no more; That strain again ;-it had a dying fall: It is true, we do not talk of the death of appetite, because we do not ordinarily fpeak in the figurative language of poetry; but that appetite fickens by a furfeit is true, and therefore proper. 2 That firain again;—it had a dying fall! O! it came o'er my ear, like the fweet fouth, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour.-] Amongst the beauties of this charming fimilitude, its exact propriety is not the leaft. For, as a fouth wind, while blowing That the self-fame ftrains of Orpheus proper to excite both the affections of mirth and melancholy, juft as the mind is then difpofed. If to mirth, he calls for fuch mufick, That Orpheus' felf may heave bis head From golden flumbers on a bed Of heapt Elyfian flowers, and bear Such strains as would have won the ear Of Pluto, to have quite set free If to melancholy- Drew iron tears down Pluto's And made Hell grant what love did feek. 11 penferofo. WARBURTON. 3. fo full of shapes IN fancy, That it alone is HIGH famafti. cal. This complicated nonfenfe fhould be rectified thus, fo full of shapes un fancy, That it alone is HIGHT fan taftical. That it alone is high fantastical. Cur. The hart. Duke. Why, fo I do, the nobleft that I have: And my defires, like fell and cruel hounds, Enter Valentine. Val. So please my Lord, I might not be admitted, But from her hand-maid do return this answer The element itself, 'till feven years hence, Shall not behold her face at ample view; But, like a cloyftrefs, fhe will veiled walk, And water once a day her chamber round With eye-offending brine: all this to feafon A brother's dead love, which fhe would keep fresh And lafting in her fad remembrance. Duke. O, fhe, that hath a heart of that fine frame, Το pay this debt of love but to a brother, i. e. love is fo full of fhapes in fancy, that the name of fantafli: cal is peculiarly given to it alone. But, for the old nonfenfe, the Oxford Editor gives us his new. -Jo full of shapes is fancy, And thou all o'er art high fantaftical, fays the Critic. WARBURTON. 4 That infant I was turn'd into a bart,] This image evidently alludes to the ftory of Acteon, by which Shakespeare feems to think men cautioned against too great familiarity with forbidden beauty. Acteon, who faw Diana paked, and was torn in pieces by his hounds, reprefents a man, who indulging his eyes, or his imagination, with the view of a woman that he cannot gain, has his heart torn with inceffant longing. An interpretation far more elegant and natural than that of Sir Francis Bacon, who, in his Wifdom of the Antients, fuppofes this story to warn us against enquiring into the fecrets of princes, by fhowing, that thofe who knew that which for reafons of ftate is to be concealed, will be detected and deftroyed by their own fervants. How will she love, when the rich golden fhaft That live in her? when liver, brain, and heart, Vio. SCENE II, The Street. Enter Viola, a Captain and Sailors. [Exeunt. HAT country, friends, is this? WH W Cap. Illyria, Lady. Vio. And what should I do in Illyria? My brother he is in Elyftum. Perchance, he is not drown'd; what think you, failors? Cap. It is perchance, that you yourself were fav'd. Vio. O my poor brother! fo, perchance, may he be. Cap. True, Madam and to comfort you with chance, Affure yourself, after our ship did split, When you, and that poor number fav'd with you, I faw him hold acquaintance with the waves, 5 THESE foreign thrones-] We should read THREE fovereign thrones. This is exactly in the manner of Shakespeare. So, afterwards, in this play, Thy tongue, thy face, thy limbs, actions, and Spirit, do give thee five fold blazon. WARBURTON. 6 HER fweet perfections,-] We should read, and point it thus, ( feet perfection!) WARBURTON. Vio. For faying fo, there's gold. The like of him. Know'ft thou this country? Vio. Who governs here? Cap. A noble Duke, in nature, as in name 7. Cap. Orfino. Vio. Orfino! I have heard my father name him: Cap. And fo is now, or was fo very late; Vio. What's fhe? Cap. A virtuous maid, the daughter of a Count, Who fhortly alfo dy'd; for whofe dear love, And company of men. Vio. O, that I ferv'd that lady, 8 And might not be deliver'd to the world Cap. That were hard to compass; 7 A noble Duke in nature, as in name.] I know not whether the nobility of the name is comprised in Duke, or in Orfino, which is, I think, the name of a great Italian family. And might not be deliver'd, &c.] I wish I might not be made publick to the world, with regard to the fate of my birth and fortune, till I have gained a ripe opportunity for my defign. Viola feems to have formed a very deep defign with very little premeditation: fhe is thrown by fhipwreck on an unknown coast, hears that the prince is a batchelor, and refolves to fupplant the lady whom he courts. Because fhe will admit no kind of fuit, No, not the Duke's. Vio. There is a fair behaviour in thee, Captain; And tho' that nature with a beauteous wall Doth oft close in pollution; yet of thee, I will believe, thou haft a mind that fuits With this thy fair and outward character : I pr'ythee, and I'll pay thee bounteously, Conceal me what I am, and be my aid For fuch difguife as, haply, fhall become The form of my intent. I'll ferve this Duke'; Thou shalt present me as an eunuch to him, It may be worth thy pains; for I can fing, And speak to him in many forts of mufick, That will allow me very worth his service. What else may hap, to time I will commit; Only shape thou thy filence to my wit. Cap. Be you his eunuch, and your mute I'll be: When my tongue blabs, then let mine eyes not fee. Vio. I thank thee; lead me on. Sir To. SCENE III. An Apartment in Olivia's Houfe. Enter Sir Toby, and Maria. [Exeunt, HAT a plague means my niece, to take the death of her brother thus? I am fure, care's an enemy to life. Mar. By my troth, Sir Toby, you must come in earlier a-nights; your niece, my lady, takes great exceptions to your ill hours. Sir To. Why let her except, before excepted. Mar. Ay, but you must confine yourself within the modeft limits of order, 9 Fil ferve this Duke ;] Viola is an excellent fchemer, never at a lois; if the cannot ferve the lady, fhe will ferve the Duke. |