The old eds. have, "In thy best robes vncouered on the beere, Be borne to buriall in thy kindreds grave: Thou shalt be borne to that same ancient vault," &c. 66 Romeo, I come! this do I drink to thee." So the first quarto.-The later eds. have the prodigious reading, Romeo, Romeo, Romeo, heres drinke, I drinke to thee." Mr. Knight now prints, 66 Romeo, Romeo, Romeo!-I drink to thee," and observes, "We think with Mr. Dyce that 'here's drink' was the stagedirection of here drink. We do not adopt the first reading, because 'I come' would seem to imply that Romeo was dead, and Juliet was about to join him in another world." I neither admire Mr. Knight's reficted line, nor acknowledge the force of his objection to "I come.” P. 168. (4) "Hath death lain with thy wife :- there she lies, The usual modern reading is ". see, there she lies," &c.,-an addition from the first quarto, where the passage stands thus,— "Hath death laine with thy bride, flower as she is, Deflowerd by him, see, where she lyes Death is my sonne in law, to him I giue all that I haue." P. 169. (55) "Dead art thou!-alack, my child is dead," &c. Malone conjectures, “Dead, dead, art thou!” &c.;—and Steevens, “Dead art thou, dead!" &c.,-which, indeed, Theobald gave. So the first quarto.-The later eds. have "And in her," &c. So the second folio,-which, whether the author's word or not, is at least sense.-The earlier eds. (except the first quarto, where this is not found) have “some nature,” &c.,—which, though downright nonsense, Mr. Knight retains and defends. P. 170. (59) "Then have at you with my wit!" This, in the old eds., forms part of the preceding speech. P. 171. (60) "[Exit." The more recent editors print "Exit, singing:" but surely Peter quotes the song without singing it. P. 171. (1) "the flattering truth of sleep," &c. The first quarto alone has "the flattering eye of sleepe," &c.; which perhaps is the preferable reading.—Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector substitutes, most unhappily," the flattering death of sleep," &c.; and, conjecture being infinite, Mr. Singer (Shakespeare Vindicated, &c. p. 234) proposes "the flattering soother sleep," &c. P. 173. (2) "Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes," &c. Here "starveth in" has been altered to "stare within" and to "stareth in " but, as Malone observes, "the word 'starved' in the first copy shows that 'starveth' in the text is right: 'And starued famine dwelleth in thy cheekes." P. 173. (63) “I pay thy poverty, and not thy will.” A writer in The Westminster Review, vol. xliv. p. 61, says that here “Mr. Knight very properly restores the reading of the second 4to and the first folio, 'pray:' the relation here is between Romeo's earnestly repeated prayer and the apothecary's consent: the moment for paying him is not yet arrived." But what does the writer understand by the concluding words of Romeo's preceding speech,“take this”? can he doubt that “this” means the gold which Romeo holds in his hand, ready to pay the Apothecary ? The first quarto has " Vnder this Ew-tree," &c.; the later eds. have " Vnder yond young trees," &c. P. 177. (65) 66 ‘Ah, dear Juliet, Why art thou yet so fair? shall I believe In the first quarto this passage is much less full.-The three subsequent quartos and the folio have, "Ah deare Juliet, Why art thou yet so faire? I will beleeue, Shall I believe, that vnsubstantiall death is amorous," &c.,— where "I will believe," and "Shall I believe," are evidently variæ lectiones, which, by some mistake, have both crept into the text. P. 177. (66) "And never from this palace of dim night Depart again: here, here will I remain," &c. Here, again, the first quarto is much less full.-The undated quarto reads as Depart againe, come lie thou in my arme [the folio armes], O true appothecarie! Thy drugs are quicke. Thus with a kisse I die. Depart againe; here, here will I remaine," &c. Malone observes, "With respect to the line, 'Here's to thy health, where'er thou tumblest in,’ it is unnecessary to inquire what was intended by it, the passage in which this line is found being afterwards exhibited in another form; and being much more accurately expressed in its second than its first exhibition, we have a right to presume [we have, indeed] that the poet intended it to appear in its second form, that is, as it now appears in the text." P. 178. (67) "Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on The dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark !” The old eds. have "this young tree," &c. See note (64). P. 179. (69) “O churl! drink all, and leave no friendly drop "The first [quarto] has, 'Ah churl! drink all, and leave no drop for me!' The other [of 1599], The quarto of 1609, the undated quarto, and the folio have, "O churle, drinke all, and left no friendly drop, P. 179. (70) "O happy dagger! This is thy sheath [Stabs herself]; there rest, and let me die.” The first quarto has, "O happy dagger thou shalt end my feare, Rest in my bosome, thus I come to thee.” there rust The other old eds. read as in the text, except that they have “. and let me die,”—where I believe “rust" to be a decided error: at such a moment the thoughts of Juliet were not likely to wander away to the future rusting of the dagger.-(Steevens says, "The alteration 'rust' was probably made by the poet, when he introduced the words, 'This is thy sheath?'”—a remark which I do not understand.) P. 180. (7) "which startles in our ears?" So Johnson.-The old eds. have "in your eares?" P. 181. (72) 66 Seal up the mouth of outrage," &c. Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector gives ". the mouth of outcry," &c.,-which is very specious: but Mr. Collier himself allows that "perhaps outrage' is to be taken in the general sense of disturbance;" and it is worth notice that Johnson (Dict. sub “. Outrage") has cited a passage from a comparatively recent poet (Philips) where "this word seems to be used for mere commotion." |