WINTER'S TALE.

"By cold gradation and weal-balanc'd form."

Surely the correct reading iswell. So also Rowe.

"Mark what I say, which you shall findto beBy every syllable a faithful verity."

"Mark what I say, which you shall findto be

By every syllable a faithful verity."

"There to give up their power. If you can, pace your wisdomIn that good path, that I would wish it goinAnd you shall have your bosom on the wretch."

"There to give up their power. If you can, pace your wisdom

In that good path, that I would wish it goin

And you shall have your bosom on the wretch."

The punctuation of the first line, which is that given by the editors, while aiming at sense, makes it unreadable. We should read "Pace, if you can, your wisdom." Or, retaining this line unaltered, we might in the third line readThenfor 'And.' (See on M. N. D. ii. 1.)

"I am combined by a sacred vow."

As 'combined' makes no good sense, we might readconstrained. "But othervows constrainanother course" (Marston Ant. and Mel. II. v. 6). Perhaps the word wasconfined, in the sense of limited, held in.

"How might she tongue me! Yet reason dares her no;For my authority bears of a credent bulk,That no particular scandal once can touch,But it confounds the breather."

"How might she tongue me! Yet reason dares her no;

For my authority bears of a credent bulk,

That no particular scandal once can touch,

But it confounds the breather."

There is evidently something wrong here. What is the meaning of 'dares?' Mr. Singer says overawes (as larks?), and in proof of 'no' being crying No, he quotes: "I wear a sword to satisfy the world no" (Fletch. Chances, iii. 4). "I am sure he did it for I charged him no" (Id.Wife for Month, iv. 3). In the next line Mr. Dyce readsso, otherssuch, for 'of.' My own decided opinion is, that in the first line the poet wrotesaies(says), which of course, being written with a longsin the beginning, might easily be taken for 'dares.' 'Says her no,' then, is forbids her, as in "Who shall say me Nay?" (1 H. IV. iii. 1); "God defend his Grace should say us Nay" (Rich. III. iii. 7); and in this play (ii. 2), "Did I not tell thee Yea?" In the second line I would omit 'of.' See on Rich. II. v. 1; Cymb. iii. 5.

"Might in the time to come have ta'en revengeBy so receiving," etc.

"Might in the time to come have ta'en revenge

By so receiving," etc.

For 'By' we should apparently readFor; yet in Jeronimo (ii. 1) we have:—

"Kneel by thy father's loins, and thank my liegeByhonouring me, thy mother, and thyself,With this high staff of office."

"Kneel by thy father's loins, and thank my liege

Byhonouring me, thy mother, and thyself,

With this high staff of office."

Either, then, the printers made the same confusion in both places, orbywas used in the sense offor.

"To Valentius,toRowland, and to Crassus."

In 'Valentius' annmay have been omitted.

"He says to veilhisfull purpose."

"The generous and gravest citizensHave hent the gate; and very near uponthis timeThe Duke is entering. Therefore, hence away."

"The generous and gravest citizens

Have hent the gate; and very near uponthis time

The Duke is entering. Therefore, hence away."

Something had evidently been lost at the end of the second line. Perhaps also we should read 'Themostgenerous.'

"Or wring redress from you. Hear me, O hear me here!"

For 'here' we might readhear; but no change is needed.

"Nay it is ten times true."

Perhaps it should be 'truer.'

"Asne'er I heard in madness."

"He did, my lord, most villainously. Believe it."

"First let her showherface."

It isyourin the 1st folio; the correction was made in the 2nd.

"No, my lord.—Are you a maidthen?—No, my lord."

"Not that I knowof.—No! you say your husband."

"And punish them,untoyour height of pleasure."

"We'll touze youJoint by joint, but we'll know his purpose. What!Unjust!—Be not so hot,sir; the Duke dare," etc.

"We'll touze you

Joint by joint, but we'll know his purpose. What!

Unjust!—Be not so hot,sir; the Duke dare," etc.

Forhisin the second line we should certainly readyour.

"Your well-defended honour, you must pardonhim."

"A due sincerity govern'd his deeds, till heDid look on me. Since it is so, let him not die.—My brother had but justice, in that he didThe thing for which he died. For Angelo."

"A due sincerity govern'd his deeds, till he

Did look on me. Since it is so, let him not die.—

My brother had but justice, in that he did

The thing for which he died. For Angelo."

"Which is that Barnardine?—Thisis, my lord."

"Look that you love your wife; her worth'sworth yours."

"Wherein have I deserved so of you?"

