husband win, win brother,'

Prays, and destroys the prayer: no midway

'Twixt these extremes at all.

Ant. Gentle Octavia, 20

Let your best love draw to that point which seeks Best to preserve it : if I lose mine honour, I lose myself: better I were not yours Than yours so branchless. But, as you requested, Yourself shall go between us: the mean time, lady, 25

I'll raise the preparation of a war Shall stain your brother. Make your soonest haste ; So your desires are yours.

Oct. Thanks to my lord.

The Jove of power make me most weak, most weak, Your reconciler ! Wars 'twixt you twain would be 30

As if the world should cleave, and that slain men Should solder up the rift.

Ant. When it appears to you where this begins, Turn your displeasure that way, for our faults Can never be so equal that your love 35

Can equally move with them. Provide your going, Choose your own company, and command what cost Your heart has mind to. [Exeunt.

SCENE V. The same. Another room. Enter ENOBARBUS and EROS, meeting.

Eno. How now, friend Eros? Eros. There's strange news come, sir. Eno. What, man?

Eros. Caesar and Lepidus have made wars upon Pompey. Eno. This is old: what is the success? 5

Eros. Caesar, having made use of him in the wars against Pompey, presently denied him rivality, would not let him

21. Scan, 'Let your | best love | draw to that | point — '

in. 6 464

partake in the glory of the action ; and not resting here, accuses him of letters he had formerly wrote to Pompey : upon his own appeal, seizes him. So the poor third is up, till death enlarge his confine. 1 1

Eno. Then, world, thou hast a pair of chaps, no more; And throw between them all the food thou hast, They'll grind the one the other. Where is Antony?

Eros. He's walking in the garden — thus, and spurns 15 The rush that lies before him; cries, 'Fool Lepidus!' And threats the throat of that his officer That murdered Pompey.

Eno. Our great navy's rigg'd.

Eros. For Italy and Caesar. More, Domitius, My lord desires you presently : my news 20

I might have told hereafter.

Eno. 'Twill be naught,

But let it be. Bring me to Antony.

Eros. Come, sir. [Exeunt.

SCENE VI. Rome. In Caesar's house. Enter CAESAR, AGRIPPA, and MAECENAS.

Caes. Contemning Rome, he has done all this and more In Alexandria: here's the manner of it. In the market-place, on a tribunal silver'd, Cleopatra and himself in chairs of gold

Were publicly enthron'd: at the feet sat 5

Caesarion, whom they call my father's son, And all the unlawful issue that their lust Since then hath made between them. Unto her He gave the stablishment of Egypt, made her Of lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia, 10

Absolute queen.

Maec. This in the public eye?

Caes. In the common show-place, where they exercise. His sons he there proclaim'd the kings of kings: Great Media, Parthia, and Armenia,

He gave to Alexander; to Ptolemy he assign'd 15

Syria, Cilicia, and Phoenicia. She In the habiliments of the goddess Isis That day appear'd, and oft before gave audience,

465 in. 6

As 'tis reported, so.

Maec. Let Rome be thus

Inform'd.

Agr. Who queasy with his insolence 20

Already, will their good thoughts call from him.

Cae$. The people know it, and have now received His accusations.

Agr. Who does he accuse?

Caes. Caesar ; and that having in Sicily Sextus Pompeius spoil'd, we had not rated him 25

His part of the isle : then does he say, he lent me Some shipping unrestored: lastly he frets That Lepidus of the triumvirate Should be deposed ; and being, that we detain All his revenue.

Agr. Sir, this should be answer'd. 30

Caes. 'Tis done already, and the messenger gone. I have told him Lepidus was grown too cruel, That he his high authority abused,

And did deserve his change : for what I have conquer'd, I grant him part; but then, in his Armenia, 35

And other of his conquer'd kingdoms, I Demand the like.

Maec. He'll never yield to that.

Caes. Nor must not then be yielded to in this.

Enter OCTAVIA with her Train.

Oct. Hail, Caesar, and my lord ! hail, most dear Caesar !

Caes. That ever I should call thee castaway ! 40

Oct. You have not call'd me so, nor have you cause.

Caes. Why have you stolen upon us thus? You come not Like Caesar's sister : the wife of Antony Should have an army for an usher, and

The neighs of horse to tell of her approach 45

Long ere she did appear : the trees by the way Should have borne men, and expectation fainted, Longing for what it had not : nay, the dust Should have ascended to the roof of heaven, Raised by your populous troops : but you are come 50

A market-maid to Rome, and have prevented The ostentation of our love ; which, left unshown, Is often left unloved: we should have met you

B. 30

in. 6 466

By sea and land, supplying every stage With an augmented greeting.

Oct. Good my lord, 55

To come thus was I not constraint, but did it Of my free will. My lord Mark Antony, Hearing that you prepared for war, acquainted My grieved ear withal ; whereon I begg'd His pardon for return.

Caes. Which soon he granted, 60

Being an obstruct between his lust and him.

Oct. Do not say so, my lord.

Caes. I have eyes upon htm,

And his affairs come to me on the wind. Where is he now?

Oct. My lord, in Athens. 65

Caes. No, my most wronged sister; Cleopatra Hath nodded him to her. He hath given his empire Up to a whore; who now are levying The kings of the earth for war : he hath assembled Bocchus the king of Libya, Archelaus 70

Of Cappadocia, Philadelphos king Of Paphlagonia, the Thracian king Adallas, King Malchus of Arabia, the king of Pont, Herod of Jewry, Mithridates king

Of Comagene, Polemon and Amyntas 75

The kings of Mede and Lycaonia, With a more larger list of sceptres.

Oct. Ay me, most wretched,

That have my heart parted betwixt two friends That do afflict each other !

Caes. Welcome hither:

Your letters did withhold our breaking forth, 80

Till we perceived, both how you were wrong led, And we in negligent danger. Cheer your heart: Be you not troubled with the time, which drives O'er your content these strong necessities, But let determined things to destiny 85

Hold unbewail'd their way. Welcome to Rome;

8 1. A rather ugly line. Scan, 'Till | we per|ceiv'd both | how you | were wr&ng | led.' In spite of the antithesis to 'we' in v. 82, 'you' needs no stress; 'wrong' makes a cross accent.

467 in. 7

Nothing more dear to me. You are abused

Beyond the mark of thought, and the high gods,

To do you justice, make his ministers

Of us and those that love you. Best of comfort, 90

And ever welcome to us!

Welcome, lady.

Maec. Welcome, dear madam: Each heart in Rome does love and pity you ; Only the adulterous Antony, most large

In his abominations, turns you off, 95

And gives his potent regiment to a trull That noiseth it against us.

Oct. Is it so, sir?

Caes. Most certain. Sister, welcome: pray you, Be ever known to patience. My dearest sister! [Exeunt.

SCENE VII. Near Actlum. Antony's camp. Enter CLEOPATRA and ENOBARBUS.

Cleo. I will be even with thee, doubt it not.

Eno. But why, why, why ?

Cleo. Thou hast forspoke my being in these wars, And sayest it is not fit.

Eno. Well, is it, is it ?

Cleo. If not, denounced against us, why should not we 5 Be there in person?

Eno. [Aside] Well, I could reply, If we should serve with horse and mares together, The horse were merely lost ; the mares would bear A soldier and his horse.

Cleo. What is it you say?

Eno. Your presence needs must puzzle Antony, 10

Take from his heart, take from his brain, from his time, What should not then be spared. He is already Traduced for levity, and 'tis said in Rome

5. If not, denounced against us.,.. A line on which much has been written ; yet surely the meaning (with F.'s pointing as in the text) may be, " Granted it is not * fit,' why should I not take the field in person, seeing that the war was denounced against me ? " Cleopatra does not care whether it is ' fit ' or not, and asks for some practical reason.

30 — 2

in. 7 468

That Photinus, an eunuch, and your maids, Manage this war.

Cleo. Sink Rome, and their tongues rot 15

That speak against us ! A charge we bear in the war, And as the president of my kingdom, will Appear there for a man. Speak not against it, I will not stay behind.

Eno. Nay, I have done.

Here comes the emperor.

Enter ANTONY and CANIDIUS.

Ant. Is it not strange, Canidius, 20

That from Tarentum and Brundusium He could so quickly cut the Ionian sea, And take in Toryne ? You have heard of it, sweet ?

Cleo. Celerity is never more admired Than by the negligent.

Ant. A good rebuke, 25

Which might have well becomed the best of men, To taunt at slackness. Canidius, we will fight With him by sea.

Cleo. By sea! what else?

Can. Why

Will my lord do so?

Ant. For that he dares us to it.

Eno. So hath my lord dared him to single fight. 30

Can. Ay, and to wage this battle at Pharsalia, Where Caesar fought with Pompey; but these offers, Which serve not for his vantage, he shakes off, And so should you.

Eno. Your ships are not well mann'd,

Your mariners are muleters, reapers, people 35

Ingross'd by swift impress ; in Caesar's fleet Are those that often have against Pompey fought, Their ships are yare, yours heavy : no disgrace Shall fall you for refusing him at sea, Being prepared for land.

Ant. By sea, by sea. 40

Eno. Most worthy sir, you therein throw away The absolute soldiership you have by land, Distract your army, which doth most consist Of war-mark'd footmen, leave unexecuted

469 in. 7

Your own renowned knowledge, quite forgo 45

The way which promises assurance, and Give up yourself merely to chance and hazard, From firm security.

Ant. I will fight at sea.

Cleo. I have sixty sails, Caesar none better.

Ant. Our overplus of shipping will we burn, 50

And with the rest full-mann'd, from the head of Actium Beat the approaching Caesar : but if we fail, We then can do it at land.

Enter a Messenger.

Thy business?

Mess. The news is true, my lord, he is descried, Caesar has taken Toryne. 55

Ant. Can he be there in person ? 'tis impossible ; Strange that his power should be. Canidius, Our nineteen legions thou shalt hold by land, And our twelve thousand horse ; we'll to our ship. Away, my Thetis !

Enter a Soldier.

How now, worthy soldier? 60

Sold. O noble emperor, do not fight by sea, Trust not to rotten planks. Do you misdoubt This sword, and these my wounds ? Let the Egyptians And the Phoenicians go a-ducking; we

Have used to conquer standing on the earth 65

And fighting foot to foot.

Ant. Well, well ; away.

[Exeunt Antony, Cleopatra, and Enobarbus.

Sold. By Hercules, I think I am in the right.

Can. Soldier thou art; but his whole action grows Not in the power of it, so our leader's led, And we are women's men.

Sold. You keep by land 70

The legions and the horse whole, do you not ?

Can. Marcus Octavius, Marcus Justeius, Publicola and Caelius, are for sea, But we keep whole by land. This speed of Caesar's Carries beyond belief.

Sold. While he was yet in Rome, 75

69. Scan, with quadrisyllable, 'Not | in the | power of it ; | '

in. 8 470

His power went out in such distraction as Beguiled all spies.

Can. Who's his lieutenant, hear you?

Sold. They say, one Taurus.

Can. Well I know the man.

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. The emperor calls Canidius. 79

Can. With news the time's with labour, and throes forth Each minute some. [Exeunt.

SCENE VIII. A plain near Actium. Enter CAESAR with his army, marching^ and TAURUS.

Caes. Taurus !

Taur. My lord?

Caes. Strike not by land, keep whole ; provoke not battle Till we have done at sea. Do not exceed The prescript of this scroll : our fortune lies 5

Upon this jump. [Exeunt.

