1 Sold.

Acordo linta.

Come on; thou art granted space.

[Exit, with PAROLLES guarded. Fr. Env. Go, tell the count Rousillon, and my bro

ther,

We have caught the woodcock, and will keep him muffled,

Till we do hear from them.

2 Sold.

Captain, I will.
Fr. Env. A' will betray us all unto ourselves:
Inform on that'.

Fr. Env. Till then, I'll keep him dark, and safely

lock'd.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

Florence. A Room in the Widow's House.

Enter BERTRAM and DIANA.

Ber. They told me, that your name was Fontibell. Dia. No, my good lord, Diana.

Ber.

Titled goddess,
And worth it, with addition! But, fair soul,
In your fine frame hath love no quality?

If the quick fire of youth light not your mind,
You are no maiden, but a monument :
When you are dead, you should be such a one
As you are now, for you are cold and stern;
And now you should be as your mother was,
When your sweet self was got.

Dia. She then was honest.
Ber.

So should you be.

6 Exit, with Parolles guarded.] The folios have here "a short alarum within ;" no doubt, to give a panic to Parolles, as he was taking his departure hoodwinked.

7

- Inform on that.] i. e. Inform on that point. Rowe substituted "Inform 'em that," without the slightest necessity.

Dia.

No:

My mother did but duty; such, my lord,
As you owe to your wife.

Ber.

No more o' that:

I pr'ythee, do not strive against my vows.

I was compell'd to her; but I love thee

By love's own sweet constraint, and will for ever
Do thee all rights of service.

Ay, so you serve us,

Dia.
Till we serve you; but when you have our roses,
You barely leave our thorns to prick ourselves,
And mock us with our bareness.

Ber.

How have I sworn?

Dia. 'Tis not the many oaths that make the truth, But the plain single vow, that is vow'd true.

What is not holy, that we swear not by,

But take the Highest to witness: then, pray you, tell

me,

If I should swear by Jove's great attributes',

I lov'd you dearly, would you believe my oaths,
When I did love you ill'? this has no holding,

To swear by him, whom I protest to love,

That I will work against him. Therefore, your oaths Are words, and poor conditions, but unseal'd,

At least, in my opinion.

Ber.

Change it, change it.

8 I pr'ythee, do not strive against my vows.] i. e. The vows he has made never to cohabit with his wife.

9 If I should swear by Jove's great attributes,] Thus distinctly printed in all the folios I have seen; but Johnson says, that "it is doubtful whether it be love's or love's." Either way, he found the passage difficult. The second folio has, "Jove's great attribute."

1 When I did love you ill?] i. e. When I did love you, for your ill or injury. This is Heath's interpretation.

2

this has no holding,

To swear by him, whom I protest to love,

That I will work against him.] These lines have not been understood, on account of the inversion : " to swear by him is to swear by Jove, previously mentioned; and the meaning seems evident when we read the passage thus :"This has no holding, to swear by him, [i. e. Jove,] that I will work against him whom I protest I love."

Be not so holy-cruel: love is holy,

And my integrity ne'er knew the crafts,

That you do charge men with. Stand no more off,
But give thyself unto my sick desires,

Who then recover: say, thou art mine, and ever
My love, as it begins, shall so persever.

Dia. I see, that men make ropes in such a scarre,
That we'll forsake ourselves. Give me that ring.
Ber. I'll lend it thee, my dear; but have no power
To give it from me.

Dia.

Will you not, my lord?

Ber. It is an honour 'longing to our house, Bequeathed down from many ancestors, Which were the greatest obloquy i̇' the world In me to lose.

Dia.

Mine honour's such a ring:

My chastity's the jewel of our house,
Bequeathed down from many ancestors,
Which were the greatest obloquy i' the world
In me to lose. Thus, your own proper wisdom
Brings in the champion, honour, on my part
Against your vain assault.

Ber.

Here, take my ring:

My house, mine honour, yea, my life be thine,

And I'll be bid by thee.

