MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.

"And bid him speak of patienceto me."

"And sorrow wag, cry Hem! when he should groan."

For 'wag,' which gives no sense, I would readsway, which gives most excellent sense.

"For Affection,Mistress of passion,swaysit."

"For Affection,

Mistress of passion,swaysit."

Mer. of Ven. iv. 1.

"Youswaythe motion of Demetrius' heart."

M. N. D. i. 1.

"The will of man is by his reasonsway'd."

Ib. ii. 2.

"Our own stars all our fortunes,Which, as wesway'em, to abuse or bless us."

"Our own stars all our fortunes,

Which, as wesway'em, to abuse or bless us."

Fletch. Chances, ii. 3.

It seems evident that the initialsofswaywas effaced, a thing not unusual. As to the change ofytog, I lately read a work on South America, in which the well-known nameAlmagrowas invariably printedAlmayro. 'Cry Hem!' may mean, use the language of rakish youths; "Our watch-word was, Hem boys!" (2 Hen. IV. iii. 2).

"Some of us would lie low.—Whois itwrongs him?"

"Gentlemen both, we will not wake your patience."

The meaning of 'wake' is not clear; perhaps we should readtask. Hanmer readrack; Talbotwaste.

"I cannot bid you bid my daughter live."

A printer's error, probably caused in the usual way. We might better readmake, though 'bid' makes sense. 'Can Imake men livewhe'r they will or no?' (2 Hen. VI. iii. 3.)

"I do embrace your offer, and disposeFrom henceforth of poor Claudio."

"I do embrace your offer, and dispose

From henceforth of poor Claudio."

It would seem that something had been lost at the end, the speech terminates so abruptly. We might supplyat your pleasure.

"Have you been deceived;forthey swore you did."

Mr. Dyce would read 'fortheydid swear'; but the twodids rather offend the ear.

"Brave punishments for him.Come, strike up, piper."

"The Council shall hearofit; it is a riot."

The metre requiresof, which makes the expression more idiomatic. Sir Hugh naturally omits it.

"And I thank you always with my heart la!"

The folio reads 'loveyou'; the correction is Farmer's. So also in Shallow's next speech.

"The good humour is to steal at a minute's rest."

As "minim'srest" occurs in Rom. and Jul. ii. 1, Langton and Collier's folio would so read here; but it may be, and probably is, a mere blunder of Nym's.

"He hath studied her well, and translated her well."

The folio readswill; in both places the 4tos have 'well' in the first, and omit it in the last.

"Hold, sirrah, bear you thesetwoletters tightly."

"For the revolt of mine is dangerous."

For 'the' we must, with Pope, readthis. We have, "For this revolt of thine" (Hen. V. ii. 1). Theobald, whom some critics follow, readmienfor 'mine,' which I utterly reject. (See on Two Gent. ii. 4.) I do not think 'revolt' occurs anywhere in the sense of mere change.

"What! haveIscaped love-letters in the holiday-time of my beauty?"

Iis the insertion of the 2nd folio; and is perhaps not absolutely necessary, as we might put a (!) after 'beauty.'

"For though Love use Reason as his precision."

For 'precision,' which gives but poor sense, we should adopt, as I have done, Johnson's conjecture,physician:

"My reason thephysicianto my love." Son. cxlvii.

"I'll exhibit a bill in Parliament for the putting down of men."

Theobald's reading, 'fatmen' has been generally and properly adopted. There is a similar omission offatin 1 Hen. IV. ii. 2. In the 4to she says, "Well, I shall trustfatmen the worse while I live for his sake."

"Will you go, An-heires?"

This is mere nonsense. Boaden's conjecture,Cavalieres, adopted by Singer and myself, seems to be very good; it might easily, with a little effacement, have been mistaken by the printer. We might also, and still better I think, readon heróes, as this last word was thus pronounced at times by Spenser, Chapman, and others; and we have, "Noble heróes, my sword and yours are kin" (All's Well, ii. 1). The metre excludeshéroes. Theobald, followed by Dyce, readmynheers, not a Shakespearian term; Steevenson hearts; Maloneand hear us. The reading of the 4tos is 'Bully Hector!'

"On his wife's frailty."

