Chapter 10

IV.iii.88 (466,1) Yet wrung with wrongs] To _wring_ a horse is to press or strain his back.

IV.iv.90 (472,4) With words more sweet, and yet more dangerous,/ Than baits to fish, or honey-stalks to sheep] _Honey-stalks_ are clover-flowers, which contain a sweet juice. It is common for cattle to over-charge themselves with clover, and die.

V.i.102 (476,7) As true a dog, as ever fought at head] An allusion to bull-dogs, whose generosity and courage are always shown by meeting the bull in front, and seizing his nose.

V.ii.189 (484,1) And of the paste a coffin will I rear] A _coffin_ is the term of art for the cavity of a raised pye.

V.iii.19 (486,2) break the parley] That is, _begin_ the parley. We yet say, he _breaks_ his mind.

(492) General Observation. All the editors and critics agree with Mr. Theobald in supposing this play spurious. I see no reason for differing from them; for the colour of the stile is wholly different from that of the other plays, and there is an attempt at regular versification, and artificial closes, not always inelegant, yet seldom pleasing. The barbarity of the spectacles, and the general massacre, which are here exhibited, can scarcely be conceived tolerable to any audience; yet we are told by Jonson, that they were not only borne, but praised. That Shakespeare wrote any part, though Theobald declares it _incontestible_, I see no reason for believing.

The testimony produced at the beginning of this play, by which it is ascribed to Shakespeare, is by no means equal to the argument against its authenticity, arising from the total difference of conduct, language, and sentiments, by which it stands apart from all the rest. Meeres had probably no other evidence than that of a title-page, which, though in our time it be sufficient, was then of no great authority; for all the plays which were rejected by the first collectors of Shakespeare's works, and admitted in later editions, and again rejected by the critical editors, had Shakespeare's name on the title, as we must suppose, by the fraudulence of the printers, who, while there were yet no gazettes, nor advertisements, nor any means of circulating literary intelligence, could usurp at pleasure any celebrated name. Nor had Shakespeare any interest in detecting the imposture, as none of his fame or profit was produced by the press.

The chronology of this play does not prove it not to be Shakespeare's. If it had been written twenty-five years, in 1614, it might have been written when Shakespeare was twenty-five years old. When he left Warwickshire I know not, but at the age of twenty-five it was rather too late to fly for deer-stealing.

Ravenscroft, who in the reign of Charles II, revised this play, and restored it to the stage, tells us, in his preface, from a theatrical tradition, I suppose, which in his time might be of sufficient authority, that this play was touched in different parts by Shakespeare, but written by some other poet. I do not find Shakespeare's touches very discernible, (see 1765, VI, 364) (rev. 1778, VIII, 559)

Vol. IX.

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA

Prologue. (4,2)

_And hither am I come A prologue arm'd; but not in confidence Of author's pen, or actor's voice; but suited In like conditions as our argument_]

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.

I.i.12 (8,3) And skill-less as unpractis'd infancy] Mr. Dryden, in his alteration of this play, has taken this speech as it stands, except that he has changed _skill-less_ to _artless_, not for the better, because _skill-less_ refers to _skill_ and _skilful_.

I.i.58 (10,4) The cignet's down is harsh, and spirit of sense/Hard as the palm of ploughman!] _In comparison with_ Cressid'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 ploughman. WARBURTON reads,

--SPITE _of sense_:

HANMER,

--to th' _spirit of sense_.

It is not proper to make a lover profess to praise his mistress in _spite of sense_; for though he often does it in _spite of the sense_ of others, his own senses are subdued to his desires.

I.i.66 (10,5) if she be fair, 'tis the better for her; an she be not, she has the mends in her own hands] She may mend her complexion by the assistance of cosmeticks.

I.ii.4 (12,1) Hector, whose patience/Is, as a virtue, fix'd] [W: Is as the] I think the present text may stand. Hector's patience was as a virtue, not variable and accidental, but fixed and constant. If I would alter it, it should be thus:

--Hector, whose patience Is ALL a virtue fix'd,--

_All_, in old English, is the _intensive_ or enforcing particle.

