Leave not a rack behind: We are fuch Auff If thou be pleas'd, retire into my cell, Fer. The well-known lines before us may receive fume illuftration from Stowe's account of the pageants exhibited in the year 1604, (not very long before this play was written,) on King James, his Queen &c. pafting triumphantly from the Tower to Weftminiter; on which occafion leven Gates or Arches were erected in different places through which the proceTon palled. Over the fir gate was reprefented the "true likeness of all the notable houfes, TOWERS and fleeples, within "the citie of London."—" The fix arche or gate of triumph was ❝ erected above the Conduit in Fleete-Streete, where on the GLOSE *of the world was feen to move, &c. At Temple-bar a feaventh arche or gate was erected, the forefront whereof was proportioned in every refpeét like a TEMPLE, being dedicated to Janus, &c.-The citie "of Westminster, and dutchy of Lancaster, at the Strand had erected << the invention of a Rainbow, the moone, funne, and ftarres, ad"vanced between two Pyramides, &c." ANNALS, p. 1429, edit. 1605. MALONE. 2 Leave not a rack bebind:] Rack is generally ufed by our ancient writers for a body of clouds failing along; or rather for the course of the clouds when in motion. So, in Antony and Cleopatra: "That which is now a horfe, even with a thought "The rack diflimns." But no inftance has yet been produced, where it is ufed to fignify a Jingle Small fleeting cloud, in which sense only it can be figuratively applied here. I incline, therefore, to Sir Thomas Hanmer's emendation, though I have not disturbed the text. MALONE. Sir T. H. instead of rack, reads track, which may be fupported by the following paflage in the firft fcene of Timon of Aikens: "But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forth on, "Leaving no traft bebind." STEEVENS. 3-We are fuch fluff As dreams are made on,] I would willingly perfuade myfelf, that this vulgarifm was introduced by the tranfcriber, and that Shakspeare wrote-made of. But I fear other inftances are to be found in these plays of this unjustifiable phrafeology, and therefore have not disturbed the text. The ftanza which immediatly precedes the lines quoted by Mr. Steevens from Lord Sterline's Darius, may ferve ftill further to confirm the con Fer. Mira. We wish your peace. [Exeunt. Pro. Come with a thought:-I thank thee:-Ariel, come. Enter ARIEL. Ari. Thy thoughts I cleave to +: What's thy pleasure ? Pro. Spirit, We must prepare to meet with Caliban 5. Ari. Ay, my commander: when I prefented Ceres, I thought to have told thee of it; but I fear'd Left I might anger thee. Pro. Say again, where didft thou leave these varlets? Ari. I told you, fir, they were red-hot with drinking; So full of valour, that they fmote the air For breathing in their faces; beat the ground As they smelt mufick; fo I charm'd their ears, There dancing up to the chins, that the foul lake conjecture that one of these poets imitated the other. I believe, the imitator: "And when the eclipfe comes of our glory's light, "Then what avails the adoring of a name? "A meer illufion made to mock the fight, Pro. Our author was, "Whofe beft was but the fhadow of a dream." MALONE. 4 Thy thoughts I cleave to :] To cleave to is to unite with closely. So, in Macbeth: "Like our ftrange garments, cleave not to their mould." Again: "If you fhall cleave to my confent." STEEVENS. 5-to meet with Caliban.] To meet with is to countera; to play ftratagem against stratagem. JOHNSON. 6-pricking gofs,] I know not how Shakspeare diftinguished gofs from furze; for what he calls furze, is called gefs or gorfe in the midland counties. STEEVENS. VOL. I. G By Pro. This was well done, my bird: The trumpery in my house, go, bring it hither, Ari. I go, I go. [Exits Pro. A devil, a born devil, on whofe nature Nurture can never stick; on whom my pains, Humanely taken, all, all loft, quite loft; And as, with age, his body uglier grows, So his mind cankers : I will plague them all, Re-enter ARIEL, loaden with gliftering apparel, &c. Even to roaring :-Come, hang them on this line2. PROSPERO and ARIEL remain invifible. Enter CALIS BAN, STEPHANO, and TRINCULO, all wet. Cal. Pray you, tread foftly, that the blind mole may not Hear a foot fall3: we now are near his cell. Ste. Monster, your fairy, which, you fay, is a harm By the latter, Shakspeare means the low fort of gorfe that only grows upon wet ground, and which is well defcribed by the name of bins in Markham's Farewell to Husbandry. It has prickles like thofe on a rofe-tree or a goofeberry. TOLLET. ? For tale to catch these thieves.] Stale is a word in fowling, and is ufed to mean a bait or decoy to catch birds. STEEVENS. 8 Nurture can never flick;] Nurture is education. STEEVENS. 