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THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE GENERAL EDITOR : W. J. CRAIG
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
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SHAKESPEARE
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
EDITED BY
K. DEIGHTON
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36 ESSEX STREET: STRAND
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CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction . ■ • • "
Troilus and Cressida . . •
. 203
Appendix I. • • • * " ,
Appendix II. •
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INTRODUCTION
Unless Shakespeare owed suggestions to a play called Troilus and Cressida upon which Dekker and Chettle were engaged in 1599, but which has not come down to us, the plot of our drama may be taken as derived in the main from Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, Caxton's Reaiyell of the Historyes of Troye, and Lydgate's Historye, Sege, and dystruccyon of Troye. To these may be added Chapman's translation of the Iliad (of which books i. ii. and vii.-xi, were published in 1598) as furnishing hints of character ; especially in the case of Thersites, whose portrait, physical and moral, is only more elaborately worked out by the dramatist. Of Shakespeare's obligations to Caxton and Lydgate there can be no doubt. On the question whether in the Cressida myth he was primarily and chiefly indebted to Chaucer, something will be said further on.
Troilus and Cressida was first published in 1609. It then appeared as a quarto, of which there were two im- pressions differing only in the title-page and in the fact that one of them is prefaced by an address to the reader. This address opens with the words "Eternal reader, you have heere a new play neuer stal'd with the stage, neuer clapper- clawd with the palmes of the vulgar, and yet passing full
vii
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viii INTRODUCTION
of the palme comicall " ; and hence it was inferred that the impression in question was the earh'er of the two quartos. As, however, the title-pages were evidently printed from the same form, and as the running title. The History of Troilus and Cressida, corresponds in each, the Cambridge Editors believe that the copies of the impression without the address were first issued for the theatre and afterwards those with it for general readers. " In this case," they remark, " the expression 'neuer stal'd with the stage, neuer clapper- clawd with the palmes of the vulgar,' must refer to the first appearance of the play in type, unless we suppose that the publisher was more careful to say what would recommend his book than to state what was literally true."
No further publication of the play is known until it appeared in the folio of 1623. There it stands between the Histories and the Tragedies, and its position has given rise to much dispute. It was supposed by Steevens to have been unknown to the editors Heminge and Coudell till after the volume was almost printed off; and Farmer added, " It was at first either unknown or forgotten. It does not, however, appear in the list of the plays, and is thrust in between the Histories and the Tragedies, without any enumeration of the pages ; except, I think, on one leaf only." To these hypotheses Knight replies, " If these critics had carried their inquiries one step farther, they would have found that Troilus and Cressida was neither unknown nor forgotten by the editors of the first folio. It is more probable that they were only doubtful how to classify it. In the first quarto edition it is called a famous History in the title-page ; but in the preface it is repeatedly
INTRODUCTION ix
mentioned as a Comedy. In the folio edition it bears the title of The Tragedie of Troilus and Cressida. In that edition the Tragedies begin with Coriolamis ; and the paging goes on regularly from i to y6, that last page bringing us within a hundred lines of the close of Romeo and Juliet. We then skip pages Jj and 78, Romeo and Juliet concluding with 79. Now the leaf of Troilus and Cressida on which Farmer observed an enumeration of pages includes the second and third pages of the play, and those are marked 79, 80. If the last page of Romeo and Juliet had been marked yj, as it ought to have been, and the first page of Troilus 78, we should have seen at once that this Tragedy was intended by the editors to follow Romeo and Juliet. But they found, or they were informed* that this extraordinary drama was neither a Comedy, nor a History, nor a Tragedy ; and they therefore placed it between the Histories and the Tragedies, leaving it to the reader to make his own classification."
With regard to the discrepancies between the quarto and the folio, the Cambridge Editors write : " Some of the most important have been mentioned specially in the notes at the end of the play, and all others are recorded in the footnotes. We find in the Folio several passages essential to the sense of the context which do not exist in the Quarto, and which therefore must have been omitted by the negligence of a copyist or printer. On the other hand, we find some passages in the Quarto, not absolutely essential to the sense, though a decided improvement to it and quite in the author's manner, which either do not appear in the Folio at all, or appear in a mutilated form.
X INTRODUCTION
Sometimes the lines whicli are wrongly divided in the Quarto are divided properly in the Folio, and vice versa : in this point, however, the former is generally more correct than the latter. The two texts differ in many single words : sometimes the difference is clearly owing to a clerical or typographical error, but in other cases it appears to result from deliberate correction, first by the author himself, and secondly by some less skilful hand. . . . On the whole we are of opinion that the Quarto was printed from a transcript of the author's original MS. ; that this MS. was afterwards revised and slightly altered by the author himself, and that before the first Folio was printed from it, it had been tampered with by another hand. Perhaps the corrections are due to the writer who did not shrink from prefixing to
\ Shakespeare's play a prologue of his own."
The question of the date of composition is a difficult one, and various theories have endeavoured to solve it. Of these the most elaborate is that put forward by Fleay in 1876. Three plot^, that critic held, are "interwoven, each of which is distinct in manner of treatment, and was com- posed at a different time from the other two. There is, first, the story o{\Troj//us and Cressida which v/as earliest written, on the basis of Chaucer's poem ; next comes the §tory of the challenge of Hector, their combat, and the
'(•^sjaying of Hector by Achilles, on the basis of Caxton's ' Three Destructions of Troy : and * finally, the story of Ulysses' stratagem to induce Achilles to return to the battlefield by setting up Ajax as his rival, which was written after the publication of Chapman's Homer, from whom Thersites, a chief character in this part, was taken."
INTRODUCTION xi
The dates at which the several parts were written Fleay conjectured to be about 1594, 1595 and 1607; and the conclusion thus drawn was based upon the difference of thought and expression between the earlier and the latest stories, and secondly, upon metrical evidence according with this difference. In his Introduction to Shakespearian Study, published a year later, he merely says, " This play was originally acted by the Chamberlain's men c. 1601, and was so entered for publication 7th February, 1603. . . . The play was rewritten (except the love story which remains nearly unchanged) before 1606, . . . and was printed in 1609, piratically, as a play, ' not staled with the stage '. It was first acted in its present form in 1609." • • • Other critics, with less minuteness of detail, believe that the original production, which they date somewhere between 1599 and 1602, was revised and enlarged between 1606 and 1609, Thus Verplanck,^ to some extent anticipating Fleay, writes in 1847, " In Romeo and Juliet, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and more especially in Hamlet, we have the direct evidence of the manner in which Shakespeare, after having sketched out a play on the fashion of his youthful taste and skill, returned in after years to enlarge and re- model it, and enrich it with matured fruits of years of observation and reflection. ... In such a recasting and improvement of a juvenile work, unless it was wholly rewritten — which seems never to have been Shakespeare's method — the work would bear the characteristics of the several periods of its composition, and with the vernal flush of his youthful fancy it would have its crudity of taste, but
1 1 quote from Rolfe's edition of the play, n.d.
X
xii INTRODUCTION
contrasted with the matured fulness of thought and the labouring intensity of compressed expression of his middle i career. . . . Moreover, the style, and the verbal and metri- cal 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, . . . the author of Romeo and Juliet before 1595, might well have preceded it with the lighter loves of Cressida." ^ Others, again, date the whole of the play at 1608 or 1609. The advocates of the earliest date of a portion at all events of the story rely strongly on a passage in the old play of Histriouiastix published not later than 1602 and apparently ridiculing Shakespeare's Troiliis and Cressida in the following lines : —
Troyltis. Come, Cressida, my cresset light.
Thy face doth shine both day and night, Behold, behold thy garter blue, 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.
Cressida. O knight with valour in thy face.
Here take my skreene, wear it for grace; Within thy helmet put the same Therewith to make thy enemies lame : '^
the allusion being to V. ii. of the play.
* These passages do not come consecutively in Verplanck's Introduction, but are pieced together in order to show to what extent they are in keeping with Fleay's theory.
- Mr. Gollancz, in his edition of Troilus and Cressida, points out that after 1. 3 of this extract a line, ending with a rhyme to "blue," has dropped out, and that "wears" (1. 4) should be "wear" to rhyme with "spear". He adds, " This passage lends colour to the hypothesis that Troilus and
INTRODUCTION xiii
The arguments in favour of a revision and reconstruction which Verplanck and Fleay deduce from thought and dic- tion on the one hand and from metrical evidence on the other are in themselves forcible, the former more especially. To these are to be added the undramatic character of the play, apparent in its structure, its personages, and its pur- pose ; its want of unity ; and the desultory succession of incident and dialogue, noticed by various critics, which led Sir Walter Scott to say that it resembled " a legend, or a chronicle, rather than a dramatic composition," and which possibly account for its being styled a " History " in the quarto. There is, indeed, one consideration which makes it difficult to accept the revision theory, viz., the cynical, belittling, sour spirit that besmirches the whole play and seems to testijy^to a passing mood of morbid disgust. Still, it may be argued that the portion which Fleay dates about 1607, that of the stratagem by which Ulysses tries to bring Achilles back to the battle-field, is the portion in which this spirit is least dominant. For though the Greek chiefs who take part in the plot are not the chiefs of Homer's ninth Book, though it is burlesqued, and we see none of the divine wrath of Pelides, Ulysses is not much degraded below the level of the Iliad, certainly is not a meaner man than him of the Philoctetes. Nor, again, is Thersites, here so prominent, painted with a deeper brush than that used by Homer. His portraiture is more of a full-length, but
Cressida originally had some real or supposed bearing on the theatrical quarrels of the day, Ajax representing Jonson and Thersites standing for Dekker ; rank Thersites with his mastic jaws has been brought into connexion with Dekker's Satironiastix (1601) and Jonson's description of him in the Poetaster, ' one of the most overflowing rank wits of Rome ' ".
xiv INTRODUCTION
the features are the same. If there was to be a revision and if this story was to be inserted, it is obvious that the characters must be made to harmonise as far as possible with the spirit of the play as at first conceived.
That the love-story was Shakespeare's starting-point is, I suppose, generally admitted. That in its delineation he followed Chaucer is generally assumed. Yet the whole tone of the story as dramatised is in most marked anti- thesis to that told by the older poet. In proof of this it is worth while, I think, to make a somewhat minute com- \ <.^ parison between the poem and the play. Chaucer, in jJ" this following Boccaccio, makes Cressida a widow, and ( ' \-^' not only a widow but one of a cautious, self-contained
nature, most desirous of avoiding scandal, of preserving her good name, and of living in what is now called re- spectability. Her father's desertion to the Greeks has exposed her to the danger of public resentment ; but Hector supports her, and the excellence of her conduct, set off by the charms of personal beauty, gains her general admiration. No inherent levity of nature discovers itself, nor is it without great pressure that she is induced to betray any liking for Troilus. Pandarus, her uncle, with persistent eagerness dwells upon the miserable condition to which the Prince has been reduced by his absorbing passion for her, depicts him as a man of every virtue that should command respect and of every charm that could attract love. His military fame and his gallant bearing as she sees him on horseback appeal to her imagination with a force that is quickened by the knowledge of his devotion. Her scruples and timidity Pandarus strives to
INTRODUCTION xv
overcome by protests that neither he nor Troilus has a thought of proposing anything that would injure her reputation or shock her modesty. Still, the affair proceeds slowly, and hope deferred again prostrates the Prince. On the suggestion of Pandarus, he addresses her in a letter describing his wretched state. With reluctance she sends him an answer, but one professing a sisterly interest only. At this stage, with the assistance of Deiphobus and Helen, arrangements are made for a banquet to which Cressida is invited, and an interview between her and Troilus is planned in the hope that he may find such favour in her eyes as shall in some measure restore him to his former self Two out of Chaucer's five Books are occupied in narrating with much amplitude what is here so meagrely condensed. With the third Book we come to the banquet. At its close Cressida is persuaded to go up to a chamber in which, unknown to her, Troilus is lying sick ; and there with passionate emotion he implores only that he may be allowed to serve her as her true knight. With many ad- jurations that he should "in honour of trouthe and gentil- nesse " " mene wel to her," she accepts his love, assuring him,
For every wo ye shall recovere a blisse.
After this they meet from time to time, but purity and self-restraint are never infringed. There is much avowal of high motives, and Pandarus strongly urges upon Troilus his niece's claim to respect and consideration. How far Shakespeare's " broker-lackey " had hitherto been wearing a mask, how far he was shortly afterwards impelled by mischievous glee and love of intrigue, it matters little to consider. Whatever the motives actuating him, he again
V
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xvi INTRODUCTION
bids Cressida, with her relative Antigone and her attending women, to a supper at his house. At nightfall the guests are about to depart, but a fierce storm bursts over the place and they are persuaded to remain till morning. When Cressida has retired to her chamber and all is still, Pan- darus comes to her with a piteous tale how that Troilus, maddened with jealousy at hearing that she was destined to love another, had made his way through the storm and craved a sight of her. After much argument, he persuades her to see the Prince. A long-drawn colloquy ensues between the lovers, Troilus descanting upon his misery, and in the end so exciting her pity and her passion that she yields to his sensual desires. The third Book leaves the pair in the height of happiness. They meet, they consider themselves husband and wife, Troilus is stimulated by his joy to martial deeds, and all goes well, the public, meanwhile, being none the wiser. The fourth Book, which narrates the capture of Antenor and the arrangement whereby he is to be exchanged for Cressida, has little that bears upon her character, except that up to this time she had continued wholly faithful to Troilus. Whatever may be thought of her lax morality, there are no omens of inconstancy. In the fifth Book Cressida is escorted to the Grecian camp by the handsome Diomed, whose prowess as a soldier is as marked as his good looks. She hopes to be able to escape from her confinement and endeavours to reassure Troilus by promising to revisit Troy on the tenth day from their separation. Diomed, smitten by her beauty, begins to make love to her even on their short journey to the camp and vigorously presses
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INTRODUCTION
his suit as soon as she has been made over to her father. For a time she resists his importunity, but before the ten days are over succumbs to the fascination of his wily tongue and personal gifts. Chaucer relates the fact, but does not describe the process. He seems tired and disappointed, feels perhaps that he has failed in delineating the character of his heroine, and only makes a lame attempt to reinstate her in our favour, or at least to modify our reproach, by declaring that her inconstancy was mainly due to pity for Diomed's devotion and that her defection has brought bitter sorrow to herself.
Shakespeare's Cressida is of a wholly different mould. From first to last she is consistent in levity of character, and her crowning act of faithlessness is but a true develop- ment of the traits outlined in the opening scene with Pandarus. There we find her free, nay, absolutely indeli- cate of speech, well seen in such japes as rise readily to the lewd lips of her filthy-minded uncle, and clearly no novice to vicious suggestion and innuendo. Her very con- fession of love for Troilus, made when left alone, breathes of the senses not of the heart, and the casual remark of Paris, " my disposer Cressida," shows in what light she was regarded at the Trojan court. Pretty as is the coquetry — foreshadowed in her self-communing — with which she tantalises the enamoured Prince, it is yet the coquetry of a wanton who listens without a blush when Pandarus chides her coyness with the suggestion "an 'twere dark, you'ld close sooner " ; without a blush, when, upon Troilus's remark " You have bereft me of all words, lady," his com- ment is, " Words pay no debts, give her deeds ; but she '11 b
xviii INTRODUCTION
r bereave you o' the deeds too, if she call your activity in question " ; or, again, dropping all veil of decency, says, '\ "if my lord get a boy of you, you'll give him me"; the coquetry of a wanton who, as the scene closes, accepts without demur his coarsely worded proposal that she \ should lose no time in gratifying her lust. The deed done, j she receives with scarcely a pretence of shame the flouts ! with which that worthy greets her on the following morning. \ When the news comes that she is to be exchanged fo- ^ Antenor, her grief is no doubt violent ; and in the scenes immediately succeeding we have the only semblance of ; a love that is anything but mere animal passion. At the \ moment of parting from Troilus her professions of fidelity ,'are abundant, and for that moment perhaps sincere. Yet I it is something more than a lover's fears that prompts j Troilus to exact so many vows of constancy and to suggest with reiteration the dangers to which she will be exposed from the fascination of the Grecian youth. He might well suspect that a love so lightly won would be as lightly lost. At any rate her passionate grief is of the shortest duration. Without rebuke she allows Diomed to protest his admiration even before she starts on her journey and while in the act 1 of bidding farewell to Troilus. On arrival at the Grecian camp all traces of her better emotions have vanished. With i easy insouciance she bandies risque jests, with easy com- pliance she bandies kisses, among the assembled chiefs. \ Well may Ulysses say : —
Fie, fie upon her ! There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip, Nay, her foot speaks; her wanton spirits look out At every joint and motive of her body.
INTRODUCTION xix
O, these encounterers, so glib of tongue, That give accosting welcome ere it comes, And wide unclasp the tables of their thoughts To every ticklish reader 1 set them down For sluttish spoils of opportunity And daughters of the game.
I^Her latest appearance shows her as having in a short ten \^days been " tempted " to " folly," as, indeed, already notori- ous for a "drab," as using her reminiscences of Troilus to fire the passion of Diomed, as confessing to herself that —
Minds sway'd by eyes are full of turpitude, i
In short, while Chaucer's Cressida is a woman at the outset modest and reserved, who, exposed to strong terhptation and beset by wily lures, yields to the promptings of passion, and, probably as a consequence of her first lapse, adds to that offence the stain of inconstancy, Shakespeare paints a character who at her best betrays the manners and morals of a sfrisette, at her worst can boast little more refinement and purity than Doll Tearsheet herself. If Shakespeare was in a pessimistic frame of mind, his pourtrayal of Cressida is easily accounted for. But we may further con- jecture that his insight showed him how ill-suited for dramatic treatment was the view conceived or accepted by Chaucer; how impossible the reconcilement between the Cressida of the clear dawn and the Cressida of the murky sunset. I say this on the assumption that Shake- speare did take Chaucer and Chaucer alone as the source of the Cressida myth. Is this proven ? The absence of any other known source — play, poem, or romance — dealing with the story in a cynical spirit does not seem conclusive. Nor is it improbable that a theme handled in so many
XX INTRODUCTION
languages by so many diverse artists should have varied in its conception and treatment, or impossible that Shake- speare should have had access to translations of which we know nothing.
For the romance literature dealing with the Tale of Troy is a large one. Earliest among the narratives that supplied material for that literature are the Historia de Excidio Trojae of Dares the Phrygian and the Ephemeris Belli Trojani of Dictys the Cretan, both of which writers pretended to belong to the Homeric age, but probably lived between the fifth and seventh centuries, and wrote in Latin. Next to these works perhaps come two Latin elegiac poems of the twelfth century, one anonymous, the other by Simon Chevre d'Or, a canon in Paris. These, however, may be passed over as containing no mention of the Cressida myth. It is in the great Roman de Troit by Benoit de Sainte More, dated i i6o, and running to close upon 30,000 lines, that we first meet with the loves of the faithless Briseida, daughter of Calchas. From this poem Boccaccio took the theme of his Filostrato^ the heroine in the Italian becoming Griseida in place of Briseida. The Roman was evidently very popular, for it was trans- lated into German, somewhere about the end of the twelfth century, and in the thirteenth into Latin prose by Guido delle Colonne, who, however, did not mention that his work was a translation, but left it to be taken as an original
' Mr. Boas, whose Shakespeare and his Predecessors I had not the opportunity of seeing till this part of my Introduction was completed, says Boccaccio worked upon Guide's translation. Mr. Boas takes almost exactly the same view with myself on the Cressida question, and I may cheerfully add, writes with a charm which my narrative does not possess.
INTRODUCTION xxi
production. It was from this prose version that Lydgate derived the materials for his Troy Book. By a curious fate, Guido's work was in part retranslated from the Latin into French by Raoul le Fevre. This translation had a great vogue, as we may judge by the fact that the first book printed in English was a translation of Raoul le Fevre which Caxton entitled Recuyell of the Histories of Troye.
Chaucer's story was continued by the Scottish poet Henryson, who thought that punishment ought to be meted out to Cressida, 'Here is his portrait of her, stanza xii. of The Testament of Cresseid : —
O, fair Cresseid ! the floure and A per se
Of Troy and Grece, how was thou fortunait !
To change in filth all thy feminitie,
And be with fleschelie lust sa maculait,
And go amang the Greikis air and lait,
Sa giglotlike, takand thy foull plesance ;
I have pietie thou suld fall in sic mischance.
He goes on to relate the sentence passed on her by Saturn and Cynthia, whereby she is afflicted with leprosy, con- demned to the " spittail hous," and made to wander about as a beggar with "cop and clapper". Did Shakespeare take his first idea of Cressida from Henryson ? So far back as Henry the Fifth, II. ii. 78-81, Pistol says : —
O hound of Crete, think'st thou my spouse to get ?
No ; to the spital go,
And from the powdering-tub of infamy
Fetch forth the lazar kite of Cressid's kind,
Doll Tearsheet she by name, and her espouse :
again, in Twelfth Night, III. i. 58-62, we have : —
Clown. I would play Lord Pandarus of Phrygia, sir, to bring a Cressida to this Troilus.
xxii INTRODUCTION
Viol. I understand you, sir ; 'tis well begged. Clown. The matter, I hope, is not great, sir, begging but a beggar : Cressida was a beggar.
Heywood who, in his Iron Age, parts i. and ii., treats the same story, abounds with reminiscences of Shakespeare and paints Cressida in even darker colours. Her defection from Troilus is represented as due to a conversation of some half-a-dozen lines with her father in which she prefers safety with Diomed to danger with Troilus ; later on she excuses herself not as having yielded to a passion for the Greek, but merely as having obeyed her father's command ; on the appearance of Sinon, who unblushingly avows to her his treacherous nature, she is persuaded after a five minutes' conversation to grant him her love ; is on Diomed's reappearance contemptuously cast off by Sinon as " a fair Troian weather-hen " ; and on the taking of Troy has already been " branded with leprosy ".
If, however, in our play Cressida fares worse than any of the characters presented in this part of the story, the same acrid and depreciatory touch is upon nearly all of them. Pandarus, at all events in the earlier parts of Chaucer's poem, is represented as really fond of his niece and careful of her interests ; while towards Troilus his attitude is rather that of an over-zealous friend who is ready to use every effort to rescue him from the unhappy plight into which love has brought him. Later on, it is true, his unscrupulous nature and love of intrigue reveal themselves, and when his mischief is accomplished he only chuckles over the villainous plot that has been the undoing of Cressida. But at his worst he never approaches in baseness the filthy, prurient, self-appointed tool who revels
INTRODUCTION xxiii
in garbage of words and garbage of deeds, and whom Shakespeare has damned for all time to come. Whence, then, if not from his own inner consciousness, did the dramatist derive suggestions for his portrait? Not from Chapman's Iliad (even if that part of the translation could have been seen in MS.), for the worst said of him there (bk. iv. 98-103) is as follows: —
And [Pallas] sought for Lycian Pandarus, a man that being bred
Out of a faithless family, she thought was fit to shed
The blood of any innocent, and break the covenant sworn ;
He was Lycaon's son, whom Jove into a wolf did turn
For sacrificing of a child, and yet in arms renowned
As one that was inculpable.
Nor from Lydgate, for Pandarus, I believe, is only once mentioned in the Troy Book; nor from Boccaccio, whose Pandaro is young and chivalrous. As regards Ajax, Malone suggests that Shakespeare, finding in Lydgate a sketch of both Ajax Oileus and Ajax Telamonius, ascribes to the latter the ignoble traits given by His authority to the former ; or that he confounded " Ajax Thelamon " of The Destruction of Troy with Ajax Oileus, there called simply "Ajax" and described as "of a huge stature, great and large in the shoulders" . . . and "of no great enterprise". Again, Steevens points out that Lydgate, "who in the grossest manner has violated all the characters drawn by Homer," takes upon him to reprehend the Greek poet for having magnified the chivalry of Achilles in making him cope and slay Hector single-handed. To this extent, then, Shakespeare may have had an excuse, that he followed the old romances. But it is abundantly clear that he knew better, and that he had some set purpose in debasing
xxiv INTRODUCTION
these two characters from the heroes of all classical lore to creatures not much loftier than the braggart Pistol. Agamemnon, Nestor and Hector, it is true, are not be- draggled beyond all recognition ; yet no one can say that they are heroic after the pattern of Homer.^
The inner meaning of the play as a whole has found many diverse interpretations. Coleridge was " half-inclined to believe that Shakespeare's 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 raorefeaturely, warriors of Christian chivalry, and to substantiate the distinct and graceful profiles of the Homeric into the flesh and blood of the romantic drama — in short, to give a grand history-piece in the robust style of Albert Durer". Knight, in this following Ulrici, thinks that the whole tendency of the play, its incidents, its characterisation, is to lower what the Germans call hero- dom, and that to satirise such herodom Shakespeare wrote Troilus and Cressida. To this Verplanck cogently replies, " I suppose that there are very few readers in this practical and utilitarian world of England and America, who will give the very practical Shakespeare credit for so remote an object as a satire in which so few of his readers or audience could possibly sympathise, and which, in after
^ Mr. Furnivall and Mr. Boas both suggest that in so belittling these heroes Shakespeare was prompted by ill-will towards Chapman, as being in all likelihood the rival who ousted him from his patron's favour. To me it seems altogether impossible that he should have prostituted his art to so poor and so obscure a purpose, or should have been guilty of so petty a revenge. Those who are curious on this point may be referred to Mr. Acheson's volume entitled Shakespeare and the. Rival Poet, a book that carries no conviction to me.
INTRODUCTION xxv
ages, could escape the observation of Dryden, Johnson, Walter Scott, and even of the sagacious and over-refining Warburton ". To me nothing could be more unlike Shake- speare than such an intention. Shakespeare is incidentally a satirist, but he does not propose to himself to write a satire. Such a proceeding is alien from his nature, alien from his conception of the dramatic scope, alien from his practice. Nor is he a moralist ; that is, he does not mount the pulpit to preach a moral doctrine. A moral is of course to be found in his plays, as it is to be found in all stories of human action. But it is there because the poet taking certain characters and certain incidents, whether from history, fiction, or his own imagination, shows us dramatically how those characters would act among those incidents ; not because he has chosen those characters and in- cidents to illustrate a particular theory of ethics or of politics. Grant White is of opinion that " 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 Shake- speare ". Here, again, I am compelled to dissent. Ulysses is by force of circumstances on the scene, and history fits him to be the mouthpiece of sound practical wisdom tinctured with a cynical purview of human motive. So far his mood was probably Shakespeare's mood for the nonce, and much that this character says may have been the utterance of Shakespeare's thoughts upon life. But that the dramatist should have had for his main purpose to use the hero as a stalking-horse behind which to launch his shafts, I cannot for a moment believe. Shakespeare's
w
xxvi INTRODUCTION
impersonality is so cardinal a doctrine in the interpretation of his mind and art that much stronger reasons would be necessary to persuade one that he here removed the mask and showed his features to the world. Dowden calls the play a "comedy of disillusion," and notices "a striking resemblance in its spirit and structure to Tinion of Athens" . So, too, Furnivall, who pertinently contrasts the tone of the play with that of The Rape of Lucrece, 11. 1 366-1 568, when dealing with characters common to both. Boas, whose study of the play is the most complete and most satisfac- tory that I know, says, among many other things, " In the Lucrece Shakspere had introduced an elaborate description of the siege of Troy, and had there referred to Helen as * the strumpet that began this stir '. The phrase gives us an important clue to Shakspere's motive for combining in one play the story of Troilus and Cressida and the broader theme of the conflict between Greece and Troy. Helen and Cressida are made to figure in exactly the same light. Both are heartless and disloyal, yet they awake a devotion of which they are utterly unworthy. The infatuation of Troilus is paralleled by that of Menelaus and Paris whom Diomed cynically classes together as equally deserving of Helen : —
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.
But Helen not only throws a spell over her individual lovers ; she brings two nations into conflict for the sake of her beaux yeux. As Diomed asserts : —
INTRODUCTION xxvii
For every false drop in her bawdy veins A Grecian's life hath sunk : for every scruple Of her contaminated carrion weight A Trojan hath been slain.
Hector makes a similar statement in the Trojan council
when he urges the surrender of Helen as the price of peace.
In his eyes 'she is not worth what she doth cost the
holding ' : —
'Tis mad idolatry To make the service greater than the god, And the will dotes, that is inclinable To what infectiously itself affects Without some image of the affected merit.
These lines strike the very keynote of the play, and knit
together the two plots. The ' mad idolatry that makes the
service greater than the god ' is exemplified in the one on
a personal, in the latter on a national scale. Troilus is
infected by the mania as virulently as in his private
character. His rhapsodies over Cressida are not more
glowing than over Helen, the
Grecian queen, whose youth and freshness Wrinkles Apollo and makes stale the morning.
r For her sake he, and, as is natural, Paris, are eager to risk , the welfare of the entire Trojan state, and Hector, though ' he holds that ' the moral laws of nature and of nation ' demand her restoration, yields to the impetuous counsels of his younger brothers and confesses that he has already sent ' a roisting challenge ' among the Greeks. The de- bate moves throughout in the circle, not of antique, but of mediaeval ideas. It illustrates and implicitly condemns the quixotic sacrifice of great national interests to a fantastic J code of exaggerated gallantry." . . , Much more of this
xxviii INTRODUCTION
writer's admirable examination of the play I should like to quote, but can only advise those interested in the pro- blem to study the whole of the chapter in which it is dis- cussed by him. On the whole I think my own view, put shortly, is that being in a moody spirit and having, upon whatever^ j)rompting, { taken the most cynical view of Cressida's character, Shakespeare "set down the keys that made the music " of the Homeric heroes whom he brought into the story, and giving prominence to the fact that the war was waged for " a cuckold and a whore," held cheap those who would fight upon such an argument. But the more I ponder the play, the more do I feel that, though Fleay may have laid down lines too hard and fast, there must have been some considerable revision, and that the " third story " of his division could not have belonged to the drama in its original form.
While the critics differ as to the meaning of the play, they are also at variance in regard to the greater or less skill with which the several characters are delineated. Thus Godwin writes, " But the great beauty of this play, as it is of all the genuine writings of Shakespeare ... is that his men are men ; his sentiments are living, and his char- acters marked with those delicate, evanescent, undefinable touches which identify them with the great delineation of nature ". Again, Verplanck says, " 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." . . . Grant White, on the other hand, notices "a singular lack of that peculiar characteristic of Shakespeare's dramatic style, the marked distinction
INTRODUCTION xxix
and nice discrimination of the individual traits, mental and moral, of the various personages. . . . The thoughtful reader will observe that Ulysses pervades the serious parts of the play, which is all Ulyssean in its thoughts and lan- guage. . . . For example, no two men could be more unlike in character than Achilles and Ulysses, and yet the former having asked the latter what he is reading, he, uttering his own thoughts, says as follows with the sub- sequent reply : —
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. Nor feels not what he owes but by reflection ; As when his virtues shining upon others 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 Where it may see itself This is not strange at all.
I Now these speeches are made of the same metal and coined I in the same mint ; and they both of them have the image and superscription of William Shakespeare. No words or thoughts could be more unsuited to that bold, bloody egoist, ' the broad Achilles,' than the reply he makes to Ulysses ; but here Shakespeare was merely using the Greek champion as a lay figure to utter his own thoughts, which
XXX INTRODUCTION
are perfectly in character with the son of Autolycus. Ulysses thus flows over the whole serious part of the play. Agamemnon, Nestor, ^neas and the rest all talk alike, and all like Ulysses." This similarity of tone and temperament cannot, it seems to me, be denied. Yet to admit it is to admit that Shakespeare has for once failed in what was the most distinctive mark of his superiority over all his compeers, and that too in a play in which intellect is at its highest ; which displays the profoundest practical wisdom, the keenest insight into the motives and impulses of human nature. Surely we have here another incongruity added to the enigmas which baffle us in the general scheme.
The duration of the action of this play is thus stated by Mr. P. A. Daniel :—
Day I. Act i, sc. i. and ii.
Interval: the long-continued truce [l. iii. 261, 262]. „ 2. Act I. sc. iii., Act II., and Act III. ,, 3. Act IV., Act V. sc. i. and first part of sc. ii, „ 4. Act V. the latter part of sc. ii. and sc. iii.-x. But Mr. Daniel further points out certain discrepancies, among which the following may be specially noticed : —
"Act II. sc. iii. In the Grecian camp, before the tent of Achilles. 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' (1. 171). At the end of the scene Ulysses remarks : —
To-morrow We must with all our main of power stand fast (11. 268-9).
INTRODUCTION xxxi
These two passages are somewhat ambiguous, for in fact only the single combat between Hector and Ajax is re- solved on for the morrow.
" Act III. sc. i. We are back again in Troy. Pandarus requests Paris to excuse Troiius to Priam, should 'the king call for him at supper ' (1. 8o). In this scene com- mences 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 encounter 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 a-field to-day ? ' Paris replies, ' Hector, Deiphobus, Helenus, Antenor, and all the gallantry of Troy '. Paris himself, it seems, nor Troiius went not. Towards the end of the scene a re- treat is sounded, and Paris says : —
They're come from the field ; let us to Priam's hall To greet the warriors ;
and he begs Helen to come 'help unarm our Hector'.
"Act III. sc. iii. In the Grecian camp. The allusions to the combat which is to com6 off to-morrow between 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 entanglement 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, Yesteyday took ;
XXXll
INTRODUCTION
and he requests that Antenor may be changed for his daughter Cressida. The commanders assent, and Diomedes is commissioned to effect the exchange. From this it ap- pears that Antenor, who goes out to fight on this very day (see Act III. sc. i.) — when there is no fighting — was never- theless taken prisoner the day before, during the long- continued truce."
For many illustrations of words and for genial co-opera- tion in every way, I have to thank our General Editor, Mr, W. J. Craig ; I wish also to thank my old friend, Mr. J. W. Sherer, C.S.I., for interesting information as to the bibliography of the Cressida myth : while to the labours of the Cambridge Editors in the matter of collation my debt, as will be seen in every page, is very large.
To the quotation on III, iii, 95 I should have added that in the Preface to his Studies in Shakespeare Mr, Churton Collins mentions that while the work was passing through the press he discovered that he had been anticipated by Grant White as to the parallel with the First Alcibiades.
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
/^
-his Sons.
DRAMATIS PERSONS
Priam, King of Troy.
Hector,
Troilus,
Paris,
Deiphobus,
Helenus,
Margarelon, a bastard Son of Priam. ks
^NEAS, )
, > Trojan Commanders.
Antenor, j
■Calchas, a Trojan Priest, taking part tvith the 6
Pandarus, Uncle to Cressida.
Agamemnon, the Grecian General.
Menelaus, his Brother. ^ilJj
Achilles,
/Tf^^'^i' -'AjAX,
Ulysses, Nestor,
DiOMEDES,
Patroclus,^ Thersites, a deformed a?id scurrilous Grecian. Alexander, Servant to Cressida. Servant to Troilus ; Serva?it to Paris ; Servant Helen, Wife to Menelaus. Andromache, Wife to Hector. \
Cassandra, Daughter to Priam, a Prophetess. {f
Cressida, Daughter to Calchas. ^ Trojan and Greek Soldiers, and At/
Scene : Troy, and the Grecian Ca^
2
Grecian Commanders.
Diomedes.
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
PROLOGUE
n Troy there lies the scene. From isles of Greece J he princes orgulous,' their high blood chafd, Have to the port of Athens sent their ships, Fraught with the ministers and instruments Of cruel war : sixty and nine, that wore T'leir crownets regal, from the Athenian bay ?ut forth toward Phrygia; and their vow is made To ransack Troy, within whose strong immures
:. orgulousl orgillous Ff.
8. immures] emures F i.
ti
The Prologue, wanting in the
arto, is generally attributed to
ae other hand than Shakespeare's.
ant White, judging from the style,
:nks that it was probably written
' George Chapman, the dramatist,
contemporary and personal friend
• our author.
2. orgulous] F. orgueilleux, " proud,
rly, swe'ling, scornful," etc., Cot-
ave. The word is found several
Ties in M.dMory'^ King Arthur. Com-
; are Ca::ton's translation of Reynard
the Fox (Arher, The Scholar's Library,
; , 36), " he was so prowde and orgil-
' nis that he had alle other beestis in
■'espyte which tofore had been his
telaws ". Caxton's Destruction of
Troy, p. 7 : " Then began men . . ,
to haunt the thorny desarts to fight and destroy the orgillous serpents".
6. crownets] properly a diminutive of " crown " ; but, like its fuller form, " coronet," often used by Shake- speare as an equivalent to that word. In Henry V. Chorus, ii. 10, we have " crowns imperial, crowns and coro- nets," i.e. crowns such as are worn by emperors, by inferior sovereigns and by peers. Marlowe, Edward I. I. i. 62, seems to use the word in the sense of bracelets : —
" Crownets of pearl about his naked arms".
8. immures] walls, fortifications. Though the verb is frequent in Shakespeare he has no instance of the substantive. In the New Eng.
4 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [prol.
The ravish'd Helen, Menelaus' queen,
With wanton Paris sleeps ; and that's the quarrel. ic^
To Tenedos they come,
And the deep-drawing barks do there disgorge
Their war-like fraughtage: now on Dardan plains
The fresh and yet unbruised Greeks do pitch
Their brave pavilions: Priam's six-gated city, 15
Dardan, and Timbria, Helias, Chetas, Troien,
And Antenorides, with massy staples
And corresponsive and fulfilling^^bolts, ^^*-^r
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
17. Antenorides] Theobald; Antenoridus Ff.
Diet, it is marked as rare and the only quotation is the present pas- sage. Heywood has " mures " and " countermures ".
13. fraughtage'] freight, sc. of
armed men. The word occurs again
in The Comedy of Errors, iv. i. 87.
Compare Pericles, 1. iv. 92-94 : —
"And these our ships, you happily
may think
Are like the Trojan horse was
stuffd within With bloody veins expecting overthrow ".
15. brave] fine, shawy, well- adorned.
16. Dardan . . . r>'o;Vw] Theobald alters to Thymbria, Ilia, Sccea, Troian, in order to make the names agree with those given by Dares Phrygius ; but, as Dyce remarks, if Shakespeare wrote the Prologue he was not likely to have consulted that author. The same editor points out that in Caxton's Recuyell the gates
are given as dardanc, tymbria, kelyas, chetas, troyenne, antenorides; and Steevens that Lydgate enumerates them as Dardanydes, Tymbria, Heleas, Cetheas, Trojana and An- thony des.
18. corresponsive] the parts of which corresponded with each other ;
fulJiUing, closely fitting into their sockets. The two epithets are ex- pressive of the security obtained.
19. Sperr] Theobald's emendation of Stirre, Stirr, Stir, is the same word as spar = shut up, enclose. Compare Chaucer, TroilusMnd Cris- cyde, V. Ixxvii. 6: —
" For whan he saugh hir dorres sperred alle". It is found in Piers the Plojvman, B text, xix. 162 ; Toilet's Miscellany (Arber, p. 255) ; Tin- Paston Letters, i. 83 (Arber) ; Spenser, Faerie Qneene, V, x. 37 ; and, in the form spar, in Jonson's Staple of News, 11, i, "spar up all your doors ".
ROL] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
A prologue arm'd, but not in confidence *f author's pen or actor's voice, but suited
i I like conditions as our argument, 25
To tell you, fair beholders, that our play
Leap's o'er the vaunt and firstlings of those broils, eginning in the middle; starting thence away
10 what may be digested in a play.
Like or find fault ; do as your pleasures are : 30
Now good or bad 'tis but the chance of war.
23-25. A prologue . . . argument] clad in armour as suitable to the sub- ject of our play, not from any over- v/eening confidence in the merits of our author or our actors. Jonson's Poetaster has an armed Prologue who thus discourses : —
" If any muse why I salute the stage An armed Prologue; know 'tis a dangerous age ;
f Wherein who writes, hath need present his scenes Fortyfold proof against the con- juring means Of base detractors, and illiterate apes. That fill up rooms in fair and formal shapes. 'Gainst these have we put on this forced defence," etc. The Epilogue to Part I. of Marston's Antonio and Mel' -■^ahegins: "Gentle- men, thoi'gb. i rt,Aitjin an armed Epi- lotji'C, 1 stand not as a peremptciy challenger of desert, either for him thut composed the Comedy, or for us that acted it ; but a most submis- sive suppliant for both ". As a rule the speaker of the Prologue wore a black cloak ; compare Prologue to Heywood's Four Prentices, etc., " Do
you not know that I am the prologue ? Do you not see this long black cloak upon my back ? "
27. ■y(i7(«<] van, first beginning ; F. avant : firstlings, Steevens compares Genesis iv. 4 : " And Abel, he also brought of the _^rs</i;;^s of his flock". For the figurative sense, compare Macbeth, iv. i. 147, 148 : —
" The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand ".
27. broils] now used of petty quarrels, bickerings, riots, had for- merly the larger sense of war, battle, combat. Compare Macbeth, i. ii. 6: —
" Say to the king the knowledge of the broil As thou didst leave it " ; Othello, I. iii. 87, "feats of broil and battle " ; very common in Chapman's Iliad in this sense.
29. 2"o le^hat . . . play] to what may be set forth in due qrder in the olay. Compare HamUt, il, ii. 460, '' an e^c^Uent. play, well digested in the scenes " ; Lat., digerere, to carry through. V • ••• '-
31. No IV good . ■ • war] whatever your verdict, we tak' it as the chance of war ; take what comes without murmuring at the cJ.ance.
ACT I
SCENE l.— Troj^. Before Priam's Palace.
• Enter Troilus armed, and Pandarus.
Tro. 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. 5
Pan. Will this gear ne'er be mended ?
Tro. 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, 10
Less valiant than the virgin in the night, And skilless as unpractis'd infancy.
Pan. Well, I have told you enough of this: for my
I. varlet] servant to a knight or vens (jyotes- i<rorfi' tlrie i'::ilerlude warrior ; in ancient chivalry a syrD- King Darius, 1565 : —
nym of " page," w'lth^ any of the contemptuous sense whjlch the word acquired later on; O.F. varlet, "a groom, also a >younker, stripling, youth" (Cotgry/e). An older spell- ing was vast-' for vassaht (which does not exist'-;, :he regular diminutive of O.F. vassal, and so a young vassal. See Skeat, Ety. Diet. s.v.
6. gear] business ; a word of wide significatiori in Shakespeare. Stee-
" Wyll not yet this geere be ameiidtd Nor your sinful acts corrected ? "
7. to their strength] usually taken as = in addition to, etc., as often in Shakespeare. Abbott, Shakespearian Grammar, § 1S7, prefers the sense of "up to," "in proportion to," "ac- cording to ".
10. fonder] more foolish, the on ginal sense of the word ; participl of M.E. fonnen.
i
sc.
I] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
part, I'll not meddle nor make no further. He that will have a cake out of the wheat 15 must needs tarry the grinding. 'o. Have I not tarried ? Pan. Ay, the grinding; but you must tarry the
bolting. Tro. Have I not tarried ? 20
Pan. Ay, the bolting; but you must tarry the
leavening. Tro. Still have I tarried. Pan. Ay, to the leavening; but here's yet in the
word "hereafter" the kneading, the making 25 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. y
Tro. 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 ?