SCENE IX. Another part of the plain. Enter ANTONY and ENOBARBUS.

Ant. Set we our squadrons on yond side of the hill, In sight of Caesar's battle, from which place We may the number of the ships behold, And so proceed accordingly. [Exeunt,

80. With labour. Surely an unknown and improbable variant of ' in labour ' ? F. seems accidentally to have repeated the with before 'news.' Fora precisely similar slip cp. Richard III i. 2. 79 (quoted on p. 66, no. 10), where F. gives Of for For, owing to a preceding of; and Hamlet 2. 2. 52, where F. gives 'My newes shall be the newts' (for fruit). There are other instances.

471 ni- 10

SCENE X. Another part of the plain,

CANIDIUS marcheth with his land army one way over the stage,

and TAURUS, the lieutenant of Caesar, the other way. After

their going off, is heard the noise of a sea-fight.

Alarum. Enter ENOBARBUS.

Eno. Naught, naught, all naught ! I can behold no longer : The Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral, With all their sixty, fly and turn the rudder ! To see it mine eyes are blasted.

Enter SCARUS.

Scar. Gods and goddesses,

All the whole synod of them !

Eno. What's thy passion? 5

Scar. The greater cantle of the world is lost With very ignorance, we have kiss'd away Kingdoms and provinces.

Eno. How appears the fight?

Scar. On our side like the token'd pestilence, Where death is sure. Yon ribaudred nag of Egypt — 10

Whom leprosy o'ertake ! — in the midst of the fight, When vantage like a pair of twins appear'd, Both as the same, or rather ours the elder — The breese upon her, like a cow in June, — Hoists sails and flies. 15

Eno. That I beheld :

Mine eyes did sicken at the sight, and could not Endure a further view.

Scar. She once being loof'd,

The noble ruin of her magic, Antony,

Claps on his sea-wing, and like a doting mallard, 20

Leaving the flight in heighth, flies after her : I never saw an action of such shame ; Experience, manhood, honour, never before Did violate so itself.

Eno. Alack, alack!

III. 1 1 472

Enter CANIDIUS.

Can. Our fortune on the sea is out of breath, 25

And sinks most lamentably. Had our general Been what he knew himself, all had gone well. O, he has given example for our flight Most grossly, by his own !

Eno. Ay, are you thereabouts? Why, then good night 30 Indeed.

Can. Toward Peloponnesus are they fled.

Scar. 'Tis easy to it, and there I will attend What further comes.

Can. To Caesar will I render

My legions and my horse; six kings already Show me the way of yielding.

Eno. I'll yet follow 35

The wounded chance of Antony, though my reason Sits in the wind against me. [Exeunt.

SCENE XL Alexandria. In Cleopatra's palace. Enter ANTONY with Attendants.

Ant. Hark! the land bids me tread no more upon it, It is ashamed to bear me. Friends, come hither: I am so lated in the world, that I Have lost my way for ever. I have a ship

Laden with gold ; take that, divide it, fly, 5

And make your peace with Caesar.

All. Fly! Not we.

Ant. I have fled myself, and have instructed cowards To run and show their shoulders. Friends, be gone; I have myself resolved upon a course

Which has no need of you; be gone, <be gone>: 10

My treasure's in the harbour, take it. O, I follow'd that I blush to look upon : My very hairs do mutiny; for the white Reprove the brown for rashness, and they them For fear and doting. Friends, be gone: you shall 15

Have letters from me to some friends, that will sweep

473 "I- ii

Your way for you. Pray you, look not sad,

Nor make replies of loathness : take the hint

Which my despair proclaims; let that be left

Which leaves itself : to the sea-side straightway : 20

I will possess you of that ship and treasure.

Leave me, I pray, a little : pray you, now :

Nay, do so ; for indeed I have lost command,

Therefore I pray you : I'll see you by and by.

[Sits down.

Enter CLEOPATRA led by CHARMIAN and IRAS, EROS following.

Eros. Nay, gentle madam, to him, comfort him. 25

Iras. Do, most dear queen.

Char. 'Do'! why, what else r

Cleo. Let me sit down. O Juno !

Ant. No, no, no, no, no.

Eros. See you here, sir?

Ant. O fie, fie, fie !

Char. Madam !

Iras. Madam, O good empress!

Eros. Sir, sir !

Ant. Yes, my lord, yes. — He at Philippi kept 30

His sword even like a dancer, while I struck The lean and wrinkled Cassius; and 'twas I That the mad Brutus ended : he alone Dealt on lieutenantry, and no practice had In the brave squares of war: yet now — no matter. 35

Cleo. Ah, stand by.

Eros. The queen, my lord, the queen.

Iras. Go to him, madam, speak to him:

He is unqualified with very shame.

Cleo. Well, then, sustain me. O !

Eros. Most noble sir, arise, the queen approaches: 40

Her head's declined, and death will seize her, but Your comfort makes the rescue.

Ant. I have offended reputation, A most unnoble swerving.

Eros. Sir, the queen.

Ant. O, whither hast thou led me, Egypt? See 45

17. Scan, 'Your \ way | for you.' F. and the texts begin the line with ' Sweep,' but see p. 412, 11. 8 ff.

in. 12 474

How I convey my shame out of thine eyes, By looking back what I have left behind Stroy'd in dishonour.

Cleo. O my lord, my lord,

Forgive my fearful sails ! I little thought You would have followed.

Ant. Egypt, thou knewest too well 50

My heart was to thy rudder tied by the strings, And thou shouldst tow me after : o'er my spirit Thy full supremacy thou knewest, and that Thy beck might from the bidding of the gods Command me.

Cleo. O, my pardon !

Ant. Now I must 55

To the young man send humble treaties, dodge And palter in the shifts of lowness, who With half the bulk of the world play'd as I pleased, Making and marring fortunes. You did know How much you were my conqueror, and that 60

My sword, made weak by my affection, would Obey it on all cause.

Cleo. Pardon, pardon !

Ant. Fall not a tear, I say ; one of them rates All that is won and lost: give me a kiss — Even this repays me. — We sent our schoolmaster, 65

Is he come back? — Love, I am full of lead. — Some wine, within there, and our viands ! Fortune knows We scorn her most when most she offers blows. [Exeunt.

SCENE XII. Egypt. Caesar's camp. Enter CAESAR, DOLABELLA, THYREUS, with others.

Caes. Let him appear that's come from Antony. Know you him?

Dol. Caesar, 'tis his schoolmaster;

An argument that he is pluck'd, when hither He sends so poor a pinion of his wing, Which had superfluous kings for messengers

475 «i. 12

Not many moons gone by.

Enter EUPHRONIUS, ambassador from Antony.

Caes. Approach, and speak.

Euphr. Such as I am, I come from Antony : I was of late as petty to his ends As is the morn-dew on the myrtle leaf To his grand sea.

Caes. Be it so: declare thine office. 10

Euphr. Lord of his fortunes he salutes thee, and Requires to live in Egypt ; which not granted, He lessens his requests, and to thee sues To let him breathe between the heavens and earth A private man in Athens: this for him. 15

Next, Cleopatra does confess thy greatness, Submits her to thy might, and of thee craves The circle of the Ptolemies for her heirs, Now hazarded to thy grace.

Caes. For Antony,

I have no ears to his request. The queen 20

Of audience nor desire shall fail, so she From Egypt drive her all-disgraced friend, Or take his life there: this if she perform, She shall not sue unheard. So to them both.

Euphr. Fortune pursue thee !

Caes. Bring him through the bands. 25

[To Thyreus] To try thy eloquence now 'tis time ; despatch: From Antony win Cleopatra; promise, And in our name, what she requires ; add more From thine own invention, offers. Women are not In their best fortunes strong, but want will perjure 30

The ne'er-touch'd vestal ; try thy cunning, Thyreus : Make thine own edict for thy pains, which we Will answer as a law.

Tbyr. Caesar, I go.

Caes. Observe how Antony becomes his flaw, And what thou think'st his very action speaks 35

In every power that moves.

Tbyr. Caesar, I shall. [Exeunt.

III. 13 476

SCENE XIII. Alexandria. In Cleopatra's palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, ENOBARBUS, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.

Cleo. What shall we do, Enobarbus?

Eno. Think, and die.

Cleo. Is Antony or we in fault for this?

Eno. Antony only, that would make his will Lord of his reason. What though you fled From that great face of war, whose several ranges 5

Frighted each other? why should he follow? The itch of his affection should not then Have nick'd his captainship: at such a point, When half to half the world opposed, he being The meered question, 'twas a shame no less 10

Than was his loss, to course your flying flags And leave his navy gazing.

Cleo. Prithee, peace.

Enter ANTONY with EUPHRONIUS the Ambassador.

Ant. Is that his answer?

Euphr. Ay, my lord.

Ant. The queen shall then have courtesy, so she Will yield us up?

Euphr. He says so.

Ant. Let her know it. 1 5

To the boy Caesar send this grizzled head, And he will fill thy wishes to the brim With principalities.

Cleo. That head, my lord !

Ant. To him again : tell him he wears the rose Of youth upon him, from which the world should note 20

Something particular : his coin, ships, legions, May be a coward's, whose ministers would prevail Under the service of a child as soon As in the command of Caesar ; I dare him therefore

4ff. Scan, 'What though | you | fled... should | he | follow?' 10. F. and the texts put a note of interrogation at 'question,' making what follows a separate sentence.

21. Scan, ' particular : his | coin, A | ships, A j legions.'

477 in. 13

To lay his gay comparisons apart, 25

And answer me declined, sword against sword, Ourselves alone. I'll write it : follow me.

[Exeunt Antony and Euphronius.

Eno. [.Aside] Yes, like enough, high-battled Caesar will Unstate his happiness, and be staged to the show Against a sworder ! I see men's judgements are 30

A parcel of their fortunes, and things outward Do draw the inward quality after them, To suffer all alike. That he should dream, Knowing all measures, the full Caesar will answer His emptiness ! Caesar, thou hast subdued 35

His judgement too.

Enter an Attendant.

Att. A messenger from Caesar.

Cleo. What, no more ceremony? See, my women, Against the blown rose may they stop their nose That kneel'd unto the buds. Admit him, sir.

[Exit Attendant.

Eno. [Aside] Mine honesty and I begin to square : 40

The loyalty well held to fools does make Our faith mere folly ; yet he that can endure To follow with allegiance a fallen lord, Does conquer him that did his master conquer, And earns a place in the story.

Enter THYREUS.

Cleo. Caesar's will ? 45

Tbyr. Hear it apart.

Cleo. None but friends : say boldly.

Thyr. So, haply, are they friends to Antony.

Eno. He needs as many, sir, as Caesar has, Or needs not us. If Caesar please, our master Will leap to be his friend : for us, you know, 50

Whose he is we are, and that is, Caesar's.

Tbyr. So.

Thus, then, thou most renown'd : Caesar entreats <thee> Not to consider in what case thou stand'st

34. F. and the texts end the line with 'will,' but see on 3. ii. 17. Contrast 'will Unstate,' vv. 28 f.

HI. 13 478

Further than he is Caesar.

Cleo. Go on : right royal.

Thyr. He knows that you embrace not Antony 55

As you did love, but as you fear'd him.

Cleo. O !

Thyr. The scars upon your honour, therefore, he Does pity, as constrained blemishes, Not as deserved.

Cleo. He is a god, and knows

What is most right: mine honour was not yielded, 60

But conquer'd merely.