9-all, all loft,] The first of these words was probably introduced by the careleffnefs of the tranfcriber or compofitor. We might fafely read, are all loft. MALONE. And as, with age, his body uglier grows, So bis mind cankers:] Shakspeare, when he wrote this defcription, perhaps recollected what his patron's most intimate friend, the great lord Effex, in an hour of difcontent, faid of queen Elizabeth; "that fhe grew old and canker'd, and that her mind was become as crooked as "ber carcafe:"-a fpeech, which, according to Sir Walter Raleigh, coft him his head, and which, we may therefore fuppofe, was at that time much talked of. This play being written in the time of King James, thefe obnoxious words might be fafely repeated. MALONE. 2 hang them on this line.] The old copy reads-hang on them. Corrected by Mr. Rowe. MALONE. 3 that the blind mole may not Hear a foot fall:] This quality of hearing, which the mole is fuppofed to poflefs in fo high a degree, is mentioned in Euphues, quarto, 1581, p. 64. REED. lefs lefs fairy, has done little better than play'd the Jack with us 4. Trin. Monster, I do fmell all horfe-pifs; at which my nofe is in great indignation. Ste. So is mine. Do you hear, monfter? If I should take a displeasure against you; look you, Trin. Thou wert but a loft monfter. Cal. Good, my lord, give me thy favour ftill: Be patient, for the prize I'll bring thee to Shall hood-wink this mifchance: therefore, fpeak foftly; All's hufh'd as midnight yet. Trin. Ay, but to lofe our bottles in the pool, Ste. There is not only difgrace and dishonour in that, monfter, but an infinite lofs. Trin. That's more to me than my wetting: yet this is your harmless fairy, monfter. Ste. I will fetch off my bottle, though I be o'er ears for my labour. Cal. Pr'ythee, my king, be quiet: See't thou here, This is the mouth o' the cell: no noife, and enter: Do that good mifchief, which may make this island Thine own for ever, and I, thy Caliban, For aye thy foot-licker. Ste. Give me thy hand: I do begin to have bloody thoughts. Trin. O king Stephano! O peer! O worthy Stephano! look, what a wardrobe here is for thee 5! Cal. Let it alone, thou fool; it is but trafh. Trin. Oh, ho, monfter; we know what belongs to a 4 bas done little better than play'd the Jack with us.] i. e. He has played Jack with a lantern; has led us about like an ignis fatuus, by which travellers are decoyed into the mire. JoHNSON. O king Stephano! O peer! O worthy Stephano! look, what a wardrobe here is for thee! The humour of thefe lines confifts in their being an allufion to an old celebrated ballad, which begins thus: King Stephen was a worthy peer-and celebrates that king's parfimony with regard to his wardrobe. There are two stanzas of this ballad in Othello. WARBURTON. The old ballad is printed at large in The Reliques of Ancient Poetry, vol. i. PERCY. frippery:-O king Stephano! Ste. Put off that gown, Trinculo; by this hand, I'll have that gown. Trin. Thy grace fhall have it. Cal. The dropfy drown this fool! what do you mean, From toe to crown he'll fill our skins with pinches ; Ste. Be you quiet, monfter.-Miftrefs line, is not this my jerkin? Now is the jerkin under the line: now, jerkin, you are like to lofe your hair, and prove a bald jerkin. Trin. Do, do: We fteal by line and level, and't like your grace. Ste. I thank thee for that jeft; here's a garment for't: wit fhall not go unrewarded, while I am king of this Country: Steal by line and level is an excellent pafs of pate; there's another garment for't. Trin. Monster, come, put fome lime' upon your fingers, and away with the reft. Cal. I will have none on't: we fhall lofe our time, 6 we know what belongs to a frippery:] A frippery was a fhop where old cloaths were fold. Fripperie, Fr. The perfon who kept one of thefe fhops was called a fripper. Strype, in the life of Stowe, fays, that thefe frippers lived in Birchin-lane and Cornhill. STEEVENS. 7 Let it alone,] The old copy reads-Let's alone. For the emendation the prefent editor is anfwerable. Caliban had ufed the fame expreffion before. Mr. Theobald reads-Let's along. MALONE. 8 under the line, &c.] An allufion to what often happens to people who pafs the line. The violent fevers, which they contract in that hot climate, make them lofe their hair. EDWARDS' MSS. Perhaps the allufion is to a more indelicate difeafe than any peculiar to the equinoxial. Shakspeare feems to defign an equivoque between the equinoxial and the girdle of a woman. STEEVENS. 9 Now, jerkin, you are like to lofe your hair] Jerkins made of goat fkins feem to have been part of the wardrobe of the theatres in our author's time. [See a note on the Winter's Tale, A& IV. fc. iii.] However, as the apparel brought in by Ariel is defcribed as fplendid and gliftering, the garments here fpoken of were probably ornamented with tinfel, or gilt leather, and hung upon a bair-line. MALONR. -put fome lime, &c.] That is, birdlime. JOHNSON. And |