16. needs\ Omitted in Q. 32, 33. thoughts. So traitor then she comes
when she is thence] Q ; thoughts So (Traitor) then she comes, when she is thence Ff. i, 2.
ig. bolting] sifting. Compare The 30. blench . . . sufferance] shrink
Winter's Tale, iv. iv. 375 : — from suffering ; blench, a word of very
" The fanned snow obscure history, originally meant to
That's bolted by the northern cheat, chide, from O.E. blcncan, to
blasts". deceive, cheat ; later used transitively
The word is used figuratively also, for to turn away the eye, and in-
as in the Nonne Prestes Tale, 420 : — transitively for to flinch. Compare
" But 1 cannot bulte it to the bren," Measure for Measure, iv. v. 5 ;
which Dryden modernised in his Fletcher, The False One, iv. iv. :
Palamon and Arcite :— "Art thou so poor to blench at what
" I cannot bolt the matter to the thou hast done ? "
bran". ^^. So, traitor I ... thence]'Ro-we's
29. what] of whatever nature. correction; see cr. w.
8 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [m
Pan. Well, she looked yesternight fairer than ever I
saw her look, or any woman else. Tro. 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. Pan. 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, 45 she is my kinswoman ; I would not, as they term^ it, praise her ; but I would somebody had heard her talk yesterday, as I did : I will not dispraise your sister Cassandra's wit, but — Tro. O Pandarus ! I tell thee, Pandarus, — 50
When I do tell thee, there my hopes lie drown'd, Reply not in how many fathoms deep 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 55
39. a storm^ Rowe ; a scorne Q ; a-scorne (or a-scorn) Ff.
37. As wedged . . . hvahi] was An exclamation of impatience, re-
about to burst, as though split in proof, exhortation, according to the
half by a sigh. context. These were . . . women,
40. Buried . . . smile] forced because Cressida would be so mani- myself to hide my grief by fashion- festly the fairer of the two.
ing my looks into a smile. Malone 55. Pour'st . . . heart] Barry con- compares Twelfth Night, iii. ii. jectures that this line should be 85: "he does smile his face into trans^posed to follow line 63, and more lines than is in the new so Lettsom, with the alteration to map with the augmentation of the Pour' d,\vou\diea.d. The latter would Indies". also follow a suggestion made by 44. go to] never mind, let that be. Grant White, but not edited by him.
SCI] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 9
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 ;
57. discourse : O that her hand] Q ; discourse. O that her Hand Ff.
that in line 60 we should read, " And spirit of sense the cygnet's down is harsh," with the further change in the next line to " As the hard palm," etc.
57. The punctuation here is that of Malone. Staunton conjectured, " Handiest . . . hand, — O that, In whose," etc., or " Handiest in thy discourse her hand — O, that her hand," etc., and in any case would take Troilus to be repeating, or pre- tending to repeat, what Pandarus had said in praise of Cressida's hand — which does not seem by any means an improvement.
60,61. andspirit . , . ploughman] Grant White's suggestion has al- ready been mentioned. Hanmergave "harsh to th' spirit," etc. ; 'Warbur- ton, " harsh (and spite of sense)," etc. ; Capell, " harsh, in spirit," etc. The words " spirit of sense " have been explained " the most exquisite power of sensibility " (Johnson) ; " most delicate and ethereal touch " (Lettsom) ; "sense or sensibility it- self" (Schmidt); and in support of such meaning it is usual to quote iii. iii. 107, " That most pure spirit of sense" {sc. the eye). But it by no means follows that because the eye is called " That most pure spirit of sense " the words " spirit of sense " taken alone could bear any such ex- planation. I am inclined to think
that we should read, " The cygnet's down is harsh in spirit, of sense Hard as," etc., i.e. in comparison with her hand the cygnet's down is in itself, in its nature, harsh, and in contact as hard, etc. The words "harsh" and " hard " would thus have a more appropriate sense. Chaucer's hyper- bole as to Cressida's beauty, Troilus and Criseyde, i. xxv. 3, 4, is less poetical : —
" Right as our firste lettre is now an A, In beautee first so stood she makeless ". 62. As] This is what Ingleby, Shakespeare, The Man and the Book, vol. i. p. 147, calls " the conjunction of reminder, being employed by Shake- speare to introduce a subsidiary state- ment, qualifying, or even contradict- ing, what goes before, which the person addressed is required to take for granted " ; as in As You Like It, III. V. 38 : —
" What though you have no beauty, — As, by my faith, I see no more in
you Than without candle may go dark to bed " ; Measure for Measure, 11. iv. 8g : — " Admit no other way to save his life. As I subscribe not that nor any other " :
10 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. 65
Pan. I speak no more than truth.
Tro. Thou dost not speak so much.
Pan. Faith, I '11 not meddle in 't. Let her be as she is : if she be fair, 'tis the better for her ; an she be not, she has the mends in her own 70 hands.
Tro. Good Pandarus, how now, Pandarus !
Pan. 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 75 for my labour.
Tro. What ! art thou angry, Pandarus ? what ! with me ?
Pan. Because she's kin to me, therefore she's not so
fair as Helen : an she were not kin to me, 80
80. nof] Omitted in Q.
Antony and Cleopatra, i. iv. 22 : —
" Say this becomes him, As his composure must be rare
indeed Whom these things cannot blemish ". 70, 71. She has . . . haiids] prob- ably means it rests with her to remedy the defect, perhaps, as Johnson sug- gests, with cosmetics. A proverbial expression. Compare The Captives (Bullen's Old Plays), iv. 122: "Ra- phael. Which if he have Clowne.
Why then he hath and the mends is in your oivne hands " ; Beaumont and Fletcher, The Wild Goose Chase, 11. I : " The mends are in mine own hands, or the surgeon's". Steevens, who explains, " She may make the
best of a bad bargain," quotes Woman's a Weathercock, 1612: "I shall stay here and have my head broke, and then I have the mends in my own hands''; Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, ed. 1632, p. 605 : " And if men will be jealous in such cases, the mends is in their owne hands, they must thank themselves " ; and the above passage from Beau- mont and Fletcher.
73. / have had . . . travail] the only reward of my exertion is the pains I have taken ; travail is, of course, only another spelling oi travel (the reading of the later folios) in order to distinguish between the literal and the figurative sense of the word.
Z'
SCI.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 11
she would be as fair on Friday as Helen is on Sunday. But what care I ? I care not an she were a black-a-moor ; 'tis all one to me.
Tro. Say I she is not fair ? 85
Pan. 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. 90
Tro. Pandarus, —
Pan. Not I.
Tro. Sweet Pandarus, —
Pan. Pray you, speak no more to me ! I will leave
all as I found it, and there an end. 95
\Exit Pandams. An alarum.
Tro. Peace, you ungracious clamours ! peace, rude sounds ! Fools on__both sides J . Helen must needs be fair, When with your blood you daily paint her thus. I cannot fight upon this argument ;
81, 82. as fair . . . Sunday] " as the oracle of Delphi concerning the
fair in ordinary apparel as Helen in event of the war that was threatened
holiday finery " (Staunton). Clarke by Agamemnon. As soon as he had
thinks there is a particular reference made "his oblations and demands
to Friday as a day of abstinence and for men of Troy, Apollo (says the
to Sunday as a day of festivity among book) answered unto him, saying:
Catholics. ' Calchas, Calchas, beware that thou
83. 6/ac^-a-moor] Originally " Black returne not back again to Troj^ ; but
Moor," an Ethiopian, any very dark- goe thou with Achylles, unto the
skinned person. Compare Jonson, Greekes, and depart never from them,
The Fox, I. i. : " Gypsies, and jews, for the Greekes shall have victorie
and blackmoors " ; often formerly of the Troyans by agreement of the
without any depreciatory sense. Gods ' ". Chapman also calls him
86, 87. She's a fool . . . father] a " bishop ". Calchas, according to Shakespeare's 96. clamours] the abstract for the
authority, The Destruction of Troy, concrete.
was " a great learned bishop of Troy," gg. I . . . argument] an allusion
who was sent by Priam to consult to fighting on an empty stomach.
12 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
It is too starv'd a subject for my sword. loo
But Pandarus — O gods ! how do ye plague me. I cannot come to Cressid but by Pandar; And he 's as tetchy to be woo'd to woo . As she is stubborn-chaste against all suit. fT Tell me, Apollo, for thy Daphne's love, 105
' What Cressid is, what Pandar, and what we? 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 no Our doubtful hope, our convoy and our bark.
Alarum. Enter ^NEAS.-' u- - . . ,. ■ ^ne. How now. Prince Troilus ! wherefore not a-field ? Tro. Because not there : This woman's answer sorts,
For womanish it is to be from thence.
What news, i^neas, from the field to-day? 115 ALne. That Paris is returned home, and hurt. Tro. By whom, ^Eneas?
Aine. Troilus, by Menelaus.
Tro. Let Paris bleed : 'tis but a scar to scorn ;
Paris is gor'd with Menelaus' horn. {Alarum.
103. tetchy\teachy <^,VL 104. s<«66on«-cAas?^] Theobald ; stubborne,
chast Q, Ff.
103. ^^^cAj] fretful, peevish ; M.E. dialogue which precedes the soliloquy
tecche or tachc, a habit, especially a Pandarus professed himself angry
bad habit ; O.F. tache, a spot, stain, with Troilus. See also line 103 :
blemish. See Skeat, Ety. Diet. ' And he's as tetchy to be woo'd to
iQ^. for . . . love] I entreat you woo,' " etc.
by the lo\4e you bear to Daphne. 113. sorts] is fitting. Compare
108. Iliion] here the palace of e.g. Henry V. iv. i. 63 : " It sorts
Troy. Ilium was properly the name well with your fierceness ".
of the city ; Troy, that of the country. iiS. 'tis but . . . scorn] Does this
110. sailing] Daniel proposes vail- mean "it is but a mere trifle which
ing. " Note," he says, " that in the Paris can aflord to treat with con-
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 13
^ne. Hark! what good sport is out of town to-day. 120 Tro. Better at home, if " would I might " were " may ". But to the sport abroad: are you bound thither? ^m. In all swift haste.
Jro. Come go we then together.
\Exeunt.
SCENE W.— The Same. A Street.
Enter Cressida and ALEXANDER.
Cres. Who were those went by ?
Alex. Queen Hecuba and Helen.
Cres. And whither go they?
Alex. 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 : 5
He chid Andromache, and struck his armourer ; And, like as there were husbandry in war,
tempt," or " it is but a scar in return 5. /s, as . . . fix'd] is of the nature for the scorn with which Paris regards of a fixed, unshakeable virtue. War- Menelaus ? " Brae conjectured, and burton proposed, and Theobald ac- Hudson adopts, 5cor5^, i.e. exchange, cepted, "the Virtue," an alteration barter ; but the rhyme seems needed which seems far from an improve- in a didactic saying of the kind. In ment.
horn there is the usual allusion to 7. And, like . . . war] and, as
cuckoldom. The combat between though in war as in peaceful life it
Menelaus and Paris, and Hector's was true economy to make the most
scornful tirade at the latter's coward- of time. Compare Henry V. iv. i.
ice, are told in Chapman's Iliad, iii. 6, 7 : —
26-60. " For our bad neighbour makes us
• early stirrers,
'^'^^"^ "■ Which is both healthful and
This scene is based upon Chaucer's good husbandry " ;
description, Troilus and Criseyde, ii. and for " husbandry," Macbeth, n. i,
xxvi. 176 ff. 4 ■• —
3. as sicbject] as being under its " There's husbandry in heaven ;
dominion. Their candles are all out ".
14 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
Before the sun rose he was harness'd h'ght, And to the field goes he; where every flower /Did, as a prophet, weep what it foresaw lo
tin Hector's wrath.
Cres. What was his cause of anger?
Alex. The noise goes, this : there is among the Greeks A lord of Trojan blood, nephew to Hector ; They call him Ajax.
Cres. Good ; and what of him ?
Alex. They say he is a very man per se, 15
And stands alone.
Cres. So do all men ; unless they are drunk, sick, or have no legs.
Alex. This man, lady, hath robbed many beasts of
their particular additions : he is as valiant as 20 the lion, churlish as the bear, slow as the ele- phant ; a man into whom nature hath so
8. harness'd light] harnest lyte Q, F i ; harncst light Ff 2, 3, 4. 12.
The noise . . . Greeks] As in Q. Two lines in Ff.
8. harness'd light] It has been ment of Crcsseid, stanza xii., calls
disputed whether "light" means Cressida " the ^ouvq and A per se of
"lightly" or "promptly". War- Troie and Grece ".
burton is very scornful at Theobald's 20. additions] defined by Cowel
doubting the former sense. (La7i) Diet.) as "a title given to a
12. The noise goes] the rumour is. man besides his Christian and sur-
Compare Antony and Cleopatra, i. name, showing his estate, degree,
ii. 145: "Cleopatra, catching but mystery, trade, place of dwelling,
the least Ko/sr of this, dies instantly ". etc.". Both verse and prose of the
So V. ix. 3 below, " The bruit is, period abound with the word in this
Hector's slain ". sense. Thus Plutarch, speaking of
15. a very . . . sc] unique. Com- the praenomen, nomen and agnomen
pare Massinger, The Fatal Dowry, of the Romans, says : " The third
iii. 2; "Oh lord per se, lord! quint- was some addition given, either for
essence of honour ! " A phrase very some act or notable service, or for
frequent in old writers, who also some mark on their face, or of some
have " A per se A," " E per se E," shape ot their body, or else for some
"I per se I," etc., sometimes with special virtue they had " (Con'o/a?iz<5,
"of all," to express pre-eminent ex- ed. Skeat, c. 7). cellence. Thus Henryson, The Testa-
sen] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 15
crowded humours that his valour is crushed into folly, his folly sauced with discretion : there is no man hath a virtue that he hath 25 not a glimpse of, nor any man an attaint but he carries some stain of it : he is melan- \ choly without cause, and merry against the \ hair: he hath the joints of everything, but everything so out of joint that he is a gouty 30 Briareus, many hands and no use ; or pur- blind Argus, all eyes and no sight.
Cres. But how should this man, that makes me smile, make Hector angry ?
Alex. They say he yesterday coped Hector in the 35 battle and struck him down ; the disdain and
31. purblind] purblinde Q ; purblitided Ff. Q, F I ; strooke F 2 ; strook F 3.
36. struck] F 4 ; strokes
23. humours] In old physiology the four principal temperaments, viz. the sanguine, the phlegmatic, the choleric apd the melancholic, were supposed to arise from four humours or fluids in the body, the fluids themselves being more remotely referred to the four elements ; and what we should now term peculiarities of manner were then known as humours. The abuse of the word is ridiculed by Shakespeare in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and by Jonson in Every Man in His Humour. See Nares, Glossary, s.v.
23, 24. that his valour . . . discre- tion] so that his valour is made a conglomerate with folly, and his folly is spiced and seasoned with discre- tion. For " sauced," Theobald con- jectured "farced," i.e. stuffed.
26. glimpse of] tinge of, spark of. The Netv Eng. Diet, quotes Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici,
i. 33 : " there is not any creature that hath so neere a glimpse of their (spirits) nature, as light in the Sunne and elements".
27. stain] tincture, admixture. Compare AlVs Well that Ends Well, I. i. 122 : " You have some stain of soldier in you ".
28, 29. against the hair] against the grain. Compa.Te The Merry Wives of Windsor, 11. iii. 41 ; Romeo and Juliet, II. iv. 100. In 1 Henry IV. IV. i. 61 : " The quality and hair of our attempt " ; /«azV = peculiar nature.
33. should] can possibly. See Abbott, Shakespearian Grammar, §
325-
35. coped] met and fought with ;
F. coiiper, to strike, thence to come to blows, join battle. Compare Hey- wood, A Challenge for Beauty, vol. v. p. 67 (Pearson's Reprint) : —
"Whose sword has coped brave champions for their fame ",
16 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
shame whereof hath ever since kept Hector
fasting and waking. Cres. Who comes here? Alex. Madam, your uncle Pandarus. 40
Enter Pandarus.
Cres. Hector's a gallant man.
Alex. As may be in the world, lady.
Pan. What's that? what's that?
Cres. Good morrow, uncle Pandarus.
Pan. Good morrow, cousin Cressid. What do you 45 talk of ? Good morrow, Alexander. , How do you, cousin ? When were you at Ilium ?
Cres. This morning, uncle.
Pan. What were you talking of when I came ?
Was Hector armed and gone ere ye came to 50 Ilium ? Helen was not up, was she ?
Cres. Hector was gone, but Helen was not up.
Pan. Even so : Hector was stirring early.
Cres. That were we talking of, and of his anger.
Pan. Was he angry ? 55
Cres. So he says here.
Pan. 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 60 tell them that too.
43. WhaVs that ?] What do you 72, 73. in some degrees] by many
mean by so praising Hector? degrees. Compare Chapman, //irtrf,
47. cousin] niece; a word very xvi. igi, "thou strongest Greek by
loosely used of old, as the derivation all degrees," said of Achilles,
makes permissible. 75. / 7voidd he ivcre] sc. himself,
56. he . . . here] sc. Alexander, not distraught by love.
Pandarus's servant. 78. Condition . . . India] even if
sen] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 17
Cres. What ! is he angry too ?
Pan. Who, Troilus? Troilus is the better man of
the two. Cres. O Jupiter ! there 's no comparison. 65
Pan. ■ What ! not between Troilus and Hector ? Do
you know a man if you see him ? Cres. Ay, if I ever saw him before and knew him. Pan. Well, I say Troilus is Troilus. Cres. Then you say as I say ; for I am sure he is 70
not Hector. Pan. No, nor Hector is not Troilus in some
degrees. Cres. 'Tis just to each of them ; he is himself. Pan. Himself ! Alas ! poor Troilus, I would he 75
were. Cres. So he is.
Pan. Condition, I had gone bare-foot to India. Cres. He is not Hector. Pan. Himself! no, he's not himself: would a' were 80
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. Cres. Excuse me. 85
Pan. He is elder. Cres. Pardon me, pardon me.
to bring that about I had to go, IV. pt. i. vol. i. p. 51 (Pearson's Re- etc, a continuation of Pandarus's print) : " I would I had not, condition last speech. Compare Middleton, she had all " ; Chapman, The Revenge The Old Laiv, 11. i. 202 : " I would I of Btissy D^Ambois, iv. i. ; " Condi- had e'en Another father, condition </o« I would set this message by ". he did the like" ; Heywood, Edward 83. my heart] my feelings.
2
^
18 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
Pan. 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. 90
Cres. He shall not need it if he have his own.
Pan. Nor his qualities.
Cres. No matter.
Pan. Nor his beauty.
Cres. 'Twould not become him; his own's better. 95
Pan. You have no judgment, niece : Helen herself swore th' other day, that Troilus, for a brown favour, — for so 'tis I must confess, not brown neither, —
Cres. No, but brown. 100
Pan. Faith, to say truth, brown and not brown.
Cres. To say the truth, true and not true.
Pan. She prais'd his complexion above Paris.
Cres. Why, Paris hath colour enough.
Pan. So he has. 105
Cres. Then Troilus should have too much : if she
88-90. TW other's not . . .year} Genesis xli. 4 : ' The ill-favoured and Troilus wants some years of Hector's lean-fleshed kine did eat up the well- age ; you will sing another song when favoured and fat kine '. Favour seems he is as old as Hector is now. Hector to be used for face from the same will not be as wise as he is for many confusion or natural transference of a long day. For " this year " used meaning between the expressions for indefinitely, compare As You Like It, the feeling in the mind and the out- 11. iii. 74 : — ward indication of it in the look that
"But at fourscore it is too late a has led to the word co)(«<£'Ha«ce, which
week ". commonly denotes the latter, being
98. favour] complexion, feature, sometimes employed, by a process
look. "'In beauty,'" says Bacon the reverse of which we have in the
in his forty-third essay, " ' that of case of favour, in the sense of at
favour is more than that of colour ; least one modification of the former,
and that of decent and gracious as when we speak of any one giv-
motion more than that of favour '. ing his countenance or countenancing
The word is now lost to us in that it" (Craik, Eng. of Shakespeare, §
sense ; but we still use favoured with 54).
well, ill, and perhaps other qualifying 106. s/wmW /iawf] would necessarily
terms for featured or looking ; as in have.
sen.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 19
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 complexion. I had as lief Helen's no golden tongue had commended Troilus for a copper nose.
Pan. I swear to you, I think Helen loves him better than Paris.
Cres\T)\Q.rv she's a merry Greek indeed, 115
Pan. 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, —
Cres. Indeed, a tapster's arithmetic may soon bring 120 his particulars therein to a total.
Pan. Why, he is very young; and yet will he, with-
iio. / had as lief] The older construction of this idiom was " For me (it) were lever " ; and so in Chaucer.
Ill, 112. a copper nose] a red nose, with a notion of base metal, as in Marston, ii Atitonio and Mellida, i, ii. 85: "and if your nose will not abide the touch, your nose is a copper nose, and must be nailed up for a slip " ; and as the result of drinking, Greene, Friar Bacon and Friar Bun- gay, p. 155/2 (ed. Dyce) : " Mother Water's strong ale will fit his turn to make him have a copper nose ". The Eng. Dial. Diet, notes that the chaffinch is called the " copper finch " in Devon and Cornwall, and that " copper-topt " is red-haired in Nor- thuuiL-rland, etc.
115. a merry Greek] a proverbial expression for one of a light heart, with something of a depreciatory
sense. Staunton points out that the droll in Ralph Roister Doister, our earliest English comedy, is called " Mathewe Merygreeke," and Stee- vens that ^rti^carj, among the Romans, signified to "pray tTie reveller ".
117. compassed] (also compass as an adjective) =; round, curved ; applied to windows and roofs. The New Eng. Diet, quotes Leland, Itin., " Mervelus fair cojnpacid windoes ". Compare The Taming of the Shrew, IV. iii. 140, " a small compassed cape ". In Venus and Adonis, 272, " his mane upon his compass'd crest," the word appears to mean " arched ".
120. a tapster's arithmetic] i.e. a very small knowledge of arithmetic. In Love's Labour's Lost, i. ii. 43, to Moth's question " How many is one thrice told ? " Armado replies, " I am ill at reckoning ; it fitteth the spirit of a tapster".
w
20 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
in three pound, lift as much as his brother
Hector. Cres. Is he so young a man, and so old a lifter? 125 Pan. But to prove to you that Helen loves him :
she came and puts me her white hand to
his cloven chin — Cres. Juno have mercy ! how came it cloven ? Pan. Why, you know, 'tis dimpled. I think his 130
smiling becomes him better than any man in
all Phrygia. Cres, O ! he smiles valiantly. Pan. Does he not ?
Cres. O! yes, an 'twere a cloud in autumn. 135
Pan. Why, go to then. But to prove to you that
Helen loves Troilus, — Cres. Troilus will stand to the proof, if you '11 prove
it so. Pan. Troilus ! why, he esteems her no more than I 140
esteem an addle egg. Cres. If you love an addle &^^ as well as you love
an idle head, you would eat chickens i' the
shell. Pan. I cannot choose but laugh, to think how she 145
125. a lifter] with a quibble on the see Abbott, Shakespearian Gratnmar,
word in the sense of a thief. Com- § 220.
pare Greene, James the Fourth, iii. 133. ant were . . . ajitumH] like a
I : " Slip. I am dead at a pocket, cloud portending a storm ; not " a
sir ; why, I am a lifter, master, by summer's cloud " {Macbeth, iii. iv.
my occupation. Sir Bar. A lifter.' iii) coming quickly and passing
wiiat is that ? Slip. Why, sir, I can lightly away.
lift a pot as well as any man, and 138, 139. Troilus ... so] Troili's
pick a purse as soon as any thief in will not shrink from the proot,' if that
the country." Also the modern proof be that Helen loves him.
"shop-lifter". 141. addle] a.dd\ed; " auf abortif:
127. puts me] On this datival use, an addle egg " (Cotgrave).
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 21
tickled his chin : indeed, she has a marvel- lous white hand, I must needs confess, —
Cres. Without the rack.
Pan. And she takes upon her to spy a white hair
on his chin. 150
Cres. Alas ! poor chin ; many a wart is richer.
Pan. But there was such laughing : Queen Hecuba laughed that her eyes ran o'er.
Cres. With millstones.
Pan. And Cassandra laughed. 155
Cres. But there was more temperate fire under the pot of her eyes : did her eyes run o'er too ?
Pan. And Hector laughed.
Cres. At what was all this laughing ?
Pan. Marry, at the white hair that Helen spied on 160 Troilus' chin.
Cres. An't had been a green hair, I should have laughed too.
Pan. They laughed not so much at the hair as at
his pretty answer. 165
Cres. What was his answer?
Pan. Quoth she, " Here 's but two-and-fifty hairs on your chin, and one of them is white ". 146. marvellous] Pope ; marvels Q, F i ; marvcVs Ff 2, 3 ; marvelVs F 4.
148. without the rack] Compare ///. i. iii. 134 ; i. iv. 246 ; but here
Portia's banter of Bassanio, The of laughter. Compare Massinger,
Merchant of Venice, iii. ii. 26-29 '■ — The City Madam, iv. 3 : —
" Bass. Let me choose ; " For. Thou dost belie him, varlet !
For as I am, I live upon the rack. he, good gentleman,
Port. Upon the rack, Bassanio ! Will weep when he hears how we
then confess are used.
What treason there is mingled i Serj. Yes, millstones.'"
with your love." 165. pretty] apt, witty.
154. with millstones] A proverbial 167, 170, 171. otie and fifty] The.o-
expression applied to persons not bald's correction of the old copies,
addicted to weeping; as in Richard ''two and fifty". Dyce supposes
22 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
Cres. This is her question.
Pan. That's true; make no question of that. "Two- 170 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 175 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.
Cres. So let it now, for it has been a great while
going by. 180
Pan. Well, cousin, I told you a thing yesterday ; think on 't.
Cres. So I do.
Pan. I '11 be sworn 'tis true : he will weep you, an
'twere a man born in April. 185
Cres. And I '11 spring up in his tears, an 'twere a
nettle against May. \^A retreat sounded.
that the error arose from the MS. 178. i/zai i^ /"ass^rf] that it outwent
having the numbers in figures. "It all description. Q,om^-ax^ The Merry
is not to be doubted," he says, " that Wives of Windsor, i. i. 310: "the
Shakespeare knew the exact number women have so cried and shrieked
of sons which from the earliest times at it, that it passed ". In her answer,
had been assigned to Priam . . . and Cressida pretends to take the word in
it is utterly improbable that he would its more usual sense,
here needlessly deviate from the 184., 185. aii't were . . . April] In
Homeric tradition." To Knight's such phrases Abbott supposes an
remark that " The Margarelon of the ellipsis. See S. G. § 104. For the
romance-writers ... is one of the thought, Steevens compares Antony
additions to the old classical family," and Cleopatra, iii. ii. 43, 44 : —
Dyce rejoins that "the romance- "The April's in her eyes: it is
writers merely bestowed that name love's spring,
on one of the fifty sons whom an- And these the showers to bring
tiquity had left unnamed". it on ".
174, 175. the forked one] another 187. against May] in anticipation
allusion to the horns of a cuckold, of the coming of May. Compare A
Compare Othello, in. iii. 276, " this Midsummer-Night's Dream, in. ii.
forked plague ". gg : —
sen] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 23
Pan. 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 190 Cressida.
Cres. At your pleasure.
Pan. 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 195 Troilus above the rest.
Cres. Speak not so loud.
^NEAS passes over the stage.
Pan. That 's yEneas : 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. 200
Cres. Who's that?
Antenor passes over.
Pan. 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, who- soever, and a proper man of person. When 205 comes Troilus ? I '11 show you Troilus anon : if he see me, you shall see him nod at me.
Cres. Will he give you the nod ?
" I'll charm his eyes against she sharp, whether in a good or a bad
do appear " ; sense.
Hamlet, i. i. 158 : — 204. whosoeverl sc. the other may
" Some say that ever Against that be.
season comes," etc. 205. a proper . . . persoti] a man 202. he has . . . ivit] Steevens of comely personal appearance. Corn- quotes Lydgate's description of An- pare 1 Henry IV. u. li. 72: " a proper tenor's natural seriousness coupled person of my hands " ; The Tempest, with dryness of humour ; shrewd, 11. ii. 63 : " as proper a man as ever originally the past participle of went on four legs ". Capell con- shrewen, to curse, thence keen, jectured " of 5 person".
24 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
Pan. You shall see,
Cres. If he do, the rich shall have more. 210
Hector passes over.
Pan. That's Hector, that, that, look you, that; there's a fellow ! Go thy way, Hector ! -There's a brave man, niece. O brave Hec- tor! Look how he looks! there's a counten- ance! Is't not a brave man? 215
Cres. O ! a brave man.
Pan. 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 jesting ; there 's laying on ; 220 take 't off who will, as they say : there be hacks !
Cres. Be those with swords?
Pan. Swords ! any thing, he cares not ; an the
devil come to him, it's all one: by God's lid, 225
210. If he do . . . more] After the rich shall have more" were probably
word nod in line 208 I believe we proverbial sayings,
should insert Ay, as the commence- 220, 221. There's laying . . . say"]
ment of Pandarus's answer. The pun there's proof of the fierceness of the
on" noddy" will then be complete, fight. CompureHeywood,! Edward
as in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, IV. vol. i. p. 17 (Pearson's Reprint) :
I. i. 119-122: "Proteus. But what "Will soundly lay it on, take 't off
said he ? Speed [First nodding], who will " ; and, for a similarly in-
Ay. Protetis. Nod — Ay — why, that's consequent consequence, Beaumont
noddy. Speed. You mistook, sir ; I and Fletcher, A King and No King,
say, she did nod : and you ask me v. i. 98 : —
if she did nod : And I say, ' Ay '. " Do that you do not used to do,
Proteus. And that set together is tell truth,
noddy." Cressida's answer (line 210) Or, by my hand, Fll beat your
then becomes unmistakably plain ; captain's brains out,
and no change such as Hanmer's Wash 'em and put 'em in again
rest . . . none or Staunton's wretch that will".
. . . more is necessary for rich . . . 225. God's lid] (or abbreviated
more. To "give the nod" and "the 'slid) God's eyelid, a petty form of
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 25
it does one's heart good. Yonder comes Paris, yonder comes Paris.
Paris passes over.
Look ye 3onder, 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 230 not hurt : why, this will do Helen's heart good now, ha ! Would I could see Troilus now i You shall see Troilus anon.
Helen US passes over.
Cres. Who's that?
Pan. That's Helenus. I marvel where Troilus is. 235
That's Helenus. I think he went not forth
to-day. That's Helenus. Cres. Can Helenus fight, uncle ? Pan. Helenus ? no. Yes, he '11 fight indifferent well.
I marvel where Troilus is. Hark ! do you 240
not hear the people cry " Troilus " ? Helenus
is a priest. Cres. What sneaking fellow comes yonder?
Troilus passes over.
Pan. Where ? yonder ? that 's Deiphobus, 'Tis
oath, similar to 'shlood, 'sbody, reverence sake to one singular thing :
'sdeath, etc. Gower, lib. i. : ' O good/a^A^j-deare,
228. Look ye] On the distinction Why make ye this heavy cheere ? ' "
between you and ye in the original 238. Can Helenus . . . uncle ?]
form of the language Abbott (S.G. Helenus being a priest.
§ 236) remarks that by Elizabethan 243. What . . . yonder ?] Recog-
authors "-ye seems to be generally nising Troilus, Cressida says this to
used in questions, entreaties and rhe- provoke Pandarus to eulogy, and per-
torical appeals," and quotes Jonson's haps to disguise the admiration which
Grammar [Of Syntax, chap, ii.] : later on she confesses she had always
" The second person plural is for felt for the Prince.
26 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
Troilus ! there's a man, niece ! Hem ! Brave 245 Troilus ! the prince of chivalry !
Cres. Peace ! for shame, peace !
Pan. Mark him ; note him. O brave Troilus ! Look well upon him, niece : look you how his sword is bloodied, and his helm more 250 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 255 take his choice. O admirable man ! Paris ? Paris is dirf: to him ; and, I warrant, Helen, to change, would give an eye to boot.
Cres. Here come more.
Soldiers pass over.
Pan. Asses, fools, dolts ! chaff and bran, chafif and 260 bran ! porridge after meat ! I could live and die i' the eyes of Troilus. Ne'er look, ne'er look ; the eagles are gone : crows and daws, crows and daws ! I had rather be such a man as Troilus than Agamemnon and all 265 Greece.
258. an eye] Q ; money Ff.
250, 251. his helm . . . Hector's] I a sister were a grace, or a daughter
Compare Chaucer, Troilus and Cris- a goddess, he should have her ".
eyde, i. ii. 225 : — 260, 261. chaff and bran] recalls
" His helm to - hewen was in Falstaiifs "food ibr powder, food for
twenty places ". powder," 1 Henry IV. iv. ii. 72 : por-
254-256. Had I . . . choice] Aeon- j-iWg-e] originally leek broth,
fusion between " Had I a sister were 262. V the eyes of Troilus] looking
a grace, and a daughter a goddess, at Troilus, or, perhaps, when he is
he should take his choice," and " Had there looking upon me.
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 27
Cres. There is among the Greeks Achilles, a better man than Troilus.
Pan. Achilles ! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.
Cres. Well, well. 270
Pan. " Well, well ! " Why, have you any discretion ? have you any eyes? Do you know what a man is ? Is not birth, beauty, good shape, discourse, manhood, learning, gentleness, virtue, youth, liberality, and such like, the spice and 275 salt that season a man ?
Cres. Ay, a minced man : and then to be baked with no date in the pie, for then the man's date's out.
Pan. You are such a woman ! one knows not at 280 j what ward you lie.
Cres. Upon my back, to defend my belly ; upon /
275. such like] Q ; so forth Ff.
273-276. Is not birth . . . man ?'] Compare Troilus and Criseyde, ii. iii. 157 ff. :-
" And eek his freshe brother Troilus The wyse worthy Ector the
secounde, To whom that every vertu list
abounde, As alle trouthe and alle gentilesse, Wysdom, honour, fredom, and worthinesse ". 277-279. and then . . . out] a whim- sical allusion to the custom of using dates in pastry as a seasoning. Com- pare Romeo and Juliet, iv. iv. 2 ; AlVs Well that Ends Well, i. i. 172, 173. It were to consider too curiously to subject Cressida's meaning to a strict scrutiny. Aristophanes would be the best scholiast here.
280. You . . . woman /] What a woman you are ! i.e. how full of japes
and jests ! The folios give " such another woman," which is perhaps the better reading. Compare The Merry Wives of Windsor, i. iv, 160 : "it is such another Nan". The ex- pression in this contemptuous sense was indeed very common, e.g. Chap- man, The Gentleman Usher, in. i. : " Come, you have such another plaguy tongue " ; May Day, 11. iii. : " Come, you are such another " ; Middleton, The Widow, i. ii. 69 : " you're suck another".
280, 281. at what . . . lie] how to take you, what your posture of de- fence is. Compare 1 Henry IV. 11. iv. 215, 216 : " Thou knowest my old ward ; here I lay and thus I bore my point"; figuratively, The Merry Wives of Windsor, n. ii. 258 : " I could drive her then from the ward of her purity ". Both ward and lie were technical terms in fencing parlance.
0
28 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
my wit, to defend my wiles ; upon my secrecy, to defend mine honesty ; my mask, to de- fend my beauty; and you, to defend all 285 these : and at all these wards I lie, at a thousand watches.
Pan. Say one of your watches.
Cres. Nay, I '11 watch you for that ; and that 's one
of the chiefest of them too : if I cannot 290 ward what I would not have hit, I can watch you for telling how I took the blow ; unless it swell past hiding, and then it's past watching.
Pan. You are such another ! 295
Enter Troilus's Boy.
Boy. Sir, my lord would instantly speak with you.
Pan. Where ?
Boy. At your own house ; there he unarms him.
Pan. Good boy, tell him I come, {Exit Boy.
I doubt he be hurt. Fare ye well, good 300
niece. Cres. Adieu, uncle.
Pan. I '11 be with you, niece, by and by. Ores. To bring, uncle ?
304. hrin<r, uncle] Cambridge Edd. ; bring uncle Q ; bring Vnkle Ff i, 2, 3 ; bring Uncle, F 4.
288. Say . . . watches] Cressida 304. To bring] A cant expression
having used watches in the sense of frequent in the old dramatists. The
vigilance, Pandarus.withaninnuendo, exact sense is doubtful, though it
takes up the word in that of keeping seems always sinister, and commonly
awake at night. indicates retaliation. Among other
291, 292. / can . . . blow] I can passages, Dyce quotes Peele, Sir
take precautions to prevent you from Clyonion and Sir Clamydes, sc. vi.
telling, etc. 76: —
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
29
Pan. Ay, a token from Troilus. 305
Cres, By the same token, you are a bawd.
\^Exit Pandarus. Words, vows, gifts, tears, and love's full sacrifice, He offers in another's enterjprise ; But more in Troilus thousand-fold I see Than in the glass of Bandar's praise may be. 310 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 315
Love got so sweet as when desire did sue. Therefore this maxim out of love I teach : Achievement is command ; ungain'd, beseech :
"And I '11 close with Bryan till I
have gotten the thing
That he hath promised me, and
then 77/ he with him to bri7ig" ;
Middleton, The Family of Love, in.
ii. 2: ^^ Lipsalve. Now, mistress
Maria, ward yourself : if my strong
hope fail not, / shall be with you to
bring Shrimp. To bring what,
sir ? Some more of your kind ? " ; Shirley, The Ball, vol. iii. p. 36 (ed. Gifford and Dyce) : —
" Why did I not strike her ? but I will do something, And be with you to bring before you think on't". The phrr^^e is of frequent occurrence in Heywood.
308. in another's enterprise'] in scheming for another.
311. Women . . . wooing] women are accounted angels by men when making love to them.
312. joy's . . . doing] the very spirit, essence, of delight, lies in the act of doing, and perishes when the act is complete. Compare Marlowe, Hero and Leander, Third Sestiad, lines 33, 34:—
" that unblessed blessing Which for lust's plague doth perish in possessing ". The later folios read " the soules joy lyes in doing". For "lies" Mason conjectured " dies " ; Seymour, " lives ".
314. more thajt it is] beyond its real value.
316. got] sc. by men.
317. out of love] taught by love.
318. Achievement . . . beseech] when men have achieved their de- sire, they have us at their command ; so long as we hold out, their language is that of entreaty. Harness con- jectures : " Achiev'd, men ns com-
30 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
Then though my heart's content firm love doth
bear, Nothing of that shall from mine eyes appear. 320
[Exeunt.
y
SCENE III. — The Grecian Camp. Before Agamemnon's Tent.
Sennet. Enter Agamemnon, Nestor, Ulysses, Menelaus, and Others.
Agam. 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 5
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 10
319. heart's content] hearts content Q ; hearts Contents Ff i, 2, 3 ; heart's content's F 4.
mand " ; and, less happily, Collier's Scene in.
MS. Corrector : " Achiev'ci, men still
command". » Stage direction. S^whc^] a particular
319. >ny heart's content'\ seems to set of notes on a trumpet or cornet, mean "my heart in the fulness of 3. proposition] promise held out. its contentment". Warburton ex- 9. Tortive and errant] :pxo\&Y>^\c, so plained " content " as " capacity " ; that it becomes tortive, etc! Rolfe Malone doubtfully gives " my heart's notes that this is the only instance in satisfaction or joy, my well-pleased Shakespeare of either of these ad- heart "; Steevens, " the acquiescence jectives. In Othello, i. iii. 362, of my heart"; Mason conjectures "erring "is used in the literal sense "consent". of " wandering ".
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 31
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, ; 15 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 call them shames? which are indeed nought
else But the protractive trials of great Jove 20
To find persistive constancy in men : 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,
19. call them shames] (^ ; think them shame ¥L 19-21. shames? . . .
meii] Cambridge Edd. ; shames which . , . men Q; shame, which . . . men? Ff.
11. suppose] supposition, expecta- tion. Compare The Taming of the Shrew, \. i. 120; Titus Andronicus, I. i. 440.
12. Troy walls] Compare " Philippi fields," yulius Casar, v. v. 19 ; "Cyprus wars," Othello, 1. i. 151, for substantives with an adjectival force in the case of localities, as frequently in the language of the day.
13. Sith] as a conjunction of in- ference is frequent in Shakespeare, but as an adverb of time occurs only in Hamlet, 11. ii. 12.
15. Bias . . . thwart] Rolfe takes both words as adverbs ; Hudson as nouns ; Schmidt " bias " as an ad- verb, "thwart" as a verb; Delius
notes that " trial " is the subject, "every action" the object.
16, 17. And that , . , shape] and that impalpable shape which it as- sumed in thought. The sentence is somewhat redundant.
18. works] acts, deeds. Walker pronounces the word to be " palpably wrong," and Dyce edits the conjecture of Collier's MS. Corrector, " wrecks ".
20, 21. the protractive . , . men] the long-drawn-out trials by which Jove tests the possession of endur- ance by men.
23. In fortune's love] when fortune smiles.
24. artist] scholar. Compare All's Well that Ends Well, 11. iii. 10 ; Pericles, 11. iii. 15.
32 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
The hard and soft, seem all affined and kin : 25 But, in the wind and tempest of her frown, Distinction, with a broad and powerful fan, Puffing at all, winnow-SL the light away ; And what hath mass or matter, by itself Lies rich in virtue and unmingled. 30
Nest. With due observance of thy god-like 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 35
Upon her patient breast, making their way 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, 40
Bounding between the two moist elements. Like Perseus' horse : where 's then the saucy boat
27. broad] Q ; lowd or loud Ff. like Q ; thy godly Ff. 36. patien
25. affined] joined by affinity ; in Othello, I. i. 39, II. iii. 218, bound by any tie.
30. dies rich . , . unmingled] is seen in all the richness of unalloyed purity ; unmingled, here a quadri- syllable.
31. god-like seat] a Greek ex- pression. Compare 'iSpa irayicpaT'fis, Aeschylus, P. V, 389.
32. apply] drawn an inference from, moralise.
33. reproof] confutation, rebuff ex- pressed by endurance.
39. Thetis] " a sea goddess ; mother
31. thy godlike] Theoha.\d; the god- t] Ff ; ancient Q.
of Achilles. . . . Confounded with Tethys, the wife of Oceanus, and used for the sea, the ocean " (Schmidt). So, in Pericles, iv. iv. 39 : " Thetis, being proud, swallow'd some part o' the earth " ; though that scene is clearly not by Shakespeare. The confusion is not uncommon in the old dramatists, e.g. Marlowe, ii Tam- burlainc, i. iii. : " The sun . . . Shall hide his head in Thetis' watery lap " ; while in Latin both Tethys and Thetis are used by metonymy for the sea.
42. Perseus' horse] Malone notes that the only winged horse, Pegasus,
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 33
Whose weak untimber'd sides but even now Co-rivall'd greatness ? either to harbour fled, Or made a toast for Neptune. Even so 45
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 breese Than by the tiger ; but when the splitting wind Makes flexible the knees of knotted oaks, 50
And flies fled under shade, why then, the thing
of courage, As rous'd with rage, with rage doth sympathise, And with an accent tun'd in self-same key, Retorts to chiding fortune.
