Such fiery numbers, as the prompting eyes Than are the tender horns of cockled fnails. Still climbing trees in the Hefperides (2)? As bright Apollo's lute, ftrung with his hair (3) : And Could you, fays Biron, by folitary contemplation, have attained fuch poetical fire, fuch sprightly numbers, as bave been prompted by the eyes of beauty. The aftronomer, by looking too much aloft, falls into a ditch. (1) the fufpicious bead of theft is flopt.] . e. a lover in purfuit of his mistress has his fenfe of hearing quicker than a thief (who fufpects every found he hears) in purfuit of his prey. But Mr. Theobald fays, there is no contraft between a lover and a thief: and therefore alters it to thrift, between which and love, he fays, there is a remarkable antithefis. What he means by contraft and antithefis, I confess I don't understand. But 'tis no matter: the common reading is fenje; and that is better than either one or the other. WARBURTON. (2) For Valour is not Love a Hercules, Still climbing trees in the Hefperides ?] The Poet is here obferving how all the fenfes are refined by Love. But what has the poor Senfe of Smelling done, not to keep its Place among its Brethren? Then Hercules's Valour was not in climbing the Trees, but in attacking the Dragon gardant. I rather think that for valour we should read favour, and the Poet meant that Hercules was allured by the Odour and Fragrancy of the golden Apples. THEOBALD. (3) As bright Apollo's lute, ftrung with his hair:] This expref R 2 fion, And when Love speaks the voice of all the Gods (4), From women's eyes this doctrine I derive : Or fion, like that other in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, of-Orpheus' barp was ftrung with poets finew's, is extremely beautiful, and highly figurative. Apollo, as the fun, is represented with golden hair; fo that a lute Arung with his hair means no more than ftrung with WARBURTON. gilded wire. (4) And when Love Speaks the voice of all the Gods, Make, Heav'n drowfie with the barmony !] This nonsense we fhould read and point thus, And when love fpeaks the voice of all the Gods, Mark, beav'n drowfie with the barmony. i. e. in the voice of love alone is included the voice of all the Gods. Alluding to the ancient Theogony, that love was the parent and fupport of all the Gods. Hence, as Suidas tells us, Palcepbatus wrote a poem called, 'Appoins "Egwl pwvò i dóy. The voice and fpeech of Venus and Love, which appears to have been a kind of Cofmogony, the harmony of which is fo great that it calms and allays all kinds of disorders; alluding again to the ancient use of mufic, which was to compofe monarchs, when, by reafon of the cares of empire, they used to pass whole nights in restless inquietude. WARBURTON. The ancient reading is, make heaven. (5) —a word, THAT LOVES ALL MEN ;] We should read, A word all wOMEN love. *following line Or for men's fake (the author of these women ;) WARE. The Or for love's fake, a word, that loves all men ; For charity itself fulfils the law; And who can fever love from charity? King. Saint Cupid, then! and, foldiers, to the field! Pell-mell, down with them; but be firft advis'd, Long. Now to plain-dealing-lay these glozes byShall we refolve to woo thefe girls of France? King. And win them too; therefore let us devise Some entertainment for them in their Tents. Biron. First, from the Park let us conduct them thither; Then homeward every man attach the hand We will with fome ftrange paftime folace them, And justice always whirls in equal measure; n; [Exeunt. The antithefis of a word that all men love, and a word which loves all men, though in itself worth little, has much of the spirit of this play. (6) fown cockle reap'd no corn ;] This proverbial expreffion intimates, that beginning with perjury, they can expect to reap nothing but falfhood. The following lines lead us to this fenfe. WARBURTON. Here Mr. Theobald ends the third act. A CTV. SCENE I. The STREET.. Enter Holofernes, Nathanael and Dull. Atis quod fufficit. HOLOFERNES. Nath. I praife God for you, Sir, (7) your reasons at dinner have been sharp and fententious ; pleasant