I.ii.8 (13,2) Before the sun rose, he was harness'd light] [Warburton stated that "harnessed light" meant Hector was to fight on foot] How does it appear that Hector was to fight on foot rather to-day than on any other day? It is to be remembered, that the ancient heroes never fought on horseback; nor does their manner of fighting in chariots seem to require less activity than on foot.

I.ii.23 (14,4) his valour is crushed into folly] To be _crushed into folly_, is to be _confused_ and mingled with _folly_, so as that they make one mass together.

I.ii.46 (15,6) Ilium] Was the palace of Troy.

I.ii.120 (17,7) compass-window] The _compass-window_ is the same as the _bow-window_. (1773)

I.ii.212 (20,2)

_Cre._ Will he give you the nod? _Pan._ You shall see. _Cre._ If he do, the rich shall have more]

[W: rich] I wonder why the commentator should think any emendation necessary, since his own sense is fully expressed by the present reading. Hanmer appears not to have understood the passage. That to _give the nod_ signifies to _set a mark of folly_, I do not know; 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_. Cressid means, that _a_ noddy _shall have more_ nods. Of such remarks as these is a comment to consist?

I.ii.260 (22,3) money to boot] So the folio. The old quarto, with more force, Give _an eye_ to boot. (rev. 1778, IX, 25, 1)

I.ii.285 (22,4) upon my wit to defend my wiles] So read both the copies) yet perhaps the author wrote,

Upon my wit to defend my will.

The terms _wit_ and _will_ were, in the language of that time, put often in opposition.

I.ii.300 (23,5) At your own house; there he unarms him] [These necessary words added from the quarto edition. POPE.] The words added are only, _there he unarms him_.

I.ii.313 (23,6) joy's soul lies in the doing] So read both the old editions, for which the later editions have poorly given,

--the _soul's joy_ lies in doing.

I.ii.316 (23,7) That she] Means, that woman.

I.iii.31 (25,2) With due observance of thy godlike seat] [T: godlike seat] This emendation [for goodly seat] Theobald might have found in the quarto, which has,

--the _godlike_ seat.

I.iii.32 (25,3) Nestor shall apply/Thy latest words] Nestor _applies_ the words to another instance.

I.iii.54 (26,7) Returns to chiding fortune] For _returns_, Hanmer reads _replies_, unnecessarily, the sense being the same. The folio and quarto have _retires_, corruptly.

I.iii.62 (27,8)

both your speeches; which are 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 (strong as the axle-tree On which heaven rides) 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 characteristick excellencies of their different eloquence, strength, and sweetness, which he expresses by the different 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 shew 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 elocution. 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.--I once read for _hand_, the _band_ of Greece, but I think the text right.--To _hatch_ is a term of art for a particular method of _engraving_. _Hatcher_, to cut, Fr.

I.iii.78 (28,1) The specialty of rule] The particular rights of supreme authority.

I.iii.81 (29,2) 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 be has collected for the good of the whole, _what honey is expected_? what hope of advantage? The sense is clear, the expression is confused.

I.iii.101 (30,5) Oh, when degree is shak'd] I would read,

--So when degree is shak'd. (see 1765, VII, 431, 5)

I.iii.103 (30,6) The enterprize] Perhaps we should read,

_Then_ enterprize is sick!--

I.iii.104 (30,7) brotherhoods in cities] Corporations, companies, _confraternities_.

I.iii.128 (31,8) That by a pace goes backward] That goes backward _step by step_.

I.iii.128 (31,9) with a purpose/It hath to climb] With a design in each man to aggrandize himself, by slighting his immediate superior.

I.iii.134 (31,1) bloodless emulation] An emulation not vigorous and active, but malignant and sluggish.

I.iii.152 (31,2) Thy topless deputation] _Topless_ is that has nothing _topping_ or _overtopping_ it; supreme; sovereign.

I.iii.167 (32,3) 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.

I.iii.179 (32,4)

All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes, Severals and generals of grace exact, Atchievements, plots]

The meaning is this, All our good _grace exact_, means of _excellence irreprehensible_.

I.iii.184 (32,5) to make paradoxes] _Paradoxes_ may have a meaning, but it is not clear and distinct. I wish the copies had given,

--to make _parodies_.

I.iii.188 (33,6) bears his head/In such a rein] That is, holds up his head as haughtily. We still say of a girl, _she bridles_.