47. One line in Q, two in Ff. 48. brecsc] Bryze Q ; Brieze or Brize
Ff. 54. Retorts'] Dyce ; Retires or Retyres Ff.
mentioned in mythology belonged to Bellerophon, not to Perseus, but that Shakespeare here followed Lydgate who represents the Pegasus engen- dered from the blood of the slain Medusa as being " the most swift ship that was in all the world," and assures us that this ship, which he always calls Perseus' flying horse, "flew on the sea like a bird". To which Steevens replies that " un- allegorised Perseus might fairly be styled Perseus' horse, because the heroism of Perseus had given him existence ". In his translation of 0%'id's Elegies, xii. 24, Marlowe writes: "Victorious Perseus a wing'd steed's back takes," and there is no doubt that by Victor Abantiades Ovid meant that hero, just as in Meta- morphoses, vi. 137, he calls him Ultor Abantiades. Heywood, The Silver Age, vol. iii. p. 91 (Pearson's Reprint), has the same mistake : " Are you the noble Perseus . . . Fam'd for your winged steed . . . ? " So, too, in the anonymous play of Timou, iv.
V. : " Perseus, hee had a winged horse".
45. a toast] "a rich morsel to be swallowed" (Schmidt); an allusion to the toasts put in liquor. Compare The Merry Wives of Windsor, iii.
iii. 5-
46. divide] separate, stand aloof. 48. breese] gadfly. Compare An-
tony and Cleopatra, ill. x. 14 : [Cleo- patra] " The breese upon her like a cow in June, Hoists sail and flies". Jonson, The Poetaster, in. i : " This brize has prick'd my patience ". Hey- wood, Jupiter and lo, vol. vi. p. 266 (Pearson's Reprint), distinguishes be- tween the breese and the horsefly : — " Keep her in shadow in the parch- ing sun Till she is stung with horseflies and the bres ". 51. Jled] are fled, if the text is sound ; " get " and " flee " have been conjectured, and "are fled to" for "fled under".
54. Retorts] Dyce's conjecture. Lettsom proposes " Re-chides," which
34 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act
Ulyss.
commander.
Agamemnon, nerve and bone
of
55
Thou great
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, ^Fo AGAMEMNON] 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, all the hands of Greece
63. Agamemnon, all the hands] Orger;
55. nerve] Ff; nerves Q. Agamemnon and the hand Q, Ff.
Staunton and Rolfe adopt ; but with "chiding" immediately following this was less likely to be corrupted. Pope gave " Returns " ; Hanmer, "Replies". For " chiding," in allu- sion to the brawling of the waves about a coast, compare 1 Hetiry IV. III. i. 45 :—
" the sea Thatc//if/es the banks of England, Scotland, Wales"; Othello, II. i. 12, " The chidden billow " ; and in the sense of angrily resounding to, Henry V. ii. i. 125 : — " that caves Shall chide your trespass and
return your mock In second accents of his ord- nance ". 55. Jierve] Shakespeare seems al- ways to have used " nerve " for "sinew," "tendon" (in accordance with its derivation from Greek vivpov, a sinew), not for a fibre conveying sensation. On the other hand, as Bucknill points out (Shakespeare's Medical Knowledge, p. 236), " sinew,"
V. iii. 3, below, " Let grow thy sinews till their knots be strong," is used for " muscle," a word not found in Shake- speare in its anatomical sense. Again, from Hamlet, i. iv. 82, 83 : —
" And makes each petty artery in this body As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve," the poet seems to have supposed that nerve and artery were of the same texture, their outward appearance being similar.
58. Should . . . up] should be contented to find themselves ab- sorbed, as, for instance, petty streams in an ocean.
63-69. As, Agamemnon, . . . speak] Many conjectures have been pro- posed in order to meet the difficulties of construction here. I have followed • Orger. Ulysses is addressing Aga- memnon and Nestor in turns. It is therefore impossible that, in apostro- ,phising the former, he should say: " As Agamemnon and the hand . . . brass," and almost nonsense to talk
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 35
Agam.
Should hold up high in brass; and such again As, venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver, 65
Should with a bond of air, strong as the axletree On which heaven rides, knit all the Greekish ears To thy experienced tongue, yet let it please both, Thou great, and wise, to hear Ulysses speak. Speak, Prince of Ithaca ; and be 't of less ex- pect ' CC^ wvSf ; 70
70. expect] Pope ; expect ; F i ; expect ;
; 68. thy] Orger ; his Q, Ff, Ff 2, 3 ; exspect ; F 4.
of that chief himself holding up his own speech in brass ; impossible that, in apostrophising Nestor, he should say : " As venerable Nestor . . . knit . . . To his experienced tongue," etc. By treating " Agamemnon " and " Nestor " as vocatives, reading " all the hands," in line 63, and " thy " for " his," in line 68, all will be clear as to construction and sense, Han- mer's alteration of "Though" for " Thou," which Dyce and other editors have adopted, is clearly wrong ; for " Thou, great, and wise " evidently means " Thou, great Aga- memnon, and Thou, wise Nestor ". A minor difficulty has been found in " hatch'd in silver " ; but the quota- tions adduced by Steevens make it quite plain that the hair of Nestor, thickly streaked with white, is likened to'^llver closely engraved with fine lines. Among those quotations are the following : Love in a Maze, 1632 : " Thy hair is fine as gold, thy chin is hatch'd with silver " ; The Two Merry Milkmaids, 1620: "Double and treble gilt . . . Hatch'd and inlaid, not to be worn with time " ; Chapman's Iliad, xxiii. 701 ; " Shall
.win this sword, silvered and hatch'd ".
^The whole passage may be para- phrased thus : ." which were such as, Agamemnon, universal Greece should
' record in tablets of brass for all to
j read, and such again as, venerable
Nestor, thou whose hairs are thickly streaked with silver, should knit all the ears of Greece to thy experienced tongue with a bond of breath that nothing could dissipate; yet, do thou, great Agamemnon, and thou, wise Nestor, be pleased to hear the words which I shall speak ".
70-74. and be't . , . oracle] and let no one any more expect that needless matter will come from your lips than we should be confident of hearing wisdom and music when Thersites speaks. The sentence begins with an injunction, but goes on with a statement of fact. If the reading is sound, " expect " must be taken as = expectation. Dyce has no doubt that the line is corrupt. Pope gave "we Itss expect"; Capell, " and we less expect " ; Lettsom conjectured "we rto less expect," supposing the comparison to be inverted or ironical, with the sense "we are as sure of a bad speech from you as of a good one from Thersites," an inversion with which he compares the words of Ulysses, lines 167, 168, below : " as near as the extremities of paral- lels ; as like as Vulcan and his wife ". In "mastic" there is a difficulty. Many editors follow Rowe in reading "mastiff"; and "mastic" would be an easy misprint for " mastie," i.e. " masty," a form frequently found for " mastiff," e.g. Middleton, A Trick
36 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
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. Ulyss. Troy, yet upon his basis, had been down, 75
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 fac- tions. 80 When that the general is not like the hive
to Catch the Old One, i. iv. 15 : " the stealing of a masty dog from a farmer's house"; and again, 1. 23: "staked his masty against a noble ". Grant White suggests that the word may be mastix, scourging, or that "mas- tic " was substituted for " mastix " to avoid the cacophony of "his masti^r jawi ". In his description of Thersites and his " rankness," Shakespeare seems to have followed Chapman, Iliad, ii. 181-183 : —
" Thersites only would speak all. A most disordered store Of words he foolishly poured out,
of which his mind had more Than it could manage ; anything
with which he could procure Laughter, he never could con- tain "; and lines 189-191 : —
" He most of all envied Ulysses and Aeacides, whom still
his spleen would chide. Nor could the sacred King him- self avoid his saucy vein ". 75-137. Of this speech Mr. Churton Collins, Studies in Shakespeare, p. 81, remarks: "In passing to Shake-
speare's parallels in metaphysical speculation and generalised reflection on life, to use the term in its most comprehensive sense, we may first notice the possible influence exercised upon him by Jocasta's magnificent priffLs in the Phoenissac, 528-585. We trace it in Ulysses' great speech in the third scene of the first act of Troiliis and Cressida, which borrows its sentiments and even its imagery, and catching its very cadence and rhythm, might have been modelled on it." . . .
77. instances'] causes, which he goes on to detail. The word is used by Shakespeare with a large latitude of meaning for " motive, inducement, cause, ground ; symptom, prog- nostic ; information, assurance ; proof, example, indication" (Dyce, Gloss- ary).
78. specialty of rule] the preroga- tive of which attaches to command.
80. Hanmer omits " Hollow " at the beginning of the line; Steevens, before " factions ".
8i-87j. When that . . . expected?] when the common soldiery does not
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 37
To whom the foragers shall all repair,
What honey is expected ? Degree being viz-
arded, The unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask. The heavens themselves, the planets, and this
centre, 85
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 med'cinable eye Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil.
92. ill aspects
evils] Ff ; influence of eiiill Planets Q.
refer itself in everything, its objects, acts, etc., to the general, as the honey- bees do to their headquarters, there can be no hope of profitable enter- prise. Delius, though preferring to take " the general " as the com- mander-in-chief, doubtfully suggests that the phrase may be used as in Hamlet, ii. ii. 457, " 'twas caviare to the general ". The context, I think, shows this to be improbable.
83, 84. Degree . . . mask] if those in high authority are content to hide their superiority behind a veil, the meanest in the throng is on a level with them ; " mask " is not here the covering of the face, but the mas- querade in which the several actors have a part. In his edition of Sophocles Professor Jebb points out the parallelism between these lines and those in the Ajax, 669 et scqq., beginning koI yap ra Seiva Kal rk KapTtpairara Tt/xais inre'iKei.
85. This centre] the earth. In the Ptolemaic system of astronomy the universe consisted of nine hollow
crystalline spheres of which the earth was the centre. Warburton thinks that this passage was suggested by one in Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity : " If celestial spheres should forget their wonted motion ; if the prince of the lights of heaven should begin to stand ; if the moon should wander from her beaten way ; and the seasons of the year should blend themselves ; what would become of man ? "
87. Insisture] persistent regularity ; apparently a a5ra| KeyS/xevov.
89. glorious] brilliant, lustrous.
Compare Paradise Lost, iii. 612 : —
" so many precious things
Of colour glorious " ;
and Gower, Confcssio Amantis, iii. 114
(quoted in the New Eng. Diet.) : —
" Mars the planet bataillous Next to the sonne glorious ".
91. other] a plural; the sun being one of the planets affixed to a crystal- line sphere.
92. the ill . . . ew//] " aspect " was the technical term for the appearance of a planet which varied with its posi-
38 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
' And posts, like the commandment of a king, Sans check to good and bad : but when the
planets In evil mixture to disorder wander, 95
What plagues, and what portents, what mutiny. What raging of the sea, shaking of earth, Commotion in 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. The enterprise is sick ! How could communities, Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities, Peaceful commerce from dividable shores, 105
The primogenity and due of birth, Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels. But by degree, stand in authentic place?
loi. Jixjirc] Q, Ff I, 2 ; fixture Ff 3, 4. 106. primogenity] primo-
genitie Q, primogenitive Ff.
tion among the stars and was either of a statue, rather than the " direc-
benign or malign. So, in line 95, tion" as Schmidt explains; shaked,
their " conjunction " is spoken of. the commoner form of the participle
96. mutiny] strife, contention, as in Shakespeare,
frequently in Shakespeare. Compare 102. Which . . . designs] by which
King Lear, 1. ii. 116 ff., where " the alone men climb to lofty results,
sequent effects " of eclipses are de- 105. coniincrce] accented on the
scribed. second syllable : dividable, having
99. derncinate] tear up hy the roots, the function of dividing; for adjec-
Compare Henry V. v. ii. 47. tives having both an active and a
loi. y/Arz/rt-] fixed position, stability, passive sense, see Abbott, Shake- In a similar sense. Bacon, Advance- pcarian Grammar, § 3, and compare ment of Learning, i. vi. 10, speaks of mcdicinahle, iii. iii. 44, below. " the fixing ol the stars, ever standing 106. primogenity] It seems probable at equal distance ". In The Winter's that Shakespeare would have avoided Tale," V. iii. 67, "The fixure of her the termination -ive in two words so eye has motion in 't " seems to mean close together, and I have, therefore, her eyeballs though fixed as are those followed the quarto.
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
39
Take but degree away, untune that string,
And, hark ! what discord follows ; each thing
"^eets ^^^jj^-^j^ no
In mere op'pugnancy : 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 : 115
TU-M n-i^
no. meets'] Ff; melts Q.
III. mere'] absolute. On "merely upon myself" {Julius Ccesar, i. ii. 39) Craik (The English Shakespeare, § 45) has the following useful note. " Merely . . . means purely, only. It separates that which it designates or qualifies from everything else. But in doing so the chief or most emphatic reference may be made either to that which is included or to that which is excluded. In modern English it is always to the latter ; by ' merely upon myself we should now mean upon nothing else except myself; the nothing else is that which makes the merely prominent. In Shakespeare's day the other reference was the more common, that, namely, to what was included; and ' merely upon myself meant upon myself altogether or without regard to anything else. Myself was that which the merely made prominent. So, when Hamlet [^Hamlet, i. ii. 137], speaking of the world says, ' Things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely,' he by the merely brings the possession be- fore the mind and characterises it as complete and absolute; but by the term now the prominence would be given to something else from which the possession might be conceived to be separable ; ' possess it merely ' would mean have nothing beyond simply the possession of it (have, it
might be, no right to it or no enjoy- ment of it). . . ."
112. Should lift] would be certain to lift.
113. And make a sop] and reduce to a mere pulp ; sop, anything steeped and softened in liquor. Compare Richard III. i. iv. 162 : "First Murd, We will chop him in the malmsey butt in the next room. Sec. Mnrd. O excellent device ! make a sop of him."
114. 115. Strength . . . dead] If the text is sound here, the only sense I can extract from it is that mere strength would necessarily be lord over weakness and that as a conse- quence the strong, rough, son would strike his feeble father dead. This seems very poor. The gist of the whole passage is that where " degree is shaked," everything is turned topsy-turvy, there is a general boule- versement in all processes. Now, in the ordinary course of things, " strength " is " lord of imbecility," and so nothing is upset by " degree " being " shaked ". I believe, there- fore, that for lord we should read da/d, i.e. defied, and that the latter of the two lines has no dependence upon the former, but means that filial reverence would be a thing of the past. Apparently feeling this, Mr. P. A. Daniel conjectures slave or law'd for "lord".
yUX
40 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
be right ; or rather,
right and
Force should
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, 125
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 Of his superior, grows to an envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation :
128. with] Q ; in Ff.
117. jar] collision. For " resides " Warburton conjectures presides.
119,120. Then everything^ . . . ap- petite] then everything resolves itself in the end into power, power in its turn resolves itself into will, and, etc.
125. suffocate] For the suffix -ed, omitted after d and t, see Abbott, Shakespearian Grammar, § 342.
127-129. And this . . . climb] It is not, of course, the " neglection of degree " that " goes backward " step by step, but those who, in their en- deavour to climb, are guilty of this
neglection. So, " the first pace " (line 132) is the person who so paces. We have "neglection" in Pericles, III. ii. 20 (the folios and the later quartos giving neglect), and in 1 Henry VI. iv. iii. 49.
134. Of pale . . . emulation] John- son explams " not vigorous and active, but malignant and sluggish ". But it is the want of vigour which prevents noble deeds from being done that is especially emphasised, the malignant fever being the cause of that want.
\
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 41
And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot, 135 Not her own sinews. To end a tale of length, Troy in our weakness stands, not in her strength.
Nest. Most wisely hath Ulysses here discover'd The fever whereof all our power is sick.
Again. The nature of the sickness found, Ulysses, 140 What is the remedy?
Ulyss. 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 145 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,
137. standsl Q; lines Ff. 149. awkward] Ff; sillie Q.
138. discovered] laid bare to our view.
143. forehand] originally an ad- jective used in archery of an arrow for shooting straight before one (in contrast with those fixed at an angle, as " rovers ") ; hence that which holds the front position ; later, of anything foremost, leading, and so as a substantive, the vanguard, etc. See the New Eng. Diet.
144. airy fame] Malone compares "mouth honour," Macbeth, v. iii. 27, but there the want of sincerity is the point, here the insubstanti- ality.
145. Grows . . . worth] sets ex- ceeding great store by his prowess, so that he will not exert it in our behalf on ordinary occasions ; not, I think, " is over-solicitous of, takes
too much care of" (Schmidt). Com- pare Romeo and ftdiet, i. v. 26 : —
" which of you all Will now deny to dance ? She
that makes dainty, She, I'll swear, hath corns."
147. Upon a lazy bed] lazily upon his bed. So, "in her naked bed," Venus and Adonis, 397, means the bed upon which she lay naked.
151. pageants us] presents us as on a stage. A pageant originally meant a movable scaftbld, such as was used in the representation of the old mystery plays and in the theatrical spectacles so common in Shake- speare's day, in which events, ex- ploits, etc., were symbolised by animals and scenery constructed of wood. For the thought compare Antony and Cleopatra, v. ii. 216-221.
42 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
^fu4.V',^jiH-'iS
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 155
'Twixt his stretch'd footing and the scafifoldage, —
Such to-be-pitied and o'er-wrested seeming
He acts thy greatness in : and when he speaks,
'Tis like a chime a-mending ; with terms un-
squared, Which, from the tongue of roaring Typhon
dropp'd 160
Would seem hyperboles. At this fusty stuff
157. o'ey-wrested] Pope ; ore-rested Q, Ff i, 2, 3 ; o're-rested F 4. unsquafd] unsquare Q.
159-
152. Thy topless deputation] "the supreme power deputed to thee (by the other Greek chiefs) " (Rolfe) seems preferable to " thy dignity as Jove's substitute " (Schmidt). Marlowe, Faustus, V. iii. lyx, uses "topless" of the towers of Ilium in the sense of not exceeded by any ; for the figura- tive sense, compare Marston, ii An- tonio and Mellida, i. i. 85, " my topless villany," and Heywood, The Golden Age, vol. iii. p. 40 (Pearson's Reprint), "their topless fury".
153-156. whose conceit . . . scaf- foldage] whose only faculty for acting lies in the sinews of his legs, and who glories in the wooden echo given by the boards to the wooden, stilted gait with which he treads them : ham- string, one of the tendons which form the sides of the ham or space at the back of the knee. Malone thinks that scaffoldage refers to the galleries, the tiers of which were sometimes termed " scaffolds," but it seems simpler to take it of the framework of the stage.
157. o'cr-wr6's^<^(/] strained ; a meta-
phor from the tuning of stringed in- struments by a wrest. See note on III. iii. 23, below, and compare Othello, II. i. 202: —
" O, you are well tuned now, But I '11 set down the pegs that make this music".
159. a chime a-mending'] Steevens understands this literally of repairing. Does it mean more than being tuned into unison ? iinsqnared, unsuitable ; resembling stones not dressed to fit into their proper places. Compare Marston, What You Will, Introduc- tion, 71 : " Lest aught I offered were nnsquared or warp'd ".
160. Typhon] A giant with a hun- dred serpentine heads growing from his shoulders, in Epic Typhoeus, son of Tartaros and Gaia, who sought to dethrone Jupiter, and was by him im prisoned under Mt. Etna.
161. fusty] seems to be here used in the sense of "fustian," "high- sounding," rather than that of "mouldy," the ordinary meaning of the word, though the mouldiness may, of course, be figurative.
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 43
The large Achilles, on his press'd bed lolling, From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause ; Cries " Excellent ! 'tis Agamemnon just. Now play me Nestor ; hem, and stroke thy beard, 165
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 ! 'Tis 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 175 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,
165. hem] clear the throat and hesi- ordered gifts, individual and general " tate. (Delius) ; " the minutest, peculiar
166. dress'd] prepared ; ultimately, and general excellencies " (Schmidt), like "address," from Lat. dirigcre, Hudson more probably, I think, takes to direct, set right. "of grace exact" as "exact in re-
167. i68. as near . . . zvife] i.e. spect of grace". Staunton's conjec- not at all near. ture, " of grace a?id act" is plausible,
171. aHSTeicr] meet his foes in com- but with him I doubt the necessity
bat. of any change. Singer's " arc of
174. Many editors adopt Tyrwhitt's grace exact" is forbidden by the
" palsy-fumbling ". construction as leaving " Achieve-
178. spleen] often used of old for ments," etc., without any connecting
any sudden impulse, a fit of laughter, link, as here. i8i. preventions] precautionary
180. Severals . . . exacty o\ivv^e\\- measures.
44 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
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.
Nest. And in the imitation of these twain, 185
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 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, 195
How rank soever rounded in with danger.
Ulyss. 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
184. paradoxes] absurdities. Com- pare Othello, 11. i. 139: "These are old fond paradoxes to make men laugh i' the alehouse ".
187. With . . . ?;o/c^] with the title of being chief among us ; though it was Achilles only who was described as " The sinew . . . our host ".
188. In such a rein] just as loftily. Compare Kiyi^r Lear, iii. i. 27:—
" Or the hard rein which both of them have borne Against the old kind king " ; Chapman, Iliad, xxiii. 4, uses the phrase literally : —
" Disjoin not we chariots and horse, but bearing hard our rd>i,
With state of both, march soft and close ". Whether the " bearing-rein " of modern days was in vogue in Shakespeare's day I do not know.
190. broad] arrogant.
193. like a mint] " as fast as a mint coins money" (Malone).
195, ig6. To weaken . . . danger] to minimise the valour shown by us in fearlessly facing the dangers around us, abundant as they are : rank, ad- verbially.
19S. Count . . . 7x»irr] consider that wisdom has no place in war.
199. Forestall prescience] discount, depreciate foresight; prescience, ac- cented on the second syllable.
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 45
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 ; 205 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
Nest. Let this be granted, and Achilles' horse
Makes many Thetis' sons. \^A tucket.
Agam. What trumpet? look, Menelaus.
Men. From Troy.
Enter ^NEAS.
Agam. What would you 'fore our tent?
jf^ne. Is this great Agamemnon's tent, I pray you ? 2 1 5
Agam. Even this.
j^ne. May one, that is a herald and a prince. Do a fair message to his kingly ears ?
Agam. With surety stronger than Achilles' arm
'Fore all the Greekish heads, which with one voice 220
Call Agamemnon head and general,
Aine. Fair leave and large security. How may
205. hcd-wor'k'\ work that can easily that Agamemnon, after what has just
be done lying in bed : mappery, gone before, should here emphasise
"bookish theory" (Schm.idt). the valour of Achilles. As, however,
210. /ji's] sc. the ram. that hero's fame was so great in
212, Makcs'\ is worth. Troy, the text may be sound.
Stage direction. Tucket] a flourish 222-224. Hoiv may . . . mortals ?]
on a trumpet. On these words and those in iv. v.
219. ^c/»7/cs'] Johnson conjectures 195, 196, " But this my countenance
" Alcides," and it is perhaps unlikely . . . till now," Steevens remarks that
46 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
A stranger to those most imperial looks Know them from eyes of other mortals?
Again. How !
^ne. Ay ; 225
I ask, that 1 might waken reverence, And bid the cheek be ready with a blush Modest as morning when she coldly eyes The youthful Phoebus.
Which is that god in office, guiding men? 230 Which is the high and mighty Agamemnon ?
Again. This Trojan scorns us ; or the men of Troy Are ceremonious courtiers.
yEne. Courtiers as free, as debonair, unarm'd.
As bending angels; that's their fame in peace: 235 But when they would seem soldiers, they have
galls. Good arms, strong joints, true swords ; and, Jove's accord,
237, 238. swords ; and, Jove's accord, Nothing] Theobald ; swords, & loues accord, Nothing Ff ; sword, & great loues accord Nothing Q.
Shakespeare " probably supposed that 236. o-a/Zs] fierce passions, the ancients (like the heroes of chi- 237, 238. and, Jove's . . . hcarf] valry) fought with beavers to their The punctuation in the text is Theo- helmets," and thinks that he may bald's, "Jove's accord" being taken " have adopted this error from the as a case absolute with the sense wooden cuts in ancient books or " and, Jove being in accord with from the illuminations of manu- them, nothing is so full of heart as scripts" . . . while Malone suggests they". Somewhat similar is Chap- that in The Destruction, etc., the man's expression, Iliad, xix. ig6 : — chieftains in each army are thus " But now, to all our shames be- pourtrayed, sides, our friends by Hector
226. waken reverence] call up in slain
myself a reverent demeanour. (Andyovctofriend)\i&-ankic\).&A
234. debonair] a word of which off".
Chaucer is fond; e.g. Troiliis and If not wholly satisfactory, this in-
Criseyde, i. xxvi. 181, " dcbonaire of terpretation seems to be better than
chere ". any other offered, and we might
235. bending angels] angels with easily insert 's before 50. Mitford heads inclined to listen prayer. proposes " swords, great Jove's ac-
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 47
Nothing so full of heart. But peace, ^neas !
Peace, Trojan ! lay thy finger on thy lips.
The worthiness of praise distains his worth, 240
If that the praised himself bring the praise forth ;
But what the repining enemy commends.
That breath fame blows ; that praise, sole pure, transcends. Agam. Sir, you of Troy, call you yourself yEneas? Aine. Ay, Greek, that is my name. 245
Again. What's your affair, I pray you ? u^ne. Sir, pardon ; 'tis for Agamemnon's ears. Agam. He hears nought privately that comes from Troy. ^ne. Nor I from Troy come not to whisper him :
I bring a trumpet to awake his ear, 250
To set his sense on the attentive bent,
And then to speak. Again. 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. yEne. Trumpet, blow loud, 255
243. praise, sole pure] Capell ; praise sole pure Q, Ff. 251. sense on
the] Ff ; seat on that Q.
cord," the reading of the quarto with unworthy motives. Staunton was
the omission of "and". Malone's hardly at his best in conjecturing
"Jove's a god," Steevens's " Love's "pure Sol".
a lord," and Mason's "Jove's own 249. On the double negative, see
bird," are unworthy of those critics. Abbott, Shakespearian Gram., § 406.
Grant White interprets, " and Jove's 251. To set . . . 6ewi] to rouse him
spontaneous geniality is not so to attention ; the phrase is similar in
hearty — as they are whether as friends form to the modern " to set the teeth
or foes ". on edge".
242. But what . . . commend sihwt 252. frankly as the ivitid] Compaie the praise that an enemy is grudg- As You Like It, 11. vii. 48, 49 : — ingly compelled to allow, etc. " as large a charter as the wind,
243. sole pure] alone unalloyed by To blow on whom I please ".
48 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
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.
\Trunipet sounds. We have, great Agamemnon, here in Troy A prince call'd. Hector, Priam is his father, 260 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 That holds his honour higher than his ease, 265 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, And dare avow her beauty and her worth 270 In other arms than hers, — to him this challenge. Hector, in view of Trojans and of Greeks,
262. ru%ty'\ Ff ; re%tic Q. 266. That seeks] Ff ; And feeds Q.
256. lazy] because of the truce to " profession ". This seems to me
mentioned below. doubly a mistake. First, because
261. this dull . . . truce] In i. ii. confession has here all the sense of 35) 36, we have " he [Ajax] coped " profession " ; secondly, because I Hector in the battle," and Johnson believe that a true confession is here points out the inconsistency of those meant and that " truant " in the next words with this line. Malone ob- line is a misprint for " truest ". The serves that Shakespeare sometimes whole point is the sincerity of his follows and sometimes deserts his love, a sincerity which emboldens original authorities, and that he found him to champion her in battle, and mention of this truce in Lydgate. the repetition of "lover " seems em-
262. trumpet] Here, perhaps, as in phatic. Had his love been only IV. V. 6, and elsewhere in Shakespeare, something more than he professed in = trumpeter, but not, I think, in line truant vows, it would not have been 255. such as to make him risk his life.
264. fair'st] noblest in the fight. Line 269 is between brackets in Q, Watkiss Lloyd conjectures " first ". Ff, and should, I think, be so printed. 268. confession] altered by Hanmer 271. arms] with an equivoque.
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 49
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 ; 275 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 ; If none, he'll say in Troy when he retires, 280 The Grecian dames are sunburnt, and not worth The splinter of a lance. Even so much. Again. This shall be told our lovers, Lord yEneas ; If none of them have soul in such a kind,
( We left them all at home : but we are soldiers ; 285
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. Nest. Tell him of Nestor, one that was a man 290
When Hector's grandsire suck'd : he is old now ; But if there be not in our Grecian host One noble man that hath one spark of fire To answer for his love, tell him from me
275. compasslVi \ couple Q. 292. host] hoste Q ; mouldFi. 293. one spark] no sparke Q.
279. honour him] sc, hy taking up blended the rich hues of the romance-
his challenge. writers with the Doric simplicity of
281. sunburnt] a euphemism for outline in the classic poets " ; and
"not worth looking at". Compare Knight writes to much the same pur-
Much Ado About Nothing, 11. i. 331. pose. For the challenge, see Chap-
282. The splinter of a lance] Clarke remarks : " The wording of this chal- lenge is in the true chivalric tone ; and it affords one of the instances of the skill with which the dramatist has
man's Iliad, vii. 53-76.
284. soul . . . kind] a spirit ready to take up the challenge.
285. We left . . . home] you may say that we left, etc.
J
50 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
I '11 hide my silver beard in a gold beaver, 295 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, I '11 prove this truth with my three drops of blood. 300
j^ne. Now heavens forbid such scarcity of youth !
Ulyss. Amen.
Again. Fair Lord ^neas, let me touch your hand ; To our pavilion shall I lead you first. Achilles shall have word of this intent ; 305
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 all but Ulysses and Nestor.
Ulyss. Nestor !
Nest. What says Ulysses? 310
Ulyss. I have a young conception in my brain ;
Be you my time to bring it to some shape.
Nest. What is 't ?
Ulyss. This 'tis :
300. prove this truth] Malone ; prone this troth Q ; pawne this truth Ff. 301. forbid] forf end Q ; youth] men Q.
296. Vantbrace] " avant-bras, a here " ; Massinger, The Bondman,
vambrace ; armour for the arm," iii. 3 : —
Cotgrave. Compare Cymbeline, iv. " Hunger shall force thee to cut
ii. 311 : " The brawns of Hercules " ; of the brmvns
Marlowe, i Tamburlaine, iv. iv. 50: From thy arms and thighs ".
"I'll make thee slice the brawns of 299. his youth in flood] though he
thy arms into carbonadoes and eat be in the full flood of youth, at high
them " ; Chapman, The Gentleman tide in vigour.
Usher, iii. i: "A good calf, ... I 312. B^jox .. .s/m/^] be to my con- warrant you a braivn of a thumb ception what time is to the embryo.
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 51
Blunt wedges rive hard knots : the seeded pride 315
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.
Nest. Well, and how ?
Ulyss. This challenge that the gallant Hector sends, 320 However it is spread in general name. Relates in purpose only to Achilles,
Nest. The purpose is perspicuous even as substance, Whose grossness little characters sum up : And, in the publication, make no strain, 325
But that Achilles, were his brain as barren As banks of Libya, — though, Apollo knows,
315. Blunt . . . inofs] rough meas- ures must be used in stubborn cases. 315-319. the seeded pride . . , all] The figure is that of a plant of which, it having passed beyond flowering, the seed cup now threatens to burst and sow itself broadcast in profusion of a second crop. Compare The Rape of Lucrece, 603, 604 : —
" How will thy shame be seeded in thine age, When thus thy vices bud before they spring ! " Marston, i Antonio and Mellida, iv.
i- 35 :—
" thou but pursu'st the world That cuts off virtue 'fore it comes
to growth, Lest it should seed, and so o'er- run her son " ; also Henry V. iii. v. 6-g ; bloion tip seems to express the distention of the pod, and so is better than Capell's "grown up": mirsery, in the sense in which we speak of a " nursery garden " : overbulk, tower over us in its might.
323. perspicuous . . . sjcbsfance] apparent, palpable, as substantial wealth.
324. Whose grossness . . . up] as a gross amount is summed up in a few small figures. Steevens quotes Henry V. prol. 15 : —
" since a crooked figure may Attest in little place a million " ; and The Winter's Tale, i. ii. 6-g.
325. fw the publication] when the terms of Hector's challenge are pro- claimed, notified to the army : make no strain, do not hesitate to feel sure. Compare below, iii. iii. 113, "I do not strain at this position " ; 1 Henry IV. IV. i. 75.
327. banks of Libya] the sand- banks of the Libyan desert, the Libycae harenac of Ovid.
327, 328. though . . . enough] an ellipsis for " though even that is hardly too much to say of him, for, as Apollo knows, his brain is as dry as it well can be". For dry brain compare Hamlet, iv. v. 154, " O heat, dry up my brains ",
52 TROILUS AND CKESSIDA [act i.
'Tis dry enough, — will, with great speed of judg- ment, Ay, with celerity, find Hector's purpose Pointing on him, 330
Ulyss. And wake him to the answer, think you ?
Nest. Yes, 'tis 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 ; 335
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, '''^
Although particular, shall give a scantling 340 Of good or bad unto the general ; And in such indexes, although small pricks
333. his honotir] Fi; those honours
331. wake . . . ans7ver]iousehim- self out of his lethargy to meet Hector.
332. most meet] most fitting that we should take this course : oppose, put forward as our champion.
333. bring . . . off] come out of the combat without loss of honour.
334. a sportful combat] one not to the utterance. Compare below, iv. V. 67-70.
335. mnch opinion dwells] our re putation is largely at stake.
336. 337- i(isi'' • • • palate] get a taste of our very best champion's prowess, for thy appreciating it. Compare line 372 below.
33^1 339- Our impittation . . . action] in so venturously putting for- ward our best champion we are ex- posing our reputation to no ordinary risk; for imputation, compare Ham- let, V. ii. 1.49 : oddly poised, unequally balanced.
Q-
^39-34^1. for the success . . .general] for the issue of the combat, though primarily affecting the champion we may choose, will to a certain extent redound to the credit or to the shame of all the host: scantling, pattern, sample ; " the word has doubtless been confused with sca>it and scanty. ... As used by Shakespeare and Cotgrave it is certainly a derivative from O.F. cschaiitelcr and answers to O.F. cschantillo)i, '■zsmsW cantle or corner-piece, also a scantling, sample, pattern, proof of any sort of mer- chandise,' Cotgrave " (Skeat, Ety. Diet.). Compare Dekker, The Whore of Babylon, vol. ii. p. 189 (Pearson's Reprint) : " of such a scantling are my words set down that neither the one party speaks too much, nor the other too little ".
342. indexcs]\vQre'\n Shakespeare's day often prefixed to books, but the
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
53
To their subsequent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mass
Of things to come at large. It is suppos'd 345
He that meets Hector issues from our choice ;
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
Out of our virtues ; who miscarrying, 350
What heart from hence receives the conquering
part. To steel a strong opinion to themselves ! Which entertain'd, limbs are his instruments,
351. from hence receives the] Ff ; receives from hence a Q. 352. them-
selves I] Theobald; themselves. Q ; themselves, Ff i, 4; themselves Ff 2, 3. 353-355- Which . . . limbs'] Omitted in Q.
word had the further sense of some- thing directing the attention, as an index-finger in the margin of books, here compared to " small pricks ". On Othello, II. i. 262, Mr. Hart notes : " The ' index ' was originally a finger (' pilcrow ') placed in the margin of books to direct attention to striking passages. Thence it came to mean a list or table of these placed in the front of the book. This is well illus- trated by two passages in Massinger's Fatal Doivry, iii. i., and iv. i. : — ' Would I had seen thee graved with thy great sin,
Ere lived to have men's marginal fingers point
At Charalois, as a lamented story ' ; and ' Even as the index tells us the contents of stories, and directs to the particular chapters, even so does the outward habit . . . demonstratively point out (as it were a manual note from the margin) all the internal quality and habiliment of the soul '." 343. subsequent] accented on the penultimate.
348. makes . , . election] looks to nothing but merit in making up its mind.
350-352. who miscarrying , . . themselves !] This passage is usually printed with a note of interrogation after themselves (Capell's punctua- tion). It thus becomes a question of appeal involving a negative answer, as thus : " and, if he miscarries, the victorious side (the Trojans) receive no encouragement to feel assurance of their strength " — which is non- sense. Theobald puts a note of ex- clamation after themselves and I have followed him. The sense will then be : " and, if he miscarries, the vic- torious side (the Trojans) will be greatly encouraged to believe that, as their champion has been victorious in the single combat (from hence), they will be victorious in the general struggle ".
353-355. Which entirtain'd . , . limbs] and if this belief is entertained it will energise the limbs of those who hold it, just as those limbs energise the swords and bows they wield.
54 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act i.
In no less working than are swords and bows Directive by the limbs. 355
Ulyss. Give pardon to my speech :
Therefore 'tis meet Achilles meet not Hector.
Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares,
And think, perchance, they '11 sell ; if not,
The lustre of the better yet to show 360
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 two strange followers.
Nest. I see them not with my old eyes : what are they ? 365
Ulyss. What glory our Achilles shares from Hector,
Were he not proud, we all should wear with him :
But he already is too insolent ;
And we were better parch in Afric sun
Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes, 370
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 374
The sort to fight with Hector : among ourselves
360. yet to show'\ Ff ; %hall exceed Q. 361. Shall shorn the better']
Ff ; By showing the ivorst first Q.
360. the better . . . s/iow] the better there is no mention of the "device,"
which yet remains to be shown. though the prayer of the soldiers is : —
370. 5a//] bitter, pungent. " O Jove, so lead the
372, 373. wc did . . . mari\ the re- herald's hand
suit would be that our general good That Ajax, our great Tydeus' son,
name would be ruined bj' the stain may our wished champion
thus falling upon our chiefest hero. stand,
375. stir/] lot. The account of the Or else the king himself that rules
casting of the lots will be found in the rich Mycenian land".
Chapman's Iliad, vii. 153-179, but In Sophocles, Ajax, 1265-1287, there
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 55
Give him allowance as the worthier 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. If the dull brainless Ajax come safe off, 380
We'll 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. 385 NesL Ulysses,
Now I begin to relish thy advice ; And I will give a taste of it forthwith To Agamemnon : go we to him straight. Two curs shall tame each other: pride alone 390 Must tarre the mastiffs on, as 'twere their bone.
[Exeunt.
is allusion to the "device" by which so, Much Ado About Nothing, iv. i. Cresphontes obtained Messenia, a de- 146: '' attir'd in wonder"; Twelfth vice v/hich Tencer indignantly says Night, iv. iii. 3 : — that Ajax did not adopt when the " And though 'tis wonder that en- lots for the combat were cast. w ray's me thus".
376. allowance'] praise, fitting ac- 382, 383. Yet go . . . tnen]we shall
knowledgment ; O.F. aloucr; Lat. still be able to say that we have,
allaudare. etc.
378. broils . . . applause] boast- 391. tarre] s,e<i onto fight; an old
fully suns himself in the praises with verb from A.S. tergan, tyrgan, to
which he is so loudly greeted. irritate. Compare Hamlet, 11. ii. 370 ;
381. dress . . . voices] deck him King John, iv. i. 117. Holland's
in praise. Compare Measure for Glossary of Words for the County of
Measure, i. i. 20 : — Chester, Eng. Dial. Society, ed. 1886,
" Lent him our terror, dress'd him gives the word as still in use there for
in our love" ; to "excite to anger or violence".
ACT II
SCENE I. — A Part of the Grecian Camp.
Enter AjAX and Thersites.
Ajax. Thersites !
TJier. Agamemnon, how if he had boils ? full, all
over, generally? Ajax. Thersites ! Ther. And those boils did run ? say so : did not the 5
general run then ? were not that a botchy
core ? Ajax. Dog! Ther. Then would come some matter from him : I
see none now. 10
Ajax. Thou bitch-wolf 's_ son, canst thou not hear?
Feel then. {^Strikes him.
5,6. ahotchy corc\Yi2iViv^&\\{Dict) In core here and in v. i. 2 Schmidt
says that botch is used in Northumber- sees a quibble with cor, heart,
land for "an inflamed humour," and Collier's MS. Corrector gives "sore" ;
the £«^. £)m/. £)jV^. that in Yorkshire Grant White, " corps," while Staun-
it has the sense of " a sore breaking ton conjectures "cur," the Q variant
out in the skin," as in Deuteronomy in v. i. 2. Middleton, Michaelmas
xxviii. 27, "the botch of Egypt"; a Term, in. iv. 266, has: "To beguile
6o<c/ijy coff, therefore, probably means goodness is the core of sins," where
much the same as an angry boil, core there seems to be a quibble be-
being the more or less hard mass of tween "ulcer" and "heart". The
tissue in the centre of a boil. Com- Cambridge Editors are mistaken in
i[>2LxeM2iXir,ior\, I Antonio and Mcllida, saying that Dj'ce reads "sore"
III. ii. 14 : " draw the core forth of in his second edition ; he retains
imposthum'd sin". Others connect core.
botchy with "botch," a patch, in the 9. matter] of course with a pun, as
sense, I suppose, of a ragged ulcer, above in "run ".
56
sc. i] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA
57
Ther. The plague of Greece upon thee, thou mon- grel beef-witted lord !
Ajax. Speak then, thou vinewedst leaven, speak : 15 I will beat thee into handsomeness.
Ther. I shall sooner rail thee into wit and holi- ness : but I think thy horse will sooner con an oration than thou learn a prayer without book. Thou canst strike, canst thou? a red 20
/f^ murrain o' thy jade's tricks !
Ajax. Toadstool, learn me the proclamation.
Ther. Dost thou think I have no sense, thou strikest me thus?
Ajax, The proclamation ! 25
Ther. Thou art proclaimed a fool, I think.
Ajax. Do not, porpentine, do not : my fingers itch.
Ther. I would thou didst itch from head to foot, and I had the scratching of thee ; I would
15. vinewedst] whinid^st Ff ; unsalted Q.
13. The plague of Greece] " allud- ing, perhaps, to the plague sent by Apollo on the Grecian army" (John- son) ; perhaps : mongrel, " on account of his father being a Grecian and his mother a Trojan" (Malone) : beef- witted, bovine, as we say. Compare Twelfth Night, i. iii. 90, 91 : " but I am a great eater of beef and I believe that does harm to my wit ".
15. vincwedst]mos,tmou\dy. Nares gives both " vinew'd " and " finew'd " as = miicidus, situ sentus, adducing the following instances of the word's use : " Many of Chaucer's words are become as it were vinew'd and hoarie with over-long lying," T. Beaumont to Speght, in Ins Chaucer; "A soul- dier's hands must oft be died with goare, Lest stark with rest, they
finew'd waxe and hoare," Mirror for Magistrates. Baret's Alvearie and Huloet's Diet., 1552, have the same explanation : leaven, compare Cym- beline, iii. iv. 64, where Dowden ex- plains the image as that of " a spreading ferment of evil ",
18. zvithout book] off by heart ; frequent in Shakespeare.
20, 21. a red tmirrain] apparently the same as the " red plague " of The Tempest, i. i. 364, and the " red pestilence " of Coriolamis, iv. i. 13, but variously diagnosed as erysipelas, leprosy, etc.
22. learn me] ascertain for me the particulars of, as in line 98 below ; not "communicate," "tell," as Schmidt explains.
27. porpentine] the form always used by Shakespeare.
58 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
make thee the loathsomest scab in Greece. 30 When thou art forth in the incursions, thou strikest as slow as another.
Ajax. I say, the proclamation !
Ther. Thou grumblest and railest every hour on
Achilles, and thou art as full of envy at his 35 greatness as Cerberus is at Proserpina's beauty, ay, that thou barkest at him.
Ajax. Mistress Thersites !
Ther. Thou should 'st strike him,
Ajax. Cobloaf! 40
Ther. He would pun thee into shivers with his fist, as a sailor breaks a biscuit,
Ajax. You whoreson cur ! [^Beating him.
Ther. Do, do.