without fcurrility, witty without affectation, audacious without impudency, learned without opinion, and ftrange without herefy. I did converfe this quondam-day with a companion of the King's, who is entitled, nominated, or called, Don Adriano d'Armade. Hol. Novi hominem, tanquam te. His humour is lofty, his difcourfe peremptory, his tongue filed, his eye ambitious, his gait majeftical, and his general behaviour vain, ridiculous, and thrafonical. (8) He is too piqued, too fpruce, too affected, too odd, as it were; too peregrinate, as I may call it Nath. A moft fingular and choice epithet. [Draws out his table book. (7) Your reasons at dinner have been, &c.] I know not well what degree of respect Shakespeare intends to obtain for this vicar, but he has here put into his mouth a finished representation of colloquial excellence. It is very difficult to add any thing to this character of the school-mafter's table-talk, and perhaps all the precepts of Caftiglione will fcarcely be found to comprehend a rule for converfa tion fo juftly delineated, fo widely dilated, and fo nicely limited. It may be proper just to note, that reafon here, and in many other places, fignifies difcourfe, and that audacious is ufed in a good fenfe for Spirited, animated, confident. Opinion is the fame with obftinacy or opiniatreté. traveller (8) He is too piqued,] To have the beard piqued or fhoro so as to end in a point, was in our Author's time a mark of a affecting foreign fashions: fo fays the Bastard in K. Jokn. -- I catechife Hol. Hol. He draweth out the thread of his verbofity finer than the ftaple of his argument. I abhor fuch phantaftical phantafms, fuch infociable and point-devise companions; fuch rackers of orthography, as to speak dout fine, when he should say, doubt; det, when he fhould pronounce debt; d, e, b, t; not, d, e, t: he clepeth a calf, cauf: half, hauf: neighbour vocatur nebour; neigh abbreviated ne; this is abominable (9), which he would call abhominable: (1) it infinuateth me (9) this is abominable, &c.] He has here well imitated the language of the moft redoubtable pedants of that time. On fuch fort of Occafions, Joseph Scaliger ufed to break out, Abominar, execror. Afinitas mera eft, impietas, Soc. and calls his adverfary Lutum ftercore maceratum, Damoniacum retrimentum infcitiæ, Sterquilinium, Stercus Diaboli, Scarabæum, Larvam, Pecus poftremum beftiarum, infame propudium, κάθαςμα. WARBURTON. () In former Editions: It infinuateth me of infamy: Ne intelligis Domine, to make frantick, lunatick? Nath. Laus Deo, bene intelligo. Hol. Bome, boon for boon Prifcian; a little Scratch, 'twill. ferve.] This Play is certainly none of the best in itself, but the Editors have been to very happy in making it worfe by their Indolence, that they have left me Augeas's Stable to cleanfe and a Man had need to have the Strength of a Hercules to heave out all their Rubbish. But to Bufinefs; Why should infamy be explained by making frantick, lunatick? It is plain and obvious that the Poet intende, the Pedant fhould coin an uncouth affected Word here, infanie,.. from infania of the Latines, Then, what a Piece of unintelligible Jargon have thefe learned Critics given us for Latin? I think, I may venture to affirm, I have reftor'd the Paffage to its true Purity. Nath. Laus Deo, bone, intelligo. The Curate, addreffing with Complaifance his brother Pedant, fays, bone to him, as we frequently in Terence find bene Vir; but the Pedant, thinking he had mistaken the Adverb, thus defcants on it. Bone?bone for bene. Prifcian a little feratch'd: 'till ferve. Alluding to the common Phrafe, Diminuis Prifciani caput, applied to fuch as fpeak falle Latin. THEOBALD. It infinuateth me of INFAMY:] There is no need to make the pedant worse than Shakespeare made him; who, without doubt WARBURTON.. wrote INSANITY. There feems yet fomething wanting to the integrity of this paffage,. which Mr. 7 beobald has in the most corrupt and difficult places very happily restored. For ne intelligis Domine, to make frantick, lunatick, I read (nonne intelligis, Domine ?) to be mad, frantick, lunatick. |