Theobald readfealty, Collier's folio hasfidelity. I prefer the last; but I make no change.

"Give fire, she is my prize."

Most certainly 'my' should bethy; the confusion is common.

"Cried Game? said I well?"

Mr. Douce, Mr. Dyce, and myself, all independently corrected 'Cried Iaim?' and Warburton had proposedCry aim. The correction might therefore appear to be certain; and yet I am dubious of it. 'Cried game' is the reading of the 4tos, as well as of the folio; and as the first 4to and the folio were printed from independent MSS., it is not at all likely that two transcribers or printers should have fallen into the same error. 'Cried Game? said I well?' would suit the abrupt tone of the Host, and signify, Did I intimate sport?

"Thou hast the right arched beauty of the brow."

The 4to readsbentfor 'beauty'; so the right word may bebend. I have given 'bent'.

"By the Lord, thou art a tyrant to say so."

For 'tyrant' the 4tos readtraitor. I have adopted this reading, though dubious of its being the best.

"What thou wert if Fortune thy foe were not, Natureis."

So also Capell.

"I love thee, and none but thee."

The metre proves this to be the right text.

"So, now uncape."

I think Hanmer was right in readinguncouple; for 'uncape,'as a term of the chase, is unknown. The final letters ofuncouplehad probably been effaced in the MS.

"Farewell, gentle MistressPage. Färewell, Nan."

Both sense and metre gain, I think, by this addition. Policy, if nothing else, should make Fenton return the farewell of Mrs. Page. Capell read 'mygentle.'

"A fool and a physician."

We should certainly read with Hanmerorfor 'and.'

"As they'd have drowned a bitch's blind puppies."

The original copies read 'a blind bitch's'; Hanmer made the obvious transposition.

"Your husband is in his oldlunesagain."

The folio haslines. Theobald made the correction. See W. T. ii. 2.

"Good gentlemen, let himnotstrike the old woman."

The negative was added in the 2nd folio.

"You say he has been thrown into the rivers."

It might be better to readseefor 'say.'

"That silk will I go buy. And in that time."

With Mr. Dyce, I adopt Theobald's reading oftirefor 'time,' as best suited to the context.

"And he my husband best of all affects."

If 'husband' be the subject to 'affects,' as I think he is, we should readhim. See Introd. p.52.

"Conceal them or thou diest."

Collier's folio for 'or' readsand; but the text is right. Simple had used 'conceal' in the sense of reveal, and the Host repeats his word.

"The mirth whereof'sso larded with my matter."

"Remember, son Slender, mydaughter."

The worddaughter, necessary both for sense and metre, was supplied by the 2nd folio.

Among the characters given in the heading of this scene, we meet Mrs. Quickly and Pistol; the 4tos have "Mrs. Quickly, like the Queen of Fairies," and prefixQuic.to the following speeches, and it is not said that Anne was to assume that character. The folio heads the speeches withQui.andQu.We may therefore say that the poet was oblivious when, in iv. 4. 6, he said that Anne should "present the Fairy Queen;" for throughout she only appears as an ordinary fairy, as is plain by the mistake made by Caius and Slender. The poet seems to have confined the speaking to the elder persons.

"You moonshine-revellers, and shades of night,You orphan-heirs of fixed Destiny."

"You moonshine-revellers, and shades of night,

You orphan-heirs of fixed Destiny."

No one has been able to make any sense of 'orphan-heirs,' which may therefore be treated as a corruption. Warburton read 'ouphen-heirs,' which Singer adopts; but there is no such word asouphen. My own opinion is that the poet wroteouphes andheirs; and as in general thedinandis not pronounced, even before vowels, and theoumight easily be mistaken foror, the printer madeorphan. The line, we may see, thus forms a parallel to the preceding line. The poet seems to have used 'heirs' in the sense of children. In Fletcher's Mad Lover we have,

"Coarse and base appetites, earth's mere inheritors,Andheirsof idleness and blood." (ii. 1.)

"Coarse and base appetites, earth's mere inheritors,

Andheirsof idleness and blood." (ii. 1.)

In favour of my reading, it may be observed that in iv. 4 and in the following speeches the Ouphes occur, as well as the Elves and Fairies, and nowhere else in Shakespeare.

