"A pretty while these pretty creatures stand,Like ivory conduits coral cisterns filling."
"A pretty while these pretty creatures stand,Like ivory conduits coral cisterns filling."
"A pretty while these pretty creatures stand,Like ivory conduits coral cisterns filling."
"A pretty while these pretty creatures stand,
Like ivory conduits coral cisterns filling."
See alsoW.T.v. 2. 60.
129-136.Evermore ... body.This long-drawn "conceit" is evidently from the first draught of the play.
134.Who.See on i. 1. 109 above.
138.She will none.Cf.M.N.D.iii. 2. 169: "Lysander, keep thy Hermia; I will none," etc.
140.Take me with you.Let me understand you. Cf.1 Hen. IV.ii. 4. 506: "I would your grace would take me with you; whom means your grace?"
143.Wrought."Not = induced, prevailed upon, but brought about, effected" (Schmidt). Cf.Henry VIII.iii. 2. 311: "You wrought to be a delegate;"Cor.ii. 3. 254: "wrought To be set high in place," etc.
144.Bridegroom.The 2d quarto has "Bride." This was used of both sexes in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but S. never makes it masculine.The New Eng. Dict.quotes Sylvester,Du Bartas(1598): "Daughter dear ... Isis bless thee and thy Bride," etc.
148.Chop-logic.Sophist; used by S. only here.
150.Minion.Originally = favourite, darling (as inTemp.iv. 1. 98,Macb.i. 2. 19, etc.), then a spoiled favourite, and hence a pert or saucy person.
151.Thank me no thankings,etc. Cf.Rich. II.ii. 3. 87: "Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle," etc.
152.Fettle.Prepare, make ready. It is the reading of the quartos and 1st folio; the later folios have "settle," which may be what S. wrote. He does not usefettleelsewhere, and the longsandfwere easily confounded in printing.
155.Out,etc. "Such was the indelicacy of the age of S. that authors were not contented only to employ these terms of abuse in their own original performances, but even felt no reluctance to introduce them in their versions of the most chaste and elegant of the Greek or Roman poets. Stanyhurst, the translator of Virgil, in 1582, makes Dido call Æneashedge-brat,cullion, andtar-breechin the course of one speech. Nay, in the interlude ofThe Repentance of Mary Magdalene, 1567, Mary Magdalene says to one of her attendants, 'Horeson, I beshrowe your heart, are you here?'" (Steevens).
164.Lent.The 1st quarto has "sent," which some editors adopt. Clarke thinks it may be a misprint for "left," as Capulet (i. 2. 14) speaks as if he had had other children; but S. is careless in these minor matters. See on i. 5. 30 and v. 3. 207.
167.Hilding.See on ii. 4. 43 above.
171.God ye god-den.See on i. 2. 57 above.
172.Peace.Theobald repeated the word for the sake of the measure.Peacemay perhaps be metrically a dissyllable, as inA.Y.L.ii. 4. 70.
175-177.God's bread!etc. The text of the early eds. is evidently corrupt here. The reading in the text is Malone's, and perhaps gives very nearly what S. wrote on the revision of the play.
181.Stuff'd,etc. Cf.Much Ado, i. 1. 56: "stuffed with all honourable virtues," etc. Forparts, cf. iii. 3. 2 above.
184.Mammet.Puppet, doll. Cf.1 Hen. IV.ii. 3. 95: "To play with mammets." The word is also writtenmawmet, and is a contraction ofMahomet.In her fortune's tender= when good fortune presents itself. Cf. iii. 4. 12 above.
189.Use.See on ii. chor. 10 above.
190.Lay hand on heart, advise.Consider it seriously. Cf. Brooke's poem:—
"Aduise thee well, and say that thou art warned now,And thinke not that I speake in sporte, or mynd to breake my vowe."
"Aduise thee well, and say that thou art warned now,And thinke not that I speake in sporte, or mynd to breake my vowe."
"Aduise thee well, and say that thou art warned now,And thinke not that I speake in sporte, or mynd to breake my vowe."
"Aduise thee well, and say that thou art warned now,
And thinke not that I speake in sporte, or mynd to breake my vowe."
