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SHAKESPEARE'S
COMEDY OF
As You Like It
EpiTED, WITH NOTES
BY
WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt.D.
FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL
CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
TTT:;^ so:>>
Mo3
^ 1 t S' A I
Copyright, 1903, by
WILLIAM J. ROLFE.
AS YOU LIKE IT.
w. p. I
(, :" ^ *' o • ^ »
PREFACE
This edition of As You Like It -Was first published in
1877. As now revised it is substantially a new edition
on the same general plan as the revised Merchant of
Venice and Julius Ccesar which have preceded it.
The greater part of the notes on textual variations
have been either omitted or abridged. This play, with
most of the others now read in schools and colleges,
is now among the twelve plays that Dr. Furness has
edited. No teacher can afford to do without his ency-
clopedic volumes, in which all the readings and notes
of the early and the standard modern editions are
epitomized, together with large extracts from the best
commentators and much admirable criticism by Dr.
Furness himself. His edition is, in fact, a condensed
library of the literature relating to the play, giving in
compact and inexpensive form a vast amount of valuable
matter, much of which would otherwise be inaccessible
to the great majority of teachers and students.
I have also omitted most of the "Critical Comments"
from the introduction, as the books from which they
were taken are now to be found in public and school
libraries. For these extracts I have substituted familiar
comments of my own, and have added more of the
same kind in the Appendix. A concise account of
Shakespeare's metre has also been inserted as an intro-
duction to the Notes.
6 Preface
Minor changes have been made throughout the Notes.
Some have been abridged, some have been expanded,
and new ones have been added, including a considerable
number in place of those referring to my editions of
other plays. The book is now absolutely complete in
itself.
I believe that teachers will prefer the new edition to
the old one ; but both can be used, without serious
inconvenience, in the same class or club.
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction to As You Like It ..... 9
The History of the Play 9
The Sources of the Plot il
General Comments on the Play . . . . - ii
As You Like It , ... 23
Act I 25
Act II 49
Act III 72
Act IV loi
Act V 117
Notes 139
Appendix . 252
Comments on Some of the Characters .... 252
The " Moral " of the Play 266
Blue Eyes and Other in Shakespeare .... 268
The Time-Analysis of the Play ..... 274
List of Characters in the Play ..... 276
Index of Words and Phrases Explained . . . 279
7
Oliver (Act IV. Scene 3)
The Forest of Arden
INTRODUCTION TO AS YOU LIKE IT
The History of the Play
As You Like It was first printed, so far as we know, in
the folio of 1623. The earliest notice of it by name is
found in the Registers of the Stationers' Company, on a
leaf which does not belong to the regular records, but
contains miscellaneous entries, notes, etc. Between two
of these, the one dated in May, 1600, and the other in
June, 1603, occurs the following memorandum : ^ —
1 We print this as Wright gives it. In Halliwell-Phillipps's folio ed.
it appears thus : —
9
lo As You Like It
4. August!
As you like yt / a booke
Henry the ffift / a booke
Euery man in his humour / a booke
The commedie of muche A doo about nothing
a booke /
► to be staied.
All these " books " are stated to be " my lord chamber-
lens menns plaies," which confirms the opinion that the
entry refers to the year 1600. Henry V, and Much Ado
About Nothing were duly Ucensed (the former on the
14th and the latter on the 23d of August) and published
that year ; and it is not Hkely that the plays would have
been " staied " after the pubhcation of two of them. The
prohibition was probably removed soon after it was re-
corded ; and the clerk may not have considered it worth
the formahty of a note in the body of the register.
On the other hand, As Yott Like It is not mentioned
by Meres in his enumeration of Shakespeare's plays
in Palladis Taniia, which was pubHshed in Septem-
ber, 1598; and it contains a quotation (iii. 5. 80) from
Marlowe's Hero and Leander, the earliest known edition
4 Augusti.
As you like yt, a book. Henry the ffift, a book. ^
Every man in his humor, a book. The Commedie of j-To be staied.
Much Adoo about nothinge, a book. J
Collier gives it twice (in the introductions to Muck Ado and A. Y. L.) ,
but the versions do not agree with each other or with either of the above.
The matter is of little importance, and we refer to it only as illustrating
one of the minor trials of an editor who cannot refer to original docu-
ments, but has to depend on copies made by others.
Introduction ii
of which appeared in the same year. It may therefore
be reasonably concluded, as nearly all the commentators
agree, that As You Like It was written between Septem-
ber, 1598, and August, 1600; probably in the year 1599.
The Sources of the Plot
Shakespeare was chiefly indebted for the story of the|
play to a novel by Thomas Lodge, published in 159a
under the title of " Rosalynde, Euphues Golden Legacie,]
found after his death in his Cell at Silexedra, bequeathed!
to Philautus sonnes noursed up with their father in Eng-
land, Fetcht from the Canaries by T. L., gent.. Imprinted
by T. Orwin for T. G. and John Busbie, 1590." This
book was reprinted in 1592, and eight editions are known
to have appeared before 1643. How closely the poet
followed the novel may be seen by the extracts from the
latter printed in the Notes below.
Lodge took some of the main incidents of his novel
from The Cokes Tale of Gainelyn, which is found in a
few of the later manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales of
Chaucer, but which the best editors of that poet believe
to be the production of another writer.
General Comments on the Play
"The sweetest and happiest of Shakespeare's come-
dies," as a genial and appreciative critic calls it ! It is
one of that group of plays written at about the same time
12 As You Like It
— probably in immediate succession, though we cannot
say in what order — which another critic terms ^^ the
three sunny or sweet-time comedies," the others being
Much Ado and Twelfth Night. For myself, I hke to
think of it as the first of the three, written when the
author had just completed the series of English histori-
cal plays (not counting Henry VIII., which came ten or
more years later), and perhaps as a rest for his imagina-
tion,— the recreation that is gained by taking up a
wholly diiferent kind of Hterary work. The poet escaped
for a season from camps and courts, and took a delight-
ful vacation in the Forest of Arden. History was for the
time forgotten, and free scope was given to imagination
amid the scenes of a purely ideal life, — an Arcadia where
they " fleet the time carelessly, as they "did in the golden
world." The result is a pastoral drama in which we have
almost unbroken sunshine, no more of shadow being in-
troduced than serves to give variety to the scene. It is
not the shadow that forebodes the coming of night or of
tempest, but rather hke that of the passing summer cloud,
or like that of the green canopy of a pleasant wood, fall-
ing, flecked with sunlight sifted through the leaves, upon
the velvet sward below. No one suffers seriously or for
any great length of time. The banished Duke is only
the happier for his exile, and exults in his freedom from
the artificial restraints of the court ; and in the end he
is restored to his rank and position. His banishment
has proved only a summer vacation, a rural " outing,"
and we cannot doubt that he enjoyed his dukedom all
Introduction 13
the more for his brief exemption from its formalities and
responsibihties. In like manner Rosalind, Celia, and the
rest, who are made temporarily uncomfortable by the
banishment of the Duke and other causes, soon forget
their troubles in the forest, and are all happy at last.
Some careful critic has found fault with Rosalind be-
cause she goes to seek her father in the forest, and then
apparently forgets all about him after she gets there.
But this is only another illustration of the careless, free-
and-easy character of the play. Nobody could be long
anxious in that Forest of Arden. No matter what cares
and troubles one brought thither, these soon vanished
and were forgotten in the enchanted atmosphere. Things
might not be entirely to one's mind at first, but one felt
that they must soon become " as you like it."
And this reminds me of the dispute as to the origin
and significance of the title of the play. It may have
been suggested, as some have supposed, by the preface
to Lodge's novel of Rosalynde, to which the poet was
indebted for his plot. Lodge says to his readers con-
cerning the novel, '' If you like it, so," — that is, "so be
it," or " well and good." The German critic Tieck fan-
cied that the title was meant as a reply to Ben Jonson's
criticisms on the loose and irregular style of Shakespeare's
comedy. Ben was a scholar, and believed in the classi-
cal rules for dramatic composition. The free-and-easy
methods of his brother playwright were rank heterodoxy
in his eyes, and he could not help sometimes expressing
his righteous horror at them. In the preface to Cynthia's
14 As You Like It
Revels he had said of his own play, " 'T is good, and if
you like it you may ; " and Tieck beheved that this sug-
gested to Shakespeare the title for As You Like It ; as if
he had said, " Well, here is another of my careless come-
dies : take it as yoiL like itJ'^ But it does not seem to me
at all probable that Shakespeare would select the name
for a play solely or mainly to indulge in a little hit at
another author — and a hit that would not be readily un-
derstood without an explanation.
Whatever may have suggested the title, — and, as I
have said, it may have been Lodge's preface, — I have
no doubt that it was adopted as fitly expressing the tone
and temper of the play. This is the view of another
German critic, Ulrici, who, in summing up his argument,
says : " In fact all [the characters] do exactly what and
as they please. . . . Each looks upon and shapes life as
it pleases him or her. ... It is the poetic reflex of a
life as you like it, light and smooth in its flow, unencum-
bered by serious tasks, free from the fetters of definite
objects and from intentions difficult to execute ; an
amusing play of caprice, of imagination, and of waver-
ing sensations and feelings."
Charles Lamb called Lovers Labour's Lost " the com-
edy of leisure " ; but, as Verplanck remarks, " he might
have given the title in a higher sense to As Yoti Like
It, where the pervading feeling is that of a refined
and tasteful, yet simple and unaffected, throwing-off of
the stiff Mendings' of artificial society." For myself, I
would call it the summer vacation comedy. As I have
Introduction
17
Professor Barrett Wendell, that it is "childish and
absurd"; and yet, as he adds, "it has been for three
hundred years the groundwork of perhaps the most con-
stantly dehghtful and popular comedy in the English
language." This is partly due to the subtle influence
of the "charmed air" of that Forest of Arden, in which
we forget to be critical. We can sympathize with the
poet Campbell, who, when he first detected some of the
incongruities in this play, after having been blind to them
for many years, shut his eyes to the faults because of his
love for the comedy — and love, as* he said, is " wilfully
blind." "Away with your best-proved improbabilities
when the heart has been touched and the fancy fasci-
nated ! " But it was not the scene and the atmosphere
alone that made him — that make us — love the play,
but the fact that the leading characters are not mere
puppets, as we might expect them to be in so crude a
story, but living men and women. We cannot help lov-
ing them, and following their experiences with the keen-
est interest and sympathy.
Shakespeare's characters, indeed, become so real to
us that we keep up our interest in them after the curtain
has fallen upon their fortunes. We speculate concern-
ing their subsequent behaviour and welfare, and dispute
about their probable fate. We even enjoy going back
of the beginning of the drama, as Mary Cowden-Clarke
has done in her Girlhood of Shakespeare'' s Heroines, and
Lady Martin in some of her dehghtful studies of the
characters she had personated. The questions suggested
AS YOU LIKE IT — 2
1 8 As You Like It
by the unwritten history of these shadowy folk, these
phantoms of a poet's brain, whom we have seen for an
hour or two on the stage, have a perennial fascination.
We can never settle them, but we never tire of pondering
and discussing them.
The metre of As You Like It is that of Shakespeare's
best period in that respect. In his earliest plays the
verse, though often exquisitely modulated, is sometimes
laboured and formal. He had not then mastered the
art of concealing the art. In his last plays, on the other
hand, he seems to f*eel a certain contempt for the rules
of versification, and refuses to be restrained by them.
There are long passages in The Tempest and The Wintei^s
Tale which, if we heard them read without knowing their
source, we might take to be plain prose. At the same
time it must be admitted that some of the poet's finest ver-
sification is to be found here and there in these late plays.
But in As You Like It, as in other plays of the same
period, — about the middle of the poet's career as a
writer, — we have the utmost perfection of blank verse ;
at once finished and flowing, artistically musical, yet
seeming to " sing itself," — the art of the accomplished
minstrel, while it impresses us as the artlessness of the
lark or the nightingale.
This play also contains what, to my thinking, is the
best example of musical variation in repeating the same
thought or sentiment to be found anywhere in Shake-
speare. It is where (ii. 7) Orlando, in his address to
the Duke, says : —
Introduction i^
" If ever you have look'd on better days,
If ever been where bells have knoll'd to church,
If ever sat at any good man's feast,
If ever from your eyelids wip'd a tear,
And know what 't is to pity and be pitied," etc.
It would seem that this could hardly be altered with-
out marring it ; but, faultless as it is, Shakespeare shows
that he can repeat it "' with a difference," yet with no
diminution of its beauty or its music. The Duke re-
plies : — ■
" True is it that we have seen better days,
And have with holy bell been knoll'd to church,
And sat at good men's feasts, and wip'd our eyes
Of drops that sacred pity hath engender'd," etc.
Every statement is varied, while the leading words are
retained ; and the variation is like that of some exquisite
theme in music, repeated, yet not the same, but as sweet
as before. One finds scattered examples of this fine
modulation of melodious verse in the plays and poems,
but no one that equals this.
This play is also a good illustration of Shakespeare's art
in the management of dramatic time. Only two of his
plays, The Comedy of Errors and The Tempest, observe
the "unities of time and place," which require that the
time of the action represented shall not exceed a single
day, and that the place shall be limited either to a single
locality, or to localities so near that the persons con-
cerned can pass from one to another within the day. In
most of Shakespeare's plays the time of the action covers
20 As You Like It
several days, months, or years ; and the localities are
often widely separated — England and France, Bohemia
and Sicily, etc.
But though Shakespeare thus ignores the classical law
concerning time, he follows what may be called an artis-
tic law of his own in dealing with time, which was not
recognized by any of the critics until about fifty years
ago ; and then, as often happens with important discov-
eries, two men detected it independently at the same
time. In November, 1849, Professor John Wilson (" Chris-
topher North ") announced this law in Blackwood' s Maga-
zine as " an astounding discovery," illustrating it minutely
by an analysis of Macbeth and Othello; and the Rev.
N. J. Halpin, during the same month, pubHshed an
essay on Dramatic Unities in Shakespeare, illustrating
the same law by an analysis of The Merchant of Venice.
There could be no question that the two men had been
working independently, and had reached identical re-
sults.
The law may be briefly stated thus : Shakespeare uses
two kinds of time in the plays : one fast, corresponding
to the brief time required for the action on the stage ; the
other slow, corresponding to the longer time necessary
for the actual succession of events represented. The law
has been aptly and more concisely designated as "Shake-
speare's tivo clocks, '^ one of which goes fast while the other
goes slow.
Apparently this manner of dealing with dramatic time
was original with Shakespeare ; at least, it was used by
Introduction 21
*
him in all his plays (except the two I have mentioned
in which the unity of time is observed), and in all the
details of their action, while it seldom, if ever, appears in
the works of other dramatists.
In As You Like It the two kinds of time are very easily
recognized, and it is for this reason that I refer to the sub-
ject in connection with this play.
When the banishment of the old Duke is first mentioned,
we infer that it occurred very recently. OHver, though a
gentleman living near the court, has not heard of it until
Charles the wrestler tells him about it, and Charles him-
self seems to have only an imperfect knowledge of the
main facts. " Where will the old Duke live ? " Oliver asks.
" They say,^^ replies Charles, " he is already in the Forest
of Arden," etc. There are reasons for this " fast time "
here, which a careful student or reader will have no diffi-
culty in discovering.
" Slow time " appears very soon afterward. In Scene
3, when the new Duke is banishing Rosalind, he says, in
reply to the protest of Celia, that it was for her sake that
the daughter was not exiled with the father. CeHa
replies : —
" I did not then entreat to have her stay ;
It was your pleasure and your own remorse.
I was too-young that time to value her,
But now I know her. If she be a traitor,
Why so am I; we still have slept together,
Rose at an instant, learn'd, play'd, eat together,
And wheresoe'er we went, like Juno's swans,
Still we went coupled and inseparable."
22 As You Like It
This certainly throws the banishment of the old Duke
several years back into the past. Note also his own speech
at the opening of the second act : —
"Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp ? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we not the penalty of Adam.
The seasons' difference," etc.
Clearly he and his friends have been in the forest long
enough to get used to life there, and to experience '' the
seasons' difference " — the winter as well as the summer.
I need not continue this analysis further in the play.
The reader will find it a profitable exercise to follow it
out for himself.
[Professor Wilson's paper may be found in Blackwood for
November, 1849, with a continuation in the number for April, 1850.
It is reprinted in the Transactions of the Neiv Shakspere Society,
1875-76, pp. 351-387; where it is followed (pp. 388-412) by a re-
print of Rev. Mr. Halpin's pamphlet.]
AS YOU LIKE IT
23
DRAMATIS PERSONS, '
Duke, living in banishment.
Frederick, his brother, and usurper of
his dominions.
Amiens, ) lords attending on the banished
Jaques, i duke.
Le Beau, a courtier attending upon Fred-
erick.
Charles, wrestler to Frederick.
Oliver,
t^QUES, J- sons of Sir Rowland de Boys.
v/Orlando,
Adam, \
Dennis,
i/ Touchstone, a clown.
Sir Oliver Martext, a vicar.
Silvius, i shepherds.
William, a country fellow, in love with
Audrey.
A person representing Hymen.
Rosalind, daughter to the banished duke.
Celia, daughter to Frederick.
Phebe, a shepherdess.
Audrey, a country wench.
Lords, pages, and attendants, etc.
Scene: Oliver's house; Duke Fred-
erick's court; and the Forest of
Arden.
servants to Oliver.
24
:im.
" To Liberty, and not to Banishment "
ACT I
Scene I. Orchard of Oliver'' s House
Enter Orlando and Adam
Orlando. As I remember, Adam, it was upon this
fashion bequeathed me by will but poor a thousand
crowns, and, as thou sayest, charged my brother, on
his blessing, to breed me well ; and there begins my
sadness. My brother Jaques he keeps at school, and
report speaks goldenly of his profit. For my part, he
keeps me rustically at home, or, to speak more prop-
erly, stays me here at home unkept ; for call you
25
26 As You Like It [Act i
that keeping for a gentleman of my birth, that differs
not from the stalling of an ox? His horses are bred 10
better, for, besides that they are fair with their feeding,
they are taught their manage, and to that end riders
dearly hired ; but I, his brother, gain nothing under
him but growth, for the which his animals on his dung-
hills are as much bound to him as I. Besides this
nothing that he so plentifully gives me, the something
that nature gave me his countenance seems to take
from me ; he lets me feed with his hinds, bars me the
place of a brother, and, as much as in him lies, mines
my gentility with my education. This is it, Adam, 20
that grieves me ; and the spirit of my father, which I
think is within me, begins to mutiny against this servi-
tude. I will no longer endure it, though yet I know
no wise remedy how to avoid it.
Adam. Yonder comes my master, your brother.
Orlando. Go apart, Adam, and thou shalt hear how
he will shake me up.
Enter Oliver
Oliver. Now, sir ! what make you here?
Orlando. Nothing; I am not taught to make any
thing. 30
Oliver. What mar you then, sir ?
Orlando. Marry, sir, I am helping you to mar that
which God made, a poor unworthy brother of yours,
with idleness.
Oliver. Marry, sir, be better employed, and be
naught awhile.
Scene i] As You Like It 27
Orlando. Shall I keep your hogs and eat husks
with them ? What prodigal portion have I spent, that
I should come to such penury ?
Oliver. Know you where you are, sir? 40
Orlando. O, sir, very well ; here in your orchard.
Oliver. Know you before whom, sir?
Orlando. Ay, better than him I am before knows
me. I know you are my eldest brother; and, in the
gentle condition of blood, you should so know me!.
The courtesy of nations allows you my better, in that
you are the first-born; but the same tradition takes
not away my blood, were there twenty brothers be-
twixt us. I have as much of my father in me as you ;
albeit, I confess, your coming before me is nearer to 50
his reverence.
Oliver. What, boy !
Orlando. Come, come, elder brother, you are too
young in this.
Oliver. Wilt thou lay hands on me, villain ?
Orlando. I am no villain ; I am the youngest son
of Sir Rowland de Boys : he was my father, and he is
thrice a villain that says such a father begot villains.
Wert thou not my brother, I would not take this hand
from thy throat till this other had pulled out thy 60
tongue for saying so ; thou hast railed on thyself.
Adam. Sweet masters, be patient ; for your father's
remembrance, be at accord.
Oliver. Let me go, I say.
Orlando. I will not, till I please.; you shall hear
28 As You Like It [Act i
me. My father charged you in his will to give me
good education ; you have trained me like a peasant,
obscuring and hiding from me all gentleman-like
quahties. The spirit of my father grows strong in me,
and I will no longer endure it. Therefore allow me 70
such exercises as may become a gentleman, or give
me the poor allottery my father left me by testament ;
with that I will go buy my fortunes.
Oliver. And what wilt thou do ? beg, when that is
spent ? Well, sir, get you in : I will not long be
troubled with you ; you shall have some part of your
will. I pray you, leave me.
Orlando. I will no further offend you than becomes
me for my good.
Oliver'. Get you with him, you old dog. 80
Adam. Is 'old dog' my reward? Most true, I
have lost my teeth in your service. — God be with my
old master ! he would not have spoke such a word.
\_Exetmt Orlando aiid Adam.
Oliver. Is it even so ? begin you to grow upon me ?
I will physic your rankness, and yet give no thousand
crowns neither. — Holla, Dennis !
Enter Dennis
Dennis. Calls your worship ?
Oliver. Was not Charles, the duke's wrestler, here
to speak with me ?
Dennis. So please you, he is here at the door and 90
importunes access to you.
Scene I] As You Like It 29
Oliver. Call him in. \_Exif Dennis.'] 'T will be a
good way ; and to-morrow the wrestling is.
Enter Charles
Charles. Good morrow to your worship.
Oliver. Good Monsieur Charles, what's the new
news at the new court?
Charles. There 's no news at the court, sir, but the
old news : that is, the old duke is banished by his
younger brother the new duke, and three or four
loving lords have put themselves into voluntary exile 100
with him, whose lands and revenues enrich the new
duke ; and therefore he gives them good leave to
wander.
Oliver. Can you tell if Rosalind, the duke's daugh-
ter, be banished with her father?
Charles. O, no ; for the duke's daughter, her
cousin, so loves her, being ever from their cradles bred
together, that she would have followed her exile, or
have died to stay behind her. She is at the court and
no less beloved of her uncle than his own daughter; no
and never two ladies loved as they do.
Oliver. Where will the old dujke live?
Charles. They say he is already in the forest of
Arden, and a many merry men with him ; and there they
live Hke the old Robin Hood of England. They^ay\
many young gentlemen flock to him every day, and i -^
fleet the time carelessly, as they did in the golden j
world.
30 As You Like It [Act i
Oliver. What, you wrestle to-morrow before the
new duke? 120
Charles. Marry, do I, sir ; and I came to acquaint
you with a matter. I am given, sir, secretly to under-
stand that your younger brother Orlando hath a dis-
position to come in disguised against me to try a fall.
To-morrow, sir, I wrestle for my credit ; and he that
escapes me without some broken limb shall acquit him
well. Your brother is but young and tender ; and,
for your love, I would be loath to foil him, as I must,
for my own honour, if he come in. Therefore, out of
my love to you, I came hither to acquaint you withal, 130
that either you might stay him from his intendment
or brook such disgrace well as he shall run into, in
that it is a thing of his own search and altogether
against my will.
Oliver. Charles, I thank thee for thy love to me,
which thou shalt find I will most kindly requite. I
had myself notice of my brother's purpose herein, and
have by underhand means laboured to dissuade him
from it, but he is resolute. I '11 tell thee, Charles, it is
the stubbornest young fellow of France, full of ambi- 140
tion, an envious emulator of every man's good parts, a
secret and villanous contriver against me his natural
brother ; therefore use thy discretion. I had as lief
thou didst break his neck as his finger. And thou
wert best look to 't, for if thou dost him any slight dis-
grace, or if he do not mightily grace himself on thee,
he will practise against thee by poison, entrap thee by
Scene II] As You Like It 31
some treacherous device, and never leave thee till he
hath ta'en thy life by some indirect means or other ;
for, I assure thee, and almost with tears I speak it, 150
there is not one so young and so villanous this day
living. I speak but brotherly of him ; but should I
anatomize him to thee as he is, I must blush and
weep, and thou must look pale and wonder.
Chaj'les. I am heartily glad I came hither to you.
If he come to-morrow, I '11 give him his payment. If
ever he go alone again, I '11 never wrestle for prize
more ; and so, God keep your worship !
Oliver. Farewell, good Charles. — \_Exit Charles.
Now will I stir this gamester. I hope I shall see an 160
end of him, for my soul, yet I know not why, hates
nothing more than he. Yet he 's gentle, never
schooled and yet learned, full of noble device, of all
sorts enchantingly beloved, and indeed so much in
the heart of the world, and especially of my own peo-
ple, who best know him, that I am altogether misprised.
But it shall not be so long ; this wrestler shall clear all.
Nothing remains but that I kindle the boy thither,
which now I '11 go about. \^Exit.
Scene II. Lawn before the Duke^s Palace
Enter Celia and Rosalind
Celia. I pray thee, Rosalind, sweet my coz, be
merry.
32 As You Like It [Act i
Rosalind. Dear Celia, I show more mirth than I .
am mistress of; and would you yet I were merrier?
Unless you could teach me to forget a banished father,
you must not learn me how to remember any extraor-
dinary pleasure.
Celia. Herein I see thou lovest me not with the
full weight that I love thee. If my uncle, thy banished
father, had banished thy uncle, the duke my father, so lo
thou hadst been still with me, I could have taught my
love to take thy father for mine ; so wouldst thou, if
the truth of thy love to me were so righteously tem-
pered as mine is to thee.
Rosalind. Well, I will forget the condition of my
estate, to rejoice in yours.
Celia. You know my father hath no child but I,
nor none is like to have ; and, truly, when he dies, thou
shalt be his heir, for what he hath taken away from thy
father perforce, I will render thee again in affection. 20
By mine honour, I will ; and when I break that oath,
let me turn monster ! Therefore, my sweet Rose, my
dear Rose, be merry.
Rosalind. From henceforth I will, coz, and devise
sports. Let me see ; what think you of falling in love ?
Celia. Marry, I prithee, do, to make sport withal ;
but love no man in good earnest, nor no further in
sport neither than with safety of a pure blush thou •
mayst in honour come off again.
Rosalind. What shall be our sport, then? 30
Celia. Let us sit and mock the good housewife
Scene II] As You Like It ^3
Fortune from her wheel, that her gifts may henceforth
be bestowed equally.
Rosalind. I would we could do so, for her benefits
are mightily misplaced, and the bountiful blind woman
doth most mistake in her gifts to women.
Celia. 'T is true ; for those that she makes fair she
scarce makes honest, and those that she makes honest
she makes very ill-favouredly.
Rosalind. Nay, now thou goest from Fortune's 40
office to Nature's ; Fortune reigns in gifts of the
world, not in the lineaments of Nature.
Enter Touchstone
Celia. No? when Nature hath made a fair creature,
may she not by Fortune fall into the fire? Though
Nature hath given us wit to flout at Fortune, hath not
Fortune sent in this fool to cut off" the argument ?
Rosalind. Indeed, there is Fortune too hard for
Nature, when Fortune makes Nature's natural the
cutter-off" of Nature's wit.
Celia. Peradventure this is not Fortune's work 50
neither, but Nature's, who, perceiving our natural wits
too dull to reason of such goddesses, hath sent this
natural for our whetstone ; for always the dulness of
the fool is the whetstone of the wits. How now, wit !
Whither wander you?
Touchstone. Mistress, you must come away to your
father.
Celia. Were you made the messenger?
AS YOU LIKE IT — 3
34 As You Like It [Act i
Touchstone. No, by mine honour, but I was bid to
come for you. 60
Rosalind. Where learned you that oath, fool?
Touchstone. Of a certain knight that swore by his
honour they were good pancakes, and swore by his
honour the mustard was naught. Now I '11 stand to it,
the pancakes were naught and the mustard was good,
and yet was not the knight forsworn.
Celia. How prove you that, in the great heap of
your knowledge ?
Rosalind. Ay, marry, now unmuzzle your wisdom.
Touchstone. Stand you both forth now ; stroke 70
your chins, and swear by your beards that I am a
knave.
Celia. By our beards, if we had them, thou art.
Touchstone. By my knavery, if. I had it, then I
were ; but if you swear by that that is not, you are not
forsworn. No more was this knight, swearing by his
honour, for he never had any ; or if he had, he had
sworn it away before ever he saw those pancakes or
that mustard.
Celia. Prithee, who is 't that thou meanest? 80
Touchstone. One that old Frederick, your father,
loves.
Celia. My father's love is enough to honour him
enough. Speak no more of him ; you '11 be whipped
for taxation one of these days.
Touchstone. The more pity, that fools may not
speak wisely what wise men do foolishly.
Scene II] As You Like It 35
Celia. By my troth, thou sayest true ; for since the
little wit that fools have was silenced, the little foolery
that wise men have makes a great show. Here comes 90
Monsieur Le Beau.
Rosalind. With his mouth full of news.
Celia. Which he will put on us, as pigeons feed
their young.
Rosalind. Then shall we be news-crammed.
Celia. All the better ; we shall be the more
marketable. —
Enter Le Beau
Bon jour. Monsieur Le Beau ; what 's the news ?
Le Beaic. Fair princess, you have lost much good
sport. 100
Celia. Sport! of what colour ?
Le Beau. What colour, madam? how shall I
answer you?
Rosalind. As wit and fortune will.
Touchstone. Or as the destinies decree.
Celia. Well said ; that was laid on with a trowel.
Touchstone. Nay, if I keep not my rank, —
Rosalind. Thou losest thy old smell.
Le Beau. You amaze me, ladies ; I would have
told you of good wrestling, which you have lost no
the sight of.
Rosalind. Yet tell us the manner of the wrestling.
Le Beau. I will tell you the beginning, and, if it
please your ladyships, you may see the end ; for the
;^6 As You Like It [Act i
best is yet to do, and here, where you are, they are
coming to perform it.
Ce/ia. Well, the beginning, that is dead and buried.
Le Beau. There comes an old man and his three
sons, —
Celia. I could match this beginning with an old tale. 120
Le Beau. Three proper young men, of excellent
growth and presence, —
Rosalind. With bills on their necks, ' Be it known
unto all men by these presents.'
Le Beau. The eldest of the three wrestled with
Charles, the duke's wrestler, which Charles in a mo-
ment threw him and broke three of his ribs, that there
is little hope of life in him ; so he served the second,
and so the third. Yonder they lie ; the poor old man,
their father, making such pitiful dole over them that 130
all the beholders take his part with weeping.
Rosalind. Alas !
ToiLchstone. But what is the sport, monsieur, that
the ladies have lost?
Le Beau. Why, this that I speak of.
Touchstone. Thus men may grow wiser every day !
It is the first time that ever I heard breaking of ribs
was sport for ladies.
Celia. Or I, I promise thee. 139
Rosalind. But is there any else longs to see this
broken music in his sides? is there yet another dotes
upon rib-breaking ? — Shall we see this wrestling,
cousin ?
Scene II] As You Like It 37
Le Beau, You must, if you stay here ; for here is
the place appointed for the wresthng, and they are
ready to perform it.
Celia. Yonder, sure, they are coming ; let us now
stay and see it.
Floui'ish. Enter Duke Frederick, Lords, Orlando,
Charles, aiid Attendants
Duke Frederick. Come on ; since the youth will
not be entreated, his own peril on his forwardness. 150
Rosalind. Is yonder the man?
Le Beau. Even he, madam.
Celia. Alas, he is too young ! yet he looks success-
fully.
Duke Fredei'ick. How now, daughter and cousin !
are you crept hither to see the wrestling?
Rosalind. Ay, my liege, so please you give us leave.
Duke Fi-ederick. You will take little delight in it, I
can tell you, there is such odds in the men. In pity
of the challenger's youth I would fain dissuade him, 160
but he will not be entreated. Speak to him, ladies ;
see if you can move him.
Celia. Call him hither, good Monsieur Le Beau.
Duke Frederick. Do so ; I '11 not be by.
Le Beau. Monsieur the challenger, the princess calls
for you.
Orlando. I attend them with all respect and duty.
Rosalind. Young man, have you challenged Charles
the wrestler?
38 As You Like It [Act i
Orlando. No, fair princess ; he is the general chal- 170
lenger. I come but in, as others do, to try with him
the strength of my youth.
Celia. Young gentleman, your spirits are too bold
for your years. You have seen cruel proof of this man's
strength ; if you saw yourself with your eyes or knew
yourself with your judgment, the fear of your adventure
would counsel you to a more equal enterprise. We
pray you, for your own sake, to embrace your own
safety and give over this attempt.
Rosalind, Do, young sir; your reputation shall not 180
therefore be misprised. We will make it our suit to
the duke that the wrestling might not go forward.
Orlando. I beseech you, punish me not with your
hard thoughts, wherein I confess me much guilty to
deny so fair and excellent ladies any thing. But let
your fair eyes and gentle wishes go with me to my
trial ; wherein if I be foiled, there is but one shamed
that was never gracious ; if killed, but one dead that is
willing to be so. I shall do my friends no wrong, for
I have none to lament me ; the world no injury, for in 190
it I have nothing ; only in the world I fill up a place
which may be better suppHed when I have made it
empty.
Rosalind. The little strength that I have, I would it
were with you.
Celia. And mine, to eke out hers.
Rosalind. Fare you well ; pray heaven I be deceived
in you !
Scene iij As You Like It 39
Celia. Your heart's desires be with you ! 199
Charles. Come, where is this young gallant that is
so desirous to lie with his mother earth ?
Orlando. Ready, sir ; but his will hath in it a more
modest working.
Duke Frederick. You shall try but one fall.
Charles. No, I warrant your grace, you shall not
entreat him to a second, that have so mightily per-
suaded him from a first.
Orlando. YoU mean to mock me after ; you should
not have mocked me before. But come your ways. 209
Rosalind. Now Hercules be thy speed, young man !
Celia. I would I were invisible, to catch the strong
fellow by the leg. \They wrestle,
Rosalind. O excellent young man !
Celia. If I had a thunderbolt in mine eye, I can
tell who should down. \_Shout. Charles is thrown.
Duke Frederick. No more, no more.
Orlando, Yes, I beseech your grace ; I am not yet
well-breathed.
Duke Frederick. How dost thou, Charles ?
Le Beau. He cannot speak, my lord. 220
Duke Frederick. Bear him away. — What is thy
name, young man?
Orlando. Orlando, my liege j the youngest son of
Sir Rowland de Boys.
Duke Frederick. I would thou hadst been son to
some man else.
The world esteem'd thy father honourable,
40 As You Like It [Act i
But I did find him still mine enemy.
Thou shouldst have better pleas'd me with this deed,
Hadst thou descended from another house.
But fare thee well ; thou art a gallant youth. 230
I would thou hadst told me of another father.
\_Exeunt Duke Frederick^ train, and Le Beau,
Celia. Were I my father, coz, would I do this?
Orlando. I am more proud to be Sir Rowland's son,
His youngest son, and would not change that calhng,
To be adopted heir to Frederick.
Rosalind. My father lov'd Sir Rowland as his soul,
And all the world was of my father's mind.
Had I before known this young man his son,
I should have given him tears unto entreaties,
Ere he should thus have ventur'd.
Celia.- Gentle cousin, 240
Let us go thank him and encourage him ;
My father's rough and envious disposition
Sticks me at heart. — Sir, you have well deserv'd ;
If you do keep your promises in love
But justly as you have exceeded all promise,
Your mistress shall be happy.
Rosalind. Gentleman,
[ Giving him a chain from her neck.
Wear this for me, one out of suits with fortune,
That could give more but that her hand lacks means. —
Shall we go, coz?
Celia. Ay. — Fare you well, fair gentleman. 249
Orlando. Can I not say, I thank you ? My better parts
Scene II] As You Like It 41
Are all thrown down, and that which here stands up
Is but a quintain, a mere lifeless block.
Rosalind. He calls us back. My pride fell with my
fortunes ;
I'll ask him what he would. — Did you call, sir? —
Sir, you have wrestled well and overthrown
More than your enemies.
Celia. Will you go, coz?
Rosalind, Have with you. — Fare you well.
\_Exeunt Rosalind and Celia,
Orlando. What passion hangs these weights upon my
tongue ?
I cannot speak to her, yet she urg'd conference.
O poor Orlando, thou art overthrown ! 260
Or Charles or something weaker masters thee.
Enter Le Beau
Le Beau. Good sir, I do in friendship counsel you
To leave this place. Albeit you have deserv'd
High commendation, true applause, and love.
Yet such is now the duke's condition
That he misconstrues all that you have done.
The duke is humorous ; what he is, indeed,
More suits you to conceive than I to speak of.
Orlaftdo. I thank you, sir; and, pray you, tell me
this :
Which of the two was daughter of the duke 270
That here was at the wrestling?
42 As You Like It [Act i
Le Beau, Neither his daughter, if we judge by man-
ners ;
But yet indeed the smaller is his daughter.
The other is daughter to the banish'd duke,
And here detain'd by her usurping uncle,
To keep his daughter company, whose loves
Are dearer than the natural bond of sisters.
But I can tell you that of late this duke
Hath ta'en displeasure 'gainst his gentle niece,
Grounded upon no other argument 280
But that the people praise her for her virtues
And pity her for her good father's sake ;
And, on my life, his malice 'gainst the lady
Will suddenly break forth. Sir, fare you well ;
Hereafter, in a better world than this,
I shall desire more love and knowledge of you.
Orlando. I rest much bounden to you ; fare you
well. — \_Exit Le Beau,
Thus must I from the smoke into the smother ;
From tyrant duke unto a tyrant brother. — 289
But heavenly Rosalind ! \_Exit,
Scene HI. A Room in the Palace
Enter Celia and Rosalind
Celia, Why, cousin ! why, Rosalind ! Cupid have
mercy ! not a word?
Rosalind. Not one to throw at a dog.
Scene III] As You Like It 43
Celia. No, thy words are too precious to be cast
away upon curs ; throw some of them at me. Come,
lame me with reasons.
Rosalind, Then there were two cousins laid up ;
when the one should be lamed with reasons, and the
other mad without any.
Celia. But is all this for your father? 10
Rosalind. No, some of it is for my child's father.
O, how full of briers is this working-day world !
Celia. They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee
in holiday foolery ; if we walk not in the trodden
paths, our very petticoats will catch them.
Rosalind. I could shake them off my coat ; these
burs are in my heart.
Celia. Hem them away.
Rosalind. I would try, if I could cry hem and have
him. 20
Celia. Come, come, wrestle with thy affections.
Rosalind. O, they take the part of a better wrestler
than myself!
Celia. O, a good wish upon you ! you will try in
time, in despite of a fall. But, turning these jests out
of service, let us talk in good earnest. Is it possible,
on such a sudden, you should fall into so strong a liking
with old Sir Rowland's youngest son?
Rosalind. The duke my father lov'd his father
dearly. 30
Celia. Doth it therefore ensue that you should love
his son dearly? By this kind of chase, I should hate
44
As You Like It [Act i
him, for my father hated his father dearly ; yet I hate
not Orlando.
Rosalind. No, faith, hate him not, for my sake.
Celia. Why should I not ? doth he not deserve well ?
Rosalind. Let me love him for that, and do you
love him because I do. — Look, here comes the duke.
Celia. With his eyes full of anger.
Enter Duke Frederick, with Lords.
Duke Frederick. Mistress, despatch you with your
safest haste, 40
And get you from our court.
Rosalind. Me, uncle ?
Duke Frederick. You, cousin ;
Within these ten days if that thou be'st found
So near our public court as twenty miles.
Thou diest for it.
Rosalind. I do beseech your grace.
Let me the knowledge of my fault bear with me.
If with myself I hold intelligence
Or have acquaintance with mine own desires.
If that I do not dream or be not frantic, —
As I do trust I am not, — then, dear uncle.
Never so much as in a thought unborn 50
Did I offend your highness.
Duke Frederick. Thus do all traitors ;
If their purgation did consist in words.
They are as innocent as grace itself.
Let it suffice thee that I trust thee not.
Scene III] As You Like It 45
Rosalind. Yet your mistrust cannot make me a traitor \
Tell me whereon the likelihood depends.
Duke Frederick. Thou art thy father's daughter ; there 's
enough.
Rosalind, So was I when your highness took his duke-
dom ;
So was I when your highness banish'd him.
Treason is not inherited, my lord ; 60
Or, if we did derive it from our friends.
What 's that to me ? my father was no traitor.
Then, good my Hege, mistake me not so much
To think my poverty is treacherous.
Celia. Dear sovereign, hear me speak.
Duke Frederick. Ay, Celia ; we stay'd her for your
sake,
Else had she with her father rang'd along.
Celia. I did not then entreat to have her stay ;
It was your pleasure and your own remorse.
I was too young that time to value her, 70
But now I know her. If she be a traitor,
Why so am I ; we still have slept together,
Rose at an instant, learn'd, play'd, eat together,
And wheresoe'er we went, like Juno's swans,
Still we went coupled and inseparable.
Duke Frederick. She is too subtle for thee j and her
smoothness.
Her very silence and her patience.
Speak to the people, and they pity her.
Thou art a fool j she robs thee of thy name,
46 As You Like It [Act i
And thou wilt show more bright and seem more virtuous 80
When she is gone. Then open not thy lips :
Firm and irrevocable is my doom
Which I have pass'd upon her ; she is banish'd.
Celia. Pronounce that sentence then on me, my liege j
I cannot live out of her company.
Duke Frederick. You are a fool. — You, niece, pro-
vide yourself;
If you outstay the time, upon mine honour,
And in the greatness of my word, you die.
\_Exeunt Duke Frederick and Lords.
Celia. O my poor Rosalind, whither wilt thou go?
Wilt thou change fathers? I will give thee mine. 90
I charge thee, be not thou more griev'd than I am.
Rosalind. I have more cause.
Celia. Thou hast not, cousin.
Prithee, be cheerful ; know'st thou not, the duke
Hath banish'd me, his daughter?
Rosalind. That he hath not.
Celia. No, hath not ? Rosalind lacks then the love
Which teacheth thee that thou and I am one.
Shall we be sunder'd? shall we part, sweet girl?
No ; let my father seek another heir.
Therefore devise with me how we may fly,
Whither to go, and what to bear with us \ 100
And do not seek to take the charge upon you.
To bear your griefs yourself and leave me out,
For, by this heaven, now at our sorrows pale.
Say what thou canst, I '11 go along with thee.
Scene III] As You Like It 47
Rosalind. Why, whither shall we go?
Celia. To seek my uncle in the forest of Arden»-.
Rosalind. Alas, what danger will it be to us,
Maids as we are, to travel forth so far !
Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold.
Celia. I '11 put myself in poor and mean attire, no
And with a kind of umber smirch my face.
The hke do you \ so shall we pass along
And never stir assailants.
Rosalind. ^ Were it not better,
Because that I am more than common tall,
That I did suit me all points like a man?
A gallant curtle-axe upon my thigh,
A boar-spear in my hand ; and, in my heart
Lie there what hidden woman's fear there will,
We '11 have a swashing and a martial outside.
As many other mannish cowards have 120
That do outface it with their semblances.
Celia. What shall I call thee when thou art a man?
Rosalind. I '11 have no worse a name than Jove's own
page,
And therefore look you call me Ganymede.
But what will you be call'd?
Celia. Something that hath a reference to my state ;
No longer Celia, but Aliena.
. Rosalind. But, cousin, what if we assay 'd to steal
The clownish fool out of your father's court?
Would he not be a comfort to our travel? 130
Celia. He '11 go along o'er the wide world with me ;
48 As You Like It [Act i
Leave me alone to woo him. Let 's away,
And get our jewels and our wealth together,
Devise the fittest time and safest way
To hide us from pursuit that will be made
After my flight. Now go we in content
To liberty, and not to banishment. \_Exeunt
"A Poor Sequester'd Stag"
ACT II
Scene I. The Forest of Arden
Enter Duke Senior, Amiens, and two or three Lords,
like foresters
Duke Senior. Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,
,liSLthi?oi_9jd.G-UStaiTi,ma^^^^^^ thisJife-inDj:£LS55;Xet_
Than that^^oTgainted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we not the penalty of Adam.
AS YOU LIKE IT-
49
50 As You Like It [Act ii
The seasons' difference, — as the icy fang
And churhsh chiding of the winter's wind,
Which, when it bites and blows upon my body,
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say
' This is no flattery ' — these are counsellors lo
That feelingly persuade me what I am.
Sweet are the uses of adversity,;^!
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head ;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks.
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
I would not change it.
Amiens. Happy is your grace.
That can translate the stubbornness of fortune
Into so quiet and so sweet a style. 20
Duke Senior. Come, shall we go and kill us venison ?
And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools.
Being native burghers of this desert city,
Should in their own confines with forked heads
Have their round haunches gor'd.
First Lord. Indeed, my lord.
The melancholy Jaques grieves at that.
And, in that kind, swears you do more usurp
Than doth your brother that hath banish'd you.
To-day my lord of Amiens and myself
Did steal behind him as he lay along 30
Under an oak, whose antique root peeps out
Upon the brook that brawls along this wood,
Scene I] As You Like It 51
To the which place a poor sequester'd stag,
That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a hurt,
Did come to languish ; and indeed, my lord,
The wretched animal heav'd forth such groans
That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat
Almost to bursting, and the big round tears
Cours'd one another down his innocent nose
In piteous chase ; and thus the hairy fool, 40
Much marked of the melancholy Jaques,
Stood on the extremest verge of the swift brook.
Augmenting it with tears.
Duke Senior. But what said Jaques ?
Did he not moralize this spectacle ?
First Lord. O, yes, into a thousand similes.
First, for his weeping into the needless stream :
*■ Poor deer,' quoth he, ' thou mak'st a testament
As worldlings do, giving thy sum of more
To that which had too much.' Then, being there alone.
Left and abandon' d of his velvet friends : 50
* 'T is right,' quoth he ; ' thus misery doth part
The flux of company.' Anon a careless herd.
Full of the pasture, jumps along by him,
And never stays to greet him. ' Ay,' quoth Jaques,
* Sweep on, you fat and greasy citizens,
'T is just the fashion ; wherefore do you look
Upon that poor and broken bankrupt there ? '
Thus most invectively he pierceth through
The body of the country, city, court.
Yea, and of this our life, swearing that we 60
52 As You Like It [Act ii
Are mere usurpers, tyrants, and what 's worse,
To fright the animals and to kill them up
In their assign'd and native dwelling-place.
Dicke Senior. And did you leave him in this contem-
plation ?
Second Lord. We did, my lord, weeping and commenting
Upon the sobbing deer.
Duke Senior. Show me the place ;
I love to cope him in these sullen fits.
For then he 's full of matter.
First Lord. I '11 bring you to him straight. \_Exeunf.
Scene II. A Room in the Palace
Enter Duke Frederick, with Lords
Duke Frederick. Can it be possible that no man saw
them ?
It cannot be ; some villains of my court
Are of consent and sufferance in this.
First Lord. I cannot hear of any that did see her.
The ladies, her attendants of her chamber,
Saw her abed, and in the morning early
They found the bed untreasur'd of their mistress.
Second Lord. My lord, the roynish clown, at whom so oft
Your grace was wont to laugh, is also missing.
Hesperia, the princess' gentlewoman, lo
Confesses that she secretly o'erheard
Your daughter and her cousin much commend
The parts and graces of the wrestler
Scene III] As You Like It ^^
That did but lately foil the sinewy Charles ;
And she believes, wherever they are gone,
That youth is surely in their company.
Z>uke Frederick. Send to his brother ; fetch that gal-
lant hither.
If he be absent, bring his brother to me ;
I '11 make him find him. Do this suddenly,
And let not search and inquisition quail 20
To bring again these foolish runaways. \_Exeunt.
1
Scene III. Before Oliver^s House
Enter Orlando and Adam, meeting
Orlando. Who's there?
Adam. What, my young master? O my gentle master !
O my sweet master ! O you memory
Of old Sir Rowland ! why, what make you here?
Why are you virtuous ? why do people love you ?
And wherefore are you gentle, strong, and vaKant ?
Why would you be so fond to overcome
The bonny priser of the humorous duke ?
Your praise is come too swiftly home before you.
Know you not, master, to some kind of men 10
Their graces serve them but as enemies?
No more do yours ; your virtues, gentle master,
Are sanctified and holy traitors to you.
O, what a world is this, when what is comely
Envenoms him that bears it !
Orlando. Why, what 's the matter?
54 As You Like It [Act ii
Adam. O unhappy youth !
Come not within these doors ; within this roof
The enemy of all your graces lives.
Your brother — no, no brother ; yet the son —
Yet not the son, I will not call him son 20
Of him I was about to call his father —
Hath heard your praises, and this night he means
To burn the lodging where you use to lie
And you within it ; if he fail of that,
He will have other means to cut you off.
I overheard him in his practices.
This is no place ; this house is but a butchery.
Abhor it, fear it, do not enter it.
Orlando. Why, whither, Adam, wouldst thou have me
go?
Adam. No matter whither, so you come not here. 30
Orlando. What, wouldst thou have me go and beg my
food?
Or with a base and boisterous sword enforce
A thievish living on the common road ?
This I must do, or know not what to do.
Yet this I will not do, do how I can ;
I rather will subject me to the malice
Of a diverted blood and bloody brother.
Adam. But do not so. I have five hundred crowns,
The thrifty hire I sav'd under your father,
Which I did store to be my foster-nurse 40
When service should in my old limbs lie lame
And unregarded age in corners thrown.
Scene III] As You Like It 55
Take that, and He that doth the ravens feed,
Yea, providently caters for the sparrow.
Be comfort to my age ! Here is the gold ;
All this I give you. Let me be your servant.
Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty,
For in my youth I never did apply
Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood.
Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo 50
The means of weakness and debility ;
Therefore my a^e is as a lusty winter,
Frosty, but kindly. Let me go with you ;
I '11 do the service of a younger man
In all your business and necessities.
Orlando. O good old man ! how well in thee appears
The constant service of the antique world.
When service sweat for duty, not for meed !
Thou art not for the fashion of these times.
Where none will sweat but for promotion, 60
A.nd having that, do choke their service up
Even with the having ; it is not so with thee.
But, poor old man, thou prun'st a rotten tree,
That cannot so much as a blossom yield
In lieu of all thy pains and husbandry.
But come thy ways ; we '11 go along together.
And ere we have thy youthful wages spent.
We '11 light upon some settled low content.
Adam. Master, go on, and I will follow thee,
To the last gasp, with truth and loyalty. 70
From seventeen years till now almost fourscore
^6 As You Like It [Act ii
Here lived I, but now live here no more.
At seventeen years many their fortunes seek,
But at fourscore it is too late a week ;
Yet fortune cannot recompense me better
Than to die well, and not my master's debtor.
Scene IV. T/te Forest of Arden
Enter Rosalind for Ganymede, Celia for Aliena,
and Touchstone
Rosalind. O Jupiter ! how weary are my spirits !
Touchstone. I care not for my spirits, if my legs
were not weary.
Rosalind. I could find in my heart to disgrace my
man's apparel and to cry like a woman, but I must
comfort the v/eaker vessel, as doublet and hose ought
to show itself courageous to petticoat ; therefore
courage, good Aliena !
Celia. I pray you, bear with me ; I cannot go no
further. lo
Touchstone. For my part, I had rather bear with
you than bear you ; yet I should bear no cross if I
did bear you, for I think you have no money in your
purse.
Rosalind. Well, this is the forest of Arden.
Touchstone, Ay, now am I in Arden ; the more
fool I ! when I was at home, I was in a better place :
but travellers must be content.
Rosalind. Ay, be so, good Touchstone. — Look
Scene IV] As You Like It 57
you who comes here ; a young man and an old in 20
solemn talk.
Enter CoRiN and Silvius
Corin. That is the way to make her scorn you still.
Silvius, O Corin, that thou knew'st how I do love
her !
Corin. I partly guess ; for I have lov'd ere now.
Silvius, No, Corin, being old, thou canst not guess,
Though in thy youth thou wast as true a lover
As ever sigh'd upon a midnight pillow ;
But if thy love were ever like to mine —
As sure I think did never man love so —
How many actions most ridiculous 30
Hast thou been drawn to by thy fantasy?
Corin. Into a thousand that I have forgotten.
Silvius. O, thou didst then ne'er love so heartily !
If thou remember'st not the slightest folly
That ever love did make thee run into,
Thou hast not lov'd ;
Or if thou hast not sat as I do now.
