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p. 182.

he make me," -one of the commonest of misprints. But it has been hitherto retained, although Posthumus had no control over the conduct of Iachimo; although the latter is endeavoring to induce Imogen to be unchaste by alleging a provocation by her husband, and his own continence had nothing to do with his argument; and although his tempter's suggestion closes,

"Whiles he is vaulting variable ramps

In your despite, upon your purse?

like a descended god": - The folio, "like a defended god”. -a misprint hardly worth notice, which was corrected in the second folio.

p. 184.

66

ACT SECOND.

SCENE I.

when I kiss'd the jack upon an up-cast":- - In

the game of bowls one pin is called the jack.

SCENE II.

p. 187. “And be her sense but as a monument” - i. e., her sensuous part, her body.

p. 188.

p. 189.

"

"The tale of Tereus": - See the Note on "some Tereus hath defloured thee," Titus Andronicus, Act II. Sc. 5.

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May bare the raven's eye": The raven is the most matinal of birds. Even the lark is not abroad earlier.

SCENE III.

"On chalic'd flowers that lies": The disagreement in number between "lies" and its nominative is not worth all that has been written about it. A relic of an old usage, it was common enough in Shakespeare's day. See the following instance of it in Romeo and Juliet, Act II Sc. 4:

"both our remedies

Within thy help and holy physic lies.'

"With every thing that pretty is":- For "is" Hanmer substituted "bin," the old plural form, which are' has replaced. But the rhyme that was thus violently sought is not necessary. The stanza or stave of this song is really one of four fourteen-syllable verses and a refrain. The subdivision of such verses into alternate lines of eight

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and six syllables was at first an irregularity caused by the introduction of rhymes at the cæsural pauses. These cæsural rhymes were sometimes introduced in one part of a song and omitted in others. In the folio the last half of this song is printed as two fourteen-syllable lines; but in modern editions it is usually divided into four of eight and six.

"I have assailed her with music : The folio, "with musickes," where we have quite surely, I think, the superfluous final s. But still such words as music and money were used in the plural.

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"Fools cure not mad folks : Warburton's reading. The folio has, Fooles are not mad Folkes." This Steevens explains, "If I am mad, as you tell me, I am what you can never be, 'Fools are not mad folks.' But even admitting such a very subtle and recondite meaning, what fitness has it to the passage? Cloten says he must stop with Imogen to take care of her, because she is mad; and she, being provoked by his boorishness to "unfold equal discourtesy," indirectly calls him a fool, by telling him that the attendance of fools is of no service to the mad. This reading is confirmed by her reply below, "I'll be no more mad: that cures us both.

and must not soil": - The folio, "not foil the slightest of misprints.

SCENE IV.

"(Statist though I am none": i. e., though I am not a politician.

The legion now in Gallia ":- Mr. Dyce plausibly reads, "The legions,' &c.

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"(Now mingled with their courages) : The first folio, "Now wing-led," &c., which was corrected in the second.

"Was Caius Lucius in the Britain Court":- The folio assigns this speech to Posthumus, erroneously, as Steevens saw. Imogen's husband would not stop to ask idle questions before he read her letter. The mistake may be attributed to the use of the same initial letter P as a prefix for the speeches of both characters.

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"If I have lost it": Mr. Dyce thinks that have' cannot here be regarded as equivalent to 'had,' and therefore reads, "If I had lost it. "If I had lost it." It seems not to have been intended as an equivalent to 'had.' The difference made in the sentence by have' and 'had' is not merely in

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grammatical form, but in thought. Iachimo says, "If I have lost it now, that loss is the consequence of my having then lost the weight of it in gold." We do not use this form of thought now-a-days. So in Posthumus' third speech below, "my hand and ring is yours," did not, I think, convey to Shakespeare and to his auditors exactly the same thought that my hand and ring are yours' conveys to us. I am inclined to the opinion that their apprehension was separative in such cases, and that the assertion was to them, my hand is yours, and my ring is yours,' To who shall find them," in the same speech, is, perhaps, a mere irregularity, or even a fault of the printer; but it occurs so often that a change of the text in accordance with these suppositions is not warranted. The folio, by a mere careless omission of the final s, reads, "or masterles leaue both," in the previous line.

"Since the true life on 't was". The break here is indicated in the folio in the usual manner, by a dash.

two winking Cupids":―i. e., two blind Cupids. "Depending on their brands” Steevens was probably right in supposing that the Cupids bore torches, upon which they leaned.

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"Who knows, if one o' her women": The first folio, "one her women; "the second, "one of her women.” (Worthy the pressing)”: — The folio, "Worthy her pressing," which cannot be right. Rowe made the change.

