p. 78.

p. 79.

p. 80.

"

p. 81.

"As is the morn-dew on the myrtle leaf

To the grand sea : The folio, "To his grand sea,' which, in my judgment, is a manifest typographical error. Hanmer detected and corrected it. But of late years, 'his' has been retained on the supposition that it alludes to the sea as the origin of the dew-drop!

"From thine invention, offers" : —
The inversion in this
sentence is so distracting and so needless, that it seems to
me quite probable, at least, that there has been accidental
transposition, and that Shakespeare may have written,-
From Antony win Cleopatra; promise

What she requires; and in our name add more
Offers from thine invention."

"The itch of his affection should not then

Have nick'd his captainship":-i. e., says Steevens, "set the mark of folly on it, referring to the practice of cutting irregularly or nicking the hair of fools,” (See Comedy of Errors, Act V. Sc. 1, p. 219,) a most unsatisfactory explanation to me; and I have hardly a doubt that we should read, "Have prick'd his captainship," his “ captainship" meaning not his military skill, but himself.

"The mered question":-- The folio, "The meered question," which is quite possibly a misprint for "The mooted question."

"To lay his gay caparisons apart": - The folio reads, "his gay comparisons," which has been hitherto retained. But Cæsar had made no comparisons of any kind, as may be seen by reference to the single speech which he addresses to Euphronius in the previous Scene. Antony, however, has more than once, and just before, alluded to the youth and gayety of Octavius, and he now summons him to lay aside every thing but armor and a sword, and meet him face to face in single combat.

"And answer me declin'd, sword against sword": It seems to me that there has been an accidental transposition here, and that we should read, "sword against sword declin'd."

"Farther than he is Cæsar":→ The folio, "than he is a mere instance of the superfluous final s so

Cæsars

p. 82.

p. 84.

p. 85.

p. 87.

often noticed in this work. The same error occurs in Act IV. Sc. 12. See the note on page 145.

"And put yourself under his shroud

The universal landlord": - There seems to have been something lost here. Capell read, "under his shroud the great," &c.; Mr. Collier's folio of 1632, "under his shroud who is," &c. But no addition is absolutely necessary to the sense.

66

In deputation : The folio, in disputation; " but for obvious reasons I have no hesitation in adopting Warburton's reading.

that looks on feeders?

Servants were called feeders of old; and why the name should have gone out of use no housekeeper can tell.

"With one that ties his points? One of the most striking anachronisms in these plays. It was, of course, one of the duties of the body-servant, or valet, of Shakespeare's day, to tie the points or tags which united his master's doublet to his hose.

وو

"By the discandying of this pelleted storm : The dissolving of the hail is likened to that of sugar pellets. The folio has, "discandering - a misprint which could be left for Thirlby to correct.

: The folio has,

When valour preys on reason prayes in reason; " and I am not quite sure that it should not be followed; 'in' having the sense of upon.

ACT FOURTH.

SCENE I.

"

"I have many other ways to die : Hanmer, conforming the text to the story of Plutarch, read, read, "He hath many other ways," &c.

p. 90.

p. 91.

SCENE IV.

put thine iron on":- Not improbably there is a misprint here ofthine' for mine;' but thine iron' may well mean the iron that thou hast in thy hand.

p. 92.

11

"Ah, let be, let be! thou art," &c.: This speech, as well as that which precedes and follows it, is assigned to Cleopatra in the folio. Hanmer distributed the passage correctly.

"The morn is fair," &c. : This speech is erroneously assigned to Alexas in the folio.

SCENE V.

"The gods make this a happy day,” &c.:

-To the first three speeches of the soldier in this Scene the folio prefixes" Eros."

Dispatch, Eros The first folio, "Dispatch, Enobarbus," the second, " Dispatch Eros;" which, considering the rhythm of the line, the appropriateness of the command, and the great probability that in the manuscript there stood only E., I have no hesitation in adopting.

SCENE VII.

"But now 'tis made an H”: — .. Fill See the Note on " all thy bones with aches," The Tempest, Act I. Sc. 2.

SCENE VIII.

"And let the Queen know of our gests - i. e., our deeds of arms; the folio, "our guests," which Theobald corrected. Antony brought no guests.

