Tro. He's dead; and at the murderer's horse's tail,

In beastly sort, dragg'd through the shameful field.-
Frown on, you heavens, effect your rage with speed!
Sit, gods, upon your thrones, and smile at Troy!
at once let your brief plagues be mercy,
And linger not our sure destruction on!

I

say,

Ene. My lord, you do discomfort all the host.
Tro. You understand me not, that tell me so:
I do not speak of flight, of fear, of death;
But dare all imminence, that gods and men
Address their dangers in. Hector is gone!
Who shall tell Priam so, or Hecuba?

Let him, that will a screech-owl aye be call'd,
Go into Troy, and say there-Hector's dead:
There is a word will Priam turn to stone;
Make wells and Niobes of the maids and wives,
Cold statues of the youth; and, in a word,
Scare Troy out of itself. But, march, away:
Hector is dead; there is no more to say.
Stay yet;-You vile abominable tents,

Thus proudly pight upon our Phrygian plains,
Let Titan rise as early as he dare,

As TROILUS is going out, enters, from the other side, PANDARUS.

Pan. But hear you, hear you!

Tro. Hence, broker lackey! ignomy and shame Pursue thy life, and live aye with thy name. (Exit Troilus.

Pan. A goodly med'cine for my aching bones!O world! world! world! thus is the poor agent despis'd! O traitors and bawds, how earnestly are you set a'work, and how ill requited! Why should our endeavour be so loved, and the performance so loathed? what verse for it? what instance for it?Let me see:

Full merrily the humble-bee doth sing,
Till he hath lost his honey, and his sting:
And being once subdued in armed tail,
Sweet honey and sweet notes together fail.-
Good traders in the flesh, set this in your painted
cloths.

As many as be here of pander's hall,
Your eyes, half out, weep out at Pandar's fall:
Or, if you cannot weep, yet give some groans,

siz'd coward!

No space of earth shall sunder our two hates;
I'll haunt thee like a wicked conscience still,
That mouldeth goblins swift as frenzy thoughts.-
Strike a free march to Troy !-with comfort go:
Hope of revenge shall hide our inward woe.

[Exeunt Eneas and Trojans.

Brethren, and sisters, of the hold-door trade,
Some two months hence my will shall here be made
It should be now, but that my fear is this,-
Some galled goose of Winchester would hiss:
Till then I'll sweat, and seek about for eases;
And, at that time, bequeath you my diseases.

Eril

PROLOGUE.

P. 263, c. 1, l. 4. The princes orgulous,] Orgulous, | i. e proud, disdainful. Orgueilleux, Fr. Id. 1. 20 fulfilling bolts,] To fulfill, in this place, means to fill till there be no room for more. In this sense it is now obsolete. 1. 1. 21. Sperr up the sons of Troy.] To sperre, or spar, from the old Teutonic word speren, signifies to shut up, defend by bars, &c. Id. 1. 25. A prologue arm'd,] I come here to speak the prologue, and come in armour; not defying the audience, in confidence of either the author's or actor's abilities, but merely in a character suited to the subject, in a dress of war, before a warlike play.

Id. 1. 29. the vaunt-] i. e. the avant, what went before.

ACT I.

SCENE I.

Id 1 37my varlet,] This word anciently signified a servant or footman to a knight or

warrior.

Id 1 47.

ish

-fonder-] i. e. more weak, or fool

Id. c. 2, l. 19. Doth lesser blench-] To blench is to shrink, start, or fly off. P. 264, c. 1, l. 1. and spirit of sense

Hard as the palm of ploughman!] In comparison with Cressida's hand, says he, the spirit of sense, the utmost degree, the most exquisite power of sensibility, which implies a soft hand, since the sense of touching, as Scaliger says in his Exercitations, resides chiefly in the fingers, is hard as the callous and insensible palm of the ploughmar. 4. l. 12. — -she has the mends-] She may make the best of a bad bargain. This is a proverbial saying.

Id. 1. 57.

gruous.