198.Sweet my mother.Cf. iii. 2. 98: "Ah, poor my lord," etc.
209.Should practise stratagems,etc. Should, as it were, entrap me into so painful and perplexing a situation. Schmidt makesstratagemsometimes = "anything amazing and appalling," and cites this passage as an instance.
212.Faith, here 'tis,etc. S. here follows Brooke:—
"She setteth foorth at large the fathers furious rage,And eke she prayseth much to her the second mariage;And County Paris now she praiseth ten times more,By wrong, then she her selfe by right had Romeus praysde before," etc.
"She setteth foorth at large the fathers furious rage,And eke she prayseth much to her the second mariage;And County Paris now she praiseth ten times more,By wrong, then she her selfe by right had Romeus praysde before," etc.
"She setteth foorth at large the fathers furious rage,And eke she prayseth much to her the second mariage;And County Paris now she praiseth ten times more,By wrong, then she her selfe by right had Romeus praysde before," etc.
"She setteth foorth at large the fathers furious rage,
And eke she prayseth much to her the second mariage;
And County Paris now she praiseth ten times more,
By wrong, then she her selfe by right had Romeus praysde before," etc.
Mrs. Jameson remarks: "The old woman, true to her vocation, and fearful lest her share in these events should be discovered, counsels her to forget Romeo and marry Paris; and the moment which unveils to Juliet the weakness and baseness of her confidante is the moment which reveals her to herself. She does not break into upbraidings; it is no moment for anger; it is incredulous amazement, succeeded by the extremity of scorn and abhorrence, which takes possession of her mind. She assumes at onceand asserts all her own superiority, and rises to majesty in the strength of her despair."
220.Green.We have green eyes again inM.N.D.v. 1. 342: "His eyes were green as leeks." Cf.The Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 1: "With that rare green eye." Clarke remarks: "The brilliant touch of green visible in very light hazel eyes, and which gives wonderful clearness and animation to their look, has been admiringly denoted by various poets from time immemorial." In a sonnet by Drummond of Hawthornden, the gods are represented as debating of what colour a beauty's eyes shall be. Mars and Apollo vote for black:—
"Chaste Phœbe spake for purest azure dyes,But Jove and Venus green about the light,To frame thought best, as bringing most delight,That to pin'd hearts hope might for aye arise."
"Chaste Phœbe spake for purest azure dyes,But Jove and Venus green about the light,To frame thought best, as bringing most delight,That to pin'd hearts hope might for aye arise."
"Chaste Phœbe spake for purest azure dyes,But Jove and Venus green about the light,To frame thought best, as bringing most delight,That to pin'd hearts hope might for aye arise."
"Chaste Phœbe spake for purest azure dyes,
But Jove and Venus green about the light,
To frame thought best, as bringing most delight,
That to pin'd hearts hope might for aye arise."
Cf. Longfellow,The Spanish Student: "Ay, soft emerald eyes;" and again:—
"in her tender eyesJust that soft shade of green we sometimes seeIn evening skies."
"in her tender eyesJust that soft shade of green we sometimes seeIn evening skies."
"in her tender eyesJust that soft shade of green we sometimes seeIn evening skies."
"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 (Purgat.xxxi. 116). Lami says in hisAnnotazioni, 'Erano i suoi occhi d' un turchino verdiccio, simile a quel del mare.'"
221.Beshrew.See on ii. 5. 52 above.
225.Here.Not referring to Verona, but = "in this world" (Johnson).
233.Ancient damnation.The abstract for the concrete, explained by what follows. Steevens citesThe Malcontent, 1604: "out, you ancient damnation!"
234.Is it more sin,etc. Mrs. Jameson remarks: "It appears to me an admirable touch of nature, considering the master-passion which, at this moment, rules in Juliet's soul, that she is as much shocked by the nurse's dispraise of her lover as by her wicked, time-serving advice. This scene is the crisis in the character; and henceforth we see Juliet assume a new aspect. The fond, impatient, timid girl puts on the wife and the woman: she has learned heroism from suffering, and subtlety from oppression. It is idle to criticise her dissembling submission to her father and mother; a higher duty has taken place of that which she owed to them; a more sacred tie has severed all others. Her parents are pictured as they are, that no feeling for them may interfere in the slightest degree with our sympathy for the lovers. In the mind of Juliet there is no struggle between her filial and her conjugal duties, and there ought to be none."