Ajax. Thou stool for a witch ! 45
Ther. Ay, do, do ; thou sodden -witted lord ! thou
hast no more brain than I have in mine
elbows ; an assinico may tutor thee, thou
31,32. When . . , another] Om\t¥i. 40, A]zx. Cobloaf !] Ajax Cob-
lofeQ (in italics as part of Thersites' speech). 48. Assinico] Asinico Q, Ff.
31. iwcMrsioHs] encounters with the 41. pun] pound. Compare Hey-
Trojans, wood, 1 Echvard IV. vol. i. p, 19
37. Mistress] a taunt at his coward- (Pearson's Reprint) : " Cavallero Spic-
ice. So, in the Agamemnon of ing, the maddest slave that ever />;<«(/
Aeschylus, 1625, the Chorus addresses spice in a mortar " ; P. Holland's
Aegisthus as " Woman ! " In Chap- Plinie, book xix. p. 4, ed. 1634 : " they
man's Iliad, ii. 204, Thersites rates are to be beaten and /MWKtt/ in a great
the chiefs as " Greekish girls, not stone mortar ".
Greeks", 43. 7i<horeson] spelt in Q and Ff
40. Col>loafl]TheEng. Dial. Diet, i, 2, horson, which is the truer spell- gives "cobloaf" as (i) a crusty, un- ing, the w being an excrescence, even loaf; (2) the outside loaf of a 48. assinico] The old copies give batch. Minsheu's Diet., quoted by asinico, modern editors, assinego. I Malone, defines the word as " a have taken Dyce's suggestion in bunne. It is a little loaf made printing assinico as being a form with a round head, such as cob-irons nearer to the Spanish word, asnico, a which support the tire." little ass. Jonson, The Staple of
sc. i] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 59
scurvy-valiant ass ! thou art here but to thrash Trojans ; and thou art bought and sold among 50 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 !
Ajax. You dog! 55
Ther. You scurvy lord !
Ajax. You cur ! {^Beating him.
Ther. Mars his idiot ! do, rudeness ; do, camel ; do, do. ^ «^
Enter ACHILLES and PatrocluS.
Achil. Why, how now, Ajax! wherefore do you thus? 60 How now, Thersites ! what 's the matter, man ?
Ther. You see him there, do you?
Achil. Ay; what's the matter?
Ther. Nay, look upon him.
Achil. So I do: what's the matter? 65
Ther. Nay, but regard him well.
Achil. "Well!" why, so I do.
Ther. But yet you look not well upon him ; for, whosoever you take him to be, he is Ajax.
49. scurvy -valianfl Dyce (S. Walker's conjecture) ; scurvy valiant Q, Ff.
News, V. 2, though prefixing " Don " of tenderness and sensibiHty. Corn- keeps Assincgo : — pare Henry V. ii. iv. 102, and 11. ii. "Slum. With a good jeer or two. 11, below. Also frequently in the P. Sen. And from your jaw- Bible, e.g. Genesis xliii. 30 : " His bone, Don Assinego ? " bozvels did yearn upon his brother " ;
50. 6oMg-/(^ a?j<f so W] made sport of, Canticles v. 4: "My bowels were treated as a mere chattel. Compare moved for him " ; Philippians i. 8 : Richard III. v. iii. 305 : " For Dickon " I long after you all in the bowels of thy master is bought and sold ". Jesus Christ".
52. 7<sf] make a habit of, continue to. 58. Mars his idiot} thou dolt, fit
53. by inches'] inch by inch. only to be used as an implement of
54. of no bowels'] merciless ; the war ! his, see Abbott, Shakespearian bowels being considered as the seat Grammar, § 217.
60 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
AchiL I know that, fool. 70
Ther. Ay, but that fool knows not himself.
Ajax. Therefore I beat thee.
Ther. 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 75 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. 80
AchiL What?
Ther. I say, this Ajax —
[Ajax oj^ers to strike him.
AchiL Nay, good Ajax.
70. that, fool'] Rowe; that fool Q, Ff.
71. Ay, . . . himself] Thersites
pretends to understand Achilles as having said, "I know that fool".
72. Therefore . . . iAc^] The "modi- cum of wit " here, and it is indeed a modicum, seems to lie in making Ajax say that he forgets himself in beating one so unworthy to be touched by him.
74. his evasions . . . long] his shifts, quibbles, are those of an ass.
75. bobbed] thumped, huHeted; "a word of uncertain origin, perhaps onomatopceic, expressing the effect of a smart but not very weighty blow — to pummel, buffet. Wynkyn de Worde (1493), Fcstivall : ' Our most benynge savyour . . . was bobbed, buffeted and spytte upon '. Armin, Foolc upon Foole (1G05), ' The fellowe
. . got the fooles head under his arme and bob'd his nose ' " (New Enff. Diet.). In iii. i. 75, "You shall not bob us out of our melody," the word is from " the M.E. bobben ;
O.F. bober, to befool, mock, deceive; PasquiVs Nightcap (1612): 'I '11 not be bob\l with such a slight excuse ' ; Brome, City Wit, iii. iv. : ' If you could bob me of with such pay- ment'" (id.).
77. pia mater] the membrane that covers the brain, here the brain itself, as in T2velfth Night, i. v. 123. Phin- eas Fletcher, Purple Island, v. 11, 12, describing the skull, says : —
" Four several walls, beside the common guard. For more defence the city round
embrace. The first, thick, soft : the second,
dry and hard . . . The other two of matter thin and
light. And yet the first much harder than the other," adding in his footnote, "These two are called the hard and tender mother," meaning the dura mater and the pia mater.
sc. I.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 61
Ther. Has not so much wit —
Achil. Nay, I must hold you. 85
Ther. As will stop the eye of Helen's needle, for
whom he comes to fight. Achil. Peace, fool ! Ther. I would have peace and quietness, but the
fool will not : he there ; that he ; look you 90
there ! Ajax. O thou damned cur ! I shall — Achil. Will you set your wit to a fool's? Ther. No, I warrant you ; for a fool's will shame
it. 95
Pair. Good words, Thersites. Achil. What 's the quarrel ? Ajax. I bade the vile owl go learn me the tenour
of the proclamation, and he rails upon me. Ther. I serve thee not. 100
Ajax. Well, go to, go to. Ther. I serve here voluntary. Achil. Your last service was sufferance, 'twas not
voluntary ; no man is beaten voluntary : Ajax
was here the voluntary, and you as under an 105
impress. ■
93. Will you . . . fools ?] Will you money advanced, earnest money, the
enter into a contest with a fool ? Com- recruit's shilling of to-day, and to give
pare A Midsiunniey-Nighfs Dream, such money was to ifH/res^ him. The
in. i. 137 : " Who would set his wit corruption, impress, arose from the
to so foolish a bird ? " sc. as the practice of taking men for the public
cuckoo. service on compulsion, and the original
104. voluntary'] adverbially. sense of the word was thus lost sight
106. impress] with a pun upon the of. See Wedgwood, Diet. Compare
impression made by Ajax's fist and Dekker, The Gentle Craft, vol. i. p.
impressment into military service, ii (Pearson's Reprint): " They have
In the word in the latter sense the their imprest coats and furniture " ;
element press is a corruption of O.F. Jonson, The Magnetic Lady, iv. i. :
prest, ready, prest-money being ready " He lent you imprest money ".
62 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
Ther. 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 i lo a fusty nut with no kernel.
Achil. What! with me too, Thersites?
Ther. There's Ulysses, and old Nestor, whose wit was mouldy ere your grandsires had nails on their toes, yoke you like draught-oxen and 115 make you plough up the wars,
Achil. What? what?
Ther. Yes, good sooth : to, Achilles ! to, Ajax ! to !
Ajax. I shall cut out your tongue.
Ther. 'Tis no matter; I shall speak as much as 120 thou afterwards.
Pair. No more words, Thersites ; peace !
Ther. I will hold my peace when Achilles' brach bids me, shall I ?
Achil. There's for you, Patroclus. 125
Ther. I will see you hanged, like clotpoles, ere I
109. if he knock out] Ff ; and knocke at Q. 114. your] Theobald;
their Q, Ff. 123. brach] Rowe ; brooch Q, Ff.
no, a' were . . . crack] he would iv. ii, : " There is , , , a sow-pig hath
get as much by cracking, etc. suck'd a brach, and now hunts the
118. to, Achilles I . . . to] "To, deer ... as well as any hound in
to," says Staunton, "are words of Cyprus", Figuratively of courtesans,
encouragement which ploughmen of Massinger, The Unnatural Combat,
old employed to their draught horses iv. ii. : " Why, braches, will you worry
and oxen." Compare Chapman, May me ? " Mason compares v. i. 19, be-
Day, IV. iv. : "I shall imagine still I low: "his masculine whore". Others,
am driving an ox and an ass before retaining the old reading, brooch, ex-
me, and cry phtrohho, ptrough ". So, plain, after Johnson : " an appendant
" at him 1 " in setting on a dog. ornament, and so a hanger on ".
123. brach] properly a kind of 126. clotpoles] " clotpoU," a thick
hound that hunts by the scent. Often or " wooden " head ; also " clod-poll,"
of a bitch-hound. Compare Beaumont from "clod," a lump, mass, and
and Fletcher, The Lover's Melancholy, " poll " = " head ".
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 63
come any more to your tents: I will keep where there is wit stirring and leave the faction of fools. [ExzL
Pair. A good riddance. 130
Achil. Marry, this, sir, is proclaim'd through all our host : J^ iA?
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 135
Maintain — I know not what : 'tis trash. Fare- well. Ajax. Farewell. Who shall answer him? Achil. I know not : 'tis put to lottery ; otherwise
He knew his man. Ajax. O ! meaning you. I will go learn more of it. 140
\Exeunt.
SCENE n. — Troy. A Room in Priam's Palace.
Enter Priam, Hector, Troilus, Paris, and
Helenus.
Pri. After so many hours, lives, speeches spent.
Thus once again says Nestor from the Greeks : "Deliver Helen, and all damage else,
132. fifth hour] i.e. eleven o'clock 139. He knew his man] he would
in the forenoon. have had no doubt as to who would
135. stomach] appetite for fighting, be his opponent, courage.
..y^'-r'
64 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
As honour, loss of time, travail, expense. Wounds, friends, and what else dear that is con- sum'd 5
In hot digestion of this cormorant war, Shall be struck off." Hector, what say you to't? Hect. Though no man lesser fears the Greeks than I, As far as toucheth my particular, Yet, dread Priam, , ^, lO
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 fol- lows ? " Than Hector is. The wound of peace is surety, ty'" \ Surety secure; but modest doubt is call'd 15
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,
4, 5. As honour . . . friends'] means " tenths," it would, I think,
i.e. as injury to honour, loss of be a mistake to understand these
friends. words in their literal sense. The
9. toucheth my particular] concerns meaning seems to be not that every
me personally ; for particular as a tenth soul only, but every soul that
substantive in this sense, compare has been taken as a tithe by war is as
Coriolanus, iv. vii. 13 ; King Lear, dear as Helen, and of such tithes
II. iv. 295. there have been many thousands.
II. bowels] see note on 11. i. 54 Hudson's"every ten souls" is against
above. all usage ; and Hector immediately
14. the tiionnd . . . surety] that goes on to say that Helen, even if
which more than anything else im- she were truly a Trojan, would not
perils peace is our overweening sense be " worth to us the value of one
of security. Compare King Lear, 11. ten ". Nor can I believe with Rolfe
iv. 295. that " the* meaning is that not only
16. tent] a roll of lint for probing is every tenth soul taken, but there
wounds. are many thousands of these souls,"
19. Every tithe . . . dismes] though for Hector does not say that every
tithe means " tenth " and dismes tenth soul has been taken.
sen] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 65
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?
Tro. Fie, fie ! my brother, 25
I 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
,' With spans and inches so diminutive As fears and reasons ? fie, for godly shame !
Hel. 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, 35 Because your speech hath none that tells him so?
Tro. You are for dreams and slumbers, brother priest; You fur your gloves with reason. Here are your reasons :
29. past proportion] Q, Ff ; past-proportion Johnson. 30. waisti waste
Q, Ff I, 2; zcrts^Ff 3,4.
20. / mean, of onrsl I mean every 38. You fur . . . reason] you line
tithe soul of our host. your speech with reasons as gloves
29. The past proportion . . . in- are lined with fur. Or perhaps fur
finite] that infinite greatness of his may be taken for "ornament," as in
which is beyond all measure of com- Measure for Measure, in. ii. 8-11 : "a
parison. furred gown . . . and furred with
33. reasons] A poor pun on "rais- fox and lambskins too, to signify that
ins" has been suspected here, as in craft, being richer than innocency,
Much Ado About Nothing, v. i. 211. stands for the facing ". In the former
It seems unlikely in a passage so sense, compare King John, iv. iii.
serious, but Shakespeare does quibble 24 : —
even at solemn moments. " We will not line his thin be-
36. that] referring to " your stained cloak
speecu ". ii'iVith our pure honours".
5
66 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
\
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, 45
Or like a star disorb'd ? Nay, if we talk of
reason, Let 's shut our gates and sleep : manhood and
honour Should have harehearts, would they but fat their
thoughts With this cramm'd reason : reason and respect Make livers pale and lustihood deject. 50
Hecf. Brother, she is not worth what she doth cost
The holding. . ]
Tro. What is aught but as 'tis valued ?
HecL \ But value dwells not in particular will ; / It holds his estimate and dignity / As well wherein 'tis precious of itself 55
56. mad] madde Q; made Ff,
46. disorb'd] thrown out of its sphere. See note on i. iii. 85 above.
48. 49. Should have . . . reason] would have hearts as timid as that of a hare if they battened upon such food as reason, food that fattens without strengthening.
49. respect] anxious consideration of consequences.
50. livers pale] The "hver" as the seat of passion, courage, etc., is fre- quent in the language of the time, and we have " li\y-livered" " Ik-
livcred^' for cowards. In 2 Henry IV. IV. iii. no ff., Falstaff says : " The second property of your ex- cellent sherris is the warming of the blood ; which, before cold and set- tled, left the liver ivhite and pale, which is the badge of pusillanimity and cowardice ".
53. particular will] The value which a particular person puts upon it.
54. dignity] worth, noblensss ; compare Hamlet, i. v. 48 : " For me whose love was of such dignity ".
sen.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 67
' ', As in the prizer. 'Tis mad idolatry ' - , //-
fV^^^* • To make the service greater than the god; . ^'■
And the will dotes that is inclinable To what infectiously itself afifects, '
Without some image of the affected merit. 60
Tro. 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, 65 Although my will distaste what it elected, rrhe 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 70
We do not throw in unrespective sieve
71. sieve] Johnson ; sive Q ; same F i ; place Ff 2, 3, 4.
^6. prizer] appraiser; to "prize" 66. djsto^^] here = disrelish. Corn- is probably more frequent in Shake- pare Massinger, The Refiegado, i. speare in this sense than in that of ii. : —
to " value highly ". So, to " appreci- " We that are born great,
ate" properly means to " put a price Seldom distaste our servants,
upon," to " appraise," though in though they give us
modern parlance loosely used in the More than we can pretend to ".
sense of to "value highly". See note on line 123, below.
58, 59. that is . . . affects] that 67, 68. there can . . . honour] there
attributes excellences to whatever it can be no standing firm by honour if
is strongly and sympathetically drawn evasion is used to shrink from the
to. Schmidt gives "morbidly" for choice made: evasion, subterfuge,
infectiously, which seems to me too shuffling excuse, getting out of the
sinister a meaning. way to avoid anything : blench, see
60. image] idea, conception. note on i. i. 30.
64. traded] constantly engaged in 71. unrespective sieve] sieve or
such a voyage, professional ; " trade " " voider " into which scraps from the
originally meant " path," that on table, etc., are thrown and which
which we tread ; hence habitual oc- heeds not what it thus receives,
cupation, manner of life. Farmer says that in several counties
68 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
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 75
And did him service : he touch'd the ports de-
sir'd, And for an old aunt whom the Greeks held
captive, He brought a Grecian queen, whose youth and
freshness 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. And turn'd crown'd kings to merchants. If you'll avouch 'twas wisdom Paris went,
79. stale] Ff ; pale Q.
of England the baskets used for carry- 76. touch'd] landed at. Compare
ing out dirt, etc., were in his day still The Winter's Tale, v. i. 139: —
called " sieves ". " By his command
74. Your breath . . . consent] the Have I here touched SiciVia.",
counsel which you all agreed on; The modern " touch at " implies only
with a play on " breath " in its a short stay.
ordinary sense : bellied, compare A 77. an old aunt] Hesione, Priam's
Midsummer - Night's Dream, 11. i. sister and mother of Ajax; in "old
129: — aunt" there seems something of the
"And grow big-bellied with the contemptuous sense in which the
wanton wind ". phrase was formerly used of an old
There is the same conceit in Chap- gossip, and even more opprobriously.
man's continuation of Hero and 80. Why . . , her ?] do you ask
Leander, Third Sestiad, line 327 : — why we persist in keeping her ?
" And all her fleet of spirits came 82. Compare Marlowe, Faustus : —
swelling in •' Was this the face that launched
With child of sail ". a thousand ships ? "
4
sen.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 69
As you must needs, for you all cried " Go, go"; 85
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 prized Richer than sea and land ? O ! theft most base. That we have stol'n what we do fear to keep ; But thieves unworthy of a thing so stol'n, That in their country did them that disgrace 95 We fear to warrant in our native place.
Cas. [ Within?^ Cry, Trojans, cry !
Pri. What noise? what shriek is this?
Tro. 'Tis our mad sister, I do know her voice.
Cas. [ Withini\ Cry, Trojans !
Hect. It is Cassandra. 100
Enter CASSANDRA, raving, Cas. Cry, Trojans, cry ! lend me ten thousand eyes,
And I will fill them with prophetic tears. Hect. Peace, sister, peace !
86. noble] Ff ; worthy Q.
89. The issue . . . wisdoms] the for the concrete ; but it has been sug-
result of what you yourselves wisely gested to me that the sense may be :
approved: raf^, condemn. "make worthless that valuation by
90-92. And do . . , land P] and which you rated her as being above
with an inconstancy such as even all price ".
Fortune never showed, depreciate as 93. That] in that, because. Han- worthless that which you formerly mer reads What . . . that; Grant held to be above all price. Schmidt White, That . . . that. rightly, I think, takes estimation, as 95. That] sc. the rape of Helen, in Cymbeline, i. iv. 99, as the abstract 96. warrant] justify, defend.
70 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
Cas. Virgins and boys, mid-age and wrinkled eld,
Soft infancy, that nothing canst but cry, 105
Add to my clamours ! let us pay betimes
A moiety of that mass of moan to come.
Cry, Trojans, cry ! practise your eyes with tears !
Troy must not be, nor goodly Ilion 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.
SJExit.
Hect. Now, youthful Troilus, do not these high strains Of divination in our sister work Some touches of remorse? or is your blood 115 So madly hot that no discourse of reason. No fear of bad success in a bad cause, % Can qualify the same?
Tro. Why, brother Hector,
We may not think the justness of each act
104. eld] Ritson's correction. The face prasgnans Cisseis regina Parin
Q gives elders ; the foHos, old, which creat ".
latter Delius retains. Ritson com- ii6. discourse of reasoii']Xh&Tea.son-
pares The Merry Wives of Windsor, ing faculty. Compare Havilet, i. ii.
IV. iv. 36, and Measure for Measure, 150, and also in the same sense "dis-
III. i. 36. So, Chapman, Iliad, xxiii. course " alone, Hamlet, iv. iv. 36.
689: "the green-haired eld "; Jon- The phrase is in ^a.con. Advancement
son, The Sad Shepherd, ii. : " Who of Learning, 1. iv. 2, and elsewhere
scorns at eld, peels off his own young frequently in Elizabethan literature,
hairs". On Twelfth Night, iv. iii. 12, Singer
107. moiety] Lat. medietas, is used quotes Glanville : " The act of the
by Shakespeare in its proper sig- mind which connects propositions and
nification, but frequently also, as deduces conclusions from them, the
here, for any portion, greater schools call discourse, and we shall
or less. Steevens quotes Aeneid, not miscall it if we name it reason ".
ii. 56 : " Trojaque nunc staret, 117. success] Shakespeare uses the
Priamique arx, alta maneres " ; and word as = issue, result, both in a
for Hecuba's dream, when pregnant neutral sense and qualified by vari-
with Paris, Aeneid, x. 705 : " et ous adjectives.
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 71
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, 125 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 weekest spleen To fight for and maintain. Par. 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 All fears attending on so dire a project: For what, alas, can these my single arms? 135 What propugnation is in one man's valour,
122. raptures] proph^ic ecstasies. doubtful whether the word means
123. distaste] here give a bad taste " show their disHke to," or "expose to, make distasteful; so, again, in to dislike".
IV. iv. 48: "Distasted with the salt 124. engag'd] enlisted; an ad-
of broken tears". Cotgrave has the jective, not a perfect tense,
word both transitively and intransi- 125. to make it gracious] to show it
tively : " Desapetisser : to distast, to advantage,
marre the stomach ; take away the 130. convince] prove guilty of.
appetite; to breed a dislike or loath- 131. This inversion, whereby pro-
ing of meats ; and Desgouster : to minence is given to that which is
distast, loathe, dislike, abhorre ; to subordinate in the mind of the
be out of humor with, have no mind, speaker, is more Greek than English,
no maw unto ". Compare Othello, 132. attest] call to witness.
III. iii. 327 : — 133. propension] inclination; here
" Which at the first are scare found only in Shakespeare. Compare
to distaste," Glapthorne, The Lady Mother, ii.
where the verb is intransitive. In 141 : —
Dekker, The Untrussing of the Hum- " I feel a strong propension in my- orous Poet, vol. i. p. 195 (Pearson's self Reprint) : " I can bring . . . a . . . To yield to you ". troop of gallants who . . . shall dis- 136. propugnation] defence ; again taste every unsalted line in their a word not elsewhere in Shake- fly-blown comedies," it is perhaps speare.
72 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
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.
Pri. 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. 145
Par. Sir, I propose not merely to myself
The pleasure such a beauty brings with it ;
But I would have the soil of her fair rape
Wiped off in honourable keeping her.
What treason were it to the ransack'd queen, 150
Disgrace to your great worths, and shame to me,
Now to deliver her possession up
On terms of base compulsion ! Can it be
137. To stand the push] to resist single man could cope ; yet if singly the attack, face the onset. Compare I had to face such difficulties, sup- 1 Henry IV. iii. ii. 66 : — posing my powers were equal to my
"To laugh at gibing boys and will, I should not leave undone what
stand the push I have done, nor be slack in the pro-
Of every beardless vain com- secution of my design ". parative ". 145. So'] in such a way.
138. would excite] was sure to 148. rape] in the original sense of arouse. snatching away, carrying off.
139. to pass] if sound, means to 150. ransack'd] ravished. The "undergo," as in Othello, 1. iii. 131, word primarily means to search a Hudson edits the conjecture of Col- house ; from rann, a house, and sak, lier's MS. Corrector, "poise," and base of sc^^a, to search (Skeat, £/j. Dyce inclines to it. Possibly " t' op- Diet.). In Chapman's Iliad, xx. 311, pose". Achilles, after the escape of Aeneas,
141. retrnct] draw hack ivom; not, says: —
I think, "disavow," "wish undone," "All this host I'll ransack,
as Schmidt explains. Paris's argu- and have hope
ment is this: "Your agreement Of all; not one again will 'scape,
fortified me against all fears as to whoever gives such scope
the dangers that would surely result To his adventure, and so near
from my act, dangers with which no dares tempt my angry lance ".
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 73
That so degenerate a strain as this
Should once set footing in your generous
bosoms? 155
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 unfamed Where Helen is the subject : then, I say, 160
Well may we fight for her whom, we know well, The world's large spaces cannot parallel. Hect. Vdixis and Troilus, you have both said well; And on the cause and question now in hand Have gloz'd, but superficially ; not much 165
Unlike young men, whom Aristotle thought Unfit to hear moral philosophy. The reasons you allege do more conduce
155. footing hi] Q, F I ; foot in Ff 2, 3, 4.
155. oncel for a single moment: serves: "Both Bacon and Shake-
generous, nobly born and, so, nobly speare agree in misrepresenting
natured ; Lat. gencrosus. Compare Aristotle's remark about young men
Measure for Measure, iv. vi. 13 : — not being fit to be instructed in
"Theg"fȣ>'0M5 and gravest citizens Political Philosophy, both of them
Have hent the gates". substituting Moral Philosophy. Now
165. gloz'd] commented, put your Bacon's citation occurs in the Ad- interpretation upon matters as they vancement of Learning which was now stand ; O.F. glose, Lat. glossa, published in 1605, Shakespeare's in Gk. yXwcra-a, a word needing explana- Troilus and Cressida which was tion, hence the explanation itself, published in 1609. It is abundantly often with a specious, plausible or clear that Shakespeare was a studious flattering sense ; gloss, an explanation reader of contemporary literature, is a variant. Compare Henry V. 1. and why, we ask, should he not ii. 40 : — have derived the reference and the
" Which Salique land the French error from Bacon's treatise ? " In a
unjustly o'/oze footnote he adds: "If error it be,
To be the realm of France ". for, as Mr. Sidney Lee justly ob-
Theobald punctuates " glozed but serves, by 'political' philosophy
superficially"; and perhaps rightly. Aristotle is referring to the ethics of
166. Aristotle] On this passage, of civil society, which are hardly dis- which the " Baconians " have made tinguishable from what is called so much, Mr. Churton Collins, S<?<JtVs 'moralls'. He shows by reference in Shakespeare, pp. 360, 361, ob- to a French translation of the pas-
74 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
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 175
7**'*' 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,
sage, published in Paris in 1553, Iviii. 3 : " they are like the deaf adder
where it is turned ' science civile,' to that stoppeth her ear". Cp. also
a note in a copy of Aristotle in the Wyclif, Sermon Ixiv, s.f., "But Crist
British Museum where it is translated biddith hise disciplis be prudent as
' morall philosophy,' and to a passage eddris. An eddre hath this witt ;
in an Italian essayist in 1622, where whanne charmeris come to take him,
it is translated ' moralli,' that this the toon of his erris he clappith to
was the sense in which the term the erthe, and with the ende of his
was generally understood in the six- tail he stoppith the tother."
teenth and seventeenth centuries" 177. flj^i?c</o«] inclination, appetite,
{Life of Shakespeare, p. 370, note), propensity, are all senses in which
Though, as Mr. Collins says, Troilns Shakespeare uses the word, and it is
and Cressida was published in i6og, perhaps doubtful which exactly it has
Mr. Lee supposes the passage in here.
question to have been ivritten " about 178. of partial indulgeiice'] out of
1603". too easy compliance : bejium bed, dead
168. do more conduce'] tend more to to all higher principle ; not, I think,
inflame, etc., than to, etc. " inflexible, immoveable, no longer
172. adders] The word is properly obedient to superior direction," as
ncedre, nadre, naddcr, but in M.E. Johnson says.
the initial n was lost and a nadre be- 179. the same] sc. law of nature,
came an adder. Similarly an auger 180. a law] " what the law does
IS Y>xo}pex\y a nmiger ; and conversely in every nation between individuals,
a newt should be an ewt, a nickname, justice ought to do between nations "
an ekenaiiie. For the belief in the (Johnson). deafness of the adder, compare Psalms
sen.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 75
Tro.
As it is known she is, these_nigral_Iaw.s OjLnature and of nation speak aloud 185
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
In resolution to keep Helen still ; For 'tis a cause that hath no mean dependance Upon our joint and several dignities. Why, there you touch'd the life of our design : Were it not glory that we more affected 195
Than the performance of our heaving spleens, I would not wish a drop of Trojan blood Spent more in her defence. But, worthy Hector, I She is a theme of honour and renown, I A spur to valiant and magnanimous deeds, 200 Whose present courage may beat down our foes. And fame in time to come canonise us ;
203. lose\ loose Q, F i,
187. extemiates] here " mitigates," rather than " palliates ". Compare A Midsummer-Night's Dream, i. i. 120. Shakespeare uses the word in both senses and also as = under- value. In Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. ii. 3, and Letter of Advice to Essex, the sense is to " depreciate," and in his Colours of Good and Evil, 7, to " weaken ". Chapman, Iliad, xvi. 675, has the word in the sense of " break the force of," "serve as a defence against" : — " full on with his huge
stone he ran, Discharged, and drave it 'twixt
the brows of bold Cebriones.
Nor could the thick bone there prepared extenuate so th' ac- cess, But out it drave his broken eyes." i8g. in way of truth] looking at the matter as an abstract question of right. 190, igi. I propend . . . resolution] my inclination accords with yours in resolving, etc.
196. heaving spleens] fiercely re- vengeful feelings.
201. Whose present courage] the valour shown by which deeds may in the present, etc.
202. canonise] put us in the canon or roll of heroes ; accented on the pen- ultimate, as always in Shakespeare.
76 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
For, I presume, brave Hector would not lose So rich advantage of a promis'd glory- As smiles upon the forehead of this action 205 For the wide world's revenue. Hect. 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. — The Grecian Camp. Before Achilles' Tent.
Enter Thersites.
Thcr. How now, Thersites ! what ! lost in the laby- rinth of thy fury. Shall the elephant Ajax carry it thus ? he beats me, and I rail at
/ him : O worthy satisfaction ! would it were
204. So rich . . . glory^ the rich promise of fame to be won.
208. roistino;] roistering, vaunting. Skeat {Ety. Diet.) quotes Cotgrave : " riistre, a ruffin, royster, hackster, swaggering sawcy fellow," and says the verb to roist is in P. Levin's Manipulus Vocabulortim, 1570. It occurs also in Gabriel Harvey's Supererogation, 1593, "his raving Poetry, his roisting Khetorique, and his chopping logique".
211. advcrtis'd^mioxm'A; accented on the second syllable.
212. emulation] factious rivalry,
jealousy. Compare the Advancement of Learning, i. vi. 14 : " The emula- tion and jealousy of Gregory the first of that name".
Scene iij.
3. carry it] carry off the honours, bear the palm ; an expression frequent in Shakespeare, e.g. Tlic Merry Wives of Windsor, iii. ii. 70 : " he will carry it, he will carry it ; 'tis in his buttons ; he will carry it " ; Romeo and Juliet, III. i. 77 : " Alia stoccata carries it away ".
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 77
otherwise ; that I could beat him, whilst he 5 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 Achil- les, a rare enginer. If Troy be not taken till these two undermine it, the walls will 10 stand till they fall of themselves. O ! thou great thunder-darter of Olympus; forget that thou art Jove the king of gods, and, Mercury, lose all the serpentine craft of thy caduceus, if ye take not that little, little less than little 15 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 20 vengeance on the whole camp ! or rather, the Neapolitan bone-ache? for that, methinks, is the curse dependant on those that war for a placket. I have said my prayers, and,
22. Neapolitan] Q, omitted in Ff.
7. but I 'II see] rather than not see it.
9. enginer] or ingener, the form al- ways found in Shakespeare, except in some of the later folios.
12. forget, lose] may you forget, lose.
16. short-armed] not reaching far. Dyce conjectures " short-aimed," and compares Coriolanus, i. ii. 22 : —
" By the discovery pare King Lear, iii. iv. 100. The
We shall be shortened in our word was sometimes written " plac-
aim ". kerd," as in Friar Bacon and Friar
22. Neapolitan] the disease being Bungay, p. 154/2 (ed. Dyce) : " on supposed to have originated in Naples, a sudden she'll swap thee into her So, Glapthorne, The Hollander, 11, i. : plackerd ".
" if I should obtain the Neapolitan boucache ".
24. placket] " has been very vari- ously explained — a petticoat, an under-petticoat, a pocket attached to a petticoat, the slit or opening in a petticoat, and a stomacher ; and it certainly was occasionally used to signify a female, as a petticoat is now . . ." (Dyce, Glossary). Com-
\
78 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
devil Envy, say Amen. What ho ! my Lord 25
Achilles ! 1 v
■ cUA
Enter Patroclus.
Pair, Who 's there ? Thersites ! Good Thersites, come in and rail.
Ther. If I could have remembered a gilt counterfeit,
thou would'st not have slipped out of my 30 contemplation : but it is no matter ; thyself upon thyself ! The common curse of man- kind, folly and ignorance, be thine in great revenue ! heaven bless thee from a tutor, and "ft)
discipline come not near thee ! Let thy blood 35 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 ? 40
Pair. What ! art thou devout ? wast thou in prayer ?
Ther. Ay ; the heavens hear me !
Enter ACHILLES.
Achil. Who's there?
Patr. Thersites, my lord.
Achil. Where, where? Art thou come? Why, my 45
37. corse\ Capell ; course Q ; coarse Ff.
29-31. // / could . . . contempla- 34. bless thee front] providenti-
<ioM] " Slips " were pieces of counter- ally save you from. Compare X/wg'
feit money, brass covered over with Lear, in. iv. 60 : " Bless thee from
silver. Com\):iXQ Romeo and Juliet, u. whirlwinds, star-blasting, and tak-
iv. 49-51 : "/^o>«. What co/(?j/fr/>i7 did ing ! "
1 give you ? Aft'K. The i///", sir, the s/J/!>." 35. ftZood] violent passions. Com-
31, 32. thyself upon thyself!] i.e. pare King Lear, iv. ii. 64: "to let
I can invoke no worse curse than this, these hands obey my blood".
?
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 79
cheese, my digestion, why hast thou not served thyself in to my table so many meals ? Come, what's Agamemnon?
Ther. Thy commander, Achilles. Then tell me,
Patroclus, what's Achilles? 5°
Pair. Thy, lord, Thersites. Then tell me, I pray thee, what 's thyself?
Ther. Thy knower, Patroclus. Then tell me, Pat- roclus, what art thou?'
Patr. Thou may'st tell that knowest. 55
Achil. O ! tell, tell.
Ther. I '11 decline the whole question. Agamemnon commands Achilles ; Achilles is my lord ; I am Patroclus' knower ; and Patroclus is a fool. 6o
Patr. You rascal !
Ther. Peace, fool ! I have not done.
Achil. He is a privileged man. Proceed, Thersites.
Ther. Agamemnon is a fool ; Achilles is a fool ;
Thersites is a fool ; and, as aforesaid, Pat- 65 roclus is a fool.
Achil. Derive this, come.
Ther. Agamemnon is a fool to offer to command Achilles ; Achilles is a fool to be commanded of Agamemnon ; Thersites is a fool to serve 70 such a fool; and Patroclus is a fool positive.
61-66. You rascal . . . fool] Ff ; omitted in Q.
46. my digestion'] cheese being sup- Jonson, Epigrams, ci. 27 : " Digestive
posed to help that process. Compare cheese, and fruit there sure will be". Middleton, Your Five Gallants, 11. 57. decline] go through ; a gram-
iii. 323 : " it comes like cheese after matical term, as, just below, derive
a great feast to digest the rest"; and positive.
\
80 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
Pair, Ther
80
Why am I a fool?
Make that demand to the Creator. It suffices
me thou art. Look you, who comes here?
Achil. Patroclus, I '11 speak with nobody. Come in 75 with me, Thersites. {Exit.
Ther. Here is such patchery, such juggling, and such knavery ! all the argument is a whore and a cuckold ; a good quarrel to draw emu- lous 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.
Agam. Where is Achilles?
Patr. Within his tent ; but ill dispos'd, my lord.
Again. Let it be known to him that we are here,
78, 79. a cuckold and a whore] Ff ; a whore, and a cuckold Q.
85
73. to the Creator'] the reading of the folios. The Q gives " of the prover," which can only mean him who is able to prove that you are a fool by making trial of you. Delius says the latter was an alteration made in consequence of the prohibition of profane expressions on the stage, and one which hardly comes from Shake- speare.
77. patchery] " botching intended to hide faults; gross and bungling hypocrisy " (Schmidt) ; or perhaps " knavish contrivance ". Compare Timon of Athens, v. i. gg : "Know his gross patchery ".
81. serpigo] In Gerharde's Herball, 1597, P- 6g, the serpigo or impetigo is defined as " certain chaps, chinkes, or riftes in the palmes of the handes or feete (a disease of great affinitie with the pockes) ". IBucknill, The
Medical Knowledge of Shakespeare, p. 230, says : " Serpigo seems to have been widely used by old medi- cal authors as a creeping skin disease. . . . The disease to which it was most frequently applied was the vesicular disease now called Herpes circinatus, which certainly could not be called dry; it was also applied to creeping forms of impetigo and psoriasis ; and to the latter of these especially, a dry scaly eruption, the term in the text would be perfectly appropriate." Compare Marston, The Fawn, iv. i. 434 : " From Don Zuccone, that dry scdlincss, — that sarpego, — that barren drouth, and shame of all humanity " ; Heywood, Lovers Mistress, vol. vi. p. 50 (Pearson's Reprint) :
" he all his body stung With the French fly, with the sarpego dried".
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 81
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. ' /
Pai(r. I shall say so to him. [Exz'i. 90
Ulyss, 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, 'tis pride : but why, why ? 95 let him show us a cause. A word, my lord.
\Takes Agamemnon aside.
Nest. What moves Ajax thus to bay at him?
Ulyss. Achilles hath inveigled his fool from him.
Nest. Who, Ther sites ?
Ulyss. He. 100
Nest. Then will Ajax lack matter, if he have lost his argument.
Ulyss, No, you see, he is his argument that has his argument, Achilles.
Nest. All the better ; their fraction is more our 105
86. shenti scolded, reviled ; Theo- 8g. dare not . . . place] dare not
bald's correction of the folio reading, assert the authority that belongs to
sent. The quarto gives safe, which us, or, perhaps, dare not raise the ques-
Dyce supposes to be a misprint for tion of our authority by asserting it. rate, i.e. rated. Compare Coriolamis, 93. lion-sick] i.e. " sick of proud
V. ii. 104; Twelfth Night, IV. ii. 112. heart". Compare Massinger, The
In these and other passages Shake- Bondman, in. iii., " lioit drunk ". speare uses the word as a participle, 94. if you will favour] if you are
not as a past tense. disposed to make the best of his
86, 87. we lay by , . . him] we behaviour, waive what is our due by coming to 102. his argument] that which
see him instead of summoning him forms the subject of his anger, before us. 105. fraction] rupture.
6
<; - •
82 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
wish than their faction : but it was a strong
composure a fool could disunite. Ulyss. The amity that wisdom knits not folly may •
easily untie. Here comes Patroclus, Nest. No Achilles with him? no
Re-enter PATROCLUS.
Ulyss. The elephant hath joints, but none for cour- tesy : his legs are legs for necessity, not for flexure.
Pair. Achilles bids me say, he is much sorry,
If anything more than your sport and pleasure 115 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.
Again. Hear you, Patroclus ;
We are too well acquainted with these answers:' 120 But his evasion, wing'd thus swift with scorn,
107. composure'] Q; counsell that Ff. 113. flexure] Q; flight Ff.
106, 107. but . . . disunite] ironi- Middleton, The Old Law, v. i. 651,
cal : composure, union, alliance. " The elephants have found their
111-113. The elephant . . .flexure] joints" ; Chapman, All Fools, v. i, Sir Thomas Browne's first chapter " I hope you are no elephant, you of the third book of his Pseudodoxia have joints" ; but the belief was, in is on the thesis " That an elephant fact, of frequent mention. Chap- hath no joints," a belief which his man, Iliad, xxiii. 109, uses flexure commentators call an "old and grey- for "turning" in a race : — headed error," it being, in fact, de- " Eumelus made most pace rived from Ctesias, the first Greek With his fleet mares, and he be- who saw and described an elephant, gan theyft'^«r^ as we thought", and long ago controverted by Aris- 116. this noble state] sc. the xtX.m\x& totle. Steevens compares The Dia- of the accompanying chiefs. logues of Creatures Moralyscd, etc., iig. breath] breathing, exercise. h\.\.,"'\.\\e^ olefawnte i\i2.t bou'eth 7iot Compare Hamlet, v. ii. iSi, "it is the kneys" ; Rowley's AlVs Lost by the breathing time of day with me". Lust, 1633, " Stubborn as an ele- 121. evasion] attempt to put us off phant's leg, no bending in her". So, with jests.
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 83
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, 125
Do in our eyes begin to lose their gloss,
Yea, like fair fruit in any 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 130
And under-honest, in self-assumption greater Than in the note of judgment ; and worthier than
himself Here tend the savage strangeness he puts on. Disguise the holy strength of their command, And underwrite in an observing kind 135
His humorous predominance ; yea, watch His pettish lunes, his ebbs, his flows, as if The passage and whole carriage of this action
137. pettish Junes] Hanmer ; pettish lines Ff; course and time Q. 138.
carriage 0/ this action] Ff; strcame of his commencement Q.
122. apprehensions] understand- ance] veil that authority which in all
ings. righteousness they might well assert,
125. Not virtuously , . . beheld] and deferentially acquiesce in, sub- not regarded by himself as the virtues scribe their assent to, the superiority themselves would prescribe, but arro- which he so capriciously arrogates to gantly borne. Mason conjectures himself, "upheld" for beheld. 137. lunes] Hanmer's correction,
127. unwholesome] foul. mad freaks. Compare The Winter's
131. under - honest] lacking in Tale, 11. ii. 30 : " These dangerous straightforward courtesy. unsafe lunes i' the king". Knight
132. note] distinctive mark, retains the reading of the folios, /jh^s; Schmidt, however, renders " than but the words " his ebbs, his flows," true judges know him to be" ; and and "his tide," seem to point to the to the same effect Delius. belief that lunacy is due to the moon.
133. tend . . . strangeness] wait 138. whole . . . action] The quarto upon the ill-bred aloofness. reading, " the stream of his com-
134-136. Disguise . . . predomin- mencement," was probably revised
84 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
Rode on his tide. Go tell him this, and add,
That if he overhold his price so much, 140
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. 145
Pair. I shall ; and bring his answer presently. \Exit.
Agam. In second voice we'll not be satisfied;
We come to speak with him. Ulysses, enter you. \Exit Ulysses.
Ajax. What is he more than another?
Agam. No more than what he thinks he is. 150
Ajax. Is he so much ? Do you not think he thinks himself a better man than I am ?
Agam. No question.
Ajax. Will you subscribe his thought, and say he
is? 155
Agam. 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. 160
Agam. Your mind is the clearer, Ajax, and your virtues the fairer. He that is proud eats up himself: pride is his own glass, his own
in order to get rid of such a figure as \\b. presently^ at once, on the
a stream riding upon a tide, and per- present moment, haps also because of " the stream of 147. In second voice] by an inter-
his dispose," line 173. mediary.
144. nl!o7e<nncc] approving acknow- 154. subscribe] endorse, ledgment, approbation, as in i. iii. 376. 160. grow] is born and nurtured.
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 85
trumpet, his own chronicle ; and whatever
praises itself but in the deed, devours the 165
deed in the praise. Ajax. I do hate a proud man, as I hate the engen- )
dering of toads. /
Nest. [Aside.] Yet he loves_^llimseli^ is 't not ■
strange? 170
Re-enter ULYSSES.
Ulyss. Achilles will not to the field to-morrow.
Again. What's his excuse?
Ulyss. 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. 175
Again. Why will he not upon our fair request
Untent his person and share the air with Cfe?
Ulyss. 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 180 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? 185
185. down himself] Q ; 'gainst itself e Ff.