IL. c. 2. 1. 3.

sorts,] i. e. fits, suits, is con

SCENE II.

husbandry in war,] Husbandry means economical prudence. Troilus alludes to Hector's early rising. 1. 19. their particular additions;] Their peculiar and characteristic qualities or deno

minations. 1. 1. 22.

- that his valour is crushed into folly,] To be crushed into folly, is to be con

l. 26. - - against the air:] Is a phrase equivalent to another now is use- against the grain. The French sayà contrepoil. 265, c. 1, l. 32. a merry Greek,] Græcari, among the Romans, signified to play the reveller. The expression occurs in many old English books.

Id. l. 34.

-

compassed window,] The compassed window is the same as the bow window.

ld. l. 41. so old a lifter?] The word lifter is used for a thief. We still call a person who plunders shops, a shop-lifter. Hliftus, in the Gothic language, signifies a thief.

Id. c. 2, l. 12. that it passed.] i. e. that it went beyond bounds.

Id. l. 45. the rich shall have more.] The allusion is to the word noddy, which, as now, did, in our author's time, and long before, signify a silly fellow, and may, by its etymology, signify likewise full of nods. Cressida means that a noddy shall have more nods. Of such remarks as these is a comment to consist! JOHNSON.

P. 266, c. 1, 1. 40. -no date in the pye,] To account for the introduction of this quibble, it should be remembered that dates were an ingredient in ancient pastry of almost every kind.

Id. l. 43. at what ward you lie.] A metaphor from the art of defence. Id. c. 2, l. 4.

affin'd-] i e. joined by affinity. "Nestor shall apply - Perhaps Nestor means, that he will attend particularly to. and consider, Agamemnon's latest words. Id. 1. 59. by the brize,] The brize is the gad or horse fly.

Id. 1. 62 And flies fled under shade,] i. e. And flies are fled under shade.

Id. l. 62. the thing of courage,] It is said of the tiger, that in storms and high winds he rages and roars most furiously. Id. 1. 66. Returns to chiding-] Chiding is noisy, clamorous.

T

P. 267, c. 1, 74

speeches,

such.

As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece Should hold up high in brass; and such

again,

As venerable Nestor. hatch'd in silver,
Should with a bond of air

knit all the Greekish ears

To his experienc'd tongue. Ulysses begins his oration with praising those who had spoken before him, and marks the characteristic excellencies of their different eloquence,―strength and sweetness, which he expresses by the dif ferent metals on which he recommends them to be engraven for the instruction of posterity. The speech of Agamemnon is such that it ought to be engraven in brass, and the tablet held up by him on the one side, and Greece on the other, to show the union of their opinion. And Nestor ought to be exhibited in silver, uniting all his audience in one mind by his soft and gentle clocution. Brass is the common emblem of strength, and silver of gentleness. We call a soft voice a silver voice, and a persuasive tongue, a silver tongue. To hatch is a term of art for a particular method of engraving. Hacher, to eut, Fr. JOHNSON. The commentators differ in some respects from this expla

nation.

Id. c 7 -expect Expect for expectation.
Id. 115. The speciality of rule-, The particular

rights of supreme authority.

Id 1. 18. When that the general is not like the hive. The meaning is, - When the general is not to the army like the hive to the bees. the repository of the stock of every individual, that to which each particular resorts with whatever he has collected for th good of the whole, what honey is expected? what hope of advantage? The sense is clear, the expres sion is confused. JOHNSON.

Id. l. 22. --- the planets, and this center,' By

this center, Ulysses means the earth itself, not the center of the earth. According to the system of Ptolemy, the earth is the center round which the planets move.

Id. l. 36.

roots.

Id. l. 41.

derarinate- i. e. force up by the

--brotherhoods in cities, Corporations, companies, confraternities. Id 1 42. - dividable shores,¡ i. e, divided. id. l. 48. Mere is abolute. Id. 1. 65. That by a space-] That goes backward step by step

Id. l. 66.

with a purpose

It hath to climb With a design in each man to aggrandize himself, by slighting his immediate superior.

-

Id. l. 71.- - bloodless emulation: An emulation not vigorous and active, but malignant and sluggish.