Eno. \_Aside\ To be sure of that,

I will ask Antony. Sir, sir, thou art so leaky That we must leave thee to thy sinking, for Thy dearest quit thee. [Exit.

Thyr. Shall I say to Caesar

What you require of him ? for he partly begs 65

To be desired to give.

It much would please him, that of his fortunes you Should make a staff to lean upon, but it Would warm his spirits to hear from me you had left Antony, and put yourself under his shrowd, 70

The universal landlord.

Cleo. What is your name?

Thyr. My name is Thyreus.

Cleo. Most kind messenger,

Say to great Caesar this: in deputation I kiss his conquering hand : tell him, I am prompt To lay my crown at his feet, and there to kneel: 75

Tell him, from his all-obeying breath I hear The doom of Egypt.

Thyr. 'Tis your noblest course.

Wisdom and fortune combating together, If that the former dare but what it can,

No chance may shake it. Give me grace to lay 80

My duty on your hand.

70. Scan, 'Antony, and | put yourself | under | his | shrowd.' Vv. 66—70 have been rearranged. The usual division breaks down after 'Antony.' F. gives ' and put... landlord ' as one line, and modern texts do not improve this.

74. 'tell. ..am': a quadrisyllable.

479 in. 13

Cleo. Your Caesar's father oft,

When he hath mused of taking kingdoms in, Bestow'd his lips on that unworthy place, As it rain'd kisses.

Re-enter ANTONY and ENOBARBUS.

Ant. Favours, by Jove that thunders !

What art thou, fellow?

Thyr. One that but performs 85

The bidding of the fullest man, and worthiest To have command obey'd.

Eno. [Aside] You will be whipp'd.

Ant. Approach there ! — Ah, you kite ! — Now, gods and

devils !

Authority melts from me : of late, when I cried ' Ho ! ' Like boys unto a muss, kings would start forth, 90

And cry 'Your will?' Have you no ears? I Am Antony yet.

Enter Attendants.

Take hence this Jack, and whip him.

Eno. [Aside] 'Tis better playing with a lion's whelp Than with an old one dying.

Ant. Moon and stars ! Whip him.

Were it twenty of the greatest tributaries 95

That do acknowledge Caesar, should I find them So saucy with the hand of she here, — what's her name Since she was Cleopatra ? — Whip him, fellows, Till, like a boy, you see him cringe his face, And whine aloud for mercy. Take him hence. 100

Thyr. Mark" Antony !

Ant. Tug him away: being whipp'd,

Bring him again : this Jack of Caesar's shall bear us An errand to him. [Exeunt Attendants with Thyreus.

You were half blasted ere I knew you : ha ! Have I my pillow left unpress'd in Rome, 105

Forborne the getting of a lawful race, And by a gem of women, to be abused By one that looks on feeders?

Cleo. Good my lord, —

94. In F. and the texts 'Whip him' begins v. 95, but it is the divided line that should have the six feet.

III. 13 480

Ant. You have been a boggier ever :

But when we in our viciousness grow hard — no

O misery of it ! — the wise gods seel our eyes, In our own filths drop our clear judgements, make us Adore our errors, laugh at us while we strut To our confusion.

Cho. O, is it come to this?

Ant. I found you as a morsel cold upon 115

Dead Caesar's trencher : nay, you were a fragment O Gnaeus Pompey's, besides what hotter hours, Unregistered in vulgar fame, you have Luxuriously pick'd out: for I am sure,

Though you can guess what temperance should be, 120

You know not what it is.

Cleo. Wherefore is this?

Ant. To let a fellow that will take rewards And say 'God quit you !' be familiar with My playfellow your hand, this kingly seal

And plighter of high hearts ! O, that I were 125

Upon the hill of Basan, to outroar The horned herd ! for I have savage cause, And to proclaim it civilly, were like A halter'd neck which does the hangman thank For being yare about him.

Re-enter Attendants with THYREUS.

Ishewhipp'd? 130

First Att. Soundly, my lord.

Ant. Cried he? and begg'd he pardon?

First Att. He did ask favour.

Ant. If that thy father live, let him repent Thou wast not made his daughter; and be thou sorry To follow Caesar in his triumph, since 135

Thou hast been whipp'd for following him : henceforth The white hand of a lady fever thee, Shake thou to look on it. Get thee back to Caesar, Tell him thy entertainment: look thou say He makes me angry with him, for he seems 140

Proud and disdainful, harping on what I am, Not what he knew I was : he makes me angry ; And at this time most easy it is to do it, When my good stars, that were my former guides,

III. 13

Have empty left their orbs, and shot their fires 145

Into the abysm of hell. If he mislike

My speech and what is done, tell him he has

Hipparchus, my enfranched bondman, whom

He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or torture,

As he shall like, to quit me: urge it thou. 150

Hence with thy stripes, be gone. [Exit Thyreus.

Cleo. Have you done yet?

Ant. Alack, our terrene moon

Is now eclipsed, and it portends alone The fall of Antony !

Cleo. I must stay his time.

Ant. To flatter Caesar, would you mingle eyes 155

With one that ties his points, —

Cleo. Not know me yet?

Ant. Cold-hearted toward me?

Cleo. Ah, dear, if I be so,

From my cold heart let heaven engender hail, And poison it in the source, and the first stone Drop in my neck; as it determines, so 160

Dissolve my life ! the next Caesarion smite ! Till by degrees the memory of my womb, Together with my brave Egyptians all, By the discandying of this pelleted storm,

Lie graveless, till the flies .and gnats of Nile 165

Have buried them for prey !

Ant. I am satisfied.

Caesar sits down in Alexandria, where I will oppose his fate. Our force by land Hath nobly held; our sever'd navy too

Have knit again, and fleet threatening most sea-like. 170

Where hast thou been, my heart? Dost thou hear, lady? If from the field I shall return no more To kiss these lips, I will appear in blood; I and my sword will earn our chronicle : There's hope in it yet.

Cleo. That's my brave lord ! 175

Ant. I will be treble-sinew'd, hearted, breath'd, And fight maliciously: for when mine hours Were nice and lucky, men did ransom lives Of me for jests ; but now I'll set my teeth, And send to darkness all that stop me. Come, 1 80

B.

III. 13

482

Let us have another gaudy night : call to me All my sad captains, fill our bowls once more, Let us mock the midnight bell !

Cleo. It is my birthday : I had thought to have held it poor, But since my lord is Antony again, 185

I will be Cleopatra.

Ant. We will yet do well.

Cleo. Call all his noble captains to my lord.

Ant. Do so, we'll speak to them; and to-night I'll force The wine peep through their scars. Come on, my queen ; There's sap in it yet. The next time I do fight, 190

I'll make death love me, for I will contend Even with his pestilent scythe.

[Exeunt all but Enobarbus.

Eno. Now he'll outstare the lightning. To be furious, Is to be frighted out of fear, and in that mood The dove will peck the estridge; and I see still, 195

A diminution in our captain's brain Restores his heart. When valour preys on reason, It eats the sword it fights with : I will seek Some way to leave him. [Exit.

10

ACT IV

SCENE I. Before Alexandria. Caesar's camp.

Enter CAESAR, with his army, AGRIPPA, and MAECENAS ; CAESAR reading a letter.

Caes. He calls me boy, and chides, as he had power To beat me out of Egypt : my messenger He hath whipp'd with rods; dares me to personal combat, Caesar to Antony ! let the old ruffian know, I have many other ways to die; Meantime laugh at his challenge.

Maec. Caesar must think,

When one so great begins to rage, he's hunted Even to falling. Give him no breath, but now Make boot of his distraction : never anger Made good guard for itself.

Caes. Let our best heads

Know, that to-morrow the last of many battles We mean to fight: within our files there are, Of those that served Mark Antony but late, Enough to fetch him in. See it done:

And feast the army ; we have store to do it, 1 5

And they have earn'd the waste. Poor Antony ! [Exeunt.

SCENE II. Alexandria. In Cleopatra's palace.

Enter ANTONY, CLEOPATRA, ENOBARBUS, CHARMIAN, IRAS, ALEXAS, with others.

Ant. He will not fight with me, Domitius? Eno. No.

Ant. Why should he not ?

Eno. He thinks, being twenty times of better fortune, He is twenty men to one.

Ant. To-morrow, soldier,

5. A pure trochaic line, with strong emphasis on 'I.' The re arrangement restores the needed foot to the next line.

10. Trochaic beginning: 'Made good | guard for it|self.'

31—2

IV. 2

484

By sea and land I'll fight: or I will live, 5

Or bathe my dying honour in the blood

Shall make it live again. Wilt thou fight well?

Eno. I'll strike, and cry 'Take all !'

Ant. Well said : come on,

Call forth my household servants: let us to-night Be bounteous at our meal.

Enter three or four Servitors.

Give me thy hand, 10

Thou hast been rightly honest; — so hast thou; — Thou, — and thou, — and thou: you have served me well, And kings have been your fellows.

Cleo. [Aside to Eno.~] What means this?

Eno. [Aside to Cleo.~\ 'Tis one of those odd tricks which

sorrow shoots Out of the mind.

Ant. And thou art honest too. 15

I wish I could be made so many men, And all of you clapp'd up together in An Antony, that I might do you service So good as you have done.

Serv. The gods forbid !

Ant. Well, my good fellows, wait on me to-night: 20

Scant not my cups, and make as much of me As when mine empire was your fellow too, And suffer'd my command.

Cleo. [Aside to Eno.'] What does he mean ?

Eno. [Aside to Cleo.'] To make his followers weep.

Ant. Tend me to-night ;

May be it is the period of your duty ; 25

Haply you shall not see me more, or if, A mangled shadow; perchance to-morrow you Will serve another master : I look upon you As one that takes his leave. Mine honest friends, I turn you not away, but like a master 30

Married to your good service, stay till death. Tend me to-night two hours, I ask no more,

7. F. and edd. ' Woo't ' ; and so at 4. 15. 60. See on Hamlet, no. 27, pp. 103 ff.

485 iv. 3

And the gods yield you for it !

Eno. What mean you, sir,

To give them this discomfort? Look, they weep, And I, an ass, am onion-eyed: for shame, 35

Transform us not to women.

Ant. Ho, ho, ho !

Now the witch take me, if I meant it thus ! Grace grow where those drops fall ! My hearty friends, You take me in too dolorous a sense,

For I spake to you for your comfort, did desire you 40

To burn this night with torches. Know, my hearts, I hope well of to-morrow, and will lead you Where rather I'll expect victorious life Than death and honour. Let us to supper, come, And drown consideration. [Exeunt. 45

SCENE III. The same. Before the palace. Enter two Soldiers to their guard.

First Sold. Brother, good night : to-morrow is the day. Sec. Sold. It will determine one way: fare you well. Heard you of nothing strange about the streets? First Sold. Nothing. What news?

Sec. Sold. Belike 'tis but a rumour. Good night to you. 5 First Sold. Well, sir, good night.

Enter other Soldiers.

Sec. Sold. Soldiers, have careful watch.

Third Sold. And you. Good night, good night.

[They place themselves in every corner of the stage.

Fourth Sold. Here we : and if to-morrow

Our navy thrive, I have an absolute hope Our landmen will stand up.

Third Sold. 'Tis a brave army,

And full of purpose. [Music of hautboys under the stage.

Fourth Sold. Peace! what noise?

First Sold. List, list! 10

Sec. Sold. Hark !

First Sold. Music, — in the air !

Third Sold. Under the earth !

iv. 4

486

Fourth Sold. It signs well, does it not ?

Third Sold. No.