175. self-admission'] conviction that " The genius and the mortal in-
what he does must be right. struments
181. That . . . self-breath] that is Are then in council ; and the
at variance with itself for giving vent state of man,
to the very words he utters. Like to a little kingdom, suffers
184, 185. Kingdom'd . . . himself] then
Malone compares Julius Ccesar, ii. i. The nature of an insurrection ". 66 ff. :—
86 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act ii.
He is so plaguy proud that the death-tokens of it Cry " No recovery ".
Again. Let Ajax go to him.
Dear lord, go you and greet him in his tent:
'Tis said he holds you well, and will be led
At your request a little from himself. 190
Ulj/ss. O Agamemnon ! let it not be so.
'~" We'll 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 195
Enter his thoughts, save such as do revolve
And ruminate himself, shall he be worshipp'd
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 ; 200
Nor, by my will, assubjugate his merit, , yi
As amply titled as Achilles is,
By going to Achilles : J
That were to enlard his fat-already pride.
And add more coals to Cancer when he burns 205
With entertaining great Hyperion.
This lord go to him ! Jupiter forbid,
And say in thunder "Achilles, go to him".
200. stale] Rowe ; staule Q, Ff i, 2; staul Ff 3, 4. 202. titled] Ff;
liked Q.
186. death-tokens'] an allusion to 200. stoZe A/s /a^w] sully the glory
the " tokens " of the plague. Com- he has nobly won. Compare Othello,
pare Love's Labour's Lost, v. ii. 423 ; i. iii. 227 : " slubber the gloss of your
Antony and Cleopatra, iii. x. g. new fortunes".
194. scam] fat, lard ; " O.F. sain, 205, 206. add . . . Hyperioti] " add
grease; mid. ha.t. saginum, stuffing" heat to the summer; Cancer being
(Skeat, Ety. Diet.). Compare " en- the zodiacal sign the sun enters at
seamed," Hamlet, iii. iv. 92. the summer solstice" (Rolfe).
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 87
Nest. [Aside.] O ! this is well ; he rubs the vein of
him. Dw. [Aside.] And how his silence drinks up this ap- plause! 210 Ajax. If I go to him, with my armed fist
I '11 pash him o'er the face. Again. O, no ! you shall not go. Ajax. An a' be proud with me, I '11 pheeze his pride.
Let me go to him. 215
Ulyss. Not for the worth that hangs upon our quarrel. Ajax. A paltry, insolent fellow ! Nest. [Aside.] How he describes himself! Ajax. Can he not be sociable ?
Ulyss. [Aside.] The raven chides blackness. 220
Ajax. I '11 let his humours blood. Again. [Aside.] He will be the physician that should
be the patient. Ajax. An all men were o' my mind, — Ulyss. [Aside.] Wit would be out of fashion. 225
Ajax. A' should not bear it so, a' should eat swords
first: shall pride carry it?
222. lef] Ff; tell Q: humours] Ff; humorous Q.
213. pash] batter. Compare Jon- caedere. It is a favourite word with
son, Sejanus, v. x : — the dramatists who use it in a variety
"when you do fall, of contemptuous senses.
You pash yourselves to pieces, 217. Not . . . quarrel] not for the
ne'er to rise " ; value of all we are fighting about.
yi.a%&ingQr,The Virgin Martyr, n.W.: 21S. paltry] "stands for palter-y,
" To />fls/j your gods in pieces ". But formed from an old pi. palter, Ta.gs,
the word was common enough. raggish, hence vile, worthless" (Skeat,
215. pheeze] also " fese," probably Ety. Diet.).
means " plague," whether by beating 226. eat swords] Grey ingeniously
or otherwise. Cole, in his Latin Die- conjectures " eat 's words," i.e. his
tionary (1679), quoted by Malone, words. For ^tarif so, compare above,
renders the word by Jlagellare , virgis line 3, " carry it thus ".
88 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
Nest. [Aside.] An 'twould, you'd carry half.
U/j/ss. [Aszde.] A' would have ten shares,
Ajax. I will knead him ; I '11 make him supple. 230
Nest. [Aside.] He's not yet through warm : force him
with praises : pour in, pour in ; his ambition
is dry. Ulyss. [To Agamemnon.] My lord, you feed too much on
this, dislike^ Nest. Our noble general, do not do so. 235
Dio. You must prepare to fight without Achilles. Ulyss. Why, 'tis this naming of him does him harm.
Here is a man — but 'tis before his face ;
I will be silent. Nest. Wherefore should you so?
He is not emulous, as Achilles is. 240
Ulyss. Know the whole world, he is as valiant. Ajax. A whoreson dog, that shall palter thus with us!
Would he were a Trojan ! -^tv^'-'-Y y -^
Nest. What a vice were it in Ajax now, — Ulyss. If he were proud, —
Dio. Or covetous of praise, — 245
Ulyss. Ay, or surly borne, —
Dio. Or strange, or self-affected !
Ulyss. Thank the heavens, lord, thou art of sweet com- posure ;
Praise him that got thee, she that gave thee suck:
231. through warm] thoroughly said to be connected with " paltry ".
warm : force, i.e. " farce," stuff. See note on line 218, above.
Compare v. i. 64. 246. Or strctnge, or self-affected]
240. «m«/oMs] liere "envious," but, or haughtily held himself aloof, or
like " emulation," used by Shake- cared for nobody but himself,
speare in a good sense also. 248. she] for " her ". Compare
242. palter] shuffle, shift, dodge ; Othello, iv. ii. 3 : " you have seen
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 89
Fam'd be thy tutor, and thy parts of nature
Thrice-fam'd, beyond all erudition : 250
But he that disciplin'd thine 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, 255
Which, like a bourn, a pale, a shore, confines Thy spacious and dilated parts : here 's Nestor, Instructed by the antiquary times, -ccA^
He must, he is, he cannot but be wise; But pardon, father Nestor, were your days 260 As green as Ajax' and your brain so temper'd, You should not have the eminence of him, But be as Ajax.
Ajax. Shall I call you father?
Nest. Ay, my good son.
Dio. Be rul'd by him, Lord Ajax.
Ulyss. There is no tarrying here ; the hart Achilles 265 Keeps thicket. Please it our great general To call together all his state of war ;
250. beyond, beyond all] Ff ; beyond all thy Q.
Cassio and she together". "She," 250. beyond . . . erudition] I ha.ve
says Abbott, Shakespearian Gram- followed Steevens and Dyce in
mar, § 211, "was more often used omitting the second beyond of the
for ' woman ' than he for ' man '. folios.
Hence, perhaps, she seemed more 256. bourn] here " limit " ; also
like an uninflected noun than he, " brook," as being a limit, ATz'wg' L^ar,
and we may thus extenuate the re- iii. vi. 27 : pale, paling, that which
markable anomaly ' Praise hint that keeps in.
got thee, she that gave thee suck ' 258. antiquary times] times rich in
(Troilus and Cressida, 11. iii. 252)". stored-up lore.
249. thy parts of nature]ihym.t\xx3.\ 267. all his state of war] the -whole
endowments. council of chiefs.
90 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act n.
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, 270
And cull their flower, Ajax shall cope the best. Again. Go we to council. Let Achilles sleep :
Light boats sail swift, though greater hulks draw
deep. \^Exeunt.
269. rnahi] full might.
ACT III
SCENE l.— Troy. Priam's Palace.
Enter Pandarus and a Servant.
Pan. Friend ! you ! pray you, a word : do not you
follow the young Lord Paris? Serv. Ay, sir, when he goes before me. Pan. You depend upon him ? I mean. Serv. Sir, I do depend upon the Lord. 5
Pan. You depend upon a noble gentleman ;
I must needs praise him. Serv. The Lord be praised ! Pan. You know me, do you not?
Serv. Faith, sir, superficially. lO
Pan. Friend, know me better. I am the Lord
Pandarus. Serv. I hope I shall know your honour better. -ik' Pan. I do desire it.
Serv. You are in the state of grace. 15
Pan. Grace ! not so, friend ; honour and lordship are
my titles. \^Music within.
What music is this ?
6. nohle\ Ff ; notable Q.
12. I hope . . . hetter\ "The ser- Pandarus as if he had said he wished vant means to quibble. He hopes to grow better, and hence the servant that Pandarus will become a better affirms that he is in a state of grace man than he is at present. In his . . ." (Malone). Pandarus deprecates next speech he chooses to understand the word grace as a title above him.
91
92 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Serv. I do but partly know, sir : it is music in parts.
Pan. Know you the musicians? 20
Serv. Wholly, sir.
Pan. Who play they to?
Serv. To the hearers, sir.
Pan. At whose pleasure, friend ?
Serv. At mine, sir, and theirs that love music. 25
Pan. Command, I mean, friend.
Serv. Who shall I command, sir?
Pan. Friend, we understand not one another. I am
1 too courtly, and thou art too cunning. At
1 whose request do these men play? 30
Serv. That 's to 't, indeed, sir. Marry, sir, at the
I request of Paris my lord, who's there in
person ; with him the mortal Venus, the heart-blood of beauty, love's invisible soul.
^ Pan. Who, my cousin Cressida ? 35
Serv. No, sir, Helen : could you not find out that by her attributes ?
Pan. It should seem, fellow, that thou hast not seen the Lady Cressida. I come to speak with Paris from the Prince Troilus : I will 40 make a complimental assault upon him, for my business seethes.
Serv. Sodden business: there's a stewed phrase, in- deed.
34. lovers invisible soul] may mean jectures invisible lovers or love's
" the soul of love invisible every- indivisible.
where else" (Johnson), or "the 43. s<r7<'<rf />/u-a5f] probably with a
ethereal spirit of love as impersonated quibble on the word stews, a brothel,
by her " (Clarke). Hanmer and and in sodden an allusion to the " tub-
Capell give "visible"; Daniel con- fast," Timou of Athens, iv. iii. 8-j, the
sc. I.J TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 93
Enter PARIS and HELEN, attended.
Pan. Fair be to you, my lord, and to all this fair 45 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.
Pan. You speak your fair pleasure, sweet queen. 50 Fair prince, here is good broken music.
Par. 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 perform- ance. Nell, he is full of harmony. 55
Pan. Truly, lady, no.
Helen. O, sir !
Pan. Rude, in sooth; in good sooth, very rude.
Par. Well said, my lord! Well, you say so in fits.
Pan. I have business to my lord, dear queen. My 60 lord, will you vouchsafe me a word ?
Helen. Nay, this shall not hedge us out: we'll hear you sing, certainly.
Pan. Well, sweet queen, you are pleasant with me.
usual treatment of the lues venerea, the pun on the phrase xn As You
See also Measure for Measure, iii. ii. Like It, i. ii. 150.
60; Henry F. 11. i. 79. 59. in fits] Steevens supposes a
51. broken music] " means what we quibble upon "by fits," i.e. now and
now term 'a string band'. . . . 'The then, and "fits," parts or divisions
term originated probably from harps, of a song. This seems very unsatis-
lutes, and such other stringed instru- factory. Nares conjectures " it fits",
ments as were played without a bow, Possibly " i' fecks " ; we have in this
not having the capability to sustain scene many such exclamations, " i'
a long note to its full duration of faith," " la," " in good troth ". Com-
time,' Chappell's Popular Music of pare The Winter's Tale, i. ii. 120.
the Olden Time, etc., vol. i. p. 246, 62. hedge us out] shut us out, debar
sec. ed." (Dyce, Glossary). Compare us.
94 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
But, marry, thus, my lord: my dear lord 65
and most esteemed friend, your brother
Troilus, — Helen. My Lord Pandarus ; honey-sweet lord, — Pan, 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 ! Pan. Sweet queen, sweet queen ! that 's a sweet
queen, i' faith. Helen. And to make a sweet lady sad is a sour 75
offence. Pan. 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, 80
you will make his excuse. Helen. My Lord Pandarus, — Pan. What says my sweet queen, my very very
sweet queen? Par. What exploit 's in hand ? where sups he to- 85
night ? Helen. Nay, but, my lord, — Pan. What says my sweet queen ? My cousin will
68. honey - sweet lord] Compare turns to her with : " What says my
Henry V. ii. iii. i. sweet queen ? " He then goes on to
71. 606] See note on II. i. 75, above, warn Paris that if Priam should ask
88, 89. My cousin . . . you] What for Troilus at supper he (Paris) is not
have these words to do here ? Paris's supposed to know anything of his
last question was : " Where sups he brother's doings. Nothing has as
[sc. Troilus] tonight ? " Before Pan- yet bctii said of Cressida, and the
darus can answer, Helen breaks in words " My cousin will fall out with
with : " Nay, but, my lord " upon you " are altogether irrelevant. For
which Pandarus somewhat impatiently this reason, as I suppose, Capell
sc. I] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 95
fall out with you. You must not know where
he sups. ' 90
Par. I '11 lay my life, with my disposer Cressida. Pan. No, no, no such matter ; you are wide. Come,
your disposer is sick. Par. Well, I '11 make excuse. Pan. Ay, good my lord. Why should you say 95
Cressida? no, your poor disposer's sick. Par. I spy. Pan. You spy ! what do you spy ? Come, give me
an instrument. Now, sweet queen. Helen. Why, this is kindly done. 100
Pan. 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. Pan. He ! no, she '11 none of him ; they two are 105
twain. Helen. Falling in, after falling out, may make them
three.
91. / 'II lay my life] Q ; omitted in Ff.
transferred them to follow "twain" and "■' my dispraiser,'" Dyce may well
(line 106). There, if printed with a say that it is doubtful which is the
break after " with you," i.e. as the most foolish.
beginning of a caution addressed to 105,106. are izwa/w] are at variance. Paris and interrupted by Helen, they 107, 108. Falling . . . three] Tak- will not only have relevance, but will ing up Pandarus's equivoque, Helen lead tip to Helen's joke about " Falling says if falling out has made them two, in " and "falling out ". then falling in may make them three. 91. my disposer] " i.e. she who dis- Compare Marston, The Dutch Courte- poses or inclines me to mirth by her zan, iv. i. 93 (Tysefew kissing) : — pleasant (and rather free) talk " " Then thus and thus, so Hymen (Dyce), who refers to many instances should begin ; of the verb so used quoted in his note Sometimes a falling out proves on Love's Labour's Lost, 11. i. 249. filling in". Of the alterations here made or pro- Toilet's coarse interpretation is im- posed, " my dispouser," " my deposer" possible.
96 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Pan. Come, come, I '11 hear no more of this.
I '11 sing you a song now. i lo
Helen. Ay, ay, prithee now. By my troth, sweet
lord, thou hast a fine forehead. Pan. Ay, you may, you may. Helen. Let thy song be love: this love will undo us
all. O Cupid, Cupid, Cupid! 115
Pan. Love ! ay, that it shall, i' faith. Par. Ay, good now, love, love, nothing but love. Pan. In good troth, it begins so. {^Sings.
Love, love, nothing but love, still more !
For, O ! love's bow 120
Shoots buck and doe :
The shaft confounds.
Not that it wounds, But tickles still the sore.
These lovers cry Ol 01 they diet 125
Yet thai which seems the wound to kill,
Doth turn O ! O ! to ha ! ha ! he ! So dying love lives still:
O ! O ! a while, but ha ! ha ! ha !
O ! O ! groans out for ha ! ha ! ha I 1 30
Heigh-ho ! Helen. In loye, i' faith, to the very tip of the nose. Par. He eats nothing but doves, love ; and that )
112. a fine forehead] Was the Loi;e's La6or<r's Los^ iv. ii. 59, there brow supposed to indicate musical is a play on the word as meaning a talents ? buck of the fourth year.
113. Ay . . . yoH may'] go on, go 127. Doth turn . . . he^i.e.gxozns on, you are privileged to have your to laughter.
joke. 133-136. He eats . . . love] Com-
124. sore] Probably here, as in pare Dekker, The Honest Whore, vol.
sc. I.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 97
f^breeds hot blood, and hot blood begets hot ; thoughts, and hot thoughts beget hot deeds, 135 and hot deeds is love.
Pan. 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? 140
Par. 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? 145
Helen. He hangs the lip at something: you know all, Lord Pandarus.
Pan. Not I, honey-sweet queen. I long to hear how they sped to-day. You '11 remember your brother's excuse? 150
Par. To a hair.
Pan. Farewell, sweet queen.
Helen. Commend me to your niece.
Pan. I will, sweet queen. {Exit.
{A retreat sounded.
Par. They 're come from field : let us to Priam's hall 155
To greet the warriors. Sweet Helen, I must woo you
141. Deiphobus] Deiphcebns F i; Antcnoy] Pope (ed. 2); Anthenor Q, Ff.
ii. p. 182 (Pearson's Reprint) : " Have and " what chance was it . . . ? "
ye eaten pigeons that y'are so kind- Compare "What need . . . ? " Much
hearted to your mate ? " Ado About Nothing, i. i. 318.
144. How chance . . . ?] Probably 149, 150. your brother's excuse] the
a blending of " how chances it . . . ? " excuse to be made about your brother.
7
98 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
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 i6o
Than all the island kings, — disarm great Hector.
Helen. 'Twill 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. 165
Par. Sweet, above thought I love thee.
\Exeunt,
SCENE n. — The Same. Pandarus's Orchard.
Enter Pandarus and Troilus'S Boy, meeting.
Pan. How now ! where 's thy master ? at my cousin
Cressida's ? Boy. No, sir ; he stays for you to conduct him
thither.
Enter Troilus.
Pan. O ! here he comes. How now, how now ! 5
Tro. Sirrah, walk off. \Exit Boy.
Pan. Have you seen my cousin ?
Tro. No, Pandarus : I stalk about her door,
157. help unarm] The only instance 34 : " Lo, now the heavens obey to
in which Shakespeare omits "to" me".
before the infinitive with help. 161. island kings] See Prologue 2.
159. obey . . . to] Compare The 164. wore/'a/w] a greater pre-emin-
Phoenix and Turtle, 4 : — ence. Compare Jonson, The Poet-
" Herald sad and trumpet be, aster, v. i : " this carries palm with
To whose sound chaste wings it " ; Massinger, The Duke of Milan,
obey ". iii. 2 : " constancy . . . bears such
Rolfe adds the Faerie Queene, in. xi. palm ".
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 99
Like a strange soul upon the Stygian banks Staying for waftage. O ! be thou my Charon, lo 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. 15
Pan. Walk here i' the orchard. I '11 bring her straight.
\Exit.
Tro. 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,
Destruction, or some joy too fine,
Too subtle-potent, tun'd too sharp in sweetness
23. Too siibtle-potent] Theobald ; To subtill, potent Q ; Too subtile, potent Ff. ; tun'd too] tund to Q ; and too Ff.
12. Where I . . . lily-beds] Here Delius compares Romeo and Juliet, Mr. Craig kindly sends me an ex- v. i. lo, ii : —
cellent illustration from Golding's " Ah me ! how sweet is love itself
translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, possess'd,
xii. 445-452 : — When but love's shadows are so
"Of all the half-brutes in the rich in joy I"
woodes there did not any 20. watery] watering, longing. The
dwell old copies give " palates taste," which
More comly than Hylonome. . . . the Cambridge Edd. retain. The cor-
With combing smoothe she made rection in the text is Hanmer's.
her haire ; she wallow' d her 21. repured] the reading of the
full oft quarto. Delius seems to be alone
In Roses or in Rosemarye, or among modern editors in following
Violets sweet and soft, the Ff, "reputed".
Sumtymes she carryed Lillyes 22. Sounding; destruction] utter loss
wyght," etc. of senses in fits of fainting. The
13. Propos'd] promised as a re- following forms are found in Shake- ward, speare : sound, swound, swoiin, swowft,
16. orchard] garden; as always in swoon. Orger conjectures " distrac-
Shakespeare. Properly a yard for tion," which may be indicated by the
vegetables, orts, worts. reading of the quarto and F i, " dis-
18, ig. The imaginary . . . sense] truction".
100 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
For the capacity of my ruder powers :
I fear it much ; and I do fear besides 2$
That I shall lose distinction in my joys ;
As doth a battle, when they charge on heaps
The enemy flying.
Re-enter Pandarus.
Pan. She 's making her ready ; she '11 come straight :
you must be witty now. She does so blush, 30 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 so short as a new-ta'en sparrow. \Exit.
Tro. Even such a passion doth embrace my bosom : 35
My heart beats thicker than a feverish pulse ;
And all my powers do their bestowing lose,
Like vassalage at unawares encountering
The eye of majesty.
Re-enter Pandarus with Cressida.
Pan. Come, come, what need you blush ? shame 's 40 a baby. Here she is now : swear the oaths now to her that you have sworn to me.
24. ruder] not sufficiently refined. "th' Infernal King that all
26-28. lose . . . Jlyingi be unable things /ra^ys, v^z^ frayed ". to distinguish (and so rightly to 33. villain] used as a term of en- value) the variety of my joys, as dearment, as in Twelfth Night, 11. v. on the battle-field a pell-mell charge 16. Compare " And my poor fool is upon a flying foe makes it impossible hang'd," said by Lear of Cordelia, to distinguish the rival combat- King Lear, v. iii. 305. ants. 36. thicker]i2iSX.eT. Compare Cjw 65-
30. be witty] " have your wits about line, in. ii. 58 : "say, and speak thick ".
you " (Clarke). 37. bestowing] proper use, be-
32. frayed] frightened, an aphetic haviour.
form of " affray ". Compare Chap- 40. what need . . . ?] See note on
man, Iliad, xx. 62 : — m. i. 144, above.
sc.
II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 101
What ! are you gone again ? you must be watched ere you be made tame, must you ? Come your ways, come your ways ; an you 45 draw backward, we'll 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 'twere dark, you'd close sooner. 50 So, so ; rub on, and kiss the mistress. How now ! a kiss in fee-farm ! build there, carpenter ; the air is sweet. Nay, you shall fight your hearts out ere I part you. The falcon as the tercel, for all the ducks i' the 55 river : go to, go to.
44. watched] an allusion to the taming of hawks, though in that pro- cess the word means " kept awake ". Compare The Taming of the Shrew, IV. i. 208.
45. ways] the old genitive used adverbially, like " needs," " twice " (twies).
46. fills] or " thills," shafts. Com- pare "^//-horse," Merchant of Venice, II. ii. 100; "fill-shaft" is still in use provincially.
48. draw this curtain] remove your veil. Compare Twelfth Night, i. v. 251. It was a common practice to put curtains before pictures.
51. rub . , . mistress] At howls the jack or object-ball was called the " master " and sometimes the " mis- tress," and to " rub " was used of meeting obstacles in the way. Com- pare Webster, The White Devil, i. 2: —
" his cheek Hath a most excellent bias ; it
would fain Jump with my mistress " ;
Middleton, The Black Book, vol. viii. p. 41 (ed. Bullen) : "the landing of your bowl, and the safe arriving at the haven of the mistress, if it chance to pass all the dangerous rocks and rubs of the alley ".
52. in fee-farm] in perpetuity; "a fee-farm being a grant of lands in fee, that is, for ever, with a certain rent reserved " (Malone). Compare Ham- let, IV. ii. 22.
52-53. build . . . sweet] Compare Macbeth, i. vi. i ff.
54-56. The falcon , . . river] I will back the falcon against the tercel for bringing down any amount of game. According to Cotgrave and Randle Holme, quoted in Dyce's Glossary, the tercel was the male goshawk, said to be so named from being one- third in weight of the falcon, the female bird. Dekker, Match me in London, vol. iv. p. 183 (Pearson's Reprint), has "Your tassel - gentle [the form used in Romeo and jfuliet, 11. ii. i6o]s/j£;'sluredoffandgone". Here, of course, of Cressida and Troilus.
102 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Tro. You have bereft me of all words, lady.
Pan. Words pay no debts, give her deeds ; but she'll bereave you o' the deeds too if she call your activity in question. What ! billing 60 again ? Here 's " In witness whereof the parties interchangeably " — Come in, come in : I '11 go get a fire. \^Exit.
Cres. Will you walk in, my lord?
Tro. O Cressida ! how often have I wished me thus. 65
Cres. Wished, my lord ! The gods grant, — O my lord!
Tro. What should they grant ? what makes this pretty abruption ? What too curious dreg espies my sweet lady in the fountain of our 70 love?
Cres. More dregs than water, if my fears have eyes.
Tro. Fears make devils of cherubins ; they never see truly.
Cres. Blind fear, that seeing reason leads, finds safer 75 footing than blind reason stumbling without fear: to fear the worst oft cures the worse.
Tro. O ! let my lady apprehend no fear : in all Cupid's pageant there is presented no monster.
Cres. Nor nothing monstrous neither ? 80
Tro. Nothing but our undertakings ; when we vow
72. fears] F 3 ; teares Q, Ff i, 2 ; tears F 4.
61, 62. In witness . . . interchange- this passage ... a Fear appears to
ably] A legal formula completed by have been a personage in other
the words " have set their hands and pageants ; or perhaps in our ancient
seals". moralities. To this circumstance As-
6g. curious] embarrassing, causing patia alludes in The Maid's Tragedy :
anxiety. ' and then a Fear : Do that Fear
78,79. in all . . . ntonster]" From bravely, wench'" (Steevens).
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 103
to weep stas, live in fire, eat rocks, tame tigers ; thinking it harder for our mistress to devise imposition enough than for us to under- go any difficulty unposed. This is_ the mon- 85 struosity in love, lady, that the will is Jn- finite, and the execution confined ; that the desire is boundless, and the act a slave to limit.
Cres. They say all lovers swear more performance 90 than they are able, and yet reserve an ability that they never perform ; vowing more than the perfection 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 95 not monsters ?
Tro. 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 100 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 105 what truth can speak truest not truer than Troilus.
Cres. Will you walk in, my lord ?
85. tnonstrnosity] F 3 gives mon- 102. addition] See note on i. ii. 20,
strositie, F 4 monstrosity ; but the above.
form in the text is one undoubtedly 104, 105. as what . . . truth]
used of old. that the worst gibe that malice
98. allow] See note on i. iii. 376, can offer will be a sneer at his con- above, stancy.
104 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Re-enter Pandarus.
Pan. What ! blushing still ? have you not done talk- ing yet? 1 10 Cres. Well, uncle, what folly I commit I dedicate to
you. Pan. I thank you for that: if my lord get a boy of you, you '11 give him me. Be true to my lord : if he flinch, chide me for it. 115
■Tro. You know now your hostages ; your uncle's
word, and my firm faith. Pan. 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 1 20 , burrs, I can tell you; they'll stick where they are thrown. Cres. Boldness comes to me now, and brings me heart. Prince Troilus, I have loved you night and day For many weary months. 125
Tro. Why was my Cressid then so hard to win ? Cres. Hard to seem won ; but I was won, my lord, 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 130
123-125. Boldness . . . mouths] As verse first by Rowe.
119, 120. long . . . wooed] We upon the nap of his fortune". In
should rather have expected "long Heyvvood, The Iron Age, pt. i.
in the wooing". vol. iii. p. 285 (Pearson's Reprint),
120-122. they are burs . . . thrown] Hector says of Andromache and
Compare Marston, What You Will, Astyanax : —
III. iii. 79 : " never regardeth thee •' Help to take off these burrs ;
but as an idle burr that stickest they trouble me".
sc. 11] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 105
But I might master it : in faith, I lie ; My thoughts were Hke 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 unsecret to ourselves? 135
But, though I lov'd you well, I woo'd you not ; And yet, good faith, I wish'd myself a man. 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 140
The thing I shall repent. See, see ! your silence, Cunning in dumbness, from my weakness draws My very soul of counsel. Stop my mouth.
Tro. And shall, albeit sweet music issues thence.
Pan. Pretty, i' faith. 145
Cres. My lord, I do beseech you, pardon me ; 'Twas not my purpose thus to beg a kiss : I am asham'd : O heavens ! what have I done ? For this time will I take my leave, my lord.
Tro. Your leave, sweet Cressid ! 1 50
Pan. Leave ! an you take leave till to-morrow morn- ing.—
Cres. Pray you, content you.
Tro. What offends you lady ?
Cres. Sir, mine own company. 155
Tro. You cannot shun yourself.
142. Cunning] Pope ; Camming Q, Ff i, 2, 3 ; Coming F 4. 143. My
very soul of counsel] Q ; My soul of coiinsell from me Ff.
142, 143. from my . . . counsel I] A Midsummer-Night's Dream, 1. i.
take advantage of my weakness 216 : —
to extract the inmost secrets of " Emptying our bosoms of our my bosomed thoughts. Compare counsels sweet".
106 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Cres. Let me go and try.
I have a kind of self resides with you ;
But an unkind self, that itself will leave,
To be another's fool. Where is my wit? i6o
I would be gone. I speak I know not what.
Tro. Well know they what they speak that speak so wisely.
Cres. Perchance, my lord, I show more craft than
love, 165
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.
Tro. O ! that I thought it could be in a woman, 170 As if it can I will presume 't in you. To feed for aye her lamp and flames of love ; To keep her constancy in plight and youth,
172. aye\ age Q.
166. roundly] straightforwardly. For the sentiment, that commentator
On the words " clear and round deal- quotes Marston, The Dtitch Courte-
ing" (Bacon, Essay, i. 63) Abbott zan, 11. ii. 104: "The gods them-
remarks : " Round was naturally used selves cannot be wise and love " ;
of that which was symmetrical and but, as has been pointed out by
complete (as a circle is) ; then of any- various critics, this is but an adapta-
thing thorough. Hence (paradoxi- tion of the well-known line of Publius
cally enough) ' I went round to work,' Syrus, " Amare et sapere vix Deo con-
Hamlet, 11. ii. 139, means 'I went ceditur," frequently quoted or imitated
straight to the point'." by Elizabethan writers.
167-169. but you are . . . might] 170-175. See note on iii. iii. 95,
The meaning of this passage has below.
been much disputed, and many altera- 171./ will presume 't] At Mr.
tions have been proposed. Logically Craig's suggestion I have inserted '<.
stated, the alternative would be "you 173. To keep . . .youth] to pre-
are wise or else you love ". If the serve in all its freshness the constancy
text is sound, Or else can only be she has plighted. Here, again, there
taken as = " Or in other words," un- is a slight confusion of ideas, the
less, as Malone thinks, Shakespeare preposition in being used by a kind
has here, as elsewhere, entangled of zeugma in two different senses ;
himself in an inextricable difficulty, her constancy in that which she has
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 107
Outliving beauty's outward, with a mind That doth renew swifter than blood decays: 175 Or that persuasion could but this convince me, That my integrity and truth to you Might be affronted with the match and weight Of such a winnow'd purity in love ; How were I then uplifted! but, alas! 180
I am as true as truth's simplicity, And simpler than the infancy of truth. Cves. In that I '11 war with you. Tro. O virtuous fight !
When right with right wars who shall be most
right. True swains in love shall in the world to
come 185
Approve their truths by Troilus : when their
rimes, Full of protest, of oath, and big compare, Want smiles, truth tir'd with iteration, As true as steel, as plantage to the moon, As sun to day, as turtle to her mate, 190
plighted (the matter) in all its fresh- And at that instant like a babe
ness (the condition). So in Othello, sprung up".
I. i. 76, 77: " As when by night and i86. their truths] each his truth;
negligence, the fire Is spied in popu- not that different kinds of truth are
lous cities," i.e. As when the fire meant.
which has broken out by night owing 189. plantage] herbs and shrubs in
to negligence, etc. general. Pliny, Natural History
174. outward] substantive; so "in- (Holland's translation), i. 99, notices
ward," Sonnet cxxviii. 6; Cymbeline, the supposed influence of the moon
III. iv. 6. upon vegetation : " the leaves of
178. affronted] confronted, met. trees and the grasse for fodder . . .
182. the infancy of truth] For this do feel the influence of her, which
quasi-personification compare Titnon evermore the same pierceth and
of Athens, 1. ii. lis, i^T-Q '■ — enters effectually into all thing".
"Joy had the like conception in Johnson thinks our "plantain," Lat,
our eyes, plantago, is meant.
108 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
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 their numbers. Cres. Prophet may you be ! 195
If I be false, or swerve a hair from truth, When time is old and hath forgot itself. When waterdrops hath worn the stones of Troy, And blind oblivion swallow'd cities up, And mighty states characterless are grated 200
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, 205
Pard to the hind, or stepdame to her son," Yea, let them say, to stick the heart of false- hood, "As false as Cressid ". Pan. Go to, a bargain made ; seal it, seal it : I '11
be the witness. Here I hold your hand, 210 here my cousin's. If ever you prove false
210. witness. Here] Rowe ; witnes here Q ; witnesse here F i ; witnesse, here Ff 2, 3, 4.
191. arfawanf] the loadstone. Com- no mark to tell of their former great- pare A Midsummer-Night's Dream, ness, are reduced to ashes and ob- iii. i. 195- livion.
193. As truth's . . . cited] as though 202. From false . . . love] from
to cite the acknowledged and indis- one false one to another false one
putable exemplar of truth. among maids in love who are false.
200, 201. And mighty . . . noth- 207. i/»V^]stab. Compare T/u' Tw^o
ing-] and mighty states, leaving behind Gentlemen of Verona, i, i. 108.
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 109
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 215 all inconstant men be Troiluses, all false women Cressids, and all brokers-between Pandars ! say, amen. Tro. Amen.
Cres. Amen. 220
Pan. 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 225 Bed, chamber, Pandar to provide this gear !
\Exeunt.
SCENE III. — The Grecian Camp.
Enter AGAMEMNON, Ulysses, Diomedes, Nestor, AjAX, Menelaus, and Calchas.
Cat. Now, princes, for the service I have done you. The advantage of the time prompts me aloud
222. chamber with a bed ; which bed] Hanmer ; chamber which bed Q, Ff.
216. inconstant] I follow Dyce in 222, 223. because . . . speak] to
accepting Hanmer's correction of the prevent it from speaking,
old copies, "constant". The words 223. encounters] Compare " en-
" if ever you prove false one to an- counterers," iv. v. 58, below.
other," is surely proof that Pandarus 224. Press it to death] an allusion
contemplated the possibility of both to the punishment of pressing to
proving false; and the fact that death. Compare Much Ado About
Troilus remained constant, and was Nothing, in. i. 76. thereafter famed for his constancy,
in no wise affects the conception that Scene iii. he might prove otherwise and might
become notorious for his inconstancy. 2. aloud] openly and forcibly.
110 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
To call for recompense. Appear it to your mind
That through the sight I bear in things of lore,
I have abandon'd Troy, left my possession, 5
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 familiar 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, 15
Which, you say, live to come in my behalf.
Again. What would' st thou of us, Trojan ? make de- mand.
Cal. 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 I know is such a wrest in their affairs
4. of lore] Ed ; to love Q, Ff i, 2, 3 ; to come F 4.
4. of lore] See Appendix ii. 23. wrest] See note on i. iii. 157,
8. sequestering from me] putting above; a tuning key ; "figuratively,
apart from me. that upon vi'hich the harmonious or-
10. tame] wonted ; much the same dering of their affairs depends"
as " familiar ". (Clarke). Compare Skelton, Treatise
16. live . . . behalf] are no mere between Truth and Information: "A
dead things, but full of life and ready harper with his wrest may tune his
to greet me. harpe wrong " ; Wyclif s Eng. Works
21. in . . . exchange] offering in (ed. Mathew), pp. 339, 340, Of Con- hex redemption captives whom Troy fession, " an harpe hath three partis held in high account. of hym ; the ouermost in which ben
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 111
That their negotiations all must slack,
Wanting his manage ; and they will almost 25
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.
Agam. 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 this challenge : Ajax is ready. 35
Dio. This shall I undertake ; and 'tis a burden Which I am proud to bear.
[Exeunt Diomedes and Calchas.
Enter ACHILLES and Patroclus, before their Tent.
Ulyss. 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 negligent and loose regard upon him : I will come last. 'Tis like he'll question me
stringis wrastid, the secounde is the reading after Hanmer, " pay," says :
holow part of the harpe ; the thridde " the original compositor probably
knytteth thise two to gidre ". mistook paie for ' paine,' and ' pay '
30. Inmost . . . /rt/w] in hardships is supported by the preceding
to which I have most cheerfully sub- words of the sentence ' buy my
mitted. That this is the meaning, I daughter'".
think, is clearly shown by the extract 33. Furnish . . . interchange] equip
from Troilus and Criseyde, iv. xviii. yourself with those things which are
84-gi, given in my Appendix, parti- necessary for an embassage such as
cularly by the line " But al that los this. ne doth me no disease ". Dyce, 34. will] is willing, ready, to, etc.
112 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Why such unplausive eyes are bent on him: ^,,\ If so, I have derision medicinable I To use between your strangeness and his pride, 45 Which his own will shall have desire to drink. It may do good : pride hath no other glass To show itself but pride, for supple knees Feed arrogance and are the proud man's fees.
Agam. We'll execute your purpose, and put on 50
A form of strangeness as we pass along : 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,
Achil. What! comes the general to speak with me? 55 You know my mind ; I '11 fight no more 'gainst Troy.
Agam. What says Achilles ? would he ought with us ?
Nest. Would you, my lord, aught with the general ?
Achil. No.
Nest. Nothing, my lord. 60
Agam. The better.
\Exeunt Agamemnon and Nestor.
Achil. Good day, good day.
Men. How do you ? how do you ? \Exit.
43. hent on him] Theobald ; bent ? why turn'd on him Q ; bent ? why turn'd on him ? Ff. 44. derision} Q, Ff i, 2 ; decision Ff 3, 4.
44. derision'] here probably means Iliad, ix, 304, the rendering of Homer pretended seriousness of remon- is " Thy serious speech ". For strance, for nothing is less like medicinable, see note on i. iii. gr, derision in its ordinary sense than above.
the line which Ulysses takes in his 45. To use . . . pride] which shall
talk with Achilles. The language prove something intermediate to your
there employed is seriously argu- neglect and that pride of his certain
mentative and skilfully persuasive, to be sorely ruffled thereby,
without a trace of irony, sarcasm or 48. To show itself] to mirror its
veiled mockery ; and in Chapman's real semblance.
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 113
Achil. What ! does the cuckold scorn me ?
Ajax. How now, Patroclus ! 65
Achil, Good morrow, Ajax.
Ajax. Ha ?
Achil, Good morrow.
Ajax. Ay, and good next day too. {Exit,
Achil. What mean these fellows ? Know they not Achilles ? 70
Pair, They pass by strangely: they were us'd to bend, To send their smiles before them to Achilles ; To come as humbly as they us'd to creep To holy altars.
Achil, What ! am I poor of late ?
'Tis certain, greatness, once fall'n out with for- tune, 75 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, and 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, 85
81. hut honour for] Q ; but honoured for F i ; but honored by Ff 2, 3, 4.
72. To send . . . them] as though consume it I " In dialect the moth is harbingers preparing their way. called the "miller " and the " dusty
73. as they us'd] as though they miller". For the thought, compare were creeping after their wont to, etc. Timon of Athens, 11. ii. 172, 173 : —
79. mealy] powdered as with meal. " one cloud of winter
Compare Middleton, Michaelmas showers,
Term, 11. iii. 203 : "The mealy moth These flies are couch'd".
8
114 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Doth one pluck down another, and together Die in the fall. But 'tis 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 !
Ulyss. Now, great Thetis' son !
Achil. What are you reading?
Ulyss. A strange fellow here 95
86. Doth . . . rtwo</«fr] do each one pluck down the other.
8g. At ample point], in fullest measure.
95. A strange fellozv~\ On this pas- sage Mr. Collins {Studies in Shake- speare, pp. 33, 34) observes: "Now of all the myriad commentators on Shakespeare, no one, so far as I know, has pointed out that the ' strange fellow ' is Plato, and that the refer- ence is to a passage in the First Alcibiades. I give a literal version of the most material portions of the passage : ' Socrates. You have ob- served, then, that the face of him who looks into the eye of another appears visible to himself in the eye- sight of the person opposite to him. . . . An eye, therefore, beholding an eye and looking into that in the eye which is most perfect, and which is the instrument of vision, would thus see itself. . . . Then, if the eye is to see itself, it must look at the eye and at that part of the eye in which the virtue of the eye resides, and which is like herself. . . . Nor should we know that we were the persons
to whom anything belonged, if we did not know ourselves.' So, too, the lines which follow : ' No man . . . others ' are derived from an earlier paragraph in the dialogue, ' When a person is able to impart his knowledge to another, that surely proves his own understanding of any matter '. And, curiously enough, there seems to be another reminis- cence of his dialogue in the play (Act II!. sc. ii. [170-175]) : ' O that . . . decays'. C/. ^Socrates. He who loves your soul is the true lover. Alcibiades. That is the necessary in- ference. Socrates. The lover of the lady goes away when the flower of youth fades. . . . But he who loves the soul goes not away' (p. 131)." Mr. Collins then points out that Plato was accessible in Shakespeare's time through Latin versions only. Mr. Craig sends me the following parallelism from the Epistle dedica- torie to Nash's Unfortunate Traveller, The Life of Jack Wilton, 1594, " By divers of my good friends have I been dealt with to employ my dull pen in this kinde, it being a cleane
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 115
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,
Nor feels not what he owes but by reflection ;
As when his virtues shining upon others lOO
Heat them, and they retort that heat again
To the first giver.
Achil. 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, 105
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 married there 1 10
Where it may see itself. This is not strange at all.
105, 106. To , . . itself] Q ; omitted in Ff.
different vaine from other my former 104, but commends] For the ellipsis
courses of writing, How wel or ill I of if, see Abbott, Shakespearian
have done it I am ignorant (the eye Grammar, § 204.
that sees round about itself sees not 106. That . . . sense] that most
into itself e) ". Mr. Craig adds that spiritual organ of sense.
the term "a strange fellow" well 109. speculation] the power, of
applies to Nash. The same idea is vision. Compare Macbeth, iii. iv.
found in jfulius Ccesar, i. ii. 67-70. 95.
96. how . . , parted] howsoever no. married] Most editors read richly endowed. Steevens quotes Jon- " mirror'd," a conjecture made by son, Every Man Out of His Humour, Singer's and Collier s MS. Correctors. III. iii. : " Though ne'er so richly Delius and Knight retain the reading parted, you shall have," etc. of the Q, Ff, and Ingleby {Complete
97. having] possession, acquisition ; View of the Shakespeare Controversy, more often of something material. etc., p. 232, quoted by Dyce) remarks :
99. owes] owns: but by reflection, "' Mirror'd' for tnarried is just one of
compare Julius Ccesar, i. ii. 52, 53 : — those emendations which beguile the
"For the eye sees not judgment, lull criticism, and enlist our
itself love of the surprising and ingenious.
But by reflection, by some other But it is not sound " — a conclusion
things ". which Dyce himself questions. I do
116 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Ulyss. I do not strain at the position,
It is familiar, but at the author's drift ; Who in his circumstance expressly proves
. jThat no man is the lord of any thing, 115
G '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, rever- berates 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. 125
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,
not feel convinced of the necessity of 123. wrapf] See my note on Timon
change, or think that if "mirror'd" of Athens, i. i. 19. had been found it would have been 125. The miknown Ajax] Clarke
altered to married. explains " unknown to himself, want-
114. in his circumstance] in his ingin true self-knowledge," which the
detailed examination of the ques- context " That has . . . what" may
tion. perhaps support. Johnson : "who has
116. Though . . . consisting] though abilities which were never brought into much may be comprised in him and view or use" — a rather compliment- may result from him. Schmidt ex- ary remark ; Schmidt : " hinted at plains: "though much may depend unintentionally and unconsciously," on his co-operation and power ". which seems best, since here in the line
119. form'd] given shape to. above means " in this description ".