In the folio 'so deserv'd.'

"There's more behind that is more gratulate."

The poet may have written 'gratulating,' and the final letters have been effaced. The meaning, however, is the same.

"Their encounters, though not personal, have beensoroyally attornied."

Both sense and metre requireso, given in Collier's folio.

"When in BohemiaYou take my lord, I'll give him my commissionTo let him there a month behind the gestPrefix'd for his parting."

"When in Bohemia

You take my lord, I'll give him my commission

To let him there a month behind the gest

Prefix'd for his parting."

The third line has apparently no sense. The critics say 'let' is detain; but no instance of its use in that sense is to be found. We might readsit, which occurs in the sense ofstay, dwell, live, as "I sit at ten pounds a week" (Mer. Wives, i. 3); and we have "andsit himdown and die" (2 Hen. IV. iii. 1). We might also, and still better, readset, which has nearly the same sense, settled, seated: "Being unarm'd andsetin secret shade" (F. Q. vi. 3, 8). "Whoever shoots at him,I set him there" (All's Well, iii. 2). In Fletcher's Nice Valour (iv. 1) Heath, followed by Dyce, readssetsfor 'lets' in "That lets it out, only for show or profit." 'Gest' (fromgiste,gîte, Fr.?) is used of the halting-places on a royal progress. Singer quotes from Strype a request from Cranmer to Cecil, "to let him have the new-resolved upongestsfrom that time to the end, that he might know from time to time where the king was." Hence it would appear that there was a program of the gests, stating the time of arrival at and departure from each of them. I have therefore read 'gest-day,' supposing the last word, as usual, to have been effaced. See Introd. p.58.

"What lady she her lord."

I readsoe'erfor 'she.' "What bloody worksoe'er" (Othel. iii. 3).

"The doctrine of ill-doing nor dream'dwe even."

The usual reading is 'nonor,' that of the 2nd folio.

"Of my young play-fellow.—Goodgrace to boot!"

"You may ride usWith a soft kiss a thousand furlongs ereWith spur we heat an acre."

"You may ride us

With a soft kiss a thousand furlongs ere

With spur we heat an acre."

The phraseology here is evidently that of the race-course, where aheatis a race. I read 'we heatus.' The phrase is elliptic, the full phrase being 'We heat us by running over an acre of ground.'

"May it be?—Affection! thy intention stabs the centre."

"May it be?—

Affection! thy intention stabs the centre."

So I would point, with Steevens; in the folio it is "May it be affection?" The whole passage is rather obscure. 'Affection' is imagination, fancy (seeIndexs. v.); and the meaning seems to be that it stretches to (expressed by intention), and stabs, or pierces, even the centre of the earth.

"Looking on the linesOf my boy's face methought I did recoilTwenty-three years."

"Looking on the lines

Of my boy's face methought I did recoil

Twenty-three years."

The folio reads 'methoughts,' and a MS. correction, followed by Mr. Collier,my thoughts; but 'recoil' is always a neuter verb in Shakespeare.

"He makes a July's day short as December's."

"With all the nearest things to my heart as wellas."

"Resides not in that man that does not thinkit."

This is the reading of the 2nd folio also.

"Why he that wears her like her medal hangingAbout his neck.""That like a jewel has hung twenty yearsAbout his neck."

"Why he that wears her like her medal hangingAbout his neck."

"Why he that wears her like her medal hanging

About his neck."

"That like a jewel has hung twenty yearsAbout his neck."

"That like a jewel has hung twenty years

About his neck."

Hen. VIII. ii. 2.

With Collier's folio, I readafor 'her.' The error, suggested by the preceding 'her,' is an ordinary one with printers.

"With the pin andtheweb, but theirs, theirs only."

In Florio a cataract in the eye is termed "a pin andaweb."

"Is goads,isthorns,isnettles, tails of wasps."

"I am appointedbyhim to murder you."

The 'appointed him' of the folio is a strange expression.

"That e'er was heard or readof. Swear his thought overBy each particular star."

"That e'er was heard or readof. Swear his thought over

By each particular star."

This, if correct, would seem to mean exorcise his thought, try to banish it.

"Profess'dloveto him, why his revenges mustIn that be made more bitter. Fear o'ershades me.Good expedition be my friend, and comfortThe gracious queen."

"Profess'dloveto him, why his revenges must

In that be made more bitter. Fear o'ershades me.

Good expedition be my friend, and comfort

The gracious queen."

