Prin. Nothing but this? Yes, as much love in rhime, As would be cramm'd up in a fheet of paper, Rof. That was the way to make his God-head wax ;* For he hath been five thousand years a boy. Cath. Ay, and a fhrewd unhappy gallows too. Rof. You'll ne'er be friends with him; he kill'd your fifter. Cath. He made her melancholy, fad, and heavy; She might have been a grandam ere fhe dy'd: Cath. A light condition, in a beauty dark. Rof. We need more light to find your meaning out. Cath. You'll mar the light, by taking it in fnuff: Therefore, I'll darkly end the argument. Rof. Look, what you do; you do it still i' the Cath. So do not you; for you are a light wench. 3 Rof. Great reafon; for, Paft cure is ftill paft Prin. Well bandied both; a fet of wit well play'd. to make his God-head wax ;] To wax anciently fignified to grow. It is yet faid of the moon, that she waxes and wanes. STEEVENS. -for paft care is fill paft cure.] The tranfpofition which I have made in the two words, care and cure, is by the di rection of the ingenious Dr. Thirlby. THEOBALD. But, But, Rofaline, you have a favour too : Rof. I would, you knew. An if my face were but as fair as yours, Rof. Much in the letters; nothing in the praise. Rof. 'Ware pencils! How? let me not die your debtor, My red dominical, my golden letter. O, that your face were not fo full of O's! Cath. Pox of that jeft! and I befhrew all throws. Prin. But what was fent to you from fair Dumain? Cath. Madam, this glove. Prin. Did he not send you twain? Cath. Yes, Madam; and moreover, Some thousand verses of a faithful lover: 'Ware pencils!- -] The former editions read, Sir T. Hanmer here rightly restored, 'Ware pencils Rosaline, a black beauty, reproaches the fair Catherine for painting. JOHNSON. The folio reads, Ware penfals STEEVENS. Pox of that jeft! and I befhrew all brews.] In former copies this line is given to the Princefs; but as fhe has behaved with great decency all along, there is no reason why she should start all at once into this coarfe dialect. Rofaline and Catherine are rallying one another without referve; and to Catherine this first line certainly belonged, and therefore I have ventured once more to put her in poffeffion of it. THEOBALD. A A huge tranflation of hypocrify, Vilely compil'd, profound fimplicity. Mar. This, and thefe pearls, to me fent Longaville; The letter is too long by half a mile. Prin. I think no lefs; doft thou not wifh in heart, The chain were longer, and the letter short? Mar. Ay, or I would these hands might never part. Prin. We are wife girls to mock our lovers fo. Rof. They are worfe fools to purchase mocking fo. That fame Biron I'll torture, ere I go. O, that I knew he were but in by the week! 7 8 And make him proud to make me proud that jefts! Prin. 7in by the week!] This I fuppofe to be an expreffion taken from hiring fervants or artificers; meaning, I wish I was as fure of his service for any time limited, as if I had hired him. So portent-like, &c.] In former copies, So pertaunt-like, would I o'er-fway his ftate, That he should be my fool, and I his fate. STEEVENS. In old farces, to fhew the inevitable approaches of death and deftiny, the Fool of the farce is made to employ all his ftratagems to avoid Death or Fate; which very ftratagems, as they are ordered, bring the Fool, at every turn, into the very jaws of Fate. To this Shakespeare alludes again in Measure for Measure, merely thou art Death's Fool; For him thou labour'ft by thy flight to fhun, It is plain from all this, that the nonsense of pertaunt-like, should be read, portent-like, i. e. I would be his fate or destiny, and, like a portent, hang over, and influence his fortunes. For portents were not only thought to forebode, but to influence. So the Latins called a perVOL. II. Ff Prin. None are fo furely caught when they are As wit turn'd fool: folly, in wifdom hatch'd, Rof. The blood of youth burns not with such As gravity's revolt to wantonnefs. Mar. Folly in fools bears not fo ftrong a note, Enter Boyet. Prin. Here comes Boyet, and mirth is in his face. Prin. Thy news, Boyet? Boyet. Prepare, madam, prepare. Arm, wenches, arm! Encounters mounted are What are they That charge their breath against us? fay, fcout, say. a perfon defined to bring mischief, fatale portentum. WARBURTON. None are fo, &c.] Thefe are observation worthy of a man who has furveyed human nature with the closest attention. JOHNSON. 1 Saint Dennis, to faint Cupid!] The Princess of France invokes, with too much levity, the patron of her country, to oppofe his power to that of Cupid. JOHNSON. Boyet Boyet. Under the cool fhade of a fycamore, With that all laugh'd, and clap'd him on the fhoulder; Cry'd, Via! we will do't, come what will come. goes well: The fourth turn'd on the toe, and down he fell, 2 To check their folly, paffion's folemn tears. Prin. But what, but what, come they to vifit us? Boyet. They do, they do; and are apparell'd thus, Like Mufcovites, or Ruffians: as I guess3 And 3fp'een ridiculous] is, a ridiculous fit. JOHNSON. 3 Like Mufc.vites, or Ruffians, as I guess.] The fettling commerce |