120. Where ... extended]hywhich 128. abject . . . use I] "Poor in they are published to the world ; who estimation, but precious in utility ; = which. little valued but very useful " (Rolfe).
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 117
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! 135 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.
Achil. 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 for- got?
Ulyss. Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, 145
Wherein he puts alms for oblivion, A great-siz'd monster of ingratitudes :
iS7. fasting] Q ; feasting Ff. 141. shrieking] shriking Q ; shrinking Ff.
134, 135. How sotne . . . eyes I] pride, out of its wanton self-satisfac-
how some men slink about in the tion, goes hungry away,
corners of freakish Fortune's hall, 145. Tiw^ ... ^)acy^] Boaden thinks
while others with their idiotic gam- that Shakespeare took the figure from
bols obtrude themselves upon her the Faerie Queene, vi. viii. 24 : —
notice; creep has been explained as " And eeke this wallet at your back
"keep out of sight" (Johnson) ; "re- arreare . . .
main tamely inactive " (Malone) ; and And in this bag, which I behind
creep in as " get secretly into " me don,
(Schmidt) ; a sense which would, I I put repentance for things past
think, involve either "into" or "in and gone".
3.t". 147. monster] Singer conjectures
137. While . . , wantonness] while "muster".
118 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Those scraps are good deeds past ; which are
devour'd As fast as they are made, forgot as soon As done : perseverance, dear my Jord, 1 50
Keeps honour bright : to have done is to hang Quite out of fashion, Hke a rusty mail "^In monumental mockery. Take the instant way ; For honour travels in a strait so narrow Where one but goes abreast : keep then the
path; 155
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 ; 160
Or, like a gallant horse fall'n in first rank, Lie there for pavement to the abject rear, O'errun and trampled on : then what they do in
present,
152. mail]Fope; male Q,Fi. 158. hedge'lFi; turneQ. 160-163.
hindmost : Or . . . trampled on : then] him most, then Q (omitting Or . . . on). 162. abject rear] Hanmer ; abject, neere Ff i, 2; abject, near Ff
3.4-
150. perseverance] accented on the second syllable. So " persever " al- ways in Shakespeare.
152. ma//] suit of armour.
153. Take . . . way] march straight on without pause. Compare the next three lines. Not, I think, "serve the present time " (Schmidt).
154. 155. in a strait . . . abreast] We should now say either " in a narrow strait where but," etc., or " in a strait so narrow that but," etc.
158. fvrthrif;ht] straight path. Compare Thr Tempest, iii. iii. 3 ; used adverbially also by Chapman,
Iliad, xix. 408 ; Heywood, Deorum Judicium, vol. vi. p. 246: "Look here forthright, just where my finger points". So "fore-right," Dekker, Northtvard Ho I vol. iii. p. 17 : " Yet thought I had gone fore-right ". The latter word was frequent as an ad- jective, e.g. Massinger, The Bond- man, iii. 3: "A fore-right gale of liberty " ; The Rincgado, v. 8.
162. Lie . . . rear] you lie there to be trodden upon by the miserable creatures behind you ; for the ellipsis, see Abbott, Shakespearian Grammar, §401.
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 119
Though less than yours in past, must o'ertop
yours ; For time is like a fashionable host, 165
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, 175 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 : 1 80 Then marvel not, thou great and complete man,
179. than gilt] then guilt Q, Ff i, 2 ; in gilt Ff 3, 4.
168. Grasps . . . comer] Hanmer is the readiness to praise " new-born
gives "Grasps the in-conier'^ ; but gawds," etc.
the text is stronger in its emphasis 178, 179. And give . . . o'er-dusted]
of welcome. Thirlby's emendation, give for " goe,"
168, 169. welcome . . . sighing] first adopted by Theobald, is now uni- smiles of welcome greet the fresh face, versally accepted. His further pro- sighs alone attend farewell: virtue, posal, "gold" iox gilt'in the second nobility of character and of action. of the lines is approved by Walker
175. One touch . . . kin] Grant and edited by Hudson.
White [The Galaxy, February, 1877), 181. complete] Schmidt, Lexicon,
quoted by Rolfe, forcibly points out Grammatical Observations, writes :
the sentimental misapplication of " The form complete always precedes
this line in ordinary parlance, and a noun accented on the first syllable,
shows clearly that the " one touch " complete is always in the predicate ".
120 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
That all the Greeks begin to worship Ajax; Since things in motion sooner catch the eye j Than what not stirs. The cry went once on thee, And still it might, and yet it may again, 185
If thou would'st 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 them- selves, And drave great Mars to faction.
Achil. Of this my privacy 190
I have strong reasons.
Ulyss. But 'gainst your privacy
The reasons are more potent and heroical. 'Tis known, Achilles, that you are in love With one of Priam's daughters.
Achil. Ha! known! 195
Ulyss. 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,
184. once otil Q ; out on Ff.
189. Made . , . themselves] A re- he was afterwards killed by Paris" ference to the share taken by the (Steevens).
rival deities in the combats before 197. The providence . . . state]
Troy. foresight when aroused, active.
190. afid drave . . . faction] and 199. incompreheiisive] unfathom- drove the god of war to abandon able. Compare " inexpressive," As his impartial attitude towards com- Yoti Like It, in. ii. 10; "plausive," batants and to take sides in the All's Well that Ends Well, 1. ii. 53 ; struggle. "directive," above, i. iii. 355; and
194. one . . . daughters] " sc. Poly- see Abbott, Shakespearian Grammar, xena, in the act of marrying whom § 445.
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 121
Keeps place with thought, and almost, like the gods, 200
Does thoughts unveil in their dumb cradles. 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. 205 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 ; But it must grieve young Pyrrhus now at home, 210
When fame shall in our islands sound her trump, 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 ; 215 The fool slides o'er the ice that you should break.
"*^ [Exit.
211. our islands] our island Q ; her Hand Ff i, 2, 3 ; her Island F 4.
201. Does thoughts . . . cradles'] had become as perfectly aware of A large variety of conjectures in Achilles's commerce with Troy as amendment of this halting line is re- Achilles himself was.
corded by the Cambridge Edd. Clarke 215. lover] one devoted to you;
not only " can see no necessity for as frequently in the language of the
change," but " extremely admires the day.
original expression " ! 216. The fool . . . break] The inner
202, 203. There is . . . state] ap- meaning of this aphorism is not pears to mean that in the inmost touched upon by any commentator principle of statecraft there is a mys- known to me. Delius, indeed , says : tery of which men do not venture to " Under Achilles, a man of great speak. I suppose the application of weight, the ice would break, over these and the two following lines is which the light-footed fool slides", that by the operation of this mystery But this does not help one. Is the Agamemnon and the other chiefs sense: "The fool can afford to do
122 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Pair. 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 : 220 They think my little stomach to the war 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 lion's mane, 225 Be shook to air.
Achil. Shall Ajax fight with Hector ?
Pair. Ay ; and perhaps receive much honour by him.
Achil. I see my reputation is at stake ; My fame is shrewdly gor'd.
Pair. O ! then beware ;
Those wounds heal ill that men do give them- selves : 230 Omission to do what is necessary Seals a commission to a blank of danger ;
226. o/r] ayre Q ; ayrie ayre Ff i, 2 ; airie (or airy) air Ff 3, 4.
things which would be unworthy of 232. Seals . . . danger] gives dan-
you ? " or is it: "The fool easily ger a free hand in attacking him.
escapes dangers that to a man of " Blanks " were warrants given to
your dignity would be fatal ? " agents of the crown to fill up as
229. shreivdly gor^d] dangerously they pleased in exacting imposts ;
wounded ; keeping up the figure in compare Richard II. ir. i. 250. Also
the previous line. Compare Hamlet, warrants or blank papers generally.
V. ii. 261 : " To keep my name nn- Compare Jonson, The Silent Woman,
gored". The origin of "gore" = v. i. : " I will seal to it, that, or to a
pierce, stab, wound, is doubtful, but blank"; The Widojn, i. i. 54: "see
the word has no connection with you these blanks ? I '11 send him but
" gore," thickened blood. Chapman, one of these bridles, and bring him in
//jarf, has " ingored " (xvi. 741), " un- at Michaelmas with a vengeance."
dergore" (xiv. 408). We retain the usage in the phrase a
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 123
And danger, like an ague, subtly taints Even then when we sit idly in the sun. Achil. Go call Thersites hither, sweet Patroclus : 235
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 ; 240 To talk with him and to behold his visage, Even to my full view. A labour sav'd !
Enter THERSITES. Ther. A wonder !
Achil. What?
Ther. Ajax goes up and down the field, asking for himself 245
Achil. How so?
Ther. He must fight singly to-morrow with Hector, and is so prophetically proud of an heroical cudgelling that he raves in saying nothing.
Achil. How can that be? 250
Ther. Why, he stalks up and down like a peacock, a stride and a stand ; ruminates like an hos- tess 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 255
"blank cheque". The words Seal " I had such a woman'' s first and
a commission prove that Schmidt is second longing
mistaken in giving blank as " the To hear how she would bear her
white mark in the centre of a butt ". mock'd abuse ".
238. a woman's longing] such as 240. weeds] dress; A.S. wad, a
women feel in pregnancy. Compare garment, covering.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona, 1. i'l. 242. Even . . . wi^ze)] to the fullest
137 : " a month's mind " ; Middleton, satisfaction of my eyes.
The Mayor of Queenborough, in. iii. 255, 256. a politic regard] a look
243 : — of profound wisdom.
124 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
wit in this head, an 'twould out " ; and so there is, but it lies as coldly in him as fire in a flint, which will not show without knock- ing. The man's undone for ever ; for if Hector break not his neck i' the combat, 260 he'll break 't himself in vain-glory. He knows not me : I said " Good morrow, Ajax " ; and he replies " Thanks, Agamem- non ". What think you of this man that ' takes me for the general ? He 's grown a 265 very land-fish, languageless, a monster. A plague of opinion ! a man may wear it on both sides, like a leather jerkin.
Achil. Thou must be my ambassador to him, Ther-
sites. 270
Ther. Who, I ? why, he '11 answer nobody ; he pro- fesses not answering ; speaking is for beg- gars ; he wears his tongue in 's arms. I will put on his presence : let Patroclus make de- mands to me, you shall see the pageant of 275 Ajax.
256. thh head] Q ; Ms head Ff. 274. demands] Q ; his demands Ff.
257, 258. it lies . . . knocking] estimate of one's self which at one Compare jfulius Ccrsar, iv. iii. no- time shows a man's character in its 113 : — most seemly garb and anon presents
"you are yoked with a its sorrier fashion. Compare O^A^Z/o,
lamb That carries anger as the flint
bears fire, Who much enforced, shows a
hasty spark, And straight is cold again ".
IV. ii. 146 :-
" Some such squire he was
That turn'd your wit the seamy
side without ".
271, 272. he . . . answering] he
publicly proclaims that he will not
265, 266. a very land-Jlsh] as com- answer when spoken to; not answer-
pletely at his wits' end as a fish on j«g-, as if hyphened, refusal to answer,
shore. 273. he wears . . . mars] Compare
266-268. A plague . . . Jerkin] Macbeth, v. viii. 7: " My voice is in
Here opinion seems to mean that my sword".
sc. III.] TROiLUS AND CRESSIDA 125
Achil. 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 280 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 ccetera. Do this.
Patr. Jove bless great Ajax ! 285
Ther. Hum !
Patr. I come from the worthy Achilles, —
Ther. Ha!
Patr. Who most humbly desires you to invite Hec- tor to his tent, — 290
Ther. Hum !
Patr. And to procure safe-conduct from Agamem- non.
Ther. Agamemnon !
Patr. Ay, my lord. 295
Ther. Ha !
Patr. What say you to't?
Ther. God be wi' you, with all my heart.
Patr. Your answer, sir.
Ther. If to-morrow be a fair day, by eleven 300 o'clock it will go one way or other; howso- ever, he shall pay for me ere he has me.
Patr. Your answer, sir.
Ther. Fare you well, with all my heart.
Achil. Why, but he is not in this tune, is he? 305
298. he wV you'\ Rowe ; buy you Q, Ff i, 2, 3 ; If yon F 4. 300. eleven
of the] a leuen of the Q ; eleuen a Ff.
126 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act m.
Ther. 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. 310
Achil. Come, thou shalt bear a letter to him straight.
Ther. Let me bear another to his horse, for that's the more capable creature.
Achil, My mind is troubled, like a fountain stirr'd ; 315 And I myself see not the bottom of it.
\Exeunt Achilles and Patroclus.
Ther. 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. 320
311. hear\ Q; carry Ff.
308,309, hut, . . . none]hut I need 314. capable] intelligent, gifted.
not have any doubt on this point for Compare Richard III. in. i. 155. I am, etc. 318. that I might . . . it!] that I
310. catlings] catgut (really the in- might bring an ass, the only animal
testines of a sheep). Compare Mars- that would care to do so, to drink of
ton. What You Will, iii. ii. 92 : — it, for even he would not taste it as it
" Tickling the dried g-w^s of a mew- now is. ing cat".
ACT IV
SCENE I.— Troy. A Street.
Enter ^ at one side, ^NEAS, and Servant with a torch ; at the other, PARIS, Deiphobus, Antenor, Dio- MEDES, and Others, with torches.
Par. See, ho ! who is that there ?
Dei. It is the Lord ^neas.
yEneas. Is the prince there in person ?
Had I so good occasion to h"e long
As you, Prince Paris, nothing but heavenly
business Should rob my bed-mate of my company. 5
Dio. That 's my mind too. Good-morrow, Lord ^neas.
Par. A valiant Greek, vEneas ; 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.
^ne. Health to you, valiant sir, 10
During all question of the gentle truce ; But when I meet you arm'd, as black defiance As heart can think or courage execute.
7. A valiant . . . hand, — ] Better 9. by days] day by day. thus punctuated than by a colon or 11. During . . . truce] during all semicolon at hatid, since " Witness the converse that the gentle truce . . . speech " means " as let the pro- allows between us. cess of your speech witness".
127
128 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
Dio. The one and other Diomed embraces.
Our bloods are now in calm, and, so long, health ! 15
But when contention and occasion meet, By Jove, I '11 play the hunter for thy life With all my force, pursuit, and policy.
^ne. And thou shalt hunt a lion, that will fly
With his face backward. In humane gentle- ness, 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.
Dio. We sympathise. Jove, let ^neas live, 25
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. With every joint a wound, and that to-morrow !
^ne. We know each other well. 30
16. But when . . . weef] but when to show the temporary courtesy with
the time is opportune to conflict. enduring animosity which co-exist
19, 20. that will fly . . . backward] and co-express themselves in the
Compare Cymbeline, i. ii. 15-17: speech of JEneas ". But surely this " Clo. The villain would not stand ' is impossible. Rather, as Blakeway
me.' Sec. Lord [^Aside.] No; he fled says, "he swears first by the life of
forward still, toward your face " ; his father and then by the hand of
hmnane and " human " are, of course, his mother ".
merely different spellings of the same 24. more excellently] to be taken word in order to distinguish the par- with " in such a sort ". ticular senses. In Shakespeare the 25. sympathise] have a fellow-feel- word is always "humane" or " hu- ing in this matter, maine," whichever the sense. 26. If . . . glory] if my sword is
22. By Venus' hatid] " This oath," not to have the glory of slaying
says Warburton, " was used to indi- him.
cate his resentment for Diomedes' 27. courses . . . sun] Com-
wounding his mother in the hand " ; pare Othello, in. iv. 71 ; Psalms
and Clarke adds that " Shakespeare xix. 4.
well introduces this allusion as aiding 28. in mine . . . honour] as satis-
I] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 129
We do ; and long to know each other worse.
This is the most despiteful gentle greeting,
The noblest hateful love, that e'er I heard of.
What business, lord, so early ? ALne, I was sent for to the king ; but why, I know not. 35
Par. His purpose meets you : 'Twas to bring this / ^
Greek V^^'^^C^f
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.
^ne. That I assure you : 45
Troilus had rather Troy were borne to Greece Than Cressid borne from Troy.
Par. There is no help ;
The bitter disposition of the time ■
Will have it so. On, lord; we'll follow you.
JEne. Good morrow, all. \Exit. 50
Par. And tell me, noble Diomed ; faith, tell me true, Even in the soul of sound good-fellowship,
40. do think] Ff; beleeue Q. 44. quality wherefore] Q; qualify where-
of Ff I, 2; quality, whereof Ff 3, 4.
faction to my honour eager for his Have, cannot help thinking. Corn- death, pare King Lear, v. i. 4.
36. His purpose meets you] I come 44. with . . . wherefore] with full
to tell you of his purpose. explanation of the character of our
40. constantly do think] firmly be- visit.
9
130 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
Who, in your thoughts, merits fair Helen most. Myself or Menelaus ?
Dio. Both alike :
He merits well to have her that doth seek her, 55 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, like a lecher, out of whorish loins Are pleas'd to breed out your inheritors : Both merits pois'd, each weighs nor less nor more ; 65
But he as he, the heavier for a whore.
Par. You are too bitter to your countrywoman.
Dio. 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
66. he as he . . . whore] Q ; he as he, which . . . whore Ff.
57. hell of pain] Compare Sonnet tamed," i.e. " tamed to flatness or
cxx. 5, 6. staleness". Of course "piece" is
59. Not palating] without being frequently used of persons, sometimes
sensible of. In Coriolanus, iii. i. 104, in contempt, as in Titus Andronicus,
" most palates theirs " = smacks most i. i. 309.
strongly of. 64. breed out] breed a line of;
62. a flat . . . piece] " a cask that Shakespeare elsewhere uses " breed
has been broached, and the contents out" as = exhaust by breeding, e.g.
of which have thus become flat to Henry F. iii. v. 29; Timon of Athens,
the taste. For piece, compare Beau- i. i. 259.
mont and Fletcher, Monsieur Thomas, 66. the heavier] all the heavier : the,
V. 10 : ' Strike a ixQsh piece of wine ' " by so much. (Rolfe). Schmidt suggests " flat-
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 131
A Trojan hath been slain. Since she could
speak, She hath not given so many good words breath As for her Greeks and Trojans sufifer'd death. Par. Fair Diomed, you do as chapmen do, 75
Dispraise the thing that you desire to buy ; But we in silence hold this virtue well, We'll but commend what we intend to sell. Here lies our way. {Exeunt.
SCENE II. — The Same. Court of Pandarus's House.
Enter Troilus and Cressida.
Tro. Dear, trouble not yourself: the morn is cold. Cres, Then, sweet my lord, I '11 call mine uncle down ;
He shall unbolt the gates. LkiA Tro. ;,^ Trouble him not ;
To bed, to bed : sleep kill those pretty eyes,
And give as soft attachment to thy senses 5
As infants' empty of all thought ! Cres. Good morrow then.
6. infayits''\ Capell ; infants Q, Ff.
74. suffer' d] supply " have " from dispraising what they were anxious " hath " in the line above. to buy. Other conjectures are, for
75. chapmen] ha^gXers. what we, "till we," '■'without we," 78. but commend] Jackson's emen- " that ne'er," "that not" ; for we in-
dation for " not commend," i.e. here tend to sell, " w' intend not sell," "we
there is no thought with us of selling, intend not sell ". Those who retain 7iot, follow Johnson
in explaining that as the Trojans, if Scene n. they have to part with Helen, will 4. kill] seems to be nothing more make the Greeks pay dearly for her, than a pretty daintiness for " subdue," they will not practise the seller's art "overpower"; but "seal," "still," of commending, though the Greeks "fill," "kill," "kiss," have been pro- had practised that of the buyer in posed.
132 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
Tro. I prithee now, to bed.
Cres. Are you aweary of me?
Tro. 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, lo
I would not from thee. Cres. Night hath been too brief.
Tro. 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. Cres. Prithee, tarry: 15
You men will never tarry.
O foolish Cressid ! I might have still held off, And then you would have tarried. Hark ! there's one up. Pan. [ Within?^ What ! 's all the doors open here ? Tro. It is your uncle. 20
Cres. A pestilence on him ! now will he be mocking : 1 shall have such a life !
Enter Pandarus.
Pan. How now, how now ! how go maidenheads ? Here, you maid ! where 's my cousin Cressid ?
13. tediously] Q ; liidioiisly Ff.
g. ribald] as though their raucous turnal sorcery. Perhaps rather all
chattering were scurrilously com- doers of malignant deeds of darkness
menting upon the loves of Troilus are meant, and Cressida. 24. Here, . . . Cressid] affectmg
12. venomous wights] Steevens re- to believe that she cannot be Cres-
fers to venijici, or practisers of noc- sida.
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 133
Cres.
Pan.
Cres.
Pan.
Cres.
Tro. Cres.
Go hang yourself, you naughty mocking uncle ! 25 You bring me to do — and then you flout me
too. To do what ? to do what ? let her say what : what have I brought you to do? Come, come ; beshrew your heart ! you '11 ne'er be
good. Nor suffer others. 30
Ha, ha ! Alas, poor wretch ! a poor capoc- chio ! hast not slept to-night ? would he not, a naughty man, let it sleep? a bugbear take him ! [Knocking within.
Did not I tell you? Would he were knock'd o'
the head! 35
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. Ha, ha! Come, you are deceiv'd, I think of no such
thing.
31, capocchio] Delius quotes Florio's Diet. {1598), " capocchio, a dolt, a loggerhead," etc., but retains capocchia (Theobald's conjecture for " chipochia" of Q, Ff). Dyce writes: "Several editors print 'capocchia'; but wrongly, if the term is to be con- sidered as Italian, and as meaning simpleton ; though an edition of Baretti's Ital. Diet, is now before me, in which ' eapoeehio ' is given as an adjective. The word ' capocchia ' signifies the knob of a stick, and — something else."
33. bugbear'] " a sort of hobgoblin, presumably in the shape of a bear,
40
\_Knocking zvithin.
supposed to devour naughty children " {New Eng, Diet.). Compare Hey- wood, The Iron Age, pt. i., vol. iii. p. 312 (Thersites to Achilles), " Thou the champion of Greece ; a mere biigbear, a scare-crow " ; " bug " was used in the same sense, e.g. The Taming of the Shrew, i. ii. 211, " fear boys with bttgs " ; Marlowe, ii Tambxirlaine, in. v. : —
" here are bugs Will make the hair stand upright on your heads " ; and adjectively, Massinger, A New Way, etc., in. ii. : "No bug words, sir ".
134 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
How earnestly they knock ! Pray you, come in : I would not for half Troy have you seen here.
\^Exeunt Troilus and Cressida. Pan. Who's there? what's the matter? will you beat down the door ? How now ? what 's the matter? 45
Enter y^NEAS.
yEne. Good morrow, lord, good morrow.
Pan. Who 's there ? my Lord ^neas ! By my
troth, I knew you not : what news with you
so early? ^ne. Is not Prince Troilus here? SO
Pan. Here ! what should he do here ? jEne. Come, he is here, my lord ; do not deny him :
It doth import him much to speak with me. Pan. Is he here, say you ? 'tis more than I know,
I'll be sworn: for my own part, I came in 55
late. What should he do here? ^ne. Who ! nay, then : come, come, you '11 do him
wrong ere you are '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. 60
Re-enter TROILUS. Tro. How now ! what 's the matter ? ^ne. My lord, I scarce have leisure to salute you,
58. you are ware] Q ; y' are ware Ff.
48, 49. what news . . . early?] 57. IF/io /] Theobald gives " Pho ! "
Compare Troilus and Criseyde, v. Hudson, " What ! "
iii. i: — 59,60. do not you . . . hither] you
" F\i\ ready \va.s at pry me Diomede can affect, if you Hke, not to know
Criseyde unto the Grekes ost to anything about him, but, all the same,
lede ". go, etc.
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 135
My matter is so rash : there is at hand
Paris your brother, and Deiphobus,
The Grecian Diomed, and our Antenor 65
Deliver'd to us ; and for him forthwith,
Ere the first sacrifice, within this hour,
We must give up to Diomedes' hand
The Lady Cressida.
Tro. Is it concluded so?
jEne. By Priam and the general state of Troy : 70
They are at hand and ready to effect it.
Tro. How my achievements mock me !
I will go meet them : and, my Lord ^Eneas, We met by chance ; you did not find me here.
^ne. Good, good, my lord ; the secrets of nature 75 Have not more gift in taciturnity.
\Exeunt Troiliis and y^neas.
Pan. 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 ! 80
Re-enter Cressida.
Cres. How now ! what 's the matter ? Who was here ? Pan. Ah! ah!
63. rash'X full of haste, urgent, im- " For which delivered was by parle-
portunate. Compare Coriolanns, iv. ment,
vii 22 : — For Antenor to yelden up Cris-
" their people eyde ".
Will be as rash in the repeal, as 74. we met by chance] you must
hasty say that we, etc. Compare above :
To expel him thence ". " I did not send you ".
70. By Priam . , . Tyoy] Com- 75. secrets] probably a trisyllable
pare Troilus and Criseyde, iv. xxxi. here, as frequently in the dramatists.
The Cambridge Edd. record a long
I, 2:—
list of conjectures.
136 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
Cres. Why sigh you so profoundly? where 's my lord ? gone ! Tell me, sweet uncle, what 's the matter? 85
Pan. Would I were as deep under the earth as I
am above ! Cres. O the gods ! what 's the matter ? Pan. Prithee, get thee in. Would thou hadst ne'er
been born ! I knew thou would'st be his 90 death. O poor gentleman ! A plague upon Antenor ! Cres. Good uncle, I beseech you, on my knees I
beseech you, what 's the matter ? Pan. Thou must be gone, wench, thou must be 95 gone ; thou art changed for Antenor. Thou must to thy father, and be gone from Troilus : 'twill be his death ; 'twill be his bane ; he cannot bear it. Cres. O you immortal gods ! I will not go. 100
Pan. Thou must.
Cres. 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 ! 105 Make Cressid's name the very crown of false- hood If ever she leave Troilus ! Time, force, and death,
96. f/mH^^«f] exchanged. Compare 103. touch of consanguinity]" sense
Troilus and Criseyde, iv. Ixxix. 7 : — or feeling of relationship " (Ma-
" Sin she is changed for the townes lone).
good". 106. crown of falsehood] Compare
98. 6aK^] ruin, destruction, as often Cymbeline, i. vi. 4: "my supreme
in Shakespeare. crown of grief".
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 137
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, i lO
Drawing all things to it. I '11 go in and weep, —
Pan. Do, do.
Cres. 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.
SCENE \\\.— The Same. Before Pandarus'S Hotise.
Enter PARIS, Troilus, tEneas, Deiphobus, Antenor,
and DiOMEDES.
Par. 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.
Tro. Walk into her house ; 5
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.
Par. I know what 'tis to love ; 10
And would, as I shall pity, I could help ! Please you walk in, my lords. {Exeunt.
I. great morning] " grand jour, a radical sense ; as generally in Shake- Gallicism " (Steevens) ; our " broad speare. day ". II- And would . . . help 1] and wish
3. Comes fast upon] Pope gives I could help you as truly as I shall
"upon us"; perhaps "upon's". pity you.
6. presently] at once, the more
138 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
SCENE IV. — The Same. A Room in Pandarus's
House.
Efiter Pandarus and CRESSIDA,
Pan. Be moderate, be moderate.
Cres. 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? 5
If I could temporise with my affection, Or brew it to a weak and colder palate, The like allayment could I give my grief: My love admits no qualifying dross ; No more my grief, in such a precious loss. lo
Enter Troilus. Pan. Here, here, here he comes. Ah ! sweet ducks. Cres. O Troilus ! Troilus ! [Embracing him.
Pan. What a pair of spectacles is here ! Let me em- brace too. 0 heart, as the goodly saying is, —
— O heart, heavy heart, 15
Why sigh'st thou without breaking "i where he answers again.
Because thou cqnst not ease thy smart By friendship nor by speaking.
4, 5. violenteth in . . . As that which] Q; no lesse in . . . As that which Ff 1,2; no lesse in . . . as that, Which F{ 3, 4. g. dross] drosse Q ;
crosse Ff. 18, 19. As verse first by Pope ; prose in Q, Ff.
4. violenteth] rages. Steevens 7. palate] taste,
quotes " violenceth " from Jonson ; 13. pair of spectacles] with a pun
Toilet, " violented " from Fuller ; and on spectacles.
Farmer, "violentes" from Latimer. 19. friendship] i.e. mere friendship.
sc. IV.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 139
There was never a truer rime. Let us cast 20 away nothing, for we may live to have need of such a verse : we see it, we see it. How now, lambs !
Tro. Cressid, I love thee in so strain'd a purity.
That the bless'd gods, as angry with my fancy, 25 More bright in zeal than the devotion which Cold lips blow to their deities, take thee from me.
Cres. Have the gods envy?
Pan. Ay, ay, ay, ay ; 'tis too plain a case.
Cres. And is it true, that I must go from Troy ? 30
Tro. A hateful truth.
Cres. What ! and from Troilus too ?
Tro. From Troy and Troilus.
Cres. Is it possible?
Tro. And suddenly; where injury of chance
Puts back leave-taking, justles roughly by
All time of pause, rudely beguiles our lips 35
Of all rejoindure, forcibly prevents
Our lock'd embrasures, strangles our dear vows
Even in the birth of our own labouring breath.
We too, 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
24. strain'd] Q ; strange Ff.
25. fancy] love ; as so frequently. 37. embrasures] embracements ; ap- 28. envy] jealousy. parently a coinage of Shakespeare's 33. where . . . chance] a case in in this sense.
which injurious accident, etc. 41. With . . . one] with the scant
36. Of all rejoindure] of all pes- ceremony of one brief sigh, sibility of meeting again. 42-46. Injurious . . . adieu] just
140 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act
IV.
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, 45
He fumbles up into a loose adieu, And scants us with a single famish'd kiss, Distasted with the salt of broken tears.
y^ne. [ Within?^ My lord, is the lady ready ?
Tro. Hark ! you are call'd : some say the Genius so 50 Cries " Come ! " to him that instantly must die. Bid them have patience ; she shall come anon.
Pan. Where are my tears? rain, to lay this wind, or
my heart will be blown up by the root ! {Exit.
Cres. I must then to the Grecians?
Tro. No remedy. 55
Cres. A woeful Cressid 'mongst the merry Greeks ! When shall we see again ?
Tro. Hear me, my love. Be thou but true of heart, —
Cres. I true ! how now ! what wicked deem is this ?
48. Distaited'\ Q ; Distasting Ff.
as a robber, in his haste to get clear all sweetness by the salt tears of
away, crams up his booty in any way broken sobs.
he can, so time cruelly compels us 50. Getiius'] the spirit which was
to cram into a moment the precious supposed to attend a man through
delight of leave-taking. life. Compare A/rtc6^i/j, iii. i. 55, 56.
45. with distinct . . . them] with 53. rain . . . wr;;rf] Compare A/ac-
the several utterances that should beth, i. vii. 25 : " That tears shall
accompany those farewells, and with drown the wind",
kisses that should ratify them. With 57. When . . . again ?] So Cym-
consign'd kisses Malone compares beliiie, i. i. 124.
Measure for Measure, iv. i. 5, 6, and 59. deem] supposition ; here only
Venus and Adonis, 511. Schmidt in Shakespeare. Compare Troilus
explains "kisses allotted to them"; and Criseyde, iv. ccxxx. 3, 4: —
but surely coMS«^/j'J indicates the legal " I see wel now that ye mistrusten
deliverance of a bond, to them mean- me ;
ing " in addition to them ". For by your wordes it is wel
48. Distasted . . . tears] robbed of y-sene ".
sc. IV.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 141
Tro. Nay, we must use expostulation kindly, 6o
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 ; ' 'X.AiL But "be thou true," say I, to fashion in 65
My sequent protestation; be thou true, And I will see thee.
Cres. O! you shall be expos'd, my lord, to dangers As infinite as imminent ; but I '11 be true.
Tro. And I'll grow friend with danger. Wear this sleeve. 7°
Cres. And you this glove. When shall I see you?
Tro. I will corrupt the Grecian sentinels, To give thee nightly visitation. But yet, be true.
Cres. O heavens ! " be true " again !
Tro, Hear why I speak it, love : 75
The Grecian youths are full of quality ;
61. For . . . Ms] for it is farewell and another bare on his helme the
we now are saying. glove of his deareling " ; and Drayton,
63. throw . . . AtmseZ/] challenge Brtrows' V7rtrs ; "A lady's sleeve high- even Death in championship of your spirited Hastings wore ". Compare truth. Troilus and Criseyde, v. cxlix. 7 : —
44. maculation'] taint of disloyalty. " She made him were a pencel of
65, 66. to fashion . . . protestation] hir sieve ".
as foreshaping the assurance I am 76. full of quality] richly gifted,
about to make. Compare above, iii. iii. 96: "how
80. And I 'II . . . danger] The dearly ever parted ". The variations
more ordinary expression would be of the old copies are here great, while
" I '11 grow friends," even though a the texts of the different editors are
single person only is spoken of. Hey- still more discrepant. " The quarto
wood, The English Traveller, ii., reads: —
thrice has the curious construction : ' Here why I speak it, loves,
"The ghost and I am friends". The Grecian youths are full of
70. Wear this sleeve] Steevens quality,
quotes Hall's Chronicle : " One ware And swelling ore with arts and
on his headpiece his lady's sleeve, exercise'.
142 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
They're loving, well compos'd with gifts of nature, And flowing o'er with arts and exercise : How novelties may move, and parts with person, Alas ! a kind of godly jealousy, 80
Which, I beseech you, call a virtuous sin. Makes me afeard. Cres. O heavens ! you love me not.
Tro. Die I a villain then !
In this I do not call your faith in question
So mainly as my merit : I cannot sing, 85
Nor heel the high lavolt, nor sweeten talk.
Nor play at subtle games; fair virtues all.
To which the Grecians are most prompt and
pregnant : 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. Cres. Do you think I will ?
The first folio has : — and personal fascination. Com-
' Heare why I speak it ; Loue : pare Troilus and Criseyde, iv. ccxiii.
The Grecian youths are full of i-6.
qualitie, 86. lavolt] or " lavolta," or " le-
Their loving well compos'd, with valto," originally two words, la volta,
guifts of nature, was a lively dance for two persons
Flawing and swelling ore with with " lofty jumping " and "leaping
Arts and exercise '. round" (Davies, Orchestra, etc., st.
The second folio has the same ex- 70). Compare Marston, ii Antonio
cept that it substitutes ' Flowing' for and Mellida, v. ii. 22: "Skip light
' Flawing '. The third and fourth lavoltas " ; The Fawn, 11. i, 400 :
have substantially the same reading as "who '11 run a caranto, or leap a le-
the second. . . . The reading which valto ? " and, figuratively, Middleton,
we have adopted in the text is that More Dissemblers Besides Women, v.
of Mr. Staunton. The word ' Flow- i. 88 : " The lavoltas of a merry heart
ing ' was in all probability a marginal be with you, sir ".
correction for 'swelling,' which the %S. pre<;nant} naturally addicted;
printer of the folio by mistake added for the construction with " to," com-
to the line" (the Cambridge Editors, pare Kins^ Lear, iv. vi. 227.
whom I have followed). 90. dumb-discoiirsive]Q,om'i>2i.x&The
79. parts with person] mental gifts Tempest, in. iii. 39.
sc. IV.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 143
Tro. No.
But something may be done that we will not : And sometimes we are devils to ourselves 95
When we will tempt the frailty of our powers, Presuming on their changeful potency.
^ne. {Within^ Nay, good my lord, —
Tro. Come, kiss ; and let us part.
Par. [ VVitJnn.'\ Brother Troilus !
Tro. Good brother, come you hither ;
And bring ^Eneas and the Grecian with you. 100
Cres, My lord, will you be true ?
Tro. Who, I ? alas ! it is my vice, Whiles others fish with craft I with great truth catch mere simplicity; Whilst some with cunning gild their copper crowns, 105
Who, I ?] Capell ; Who IPFi; Who I, Q.
plains: "While others, by their art,
my fault :
for great opinion,
102.
94. will] intend, desire.
96. will tempt] are determined to make trial of.
97. Presuming . . . potency] not sufficiently taking into account the tendency to change which is so powerful in them. Clarke explains : " presuming too far on the strength of that which is variable, unstable, and fallible ". Dyce suggests : " their potency which is subject to variation, and therefore imperfect, and not to be rashly relied upon ". Neither ex- planation seems to emphasise suffi- ciently that the potency is towards change. The " powers " are " frail," their only " potency " being one to- wards the worser course.
103, 104. Whiles . . . simplicity] while others with subtle lure angle for the reputation of wisdom, my use of bare truth wins for me the character of a plain, simple man ; mere meaning "pure," "complete". Johnson ex-
gain high estimation, I, by honesty, obtain a plain, simple approbation ". Not to lay stress on the fact that here no distinction is made between fish- ing for and catching — though the difference between studied effort and natural disposition is not unimport- ant— this interpretation seems to miss the main point. It is not the degree but the nature of the outcome in each case that Troilus dwells upon. He neither fishes for nor gains appro- bation, " simple " or otherwise. For the figure and sentiment, compare The Mcrcliant of Venice, i. i. loi, 102 : — " But fish not, with this melan- choly bait, For this fool gudgeon, this opinion " : Whiles, the old genitive used adverbi- ally, like " needs," etc.
105. Whilst . . . crowns] The two lines emphasise the difference
144 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act
IV.
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.
Enter vEneas, Paris, Antenor, Deipiiobus, . and DiOMEDES., Welcome, Sir Diomed ! Here is the lady Which for Antenor we deliver you : no
At the port, lord, I 'II 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 115 As Priam is in Ilion.
Fair Lady Cressid, So please you, save the thanks this prince ex- pects : The lustre in your eye, heaven in your cheek. Pleads your fair usage; and to Diomed 119
You shall be mistress, and command him wholly.
106. wear-] were Q. ng. usage\ Q, Ff 3, 4; visage Ff i, 2.
of attitude just implied. Compare Iron Age, pt. i. i, has "the water-
■ port".
112. possess] inform; as frequently in Shakespeare and the dramatists generally.
113. Entreat] treat. Compare Richard II. in. i. 37.
117. save . . . expects] Here save is taken as a verb, with a colon after expects. I am not sure that it is not an adverb, with the sense " independ- ently of the gratitude which this prince expects of me for his assurance
DlO.
Chapman, Ccesar and Pompcy, i I : —
" and golden speech Did Nature never give man but
to gild A copper soul in him ". In Whilst the t is excrescent.
107, 108. the moral . . . true] my wisdom may be summed up in the maxim " plain and true ". For moral in this sense, compare A
Midsummer-Nigh fs Dream, v. i. 120 : ,
"A good moral, my lord: it is not of mercy! the lustre," etc. If so,"a
enough to speak, but to speak true "
comma will be the stop after expects. The opening lines of Troilus's answer
III. port] gate; so Heywood, The seem to support this view
sc. IV.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 145
Tro. 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. 125 I charge thee use her well, even for my charge ; For, by the dreadful Pluto, if thou dost not, Though the great bulk Achilles be thy guard, I '11 cut thy throat.
Dio. O ! be not mov'd, Prince Troilus,
Let me be privileg'd by my place and mes- sage 130 To be a speaker free ; when I am hence, I '11 answer to my lust ; and know you, lord, I '11 nothing do on charge : to her own worth She shall be priz'd ; but that you say " be 't so," I'll speak it in my spirit and honour, "no". 135
Tro. Come, to the port. I '11 tell thee, Diomed,
This brave shall oft make thee to hide thy head.
122. zeaV\ Theobald (Warburton conj.) ; seale Q, Ff i, 2; seal Ff 3, 4. 123. In praising] Q ; / praising Ff.
121-123. thou dost . . . her] in " my Zwr^," " my host," "my trust,"
praising her and treating with dis- " thy lust," " my best," " thy best ".
dain my urgent appeal on her behalf, It is possible, I think, that // has
you are not treating me with courtesy, been caught from the line below, and
126. even . . . charge] merely be- that we should read "/answer," i.e.
cause I so bid you. I speak out plainly when I am at
132. / 'II answer . . . lust] If the home, and I ask for the same privilege
text is sound here, Rolfe's explanation here as an envoy. " Lust " = pleasure
appears the only possible one, viz. is common enough in old English. " I'll do as I please," not, as some 134, 135. but that . . . "no "] the
explain, " I'll answer you as I please ". mere fact of your saying " Be 't so "
For 7ny lust, the following are the is enough to stir my spirit and honour
conjectures recorded by the Cam- to saying " No I " bridge Editors : " my list" " thy last," 137. brave] boast.
10
146 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
Lady, give me your hand, and, as we walk, To our own selves bend we our needful talk.
'[Exeunt Troilus, Cressida, and Diomedes. Trumpet sounded.
Par. Hark ! Hector's trumpet.
^ne. How have we spent this morning ! 140
The prince must think me tardy and remiss. That swore to ride before him to the field.
Par. 'Tis Troilus' fault. Come, come, to field with him.
Dei. Let us make ready straight.
^ne. Yea, with a bridegroom's fresh alacrity, 145
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, armed ; Agamemnon, Achilles, Patro- CLUS, Menelaus, Ulysses, Nestor, and others.
Agam. Here art thou in appointment fresh and fair, Anticipating time. With starting courage Give with thy trumpet a loud note to Troy,
144-148. Dei. Let . . . chivalry] Omitted in Q.
146. address] See note on i. iii. and placing it at the end of the line.
166, above, and compare Chapman, Knight and Schmidt (Lixicon) retain
Iliad, i. 590 : " each Godhead to his the punctuation of all the old copies,
house Addressed for sleep ". and with this I interpret starting
courage as " bold defiance " ; the ap-
bcene v. palled air seems to bear out this
1. appointment] ec[\ni[>m&r\t. Com- sense, and the repetition of with, on pare Hamlet, iv. vi. i6; "a pirate of which Clarke lays stress, is hardly a very warlike appointment ". valid objection. Shakespeare more
2. Anticipating, ..courage] Mod- than once uses "start" transitively ern editors, almost without exception, for "startle". With Theobald's here follow Theobald's punctuation punctuation I can see no satisfactory in removing the full stop after time expla.na.Uon oi starting courage.
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 147
Thou dreadful Ajax ; that the appalled air May pierce the head of the great combatant 5 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 pufif'd Aquilon. Come, stretch thy chest, and let thy eyes spout blood ; 10
Thou blow'st for Hector. [ Trumpet sounds.
Ulyss. No trumpet answers.
Achil. 'Tis but early days.
Agam. Is not yond Diomed with Calchas' daughter?
Ulyss. 'Tis he, I ken the manner of his gait ;
He rises on the toe: that spirit of his 15
In aspiration lifts him from the earth.
Enter Diomedes, with Cressida.
Agam. Is this the lady Cressid ?
Dio. Even she.
Agam. Most dearly welcome to the Greeks, sweet lady.
Nest. Our general doth salute you with a kiss.
6. hale\ haul, draw. Collier con- jectures " hail " : trumpet, trum- peteer.
8. bias cheek] Steevens says that the idea is taken from the puffy cheeks of the winds as represented in ancient prints, maps, etc. ; bias was used literally of the weight in- serted on one side of a bowl to give a particular tendency, as in The Taming of the Shrew, iv. v. 25:—
"thus the bowl should run, And not unluckily against the bias^' ;
figuratively of the tendency, Twelfth Night, V. i. 267 : —
" But nature to her bias drew in
that", g. Outswell . . . Aquilon] swell larger than Aquilon when distended by colic : Aquilon, the Greek Boreas, said to be so called because its flight was as swift as that of an eagle.