Wearing thy hearer in thy mistress' praise,
Thou hast not lov'd j
Or if thou hast not broke from company 40
x\bruptly, as my passion now makes me,
Thou hast not lov'd.
0 Phebe, Phebe, Phebe ! {^Exit.
Rosalind. Alas, poor shepherd ! searching of thy
wound,
1 have by hard adventure found mine own.
58 As You Like It [Act ii
Touchstone. And I mine. I remember when I was
in love I broke my sword upon a stone, and bid him
take that for coming a-night to Jane Smile ; and I
remember the kissing of her batlet and the cow's
dugs that her pretty chopt hands had milked ; and I 50
remember the wooing of a peascod instead of her,
from whom I took two cods, and, giving her them
again, said with weeping tears, *Wear these for my
sake.' We that are true lovers run into strange
capers ; but as all is mortal in nature, so is all nature
in love mortal in folly.
Rosalind. Thou speakest wiser than thou art ware of.
/ Touchstone. Nay, I shall ne'er be ware of mine
V own wit till I break my shins against it.
Rosalind. Jove, Jove ! this shepherd's passion 60
Is much upon my fashion.
Touchstone. And mine ; but it grows something
stale with me.
Celia. I pray you, one of you question yond man
If he for gold will give us any food ;
I faint almost to death.
Touchstone. Holla, you clown !
Rosalind. Peace, fool ; he 's not thy kinsman.
Covin. Who calls?
Touchstone. Your betters, sir.
Corin. Else are they very wretched.
Rosalind. Peace, I say. — Good even to you, friend.
Corin. And to you, gentle sir, and to you all. 70
Rosalind. I prithee, shepherd, if that love or gold
Scene IV] As You Like It 59
Can in this desert place buy entertainment,
Bring us where we may rest ourselves and feed.
Here 's a young maid with travel much oppress'd
And faints for succour.
Corin. Fair sir, I pity her,
And wish, for her sake more than for mine own,
My fortunes were more able to relieve her ;
But I am shepherd to another man
And do not shear the fleeces that I graze.
My master is of churlish disposition, 80
And little recks to find the way to heaven
By doing deeds of hospitality.
Besides, his cote, his flocks, and bounds of feed
Are now on sale, and at our sheepcote now,
By reason of his absence, there is nothing
That you will feed on ; but what is, come see.
And in my voice most welcome shall you be.
Rosalind. What is he that shall buy his flock and
pasture ?
Corin. That young swain that you saw here but
erewhile,
That little cares for buying any thing. 90
Rosalind. I pray thee, if it stand with honesty,
Buy thou the cottage, pasture, and the flock
And thou shalt have to pay for it of us.
Celia. And we will mend thy wages. I like this place.
And willingly could waste my time in it.
Corin. Assuredly the thing is to be sold.
Go with me ; if you like upon report
6o As You Like It [Act ii
The soil, the profit, and this kind of life,
I will your very faithful feeder be, 99
And buy it with your gold right suddenly. \_Exeunt.
Scene V. The Forest
Enter Amiens, Jaques, and otheis
SONG
Amiens. Under the greenwood tree
Who loves to lie with me,
And turii his merry note
Unto the sweet bi7^d''s throat,
Come hither, come hither, come hither ;
Here shall he see
No enemy
Bui winter and roiigh weather.
Jaques. More, more, I prithee, more !
A7niens. It will make you melancholy, Monsieur lo
Jaques.
Jaques. I thank it. More, I prithee, more ! I can
suck melancholy out of a song, as a weasel sucks eggs.
More, I prithee, more !
Amiens. My voice is ragged ; I know I cannot
please you.
Jaques. I do not desire you to please me ; I do
desire you to sing. Come, more; another stanzo —
call you 'em stanzos?
Scene V] As You Like It 6i
Amiens. What you will, Monsieur Jaques. 20
Jaques. Nay, I care not for their names ; they owe
me nothing. Will you sing?
Afniens. More at your request than to please myself.
Jaques. Well then, if ever I thank any man, I '11
thank you ; but that they call compliment is like the
encounter of two dog-apes, and when a man thanks
me heartily, methinks I have given him a penny and
he renders me the beggarly thanks. Come, sing ; and
you that will not, hold your tongues.
Amiens. Well, I '11 end the song. — Sirs, cover the 30
while ; the duke will drink under this tree. — He hath
been all this day to look you.
Jaques. And I have been all this day to avoid him.
He is too disputable for my company ; I think of as
many matters as he, but I give heaven thanks and
make no boast of them. Come, warble, come.
SONG
Who doth ambition shun
[All together here.
And loves to live /' the sun^
Seeking the food he eats
And pleas^ d with what he gets, 40
Come hither, come hither, come hither ;
Here shall he see
No enemy
But winter and rough weather.
62 As You Like It [Act ii
Jaques. I '11 give you a verse to this note that I made
yesterday in despite of my invention.
Amiens. And I '11 sing it.
Jaques. Thus it goes : —
If it do come to pass
That any man turn ass, . ' 50
Leaving his wealth and ease,
A stubboim will to please,
Ducdame, ducdame, due dame ;
Here shall he see
Gross fools as he,
An if he will come to me.
Amiens. What 's that ^ ducdame ? '
Jaques. 'T is a Greek invocation, to call fools into
a circle. I '11 go sleep, if I can ; if I cannot, I '11 rail
against all the firstborn of Egypt. 60
Amiens. And I '11 go seek the duke ; his banquet is
prepared. \_Exeunt severally.
Scene VI. The Forest
Enter Orlando and Adam
Adam. Dear master, I can go no further. O, I die
for food ! Here lie I down, and measure out my
grave. Farewell, kind master.
Orlando. Why, how now, Adam ! no greater heart
in thee? Live a little, comfort a little, cheer thyself
Scene VII] As You Like It 6^
a little. If this uncouth forest yield any thing savage,
I will either be food for it or bring it for food to thee.
Thy conceit is nearer death than thy powers. For my
sake be comfortable ; hold death awhile at the arm's
end. I will here be with thee presently, and if I bring lo
thee not something to eat, I will give thee leave to die ;
but if thou diest before I come, thou art a mocker of
my labour. Well said ! thou lookest cheerly, and I '11
be with thee quickly. — Yet thou liest in the bleak air ;
come, I will bear thee to some shelter, and thou shalt
not die for lack of a dinner if there live any thing in
this desert. Cheerly, good Adam ! \_Exeunt.
Scene VII. The Forest
A table set out. Enter Duke Senior, Amiens, and Lords
like Outlaws
Duke Senior, I think he be transform'd into a beast ;
For I can no where find him like a man.
Fii'st Lord. My lord, he is but even now gone hence ;
Here was he merry, hearing of a song.
Duke Senior. If he, compact of jars, grow musical,
We shall have shortly discord in the spheres.
Go seek him ; tell him I would speak with him.
Enter Jaques
First Lord. He saves my labour by his own approach.
Duke Senior. Why, how now, monsieur ! what a life
is this,
64 As You Like It [Act 11
That your poor friends must woo your company ! 10
What, you look merrily !
Jaques, A fool, a fool ! I met a fool i' the forest,
A motley fool ! — a miserable world ! —
As I do live by food, I met a fool,
Who laid him down and bask'd him in the sun,
And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms,
In good set terms, and yet a motley fool.
' Good morrow, fool,' quoth I. '■ No, sir,' quoth he,
' Call me not fool till heaven hath sent me fortune.'
And then he drew a dial from his poke, 20
And, looking on it with lack-lustre eye.
Says very wisely, ' It is ten o'clock ;
Thus we may see,' quoth he, ' how the world wags.
'T is but an hour ago since it was nine,
And after one hour more 't will be eleven ;
And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot ;
And thereby hangs a tale.' When I did hear
The motley fool thus moral on the time,
My lungs began to crow like chanticleer, 30
That fools should be so deep-contemplative,
And I did laugh sans intermission
An hour by his dial. — O noble fool !
A worthy fool ! Motley 's the only wear.
Duke Senior. What fool is this?
/agues. O worthy fool ! — One that hath been a courtier.
And says, if ladies be but young and fair.
They have the gift to know it ; and in his brain.
Scene VII] As You Like It 6^
Which is as dry as the remainder biscuit
After a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd 40
With observation, the whicli he vents
In mangled forms. — O that I were a fool !
I am ambitious for a motley coat.
Duke Senior. Thou shalt have one.
Jaques. It is my only suit ;
Provided that you weed your better judgments
Of all opinion that grows rank in them
That I am wise. I must have liberty
Withal, as large a charter as the wind, ^
To blow on whom I please, for so fools have ;
And they that are most galled v/ith my folly, 50
They most must laugh. And why, sir, must they so?
The ' why ' is plain as way to parish church.
He that a fool doth very wisely hit
Doth very foolishly, although he smart.
But to seem senseless of the bob ; if not.
The wise man's folly is anatomiz'd
Even by the squandering glances of the fool.
Invest me in my motley ; give me leave
To speak my mind, and I will through and through
Cleanse the foul body of the infected world, 60
If they will patiently receive my medicine.
Duke Senior. Fie on thee ! I can tell what thou
wouldst do.
Jaques. What, for a counter, would I do but good?
Duke Senior. Most mischievous foul sin, in chiding sin ;
For thou thyself hast been a libertine,
AS YOU LIKE IT — 5
66 As You Like It [Act ii
As sensual as the brutish sting itself,
And all the embossed sores and headed evils
That thou with license of free foot hast caught
Wouldst thou disgorge into the general world.
Jaques. Why, who cries out on pride, 70
That can therein tax any private party?
Doth it not flow as hugely as the sea,
Till that the wearer's very means do ebb?
What woman in the city do I name
When that I say the city woman bears
The cost of princes on unworthy shouldei's ?
Who can come in and say that I mean her,
When such a one as she such is her neighbour?
Or what is he of basest function
That says his bravery is not on my cost, 80
Thinking that I mean him, but therein suits
His folly to the mettle of my speech?
There then ; how then ? what then ? Let me see wherein
My tongue hath wrong'd him. If it do him right.
Then he hath wrong'd himself; if he be free,
Why then my taxing like a wild-goose flies,
Unclaim'd of any man. — But who comes here?
: . Enter Orlando, with his sword draivn
Orlando. Forbear, and eat no more.
Jaques. Why, I have eat
none yet.
Orlando. Nor shalt not, till necessity be serv'd.
Jaques. Of what kind should this cock come of? 90
Scene VII] As You Like It 67
Duke Senior. Art thou thus bolden'd, man, by thy
distress,
Or else a rude despiser of good manners,
That in civility thou seem'st so empty ?
Orlando. You touch'd my vein at first ; the thorny point
Of bare distress hath ta'en from me the show
Of smooth civility, yet am I inland bred
And know some nurture. But forbear, I say ;
He dies that touches any of this fruit
Till I and my affairs are answered.
Jaques. An you will not be answered with reason, I too
must die.
Duke Senior. What would you have ? Your gentleness
shall force.
More than your force move us to gentleness.
Orlando. I almost die for food, and let me have it.
Duke Senior. Sit down and feed, and welcome to our
table.
Orlando. Speak you so gently ? Pardon me, I pray you.
I thought that all things had been savage here,
And therefore put I on the countenance
Of stern commandment. But whate'er you are
That in this desert inaccessible, no
Under the shade of melancholy boughs,
Lose and neglect the creeping hours of time,
If ever you have look'd on better days.
If ever been where bells have knoll'd to church.
If ever sat at any good man's feast.
If ever from your eyelids wip'd a tear,
68 As You Like It [Act ii
And know what 't is to pity and be pitied,
Let gentleness my strong enforcement be ;
In the which hope I blush, and hide my sword.
Duke Senior. True is it that we have seen better days, 120
And have with holy bell been knoll'd to church.
And sat at good men's feasts, and wip'd our eyes
Of drops that sacred pity hath engender'd ;
And therefore sit you down in gentleness,
And take upon command what help we have
That to your wanting may be minister'd.
Orlando. Then but forbear your food a little while.
Whiles, like a doe, I go to find my fawn
And give it food. There is an old poor man.
Who after me hath many a weary step 130
Limp'd in pure love ; till he be first suffic'd,
Oppress'd with two weak evils, age and hunger,
I will not touch a bit.
Duke Senior. Go find him out.
And we will nothing waste till you return.
Orlando. I thank ye ; and be blest for your good
comfort ! \_Exit.
Duke Senior. Thou seest we are not all alone unhappy ;
This wide and universal theatre
Presents more woeful pageants than the scene
.VJ/lierein we play in.
Jdques. All the world 's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players j 140
They have their exits and their entrances.
And one man in his time plays many parts,
Scene VII] As You Like It 69
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms ;
Then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping hke snail
Unwillingly to school ; and then the lover.
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow ; then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, 150
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel.
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth ; and then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut.
Full of wise saws and modern instances ;
And so he plays his part.l The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd, a w^orld too wide 160
For his shrunk shank ; and his big manly voice.
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all.
That ends this strange eventful history.
Is second childishness and mere oblivion.
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing.
Entei' Orlando, with Adam
Duke Senior. Welcome. Set down your venerable
burden.
And let him feed.
yo As You Like It [Act ii
Orlando. I thank you most for him.
Adam. So had you need ;
I scarce can speak to thank you for myself. 170
Duke Senior. Welcome ; fall to. I will not trouble you
As yet, to question you about your fortunes. —
Give us some music ; and, good cousin, sing.
Song
Amiens. Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude ;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen.
Although thy breath be rude.
Hei^h-ho ! sing, heigh-ho ! unto the green holly; 180
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly ;
Then, heigh-ho, the holly /
This life is most jolly I
Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefits foi'got ;
Though thou the waters wai'p.
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remember' d not.
Heigh-ho ! sing, etc. 190
Duke Senior. If that you were the good Sir Rowland's
son.
Scene VII] As You Like It 71
As you have whisper'd faithfully you were,
And as mine eye doth his effigies witness
Most truly Hmn'd and living in your face,
Be truly welcome hither. I am the duke
That lov'd your father ; the residue of your fortune.
Go to my cave and tell me. — Good old man,
Thou art right welcome as thy master is. —
Support him by the arm. — Give me your hand,
And let me all your fortunes understand. [Exeunt. 200
\
l^
"Sweet Phebe, do not scorn me"
ACT III
Scene I. A Roo7n in the Palace
Enter Duke Frederick, Lords, and Oliver
Duke Frederick. Not see him since? Sir, sir, that
cannot be ;
But were I not the better part made mercy,
I should not seek an absent argument
72
Scene II J As You Like It 73
Of my revenge, thou present. But look to it ;
Find out thy brother, wheresoe'er he is.
Seek him with candle ; bring him dead or Hving
Within this twelvemonth, or turn thou no more
To seek a living in our territory.
Thy lands and all things that thou dost call thine
Worth seizure do we seize into our hands, 10
Till thou canst quit thee by thy brother's mouth
Of what we think against thee.
Oliver. O that your highness knew my heart in this !
I never lov'd my brother in my life^
Duke Frederick. More villain thou. — Well, push him
out of doors.
And let my officers of such a nature
Make an extent upon his house and lands.
Do this expediently, and turn him going. \_Exeunt.
Scene II. The Forest
Enter Orlando, with a paper
Oi'lando. Hang there, my verse, in witness of my love ;
And thou, thrice-crowned queen of night, survey
With thy chaste eye, from thy pale sphere above, f
Thy huntress' name that my full life doth sway.
O Rosahnd ! these trees shall be my books,
And in their barks my thoughts I '11 character,
That every eye which in this forest looks
Shall see thy virtue witness'd every where.
74 As You Like It [Act iii
Run, run, Orlando ; carve on every tree
The fair, the chaste, and unexpressive she. \_ExiL lo
Enter Corin and Touchstone
Corin. And how like you this shepherd's life, Mas-
/ ter Touchstone ?
/ Touchstone. Truly, shepherd, in respect of itself, it
V/ is a good life ; but in respect that it is a shepherd's
life, it is naught. In respect that it is solitary, I like
it very well ; but in respect that it is private, it is a
very vile hfe. Now, in respect it is in the fields, it
pleaseth me well ; but in respect it is not in the court,
it is tedious. As it is a spare hfe, look you, it fits
my humour well ; but as there is no more plenty in 20
it, it goes much against my stomach. Hast any phi-
losophy in thee, shepherd ?
Corin. No more but that I know the more one
sickens the worse at ease he is ; and that he that wants
money, means, and content is without three good
friends ; that the property of rain is to wet and fire to
burn ; that good pasture makes fat sheep, and that a
great cause of the night is lack of the sun ; that he that
hath learned no wit by nature nor art may complain
of good breeding, or comes of a very dull kindred. 30
Touchstone. Such a one is a natural philosopher,
-i ;- Wast ever in court, shepherd?
Corin. No, truly.
v^' Touchstone. Then thou art damned.
Corin. Nay, I hope, —
7^.
Scene II] As You Like It
Touchstone. Truly, thou art damned, like an ill-
roasted egg all on one side. I
Corin. For not being at court? Your reason.
Touchstone. Why, if thou never wast at court, thou
never savv'st good manners ; if thou never saw'st good 40
manners, then thy manners must be wicked ; and 1
wickedness is sin, and sin is damnation. Thou art in
a parlous state, shepherd.
Corin. Not a whit. Touchstone ; those that are good
manners at the court are as ridiculous in the country
as the behaviour of the country is most mockable at the
court. You told me you salute not at the court, but you
kiss your hands ; that courtesy would be uncleanly, if
courtiers were shepherds.
Toiichsto7ie. Instance, briefly ; come, instance. 50
Corin. Why, we are still handling our ewes, and
their fells, you know, are greasy.
Touchstone. Why, do not your courtier's hands
sweat? and is not the grease of a mutton as whole-
some as the sweat of a man ? Shallow, shallow ! A
better instance, I say ; come.
Corin. Besides, our hands are hard.
Touchstone. Your lips will feel them the sooner.
Shallow again ! A more sounder instance ; come.
. Corin. And they are often tarred over with the 60
surgery of our sheep ; and would you have us kiss
tar? The courtier's hands are perfumed with civet.
Touchstone. Most shallow man ! thou worms'-meat,
in respect of a good piece of flesh indeed ! Learn of
76 As You Like It [Act ill
the wise, and perpend ; civet is of a baser birth than
tar, the very uncleanly flux of a cat. Mend the in-
stance, shepherd.
Corin. You have too courtly a wit for me ; I '11 rest.
Touchstone. Wilt thou rest damned? God help
thee, shallow man ! God make incision in thee ! thou 70
art raw.
Corin. Sir, I am a true labourer : I earn that I eat,
get that I wear ; owe no man hate, envy no man's
happiness ; glad of other men's good, content with my
harm j and the greatest of my pride is to see my ewes
graze and my lambs suck.
Touchstone. That is another simple sin in you, to
bring the ewes and the rams together. If thou be'st
not damned for this, the devil himself will have no '
shepherds ; I cannot see else how thou shouldst 80
scape.
Corin. Here comes young Master Ganymede, my
new mistress's brother.
Enter Rosalind, reading a paper
Rosalind. From the east to western Ind,
No Jewel is like Rosalind.
Her wo7'th, being mounted on the wind,
Through all the world bears Rosalind.
All the pictures fairest liiC d
Are but black to Rosalind.
Let no face be kept in mind 90
But the fair of Rosalind.
Scene II] As You Like It 77
Touchstone. I '11 rhyme you so eight years together,
dinners and suppers and sleeping-hours excepted; it
is the right butter-women's rank to market.
Rosalind. Out, fool !
Touchstone. For a taste :
If a hart do lack a hind,
Let him seek out Rosalind.
If the cat will after kind,
So be sure will Rosalind. 100
Winter garments must be lin'd,
So must slender Rosalind.
They that reap must sheaf and bind ;
Then to cart with Rosalind.
Sweetest nut hath sourest rind,
Such a nut is Rosalind,
i He that sweetest rose will find
Must find love's prick and Rosahnd.
This is the very false gallop of verses ; why do you
infect yourself with them ? no
Rosalind. Peace, you dull fool ! I found them on
a tree.
Touchstone. Truly, the tree yields bad fruit.
Rosalind. I '11 graff it with you, and then I shall
graff it with a medlar ; then it will be the earliest
fruit i' the country, for you '11 be rotten ere you
be half ripe, and that 's the right virtue of the
medlar.
Touchstone. You have said j but whether wisely or
no, let the forest judge.
78 V As You Like It [Act iii
Enter Celia, with a writing
Rosalind. Peace ! 120
Here comes my sister, reading j stand aside.
Ce'ia. [Reads]
Why should this a desert be ?
For it is tmpeopled ? No;
Tongues I '11 hang on every tree,
That shall civil sayings show :
Some, how brief the life of man
Runs his erring pilgrimage,
That the stretching of a span
Buckles in his sum of age ;
Some, of violated vows 130
''Twixt the souls of fiend and friend.
But upon the fairest boughs,
Or at every sentence end.
Will I Rosalinda write ^
Teaching all that read to know
The quintessence of every sprite
Heaven would i?i little show.
Therefoi^e Heaven Nature chai^g'd
That one body should be filPd
With all gi'aces wide-enlarg' d ; 140
Nature p7^esently distilVd
Helen's cheek, but not her heart,
Cleopatra' s majesty,
Atalantd's better part.
Sad Lucr end's modesty.
Scene II] As You Like It . 79
Thus Rosalind of many parts
By heavenly synod was devised,
Of many faces J eyes, and hearts,
To have the touches dearest priz'd.
Heaven would that she these gifts should have, 150
And I to live and die her slave.
Rosalind. O most gentle Jupiter ! what tedious
homily of love have you wearied your parishioners
withal, and never cried, ' Have patience, good people !'
Celia. How now ! back, friends ! — Shepherd, go off
a little. — Go with him, sirrah. ^ ^^
Touchstone. Come, shepherd, let us make an hon-
ourable retreat ; though not with bag and baggage, yet
with scrip and scrippage.
\_Exeunt Corin and Touchstone.
Celia. Didst thou hear these verses ? 160
Rosalind. O, yes, I heard them all, and more too ;
for some of them had in them more feet than the verses
would bear.
Celia. That 's no matter ; the feet might bear the
verses.
Rosalind. Ay, but the feet were lame and could not
bear themselves without the verse, and therefore stood
lamely in the verse.
Celia. But didst thou hear without wondering how
thy name should be hanged and carved upon these 170
trees ?
Rosalind. I was seven of the nine days out of the
wonder before you came ; for look here what I found
8o As You Like It [Act iii
on a palm-tree. I was never so be-rhymed since Py-
thagoras' time, that I was an Irish rat, which I can
hardly remember.
Celia. Trow you who hath done this?
Rosalind. Is it a man?
Celia. And a chain, that you once wore, about his
neck? Change you colour? i8o
Rosalind. I prithee, who ?
Celia. O Lord, Lord ! It is a hard matter for friends
to meet ; but mountains may be removed with earth-
quakes and so encounter.
Rosalind. Nay, but who is it?
Celia. Is it possible?
Rosalind. Nay, I prithee now with most petitionary
vehemence, tell me who it is.
Celia. O wonderful, wonderful, and most wonder-
ful wonderful ! and yet again wonderful, and after that, 190
out of all whooping !
Rosalind. Good my complexion ! dost thou think,
though I am caparisoned like a man, I have a doublet
and hose in my disposition? One inch of delay more
is a South Sea of discovery. I prithee, tell me who is
it quickly, and speak apace. I would thou couldst stam-
mer, that thou mightst pour this concealed man out of
thy mouth, as wine comes out of a narrow- mouthed
bottle, either too much at once, or none at all. I prithee,
take the cork out of thy mouth, that I may drink thy 200
tidings. Is he of God's making ? What manner of man ?
Is his head worth a hat, or his chin worth a beard ?
Scene II] As You Like It 8 1
Celia. Nay, he hath but a little beard.
Rosalind. Why, God will send more, if the man will
be thankful ; let me stay the growth of his beard, if
thou delay me not the knowledge of his chin.
Celia. It is young Orlando, that tripped up the
wrestler's heels and your heart both in an instant.
Rosalind. Nay, but the devil take mocking ! speak
sad brow and true maid. 210
Celia. I' faith, coz, 't is he.
Rosalind. Orlando ?
Celia. Orlando.
Rosalind. Alas the day ! what shall I do with my
doublet and hose? — What did he when thou sawest
him? What said he? How looked he? Wherein
went he? What makes he here? Did he ask for me?
Where remains he ? How parted he with thee ? and
when shalt thou see him again? Answer me in one
word. 220
Celia. You must borrow me Gargantua's mouth first ;
't is a word too great for any mouth of this age's size.
To say ay and no to these particulars is more than to
yaswer in a catechism.
Rosalind. But doth he know that I am in this forest
And in man's apparel? Looks he as freshly as he did
the day he wrestled?
Celia. It is as easy to count atomies as to resolve
the propositions of a lover ; but take a taste of my find-
ing him, and relish it with good observance. I found 230
him under a tree, like a dropped acorn.
AS YOU LIKE IT — 6
82 As You Like It [Act iii
Rosalind. It may well be called Jove's tree, when it
drops forth such fruit.
Celia. Give me audience, good madam.
Rosalind. Proceed.
Celia. There lay he, stretched along, like a wounded
knight.
Rosalind. Though it be pity to see such a sight, it
well becomes the ground.
Celia. Cry * holla ' to thy tongue, I prithee ; it 240
curvets unseasonably. He was furnished like a
hunter.
Rosalind. O, ominous ! he comes to kill my heart.
Celia. I would sing my song without a burden;
thou bringest me out of tune.
Rosalind. Do you not know I am a woman? when
I think, I must speak. Sweet, say on.
Celia. You bring me out. — Soft ! comes he not
here?
Enter Orlando and Jaques
Rosalind. 'T is he ; slink by, and note him. 250
Jaques. I thank you for your company; but, good
faith, I had as lief have been myself alone.
Orlando. And so had I ; but yet, for fashion sake,
I thank you too for your society.
Jaques. God be wi' you ! let 's meet as little as we
can.
Orlando. I do desire we may be better strangers.
Jaques. I pray you, mar no more trees with writing
love-songs in their barks.
Scene II J • As You Like It 83
Orlando. I pray you, mar no moe of my verses 260
with reading them ill-favouredly.
Jaques. Rosalind is your love's name?
Orlando. Yes, just.
/agues. I do not like her name.
Orlando. There was no thought of pleasing you
when she was christened.
Jaques. What stature is she of ?
Orlando. Just as high as my heart.
Jaques. You are full of pretty answers. Have you
not been acquainted with goldsmiths' wives, and 270
conned them out of rings ?
Orlando. Not so ; but I answer you right painted
cloth, from whence you have studied your questions.
Jaques. You have a nimble wit ; I think 't was
made of Atalanta's heels. Will you sit down with me ?
and we two will rail against our mistress the world and
all our misery.
Orlando. I will chide no breather in the world but
myself, against whom I know most faults.
Jaques. The worst fault you have is to be in love. 280
Orlando. 'T is a fault I will not change for your
best virtue. I am weary of you.
Jaques. By my troth, I was seeking for a fool when
I found you.
Orlando. He is drowned in the brook; look but
in, and you shall see him.
Jaques. There I shall see mine own figure.
Orlando. Which I take to be either a fool or a cipher.
84 As You Like It [Act in
Jaques. I '11 tarry no longer with you ; farewell,
good Signior Love. 290
Orlando. I am glad of your departure ; adieu, good
Monsieur Melancholy. \_Exit Jaques.
Rosalind. \_Aside to Celia] I will speak to him like
a saucy lackey, and under that habit play the knave
with him. — Do you hear, forester ?
Orlando. Very well : what would you ?
Rosalind. I pray you, what is 't o'clock?
Orlando. You should ask me what time o' day;
there 's no clock in the forest.
Rosalind. Then there is no true lover in the forest ; 300
else sighing every minute and groaning every hour
would detect the lazy foot of Time as well as a clock.
Orlando. And why not the swift foot of Time? had
not that been as proper?
Rosalind. By no means, sir ; Time travels in divers
paces with divers persons. I '11 tell you who Time
ambles withal, who Time trots withal, who Time gal-
lops withal, and who he stands still withal.
Orlando. I prithee, who doth he trot withal?
Rosalind. Marry, he trots hard with a young maid 310
between the contract of her marriage and the day
it is solemnized : if the interim be but a se'nnight.
Time's pace is so hard that it seems the length of
seven year.
Orlando. Who ambles Time withal?
Rosalind. With a priest that lacks Latin, and a rich
man that hath not the gout ; for the one sleeps easily
Scene iij As You. Like It 85
because he cannot study, and the other lives merrily
because he feels no pain ; the one lacking the burden
of lean and wasteful learning, the other knowing no 320
burden of heavy tedious penury ; these Time ambles
withal.
Orlando. Who doth he gallop withal?
Rosalind. With a thief to the gallows ; for though
he go as softly as foot can fall, he thinks himself too
soon there.
Orlando. Who stays it still withal?
Rosalind. With lawyers in the vacation ; for they
sleep between term and term, and then they perceive
not how Time moves. 330
Orlando. Where dwell you, pretty youth ?
Rosalind. With this shepherdess, my sister ; here
in the skirts of the forest, like fringe upon a petticoat.
Oi'lando. Are you native of this place ?
Rosalind. As the cony that you see dwell where
she is kindled.
Orlando. Your accent is something finer than you
could purchase in so removed a dwelHng.
Rosalind. I have been tol4 so of many ; but indeed
an old religious uncle of mino-taught me to speak, who 340
was in his youth an inland man, one that knew court-
ship too well, for there he fell in love. I have heard
him read many lectures against it, and I thank God I
am not a woman to be touched with so many giddy
offences as he hath generally taxed their whole sex
withal.
86 As You Like It [Act ill
Orlando. Can you remember any of the principal
evils that he laid to the charge of women?
Rosalind. There were none principal ; they were all
like one another as half-pence are, every one fault seem- 350
ing monstrous till his fellow-fault came to match it.
Orlando. I prithee, recount some of them.
Rosalind. No, I will not cast away my physic but
on those that are sick. There is a man haunts the
forest, that abuses our young plants with carving Rosa-
lind on their barks ; hangs odes upon hawthorns and
elegies on brambles, all, forsooth, deifying the name of
Rosalind. If I could meet that fancy-monger, I would
give him some good counsel, for he seems to have the
quotidian of love upon him. 360
Orlando. I am he that is so love-shaked ; I pray
you, tell me your remedy.
Rosalind. There is none of my uncle's marks upon
you ; he taught me how to know a man in love, in
which cage of rushes I am sure you are not prisoner.
07'lando. What were his marks ?
Rosalind. A lean cheek, which you have not ; a
blue eye and sunken, which you have not ; an unques-
tionable spirit, which you have not ; a beard neglected,
which you have not; but I pardon you for that, for 370
simply your having in beard is a younger brother's rev-
enue. Then your hose should be ungartered, your
bonnet unhanded, your sleeve unbuttoned, your shoe
untied, and every thing about you demonstrating a
careless desolation. But you are no such man ; you
Scene II] As You Like It 87
are rather point-device in your accoutrements, as lov-
ing yourself than seeming the lover of any other.
Orlafido. Fair youth, I would I could make thee
believe I love.
Rosalind. Me beUeve it ! you may as soon make 380
her that you love beheve it, which, I warrant, she is
apter to do than to confess she does ; that is one of
the points in the which women still give the He to their
consciences. But, in good sooth, are you he that
hangs the verses on the trees, wherein Rosalind is so
admired ?
Orlando. I swear to thee, youth, by the white hand
of Rosalind, I am that he, that unfortunate he.
Rosalind. But are you so much in love as your
rhymes speak? 39©
Orlando. Neither rhyme nor reason can express
how much.
Rosalind. Love is merely a madness, and, I tell
you, deserves as well a dark house and a whip as mad-
men do; and the reason why they are not so punished
and cured is, that the lunacy is so ordinary that the
whippers are in love too. Yet I profess curing it by
counsel.
Orlando. Did you ever cure any so ?
Rosalind. Yes, one, and in this manner. He was 400
to imagine me his love, his mistress, and I set him
every day to woo me ; at which time would I, being
but a moonish youth, grieve, be effeminate, change-
able, longing and liking, proud, fantastical, apish, shal-
88 As You Like It [Act iii
low, inconstant, full of tears, full of smiles, for every
passion something and for no passion truly any thing,
as boys and women are for the most part cattle of this
colour; would now like him, now loathe him; then
entertain him, then forswear him ; now weep for him,
then spit at him ; that I drave my suitor from his mad 410
humour of love to a living humour of madness, which
was to forswear the full stream of the world and to live
in a nook merely monastic. And thus I cured him ;
and this way will I take upon me to wash your liver as
clean as a sound sheep's heart, that there shall not be
one spot of love in 't.
Orlando. I would not be cured, youth.
Rosalind. I would cure you, if you would but call me
Rosalind and come every day to my cote and woo me.
Orlando. Now, by the faith of my love, I will ; tell 420
me where it is.
Rosalind. Go with me to it and I '11 show it you,
and by the way you shall tell me where in the forest
you live. Will you go ?
Orlando. With all my heart, good youth.
Rosalind. Nay, you must call me Rosalind. — Come,
sister, will you go? \_Exeunt.
Scene III. The Forest
Enter Touchstone and Audrey ; Jaques behind
Totichstone. Come apace, good Audrey; I will
fetch up your goats, Audrey, And how, Audrey?
Scene III] As You Like It 89
am I the man yet? doth my simple feature content
you?
Audrey. Your features ! Lord warrant us ! what
features ?
Touchstone. I am here with thee and thy goats, as
the most capricious poet, honest Ovid, was among the
Goths.
Jaques. \^Aside\ O knowledge ill-inhabited, worse 10
than Jove in a thatched house !
Touchstone. When a man's verses cannot be under-
stood, nor a man's good wit seconded with the forward
child Understanding, it strikes a man more dead than '
a great reckoning in a httle room. Truly, I would the
gods had made thee poetical.
Audrey. I do not know what poetical is ; is it hon-
est in deed and word ? is it a true thing ?
Touchstone. No, truly, for the truest poetry is the
most feigning; and lovers are given to poetry, and 20
what they swear in poetry may be said as lovers they
do feign.
Audrey. Do you wish then that the gods had made
me poetical?
Touchstone. I do, truly, for thou swear'st to me thou
art honest ; now, if thou wert a poet, I might have
some hope thou didst feign.
Audrey. Would you not have me honest?
Touchstone. No, truly, unless thou wert hard-
favoured ; for honesty coupled to beauty is to have T)'^
honey a sauce to sugar.
90 As You Like It [Act in
Jaques. \_Aside\ A material fool !
Audrey. Well, I am not fair ; and therefore I pray
the gods make me honest !
Touchstotie. Truly, and to cast away honesty upon
a foul slut were to put good meat into an unclean
dish.
Audrey. I am not a slut, though I thank the gods I
am foul.
Touchstone. Well, praised be the gods for thy foul- 40
ness ! sluttishness may come hereafter. But be it as
it may be, I will marry thee, and to that end I have
been with Sir Oliver Martext, the vicar of the next vil-
lage, who hath promised to meet me in this place of
the forest and to couple us.
Jaques. \_Aside'\ I would fain see this meeting.
Audrey. Well, the gods give us joy !
Touchstone. Amen ! A man may, if he were of a
fearful heart, stagger in this attempt ; for here we have
no temple but the wood, no assembly but horn-beasts. 50
But what though ? Courage ! As horns are odious,
they are necessary. It is said, ' many a man knows no
end of his goods : ' right ! many a man has good horns,
and knows no end of them. Well, that is the dowry of
his wife ; 't is none of his own getting. Are horns
given to poor men alone ? No, no ; the noblest deer
hath them as huge as the rascal. Is the single man
therefore blessed? No; as a walled town is more
worthier than a village, so is the forehead of a married
man more honourable than the bare brow of a bach- 60
Scene III] As You Like It 91
elor ; and by how much defence is better than no skill,
by so much is a horn more precious than to want.
Here comes Sir Oliver. —
Enter Sir Oliver Martext
Sir Oliver Martext, you are well met \ will you dispatch
us here under this tree, or shall we go with you to your
chapel ?
Sir Oliver. Is there none here to give the woman?
Touchstone. I will not take her on gift of any man.
Sir Oliver. Truly, she must be given, or the mar-
riage is not lawful. 70
Jaques. \_Advancing] Proceed, proceed ; I '11 give
her.
Touchstone. Good even, good Master What-ye-
call-'t ; how do you, sir ? You are very well met ;
God 'ield you for your last company ! I am very glad
to see you ; — even a toy in hand here, sir ; — nay,
pray be covered.
Jaques. Will you be married, motley ?
Touchstone. As the ox hath his bow, sir, the horse
his curb, and the falcon her bells, so man hath his 80
desires ; and as pigeons bill, so wedlock would be
nibbling.
Jaques. And will you, being a man of your breed-
ing, be married under a bush like a beggar? Get
you to church, and have a good priest that can tell
you what marriage is. This fellow will but join you
together as they join wainscot ; then one of you will
92 As You Like It [Act iii
prove a shrunk panel and, like green timber, warp,
warp.
Touchstone. \^Aside\ I am not in the mind but I 90
were better to be married of him than of another ; for
he is not like to marry me well, and not being well
married, it will be a good excuse for me hereafter to
leave my wife.
Jaques. Go thou with me, and let me counsel thee.
Touchstone. Come, sweet Audrey. —
Farewell, good Master Oliver ; not —
' O sweet Oliver,
O brave Oliver,
Leave me not behind thee : ' 100
but —
' Wind away,
Begone, I say,
I will not to wedding with thee.^
\_Exeimt Jaques, Touchsto7te, and Audi^ey.
Sir Oliver. 'T is no matter ; ne'er a fantastical
knave of them all shall flout me out of my calHng.
\_Exit.
Scene IV. The Forest. Before a Cottage
Enter Rosalind and Celia
Rosalind. Never talk to me ; I will weep.
Celia. Do, I prithee ; but yet have the grace to
consider that tears do not become a man.
Rosalind. But have I not cause to weep?
Scene IV] As You Like It 93
Celia. As good cause as one would desire ; there-
fore weep.
Rosalind. His very hair is of the dissembhng
colour.
Celia. Something browner than Judas's ; marry, his
kisses are Judas's own children. 10
Rosalind. V faith, his hair is of a good colour.
Celia. An excellent colour ; your chestnut was ever
the only colour.
Rosalind. And his kissing is as full of sanctity as
the touch of holy bread.
Celia. He hath bought a pair of cast lips of Diana ;
a nun of winter's sisterhood kisses not more reli-
giously ; the very ice of chastity is in them.
Rosalind. But why did he swear he would come
this morning, and comes not? 20
Celia. Nay, certainly, there is no truth in him.
Rosalind. Do you think so?
Celia. Yes. I think he is not a pick-purse nor a
horse- stealer ; but for his verity in love, I do think him
as concave as a covered goblet or a worm-eaten nut.
Rosalind. Not true in love ?
Celia. Yes, when he is in ; but I think he is not in.
Rosalind. You have heard him swear downright he
was.
Celia. Was is not is ; besides, the oath of a lover 30
is no stronger than the word of a tapster ; they are
both the confirmer of false reckonings. He attends
here in the forest on the duke your father.
94 As You Like It [Act iii
Rosalind. I met the duke yesterday and had much
question with him. He asked me of what parentage
I was; I told him, of as good as he, so he laughed
and let me go. But what talk we of fathers, when
there is such a man as Orlando?
Celia. O, that 's a brave man ! he writes brave
verses, speaks brave words, swears brave oaths, and 40
breaks them bravely, quite traverse, athwart the heart
of his lover; as a puisny tilter, that spurs his horse
but on one side, breaks his staff like a noble goose.
But all 's brave that youth mounts and folly guides. —
Who comes here?
Enter Corin
Corin. Mistress and master, you have oft inquir'd
After the shepherd that complain'd of love,
Who you saw sitting by me on the turf.
Praising the proud disdainful shepherdess
That was his mistress.
Celia. Well, and what of him ? 50
Corin. If you will see a pageant truly play'd,
Between the pale complexion of true love
And the red glow of scorn and proud disdain.
Go hence a little and I shall conduct you,
If you will mark it.
Rosalind. O, come, let us remove ;
The sight of lovers feedeth those in love. —
Bring us to see this sight, and you shall say
I '11 prove a busy actor in their play. \_Exeunt,
Scene vj As You Like It 95
Scene V. Another Part of the Forest
Enter Silvius and Phebe
Silvias, Sweet Phebe, do not scorn me, do not, Phebe ;
Say that you love me not, but say not so
In bitterness. The common executioner.
Whose heart the accustom'd sight of death makes hard.
Falls not the axe upon the humbled neck
But first begs pardon ; will you sterner be
Than he that dies and lives by bloody drops ?
Enter Rosalind, Celia, and Corin* behind
Phebe. I would not be thy executioner ;
I fly thee, for I would not injure thee.
Thou tell'st me there is murther in mine eye ; 10
'T is pretty, sure, and very probable.
That eyes, that are the frail'st and softest things,
Who shut their coward gates on atomies,
Should be call'd tyrants, butchers, murtherers !
Now I do frown on thee with all my heart ;
And if mine eyes can wound, now let them kill thee.
Now counterfeit to swoon ; why, now fall down ;
Or if thou canst not, O, for shame, for shame.
Lie not, to say mine eyes are murtherers !
Now show the wound mine eye hath made in thee. 20
Scratch thee but with a pin, and there remains
Some scar of it ; lean but upon a rush,
The cicatrice and capable impressure
96 As You Like It [Act iii
Thy palm some moment keeps ; but now mine eyes,
Which I have darted at thee, hurt thee not,
Nor, I am sure, there is no force in eyes
That can do hurt.
Silviics. O dear Phebe,
If ever — as that ever may be near —
You meet in some fresh cheek the power of fancy,
Then shall you know the wounds invisible 30
That love's keen arrows make.
Phebe. But till that time
Come not thou near me ; and when that time comes.
Afflict me with thy mocks, pity me not.
As till that time I shall not pity thee.
Rosalind. \_Advancing\ And why, I pray you? Who
might be your mother,
That you insult, exult, and all at once.
Over the wretched ? What though you have no beauty, —
As, by my faith, I see no more in you
Than without candle may go dark to bed, —
Must you be therefore proud and pitiless ? 40
Why, what means this? Why do you look on me?
I see no more in you than in the ordinary
Of nature's sale-work. — 'Od's my little Hfe,
I think she means to tangle my eyes too ! —
No,, faith, proud mistress, hope not after it ;
'T is not your inky brows, your black silk hair.
Your bugle eyeballs, nor your cheek of cream,
That can entarae my spirits to your worship. —
You foolish shepherd, wherefore do you follow her,
Scene V] As You Like It 97
Like foggy south puffing with wind and rain ? 50
You are a thousand times a properer man
Than she a woman ; 't is such fools as you
That makes the world full of ill-favour'd children.
'T is not her glass, but you, that flatters her ;
And out of you she sees herself more proper
Than any of her lineaments can show her. —
But, mistress, know yourself; down on your knees,
And thank heaven, fasting, for a good man's love,
For I must tell you friendly in your ear.
Sell when you can, you are not for all markets. 60
Cry the man mercy, love him, take his offer ;
Foul is most foul, being foul to be a scoffer. —
So take her to thee, shepherd ; fare you well.
Phebe. Sweet youth, I pray you, chide a year to-
gether ;
I had rather hear you chide than this man woo.
Rosalind. He 's fallen in love with your /oulness,
and she '11 fall in love with my anger. — If it be soj as
fest as she answers thee with frowning looks, I '11 sauce
her with bitter words. — Why look you so upon me ?
Phebe. For no ill will I bear you. 70
Rosalind. I pray you, do not fall in love with me.
For I am falser than vows made in wine ;
Besides, I like you not. — If you will know my house,
'T is at the tuft of olives here hard by. —
Will you go, sister? — Shepherd, ply her hard. —
Come, sister. — Shepherdess, look on him better.
And be not proud ; though all the world could see,
AS YOU LIKE IT — 7
98 As You Like It [Act iii
None could be so abus'd in sight as he. —
Come, to our flock.
\_Exeunt Rosalind, Celia, and Corin.
Phebe. Dead shepherd, now I find thy saw of might, 80
* Who ever lov'd that lov'd not at first sight ? '
Silvius. Sweet Phebe, —
Phebe. Ha ! what say'st thou, Silvius ?
Silvius. Sweet Phebe, pity me.
Phebe. Why, I am sorry for thee, gentle Silvius.
Silvius. Wherever sorrow is, relief would be ;
If you do sorrow at my grief in love.
By giving love your sorrow and my grief
Were both extermin'd.
Phebe. Thou hast my love; is not that neighbourly?
Silvius. I would have you.
Phebe. Why, that were covetousness. 90
Silvius, the time was that I hated thee.
And yet it is not that I bear thee love ;
But since that thou canst talk of love so well.
Thy company, which erst was irksome to me,
I will endure, and I '11 employ thee too.
But do not look for further recompense
Than thine own gladness that thou art employ'd.
Silvius. So holy and so perfect is my love.
And I in such a poverty of grace,
That I shall think it a most plenteous crop 100
To glean the broken ears after the man
That the main harvest reaps ; loose now and then
A scatter' d smile, and that I '11 live upon.
Scene V] As You Like It 99
Phebe. Know'st thou the youth that spoke to me ere-
while ?
Silvius. Not very well, but I have met him oft j
And he hath bought the cottage and the bounds
That the old carlot once was master of.
Phebe. Think not I love him, though I ask for him.
'T is but a peevish boy ; yet he talks well.
But what care I for words? yet words do well no
^When he that speaks them pleases those that hear.
It is a pretty youth — not very pretty ;
But, sure, he 's proud, and yet his pride becomes him.
He '11 make a proper man ; the best thing in him
Is his complexion ; and faster than his tongue
Did make offence his eye did heal it up.
He is not very tall ; yet for his years he 's tall.
His leg is but so-so ; and yet 't is well.
There was a pretty redness in his lip,
A little riper and more lusty red 120
Than that mix'd in his cheek; 't was just the difference
Betwixt the constant red and mingled damask.
There be some women, Silvius, had they mark'd him
In parcels as I did, would have gone near
To fall in love with him ; but, for my part,
I love him not nor hate him not, and yet
I have more cause to hate him than to love him ;
For what had he to do to chide at me ?
He said mine eyes were black and my hair black,
And, now I am remember'd, scorn'd at me. 130
I marvel why I answer' d not again ;
LofC.^
lOO As You Like It [Act iii
But that 's all one, omittance is no quittance.
I '11 write to him a very taunting letter,
And thou shalt bear it ; wilt thou, Silvius ?
Silvius. Phebe, with all my heart.
Phebe. I '11 write it straight ;
The matter 's in my head and in my heart.
I will be bitter with him and passing short.
Go with me, Silvius. \_Exeunt.
"Be of Good Cheer, Youth"
ACT IV
Scene I. The Forest
Enter Rosalind, Celia, and Jaques
Jaques. I prithee, pretty youth, let me be better
acquainted with thee.
Rosalind. They say you are a melancholy fellow.
Jaques. I am so ; I do love it better than laughing.
lOI
I02 As You Like It [Act iv
Rosalind. Those that are in extremity of either are
abominable fellows, and betray themselves to every
modern censure worse than drunkards.
Jaques, Why, 't is good to be sad and say nothing.
Rosalind. Why then, 't is good to be a post.
Jaques. I have neither the scholar's melancholy, lo
which is emulation ; nor the musician's, which is fan-
tastical ; nor the courtier's, which is proud ; nor the
soldier's, which is ambitious ; nor the lawyer's, which
is politic ; nor the lady's, which is nice ; nor the lover's,
which is all these ; but it is a melancholy of mine own,
compounded of many simples, extracted from many ob-
jects, and indeed the sundry contemplation of my trav-
els, in which my often rumination wraps me in a most
humorous sadness.
Rosalind. A traveller ! By my faith, you have great 20
reason to be sad. I fear you have sold your own lands
to see other men's ; then, to have seen much and to
have nothing is to have rich eyes and poor hands.
Jaques. Yes, I have gained my experience.
Rosalind. And your experience makes you sad ! I
had rather have a fool to make me merry than experi-
ence to make me sad ; and to travel for it too !
Enter Orlando
Orlando. Good day and happiness, dear Rosalind !
Jaques. Nay, then God be wi' you, an you talk in
blank verse. \_Exit. 30
Rosalind. Farewell, Monsieur Traveller. Look you
Scene I] As You Like It 103
lisp and wear strange suits, disable all the benefits of
your own country, be out of love with your nativity,
and almost chide God for making you that countenance
you are, or I will scarce think you have swam in a
gondola. — Why, how now, Orlando ! where have you
been all this while ? You a lover ! An you serve me
such another trick, never come in my sight more.
Orlando. My fair Rosalind, I come within an hour
of my promise. 40
Rosalind. Break an hour's promise in love ! He
that will divide a minute into a thousand parts, and
break but a part of the thousandth part of a minute
in the affairs of love, it may be said of him that Cupid
hath clapped him o' the shoulder, but I '11 warrant him
heart-whole.
Orlando. Pardon me, dear Rosalind.
Rosalind. Nay, an you be so tardy, come no more
in my sight \ I had as lief be wooed of a snail.
Orlando. Of a snail? 50
Rosalind. Ay, of a snail; for though he comes
slowly, he carries his house on his head, — a better
jointure, I think, than you can make a woman ; besides,
he brings his destiny with him.
Orlando. What 's that ?
Rosalind. Why, horns, which such as you are fain
to be beholding to your wives for ; but he comes armed
in his fortune and prevents the slander of his wife.
Orlando. Virtue is no horn-maker, and my Rosalind
is virtuous. 60
I04 As You Like It [Act iv
Rosalind. And I am your Rosalind.
Celia. It pleases him to call you so, but he hath a
Rosalind of a better leer than you.
Rosalind. Come, woo me, woo me, for now I am in
a holiday humour and like enough to consent. What
would you say to me now, an I were your very very
Rosalind ?
Orlando. I would kiss before I spoke.
Rosalind. Nay, you were better speak first, and
when you were gravelled for lack of matter you might 70
take occasion to kiss. Very good orators, when they
are out, they will spit; and for lovers lacking — God
warn us ! — matter, the cleanliest shift is to kiss.
Orlando. How if the kiss be denied ?
Rosalind. Then she puts you to entreaty, and there
begins new matter.
Orlando. Who could be out^ being before his
beloved mistress?
Rosalind. Marry, that should you, if I were your
mistress, or I should think my honesty ranker than 80
my wit.
Orlando. What, of my suit?
Rosalind. Not out of your apparel, and yet out of
your suit. Am not I your Rosalind?
Orlando. I take some joy to say you are, because I
would be talking of her.
Rosalind. Well, in her person I say I will not have
you.
Orlando. Then in mine own person I die.
Scene I] As You Like It 105
Rosalind. No, faith, die by attorney. The poor 90
world is ahnost six thousand years old, and in all this
time there was not any man died in his own person,
videlicet, in a love-cause. Troilus had his brains
dashed out with a Grecian club ; yet he did what he
could to die before, and he is one of the patterns of
love. Leander, he would have lived many a fair year,
though Hero had turned nun, if it had not been for a
hot midsummer night ; for, good youth, he went but
forth to wash hita in the Hellespont, and being taken
with the cramp was drowned, and the foolish chroni- 100
clers of that age found it was — Hero of Sestos. But
these are all lies ; men have died from time to time
and worms have eaten them, but not for love.
Orlando. I would not have my right Rosalind of
this mind, for, I protest, her frown might kill me.
Rosalind. By this hand, it will not kill a fly. But
come, now I will be your Rosahnd in a more coming-
on disposition, and ask me what you will, I will grant
it.
Orlando. Then love me, Rosalind. no
Rosalind. Yes, faith, will I, Fridays and Saturdays
and all.
Orlando. And wilt thou have me ?
Rosalind. Ay, and twenty such.
Orlando. What sayest thou?
Rosalind. Are you not good?
Orlando. I hope so.
Rosalind. Why then, can one desire too much of a
io6 As You Like It [Act iv
good thing? — Come, sister, you shall be the priest and
marry us. — Give me your hand, Orlando. — What 120
do you say, sister?
Orlando. Pray thee, marry us.
Celia. I cannot say the words.
Rosalind. You must begin, ' Will you, Orlando — '
Celia. Go to. — Will you, Orlando, have to wife
this Rosalind?
Orlando. I will.
Rosalind. Ay, but when?
Orlando. Why now ; as fast as she can marry us.