236.Compare.See on ii. 5. 43 above.
3.And I am nothing slow to slack his haste.Paris here seems to say the opposite of what he evidently means, and various attempts have been made to explain away the inconsistency. It appears to be one of the peculiar cases of "double negative" discussed by Schmidt in his Appendix, p. 1420, though he does not give it there. "The idea of negation was so strong in the poet's mind that he expressed it in more than one place, unmindful of his canon that 'your four negatives make your two affirmatives.'" Cf.Lear, ii. 4. 142:—
"You less know how to value her desertThan she to scant ["slack" in quartos] her duty;"
"You less know how to value her desertThan she to scant ["slack" in quartos] her duty;"
"You less know how to value her desertThan she to scant ["slack" in quartos] her duty;"
"You less know how to value her desert
Than she to scant ["slack" in quartos] her duty;"
that is, you are more inclined to depreciate her than she to scant her duty.
5.Uneven.Indirect. Cf. the use ofeveninHam.ii. 2. 298: "be even and direct with me," etc. Sometimes the word is = perplexing, embarrassing; as in1 Hen. IV.i. 1. 50: "uneven and unwelcome news," etc.
11.Marriage.A trisyllable here; as inM. of V.ii. 9. 13, etc. So also in the quotation from Brooke in note on iii. 5. 212 above.
13.Alone.When alone; opposed tosocietybelow.
16.Slow'd.The only instance of the verb in S.
18-36.This partof the scene evidently came from the first draft of the play.
20.That may be must be.Thatmay beof yours must be.
29.Abus'd.Marred, disfigured.
31.Spite.Cf. i. 5. 64 above.
38.Evening mass.Ritson and others say that Juliet meansvespers, as there is no such thing asevening mass; and Staunton expresses surprise that S. has fallen into this error, since he elsewhere shows a familiarity with the usages of the Roman Catholic Church. It is the critics who are in error, not S. Walafrid Strabo (De Rebus Eccles.xxiii.) says that, while the time for mass is regularly before noon, it is sometimes celebrated in the evening ("aliquandoad vesperam"). Amalarius, Bishop of Trèves (De Eccles. Off.iv. 40), specifies Lent as the season for this hour. TheGenerales Rubricæallow this at other times in the year. In Winkles'sFrench Cathedrals, we are told that, on the occasion of the marriage of Henrietta of France, daughter of Henry IV., with the Duke of Chevreuse, as proxy for Charles I. of England, celebrated in Notre Dame at Paris, May 11, 1625, "mass was celebrated in the evening." SeeNotes and Queriesfor April 29 and June 3, 1876; also M'Clintock and Strong'sBiblical Cyclopædia, underMass.
40.We must entreat,etc. We must beg you to leave us to ourselves. Cf.Hen. VIII.i. 4. 71:—
"Crave leave to view these ladies and entreatAn hour of revels with them."
"Crave leave to view these ladies and entreatAn hour of revels with them."
"Crave leave to view these ladies and entreatAn hour of revels with them."
"Crave leave to view these ladies and entreat
An hour of revels with them."
41.God shield.God forbid. Cf.A.W.i. 3. 74: "God shield you mean it not." So "Heaven shield," inM. for M.iii. 1. 141, etc.Devotionis here a quadrisyllable.
45.Past cure,etc. Cf.L. L. L.v. 2. 28: "past cure is still past care."
48.Prorogue.See on ii. 2. 78 above.
54.This knife.It was the custom of the time in Italy as in Spain for ladies to wear daggers at their girdles.
57.The label.The seal appended by a slip to a deed, according to the custom of the day. InRich. II.v. 2. 56, the Duke of York discovers, by the depending seal, a covenant which his son has made with the conspirators. InCymb.v. 5. 430,labelis used for the deed itself.
62.Extremes.Extremities, sufferings. Cf.R. of L.969:—
"Devise extremes beyond extremity,To make him curse this cursed crimeful night."