11. for Hector] to summon Hector.
12. 'Tis . . . days] it is but early in the day ; again the old genitive adverbially.
13. yotid] here a demonstrative pronoun, but properly an adverb.
148 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
Ulyss. Yet is the kindness but particular; 20
'Twere better she were kiss'd in general. Nest. And very courtly counsel : I '11 begin.
So much for Nestor. Achil. I'll take that winter from your lips, fair lady:
Achilles bids you welcome. 25
Men. I had good argument for kissing once. Pair. But that 's no argument for kissing now ;
For thus popp'd Paris in his hardiment,
And parted thus you and your argument. Ulyss. O deadly gall, and theme of all our scorns ! 30
For which we lose our heads to gild his horns. .''^'" ~
Patr. The first was Menelaus' kiss ; this, mine :
Patroclus kisses you. Men. O ! this is trim.
Patr. Paris and I kiss evermore for him. Men. I '11 have my kiss, sir. Lady, by your leave. 35 Cres. In kissing, do you render or receive ? Patr. Both take and give. Cres. I '11 make my match to live,
29. Ayid . . . argument] Q ; omitted in Ff.
20. Yet is . . . particular] general adverb with popp'd, as a preposi-
though he be, his kiss is but parti- tion with hardiment : thus, sc. with
cular ; with a pun on the two senses kisses.
of " general ". 30- theme . . . scorns] text for the
24. / 'II take . . . lips] probably scorn which we invite by lighting for
with allusion to the belief that disease her.
was thus transferred to the kisser. 36. In kissing . . . receive ?] Stee-
Compare Timon of Athens, iv. iii. vens compares The Merchant of
63,64: — Venice, 111. ii. 141: —
" I will not kiss thee ; then the " I arm by note to give and to re-
rot returns ceive,"
To thine own lips again ". said as Bassanio kisses Portia. 28. For thus . . . hardiment] Here 37. I 'II . . . live] probably, as
in seems to do double duty, as an Tyrwhitt says, " I '11 lay my life ".
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 149
The kiss you take is better than you give ;
Therefore no kiss. Men. I '11 give you boot ; I '11 give you three for one. 40 Cres. You 're an odd man ; give even, or give none. Men. An odd man, lady! every man is odd. Cres. No, Paris is not; for you know 'tis true,
That you are odd, and he is even with you. Men. You fillip me o' the head.
Cres. No, I '11 be sworn, 45
ULyss. It were no match, your nail against his horn.
May I, sweet lady, beg a kiss of you ? Cres. You may. Ulyss. I do desire it.
Cres. Why, beg then.
Ulyss. Why then, for Venus' sake, give me a kiss.
When Helen is a maid again, and his. 50
Cres. I am your debtor; claim it when 'tis due. Ulyss. Never 's my day, and then a kiss of you. Dio. Lady, a word : I '11 bring you to your father.
\Diomedes leads out Cressida. Nest. A woman of quick sense. Ulyss. Fie, fie upon her!
There's language in her eye, her cheek, her lip, 55
Nay, her foot speaks ; her wanton spirits look out
48, theyil Q ; then ? Ff.
40. boot} something in addition, well say so, for his horn is far too interest; A.S. bot, advantage, profit, tough for your nail to make any im-
41. You're . . . man] a play upon pression upon it.
odd = singular, and odd = single, i.e. 48. beg then] to mend the metre
no longer having a wife to make up Dyce here adds do.
a pair. 56. her foot speaks] Compare Dek-
45. You fillip . . . head] you give ker, The Untrussing of the Humourous me a shrewd tap in this taunt. Poet, vol. i. p. 224 (Pearson's Re-
46. It were . . . horn] you may print) : —
150 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
V
All. Again.
At every joint and motive of her body.
O ! these encounterers, so glib of tongue,
That give accosting 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 I
And daughters of the game. [ Trumpet within.
The Trojans' trumpet.
Yonder comes the troop.
Enter HECTOR, armed ; ^NEAS, Troilus, and other Trojans^ with Attendants.
jEne. Hail, all ye state of Greece ! what shall be done 65 To him that victory commands ? or do you purpose
59. accosting] Theobald ; a coasting Q, Ff. 61. ticklish] Q ; tickling
Ff. 65. the state] Q ; you state Ff.
" For a true furnished courtier hath such force, Though his tongue faint, his very legs discourse".
57. motive] that which gives motion. Compare Richard II. i. i.
193 ■•—
" my tongue . . .
The slavish motive of recanting
fear ".
58. encotmtcrers] The New Eng. Diet, explains the word as " one who meets another half way, a froward person, coquette"; but I know not on what authority.
59. accosting] Theobald's emenda- tion of a coasting. Those who retain that reading usually explain " a side- long glance of invitation," in which case an antecedent has to be found in encounterers. Mr. Churton Collins, Studies in Shakespeare, pp. 301, 302, quoting Turbervile's Noble Art of Veneric and Venus and Adotiis, 870, to show that to "coast" is to move alongside, says that to " give a coast-
ing welcome, ere it comes" means " to move alongside of a welcome, or meet it before it comes". Had the words been " to give welcome a coast- ing," I could have understood this explanation, but, as they stand, it seems impossible.
60. tables] tablets. Compare Ro- meo and jfulict, 1. iii. 92.
6r. ticklish] wanton, prurient. Compare v. ii. 52, below.
62. sluttish . . . opportunity] " cor- rupt wenches, of whose chastity every opportunity may make a prey " (John- son).
65. all the taste] all the assembled chiefs. Dyce conjectures " all you (or ye) states ".
65. commands] If the reading is sound, victory must be the object. Walker conjectures, and Hudson edits, "crowns," in which case vic- tory is the subject.
66, 67. or do you . . . knoivn ?] or is it your intention that there shall be any declaration at all of victory ?
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 151
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.
Agam. Which way would Hector have it ?
JEne. He cares not ; he '11 obey conditions.
Achil. 'Tis done like Hector ; but securely done, A little proudly, and great deal misprizing The knight oppos'd.
^ne. If not Achilles, sir, 75
What is your name ?
Achil. If not Achilles, nothing.
ySne. 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 85 This blended knight, half Trojan, and half Greek.
Achil. A maiden battle then ? O ! I perceive you.
74. misprizing] misprising Q ; disprizing Ff.
73. securely] over - confidently, as in the extreme littleness of his pride, Compare ii. ii. 15, above, "Surety Hector is pre-eminent.
secure". 83. This Ajax . . . 6/oorf] See note
74. misprizing] Compare As You on 11. i. 14, above.
Like It, I. i. 172; All's Well that 87. A maiden battle] "a blood-
Ends Well, in. ii. 33. less contest, like that of novices ;
78,79. Lithe extremity . . .Hector] not 'a gory emulation,' line 123"
in the extreme greatness of his valour, (Rolfe).
152 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
Re-enter DiOMEDES. -^-^-wv-r
Agam. Here is Sir Diomed. Go, gentle knight,
Stand by our Ajax : as you and Lord ^Eneas Consent upon the order of their fight, 90
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. Ulyss. They are oppos'd already.
Agam. What Trojan is that same that looks so heavy ? 95 Ulyss. 1 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 ; 1 Yet gives he not till judgment guide his bounty,
' Nor dignifies an impare thought with breath.
103. impare] Q ; impaire Ff i, 2 ; impair Ff 3, 4.
92, a breath] a breathing, a spell or " impair," which some editors pre-
of exercise, as in 11. iii. 118, above, fer. Others adopt Johnson's "im-
and All's Well that Ends Well, I. ii. pure". Though no instance has
17, " sick for breathing and exploit ". been found of impare, or of " impair,"
92, 93. the combatants . . . stints] as an adjective, the former may, I
the fact of their being kin, etc. Com- think, be taken as an equivalent of
pare Cymbcline, v. v. 343 : " beaten the Lat. impar. For it is not the
for loyalty Excited me to treasons," modesty of Troilus that is here in
i.e. the fact of my being beaten. question, as the advocates of " im-
98. deedless . . . tongue] making pure" assume, nor his "ripeness of
no boast of his prowess. Mr. Col- judgment," as the Cambridge editors
lins compares Sophocles, Philoctetcs, say, but his sincerity, his evening of
97, yXwffffav /iilv apyov, x^'P" 5' elxov his words to his thoughts. The line
ipydriv. " Yet gives he not till judgment guide
103. impare] Th'ia is the reading of his bounty" qualifies and expands
the Q. The folios give " impaire," the words " For what he has he
i
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 153
Manly as Hector, but more dangerous ; For Hector, in his blaze of wrath, subscribes 105 I 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 ^neas ; one that knows the youth 1 10 Even to his inches, and with private soul Did in great I lion thus translate him to me.
{^Alarum. Hector and Ajax fight.
Agam. They are in action.
Nest. Now, Ajax, hold thine own !
Tro. Hector, thou sleep'st ;
Awake thee !
Agam. His blows are well dispos'd : there, Ajax! 115
Dio. You must no more. {Trumpets cease.
^ne. Princes, enough, so please you.
Ajax. I am not warm yet ; let us fight again.
Dio. As Hector pleases.
Hect. 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 ;
114, 115. Hector . . . thee\ Arranged as by Steevens (1793) ; one line in Q, Ff. 115. disposed : there} dispo'd there Q; dispos'd there Ff.
gives," and the line " Nor dignifies log. as fairly . . . Hector] as fair
an impare thought with breath " as that built on Hector. Compare
qualifies and expands the words Troilus and Criseyde, 11. xcii. 7 :
"what he thinks he shows". "And next his brother, holdere up
105, 106. in his blaze . . . objects^ of Troye ".
even when his rage is at its hottest iii. Even . . . inches] from top to
grants terms of mercy to defenceless toe. The phrase was also used in the
objects. Compare Troilus and Cris- sense of "as far as one's capacities
eyde, i. xvii. i : " Now was this Ector go," as in Jonson, The Magnetic Lady,
pitoHs of nature". i. i. ; "all men are Philosophers, to
107. vindicative] here only. their inches ",
^
154 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
The obligation of our blood forbids A gory emulation 'twixt us twain. Were thy commixtion Greek and Trojan so 124 That thou could'st 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 should'st not bear from me a Greekish member 1 30
Wherein my sword had not impressure made 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 : 135 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 A great addition earned in thy death.
Hect. Not Neoptolemus so mirable,
124. commixtion] Q, F 4 ; commixion Ff i, 2, 3. 132. Of our rank
feud] Ff ; omitted in Q. 133. drop] day Q.
132. gainsay] forbid ; A.S. gegn, gentilitinm, and thought the father
against, and say. was Achilles Neoptolemus ". In Jon-
^39- /''''^] gt^'ierous of soul. son's Poetaster, iv. i., Tucca says:
142. Neoptolemus] Johnson is prob- " Give me thy hand, Agamemnon ;
ably right in supposing that "by Neop- we hear abroad thou art the Hector
tolemus the author meant Achilles of citizens. What sayest thou ? are
himself; and remembering that the we welcome, noble Neoptolemus?"
son was Pyrrhus Neoptolemus, con- Does he here make the same mis-
sidered Neoptolemus as the nomen take ?
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 155
On whose bright crest Fame with her loudest Oyes
Cries " This is he ! " could promise to himself
A thought of added honour torn from Hector. 145
^ne. There is expectance here from both the sides What further you will do.
Hect. 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.
Dio. 'Tis Agamemnon's wish, and great Achilles
Doth long to see unarm'd the valiant Hector.
Hect. vEneas, call my brother Troilus to me.
And signify this loving interview 15S
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.
Hect. The worthiest of them tell me name by name ; 160 But for Achilles, mine own searching eyes Shall find him by his large and portly size.
143. Oyes.^{Oyes)<^,Yi.
143. Oyes\ F oyez, hear ye ; the of Bussy D'Ambois, v. i. : " These
usual introduction to a proclamation spirits seld or never haunting men ".
or advertisement by the public crier. 156. To the . . . part] to those of
150. As seld . . . chance — Janellip- our party who are awaiting to know
tical expression = which I might hope the issue of this meeting.
for now, for I so rarely, etc. : seld, 162. portly] of stately bearing or
in Shakespeare here only and in The carriage. The word nowadays has
Passionate Pilgrim, 175, though in narrowed itself down to little more
Coriolanus, 11. i. 229, we have "seld- than an euphemism for "corpulent,"
shown," as in Marlowe, The jfew of but was formerly used in a more
MaZia, I. i., "scW-seen," and in quasi- gracious sense. Thus Marlowe, i
composition. Chapman, The Revenge Tamburlaine, i. ii., uses it of " the
156 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
Agam.
Meet Agam.
Men.
Hect. j^ne. Hect.
Worthy of arms ! as welcome as to one
That would be rid of such an enemy ;
But that's no welcome: understand more clear 165
What 's past and what 's to come is strew'd with
husks And formless ruin of oblivion ; 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. I thank thee, most imperious Agamemnon. \To Troilus.'] My well-famed lord of Troy, no
less to you. Let me confirm my princely brother's greet- ing: You brace of war-like brothers, welcome hither. 175 Who must we answer?
The noble Menelaus. O ! you, my lord ? by Mars his gauntlet, thanks !
163. of] Ff; all Q. 165-170. Btit . . . integrity] Ff ; omitted in Q.
169. bias-drawing] Theobald; bias drawing Ff. 176. Who] Q, F i ;
Whom Ff 2, 3, 4.
fair Xenocrate " ; and Massinger, The Unnatural Combat, iii. i. 4, even of "viands".
163, 164. as welcome . . . enemy] as welcome as is possible to one who would gladly hear of your death.
i6g. Strain'd . . . bias - dra70ing] purged of all such tortuous inclination as the bias gives to the bowl. Com- pare King John, 11. i. 577 : " this vile- drawing bias, This sway of motion ".
170. divine] godlike.
171. From heart . . . heart] Steevens compares //a/w/f/, iii. ii. 78 : " In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart ".
172. imperious] Dyce, Glossary, says : " though Shakespeare and sundry of his contemporaries make no distinction between imperious and imperial, yet . . . Bullokar carefully distinguishes between them : ' im- perial, royal or chief, emperor-like : imperious, that commandeth with au- thority, lord-like, stately ' ". It would, perhaps, be safer to say that though Shakespeare frequently uses imperi- ous where we should imperial, he rarely, if ever, uses imperial for im- perious in its modern sense of des^ potic.
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 157
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. 1 80
Men. Name her not now, sir ; she 's a deadly theme.
Hect. O ! pardon ; I offend.
Nest. I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee oft. Labouring for destiny, make cruel way Through ranks of Greekish youth : and I have seen thee, 185
As hot as Perseus, spur thy Phrygian steed, Despising many forfeits and subduements, -''" '^"
When thou hast hung thy advanced sword i' th'
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 ". And I have seen thee pause and take thy breath, When that a ring of Greeks have hemm'd thee in,
178. that I . . , oath] Ff ; thy affect the vntraded earth Q. 187. De-
spising many] Q; And seene thee scorning Ff. 188. thy advanced] Ff;
th' advanced Q.
178. untraded] unhackneyed. In 187. Despising . . . subduements]
Henry V. in. vi. 80, we have " new- not deigning to trouble yourself with
tuned oaths," and in The Two Gentle- those who were already vanquished
tnen of Verona, iv. iv. 135, " new- and forfeited to death ; the abstract
found oaths". Jonson, Every Man for the concrete.
in His Humour, in. i., ridicules this 188. arfyawc(?rf] raised high to strike,
kind of affectation in his character Compare Henry V. v. ii. 382.
of Captain Bobadil who excites the 189. decline . . . declin'd] descend
enviousadmirationof Master Stephen, upon those fallen. Compare Ham/^^,
the country gull, by such oaths as " By in. ii. 500, and for declined, used
Pharaoh's foot," "Body o'Cffisar," etc. figuratively, Antony and Cleopatra,
184. Labouring for destiny] acting in. xiii. 27.
as though a reaper in the service of 191. dealing life] sc. by not tak-
Fate. ing it.
C-7''^-
158 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
Like an Olympian wrestling : this have I seen ; But this thy countenance, still lock'd in steel, 195 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 jfEne. 'Tis the old Nestor. Hect. 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. Nest. I would my arms could match thee in conten- tion, 205 As they contend with thee in courtesy. Hect. I would they could. Nest. Ha !
By this white beard, I 'd fight with thee to- morrow. Well, welcome, welcome ! I have seen the time — 210 Ulyss. I wonder now how yonder city stands,
When we have here her base and pillar by us. Hect. I know your favour, Lord Ulysses, well.
Ah ! sir, there 's many a Greek and Trojan dead,
195. still] ever. tors, with Q, Ff i, 2, put a full stop
196. gyandsire] Laomedon. after time; most editors, with Ff 3, 210. / have . . . time — ] Appar- 4, mark a break.
ently Nestor here breaks off in his 213. favour] See note on i. ii. 98, reminiscences. The Cambridge edi- above.
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 159
Since first I saw yourself and Diomed 215
In IHon, on your Greekish embassy.
Ulyss. Sir, I foretold you then what would ensue : My prophecy is but half his journey yet ; For yonder walls, that pertly front your town, Yond towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds, 220
Must kiss their own feet.
Hect. I must not believe you :
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, 225 '
Will one day end it.
Ulyss. 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.
Achil. I shall forestall thee. Lord Ulysses, thou ! 230
Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee ;
219. pertly] Q, F i ; partly Ff 2, 3, 4. 220. Yond] Ff; Yon Q.
219. pertly] boldly, with a notion ism forbids my believing anything of of light-heartedness. Compare Ed- the sort.
■ward I. xii. 15 : "I have not a 230. thou I] Tyrwhitt conjectures
penny, which makes me so pertly " though " ; Singer, " then—" ; Wal-
pass through these thickets". ker, "there". Clarke remarks that
220. buss] Though in Shakespeare's " the repetition of a pronoun thus in day the word was not vulgarised a sentence, for the sake either of it seems generally to have had a emphatic, playful or scornful effect, somewhat amorous sense. Ma- was usual " ; and the arrogant thoti lone quotes The Rape of Lticrece, would be in keeping with the speaker's line 1370 : " Threatening cloud- character. Compare Twelfth Night, kissing Ilion v/ith annoy," which iii. ii. 48 : " li thou thoust him some Heywood imitates with ''sky-kissing thrice, it shall not be amiss," the ad- llium ". vice given to Aguecheek when about
221. / 7nust . . . you] my patriot- to write a challenge.
160 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
I have with exact view perus'd thee, Hector, And quoted joint by joint.
Hect. Is this Achilles?
Achil. I am Achilles.
Hect. Stand fair, I pray thee: let me look on thee. 235
Achil. Behold thy fill.
Hect. Nay, I have done already.
Achil. Thou art too brief: I will the second time.
As I would buy thee, view thee limb by limb.
Hect. 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 ?
Achil. Tell me, you heavens, in which part of his body Shall I destroy him ? whether there, or there, or
there ? That I may give the local wound a name, And make distinct the very breach whereout 245 Hector's great spirit flew. Answer me, heavens !
Hect. It would discredit the bless'd gods, proud man, To answer such a question. Stand again : Think'st thou to catch my life so pleasantly
232. perus'd] thoroughly surveyed ; stroke of art in Shakspere to borrow a word strange in its composition the Homeric incident of Achilles sur- from Latin and French, and in its veying Hector before he slew him, sense, which should be to " use thor- not using it in the actual scene of oughly ". the conflict [as in Homer], but more
233. quoted] noted, marked. characteristically in the place which 235. Stand . . . thee] let me have he has given it".
a full view of you in all your goodly 249-251. Think'st . . . dead?] do
proportions. you fancy that when we meet in
241. Why dost . . . eye?] Is this deadly combat you can surprise my
intended to mark a presentiment of life with such easy carelessness as
his fate ? now to name beforehand the exact
242-246. Tell me . . . heavens I] part of my body in which you will
Knight remarks : " It was a fine deliver the fatal stroke ?
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 161
As to prenominate in nice conjecture 250
Where thou wilt hit me dead ? Achil. I tell thee, yea.
Hect. Wert thou the 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, 255
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. Do not chafe thee, cousin : 260
And you, Achilles, let these threats alone,
Till accident and purpose bring you to 't :
You may have every day enough of Hector,
255. stithied] forged ; " stithy," or 260. chafe thee] allow yourself to
" stith " as Chaucer has it, seems be irritated.
always to be used of an anvil, not of 262. to 't] meaning " to an en-
a workshop ; and on Hamlet, iii. ii. counter," though it is used indefi-
8g : — nitely without reference to any ante-
" And my imaginations are as foul cedent expressed.
As Vulcan's stithy,^' 263-265. You may . . . him] if
Dowden says that the two senses you have a private inclination, ap-
are confounded : Mars his, ior ^' his," petite, for it, you can any day find
" sometimes used, by mistake, for 's, ample opportunity for fighting with
the sign of the possessive case, par- Hector, though I don't suppose
ticularly after a proper name, and that consideration of public wel-
with especial frequency when the fare would persuade you to come to
name ends in s," see Abbott, Shake- blows with him ; in stomach there
spearian Grammar, § 217. is probably the further sense of
259. endeavour dcecls]Compa.Te The "courage," so common in Shake- Advancemcnt of Learning, i. i. 3 : speare, with a sneering insinuation. " but rather let men endeavour an Schmidt takes state as persons re- endless progress or proficience in presenting a body politic, as in line both". 65, above.
II
162 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act iv.
If you have stomach. The general state, I fear,
Can scarce entreat you to be odd with him. 265 Hect. I pray you, let us see you in the field ;
We have had pelting wars since you refus'd
The Grecians' cause. Achil. Dost thou entreat me, Hector?
To-morrow do I meet thee, fell as death;
To-night all friends. Hect. Thy hand upon that match. 270
Agam. 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 tabourines, let the trumpets blow, 275
That this great soldier may his welcome know. \Exeunt all but Troiliis and Ulysses. Tro. My Lord Ulysses, tell me, I beseech you,
In what place of the field doth Calchas keep? Ulyss. 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.
274, 275. him. Beat . . . tabourines] Ff ; hivi to taste your bounties Q. 281. upon the heaven nor earth] Q ; on heaven, nor on earth Ff.
267. pelting] paltry ; probably con- 274. severally] separately, individu-
nected with "peltry" and "paltry," ally.
formed of rags, hence vile, worthless. 275. tabourines] drums. Compare
Compare Richard II. 11. i. 60, and Antony and Cleopatra, iv. viii. 37.
King Lear, 11. iii. 18. 278. keep] dwell, reside ; a term
272. in the full . . , 7s)e] let us still in use of rooms in colleges at
feast in full assemblage. ' Oxford and Cambridge,
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 163
Tro. Shall I, sweet lord, be bound to you so much,
After we part from Agamemnon's tent, 285
To bring me thither ?
Ulyss. 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 ?
Tro. O, sir ! to such as boasting show their scars 290 A mock is due. Will you walk on, my lord? She was belov'd, she lov'd ; she is, and doth : But still sweet love is food for fortune's tooth.
[Exeunt.
287. As gentWl Ff; But gentle Q. 292. she loved] Ff ; my Lord Q.
287. As gentle'] with like courtesy. 293. But still . . . tooth] but
290, 291. to such . . . due] i.e. I love is ever a delicacy on which
should deserve to be scorned if I were fortune is fond of whetting her ap-
to say that she loved as she was loved petite.
by me.
ACT V
SCENE I. — The Grecian Camp. Before ACHILLES'
Tent.
Enter ACHILLES and Patroclus.
Achil. I '11 heat his blood with Greekish wine to-night, Which with my scimitar I '11 cool to-morrow. Patroclus, let us feast him to the height.
Patr. Here comes Thersites.
Enter Thersites.
Achil. How now, thou core of envy !
Thou crusty batch of nature, what 's the news ? 5 Ther. Why, thou picture of what thou seemest, and
idol of idiot-worshippers, here's a letter for
thee. Achil. From whence, fragment ?
Ther. Why, thou full dish of fool, from Troy. 10
Patr. Who keeps the tent now ? ; J
4. core\ Ff ; currc Q.
1. Greekish] Clarke thinks the (Steevens). Compare Every Man in strength and excellence of Greek His Humour, i. ii. : " One is a rimer, wines is referred to. sir, of your own batch, your own
2. cool] by letting it out into the leaven ".
air. 6. picture . . . seemest] fool in looks,
4. core] probably ulcerous sore, as fool in reality.
in V. viii. I, but with a play on " core," ii. Who . . . now?] A question
heart. of appeal, equivalent to " You see
5. hatch] " all that is baked at one that Achilles can no longer be taunted time without heating the oven afresh " with keeping his tent ".
164
>
sc. I] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 165
Ther. The surgeon's box, or the patient's wound.
Pair. Well said, adversity ! and what need these tricks ?
Ther. Prithee, be silent, boy ; I profit not by thy 1 5 talk : thou art thought to be Achilles' male varlet.
Pair. Male varlet, you rogue ! what 's that ?
Ther. Why, his masculine whore. Now the rotten
diseases of the south, the guts-griping, rup- 20 tures, catarrhs, loads o' gravel i' the back, lethargies, cold palsies, raw eyes, dirt-rotten livers, wheezing lungs, bladders full of impos-
16. varlet] F 4; varlot Q, Ff i, 2, 3. and the like Ff.
22-26. raw
tetter] Q ;
12. The surgeon's . . . wound] Pretending to think that an answer is required, Thersites replies with the same pun on tents as in 11. ii. 16 above. So Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, i. i. : " he was a pitiful fellow, to lie like the children of Israel, all in tents " ; and Middleton, More Dissemblers Be- sides Women, 11. iii. 103.
13. adversity !] Steevens under- stands this as = contrariety, and com- pares "avaunt Perplexity!" said in Love's Labour's Lost, v. ii. 298, by the Princess to Boyet who had been doing his best to perplex the dialogue. Collier conjectures " perversity," which Hudson edits.
16, 17. male varlet] Theobald, on Thirlby's suggestion, gives "male harlot," one objection to which is, as Johnson points out, that it is too plain to need the explanation which Pat- roclus asks. Farmer quotes " male varlet" from Dekker's Jfo«<?sf Whore, but it is very doubtful whether the expression there has the same sinister sense.
ig, 20. rotten . . . south] Shake- speare often speaks of the south as
being unhealthy, as e.g. Coriolanus, I. iv. 30 : " All the contagion of the south light on you ". But it seems probable that the allusion here is to Naples (compare " the NeapoUtjtfi boneache," 11. iii. 22, above), supposed to be the original locale of the disease to which all those here catalogued are taken by Thersites to be the sequelae. This view is taken also by Dr. Bucknill (Shakespeare's Medical Knowledge, p. 234), from whom I quote an explanation of several of the terms here used : " Loads of gravel in the back of course refers to gravel in the kidneys, which would be attended by pain in the loins ; . . . lethargy is frequently confounded by medical men of the time, and by Shakespeare himself, with apoplexy, and cold palsies is the old medical term for chronic paralysis. Dirt- rotten livers indicate a pathological state, as distinguished from a named disease. . . . The same may be said of bladders full of imposthume or chronic inflammation of the bladder, with muco purulent discharge." 23. wheezing lungs] The dramatists
166 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
thume, sciaticas, lime-kilns i' the palm, incur- able bone-ache, and the rivelled fee-simple of 25 the tetter, take and take again such prepos- terous discoveries !
Patr. Why, thou damnable box of envy, thou, what meanest thou to curse thus ?
Ther. Do I curse thee ? 30
Patr. Why, no, you ruinous butt, you whoreson in- distinguishable cur, no.
Ther. No ! why art thou then exasperate, thou idle immaterial skein of sleave silk, thou green sarcenet flap for a sore eye, thou tassel of a 35 prodigal's purse, thou ? Ah ! how the poor world is pestered with such water-flies, di- ', minutives of nature. I
Patr. Out, gall !
34. sleave\ sleive Q ; Sleyd Ff.
frequently speak of " the cough o' the lungs," apparently as something worse than an ordinary cough and as being due to the venereal dis- ease.
24. lime-kilns . . . palm] burning sensations in the palms of the hands ; which it is suggested to me to refer to palmar psoriasis — a more probable conjecture than that which Dr. Buck- nill puts forward " for want of a better," sc. "chronic gout in the joints of the hands in which what are called chalk stones are found ".
25. rivelled] wrinkled. Here only in Shakespeare, though frequent in the dramatists ; e.i^. Marlowe, Dido, III. i., '-rivelld gold"; Marston, ii Antonio and Mellida, i. ii. 20 : " the front of grief . . . much rivell'd with abortive care " ; Middleton, Blurt, Master Constable, iii. i. 71, "his
rivelVd brow ". This, according to Dr. Bucknill, " points to the intract- able ring-worm ".
27. discoveries] Whether this is the abstract for the concrete or not, the meaning is too plain for doubt.
3T. Why . . . butt] Patroclus dis- claims all applicability of the curse to himself: you . . . butt, you who re- semble nothing so much as a dilapi- dated hogshead.
31, 32. indistinguishable cur] mere lump of flesh and bones, and those the flesh and bones of a cur.
33. idle] useless.
34. immaterial] of no substance, worthless : sleave silk, floss silk, which till woven is useless.
37. water-flies] Compare Hamlet, V. ii. 84 : " Dost thou know this water fly ? " said of the empty-headed Osric.
sc. I.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 167
Titer. Finch-egg ! A^v.-^^M'-Ai^' 40
Achil. My sweet Patroclus, I am thwarted quite
From my great purpose in to-morrow's battle.
Here is a letter from Queen Hecuba,
A token from her daughter, my fair love,
Both taxing me and gaging me to keep 45
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. 50
Away, Patroclus !
\Exeunt Achilles and Patroclus. Ther. 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, 55 an honest fellow enough, and one that loves \. quails, but he has not so much brain as ear-wax : and the goodly transformation of Jupiter there, his brother, the bull, the
59. his brother, the] Ff ; his he the Q.
40, Finch-egg I] Again retorting fice, in. i. : " By this light, I have upon Patroclus's charge of lumpish- toiled more with this tough carrion ness by that of insignificance. In hen than with ten quails scarce Natural Histories of the time the grown into their first feathers" — an finch is sometimes described as the apostrophe to Morona ; Jonson, Bar- smallest of birds. Compare Love's tholomew Fair, iv. iii. : " Here will Labour's Lost, v. i. 78 : " Thou be Zekiel Edgworth, and three or pigeon-egg of discretion I " four gallants with him at night, and
45. taxing me] may mean either I have neither plover nor quail for
"reproaching me for intending to them".
break my oath," or "reproachfully 58, 59. the goodly . . . Jupiter]
reminding me of my oath, and bind- the god having changed himself mto
ing me to keep it ". a bull when pursuing Europa in her
57. quails] a cant term for loose form of a cow.
women. Compare Ford, Loire's Sacri- 59-61. the primitive . . . cuckolds]
168 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
primitive statue, and . oblique memorial of 60 cuckolds; a j 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 65 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 lizard, an owl, a puttock, or a herring without a roe, I would not care ; but to be Menelaus ! I would conspire 70 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. Agam. We go wrong ; we go wrong. A/^^' No, yonder 'tis. 75
There, where we see the lights.
62. hanging at his brother's] Ff; at his bare Q. 67, 68. a dog . . .
fitchew] Ff ; a day, a Moyle, a Cat, a Fichooke Q.
the prototype (in his horns) and 68. fitchew] polecat ; an animal
figurative emblem of cuckolds. supposed to be very amorous and
61, 62. a thrifty . . . leg] a nig- known to be very ofi'ensive in smell :
gardly and not - to - be - shaken off puttock, kite, i.e. not a noble kind
hanger-on of his brother, like a shoe- of hawk, but one that feeds on
ing-horn hanging to a man's leg by carrion.
a chain. Compare Dekker, Mrt^c/; ;;/f 69. a herring . . . roe] Compare
in London, vol. iv. p. 192 (Pearson's Romeo and JnUet, 11. iv. 39: " With-
Reprint):"Youareheldbutas5//of/HjO-- out his roe, like a dried herring," the
hortis to wait on great lords' heels", roe being the most delicate part; or
62-64. to what . . . to] On doubled perhaps a " shotten herring," i.e. one
prepositions, see Abbott, Shake- that has spent the roe, as in 1 Henry
spearian Grammar, g 407. IV, v. iii. 30.
64. forced] i.e. farced, stuffed. 72, 73. care not to be] should not
Compare 11. iii. 231, above. mind being.
sc. I.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 169
Hect. I trouble you.
Ajax. No, not a whit.
Ulyss. Here comes himself to guide you.
Re-enter ACHILLES.
Achil. Welcome, brave Hector; welcome, princes all. Again. So now, fair prince of Troy, I bid good night.
Ajax commands the guard to tend on you. 80 Hect. Thanks and good night to the Greeks' general. Men. Good night, my lord.
Hect. - Good night, sweet lord Menelaus.
Ther. Sweet draught : " sweet " quoth a' ! sweet
sink, sweet sewer. Achil. Good night and welcome both at once, to those 85
That go or tarry. Agani. Good night.
[Exeunt Agamemnon and Menelaus. Achil. Old Nestor tarries ; and you too, Diomed,
Keep Hector company an hour or two. Dio. I cannot, lord ; I have important business, 90
The tide whereof is now. Good night, great Hector. Hect. Give me your hand.
Ulyss. [Aside to Troilusi\ Follow his torch ; he goes to Calchas' tent.
I '11 keep you company.
84. sewey] Rowe ; S2irc Q, Ff.
77. AiOTSi?^/] properly a dative = by 83. draught] a jakes. the same him. See Abbott, Shake- 91. tide] A.S. tid, time. spearian Grammar, § 20.
170 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [^ct v.
Tro. Sweet sir, you honour me.
Hect. And so, good night. 95
{Exit Diomedes ; Ulysses and Troilus following.
Achil. Come, come ; enter my tent.
[Exeunt Achilles, Hector, Ajax, and Nestor.
Ther. 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 100 promise, like Brabbler the hound ; but when he performs, astronomers foretell it : it is pro- digious, there will come some change : the sun borrows of the moon when Diomed keeps his word. I will rather leave to see Hector, 105 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 U.— Tke Same. Before Calchas' Tent. Enter DiOMEDES.
Dio. What, are you up here, ho? speak.
Col. [Within.'] Who calls?
Dio. Diomed. Calchas, I think. Where's your
daughter ? Cal. [ Within.] She comes to you.
100, loi. spend . . . Iinund] give thing so marvellous as to enter into
tongue without viewing the fox. Such the predictions of astronomers. Com-
a hound was, and still is, called a pare Cymbelinc, in. ii. 27 : prodigious,
"brabbler". Compare Henry V. u. portentous.
iv. 70. 105. leave to see] forgo seeing.
102. astronomers . . . it] it is some- 107. uses\ dwells in.
sen] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 171
Enter Troilus and Ulysses, at a distance; after them,
Thersites.
Ulyss. Stand where the torch may not discover us. 5
Enter CRESSIDA,
Tro. Cressid comes forth to him.
Dio. How now, my charge !
Cres. Now, my sweet guardian ! Hark ! a word with you. [ Whispers.
Tro. Yea, so familiar ! Ulyss. She will sing any man at first sight. Ther. And any man may sing her, if he can take 10
her cliff; she's noted. Dio. Will you remember? Cres. Remember ! yes. Dio. Nay, but do then ;
And let your mind be coupled with your words. 15 Tro. What should she remember? Ulyss. List !
Cres. Sweet honey Greek, tempt me no more to folly. Ther. Roguery !
10, II. suig her . . . cliff] Q ; Jltid her . . . life Ff.
9. She will . . . sight] The more what is written, the lines and spaces
usual phrase nowadays is to sing a referring to different notes, according
song or play a piece of music "at to the cliff prefixed at the beginning,
sight " {i.e. without having to practise The principal cliffs are the bass,
it),but "at /rsi sight" seems to have treble, and tenor; these are ascer-
been more common of old, as Middle- tained by the gamut. . . . It is often
ton, The Roaring Girl, iv. ii. 199 : equivocally used by our old comic
" Sir Alex. You can play any lesson ? writers " (Nares). Sir John Hawkins
Moll. At first sight, sir." Cressida, defines the word as " a mark in musick
from her familiarity with Diomed at atthebeginningof thelines of asong;
so short a notice, is thus said to be and is the indication of the pitch, and
able to sing any man at first sight, bespeaks to what kind of voice — as
11. cliff] "in music, from clef, base, tenor, or treble, it is proper", signifying a key ; as it is a key to Of course in noted there is a pun.
172 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Dio. Nay, then, — ' 20
Cres. I '11 tell you what, —
Dio. Foh, foh ! come, tell a pin : you are forsworn. Cres. In faith, I cannot. What would you have me
do? Titer. A juggling trick, — to be secretly open. Dio. What did you swear you would bestow on me? 25 Cres. I prithee, do not hold me to mine oath ;
Bid me do any thing but that, sweet Greek. Dio. Good night. Tro. Hold, patience!
Ulyss. How now, Trojan !
Cres. Diomed. —
Dio. No, no ; good night': I '11 be your fool no more. Tro. Thy better must,
Cres. Hark ! one word in your ear. 30
Tro. O plague and madness. Ulyss. You are mov'd, prince ; let us depart, I pray you,
Lest your displeasure should enlarge itself
To wrathful terms. This place is dangerous ;
The time right deadly: I beseech you, go. 35 Tro. Behold, I pray you ! Ulyss. Nay, good my lord, go off:
You flow to great distraction ; come, my lord. Tro. I pray thee, stay.
Ulyss. You have not patience ; come.
Tro. I pray you, stay. By hell and all hell's torments,
I will not speak a word !
22. come . . . pin] i.e. don't waste 28. Hold patience /] adjuring hlm- your words by saying "I'll tell you self to be patient. what ". 37. Jlow to] are rapidly haste'ning to.
sen.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 173
Dio. And so, good-night. 40
Cres. Nay, but you part in anger.
Tro. Doth that grieve thee?
0 wither'd truth!
Ulyss. Why, how now, lord !
Tro. By Jove,
1 will be patient.
Cres. Guardian ! — why, Greek !
Dio. Foh, foh ! adieu; you palter.
Cres. In faith, I do not : come hither once again. 45 Ulyss. You shake, my lord, at something : will you go ?
You will break out. Tro. She strokes his cheek !
Ulyss. Come, come.
Tro. Nay, stay ; by Jove, I will not speak a word :
There is between my will and all offences
A guard of patience : stay a little while. 50
Ther. How the devil Luxury, with his fat rump
and potato-finger, tickles these together! Fry,
lechery, fry ! Dio. But will you then?
Cres. In faith, I will, la; never trust me else. 55
Dio. Give me some token for the surety of it. Cres. I '11 fetch you one. \^Exit.
Ulyss. You have sworn patience. Tro. Fear me not, sweet lord ;
I will not be myself, nor have cognition
Of what I feel : I am all patience. 60
55. / will, lcC\ Theobald ; / will lo Q, F i; I will goe or go Ff 2, 3,4.
51. luxury] lechery; as always toes being accounted stimulants to in Shakespeare ; potato -finger, pota- luxury.
174 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Re-enter Cressida.
Ther, Now the pledge ! now, now, now !
Cres. Here, Diomed, keep this sleeve.
Tro. O beauty ! where is thy faith ?
Ulyss. My lord,—
Tro. I will be patient ; outwardly I will.
Cres. You look upon that sleeve ; behold it well. 65
He lov'd me — O false wench ! — Give 't me again. Dio. Whose was 't ? Cres. 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. 70
Ther. Now she sharpens : well said, whetstone ! Dio. I shall have it. Cres. What, this ?
Dio. Ay, that.
Cres. 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, 75
And gives memorial dainty kisses to it.
As I kiss thee. Nay, do not snatch it from me;
He that takes that doth take my heart withal. Dio. I had your heart before ; this follows it.
64. I will . . . will] Omitted in Q. 78. doth take] Q ; rakes F i ;
takes Ff 2, 3, 4.
71. Now she sharpens] now she is 76. memorial . . . kisses] tender whetting his desire. kisses of remembrance.
72. shall] am determined to.
sc. II.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 175
Tro, I did swear patience. 80
Cres. You shall not have it, Diomed ; faith, you shall not;
I '11 give you something else. Dio. I will have this. Whose was it? Cres. 'Tis no matter.
Dio. Come, tell me whose it was. Cres. 'Twas one's that lov'd me better than you will. 85
But now you have it, take it, Dio. Whose was it?
Cres. By all Diana's waiting-women yond,
And by herself, I will not tell you whose. Dio. To-morrow will I wear it on my helm,
And grieve his spirit that dares not challenge it. 90
Tro. Wert thou the devil, and wor'st it on thy horn.
It should be challeng'd. Cres. Well, well, 'tis done, 'tis past: and yet it is not;
I will not keep my word. Dio. Why then, farewell;
Thou never shalt mock Diomed again. 95
Cres. You shall not go: one cannot speak a word
But it straight starts you. Dio. I do not like this fooling.
Ther. Nor I, by Pluto: but that that likes not me
Pleases me best. Dio. What ! shall I come ? the hour ?
87. By all . . . yond] " the stars whoever it may be to whom it be-
which she points to " (Warbur- longed,
ton). 97. But it . . . you] without it at
go. his spirit] the spirit of him once sending you off in a huff.
176 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Cres. Ay, come : — O Jove ! — lOO
Do come : — I shall be plagu'd.
Dio. Farewell till then.
Cres. Good night : I prithee, come. [Exit Dioinedes.
Troilus, farewell ! one eye yets looks on thee, But with my heart the other eye doth see. Ah ! poor our sex ; this fault in us I find, 105 The error of our eye directs our mind. What error leads must err. O ! then conclude Minds sway'd by eyes are full of turpitude. \Exit.
Ther. A proof of strength she could not publish more, Unless she said " My mind is now turn'd whore". no
Ulyss. All 's done, my lord.
Tro. It is.
Ulyss. Why stay we then ?
Tro. 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 ? 115
Sith yet there is a credence in my heart.
An esperance so obstinately strong,
That doth invert the attest of eyes and ears,
As if those organs had deceptions functions,
iig. had deceptions] Ff ; were deceptions Q.
loi. plagu'd] punished. Compare stronger proof". Rather, I think,
Richard II. i. iii. i8i : — " a strong proof that she could not
" And God, not we, hath plagued publish more ".
thy bloody deed ". 112. To make . . . soul] to set
105. poor our sex] an inversion down in the tablets of my soul,
similar to "dear my lord," etc. 119. deceptions] Compare Hey-
109. A proof . . . more] Johnson wood, The Iron Age, vol. iii. p. 317;
explains " she could not publish a "I trust no deceptions visions ",
sc. II.] mOILUS AND CRESSIDA 177
Created only to calumniate. 120
Was Cressid here ?
Ulyss. I cannot conjure, Trojan.
Tro. She was not, sure.
Ulyss. Most sure she was.
Tro. Why, my negation hath no taste of madness.
Ulyss. Nor mine, my lord : Cressid was here but now.
Tro. Let it not be believ'd for womanhood ! 125
Think we had mothers ; do not give advantage To stubborn critics, apt, without a theme. For depravation, to square the general sex By Cressid's rule: rather think this not Cressid.
Ulyss. What hath she done, prince, that can soil our mothers ? 1 30
Tro. Nothing at all, unless that this were she.
Ther. Will he swagger himself out on 's own eyes ?