Rosalind. Then you must say, ^ I take thee, Rosa- 130
lind, for wife.'
Orlando. I take thee, Rosalind, for wife.
Rosalind. I might ask you for your commission,
but I do take thee, Orlando, for my husband. There 's
a girl goes before the priest, and certainly a woman's
thought runs before her actions.
Orlando. So do all thoughts ; they are winged.
Rosalind. Now tell me how long you would have
her after you have possessed her.
Orlando. For ever and a day. 140
Rosalind. Say a day, without the ever. No, no,
Orlando : men are April when they woo, December
when they wed ;( maids are May when they are maids,
but the sky changes when they are wives. I will be
more jealous of thee than a Barbary cock-pigeon over
his hen, more clamorous than a parrot against rain,
more new-fangled than an ape, more giddy in my
Scene I] As You Like It 107
desires than a monkey. I will weep for nothing,
like Diana in the fountain, and I will do that when
you are disposed to be merry; I will laugh like a 150
hyen, and that when thou art inclined to sleep.
Orlando. But will my Rosalind do so ?
Rosalind. By my life, she will do as I do.
Orlando. Q. but she is wise.
Rosalind. Or else she could not have the wit to do
this ; the wiser, the waywarder/' Make the doors upon
a woman's wit, and it will out at the casement ; shut
that, and 't will out at the key-hole ; stop that, 't will
fly with the smoke out at the chimney.
Orlando. A man that had a wife with such a wit, 160
he might say, * Wit, whither wilt ? *
Rosalind. Nay, you might keep that check for it
till you met your wife's wit going to your neighbour's
bed.
Orlando. And what wit could wit have to excuse
that?
Rosalind. Marry, to say she came to seek you
there. You shall never take her without her answer,
unless you take her without her tongue. O, that
woman that cannot make her fault her husband's 170
occasion, let her never nurse her child herself, for
she will breed it like a fool !
Orlando. For these two hours, Rosalind, I will
leave thee.
Rosalind. Alas ! dear love, I cannot lack thee two
hours.
io8 As You Like It [Act iv
Orlando. I must attend the duke at dinner ; by
two o'clock I will be with thee again.
Rosalind. Ay, go your ways, go your ways, I knew
what you would prove ; my friends told me as much, i8o
and I thought no less. That flattering tongue of yours
won me ; 't is but one cast away, and so, come, death !
— Two o'clock is your hour ?
Orlando. Ay, sweet Rosalind.
Rosalind. By my troth, and in good earnest, and so
God mend me, and by all pretty oaths that are not dan-
gerous, if you break one jot of your promise or come
one minute behind your hour, I will think you the most
pathetical break-promise, and the most hollow lover,
and the most unworthy of her you call Rosalind, that 190
may be chosen out of the gross band of the unfaithful ;
therefore beware my censure and keep your promise.
Of^lando. With no less rehgion than if thou wert in-
deed my Rosalind ; so adieu.
Rosalind. Well, Time is the old justice that examines
all such offenders, and let Time try ; adieu.
\_Exit Orlando.
Celia. You have simply misused our sex in your love-
prate j we must have your doublet and hose plucked
over your head, and show the world what the bird hath
done to her own nest. 200
Rosalind. O coz, coz, coz, my pretty little coz, that
thou didst know how many fathom deep I am in love !
But it cannot be sounded ; my affection hath an un-
known bottom, like the bay of Portugal.
Scene II] As You Like It 109
Celia, Or rather, bottomless, that as fast as you pour
affection in, it runs out.
Rosalind. No, that same wicked bastard of Venus
that was begot of thought, conceived of spleen, and born
of madness, that blind rascally boy that abuses every
one's eyes because his own are out, let him be judge 2jo
how deep I am in love. I '11 tell thee, AHena, I cannot
be out of the sight of Orlando ; I '11 go find a shadow,
and sigh till he come.
Celia. And I '11 sleep. \_Exeunt.
Scene II. The Forest
Enter Jaques, Lords, and Foresters
Jaques. Which is he that killed the deer ?
A Lord. Sir, it was I.
Jaques. Let 's present him to the duke, like a Roman
conqueror, and it would do well to set the deer's horns
upon his head, for a branch of victory. Have you no
song, forester, for this purpose?
Forester. Yes, sir.
Jaques. Sing it ; 't is no matter how it be in tune,
so it make noise enough.
SONG
Forester. What shall he have that kilV d the deer ? 10
His leather skin and horns to wear.
Then sing him home.
[The rest shall bear this burthen.
\
no As You Like It [Act iv
Take thou no scorn to wear the horn ;
It was a C7'est ere thou wast born ;
Thy father'' s father wore it f
And thy father bore it.
The horn, the horn, the lusty horn
Is not a thing to laugh to scorn. [Exeunt.
Scene III. The Forest
Enter Rosalind and Celia
Rosalind. How say you now? Is it not past two
o'clock? and here much Orlando !
Celia. I warrant you, with pure love and troubled
brain he hath ta'en his bow and arrows and is gone
forth — to sleep. Look, who comes here.
Enter Silvius
Silvius. My errand is to you, fair youth ;
My gentle Phebe bid me give you this.
I know not the contents ; but, as I guess
By the stern brow and waspish action
Which she did use as she was writing of it, lo
It bears an angry tenour. Pardon me,
I am but as a guiltless messenger.
Rosalind. Patience herself would startle at this letter
And play the swaggerer ; bear this, bear all.
She says I am not fair, that I lack manners ;
She calls me proud, and that she could not love me,
Were man as rare as phoenix. 'Od's my will !
Her love is not the hare that I do hunt ;
Scene III] As You Like It ill
Why writes she so to me? — Well, shepherd, well,
This is a letter of your own device. 20
Silvius. No, I protest, I know not the contents ;
Phebe did write it.
Rosalind. Come, come, you are a fool,
And turn'd into the extremity of love.
I saw her hand ; she has a leathern hand,
A freestone- colour'd hand. I verily did think
That her old gloves were on, but 't was her hands.
She has a huswife's hand ; but that 's no matter.
I say she never did invent this letter ;
This is a man's invention and his hand.
Silvius. Sure, it is hers. 30
Rosalind. Why, 't is a boisterous and a cruel style,
A style for challengers ; why, she defies me.
Like Turk to Christian. Woman's gentle brain
Could not drop forth such giant-rude invention,
Such Ethiope words, blacker in their effect
Than in their countenance. Will you hear the letter?
Silvius. So please you, for I never heard it yet,
Yet heard too much of Phebe's cruelty.
Rosalind. She Phebes me ; mark how the tyrant writes.
[Reads] Art thou god to shepherd ticrn^d, 40
That a maiden^ s heart hath burn'd? —
Can a woman rail thus ?
Silvius. Call you this railing?
Rosalind. [Reads]
Why, thy godhead laid apart,
Warr'st thou with a woman's heart? —
112 As You Like It [Act iv
Did you ever hear such railing? —
Whiles the eye of man did woo me,
That could do no vengeance to me. —
Meaning me a beast. —
If the scorn of your bright eyne 50
Have power to raise such love in mine,
Alack, in me what strange effect
Would they work in mild aspect/
Whiles you chid me, I did love ;
How then might your prayers ??iove !
He that b7'ings this love to thee
Little knows this love in me ;
And by him seal up thy mind :
Whether that thy youth and kind
Will the faithful offer take 60
Of me and all that I can 7nake,
Or else by him my love deny.
And then I 7/ study how to die.
Silvius. Call you this chiding?
Celia. Alas, poor shepherd !
Rosalind. Do you pity him? no, he deserves no
pity. — Wilt thou love such a woman ? What, to make
thee an instrument and play false strains upon thee !
not to be endured ! Well, go your way to her, for I
see love hath made thee a tame snake, and say this to 70
her : that if she love me, I charge her to love thee ; if
she will not, I will never have her unless thou entreat
for her. If you be a true lover, hence, and not a
word ; for here comes more company. \_Exit Silvius.
Scene III] As You Like It 113
Enter Oliver
Oliver. Good morrow, fair ones ; pray you, if you know
Where in the purHeus of this forest stands
A sheepcote fenc'd about with ohve trees?
Celia, West of this place down in the neighbour
bottom ;
The rank of osiers by the murmuring stream
Left on your right hand brings you to the place. 80
But at this hour the house doth keep itself;
There 's none within.
Oliver. If that an eye may profit by a tongue,
Then should I know you by description ;
Such garments and such years : ' The boy is fair.
Of female favour, and bestows himself
Like a ripe sister ; the woman low
And browner than her brother.' Are not you
The owners of the house I did enquire for ?
Celia. It is no boast, being ask'd, to say we are. 90
Oliver. Orlando doth commend him to you both,
And to that youth he calls his Rosalind
He sends this bloody napkin. — Are you he?
Rosalind. I am ; what must we understand by this ?
Oliver. Some of my shame ; if you will know of me
What man I am, and how, and why, and where
This handkercher was stain'd.
Celia. I pray you, tell it.
Oliver. When last the young Orlando parted from you,
He left a promise to return again
AS YOU LIKE IT — 8
114 ^s You Like It [Act IV
Within an hour, and pacing through the forest, loo f
Chewing the food of sweet and bitter fancy,
Lo, what befell ! He threw his eye aside.
And mark what object did present itself!
Under an oak, whose boughs were moss'd with age
And high top bald with dry antiquity,
A wretched ragged man, o'ergrown with hair.
Lay sleeping on his back ; about his neck
A green and gilded snake had wreath'd itself.
Who with her head nimble in threats approach'd
The opening of his mouth. But suddenly, no
Seeing Orlando, it unlink'd itself.
And with indented glides did slip away
Into a bush, under which bush's shade
A lioness, with udders all drawn dry.
Lay couching, head on ground, with catlike watch.
When that the sleeping man should stir ; for 't is
The royal disposition of that beast
To prey on nothing that doth seem as dead.
This seen, Orlando did approach the man.
And found it was his brother, his elder brother. 120
Celia. O, I have heard him speak of that same brother ;
And he did render him the most unnatural
That liv'd amongst men.
' Oliver, And well he might so do.
For well I know he was unnatural.
Rosalind. But, to Orlando ; did he leave him there,
Food to the suck'd and hungry lioness ?
Oliver. Twice did he turn his back and purpos'd so ;
ene III] As You Like It 115
it kindness, nobler ever than revenge,
vnd nature, stronger than his just occasion,
Made him give battle to the lioness, 130
^ho quickly fell before him, in which hurtling
rom miserable slumber I awak'd.
Celia. Are you his brother?
Rosalind. Was 't you he rescued?
Celia. Was 't you that did so oft contrive to kill him ?
Oliver, 'T was I, but 't is not I ; I do not shame
To tell you what I was, since my conversion
,, So sweetly tastes, being the thing I am.
' Rosalind. But, for the bloody napkin?
Oliver. By and by.
When from the first to last betwixt us two
Tears our recountments had most kindly bath'd, 140
As how I came into that desert place, —
In brief, he led me to the gentle duke,
Who gave me fresh array and entertainment,
Committing me unto my brother's love,
Who led me instantly unto his cave,
There stripp'd himself, and here upon his arm
i The lioness had torn Some flesh away,
\ Which all this while had bled ; and now he fainted,
l'\nd cried, in fainting, upon Rosalind.
/Brief, I recover'd him, bound up his wound ; 150
J\ And, after some small space, being strong at heart,
'^e sent me hither, stranger as I am,
"o tell this story, that you might excuse
lis broken promise, and to give this napkin
ii6 As You Like It [Act iv
Dyed in his blood unto the shepherd youth
That he in sport doth call his Rosalind. [^Rosalind swoons.
Celia. Why, how now, Ganymede ! sweet Ganymede !
Oliver. Many will swoon when they do look on blood.
Celia. There is more in it. — Cousin Ganymede !
Oliver. Look, he recovers. i6o
Rosalind. I would I were at home.
Celia. We '11 lead you thither. —
I pray you, will you take him by the arm?
Oliver. Be of good cheer, youth; you a man ! you
lack a man's heart.
Rosalind. I do so, I confess it. Ah, sirrah, a body
would think this was well counterfeited ! I pray you,
tell your brother how well I counterfeited. — Heigh-ho !
Oliver. This was not counterfeit ; there is too great
testimony in your complexion that it was a passion of
earnest. 170
Rosalind. Counterfeit, I assure you.
Oliver. Well then, take a good heart and counter-
feit to be a man.
Rosalind. So I do j but, i' faith, I should have been
a woman by right.
Celia. Come, you look paler and paler ; pray you,
draw homewards. — Good sir, go with us.
Oliver. That will I, for I must bear answer back
How you excuse my brother, Rosalind.
Rosalind. I shall devise something ; but, I pray 180
you, commend my counterfeiting to him. — Will you
go? \_Exeunt.
v^, ^
S '■'■J <,-f \ <>A.^ _ "l<; >
" Here comes a fair of very strange beasts "
ACT V
Scene I. The Forest
Enter Touchstone and Audrey
Touchstone. We shall find a time, Audrey ; pa-
tience, gentle Audrey.
Audrey. Faith, the priest was good enough, for all
the old gentleman's saying.
Touchstone. A most wicked Sir Oliver, Audrey, a
most vile Martext. But, Audrey, there is a youth here
in the forest lays claim to you.
117
ii8 As You Like It [Act v
Audrey. Ay, I know who 't is : he hath no interest
in me in the world. Here comes the man you mean.
Touchstone. It is meat and drink to me to see a lo
clown. By my troth, we that have good wits have
much to answer for ; we shall be flouting, we cannot
hold.
Enter William
William. Good even, Audrey.
Audrey. God ye good even, William.
William. And good even to you, sir.
Touchstone. Good even, gentle friend. Cover thy
head, cover thy head ; nay, prithee, be covered.
How old are you, friend?
William. Five and twenty, sir. 20
Touchstone. A ripe age. Is thy name William ?
William. William, sir.
Touchstone. A fair name. Wast born i' the forest
here?
William. Ay, sir, I thank God.
Touchstone. Thank God ! — a good answer. Art
rich?
William. Faith, sir, so-so.
Touchstone. So-so is good, very good, very excel-
lent good ; and yet it is not, it is but so-so. Art thou 30
wise ?
William. Ay, sir, I have a pretty wit.
Touchstone. Why, thou sayest well. I do now re-
member a saying, * The fool doth think he is wise, but
Scene I] As You Like It 119
the wise man knows himself to be a fool.' The
heathen philosopher, when he had a desire to eat a :
grape, would open his lips when he put it into his 1/
mouth; meaning thereby that grapes were made to
eat and lips to open. You do love this maid ?
William. I do, sir. 40
Touchstone. Give me your hand. Art thou learned ?
William. No, sir.
Touchstone. Then learn this of me : to have, is to
have, for it is a figure in rhetoric that drink, being
poured out of a cup into a glass, by filling the one
doth empty the other ; for all your writers do consent
that ipse is he. Now, you are not ipse, for I am he.
William. Which he, sir? '
Touchstone. He, sir, that must marry this woman. \J
Therefore, you clown, abandon, — which is in the vul- 50
gar leave, — the society, — which in the boorish is
company, — of this female, — which in the common is
woman ; which together is, abandon the society of
this female, or, clown, thou perishest ; or, to thy bet-
ter understanding, diest ; or, to wit, I kill thee, make
thee away, translate thy life into death, thy liberty
into bondage. I will deal in poison with thee, or in
bastinado, or in steel ; I will bandy with thee in fac-
tion, I will o'errun thee with policy, I will kill thee
a hundred and fifty ways; therefore tremble, and 60
depart.
Audrey. Do, good William.
William. God rest you merry, sir. \_Exit.
I20 As You Like It [Act v
Enter Corin
Corin. Our master and mistress seeks you ; come,
away, away !
Touchstone. Trip, Audrey ! trip, Audrey ! — I at-
tend, I attend. \_Exeunt.
Scene II. The Forest
Enter Orlando and Oliver
Orlando. Is 't possible that on so little acquaint-
ance you should like her? that but seeing you should
love her? and loving woo? and, wooing, she should
grant? and will you persever to enjoy her?
Oliver. Neither call the giddiness of it in question,
the poverty of her, the small acquaintance, my sudden
wooing, nor her sudden consenting ; but say with me, I
love Aliena ; say with her that she loves me ; consent
with both that we may enjoy each other. It shall be
to your good ; for ray father's house and all the rev- lo
enue that was old Sir Rowland's will I estate upon
you, and here live and die a shepherd.
Orlando. You have my consent. Let your wed-
ding be to-morrow ; thither will I invite the duke and
all 's contented followers. Go and prepare Aliena;
for look you, here comes my Rosalind.
Enter Rosalind
Rosalind. God save you, brother.
Oliver. And you, fair sister. \_Exit.
Scene II] As You Like It 121
Rosalind. O, my dear Orlando, how it grieves me
to see thee wear thy heart in a scarf ! 20
Oidando. It is my arm.
Rosalind. I thought thy heart had been wounded
with the claws of a lion.
07'lando. Wounded it is, but with the eyes of a lady.
Rosalind. Did your brother tell you how I counter-
feited to swoon when he showed me your handkercher?
Orlando. Ay, and greater wonders than that.
Rosalind. O, I know where you are. Nay, 't is
true ; there was never any thing so sudden but the
fight of two rams and Caesar's thrasonical brag of ' I 30
came, saw, and overcame.' For your brother and my
sister no sooner met but they looked, no sooner
looked but they loved, no sooner loved but they
sighed, no sooner sighed than they asked one another
the reason, no sooner knew the reason but they sought
the remedy ; and in these degrees have they made a
pair of stairs to marriage which they will climb incon-
tinent. They are in the very wrath of love, and they
will together ; clubs cannot part them.
07da7ido. They shall be married to-morrow, and 1 40
will bid the duke to the nuptial. But, O, how bitter a
thing it is to look into happiness through another
man's eyes ! By so much the more shall I to-morrow
be at the height of heart-heaviness, by how much I shall
think my brother happy in having what he wishes for.
Rosalind. Why then, to-morrow I cannot serve
your turn for Rosalind?
122 As You Like It [Act v
Orlando, I can live no longer by thinking.
Rosalind. I will weary you then no longer with idle
talking. Know of me then, for now I speak to some 50
purpose, that I know you are a gentleman of good
conceit. I speak not this that you should bear a good
opinion of my knowledge, insomuch I say I know you
are ; neither do I labour for a greater esteem than
may in some little measure draw a belief from you, to
do yourself good and not to grace me. Believe then,
if you please, that I can do strange things ; I have,
since I was three year old, conversed with a magician,
most profound in his art and yet not damnable. If
you do love Rosalind so near the heart as your gesture 60
cries it out, when your brother marries Aliena, shall
you marry her. I know into what straits of fortune
she is driven ; and it is not impossible to me, if it ap-
pear not inconvenient to you, to set her before your
eyes to-morrow, human as she is, and without any
danger.
Orlando. Speakest thou in sober meanings ?
Rosalind. By my life, I do, which I tender dearly,
though I say I am a magician. Therefore, put you in
your best array, bid your friends ; for if you will be 70
married to-morrow, you shall, and to Rosahnd, if you
will.
Enter Silvius and Phebe
Look, here comes a lover of mine and a lover of hers.
Phebe. Youth, you have done me much ungentleness,
To show the letter that I writ to you.
Scene II] As You Like It 123
Rosalind. I care not if I have ; it is my study
To seem despiteful and ungentle to you.
You are there follow'd by a faithful shepherd ;
Look upon him, love him ; he worships you. 79
Phebe. Good shepherd, tell this youth what 't is to love.
Silvius. It is to be all made of sighs and tears ;
And so am I for Phebe.
Phebe. And I for Ganymede.
Orlando. And I for Rosahnd.
Rosalind. And I for no woman.
Silvius. It is to be all made of faith and service ;
And so am I for Phebe.
Phebe. And I for Ganymede.
Orlando. And I for Rosahnd.
Rosalind. And I for no woman. 90
Silvius. It is to be all made of fantasy.
All made of passion, and all made of wishes,
All adoration, duty, and observance.
All humbleness, all patience, and impatience,
All purity, all trial, all obedience ;
And so am I for Phebe.
Phebe. And so am I for Ganymede.
Orlando. And so am I for Rosahnd.
Rosalind. And so am I for no woman.
Phebe. If this be so, why blame you me to love you ? 100
Silvius. If this be so, why blame you me to love
you?
Orlando. If this be so, why blame you me to love
you?
124 As You Like It [Act v
Rosalind. Why do you speak too, ' Why blame you
me to love you ? '
Orlando. To her that is not here, nor doth not hear.
Rosalind. Pray you, no more of this ; 't is like the
howling of Irish wolves against the moon. — \To Sil-
vitis'] I will help you, if I can. — \_To Phebe\ I would no
love you, if I could. To-morrow meet me all together.
— \To Phebe\ I will marry you, if ever I marry woman,
and I '11 be married to-morrow. — \To Orla7ido'\ I will
satisfy you, if ever I satisfied man, and you shall be
married to-morrow. — \_To Silvius'] I will content you,
if what pleases you contents you, and you shall be
married to-morrow. — \_To Orla?ido~\ As you love
Rosahnd, meet; — \_To Silviics~\ as you love Phebe,
meet ; — and as I love no woman, I '11 meet. So fare
you well ; I have left you commands. 120
Silvius. I '11 not fail, if I live.
Fhede. Nor I.
Orlando. Nor I. \_Exeunt
Scene III. The Forest
Enter Touchstone and Audrey
Touchstone. To-morrow is the joyful day, Audrey ;
to-morrow will we be married.
Audrey. I do desire it with all my heart j and I
hope it is no dishonest desire to desire to be a woman
of the world. Here come two of the banished duke's
pages.
Scene III] As You Like It 125
Enter two Pages
1:
First Page. Well met, honest gentlemen. ^
Touchstone. By my troth, well met. Come, sit, sit,
and a song.
Second Page. We are for you ; sit i' the middle. 10
First Page. Shall we clap into 't roundly, without
hawking or spitting or saying we are hoarse, which are
the only prologues to a bad voice ?
Second Page. 1 I' faith, i' faith ; and both in a tune,
like two gypsies on a horse. .^
SONG
// was a lover and his lass,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino.
That o''er the green corn-field did pass
In spring tifne, the only pretty ring time,
When birds do sing, hey ding a ding, ding; 20
Sweet lovers love the spring.
Between the acres of the rye,
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
These pretty country folks would lie,
In spiHng time, etc.
This carol they began that hour.
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino,
How that a life was but a flower
In spring time, etc.
126 As You Like It [Act v
And therefore take the prese?tt time, 30
With a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino ;
For love is crowned with the prime
In spjHng time, etc.
Touchstone. Truly, young gentlemen, though there
was no great matter in the ditty, yet the note was very
untuneable.
First Page. You are deceived, sir; we kept time,
we lost not our time.
Totuhstone. By my troth, yes ; I count it but time
lost to hear such a foolish song. God be wi' you, and 40
God mend your voices ! — Come, Audrey. \_Exeunt.
Scene IV. The Forest
Enter Duke Senior, Amiens, Jaques, Orlando,
Oliver, and Celia
Duke Senior. Dost thou believe, Orlando, that the
boy
Can do all this that he hath promised?
Orlando. I sometimes do believe, and sometimes
do not ;
As those that fear they hope, and know they fear.
Enter Rosalind, Silvius, and Phebe
Rosalind. Patience once more, whiles our compact
is urg'd. —
Scene IV] As You Like It 127
You say, if I bring in your Rosalind,
You will bestow her on Orlando here ?
Duke Senior. That would I, had I kingdoms to give
with her.
Rosalind. And you say you will have her when I
bring her?
Orlando. That would I, were I of all kingdoms king. 10
Rosalind. You say you '11 marry me, if I be willing ?
Phebe. That will I, should I die the hour after.
Rosalind. But if you do refuse to marry me,
You '11 give yourself to this most faithful shepherd ?
Phebe. So is the bargain.
Rosalind. You say that yo«^*ll have Phebe, if she will ?
Silvius. Though to have hdr and death were both one
thing.
Rosalind. I have promis'd to make all this matter
even.
Keep you your word, O duke, to give your daughter ; —
You yours, Orlando, to receive his daughter — 20
Keep your word, Phebe, that you '11 marry me,
Or else refusing me, to wed this shepherd. —
Keep your word, Silvius, that you '11 marry her,
If she refuse me ; — and from hence I go,
To make these doubts all even.
\_Exeunt Rosalind and Celia.
Duke Senior. I do remember in this shepherd boy
Some lively touches of my daughter's favour.
Orlando. My lord, the first time that I ever saw him
Methought he was a brother to your daughter ;
128 As You Like It [Act v
But, my good lord, this boy is forest-born, 30
And hath been tutor'd in the rudiments
Of many desperate studies by his uncle,
Whom he reports to be a great magician,
Obscured in the circle of this forest.
Enter Touchstone and Audrey
Jaqiies. There is, sure, another flood toward, and
these couples are coming to the ark ! Here comes a
pair of very strange beasts, which in all tongues are
called fools.
Touchstone. Salutation and greeting to you all !
Jaques. Good my lord, bid him welcome. This is 40
the motley-minded gentleman that I have so often met
in the forest ; he hath been a courtier, he swears.
Toicchstone. If any man doubt that, let him put
me to my purgation. I have trod a measure ; I have
flattered a lady ; I have been politic with my friend,
smooth with mine enemy ; I have undone three tailors ;
I have had four quarrels, and like to have fought one.
Jaques. And how was that ta'en up ?
Touchstone. Faith, we met, and found the quarrel
was upon the seventh cause. 50
Jaques, How seventh cause? — Good my lord, like
this fellow.
Duke Senior. I like him very well.
Touchstone. God 'ield you, sir ! I desire you of the
like. I press in here, sir, amongst the rest of the
country copulatives, to swear and forswear, according
Scene IV] As You Like It 129
as marriage binds and blood breaks. A poor virgin,
sir, an ill-favoured thing, sir, but mine own ^ a poor
humour of mine, sir, to take that that no man else will.
Rich honesty dwells like a miser, sir, in a poor house, 60
as your pearl in your foul oyster.
Duke Senior. By my faith, he is very swift and
sententious.
Touchstone. According to the fool's bolt, sir, and
such dulcet diseases.
Jaqices. But, for the seventh cause ; how did you
find the quarrel on the seventh cause?
Touchstone. Upon a lie seven times removed— -
bear your body more seeming, Audrey — as thus, sir.,
I did dislike the cut of a certain courtier's beard. He 70
sent me word, if I said his beard was not cut well, he
was in the mind it was ; this is called the Retort
Courteous. If I sent him word again it was not well
cut, he would send me word he cut it to please him-
self; this is called the Quip Modest. If again, it was
not well cut, he disabled my judgment ; this is called
the Reply Churlish. If again, it was not well cut, he
would answer, I spake not true ; this is called the
Reproof Valiant. If again, it was not well cut, he
would say I lied ; this is called the Countercheck 80
Quarrelsome : and so to the Lie Circumstantial and
the Lie Direct.
Jaques. And how oft did you say his beard was not
well cut?
Touchstone. I durst go no further than the Lie Cir-
AS YOU LIKE IT — 9
130 As You Like It [Act v
cumstantial, nor he durst not give me the Lie Direct ;
and so we measured swords and parted.
Jaques. Can you nominate in order now the degrees
of the lie ?
Touchstone. O sir, we quarrel in print, by the book, 90
as you have books for good manners. I will name you
the degrees : the first, the Retort Courteous ; the sec-
ond, the Quip Modest ; the third, the Reply Churhsh ;
the fourth, the Reproof Valiant -, the fifth, the Coun-
tercheck Quarrelsome ; the sixth, the Lie with Circum-
stance ; the seventh, the Lie Direct. All these you
may avoid but the Lie Direct ; and you may avoid that
too, with an ' If I knew when seven justices could
not take up a quarrel, but when the parties were met
themselves, one of them thought but of an 'If,' as, 'If 100
you said so, then I s^id so ; ' and they shook hands
and swore brothers. ( Your /If is the only peace-
maker ; much virtue in ' If.'
Jaques. Is not this a rare fellow, my lord ? he 's as
good at any thing, and yet a fool.
Duke Senior. He uses his folly like a stalking-horse,
and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit.
Enter Hymen, leading Rosalind in her proper habit, and
Celia. Still Music
Hymen. Then is there mirth in heaven,
When earthly things made even
Atone together. no
Scene IV] As You Like It 131
Good duke, receive thy daughter ;
Hymen from heaven brought her,
Yea, brought her hither.
That thou mightst join her hand with his
Whose heart within her bosom is.
Rosalind. \To Duke'] To you I give myself, for I am
yours. —
\_To Orlando'] To you I give myself, for I am yours.
Duke Senior. If there be truth in sight, you are my
daughter.
Orlando. If there be truth in sight, you are my
Rosalind.
Phebe. If sight and shape be true, 120
Why then, my love adieu !
Rosalind. I '11 have no father, if you be not he ; —
I '11 have no husband, if you be not he ; —
Nor ne'er wed woman, if you be not she.
Hymen. Peace, ho ! I bar confusion.
'T is I must make conclusion
Of these most strange events ;
Here 's eight that must take hands
To join in Hymen's bands.
If truth holds true contents. 130
You and you no cross shall part ; —
You and you are heart in heart ; —
You to his love must accord.
Or have a woman to your lord j —
You and you are sure together.
As the winter to foul weather. —
132 As You Like It [Act v
Whiles a wedlock-hymn we sing,
Feed yourselves with questioning,
That reason wonder may diminish,
How thus we met, and these things finish. 140
SONG
Wedding is great Juno'' s crown ;
O blessed bond of board and bed f
^T is Hymen peoples every town ;
High wedlock then be honoured I
Honour, high honour and renown,
To Hymen, god of every town !
Duke Senior. O my dear niece, welcome thou art to
me !
Even daughter, welcome, in no less degree.
Phebe. I will not eat my word, now thou art mine ;
Thy faith my fancy to thee doth combine. 150
Enter Jaques de Boys
Jaques de Boys. Let me have audience for a word
or two.
I am the second son of old Sir Rowland,
That bring these tidings to this fair assembly :
Duke Frederick, hearing how that every day
Men of great worth resorted to this forest,
Address'd a mighty power, which were on foot.
In his own conduct, purposely to take
His brother here and put him to the sword.
Scene IV] As You Like It 133
And to the skirts of this wild wood he came,
Where meeting with an old religious man, 160
After some question with him, was converted
Both from his enterprise and from the world ;
His crown bequeathing to his banish 'd brother.
And all their lands restor'd to them again
That were with him exil'd. This to be true,
I do engage my life.
Duke Senior. Welcome, young man;
Thou offer'st fairly to thy brothers' wedding :
To one his lands withheld, and to the other
A land itself at large, a potent dukedom. —
First, in this forest let us do those ends 170
That here were well begun and well begot ;
And after, every of this happy number
That have endur'd shrewd days and nights with us
Shall share the good of our returned fortune.
According to the measure of their states.
Meantime, forget this new-fallen dignity.
And fall into our rustic revelry. —
Play, music ! — And you, brides and bridegrooms all.
With measure heap'd in joy, to the measures fall.
Jaques. Sir, by your patience. If I heard you rightly, 180
The duke hath put on a rehgious life.
And thrown into neglect the pompous court?
Jaques de Boys. He hath.
Jaques. To him will I ; out of these convertites
There is much matter to be heard and learn' d. —
\_To Duke'\ You to your former honour I bequeath;
134 As You Like It [Act v
Your patience and your virtue well deserves it —
[To Or/ando'] You to a love that your true faith doth
merit. —
'[To Oliver] You to your land and love and great allies. —
\_To Silvius~\ You to a long and well-deserved bed. 190
[Zb Touchstone'] And you to wrangling; for thy loving
voyage
Is but for two months victuall'd. — So, to your pleasures ;
I am for other than for dancing measures.
T)uke Senior. Stay, Jaques, stay.
Jaques. To see no pastime I ; what you would have
I '11 stay to know at your abandon'd cave. [Exit.
Duke Senior. Proceed, proceed ; we will begin these
rites,
As we do trust they '11 end, in true delights. [A dance.
Epilogue
Rosalind. It is not the fashion to see the lady the
epilogue, but it is no more unhandsome than to see
the lord the prologue. If it be true that good wine
needs no bush, 't is true that a good play needs no
epilogue ; yet to good wine they do use good bushes,
and good plays prove the better by the help of good
epilogues. What a case am I in then, that am neither
a good epilogue nor cannot insinuate with you in the
behalf of a good play ! I am not furnished Hke a beg-
gar, therefore to beg will not become me ; my way is 10
to conjure you, and I '11 begin with the women. I
charge you, O women, for the love you bear to men.
Scene IV] As You Like It 135
to like as much of this play as please you ; and I
charge you, O men, for the love you bear to women,
— as I perceive by your simpering, none of you hates
them, — that between you and the women the play
may please. If I were a woman I would kiss as many
of you as had beards that pleased me, complexions
that liked me, and breaths that I defied not ; and, I
am sure, as many as have good beards or good faces 20
or sweet breaths will, for my kind offer, when I make
curtsy, bid me farewell.
\_Exeunt.
NOTES
137
NOTES
Introduction
The Metre of the Play. — It should be understood at the
outset that metre, or the mechanism of verse, is something alto-
gether distinct from the music of verse. The one is matter of rule,
the other of taste and feeling. Music is not an absolute necessity
of verse; the metrical form is a necessity, being that which consti-
tutes the verse.
The plays of Shakespeare (with the exception of rhymed pas-
sages, and of occasional songs and interludes) are all in unrhymed
or blank verse ; and the normal form of this blank verse is illus-
trated by the first line of verse in the present play (i. 2. 225) : "I
would thou hadst been son to some man else " ; or line 230 just
below : " But fare thee well ; thou art a gallant youth."
Either line, it will be seen, consists of ten syllables, with the even
syllables (2d, 4th, 6th, 8th, and loth) accented, the odd syllables
(ist, 3d, etc) being unaccented. Theoretically, it is made up of
139
140 Notes
five feei oi two syllables each, with the accent on the second sylla-
ble. Such a foot is called an iambus (plural, iambuses, or the
Latin iambi), and the form of verse is called iambic.
This fundamental law of Shakespeare's verse is subject to certain
modifications, the most important of which are as follows : —
1. After the tenth syllable an unaccented syllable (or even two
such syllables) may be added, forming what is sometimes called a
female line ; as in i. 2. 231 : "I would thou haclst told me of an-
other father." The rhythm is complete with the first syllable of
father, the second being an extra eleventh syllable. In line 259 :
*' I cannot speak to her, yet she urg'd conference," we have two
extra syllables, the rhythm being complete with the first syllable of
conference.
2. The accent in any part of the verse may be shifted from an
even to an odd syllable ; as in lines 241, 243 : —
" Let us go thank him and encourage him ;
******
Sticks me at heart. — Sir, you have well deserv'd."
In both lines the accent is shifted from the second to the first syl-
lable. This change occurs very rarely in the tenth syllable, and
seldom in the fourth ; and it is not allowable in two successive ac-
cented syllables.
3. An extra unaccented syllable may occur in any part of the
line ; as in lines 231 and 242. In 231 the word hadsl is superflu-
ous (S. might have written "thou'dst"), and in 242 the second
syllable of envious.
4. Any unaccented syllable occurring in an even place immedi-
ately before or after an even syllable which is properly accented, is
reckoned as accented for the purposes of the verse ; as, for instance,
in lines 226 and 227. In 226 the third syllable of honourable, and
in 227 the last syllable of enemy, are metrically equivalent to ac-
cented syllables.
5. In many instances in Shakespeare words must be lengthened
in order to fill out the rhythm : —
Notes 141
(a) Iri a large class of words in which e or i is followed by an-
other vowel, the e or i is made a separate syllable ; as ocean, opin-
ion, soldier, patience, partial, marriage, etc. For instance, the line
(i. 3. 77), " Her very silence and her patience," appears to have only
nine syllables, but patie7ice (see note on the word) is a trisyllable.
In i. 3. 66 and 127, Celia is a trisyllable ; condition is a quadrisyl-
lable in i. 2. 265 ; action is a trisyllable in iv. 3. 9, etc. This
lengthening occurs most frequently at the end of the line. In ii. 7.
41 of this play (" With observation, the which he vents") we find
one of the rare exceptions to this statement, observation having five
syllables.
((5) Many monosyllables ending in r, re, rs, res, preceded by a
long vowel or diphthong, are often made disyllables ; 2iS fare, fear,
dear, fire, hair, hotir, your, etc. In M. of V. iii. 2. 304 : "Shall
lose a hair through Bassanio's fault," hair is a dissyllable. If the
word is repeated in a verse, it is often both monosyllable and dissyl-
lable ; as in M. of V. iii. 2. 20 ; " And so, though yours, not yours.
Prove it so," where e\ih.QX yours (preferably the first) is a dissylla-
ble, the other being a monosyllable. Iny. C. iii. I. 172 : "As fire
drives out fire, so pity, pity," the first yzr^ is a dissyllable.
(f) Words containing / or r, preceded by another consonant, are
often pronounced as if a vowel came between the consonants ; as
in this play, ii. 2. 13 : "The parts and graces of the wrestler"
[wrest(e)ler] ; also in T. of S. ii. i. 158 : " While she did call me
rascal fiddler" [fidd(e)ler] ; All's Well, iii. 5. 43 •• "If you will
tarry, holy pilgrim" [pilg(e)rim] ; C. of E. v. I. 360 : "These are
the parents of these children " (childeren, the original form of the
word) ; W. T. iv. 4. 76 ; "Grace and remembrance [rememb(e)-
rance] be to you both ! " etc.
{d) Monosyllabic exclamatiojis {ay, O, yea, nay, hail, etc.) and
monosyllables otherwise emphasized are similarly lengthened; also
certain longer words; as commandement in M. of V. iv. i. 451 ;
safety (trisyllable) in Ham. i. 3. 21 ; business (trisyllable, as origi-
nally pronounced) in/. C. iv. i. 22: "To groan and sweat under
142 Notes
the business " (so in several other passage^ ; and other words
mentioned in the notes to the plays in which they occur.
6. Words are also contracted for metrical reasons, like plurals
and possessives ending in a sibilant, as balance, horse (for horses and
horse's'), princess, sense, marriage (plural and possessive), image,
etc. So sentence (see note on iii. 2. 133), many contracted super-
latives {fraiVst in iii. 5. 12, stern' st, secret' st, near'st, kind'st, etc.),
and other words mentioned in the notes on this and other plays.
7. The accent of words is also varied in many instances for met-
rical reasons. Thus we find both reveitue and revenue in the first
scene of the M. N. D. (lines 6 and 158), dbscure and obscure,
pursue 3.nd pursue, distinct and distinct, exile and exile (see on ii.
I. i), cdnfine and confine (see on ii. i. 24), etc.
These instances of variable accent must not be confounded with
those in which words were uniformly accented differently in the
time of Shakespeare; like aspect (see on iv. 3. 53), impdrtune^ per-
sever (nevex persevere), perseverance, rheumatic, etc.
8. Alexandrines, or verses of twelve syllables, with six accents,
occur here and there in all the plays. They must not be confounded
with female lines with two extra syllables (see on i above) or with
other lines in which two extra unaccented syllables may occur.
9. Incomplete verses, of one or more syllables, are scattered
through the plays. See i. 2. 290, ii. 3. 15, ii. 7. 11, iii. 5. 138, etc.
10. Doggerel measure is used in the very earliest comedies
(Z. L. L. and C. of E. in particular) in the mouths of comic char-
acters, but nowhere else in those plays, and never anywhere after
1598 or 1599. There is none in the present play.
IT. Rhyme occurs frequently in the early plays, but diminishes
with comparative regularity from that period until the latest. Thus,
in Z. Z. Z. there are about iioo rhyming verses (about one-third
of the whole number), in the M. N. D. about 900, in Rich. II.
and R. and J. about 500 each, while in Cor. and A. and C. there are
only about 40 each, in the Temp, only two, and in the W. T. none
at all, except in the chorus introducing act iv. Songs, interludes,
Notes 143
and other matter not in ten-syllable measure are not included in
this enumeration. In the present play, out of some 1000 ten-
syllable verses, about a hundred are in rhyme. Nearly two-thirds
of the play is in prose.
Alternate rhymes are found only in the plays written before 1599
or 1600. In this play they occur only in iii. 2. 1-8. In M. of V.
we find four lines, and twenty in Much Ado, but none at all in sub-
sequent plays.
Rkyjfied cotiplets, or " rhyme-tags," are often found at the end of
scenes ; as in 8 out of the 22 scenes in the present play. In Ham.,
14 out of 20 scenes, and in Macb., 21 out of 28, have such "tags";
but in the latest plays they are not so frequent. The Temp., for
instance, has but one, and the W. T. none. *■
12. In this edition of Shakespeare, the final -ed of past tenses
and participles is printed -Vwhen the word is to be pronounced in
the ordinary way ; as in pleas' d, line 228, and lov^d, line 236, of the
second scene. But when the metre requires that the -ed be made a
separate syllable, the e is retained ; as in marked, ii. i. 41, where
the word is a dissyllable. The only variation from this rule is in
verbs like cry, die, etc., the -ed of which is very rarely, if ever, made
a separate syllable.
Shakespeare's Use of Verse and Prose in the Plays. —
This is a subject to which the critics have given very little atten-
tion, but it is an interesting study. In the present play we find
scenes entirely in verse or in prose, and others in which the two are
mixed. In general, we may say that verse is used for what is dis-
tinctly poetical, and prose for what is not poetical. The distinction,
however, is not so clearly marked in the earlier as in the later
plays. The second scene of the M. of V., for instance, is in prose,
because Portia and Nerissa are talking about the suitors in a familiar
and playful way; but in the T. G, of V., where Julia and Lucetta
are discussing the suitors of the former in much the same fashion,
the scene is in verse. Dowden, commenting on Jiich. II., re-
marks : " Had Shakespeare written the play a few years later, we
144 Notes
may be certain that the gardener and his servants (iii. 4) would
not have uttered stately speeches in verse, but vi^ould have spoken
homely prose, and that humor vi^ould have mingled w^ith the
pathos of the scene. The same remark may be made with refer-
ence to the subsequent scene (v. 5) in which his groom visits the
dethroned king in the Tower." Comic characters and those in low-
life generally speak in prose in the later plays, as Dowden inti-
mates, but in the very earliest ones doggerel verse is much used
instead. See on 10 above.
The change from prose to verse is well illustrated in the third
scene of the M. of V. It begins with plain prosaic talk about a
business matter; but when Antonio enters, it rises at once to the
higher level of poetry. The sight of Antonio reminds Shylock of
his hatred of the Merchant, and the passion expresses itself in verse,
the vernacular tongue of poetry. We have a similar change in
the first scene of /. C, where, after the quibbling " chaff " of the
mechanics about their trades, the mention of Pompey reminds t].ie
Tribune of their plebeian fickleness, and his scorn and indignation
flame out in most eloquent verse.
The reasons for the choice of prose or verse are not always so
clear as in these instances. We are seldom puzzled to explain the
prose, but not unfrequently we meet with verse where we might
expect prose. As Professor Corson remarks (^Introduction to Shake-
speare, 1889), " Shakespeare adopted verse as the general tenor of
his language, and therefore expressed much in verse that is within
the capabilities of prose ; in other words, his verse constantly
encroaches upon the domain of prose, but his prose can never be
said to encroach upon the domain of verse." If in rare instances
we think we find exceptions to this latter statement, and prose
actually seems to usurp the place of verse, I believe that careful
study of the passage will prove the supposed exception to be appar-
ent rather than real.
Some Books for Teachers and Students. — A few out of
the many books that might be commended to the teacher and the
Notes 145
critical student are the following: Halliwell-Phillipps's Outlines
of the Life of Shakespeare (7th ed. 1887); Sidney Lee's Life of
Shakespeare (1898; for ordinary students the abridged ed. of 1899
is preferable); Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon (3d ed. 1902);
Littledale's ed. of Dyce's Glossary (1902) ; Bartlett's Concordance
to Shakespeare (1895); Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar (1873);
Furness's "New Variorum" edition of As You Like It (1890, en-
cyclopaedic and exhaustive); Dowden's Shakspere : His Mind and
Art (American ed. 1881); Hudson's Life, Art, and Characters of
Shakespeare (revised ed. 1882); Mrs. Jameson's Characteristics of
Wovien (several eds., some with the title, Shakespeare Heroines^ ;
Ten Brink's Five Lectures on Shakespeare (1895); Boas's Shake-
speare arid His Predecessors (1895); Dyer's Folk-lore of Shake-
speare (American ed. 1884); Gervinus's Shakespeare Commentaries
(Bunnett's translation, 1875); '^ox^v^ox'Cc^^ Shakespeare's Knowl-
edge of the Bible (3d ed. 1880); Elson's Shakespeare in Music
(1901).
Some of the above books will be useful to all readers who are
interested in special subjects or in general criticism of Shakespeare.
Among those which are better suited to the needs of ordinary
readers and students, the following may be mentioned : Phin's
Cyclopcedia and Glossary of Shakespeare (1902, more compact and
cheaper than Dyce); Dowden's Shakspere Primer (1877, small
but invaluable); Rolfe's Shakespeare the Boy (1896, treating of
the home and school life, the games and sports, the manners,
customs, and folk-lore of the poet's time) ; Guerber's Myths of
Greece and Rome (for young students who may need information
on mythological allusions not explained in the notes).
Black's Judith Shakespeare (1884, a novel, but a careful study
of the scene and the time) is a book that I always commend to
young people, and their elders will also enjoy it. The Lambs'
Tales from Shakespeare is a classic for beginners in the study of
the dramatist ; and in Rolfe's ed. the plan of the authors is carried
out in the Notes by copious illustrative quotations from the plays.
AS YOU LIKE IT — lO
146 Notes
Mrs. Cowden-Clarke's Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines (several
eds.) will particularly interest girls ; and both girls and boys will
find Bennett's Master Skylark (1897) ^^^ Imogen Clark's Will
Shakespeare's Little Lad {\%()^^ equally entertaining and instructive.
H. Snowden Ward's Shakespeare' s Town and Times (1896) and
John Leyland's Shakespeare Country (1900) are copiously illus-
trated books (yet inexpensive) which may be particularly com-
mended for school libraries.
Abbreviations in the Notes. — The abbreviations of the
names of Shakespeare's plays will be readily understood ; as
T. N. for Twelfth Night, Cor. for Coriolanus, 3 Lien. VL. for
The Third Part of King ILenry the Sixth, etc. P. P. refers to
The Passionate Pilgrim; V. and A. to Venus and Adonis ; L. C.
to Lover's Complaint ; and Sonn. to the Sonnets.
Other abbreviations that hardly need explanation are Cf. {co7ifer,
compare), Fol. (following), Ld. {idem, the same), and Prol. (pro-
logue). The numbers of the lines in the references (except for the
present play) are those of the " Globe " edition (the cheapest and
best edition of Shakespeare in one compact volume), which is now
generally accepted as the standard for line-numbers in works of ref-
erence (Schmidt's Lexicon, Abbott's Grammar, etc.).
The Story of the Play as given by Lodge. — The follow-
ing extracts from Lodge's novel ^ include the parts chiefly used by
Shakespeare : —
[" Sir John of Burdeaux," on his death-bed, calls his three sons,
Saladyne, Fernandine, and Rosader, and divides his estate among
them. To Saladyne he gives "fourteene ploughlands," with his
"mannor houses and richest plate"; to Fernandine, "twelve
ploughlands"; and to Rosader, his horse, armor, and lance,
" with sixteene ploughlands."]
1 1 take these from Halliwell-Phillipps, who reprints the novel in full
in his folio ed. I insert the paragraphs in brackets to supply the gaps
in the narrative.
Notes 147
Act I. Scene I. — Saladyne, " after a months mourning was past,
fel to consideration of his fathers testament; how hee had be-
queathed more to his yoonger brothers than himselfe, that Rosader
was his fathers darling, but now under his tuition, that as yet they
were not come to yeares, and he being their gardian, might, if not
defraud them of their due, yet make such havocke of theyr legacies
and lands, as they should be a great deal the lighter : whereupon
he began thus to meditate with himselfe. ...
"Thy brother is yoong, keepe him now in awe; make him not
checke mate with thy selfe, for, — ' Nimia familiaritas contemptum
parit.' Let him know litle, so shall he not be able to execute
much : suppresse his wittes with a base estate, and though hee
be a gentleman by nature, yet forme him anew, and make him
a peasant by nourture. So shalt thou keepe him as a slave, and
raigne thy selfe sole lord over all thy fathers possessions. As for
Fernandyne, thy middle brother, he is a scholler and hath no minde
but on Aristotle : let him reade on Galen while thou riflest with
golde, and pore on his booke whilest thou doest purchase landes :
witte is great wealth; if he have learning it is enough, and so
let all rest. ■■- , . ^^^^■-..
" In this humour was Saladyne, making his brother Rosader his
foote boy for the space of two or three yeares, keeping him in such
servile subjection, as if he had been the sonne of any country
vassal. The young gentleman bare all with patience, til on a day,
walking in the garden by himselfe, he began to consider how he
was the sonne of John of Bourdeaux, a knight renowmed for many
victories, and a gentleman famozed for his vertues; how, contrarie
to the testament of his father, hee was not only kept from his land
and intreated as a servant, but smothered in such secret slaverie,
as hee might not attaine to any honourable actions. Alas, quoth
hee to himselfe, nature woorking these effectuall passions, why
should I, that am a gentleman borne, passe my time in such un-
natural drudgery? were it not better either in Paris to become a
scholler, or in the court a courtier, or in the field a souldier, then
148 Notes
to live a foote boy to my own brother ? nature hath lent me wit to
conceive, but my brother denies mee art to contemplate : I have
strength to performe any honorable exployt, but no libertie to
accomplish my vertuous indevours : those good partes that God
hath bestowed upon mee, the envy of my brother doth smother in
obscuritie; the harder is my fortune, and the more his frowardnes.
With that, casting up his hand he felt haire on his face, and per-
ceiving his beard to bud, for choler hee began to blush, and swore
to himselfe he would be no more subject to such slaverie. As he
was thus ruminating of his melancholic passions in came Saladyne
with his men, and seeing his brother in a browne study, and to
forget his wonted reverence, thought to shake him out of his
dumps thus. Sirha, quoth he, what is your heart on your halfe-
peny, or are you saying a dirge for your fathers soule ? what, is my
dinner readie ? At this question Rosader, turning his head ascance,
and bending his browes as if anger there had ploughed the furrowes
of her wrath, with his eyes full of fire, hee made this replie. Doest
thou aske mee, Saladyne, for thy cates ? aske some of thy churles
who are fit for suche an office : I am thine equal by nature, though
not by birth, and though thou hast more cardes in thy bunch, I
have as many trumpes in my handes as thy selfe. Let me question
with thee, why thou hast feld my woods, spoyled my manner
houses, and made havocke of suche utensalles as my father be-
queathed unto mee ? I tell thee, Saladyne, either answere mee as
a brother, or I wil trouble thee as an enemie. At this replie of
Rosaders Saladyne smiled, as laughing at his presumption, and
frowned as checking his folly: he therfore tooke him up thus
shortly : What, sirha, wel I see early pricks the tree that wil proove
a thorne : hath my familiar conversing with you made you coy, or
my good lookes drawne you to be thus contemptuous ? I can
quickly remedie such a fault, and I wil bend the tree while it is a
wand. In faith, sir boy, I have a snaffle for such a headstrong colt.
You, sirs, lay holde on him and binde him, and then I wil give him
a cooling carde for his choller. This made Rosader halfe mad,
Notes 149
that stepping to a great rake that stood in the garden, hee laide
such loade uppon his brothers men that hee hurt some of them,
and made the rest of them run away. Saladyne seeing Rosader so
resolute, and with his resokition so valiant, thought his heeles his
best safetie, and tooke him to a loaft adjoyning to the garden,
whether Rosader pursued him hotly. Saladine, afraide of his
brothers furie, cried out to him thus : Rosader, be not so rash : I
am thy brother and thine elder, and if I have done thee wrong ile
make thee amendes. . . .
" These wordes appeased the choller of Rosader, for he was of a
milde and curteous nature, so that hee layde downe his weapons,
and upon the faith of a gentleman assured his brother hee would
offer him no prejudice : whereupon Saladyne came down, and after
a little parley, they imbraced cache other and became friends. . . .