"Devise extremes beyond extremity,To make him curse this cursed crimeful night."
"Devise extremes beyond extremity,To make him curse this cursed crimeful night."
"Devise extremes beyond extremity,
To make him curse this cursed crimeful night."
The meaning of the passage is, "This knife shall decide the struggle between me and my distresses" (Johnson).
64.Commission.Warrant, authority. Cf.A.W.ii. 3. 279: "you are more saucy with lords and honourable personages than the commission of your birth and virtue gives you heraldry."
66.Be not so long to speak.So slow to speak. Clarke remarks here: "The constraint, with sparing speech, visible in Juliet when with her parents, as contrasted with her free outpouring flow of words when she is with her lover, her father confessor, or her nurse—when, in short, she is her natural self and at perfect ease—is true to characteristic delineation. The young girl, the very young girl, the girl brought up as Juliet has been reared, the youthful Southern maiden, lives and breathes in every line by which S. has set her before us."
78.Yonder.Ulrici "cannot perceive why Juliet must designate a particular, actual tower, since all that follows is purely imaginary;" but to me the reference to a tower in sight seems bothforcible and natural, and the transition to imaginary ordeals is equally natural.
83.Reeky.Reeking with foul vapours, or simply = foul, as if soiled with smoke orreek. Cf.reechy(another form of the same word) inMuch Ado, iii. 3. 143,Ham.iii. 4. 184, etc.
93.Take thou this vial,etc. Cf. Brooke's poem:—
"Receiue this vyoll small and keepe it as thine eye;And on the mariage day, before the sunne doe cleare the skye,Fill it with water full vp to the very brim,Then drinke it of, and thou shalt feele throughout eche vayne and limA pleasant slumber slide, and quite dispred at lengthOn all thy partes, from euery part reue all thy kindly strength;Withouten mouing thus thy ydle parts shall rest,No pulse shall goe, ne hart once beate within thy hollow brest,But thou shalt lye as she that dyeth in a traunce:Thy kinsmen and thy trusty frendes shall wayle the sodain chaunce;The corps then will they bring to graue in this church yarde,Where thy forefathers long agoe a costly tombe preparde,Both for them selfe and eke for those that should come after,[7]Both deepe it is, and long and large, where thou shalt rest, my daughter,Till I to Mantua sende for Romeus, thy knight;Out of the tombe both he and I will take thee forth that night."
"Receiue this vyoll small and keepe it as thine eye;And on the mariage day, before the sunne doe cleare the skye,Fill it with water full vp to the very brim,Then drinke it of, and thou shalt feele throughout eche vayne and limA pleasant slumber slide, and quite dispred at lengthOn all thy partes, from euery part reue all thy kindly strength;Withouten mouing thus thy ydle parts shall rest,No pulse shall goe, ne hart once beate within thy hollow brest,But thou shalt lye as she that dyeth in a traunce:Thy kinsmen and thy trusty frendes shall wayle the sodain chaunce;The corps then will they bring to graue in this church yarde,Where thy forefathers long agoe a costly tombe preparde,Both for them selfe and eke for those that should come after,[7]Both deepe it is, and long and large, where thou shalt rest, my daughter,Till I to Mantua sende for Romeus, thy knight;Out of the tombe both he and I will take thee forth that night."
"Receiue this vyoll small and keepe it as thine eye;And on the mariage day, before the sunne doe cleare the skye,Fill it with water full vp to the very brim,Then drinke it of, and thou shalt feele throughout eche vayne and limA pleasant slumber slide, and quite dispred at lengthOn all thy partes, from euery part reue all thy kindly strength;Withouten mouing thus thy ydle parts shall rest,No pulse shall goe, ne hart once beate within thy hollow brest,But thou shalt lye as she that dyeth in a traunce:Thy kinsmen and thy trusty frendes shall wayle the sodain chaunce;The corps then will they bring to graue in this church yarde,Where thy forefathers long agoe a costly tombe preparde,Both for them selfe and eke for those that should come after,[7]Both deepe it is, and long and large, where thou shalt rest, my daughter,Till I to Mantua sende for Romeus, thy knight;Out of the tombe both he and I will take thee forth that night."
