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'''^^■"^^^^^^^(mmv^^ 


The  Plains  of  Troy 


SHAKESPEARE'S 


\'. 


HISTORY    OF 


TROILUS  AND  CRESSIDA 


EDITED,   WITH   NOTES 

BY 

WILLIAM    J.    ROLFE,    Litt.D. 

FORMERLY   HEAD    MASTER   OF   THE    HIGH    SCHOOL, 
CAMBRIDGE,    MASS. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK  • :  •  CINCINNATI  • :  •  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 


\K 


jQ  ^^     Sl^akespeariaria 


LIBRARY  of  CONGRESS 
Two  CoDies  Received 

DEC  21  1905 

Oopyrio-ht  Entry 

CLASS     a.     XXc.  No 

COPY    B. 


Copyright,  1882  and  1898,  by 
HARPER   &   BROTHERS. 

Copyright,  1905,  by 
WILLIAM   J.   ROLFE. 


TROILUS   AND  CRESSIDA. 
W.   P.    I 


d^-f 


PREFACE 


Troilus  and  Cressida  is  not  a  play  for  boys  and  girls, 
whether  in  school  or  out;  and  it  is  seldom,  if  ever, 
read  in  Shakespeare  clubs,  except  the  few  that  make  a 
special  study  of  the  less  familiar  plays.  It  would  never 
be  taken  up  even  by  critical  students  or  readers  except 
in  a  somewhat  advanced  stage  of  their  acquaintance 
with  the  dramatist. 

The  play  is  never  put  upon  the  stage.  There  is  no 
record  of  any  performance  in  Shakespeare's  day,  though 
the  registers  of  the  Stationers'  Company  indicate  that 
it  was  played  by  "  my  Lord  Chamberlain's  men  "  in 
1603,  and  one  of  the  title-pages  of  the  1609  quarto  (see 
p.  9  below)  states  that  it  was  acted  "  at  the  Globe." 
From  that  day  to  this,  so  far  as  we  have  any  informa- 
tion, it  has  never  been  reproduced  in  its  original  form. 
Dryden's  wretched  adaptation  of  it  —  Troilus  and  Cres- 
sida, or  Truth  Found  Out  Too  Late  —  was  reproduced 
in  London  in  1679,  and  also  in  1709  and  1723,  but 
apparently  has  not  been  acted  since  the  latter  date. 
Mr.  F.  A.  Marshall  ("  Henry  Irving  "  ed.)  states  that 
John  Kemble  planned  a  revival  of  Shakespeare's  play 
and  prepared  a  stage  version  of  it,  but  it  was  never 
represented.  There  the  stage  history  of  the  play  ends, 
and  probably  for  all  time. 

These  facts  naturally  affected  the  treatment  of  the 
play  in  my  former  edition,  and  I  have  not  modified  it 

5 


6  Preface 

materially  in  the  revision.  The  introduction,  however, 
has  been  rewritten,  the  notes  have  been  carefully  re- 
vised and  considerably  augmented,  and  an  account  of 
"The  War  of  the  Theatres"  has  been  added  in  the 
Appendix.  As  with  the  other  volumes  of  the  revised 
edition,  the  book  has  also  been  made  complete  in  itself 
by  the  substitution  of  new  notes  for  those  referring  to 
my  work  on  other  plays. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Introduction  to  Troilus  and  Cressida  ....        9 

The  History  of  the  Play  .......         9 

The  Sources  of  the  Plot  .         .         .         .         .         .         .12 

General  Comments  on  the  Play        .         .         .         .         .       i^ 

Troilus  and  Cressida         .        .0        ....       29 

Act  I .        .         .31 

Act  II      .         .         .         .         .         o         .         .         .         .65 
Act  HI    .         .         .         .         .         o         .         .         »         .90 

Act  IV 117 

Act  V      .         .         .         .         .         «         •         .         •         '145 

Notes    ...........     179 

Appendix 

"  The  War  of  the  Theatres  " 282 

The  Story  of  the  Play  in  Chaucer  and  Shakespeare  .  288 

The  Time-Analysis  of  the  Play         .....  291 

List  of  Characters  in  the  Play  .....  292 


Index  of  Words  and  Phrases  Explained 


295 


Tenedos 


Homer 


INTRODUCTION   TO   TROILUS   AND 
CRESSIDA 


The  History  of  the  Play 

Troilus  and  Cressida  was  first  published,  so  far  as 
we  know,  in  1609,  when  two  quarto  editions  were 
printed  from  the  same  type,  but  with  somewhat  dif- 
ferent title-pages.  Both  state  that  the  play  is  "by 
William  Shakespeare,"  and  one  refers  to  its  having 
been  "  acted  by  the  Kings  Maiesties  servants  at  the 
Globe." 

One  of  these  editions  differs  from  the  other  in  hav- 
ing the  following  preface  :  — 

"  A  neuer  writer  to  an  euer  reader. 

''  Newes. 

"  Eternall  reader,  you  haue  heere  a  new  play,  neuer 
stal'd  with    the    Stage,   neuer   clapper-clawd   with    the 

9 


lo  Troilus  and  Cressida 

palmes  of  the  vulger,  and  yet  passing  full  of  the  palme 
comicall ;  for  it  is  a  birth  of  your  braine,  that  neuer 
under-tooke  any  thing  commicall  vainely :  and  were  but 
the  vaine  names  of  commedies  changde  for  the  titles 
of  commodities,  or  of  playes  for  pleas,  you  should  see 
all  those  grand  censors,  that  now  stile  them  such  vani- 
ties, flock  to  them  for  the  maine  grace  of  their  grauities  ; 
especially  this  authors  commedies,  that  are  so  fram'd 
to  the  life,  that  they  serue  for  the  most  common  com- 
mentaries of  all  the  actions  of  our  hues,  showing  such 
a  dexteritie,  and  power  of  witte,  that  the  most  displeased 
with  playes  are  pleasd  with  his  commedies.  And  all 
such  dull  and  heauy-witted  worldlings,  as  were  neuer 
capable  of  the  witte  of  a  commedie,  comming  by  report 
of  them  to  his  representations,  haue  found  that  witte 
there  that  they  neuer  found  in  themselues,  and  haue 
parted  better-witted  then  they  came  ;  feeling  an  edge  of 
witte  set  vpon  them,  more  than  euer  they  dream d  they 
had  braine  to  grinde  it  on.  So  much  and  such  sauord 
salt  of  witte  is  in  his  commedies,  that  they  seeme  (for 
their  height  of  pleasure)  to  be  borne  in  that  sea  that 
brought  forth  Venus.  Amongst  all  there  is  none  more 
witty  then  this ;  and  had  I  time  I  would  comment  vpon 
it,  though  I  know  it  needs  not  (for  so  much  as  will  make 
you  thinke  your  testern  well  bestowd),  but  for  so  much 
worth,  as  euen  poore  I  know  to  be  stuft  in  it.  It  de- 
serues  such  a  labour,  as  well  as  the  best  commedy  in 
Terence  or  Plautus :  and  beleeue  this,  that  when  hee  is 
gone,  and  his  commedies  out  of  sale,  you  will  scramble 


Introduction  ii 

for  them,  and  set  vp  a  new  English  inquisition.  Take 
this  for  a  warning,  and  at  the  perill  of  your  pleasures, 
losse,  and  iudgments,  refuse  not,  nor  Uke  this  the  lesse 
for  not  being  sulUed,  with  the  smoaky  breath  of  the 
multitude ;  but  thanke  fortune  for  the  scape  it  hath 
made  amongst  you.  Since  by  the  grand  possessors 
wills,  I  belieue,  you  should  haue  prayd  for  them,  rather 
than  beene  prayd.  And  so  I  leaue  all  such  to  bee 
prayd  for  (for  the  states  of  their  wits  healths)  that  will 
not  praise  it.  —  Vale^ 

The  play  was  not  reprinted  until  it  appeared  in  the 
folio  of  1623,  where  it  stands  between  the  "  Histories  " 
and  "  Tragedies  ;  "  and  it  is  not  mentioned  at  all  in  the 
"  Catalogue,"  or  table  of  contents,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  volume.  The  editors  seem  to  have  been  puzzled 
to  classify  it.  The  "  Tragedies  "  at  first  began  with 
Coriolamis,  followed  by  Titus  Androniais  and  Romeo 
and  Juliet.  Troilus  and  Cressida  was  evidently  intended 
to  come  next,  and  was  put  in  type  and  paged  for  that 
place ;  but  it  was  afterwards  transferred  to  its  present 
position,  and  Timon  of  Athens  used  instead.  The  num- 
bers of  the  pages  were  cancelled,  with  the  exception  of 
the  second  and  third,  which  were  accidentally  left  with 
the  79  and  80  of  the  original  pagination.  The  only 
reason  that  can  be  imagined  for  this  change  is  that  the 
editors  were  in  doubt  whether  the  play  was  a  "  tragedy  " 
or  a  "  history,"  and  therefore  decided  to  put  it  between 
the  two,  and  to  evade  the  responsibility  of  cataloguing 


12  Troilus  and  Cressida 

it  in  the  table  of  contents.     The  writer  of  the  prologue, 
whoever  he  may  have  been,  treats  it  as  a  comedy. 

The  date  of  the  play  cannot  be  determined  with  any 
certainty.  In  1599  Dekker  and  Chettle  were  preparing 
a  play  on  the  same  subject,  and  an  entry  in  the  Sta- 
tioners' Registers,  dated  February  7,  1602-03,  proves 
that  a  Ti'oilus  and  Cressida  had  been  acted  by  Shake- 
speare's company,  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  Servants. 
This  may  possibly  have  been  an  early  draught  of  Shake- 
speare's play.  Internal  evidence  is  partly  in  favour  of 
a  date  as  early  as  this,  and  partly  of  one  some  five  or 
six  years  later.  Some  critics  have  therefore  decided 
that  the  play  was  written  as  early  as  1602  or  1603,  while 
others  put  it  as  late  as  1608  or  1609.  More  likely,  as 
Verplanck,  White,  and  others  believe,  it  was  first  writ- 
ten as  early  as  1602,  and  revised  and  enlarged  some- 
where between  1606  and  1609. 

The  Sources  of  the  Plot 

If  Shakespeare  did  not  draw  his  materials  from  some 
earlier  play,  he  probably  took  "  the  love-story  "  from 
Chaucer's  Troilus  and  Cresseide,  and  "  the  camp  story  " 
from  the  Recuyell  of  the  historyes  of  Troye,  translated  and 
drawen  out  of  frenshe  into  englishe  by  W.  Caxton,  1471 
(from  Raoul  le  Fevre's  Reciieil  des  His  to  ires  de  Troyes), 
or  Lydgate's  Hystorye,  Sege  and  dystruccyon  of  Troye, 
15 ^3'  1555  (from  Guido  di  Colonna),  or  both.  Ther- 
sites,  or  at  least  a  hint  of  the  character,  seems  to  be 


Introduction  13 

taken  from  Chapman's  Iliad^  the  first  seven  books  of 
which  appeared  in  1597. 


General  Comments  on  the  Play 

Troilus  and  Cressida  has  been  a  perplexing  subject 
for  many  of  the  ablest  critics.  Coleridge  remarks : 
"  There  is  no  one  of  Shakespeare's  plays  harder  to 
characterize.  The  name,  and  the  remembrances  con- 
nected with  it,  prepare  us  for  the  representation  of 
attachment  no  less  faithful  than  fervent  on  the  side  of 
the  youth,  and  of  sudden  and  shameless  inconstancy 
on  the  part  of  the  lady.  And  this  is,  indeed,  as  the 
gold  thread  on  which  the  scenes  are  strung,  though 
often  kept  out  of  sight,  and  out  of  mind  by  gems  of 
greater  value  than  itself.  But  as  Shakespeare  calls  for 
nothing  from  the  mausoleum  of  history,  or  the  cata- 
combs of  tradition,  without  giving  or  eliciting  some 
permanent  and  general  interest,  and  brings  forward  no 
subject  which  he  does  not  moralize  or  intellectualize, 
so  here  he  has  drawn  in  Cressida  the  portrait  of  a 
vehement  passion,  that,  having  its  true  origin  and  proper 
cause  in  warmth  of  temperament,  fastens  on,  rather 
than  fixes  to,  some  one  object  by  liking  and  temporary 
preference.  This  Shakespeare  has  contrasted  with  the 
profound  affection  represented  in  Troilus,  and  alone 
worthy  the  name  of  love  —  affection,  passionate  indeed, 
swollen  with  the  confluence  of  youthful  instincts  and 
youthful  fancy,  and  growing  in  the  radiance  of  hope 


14  Troilus  and   Cressida 

newly  risen,  in  short  enlarged  by  the  collective  sym- 
pathies of  nature ;  but  still  having  a  depth  of  calmer 
element  in  a  will  stronger  than  desire,  more  entire  than 
choice,  and  which  gives  permanence  to  its  own  act 
by  converting  it  into  faith  and  dut}^  Hence  with  ex- 
cellent judgment,  and  with  an  excellence  higher  than 
mere  judgment  can  give,  at  the  close  of  the  play,  when 
Cressida  has  sunk  into  infamy  below  retrieval  and 
beneath  hope,  the  same  will  which  had  been  the  sub- 
stance and  the  basis  of  his  love,  while  the  restless 
pleasures  and  passionate  longings,  like  sea-waves,  had 
tossed  but  on  its  surface  —  this  same  moral  energy  is 
represented  as  snatching  him  aloof  from  all  neighbour- 
hood with  her  dishonour,  from  all  lingering  fondness 
and  languishing  regrets,  whilst  it  rushes  with  him  into 
other  and  nobler  duties,  and  deepens  the  channel  which 
his  heroic  brother's  death  had  left  empty  for  its  col- 
lected flood.  .  .  . 

"  To  all  this,  however,  so  little  comparative  projec- 
tion is  given  —  nay,  the  masterly  group  of  Agamem- 
non, Nestor,  and  Ulysses,  and,  still  more  in  advance, 
that  of  Achilles,  Ajax,  and  Thersites,  so  manifestly 
occupy  the  foreground  —  that  the  subservience  and 
vassalage  of  strength  and  animal  courage  to  intellect 
and  policy  seems  to  be  the  lesson  most  often  in  our 
poet's  view,  and  which  he  has  taken  little  pains  to 
connect  with  the  former  more  interesting  moral  imper- 
sonated in  the  titular  hero  and  heroine  of  the  drama. 
But  I  am  half   inclined   to   believe  that  Shakspeare's 


Introduction  15 

main  object,  or,  shall  I  rather  say,  his  ruling  impulse, 
was  to  translate  the  poetic  heroes  of  paganism  into  the 
not  less  rude,  but  more  intellectually  vigorous,  and 
more  featurely,  warriors  of  Christian  chivalry,  and  to 
substantiate  the  distinct  and  graceful  profiles  or  out- 
lines of  the  Homeric  epic  into  the  flesh  and  blood  of 
the  romantic  drama  —  in  short,  to  give  a  grand  history- 
piece  in  the  robust  style  of  Albert  Diirer." 

In  an  article  "  On  Reading  Shakespeare  "  (in  The 
Galaxy,  for  February,  1877),  Grant  White  has  some 
admirable  comments  on  this  play,  a  few  passages  from 
which  may  well  supplement  those  from  Coleridge  :  — 

"  Troilus  and  Cressida  is  Shakespeare's  wisest  play 
in  the  way  of  worldly  wisdom.  It  is  filled  choke-full  of 
sententious,  and  in  most  cases  slightly  satirical  revela- 
tions of  human  nature,  uttered  with  a  felicity  of  phrase 
and  an  impressiveness  of  metaphor  that  make  each  one 
seem  like  a  beam  of  light  shot  into  the  recesses  of  man's 
heart. 

"  The  undramatic  character  of  Troilus  and  Cressida 
appears  in  its  structure,  its  personages,  and  its  purpose. 
.  .  .  There  is  also  a  singular  lack  of  that  peculiar 
characteristic  of  Shakespeare's  dramatic  style,  the 
marked  distinction  and  nice  discrimination  of  the  in- 
dividual traits,  mental  and  moral,  of  the  various  per- 
sonages. Ulysses  is  the  real  hero  of  the  play;  the 
chief,  or,  at  least,  the  great  purpose  of  which  is  the 
utterance  of  the  Ulyssean  view  of  life  ;  and  in  this  play 
Shakespeare  is  Ulysses,  or  Ulysses,  Shakespeare.     In 


1 6  Troilus  and   Cressida 

all  his  other  plays  Shakespeare  so  lost  his  personal 
consciousness  in  the  individuality  of  his  own  creations 
that  they  think  and  feel,  as  well  as  act,  like  real  men 
and  women  other  than  their  creator,  so  that  we  cannot 
truly  say  of  the  thoughts  and  feelings  which  they  ex- 
press, that  Shakespeare  says  thus  or  so  ;  for  it  is  not 
Shakespeare  who  speaks,  but  they  with  his  lips.  But  in 
Ulysses,  Shakespeare,  acting  upon  a  mere  hint,  filling 
up  a  mere  traditionary  outline,  drew  a  man  of  mature 
years,  of  wide  observation,  of  profoundest  cogitative 
power,  one  who  knew  all  the  weakness  and  all  the 
wiles  of  human  nature,  and  who  yet  remained  with 
blood  unbittered  and  soul  un soured  —  a  man  who  saw 
through  all  shams,  and  fathomed  all  motives,  and  who 
yet  was  not  scornful  of  his  kind,  not  misanthropic, 
hardly  cynical  except  in  passing  moods  ;  and  what 
other  man  w^as  this  than  Shakespeare  himself  ?  What 
had  he  to  do  when  he  had  passed  forty  years  but  to 
utter  his  own  thoughts  when  he  would  find  words  for 
the  lips  of  Ulysses  ?  And  thus  it  is  that  Troilus  and 
Cressida  is  Shakespeare's  wisest  play.  If  we  would 
know  what  Shakespeare  thought  of  men  and  their 
motives  after  he  reached  maturity,  we  have  but  to 
read  this  drama  —  drama  it  is,  but  with  what  other 
character  who  shall  say  ?  For,  like  the  world's  pageant, 
it  is  neither  tragedy  nor  comedy,  but  a  tragic-comic 
history,  in  which  the  intrigues  of  amorous  men  and 
light-o'-loves  and  the  brokerage  of  panders  are  mingled 
with  the  deliberations  of  sages  and  the  strife  and  the 


Introduction  17 

death  of  heroes.  .  .  .  And  why,  indeed,  should  Ulysses 
not  speak  for  Shakespeare,  or  how  could  it  be  other 
than  that  he  should  ?  The  man  who  had  written  Ham- 
let, King  Lear,  Othello^  and  Macbeth,  if  he  wished  to 
find  Ulysses,  had  only  to  turn  his  mind's  eye  inward  ; 
and  thus  we  have  in  this  drama  Shakespeare's  only 
piece  of  introspective  work." 

Verplanck  (whom  I  quote,  as  elsewhere,  because  his 
edition  of  Shakespeare,  published  in  1847,  ^^^  been  long 
out  of  print,  and  is  to  be  found  in  few  of  the  libraries) 
remarks :  — 

"  The  play  is,  in  all  respects,  a  very  remarkable  and 
singular  production  ;  and  it  has  perplexed  many  a  critic, 
not,  as  usual,  by  smaller  difficulties  of  readings  and 
interpretation,  but  by  doubts  as  to  the  author's  design 
and  spirit.  Its  beauties  are  of  the  highest  order.  It 
contains  passages  fraught  with  moral  truth  and  political 
wisdom  —  high  truths,  in  large  and  philosophical  dis- 
course, such  as  remind  us  of  the  loftiest  disquisitions  of 
Hooker,  or  Jeremy  Taylor,  on  the  foundations  of  social 
law.  Thus  the  comments  of  Ulysses  (i.  3)  on  the  uni- 
versal obligation  of  the  law  of  order  and  degree,  and 
the  confusion  caused  by  rebellion  to  its  rule,  either  in 
nature  or  in  society,  are  in  the  very  spirit  of  the  grand- 
est and  most  instructive  eloquence  of  Burke.  The 
piece  abounds,  too,  in  passages  of  the  most  profound 
and  persuasive  practical  ethics,  and  grave  advice  for 
the  government  of  life ;  as  when,  in  the  third  act, 
Ulysses  (the  great  didactic  organ  of  the  play)  impresses 

TROILUS  —  2 


1 8  Troilus  and  Cressida 

upon  Achilles  the  consideration  of  man's  ingratitude 
'for  good  deeds  past,'  and  the  necessity  of  perseverance 
to  '  keep  honour  bright.'  Other  scenes  again,  fervid 
with  youthful  passion,  or  rich  in  beautiful  imagery,  are 
redolent  with  intense  sweetness  of  poetic  fancy.  Such 
is  that  splendid  exhortation  of  Patroclus  to  Achilles, 
of  which  Godwin  has  justly  said  that  '  a  more  poetical 
passage,  if  poetry  consists  in  sublime,  picturesque,  and 
beautiful  imagery,  neither  ancient  nor  modern  times 
have  produced.' 

'  Sweet,  rouse  yourself;   and  the  weak,  wanton  Cupid 
Shall  from  your  neck  unloose  his  amorous  folds, 
And  like  a  dewdrop  from  the  lion's  mane 
Be  shook  to  air.' 

"  Nor  is  there  any  drama  more  rich  in  variety  and  truth 
of  character.  The  Grecian  camp  is  filled  with  real  and 
living  men  of  all  sorts  of  temper  and  talent,  while  Ther- 
sites,  a  variation  and  improvement  of  the  original  de- 
formed railer  of  the  Iliad,  is,  in  his  way,  a  new  study  of 
human  nature,  not  (as  some  writers  view  him)  a  mere 
buffoon,  but  a  sort  of  vulgar  and  cowardly  lago,  with- 
out the  '  Ancient's '  courage  and  higher  intellect,  but 
with  the  same  sort  of  wit  and  talent,  and  governed  by 
the  same  self-generated  malignity.  So,  too,  Ulysses' 
sarcastic  sketch  of  Cressida  is  a  gem  of  art,  at  once 
arch,  sagacious,  and  poetic. 

"  With  all  this,  there  is  large  alloy  of  inferior  matter, 
such  as  Shakespeare  too  often  permitted  himself  to  use, 
in  filling  up  the  chasms  of  the  scene,  between  loftier 


Introduction  19 

and  brighter  thoughts.  More  especially  is  there  felt,  by 
every  reader,  a  sense  of  disappointment  at  the  unsatis- 
factory effect  of  the  whole,  arising  mainly  from  the 
want  of  unity  in  that  effect,  and  in  the  interest  of  the 
plot  —  at  the  desultory  and  purposeless  succession  of 
incident  and  dialogue,  all  resembling  (as  Walter  Scott 
well  observes)  '  a  legend,  or  a  chronicle,  rather  than  a 
dramatic  composition.'  That  power  of  comprising  the 
varied  details  of  a  great  work  in  one  view,  and,  while 
preserving  the  individuality  and  truth  of  the  parts, 
blending  them  in  the  effect  of  one  whole  —  the  ponere 
totum  of  Horace  —  so  essential  to  excellence  in  all  of 
the  higher  works  either  of  art  or  of  literature,  hardly 
appears  here.  Yet  it  is  a  power  that  Shakespeare  never 
wanted  or  neglected,  even  in  his  earlier  comedies ;  and 
at  the  date  of  Troibis  and  Cressida  he  had  exhibited  the 
highest  proof  of  it  in  Lear,  Othello,  and  Macbeth.  He 
had,  even  in  Henry  IV.  and  other  historical  plays, 
shown  how  the  less  pliable  incidents  and  personages  of 
actual  history  could  be  made  to  harmonize  in  one  cen- 
tral and  pervading  interest.  In  this  respect  Troilus  and 
Cressida  is  so  singularly  deficient  that  Walter  Scott 
{Life  of  Dryden)  characterizes  it  as  having  been  '  left 
by  its  author  in  a  singular  state  of  imperfection  ;  '  while 
Dryden  (in  the  preface  to  his  own  alteration  of  this 
play)  pronounces  that  '  the  author  began  it  with  some 
fire,'  but  that  he  grew  weary  of  his  task,  and  '  the  latter 
part  of  the  tragedy  is  nothing  but  a  confusion  of  drums 
and  trumpets,  excursions  and  alarms  ;  '  the  characters 


20  Troilus  and  Cressida 

of  Hector,  Troilus,  and  others  having,  been,  in  his 
opinion,  'begun  and  left  unfinished.' 

"  The  plot  and  incidents  present  other  incongruities, 
not  easy  of  solution.  The  main  story  is  founded  on  the 
old  legendary  story  of  Troy,  as  the  middle  ages  received 
it ;  Chaucer  having  given  the  leading  idea  of  the  hero 
and  heroine,  and  the  story  and  other  accessories,  such 
as  Homer  never  dreamed  of,  having  been  incorporated 
from  old  Lydgate  and  Caxton.  Of  this  we  have  a 
striking  instance  in  the  murder  of  Hector  by  Achilles 
and  his  Myrmidons,  so  contradictory  to  all  the  notions 
Homer  gave  us  of  his  divine  Pelides,  Yet,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  Grecian  chiefs  are  all  so  depicted,  and  with 
such,  minuteness,  as  not  to  permit  a  doubt  but  that  the 
author  of  these  scenes  was  familiar  with  some  contem- 
porary translation  of  the  Iliad. 

"  Moreover,  the  style,  and  the  verbal  and  metrical 
peculiarities,  suggest  other  questions.  There  is  much 
in  the  play  recalling  the  rhymes  and  the  dialogue  of  the 
poet's  earlier  comedies,  while  the  higher  and  more  con- 
templative passages  resemble  the  diction  and  measure 
of  his  middle  period  —  that  of  Measure  for  Measure 
and  Lear.  It  also  abounds  in  singular  words,  unusual 
accentuations,  and  bold  experiments  in  language,  such 
as  he  most  indulged  in  during  that  period,  but  to  a 
greater  extent  than  can,  I  think,  be  found  in  any  other 
play. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  the  Shakespearian 
critics   have  found   ample   room   for   theory.     I   have 


Introduction  2i 

already  noticed  the  supposition  of  Dryden,  and  of 
Walter  Scott,  that  the  play  was  left  imperfect,  or  hur- 
ried to  a  conclusion  with  little  care,  after  parts  had 
been  as  carefully  elaborated.  Another  set  of  English 
commentators,  from  Steevens  to  Seymour,  have  satisfied 
themselves  that  Shakespeare's  genius  and  taste  had 
been  expended  in  improving  the  work  of  an  inferior 
author,  whose  poorer  groundwork  still  appeared  through 
his  more  precious  decorations.  This  Steevens  sup- 
poses might  be  the  '  Troyelles  and  Cresseda  '  on  which 
Dekker  and  Chettle  were  employed,  in  1599,  as  we 
learn  from  Henslowe's  Diary." 

After  referring  to  Coleridge's  comments  on  the  play, 
as  quoted  above,  Verplanck  says :  "  He  had  before  (in 
1802)  transiently  suggested  the  opinion  that  the  drama 
was  in  part  ironical,  or,  I  suppose,  mock-heroical. 
Schlegel,  who  seems  in  some  way  to  have  picked  up 
ideas  of  Coleridge's,  not  published  till  after  his  death  — 
whether  from  his  unwritten  lectures,  or  from  some  com- 
mon source,  it  is  not  clear  —  carries  this  notion  further. 
He  asserts  that  Shakespeare,  'without  caring  for  the- 
atrical effect,  here  pleased  his  own  malicious  wit ; '  and 
that  the  whole  is  one  continued  irony  of  the  crown  of 
all  heroic  tales  —  the  '  Tale  of  Troy.'  The  poet,  there- 
fore, puts  in  the  strongest  light  the  contemptible  nature 
of  the  origin  of  the  war,  and  the  discord  and  folly  that 
marked  its  progress.  In  short,  it  is  an  heroic  comedy, 
parodying  every  thing  in  the  subject  sacred  from  tradi- 
tional fame  or  the  pomp  of  poetry." 


22  Troilus  and   Cressida 

Knight  coincides  with  this  notion  of  ''  the  grave  irony 
of  Troilus  and  Ci'essiday  His  philosophical  theory  of 
the  play  is  that  of  the  German  Ulrici,  that  "  the  whole 
tendency  of  the  play — its  incidents,  its  characteriza- 
tion—  is  to  lower  what  the  Germans  call  herodom. 
Ulrici  maintains  that  '  the  far-sighted  Shakespeare  cer- 
tainly did  not  mistake  as  to  the  beneficial  effect  which 
a  nearer  intimacy  with  the  high  culture  of  antiquity  had 
produced,  and  would  produce,  upon  the  Christian  Euro- 
pean mind.  But  he  saw  the  danger  of  an  indiscriminate 
admiration  of  this  classical  antiquity  ;  for  he  who  thus 
accepted  it  must  necessarily  fall  to  the  very  lowest 
station  in  religion  and  morality ;  as,  indeed,  if  we 
closely  observe  the  character  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
we  see  has  happened.  Out  of  this  prophetic  spirit, 
which  penetrated  with  equal  clearness  through  the 
darkness  of  coming  centuries  and  the  clouds  of  a  far- 
distant  past,  Shakespeare  wrote  this  deeply  significant 
satire  upon  the  Homeric  herodom.  He  had  no  desire 
to  debase  the  elevated,  to  deteriorate  or  make  little  the 
great,  and  still  less  to  attack  the  poetical  worth  of 
Homer,  or  of  heroic  poetry  in  general.  But  he  wished 
to  warn  thoroughly  against  the  over-valuation  and  idola- 
try of  them,  to  which  man  so  willingly  abandons  him- 
self ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  bring  strikingly  to  view 
the  truth  that  every  thing  merely  human,  even  when  it 
is  glorified  with  the  nimbus  of  a  poetic  ideality  and  a 
mythical  past,  yet,  seen  in  the  bird's-eye  perspective  of 
a  pure  moral  ideality,  appears  very  small.'  " 


Introduction  23 

Dowden  asks  :  "  With  what  intention,  and  in  what 
spirit,  did  Shakspere  write  this  strange  comedy  ?  All 
the  Greek  heroes  who  fought  against  Troy  are  pitilessly 
exposed  to  ridicule  :  Helen  and  Cressida  are  light, 
sensual,  and  heartless,  for  whose  sake  it  seems  infatu- 
ated folly  to  strike  a  blow  ;  Troilus  is  an  enthusiastic 
young  fool ;  and  even  Hector,  though  valiant  and 
generous,  spends  his  life  in  a  cause  which  he  knows  to 
be  unprofitable,  if  not  evil.  All  this  is  seen  and  said 
by  Thersites,  whose  mind  is  made  up  of  the  scum  of 
the  foulness  of  human  life.  But  can  Shakspere's  view 
of  things  have  been  the  same  as  that  of  Thersites  ? 

"  The  central  theme,  the  young  love  and  faith  of 
Troilus  given  to  one  who  was  false  and  fickle,  and  his 
discovery  of  his  error,  lends  its  colour  to  the  whole 
play.  It  is  the  comedy  of  disillusion.  And  as  Troilus 
passed  through  the  illusion  of  his  first  love  for  woman, 
so  by  middle  life  the  world  itself  often  appears  like  one 
that  has  not  kept  her  promises,  and  who  is  a  poor 
deceiver.  We  come  to  see  the  seamy  side  of  life ;  and 
from  this  mood  of  disillusion  it  is  a  deliverance  to  pass 
on  even  to  a  dark  and  tragic  view  of  life,  to  Which 
beauty  and  virtue  reappear,  even  though  human  weak- 
ness or  human  vice  may  do  them  bitter  wrong.  Now  such 
a  mood  of  contemptuous  depreciation  of  life  may  have 
come  over  Shakspere,  and  spoiled  him,  at  that  time,  for 
a  writer  of  comedy.  But  for  Isabella  we  should  find 
the  coming-on  of  this  mood  in  Measure  for  Measure ; 
there  is  perhaps  a  touch  of  it  in  Hamlet.     At  this  time 


24  Troilus  and  Cressida 

Troilus  and  Cressida  may  have  been  written,  and  then 
Shakspere,  rousing  himself  to  a  deeper  inquest  into 
things,  may  have  passed  on  to  his  great  series  of 
tragedies." 

Furnivall  remarks  :  "  This  is  the  most  difficult  of  all 
Shakspere's  plays  to  deal  with,  as  well  for  date  as 
position.  We  only  know  that  it  was  published  in  1609 
with  a  preface  by  another  man,  and  evidently  without 
Shakspere's  consent,  as  his  Sonnets  of  the  same  date 
also  were.  This  fact  seems  to  point  to  Shakspere's 
having  left  London,  possibly  in  disgust  at  some  neglect 
of  him  by  his  patrons  or  the  public,  at  which  he  has 
been  thought  to  hint  in  Achilles's  complaints.  Yet 
Shakspere  had  just  produced  his  greatest  tragedies,  and 
no  one  could  then  have  been  his  rival.  The  play  is 
evidently  written  in  ill-humour  with  mankind ;  it  is  a 
bitter  satire.  Its  purpose  is  not  to  show  virtue  her  own 
feature,  but  contemptible  weakness,  paltry  vanity,  false- 
hood (like  scorn),  their  own  image." 

However  we  may  interpret  the  play,  it  seems  to  me 
that  it  belongs  to  that  period  in  the  poet's  career  which 
marks  the  transition  from  the  "  golden  prime  of  com- 
edy," as  it  has  been  aptly  designated — the  period  of 
As  You  Like  It,  Much  Ado,  and  Twelfth  Night —  to  that 
of  the  great  tragedies.  It  is  one  of  a  group  of  plays 
that  are  in  marked  contrast  to  those  of  the  preceding 
period.  They  are  comedies  only  in  name,  or  because 
they  do  not  have  a  tragical  ending.  They  are  AlPs 
Well,  Measure  for  Measure,  and  the  play  we  are  con- 


Introduction  25 

sidering — "one  earnest,  another  dark  and  severe,  the 
last  bitter  and  ironical  "  (Dowden). 

That  the  prevailing  tone  of  these  plays,  as  Hallam, 
Verplanck,  Dowden,  and  others  assume,  was  not  due 
merely  to  a  change  in  taste  or  an  inclination  to  try  a 
new  experiment  in  dramatic  composition,  but  was  con- 
nected in  some  way  with  Shakespeare's  personal  ex- 
periences, can  hardly  be  doubted ;  though  this  view  is 
vehemently  opposed  by  some  excellent  critics,  who 
insist  that  he  simply  wrote  what  theatrical  managers 
wanted,  whether  comedy  or  tragedy.  "  If  a  comedy 
was  called  for,"  they  ask,  "  would  he  have  declined  to 
furnish  it  on  the  ground  that  he  was  in  his  tragic 
period  ?  "  Probably  not ;  but  it  would  have  proved  to 
be  a  comedy  like  A/^s  Well  or  Measure  for  Measure 
rather  than  As  You  Like  It  or  Twelfth  Night. 

This  marked  change  in  the  poet's  mood  and  temper 
has  been  compared  to  "  the  passage  from  a  sunny 
charming  landscape  to  a  wild  mountain  district  whose 
highest  peaks  are  shrouded  in  thick  mist."  How  can 
we  account  for  it?  Shakespeare's  father  had  died  in 
1601.  The  episode  of  the  Sonnets  had  come  to  an  end, 
and  had  left  the  poet  a  sadder  and  wiser  man.  Per- 
haps, as  Ten  Brink  believes,  certain  events  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  time  give  us,  partially  at  least,  the  true 
explanation.  In  1601  London  was  disturbed  by  the 
conspiracy  and  rebellion  of  the  Earl  of  Essex.  The 
earl  evidently  took  a  deep  interest  in  Shakespeare's 
works,  and  the  dramatist  doubtless  followed  the  career 


i6  Troilus  and  Cressida 

of  the  earl  with  peculiar  interest  and  sympathy.  The 
Earl  of  Southampton,  Shakespeare's  friend  and  patron, 
who  was  involved  in  the  conspiracy,  escaped  the  doom 
of  death  which  befell  Essex  and  many  of  his  followers, 
but  he  was  kept  in  prison  while  Elizabeth  lived.  The 
play  of  Julius  Ccesar  was  written  at  about  this  time, 
but  probably  too  early  to  justify  the  opinion  of  certain 
critics  that  it  followed  close  upon  the  tragic  end  of 
Essex,  due,  like  that  of  Brutus,  to  a  fatal  con- 
spiracy. 

But,  whatever  the  cause  may  have  been,  Shakespeare 
at  this  period  "  ceased  to  care  for  tales  of  mirth  and 
love,"  and  was  led  "  to  sound  with  his  imagination  the 
depths  of  the  human  heart,  to  study  the  great  problem 
of  evil."  The  three  comedies  that  are  not  comedies 
have  therefore  been  called  "  problem  plays."  They 
involve  abnormal  conditions  of  thought  and  feeling, 
and  "  intricate  cases  of  conscience  which  demand  a 
solution  by  unprecedented  methods."  They  show  that 
the  author's  mind  is  tending  in  the  direction  of  tragedy, 
and  the  great  tragedies  follow  them. 

That  Troilus  and  Cressida  has  any  connection  what- 
ever with  the  so-called  "  War  of  the  Theatres  "  (for 
which  see  further  in  the  Appendix  to  my  Notes)  I  do 
not  believe.  Mr.  Fleay's  notion  that  the  play  is  nothing 
else  than  a  satire  on  rival  dramatists,  —  Hector  repre- 
senting Shakespeare,  Thersites  Dekker,  Ajax  Ben  Jon- 
son,  and  so  on,  —  seems  to  me  quite  absurd.  Mr. 
Verity  (in  the  "  Henry  Irving  "  edition)  is  nearer  right. 


Introduction  27 

I  think,   in    his    closing  comments    on  the  play.     He 
says  :  — 

"  Everyone  remembers  Edgar  Poe's  story  of  the  man 
who,  having  an  important  paper  to  conceal,  put  it  in  an 
old  vase  on  his  mantel-shelf,  arguing  that  no  one  would 
ever  look  in  so  obvious  a  place.  This  old-vase  idea 
is  not  inapplicable  sometimes  in  matters  of  criticism. 
Critics  in  their  efforts  to  find  out  a  recondite  interpreta- 
tion are  occasionally  apt  to  overlook  the  obvious  one ; 
they  forget  the  old  vase.  Perhaps  it  is  so  here.  The 
name  of  the  play  may  be  the  vase.  The  ordinary  mor- 
tal, seeing  the  title  of  the  play —  Troilus  and  Cressida 
—  would  expect  to  find  in  the  piece  a  love-story.  And 
is  it  anything  more  than  a  love-story  ?  a  love-story 
coloured  by  the  peculiar  phase  of  feeling  and  emotion 
through  which  the  poet  was  passing  at  the  time  of  its 
composition  ?  Romeo  and  Juliet  was  written  by  a  young 
man.  It  is  natural  for  youth  to  believe  strongly  in  the 
existence  of  such  things  as  loyalty  and  love  and  truth. 
Time  brings  disillusions.  The  poet  does  not  become  a 
cynic  and  cease  to  believe  in  good  ;  only  he  perceives 
that  there  is  evil  too  in  the  world,  fickleness  and  disloy- 
alty as  well  as  fidelity.  And  so,  as  a  dramatist  should, 
he  shows  the  other  side  of  the  shield.  Romeo  and  Juliet 
is  a  study  of  love  from  one  stand-point ;  Troilus  and 
Cressida  is  a  study  of  love  from  exactly  the  opposite 
^stand-point ;  et  voila  tout.^^ 


TROILUS    AND    CRESSIDA 


DRAMATIS  PERSONM 

Priam,  king  of  Troy. 

Hector,       1 

Troilus,        I 

Paris,  )■  his  sons. 

Deiphobus,  I 

Helenus,     j 

Margarelon,  a  bastard  son  of  Priam. 

^ENEAS,  f      rp  .  J 

Antenor,      ^^m^^^ov^^^x^^^xs. 

Calchas,  a  Trojan  priest,  taking  part  with  the  Greeks. 

Pandarus,  uncle  to  Cressida. 

Agamemnon,  the  Grecian  general. 

Menelaus,  his  brother 

Achilles.     ~! 

AjAX.  j 

Ulysses,       \  r^      ■ 

Nestor,        f  <^^^"^"  P"^'^^^' 

Diomedes,    ' 

Patroclus,  [i 

Thersites,  a  deformed  and  scurrilous  Grecian. 

Alexander,  servant  to  Cressida. 

Servant  to  Troilus. 

Servant  to  Paris. 

Servant  to  Diomedes. 

Helen,  wife  to  Menelaus. 
Andromache,  wife  to  Hector. 
Cassandra,  daughter  to  Priam,  a  prophetess. 
Cressida,  daughter  to  Calchas. 

Trojan  and  Greek  Soldiers,  and  Attendants. 

Scene:   Troy,  and  the  Grecian  camp  before  it. 


Ulysses  (from  ancient  gem) 


PROLOGUE 


In  Troy,  there  lies  the  scene.     From  isles  of  Greece 
The  princes  orgulous,  their  high  blood  chaf'd, 
Have  to  the  port  of  Athens  sent  their  ships, 
Fraught  with  the  ministers  and  instruments 
Of  cruel  war.     Sixty  and  nine,  that  wore 
Their  crownets  regal,  from  the  Athenian  bay 
Put  forth  toward  Phrygia  ;  and  their  vow  is  made 
To  ransack  Troy,  within  whose  strong  immures 
The  ravish'd  Helen,  Menelaus'  queen, 
With  wanton  Paris  sleeps  ;  and  that 's  the  quarrel. 
To  Tenedos  they  come  ; 

And  the  deep-drawing  barks  do  there  disgorge 
Their  warlike  fraughtage.     Now  on  Dardan  plains 
The  fresh  and  yet  unbruised  Greeks  do  pitch 
Their  brave  pavilions  ;  Priam's  six-gated  city, 
Dardan,  and  Tymbria,  Helias,  Chetas,  Troien, 
And  Antenorides,  with  massy  staples 

31 


32  Troilus  and  Cressida 

And  corresponsive  and  fulfilling  bolts, 

Sperr  up  the  sons  of  Troy. 

Now  expectation,  tickling  skittish  spirits,  20 

On  one  and  other  side,  Trojan  and  Greek, 

Sets  all  on  hazard  ;  and  hither  am  I  come 

A  prologue  arm'd,  but  not  in  confidence 

Of  author's  pen  or  actor's  voice,  but  suited 

In  like  conditions  as  our  argument. 

To  tell  you,  fair  beholders,  that  our  play 

Leaps  o'er  the  vaunt  and  firstlings  of  those  broils. 

Beginning  in  the  middle,  starting  thence  away 

To  what  may  be  digested  in  a  play. 

Like  or  find  fault,  do  as  your  pleasures  are ;  30 

Now  good  or  bad,  't  is  but  the  chance  of  war. 


Before  Agamemnon's  Tent  (Scene  3) 


ACT   I 

Scene  I.     Troy.     Be/ore  Priam^s  Palace 
Enter  Troilus,  armed,  and  Pandarus 

Troilus.   Call  here  my  varlet ;  I  '11  unarm  again. 
Why  should  I  war  without  the  walls  of  Troy 
That  find  such  cruel  battle  here  within  ? 
Each  Trojan  that  is  master  of  his  heart, 
Let  him  to  field  ;  Troilus,  alas  !  hath  none. 

Pandarus.   Will  this  gear  ne'er  be  mended  ? 
TROILUS  —  3  33 


34  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  i 

Troilus.    The  Greeks  are  strong,  and  skilful  to  their 
strength, 
Fierce  to  their  skill,  and  to  their  fierceness  valiant ; 
But  I  am  weaker  than  a  woman's  tear, 
Tamer  than  sleep,  fonder  than  ignorance,  lo 

Less  valiant  than  the  virgin  in  the  night, 
And  skilless  as  unpractis'd  infancy. 

Pandarus.  Well,  I  have  told  you  enough  of  this ; 
for  my  part,  I  '11  not  meddle  nor  make  no  further. 
He  that  will  have  a  cake  out  of  the  wheat  must  needs 
tarry  the  grinding. 

Troilus.    Have  I  not  tarried  ? 

Pandarus.  Ay,  the  grinding ;  but  you  must  tarry 
the  bolting. 

T^'oilus.    Have  I  not  tarried  ?  20 

Pandarus.  Ay,  the  bolting ;  but  you  must  tarry 
the  leavening. 

Troilus.    Still  have  I  tarried. 

Pandarus.  Ay,  to  the  leavening ;  but  here  's  yet 
in  the  word  '  hereafter  '  the  kneading,  the  making  of 
the  cake,  the  heating  of  the  oven,  and  the  baking ; 
nay,  you  must  stay  the  cooling  too,  or  you  may 
chance  to  burn  your  lips. 

Troilus.    Patience  herself,  what  goddess  e'er  she  be, 
Doth  lesser  blench  at  sufferance  than  I  do.  30 

At  Priam's  royal  table  do  I  sit ; 
And  when  fair  Cressid  comes  into  my  thoughts,  — 
So,    traitor  !  —  When    she     comes  !  —  When    is    she 
thence  ? 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and  Cressida  35 

Pajidarus.  Well,  she  looked  yesternight  fairer  than 
ever  I  saw  her  look,  or  any  woman  else. 

Troilus.    I  was  about  to  tell  thee.  —  When  my  heart, 
As  wedged  with  a  sigh,  would  rive  in  twain, 
Lest  Hector  or  my  father  should  perceive  me, 
I  have,  as  when  the  sun  doth  light  a  storm. 
Buried  this  sigh  in  wrinkle  of  a  smile  ;  40 

But  sorrow  that  is  couch 'd  in  seeming  gladness 
Is  like  that  mirth  fate  turns  to  sudden  sadness. 

Pandarus.  An  her  hair  were  not  somewhat  darker 
than  Helen's  —  well,  go  to  —  there  were  no  more  com- 
parison between  the  women.  But,  for  my  part,  she 
is  my  kinswoman  ;  I  would  not,  as  they  term  it,  praise 
her,  —  but  I  would  somebody  had  heard  her  talk  yes- 
terday, as  I  did.  I  will  not  dispraise  your  sister  Cas- 
sandra's wit,  but  — 

Troilus.    O  Pandarus  !     I  tell  thee,  Pandarus,  — 
When  I  do  tell  thee  there  my  hopes  lie  drown'd, 
Reply  not  in  how  many  fathoms  deep  52 

They  lie  indrench'd.     I  tell  thee  I  am  mad 
In  Cressid's  love  ;  thou  answer'st  '  she  is  fair,' 
Pour'st  in  the  open  ulcer  of  my  heart 
Her  eyes,  her  hair,  her  cheek,  her  gait,  her  voice, 
Handiest  in  thy  discourse,  O,  that  her  hand. 
In  whose  comparison  all  whites  are  ink, 
Writing  their  own  reproach,  to  whose  soft  seizure 
The  cygnet's  down  is  harsh  and  spirit  of  sense  60 

Hard  as  the  palm  of  ploughman.     This  thou  tell'st  me, 
As  true  thou  tell'st  me,  when  I  say  I  love  her ; 


^6  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  i 

But,  saying  thus,  instead  of  oil  and  balm. 

Thou  lay'st  in  every  gash  that  love  hath  given  me 

The  knife  that  made  it. 

Pandarus.    I  speak  no  more  than  truth. 

Troilus.    Thou  dost  not  speak  so  much. 

Pandarus.  Faith,  I  '11  not  meddle  in  't.  Let  her 
be  as  she  is :  if  she  be  fair,  't  is  the  better  for  her ; 
an  she  be  not,  she  has  the  mends  in  her  own 
hands.  71 

Troilus.   Good  Pandarus,  how  now,  Pandarus ! 

Pandarus.  I  have  had  my  labour  for  my  travail ; 
ill-thought  on  of  her  and  ill-thought  on  of  you ;  gone 
between  and  between,  but  small  thanks  for  my  labour. 

Troilus.  What,  art  thou  angry,  Pandarus  ?  what, 
wath  me? 

Patidarus.  Because  she  's  kin  to  me,  therefore 
she  's  not  so  fair  as  Helen ;  an  she  were  not  kin  to 
me,  she  would  be  as  fair  on  Friday  as  Helen  is  on 
Sunday.  But  what  care  I  ?  I  care  not  an  she  were 
a  blackamoor ;  't  is  all  one  to  me.  82 

Troilus.    Say  I  she  is  not  fair  ? 

Pandarus.  I  do  not  care  whether  you  do  or  no. 
She  's  a  fool  to  stay  behind  her  father.  Let  her  to 
the  Greeks ;  and  so  I  '11  tell  her  the  next  time  I  see 
her.  For  my  part,  I  '11  meddle  nor  make  no  more  i' 
the  matter. 

Troilus.    Pandarus,  — 

Pandai'us.    Not  I.  90 

Troilus.    Sweet  Pandarus,  — 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and  Cressida  37 

Pandarus.    Pray  you,  speak  no  more  to  me  ;  I  will 
leave  all  as  I  found  it,  and  there  an  end. 

*  [Exit  Pandarus.     An  alarum. 

Troilus.    Peace,    you    ungracious    clamours !    peace, 
rude  sounds ! 
Fools  on  both  sides  !     Helen  must  needs  be  fair 
When  with  your  blood  you  daily  paint  her  thus. 
I  cannot  fight  upon  this  argument ; 
It  is  too  starv'd  a  subject  for  my  sword. 
But  Pandarus,  —  O  gods,  how  do  you  plague  me ! 
I  cannot  come  to  Cressid  but  by  Pandar ;  100 

And  he  's  as  tetchy  to  be  woo'd  to  woo 
As  she  is  stubborn-chaste  against  all  suit.  — ■ 
Tell  me,  Apollo,  for  thy  Daphne's  love, 
What  Cressid  is,  what  Pandar,  and  what  w^e  ? 
Her  bed  is  India ;  there  she  lies,  a  pearl. 
Between  our  Ilium  and  where  she  resides. 
Let  it  be  call'd  the  wild  and  wandering  flood, 
Ourself  the  merchant,  and  this  sailing  Pandar 
Our  doubtful  hope,  our  convoy,  and  our  bark. 

Alarum.     Enter  ^neas 

^neas.    How  now,  Prince  Troilus !    wherefore  not 
afield  ?  no 

Troilus.    Because   not  there;   this   woman's   answer 
sorts, 
For  womanish  it  is  to  be  from  thence. 
What  news,  ^neas,  from  the  field  to-day  ?  ^ 

^neas.    That  Paris  is  returned  home  and  hurt. 


38  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  i 

Troilus.    By  whom,  ^neas  ? 

y^neas.  Troilus,  by  Menelaus. 

Troilus.   Let  Paris  bleed  :  't  is  but  a  scar  to  scorn  ; 
Paris  is  gor'd  with  Menelaus'  horn.  \^Alarum. 

y^neas.    Hark,  what  good  sport  is  out  of   tOAvn  to- 
day ! 
Troilus.    Better  at   home,  if  '  would    I    might '  were 
'  may.' 
But  to  the  sport  abroad  :  are  you  bound  thither  ?        120 
^neas.    In  all  swift  haste. 

Troilus.  Come,  go  we  then  together. 

\Exeunt. 

Scene  II.     The  Same.     A  Street 

Enter  Cressida  and  Alexander 

Cressida.    Who  were  those  went  by  ? 

Alexander.  Queen  Hecuba  and  Helen. 

Cressida.    And  whither  go  they  ? 

Alexander.  Up  to  the  eastern  tower. 

Whose  height  commands  as  subject  all  the  vale. 
To  see  the  battle.     Hector,  whose  patience 
Is  as  a  virtue  fix'd,  to-day  was  mov'd. 
He  chid  Andromache  and  struck  his  armourer, 
And,  like  as  there  were  husbandry  in  war, 
Before  the  sun  rose  he  was  harness 'd  light. 
And  to  the  field  goes  he ;  where  every  flower 
Did,  as  a  prophet,  weep  what  it  foresaw  10 

In  Hector's  wrath. 

Cressida.  What  was  his  cause  of  anger  ? 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  39 

Alexander.   The  noise  goes,  this  :  there  is  among  the 
Greeks 
A  lord  of  Trojan  blood,  nephew  to  Hector; 
They  call  him  Ajax. 

Cressida.  Good  ;  and  what  of  him  ? 

Alexander.    They  say  he  is  a  very  man  per  se, 
And  stands  alone. 

Ci^essida.  So  do  all  men,  unless  they  are  drunk, 
sick,  or  have  no  legs.  18 

Alexander.  This  man,  lady,  hath  robbed  many 
beasts  of  their  particular  additions  :  he  is  as  valiant 
as  the  lion,  churlish  as  the  bear,  slow  as  the  elephant ; 
a  man  into  whom  nature  hath  so  cro^vded  humours 
that  his  valour  is  crushed  into  folly,  his  folly  sauced 
with  discretion.  There  is  no  man  hath  a  virtue  that 
he  hath  not  a  glimpse  of,  nor  any  man  an  attaint  but 
he  carries  some  stain  of  it :  he  is  melancholy  without 
cause,  and  merry  against  the  hair  ;  he  hath  the  joints 
of  every  thing,  but  every  thing  so  out  of  joint  that  he 
is  a  gouty  Briareus,  many  hands  and  no  use,  or  pur- 
blind Argus,  all  eyes  and  no  sight.  30 

Cressida.  But  how  should  this  man  that  makes  me 
smile  make  Hector  angry  ? 

Alexander.  They  say  he  yesterday  coped  Hector 
in  the  battle  and  struck  him  down,  the  disdain  and 
shame  whereof  hath  ever  since  kept  Hector  fasting 
and  waking. 

Cressida.    Who  comes  here  ? 

Alexander.    Madam,  your  uncle  Pandarus, 


40  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  I 

Enter  Pandarus 

Cressida.    Hector  's  a  gallant  man. 

Alexander.    As  may  be  in  the  world,  lady.  40 

Pandarus.    What 's  that  ?  what 's  that  ? 

Cressida.   Good  morrow,  uncle  Pandarus. 

Pandarus.  Good  morrow,  cousin  Cressid  ;  what 
do  you  talk  of?  —  Good  morrow,  Alexander.  —  How 
do  you,  cousin  ?     When  were  you  at  Ilium  ? 

Cressida.   This  morning,  uncle. 

Pandarus.  What  were  you  talking  of  when  I  came  ? 
Was  Hector  armed  and  gone  ere  ye  came  to  Ilium  ? 
Helen  was  not  up,  was  she  ? 

Cressida.   Hector  was  gone,  but  Helen  was  not  up. 

Pandarus.    Even  so  ;  Hector  was  stirring  early.       51 

Cressida.  That  were  we  talking  of,  and  of  his  anger. 

Pandarus.    Was  he  angry  ? 

Cressida.    So  he  says  here. 

Pandarus.  True,  he  was  so  ;  I  know  the  cause  too. 
He  '11  lay  about  him  to-day,  I  can  tell  them  that ;  and 
there  's  Troilus  will  not  come  far  behind  him.  Let 
them  take  heed  of  Troilus,  I  can  tell  them  that  too. 

Cressida.    What,  is  he  angry  too  ? 

Pandarus.  Who,  Troilus  ?  Troilus  is  the  better 
man  of  the  two.  61 

Cressida.    O  Jupiter  !  there  's  no  comparison. 

Pandarus.  What,  not  between  Troilus  and  Hector  ? 
Do  you  know  a  man  if  you  see  him  ? 

Cressida.  Ay,  if  I  ever  sawhim  before  and  knew  him. 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  41 

Pandarus.    Well,  I  say  Troilus  is  Troilus. 

Cressida.  Then  you  say  as  I  say ;  for,  I  am  sure, 
he  is  not  Hector. 

Pandarus.  No,  nor  Hector  is  not  Troilus  in  some 
degrees.  70 

Cressida.    'T  is  just  to  each  of  them  ;  he  is  himself. 

Pandarus.  Himself !  Alas,  poor  Troilus  !  I  would 
he  were. 

Cressida.    So  he  is. 

Pandarus.  Condition,  I  had  gone  barefoot  to  India. 

Cressida.    He  is  not  Hector. 

Pandarus.  Himself  !  no,  he  's  not  himself  ;  would 
a'  were  himself !  —  Well,  the  gods  are  above  ;  time 
must  friend  or  end.  —  Well,  Troilus,  well;  I  would 
my  heart  were  in  her  body. — No,  Hector  is  not  a 
better  man  than  Troilus.  81 

Cressida.    Excuse  me, 

Pandarus.    He  is  elder. 

Cressida.    Pardon  me,  pardon  me, 

Pandarus.  Th'  other  's  not  come  to  't ;  you  shall 
tell  me  another  tale  when  th'  other  's  come  to  't. 
Hector  shall  not  have  his  wit  this  year, 

Cressida.    He  shall  not  need  it,  if  he  have  his  own. 

Pandarus.    Nor  his  qualities. 

Cressida.    No  matter.  90 

Pandarus.    Nor  his  beauty. 

Cressida.  'T  would  not  become  him ;  his  own  's 
better. 

Pandarus.    You  have  no  judgment,  niece ;  Helen 


42  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  i 

herself  swore  th'  other  day  that  Troilus,  for  a  brown 
favour  —  for  so  't  is,  I  must  confess,  —  not  brown 
neither, — 

Cressida.    No,  but  brown. 

Pandarus.  Faith,  to  say  truth,  brown  and  not 
brown.  loo 

Cressida.    To  say  the  truth,  true  and  not  true. 

Pandarus.  She  praised  his  complexion  above 
Paris. 

Cressida.    Why,  Paris  hath  colour  enough. 

Pandarus.    So  he  has. 

Cressida.  Then  Troilus  should  have  too  much. 
If  she  praised  him  above,  his  complexion  is  higher 
than  his ;  he  having  colour  enough,  and  the  other 
higher,  is  too  flaming  a  praise  for  a  good  complex- 
ion. I  had  as  lief  Helen's  golden  tongue  had  com- 
mended Troilus  for  a  copper  nose.  m 

Pandarus.  I  swear  to  you,  I  think  Helen  loves 
him  better  than  Paris. 

Cressida.    Then  she  's  a  merry  Greek  indeed. 

Pandarus.  Nay,  I  am  sure  she  does.  She  came 
to  him  th'  other  day  into  the  compassed  window,  — 
and,  you  know,  he  has  not  past  three  or  four  hairs 
on  his  chin, — 

Cressida.  Indeed,  a  tapster's  arithmetic  may  soon 
bring  his  particulars  therein  to  a  total.  120 

Pandarus.  Why,  he  is  very  young  ;  and  yet  will 
he,  within  three  pound,  lift  as  much  as  his  brother 
Hector. 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and   Cressida  ^3 

Cressida.  Is  he  so  young  a  man  and  so  old  a 
lifter  ? 

Pandarus.  But  to  prove  to  you  that  Helen  loves 
him,  —  she  came  and  puts  me  her  white  hand  to  his 
cloven  chin  — 

Cressida.    Juno  have  mercy  !  how  came  it  cloven  ? 

Pandarus.  Why,  you  know,  't  is  dimpled  ;  I  think 
his  smiling  becomes  him  better  than  any  man  in  all 
Phrygia.  132 

Cressida.    O,  he  smiles  valiantly  ! 

Pandarus.    Does  he  not  ? 

Cressida.    O  yes,  an  'twere  a  cloud  in  autumn! 

Pandarus.  Why,  go  to,  then  ;  but  to  prove  to  you 
that  Helen  loves  Troilus,  — 

Cressida.  Troilus  will  stand  to  the  proof,  if  you  '11 
prove  it  so. 

Pandarus.  Troilus  !  why,  he  esteems  her  no  more 
than  I  esteem  an  addle  &gg.  141 

Cressida.  If  you  love  an  addle  egg  as  well  as  you 
love  an  idle  head,  you  would  eat  chickens  i'  the  shell. 

Pandarus.  I  cannot  choose  but  laugh,  to  think 
how  she  tickled  his  chin  ;  indeed,  she  has  a  marvel- 
lous white  hand,  I  must  needs  confess,  — 

Cressida.    Without  the  rack. 

Pandarus.  And  she  takes  upon  her  to  spy  a  white 
hair  on  his  chin. 

Cressida.    Alas,  poor  chin  !  many  a  wart  is  richer. 

Pandarus.  But  there  was  such  laughing  !  Queen 
Hecuba  laughed  that  her  eyes  ran  o'er.  152 


44  Troiius  and  Cressida  [Act  i 

Cressida.    With  mill-stones. 

Pandarus.    And  Cassandra  laughed. 

Cressida.  But  there  was  more  temperate  fire  under 
the  pot  of  her  eyes ;  did  her  eyes  run  o'er  too  ? 

Pandarus.    And  Hector  laughed. 

Cressida.    At  what  was  all  this  laughing  ? 

Pandarus.  Marry,  at  the  white  hair  that  Helen 
spied  on  Troiius'  chin.  i6o 

Cressida.  An  't  had  been  a  green  hair,  I  should 
have  laughed  too. 

Pandarus.  They  laughed  not  so  much  at  the  hair 
as  at  his  pretty  answer. 

Cressida.    What  was  his  answer  ? 

Pandarus.  Quoth  she,  '  Here  's  but  two  and  fifty 
hairs  on  your  chin,  and  one  of  them  is  white.' 

Cressida.    This  is  her  question.  i68 

Pandarus,  That 's  true  ;  make  no  question  of  that. 
'  Two  and  fifty  hairs,'  quoth  he,  '  and  one  white  ; 
that  white  hair  is  my  father,  and  all  the  rest  are  his 
sons.'  'Jupiter! '  quoth  she,  'which  of  these  hairs 
is  Paris  my  husband?'  'The  forked  one,'  quoth 
he  ;  '  pluck  't  out,  and  give  it  him.'  But  there  was 
such  laughing  !  and  Helen  so  blushed,  and  Paris  so 
chafed,  and  all  the  rest  so  laughed,  that  it  passed. 

Cressida.  So  let  it  now ;  for  it  has  been  a  great 
while  going  by. 

Pa?idarus.  Well,  cousin,  I  told  you  a  thing  yester- 
day ;  think  on  't.  180 

Cressida.    So  I  do. 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  45 

Pandarus.  I  '11  be  sworn  't  is  true  ;  he  will  weep 
you  an  't  were  a  man  born  in  April. 

Cressida,  And  I  '11  spring  up  in  his  tears  an 
't  were  a  nettle  against  May.  \A  retreat  sounded. 

Pandarus.  Hark  !  they  are  coming  from  the  field. 
Shall  we  stand  up  here,  and  see  them  as  they  pass 
toward  Ilium  ?  good  niece,  do,  sweet  niece  Cressida. 

Cressida.    At  your  pleasure.  189 

Pandarus.  Here,  here,  here  's  an  excellent  place ; 
here  we  may  see  most  bravely.  I  '11  tell  you  them 
all  by  their  names  as  they  pass  by  ;  but  mark  Troilus 
above  the  rest. 

Cressida.    Speak  not  so  loud. 

^NEAS  passes 

Pandarus.  That 's  vEneas.  Is  not  that  a  brave 
man  ?  he  's  one  of  the  flowers  of  Troy,  I  can  tell  you ; 
but  mark  Troilus  ;  you  shall  see  anon. 

Antenor  passes 

Cressida.    Who  's  that  ?      .  198 

Pandarus.  That 's  Antenor.  He  has  a  shrewd 
wit,  I  can  tell  you ;  and  he  's  a  man  good  enough. 
He  's  one  o'  the  soundest  judgments  in  Troy,  whoso- 
ever, and  a  proper  man  of  person.  —  When  comes 
Troilus  ?  —  I  '11  show  you  Troilus  anon  ;  if  he  see  me, 
you  shall  see  him  nod  at  me. 

C?'essida.    Will  he  give  you  the  nod  .'* 

Pandarus.    You  shall  see. 


46  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  i 

Cressida.    If  he  do,  the  rich  shall  have  more. 
Hector  passes 

Pandarus.  That 's  Hector,  that,  that,  look  you, 
that ;  there  's  a  fellow  !  —  Go  thy  way.  Hector  !  — 
There  's  a  brave  man,  niece. —  O  brave  Hector!  — 
Look  how  he  looks !  there  's  a  countenance  !  is  't  not 
a  brave  man  ?  212 

Cressida.    O,  a  brave  man  ! 

Pandarus.  Is  a'  not  ?  it  does  a  man's  heart  good. 
Look  you  what  hacks  are  on  his  helmet !  look  you 
yonder,  do  you  see  ?  look  you  there  !  there  's  no  jest- 
ing ;  there  's  laying  on,  take  't  off  who  will,  as  they 
say  !  there  be  hacks  ! 

Cressida.    Be  those  with  swords  ?  219 

Pandarus.  Swords  !  any  thing,  he  cares  not ;  an 
the  devil  come  to  him,  it 's  all  one.  By  God's  lid,  it 
does  one's  heart  good !  Yonder  comes  Paris,  yon- 
der comes  Paris. 

Paris  passes 

Look  ye  yonder,  niece ;  is  't  not  a  gallant  man  too, 
is  't  not  ?  Why,  this  is  brave  now.  Who  said  he 
came  hurt  home  to-day  ?  he  's  not  hurt ;  why,  this 
will  do  Helen's  heart  good  now,  ha !  —  Would  I 
could  see  Troilus  now !  —  You  shall  see  Troilus 
anon.  229 

Helenus  passes 

Cressida.    Who  's  that  ? 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  47 

Pandarus.  That 's  Helenus.  —  I  marvel  where 
Troilus  is.  —  That 's  Helenus.  —  I  think  he  went  not 
forth  to-day.  —  That 's  Helenus. 

Cressida.    Can  Helenus  fight,  uncle  ? 

Pandarus.  Helenus  ?  no.  Yes,  he  '11  fight  indif- 
ferent well.  —  I  marvel  where  Troilus  is.  —  Hark  ! 
do  you  not  hear  the  people  cry  '  Troilus  '  ?  —  Helenus 
is  a  priest. 

Cressida.    What  sneaking  fellow  comes  yonder  ? 

Troilus  passes 

Pandarus.  Where  ?  yonder  ?  that 's  Deiphobus.  — 
'T  is  Troilus  !  there  's  a  man,  niece  !  Hem  !  Brave 
Troilus  !  the  prince  of  chivalry  !  242 

Cressida.    Peace,  for  shame,  peace  ! 

Pandarus.  Mark  him  ;  note  him.  O  brave  Troi- 
lus !  Look  well  upon  him,  niece ;  look  you  how  his 
sword  is  bloodied,  and  his  helm  more  hacked  than 
Hector's,  and  how  he  looks,  and  how  he  goes  !  O 
admirable  youth  !  he  ne'er  saw  three  and  twenty.  — 
Go  thy  way,  Troilus,  go  thy  way  !  —  Had  I  a  sister 
were  a  Grace,  or  a  daughter  a  goddess,  he  should 
take  his  choice.  O  admirable  man  !  Paris  ?  Paris 
is  dirt  to  him  ;  and,  I  warrant,  Helen,  to  change, 
would  give  an  eye  to  boot.  253 

Cressida.    Here  come  more. 

Forces  pass 
Pandarus.   Asses,   fools,  dolts !    chaff   and   bran, 


48  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  I 

chaff  and  bran  !  porridge  after  meat !  I  could  live 
and  die  i'  the  eyes  of  Troilus.  Ne'er  look,  ne'er 
look ;  the  eagles  are  gone  1  crows  and  daws,  crows 
and  daws !  I  had  rather  be  such  a  man  as  Troilus 
than  Agamemnon  and  all  Greece.  260 

Cressida.  There  is  among  the  Greeks  Achilles,  a 
better  man  than  Troilus. 

Pandarus.  Achilles  !  a  drayman,  a  porter,  a  very 
camel. 

Cressida.    Well,  well. 

Pandarus.  Well,  well !  Why,  have  you  any  dis- 
cretion ?  have  you  any  eyes  ?  do  you  know  what  a 
man  is  ?  Is  not  birth,  beauty,  good  shape,  discourse, 
manhood,  learning,  gentleness,  virtue,  youth,  liber- 
ality, and  such  like,  the  spice  and  salt  that  season  a 
man  ?  271 

Cressida.  Ay,  a  minced  man ;  and  then  to  be 
baked  with  no  date  in  the  pie,  for  then  the  man's 
date  's  out. 

Pandarus.  You  are  such  another  woman !  one 
knows  not  at  what  ward  you  lie. 

Cressida.  Upon  my  back,  to  defend  my  belly; 
upon  my  wit,  to  defend  my  wiles  ;  upon  my  secrecy, 
to  defend  mine  honesty ;  my  mask,  to  defend  my 
beauty ;  and  you,  to  defend  all  these ;  and  at  all 
these  wards  I  lie,  at  a  thousand  watches.  281 

Pandarus.    Say  one  of  your  watches. 

Cressida.  Nay,  I  '11  watch  you  for  that ;  and  that 's 
one  of  the  chiefest  of  them  too.     If  I  cannot  ward 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  49 

what  I  would  not  have  hit,  I  can  watch  you  for  tell- 
ing how  I  took  the  blow  ;  unless  it  swell  past  hiding, 
and  then  it 's  past  watching. 

Pandarus.    You  are  such  another  ! 

Enter  Troilus 's  Boy 

Boy.    Sir,  my  lord  would  instantly  speak  wdth  you. 

Pandarus.    Where  ?  290 

Boy.    At  your  own  house  ;  there  he  unarms  him. 

Pandarus.    Good  boy,  tell  him  I  come.  —    \Exit 
Boy'\    I  doubt  he  be  hurt.  —  Fare  ye  well,  good  niece. 

Cressida.    Adieu,  uncle. 

Pandarus.    I  '11  be  with  you,  niece,  by  and  by. 

Cressida.    To  bring,  uncle  ? 

Pandarus.    Ay,  a  token  from  Troilus. 

Cressida.    By  the  same  token,  you  are  a  bawd.  — 

\Exit  Pandarus. 
Words,  vows,  gifts,  tears,  and  love's  full  sacrifice, 
He  offers  in  another's  enterprise  ;  300 

But  more  in  Troilus  thousand-fold  I  see 
Than  in  the  glass  of  Bandar's  praise  may  be. 
Yet  hold  I  off.     Women  are  angels,  wooing ; 
Things  won  are  done,  joy's  soul  lies  in  the  doing. 
That  she  belov'd  knows  nought  that  knows  not  this,  ■ — 
Men  prize  the  thing  ungain'd  more  than  it  is ; 
That  she  was  never  yet  that  ever  knew 
Love  got  so  sweet  as  when  desire  did  sue. 
Therefore  this  maxim  out  of  love  I  teach,  — 
Achievement  is  command  ;  ungain'd,  beseech.  310 

TROILUS  —  4 


50  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  I 

Then  though  my  heart's  content  firm  love  doth  bear, 
Nothing  of  that  shall  from  mine  eyes  appear.     [^Exeunf. 

Scene  III.     The  Grecian  Camp.    Before  Agamemnon' s 

Tent 

Sennet.     Enter  Agamemnon,  Nestor,  Ulysses,  Mene- 
LAUS,  and  others 

Agamemnon.   Princes, 
What  grief  hath  set  the  jaundice  on  your  cheeks  ? 
The  ample  proposition  that  hope  makes 
In  all  designs  begun  on  earth  below 
Fails  in  the  promis'd  largeness ;  checks  and  disasters 
Grow  in  the  veins  of  actions  highest  rear'd. 
As  knots,  by  the  conflux  of  meeting  sap, 
Infect  the  sound  pine,  and  divert  his  grain 
Tortive  and  errant  from  his  course  of  growth. 
Nor,  princes,  is  it  matter  new  to  us  lo 

That  we  come  short  of  our  suppose  so  far 
That  after  seven  years'  siege  yet  Troy  walls  stand ; 
Sith  every  action  that  hath  gone  before. 
Whereof  we  have  record,  trial  did  draw 
Bias  and  thwart,  not  answering  the  aim 
And  that  unbodied  figure  of  the  thought 
That  gave  't  surmised  shape.     Why  then,  you  princes. 
Do  you  with  cheeks  abash 'd  behold  our  works. 
And  think  them  shames,  which  are  indeed  nought  else 
But  the  protractive  trials  of  great  Jove  20 

To  find  persistive  constancy  in  men  ? 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  51 

The  fineness  of  which  metal  is  not  found 

In  fortune's  love  ;  for  then  the  bold  and  coward, 

The  wise  and  fool,  the  artist  and  unread, 

The  hard  and  soft,  seem  all  affin'd  and  kin ; 

But,  in  the  wind  and  tempest  of  her  frown, 

Distinction,  with  a  broad  and  powerful  fan. 

Puffing  at  all,  winnows  the  light  away. 

And  what  hath  mass  or  matter  by  itself 

Lies  rich  in  virtue  and  unmingled.  30 

Nestor.    With  due  observance  of  thy  godlike  seat, 
Great  Agamemnon,  Nestor  shall  apply 
Thy  latest  words.     In  the  reproof  of  chance 
Lies  the  true  proof  of  men  ;   the  sea  being  smooth, 
How  many  shallow  bauble  boats  dare  sail 
Upon  her  patient  breast,  making  their  w^ay 
With  those  of  nobler  bulk ! 
But  let  the  ruffian  Boreas  once  enrage 
The  gentle  Thetis,  and  anon  behold 
The  strong-ribb'd  bark  through  liquid  mountains  cut, 
Bounding  between  the  two  moist  elements,  41 

Like  Perseus'  horse,  —  where  's  then  the  saucy  boat 
Whose  weak  untimber'd  sides  but  even  now 
Co-rivall'd  greatness  ?     Either  to  harbour  fled 
Or  made  a  toast  for  Neptune.     Even  so 
Doth  valour's  show  and  valour's  worth  divide 
In  storms  of  fortune,  for  in  her  ray  and  brightness 
The  herd  hath  more  annoyance  by  the  brize 
Than  by  the  tiger  ;  but  when  the  splitting  wind 
Makes  flexible  the  knees  of  knotted  oaks,  50 


52  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  i 

And   flies    fled    under   shade,   why,  then  the  thing  of 

courage 
As  rous'd  with  rage  with  rage  doth  sympathize, 
And  with  an  accent  tun'd  in  selfsame  key 
Rechides  to  chiding  fortune. 