Id. l. 76. ——our power- i. e. our army Id. c. 2, 1. 9 Thy topless deputation,―| Topless is that which has nothing topping or overtopping it; supreme; sovereign.

Id. 1. 13 Twist his stretch'd footing and the scaffoldage, The galleries of the theatre, the time of our author, were sometimes termed the scaffolds.

Id. l. 14

--o'er-wrested seeming- i. c wrested beyond the truth.

Id. l. 16. unsquar'd. i. e. unadapted to their subject, as stones are unfitted to the purposes of architecture, while they are yet unsquard. Id. 1 25. -as near as the extremest ends

Of parallels: The parallels to which the allusion seems to be made, are the parallels on a map. As like as east to west.

In such a rein,] That is, nolds up his head as haughtily. We still say of a girl, an bridles.

Id. P. 268, c. 1. 4. A stranger to those most imperial looks- And yet this was the seventh year of the war. Shakspeare, who so wonderfully preserves character, usually confounds the customs of all nations, and probably sup posed that the ancients (like the heroes of chivalry) fought with beavers to their helmets. So, in the fourth Act of this play Nestor says to Hector:

by measure- i. e. "by means of their observant toil."

"But this thy countenance, still lock'd in steel, "I never saw till now.'

Shakspeare might have adopted this error from the wooden cuts to ancient books, or from the illuminators of manuscripts, who never seem to have entertained the least idea of habits, manners, or customs more accept than their own. There are books in the British Museum of the age of King Henry VI., and in these the heroes of ancient Greece are represented in the very dresses worn at the time when the books received their decorations.

Id. l. 26. follows"-MALONE, and so in Steevens last edition, but, I suspect, erroneously. (. Id. l. 50. -long-continued truce-, Of the long truce there has been no notice takch in this very Act it is said, that Ajar ciped Hector yesterday in the battle. have another proof of Shakspeare's fallag into inconsistencies, by sometimes adhering to, and sometimes deserting, his original. Id. l. 57. more than in confession,] Confession for profession.

Id. c. 2, 1. 5. And in my vantbrace—¡ An armour for the arm, avantbras.

Id. 1. 21. Be you my time, &c. i. e. be you to my present purpose what time is in respect of all other schemes, viz. a ripener and bringer of them to maturity,

Id. 1. 37. And, in the publication, make no strain,, i. e. make no difficulty, no doubt. Id. l. 54. - scantling- that is, a measure, proportion. The carpenter cuts his wood to a certain scantling.

Id. l. 56. small pricks-] Small points.compared with the volumes, or perhaps indexes, which were, in Shakspeare's time, oftca prefired to books.

P. 269, c.1, 7. 6. —our main pinion-] is, ou
general estimation or character.
Id. I. 9 The sort- i. e. the lot.
Id. l. 16

under our opinion- Here agal opinion means character. Id. 1. 25. Must tarte the mastiffs on,] Tarre, an old English word, signifying to provoke of

orge on.

ACT II. SCENE I

Id. 1. 27. Act II. This play is not divided into
Acts in any of the original editions.
Id. . 67. Cobloaf! A crusty, uneven, gibbaɑ
loaf, is in some counties called by this name.

P. 269, c.1, 7. 68.

-pun thee into shivers-] Pun is in the midland counties the vulgar and colloquial word for-pound. d.l.70. Thou stool for a witch!] In one way of trying a witch, they used to place her on a chair or stool, with her legs tied across, that all the weight of her body might rest upon her seat; and by that means, after some time, the circulation of the blood would be much stopped, and her sitting would be as painful as the wooden horse. GREY.

Id. 1.73. - an assinego-] A he-ass.

Id. 1.75. -thou art bought and sold—] This was a proverbial expression.

ld. 1. 76. If thou use to beat me,] i. e. if thou continue to beat me, or make a practice of beating me.