How could his expedition or haste to depart comfort the queen? It would seem to have the contrary effect, as tending to prove her guilt. For 'and' in the third line we might, with Singer, readGod, or, as I have done, with Hanmer,Heaven. The insertion oflovein the first line seems necessary.

"And why so, mydearlord?—Not for because."

"Or a half-moon made with a pen.—Who taughtyouthis?"

"All's true that is mistrusted."

For 'is' it might be better to readwas. The change was not unusual.

"Has made thee swell thus.—But I'd say hehadnot."

Hasmight seem to have been the poet's word.

"More, she's a traitor; and Camillo isA federary with her, and one that knowsherTo bewhat she should shame to know herself,But with her most vile principal."

"More, she's a traitor; and Camillo is

A federary with her, and one that knowsher

To bewhat she should shame to know herself,

But with her most vile principal."

'Federary' is an unknown word. It may be a printer's error forfederate; but I rather think—as I find that Malone, followed by Singer and Dyce, reads, and which is also more metrical—that the right word isfedary, to be taken in the same sense as in Meas. for Meas. and Cymb. As Polyxenes is styled 'her principal,' the meaning may be that she (and Camillo 'with her') had transferred her allegiance to him.

"You did mistake,—No, no, if I mistake."

"I would land-damn him."

As 'land-damn' seems to be an unknown term, it might be better to read, with Collier's folio,lamback, derived perhaps fromlambiccare, It. There is also a vulgar termlambaste. 'Damn' was probably suggested by the same word in the preceding line.

"We have always truly served you and beseechyou."

"They have been absent. 'Tis good speed,andforetells."

We might also readit; or, with Pope, 'Thisgood speed.'

"This sessions—to our great grief we pronounceit."

"To prate and talk for life and honour 'foreWho please to come and hear."

"To prate and talk for life and honour 'fore

Who please to come and hear."

We might be inclined to readpleadfor 'prate'; but no change is required.

"Since he cameWith what encounter so uncurrent IHave strain'd to appear thus."

"Since he came

With what encounter so uncurrent I

Have strain'd to appear thus."

I read 'have I Strain'd to appear thus?' in which I had been anticipated by Hanmer. An 'uncurrent encounter' was an unusual kind of meeting; and 'strain'd' signifies pulled against the line of my duty as a wife—a metaphor taken from dogs in a leash—

"What I was I am,Morestrainingon for plucking back, not followingMy leash unwillingly" (iv. 3).

"What I was I am,

Morestrainingon for plucking back, not following

My leash unwillingly" (iv. 3).

It might also signify, acted indecorously, "Unless he know somestrainin me that I know not myself." Merry Wives, ii. 1.

"You will not own it.—More thanI ammistress of."

So also Hanmer corrected.

"Thy brat hath been cast out, like to itself,No father owning it."

"Thy brat hath been cast out, like to itself,

No father owning it."

If we read 'leftto itself' we might get better sense.

"But yet hear this; mistake me not. No! life—I prize it not a straw.... But, for mine honour."

"But yet hear this; mistake me not. No! life—

I prize it not a straw.... But, for mine honour."

So we may best punctuate, with Hanmer. We might perhaps read 'Forlife,' as above.

"Which you knew great, and to the hazardboldly."

The 2nd folio reads 'certainhazard.'

"What studied torments, tyrant, hastthoufor me?What wheels?whatracks?whatfires? what flaying, boiling,In leads or oils?"

"What studied torments, tyrant, hastthoufor me?

What wheels?whatracks?whatfires? what flaying, boiling,

In leads or oils?"

See above, i. 2. Introd. p.55.

"Who is lost too. Take your patience to you,sir."

"Which may, if Fortune please, both breed thee, prettyone."

So Rowe also.

"A boy or a child, I wonder."

I think we should read 'maid-child', a term we meet with in Pericles, v. 3. We haveman-childin Cor. i. 3, and in the Bible. I made the correction without being aware of the passage in Pericles.

"You're a made old man."

In the folio it ismad; but this correction, given by Theobald, is indubitable.

"Chorus.To the effects of his fond jealousy, so grieving."

"If never yet, that Time himself doth say,He wishes earnestly you never may."

"If never yet, that Time himself doth say,

He wishes earnestly you never may."

This is evidently one of the cases in which 'that' has taken the place ofthan,then. See Introd. p.68.

"but I fear the angle, that plucks my son thither."

I adopt Theobald's reading ofandfor 'but.'

"Within a mileofwhere my land and living lies."

"I should blushTo see you so attired; sworn, I think,To show myself a glass."