First Sold. Peace, I say !

What should this mean ?

Sec. Sold. 'Tis the god Hercules, whom Antony loved, Now leaves him.

Pint Sold. Walk, let's see if other watchmen 1 5

Do hear what we do. [They approach another guard.

Sec. Sold. How now, masters !

All. [Speaking together] How now !

How now! do you hear this?

First Sold. Ay; is it not strange?

Third Sold. Do you hear, masters ? do you hear ?

First Sold. Follow the noise as far as we have quarter : Let's see how it will give off.

All. Content. 'Tis strange. [Exeunt.

SCENE IV. The same. A room in Cleopatra's palace. Enter ANTONY and CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and others attending.

Ant. Eros ! mine armour, Eros !

Cleo. Sleep a little.

Ant. No, my chuck. — Eros ! come, mine armour, Eros !

Enter EROS with armour.

Come, good fellow, put mine iron on: If Fortune be not ours to-day, it is Because we brave her: come.

Cleo. Nay, I'll help too: 5

What's this for?

Ant. Ah, let be, let be ! thou art

The armourer of my heart. False, false ; this, this.

Cleo. Sooth, la, I'll help : thus it must be.

Ant. Well, well:

We shall thrive now. Seest thou, my good fellow? Go put on thy defences.

Eros. Briefly, sir. 10

Cleo. Is not this buckled well?

Ant. Rarely, rarely:

He that unbuckles this, till we do please

487 iv. 4

To daff it for our repose, shall hear a storm.

Thou fumblest, Eros, and my queen's a squire

More tight at this than thou: despatch. — O love, 15

That thou couldst see my wars to-day, and knewest

The royal occupation ! thou shouldst see

A workman in it.

Enter an armed Soldier.

Good morrow to thee, welcome: Thou look'st like him that knows a warlike charge : To business that we love we rise betime, 20

And go to it with delight.

Sold. A thousand, sir,

Early though it be, have on their riveted trim, And at the port expect you. [Shout. Trumpets flourish.

Enter Captains and Soldiers.

Capt. The morn is fair: good morrow, general.

All. Good morrow, general.

Ant. 'Tis well blown, lads. 25

This morning, like the spirit of a youth That means to be of note, begins betimes. So, so : come, give me that : this way, well said. — Fare thee well, dame, whate'er becomes of me ! This is a soldier's kiss, — rebukable 3°

And worthy shameful check it were, to stand On more mechanic compliment : I'll leave thee Now, like a man of steel. — You that will fight, Follow me close, I'll bring you to it. — Adieu !

[Exeunt Antony, Eros, Captains, and Soldiers.

Char. Please you retire to your chamber ?

Cleo. • Lead me. 35

He goes forth gallantly. That he and Caesar Might determine this great war in single fight ! Then Antony — but now— Well, on. [Exeunt.

35. Retire is a trisyllable here.

36. F. and texts end the line with 'might,' making an improbable

rime.

38. 'Antony — but' is a quadrisyllable.

rv. 5 488

SCENE V. Alexandria. Antony's camp.

Trumpets sound. Enter ANTONY and EROS ; a Soldier meeting them.

Sold. The gods make this a happy day to Antony !

Ant. Would thou and those thy scars had once prevail'd To make me fight at land !

Sold. Hadst thou done so,

The kings that have revolted, and the soldier That has this morning left thee, would have still 5

Follow'd thy heels.

Ant. Who's gone this morning ?

Sold. Who !

One ever near thee : call for Enobarbus, He shall not hear thee, or from Caesar's camp Say 'I am none of thine.'

Ant. What sayest thou ?

Sold. Sir,

He is with Caesar.

Eros. Sir, his chests and treasure 10

He has not with him.

Ant. Is he gone?

Sold. Most certain.

Ant. Go, Eros, send his treasure after, do it; Detain no jot, I charge thee : write to him — I will subscribe — gentle adieus and greetings; Say that I wish he never find more cause 1 5

To change a master. O, my fortunes have Corrupted honest men ! Despatch. — Enobarbus ! [Exeunt.

SCENE VI. Alexandria. Caesar's camp. Enter CAESAR with AGRIPPA, ENOBARBUS, and others.

Caes. Go forth, Agrippa, and begin the fight : Our will is Antony be took alive; Make it so known.

Agr. Caesar, I shall. [Exit.

Caes. The time of universal peace is near : 5

489 iv. 6

Prove this a prosperous day, the three-nook'd world Shall bear the olive freely.

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. Antony

Is come into the field.

Caes. Go charge Agrippa

Plant those that have revolted in the vant, That Antony may seem to spend his fury 10

Upon himself. [Exeunt all but Enobarbus.

Eno. Alexas did revolt, and went to Jewry On affairs of Antony ; there did persuade Great Herod to incline himself to Caesar,

And leave his master Antony: for this pains 15

Caesar hath hang'd him. Canidius, and the rest That fell away, have entertainment, but No honourable trust. I have done ill ; Of which I do accuse myself so sorely That I will joy no more.

Enter a Soldier of CAESAR'S.

Sold. Enobarbus, Antony 20

Hath after thee sent all thy treasure, with His bounty overplus: the messenger Came on my guard, and at thy tent is now Unloading of his mules.

Eno. I give it you.

Sold. Mock not, Enobarbus, I tell you true : 25

Best you safed the bringer out of the host ; I must Attend mine office, or would have done it myself. Your emperor continues still a Jove. [Exit.

Eno. I am alone the villain of the earth,

And feel I am so most. O Antony, 30

Thou mine of bounty, how wouldst thou have paid My better service, when my turpitude Thou dost so crown with gold ! This blows my heart : If swift thought break it not, a swifter mean Shall out-strike thought; but thought will do it, I feel. 35

26. Scan, 'Best you j saf'd... ' As often, the upbeat is slightly stressed.

iv. 7 49°

I fight against thee ! No, I will go seek

Some ditch wherein to die: the foulest best fits

My latter part of life. [Exit.

SCENE VII. Field of battle between the camps. Alarum. Drums and trumpets. Enter AGRIPPA and others.

Agr. Retire, we have engaged ourselves too far : Caesar himself has work, and our oppression Exceeds what we expected. [Exeunt.

Alarums. Enter ANTONY, and SCARUS wounded.

Scar. O, my brave emperor, this is fought indeed ! Had we done so at first, we had drove them home 5

With clouts about their heads.

Ant. Thou bleed'st apace.

Scar. I had a wound here that was like a T, But now 'tis made an H. [Shouts far off.

Ant. They do retire.

Scar. We'll beat them into bench-holes, I have yet Room for six scotches more. 10

Enter EROS.

Eros. They are beaten, sir, and our advantage serves For a fair victory.

Scar. Let us score their backs,

And snatch them up, as we take hares, behind ; 'Tis sport to maul a runner.

Ant. I will reward thee

Once for thy sprightly comfort, and ten-fold 15

For thy good valour. Come thee on.

Scar. I'll halt after. [Exeunt.

SCENE VIII. Under the walls of Alexandria. Alarum. Enter ANTONY, in a march ; SCARUS with others.

Ant. We have beat him to his camp ! Run one before, And let the queen know of our gests: to-morrow, Before the sun shall see us, we'll spill the blood That has to-day escaped. I thank you all;

49 1 iv. 8

For doughty-handed are you, and have fought, 5

Not as you served the cause, but as it had been

Each man's like mine; you have shown all Hectors.

Enter the city, clip your wives, your friends,

Tell them your feats, whilst they with joyful tears

Wash the congealment from your wounds, and kiss 10

The honour'd gashes whole.

Enter CLEOPATRA.

[To Scarui] Give me thy hand, To this great faery I'll commend thy acts, Make her thanks bless thee. — O thou day of the world, Chain my arm'd neck, leap thou, attire and all, Through proof of harness to my heart, and there 15

Ride on the pants triumphing !

Cleo. Lord of lords !

O infinite virtue, com'st thou smiling from The world's great snare uncaught ?

Ant. My nightingale,

We have beat them to their beds. What, girl ! though grey Do something mingle with our younger brown, yet have we A brain that nourishes our nerves, and can 21

Get goal for goal of youth. Behold this man, Commend unto his lips thy favouring hand : — Kiss it, my warrior: — he hath fought to-day As if a god in hate of mankind had 25

Destroy 'd in such a shape.

C/eo. I'll give thee, friend,

An armour all of gold, it was a king's.

Ant. He has deserved it, were it carbuncled Like holy Phoebus' car. Give me thy hand ; Through Alexandria make a jolly march, 30

Bear our hack'd targets like the men that owe them. Had our great palace the capacity To camp this host, we all would sup together, And drink carouses to the next day's fate, Which promises royal peril. Trumpeters, 35

With brazen din blast you the city's ear, Make mingle with our rattling tabourines, That heaven and earth may strike their sounds together, Applauding our approach. [Exeunt.

iv. 9

492

SCENE IX. Caesar's camp. Sentinels at their post.

First Sold. If we be not relieved within this hour, We must return to the court of guard : the night Is shiny, and they say we shall embattle By the second hour in the morn.

Sec. Sold. This last day was

A shrewd one to us. 5

Enter ENOBARBUS.

Eno. O, bear me witness, night, —

Third Sold. What man is this r

Sec. Sold. Stand close, and list him.

Eno. Be witness to me, O thou blessed moon, When men revolted shall upon record

Bear hateful memory, poor Enobarbus did 10

Before thy face repent.

First Sold. Enobarbus !

Third Sold. Peace ! hark further.

Eno. O sovereign mistress of true melancholy, The poisonous damp of night disponge upon me, That life, a very rebel to my will,

May hang no longer on me : throw my heart 1 5

Against the flint and hardness of my fault, Which being dried with grief, will break to powder, And finish all foul thoughts. O Antony, Nobler than my revolt is infamous,

Forgive me in thine own particular, 20

But let the world rank me in register A master-leaver and a fugitive. O Antony, O Antony ! [Dies.

Sec. Sold. Let us speak to him.

First Sold. Let us hear him, for the things he speaks May concern Caesar.

Third Sold. Let us do so; — but he sleeps. 25

23. Scan, ' O • Antony, O j Antony! — Let us speak | to him.'

24. A pure trochaic line.

25. Scan, 'May con-cern | Caesar. — Let us | do so.'

493 iv. 12

First Sold. Swoons, rather, for so bad a prayer Was never yet for sleep.

Sec. Sold. Go we to him.

Third Sold. Awake, sir, awake : speak to us.

Sec. Sold. Hear you, sir?

First Sold. The hand of death hath raught him. [Drums

afar off^\ Hark ! the drums

Demurely wake the sleepers: let us bear him 30

To the court of guard, he is of note : our hour Is fully out.

Third Sold. Come on, then : he may recover yet.

[Exeunt with the body.

SCENE X. Between the two camps. Enter ANTONY and SCARUS, with their army.

Ant. Their preparation is to-day by sea, We please them not by land.

Scar. For both, my lord.

Ant. I would they would fight in the fire or in the air, We'ld fight there too. But this it is: our foot Upon the hills adjoining to the city 5

Shall stay with us, — order for sea is given, They have put forth the haven : — where their appointment We may best discover, and look on their endeavour. [Exeunt.

SCENE XL Another part of the same. Enter CAESAR and his army.

Cqes. Being charged, we will be still by land, Which, as I take it, we shall ; for his best force Is forth to man his galleys. To the vales, And hold our best advantage ! [Exeunt.

SCENE XII. Another part of the same. Enter ANTONY and SCARUS.