SCENE V.

"Like a full-acorn'd boar, a German one":— The folio, "a Iarmen on; " about which there has been much unaccountable and futile discussion. If precedent were needed, it might be found in the 4to. edition of the Second Part of Henry the Fourth, which has, Act II. Sc. 1, "the Iarman hunting in water-worke." The forests of Germany have long been celebrated for their wild boars. change of prides": Here'change' is used as it is in Coriolanus, Act II. Sc. 1, "and with them change of honours." In both cases it clearly means variety, severalty, as in the phrase 'changes of raiment.'

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"All faults that may be nam'd": the first, of all faults that name.'

So the second folio;

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p. 203.

ACT THIRD.

SCENE I.

"With rocks unscaleable":-The folio, "With Oakes unskaleable." The context leaves no doubt as to the propriety of Hanmer's change.

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We do say, then, to Cæsar": -The folio has, by the mere carelessness of punctuation so common in it, "whom we reckon

Our selues to be, we do. Say then to Cæsar."

Mr. Collier's folio of 1632 has,

p. 204.

"whom we reckon

Ourselves to be.

We do.

Say then to Cæsar," &c.

Clo.
Cym.

As Cloten accompanies the conversation between the prin-
cipal personages with a running comment, this reading is
very plausible. But the emphatic form, "We do
We do say,"
&c., is specially appropriate here in the mouth of Cymbe-
line; and the original text cannot be safely disturbed.

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"Our ancestor was that Mulmutius” :- "Mulmucius,
the sonne of Cloten,
got the upper hand of the
other dukes or rulers: and after his father's decease began
his reigne over the whole monarchie of Britaine in the
yeere of the world 3529.
He also made manie

good lawes which were long after used called Mulmucius
lawes, turned out of the British speech into Latin by Gil-
das Priscus, and long time after translated out of Latin
into English by Alfred, King of England, and mingled in
his statutes.
After he had established his land,
he ordeined him by the advice of his lords a crown of
golde, and caused himself with great solemnity to be
crowned;
and bicause he was the first that bare

a crowne heere in Britaine, after the opinion of some
writers, he is named the first King of Britaine, and all
the others before rehearsed are named rulers, dukes, or
governours." Holinshed, Vol. I. p. 15, Ed. 1587.

"Which, he to seek of me again perforce,

Behoves me keep at utterance": i. e., he attempting to take away by force the honor which he gave me, it behoves me to keep it to the uttermost. Combats à l'outrance, or to the utterance, were combats to the death. VOL. XII.

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SCENE II.

"What monster's her accuser" : The folio, "What Monsters her accuse, We might read, merely transposing one letter, "What monster her accuses," which would perfect the rhythm; and perhaps there may be some doubt as to the propriety of any change. But the objective case seems awkward here before the verb, and therefore I retain the slight alteration made by Rowe.

"As would take in some virtue":-i. e., as would conquer or take captive. See the Note on "take in that kingdom," Antony and Cleopatra, Act I. Sc. 1.

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Do 't: the letter," &c.: These words of this speech are not in the letter of Posthumus to Pisanio which Imogen reads in Scene 4 of this Act, but speech and letter are substantially the same. Variations like this are not

infrequent in these plays.

"Art thou a feodary” : — i. e., a confederate.

Though forfeiters you cast in prison": i. e., those who forfeited their sealed bonds.

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The

could not be cruel to me, so as you," &c. folio prints this passage thus: "Justice, &c. could not be so cruel to me, as you: (0 dearest of creatures) would even renew me," &c. The style of the note is constrained, in keeping with the mood of the writer; but the obscurity of this text is plainly due to some corruption. Pope read, "Justice ... could not be so cruel to me but you," &c.; Malone, "Justice . . . could not be so cruel to me as you, O the dearest of creatures would not renew me," &c.; Mr. Knight, "Justice . . . could not be so cruel to me, an you [i. e., if you] O dearest," &c. But I think that there has been no worse corruption than a transposition of 'so' by accident, or, perhaps, sophistical design. The passage with this alteration needs no explanation. Perhaps "even is a misprint for 'ever.' and speak thick i. e., rapidly. See the Note on "And speaking thick," Henry the Fourth, Part First, Act II. Sc. 3.

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"How many score of miles": The folio has, "How many store," &c., and "rid" at the end of the line. In the second folio, both errors were corrected.

SCENE III.

Stoop, boys": —

The folio misprints, "Sleepe Boyes," which obvious misprint was left to be corrected by Hanmer.

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