"Elves list your names. Silence, you airy toyès.Cricket to Windsor chimneys shalt thou leap;What fires thou findest unraked and hearths unswept."

"Elves list your names. Silence, you airy toyès.

Cricket to Windsor chimneys shalt thou leap;

What fires thou findest unraked and hearths unswept."

The rime shows that 'toyès' is a dissyllable. In 'unswept' thetshould not be sounded, and, I think, not beprinted.Unswepis merely the apocopated part, of which examples are so numerous in our language; it is likekep,crep, etc., which, though regarded now as vulgarisms, are grammatically correct. Collier's folio, followed by Mr. Collier and others, reads 'whenthou'stleap'd,' a mere result of ignorance of grammar.

"And turn him to no pain."

From what precedes, we might conjectureburn.

"To repay that money will be a biting affliction."

I have, after Theobald, added here from the 4tos the following lines, of which, however, he did not give the last:—

"Mrs. Ford.Nay, husband, let that go to make amends,Forgive that sum and so we'll all be friends.Ford.Well, here's my hand; all is forgiven at last.Fal.It hath cost me well. I've been well pinch'd and wash'd."

"Mrs. Ford.Nay, husband, let that go to make amends,Forgive that sum and so we'll all be friends.

"Mrs. Ford.Nay, husband, let that go to make amends,

Forgive that sum and so we'll all be friends.

Ford.Well, here's my hand; all is forgiven at last.

Fal.It hath cost me well. I've been well pinch'd and wash'd."

The play is thus made to end more agreeably, and Falstaff can accept the invitation to supper with a better grace. These lines, it is true, rime, and so are not quite in harmony with the other speeches, whence it seems to follow that the omission was made by the poet. But his judgement in this case must have fallen asleep; for Ford had no right to be so hard on the poor knight, as he had given him the money, or rather we might say forced it on him. As to the rime, we have two other couplets toward the end of the play.

"Oh! it came o'er my ear like the sweet soundThat breathes upon a bank of violets."

"Oh! it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound

That breathes upon a bank of violets."

As a sound breathing is pure nonsense, Pope readsouthfor 'sound'; and, with the exception of Mr. Knight and Mr. Staunton, all the editors, I believe, have followed him. Yet even this correction does not remove the difficulty, forsouthalone, no more thannorth,east, orwest, is never used of the wind. It seems to me then that the poet wrotesouth wind, and as thethwas usually suppressed insouth,north, etc., assou'-west,sou'-east, the printer pronouncedsou windor, it may be,sou 'ind, which easily became 'sound' in his mind, and so he printed it. (See Introd. p.67.) It is rather remarkable that this very correction is made by anAnon.in the Cambridge Shakespeare. The same idea, I may observe, occurs in the Antonio and Mellida of Shakespeare's contemporary, Marston (Act I.):

"Smile heaven and softest southern windKiss her cheek gently with perfumed breath."

"Smile heaven and softest southern wind

Kiss her cheek gently with perfumed breath."

Both were probably indebted to "Her breath is more sweet than a gentle south-west wind, that comes creeping over flowery fields and shadowed waters" in Sidney's Arcadia. For a similar omission ofwind, see on Temp. i. 2.

"So pleaseyou, my lord, I might not be admitted."

"The element itself, till seven years heat'em,Shall not behold her face at ample view."

"The element itself, till seven years heat'em,

Shall not behold her face at ample view."

That is, not for seven summers, possibly with an allusion to racing, as in Win. Tale, i. 2. As the element is the sky, the heaven, we might also readit.

"Ofher sweet perfections with one self-king."

That is with Love. We might also transpose, but, I think, with a loss of force. We have an instance of this prefixing of the genitive in Temp. iii. 3.

"They say she hath abjur'd the companyAnd sight of men."

"They say she hath abjur'd the company

And sight of men."

This is the judicious transposition of Theobald. The folio has 'sight' in the first, 'company' in the second line, to the manifest injury of the metre.

"Castiliano vulgo!for here comes Sir Andrew Aguecheek."

Warburton's conjecture ofvoltofor 'vulgo' is ingenious, and may be right, meaning putting on a grave countenance, like a Castilian.