66

clip your wives": i. e., embrace them.

See

the Note on a kissing traitor," Love's Labour's Lost, Act I. Sc. 2, p. 476.

SCENE IX.

"The hand of death hath raught him": - 'Raught' is an irregular form of the preterit of reach.'

"Demurely wake the sleepers A very suspicious reading, for which various futile conjectural emendations have been proposed. Warburton accepted' demurely' in the sense of solemnly; the appropriateness of which is not very apparent. I am inclined to think that there is no corruption, and that Shakespeare used' demurely' in the sense of subdued, and with reference to the distant sound of the drums.

p. 100.

"

p. 101.

p. 102.

SCENE X.

["Ascend we then]

Where their appointment" &c.: Here the folio

has,

"Order for Sea is giuen;

They have put forth the Hauen :

Where their appointment we may best discover
And looke on their endeauour."

Manifestly some words have been lost after Haven,' and the continuity of the passage demands at least a substitute for them. Rowe inserted, Further on;" Capell, "Hie we on;" Tyrwhitt, "Let us go;" Malone, "Let's seek a spot; and Mr. Dyce, better than either of his predecessors, Forward, now.' But the speech is very closely formed upon the corresponding passage in North's Plutarch, and by that I have been guided in my attempt to supply the hiatus. "The next morning by breake of day he went to set those few footemen he had in order upon the hills adjoining vnto the citie: and there he stoode to behold his gallies which departed from the haven." It is evident from the first part of Antony's speech that he has not yet gone up the heights.

66

the augurers

The folio has, "the auguries,"

which manifest misprint Malone corrected.

Triple-turn'd whore! 'tis thou":

Antony al

ludes to Cleopatra's amours with Julius Cæsar, Cneius Pompeius, and himself.

“That spaniel'd me at heels": The folio, "That pannelled me," which Hanmer happily corrected.

O this false soul of Egypt":- Mr. Collier's folio of 1632 speciously has, "O this false spell of Egypt."

Pricking

at fast and loose" : -- A game called “ the garter" has been supposed to be meant here; but no particular game or trick seems to be alluded to.

"For poor'st diminutives, for doits” : — The folio has, "for dolts a misprint, without doubt. Warburton corrected it. A doit was a small brass coin which is often mentioned by Shakespeare.

SCENE XI.

"Was never so emboss'd i. e., so worried by the hunters. See the Note on "The poor cur is embossed," Taming of the Shrew, Induction, Sc. 1.

SCENE XII.

p. 103.

p. 104.

p. 105.

p. 106. p. 107.

p. 110.

p. 112.

"The rack dislimns

See the Note on "leave not

a rack behind," The Tempest, Act IV. Sc. 1.

"My good knave, Eros": See the Note on "whip me such honest knaves," Othello, Act I. Sc. 1.

"Pack'd cards with Cæsar": - The folio, "with CaWe have had the same error before in this play,

sars."

Act III. Sc. 2. See the Note on page 11.

ed arms.

bery.

with pleached arms": - i. e., intertwined, foldThe word was oftenest applied to thick shrub

"The guard, ho!" The folio, "The guard how? This way of spellingho' is so common that it does not need to be noticed except in cases like the present, in which it may create a slight doubt as to the proper reading.

66

SCENE XIII.

die, where thou hast liv'd": The folio, "die when," &c.—a misprint hardly worth notice, which Pope corrected.

"That the false housewife Fortune":

i. e., the false strumpet. See the Note on "the overswitch'd huswives " 2 Henry the Fourth, Act III. Sc. 2, p. 550.

Good sirs, take heart":

Women were sometimes addressed as sir in Shakespeare's time; and we see in this play, Act V. Sc. 2, sirrah' applied by Cleopatra to Iras, one of her handmaidens.

p. 112.

ACT FIFTH.

SCENE I.

The pauses that he makes It has been generally supposed that something is lost from this passage; and various attempts have been made at restoration. Perhaps Malone's was the best, who read,

66

Being so frustrate, tell him

He mocks us by the pauses that he makes."

Mr. Sidney Walker was the first to remark that frustrates is here a trisyllable, and to bring forward other