Thus continued the pad hidden in the strawe, til it chaunced that
Torismond, king of France, had appointed for his pleasure a day
of wrastling and of tournament to busie his commons heades, least,
being idle, their thoughts should runne uppon more serious matters,
and call to remembrance their old banished king. A champion
there was to stand against all commers, a Norman, a man of tall
stature and of great strength; so valiant, that in many such con-
flicts he alwaies bare away the victorie, not onely overthrowing
them which hee incountred, but often with the weight of his bodie
killing them outright. Saladyne hearing of this, thinking now not
to let the ball fal to the ground, but to take opportunitie by the
forehead, first by secret meanes convented with the Norman, and
procured him with rich rewards to sweare, that if Rosader came
within his clawes hee would never more returne to quarrel with
Saladyne for his possessions. The Norman desirous of pelfe, as,
quis nisi vientis inops oblaium respuit auru^n, taking great gifts
for litle gods, tooke the crownes of Saladyne to performe the strata-
gem. Having thus the champion tied to his vilanous determination
by oath, hee prosecuted the intent of his purpose thus : — He went
to yoong Rosader, who in all his thoughts reacht at honour, and
150 Notes
gazed no lower then vertue commanded him, and began to tel him
of this tournament and wrastling, how the king should be there
and all the chiefe peeres of France, with all the beautiful damosels
of the countrey. Now, brother, quoth hee, for the honor of Sir
John of Bourdeaux, our renowmed father, to famous that house
that never hath bin found without men approoved in chivalrie
shewe thy resolution to be peremptorie. For myselfe thou knowest
though I am eldest by birth, yet never having attempted any deedes
of armes, I am yongest to performe any martial exploytes, knowing
better how to survey my lands then to charge my launce : my
brother Fernandyne hee is at Paris poring on a fewe papers, having
more insight into sophistrie and principles of philosophic, then anie
warlyke indeveurs; but thou, Rosader, the youngest in yeares but
the eldest in valour, art a man of strength, and darest doo what
honour allowes thee. Take thou thy fathers launce, his sword, and
his horse, and hye thee to the tournament, and either there valiantly
cracke a speare, or trie with the Norman for the palme of activitie.
The words of Saladyne were but spurres to a free horse, for hee
had scarce uttered them ere Rosader tooke him in his armes,
taking his proffer so kindly that hee promised in what hee might
to requite his curtesie. ...
Scene II. — "But leaving him so desirous of the journey, turn
we to Torismond, the king of France, who having by force banished
Gerismond, their lawful king, that lived as an outlaw in the forest
of Arden, sought now by all meanes to keep the French busied
with all sports that might breed their content. Amongst the rest
he had appointed this solemne turnament, wherunto hee in most
solemne maner resorted, accompanied with the twelve peers of
France, who, rather for fear then love, graced him with the shew
of their dutiful favours. To feede their eyes, and to make the
beholders pleased with the sight of most rare and glistring objects,
he had appoynted his owne daughter Alinda to be there, and the
fair Rosalynd, daughter unto Gerismond, with al the beautifull
damoselles that were famous for their features in all France. . . .
Notes 151
" At last when the tournament ceased, the wrastling beganne, and
the Norman presented himselfe as a chalenger against all commers,
but hee looked lyke Hercules when he advaunst himselfe agaynst
Acheloiis, so that the furie of his countenance amazed all that durst
attempte to incounter with him in any deed of activitie : til at last a
lustie Francklin of the country came with two tall men, that were his
sonnes, of good lyniaments and comely personage : the eldest of
these, dooing his obeysance to the king, entered the lyst, and pre-
sented himselfe to the Norman, who straight coapt with him, and
as a man that would triumph in the glorie of his strength, roused
himselfe with such furie, that not onely hee gave him the fall, but
killed him with the weight of his corpulent personage; which the
younger brother seeing, lepte presently into the place, and thirstie
after the revenge, assayled the Norman with such valour, that at
the first incounter hee brought him to his knees : which repulst so
the Norman, that recovering himselfe, feare of disgrace doubling
his strength, hee stept so stearnely to the yoong Francklin, that
taking him up in his armes hee threw him against the grounde so
violently, that hee broake his necke, and so ended his dayes with his
brother. . . .
" With that Rosader vailed bonnet to the king, and lightly leapt
within the lists, where noting more the companie then the comba-
tant, he cast his eye upon the troupe of ladies that glistered there
lyke the starres of heaven ; but at last Love willing to make
him as amourous as he was valiant, presented him with the sight of
Rosalynd, whose admirable beauty so inveagled the eye of Rosader,
that forgetting himselfe, hee stood and fedde his lookes on the
favour of Rosalyndes face ; which shee perceiving, blusht, which
was such a doubling of her beauteous excellence, that the bashful
redde of Aurora at the sight of unacquainted Phaeton was not halfe so
glorious. The Normane, seeing this young gentleman fettered in
the lookes of the ladyes, drave him out of his memento with a shake
by the shoulder. Rosader looking backe with an angrie frowne, as
if hee had been wakened from some pleasaunt dreame, discovered
1^2 Notes
to all by the furye of his countenance that hee was a man of some
high thoughts : but when they all noted his youth, and the sweet-
nesse of his visage, with a general applause of favours, they grieved
that so goodly a yoong man should venture in so base an action :
but seeing it were to his dishonour to hinder him from his enter-
prise, they wisht him to bee graced with the palme of victorie. After
Rosader was thus called out of his memento by the Norman, he roughly
clapt to him with so fierce an incounter, that they both fel to the
ground, and with the violence of the fal were forced to breathe :
in which space the Norman called to minde by all tokens, that this
was hee whome Saladyne had appoynted him to kil; which
conjecture, made him stretch every limbe, and try every sinew,
that working his death hee might recover the golde which so
bountifully was promised him. On the contrary part, Rosader
while he breathed was not idle, but stil cast his eye upon Rosalynde,
who to incourage him with a favour, lent him such an amorous
looke, as might have made the most coward desperate: which
glance of Rosalynd so fiered the passionate desires of Rosader, that
turning to the Norman, hee ranne upon him and braved him with
a strong encounter. The Norman received him as valiantly, that
there was a sore combat, hard to judge on whose side fortune would
be prodigal. At last Rosader, calling to minde the beautie of his
new mistresse, the fame of his fathers honours, and the disgrace
that should fal to his house by his misfortune, rowsed himselfe, and
threw the Norman against the ground, falling uppon his chest with
so willing a weight, that the Norman yielded nature her due, and
Rosader the victorie."
Scene III. — Torismond " thought to banish her [Rosalynd] from
the court : for, quoth he to himselfe, her face is so ful of favour,
that it pleades pittie in the eye of every man : her beauty is so
heavenly and devine, that she wil prove to me as Helen did to
Priam : some one of the peeres wil ayme at her love, and the
marriage, and then in his wives right attempt the kingdome. To
prevent therefore had-I-wist in all these actions, shee tarryes not
Notes 153
about the court, but shall, as an exile, eyther wander to her father,
or else seeke other fortunes. In this humour, with a sterne coun-
tenance ful of wrath, he breathed out this censure unto her before
the peers, that charged her that that night shee were not scene
about the court : for, quoth he, I have heard of thy aspiring speeches,
and intended treasons. This doome was strange unto Rosalynd,
and presently covred with the shield of her innocence, she boldly
brake out in reverent tearms to have cleared herself ; but
Torismond would admit of no reason, nor durst his lords plead for
Rosalynd, although her beauty had made some of them passionate,
seeing the figure of wrath pourtrayed in his brow. Standing thus all
mute, and Rosalynd amazed, Alinda, who loved her more than
herself, with grief in her hart and teares in her eyes, falling down
on her knees, began to intreat her father thus."
[Then follows "Alindas Oration to her Father in Defence of
faire Rosalynde," the result of which is that Alinda is included in
the sentence against Rosalynd.]
" At this Rosalynd began to comfort her, and after shee had wept
a fewe kind teeres in the bosome of her Alinda, . . . they sat them
downe to consult how they should travel. AHnda grieved at
nothing but that they might have no man in their company, saying
it would bee their greatest prejudice in that two women went,
wandring without either guide or attendant. Tush, quoth Rosalynd,
art thou a woman, and hast not a sodeine shift to prevent a
misfortune ? I, thou seest, am of a tall stature, and would very
wel become the person and apparel of a page : thoushal bee mye
mistresse, and I wil play the man so properly, that, trust me, in
what company so ever I come I wil not be discovered. I wil buy
me a suite, and have my rapier very handsomly at my side, and if
any knave offer wrong, your page will shew him the poynt of his
weapon. At this AHnda smiled, and upon this they agreed, and
presently gathered up al their jewels, which they trussed up in a
casket, and Rosalynd in all hast provided her of robes, and Alinda,
from her royall weedes, put herselfe in more homelie attire. Thus
154 Notes
fitted to the purpose, away goe these two friends, having now
changed their names, Alinda being called Aliena, and Rosalynd,
Ganimede, they travelled along the vineyardes, and by many by-
waies, at last got to the forrest side, where they travelled by the
space of two or three dayes without seeing anye creature, being
often in danger of wilde beasts, and payned with many passionate
sorrowes." . . .
[They found verses written on the trees, but they were the " pas-
sion" of Montanus, the Silvius of Shakespeare; and then they con-
tinued their journey until " comming into a faire valley, compassed
with mountaines, whereon grew many pleasaunt shrubbes, they might
descrie where two flockes of sheepe did feed."]
Act II. Scene IV. — "Then, looking about, they might per-
ceive where an old shepheard [Montanus] sate, and with him
a yoong swaine [Coridon], under a covert most pleasantly scitu-
ated. . . .
" The shepheards having thus ended their Eglogue,^ Aliena stept
with Ganimede from behind the thicket; at whose sodayne sight
the shepheards arose, and Aliena saluted them thus : Shepheards,
all haile, for such wee deeme you by your flockes, and lovers, good
lucke, for such you seeme by your passions, our eyes being wit-
nesse of the one, and our eares of the other. Although not by love,
yet by fortune, I am a distressed gentlewoman, as sorrowfull as you
are passionate, and as full of woes as you of perplexed thoughts.
Wandring this way in a forrest unknown, onely I and my page,
wearied with travel, would faine have some place of rest. May you
appoint us any place of quiet harbour, be it never so meane, I shall
bee thankfuU to you, contented in my selfe, and gratefull to whoso-
ever shall be mine host. Coridon, hearing the gentlewoman speake
so courteously, returned her mildly and reverently this answerc. —
Faire mistresse, wee returne you as hearty a welcome as you gave us
a courteous salute. A shepheard I am, and this a lover, as watchful
1 The " Eglogue " is a dialogue of thirty-four stanzas of four lines each.
Notes 155
to please his wench as to feed his sheep : ful of fancies, and there-
fore, say I, full of follyes. Exhort him I may, but perswade him I
cannot ; for love admits neither of counsaile nor reason. But leaving
him to his passions, if you be distrest, I am sorrowfull such a faire
creature is crost with calamitie : pray for you I may, but releeve you
I cannot. Marry, if you want lodging, if you vouch to shrowd
your selves in a shepheards cottage, my house for this night shall be
your harbour. Aliena thankt Coridon greatly, and presently sate
her downe and Ganimede by hir, Coridon looking earnestly upon
her, and with a curious survey viewing all her perfections applauded,
in his thought, her excellence, and pitying her distresse was desir-
ous to heare the cause of her misfortunes, began to question with
her thus. — If I should not, faire Damosell, occasionate offence, or
renew your griefs by rubbing the scar, I would faine crave so much
favour as to know the cause of your misfortunes, and why, and
whither you wander with your page in so dangerous forest ? Aliena,
that was as courteous as she was fayre, made this replie. Shepheard,
a friendly demaund ought never to be offensive, and questions of
curtesie carry priviledged pardons in their forheads. Know, there-
fore, to discover my fortunes were to renew my sorrowes, and I
should, by discoursing my mishaps, but rake fire out of the cynders.
Therefore let this suffice, gentle shepheard : my distress is as great
as my travaile is dangerous, and I wander in this forrest to light on
some cotage where I and my page may dwell : for I meane to buy
some farme, and a flocke of sheepe, and so become a shepheard-
esse, meaning to live low, and content mee with a countrey life; for
I have heard the swaines saye, that they drunke without suspition,
and slept without care. Marry, mistress, quoth Coridon, if you
meane so you came in good time, for my landlord intends to sell
both the farme I tyll, and the flocke I keepe, and cheape you may
have them for ready money: and for a shepheards life, oh mis-
tres, did you but live a while in their content, you would say the
courl were rather a place of sorrow then of solace. Here, mis-
tresse, shal not fortune thwart you, but in mean misfortunes, as the
156
Notes
losse of a few sheepe, which, as it breedes no beggery, so it can bee
no extreame prejudice, the next yeare may mend all with a fresh in-
crease. Envy stirres not us, we covet not to climbe, our desires
mount not above our degrees, nor our thoughts above our fortunes.
Care cannot harbour in our cottages, nor doe our homely couches
know broken slumbers : as wee exceed not in dyet, so we have
inough to satisfie : and, mistresse, I have so much Latin, satis est quod
sufficit. By my troth, shepheard, quoth Aliena, thou makest mee
in love with thy countrey life, and therfore send for thy landslord,
and I will buy thy farme and thy flocks, and thou shalt still under
me bee overseer of them both : onely for pleasure sake I and my
page will serve you, lead the flocks to the field and folde them.
Thus will I live quiet, unknowne, and contented. This newes so
gladded the hart of Coridon, that he should not be put out of his
farme, that putting off his shepheards bonnet, he did hir all the
reverence that he might. But all this while sate Montanus in a
muse, thinking of the crueltie of his Phoebe, whom he wooed long,
but was in no hope to win. Ganimede, who stil had the remem-
brance of Rosader in his thoughtes, tooke delight to see the poore
shepheard passionate, laughing at love, that in all his actions was
so imperious. At last, when she had noted his teares that stole
down his cheeks, and his sighes that broke from the center of his
heart, pittying his lament, she demanded of Coridon why the yong
shepheard looked so sorrowful? Oh sir, quoth he, the boy is in
love. . . .
" With this they were at Coridon's cottage, where Montanus
parted from them, and they went in to rest. Aliena and Ganimede,
glad of so contented a shelter, made merry with the poore swaine;
and though they had but countrey fare and course lodging, yet
their welcome was so greate, and their cares so little, that they
counted their diet delicate, and slept as soundly as if they had
beene in the court of Torismond. The next morne they lay long in
bed, as wearyed with the toyle of unaccustomed travaile ; but assoone
as they got up, Aliena resolved there to set up her rest, and by the
Notes 157
helpe of Goridon swapt a bargaine with his landslord, and so became
mistres of the farme and the flocke, her selfe putting on the attyre
of a shepherdesse, and Ganimede of a yong swaine ; everye day
leading foorth her flockes, with such delight, that she held her
exile happy, and thoght no content to the blisse of a countrey
cottage." . . .
[Meanwhile Rosader, driven _frpm home.,by;,iheJiaxshne5S M„k^^^
brother, takes with him his father's old servant, Adam Spencer, and
makes for the forest of Arden.]
Scene VI. — " BufKosader and Adam, knowing full well the secret
waies that led through the vineyards, stole away privily through the
province of Bordeaux, and escaped safe to the forrest of Arden.
Being come thether, they were glad they had so good a harbour :
but fortune, who is like the camelion, variable with every object, and
constant in nothing but inconstancie, thought to make them myr-
rours of her mutabilitie, and therefore still crost them thus contra-
rily. Thinking still to passe on by the bywaies to get to Lions, they
chanced on a path that led into the thicke of the forrest, where
they wandred five or sixe dayes without meate, that they were
almost famished, finding neither shepheard nor cottage to relieve
them ; and hunger growing on so extreame, Adam Spencer, being
olde, began to faint, and sitting him downe on a hill, and looking
about him, espied where Rosader laye as feeble and as ill per-
plexed : which sight made him shedde teares. . . .
" As he was readie to go forward in his passion, he looked ear-
nestly on Rosader, and seeing him chaunge colour, hee rose up and
went to him, and holding his temples, said, What cheere, maister ?
though all faile, let not the heart faint : the courage of a man is
shewd in the resolution of his death. At these wordes Rosader
lifted up his eye, and looking on Adam Spencer, began to weep.
Ah, Adam, quoth he, I sorrow not to dye, but I grieve at the maner
of my death. Might I with my launce encounter the enemy, and
so die in the field, it were honour, and content : might I, Adam,
combate with some wilde beast, and perish as his praie, I were satis-
158
Notes
fied ; but to die with hunger, O, Adam, it is the extreamest of all
extreames ! Maister, quoth he, you see we are both in one predica-
ment, and long I cannot live without meate; seeing therefore we
can finde no foode, let the death of the one preserve the life of the
other. I am old, and overworne with age, you are yoong, and are
the hope of many honours : let me then dye, I will presently cut
my veynes, and, maister, with the warme blood relieve your fainting
spirites : sucke on that til I ende, and you be comforted. With that
Adam Spencer was ready to pull out his knife, when Rosader, full
of courage, though verie faint, rose up, and wisht Adam Spencer
to sit there til his returne ; for my mind gives me, quoth he, that I
shall bring thee meate. With that, like a mad man, he rose up,
and raunged up and downe the woods, seeking to encounter some
wilde beaste with his rapier, that either he might carry his friend
Adam food, or else pledge his life in pawn for his loyaltie.
Scene VII. — "It chaunced that day, that Gerismond, the lawfull
king of France banished by Torismond, who with a lustie crue of
outlawes lived in that forest, that day in honour of his birth made
a feast to all his bolde yeomen, and frolickt it with store of wine and
venison, sitting all at a long table under the shadow of lymon trees.
To that place by chance fortune conducted Rosader, who seeing
such a crue of brave men, having store of that for want of which
hee and Adam perished, hee stept boldly to the boords end, and
saluted the company thus : — Whatsoever thou be that art maister of
these lustie squiers, I salute thee as graciously as a man in extreame
distresse may : know that I and a fellow friend of mine are here
famished in the forrest for want of food : perish wee must, unlesse
relieved by thy favours. Therefore, if thou be a gentleman, give
meate to men, and to such men as are everie way woorthie of life.
Let the proudest squire that sits at thy table rise and incounter with
mee in any honorable point of activitie whatsoever, and if hee and
thou proove me not a man, send me away comfortlesse. If thou
refuse this, as a niggard of thy cates, I will have amongst you with
my sword j for rather wil I dye valiantly, then perish with so
Notes 159
cowardly an extreame. Gerismond, looking him earnestly in the
face, and seeing so proper a gentleman in so bitter a passion, was
moved with so great pitie, that rising from the table, he tooke him
by the hand and badde him welcome, willing him to sit downe in
his place, and in his roome not onely to eat his fill, but be lorde
of the feast. Grammercy, sir, quoth Rosader, but I have a feeble
friend that lyes hereby famished almost for food, aged and there-
fore lesse able to abide the extremitie of hunger than my selfe, and
dishonour it were for me to taste one crumme, before I made him
partner of my fortunes : therefore I will runne and fetch him, and
then I will gratefully accept of your proffer. Away hies Rosader
to Adam Spencer, and tels him the newes, who was glad of so hap-
pie fortune, but so feeble he was that he could not go ; whereupon
Rosader got him up on his backe, and brought him to the place.
Which when Gerismond and his men saw, they greatly applauded
their league of friendship ; and Rosader, having Gerismond's place
assigned him, would not sit there himselfe, but set downe Adam
Spencer. . . .
Act III. Scene I. — " The flight of Rosader came to the eares of
Torismond, who hearing that Saladyne was sole heire of the landes
of Sir John of Bourdeaux, desirous to possesse suche fair erevenewes,
found just occasion to quarrell with Saladyne about the wrongs he
proffered to his brother ; and therefore, dispatching a herehault, he
sent for Saladyne in all poast haste : who, marvelling what the mat-
ter should be, began to examine his owne conscience, wherein hee
had offended his highnesse ; but imboldened with his innocence, he
boldly went vnth the herehault unto the court ; where, assoone as
hee came, hee was not admitted into the presence of the king, but
presently sent to prison. ...
"In the depth of his passion, hee was sent for to the king, who,
with a looke that threatened death entertained him, and demaunded
of him where his brother was ? Saladyne made answer, that upon
some ryot made against the sherifife of the shire, he was fled from
Bordeaux, but he knew not whither. Nay, villaine, quoth he, I
i6o Notes
have heard of the wronges thou hast proffered thy brother, since
the death of thy father and by thy means have I lost a most brave
and resokite chevaher. Therefore, in justice to punish thee, I spare
thy life for thy father's sake, but banish thee for ever from the court
and countrey of France ; and see thy departure be within tenne
dayes, els trust me thou shalt loose thy head. And with that the
king flew away in a rage, and left poore Saladyne greatly perplexed ;
who grieving at his exile, yet determined to bear it with patience,
and in penaunce of his former follies to travaile abroade in every
coast till he had found out his brother Rosader." . . .
[Meanwhile, " Rosader, beeing thus preferred to the place of a
forrester by Gerismond, rooted out the remembrance of his brothers
unkindnes by continuall exercise, traversing the groves and wilde
forrests. . . . Yet whatsoever he did, or howsoever he walked,
the lively image of Rosalynde remained in memorie." At length
he meets Ganimede and Aliena.]
Scene II. — " Ganimede, pittying her Rosader, thinking to drive
him out of this amorous melancholy, said, that now the sunne was in
his meridionall heat, and that it was high noone, therefore wee shep-
heards say, tis time to go to dinner; for the sunne and our stomackes
are shepheards dials. Therefore, forrester, if thou wilt take such fare
as comes out of our homely scrips, welcome shall answere whatso-
ever thou wantest in delicates. Aliena tooke the entertainment by
the ende, and tolde Rosader hee should bee her guest. He thankt
them heartily, and sat with them downe to dinner, where they had
such cates as countrey state did allow them, sawst with such con-
tent, and such sweete prattle, as it seemed farre more sweet than all
their courtly junkets. Assone as they had taken their repast,
Rosader, giving them thankes for his good cheare, would have been
gone; but Ganimede, that was loath to let him passe out of her
presence, began thus : Nay, forrester, quoth she, if thy busines be
not the greater, seeing thou saist thou art so deeply in love, let me
see how thou canst wooe : I will represent Rosalynde, and thou
shalt bee as thou art, Rosader. See in some amorous eglogue, how
Notes i6i
if Rosalyrid were present, how thou couldst court her; and while
we sing of love, Aliena shall tune her pipe and plaie us melodic^ . . .
" And thereupon, quoth Aliena, He play the priest : from this
daye forth Ganimede shall call thee husband, and thou shalt cal
Ganimede wife, and so weele have a marriage. Content, quoth
Rosader, and laught. Content, quoth Ganimede, and chaunged as
red as a rose : and so with a smile and a blush, they made up this
jesting match, that after proved to be a marriage in earnest,
Rosader full little thinking hee had wooed and wonne his Rosa-
lynde. . . .
Act IV. Scene III. — " All this while did poore Saladyne, ban-
ished from Bourdeahx and the court of France, by Torismond, wander
up and downe in the forrest of Arden, thinking to get to Lyons, and
so travail through Germany into Italic : but the forrest beeing full
of by-pathes, and he unskilfull of the country coast, slipt out of the
way, and chaunced up into the desart, not farre from the place
where Gerismond was, and his brother Rosader. Saladyne, wearie
with wandring up and downe, and hungry with long fasting, finding
a little cave by the side of a thicket, eating such fruite as the for-
rest did affoord, and contenting himselfe with such drinke as nature
had provided and thirst made delicate, after his repast he fell into
a dead sleepe. As thus he lay, a hungry lyon came hunting downe
the edge of the grove for pray, and espying Saladyne began to ceaze
upon him : but seeing he lay still without any motion, he left to
touch him, for that lyons hate to pray on dead carkasses; and yet
desirous to have some foode, the lyon lay downe, and watcht to
see if he would stirre. While thus Saladyne slept secure, fortune
that was careful of her champion began to smile, and brought it so
to passe, that Rosader, having stricken a deere that but slightly
hurt fled through the thicket, came pacing downe by the grove
with a boare-speare in his hande in great haste. He espyed where
1 "The wooing Eglogue betwixt Rosalynde and Rosader," which
follows, is too long for quotation, and besides, Shakespeare appears to
have made no use of it.
AS YOU LIKE IT — II
1 62 Notes
a man lay a sleepe, and a lyon fast by him : amazed at this sight,
as he stoode gazing, his nose on the sodaine bledde, which made
him conjecture it was some friend of his. Whereuppon drawing
more nigh, he might easily discerne his visage, perceived by his
phisnomie that it was his brother Saladyne, which drave Rosader
into a deepe passion, as a man perplexed at the sight of so un-
expected a chance, marvelling what should drive his brother to
traverse those secrete desarts, without any companie, in such dis-
tressed and forlorne sorte. But the present time craved no such
doubting ambages, for he must eyther resolve to hazard his life for
his reliefe, or else steale away, and leave him to the crueltie of the
lyon. . . .
" With that his brother began to stirre, and the lyon to rowse
himselfe, whereupon Rosader sodainly charged him with the boare
speare, and wounded the lyon very sore at the first stroke. The
beast feeling himselfe to have a mortall hurt, leapt at Rosader, and
with his pawes gave him such a sore pinch on the brest, that he
had almost fain; yet as a man most valiant, in whom the sparks of
Sir John of Bourdeaux remained, he recovered himselfe, and in
short combat slew the lion, who at his death roared so lowd that
Saladyne awaked, and starting up, was amazed at the sudden sight
of so monstrous a beast lying slaine by him, and so sweet a gentle-
man wounded.
" Saladyne casting up his eye, and noting well the phisnomy of
the forrester, knew that it was his brother Rosader, which made
him so bash and blush at the first meeting, that Rosader was faine
to recomfort him, which he did in such sort, that hee shewed how
highly he held revenge in scorne. Much ado there was betweene
these two brethren, Saladyne in craving pardon, and Rosader in
forgiving and forgetting all former injuries; the one humble and
submisse, the other milde and curteous; Saladyne penitent and
passionate, Rosader kynd and loving, that at length nature working
an union of their thoughts, they earnestly embraced, and fell from
matters of unkindnesse, to talke of the country life, which Rosader
Notes 163
so highly commended, that his brother began to have a desire to
taste of that homely content. In this humor Rosader conducted
him to Gerismonds lodge, and presented his brother to the king,
discoursing the whole matter how all had hapned betwixt them. . . .
Assoone as they had taken their repast, and had wel dined, Rosader
tooke his brother Saladyne by the hand, and shewed him the
pleasures of the forrest, and what content they enjoyed in that mean
estate. Thus for two or three dayes he walked up and downe with
his brother to shew him all the commodities that belonged to his
walke; during which time hee was greatly mist of his Ganymede,
who mused much with Aliena what should become of their forrester.
Act III, Scene V. — " With this Ganimede made her ready, and
went into the fields with Aliena, where -unfolding their flockes, they
sate them downe under an olive tree, both of them amorous, and
yet diversely affected, Aliena joying in the excellence of Saladyne,^
and Ganimede sorowing for the wounds of her Rosader ; not quiet
in thought till shee might heare of his health. As thus both of
them sate in their dumpes, they might espie where Coridon came
running towards them, almost out of breath with his hast. What
nevves with you, quoth Aliena, that you come in such post? Oh,
mistres, quoth Coridon, you have a long time desired to see Phoebe,
the faire shepheardesse whom Montanus loves ; so now if you please,
you and Ganimede, to walk with mee to yonder thicket, there shall
you see Montanus and her sitting by a fountaine, he courting her
with her countrey ditties, and she as coy as if she held love in dis-
daine. The newes were so welcome to the two lovers, that up they
1 " An incident in the novel, which accounts for the sudden falling in
love of Saladyne and Aliena, is altogether omitted by Shakespeare. A
band of robbers attempt to carry off Aliena, Rosader encounters them
single-handed, but is wounded and almost overpowered, when his brother
comes to the rescue. While Ganimede is dressing Rosader's wounds,
Aliena and Saladyne indulge in some ' quirkes and quiddities of love,'
the course of which is told with considerable detail. Aliena's secret is
soon extorted from her by Ganimede " (Wright).
164
Notes
rose, and went with Coridon. Assoone as they drew nigh the thicket,
they might espie where Phoebe sate, the fairest shepherdesse in all
Arden, and he the frolickest swaine in the whole forrest, she in a
petticote of scarlet, covered with a green mantle, and to shrowd her
from the sunne, a chaplet of roses, from under which appeared a
face full of natures excellence, and two such eyes as might have
amated a greater man than Montanus. At gaze uppon this gor-
geous nymph sate the shepheard, feeding his eyes with her favours,
wooing with such piteous lookes, and courting with such deepe
strained sighs, as would have made Diana her selfe to have been
compassionate. . . . Ah, Phoebe, quoth he, whereof art thou made,
that thou regardest not my maladie? ... At these wordes she
fild her face full of frowns, and made him this short and sharpe
reply. — Importunate shepheard, whose loves are lawlesse, because
restlesse, are thy passions so extreame that thou canst not conceale
them with patience? . . . Wert thou, Montanus, as faire as Paris,
as hardy as Hector, as constant as Troylus, as loving as Lea;nder,
Phoebe could not love, because she cannot love at all : and therefore
if thou pursue me with Phoebus I must flie with Daphne. Gani-
mede, overhearing all these passions of Montanus, could not brooke
the crueltie of Phoebe, but starting from behind the bush said ; And
if, damzell, you fled from mee, I would transforme you as Daphne
to a bay, and then in contempt trample your branches under my feet.
Phoebe at this sodaine replye was amazed, especially when shee saw
so faire a swaine as Ganimede ; blushing therefore, she would have
bene gone, but that he held her by the hand, and prosecuted his
reply thus: What, shepheardesse, so faire and so cruell? Disdaine
beseemes not cottages, nor coynesse maids; for either they be con-
demned to be too proud, or too froward . . . Love while thou art
yoong, least thou be disdained when thou art olde. Beautie nor
time cannot be recalde, and if thou love, like of Montanus; for if
his desires are many, so his deserts are great. Phoebe all this while
gazed on the perfection of Ganimede, as deeply enamored on his
perfection as Montanus inveigled with hers. . . .
Notes 165
Act V. Scene II. — "I am glad, quoth Ganimede,^ you looke
into your own faults, and see where your shoo wrings you,. measuring
now the pains of Montanus by your owne passions. Truth, q. Phoebe,
and so deeply I repent me of my frowardnesse towards the shep-
heard, that could I cease to love Ganimede, I would resolve to like
Montanus. What if I can with reason perswade Phoebe to mislike
of Ganimede, wil she than favour Montanus ? When reason, quoth
she, doth quench that love that I doe owe to thee, then will I fancie
him; conditionally, that if my love can bee supprest with no
reason, as being without reason, Ganimede will onely wed himselfe
to Phoebe. I graunt it, faire shepheardesse, quoth he; and to feed
thee M'ith the sweetnesse of hope, this resolve on : I wil never
marry my selfe to woman but unto thy selfe. . . . Ganimede tooke
his leave of Phoebe and departed, leaving her a contented woman,
and Montanus highly pleased. ... As she came on the plaines,
shee might espy where Rosader and Saladyne sat with Aliena
under the shade. ... I had not gone abroad so soone, quoth
Rosader, but that I am bidden to a marriage, which, on Sunday
next, must bee solemnpnized betweene my brother and Aliena. I
see well where love leads delay is loathsome, and that small wooing
serves where both the parties are willing. Truth, quoth Ganimede;
but what a happy day should it be, if Rosader that day might be
married to Rosalynd. Ah, good Ganimede, quoth he, by naming
Rosalynd, renue not my sorrowes; for the thought of her perfec-
tions is the thrall of my miseries. Tush, bee of good cheare, man,
quoth Ganimede : I have a friend that is deeply experienst in
negromancy and magicke; what art can do shall be acted for thine
advantage. I wil cause him to bring in Rosalynde, if either France
or any bordring nation harbour her; and upon that take the faith
of a yoong shepheard. . . .
Scene IV. — "In these humors the weeke went away, that at
last Sunday came. ... As they were thus drinking and ready to
1 This is at an interview with Phoebe after the latter has sent a letter
to Ganimede by Montanus.
1 66 Notes
go to church, came in Montanus, apparalled all in tawny, to signifie
that he was forsaken : on his head hee wore a garland of willow,
his bottle hanged by his side, whereon was painted dispaire, and
on his sheephooke hung two sonnets, as labels of his loves and
fortunes. . . . Gerismond, desirous to prosecute the ende of these
passions, called in Ganimede, who, knowing the case, came in
graced with such a blush, as beautified the christall of his face with
a ruddie brightnesse. The king noting well the phisnomy of
Ganimede, began by his favour to cal to mind the face of his Rosa-
lynd, and with that fetcht a deepe sigh. Rosader, that was passing
familiar with Gerismond, demanded of him why he sighed so sore ?
Because, Rosader, quoth hee, the favour of Ganimede puts mee in
minde of Rosalynde. At this word Rosader sighed so deeply, as
though his heart would have burst. And whats the matter, quoth
Gerismond, that you quite mee with such a sigh ? Pardon me, sir,
quoth Rosader, because I love none but Rosalynd. And upon that
condition, quoth Gerismond, that Rosalynd were here, I would this
day make up a marriage betwixt her and thee. At this Aliena
turnd her head and smilde upon Ganimede, and shee could scarce
keep countenance. Yet shee salved all with secrecie; and Geris-
mond, to drive away his dumpes, questioned with Ganimede, what
the reason was he regarded not Phoebes love, seeing she was as
faire as the wanton that brought Troy to ruine ? Ganimede mildly
answered, If I shuld affect the faire Phoebe, I should offer poore
Montanus great wrong to winne that from him in a moment, that
hee hath labored for so many monthes. Yet have I promised to
the bewtiful shepheardesse to wed my selfe never to woman except
unto her; but with this promise, that if I can by reason suppresse
Phoebes love towards me, she shall like of none but of Montanus.
To that, quoth Phoebe, I stand; for my love is so far beyond reason,
as wil admit no persuasion of reason. For justice, quoth he, I
appeale to Gerismond: and to his censure wil I stand, quoth
Phoebe. And in your victory, quoth Montanus, stands the hazard
of my fortunes, for if Ganimede go away with conquest, Montanus
Notes 167
is in conceit loves monarch : if Phoebe winne, then am I in effect
most miserable. We wil see this controversie, quoth Gerismond,
and then we will to church : therefore, Ganimede, let us heare your
argument. Nay, pardon my absence a while, quoth shee, and you
shall see one in store. In went Ganimede and drest her self in
womans attire, having on a gowne of greene, with a kirtle of rich
sandall, so quaint, that she seemed Diana triumphing in the for-
rest : upon her head she wore a chaplet of roses, which gave her
such a grace that she looked like Flora pearkt in the pride of all
her floures. Thus attired came Rosalind in, and presented hir self
at hir fathers feete, with her eyes full of teares, craving his blessing,
and discoursing unto him all her fortunes, how shee was banished
by Torismond, and how ever since she lived in that country dis-
guised. ... ^
" While every one was amazed, . . . Coridon came skipping in,
and told them that the priest was at church, and tarried for their
comming. With that Gerismond led the way, and the rest followed;
where to the admiration of all the countrey swains in Arden, their
marriages were solemnly solemnized." ...
It will be seen, that while the Poet followed the novel closely in
the main incidents of his plot, the characterization is exclusively
his own. The personages common to the novel and the play are
as truly new creations in the latter as Jaques, Touchstone, and
Audrey, who have no place in the former. Even the deviations in
the conduct of the story, as Knight remarks, "furnish a most
remarkable example of the wonderful superiority of his art as com-
pared with the art of other men." We cannot discuss these in
detail; the quotations we have given from the novel will enable
the reader to examine them for himself.^
1 Compare what Campbell says in his introduction to the play : " The
plot of this delicious comedy was taken by our Poet from Lodge's
' Rosalynde, or Euphues' Golden Legacye.' Some of Lodge's incidents
are judiciously omitted, but the greater part are preserved — the wrest-
ling scene, the flight of the two ladies into the forest of Arden, the meet-
1 68 Notes
I may add that the character of Adam has a peculiar interest from
the fact that, according to a tradition current in the eighteenth cen-
tury, the part was performed by Shakespeare. Steevens gives the
following extract from Oldys's manuscript collections for a life of
the poet : —
" One of Shakespeare's younger brothers, who lived to a good old
age, even some years, as I compute, after the restoration of
K. Charles 11. , would in his younger days come to London to visit
his brother Will^ as he called him, and be a spectator of him as an
actor in some of his own plays. This custom, as his brother's fame
enlarged, and his dramatic entertainments grew the greatest support
of our principal, if not of all our theatres, he continued it seems so
long after his brother's death, as even to the latter end of his own
life. The curiosity at this time of the most noted actors [exciting
them] to learn something from him of his brother, &c., they justly
held him in the highest veneration. And it may be well believed,
as there was besides a kinsman and descendant of the family, who
was then a celebrated actor ^ among them, this opportunity made
them greedily inquisitive into every little circumstance, more espe-
ing there of Rosalind with her father and mother, and the whole happy
termination of the plot, are found in the prose romance. Even the
names of the personages are but slightly changed ; for Lodge's Rosa-
lind, in her male attire, calls herself Ganymede, and her cousin, as a
shepherdess, is named Aliena. But never was the prolixity and ped-
antry of a prosaic narrative transmuted by genius into such magical
poetry. In the days of James L, George Heriot, the Edinburgh mer-
chant who built a hospital still bearing his name, is said to have made
his fortune by purchasing for a trifle a quantity of sand that had been
brought as ballast by a ship from Africa. As it was dry, he suspected
from its weight that it contained gold, and he succeeded in filtering a
treasure from it. Shakespeare, like Heriot, took the dry and heavy
sand of Lodge, and made gold out of it."
1 Charles Hart, who was perhaps a grandson of Shakespeare's sister
Joan.
Notes 169
daily in his dramatick character, which his brother could relate of
him. But he, it seems, was so stricken in years, and possibly his
memory so weakened with infirmities (which might make him the
easier pass for a man of weak intellects), that he could give them
but little light into their enquiries ; and all that could be recollected
from him of his brother Wi//, in that station was, the faint, general,
and almost lost ideas he had of having once seen him act a part in
one of his own comedies, wherein being to personate a decrepit old
man, he wore a long beard, and appeared so weak and drooping
and unable to walk, that he was forced to be supported and carried
by another person to a table, at which he was seated among some
company, who were eating, and one of them sung a song."
Capell also has the following : —
"A traditional story was current some years ago about
Stratford, — that a very old man of that place, — of weak intellects,
but yet related to Shakespeare, — being ask'd by some of his
neighbours, what he remember'd about him ; answer'd, — that he
saw him once brought on the stage upon another man's back ;
which answer was apply'd by the hearers, to his having seen him
perform in this scene the part of Adam."
This story came to Capell from Mr. Thomas Jones, of Tarbick, in
Worcestershire ; and Malone suggests that he may have heard it
from Richard Quiney (who died in 1656, at the age of 69) or from
Thomas Quiney, Shakespeare's son-in-law (who lived till about
1663, and who was 27 years old when the poet died), or from one
of the Hathaways.
ACT I
Scene I. — i. As I remember, etc. We follow the folio here, as
most of the editors do, though some have thought it necessary to
mend the grammar by reading " upon this fashion : /ze bequeathed,"
etc. As here pointed, beqiteathed is a participle, and charged may
be considered the same.
lyo Notes [Act i
2. Poor a. This transposition of the article is akin to that still
allowed after how and so. In A. and C. v. 2. 236, we have " What
poor an instrument."
3. On his blessing. On is often so used in asseverations. Cf.
T. of A. iii. 5. %*]: "On height of our displeasure."
4. To breed =\.o bring up, educate; as in 10 and 107 below. Cf.
our present use in well-bred, good breeding, etc.
5. At school. That is, at the university. Cf. Ham.'\. 2. 113:
"going back to school in Wittenberg." On goldenly, cf. Macb. i.
7" ZZ '• " golden opinions." Profit = proficiency. Cf. the use of
the verb in i Jlen. IV. iii. i. 166: —
" Exceedingly well read, and profited
In strange concealments," etc.
8. Stays. Detains. Cf. i. 3. 66 below: "we stay'd her for your
sake."
12. Manage. The training of a horse (Fr. manege^. Cf. Rich.
II. iii. 3. 179, etc.
17. Countenance. Bearing, behaviour. Cf. i Hen. IV. \. i. 69:
" By unkind usage, dangerous countenance." Seems = seems as if
it wished.
18. Hinds. Menials, servants; as in III. W. iii. 5. 99 and
P. and J. i. 7. 73. Elsewhere the word = boor, peasant ; as in
L. L. L. i. 2. 123, etc.
19. Mines. Undermines, seeks to destroy. Cf. Ham. iii. 4. 148:
" rank corruption, mining all within," etc.
22. MtUiny. Rebel. S. also uses the form mutine, both verb
and noun ; as in Ham. iii. 4. 2>2„ v. 2. 6, and K. John, ii. i. 378.
28. What w,ake you here ? What do you here ? as in ii. 3. 4 and
iii. 2. 217 below. The phrase is very common, and is quibbled upon
in L. L. L. iv. 3, 190 fol. and in Rich. III. i. 3. 164 fol.
32. Marry. Originally a mode of swearing by the Virgin ; but
its derivation had come to be forgotten in the time of S.
35. Be naught awhile. A petty oath, equivalent to a mischief
Scene I] Notes 171
on you. Many examples of the phrase might be quoted from
writers of the time.
38. What prodigal portion, etc. The allusion to the story of the
prodigal (^Luke, xv.) is found several times in S. Cf. W. T. iv. 3.
103 : " a motion of the Prodigal Son " (that is, a puppet-show,
illustrating the story); and 2 Hen. IV. ii. i. 157: "the story of
the Prodigal, or the German hunting in water-work" (where the
context shows that it was used in tapestries and hangings). See
also T. G. of V, ii. 3. 4, M. of V. ii. 6. 17, etc.
43. Hi7?i. Often put, by attraction to whom understood, for he
whom. Cf. A. and C. iii. i. 15 : "Acquire too high a fame when
him we serve 's away," etc.
44. In the gentle condition of blood. " On any kindly view of
relationship."
50. Your coming, etc. That is, you are more closely and di-
rectly the representative of his honours, and therefore entitled to
the respect due to him. Whiter thinks that Orlando uses reverence
in an ironical sense, and means to say that " his brother, by coming
before him, is nearer to a respectable and venerable elder of a fam-
ily." This interpretation is perhaps favoured by Oliver's evident
anger at his brother's words.
52. What, boy ! Oliver attempts to strike him, and Orlando in
return seizes his brother by the throat.
54. Young. Raw, inexperienced. Cf. Lodge (p. 150): "I
am yongest to performe any martial exploytes," etc. See also
Macb. iii. 4. 144: "We are yet but young in deed." Too young
is used in a contrary sense in Much Ado, v. i. 119.
58. Villain. Oliver uses the word in the present sense ; Orlando,
with a play upon this and the old meaning of serf or base-born fel-
low. Cf. lear, iii. 7. 78, etc. The word was sometimes used as a
familiar form of address, and even as a term of endearment ; as
in C. of E. i. 2. 19, W. T. i. 2. 136, etc. In T. tV. ii. 5. 16 and
T. and C. iii. 2, 35 it is applied to women in this sense.
71. Such exercises, etc. Cf. T. G. of V. i. 3. 32 : —
172 Notes [Act 1
" And be in eye of every exercise
Worthy his youth and nobleness of birth."
72. AUotery. Allotment, portion. S. uses the word only here.
73. Go buy. Go to buy ; a very common ellipsis with go in S.
Cf. i. 2. 241 below.
82. My teeth. For the use of the same figure in the reply to it,
cf. M. of V. iii. 3. 6 : " Thou call'dst me dog before thou hadst a
cause ; but, since I am a dog, beware my fangs."
Z"}^. Spoke. S. uses both spoke and spoken as the participle.
84. Grow upon me. Get the better of me, get the upper hand
of me. Cf. y. C. ii. i. 107: "growing on the south" (that is, gain-
ing on it, tending that way) ; Hen. V. iii. 3- 55 : " sickness grow-
ing Upon our soldiers," etc.
85. Physic your rankness. Check this rank growth of your in-
solence.
88. Wrestler. " Wrastler " in the folio here and elsewhere ; but
the other spelling was also used in the time of S. The former indi-
cates the pronunciation, which is still a vulgar one in this country.
90. So please you. If it please you ; of which our " if you
please" is a corruption. Cf. Sonn. 136. ii: "so it please thee,"
etc.
102. Good leave. Full permission. Cf. M. of V. iii. 2. 326 and
I Hen. IV. i. 3. 20.
109. Died to stay behind. This " indefinite " use of the infinitive
is very common in S.
113. The forest of Arden. The Forest of Ardennes was in the
northeast of France, " between the Meuse and the Moselle "; but it
is not necessary to suppose that the poet had this fact in mind. He
took the scene from Lodge's novel, lions and all, and did not trouble
himself about its geography. Knight has well said : " We most
heartily wish that the critics would allow poetry to have its own
geography. We do not want to know that Bohemia has no sea-
board ; we do 7iot wish to have the island of Sycorax defined on
the map ; we do not require that our Forest of Arden should be
Scene I] Notes 173
the Arduenna Sylva of Caesar and Tacitus." There was also a
Forest of Arden in Warwickshire. Drayton, in his Matilda, 1594,
speaks of " sweet Arden's nightingales "; and again, in the Idea: —
" Where nightingales in Arden sit and sing,
Amongst the daintie dew-impearled flowers."
114. A many. Cf. A. Y. L. i. i. 121, K. John, iv. 2. 199, etc.
The expression is still occasionally used in poetry ; as by Tennyson
in The Miller's Daughter : "They have not shed a many tears,"
etc. Merry Men was a common term for the followers of Robin
Hood dind other outlaws.
117. Fleet. Not elsewhere used transitively by S. The intran-
sitive verb occurs often ; as in Sonn. ig. 5, M. of V. iii. 2. 108, iv.
I. 135, K.John, ii. i. 285, etc. The golden worlds the golden age.
119. What. Often so used, "superfluously introducing a ques-
tion." Cf. J. C. iv. I. 10, Ham. \. i. ig, T. of S. iv. 3. 59, etc.
126. Shall. Must, will have to.
130. Withal. With this, with it. Cf. i. 2. 26 and ii. 7. 48 below.
131. Intendment. Intention, purpose. Cf. Hen. V. i. 2. 144:
" the main intendment of the Scot."
138. By underhand means. By indirect means.
139. It is. Used contemptuously; as in M. of V. iii. 3. 18 : "It
is the most impenetrable cur;" and Hen. V. iii. 6. 71 : "Why, 't is
a gull, a fool," etc. In Macb. i. 4. 58 (" It is a peerless kinsman ")
the familiarity is affectionate. See also iii. 5. 112 below.
141. Emulator. Used by S. only here. For emulation — envy,
jealousy, cf. J. C. ii. 3. 14, etc. So emulous = envious; as in T.
and C. ii. 3. 79, 242, etc.
142. Contriver. Plotter; as in T. A. iv. i. 36, J. C. ii. i. 158,
and Macb. iii. 5. 7. Contrive is used in the same bad sense; as in
iv. 3. 134 below. Cf. Hen. V.'w. \. \']\, J. C. ii. 3. 16, Ham. iv. 7.
136, etc. The adjective natural did not formerly imply, as now,
illegitimacy.
143. Had as lief. Good old English, but condemned by some
174 Notes [Act I
modern grammar-mongers because they cannot " parse " it. Lief'xs,
the Anglo-Saxon leof, dear. The comparative liefer or lever and
the superlative liefest are common in our early vi^riters. S. does not
use liefer, but has liefest in 2 Hen. VI. iii. I. 164: "my liefest
liege." Cf. Spenser, F, Q. iii. 2. 33 : *' my liefest liefe " (my dearest
love). Lief at first = dear, beloved, pleasing, came to mean
willing. From this the transition is easy to the adverbial use =
willingly, as in had as lief = would as willingly. The forms liefsind
lieve are used interchangeably in the folios. The latter is not un-
known in good writers of recent date. Matzner quotes Sheridan :
" I had as lieve be shot."
144. Thou wert best. Another old English idiom, now obsolete.
Cf. y. C. iii. 3. 12: "Ay, and truly, you were best," etc. The pro-
noun was originally a dative {to you it were best), but came to be
regarded as a nominative; as in if you please = if it please you (see
on 90 above).
147. Practise. Use stratagems, plot. Cf. 2 Hen. VI. ii. i. 171 :
"Have practis'd dangerously against your state." Elsewhere it is
followed by on or up07i ; as in Much Ado, ii. I. 398, Lear, iii. 2. 57,
0th. ii. I. 319, etc.
152. Brotherly. An adverb, as in the only other instances of the
word in S. : 3 Hen. VI. iv. 3. 38, and Cymb. iv. 2. 158.
153. Anatomize. Used literally (= dissect) in Lear, iii. 6. 80;
figuratively (as here and in ii. 7. 56 below) in R. of L. 1450,^. W.
iv- 3- 37> etc.
160. Gamester. A frolicsome fellow; as in T. of S. ii, i. 402
and Hen. VIII. i. 4. 45. It is here used contemptuously, and per-
haps with some reference to Orlando's ambition to try his luck in
the wrestling. It means a gambler in L. L. L. i. 2. 44, Hen. V. iii.
6. 119, etc.; and a harlot in A. W. v. 3. 188 and Per. iv. 6. 81.
162. Than he. S. often confounds the inflections of the per-
sonal and other pronouns. Cf. lines 1 7 and 268 of the next scene.
163. Full of noble device. Of noble conceptions and aims. S.
often makes his villains (like lago, Edmund, Macbeth, Antonio in
Scene II] Notes 175
The Tempest, and others) pay an honest tribute to the men against
whom they are plotting.
164. Sorts. Ranks, classes; as often.
166. Misprised. Undervalued, slighted. Cf. i. 2. 181 below, and
A. W. iii. 2. 33; also the noun misprision in A. W. ii, 3. 159.
168. Kindle. Incite. Cf. enkindle in Macb. i. 3. 121. Thither
= thereto. On go about = set about, undertake, cf. Much Ado, i.
3. II, M. for M. iii. 2. 215, Heit. V. iv. i. 212, etc. See also
Romans, x. 3, etc.
Scene II. — The name of Rosalind, here taken by S. from Lodge,
was a favourite one with our early poets. Rosaline (in L. L. Z.) is
another form of it.
I. Sweet my coz. Cf. y. C. ii. i. 25 : " dear my lord," etc. Coz
was the common abbreviation of cousin.
4. Yet I were merrier, I were yet merrier. Yet and only are
often thus transposed by Elizabethan writers. Cf. Hen. VIII. ii. 4.
204 : " full sick, and yet not well ; " which, as it stands, is nonsen-
sical.
6. Learn. Teach; but always with the object expressed. Cf.
R. and J. iii. 2. 12: "learn me how to love;" Cymb. i. 5. 12:
" learn'd me how to make perfumes," etc.
10. So. For so = if, cf. i. i. 90 above.
13. Tempered. Conditioned. Cf. T. and C. ii. 3. 265: —
" were your days
As green as Ajax', and your brain so temper'd," etc.
18. Nor noite. For the double negative, so common in S,, cf. 23
below. The confusion of I and /ne is common, like that of the in-
flections of other pronouns. See in i. I. 162 above. Like = likely,
as very often in S. Cf. iv. i. 65 below.
20. Perforce. Here = by force; as in C. of E. iv. 3. 95, Rich. II.
ii. 3. 121, M. N. D. ii. i. 26, etc. Elsewhere it is = of necessity;
as in M. N. D. iii. 2. 90, Hen. V. v. 2. 161, etc. Render — give
176
Notes [Act I
back. Cf. ii. 5. 28 below; also M. of V. iv. i. 383, Hen. V. ii. 4.
127, etc.
26. Withal. See on i. i. 130 above.
28. A pure blush. A blush that has no shame in it. Come off
— get off, escape; as in Jlf. of V.\. i. 128, Cor. ii. 2. 116, etc.
31. The good housewife Fortune, etc. Cf. A. and C. iv. 15. 44:
" That the false housewife Fortune break her wheel." There, as in
Hen. V. V. i. 85 (*' Doth Fortune play the huswife with me now ? "),
housewife or huswife (the latter is the usual spelling in the folio) is
used contemptuously. Cf. Ham. ii. 2. 515. Fortune is represented
with a wheel, as Fluelen explains {Hen. V. iii. 6. 35), "to signify to
you, which is the moral of it, that she is turning, and inconstant,
and mutability, and variation."