Id. c. 2, 1. 26. —his pia mater, &c.] The pia mater is a membrane that protects the substance of the brain. Idlis beaten voluntary: i. e. voluntarily. Shakspeare often uses adjectives adverbially. ld 1. 72. when Achilles' brach bids me,] The commentators are not agreed on the meaning of this word, some referring it to a species of dog, and some to an ornament called a broche, or broach.

uto a common voider.

Id. L. 16. Your breath with full consent-] Your breaths all blowing together; your unanimous approbation.

Id. 1. 19. And, for an old aunt.] Priam's sister, Hesione, whom Hercules, being enraged at Priam's breach of faith, gave to Telamon, who by her had Ajax.

11. 1. 33. And do a deed that fortune never did,] i. e. act with more inconstancy and caprice than ever did fortune.

Id 1 56. Our fire-brand brother,] Hecuba, when pregnant with Paris, dreamed she should be divered of a burning torch. - distaste, Corrupt; change to a

Id. 1.70

worse state.

Id. 1. 72. To make it gracious.] i. e. to set it off; to show it to advantage.

Id 1 77.convince of levity-] This word, which our author frequently employs in the obsole te sense of-to overpower, subdue, seems, in the present instance, to signify-convict, or subject to the charge of levity.

11. 179.- your full consent-] Your unanimous approbation. P1.c.1,7.34 Have gloz'd,] Have commented. 1 l. 35. — Aristotle-] Let it be remembered,

as often as Shakspeare's anachronisms occur, that errors in computing time were very frequent in those ancient romances which seem to have formed the greater part of his library, 11 1 47 of partial indulgence—]i e. through partial indulgence.

Id.

4-benumbed wills.] That is, inflexible, Immoveable, no longer obedient to superior direction,

Id. l. 19.

Id.

SCENE III.

-the serpentine craft of thy Caduceus;] The wand of Mercury is wreathed with serpents. 1. 23.without drawing their massy irons,] That is, without drawing the swords to cut their web. They use no means but those of violence. JOHNSON.

Id. 1. 38. Let thy blood be thy direction] Thy blood means, thy passions; thy natural propensities.

Id. l. 59. decline-] Deduce the question from the first case to the last.

P. 272, c. 1, l. 11. He shent our messengers :] i. e. rebuked, rated.

Id. l.

Id. l. 45. - noble state,] i. e. the stately train of attending nobles whom you bring with -breath,] Breath, in the present instance, stands for breathing, i. e. exercise. Id. l. 64. tend the savage strangeness-] i. e. shyness, distant behaviour. To tend, is to attend upon.

Id. 1.66. -underwrite-] To subscribe, in Shakspeare, is to obey.

ld. 1. 66. – in a observing kind—] i. e. in a mode religiously attentive.

Id. l. 75. probation. Id. c. 2, l. 41.

allowance give-] Allowance is ap

the death-tokens of it-] Alluding to the decisive spots appearing on those infected by the plague.

Id. 1.50 with his own seam;] Swine-seam, in the North, is hog's-lard.

Id. 1. 60. That were to enlard, &c.] This is only the well-known proverb-Grease a fal sow, &e. in a more stately dress.

Id. l. 70. ——— I'll pash him—] i: e. strike him with

violence.

Id. l. 72. - pheeze his pride:] To pheeze is to comb or curry.

Id. 1. 74. Not for the worth-] Not for the value of all for which we are fighting.

P. 273, c. 1, 4. "He will be the "-MALONE. Id l. 16. -force him-] i. e. stuff him. Farcir, Fr.

Id. 1. 27. He is not emulous,] Emulous, in this in

stance, and perhaps in some others, may well enough he supposed to signify-jealous of higher authority.

Id. l. 29. that shall palter-] That shall juggle with us, or Hy from his engagements. Id. 1. 46. Bull-bearing Milo his addition yield— i. e. yield his titles, his celebrity for strength. Addition, in legal language, is the title given to each party, showing his degree, occupation, &c. as esquire, gentleman, yeoman, merchant, &c.

Id.

Our author here, as usual, pays no regard to chronology. Milo of Croton lived long after the Trojan war.

l. 48. like a bourn.] A bourn is a boundary, and sometimes a rivulet dividing one place from another.

T