Tro. This she ? no ; this is Diomed's Cressida. If beauty have a soul, this is not she ; If souls guide vows, if vows be sanctimonies, 135 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 thyself;
130. soz7] soyle Ff ; spoile Q. 135. he satictimonies] Q ; are sancti-
monie Ff.
127. critics] censorious observers. measure the sex in general by Cres-
127, 128. apt . . . depravation] sida's standard : rule, the carpenter's ready, though without having any tool of that name.
Acting subject for it, to indulge in de- 135. sanctimonies] ratifiers of truth,
f imation. For depravation, compare 137. // there . . . itself] if unity
The Advancement of Learning, i. 28 : be bound by rule, so that one cannot
" a mere depravation and calumny, be more than one.
without all shadow of truth ". 1^8. discourse]TesLsoning. See note
128, 129. To square . . . rule] to on 11. ii. 116, above.
12
178 TROiLUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Bi-fold authority ! where reason can revolt 140 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 ; 145 And yet the spacious breadth of this division Admits no orifice for a point as subtle As Ariachne's broken woof to enter.
140. Bi-fold] By-foxdd Q ; By foule or foul Ff. 148. Ariachne's]
Ariachnes Ff; Ariachna's Q; Ariathna's Q (Steevens's copy in Brit. Mus.).
140-142. where reason . . . revolt] where reason can revolt against itself without involving its own ruin, and though maimed can claim the possession of all its powers as not guilty of revolt against itself; where reason can be a traitor to itself, and yet by such treachery not forfeit its essential virtue.
143. there doth conduce] if sound, as I think it is, probably means, " there is brought about," " there follows as a consequence ". Rowe conjectures "commence," and many editors suspect conduce.
144. a thing inseparate] Malone takes this thing to be " the plighted troth of lovers. Troilus considers" it inseparable, or at least that it ought never to be broken, though he has unfortunately found that it sometimes is." Clarke explains : " A thing so inseparable as personal iridividuality — Cressida's iderility"with~ herself — becomes in my mind more widely divided than are the sky and the earth. . . . Troilus is trying to per- suade himself that the false woman he has just seen is not his Cressida, and yet he is conscious that she is no other than her own heartless self." This latter seems to me to be undoubtedly what Shakespeare meant.
148. Ariachnc] In an interesting
note Ingleby, Shakespeare Her- meneidics, pp. 64-67, writes : " That [sc. Ariachne] is the word of the folio 1623. The quarto of 1609 has Ariachna, and the undated quarto has Ariathna. This variation is thought to favour the view that the poet confounded the two names, Arachne and Ariadne, and possibly also the web of the former with the clew of the latter. Arachne was the spinner and weaver, and so subtle, i.e. fine spun (sicbtilis) was her woof that when it was woven into the web Minerva could not see how the web was made, and in a fit of jealousy and revenge tore it to pieces. If Shakespeare did confound the two fables, it is no more than his contem- poraries did. . . . The point is of no moment. What is of moment for us to see is that by Arachne Shakespeare meant the spider into which Arachne was transformed, and which in Greek bears the same name ; and that the woof he meant was finer than was ever produced by human hand, viz. the woof of the spider's web — those delicate transverse filaments which cross the main radial threads on 7i'arps, and which are perhaps the nearest material approach to mathe- matical lines! Thus has Shakespeare in one beautiful allusion wrapt up in
sen.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 179
Instance, O instance ! strong as Pluto's gates ; Cressid is mine, tied with the bonds of heaven : 150 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, 154 The fragments, scraps, the bits and greasy reliques Of her o'er-eaten faith, are bound to Diomed.
Ulyss. May worthy Troilus be but half attach'd '
With that which here his passion doth express?
Tro. Ay, Greek ; and that shall be divulged well
In characters as red as Mars his heart 160
156. bound] Ff ; given Q.
two or three little words the whole story of Arachne's transformation, 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 woof to thread it . . .?"
149. Instance] evidence, argument.
153. knot, five-finger-tied] Malone compares Massinger, The Fatal Dowry, ii. : —
"Your fiftgers tie my heart-strings with this touch In true love's knots which naught but death shall loose ".
154. orts] " ' Fragmenta, Menses reliqiiicE,' Coles's Lat. and Eng. Diet. : ' Orts, the refuse of hay left in the stall by cattle,' Craven Dialect " (Dyce, Glossary). Compare Lucrece, line 985 ; Timon of Athens, iv. iii. 400.
156. her . . . faith] " Vows which
she has already swallowed once over. We still say of a faithless man, that he has eaten his words" (Johnson); " her troth plighted to Troilus, of which she was surfeited, and like one who has over-eaten himself, had thrown off. All the preceding words, the fragments, scraps, etc., show that this was Shakespeare's meaning " (Malone) ; " eaten and begnawn on all sides " (Schmidt). Possibly " which she has mouthed over and over again in her fulsome protesta- tions of loyalty to Troilus ". For faith, Walker conjectures " truth " or "troth".
157. May . . . attached . . . ?] Is it possible that you are affected to even half the extent ? For attach'd, compare The Tempest, in. iii. 5 : " Who am mys&M attach'd with weari- ness ". As Troilus is never a tri- syllable with Shakespeare, 1 follow Dyce in adopting Walker's insertion of " but " before half
160. Mars his heart] See note on IV. V. 177, above.
k.
180 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
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 ; 164
That sleeve is mine that he'll bear in his helm; > Were it a casque compos'd by Vulcan's skill, My sword should bite it. Not the dreadful
spout Which shipmen do the hurricane call, Constring'd in mass by the almighty sun. Shall dizzy with more clamour Neptune's ear 170 In his descent than shall my prompted sword Falling on Diomed.
Tker. He'll tickle it for his concupy,
Tro. O Cressid ! O false Cressid ! false, false, false !
Let all untruths stand by thy stained name, 175 And they '11 seem glorious,
U/j/ss. O ! contain yourself ;
Your passion draws ears hither.
Enter ^Eneas.
^ne. 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. 180
169. sun] sunne Q ; Fenne or Fen Ff.
168. hurricano] waterspout ; a name 169. Constring'd] drawn together.
given primarily to the violent storms 173. He'll . . . concupy] Prohahly
of the West Indies ; Spanish, /n<»'aca«. it is here used contemptuously for
For the sense here, compare King him, as Rolfe suggests, pointing out
Lear, in. ii. 2: — that /i/'s is the genitive of ?7. Schmidt
"You cataracts and hurricanoes, (s.z;. j^) takes the phrase indefinitely,
spout, as" lord j<," " foot i^ " ; Delius would
Till you have drench'd our read "him": concupy, a coinage by
steeples ". Thersites for " concupiscence ".
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 181
Tro. Have with you, prince. My courteous lord, adieu. Farewell, revolted fair ! and, Diomed, Stand fast, and wear a castle on thy head !
Ulyss. I '11 bring you to the gates.
Tro. Accept distracted thanks. 185
[^Exeunt Troilus, ^neas, and Ulysses.
They. 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 190 he for a commodious drab. Lechery,., lechery ;. still, wars_ and lechery : nothing else holds fashion. _A burning devil take them ! \Exit.
SCENE III.— Troy. Before Priam's Palace,
Enter HECTOR and Andromache. "'*-'*^ iT
And. When was my lord so much ungently temper'd, To stop his ears against admonishment? Unarm, unarm, and do not fight to-day.
183. casi/c] used figuratively for the Scene in.
strongest possible protection. Com- pare "sconce," (i) head, (2) helmet, Of this scene Mr. Collins {Studies
(3) bulwark, fortification. in Shakespeare, p. 73) says: "The
187. bode] prognosticate, like a scene in Troilus and Cressida (v. iii.),
bird of ill omen. where Andromache, Cassandra, and
189, 190. the parrot . . . almond] Priam are'trying to dissuade Hector
The fondness of parrots for almonds from taking the field against Achilles, ^
gives the title to an old play. An bears so close a resemblance, especi-
Almond-for a Parrot, and the phrase ally in the stress laid on dreams and
is frequent in the dramatists, e.g. prophecies, to the scene in the Seven
Dekker, Old Fortunatus, vol. i. p. against Thebes where the Chorus are
89 (Pearson's Reprint): "my tongue imploring Eteocles not to go out
speaks no language but an almond against Polynices, that it is difficult
for parrot^'. to suppose the, resemblance is due toj
rnere coincidence ",
182 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Hect. You train me to offend you ; get you in :
By all the everlasting gods, I '11 go ! 5
And. My dreams will, sure, prove ominous to the day. Hect. No more, I say.
Enter Cassandra.
Cas. Where is my brother Hector?
And. 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.
Cas. O ! 'tis true.
Hect. Ho ! bid my trumpet sound.
Cas. No notes of sally, for the heavens, sweet brother.
Hect. Be gone, I say : the gods have heard me swear. 1 5
Cas. The gods are deaf to hot and peevish vows : They are polluted offerings, more abhorr'd Than spotted livers in the sacrifice.
And. O ! be persuaded : do not count it holy
To hurt by being just : it is as lawful, 20
For we would give much, to use violent thefts, And rob in the behalf of charity.
20, 21. as lawful . . . use\ Tyrwhitt conj. ; as lawful . . . For we would count give much to as Ff. 20-22. To hurt . . . charity^ Omitted in Q.
4. You train . . . you] you tempt violent thefts. The reading in the
me to be rough with you. text is Tyrwhitt's conjecture, and a
6. ominous . . . day] prophetic of large abundance of other conjectures what the day will bring forth, i^owe will be found in the Cambridge Shake- in his second edition gave " to-day ". speare. For use thefts, Dyce compares
i5. peevish] foolish. Middleton, Women Beware Wo/nen,
21. For we . . . thefts] because we iv. iii. 36: "Is it enough to use would give much in charity, to practise adulterous thefts . . .?"
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 183
Cas. It is the purpose that makes strong the vow; But vows to every purpose must not hold. Unarm, sweet Hector.
Hect. Hold you still, I say ; 25
Mine honour keeps the weather of my fate : Life every man holds dear; but the dear man Holds honour far more precious-dear than life.
Enter Troilus. How now, young man ! mean'st thou to fight to- day ? And. Cassandra, call my father to persuade. 30
[^Exit Cassandra. Hect. No, faith, young Troilus ; doff thy harness, youth ; 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, 35
I '11 stand to-day for thee and me and Troy. Tro. Brother, you have a vice of mercy in you. Which better fits a lion than a man.
26. keeps . . . /fl^g] keeps to wind- " clear " = of spotless honour. Corn- ward of, as so gains an advantage pare Macbeth, i. vii. i8 : " Duncan over, as in naval engagements and hath been so clear in his great office " ; races. Compare Much Ado About The Merchant of Venice, ii. ix. 42 : Nothing, II. i. 327 ; Twelfth Night, " that clear honour Were purchased III. iv. i8it by the merit of the wearer" ; King
27. dear^ Those who retain this, Lear, iv. vi. 73 : " the clearest gods ". the reading of the quarto and the 34. brushes] encounters, frays ; folios, explain it variously as "man generally of a less serious kind.
of worth " (Delius), "man intense of 37-42. Brother, . . . live]CompaTe
purpose," " the earnest man ". Others above, iv. v. 105, 106 and 185-189.
accept Pope's conjecture, " brave," 38. Which better . . . man] Stee-
supposing dear to have been caught vens compares Philemon Holland's
from the line below. It is not im- translation of Pliny's Natural Hist-
possible, I think, that we should read ory, chap. 16 : " The lion alone of all
184 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Hect. Tro.
Hect. Tro. Hect. Tro.
Hect. Tro. Hect. Tro.
What vice is that, good Troilus ? chide me for it. When many times the captive Grecian falls, 40 Even in the fan and wind of your fair sword, You bid them rise, and live. O ! 'tis fair play.
Fool's play, by heaven, Hector. How now ! how now !
For the love of all the gods, Let 's leave the hermit pity with our mothers, 45 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. Fie, savage, fie !
Hector, then 'tis wars. Troilus, I would not have you fight to-day. 50 Who should withhold me? Not fate, obedience, nor the hand of Mars Beckoning with fiery truncheon my retire ; Not Priamus and Hecuba on knees,
45. mothers,\ Ff; mother Q. 2, 3. 4-
48. ruthful] nithfull Q, F i ; ruefull Ff
beasts is gentle to those who humble themselves before him, and will not touch any such upon their submission, but spareth what creature soever lieth prostrate before him ".
41. Even . . . sii)ord] Compare Hamlet, ii. ii. 495 : "with the whiff and wind of his fell sword The un- nerved father falls ". For fair, which can hardly be sound, the conjectures are " fear'd," " fierce," " fell ".
48. ruthful] It would be a pity to alter this to " deathful," Walker's conjecture, or "ruthless," Hudson's. It is quite in Shakespeare's way to use in one and the same line a word
that has two cognate senses, as here of a feeling that is caused in others and one that is felt by the actor.
49. then 'tis wars] then war is really acted, there is no playing at fighting.
53. Beckoning . . . retire] In com- bats between two champions, the arbiter of the proceedings directed their course by a truncheon, or " war- der," which was thrown down when the combat was to cease. Compare Richard II. i. iii. 118: "Stay, the king hath thrown his zvarder down," in the tourney between Bolingbroke and Norfolk.
sc. Ill] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 185
Their eyes o'ergalled with recourse of tears; 55 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.
Cas, Lay hold upon him, Priam, hold him fast :
He is thy crutch ; now if thou lose thy stay, 60 Thou on him leaning, and all Troy on thee, Fall all together.
Pri. 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, 65
To tell thee that this day is ominous : Therefore, come back.
Hect. ^neas is a-field ;
And I do stand engag'd to many Greeks, Even in the faith of valour, to appear This morning to them.
Pri. Ay, but thou shalt not go. 70
Hect. I must not break my faith.
You know me dutiful ; therefore, dear sir. Let me not shame respect, but give me leave
58. But . . . ruin] Ff ; omitted in Q.
55. recourse 0/ tears] tears in quick 122; Macbeth, 1. iii. 57, and above,
succession coursing down the cheek : in. iii. 123.
o'ergalled, inflamed, made sore. Com- 6g. even . . . valour] by the honour
pare Hamlet, i. ii. 155. of a brave man.
65. ewra^i] seized with a prophetic 73. shame . . . res/ec^] do violence
frenzy. Compare Coriolanus, iv. v. to the filial respect I owe you.
186 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
To take that course by your consent and voice, Which you do here forbid me, royal Priam. 75
Cas. O Priam ! yield not to him.
And. Do not, dear father.
Hect. Andromache, I am offended with you : Upon the love you bear me, get you in.
\Exit Andromache.
Tro. This foolish, dreaming, superstitious girl Makes all these bodements.
Cas. O farewell ! dear Hector. 80
Look ! how thou diest ; look ! how thy eye turns
pale; Look ! how thy wounds do bleed at many vents : Hark ! how Troy roars : how Hecuba cries out ! How poor Andromache shrills her dolour forth ! Behold, distraction, frenzy, and amazement, 85
Like witless anticks, one another meet. And all cry, Hector ! Hector 's dead ! O Hector !
Tro. Away ! away !
Cas. Farewell. Yet, soft ! Hector, I take my leave :
Thou dost thyself and all our Troy deceive. 90
[Exit.
Hect. You are amaz'd, my liege, at her exclaim.
Go in and cheer the town : we '11 forth and fight. Do deeds worth praise and tell you them at night.
85. distraction] Ff ; distruction Q.
jS. upon . . . me] I adjure you by 86. wj^/^ss aw^iV^s] grimacing luna-
your wifely love. tics. Not, I think, " puppets " or
84. shrills] Steevens quotes in- " buffoons," who would not neces-
stances of this verb from Spenser sarily be "witless", and Heywood.
sc. III.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 187
Pri. Farewell : the gods with safety stand about thee ! \Exeunt severally Priam and Hector. Alarums. Tro. They are at it ; hark ! Proud Diomed, believe, 95 I come to lose my arm, or win my sleeve.
Enter Pandarus.
Pan. Do you hear, my lord ? do you hear ?
Tro. What now?
Pan. Here's a letter come from yond poor girl.
Tro. Let me read. 100
Pan. h. whoreson tisick, a whoreson rascally tisick so troubles me, and the foolish 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 mine eyes too, and such an 105 ache in my bones that, unless a man were cursed, I cannot tell what to think on 't. What says she there?
Tro. Words, words, mere words, no matter from the heart ; The effect doth operate another way. 1 10
\Tearing the letter. Go, wind to wind, there turn and change together. My love with words and errors still she feeds. But edifies another with her deeds.
\Exeunt severally.
loi. h'«c^] i.e. phthisis, though here no. The effect . . . wayl A
perhaps only symptoms of that dis- blending of " the effect is of another
ease, wheezing lungs, dry cough, etc. kind," and " they operate another
107. cursed] "under the influence way".
of a malediction, such as mischievous 113. The Cambridge Editors note :
beings have been supposed to pro- " The folio here inserts the following
nounce upon those who had offended lines : —
them " (Steevens). ' Pand. Why, but heare you.
188 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
SCENE IV. — Plains between Troy and the Grecia^t
Camp.
Alarums. Excursions. Enter Thersites. Ther. Now they are clapper-clawing one another; I '11 go look on. That dissembling abomin- able varlet, Diomed, has got that same scurvy- doting foolish young knave's sleeve of Troy there in his helm : I would fain see them 5 meet ; that that same young Trojan ass, that loves the whore there, might send that Greekish whore-masterly villain, with the sleeve, back to the dissembling luxurious drab, of a sleeveless errand. O' the t' other 10
,>
10. errand] Hanmer; arrant Q ; errant Ff : O' th' tother Ff.
O' the t'other] A th' tother Q ;
Troy. Hence brother lackie ; ig- nomie and shame
Pursue thy Hfe, and Hue aye with thy name.' As they occur, with a sHght variation in the first line, in the last scene, we have followed the quarto in omitting them. This is an indication that the play has been tampered with by an- other hand." And to the same effect Collier. Walker on the other hand observes (Critical Examination, etc., vol. iii., p. 203) : " This is the proper place for these two speeches, for with- out them the scene ends abruptly ; and on the other hand, the conclud- ing lines of Troilus's speech, v. x., ' Strike a free march to Troy ! — with comfort go : Hope of revenge shall hide our inward woe,' — are evidently the concluding lines of the play it- self: the mind of the reader is fully satisfied, and anything additional sounds like an impertinence and ob- trusion— an extra note after the har- mony is completed. Besides, after
what had passed, is it conceivable that Pandarus's disgrace should have been put off to the end of the play ? Pandarus's epilogue must, therefore, be an interpolation. (Since I wrote this I have discovered that Steevens also thought that the play ended here.) Perhaps the words from ' A goodly fnedicine' to ^painted cloths' ought to be added to the end of v. iii. Troilus strikes Pandarus, or pushes him violently from him."
Scene iv.
I. clapper-clawing] sticking their claws into each other. ..Compare The Merry Wives of Windsor, ii. iii. 67. The Eng. Dial. Diet, shows that the word is still well alive in the sense of scratch, maul, fight in an unskilful way (generally of women),
3. that same] like "this same," al- most always used in a sarcastic sense.
9. luxurious] lustful.
10. of a . . . errand] on a useless errand, i.e. to be scorned by Cressida.
sc. IV.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 189
side, the policy of those crafty-swearing rascals, that stale old mouse-eaten dry 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 15 that dog of as bad a kind, Achilles ; and now is the cur Ajax prouder than the cur Achilles, and will not arm to-day ; whereupon the Grecians begin to proclaim barbarism, and policy grows into an ill opinion. Soft ! here 20 comes sleeve, and t'other.
Enter Diomedes, Troilus following.
Tro. Fly not; for should'st thou take the river Styx,
I would swim after. Dio. Thou dost miscall retire :
I do not fly, but advantageous care
Withdrew me from the odds of multitude. 25
Have at thee ! Ther. Hold thy whore, Grecian ! now for thy whore,
Trojan ! Now the sleeve ! now the sleeve !
\Exeunt Troilus and Diomedes, fighting,
21. and V other] and tother Q ; and th' other Ff.
Compare Nicholson, Acolastus (1600) : 15. in policy] to suit their purposes. " My suit was sleeveless, my regard 19. to proclaim barbarism] " to set too cold"; Udall, Fiotrophes (158S) up the authority of ignorance, to de- (Arber, p. 16) : "he made me a. sleeve- clare that they will be governed by Z«S5 answer and sent me away " ; also policy no longer" (Johnson). Beaumont and Fletcher, The Fair 24, 25. advantageous . . . multi- Maid of the Inn, iv. i., and The Little tude] perhaps, reasonable care for my French Lawyer, 11. 2. life made me shun the risk of being II, 12. crafty - swearing rascals] crushed by numbers ; Schmidt says: rascals who to gain their ends will " perhaps, a care to spy advantages ". swear to anything. I have inserted Compare All's Well that Ends Well, the hyphen. Theobald conjectures i. i. 215. " sneering " ; Collier, " fleering ". 27, 28. Hold . . . sleeve I] Tarring
190 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Enter HECTOR.
Hect. What art thou, Greek? art thou for Hector's match ? Art thou of blood and honour? 30
Ther. No, no ; I am a rascal ; a scurvy railing knave ; a very filthy rogue.
Hect. I do believe thee: live. {Exit.
Ther. God-a-mercy, that thou wilt believe me; but
a plague break thy neck for frighting me ! 35 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'll seek them. \Exit.
SCENE Y.— Another part of the Plain.
Enter DiOMEDES, and a Servant.
Dio. Go, go, my servant, take thou Troilus' horse ; Present the fair steed to my Lady Cressid : Fellow, commend my service to her beauty:
them on, the one to fight in order to mercy on you for believing me ! or
keep, and the other to regain posses- God-a-mercy may be merely " Thank
sion of Cressida and the sleeve given you ! "
by her to Diomed. See above, iv. iv.
70. Collier, in his second edition, Scene V.
gave " nov^' the sleeve, now the
sleeveless!" i.e. the wearer of the i. Go . . . horse] Steevens points
sleeve and the one without it. out that this is from Lydgate, and
29. Art thou . . . honour?'] Reed Menon's death (line 7) from Caxton,
refers to Segar, On Honor, etc. (1602), both of whom he quotes. In Hey-
to show that a person of superior wood's Iron Age, pt. i. vol. iii.
birth might not be challenged by an p. 305 (Pearson's Reprint), Paris
inferior, or, if challenged, might re- taunts Diomed with having caught
fuse the combat. Compare King Troilus's horse when " unback'd,"
Lear, v. iii. 141-145, 153, 154. while Diomed claims to have un-
34. God-a-mercy . . . me] God have horsed Troilus.
sc. v.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 191
Tell her I have chastis'd the amorous Trojan, And am her knight by proof. Serv. I go, my lord. [Exit. 5
Enter AGAMEMNON.
Agam. 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 10
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, 15
To reinforcement, or we perish all.
Enter Nestor.
Nest. Go, bear Patroclus' body to Achilles ;
And bid the snail-pac'd Ajax arm for shame. There is a thousand Hectors in the fieldT V''^*^ Now here he fights on Galathe his horse, 20
And there lacks work; anon he's there afoot,
7. Margarelon] mentioned by both was called sagittayre, that behinde
Caxton and Lydgate, whom Steevens the myddes was an horse, and to
quotes. Heywood, The Iro7i Age, fore a man : this beste was heery like
Act II., stage direction, calls him an horse, and had his eyen rede as a
"one of Priam's youngest sons". cole, and shotte well with a bowe :
9. beam] " i.e. his lance like a this beste made the Grekes sore
weaver's beam, as Goliath's spear is aferde, and slew many of them with
described. So, in Spenser's Fairy his bowe ". Steevens adds a more
Queen, iii. vii. 40 : — circumstantial account from Lyd-
' All were the beame in bignes like gate.
a mast ' " (Steevens). 20. Galathe] Also from Lydgate.
14. Sagittary] Theobald quotes 21. lacks work] because all flee
Caxton, " a mervayllous beste that before him.
192 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
And there they fly or die, like scaled sculls Before the belching whale ; then is he yonder, And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge, Fall down before him, like the mower's swath : 25 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.
Ulyss. O ! courage, courage, princes ; great Achilles 30 Is arming, weeping, cursing, vowing vengeance : 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, 35 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
22. scaled] Ff; scaling Q: sculls] Q; sculs Ff. 24. strawy] Q;
straying Ff.
22, 23. like . . . whale] like " My silver-scaled skids about my
shoals of fish flying before a whale ; streams do creep " :
scaled is variously explained as belching, spouting,
"scaly," and as "dispersed," the 25. sivath] a line of grass cut by
latter being a sense which according the mower.
to Halliwell {Diet.) the word formerly 26. he leaves and takes] slays or
had in the North: sculls, "schools" spares according to his pleasure,
and " shoals " are one and the same 29. proof] fact,
word in different spellings. Com- 35. Crying on Hector]cuTS\ngHec-
pare, Drayton, Polyolbiim, Song tor for their wounds. xxvi. : —
sc VI.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 193
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 ! {Exit.
Dio. Ay, there, there.
Nest. So, so, we draw together.
Enter ACHILLES.
Achil. Where is this Hector?
Come, come, thou boy-queller, show thy face ; 45 Know what it is to meet Achilles angry : Hector ! where 's Hector ? I will none but Hector.
\Exeunt.
SCENE VI. — Another part of the Plain.
Enter AjAX. Ajax. Troilus, thou coward Troilus, show thy head !
Enter DiOMEDES. Dio. Troilus, I say! where 's Troilus? Ajax. What would'st thou?
Dio. I would correct him.
Ajax. Were I the general, thou should'st have my office
Ere that correction. Troilus, I say ! what,
Troilus ! 5.
41. Uickl Ff ; luit Q.
40. forceless care] easy dexterity in Scene vi.
escaping from the enemy's toils.
45. boy-queller] boy killer ; A.S. 5. Ere that correction'] before I quellan, to kill. Compare 2 Henry would allow you to do what is my IV. ii. i. 58: "a ma.n-qneller and a chosen task. woman-queller ".
13
194 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Enter Troilus.
Tro. O traitor Diomed ! turn thy false face, thou traitor,
And pay thy life thou ow'st me for my horse ! Dio. Ha! art thou there?
Ajax. I '11 fight with him alone : stand, Diomed. Dio. He is my prize; I will not look upon. lo
Tro. Come, both, you coggling Greeks ; have at you both ! [Exeunt, fighting.
Enter H ECTOR.
Hect. Yea, Troilus ? O ! well fought, my youngest brother.
Enter ACHILLES.
AcJiil. Now do I see thee. Ha ! Have at thee, Hector !
Hect. Pause, if thou wilt.
Achil. I do disdain thy courtesy, proud Trojan. 15
Be happy that my arms are out of use : My rest and negligence befriend thee now, But thou anon shalt hear of me again ; Till when, go seek thy fortune. \^Exit.
Hect. Fare thee well.
I would have been much more a fresher man, 20 Had I expected thee. How now, my brother !
Re-enter Troilus.
Tro. Ajax hath ta'en ^Eneas : shall it be ?
~'*- No, by the flame of yonder glorious heaven,
10. / will . . . upon] I will not be 20. viuch . . . man] For the
a mere spectator. transposition of the article, see
17. befriends] rest and negligence Abbott, Shakespearian Grammar,
being taken as a single idea — sluggish § 422. neglect of warlike exercise.
sc. vii] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 195
He shall not carry him : I '11 be ta'en too, Or bring him off. Fate, hear me what I say! 25 ! I reck not though I end my life to-day.
[Exif.
Enter one in sumptuous armour. Hect. 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, But I '11 be master of it. Wilt thou not, beast, abide ? 30
Why then, fly on, I '11 hunt thee for thy hide.
\Exeunt.
SCENE V\\.~Another part of the Plain.
Enter ACHILLES, with Myrmidons.
Achil. 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 ; 5 In fellest manner execute your aims.
26. reckl Pope ; wreake Q, Ff i, 2 ; wreak Ff 3, 4. / end] Q ; thou end Ff.
24. carry] bear off as prisoner. not Hector, whom Achilles surrounds
29. frush] batter, bruise. From by numbers and kills. Heyvvood, The
" O.F. frtiissier, froissier (mod. F. Iron Age, pt. i., gives the same de-
froisser) — popular Lat. frustrare, to tails as Shakespeare, and in pt. ii.
shiver in pieces, f. Lat. frustum, Penthesilea taunts Pyrrhus as being
fragment " (New Eng. Diet.). Stee- the son of a coward, and says,
vens, among other passages, quotes " Hector was by Achilles basely
Fairfax's Tasso, " Rinaldo's armour slain ".
frush'd and hack'd they had". 5. Empale] hedge in; "pale," an
enclosure.
iicene vii. g_ execute your aims] ply your
I. Come . . . Myrmidons] Clarke business; aims is Capell's conjecture
points out that in Caxton it is Troilus, for "arms"; "execute your arms,"
196 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Follow me, sirs, and my proceedings eye: It is decreed Hector the great must die.
^s^Exeunt.
Enter Menelaus and PARIS, fighting : then THERSITES.
Ther. The cuckold and the cuckold-maker are at it.
Now, bull! now, dog! 'Loo, Paris, 'loo! now, lo my double-henned sparrow ! 'loo, Paris, 'loo ! The bull has the game : ware horns, ho !
\Exeunt Paris and Menelaus.
Enter Margarelon.
Mar. Turn, slave, and fight.
Ther. What art thou ?
Mar. A bastard son of Priam's. 15
Ther. I am a bastard too ; I love bastards : I am a bastard begot, bastard instructed, bastard in mind, bastard in valour, in every thing illegi- timate. One bear will not bite another, and wherefore should one bastard ? Take heed, 20 the quarrel 's most ominous to us : if the son of a whore fight for a whore, he tempts judg- ment. Farewell, bastard.
Mar. The devil take thee, coward ! {^Exeunt.
II. sparrow] Ff ; spartan Q.
in the sense of " make use of them," (Schmidt) ; but the expression is
seems impossible, whoever was the very anomalous and should mean
writer of this scene. "having two wives" : loo, "a cry to
II. double-henned sparrow] "per- excite dogs" (Craig on King Lear,
haps = sparrow with a double-hen, iii. iv. 79, where see the quotation
i.e. with a female married to two from Life of Butler) : has the game,
cocks, and hence false to both " wins.
sc. VIII.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 197
SCENE W\\\.— Another part of the Plain.
Enter HECTOR.
Hect. 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 lays his sword aside.
Enter Achilles and Myrmidons,
Achil. Look, Hector, how the sun begins to set; 5
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.
Hect. I am unarm 'd ; forgo this vantage, Greek.
Achil. Strike, fellows, strike! this is the man I seek. 10
{^Hector falls. So, Ilion, fall thou next ! now, Troy, sink down ! 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 retreat upon our Grecian part. 15
Myr. The Trojan trumpets sound the like, my lord.
7. darking] Ff; darkiiing Q. ii. thou next I now] Pope; thou
next, come Q ; thou, now Ff.
4. Rest, sword; . . . death] " Shak- 7. vail] setting, sinking. The verb
spere," says Knight, "borrowed the cir- in similar senses is frequent in Shake-
cumstance which preceded the death of speare. Hector from the Gothic romances".
198 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Achil. The dragon wing of night o'erspreads the earth, And, stickler-hke, 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 Plain.
Enter AGAMEMNON, AjAX, MeNELAUS, NeSTOR, DiOMEDES, and Others^ marching.
[Shouts within. Agam. Hark ! hark ! what shout is that ? Nest. Peace, drums !
[ Within.] Achilles ! Achilles ! Hector 's slain ! Achilles ! Dio. 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. 5
20. baiti baite Q ; bed F i ; bitt or bit Ff 2, 3, 4.
17. Dragon . . . night} Compare " O were it but my life A Midsummer-Night^ s Dream, in. ii. I 'Id throw it down for your de- 379 ; Cymbeline, 11. ii. 48 ; II Pen- liverance,
serosa, 591, "Cynthia checks her As frankly as a pin" ;
dragon yoke ". Dragons were fabled and Surflet, Countric Farm, 1600, i.
to be sleepless. 130 : " Oxen are not to be fed so
18. stickler-like] "A stickler was frankely and tree in winter " (quoted one who stood by to part the com- in the New Eng. Diet.).
batants when victory could be deter- 20. bait] food for travellers on a
mined without bloodshed. . . . They journey, food for horses, and in dialect
were called sticklers from carrying used of a workman's mid-day meal.
sticks or staves in their hands, with „
ocene /.v.
which they interposed between the duellists" . . . (Steevens).
19. frankly] Compare Measure for Measure, in. i. 106: — v, vii. 22; Hamlet, i. ii, 127
duellists" . . , (Steevens). 3. bruit] rumour, report. Shake-
ig. frankly] Compare Measure for speare uses the verb also, Macbeth,
sex] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 199
Agam. 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. \^Exeunt marching.
SCENE X. — Another part of the Plain.
Enter /ENEAS and Trojan Forces.
yEne. Stand, ho ! yet are we masters of the field.
Never go home ; here starve we out the night.
Enter Troilus.
Tro. Hector is slain.
All. Hector ! The gods forbid !
Tro. He 's dead ; and at the murderer's horse's tail,
In beastly sort, dragg'd through the shameful field. 5
Frown on, you heavens, effect your rage with speed !
Sit, gods, upon your thrones, and smite all Troy!
I say, at once let your brief plagues be mercy.
And linger not our sure destructions on ! ^ne. My lord, you do discomfort all the host. lo
Tro. You understand me not that tell me so :
I do not speak of flight, of fear, of death.
But dare all imminence that sfods and men
t>^
Address their dangers in. Hector is gone :
7, 8. smite . . . once] With Hudson speedy destruction. Hanmer gave
I adopt Lettsom's conjecture for the "smite at Troy, I say, at once ".
reading of the old copies, "smile at 13, 14. But dare . . . in] but
Troy. / say at once." It seems dare whatever imminent dangers
impossible, even if "smile at Troy" either gods or men may be prepar-
were used derisively, that it should ing for me : Address, prepare, make
be followed by two lines invoking ready.
r
200 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
Who shall tell Priam so, or Hecuba? 15
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 tosay. Stay yet. You vile abominable tents, Thus proudly pight upon our Phrygian plains, Let Titan rise as early as he dare, 25
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 ou£ inward woe.
[Exeunt ^neas and Trojan Forces.
As Troilus is going out, enter, from the other side,
PANDARUS.
Pan, But hear you, hear you !
Tro. Hence, broker-lackey ! ignomy and shame
Pursue thy life, and live aye with thy name !
\Exit.
23. vilc\ Ff ; proud Q. 29. frenzy' s] Dyce ; frienzes Q ; frensies Ff.
33. broker-lackey] Dyce ; broker, lacky Q ; broker, lackie F i ; brother, lackey F 2 ; brothel, lacky Ff 3, 4.
16. screech-owl] Compare A Mid- 24. pight] pitched. Compare Cym-
summer-Night's Dream, v. i. 383-385, beline, v. v. 164.
and, for the thought, 2 Henry IV. i. 33. broker-lackey] Dyce's reading;
i. 100-104. thou compound of pimp and tool :
sc. X.] TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 201
Pan, A goodly medicine for mine aching bones ! O 35 world ! world ! world ! thus is the poor agent despised. O traders and bawds, how earn- estly you are set a-work, and how ill re- quited ! why should our endeavour be so loved, and the performance so loathed ? what 40 verse for it ? what instance for it ? Let me see :
Full merrily the humble-bee doth sing, Till he hath lost his honey and his sting ; And being once subdued in armed tail, 45
Sweet honey and sweet notes together fail.
Good traders in the flesh, set this in your painted cloths.
As many as be here of pandar's hall, Your eyes, half out, weep out at Pandai-s fall ; 50 Or, if you cannot weep, yet give some groans. Though not for me, yet for your aching bones. Brethren, and sisters, of the hold-door trade, Some tzvo months hence my will shall here be \ made :
37. traders] Craig conj. ; old copies traitors.
ignomy, this contracted form occurs line 47 below, " Good traders in the
again in 1 Henry IV. v. iv. 100 ; flesh ".
Measure for Measure, 11. iv. 111. So, 47, 48. painted cloths] "cloth or
Peele, Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes, canvas painted in oil and used for
sc. iii. 31, "Let Ignomy to my re- hangings in rooms" (Schmidt). Com-
proach, instead of Fame, Sound," pare As Yon Like It, iii. ii. 290; 1
etc., and sc. x. 40, " To me the blast Henry IV. iv. ii. 28.
oi Ignomy ; to thee Dame Honour's 53. Brethren . . . frarf^] pimps and
crown ". bawds. Compare Henry V. iv. v. 16 ;
37. ^raj^ors] Mr. Craig's conjecture, Othello, iv. ii. 91, 92. " traders," seems certain. Compare
202 TROILUS AND CRESSIDA [act v.
It should be now, but that my fear is this, 55
Some galled goose of Winchester would hiss. Till then, Pll sweat, and seek about for eases ; And at thai time bequeath you my diseases.
[Exit.
57. sweati sweate Q, F i ; siveare F 2; swear Ff 3, 4.
56. some . . . Winchester] " some under the jurisdiction of the Bishop
one suffering from the venereal dis- of Winchester" . . . (Dyce, Glos-
ease, who would be galled by my sary). Compare i HeHn' F/. i. iii. 35.
words. . . . Winchester goose, a 57. sweat] an allusion to certain
cant term for a certain venereal sore, treatment of the disease. See note on
because the stews in Southwark were Timon of Athens, iv. iii. 87.
APPENDIX I
On Shakespeare's obligations to Chapman's Iliad, I extract part of an excellent note by Mr. J. Foster Palmer in Notes and Qtierzes for 20th October, 1900 : —
" The whole of this play, as I have elsewhere pointed out,^ shows some acquaintance with Chapman's translations. In the first place, it must be remembered that Chapman's first version did not comprise the whole of the Iliad, but only the first, second, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh books, and was called Seaven Bookes of the Iliades of Homere. These are precisely the books which contain the subject-matter of the play (excluding of course the Troilus and Cressida myth . . . ). In the play Shake- speare, having introduced us to the quarrel between Aga- memnon and Achilles, and to the characters of Agamemnon, Achilles, Ulysses, Nestor, and Thersites — all contained in the first and second books — passes at once, in the first act, to the subject-matter of the seventh book, the challenge of Hector to the Greeks and its acceptance by Ajax Telamon, whose character is there indicated. This is con- tinued through three acts. There are also allusions to events in the seventh, ninth, and eleventh books, including the embassy to Achilles; while the acts of Diomede, the prophecy of Hector, the wound of Menelaus, and other
1 Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, vol. xv. pt. i.
203
204 APPENDIX I
things contained in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth books, are conspicuous by their absence.
" The well-known speech of Ulysses on military disci- pline, too, is evidently inspired by these lines of Chap- man's : —
We must not all be kings. The rule is most irregular Where many rule. One lord, one king, propose to thee ; and he To whom wise Saturn's son hath given both law and empery To rule the public is that king.
— Book ii. 172-75.
In the same scene is a still more striking instance, in which Ulysses complains of the disrespect shown by Achilles to Nestor's age : —
And then, forsooth, the faint defects of age Must be the scene of mirth ; to cough, to spit. And, with a palsy-fumbling on his gorget. Shake in and out the rivet.
If this is not suggested by the following lines of Chapman in the eighth book, the coincidence is a remarkable one : —
That Hector's self may try If my lance dote with the defects that fail best minds in age, Or find the palsy in my hands, that doth thy life engage.
— Book viii. 93-5.
In the eleventh book of Chapman's Iliad Ajax is com- pared to a mill-ass {ovos). This description is adopted by Shakespeare with variations, and is kept up throughout the play : ' Thou scurvy-valiant ass ' ; ' An assinego may tutor thee ' ; 'His evasions have ears thus long,' etc. The char- acter throughout is true to Chapman's description. The character of Menelaus is still more striking. I think no one who has read the description of Menelaus given by Chapman in his preface would dispute Shakespeare's ac- quaintance with it. The resemblance in this case can hardly
APPENDIX I 205
be accidental : ' Simple, well-meaning, standing still affect- edly on telling truth, small and shrill voice (not sweet, nor eloquent, as some most against the hair would have him), short-spoken, after his country, the laconical manner, yet speaking thick and fast, industrious in the field, and willing to be employed, and (being mollis bellator himself) set still to call to every hard service the hardiest'.
" The laconic brevity of speech is very characteristic of Shakespeare's Menelaus."
APPENDIX II
III. iii. 4 : things of lore. In the critical note below will be found the various readings and conjectures recorded by the Cambridge Editors. With the conjecture I hav-e ventured to edit, "things of lore" will mean matters of soothsaying. The word " seen " was of old frequently used as = " versed," " skilled," and here I believe that " sight " has the cognate sense of "acquaintance," "experience," "insight". Thus Johnson, Hyinenm, The Barriers, line i6i, writes : —
She wears a robe enchased with eagles' ej'es. To signify her sight in mysteries :
and, again. Epigrams, xiv. 8: —
What name, what skill, what faith hast thou in things ! What sight in searching the most antique springs .'
Now, in the former of these two passages, the word " mys- teries" is almost the exact equivalent of "lore," "lore" in the case of Calchas being his learning derived from divina- tion, learning which had warned him to forsake Troy, even though by so doing he earned the name of traitor ; while in the latter passage the general sense is pretty nearly identical. Further, we have seen in many instances how closely Shake- speare follows Chaucer, and in Troiliis and Criseyde, i. 64-77, we have two stanzas which must have been in Shakespeare's
memory when writing this scene. They run : —
206
APPENDIX II 207
Now fil it so, that in the toun ther was Dwellinge a lord of greet auctoritee, A gret devyn that cleped was Calkas, That in science so expert was, that he Knew wel that Troye sholde destroyed be, By answere of his god, that highte thus, Daun Phebus or Apollo Delphicus.
So whan this Calkas knew by calculinge.
And eke by answere of this Appollo,
That Grekes sholden swiche a peple bringe,
Through which that Troye moste been for-do.
He caste anoon out of the toun to go ;
For wel wiste he, by sort, that Troye sholde
Destroyed been, ye, wolde who-so nolde.
Here the words " That in science so expert was," and " So whan this . . . Appollo," correspond precisely with " through the sight I bear in things of lore," and scientia was of old the usual equivalent of " lore ". Again, in book iv. lines 84-91, we have Calchas's account of what he had forfeited in terms that Shakespeare reproduces in lines 3- 12 of this scene. Thus, Chaucer : —
Havinge un-to my tresour ne my rente Right no resport, to respect of your ese. Thus al my good I lost and to yow wente, Wening in this you, lordes, for to plese. But al that los ne doth me no disease. I vouche-sauf, as wisely have I joye. For you to lese al that I have in Troye.
Shakespeare : — ■
Appear it to your mind That through the sight I have in things of lore, I have abandoned Troy, left my possession, Incurr'd a traitor's name ; exposed myself. From certain and possess'd conveniencies, To doubtful fortunes, sequestering from me all
208 APPENDIX II
That time, acquaintance, custom and condition Made tame and most familiar to my nature, And here, to do you service, am become As new into the world, strange, unacquainted.
Further, the succeeding stanzas of the 'jame book represent Calchas's next speech in this scene.
III. iii. 4 : things of lore] Ed ; things to love Q, Ff 1,2,3; things to come F 4.; things to Jove Johnson ; things, to love Steevens conj. ; things above Collier, ed. 2 (Mitford conj.); things to Jove Dyce; things from Jove Staunton (Becket conj.).
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