Con. Never any body saw it, but his lacquey: 'tis a hooded valor; and, when it appears, it will bate. -'tis a hooded valor, and when it appears, it will bate.] This is said with allusion to falcons which are kept hooded when they are not to fly at game, and, as soon as the hood is off, bait or flap the wing. The meaning is, the Dauphin's valor has never been let loose upon an enemy, yet, when he makes his first essay, we shall see how he will flutter. JoHN. 'When it appears it will bate.' A quibble, and in regard of the character of the Dauphin. Bait the term in falconry and 'bate for abate or slacken. 'As to his valor nobody ever discovered it but his lacquey, and when it shall appear to us, I believe it will come abated: it is more in word, than in deed. B. Chorus. The poor condemned English, Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires Sit patiently, and inly ruminate The morning's danger; and their gesture sad, Investing lank-lean cheeks, and war-worn coats, Presenteth them unto the gazing moon So many horrid ghosts. Investing lank-lean cheeks,-] A gesture investing cheeks and coats is nonsense. We should read: Invest in lank-lean cheeks which is sense, i. e. their sad gesture was cloath'd, or set off, in lean cheeks and worn coats. The image is strong and picturesque. WARB. 'Investing lank-lean cheeks.' The right word, I think, will be infesting, (a participial adjective.) The construction is not, as Dr. Warburton supposes, a gesture investing cheeks &c. which is, no doubt, ridiculous: the meaning is—their gesture is sad; and they have infesting, lank-lean cheeks. The expression is certainly vicious; but Shakspeare seems to have used infesting, lank-lean cheeks,' in the sense of cheeks become lank by harassment and care. There must be a comma at infesting— to mark the double adjective before cheeks. B. K. Henry. The enter-tissued robe of gold and pearl, The farsed title running 'fore the king. -farsed title running, &c.] Farsed is stuffed. The tumid puffy titles with which a king's name is always introduced. This, I think, is the sense. JOHN. Farsed title running.' 'Farsed,' in the language of the Kitchen, is stuffed-filled with mixed ingredients; but I do not like the expression here. We may better read, the farded title; .e. the painted, gaudy title. Farder fr. to paint,-to ornament. Then let the trumpets sound Con. The tucket-sonuance, &c.] He uses terms of the field as if they were going out only to the chase for sport. To dare the field is a phrase in falconry. Birds are dared when by the falcon in the air they are terrified from rising, so that they will be sometimes taken by the hand. Such an easy capture the lords expected to make of the English. JOIN. The tucket-sonuance was, I believe, the name of an introductory flourish on the trumpet, as tocatta in Italian is the prelude of a sonata on the harpsichord, and toccar la tromba is to blow the trumpet. In the Spanish tragedy (no date) a tucket afar off.' Again, in the Devil's Lawcase, 1623: 9tuckets by several trumpets." Sonance is a word used by Heywood, in his Rape of Lucrece, 1630: 'Or, if he chance to endure our tongues so much As but to hear their sonance.' STEEV. "The tucket sonuance.' florish. It is now written son. Sonaunce in old french is sound, B. Sal. My sovereign lord, bestow yourself with speed: The French are bravely in their battles set, And will with all expedience charge on us. -expedience] i. e. expedition. STEEV. 'Expedience. All expedience' is not expedition-but 'all due fitness, at the meetest opportunity.' B. K. Henry. Why, now thou hast unwish'd five thousand men; -thou hast unwish'd five thousand men,-] By wishing only thyself and me, thou hast wished five thousand men away. Shakspeare never thinks of such trifles as numbers. In the last scene the French are said to be full threescore thousand, which Exeter declares to be five to one; but, by the king's account, they are twelve to one. JOHN. • Unwish'd five thousand men.' Dr. Johnson is wrong in his remark. The king means to say five thousand for each: that is for Westmoreland and himself. B. : K. Henry. Mark then a bounding valor in our English; That, being dead, like to the bullet's grazing, Breaks out into a second course of mischief, Killing in relapse of mortality. Mark then abounding valor in our English ;] Thus the old folios, The quartos, more erroneously still: Mark then aboundant Mr. Pope degraded the passage in both his editions, because, I presume, he did not understand it. I have reformed the text, and the allusion is exceedingly beautiful; comparing the revival of the English valor to the rebounding of a cannon-ball. THEOB. 'Mark then abounding valor in our English.' Theobald is too hasty in his objection and censure. Aboundant (fr.) may be right. B. Killing in relapse of mortality.] What is it to kill in relapse of mortality? I do not know. I suspect that it should be read : Killing in reliques of mortality. That is, continuing to kill when they are the reliques that death has left behind it. That the allusion is, as Mr. Theobald thinks, exceedingly beautiful, I am afraid few readers will discover. The valor of a putrid body, that destroys by the stench, is one of the thoughts that do no great honor to the poet. Perhaps from this putrid valor Dryden might borrow the posthumous empire of Don Sebastian, who was to reign wheresoever his atoms should be scattered. JOHN. 