Ulysses.  Agamemnon, 

Thou  great  commander,  nerve  and  bone  of  Greece, 
Heart  of  our  numbers,  soul  and  only  spirit. 
In  whom  the  tempers  and  the  minds  of  all 
Should  be  shut  up,  hear  what  Ulysses  speaks. 
Besides  the  applause  and  approbation 
The  which,  —  \To  Againemnoit]    most   mighty  for  thy 

place  and  sway,  —  60 

\^To  Nestor]  And  thou  most  reverend  for  thy  stretch'd- 

out  life,  — 
I  give  to  both  your  speeches,  which  were  such 
As  Agamemnon  and  the  hand  of  Greece 
Should  hold  up  high  in  brass,  and  such  again 
As  venerable  Nestor,  hatch'd  in  silver, 
Should  with  a  bond  of  air,  strong  as  the  axletree 
On  which  heaven  rides,  knit  all  the  Greekish  ears 
To  his  experienc'd  tongue,  — yet  let  it  please  both,  — 
Thou  great,  and  wise,  —  to  hear  Ulysses  speak. 

Agajneninoii.    Speak,  Prince  of  Ithaca  ;    and  be  't  of 

less  expect  7° 

That  matter  needless,  of  importless  burden, 
Divide  thy  lips,  than  we  are  confident, 
When  rank  Thersites  opes  his  mastic  jaws, 
We  shall  hear  music,  wit,  and  oracle. 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and   Cressida  53 

Ulysses.    Troy,  yet  upon  his  basis,  had  been  down, 
And  the  great  Hector's  sword  had  lack'd  a  master, 
But  for  these  instances. 
The  specialty  of  rule  hath  been  neglected ; 
And,  look,  how  many  Grecian  tents  do  stand 
Hollow  upon  this  plain,  so  many  hollow  factions.  80 

When  that  the  general  is  not  like  the  hive 
To  whom  the  foragers  shall  all  repair, 
What  honey  is  expected  ?     Degree  being  vizarded, 
The  unworthiest  shows  as  fairly  in  the  mask. 
The  heavens  themselves,  the  planets,  and  this  centre 
Observe  degree,  priority,  and  place, 
Insisture,  course,  proportion,  season,  form. 
Office,  and  custom,  in  all  line  of  order  ; 
And  therefore  is  the  glorious  planet  Sol 
In  noble  eminence  enthron'd  and  spher'd  90 

Amidst  the  other,  whose  medicinable  eye 
Corrects  the  ill  aspects  of  planets  evil, 
And  posts,  like  the  commandment  of  a  king. 
Sans  check  to  good  and  bad.     But  when  the  planets 
In  evil  mixture  to  disorder  wander. 
What  plagues  and  what  portents,  what  mutiny  ! 
What  raging  of  the  sea,  shaking  of  earth. 
Commotion  of  the  winds,  frights,  changes,  horrors. 
Divert  and  crack,  rend  and  deracinate 
The  unity  and  married  calm  of  states  100 

Quite  from  their  fixure  !     O,  when  degree  is  shak'd, 
Which  is  the  ladder  to  all  high  designs. 
Then  enterprise  is  sick  !     How  could  communities, 


54  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  I 

Degrees  in  schools,  and  brotherhoods  m  cities, 

Peaceful  commerce  from  dividable  shores, 

The  primogenity  and  due  of  birth, 

Prerogative  of  age,  crowns,  sceptres,  laurels, 

But  by  degree  stand  in  authentic  place  ? 

Take  but  degree  away,  untune  that  string. 

And,  hark,  what  discord  follows  !  each  thing  meets     no 

In  mere  oppugn ancy :  the  bounded  waters 

Should  lift  their  bosoms  higher  than  the  shores. 

And  make  a  sop  of  all  this  solid  globe  ; 

Strength  should  be  lord  of  imbecility, 

And  the  rude  son  should  strike  his  father  dead  ; 

Force  should  be  right ;  or  rather,  right  and  wrong. 

Between  whose  endless  jar  justice  resides. 

Should  lose  their  names,  and  so  should  justice  too. 

Then  every  thing  includes  itself  in  power, 

Power  into  will,  will  into  appetite  ;  120 

And  appetite,  an  universal  wolf. 

So  doubly  seconded  with  will  and  power. 

Must  make  perforce  an  universal  prey. 

And  last  eat  up  himself.     Great  Agamemnon, 

This  chaos,  when  degree  is  suffocate, 

Follows  the  choking. 

And  this  neglection  of  degree  it  is 

That  by  a  pace  goes  backward,  with  a  purpose 

It  hath  to  climb.     The  general 's  disdain 'd 

By  him  one  step  below,  he  by  the  next,  130 

That  next  by  him  beneath  :  so  every  step, 

Exampled  by  the  first  pace  that  is  sick 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  55 

Of  his  superior,  grows  to  an  envious  fever 

Of  pale  and  bloodless  emulation ; 

And  't  is  this  fever  that  keeps  Troy  on  foot, 

Not  her  own  sinews.     To  end  a  tale  of  length, 

Troy  in  our  weakness  stands,  not  in  her  strength. 

Nestor.    Most  wisely  hath  Ulysses  here  discover 'd 
The  fever  whereof  all  our  power  is  sick. 

Agamemnon.   The   nature    of    the    sickness     found, 
Ulysses,  140 

What  is  the  remedy  ? 

Ulysses.   The  great  Achilles,  whom  opinion  crowns 
The  sinew  and  the  forehand  of  our  host, 
Having  his  ear  full  of  his  airy  fame. 
Grows  dainty  of  his  worth,  and  in  his  tent 
Lies  mocking  our  designs.     With  him  Patroclus 
Upon  a  lazy  bed  the  livelong  day 
Breaks  scurril  jests, 

And  with  ridiculous  and  awkward  action  — 
Which,  slanderer,  he  imitation  calls  —  150 

He  pageants  us.     Sometime,  great  Agamemnon, 
Thy  topless  deputation  he  puts  on. 
And,  like  a  strutting  player,  whose  conceit 
Lies  in  his  hamstring,  and  doth  think  it  rich 
To  hear  the  wooden  dialogue  and  sound 
'Twixt  his  stretch'd  footing  and  the  scaffoldage,  — 
Such  to-be-pitied  and  o'er-wrested  seeming 
He  acts  thy  greatness  in  ;  and  when  he  speaks, 
'T  is  like  a  chime  a-mending,  with  terms  unsquar'd, 
Which,  from  the  tongue  of  roaring  Typhon  dropp'd, 


56  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  i 

Would  seem  hyperboles.     At  this  fusty  stuff  161 

The  large  Achilles,  on  his  press'd  bed  lolling, 

From  his  deep  chest  laughs  out  a  loud  applause, 

Cries  '  Excellent !  't  is  Agamemnon  just. 

Now  play  me  Nestor  ;  hem,  and  stroke  thy  beard, 

As  he  being  dress'd  to  some  oration.' 

That 's  done,  as  near  as  the  extremest  ends 

Of  parallels,  as  like  as  Vulcan  and  his  wife ; 

Yet  god  Achilles  still  cries  '  Excellent ! 

'T  is  Nestor  right.     Now  play  him  me,  Patroclus,       170 

Arming  to  answer  in  a  night  alarm.' 

And  then,  forsooth,  the  faint  defects  of  age 

Must  be  the  scene  of  mirth,  —  to  cough  and  spit, 

And,  with  a  palsy-fumbling  on  his  gorget. 

Shake  in  and  out  the  rivet,  —  and  at  this  sport 

Sir  Valour  dies,  cries  '  O,  enough,  Patroclus  ; 

Or  give  me  ribs  of  steel !     I  shall  split  all 

In  pleasure  of  my  spleen.'     And  in  this  fashion, 

All  our  abilities,  gifts,  natures,  shapes, 

Severals  and  generals  of  grace  exact,  180 

Achievements,  plots,  orders,  preventions, 

Excitements  to  the  field,  or  speech  for  truce, 

Success  or  loss,  what  is  or  is  not,  serves 

As  stuff  for  these  two  to  make  paradoxes. 

Nestor.    And  in  the  imitation  of  these  twain  — 
Who,  as  Ulysses  says,  opinion  crowns 
With  an  imperial  voice  —  many  are  infect. 
Ajax  is  grown  self-will'd,  and  bears  his  head 
In  such  a  rein,  in  full  as  proud  a  place 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  57 

As  broad  Achilles,  keeps  his  tent  like  him,  190 

Makes  factious  feasts,  rails  on  our  state  of  war, 

Bold  as  an  oracle,  and  sets  Thersites  — 

A  slave  whose  gall  coins  slanders  like  a  mint  — 

To  match  us  in  comparisons  with  dirt, 

To  weaken  and  discredit  our  exposure, 

How  rank  soever  rounded  in  with  danger, 

Ulysses.   They  tax  our  policy,  and  call  it  cowardice, 
Count  wisdom  as  no  member  of  the  war. 
Forestall  prescience,  and  esteem  no  act 
But  that  of  hand  ;  the  still  and  mental  parts,  200 

That  do  contrive  how  many  hands  shall  strike 
When  fitness  calls  them  on,  and  know  by  measure 
Of  their  observant  toil  the  enemies'  weight, — 
Why,  this  hath  not  a  finger's  dignity. 
They  call  this  bed-work,  mappery,  closet-war ; 
So  that  the  ram  that  batters  down  the  wall, 
For  the  great  swing  and  rudeness  of  his  poise. 
They  place  before  his  hand  that  made  the  engine, 
Or  those  that  with  the  fineness  of  their  souls 
By  reason  guide  his  execution.  210 

Nestor.    Let  this  be  granted,  and  Achilles'  horse 
Makes  many  Thetis'  sons.  \A  tucket. 

Agafnemnon.    What  trumpet?  look,  Menelaus. 

Menelaus.    From  Troy. 

Enter  ^neas 

Agamemnon.    What  would  you  fore  our  tent  ? 
^neas.    Is  this  great  Agamemnon's  tent,  I  pray  you? 


58  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  i 

Agamemnon.    Even  this. 

JEneas.    May  one  that  is  a  herald  and  a  prince 
Do  a  fair  message  to  his  kingly  ears  ? 

Agamemnon.  With  surety  stronger  than  Achilles'  arm 
Fore  all  the  Greekish  heads,  which  with  one  voice  221 
Call  Agamemnon  head  and  general. 

^neas.    Fair  leave  and  large  security.     How  may 
A  stranger  to  those  most  imperial  looks 
Know  them  from  eyes  of  other  mortals  ? 

Agamemnon.  How ! 

^neas.    Ay ; 
I  ask,  that  I  might  waken  reverence, 
And  bid  the  cheek  be  ready  with  a  blush 
Modest  as  morning  when  she  coldly  eyes 
The  youthful  Phoebus.  230 

Which  is  that  god  in  office,  guiding  men  ? 
Which  is  the  high  and  mighty  Agamemnon  ? 

Agamemnon.    This  Trojan  scorns  us ;  or  the  men  of 
Troy 
Are  ceremonious  courtiers. 

y^neas.    Courtiers  as  free,  as  debonair,  unarm'd. 
As  bending  angels ;  that 's  their  fame  in  peace. 
But  when  they  would  seem  soldiers,  they  have  galls, 
Good  arms,   strong  joints,    true   swords ;    and,   Jove's 

accord, 
Nothing  so  full  of  heart.     But  peace,  ^neas  ! 
Peace,  Trojan  !  lay  thy  finger  on  thy  lips  !  240 

The  worthiness  of  praise  distains  his  worth, 
If  that  the  prais'd  himself  bring  the  praise  forth, 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  59 

But  what  the  repining  enemy  commends^ 
That  breath  fame  blows  ;  that  praise,  sole  pure,  tran- 
scends. 

Agame7nnon.    Sir,    you   of    Troy,    call    you    yourself 
apneas  ? 

^neas.    Ay,  Greek,  that  is  my  name. 

Agamemnon.    What 's  your  affair,  I  pray  you  ? 

^neas.    Sir,  pardon  ;  't  is  for  Agamemnon's  ears. 

Agamemnon.    He  hears  nought  privately  that  comes 
from  Troy. 

^neas.    Nor  I  from  Troy  come  not  to  whisper  him  ; 
I  bring  a  trumpet  to  awake  his  ear,  251 

To  set  his  sense  on  the  attentive  bent, 
And  then  to  speak. 

Agamejnnon.  Speak  frankly  as  the  wind. 

It  is  not  Agamemnon's  sleeping  hour  ; 
That  thou  shalt  know,  Trojan,  he  is  awake, 
He  tells  thee  so  himself. 

^neas.  Trumpet,  blow  loud, 

Send  thy  brass  voice  through  all  these  lazy  tents ; 
And  every  Greek  of  mettle,  let  him  know, 
What  Troy  means  fairly  shall  be  spoke  aloud.  — 

\_Trumpet  sounds. 
We  have,  great  Agamemnon,  here  in  Troy  260 

A  prince  called  Hector,  —  Priam  is  his  father,  — 
Who  in  this  dull  and  long-continued  truce 
Is  rusty  grown.     He  bade  me  take  a  trumpet, 
And  to  this  purpose  speak :  Kings,  princes,  lords ! 
If  there  be  one  among  the  fair'st  of  Greece 


6o  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  i 

That  holds  his  honour  higher  than  his  ease, 

That  seeks  his  praise  more  than  he  fears  his  peril, 

That  knows  his  valour,  and  knows  not  his  fear, 

That  loves  his  mistress  more  than  in  confession 

With  truant  vows  to  her  own  lips  he  loves,  270 

And  dare  avow^  her  beauty  and  her  worth 

In  other  arms  than  hers,  — to  him  this  challenge. 

Hector,  in  view  of  Trojans  and  of  Greeks, 

Shall  make  it  good,  or  do  his  best  to  do  it. 

He  hath  a  lady,  wiser,  fairer,  truer. 

Than  ever  Greek  did  compass  in  his  arms. 

And  will  to-morrow  with  his  trumpet  call 

Midway  between  your  tents  and  walls  of  Troy, 

To  rouse  a  Grecian  that  is  true  in  love. 

If  any  come.  Hector  shall  honour  him  ;  280 

If  none,  he  '11  say  in  Troy  when  he  retires. 

The  Grecian  dames  are  sunburnt  and  not  worth 

The  splinter  of  a  lance.     Even  so  much. 

Agamemnon.    This    shall   be   told   our    lovers.    Lord 
^neas. 
If  none  of  them  have  soul  in  such  a  kind, 
We  left  them  all  at  home  ;  but  we  are  soldiers, 
And  may  that  soldier  a  mere  recreant  prove 
That  means  not,  hath  not,  or  is  not  in  love ! 
If  then  one  is,  or  hath,  or  means  to  be, 
That  one  meets  Hector;  if  none  else,  I  am  he.  290 

Nestor.    Tell  him  of  Nestor,  one  that  was  a  man 
When  Hector's  grandsire  suck'd  ;  he  is  old  now. 
But  if  there  be  not  in  our  Grecian  host 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  6i 

One  noble  man  that  hath  one  spark  of  fire 

To  answer  for  his  love,  tell  him  from  nie 

I  '11  hide  my  silver  beard  in  a  gold  beaver, 

And  in  my  vantbrace  put  this  wither'd  brawn, 

And  meeting  him  will  tell  him  that  my  lady 

Was  fairer  than  his  grandam  and  as  chaste 

As  may  be  in  the  world.     His  youth  in  flood,  300 

I  '11  prove  this  truth  with  my  three  drops  of  blood. 

^neas.    Now  heavens  forbid  such  scarcity  of  youth ! 

Ulysses.    Amen. 

Agamemnon.    Fair  Lord  ^neas,  let  me  touch  your 
hand ; 
To  our  pavihon  shall  I  lead  you,  sir. 
Achilles  shall  have  word  of  this  intent ; 
So  shall  each  lord  of  Greece,  from  tent  to  tent. 
Yourself  shall  feast  with  us  before  you  go. 
And  find  the  welcome  of  a  noble  foe. 

[Exeunt  ail  but  Ulysses  and  Nestor. 

Ulysses.    Nestor !  310 

Nestor.   What  says  Ulysses  ? 

Ulysses.    I  have  a  young  conception  in  my  brain ; 
Be  you  my  time  to  bring  it  to  some  shape. 

Nestor.    What  is  't  ? 

Ulysses.    This  't  is  : 
Blunt  wedges  rive  hard  knots  ;  the  seeded  pride 
That  hath  to  this  maturity  blown  up 
In  rank  Achilles  must  or  now  be  cropp'd, 
Or,  shedding,  breed  a  nursery  of  like  evil, 
To  overbulk  us  all. 


62  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  i 

Nestor.  Well,  and  how  ?  320 

Ulysses,   This  challenge  that  the  gallant  Hector  sends, 
However  it  is  spread  in  general  name, 
Relates  in  purpose  only  to  Achilles. 

Nestor.    The  purpose  is  perspicuous  even  as  substance, 
Whose  grossness  little  characters  sum  up ; 
And,  in  the  publication,  make  no  strain 
But  that  Achilles,  were  his  brain  as  barren 
As  banks  of  Libya,  — though,  Apollo  knows, 
'T  is  dry  enough,  —  will,  with  great  speed  of  judgment. 
Ay,  with  celerity,  find  Hector's  purpose  330 

Pointing  on  him. 

Ulysses.    And  wake  him  to  the  answer,  think  you  ? 

Nestor.    Yes,  't  is    most  meet ;    whom  may  you  else 
oppose. 
That  can  from  Hector  bring  his  honour  off, 
If  not  Achilles  ?     Though  't  be  a  sportful  combat. 
Yet  in  the  trial  much  opinion  dwells. 
For  here  the  Trojans  taste  our  dear'st  repute 
With  their  fin'st  palate,  and  trust  to  me,  Ulysses, 
Our  imputation  shall  be  oddly  pois'd 
In  this  wild  action  ;  for  the  success,  340 

Although  particular,  shall  give  a  scantling 
Of  good  or  bad  unto  the  general. 
And  in  such  indexes,  although  small  pricks 
To  their  subsequent  volumes,  there  is  seen 
The  baby  figure  of  the  giant  mass 
Of  things  to  come  at  large.     It  is  suppos'd 
He  that  meets  Hector  issues  from  our  choice, 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and   Cressida  6^ 

And  choice,  being  mutual  act  of  all  our  souls, 

Makes  merit  her  election,  and  doth  boil. 

As  'twere  from  forth  us  all,  a  man  distill'd  350 

Out  of  our  virtues  ;  who  miscarrying, 

What  heart  receives  from  hence  the  conquering  part, 

To  steel  a  strong  opinion  to  themselves  ? 

Which  entertain 'd,  limbs  are  his  instruments, 

In  no  less  working  than  are  swords  and  bows 

Directive  by  the  limbs. 

Ulysses.    Give  pardon  to  my  speech : 
Therefore  't  is  meet  Achilles  meet  not  Hector. 
Let  us,  like  merchants,  show  our  foulest  wares, 
And  think,  perchance,  they  '11  sell ;  if  not,  360 

The  lustre  of  the  better  yet  to  show 
Shall  show  the  better.     Do  not  consent 
That  ever  Hector  and  Achilles  meet ; 
For  both  our  honour  and  our  shame  in  this 
Are  dogg'd  with  tvv^o  strange  followers. 

Nestor.    I  see  them  not  with  my  old  eyes ;  what  are 
they? 

Ulysses.    What  glory  our  Achilles  shares  from  Hector, 
Were  he  not  proud,  we  all  should  share  with  him ; 
But  he  already  is  too  insolent, 

And  we  were  better  parch  in  Afric  sun  370 

Than  in  the  pride  and  salt  scorn  of  his  eyes. 
Should  he  scape  Hector  fair.     If  he  were  foil'd. 
Why,  then  we  did  our  main  opinion  crush 
In  taint  of  our  best  man.     No,  make  a  lottery. 
And  by  device  let  blockish  Ajax  draw 


64  Troilus   and   Cressida  [Act  i 

The  sort  to  fight  with  Hector  ;  among  ourselves, 

Give  him  allowance  for  the  better  man, 

For  that  will  physic  the  great  Myrmidon 

Who  broils  in  loud  applause,  and  make  him  fall 

His  crest  that  prouder  than  blue  Iris  bends.  380 

If  the  dull  brainless  Ajax  come  safe  off, 

We  '11  dress  him  up  in  voices  ;  if  he  fail. 

Yet  go  we  under  our  opinion  still 

That  we  have  better  men.     But,  hit  or  miss, 

Our  project's  life  this  shape  of  sense  assumes : 

Ajax  employ'd  plucks  down  Achilles'  plumes. 

Nestor.    Ulysses, 
Now  I  begin  to  relish  thy  advice, 
And  I  will  give  a  taste  of  it  forthwith 
To  Agamemnon  ;  go  we  to  him  straight.  390 

Two  curs  shall  tame  each  other ;  pride  alone 
Must  tarre  the  mastiffs  on,  as  't  were  their  bone. 

\Exeunt, 


Enter  Cassandra  (Scene  2) 


ACT   II 

Scene  I.     A  Part  of  the  Grecian  Camp 
Enter  Ajax  and  Thersites 

Ajax.   Thersites  ! 

Thersites.    Agamemnon  —  how    if   he    had    boils? 
full,  all  over,  generally? 
Ajax.   Thersites ! 
TRoiLus  —  5  65 


66  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  il 

Thersites.  And  those  boils  did  rim  ?  say  so,  did  not 
the  general  run  then  ?  were  not  that  a  botchy  core  ? 

AJax.    Dog ! 

Thersites.  Then  would  come  some  matter  from 
him ;    I  see  none  now. 

AJax.  Thou  bitch-wolf's  son,  canst  thou  not  hear  ? 
\_Beatmg  him']  Feel,  then.  n 

Thei'sites.  The  plague  of  Greece  upon  thee,  thou 
mongrel  beef-witted  lord ! 

AJax.  Speak  then,  thou  vinewed'st  leaven,  speak  ! 
I  will  beat  thee  into  handsomeness. 

Thersites.  I  shall  sooner  rail  thee  into  wit  and 
holiness  ;  but  wl  think  thy  horse  will  sooner  con  an 
oration  than  thou  learn  a  prayer  without  book.  Thou 
canst  strike,  canst  thou  ?  a  red  murrain  o'  thy  jade's 
tricks !  20 

AJax.    Toadstool,  learn  me  the  proclamation. 

Thersites.  Dost  thou  think  I  have  no  sense,  thou 
strikest  me  thus  ? 

AJax.    The  proclamation ! 

Thersites.    Thou  art  proclaimed  a  fool,  I  think. 

AJax.    Do  not,  porpentine,  do  not !  my  fingers  itch. 

The?'sites.  I  would  thou  didst  itch  from  head  to 
foot  and  I  had  the  scratching  of  thee  ;  I  would  make 
thee  the  loathsomest  scab  in  Greece.  When  thou 
art  forth  in  the  incursions,  thou  strikest  as  slow  as 
another.  31 

AJax.    I  say,  the  proclamation  ! 

Thersites^   Thou  grumblest  and  railest  every  hour 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and   Cressida  67 

on  Achilles,  and  thou  art  as  full  of  envy  at  his  great- 
ness as  Cerberus  is  at  Proserpina's  beauty,  ay,  that 
thou  barkest  at  him. 

Ajax.    Mistress  Thersites  ! 

Thersites.    Thou  shouldst  strike  him. 

Ajax.    Cobloaf ! 

Thersites.  He  would  pun  thee  into  shivers  with  his 
fisL,  as  a  sailor  breaks  a  biscuit.  41 

Ajax.    ^Beating  hwi\  You  whoreson  cur  ! 

Thersites.    Do,  do. 

Ajax.    Thou  stool  for  a  witch  ! 

Thersites.  Ay,  do,  do ;  thou  sodden-witted  lord ! 
thou  hast  no  more  brain  than  I  have  in  mine  elbows  ; 
an  assinego  may  tutor  thee.  Thou  scurvy-valiant 
ass  !  thou  art  here  but  to  thrash  Trojans  ;  and  thou 
art  bought  and  sold  among  those  of  any  wit,  like  a 
barbarian  slave.  If  thou  use  to  beat  me,  I  will  begin 
at  thy  heel,  and  tell  what  thou  art  by  inches,  thou 
thing  of  no  bowels,  thou !  52 

Ajax.    You  dog ! 

Thersites.    You  scurvy  lord  ! 

Ajax.    \B eating  hivi\  You  cur  ! 

Thersites.  Mars  his  idiot !  do,  rudeness ;  do, 
camel,  do,  do ! 

Enter  Achilles  and  Patroclus 

Achilles.  Why,  how  now,  Ajax !  wherefore  do 
you  thus  ?  —  How  now,  Thersites  !  what'  s  the  mat- 
ter, man  ?  60 


68  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ii 

Ther sites.    You  see  him  there,  do  you  ? 

Achilles.    Ay  ;  what 's  the  matter  ? 

Thersites.    Nay,  look  upon  him. 

Achilles.    So  I  do  ;  what 's  the  matter  ? 

Thersites.    Nay,  but  regard  him  well. 

Achilles.    Well !  why,  I  do  so. 

Thersites.  But  yet  you  look  not  well  upon  him ; 
for,  whosoever  you  take  him  to  be,  he  is  Ajax. 

Achilles.    I  know  that,  fool. 

Thersites.    Ay,  but  that  fool  knows  not  himself.         70 

Ajax.    Therefore  I  beat  thee. 

Thersites.  Lo,  lo,  lo,  lo,  what  modicums  of  wit  he 
utters !  his  evasions  have  ears  thus  long.  I  have 
bobbed  his  brain  more  than  he  has  beat  my  bones  ; 
I  will  buy  nine  sparrows  for  a  penny,  and  his  pia 
mater  is  not  worth  the  ninth  part  of  a  sparrow. 
This  lord,  Achilles,  —  Ajax,  who  wears  his  wit  in  his 
belly  and  his  guts  in  his  head,  —  I  '11  tell  you  what  I 
say  of  him. 

Achilles.    What?  80 

Thersites.    I  say,  this  Ajax —     [Ajax  offers  to  beat  him. 

Achilles.    Nay,  good  Ajax. 

Thersites.    Has  not  so  much  wit  — 

Achilles.    Nay,  I  must  hold  you. 

Thersites.  As  will  stop  the  eye  of  Helen's  needle, 
for  whom  he  comes  to  fight. 

Achilles.    Peace,  fool ! 

Thersites.  I  would  have  peace  and  quietness,  but 
the  fool  will  not,  —  he  there,  that  he,  look  you  there. 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and  Cressida  69 

Ajax.    O  thou  damned  cur !    I  shall  —  90 

Achilles.    Will  you  set  your  wit  to  a  fool's  ? 

Thersites.  No,  I  warrant  you ;  for  a  fool's  will 
shame  it. 

Patroclus.    Good  words,  Thersites. 

Achilles.    What 's  the  quarrel  ? 

Ajax.  I  bade  the  vile  owl  go  learn  me  the  tenor 
of  the  proclamation,  and  he  rails  upon  me. 

Thersites.    I  serve  thee  not. 

Ajax.   Well,  go  to,  go  to. 

Thersites.    I  serve  here  voluntary.  100 

Achilles.  Your  last  service  was  sufferance,  'twas 
not  voluntary ;  no  man  is  beaten  voluntary.  Ajax 
was  here  the  voluntary,  and  you  as  under  an  im- 
press. 

Thersites.  E'en  so ;  a  great  deal  of  your  wit,  too, 
lies  in  your  sinews,  or  else  there  be  liars.  Hector 
shall  have  a  great  catch  if  he  knock  out  either  of 
your  brains  ;  a'  were  as  good  crack  a  fusty  nut  with 
no  kernel. 

Achilles.    W^hat,  with  me  too,  Thersites  ?  iio 

Thersites.  There  's  Ulysses  and  old  Nestor,  whose 
wit  was  mouldy  ere  your  grandsires  had  nails  on 
their  toes,  yoke  you  like  draught-oxen  and  make  you 
plough  up  the  wars. 

Achilles.    What,  what? 

Thersites.  Yes,  good  sooth  !  to,  Achilles  !  —  to, 
Ajax  !  to  ! 

Ajax.    I  shall  cut  out  your  tongue. 


yo  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  il 

Thersites.  'T  is  no  matter  ;  I  shall  speak  as  much 
as  thou  afterwards.  120 

Patroclus.    No  more  words,  Thersites  ;  peace  ! 

Thersites.  I  will  hold  my  peace  when  Achilles' 
brach  bids  me,  shall  I  ? 

Achilles.    There  's  for  you,  Patroclus. 

Thersites.  I  will  see  you  hanged,  like  clotpolls, 
ere  I  come  any  more  to  your  tents ;  I  will  keep 
where  there  is  wit  stirring,  and  leave  the  faction  of 
fools.  \Exit. 

Patroclus.    A  good  riddance. 

Achilles.    Marry,  this,  sir,  is    proclaim 'd  through  all 
our  host :  130 

That  Hector,  by  the  fifth  hour  of  the  sun. 
Will  with  a  trumpet   'twixt  our  tents  and  Troy 
To-morrow  morning  call  some  knight  to  arms 
That  hath  a  stomach  ;  and  such  a  one  that  dare 
Maintain  —  I  know  not  what ;  't  is  trash.     Farewell. 

Ajax.    Farewell.     Who  shall  answer  him  ? 

Achilles.    I  know  not.     'T  is  put  to  lottery  ;  otherwise 
He  knew^  his  man. 

Ajax.    O,  meaning  you.     I  will  go  learn  more  of  it. 

\Exeunt. 

Scene  II.     Troy.    A  Room  in  Priam'' s  Palace 

Enter  Priam,  Hector,  Troilus,  Paris,  and  Helenus 

Priam.    After  so  many  hours,  lives,  speeches  spent, 
Thus  once  again  says  Nestor  from  the  Greeks : 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  71 

'  Deliver  Helen,  and  all  damage  else  — 

As  honour,  loss  of  time,  travail,  expense. 

Wounds,  friends,  and  what  else  dear  that  is  consum'd 

In  hot  digestion  of  this  cormorant  war — 

Shall  be  struck  off.'  —  Hector,  what  say  you  to  't  ? 

Hecto7'.    Though  no  man  lesser  fears  the  Greeks  than  I 
As  far  as  toucheth  my  particular, 

Yet,  dread  Priam,  10 

There  is  no  lady  of  more  softer  bowels. 
More  spongy  to  suck  in  the  sense  of  fear. 
More  ready  to  cry  out  '  Who  knows  what  follows  ? ' 
Than  Hector  is.     The  wound  of  peace  is  surety, 
Surety  secure  ;  but  modest  doubt  is  call'd 
The  beacon  of  the  wise,  the  tent  that  searches 
To  the  bottom  of  the  worst.     Let  Helen  go. 
Since  the  first  sword  was  drawn  about  this  question, 
Every  tithe  soul,  'mongst  many  thousand  dismes, 
Hath  been  as  dear  as  Helen, —  I  mean,  of  ours.  20 

If  we  have  lost  so  many  tenths  of  ours. 
To  guard  a  thing  not  ours,  nor  worth  to  us, 
Had  it  our  name,  the  value  of  one  ten. 
What  merit 's  in  that  reason  which  denies 
The  yielding  of  her  up  ? 

Troilus.  Fie,  fie,  my  brother  ! 

Weigh  you  the  worth  and  honour  of  a  king 
So  great  as  our  dread  father  in  a  scale 
Of  common  ounces  ?  will  you  with  counters  sum 
The  past-proportion  of  his  infinite. 
And  buckle  in  a  waist  most  fathomless  30 


72  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ii 

With  spans  and  inches  so  diminutive 

As  fears  and  reasons  ?  fie,  for  godly  shame  ! 

Helenus.    No  marvel,  though  you  bite  so   sharp  at 
reasons, 
You  are  so  empty  of  them.     Should  not  our  father 
Bear  the  great  sway  of  his  affairs  with  reasons, 
Because  your  speech  hath  none  that  tells  him  so  ? 

Ti^oilus.    You  are  for  dreams  and  slumbers,  brother 
priest ; 
You   fur   your   gloves    with   reason.       Here    are   your 

reasons : 
You  know  an  enemy  intends  you  harm, 
You  know^  a  sword  employ'd  is  perilous,  '   40 

And  reason  flies  the  object  of  all  harm. 
Who  marvels  then,  when  Helenus  beholds 
A  Grecian  and  his  sword,  if  he  do  set 
The  very  wings  of  reason  to  his  heels. 
And  fly  like  chidden  Mercury  from  Jove, 
Or  like  a  star  disorb'd  ?  —  Nay,  if  we  talk  of  reason. 
Let 's  shut  our  gates  and  sleep.     Manhood  and  honour 
Should   have   hare    hearts,    would   they  but  fat   their 

thoughts 
With  this  cramm'd  reason  ;  reason  and  respect 
Make  livers  pale  and  lustihood  deject.  50 

Hector.    Brother,  she  is  not  worth  what  she  doth  cost 
The  holding. 

T7'oilus.  What  is  aught  but  as  't  is  valued  ? 

Hector.    But  value  dwells  not  in  particular  will ; 
It  holds  his  estimate  and  dignity 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  73 

As  well  wherein  't  is  precious  of  itself 

As  in  the  prizer.     'T  is  mad  idolatry 

To  make  the  service  greater  than  the  god ; 

And  the  will  dotes  that  is  attributive 

To  what  infectiously  itself  affects, 

Without  some  image  of  the  affected  merit.  60 

Troilus.    I  take  to-day  a  wife,  and  my  election 
Is  led  on  in  the  conduct  of  my  will ; 
My  will  enkindled  by  mine  eyes  and  ears. 
Two  traded  pilots  'twixt  the  dangerous  shores 
Of  will  and  judgment.     How  may  I  avoid, 
Although  my  will  distaste  what  it  elected, 
The  wife  I  chose  ?  there  can  be  no  evasion 
To  blench  from  this,  and  to  stand  firm  by  honour. 
We  turn  not  back  the  silks  upon  the  merchant 
When  we  have  soil'd  them,  nor  the  remainder  viands 
We  do  not  throw  in  unrespective  sieve  71 

Because  we  now  are  full.     It  was  thought  meet 
Paris  should  do  some  vengeance  on  the  Greeks. 
Your  breath  of  full  consent  bellied  his  sails  ; 
The  seas  and  winds,  old  wranglers,  took  a  truce 
And  did  him  service  ;  he  touch 'd  the  ports  desir'd, 
And  for  an  old  aunt  whom  the  Greeks  held  captive 
He  brought  a  Grecian  queen,  whose  youth  and  fresh- 
ness 
Wrinkles  Apollo's,  and  makes  stale  the  morning. 
Why  keep  we  her  ?  the  Grecians  keep  our  aunt.  80 

Is  she  worth  keeping  ?  why,  she  is  a  pearl. 
Whose  price  hath  launch 'd  above  a  thousand  ships 


74  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ii 

And  turn'd  crown'd  kings  to  merchants. 

If  you  '11  avouch  't  was  wisdom  Paris  went  — 

As  you  must  needs,  for  you  all  cried  '  Go,  go,'  — 

If  you  '11  confess  he  brought  home  noble  prize  — 

As  you  must  needs,  for  you  all  clapp'd  your  hands 

And  cried  '  inestimable  ! '  —  why  do  you  now 

The  issue  of  your  proper  wisdoms  rate, 

And  do  a  deed  that  fortune  never  did,  —  90 

Beggar  the  estimation  which  you  priz'd 

Richer  than  sea  and  land  ?     O,  theft  most  base. 

That  we  have  stolen  what  we  do  fear  to  keep  1 

But,  thieves,  unworthy  of  a  thing  so  stolen, 

That  in  their  country  did  them  that  disgrace 

We  fear  to  warrant  in  our  native  place ! 

Cassandra.  [  Withiii^    Cry,  Trojans,  cry  ! 

Priaj7i.  What  noise  ?  what  shriek  is  this  ? 

Troilus.    'T  is  our  mad  sister,  I  do  know  her  voice. 

Cassandra.  [  Within'\  Cry,  Trojans  ! 

Hector.    It  is  Cassandra.  100 

Enter  Cassandra,  raving 

Cassandra.    Cry,  Trojans,  cry !    lend    me  ten  thou- 
sand eyes. 
And  I  will  fill  them  with  prophetic  tears. 
Hector.    Peace,  sister,  peace  ! 

Cassandra.   Virgins  and  boys,  mid-age  and  wrinkled 
eld. 
Soft  infancy,  that  nothing  canst  but  cry. 
Add  to  my  clamours !  let  us  pay  betimes 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  75 

A  moiety  of  that  mass  of  moan  to  come. 

Cry,  Trojans,  cry !  practise  your  eyes  with  tears ! 

Troy  must  not  be,  nor  goodly  I  lion  stand  ; 

Our  firebrand  brother,  Paris,  burns  us  all.  no 

Cry,  Trojans,  cry  !  a  Helen  and  a  woe  ! 

Cry,  cry  !     Troy  burns,  or  else  let  Helen  go.         \Exit. 

Hector,    Now,  youthful    Troilus,  do  not  these   high 
strains 
Of  divination  in  our  sister  work 
Some  touches  of  remorse  ?  or  is  your  blood 
So  madly  hot  that  no  discourse  of  reason. 
Nor  fear  of  bad  success  in  a  bad  cause, 
Can  qualify  the  same  ? 

Troilus.  Why,  brother  Hector, 

We  may  not  think  the  justness  of  each  act 
Such  and  no  other  than  event  doth  form  it,  120 

Nor  once  deject  the  courage  of  our  minds 
Because  Cassandra  's  mad ;  her  brain-sick  raptures 
Cannot  distaste  the  goodness  of  a  quarrel 
Which  hath  our  several  honours  all  engag'd 
To  make  it  gracious.     For  my  private  part, 
I  am  no  more  touch 'd  than  all  Priam's  sons  ; 
And  Jove  forbid  there  should  be  done  amongst  us 
Such  things  as  might  offend  the  weakest  spleen 
To  fight  for  and  maintain  ! 

Paris.    Else  might  the  world  convince  of  levity        130 
As  well  my  undertakings  as  your  counsels  ; 
But  I  attest  the  gods,  your  full  consent 
Gave  wings  to  my  propension  and  cut  off 


76  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  il 

All  fears  attending  on  so  dire  a  project. 

For  what,  alas,  can  these  my  single  arms  ? 

What  propugnation  is  in  one  man's  valour, 

To  stand  the  push  and  enmity  of  those 

This  quarrel  would  excite  ?     Yet,  I  protest, 

Were  I  alone  to  pass  the  difficulties. 

And  had  as  ample  power  as  I  have  will,  140 

Paris  should  ne'er  retract  what  he  hath  done 

Nor  faint  in  the  pursuit. 

Priam.  Paris,  you  speak 

Like  one  besotted  on  your  sweet  delights. 
You  have  the  honey  still,  but  these  the  gall ; 
So  to  be  valiant  is  no  praise  at  all. 

Paris.    Sir,  I  propose  not  merely  to  myself 
The  pleasures  such  a  beauty  brings  with  it ; 
But  I  would  have  the  soil  of  her  fair  rape 
Wip'd  off  in  honourable  keeping  her. 
What  treason  were  it  to  the  ransack'd  queen,  150 

Disgrace  to  your  great  w^orths  and  shame  to  me, 
Now  to  deliver  her  possession  up 
On  terms  of  base  compulsion  !     Can  it  be 
That  so  degenerate  a  strain  as  this 
Should  once  set  footing  in  your  generous  bosoms? 
There  's  not  the  meanest  spirit  on  our  party 
Without  a  heart  to  dare  or  sword  to  draw 
When  Helen  is  defended,  nor  none  so  noble 
Whose  life  were  ill  bestow'd  or  death  unfam'd 
Where  Helen  is  the  subject ;  then,  I  say,  160 

Well  may  we  fight  for  her  whom,  we  know  well, 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  77 

The  world's  large  spaces  cannot  parallel. 

Hector.    Paris  and  Troilus,  you  have  both  said  well, 
And  on  the  cause  and  question  now  in  hand 
Have  gloz'd,  but  superficially  ;  not  much 
Unlike  young  men,  whom  Aristotle  thought 
Unfit  to  hear  moral  philosophy. 
The  reasons  you  allege  do  more  conduce 
To  the  hot  passion  of  distemper'd  blood 
Than  to  make  up  a  free  determination  170 

'Twixt  right  and  wrong ;  for  pleasure  and  revenge 
Have  ears  more  deaf  than  adders  to  the  voice 
Of  any  true  decision.     Nature  craves 
All  dues  be  render'd  to  their  owners ;  now, 
What  nearer  debt  in  all  humanity 
Than  wife  is  to  the  husband  ?     If  this  law 
Of  nature  be  corrupted  through  affection, 
And  that  great  minds,  of  partial  indulgence 
To  their  benumbed  wills,  resist  the  same, 
There  is  a  law  in  each  well-order'd  nation  180 

To  curb  those  raging  appetites  that  are 
Most  disobedient  and  refractory. 
If  Helen  then  be  wife  to  Sparta's  king, 
As  it  is  known  she  is,  these  moral  laws 
Of  nature  and  of  nations  speak  aloud 
To  have  her  back  return 'd  ;  thus  to  persist 
In  doing  wrong  extenuates  not  wrong, 
But  makes  it  much  more  heavy.     Hector's  opinion 
Is  this  in  way  of  truth  ;  yet  ne'ertheless, 
My  spritely  brethren,  I  propend  to  you  190 


78  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  11 

In  resolution  to  keep  Helen  still, 

For  't  is  a  cause  that  hath  no  mean  dependence 

Upon  our  joint  and  several  dignities. 

Troilus.    Why,    there   you    touch 'd    the    life   of    our 
design. 
Were  it  not  glory  that  we  more  affected 
Than  the  performance  of  our  heaving  spleens, 
I  would  not  wish  a  drop  of  Trojan  blood 
Spent  more  in  her  defence.     But,  worthy  Hector, 
She  is  a  theme  of  honour  and  renown, 
A  spur  to  valiant  and  magnanimous  deeds,  200 

Whose  present  courage  may  beat  down  our  foes, 
And  fame  in  time  to  come  canonize  us  ; 
For,  I  presume,  brave  Hector  would  not  lose 
So  rich  advantage  of  a  promis'd  glory 
As  smiles  upon  the  forehead  of  this  action 
For  the  wide  world's  revenue. 

Hector.  I  am  yours, 

You  valiant  offspring  of  great  Priamus.  — 
I  have  a  roisting  challenge  sent  amongst 
The  dull  and  factious  nobles  of  the  Greeks 
Will  strike  amazement  to  their  drowsy  spirits.  210 

I  was  advertis'd  their  great  general  slept, 
Whilst  emulation  in  the  army  crept ; 
This,  I  presume,  will  wake  him.  [Exeunt. 


Scene  III]  .       Troilus  and  Cressida  79 

Scene  III.     The  Grecian  Camp.     Before  Achilles'  Tent 

Enter  Thersites,  solus 

Thersites.  How  now,  Thersites  !  what,  lost  in  the 
labyrinth  of  thy  fury !  Shall  the  elephant  Ajax  carry 
it  thus  ?  He  beats  me,  and  I  rail  at  him.  O,  worthy 
satisfaction !  would  it  were  otherwise ;  that  I  could 
beat  him,  whilst  he  railed  at  me.  'Sfoot,  I  '11  learn 
to  conjure  and  raise  devils  but  I  '11  see  some  issue 
of  my  spiteful  execrations.  Then -there  's  Achilles, 
a  rare  enginer  !  If  Troy  be  not  taken  till  these  two 
undermine  it,  the  walls  will  stand  till  they  fall  of 
themselves.  —  O  thou  great  thunder-darter  of  Olym- 
pus, forget  that  thou  art  Jove,  the  king  of  gods,  and, 
Mercury,  lose  all  the  serpentine  craft  of  thy  cadu- 
ceus,  if  ye  take  not  that  little,  little,  less  than  little 
wit  from  them  that  they  have !  which  short-armed 
ignorance  itself  knows  is  so  abundant  scarce  it  will 
not  in  circumvention  deliver  a  fly  from  a  spider, 
without  drawing  their  massy  irons  and  cutting  the 
web.  After  this,  the  vengeance  on  the  whole  camp ! 
or,  rather,  the  bone-ache !  for  that,  methinks,  is  the 
curse  dependent  on  those  that  war  for  a  placket.  I 
have  said  my  prayers,  and  devil  Envy  say  Amen !  — 
What  ho  !  my  Lord  Achilles  !  22 

Enter  Patroclus 

Patroclus.  Who  's  there  ?  Thersites  !  Good  Ther- 
sites, come  in  and  rail. 


8o  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  II 

Thersites.  If  I  could  have  remembered  a  gilt  coun- 
terfeit, thou  wouldst  not  have  slipped  out  of  my  con- 
templation, but  it  is  no  matter  ;  thyself  upon  thyself ! 
The  common  curse  of  mankind,  folly  and  ignorance, 
be  thine  in  great  revenue  !  heaven  bless  thee  from  a 
tutor,  and  discipline  come  not  near  thee !  Let  thy 
blood  be  thy  direction  till  thy  death !  then  if  she 
that  lays  thee  out  says  thou  art  a  fair  corse,  I  '11 
be  sworn  and  sworn  upon  't  she  never  shrouded 
any  but  lazars.     Amen.  —  Where  's  Achilles  ?  34 

Patroclus.  What,  art  thou  devout?  wast  thou  in 
prayer  ? 

Thersites.   Ay  ;  the  heavens  hear  me ! 

Enter  Achilles 

Achilles.   Who  's  there  ? 

Patroclus.    Thersites,  my  lord. 

Achilles.  Where,  where  ?  —  Art  thou  come  ?  why, 
my  cheese,  my  digestion,  why  hast  thou  not  served 
thyself  in  to  my  table  so  many  meals  ?  Come,  what 's 
Agamemnon  ? 

Thersites.  Thy  commander,  Achilles.  —  Then  tell 
me,  Patroclus,  what 's  Achilles  ? 

Patroclus.  Thy  lord,  Thersites.  Then  tell  me,  I 
pray  thee,  what 's  thyself  ? 

Thersites.  Thy  knower,  Patroclus.  Then  tell  me, 
Patroclus,  what  art  thou  ? 

Patroclus.    Thou  mayst  tell  that  knowest.  50 

Achilles.    O,  tell,  tell ! 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and   Cressida  8i 

Thersites.  I  '11  decline  the  whole  question.  Aga- 
memnon commands  Achilles  ;  Achilles  is  my  lord  ; 
I  am  Patroclus'  knower,  and  Patroclus  is  a  fool. 

Fatroclus.    You  rascal ! 

Thersites.    Peace,  fool !  I  have  not  done. 

Achilles.  He  is  a  privileged  man.  —  Proceed, 
Thersites. 

Thersites.  Agamemnon  is  a  fool ;  Achilles  is  a 
fool ;  Thersites  is  a  fool ;  and,  as  aforesaid,  Patro- 
clus is  a  fool.  6i 

Achilles.    Derive  this  ;  come. 

Thersites.  Agamemnon  is  a  fool  to  offer  to  com- 
mand Achilles  ;  Achilles  is  a  fool  to  be  commanded 
of  Agamemnon  ;  Thersites  is  a  fool  to  serve  such  a 
fool ;  and  Patroclus  is  a  fool  positive. 

Patroclus.    Why  am  I  a  fool  ? 

Thersites.  Make  that  demand  of  the  prover.  It 
suffices  me  thou  art.     Look  you,  who  comes  here  ?       69 

Achilles.  Patroclus,  I  '11  speak  with  nobody.  — 
Come  in  with  me,  Thersites.  \Exit. 

Thersites.  Here  is  such  patchery,  such  juggling, 
and  such  knavery  !  all  the  argument  is  a  cuckold  and 
a  whore ;  a  good  quarrel  to  draw  emulous  factions 
and  bleed  to  death  upon !  Now,  the  dry  serpigo  on 
the  subject !  and  war  and  lechery  confound  all !    \Exit. 

Enter  Agamemnon,  Ulysses,  Nestor,  Diomedes,  and 

AjAX 

Agamemnon.    Where  is  Achilles  ? 

TROILUS  —  6 


82  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  ii 

Patroclus.    Within    his    tent,    but    ill    dispos'd,    my 
lord.  78 

Agamemnon.    L.et  it  be  known  to  him  that  we  are  here. 
He  shent  our  messengers  ;  and  we  lay  by 
Our  appertainments,  visiting  of  him. 
Let  him  be  told  so,  lest  perchance  he  think 
We  dare  not  move  the  question  of  our  place, 
Or  know  not  what  we  are. 

Patroclus.  I  shall  say  so  to  him.     \Exit. 

Ulysses.   We  saw  him  at  the  opening  of  his  tent ; 
He  is  not  sick. 

Ajax.  Yes,  lion-sick,  sick  of  proud  heart.  You 
may  call  it  melancholy  if  you  will  favour  the  man, 
but,  by  my  head,  't  is  pride  ;  but  why,  why  ?  let  him 
show  us  the  cause.  —  A  word,  my  lord.  90 

yTakes  Agamemnon  aside. 

Nestor.    What  moves  Ajax  thus  to  bay  at  him  ? 

Ulysses.    Achilles  hath  inveigled  his  fool  from  him. 

Nestor.    Who,  Thersites  ? 

Ulysses.    He. 

Nestor.  Then  will  Ajax  lack  matter,  if  he  have 
lost  his  argument. 

Ulysses.  No,  you  see,  he  is  his  argument  that  has 
his  argument,  Achilles. 

Nestor.  All  the  better  ;  their  fraction  is  more  our 
wish  than  their  faction,  but  it  was  a  strong  com- 
posure a  fool  could  disunite.  loi 

Ulysses.  The  amity  that  wisdom  knits  not,  folly 
may  easily  untie.     Here  comes  Patroclus. 


Scene  iiij  Troilus  and   Cressida  83 

Re-enter  Patroclus 

Nestor.    No  Achilles  with  him. 

Ulysses.  The  elephant  hath  joints,  but  none  for 
courtesy ;  his  legs  are  legs  for  necessity,  not  for 
flexure.  107 

Patroclus.    Achilles  bids  me  say  he  is  much  sorry 
If  any  thing  more  than  your  sport  and  pleasure 
Did  move  your  greatness  and  this  noble  state 
To  call  upon  him  ;  he  hopes  it  is  no  other 
But  for  your  health  and  your  digestion  sake,  — 
An  after-dinner's  breath. 

Agamemnon.  Hear  you,  Patroclus  : 

We  are  too  well  acquainted  with  these  answers  ; 
But  his  evasion,  wing'd  thus  swift  with  scorn, 
Cannot  outfly  our  apprehensions. 
Much  attribute  he  hath,  and  much  the  reason 
Why  we  ascribe  it  to  him  ;  yet  all  his  virtues, 
Not  virtuously  on  his  own  part  beheld. 
Do  in  our  eyes  begin  to  lose  their  gloss,  120 

Yea,  like  fair  fruit  in  an  unwholesome  dish, 
Are  like  to  rot  untasted.     Go  and  tell  him 
We  come  to  speak  with  him  ;  and  you  shall  not  sin 
If  you  do  say  we  think  him  over-proud 
And  under-honest,  in  self-assumption  greater 
Than  in  the  note  of  judgment ;  and  worthier  than  him- 
self 
Here  tend  the  savage  strangeness  he  puts  on, 
Disguise  the  holy  strength  of  their  command, 


84  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  11 

And  underwrite  in  an  observing  kind 

His  humorous  predominance,  yea,  watch  130 

His  pettish  lunes,  his  ebbs,  his  flows,  as  if 

The  passage  and  whole  carriage  of  this  action 

Rode  on  his  tide.     Go  tell  him  this,  and  add 

That,  if  he  overbold  his  price  so  much. 

We  '11  none  of  him,  but  let  him,  like  an  engine 

Not  portable,  lie  under  this  report,  — 

'  Bring  action  hither,  this  cannot  go  to  war. 

A  stirring  dwarf  we  do  allowance  give 

Before  a  sleeping  giant.'     Tell  him  so.  139 

Patroclus.    I  shall,  and  bring  his  answer  presently. 

S^Exit. 

Agamemnon.    In  second  voice  we  '11  not  be  satisfied  ; 
We  come  to  speak  with  him.  —  Ulysses,  enter  you. 

\Exit  Ulysses. 

Ajax.    What  is  he  more  than  another  ? 

Agamemnon.    No  more  than  what  he  thinks  he  is. 

Ajax.  Is  he  so  much  ?  Do  you  not  think  he 
thinks  himself  a  better  man  than  I  am. 

Agamemnon.    No  question. 

Ajax.  Will  you  subscribe  his  thought,  and  say 
he  is  ?  149 

Agamemnon.  No,  noble  Ajax ;  you  are  as  strong, 
as  valiant,  as  wise,  no  less  noble,  much  more  gentle, 
and  altogether  more  tractable. 

Ajax.  Why  should  a  man  be  proud  ?  How  doth 
pride  grow  ?     I  know  not  what  pride  is. 

Agamemnon.    Your  mind  is  the  clearer,  Ajax,  and 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  85 

your  virtues  the  fairer.  He  that  is  proud  eats  up 
himself ;  pride  is  his  own  glass,  his  own  trumpet,  his 
own  chronicle,  and  whatever  praises  itself  but  in  the 
deed  devours  the  deed  in  the  praise.  159 

Ajax.  I  do  hate  a  proud  man  as  I  hate  the  engen- 
dering of  toads. 

Nestor.  [Aside]  Yet  he  loves  himself ;  is 't  not 
strange  ? 

Re-enter  Ulysses 

Ulysses.    Achilles  will  not  to  the  field  to-morrow. 

Agamemnon.    What 's  his  excuse  ? 

Ulysses.  He  doth  rely  on  none, 

But  carries  on  the  stream  of  his  dispose 
Without  observance  or  respect  of  any. 
In  will  peculiar  and  in  self-admission. 

Agamemnon.    Why  will  he  not,  upon  our  fair  request, 
Untent  his  person  and  share  the  air  with  us  ?  170 

Ulysses.    Things  small  as  nothing,  for  request's  sake 
only. 
He  makes  important.     Possess 'd  he  is  with  greatness, 
And  speaks  not  to  himself  but  with  a  pride 
That  quarrels  at  self-breath  ;  imagin'd  worth 
Holds  in  his  blood  such  swoln  and  hot  discourse 
That  'twixt  his  mental  and  his  active  parts 
Kingdom 'd  Achilles  in  commotion  rages 
And  batters  down  himself.     What  should  I  say  ? 
He  is  so  plaguy  proud  that  the  death-tokens  of  it 
Cry  'No  recovery,' 


86  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ii 

Agamemnon.  Let  Ajax  go  to  him.  —  i8o 

Dear  lord,  go  you  and  greet  him  in  his  tent ; 
'T  is  said  he  holds  you  well,  and  will  be  led 
At  your  request  a  little  from  himself. 

Ulysses.    O  Agamemnon,  let  it  not  be  so  ! 
We  'II  consecrate  the  steps  that  Ajax  makes 
When  they  go  from  Achilles.     Shall  the  proud  lord 
That  bastes  his  arrogance  with  his  own  seam, 
And  never  suffers  matter  of  the  world 
Enter  his  thoughts,  save  such  as  do  revolve 
And  ruminate  himself,  shall  he  be  worshipp'd  190 

Of  that  we  hold  an  idol  more  than  he  ? 
No,  this  thrice  worthy  and  right  valiant  lord 
Must  not  so  stale  his  palm,  nobly  acquir'd. 
Nor,  by  my  will,  assubjugate  his  merit. 
As  amply  titled  as  Achilles  is. 
By  going  to  Achilles. 
That  were  to  enlard  his  fat-already  pride, 
And  add  more  coals  to  Cancer  when  he  burns 
With  entertaining  great  Hyperion.  — 
This  lord  go  to  him  !  Jupiter  forbid,  200 

And  say  in  thunder  '  Achilles  go  to  him  !  ' 

Nestor.  \Aside  to  Diomedes'\  O,  this  is  w^ell ;  he  rubs 
the  vein  of  him. 

Diomedes.    [Aside  to  Nesto?-]    And  how   his    silence 
drinks  up  this  applause  ! 

Ajax.    If  I  go  to  him,  with  my  armed  fist 
I  '11  pash  him  o'er  the  face. 

Agamemnon.    O,  no,  you  shall  not  go! 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  87 

Ajax.    An  a'  be  proud  with  me,  I  '11  pheeze  his  pride. 
Let  me  go  to  him. 

Ulysses.    Not   for   the   worth   that    hangs    upon    our 
quarrel. 

Ajax.    A  paltry,  insolent  fellow !  210 

Nestor.  ^Aside]  How  he  describes  himself  ! 

Ajax.    Can  he  not  be  sociable  ? 

Ulysses.    \_Aside'\  The  raven  chides  blackness. 

Ajax.    I  '11  let  his  humours  blood. 

Agamemnon.  ]^Aside'\  He  will  be  the  physician 
that  should  be  the  patient. 

Ajax.    An  all  men  were  o'  my  mind, — 

Ulysses.    \_Aside']  Wit  would  be  out  of  fashion. 

Ajax.  A'  should  not  bear  it  so,  a'  should  eat 
swords  first.     Shall  pride  carry  it  ?  220 

Nestor.    [Aside']  An  't  would,  you  'd  carry  half. 

Ulysses.    [Aside]  A'  would  have  ten  shares. 

Ajax.    I  will  knead  him  ;  I  '11  make  him  supple. 

Nestor.  [Aside]  He  's  not  yet  through  warm  ;  force 
him  with  praises.  Pour  in,  pour  in  ;  his  ambition  is 
dry. 

Ulysses.    [To   Agamemnon]   My   lord,    you   feed   too 
much  on  this  dislike. 

Nestor.    Our  noble  general,  do  not  do  so. 

Diomedes.    You     must     prepare     to     fight     without 

Achilles. 
Ulysses.    Why,   'tis    this    naming    of   him  does  him 
harm. 
Here  is  a  man  —  but  't  is  before  his  face  ;  230 


88  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ii 

I  will  be  silent. 

Nestor.  Wherefore  should  you  so  ? 

He  is  not  emulous,  as  Achilles  is. 

Ulysses.    Know  the  whole  world,  he  is  as  valiant. 

Ajax.   A  whoreson  dog,  that  shall  palter  thus  with 
us  !     Would  he  were  a  Trojan  ! 

Nestor.    What  a  vice  were  it  in  Ajax  now,  — 

Ulysses.    If  he  were  proud,  — 

Diomedes.   Or  covetous  of  praise,  — 

Ulysses.    Ay,  or  surly  borne,  —  240 

Diomedes.    Or  strange,  or  self-affected  ! 

Ulysses.    Thank  the  heavens,  lord,  thou  art  of  sweet 
composure ; 
Praise  him  that  got  thee,  she  that  gave  thee  suck, 
Fam'd  be  thy  tutor,  and  thy  parts  of  nature 
Thrice  fam'd,  beyond  all  erudition  ; 
But  he  that  disciplin'd  thy  arms  to  fight. 
Let  Mars  divide  eternity  in  twain 
And  give  him  half,  and,  for  thy  vigour. 
Bull-bearing  Milo  his  addition  yield 
To  sinewy  Ajax.     I  will  not  praise  thy  wisdom,  250 

Which,  like  a  bourn,  a  pale,  a  shore,  confines 
Thy  spacious  and  dilated  parts.     Here  's  Nestor,  — 
Instructed  by  the  antiquary  times, 
He  must,  he  is,  he  cannot  but  be  wise ;  — 
But  pardon,  father  Nestor,  were  your  days 
As  green  as  Ajax'  and  your  brain  so  temper'd, 
You  should  not  have  the  eminence  of  him, 
But  be  as  Ajax. 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  89 

Ajax.  Shall  I  call  you  father  ? 

Nestor.    Ay,  my  good  son. 

Diomedes.  Be  rul'd  by  him,  Lord  Ajax. 

Ulysses.    There     is    no     tarrying     here ;     the     hart 
Achilles    "  260 

Keeps  thicket.     Please  it  our  great  general 
To  call  together  all  his  state  of  war. 
Fresh  kings  are  come  to  Troy ;  to-morrow 
We  must  with  all  our  main  of  power  stand  fast ; 
And  here  's  a  lord,  —  come  knights  from  east  to  west, 
And  cull  their  flower,  Ajax  shall  cope  the  best. 

Agamemnon.    Go  we  to  council.     Let  Achilles  sleep  ; 
Light  boats  sail  swift,  though  greater  hulks  draw  deep. 

\_Exetint. 


Helen  unarming  Hector 


ACT    III 

Scene  I.     Ti^oy.     Pi-iani's  Palace 

Enter  a  Servant  and  Pandarus 

Pandarus,     Friend,    you  !   pray  you,  a  word :  do 
not  you  follow  the  young  Lord  Paris  ? 

Servant.    Ay,  sir,  when  he  goes  before  me. 

90 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and   Cressida  91 

Pandai'us.    You  depend  upon  him,  I  mean  ? 

Servant.    Sir,  I  do  depend  upon  the  lord. 

Pandarus.  You  depend  upon  a  noble  gentleman ; 
I  must  needs  praise  him. 

Servant.    The  Lord  be  praised  ! 

Pandarus.    You  know  me,  do  you  not? 

Servant.    P'aith,  sir,  superficially.  10 

Pandarics.  Friend,  know  me  better ;  I  am  the 
Lord  Pandarus. 

Servant.    I  hope  I  shall  know  your  honour  better. 

Pandarus.    I  do  desire  it. 

Servant.    You  are  in  the  state  of  grace. 

Pandarus.  Grace !  not  so,  friend ;  honour  and 
lordship  are  my  titles.  —  \Music  lijithin^  What 
music  is  this  ? 

Servant.  I  do  but  partly  know,  sir  ;  it  is  music  in 
parts.  20 

Pandarus.    Know  you  the  musicians  ? 

Servant.    Wholly,  sir. 

Pandarus.    Who  play  they  to  ? 

Servant.    To  the  hearers,  sir. 

Pandarus.    At  whose  pleasure,  friend  ? 

Servant.    At  mine,  sir,  and  theirs  that  love  music. 

Pandarus.    Command,  I  mean,  friend. 

Servant.    Who  shall  I  command,  sir  ? 

Pandarus.  Friend,  we  understand  not  one  an- 
other ;  I  am  too  courtly,  and  thou  art  too  cunning. 
At  whose  request  do  these  men  play  ?  31 

Servant.    That 's  to  't  indeed,  sir.     Marry,  sir,  at 


92  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ill 

the  request  of  Paris  my  lord,  who  's  there  in  person ; 
with  him,  the  mortal  Venus,  the  heart-blood  of 
beauty,  love's  invisible  soul, — 

Pandarus.    Who,  my  cousin  Cressida  ? 

Servant.  No,  sir,  Helen  ;  could  you  not  find  out 
that  by  her  attributes  ? 

Pandarus.  It  should  seem,  fellow,  that  thou  hast 
not  seen  the  Lady  Cressida.  I  come  to  speak  with 
Paris  from  the  Prince  Troilus.  I  will  make  a  com- 
plimental  assault  upon  him,  for  my  business  seethes. 

Servant.  Sodden  business !  there  's  a  stewed  phrase 
indeed !  44 

Enter  Paris  afid  Helen,  attended 

Pa7idarus.  Fair  be  to  you,  my  lord,  and  to  all  this 
fair  company !  fair  desires,  in  all  fair  measure,  fairly 
guide  them  !  —  especially  to  you,  fair  queen  !  fair 
thoughts  be  your  fair  pillow ! 

Helen.    Dear  lord,  you  are  full  of  fair  words. 

Pandarus.  You  speak  your  fair  pleasure,  sweet 
queen.  —  Fair  prince,  here  is  good  broken  music.         51 

Paris.  You  have  broke  it,  cousin,  and,  by  my  life, 
you  shall  make  it  whole  again  ;  you  shall  piece  it  out 
with  a  piece  of  your  performance.  —  Nell,  he  is  full 
of  harmony. 

Pandarus.    Truly,  lady,  no. 

Helen.    O,  sir,  — 

Pandarus.  Rude,  in  sooth ;  in  good  sooth,  very 
rude.  59 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and  Cressida  93 

Paris.   Well  said,  my  lord  !  well,  you  say  so  in  fits. 

Pandarus.  I  have  business  to  my  lord,  dear  queen. 
—  My  lord,  will  you  vouchsafe  me  a  word  ? 

Helen.  Nay,  this  shall  not  hedge  us  out ;  we  '11 
hear  you  sing,  certainly. 

Pandarus.  Well,  sweet  queen,  you  are  pleasant 
wdth  me.  —  But,  marry,  thus,  my  lord  :  my  dear  lord 
and  most  esteemed  friend,  your  brother  Troilus, — 

Helen.    My  Lord  Pandarus  ;  honey-sweet  lord,  — 

Pandarus.  Go  to,  sweet  queen,  go  to  ; — commends 
himself  most  affectionately  to  you,  —  70 

Helen.  You  shall  not  bob  us  out  of  our  melody  ; 
if  you  do,  our  melancholy  upon  your  head ! 

Pandarus.  Sweet  queen,  sweet  queen  !  that 's  a 
sweet  queen,  i'  faith. 

Helen.  And  to  make  a  sweet  lady  sad  is  a  sour 
offence. 

Panda7'us.  Nay,  that  shall  not  serve  your  turn  ; 
that  shall  it  not,  in  truth,  la.  Nay,  I  care  not  for 
such  words  ;  no,  no!  — And,  my  lord,  he  desires  you, 
that  if  the  king  call  for  him  at  supper,  you  will 
make  his  excuse.  81 

Helen.    My  Lord  Pandarus,  — 

Pandarus.  What  says  my  sweet  queen,  my  very 
very  sweet  queen  ? 

Paris.  What  exploit 's  in  hand  ?  where  sups  he 
to-night  ? 

Helen.    Nay,  but,  my  lord,  — 

Pandarus.    What   says    my   sweet    queen  ?  —  My 


94  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  iii 

cousin  will  fall  out  with  you.  You  must  not  know 
where  he  sups.  90 

Paris.    I  '11  lay  my  life,  with  my  disposer  Cressida. 

Pandarus.  No,  no,  no  such  matter,  you  are  wide ; 
come,  your  disposer  is  sick. 

Paris.    Well,  I  '11  make  excuse. 

Pandarus.  Ay,  good  my  lord.  Why  should  you 
say  Cressida  ?  no,  your  poor  disposer  's  sick. 

Paris.    I  spy. 

Pandarus.  You  spy  !  what  do  you  spy  ?  —  Come, 
give  me  an  instrument,  —  Now,  sweet  queen. 

Helen.    Why,  this  is  kindly  done.  100 

Pandai'us.  My  niece  is  horribly  in  love  with  a 
thing  you  have,  sweet  queen. 

Helen.  She  shall  have  it,  my  lord,  if  it  be  not  my 
Lord  Paris. 

Pandaj'us.  He  !  no,  she  '11  none  of  him  ;  they  two 
are  twain. 

Helen.  Falling  in,  after  falling  out,  may  make 
them  three. 

Pandarus.  Come,  come,  I  '11  hear  no  more  of  this ; 
I  '11  sing  you  a  song  now.  no 

Helen.  Ay,  ay,  prithee  now.  By  my  troth,  sweet 
lord,  thou  hast  a  fine  forehead. 

Pandarus.    Ay,  you  may,  you  may. 

Helen.  Let  thy  song  be  love  ;  this  love  will  undo 
us  all.  —  O  Cupid,  Cupid,  Cupid  ! 

Pandarus.    Love  !  ay,  that  it  shall,  i'  faith. 

Paris.    Ay,  good  now,  love,  love,  nothing  but  love. 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and  Cressida  95 

Pandarus.    In  good  troth,  it  begins  so. 
[Sings.]     Love,  love,  nothing  but  love,  still  more  I 

For,  O,  lovers  bow  120 

Shoots  buck  and  doe  ! 
The  shaft  confounds^ 
Not  that  it  wounds, 
But  tickles  still  the  sore. 
These  lovers  C7j  Oh  !  oh  !  they  die  ! 

Yet  that  which  seems  the  wound  to  kill, 
Doth  turn  oh  !  oh  !  to  ha  !  ha  !  he  ! 

So  dying  love  lives  still. 
Oh  !  oh  /  a  while,  but  ha  !  ha  !  ha  ! 
Oh  !  oh  !  groans  out  for  ha  !  ha  I  ha  !         130 
Heigh-ho ! 

Helen.    In  love,  i'  faith,  to  the  very  tip  of  the  nose. 

Paris.    He  eats  nothing  but  doves,  love,  and  that 

breeds  hot  blood,  and  hot  blood  begets  hot  thoughts, 

and  hot  thoughts  beget  hot  deeds,  and  hot  deeds  is 

love. 

Pandarus.  Is  this  the  generation  of  love  ?  hot 
blood,  hot  thoughts,  and  hot  deeds  ?  Why,  they  are 
vipers  ;  is  love  a  generation  of  vipers  ?  Sweet  lord, 
who  's  a-field  to-day  ?  14° 

Paris.  Hector,  Deiphobus,  Helenus,  Antenor,  and 
all  the  gallantry  of  Troy.  I  would  fain  have  armed 
to-day,  but  my  Nell  would  not  have  it  so.  How 
chance  my  brother  Troilus  went  not  ? 

Helen.  He  hangs  the  lip  at  something.  —  You 
know  all.  Lord  Pandarus. 


96  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  ill 

Pandarus.  Not  I,  honey-sweet  queen.  1  long  to 
hear  how  they  sped  to-day.  —  You  '11  remember  your 
brother's  excuse  ? 

Paris.    To  a  hair.  150 

Pandarus.    Farewell,  sweet  queen. 

Helen.    Commend  me  to  your  niece. 

Pandarus.    I  will,  sweet  queen.  \Exit. 

\A  retreat  sounded. 

Paris.    They  're  come  from  field  ;  let  us  to  Priam's 
hall, 
To  greet  the  warriors.     Sweet  Helen,  I  must  woo  you 
To  help  unarm  our  Hector.     His  stubborn  buckles, 
With  these  your  white  enchanting  fingers  touch'd, 
Shall  more  obey  than  to  the  edge  of  steel 
Or  force  of  Greekish  sinews  ;  you  shall  do  more 
Than  all  the  island  kings,  —  disarm  great  Hector.      160 

Helen.    'T  will    make  us    proud   to   be   his  servant, 
Paris  ; 
Yea,  what  he  shall  receive  of  us  in  duty 
Gives  us  more  palm  in  beauty  than  we  have, 
Yea,  overshines  ourself. 

Paris.    Sweet,  above  thought  I  love  thee.       {Exeunt. 


Scene  II.     The  Same.     Pandarus' s  Orchard 

Enter  Pandarus  and  Troilus 's  Boy,  meeting 

Pandarus.    How  now  !  where  's  thy  master  ?  at  my 
cousin  Cressida's  ? 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  97 

Boy.    No,    sir ;    he    stays    for   you   to    conduct    him 

thither. 
Pandarus.    O,  here  he  comes.  — 

Enter  Troilus 

How  now,  how  now  ! 

Troilus.    Sirrah,  walk  off.  \_Extt  Boy. 

Pandai'us.    Have  you  seen  my  cousin  ? 

Troilus.    No,  Pandarus  ;  I  stalk  about  her  door, 
Like  a  strange  soul  upon  the  Stygian  banks 
Staying  for  waftage.     O,  be  thou  my  Charon,  10 

And  give  me  swift  transportance  to  those  fields 
Where  I  may  wallow  in  the  lily-beds 
Propos'd  for  the  deserver  !     O  gentle  Pandarus, 
From  Cupid's  shoulder  pluck  his  painted  wings. 
And  fly  with  me  to  Cressid  ! 

Pandarus.    Walk  here  i'  the  orchard,  I  '11  bring  her 
straight.  [^Exit. 

Troilus.    I  am  giddy  ;  expectation  whirls  me  round. 
The  imaginary  relish  is  so  sweet 
That  it  enchants  my  sense  ;  what  will  it  be 
When  that  the  watery  palate  tastes  indeed  20 

Love's  thrice  repured  nectar  ?  death,  I  fear  me. 
Swooning  destruction,  or  some  joy  too  fine. 
Too  subtle-potent,  tun'd  too  sharp  in  sweetness, 
For  the  capacity  of  my  ruder  powers. 
I  fear  it  much  ;  and  I  do  fear  besides 
That  I  shall  lose  distinction  in  my  joys, 

TROILUS  —  7 


98  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ill 

As  doth  a  battle  when  they  charge  on  heaps 

The  enemy  flying.  28 

Re-enter  Pandarus 

Pandarus.  She  's  making  her  ready,  she  '11  come 
straight ;  you  must  be  witty  now.  She  does  so  blush, 
and  fetches  her  wind  so  short,  as  if  she  were  frayed 
with  a  sprite.  I  '11  fetch  her.  It  is  the  prettiest 
villain ;  she  fetches  her  breath  as  short  as  a  new- 
ta'en  sparrow.  \Exit. 