"An thou letherpart so sir Andrew."

It was left to the 3rd folio to supply the needfulher.

"Thou seest it will not curl by nature."

Theobald's indubitable emendation of 'cool my nature' of the folio.

"In a flame-coloured stock."

This is Pope's correction of 'dam'd coloured' of the folio. Knight readsdamask; Collier's foliodun, which is very bad indeed. We meet in other dramatists withstraw-,peach-,carnation-colour'dstocks. It is perhaps impossible to recover the right word, yet I see little objection toflame-colour; for if we supposeflamepronounced as in Latin and French (see Introd. p.74),flame-colouredmight easily become 'damn'd (pr.dam) coloured' in the printer's mind. In confirmation we have elsewhere in the folio 'scar-crow,' not 'scare-crow,' and other like words.

"Is as the maiden's organ, shrill and sound;And all is semblative a woman's part."

"Is as the maiden's organ, shrill and sound;

And all is semblative a woman's part."

I have read 'insound'; forandandinare perpetually confounded. I also read 'semblativeto.'

"Of foolsto beno better than the fools' zanies."

So also Capell.

"At your door like a sheriff's post, and be the supporterOf a bench."

"At your door like a sheriff's post, and be the supporter

Of a bench."

For 'and' I reador, and so did Hanmer.

"If you be not mad, begone; if you have reason, be brief."

Mason omitted the negative, but perhaps needlessly.

Oli."Tell me your mind.—Vio.I am a messenger..."

This is Warburton's arrangement, the folio giving the whole to Viola. (See on Meas. for Meas. ii. 3.) I have added the sign of the break, which seems necessary.

"Look you, sir; such one I was,asthis present.... Is it not well done?"

By reading and pointing thus we get most excellent sense, and increase the vivacity and humour of the passage. Mason, whom Singer follows, read "asthis presents," which no doubt may be right, but is far less effective.

"With adorations,withfertile tears."

See Introd. p.55.

"The countes man, he left this ring behind him."

Capell, who is invariably followed, made itcounty's. I, however, read, as in iii. 3, 'counthis.' With one exception (Mer. of Ven. i. 2),Countyis peculiar to Romeo and Juliet; formosissima in Much Ado, ii. 1, we should, I think, readCount.

"She took the ring of me; I'll none of it."

As it is evident from Malvolio's reply that this was not what Viola said, the negative may have been omitted here, as in so many other places; Malone read 'noring.' Singer retains the reading of the folio, saying that Viola fibs to "avoid betraying the weakness of Olivia to her steward."

"That methoughtthather eyes had lost her tongue."

The 2nd folio read 'Thatsuremethought.'

"Alas! our frailty is the cause, not we;For such as we are made, if such we be."

"Alas! our frailty is the cause, not we;

For such as we are made, if such we be."

For 'if,' which is undoubtedly wrong, Tyrwhitt, followed by Steevens and others, readof, which would seem to be confirmed by,

"For we are soft, as our complexions are."

M. for M. ii. 4.

"Such as our atoms were, even such are we."

Dryden, Wife of Bath's Tale.

I have printed my own conjecturee'en. Hanmer readev'n, and yet Tyrrwhitt probably was right,frailtybeing meant.

"And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;And she, mistaken, seems to doat on me."

"And I, poor monster, fond as much on him;

And she, mistaken, seems to doat on me."

I quite agree with Mr. Dyce in readingAsfor 'And' in the second line. These words are confounded even at the present day.

"I had such a leg; and so sweet a breath to sing."

I suspect 'leg'; for what has it to do here? and Sir Andrew had already praised his own leg.

"Goseek him out, and play the tune the while."

"More longing, wavering, sooner lost and worn."

In Mer. of Ven. i. 4, the folio reads 'well-wornthrift' for the 'well-wonthrift' of the 4to. Hanmer was therefore right in reading herewon, the usual concomitant of 'lost.'

"Give me now leave to leave thee."

As it is the Clown that goes away, we should perhaps transpose the pronouns, 'Give' being I give. Mr. Dyce, however, says the text is right, it being "a courteous form of dismissal," to which explanation I see no objection.