Ant. Yet they are not join'd: where yond pine does stand, I shall discover all : I'll bring thee word straight,

26. Scan, 'Swoons, A | rather, ...'

Sc. xii. i. Scan, 'Ye"t they | are not | join'd : where yond (.'

IV. 12

494

How it is like to go. [Exit.

Scar. Swallows have built

In Cleopatra's sails their nests : the augurers Say they know not, they cannot tell, look grimly, 5

And dare not speak their knowledge : Antony Is valiant and dejected, and by starts His fretted fortune gives him hope and fear Of what he has and has not.

[Alarum afar off, as at a sea-fight.

Re-enter ANTONY.

Ant. All is lost !

This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me: 10

My fleet hath yielded to the foe, and yonder They cast their caps up and carouse together, Like friends long lost. Triple-turn'd whore ! 'tis thou Hast sold me to this novice, and my heart Makes only wars on thee. Bid them all fly; 15

For when I am revenged upon my charm, I have done all. Bid them all fly : be gone. [Exit Scarus.

O sun, thy uprise I shall see no more, Fortune and Antony part here, even here

Do we shake hands. All come to this ! The hearts 20

That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave Their wishes, do discandy, melt their sweets On blossoming Caesar, and this pine is bark'd That overtopp'd them all. Betray'd I am. O, this false soul of Egypt ! This grave charm, 25

Whose eye beck'd forth my wars and call'd them home, Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end, Like a right gypsy, hath at fast and loose Beguiled me to the very heart of loss. What, Eros, Eros !

Enter CLEOPATRA.

Avaunt, thou spell ! avaunt ! 30

Cleo. Why is my lord enraged against his love? Ant. Vanish, or I shall give thee thy deserving,

And blemish Caesar's triumph. Let him take thee,

And hoist thee up to the shouting plebeians:

5. Trochaic beginning; see on 2. 5. 38 f. 34. Accent, plebeians, as elsewhere.

495 iv. 14

Follow his chariot like the greatest spot 35

Of all thy sex : most monster-like be shown

For poor'st diminutives, for dolts, and let

Patient Octavia plough thy visage up

With her prepared nails. [Exit Cleopatra.

'Tis well thou art gone,

If it be well to live ; but better it were 40

Thou fell'st into my fury, for one death Might have prevented many. — Eros, ho ! — The shirt of Nessus is upon me : teach me, Alcides, thou mine ancestor, thy rage ; ,

Let me lodge Lichas on the horns of the moon, 45

And with those hands that grasp'd the heaviest club, Subdue my worthiest self. The witch shall die: To the young Roman boy she hath sold me, and I fall Under this plot: she dies for it. — Eros, ho! [Exit.

SCENE XIII. Alexandria. In Cleopatra's palace. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, IRAS, and MARDIAN.

Cleo. Help me, my women ! O, he is more mad Than Telamon for his shield ; the boar of Thessaly Was never so emboss'd.

Char. To the monument !

There lock yourself, and send him word you are dead. The soul and body rive not more in parting 5

Than greatness going off.

Cleo. To the monument !

Mardian, go tell him I have slain myself: Say that the last I spoke was * Antony,' And word it, prithee, piteously : hence,

Mardian, and bring me how he takes my death. 10

To the monument ! [Exeunt.

SCENE XIV. The same. Another room. Enter ANTONY and EROS.

Ant. Eros, thou yet behold'st me ?

Eros. Ay, my lord.

I. Scan, ' O, he is | more | mad... '

iv. 14 496

Ant. Sometime we see a cloud that's dragonish, A vapour sometime like a bear or lion, A tower'd citadel, a pendent rock,

A forked mountain, or blue promontory 5

With trees upon it, that nod unto the world And mock our eyes with air : thou hast seen these signs, They are black vesper's pageants.

Eros. Ay, my lord.

Ant. That which is now a horse, even with a thought The rack dislimns, and makes it indistinct 10

As water is in water.

Eros. It does, my lord.

Ant. My good knave Eros, now thy captain is Even such a body: here I am, Antony, Yet cannot hold this visible shape, my knave. I made these wars for Egypt, and the queen — 15

Whose heart I thought 1 had, for she had mine; Which whilst it was mine had annex'd unto it A million more now lost — she, Eros, has Pack'd cards with Caesar, and false-play'd my glory Unto an enemy's triumph. 20

Nay, weep not, gentle Eros, there is left us Ourselves to end ourselves.

Enter MARDIAN.

O, thy vile lady ! She has robb'd me of my sword.

Mar. No, Antony ;

My mistress loved thee, and her fortunes mingled With thine entirely.

Ant. Hence, saucy eunuch, peace ! 25

She hath betray 'd me, and shall die the death.

Mar. Death of one person can be paid but once, And that she has discharged: what thou wouldst do Is done unto thy hand. The last she spake Was ' Antony ! most noble Antony !' 30

Then, in the midst, a tearing groan did break The name of Antony, it was divided Between her heart and lips : she rendered life, Thy name so buried in her.

Ant. Dead, then ?

Mar. Dead.

497 iv. 14

Ant. Unarm me, Eros, the long day's task is done, 35 And we must sleep. [To Mar.] That thou depart'st hence

safe, Does pay thy labour richly: go. [Exit Marxian.

Off, pluck off!

The seven-fold shield of Ajax cannot keep The battery from my heart. O, cleave, my sides ! Heart, once be stronger than thy continent, 40

Crack thy frail case! Apace, Eros, apace! No more a soldier : bruised pieces, go :

You have been nobly borne. — From me awhile. [Exit Eros. I will overtake thee, Cleopatra,

And weep for my pardon. So it must be, for now 45

All length is torture : since the torch is out, Lie down, and stray no farther: now all labour Mars what it does, yea very force entangles Itself with strength : seal, then, and all is done. — Eros ! — I come, my queen. — Eros ! — Stay for me : 50

Where souls do couch on flowers, we'll hand in hand, And with our sprightly port make the ghosts gaze : Dido and her Aeneas shall want troops, And all the haunt be ours. — Come, Eros ! Eros !

Re-enter EROS.

Eros. What would my lord ?

Ant. Since Cleopatra died, 55

I have lived in such dishonour that the gods Detest my baseness: I, that with my sword Quarter'd the world, and o'er green Neptune's back With ships made cities, condemn myself to lack The courage of a woman, less noble-minded 60

Than she which by her death our Caesar tells ' I am conqueror of myself.' Thou art sworn, Eros, That when the exigent should come, — which now Is come indeed — when I should see behind me The inevitable prosecution of 65

Disgrace and horror, that on my command Thou then wouldst kill me: do it, the time is come.

44. A pure trochaic line introduced with fine effect. The usual arrangement is impossible because of the pause and consequent em phasis on 'and,' if it is made to end the line. Cp. 4. I. 5.

B. 32

iv. 14 49^

Thou strik'st not me, 'tis Caesar thou defeatest: Put colour in thy cheek.

Eros. The gods withhold me !

Shall I do that which all the Parthian darts, 70

Though enemy, lost aim and could not?

Ant. Eros,

Wouldst thou be window'd in great Rome, and see Thy master thus, with pleach'd arms, bending down His corrigible neck, his face subdued

To penetrative shame, whilst the wheeled seat 75

Of fortunate Caesar, drawn before him, branded His baseness that ensued ?

Eros. I would not see it.

Ant. Come, then, for with a wound I must be cured : Draw that thy honest sword, which thou hast worn Most useful for thy country.

Eros. O, sir, pardon me ! 80

Ant. When I did make thee free, swor'st thou not then To do this when I bade thee ? do it at once, Or thy precedent services are all But accidents unpurposed : draw, and come.

Eros. Turn from me, then, that noble countenance, 85 Wherein the worship of the whole world lies.

Ant. Lothee! [Turning from him.

Eros. My sword is drawn.

Ant. Then let it do at once

The thing why thou hast drawn it.

Eros. My dear master,

My captain and my emperor, let me say, Before I strike this bloody stroke, farewell. 90

Ant. 'Tis said, man; and farewell.

Eros. Farewell, great chief.

Shall I strike now?

Ant. Now, Eros.

Eros. Why, there then ! — thus do I escape the sorrow Of Antony's death. [Kills himself.

Ant. Thrice nobler than myself!

Thou teachest me, O valiant Eros, what 95

I should, and thou couldst not. My queen and Eros Have by their brave instruction got upon me A nobleness in record ; but I will be A bridegroom in my death, and run into it

499 iv. 14

As to a lover's bed. Come, then, — and, Eros, 100

Thy master dies thy scholar ; to do thus [Fa/ling on his sword. I learnt of thee. How, not dead ? not dead ? The guard, ho ! O, despatch me !

Enter DERCETAS and Guard.

First Guard. What's the noise ?

Ant. I have done my work ill, friends: O, make an end Of what I have begun !

Sec. Guard. The star is fallen. 105

First Guard. And time is at his period.

All. Alas, and woe !

Ant. Let him that loves me strike me dead.

First Guard. Not I.

Sec. Guard. Nor I.

Third Guard. Nor any one. [Exeunt Guard.

Derc. Thy death and fortunes bid thy followers fly. This sword but shown to Caesar, with this tidings, no

Shall enter me with him.

Enter DIOMEDES.

Dio. Where's Antony?

Derc. There, Diomed, there.

Dio. Lives he ?

Wilt thou not answer, man ? [Exit Dercetas.

Ant. Art thou there, Diomed ? Draw thy sword, and give me Sufficing strokes for death.

Dio. Most absolute lord, 115

My mistress Cleopatra sent me to thee.

Ant. When did she send thee?

Dio. Now, my lord.

Ant. Where is she?

Dio. Lock'd

In her monument. She had a prophesying fear Of what hath come to pass: for when she saw — Which never shall be found — you did suspect 120

She had disposed with Caesar, and that your rage Would not be purged, she sent you word she was dead; But fearing since how it might work, hath sent me To proclaim the truth, and I am come, I dread, 124

Too late.

32—2

iv. 15 5°°

Ant. Too late, good Diomed : call my guard, I prithee. Dio. What ho, the emperor's guard ! The guard ! what ho ! Come, your lord calls.

Enter four or five of the Guard 0/~ ANTONY.

Ant. Bear me, good friends, where Cleopatra bides, 'Tis the last service that I shall command you.

First Guard. Woe, woe are we, sir, you may not live to wear 130

All your true followers out.

All. Most heavy day !

Ant. Nay, my good fellows, do not please sharp fate To grace it with your sorrows: bid that welcome Which comes to punish us, and we punish it Seeming to bear it lightly. Take me up: 135

I have led you oft ; carry me now, good friends, And have my thanks for all. [Exeunt bearing Antony.

SCENE XV. The same. A Mausoleum near Cleopatra's palace.

Enter CLEOPATRA and her maids aloft, with CHARMIAN and IRAS.

Cleo. O Charmian, I will never go from hence.

Char. Be comforted, dear madam.

Cleo. No, I will not :

All strange and terrible events are welcome, But comforts we despise ; our size of sorrow, Proportion 'd to our cause, must be as great 5

As that which makes it.

Enter, below, DIOMEDES.

How now ! is he dead ?

Dio. His death's upon him, but <he is> not dead. Look out on the other side your monument, His guard have brought him thither.

Enter ANTONY below, borne by the Guard.

Cleo. O, sun,

Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in! darkling stand 10

7. 'he is' : Keightley. In this play a tetrapody is improbable. 9. Scan, ' O, A | sun.' See on v. 7.