Troihcs.    Even   such   a   passion    doth    embrace    my 
bosom  ; 
My  heart  beats  thicker  than  a  feverous  pulse, 
And  all  my  powers  do  their  bestowing  lose. 
Like  vassalage  at  unawares  encountering 
The  eye  of  majesty.  39 

Re-enter  Pandarus  with  Cressida 

Pandarus.  Come,  come,  what  need  you  blush  ? 
shame  's  a  baby.  —  Here  she  is  now ;  swear  the 
oaths  now  to  her  that  you  have  sworn  to  me. — 
What,  are  you  gone  again  ?  you  must  be  watched 
ere  you  be  made  tame,  must  you  ?  Come  your  ways, 
come  your  ways ;  an  you  draw  backw^ard,  we  '11  put 
you  i'  the  fills.  —  Why  do  you  not  speak  to  her  ?  — 
Come,  draw  this  curtain,  and  let 's  see  your  picture. 
Alas  the, day,  how  loath  you  are  to  offend  daylight! 
an  't  were  dark,  you'd  close  sooner.  So,  so  ;  rub  on, 
and  kiss  the  mistress.  How  now!  a  kiss  in  fee-farm! 
build  there,  carpenter ;  the  air  is  sweet.     Nay,  you 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  99 

shall  fight  your  hearts  out  ere  I  part  you.  The 
falcon  as  the  tercel,  for  all  the  ducks  i'  the  river ; 
go  to,  go  to.  54 

Troilus.    You  have  bereft  me  of  all  words,  lady. 

Pandarus.  Words  pay  no  debts,  give  her  deeds ; 
but  she  '11  bereave  you  o'  the  deeds  too,  if  she  call 
your  activity  in  question.  What,  billing  again  ? 
Here  's  '  In  witness  whereof  the  parties  interchange- 
ably '  —  Come  in,  come  in  ;  I  '11  go  get  a  fire.        \Exit. 

Cressida.    Will  you  walk  in,  my  lord  ?  61 

Troilus.  O  Cressida,  how  often  have  I  wished  me 
thus  ! 

Cressida.  Wished,  my  lord  !  The  gods  grant,  — 
O  my  lord  ! 

Troilus.  What  should  they  grant  ?  what  makes 
this  pretty  abruption  ?  What  too  curious  dreg 
espies  my  sweet  lady  in  the  fountain  of  our  love  ? 

Cressida.  More  dregs  than  water,  if  my  fears  have 
eyes.  70 

Troilus.  Fears  make  devils  of  cherubins ;  they 
never  see  truly. 

Cj-essida.  Blind  fear,  that  seeing  reason  leads, 
finds  safer  footing  than  blind  reason  stumbling  with- 
out fear ;  to  fear  the  worst  oft  cures  the  worse. 

Troilus.  O,  let  my  lady  apprehend  no  fear ;  in  all 
Cupid's  pageant  there  is  presented  no  monster. 

Cressida.    Nor  nothing  monstrous  neither  ?  78 

Troilus.  Nothing,  but  our  undertakings  ;  when  we 
vow  to  weep  seas,  live  in  fire,  eat  rocks,  tame  tigers  ; 


I*  •■-■ 


lOO  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iii 

thinking  it  harder  for  our  mistress  to  devise  imposi- 
tion enough  than  for  us  to  undergo  any  difficulty 
imposed.  This  is  the  monstruosity  in  love,  lady, 
—  that  the  will  is  infinite  and  the  execution  con- 
fined, that  the  desire  is  boundless  and  the  act  a 
slave  to  limit.  86 

Cressida.  They  say  all  lovers  swear  more  perform- 
ance than  they  are  able  and  yet  reserve  an  ability 
that  they  never  perform,  vowing  more  than  the  per- 
fection of  ten  and  discharging  less  than  the  tenth 
part  of  one.  They  that  have  the  voice  of  lions  and 
the  act  of  hares,  are  they  not  monsters  ?  92 

Troilus.  Are  there  such  ?  such  are  not  we.  Praise 
us  as  we  are  tasted,  allow  us  as  we  prove ;  our  head 
shall  go  bare  till  merit  crown  it.  No  perfection  in 
reversion  shall  have  a  praise  in  present ;  we  will  not 
name  desert  before  his  birth,  and,  being  born,  his 
addition  shall  be  humble.  Few  words  to  fair  faith ; 
Troilus  shall  be  such  to  Cressid  as  what  envy  can 
say  worst  shall  be  a  mock  for  his  truth,  and  what 
truth  can  speak  truest  not  truer  than  Troilus.  loi 

Cressida.    Will  you  walk  in,  my  lord  ?    . 

Re-enter  Pandarus 

Fandai^us.  What,  blushing  still?  have  you  not 
done  talking  yet? 

Cressida.  Well,  uncle,  what  folly  I  commit  I  dedi- 
cate to  you. 

Pandarus.    I  thank  you  for  that ;  .if  my  lord  get  a 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  loi 

boy  of  you,  you  '11  give  him  me.    Be  true  to  my  lord  ; 
if  he  flinch,  chide  me  for  it. 

Troilus.  You  know  now  your  hostages ;  your 
uncle's  word  and  my  firm  faith.  m 

Pandarus.  Nay,  I  '11  give  my  word  for  her  too. 
Our  kindred,  though  they  be  long  ere  they  are 
wooed,  they  are  constant  being  won.  They  are  burs, 
I  can  tell  you ;  they  '11  stick  where  they  are  thrown. 

Cressida.    Boldness    comes  to  me  now,   and   brings 
me  heart. — 
Prince  Troilus,  I  have  lov'd  you  night  and  day 
For  many  weary  months. 

Troilus.    Why   was    my    Cressid    then    so    hard    to 
win  ? 

Cressida.    Hard  to  seem  won ;    but  I  was  won,  my 
lord,  120 

With  the  first  glance  that  ever  —  pardon  me  — 
If  I  confess  much,  you  will  play  the  tyrant. 
I  love  you  now ;  but  not,  till  now,  so  much 
But  I  might  master  it.  —  In  faith,  I  lie  ; 
My  thoughts  were  like  unbridled  children,  grown 
Too  headstrong  for  their  mother.     See,  we  fools  ! 
Why  have  I  blabb'd  ?  who  shall  be  true  to  us 
When  we  are  so  un  secret  to  ourselves  ? 
But,  though  I  lov'd  you  well,  I  woo'd  you  not ; 
And  yet,  good  faith,  I  wish'd  myself  a  man,  130 

Or  that  we  women  had  men's  privilege 
Of  speaking  first.     Sweet,  bid  me  hold  my  tongue. 
For  in  this  rapture  I  shall  surely  speak 


I02  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iii 

The  thing  I  shall  repent.  See,  see,  your  silence, 
Cunning  in  dumbness,  from  my  weakness  draws 
My  very  soul  of  counsel !  stop  my  mouth. 

Troilus.    And  shall,  albeit  sweet  music  issues  thence. 

Pandarus.    Pretty,  i'  faith. 

Cressida.    My  lord,  I  do  beseech  you,  pardon  me  ; 
'T  was  not  my  purpose  thus  to  beg  a  kiss.  140 

I  am  asham'd.  —  O  heavens  !  what  have  I  done  ?  — 
For  this  time  will  I  take  my  leave,  my  lord. 

Troilus.    Your  leave,  sweet  Cressid  ! 

Pandarus.   Leave  !  an  you  take  leave  till  to-morrow 
morning,  — 

Cressida.    Pray  you,  content  you. 

Troilus.  What  offends  you,  lady? 

Cressida.    Sir,  mine  own  company. 

Troilus.    You  cannot  shun  yourself. 

Cressida.    Let  me  go  and  try. 
I  have  a  kind  of  self  resides  with  you,  150' 

But  an  unkind  self  that  itself  will  leave 
To  be  another's  fool.     I  would  be  gone.  — 
Where  is  my  wit  ?  I  know  not  what  I  speak. 

Troilus.   Well  know  they  what  they  speak  that  speak 
so  wisely. 

Cressida.    Perchance,  my  lord,  I  show  more  craft  than 
love, 
And  fell  so  roundly  to  a  large  confession. 
To  angle  for  your  thoughts,  but  you  are  wise. 
Or  else  you  love  not,  for  to  be  wise  and  love 
Exceeds  man's  might ;  that  dwells  with  gods  above. 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  103 

Troihis.    O  that  I  thought  it  could  be  in  a  woman  — 
As,  if  it  can,  I  will  presume  in  you —  161 

To  feed  for  aye  her  lamp  and  flames  of  love  ; 
To  keep  her  constancy  in  plight  and  youth, 
Outliving  beauty's  outward,  with  a  mind 
That  doth  renew  swifter  than  blood  decays ! 
Or  that  persuasion  could  but  thus  convince  me,  — 
That  my  integrity  and  truth  to  you 
Might  be  affronted  wdth  the  match  and  weight 
Of  such  a  winnow'd  purity  in  love  ! 
How  were  I  then  uplifted  !  but,  alas  !  170 

I  am  as  true  as  truth's  simplicity. 
And  simpler  than  the  infancy  of  truth. 

Cressida.    In  that  I  '11  war  with  you. 

Troilus.  O  virtuous  light. 

When  right  with  right  wars  who  shall  be  most  right ! 
True  swains  in  love  shall  in  the  world  to  come 
Approve  their  truths  by  Troilus  ;  when  their  rhymes, 
Full  of  protest,  of  oath,  and  big  compare. 
Want  similes,  truth  tir'd  with  iteration,  — 
'  As  true  as  steel,  as  plantage  to  the  moon. 
As  sun  to  day,  as  turtle  to  her  mate,  180 

As  iron  to  adamant,  as  earth  to  the  centre,'  — 
Yet,  after  all  comparisons  of  truth. 
As  truth's  authentic  author  to  be  cited, 
'  As  true  as  Troilus  '  shall  crown  up  the  verse 
And  sanctify  the  numbers. 

Cressida.  Prophet  may  you  be  ! 

If  I  be  false,  or  swerve  a  hair  from  truth. 


I04  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iii 

When  time  is  old  and  hath  forgot  itself, 

When  water-drops  have  worn  the  stones  of  Troy, 

And  blind  oblivion  swallow 'd  cities  up, 

And  mighty  states  characterless  are  grated  190 

To  dusty  nothing,  yet  let  memory, 

From  false  to  false,  among  false  maids  in  love. 

Upbraid  my  falsehood  !  when  they  've  said  '  as  false 

As  air,  as  water,  wind,  or  sandy  earth, 

As  fox  to  lamb,  as  wolf  to  heifer's  calf, 

Pard  to  the  hind,  or  stepdame  to  her  son,' 

'  Yea,'  let  them  say.  to  stick  the  heart  of  falsehood, 

'  As  false  as  Cressid.'  198 

Pandarus.  Go  to,  a  bargain  made  !  seal  it,  seal  it ; 
I  '11  be  the  witness.  Here  I  hold  your  hand,  here 
my  cousin's.  If  ever  you  prove  false  one  to  another, 
since  I  have  taken  such  pains  to  bring  you  together, 
let  all  pitiful  goers-between  be  called  to  the  world's 
end  after  my  name,  call  them  all  Pandars ;  let  all 
constant  men  be  Troiluses,  all  false  women  Cressids, 
and  all  brokers-between  Pandars  !     Say,  amen. 

Troilus.    Amen. 

Cressida.    Amen.  208 

Pandarus.  Amen.  Whereupon  I  will  show  you  a 
chamber  with  a  bed,  which  bed,  because  it  shall  not 
speak  of  your  pretty  encounters,  press  it  to  death ; 
away  ! 

And  Cupid  grant  all  tongue-tied  maidens  here 
Bed,  chamber,  Pandar  to  provide  this  gear  !      [Exetmt. 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  105 


Scene  III.     The  Grecian  Camp 

Enter    Agamemnon,    Ulysses,     Diomedes,     Nestor, 
AjAX,    Menelaus,    and  Calchas 

Calchas.    Now,  princes,  for  the  service  I  have  done 

you, 
The  advantage  of  the  time  prompts  me  aloud 
To  call  for  recompense.     Appear  it  to  your  mind 
That,  through  the  sight  I  bear  in  things  to  love, 
I  have  abandon 'd  Troy,  left  my  possession, 
Incurr'd  a  traitor's  name  ;  expos 'd  myself, 
From  certain  and  possess 'd  conveniences, 
To  doubtful  fortunes  ;  sequestering  from  me  all 
That  time,  acquaintance,  custom,  and  condition 
Made  tame  and  most  famihar  to  my  nature,  10 

And  here,  to  do  you  service,  am  become 
As  new  into  the  world,  strange,  unacquainted ; 
I  do  beseech  you,  as  in  way  of  taste, 
To  give  me  now  a  little  benefit. 
Out  of  those  many  register'd  in  promise 
Which,  you  say,  live  to  come  in  my  behalf. 

Agamemnon.   What    wouldst    thou    of    us,    Trojan  ? 

make  demand. 
Calchas.    You  have  a  Trojan  prisoner,  call'd  Antenor, 
Yesterday  took  ;  Troy  holds  him  very  dear. 
Oft  have  you  —  often  have  you  thanks  therefore  —     20 
Desir'd  my  Cressid  in  right  great  exchange, 
Whom  Troy  hath  still  denied  ;  but  this  Antenor, 


io6  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  in 

I  know,  is  such  a  wrest  in  their  affairs 
That  their  negotiations  all  must  slack, 
Wanting  his  manage,  and  they  will  almost 
Give  us  a  prince  of  blood,  a  son  of -Priam, 
In  change  of  him.     Let  him  be  sent,  great  princes, 
And  he  shall  buy  my  daughter ;  and  her  presence 
Shall  quite  strike  off  all  service  I  have  done, 
In  most  accepted  pain. 

Agamemnon.  Let  Diomedes  bear  him,        30 

And  bring  us  Cressid  hither  ;  Calchas  shall  have 
What  he  requests  of  us.  —  Good  Diomed, 
Furnish  you  fairly  for  this  interchange. 
Withal  bring  word  if  Hector  will  to-morrow 
Be  answer'd  in  his  challenge ;  Ajax  is  ready. 

Diomedes.    This  shall  I  undertake ;  and  't  is  a  burden 
Which  I  am  proud  to  bear. 

\_Exeunt  Diomedes  and  Calchas 

Enter  Achilles  and  Patroclus,  before  their  tent 

Ulysses.    Achilles  stands  i'  the  entrance  of  his  tent. 
Please  it  our  general  to  pass  strangely  by  him. 
As  if  he  were  forgot ;  —  and,  princes  all,  40 

Lay  niegligent  and  loose  regard  upon  him. 
I  will  come  last.     'T  is  like  he  '11  question  me   . 
Why  such  unplausive  eyes  are  bent  on  him ; 
If  so,  I  have  derision  medicinable 
To  use  between  your  strangeness  and  his  pride, 
Which  his  own  will  shall  have  desire  to  drink. 
It  may  do  good  ;  pride  hath  no  other  glass 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  107 

To  show  itself  but  pride,  for  supple  knees 
Feed  arrogance  and  are  the  proud  man's  fees. 

Agameinnon.    We  '11  execute  your  purpose,  and  put  on 
A  form  of  strangeness  as  we  pass  along.  —  51 

So  do  each  lord,  and  either  greet  him  not. 
Or  else  disdainfully,  which  shall  shake  him  more 
Than  if  not  look'd  on.     I  will  lead  the  way. 

Achilles.    What,  comes  the  general  to  speak  with  me  ? 
You  know  my  mind,  I  '11  fight  no  more  'gainst' Troy. 

Agamemnon.    What  says  Achilles  ?    would   he  aught 
with  us  ? 

Nestor.    Would  you,  my  lord,  aught  with  the  general  ? 

Achilles,    No. 

Nestor.    Nothing,  my  lord.  60 

Agamemnon.    The  better. 

\Exeunt  Agamemnon  and  Nestor. 

Achilles.    Good  day,  good  day. 

Menelaus.    How  do  you  ?  how  do  you  ?  \Exit. 

Achilles.   What,  does  the  cuckold  scorn  me? 

Ajax.    How  now,  Patroclus  ! 

Achilles.    Good  morrow,  Ajax. 

Ajax.   Ha  ? 

Achilles.    Good  morrow. 

Ajax.    Ay,  and  good  next  day  too.  [Exit. 

Achilles.    What  mean  these  fellows  ?     Know  they  not 
Achilles  ?  70 

Patroclus.    They  pass  by  strangely;   they  were  us'd 
to  bend. 
To  send  their  smiles  before  them  to  Achilles, 


io8  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ill 

To  come  as  humbly  as  they  us'd  to  creep 
To  holy  altars. 

Achilles.  What,  am  I  poor  of  late  ? 

'T  is  certain,  greatness,  once  fallen  out  with  fortune, 
Must  fall  out  with  men  too.     What  the  declin'd  is 
He  shall  as  soon  read  in  the  eyes  of  others 
As  feel  in  his  own  fall ;  for  men,  like  butterflies, 
Show  not  their  mealy  wings  but  to  the  summer, 
And  not  a  man,  for  being  simply  man,  80 

Hath  any  honour,  but  honour  for  those  honours 
That  are  without  him,  as  place,  riches,  favour. 
Prizes  of  accident  as  oft  as  merit, 
Which  when  they  fall,  as  being  slippery  standers. 
The  love  that  lean'd  on  them  as  slippery  too, 
Do  one  pluck  down  another  and  together 
Die  in  the  fall.     But  't  is  not  so  with  me  : 
Fortune  and  I  are  friends  ;  I  do  enjoy 
At  ample  point  all  that  I  did  possess. 
Save  these  men's  looks,  who  do,  methinks,  find  out     90 
Something  not  worth  in  me  such  rich  beholding 
As  they  have  often  given.     Here  is  Ulysses ; 
I  '11  interrupt  his  reading.  — 
How  now,  Ulysses  ! 

Ulysses.  Now,  great  Thetis'  son  ! 

Achilles.   What  are  you  reading  ? 

Ulysses.  A  strange  fellow  here 

Writes  me  that  man  —  how  dearly  ever  parted, 
How  much  in  having,  or  without  or  in  — 
Cannot  make  boast  to  have  that  which  he  hath, 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  109 

Nor  feels  not  what  he  owes,  but  by  reflection  ; 

As  when  his  virtues  shining  upon  others  100 

Heat  them  and  they  retort  that  heat  again 

To  the  first  giver. 

Achilles.  This  is  not  strange,  Ulysses. 

The  beauty  that  is  borne  here  in  the  face 
The  bearer  knows  not,  but  commends  itself 
To  others'  eyes,  nor  doth  the  eye  itself, 
That  most  pure  spirit  of  sense,  behold  itself, 
Not  going  from  itself ;  but  eye  to  eye  oppos'd 
Salutes  each  other  with  each  other's  form, 
For  speculation  turns  not  to  itself 

Till  it  hath  travell'd  and  is  mirror'd  there  no 

Where  it  may  see  itself.     This  is  not  strange  at  all. 

Ulysses.    I  do  not  strain  at  the  position,  — 
It  is  familiar,  —  but  at  the  author's  drift. 
Who  in  his  circumstance  expressly  proves 
That  no  man  is  the  lord  of  any  thing. 
Though  in  and  of  him  there  be  much  consisting. 
Till  he  communicate  his  parts  to  others ; 
Nor  doth  he  of  himself  know  them  for  aught     - 
Till  he  behold  them  form'd  in  the  applause 
Where  they  're  extended ;  who,  like  an  arch,  reverber- 
ates 120 
The  voice  again,  or,  like  a  gate  of  steel 
Fronting  the  sun,  receives  and  renders  back 
His  figure  and  his  heat.     I  was  much  wrapt  in  this, 
And  apprehended  here  immediately 
The  unknown  Ajax. 


no  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iii 

Heavens,  what  a  man  is  there  !  a  very  horse, 

That  has  he  knows  not  what.  —  Nature,  what  things 

there  are 
Most  abject  in  regard  and  dear  in  use ! 
What  things  again  most  dear  in  the  esteem 
And  poor  in  worth  !  —  Now  shall  we  see  to-morrow  —    130 
An  act  that  very  chance  doth  throw  upon  him  — 
Ajax  renown'd.  — O  heavens,  what  some  men  do 
While  some  men  leave  to  do  ! 
How  some  men  creep  in  skittish  fortune's  hall 
Whiles  others  play  the  idiots  in  her  eyes  ! 
How  one  man  eats  into  another's  pride  • 

While  pride  is  fasting  in  his  wantonness  ! 
To  see  these  Grecian  lords  !  —  why,  even  already 
They  clap  the  lubber  Ajax  on  the  shoulder, 
As  if  his  foot  were  on  brave  Hector's  breast,  140 

And  great  Troy  shrieking. 

Achilles.    I  do  believe  it ;  for  they  pass'd  by  me 
As  misers  do  by  beggars,  neither  gave  to  me 
Good  word  nor  look.     What,  are  my  deeds  forgot  ? 

Ulysses.    Time  hath,  my  lord,  a  wallet  at  his  back 
Wherein  he  puts  alms  for  oblivion, 
A  great-siz'd  monster  of  ingratitudes. 
Those  scraps  are  good  deeds  past,  which  are  devour'd 
As  fast  as  they  are  made,  forgot  as  soon 
As  done.     Perseverance,  dear  my  lord,  150 

Keeps  honour  bright ;  to  have  done  is  to  hang 
Quite  out  of  fashion,  like  a  rusty  mail 
In  monumental  mockery.     Take  the  instant  way, 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  1 1 1 

For  honour  travels  in  a  strait  so  narrow 

Where  one  but  goes  abreast ;  keep  then  the  path, 

For  emulation  hath  a  thousand  sons 

That  one  by  one  pursue.     If  you  give  way 

Or  hedge  aside  from  the  direct  forthright, 

Like  to  an  enter'd  tide,  they  all  rush  by 

And  leave  you  hindmost ;  i6o 

Or,  like  a  gallant  horse  fallen  in  first  rank. 

Lie  there  for  pavement  to  the  abject  rear, 

O'errun  and  trampled  on.    Then  what  they  do  in  present, 

Though  less  than  yours  in  past,  must  o'ertop  yours. 

For  time  is  like  a  fashionable  host 

That  slightly  shakes  his  parting  guest  by  the  hand, 

And  with  his  arms  outstretch'd,  as  he  would  fly, 

Grasps  in  the  comer ;  welcome  ever  smiles. 

And  farewell  goes  out  sighing.     O,  let  not  virtue  seek 

Remuneration  for  the  thing  it  was  !  170 

For  beauty,  wit. 

High  birth,  vigour  of  bone,  desert  in  service, 

Love,  friendship,  charity,  are  subjects  all 

To  envious  and  calumniating  time. 

One  touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin, — 

That  all  with  one  consent  praise  new-born  gawds, 

Though  they  are  made  and  moulded  of  things  past, 

And  give  to  dust  that  is  a  little  gilt 

More  laud  than  gilt  o'er-dusted. 

The  present  eye  praises  the  present  object ;  180 

Then  marvel  not,  thou  great  and  complete  man, 

That  all  the  Greeks  begin  to  worship  Ajax, 


112  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ill 

Since  things  in  motion  sooner  catch  the  eye 

Than  what  not  stirs.     The  cry  went  once  on  thee, 

And  still  it  might,  and  yet  it  may  again, 

If  thou  wouldst  not  entomb  thyself  alive 

And  case  thy  reputation  in  thy  tent, 

Whose  glorious  deeds,  but  in  these  fields  of  late. 

Made  emulous  missions  'mongst  the  gods  themselves 

And  drave  great  Mars  to  faction. 

Achilles,  Of  this  my  privacy 

I  have  strong  reasons. 

Ulysses.  But  'gainst  your  privacy        191 

The  reasons  are  more  potent  and  heroical. 
'T  is  known,  Achilles,  that  you  are  in  love 
With  one  of  Priam's  daughters. 

Achilles.  Ha  !  known .! 

Ulysses.    Is  that  a  wonder  ? 
The  providence  that 's  in  a  watchful  state 
Knows  almost  every  grain  of  Plutus'  gold. 
Finds  bottom  in  the  uncomprehensive  deeps. 
Keeps  place  with  thought,  and  almost,  like  the  gods, 
Does  thoughts  unveil  in  their  dumb  cradles.  200 

There  is  a  mystery  —  with  whom  relation 
Durst  never  meddle  —  in  the  soul  of  state, 
Which  hath  an  operation  more  divine 
Than  breath  or  pen  can  give  expressure  to. 
All  the  commerce  that  you  have  had  with  Troy 
As  perfectly  is  ours  as  yours,  my  lord ; 
And  better  would  it  fit  Achilles  much 
To  throw  down  Hector  than  Polyxena. 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and   Cressida  113 

But  it  must  grieve  young  Pyrrhus  now  at  home, 

When  fame  shall  in  our  islands  sound  her  trump,        210 

And  all  the  Greekish  girls  shall  tripping  sing, 

'  Great  Hector's  sister  did  Achilles  win, 

But  our  great  Ajax  bravely  beat  down  him.' 

Farewell,  my  lord.     I  as  your  lover  speak ; 

The  fool  slides  o'er  the  ice  that  you  should  break.  [_jExt^. 

Patrocliis.    To  this  effect,  Achilles,  have  I  mov'd  you. 
A  woman  impudent  and  mannish  grown 
Is  not  more  loath 'd  than  an  effeminate  man 
In  time  of  action.     I  stand  condemn'd  for  this ; 
They  think  my  little  stomach  to  the  war  220 

And  your  great  love  to  me  restrains  you  thus. 
Sweet,  rouse  yourself  ;  and  the  weak  wanton  Cupid 
Shall  from  your  neck  unloose  his  amorous  fold. 
And,  like  a  dew-drop  from  the  Hon's  mane. 
Be  shook  to  air. 

Achilles.  Shall  Ajax  fight  with  Hector  ? 

Pati'oclus.    Ay,  and  perhaps  receive  much  honour  by 
him. 

Achilles.    I  see  my  reputation  is  at  stake  ; 
My  fame  is  shrewdly  gor'd. 

Patroclus.  O,  then,  beware  ! 

Those  wounds  heal  ill  that  men  do  give  themselves. 
Omission  to  do  what  is  necessary  230 

Seals  a  commission  to  a  blank  of  danger ; 
And  danger,  like  an  ague,  subtly  taints 
Even  then  when  we  sit  idly  in  the  sun. 

Achilles.    Go  call  Thersites  hither,  sweet  Patroclus. 

TROILUS  —  8 


114  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iii 

I  '11  send  the  fool  to  Ajax  and  desire  him 

To  invite  the  Trojan  lords  after  the  combat 

To  see  us  here  unarm 'd.    I  have  a  woman's  longing, 

An  appetite  that  I  am  sick  withal, 

To  see  great  Hector  in  his  weeds  of  peace, 

To  talk  with  him  and  to  behold  his  visage,  240 

Even  to  my  full  of  view.  — 

Enter  Thersites 

A  labour  sav'd ! 

Thersites.    A  wonder  ! 

Achilles.    What  ? 

Thersites.  Ajax  goes  up  and  down  the  field,  asking 
for  himself. 

Achilles.    How  so  ? 

Thersites.  He  must  fight  singly  to-morrow  with 
Hector,  and  is  so  prophetically  proud  of  an  heroical 
cudgelling  that  he  raves  in  saying  nothing. 

Achilles.    How  can  that  be  ?  250 

Thersites.  Why,  he  stalks  up  and  down  like  a 
peacock,  —  a  stride  and  a  stand ;  ruminates  like  an 
hostess  that  hath  no  arithmetic  but  her  brain  to 
set  down  her  reckoning ;  bites  his  lip  with  a  politic 
regard,  as  who  should  say  '  There  were  wit  in  this 
head  an  't  would  out ; '  and  so  there  is,  but  it  lies 
as  coldly  in  him  as  fire  in  a  flint,  which  will  not 
show  without  knocking.  The  man  's  undone  for 
ever ;  for  if  Hector  break  not  his  neck  i'  the  com- 
bat, he  '11  break  't  himself  in  vainglory.     He  knows 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  115 

not  me  ;  I  said  '  Good  morrow,  Ajax ; '  and  he  replies 
'Thanks,  Agamemnon.'  What  think  you  of  this 
man  that  takes  me  for  the  general  ?  He  's  grown  a 
very  land-fish,  languageless,  a  monster.  A  plague 
of  opinion  !  a  man  may  wear  it  on  both  sides,  like  a 
leather  jerkin.  266 

Achilles.  Thou  must  be  my  ambassador  to  him, 
Thersites. 

Thersites.  Who,  I  ?  why,  he  '11  answer  nobody  ;  he 
professes  not  answering.  Speaking  is  for  beggars ; 
he  wears  his  tongue  in  's  arms.  I  will  put  on  his 
presence ;  let  Patroclus  make  demands  to  me,  you 
shall  see  the  pageant  of  Ajax. 

Achilles.  To  him,  Patroclus  ;  tell  him  I  humbly 
desire  the  valiant  Ajax  to  invite  the  most  valorous 
Hector  to  come  unarmed  to  my  tent,  and  to  procure 
safe-conduct  for  his  person  of  the  magnanimous  and 
most  illustrious  six-or-seven-times-honoured  captain- 
general  of  the  Grecian  army,  Agamemnon,  et  cet- 
era.    Do  this.  280 

Patroclus.    Jove  bless  great  Ajax. 

Thersites.    Hum ! 

Patroclus.    I  come  from  the  worthy  Achilles,  — 

Thei'sites.    Ha  ! 

Patroclus.  Who  most  humbly  desires  you  to  invite 
Hector  to  his  tent,  — 

Thersites.    Hum  ! 

Patroclus.  And  to  procure  safe-conduct  from  Aga- 
memnon. 


1 1 6  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  ill 

Thersites.    Agamemnon !  290 

Patroclus.    Ay,  my  lord. 

Thersites.    Ha ! 

Pcrtroclus.    What  say  you  to  't  ? 

Thersites.    God  b'  wi'  you,  with  all  my  heart. 

Patroclus.    Your  answer,  sir. 

Thersites.  If  to-morrow  be  a  fair  day,  by  eleven 
o'clock  it  will  go  one  way  or  other ;  howsoever,  he 
shall  pay  for  me  ere  he  has  me. 

Patroclus.    Your  answer,  sir. 

Thersites.    Fare  you  well,  'with  all  my  heart.  300 

Achilles.    Why,  but  he  is  not  in  this  tune,  is  he  ? 

Thersites.  No,  but  he  's  out  o'  tune  thus.  What 
music  will  be  in  him  when  Hector  has  knocked  out 
his  brains  I  know  not,  but,  I  am  sure,  none,  unless 
the  fiddler  Apollo  get  his  sinews  to  make  catlings  on. 

Achilles.  Come,  thou  shalt  bear  a  letter  to  him 
straight. 

Thersites.  Let  me  bear  another  to  his  horse,  for 
that  's  the  more  capable  creature. 

Achilles.    My    mind     is    troubled,    like    a    fountain 
stirr'd,  310 

And  I  myself  see  not  the  bottom  of  it. 

\_Exeunt  Achilles  and  Patroclus. 

Thersites.  Would  the  fountain  of  your  mind  were 
clear  again,  that  I  might  water  an  ass  at  it !  I  had 
rather  be  a  tick  in  a  sheep  than  such  a  valiant 
ignorance.  \Exit, 


^NEAS   MEETING   PaRIS 


ACT   IV 

Scene  I.     Ti-oy.     A  Street 

Enter,  from  one  side,  ^neas,  and  Servant  with  a  torch; 
from  the  other,  Paris,  Deiphobus,  Antenor,  Dio- 
MEDES,  and  others,  with  torches 

Paris.    See,  ho  !  who  is  that  there  ? 

Deiphobus,  It  is  the  Lord  ^neas. 

117 


1 1 8  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  IV 

^neas.    Is  the  prince  there  in  person?  — 
Had  I  so  good  occasion  to  He  long 
As  you,  Prince  Paris,  nothing  but  heavenly  business 
Should  rob  my  bed-mate  of  my  company. 

Diomedes.    That 's    my   mind   too.  —  Good    morrow, 
Lord  yEneas. 

Paris.    A  valiant  Greek,  ^neas,  —  take  his  hand,  — 
Witness  the  process  of  your  speech,  wherein 
You  told  how  Diomed,  a  whole  week  by  days, 
Did  haunt  you  in  the  field. 

y^neas.  Health  to  you,  valiant  sir, 

During  all  question  of  the  gentle  truce  ;  n 

But  when  I  meet  you  arm'd,  as  black  defiance 
As  heart  can  think  or  courage  execute ! 

Diomedes.    The  one  and  other  Diomed  embraces. 
Our  bloods  are  now  in  calm  ;  and,  so  long,  health ! 
But  when  contention  and  occasion  meet, 
By  Jove,  I  '11  play  the  hunter  for  thy  life 
With  all  my  force,  pursuit,  and  policy. 

yEneas.    And  thou  shalt  hunt  a  lion,  that  will  fly 
With  his  face  backward.  —  In  humane  gentleness,       20 
Welcome  to  Troy !  now,  by  Anchises'  life. 
Welcome,  indeed  !     By  Venus'  hand  I  swear, 
No  man  alive  can  love  in  such  a  sort 
The  thing  he  means  to  kill  more  excellently. 

Diomedes.    We  sympathize.  —  Jove,  let  ^neas  live, 
If  to  my  sword  his  fate  be  not  the  glory, 
A  thousand  complete  courses  of  the  sun  ! 
But,  in  mine  emulous  honour,  let  him  die, . 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and  Cressida  119 

With  every  joint  a  wound,  and  that  to-morrow  ! 

^neas.    We  know  each  other  well.  30 

Diomedes.   We    do,   and    long   to   know   each    other 
worse. 

Paris.    This  is  the  most   despiteful  gentle  greeting, 
The  noblest  hateful  love,  that  e'er  I  heard  of.  — 
What  business,  lord,  so  early  ? 

y^neas.    I  was  sent  for  to  the  king ;  but  why,  I  know 
not. 

Paris.    His  purpose  meets  you  ;  't  was  to  bring  this 
Greek 
To  Calchas'  house,  and  there  to  render  him. 
For  the  enfreed  Antenor,  the  fair  Cressid. 
Let 's  have  your  company,  or,  if  you  please. 
Haste  there  before  us.     I  constantly  do  think  —  40 

Or  rather,  call  my  thought  a  certain  knowledge  — 
My  brother  Troilus  lodges  there  to-night. 
Rouse  him,  and  give  him  note  of  our  approach, 
With  the  whole  quality  wherefore  ;  I  fear 
We  shall  be  much  unwelcome. 

yEneas.  That  I  assure  you  ; 

Troilus  had  rather  Troy  were  borne  to  Greece 
Than  Cressid  borne  from  Troy. 

Paris.  There  is  no  help  ; 

The  bitter  disposition  of  the  tinie 
Will  have  it  so.  —  On,  lord  ;  we  '11  follow  you.  49 

y^neas.    Good  morrow,  all.  \_Exit  with  Se?'vant. 

Paris.    And  tell  me,  noble  Diomed,  faith,  tell  me  true. 
Even  in  the  soul  of  sound  good-fellowship, 


1 20  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  IV 

Who,  in  your  thoughts,  merits  fair  Helen  best. 
Myself  or  Menelaus  ? 

Diojnedes.  Both  alike. 

He  merits  well  to  have  her  that  doth  seek  her, 
Not  making  any  scruple  of  her  soilure. 
With  such  a  hell  of  pain  and  world  of  charge ; 
And  you  as  well  to  keep  her,  that  defend  her, 
Not  palating  the  taste  of  her  dishonour. 
With  such  a  costly  loss  of  wealth  and  friends.  60 

He,  like  a  puling  cuckold,  would  drink  up 
The  lees  and  dregs  of  a  flat  tamed  piece  ; 
You,  hke  a  lecher,  out  of  whorish  loins 
Are  pleas'd  to  breed  out  your  inheritors. 
Both  merits  pois'd,  each  weighs  nor  less  nor  more, 
But  he  as  he,  the  heavier  for  a  whore. 

Paris.    You  are  too  bitter  to  your  countrywoman. 

Diomedes.    She  's  bitter  to   her   country.     Hear  me, 
Paris  : 
For  every  false  drop  in  her  bawdy  veins 
A  Grecian's  life  hath  sunk  ;  for  every  scruple  70 

Of  her  contaminated  carrion  weight, 
A  Trojan  hath  been  slain.     Since  she  could  speak, 
She  hath  not  given  so  many  good  words  breath 
As  for  her  Greeks  and  Trojans  suffer'd  death. 

Paris.    Fair  Diomed,  you  do  as  chapmen  do, 
Dispraise  the  thing  that  you  desire  to  buy ; 
But  we  in  silence  hold  this  virtue  well,  — 
We  '11  but  commend  what  we  intend  to  sell. 
Here  lies  our  way.  S^Exeunt. 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  121 

Scene  II.     The  Same.      Court  of  Pandarus's  Hoicse 
Enter  Troilus  and  Cressida 

Troilus.    Dear,   trouble    not   yourself ;     the   morn    is 
cold. 

Cressida.    Then,  sweet  my  lord,  I  '11  call  mine  uncle 
down ; 
He  shall  unbolt  the  gates. 

Troilus.  Trouble  him  not ; 

To  bed,  to  bed  !  sleep  kill  those  pretty  eyes, 
And  give  as  soft  attachment  to  thy  senses 
As  infants'  empty  of  all  thought ! 

Cressida.  Good  morrow,  then. 

Troilics.    I  prithee  now,  to  bed. 

Cressida.  Are  you  aweary  of  me  ? 

Troilus.    O  Cressida  !  but  that  the  busy  day, 
Wak'd  by  the  lark,  hath  rous'd  the  ribald  crows. 
And  dreaming  night  will  hide  our  joys  no  longer,         10 
I  would  not  from  thee. 

Cressida.  Night  hath  been  too  brief. 

Troilus.    Beshrew  the  witch  !  with  venomous  wights 
she   stays 
As  tediously  as  hell,  but  flies  the  grasps  of  love 
With  wings  more  momentary-swift  than  thought.  — 
You  will  catch  cold  and  curse  me. 

Cressida.  Prithee,  tarry.  — 

You  men  will  never  tarry. 
O  foolish  Cressid  !    I  might  have  still  held  off, 


122  I'roilus  and  Cressida  [Act  IV 

And  then  you  would  have  tarried.     Hark  1     There  's 
one  up. 
Pandarus.    [  Withi7i\  What,  's  all  the  doors  open  here  ? 
Troilus.    It  is  your  uncle.  20 

Cressida.    A    pestilence  on    him !    now  will    he    be 
mocking ; 
I  shall  have  such  a  life ! 

Enter  Pandarus 

Pandarus.  How  now,  how  now !  how  go  maiden- 
heads ?  —  Here,  you  maid !  where  's  my  cousin 
Cressid  ? 

Cressida.  Go  hang  yourself,  you  naughty  mock- 
ing uncle  !  You  bring  me  to  do,  and  then  you  flout 
me  too. 

Pa?idarus.  To  do  what  ?  to  do  what  ?  let  her  say 
what ;  what  have  I  brought  you  to  do  ?  30 

Cressida.    Come,  come,  beshrew  your  heart !  you  '11 
■  ne'er  be  good, 
Nor  suffer  others. 

Pandarus.  Ha,  ha  !  Alas,  poor  wretch  !  ah,  poor 
capocchia  !  hast  not  slept  to-night  ?  would  he  not,  a 
naughty  man,  let  it  sleep  ?  a  bugbear  take  him ! 

Cressida.    Did    not    I    tell    you? — Would   he* were 
knock'd  i'  the  head  !  —  \Knocking  within. 

Who  's  that  at  door  ?  good  uncle,  go  and  see.  — 
My  lord,  come  you  again  into  my  chamber. 
You  smile  and  mock  me,  as  if  I  meant  naughtily. 

Troilus.    Ha,  ha  ! 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and   Cressida  123 

Cressida.    Come,  you    are    deceiv'd,    I  think  of  no 
such  thing.  —  [Knocking  within. 

How  earnestly  they  knock  !  —  Pray  you,  come  in  :        42 
I  would  not  for  half  Troy  have  you  seen  here. 

\Exeunt  Troilus  and  Cressida. 
Pandarus.    Who  's  there  ?  what 's  the  matter  ?  will 
you   beat  down  the  door  ?     How  now  !  what 's  the 
matter  ? 

Enter  ^neas 

^neas.    Good  morrow,  lord,  good  morrow. 

Pandarus.  Who 's  there  ?  my  lord  ^neas  !  By 
my  troth,  I  knew  you  not ;  what  news  with  you  so 
early  ? 

yEneas.    Is  not  Prince  Troilus  here  ?  51 

Pandarus.    Here  !  what  should  he  do  here  ? 

JEneas.    Come,  he  is  here,  my  lord  ;  do  not  deny  him. 
It  doth  import  him  much  to  speak  with  me. 

Pandarus.  Is  he  here,  say  you  ?  't  is  more  than  I 
know,  I  '11  be  sworn  ;  for  my  own  part,  I  came  in 
late.     What  should  he  do  here? 

yEneas.  Who !  —  nay,  then,  come,  come,  you  '11 
do  him  wrong  ere  you  're  ware.  You  '11  be  so  true 
to  him,  to  be  false  to  him.  Do  not  you  know  of 
him,  but  yet  go  fetch  him  hither ;  go.  61 

Re-enter  Troilus 

Troilus.    How  now  !  what 's  the  matter  ? 
JEneas.    My  lord,   I  scarce    have    leisure    to   salute 
you, 


124  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iv 

My  matter  is  so  rash.     There  is  at  hand 
Paris  your  brother,  and  Deiphobus, 
The  Grecian  Diomed,  and  our  Antenor 
DeKver'd  to  us  ;  and  for  him  forthwith, 
Ere  the  first  sacrifice,  within  this  hour, 
We  must  give  up  to  Diomedes'  hand 
The  Lady  Cressida. 

Troilus.  Is  it  so  concluded  ?  70 

^neas.    By  Priam  and  the  general  state  of  Troy. 
They  are  at  hand  and  ready  to  effect  it. 

Tf'oilus.    How  my  achievements  mock  me  ! 
I  will  go  meet  them  ;  —  and,  my  Lord  ^neas, 
We  met  by  chance,  you  did  not  find  me  here. 

^neas.    Good,  good,  my  lord ;  the  secrets  of  nature 
Have  not  more  gift  in  taciturnity. 

\Exeunt  Troilus  and  ^neas. 

Pandai'us.  Is  't  possible  ?  no  sooner  got  but  lost  ? 
The  devil  take  Antenor  !  the  young  prince  will  go 
mad.  A  plague  upon  Antenor  !  I  would  they  had 
broke  's  neck !  81 

Re-enter  Cressida 

Cressida.  How  now  !  what 's  the  matter  ?  who  was 
here  ? 

Pandarus.    Ah,  ah  ! 

Cressida.  Why  sigh  you  so  profoundly  ?  where  's 
my  lord  ?  gone  !  Tell  me,  sweet  uncle,  what 's  the 
matter  ? 

Pandarus.  Would  I  were  as  deep  under  the  earth 
as  I  am  above  ! 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  125 

Cressida.    O  the  gods  !  what 's  the  matter  ?  90 

Pandarus.  Prithee,  get  thee  in.  Would  thou  hadst 
ne'er  been  born  !  I  knew  thou  wouldst  be  his  death. 
O,  poor  gentleman  !     A  plague  upon  Antenor  ! 

Cressida.  Good  uncle,  I  beseech  you,  on  my  knees 
I  beseech  you,  what 's  the  matter  ? 

Pandarus.  Thou  must  be  gone,  wench,  thou  must 
be  gone  ;  thou  art  changed  for  Antenor.  Thou  must 
to  thy  father,  and  be  gone  from  Troilus ;  't  will  be 
his  death,  't  will  be  his  bane,  he  cannot  bear  it. 

Cressida.    O  you  immortal  gods !  —  I  will  not  go. 

Pandarus.    Thou  must.  loi 

Cressida.    I  will  not,  uncle.     I  have  forgot  my  father  ; 
I  know  no  touch  of  consanguinity, 
No  kin,  no  love,  no  blood,  no  soul  so  near  me 
As  the  sweet  Troilus.  —  O  you  gods  divine  ! 
Make  Cressid's  name  the  very  crown  of  falsehood 
If  ever  she  leave  Troilus  !     Time,  force,  and  death, 
Do  to  this  body  what  extremes  you  can  ; 
But  the  strong  base  and  building  of  my  love 
Is  as  the  very  centre  of  the  earth,  no 

Drawing  all  things  to  it.     I  '11  go  in  and  weep,  — 

Pandarus.    Do,  do. 

Cressida.    Tear  my  bright  hair  and  scratch  my  praised 
cheeks. 
Crack  my  clear  voice  with  sobs  and  break  my  heart 
With  sounding  Troilus.     I  will  not  go  from  Troy  ! 

\_Exeunt. 


126  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  IV 

Scene  III.      The  Same.    Street  before  Pandarus' s  House 

Enter  Paris,  Troilus,  tEneas,  Deiphobus,  Antenor, 
and  DiOMEDES 

Paris.    It  is  great  morning,  and  the  hour  prefix'd 
Of  her  delivery  to  this  valiant  Greek 
Comes  fast  upon.  —  Good  my  brother  Troilus, 
Tell  you  the  lady  what  she  is  to  do. 
And  haste  her  to  the  purpose. 

Troilus.  Walk  into  her  house, 

I  '11  bring  her  to  the  Grecian  presently  ; 
And  to  his  hand  when  I  deliver  her, 
Think  it  an  altar,  and  thy  brother  Troilus 
A  priest  there  offering  to  it  his  own  heart.  \Exit. 

Paris.    I  know  what  't  is  to  love,  .    lo 

And  would,  as  I  shall  pity,  I  could  help  !  — 
Please  you  walk  in,  my  lords.  [Exeunt. 

Scene  IV.     The  Sa??ie.     Pandarus^s  House 
Enter  Pandarus  and  Cressida 

Pandarus.    Be  moderate,  be  moderate. 

Cressida.    Why  tell  you  me  of  moderation  ? 
The  grief  is  fine,  full,  perfect,  that  I  taste,   ' 
And  violenteth  in  a  sense  as  strong 
As  that  which  causeth  it ;  how  can  I  moderate  it  ? 
If  I  could  temporize  with  my  affection, 
Or  brew  it  to  a  weak  and  colder  palate. 
The  like  allayment  could  I  give  my  grief. 


Scene  IV]  Troilus  and   Cressida'  127 

My  love  admits  no  qualifying  dross  ; 
No  more  my  grief,  in  such  a  precious  loss.  10 

Pandarus.    Here,  here,  here  he  comes.  — 

Enter  Troilus 

Ah,  sweet  ducks ! 

Cressida.    O  Troilus  !  Troilus  !  \_Embracmg  him. 

Pandarus.    What  a  pair  of  spectacles  is  here  !    Let 
me  embrace  too,     '  O  heart,''  as  the  goodly  saying  is, 

' O  heart,  heavy  hea?'t, 

Why  sights t  thou  without  breaking  ?  ' 
where  he  answers  again, 

'  Because  thou  canst  not  ease  thy  smart 

By  fi'iendship  nor  by  speaking.^  ,  20 

There  was  never  a  truer  rhyme.  Let  us  cast  away 
nothing,  for  we  may  live  to  have  need  of  such  a  verse  ; 
we  see  it,  we  see  it.  —  How  now,  lambs  ? 

Troilus.    Cressid,  I  love  thee  in  so  strain'd  a  purity 
That  the  blest  gods,  as  angry  with  my  fancy, 
More  bright  in  zeal  than  the  devotion  which 
Cold  lips  blow  to  their  deities,  take  thee  from  me. 

Cressida.   Have  the  gods  envy  ?  28 

Pandarus.    Ay,  ay,  ay,  ay ;   't  is  too  plain  a  case. 

C?'essida.    And  is  it  true  that  I  must  go  from  Troy  ? 

Troilus.    A  hateful  truth. 

Cressida.  What,  and  from  Troilus  too  ? 

Troilus.    From  Troy  and  Troilus. 

Cressida.  Is  it  possible  ? 

Troilus.    And  suddenly  ;  where  injury  of  chance 


128  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iv 

Puts  back  leave-taking,  justles  roughly  by 

All  time  of  pause,  rudely  beguiles  our  lips 

Of  all  rejoindure,  forcibly  prevents 

Our  lock'd  embrasures,  strangles  our  dear  vows 

Even  in  the  birth  of  our  own  labouring  breath. 

We  two,  that  with  so  many  thousand  sighs 

Did  buy  each  other,  must  poorly  sell  ourselves  40 

With  the  rude  brevity  and  discharge  of  one. 

Injurious  time  now  with  a  robber's  haste 

Crams  his  rich  thievery  up,  he  knows  not  how ; 

As  many  farewells  as  be  stars  in  heaven. 

With  distinct  breath  and  consign'd  kisses  to  them, 

He  fumbles  up  into  a  loose  adieu, 

And  scants  us  with  a  single  famish 'd  kiss. 

Distasted  with  the  salt  of  broken  tears. 

yE7ieas.  [  Withi7i]  My  lord,  is  the  lady  ready  ? 

Troilus.    Hark !    you  are  called  ;    some  say  the  Ge- 
nius so  50 
Cries  '  come  '  to  him  that  instantly  must  die.  — 
Bid  them  have  patience  ;  she  shall  come  anon. 

Pandarus,    Where  are  my  tears  ?  rain,  to  lay  this 
wind,  or  my  heart  will  be  blown  up  by  the  root.    \Exit. 

Cressida.    I  must  then  to  the  Grecians  ? 

Troilus.  No  remedy. 

Cressida.     A    woful     Cressid     'mongst    the    merry 
Greeks ! 
When  shall  we  see  again  ? 

Troilus.    Hear  me,  my  love :   be   thou   but  true  of 
heart,  — 


Scene  IV]  Troilus  and  Cressida  129 

Cressida.    I  true  !  how  now !  what  wicked  deem  is 
this? 

Troilus.    Nay,  we  must  use  expostulation  kindly,      60 
For  it  is  parting  from  us. 
I  speak  not  '  be  thou  true,'  as  fearing  thee, 
For  I  will  throw  my  glove  to  Death  himself 
That  there  's  no  maculation  in  thy  heart, 
But  '  be  thou  true,'  say  I,  to  fashion  in 
My  secret  protestation  ;  be  thou  true. 
And  I  will  see  thee. 

Cressida.   O,  you  shall  be  expos'd,  my  lord,  to  dan- 
gers 
As  infinite  as  imminent !  but  I  '11  be  true. 

Troilus.    And   I  '11  grow  friend  with  danger.     Wear 
this  sleeve.  70 

Cressida.    And  you  this  glove.    When  shall  I  see  you  ? 

Troilus.    I  will  corrupt  the  Grecian  sentinels. 
To  give  thee  nightly  visitation. 
But  yet  be  true. 

Cressida.  O  heavens  !  '  be  true  '  again  ! 

Ti'oilus.    Hear  why  I  speak  it,  love. 
The  Grecian  youths  are  full  of  quality ; 
They  're  loving,  well  compos 'd  with  gifts  of  nature, 
And  flowing  o'er  with  arts  and  exercise. 
How  novelty  may  move,  and  parts  with  person, 
Alas,  a  kind  of  godly  jealousy —  80 

Which,  I  beseech  you,  call  a  virtuous  sin  — 
Makes  me  afeard. 

Cressida.  O  heavens  !  you  love  me  not. 

TROILUS  —  9 


ijo  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iv 

Troilus.    Die  I  a  villain,  then  ! 
In  this  I  do  not  call  your  faith  in  question 
So  mainly  as  my  merit.      I  cannot  sing, 
Nor  heel  the  high  lavolt,  nor  sweeten  talk. 
Nor  play  at  subtle  games,  —  fair  virtues  all. 
To  which   the    Grecians   are  most  prompt   and   preg- 
nant, — 
But  I  can  tell  that  in  each  grace  of  these 
There  lurks  a  still  and  dumb-discoursive  devil  90 

That  tempts  most  cunningly  ;  but  be  not  tempted. 

Cirssida.    Do  you  think  I  will  ? 

Troilus.    No. 
But  something  may  be  done  that  we  will  not ; 
And  sometimes  we  are  devils  to  ourselves 
When  we  will  tempt  the  frailty  of  our  powers, 
Presuming  on  their  changeful  potency. 

^neas.  \Within\  Nay,  good  my  lord, — 

Troilus.  Come,  kiss  ;  and  let  us  part. 

Paris.  [  IVilhn']  Brother  Troilus  ! 

Troilus.  Good  brother,  come  you  hither  ; 

And  bring  JEneas  and  the  Grecian  with  you.  loc 

Cressida.    My  lord,  will  you  be  true  ? 

Troilus.    Who,  I  ?  alas,  it  is  my  vice,  my  fault. 
Whiles  others  fish  with  craft  for  great  opinion, 
I  with  great  truth  catch  mere  simplicity  ; 
Whilst  some  with  cunning  gild  their  copper  crowns. 
With  truth  and  plainness  I  do  wear  mine  bare. 
Fear  not  my  truth ;  the  moral  of  my  wit 
Is  '  plain  and  true,'  — there  's  all  the  reach  of  it. — 


Scene  IV]  Troilus  and  Cressida  131 

Enter  ^neas,  Paris,  Antenor,  Deiphobus,  and 

DiOMEDES 

Welcome,  Sir  Diomed  !  here  is  the  lady 

Which  for  Antenor  we  deliver  you.  no 

At  the  port,  lord,  I  '11  give  her  to  thy  hand, 

And  by  the  way  possess  thee  what  she  is. 

Entreat  her  fair  ;  and,  by  my  soul,  fair  Greek, 

If  e'er  thou  stand  at  mercy  of  my  sword, 

Name  Cressid  and  thy  life  shall  be  as  safe 

As  Priam  is  in  Ilion. 

Diomedes.  Fair  Lady  Cressid, 

So  please  you,  save  the  thanks  this  prince  expects. 
The  lustre  in  your  eye,  heaven  in  your  cheek, 
Pleads  your  fair  usage  ;  and  to  Diomed 
You  shall  be  mistress  and  command  him  wholly.         120 

Troilus.    Grecian,  thou  dost  not  use  me  courteously. 
To  shame  the  zeal  of  my  petition  to  thee 
In  praising  her.     I  tell  thee,  lord  of  Greece, 
She  is  as  far  high-soaring  o'er  thy  praises 
As  thou  unworthy  to  be  call'd  her  servant. 
I  charge  thee  use  her  well,  even  for  my  charge ; 
For,  by  the  dreadful  Pluto,  if  thou  do'st  not. 
Though  the  great  bulk  Achilles  be  thy  guard, 
I  '11  cut  thy  throat. 

Diomedes.  O,  be  not  mov'd,  Prince  Troilus. 

Let  me  be  privileg'd  by  my  place  and  message  130 

To  be  a  speaker  free ;  when  I  am  hence, 
I  '11  answer  to  my  lust,  and  know  you,  lord. 


132  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iv 

I  '11  nothing  do  on  charge.     To  her  own  worth 
She  shall  be  priz'd  ;  but  that  you  say  '  be  't  so,' 
I  '11  speak  it  in  my  spirit  and  honour,  '  no.' 

Troilus.    Come,  to  the  port.  —  I  '11  tell  thee,  Diomed, 
This  brave  shall  oft  make  thee  to  hide  thy  head.  — - 
Lady,  give  me  your  hand,  and,  as  we  walk. 
To  our  own  selves  bend  we  our  needful  talk. 

[Exeunt  Troilus,  Cressida,  and  Dioinedes. 

\Trumpet  within. 

Paris.    Hark !  Hector's  trumpet. 

jEneas.  How  have  we  spent  this  morning ! 

The  prince  must  think  me  tardy  and  remiss  141 

That  swore  to  ride  before  him  to  the  field. 

Paris.    'T  is   Troilus'  fault.     Come,  come,  to  field 
with  him. 

Deiphobus.   Let  us  make  ready  straight. 

jEneas.  Yea,  with  a  bridegroom's  fresh  alacrity. 
Let  us  address  to  tend  on  Hector's  heels. 
The  glory  of  our  Troy  doth  this  day  lie 
On  his  fair  worth  and  single  chivalry.  \Exeunt. 

Scene  V.     The  Grecian   Camp.     Lists  set  out 

Enter  Ajax,  ar77ied ;  Agamemnon,  Achilles,  Patro- 
CLUS,  Menelaus,  Ulysses,  Nestor,  and  others 

Agamemnon.    Here    art   thou   in    appointment   fresh 
and  fair. 
Anticipating  time  with  starting  courage. 
Give  with  thy  trumpet  a  loud  note  to  Troy, 


Scene  V]  Troilus  and   Cressida  133 

Thou  dreadful  Ajax,  that  the  appalled  air 
May  pierce  the  head  of  the  great  combatant 
And  hale  him  hither. 

Ajax.  Thou,  trumpet,  there  's  my  purse. 

Now  crack  thy  lungs,  and  split  thy  brazen  pipe ; 
Blow,  villain,  till  thy  sphered  bias  cheek 
Outswell  the  colic  of  puff'd  Aquilon. 
Come,  stretch  thy  chest,  and  let  thy  eyes  spout  blood  ;  10 
Thou  blow'st  for  Hector.  \Trumpet  sounds. 

Ulysses.    No  trumpet  answers. 

Achilles.  'T  is  but  early  days. 

Agamemnon.    Is   not   yond    Diomed,   with    Calchas' 
daughter  ? 

Ulysses.    'T  is  he,  I  ken  the  manner  of  his  gait. 
He  rises  on  the  toe  ;  that  spirit  of  his 
In  aspiration  lifts  him  from  the  earth. 

Enter  Diomedes,  with  Cressida 

Agamemnon.    Is  this  the  lady  Cressid  ? 

Diomedes.  Even  she. 

Agamemnon.    Most  dearly  welcome   to    the   Greeks, 
sweet  lady. 

Nestor.    Our  general  doth  salute  you  with  a  kiss. 

Ulysses.    Yet  is  the  kindness  but  particular ;  20 

'T  were  better  she  were  kiss'd  in  general. 

Nestor.    And  very  courtly  counsel ;  I'll  begin. — 
So  much  for  Nestor. 

Achilles.    I  '11  take  that  winter  from  your  lips,  fair 
lady; 
Achilles  bids  you  welcome. 


134  Xroilus  and   Cressida  [Act  iv 

Menelaus.   I  had  good  argument  for  kissing  once. 

Patroclus.    But  that 's  no  argument  for  kissing  now  ; 
For  thus  popp'd  Paris  in  his  hardiment, 
And  parted  thus  you  and  your  argument.  29 

Ulysses.   O  deadly  gall,  and  theme  of  all  our  scorns, 
For  which  we  lose  our  heads  to  gild  his  horns! 

Patroclus.    The  first  was  Menelaus'  kiss ;  this,  mine. 
Patroclus  kisses  you. 

Menelaus.  O,  this  is  trim! 

Patroclus.    Paris  and  I  kiss  evermore  for  him. 

Menelaus.    I  '11  have  my  kiss,  sir.  —  Lady,  by  your 
leave. 

Cressida.    In  kissing,  do  you  render  or  receive  ? 

Patroclus.    Both  take  and  give. 

Cressida.  I  '11  make  my  match  to  live, 

The  kiss  you  take  is  better  than  you  give ; 
Therefore  no  kiss. 

Menelaus.    I  '11  give  you  boot,  I'll  give  you  three  for 
one.  40 

Cressida.    You  're   an   odd  man  ;  give  even,  or  give 
none. 

Menelaus.    An  odd  man,  lady  !  every  man  is  odd. 

Cressida.    No,  Paris  is  not ;  for  you  know  't  is  true 
That  you  are  odd,  and  he  is  even  with  you. 

Menelaus.    You  fillip  me  o'  the  head. 

Cressida.  No,  I  '11  be  sworn. 

Ulysses.    It  were    no    match,  your    nail    against  his 
horn.  — 
May  I,  sweet  lady,  beg  a  kiss  of  you  ? 


Scene  V]  Troilus  and  Cressida  135 

Cressida.    You  may. 

Ulysses.  I  do  desire  it. 

Cressida.  Why,  beg,  then. 

Ulysses.    Why  then,  for  Venus'  sake,  give  me  a  kiss, 
When  Helen. is  a  maid  again,  and  his.  50 

Cressida.    I  am  your  debtor,  claim  it  when  't  is  due, 

Ulysses.    Never  's  my  day,  and  then  a  kiss  of  youo 

Diomedes.    Lady,    a    word.     I  '11   bring  you   to  your 
father.  \^Exit  with  Cressida. 

Nestor.    A  woman  of  quick  sense. 

Ulysses.  Fie,  fie  upon  her  ! 

Ther^e  's  language  in  her  eye,  her  cheek,  her  hp, 
Xay,  her  foot  speaks ;  her  wanton  spirits  look  out 
At  every  joint  and  motive  of  her  body. 
(),  these  encounterers,  so  glib  of  tongue, 
I'hat  give  a  coasting  welcome  ere  it  comes, 
And  wide  unclasp  the  tables  of  their  thoughts  60 

To  every  ticklish  reader !  set  them  down 
For  sluttish  spoils  of  opportunity 
And  daughters  of  the  game.  \Trumpet  within. 

All.    The  Trojans'  trumpet. 

Aganienino?i.  Yonder  comes  the  troop. 

Enter    Hector,  armed ;  ^neas,   Troilus,    and  other 
Trojans,  with  Attendants 

.^neas.    Hail,  all  you  state  of  Greece !   what  shall 
be  done 
To  him  that  victory  commands  ?  or  do  you  purpose 


136  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iv 

A  victor  shall  be  known  ?  will  you  the  knights 

Shall  to  the  edge  of  all  extremity 

Pursue  each  other,  or  shall  be  divided 

By  any  voice  or  order  of  the  field  ?  70 

Hector  bade  ask. 

Agamemnon.  Which  way  would  Hector  have  it  ? 

vEneas,    He  cares  not ;  he  '11  obey  conditions. 

Achilles.    'T  is  done  like  Hector  ;  but  securely  done, 
A  little  proudly,  and  great  deal  misprizing 
The  knight  oppos'd. 

yEneas.  If  not  Achilles,  sir, 

What  is  your  name  ? 

Achilles.  If  not  Achilles,  nothing. 

yEneas.    Therefore  Achilles ;  but,  whate'er,  know  this : 
In  the  extremity  of  great  and  little, 
Valour  and  pride  excel  themselves  in  Hector ; 
The  one  almost  as  infinite  as  all,  80 

The  other  blank  as  nothing.     Weigh  him  well, 
And  that  which  looks  like  pride  is  courtesy. 
This  Ajax  is  half  made  of  Hector's  blood, 
In  love  whereof  half  Hector  stays  at  home ; 
Half  heart,  half  hand,  half  Hector  comes  to  seek 
This  blended  knight,  half  Trojan  and  half  Greek. 

Achilles.    A  maiden  battle,  then  ?  —  0,1  perceive  you  ! 

Re-enter  Diomedes 

Agamemnon.    Here  is  Sir  Diomed.    Go,  gentle  knight, 
Stand  by  our  Ajax,     As  you  and  Lord  ^neas 
Consent  upon  the  order  of  their  fight,  90 


Scene  V]  Troilus  and  Cressida  137 

So  be  it,  —  either  to  the  uttermost 

Or  else  a  breath  ;  the  combatants  being  kin 

Half  stints  their  strife  before  their  strokes  begin. 

\Ajax  and  Hector  enter  the  lists. 

Ulysses.    They  are  oppos'd  already. 

Agamemnon.    What  Trojan  is  that  same  that  looks  so 
heavy  ? 

Ulysses.    The  youngest  son  of  Priam,  a  true  knight, 
Not  yet  mature,  yet  matchless,  firm  of  word, 
Speaking  in  deeds,  and  deedless  in  his  tongue  ; 
Not  soon  provok'd,  nor  being  provok'd  soon  calm'd ; 
His  heart  and  hand  both  open  and  both  free  ;  100 

For  what  he  has  he  gives,  what  thinks  he  shows. 
Yet  gives  he  not  till  judgment  guide  his  bounty. 
Nor  dignifies  an  impair  thought  with  breath  ; 
Manly  as  Hector,  but  more  dangerous  ; 
For  Hector  in  his  blaze  of  wrath  subscribes 
To  tender  objects,  but  he  in  heat  of  action 
Is  more  vindicative  than  jealous  love. 
They  call  him  Troilus,  and  on  him  erect 
A  second  hope,  as  fairly  built  as  Hector. 
Thus  says  ^Eneas  ;  one  that  knows  the  youth  no 

Even  to  his  inches,  and  with  private  soul 
Did  in  great  Ilion  thus  translate  him  to  me. 

\j\larum.     Hector  and  Aj ax  fight. 

Agamemnon.    They  are  in  action. 

Nestor.    Now,  Ajax,  hold  thine  own  ! 

Troilus.  Hector,  thou  sleep'st ; 

Awake  thee  1 


138  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  IV 

Agamemnon,    His  blows  are  well  dispos'd.  —  There, 
Ajax ! 

Diomedes.    You  must  no  more.  \Trumpets  cease. 

^7ieas.  Princes,  enough,  so  please  you. 

AJax.    I  am  not  warm  yet ;  let  us  fight  again. 

Diomedes.    As  Hector  pleases. 

Hector.  Why,  then  will  I  no  more.  — 

Thou  art,  great  lord,  my  father's  sister's  son,  120 

A  cousin-german  to  great  Priam's  seed; 
The  obligation  of  our  blood  forbids 
A  gory  emulation  'twixt  us  twain. 
Were  thy  commixtion  Greek  and  Trojan  so 
That  thou  couldst  say  '  This  hand  is  Grecian  all 
And  this  is  Trojan,  the  sinews  of  this  leg 
All  Greek  and  this  all  Troy,  my  mother's  blood 
Runs  on  the  dexter  cheek  and  this  sinister 
Bounds  in  my  father's,"  by  Jove  multipotent, 
Thou  shouldst  not  bear  from  me  a  Greekish  member 
Wherein  my  sword  had  not  impressure  made  131 

Of  our  rank  feud  ;  but  the  just  gods  gainsay 
That  any  drop  thou  borrow'dst  from  thy  mother. 
My  sacred  aunt,  should  by  my  mortal  sword 
Be  drain'd  !  Let  me  embrace  thee,  Ajax.  — 
By  him  that  thunders,  thou  hast  lusty  arms  ! 
Hector  would  have  them  fall  upon  him  thus. 
Cousin,  all  honour  to  thee  ! 

Ajax.  I  thank  thee,  Hector ; 

Thou  art  too  gentle  and  too  free  a  man. 
I  came  to  kill  thee,  cousin,  and  bear  hence  140 


Scene  V]  Troilus  and   Cressida  139 

A  great  addition  earned  in  thy  death. 

Hector.    Not  Neoptolemus  so  mirable, 
On  whose  bright  crest  Fame  with  her  loud'st  oyes 
Cries  '  This  is  he,'  could  promise  to  himself 
A  thought  of  added  hofiour  torn  from  Hector. 

^"Eneas.    There  is  expectance  here  from  both  the  sides 
What  further  you  will  do. 

Hector.  We  '11  answer  it ; 

The  issue  is  embracement.  —  Ajax,  farewell. 

Ajax.    If  I  might  in  entreaties  find  success  — 
As  seld  I  have  the  chance  —  I  would  desire  150 

My  famous  cousin  to  our  Grecian  tents. 

Diomedes.    'T  is     Agamemnon's     wish,    and     great 
Achilles 
Doth  long  to  see  unarm 'd  the  valiant  Hector. 

Hector.    vEneas,  call  my  brother  Troilus  to  me, 
And  signify  this  loving  interview 
To  the  expecters  of  our  Trojan  part ; 
Desire  them  home.  —  Give  me  thy  hand,  my  cousin  ; 
I  will  go  eat  with  thee  and  see  your  knights. 

Ajax,    Great  Agamemnon  comes  to  meet  us  here. 

Hector.    The  worthiest  of  them  tell  me  name  by  name ; 
But' for  Achilles,  mine  own  searching  eyes  161 

Shall  find  him  by  his  large  and  portly  size. 

Agamemnon.    Worthy  of  arms  !  as  welcome  as  to  one 
That  would  be  rid  of  such  an  enemy. 
But  that 's  no  welcome  ;  understand  more  clear, 
What 's  past  and  what  's  to  come  is  strew'd  with  husks 
And  formless  ruin  of  oblivion, 


140  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  IV 

But  in  this  extant  moment  faith  and  troth, 

Strain 'd  purely  from  all  hollow  bias-drawing, 

Bids  thee,  with  most  divine  integrity,  170 

From  heart  of  very  heart,  great  Hector,  welcome. 

Hector.    I  thank  thee,  most  imperious  Agamemnon. 

Agatnemnon.    [To    Troi'hs]    My   well-fam'd    lord    of 
Troy,  no  less  to  you. 

Menelaus.   Let    me    confirm   my   princely   brother's 
greeting  ; 
You  brace  of  warlike  brothers,  welcome  hither. 

Hector.    Who  must  we  answer  ? 

Alneas.  The  noble  Menelaus. 

Hector.    O,    you,    my   lord  ?    by    Mars    his    gauntlet, 
thanks ! 
Mock  not  that  I  affect  the  untraded  oath  ; 
Your  quondam  wife  swears  still  by  Venus'  glove. 
She  's  well,  but  bade  me  not  commend  her  to  you.      180 

Menelaus.    Name  her  not  now,  sir;  she  's  a  deadly 
theme. 

Hector.    O,  pardon  !  I  offend. 

Nestor.    I  have,  thou  gallant  Trojan,  seen  thee  oft, 
Labouring  for  destiny,  make  cruel  way 
Through  ranks  of  Greekish  youth,  and  I  have  seen  thee, 
As  hot  as  Perseus,  spur  thy  Phrygian  steed, 
Despising  many  forfeits  and  subduements. 
When  thou  hast  hung  thy  advanced  sword  i'  the  air. 
Not  letting  it  decline  on  the  declin'd, 
That  I  have  said  to  some  my  standers  by,  190 

'  Lo,  Jupiter  is  yonder,  dealing  life  !  ' 


Scene  V]  Troilus   and   Cressida  141 

And  I  have  seen  thee  pause  and  take  thy  breath, 

When  that  a  ring  of  Greeks  have  hemm'd  thee  in, 

Like  an  Olympian  wrestUng ;  this  have  I  seen, 

But  this  thy  countenance,  still  lock'd  in  steel, 

I  never  saw  till  now.     I  knew  thy  grandsire, 

And  once  fought  with  him  ;  he  was  a  soldier  good, 

But,  by  great  Mars,  the  captain  of  us  all. 

Never  like  thee.     Let  an  old  man  embrace  thee ; 

And,  worthy  warrior,  welcome  to  our  tents.  200 

^neas.    'T  is  the  old  Nestor. 

Hector.   Let  me  embrace  thee,  good  old  chronicle, 
That  hast  so  long  walk'd  hand  in  hand  with  Time. 
Most  reverend  Nestor,  I  am  glad  to  clasp  thee. 

Nestor.    I  would  my  arms  could  match  thee  in  con- 
tention, 
As  they  contend  with  thee  in  courtesy. 

Hector.    I  would  they  could. 

Nestor.    Ha ! 
By  this  white  beard,  I  'd  fight  with  thee  to-morrow. 
Well,  welcome,  welcome  !  —  I  have  seen  the  time  — 

Ulysses.    I  wonder  now  how  yonder  city  stands        211 
When  we  have  here  her  base  and  pillar  by  us. 

Hector.    I  know  your  favour,  Lord  Ulysses,  well. 
Ah,  sir,  there  's  many  a  Greek  and  Trojan  dead 
Since  first  I  saw  yourself  and  Diomed 
In  Ilion,  on  your  Greekish  embassy. 

Ulysses.    Sir,  I  foretold  you  then  what  would  ensue. 
My  prophecy  is  but  half  his  journey  yet ; 
For  yonder  walls,  that  pertly  front  your  town, 


142  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iv 

Yond  towers,  whose  wanton  tops  do  buss  the  clouds, 
Must  kiss  their  own  feet. 

Hector.  I  must  not  believe  you.      221 

There  they  stand  yet,  and  modestly  I  think 
The  fall  of  every  Phrygian  stone  will  cost 
A  drop  of  Grecian  blood ;  the  end  crowns  all, 
And  that  old  common  arbitrator,  Time, 
Will  one  day  end  it. 

Ulysses.  So  to  him  we  leave  it. 

Most  gentle  and  most  valiant  Hector,  welcome. 
After  the  general,  I  beseech  you  next 
To  feast  with  me  and  see  me  at  my  tent. 

Achilles.  I  shall  forestall  thee,  Lord  Ulysses,  thou !  — 
Now,  Hector,  I  have  fed  mine  eyes  on  thee  ;  231 

I  have  with  exact  view  perus'd  thee,  Hector, 
And  quoted  joint  by  joint. 

Hector.  Is  this  Achilles  ? 

Achilles.    I  am  Achilles. 

Hector.    Stand  fair,  I  pray  thee  ;  let  me  look  on  thee. 

Achilles.    Behold  thy  fill. 

Hector.  Nay,  I  have  done  already. 

Achilles.  Thou  art  too  brief ;  I  will  the  second  time. 
As  I  would  buy  thee,  view  thee  limb  by  limb. 

Hector.  O,  like  a  book  of  sport  thou  'It  read  me  o'er; 
But  there  's  more  in  me  than  thou  understand'st.  240 
Why  dost  thou  so  oppress  me  with  thine  eye  ? 