"I should blush

To see you so attired; sworn, I think,

To show myself a glass."

For 'sworn' Theobald, followed by Singer and Dyce, readsswoon; but the text is right; 'myself' is simply me:

"Upon my life she finds, although I cannot,Myselfto be a marvellous proper man."

"Upon my life she finds, although I cannot,

Myselfto be a marvellous proper man."

Rich. III. i. 2.

"He will the rather do it when he seesOurselveswell-sinewed to our defence."

"He will the rather do it when he sees

Ourselveswell-sinewed to our defence."

King John, v. 7.

"Burn hotter than my faithdoes.—Oh! but, sir."

"One of these two necessities must be."

So also Hanmer read. (See on Temp. ii. 1.) The folio has 'must be necessities.'

"On his shoulder andonhis, her face of fire."

"As your good flock shall prosper.—Sir, welcome."

A syllable is lost apparently. We might addhitherorto usat the end, or, as I have done,'you'rewelcome.' Malone would read 'welcome, sir,' which sounds rather flat. Mr. Collier observes that "Shakespeare [i.e.the printer?] was a better judge of verse than Mr. Malone."

"From Dis's waggon! daffodils."

An epithet, probablyyellow, which I have given, has evidently been lost here. All the other flowers, we may see, have epithets. Coleridge also saw the want, and suppliedgolden. How ill-qualified he was for emendatory criticism! Hanmer'searlywas much better.

"Nothing but that,but somove still, still so."

"And the true blood that peeps fairly through it."

Collier's folio makes a natural and obvious correction, reading 'sofairly.' The usual reading is that of Steevens, a transposition of 'peeps' and 'fairly,' and I have retained it.

"Nothing she does or seemsBut smacks of something greater than herself."

"Nothing she does or seems

But smacks of something greater than herself."

Here again the same folio makes the correctionsaysfor 'seems'; yet it is not very necessary.

"He tells her somethingThat makes her blood look on it."

"He tells her something

That makes her blood look on it."

This is probably the genuine text; but 'wakes her blood. Look on it!' the reading of Collier's folio, is very plausible. It is strange that neither Singer nor Dyce notice this reading. They read with Theobald 'lookout.'

"Prayyou, good shepherd, what fair swain is this,That dances with your daughter?—They call him Doricles, andheboasts himselfTo have a worthy feeding. I have it butUpon his own report, and I believe it."

"Prayyou, good shepherd, what fair swain is this,

That dances with your daughter?—

They call him Doricles, andheboasts himself

To have a worthy feeding. I have it but

Upon his own report, and I believe it."

Steevens, quoting passages from Drayton, explains 'feeding' in the sense of pasture, and Mason explains 'worthy' as valuable, substantial; but neither is convincing. I would, with Hanmer, read 'breeding:'

"A gentleman, I do assure myself,And of aworthy breeding, though he hide it."

"A gentleman, I do assure myself,

And of aworthy breeding, though he hide it."

Fletcher, Monsieur Thomas, i. 1.

In reading 'I have it but' for 'but I have it' of the folio, I am supported by Hunter and Singer.

"Who loves another best."

Hanmer and Mason would read 'theother,' and so we should say now; but there is no need of change. It was, in fact, the language of the time; we should still say, "they love one another."

"Come, buy of me, comebuy, come buy, come buy!Buy lads, or else your lasses cry. Come buy!"

"Come, buy of me, comebuy, come buy, come buy!

Buy lads, or else your lasses cry. Come buy!"

"Clamour your tongues and not a word more."

Grey proposedCharmfor 'Clamour,' and in Othello (v. 2) we have the very phrase, "charm your tongue." But, as far as I have observed,charmin this sense is used only by characters of the educated class. Singer says 'clamour' here is a mere corruption ofchamour,chaumer, orchaumbre, from the Frenchchômer, 'to refrain,' and he adds, "Mr. Hunter has cited a passage from Taylor, the water-poet, in which the word was thus again perverted:—'Clamourthe promulgation of your tongue.'" For my own part I think that, except in orthography, the text is right. The real word was probablyclammerorclemmer, the same as the simpleclamorclem, to squeeze or press, and the phrase answers toHold your tongues. "Toclama bell," says Johnson, "is to cover the dapper with felt, which drowns the blow and hinders the sound." As for the extract from Taylor, I attach little importance to it, as he probably adopted the word from this very passage. See on Rom. and Jul. iii. 3.

"Why, sir, they stay at door."

The folio places 'sir' at the end of the speech; but the metre requires the transposition, which also makes the reply run more naturally. I neglected to make it in my Edition.

