18. To let him. 'To stay,' 'to stop.'

19. Gest. The name given to the scroll containing the several appointed stages, or resting-places, in a king's progress; from the old French giste, a place to lie or lodge at.

20. Good deed. An old form of ‘indeed.'

21. Not a jar o' the clock behind what lady she her lord. 'Not so much as a tick of the clock less than any lady loves her lord, however dearly she may love him.' The construction is peculiar here, and very elliptical in style; but, to our minds, thoroughly comprehensible and thoroughly Shakespearian.

22. Pay your fees when you depart. Lord Campbell remarks that there is here "an allusion to a piece of English law pro. cedure, which, although it may have been enforced till very recently, could hardly be known to any except lawyers, or those who had themselves actually been in prison on a criminal charge -that, whether guilty or innocent, the prisoner was liable to pay a fee on his liberation."

23. Lordings. An old form of 'lords;' here used as a dimiautive.

24. Chang'd. Used for 'exchanged,' 'interchanged.' 25. The imposition clear'd, hereditary ours.

Leon.

Her. What! have I twice said well? when

was't before?

I pr'ythee tell me; cram's with praise, and make 's As fat as tame things: one good deed, dying tongueless,

in original sin excepted, which we inherit from our first parents.'

26. Oh, my most sacred lady. "Sacred" is here used for revered.' See Note 11, Act v., "Comedy of Errors." 27. Grace to boot! An invocation for Heaven's grace to come in aid of her self-defence. We meet with a somewhat similar form of invocation twice elsewhere in Shakespeare; and each time-as usual with him-characteristically distinguished.

'That share

28. Is he won yet? It is to be understood here that Leontes has remained somewhat apart, playing with his little son Mamillius; while Hermione has been fulfilling his wish of pleading with Polixenes for a longer sojourn.

29. At my request he would not. Precisely the muttered comment of a susceptible, irritable, jealous-natured man. Be it remarked that Leontes is jealous by nature; Othello, by circumstance. The one is innately given to suspicion; the other is with difficulty made suspicious. Leontes, with the injustice of a man naturally prone to jealousy, urges his wife to entreat their guest, and then resents her success in prevailing with him; encourages and induces her to use persuasive language, and then pervertedly deems it sinful allurement.

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84

twice:

The one for ever earn'd a royal husband;

The other for some while a friend.

[Giving her hand to POLIXENES.
Leon. [Aside.]
Too hot, too hot!
To mingle friendship far, is mingling bloods.

I have tremor cordis 33 on me,-my heart dances;
But not for joy,-not joy.-This entertainment
May a free face put on; derive a liberty
From heartiness, from bounty, fertile bosom,34
And well become the agent; it may, I grant:
But to be paddling palms and pinching fingers,
As now they are, and making practis'd smiles,
As in a looking-glass; and then to sigh, as 'twere

30. Ere with spur we heat an acre. "Heat" has been altered to 'clear' in this passage; but it is in Shakespeare's style to use a noun as a verb. See Note 49, Act iii., “Taming of the Shrew." Here he uses "heat" (in its sense of a certain course, or portion of a race) for a verb, expressing 'to run a course or race.'

31. But to the goal. 'But to return to the object we had in view, the point we were discussing.'

32. And clap thyself my love. To clap or clasp hands on concluding a bargain, was formerly the custom; and is not yet wholly disused.

33. Tremor cordis. Latin; 'trembling of the heart.'

34. From bounty, fertile bosom. Hanmer and others add an "'s' to "bounty" here; reading 'from bounty's fertile bosom ; but it is more in Shakespeare's style, when a speaker is arguing a question, to make him thus enumerate point by point, heaping up, as it were, successive motives. "Fertile bosom " we take to mean here 'generous disposition,' 'effusive nature;' he often uses "bosom" in the sense of 'native disposition.'

35. The morto the deer. 'The death o' the deer;' French, mort, death. "The mort o' the deer" was the name given to a prolonged note blown on the hunting-horn at the death of the deer. On the latter word there is a play, in its similitude to 'dear.' 36. I'fecks! A corruption of either 'I' faith,' or 'In fact.' 37. Bawcock. A term of facetious endearment. See Note 65, Act iii., "Twelfth Night."

38. What, hast smutch'd thy nose? It is reserved for such a poet as Shakespeare to fearlessly introduce such natural touches as a passing black, a flying particle of smut resting upon a child's nose, and to make it turn to wonderfully effective account in stirring a father's heart, agitating it with wild thoughts, and

Almost as like as eggs; women say so,
That will say anything: but were they false
As o'er-dy'd blacks, 42 as wind, as waters,-false
As dice are to be wish'd by one that fixes
No bourn 'twixt his and mine;-yet were it true
To say this boy were like me.-Come, sir page,
Look on me with your welkin eye: sweet villais !
Most dear'st! my collop!-Can thy dam?-may't

be?

Affection! thy intention stabs the centre; 45
Thou dost make possible things not so held,
Communicat'st with dreams;-(how can this be?) —
With what's unreal thou coactive art,
And fellow'st nothing: then 'tis very credent,46

Every

prompting fierce plays upon words and bitter puns. phase that passion takes-writhing silence, tortured utterance, tearful lamentations, muttered jests more heart-withering than cries or complaints-all are known to Shakespeare, and are found in his page as in Nature's.