"Receiue this vyoll small and keepe it as thine eye;
And on the mariage day, before the sunne doe cleare the skye,
Fill it with water full vp to the very brim,
Then drinke it of, and thou shalt feele throughout eche vayne and lim
A pleasant slumber slide, and quite dispred at length
On all thy partes, from euery part reue all thy kindly strength;
Withouten mouing thus thy ydle parts shall rest,
No pulse shall goe, ne hart once beate within thy hollow brest,
But thou shalt lye as she that dyeth in a traunce:
Thy kinsmen and thy trusty frendes shall wayle the sodain chaunce;
The corps then will they bring to graue in this church yarde,
Where thy forefathers long agoe a costly tombe preparde,
Both for them selfe and eke for those that should come after,[7]
Both deepe it is, and long and large, where thou shalt rest, my daughter,
Till I to Mantua sende for Romeus, thy knight;
Out of the tombe both he and I will take thee forth that night."
97.Surcease.Cf.R. of L.1766: "If they surcease to be that should survive;" andCor.iii. 2. 121: "Lest I surcease to honour mine own truth." For the noun, seeMacb.i. 7. 74.
100.Paly.Cf.Hen. V.iv. chor. 8: "paly flames;" and 2Hen. VI.iii. 2. 141: "his paly lips."
105.Two and forty hours.It is difficult to make this period agree with the time of the events that follow. Maginn would read "two and fifty hours;" and "two and thirty" has been suggested,which is more in accordance with the dates given in the play. In iv. 1. 90 the Friar says to Juliet:—
"Wednesdayis to-morrow:To-morrow night look that thou lie alone," etc.
"Wednesdayis to-morrow:To-morrow night look that thou lie alone," etc.
"Wednesdayis to-morrow:To-morrow night look that thou lie alone," etc.
"Wednesdayis to-morrow:
To-morrow night look that thou lie alone," etc.
This agrees with the preceding dates. The conversation in iii. 4 is late on Monday evening (cf. lines 5 and 18), and Lady Capulet's talk with Juliet about marrying Paris (iii. 5. 67 fol.) is early the next (Tuesday) morning. The visit to the Friar is evidently on the same day; and the next scene (iv. 2) is in the evening of that day. Juliet comes home and tells her father that she has been to the Friar's, and is ready to marry Paris. The old man at once decides to have the wedding "to-morrow morning" (that is, Wednesday) instead of Thursday. Lady Capulet objects, but finally yields to her husband's persistency; and so Juliet goes to her chamber, and drinks the potion onTuesdayevening, or twenty-four hours earlier than the Friar had directed. He of course is notified of the change in the time for the wedding, as he is to perform the ceremony, and will understand that Juliet has anticipated the time of taking the potion, and that she will wake onThursdaymorning instead of Friday. If so, instead of extending the "two and forty hours," as Maginn does, we need rather to shorten the interval. We may suppose the time of v. 3 to be as early as three o'clock in the morning. It is summer, and before daylight. Paris and Romeo come with torches, and the Friar with a lantern. Romeo tells his servant to deliver the letter to his father "early in the morning." The night watchmen are still on duty. Since we can hardly send Juliet to bed before nine in the evening on Tuesday,thirtyhours is the most that can be allowed for the interval, unless we add another day and accept the fifty-two of Maginn. But this does not seem required by anything in act v.—not even by the "two days buried" of v. 3. 176, for Thursday would be the second day that she had lain in the tomb. The marriage was to be early on Wednesday morning, and the funeral took its place. Balthasar "presentlytook post" (v. 1. 21) to tell the news to Romeo at Mantua, less than twenty-five miles distant. He arrives before evening (cf. v. 1. 4: "all this day," which indicates the time), and Romeo at once says, "I will henceto-night." He has ample time to make his preparations and to reach Verona before two o'clock the next morning. He has been at the tomb only half an hour or so (v. 3. 130) before the Friar comes. It must have been near midnight (see v. 2. 23) when Friar John returned to Laurence's cell; so that, even if he had not been despatched to Mantua until that morning, he would have had time to go and return, but for his unexpected detention. I see no difficulty, therefore, in assuming that the drama closes on Thursday morning; the difficulty would be in prolonging the time to the next morning without making the action drag.