"Can he speak? hear?Know man from man? dispute his own estate?"

"Can he speak? hear?

Know man from man? dispute his own estate?"

In Romeo and Juliet (iii. 3) we have, "Let me dispute with thee of thy estate;" but in Jonson's Fox, iii. 2,

"Read you the principles, argued all the grounds,Disputed every fitness, every grace."

"Read you the principles, argued all the grounds,

Disputed every fitness, every grace."

"Far than Deucalion off."

'Far' is an old form forfarther, asnearis ofnearer. (See Rich. II. iii. 2, v. 1.) We need not then readfarther, nor, with Johnson, 'Faras.'

"Or hoop his body more with thy embraces."

The folio has 'hope,' the orthography of the time.

"Looks onitalike. Will't please you, sir, begone?"

"To die upon the bed my father diedon."

"And most opportune to our need I have."

For 'our' the folio readsher, probably from the preceding line. Theobald made the correction.

"His welcomes forth; asks thee, the son, forgiveness."

The folio hastherefor 'the.' The correction was made in the 3rd folio.

"She is as forward of her breeding asShe's in the rearofour birth."

"She is as forward of her breeding as

She's in the rearofour birth."

"And then your blood had been the dearer by I knownothow much an ounce."

Hanmer added the negative.

"Besides the King to effect your suits, here istheman shall do."

"Destroyed the sweetest companion that e'er manBred his hopes out of.—True, too true, my lord."

"Destroyed the sweetest companion that e'er man

Bred his hopes out of.—True, too true, my lord."

The folio gives 'True' to the King. See on As You Like It, ii. 1. Ant. and Cleop. ii. 2.

"Was like to be the best.—Mygood Paulina."

"Would make her sainted spiritAgain possess her corpse, and on this stage,Where we offenders now appear, soul-vex'd,And begin, Why to me?...—Had she such powerShe had just such cause."

"Would make her sainted spirit

Again possess her corpse, and on this stage,

Where we offenders now appear, soul-vex'd,

And begin, Why to me?...—Had she such power

She had just such cause."

In the third line I adopt, with Mr. Dyce, the certain, as Ithink, emendation of Mr. Spedding, 'Where we offendher,' and I join 'now' with it.Offenderandoffend herare pronounced exactly alike, and 'we' caused the printer to adds. In the last line 'such,' caused by that in the preceding line, is superfluous, and should be omitted.

"Will have your tongue too. This is a creaturewho."

"Whose daughterHis tears proclaim'd his, parting with her."

"Whose daughter

His tears proclaim'd his, parting with her."

I would read, as I find Thirlby read,herfor the second 'his,' caused probably by the first.

"Give you all greetings that a king at friend."

The 2nd folio reads needlessly 'asfriend.'

"Which lames Report to follow it, and undoes Description to do itjustice."

This last word, added by Singer, is required both by sense and metre.

"That she might no more be in danger of losingher."

"Andcaught the water, though not the fish."

"And himself little better,andextremity of weather continuing."

"On those that think it is unlawful business."

Hanmer properly readOrfor 'On.'

"Strike all that look uponyouwith marvel. Come."

"This is your son-in-law,And son unto the king, who, heavens directing,Is troth-plight to your daughter."

"This is your son-in-law,

And son unto the king, who, heavens directing,

Is troth-plight to your daughter."

So it should be punctuated. The folio reads 'whom,' confounding, as usual,whoandwhom; of which there are other instances in this play. See Introd. p.59.

"Mercy on us!We split, we split! farewell, my wife and children!Farewell,mybrother! we split, we split, we split!"

"Mercy on us!

We split, we split! farewell, my wife and children!

Farewell,mybrother! we split, we split, we split!"

This is, beyond question, "the confused noise within," and not the exclamation of Gonzalo, of whose family we hear nothing. Speaking behind the scenes was not unusual.

"Long heath, brown furze."

As the epithets are here most inappropriate, we should probably transpose them, as I have done (see on iv. 1); for heath is brown, and "they were in a clump or cluster oftall furze," says Scott (Redgauntlet, ch. xvi.). We might also transpose the substantives (see on Twelfth Night, i. 2, and on M. N. D. ii. 1). Hanmer proposed to read "Ling, heath,broom, furze;" and this reading Mr. Dyce adopts; butlingwas probably a word unknown to the poet, and it is only another name for heath.

"Who had no doubt some noble creature in her."

If 'creature' is not a collective, it is a misprint for 'creatures.'

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