I.iii.196 (33,7) How rank soever rounded in with danger] A _rank weed_ is a _high weed_. The modern editions silently read,

How _hard_ soever--

I.iii.202 (33,8) and know by measure/Of their observant toil the enemies' weight] I think it were better to read,

--and know _the_ measure, _By_ their observant toil, _of_ th' enemies' weight.

I.iii.220 (34,1) Achilles' arm] So the copies. Perhaps the author wrote,

--_Alcides'_ arm.

I.iii.262 (35,4) long continu'd truce] Of this long _truce_ there has been no notice taken; in this very act it is said, that _Ajax coped Hector yesterday in the battle_.

I.iii.270 (36,7) (With truant vows to her own lips he loves)] That is, _confession made with idle vows to the lips of her whom he loves_.

I.iii.319 (37,1) nursery] Alluding to a plantation called a nursery.

I.iii.341 (38,4) scantling] That is, a _measure_, _proportion_. The carpenter cuts his wood to a certain _scantling_.

I.iii.343 (38,5) small pricks] Small _points compared_ with the volumes.

II.i (40,1) _The Grecian camp. Enter Ajax and Thorsites_] ACT II.] This play is not divided into acts in any of the original editions.

II.i.13 (41,2) The plague of Greece] Alluding perhaps to the plague sent by Apollo on the Grecian army.

II.i.15 (41,3) Speak then, thou unsalted leaven, speak] [T: unwinnow'dst] [W: windyest] Hanmer preserves _whinid'st_, the reading of the folio; but does not explain it, nor do I understand it. If the folio be followed, I read, _vinew'd_, that is _mouldy leven_. Thou composition of _mustiness_ and _sourness_.--Theobald's assertion, however confident, is false. _Unsalted_ leaven is in the old quarto. It means _sour_ without _salt_, malignity without wit. Shakespeare wrote first _unsalted_; but recollecting that want of _salt_ was no fault in leaven, changed it to _vinew'd_.

II.i.38 (42,5) aye that thou bark'st at him] I read, _O_ that thou _bark'dst_ at him.

II.i.42 (42,6) pun thee into shivers] _Pun_ is in the midland counties the vulgar and colloquial word for _pound_. (1773)

II.i.125 (45,1) when Achilles' brach bids me] The folio and quarto read, _Achilles'_ brooch. _Brooch_ is an appendant ornament. The meaning may be, equivalent to one of _Achilles' hangers on_.

II.ii.29 (47,2) The past-proportion of his infinite?] Thus read both the copies. The meaning is, _that greatness, to which no measure bears any proportion_. The modern editors silently give,

The _vast_ proportion--

II.ii.58 (48,4) And the will dotes that is inclinable] [Old edition, not so well, has it, _attributive_. POPE.] By the old edition Mr. Pope means the old quarto. The folio has, as it stands, _inclinable_.--I think the first reading better; _the will dotes that attributes_ or gives _the qualities which it affects_; that first causes excellence, and then admires it.

II.ii.60 (48,5) Without some image of the affected merit] The present reading is right. The will _affects_ an object for some supposed _merit_, which Hector says, is uncensurable, unless the _merit_ so _affected_ be really there.

II.ii.71 (48,7) unrespective sieve] That is, into a _common voider_. _Sieve_ is in the quarto. The folio reads,

--unrespective _fame_;

for which the modern editions have silently printed,

--unrespective _place_.

II.ii.88 (49,9)

why do you now The issue of your proper wisdoms rate; And do a deed that fortune never did, Beggar that estimation which you priz'd Richer than sea and land?]

If I understand this passage, the meaning is, "Why do you, by censuring the determination of your own wisdoms, degrade Helen, whom fortune has not yet deprived of her value, or against whom, as the wife of Paris, fortune has not in this war so declared, as to make us value her less?" This is very harsh, and much strained.

II.ii.122 (50,2) her brain-sick raptures/Cannot distaste the goodness of a quarrel] Corrupt; change to a worse state.

II.ii.179 (52,3) benummed wills] That is, inflexible, inmoveable, no longer obedient to superior direction.

II.ii.180 (52,4) There is a law in each well-ordered nation] What the law does in every nation between individuals, justice ought to do between nations.