501 iv. 15

The varying shore of the world ! O Antony, Antony, Antony ! Help, Charmian ! Help, Iras, help ! Help, friends below ! let us draw him hither.

Ant. Peace !

Not Caesar's valour hath o'erthrown Antony, But Antony's hath triumph'd on itself.

Cleo. So it should be, 1 5

That none but Antony should conquer Antony, But woe it is so.

Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying;

Only I here importune death awhile, Until of many thousand kisses the poor last I lay upon thy lips. 20

Cleo. I dare not, dear, — dear my lord, pardon — I dare not, Lest I be taken. Not the imperious show Of the full-fortuned Caesar ever shall Be brooch'd with me ; if knife, drugs, serpents, have Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe: 25

Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes And still conclusion, shall acquire no honour Demuring upon me. But come, come, Antony, — Help me, my women, — we must draw thee up : Assist, good friends.

Ant. O, quick, or I am gone ! 30

Cleo. Here's sport indeed ! How heavy weighs my lord ! Our strength is all gone into heaviness; That makes the weight : had I great Juno's power, The strong-wing'd Mercury should fetch thee up, And set thee by Jove's side. Yet come a little, — 35

Wishers were ever fools, — O come, come, come, —

[They heave Antony aloft to Cleopatra. And welcome, welcome ! die when thou hast lived, Quicken with kissing: had my lips that power,

1 1 f. For the rearrangement see p. 1 7.

1 5 ff. These lines have been rearranged. In the texts the words 'I am dying... only' form a tetrapody. Scan, with a slight voice- pause after 'Antony's,' 'But j Antony's hath | triumph'd'; and in f. 17, 'But j woe it | is so. — I am | dying.'

19. kisses the poor is a quadrisyllable broken by a pause after * kisses.'

iv. 15 5°2

Thus would I wear them out.

AIL A heavy sight !

Ant. I am dying, Egypt, dying: 40

Give me some wine, and let me speak a little.

Cleo. No, let me speak, and let me rail so high That the false housewife Fortune break her wheel, Provoked by my offence.

Ant. One word, sweet queen :

Of Caesar seek your honour with your safety. O ! 45

Cleo. They do not go together.

Ant. Gentle, hear me:

None about Caesar trust but Proculeius.

Cleo. My resolution and my hands I'll trust, None about Caesar.

Ant. The miserable change now, at my end, 50

Lament nor sorrow at, but please your thoughts In feeding them with those my former fortunes, Wherein I lived the greatest prince of the world, The noblest; and do now not basely die,

Not cowardly put off my helmet to 55

My countryman, a Roman by a Roman Valiantly vanquish'd. Now my spirit is going, I can no more,

Cleo. Noblest of men, wilt die?

Hast thou no care of me ? shall I abide

In this dull world, which in thy absence is 60

No better than a sty ? O, see, my women, [Antony dies.

The crown of the earth doth melt ! My lord, <my lord !> O, withered is the garland of the war, The soldier's pole is fallen ! Young boys and girls Are level now with men, the odds is gone, 65

And there is nothing left remarkable Beneath the visiting moon. [Faints.

Char. O, quietness, lady !

Iras. She is dead too, our sovereign.

Char. Lady !

Iras. Madam !

58. F. and the texts give 'woo't die?' See on Hamlet, no. 27, pp. 103 ff.

62. F. has dropped the second ' my lord ! ' Cp. 3. 1 1. 48.

5°3 IV-J5

Char. O madam, madam, madam !

Iras. Royal Egypt, empress !

Char. Peace, peace, Iras ! 70

Cleo. No more but even a woman, and commanded By such poor passion as the maid that milks And does the meanest chares. It were for me To throw my sceptre at the injurious gods, To tell them that this world did equal theirs 75

Till they had stolen our jewel. All's but naught : Patience is sottish, and impatience does Become a dog that's mad. Then is it sin To rush into the secret house of death,

Ere death dare come to us ? How do you, women ? 80

What, what ! good cheer ! Why, how now, Charmian ? My noble girls ! Ah, women, women, look, Our lamp is spent, it's out ! Good sirs, take heart : We'll bury him; and then, what's brave, what's noble, Let us do it after the high Roman fashion, 85

And make death proud to take us. Come, away; This case of that huge spirit now is cold. Ah, women, women ! Come, we have no friend But resolution, and the briefest end.

[Exeunt. Antony's body is borne off.

ACT V

SCENE I. Alexandria. Caesar's camp.

Enter CAESAR, AGRIPPA, DOLABELLA, MAECENAS, PROCULEIUS, GALLUS, and others^ his council of war.

Caes. Go to him, Dolabella, bid him yield : Being so frustrate, tell him he mocks <us with> The pauses that he makes.

Do/. Caesar, I shall. [Exit.

Enter DERCETAS, with the sword of ANTONY.

Caes. Wherefore is that? and what art thou that darest Appear thus to us ?

Derc. I am call'd Dercetas: 5

Mark Antony I served, who best was worthy Best to be served : whilst he stood up and spoke, He was my master, and I wore my life To spend upon his haters. If thou please

To take me to thee, as I was to him 10

I will be to Caesar: if thou pleasest not, I yield thee up my life.

Caes. What is it thou sayest?

Derc. I say, O Caesar, Antony is dead.

Caes. The breaking of so great a thing should make A greater crack: the round world, <dislocate,> 15

2. Malone inserted ' us by.' It is far more probable that F. has dropped a word or words than that Shakespeare should have meant fruiterate to be said, as some suggest, or should have written a four-foot line, which would be the only one in this play. Moreover, although to mock pauses, in the sense of * make pauses that mock,' would be a familiar Greek idiom (cp. KO/XTTCIV /nitons, * to use boastful language '), in English the expression would be pure nonsense.

5. Scan, 'Apjpear | thus to us? |'

15. A participle or words equivalent to dislocate (dislocated) would seem to have dropped out after ' world.' Some such justifying word is, I think, required for the proper presentation of the picture that follows. In the alternative the lines might be rearranged as on p. 38 1 .

505 v. i

Should have shook lions into civil streets, And citizens to their dens : the death of Antony Is not a single doom, in the name lay A moiety of the world.

Derc . He is dead, Caesar,

Not by a public minister of justice, 20

Nor by a hired knife ; but that self hand Which writ his honour in the acts it did, Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it, Splitted the heart. This is his sword, I robb'd His wound of it: behold it stain'd with his 25

Most noble blood.

Caes. Look you sad, friends?

The gods rebuke me, but it is <a> tidings To wash the eyes of kings.

Agr. And strange it is,

That nature must compel us to lament Our most persisted deeds.

Maec. His taints and honours 30

Waged equal with him.

Agr. A rarer spirit never

Did steer humanity ; but you, gods, will give us Some faults to make us men. Caesar is touch'd.

Maec. When such a spacious mirror's set before him He needs must see himself.

Caes. O Antony, 35

I have follow'd thee to this ! but we do lance Diseases in our bodies. I must perforce Have shown to thee such a declining day, Or look on thine; we could not stall together In the whole world. But yet let me lament, 40

With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts, That thou, my brother, my competitor In top of all design, my mate in empire, Friend and companion in the front of war, The arm of mine own body, and the heart 45

Where mine his thoughts did kindle, — that our stars Unreconciliable should divide Our equalness to this. Hear me, good friends, —

27. a tidings. So F2; cp. 'this tidings,' 4. 14. no. 32. Scan, 'hu|manity; but | you, A | gods,... '

v. i 506

Enter an Egyptian.

But I will tell you at some meeter season :

The business of this man looks out of him ; 50

We'll hear him what he says. Whence are you?

Egypt. A poor Egyptian yet. The queen my mistress, Confined in all she has, her monument, Of thy intents desires instruction,

That she preparedly may frame herself 55

To the way she is forced to.

Caes. Bid her have good heart:

She soon shall know of us, by some of ours, How honourable and how kindly we

Determine for her; for Caesar cannot learn 59

To be ungentle.

Egypt. So: the gods preserve thee! [Exit.

Caes. Come hither, Proculeius. Go, and say We purpose her no shame : give her what comforts The quality of her passion shall require, Lest, in her greatness, by some mortal stroke She do defeat us; for her life in Rome 65

Would be eternal in our triumph. Go, And with your speediest bring us what she says, And how you find of her.

Proc. Caesar, I shall. [Exit.

Caes. Gallus, go you along. [Exit Gallus."] Where's

Dolabella, To second Proculeius?

All. Dolabella! 70

Caes. Let him alone, for I remember now How he's employ'd : he shall in time be ready. Go with me to my tent, where you shall see How hardly I was drawn into this war,

How calm and gentle I proceeded still 75

In all my writings: go with me, and see What I can show in this. [Exeunt.

507 v. 2^

SCENE II. Alexandria. An upper room in the mausoleum. Enter CLEOPATRA, CHARMIAN, and IRAS.

Cleo. My desolation does begin to make A better life. 'Tis paltry to be Caesar : Not being Fortune, he is but Fortune's knave, A minister of her will : and it is great

To do the thing that ends all other deeds, 5

Which shackles accidents and bolts up change, Which sleeps, and never palates more the dug, — The beggar's nurse and Caesar's.

Enter below, to the gates of the mausoleum, PROCULEIUS, GALLUS, and Soldiers.

Pro. Caesar sends greeting to the Queen of Egypt, And bids thee study on what fair demands 10

Thou mean'st to have him grant thee.

Cleo. [Having descended to the gates} What is thy name ?

Pro. My name is Proculeius.

Cleo. Antony

Did tell me of you, bade me trust you ; but I do not greatly care to be deceived,

That have no use for trusting. If your master 15

Would have a queen his beggar, you must tell him That majesty, to keep decorum, must No less beg than a kingdom : if he please To give me conquer'd Egypt for my son,

He gives me so much of mine own as I 20

Will kneel to him with thanks.

Pro. Be of good cheer :

You are fallen into a princely hand, fear nothing: Make your full reference freely to my lord, Who is so full of grace that it flows over

On all that need: let me report to him 25

Your sweet dependency, and you shall find A conqueror that will pray in aid for kindness, Where he for grace is kneel'd to.

Cleo. Pray you, tell him

I am his fortune's vassal, and I send him The greatness he has got : I hourly learn 30

v. 2

The doctrine of obedience, and would gladly Look him in the face.

Pro. This I'll report, dear lady.

Have comfort, for I know your plight is pitied Of him that caused it.

[Here Gallus and some of the Guard, who have ascended the mausoleum by a ladder placed against a window at the side, and so entered, come down behind Cleopatra. Two of them unbar and open the gates.

[To Gallus} You see how easily she may be surprised : 35 Guard her till Caesar come.

Iras. Royal queen !

Char. O Cleopatra ! thou art taken, queen.

Cleo. Quick, quick, good hands. [Drawing a dagger.

Pro. Hold, worthy lady, hold :

[Seizes and disarms her.

Do not yourself such wrong, who are in this Relieved, but not betray'd.

Cleo. What of death too, 40

That rids our dogs of languish ?

Pro. Cleopatra,

Do not abuse my master's bounty by The undoing of yourself : let the world see His nobleness well acted, which your death Will never let come forth.

Cleo. Where art thou, Death ? 45

Come hither, come ! come, come, and take a queen Worth many babes and beggars.

Pro. O, temperance, lady!