Dia. When midnight comes, knock at my chamber window:

3 I see that men make ROPES in such a SCARRE,

That we'll forsake ourselves.] There have been many conjectures for setting right this evidently corrupt passage. Rowe read "make hopes in such affairs;" which is sense, but hardly such sense as Shakespeare would have written his emendation was adopted, until Malone introduced scene instead of affairs, which is only an improvement inasmuch as scene is a more likely misprint for scarre, than affairs. The old reading may possibly stand, taking the meaning to be, that men make "ropes" in order to overcome obstructions, such as scarres or rocks may be considered. However, any explanation is unsatisfactory. We might read slopes for " ropes," in reference to the "scarre," and the difficulty of passing over it; or perhaps, after all, scarre is the corrupt word, and we ought to read staire, and the allusion may be to a ladder or stair of "ropes."

I'll order take my mother shall not hear.
Now will I charge you in the band of truth,
When you have conquer'd my yet maiden bed,
Remain there but an hour, nor speak to me.

My reasons are most strong; and you shall know them,
When back again this ring shall be deliver'd:

And on your finger, in the night, I'll put
Another ring; that what in time proceeds
May token to the future our past deeds.
Adieu, till then; then, fail not. You have won
A wife of me, though there my hope be done.

Ber. A heaven on earth I have won by wooing thee.

[Exit. Dia. For which live long to thank both heaven and me!

You may so in the end,

My mother told me just how he would woo,

As if she sat in's heart: she says, all men

Have the like oaths. He had sworn to marry me,
When his wife's dead; therefore I'll lie with him,
When I am buried. Since Frenchmen are so braid',
Marry that will, I live and die a maid':
Only, in this disguise, I think't no sin
To cozen him, that would unjustly win.

[Exit.

Since Frenchmen are so BRAID,] The explanation of this word given by Steevens seems the right one, though it has been disputed: "Braid signifies crafty, deceitful;" and he derives it from the Anglo-Saxon bred, which is usually translated fraus. The ordinary sense is that which Palsgrave gives in his Dictionary, 1530, "hastynesse of mynde.' For this reference I have to thank the Rev. A. Dyce, and it accords with the sense given in Sir F. Madden's Glossary to "Syr Gawayne." "At a braid," or on a sudden, is a not unusual expression; the meaning of Diana might, therefore, possibly be, that Frenchmen are so hasty and sudden; but this is hardly consistent with what she has previously said of them.

Marry that will, I live and die a maid:] Thus the first and second folios. Malone, without assigning any reason, adopted the reading of the third folio, 1664, “I'll live and die a maid." This form of expression, using the present tense for the future, is common.

SCENE III.

The Florentine Camp.

Enter the two Frenchmen, and two or three Soldiers.

Fr. Gent. You have not given him his mother's letter.

Fr. Env. I have delivered it an hour since: there is something in't that stings his nature, for on the reading it he changed almost into another man.

Fr. Gent. He has much worthy blame laid upon him, for shaking off so good a wife, and so sweet a lady.

Fr. Env. Especially he hath incurred the everlasting displeasure of the king, who had even tuned his bounty to sing happiness to him. I will tell you a thing, but you shall let it dwell darkly within you.

Fr. Gent. When you have spoken it, 'tis dead, and I am the grave of it.

Fr. Env. He hath perverted a young gentlewoman, here in Florence, of a most chaste renown, and this night he fleshes his will in the spoil of her honour: he hath given her his monumental ring, and thinks himself made in the unchaste composition.

Fr. Gent. Now, God delay our rebellion: as we are ourselves, what things are we!

Fr. Env. Merely our own traitors: and as in the common course of all treasons, we still see them reveal themselves, till they attain to their abhorred ends, so he that in this action contrives against his own nobility, in his proper stream o'erflows himself.

Fr. Gent. Is it not meant damnable in us, to be trumpeters of our unlawful intents? We shall not then have his company to-night.

Fr. Env. Not till after midnight, for he is dieted to his hour.

Fr. Gent. That approaches apace: I would gladly