38. Honest. Chaste, virtuous; as in iii. 3. 17. Cf. M. W. iv. 2.
107, 136, etc.
39. Ill-favour edly. Ill-favoured, ugly. Cf. iii. 5. 53: "ill-favour'd
children." Adverbs are often used as adjectives. For favour =
face, cf. Genesis, xxix, 17, xxxix. 6, xli. 2, 3, 4, etc.
43. When Nature, etc. " True that fortune does not make fair
features ; but she can mar them by some accident. So nature
makes us able to philosophize, chance spoils our grave philosophy
by sending us a fool " (Moberly).
48. Natural. Fool, idiot. Cf. Temp. iii. 2. 37 and R. and J.
ii. 4. 96.
51. Who, perceiving, etc. Or, perhaps, Nature thinks us so dull
that she sends us her " natural " to sharpen our wits.
52. To reason of. To talk about, discuss.
54. Whetstone of the wits. The title of Robert Recorde's Arith-
metic is " The Whetstone of Witte."
Wit! whither wander you ? "Wit, whither wilt ?" (iv. I. 161)
was a proverbial saying ; perhaps the beginning of an old ballad.
64. Naught. Worthless, bad. Cf. Much Ado, v. I. 157: "the
which if I do not carve most curiously, say my knife 's naught ; "
Hen. V. i. 2. 73 : " corrupt and naught," etc. The word in this
Scene II] Notes 177
sense is usually spelled naught in the early eds., but nought when
it means nothing.
66. And yet was not the knight forsworn. Boswell quotes the
old play of Damon and Pithias : —
" I haue taken a wise othe on him : have I not, trow ye,
To trust such a false knave upon his honestie ?
As he is an honest man (quoth you ?) he may bewray all to the kinge,
And breke his oth for this never a whit."
Cf. Rich. III. iv. 4. 366-387.
81. Old Frederick. The reading of the folios, which, however,
assign the folio wing, speech to Rosalind. As Frederick was Celia's
father (v. 4. 154), some editors have changed Frederick to "Fer-
dinand"; others have given, as I do, the next speech to Celia.
The latter seems the simpler way out of the difficulty ; and such
errors in the names of characters are by no meaiis rare in the
early eds.
85. Taxation. Satire, invective. Cf. tax = accuse, inveigh
against, in ii. 7. 71, 86 below ; also in Much Ado, i. i. 46, T. and C.
i. 3. 97, Ham. i. 4. 18, etc. We still speak of " taxing a person
with " anything. Whipping was the usual punishment of fools.
87. Wise men is printed as one word in the folio, like wise man
in V. I. 35 and elsewhere. It was accented on the first syllable, as
madman is now.
88. By my troth. The most common form of the petty oath of
which d' my troth ! in troth ! good troth ! and the simple troth ! are
variations. For troth in its original sense (= truth), cf. M. N. D.
ii. 2. 36: "to speak troth," etc.
89. Was silenced. There may be here an allusion to some
recent restriction upon the players.
93. Put on us. Inflict on us, or force upon us. Cf. M. for M.
ii. 2. 133, T. N.v. I. 70, Ha7n. i. 3. 94, etc.
loi. Sport! of what colour? Probably Celia is ridiculing Le
Beau's affected pronunciation of the word, which suggests spot.
AS YOU LIKE IT — 12
178 Notes [Act I
106. Laid on with a troiuel. This was no doubt a proverbial
hit at clumsy or gross flattery. Cf. lay it on — to do anything to
excess, to be lavish in expense, to flatter extravagantly, etc. See
W. T. iv. 3. 41, etc. To lay it on thick is still a colloquial ex-
pression.
107. Rank. There is a similar play upon the word in Cymb.
ii. I. 17.
109. Amaze. Confuse, put me in a maze. Cf. V. and A. 684:
"a labyrinth to amaze his foes;" K. John, iv. 3. 140: "I am
amaz'd, methinks, and lose my way;" M. for M. iv. 2. 224: "Yet
you are amazed ; but this shall absolutely resolve you," etc.
115. To do. A common idiomatic use of the infinitive active.
Cf. T. N. iii. 2. 18. : " What 's to do ? " etc. It is still in good use
in many phrases; as "a house to let," for which some over-
fastidious folk think it necessary to substitute " to be let."
118. Comes. The singular verb is often found before two
singular subjects as well as before a plural subject; and here we
have a combination of the two cases.
121. Proper. Comely, good-looking; as often. Cf. Hebrews^
xi. 23.
123. With bills on their necks. The bill was " a kind of pike or
halberd, formerly carried by the English infantry, and afterwards
the usual weapon of watchmen." It was also used by foresters.
Lodge describes Rosader " with his forrest bill on his necke," that
is on his shoulder. For the play upon bill, cf. Much Ado, iii, 3. 191
and 2 Hen. VI. iv. 7. 135. There is also a pun on presence and
presents.
127. That = so \h2l ; as often.
130. Dole. Grief. Cf. M. N. D. y. i. 283 : "What dreadful
dole is here ! " Hajn. i. 2. 13 : " delight and dole," etc.
141. Broken mtisic. Chappell (^Popular Music, etc.) says:
" Some instruments, such as viols, violins, flutes, etc., were formerly
made in sets of four, which when played together formed a ' con-
sort.' If one or more of the instruments of one set were substituted
Scene II] Notes 179
for the corresponding ones of another set, the result was no longer
a 'consort,' but 'broken music' " P^or the play upon the expression,
cf. Hen. V. v. 2. 263 and T. and C. iii. I. 52. The use of see here
has troubled some of the critics, and changes have been suggested;
but, though Rosalind speaks of "broken music," she has in mind
the wrestling.
153. Looks successfully. Looks as if he would be successful.
Cf. Hen. V. iv. prol. 39: "But freshly looks;" Teffip. iii. i. 32:
"You look wearily; " Rick. III. i. 4. I : "Why looks your grace
so heavily to-day ? " etc. See also on 39 above.
156. Are you C7'ept? Have you crept ? Be and have are
both used with the perfect tense of certain intransitive verbs, mostly
of motion.
157. So please you. See on i. i. 90 above.
165. The princess calls. The them in Orlando's reply suggests
\}a.2X princess is plural (as horse, sense, balance, and other words end-
ing in a sibilant sometimes are) and that calls is a misprint for call.
175. Your eyes, etc. The meaning, as Johnson notes, is "if
you could use your own eyes to see., or your own judgment to know
yourself, the fear of your adventure would counsel you."
181. Misprised. See on i, I, 166.
182. Might. May; an irregular sequence of tenses.
187. Wherein. Apparently used, as other relative words some-
times are, before the antecedent clause : Punish me not with your
hard thoughts for denying you anything; wherein (in doing which)
I confess myself much guilty. The reflexive use of me (as of other
personal pronouns) is common.
188. Gracious. Favoured, acceptable. Cf. T.A.'x. i. ii (cf.
170 and 429) : " gracious in the eyes of Rome ; " 3 Hen. VI. iii.
3. 117 : "gracious in the people's eye."
191. Only, etc. That is, I only fill up, etc. Cf. Macb. iii. 6. 2 :
"Only I say; " /. C. v. 4. 12 : "Only I yield to die," etc.
203. Working. S. often uses the word of mental operations.
Cf. Soitn. 93. II, M.for M. ii. i. 10, L, L. L. iv. i. ■^^-^t etc.
1 80 Notes [Act I
209. Come your ways. Cf. ii. 3. 66 and iv. i. 179 below.
210. Speed. Patron, protector. Qi. Hen. Kv. 2. 194: "Saint
Dennis be my speed!" R. and J. v. 3. 121 : "Saint Francis be
my speed ! " etc. The word often means good fortune, success ;
as in T. of S. ii. i. 139, W. T. iii. 2. 146, etc. So the verb often =
succeed; as in A. W. iii. 7. 44, T. G. of V. iv. 4. 112, etc. It is
also used in wishing success; as in M. N. D.\. i. 180 : " God speed
fair Helena ! " etc. See also Genesis, xxiv. 12 and 2 John, 10, ii.
215. Should down. A common ellipsis in S.
218. Well-breathed. In full breath, well started. Cf. T. of S.
ind. 2. 50: "as swift As breathed stags;" A. and C. iii. 13. 178:
"I will be treble-sinew'd, hearted, breath'd;" L.L.L.w. 2. 659:
" A man so breath'd that certain he would fight ; yea,
From morn till night."
227. Still. Constantly; as very often. Cf. iii. 2. 51 below.
228. Shouldst. We should say " wouldst."
234. Calling. "Appellation; a very unusual, if not unprece-
dented sense of the word" (Steevens). Elsewhere S. uses it in
the modern sense, but (with the exception of Per. iv. 2. 43, which
may not be his) only of the ecclesiastical profession.
239. Unto. In addition to. Cf. Rich. II. v. 3. 97 : " Unto my
mother's prayers I bend my knee."
242. Envious. Malicious ; the usual meaning in S. So envy
more commonly = malice, spite, hate.
243. At heart. To the heart. Cf. T. and C. iii. 2. 202.
245. But justly as. Just as, exactly as.
247. This. A chain: as appears from iii. 2. 1 79. Out of suits,
etc. = " turned out of the service of Fortune and stripped of her
livery" (Steevens), or "out of her books or graces" (Johnson).
248. Could. Could with a good will, would gladly. Cf. A. and
C. i. 2. 131 : "The hand could pluck her back that shov'd her on."
250. My better parts. Caldecott quotes yT/rt<r(5. v. 8. 18: "For it
hath cow'd my better part of man."
Scene II] Notes l8l
252. A quintain. That is, a mere wooden image of a man. The
qttintain, in its simplest form, was an upright post, with a cross-bar
turning on a pivot at the top. At one end of this bar was a broad
target, at the other a heavy sand-bag. The sport was to ride at full
speed at the target, hit it with a lance, and get out of the way before
the sand-bag should swing round and strike the filter on the back.
The figure of a Saracen, with a shield on his left arm, and a drawn
sabre in his right hand, sometimes took the place of the post with
its cross-bar. Running at the quintain is said to have been a fa-
vourite sport at country weddings in Oxfordshire as late as the end
of the seventeenth century.
255. You have iprestled well, etc. As Lady Martin remarks,
" this is very significant, and speaks plainly enough, though spoken
as it would be with great reserve of manner, of the favourable im-
pression which the young wrestler has made upon her. We may
be sure that but for his modest demeanour, Rosalind would not have
allowed herself to confess so much." Cf. what Celia says in iii. 2.
207 : " It is young Orlando that tripped up the wrestler's heels and
your heart both in an instant."
257. Have with you. I'll go with you; a common idiom. Cf.
M. IV. ii. I. 161, 229, 239, iii. 2. 93, L. L. L. iv. 2. 151, Cor. ii.
I. 286, etc.
259. Conferejice. Conversation; as often. Cf. Much Ado, ii. 3.
229 : " the conference was sadly borne," etc.
265. Condition. Temper, disposition. Cf. M. of V. i. 2. 143:
" the condition of a saint," etc. The word is here a quadrisyllable.
266. Misconstrues. The folio has " misconsters," the old spell-
ing of the word. So construe was spelled and pronounced
" conster."
267. Humorous. " Wayward, headstrong, obstinate " (Furness).
Cf. ii. 3. 8 and iv. i. 19 below. It is sometimes = capricious, as in
K.John, iii. I. 119: "her humorous ladyship" [Fortune], etc.
268. /. See on i. i. 162 above, and cf. iii. 2. 151 below.
273. Smaller. The folio has "taller"; but cf. i. 3. 114 and iv.
1 82 Notes [Act I
3. 87 below. I adopt Malone's emendation, as nearest to the
old text. Cf. Greene, James IV. : " my small son." " Shorter,"
"lower," and "lesser " are other modern readings.
280. Argument. Cause, reason. Cf. iii. i. 3 below; also ^. IV.
ii. 2. 256, T. N. iii. 3. 12, Rich. III. i. i. 148, etc.
283. On my life. A common oath. Cf. M. W. v. 5. 200, W. T.
V. I. 43, etc. So (9' my life {M. W. i. i. 40), by my life (iv. i. 153
and V. 2. 68 below), etc.
285. In a better world. In better times. Cf. Rich. II. iv. I. 78 :
" in this new world " (this new state of things) ; T. and C. iii. 2.
180: "in the world to come" (in coming time, in future genera-
tions), etc.
287. Rest. Remain. Cf. M of V. i. i. 152: "rest debtor;"
W. T. iii. 3. 49 : " still rest thine," etc. See also iii. 2. 69 below.
On bounden, cf. IC. John, iii. 3. 29. Elsewhere S. has bound for the
participle.
288. From the S7noke, etc. That is, from bad to worse. Smother =
thick and suffocating smoke.
Scene III. — 11. My child's father. That is, him whom I hope
to marry. Rowe (2d ed.) changed it to "my father's child,". which
is approved by several editors and critics. But, as Moberly remarks,
" S. would have smiled at the emendation." The original reading
would undoubtedly be indelicate now, but it was not considered so
in the poet's day. Besides, the change is inconsistent with the con-
duct of the dialogue, in which Rosalind is represented as constantly
thinking and speaking of her lover. We must bear in mind that
she is talking with Celia.
12. This working-day world. This every-day life of ours. Cf.
A. and C. i. 2. 55 : " but a worky-day fortune."
18. Hem them away. Cough them away; as if the "burs" were
in her throat. In cry hem and have him, there is perhaps a play
on hem and him.
27. On such a sudden. Not elsewhere used by S. On the sudden
Scene III] Notes 1 83
seems to be his favourite phrase, but he uses also on a sudden and
of a sudden. With = for.
32. Chase. That is, follozving the argument ; alluding possibly,
as some think, to the deer, quibbling on the word dearly. For a
play on dear and deer, see V. and A. 231, M. IV. v. 5. 18, 123,
L. L. L. iv. I. 115, T. of S. V. 2. 56, i Hen. IV. v. 4. 107, etc.
ifl. Dearly. Heartily. Cf. Ham. iv. 3. 43 : " as v^^e dearly
grieve," etc. The word, like dear, is used of any intense feeling.
Cf. Ham. i. 2. 182: "My dearest foe," etc.
36. Deserve well. Deserve zVwell; that is, to be hated. Rosa-
lind purposely misinterprets the phrase. Malone explains it thus :
" Celia answers Rosalind, who had desired her not to hate Orlando,
as if she had said love him."
40. Safest haste. " The haste which is your best safety " (Mo-
berly) . It is an instance of prolepsis, or the anticipation in an ad-
jective of the result of the action expressed or implied in the noun.
Cf. Macb. i. 6. 3, iii. 4. 76, etc.
41. Cousin. Niece; as in T. N. i. 3. 5, T. and C. i. 2. 44, etc.
Elsewheire S. uses it for nephew, uncle, brother-in-law, and grand-
child ; also as a mere complimentary form of address between
princes, etc.
42. If that. For that as " a conjunctional affix " (used with and,
but, lest, zvhen, since, etc.), cf. 48, just below, and ii. 7. 73, iii. 5.
93, and iv. 3. 116.
46. If with myself, etc. If I know my own mind.
52. Purgation. Exculpation. Cf. Ilett. VIII. v. 3. 152: *'and
fair purgation," etc. See also v. 4. 44 below.
62. My father was no traitor. '* Rosalind's brave spirit will not
allow her to defend herself at her father's expense, or to separate
her cause from his. There are few passages in S. more instinctively
true and noble than this. She had not offended her uncle, even in
thought, though every one else was doing so; but the least sugges-
tion that her father is a traitor rouses her in arms to defend him "
(Moberly).
1 84 Notes [Act I
63. Good my liege. See on i. 2. i above.
64. To think. As to think. My poverty = one so poor as I.
66. Stafd. See on i. i. 8 above.
69. Realtor se. Pity, compassion. Cf. il/. o/" V. iv. i. 20: "mercy
and remorse ; " K. John, iii. 4. 50 : " tears of soft remorse," etc.
The only meaning of remorseful in S. is compassionate, and of re-
morseless (as in our day) pitiless.
70. That time. At that time.
72. Still. See on i. 2. 227 above.
73. At an instant. At the same instant. S. uses both eat and
eaten for the participle, but eat regularly for the past tense.
74. Juno's swans. Pier chariot was drawn by peacocks, as S.
himself makes it in Te7?ip. iv. i. 73. S. forgot or confused the an-
cient fables for the moment.
77. Patience. A trisyllable here.
80. Show. Appear; as often in S. Cf. V. and A. 366:
" Show'd like two silver doves ;" R. of L. ded. 5 : " my duty would
show greater ;" M. of V. iv. I. 196 : " doth then show likest God's,"
etc. Virtuous = gifted with virtues, or good qualities generally.
86. Provide yourself. Prepare yourself, get ready to go. Cf.
Ham. iii. 3. 7 : " We will ourselves provide," etc.
95. No, hath not? This seems to be a mere repetition of what
Rosalind has said, rather than (as some make it) an instance like
No had? No did? No will ? etc. (equivalent to Had he not? Did
he not ? etc.).
96. Which teacheth thee, etc. " Which ought to teach you as it
has already taught me" (Moberly). Theobald changed thee to
•' me " and am to " are "; but the sense does not require the former
change, nor the grammar — that is, Elizabethan grammar — the
latter one. Even the learned Ben Jonson could write ( The Fox,
ii. i) " both it and I am at your service," and (^Cynthia's Revels, i. i)
" My thoughts and I am for this other element, water,"
103. For, by this heaven, etc. " By this heaven, or the light of
heaven, with its lustre faded in sympathy with our feelings"
Scene III] Notes 185
(Caldecott). The scene (which is on the same day as the preceding
one) is apparently towards evening.
106. To seek my uncle, etc. Campbell remarks: "Before I say
more of this dramatic treasure, I must absolve myself by a confession
as to some of its improbabilities. Rosalind asks her cousin Celia,
' Whither shall we go ? ' and Celia answers, ' To seek my uncle in
the forest of Arden.' But, arrived there, and having purchased a
cottage and sheep-farm, neither the daughter nor niece of the
banished Duke seem to trouble themselves much to inquire
about either father or uncle. The lively and natural-hearted
Rosalind discovers no impatience to embrace her sire until she has
finished her masked courtship with Orlando. But Rosalind was in
love, as I have been with the comedy these forty years ; and love
is blind — for until a late period my eyes were never couched so
as to see this objection. The truth, however, is, that love is wilfully
blind ; and now that my eyes are opened, I shut them against the
fault. Away with your best-proved improbabilities, when the heart
has been touched and the fancy fascinated ! "
109. Beauty provoketh thieves, etc. Cf. Milton, Comus, 393 : —
"But Beauty, like the fair Hesperian tree,
Laden with blooming gold, had need the guard
Of dragon watch with unenchanted eye,
To save her blossoms and defend her fruit," etc.
113. Stir. Excite, rouse. Cf. W. T. v. 3. 74 : "I am sorry I
have thus far stirred you," etc.
114. Because that. See on 42 above. Cci/zz/^ow is the adjective
used adverbially; as adjectives often are by S.
115. Suit me all points. Dress myself in all respects. For the
pronoun, see on i, 2. 187 above.
116. Curtle-axe. Cutlass. It is the Fr. coutelas which from
the form courtelas became corrupted into curtlass, curtlaxe, and
curtle-axe. These are but a few of the old spellings, but will serve
to show how a sword was gradually turned into an " axe. " Spenser
1 86 Notes [Act II
(^F. Q. iv. 2. 42) calls it " curtaxe." Cutlash and cutlace were later
forms.
119. Swashing. Swaggering, blustering. Qi. swasher =.\>x2.gg2x\.,
bully, in Hen. V. iii. 2. 30. Swashbuckler was used in the same
sense.
120. Mannish. Cf. Cymb. iv. 2. 236: "though now our voices
Have got the mannish crack; " and T. andC. iii. 3. 217; "A woman
impudent and mannish grown."
121. Outface it. Face it out. Cf. Much Ado, v. i. 94 ;
" Scambling, outfacing, fashion-monging boys."
127. No longer Celia, but Aliena. An eleven-syllable line. Celia
is a trisyllable, as in 66 above, and Aliena accented on the penult, as
it ought to be.
128. Assay d. Tried, attempted. Cf. 0th. \\. 3. 207: "Assays
to lead the way," etc.
132. Woo. Solicit, gain over. Cf. i^iV^. //. i. 4. 28 : " Wooing
poor craftsmen with the craft of smiles ; " T. and C. iii. I. 162:
" I must woo you To help unarm our Hector," etc.
136. Go we in content. The reading of the later folios; the
first has " in we." Content is a noun, as in iii. 2. 25 below.
ACT II
Scene I. — i. Exile. Accented on the last syllable, as in R.
and J. iii. 3. 20, 140 (but exile 13 and 43), v. 3. 211, etc. S. also
uses the verb with both accents.
2. Old custom. Continued habit.
5. Here feel we not, etc. This is the reading of the folios, but
many editors read " feel we but." Knight thus defends the old text :
" We ask, what is ' the penalty of Adam ' ? All the commentators
say, 'the seasons' difference.' On the contrary, it was, *In the
Scene I] Notes 187
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.' Milton represents the
repentant Adam as thus interpreting the penalty : —
' On me the curse aslope
Glanced on the ground ; with labour I must earn
My bread; what harm? Idleness had been worse.'
' The seasons' difference,' it must be remembered, was ordained before
the fall and was in no respect a penalty. We may therefore reject
the received interpretation. But how could the Duke say, receiv-
ing the passage in the sense we have suggested, ' Here feel we not
the penalty of Adam'? In the first act, Charles the Wrestler,
describing the Duke and his comates, says, they 'fleet the time
carelessly as they did in the golden world.^ One of the character-
istics of the golden world is thus described by Daniel : —
' Oh ! happy golden age !
Not for that rivers ran
With streams of milk and honey dropp'd from trees ;
Not that the earth did gage
Unto the husbandman
Her voluntary fruits, free without fees.'
The song of Amiens in the fifth scene of this act, conveys, we think,
the same allusion : —
' Who doth ambition shun,
An'd loves to live i' the sun.
Seeking the food he eats,
And pleas' d with what he gets'
The exiled courtiers led a life without toil — a life in which they
were contented with a little — and they were thus exempt from the
' penalty of Adam.' We close, therefore, the sentence at ' Adam.'
* The seasons' difference ' is now the antecedent of ' these are coun-
sellors'; the freedom of construction common to Shakespeare and
the poets of his time fully warranting this acceptation of the read-
ing. In this way, the Duke says, ' The differences of the seasons
1 88 Notes [Act 11
are counsellors that teach me what I am; as, for example, the win-
ter's wind — which, when it blows upon my body, I smile and say,
this is no flattery.' "
6. As. As for instance, namely. Cf. iv. 3. 141 below. See also
Macb. V. 3. 25, etc.
8. Which. As to which.
13. Like the toad, etc. Cf. 3 Hen. VI. ii. 2. 138 : " venom toads; "
Rich. III. i. 2. 148: "Never hung poison on a fouler toad," etc.
Better naturalists than S. believed in the toad-stone^ the " precious
jewel " of the text. Fenton, in his Secrete Wonders of Nature, 1569,
says that " there is founde in the heades of old and great toades, a
stone which they call Borax or Stelon : it is most commonly founde
in the head of a hee toad, of power to repulse poysons, and that it
is a most soveraigne medicine for the stone." Its virtues are also
set forth in Lupton's Thousatid Notable Things, 1586, in Topsell's
History of Serpents, 1608, and by other learned writers of the time.
Allusions to it are frequent in the literature of that day. Meres, in
\a% Palladis Taenia, S2,ys : "As the foule toad hath a faire stone
in his head; the fine golde is founde in the filthie earth; the sweete
kernell lyeth in the harde shell," etc. Lyly, in his Euphues, also
says that " the foule toad hath a faire stone in his head," etc.
18. / tuould not change it. The folios make these words the
beginning of the next speech, but I think that Upton, Dyce, and
others are right in transferring them to the Duke.
21. Go and kill us. See on i. i. 73; and for us on i. 2. 187.
22. Irks me. Cf. i Hen. VI. i. 4. 105 : "it irks his heart;" and
3 Hen. VI. ii. 2. 6 : " it irks my very soul." S. uses the word only
three times. Irksome occurs in iii. 5. 94 below.
Fool is sometimes used as " a term of endearment or pity." Cf.
W. T. ii. I. 18: "Do not weep, poor fools; " 3 Hen. VI. ii. 5. 36:
" So many weeks ere the poor fools will ean," etc. Halliwell-
Phillipps quotes a poem by Harington, addressed to his wife : —
" Thus then I doe rejoice in that thou grievest,
And yet, sweet foole, I love thee, thou beleevest."
Scene I] Notes 189
23. Burghers. Citizens. Cf. M. of V.\. i. 10: "Like signiors
and rich burghers on the flood." In Sidney's Arcadia deer are
called " the wild burgesses of the forest "; and in Drayton's Polyol-
bion the hart is " a burgess of the wood."
24. Confines. For the accent, cf. Sonn. 83. 4 : "In whose con-
fine immured is the store," etc. S. oftener accents it on the first
syllable; as in J. C. iii. i. 272: "Shall in these confines with a
monarch's voice," etc. Tla.& forked heads are those of arrows. As-
cham (^Toxophihis') uses the same words in describing arrows.
26. y agues. A dissyllable, as always in S. Cf. A. W. iii. 4. 4 :
" I am Saint Jaques' pilgrim, thither gone; " Id. iii. 5. 98: "There's
four or five to great Saint Jaques bound," etc.
27. In that kind. In that way. Cf.^^2/£-/^ .^^(?, ii. i. 70: "if the
prince do solicit you in that kind," etc.
30. lay along. Lay at full length. Cf. J. C. iii. i . 15: " That
now on Pompey's basis lies along," etc. See also iii. 2. 236
below.
"Shakespeare," said Coleridge, "never gives a description of
rustic scenery merely for its own sake, or to show how well he can
paint natural objects : he is never tedious or elaborate; but while
he now and then displays marvellous accuracy and minuteness of
knowledge, he usually only touches upon the larger features and
broader characteristics, leaving the fillings up to the imagina-
tion. Thus, in As You Like It, he describes an oak of many centu-
ries' growth in a single line : ' Under an oak, whose antique root
peeps out.' Other and inferior writers would have dwelt on this
description, and worked it out with all the pettiness and imperti-
nence of detail. In Shakespeare the * antique ' root furnishes the
whole picture."
31. Antique, Spelt critique or antick in the early eds. without
regard to the meaning, but always accented on the first syllable.
2,2^. Sequester'' d. Separated from his companions. Cf. T. A. ii.
3. 75 : " Why are you sequester'd from all your train ? " There the
accent is on the first syllable, as in the noun in 0th. iii. 4. 40 : "A
190 Notes [Act II
sequester from liberty, fasting, and prayer." In T. and C. iii. 3. 8,
it is accented as in the text.
36. The wretched animal, etc. In a marginal note to a similar
passage in Drayton's Polyolbio7i, it is said that " the harte weepeth
at his dying : his tears are held to be precious in medicine." We
find the same idea in Batman, Sidney, and other writers of the
time.
39. Cours'd. Chased. Cf. Macb. i. 6. 21 : " We cours'd him at
the heels," etc.
42. The exiremest verge. The very edge. S. accents extreme on
the first syllable, except in Sonn. 129. 4. 10. .Exiremest, which he
uses often, has the modern accent. Cf. M. of V.\. i. 138, Rich. II.
iv. I. 47, etc.
44. Moralize. Moralize upon, draw a moral from. Cf. T. of S.
iv. 4. 81 : "I pray thee, moralize them," etc.
46. Needless. Not needing it. Cf. careless = uncared for (^Macb.
i. 4. 11), sightless = unseen (Alacb. i. 7. 23), etc.
49. Being there. As to his being there. The line is an Alexan-
drine.
50. Of. By ; as often. F.?/^^^/ = " soft, delicate " (Schmidt).
52. Flux. Flow, confluence. S. uses the word only here and
in iii. 2. 66 below.
59. The body. The whole system.
62. Up. Often used, as now, to " impart to verbs the sense of
completion " (Schmidt). Cf. " dries up " ( V. and A. 756), " burnt
up" (^Temp. iii. I. 17), "mould up" {Hen. VIII. v. 5. 27), "poi-
sons up" (Z. L. L. iv. 3. 305), etc. See also Robinson's transla-
tion of More's Utopia : " olde age kylleth them vp."
67. Cope. Encounter. Cf. Hen. VIII. i. 2. 78 : " to cope ma-
licious censurers ; " V. and A. 888 : "who shall cope him first?"
etc.
68. Matter. Good sense. Cf. Much Ado, ii. i. 344 : "all mirth
and no matter ; " Ham. ii. 2. 95 : " more matter with less art,"
etc. See also material in iii. 3. 32 below.
Scene III] Notes 191
Scene II. — 3. Are of consent and sufferance. That is, have
connived at it and allowed it.
7. Untreasur'' d. Used by S. only here ; and ^'r^^jwr^ (= enrich)
only in Sonn. 6. 3.
8. Roynish. Scurvy, mean (Fr. rogneux^. Cf. ronyon {Macb.
i. 3. 6 and M. W. iv. 2. 195), which has the same origin.
13. Farts. Gifts, qualities ; as in i. I. 141 above. Cf. L. L. L.
iv. 2. 118: "I thy parts admire," etc. 6'r(2(:^j = attractions. Cf.
Sonn. 103. 12: "your graces and your gifts." Wrestler is here
a trisyllable.
19. Suddenly. Quickly. Cf. M. TV. iv. i. 6: "Mistress Ford
desires you to come suddenly." See also ii. 4. 100 below.
20. Inquisition. Inquiry; as in the only other instance of the
word in S. (^Temp. i. 2. 35). Quail := flag, slacken.
Scene III. — 3. Memory. Memorial, reminder. Cf. Cor. iv. 5.
77: —
" a good memory
And witness of the malice and displeasure
Which thou shouldst bear me."
4. What make you here ? Cf. i. I. 28 and iii. 2. 217.
7. So fond, etc. So foolish as. Cf. AI. of V. iii. 3. 9: —
" I do wonder,
Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond
To come abroad with him at his request."
8. The bonny priser. The gallant prize-fighter. Th^ New Eng-
lish Diet, defines it in this and another passage, as " big, strong."
The first folio has it " bonnie," the later folios " bonny." Some
editors change it to "bony" ( = big-boned, sturdy), but S. does not
use the word elsewhere, and it is doubtful whether it had that sense
in his day. He has bonny several times = blithe, and once (2 Hejt.
VI. V. 2. 12: "the bonny beast he lov'd so well") with quite the
same force as here. Priser, or prizer, he uses only here and in
192 Notes [Act II
T. and C. ii. 2. 56, where it is = appraiser. For humorous see on
i. 2. 267.
12. No more do yours. A peculiar kind of " double negative ";
like V. and A. 478 : " To mend the hurt that his unkindness
marr'd " (where marr''d — we should say made — duplicates the
idea in hurf) ; M. of V. iv. I. 162 : " Let his lack of years be no
impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation " (either — no
motive to let him lack, or = no impediment to let him have) ;
Cymb. i. 4. 23 : "a beggar without less quality " ( = " with less," or
" without more," both of which have been proposed as emenda-
tions), etc. In the present passage but as enemies = nothing else
than enemies, and JVo more do yours is an emphatic reiteration of
the implied negative.
15. Efivenoms. Poisons. Cf. K.John, iii. i. 63, Hatn. iv. 7. 104,
etc. There may be an allusion to the poisoned tunic of Hercules.
23. Use. Are accustomed. We still use the past tense of the
verb in this sense, but not the present. Cf. Temp. ii. i. 175 : " they
always use to laugh at nothing; " T. N. ii. 5. 104: "with which
she uses to seal ; " A. and C. ii. 5. 32 : " we use To say the dead
are well," etc. See also Milton, Lycidas, 67 : " Were it not better
done, as others use," etc.
26. Practices. Plottings. Cf. Hen. V. ii. 2. 90 : " the practices
of France ; " Id. ii. 2. 144: "And God acquit them of their prac-
tices ! " etc.
27, Place. That is, place for you ; or, perhaps, //(a:<ri?=: dwelling-
place, residence. Cf. L. C. 82 : " Love lack'd a dwelling, and
made him her place;" Rich. III. iii. i. 69 : "Did Julius Caesar
build that place [the Tower], my lord?" So "Crosby Place"
(the quarto reading in Rich. III. i. 2. 213, etc.) = Crosby House;
"Eltham Place" (i Hen. VI. iii. i. i56) = Eltham House, etc.
Butchery here = slaughter-house ; elsewhere (as in Rich. III. i. 2.
54, 100, etc.) = slaughter.
36. Subject. English editors think it necessary to note that the
accent is on the second syllable, but this is the modern pronuncia-
Scene III] Notes 193
tion of the verb, at least in this country ; and it is the only one in
S. See Temp. i. 2, 114, Rich. II. iii, 2. 176, and K. John, i. I. 264,
which are the only other instances.
37. Diverted blood. Alienated or perverted relationship.
39. The thrifty hire I saved. That is, the wages which I was
thrifty in saving.
42. In corners thrown. That is, be thrown there.
43,44. The ravens . . . the sparrow. Ci. _/ob, xxxviii. 4.1, Fsa/ms,
Ixxxiv. 3, cxlvii. 9, Matthew, x. 29, and luke, xii. 6, 24.
49. In my blood. " These words seem by a kind of zeugma to
belong both to the verb apply and to the adjectives hot and rebel-
lious" (Moberly).
50, Nor did not. Cf. ii. 4. 9 below. £/«<5(3:j/^y^/=: shameless.
Woo the means = seek pleasures that are the cause.
57. Constant. Faithful. Cf. Hen. V. ii. 2. 5: " Constant loy-
alty;" Cymb.i. 5. 75: —
" a sly and constant knave,
Not to be shak'd," etc.
58. Sweat. Past tense; as in M. of V. iii. 2. 205, Hen. VIII. ii.
I. 33, etc. It is also used for the participle; as in T. of A. iii. 2.
28.
60. Promotion. A quadrisyllable. See on i. 2. 265, and cf. i. 3.
77-
61. And having, etc. "Even with the. promotioii gained by ser-
vice is service extinguished" (Johnson).
65. In lieu of. In return for; the only meaning in S. Cf.
I. L. L. iii. I. 130, M. of V. iv. i. 410, Hen. V. i. 2. 255, etc.
66. Come thy ways. See on i. 2. 209 above.
68. Some settled low content. Some place where we may get a
humble living and settle down contented ; a good example of Shake-
spearian condensation of language.
74. Too late a week. Probably a proverbial phrase, like a " day
too late for the fair."
AS YOU LIKE IT — 1 3
194 Notes [Act II
Scene IV. — i. Weary. The folios have "merry," but most of
the editors adopt weary. Furness and others defend " merry " on
the ground that Rosalind is trying to comfort Celia by an assumed
cheerfulness; and they may be right.
4. I cotild find in my heart. I am almost inclined. Cf. C.ofE,
iv. 4. 16 : "I could find in my heart to stay here ; " A. IV. ii. 5. 13:
" I cannot yet find in my heart to repent," etc. In Much Ado, iii.
5. 24 it is " find it in my heart."
6. The weaker vessel. Cf. I Peter, iii. 7. Doublet and hose =
coat and breeches. According to Fairholt (^Costume in Eng-
land), the doublet was so called from "being made of double
stuff padded between. . . . The doublet was close, and fitted
tightly to the body, the skirts reaching a little below the gir-
dle." The same writer says of hose, "This word, now applied
solely to the stocking, was originally used to imply the breeches
or chausses."
11. / had rather. Good old English, like had as lief, etc. See
on i. I. 143 above. For the play on bear and bear with, cf. T. G.
ofV. i. I. 125, and Rich. III. iii. i. 128.
12. Bear no cross. The old English penny was called a cross
from bearing the impress of one. For the play upon the word, cf.
2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 253. Here, as in some other instances, the fact
seems to be sacrificed to the pun. Cf. i. 3. 133 above, and 65, 94
below.
19. Look you, etc. See who is coming. Cf. Ham. iii. 2. 132,
etc. Some eds. point "who comes here ?"
21. Solejnn talk. Earnest or serious conversation. Cf. 0th. v.
2. 227, etc.
31. Fantasy. Love ; like fancy (cf. iii. 5. 29 and v. 4. 150),
which is only a contracted form of the same word. It occurs again
in the same sense in v. 2. 91 below.
38. Wearing. The reading of the first folio; the later ones have
" Wearying," which means the same. Cf. A. W.y.i. /^i " To wear
your gentle limbs in my affairs."
Scene IV] Notes 195
40. Broke. Cf. spoke in i. i. 83. S. also uses broken for the
participle.
44. Searching of. In searching of, or a-searching of.
45. By hard adventure. By bad luck, unfortunately.
48. A-night. By night. Cf. Chaucer, Legende of Goode Women^
1473: —
" yf that any straunge wyghte
With tempest thider were yblow anyghte."
49. Batlet. The small bat used for beating clothes while wash-
ing them. The first folio has " batler," which has the same mean-
ing, and is retained by some editors.
50. 67z^// = chapped. Cf. J.C. i. 2. 246: "their chopt hands,"
etc.
51. Peascod. Pea-pod. It was often used in rustic divination of
love affairs. Mr. Davy, speaking of Suffolk, says : " The kitchen-
maid, when she shells green pease, never omits, if she finds one
having nine pease, to lay it on the lintel of the kitchen-door ; and
the first clown who enters it is infallibly to be her husband, or at
least her sweetheart." " Winter-time for shoeing, peascod time for
wooing " is an old Devonshire proverb. Cf. Browne, Britannia'' s
Pastorals : —
" The peascod greene oft with no little toyle
Hee'd seeke for in the fattest, fertil'st soile,
And rend it from the stalke to bring it to her,
And in her bosome for acceptance wooe her."
52. Two cods. Johnson suggested " two peas," but ^o^j' or /^«5-
cods seems sometimes to have been used for peas. Cf. Beaumont
and Fletcher, Hottest Man's Fortune, iii. 3 : " thou shalt wear gold,
feed on delicates, the first peascods, strawberries," etc.
53. Weeping tears. This ridiculous expression occurs in Lodge's
novel, and also in the old play of The Victories of King Henry V.,
Peele's y^j'/.r, etc. (Steevens).
196
Notes [Act II
56. Mortal in folly. Mortally foolish. Mortal ^=vtty great, is
used in various English dialects.
57. Wiser. More wisely. See on iii. 5. 137. Ware — aware, but
not a contraction of that word, as most modern eds. make it. It is
uniformly printed " ware " in the folio.
59. Till I break, etc. "Till I find to my cost the truth of some
of my own aphorisms " (Moberly).
61. Upon my fashion. After my fashion; as in i. I. I. Schmidt
compares Lyly, Euphues : " he returned them a salute on this man-
ner ; " and Greene, Pandosto : " began to parley with her on this
manner." Ellis (^Early English Pronunciation^ thinks that passion
and fashion here are trisyllables.
71. Love or gold. Cf. the proverbial phrase, " for love or money."
75. Faints for succour. That is, she faints for want of succour.
Cf. " dead for breath " {Macb. i. 5. 37), " to sink for food " {Cymb.
iii. 6. 17), etc. In T. G. of V. i. 2. 136, "for catching cold" = for
fear of catching cold.
79. That I graze. Of the sheep that I feed.
81. Little recks. Little cares. Cf. T. G. of V. iv. 3.40: "reck-
ing as little what betideth me."
83. Cote. Cottage (cf. 92 below). So sheepcote in next line and
in iv. 3. 77. See also W. T. iv. 4. 808, etc. Bounds of feed =
limits of pasturage, pastures.
87. Ln my voice. In my name, so far as I am concerned. Cf.
M. for M. i. 2. 185 : " Implore her in my voice," etc.
'^%. What is he ? Who is he ? Cf. ii. 7. 79 below.
89. But erewhile. Just now. Cf. iii. 5. 104 below. See also
L. L. L. iv. I. 99, and M. N. D. iii. 2. 274.
91. Lf it stand with honesty. If it is consistent with honesty;
that.is, with the understanding you have with Silvius. Cf. Cor. ii.
3. 91, etc.
95. Waste. Spend. Cf. M. of V. iii. 4. 12, Temp. v. i. 302,
M. N. D. ii. I. 57, etc. See also ii. 7. 134 below.
100. Feeder. Shepherd, the feeder of your flocks.
Scene v] Notes 197
Scene V. — 3. Turn. Pope and some others change turn to
" tune." Whiter says that " to turn a time, in the counties of York
and Durham, is the appropriate and familiar phrase for modulating
the voice properly according to the turns or air of the tune."
5. Come hither. Let him come hither.
6. Here shall he see, etc. Cf. ii. I. 6 fol.
13. As a weasel sucks eggs. Cf. Hen. V. i. 2. 170: —
" For once the eagle England being in prey,
To her unguarded nest the weasel Scot
Comes sneaking, and so sucks her princely eggs."
15. Ragged. Rough. S. elsewhere uses ra^f^ where we should
use rugged. Cf. R. of L. 892 : " Thy smoothing titles to a ragged
name; " Sonn. 6. i : "winter's ragged hand," etc.
18. Stanzo. The folio reading, and found in other books of the
time. S. uses the word only here and in L. L. L. iv. 2. 99, where
the folio has stanze.
25. The encounter, etc. The grinning of two monkeys at each
other. Bartholomaeus says of apes : " some be call cenophe ; and be
lyke to an hounde in the face, and in the body lyke to an ape."
Maplett, in his Green Forest, or a Natural History, 1567, speaks of
five kinds of apes, one of which " is not much unlike our dog in
figure or shew." The reference here, as in S., is probably to the
dog-faced baboon, the Simia hamadryas of Linnaeus.
28. The beggarly thanks. " The professionally benedictive thanks
of a beggar " (Moberly).
30. Cover the while. Spread the table in the meantime. Cf.
M. of V. iii. 5. 57, 65, and 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 11. For the while, see
Temp. iii. I. 24, Macb. ii. I. 29, etc.
31. Drink. The folio reading, changed in many eds. to "dine,"
which is sufficiently implied in cover. As Capell remarks, drink
"tells something more, — that he meant to pass the afternoon there,
under the shade of that tree."
198 Notes [Act II
32. To look you. To look for you. Cf. A. W. iii. 6. 115 : **I
must go look my twigs," etc.
34. Disputable. Disputatious. Adjectives in -able are often used
actively.
35. I give heaven thanks, Qic. A proverbial expression. Ci. Much
Ado, iii. 3. 19 : " Why, give God thanks, and make no boast of it."
38. To live i' the sun. That is, " a life of open-air freedom," or
of " careless idleness."
46. In despite of my invention. "As imagination w^ould do
nothing for me, I spited it by the following choice composition "
(Moberly). To this note = to the same tune.
53. Ducdame. A word on which the commentators have wasted
much ink, without giving a satisfactory answer to the question of
Amiens, "What's that ducdame?'''' It is probably mere nonsense
coined for the occasion, echoing in rhythm and accent the come
hither of the song.
58. To call fools into a circle. Moberly adds, '* for the purpose
of etymologically and linguistically investigating the meaning of
ducdame ; " which is a fair hit at the commentators, one of whom
(followed by several others) seriously argues that the word is
" manifestly " the call of the dame, or housewife, to her ducks !
59. Go sleep. See on i. i. 73 above. The first-born of Egypt
(^Exodus, xi. 5) probably has no definite meaning here ; or, as
Nares suggests, " perhaps Jaques is only intended to say that, if he
cannot sleep, he will, like other discontented people, rail against
his betters,"
61. Banquet. Probably here = dinner, feast ; as in Much
Ado, ii. I. 178. It sometimes meant only the dessert ; as in T. of
^. V. 2. 9 : —
" My banquet is to close our stomachs up
After our great good cheer."
Scene VI. — 2. For food. That is, for want of it. See on ii.
4. 75 above. Here lie I down, etc. Cf. R. and J. iii. 3. 70 : —
Scene VII] Notes 199
" And fall upon the ground, as I do now,
Taking the measure of an unmade grave."
5. Comfort. That is, comfort thyself ; or it may be = take
comfort, be comforted.
6. Uncouth. Unknown, strange ; its original sense. Cf. R. of
L. 1598 : "What uncouth ill event Hath thee befallen?" and
Milton, P. L. ii. 406 : —
" And through the palpable obscure find out
His uncouth way."
8. Thy conceit, etc. You think yourself nearer to death than
you are. Conceit often = conception, idea, thought, etc. Cf. Ham.
iii. 4. 114: " Conceit (that is, fancy or imagination) in weakest
bodies strongest works."
10. Presently. Immediately. Cf. Temp. iv. 1.42, v. I. ioi,etc.
13. Well said ! "Well spoken and to the purpose." He con-
gratulates himself that his words make Adam "look cheerly." It
often means, " Well done ! " as in I Hen. IV. v. 4. 75, etc.
Thou lookest cheerly. That is, cheerily, cheerfully. Cf. T. of
A. ii. 2. 223 : " Prithee, man, look cheerly ! " etc. See also ii. 7.
II below, and cf. i. 2. 153 above.
Scene VII. — l. / think he be. The subjunctive is often used
after verbs of thinking. Cf. 0th. iii. 3. 443, etc.
3. But even now. But just now. Cf. Tetnp. v. i. 232, etc.
4. Hearing of. See on ii. 4. 44.
5. Cofnpact of jars. All made up of discords. Cf. M. JV. D. v.
I. 8 : " of imagination all compact," etc.
6. The spheres. An allusion to the Pythagorean doctrine of the
music of the spheres. Cf. T. N. iii. i. 121, M. of V. v. i, 60,
A. and C. v. 2. 84, etc. See also Milton, Hymn on Nativity,
125-132, etc.
13. Motley. The party-coloured dress of the professional fool.
200 Notes [Act II
The word is used as a noun (== fool) in Sonn. no. 2, and in iii.
3. 78 below.
A miserable world ! " Jaques for the moment laughs at his own
melancholy view of the world, having just heard it echoed by a
professional jester " (Clarke).
16. RaWd on. S. uses on or upon after rail oftener than at.
Against {?, sometimes the preposition ; as inii. 5. 57 and iii. 2. 262 of
the present play. For Lady Fortune cf. W. T. iv, 4. 51 : " O
Lady Fortune ! " Temp. i. 2. 178 : "bountiful Fortune, Now my
dear lady," etc. See also on i. 2. 31.
19. Call me not fool, etc. An allusion to the old proverb :
" Fortune favours fools, or fools have the best luck " (Ray, English
Proverbs, 1670).
20. A dial. This in the time of S. might mean either a watch or
a portable sun-dial, and it is doubtful which is intended here. Cf.
A. W. ii. 5.6: " my dial goes not true," etc. Poke = pouch,
pocket. We still use the word in the proverb, "to buy a pig in a
poke." Pocket is a diminutive of it.
26. Ripe. Ripen ; as in M. of V. ii. 8. 40 : " the very riping
of the time." It is used transitively in K. John, ii. i. 472 : " no
sun to ripe the bloom ;" and in 2 Hen. IV. iv. i. 13 : " to ripe his
growing fortunes."
29. Moral. Moralize ; the only instance of the verb in S.
Some make it an adjective.
30. Crow. Cf. T. G. of V. ii. i. 28: "You were wont, when
you laughed, to crow like a cock." See also T. N. i. 5. 95.
31. Deep- contemplative. Compound adjectives are not rare in S.
32. Sa7is. Cf. 166 below. See also Tetnp. i. 2. 97, L. L. Z. v. i.
91, etc. It was much used by the writers of the time, and appears
to have been viewed as an English word. Cotgrave (^Fr. Dict^
translates sans by " sanse, without, besides "; and Florio (//«/. Diet.)
gives " sanse " as an English equivalent for senza. Intermission is
here five syllables.
34. The only wear. The only thing to wear, the only dress in
Scene VII] Notes 20I
fashion. Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 327 : " Of the new'st and finest, finest
wear-a; " M. for M. iii. 2. 78: "it is not the wear," etc.
39. Dry, etc. Boswell quotes Jonson's Every Man Out of his
Humour, ind. : —
" And now and then breaks a dry biscuit jest,
Which, that it may more easily be chew'd,
He steeps in his own laughter."
40. Strange places. Odd corners. Some explain//«r^j as " topics
or subjects of discourse," but this does not suit so well with crammed.
The which refers to observation (knowledge gained by observa-
tion), not, as some suppose, io places.
44. Sttit, For the play on the word cf. iv. I. ^t, below. See also
I Hen. IV. i. 2. 81. -
48, As the wind. That "bloweth where it listeth " {fohn iii. 8).
Cf. T. and C. i. 3. 253 : " Speak frankly as the wind;" Cor. i. 9. 89 :
" as free as is the wind; " and Hen. /^ i. I. 48 : " The air, a charter'd
libertine."
53-57. He that, etc. In the folio the passage reads thus: —
" Hee, that a Foole doth very wisely hit,
Doth very foolishly, although he smart
Seeme senselesse of the bob. If not,
The Wise-mans folly is anathomiz'd
Euen by the squandring glances of the foole."
In 55 some read "Not to seem;" others " But to seem," etc. The
meaning is essentially the same, but the latter seems more Shake-
spearian. The sense then is : He whom a fool happens to hit well
is very foolish unless he appears not to feel the rap ; otherwise his
folly is laid bare even by the random sallies of the fool. For
senseless = insensible, cf. Cymb. i. i. 135 : "I am senseless of your
wrath," etc. Bob = rap, hit, is not found elsewhere in S., but we
have the verb (= beat, drub) in Rich. III. v. 3. 334 and T. and C.
ii. I. 76. For anatomize = lay open, disclose, cf. i. I. 153 above.
Squander is used by S. only here and in M. of V. i. 3. 22 : " other
202 Notes [Act II
ventures he hath, squandered abroad;" that is, scattered abroad.
In 0th. iii. 3. 151 ("his scattering and unsure observance ") scatter-
ing is used much Hke squandering here.
63. For a counter, A cou7tter was a round piece of metal used
in calculations. It is used contemptuously for coins in J. C. iv. 3.
80 : " such rascal counters."
66. T/ie brutish sting. Animal passion. Cf. M. for M. i. 4. 59 :
"The wanton stings and motions of the sense; " and 0th. i. 3. 335 :
" our carnal stings, our unbitted lusts."
67. Embossed. Tumid; as in Lear, ii. 4. 227: "an embossed
carbuncle." Headed = gxov^n to a head. In the only other in-
stance of the verb in S. {M.for M. ii. i. 250: "it is but heading
and hanging ") it means to behead.
70. Why, who cries out, etc. " Chide as I will, why should I
offend them ? Who can say that I mean him ? Jaques appears
either wilfully or through shallowness to miss the deep wisdom of
the Duke's saying, and the whole character of his admonition. The
Duke had not said that Jaques would offend people, but that he
would corrupt them " (Moberly).
71. Tax. Censure. See on i. 2. 85, and cf. 86 below. Private
= "particular, opposed to general;" as in Sonn. 9. 7: "every pri-
vate widow."
73. The wearer'' s very means. The folio has "wearie verie
meanes," which some retain, but the emendation in the text is
generally adopted. Cf. Hen. VIII. i. i. 83 : —
" O, many
Have broke their backs with laying manors on 'em
For this great journey."
75. When that. See on i. 3. 42.
76. The cost of princes, etc. Cf. 2 Hen. VI. i. 3. 83 : " She bears
a duke's revenues on her back."
77. Come in. Intervene; as in 31. for M. ii. i. 31.
79. Of basest function. Of the meanest position.
Scene VII] Notes 203
80. Bravery. Finery. Cf. T. of S. iv. 3. 57: "With scarfs and
fans and double change of bravery." Cf. also brave = fine, beauti-
ful; as in Temp. i. 2. 6, 411, iii. 2, 104, in, 113, v. i. 183, 261, etc.
On my cost = at my expense. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 3. 25 : *' doth feed
upon my cost."
82. Mettle. Substance, purport. The early eds. make no dis-
tinction between metal and mettle.
84. Do him right. Give him his due, do him justice; as in M,
for M. ii. 2. \OT^, Rich. II. ii. 3. 138, and many other passages.
85. Free. Innocent; as in W. T. i. 2. 251, Ham. ii. 2. 590,
Oih. ii. 3. 343, etc.
88. Eat. S. uses both eat and eaten for the participle, and the
former regularly (so far as the early eds. show) for the past tense.
90. Of what kind, etc. Of what race, etc. On the double
preposition, cf. in, 139 below. See also A. W. i. 2. 29, T. and C. v.