Achilles.    Tell  me,  you  heavens,  in  which  part  of  his 
body 
Shall  I  destroy  him  t  whether  there,  or  there,  or  there  ? 


Scene  V]  Troilus   and   Cressida  143 

That  I  may  give  the  local  wound  a  name 
And  make  distinct  the  very  breach  whereout 
Hector's  great  spirit  flew ;  answer  me,  heavens  ! 

Hector.    It  would  discredit  the  blest  gods,  proud  man, 
To  answer  such  a  question.     Stand  again. 
Think'st  thou  to  catch  my  life  so  pleasantly 
As  to  prenominate  in  nice  conjecture  250 

Where  thou  wilt  hit  me  dead  ? 

Achilles.  I  tell  thee,  yea. 

Hector.    Wert  thou  an  oracle  to  tell  me  so, 
I  'd  not  believe  thee.     Henceforth  guard  thee  well ; 
For  I  '11  not  kill  thee  there,  nor  there,  nor  there, 
But,  by  the  forge  that  stithied  Mars  his  helm, 
I  '11  kill  thee  every  where,  yea,  o'er  and  o'er.  — 
You  wisest  Grecians,  pardon  me  this  brag ; 
His  insolence  draws  folly  from  my  lips. 
But  I  '11  endeavour  deeds  to  match  these  words. 
Or  may  I  never  — 

Ajax.  Uo  not  chafe  thee,  cousin.  —      260 

And  you,  Achilles,  let  these  threats  alone 
Till  accident  or  purpose  bring  you  to  't. 
You  may  have  every  day  enough  of  Hector 
If  you  have  stomach  ;  the  general  state,  I  fear. 
Can  scarce  entreat  you  to  be  odd  with  him. 

Hector.    I  pray  you,  let  us  see  you  in  the  field  ; 
We  have  had  pelting  wars  since  you  refus'd 
The  Grecians'  cause. 

Achilles.  Dost  thou  entreat  me,  Hector  ? 

To-morrow  do  I  meet  thee,  fell  as  death  ; 


144  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  iv 

To-night  all  friends. 

Hector.  Thy  hand  upon  that  match.      270 

Agamemnon.    First,  all  you  peers  of  Greece,  go  to  my 
tent ; 
There  in  the  full  convive  we ;  afterwards, 
As  Hector's  leisure  and  your  bounties  shall 
Concur  together,  severally  entreat  him.  — 
Beat  loud  the  tambourines,  let  the  trumpets  blow, 
That  this  great  soldier  may  his  welcome  know. 

\Exeunt  all  except  Troilus  and  Ulysses. 

Troilus.    My  Lord  Ulysses,  tell  me,  I  beseech  you, 
In  what  place  of  the  field  doth  Calchas  keep  ? 

Ulysses.    At  Menelaus'  tent,  most  princely  Troilus  ; 
There  Diomed  doth  feast  with  him  to-night,  280 

Who  neither  looks  upon  the  heaven  nor  earth, 
But  gives  all  gaze  and  bent  of  amorous  view 
On  the  fair  Cressid. 

Troilus.    Shall    I,  sweet   lord,  be   bound   to   you   so 
much. 
After  we  part  from  Agamemnon's  tent, 
To  bring  me  thither  ? 

Ulysses.  You  shall  command  me,  sir. 

As  gentle  tell  me,  of  what  honour  was 
This  Cressida  in  Troy  ?     Had  she  no  lover  there 
That  wails  her  absence  ? 

Troilus.    O,  sir,  to  such  as  boasting  show  their  scars 
A  mock  is  due  !     Will  you  walk  on,  my  lord  ?  291 

She  was  belov'd,  she  lov'd  ;  she  is,  and  doth  ; 
But  still  sweet  love  is  food  for  fortune's  tooth.  [Exeunt. 


The  Death  of  Hector 


ACT   V 

Scene  I.     The  Grecian  Camp.      Before  Achilles''   Tent 

Enter  Achilles  and  Patroclus 

Achilles.    I  '11   heat   his    blood    with   Greekish   wine 
to-night, 


TROILUS —  lO 


145 


146  Troilus   and   Cressida  [Act  V 

Which  with  my  scimitar  I  '11  cool  to-morrow.  — 
Patroclus,  let  us  feast  him  to  the  height, 
Patroclus.    Here  comes  Thersites. 

Enter  Thersites 

Achilles.  How  now,  thou  core  of  envy ! 

Thou  crusty  batch  of  nature,  what  's  the  news  ? 

Thersites.  Why,  thou  picture  of  what  thou  seemest, 
and  idol  of  idiot-worshippers,  here  's  a  letter  for  thee. 

Achilles.    From  whence,  fragment  ? 

Thersites.    Why,  thou  full  dish  of  fool,  from  Troy. 

Patroclus.    Who  keeps  the  tent  now  ?  10 

Thersites.  The  surgeon's  box  or  the  patient's 
wound. 

Patroclus.  Well  said,  adversity !  and  what  need 
these  tricks  ? 

Thersites.  Prithee,  be  silent,  boy,  I  profit  not  by 
thy  talk  ;  thou  art  thought  to  be  Achilles'  male  varlet. 

Patroclus.    Male  varlet,  you  rogue  !  what's  that?     17 

Thersites.  Why,  his  masculine  whore.  Now,  the 
rotten  diseases  of  the  south,  the  guts-griping,  rup- 
tures, catarrhs,  loads  o'  gravel  i'  the  back,  lethargies, 
cold  palsies,  raw  eyes,  dirt-rotten  livers,  wheezing 
lungs,  bladders  full  of  imposthume,  sciaticas,  lime- 
kilns i'  the  palm,  incurable  bone-ache,  and  the  riv- 
elled  fee-simple  of  the  tetter,  take  and  take  again 
such  preposterous  discoveries  ! 

Patroclus.  Why,  thou  damnable  box  of  envy,  thou, 
what  meanest  thou  to  curse  thus  ? 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and  Cressida  147 

Thersites.    Do  I  curse  thee  ? 

Patroclus.  Why,  no,  you  ruinous  butt,  you  whore- 
son indistinguishable  cur,  no.  30 

Thersites.  No!  why  art  thou  then  exasperate, 
thou  idle  immaterial  skein  of  sleave-silk,  thou  green 
scarcenet  flap  for  a  sore  eye,  thou  tassel  of  a  prodi- 
gal's purse,  thou  ?  Ah,  how  the  poor  world  is  pes- 
tered with  such  waterflies,  diminutives  of  nature ! 

Patroclus.    Out,  gall ! 

Thersites.    Finch-egg ! 

Achilles.    My  sweet  Patroclus,  I  am  thwarted  quite 
From  my  great  purpose  in  to-morrow's  battle. 
Here  is  a  letter  from  Queen  Hecuba,  40 

A  token  from  her  daughter,  my  fair  love, 
Both  taxing  me  and  gaging  me  to  keep 
An  oath  that  I  have  sworn.     I  will  not  break  it. 
Fall  Greeks,  fail  fame,  honour  or  go  or  stay. 
My  major  vow  lies  here,  this  I  '11  obey.  — 
Come,  come,  Thersites,  help  to  trim  my  tent ; 
This  night  in  banqueting  must  all  be  spent.  —  47 

Away,  Patroclus  !  \^Exeunt  Achilles  and  Patroclus. 

Thersites.  With  too  much  blood  and  too  little 
brain,  these  two  may  run  mad ;  but,  if  with  too 
much  brain  and  too  little  blood  they  do,  I  '11  be  a 
curer  of  madmen.  Here  's  Agamemnon,  an  honest 
fellow  enough,  and  one  that  loves  quails,  but  he  has 
not  so  much  brain  as  ear-wax  ;  and  the  goodly  trans- 
formation of  Jupiter  there,  his  brother,  the  bull, — 
the  primitive  statue  and  oblique  memorial  of  cuck- 


148  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  V 

olds,  a  thrifty  shoeing-horn  in  a  chain  hanging  at  his 
brother's  leg,  —  to  what  form  but  that  he  is  should  wit 
larded  with  malice  and  malice  forced  with  wit  turn 
him  to  ?  To  an  ass  were  nothing,  he  is  both  ass  and 
ox ;  to  an  ox  were  nothing,  he  is  both  ox  and  ass. 
To  be  a  dog,  a  mule,  a  cat,  a  fitchew,  a  toad,  a  liz- 
ard, an  owl,  a  puttock,  or  a  herring  without  a  roe,  I 
would  not  care  ;  but  to  be  Menelaus !  I  would  con- 
spire against  destiny.  Ask  me  not  what  I  would  be 
if  I  were  not  Thersites,  for  I  care  not  to  be  the  louse 
of  a  lazar,  so  I  were  not  Menelaus.  —  Hey-day ! 
spirits  and  fires  ! 

Enter  Hector,  Troilus,  Ajax,  Agamemnon,  Ulysses, 
Nestor,  Menelaus,  and  Diomedes,  with  lights 

Agamemnon.    We  go  wrong,  we  go  wrong. 
Ajax.  No,  yonder  't  is  ; 

There,  where  we  see  the  lights. 

Hector.  I  trouble  you.  70 

Ajax.    No,  not  a  whit. 

Ulysses.  Here  comes  himself  to  guide  you. 

Re-enter  Achilles 

Achilles.    Welcome,  brave  Hector ;  welcome,  princes 

all. 
Agamemnon.    So   now,  fair    Prince   of    Troy,  I    bid 

good  night. 
Ajax  commands  the  guard  to  tend  on  you. 

Hector.    Thanks    and   good    night    to    the    Greeks' 

general. 


Scene  I]  Troilus  and  Cressida  149 

Menelaus.   Good  night,  my  lord. 

Hector.  Good  night,  sweet  Lord  Menelaus. 

Thersites.  Sweet  draught ;  sweet,  quoth  'a  !  sweet 
sink,  sweet  sewer. 

Achilles.    Good  night  and  welcome,  both  at  once,  to 
those 
That  go  or  tarry. 

Agame7nnon.         Good  night. 

\_Exeunt  Agamemnon  and  Menelaus. 

Achilles.    Old  Nestor  tarries  ;  and  you  too,  Diomed, 
Keep  Hector  company  an  hour  or  two. 

Diomedes.    I  cannot,  lord  ;  I  have  important  business. 
The  tide  whereof  is  now.  —  Good  night,  great  Hector. 

Hector.    Give  me  your  hand. 

Ulysses.    [Aside  to  Troilus']  Follow  his  torch  ;  he  goes 
to  Calchas'  tent.  86 

I  '11  keep  you  company. 

Troilus.  Sweet  sir,  you  honour  me. 

Hector.    And  so,  good  night. 

[Exit  Diomedes  ;   Ulysses  and  Troilus  following. 

Achilles.  Come,  come,  enter  my  tent. 

[Exeunt  Achilles^  Hector,  Ajax,  and  Nestor. 

Thersites.  That  same  Diomed  's  a  false-hearted 
rogue,  a  most  unjust  knave ;  I  will  no  more  trust 
him  when  he  leers  than ,  I  will  a  serpent  when  he 
hisses.  He  will  spend  his  mouth  and  promise,  like 
Brabbler  the  hound,  but  when  he  performs,  astron- 
omers foretell  it ;  it  is  prodigious,  there  will  come 
some  change ;  the  sun  borrows  of  the  moon,  when 


T  50  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  V 

Diomed  keeps  his  word.  I  will  rather  leave  to  see 
Hector  than  not  to  dog  him  ;  they  say  he  keeps  a 
Trojan  drab,  and  uses  the  traitor  Calchas'  tent.     I  '11 

after.  —  Nothing  but  lechery  !  all  incontinent  varlets  ! 

\Exit. 

Scene  II.     The  Same.     Before  Calchas' s  Tent 
Enter  Diomedes 

Diomedes.    What,  are  you  up  here,  ho  ?  speak. 

Calchas.  [  Within'\   Who  calls  ? 

Diomedes.    Diomed.  —  Calchas,  I   think.  —  Where's 
your  daughter? 

Calchas.  \Within'\   She  comes  to  you. 

Enter  Troilus  and  Ulysses,  at  a  distance ;  after  them, 

Thersites 

Ulysses.    Stand  where  the  torch  may  not  discover  us. 

Enter  Cressida 

Troilus.    Cress  id  comes  forth  to  him. 
Diomedes.  How  now,  my  charge  ! 

Cressida.    Now,  my  sweet  guardian  !     Hark,  a  word 
with  you.  [  Whispers. 

Troilus.   Yea,  so  familiar  ! 
Ulysses.    She  will  sing  any  man  at  first  sight. 
Thersites.   And  any  man  may  sing  her,  if  he  can 
take  her  cliff  ;  she  's  noted.  n 

Dio7nedes.    Will  you  remember  ? 
Cressida.    Remember  !  yes. 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  151 

Diojnedes.    Nay,  but  do,  then. 
And  let  your  mind  be  coupled  with  your  words. 

Troilus.   What  should  she  remember  ? 

Ulysses.    List. 

Cressida.    Sweet  honey  Greek,  tempt  me  no  more  to 
folly. 

Thersites.    Roguery ! 

Diomedes.    Nay,  then,  —  20 

Cressida.    I  '11  tell  you  what,  — 

Diomedes.   Foh,  foh  !  come,  tell  a  pin  ;  you  are  for- 
sworn. 

Cressida.    In  faith,  I  cannot ;  what  would  you  have 
me  do? 

Thersites.    A  juggling  trick,  —  to  be  secretly  open. 

Diojnedes.   What  did  you  swear  you  would  bestow  on 
me  ? 

Cressida.    I  prithee,  do  not  hold  me  to  mine  oath  ; 
Bid  me  do  any  thing  but  that,  sweet  Greek. 

Diomedes.    Good  night. 

Troilus.    Hold,  patience ! 

Ulysses.    How  now,  Trojan  !  30 

Cressida.    Diomed,  — 

Diomedes.  ■  No,  no,  good  night ;  I  '11  be  your  fool  no 
more. 

Troilus.    Thy  better  must. 

Cressida.    Hark,  one  word  in  your  ear. 

Troilus.    O  plague  and  madness  ! 

Ulysses.    You  are  mov'd,  prince  ;  let  us  depart,  I  pray 
you, 


152  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  v 

Lest  your  displeasure  should  enlarge  itself 
To  wrathful  terms.     This  place  is  dangerous, 
The  time  right  deadly ;  I  beseech  you,  go. 

Troilus.    Behold,  I  pray  you  ! 

Ulysses.  Nay,  good  my  lord,  go  off. 

You  flow  to  great  distraction  ;  come,  my  lord.  41 

TroiliLs.    I  pray  thee,  stay. 

Ulysses.  You  have  not  patience  ;  come. 

Troilus.    I  pray  you,  stay ;  by  hell  and  all  hell's  tor- 
ments, 
I  will  not  speak  a  word  ! 

Diomedes.  And  so,  good  night. 

Cressida.   Nay,  but  you  part  in  anger. 

Troilus.  Doth  that  grieve  thee  ? 

0  wither'd  truth ! 

Ulysses.  Why,  how  now,  my  lord  ! 

Troilus.  By  Jove, 

1  will  be  patient. 

Cressida.  Guardian  !  —  why,  Greek  ! 

Diomedes.    Foh,  foh !  adieu  ;  you  palter. 

C^'essida.   In  faith,  I  do  not ;  come  hither  once  again. 

Ulysses.    You  shake,  my  lord,  at  something ;  will  you 
go?  50 

You  will  break  out. 

Troilus.  She  strokes  his  cheek ! 

Ulysses.  Come,  come. 

Troilus.    Nay,   stay;   by   Jove,    I    will   not  speak   a 
word. 
There  is  between  my  will  and  all  offences 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  153 

A  guard  of  patience  ;  stay  a  little  while. 

Thersites.  How  the  devil  Luxury,  with  his  fat 
rump  and  potato-finger,  tickles  these  together  !  Fry, 
lechery,  fry ! 

Diomedes.   But  will  you,  then  ? 

Cressida.    In  faith^  I  will,  la  ;  never  trust  me  else. 

Diomedes.   Give  me  some  token  for  the  surety  of  it. 

Cressida.    I  '11  fetch  you  one.  \^Exit. 

Ulysses.    You  have  sworn  patience. 

Troilus.  Fear  me  not,  sweet  lord  ; 

I  will  not  be  myself,  nor  have  cognition  63 

Of  what  I  feel :  I  am  all  patience. 

Re-enter  Cressida 

Thersites.    Now  the  pledge  ;  now,  now,  now ! 

Cressida.   Here,  Diomed,  keep  this  sleeve. 

Troilus.  O  beauty  !  where  is  thy  faith  ? 

Ulysses.  My  lord,  — 

Troilus.    I  will  be  patient ;  outwardly  I  will. 

Cressida.    You  look  upon  that  sleeve  ;  behold  it  well. 
He  lov'd  me  —  O  false  wench  !  —  Give  't  me  again. 

Diomedes.    Whose  was  't  ?  71 

Cressida.    It  is  no  matter,  now  I  have  't  again. 
I  will  not  meet  with  you  to-morrow  night ; 
I  prithee,  Diomed,  visit  me  no  more. 

Thersites.  Now  she  sharpens.  —  Well  said,  whetstone. 

Diojnedes.    I  shall  have  it. 

Cressida.  What,  this  ? 

Diomedes.  Ay,  that. 


154  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  v 

Cressida.    O,  all  you  gods  !  —  O  pretty,  pretty  pledge  ! 
Thy  master  now  lies  thinking  in  his  bed 
Of  thee  and  me,  and  sighs,  and  takes  my  glove 
And  gives  memorial  dainty  kisses  to  it,  80 

As  I  kiss  thee.     Nay,  do  not  snatch  it  from  me  ; 
He  that  takes  that  doth  take  my  heart  withal. 

Diomedes.    I  had  your  heart  before,  this  follows  it. 

Troilus.    I  did  swear  patience. 

Cressida.    You  shall  not  have  it,  Diomed ;  faith,  you 
shall  not, 
I  '11  give  you  something  else. 

Diomedes.    I  will  have  this.     Whose  was  it  ? 

Cressida.  It  is  no  matter. 

Diomedes.    Come,  tell  me  whose  it  was. 

Cressida.    'Twas  one's   that   lov'd   me  better  than 
you  will. 
But,  now  you  have  it,  take  it. 

Diomedes.  Whose  was  it  ?  90 

Cressida.    By  all  Diana's  waiting-women  yond, 
And  by  herself,  I  will  not  tell  you  whose. 

Diomedes.    To-morrow  will  I  wear  it  on^my  helm. 
And  grieve  his  spirit  that  dares  not  challenge  it. 

Troilus.  Wert  thou  the  devil,  and  wor'st  it  on  thy  horn. 
It  should  be  challeng'd. 

Cressida.    Well,  well,  't  is  done,  't  is  past,  —  and  yet 
it  is  not ; 
I  will  not  keep  my  word. 

Diomedes.  Why,  then,  farewell ; 

Thou  never  shalt  mock  Diomed  again. 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  155 

Cressida.    You  shall  not  go. — One  cannot  speak  a 
word  100 

But  it  straight  starts  you. 

Diomedes.  I  do  not  like  this  fooling. 

Thersites.    Nor  I,  by  Pluto  ;  but  that  that  likes  not 
you  pleases  me  best. 

Diomedes.    What,  shall  I  come  ?  the  hour  ? 

Cressida.    Ay,    come.  —  O     Jove  !  —  do    come.  —  I 
shall  be  plagu'd. 

Diomedes.    Farewell  till  then. 

Cressida.  Good  night ;  I  prithee,  come.  — 

S^Exit  Diomedes. 
Troilus,  farewell !  one  eye  yet  looks  on  thee, 
But  with  my  heart  the  other  eye  doth  see. 
Ah,  poor  our  sex  !  this  fault  in  us  I  find, 
The  error  of  our  eye  directs  our  mind.  no 

What  error  leads  must  err ;  O,  then  conclude 
Minds  sway'd  by  eyes  are  full  of  turpitude  !  \^Exit. 

Thersites.    A  proof   of  strength  she  could  not  pub- 
lish more. 
Unless  she  said,  '  My  mind  is  now  turn'd  whore.' 

Ulysses.    All 's  done,  my  lord. 

Troilus.  It  is. 

Ulysses.  Why  stay  we,  then  ? 

Troilus.    To  make  a  recordation  to  my  soul 
Of  every  syllable  that  here  was  spoke. 
But  if  I  tell  how  these  two  did  co-act. 
Shall  I  not  lie  in  publishing  a  truth  ? 
Sith  yet  there  is  a  credence  in  my  heart,  120 


156  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  V 

An  esperance  so  obstinately  strong, 
That  doth  invert  the  attest  of  eyes  and  ears, 
As  if  those  organs  had  deceptions  functions, 
Created  only  to  calumniate. 
Was  Cressid  here  ? 

Ulysses.  I  cannot  conjure,  Trojan. 

Troilus.    She  was  not,  sure. 

Ulysses.  Most  sure  she  was. 

Troilus.    Why,    my  negation  hath  no  taste   of  mad- 
ness. 

Ulysses,    Nor  mine,  my  lord ;  Cressid  was  here  but 
now. 

Troilus.    Let  it  not  be  believ'd  for  womanhood  ! 
Think,  we  had  mothers  ;  do  not  give  advantage  130 

To  stubborn  critics  —  apt,  without  a  theme. 
For  depravation  —  to  square  the  general  sex 
By  Cressid 's  rule  ;  rather  think  this  not  Cressid. 

Ulysses.    What  hath  she  done,  prince,  that  can  soil 
our  mothers  ? 

Troilus.    Nothing  at  all,  unless  that  this  were  she. 

Thersites.    Will  he  swagger  himself  out  on  's  own 
eyes  ? 

Troilus.    This  she  ?  no,  this  is  Diomed's  Cressida. 
If  beauty  have  a  soul,  this  is  not  she ; 
If  souls  guide  vows,  if  vows  be  sanctimony,  140 

If  sanctimony  be  the  gods'  delight. 
If  there  be  rule  in  unity  itself. 
This  is  not  she.     O  madness  of  discourse 
That  cause  sets  up  with  and  against  itself  1 


Scene  II]  Troilus  and  Cressida  157 

Bifold  authority !  where  reason  can  revolt 

Without  perdition,  and  loss  assume  all  reason 

Without  revolt.     This  is,  and  is  not,  Cressid. 

Within  my  soul  there  doth  conduce  a  fight 

Of  this  strange  nature,  that  a  thing  inseparate 

Divides  more  wider  than  the  sky  and  earth,  150 

And  yet  the  spacious  breadth  of  this  division 

Admits  no  or  if  ex  for  a  point  as  subtle 

As  Ariachne's  broken  woof  to  enter. 

Instance,  O  instance  !  strong  as  Pluto's  gates ; 

Cressid  is  mine,  tied  with  the  bonds  of  heaven. 

Instance,  O  instance  !  strong  as  heaven  itself ; 

The  bonds  of  heaven  are  slipp'd,  dissolv'd,  and  loos'd, 

And  with  another  knot,  five-finger-tied. 

The  fractions  of  her  faith,  orts  of  her  love, 

The  fragments,  scraps,  the  bits  and  greasy  relics        160 

Of  her  o'er-eaten  faith,  are  bound  to  Diomed. 

Ulysses.    May  worthy  Troilus  be  half  attach'd 
With  that  which  here  his  passion  doth  express  ? 

Troilus.    Ay,  Greek,  and  that  shall  be  divulged  well 
In  characters  as  red  as  Mars  his  heart 
Inflam'd  with  Venus  ;  never  did  young  man  fancy 
With  so  eternal  and  so  fix'd  a  soul. 
Hark,  Greek :  as  much  as  I  do  Cressid  love, 
So  much  by  weight  hate  I  her  Diomed. 
That  sleeve  is  mine  that  he  '11  bear  on  his  helm  ;         170 
Were  it  a  casque  compos 'd  by  Vulcan's  skill. 
My  sword  should  bite  it.     Not  the  dreadful  spout 
Which  shipmen  do  the  hurricano  call, 


158  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  V 

Constring'd  in  mass  by  the  almighty  sun, 
Shall  dizzy  with  more  clamour  Neptune's  ear 
In  his  descent  than  shall  my  prompted  sword 
Falling  on  Diomed. 

Thersites.    He'll  tickle  it  for  his  concupy. 

Troihis.    O   Cressid !    O  false  Cressid  !    false,  false, 
false ! 
Let  all  untruths  stand  by  thy  stained  name,  180 

And  they  '11  seem  glorious. 

Ulysses.  O,  contain  yourself  ; 

Your  passion  draws  ears  hither. 

Enter  tEneas 

^neas.    I  have  been  seeking  you  this  hour,  my  lord. 
Hector,  by  this,  is  arming  him  in  Troy  ; 
Ajax,  your  guard,  stays  to  conduct  you  home. 

Troilus.    Have    with    you,    prince. — My   courteous 
lord,  adieu.  — 
Farewell,  revolted  fair  !  —  and,  Diomed, 
Stand  fast,  and  wear  a  castle  on  thy  head ! 

Ulysses.    I  '11  bring  you  to  the  gates. 

Troilus.    Accept  distracted  thanks.  190 

\_Exeunt  Troilus.,  ySneas,  and  Ulysses. 

Thersites.  Would  I  could  meet  that  rogue  Diomed  ! 
I  would  croak  like  a  raven  ;  I  would  bode,  I  would 
bode.  Patroclus  will  give  me  any  thing  for  the 
intelligence  of  this  whore ;  the  parrot  will  not  do 
more  for  an  almond  than  he  for  a  commodious 
drab.      Lechery,  lechery !    still,  wars  and  lechery ! 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  159 

nothing  else  holds  fashion.      A  burning  devil  take 
them !  \^Exit. 

Scene  III.     Ti-oy.     Before  Priam's  Palace 

Enter  Hector  and  Andromache 

Andromache.    When  was  my  lord  so  much  ungently 
temper'd 
To  stop  his  ears  against  admonishment  ? 
Unarm,  unarm,  and  do  not  fight  to-day. 

Hector.    You  train  me  to  offend  you  ;  get  you  in. 
By  all  the  everlasting  gods,  I  '11  go  ! 

Androjuache.    My  dreams  will,  sure,  prove  ominous 

to  the  day. 
Hector.    No  more,  I  say. 

Enter  Cassandra 

Cassandra.  Where  is  my  brother  Hector  ? 

Andromache.    Here,    sister ;    arm'd,    and    bloody    in 
intent. 
Consort  with  me  in  loud  and  dear  petition, 
Pursue  we  him  on  knees ;  for  I  have  dream'd  10 

Of  bloody  turbulence,  and  this  whole  night 
Hath  nothing  been  but  shapes  and  forms  of  slaughter. 
Cassandra.    O,  't  is  true. 

Hector.  Ho  !  bid  my  trumpet  sound  ! 

Cassandra.    No  notes  of  sally,  for  the  heavens,  sweet 

brother. 
Hector.    Be  gone,   I   say ;  the  gods  have  heard  me 
swear. 


i6o  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  v 

Cassandra.   The  gods  are  deaf  to  hot  and   peevish 
vows  ; 
They  are  polluted  offerings,  more  abhorr'd 
Than  spotted  livers  in  the  sacrifice. 

Andromache.    O,    be    persuaded !    do    not   count   it 
holy 
To  hurt  by  being  just ;  it  is  as  lawful,  20 

For  we  would  give  much,  to  so  use  violent  thefts 
And  rob  in  the  behalf  of  charity. 

Cassandra.    It  is  the  purpose  that  makes  strong  the 
vow. 
But  vows  to  every  purpose  must  not  hold. 
Unarm,  sweet  Hector. 

Hector.  Hold  you  still,  I  say ; 

Mine  honour  keeps  the  weather  of  my  fate. 
Life  every  man  holds  dear ;  but  the  brave  man 
Holds  honour  far  more  precious-dear  than  life.  — 

Enter  Troilus 

How  now,  young  man  !  mean'st  thou  to  fight  to-day  ? 

Androfnache.    Cassandra,  call  my  father  to  persuade. 

[Exit  Cassandra. 

Hector.    No,  faith,   young  Troilus,  doff  thy  harness, 
youth ;  31 

I  am  to-day  i'  the  vein  of  chivalry. 
Let  grow  thy  sinews  till  their  knots  be  strong, 
And  tempt  not  yet  the  brushes  of  the  war. 
Unarm  thee,  go,  and  doubt  thou  not,  brave  boy, 
I  '11  stand  to-day  for  thee  and  me  and  Troy. 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and   Cressida  i6i 

Troilus.    Brother,  you  have  a  vice  of  mercy  in  you 
Which  better  fits  a  lion  than  a  man. 

Hector.    What  vice  is  that,  good  Troikis  ?  chide  me 
for  it. 

Troilus:    When  many  times  the  captive  Grecian  falls, 
Even  in  the  fan  and  wind  of  your  fair  sword,  41 

You  bid  them  rise  and  live. 

Hector.    O,  't  is  fair  play. 

Troilus.  Fool's  play,  by  heaven.  Hector. 

Hector.    How  now  !  how  now  ! 

Troilus.  For  the  love  of  all  the  gods, 

Let 's  leave  the  hermit  pity  with  our  mothers 
And,  when  we  have  our  armours  buckled  on, 
The  venom'd  vengeance  ride  upon  our  swords, 
Spur  them  to  ruthful  work,  rein  them  from  ruth  ! 

Hector.    Fie,  savage,  fie  ! 

Troilus.  Hector,  then  't  is  wars. 

Hector.    Troilus,  I  would  not  have  you  fight  to-day. 

Troilus.    Who  should  withhold  me  ?  •i\ 

Not  fate,  obedience,  nor  the  hand  of  Mars 
Beckoning  with  fiery  truncheon  my  retire  ; 
Not  Priamus  and  Hecuba  on  knees, 
Their  eyes  o'ergalled  with  recourse  of  tears  ; 
Nor  you,  my  brother,  with  your  true  sword  drawn, 
Oppos'd  to  hinder  me,  should  stop  my  way 
But  by  my  ruin. 

Re-enter  Cassandra,  with  Priam 

Cassandra.    Lay  hold  upon  him,  Priam,  hold  him  fast. 

TROILUS  —  II 


1 62  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  v 

He  is  thy  crutch  ;  now  if  thou  lose  thy  stay,  60 

Thou  on  him  leaning,  and  all  Troy  on  thee. 
Fall  all  together. 

Priam.  Come,  Hector,  come,  go  back. 

Thy  wife  hath  dream 'd,  thy  mother  hath  had  visions, 
Cassandra  doth  foresee,  and  I  myself 
Am  like  a  prophet  suddenly  enrapt 
To  tell  thee  that  this  day  is  ominous  ; 
Therefore,  come  back. 

Hector.  vEneas  is  afield  \ 

And  I  do  stand  engag'd  to  many  Greeks, 
Even  in  the  faith  of  valour,  to  appear 
This  morning  to  them. 

Priam.  Ay,  but  thou  shalt  not  go.       70 

Hector.    I  must  not  break  my  faith. 
You  know  me  dutiful ;  therefore,  dear  sir, 
Let  me  not  shame  respect,  but  give  me  leave 
To  take  that  course  by  your  consent  and  voice 
Which  you  do  here  forbid  me,  royal  Priam. 

Cassandra.    O  Priam,  yield  not  to  him  ! 

Andromache.  Do  not,  dear  father. 

Hector.    Andromache,  I  am  offended  with  you ; 
Upon  the  love  you  bear  me,  get  you  in. 

\Exit  Andromache. 

Troilus.    This  foolish,  dreaming,  superstitious  girl 
Makes  all  these  bodements. 

Cassandra.  O,  farewell,  dear  Hector  ! 

Look,  how  thou  diest !  look,  how  thy  eye  turns  pale ! 
Look,  how  thy  wounds  do  bleed  at  many  vents  !  82 


Scene  III]  Troilus  and  Cressida  163 

Hark,  how  Troy  roars  !  how  Hecuba  cries  out ! 
How  poor  Andromache  shrills  her  dolours  forth ! 
Behold,  distraction,  frenzy,  and  amazement, 
Like  witless  antics,  one  another  meet, 
And  all  cry,  '  Hector  !  Hector  's  dead  !  O  Hector ! ' 
Troilus.    Away  !  Away  ! 

Cassandi-a.    Farewell!  —  yet,  soft!  —  Hector,  I  take 
my  leave  ; 
Thou  dost  thyself  and  all  our  Troy  deceive.  \Exit. 

Hector.    You  are  amaz'd,  my  liege,  at  her  exclaim.   91 
Go  in  and  cheer  the  town  ;  we  '11  forth  and  fight, 
Do  deeds  worth  praise,  and  tell  you  them  at  night. 
Priam.    Farewell ;  the  gods  with  safety  stand  about 
thee! 
[Exeunt  severally  Priam  aiid  Hector.     Alarums. 
Troilus.    They   are    at    it,    hark !  —  Proud    Diomed, 
believe, 
I  come  to  lose  my  arm  or  win  my  sleeve. 

Enter  Pandarus 

Pandarus.    Do  you  hear,  my  lord  ?  do  you  hear  ? 

Troilus.    What  now  ? 

Pandarus.  Here  's  a  letter  come  from  yond  poor 
girl. 

Troilus.    Let  me  read.  loi 

Pa7idarus.  A  whoreson  tisick,  a  whoreson  rascally 
tisick  so  troubles  me,  and  the  fooHsh  fortune  of  this 
girl,  and  what  one  thing,  what  another,  that  I  shall 
leave  you  one  o'  these  days ;  and  I  have  a  rheum  in 


164  Troilus  and   Cressida  [Act  v 

mine  eyes  too,  and  such  an  ache  in  my  bones  that, 
unless  a  man  were  cursed,  I  cannot  tell  what  to  think 
on  't.  —  What  says  she  there  ? 

Troilus.    Words,  words,  mere  words,  no  matter  from 
the  heart ; 
The  effect  doth  operate  another  way.  — 

\Tearing  the  letter. 
Go,  wind,  to  wind,  there  turn  and  change  together.  — 
My  love  with  words  and  errors  still  she  feeds,  112 

But  edifies  another  with  her  deeds.       [^Exeunt  severally. 

Scene  IV.     Plains  between  Troy  and  the  Grecian  Camp 

Alarums.     Excursions.     Enter  Thersites 

Thersites.  Now  they  are  clapper-clawing  one  an- 
other ;  I  '11  go  look  on.  That  dissembling  abominable 
varlet,  Diomed,  has  got  that  same  scurvy  doting  fool- 
ish young  knave's  sleeve  of  Troy  there  in  his  helm.  I 
would  fain  see  them  meet ;  that  that  same  young  Tro- 
jan ass,  that  loves  the  whore  there,  might  send  that 
Greekish  whoremasterly  villain,  with  the  sleeve,  back 
to  the  dissembling  luxurious  drab,  of  a  sleeveless  er- 
rand. O'  the  t'  other  side,  the  policy  of  those  crafty 
swearing  rascals  —  that  stale  old  mouse-eaten  dry  10 
cheese,  Nestor,  and  that  same  dog-fox,  Ulysses  —  is 
not  proved  worth  a  blackberry.  They  set  me  up,  in 
policy,  that  mongrel  cur,  Ajax,  against  that  dog  of 
as  bad  a  kind,  Achilles  ;  and  now  is  the  cur  Ajax 
prouder  than  the  cur  Achilles,  and  will  not  arm  to- 


Scene  IV]  Troilus  and   Cressida  165 

day,  whereupon  the  Grecians  begin  to  proclaim  bar- 
barism and  policy  grows  into  an  ill  opinion.  —  Soft ! 
here  comes  sleeve  and  t'  other. 

Enter  Diomedes,  Troilus  following 

Troilus.    Fly  not ;    for  shouldst  thou  take  the    river 
Styx 
I  would  swim  after. 

Dio7?iedes.  Thou  dost  miscall  retire ;  20 

I  do  not  fly,  but  advantageous  care 
Withdrew  me  from  the  odds  of  multitude. 
Have  at  thee ! 

Thersites.    Hold  thy  whore,  Grecian  !  —  now  for  thy 
whore,  Trojan  !  —  now  the  sleeve,  now  the  sleeve  ! 

\_Exeunt  Troilus  and  Diomedes.,  fighting. 

Enter  Hector 

Hector.   What  art  thou,  Greek  ?  art  thou  for  Hector's 
match  ? 
Art  thou  of  blood  and  honour  ? 

Thersites.  No,  no,  I  am  a  rascal ;  a  scurvy  railing 
knave,  a  very  filthy  rogue.  29 

Hector.    I  do  believe  thee  ;  live.  \_Exit. 

Thersites.  God-a-mercy,  that  thou  wilt  believe 
me ;  but  a  plague  break  thy  neck  for  frighting  me ! 
What 's  become  of  the  wenching  rogues  ?  I  think 
they  have  swallowed  one  another.  I  would  laugh 
at  that  miracle ;  yet,  in  a  sort,  lechery  eats  itself. 
I  '11  seek  them.  [Exit. 


t66  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  v 

Scene  V.     Another  Part  of  the  Plains 
Enter  Diomedes  and  a  Servant 

Diomedes.    Go,   go,  my  servant,   take    thou  Troilus' 
horse  ; 
Present  the  fair  steed  to  my  lady  Cressid. 
Fellow,  commend  my  service  to  her  beauty ; 
Tell  her  I  have  chastis'd  the  amorous  Trojan, 
And  am  her  knight  by  proof. 

Servant.  I  go,  my  lord.         [Exit. 

Enter  Agamemnon 

Agamemno7i.    Renew,  renew  !     The  fierce  Polydamas 
Hath  beat  down  Menon  ;  bastard  Margarelon 
Hath  Doreus  prisoner, 
And  stands  colossus-wise,  waving  his  beam, 
Upon  the  pashed  corses  of  the  kings  lo 

Epistrophus  and  Cedius  ;  Polyxenes  is  slain, 
Amphimachus  and  Thoas  deadly  hurt, 
Patroclus  ta'en  or  slain,  and  Palamedes 
Sore  hurt  and  bruis'd.     The  dreadful  Sagittary 
Appals  our  numbers.     Haste  we,  Diomed, 
To  reinforcement,  or  we  perish  all. 

Enter  Nestor 

Nestor.    Go,  bear  Patroclus'  body  to  Achilles ; 
And  bid  the  snail-pac'd  Ajax  arm  for  shame. 
There  is  a  thousand  Hectors  in  the  field. 
Now  here  he  fights  on  Galathe  his  horse,  20 


Scene  V]  Troilus  and  Cressida  167 

And  there  lacks  work ;  anon  he  's  there  afoot, 
And  there  they  fly  or  die,  Hke  scaled  sculls 
Before  the  belching  whale  ;  then  is  he  yonder, 
xAnd  there  the  strawy  Greeks,  ripe  for  his  edge, 
Fall  down  before  him,  like  the  mower's  swath. 
Here,  there,  and  every  where,  he  leaves  and  takes, 
Dexterity  so  obeying  appetite 
That  what  he  will  he  does,  and  does  so  much 
That  proof  is  call'd  impossibility. 

Enter  Ulysses 

Ulysses.    O,  courage,  courage,  princes  !  great  Achilles 
Is  arming,  weeping,  cursing,  vowing  vengeance.  31 

Patroclus'  wounds  have  rous'd  his  drowsy  blood, 
Together  with  his  mangled  Myrmidons, 
That  noseless,  handless,  hack'd  and  chipp'd,  come  to 

him, 
Crying  on  Hector.     Ajax  hath  lost  a  friend 
And  foams  at  mouth,  and  he  is  arm'd  and  at  it, 
Roaring  for  Troilus,  who  hath  done  to-day 
Mad  and  fantastic  execution, 
Engaging  and  redeeming  of  himself 
With  such  a  careless  force  and  forceless  care  40 

As  if  that  luck,  in  very  spite  of  cunning, 
Bade  him  win  all. 

Enter  Ajax 

Ajax.    Troilus  !  thou  coward  Troilus  1  \Exit. 

Diomedes.  Ay,  there,  there. 

Nestor.    So,  so,  we  draw  together. 


1 68  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Actv 

Enter  Achilles 

Achilles.  Where  is  this  Hector  ? 

Come,  come,  thou  boy-queller,  show  thy  face  ; 
Know  what  it  is  to  meet  Achilles  angry. 
Hector  !  where  's  Hector  ?  I  will  none  but  Hector. 

\Exeunt. 

Scene  VI.    Another  Part  of  the  Plains 

Enter  Ajax 

Ajax.    Troilus,  thou  coward  Troilus,  show  thy  head  ! 

Enter  Diomedes 

Diomedes.   Troilus,  I  say  !  where  's  Troilus  ? 
Ajax.  What  wouldst  thou  ? 

Diomedes.    I  would  correct  him. 
Ajax.   Were  I  the  general,  thou  shouldst  have  my 
office 
Ere  that  correction.  —  Troilus,  I  say !  what,  Troilus  !     ' > 

Enter  Troilus 

Troilus.   O  traitor  Diomed  !  turn  thy  false  face,  thou 
traitor, 
And  pay  thy  life  thou  ow'st  me  for  my  horse ! 
Diomedes.    Ha,  art  thou  there  ? 
Ajax.    I  '11  fight  with  him  alone  ;  stand,  Diomed. 
Diomedes.    He  is  my  prize  ;  I  will  not  look  upon,     lo 
Troilus.    Come,  both  you  cogging  Greeks  ;    have  at 
you  both  !  \_Exeunt,  jighting. 


Scene  VIJ  Troilus  and  Cressida  169 

Enter  Hector 

Hector.    Yea,  Troilus  ?  O,  well  fought,  my  youngest 
brother ! 

Enter  Achilles 

Achilles.    Now   do   I   see   thee,   ha !    have   at  thee, 
Hector  ! 

Hector.    Pause,  if  thou  wilt. 

Achilles.    I  do  disdain  thy  courtesy,  proud  Trojan. 
Be  happy  that  my  arms  are  out  of  use. 
My  rest  and  negligence  befriends  thee  now. 
But  thou  anon  shalt  hear  of  me  again  ; 
Till  when,  go  seek  thy  fortune.  \Exit^ 

Hector.  Fare  thee  well ; 

I  would  have  been  much  more  a  fresher  man,  20 

Had  I  expected  thee.  —  How  now,  my  brother  ! 

Re-enter  Troilus 

Troilus.    Ajax  hath  ta'en  ^neas  ;  shall  it  be  ? 
No,  by  the  flame  of  yonder  glorious  heaven. 
He  shall  not  carry  him  ;  I  '11  be  ta'en  too. 
Or  bring  him  off.  —  Fate,  hear  me  what  I  say ! 
I  reck  not  though  I  end  my  life  to-day.  \^Exit. 

Enter  one  in  sumptuous  armour 

Hector.    Stand,  stand,  thou  Greek  ;  thou  art  a  goodly 
mark.  — 
No  ?  wilt  thou  not  ?     I  like  thy  armour  well ; 
I  '11  frush  it  and  unlock  the  rivets  all  29 


170  Troilus  and  Cressida  ,    [Act  V 

But  I  '11  be  master  of  it.  —  Wilt  thou  not,  beast,  abide  ? 
Why,  then  fly  on,  I  '11  hunt  thee  for  thy  hide.    \Exeunt. 

Scene  VII.     Another  Part  of  the  Plains 

Enter  Achilles,  with  Myrmidons 

Achilles.    Come  here  about  me,  you  my  Myrmidons  ; 
Mark  what  I  say.     Attend  me  where  I  wheel. 
Strike  not  a  stroke,  but  keep  yourselves  in  breath, 
And  when  I  have  the  bloody  Hector  found, 
Empale  him  with  your  weapons  round  about ; 
In  fellest  manner  execute  your  arms. 
P'ollow  me,  sirs,  and  my  proceedings  eye.  — 
It  is  decreed  Hector  the  great  must  die.  \Exeunt. 

^/^/^r  Menelaus  and  Vakis,  fighting :  then  Thersites 

Thersites.  The  cuckold  and  the  cuckold-maker 
are  at  it.  Now,  bull !  now,  dog  !  'Loo,  Paris,  'loo  ! 
now  my  double-henned  sparrow !  'loo,  Paris,  'loo ! 
The  bull  has  the  game  ;  ware  horns,  ho !  12 

\_Exeunt  Paris  and  Menelaus. 

Enter  Margarelon 

Margarelon.    Turn,  slave,  and  fight. 

Thersites.    What  art  thou  ? 

Maj'garelon.   A  bastard  son  of  Priam's. 

Thersites.  I  am  a  bastard  too ;  I  love  bastards. 
I  am  a  bastard  begot,  bastard  instructed,  bastard  in 
mind,  bastard  in  valour,  in  every  thing  illegitimate. 


Scene  VIII]        Troilus  and  Cressida  171 

One  bear  will  not  bite  another,  and  wherefore  should 
one  bastard  ?  Take  heed,  the  quarrel 's  most  ominous 
to  us ;  if  the  son  of  a  whore  fight  for  a  whore,  he 
tempts  judgment.     Farewell,  bastard.  \Exit. 

Margarelon.    The  devil  take  thee,  coward  !        \^Exit. 

Scene  VIII.     Another  Part  of  the  Plains 
Enter  Hector 

Hector.    Most  putrefied  core,  so  fair  without, 
Thy  goodly  armour  thus  hath  cost  thy  life. 
Now  is  my  day's  work  done  ;  I  '11  take  good  breath. 
Rest,  sword  ;  thou  hast  thy  fill  of  blood  and  death. 

\_Puts  off  his  helmet  and  hangs  his  shield  behind  him. 

Enter  Achilles  and  Myrmidons 

Achilles.    Look,  Hector,  how  the  sun  begins  to  set. 
How  ugly  night  comes  breathing  at  his  heels ! 
Even  with  the  vail  and  darking  of  the  sun. 
To  close  the  day  up,  Hector's  life  is  done. 

Hector.    I  am  unarm'd  ;  forego  this  vantage,  Greek. 

Achilles.    Strike,  fellows,    strike ;  this  is   the    man  I 
seek.  —  [Hector  falls. 

So,  Ilion,  fall  thou  next !  now,  Troy,  sink  down  !  n 

Here  lies  thy  heart,  thy  sinews,  and  thy  bone.  — 
On,  Myrmidons,  and  cry  you  all  amain, 
Achilles  hath  the  mighty  Hector  slain.  — 

\A  retreat  sounded. 
Hark  !    a  retire  upon  our  Grecian  part. 


172  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  V 

Myrmidon.    The  Trojan  trumpets  sound  the  Uke,  my 

lord. 
Achilles.    The  dragon  wing  of  night  o'erspreads  the 
earth, 
And,  stickler-like,  the  armies  separates. 
My  half-supp'd  sword,  that  frankly  would  have  fed, 
Pleas'd  with  this  dainty  bait,  thus  goes  to  bed.  —        20 

\Sheathes  his  sword. 
Come,  tie  his  body  to  my  horse's  tail ; 
Along  the  field  I  will  the  Trojan  trail.  [Exeunt. 


Scene  IX.     Another  Part  of  the  Plains 

Enter  Agamemnon,   Ajax,  Menelaus,  Nestor,  Dio- 
MEDES,  and  others,  marching.     Shouts  within 

Agamemnon.   Hark  !  hark !  what  shout  is  that  ? 
Nestor.    Peace,  drums ! 
[  Within']  Achilles  !  Achilles  !  Hector  's  slain  !  Achilles  ! 
Diomedes.   The    bruit    is.   Hector 's   slain,   and   by 

Achilles. 
Ajax.    If  it  be  so,  yet  bragless  let  it  be ; 
Great  Hector  was  a  man  as  good  as  he. 

Agamemnon.    March    patiently   along.     Let   one   be 
sent 
To  pray  Achilles  see  us  at  our  tent.  — 
If  in  his  death  the  gods  have  us  befriended, 
Great  Troy  is  ours  and  our  sharp  wars  are  ended.        10 

\_Exeunt  marching. 


Scene  X]  Troilus  and  Cressida  173 

Scene  X.     Another  Part  of  the  Plains 

Enter  ^neas  and  Trojans 

ufEneas.    Stand,  ho  !  yet  are  we  masters  of  the  field. 
Never  go  home  ;  here  starve  we  out  the  night. 

Enter  Troilus 

Troilus,    Hector  is  slain. 

All.  Hector  !  the  gods  forbid  ! 

Troilus.    He  's  dead,  and  at  the  murtherer's  horse's 
tail, 
In  beastly  sort,  dragg'd  through  the  shameful  field.  — 
Frown  on,  you  heavens,  effect  your  rage  with  speed ! 
Sit,  gods,  upon  your  thrones,  and  smile  at  Troy ! 
I  say,  at  once  let  your  brief  plagues  be  mercy, 
And  linger  not  our  sure  destructions  on  ! 

yEneas.    My  lord,  you  do  discomfort  ail  the  host.      10 

Troilus.    You  understand  me  not  that  tell  me  so. 
I  do  not  speak  of  flight,  of  fear,  of  death. 
But  dare  all  imminence  that  gods  and  men 
Address  their  dangers  in.     Hector  is  gone  ! 
Who  shall  tell  Priam  so,  or  Hecuba  ? 
Let  him  that  will  a  screech-owl  aye  be  call'd, 
Go  in  to  Troy,  and  say  there,  '  Hector  's  dead  ! ' 
There  is  a  word  will  Priam  turn  to  stone, 
Make  wells  and  Niobes  of  the  maids  and  wives, 
Cold  statues  of  the  youth,  and,  in  a  word,  20 

Scare  Troy  out  of  itself.     But,  march  away  ; 
Hector  is  dead,  there  is  no  more  to  say. 


174  Troilus  and  Cressida  [Act  v 

Stay  yet.  —  You  vile  abominable  tents, 

Thus  proudly  pight  upon  our  Phrygian  plains, 

Let  Titan  rise  as  early  as  he  dare, 

I  '11  through  and  through  you  !  —  and,  thou  great-siz'd 

coward, 
No  space  of  earth  shall  sunder  our  two  hates  ; 
I'll  haunt  thee  like  a  wicked  conscience  still 
That  mouldeth  goblins  swift  as  frenzy's  thoughts.  — 
Strike  a  free  march  to  Troy  !  with  comfort  go  ;  30 

Hope  of  revenge  shall  hide  our  inward  woe. 

\Exeunt  y£neas  and  Trojans. 

As  Troilus    is  going  out,   enter,  from   the  other  side, 

Pandarus 

Pandarus.    But  hear  you,  hear  you  ! 
Troilus.    Hence,  broker-lackey  !  ignomy  and  shame 
Pursue  thy  life  and  li\'e  aye  with  thy  name  !  S^Exit. 

Pandarus.  A  goodly  medicine  for  my  aching 
bones  !  —  O  world  !  world  !  world  !  thus  is  the  poor 
agent  despised  !  O  traitors  and  bawds,  how  ear- 
nestly are  you  set  a-work,  and  how  ill  requited !  why 
should  our  endeavour  be  so  loved  and  the  perform- 
ance so  loathed  ?  what  verse  for  it  ?  what  instance 
for  it  ?     Let  me  see  :  41 

Full  merrily  the  humble-bee  doth  sing- 
Till  he  hath  lost  his  honey  and  his  sting ; 
And  being  once  subdued  in  armed  tail, 
Sweet  honey  and  sweet  notes  together  fail. 
Good  traders  in  the  flesh,  set  this  in  your  painted  cloths  : 


Scene  X]  Troilus  and  Cressida  175 

As  many  as  be  here  of  pander's  hall, 

Your  eyes,  half  out,  weep  out  at  Pandar's  fall ; 

Or  if  you  cannot  weep,  yet  give  some  groans, 

Though  not  for  me,  yet  for  your  aching  bones.  50 

Brethren  and  sisters  of  the  hold-door  trade. 

Some  two  months  hence  my  will  shall  here  be  made  ; 

It  should  be  now,  but  that  my  fear  is  this,  — 

Some  galled  goose  of  Winchester  would  hiss. 

Till  then  I  '11  sweat  and  seek  about  for  eases, 

And  at  that  time  bequeath  you  my  diseases.  [Exit. 


NOTES 


Chaucer 


NOTES 


Introduction 


The  Metre  of  the  Play.  —  It  should  be  understood  at  the 
outset  that  metre,  or  the  mechanism  of  verse,  is  something  alto- 
gether distinct  from  the  music  of  verse.  The  one  is  matter  of  rule, 
the  other  of  taste  and  feeling.  Music  is  not  an  -absolute  necessity 
of  verse  ;  the  metrical  form  is  a  necessity,  being  that  which  consti- 
tutes the  verse. 

The  plays  of  Shakespeare  (with  the  exception  of  rhymed  pas- 
sages, and  of  occasional  songs  and  interludes)  are  all  in  unrhymed 
or  blank  verse  ;  and  the  normal  form  of  this  blank  verse  is  illus- 
trated by  i.  I.  I  of  the  present  play  :  "Call  here  my  varlet  ; 
I'll  unarm  again." 

This  line,  it  will  be  seen,  consists  of  ten  syllables,  with  the  even 
syllables  (2d,  4th,  6th,  8th,  and  loth)  accented,  the  odd  syllables 
(ist,  3d,  etc.)  being  unaccented.  Theoretically,  it  is  made  up  of 
five  Z^^^"  of  two  syllables  each,  with  the  accent  on  the  second  sylla- 
ble. Such  a  foot  is  called  an  iambus  (plural,  iambuses,  or  the  Latin 
iambi),  and  the  form  of  verse  is  called  iambic. 

This  fundamental  law  of  Shakespeare's  verse  is  subject  to  certain 
modifications,  the  most  important  of  which  are  as  follows :  — 

179 


i8o  Notes 

1.  After  the  tenth  syllable  an  unaccented  syllable  (or  even  two 
such  syllables)  may  be  added,  forming  what  is  sometimes  called  a 
female  line  ;  as  in  i.  i.  8 :  "  Fierce  to  their  skill,  and  to  their  fierce- 
ness valiant."  The  rhythm  is  complete  with  the  first  syllable  of 
valiant,  the  second  being  an  extra  eleventh  syllable.  In  i.  2.  6 
("  He  chid  Andromache  and  struck  his  armourer  ")  we  have  two 
extra  syllables,  the  rhythm  being  complete  with  the  first  syllable  of 
armourer. 

2.  The  accent  in  any  part  of  the  verse  may  be  shifted  from  an 
even  to  an  odd  syllable  ;  as  in  i.  i.  5  :  "  Let  him  to  field  ;  Troilus, 
alas!  hath  none  ;  "  and  i.  I.  8,  quoted  above.  In  both  lines  the 
accent  is  shifted  from  the  second  to  the  first  syllable.  This  change 
occurs  very  rarely  in  the  tenth  syllable,  and  seldom  in  the  fourth  ; 
and  it  is  not  allowable  in  two  successive  accented  syllables. 

3.  An  extra  unaccented  syllable  may  occur  in  any  part  of  the 
line  ;  as  in  i.  i.  30  and  106.  In  30  the  second  syllable  of  suffer- 
ance is  superfluous  ;  and  in  106  that  of  Ilium.  In  i.  I.  60,  the 
second  syllable  of  spirit  is  superfluous  as  often. 

4.  Any  unaccented  syllable,  occurring  in  an  even  place  immedi- 
ately before  or  after  an  even  syllable  which  is  properly  accented,  is 
reckoned  as  accented  for  the  purposes  of  the  verse  ;  as,  for  instance, 
in  i.  I.  10  and  12.  In  10  the  last  syllable  of  ignorance,  and  in  12 
that  of  infancy  are  metrically  equivalent  to  accented  syllables  ; 
and  so  with  the  last  syllable  of  Pandarus  (twice)  in  i.  I.  50, 
and  the  last  of  comparison  in  i.   i.  58. 

5.  In  many  instances  in  Shakespeare  words  must  be  lengthened 
in  order  to  fill  out  the  rhythm :  — 

{a)  In  a  large  class  of  words  in  which  e  or  i  is  followed  by 
another  vowel,  the  e  or  i  is  made  a  separate  syllable  ;  as  ocean, 
opinion,  soldier,  patience,  partial,  marriage,  etc.  For  instance, 
in  this  play,  i.  3.  134  ("Of  pale  and  bloodless  emulation")  appears 
to  have  only  nine  syllables,  but  emulation  has  five  syllables  ;  and 
in  i.  3,  166  oration  is  a  quadrisyllable.  Preventions  in  i.  3.  181 
and  execution  in  i.  3.  210  are  similarly  lengthened.     This  length^ 


Notes  i8i 

ening  occurs  most  frequently  at  the  end  of  the  line,  but  in  ii.  3. 
178  ("and  that  great  minds,  of  partial  indulgence"  —  a  female 
line)  par-tial  is  a  trisyllable. 

{J})  Many  monosyllables  ending  in  r,  re,  rs,  res,  preceded  by  a 
long  vowel  or  diphthong,  are  often  made  dissyllables  ;  2^,  fare,  fear, 
dear,  fire,  hair,  hour,  more,  your,  etc.  If  the  word  is  repeated 
in  a  verse  it  is  often  both  monosyllable  and  dissyllable  ;  as  in 
M.  of  V.  iii.  2.  20  :  "  And  so,  though  yours,  not  yours.  Prove  it 
so,"  where  either  yours  (preferably  the  first)  is  a  dissyllable,  the 
other  being  a  monosyllable.  In  y.  C.  iii.  i.  172:  "As  fire  drives 
out  fire,  so  pity,  pity,"  the  first  fire  is   a    dissyllable. 

(r)  Words  containing  /  or  r,  preceded  by  another  consonants 
are  often  pronounced  as  if  a  vowel  came  between  or  after  the  two ; 
as  in  i.  3.  30  :  "  Lies  rich  in  virtue  and  unmingled  [unmingl(e)ed]  ; 
T.  of  S.  ii.  I.  158:  "While  she  did  call  me  rascal  fiddler" 
[fiddl(e)er]  ;  All's  Well,  iii.  5.  43:  "If  you  will  tarry,  holy  pil- 
grim" [pilg(e)rimj;  C.  of  E.  v.  i.  360:  "These  are  the  parents 
of  these  children  "  [childeren,  the  original  form  of  the  word] ; 
W.  T.  iv.  4.  76:  "Grace  and  remembrance  [rememb(e) ranee] 
be   to  you  both!"   etc.     See  also  on  secrets  (iv.  2.  72). 

(^/)  Monosyllabic  exclamations  {ay,  O, yea,  nay^  hail,  etc.)  and 
monosyllables  otherwise  emphasized  are  similarly  lengthened  ;  also 
certain  longer  words;  as  cotnniandeiiient  va.  M.  of  V.  (iv.  I.  451); 
safety  (trisyllable)  in  Ham.  i.  3.  21  ;  business  (trisyllable,  as 
originally  pronounced)  va  J.  C.  iv.  i.  22  :  "To  groan  and  sweat 
under  the  business"  (so  in  several  other  passages);  and  other 
words  mentioned  in  the  notes  to  the  plays  in  which  they  occur. 

6.  Words  are  also  contracted  for  metrical  reasons,  like  plurals 
and  possessives  ending  in  a  sibilant,  as,  balance,  horse  (for  horses 
and  horse's'),  princess,  sense,  marriage  (plural  and  possessive), 
image,  etc.  So  with  many  adjectives  in  the  superlative  (Vikefair'st 
in  i.  3.  265,  dear'st  in  i.  3.  337,  stern' st,  kindest,  secret' st,  etc.),  and 
certain  other  words. 

7.  The  accent  of  words  is  also  varied  in  many  instances  for  met- 


1 82  Notes 

rical  reasons.  Thus  we  find  both  revenue  and  revenue  (see  on  ii. 
2.  206)  in  the  first  scene  of  the  M.  N.  D.  (lines  6  and  158),  cdnfine 
(noun)  and  confine,  mdture  and  mature,  pursue  and  pursue, 
distinct  (see  on  iv.  4.  45)  and  distinct,  etc. 

These  instances  of  variable  accent  must  not  be  confounded  with 
those  in  which  words  were  uniformly  accented  differently  in  the 
time  of  Shakespeare  ;  like  aspect  (see  on  i.  3.  92),  advertised  (ii.  2. 
211),  humane  (iv.  i.  20),  sinister  (iv.  5.  28),  candnize  (ii.  3.  202), 
sepulchre  (verb),  persever  (never  persevere^,  perseveratice  (iii.  3. 
150),  rheumatic,  etc. 

8.  Alexandrines,  or  verses  of  twelve  syllables,  with  six  accents, 
occur  here  and  there  in  the  plays.  They  must  not  be  confounded 
with  female  lines  with  two  extra  syllables  (see  on  i  above)  or  with 
other  lines  in  which  two  extra  unaccented  syllables  may  occur. 

9.  Incomplete  verses,  of  one  or  more  syllables,  are  scattered 
through  the  plays.      See  i.  I.  65,  i.  3.  37,  77,  126,  141,  148,  etc. 

10.  Doggerel  measure  is  used  in  the  earliest  comedies  (Z.  Z.  L. 
and  C.  of  E.  in  particular)  in  the  mouths  of  comic  characters, 
but  nowhere  else  in  those  plays,  and  never  anywhere  in  plays 
written  after  1598. 

11.  Rhyme  OQ.c\y.x%  frequently  in  the  early  plays,  but  diminishes 
with  comparative  regularity  from  that  period  until  the  latest. 
Thus,  in  L.  L.  L.  there  are  about  iioo  rhyming  verses  (about 
one-third  of  the  whole  number),  in  M.  N.  D.  about  900,  in  Rich, 
II.  and  R.  and  f.  about  500  each,  while  in  Cor.  and  A.  and  C. 
there  are  only  about  40  each,  in  Temp,  only  two,  and  in  W.  T. 
none  at  all,  except  in  the  chorus  introducing  act  iv.  Songs,  inter- 
ludes, and  other  matter  not  in  ten-syllable  measure  are  not  included 
in  this  enumeration.  In  the  present  play  out  of  almost  1900  ten- 
syllable  verses,  only  about  180  are  in  rhyme. 

Alternate  rhymes  are  found  only  in  the  plays  written  before  1599 
or  1600.  In  M.  of  V.  there  are  only  four  lines  at  the  end  of  iii.  2. 
In  Much  Ado  and  A.  Y.  I.,  we  also  find  a  few  lines,  but  none 
at  all  in  subsequent  plays. 


Notes  183 


Rhymed  couplets,  or  "  rhyme-tags,"  are  often  found  at  the  end  of 
scenes  ;  as  in  15  of  the  24  scenes  of  the  present  play.  In  Ham.  14 
out  of  20  scenes,  and  in  Macb.  21  out  of  28,  have  such  "  tags  ;  "  but 
in  the  latest  plays  they  are  not  so  frequent.  In  Temp.,  for  instance, 
there  is  but  one,  and  in  W.  T.  none. 

12.  In  this  edition  of  Shakespeare,  the  final  -ed  of  past  tenses 
and  participles  in  verse  is  printed  -d  when  the  word  is  to  be  pro- 
nounced in  the  ordinary  way;  as  in  coticKd,  line  41,  and  drowned, 
line  51,  of  the  first  scene.  But  when  the  metre  requires  that  the  -ed 
be  made  a  separate  syllable,  the  e  is  retained  ;  as  in  wedged,  line  37, 
where  the  word  is  a  dissyllable,  and  returned,  line  114  (a  tri- 
syllable). The  only  variation  from  this  rule  is  in  verbs  like  cry,  die, 
sue,  etc.,  the  -ed  of  which  is  very  rarely,  if  ever,  made  a  separate 
syllable. 

Shakespeare's  Use  of  Verse  and  Prose  in  the  Plays. — This 
is  a  subject  to  which  the  critics  have  given  very  little  attention, 
but  it  is  an  interesting  study.  In  this  play  we  find  scenes  entirely 
in  verse  (none  entirely  in  prose)  and  others  in  which  the  two  are 
mixed.  In  general,  verse  is  used  for  what  is  distinctly  poetical, 
and  prose  for  what  is  not  poetical.  The  distinction,  how- 
ever, is  not  so  clearly  marktd  in  the  earlier  as  in  the  later  plays. 
The  second  scene  of  M.  of  V.,  for  instance,  is  in  prose,  because 
Portia  and  Nerissa  are  talking  about  the  suitors  in  a  familiar  and 
playful  way  ;  but  in  T.  G.  of  V.,  where  Julia  and  Lucetta  are  dis- 
cussing the  suitors  of  the  former  in  much  the  same  fashion,  the 
scene  is  in  verse.  Dowden,  commenting  on  Rich.  II.,  remarks : 
"  Had  Shakespeare  written  the  play  a  few  years  later,  we  may  be 
certain  that  the  gardener  and  his  servants  (iii.  4)  would  not  have 
uttered  stately  speeches  in  verse,  but  would  have  spoken  homely 
prose,  and  that  humour  would  have  mingled  with  the  pathos  of  the 
scene.  The  same  remark  may  be  made  with  reference  to  the  sub- 
sequent scene  (v.  5)  in  which  his  groom  visits  the  dethroned  king 
in  the  Tower,"  Comic  characters  and  those  in  low  life  generally 
speak  in  prose  in  the  later  plays,  as  Dowden  intimates,  but  in  the 


1 84  Notes 

very  earliest  ones  doggerel  verse  is  much  used  instead.  See  on  10 
above. 

The  change  from  prose  to  verse  is  well  illustrated  in  the  third 
scene  of  M.  of  V.  It  begins  with  plain  prosaic  talk  about  a  busi- 
ness matter  ;  but  when  Antonio  enters,  it  rises  at  once  to  the  higher 
level  of  poetry.  The  sight  of  Antonio  reminds  Shylock  of  his 
hatred  of  the  Merchant,  and  the  passion  expresses  itself  in  verse, 
the  vernacular  tongue  of  poetry. 

The  reasons  for  the  choice  of  prose  or  verse  are  not  always  so 
clear  as  in  this  instance.  "We  are  seldom  puzzled  to  explain  the 
prose,  but  not  unfrequently  we  meet  with  verse  where  we  might 
expect  prose.  As  Professor  Corson  remarks  (^Introduction  to  Shake- 
speare, 1889),  "  Shakespeare  adopted  verse  as  the  general  tenor  of 
his  language,  and  therefore  expressed  much  in  verse  that  is  within 
the  capabilities  of  prose  ;  in  other  words,  his  verse  constantly  en- 
croaches upon  the  domain  of  prose,  but  his  prose  can  never  be  said 
to  encroach  upon  the  domain  of  verse."  If  in  rare  instances  we 
think  we  find  exceptions  to  this  latter  statement,  and  prose  actually 
seems  to  usurp  the  place  of  verse,  I  believe  that  careful  study  of 
the  passage  will  prove  the  supposed  exception  to  be  apparent  rather 
than  real. 

Some  Books  for  Teachers  and  Students. — A  few  out  of  the 
many  books  that  might  be  commended  to  the  teacher  and  the 
critical  student  are  the  following :  Halliwell-Phillipps's  Outlines  of 
the  Life  of  Shakespeare  (7th  ed.  1887);  Sidney  Lee's  Life  of  Shake- 
speare (1898;  for  ordinary  students  the  abridged  ed.  of  1899  is 
preferable);  'KoMe.''?,  Life  of  Shakespeare  {k^O/^^;  Schmidt's  ^/za/^<?- 
speare  Lexicon  (3d  ed.  1902)  ;  Littledale's  ed.  of  Dyce's  Glossary 
(1902);  Bartlett's  Concordance  to  Shakespeare  (1895);  Abbott's 
Shakespearian  Grammar  (1873);  Furness's  "New  Variorum"  ed. 
of  the  plays  (encyclopaedic  and  exhaustive)  ;  Dowden's  Shakspere  : 
His  Mind  and  Art  (American  ed.  1881);  Hudson's  Life,  Art,  and 
Characters  of  Shakespeare  (revised  ed.  1882);  Mrs.  Jameson's 
Characteristics    of    Women    (several    eds.  ;    some    with    the    title, 


Notes  185 


Shakespeare  Heroines) ;  Ten  Brink's  Five  Lectures  on  Shakespeare 
(1895);  Boas's  Shakespeare  and  His  Predecessors  (1895);  Dyer's 
Folk-lore  of  Shakespeare  (American  ed.  1884);  Gervinus's  Shake- 
^eare  Co??i7?ienlaries  (Bunnett's  translation,  1875);  Wordsworth's 
Shakespeare's  Knowledge  of  the  Bible  (3d  ed.  1 880);  Elson's 
Shakespeare  in  Music  (1901). 

Abbreviations  in  the  Notes.  —  The  abbreviations  of  the 
names  of  Shakespeare's  plays  will  be  readily  understood  ;  as  T.  N. 
for  Ttvelfth  Night,  Cor.  for  Coriolanus,  j  Hen.  VI.  for  The  Third 
Part  of  King  Henry  the  Sixth,  etc.  P.  P.  refers  to  The  Passionate 
Pilgrim;  V.  and  A.  to  Venus  and  Adonis;  L.  C.  to  Lover'' s 
Complaint ;  and  Sonn.  to  the  Sonnets. 

Other  abbreviations  that  hardly  need  explanation  are  Cf  {confer, 
compare),  Fol.  (following),  Id.  {idem,  the  same),  and  Prol.  (pro- 
logue). The  numbers  of  the  lines  in  the  references  (except  for 
the  present  play)  are  those  of  the  "  Globe  "  edition  (the  cheapest 
and  best  edition  of  Shakespeare  in  one  compact  volume),  which  is 
now  generally  accepted  as  the  standard  for  line-numbers  in  works 
of  reference  (Schmidt's  Lexicon,  Abbott's  Grammar,  Dowden's 
Primer,  the  publications  of  the  New  Shakespere  Society,  etc.). 


Cassandra 


PROLOGUE 

The  Prologue  is  not  found  in  the  quarto.  Ritson  and  Steevens 
(1793)  were  the  first  to  suggest  that  it  is  not  Shakespeare's  —  an 
opinion  in  which  the  modern  critics  generally  concur.  White  re- 
marks :  "  Its  style  is  not  unlike  Chapman's ;  and  he  was  just  the 
man  to  be  called  upon  (perhaps  by  S.  himself)  to  write  it.  May  it 
not  be  his  ?  " 

2.  Orgulous.  Proud,  haughty  (Yx.  orgueilleux^  ;  "  orgillous  "  in 
the  folios.     The  word  is  found  in  Froissart  and  other  old  writers. 

4.  Fraught.  Laden  ;  participle  of  the  old  verb  fraught  (  Cyvib. 
i.  I.  126),  now  used  only  in  a  figurative  sense.  Cf.  fraughtage  in 
13  below. 

6.  Crownets.  Coronets  ;  used  by  S.  in  A.  and  C.  iv.  2.  27  and 
V.  2.  91. 

8.  Immures.  Walls,  fortifications.  The  noun  occurs  nowhere 
else  in  S. ;  but  the  verb  is  used  seven  times.  See  Z.  L.  L.  iii.  i.  26, 
iv.  3.  328,  M.  of  V.  ii.  7.  52,  etc. 

13.    Fraughtage.     Freight ;   used  by  S.  in  C.  of  E.  iv.  I.  87. 

15.    Brave,     Fine,  handsome  ;   as  in  i.  2.  191  below. 

186 


Scene  I]  Notes  187 

Six-gated  city.  Theobald  reads  "  six  gates  i'  th'  city."  The 
names  of  the  gates  are  those  given  by  Caxton. 

18.  Fulfilling.  Theobald  prints  "  full-filling,"  which  is  what  the 
word  means :  filling  full  their  sockets.  Wiclif  has,  in  Matthew,  v. 
6 :  "  Blessid  be  thei  that  hungren  and  thirsten  rigtwisnesse :  for 
thei  schal  be  fulfillid ;  "  and  in  Luke,  xvi.  21  :  "  to  be  fulfillid  of  the 
crummys  that  fellen  down  fro  the  riche  mannes  boord."  Black- 
stone  cites  the  Prayer-Book :  "  fulfilled  with  grace  and  benedic- 
tion." Corresponsive  is  used  by  S.  only  here,  and  correspondent 
only  in  Temp.  i.  2.  297. 

19.  Sperr.  An  old  word  =:  shut,  bar  ;  the  emendation  of  Theo- 
bald for  the  "  Stirre  "  of  the  folio.  It  is  used  by  Spenser,  Warner, 
and  others.  Knight  quotes  Chaucer,  T.  and  C. :  "  For  when  he 
saw  her  dores  sperred  all." 

23.  A  prologue  arnt'd,  etc.  "  I  come  here  to  speak  the  pro- 
logue, and  come  in  armour  ;  not  defying  tKe  audience,  in  confi- 
dence of  either  the  author's  or  actor's  abilities,  but  merely  in  a 
character  suited  to  the  subject  —  in  a  dress  of  war,  before  a  war- 
like play"  (Johnson).  The  speaker  of  the  prologue  usually  wore 
a  black  cloak. 

27.  Vaunt.  Beginning,  first  part ;  from  the  Fr.  avant.  Cf. 
vaunt-couriers  in  Lear,  iii.  2.  5. 


ACT  I 

Scene  I.  —  Neither  the  quarto  nor  the  folio  text  is  divided  into 
acts  and  scenes. 

I.  Varlet.  Servant,  footman  (the  modern  7/«/f/f)  ;  as  in  Hen.  V. 
iv.  2.  2 :  "  My  horse  !  varlet  !  laquais  !  ha !  "  Cf.  the  original 
use  of  knave  =  boy,  servant. 