110.In thy best robes,etc. The Italian custom here alluded to, of carrying the dead body to the grave richly dressed and with the faceuncovered(which is not mentioned by Paynter), S. found particularly described inRomeus and Juliet:—
"Now throughout Italy this common vse they haue,That all the best of euery stocke are earthed in one graue;* * * * * * *An other vse there is, that whosoeuer dyes,Borne to their church with open face vpon the beere he lyes,In wonted weede attyrde, not wrapt in winding sheete."
"Now throughout Italy this common vse they haue,That all the best of euery stocke are earthed in one graue;* * * * * * *An other vse there is, that whosoeuer dyes,Borne to their church with open face vpon the beere he lyes,In wonted weede attyrde, not wrapt in winding sheete."
"Now throughout Italy this common vse they haue,That all the best of euery stocke are earthed in one graue;
"Now throughout Italy this common vse they haue,
That all the best of euery stocke are earthed in one graue;
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
An other vse there is, that whosoeuer dyes,Borne to their church with open face vpon the beere he lyes,In wonted weede attyrde, not wrapt in winding sheete."
An other vse there is, that whosoeuer dyes,
Borne to their church with open face vpon the beere he lyes,
In wonted weede attyrde, not wrapt in winding sheete."
Cf.Ham.iv. 5. 164: "They bore him barefac'd on the bier." Knight remarks that thus the maids and matrons of Italy are still carried to the tomb; and he quotes Rogers,Italy:—
"And lying on her funeral couch,Like one asleep, her eyelids closed, her handsFolded together on her modest breastAs 'twere her nightly posture, through the crowdShe came at last—and richly, gaily clad,As for a birthday feast."
"And lying on her funeral couch,Like one asleep, her eyelids closed, her handsFolded together on her modest breastAs 'twere her nightly posture, through the crowdShe came at last—and richly, gaily clad,As for a birthday feast."
"And lying on her funeral couch,Like one asleep, her eyelids closed, her handsFolded together on her modest breastAs 'twere her nightly posture, through the crowdShe came at last—and richly, gaily clad,As for a birthday feast."
"And lying on her funeral couch,
Like one asleep, her eyelids closed, her hands
Folded together on her modest breast
As 'twere her nightly posture, through the crowd
She came at last—and richly, gaily clad,
As for a birthday feast."
114.Drift.Scheme. Cf. ii. 3. 55 above.
119.Inconstant toy.Fickle freak or caprice. Cf.Ham.i. 3. 5: "a fashion and a toy in blood;"Id.1. 4. 75: "toys of desperation;"Oth.iii. 4. 156: "no jealous toy," etc.Inconstant toyandwomanish fearare both from Brooke's poem:—
"Cast of from thee at once the weede of womannish dread,With manly courage arme thy selfe from heele vnto the head;* * * * * * *God graunt he so confirme in thee thy present will,That no inconstant toy thee let [hinder] thy promesse to fulfill."
"Cast of from thee at once the weede of womannish dread,With manly courage arme thy selfe from heele vnto the head;* * * * * * *God graunt he so confirme in thee thy present will,That no inconstant toy thee let [hinder] thy promesse to fulfill."
"Cast of from thee at once the weede of womannish dread,With manly courage arme thy selfe from heele vnto the head;
"Cast of from thee at once the weede of womannish dread,
With manly courage arme thy selfe from heele vnto the head;
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
God graunt he so confirme in thee thy present will,That no inconstant toy thee let [hinder] thy promesse to fulfill."
God graunt he so confirme in thee thy present will,
That no inconstant toy thee let [hinder] thy promesse to fulfill."
121.Give me, give me!Cf.Macb.i. 3. 5: "'Give me,' quoth I."
2.Twenty cunning cooks.Ritson says: "Twenty cooks for half a dozen guests! Either Capulet has altered his mind strangely, or S. forgot what he had just made him tell us" (iii. 4. 27). But, as Knight remarks, "Capulet is evidently a man of ostentation; but his ostentation, as is most generally the case, is covered with a thin veil of indifference." Cf. i. 5. 124: "We have a trifling foolish banquet towards."