39. Virginalling. Passing the fingers as over the keys of the virginals.' The virginals was an instrument, the precursor of the spinnet, harpsichord, and pianoforte; and so called, because chiefly played by young girls.

40. Thou want'st a rough pash, and the shoots that I have. 'Thou lack'st a rough head, and the budding horns that I have.' "Pash" is said to be a North British term for 'head;' and that it is provincially used for a young bull-calf, whose horns are sprouting, and who blunders about and butts at everything. Shakespeare elsewhere uses "pash" for 'strike violently,' ‘dash,' 'give a strong blow.'

41. To be full like me. "To be fully, or completely, like me.' 42. False as o'er-dy'd blacks. The unsoundness of stuffs subjected to a black dye is notorious, and renders Shakespeare's simile super-excellent.

Thou mayst co-join with something; and thou dost,

And that beyond commission; 47 and I find it,— And that to the infection of my brains,

And hardening of my brows.

Pol.

What means Sicilia ? He something seems unsettled.

How, my lord?

Her.
Pol.
What cheer? how is 't with you, 48 best brother :49
Her.
You look

As if you held a brow of much distraction:
Are you mov'd, my lord?
Leon.
No, in good earnest.—
How sometimes nature will betray its folly,
Its tenderness, and make itself a pastime
To harder bosoms!-Looking on the lines
Of my boy's face, methought I did recoil
Twenty-three years; and saw myself unbreech'd,
In my green velvet coat; my dagger muzzled,
Lest it should bite its master, and so prove,
As ornaments oft do, too dangerous:

How like, methought, I then was to this kernel, This squash,50 this gentleman. - Mine honest friend,

Will you take eggs for money?51

Mam. No, my lord, I'll fight.

Leon. You will? why, happy man be 's dole !52—
My brother,

Are you so fond of your young prince, as we
Do seem to be of ours?

Pol.
If at home, sir,
He's all my exercise, my mirth, my matter:
Now my sworn friend, and then mine enemy;
My parasite, my soldier, statesman, all :
He makes a July's day short as December;
And with his varying childness 53 cures in me
Thoughts that would thick my blood.
Leon.
So stands this squire
Offic'd with me: we two will walk, my lord,

47. Beyond commission. 'Beyond due licence,' 'beyond warrant or authority;' commission" being here used as it is a short time since, where Hermione says-"I'll give him my commission;" that is, my leave,' 'my permission.'

48. What cheer? how is 't, &c. This line, in the Folio, has the prefix Leo.; but it is evidently a portion of Polixenes' speech, and was thus first assigned by Hanmer.

49. Best brother. Best," as an adjective of encomium or endearment, is still used by Italians, in their word ottimo.

50. Squash. An immature peas-pod; often used thus, playfully and figuratively, for a young person. See Note 89, Act i, "Twelfth Night."

51. Will you take eggs for money? A proverbial expression, tantamount to Will you tamely bear an affront? Will you suffer yourself to be imposed upon?

52. Happy man be's dole. Another proverbial phrase, signifying, May happiness be his lot See Note 37, Act iii., Merry Wives."

53. Childness. This abbreviation of 'childishness,' for the sake of the metre in the line, has a graceful effect here.

54. How thou lov'st us, show in our brother's welcome. Thus enjoined by himself, it could be only the cruel injustice of that

Though you perceive me not how I give line.
Go to, go to!

[Observing POLIXENES and HERMIONE. How she holds up the neb,5 the bill to him! And arms her with the boldness of a wife To her allowing 59 husband! Gone already! [Exeunt POLIXENES, HERMIONE, and Attendants. Inch-thick, knee-deep, o'er head and ears a fork'd one !60

Go, play, boy, play :-thy mother plays, and I
Play too; but so disgrac'd a part, whose issue
Will hiss me to my grave: contempt and clamour
Will be my knell.-Go, play, boy, play. There
have been,

Or I am much deceiv'd, dullards ere now;
And many a man there is (even at this present,
Now while I speak this), holds his wife by th' arm,
That little thinks she has been unfaithful with
Sir Smile, his neighbour: should all despair
That have revolted wives, the tenth of mankind
Would hang themselves. Physie for 't there is

none;

It is an evil planet, that will strike

Where 'tis predominant; and 'tis powerful, think it, From east, west, north, and south: many thousand on 's 61

most unjust passion, jealousy, that makes Leontes resent his wife's courtesy to Polixenes as a proof of her guilt. 55. Apparent to my heart. Nearest to my love;' the heirapparent being the nearest heir. 56. Shall's attend you there? 'Shall we await you there?' This elision of "shall's" (shall us) is one of the many to be found in this play. See Note 14, Act i. "Attend" is here used in the sense of the French word attendre, to expect, to await. 57. To your own bents dispose you. Dispose of yourselves according to your own inclinations.”

"

58. Neb. Saxon, nebbe; the beak, the mouth. 59. Allowing. Shakespeare sometimes uses allowed in the sense of approved,' 'well-received.' See Note 51, Act ii., "Merry Wives." And here it is probable that he uses “allowing" partly in this sense, partly in that of encouraging,' partly in that of sanctioning,' authorising;' and even-according to his mode of using the active form for the passive one-that he includes the meaning of 'allowed,' 'authorised,' 'lawfully sanctioned.'

60. A fork'd one. 'A horned one.'

61. On's. An elision for of us,' "on" used for 'of.' Sec Note 92, Act i., All's Well."

66