6.  Gear.  Business,  matter.  See  P.  and  J.  ii.  4.  107,  M.  of  V. 
i.  I.  no,  ii.  2.  176,  etc. 

7.  To.     In  addition  to.      Cf.  MaclK  in.  i.  ^2:  — 


1 88  Notes  [Act  I 

"  And,  to  that  dauntless  temper  of  his  mind, 
He  hath  a  wisdom  that  doth  guide  his  valour,"  etc, 

lo.    Fonder.     More  foolish  ;   the  usual  meaning  of  fond  in  S. 

14.  Meddle  no7'  make.  A  proverbial  expression.  Cf.  Much  Ado, 
iii.  3.  56 :  "  the  less  you  meddle  or  make  with  them,  why,  the  more 
is  your  honesty." 

19.  Bolting.  Sifting  ;  as  in  W.  T.  iv.  4.  375.  It  is  used  figura- 
tively in  Hen.  V.  ii.  2.  137  and  Cor.  iii.  i.  322. 

30.  Blench  at  sufferance.  Flinch  at  suffering.  Cf.  Ham.  ii. 
2.  626,  etc.     See  also  ii.  2.  68  below. 

33.  So,  traitor !  etc.  The  quarto  reads :  "  So  traitor  then  she 
comes  when  she  is  thence  ; "  and  the  folio  :  "  So  (Traitor)  then 
she  comes,  when  she  is  thence,"  The  correction  is  due  to  Rowe 
and  commends  itself. 

39.    Storm.     The  early  eds.  have  "  scorne  ;  "  corrected  by  Rowe. 

53.    Indrench^d.     Used  by  S.  only  here. 

55.  Pour''st  in  the  open  ulcer,  etc.  Hudson  adopts  the  conjecture 
of  Barry  and  Lettsom  that  this  line  should  be  put  after  63,  changing 
Pour''st  to  "  Pour'd."  This  seems  plausible  at  first  thought,  but  it 
makes  a  confusion  of  metaphor  in  the  latter  part  of  the  passage  ; 
the  ideas  of  an  ulcer  and  a  gash  made  by  a  knife  being  mixed. 
Besides  this  change  necessitates  others  quite  as  bold,  but  hardly  to 
be  justified  when  the  original  text  gives  a  consistent  meaning.  The 
whole  passage  reads  thus  in  Hudson :  — 

"  I  tell  thee,  I  am  mad 
In  Cressid's  love:  thou  answer'st,  She  is  fair ; 
Her  eyes,  her  hair,  her  cheek,  her  gait,  her  voice 
Handiest  in  thy  discourse  ;  —  (O  that  her  hand, 
In  whose  comparison  all  whites  are  ink. 
Writing  their  own  reproach  ;  to  whose  soft  seizure 
And  spirit  of  sense  the  cygnet's  down  is  harsh 
As  the  hard  hand  of  ploughman  !)  — this  thou  tell'st  me, 
And  true  thou  tell'st  me,  when  I  say  I  love  her  : 
But,  saying  thus,  instead  of  oil  and  balm 


Scene  I]  Notes  189 

Pour'd  in  the  open  ulcer  of  my  heart, 

Thou  lay'st  in  every  gash  that  love  hath  given  me 

The  knife  that  made  it." 

This  may  serve  as  a  summary  of  the  changes  that  have  been  pro- 
posed by  the  editors  and  commentators,  for  it  combines  nearly  all 
of  them. 

57.  O,  that  her  hand,  etc.  Various  changes  have  been  made  by 
the  editors,  but  none  is  needed.  Malone  notes  the  admiration  of 
S.  for  the  beauty  of  a  woman's  hand.  Cf.  R.  and  J.  iii.  3.  35, 
W.  T.  iv.  4.  373,  R.  ofL.  393,  etc. 

59.  To  whose  soft  seizure,  etc.  White  thinks  it  possible  that  we 
should  read :  — 

"  to  whose  soft  seizure 
And  spirit  of  sense  the  cygnet's  down  is  harsh  ;  " 

but  adds  :  "  But  I  am  quite  sure  that  rather  than  make  so  violent 
a  change  we  must  accept  the  following  construction :  *  to  whose 
soft  seizure  the  cygnet's  down  and  spirit  of  sense  is  harsh,'  etc." 
Schmidt  well  defines  spirit  of  sense  as  "  sense  or  sensibility  itself;  " 
which  seems  to  be  its  meaning  in  iii.  3.  106  below,  where  it  is  ap- 
plied to  the  eye.  Seizure  (=  clasp)  seems  a  strong  word  here ;  as 
in  K.John,  iii.  I.  241,  where  it  refers  to  hands  joined  in  betrothal. 
The  only  other  instance  in  S.  (if  it  be  his)  is  in  P.  /*.  152. 

For  to  =  compared  to,  cf.  Ham.  i.  2.  140,  i.  5.  52,  etc. 

70.  She  has  the  mends  in  her  own  hands.  This  seems  to  have 
been  a  proverbial  expression.  Steevens  quotes,  among  other  in- 
stances of  it,  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  The  Wild  Goose  Chase: 
"  The  mends  are  in  my  own  hands,  or  the  surgeon's  ;  "  and  Burton, 
Anat.  of  Melancholy  :  "  if  men  will  be  jealous  in  such  cases,  the 
mends  is  in  their  own  hands,  they  must  thank  themselves."  The 
meaning  seems  generally  to  be  that  one  "  must  make  the  best  of 
it ;  "  and  that  is  probably  the  sense  here.  There  can  be  no  reason 
for  printing  "  'mends,"  as  some  editors  do. 

80.    As  fair  on  Friday  as  Helen  is  on  Sunday.     As  fair  in  her 


190  Notes  [Act  I 

plainest  dress  as  Helen  in  her  best ;  apparently  alluding,  as  Clarke 
remarks,  to  the  Roman  Catholic  idea  of  making  Friday  a  day  of 
abstinence  and  Sunday  a  day  of  festivity. 

85.  To  stay  behind  her  father.  According  to  Caxton,  as  quoted 
by  Steevens,  Calchas  was  "  a  great  learned  bishop  of  Troy,"  who 
was  sent  by  Priam  to  consult  the  Oracle  at  Delphi  concerning  the 
result  of  the  war  threatened  by  Agamemnon.  As  soon  as  he 
had  made  "his  oblations  and  demands  for  them  of  Troy,  Apollo 
answered  unto  him  saying  :  Calchas,  Calchas,  beware  that  thou 
returne  not  back  again  to  Troy  ;  but  goe  thou  with  Achylles,  unto 
the  Greekes,  and  depart  never  from  them,  for  the  Greekes  shall 
have  victorie  of  the  Troyans  by  the  agreement  of  the  Gods." 
Chaucer  tells  the  story  in  much  the  same  way. 

loi.  Tetchy.  Touchy;  spelt  "  teachy  "  in  the  early  eds.  Cf. 
Rich.  III.  iv.  4.  168  and  R.  and  J.  i.  3.  32. 

102.  Stubborn- chaste.  The  hyphen  was  inserted  by  Theobald  and 
is  generally  adopted.     The  early  eds.  have  a  comma  instead. 

103.  Daphne.  For  other  allusions  to  the  nymph,  see  M.  N.  D. 
ii,  I.  231  and  T.  of  S.  ind.  2.  59. 

106.  Ilium.  The  poetical  name  for  the  city  of  Troy;  but  S. 
seems  to  use  it  for  the  palace  of  Priam,  as  Caxton  does  in  his  De- 
struction of  Troy,  where  the  palace  is  thus  described  :  "  In  this 
open  space  of  the  city,  upon  a  rock,  King  Priamus  did  build  his 
rich  palace  named  Ilion,  that  was  one  of  the  richest  and  strongest 
in  all  the  world.  It  was  of  height  five  hundred  paces,  besides  the 
height  of  the  towers,  whereof  there  was  great  plenty,  so  high,  as  it 
seemed  to  them  that  saw  from  far,  they  reacht  Heaven.  And  in 
this  palace  King  Priamus  did  make  the  richest  Hall  that  was  at 
that  time  in  all  the  world  :  within  which  was  his  throne  ;  and  the 
table  whereupon  he  did  eat,  and  held  his  estate  among  his  nobles, 
princes,  lords,  and  barons,  was  of  gold  and  silver,  precious  stones, 
and  of  ivory." 

III.  Sorts.  Suits,  is  fitting;  as  in  3  Hen.  VI.  ii.  i.  209  :  "Why 
then  it  sorts,  brave  warriors,"  etc. 


Scene  II]  Notes  19 1 

116.  A  scar.  A  wound;  as  often.  Cf.  C.  of  E.  v.  I.  193, 
2  Heji.  VI.  i.  I.  87,  etc. 

Scene  II. — Knight  remarks  :  "This  scene,  in  which  Pandarus 
so  characteristically  describes  the  Trojan  leaders,  is  founded  upon 
a  similar  scene  in  Chaucer,  in  which  the  same  personage  recounts 
the  merits  of  Priam's  two  valiant  sons  :  — 

'  Of  Hector  needeth  nothing  for  to  tell  ; 
In  all  this  world  there  n'  is  a  better  knight 
Than  he,  that  is  of  worthiness  the  well, 
And  he  well  more  of  virtue  hath  than  might  ; 
This  knoweth  many  a  wise  and  worthy  knight : 
And  the  same  praise  of  Troilus  I  say : 
God  help  me,  so  I  know  not  suche  tway. 

'  Pardie,  quod  she,  of  Hector  there  is  soth, 
And  of  Troilus  the  same  thing  trow  I, 
For  dredelessi  men  telleth  that  he  doth 
In  armes  day  by  day  so  worthily, 
And  bear  'th  him  here  at  home  so  gently 
To  every  wight,  that  alle  praise  hath  he 
Of  them  that  me  were  levest  praised  be.  2 

'  Ye  say  right  soth,  I  wis,  quod  Pandarus, 
For  yesterday  whoso  had  with  him  been 
Mighten  have  wonder  'd  upon  Troilus ; 
For  never  yet  so  thick  a  swarm  of  been  3 
Ne  flew,  as  Greekes  from  him  gonnen  fleen, 
And  through  the  field  in  every  wightes  ear 
There  was  no  cry  but  "  Troilus  is  there !  " 

'  Now  here,  now  there,  he  hunted  them  so  fast, 
There  n  '  as  but  Greekes  blood  and  Troilus  ; 
Now  him  he  hurt,  and  him  all  down  he  cast ; 
A)'-e  where  he  went  it  was  arrayed  thus  : 
He  was  their  death,  and  shield  and  life  for  us, 
That  as  that  day  there  durst  him  none  withstand 
While  that  he  held  his  bloody  sword  in  hand.'  " 

*  Doubtless.  2  Whose  praise  I  should  most  desire.  3  Bees. 


192  Notes  [Act  I 

4.  Battle.  Changed  by  Pope  to  "fight;"  but  the  second  syl- 
lable of  battle  may  be  an  extra  one.  In  either  case  patience  is  a 
trisyllable. 

7.  Like  as.  Cf.  Sonn.  60.  I  :  "  Like  as  the  waves  make  towards 
the  pebbled  shore,"  etc.  Husbajidry  =  thrift,  economy.  Cf. 
Macb.   ii.   4  :  — 

"  There 's  husbandry  in  heaven  ; 
Their  candles  are  all  out,"  etc. 

8.  Harness' d  light.  It  has  been  disputed  whether  this  means 
that  he  was  armed  promptly  or  in  light  armour.  I  am  inclined  to 
accept  the  former  explanation.  For  the  adverbial  use  of  light,  cf. 
M.  N.  D.N.  I.  401  :  "  Hop  as  light  as  bird  from  brier,"  etc. 

9.  Where  every  flower,  ^\.z.  For  the  figure  (evidently  suggested 
by  the  dewdrops),  cf.  M.  N.  D.  iii.  i.  204 :  "  And  when  she  weeps, 
weeps  every  little  flower." 

12.  Noise.  Rumour,  report  ;  as  in  A.  and  C.  i.  2.  145  : 
"Cleopatra,  catching  but  the  least  noise  of  this,  dies  instantly," 
We  still  speak  of  a  thing  as  being  "  noised  abroad "  (Z.  L.  L. 
ii.  I.  22). 

15.  Per  se.  By  himself,  of  himself;  pre-eminent.  It  was 
applied  in  spelling  to  every  letter  which  formed  a  separate  syllable, 
and  hence  came  to  be  used  figuratively  of  objects  standing  alone  in 
distinction  or  excellence.  Chaucer  calls  Cresseide  "  the  floure  and 
a  per  se  of  Troie  and  Grece."  Cf.  the  Mirror  for  Magistrates: 
"  Beholde  me,  Baldwine,  A  per  se  of  my  age."  Nares  quotes  H. 
Petowe,  in  Brydges's  Restituta  :  — 

"  And  singing  moume  Eliza's  funerall, 
The  £  per  se  of  all  that  ere  hath  beene." 

Dekker  has,  in  the  title  of  one  of  his  pamphlets  :  "  a  new  crier, 
called  O  per  se  O,"  etc. 

20.  Additions.  Qualities,  characteristics  ;  literally,  titles.  Cf. 
ii.  3.  249  below. 


Scene  II]  Notes  193 

23,  Crushed  into  folly.  "  Confused  and  mingled  with  folly,  so 
as  that  they  make  one  mass  together"  (Johnson). 

27.  Against  the  hair.  Or,  as  we  say,  "  against  the  grain."  For 
this  use  of  hair,  see  M.  W.  ii.  3.  41  :  "  against  the  hair  of  your 
profession."  Joints  —  limbs,  as  often  ;  here  used  for  the  pun  that 
follows. 

29.  Briareus.  The  only  allusion  to  the  old  hundred-armed 
giant  in  S.  For  other  references  to  the  many-eyed  Argus,  see 
L.  L.  L.  iii.  I.  201  and  M.  of  V.  \.  i.  230. 

34.  Disdaiji.  Ignoring  as  in  R.  of  L.  521:  "hang  their  heads 
at  this  disdain." 

75.  Condition.  Hanmer  reads  "On  condition;"  which  is  of 
course  the  meaning.  Cf.  Lord  Cromivell,  v.  4  :  "  Would  't  were 
otherwise,  condition,  I  spent  half  the  wealth  I  have."  For  walk- 
ing barefoot,  etc.,  cf.  0th.  iv.  2.  38  :  "I  know  a  lady  in  Venice 
would  have  walked  barefoot  to  Palestine  for  a  touch  of  his 
nether  lip." 

78.    Tifne  must  friend  or  ejtd.     A  proverbial  expression. 

87.    Wit.     The  early  eds.  have  "  will ;  "  corrected  by  Rowe. 

96.   Favour.     Face  ;   as  often.     Cf.  iv.  5.  213  below. 

114.  Merry  Greek.  A  play  upon  the  expression,  which  was 
often  :=  reveller,  boon  companion.     Cf.  iv.  4.  56  below. 

116.    Compassed  window.     Bow-window,  or  bay-window, 

119.  A  tapster'' s  arithmetic.  Which  was  limited  to  his  small 
dealings  with  his  customers.  Cf.  L.  L.  L.  i.  2.  40  :  "I  am  ill  at 
reckoning  ;  it  fitteth  the  spirit  of  a  tapster." 

125.  Lifter.  A  play  on  the  word  as  applied  to  a  thief.  Cf.  the 
modern  shoplifter. 

133.  Valiantly.  Singer  conjectures  "daintily;"  but  Cressida 
uses  the  word  as  bravely  was  commonly  used  (  =  finely),  and  ironi- 
cally withal. 

135.  An  V  were  a  cloud  in  autumn.  That  is,  like  a  cloud  boding 
bad  weather,  or  more  like  a  frown  than  a  smile. 

143.   Ldle.     There  is  an  obvious  play  on  addle. 
TROILUS — 13 


194  Notes  [Act  I 

145.  Marvellous.  The  early  eds.  have  "maruel's"  or  "mar- 
vel^s  ;  "  corrected  by  Pope. 

147.     Without  the  rack.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  2.  23  :  — 

"  Bassanio.  Let  me  choose  ; 

For  as  I  am  I  live  upon  the  rack. 

Portia.     Upon  the  rack,  Bassanio  !  then  confess 
What  treason  there  is  mingled  with  your  love." 

153.  With  mill-stones.  "  To  weep  mill-stones  "  was  a  proverbial 
expression  =  not  to  weep  at  all.  Cf.  /■^ich.  HI.  i.  3.  354  :  "  Your 
eyes  drop  mill-stones    when   fools'  eyes   fall  tears  ;"  and  Id.  i.  4. 

246:  — 

"  Bid  Gloster  think  on  this,  and  he  will  weep. 

I  Murderer.    Ay,  mill-stones  ;  as  he  lesson'd  us  to  weep." 

166.  Two  and  fifty.  So  in  all  the  early  eds.,  both  here  and 
below.  Most  of  the  modern  editors  follow  Theobald  in  changing 
two  to  "  one  ;  "  but,  as  White  remarks,  the  error  is  probably  Shake- 
speare's. He  was  perhaps  thinking  for  the  moment  of  the  famil- 
iar use  of  two  and  fifty  for  an  indefinite  numVjer  ;  as  in  T.  of  S.  i. 
2.  81,  etc.  Knight  remarks  that  "  the  Margarelon  of  the  romance- 
writers,  w^ho  makes  his  appearance  in  act  v.,  is  one  of  the  addi- 
tions to  the  old  classical  family  ;  "  but  others  take  the  ground  that 
he  was  reckoned  among  the  fifty. 

173.  Forked.  That  is,  horned  ;  the  trite  joke  about  the  horns 
of  the  cuckold,  as  in  i.  i.  117  above.     Cf.  0th.  iii.  3.  276. 

176.  It  passed.  That  is,  passed  description.  Cf.  M.  W.  i.  I. 
310,  iv.  2.  127,  etc.     Cressida  plays  upon  the  word  in  her  reply. 

183.  Born  in  April  Cf.  A.  and  C.  iii.  2.  43  :  "The  April  's 
in  her  eyes,"  etc. 

185.   Against  May.     That  is,  just  before  May. 

191.  Bravely.  Finely,  admirably.  See  on  133  above,  and  cf. 
brave  just  below. 

199.  Shrewd.  "  Shrow'd  "  in  the  early  eds.  Cf.  Z.  L.  L.  v.  2. 
46  :  *'  beshrew  all  shrows,"  etc.  Steevens  quotes  Lydgate's  descrip- 
tion of  Antenor  :  — 


Scene  II]  Notes  195 

"  Copious  in  words,  and  one  that  much  time  spent 
To  jest,  whenas  he  was  in  companie, 
So  driely,  that  no  man  could  it  espie : 

And  therewith  held  his  countenance  so  well, 
That  every  man  received  great  content 

To  hear  him  speake,  and  pretty  jests  to  tell, 
When  he  was  pleasant  and  in  merriment : 
For  tho'  that  he  most  commonly  was  sad, 
Yet  in  his  speech  some  jest  he  always  had." 

202.  Proper  /nan  of  person.  Comely  man  in  person  ;  a  com- 
mon use  of  proper.      Of=  as  regards  ;    as  often. 

207.  llie  rich  shall  have  more.  That  is,  you  '11  be  all  the  more 
a  noddy  ;  apparently  alluding  to  the  Scriptural  expression,  "To  him 
that  hath  shall  be  given,"  combined  with  the  old  joke  about  giving 
the  nod,  and  thus  indirectly  calling  a  person  a  noddy.  Cf.  T.  G.  of 
V.  i.  I.  119:  — 

"  Proteus.     But  what  said  she  ? 

Speed.   [^First  nodding^  Ay. 

Proteus.     Nod  —  ay  —  why,  that's  noddy. 

Speed.  You  mistook,  sir:  I  say  she  did  nod,  and  you  asked  me  if 
she  did  nod  ;  and  I  say  ay. 

Proteus.     And  that  set  together  is  noddy. 

Speed.  Now  you  have  taken  the  pains  to  set  it  together,  take  it  for 
your  pains." 

221.  By  God^s  lid.  That  is,  by  God's  eye  ;  often  contracted 
into  ^slid!  as  in  M.  W.  iii.  4.  24  and  T.  N.  iii.  4.  427. 

253.    An  eye.     The  quarto  reading  ;   the  folios  have  "money." 

264.    Camel.     Cf.  ii.  i.  55  below. 

270.    Suchlike.     The  quarto  reading  ;   "  so  forth  "  in  the  folios, 

273.  No  date  in  the  pie.  Dates  were  a  common  ingredient  in 
the  pastry  of  the  poet's  time.  Cf.  R.  and  J.  iv.  4.  2  :  "They  call 
for  dates  and  quinces  in  the  pastry." 

276.  At  what  ward.  In  what  posture  of  defence.  Cf.  i.  Hen. 
IV.  ii.  4.  215  :   "Thou  know'st  my  old  ward  ;   here  I  lay,"  etc. 


196  Notes  [Act  I 

279.  Honesty.  Chastity  ;  as  often.  Cf.  M.  IV.  i.  3.  55,  ii.  i.  88, 
ii.  2.  75,  etc. 

281.    At  a  thousand  watches.     Ever  on  the  watch. 

285.  Watch  you  for  telling.  Watch  against  your  telling,  see  that 
you  don't  tell. 

291.    There  he  U7iarins  him.     Omitted  in  the  folios. 

293.   Doubt.     Suspect,  fear  ;   as  often, 

296.  To  bring,  uncle  ?  "  I  '11  be  with  you  to  bring "  was  an 
idiomatic  expression  =  I  '11  briifg  as  good  as  I  get,  I'll  be  even  with 
you.     Cf.  The  Spanish  Tragedy  :  — 

"And  heere  He  haue  a  fling  at  him,  that's  flat  ; 
And,  Balthazar,  lie  be  with  thee  to  bring  ;  " 

and  Hey  wood.  Fair  Maid  of  the  West :  "  And  He  go  furnish  my- 
self with  some  better  accoutriments,  and  He  be  with  you  to  bring 
presently." 

307.  That  she.  That  woman.  Qi.  Hen.  Kii.  I.  83:  "the  only 
she  ;  "  Cy^nb.  i.  6.  40 :   "  two  such  shes,"  etc. 

310.  Achievement  is  com??iand,  etc.  That  is,  after  we  have  ob- 
tained what  we  desire,  we  play  the  masters  ;  before  it,  the  suitors. 
Cf.  achieve  —  win,  gain  ;  z%  in  T.  of  S.  \.  I.  161:  "If  I  achieve 
not  this  young  modest  girl,"  etc. 

311.  My  hear f  s  content,  &\.c.  True  love  is  the  foundation  of  my 
heart's  happiness. 

Scene  III.  —  7.  Conflux.  Confluence,  flowing  together;  used 
by  S.  only  here. 

9.  Tortive.  Twisted,  distorted.  It  is  the  only  instance  of  the 
word  in  S.  ;   and  the  same  is  true  of  errant. 

11.  Suppose.  The  noun  occurs  also  in  T.  of  S.v.  i.  120  and 
T.  A.  I.  I.  440. 

12.  Troy  walls.  Cf.  "  Pisa  walls  "  (  T.  of  S.  ii.  i.  369),  "  Corioli 
walls"  {Cor.  i.  8.  8),  etc. 

13.  Sith.     Since.     Cf.  v.  2.  120  below. 


Scene  III]  Notes  197 

14.  Record.  S.  accents  the  noun  on  either  syllable,  according 
to  the  measure. 

15.  Bias.  Originally  a  term  in  the  game  of  bowls.  See  on  iv. 
5.  8  below.  It  is  here  used  adverbially  =  awry.  So  thwart  = 
athwart,  or  crosswise. 

18.  Our  works.  What  we  have  done ;  that  is,  the  little  we 
have  been  able  to  accomplish.  Works  has  been  suspected,  and 
"  mocks,"  "  wrecks,"  etc.,  have  been  substituted. 

20.  Protractive.  Like  persistive,  used  by  S.  nowhere  else.  This 
play  abounds  in  words  used  only  once  by  him. 

24.  Artist.  Scholar.  Cf.  A.  W.  ii.  3.  10,  where  artists  =  learned 
physicians. 

25.  Affined.  United  by  affinity,  related.  Cf.  0th.  i,  i.  39,  ii.  3. 
218. 

27.   Broad.     The  quarto  reading ;  "  lowd  "  in  the  folio. 

30.    Unmingled.     A  quadrisyllable.     Cf.  p.  181  above. 

32.  Apply.  "  Explain,  interpret  "  (Schmidt)  ;  or  apply  to  other 
cases,  illustrate  by  other  instances. 

2,Z-  Reproof.  Refutation,  confutation.  Cf.  i  Hen.  IV.  i.  2.  313, 
iii.  2.  23,  etc. 

38.  Boreas.  The  only  instance  of  the  classical  name  of  the 
north  wind  in  S. 

39.  Thetis.  The  sea-goddess  who  was  the  mother  of  Achilles 
(cf.  212  and  iii.  3.  94  below)  ;  here  used  poetically  for  the  sea  — 
perhaps,  as  Schmidt  suggests,  confounded  with  Tethys^  the  wife  of 
Oceanus. 

42.  Perseus''  horse.  Pegasus,  the  winged  horse  of  Bellerophon, 
is  evidently  meant.  S.  follows  Caxton  ;  though,  as  Steevens  re- 
marks, "  Pegasus  might  fairly  be  called  Perseus^  horse,  because  the 
heroism  of  Perseus  had  given  him  existence  "  —  that  is,  by  killing 
Medusa,  from  whose  blood  the  beast  was  said  to  have  sprung.  Cf. 
Hen.  V.  iii.  7.  22:  "le  cheval  volant,  the  Pegasus."  See  also 
I  Hen.  IV.  iv.   i.  109. 

45.   A  toast.     That  is,  a  dainty  bit  to  be  swallowed ;  probably 


198  Notes  [Act  I 

suggested  hy  the  practice  of  putting  a  toast  in  a  cup  of  sack.  Cf. 
M.   W.  iii.  5.  3 :   "  Go  fetch  me  a  quart  of  sack  ;   put  a  toast  in  't." 

48.  Brize.  Gadfly  ;  as  in  A.  and  C.  iii.  10.  14 :  "  The  brize 
upon  her,  like  a  cow  in  June." 

51.    Fled.     That  is,  have  fled. 

54.  Rechides.  The  early  eds.  have  "  Retires "  or  "  Retyres." 
Pope  has  "  Returns,"  Hanmer  "  Replies,"  and  Dyce  "  Retorts." 
Rechides  is  the  conjecture  of  Lettsom.  It  is  favoured  by  the  fol- 
lowing chiding,  the  repetition  being  in  Shakespeare's  manner. 
Here,  moreover,  it  is  in  keeping  with  the  preceding  line, 

56.  Spirit.  Monosyllabic  ;  as  very  often.  The  quarto  spells  it 
"  spright." 

63.  Agamemnon  and  the  hajtd  of  Greece,  etc.  "  The  speech  of 
Agamemnon  is  such  that  it  ought  to  be  engraven  in  brass,  and  the 
tablet  held  up  by  him  on  the  one  side,  and  Greece  on  the  other,  to 
show  the  union  of  their  opinion"   (Johnson).     Cf.  M.  for  M.  v. 

I.  II  :  — 

"  When  it  deserves  with  characters  of  brass 
Aforted  residence  'gainst  the  tooth  of  time 
And  razure  of  oblivion." 

For  other  instances  of  brass  =  brazen  tablet,  see  W.  T.  i.  2.  360, 
Hen.  V.  iv.  3.  97,  and  Hen.  VIII.  iv.  2.  45.  On  the  other  hand,  S. 
nowhere  uses  the  word  for  a  bronze  statue. 

65.  Hatched  in  silver.  Literally,  engraved  (Fr.  hache)  in  sil- 
ver ;  a  figurative  way  of  calling  Nestor  silver-haired.  The  fine 
lines  cut  in  the  metal  by  the  engraver  suggested  the  comparison. 
Steevens  cites  love  in  a  Maze,  1632  :  — 

"  Thy  hair  is  fine  as  gold,  thy  chin  is  hatch'd 
With  silver." 

Johnson  and  Schmidt  take  the  expression  to  refer  to  the  speech  of 
Nestor,  as  high  in  brass  does  to  that  of  Agamemnon  ;  and  some- 
thing can  be  said  for  that  interpretation. 

66.  Should  with  a  bond  of  air,  etc.     That  is,  should  enforce  the 


Scene  III]  Notes  1 99 

attention  of  all  the  Greeks.  Mr.  Verity  remarks  that  the  whole 
passage  is  evidently  a  reminiscence  of  a  stanza  in  Lucrece^  1401- 
1407 : — 

"  There  pleading  might  you  see  grave  Nestor  stand, 
As  t'  were  encouraging  the  Greeks  to  fight, 
Making  such  sober  action  with  his  hand 
That  it  beguiled  attention,  charm'd  the  sight.  . 

In  speech,  it  seem'd,  his  beard,  all  silver  white, 
Wagg'd  up  and  down,  and  from  his  lips  did  fly 
Thin  winding  breath,  which  purl'd  up  to  the  sky." 

67.  Greekish.  The  folios  have  "  Greekes "  or  "  Greeks."  See 
on  iii.  3.  211  below, 

70.  Expect.  Expectation  ;  the  only  instance  of  the  noun  in  S. 
Suspect  (  =  suspicion)  occurs  eight  or  ten  times. 

73.  Mastic.  The  reading  of  all  the  early  eds.,  changed  by  Rowe 
to  "  mastiff,"  to  which,  according  to  some,  it  is  equivalent.  White 
remarks :  "  Mastix,  said  to  be  the  feminine  of  mastigia,  was  used 
to  mean  a  whip  or  scourge,  especially  of  a  moral  kind.  See  the 
following  passage  from  the  Arcadia,  in  which  the  term  is  applied 
to  one  of  Thersites'  kidney :  '  and  therefore  sometimes  looking 
upon  an  old  acquaintance  of  his  called  Mastix,  one  of  the  repin- 
ingst  fellowes  in  the  world,  and  that  beheld  nobody  but  with  a 
mind  of  mislike,  (saying  still  the  world  was  amiss,  but  how  it 
should  be  amended  he  knew  not,)  '  etc.  Alastic  was  probably 
used  here  to  avoid  the  cacophony  of  '  \i\s  masti.*-  jawj' ;  '  or  possibly 
'  masticke  '  is  a  misprint  of  '  masticks  ; '  but  it  has  generally  been 
regarded  as  an  error  for  'mastiff' — an  epithet  the  appropriateness 
of  which  to  the  jaws  of  Thersites  I  cannot  see,  as  he  was  one  of 
those  barking  dogs  that  never  bite."  The  meaning  of  the  passage 
is :  "  there  is  less  expectation  of  hearing  needless  and  purposeless 
matter  from  you  than  confidence  of  hearing  Thersites  speak 
sweetly,  wittily,  or  wisely :  .  .  .  one  of  those  sentences  in  which 
S.  gives  the  effect  of  antithesis  instead  of  an  actual  antithesis" 
(Clarke). 


200  Notes  [Act  I 

77.  These  instances.     Referring  to  what  follows. 

78.  The  specialty  of  rule.  "The  particular  rights  of  supreme 
authority"  (Johnson). 

80.  Hollow  upon  this  plain,  etc.  Mason  would  omit  the  first 
holloiv,  Steevens  the  second  one.  As  it  stands  the  line  is  an  Alex- 
andrine. 

81.  When  that  the  general,  etc.  "When  the  general  is  not  to 
the  army  like  the  hive  to  the  bees,  the  repository  of  the  stock  of 
every  individual,  that  to  which  each  resorts  with  whatever  he  has 
collected  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  what  honey  is  expected?  what 
hope  of  advantage  ?  "  (Johnson). 

^iT).  Degree  =  rank.  Vizarded  =  covered  with  a  vizard,  or 
vizor;  masked. 

85.  This  centre.  The  earth,  the  centre  of  the  Ptolemaic  uni- 
verse.    Cf.  IV.  T.  ii.  I.  102:  — 

"  The  centre  is  not  big  enough  to  bear 
A  school-boy's  top." 

Verplanck  remarks  here :  "  It  is  possible  that  the  poet  had  this 
thought  suggested  by  an  analogous  passage,  of  equal  eloquence,  in 
his  contemporary  Hooker's  '  Ecclesiastical  Polity,'  of  which  the  first 
parts  were  published  in  1594.  If  it  were  not,  it  was  no  very  strange 
coincidence  between  the  thoughts  of  men  of  large  and  excursive 
minds,  at  once  poetical  and  philosophical,  applied  to  the  most 
widely  differing  subjects.  There  is  a  noble  passage  in  the  first 
book  of  Hooker,  singularly  like  this  in  thought,  and  in  sustained, 
lofty,  moral  eloquence.  In  his  magnificent  generalization  of  Law, 
as  at  once  the  rule  of  moral  action  and  government,  and  the  rule 
of  natural  agents,  he  says  :  —  'If  nature  should  intermit  her  course, 
and  leave  altogether,  though  it  were  but  for  a  while,  the  observa- 
tion of  her  own  laws  ;  if  those  principal  and  mother  elements, 
whereof  all  things  in  this  lower  world  are  made,  should  lose  the 
qualities  which  now  they  have  ;  if  the  frame  of  that  heavenly  arch, 
now  united  above  our  heads,  should  loosen  and  dissolve  itself;   if 


Scene  III]  Notes  20 1 

celestial  spheres  should  forget  their  wonted  motions,  and,  by  irregu- 
lar volubility,  turn  themselves  any  way  as  it  might  happen ;  if  the 
prince  of  the  lights  of  heaven,  which  now,  as  a  giant,  doth  run  his 
unwearied  course,  should,  through  a  languishing  faintness,  begin  to 
stand  and  to  rest  himself;  if  the  moon  should  wander  from  her 
beaten  way,  the  times  and  seasons  of  the  year  blend  themselves  by 
disordered  and  confused  mixture,  the  winds  breathe  out  their  last 
gasp,  the  clouds  yield  no  rain,  the  earth  be  defeated  of  heavenly 
influence,  the  fruits  of  the  earth  pine  away,  as  children  at  the 
withered  breast  of  their  mother,  —  what  would  become  of  man 
himself  ?  See  we  not  that  obedience  of  creatures  unto  the  law  of 
nature  is  the  stay  of  the  whole  world  ? ' 

"  Hooker's  subsequent  remarks  on  '  the  law  of  the  common 
weal'  singularly  remind  the  reader  of  the  more  rapid  view  given 
by  the  poet  of  '  the  unity  and  married  calm  of  states,'  and  the  ills 
by  which  it  is  disturbed." 

87.  Insisture.  "  Persistency,  constancy "  (Schmidt)  ;  a  word 
found  nowhere  else. 

89.  Planet  Sol.  According  to  the  Ptolemaic  astronomy,  the  sun 
was  one  of  the  planets  revolving  around  the  centre. 

90.  Sphered.  That  is,  set  in  its  crystalline  sphere,  as  each  planet 
was  supposed  to  be. 

91.  Medicinable.  Medicinal.  The  early  eds.  have  "med'cin- 
able,"  which  indicates  the  pronunciation,  as  elsewhere  in  S.  Cf.  iii. 
3.  44  below,  and  0th.  v.  2.351,  etc.      Othet'  refers  to  the  other  planets. 

92.  Aspects.  An  astrological  term  for  the  peculiar  position  and 
influence  of  a  heavenly  body.  Cf.  R.  of  L.  14,  Sonn.  26.  10,  W.  T. 
ii.  I.  107,  Lear,  ii.  2.  1 1 2,  etc.  S.  always  accents  the  word  on  the 
second  syllable. 

94.  Sans.  Without ;  a  word  quite  Anglicized  in  the  time  of  S., 
being  used  in  French  and  Italian  dictionaries  to  explain  sans  and 
senza. 

95.  Evil  mixture.  Referring  to  the  supposed  malignant  con- 
junctions of  the  planets. 


202  Notes  [Act  I 

99.  Deracinate.  Root  out,  tear  up  by  the  roots.  The  verb  is 
used  again  in  Heti.  V.  v.  2.  47. 

loi.  Fixure!  Stability.  Tiie  3d  and  4th  folios  have  "fixture." 
Fixure  occurs  again  in  W.  T.  v.  3.  67.  For  shak'd  (cf.  Hen,  V. 
ii.  I.  124,  Cymb.  i.  5.  76,  etc.)  Rowe  substitutes  "shaken,"  which 
S.  uses  less  frequently. 

104.  Brotherhoods.  "  Corporations,  companies,  confraternities  " 
(Johnson). 

105.  Dividable.  Divided  ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  We  find 
dividant  in  the  same  sense  in  T.  of  A.  iv.  3.  5.  Individable  occurs 
in  Ham.  ii.  2.  418.  Coimnerce  is  accented  on  the  second  syllable, 
as  in  iii.  3.  205  below. 

106.  Primogenity.  The  quarto  has  "  primogenitie  "  and  the  folio 
"  primogenitiue."  Rowe  reads  "primogeniture,"  which  is  what  the 
word  means.     Some  modern  eds.  read  "  primogenitive." 

111.  Mere.  Absolute  ;  as  in  287  below.  Cf.  0th.  ii.  2.  3:  "the 
mere  perdition  of  the  Turkish  fleet,"  etc.  Oppugnancy  (=  antag- 
onism) is  used  by  S.  only  here. 

112.  Shotdd.     Would  ;   as  in  the  following  lines. 

117.  Jar.     Conflict,  contention;   as  in  V.  and  A.  ICX),  etc. 
119.    Includes  itself  in.     Ends  in,  finally  comes  to.     Cf.  T.  G.  of 
V.  V.  4.  160. 
125.    Suffocate.    For  the  form,  cf.  infect '\r\  187  below. 

127.  Neglection.  Neglect,  disregard  ;  found  also  in  i  ^^;/.  VI. 'w. 
3.  49  and  Per.  iii.  3.  20  (in  the  quartos  ;   "neglect  "  in  the  folios). 

128.  By  a  pace.  "  Step  by  step  "  (Johnson).  The  meaning  is  : 
"  By  neglecting  to  observe  due  degree  of  priority,  men  lose  ground 
while  striving  to  advance  ;  since  each  person  who  pushes  on  re- 
gardless of  his  superiors  will  be  pushed  back  in  turn  by  them  " 
(Clarke). 

132.  Pace.  Referring,  like  the  preceding  step,  to  the  officer  oc- 
cupying the  grade.     Sick  =  envious. 

134.  Pale  and  bloodless.  "  Not  vigorous  and  active"  (Johnson). 
Emulation  is  metrically  five  syllables. 


Scene  III]  Notes  203 

138.  Discover'' d.     Disclosed,  unfolded  ;   as  often, 

139.  Power.     Army  ;   as  often  used  in  both  numbers. 

148.  Scurril.  Used  by  S.  only  here,  as  scuriliotis  only  in 
W.  T.  iv.  4.  215. 

151.  Pageants.  Mimics;  as  in  2i  pageant,  or  theatrical  repre- 
sentation. For  the  noun,  cf.  iii.  2.  77  and  iii.  3.  273  below.  Some- 
iivie  is  used  by  S.  interchangeably  with  sometijfies. 

152.  Thy  topless  deputation.  The  supreme  power  deputed  to 
thee  (by  the  other  Greek  chiefs).  "  Topless  is  that  which  has  noth- 
ing topping  or  overtopping  it  "  (Johnson). 

153.  Like  a  strutting  player,  etc.     Cf.  Macb.  v.  5.  24:  — 

•  "  Life 's  but  a  walking  shadow,  a  poor  player 
That  struts  and  frets  his  hour  upon  the  stage 
And  then  is  heard  no  more." 

155.  The  wooden  dialogue.  "The  epithet  tvooden  has  admirable 
significance  here ;  not  only  conveying  to  the  ear  the  resounding 
tread  of  the  strutting  player  on  the  boards,  but  bringing  to  our  eye 
his  puppet  hardness  and  stiffness  as  well  as  the  awkward  stupidity 
of  his  look  and  action  "  (Clarke). 

156.  Stretched.  Strained,  affected.  Scaffoldage  =  the  floor  of 
the  stage  ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  Cf.  the  similar  use  of  scaffold  in 
Hen.  V.  prol.  10  :   "  On  this  unworthy  scaffold." 

157.  O^er-wrested.  Overstrained,  exaggerated.  The  early  eds. 
have  "  ore-rested  "or"  o're-rested  ;  "  corrected  by  Pope. 

159.  Like  a  chime  a-mending.  Cf.  Hajn.  iii.  i.  166:  "Like 
sweet  bells  jangled  out  of  tune  and  harsh."  Unsquarhl  =  unsuit- 
able, not  shaped  and  adapted  to  the  purpose.  Cf.  square  in  v.  2. 
132  below. 

160.  Typhon.  Typhoeus,  a  mythical  giant,  who  attempted  to 
dethrone  Jupiter,  but  was  defeated  and  imprisoned  under  Etna. 

161.  Hyperboles.  White  thinks  that  the  word  is  pronounced 
hy-per-boles,  but  I  cannot  agree  with  him.  Fusty  =  musty,  mouldy  ; 
as  in  ii.  i.  100  below. 

166.    Dressed.     Some  editors  print  "  'dress'd,"  as   if   contracted 


204  Notes  [Act  I 

from  "  address'd  ;  "  but  the  original  meaning  of  dress  is  to  put  in 
order,  prepare.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  iv.  i.  lo,  M.for  M.  i.  i.  20,  etc.  Ora- 
tion is  a  quadrisyllable. 

168.  Parallels.  Johnson  thinks  that  "  parallels  on  a  map  "  are 
meant ;  but  the  reference  is  probably  to  the  opposite  extremities 
of  parallel  lines,  which  can  be  prolonged  indefinitely  without  meet- 
ing.    His  wife  =  Venus. 

174.  Gorget.  The  part  of  the  armour  that  defended  the  throat. 
The  hyphen  in  palsy-ftimbling  (perhaps  not  necessary)  was  inserted 
by  Steevens,  and  is  generally  adopted. 

178.  Spleen.  Often  used  for  a  sudden  impulse  or  fit  beyond  the 
control  of  reason;  as  here  of  laughter.  Cf.  L.  L.  L.  iii.  i.  77,  v.  2. 
117,  T.  of  S.  ind.  i.  137,  etc. 

180.  Sever  ah  and  generals  of  grace  exact.  Our  individual  and 
general  qualities  of  "excellence  irreprehensible "  (Johnson). 
Schmidt  makes  it  =  "the  minutest  peculiar  and  general  excellen- 
cies." Hudson  thinks  that  of  grace  exact  is  probably  =  "  exact  or 
perfect  in  respect  of  grace."  Various  changes  have  been  made  by 
the  editors. 

181.  Preventions.    A  quadrisyllable.    Cf.  execution  in  210  below. 
184.    Paradoxes.     Absurdities. 

187.   Infect.     For  the  form  see  on  125  above. 

189.  In  such  a  rein.  "That  is,  holds  up  his  head  as  haughtily" 
(Johnson).  Y ox.  place  Pope  reads  "pace  ;  "  but  no  change  is  really 
called  for,  and,  as  Clarke  remarks,  "  to  bear  his  head  in  a  forced 
pace  would  be  a  forced  expression." 

190.  Broad.     Apparently  =  puffed  up  with  pride. 

191.  State.  Council  of  w^ar.  The  word  is  often  used  for  "per- 
sons representing  a  body  politic"  (Schmidt).  Cf.  ii.  3.  262  and 
iv.  2.  71  below. 

193.   Like  a  mint.     As  fast  as  a  mint  coins  money. 

195.  Exposure.     That  is,  exposure  of  ourselves  in  the  field. 

196.  How  rank  soever,  etc.  "In  howsoever  high  a  degree  en- 
compassed by  danger"  (Clarke). 


Scene  III]  Notes  205 

199.  Prescience.  Here  accented  on  the  second  syllable,  but  on 
the  first  in  the  other  two  instances  in  which  S.  uses  it  in  verse.  Cf. 
Temp.  I.  2.  180  and  R.  of  L.  727. 

205.   Mappery.     Study  of  maps  ;   used  by  S.  only  here. 

210.  His  execution.  Its  (the  ram's)  working,  or  operation. 
For  his  =  its,  cf.  354  below. 

211.  Achilles'  horse,  etc.  That  is,  "at  this  rate  Achilles' horse 
is  as  good  as  Achilles  himself"  —  he  being  the  son  of  Thetis. 

228.   Bid.     The  folio  has  "  on." 

235.  Debonair.  The  Fr.  de  bott  azr  (=  gentle,  affable);  used 
by  S.  only  here. 

238.  And,  Jove's  accord.  And  with  Jove's  accord,  Jove  grant- 
ing or  favouring.  The  passage  may  be  corrupt.  Malone  conjec- 
tures that  we  should  read  "  And  with  Jove's  accord  Nothing 's,"  etc. 
Schmidt  would  point  it  "  And  Jove's  accord,  Nothing,"  etc.  He 
takes  the  meaning  to  be  "and  Jove's  assent  that  nothing  is  so  full 
of  heart."  White  makes  it  =  "  and  Jove's  spontaneous  geniality 
is  not  so  hearty  —  as  they  are,  whether  as  friends  or  foes."  The 
quarto  inserts  "  great "  before  foveas. 

241.  Distains.  The  Variorum  of  1 82 1  prints  "disdains"  in 
text  and  notes  ;  not  recorded  in  the  Cambridge  ed.  The  meaning 
evidently  is  that  even  deserved  praise  stains  or  sullies  a  person  if 
he  himself  speaks  it  or  induces  others  to  speak  it  for  him. 

243.  Repining.     Mortified  by  defeat. 

244.  Thai  praise,  sole  pure,  transcends.  Such  praise,  the  only 
pure  or  disinterested  praise,  transcends  all  other. 

253.  Speak  frankly  as  the  wind.  Cf.  0th.  v.  2.  220  :  "  I  will 
speak  as  liberal  as  the  north." 

256.    Trumpet.     Trumpeter  ;   as  in  iv.  5.  6  below. 

262.  Long-continued  truce.  As  Johnson  notes,  this  is  inconsist- 
ent with  i.  2.  33  above ;  but  S.  is  often  guilty  of  these  little  incon- 
sistencies.    He  takes  the  idea  of  the  truce  from  Caxton. 

269.  Confession.  The  meaning  is,  "  confession  made  with  idle 
vows  to  the  lips  of  her  whom  he  loves  "  (Johnson). 


2o6  Notes  [Act  I 

282.  Sunburnt.  That  is,  not  fair.  Cf.  Much  Ado,  ii.  i.  331  : 
"and  I  am  sunburnt," 

283.  The  splinter  of  a  lance.  "The  wording  of  this  challenge 
is  in  the  true  chivalric  tone  ;  and  it  affords  one  of  the  instances  of 
the  skill  with  which  the  dramatist  has  blended  the  rich  hues  of  the 
romance-writers  with  the  Doric  simplicity  of  outline  in  the  classic 
poets"  (Clarke). 

Knight  remarks  :  "  Steevens  says  the  challenge  thus  sent  '  would 
better  have  suited  Palmerin  or  Amadis  than  Hector  or  .Eneas.' 
Precisely  so.  And  this  was  not  only  the  language  of  romance,  but 
of  real  life,  almost  up  to  the  days  of  Shakspere.  In  a  challenge 
of  the  reign  of  Mary,  four  Spanish  and  English  knights  will  main- 
tain a  fight  on  foot  at  the  barriers  against  all  comers,  that  '  they 
may  show  their  great  desires  to  serve  their  ladies  by  the  honourable 
adventure  of  their  person.'  But  would  Steevens  assert  that  Shak- 
spere did  not  purposely  make  the  distinction  between  the  Homeric 
and  the  feudal  ages  ?  He  found  the  challenge  of  Hector  in 
Homer  ;  he  invested  it  with  its  Gothic  attributes  in  accordance 
with  a  principle.  The  commentators  sneer  at  Shakspere's  violation 
of  chronology  in  the  mention  of  Aristotle  :  what  do  they  say  to 
Chaucer's  line  in  the  Troilus  and  Creseide  — '  He  sung,  she  play'd, 
he  told  a  tale  of  Wade '  ?  Wade  was  a  hero  of  the  same  fabulous 
school  as  Bevis  and  Launcelot.  The  challenge  of  Hector  is  thus 
rendered  by  Chapman  :  — 

'  Hear,  Trojans,  and   ye  well-arm'd  Greeks,  what   my  strong  mind, 
diffus'd 
Through  all  my  spirits,  commands  me  speak ;  Saturnius  hath  not  us'd 
His  promis'd  favour  for  our  truce,  but,  studying  both  our  ills. 
Will  never  cease  till  Mars,  by  you,  his  ravenous  stomach  fills 
With  ruin'd  Troy  ;  or  we  consume  your  mighty  sea-born  fleet. 
Since  then  the  general  peers  of  Greece  in  reach  of  one  voice  meet. 
Amongst  you  all  whose  breast  includes  the  most  impulsive  mind 
Let  him  stand  forth  as  combatant,  by  all  the  rest  design'd ; 
Before  whom  thus  I  call  high  Jove  to  witness  of  our  strife, 


Scene  III]  Notes  207 

If  he  with  home-thrust  iron  can  reach  th'  exposure  of  my  life, 
Spoihng  my  arms,  let  him  at  will  convey  them  to  his  tent; 
But  let  my  body  be  return'd,  that  Troy's  two-sex'd  descent 
May  waste  it  in  the  funeral-pile  :  if  I  can  slaughter  him, 
Apollo  honouring  me  so  much,  I  '11  spoil  his  conquer'd  limb, 
And  bear  his  arms  to  Ilion,  where  in  Apollo's  shrine 
I  '11  hang  them  as  my  trophies  due :  his  body  I  '11  resign 
To  be  disposed  by  his  friends  in  flamy  funerals, 
And  honour'd  with  erected  tomb  where  Hellespontus  falls 
Into  Egasum,  and  doth  reach  even  to  your  naval  road; 
That,  when  our  beings  in  the  earth  shall  hide  their  period. 
Survivors  sailing  the  Black  Sea  may  thus  his  name  renew. 
This  is  his  monument  whose  blood  long  since  did  fates  embrue, 
Whom  passing  fair  in  fortitude  illustrate  Hector  slew. 
This  shall  posterity  report,  and  my  fame  never  die.'  " 

288.  That  means  not,  etc.  A  good  example  of  the  freedom  of 
ellipsis  in  the  Elizabethan  time. 

293.    Host.     The  folio  has  "  mould." 

296.  Beaver.  Helmet  ;  properly,  the  movablp  front  of  the  hel- 
met.    Cf.  Bain.  i.  2.  230  :   "he  wore  his  beaver  up." 

297.  Vantbrace.  Armour  for  the  arm  (Fr.  avant  bras)  ;  used  by 
S.  only  here.  Steevens  cites  examples  of  it  from  Milton  (6'.  A. 
1 121)  and  Heywood  {Iron  Age). 

300.  In  flood.  That  is,  "taken  at  the  flood"  (/.  C.  iv.  3.  219) 
or  its  full  flow.  The  metaphor  is  evidently  drawn  from  the  flow- 
ing of  the  tide. 

301.  Prove  this  truth.  The  folio  has  "  pawne  "  for  prove,  and  the 
quarto  "  troth  "  for  truth. 

313.  Be  you  my  time.  Play  the  part  of  Time  in  bringing  it  to 
maturity. 

319.  Nursery.  The  metaphor  is  from  a  place  where  plants  are 
raised.     Cf.  T.of  S.'\.  i.  2  :   "Padua,  nursery  of  arts,"  etc. 

324.  As  substance,  etc.  As  wealth,  whose  value,  though  great, 
may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  little  figures.  Steevens  aptly  quotes 
Hen.  V.  prol.  15  :  — 


2o8  Notes  [Act  I 

"  since  a  crooked  figure  may 
Attest  in  little  place  a  million." 

See  also  W.  T.  i.  2.  6  :  "  like  a  cipher,  Yet  standing  in  rich  place." 
Schmidt  explains  the  passage  thus  :  "  as  the  material  world,  which 
seems  immense,  but  is  calculated  and  defined  by  means  of  little 
figures  ;  "  but  S.  often  uses  substance  for  property  or  wealth,  and 
that  sense  seems  more  natural  here. 

326.  And,  in  the  publication,  etc.  "Nestor  goes  on  to  say,  make 
no  difficulty,  no  doubt,  when  this  duel  comes  to  be  proclaimed,  but 
that  Achilles,  dull  as  he  is,  will  discover  the  drift  of  it.  So  [in  iii. 
3. 112  below]  Ulysses  says, '  I  do  not  strain  at  the  position  ;  '  that  is, 
I  do  not  hesitate  at,  I  make  no  difficulty  of  it"  (Theobald). 

328.    Banks  of  Libya.     That  is,  the  African  desert. 

332.     Wake  him.     Rouse  himself. 

336.  Much  opinion  dzvells.  Much  reputation  is  involved.  Cf. 
373  below. 

337.  Dearest.     Most  precious. 

339.  Our  imputation  shall  be  oddly  pois'd.  "  Our  imputed  excel- 
lence shall  be  unequally  weighed"  (Clarke).  Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  v.  I. 
81  :  "I  would  humour  his  men  with  the  imputation  of  being  near 
their  master,"  etc. 

340.  Success.     Issue,  result.     Cf.  ii.  2.  117  below. 

341.  Scantling.  Small  portion  ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  Malone 
quotes  Florio's  Montaigne :  "  When  the  lion's  skin  will  not  suffice, 
we  must  add  a  scantling  of  the  fox's." 

343.  Small  pricks.  "Small  points  compared  with  the  volumes" 
(Johnson).  Index  in  S.  always  means  a  preface,  prologue,  or  table 
of  contents.     Cf.  Ham.  iii.  4.  51,  0th.  ii.  I.  263,  etc. 

344.  Subsequent.  Accented  on  the  second  syllable  ;  the  only 
instance  of  the  word  in  S. 

349.   Election.     Choice,  the  thing  chosen. 

351.  Who  miscarrying.  If  he  is  defeated,  what  encouragement 
will  the  victorious  side  draw  thence,  to  strengthen  their  good  opin- 
ion of  themselves  ?     For  part  =  party,  side,  cf.  iv.  5.  156  below  : 


Scene  III]  Notes  209 

"  our  Trojan  part,"  etc.  Hudson  strangely  takes  heart  to  be  the 
subject  and  part  the  object,  explaining  the  passage  thus  :  "  If  the 
man  of  our  choice  should  fail,  what  heart  among  us  will  then  draw 
from  the  issue  any  hope  of  success,  or  of  conquering,  to  strengthen 
his  confidence  in  our  ability  ?  " 

354.    His.     Its  ;   referring  to  opinion. 

356.  Directive.  Capable  of  being  directed ;  used  by  S.  only 
here. 

357-365.      Give  .  .  .  followers.     The  quarto  reads  here  :  — 

"  Glue  pardon  to  my  speech  ?  therefore  tis  meete, 
Achilles  meete  not  Hector,  let  vs  like  Marchants 
First  shew  foule  wares,  and  thinke  perchance  theile  sell; 
If  not  ;  the  luster  of  the  better  shall  exceed, 
By  shewing  the  worst  first  ;  do  not  consent 
That  euer  Hector  and  Achilles  meet, 

For  both  our  honour  and  our  shame  in  this,  are  dog'd  with 
two  strange  followers," 

361.     To  show.     To  be  shown. 
368.    Share.     The  folios  have  "weare." 
371.    Salt.     Bitter,  pungent. 

373.  Our  main  opinion.  Our  general  reputation.  See  on  336 
above.      Crush  =  destroy. 

375.  Blockish.  Clumsy,  stupid  ;  used  by  S.  only  here  ;  as  block- 
head only  in  Cor.  ii.  3.  31.  Block  he  has  several  times  in  a  similar 
sense  ;   as  in  T.  G.  of  V.  ii.  5.  27,  W.  T.  i.  2.  225,  /.  C.i.i.  40,  etc. 

376.  Sort.  Lot  (Fr.  sort)  ;  the  only  instance  of  this  meaning 
inS. 

377.  Allowance.  Acknowledgment,  approval;  as  in  ii.  3.  138 
below.     The  folio  reads  ''  as  the  worthier  man." 

378.  The  great  Myrmidon.  Achilles  is  so  called  as  being  the 
chief  of  the  Myrmidons.     Cf.  v.  5.  33,  v.  7.  I,  etc.,  below. 

379.  Broils  in  loud  applause.  "  Basks  in  the  sunshine  of  ap- 
plause, even  to  broiling  "  (Schmidt)  ;  or,  perhaps,  as  Clarke  puts 
it,  "swells   and   sweats  in  the   fire  of  applause,  as  broiling  meat 

TROILUS —  14 


2IO  Notes  [Act  I 

swells,  spits,  and  exudes  above  the  red  coals."  The  transitive  use 
oi  fall  (=  let  fall)  is  common  in  S.    Cf.  _/.  C.  iv.  2.  26,  etc. 

382.     Voices.     That  is,  applauding  voices. 

392.  Tarre  the  mastiffs  on.  That  is,  set  them  on,  urge  them  on. 
Cf.  K.John,  iv.  i,  117  and  Ham.  ii.  2,  370. 


Achilles 


ACT  II 


Scene  I.  —  Knight  remarks  :  "Thersites  has  been  termed  by 
Coleridge  '  the  Caliban  of  demagogic  life  ;  '  and  he  goes  on  to  de- 
scribe him  as  '  the  admirable  portrait  of  intellectual  power  deserted 
by  all  grace,  all  moral  principle,  all  not  momentary  impulse  ;  just 
wise  enough  to  detect  the  weak  head,  and  fool  enough  to  provoke 
the  armed  fist,  of  his  betters.'  This  is  the  Thersites  of  Shakspere  ; 
he  of  Homer  is  merely  a  deformed  jester.  The  wonderful  finished 
portrait  is  made  out  of  the  slightest  of  sketches  :  — 

'  All  sat,  and  audience  gave  ; 
Thersites  only  would  speak  all.     A  most  disorder'd  store 
Of  words  he  foolishly  pour'd  out  ;  of  which  his  mind  held  more 
Than  it  could  manage  ;  any  thing  with  which  he  could  procure 
Laughter,  he  never  could  contain.     He  should  have  yet  been  sure 
To  touch  no  kings.     T'  oppose  their  states  becomes  not  jesters'  parts, 
But  he  the  filthiest  fellow  was  of  all  that  had  deserts 
In  Troy's  brave  siege  :  he  was  squint-eyed,  and  lame  of  either  foot : 
So  crook-back'd  that  he  had  no  breast  :  sharp-headed,  where  did  shoot 

211 


212  Notes  [Act  II 

(Here  and  there  sperst)  thin  mossy  hair.     He  most  of  all  envied 

Ulysses  and  ^acides,  whom  still  his  spleen  would  chide  ; 

Nor  could  the  sacred  king  himself  avoid  his  saucy  vein, 

Against  whom,  since  he  knew  the  Greeks  did  vehement  hates  sustain, 

(Being  angry  for  Achilles'  wrong,)  he  cried  out,  railing  thus  :  — 

"  Atrides,  why  complain'st  thou  now  ?  what  wouldst  thou  more  of  us  ? 
Thy  tents  are  full  of  brass,  and  dames  ;  the  choice  of  all  are  thine  : 
With  whom  we  must  present  thee  first,  when  any  towns  resign 
To  our  invasion.     Want'st  thou  then  (besides  all  this)  more  gold 
From  Troy's  knights  to  redeem  their  sons  ?  whom,  to  be  dearly  sold, 
I,  or  some  other  Greek,  must  take  ?  or  wouldst  thou  yet  again 
Force  from  some  other  lord  his  prize,  to  soothe  the  lusts  that  reign 
In  thy  encroaching  appetite  ?     It  fits  no  prince  to  be 
A  prince  of  ill,  and  govern  us  ;  or  lead  our  progeny 
By  rape  to  ruin.     O  base  Greeks,  deserving  infamy, 
And  ills  eternal  !   Greekish  girls,  not  Greeks,  ye  are  :  Come,  fly 
Home  with  our  ships  ;  leave  this  man  here,  to  perish  with  his  preys, 
And  try  if  we  help'd  him,  or  not  :  he  wrong'd  a  man  that  weighs 
Far  more  than  he  himself  in  worth  :  he  forc'd  from  Thetis'  son. 
And  keeps  his  prize  still  :  nor  think  I  that  mighty  man  hath  won 
The  style  of  wrathful  worthily  ;  he  's  soft,  he  's  too  remiss, 
Or  else,  Atrides,  his  had  been  thy  last  of  injuries." 

Thus  he  the  people's  pastor  chid  ;  but  straight  stood  up  to  him 
Divine  Ulysses,  who,  with  looks  exceeding  grave  and  grim. 
This  bitter  check  gave  :  "  Cease,  vain  fool,  to  vent  thy  railing  vein 
On  kings  thus,  though  it  serve  thee  well  ;  nor  think  thou  canst  restrain 
With  that  thy  railing  faculty,  their  wills  in  least  degree. 
For  not  a  worse,  of  all  this  host,  came  with  our  king  than  thee 
To  Troy's  great  siege  :  then  do  not  take  into  that  mouth  of  thine 
The  names  of  kings,  much  less  revile  the  dignities  that  shine 
In  their  supreme  states  ;  wresting  thus  this  motion  for  our  home 
To  soothe  thy  cowardice  ;  since  ourselves  yet  know  not  what  will  come 
Of  these  designments,  — if  it  be  our  good  to  stay  or  go  : 
Nor  is  it  that  thou  stand'st  on  ;  thou  revil'st  our  general  so. 
Only  because  he  hath  so  much,  not  given  by  such  as  thou. 
But  by  our  heroes.     Therefore  this  thy  rude  vein  makes  me  vow 
(Which  shall  be  curiously  observ'd),  if  ever  I  shall  hear 
This  madness  from  thy  mouth  again,  let  not  Ulysses  bear 


Scene  I]  Notes  213 

This  head,  nor  be  the  father  call'd  of  young  Telemachus, 

If  to  thy  nakedness  I  take  and  strip  thee  not,  and  thus 

Whip  thee  to  fleet  from  council  ;  send,  with  sharp  stripes,  weeping  hence, 

This  glory  thou  affect'st  to  rail."     This  said,  his  insolence 

He  settled  with  his  sceptre,  strook  his  back  and  shoulders  so 

That  bloody  wales  rose  :  he  shrunk  round,  and  from  his  eyes  did  flow 

Moist  tears  ;  and,  looking  filthily,  he  sat,  fear'd,  smarted  ;  dried 

His  blubber'd  cheeks  ;  and  all  the  press  (though  griev'd  to  be  denied 

Their  wish'd  retreat  for  home)  yet  laugh 'd  delightsoraely,  and  spake 

Either  to  other'  [Chapman's  Homer,  bk.  ii.]." 

White  says  of  Thersites  {Galaxy,  Feb.,  1877):  "  Thersites  sits 
with  Caliban  high  among  Shakespeare's  minor  triumphs.  He  was 
brought  in  to  please  the  mob.  He  is  the  Fool  of  the  piece,  fulfil- 
ling the  functions  of  Touchstone,  and  Launce,  and  Launcelot,  and 
Costard.  As  the  grave-diggers  were  brought  into  Hatnlet  for  the 
sake  of  the  groundlings,  so  Thersites  came  into  Troilus  and  Cres- 
sida.  As  if  that  he  might  leave  no  form  of  human  utterance  un- 
gilded  by  his  genius,  Shakespeare  in  Thersites  has  given  us  the 
apotheosis  of  blackguardism  and  billingsgate.  Thersites  is  only  a 
railing  rascal.  Some  low  creatures  are  mere  bellies  with  no  brain. 
Thersites  is  merely  mouth,  but  this  mouth  has  just  enough  coarse 
brain  above  it  to  know  a  wise  man  and  a  fool  when  he  sees  them. 
But  the  railings  of  this  deformed  slave  are  splendid.  Thersites  is 
almost  as  good  as  Falstaff .  He  is  of  course  a  far  lower  organization 
intellectually,  and  somewhat  lower,  perhaps,  morally.  He  is  coarser 
in  every  way ;  his  humour,  such  as  he  has,  is  of  the  grossest  kind  ; 
but  still  his  blackguardism  is  the  ideal  of  vituperation.  He  is  far 
better  than  Apemantus  in  Timon  of  Athens,  for  there  is  no  hypoc- 
risy in  him,  no  egoism,  and,  comfortable  trait  in  such  a  personage, 
no  pretence  of  gentility.  For  good  downright  '  sass '  in  its  most 
splendid  and  aggressive  form,  there  is  in  literature  nothing  equal  to 
the  speeches  of  Thersites." 

2,  Boils.  All  the  early  eds.  have  "  biles,"  indicating  the  common 
pronunciation  in  the  time  of  S. 


114  Notes  [Act  II 

6.  Core.  Ulcer;  as  in  v.  i.  4  below.  In  both  passages  there 
may  be  a  quibble  on  the  sense  of  heart, 

8.  Matter.  The  play  upon  the  word  is  obvious.  Cf.  L.  L.  L.  iii. 
I.  120.  For  matter  ■=  good  sense,  cf.  A.  Y.  L.  ii,  i.  68  :  "he's  full 
of  matter,"  etc. 

12.  The  plague  of  Greece.  "  Alluding  perhaps  to  the  plague 
sent  by  Apollo  on  the  Grecian  army  "  (Johnson). 

13.  Beef-witted.  Steevens  quotes  T.  N.  i.  3.  90  :  "I  am  a  great 
eater  of  beef,  and  I  believe  that  does  harm  to  my  wit."  "  He  calls 
Ajax  mongrel  on  account  of  his  father's  being  a  Grecian  and  his 
mother  a  Trojan  "  (Malone). 

14.  Vinewed^st.  Mouldiest,  mustiest ;  found  nowhere  else  in  S. 
The  folios  have  "  whinid'st,"  and  the  quarto  "  vnsalted."  As  Malone 
remarks,  the  folio  reading  is  "  a  corruption  undoubtedly  of  vinnezudst 
or  vinniedst.^''     He  adds  that  in  Dorsetshire  vinny  is  =  mouldy. 

\().  A  red  murrain.  Cf.  Temp,  i,  2.  364:  "The  red  plague 
rid  you!"  and  Cor.  iv.  i.  13:    "the  red  pestilence,"  etc. 

21.  Learn  me.  Tell  me.  For  learn  =  teach,  cf.  Temp.  i.  2. 
365,  Much  Ado,  iv.  i.  31,  etc. 

26.    Porpentine.      Porcupine  ;   the  only  name  of  the  animal  in  S. 

29.  Scab.  He  plays  upon  the  word,  which  was  often  used  as  a 
term  of  contempt.  For  similar  quibbles,  see  Much  Ado,  iii.  3.  107, 
2  Hen.  IV.  iii.  2.  296,  and  Cor.  i.  i.  169.  The  next  sentence  is 
omitted  in  the  folio. 

37.  Mistress.  Used  in  contempt,  comparing  him  to  an  old 
woman  or  a  termagant. 

39.  Cobloaf  "  A  crusty,  uneven  loaf"  (Steevens);  a  hit  at  the 
misshapen  Thersites. 

40.  Pu7z.  Pound  ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  Steevens  quotes  ex- 
amples of  it  from  Holland's  Pliny.  Cole,  in  his  Latin  Diet.,  defines 
it  by  "  contero,  contundo." 

44.  Thou  stool  for  a  witch  I  Alluding  to  one  of  the  forms  of 
torture  for  a  witch.  See  Brand's  Poptdar  Antiquities  (Bohn's  ed.), 
iii.  23. 


Scene  I J  Notes  215 

45.  Sodden-witted.  Stupid.  Sodden  is  the  old  participle  of 
seethe.     For  the  figure,  cf.  Temp.  v.  i.  60  and   W.  T.  iii.  3.  64. 

47.  Assinego.  The  early  eds.  have  "  asinico,"  which  some  take 
to  be  a  corruption  of  the  Spanish  asnico,  a  little  ass.  Pope  has 
been  followed  by  most  of  the  modern  editors  in  reading  assinego, 
which  is  used  by  Beaumont  and  Fletcher  and  other  writers  of  the 
time.  Asinego  is  the  Portuguese  equivalent  of  asnico,  and  seems 
to  have  become  in  a  measure  Anglicized.  Ben  Jonson,  in  his 
Epigrams,  plays  upon  it  for  the  sake  of  a  fling  at  Inigo  Jones : 
"  You  'd  be  an  ass-inigo  by  your  years." 

49.  Bought  and  sold.  Made  a  fool  of.  Cf.  K.  John,  v.  4.  10, 
Rich.  III.v.  3.  305,  etc. 

50.  Use  to  beat  me.  "  Continue  to  beat  me,  make  a  practice  of 
beating  me  "  (Steevens). 

56.    Mars  his  idiot.     Mars's  idiot.     Cf.  iv.  5.  177,  255  below. 
72.    Alodicum.     Used  by  S.  only  here. 

74.  Bobbed.  Beaten,  drubbed.  Cf.  Rich.  III.  v.  3.  334  :  "  beaten, 
bobb'd,  and  thump'd." 

75.  Pia  mater.  The  membrane  covering  the  brain  put  for  the 
brain  itself;   as  in  T.  N.  i.  5.  123  and  L.  L.  L.  iv.  2.  71. 

78.  Gilts.  The  word  was  not  so  offensive  in  the  time  of  S.  as 
now  ;  but  if  it  had  been,  he  would  not  have  hesitated  to  make 
Thersites  use  it. 

91.  Set  your  ivit  to.  Oppose  it  to.  Cf.  M.  N.  D.  iii.  i.  137: 
"  who  would  set  his  wit  to  so  foolish  a  bird  ?  " 

10 1.  Sufferance.     Suffering,     See  on  i.  i.  30  above. 

102.  Voluntary.     Adverbial;   a.?,  \n  K.  John,  y.  I.  29,  etc. 

116.  To,  Achilles  !  That  is,  on  !  forward  !  To  !  was  thus  used 
in  urging  on  draught-oxen. 

123.  Brach.  Hound,  dog  (properly  feminine).  Cf.  I  Hen.  IV. 
iii.  I.  240:  "Lady,  my  brach;"  and  Lear,  i.  4.  125:  "  the  lady 
brach."  The  early  eds.  have  "  brooch,"  which  the  Cambridge  ed. 
retains,  and  which  Schmidt  thinks  (as  Johnson  did)  to  be  perhaps 
=  appendage,  or  hanger-on.     But,  as  Clarke  notes,  S.  elsewhere 


2i6  Notes  [Act  II 

uses  brooch  only  in  the  sense  of  something  choice  or  costly ;  and 
Rowe's  emendation  of  brack  is  on  the  whole  to  be  preferred. 

125.  Clotpolls.  Blockheads.  Cf.  Z(?«r,  i.  4.  5 1  :  "  Call  the  clot - 
poll  back."  For  the  literal  sense  (=  head),  cf.  Cymb.  iv.  2.  184: 
"  Cloten's  clotpoll." 

134.  Stomach.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  iv.  3.  35  :  "he  which  hath  no  stom- 
ach to  this  fight,"  etc. 

Scene  II.  —  9.  Toucheth  7ny  particular.  That  is,  concerns  me 
personally. 

1 1 .    More  softer.     Cf.  v.  6.  20  below. 

15.  Secure.  Careless,  over-confident  (Jj^\Sxi  secu7'us) .  Cf.  Ham. 
i.  5.  61 :  "  my  secure  hour,"  etc.     So  surety  =  false  confidence. 

16.  Tent.     Probe.     Cf.  the  play  upon  the  word  in  v.  i.  11  below. 
19.   Dismes.     Tenths  ;   not  necessarily  =  "  tens,"  as  some  make 

it,  neither  is  every  tithe  soul  —  "  every  ten  souls."  The  meaning  is 
that  not  only  is  every  tenth  soul  taken,  but  there  are  many  thousand 
of  these  souls.  For  tithe,  cf.  A.  W.  i.  3.  89  :  "  One  good  woman  in 
ten,  madam ;  ...  we  'd  find  no  fault  with  the  tithe-woman,  if  I 
were  the  parson." 

29.  Past-proportion.  Immensity.  The  meaning  is  :  "  that  great- 
ness to  which  no  measure  bears  any  proportion"  (Johnson). 

33.  Reasons.  Malone  suspected  a  quibble  on  reasons  and 
raisins;   as  in  Much  Ado,  v.   I.  211. 

46.  DisorUd.  That  is,  thrown  out  of  the  crystalline  sphere  which 
gives  it  regular  motion.  See  on  i.  3.  90  above.  This  line  and  the 
preceding  are  transposed  in  the  folios. 

48.  Fat.  Feed,  nourish  ;  as  in  T.  A.  iii.  i.  204:  "  fat  me  with 
the  very  thoughts  of  it." 

49.  Respect.  Deliberation,  consideration  of  consequences.  Cf. 
R.  of  L.  274:  — 

"  Then,  childish  fear  avaunt !  debating  die  ! 
Respect  and  reason  wait  on  wrinkled  eld!  " 


Scene  II]  Notes  217 

50.  Make.  The  folios  have  "  Makes,"  which  the  grammar  of 
the  time  allowed  ;  but  the  quarto  reading  is  to  be  preferred.  For 
the  association  of  cowardice  with  a  white  or  bloodless  liver,  cf. 
M.  of  V.  iii.  2.  86,  T.  N.  iii.  2.  66,  2  Hen.  IV.  iv.  3.  113,  etc. 
Lustikood  =  spirit,  vigour  ;  as  in  Muck  Ado,  v.  I.  76.  For  deject, 
see  on  i.  3.  125  above  and  on  121  below. 