I. 63, Cor. ii. I. 18, etc.
91. Boldened. Not a contraction of emboldened, as sometimes
printed. Cf. Hen. VIII. i. 2. 55. Bold is used as a verb in the
same sense in lear, v. i. 26.
94. Vein. Disposition, temper. At first x^izx's, of course to 91.
96. Inlajtd bred. Brought up in the interior of the country, as
opposed to the less populous and less cultivated frontiers, or perhaps
to mountainous districts. Cf. iii. 2. 341 below.
97. Nurture. Culture, good-breeding. Cf. Temp. iv. i. 189.
So ill-nurtured =■ ill-bred in V. and A. 134 and 2 Hen. VI. i. 2. 42.
99. Answered. Satisfied; as in y. C. v. i. i, etc.
104. For food. See on ii. 4. 75 above.
109. Co77imandment. Command; as in W. 7111.2.8: "I have
express commandment," etc.
1 10. Inaccessible. Hard of access, "almost inaccessible " ( Temp.
ii. I. 37).
114. KnolVd. Cf. Macb. v. 8. 50 and 2 Hen. IV. i. i. 103.
118. Enforcement. Cf. A. W. v. 3. 107: "by what rough en-
forcement You got it," etc.
204 Notes [Act II
125. upon cotnmand. At your will or pleasure.
128. Whiles. Cf. V. 4. 5, 137 below; also M. No D. iii. 2. 374,
etc. On like a doe, cf. V. and A. 875.
131. Suffic'd. Satisfied. Cf, K. John, i. i. 191 : "when my
knightly stomach is suffic'd," etc.
132. Weak evils. That is, causing weakness; the cause and
effect being transposed, as very often.
139. All the world'' s a stage. The comparison is very common
in writers of the time. Cf. Edwardes, Damon and Pythias, 1571 : —
" Pythagoras said, that this world was like a stage,
Whereon many play their parts ; "
Sidney, Arcadia : " She found the world but a wearisome stage to
her, where she played a part against her will," etc.
143. Seven ages. The division of man's life into seven, ten, or
more periods or " ages " was likewise common, and dates back to
very ancient times. Plato attributes to Hippocrates the division
of man's life into seven periods. In the Mishna fourteen periods
are given, and a poem upon the ten stages of life was written by the
great Hebrew commentator Ibn Ezra (Browning's " Rabbi Ben
Ezra"). Sir Thomas Browne devotes a chapter of his Vulgar
Errors (iv. 12) to the various divisions which have been proposed.
As Grant White remarks (^Tale of the Forest of Arden), all these
stages of life are here described "in scoffing and disparaging terms ";
in fact, Jaques " seized the occasion to sneer at the representatives
of the whole human race."
144. Mewling. Squalling ; used by S. only here.
146. Like snail. Halliwell-Phillipps quotes Browne, Britan-
nia^ s Pastorals : —
" Or with their hats (for fish) lade in a brooke
Withouten paine : but when the morne doth looke /
Out of the easterne gates, a snayle would faster
Glide to the schooles, then they unto their master." :
Scene VII] Notes 205
148. Sighing like furnace. Cf. Cymb. i. 6. 66 : " He furnaces
The thick sighs from him."
150. Ficll of strange oaths. Sir James Douglas, one day hearing
the exclamation " The devil ! " pronounced with great emphasis in
a cottage, immediately concluded "that some gallant knights or
good men-at-arms were lurking there " (^Pict. Hist, of Eng. ii. 264).
Soldiers have always " sworn terribly," and not " in Flanders " alone.
Cf Hen. V. iii. 6. 78. Bearded like the pard probably refers, as
Furness suggests, to " the general shagginess characteristic of a true
soldier on duty in the field, as distinguished from the trim nicety of
a carpet knight."
151. Sudden. Impetuous, passionate. Cf.J/<3:<:(5. iv.3. 59 : "Sudden,
malicious ; " 0th. ii. I. 279 : " rash and very sudden in choler," etc.
155. Beard of formal cut. Cf. Hen. F. iii. 6. 80 : "a beard of
the general's cut," etc.
156. Wise saws, etc. "Wise maxims and trite illustrations. For
modern = commonpla.ce, trivial, cf. Macb. iv. 3. 170 : "a modern
ecstasy ; " A. W. ii. 3. 2 : " modern and familiar," etc. See also
iv. I. 7 below. For instances, cf. Much Ado, v. 2. 78 : "an old
instance," etc.
158. Pantaloon. The word and character were borrowed from
the Italian stage. Cf. Addison's Remarks on Several Parts of Italy :
"There are four standing characters which enter into every piece
that comes on the stage : the Doctor, Harlequin, Panialone, and
Coviello . . . Panialone is generally an old Cully, and Coviello a
Sharper." Capell quotes from The Travels of three English Broth-
ers, 1607, a dialogue between an Italian Harlequin and Kemp, the
actor : —
" Harl. Marry sir, first we will have an old Pantaloune.
Kemp. Some iealous Coxcombe.
Harl. Right, and that part will I play."
In Calot's plates illustrating the Italian comedy is one in which the
ancient pantaloon wears slippers.
160. Hose. See on ii. 4. 6 above. A world vfdA then as now a
2o6 Notes [Act III
common hyperbole. Cf. 0th. i. 3. 159 : "a world of sighs; " AT.
N. D. ii. I. 223 : "worlds of company; " Hen. VIII. iii. 2. 211 :
" all the world of wealth," etc.
163. His. For its, which was just coming into use in the time of S.
166. Sans. See on 32 above.
171. Fall to. Used by S. in other connections than of eating.
Cf. 2 Hen. IV. v. 5. 51 : " fall to thy prayers ; "/. C. v. 3. 7 : "his
soldiers fell to spoil," etc. See also v. 4. 179 below.
175. Unkind. Explained by some critics as = unnatural (cf.
Lear, iii. 4. 73, i Hen. VI. iv. i. 193, etc.), but it may have its
ordinary sense.
178. Because thou art not seen. That is, "thy rudeness gives
the less pain, as thou art an enemy that dost not brave us with thy
presence, and whose unkindness is therefore not aggravated by
insult" (Johnson). Capell quotes Lear, iii. 2. 16-18 : "I tax not
you, you elements, with unkindness," etc.
180. Holly. " Songs of the holly were current long before the
time of S. It was the emblem of mirth " (Halliwell-Phillipps).
187. The waters warp. Either referring to the curving of the
surface in freezing, or in a more general sense to the change under-
gone. Warp is elsewhere = change, distort, etc. Cf. W. T. i. 2.
365, A. W. V. 3. 49, Lear, iii. 6. 56, etc.
189. As friend remember'' d not. "As what an unremembered
friend feels " (Moberly) .
193. Effigies. Effigy, likeness ; a trisyllable, with the accent on
the second syllable.
194. Limned. Painted. Used by S. only here and in V. and A.
290. Dislimn ( = efface) occurs in A. and C. iv. 14. 10.
ACT III
Scene I. — 2. The better part. For the greater part. The prep-
osition is often omitted in adverbial expressions of time, manner, etc.
Scene II] Notes 207
3. Argument. See on i. 2. 280 above.
4. Thou present. You being present.
6. Seek him with candle. As Steevens remarks, alluding prob-
ably to Luke, XV. 8.
7. Turn. Return ; as in Rich. III. iv. 4. 184 : " Ere from this
war thou turn a conqueror," etc.
II. Quit thee. Clear or acquit thyself. Cf. Hen. V. ii. 2. 166 :
" God quit you in his mercy ! "
16. Of such a nature. That is, whose duty it is.
17. Make an exterit, etc. Put in an extendi facias, etc. Lord
Campbell, in Shakespeare's Legal Acqtiirements, quotes this passage
as illustrating the poet's knowledge of law, the writ of extendi facias
applying to houses and lands, as that oi fieri facias to goods and
chattels, and that of capias ad satisfaciendum to the person. Fur-
ness, however, shows that this process by extent could not legally be
resorted to under the existing facts, because an extent could only be
made after forfeiture or judgment.
18. Expediently. Expeditiously, quickly. So expedient =ex'^e-
ditious ; as in K. John, ii. I. 60 and Rich, II. i. 4. 39. Turn him
going ■= send him packing ; as vcij. C. iii. 3. 38.
Scene II. — 2. Thrice-crowned. Cf. M. N. D.v. i. 391: "By
the triple Hecate's team." Singer quotes from Chapman's Hym-
nus in Cynthiam a passage which may have been in Shakespeare's
mind : —
" Nature's bright eye-sight, and the night's fair soul,
That with thy triple forehead dost control
Earth, seas, and hell."
4. My full life doth sway. Cf. 7". iV". ii. 5. 118: "doth sway my
life."
6. Character. Write, inscribe. Cf. Sonn. 108. i, R. of L. 807,
T. G. of V. ii. 7. 4, etc. S. accents the verb either on the first or
second syllable; the noun on the first, except in Rich. LIL iii. i. 81.
7. That. So that. See on i. 2. 127 above.
2o8 Notes [Act III
lo. Unexpressive. Inexpressible. Cf. Milton, Lycidas, 176:
"the unexpressive nuptial song; " Hymn on A^ativ. 116: "With
unexpressive notes. " Cf. also insuppressive = not to be suppressed
■(_/. C. ii. I. 134), unconiprehensive = unknown (Z*. and C. iii. 3.
198), plausive = plausible, specious (A. W. i. 2. 53), respective =
respectable (Z". G. of V. iv. 4. 200), etc. For j/^^ = woman, cf.
T. N. i. 5. 259 : " the cruellest she alive ; " Hen. V. ii. i. 83 : " the
only she; " Cymb. i. 6. 40: "two such shes," etc. See also he in
388 below.
15. Naught. Bad. See on i. 2. 64 above.
16. Private. Lonely, solitary. Qi. Hen. VII I. \\. 2.1^'. " I left
him private," etc.
21. Hast. Cf. 32 below: "Wast ever in court?"
30. Of good breeding. That is, of the want of\i. See on ii. 4.
75 above.
40. Good mamiers. A play upon words, majtners being used
for morals as well as for habits or deportment-. No such term as
morals is found in the old dictionaries and authors.
43. Parlous. A vulgar corruption oi perilous. Cf, M. N. D. iii.
I. 14: "a parlous fear," etc.
47. But you kiss. Without kissing.
50. Instance. Proof. Cf. Much Ado, ii. 2. 42: "They will
scarcely believe this without trial; offer them instances," etc.
51. Still. Continually; as in i. 2. 227, and often.
52. Fells. Fleeces. Cf. Macb. v. 5. 11 : "my fell of hair;"
Lear^ v. 3. 24 : " flesh and fell," etc.
54. A mutton. A sheep. Cf. T. G. of V. i. i. loi : "a lost mut-
ton; " M. of V.'x. 3. 168: "flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats," etc.
59. More sounder. Cf. " more worthier " (iii. 3. 58 below),
"more elder" {M. of V. iv. i. 251), "more better" {^Tenip. i. 2.
19), etc.
65. Perpend. Ponder, consider; a word used only by Pistol,
Polonius, and the clowns. Cf. M, W. ii. i. 119, Ham. ii. 2. 105,
etc.
Scene II] Notes 209
70. God make incision in thee ! " God give thee a better under-
standing, thou art very raw and simple as yet " (Heath). The ref-
erence is probably to bleeding as a method of cure. Cf. L. L, L.
iv. 3- 97-
71. On raw = green, inexperienced, cf. M. of V. iii. 4. 77,
Rich. II. ii. 3. 42, etc.
73. Owe no man hate. Q.i. Romans, xiii. 8 : " Owe no man any-
thing, but to love one another."
74. Content with my harm. " Patient in tribulation. "
81. Scape. Not a contraction of escape. Cf. Bacon, Adv. of L,
ii. 14. 9 : " had scaped shipwreck," etc.
84. East. Eastern. Ind is printed " Inde " in the folio, and
the vowel is doubtless meant to be long; as in L. L. L. iv. 3, 222,
where the word rhymes with blind.
88. Liri'd. Delineated, drawn.
91. Fair. Beauty; as often. Cf. Sonn. 16. 11 : "Neither in
inward worth nor outward fair," etc. Steevens quotes from Lodge's
novel : —
" Then muse not, nymphes, though I bemone
The absence of fair Rosalynde,
Since for her fair there is fairer none," etc.
92. Rhyme you. Cf. Hen. V. iii. 6. 74 : " they will learn you by
rote where services were done; " T. ajid C. i. 2. 188: "he will
weep you, an 't w^ere a man born in April," etc.
94. Butter-women'' s rank. That is, their jog-trot one after an-
other. For right = true, downright, cf. 116 and 272 below.
99. If the cat, etc. A common proverbial phrase. Cf. the Enter-
lude of Jacob and Esau, 1568 : " Cat after kinde, saith the proverbe,
swete milke wil lap;" Florio's Second Frutes, 1591 : "cat after
kinde will either hunt or scratch," etc.
109. False gallop. "Forced gait" (i Hen. IV. iii. i. 135).
S. uses gallop only in this expression, which occurs again in Much
Ado, iii. 4. 94. Malone quotes Nash's Pierce Pennilesse, 1593: "I
would trot a false gallop through the rest of his ragged verses, but
AS YOU LIKE IT — 1 4
dio Notes [Act III
that if I should retort the rime doggrell aright, I must make my
verses (as he doth his) run hobbHng, like a brewer's cart upon the
stones, and observe no measure in their feet."
113. Graff. Graft; w^hich is a later form of the vi^ord. Cf.
2 Hen. IV. V. 3. 3: "of my own graffing," etc. See also jnis-
graffed in M. N. D.\. I. 137. Graft occurs in Co7'. ii. I. 206:
" grafted to your relish," etc.
114. A medlar. The fruit of the Mespilus Germanica, a tree
still common in England. It was not considered fit to eat until it
was overripe, or "rotten." There is here a play on medlar and
meddler, as in T. of A. iv. 3. 307 fol. Steevens thought that call-
ing the medlar. /^£' earliest fruit showed that S. had " little knowl-
edge in gardening," as it is a very late fruit; but Rosalind says " for
you '11 be rotten ere you be half ripe."
123. For. Because. Cf. M. of V. i. 3. 43 : "I hate him for he
is a Christian." In this passage if we put a comma before for, it
still means because, but the connection is looser. Cf. M. for Af. ii.
I. 27: —
" You may not so extenuate his offence
For I have had such faults ; "
that is, the fact that I have been guilty is no excuse for him. Put
a comma after offence and the passage becomes nonsense.
125. Civil sayings. "Maxims of social life" (Johnson). For
civil = civilized, see 2 Hen. VI. iv. 7. 66 : —
" Kent, in the Commentaries Caesar writ,
Is term'd the civil'st place of all this isle ; "
Cymb. iii. 6. 23 : —
*' Ho ! who's here?
If anything that 's civil, speak ; if savage,
Take or lend," etc.
127. Erring. Errant, wandering. Cf. 0th. i. 3. 362: "an
erring barbarian" (= "extravagant and wheeling stranger " in Id.
Scene II] Notes 2 ii
i. I. 137); Ham. i. i. 154: "The extravagant and erring spirit,"
etc.
129. Buckles in. Girds in, includes. Cf. Macb. v. 2. 15 and
T. and C. ii. 2. 30.
133. Sentence end. The possessive inflection was often omitted
in dissyllables ending with a sibilant, and sometimes before sake, as
in 253 below.
136. Quintessence. The fifth or highest essence of the alche-
mists; and hence, figuratively, the concentrated virtue of anything.
S. uses the word only here and in Ham. ii. 2. 321.
137. In little. In miniature. Cf. L. C. 90: "in little drawn."
140. Wide-enlarged. "Spread through the world" (Schmidt).
Cf. Temp. iii. i . 46 : —
" but you, O you,
So perfect and so peerless, are created
Of every creature's best ! "
142. Helen's cheek. Cf. Sonn. 53. 7: "On Helen's cheek all art
of beauty set."
144. Atalanta's better part. What this means has been much
disputed. Whiter (who has nineteen octavo pages on the passage)
remarks : " The imagery selected to discriminate the perfections of
Helen, Cleopatra, Atalanta, and Lucretia was not derived from the
abstract consideration of their general qualities, but was caught
from those peculiar traits of beauty and character which are im-
pressed on the mind of him who contemplates their portraits. It
is well known that these celebrated heroines of romance were, in
the days of our Poet, the favourite subjects of popular representa-
tion, and were alike visible in the coarse hangings of the poor and
the magnificent arras of the rich. In the portraits of Helen, whether
they were produced by the skilful artist or his ruder imitator, though
her face would certainly be delineated as eminently beautiful, yet
she appears not to have been adorned with any of those charms
which are allied to modesty. . . . With respect to the 'majesty' of
Cleopatra, it may be observed that this notion is not derived from
212 Notes [Act III
classical authority, but from the more popular storehouse of legend
and romance. . . . Since the story of Atalanta represents that hero-
ine as possessed of singular beauty, zealous to preserve her virginity
even with the death of her lovers, and accomplishing her purposes
by extraordinary swiftness in running, we may be assured that the
skill of the artist would be employed in displaying the most perfect
expressions of virgin purity, and in delineating the fine proportions
aud elegant symmetry of her person. Lucretia (we know) was the
grand example of conjugal fidelity throughout the Gothic ages; and
it is this spirit of unshaken chastity which is here celebrated under
the title of * modesty.' Such, then, are the wishes of the lover in
the formation of his mistress — that the ripe and brilliant beauties
of Helen should be united to the elegant symmetry and virgin
graces of Atalanta; and that this union of charms should be still
dignified and ennobled by the majestic mien of Cleopatra, and the
matron modesty of Lucretia."
147. Heavenly synod. S. has synod in six passages, and in all
but one it refers to an assembly of the gods. See Cor. v. 2. 74,
Ham. ii. 2. 516, A. and C. iii. 10. 5, and Cymb. v. 4. 89.
149. Touches. Traits, features. Cf. v. 4. 27 below.
151. And I to live. Cf. v. 4. 22 below.
\^2. Jupiter. The folio reading. Spedding suggested "pul-
piter," which is plausible; but S. does not use the word elsewhere,
nox pulpit (= rostra) except iny. C. Cf. Rosalind's " O Jupiter ! "
in ii. 4. I.
159. Scrip. The shepherd's pouch. Cf. i Samuel, xvii. 40, etc.
S. has the word only here and in M. N. D.\.2. 3, where it means list.
170. Should. Sometimes used to denote a statement not made
by the speaker; but it may possibly depend on wondering rather
than on hear.
172. The nine days. The proverbial nine that a wonder is
supposed to last. Cf. 3 Hen. VI. iii. 2. 113: —
" Gloucester. That would be ten days' wonder at the least,
Clarence. That 's a day longer than a wonder lasts,"
Scene II] Notes 213
174. A palm-tree. From Lodge's novel. See on i. i. 113 above.
Pythagoras' ti??ie. Moberly remarks that "the opinions of this
philosopher are wittily explained in T. N. (iv. 2. 54-60), and
forcibly in Af. of V. (iv. I. 131)."
175. An Irish rat. Cf. ]onson, Poetaster : —
" Rhyme them to death, as they do Irish rats,
In drumming tunes ; "
Sidney, Defence of Poesie : " Though I will not wish vnto you, the
Asses ears of Midas, nor to bee driuen by a Poets verses, (as
Bubonax was) to hang himselfe, nor to be rimed to death, as is
sayd to be doone in Ireland, yet thus much curse I must send you ; "
and Randolph, The Jealous Lovers, v. 2 : —
" Shall with a satire, steep'd in gall and vinegar,
Ryme 'em to death, as they do rats in Ireland."
Wright remarks that the supposed effect of music upon these
animals will be remembered by those who have read Browning's
Pied Piper of Harnelin.
177. Trow you. Know you. Cf. T. of S. i. 2. 165 : "Trow
you whither I am going ? " etc.
179. And a chain, etc. Cf. i. 2. 247.
182. For friends, etc. Cf. Ray, Eng. Proverbs: "Friends may
meet, but mountains never greet ; " Three Lordes of London, 1590 :
" I '11 tell thee why we meet; because we are no mountains; " and
Lyly's Mother Bombie, 1594: "Then we two met, which argued
that we were no mountains."
187. Petitionary. The word occurs again in Cor. v. 2.82: "thy
petitionary countrymen."
191. Out of all whooping. Beyond all exclamations of wonder.
192. Good my complexion I "Let me not blush; " as good an
explanation as any other of the many that have been suggested.
Cf. 180 above.
193. Caparisoned. Used jestingly, as in T. of S. iii. 2. 67.
214 Notes [Act III
195. A South Sea of discovery. That is^ "to be searched for
discovery;" the least delay is as bad as a voyage of discovery.
.201. Is he of God^s making? CL Lear, ii. 2. 59: "You cow-
ardly rascal, nature disclaims in thee : a tailor made thee."
205. Let me stay, etc. Tell me vi^ho he is, and I '11 wait for the
growth of his beard. For stay — wait for, cf. T. G. of V. ii. 2. 13,
Rich. II. i. 3. 4, Macb. iv. 3. 142, etc.
209. Speak sad brow, etc. Speak seriously, as you are a true
maid. Cf. Much Ado, i. i. 185 : " Speak you this with a sad brow? "
and for the construction, Hen. V. v. 2. 156: "I speak to thee plain
soldier; " K.John, ii. l, 462: "He speaks plain cannon fire," etc.
See also 272 below.
216. Wherein went he? How was he dressed? Cf. 0th. ii. I.
151 : "went never gay; " Lear, ii. 4. 27 : "to go warm," etc.
217. Makes. Does. See on i. i. 28 above.
218. With. Cf. Rich. II. ii. 2. 2: "parted with the king," etc.
Gr. 194. We have "parted from " in iv. 3. 98 below.
221. Gargantud's mouth. Gargantua was the giant in Rabelais
who swallowed five pilgrims at a gulp. Steevens quotes from the
Registers of the Stationers' Company two items, showing that in
1592 [April 6] was entered "Gargantua his prophesie," and in
1594 [Dec. 4] "A booke entituled, the historic of Gargantua &c."
223. To say ay and no, etc. To answer your questions even
briefly, etc.
226. Looks he as freshly. See on i. 2. 153 and ii. 6. 13 above.
228. Atomies. Atoms, motes. Cf. R. and J. i. 4. 57 and
2 Hen. IV. V. 4. 33. Cf. Milton, // Pens. 7 : —
" As thick and numberless
As the gay motes that people the sunbeams."
Resolve = solve, answer; as in 3 Hen. VI. iv. i. 135, etc.
230. Observance. Observation, attention. Cf. 0th. iii. 3. 151 :
" scattering and unsure observance," etc.
Scene II] Notes 215
232. foveas tree. Cf. 3 Hen. VI. v. 2. 14: "Jove's spreading
tree." The oak was sacred to Jupiter.
236. Stretched along. See on ii. i. 30 above.
239. The ground. The background of the picture, as Caldecott
explains it; though it may have its ordinary meaning.
240. HoUa. Used in checking horses. Cf. V. and A. 284 : —
" What recketh he his rider's angry stir,
His flattering ' Holla,' or his ' Stand, I say ? ' "
241. On curvets, cf. V. and A. 279: "rears upright, curvets, and
leaps." The noun is accented on the last syllable, in A. W. ii. 3.
299: "the bound and high curvet Of Mars's fiery steed." i'V^r-
wzV/^^ = dressed, equipped. Cf. epil. 9 below; also i Hen. IV.
V. 3. 21 : "furnish'd like the king," etc.
243. Heart. There is a play on the word; as in T. N. iv. i.
63,/. C. iii. I. 208, V. and A. 502, etc.
244. Burden. According to Chappell, the burden of a song
was " the base, foot, or u^ider-song^'' which was sung throughout,
and not merely at the end of the verse." The Century Diet, gives
" the bass in music " as the first meaning of the word.
245. Bringest me out. Put me out; as in 248 below. Cf.
L. L. L. v. 2. 171: "that brings me out."
250. By. Aside. So " walk by " = step aside, in 0th. v. 2.
30; "stand by" = stand aside, stand back, in Much Ado, iv. i.
24, T. of S. i. 2. 143, etc.
252. Had as lief have been. Cf. Much Ado, ii. 3. 84, and see
on i. I. 143 above. Myself alone = by myself; an expression, as
we are told, still used in Scotland.
253. Fashion sake. See on 133 above.
255. God be wi^ you. " God buy you " in the folio ; as in iv. i.
29 and V. 3. 40 below, and many other passages. Our good-bye is
from the same phrase.
260. Moe. More; the folio reading here, as in forty or more
other passages, though we find " more " in 258 just above. The
21 6 Notes [Act III
form is required by the rhyme in 7?. of L. 1479 and Much Ado, ii.
3. 72. It is regularly used only with the plural. In the one ap-
parent exception in the folio ( Temp. v. i . 234 : " mo diversitie of
sounds") the expression is virtually a plural.
263. Just. Just so; as in M. for M. iii. i. 68, Much Ado, ii.
I. 29, V. I. 164, Hen. V. iii. 7. 158, etc.
271. Conned. Learned by heart; as in M. N. D. i. 2. 102,
Hen. V. iii. 6. 79, etc. Out of rings alludes to the "posies" or
mottoes inscribed on rings. Cf. M. of V. v. i. 148, 151, and
Ham. iii. 2. 162.
272. / ansiver you right painted cloth. For the construction,
see on 209 above. Painted cloth alludes to the tapestry hangings
for rooms, which were ornamented with figures and mottoes. Cf.
R. of L. 245, Z. L. L. V. 2. 579, I Hen. IV. iv. 2. 28, and T. and
C. V. 10. 47. Steevens quotes Randolph, The Muse^s Looking-
glass, iii. I : —
" Then for the painting, I bethink myself
That I have seen in Mother Redcap's hall,
In painted cloth, the story of the Prodigal."
See also No Whipping nor Tripping, 1 601 : —
" Read what is written on the painted cloth :
Do no man wrong ; be good unto the poor ;
Beware the mouse, the maggot and the moth,
And ever have an eye unto the door," etc.
278. No breather. Ci. Sonn. 81. 12: "all the breathers of this
world; " and A. and C. iii. 3. 24 : "a body rather than a life, A
statue than a breather."
283. By my troth. See on i. 2. 88 above.
301. Sighing every m.inute, etc. Cf. Rich. II. v. 5. 50-58.
306. Who. For whom, as often. See on i. 2. 17 above.
312. A se'mtight. A week. Cf y^r/«z^,^/ = fourteen nights.
314. Year. Cf. Sonn, ii. 8: "threescore year;" Temp. i. 2.
Scene II] Notes 217
53: "Twelve year since, Miranda, twelve year since," etc. Simi-
larly we ^nd pound, shilling, mile, etc., in the plural.
333. Fringe. Fairholt, in his Costumes, gives representations
of petticoat fringes from portraits of the Elizabethan age.
334. Native. Cf. Haju. i. 4. 14 and iv. 7. 180. S. has native
as a noun (= source) only in Cor. iii. I. 129 : "the native of our
so frank donation ; " where some critics would read " motive."
335. Cony. Rabbit. Cf. V. and A. 687 and Cor. iv. 5. 226.
^e«(37^(/ = littered, born; still used of hares and rabbits in some
provincial dialects. Furness says it is in common use in this
country, as applied to rabbits.
338. Purchase. Get, gain. Cf. il/. ^/" F". ii. 9. 43 : "purchased by
the merit of the wearer; " Rich. II. i. 3. 282 : "I sent thee forth
to purchase honour," etc. Removed z= retired. Cf. W. T. v. 2.
116: "that removed house; " M. for M. i. 3. 8 : "the life re-
moved," etc. See also Milton, // Petis. 78 : " Some still removed
place."
339. Of. By. Cf. i. I. no, 163, etc.
340. Religious uncle. That is, a monk or hermit. Cf. v. 4.
160, 181 below. So in Rich. II. w. i. 23, "religious house " =
convent.
341. Courtship. Court life; with a play on the other sense.
Cf. R. and J. iii. 3. 34. For inland, see on ii. 7. 96 above.
345. Taxed. Charged. See on i. 2. 85 above.
358. Fancy-monger. Love-monger. See on fantasy, ii. 4. 31
above.
360. Quotidian. A fever with daily paroxysms. Cf. Lyly's
Euphues : " if euer she haue ben taken with the feuer of fancie,
she will help his ague, who by a quotidian fit is conuerted into
phrensie." See also Hen. V. ii. i. 124: "He is so shaked of a
burning quotidian tertian, that it is most lamentable to behold."
363. There is none. The singular verb is often thus used before
a plural subject.
365. Cage of rushes. That is, weak bondage.
21 8 Notes [Act III
367. A blue eye. That is, with blue circles about it. Cf. R. of
Z. 1587: —
" And round about her tear-distained eye,
Blue circles stream'd, like rainbows in the sky."
So in " blue-eyed hag," in Te77ip. i. 2. 270. Unquestionable
= disinclined to question or conversation. Cf. questionable in
Ham. i. 4. 43. For question = talk, conversation, see iii. 4. 35 and
V. 4. 161 below.
371. Simply. Indeed, absolutely. Cf. M. N. D. iv. 2. 9: "he
hath simply the best wit of any handicraft man in Athens; " Hen.
V. iii. 7. 105: "He is simply the most active gentleman of
France," etc. Having = property, possession. Cf. M. W. iii. 2.
73: "the gentleman is of no having;" Cymb. i. 2. 19: "he
added to your having," etc.
372. Ungartered. Cf. T. G. of V. ii. i. 79 and Ham. ii. i. 80.
373. Bonnet =h2i\.; as elsewhere in S. Cf. V. and A. 339: "his
bonnet " (called " his hat " in 351 just below), etc. On the whole
passage, cf. Heywood's Fair Maid of the Exchange : —
" No by my troth, if every tale of love,
Or love it selfe, or foole-bewitching beauty,
Make me crosse-arme my selfe ; study ay-mees ;
Defie my hat-band ; tread beneath my feet
Shoo-strings and garters ; practise in my glasse
Distressed lookes, and dry my liver up
With sighes enough to win an argosie."
376. Point-device. Affectedly nice. Cf. L. L. L. w. i. 21 and
T. N, ii. 5. 176.
384. In good sooth. In very truth. Cf. M. of V.'i. i. i = "In
sooth," etc.
388. He. See on 10 above.
394. A dark house, etc. The usual treatment of lunatics until
a very recent date. Dr. Brown, a high medical authority of a
hundred years ago, seriously maintained that " the patient ought
to be struck with fear and terror, and driven in his state of insanity
Scene III] Notes 219
to despair; as a remedy against over-muscular excitement the
labour of draught cattle should be imposed on him; the diet should
be the poorest possible, and his drink only water." Cf. T. N. iii.
4. 148, V. I. 350, C. of E. iv. 4. 97, etc.
403. Moonish. Changeable, variable; used by S. only here.
Cf. R. and J. ii. 2. 109 fol.
410. Drave, Cf. T. and C. iii. 3. 190, R. and J. i. i. 127, etc.
5. also uses drove for the past tense (^M. JV. v. 5. 131, etc.), and
driven and droven {A. and C. iv. 7. 5) for the participle.
411. Living, Real, as opposed to wa^. Cf. 6>//^. iii. 3. 409 : "a
living reason."
413. Merely. Absolutely. Cf. Temp. i. i. 59: "we are merely
cheated of our lives," etc.
414. Liver. Considered the seat of love. Cf. Temp. iv. i. 56,
Much Ado, iv. i . 233, etc. See also liver-vein in L. L. L. iv. 3. 74.
The simile, as Steevens remarks, is in keeping with Rosalind's
assumed character of a shepherd.
Scene III. — i. Audrey. A contraction of Etheldreda. The
word tawdry is a corruption of Saint Audrey.
3. Feature. Shape, personal appearance (Schmidt). Cf. Sonn.
113. 12, Temp. iii. I. 52, etc. Some take it to be = "facture" (or
making in the early English sense of composition, verses), as Mr.
W. Wilkins explains it ; but this is doubtful. Audrey somehow mis-
understands the word, and this involves a joke, but what the joke
can be seems past finding out. Furness, after devoting almost three
pages of fine print to it, gives it up as inexplicable.
7. Goats. There is a play on this word and Goths, which seems
to have had the same pronunciation. So, as Grant White has
shown, with fjioth and mote, nothing and noting, etc. Caldecott
remarks that in our early printing Goths and Gothic were spelled
Gates and Gotiishe. He quotes Thomas, Llist. of Ltalye, 1561 :
"against the gotes " (that is, Goths). Capricious is apparently
used here on account of its derivation (Latin caper, goat) .
220 Notes [Act III
lo. Ill-inhabited. Ill-housed. For the allusion to the story of
Philemon and Baucis, of. Much Ado, ii. i. 99.
15. ^ great reckoning, etc. A large bill for a small company or
a mean entertainment.
21. May be said, M. Mason wished to read "it may be said; "
but it is more likely a " confusion of construction " for " may be said
to be feigned."
26. Honest. Chaste ; as in i. 2. 38. Cf. dishonest in v. 3. 4 below.
29. Hard-favoured. Ill-favoured (cf. i. 2. 39 above), ugly. Cf.
V. and A. 133 : "Were I hard-favour'd, foul, or wrinkled-old; "
Hen. V. iii. 1.8: " Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd age," etc,
32. Material. "Full of matter" (ii. I. 68), sensible.
36. Foul. Plain, ugly; as in the passage from V. and A. just
quoted, and in iii. 5. 62 below.
49. Stagger. Waver, hesitate; as in M. W. iii. 3. 12, etc.
51. What though? What of it ? Cf. M. W.\. i. 286, Hen. V.
ii. I. 9, etc.
52. Necessary. Unavoidable; asiny. C. ii. 2. 36, etc.
57. Rascal. A lean or worthless deer. Puttenham, in his £7z^/z^>^
Poesie, says : " raskall is properly the hunter's terme given to young
deere, leane and out of season." For a play on the word, see Cor.
i. II. 63, 2 He7i. IV. ii. 4. 45, v. 4. 34, etc.
58. More worthier. See on iii. 2. 59 above.
61. By how much, etc. See on v. 2. 44 below.
63. Sir. "The style of a priest, answering to dominus.''^
68. On gift of any man. The idea seems to be that what is
given away is not worth having.
75. God Held you. God yield you, reward you. Cf. v. 4. 54
below. The full form (" the gods yield you for 't ! ") occurs in
A. and C. iv. 2. 33.
79. Bow. English editors explain ox-bow as a provincialism, but
it is in common use in New England.
80. Falcon. The female bird, the male bird being called tercel
or tassel (cf. T. and C. iii. 2. 56 and R. and J. ii. 2. 160). Falcon
Scene IV] Notes 221
is masculine in J?, of L. 506, but this is because it is applied meta-
phorically to Tarquin. On the bells, cf. R.of L.^w and 3 Hen. VI.
i. I. 47.
90. But I were better. That it were not better for me. Cf.
2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 245, T. N. i. 2. 27, etc. The construction was
originally impersonal (= to me it were better), like if I please, etc.
See on i. i. 90 above.
98. O sweet Oliver. A quotation from a ballad of the time.
102. Wind. Steevens notes that wmi3'=wend in Ccesar and
Pompey, 1607: " Winde we then, Anthony, with this royal queen,"
etc.
106. Flout. Mock, jeer; as in i. 2. 45 above, etc. For calling,
see on i. 2. 234 above.
Scene IV. — 9. Than Judas'' s. It was a current opinion that
Judas had red hair and beard, and he was commonly so represented
in the paintings and tapestries of the time. Cf. Marston, Insatiate
Countess, 161 3: "I ever thought by his red beard he would prove
a Judas;" Middleton, Chaste Maid in Cheapside, 1620 : "Sure
that was Judas with the red beard," etc.
12. Yotir chestnut. A common colloquial use oi your. Cf. v.
4. 61 below; also M. N. D. i. 2. 95, iii. i. t,Z^ iv. i. 36, etc.
15. Holy bread. Sacramental bread.
16. Cast. Cast off, discarded. Cf. Hen. V. iv. i. 23: "casted
slough;" Hen. VIII. i. 3. 48: "your colt's tooth is not cast yet,"
etc. For the allusion to Diana, cf. Much Ado, iv. i. 58, T. of A.
iv. 3. 387, Cor. V. 3. 65, etc.
17. Winter'' s sisterhood. That is, "an unfruitful sisterhood."
Cf. M. N. D. i. I. 72: —
" To live a barren sister all your life,
Chanting faint hymns to the cold fruitless moon."
23. Pick-purse. Pickpocket; as in M. W.\. i. 163, Z. Z. Z, iv,
3. 208, etc.
222 Notes [Act III
24. Verity. Faith, honesty; as in Macb. iv. 3. 92: "justice,
verity, temperance."
25. A covered goblet. More hollow because the cover is on only
when the cup is empty.
31. The word of a tapster. Who would cheat in his reckoning.
Cf. L. L. L. i. 2. 42: "I am ill at reckoning; it fitteth the spirit
of a tapster; " T. and C. i. 2. 123: "a tapster's arithmetic," etc.
35. Question. Talk, conversation. Cf. v. 4. 161 below; also
IV. T. iv. 2. 55, etc. See on iii. 2. 368 above.
37. What. For what, why. Cf. _/. C. ii. i. 123: "What need
we any spur," etc.
39. A brave man ! A fine fellow ! Cf. for the irony Temp. iii.
2. 12: "He were a brave monster indeed," etc. See on bravery^
ii. 7. 80 above.
41. Traverse. Crosswise; that is, clumsily. It was thought dis-
graceful to break a lance across the body of an adversary, and not
by a direct thrust. Cf. Much Ado, v. 1 . 1 39 : " give him another
staff ; this last was broke cross."
42. Lover is feminine, as in T. G. of V. i. i. 116, Cymb. v. 5. 172,
etc. In A Lover'' s Complaint the lover is a woman. Puisny =
puny (which is the same word), inferior.
43. A noble goose. The adjective is obviously ironical.
47. Of love. That is, of the want of it (Schmidt). See on ii.
3. 12 above, and cf. iii. 2. 30.
48. Who. See on iii. 2. 306.
51. Pageant. Cf. M. N. D. iii. 2. 114: "Shall we their fond
pageant see ? " In S. the word always means a theatrical perform-
ance, literal or figurative.
52. Pale complexioti. Perhaps alluding to the popular belief
that the heart lost a drop of blood with every sigh. Cf. M. N. D.
iii. 2. 96 : —
" All fancy-sick she is, and pale of cheer,
With sighs of love that costs the fresh blood dear," etc.
Scene V] Notes 223
Scene V. — 5. Falls. For the transitive use cf. Temp. ii. i. 296,
V. I. 64,/. C. iv. 2. 26, etc.
6. But first begs. Without first begging. See on iii. 2. 47 above.
7. Z)zV^ and lives. Lives and dies, gets his whole livelihood.
Mr. Arrowsmith (^Notes and Queries, ist series, vii. 542) compares
Romaunt of the Rose, 5790 : —
" With sorrow they both die and live
That unto richesse her hertes geve ; "
and Barclay, Ship of Fooles, 1570: —
" He is a foole, and so shall he dye and line,
That thinketh him wise, and yet can he nothing."
11. Sure. Surely. Cf. Tefnp. i. 2. 388, ii. i. 315, etc.
12. FraiVst. This contraction of superlatives is common in S.
Cf. "civil'st" (2 Hen. VI. iv. 7. 66), -'kind'st" (^Macb. ii. i. 24),
"stern'st" (/</. ii. 2. 4), " secret 'st" (^Id. iii. 4. 126), etc.
23. Cicatrice. Mark, impression. Capable is apparently = sen-
sible. Cf. Greene, Orpharion, 1599: "conducted into the great
hall of the gods. Mercury sprinkled me with water, and made me
capable of their divine presence." See also Ham. iv. 7. 179, where
" incapable of her own distress " = insensible, etc. For iynpressure,
cf. T. N. ii. 5. 103 : " Soft ! and the impressure her Lucrece, with
which she uses to seal; " and 7'. and C. iv. 5. 131 : "my sword
had not impressure made."
24. Some moment. Cf. R. and J.y. 3. 257: "some minute ere
the time," etc. We can even now say " some half an hour " (Z. L. L.
V. 2. 90), "some month or two" (J\I. of V. iii. 2. 9), etc. It is
doubtful, indeed, whether there is any Shakespearian use of the
word which might not be allowed now.
26. Nor . . . no. Cf. i. 2. 18 above,
29. Fancy. Love. See on iii. 2. 358 above.
36. And all at once. " All in a breath " (Steevens).
37. No beauty. It would seem to be clear enough from the con-
224 Notes [Act III
text that Rosalind is bantering Phebe, but the negative has troubled
some of the editors. Cf. 66 below : " He 's fallen in love vv'ith your
foulness; " that is, your lack of beauty. Cf. foul in iii. 3. 36 and
in 62 below.
39. Dark. In the dark, Cf. A. W. iv. i. 104: "I'll keep him
dark," etc. The passage means, "without exciting any particular
desire for light to see it by " (Moberly).
43. Sale-work. " Ready-made," as we say, in distinction from
"custom work" or that done to order. Odh my little life is a
petty oath. Cf. Much Ado, iv. 2. 72 : " God 's my life ! " See also
"Od's my will!" in iv. 3. 17 below; "Od's me!" in M. W.\.
4. 64, etc.
47. Bugle. Black like " bugles," as beads of black glass are still
called.
48. Enta77ie. Tame, subdue; used by S. only here. For tame =
subdue, see Much Ado, v. i. 210, T. of S. ii. i. 278, iv. i. 213, iv. 2.
53, 58, etc.
50. Foggy south. For the south wind as bringing fog and rain,
cf. R. and J. i. 4. 103, 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 392, Cor. ii. 3. 32, Cymb.
ii. 3. 136, iv. 2. 349, etc.
51. Properer. Handsomer. See on i. 2. 121, and cf. 55 and
114 below.
53. Makes. The relative sometimes takes a singular verb, though
the antecedent is plural; but here we may regard the preceding
idea ("the fact that there are such fools as you") as the subject.
59. Friendly. As a friend. For the adv^erbial use, cf. T. of S.
i. I. 141, iv. 2. 107, Cor. iv. 6. 9, A. and C ii. 6. 47, etc.
60. You are not, etc. We might use this expression, but not
"This sky is not to walk in" (y. C. i. 3. 39), "He is not for your
lordship's respect" (^A. W. iii. 6. 109), etc.
61. Cry the man mercy. That is, beg his pardon. Cf. M. IV.
iii. 5. 27, Af. N. D. iii. i. 182, etc.
62. Foul is most foul, etc. " There is no ugliness like that which
goes with scoffing." See on iii. 3. 36 above.
Scene V] Notes 225
66. He^s fallen in love, etc. If the text is right, the first clause
must be addressed to Phebe, and what follows to Silvius.
68. Saiice. Cf. our vulgarism of "sassing" a person. From
meaning to give zest or piquancy to language, the word came to
be used ironically in the sense of making it hot and sharp; or, in
other words, from meaning to spice it came to mean to pepper, Cf.
M. W. iv. 3. 1 1 : "I '11 sauce them."
73. If you will know, etc. Probably addressed to Silvius.
76. Look on him better. Think better of him, regard him more
favourably.
78. Abus'd. Deceived. Cf. Aluch Ado, v. 2. 100 : " Hero hath
been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused," etc.
80. Dead shepherd, etc. See introduction, p. 10 above. Mar-
lowe was killed in a quarrel in 1593. For saw, cf. ii. 7. 156 above.
Of might ■= forcibly true.
%%. Extermin'd. Used by S. only here. Its equivalent, exter-
ininate, he does not use at all.
89. Thou hast my love, etc. Possibly there is an allusion to the
Scriptural injunction, "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
93. Sitice that. See on i. 3. 48 above.
94. Irksome. See on ii. i. 22 above.
99. Grace. Either favour, regard (as in Much Ado, ii. 3. 31,
Z. L. L. ii. I. 60, etc.), or fortune, happiness (as in M. for M. i. 4.
69, M. N. D. ii. 2. 89, etc.).
102. Loose. Let fall. Cf. Ruth, ii. 16.
104. Ereivhile. See on ii. 4. 89 above.
106. Bounds. See on ii. 4. %Tj above.
107. Carlot. Peasant; from ca7'l (see Cymb. v. 2. 4), which
has the same meaning.
109. Peevish. Silly, as often; though here it may have the more
familiar sense.
112. It is. See on i. i, 139 above.
120. Lusty. Lively, fresh. Cf. Sonn. 5. 7, Temp. ii. i. 52, etc,
122. Constant. Uniform; as opposed to the mingled damask,
AS YOU LIKE IT — 1 5
2 26 Notes [Act IV
or red and white. Cf. Sonn. 130. 5: "roses damask'd, red and
white."
124. In parcels. Piecemeal. Cf, "by parcels" in 0th. i. 3. 154.
Would have gone nea?- to fall = would have come near falling. Cf.
Temp. ii. 2. 78, Much Ado, iv. 2. 24, etc.
128. What had he to do, etc. What right had he, etc. Cf. M. W.
iii. 3. 164 : " What have you to do (what is it to you) whither they
bear it?" The phrase is used absolutely in T. of S. i. 2. 226 and
iii. 2. 218.
130. / am reme77iber^ d. I recollect. Cf. M. for M. ii. i. no,
114, T. of S. iv. 3. 96, Rich. III. ii. 4. 23, etc.
132. Omittance is no qttittance. Doubtless a proverbial ex-
pression.
135. Straight. Straightway, immediately. Cf. lear, i. 3. 25 :
" I '11 write straight to my sister," etc. See also ii. I. 69 above.
137. Passing. Exceedingly; as often. Cf. M. N. D. ii. i. 20,
Hen. V. iv. 2. 42, etc. It is occasionally an adjective; as in T. G.
of V. i. 2. 17: "a passing shame;" 3 Hen. VI. v. i. 106: "O
passing traitor ! " etc.
ACT IV
Scene I. — 4. I do love it, etc. Cf. what Johnson says to Bos-
well : " You are always complaining of melancholy, and I conclude
from those complaints that you are fond of it. Do not pretend to
deny it : manifestiim habemtts furem. Make it an invariable and
obligatory law on yourself never to mention your own mental
diseases. If you are never to speak of them, you will think of them
but little; and if you think little of them, they will molest you
rarely."
5. In extremity of either. Extremely given to either. Cf. iv.
3. 23 below.
Scene I] Notes 227
7. Modern censure. Ordinary judgment. See on ii. 7. 156
above. For censure, cf. W. T. ii. i. 37: "In my just censure, in
my true opinion;" Rich. III. ii. 2. 144: "To give your censures in
this weighty business," etc. So the verb = judge iny. C. iii. 2. 16,
Cor. ii. I. 25, etc.
Worse than drunkards. " For both alike are as incapable of
action as drunkards, and their state is more permanent " (Moberly).
9. Good to be a post. " I remember that I was once at the house
of a lady for whom I have a high respect. When the company
were gone I said to her, ' What foolish talking have we had ! '
'Yes,' said she, 'but while they talked you said nothing.' I was
struck with the reproof. How much better is the man who does
anything that is innocent than he who does nothing ! " (Johnson).
14. Politic. That is, arising from " professionally assumed or
half real sympathy with his client." tVzV^ = affected, squeamish.
Cf. Heywood, Proverbes : " As nice as a nunnes hen."
16. Simples. The ingredients of a compound, especially of
herbs and medicines. Cf. R. of L. 530, R. and J. v. i. 40, Ham.
iv. 7. 145, etc.
18. My often rumination. The only instance of the adjective
in S.; but oft is similarly used in Sonn. 14. 8 : "By oft predict that
I in heaven find."
19. Humorous. Fanciful. Cf. its use in i. 2. 267 and ii. 3. 8.
20. A traveller ! S. elsewhere ridicules the affectations of
travellers; as in K. John i. i. 189 fol., M. of V. i. 2. 79 foL, Hen.
VIH. i. 3. 30, etc.
29. God be wV you. See on iii. 2. 255 above.
32. Disable = disparage; as in v. 4. 76 below. Cf. M. of V. ii.
7. 30 and I Hen. VI. v. 3. 67.
34. That countenance. Of that countenance, or national physiog-
nomy.
35. Swam. The folio has " swom " for the participle in Temp.
ii. 2. 133, and for the past tense in T. G. of V.'\. I. 26.
36. Gondola is spelt " Gundello " in the folio, and the word is
228 Notes [Act IV
still pronounced " gundalow " in New England seaports. Johnson
explains the passage, "That is, been at Venice, the seat at that
time of all licentiousness, where the young English gentlemen
wasted their fortunes, debased their morals, and sometimes lost
their religion."
45. Clapfd him d' the shoulder. Arrested him (cf. Cymb. v. 3.
78) ; or, perhaps, in a friendly or approving way. Cf. Much Ado,
i. I. 261, L. L. L. V. 2. 107, etc.
49. Of. By. Cf. iii. 2. 339 above.
57. Beholding. Beholden. Cf. y. C. iii. 2. 70, etc.
63. Leer. Look. There seems to be a touch of sarcasm in the
word, though in early English it meant simply face, aspect.
69. You were better. See on iii. 3. 90 above.
70. Gravelled. Stuck in the sand, brought to a standstill. Cot-
grave (^Fr. Diet.) defines assable as "gravelled; filled with sand;
also, stucke in, or run on, the sand " (the rtm on evidently referring
to a ship that has run aground) .
72. Out. At a loss for words. Cf. L. L. L. v. 2. 152, 165; Cor.
v. 3. 41, etc. See also iii. 2. 248 above.
God warn us ! God forbid ! Some have thought it a corruption
of " God ward (that is, guard) us ! " Cf. Rich. III. v. 3. 254.
80. Ranker. Greater. For the figure, cf. ii. 7. 46 above.
82. Suit. For the quibble, cf. ii. 7. 44 above.
92. Was not. Has not been. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 7. 58 : "I was
not angry since I came to France," etc.
93. Troilus, etc. Rosalind is inclined to burlesque the story of
his death; as in the reference to Leander's " cramp."
100. Chroniclers. Rosalind sportively compares the chroniclers
to a coroner's jury.
125. Go to. Come; a common phrase of exhortation or reproof.
Cf. Temp.v. i. 297, etc. See also Genesis, xi. 4.
133. Commission. Warrant, authority to perform the rite.
135. Goes before the priest. That is, does not wait for him to
dictate the words.
Scene I] Notes 229
142. April. Cf. M. of V. ii. 9. 93 : —
"A day in April never came so sweet,
To show how costly summer was at hand," etc.
Elsewhere the metaphor is drawn from the rainy April; as in A.
and C. iii. 2. 43 : "The April 's in her eyes," etc.
143. May. Cf. L. L. L. iv. 3. 102 : " Love, whose month is
ever May," etc.
145. A Barbary cock-pigeon. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 108: "a
Barbary hen."
146. Against. Before, in expectation of; as in Rich. II. iii. 4.
28, etc.
147. For new-fangled, cf. Sonn. 91. 3 and Z. Z. Z. i. i. 106.
Fangled = given to finery, occurs in Cymb. v. 4. 1 34. Nares gives
examples oi fangle = trifle or toy, from Gayton, Fest. Notes (" What
fangle now thy thronged guests to winne?") and Wood, Athena.
(" a hatred to fangles and the French fooleries of his time ") ; and
Todd (Johnson's Dict.^ adds from Greene, Mamillia : "There
was no feather, no fangle, jem, nor jewel."
149. Diana in the fountain. Malone thought this an allusion
to the cross in Cheapside, the religious images of which were
defaced in 1596. According to Stow (^Survey of London, 1603),
there was then "set up on the east side of the cross „ . . a curi-
ously wrought tabernacle of grey marble, and in the same an
alabaster image of Diana, and water conveyed from the Thames
prilling from her naked breast, but now decayed." It is doubtful,
however, whether S. had this Diana in mind. Statues of the god-
dess were a frequent ornament of fountains, as we learn from
writers of the time.
150. A hyen. That is, a hyena. S. mentions the animal only here.
Its bark was supposed to resemble a loud laugh. Steevens quotes
The Cobler's Prophecy, 1594: "You laugh hyena-like, weep like a
crocodile."
156. Make the doors. Shut the doors. Cf. C. of E. iii. i. 93:
230 Notes [Act IV
"The doors are made against you." It is said that the expression
is still used in Yorkshire and Leicestershire.
158. '' T will out. For the ellipsis, cf. i. 2. 215.