Cleo. Sir, I will eat no meat, I will not drink, sir, — If idle talk will once be necessary, —

I will not sleep neither, this mortal house I'll ruin, 50

Do Caesar what he can. Know, sir, that I Will not wait pinion'd at your master's court, Nor once be chastised with the sober eye Of dull Octavia. Shall they hoist me up

And show me to the shouting varletry 55

Of censuring Rome? Rather a ditch in Egypt Be gentle grave unto me ! rather on Nilus' mud Lay me stark-naked, and let the water-flies

50. Scan, 'I | will not j sleep neither, this j mortal... '

5°9 v. 2

Blow me into abhorring! rather make

My country's high pyramides my gibbet, 60

And hang me up in chains !

Pro. You do extend

These thoughts of horror further than you shall find cause In Caesar.

Enter DOLABELLA.

DoL Proculeius, what thou hast done, thy master Caesar knows, and he hath sent for thee: For the queen, I'll take her to my guard.

Pro. So, Dolabella, 65

It shall content me best : be gentle to her. [To Cleo.'} To Caesar I will speak what you shall please, If you will employ me to him.

Cleo. Say I would die.

[Exeunt Proculeius and Gallus.

DoL Most noble empress, you have heard of me ?

Cleo. I cannot tell.

DoL Assuredly you know me? 70

Cleo. No matter, sir, what I have heard or known. You laugh when boys or women tell their dreams, Is it not your trick?

DoL I understand not, madam.

Cleo. I dreamt there was an emperor Antony, — O, such another sleep, that I might see 75

But such another man ! —

DoL If it might please you, —

Cleo. His face was as the heavens; and therein stuck A sun and moon, which kept their course, and lighted The little O, the earth.

DoL Most sovereign creature, —

Cleo. His legs bestrid the ocean, his rear'd arm 80

Crested the world : his voice was propertied As all the tuned spheres, and that to friends; But when he meant to quail and shake the orb, He was as rattling thunder : for his bounty, There was no winter in it; an autumn it was, 85

That grew the more by reaping : his delights Were dolphin-like, they show'd his back above

64. Scan, with quadrisyllable, ' j knows, and he hath | sent.'

v. 2 5IQ

The element they lived in: in his livery

Walk'd crowns and crownets ; realms and islands were

As plates dropp'd from his pocket.

Do 1. Cleopatra, — 90

Cleo. Think you there was, or might be, such a man As this I dreamt of?

Dol. Gentle madam, no.

Cleo. You lie, up to the hearing of the gods. But if there be, or ever were, one such,

It's past the size of dreaming : nature wants stuff 95

To vie strange forms with fancy, yet to imagine An Antony, were nature's piece against fancy, Condemning shadows quite.

Dol. Hear me, good madam.

Your loss is as yourself, great, and you bear it As answering to the weight : would I might never 100

O'ertake pursued success, but I do feel, By the rebound of yours, a grief that smites My very heart at root.

Cleo. I thank you, sir.

Know you what Caesar means to do with me?

Dol. I am loath to tell you what I would you knew. 105

Cleo. Nay, pray you, sir, —

Dol. Though he be honourable, —

Cleo. He'll lead me, then, in triumph ?

Dol. Madam, he will, I know it.

[Flourish.

Voices. [Without] Make way there ! Caesar !

Enter CAESAR, PROCULEIUS, GALLUS, MAECENAS, with others of his Train, and SELEUCUS.

Cats. Which is the Queen of Egypt?

Dol. It is the emperor, madam. [Cleopatra kneeh.

Caes. Arise, you shall not kneel :

94 ff. The sense appears to be : — No one could have dream1 d such an Antony. Fancy indeed outdoes nature in creating exceptional forms, yet to imagine an Antony would be to imagine some 'shadow' that would not bear comparison with the real Antony that nature produced [; for he is the one exception to the universal rule]. It is a delightfully audacious paradox.

5H V. 2

I pray you, rise, Egypt.

Cleo. Sir, the gods no

Will have it thus; my master and my lord I must obey.

Caes. Take to you no hard thoughts : The record of what injuries you did us, Though written in our flesh, we shall remember As things but done by chance.

Cleo. Sole sir of the world, 115

I cannot project mine own cause so well To make it clear, but do confess I have Been laden with like frailties which before Have often shamed our sex.

Caes. Cleopatra, know,

We will extenuate rather than enforce: 120

If you apply yourself to our intents, Which towards you are most gentle, you shall find A benefit in this change ; but if you seek To lay on me a cruelty by taking

Antony's course, you shall bereave yourself 125

Of my good purposes, and put your children To that destruction which I will guard them from, If thereon you rely. I will take my leave.

Cleo. And may through all the world; 'tis yours, and we, Your scutcheons and your signs of conquest, shall hang 1 30 In what place you please. Here, my good lord, —

Caes. You shall advise me in all for Cleopatra.

Cleo. This is the brief of money, plate, and jewels, I am possess'd of; 'tis exactly valued, Not petty things admitted. Where is Seleucus? 135

Sel. Here, madam.

Cleo. This is my treasurer: let him speak, my lord, Upon his peril, that I have reserved To myself nothing. Speak the truth, Seleucus.

Sel. Madam,

I had rather seal my lips, than to my peril 140

131. Scan, * In what \ place you | please. A | Here, A | my good | lord.' For the foot-stress (it is no more) on 'my' cp. 2. 3. 4, 'My Octavia,' and Hamlet I. 2. 50, 'My dread lord.' F. and the texts begin the line with ' Hang,' and so give an impossible stress to 'shall.' Cp. 3. II. 1 6.

V. 2 512

Speak that which is not.

Cleo. What have I kept back ?

Sel. Enough to purchase what you have made known.

Caes. Nay, blush not, Cleopatra; I approve Your wisdom in the deed.

Cleo. See, Caesar! O, behold

How pomp is follow'd ! mine will now be yours, 145

And should we shift estates, yours would be mine. The ingratitude of this Seleucus does even Make me wild. O slave of no more trust Than love that's hired! What, goest back? thou shalt Go back, I warrant thee, but I'll catch thine eyes, 150

Though they had wings. Slave, soulless villain, dog ! O rarely base !

Caes. Good queen, let us entreat you.

Cleo. O Caesar, what a wounding shame is this, That thou vouchsafing here to visit me,

Doing the honour of thy lordliness 155

To one so meek, — that mine own servant should parcel The sum of my disgraces by addition Of his envy ! Say, good Caesar, That I some lady trifles have reserved,

Immoment toys, things of such dignity 160

As we greet modern friends withal; and say, Some nobler token I have kept apart For Livia and Octavia, to induce Their mediation, — must I be unfolded

With one that I have bred ? The gods! it smites me 165

Beneath the fall I have. [To Seleucus"] Prithee, go hence, Or I shall show the cinders of my spirits Through the ashes of my chance : wert thou a man, Thou wouldst have mercy on me.

Caes. Forbear, Seleucus.

[Exit Seleucus.

156. The texts falsely end the line with 'should.' So in Lear 4. 6. 39, where, since the stress on 'itself is indispensable, we must take up ' burn ' :

My snuff and loathed part of nature should burn It | self | out.

158. For the characteristic short line containing a prefatory voca tive, cp. Lear I. I. 192, 'My lord of Burgundy.'

513 v. 2

Cleo. Be it known that we the greatest are misthought For things that others do; and when we fall, 171

We answer others' merits in our name, Are therefore to be pitied.

Caes. Cleopatra,

Not what you have reserved, nor what acknowledged, Put we in the roll of conquest; still be it yours, 175

Bestow it at your pleasure, and believe Caesar's no merchant, to make prize with you Of things that merchants sold. Therefore be cheer'd, .Make not your thoughts your prisons : no, dear queen, For we intend so to dispose you as 1 80

Yourself shall give us counsel : feed and sleep : Our care and pity is so much upon you, That we remain your friend: and so, adieu.

Cleo. My master, and my lord!

Caes. Not so : adieu. 1 84

[Flourish. Exeunt Caesar and his Train.

Cleo. He words me, girls, he words me, that I should not Be noble to myself: but hark thee, Charmian, —

[Whispers Charmian.

Iras. Finish, good lady ; the bright day is done, And we are for the dark.

Cleo. Hie thee again :

I have spoke already, and it is provided; Go put it to the haste.

Char. Madam, I will. 190

Re-enter DOLABELLA.

Dol. Where is the queen ?

Char. Behold, sir. [Exit.

Cleo. Dolabella !

Dol. Madam, as thereto sworn by your command, Which my love makes religion to obey, I tell you this : Caesar through Syria

Intends his journey, and within three days 195

You with your children will he send before. Make your best use of this ; I have perform'd Your pleasure and my promise.

Cleo. Dolabella,

I shall remain your debtor.

Dol. I your servant.

B. 33

v. 2 5H

Adieu, good queen, I must attend on Caesar. 200

Cleo. Farewell, and thanks. [Exit Dolahella.

Now, Iras, what thinkest thou ? Thou, an Egyptian puppet, shalt be shown In Rome as well as I : mechanic slaves With greasy aprons, rules and hammers, shall Uplift us to the view; in their thick breaths, 205

Rank of gross diet, shall we be enclouded, And forced to drink their vapour.

Iras. The gods forbid !

Cleo. Nay, 'tis most certain, Iras: saucy lictors Will catch at us like strumpets, and scald rimers Ballad us out of tune: the quick comedians 210

Extemporally will stage us, and present Our Alexandrian revels ; Antony Shall be brought drunken forth, and I shall see Some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness In the posture of a whore.

Iras. O, the good gods ! 215

Cleo. Nay, that is certain.

Iras. I'll never see it ! for I am sure my nails Are stronger than mine eyes.

Cleo. Why, that's the way

To fool their preparation, and to conquer Their most absurd intents.

Re-enter CHARMIAN.

Now, Charmian ! 220

Show me, my women, like a queen, go fetch My best attires; I am again for Cydnus, To meet Mark Antony : sirrah Iras, go. — Now, noble Charmian, we'll despatch indeed: — And when thou hast done this chare, I'll give thee leave 225 To play till doomsday. Bring our crown and all. Wherefore's this noise ? [Exit Iras. A noise without.

Enter a Guardsman.

Guard. Here is a rural fellow

That will not be denied your highness' presence : He brings you figs.

Cleo. Let him come in. [Exit Guardsman.

What poor an instrument 230

5i5 v. 2

May do a noble deed ! he brings me liberty. My resolution's placed, and I have nothing Of woman in me : now from head to foot I am marble-constant; now the fleeting moon No planet is of mine.

Re-enter Guardsman, with Clown bringing in a basket.

Guard. This is the man. 235

Cleo. Avoid, and leave him. [Exit Guardsman.

Hast thou the pretty worm of Nilus there, That kills and pains not?

Clown. Truly, I have him; but I would not be the party that should desire you to touch him, for his biting is immortal : those that do die of it do seldom or never recover. 241

Cleo. Rememberest thou any that have died of it ?

Clown. Very many, men and women too. I heard of one of them no longer than yesterday, a very honest woman, but some thing given to lie, as a woman should not but in the [245 way of honesty, how she died of the biting of it, what pain she felt : truly, she makes a very good report of the worm ; but he that will believe all that they say, shall never be saved by half that they do: but this is most falliable, the worm is an odd worm. 250

Cleo. Get thee hence, farewell.

Clown. I wish you all joy of the worm.

[Setting down his basket.

Cleo. Farewell.

Clown. You must think this, look you, that the worm will do his kind. 255

Cleo. Ay, ay ; farewell.

Clown. Look you, the worm is not to be trusted but in the keeping of wise people, for indeed there is no goodness in the worm.