II.ii.188 (52,5) Hector's opinion/Is this in way of truth] Though considering _truth_ and _justice_ in this question, this is my opinion; yet as a question of honour, I think on it as you.

II.ii.196 (53,6) the performance of our heaving spleens] The execution of spite and resentment.

II.ii.212 (53,7) emulation] That is, envy, factious contention.

II.iii.18 (54,8) without drawing the massy iron and cutting the web] That is, _without drawing their swords to cut the web_. They use no means but those of violence.

II.iii.55 (55,1) decline the whole question] Deduce the question from the first case to the last.

II.iii.108 (57,6) but it was a strong composure, a fool could disunite] So reads the quarto very properly; but the folio, which the moderns have followed, has, _it was a strong_ COUNSEL.

II.iii.118 (57,7) noble state] Person of high dignity; spoken of Agamemnon.

II.iii.137 (58,8) under-write] To _subscribe_, in Shakespeare, is to _obey_.

II.iii.215 (60,2) pheese his pride] To _pheese_ is to _comb_ or _curry_.

II.iii.217 (60,3) Not for the worth that hangs upon our quarrel] Not for the value of all for which we are fighting.

II.iii.267 (62,6)

_Ajax._ Shall I call you father? _Nest._ Ay, my good son]

In the folio and in the nodern editions Ajax desires to give the title of _father_ to Ulysses; in the quarto, more naturally, to Nestor.

III.i.35 (64,1) love's invisible soul] _love's_ visible _soul_.] So HANMER. The other editions have _invisible_, which perhaps may be right, and may mean the _soul of love_ invisible every where else.

III.i.83 (65,3) And, my lord, he desires you] Here I think the speech of Pandarus should begin, and the rest of it should be added to that of Helen, but I have followed the copies.

III.i.96 (65,4) with my disposer Cressida] [W: dispouser] I do not understand the word _disposer_, nor know what to substitute in its place. There is no variation in the copies.

III.i.132 (67,6) _Yet that which seems the wound to kill_] _To kill the wound_ is no very intelligible expression, nor is the measure preserved. We might read,

_These lovers cry, Oh! oh! they die!_ But _that which seems to kill, Doth turn_, &c. _So dying love lives still_.

Yet as _the wound to kill_ may mean _the wound that seems mortal_, I alter nothing.

III.ii.25 (69,1) tun'd too sharp in sweetness]--and _too sharp in sweetness_,] So the folio and all modern editions; but the quarto more accurately,

--_tun'd_ too sharp in sweetness.

III.ii.99 (71,4) our head shall go bare, 'till merit crown it] I cannot forbear to observe, that the quarto reads thus: _Our head shall go bare, 'till merit_ lower part no affection, _in reversion_, &c. Had there been no other copy, hov could this have been corrected? The true reading is in the folio.

III.ii.102 (72,5) his addition shall be humble] We will give him no high or pompous titles.

III.ii.162 (74,6)

but you are wise, Or else you love not; to be wise and love, Exceeds man's might]

I read,

--but _we're not_ wise, Or else _we_ love not; to be wise and love, Exceeds man's might;--

Cressida, in return to the praise given by Troilus to her wisdom, replies, "That lovers are never wise; that it is beyond the power of man to bring love and wisdom to an union."

III.ii.173 (74,8) Might be affronted with the match] I wish "my integrity might be met and matched with such equality and force of pure unmingled love."

III.ii.184 (75,2) As true as steel, as plantage to the moon] _Plantage_ is not, I believe, a general term, but the herb which we now call _plantain_, in Latin, _plantago_, which was, I suppose, imagined to be under the peculiar influence of the moon.

III.ii.187 (76,3)

Yet after all comparisons of truth, As truth's authentic author to be cited _As true as Troilus_, shall crown up the verse]

Troilus shall _crown the verse_, as a man _to be cited as the authentic author of truth_; as one whose protestations were true to a proverb.

III.iii.1-16 (77,5) Now, princes, for the service I have done you] I am afraid, that after all the learned commentator's [Warburton's] efforts to clear the argument of Calchas, it will still appear liable to objection; nor do I discover more to be urged in his defence, than that though his skill in divination determined him to leave Troy, jet that he joined himself to Agamemnon and his army by unconstrained good-will; and though he came as a fugitive escaping from destruction, yet his services after his reception, being voluntary and important, deserved reward. This argument is not regularly and distinctly deduced, but this is, I think, the best explication that it will yet admit.

