Chapter 7

IV.xii.13 (226,1) Triple turn'd whore!] She was first for Antony, then was supposed by him to have _turned_ to Caesar, when he found his messenger kissing her hand, then she _turned_ again to Antony, and now has _turned_ to Caesar. Shall I mention what has dropped into my imagination, that our author might perhaps have written _triple-tongued_? _Double-tongued_ is a common term of reproach, which rage might improve to _triple-tongued_. But the present reading may stand.

IV.xii.21 (227,2) That pannell'd me at heels] All the editions read,

_That_ pannell'd _me at heels_,--

Sir T. Hanmer substituted _spaniel'd_ by an emendation, with which it was reasonable to expect that even rival commentators would be satisfied; yet Dr. Warburton proposes _pantler'd_, in a note, of which he is not injur'd by the suppression; and Mr. Upton having in his first edition proposed plausibly enough,

_That_ paged _me at heels_,--

in the second edition retracts his alteration, and maintains _pannell'd_ to be the right reading, being a metaphor taken, he says, from a _pannel_ of wainscot.

IV.xii.25 (227,3) this grave charm] I know not by what authority, nor for what reason, _this_ grave _charm_, which the first, the only original copy exhibits, has been through all the modern editors changed to _this_ gay _charm_. By _this_ grave _charm_, is meant, _this sublime, this majestic beauty_.

IV.xii.29 (227,4) to the very heart of loss] To the utmost loss possible.

IV.xii.45 (228,7) Let me lodge, Lichas] Sir T. Hanmer reads thus,

--thy _rage_ Led thee _lodge Lichas_--and-- _Subdue_ thy _worthiest self_.--

This reading, harsh as it is, Dr. Warburton has received, after having rejected many better. The meaning is, Let me do something in my rage, becoming the successor of Hercules,

IV.xiv.19 (230,2) Pack'd cards with Caesar, and false play'd my glory/Unto an enemy's triumph] [Warburton had explained and praised Shakespeare's "metaphor"] This explanation is very just, the thought did not deserve so good an annotation.

IV.xiv.39 (231,3) The battery from my heart] I would read,

This _battery from my heart_.--

IV.xiv.49 (232,4) Seal then, and all is done] I believe the reading is,

--seel _then, and all is done_--

To _seel hawks_, is to close their eyes. The meaning will be,

--_since the torch is out, Lie down, and stray no further. How all labour Marrs what it does_.--Seel _then, and all is done_.

Close thine eyes _for ever, and be quiet_.

IV.xiv.73 (233,5) pleach'd arms] Arms folded in each other.

IV.xiv.77 (233,6) His baseness that ensued?] The poor conquered wretch that followed.

IV.xiv.86 (233,7) the worship of the whole world] The _worship_, is the _dignity_, the _authority_.

IV.xv.9 (237,9)

O sun, Burn the great sphere thou mov'st in!--darkling stand The varying shore o' the world]

She desires the sun, to _burn_ his own _orb_, the vehicle of light, and then the earth will be dark.

IV.xv.19-23 (237,1) I here importune death] [Theobald had regularized the versification and had added two words] Mr. Theobald's emendation is received by the succeeding editors; but it seems not necessary that a dialogue so distressful should be nicely regular. I have therefore preserved the original reading in the text, and the emendation below.

IV.xv.28 (238,2) still conclusion] Sedate determination; silent coolness of resolution.

IV.xv.32 (236,3) Here's sport, indeed!] I suppose the meaning of these strange words is, _here's_ trifling, _you_ do not work _in earnest_.

IV.xv.39 (239,4) Quicken with kissing] That is, _Revive by my kiss_.

IV.xv.44 (239,6) That the false huswife Fortune break her wheel] This despicable line has occurred before.

IV.xv.65 (240,8) The soldier's pole] He at whom the soldiers pointed, as at a pageant held high for observation.

IV.xv.72 (240,9)

_Char_. Peace, peace, Iras. _Cleo_. No more--but e'en a woman]

[W: peace, Isis] Of this note it may be truly said, that it at least deserves to be right, nor can he, that shall question the justness of the emendation, refuse his esteem to the ingenuity and learning with which it is proposed.

Hanmer had proposed another emendation, not injudiciously. He reads thus,

Iras. _Royal Aegypt! empress!_ Cleo. _Peace, peace, Iras. No more but a mere woman_, &c.

That is, _no more an empress, but a mere woman_.

It is somewhat unfortunate that the words, _mere woman_, which so much strengthen the opposition to either _empress_ or _Isis_, are not in the original edition, which stands thus,

_No more but_ in a _woman_.