52.    What  is  alight,  etc.     Cf.  Hudibras  :  — 

"  For  what  's  the  worth  of  anything 
But  so  much  money  as  't  will  bring  ?  " 

54.   J/is.     Its  ;   referring  to  value. 

56.  As  in  the  prizer.  That  is,  as  in  the  estimation  of  the 
prizer. 

58.  That  is  attributive,  etc.  "  That  attributes,  or  gives,  the 
qualities  which  it  affects ;  that  first  causes  excellence,  and  then 
admires  it  "  (Johnson).  In  60  Warburton  would  read  "affected  's 
merit ;  "  but  Johnson  defends  the  old  text :  "  The  will  affects  an 
object  for  some  supposed  merit,  which  Hector  says  is  censurable, 
unless  the  »ierit  so  affected  be  really  there."  For  attributive  the 
folios  have  "  inclinable,"  which  Pope  prefers. 

64.  Traded.  Practised,  expert.  Cf.  K.  John,  iv.  3.  109  :  "  long 
traded  in  it." 

68.  Blench.  Shrink.  See  on  i.  i.  30  above.  And  stand  firm 
by  honour  =  and  yet  maintain  one's  honour. 

71.  Unrespective.  Unregardful,  or  unregarded.  Sieve  here  = 
basket ;  a  sense  not  unknown  in  England  at  this  day.  The  refer- 
ence is  to  a  waste-basket  into  which  the  refuse  of  the  table  was 
thrown.  The  quarto  has  "  sine,"  the  1st  folio  "  same,"  and  the 
later  folios  "  place." 

77.  An  old  aunt.  "  Priam's  sister,  Hesione,  whom  Hercules, 
being  enraged  at  Priam's  breach  of  faith,  gave  to  Telamon,  who 
by  her  had  Ajax"  (Malone). 

79.  Stale.  The  quarto  has  "  pale. "  Dyce  quotes  Wither,  Epi- 
thalamia,  1 620  :  — 


2i8  Notes  [Act  II 

"  Faire  Iris  would  haue  lookt  but  stale  and  dimme 
In  her  best  colours,  had  she  there  appear'd." 

See  also  W.  T.  iv.  i.  13  :  — 

"and  make  stale 
The  glistering  of  this  present." 

82.    Whose  price^  etc.     Evidently  suggested  by  Marlowe's  Doctor 
Faustus :  — 

"  Was  this  the  face  that  launch'd  a  thousand  ships 
And  burnt  the  topless  towers  of  Ilium  ?  " 

Mr.  Verity  remarks  :  "  It  may  be  worth  while  to  note  that  Christo- 
pher Marlowe  is  the  only  contemporary  dramatist  to  whom  Shake- 
speare definitely  alludes  in  terms  of  admiration  ;  it  is  pleasant  to 
think  that  it  should  be  so.  Modern  criticism  abundantly  recognizes 
the  fact  that  Marlowe  rendered  English  literature  the  most  signal 
and  sovereign  services,  at  once  by  freeing  blank  verse  from  the 
fetters  imposed  upon  it  by  the  authors  of  the  dreary  Gorboduc,  by 
elevating  and  to  a  certain  extent  fixing  the  form  and  style  of  the 
romantic  drama,  and  by  driving  off  the  stage  the  'jigging  veins  of 
rhyming  mother  wits '  that  are  satirized  in  the  prologue  to  Tani- 
burlaine.  Shakespeare's  debt  to  Marlowe  was  great,  and  passages 
in  his  plays  show  that  he  was  familiar  with  the  works  of  his  brother 
poet.  Thus  in  A.  Y.  L.  we  have  (iii.  5.  82)  the  direct  apostrophe  to 
the  '  Dead  shepherd,'  followed  by  the  quotation  of  the  line  from 
Hero  and  Leander  which  soon  became  a  proverb  :  '  Who  ever 
lov'd  that  lov'd  not  at  first  sight  ?'  Again,  in  M.  W.  iii.  I.  17-20, 
a  stanza  is  introduced  from  the  immortal  lyric,  '  Come  live  with  me 
and  be  my  love.'  For  similar  Marlowe  touches  compare  T.  G.  of  V. 
i.  I.  20-27  (a  less  complimentary  allusion),  A.  W.  i.  3.  74,  75,  and 
R.  and  J.  v.  i.  8,  where  Romeo's  'breath'd  such  life  with  kisses  in 
my  lips '  is  an  obvious  reminiscence  of  Hero  and  LeanderT 

89.     Your  proper.     Your    own.     Cf.    Temp.   iii.   3.  60  :   "Their 
proper  selves,"  etc.     Rate  =  find  fault  with, 


Scene  II]  Notes  219 

90.  And  do  a  deed  that  fortune  never  did.  "Act  with  more  in- 
constancy and  caprice  than  ever  did  fortune"  (Henley). 

104.  Eld.  The  quarto  has  "  elders,"  the  folios  "  old."  Eldviz.% 
the  conjecture  of  Theobald,  and  is  favoured  by  the  use  of  the  word 
in  M.  W.  iv.  4.  36  and  M.for  M.  iii.  I.  36. 

107.  Moiety.  Portion  ;  not  a  half.  Cf  I  Hen.  IV.  iii.  I.  96  : 
"  my  moiety  .   .  .  equals  not  one  of  yours,"  etc. 

109.  Ilion.  The  Greek  form  of  the  word,  used  interchangeably 
with  the  Latin  Ilitim. 

no.  Our  firebrand  brother.  Hecuba  before  the  birth  of  Paris 
dreamed  that  she  should  be  delivered  of  a  burning  torch.  Cf. 
Virgil,  ^neid,  x.  705  :  — 

"  una  quem  nocte  Theano 
In  lucem  genitori  Amyco  dedit,  et  face  praegnans 
Cisseis  regina  Parim." 

116.  Discourse  of  reason.  Cf.  Ham.  i.  2.  150  :  "that  wants  dis- 
course of  reason"  (see  Id.  iv.  4.  36),  and  0th.  iv.  2.  153  :  "dis- 
course of  thought."  Discourse  formerly  meant  the  logical  process 
of  reasoning. 

117.  Bad  success.     A  bad  issue.     See  on  i.  3.  340  above. 

121.  Nor  once  deject  the  courage,  etc.  That  is,  lower  or  depress 
it.  Elsewhere  S.  uses  only  the  participle  dejected,  or  the  contrac- 
tion deject  (as  in  50  above  and  Ham.  iii.  I.  163). 

123.  Distaste.  Spoil  the  taste  or  quality  of.  In  66  above  it  is  = 
disrelish,  dislike  ;  and  in  iv.  4.  48,  if  we  adopt  the  folio  distasting, 
it  is  intransitive  and  =  to  be  distasteful  (cf.  0th.  iii.  3.  327). 

125.    To  make  it  gracious.     To  grace  it,  or  set  it  off. 

128.  The  weakest  spleen.  "The  dullest  and  coldest  heart" 
(Schmidt). 

130.  Convince.  Convict  ;  not  used  elsewhere  by  S.  in  this 
sense. 

132.  Attest.  Call  to  witness  ;  the  only  instance  of  this  sense 
in  S. 


220  Notes  [Act  II 

133.    Propensio7i.     Propensity,  inclination  ;   used  by  S.  only  here, 
z.%  prop  end  (  =  incline)  only  in  190  below. 

135.    Can.     For  the   absolute  and   transitive  use,  of.    Lear,  iv. 


4- 


"  What  can  man's  wisdom 
In  the  restoring  his  bereaved  sense  ?  " 


136.    Propugnation.     Defence  ;   used  by  S.  only  here. 

139.    Pass.     Pass  through,  undergo  ;    as  in  (9//;.i.  3,  131,  167,  etc. 

145.    So  to  be  valiant.     To  be  valiant  in  that  way. 

148.  Rape.  Abduction,  carrying  off.  So  ransacked  just  below 
=  carried  off,  taken  by  force  ;  like  the  Latin  rapta.  Verity 
remarks  :  "  Schmidt  explains  the  word  as  =  ravished  in  this  play  ; 
but  this  might  be  misleading,  unless  it  were  explained  that  ravish- 
ment, in  legal  phraseology,  meant,  originally,  what  we  now  call  '  ab- 
duction ;  '  and  therefore  ravished  \vov\^  mean  simply  'abducted,' 
and  not,  as  it  would  imply  generally  nowadays,  the  crime  uf  rape. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  just  above,  in  line  148,  Paris  uses  rape  in 
the  sense  in  which  it  was  used  in  Shakespeare's  time,  for  mere 
*  abduction.'  According  to  Cowell  rape  was  used  only  in  this  sense 
in  civil  law,  never  in  criminal.  Spenser  uses  the  word  ransacked 
in  the  sense  of  '  violate '  (i.  6.  5)  in  the  well-known  passage  where 
Archimago  tries  to  ravish  Una  :  '  And  win  rich  spoils  of  ransackt 
chastitee.'  Of  course  the  queen  is  Helen,  not,  as  Hunter  says, 
Hesione." 

152.    Her  possession.     Possession  of  her. 

154.  Strain.  Impulse  ;  as  often.  Cf.  M.  W.\\.  i.  91,  L.  L.  Z. 
V.  2.  170,  etc. 

156.  On  our  party.  On  oViX:  part,  or  side.  Cf.  K.John,  i.  I.  34  : 
"  Upon  the  right  and  party  of  her  son." 

165.  Gloz'd.  Commented  ;  but,  as  usual  in  S.,  with  the  added 
idea  of  sophistry.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  i.  2.  40  :  "  unjustly  gloze,"  etc. 
Mr.  Verity  cites  Milton's  "well-plac'd  words  oi  glozing  courtesy" 
{Comus,  161).  It  is  not  hard  to  see  how  the  meaning  arose.  The 
gloss  was  the  word  which  needed  explanation  ;   then  it  came  to 


Scene  II]  Notes  221 

signify  the  explanation  itself ;  and  finally,  by  an  easy  transition,  a 
false  explanation.  A  good  instance  of  its  use  occurs  in  Ford's 
Perkin  Warbeck,  i.  2  :  — 

"  You  construe  my  griefs  to  so  hard  a  sense, 
That  where  the  text  is  argument  of  pity, 
Matter  of  earnest  \o\e,  your  gloss  corrupts  it," 

1 66.  Young  men,  zvhom  Aristotle  thought,  etc.  Aside  from  the 
anachronism  —  common  enough  in  S.  —  there  is  a  mistake  which 
Bacon  has  also  made  in  Adv.  of  L.  ii.  :  "  Is  not  the  opinion  of  Aris- 
totle worthy  to  be  regarded,  wherein  he  saith  that  young  men  are 
not  fit  auditors  of  moral  philosophy,  because  they  are  not  settled 
from  the  boiling  heat  of  their  affections,  nor  attempered  with  time 
and  experience  ?  "  As  Mr.  Ellis  has  pointed  out,  it  is  not  of  moral 
but  oi political  philosophy  that  Aristotle  speaks.  It  is  possible  that 
S.  may  have  taken  the  allusion  from  Bacon's  book,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1605.  Judge  Holmes  (^Authorship  of  Sh.)  of  course  tries 
to  make  the  coincidence  tell  in  favour  of  the  Baconian  theory.  It 
is  curious  that  Virgilio  Malvezzi,  in  his  Discorsi  sopra  Cornelia 
Tacito,  1622,  makes  the  same  mistake  :  "E  non  e  discordante  da 
questa  mia  opinione  Aristotele,  il  qual  dice,  che  i  giovanni  non  sono 
buoni  ascultatori  delle  morali.''^  Other  instances  of  it  have  been 
pointed  out. 

172.  More  deaf  than  adders.  For  this  old  superstition,  cf.  Sonn. 
112.  10  and  2  Hen.  VI.  iii.  2.  76.  See  also  Randolph,  Muse^s 
Looking  Glass :  — 

"  How  happy  are  the  moles  that  have  no  eyes ! 
How  blessed  the  adders  that  they  have  no  ears !  " 

177.  Affection.  Here  apparently  =  sensual  passion,  lust  ;  as  in 
W.  T.  i.  2.  138  :  "Affection  !  thy  intention  stabs  the  centre." 

178.  Of  partial  indulgence.  That  'xs,  from  or  through  such  in- 
dulgence (Mason).  Partial  =  to  which  they  are  unduly  inclined. 
S.  does  not  use  the  word  in  the  sense  of  "  in  part." 


222  Notes  [Act  II 

179,  Benumbed.  Insensible,  or  "no  longer  obedient  to  superior 
direction"  (Johnson). 

184.  These  moral  laws,  etc.  "What  the  law  does  in  every 
nation  between  individuals,  justice  ought  to  do  between  nations" 
(Johnson). 

189.  hi  %vay  of  t'l  uth,  etc.  "Though,  considering  truth  and 
justice  in  this  question,  this  is  my  opinion,  yet  as  a  question  of 
honour  I  think  on  it  as  you"  (Johnson). 

190.  Spritely.  Spirited  ;  also  spelt  sprightly.  Cf.  I  Hen.  IV. 
ii.  4.  377,  etc. 

196.  The  performance  of  our  heaving  spleens.  The  carrying  out 
of  our  resentful  impulses. 

202.  Canonize.  Enroll  among  heroes  or  demigods  ;  accented 
on  the  second  syllable,  as  elsewhere  in  S.  Cf.  K.  John,  iii.  i.  177 
or  Ham.  i.  4.  47. 

206.  Revenue.  Accented  by  S.  on  the  first  or  second  syllable 
according  to  the  measure. 

208.   Hoisting.     Roistering,  bullying  ;   used  by  S.  nowhere  else. 

211.  Advertis'' d.  Regularly  accented  by  S.  on  the  second 
syllable. 

212.  Emulation.  In  a  bad  sense  (=  envy),  as  often  in  S.  Cf. 
/.  C.  ii.  3.  14 :  — 

"  My  heart  laments  that  virtue  cannot  live 
Out  of  the  teeth  of  emulation." 

Scene  III.  —  5.  ' Sfoot.  Corrupted  from  "  God's  foot."  See  on 
i.  2.  221  above. 

8.  Enginer.  An  early  form  of  engineer.  Cf.  Ham.  iii.  4.  206 
and  0th.  ii.  i.  65.     Cf.  also  mutiner,  pioner,  etc. 

12.  Serpentine.  Used  by  S.  only  here.  It  is  suggested  by  the 
serpents  twined  on  the  caduceus. 

14.  Short-armed.  Some  editors  adopt  Dyce's  conjecture  of 
"  short-aimed  ;"  but  short-armed  (^^  not  reaching  far)  is  no  bad 
epithet. 


Scene  III]  Notes  223 

19,  Bone-ache.  Cf.  v.  1.  23  below,  the  only  other  instance  of 
the  word  in  S.     It  alludes  to  the  effects  of  venereal  diseases. 

20.  Placket.  Petticoat  ;  here  =  woman,  Cf.  L.  L.  L.  iii.  i, 
186,  W.  T.  iv.  4.  245,  622,  and  Lear,  iii.  4.  100. 

26.  Slipped.  There  is  a  play  upon  slip  as  applied  to  a  counter- 
feit coin  ;   as  in  R.  and  J.  ii.  4.  51. 

29.  Heaven  bless  thee  from.  That  is,  preserve  thee  from.  Cf. 
Rich.  III.  iii.  3.  5  :  "God  bless  the  prince  from  all  the  pack  of 
you  !  "  where  the  quartos  have  "  keep  "  for  bless. 

31.  Blood.  "Passions,  natural  propensities"  (Malone).  Cf. 
M.for  M.  ii.  i.  12,  ii.  4.  15,  178,  v.  i.  477,  Much  Ado,  ii.  i.  187, 
etc. 

34.   Lazars.     Lepers  ;   as  in  v.  i.  67  below. 

52.  Decline.  That  is,  go  through  in  detail,  like  one  declining  a 
noun.     Cf.  Rich.  III.  iv.  4.  97,  M.  W.  iv.  i.  42,  etc. 

62.    Derive.     Deduce. 

68.  Of  the  prover.  That  is,  of  him  who  proves  to  be  a  fool,  or 
yourself.  The  reading  is  that  of  the  quarto  ;  the  folio  has  "  to  the 
creator." 

72.  Patchery.  Botching ;  or  "  gross  and  bungling  hypocrisy " 
(Schmidt).     The  word  occurs  again  in  T.  of  A.  v.  i.  99. 

74.  Emulous.  Envious.  See  on  ii.  2.  212  above.  The  folio 
has  "  emulations." 

75.  Serpigo.  Tetter,  leprosy  ;  mentioned  again  in  M.  for  M. 
iii.  I.  31.      The  subject  —  the  subject  of  the  quarrel. 

80.  Shent.  Rated,  scolded  ;  as  in  T.  N.  iv.  2.  112:  "I  am 
shent  for  speaking  to  you,"  etc.  The  quarto  has  "  sate,"  and  the 
folio  "  sent  ; "  corrected  by  Theobald. 

81.  Appertain77ients.  That  is,  the  dignity  belonging  to  us. 
The  quarto  has  "  appertainings,"  which  is  found  in  L.  C.  115. 

99.  Fraction.     Breach,  discord  ;   zs,  faction  =  union,  alliance. 

100.  Cojnposure.  Combination,  bond  ;  the  only  instance  of  this 
sense  in  S.  In  242  below,  as  in  A.  and  C.  i.  4,  22,  it  is  =  com- 
position. 


224  Notes  [Act  II 

105.  The  elephatit  hath  joints,  etc.  It  was  an  old  notion  that  the 
elephant  had  no  joints  in  his  legs.  Steevens  quotes  All  ''s  Lost  by 
Lust,  1633  :  "  Stubborn  as  an  elephant's  leg,  no  bending  in  her  ;" 
and  All  Fools,  1605  :  "I  hope  you  are  no  elephant,  you  have 
joints."  Sir  Thomas  Browne  discusses  the  matter  soberly  in  his 
Vulgar  Errors. 

no.  This  noble  state.  Johnson  took  this  to  be  =  "person  of 
high  dignity,"  referring  to  Agamemnon  ;  but  it  probably  means 
"  the  stately  train  "  accompanying  him,  as  Steevens  explains  it.  Cf. 
262  below  and  iv.  2.  71. 

112.  Digestion  sake.  The  possessive  inflection  was  often 
omitted  before  sake,  not  only  in  nouns  ending  with  a  sibilant,  but 
in  others.  Cf.  "  fashion  sake  "  (^A.  Y.  L.  iii.  2.  271),  "  oath  sake  " 
{T.  N.  iii.  4.  326),  "sport  sake"  (i  Lien.  LV.  ii.  I.  78),  etc. 

113.  Breath.  "Breathing"  (^A.  W.  i.  2.  17),  or  exercise.  Cf. 
iv.  5.  92  below. 

116.  Apprehensions.  Capacity  to  apprehend,  perception.  Cf. 
Lien.  V.  iii.  7.  145,  LLa77i.  ii.  2.  319,  etc. 

117.  Attribute.  Reputation;  as  in  IIa7ti.  i.  /[.  22:  "The  pith 
and  marrow  of  our  attribute." 

119.  Not  virtuously,  etc.  "Not  regarded  by  himself  as  it  be- 
comes a  virtuous  man,  but  with  pride  and  arrogance"   (Schmidt). 

127.  Savage  strangeness.  Rude  distance  or  "ofhshness"  of 
manner.  Cf.  iii.  3.  45,  51  below.  Tend  ^=  attend,  wait  on  ; 
like  tend  on  in  iv.  4.  146  and  v.  I.  74  below. 

129.  Underwrite.  Subscribe  or  submit  to.  Cf.  subscribes  to  in 
iv.  5.  105  below,  and  subscription  (=  submission)  in  Lear,  iii.  2. 
118,  the  only  instance  of  the  word  in  S. 

130.  LLu-morous.  Capricious  ;  as  often.  Predominance  was 
originally  an  astrological  term. 

131.  Lunes.  Lunatic  freaks;  as  in  IV.  T.  ii.  2.  30:  "These 
dangerous  unsafe  lunes  i'  the  king,  beshrew  them  !  "  The  folio 
has  "  pettish  lines,"  and  the  quarto  "  course,  and  time."  Lunes  is 
due  to  Hanmer.     Until  recently  lunes  had  been  found  in  no  other 


Scene  III]  Notes  225 

English  writer,  but  Rev.  Dr.  A.  B.  Stark  informs  me  that  two 
instances  of  it  occur  in  Greene's  Mamillia,  reprinted  as  Vol.  I. 
of  Grosart's  "  Huth  Library."  On  p.  189,  we  have  :  "The  more 
she  strove  against  the  streame  the  lesse  it  did  prevaile,  the  closer 
shee  couered  the  sparke,  the  more  it  kindled  :  yea,  in  seeking  to 
unlose  the  Lunes,  the  more  she  was  intangled;"  and,  again,  on 
p.  198  :  "either  thou  must  be  the  man  which  must  unlose  me  from 
the  Lunes,  or  else  I  shal  remaine  in  a  lothsome  Laberinth  til  the 
extreme  date  of  death  deliuer  me."  The  Neiv  Eng.  Diet,  gives 
no  example  except  from  S.  earlier  than  1778. 

133.   Rode  on  his  tide.     Were  dependent  on  him. 

135.  Engine.  Used  by  S.  for  any  instrument  or  device.  Cf.  V. 
and  A.  367  :  "  the  engine  of  her  thoughts  "  (her  tongue)  ;  A.  W. 
iii.  5.  21  :  "promises,  enticements,  oaths,  token,  and  all  these 
engines  of  lust;"  0th.  \\\.  3.  355  :  "mortal  engines"  (cannon), 
etc. 

138.    Allowance.     See  on  i.  3.  377  above. 

141.  In  second  voice.  With  a  substitute,  or  proxy.  He  must 
come  himself. 

1 60.    Engendering.     Spawn. 

166.  Dispose.  Disposition  ;  as  in  0th.  i.  3.  403.  Elsewhere  it 
is  =  disposal. 

168.    Self-admission.     Self-approbation  ;   or  at  his  own  choice. 

170.    Untent.     Used  by  S.  only  here. 

174.  Self-breath.  That  is,  the  speaking  to  himself,  his  own 
words. 

177.   Kingdom' d  Achilles  in  commotion  rages,  etc.     Qi.J.  C.  ii„ 

I.  66:  — 

"  The  genius  and  the  mortal  instruments 
Are  then  in  council ;  and  the  state  of  man, 
Like  to  a  little  kingdom,  suffers  then 
The  nature  of  an  insurrection." 

179.  Plaguy.  There  is  a  play  upon  the  word,  as  shown  by  the 
following  death-tokens    (  =  plague-spots).      These  were    the    dark 

TROILUS —  15 


226  Notes  [Act  II 

spots  on  people  afflicted  with  the  plague  which  were  supposed 
to  portend  death.  Cf.  A.  and  C.  iii.  lo.  9.  Steevens  wanted  to 
strike  out  plaguy,  which  he  believed  to  be  "the  wretched  inter- 
polation of  some  foolish  player." 

187.  Seam.  Fat.  Ritson  says  that  swine-sea?n  \s,  =  hog^s-Xsixd, 
in  the  North  of  England.     Cf,  enseamed  vix  Ham.  iii.  4.  92, 

190.  Ruminate.      Ruminate   on,  have  reference  to. 

191.  Of  that  we  hold.      By  him  whom  we  regard. 

193.  Stale.  Make  stale  or  vulgar.  Cf.  A.  atid  C.  iv,  i.  38  and 
y.  C.  i.  2.  73.     Pal?n  ;  that  is,  emblem  of  honour. 

194.  Assubjugate.  Bring  into  subjection,  debase  ;  used  by  S. 
only  here. 

198.  Add  niore  coals  to  Cancer.  Add  heat  to  the  summer; 
Cancer  being  the  zodiacal  sign  the  sun  enters  at  the  summer 
solstice.  For  Hyperion  =  Apollo,  the  sun-god,  cf.  Ham.  i.  2.  140, 
iii.  4.  56,  Hen.  V.  iv.  i.  292,  etc. 

204.  Pash.  Smash,  strike  hard  enough  to  crush  ;  used  by  S. 
only  here  and  in  v.  5.  10  below.  Cf.  Jonson,  Sejanus :  "You  pash 
yourselves  in  pieces,  ne'er  to  rise;"  Chapman,  Iliad:  "pash'd 
with  mighty  stones,"  etc.  Browning  has  it  in  Childe  Roland^ 
stanza  12. 

207.  Pheeze.  Probably  =  tease,  torment,  but  explained  by  some 
as  =  beat.     Cf.  T.  of  S.  ind,  i.  i  ;   the  only  other  instance  in  S. 

213.  The  raven  chides  blackness,  "The  pot  calls  the  kettle 
black." 

214.  Let  his  humours  blood.  Bleed  his  humours.  Cf.  Cymb.  iv. 
2.  168  :   "  I  'd  let  a  parish  of  such  Clotens  blood,"  etc, 

224.    Through  warm.     Warmed  through,  or  thoroughly  warmed. 
Force  =  stuff ;   as  in  v.  i.  59  below.     Force-meat  is  still  in  use, 
233.    Emulous.     Envious.     See  on  74  above, 
235.    Palter.     Shuffle,  equivocate  ;   as  in  v.  2.  48  below. 

241.  Strange.  Distant,  reserved.  See  on  127  above.  Self- 
affected  =  self-loving. 

242.  Composure.     See  on  100  above. 


Scene  III]  Notes  227 

243.  She.  Changed  by  Pope  and  White  to  "  her ;  "  but  such 
confusion  of  the  inflections  of  pronouns  occurs  often  in  S.  On  the 
passage  Steevens  compares  Luke,  xi.  27. 

244.  Fam^d.     The  quarto  reading  ;   the  folio  has  "  Fame." 
249.   Miio.     The  famous  athlete  of  Crotona,  who  is  said  to  have 

carried  a  four-year-old  bull  more  than  forty  yards  on  his  shoulders. 
For  addition  =  title,  see  on  i.  2.  20  above. 

252.  Dilated.     "Expansive"  (Schmidt). 

253.  Antiquary.  Ancieftt,  or  full  of  old  lore ;  used  by  S.  only 
here. 

254.  He  must,  he  is,  he  cannot  but  be  wise.  For  the  ellipsis,  cf. 
i.  3.  289  above. 

258.  Shall  I  call  you  father  ?  "  S.  had  a  custom  prevalent  about 
his  own  time  in  his  thoughts.  Ben  Jonson  had  many  who  called 
themselves  his  sons.  Mr.  Vaillant  adds  that  Cotton  dedicated  his 
Treatise  on  Fishing  to  his  father  Walton;  and  that  Ashmole,  in 
his  Diary,  observes  :  *  Mr.  William  Backhouse,  of  Swallowfield, 
in  com.  Berks,  caused  me  to  call  him  father  thenceforward '  " 
(Steevens). 

259.  Ay,  my  good  son.  The  folio  gives  this  to  "  Ulis.,^^  and 
Clarke  thinks  it  should  be  so ;  but  the  question  seems  to  have 
been  suggested  by  tht  father  Nestor  in  255. 

262.    State.     Council.     See  on  i.  3.  191  above. 

264.   Main.     Might,  full  force.     Cf.  Ham.  iv.  4.  15,  etc. 

266.    Cope.     Cf.  i.  2.  2>Z  above. 


ACT  III 


Scene  I.  —  3.  When  he  goes  before.  Cf.  Goldsmith,  Elegy  on 
Mrs.  Mary  Blaize  :  — 

"  The  king  himself  has  followed  her  — 
When  she  has  walked  before." 

13.  Knoiv your  honour  better.  "The  servant  means  to  quibble. 
He  hopes  that  Pandarus  will  become  a  better  man  than  he  is  at 
present.  In  his  next  speech  he  chooses  to  understand  Pandarus  as 
if  he  had  said  he  wished  to  grow  better,  and  hence  the  servant 
affirms  that  he  is  in  the  state  of  grace  "  (Malone). 

16.  Honour  and  lordship.  According  to  Steevens,  jj/^«r  honour 
and  your  lordship  were  used  interchangeably  in  the  time  of  S. 
Grace  was  the  title  only  of  persons  of  the  highest  rank  —  kings, 
princes,  dukes,  etc. 

23.  Who  play  they  to  ?  Allowable  in  the  Elizabethan  grammar. 
Cf.  Cyjnb.  iv.  2.  75  :  "  To  who  ?  "   0th.  iv.  2.  99  :  "  With  who  ?  "  etc. 

35.  Invisible.  Changed  by  Hanmer  to  "visible;"  but  it  prob- 
ably  means,  as  Johnson  suggests,  "  invisible  everywhere  else  ; "  or 

228 


Scene  I]  Notes  229 

as  Clarke  well  puts  it,  "  the  ethereal  spirit  of  love  as  impersonated 
in  her." 

42.  Seethes.  A  figure  like  that  of  "  hot  haste."  The  servant 
plays  upon  it  in  his  reply,  in  which  some  see  an  allusion  to  the 
"sweating-tub"  (cf.  M.for  M.  iii.  2.  60,  Hen.  V.  ii.  i.  79,  etc.). 

51.  Broken  music.  Chappell  says  :  "  Some  instruments,  such  as 
viols,  violins,  flutes,  etc.,  were  formerly  made  in  sets  of  four,  which 
when  played  together  formed  a  *  consort.'  If  one  or  more  of  the 
instruments  of  one  set  were  substituted  for  the  corresponding  ones 
of  another  set,  the  result  was  no  longer  a  '  consort,'  but  '  broken 
music'  "  For  the  play  upon  the  expression,  cf.  A.  Y.  L.  i.  2.  149 
and  Hen.  V.  v.  2.  263,  White  makes  broken-music  =  "  music  in 
parts." 

52.  Cousin.  Used  of  almost  any  relationship  ;  as  nephew,  niece, 
uncle,  brother-in-law,  grandchild,  etc. 

60.  In  fits.  Apparently  =  when  the  humour  takes  yoii  ;  with  a 
play  upon  the  musical  sense  of  fits  as  applied  to  the  divisions  of  a 
song  or  tune. 

68.  Honey-sweet  lord.  Cf.  Hen.  K  ii.  3.  i  :  "  honey-sweet  hus- 
band," etc.     See  also  147  below, 

71.  Bob.  Cheat.  Cf.  0th.  v.  i.  16  :  "Of  gold  and  jewels  that  I 
bobb'd  from  him,"  etc. 

78.  Itt  truth,  la  I  For  the  use  of  la  !  to  emphasize  a  statement, 
cf.  M.  W.\.  I.  86,  266,  322,  ii.  2.  108,  Cor.  i.  3.  73,  100,  etc. 

89.  You  must  not  knoxu  where  he  sups.  The  early  eds.  give  this 
to  Helen  ;   corrected  by  Hanmer. 

91.  Disposer.  Dyce  is  probably  right  in  taking  the  word  here  to 
be  =  "  disposed  or  inclined  to  pleasant  talk  —  my  merry,  free- 
spoken  damsel."  Cf.  L.  L.  L.  ii.  i.  250.  Clarke  remarks  :  "This 
epithet  serves  to  aid  in  depicting  Cressida  with  the  consistency  of 
frivolous  character  by  which  the  dramatist  has  marked  her.  Our 
here  being  let  to  perceive  by  a  single  significant  word  that  she  has 
been  a  light  talker  with  Paris,  a  gay  flutterer  and  chatterer  with  him 
who  caused  Helen's  abduction,  is  perfectly  in  accordance  with  her 


230  Notes  [Act  III 

manner  throughout  the  play,  and  especially  at  the  time  of  her 
introduction  to  the  assembled  generals  of  the  Grecian  camp,  in 
iv.  5." 

113.  You  may,  you  7nay.  That  is,  you  may  have  your  little 
joke.     Cf.  Cor.  ii.  3.  39,  where  it  is  used  in  the  same  way. 

117.  Good  now.  Explained  by  Hudson  as  =  "  well  now  ;  "  but 
pretty  certainly  a  vocative  phrase,  as  in  W.  T.v.  i.  19,  Ham.  i.  i. 
70,  etc. 

126.    The  wound  to  kill.     The  fatal  wound. 

139.   Vipers.     Cf.  Acts,  xxviii.  3  and  Matthew,  iii.  7. 

142.  Gallantry.     The  only  instance  of  the  word  in  S. 

/  would  fain  have  armed  to-day,  etc.  Verplanck  remarks  : 
'*  This  trait  of  Paris,  painted  as  a  man  of  spirit  and  ability,  yet 
wasting  important  hours  in  submission  to  the  whims  of  his  mistress, 
oddly  resembles  the  anecdotes,  of  which  the  English  memoirs  are 
full,  of  the  habits  of  Charles  II. ;  and  to  this  the  coincidence  of 
the  name,  Nell,  adds  effect.  It  affords  a  proof  of  the  general  truth 
of  the  portrait,  that  the  grandson  of  the  monarch  who  reigned  when 
this  play  was  written  should  have  thus,  half  a  century  afterwards, 
re-enacted  the  sauntering  indolence  of  Paris." 

143.  How  chance,  etc.  How  chances  it,  etc.  Cf.  M.  N.  D.'\.  i. 
129,  V.  I.  318,  etc. 

158.  Obey  .  .  .  to.  Cf.  Phoenix  and  Turtle,  4  :  "To  whose 
sound  chaste  v^^ings  obey;  "  Spenser,  F.  Q.  iii.  11.  34  :  "  Lo  now 
the  heavens  obey  to  me  aloiie,"  etc.     See  also  Romans,  vi.  16. 

163.   Palm.     Cf.  ii.  3.  193  above. 

Scene  II,  —  9.  The  Stygian  banks.  For  other  allusions  to  the 
infernal  river  Styx,  see  v.  4.  19  belovi^,  T.  A.  i.  I.  88,  and  Rich.  III. 
i.  4.  45. 

10.  Waftage.  Ferriage,  passage.  Cf.  C.  of  E.  iv.  i.  95  :  "A 
ship  you  sent  me  to,  to  hire  waftage."  Charon  is  the  "  sour  ferry- 
man "  of  Rich.  III.  i.  4.  46. 

13.    Pandarus.     The  quarto  has  "  Pandar."     Pope  omits  (9. 


Scene  II]  Notes  231 

16.  OrcHard.  Garden;  the  usual  meaning  in  S.  Ci.Ham.i. 
5-  50>  etc. 

20.  Palate  tastes.  The  folio  has  "  watry  pallats  taste  ;  "  corrected 
by  Hanmer.      Watery  =  watering,  longing. 

21.  Reptired.  Purified;  the  reading  of  the  quarto.  The  Cam- 
bridge ed.  says  :  "  Steevens's  reprint  has  '  reputed '  —  an  error 
which  seems  to  have  been  the  source  of  the  statement  that  some 
copies  of  the  quarto  have  that  reading."  The  folios  all  have 
"  reputed." 

22.  Swooning.  The  early  eds.  have  "  Sounding,"  as  in  some 
other  passages.  The  Cambridge  ed.  reads  "  Swounding,"  a  form 
which  was  also  common. 

23.  Subtle-potent.  The  hyphen  was  inserted  by  Theobald.  For 
tunhi  too  the  folios  have  "  and  too." 

27.  Battle.  Army  ;  as  often.  On  heaps  =  in  heaps,  or  crowds  ; 
as  in  Hen.  V.  iv.  5.  18  :  "  Let  us  on  heaps  go  offer  up  our  lives," 
etc. 

30.  Aftist  be  witty.     "  Must  have  your  wits  about  you  "  (Clarke). 

31.  Frayed  with.  Frightened  by  ;  the  only  instance  of  the  verb 
inS. 

2,2,.  Villain.  For  the  use  of  the  word  as  a  term  of  endearment, 
cf.  W.  T.  i.  2.  136  :  "  Sweet  villain  !  " 

36.  Thicker.  Quicker.  Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  3.  24  :  "  speaking 
thick,"  etc. 

37.  Bestowing.     Functions. 

38.  Vassalage.     Vassals,  subjects  ;  the  abstract  for  the  concrete. 
43.     Watched.     Kept  from  sleeping ;   as  hawks  were  in  taming 

them.     Cf.  T.  of  S.  iv.  i.  198,  0th.  iii.  3.  23,  etc. 

46.  Fills.  Shafts.  Cf.  fill-horse  in  M.  of  V.  ii.  2.  10 1.  The 
word  is  still  in  familiar  use  in  New  England,  but  obsolete  in  Old 
England. 

47.  Draw  this  curtain,  etc.  Cf.  T.  N.  i.  5.  251  :  "but  we  will 
draw  the  curtain  and  show  you  the  picture ;  "  where,  as  here,  the 
reference  is  to  unveiling  the  face. 


232  Notes  [Act  III 

49.  Rub  on,  and  kiss  the  mistress.  "  The  allusion  is  to  bowling. 
What  we  now  call  the  jack  [cf.  Cymb.  ii.  i.  2  :  "kissed  the  jack," 
etc.]  seems,  in  Shakespeare's  time,  to  have  been  termed  the  mis- 
tress. A  bowl  tliat  kisses  Xh-o.  jack  or  mistress  is  in  the  most  advan- 
tageous position.  Rtib  on  is  a  term  at  the  same  game"  (Malone). 
Cf.  K.  John,  iii.  4.  1 28. 

50.  In  fee-far?n.  In  perpetuity  ;  "  a  y^(?-yar/«  being  a  grant  of 
lands  in  fee,  that  is,  for  ever,  reserving  a  certain  rent "  (Malone). 

52.  The  falcon  as  the  tercel.  The  female  hawk  as  good  as  the 
male  ;  that  is,  Cressida  will  be  as  good  as  Troilus.  In  what  follows 
we  have  an  allusion  to  hawking  along  river  banks.  In  Jonson's 
The  Forest  one  of  the  rural  amusements  mentioned  is  :  "  hawk- 
ing at  the  river."     Cf.  also  Chaucer,  Sir  Thopas:  — 

"  Couthe  hunt  at  wild  deer, 
And  ride  on  hawkyng  for  ryver, 
With  gray  goshawk  on  honde." 

For  all  the  ducks  V  the  river.  "  Pandarus  means  that  he  '11  match 
his  niece  against  her  lover  for  any  bet"  (Theobald). 

59.  *  In  witness  zvhereof  the  parties  interchangeably — .'  "Have 
set  their  hands  and  seals  "  would  naturally  follow.  Cf.  190  below  : 
"  a  bargain  made  ;  seal  it,  seal  it  !  "  Malone  cites  AI.  for  M. 
iv.  1.5:  — 

"  But  my  kisses  bring  again,  bring  again  ; 
Seals  of  love,  but  seal'd  in  vain,  seal'd  in  vain  ;  " 

V.  and  A.  511 :  — 

"  Pure  lips,  sweet  seals  in  my  soft  lips  imprinted. 
What  bargains  may  I  make,  still  to  be  sealing  ?  " 

and  K.  John,  ii.  i .  20  :  — 

"  Upon  thy  cheek  lay  I  this  zealous  kiss, 
As  seal  to  the  indenture  of  my  love." 

He  might  have  added  M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  144  and  2  Hen.  VI.  iii.  2. 
344.     There  is  a  play  on  the  preceding  billing. 


Scene  II]  Notes  233 

67.  Abruption.  Breaking  off ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  Curious 
=  causing  care,  embarrassing. 

69.    Fears.    The  reading  of  the  3d  folio  ;   the  earlier  eds.  have     * 
"  teares." 

71.  Cherubins.  S.  has  cherubin  regularly  for  the  singular  (ex- 
cept in  Ham.  iv.  3.  50,  where  we  find  cherub')  and  cherubins  for  the 
plural. 

73.  Fear.  Steevens  assumes  that  there  is  an  allusion  to  Fear  as 
a  personage  in  the  old  moralities  ;  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  sup- 
pose anything  more  than  an  ordinary  personification. 

77.  Pageant.  A  theatrical  exhibition ;  the  regular  sense  in  S. 
Cf.  iii.  3.  273  below.  See  also  on  the  verb  in  i.  3.  151  above.  Pre- 
sented  =  represented  ;   as  often. 

81.  Imposition.  A  task  if?iposed  ox  enjoined.  Cf.  M.  of  V.  i.  2. 
114,  iii-  4.  ZZ,  etc. 

diT).  ATonstruosity .  The  reading  of  both  quarto  and  folio.  It  is 
used  by  S.  only  here  ;  monstrosity  not  at  all.  Undergo  =  under- 
take ;   as  in  W.  T.  ii.  3.  164,  iv.  4.  554,  etc. 

94.  Allow  us  as  we  prove.  Acknowledge  us  what  we  prove  to 
be. 

98.   Addition.     Title.     See  on  i.  2,  20  above. 

100.  A  mock,  etc.  "That  is,  only  a  mock  for  his  truth.  Even 
malice  (for  such  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  envy)  shall  not  be 
able  to  impeach  his  truth,  or  attack  him  in  any  other  way,  except 
by  ridiculing  him  for  his  constancy  "  (Malone). 

115.  rheyUl  stick,  etc.  Cf.  M.  for  M.  iv.  3.  189  :  "Nay,  friar, 
I  am  a  kind  of  burr  ;   I  shall  stick." 

135.  Cunning.  The  early  eds.  have  "Comming;"  corrected 
by  Pope. 

150.    A  kind  of  self,  etc.     Cf.  Sonn.  133,  13. 

152,  153.  /  would  be  gone,  etc.  The  quarto  reading  and  ar- 
rangement.    The  folio  has 

"  Where  is  my  wit  ? 
I  would  be  gone :   I  speake  I  know  not  what." 


234  Notes  [Act  III 

155.  Show.  The  quarto  reading.  The  folio  has  "shew"  (  = 
showed). 

156.  Roundly.  Frankly,  plainly;  the  only  sense  in  S.  Cf. 
A.   y.  L.  V.  3.  II,  T.  of  S.  i.  2.  59,  iv.  4.  108,  v.  2.  21,  etc. 

158.  For  to  be  wise  and  love,  etc.  Tyrwhitt  quotes  Spenser, 
Shep.  Kal.  March :  — 

"  To  be  wise,  and  eke  to  love 
Is  granted  scarce  to  gods  above." 

Malone  finds  the  sentiment  in  Publius  Syrus :  "  Amare  et  sapere 
vix  Deo  conceditur."  Cf.  Bacon,  Essay  x. :  "  It  was  well  said  that 
it  is  impossible  to  love  and  be  wise  ;  "  and  Adv.  of  L.  ii. :  "  it  is 
not  granted  to  man  to  love  and  be  wise."  "  But  the  real  difficulty, 
the  rock  over  which  the  editorial  barques  of  Hanmer  and  others 
have  hopelessly  been  shattered,  is  the  unlucky  for  in  line  149. 
*  V^hy  for,''  said  Malone,  finding  the  unfortunate  for  'inconsequen- 
tial.' No  doubt  Cressida's  reasoning  is  a  trifle  irregular.  Such 
arguments  would  not  pass  muster  in  Mill's  Logic ;  but  the  editors 
might  have  remembered  that,  in  the  first  place,  the  speaker  is  a 
woman ;  and,  in  the  second  place,  being  in  love,  she  cannot, 
according  to  her  own  showing,  *  be  wise.'  Really,  it  is  perfectly 
easy  to  trace  the  line  of  thought.  *  I  angled,'  she  says,  '  for  your 
thoughts,  but  got  nothing  out  of  you,  either  because  you  are  not 
in  love,  or  because  you  are  too  wise  ;  '  and  then  the  words  zvise 
and  love  remind  her  of  the  proverb,  and  she  whimsically  rounds 
off  her  sentence  with,  '  for  you  know,  you  can't  both  love  and  be 
wise.'  It  is  an  admirable  non  sequitur,  a  triumph  of  feminine 
reasoning  power,  and  ten  times  as  true  to  life  as  the  logical  pro- 
prieties suggested  by  the  commentators"  (Verity). 

168.  Affronted.  Confronted.  "I  wish  my  integrity  might  be 
met  and  matched  with  such  equality  and  force  of  pure  unmingled. 
love"  (Johnson).  For  affronted,  cf.  Ham,  iii.  i.  31:  "affront 
Ophelia,"  etc. 

177.    Compare.     For  the  noun,  cf.  R.  and  J.  ii.  5.  43,  iii.  5.  238,  etc. 


Scene  II]  Notes  235 

179.  Plantage.  Vegetation;  alluding  to  the  old  belief  that 
plants  grew  with  the  increase  of  the  moon.  vScot,  in  his  Discov- 
erie  of  Witchcraft  (which  we  know  that  S.  had  read),  says:  "The 
poore  husbandman  perceiveth  that  the  increase  of  the  moone 
maketh  plants  frutefull,"  etc. 

180.  Turtle.     Turtle-dove  ;   the  only  sense  of  the  word  in  S. 

181.  Adamant.  The  lodestone  ;  as  in.i1/.  A'l  Z>.  ii.  I.  195  :  "You 
draw  me,  you  hard-hearted  adamant."  Cf.  The  Return  from  Par- 
nassus, ii.  I  :  "  I  am  her  needle,  she  my  adamant." 

The  centre.  That  is,  its  place  in  the  centre  of  the  Ptolemaic 
system.     See  on  i.  3.  85  above. 

190.  Characterless.  Unrecorded ;  accented  on  the  second  syl- 
lable, as  the  verb  character  often  is,  and  the  noun  in  Rich.  III.  iii. 
I.  81. 

205.  Constant.  Changed  by  Hanmer  to  "inconstant,"  on  ac- 
count of  the  "  false  one  to  another "  which  precedes ;  but  as 
Malone  and  Heath  remark,  S.  may  have  had  in  mind  "the  event 
of  the  story."  White  (though  he  decides  to  retain  constant^  says 
that  Malone's  suggestion  is  "  more  than  plausible,"  but  that  "  S. 
writing  a  speech  for  a  character  would  write  as  that  character 
would  think  under  the  circumstances  in  which  he  was  placed." 
But  it  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  he  purposely  made  the 
statement  correspond  with  the  event  ;  he  may  have  done  it  inad- 
vertently. Or  it  may  be  that  Pandarus,  though  he  says  "  false  to 
one  another,"  is  thinking  of  the  "  true  as  Troilus  "  and  "  false  as 
Cressida"  that  have  ended  and  emphasized  the  preceding  speeches, 
and  shapes  his  imprecation  accordingly.  I  am  inclined  personally 
to  think  this  last  the  correct  explanation. 

210.  With  a  bed.  These  words  are  not  in  the  early  eds.,  but 
were  supplied  by  Hanmer.  The  context  requires  it,  or  something 
like  it.     Because  it  shall  not  =  that  it  may  not. 

211.  Press  it  to  death.  A  punning  allusion  to  the  punishment 
of  pressing  to  death,  for  which  cf.  Much  Ado,  ii.  i.  76,  M.  for  M. 
v.  I.  528,  etc. 


236 


Notes  [Act  III 


213.  Pandar.  The  folios  have  "and  Pander."  Y ox  gear,  see 
on  i.  I.  6  above. 

Scene  III.  —  3.  Appear  it.  Let  it  appear.  It  is  not  necessary  to 
resort  to  the  desperate  expedient  of  making  appear  a  transitive  verb. 

4.  Things  to  love.  If  this  be  what  S.  wrote,  the  meaning  of  the 
passage  must  be,  "Through  my  peculiar  knowledge  as  to  where 
it  is  well  to  place  affection  or  regard,  I  have  abandoned  Troy " 
(White).  The  quarto  and  the  ist  foHo  both  have  "loue,"  though 
some  have  thought  it  might  be  "  loue,"  and  therefore,  with  John- 
son, read  "  Jove,"  connecting  "  to  Jove  "  with  what  follows.  The 
2d  and  3d  folios  have  love,  which  the  4th  folio  changes  to  "  come." 
Steevens  explained  the  passage  thus :  "  No  longer  assisting  Troy 
with  my  advice,  I  have  left  it  to  the  dominion  of  love,  to  the  con- 
sequences of  the  amour  of  Paris  and  Helen."  It  is  an  objection  to 
Johnson's  reading  (though  attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  it 
away)  that  Jove  favoured  the  Trojans,  and  Calchas  would  hardly 
speak  of  abandoning  them  to  a  friend  or  patron.  It  may  be  added 
that  some  connect  "to  Jove  "  with  things,  making  it  mean  "things 
pertaining  to  Jove ;  "  but  that  seems  a  forced  interpretation.  A 
writer  in  the  Edin.  Rev.  (July,  1 869) ,  who  thus  explains  "  things  to 
Jove,"  also  thinks  that  sight  is  not  foresight,  but  "  has  the  general 
sense  of  acquaintance,  skill,  technical  knowledge,  professional  con- 
versancy  —  a  meaning  by  no  means  unusual  in  Shakespeare's  day  ;  " 
but  S.  does  not  use  sight  in  that  sense  (though  he  has  well-seen  = 
well-skilled  in  T.  of  S.\.  2.  134),  and  I  cannot  see  that  to  explain 
it  so  here  would  help  us  in  the  least.  The  sole  difficulty  is  in  the 
to  love  or  to  Jove. 

8.  Sequestering  from  me.  Separating  from  me,  putting  aside. 
Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  I.  33  :  "a  poor  sequester'd  stag"  (that  is, separated 
from  the  herd). 

12.  Into.  Changed  by  some  to  "unto  ;  "  but  cf.  A.  W.  i.  3. 
260  :  "  And  pray  God's  blessing  into  thy  attempt."  See  also  T.  A'. 
v.  I.  87,  Hen.  V.  i.  2.  102,  ii.  2.  173,  Ham.  ii.  2.  28,  etc. 


Scene  III]  Notes  237 

21.  In  right  great  exchange.  That  is,  offering  a  distinguished 
Trojan  prisoner  in  exchange. 

23.  Wrest,  Literally,  a  tuning-key ;  therefore,  figuratively, 
"  that  upon  which  the  harmonious  ordering  of  their  affairs  depends  " 
(Clarke).  Hanmer  has  "rest"  (the  conjecture  of  Theobald);  but 
slack  carries  out  the  metaphor  in  wrest,  and  shows  that  the  old 
reading  is  correct.  Cf.  the  same  figure  in  "  o'er- wrested,"  i.  3.  157 
above.  See  also  Macb.  i.  7.  60.  Verity  quotes  a  very  curious 
letter :  "  whearin,  part  of  the  entertainment  untoo  the  queenz 
Maiesty,  at  Killingwoorth  Castl,  in  Warwick  Sheer,  in  this  Soomerz 
Progress,  1575,  is  signified,"  written  by  Robert  Laneham,  and 
quoted  in  part  in  the  introductory  essay  to  Percy's  Reliques  of 
Ancient  English  Poetry.  It  gives  a  minute  account  of  the  equip- 
ment of  an  ancient  minstrel,  and  among  his  accoutrements  were : 
"About  his  neck  a  red  ribband  suitable  to  his  girdle.  His  harp  in 
good  grace  dependent  before  him.  His  wrest  tyed  to  a  green  lace 
and  hanging  by."  So  again  in  A  treatise  between  trouth  and  in- 
formation, printed  among  Skelton's  Works,  and  referred  to  by 
Douce,  we  find :  — 

"  A  harpe  geveth  sounde  as  it  is  sette, 
The  harper  may  wrest  it  untunablye ; 
A  harper  with  his  wrest  may  tune  the  harpe  wrong, 
Mystunyng  of  an  instrument  shal  hurt  a  true  songe." 

Equally  to  the  point  is  his  reference  to  King  James's  edict  against 
combats:  "this  small  instrument  the  tongue  being  kept  in  tune 
by  the  wri?^/ of  awe."  In  Minsheu's  Dictionary,  1627,  the  verb  to 
wrest  is  explained  :  "  to  winde,  to  wring,  to  straine,"  and  translated 
by  the  Latin  torquere,  contorquere. 

25.  Manage.  The  noun  occurs  often  in  S.  Cf.  Temp.  i.  2.  70, 
M.  of  V.  iii.  4.  25,  etc. 

30,  In  most  accepted  pain.  "  Even  in  those  labours  which  were 
most  accepted"  (Steevens),  or  most  acceptable  to  you.  Clarke 
makes  it  =  "  as  trouble  that  I  have  undergone  most  willingly,"  and 


238  Notes  [Act  III 

compares  what  Diomed   says  in  the  next  speech  but  one.     This 
seems  to  be  the  meaning. 

43.  Unplausive.  Unapproving,  indifferent;  used  by  S.  only 
here. 

Are  bent  on.  The  early  eds.  have  "are  bent  ?  why  turn'd  on  ;  " 
corrected  by  Pope. 

44.  Medicinable.     See  on  i.  3.  91  above. 

86.  Do.  The  early  eds.  have  "Doth"  (corrected  by  Hanmer), 
which  may  have  been  a  "  confusion  of  construction." 

96.  Writes  nie  that  tnaji,  etc.  Some  editors  make  "That  man," 
etc.  (or  "Man,"  etc.),  a  passage  which  Ulysses  reads  from  the 
book ;  but  I  prefer,  with  others,  to  regard  it  as  merely  the  sub- 
stance of  what  he  professes  to  have  been  reading. 

How  dearly  ever  parted.  "  However  excellently  endowed,  with 
however  dear  or  precious  parts  enriched  or  adorned"  (Johnson). 
Mason  notes  that  Jonson,  in  Every  Man  Out  of  his  Humour, 
speaks  of  a  man  "  well  parted  ;  "  and  Massinger,  in  his  Great  Duke 
of  Florence,  says  of  Lydia  that  he  chooses  to  "  deliver  her  better 
parted  than  she  is,"  etc. 

97.  Having.  Endowment.  Cf.  L.  C.it^^\  "Whose  rarest  hav- 
ings made  the  blossoms  dote,"  etc.  Or  without  or  in  =  either 
externally  or  internally,  either  in  body  or  in  mind. 

99.    Owes.     Owns,  possesses ;   as  very  often. 

105, 106.  To  others'  .  .  .  itself  These  lines  are  omitted  in  the 
folio. 

That  most  pure  spirit  of  sense.  "Which  is  sense  itself,  the  very 
emblem  of  perceptivity"  (Schmidt).  See  on  i.  i.  60  above.  On 
the  passage,  cf.y.  C.  i.  2.  52 :  — 

"  No,  Cassius  ;  for  the  eye  sees  not  itself 
But  by  reflection  by  some  other  things." 

109.  Speculation.  The  power  of  vision,  including  the  idea  of 
intelligence  ;  as  in  Macb.  iii.  4.  95  :  "  Thou  hast  no  speculation  in 
those  eyes,"  etc. 


Scene  III]  Notes  239 

no.  Mirrored.  The  early  eds.  have  "married,"  which  Dr. 
Ingleby  defends.     On  the  passage,  of.  K.  John,  ii.   i.  496  fol, 

1 14.  Circumstance.  "  Detail  or  circumduction  of  his  argu- 
ment"  (Johnson).     Cf.  T.  G.  of  V.  iii.  2.  36,  C.  of  E.  v.  i.  16,  etc. 

116.  Though  in  mid  of  hi77i,  etc.  However  great  his  powers 
and  possessions  may  be.     Cf.  97  above. 

120.  Who,  like  an  arch,  etc.  Rowe  changes  who  to  "which  ;  '' 
but  the  former  is  often  used  for  the  latter.     Cf.  201  below. 

123—128.  I  was  much  wrapt  .  .  .  dear  in  use.  This  is  substan- 
tially  the   folio    reading,    and    makes   good    sense.      The    quarto 

reads :  — 

"  I  was  much  rap't  in  this, 
And  apprehended  here  immediately. 
The  unknoune  Aiax,  heavens  what  a  man  is  there  ? 
A  very  horse,  that  has  he  knowes  not  what 
Nature  what  things  there  are. 
Most  abject  in  regard,  and  deere  in  use." 

Pope  followed  the  folio  down  to  Ajax  ;  afterwards  he  read  :  — 

"  Heavens  what  a  man  is  there  ?  A  very  horse. 
He  knows  not  his  own  nature  :  what  things  are 
Most  abject  in  regard,  and  dear  in  use." 

Hanmer,  who  in  his  preface  declared  that  his  guiding  principle  had 
been  never  "  to  give  a  loose  to  fancy,  or  indulge  a  licentious  spirit 
of  criticism,"  printed  the  lines  thus :  — 

"  I  was  much  rapt 
In  this  /  read,  and  apprehended  here 
Immediately  the  unknown  Ajax  :  heavens ! 
What  a  man  's  there  ?     A  very  horse,  that  has 
He  knows  not  what :  in  nature  what  things  there  are 
Most  abject  in  regard,  and  dear  in  use." 

125.  The  unhtown  Ajax.  Johnson  takes  this  to  mean  "Ajax, 
who  has  abilities  which  were  never  brought  into  view  or  use  ;  "  but 
it  may  simply  refer  to  the  fact  that  Ajax  was  unknown  to  the  writer, 


240  Notes  [Act  III 

though  so  well  described  by  him.  Clarke  makes  unknown  = 
"  unknown  to  himself,  wanting  in  true  self-knowledge." 

126.  A  very  horse.  A  mere  horse.  Cf.  ii.  i.  17  above,  where 
Thersites  makes  him  stupider  than  a  horse. 

128.  Abject  in  regard,  etc.  Poor  in  estimation,  but  precious  in 
utility,  little  valued  but  very  useful. 

131.  An  act,  etc.  Malone  is  clearly  correct  in  making  this  line 
parenthetical.  Capell  makes  act  the  object  of  see;  and  Rowe 
points  the  passage  thus  (perhaps  equivalent  to  my  pointing)  :  — 

"  Now  shall  we  see  to-morrow, 
An  act  that  very  chance  doth  throw  on  him, 
Ajax  renown'd !  " 

134.  How  so7ne  men  creep,  etc.  "  While  some  men  remain 
tamely  inactive  in  Fortune's  hall,  without  any  effort  to  excite  her 
attention,  others,  etc."  (Malone).  Johnson  makes  creep  —  "keep 
out  of  notice."  Schmidt  may  be  right  in  taking  creep  in  to  be 
=  get  secretly  into. 

135.  Play  the  idiots,  etc.  Act  like  fools  while  enjoying  her  favour. 
137.  Fasting,  etc.  "  Haughtily  resting  on  his  laurels"  (Herford). 
145.    Wallet.     Bag,  or  knapsack.     The  word  is   used  again  in 

Temp.  iii.  3.  46 :  — 

"  Who  would  believe  that  there  were  mountaineers 
Dew-lapp'd  like  bulls,  whose  throats  had  hanging  at  'em 
Wallets  of  flesh  ?  " 

Cf.  Spenser,  F.  Q.  vi.  8.  24 :  — 

"  But  tell  me,  Lady,  wherefore  doe  you  beare 
This  bottle  thus  before  you  with  such  toile, 
And  eeke  this  wallet  at  your  backe  arreare, 
That  for  these  Carles  to  carry  much  more  comely  were  ?  " 

"  '  Here  in  this  bottle '  (sayd  the  sorry  Mayd) 
*  I  put  the  tears  of  my  contrition. 
Till  to  the  brim  I  have  it  full  defrayd : 
And  in  this  bag,  which  I  behinde  me  don, 
I  put  repentaunce  for  things  past  and  gon.'  " 


Scene  III]  Notes  241 

Collier  says  that  this  quotation  is  not  in  point,  because  it  does  not 
refer  to  the  Time  but  to  Mirabell ;  but  it  may  none  the  less  have 
suggested  the  description  of  Time  here. 

147.  Ingratitudes.  Repeated  or  habitual  acts  of  ingratitude. 
For  this  use  of  the  plural,  not  uncommon  in  S.,  cf.  behaviours  in 
Much  Ado,  ii,  3.  9,  ii.  3.  100,  etc.  Great-siz^d  is  used  by  S.  only 
here  and  in  v.  10.  26  below. 

150.  Perseverance.  Accented  on  the  second  syllable,  as  in  Macb. 
iv.  3.  93,  the  only  other  instance  of  the  word  in  S.  Persever  is  his 
only  form  for  the  verb. 

152.   Mail.     Coat  of  mail,  suit  of  armour. 

158.  Forthright.  Straight  path.  Cf.  7>;w/.  iii.  3. 3 :  "forthrights 
and  meanders." 

162.   Lie  there.     That  is,  you  lie  there. 

168.  Grasps  in  the  cofjier.  Hanmer  reads  "  Grasps  the  in-comer," 
which  would  be  well  enough  if  any  change  were  needed. 

175.  One  touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin.  One 
natural  trait  is  characteristic  of  all  men.  A  writer  in  the  London 
AthencEutn,  March  18,  1871,  conjectures  that  touch  should  be  tache 
(—  defect  or  blemish),  and  cites  sundry  examples  of  that  old  word; 
but  toiich  may  mean  either  a  good  or  a  bad  characteristic,  and  may 
therefore  stand.  The  context  makes  all  clear.  White  paraphrases 
it  thus  (^Galaxy,  Feb.  1877):  "There  is  one  point  on  which 
all  men  are  alike,  one  touch  of  human  nature  which  shows  the 
kindred  of  all  mankind  —  that  they  slight  familiar  merit  and  prefer 
trivial  novelty."  Of  the  common  misapplication  of  the  line  he 
says  :  "  It  has  come  to  be  always  quoted  with  the  meaning  implied 
in  the  following  indication  of  emphasis  :  '  One  touch  of  nature 
makes  the  whole  world  kin.'  Shakespeare  wrote  no  such  senti- 
mental twaddle.  Least  of  all  did  he  write  it  in  this  play,  in  which 
his  pen  '  pierces  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  soul  and  spirit  and  of 
the  joints  and  marrow,  and  is  a  discerner  of  the  thoughts  and  intents 
of  the  heart.'  The  line  which  has  been  thus  perverted  mto  an 
exposition  of  sentimental  brotherhood  among  all  mankind,  is  on 

TROILUS—  16 


242  Notes  [Act  III 

the  contrary  one  of  the  most  cynical  utterances  of  an  undisputable 
moral  truth,  disparaging  to  the  nature  of  all  mankind,  that  ever 
came  from  Shakespeare's  pen.  .  .  .  The  meaning  is  too  manifest  to 
need  or  indeed  to  admit  a  word  of  comment,  and  it  is  brought  out 
by  this  emphasis :  '  One  touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  zvorld  kin  ' 
—-that  one  touch  of  their  common  failing  being  an  uneasy  love 
of  novelty.  Was  ever  poet's  or  sage's  meaning  so  perverted,  so 
reversed  !  And  yet  it  is  hopeless  to  think  of  bringing  about  a 
change  in  the  general  use  of  this  line  and  a  cessation  of  its  perver- 
sion to  sentimental  purposes,  not  to  say  an  application  of  it  as  the 
scourge  for  vsrhich  it  was  wrought ;  just  as  it  is  hopeless  to  think  of 
changing  by  any  demonstration  of  unfitness  and  unmeaningness  a 
phrase  in  general  use  —  the  reason  being  that  the  mass  of  the  users 
are  utterly  thoughtless  and  careless  of  the  right  or  the  wrong,  the 
fitness  or  the  unfitness,  of  the  words  that  come  from  their  mouths, 
except  that  they  serve  their  purpose  for  the  moment.  That  done, 
what  care  they  ?  And  what  can  we  expect,  when  even  the  '  Globe ' 
edition  of  Shakespeare's  works  has  upon  its  very  title-page  and  its 
cover  a  globe  with  a  band  around  it,  on  which  is  written  this  line, 
in  its  perverted  sense,  that  sense  being  illustrated,  enforced,  and 
deepened  into  the  general  mind  by  the  union  of  the  band-ends  by' 
clasped  hands.  I  absolve,  of  course,  the  Cambridge  editors  of  the. 
guilt  of  this  twaddling  misuse  of  Shakespeare's  line  ;  it  was  a  mere 
publisher's  contrivance  ;  but  I  am  somewhat  surprised  that  they 
should  have  even  allowed  it  such  sanction  as  it  has  from  its  appear- 
ance on  the  same  title-page  with  their  names."  Quotations  from  S. 
are  often  used  to  express  a  meaning,  or  shade  of  meaning,  which  is 
different  from  his  ;  but  it  does  not  always  imply  a  misunderstanding 
of  the  passage,  and  is  not  necessarily  objectionable.  In  the  present 
instance,  however,  the  real  meaning  has  generally  been  misunder- 
stood, though  the  context  makes  it  perfectly  clear. 

178.    Give.     The  early  eds.  have  "goe"  or  "  go ;  "  corrected  by 
Theobald. 
.  179.    Than  gilt.     Than  /<?  what  is  gilt,  or  golden.     The  quarto 


Scene  III]  Notes  243 

and  thei  ist  and  2d  folios  have  "then  guilt ;  "  the  later  folios  "in 
gilt."  Hanmer  reads'  "tlian  they  will  give  to  gold;"  but  of. 
Rich.  II.  ii.  I.  294  :  "our  sceptre's  gilt;;  "  Hen.  V.  ii.  chor.  26  : 
"  the  gilt  of  France,"  etc.  0' er-dusted ;  that  is,  if  it  happens  to  be 
covered  with  dust. 

181.  Complete.  Accented  on  the  first  syllable  because  before 
a  noun  so  accented  ;   as  in  iv.  i.  27  below. 

183.  Sooner  catch.  The  folio  has  "begin  to  catch,"  changed  in 
the  later  folios  to  "gin  to  catch." 

189.  Made  emulous  missions,  etc.  Referring  to  the  descent  of 
the  gods  to  fight  on  one  or  the  other  side.  As  Steevens  notes,  S, 
probably  followed  Chapman's  Iliad  here  :  "In  the  5th  book, 
Diomed  wounds  Mars,  who  on  his  return  to  heaven  is  rated  by 
Jupiter  for  having  interfered  in  the  battle." 

194.  One  of  Priam'' s  daughters.  "  Polyxena,  in  the  act  of  marry- 
ing whom  he  was  afterwards  killed  by  Paris"  (Steevens).  Hud- 
son, in  copying  this  note,  inadvertently  puts  it  thus  :  "  Polyxena, 
whom  he  afterwards  married,  and  graced  the  wedding  with  the 
killing  of  Paris." 

197.  Phittis'  gold.  The  folio  has  ^^  Pluto es  gold  ;  "  as  in  J.  C. 
iv.  3.  102  it  has  "  Pluto's  Mine."  The  quarto  reads  "  almost  every 
thing." 

198.  Uncomprehensive.  Incomprehensible,  mysterious  ;  used  by 
S.  only  here.     For  deeps  the  quarto  has  "  depth." 

199.  Keeps  place  with  thought.  Hanmer  reads  "Keeps  pace." 
Clarke  remarks  :  "  S.  not  only  uses  keeps  place  in  another  passage 
\_M.  W.  ii.  I.  63]  where  keep  pace  might  be  substituted,  but  he 
also  employs  the  word  place  where  pace  could  be  supposed  to 
accord  better  with  the  context  [cf.  i.  3.  189  above].  Her.e,  though 
keeps  pace  would  accord  with  the  swiftness  of  thought,  yet  keeps 
place  consists  more  fully  with  the  general  scope  of  the  passage, 
which  treats  of  the  universal  diving  of  provident  vigilance  into  the 
penetralia  and  innermost  places  where  thinking  conception  origi- 
nates and  dwells." 


244  Notes  [Act  III 

200.  Does  thoughts  unveil  in  their  dumb  cradles.  Malone  con- 
jectured "  infant  thoughts,"  which  is  the  meaning  of  course  — 
thoughts  not  yet  sufficiently  developed  for  expression  in  words. 
Cradles  may  be  a  trisyllable,  as  some  make  it.     Cf,  p.  181. 

201.  Whom.  Changed  by  Pope  to  "which."  Cf.  120  above. 
Johnson  paraphrases  the  passage  thus  :  "  There  is  a  secret  admin- 
istration of  affairs  which  no  history  was  ever  able  to  discover." 

204.  Expressure.  S.  does  not  use  expression.  Expressure 
occurs  again  in  T.  N.  ii.  3.  171  :  "  the  expressure  of  his  eye  ;  "  and 
in  M.  W.  V.  5.  71  :   "The  expressure  it  bears." 

205.  Commerce.  Accented  on  the  second  syllable,  as  in  i.  3.  105 
above.  These  are  the  only  instances  in  which  S.  uses  the  word  in 
verse. 

210.  Otir  islajids.  The  quarto  has  "  our  iland,"  and  the  folio 
"  her  Iland." 

211.  Greekish.  The  adjective  occurs  ten  times  in  this  play; 
but  elsewhere  (and  much  oftener)  S.  has  Grecian.  We  find  Greek 
as  an  adjective  in  iv.  5.  130,  as  in  A.  Y.  L.  ii.  5.  61  and  T.  of  S.  ii. 

I.  lOI. 

214.   Lover.     One  who  loves  you.     Cf.  M.  of  V.  iii.  4.  7,  17,  etc. 

224.  And  like  a  dew-drop,  etc.  Godwin  (^Life  of  Chaucer^ 
remarks  :  "  A  more  poetical  passage,  if  poetry  consists  in  sublime, 
picturesque,  and  beautiful  imagery,  neither  ancient  nor  modern 
times  have  produced  than  the  exhortation  addressed  by  Patroclus 
to  Achilles,  to  persuade  him  to  shake  off  his  passion  for  Polyxena, 
the  daughter  of  Priam,  and  resume  the  terrors  of  his  military 
greatness  :  — 

"  '  Sweet,  rouse  yourself;  and  the  weak  wanton  Cupid 
Shall  from  your  neck  unloose  his  amorous  fold, 
And  like  a  dew-drop  from  the  lion's  mane, 
Be  shook  to  air."  " 

228.  Shrewdly  gor''d.  Badly  wounded.  For  shrewdly,  cf.  Hen.  V. 
iii.  7.  52,  163,  etc.;  and  for  gor''d,  Hajn.  v.  2.  261  :  "To  keep  my 
name  ungor'd." 


Scene  III]  Notes  245 

231.  A  blank  of  danger.  Unknown  or  indefinite  danger;  the 
metaphor  being  taken  from  a  blank  commission  to  which  one  sets 
his  seal  before  knowing  how  the  document  is  to  be  filled  out.  For 
this  use  of  blank,  cf.  Rich.  II.  ii.  I.  250.  Schmidt  strangely  takes 
blank  to  be  the  white  mark  in  a  target  (cf.  W.  T.  ii.  3.  5). 

238.  An  appetite,  etc.  This  is  fromCaxton  :  "  The  truce  during, 
Hector  went  on  a  day  unto  the  tents  of  the  Greeks,  and  Achilles 
beheld  him  gladly,  forasmuch  as  he  had  never  seen  him  unarmed. 
And  at  the  request  of  Achilles,  Hector  went  into  his  tent ;  and  as 
they  spake  together  of  many  things,  Achilles  said  to  Hector,  I  have 
great  pleasure  to  see  thee  unarmed,  forasmuch  as  I  have  never 
seen  thee  before." 

239.  Weeds.     Garments,  dress ;   as  often. 

253.  That  hath  no  arithmetic,  etc.  Cf.  the  sneer  at  "  a  tapster's 
arithmetic  "  in  i.  2.  1 19  above. 

254.  Politic  regard.     "  A  sly  look  "  (Johnson) . 

265.  Opinion!  Self-conceit;  as  in  i  Hen.  IV.  iii.  i.  185  and 
Z.  L.  L.  V.  I.  6.  In  i.  3.  353  above  it  is  used  in  a  good  sense 
(=  self-confidence). 

273.  Pageant.  A  theatrical  representation.  See  on  iii.  2.  77 
above. 

305.  Catlings.  Catgut  strings.  C^//m^  is  made  the  name  of  a 
musician  in  R.  and  J.  iv.  5.  132.     On  =  of;  as  often. 

309.  The  more  capable  creature.  That  is,  having  better  capa- 
bilities, or  more  intelligent.  See  on  126  above.  For  capable,  cf. 
Rich.  III.  iii.  i.  155,  etc.  The  word  is  still  used  in  New  England 
in  this  sense.  Within  a  few  hours  I  have  heard  a  man  spoken  of 
as  "  very  smart  and  capable." 


DiOMEDES 


ACT  IV 


Scene  I.  —  8.  Process  of  your  speech.  The  course  of  it,  or  what 
you  said  in  it. 

9.  A  whole  zveek  by  days.  That  is,  day  after  day  for  a  week. 
Some  take  it  to  mean  seven  days,  but  not  all  in  one  week. 

II.  During  all  questio7i,  tXz.  During  all  intercourse  permitted 
by  the  truce.     For  question,  cf.  A.  V.  L.  iii.  4.  39,  etc. 

14.  The  one  and  other.  Cf.  C.  of  E.  iv.  3.  86  : '  "  Both  one  and 
other  he  denies,"  etc.  The  omission  of  the  article  with  one  or  with 
other,  or  both,  is  not  uncommon  in  S. 

20.  Humatie.  The  early  eds.  make  no  distinction  between 
humane  and  htiman.     The  accent  is  regularly  on  the  first  syllable. 

22.  By  Venus^  hajid.  Warburton  saw  here  a  hint  of  "  his  re- 
sentment for  Diomedes'  wounding  his  mother  in  the  hand,"  and 
Clarke  believes  there  is  such  an  allusion  ;  but  this  is  very  im- 
probable. 

27.    Complete.     For  the  accent,  see  on  iii.  3.  181  above. 

246 


Scene  I]  Notes  247 

^^.    Hateful.     Full  of  hate,  malignant ;   as  m  Rich.  IT.  ii.  2.  1 38  : 
"  the  hateful  commons,"  etc.     Some  print  "  noblest-hateful." 

36.  His  purpose  meets  you.  "  I  bring  you  his  meaning  and  his 
orders"  (Johnson). 

40.    Constantly  do  think.     Am  firmly  persuaded. 

44.  Wherefore.  The  folio  has  "  whereof."  Quality  —  character, 
tenor. 

48.   Disposition.     Situation,  circumstances. 
,    56,    Soilure.     Stain,  defilement  ;   used  by  S.  only  here. 