'Mortality' is sickness, relapse' is return, and the preposition of' is used, as is common with the writers of Shakspeare's time, instead of by. The sense of the passage is this-The valor, or rather the power of our English is such, that being dead, they will yet (in return) destroy their enemies by breeding a sickness-by the stench which will arise from their bodies. B. K. Henry. Tell the constable, We are but warriors for the working day: -warriors for the working day :] We are soldiers but coarsely dressed; we have not on our holiday apparel. JoHN. For the working day.' It rather means, we can only fight: we cannot make parade or shew, as you do. B. K. Henry. There's not a piece of feather in our host, (Good argument, I hope, we shall not fly.) 'There's not a piece of feather in our host, (Good argument, I hope, we shall not fly.') It is ridiculous to talk of the want of a feather being an argument &c. We should undoubtedly read augurment. B. Pist. Quality, call you me?-Construe me, art thou a gentleman? What is thy name? discuss. Quality, calmly, custure me, art thou a gentleman? We should read this nonsense thus: Quality, cality-construe me, art thou a gentleman? i. e. tell me, let me understand whether thou best a gentleman. WARB. Quality call you me?' Call you me?' is surely wrong. Cality, (the old reading,) appears to be Pistol's word. He uses it for Callide (lat.) cunningly. Quality! Shrewdly, cunningly observed,' But tell me &c. B. -discuss.] This affected word is used by Lylly in his Woman in the Moon, 1597: "But first I must discuss this heavenly cloud." STEEV. What is thy name? discuss.' Discuss' with Pistol, is explain, Discuss' with Lylly is disperse. Mr. S's quotation is therefore nothing to the purpose. The Editor of such a writer as Shakspeare, should be acquainted with the several meanings of a word,-if several meanings it has; which is generally the case. B. Pist. Moy shall not serve, I will have forty moys; Moy shall not serve; I'll have a ton of moys.' saying moi, Pistol had moidore in his thought. B. Qu. if by Pist. For I will fetch thy rim out at thy throat, In drops of crimson blood. For I will fetch thy rym -] We should read : Or, I will fetch thy ransom out of thy throat. WARB. I know not what to do with rym. The measure gives reason to suppose that it stands for some monosyllable; and, besides, ransome is a word not likely to have been corrupted. JOHN. This line is wanting in the quartos 1600 and 1608. The folio reads: thy rymme. It appears however, from Sir Arthur Gorges's Translation of Lucan, 1614, that some part of the intestines was anciently called the rimme, Lucan. B. 1; "The slender rimme too weake to part " -parvusque secat vitalia limes. L. 623. STEEV. In the passage quoted from Gorges' translation of Lucan, rimme has certainly the same meaning as the Latin word limes; and may stand for the diaphragm, or that membrane which divides the upper cavity of the body from the lower. But the rym is properly the peritoneum, or caul, which covers the bowels. Pistol's expression seems equivalent to the one now used. 'I will not be so easily satisfied-I will have your heart's blood." Such, I believe, is the meaning. It should be, or I will fetch' &c. B. Fr. Sol. Est-il impossible d'eschapper la force de ton bras? Pist. Brass, cur! Brass, cur? Either Shakspeare had very little knowledge in the French language, or his over-fondness for punning led him in this place, contrary to his own judgment, into an error. Almost every one knows that the French word bras is pronounced brau ; and what resemblance of sound does this bear to brass, that Pistol should reply Brass, cur? The joke would appear to a reader, but could scarce be discovered in the performance of the play. Sir W. RAWLINSON. If the pronunciation of the French language be not changed since Shakspeare's time, which is not unlikely, it may be suspected some other man wrote the French scenes. JOHN. The editors are mistaken. Bras is not pronounced brau, unless it be by the English. The s is always sounded by a Frenchman. B. Boy. He says, his name is-master Fer. Pist. Master Fer? I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him! --and firk him,] The word firk is so variously used by the old writers, that it is almost impossible to ascertain its precise meaning. On this occasion it may mean to chastise. In Ram-Alley, &c. it seems to be employed in the sense of—quibble : "Sir, leave this firk of law, or by this light, &c." STREV. 'Firk him.' In this instance from Ram-alley, firk has evidently the sense of quirk, i. e. shift, cavil, evasion. B. Boy. Bardolph, and Nym, had ten times more valor than this roaring devil i'the old play. -this roaring devil in the old play ;-] In modern puppetshows, which seem to be copied from the old farces, punch sometimes fights the devil, and always overcomes him. I suppose the vice of the old farce, to whom punch succeeds, used to fight the devil with a wooden dagger. JOHN. |