Cleo. Take thou no care, it shall be heeded. 260

Clown. Very good : give it nothing, I pray you, for it is not worth the feeding.

Cleo. Will it eat me ? 263

Clown. You must not think I am so simple but I know the devil himself will not eat a woman : I know that a woman is a dish for the gods, if the devil dress her not. But truly, these same whoreson devils do the gods great harm in their women, for in every ten that they make the devils mar five.

v. 2 5*6

Cleo. Well, get thee gone; farewell. 269

Clown. Yes, forsooth, I wish you joy of the worm. [Exit.

Re-enter IRAS with robe, crown, etc.

Cleo. Give me my robe, put on my crown : I have Immortal longings in me ; now no more The juice of Egypt's grape shall moist this lip. Yare, yare, good Iras; quick! Methinks I hear Antony call; I see him rouse himself 275

To praise my noble act; I hear him mock The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men To excuse their after wrath. Husband, I come: Now to that name my courage prove my title ! I am fire and air; my other elements 280

I give to baser life. So, have you done ? Come, then, and take the last warmth of my lips. Farewell, kind Charmian, — Iras, long farewell.

[Kisses them. Iras falls and dies. Have I the aspic in my lips ? dost fall ?

If thou and nature can so gently part, 285

The stroke of death is as a lover's pinch, Which hurts and is desired. Dost thou lie still ? If thus thou vanishest, thou tell'st the world It is not worth the leave-taking.

Char. Dissolve, thick cloud, and rain, that I may say The gods themselves do weep.

Cleo. This proves me base: 291

If she first meet the curled Antony, He'll make demand of her, and spend that kiss Which is my heaven to have. Come, thou mortal wretch,

[To an asp, which she applies to her breast.

With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate 295

Of life at once untie : poor venomous fool, Be angry, and despatch. O, couldst thou speak, That I might hear thee call great Caesar ass Unpolicied !

Char. O eastern star !

Cleo. Peace, peace !

Dost thou not see my baby at my breast, 300

That sucks the nurse asleep?

Char. O, break! O, break!

Cleo. As sweet as balm, as soft as air, as gentle —

517 v. 2

0 Antony! — Nay, I will take thee too.

[Applying another asp to her arm. What should I stay— [Dies.

Char. In this vile world ? So, fare thee well.

Now boast thee, Death ; in thy possession lies 305

A lass unparallel'd. Downy windows, close, And golden Phoebus never be beheld Of eyes again so royal ! Your crown's awry ; I'll mend it, and then play. 309

Enter the Guard, rushing in.

First Guard. Where is the queen?

Char. Speak softly, wake her not.

First Guard. Caesar hath sent —

Char. Too slow a messenger.

[Applies an asp. O, come apace, despatch ! I partly feel thee.

First Guard. Approach, ho ! All's not well : Caesar's

beguiled.

Sec. Guard. There's Dolabella sent from Caesar; call him. First Guard. What work is here ! Charmian, is this well done? 315

Char. It is well done, and fitting for a princess Descended of so many royal kings. Ah, soldier ! [Dies.

Re-enter DOLABELLA.

Do!. How goes it here?

Sec. Guard. All dead.

Dol. Caesar, thy thoughts

Touch their effects in this : thyself art coming 320

To see perform'd the dreaded act which thou So sought'st to hinder.

Voices. [Without.] A way there! A way for Caesar!

Re-enter CAESAR and all his Train, marching.

Dol. O, sir, you are too sure an augurer ; That you did fear is done.

Caes. Bravest at the last,

She levell'd at our purposes, and being royal, 325

Took her own way. The manner of their deaths?

1 do not see them bleed.

Dol. Who was last with them ?

33—3

v. 2 5 l 8

First Guard. A simple countryman, who brought her figs: This was his basket.

Caes. Poison'd, then.

First Guard. O Caesar,

This Charmian lived but now, she stood and spake : 330

I found her trimming up the diadem On her dead mistress : tremblingly she stood, And on the sudden dropp'd.

Caes. O noble weakness !

If they had swallow'd poison, 'twould appear By external swelling; but she looks like sleep, 335

As she would catch another Antony In her strong toil of grace.

Do/. Here, on her breast,

There is a vent of blood, and something blown: The like is on her arm.

First Guard. This is an aspic's trail ; and these fig-leaves Have slime upon them such as the aspic leaves 341

Upon the caves of Nile.

Caes. Most probable

That so she died, for her physician tells me She hath pursued conclusions infinite

Of easy ways to die. Take up her bed, 345

And bear her women from the monument. She shall be buried by her Antony : No grave upon the earth shall clip in it A pair so famous. High events as these

Strike those that make them; and their story is no less 350 In pity than his glory which brought them to be Lamented. Our army shall in solemn show Attend this funeral, and then to Rome.

Come, Dolabella, see high order in 354

This great solemnity. [Exeunt.

35O-end. The lines are rearranged. Story is no less is a quadri- syllabic, and glory which a trisyllabic, with pauses at story and glory. As divided in F., the words than his glory which Brought them etc., with the impossible stress on which, are not verse at all. Of the correctness of the rearrangement I have no least doubt ; the passage is but a final illustration from this play of F.'s proneness to complete a line so soon as ten syllables have been counted. 2 Hen. IV, Timon, Hamlet and Coriolanus end with a short line.

INDEX

(The figures in heavy type indicate the pages.}

A for he, 278

Abbreviations, a comic example, 131, no. 40; in prose, fewest in best texts, 273> 277 » texts showing fewest, 226 ; not found in stage-directions, etc., 286 ; not necessary for charac terisation, 275 f-

Accentuation, Elizabethan, 393

Actors probably clipped words, 291

Alcaics, specimens, 333

Antony and Cleopatra, i. 4. 43, 206, no. 5 ; 2. 5. 25 ff., 224 ;

3. 2. 30 ff., 223, no. 90;

4. 14. H9ff., 32; 4. 15. n f., 17; 5. 2. 55-62, 44 f.

Apostrophe does not always imply elision of vowel-sound, 294 ff. ; marks resolution, 300 ff. ; Jon- son's use found in Shakespeare,

3"

As You Like It, 3. 5. 66-69,

245

Bower, spelling of, 241

Coleridge quoted, 338 Conjure, 394

Coriolanus^_ji_. 10. 3 off, 1945 2. 3'(75-%$, 187; 3- 2. S2- c.8, I98f 4. i. i ff, 31 ; 4- 5- [58-62, 200 ; 4. 6. 141 ff, ^362 Cross accent, 337 ff

Cymbeline, not a 'romantic' drama, 405 f. ; versification of, 409 ; 2.4. 87 ff, 174; 3.6. 38f., 178; 3. 6. 49 f., 165; an ' iambic ' scansion of 4. 2. 49, 384

Desdemona, a wondrous spelling

of, ii4f.

Dictation of copies, 288 f. Disyllabism, 5 f.

Editors, bias of, 4

-ened and -ening, words ending

in, 26l -ered and -ering, words ending in,

229 (no. 1 7), 259 ff

Fallen, spelling of, 242 ff Farre, not a comparative in Shake speare, 230

Fifth foot only resolved, 332 Folio, a characteristic of, 50 f., 96

plays first printed in, I

Table of abbreviations in

' Folio plays,' 274 For with foot-stress, 340, foot note

Hamlet, Table of abbreviations in prose of, 272; 5. i. 297 ff, 103

Hendecasyllabics, specimens, 326

Hour, spelling of, 241

How is it with you? 120, no. 46

520

INDEX

Initial resolutions, signification of,

396 f.

Interrogatories, spelling of, 182

//, abbreviation of, 287 f-

// and Us final abbreviated, Table

of, 238 // final in Jonson, 307 £

Jonson, 1 6 1 6 Folio, 295 ff.

Catiline, 307 f.

Sejanus, 296 ff.

his spelling, 308 ; tane (sic],

302 Julius Caesar, Antony's famous

speech in, 46 ff. perhaps printedfrom original

MS., 226

shows few abbreviations,

226 ; conclusions to be drawn from this, 233 f.

3. 2. 78 ff., 46 ff. ; 3. 2.

171,230; 5- 3- 30-35,231, no. 23

Love's Labour's Lost, few abbrevia tions in prose of, 271

Lyric measures in the blank verse, 27 ff

found in our common talk,

29 f.

Macbeth, 2. 3. 146 f., 148 ; 3. 2.

26-34, 150; 5- I- 39-76,38

Measure for Measure, 2. 2. 117,

336; 2. 4. Ill ff, 336

Merchant of Venice, few abbrevia tions in prose of, 267

Midsummer Night's Dream, 5. i. 7-17,24

Moe, Table of, 279

Moneth (month), 392

Monosyllabic foot, 13, and App. in

beginnings, 327

Music, Shakespeare's love of,

25 f.

Neere, not a comparative in Shake speare, 148, no. 22

Ope and open, 145 Othello, Quartos of, 267 f. ; 3. 3. 126-132, 116

Parlous, 72, no. 67

Pollard, A. W., on Elizabethan

printing, 269 Power, spelling of, 241 Printers, vagaries of, 265 ff Pronunciation of entred and the

like, 6l, 229 (no. 17), and

Ch. vn

Prose printed as verse, 290 Prosody, the traditional system,

9 f. ; a proposed substitute,

II ff Punctuation of Folio, 413

Quadrisyllable feet, list of, App. iv

two in one line, in T. S.,

1. 2. 165, 346; in Rich. II,

2. I. 284,351

Quarto plays, Table of abbrevia tions in verse of, 94 ; in prose of, 270

Resolution, the term explained, 4 Resolutions, Table of eliminations of in Q. plays, 94

number in contemporary

drama, 15

Rhythm, distinguished from me tre, 22 ff — units of, 23

Richard II, Quartos of, 268 f. and footnote; 2. 2. Il6ff, 54, no. 22; 3.2..i32ff, 56, no.34(£); 5. 5. 17, 6l, no. /o

INDEX

521

Richard III, an adapted play, 63 ; second revision of, 63 f. ; I . I . .9°-95» 65; i. i. 105, 12 Rime as a test for date, 400 ' Romantic ' plays, 403 f. Romeo and Juliet, 5. 3. 112-20, 40

Sapphics, list of, 329 f.

Seven-foot measures, 44

Shakespeare not a bungling versi fier, 165, 178 (no. 56), 191 (no. 17), 206 (no. 5)

Short lines ending a scene, 131, no. 45

Spelling altered by printers, 84, no. 1 66

Stolen, spelling of, 246 ff.

Table i, eliminated resolutions in

Quarto plays, 94 n, elision of // and Us final,

238 in.

prose of Quarto plays, abbreviations in, 270 — iv, prose of Folio plays, ab breviations in, 274

Table v, a for he, 278

- vi, moe, 279

Taken and tane, 2$2 ff.

Tane making rime, 255

Tane (sic] in Jonson, 302

Tempest, 2. i. 38ff. restored as

verse, 386 f. Tennyson, a line of doubtful

scansion, 370 Timon, 4. 3. iO2ff"., 367 Titus, authorship of, 400 f Toot, a verb, 2 1 6, no. 54 Trochaic beginnings, App. i

and ii Troy /us (Troilus}, always a tri

syllable, 358, 360

Verse period, 36 ff.

printed as prose

37

187 (no. 10), 200 ff, 211 (no. 30), 289, 386 f. (Tempest, 38 ff.)

2. i

Winter's Tale, date and versifica tion of, 402 ff; 2. 2. 6-21 re-arranged, 348 f-

Writ, I03ff

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