161. Wit, whither wilt? A proverbial expression, of which
Steevens and others quote many examples. It seems to mean
" What will your wit lead you to? " and was used to check one who
was talking nonsense or talking too much. Cf. i. 2. 54 above.
168. Without her anszuer. Tyrwhitt quotes Chaucer, C, T.
IOI41 : —
" Now by my modre Ceres soule I swere,
That I shall yeve hire suflfisant answere,
And alle women after for hire sake ;
That though they ben in any gilt ytake,
With face bold they shul hemselve excuse,
And bere hem doun that wolden hem accuse.
For lacke of answere, non of us shall dien.
Al had ye seen a thing with bothe youre eyen,
Yet shul we so visage it hardely,
And wepe and swere, and chiden subtilly,
That ye shul ben as lewed as ben gees."
170. Her husbamPs occasion. That is, "caused by him; " or
possibly " an occasion against him, or for taking advantage of him."
175. Lack. Be without, do without. Cf. TJ/a^ri^. iii. 4. 84 : "Your
noble friends do lack you," etc.
189. Pathetical. Perhaps meant to be a somewhat affected word.
S. puts it elsewhere only into the mouths of Armado (Z. Z. Z, i. 2.
103) and Costard (Jd. iv. I. 150). Cotgrave, however, uses it to
translate the Fr. pathetique. It is also found in Lodge's novel, in
Florio's Montaigne, Greene's Never too Late, etc. For hollow cf.
concave in iii. 4. 25 above.
195. The old justice. Cf. T. and C. iv. 5. 225 : " that old common
arbitrator, Time."
197. Simply misused. Absolutely abused. See on iii. 2. 371
above; and cf. Much Ado, ii. i. 246, etc.
Scene II] Notes 23 1
198. We must have, etc. Cf. Lodge's novel : " And I pray you,
quoth Aliena, if your robes were off, what mettal are you made of
that you are so satyrical against women ? is it not a foule bird defiles
his own nest ? "
204. The bay of Portugal. Wright observes : " In a letter to the
Lord Treasurer and Lord High Admiral, Ralegh gives an account
of the capture of a ship of Bayonne by his man Captain Floyer in ' the
Bay of Portugal' (Edwards, Life of Ralegh, ii. 56). This is the
only instance in which I have met with the phrase, which is not
recognized, so far as I am aware, in maps and treatises on
geography. It is, however, I am informed, still used by sailors to
denote that portion of the sea off the coast of Portugal from Oporto
to the headland of Cintra. The water there is excessively deep, and
within a distance of forty miles from the shore it attains a depth of
upwards of 1400 fathoms, which in Shakespeare's time would be
practically unfathomable."
208. Thought. Probably here, as Schmidt makes it, = love; as
in T. G. of V.\.\. 69, T. N. ii. 4. 115, etc. Spleen — caprice; or
" any sudden impulse or fit beyond the control of reason." Cf. T. of
S. iii. 2. 10 : "A mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen;" etc. It is used
figuratively in this sense in M. N. D.'\. i. 146 : —
" Brief as the lightning in the collied night,
That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and earth," etc.
209. Abuses. Deceives. See on iii. 5. 78 above.
212. Shadow. Shade, shady spot. Cf. V. and A. \^\, Rich. II.
iii. 4. 25, etc.
Scene II. — 11. His leather skin, etc. Cf. Lodge's novel:
"What news, forrester? hast thou wounded some deere, and lost
him in the fall? Care not man for so small a losse; thy fees was
but the skinne, the shoulder, and the horns."
12. Then sing, etc. In the foHos this line and the stage direc-
tion are printed as one line : " Then sing him home, the rest shall
232 Notes [Act IV
beare this burthen. " Various changes have been made by the
editors, but the majority adopt that in the text.
13. Take thoii no scorn. Qi. Hen. F'.iv. 7. 107: "your majesty
takes no scorn to wear the leek;" and i Hen. VI. iv. 4. 35 : " And
take foul scorn to fawn on him."
1 7. Lusty. Jocosely = gallant ; or, as Schmidt gives it, " almost
= merry."
Scene III. — Johnson remarks that the preceding scene was
introduced to fill up an interval, which is to represent two hours.
We find such scenes in other plays, but S. always gives them a
certain interest of their own.
2. Much Orlando! Spoken ironically, of course; but there
have been sundry attempts in the way of " emendation."
7. Bid. Often used by S. as the past tense. Cf. M. N. D. iv. i.
192, T. of S. i. 2. 30 (but bade in 37 just below), etc. The parti-
ciple is bid in every instance except Much Ado, iii. 3. 32 (Verges's
speech), where it is bidden. Cf. i. 2. 59 above.
8. Contetits. Accented as in 21 and in v. 4. 130 below; and so
always in S.
9. Action. A trisyllable. See on i. 2. 265 above.
10. Of. See on ii. 4. 44 above.
14. Swaggerer. Bully. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 81, 83, 91, 104, etc.
For the thought, cf. M. for M. iii. 2. 207 : " This would make
Mercy swear and play the tyrant."
16. And that. And says that.
17. As rare as phoenix. Cf. Temp. iii. 3. 21 : —
" Now I will believe
That there are unicorns, that in Arabia
There is one tree, the phoenix' throne, one phoenix
At this hour reigning there."
In L. C. 93 phoenix is used as an adjective = matchless. Accord-
ing to the familiar fable, but one phoenix existed at a time, having
Scene III] Notes 2^^
risen from the ashes of its predecessor. See allusions to the story
in 3 Jlen. VI. i. 4. 35, Hen. VIII. v. 5. 41, etc. For Od 's my will!
see on iii. 5. 43 above. These oaths, as Furness suggests, seem to
be due to Rosalind's " attempts to assume a swashing and a martial
outside. Before she donned doublet and hose she uttered none."
23. Turn'd into. Brought to. Cf. T. G. of V. iv. 4. 67 : " turns
me to shame ; " Temp. i. 2. 64 : " the teen that I have turn'd you
to," etc.
27. A huswife's hand. The hand of a working housewife.
32. Defies. For a different sense, see epil. 19 below.
34. Giant-rude. Gigantically or preposterously rude. See on
ii. 7. 31 above.
35. Ethiope. Not used elsewhere by S. as an adjective. For
the noun, cf. T. G.of V. ii. 6. 26, L. L. L. iv. 3. 118, 268, M. N. D.
iii. 2. 257, etc. ~^
37. So please you. See on i. i. 90 above; and for heard^ on iv.
r. 92.
39. Phebes. Addresses me in the same " cruel " strain.
44. laid apart. Laid aside. Qi. Hen. V. ii. 4. 78: "and lay
apart The borrowed glories," etc.; also Jonson, To Cynthia: "Lay
thy bow of pearl apart," etc.
48. Vengeance. Mischief. Cf. T. A. ii. 3. 113: "This ven-
geance on me had they executed."
49. Meaning me, etc. Meaning that I am, etc.
50. Eyne. Also written eyen ; an old plural analogous to oxen,
shoon, etc. It is used without rhyme in R. of I. 1229 and Per. iii.
prol. 5.
52. Alack. Alas. S. uses the two words interchangeably. Thus
we have " alas the day ! " in iii. 2. 204 above, and " alack the day ! "
in M. ofV. ii. 2. 73, etc.
53. Aspect. Perhaps used in its astrological sense, the eyes
being compared to stars. Cf. Milton's L' Allegro, 121 : " With store
of ladies, whose bright eyes Rain influence''^ (the astrological term).
Cf. also R. of L. 14, Sonn. 26. 10, W. T. ii. i. 107, 7\ and C. i.
234 Notes [Act IV
3. 92, I Hett. IV. i. I. 97, etc. The accent of the word in S. is
always on the last syllable.
54. Whiles. See on ii. 7. 128 above. Chid is the regular past
tense of chide in S., the participle being chid or chidden.
55. Prayers. A dissyllable; as often.
58. By him seal up, etc. That is, send a sealed letter by him to
let me know, etc.
59. Kind. Nature; as in A. IV. i. 3. 67, etc. Youlh and kind
seems to be = youthful nature or inclination.
61. Make. Earn. Cf. M. for M. iv. 3. 7 : " he made five marks,
ready money."
68. Instrument. Cf. Ham. iii. 3. 380-389: "You would play
upon me," etc.
70. Snake. Often used in this contemptuous way. Cf. Sir John
Oldcastle, 1600: "And you, poor snake's," etc.
75. Fair ones. Wright and Furness suggest that we should
read " fair one," as Celia is apparently the only woman present,
and it is she who replies. We should expect, however, that both
she and Rosalind would be addressed. It is possible, though highly
improbable, that it was a slip on the part of S.
76. Purlieus. A technical term for the borders of a forest;
used by S. only here. Reed quotes Manwood, Treatise on the
Forest laws, c.y.yi.: "Purlieu . . . is a certaine territorie of ground
adjoyning unto the forest, meared and bounded with immoveable
marks, meeres, and boundaries." Cf. Milton, P. L. iv. 404 : " In
some purlieu two gentle fawns at play," etc.
78. Bottom. Valley, dale. Cf. i Hen. IV. iii. i. 105: "so rich
a bottom ; " Milton, Comus, 532 : " the hilly crofts That brow this
bottom-glade," etc. So bottom-grass in V. and A. 236 = grass
growing in a deep valley.
84. Description. Quadrisyllable. See on i. 2. 265 above.
86. Favour. Look, aspect. Cf. ill- favour'' d, iii. 5. 53 above.
Bestows himself — deports or conducts himself. Cf. K.John, iii. i.
225, 2 Hen. IV. ii. 2. 186, etc.
Scene III] Notes 235
Sy. Ripe. Elder, mature. Low = short of stature; as in Much
Ado, i. I. 173, iii. i. 65 (where it is opposed to "tall"), M. N. D.
iii. 2. 295-305, etc.
93. Napkin. Handkerchief, as is evident from 97 just below.
Cf. Z. C. 15 : " Oft did she heave her napkin to her eyne; " and
0th. iii. 3. 290, where Emilia says " I am glad I have found this
napkin," and immediately after (306) to lago, " What will you
give me now For that same handkerchief?"
97. Handkercher. The folio spelling, indicating the pronun-
ciation. In 0th. the quarto has " handkercher," the folio " hand-
kerchief."
loi. Food. Commonly quoted "cud"; but S. does not use the
word. On siveet and bitter fancy, cf. Lodge's novel : " Wherein I
have noted the variable disposition of fancy, that lyke the polype
in colours, so it changeth into sundry humors, being as it should
seeme a combat mixt with disquiet, and a bitter pleasure wrapt
in a sweet prejudice, lyke to the synople tree, whose blossomes
delight the smell, and whose fruit infects the taste."
102. Threw his eye. Cf. R. of L, 1499, M.for M. v. i. 23, K.
fohn, iii. 3. 59, etc.
104. An oak. The folio has " an old Oake," but it is not likely
that S. would crowd the line with an adjective implied in age and
antiquity. It reminds me of a line in an ambitious college poem
which read " In the old days of ancient yore."
108. Gilded. Schmidt notes that S. uses gilded twenty times
and gilt only six times.
109. Her. There is here a confusion of genders, as in Macb. iii.
2. 13: —
" We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it;
She '11 close and be herself, whilst our poor malice
Remains in danger of her former tooth."
There is no clear case in S. of her as the possessive of it.
112. Indented. Sinuous, winding. Cf. V. and A. 704: "Turn
236 Notes [Act IV
and return, indenting with the way." Milton, like S., has the
word twice. See Vac. Ex. 94 : —
" Or Trent, who, like some Earth-born giant, spreads
His thirsty arms along the indented meads ; "
and P. L. ix. 496 (of the serpent) : —
" not with indented wave,
Prone on the ground, as since."
114. With udders, etc. And therefore htingry (126 below).
Cf. Lear, iii. I. 12: "the cub-drawn bear."
117. The royal disposition, etc. Douce quotes what Batman
{upon Barthol. xviii. 65) says of lions: "Also their mercie is
known by many and oft ensamples : for they spare them that lye
on the ground." See also Lodge's novel, p. 161 above.
122. Render. Describe, report. Cf. 2 Hen. IV. i. I. 27:
"rendered me these news for true ; " Hen. V. i. i. 44: "A fearful
battle render'd you in music," etc.
125. To. With regard to. Cf. T. of S. ii. i. 334, A. W. iv.
3. 276, etc.
131. Hurtling. Din of conflict. Cf. /. C. ii. 2. 22: "The
noise of battle hurtled in the air ; " and Gray, Fatal Sisters : —
" Iron sleet of arrowy shower
Hurtles in the darken'd air," etc.
134. Contrive. Plot. See on i. i. 142 above; oxidici. M. N. D.
iii. 2. 196, etc.
135. Do not shame. Am not ashamed. Cf, C. of E. v. i. 322:
"Thou sham'st to acknowledge me in misery; " and Macb. ii. 2.
64:-
" My hands are of your colour, but I shame
To wear a heart so white ; "
138. For. As regards. Cf. v. 4. 66: "But, for the seventh
cause," etc. By and by = presently, soon. Cf. Hen. V. ii, 2. 2, etc.
140. Recountments. Relations, narratives; used by S. only here.
Scene I] Notes 237
141. As. As for instance. Cf. ii. i. 6 above.
150. Brief. "In brief" (142 above). Cf. K.John, v. 6. 18.
Recover' d = restored; as in Temp. ii. 2. 71, 79, 97, W. T. iv. 4.
815, etc.
151. Being strong at heart. Having now recovered from the
fainting.
159. Cousin Ganymede. Johnson prints " Cousin — Ganymede ! "
and says, " Celia, in her first fright, forgets RosaUnd's character and
disguise, and calls out cousin, then recollects herself, and says Gany-
mede.'''' But cousin is probably used loosely, as explained on i. 3.
41 above.
165. Ah, sirrah. " On recovering herself, Rosalind immediately
resumes her boyish sauciness, and a little overdoes it" (White).
Moberly^, who prints " sirra," remarks, "A similar form seems still
in use in America (without any notion of upbraiding)." He appar-
ently refers to the vulgar " sirree," which is of very recent origin
and of course has no connection with sirrah. A body was formerly
used in this way in serious composition. Cf. M. for M. iv. 4. 25,
etc. Wright quotes Psalm liii. i (Prayer-Book version) : " The
foolish body hath said in his heart."
169. Of earnest. In earnest. Cf. i. 2. 27, i. 3. 26, and iv. i. 185
above.
172. Take a good heart. S. does not elsewhere use the article
in this and similar phrases. Cf. A. and C.v. i. 56 : " Bid her have
good heart; " /. C. iv. 3. 288: " I have taken heart," etc.
177. Draiv homewards. Come home. We still use draw near,
but not = come in, enter, as in Temp. v. i. 318, A. W. iii. 2. loi,
and T. of A. ii. 2. 46.
ACT V
Scene I. — 10. // is meat and drink to me. A common pro-
verbial expression. Cf. Af. W. i. i. 306: "That's meat and drink
to me, now."
238 Notes [Act V
12. We shall be flouting. We must have our joke. Y ox shall,
cf. i. I. 126 above; and iox flouting, iii. 3. 106.
15. God ye good evert. That is, God give you good even. Cf.
R. and J, i. 2. 58: "God gi' good-den" (" Godgigoden " in the
folio), and Hen. V. iii. 2. 89: "God-den," etc.
35. Wise man. See on i. 2. 87 above.
52. Female. Touchstone, Hke many of his kindred now, prefers
female to the " common " woman.
58. Bandy. Contend, strive. Cf. 7*. ^. i. i. 312: " fit to bandy
with thy lawless sons." It was originally a term in tennis, referring
to tossing the ball to and fro; as, figuratively, in R. and J. iii, i. 92.
63. God rest you merry. God keep you merry. Cf. R. and J.
i. 2. 65 : " rest you merry ! " For similar forms, see M. of V. i. 3.
60, M.for M. iv. 3. 186, A. and C. i. i. 62, etc.
64. Seeks. The singular verb is often found with two singular
subjects.
Scene II. — i. Is H possible, etc. As Steevens remarks, the poet
seems to be aware that, in varying from the novel here (see p. 163,
foot-note), he makes the passion of Celia appear rather hasty.
4. Persever. The word was so spelt in the time of S. and ac-
cented on the penult. Cf. A. W. iv. 2. 36, 37, M. N. D. iii. 2.
237, etc.
6. Of her. Cf. Hen. V. ii. 4. 50: "The kindred of him," etc.
II. Estate. Cf. Temp. iv. i. 85, etc. We find "estate unto "in
M. N. D.\.i. 98.
14. And all 's contented followers. This contraction of his, as of
us, was not uncommon.
18. And you, fair sister. Johnson would read "your fair sis-
ter; " but, as Chamier suggested, Oliver addresses her in her as-
sumed character of a woman courted by Orlando. Grant White
thinks that Oliver knows Rosalind's sex, having been informed of
it by Celia, whom he has wooed and won since the end of the last
act; "for to suppose that she kept Rosalind's secret from him one
Scene II] Notes 239
moment longer than was necessary to give her own due precedence
would be to exhibit an ignorance in such matters quite deplorable."
Let the reader judge.
26. Handkercher. See on iv. 3. 97 above.
27. And greater wonders, etc. Gervinus thinks that Oliver dis-
covered the sex of Rosalind by her fainting, and told Orlando of it;
but we cannot agree with him. The reference may be (as Rosalind
understands it) to the sudden betrothal of Oliver and Celia.
28. I know where you are. That is, what you hint at, what you
mean. Cf. Lear, iv. 6. 148: "0, ho, are you there with me?"
30. Thrasotiical. Boastful; from Thraso, the bragging soldier
in the Eunuch us of Terence. It is not necessary to suppose that
S. had read Terence, for the word was already in use. Cf. Orlando
Furioso, 1594: " a Thrasonical mad cap," etc. S. uses it again in
L. L. Z. V. I. 14. For the reference to Caesar, cf. Cymb. iii. i. 24,
37. Incontinent. Immediately; the adjective used adverbially,
as often. Cf. Rich. II. v. 6. 48 : " put on sullen black incontinent,"
etc.
38. Wrath. Passion, ardour.
39. Clubs. " Clubs ! " was the rallying cry of the London ap-
prentices, who used their clubs to put an end to a public disturb-
ance, or sometimes (cf. Hen. VIII. v. 4. 53) merely to join in one.
See R. and J. i. i. 80. Malone aptly quotes T. A. ii. i. 37 : " Clubs,
clubs ! these lovers will not keep the peace."
41. Nuptial. S. uses the singular except in Per. v. 3. 80. In
0th. ii. 2. 8 the quartos have the plural.
43. By so mtcch . . . by how much, eic. Cf. for the same arrange-
ment of clauses, Rich. III. ii. 2. 126 : —
" Which would be so much the more dangerous,
By how much the estate is green and yet ungovern'd ; "
for the inverse order, K. John, ii. i. 80 and i Hen. IV. i. 2. 234.
See also iii. 3. 61 above.
51.. Of good conceit. Of good intellect, or intelligence. For this
240 Notes [Act V
sense, cf. M. of V. i. i. 92: "wisdom, gravity, profound conceit; "
2 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 264 : " there 's no more conceit in him than is in
a mallet," etc.
53. Insomuch. Seeing that, since; used by S. nowhere else.
56. Grace me. Gain me credit. Cf. Hen. V, iii. 6. 71 : "goes
to the wars, to grace himself on his return," etc. See also i. i. 146
above.
58. Three year. See on iii. 2. 314 above. Conversed —h&^Vi
acquainted or associated with. Cf. T. G. of V. ii. 4. 63, Rich. III.
iv. 2. 28, etc.
59. Not damnable. Not deserving the penalty usually inflicted
upon his craft. By an act of the time of Elizabeth, death without
benefit of clergy was the punishment for the practice of witchcraft
whereby death ensued; imprisonment and the pillory for minor
forms of the crime. An act of James I. repealing this made death
the penalty for invoking evil spirits or practising witchcraft at all.
60. Gesture. Bearing, behaviour. Cf. C^^/z. iv. i. 88: "mark his
gesture; " Id. iv. i. 142: "his gesture imports it," etc.
64. Inconvenient. Disagreeable; used by S. only here.
65. Human as she is, etc. " That is, not a phantom, but the real
Rosalind, without any of the danger generally conceived to attend
the rites of incantation " (Johnson).
68. Tender dearly. Hold dear, value highly (though I risk it
by confessing myself a magician) . Cf. R. and J. iii. i . 74 : " which
name I tender As dearly as my own ; " Ha7ti. i. 3. 107 : " Tender
yourself more dearly," etc.
73. Lover. For the feminine use, see on iii. 4. 42 above.
74. Ungentleness. Unkindness; used nowhere else by S.
79. Him. The word is emphatic, as the measure shows. Gr.
483.
91. Fantasy. See on ii. 4. 31 above.
93. Duty and observance. Respect and homage. Cf. M. W.
ii. 2. 203 : " followed her with a doting observance," etc.
In line 95 the folio repeats " observance," which is obviously an
Scene III] Notes 241
error. Obedience seems, on the whole, the best correction that has
been suggested.
100. To love. For loving; a common use of the infinitive. See
on i. I. 109 above.
105. Speak — say; as in 2 Hen. IV. iv. 2. 16, Macb. iv. 3. 154,
etc. Orlando's reply is = Because I speak to her, etc.
107. Nor doth not. See on ii. 3. 50 above, and cf. v. 4. 86 below.
108. Like the howling, etc. Cf. M. N. D. v. i. 379 : "And the
wolf behowls the moon." See also /. C. iv. 3. 27. In Lodge's
novel we find the expression, " thou barkest with the wolves of
Syria against the moone." There were wolves in Ireland down to
the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Scene III. — 4. Dishonest. Immodest. Cf. Hen. V. i. 2. 49 :
" dishonest manners," etc. See also honest in i. 2. 38 and iii. 3. 26
above.
To be a woman of the world. That is, a married woman. Cf.
Much Ado, ii. I. 331 : "Thus goes every one to the world but I,
and I am sunburnt : I may sit in a corner and cry heigh-ho for a
husband ! " A. W. i. 3. 20 : " If I may have your ladyship's good
will to go to the world, Isbei the woman and I will do as we may."
8. By my troth. See on i. 2. 88 above.
II. Clap into H roundly. Set about it at once. Cf, M. for M.
iv. 3. 43: "I would desire you to clap into your prayers; for, look
you, the warrant 's come." See also Much Ado, iii. 4. 44. For
roundly = at once, without ceremony," cf. T. of S. i. 2. 59, Rich. II.
ii. I. 122, etc.; and note the use of round — blunt, unceremonious,
in T. N. ii. 3. 102, Hen. V. iv. I. 216, etc.
13. The only prologues. Only the prologues. Cf. i. 2. 191 above.
14. A tune. One tune; an occasional use of the article, which
is etymologically the same as 07ie. Cf. R. and J. ii. 4. 188, etc.
16. In the folio the last stanza of the song is made the second.
The arrangement here given is found in the earliest copy of the
song with musical notes, printed in Morley's First Book of Ayres,
AS YOU LIKE IT — 1 6
242 Notes [Act V
or little short Songs to sing and play to the Lute, 1600; also in a
MS. copy made certainly before 1639, and preserved in the Advo-
cates' Library at Edinburgh.
17. With a hey, etc. In the preface to his Ghostly Psalms
(quoted by Wright) Coverdale refers to these meaningless burdens
of songs : " And if women, sitting at their rocks, or spinning at the
wheels, had none other songs to pass their time withal, than such
as Moses' sister, Glehana's [Elkanah's] wife, Debora, and Mary the
mother of Christ, have sung before them, they should be better
occupied than with hey nony nony, hey troly loly, and such like
phantasies."
19. Ring tifne. The time of exchanging rings, or of making
love.
22. Bettveen the acres of the rye, etc. " The common field being
divided into acre-strips by balks of unploughed turf, doubtless one
of these green balks is referred to here" (Ridgeway). For this
use of balk (still common in provincial English), cf. Cowper, Re-
tirement: "Green balks and furrow'd fields." For a«'^ = field,
cf. Temp. iv. I. 81, 1 Hen. IV. i. i. 25, etc.
35. Matter. Sense. Cf. ii. i. 68 above.
36. Untuneable. Inharmonious. Cf. T. G. of V. iii. i. 208:
"harsh, untuneable, and bad." See also tuneable in M. N. D. i. i.
184 and iv. i. 129. Some eds. substitute "untimeable "; but un-
tuneable agrees better with what Touchstone afterwards says, " God
mend your voices ! " The page mistakes the point of the criticism,
perhaps intentionally.
Scene IV.' — 4. As those that fear, q\.c. That is, whose hopes are
mingled with fear, and only their fears certain. That this is the
general meaning is evident from the preceding line; but a dozen
" emendations " have been proposed.
5. Whiles. See onii. 7. 128. Compact (cf. ii. 7. 5) is accented
by S. on the last syllable except in i Hen. VI. v. 4. 163.
12. Hour. Here a dissyllable.
Scene IV] Notes 243
18. Make all this matter even. Or, as we now say, " make it
all straight." So, just below, make these doubts all even — recon-
cile them, clear them up. Cf. M. for M. iii. i. 41 : —
" Yet death we fear,
That makes these odds all even."
In A. W. ii. I. 194, "will you make it even ? " = will you make it
good ?
22. To wed. We should expect "you '11 wed," but such changes
of construction are common in S.
27. Lively. Lifelike. Cf. T. of A. \. i. 38: "Livelier than
life." ¥ or favour, see on i. 2. 39 above.
32. Desperate. Because those who pursued them were supposed
to risk their souls in the league they made with Satan.
34. Obscured. Hidden; as in i. I. 68 above. Cf. M. for Af. v.
1. 395 : "why I obscur'd myself," etc.
35. Toward. At hand, coming. Cf. M. N. D. iii. I. 83: "a
play toward;" T. of S. v. I. 14: "some cheer is toward," etc,
Toivards is used once in the same sense, in R. and J. i. 5. 124.
40. Good my lord. See on i. 2. i . above.
43. Put me to my purgation. Challenge me to prove it. Pur-
gation properly = exculpation; as in i. 3. 52 above. Cf. W. T. iii.
2. 7 : " the guilt of the purgation," etc.
44. A measure. A formal court dance. Cf. Much Ado, ii. i,
80 : "a measure, full of state and ancientry." See also Rich. II.
i. 3. 291, etc.
47. Ajtd like. And had like, or was likely. Cf. Much Ado, v.
i. 115: "We had like to have had our two noses snapped off; "
W. T. iv. 4. 750 : " Your worship had like to have given us one,"
etc. QL had as lief (}. I. 143) and /zi<? = likely (i. 2. 18). Like
is still vulgarly used in this way, at least in New England.
48. Ta'en up. Made up. Cf. T. N. iii. 4. 320 : " I have his
horse to take up the quarrel," etc.
54. God Held you. See on iii. 3. 75 above. On I desire you of
244 Notes [Act v
the like, cf. M. N. D. iii. I. 185: "I shall desire you of more ac-
quaintance," etc.
56. Copulatives. Candidates for marriage.
57. Blood. Passion. Ci. Much Ado, \\. \. i'^']-. —
" for beauty is a witch
Against whose charms faith melteth into blood ; "
and Id. ii. 3. 1 70 : " O my lord, wisdom and blood combating in so
tender a body, we have ten proofs to one that blood hath the
victory." On ill-favoured, cf. iii. 5. 53 above, and see on i. 2. 39.
60. Honesty. See on v. 3. 4 above.
62. Szvift. Ready, quick. Cf. iii. 2. 274: "a nimble wit."
Sententious = full of pithy sayings. Cf. Z. L, Z. v. i. 3.
64. The fool's bolt. Cf. Hejt. V. iii. 7. 132: "A fool's bolt is
soon shot." A bolt was a blunt-headed arrow.
65. Such dulcet diseases. Foolish attempts have been made to
mend the fool's talk by changing diseases to " discourses," " dis-
cords," or "phrases."
69. Seeming. Seemingly, becomingly. For <2'j', cf. ii. i. 6 above.
70. On dislike, Warburton quotes Beaumont and Fletcher, Queen
of Corinth, iv. i : - —
" Has he familiarly
Dislik'd your yellow starch, or said your doublet
Was not exactly frenchified ? or that that report
In fair terms was untrue ? or drawn your sword,
Cried 'twas ill-mounted ? has he given the lie
In circle, or oblique, or semi-circle,
Or direct parallel ? you must challenge him."
75. Quip. A sharp jest, or sarcasm; or, as Lyly defines it in
his Campaspe, " a short saying of a sharp wit, with a bitter sense
in a sweet word." Cf. T. G. of V. iv. 2. 12, M. W. i. 3. 45, Much
Ado, ii. 3. 249, etc.
76. Disabled. Disparaged. See on iv. i. 32 above.
Scene IV] Notes 245
80. Countercheck. Check; as in chess. S. uses the word again
in K. John, ii. i. 224: "A countercheck before your gates."
87. Measured swords. A preliminary to a duel. Cf.^a;;z.v. 2. 276.
88. Cait you jiominate, etc. Jaques apparently suspects that
Touchstone's enumeration of the lies may have been an impromptu
invention, and that he may not be able to repeat it.
90. By the book. S. doubtless refers here to a book by Vincentio
Saviolo, printed in 1594. It is entitled " Vincentio Saviolo his Prac-
tise. In two Bookes. The first intreating of the vse of the Rapier
and Dagger. The second, of Honor and honorable Quarrels." The
second book contains " A Discourse most necessarie for all Gentle-
men that haue in regarde their honors touching the giuing and
receiuing of the Lie, wherevpon the Duello & the Combats in
diuers sortes doth insue, & many other inconueniencies, for lack
only of the true knowledge of honor, and the contrarie : & the
right vnderstanding of wordes, which heere is plainly set downe,
beginning thus." The subject is treated under the following heads :
" Of the manner and diuersitie of Lies; " " Of Lies certaine; " " Of
conditionall Lyes; " " Of the Lye in generall; " *' Of the Lye in par-
ticular; " " Of foolish Lyes." The chapter " Of conditionall Lyes,"
which seems to correspond to Touchstone's " Lie circumstantial,"
begins thus : " Conditionall lyes be such as are giuen conditionally :
as if a man should sale or write these woordes. If thou hast saide
that I haue offered my Lord abuse, thou lyest : or if thou saiest so
heerafter, thou shalt lye. And as often as thou hast or shalt so say,
so oft do I and will I say that thou doest lye. Of these kinde of
lyes giuen in this manner, often arise much contention in words,
and diuers intricate worthy battailes, multiplying wordes vpon wordes
whereof no sure conclusion can arise." The author warns his read-
ers " by all meanes possible to shunne all conditionall lyes, neuer
geuing anie other but certayne Lyes : the which in like manner
they ought to haue great regarde, that they giue them not, vnless
they be by some sure means infallibly assured, that they giue them
rightly, to the ende that the parties vnto whome they be giuen, may
246
Notes [Act V
be forced without further Ifs and Ands, either to deny or iustifie,
that which they haue spoken."
91. Books for good manners. There were many such in the time
of S., and indeed at a much earlier date. One was published by
Wynkyn de Worde in 1507. There was an earlier edition printed
by Pynson in 1494, stated to be " finyshed and translated out of
Frenshe into Englissh the viij. day of June in the yere of oure Lorde
i486." Pynson also printed another book entitled " the myrrour
of good maners," etc., translated from the Latin by Alexander
Bercley. The Boke of Nurture, or Schoole of good maners for men,
servants, and children, compiled by Hugh Rhodes, passed through
at least five editions between 1554 and 1557. Several other books
of the kind were published about the same time.
102. Swore brothers. Like ih.& fratres jurati, who took an oath
to share each other's fortunes. Cf. Rich. II. v. i. 20, Much Ado,
i. I. 73, I Hen. IV. ii. 4. 7, and 2 Hen. IV. iii. 2. 345.
106. A stalking-horse. A horse, or the figure of one, behind
which sportsmen approached their game. Cf. Much Ado, ii. 3. 95 :
"Stalk on, stalk on; the fowl sits." Nares cites The Malcontent :
" A fellow that makes religion his stalking-horse."
107. Presentation. Semblance; used by S. only here and in
Rich. III. iv. 4. 84 : " The presentation of but what I was."
108. Still music. Soft music. The folio has the stage direction
" Musick still " in M. N. D. iv. i , 80. Cf. " stilly sounds " in Hen. V.
iv. prol. 5.
no. Atone together. Are at one, or agree together. Cf. Cor.
iv. 6. 72: "He and Aufidius can no more atone," etc. It is used
transitively (=make at one, reconcile) in Rich. II. i. i. 202 and
0th. iv. r. 244.
114. Her hand. The 1st and 2d folios have "his hand"; and
in the next line all the folios have " his bosom." On 115 cf. Z. L. L.
V. 2. 826 : " Hence ever then my heart is in thy breast; " Rich. III.
i. 2. 205: "Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart; " and
V. and A. 582: —
Scene IV] Notes 247
" her heart,
The which, by Cupid's bow she doth protest,
He carries thence encaged in his breast,"
130. If truth holds true contents. "If truth contains truth, if the
possession of truth be not imposture" (Caldecott).
133. Accord. Agree, consent. Cf. T. G. ofV. i. 3. go, Hen. V.
ii, 2. 86, etc.
135. Sure. Surely or securely united. Cf. 31. W. v. 5. 237 : —
" The truth is, she and I, long since contracted.
Are now so sure that nothing can dissolve us."
139. That reason, etc. " That the facts when stated may diminish
wonder" (Moberly).
140. Finish. Intransitive; as in i Heti. VI. iii. i. 201 : "His
days may finish ere that hapless time."
141. Wedding is great Juno's crown, etc. Grant White remarks :
" Both the thought and the form of the thought in this Song seem
to me as unlike Shakespeare's as they could well be, and no less
unworthy of his genius; and for the same reasons I think it not
improbable that the whole of Hymen's part is from another pen
than his." For myself, I have no doubt whatever that this matter
is an interpolation; and it may be noted that lines 125-146 make
an awkward break in the dialogue, which would run along very
naturally without them. The interpolation (like that of Hecate's
part in Macb. and the vision in Cymb.) was such as the stage man-
agers of the time were fond of thrusting into plays for stage effect.
144. High wedlock, etc. That is, let it be highly honoured, as
the next line shows.
148. Eveti daughter, welcome, etc. That is, " I address you not
as niece merely, but as daughter, since you are welcome in no less
degree than a daughter" (Allen, quoted by Furness).
150. Fancy. Love. See on iii. 2. 358 above. Combine = hm.d;
as in M.for M. iv. 3. 149 : " I am combined by a sacred vow."
248 Notes [Act V
156. Address" d. Prepared. Cf. 7/(?/^. K iii. 3. 58 : "To-morrow
for the march are we address'd." Poiver = army. S. uses both
the singular and the plural in this sense, as we do force and forces.
Cf. y. C. iv. 3. 169: "with a mighty power; " and Id. iv. 3. 308:
" Bid him set on his powers," etc.
157. hi his oivn conduct. Led by himself. Cf. K.fohjt, iv. 2.
129: "Under whose conduct came those powers of France?"
Cymb. iv. 2. 340 : " Under the conduct of bold lachimo," etc.
160. Religious. See on iii. 2. 340 above.
161. Question. See on iii. 4. 35 above. The ellipsis of the sub-
ject in was converted vs, of a kind not uncommon in S.
164. Restored. Being restored.
165. ExiVd. S. puts the accent on either syllable. CtR.andJ.
iii. 2. 133 and Macb. v. 8. 66. For the noun, see on ii. i. i.
166. Engage. Pledge. Cf. i Hen. IV. ii. 4. 563: "I will en-
gage my word to thee; " J. C. ii. i. 127: "honesty to honesty
engaged," etc.
167. Offer'st fairly. Makest a good offering or contribution.
168. To the other. Through his marriage with Rosalind.
169. At large. Of great extent. Cf. T.j^nd C. i. 3. 346:- —
" The baby figure of the giant mass
Of things to come at large." ,
170. Do those ends, etc. Finish up the work so well begun.
172. After. Afterwards; as in Temp. \\. 2. 10 \ " And after bite
me," etc. For every, cf. A. and C. i. 2. t^% : " every of your wishes."
It is curious that every is the only one of these so-called " adjective
pronouns " which we do not now use in this way. We can say
" any of them," " each of them," etc., but not " every of them."
173. Shrewd. Evil. Cf. Hen. VIII. v. 3. 178: "a shrewd
turn" (that is, an ill turn), etc.
175. States. Estates. Cf. AI. of V. iii. 2. 262: "my state was
nothing; " I Hen. IV. iv. I. 46 : " the exact wealth of all our states,"
etc. On the other hand, estate was sometimes = state, condition;
Scene IV] Notes 249
as in M. of V. iii. 2. 239 : " his letter there Will show you his es-
tate," etc. Cf. Genesis, xliii. 7, Psalms, cxxxvi. 23, etc.
176. New-fallen. Cf. I Hen. IV. v. i. 44: "your new-fallen
right." For fall = befall, see A. and C. iii. 7. 40 : " no disgrace
shall fall you," etc.
179. Measures. See on 44 above.
180. By your patience. "With your permission. Cf. Hen. V.
iii. 6. 31, Cor. i. 3. 81, etc. So "with your patience; " as in
I Hen. VI. ii. 3. 78, etc.
1 82. Pompous. Full of pomp, splendid. Cf. Rich. II. iv. I.
250 : " the pompous body of a king ; " Per. iii. prol. 4 : " this
most pompous marriage feast." It now carries with it the idea of
ostentatious display.
184. Converiites. Converts; a word not used by S. Ci. K. John,
V. I. 19: "a gentle convertite; " and^. of L. 743: "a heavy
convertite."
185. Matter. See <5h ii.i. 68 above.
186. You to your former honour, etc. That is, bequeath your
former honour to you. Cf. Much Ado, v. I. 282: "Impose me to
what penance *'*"'7?2V/^. //. iv. i. 106: "Till we assign you to your
days of trial; " Macb. v. 8. 49: "I would not wish them to a
fairer death," etc.
187. Deserves. For the singular, cf. v. i. 63 above.
198. Steevens remarks that S. has here forgotten old Adam,
" whose fidelity should have entitled him to notice at the end of
the piece, as well as to that happiness which he would naturally
have found in the return of fortune to his master." Lodge, at the
end of the npvel, makes him captain of the king's guard.
EPILOGUE
2. Unhandsome. Improper, unbecoming; as in I Hen. IV. i.
3- 44-
250
Notes
3. Good wine needs no bush, A common proverb. A bush or
tuft of ivy was in olden time the sign of a vintner. Steevens quotes
Gascoigne, Glass of Government, 1575: "Now a days the good
wyne needeth none ivye garland." Cotgrave (/r. Dict.^ has
"Bouchon: m. A stopple; also, a wispe of strawe, &c., also, the
bush of a tauerne, or alehouse."
8. Insinuate with you. Ingratiate myself with you. Cf. V. and
A. 1012 : " With Death she humbly doth insinuate; " and Rich. III.
i. 4. 152: " he would insinuate with thee but to make thee sigh."
9. Furnished. Dressed. See on iii. 2. 241 above.
II. Conjtire. Accented by S. on either syllable without regard
to the meaning.
13. As please you. As may please you.
17. If I were a woman. Caldecott assumes that Rosalind is
still in male apparel; but he forgets that in the time of S. women
never played in the theatres. Pepys in his Diary has several
allusions to this; for instance : —
January 3, 1660. "To the Theatre, where was acted 'Beggar's
Bush,' it being very well done; and here the first time that ever I
saw women come upon the stage."
Feb. 1 2, 1 660/ 1 . "By water to Salsbury Court play-house, where
not liking to sit, we went out again, and by coach to the Theatre,
and there saw * The Scornfull Lady,' now done by a woman, which
makes the play appear much better than ever it did to me."
August i8th, 1660. "Captain Ferrers took me and Creed to see
the Cockpitt play, the first that I have had time to see since my
coming from sea, * The Loyall Subject,' where one Kinaston, a boy,
acted the Duke's sister, but made the loveliest lady that ever I saw
in my life."
Edward Kynaston, mentioned by Pepys, was engaged by Sir W.
Davenant in 1660 to perform the principal female characters. He
also played leading male parts. Pepys, under date of January 7,
1660, says: "Tom and I and my wife to the Theatre, and there
saw * The Silent Woman.' Among other things here, Kinaston the
Notes 251
boy had the good turn to appear in three shapes : first, as a poor
woman in ordinary clothes, to please Morose; then in fine clothes,
as a gallant; and in them was clearly the prettiest woman in the
whole house: and lastly, as a man; and then likewise did appear
the handsomest man in the house." It was this Kynaston who
once kept Charles II. waiting for a tragedy to begin " because the
queen was not shaved." He lived until 1712, and was buried in
St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden.
19. Liked. Pleased. Cf. Hen. V. iii. prol. 32: "The offer
likes not; " Id. iv. 3. 77: "Which likes me better," etc. Defied =
slighted, despised (Schmidt). Cf. K. John, iii. 4. 23: "No, I
defy all counsel, all redress," etc.; also Spenser, F. Q. ii. 8. 52:
" Foole ! (sayd the Pagan) I thy gift defye " (disdain, or refuse) ;
Four Prentices of London (quoted by Nares) : —
" Vain pleasures I abhor, all things defy,
That teach not how to despair, or how to die."
Cf. defiance — disdain, rejection; as in M. for M. iii. i. 143, etc.
APPENDIX
Comments on Some of the Characters
Jaques. — Jaques is the great enigma of the play ; and it is curious
that there should be such a diversity of opinion concerning him.
According to Hudson and several other critics, he is " a perfectly
I harmless though utterly useless man, a philosopher with something
lof the fool in him, as Touchstone is a fool with something of the
Iphilosopher."
Grant White, Dr. Moberly, and some of the Germans, on the
other hand, believe him to be unmitigatedly depraved, — a worn-
out, misanthropic old profligate, introduced as a marked contrast
to Orlando, Rosalind, and the banished Duke. White says: "What
Jaques called melancholy was what we now call cynicism — a sullen,
scoffing, snarling spirit; and this Jaques had. He was one of those
men who believe in nothing good, and who, as the reason of their
lack of faith in human nature and of hope in human happiness, tell
us that they have seen the world. ... In brief, Jaques was Falstaff
without his fat, and without his humour."
For myself, I think the truth lies between these two extremes,
and that Dowden has hit it very well. He says : "The melancholy
of Jaques was not grave and earnest, but sentimental, a self-indul-
gent humour, a petted foible of character, melancholy prepense and
cultivated. . . . Jaques died, we know not how or when or where;
but he came to life again a century later, and appeared in the world
as an English clergyman. We need stand in no doubt as to his
character, for we all know him under his later name of Laurence
Sterne. . . . His whole life is unsubstantial and unreal, a curiosity
252
Appendix 253
of dainty mockery. To him all the world 's a stage, and all the men
and women merely players. The world, not as it is, but as it mir-
rors itself in his own mind, which gives to each object a humorous
distortion — this is what alone interests Jaques."
The comparison of Jaques to Sterne seems to me a peculiarly
happy one. I do not know that it makes him much better than
Grant White describes him, but it brings out more nicely the pre-
cise quahty of his badness. He was not the bitter, scoffing cynic
that White makes him. His character had not the vigour and
earnestness which that impHes. It was rather the dainty, shallow,
half-real, half-affected cynicism of Sterne. He not only looked on
all men and women as merely players, but he was an actor himself.
His melancholy was a part that he played, and so was his sentiment,
which was rather sentimentahty. Like a good actor, he entered so
thoroughly into the spirit of the part he assumed that to a superficial
observer it might seem quite real.
Compare what Thackeray says of Sterne : " I suppose Sterne
had this artistical sensibility; he used to blubber perpetually in his
study, and finding his tears infectious, and that they brought him
a great popularity, he exercised the lucrative gift of weeping, he
utilized it, and cried on every occasion. I own that I do not value
or respect much the cheap dribble of those fountains. He fatigues
me with his perpetual disquiet, and his uneasy appeals to my risible
or sentimental faculties. He is always looking in my face, watch-
ing his effect, uncertain whether I think him an impostor or not;
posture-making, coaxing, and imploring me : ' See what sensibility
I have — own now that I am very clever — do cry now, you can't
resist this ! ' "
This describes Jaques as exactly as it does Sterne; and if we
chose to dwell on the subject we might point out resemblances
more in detail, Sterne's weeping over the dead donkey might be
paralleled by Jaques' lament over the wounded deer; and so on.
And yet neither had much genuine feeling. They could both grow
lachrymose and sentimental over donkeys and deer, but had slight
254 Appendix
sympathy for real human suffering. We all know the story of
Sterne's domestic relations; and Jaques has nothing to utter but
a few unfeeling jests when Orlando appears at the dinner-table in
the forest and demands food for himself and the starving Adam.
It is to be noted that the Duke and Rosalind and Orlando all
see through the sham melancholy and sentimentality of Jaques.
Moberly thinks that they see how bad he is, and intend to -reprove
him with righteous severity for his sins; but their judgment and
censure of him do not seem to me so serious as that. They are
amused by him and interested in him, but they cannot thoroughly
like him, and they enjoy " showing him up." The Duke loves, as
he says, " to cope him in his sullen fits," and, when Jaques talks of
setting up as a reformer, laughs at the idea that the affected old
libertine should think of attempting a part like that, good actor
though he was. Rosalind and Orlando both put him to flight in
the encounter of wit and sarcasm. Rosalind is especially happy in
her ridicule of his boasted experience as a traveller, from which
he has gained nothing but a contempt for his own country.
At the end of the play Jaques runs away from the happiness with
which he could have no hearty sympathy; and yet there is a touch
of good feeling in his farewell to the Duke and the married couples
which is inconsistent with the theory that he is utterly depraved,
and upon which no one of the editors on either side has commented.
To the Duke he says : —
" You to your former honour I bequeath ;
Your patience and your virtue well deserve it ; "
to Orlando: "You to a love that your true faith doth merit; " and
so on with the rest. He has a friendly word for all, with a harm-
less fling at Touchstone and Audrey, and I do not believe that
Shakespeare meant it to be understood as insincere. For the mo-
ment Jaques really felt as he spoke, and in bidding good-by to his
companions in the forest comedy he could not help paying an
honest tribute to their true worth.
Appendix 255
Rosalind. — Rosalind is one of the most charming of Shake-
speare's women. Perhaps she reminds us more of Beatrice than
of any other, and yet she is not wholly like her. She is as witty,
as piquant, as vivacious, but she has a loveliness and a fascination
all her own. In her disguise, though she wears it naturally and
easily — quite unlike Viola, for instance, who is not always entirely
at ease in it — she does not lose her feminine sweetness and deli-
cacy. She has sometimes been criticized as a trifle too free in her
talk; but in this respect it is easy to do injustice to any of Shake-
speare's women. Lest a man's defence of them should not be ac-
cepted as satisfactory, let me quote a woman's (Mrs. Jameson's) : —
" How her wit flutters free as air over every subject ! With what
a careless grace, yet with what exquisite propriety ! . . . and if the
freedom of some of the expressions used by Rosalind or Beatrice
be objected to, let it be remembered that this was not the fault of
Shakespeare or the women, but generally of the age, Portia, Bea-
trice, Rosalind, and the rest lived in times when more importance
was attached to things than to words; now we think more of words
than of things; and happy are we in these days of super-refinement
if we are to be saved by our verbal morality."
I believe that Mrs. Jameson is right. Looked at fairly, there is
nothing indelicate in anything that Rosalind says : the indelicacy
is in the criticism, not in what is criticised; and, as Moberly, who
is a clergyman and a teacher, remarks in speaking of this kind of
fastidiousness, " Shakespeare would have smiled at it."
I do not say that we should copy the old English freedom of
speech, but simply that we should not misjudge it. We must be
governed by the conventional usage of our own day in these mat-
ters; but we should not forget that it is merely conventional, and
that the apparent grossness of Elizabethan language is only appar-
ent, being due to the prevailing fashion of speech, not to a lower
standard of morality.
Rosalind has a singularly healthy nature — mentally and morally
no less than physically : she is sound and sweet in heart, as she is
2^6 Appendix
fair of face. How admirably, as we have already seen, she puts to
flight the melancholy Jaques with his self-petted sentimentality, his
travelled affectation and conceit ! How witty and how womanly
her snubbing of the pert little Phebe, when the shepherdess laughs
at the idea that she can ever suffer from " love's keen arrows," as
Silvius does !
" But till that time (she says)
Come not thou near me ; and when that time comes
Afflict me with thy mocks, pity me not,
As till that time I shall not pity thee ! "
Rosalind comes forward, and addresses the pitiless coquette : —
" And why, I pray you? W/io might he your mother.
That you insult, exult, and all at once,
Over the wretched? . . .
But, mistress, know yourself; dow7i on your knees.
And thank Heaven, fasting, for a good magi's love !
Cry the man mercy ; love him ; take his offer :
Foul is most foul, being foul to be a scoffer."
Never did silly girl get better schooling than that — and from a
girl, we may suppose, no older than herself, though immeasurably
her superior both in heart and in head.
In the scene (iv. 3) where Oliver tells how his brother saved his
life, there is a delicate but most significant touch on which I believe
no editor or commentator has written a note. When Oliver de-
scribes the man (not yet explaining that he was the man) lying
helpless on the ground with the lioness ready to spring upon him
when he should stir, he is interrupted by Celia with a remark about
the " unnatural" brother. Then Rosalind speaks: —
" But to Orlando : did he leave him there.
Food to the suck'd and hungry lioness? "
Rosalind is as unselfish, as magnanimous, as her lover. If Orlando
had yielded to his first impulse and turned away from the brother
who had wronged him so unnaturally, — if " kindness nobler ever
Appendix 257
than revenge," had not made him give battle to the lioness, Rosa-
lind could never have forgiven him. She would rather that the
wild beast had torn his heart out than to know that heart false to
fraternal or manly impulses. But Orlando was worthy of her, as
she of him.
Orlando. — Like Rosalind, Orlando is a thoroughly healthy
nature. I know no better word to describe him briefly. Once
for a moment, when the sky is very dark, he gives way to de-
spondency : —
" But, poor old man, thou prun'st a rotten tree,
That cannot so much as a blossom yield
In lieu of all thy pains and husbandry ; "
but, with the very next breath, he takes heart again : —
" But come thy ways ; we '11 go along together,
And ere we have thy youthful wages spent
We '11 light upon some settled low content."
He has tenfold more cause to be melancholy than the affected
Jaques; but when the latter asks, "Will you sit down with me,
and we two will rail against our mistress the world and all our
misery ? " note his reply, " I will chide no breather in the world
but myself, against whom I know most faults." No wonder that
Jaques slinks away after a few brief attempts at sneering repartee.
Touchstone. — Touchstone is one of the best of Shakespeare's
fools, — personally as well as professionally. As the professional
jester he is not inferior to any of the others, combining much of
wisdom with his wit, — ^ fool, with something of the philosopher,
to quote again what Hudson has said of him. At the same time
he has personal traits that we must respect and admire. His devo-
tion to his mistress shows that he has a warm^h£^"t under his suit
of motley. Celia knows that he will follow her wherever she may
go, even into her voluntary banishment in the forest. The journey
is as wearisome to him as to her, but his good-humour does not fail
with fatigue; he is the same merry fellow in the wood that he was
AS YOU LIKE IT — 1 7
258 Appendix
in the court, though we may be sure that his disparagement of the
shepherd's Hfe, in his talk with Corin, is more jjjicere thaii his
praise of it. He finds it, we cannot doubt, " a very vile life." It
may please him well in a way because it is " in the fields," but be-
cause it is not in the court " it is tedious," and it goes much against
his stomach. But he bears up bravely under its loneliness and pri-
vations for the sake of his young mistress. It may be a question
whether he would have fallen in love with Audrey under other cir-
cumstances; but I am confident that he had an honest affection
.. for her, though some of the critics take seriously his'preference for
I the hedge-priest, Sir Oliver Martext, on the ground that, if not
I married in due form, it would be a good excuse for leaving his wife
I later. It is probable that Shakespeare put that into his mouth for
jocose effect in the theatre rather than as the fool's sober thought.
At any rate, it is the only suggestion in the play, except the fling
from Jaques to which I have already alluded, that Touchstone was
not true lover of the "poor thing but his own," whom he had found
in the forest, and whom he made his wife at the close of the pastoral
comedy.