III.iii.4 (78,6) through the sight I bear in things, to Jove] This passage in all the modern editions is silently depraved, and printed thus:

--through the sight I bear in things to come.

The word is so printed that nothing but the sense can determine whether it be _love_ or _Jove_. I believe that the editors read it as _love_, and therefore made the alteration to obtain some meaning.

III.iii.28 (79,7)

he shall buy my daughter; and her presence Shall quite strike off all service I have done, In most accepted pain]

Sir T. HANMER, and Dr. WARBURTON after him, read,

In most accepted _pay_.

They do not seem to understand the construction of the passage. _Her presence_, says Calchas, shall strike off, or recompence _the service I have done_, even in these _labours_ which were _most accepted_.

III.iii.44 (80,8) derision med'cinable] All the modern editions have _decision_. The old copies are apparently right. The folio in this place agrees with the quarto, so that the corruption was at first merely accidental.

III.iii.96 (82,9) how dearly ever parted] I do not think that in the word _parted_ is included any idea of _division_; it means, _however excellently endowed_, with however _dear_ or precious _parts_ enriched or adorned.

III.iii.113 (82,2) but the author's drift:/Who, in his circumstance] In the detail or circumduction of his argument.

III.iii.125 (83,3) The unknovn Ajax] Ajax, who has abilities which were never brought into view or use.

III.iii.134 (83,4)

How some men creep in skittish Fortune's hall, While others play the idiots in her eyes!]

To _creep_ is to _keep out of sight_ from whatever motive. Some men _keep out of notice in the hall of Fortune_, while others, though they but _play the idiot_, are always _in her eye_, in the way of distinction.

III.iii.137 (83,5) feasting] Folio. The quarto has _fasting_. Either word may bear a good sense.

III.iii.145 (84,6) Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back] This speech is printed in all the modern editions with such deviations from the old copy, as exceed the lawful power of an editor.

III.iii.171 (85,2) for beauty, wit,/High birth, vigour of bone, desert in service] The modern editors read,

For beauty, wit, high birth, desert in service, &c.

I do not deny but the changes produce a more easy lapse of numbers, but they do not exhibit the work of Shakespeare, (see 1765, VII, 435, 2)

III.iii.178 (85,3)

And shew to dust, that is a little gilt, More laud than gilt o'er-dusted]

[T: give to ... laud than they will give to gold] This emendation has been received by the succeeding editors, but recedes too far from the copy. There is no other corruption than such as Shakespeare's incorrectness often resembles. He has omitted the article _to_ in the second line: he should have written,

_More laud than_ to _gilt o'er-dusted_. (1773) (rev. 1778, IX, 93, 7)

III.iii.189 (86,4) Made emulous missions] The meaning of _mission_ seems to be _dispatches_ of the gods _from heaven_ about mortal business, such as often happened at the siege of Troy.

III.iii.197 (86,5) Knows almost every grain of Pluto's gold] For this elegant line the quarto has only,

Knows almost every _thing_.

III.iii.201 (86,7) (with which relation/Durst never meddle)] There is a secret administration of affairs, which no _history_ was ever able to discover.

III.iii.230 (87,9)

Omission to do what is necessary Seals a commission to a blank of danger]

By _neglecting_ our duty we _commission_ or enable that _danger_ of dishonour, which could not reach us before, to lay hold upon us.

III.iii.254 (88,1) with a politic regard] With a _sly look_.

IV.i.11 (91,1) During all question of the gentle truce] I once thought to read,

During all _quiet_ of the gentle truce.

But I think _question_ means intercourse, interchange of conversation.

IV.i.36 (92,4) His purpose meets you] I bring you his meaning and his orders.

IV.i.65 (93,6)

Both merits pois'd, each weighs no less nor more, But he as he, the heavier for a whore]

I read,

But he as he, _each_ heavier for a whore.

_Heavy_ is taken both for _weighty_, and for _sad_ or _miserable_. The quarto reads,

But he as he, _the_ heavier for a whore.

I know not whether the thought is not that of a wager. It must then be read thus:

But he as he. Which heavier for a whore?

That is, _for a whore_ staked down, _which is the heavier_.