57.    Charge.     Cost,  expense  ;   as  60  shows. 

59.  Palating.  For  the  verb,  cf.  Cor.  iii.  I.  104  and  A,  and  C. 
Vi  2.  7. 

62.  A  flat  tamed  piece.  A  cask  that  has  been  broached,  and  the 
contents  of  which  have  thus  become  flat  to  the  taste.  Y ox  piece,  cf. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  Monsieur  Thomas,  v.  10  :  "  Strike  a  fresh 
piece  of  wine,"  etc. 

.    75.  .Chapmen..    Buyers.     In  L.  L.  L.  ii.  i.  16  (the  only  other 
instance  in  S.)  it  means  sellers. 

78.  We  '//  but  commend  what  we  intend  to  sell.  The  early  eds. 
have  "  not  "  for  but,,  which  is  adopted  by  most  of  the  editors.  The 
Cambridge  editors  conjecture  "without''  for  what  of  the  old  text. 
Johnson  and  Malone  retain  the  original  reading,  alnd  take  the 
meaning  to  be  :  "  though  you  practise  the  buyer's  art,  we  will  not 
practise  the  seller's.  We  intend  to  sell  Helen  dear  [that  is,  if  we 
have  to  part  with  her],  yet  will  not  commend  her."  It  has  been 
objected  to  the  reading  in  the  text  that  it  contradicts  in  silence; 
but  it  does  not,  for  since  they  did  not  intend  to  sell  Helen  they  had 
nothing  to  say  in  praise  of  her  :  We'll  commend  only  what  we 
intend  to  sell,  and  so  we  keep  silence.  Cf.  Sonn.  21.  14  :  "I 
will  not  praise  that  purpose  not  to  sell." 

Scene  II.  — 4.  Kill.  If  this  be  what  S.  wrote,  it  is  a  bit  of  lov- 
ing playfulness.  "  Seal,"  "  lull,"  and  "  still  "  have  been  suggested 
as  emendations. 


248  Notes  [Act  IV 

5.  Attachment.  Arrest,  stop ;  the  only  instance  of  the  word 
in  S.  Cf.  the  verb  attach  (=  arrest)  in  C.  of  E.  iv.  i.  69,  75,  106, 
iv.  2.  43,  iv.  4.  85,  etc. 

9.  Ribald.  "  Base,  rudely  obstreperous,  in  contradistinction  to 
the  lark?"   (Schmidt).     Some  make  it  =  thievish,  or  roguish. 

12.  Venomotis.  Probably  in  a  general  sense  =  malignant,  as 
opposed  to  lovers.  Most  editors  follow  Steevens  in  making 
venomous  wights  =  "  venefici,  those  who  practise  nocturnal  sor- 
cery ;  "   but  this  seems  forced  and  improbable. 

13.  Tediously.     The  folio  has  "  hidiously." 

34.  Capocchia.  "  A  fabricated  feminine  form  of  the  Italian  word 
capocchio,  which  means  a  dolt,  a  simpleton,  a  fool"  (Clarke).  The 
adjective  capocchio  (=1  dull,  stupid)  has  the  regular  feminine  capoc- 
chia. The  noun  capocchia  means  "  the  head  of  a  stick,  pin,  nail,  etc." 
The  spelling  of  the  early  eds.  is  "  chipochia." 

59.  You '//  be  so  trtie,  etc.  In  pretending  that  he  is  not  here 
you  '11  harm  him  rather  than  help  him.  Some  print  "  'ware,"  but 
the  word  is  not  a  contraction  of  aware. 

64.   My  7natter  is  so  rash.     My  business  demands  such  haste. 

69.  We  must  give  up,  etc.  This  part  of  the  story  is  thus  told  by 
Caxton  :  "  Calcas,  that  by  the  commandment  of  Apollo  had  left  the 
Troyans,  had  a  passing  fair  daughter,  and  wise,  named  Briseyda  — 
Chaucer,  in  his  book  that  he  made  of  Troylus,  named  her  Cresida 
—  for  which  daughter  he  prayed  to  King  Agamemnon,  and  to  the 
other  princes,  that  they  would  require  the  King  Priamus  to  send 
Briseyda  unto  him.  They  prayed  enough  to  King  Priamus  at  the 
instance  of  Calcas,  but  the  Troyans  blamed  sore  Calcas,  and  called 
him  evil  and  false  traitor,  and  worthy  to  die,  that  had  left  his  own 
land  and  his  natural  lord  for  to  go  into  the  company  of  his  mortal 
enemies  :  yet,  at  the  petition  and  earnest  desire  of  the  Greeks,  the 
King  Priamus  sent  Briseyda  to  her  father." 

71.    State  of  Troy.     See  on  i.  3.  191  above. 

75.  We  met  by  chance.  That  is,  let  it  be  so  understood.  Cf.  A. 
and  C.  i.  3.  4  :  "  I  did  not  send  you." 


Scene  IV]  Notes  249 

76.  The  secrets  of  nature.  The  folio  reading ;  the  quarto  has 
"the  secrets  of  neighbor  Pandar."  Secrets  may  be  a  trisyllable. 
Dyce  cites  passages  from  Marlowe,  Middleton,  Ben  Jonson,  and 
Kyd  in  which  it  is  so  used.     See  p.    181  above. 

108.  Extremes.  The  quarto  has  "extreames,"  the  folio  "ex- 
tremitie." 

Scene  III.  —  i.  Great  morning.  Broad  day  (Yt.  grand  jour 
ox  grand  matUi).     Cf.  Cymb.  iv.  2.  62. 

3.   Fast  upon.     Cf.  Ham.  i.  2.  179  :  "  it  foUow'd  hard  upon,"  etc. 

Scene  IV. — 4.  Violenteth.  Rageth,  is  violent;  the  only  in- 
stance of  the  verb  in  S.  The  folio  reads  "  And.  no  lesse  in  a  sense," 
etc.  Steevens  quotes  Fuller,  Worthies :  "  His  former  adversaries 
violented  any  thing  against  him."  Latimer  has  "  Maister  Pole 
violentes  the  text,"  etc. 

10.    Such  a  precious  loss.     The  loss  of  what  is  so  precious. 

20.  Friendship.  That  is,  mere  friendship  as  opposed  to  love  ; 
as  speaking  =  mere  words,  as  opposed  to  loving  acts. 

24.  Strained.     The  folio  has  "strange."     Cf.  iv.  5.  169  below. 

25.  Fancy.     Love;   as  often.     Cf.  the  verb  in  v.  2.  166  below. 
33.    Where.     Changed  by  Rowe  to  "  while  ;  "  but  where  is  often 

=  in  which,  in  which  case,  etc. 

36.  Rejoindure.  Being  rejoined,  or  united  again ;  used  by  S. 
only  here.  The  same  is  true  of  embrasures  (=  "  embraces,"  which 
Pope  substitutes)  in  the  next  line. 

42.  Injurious.  Often  used  by  S.  in  a  stronger  sense  than  the 
word  now  has. 

45.  Distinct.  Accented  on  the  first  syllable,  as  in  M.  of  V.  ii. 
9.  61  :  "To  offend  and  judge  are  distinct  offices."  See  on  complete, 
iii.  3.  181  above.  The  accent  of  consigned  is  to  be  explained  in  the 
same  way. 

Consigned  kisses  to  them.  Kisses  allotted  to  them.  Some  make 
consign^ d-=  consigning,  that  is,  sealing,  confirming. 


250.  Notes  [Act  IV 

48.  Distasted,  Made  distasteful,  embittered.  See  on  ii.  2.  123 
above.     Broken  =  interrupted. 

50.  The  Genius.  The  spirit  that  was  supposed  to  direct  the 
actions  of  man.     Qi.  Macb.m..  i.  56:^ 

"  and  under  him 
My  Genius  is  rebuk'd,  as  it  is  said 
Mark  Antony's  was  by  Caesar." 

See  also  A.  and  C.  ii.  3.  19,  and  C.  of  E.  v.  i.  332. 

51.  Cries  ^  come^  etc.  The  editors  naturally  refer  to  Pope,  The 
Dying  Christian  to  his  Soul :  — 

"  Hark  !   they  whisper;  angels  say 
'  Sister  spirit,  come  away'  " 

Pope  repeats  the  thought  in  Eloisa  to  Abelard :  — 

"  '  Come,  sister,  come,'  it  said,  or  seemed  to  say,  ' 

'  Thy  place  is  here,  sad  sister,  come  away.'  " 

53.   Rain,  to  lay  this  wind,  etc.     Malone  quotes  R.  of  L.  1788 :  — 

"  This  windy  tempest,  till  it  blow  up  rain. 
Held  back  his  sorrow's  tide,  to  make  it  more  ; 
At  last  it  rains,  and  busy  winds  give  o'er." 

See  also  Macb.  i.  7.  25. 

56.  The  merry  Greeks.     See  on  i.  2.  1 14  above. 

57.  When  shall  we  see  again?  The  same  question  is  found  in 
Cymb.  i.  i.  124.  See  also  Hen.  VIII.  \.  i.  2  :  "Since  last  we  saw 
in  France." 

58.  Be  thou  but  true  of  heart.  Knight  remarks  :  "The  parting 
of  Troilus  and  Cressida  was  very  beautifully  told  by  Chaucer  ;  but 
as  Shakspere's  conception  of  the  character  of  Cressida  is  altogether 
different  from  that  of  Chaucer,  we  see  little  iii  the  scene  before  us 
to  make  us  believe  that  Cressida  will  keep  her  vows.  In  the  elder 
poet  she  manifests  a  loftiness  of  character  which  ought  to  have  pre- 
served her  faith.     Shakspere  has  made  her  consistent :  — 


Scene  IV]  Notes  25  T 

'  And  o'er  all  this,  I  pray  you,  quod  she  tho.l 
Mine  owne  heartes  sothfast  suffisance  ! 
Sith  I  am  thine  all  whole  withouten  mo, 
That  while  that  I  am  absent,  no  pleasance 
Of  other  do  me  from  your  remembrance, 
For  I  am  e'er  aghast  ;  for  why  ?  men  rede  3 
That  love  is  thing  aye  full  of  busy  drede. 

'  For  in  this  world  there  liveth  lady  none, 
If  that  ye  were  untrue,  as  God  defend  ! 
That  so  betrayed  were  or  woe  begone 
As  I,  that  alle  truth  in  you  intend  : 
And  doubteless,  if  that  I  other  ween'd, 
I  n'ere  but  dead,  and  ere  ye  cause  yfind, 
.  For  Goddes  love,  so  be  me  nought  unkind. 

'  To  this  answered  Troilus,  and  said, 
Now  God,  to  whom  there  is  no  cause  awry, 
.  Me  glad,  as  wis  I  never  to  Cressid, 
Sith  thilke  day  I  saw  her  first  with  eye, 
Was  false,  nor  ever  shall  till  that  I  die  : 
At  short  wordes,  well  ye  may  me  believe, 
I  can  no  more  ;  it  shall  be  found  at  preve,3 

'  Grand  mercy,  good  heart  mine  !  iwis,  (quod  she,) 
And,  blissful  Venus  !  let  me  never  sterve  ^ 
Ere  I  may  stand  of  pleasance  in  degree 
To  quite  him  well  that  so  well  can  deserve  ; 
And  while  that  God  my  wit  will  me  conserve 
I  shall  so  do,  so  true  I  have  you  found, 
That  aye  honour  to  me-ward  shall  rebound : 

'  Fdr  trusteth  well  that  your  estate  roydl, 
Nor  vain  delight,  nor  only  worthiness 
Of  you  in  war  or  tourney  martial, 
Nor  pomp,  array,  nobley,5  or  eke  richess, 
Ne  maden  me  to  rue  on  your  distress, 

1  Then.  2  Say.  8  Proof.  4  Die.  5  Nobility, 


2^2  Notes  [Act  IV 

But  moral  virtue,  grounded  upon  truth  ;  — 
That  was  the  cause  I  first  had  on  you  ruth  : 

'  Eke  gentle  heart,  and  manhood  that  ye  had. 
And  that  ye  had  (as  me  thought)  in  despite 
Every  thing  that  souned  into  i  bad, 
As  rudeness,  and  peoplish  2  appetite, 
And  that  your  reason  bridled  your  delight  ; 
This  made  aboven  every  creature 
That  I  was  yours,  and  shall  while  I  may  dure.' " 

59.  Deem.  Surmise,  thought ;  the  only  instance  of  the  noun 
in  S. 

63.  Throw  my  glove  to  Death  himself.  "I  will  challenge  Death 
himself  in  defence  of  thy  fidelity  "  (Johnson) . 

64.  Maculation.  Stain  of  inconstancy ;  used  by  S.  only  here, 
as  maculate  only  in  Z.  Z.  Z.  i.  2.  97. 

65.  To  fashion  in,  etc.  As  an  introduction  to  the  promise  that 
follows.  Schmidt  defines  fashion  as  "  to  contrive  to  put  in  or 
insert. " 

70.  Wear  this  sleeve.  Hall,  in  his  Chronicle,  refers  to  the  cus- 
tom of  wearing  a  lady's  sleeve  or  glove  as  a  favour  :  "  One  ware 
on  his  head-piece  his  lady's  sleeve,  and  another  bare  on  his  helme 
the  glove  of  his  deareling."  So  Drayton,  Barons'  Wars:  "A 
lady's  sleeve  high-spirited  Hastings  wore,"  etc.  Malone  remarks 
that  the  sleeve  which  Troilus  here  gives  Cressida  may  be  "  an  orna- 
mented cuff,  such  perhaps  as  was  worn  by  some  of  the  young 
nobility  at  a  tilt."  She  afterwards  (v.  2.  66  below)  gives  it  to 
Diomed. 

75-78.    Hear  why  .  .  .  exercise.     The  quarto  reads  :  — 

"  Here  why  I  speake  it  loue, 
The  Grecian  youths  are  full  of  quality, 
And  swelling  ore  with  arts  and  exercise." 

1  Verged  towards.  2  Vulgar. 


Scene  IV]  Notes  253 

The  folio  has  :  — 

"  Heare  why  I  speake  it  ;  Lone  : 
The  Grecian  youths  are  full  of  qualitie, 
Their  louing  well  compos'd,  with  guift  of  nature, 
Flawing  and  swelling  ore  with  Arts  and  exercise  :  " 

It  would  take  too  much  space  to  give  the  readings  of  the  leading 
editors,  which  fill  a  page  in  the  Cambridge  ed.  Knight  and  Ver- 
planck  follow  the  folio  closely  (except  in  punctuation,  and  "  Flow- 
ing" for  "Flawing"  ),  and  the  former  explains  lines  77,  78  thus  : 
"  their  loving  is  well  composed  with  the  gift  of  nature,  which  gift 
(  natural  quality)  is  flowing,  and  swelling  over,  with  arts  and  exer- 
cise."    White  reads  :  — 

"  They  're  loving,  well  compos'd  with  gifts  of  nature, 
Flowing  and  swelling  o'er  with  arts  and  exercise." 

The  reading  in  the  text  is  from  Staunton,  and  is  adopted  by  the 
Cambridge  editors,  who  remark  that  "  the  word  '  Flowing  '  was  in 
all  probability  a  marginal  correction  for  '  swelling,'  which  the  printer 
of  the  folio  by  mistake  added  to  the  line." 

76.  Full  of  quality.  "Highly  accomplished"  (Steevens).  Cf. 
Chapman,  Iliad:  "he  was  well  qualitied." 

79.  Novelty  .  .  .  person.  The  quarto  has  "  novelty  .  .  .  por- 
tion."    Person  =  personal  appearance,  comeliness. 

86.  Lavolt.  The  lavolta,  a  dance  in  which  there  was  much  lofty 
capering.     Cf.  Hen.  V .  iii.  5.  33. 

88.  Pregnant.  Ready;  as  often.  Cf.  Lear,  ii.  I.  78,  iv.  6. 
227,  etc. 

97.  Their  changeful  potency.  Their  inconstant  or  uncertain 
power.  The  expression  is  perfectly  in  keeping  with  the  frailty  of 
our  powers  in  the  preceding  line  ;  but  changes  have  been  made  by 
the  editors.  Presuming  on  =  presuming  too  much  upon,  Cf. 
Rich.  II.  ii.  I.  116:  "Presuming  on  an  ague's  privilege,"  etc. 

103.    Whiles  others  fish,  etc.     "  While  others,  by  their  art,  gain 


254'  Notes  [Act  IV 

high  estimatioin,  I,  by  honesty,  obtain  a  plain,  simple  approbatiu'n  " 
(Johnson). 

107.  Moral.  Meaning.  Cf.  T.  of  S.  iv.  4.  79  :  "to  expound 
the  meaning  or  moral  of  his  signs  and  tokens." 

111.  Port.     Gate.     Cf.  Cor.  i.  7.  i,  v.  6.  6,  etc. 

112.  Possess.     Inform  ;   as  in  M.  of  V.  i.  3.  65  :  — 

"  Is  he  yet  possess'd 
How  much  ye  would  ?  "  etc. 

113.  Entreat  her  fair.  Treat  her  well.  Cf.  Rich.  III.  iv.  4.  151 : 
"entreat  me  fair,"  etc.  See  also  Genesis,  xii.  16,  Jeremiah,  xv. 
II,  etc. 

122.  Zeal.  The  early  eds.  have  "seale"  or  "seal;  "  corrected 
by  Theobald. 

132.  / '//  answer  to  my  lust.  I  '11  do  as  I  please  ;  not,  as  some 
explain  it,  I  '11  answer  you  as  I  please.  Lust  =  pleasure  ;  as  in 
P.  of  L.  1384  :   "Gazing  upon  the  Greeks  with  little  lust." 

133.  On  charge.  At  your  orders;  "on  compulsion,"  as  Falstaff 
put  it  (i  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  263). 

136.  /  7/  tell  thee.  Capell  reads  "  I  tell  thee  ;  "  but  cf.  K.  John, 
V.  6.  39,  Hen.   V.\.  i.  i,  etc. 

137.  Brave.  Bravado,  bullying.  Cf.  T.  of  S.  iii.  i.  15:  "I  will 
not  bear  these  braves  of  thine." 

144.  Let  us  make  ready  straight.  The  folio  gives  this  speech  to 
"  Dio.  y  "  corrected  by  Malone. 

144-148.     The  last  five  lines  of  the  scene  are  not  in  the  quarto. 
146.   Address.     Prepare,  make  ready.     Cf.  v.  10.  14  below. 

Scene  V.  —  i.  Appointment.  Equipment ;  as  in  Ham,  iv.  6.  16 : 
"  a  pirate  of  very  warlike  appointment,"  etc. 

6.  Hale.  Haul,  draw.  Cf.  Much  Ado,  ii.  3.  62,  T.  N.  iii.  2. 
64,  etc.      Trumpet  =  trumpeter.     See  on  i.  3.  256  above. 

8.  Sphered  bias  cheek.  That  is,  rounded  like  a  bowl  on  the 
biassed  or  weighted  side.     Mr.  Verity  notes  the  frequency  of  allu- 


Scene  V]  Notes  255 

sions  in  the  dramatists  to  bowls,  a  game  at  which  churchwardens 
s^eem  to  have  been  peculiarly  proficient.  An  exact  parallel  to  the 
present  line  occurs  in  Webster's  Vittoria  Coroinbona,  i, :  "  That 
nobleman  Corib  !  faith  his  cheek  hath  a  most  excellent  bias ;  it  would 
fain  jump  with  my  mistress.''^  Steevens  thinks  that,  in  the  present 
passage,  *'  the  idea  is  taken  from  the  puffy  cheeks  of  the  winds  as 
represented  in  old  prints  and  maps."  The  bias  of  a  bowl  is  the 
weight  of  lead  inserted  in  one  side  of  it,  causing  the  bowl  to  twist  in 
its  course  towards  that  side.  If  the  bowl  is  held  with  the  bias  on  the 
outer  side,  it  will  run  with  an  outward  curve  ;  if  on  the  inside,  it 
will  "  twist  in."  Bowling-greens  are  still  kept  up  and  in  constant 
use  in  villages  in  Warwickshire  and  other  parts  of  England.  I 
have  often  watched  the  play  of  a  summer  evening  at  Stratford 
and  Warwick.  See  on  iii.  2.  49  above ;  and  cf.  T.  of  S.  iv.  5.  25, 
Rich.  II.  iii.  4.  5,  Ham.  ii.  I.  65,  etc. 

9.  Colic.  For  the  figure,  cf.  I  Hen.  IV.  iii.  i.  29  fol.  Aquilon, 
like  Boreas  (i.  3.  38  above),  is  a  classical  name  for  the  north 
wind. 

13.  Yond.  Yonder  ;  but  not  a  contraction  of  that  word,  as  often 
printed.     The  folio  misprints  "  yong." 

14.  Ken.  Recognize  in  the  distance.  Cf.  2  Hen.  VI.  iii.  2.  loi : 
"  As  far  as  I  could  ken  thy  chalky  cliffs." 

20.  Particular.  Ulysses  plays  upon  particular  (=  personal, 
individual)  d^ndi  general,  as  Cade  does  in  2  Hen.  VI.  iv.  2.  119. 

26.  Argument.  The  play  upon  the  various  senses  of  the  word 
is  obvious. 

2^.  Hardiment.  Hardihood,  boldness.  Cf.  Cymb.  v.  4.  75  and 
I  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  loi.     The  next  line  is  omitted  in  the  folio. 

29.  Thus.  Here  of  course  he  kisses  her  ;  and  to  this  he  refers 
in  32  as  Menelaus'  kiss. 

31.  Horns.  The  old  much-worn  joke  of  the  cuckold's  horns. 
Cf.  i.  I.  117  above. 

37.  /  '//  fmake  my  match  to  live.  I  '11  wager  my  life.  Johnson 
explained  it  thus :  "  I  will  make  such  bargains  as  I  may  live  by, 


256  Notes  [Act  IV 

such  as  may  bring  nie  profit,  therefore  will  not  take  a  worse  kiss 
than  I  give." 

46.  Your  nail.  That  is,  your  finger-nail  as  used  va  filliping  him 
on  the  head. 

57.  Motive.  "  Part  that  contributes  to  motion  "  (Johnson) .  The 
word  sometimes  means  instrument ;  as  in  A.  W.  iv.  4.  20,  Rich.  II. 
i.  I.  I93»  etc. 

58.  Encounterers.  Those  who  meet  the  advances  of  another 
halfway. 

59.  Coasting.  Sidelong,  alluring.  Some  read  "  accosting "  (the 
conjecture  of  Theobald).  It  is  a  close  question  between  the  two. 
The  antecedent  of  it  is  implied  in  encounterers,  and  =  amorous 
advances.     Cf.  the  use  of  encounter  in  M.  W.  iii.  5.  74,  etc. 

60.  Tables.     Tablets,  note-book.     Cf.  Ham.  i.  5.  107,  etc. 

61.  Ticklish.     Prurient.     The  folio  has  "  tickling." 

62.  Sluttish  spoils  of  opportunity.  "  Corrupt  wenches,  of  whose 
chastity  every  opportunity  may  make  a  prey"  (Johnson). 

65.  You  state.  The  quarto  has  "the  state,"  Cf.  i.  3.  191  and 
ii.  3.  262  above. 

Steevens  remarks  that  what  shall  be  done,  etc.,  is  Scriptural 
phraseology,  and  quotes  I  Samuel,  xvii.  26, 

68.    To  the  edge  of  all  extremity.     To  the  uttermost,  a  outrance. 

73.  Securely.  Carelessly,  confidently.  Cf.  secure  in  ii.  2.  15 
above.  The  early  eds.  give  the  speech  to  "  Aga. ;  "  but  the  reply 
shows  that  it  belongs  to  ^neas. 

79.  Valour  and  pride,  etc.  "  Valour  (says  ^Eneas)  is  in  Hector 
greater  than  valour  in  other  men,  and  pride  in  Hector  is  less  than 
pride  in  other  men.  So  that  Hector  is  distinguished  by  the  excel- 
lence of  having  pride  less  than  others'  pride,  and  valour  more  than 
others'  valour"  (Johnson). 

83.  This  Ajax,  etc.  Ajax  and  Hector  were  cousins.  Cf.  120 
below. 

87.  Maiden  battle.  Bloodless  contest,  like  that  of  novices ;  not 
"a  gory  emulation"  (123). 


Scene  V]  Notes  257 

90.    Consent     Agree  ;   as  often. 

92.    A  breath.     An  exercise.     Cf.  ii.  3.  113  above. 

98.  Speaking  in  deeds,  etc.  Letting  his  deeds  speak  for  him, 
not  boasting  of  them  himself. 

103.  Impair.  Unsuitable,  unworthy.  The  folios  have  "im- 
paire "  or  "  impair,"  and  the  quarto  "  impare."  Capell  reads 
" impar,"  and  Dyce  adopts  Johnson's  conjecture  of  "impure,"  a 
word  which  seems  not  at  all  in  place  here.  Impair  probably  rep- 
resents the  Latin  impar.  Steevens  cites  Chapman,  Shield  of 
Homer,  preface :  "  Nor  is  it  more  impaire  to  an  honest  and  abso- 
lute man,"  etc. ;  where,  however,  it  seems  to  be  a  noun.  Johnson 
paraphrases  an  impair  thought  by  "  a  thought  unsuitable  to  the 
dignity  of  his  character."  Some  would  derive  impair  from  the 
Latin  i}?iparatus,  unprepared,  unready  ;  and  others  would  connect 
it  with  the  verb  and  noun  impair,  and  make  it  =  impairing,  injuri- 
ous, or  detractive.  The  Cambridge  editors  remark :  "  Although  we 
have  not  been  able  to  find  any  other  instance  of  impair  as  an 
adjective,  we  have  retained  it ;  for  .  .  .  etymologically  impair 
may  have  the  sense  of  unsuitable,  unequal  to  the  theme.  .  .  .  Int- 
pure,  though  plausible,  is  not  entirely  satisfactory,  as  it  is  Troilus's 
ripeness  of  judgment  and  not  his  modesty  which  is  the  subject  of 
praise." 

105.  Subscribes  To  tender  objects.  Yields  to  occasions  of  tender- 
ness. For  subscribes,  cf.  T.  of  S.\.  \.%i'.  "Sir,  to  your  pleasure 
humbly  I  subscribe,"  etc. 

107.  Vindicative.  Vindictive ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  Vindic- 
tive he  does  not  use  at  all. 

109.   As  fairly  built  as  Hector.     Ellipses  after  as  are  common. 

111.  Even  to  his  inches.  That  is,  minutely,  even  to  the  smallest 
details  of  his  character.  Cf.  ii.  i.  51  above.  With  private  soul  =::■ 
confidentially. 

112.  Translate.     Interpret ;   as  in  Ham.  iv.  i.  2,  etc. 

120.  Thou  art,  great  lord,  my  father'' s  sister'' s  son,  etc.  This 
incident  is  thus  related  byCaxton:  "As  they  were  fighting,  they 

TROILUS — 17 


258  Notes  [Act  IV 

spake  and  talked  together,  and  thereby  Hector  knew  that  he  was 
his  cousin-german,  son  uf  his  aunt :  and  then  Hector,  for  courtesy, 
embraced  him  in  his  arms,  and  made  great  cheer,  and  offered  to 
him  to  do  all  his  pleasure,  if  he  desired  any  thing  of  him,  and 
prayed  him  that  he  would  come  to  Troy  with  him  for  to  see  his 
lineage  of  his  mother's  side  :  but  the  said  Thelamon,  that  intended 
to  nothing  but  to  his  best  advantage,  said  that  he  would  not  go  at 
this  time.  But  he  prayed  Hector,  requesting  that,  if  he  loved  him 
so  much  as  he  said,  that  he  would  for  his  sake,  and  at  his  instance, 
cease  the  battle  for  that  day,  and  that  the  Troyans  should  leave  the 
Greeks  in  peace.  The  unhappy  Hector  accorded  unto  him  his 
request,  and  blew  a  horn,  and  made  all  his  people  to  withdraw 
into  the  city." 

128.  Sinister o  Accented  on  the  second  syllable,  as  elsewhere 
in  S. 

129,  Multipotent.     Almighty  ;    used  by  S.  only  here. 

131.  Impressure.  Impression.  S.  generally  uses  zV;z/r(?^i'/(7«,  but 
impressure  occurs  in  A,  Y.  L.  iii.  5.  23  and  T.  N.  ii.  5.  103.  Cf. 
expressiire  in  iii.  3.  204  above. 

134.  Aly  sacred  aunt.  Steevens  believes  that  this  use  of  sacred 
was  suggested  by  the  Grecism  (for  which  he  cites  Vaillant)  of  giv- 
mg  the  uncle  the  title  of  Qetos  (godlike,  divine).  The  word  is  very 
often  used  by  S.  as  an  epithet  of  royalty. 

139.   Freeo     Generous,  noble.     Cf.  i.  3.  235  above. 

141.  Addition.     Title.     See  on  i.  2.  20  above. 

142.  Mirable.  Admirable  (Latin  mirabilis');  used  by  S.  only 
here,  and  perhaps  of  his  own  coining. 

As  Malone  remarks,  the  reference  here  seems  to  be  to  Achilles, 
and  not  to  his  son  Neoptolemus,  who  had  not  yet  distinguished 
himself.  Johnson  suggests  that,  as  S.  knew  the  son  to  be  called 
Pyrrhus  Neoptolemus,  he  "  considered  Neoptolemus  as  the  nomen 
gentilitium,  and  thought  the  father  was  likewise  Achilles  Neoptole- 
mus," Pyrrhus  cannot  be  meant,  for,  as  Steevens  notes,  he  has 
been  mentioned  in  iii.  3.  209  above  as  "  now  at  home ;  "  but  the 


Scene  V]  Notes  259 

mistake  here  is  probably  the  poet's,  and  not  the  printer's.  Various 
emendations  have  been  adopted. 

143.  Oyes.  Hear  ye  (Fr.  oyez) ;  the  crier's  call  at  the  opening 
of  a  court.  Cf.  M.  W.  v.  5.  45  :  "Crier  Hobgoblin,  make  the  fairy 
oyes." 

148.    Embracement.     Used  by  S.  oftener  than  embrace. 

150.  Seld.  Seldom.  Cf.  P.  P.  175  :  "  seld  or  never  found  ;  "  and 
"seld-shown"  in  Cor.  ii.  I.  229. 

159,  Great  Aga7)iemnon  comes,  etc.  Before  this  speech  the  folio 
has  '^  Enter  Agamemnon  and  the  rest;''''  but  they  are  already  on 
the  stage.  As  White  suggests,  the  front  of  the  stage  vi^as  probably 
occupied  by  the  lists,  and  during  the  combat  "Agamemnon  and 
the  rest  "  remained  in  the  inner  or  second  apartment  of  the  stage, 
which  was  sometimes  shut  off  by  a  curtain.  At  this  point  they 
"come  forward,"  as  Rowe's  stage-direction  requires.  Capell  has 
"  Chiefs  enter  the  lists" 

165-170.    But  .  .  .  integrity.     These  lines  are  not  in  the  quarto. 

169.  Bias-drawing.  Turning  awry,  like  the  bowl  v\ith  its  bias 
or  weight  on  one  side.  Cf.  T.  iV.  v.  i.  267:  "Nature  to  her  bias 
drew  in  that ;  "  K.  John,  ii.  I.  577  :  "  this  vile-drawing  bias,"  etc. 
See  also  on  8  above. 

171.  From,  heart  of  very  heart.  From  my  inmost  heart. 
Steevens  quotes  Ham.  iii.  2.  78  :  "  In  my  heart's  core,  ay,  in  my 
heart  of  heart." 

172.  Imperious.  Often  =  i?nperiaL  Cf.  Ha?n.  v.  i.  236,  A. 
and  C.  iv.  15.  23,  etc. 

176.  Who.  The  reading  of  the  quarto  and  1st  folio,  changed 
in  the  2d  folio  to  "Whom."     See  on  iii.  i.  23  above. 

177.  Mars  his  gauntlet.  Cf.  i  Hen.  VI.  i.  2.  i  :  "Mars  his 
true  moving,"  etc.  See  also  ii.  i.  56  above,  and  255  and  v.  2.  165 
below. 

178.  Untraded.     Unhackneyed  ;   used  by  S.  only  here. 

184.  Labouring  for  destiny.  "The  vicegerent  of  Fate" 
(Malone). 


26o  Notes  [Act  IV 

187.  Subduements.  Conquests  ;  used  by  S.  nowhere  else. 
For  Despising  many  the  folio  has  "  And  seene  thee  scorning." 

188.  Hung  thy  advanced  sword.  Checked  thy  uplifted  sword. 
For  the  use  of  hung,  cf.  2  Hen. IV.  iv.  i.  213  :  — 

"  And  hangs  resolv'd  correction  in  the  arm 
That  was  uprear'd  to  execution." 

and  for  advanced,  see  Cor.  i.  6.  61,  ii.  i.  178,  etc. 

189.  Decline  on  the  declined.  Descend  on  the  fallen.  Cf.  Ham. 
ii.  2.  500  :  — 

"for,  lo  !  his  sword, 
Which  was  declining  on  the  milky  head 
Of  reverend  Priam,  seem'd  i'  the  air  to  stick." 

196.    Thy  grandsire.     Laomedon,  the  father  of  Priam. 

206.   As  they,  etc.     The  line  is  not  in  the  quarto. 

213.    Favour.     Face.     See  on  i.  2.  96  above. 

220.  Buss.  Kiss.  In  K.  John,  iii.  4.  35,  Pope  changed  the 
word  to  "  kiss,"  but  buss  was  not  vulgar  in  the  time  of  S.  On  the 
figure  here,  cf.  R.  of  L.  1370  :  "Threatening  cloud-kissing  Ilion 
with  annoy." 

224.    The  end  crowns  all.    "  Finis  coronat  opus."     Cf.  A.  W.  iv. 

4-  35- 

230.    Thou  !    Changed  by  the  editors  to  "  now,"  "  there,"  and 

"  then  ;  "  but  this  use  of  the  pronoun  is  not  rare  in  S.;   and,  as 

Clarke  remarks,  here  it  has    characteristic  effect  :  "  it  includes  a 

dash  of  insolence,  a  dash  of  off-hand  freedom,  and  a  dash  of  half 

compliment,  as  though  he  had  said,  *  I  shall  forestall  thee,  Lord 

Ulysses,  even  thou  I  '"     Cf.  v.  i.  26,  34  below. 

232.  Exact.  Accented  on  the  first  syllable,  as  in  i  Hen.  IV.  iv. 
I.  46.     For  the  reason,  see  on  complete,  iii.  3.  181  above. 

233.  Quoted.  Noted,  marked.  Cf.  Ham.  ii.  i.  112  and  R.  and 
J.  i.  4.  31. 

242.  Tell  me,  you  heavens,  etc.  Knight  remarks  :  "It  was  a 
fine  stroke  of  art  in  Shakspere  to  borrow  the  Homeric  incident  of 


Scene  V]  Notes  261 

Achilles  surveying  Hector  before  he  slew  him,  not  using  it  in  the 
actual  scene  of  the  conflict,  but  more  characteristically  in  the  place 
which  he  has  given  it.  The  passage  of  Homer  is  thus  rendered 
by  Chapman  : 

'  His  bright  and  sparkling  eyes 
Look'd  through  the  body  of  his  foe,  and  sought  through  all  that  prize 
The  next  way  to  his  thirsted  life.     Of  all  ways,  only  one 
Appear'd  to  him  ;  and  this  was,  where  th'  unequal  winding  bone 
That  joins  the  shoulders  and  the  neck  had  place,  and  where  there  lay 
The  speeding  way  to  death  :  and  there  his  quick  eye  could  display 
The  place  it  sought,  —  even  through  those  arms  his  friend  Patroclus  wore 
When   Hector  slew  him.' " 

250.  Prenominate.  Cf.  Ham.  ii.  i.  43  :  "  the  prenominate 
crimes."     Nice  =  precise,  critical. 

255.  Stithied.  Forged  ;  the  only  instance  of  the  verb  in  S. 
The  noun  stithy  (quarto)  or  stith  (folio)  occurs  in  Ham,  iii.  2.  89. 

260.  Chafe  thee.  Let  yourself  become  chafed,  or  angry.  Cf. 
Hen.  VIII.  i.  i.  123  :  "  What,  are  you  chaf'd  ?" 

264.  Stomach.  Inclination,  appetite  ;  with  perhaps  a  reference 
to  the  other  sense  of  courage.  Ajax  treats  Achilles  with  contempt, 
and  means  to  insinuate  that  he  is  afraid  of  fighting  with  Hector. 

265.  To  be  odd  with  him.  That  is,  to  be  at  odds  with  him, 
contend  with  him. 

267.  Pelting.  Paltry,  petty.  Cf.  M.  N.  D.\\.  \.^\,  Lear,  ii.  3. 
18,  etc. 

272.  Convive  we.  Let  us  feast ;  the  only  instance  of  convive  in 
S.  CojiviviaDie.  does  not  use  at  all.  In  the  full  =  all  together; 
not  ''to  the  full." 

274.  Severally  entreat  him.     Separately  invite  or  entertain  him. 

275.  Tabourines.  Drums.  Cf.  A.  and  C.  iv.  8.  37  :  "  our 
rattling  tabourines."  For  Beat  loud  the  tabourines  the  quarto 
has  "  To  taste  your  bounties." 

278.    Keep.     Dwell,  reside.     Cf.  Ham.  ii.  i.  8,  etc. 


A  Phrygian  (from  AxNtique  Bronze) 

ACT   V 

Scene  I. — 4.  Core.     Ulcer.     Cf.  ii.  i.  6  above. 

5.  Crusty  batch.  A  crusty  loaf,  and  equivalent  to  cobloaf  in  ii. 
I.  y)  above. 

8.  Fragment.  For  the  contemptuous  use,  cf.  Cor.  i.  i.  226  : 
"  Go,  get  you  home,  you  fragments  !  "  Here  there  may  be  a 
reference  to  the  deformed  figure  of  Thersites,  who,  like  Richard, 
was  "  unfinish'd  .  .   .  half  made  up." 

ID,  Tent.  In  the  reply  there  is  a  play  upon  the  sense  of  a 
surgeon's  probe.     Cf.  ii.  2.  16  above. 

13.  Adversity':  Steevens  suggests  that  this  is  =  contrariety,  or 
being  adverse. 

16,17.  Varlet.  Apparently  sometimes  =  harlot.  Farmer  quotes 
Dekker,  Honest  Whore  :  "  't  is  a  male  varlet  sure,  my  lord  ! " 
where  the  person  spoken  of  is  a  harlot  who  is  introduced  in  boy's 
clothes.  In  both  lines  the  quarto  and  the  first  three  folios  have 
"  varlot,"  which  the  4th  folio  changes  to  varlet.  Theobald  has 
"  harlot,"  which  is  adopted  by  many  editors  ;  but  harlot  would  not 
seem  to  require  the  explanation  which  Patroclus  asks,  as  the  less 

262 


Scene  I]  Notes  263 

familiar  varlet  might.     Schmidt  believes  that  varlot  is  "  a  kind  of 
hermaphroditical  form  between  varlet  ^.n.^  harlotP 

21-24.  Rd"^  £y<^s  •  '  '  tetter.  The  folio  omits  this  much  of  the 
catalogue,  substituting  "  and  the  like." 

22.  Imposthume.  Collection  of  purulent  matter.  Cf.  Ham.  iv. 
4.  27  and  V.  and  A.  743. 

Limekilns  ?"'  the  palm.  The  reference  is  to  the  gout,  "  one 
phase  of  which  is  to  have  hard  vi^hite  lumps  in  the  joints  and 
knuckles  of  the  fingers  and  hands  that  are  commonly  known  as 
chalk-stones^ 

23.  Rivelled.     Wrinkled  ;   used  by  S.  only  here. 

25.  Discoveries.  As  Schmidt  notes,  "  there  may  be  a  play  on 
the  sense  of  uncovering."  Lettsom  quotes  Isaiah,  Ivii.  8.  "  De- 
baucheries," "discoverers,"  and  "  discolourers "  have  been  pro- 
posed. 

30.  Indistinguishable.     Apparently  referring  to  his  deformity. 

31.  Exasperate.  For  the  form,  cf.  suffocate  in  i.  3.  125  above. 
Idle  =  useless,  good-for-nothing  ;   as  often. 

32.  Sleave-silk.     Raw  silk.     Cf.  sleave  in  Macb.  ii.  2.  37. 

35.  Waterjlies.  For  the  contemptuous  use,  cf.  Ham.  v.  2.  84  : 
"  Dost  know  this  waterfly  ?  "  Diminutives  =  dwarfs,  or  insignifi- 
cant things.     Cf.  A.  and  C.  iv.  12.  37. 

37.  Finch-egg !  Cf.  L.  L.  L.  v.  i.  78  :  "thou  pigeon-egg  of 
discretion  !  "  and  Macb.  iv.  2.  83  :   "  What,  you  egg  !  " 

42.    Gaging.     Engaging,  binding.     Cf.  I  Hen.  IV,  i.  3.  173. 

53.  Quails.  A  cant  term  for  loose  women.  Clarke  thinks  the 
reference  may  be  only  to  the  practice  of  matching  quails  against 
one  another,  like  cocks  nowadays.     Cf.  A.  and  C.  ii.  3.  37. 

54.  Transformation  of  Jupiter.  Alluding  to  the  story  of  Europa. 
Cf.  M.  ^.  V.  5.  4  :  "  Remember,  Jove,  thou  wast  a  bull  for  thy 
Europa;  love  set  on  thy  horns."  Hudson  remarks  that  "the 
passage  looks  as  if  S.  supposed  that  the  ancient  ascription  of  horns 
to  a  dishonoured  husband  grew  from  the  exploit  of  Jupiter  ;  "  and 
adds  that  "  Europa  was  a  maiden  "  at  the  time.     I  see  no  reason 


264  Notes  [Act  V 

for  assuming  that  S.  had  any  such  notion.  The  transformation 
of  Jupiter  is  merely  a  jocose  periphrasis  for  the  bull,  and  the  bull 
is  the  memorial  of  cuckolds  simply  because  he  has  horns.  Cf. 
Much  Ado,  i.  I.  264,  v.  4.  44,  etc. 

56.  Oblique.  Perhaps  =  indirect,  as  Steevens  explains  it.  This 
is  at  least  not  so  bad  as  Malone's  conjecture  that  it  refers  to  "  the 
bull's  horns  being  crooked  or  oblique.''^  Shoeing-horn  =  a  sub- 
servient tool  ;   with  the  old  joke  on  horn. 

59.  Forced.  "Farced"  (Pope's  reading),  or  stuffed.  See  on 
ii.  3.  224  above. 

62.  Fitcheiu.  Polecat.  Cf.  0th.  iv.  i.  150  ;  the  only  other  in- 
stance of  the  word  in  S.  The  quarto  has  here  "  a  day,  a  Moyle, 
a  Cat,  a  Fichooke." 

63.  Puttock.  A  kite,  or  an  inferior  kind  of  hawk.  Cf.  Cymb. 
i.  I.  140. 

A  herring  without  a  roe,  Cf.  R.  and  J.  ii.  4.  39  :  "  Without  his 
roe,  like  a  dried  herring."     The  expression  was  proverbial. 

67.  Lazar.     Leper.     Cf.  ii.  3.  34  above. 

Hey-day.     "  Hoy-day "  in  the  folio,  as  in  some  other  passages. 

68.  Spirits  and  fires !  "  This  Thersites  speaks  upon  the  first 
sight  of  the  distant  lights"   (Johnson). 

77.  Draught.  Privy.  Cf.  T.  of  A.  v.  I.  105  ;  and  see  also 
2  Kings,  X.  27. 

84.  Tide.  The  fit  time.  It  is  probably  a  metaphor,  not  an 
instance  of  tide=-  time,  as  in  K.  John,  iii.  i.  86,  etc. 

92.  Spend  his  mouth.  Bark  ;  as  in  V.  and  A.  695  :  "  Then  do 
they  spend  their  mouths  ;  "  and  Hen.  V.  ii.  4.  70  :  — 

"  coward  dogs 
Most  spend  their  mouths  when  what  they  seem  to  threaten 
Runs  far  before  them  ;  " 

which  well  illustrates  the  present  passage.  "  If  a  hound  gives  his 
mouth,  and  is  not  upon  the  scent  of  the  game,  he  is  by  sportsmen 
called  a  babbler  or  brabbler.  The  proverb  says,  '  Brabbling  curs 
never  want  sore  ears '  "  (  Variorum  of  1821). 


Scene  II]  Notes  265 

94.  Prodigious.  That  is,  something  so  rare  as  to  be  esteemed 
z.  prodigy  ;  the  only  meaning  of  the  word  in  S. 

96.    Leave  to  see.     Give  up  seeing.     Cf.  iii.  3.  133  above. 

99.     Varlets.     Here  the  quarto  has  "  varlots."     See  on  16  above. 

Scene  II. — 11.  Cliff.  Clef,  or  key.  Cf.  T.  of  S.  iii.  i.  77  : 
"one  clef,  \.^NO  notes,"  etc. 

18.  Sweet  honey  Greek.  Cf.  Hen.  IV.  i.  2.  179  :  "my  good 
sweet  honey  lord,"  etc. 

41.    Flow  to.     Are  hastening  to,  fast  inclining  to. 

48.   Palter.     Shuffle,  equivocate.     See  on  ii.  3.  235  above. 

55.  Luxury.     Lust ;   the  only  meaning  in  S. 

56.  Potato -finger.  The  sweet  potato,  according  to  the  old 
writers,  was  provocative  of  lust.  Cf.  M.  W.  v.  5.  21  (where  it 
has  the  same  meaning),  the  only  other  reference  to  potatoes 
in  S. 

66.    Sleeve.     See  on  iv.  4.  70  above. 

81.  Nay,  do  not  snatch  it  from  me.  The  early  eds.  give  this  to 
^^  Dio.;"  corrected  by  Theobald.  He  conjectured,  however,  that 
As  I  kiss  thee  should  be  Diomed's,  with  the  stage-direction,  "  Dio- 
mede,  kissing  her,  offers  to  snatch  the  sleeve T 

91.  Diana^ s  waiting-women.  "  The  stars,  which  she  points  to  " 
(Warburton).    Cf.  R.  of  L.  785  :  — 

"  Were  Tarquin  Night,  as  he  is  but  Night's  child, 
The  silver-shining  queen  he  would  disdain  ; 
Her  twinkling  handmaids  too,  by  him  defil'd. 
Through  Night's  black  bosom  should  not  peep  again." 

Steevens  quotes  Milton,  Elegy,  i.  77  :  — 

"  caelo  scintillant  astra  sereno 
Endymioneae  turba  ministra  deae." 

102.  Likes  not  yon.  Does  not  please  you.  Cf.  Ham.  v.  2.  276  : 
"  this  likes  me  well,"  etc. 

108.  Ah,  poor  our  sex !  Like  good  -my  lord,  etc.  Mr.  Verity 
remarks  :  "  This,  it  will  be  noticed,  is  the  last  speech  that  Cressidjt 


266  Notes  [Act  V 

makes ;  henceforth  she  passes  out  of  the  play,  and,  but  for  a 
scornful  reference,  is  forgotten.  This  did  not  suit  Dryden's  taste  ; 
a  guilty  heroine  unpunished  in  the  fifth  act  was  an  anomaly  in 
Restoration  tragedy,  and  accordingly  the  denouement  in  his  version 
is  contrived  on  more  orthodox  lines.  Troilus  overcomes  Diomede, 
and  is  on  the  point  of  killing  him,  when  Cressida  enters  and  inter- 
poses. She  pleads  for  Diomede's  life,  protests  innocence,  is  re- 
proached and  repelled  by  Troilus,  and  then  to  clear  herself  of  guilt 
produces  the  inevitable  dagger  :  — 

'  Enough,  my  lord  ;  you've  said  enough. 
The  faithless,  perjured,  hated  Cressida 
Shall  be  no  more  the  subject  of  your  curses. 
Some  few  hours  hence,  and  grief  had  done  your  work ; 
But  then  your  eyes  had  missed  the  satisfaction 
Which  thus  I  give  you  — thus  —  {She  stabs  herself.' 

A  slight  dialogue  follows  ;  the  heroine  blesses  her  lover  *  with  her 
latest  breath,'  and  dies  ;  and  afterwards  '  the  dragnet  of  death,'  to 
employ  a  phrase  of  Mr.  Swinburne's,  gathers  in  its  meshes  most 
of  the  remaining  characters.  Dramatically,  such  a  catastrophe  is 
effective  enough  ;  a  heroine  dying,  after  the  manner  of  Otway's 
Monimia,  with  innocence  and  love  on  her  lips,  can  never  fail  of 
pathos  ;  but,  after  all,  it  is  but  a  stage-artifice,  and  inappropriate 
here,  because  nothing  could  win  our  sympathies  for  Cressida.  Scott 
rightly  censures  Dryden's  perversion  of  Shakespeare's  design 
{^Dry den's    Works,  Vol.  VI.  p.  228)." 

113.  A  proof  of  strength,  etc.  "  She  could  not  publish  a  stronger 
proof"  (Johnson). 

116.  Make  a  recordation  to  my  soul.  Fix  in  my  memory. 
Cf.  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  3.  61  :  "For  recordation  to  my  noble  husband." 

120.  Sith.  See  on  i.  3.  13  above.  Credence  ^=  con'a^^ViC^  ;  as 
xnA.  W.  i.  2.  II,  iii.  3.  2,  the  only  other  instances  of  the  word  in  S. 

121.  Esperance.  Hope.  Cf.  Lear,  iv.  i.  4.  It  was  the  motto 
of  the  Percies.     Cf.  i  Hen.  IV.  ii.  3.  74,  etc. 

122.  The  attest.     The  folio  has  "  that  test." 


Scene  iij  Notes  267 

123.   Deceptious.     Deceiving,   delusive  ;    used  by   S.  only  here. 
125.    I  cannot  conjure.     "That  is,  I  cannot  raise  spirits  in  the 
form  of  Cressida  "  (Johnson). 

131.  Critics.  Carpers  ;  the  only  sense  in  S.  Cf.  L.  L.  L.  iii. 
I.  178  and  Sonn.  112.  10. 

132.  Depravation.  Detraction  ;  the  only  instance  of  the  noun 
in  S.     For  deprave  =  detract,  see  Much  Ado,  v.  I.  95. 

Sqtiare.  Measure  by,  adjust  to.  Cf.  M.  for  M.  v.  i.  487, 
A.  W.  ii.  I.  153,  W.  T.  V.  I.  52,  etc.  See  also  on  unsquared,  i. 
5.  159  above. 

142.  If  there  be  rule  in  unity  itself.  "  If  there  be  certainty  in 
unity,  if  there  be  a  rule  that  one  is  one "  (Johnson)  ;  that  is,  if 
it  be  a  rule  that  one  is  not  two,  that  Cressida  is  not  two  wholly 
different  persons. 

143.  Discourse.     Reasoning.     Cf.  ii.  2.  116  and  ii.  3.  175  above. 

144.  That  cause  sets  up,  etc.  "  In  which  a  man  reasons  for  and 
against  himself  upon  authority  which  he  knows  not  to  be  valid " 
(Johnson). 

145.  Bifold.  The  quarto  has  "  By-fould,"  and  the  foHo  "  By 
foule,"  which  some  editors  prefer. 

Where  reason  can  revolt,  etc.  Where  reason  can  rebel  without 
loss  of  reason,  and  lost  reason  can  assume  to  be  reasonable  without 
rebellion  against  itself.  For  perdition  =  loss,  cf.  /len.  V.  iii.  6. 
103,  etc. 

148.  There  doth  conduce  a  fight.  A  battle  is  joined,  the  oppos- 
ing forces  are  brought  together.  Conduce  seems  to  be  used  in 
its  etymological  sense  ;  but  there  may  be  some  corruption. 

149.  Inseparate.  Inseparable,  indivisible  ;  not  found  elsewhere 
in  S. 

150.  More  wider.     See  on  ii.  2.  ii  above,  and  cf.  v.  6.  20  below. 
152.    Orifex.     "  Orifice,"  which  is  the  reading  of  the  later  folios. 

151.  Ariachne's.  The  folio  has '•  Ariachnes,"  the  quarto  "  Ari- 
achna's"  ("  Ariathna's  "  in  Steevens's  copy  in  the  British  Museum). 
The  allusion  is  to  Arachne,  and  some  editors  "correct"  the  word 


268  Notes  [Act  V 

accordingly,  to  the  injury  of  the  metre.  Others  assume  that  S.  con- 
founded Arachne  and  Ariadne,  and  the  web  of  the  former  with  the 
clue  of  the  latter.  Steevens  shows  that  other  writers  confused  the 
two.  As  Dr.  Ingleby  (^Sk.  Hermeneutics,  p.  65)  remarks  :  "The 
point  is  of  no  moment.  What  is  of  moment  for  us  to  see  is  that 
by  Ariachne  S.  meant  the  spider  into  which  Arachne  was  trans- 
formed, and  which  in  Greek  bears  the  same  name  ;  and  that  the 
woof  he  meant  was  finer  than  was  ever  produced  by  human  hand, 
namely,  the  woof  of  the  spider's  web  —  those  delicate  transverse 
filaments  which  cross  the  main  radial  threads  or  wai'ps,  and  which 
are  perhaps  the  nearest  material  approach  to  mathematical  lines. 
Thus  has  S.  in  one  beautiful  allusion  wrapt  up  in  two  or  three  little 
words  the  w^hole  story  of  Arachne's  metamorphosis,  the  physical 
fact  of  the  fineness  of  the  woof-filaments  of  a  spider's  web,  and  an 
antithesis,  effective  in  the  highest  degree,  to  the  vastness  of  the 
yawning  space  between  earth  and  heaven.  For  what  orifice  could 
be  imagined  more  exquisitely  minute  than  the  needle's  eye  which 
would  not  admit  the  spider's  web  to  thread  it  !  " 

154.    Instance.     Proof.     Cf.  Muck  Ado,  ii.  2.  42,  etc. 

158.  Five-finger-tied.  "Tied  by  giving  her  hand  to  Diomed " 
(Johnson). 

159.  The  fractions  of  her  faith.  The  remnants  of  her  broken 
faith. 

161.  e'er-eaten.  "  Eaten  and  begnawn  on  all  sides  "  (Schmidt). 
Malone  thinks  it  is  =  which  she  has  thrown  up,  like  one  who  has 
overeaten  ;   and  he  compares  2  Hen.  IV.  i.  3.  87  fol. 

162.  May  worthy  Troilus,  etc.  "  Can  Troilus  really  feel,  on  this 
occasion,  half  of  what  he  utters  ?  A  question  suitable  to  the  calm 
Ulysses "  (Johnson).  For  attached  with  =  affected  by,  cf.  Temp. 
iii.  3.  5  :  "  attach'd  with  weariness,"  etc. 

165.  Mars  his  heart.     See  on  ii.  I.  56  above. 

166.  Fancy.     Love.     Cf.  the  noun  in  iv.  4.  25  above. 

173.  Hurricano.  Water-spout.  See  Lear^  iii.  2.  2,  the  only 
other  instance  of  the  word  in  S. 


Scene  II]  NoteS  269 

174.  Sun.  The  folio  has  "  Fenne,"  and  Rowe  "finger."  Con- 
string' d  (=  contracted)  is  used  by  S.  only  here. 

176.    His.    Its  ;   as  often.    Cf.  i.  3.  210,  354,  ii.  2.  54,  etc.,  above. 

178.  HeHl  tickle  it,  etc.  The  meaning  may  be,  he'll  tickle  him 
(Diomed)  for  his  concupiscence  :  tickle  being  used  ironically,  as 
in  T.  TV.  V.  I.  198  and  i  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  189  ;  while  it  is  used  con- 
temptuously for  kim  (the  following  his  being  =  its'),  as  it  is  play- 
fully for  her  in  iv.  2.  35  above.  Schmidt  takes  tickle  it  to  be  used 
like  lord  it,  foot  it,  etc.  We  find  it  so  used  in  Two  Noble  Kins- 
men, ii.  3.  27  :  "I '11  tickle  't  out  Of  the  jades'  tails  to-morrow  !  " 
Concupy  is  used  by  S.  only  here  ;  concupiscence  not  at  all.  Con- 
cupiscible  (=  lustful)  occurs  in  M.  for  M.  v.  I.  98. 

188.  Wear  a  castle  on  thy  head.  That  is,  defend  it  with  more 
than  common  armour  (Steevens).  It  is  said  that  a  certain  kind  of 
helmet  was  called  a  castle,  but  here  the  word  is  plainly  a  metaphor. 

194.  The  parrot,  etc.  A  proverbial  expression.  Verity  quotes 
Skelton,  Speke,  Parrot,  stanza  i :  — 

"  And  sen  me  to  greate  ladyes  of  estate  ; 
Then  Parrot  must  have  an  almon  or  a  date." 

So  later  in  same  poem  :  — 

"  An  Almon  now  for  Parrot  delycatly  drest." 

Scene  III.  — 4,  Train.  Draw,  tempt  ;  as  in  C.  of  E.  ill.  2.  45, 
K.John,  iii.  4.  175,  etc. 

6.  Aly  dreams,  ttc.  Knight  remarks  :  "  Chaucer  has  mentioned 
the  presaging  dreams  of  Andromache  in  the  Canterbury  Tales. 
We  find  the  same  relation  in  The  Destruction  of  Troy :  — 

" '  Andromeda  saw  that  night  a  marvellous  vision,  and  her  seemed 
if  Hector  went  that  day  to  the  battle  he  should  be  slain.  And  she^ 
that  had  great  fear  and  dread  of  her  husband,  weeping,  said  to 
him,  praying  that  he  would  not  go  to  the  battle  that  day  :  whereof 
Hector  blamed  his  wife,  saying  that  she  should  not  believe  nor 
give  faith   to  dreams,  and  would   not   abide  nor    tarry  therefore. 


I'jo  Notes  [Act  V 

When  it  was  in  the  morning,  Andromeda  went  to  the  King  Pria- 
mus  and  to  the  queen,  and  told  to  them  the  verity  of  her  vision  ; 
and  prayed  them  with  all  her  heart  that  they  would  do  so  much  at 
her  request  as  to  dissuade  Hector,  that  he  should  not  in  any  wise 
that  day  go  the  battle,  etc.  It  happened  that  day  was  fair  and 
clear,  and  the  Troyans  armed  them,  and  Troylus  issued  first  into 
the  battle  ;  after  him  ^Eneas.  .  .  .  And  the  King  Priamus  sent  to 
Hector  that  he  should  keep  him  well  that  day  from  going  to  battle. 
Wherefore  Hector  was  angry,  and  said  to  his  wife  many  reproach- 
ful words,  as  that  he  knew  well  that  his  commandment  came  by 
her  request  ;  yet,  notwithstanding  the  forbidding,  he  armed  him. 
...  At  this  instant  came  the  Queen  Hecuba,  and  the  Queen 
Helen,  and  the  sisters  of  Hector,  and  they  humbled  themselves  and 
kneeled  down  presently  before  his  feet,  and  prayed  and  desired 
him  with  weeping  tears  that  he  would  do  off  his  harness,  and  un- 
arm him,  and  come  with  them  into  the  hall  :  but  never  would  he 
do  it  for  their  prayers,  but  descended  from  the  palace  thus  armed 
as  he  was,  and  took  his  horse,  and  would  have  gone  to  battle.  But 
at  the  request  of  Andromeda  the  King  Priamus  came  running  anon, 
and  took  him  by  the  bridle,  and  said  to  him  so  many  things  of  one 
and  other,  that  he  made  him  to  return,  but  in  no  wise  he  would  be 
made  to  unarm  him.'  " 

9.  Dear.  Earnest.  Cf.  iv.  4.  37  above.  Consort  —  join  ;  as  in 
M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  387,  R.  and  J.  iii.  i.  48,  etc. 

16.   Peevish.     Foolish  ;   as  often. 

20,  To  hurt  by  being  just.  To  do  injury  by  being  true  to  your 
word.     Cf.  K.John,  iii.  i.  272  :  — 

"  where  doing  tends  to  ill 
The  truth  is  then  most  done,  not  doing  it." 

In  the  folio  (lines  20-22  are  not  in  the  quarto)  the  passage  reads 
thus  :  — 

"  And  O  be  perswaded,  doe  not  count  it  holy. 
To  hurt  by  being  iust  ;  it  is  as  lawfull  : 


Scene  III]  Notes  0.yi 

For  we  would  count  giue  much  to  as  violent  thetts, 
And  rob  in  the  behalfe  of  charitie." 

This   is  obviously  corrupt,  and    many  have  been   the  attempts  a 
emendation.     Tyrw^hitt  suggested  :  — 

"  it  is  as  lawful, 
For  we  would  give  much,  to  use  violent  thefts,"  etc. ; 

and  this  reading  is  adopted  by  the  Cambridge  editors  and  others. 
It  assumes  that  coun^  was  accidentally  repeated  and  that  "  as  "  is  a 
misprint  for  use  —  both  easy  errors.  The  expression  use  thefts  has 
been  objected  to,  but  Dyce  cites  Middleton,  Women  beivare 
IVomen:  "Is  it  enough  to  use  adulterous  thefts,"  etc.  Hudson 
criticises  the  measure  of  the  hne,  but  violent  is  often  a  dissyllable 
in  S.  Cf.  A.  W.  iii.  2.  112  :  "That  ride  upon  the  violent  speed  of 
fire  ;  "  Mach.  iv.  2.  21  :  "  But  float  upon  a  wild  and  violent  sea," 
etc.  For  is  of  course  =  because.  It  is  a  rather  close  question  be- 
tween this  reading  and  the  one  in  the  text,  which  is  due  to  Ver- 
planck.i  The  latter,  however,  has  the  merit  of  making  no  verbal 
change  except  of  as  to  so,  and  no  other  change  but  the  transposition 
of  count,  which  is  evidently  out  of  place  in  the  original.  The  mean- 
ing, as  Verplanck  states  it,  is  :  "  Do  not  count  it  holy  to  inflict  in- 
jury in  the  pursuit  of  right ;  we  might  as  well  so  count  (that  is 
count  holy)  violent  thefts,  committed  to  enable  us  to  give  liberally." 
For  we  would  we  might  print  "  we  'd,"  but  the  former,  like  many 
similar  combinations,  not  unfrequently  occurs  where  it  is  metrically 
equivalent  to  the  other.  Other  readings  are  :  "  For  us  to  count 
we  give  what 's  gain'd  by  thefts  ;  "  "For  we  would  give  much,  to 
count  violent  thefts  ;  "  "  (For  we  would  give  much)  to  commit 
violent  thefts  ;  "  "  For  we  would  give  as  much  to  violent  thefts  ;  " 

1  The  note  in  Verplanck  is  liable  to  be  misunderstood  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  quotation  from  Knight  is  not  marked  as  a  quotation.  As 
it  stands,  Verplanck  appears  to  give  and  defend  two  different  readings, 
but  a  comparison  with  Knight  will  show  that  one  of  these  belongs  to 
that  editor. 


27 2  Notes  [Act  V 

and  "  For  we  'd  give  much,  to  count  as  virtues  thefts/'  which  is 
both  awkward  and  harsh. 

26.  Keeps  the  weather  of.  "  Keeps  the  weather-gage  of ;  "  a 
nautical  phrase  =  have  the  advantage  of. 

27,  Brave  man.  The  early  eds.  have  "  deere  "  or  "  dear,"  which 
is  explained  by  Johnson  and  Schmidt  as  =  valuable,  worthy,  or 
estimable  ;  and  by  others  as  =  zealous,  earnest.  Brave  is  the 
emendation  of  Pope  ;   perhaps  not  absolutely  necessary. 

38.  A  lion.  "  The  traditions  and  stories  of  the  darker  ages 
abounded  with  examples  of  the  lion's  generosity"  (Johnson). 
Cf.  A.    V.  L.  iv.   3.   118. 

40.  Grecian  falls.  The  majority  of  the  editors  follow  Rowe  in 
reading  "  Grecians  fall ;  "  but  the  old  text  may  be  what  S.  wrote, 
the  antecedent  of  them  being  implied  in  niany  times.  Captive  must 
here  be  =  conquered  ;  as  in  R.  of  L.  730,  Sonn.  66.  12,  etc.  Cf. 
the  noun  in  R.  of  L.  75,  L.  L.  L.  iv.  i.  76,  etc. 

41.  The  fan  and  wind,  etc.  Cf.  Ham.  ii.  2.  495:  "But  with 
the  whiff  and  wind  of  his  fell  sword,"  etc.  Verity  quotes  Marlowe, 
Dido,  ii.  I  :  — 

"  Which  he  disdaining,  whisk'd  his  sword  about, 
And  with  the  wind  thereof  the  King  fell  down." 

48.  Ruthful.  Piteous  ;  as  elsewhere  in  S.  Cf.  Rich  III.  iv.  3.  5  : 
"  ruthful  butchery,"  etc. 

55.  Eyes  d'ergalled.  That  is,  inflamed  with  weeping.  Cf.  Rich. 
III.  iv.  4.  53  :  "galled  eyes  of  weeping  souls  ;  "  and  Ham.'\.  2. 
155  :  "her  galled  eyes."  Recourse  of  tears  =  \.^zx%  that  course 
(follow)  one  another  down  the  face. 

73.  Shame  respect.  "  Disgrace  the  respect  I  owe  you,  by  acting 
in  opposition  to  your  commands"  (Steevens). 

84.  Shrills.  The  only  instance  of  the  verb  in  S.  Cf.  Spenser, 
Epithalamium  :  — 

"  Harke  !  how  the  Minstrils  gin  to  shrill  aloud 
Their  merry  Musick  ;  " 


Scene  IV]  Notes  273 

and  F.  O.  vi.  8.  46  :  "  Then  gan  the  bagpypes  and  the  homes  to 
shrill."  Steevens  quotes  Heywood,  Silver  Age :  "  I  have  shrill'd 
thy  daughter's  loss,"  etc. 

85.  Distraction.  The  quarto  has  "destruction."  See  on  v. 
2.  41  above. 

86.  Antics.  Buffoons.  Cf.  Hen.  V.  iii.  2.  32  :  "  three  such 
antics,"  etc. 

91.  Exclai?n.  For  the  noun  (elsewhere  only  in  the  plural),  cf. 
Rich.  II.  i.  2.  2,  Rick.  III.  i.  2.  52,  iv.  4.  135,  etc. 

loi.  Tisick.  Phthisic;  used  by  S.  only  here,  and  as  a  name  in 
2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  4.  92  :  "  Master  Tisick." 

104.  Rheu77i.  Watering.  It  is  often  =  tears ;  as  in  Much 
Ado,  V.  2.  85,  K.  John,\\\.  I.  22,  iv.   I.  33,  iv.  3.  108,  etc. 

106.  Cursed.  That  is,  under  the  influence  of  a  curse  or  male- 
diction (Steevens), 

111.  Words  and  errors.     "  Misleading  words  "  (Herford). 

112.  But  edifies,  etc.  After  this  line  the  folio  has  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

"  Pand.   Why,  but  heare  you  ? 

Troy.    Hence  brother  lackie  ;  ignomie  and  shame 
Pursue  thy  life,  and  liue  aye  with  thy  name." 

These  lines  are  not  in  the  quarto,  and  as  they  occur  with  a  slight 
variation  in  v.  10.  32-34  below,  I  follow  the  majority  of  the  editors 
in  omitting  them  here.  It  might  be  better,  however,  as  Walker 
suggests,  to  omit  them  there,  and  insert  them  here. 

Scene  IV. —  i.  Clapper-clazving.  Used  again  in  J/.  ^.  ii.  3.  67. 
It  occurs  also  in  the  old  preface  to  the  present  play.  See  p.  9 
above. 

8.  Luxurious.  Lustful ;  the  only  sense  in  S.  Cf.  the  noun  in 
V.  2.  55  above.  Sleeveless  (the  only  instance  of  the  word  in  S.) 
=  bootless ;  but  it  is  not  clear  how  the  word  got  that  meaning. 
Nash,  in  Lenten  Stuff,  has  "  a  sleeveless  answer." 

10,  Swearing.  Changed  by  Theobald  to  "  sneering ;  "  but,  as 
TROILUS  — 18 


274  Notes  [Act  V 

Clarke  remarks,  crafty  sivearing  may  be  =  "  craftily  swearing, 
pledging  themselves  to  any  thing  for  their  own  crafty  purposes." 

.16.  Proclaim  barbarism.  "  To  set  up  the  authority  of  ignorance, 
to  declare  that  they  will  be  governed  by  policy  no  longer  "  (Johnson). 

20.   Retire.     For  the  noun,  cf.  v.  3.  53  above. 

27.  Of  blood  and  honour.  x\ccording  to  the  rules  of  chivalry,  a 
person  of  superior  birth  might  not  be  challenged  by  an  inferior,  or, 
if  challenged,  might  refuse  the  combat  (Reed). 

31.  God-a-mercy.  The  expression  was  sometimes  =  God  have 
mercy  (as  in  T.  of  S.  iv.  3.  154,  i  Hen.  IV.  iii.  3.  58,  etc.)  ;  but 
sometimes,  as  here,  used  like  Gramercy  (=  great  thanks),  for 
which  see  Z".  ^5.  i.  i.  41,  168,  etc. 

Scene  V.  —  i.  Go,  go,  jny  servant,  etc.  This  circumstance  is 
also  copied  from  Caxton  :  "  And  of  the  party  of  the  Troyans  came 
the  King  Ademon  that  jousted  against  Menelaus,  and  smote  him, 
and  hurt  him  in  the  face  :  and  he  and  Troylus  took  him,  and  had 
led  him  away,  if  Diomedes  had  not  come  the  sooner  with  a  great 
company  of  knights,  and  fought  with  Troylus  at  his  coming,  and 
smote  him  down,  and  took  his  horse,  and  sent  it  to  Briseyda,  and 
did  cause  to  say  to  her  by  his  servant  that  it  was  Troylus's  horse, 
her  love,  and  that  he  had  conquered  him  by  his  promise,  and 
prayed  her  from  thenceforth  that  she  would  hold  him  for  her  love." 

7.  Margarelon.  Pronounced  Mar-gar' -e-lon  (properly  Mar- 
gar' -i-ton^.  This  bastard  son  of  Priam  is  mentioned  by  both 
Lydgate  and  Caxton. 

9.  Colossus-wise.  "Like  a  Colossus"  {/.  C.  i.  2.  136).  His 
beam  =  his  mighty  lance.     Cf.  i  Samuel,  xvii.  7. 

10.  Pashed.     Stricken  down,  crushed.     Cf.  ii.  3.  205  above. 

14.  Sagittary.  A  monster  described  by  Caxton  as  "a  mer- 
vayllouse  beste  that  was  called  sagittayre,  that  behynde  the 
myddes  was  an  horse,  and  to  fore,  a  man  :  this  beste  was  heery 
like  an  horse,  and  had  his  eyen  rede  as  a  cole,  and  shotte  well 
with  a  bowe  :  this  beste  made  the  Grekes  sore  aferde,  and  slewe 


Scene  V]  Notes  275 

many  of  them  with  his  bowe  "  (quoted  by  Theobald).  Lydgate 
also  describes  the  Sagittary  thus  (as  quoted  by  Knight)  :  — 

"  And  with  him  Guido  saith  that  he  had 
A  wonder  archer  of  sight  mervaylous, 
Of  form  and  shape  in  manner  monstrous: 
For  like  mine  auctour  as  I  rehearse  can, 
Fro  the  navel  upward  he  was  man, 
And  lower  down  like  a  horse  yshaped : 
And  thilke  part  that  after  man  was  marked 
Of  skin  was  black  and  rough  as  any  bear, 
Cover'd  with  hair  fro  cold  him  for  to  wear. 
Passing  foul  and  horrible  of  sight, 
Whose  eyes  twain  were  sparkling  as  bright 
As  is  a  furnace  with  his  red  leven. 
Or  the  lightning  that  falleth  from  the  heaven ; 
Dreadful  of  look,  and  red  as  fire  of  cheer, 
And,  as  I  read,  he  was  a  good  archer ; 
And  with  his  bow  both  at  even  and  morrow 
Upon  Greeks  he  wrought  much  sorrow." 

Sagittary  occurs  also  (as  the  name  of  an  inn  or  house)  in  0th. 
i.  I.  159  and  1.3.  115. 

20.  Galathe.  The  name  given  to  Hector's  horse  by  both 
Caxton  and  Lydgate.  Hudson  inadvertently  calls  this  "  another 
instance  of  the  old  genitive  form,"  and  compares  "  Mars  his  gaunt- 
let" in  iv.  5.  177  above, 

22.  Scaled  sculls.  Scaly  shoals  of  fish.  Pope  reads  "  shoals  " 
for  sculls,  which,  like  school  (as  applied  to  fishes),  is  etymologically 
the  same  word.     Steevens  quotes  Milton,  P.  L.  vii.  399  :  — 

"  Forthwith  the  sounds  and  seas,  each  creek  and  bay, 
With  fry  innumerable  swarms,  and  shoals 
Of  fish,  that  with  their  fins  and  shining  scales 
Glide  under  the  green  wave,  in  sculls  that  oft 
Bank  the  mid  sea ;  " 

and  Drayton,  Polyolbion,  song  26  :  "  My  silver-scaled  sculls  about 
my  streams  do  sweep." 