Two eminent critics, Dr. Furness and Mr. Aldis Wright, believe
that the delineation of Touchstone is inconsistent. The former
says, in his " New Variorum " edition of the play : —
"The trivial blemishes in As You Like It which have been
ascribed with probability, by Wright and others, to haste on Shake-
speare's part, may be attributed, it seems to me, quite as plausibly
to the outcroppings of the original play which Shakespeare re-
modelled, and their presence would still be due, more or less, to
haste. Among these, there is one, however, for which, I think,
haste is hardly a sufficient explanation, and this is the character
of Touchstone. If there is one quality in which Shakespeare is
forever Shakespeare, it is in the unity of his characters, in their
thorough individuality, in their absolute truth to themselves. A
hundred, and fifty years ago Pope said that to prefix names to
the speeches in Shakespeare's plays was almost superfluous; the
Appendix 259
speeches themselves unerringly proclaimed the speakers. We also
know that either before the entrance of an important character, or
very soon after, Shakespeare is wont to give either a prelude or a
keynote, as it were, of that character, and with this keynote we
all know how absolutely every subsequent trait or utterance is in
harmony. If, then, this test be applied to Touchstone (or, why
not say, this touchstone to Touchstone), will his character from
first to last stand it ? Is the ' clownish fool ' and the ' roynish
clown ' of the first act, with his bald jests of knights and pancakes,
the Touchstone of the fifth act, who had trod a measure, flattered
a lady, been politic with his friend and smooth with his enemy? Is
the simpleton of the first act, ' Nature's natural,' as he is in truth,
the same with the Touchstone who can cite Ovid and quarrel in
print, by the book? Are there not here two separate characters?
These two clowns cannot be one and the same. The true Touch-
stone we meet first in the Forest of Arden, and although when
Jaques speaks of him we have already seen and heard him, yet it
is Jaques who gives us the keynote of his character; and in the
Touchstone of the last act we recognize our old acquaintance, who
solemnly pondered that ' from hour to hour we ripe and ripe, and
then from hour to hour we rot and rot, and thereby hangs a tale.'
" However rapid may have been Shakespeare's composition, I
cannot suppose — it is to me unthinkable — that from the first
instant each character was not present before him in perfect sym-
metry and absolute completeness. For any discrepancy, therefore,
any distortion in the character of Touchstone, haste in composi-
tion is hardly, I think, an adequate explanation, and I humbly
suggest one of two courses as a possible solution : First, either we
have, in the clown of the second scene of the play, the genuine
roynish fool of the original old play which Shakespeare rewrote,
and who here crops out, perhaps through an oversight (here, at
least, due to haste) or perhaps purposely retained to please the
groundlings; or else, secondly, that the clown who cracks his
joke about beards and mustard was not Touchstone, but a separate
26o Appendix
and very different character, who should never have been called
Touchstone. Theobald, be it observed, was the first (and this,
too, not till his second edition) to call this clOwn Touchstone.
He is our sole authority for it. This clown Rosalind threatens
with the whip — would she ever have thus menaced Touchstone P^
" Although this latter suggestion will relieve Touchstone's char-
acter from inconsistency, — an inconsistency which all must have
felt, and to which Wright expressly calls attention, — yet the other
trifling blemishes remain, such as styling RosaHnd at one time the
'shorter,' and at another time the 'taller,' or speaking of 'Juno's
swans,' etc. For these, I think, we must fall back on the explana-
tion that they are the survivals of the older play. Theobald's
error in nomenclature (that is, in calling the clown of the second
scene Touchstone) may account for the most serious of all; but
for the others, I think, we can account by supposing that there
was an older drama, which was intermediate between our As You,
Like It and Lodge's novel."
I quote this in full because I wish to place the theory M-hich I
shall venture to combat, with all due deference to the high author-
ities who have propounded it, fairly before the reader. For myself,
I have never felt, and, after careful consideration of what Dr.
Furness and Mr. Wright (whom I do not quote, as he is sufficiently
represented by his brother editor) have said, cannot now see the
iThe very form of the speech shows that it was playful, not serious :
"You'll be whipt for taxation oite of these days." This explanation is
confirmed by the fool's reply and Celia's comment : —
" Touchstone. The more pity, that fools may not speak wisely what
wise men do foolishly.
" Celia. By my troth, thou sayest true; for since the Httle wit that
fools have was silenced, the little foolery that wise men have makes a
great show."
In Lear (ii. 4. 123) , where the provocation is greater, and the King
says to the Fool, "Take heed, sirrah; the whip," it is perhaps a more
serious admonition.
Appendix 261
inconsistency in Touchstone's character which they think they have
detected. If the earlier critics who have commented on the char-
acter felt this inconsistency, as we are told that they " must " have
done, it is very strange that they did not refer to it.
That Shakespeare's characters were from the start "present
before him in perfect symmetry and absolute completeness" is
indisputably true. They are always consistent with themselves.
If they sometimes appear inconsistent, — like Brutus in Julius
Cmar, for instance, — the inconsistency, though it has sometimes
perplexed the critics, is an element in the character and can be
easily shown to be such. Shakespeare knew, as we all do, that
people are sometimes inconsistent, and that no principle of dramatic
art forbade that he should represent them so in his plays if it suited
his purposes. Shakespeare's characters, moreover, are real men
and women, with the little imperfections of our poor human nature.
Great wits, like Homer, sometimes nod; they do not always keep
up to their high-water mark. They do not always try to do it;
they could not do it if they tried. The after-dinner jokes of a
Depew are sometimes rather poor and thin, though his reputation
as a wit may prevent its being detected, at least at the dinner.
Many a joke that sets the table in a roar may not provoke a smile
when read in the newspaper report of the banquet. Just so do
some of the witticisms of Shakespeare's fools suffer when scrutinized
in cold print through critical spectacles. They were written for
the theatre, where only the professional dramatic critic is hyper-
critical.
We should also remember that the impromptu joke is not to be
judged by the same standard as the joke prepense and elaborated.
The fool, moreover, as Shakespeare himself says ( Twelfth Night,
iii. I. 70), must be discriminating in the exercise of his wit: —
" He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time,
Not, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practice
262 Appendix
As full of labour as a wise man's art ;
For folly, that he wisely shows, is fit,
But wise men, folly-fallen, quite taint their wit."
Let us examine Touchstone's talk in the earlier and other parts
of the play, and see if there are really " two of him," as Furness
and Wright assume. In the second scene of the play he enters
for the first time, with a message to Celia from her father, which
he duly delivers, swearing by his " honour " that he was bid to do
it. The dialogue goes on with the nonsense about the knight and
his oath concerning the mustard and the pancakes. The girls are
inclined to quiz the fool, referring with sportive irony to the great
heap of his knowledge and challenging him to unmuzzle his wisdom.
He does not consider them antagonists worthy of his mettle, and
will not waste the whole treasure of his wit upon them. The
impromptu jesting about the knight and the pancakes is sufficient
for " the quality of the persons and the time." It was, moreover,
suited to the taste of the theatre-goers of the day and very likely
"brought down the house." It was in the same vein as some of
the joking of Feste in Twelfth Night, the consistency of whose
character has never been impugned; as, for instance, when that
admirable fool, talking with Viola at the opening of act iii., puns
upon living by his tabor and living " by the church," — an im-
promptu quibble which Viola finds good enough to enlarge upon :
" So thou mayst say, the king lies by a beggar if a beggar dwell
near him; or, the church stands by the tabor if thy tabor stands
by the church."
But in this very scene we find the " clownish fool " to be the
same sly and keen satirist that Touchstone shows himself later, and,
indeed, throughout the play. When Le Beau describes with so
much gusto the wrestling in which the " three proper young men
of excellent growth and presence " have had their ribs broken by
Charles, and " there is little hope of life " in them, note what
follows : —
Appendix 263
" Touchstone. But what is this sport, monsieur, that the ladies have
lost?
" Le Beau. Why, this that I speak of.
" Touchstone. Thus men may grow wiser every day ! It is the first
time that ever 1 heard breaking of ribs was sport for ladies.
" Celia. Or I, I promise thee.
" Rosalind. But is there any else longs to see this broken music in
his sides ? is there yet another dotes upon rib-breaking ? "
Is this a mere "roynish clown," or is it very Touchstone? Have
we not here the same acute perception of the faults and follies of
mankind as in his satirical description of the courtier who has un-
done three tailors and had four quarrels, and who knows all the
rules of duelling by the book? I suspect that we are not to take
JTouchstone seriously when he says he has been a courtier. He
assumes the character for the sake of satirizing it. Feste does not
pretend to have beeii a courtier, but he is as familiar with Pythag-
oras as Touchstone is with Ovid, and can quote Latin freely when
playing the part of Sir Topas, the priest. The Court Fool, being
no fool, readily picked up enough of such knowledge for his purposes
from the fools of higher rank about him.
It will be observed that Celia and Rosalind appreciated and indi-
rectly commended Touchstone's hit at the brutality of the " sport "
in which Le Beau takes such delight, — the " good wrestling "
which the ladies have unluckily " lost sight of," but of which " the
best is yet to do " and may be witnessed by them if they choose.
It is Shakespeare himself who is the satirist here, making the fool
his mouthpiece. In calling Touchstone "the clownish fool," no
disparagement is intended. It is Rosalind who calls him so, and
we have seen what both she and Celia think of him. In the very
next speech Celia pays a marked tribute to the unselfish devotion
to her interests which will make him willing to " go along o'er the
wide world " with her. This speech proves that the fool of act i.
is the Touchstone of the rest of the play, not an inferior clown
whom Theobald misnamed.
264 Appendix
When Jaques first met Touchstone in the forest, he evidently
took him to be " an ordinary fool that has no more brains than a
stone," and Touchstone humoured the mistake for the time; unless
we are to regard Jaques's description of the interview as more or
less fictitious, and mainly intended for the amusement of the Duke
and his companions. If Touchstone was out of humour and railing
at Lady Fortune, he may have drawn the dial from his pocket and
commented on the dull lapse of time from hour to hour, interspers-
ing bits of moralizing the while; but very likely Jaques had him-
self been railing at Fortune and moralizing in his usual fashion,
and Touchstone was only burlesquing him, though Jaques does
not see it. That would be quite like the fool, who was given to
burlesque and parody in his good-natured satire.
It will be noticed that in this first reference which Jaques makes
to Touchstone he has no word of praise for the fool. He is merely
amused by what seem to him blundering attempts to be witty and
wise. But later, when he overhears Touchstone talking with Audrey
(iii. 3), he says, aside, " A material fool ! " — that is, one with good
matter in him; and he "would fain see the meeting" of the pair
with Sir Oliver Martext. On that occasion he shows a genuine
friendly feeling for the fool, advising him to go to church "and
have a good priest " that can tell him " what marriage is." Jaques
must have had other interviews with Touchstone that are not
reported in the play, for when the fool enters in the closing scene
Jaques says to the Duke : " Good my lord, bid him welcome. This
is the motley-minded gentleman that I have so often met in the
forest." A moment later, when Touchstone refers to the quarrel
that he was " like to have fought," Jaques draws him out for the
entertainment of the Duke : —
" Jaques. And how was that ta'en up ?
" Touchstone. Faith, we met, and found the quarrel was upon the
seventh cause.
" Jaques. How seventh cause ? — Good my lord, like this fellow.
" Duke Senior. I like him very well.
Appendix 265
" Touchstone. God 'ield you, sir; I desire you of the like. I press
in here, sir, amongst the rest of the country copulatives, to swear and
forswear, according as marriage binds and blood breaks. A poor vir-
gin, sir, an ill-favoured thing, sir, but mine own ; a poor humour of
mine, sir, to take that that no man else will. Rich honesty dwells like
a miser, sir, in a poor house, as your pearl in your foul oyster.
" Duke Senior. By my faith, he is very swift and sententious."
Jaques brings Touchstone back to the subject of the quarrel:
"But for the seventh cause; how did you find the quarrel on the
seventh cause ? " — and again, after the long speech in which the
fool explains the seven degrees of the lie, Jaques leads him on by
asking, "And how oft did you say his beard is not well cut?"
Touchstone replies that he " durst go no further than the Lie Cir-
cumstantial," and so the affair ended. Jaques then asks, "Can
you nominate in order now the degrees of the lie? " It may be a
question whether he does this for the pleasure of hearing the list
repeated or because he suspects that Touchstone's numeration of
the lies was an impromptu invention, and wishes to test him on that
point. I am inclined to think (as I have said in the note on the
passage) that the latter is the true explanation; and Touchstone's
reply seems to favour it : " O sir, we quarrel in print, by the book,
as you have books for good manners. I will name you the degrees,"
intimating that of course he can do it, as he speaks " by the book."
After he has proved that he can do it, and has added his shrewd
comments on " your ' If " as " the only peacemaker," Jaques again
appeals to the Duke : —
" Jaques. Is not this a rare fellow, my lord ? he 's as good at any
thing, and yet a fool.
''Duke Senior. He uses his folly like a stalking-horse, and under
the presentation of that he shoots his wit."
The Duke spoke for Shakespeare, whose purpose in the delinea-
tion of the fool was precisely that; and it describes the Touchstone
of the first scene in which he appears, with his hit at breaking of
bones as sport for ladies, no less than the Touchstone of this last
266 Appendix
scene, with his admirable satirizing of the laws of the duello, than
which Mercutio's was no keener or brighter. The reacier will recall
the description of Tybalt {Romeo and Juliet, ii. 4. 20 fol.) : —
" O, he is the courageous captain of compliments ! He fights as you
sing pricksong, keeps time, distance, and proportion; rests me his
minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom ; the very butcher
of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist, a gentleman of the very first house,
of the first and second cause. Ah, the immortal passado ! the punto
reverso ! the hay ! "
And again (iii. i. 106) Mercutio calls him "a villain, that fights by
the book of arithmetic."
Henry Giles, in his Human Life in Shakespeare, calls Touch-
stone " the Hamlet of motley." He adds : " He is bitter, but there
is often to me something like sadness in his jests. He mocks, but
in his mockery we seem to hear echoes from a solitary heart. He is
reflective; and melancholy, wisdom, and matter aforethought are
in his quaintness. He is a thinker out of place, a philosopher in
mistaken vesture, a genius by nature, an outcast by destiny." If
this takes the fool too seriously in some respects, it does no more
than justice to his wit, his wisdom, and his philosophy.
The "Moral" of the Play
What is the moral — or the " fundamental idea," as the Germans
like to call it — of the play? Two critics, one a man, the other a
woman, agree well in stating it. Mr. Neil, in his introduction to
the play, says : —
" When we read this drama we see that it recognizes-^g^pas the
pivot and centre of activity and joy — the very core of life. . . »
When we observe that all the evils in the play originate in the neg-
lect of the royal law of life, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy-
self;' how selfishness complicates and love explicates the plot —
Appendix 267
may it not be that As You Like It is a, divine morality as well as a
charming play? "
And Lady Martin (Helena Faucit), who had personated the hero-
ine of the play in a manner to charm all who were so fortunate as
to see her on the stage, remarks : —
" To me As You Like It seems to be as much a love-poem as
Romeo and Juliet, with this difference, — that it deals with happy
love, while the Veronese story deals with love crossed by misad-
venture and crowned with death. It is as full of imagination, of
the glad rapture of the tender passion, of its impulsiveness, its gen-
erosity, its pathos. No ' hearse-like airs,' indeed, come wailing by,
as in the tale of those ' star-crossed lovers,' to warn us of their too
early * overthrow.' All is blended into a rich, harmonious music
which makes the heart throb, but never makes it ache. Still the
love is not less deep, less capable of proving itself strong as death;
neither are the natures of Orlando and Rosalind less touched to all
the fine issues of that passion than those of ' Juliet and her Romeo.'
Is not love, indeed, — love, too, at first sight, — the pivot on which
the action of the play turns? Does it not seem that the text the
poet meant to illustrate was that which he puts into Phebe's mouth,
' Who ever loved that loved not at first sight? ' "
As another critic (Professor Henry Morley) has said, " In As
You Like It there are two discords; each is between brother and
brother, each is at the outset fierce : they are set in a play filled
with the harmonies of life, and are themselves reduced to music at
the close."
It is the same critic who dwells upon the thought that Shake-
speare's works are " a Lay Bible," and that this play, like others,
proves that they are not so by chance, but of set purpose. As he
well says : " Shakespeare never allows good to be overcome with
evil; he invariably shows evil overcome with good, the discords of
life healed only by man's love to God and to his neighbour. Love
God; love your Neighbour : Do your Work, making the active busi-
ness of life subject to the commandments upon which hang all the
268 Appendix
law and the prophets — Shakespeare's works contain no lessons that
are not subordinate to these. Of dogmatism he is free, of the true
spirit of religion he is full; and it is for this reason that his works
are a Lay Bible."
Blue Eyes and Other in Shakespeare
[I wrote this familiar paper simply as an illustration of an exer-
cise that I have sometimes given my classes. It may be sugges-
tive to teachers and managers of Shakespeare clubs; and possibly
also to the private student, if he enjoys the "comparative study"
of the plays.
Several years ago, when I was reading this play with a class in a
female seminary, the reference to a " blue eye " (iii. 2. 368) sug-
gested the question, " What colour in a lady's eyes did Shake-
speare like best ? " I asked the girls to hunt up, with the aid of
the Concordances, all the allusions to black, blue, grey, green, and
other coloured eyes in the plays and poems, and to discuss them in
an informal ** composition." They found it an interesting exer-
cise, and later we spent an hour in considering certain questions
suggested by the passages cited in the papers. Other questions
suitable for such " side studies " in Shakespeare will readily occur
to teachers and readers.]
The critics have had some trouble with the colours ascribed to
human eyes in Shakespeare, and his use of adjectives of colour in
this connection is worthy of investigation. His only distinct refer-
ences to dlue eyes are in T/ie Tempest (i. 2. 269) where he calls the
mother of Caliban a "blue-eyed hag," and in the present play (iii.
2. 368) where " a blue eye and sunken " is mentioned as one of the
marks of a lover. In both instances the allusion is undoubtedly to
a blue circle about the eyes, and not to the colour of the eyes them-
selves; though the passage in The Tempest has been quoted by
some critics as evidence that blue eyes were reckoned ugly in that
Appendix 269
day, while others have wanted to change " blue-eyed " to " blear-
eyed."
Compare Lucrece, 1587: —
"And round about her tear-distained eye
Blue circles stream'd, like rainbows in the sky."
In The Winter's Tale (i. 2. 136) we have a "welkin eye"
assigned to the boy Mamillius, and some commentators understand
it to mean blue eye, but it is more probably equivalent to heavenly
eye (" mit deinem Himmelsauge, that is, pure and innocent like
heaven"), as Schmidt explains it.
In Beaumont and Fletcher's Honest Man^s Fortune, we find
" blue eye " used as equivalent to the pugilistic black eye : " or
bring in rotten pippins to cure blue eyes, and swear they come
from China ; " where the decayed apple is evidently to be used as
a poultice for the damaged organ.
In several passages grey eyes are mentioned, both literally and
figuratively; and some critics insist that by grey \hQ. poet means
blue. In Romeo and Juliet (ii. 3. i) we have "the grey-eyed
morn; " and again (iii. 5. 19) "yon grey is not the morning's eye."
In the same play (ii. 4. 45) the " grey eye " of Thisbe is alluded
to. In the Tzvo Gentle?nen of Verona (iv. 4. 197) it is said that
" Her eyes are grey as glass ; " in Twelfth Night (i. 5. 266) Olivia
includes " two grey eyes " in the inventory of her personal appear-
ance; and Venus, in Venus and Adonis (140), says, "Mine eyes
are grey and bright." In all these passages Dyce, Delius, and
others define grey as bhie ; but I cannot imagine why the poet
should not say bhce if he meant blue, when the word would fit the
measure as well as grey. I am gratified to find that so good a
critic of colour as Mr. Ruskin assumes that grey, in the references
to the grey eyes of the morning, is used in its literal sense and
with peculiar appropriateness. In a paper read at a meeting of the
New Shakspere Society in London, October ii, 1878, on the
passage va. Julius Ccesar (ii. I. 103, 104) : —
270 Appendix
"yon grey lines
That fret the clouds are messengers of day " —
he expresses this opinion; and in the discussion that followed, the
passage in Romeo and Juliet was referred to by several gentlemen
as a parallel one, and the truth to nature in both was unanimously
indorsed. 1
Other passages in which grey is supposed to mean blue are
Sonnet 132. 6: —
" And truly not the morning sun of heaven
Better becomes the grey cheeks of the east,
Nor that full star that ushers in the even
Doth half that glory to the sober west,
• As those two mourning eyes become thy face ; "
and 2 Henry IV. ii. 3. 19 : —
" For his [honour], it stuck upon him as the sun
In the grey vault of heaven, and by his light
Did all the chivalry of England move
To do brave acts."
I suspect it was these passages that first suggested the defining
oi grey as blue. In both the sky is evidently clear, and the critic
assumes that it must therefore be blue; but in both we have the
antithesis between the sun and the sky that would be grey without
it, or seems grey in the immediate vicinity of the sun by contrast
to his radiance. This view, it seems to me, is confirmed in the
sonnet by the following illustration of the glorious evening star in
the sober west. Even if we interpreted grey in these two passages
as blue, it does not follow that we should do so in others where the
literal sense is natural and appropriate. Dyce himself does not
^ Since this was written I see that the Nezv English Dictionary
(Oxford), in the two quarto pages that it gives to the word grey, does
not so much as refer to the theory that it sometimes means blue. This
dictionary, by the way, prefers the spelling grey.
Appendix 271
include \h.t Julius CcEsar passage, nor the second one from Romeo
and Juliet (iii. 5. 19) under his " gj-ay = blue, azure; " but in the
first from Romeo and Juliet (ii. 3. i), there are clouds in the east,
as in the second, and the sun has not yet risen : —
" The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,
Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels.
Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye," etc.
I omitted above the passage in Titus Andronictis (ii. 2. i), "The
hunt is up, the morn is bright and grey," because it is probably not
Shakespeare's ; but there is no necessary contradiction in the
"bright and grey" any more than in the Venus and Adonis
quotation.
There are two references to green eyes in Shakespeare, besides
the "green-eyed jealousy" of the Merchant oj Venice (iii. 2. iio)
and Othello (m. 3. 166). In Ro?7ieo and Juliet (iii. 5. 221) the
Nurse says : —
" An eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath "
(where Hanmer and others have changed " green " to " keen ") ;
and in the Midsummer Nighfs Dream (v. I. 342) Thisbe says of
Pyramus that " His eyes were green as leeks." However we may
regard these compliments to green eyes, on account of the char-
acters in whose mouths they are put, it is certain that such eyes
have often been represented by the poets as beautiful. In The
Tiuo N'oble Kinsme7t, which is included in several editions of
Shakespeare (mine among them, though I do not now believe that
he had a hand in it) as partly his, Emilia, in her apostrophe to
Diana (v. I. 144), ascribes to the goddess a "rare green eye." In
a sonnet by Drummond of Ha^wthornden, the gods are represented
as debating of what colour a beauty's eyes shall be. Mars and
Apollo vote for black : —
272 Appendix
" Chaste Phoebe spake for purest azure dyes,
But Jove and Venus green about the Hght,
To frame thought best, as bringing most deUght,
That to pin'd hearts hope might for aye arise."
Compare Longfellow's Spanish Student: "Ay, soft emerald
eyes ! " and again : —
" In her tender eyes
Just that soft shade of green we sometimes see
In evening skies."
In a note on the former passage, the poet says : " The Spaniards,
with good reason, consider this colour of the eyes as beautiful, and
celebrate it in song. . . . Dante speaks of Beatrice's eyes as
emeralds (^Purgatorio, xxxi. 116). Lami says in his Annotazioni,
' Erano i suoi occhi d 'un turchino verdiccio, simile a quel del mare.' "
The references to black eyes (not excepting those in the Sonnets
to the " dark lady," to which I can make only this passing allusion)
indicate that Shakespeare, after the fashion of his time, regarded
them as wanting in beauty. In Romeo and Juliet (ii. 4. 14) Mer-
cutio speaks rather contemptuously of being " stabbed with a white
wench's black eye." In the present play (iii. 5. 47) Rosalind, in
her disparaging comments on Phebe's attractions, mentions her
" bugle eyeballs " (like beads of black glass) ; and Phebe, recalling
the sneer (129), complains, " He said mine eyes were black," etc.
In Lovers Labour^ s Lost (iii. i. 199) Biron describes Rosalind as
" A wightly wanton with a velvet brow,
With two pitch-balls stuck in her face for eyes."
On the whole, grey eyes would appear to have been the favourite
eyes with Shakespeare, as they are the only ones he specifically
praises ; and his giving them to Venus, the queen of love and
beauty, is no less significant.
I may add that some of Shakespeare's references to eyelids have
been supposed to be to eyes, and others have been the subject
of controversy. In Venus and Adonis, 482, we read, " Her two
Appendix 273
blue windows faintly she up-heaveth," and Malone cites the passage
as referring to blue eyes; but the windows are unquestionably eye-
lids, as in Cymbeline, ii. 2. 22 (which Malone also misinterprets) : —
" the flame o' the taper
Bows towards her, and would under-peep her lids,
To see the enclosed lights, now canopied
Under these windows, white and azure, lac'd
With blue of heaven's own tinct."
The eyelids in Venus and Adonis are called blue on account of
their " blue veins " {Lucrece, 440), to which also the "white and
azure," etc., of the other passage refer, the sense being the same
whether we put the comma before white or omit it, as some editors
do. We have windows for eyelids again in Ro7neo and Juliet^
iv. I. 100: "the eyes' windows fall."
I believe I was the first to call attention to the light thrown by
this Cyinbeline passage on the much-controverted description of
Perdita's violets in the Winter'' s Tale, iv. 4. 121 : —
" violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes
Or Cytherea's breath."
The commentators have assumed that here sweeter must mean
"more fragrant," on account of the "Cytherea's breath'' that
follows; and they have even been driven to supposing that the
poet alluded to the Oriental practice of giving the eyelids "an
obscure violet colour by means of some unguent, which was doubt-
less perfumed," — a sort of painting which both Perdita and he
would have been disgusted at. I am confident that sweeter im-
pHes loveliness as well as perfume. The "blue-veined violets"
{Vejtus and Adonis, 125) are compared to the blue-veined eye-
lids so exquisitely described in Cymbeline. They are lovelier,
Perdita says, than the lids of Juno's eyes and more fragrant than
Cytherea's breath.
Here, as in so many other instances, Shakespeare is his own
AS YOU LIKE IT — 1 8
274 Appendix
best commentator; and I may add that Perdita's use of sweeter —
the combining of two kinds of sweetness, appealing to different
senses, sight and smell — is precisely like the Duke's use of the
same adjective in the opening lines of Twelfth Night, which have
also perplexed the critics : —
" That strain again ! it had a dying fall :
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour ! "
Here the effect of the music is first compared to the sweet murmur
of the vernal breeze, and this comparison is emphasized and beauti-
fied by the reference to the odour of the violets over which the
breeze passes. Perfume is added to music : we have two kinds of
sweetness, appealing to two senses as before — hearing and smell —
instead of sight and smell.
There is yet another example of this combination in Hamlet
(iii. I. 163), in that most pathetic utterance of Ophelia: —
"And I, of ladies most deject and wretched,
That suck'd the honey of his music vows," etc.
A "mixed metaphor," say the critics and rhetoricians. Rather,
an exquisite blending or fusion of figures, like those which we have
been noting; and again the combining of two kinds of sweetness,
appealing to different senses, — taste and hearing this time.
In passages like these, over which editors and commentators have
squabbled with no other result than obscuring the sense and
spoiling the poetry, can we do better than to let Shakespeare
illustrate and interpret himself ?
The Time-Analysis of the Play
This is summed up by Mr. P. A. Daniel ( Transactions of New
Shakspere Society, 1877-79, p. 161) as follows: —
Appendix 275
" The time of this Play may be taken as ten days represented on
the stage, with such sufficient intervals as the reader may imagine
for himself as requisite for the probability of the plot.
1. Act I. sc. i.
2. Act I. sc. ii. and iii., and Act II. sc. i, [Act. II. sc. iii.]
An interval perhaps might be expected between the day of
RosaHnd's banishment and the day (No. 3) on which her flight is
discovered. The Duke allows her ten days for preparation; but
she and her companions would hardly delay so long, and any
delay at all would throw the scheme of time utterly out of
gear. ... I believe the author started them on their journey on
the night ensuing the banishment, and made Days i, 2, and 3 con-
secutive. In Lodge's Rosalynde, it may be observed, the Duke,
who banishes his daughter as well as his niece, bids them depart
the same night.
3. Act II. sc. ii. [Act III. sc. i.]
An interval of a few days. The journey to Arden.
4. Act II. sc. iv.
5. Act II. sc. v., vi., and vii.
All interval of a few days — as the next scene shows.
6. Act III. sc. ii.
An interval — indefinite. During this interval we may
imagine the inhabitants of the forest ' fleeting the time carelessly,
as they did in the golden world ' ; the Duke and his fellows hunt-
ing, carousing, and disputing with the melancholy Jaques; Orlando
calling every day at the sheepcote, wooing his mistress under the
disguise of Ganymede; while Touchstone finds out and courts
Audrey,
7. Act III. sc. iii.
8. Act III. sc. iv. and v., Act IV. sc. i., ii., and iii., and
Act. V. sc. i.
276 Appendix
9. Act V. sc. ii. and iii.
10. Act. V. sc. iv.
Two scenes of the play — Act II. sc. iii. and Act. III. sc. i. — are
placed, within brackets, out of their actual order in this table.
The first must be referred to Day No. 2, the second to Day No. 3.
Looking to the time of the scenes, they are out of place; the
author seems to have gone back to resume these threads of the
story which were dropped while other parts of the plot were in hand.
In a mere narrative this is, of course, a common practice; I am
not sure that I know of any other instance in a dramatic compo-
sition."
List of Characters' in the Play
The numbers in parentheses indicate the lines the characters
have in each scene.
Duke: ii. 1(29), 7(51); v. 4(31). Whole no. iii.
Frederick: i. 2(21), 3(24); ii. 2(8); iii. i(i6). Whole no. 69.
Amiens: ii. 1(3), 5(30), 7(20). Whole no. 53.
Jaques: ii. 5(35), 7(100); iii. 2(24), 3(16); iv. i(i8), 2(8);
V. 4(34). Whole no. 235.
Le Beau: i. 2(53). Whole no. 53.
Charles : i. 1(40), 2(5). Whole no. 45.
Oliver : i. 1(62); iii. 1(2); iv. 3(80); v. 2(10). Whole no. 154.
Jaques de Bois : v. 4(17). Whole no. 17.
Orlando: i. 1(68), 2(40); ii. 3(23), 6(16), 7(32); iii. 2(62);
iv. 1(41); V. 2(29), 4(11). Whole no. 322.
Adam: i. 1(7); ii. 3(54), 6(3), 7(2). Whole no. 66.
Dennis: i. 1(3). Whole no. 3.
Touchstone: i. 2(30); ii. 4(26); iii. 2(70), 3(76); v. i(49)>
3(11), 4(54)- Whole no. 316.
Sir Oliver Martext : iii. 3(5). Whole no. 5.
Appendix 277
Corin: ii. 4(26); iii. 2(37), 4(10); v, 1(2), Whole no. 75.
Silvius: 11.4(19); 111.5(29); Iv. 3(14); v. 2(13), 4(1). Whole
no. 76.
William: v. i(ii). Whole no. ii.
Hyjnen : v. 4(24) . Whole no. 24.
\st Lord i^Duke) : 11. 1(39), 7(3); Iv. 2(1). Whole no. 43.
2d Lord {Dtike) : 11. I (2). Whole no. 2.
1st Lord (^Frederick) : 11. 2(4). Whole no. 4.
2d Lord (^Frederick) : 11. 2(9). Whole no. 9.
Forester: Iv. 2(10). Whole no. 10.
\st Page : v. 3(31). Whole no. 31.
2d Page : v. 3(27). Whole no. 27.
^^^a/m^.- 1. 2(63), 3(57); 11.4(26); 111.2(192), 4(22), 5(43);
iv. i(i53)» 3(74); V. 2(74), 4(45). Whole no. 749.
Celia: i. 2(93), 3(66); 11. 4(7); 111. 2(72), 4(32); iv. 1(12),
3(22). Whole no. 304.
Phebe: Hi. 5(72); v. 2(9), 4(6). Whole no. 87.
Audrey : ill. 3(12); v. 1(7), 3(4). Whole no. 23.
''Air {Song) : v. 4(6). Whole no. 6.
In the above enumeration, parts of lines are counted as whole
lines, making the total of the play greater than it is. The actual
number of lines in each scene (Globe edition numbering) is as
follows: 1. I (180), 2(301), 3(140); 11. 1(69), 2(21), 3(76),
4(100), 5(65). 6(19), 7(203); iii. 1(18), 2(457), 3(109), 4(62),
5(139); iv. 1(224), 2(19), 3(184); V. 1(69), 2(135), 3(49);
4(228). Whole no. in the play, 2867.
Rosalind has more lines than any other of Shakespeare's women.
Cleopatra comes next, with 670 lines; then Imogen, with 596;
Portia {M. of V.), with 589; and Juliet, with 541. At the other
end of the list (counting only important female characters) are
Miranda, with 142 lines ; Cordelia, Lady Capulet, and the Queen
in Richard LL., with 115 each; and Portia {/. C), with 92. In
T. of A. the female characters have only 15 lines in all.
INDEX OF WORDS AND PHRASES
EXPLAINED
a (= one), 241.
a (transposed), 170.
abused (= deceived), 225,
231.
accord (= consent), 247.
acres, 242.
action (trisyllable), 232.
addressed (= prepared),
248.
adventure, 195.
after (= afterwards), 248.
against, 229.
ages (of life), 204.
alack, 233.
Aliena (accent), 186.
allotery, 172.
all points, 185.
along (= at full length),
189, 215.
a many, 173.
amaze (= confuse), 178.
am remembered, 226.
anatomize, 174, 201.
and all at once, 223.
a-night, 195.
answered (= satisfied),
203.
antique, 189.
apart (= aside), 233.
April, 229.
Arden, 172.
are (= have), 179.
argument (= cause), 182,
207.
as (= namely), 188, 237.
as (omitted), 191.
aspect, 233.
assayed (= tried), 186.
Atalanta's better part,
211.
at an instant, 184.
at heart, 180.
at large, 248.
atomies, 214.
atone together, 246.
Audrey, 219.
bandy, 238.
banquet, 198.
Barbary cock-pigeon,
229.
basest function, 202.
batlet, 195.
Bay of Portugal, 231.
bear (play upon), 194.
beard, 205.
beggarly thanks, 197.
beholding (= beholden),
228.
be naught awhile, 170.
bestow (reflexive), 234.
better, I were, 221.
better world (= better
times), 1S2.
bid (= bade), 232.
bills (weapons), 178.
blood (= kinship), 171,
193-
blood (= passion), 244.
blue eye, 218.
bob (= rap), 201.
body, 190, 237.
boldened, 203.
bolt (= arrow), 244.
bonnet (= hat), 218.
bonny, 191.
books for good manners,
246.
bottom (= valley), 234.
bounden, 182.
bounds of feed, 196, 225.
bow (= ox-bow), 220.
brave (= fine), 222.
bravery (= finery), 203.
breather, 216.
breed (= bring up), 170.
279
brief, 237.
bring out (= put out), 215.
broke (= broken), 195.
broken music, 178.
brotherly (adverb), 174.
brutish (sting), 202.
buckles in, 211.
bugle (adjective), 224.
burden (of song), 215.
burghers, 189.
bush (vintner's sign), 250.
but (= without), 208, 223.
butchery, 192.
but erewhile, 196.
but even now, 199.
but justly as, 180.
butterwomen's rank, 209.
by (= aside), 215.
by and by, 236.
by your patience, 249.
cage of rushes, 217.
calling (= appellation),
180, 221.
capable, 223.
caparisoned, 213.
capricious, 219.
carlot, 225.
cast (= cast ofT), 221.
Celia (trisyllable), 186.
censure (=judgment), 227.
character (.verb), 207.
chase, 183.
cheerly, 199.
chid (past tense), 234.
child's father, my, 182.
chopt, 195.
chroniclers, 228.
cicatrice, 223.
civil (= civilized), 210.
clap into 't roundly, 241.
clap o' the shoulder, 228.
clubs, 239.
2 8o Index of Words and Phrases
cods, 195.
combine (= bind) , 247.
come in (= intervene),
202.
come off (= escape), 176.
come your ways, 180,
193-
comfort, 199.
commandment, 203.
commission, 228.
common (adverb), 185.
compact, 199.
compact (accent), 242.
complexion, pale, 222.
conceit, 199, 239, 242.
condition (= temper), 181.
conduct, in his own, 248.
conference, 181.
confines (accent), 189.
conjure (accent), 250.
conned, 216.
consent and sufferance,
191.
constant (= faithful), 193.
constant (= uniform), 225.
contents (accent), 232.
content with my harm,
209.
contrive (= plot), 173, 236.
contriver, 173.
conversed, 240.
convertites, 249.
cony, 217.
cope, 190.
copulatives, 244.
cote (= cottage), 196.
could (= would), i8o-
could find in my heart,
194.
countenance, 170.
counter, 202.
countercheck, 245.
coursed, 190.
courtship (= court life),
217.
cousin, 183, 237.
cousin (= niece) , 183.
cover (= set the table),
197.
covered goblet, 222.
coz, 175.
cross (= penny), 194.
crow (= laugh) , 200.
cry mercy, 224,
curtle-axe, 185.
curvets, 215.
damnable, 240.
dark (= in the dark), 224.
dear (play upon), 183.
dearly (= heartily), 183.
deep-contemplative, 200.
defied (= slighted), 251.
description (quadrisylla-
ble), 234.
desperate, 243.
device, 174.
dial (= watch) , 200.
Diana in the fountain, 229.
dies and lives, 223.
disable (= disparage),
227,244.
dishonest (= immodest),
241.
dislimn, 206.
disputable, 198.
diverted (blood), 193.
do (idiomatic), 178.
dog-apes, 197.
do him right, 203.
dole, 178.
doublet, 194.
drave, 219.
draw homewards, 237.
ducdame, 198.
dulcet diseases, 244.
duty (= respect), 240.
east (= eastern) , 209.
eat (= eaten), 203.
effigies (accent), 206.
embossed, 202.
emulator, 173.
enforcement, 203.
engage (= pledge) , 248.
entame, 224.
envenoms, 192.
envious (= malicious),
180.
erewhile, 225.
erring (= wandering) ,210.
estate (verb), 238.
Ethiope, 233.
every of, 248.
exile (accent), 186.
exiled (accent), 248.
expediently, 207.
extent, 207.
extermined, 225.
extreme (accent), 190.
extremest, 190.
extremity, in, 226.
eyne, 233.
fair (= beauty), 209.
falcon, 220.
fall (= befall) , 249.
fall to, 206.
falls (transitive), 223.
false gallop, 209.
fancy (= love), 223, 247.
fancy-monger, 217.
fantasy (= love) , 194, 240.
fashion sake, 215.
favour (= face), 176, 234.
feature, 219.
feeder (= shepherd) , 196.
fells, 208.
female, 238.
finish (intransitive), 247.
first-born of Egypt, 198.
fleet (transitive), 173.
flout, 221, 238.
flux, 190.
fond (= foolish), 191.
fool, 188.
fool's bolt, 244.
for (= as regards), 236.
for (= because) , 210.
for (= for want of) , 196,
198, 203.
forked heads, 189.
foul (= plain), 220, 224.
frail'st, 223.
free (= innocent), 203.
friendly (adverb), 224.
function (= office) , 202.
furnished, 250.
gamester, 174.
Gargantua, 214.
gesture (= bearing), 240.
giant-rude, 233.
gilded, 228, 235.
go about, 175.
goats (play upon), 219.
go buy, 172.
God be wi' you, 215, 227.
God 'ield you, 220, 242.
God rest you merry, 238.
God warn us, 228.
God ye good even, 238.
goldenly, 170.
golden world, 173.
gondola, 227.
good leave, 172.
good my complexion, 213.
good my liege, 184.
go sleep, 198.
go to^ 228.
Index of Words and Phrases 281
grace, 191.
grace (verb), 240.
graces, 225.
gracious, 179.
graff, 210.
gravelled, 228.
great reckoning in a little
room, 220.
ground, 215.
grow upon me, 172.
had as lief, 173, 215.
had rather, 194.
handkercher, 235, 239,
hard adventure, 195.
hard-favoured, 220.
have with you, 181.
having (= possession),
218.
he (= him), 174.
he (=man), 208, 218.
headed, 202.
heart (play upon), 215.
hem them away, 182.
him (= he whom), 171.
hinds (= servants), 170.
hire (= wages), 193.
his (= its), 206.
holla, 215.
holly (songs of), 206.
holy bread, 221.
honest (= chaste), 176,
220.
hose (= breeches), 194,
205.
hour (dissyllable), 242.
housewife, 176.
humorous, 181, 227.
hurtling, 236.
huswife, 176, 233.
hyen, 229.
I (=me), 175, 181.
if that, 183.
ill-favouredly, 176.
ill-inhabited, 220.
impressure, 223.
inaccessible, 203.
incision, 209.
incontinent, 239.
inconvenient, 240.
in (duplicated), 203.
Ind, 209.
indented, 235.
inland bred, 203.
in lieu of, 193.
in little, 211.
in my voice, 196.
in parcels, 226.
inquisition, 191.
insinuate with, 250.
insomuch, 240.
instance (= proof), 208.
instances, 205.
instrument, 234.
intendment, 173.
intermission (metre), 200.
in that kind, 189.
invention, 198.
Irish rat, 213.
irks, 188.
it is (contemptuous), 173,
225.
Jaques, i8g.
jars (= discords), 199.
Jove's tree, 215.
Judas's hair, 221.
Juno's swans, 184.
just (=just so), 216.
justly, 180.
kill up, 190.
kind (= nature), 203, 209,
234- . . ^
kindle (= incite), 175.
kindled (=born), 217.
knoUed, 203.
lack, 230.
Lady Fortune, 176.
laid on with a trowel,
178.
lay along, 189.
learn (= teach), 175.
leer (= look), 228.
lief, 174.
like (=had like), 243.
like (= likely), 175, 242.
liked (= pleased), 251.
limned, 206.
lined, 209.
live i' the sun, to, 198.
lively (= lifelike), 243.
liver, 219.
living (= real), 219.
look (= look for), 198,
look you, 194.
loose (=let fall), 225.
lover (feminine), 222, 240.
low (of stature), 235.
lusty, 225, 232.
make (= do), 170, 191, 214.
make (= earn), 234.
make even, 243.
make the doors, 229.
manage (noun), 170.
manners (play upon), 208.
mannish, 186.
marry, 170.
material, 220.
matter (= sense), 190, 242.
May, 229.
me (reflexive), 179.
measure ( = dance) , 243,
249.
measured swords, 245.
meat and drink to me, 237.
medlar, 210.
memory (= memorial),
191.
merely, 219.
mettle, 203.
mewling, 204.
might (=may), 179.
mines, 170.
misconsters, 181.
misprised, 175, 179.
misused, 230.
modern (= trivial), 227.
moe, 215,
moonish, 219.
moral (verb), 200.
moralize, 190.
more sounder, 208.
more worthier, 220.
mortal (= very), 196.
motley, 199.
music (broken), 178.
mutiny, 170.
mutton (= sheep) , 208.
myself alone, 215.
napkin (= handkerchief),
235-
native, 217.
natural (=fool), 176.
natural (= legitimate),
173-
naught, 170, 176, 208.
necessary, 220.
needless (= not needing) ,
190.
new-fallen, 249.
new-fangled, 229.
nice (= affected), 227.
nine days' wonder, 212.
no more do yours, 192.
282 Index of Words and Phrases
nor did not, 193, 241.
nor none, 175, 223.
note (= tune) , 198.
nuptial, 239.
nurture (= culture) , 203.
O sweet Oliver, 221.
obscured (= hidden), 243.
observance, 214, 240.
observation, 201.
Od's my little life, 224.
Od's my will, 233.
of (= by), 190, 217.
of (duplicated), 203.
of (=in), 237.
of (with verbals) , 195, 199.
offer'st fairly, 248.
of might, 225.
often (adjective), 227.
old custom, 186.
on, 170, 182.
on my life, 182.
only (transposed), 175,
179, 241.
on such a sudden, 182.
out (= at a loss), 228.
outface it, 186.
out of suits, 180.
pageant, 222.
painted cloth, 216.
pantaloon, 205.
parlous, 208.
parts (= gifts), 180, 191.
passing (adverb), 226.
pathetical, 230.
patience (trisyllable) , 184.
peascod, 195.
peevish (= silly), 225.
penalty of Adam, 186.
perforce, 175.
perpend, 208.
persever, 238.
petitionary, 213.
Phebes (verb), 233.
phoenix. 232.
physic (verb), 172.
pick-purse, 221.
place, 192.
please (impersonal), 172,
179.
point-device, 218.
poke (= pocket) , 200.
politic, 227.
pompous, 249.
poverty (concrete), 184.
power (= army) , 248.
practices (= plots), 192.
practise (intransitive) ,
174.
prayers (dissyllable) , 234.
presence (play upon) ,178.
presentation, 246.
presently, 199.
princess (plural), 179.
priser, 191.
private (= lonely), 208.
private (= particular), 202.
profit(= proficiency), 170.
promotion (quadrisylla-
ble), 193.
proper (= comely), 178.
properer, 224.
provide (reflexive), 184.
puisny, 222.
purchase (= get), 217.
pure, 176.
purgation, 183, 243.
purlieus, 234.
put on us, 177.
Pythagoras, 213.
quail, 191.
question (= talk), 218, 248.
quintain, 181.
quintessence, 211.
quip, 244.
quit (reflexive), 207.
quotidian, 217.
ragged (= rough), 197.
railed on, 200.
rank (play upon), 178.
ranker, 228.
rankness, 172.
rascal, 220.
raw (= green) , 209.
reason of, 176.
recks, 196.
recountments, 236.
recovered, 226, 237.
religious, 217, 248.
remembered, 206.
remorse (=pity), 184.
removed (= retired), 217.
render (= describe), 236.
render (= give back) , 175.
resolve (= solve), 214.
rest (= remain), 182.
reverence, 171.
right (= downright), 209.
ring time, 242.
ripe (= mature), 235.
ripe (verb), 200.
Rosalind, 175.
roynish, 191.
sad (= serious), 214.
safest haste, 183.
sale-work, 224.
sans, 200, 206.
sauce, 225.
saws (= maxims) , 205,
225.
scape, 209.
school (= university), 170.
scrip, 212.
seasons' difference, 186.
see (music), 178.
seeming (adverb) , 244.
se'nnight, 216.
senseless, 201.
sentence end, 211.
sententious, 244.
sequestered, 189.
settled low content, 193.
seven ages of life, 204.
shadow, 231.
shall (= must, 173), 238.
shame (intransitive), 236.
she (= woman) , 208.
should, 212.
should down, 180.
should (= would), 180.
show (= appear), 184.
shrewd (= evil), 248,
sighing like furnace, 205.
simples, 227.
simply (= indeed), .218,
230.
Sir, 220.
sirrah, 237.
smother (noun), 182.
snake, 234.
so (omitted), 178, 207.
so (=if), 175.
solemn (= earnest), 194.
some, 223.
sooth, 218.
so please you, 172, 179,
233- , ^
sorts (= ranks), 175.
south (= south wind), 224.
South Sea of discovery,
214.
speak (= say), 241.
speed (= patron), 180.
spheres (music of) , 199.
Index of Words and Phrases
283
spleen (= caprice), 231.
spoke (participle), 172.
sport (play upon ?), 177.
squander, 201.
stagger (= waver) , 220.
stalking-horse, 246.
stand with, 196.
stanzo, 197.
states (= estates), 248.
stay (= wait for), 214.
stays (=detains), 170, 184.
still (= constantly), 180,
184, 208.
still music, 246.
sting, 202.
stir (= excite), 185.
straight (adverb) , 226.
strange places, 201,
strong at heart, 237.
subject (accent), 192.
successfully, 179.
sudden (= passionate) ,
205.
suddenly, 191.
suflficed, 204.
suit me (= dress myself),
185.
suit (play upon), 201,
228.
sure (= surely), 223, 247.
sure (= united) , 247.
swaggerer, 232.
swashing, 186.
sweat (past tense), 193.
sweet my coz, 175.
swift (= ready), 244.
sworn, 227.
swore brothers, 246.
synod, 212.
ta'en up (= made up) , 243.
take a good heart, 237.
take no scorn, 232.
tame (= subdue) , 224.
tapster (the word of a),
222.
tax (= censure), 202, 217.
taxation (= censure), 177.
tempered, 175.
tender dearly, 240.
that (conjunctional affix),
183, 185, 202, 225.
that1;= so that), 178.
thither (= thereto), 175.
thought (=love), 231.
thrasonical, 239.
thrice-crowned, 207.
thrifty (proleptic), 193.
to (= with regard to), 236.
toad-stone, 188.
too late a week, 193.
touches, 212.
toward (= at hand), 243.
traverse (= crosswise) ,
222.
treasure (= enrich), 191.
troth, by my, 177, 216,
241.
trow, 213.
turn (a note), 197.
turn him going, 207.
turn (= return) , 207.
turned into, 233.
unbashful, 193.
uncouth, 199.
underhand, 173.
unexpressive, 208.
ungentleness, 240.
unhandsome, 249.
unkind, 206.
unquestionable, 218.
unto, 180.
untreasured, 191.
untuneable, 242.
up (intensive), 190.
upon, 196, 204.
use, 192.
vein, 203.
velvet, 190.
vengeance, 233.
verity, 222.
villain, 171.
virtuous, 184.
voice, in my, 196.
ware (= aware) , 196.
warp, 206.
was (= has been), 228.
waste (= spend), 196.
weak (proleptic), 204.
weaker vessel, 194.
wear (= dress), 200.
wearing(=wearying), 194.
weeping tears, 195.
well breathed, 180.
well said, 199.
wert best, thou, 174.
what, 173, 196, 222.
what had he to do, etc.,
226.
what though ? 220.
wherein, 179, 214.
while, the, 197.
whiles, 204, 242.
who (=whom), 216, 222.
whooping, 213.
wide-enlarged, 211.
wind (=wend), 221.
winter's sisterhood, 221.
wise men (accent), 177.
wiser (adverb), 196.
wit, whither wilt ? 176,
230.
with (=for), 183.
with (=from). 214.
withal, 173, 176.
woman of the world, 241,
woo (= gain over), 186.
working, 179.
working-day (adjective) ,
182.
world (hyperbolical) , 205
world (= times), 182.
wrath (= ardour) , 239.
wrestler (spelling), 172.
wrestler (trisyllable), 191
year (plural), 216, 240.
yet (transposed), 175.
you (expletive), 209.
young, 171.
your (colloquial), 221.
youth and kmd, 234.
Rolfe's English Classics
DESIGNED FOR USE IN HIGH SCHOOLS AND
OTHER SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Edited by WILLIAM J. ROLFE, Litt.D.
Formerly Head Master, High School, Cambridge, Mass.
Bound in uniform flexible cloth, 12mo. Illus. Each 56 cents
BROWNING'S SELECT POEMS
Containing Twenty Selected Poems with Introduction,
Sketch of the Life of Browning, Chronological Table of
his works, a list of the books most useful in the Study of
his works, Critical Comments, and Notes.
BROWNING'S DRAMAS
Containing the following selections: "A Blot in the
'Scutcheon," " Colcorabe's Birthday," and "A Soul's
Tragedy" — with Introduction, Critical Comments, and
Notes. ,
GOLDSMITH'S SELECT POEMS
Three Poems, with copious, critical and explanatory
Notes, Biography of Goldsmith, and selections from
Memoirs of the poet by Thackeray, Coleman the Younger,
Campbell, Forster, and Irving.
GRAY'S SELECT POEMS
Seven Poems, with the history of each and copious Notes.
The Introduction contains Robert Carruther's Life of
Gray and William Howitt's description of Stoke-Pogis.
MILTON'S MINOR POEMS
Containing all of Milton's Minor Poems except the
Translation, with biographical and critical Introduc-
tions, and historical and explanatory Notes.
MACAU LAY'S LAYS OF ANCIENT ROME
The Introduction includes the Author's Preface, John
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A History of English Literature
By REUBEN POST HALLECK, M.A. (Yale)
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Halleck's History of English Literature is a concise and
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The book is a history of literature and not a mere collection
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personality, and to show how his environment affected his
work. The author's productions, their relation to the age, and
the reasons why they hold a position in literature, receive
treatment commensurate with their importance.
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An Introduction to the
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