"It cannot be so answered.—Sooth, but you must."

The reply proves that 'It' should beI, as Hanmer corrected.

"Wind up my watch or play with my ... some rich jewel."

This punctuation of Mr. Collier's is excellent.

"Though our silence be drawn from us with cars."

For 'cars we might perhaps read 'car-' or 'cart-ropes.' In iii. 1. we have drawing with "oxen andwain-ropes." Hanmer readby the ears, S. Walkerracks.

"HerCs,Us, and herTs,and Ps! Why that?"

"Souter will cry upon it, for all this, though it be as rank as a fox."

We should probably read 'benot.' Hanmer readben't.

"I will not give my part of this sport," etc.

It might appear better to readwould; butallis right.

"I will not lose the part I hope to shareIn these his fortunes for my patrimony."

"I will not lose the part I hope to share

In these his fortunes for my patrimony."

Jonson, Sejanus, v. 10.

"And fools are as liketohusbands as pilchards are to herrings."

It might be better to omit the second 'are.'

"Andnotlike the haggard cheek at every feather."

The negative is absolutely necessary. Collier's folio, Johnson, and Dyce, read 'Notlike'; but 'And' should be retained.

"But wise men's folly fallen quite taint their wit."

So the folio reads; Theobald and Tyrwhitt 'wise men folly-fallen.' I agree with them, and have so printed it. Some read 'taints.'

"I mean to goin, sir, to enter."

"Hideth my heart. So, let me hear you speak."

The usual reading is 'Hides mypoorheart'; but this simple change, made also by Delius, fully restores the metre.The printer may, however, have substituted 'Hides' forconcealsorcovers.

"Do not extort thy reasons from this clause."

Perhaps for 'thy' we should readmy.

"Did she seetheethe while, old boy?"

The 3rd folio first addedthee.

"Challenge me the Count's youth to fight with him."

I think 'him' should bethee. Ritson readyou.

"And thanks, and everthanks. Good turns oft."

Here we have an instance of the advantage of transposition, for the folio has "oft good turns." 'Turns' is a dissyllable. Theobald read 'thanks, andoft.'

"For which if I be lapsed in this place."

We should surely readlatched, i.e. caught, taken. See on M. N. D. iii. 2. Mr. Hunter, I find, read as I do.

"He's coming, madam, but inavery strange manner."

"No dram of a scruple, no scruple of a scruple."

Surely the poet's word must have beenouncefor the last 'scruple.'

"He is a knight, dubbed with unhatched rapier."

Malone proposed 'anhatched,' and he was probably right.

"Ay, is it, I warrant him. Do but readit."

"That, honour sav'd,Imay upon asking give."

"Yet there he was, and there I found this credited."

So it is in the folio, with the omission of the last letter, which had either been effaced in the MS. or was left outby the printer. Mason seems also to have seen the truth: yet no one followed him!

"That my most jealous and too doubtful soulMay live at peace. He shall conceal it,Whiles you are willing it shall come to note."

"That my most jealous and too doubtful soul

May live at peace. He shall conceal it,

Whiles you are willing it shall come to note."

The second line is imperfect. In my Edition I addedstill(printed, or perhaps written,till), and we might also readcloselyortruly, i.e. faithfully. 'Whiles' is to be understood as till whiles. (SeeIndexs. v.) We might also end the line with it, and begin the next withThat; aswhileandwhiles thatoccur in Chaucer, Golding, and others.

"A bawbling vessel was he captain of."

We should perhaps read 'bauble-vessel,' as in Tr. and Cr. i. 3.

"Then he's a rogue and a passy-measures panyn."

The 2nd folio, which is generally followed, readspavin, which is a dance, and so could hardly be used of a man.

"First told me thou wast mad. Then cam'st in smiling,And in such forms which here were presuppos'dUpon thee in the letter."

"First told me thou wast mad. Then cam'st in smiling,

And in such forms which here were presuppos'd

Upon thee in the letter."

For 'Then' I read 'Thou.' (Introd. p.68.) Theobald read 'cam'stthou.' In the next line we should probably readasfor 'which.'

"Of our dear souls. Meantime, sweet sister."

We might read 'In themeantime,' but there is no necessity whatever for change.

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