276  Notes  [Act  V 

24.    Strawy.     The  folio  has  "  straying." 

29.    Pj'oof.     What  is  proved,  or  the  fact. 

35.  Crying  on.  Crying  out.  Cf.  0th,  v.  I.  48:  "cries  on 
murther,"  etc.  It  may,  however,  be  =  exclaiming  against,  as 
some  make  it. 

44.  We  draw  together.  As  Steevens  remarks,  this  seems  to 
refer  to  the  return  of  Ajax  and  Achilles  to  the  field  after  having 
withdrawn  from  active  participation  in  the  war.  Verity  thinks  it 
possible  that  the  metaphor  suggested  is  "that  of  a  pack  of  hounds 
drawing  a  covert ;  Ajax,  Diomede,  and  Nestor  all  trying  to  track 
down  Troilus." 

45.  Boy-queller.  Boy-killer.  Cf.  man-queller  and  woman- 
queller  in  2  Hen.  IV.  ii.  i.  58.  Cf.  also  quell  (  =  murder)  in 
Macb.  i.  7.  72. 

Scene  VI.  —  7.    For  my  horse  !    Cf.  v.  5.  i  above. 

10.  Look  upon.    Be  a  mere  looker-on.     a.T^Hen.  F/.  ii.  3.  27:  — 

"  And  look  upon,  as  if  the  tragedy 
Were  play'd  in  jest  by  counterfeiting  actors." 

11.  Cogging.  Cheating.  Cf.  Much  Ado,  v.  i.  95,  0th.  iv.  2. 
132,  etc. 

17.  Befriends.  The  reading  of  quarto  and  1st  folio,  changed  in 
the  2d  folio  to  "  befriend." 

20.  Much  more  a  fresher  man.  A  much  more  fresher.  Such 
transposition  of  the  article  is  not  uncommon.  For  the  double 
comparative,  cf.  ii.  2.  ii   above. 

24.  Carry.  Bear  off  as  a  prize,  conquer.  Cf.  A.  W.  iii.  7.  19  : 
"  Resolv'd  to  carry  her,"  etc. 

26.   /  end.     The  folio  has  "  thou  end." 

29.  Frush.  Bruise,  batter  {Yx.  froisser')  ;  the  only  instance  of 
the  word  in  S.  Steevens  quotes  Holinshed  :  "sore  frusht  with 
sickness  ;  "  Fairfax,  Tasso :  "  Rinaldo's  armour  frush'd  and  hack'd 
they  had,"  etc.     Caxton  has  "  to-frushed." 


Scene  VIII]  Notes  277 

Scene  VII.  —  6.  Execute  your  arms.  If  this  be  what  S.  wrote, 
it  must  be  =  ply  your  arms,  make  use  of  them.  Most  editors 
follow  Capell  in  reading  "aims"  for  arms;  but  the  Myrmidons 
were  executing  the  ai7ns  of  Achilles,  not  their  own.  The  state- 
ment made  by  Collier  (repeated  by  White  and  others),  that  the 
Duke  of  Devonshire's  copy  of  the  quarto  has  "  aimes,"  is  incorrect ; 
the  letter  mistaken  for  i  being  "an  imperfect  r"  (Cambridge  ed.). 
Capell's  copy  and  the  two  copies  in  the  British  Museum  have 
"  armes." 

II.  Double-henned sparrow.  "  Perhaps  =  sparrow  with  a  double- 
hen,  that  is,  with  a  female  married  to  two  cocks,  and  hence  false 
to  both"  (Schmidt). 

Scene  VIII.  —  2.  Thy  goodly  armour.  As  Clarke  remarks, 
this  links  the  present  scene  to  scene  6,  where  "  one  in  sumptuous 
armour  "  appears  and  is  challenged  by  Hector. 

4.  Rest,  sword,  etc.  Cf.  Caxton  :  "  When  Achilles  saw  that 
Hector  slew  thus  the  nobles  of  Greece,  and  so  many  other  that  it 
was  marvel  to  behold,  he  thought  that,  if  Hector  were  not  slain, 
the  Greeks  would  never  have  victory.  And  forasmuch  as  he  had 
slain  many  kings  and  princes,  he  ran  upon  him  marvellously,  .  .  . 
but  Hector  cast  to  him  a  dart  fiercely,  and  made  him  a  wound  in 
his  thigh  :  and  then  Achilles  issued  out  of  the  battle,  and  did  bind 
up  his  wound,  and  took  a  great  spear  in  purpose  to  slay  Hector,  if 
he  might  meet  him.  Among  all  these  things  Hector  had  taken  a 
very  noble  baron  of  Greece,  that  was  quaintly  and  richly  armed, 
and,  for  to  lead  him  out  of  the  host  at  his  ease,  had  cast  his  shield 
behind  him  at  his  back,  and  had  left  his  breast  discovered  :  and  as 
he  was  in  this  point,  and  took  none  heed  of  Achilles,  he  came 
privily  unto  him,  and  thrust  his  spear  within  his  body,  and  Hector 
fell  down  dead  to  the  ground." 

From  the  same  authority  S.  took  the  incident  of  Achilles  employ- 
ing his  Myrmidons  for  the  destruction  of  a  Trojan  chief;  but  the 
chief  is  Troilus,  not  Hector  :  "After  these  things  the  nineteenth 


278  Notes  [Act  V 

battle  began  with  great  slaughter  ;  and  afore  that  Achilles  entered 
into  the  battle  he  assembled  his  Myrmidons,  and  prayed  them  that 
they  would  intend  to  none  other  thing  but  to  enclose  Troylus,  and 
to  hold  him  without  flying  till  he  came,  and  that  he  would  not  be 
far  from  them.  And  they  promised  him  that  they  so  would.  And 
he  thronged  into  the  battle.  And  on  the  other  side  came  Troylus, 
that  began  to  flee  and  beat  down  all  them  that  he  caught,  and  did 
so  much,  that  about  mid-day  he  put  the  Greeks  to  flight  ;  then  the 
Myrmidons  (that  were  two  thousand  fighting  men,  and  had  not 
forgot  the  commandment  of  their  lord)  thrust  in  among  the 
Troyans,  and  recovered  the  field.  And  as  they  held  them  together, 
and  sought  no  man  but  Troylus,  they  found  him  that  he  fought 
strongly,  and  was  enclosed  on  all  parts,  but  he  slew  and  wounded 
many.  And  as  he  was  all  alone  among  them,  and  had  no  man  to 
succour  him,  they  slew  his  horse,  and  hurt  him  in  many  places,  and 
plucked  off  his  head  helm,  and  his  coif  of  iron,  and  he  defended 
him  in  the  best  manner  he  could.  Then  came  on  Achilles,  when 
he  saw  Troylus  all  naked,  and  ran  upon  him  in  a  rage,  and  smote 
off  his  head,  and  cast  it  under  the  feet  of  his  horse,  and  took  the 
body  and  bound  it  to  the  tail  of  his  horse,  and  so  drew  it  after  him 
throughout  the  host." 

7.  Vail.  Descent,  not  veiling.  It  is  the  only  instance  of  the 
noun  in  S.,  but  the  verb  occurs  several  times.  Cf.  AT.  ofV.  i.  i.  28, 
Ham.  i.  2.  70,  etc.  For  darking  (cf.  Per.  iv.  prol.  35)  the  quarto 
has  "  darkning." 

15.   Retire.     The  folio  has  "  retreat."     Cf.  v.  4.  20  above. 

17.  Dragon  wing  of  night.  Cf.  M.  N.  D.  iii.  2.  379  :  "For 
night's  swift  dragons  cut  the  clouds  full  fast  ;  "  and  Cymb.  ii.  2.  48  : 
"  Swift,  swift,  you  dragons  of  the  night,"  etc. 

18.  Stickler-like.  Like  the  stickler,  or  umpire  in  a  knightly 
combat ;  used  by  S.  only  here.  Cf.  Jonson,  Cynthia's  Revels,  iv.  2  : 
"  So  he  may  have  fair  play  shown  himi  and  the  liberty  to  choose  his 
stickler." 

19.  Half-supfd.     That  has  but  half  supped. 


Scene  X]  Notes  279 

20.  Bait.  The  ist  folio  has  "  bed,"  changed  in  the  2d  to  "bitt." 
Steevens  says  of  19-22  :  "These  four  despicable  verses,  as  well  as 
the  rhyming  fit  with  which  'the  blockish  Ajax'  is  afterwards  seized, 
could  scarce  have  fallen  from  the  pen  of  our  author,  in  his  most 
unlucky  moments  of  composition."  Clarke  calls  the  closing  couplet 
"  flabby  bombast.  " 

22.  Along  the  field  I  will  the  Trojan  trail.  Knight  believes 
that  S.  here  follows  Chapman  {Iliad,  xxii.)  :  — 

"  This  said,  a  work  not  worthy  him  he  set  to  ;  of  both  feet 
He  bor'd  the  nerves  through  from  the  heel  to  th'  ankle,  and  then  knit 
Both  to  his  chariot  with  a  thong  of  white  leather,  his  head 
Trailing  the  centre.     Up  he  got  to  chariot,  where  he  laid 
The  arms  repurchas'd,  and  scourg'd  on  his  horse  that  freely  flew  ; 
A  whirlwind  made  of  startled  dust  drave  with  them  as  they  drew. 
With  which  were  all  his  black-brown  curls  knotted  in  heaps  and  fill'd. 
And  there  lay  Troy's  late  gracious,  by  Jupiter  exil'd. 
To  all  disgrace  in  his  own  land,  and  by  his  parents  seen." 

But  this  portion  of  Chapman's  translation  was  not  published  when 
the  play  was  written.  As  the  poet  was  not  likely  to  be  familiar 
with  the  Greek  original,  he  may  here  have  been  indebted  to  Lyd- 
gate,  who,  in  his  31st  chapter,  tells  "  How  Achilles  slew  the  worthy 
Troylus  unknightly,  and  after  trayled  his  body  through  the  fyelds, 
tyed  to  his  horse  ;  "  or,  as  Verplanck  suggests,  he  may  have  got  the 
incident  from  Virgil  {^neid,  ii.  272),  either  in  the  original,  or 
from  the  translation  of  Phaer  (1584)  or  that  of  Stanyhurst,  of  about 
the  same  date.     See  also  4  above. 

Scene  IX.  —  4.  Bruit.  Rumour;  as  in  T.  of  A.v.  \.  196,  etc. 
For  the  verb,  see  Alach.  v.  7.  22. 

5.   Bragless.     Used  by  S.  only  here. 

Scene  X.  —  7.  Smile  at.  If  this  is  not  corrupt,  it  is  —  smile 
derisively  at.  Hanmer  has  "  smite  all,"  and  Warburton  "  smite 
at."      The    former    is    very    plausible,    and    is    adopted    by    Dyce. 


28o  Notes  [Act  V 

White,  who  retains  smile,  remarks  :  "  smite  at  is  hardly  a  phrase 
that  S.  would  use  to  express  the  action  of  the  gods  when  sitting 
upon  their  thrones." 

19.  Niobes.  For  the  allusion,  cf.  Ham.  i.  2.  149  :  "  Like  Niobe, 
all  tears." 

24.  Pight.  Pitched,  fixed.  Cf.  Lear,  ii.  i.  67  :  "found  him 
pight  to  do  it ;  "  that  is,  firmly  resolved. 

25.  Titan.  The  god  of  the  sun  ;  as  in  V.  and  A.  177,  R.andJ. 
ii.  3.  4,  Cy?nb.  iii.  4.  166,  etc. 

26.  Great-si£d.     Cf.  iii.  3.  147  above. 

31.  Hope  of  revenge,  etc.  I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  Walker 
that  the  play,  so  far  as  S.  is  concerned,  ends  here.  As  he  says, 
"  the  mind  of  the  reader  is  fully  satisfied,  and  anything  additional 
sounds  like  an  impertinence  and  obtrusion."  Verses  32-34  he 
would  place  at  the  end  of  v.  3 ;  and  the  rest  of  Pandarus'  epilogue 
he  regards  as  an  interpolation.  As  Verity  remarks,  one  would 
gladly  believe  that  the  ribald  rubbish  with  which  the  play  ends  was 
not  written  by  Shakespeare.  Troilus  here  survives.  In  Caxton 
(see  on  v.  8.  4)  he  is  killed  by  Achilles,  and  the  event  is  nar- 
rated with  considerable  circumstantiality.  Curiously  enough,  this 
detail  is  unknown  to  Homer.  He  merely  mentions  (^Iliad  xxiv. 
257)  that  Troilus  had  been  slain  in  battle  before  the  time  of  the 
Iliad.  Probably  Virgil  was  the  authority  for  the  later  accounts. 
Cf.  ^neid,  i.  474-478 :  — 

"  Parte  alia  fugiens  amissis  Troilus  armis, 
Infelix  puer  atque  impar  congressus  Achilli,"  etc. 

33.   Ignomy.     Cf.  i  Hen.  IV.  v.  4.  100  and  T.  A.  iv.  2.  115. 

46.  Painted  cloths.  The  painted  hangings  of  rooms,  which  had 
mottoes  connected  with  the  figures  on  them.  Cf.  A.  Y.  L.  iii  2. 
290  :  "  I  answer  you  right  painted  cloth,"  etc.  Malone  quotes 
from  a  tract  published  in  1 60 1  :  — 

"  Read  what  is  written  on  the  painted  cloth ; 
Do  no  man  wrong  ;  be  good  unto  the  poor. 


Scene  X]  Notes  28 1 

Beware  the  mouse,  the  maggot  and  the  moth, 
And  ever  have  an  eye  into  the  door." 

Bible  scenes  were  often  found  on  these  painted  cloths,  and  on 
more  elaborate  hangings  of  tapestry  used  for  adorning  rooms.  A 
favourite  subject  was  the  story  of  the  Prodigal  and  that  of  Lazarus. 
Cf.  I  Hen.  IV.  iv.  2.  27  and  M,  W.  iv.  5.  9.  Sometimes  the  sub- 
jects were  classical.     Cf.  Ford,  The  Fancies,  ii.  i  :  — 

"  he  stands 
Just  like  Actaeon  in  the  painted  cloth." 

See  also  Much  Ado,  iii.  3.  145  :  "  the  shaven  Hercules  in  the 
smirched  worm-eaten  tapestry." 

54.  Some  galled  goose  of  Winchester.  "As  the  public  stews 
were  under  the  control  of  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  a  strumpet 
was  called  a  Winchester  goose^''  (Mason).  Ca/Z^fS^  =  diseased  or 
offended,  or  perhaps  both. 

55.  Sweat.  An  allusion  to  the  treatment  of  certain  diseases. 
See  on  iii.  i.  42  above. 


APPENDIX 

"The  War  of  the  Theatres" 

As  I  have  said  in  the  Introduction,  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
present  play  had  any  connection  with  the  so-called  "  War  of  the 
Theatres,"  as  some  excellent  critics  have  supposed  it  had  ;  but  that 
memorable  controversy  was  an  interesting  episode  in  the  dramatic 
history  of  the  closing  years  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  a  brief 
account  of  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  here. 

The  "  war "  was  due  to  the  quarrels  of  Marston  and  Dekker 
with  Ben  Jonson,  and  the  record  of  it  is  mainly  to  be  found  in 
their  plays  written  between  1598  and  1602.  Other  dramatists  have 
been  supposed  to  be  involved  in  it,  but  there  is  no  satisfactory 
evidence  that  they  were. 

Marston's  Satires  have  generally  been  regarded  as  the  first  cause 
of  the  quarrel ;  but  the  critics  do  not  agree  as  to  the  passages 
in  which  Jonson  is  supposed  to  be  satirized.  Some  believe  that 
Torquatus  in  the  Scourge  of  Villanie  (1598)  was  meant  for  Jon- 
son ;  but  this  view  is  not  supported  by  what  Jonson  himself  says 
concerning  the  beginning  of  the  quarrel.  See  the  Apologetical 
Dialogue  appended  to  The  Poetaster,  first  printed  in  161 6,  and 
stated  to  have  been  "only  once  spoken   on  the  stage:"  — 

"  But  sure  I  am,  three  years 
They  did  provoke  me  with  their  petulant  styles 
On  every  stage ;  and  I  at  last,  unwilling, 
But  weary,  I  confess,  of  so  much  trouble, 
Thought  I  would  try  if  shame  could  win  upon  'em." 

In  the    Conversations  with  Drummoud,  we  read:   "He  [Jonson] 

282 


Appendix  283 

had  many  quarrels  with  Marston,  beat  him,  and  took  his  pistol 
from  him,  wrote  his  Poetaster  on  him  ;  the  beginning  of  them  were 
that  Marston  represented  him  on  the  stage,  in  his  youth  given  to 
venerie." 

If,  as  these  passages  both  assert,  the  quarrel  arose  from  some 
stage  representation,  it  could  not  have  been  the  Scourge  ofVillanie, 
which  was  a  satire  in  verse  ;  and  the  internal  evidence  in  the  poem 
that  Jonson  is  ridiculed  is  by  no  means  decisive. 

Whether  Marston  began  the  quarrel  or  not,  it  is  clear  that  Jon- 
son attacked  him  in  Every  Alan  Out  of  His  Humour  (acted  in 
1599),  where  certain  peculiar  words  used  by  Marston  in  the  Scourge 
of  Villanie  and  Histriomastix  are  ridiculed,  and  the  latter  play  is 
mentioned  by  name.  Marston  appears  to  have  had  a  hand  in  His- 
triomastix, if  he  was  not  the  sole  author  of  it.  The  character  of 
Chrisoganus  in  the  play  is  quite  certainly  intended  for  Jonson ; 
and  Carlo  Buffone  in  Every  Man  Out  of  His  Humour  is  meant 
by  Jonson  for  Marston. 

Several  plays  by  Dekker  have  been  thought  by  critics  to  be 
connected  with  the  quarrel  between  Jonson  and  Marston,  and 
concerning  Satiromastix  (1601)  at  least  there  can  be  no  doubt,  as 
it  is  avowedly  a  reply  to  Ben's  satirical  comedies,  especially  to  The 
Poetaster,  in  which  Dekker  is  introduced  as  Demetrius,  who  is  to 
w-rite  a  play  ridiculing  Horace  (Jonson). 

Cynthia's  Revels  (1601)  was  written  by  Jonson  to  satirize  the 
four  men  (probably  Marston,  Daniel,  Lodge,  and  Munday)  who 
had  been  ridiculed  in  Every  Man  Out  of  His  Humour.  The 
Poetaster,  however,  is  his  only  avowed  reply  to  the  attacks  made 
upon  him.  It  was  first  performed  in  1 60 1  by  the  Children  of  the 
Chapel,  with  whom  Jonson  had  formed  an  alliance,  and  who  had 
also  rendered  Cynthia's  Revels. 

The  scene  of  The  Poetaster  is  laid  in  Rome,  in  the  time  of 
Augustus,  and  Jonson  appears  as  Horace.  The  "  poetaster "  is 
Crispinus  (Marston),  who  has  associated  Demetrius  (Dekker)  with 
him  "  to  abuse  Horace  and  bring  him  in  in  a  play."     The  most 


284  Appendix 

famous  scene  (v.  i)  is  that  in  which  Horace  administers  an  emetic 
pill  to  Crispinus,  who,  with  Demetrius,  has  been  condemned  for 
attacking  Horace.  The  scene  is  an  adaptation  of  the  Lexipkanes 
of  Lucian,  which  Jonson  often  follows  in  both  incidents  and  lan- 
guage. The  pill  compels  Crispinus  to  disgorge  the  peculiar  words 
that  marked  his  style,  and  many  of  them  have  been  identified  in 
Marston's  works.  Demetrius  is  recommended  for  mercy  by  Hor- 
ace ;  the  "  oath  for  good  behaviour  "  is  administered  to  both  him 
and  Crispinus,  who  swear  that  they  will  never  again  "  malign,  tra- 
duce, or  detract  the  person  or  writings  of  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus, 
or  any  other  eminent  man." 

In  this  play  Jonson,  who  had  learned  that  Marston  and  Dekker 
were  conspiring  to  attack  him  in  Satiromasiix,  anticipated  and 
answered  the  charges  they  intended  to  bring  against  him.  So  far 
as  he  was  concerned.  The  Poetaster  ended  the  "  War  of  the  Thea- 
tres," and  peace  soon  followed.  Marston  and  Jonson  were  both 
contributors  to  Chester's  Loves  Martyr  in  1601  ;  and  in  1604  they 
both  collaborated  with  Chapman  in  writing  Eastward  Ho,  in  which 
allusions  to  the  Scots  offended  King  James  and  his  friends,  and 
sent  all  three  dramatists  to  jail.  In  the  same  year  (1604)  Marston 
dedicated  his  Malcontent  to  "  Benjamino  Jonsonio,  poetae  elegan- 
tissimo,  gravissimo,  amico  suo,  candido  et  cordato." 

Some  writers  have  assumed  that  the  "  war  "  was  injurious  to  the 
interests  of  both  dramatists  and  actors ;  but  Jonson,  in  more  than 
one  passage,  intimates  that  the  plays  to  which  it  gave  rise  were 
profitable  to  the  authors  ;  and,  if  so,  they  must  have  been  profitable 
to  the  actors  as  well.    Jonson,  in  the  Apologetical  Dialogue,  says :  — 

"  Now  for  the  players,  it  is  true  I  taxed  them, 
And  yet  but  some ;  and  those  so  sparingly 
As  all  the  rest  might  have  sat  still  unquestioned. 
Had  they  but  had  the  wit  or  conscience 
To  think  well  of  themselves.     But,  impotent,  they 
Thought  each  man's  vice  belonged  to  their  whole  tribe ; 
And  much  good  do  't  them !     What  they  have  done  'gainst  me, 


Appendix  285 

I  am  not  moved  with  :  if  it  gave  them  meat, 

Or  got  them  clothes,  't  is  well ;  that  was  their  end. 

Only  amongst  them,  I  am  sorry  for 

Some  better  natures,  by  the  rest  so  drawn 

To  run  in  that  vile  line." 

The  plays  helped  to  get  the  authors  meat  and  clothes,  and  this  w^as 
their  end  in  writing  them.  Histrio  says  that  the  reason  for  hiring 
Demetrius  to  bring  in  Horace  and  his  gallants  in  a  play  is  "  that  it 
will  get  us  a  huge  deal  of  money  .  .  .  and  we  have  need  on  't." 
"  Of  course,"  as  Professor  J.  H.  Penniman,  in  his  scholarly  War 
of  the  Theatres,  1897  (to  which  I  have  been  much  indebted),  re- 
marks, "  any  profit  to  be  derived  from  satirical  plays  could  be 
gained  by  Jonson  as  well  as  by  his  opponents.  Although  he  was 
several  times  involved  in  legal  difficulties  on  account  of  his  plays, 
and  although  the  Elizabethan  laws  concerning  libel  and  slander 
were  severe,  and  the  people  of  the  time  were  litigious,  yet  we  have 
no  record  of  any  legal  action  instituted  by  the  playwrights  against 
Jonson,  or  by  Jonson  against  the  playwrights.  There  was  undoubt- 
edly much  bitterness  of  feeling  on  both  sides,  but,  much  as  they 
hated  each  other,  they  sought  no  legal  redress,  for  the  almost 
libellous  plays  were  a  source  of  profit,  and  legal  proceedings  might 
have  killed  the  goose  that  laid  the  golden  eggs." 

In  the  plays  already  mentioned  as  connected  with  the  "  War  of 
the  Theatres  "  there  is  no  evidence  worthy  of  serious  consideration 
to  show  that  Shakespeare  was  involved  in  the  wordy  conflict.  It 
is  improbable,  indeed,  that  he  would  have  been  supposed  to  be  one 
of  the  combatants  except  for  a  perplexing  allusion  to  him  in  The 
Return  from  Parnassus,  a  play  "  publiquely  acted  by  the  students 
in  St.  Johns  Colledge,  in  Cambridge,"  as  the  title-page  of  the  edition 
of  1606  informs  us.  This  performance  at  Cambridge  was  at  Christ- 
mastide,  1601-2,  and  not  improbably  on  the  ist  of  January,  1602. 

The  play  must  have  been  written  after  The  Poetaster,  to  which 
there  is  a  direct  allusion.  In  iv.  3,  Kempe  says  to  Burbage  :  "  Few 
of  the  university  pen  plaies  well,  they  smell  too  much  of  that  writer 


286  Appendix 

Ovid,  and  that  writer  Metamorphosis,  and  talke  too  much  of  Pro- 
serpina and  Juppiter.  Why  heres  our  fellow  Shakespeare  puts  them 
all  downe,  I  [ay]  and  Ben  Jonson  too.  O  that  Ben  Jonsojt  is  a 
pestilent  fellow,  he  brought  up  Horace  giving  the  Poets  a  pill,  but 
our  fellow  Shakespeare  hath  given  him  a  purge  that  made  him 
beray  his  credit." 

At  first  thought  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  "  purge  "  given 
by  Shakespeare  to  Ben  Jonson  is  a  play  ;  and  the  only  play  of 
Shakespeare's  that  can  possibly  be  considered  as  meant  is  Troilus 
and  Cressida,  the  date  of  which  is  put  by  some  critics  (see  p.  12 
above)  as  early  as  1 601. 

A  play  upon  Shakespeare's  name  has  been  fancied  to  occur  in 
Histriomastix  in  the  following  passage  :  — 

"  Thy  knight  his  valiant  elbow  wears, 
That  when  he  shakes  his  furious  speare 
The  foe  in  shivering  fearful  sort 
May  lay  him  down  in  death  to  snort." 

In  Shakespeare's  Troilus  and  Cressida  the  line  (i.  3.  73),  "  When 
rank  Thersites  opes  his  mastic  jaws,"  has  been  supposed  to  con- 
tain in  the  word  mastic  an  allusion  to  Histriomastix,  and  Thersites 
has  been  suspected  to  represent  Marston,  while  Ajax  is  Ben 
Jonson.  Fleay  declares  that  "  hardly  a  word  is  spoken  of  or  by 
Ajax  in  ii.  3  and  iii.  3  which  does  not  apply  literally  to  Jonson  ; 
and  in  ii.  I  he  beats  Thersites  of  the  '  mastic  jaws '  as  Jonson 
'beat  Marston'  (^Conversations  with  Drummond).^''  ^Moreover, 
"Thersites  in  all  respects  resembles  Marston,  the  railing  satirist;" 
and  the  "purge  "  is  from  Troilus  and  Cressida,  ii.  3.  215  :  "  He 
will  be  the  physician  that  should  be  the  patient,"  In  another 
passage  Fleay  says  that  "  the  setting  up  of  Ajax  as  a  rival  to 
Achilles  shadows  forth  the  putting  forward  of  Dekker  by  the 
King's  men  to  write  against  Jonson  his  Satiromastix ;"  and  in 
yet  another  passage  he  says  that  Dekker  is  Thersites  in  'Troilus 
and  Cressida.     It  will  be  seen  that  Fleav  is  not  consistent  with 


Appendix  287 

himself,  as  indeed  he  has  often  failed  to  be  in  discussing  other 
dramatic  questions.  In  the  first  passage,  Ajax  is  Jonson,  and 
Thersites  is  Marston  ;  in  the  second,  Ajax  is  Dekker  and  Achilles 
is  Jonson  ;  in  the  third,  Thersites  is  Dekker.  Gifford  maintained 
that  the  "  purge  "  was  merely  Shakespeare's  great  superiority  to 
other  playwrights ;  and  Sidney  Lee  takes  it  to  refer  to  the  fact  that 
"  Shakespeare  had  signally  outstripped  Jonson  in  popular  esteem ;  " 
adding  that,  "  as  the  author  of  Julius  Ccesar,  he  had  just  proved 
his  command  of  topics  that  were  peculiarly  suited  to  Jonson's  vein, 
and  had  in  fact  outrun  his  churlish  comrade  on  his  own  ground." 
Professor  Penniman  thinks  that  the  "purge"  must  be  "some- 
thing more  definite  "  than  Gifford  suggests,  and  was  "  presumably 
a  play  ;  "  and  Dr.  Brinsley  Nicholson  supposes  it  to  be  some  play 
of  Shakespeare's  that  has  not  come  down  to  us.  Dr.  Cartwright,  in 
his  Shakespeare  and  Ben  Jonson,  Dramatic  versus  Wit  Combats, 
connects  Shakespeare's  Much  Ado,  As  You  Like  It,  Tinion  of 
Athens,  and  Othello  with  the  quarrel :  "  Who  can  doubt  that  lago 
is  malignant  Ben  ? "  Fleay  recognizes  Marston  as  Malvolio  in 
Twelfth  Night,  and  Maria's  "  M.  O.  A.  I."  in  the  forged  letter  as 
"  lo.  Ma.  (John  Marston)."  "With  the  locking  up  of  Crispinus 
in  some  dark  place,  compare  the  imprisonment  of  Malvolio." 
Verily,  as  Dowden  says  of  certain  wild  theories  concerning  the 
Sonnets,  "  these  be  the  pranks  of  Puck  among  the  critics  !  " 

The  simplest  solution  of  the  problem  is,  on  the  whole,  the  most 
satisfactory  ;  and  Sidney  Lee  (^Life  of  Shakespeare,  p.  219  fol.)  is, 
to  my  thinking,  substantially  right,  though  it  does  not  seem  neces- 
sary to  suspect  a  specific  allusion  to  Julius  Ccesar.  The  author 
of  The  Return  from  Parnassus  makes  simply  a  metaphorical 
reference  to  Ben  Jonson's  purgative  pill,  which  was  a  disagreeable 
dose  for  his  patients.  Shakespeare  gave  Ben  an  equally  unpalata- 
ble dose  by  outdoing  him  as  a  playwright  and  thus  physicking  his 
abounding  self-conceit ;  and  this  treatment  was  wholly  indepen- 
dent of  Ben's  quarrel  with  his  fellow  dramatists,  in  which  the  "  gentle 
Shakespeare  "  had  no  part  whatsoever. 


288  Appendix 

The  Story  of  the  Play  in  Chaucer  and  Shakespeare. 

William  Godwin,  in  his  Life  of  Chaucer,  has  some  interesting 
comments  on  this  subject.     He  says  :  — 

"  Since  two  of  the  greatest  writers  this  island  has  produced  have 
treated  the  same  story,  each  in  his  own  peculiar  manner,  it  may  be 
neither  unentertaining  nor  uninstructive  to  consider  the  merit  of 
their  respective  modes  of  composition  as  illustrated  in  the  present 
example.  Chaucer's  poem  includes  many  beauties,  many  genuine 
touches  of  nature,  and  many  strokes  of  an  exquisite  pathos.  It  is 
on  the  whole,  however,  written  in  that  style  which  has  unfortu- 
nately been  so  long  imposed  upon  the  world  as  dignified,  classical, 
and  chaste.  It  is  naked  of  incidents,  of  ornament,  of  whatever 
should  most  awaken  the  imagination,  astound  the  fancy,  or  hurry 
away  the  soul.  It  has  the  stately  march  of  a  Dutch  burgomaster 
as  he  appears  in  a  procession,  or  a  French  poet  as  he  shows  him- 
self in  his  works.  It  reminds  one  too  forcibly  of  a  tragedy  of 
Racine.  Every  thing  partakes  of  the  author,  as  if  he  thought  he 
should  be  everlastingly  disgraced  by  becoming  natural,  inartificial, 
and  alive.  We  travel  through  a  work  of  this  sort  as  we  travel  over 
some  of  the  immense  downs  with  which  our  island  is  interspersed. 
All  is  smooth,  or  undulates  with  so  gentle  and  slow  a  variation  as 
scarcely  to  be  adverted  to  by  the  sense.  But  all  is  homogeneous 
and  tiresome  ;  the  mind  sinks  into  a  state  of  aching  torpidity  ; 
and  we  feel  as  if  we  should  never  get  to  the  end  of  our  eternal 
journey.  What  a  contrast  to  a  journey  among  mountains  and 
valleys,  spotted  with  herds  of  various  kinds  of  cattle,  interspersed 
with  villages,  opening  ever  and  anon  to  a  view  of  the  distant  ocean, 
and  refreshed  with  rivulets  and  streams  ;  where  if  the  eye  is  ever 
fatigued,  it  is  only  with  the  boundless  flood  of  beauty  which  is 
incessantly  pouring  upon  it  !     Such  is  the  tragedy  of  Shakespeare. 

"  The  historical  play  of  Troilus  and  Cressida  exhibits  as  full  a 
specimen  of  the  different  styles  in  which  this  wonderful  writer  was 
qualified  to  excel  as  is  to  be  found  in  any  of  his  works." 


Appendix  289 

Then  follows  the  passage  I  have  quoted  in  the  note  on  iii.  3. 
224  above.     Mr.  Godwin  proceeds  thus  :  — 

"  Never  did  morality  hold  a  language  more  profound,  persuasive 
and  irresistible  than  in  Shakespeare's  Ulysses,  who  in  the  same 
scene,  and  engaged  in  the  same  cause  with  Patroclus,  thus  expostu- 
lates with  the  champion  of  the  Grecian  forces  :  — 

'  For  emulation  hath  a  thousand  sons, 
That  one  by  one  pursue.     If  you  give  way, 
Or  hedge  aside  from  the  direct  forthright. 
Like  to  an  enter'd  tide,  they  all  rush  by. 
And  leave  you  hindmost  :  there  you  lie, 
Like  to  a  gallant  horse  fallen  in  first  rank. 
For  pavement  to  the  abject  rear,  o'er-run 
And  trampled  on.  ... 

O,  let  not  virtue  seek 
Remuneration  for  the  thing  it  was  ! 
For  beauty,  wit,  high  birth,  desert  in  semce, 
Love,  friendship,  charity,  are  subjects  all 
To  envious  and  calumniating  time. 
One  touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin, — 
That  all  with  one  consent  praise  new-born  gauds, 
And  give  to  dust  that  is  a  little  gilt 
More  praise  than  they  will  give  to  gold  o'erdusted. 
Then  marvel  not,  thou  great  and  complete  man, 
That  all  the  Greeks  begin  to  worship  Ajax.  .  .  . 

The  cry  went  once  on  thee, 
And  still  it  might,  and  yet  it  may  again, 
If  thou  wouldst  not  entomb  thyself  alive, 
And  case  thy  reputation  in  thy  tent.' 

*'  But  the  great  beauty  of  this  play,  as  it  is  of  all  the  genuine  writ- 
ings of  Shakespeare,  beyond  all  didactic  morality,  beyond  all  mere 
flights  of  fancy,  and  beyond  all  sublime  —  a  beauty  entirely  his  own, 
and  in  which  no  waiter,  ancient  or  modern,  can  enter  into  competi- 
tion with  him  —  is  that  his  men  are  men;  his  sentiments  are  living, 
and  his  characters  marked  with  those  delicate,  evanescent,  unde- 

TROILUS  —  19 


290  Appendix 

finable  touches  which  identify  them  with  the  great  delineation  of 
nature.  The  speech  of  Ulysses  just  quoted,  when  taken  by  itself, 
is  purely  an  exquisite  specimen  of  didactic  morality;  but  when 
combined  with  the  explanation  given  by  Ulysses,  before  the  entrance 
of  Achilles,  of  the  nature  of  his  design,  it  becomes  the  attribute  of 
a  real  man  and  starts  into  life, 

"When  we  compare  the  plausible  and  seemingly  affectionate 
manner  in  which  Ulysses  addresses  himself  to  Achilles  with  the  key 
which  he  here  furnishes  to  his  meaning,  and  especially  with  the 
epithet  '  derision,'  we  have  a  perfect  elucidation  of  his  character, 
and  must  allow  that  it  is  impossible  to  exhibit  the  crafty  and  smooth- 
tongued politician  in  a  more  exact  or  animated  style.  The  advice 
given  by  Ulysses  is  in  its  nature  sound  and  excellent,  and  in  its  form 
inoffensive  and  kind ;  the  name  therefore  of  '  derision '  which  he 
gives  to  it,  marks  to  a  wonderful  degree  the  cold  and  self-centred 
subtlety  of  his  character. 

"  Cressida's  confession  to  Troilus  of  her  love  is  a  most  beautiful 
example  of  the  genuine  Shakespearian  manner.  What  charming 
ingenuousness,  what  exquisite  naivete,  what  ravishing  confusion  of 
soul,  are  expressed  in  these  words  I  We  seem  to  perceive  in  them 
every  fleeting  thought  as  it  rises  in  the  mind  of  Cressida,  at  the 
same  time  that  they  delineate  with  equal  skill  all  the  beautiful 
timidity  and  innocent  artifice  which  grace  and  consummate  the 
feminine  character.  Other  writers  endeavour  to  conjure  up  before 
them  their  imaginary  personages,  and  seek  with  violent  effort  to 
arrest  and  describe  what  their  fancy  presents  to  them  :  Shakespeare 
alone  (though  not  without  many  exceptions  to  this  happiness) 
appears  to  have  the  whole  train  of  his  characters  in  voluntary 
attendance  upon  him,  to  listen  to  their  effusions,  and  to  commit 
to  waiting  all  the  w'ords,  and  the  very  words,  they  utter. 

"The  whole  catalogue  of  the  dramatis  personce  in  the  play  of 
Troihcs  and  Cressida,  so  far  as  they  depend  upon  a  rich  and  orig- 
inal vein  of  humour  in  the  author,  are  drawn  with  a  felicity  which 
never  was  surpassed.     The  genius  of  Homer  has  been  a  topic  of 


Appendix  29  j 


admiration  to  almost  every  generation  of  men  since  the  period  in 
which  he  wrote.  But  his  characters  will  not  bear  the  slightest  com- 
parison with  the  delineation  of  the  same  characters  as  they  stand 
in  Shakespeare.  .  .  .  Homer's  characters  are  drawn  with  a  laud- 
able portion  of  variety  and  consistency;  but  his  Achilles,  his  Ajax, 
and  his  Nestor  are,  each  of  them,  rather  a  species  than  an  indi- 
vidual, and  can  boast  more  of  the  propriety  of  abstraction  than  of 
the  vivacity  of  a  moving  scene  of  absolute  life.  The  Achilles,  the 
Ajax,  and  the  various  Grecian  heroes  of  Shakespeare,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  absolute  men,  deficient  in  nothing  which  can  tend  to 
individualize  them,  and  already  touched  with  the  Promethean  fire 
that  might  infuse  a  soul  into  what,  without  it,  were  lifeless  form. 
From  the  rest  perhaps  the  character  of  Thersites  deserves  to  be 
selected  (how  cold  and  schoolboy  a  sketch  in  Homer  !)  as  exhibit- 
ing an  appropriate  vein  of  sarcastic  humour  amidst  his  cow^ardice, 
and  a  profoundness  and  truth  in  his  mode  of  laying  open  the 
foibles  of  those  about  him,  impossible  to  be  excelled.  " 


The  Time-Analysis  of  the  Play 

This  is  summed  up  by  Mr.  P.  A.  Daniel,  in  his  paper  "  On  the 
Times  or  Durations  of  the  Action  in  Shakspere's  Plays  "  ( Trans. 
of  New  Shaks.  Soc.  1877-1879,  p.  183),  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  duration  of  the  action  of  this  play  is  so  distinctly  marked 
by  Hector's  challenge  that,  notwithstanding  the  discrepancies 
pointed  out  in  Act  H.  sc.  iii.i  and  Act  HI.  sc.  i.^  and  iii.,-^  it  is 
impossible  to  assign  to  it  more  than  four  days,  with  an  interval  be- 
tween the  first  and  second. 

"Day  I.   Act  I.  sc.  i.  and  ii. 

Interval :  the  long-continued  truce. 
"     2.  Act  I.  sc.  iii.,  Act  II.,  and  Act  III. 
"     3.  Act  IV.,  Act.  V.  sc.  i.  and  ii. 
"     4.  Act  V.  sc.  iii.-x." 


292  Appendix 

1  "  The  commanders  '  rub  the  vein '  of  Ajax.  Achilles  declines  to  see 
them,  but  through  Ulysses  informs  them  that  he  '  will  not  to  the  field  to- 
morrow.'   At  the  end  of  the  scene  Ulysses  remarks  :  — 

'  To-morrow 
We  must  with  all  our  main  of  power  stand  fast.' 

These  two  passages  are  somewhat  ambiguous,  for  in  fact  only  the  single 
combat  between  Hector  and  Ajax  is  resolved  on  for  the  morrow." 

2  "  In  this  scene  commences  an  extraordinary  entanglement  of  the 
plot  of  the  Play.  It  is  quite  clear  that  from  its  position  it  must  represent 
a  portion  of  the  day  on  which  Hector  sends  his  challenge  to  the  Greeks : 
a  day  on  which  there  could  be  no  encounters  between  the  hostile  forces, 
and  which  in  fact  is  but  one  day  of  a  long-continued  truce  ;  yet  in  this 
scene  Pandarus  asks  Paris,  '  Sweet  lord,  who  's  afield  to-day  ?  '  Paris 
replies,  '  Hector,  Deiphobus,  Helenus,  Antenor,  and  all  the  gallantry  of 
Troy.'  Paris  himself,  it  seems,  nor  Troilus,  went  not.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  scene  a  retreat  is  sounded,  and  Paris  says  — 

'  They  're  come  from  field  :  let  us  to  Priam's  hall 
To  greet  the  warriors  ;  ' 

and  he  begs  Helen  to  come  '  help  unarm  our  Hector.' " 

3  "  The  allusions  to  the  combat  which  is  to  come  off  to-morrow  be- 
tween Hector  and  Ajax  are  numerous  in  this  scene,  so  that  we  are 
clearly  still  in  the  day  on  which  Hector  sent  his  challenge.  But  the  en- 
tanglement of  the  plot  which  we  noticed  in  Act  III.  sc.  i.  becomes  here 
still  more  involved.     Calchas  says  — 

'  You  have  a  Trojan  prisoner,  called  Antenor, 
Yesterday  took  ;  ' 

and  he  requests  that  Antenor  may  be  exchanged  for  his  daughter  Cres- 
sida.  The  commanders  assent,  and  Diomedes  is  commissioned  to 
effect  the  exchange.  From  this  it  appears  that  Antenor,  who  goes  out 
to  fight  on  this  very  day  (see  Act  III.  sc.  i.)  — when  there  is  no  fighting 
—  was  nevertheless  taken  prisoner  the  day  before,  during  the  long-con- 
tinued truce," 


Appendix  293 


List  of   Characters  in  the  Play 

The  numbers  in  parentheses  indicate  the  lines  the  characters 
have  in  each  scene. 

Priam  :  a.  2(12) ;   v.  3(8).     Whole  no.  20. 

I/ec/or:  ii.  2(75);  iv.  5(79);  v.  1(5),  3(35),  4(3),  6(10). 
8(5).     Whole  no.  212. 

Troilus:  i.  1(74);  ii-  2(85);  iii.  2(90);  iv.  2(21),  3(5),  4(92), 
5(11);   V.  1(1),  2(90),  3(32),  4(2),  6(8),  10(30).    Whole  no.  541. 

Paris:  ii.  2(30);  iii.  1(31);  iv.  1(31),  3(8),  4(3).  Whole 
no.   103. 

Deiphobus  :  iv.  i(i),  4(1)-     Whole  no.  2. 

Helenus  :  ii.  2(4).     Whole  no.  4. 

.^neas:  i.  1(5),  3(58);  iv.  1(20),  2(20),  4(9),  5(25);  v.  2(3), 
10(3).     Whole  no.  143. 

Calchas  :  iii.  3(29);   v.  2(2).     Whole  no.  31. 

Pandariis:  i.  1(42),  2(172);  iii.  1(91),  2(61);  iv.  2(36), 
4(18);   v.  3(9),  10(24).     Whole  no.  453. 

Agamemnon:  i.  3(66);  ii.  3(59);  i".  3(H);  1^.5(36);  v.  1(4), 
5(ii)»9(5)-     Whole  no.  195. 

Menelaus :  i.  3(1);   iii.  3(1);   iv.  5(9);   v.  i(i).    Whole  no.  12. 

Achilles:  ii.  1(28),  3(11);  iii-  3(74);  iv.  5(25);  v.  1(23), 
5(4),  6(6),  7(8),  8(16).     WTiole  no.  195. 

Ajax:  ii.  1(26),  3(28);  iii.  -^^iT,);  iv.  5(21);  v.  1(3),  5(1), 
6(5),  9(2).     Whole  no.  89. 

Ulysses:  i.  3(179);  ii.  3(80;  iii-  3(122);  iv.  5(62);  v.  1(3), 
2(28),  5(13).     Whole  no.  488. 

Nestor:  i.  3(93);  ii.  3(20);  iii.  3(2);  iv.  5(28);  v.  5(14), 
9(1).     Whole  no.  158. 

Patroclus:  ii.  1(3),  3(19);  iii.  3(30;  iv.  5(7);  v.  1(10). 
Whole  no.  70. 

Diomedes:  ii.  3(5);  iii.  3(2);  iv.  1(32),  4(12),  5(6);  v.  1(2), 
2(29),  4(4),  5(6),  6(4),  9(1).     Whole  no.  103. 


294  Appendix 

Thersites:  ii.  1(85),  3(61);   111.3(48);   v.   1(61),  2(23),  4(30), 
7(13).     Whole  no.  321. 
.  Alexander  :  1.  2(35).     Whole  no.  35. 

Margarelon :  v.  7(3).     Whole  no.  3. 

Myrmidon  :  v.  8(1).     Whole  no.  I. 

Servant:  Hi.  1(20);   v.  5(1).     Whole  no.  21. 

Boy :  1.  2(3);   ill.  2(2).     Whole  no.  5. 

Helen  :  lil.  I  (30).     Whole  no.  30. 
^AndrojJiache :  v.  3(15).     Whole  no.  15. 

Cassandra  :  ii.  2(13);   v.  3(24).     Whole  no.  37. 

Cressida:  l  2(115);  i"- 2(71);  iv.  2(44),  4(25),  5(");  v. 
2(46).     Whole  no.  312. 

"Air\-  iv.  5(1);   V.  9(1),  10(1).     Whole  no  3. 

"Prologue"  :   (31).     Whole  no.  31. 

Antenor  is  on  the  stage  in  1.  2  and  iv.  I,  3,  and  4,  but  does  not 
speak  at  all. 

In  the  above  enumeration,  parts  of  lines  are  counted  as  whole 
lines,  making  the  total  in  the  play  greater  than  it  is.  The  actual 
number  of  lines  in  each  scene  is  as  follows  :  prol.  (31);  i.  1(119), 
2(321)'  3(392);  ii.  1(142),  2(213),  3(277);  i"-  1(172),  2(220), 
3C316);  iv.  1(79),  2(115),  3(12),  4(150)'  5(293);  V.  1(106), 
2(i97)>  3(112),  4(38),  5(47),  6(31),  7(24),  8(22),  9(10),  10(57). 
Whole  no.  in  the  play,  3496. 

Iroiliis  and  Cressida  is  the  longest  of  the  plays,  except 
Hamlet,  which  has  3930  lines,  and  Richard  III.,  which  has  3618. 
2  Henry  IV.  has  3446,  and  Coriolamcs  3410. 


INDEX    OF   WORDS   AND    PHRASES 
EXPLAINED 


a  (transposed),  276 
abject  in  regard,  240 
abruption,  233 
accepted  pain,  237 
achievement  is  command, 

196 
adamant,  235 
add  coals  to  Cancer,  226 
addition  (=  quality) ,  192 
addition     (=  title),     227, 

233.  258 
address  (=  prepare),  254 
advanced      (=  uplifted), 

260 
adversity,  262 
advertised  (accent),  222 
affection  (=lust),  221 
affined,  197 

affront  (=  confront) ,  234 
against  May,  194 
against  the  hair,  193 
allow    us    as    we    prove, 

233 
allowance,  209,  225 
an  't  were,  193 
answer  to  my  lust,  254 
antics  (=  buffoons) ,  273 
antiquary  (=ancient) ,  227 
appear  it,  236 
appertainments,  223 
apply  (=  explain),  197 
appointment,  254 
apprehensions,  224 
Aquilon,  255 
argument    (play     upon), 

255 
Argus,  193 
Ariachne,  267 
artist  (=  scholar) ,  197 
aspect  (accent),  201 
assinego,  215 
assubjugate,  226 
at    a    thousand   watches, 

196 
attached  with,  268 
attachment  (=stop),  248 
attest,  219 


attribute    (=  reputation), 

224 
attributive,  217 

bad  success,  219 

banks  of  Libya,  208 

batch,  262 

battle  (=army),  231 

be  with  you  to  bring,  196 

beam  (=  lance),  274 

beaver  (=  helmet) ,  207 

beef-witted,  214 

benumbed,  222 

bestowing,  231 

bias,  197,  254 

bias-drawing,  259 

billing  (play  upon),  232 
I  blank  of  danger,  245 
j  blench,  188,  217 
j  bless  thee  from,  223 
I  blockish,  209 

blood  (=  passions),  223 

bob  (=  cheat) ,  229 

bobbed,  215 

boils  (spelling),  213 

bolting,  188 
I  bone-ache,  223 
I  Boreas,  197,  255 

born  in  April,  194 
I  bought  and  sold,  215 
'  boy-queller,  276 
I  brabbler,  264 

brach,  215 

bragless,  279 

brass  (=  tablet) ,  19S 

brave  (=  bravado) ,  254 

brave  (=  fine),  186 

bravely  (=  finely) ,  194 

breath  (=  exercise),  224, 

257 
Briareus,  193 
brize,  198 

broad  (=  puffed  up) ,  204 
broils  in  applause,  209 
broken      (=  interrupted) , 

250 
I  broken  music,  229 

295 


brotherhood,  202 
bruit,  279 
buss,  260 
by  a  pace,  202 

Calchas,  190 

camel  (personal),  195 

can  (absolute),  220 

Cancer  (=  summer),  226 

canonize  (accent),  222 

capable,  245 

capocchia,  248 

captive  (=  conquered), 
272 

carry  (=  bear  off) ,  276 

castle  (on  thy  head), 
269 

catlings,  245 

centre  (=  earth),  200 

centre  (of  Ptolemaic  sys- 
tem) ,  235 

chafe  thee,  261 

changeful  potency,  253 

chapmen,  247 

characterless    (accent) , 

235 
charge  (=  expense) ,  247 
Charon,  230 
cherubins,  233 
chime  a-mending,  203 
circumstance,  239 
clapper-clawing,  273 
cliff  (=  clef),  265 
clotpolls,  216 
coasting  (=  alluring),  256 
cobloaf,  214 
cogging,  276 
cotic  (figurative) ,  255 
colossus-wise,  274 
commerce    (accent),   202, 

244 
compare  (noun),  234 
compassed  window,  193 
complete     (accent),     243, 

246 
composure,  223,  226 
concupy, 269 


296 


Index  of  Words  and  Phrases 


condition      (=  on     condi- 
tion), 193 
conduce,  267 
conflux,  196 
conjure,  267 
consent  (=  agree),  257 
consigned  (accent),  249 
constant  as  Troilus,  235 
constringed,  269 
content,  196 

convince  (=  convict),  219 
convive,  261 
cope,  227 

core  (=  ulcer),  214,  262 
cousin,  229 
credence,  266 
creep,  240 

critics  (=  carpers) ,  267 
crownets,  186 
crush  (=  destroy) ,  209 
crushed  into  folly,  193 
crusty  batch,  262 
crying  on,  276 
curious  (=  causing  care) , 

233 
cursed,  273 

Daphne,  190 
darking,  278 
date  in  pie,  195 
deaf  (of  adders)  ,221 
dear  (=  earnest) ,  270 
dearly  parted,  238 
dear'st,  208 
death-tokens,  225 
debonair,  205 
deceptions,  267 
decline,  223 
decline   on   the  declined, 

260 
deem  (noun),  252 
degree  (=  rank) , 200 
deject  (=  depress),  219 
depravation,  267 
deracinate,  202 
derive,  223 
Diana's    waiting-women, 

265 
digestion  sake,  224 
dilated,  227 
diminutives,  263 
directive,  209 
discourse,  219,  267 
discovered,  203 
discoveries,  263 
disdain,  193 


dismes,  216 
disorbed,  216 
dispose  (noun),  225 
disposer,  229 
disposition,  247 
distaste  (verb),  219 
distasted,  250 
distinct  (accent),  249 
dividable,  202 
double-henned     sparrow, 

276 
doubt  (=  suspect) ,  196 
dragon  wing  of  night,  278 
draught  (=  privy) ,  264 
draw  this  curtain,  231 
draw  together,  276 
dressed,  203 

edge  of  extremity,  256 
eld,  219 
election,  208 
elephant  (joints  of),  224 
embracement,  259 
embrasures,  249 
emulation  (=  envy)  ,  222 
emulous  (=  envious), 223, 

226 
encounterers,  256 
end  crowns  all,  the,  260 
engendering,  225 
engine,  224 
enginer,  222 
entreat  (=  invite),  260 
entreat  her  fair,  254 
envy  (=  malice) ,  233 
errant,  196 
esperance,  266 
evil  mixture,  201 
exact  (accent),  260 
exasperate  (form),  263 
exclaim  (noun),  273 
execute  your  arms,  276 
expect  (noun),  199 
exposure,  204 
expressure,  244 
eyes  o'ergalled,  272 

faction  (=  union),  223 
fair  on  Friday,  etc.,  189 
falcon  as  the  tercel,  the, 

232 
fall  (=  let  fall),  210 
fan  and  wind,  272 
fancy  (=love),  249,  268 
fast  upon,  249 
fastingj  240 


fat  (=feed),  216 
father  (figurative),  227 
favour  (=face),  193,  260 
fee-farm,  in,  232 
fills  (=  shafts),  231 
finch-egg,  263 
firebrand  brother,  219 
fitchew,  264 
five-finger-tied,  268 
fixure,  202 
flat  tamed  piece,  247 
flow  to,  265 
fond  (=  foolish),  188 
for  (=  against),  196 
force  (=  stuffy,  226,  264 
forked  (=  horned),  196 
forthright,  241 
fraction  (=  discord) ,  223 
fractions  of  faith,  268 
fragment,  262 
fraught,  186 
fraughtage,  186 
frayed  with,  230 
free  (=  noble) ,  258 
frush,  276 
fulfilling,  187 
full  of  quality,  253 
fusty,  203 

gaging,  263 
Galathe,  275 
gallantry,  230 
galled,  281 
gear,  187 
Genius,  250 
gilt  (=  golden) ,  242 
glozed,  220 
God-a-mercy,  274 
God's  lid,  195 
good  now,  230 
goose  (=  harlot) ,  281 
gored,  244 
gorget,  204 
grace  exact,  204 
grace  (title),  228 
great  morning,  249 
great-sized,  241,  280 
Greek,  merry,  193,  250 
Greekish,  198,  244 
guts,  215 

hale  (verb).  254 
half-supped,  278 
hardiment,  255 
harnessed  light,  192 


Index  of  Words  and  Phrases 


297 


hatched  in  silver,  198 
hateful  (=  malignant)  ,247 
having  (noun),  238 
heart  of  very  heart,  259 
heaving  spleens.  222 
herring  without  a  roe,  264 
hey-day  (spelling),  264 
him  (reflexive),  208 
his  (=  its),  205,  209,  217 
honesty  (=  chastity),  196 
honey  (adjective),  265 
honey-sweet  lord,  229 
honour  and  lordship,  228 
horns,  255 
how  chance,  230 
humane  (accent),  246 
humorous,  224 
hung,  260 
hurricano,  268 
hurt  by  being  just,  270 
husbandry  (=  thrift),  192 
hyperboles      (pronuncia- 
tion), 203 
Hyperion,  226 

I  '11  tell  thee,  254 

idle  (play  upon),  193 

idle  (=  useless) ,  263 

ignomy,  280 

I  lion,  219 

Ilium,  190 

immures  (noun),  186 

impair  (adjective),  257 

imperious,  259 

imposition,  233 

imposthume,  263 

iinpressure,  258 

imputation,  208 

in  fee-farm,  232 

in  fits  (play  upon) ,  229 

in  flood,  207 

in  great  exchange,  237 

in    most    accepted    pain, 

.    237 

in  second  voice,  225 
in  the  full,  261 
includes  itself  in.  202 
index,  208 

indistinguishable,  263 
indrenched,  188 
infect  (=  infected) ,  204 
ingratitudes,  241 
injurious,  249 
inseparate,  267 
insisture,  201 
instance  (=  proof) ,  268 


into  (=  unto),  236 

jar,  202 

joints  (=  limbs),  193 

Jove's  accord,  205 

keep  (=  dwell) ,  260 
keep  the  weather  of,  272 
keeps  place  with  thought, 

243 
ken,  255 
kill  (those    pretty   eyes), 

247 
kingdom'd  Achilles,  225 
kiss  the  mistress,  232 

la  !  229 

labouring  for  destiny,  259 

lavolt,  253 

lazars,  223,  264 

learn  (=  teach),  214 

leave  (=  cease) ,  265 

let  blood,  226 

lifter  (play  upon) ,  193 

light  (adverb),  192 

like  a  mint,  204 

like  as,  192 

likes  (=  pleases) ,  265 

limekilns  i'  the  palm,  263 

livers  pale,  217 

look  upon,  276 

lover,  244 

lunes,  224 

lustihood,  217 

luxurious  (=  lustful),  273 

luxury  (=  lust),  265 

maculation,  252 
maiden  battle,  256 
mail,  241 

main  (=  might) ,  227 
make  a  recordation  to  my 

soul,  266 
make  it  gracious,  219 
make  my  match  to  live, 

255 
manage (noun),  237 
mappery,  205 
Margarelon,  274 
Mars  his  (=  Mars's),  215, 

259,  268 
mastic,  199 

matter  (=  business),  248 
matter  (play  upon),  .214 
meddle  nor  make,  188 
medicinable,  201,  238 


mends  in  her  own  hands, 

189 
mere  (=  absolute) ,  202 
merry  Greek,  193,  250 
mill-stones,  to  weep,  194 
Milo,  227 
mirable,  258 
miscarry,  208 
mistress  (in  bowling),  232 
Mistress  Thersites,  214 
modicum,  215 
moiety,  219 
mongrel,  214 
monstruosity,  233 
moral  (=  meaning),  254 
moral  philosophy,  221 
more  fresher,  276 
more  softer,  216 
more  wider,  267 
motive,  256 
multipotent,  258 
Myrmidon,  209 

neglection,  202 

Neoptolemus,  258 

nice,  261 

Niobes,  280 

no  date  in  the  pie,  195 

noddy,  195 

noise  (=  rumour) ,  192 

nursery,  207 

obey  to,  230 

oblique,  264 

odd  with  him,  261 

oddly  poised,  208 

o'er-dusted,  243 

o'er-eaten,  268 

o'ergalled  (eyes),  272 

o'er-wrested,  203 

of  (=  as  regards).  195 

of  (=  by) ,  226 

of  grace  exact,  204 

on  (=of),  245 

on  charge,  254 

on  heaps,  231 

on  our  party,  220 

one  touch  of  nature,  etc., 

24f  , 

opinion      (.=  reputation), 

208,  209 
opinion    (=  self-conceit), 

245 
oppugnancy,  202 
oration  (metre),  204 
orchard  ( =  garden) ,  231 


298 


Index  of  Words  and  Phrases 


orgulous,  186 
orifex,  267 
owes  (=  owns) ,  238 
oyes,  259 

pace,  202 

pageant  (noun),  233,  245 
pageant  (verb),  203 
painted  cloths,  280 
palating,  247 
palm,  230 

palsy-fumbling,  204 
palter,  226,  265 
paradoxes,  204 
parallels,  204 
parrot  (and  almond),  269 
part  (=  party),  208 
parted  (=  gifted) ,  238 
partial,  221 

particular  (noun),  216 
particular    (play    upon) , 

255 
pash,  226,  274 
pass  (=  undergo) ,  220 
passed, 194 
past-proportion,  216 
patchery,  223 
peevish  (=  foolish) ,  270 
pelting  (=  petty),  261 
per  se,  192 

perdition  (=  loss) ,  267 
Perseus'  horse,  197 
perseverance       (accent) , 

241 
persistive,  197 
person,  253 
pheeze,  226 
pia  mater,  215 
pight,  280 
placket,  223 

plaguy  (play  upon),  225 
planet  Sol,  201 
plantage,  235 
politic  regard,  245 
poor  our  sex,  265 
porpentine,  214 
port  (=  gate) ,  254 
possess  (=  inform) ,  254 
potato-finger,  265 
power  (=  army) ,  203 
precious  loss,  249 
predominance,  224 
pregnant  (=  ready) ,  253 
prenominate,  261 
prescience  (accent),  205 
presented,  233 


press      to      death    (play 

upon),  235 
presuming  on,  253 
preventions  (metre),  204 
pricks,  208 
primogenity,  202 
process  of  speech,  246 
proclaim  barbarism,  274 
prodigious,  264 
prologue  armed,  187 
proof,  276 
propension,  220 
proper  (=  comely),  195 
proper  (=  own),  218 
propugnation,  220 
protractive,  197 
pun  (=  pound),  214 
puttock,  264 

quails  (=  harlots) ,  263 
quality  (=  tenor),  247 
question,  246  '■■ 

quoted  (=  noted) ,  260 

rack,  194 

rain,  to  lay  wind,  250 

rank  (adjective),  204 

ransacked  (=  stolen) ,  220 

rape,  220 

rash,  248 

rate   (=  find  fault   with) , 

218 
reasons  (play  upon  ?) ,  216 
rechides,  198 
record  (accent),  197 
recordation,  267 
recourse  of  tears,  272 
red  murrain,  214 
rejoindure,  249 
repining,  205 
reproof       (=  refutation), 

197 
repured,  230 
respect    (=  deliberation ) , 

217 
retire  (noun),  274,  278 
revenue  (accent),  222 
rheum,  273 
ribald,  248 

rich  shall  have  more,  195 
rivelled,  263 
rode  on  his  side,  225 
roisting,  222 

roundly  (=  plainly),  234 
rub  on,  232 


rule  in  unity,  267 
ruminate,  226 
ruthful,  272 

sacred  aunt,  258 

Sagittary,  274 

salt  (=  bitter),  209 

sans,  201 

savage  strangeness,  224 

scab  (play  upon),  214 

scaffoldage,  203 

scaled  sculls,  275 

scantling,  208 

scar  (=  wound),  191 

scurril,  203 

seam  (=  fat) ,  226 

secrets  (trisyllable  ?),249 

secure  (=  careless),  216 

securely      (=  carelessly) , 

256 
see    (=  see    each    other) , 

250 
seethes,  229 
seizure,  189 
seld,  259 

self-admission,  225 
self-affected,  226 
self-breath,  225 
sequestering,  236 
serpentine,  222 
serpigo,  223 
set  your  wit  to,  215 
severally  entreat,  261 
severals  and  generals,  204 
'sfoot,  222 
shaked,  202 
shame  respect,  272 
she  (=  her),  227 
she  (=  woman) ,  196 
shent,  223 
shoeing-horn,  264 
short-armed,  222 
should  (=  would) ,  202 
shrewd  (spelling),  194 
shrewdly  gored,  244 
shrills  (verb),  272 
sick  (=  envious) ,  202 
sieve  (=  basket) ,  217 
sinister  (accent),  259 
sith,  196,  266 
six-gated  city,  187 
sleave  silk,  263 
sleeve,  252,  265 
sleeveless,  273 
'slid,  195 
slipped  (play  upon) ,  223 


Index  of  Words  and  Phrases         299 


sluttish  spoils  of  oppor- 
tunity, 256 

small  pricks,  208 

smile  at,  279 

sodden-witted,  215 

soilure,  247 

sometime,  203 

sort  (=  lot),  209 

sorts  (=  suits),  igo 

speaking  in  deeds,  257 

specialty  of  rule,  200 

speculation,  238 

spend  his  mouth,  264 

sperr,  187 

sphered,  201 

sphered  bias  cheek,  254 

spirit  (monosyllable),  198 

spirit  of  sense,  238 

spirits  and  fires!   264 

spleen,  204,  219 

spritely  (=  spirited) ,  222 

square  (verb),  267 

stale  (verb),  226 

state  (=  council) ,  204,  227, 
248 

state  (=  train),  224 

stickler-like,  274. 

stithied,  260 

stomach,  216,  261 

stool  for  a  witch,  214 

strain  (=  impulse) ,  220 

strange  (=  distant),  226 

stretched  (=  affected),  203 

stubborn-chaste,  190 

Stygian  banks,  230 

subduements,  260 

subscribes  to  tender  ob- 
jects, 257 

subsequent  (accent),  208 

substance  (=  wealth),  207 

subtle-potent,  231 

success  (=  issue) ,  208,  219 

sufferance  (=  suffering) , 
188,  215 

suffocate  (form),  202 

sunburnt,  206 

suppose  Cnoun),  196 

surety,  216 

suspect  (noun),  199 

sweat,  281 

sweet  honey  Greek,  265 


swoon  (spelling),  231 

tables  (=  note-book) ,  256 

tabourines,  261 

tapster's  arithmetic,  193 

tarre,  210 

tend  (=  attend) ,  224 

tent  (play  upon),  262 

tent  (=  probe),  216,  262 

tercel,  232 

tetchy,  T90 

Thersites,  211 

Thetis,  197 

thicker  (=  quicker),  231 

thwart  (=  athwart),  197 

tickle  it,  269 

ticklish,  256 

tide  (=  time) ,  264 

Time  must  friend  or  end, 

tisick,  273 

Titan,  280 

tithe  (=  tenth),  216 

to  (=  compared  to),  189 

to  (=in  addition  to),  187 

to!  (=  on!),  215 

to  his  inches,  257 

toast,  197 

topless  deputation,  203 

tortive,  196 

traded  (=  expert),  217 

train  (=  tempt),  269 

transformation  of  Jupiter, 

263 
translate,  257 
Troy  walls,  196 
trumpet      (=  trumpeter) , 

205,  254 
turtle  (=  dove) ,  235 
Typhon,  203 

uncomprehensive,  243 
undergo     (=  undertake) , 

233 
underwrite,  224 
unknown,  239 
unmingled  (metre),  197 
unplausive,  238 
unrespective,  217 
unsquared,  203,  267 
untent,  225 


untraded,  259 

use  (=  continue),  215 

use  thefts,  271 

vail  (=  descent),  274 
valiantly  (=  finely) ,  193 
vantbrace,  207 
varlet  (=  harlot),  263 
varlet    (=  servant),    187, 

265 
vassalage,  231 
vaunt  (=  beginning),  187 
venomous,  248 
villain,  231 
vindictive,  257 
vinewed'st,  214 
violent  (dissyllable) ,  271 
violenteth,  249 
vipers,  230 
vizarded,  200 
voices,  210 
voluntary  (adverb),  215 

waftage,  230 

wallet  (=  bag) ,  240 

ward,  195 

ware  (=  aware) ,  248 

watched,  231 

waterflies,  263 

watery,  231 

wear  a  castle  on  thy  head, 

269 
weeds  (=  garments) ,  245 
weep  mill  stones,  194 
wells  and  Niobes,  280 
where  (=  in  which) ,  249 
who  (=  which),  239,  244 
who  (=whom),  228,  259 
whole  week  by  days,  246 
Winchester  goose,  281 
with  private  soul,  257 
witty,  231 

wooden  dialogue,  203 
words  and  errors,  273 
wound  to  kill,  230 
wrest  (noun),  237 

yond, 255 

you  may,  you  may,  230 


ROLFE'S  ENGLISH  CLASSICS 

Designed  for  Use  in  High  Schools  and 
Other  Secondary  Schools 

Edited  by  WILLIAM  J.  ROLFE,  Litt.D. 

Formerly  Head  Master,  High  School,  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Uniform  Flexible   Cloth,  12mo.      Illustrated.      Each,  56  Cents 


Browning's  Select  Poems 

Twenty  Poems  (including  '^Fippa  Passes"),  with  Introduction,  Life 
of  Browning,  Chronological  Table  of  His  Works,  List  of  Books  useful 
in  studying  them.  Critical  Comments,  and  Notes. 

Browning's  Select  Dramas 

Containing  "  A  Blot  in  the  'Scutcheon,"  "  Colombe's  Birthday," 
and  "A  Soul's  Tragedy" — with  Introduction,  Critical  Comments,  and 
Notes, 

Goldsmith's  Select  Poems 

"  The  Traveller,"  "  The  Deserted  Village,"  and  "  Retaliation," 
with  Life  of  Goldsmith,  Recollections  and  Criticisms  by  Thackeray, 
Coleman  the  Younger,  Campbell,   Forster,  and  Irving,  and  Notes. 

Gray's  Select  Poems 

The  "Elegy,"  "The  Bard,"  "The  Progress  of  Poesy,"  and  other 
Poems,  with  Life  of  Gray,  William  Howitt's  Description  of  Stoke- 
Pogis,    and  historical,  critical,  and  explanatory  Notes. 

Macaulay's  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome 

With  the  Author's  Preface  and  Introductions,  Criticisms  by  John 
Stuart  Mill,  Henry  Morley,  ''Christopher  North,"  and  others, 
historical  and  explanatory  Notes,  and  copious  Illustrations. 

Milton's  Minor  Poems 

Containing  all  of  Milton's  Minor  Poems  except  the  Translations, 
with  biographical  and  critical  Introductions,  and  historical  and  ex- 
planatory Notes. 

Wordsworth's  Select  Poems 

Seventy-one  Poems,  with  Life,  Criticisms  from  Matthew  Arnold, 
R.  H.  Hutton,  Principal  Shairp,  J.  R.  Lowell,  and  Papers  of  the 
Wordsworth  Society,  and  very  full  Notes.  Illustrated  by  Abbey, 
Parsons,  and  other  eminent  artists. 

Copies  will  be  sent,  prepaid,  on  receipt  of  the  pricfc. 


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An   Introduction  to  the 

Study   of  American   Literature 

By  BRANDER  MATTHEWS 

Professor  of  Literature  in  Columbia  University 

Cloth,  12mo,  256  pages         ....         Price  $1.00 


A  text-book  of  literature  on  an  original  plan,  and  conform- 
ing with  the  best  methods  of  teaching. 

Admirably  designed  to  guide,  to  supplement,  and  to  stimu- 
late the  student's  reading  of  American  authors. 

Illustrated  with  a  fine  collection  of  facsimile  manuscripts, 
portraits  of  authors,  and  views  of  their  homes  and  birthplaces. 

Bright,  clear,  and  fascinating,  it  is  itself  a  literary  work  of 
high  rank. 

The  book  consists  mostly  of  delightfully  readable  and  yet 
comprehensive  little  biographies  of  the  fifteen  greatest  and 
most  representative  American  writers.  Each  of  the  sketches 
contains  a  critical  estimate  of  the  author  and  his  works,  which 
is  the  more  valuable  coming,  as  it  does,  from  one  who  is 
himself  a  master.  The  work  is  rounded  out  by  four  general 
chapters  which  take  up  other  prominent  authors  and  discuss 
the  history  and  conditions  of  our  literature  as  a  whole.  The 
book  also  contains  a  complete  chronology  of  the  best  American 
literature  from  the  beginning  down  to  the  present  period. 

Each  of  the  fifteen  biographical  sketches  is  illustrated  by 
a  fine  portrait  of  its  subject  and  views  of  his  birthplace  or 
residence  and  in  some  cases  of  both.  They  are  also  accom- 
panied by  each  author's  facsimile  manuscript  covering  one  or 
two  pages.  The  book  contains  excellent  portraits  of  many 
other  authors  famous  in  American  literature. 


Copies  sent^  prepaid^  on  receipt  of  the  price, 

American  Book  Company 

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A    HISTORY   OF 
ENGLISH    LITERATURE 

BY 

REUBEN   POST   HALLECK,  M.A.    (Yale) 

Price,  $1.25 


HALLECK'S  History  of  English  Literature 
is  a  concise  and  interesting  text-book  of 
the  history  and  development  of  English 
literature  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  present. 
While  the  work  is  sufficiently  simple  to  be  readily 
comprehended  by  high  school  students,  the  treat- 
ment is  not  only  philosophic,  but  also  stimulating 
and  suggestive,  and  will  naturally  lead  to  original 
thinking. 

The  book  is  a  history  of  literature  and  not  a 
mere  collection  of  biographical  sketches.  Only 
enough  of  the  facts  of  an  author's  life  are  given 
to  make  s^udents  interested  in  him  as  a  personality, 
and  to  show  how  his  environment  affected  his 
work.  The  author's  productions,  their  relation 
to  the  age,  and  the  reasons  why  they  hold  a  posi- 
tion in  literature,  receive  treatment  commensurate 
with  their  importance. 

At  the  end  of  each  chapter  a  carefully  pre- 
pared list  of  books  is  given  to  direct  the  student 
in  studying  the  original  works  of  the  authors 
treated.  He  is  told  not  only  what  to  read,  but 
also  where  to  find  it  at  the  least  cost. 


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Important  Text^Books  in  Rhetoric 

BY   ADAMS    SHERMAN    HILL 

Boylston  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  Oratory  in  Harvard  University 


BEGINNINGS   OF  RHETORIC  AND  COM- 
POSITION       $1.25 

This  book  is  designed  primarily  to  meet  the  needs  of  pupils 
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mation that  is  new  in  presentation  and  permanent  in  value 
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the  young  writer  how^  to  present  what  he  has  to  say  in  the 
best  English  within  his  reach  and  in  the  form  best  adapted 
to  his  purpose.  No  supplement  with  exercises  is  required 
in  connection  with  this  work,  as  the  book  is  complete  in 
itself.  Nearly  two  hundred  exercises  are  introduced  to  aid 
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The  object  of  this  book  is  to  train  boys  and  girls  to  say 
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nicalities and  a  maximum  of  space  to  essentials.  In  language 
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This  popular  work  has  been  almost  wholly  rewritten,  and  is 
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DEG  ^