According to an entry in the books of the Stationers' Company for 1560, the preacher was paid six shillings and twopence for his labour; the minstrel, twelve shillings; and the cook, fifteen shillings. But, as Ben Jonson tells us, a master cook is—
"a man of menFor a professor; he designs, he draws,He paints, he carves, he builds, he fortifies,Makes citadels of curious fowl and fish.* * * * * *He is an architect, an engineer,A soldier, a physician, a philosopher,A general mathematician."
"a man of menFor a professor; he designs, he draws,He paints, he carves, he builds, he fortifies,Makes citadels of curious fowl and fish.* * * * * *He is an architect, an engineer,A soldier, a physician, a philosopher,A general mathematician."
"a man of menFor a professor; he designs, he draws,He paints, he carves, he builds, he fortifies,Makes citadels of curious fowl and fish.
"a man of men
For a professor; he designs, he draws,
He paints, he carves, he builds, he fortifies,
Makes citadels of curious fowl and fish.
* * * * * *
* * * * * *
He is an architect, an engineer,A soldier, a physician, a philosopher,A general mathematician."
He is an architect, an engineer,
A soldier, a physician, a philosopher,
A general mathematician."
6.'Tis an ill cook,etc. Cf. Puttenham,Arte of English Poesie, 1589:—
"As the old cocke crowes so doeth the chick:A bad cooke that cannot his owne fingers lick."
"As the old cocke crowes so doeth the chick:A bad cooke that cannot his owne fingers lick."
"As the old cocke crowes so doeth the chick:A bad cooke that cannot his owne fingers lick."
"As the old cocke crowes so doeth the chick:
A bad cooke that cannot his owne fingers lick."
14.Harlotry.S. uses the noun only in this concrete sense: literally inOth.iv. 2. 239; and in a loose contemptuous way, as here (= silly wench), in 1Hen. IV.iii. 1. 198: "a peevish, self-willed harlotry, one that no persuasion can do good upon." Forpeevish= foolish, childish, cf.A.Y.L.iii. 5. 110,M.W.i. 4. 14, etc.
17.Learn'd me.Taught myself, learned; not elsewhere used reflexively by S. Cf. iii. 2. 12 above.
18.In disobedient opposition.This line has but two regular accents, the others being metrical. See p. 159 above.Oppositionhas five syllables.
26.Becomed.Becoming. Cf. "lean-look'd" = lean-looking inRich. II.ii. 4. 11, "well-spoken" inRich. III.i. 3. 348, etc. We still say "well-behaved."
33.Closet.Chamber; as inHam.ii. 1. 77, iii. 2. 344, iii. 3. 27, etc. Cf.Matthew, vi. 6.
34.Sort.Select. Cf. iii. 5. 108 above.
38.Short in our provision.Very feminine and housewifely! Cf.Lear, ii. 4. 208:—
"I am now from home, and out of that provisionWhich shall be needful for your entertainment."
"I am now from home, and out of that provisionWhich shall be needful for your entertainment."
"I am now from home, and out of that provisionWhich shall be needful for your entertainment."
"I am now from home, and out of that provision
Which shall be needful for your entertainment."
41.Deck up her.Such transpositions are not rare in S. The 1st quarto has "prepare up him" in 45 just below.
5.Cross.Perverse. Cf.Hen. VIII.iii. 2. 214:—
"what cross devilMade me put this main secret in the packetI sent the king?"
"what cross devilMade me put this main secret in the packetI sent the king?"
"what cross devilMade me put this main secret in the packetI sent the king?"
"what cross devil
Made me put this main secret in the packet
I sent the king?"
8.Behoveful.Befitting; used by S. nowhere else.
15.Thrills.The ellipsis is somewhat peculiar from the factthat the relative is expressed in the next line. We should expect "thrilling" or "And almost."
23.Lie thou there.See on iv. 1. 54 above. Moreover, as Steevens notes,knives, or daggers, were part of the accoutrements of a bride. Cf. Dekker,Match me in London: "See at my girdle hang my wedding knives!" andKing Edward III., 1599: "Here by my side do hang my wedding knives," etc. Dyce remarks that the omission of the wordknife"is peculiarly awkward, as Juliet has been addressing the vial just before;" but S. wrote for the stage, where the action would make the reference perfectly clear.
27.Because he married me,etc. A "female" line with two extra syllables; like v. 3. 256 below. See p. 158 above.
29.Tried.Proved; as inJ.C.iv. 1. 28,Ham.i. 3. 62, etc.
34.Healthsome.Wholesome; used by S. only here.
36.Like.Likely; as often.
39.As in a vault,etc.Asis here = to wit, namely. Cf.Ham.i. 4. 25, etc.
Steevens thinks that this passage may have been suggested to S. by the ancient charnel-house (now removed) adjoining the chancel of Stratford church; but that was merely a receptacle for bones from old graves and disused tombs, while the reference here is to a family tomb still in regular use, where the body of Tybalt has just been deposited, and as Juliet knows that she also will be when supposed to be dead. S. was of course familiar with such tombs orvaults.
Receptacle.For the accent on the first syllable, cf.T.A.i. 1. 92: "O sacred receptacle of my joys!" So also inPer.iv. 6. 186; the only other instance of the word in S.
42.Green.Fresh, recent; as inHam.i. 2. 2, etc.
43.Festering.Corrupting; as inHen. V.iv. 3. 88 andSonn.94. 14.
47.Mandrakes'.The plantAtropa mandragora(cf.Oth.iii. 3. 130 andA. and C.i. 5. 4, where it is called "mandragora"), the root of which was thought to resemble the human figure, and whentorn from the earth to utter shrieks which drove those mad who heard them. Cf. 2Hen. VI.iii. 2. 310: "Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groans," etc. Coles, in hisArt of Simpling, says that witches "take likewise the roots of mandrake, ... and make thereof an ugly image, by which they represent the person on whom they intend to exercise their witchcraft." The plant was of repute also in medicine, as a soporific (see the passages noted above in which it is calledmandragora) and for sundry other purposes. Sir Thomas More observes that "Mandragora is an herbe, as phisycions saye, that causeth folke to slepe, and therein to have many mad fantastical dreames." How the root could be got without danger is explained by Bullein, in hisBulwark of Defence against Sicknesse, 1575: "Therefore they did tye some dogge or other lyving beast unto the roote thereof wythe a corde, and digged the earth in compasse round about, and in the meane tyme stopped their own eares for feare of the terreble shriek and cry of this Mandrack. In whych cry it doth not only dye it selfe, but the feare thereof kylleth the dogge or beast which pulleth it out of the earth."
49.Distraught.Distracted. S. uses the word again inRich. III.iii. 5. 4: "distraught and mad with terror." Elsewhere he hasdistracted(as inTemp.$1.$2. 12,Macb.ii. 3. 110, etc.) ordistract(as inJ.C.iv. 3. 155,Ham.iv. 5. 2, etc.). Spenser hasdistraughtoften; as inF.Q.iv. 3. 48: "Thus whilest their minds were doubtfully distraught;"Id.iv. 7. 31: "His greedy throte, therewith in two distraught" (where it is = drawn apart, its original sense), etc.
58.Romeo, I come,etc. The 1st quarto has here the stage-direction, "She fals vpon her bed within the Curtaines." The ancient stage was divided by curtains, calledtraverses, which were a substitute for sliding scenes. Juliet's bed was behind these curtains, and when they were closed in front of the bed the stage was supposed to represent the hall in Capulet's house for the next scene. When he summons the Nurse to call forth Juliet, she opens thecurtains and the scene again becomes Juliet's chamber, where she is discovered apparently dead. After the lamentations over her, the 1st quarto gives the direction, "They all but the Nurse goe foorth, casting Rosemary on her and shutting the Curtens;" and then follows the scene with Peter and the Musicians. The stage had no movable painted scenery.
2.Pastry.That is, the room where pastry was made. Cf.pantry(Fr.paneterie, frompain), the place where bread is kept, etc. Staunton quotesA Floorish upon Fancie, 1582:—