_Mere woman_ was probably the arbitrary reading of Rowe. I suppose, however, that we muy justly change the ancient copy thus,

_No more, but_ e'en a _woman_.

which will enough accommodate either of the editors.

I am inclined to think that she speaks abruptly, not answering her woman, but discoursing with her own thoughts,

_No more--but_ e'en a _woman_.

_I have_ no more _of my wonted greatness_, but am even a woman, _on the level with other women; were I what I once was_.

--It were for me To throw my scepter, _&c_.

If this simple explanation be admitted, how much labour has been thrown away. _Peace, peace, Iras_, is said by Charmian, when she sees the queen recovering, and thinks speech troublesome.

V.i.15 (244,4) The round world/Should have shook lions into civil streets] I think here is a line lost, after which it is in vain to go in quest. The sense seems to have been this: _The round world should have shook_, and this great alteration of the system of things should send _lions into streets, and citizens into dens_. There is sense still, but it is harsh and violent.

V.i.27 (244,5) but it is tidings/To wash the eyes of kings!] That is, May _the Gods rebuke me_, if this be not _tidings to make kings weep_.

_But_, again, for _if not_.

V.i.46 (245,7) that our stars,/Unreconciliable, should divide/Our equalness to this] That is, _should have made us_, in our equality of fortune, disagree _to_ a pitch like this, that one of us must die.

V.i.52 (246,8) A poor Aegyptian yet; the queen my mistress] If this punctuation be right, the man means to say, that he is _yet an Aegyptian_, that is, _yet a servant of the queen of Aegypt_, though soon to become, a subject of Rome.

V.i.65 (246,9) her life in Rome/Would be eternal in our triumph] Hanmer reads judiciously enough, but without necessity,

_Would be_ eternalling _our triumph_.

The sense is, _If she dies here, she will be forgotten, but if I send her_ in triumph at Rome, _her memory and my glory_ will be eternal.

V.ii.3 (247,1) fortune's knave] The _servant_ of fortune.

V.ii.4 (247,2)

it is great To do that thing, that ends all other deeds; Which shackles accidents, and bolts up change; Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung, The beggar's nurse, and Caesar's]

[Warburton added a whole line and emended "dung" to "dugg"] I cannot perceive the loss of a line, or the need of an emendation. The commentator seems to have entangled his own ideas; his supposition that _suicide_ is called _the beggar's nurse and Caesar's_, and his concession that the position is _intelligible_, show, I think, a mind not intent upon the business before it. The difficulty of the passage, if any difficulty there be, arises only from this, that the act of suicide, and the state which is the effect of suicide are confounded. Voluntary death, says she, is an act _which bolts up change_; it produces a state,

_Which sleeps, and never palates more the dung, The beggar's nurse, and Caesar's_.

Which has no longer need of the gross and terrene sustenance, in the use of which Caesar and the beggar are on a level.

The speech is abrupt, but perturbation in such a state is surely natural.

V.ii.29 (249,4) I am his fortune's vassal, and I send him/The greatness he has got] I allow him to be my conqueror; I own his superiority with complete submission.

V.ii.34 (249,5) You see how easily she may be surpriz'd] This line in the first edition is given not to Charuian, but to Proculeius; and to him it certainly belongs, though perhaps misplaced. I would put it at the end of his foregoing speech,

_Where he for grace is kneel'd to._ [Aside to Gallus.] _You see, how easily she may be surpriz'd._

Then while Cleopatra makes a formal answer, Gallus, upon the hint given, seizes her, and Proculeius, interrupting the civility of his answer,

_--your plight is pity'd Of him that caus'd it._

Cries out,

_Guard her till, Caesar come._

V.ii.40 (250,6) who are in this/Reliev'd, but not betray'd] [W: Bereav'd, but] I do not think the emendation necessary, since the sense is not made better by it, and the abruptness in Cleopatra's answer is more forcible in the old reading.

V.ii.42 (250,7) rids our dogs of languish] For _languish_, I think we may read, _anguish_.

V.ii.48 (251,8) Worth many babes and beggars] Why, death, wilt thou not rather seize a queen, than employ thy force upon _babes_ and _beggars_. (see 1765, VII, 238, 9)

V.ii.50 (251,9) If idle talk will once be necessary] [This nonsense should be reformed thus,

_If idle_ TIME _whill once be necessary._

i.e. if _repose_ be necessary to cherish life, I will not sleep. WARBURTON.] I do not see that the nonsense is made sense by the change. Sir T. Hanmer reads,

_If idle talk will once be_ accessary;

Neither is this better. I know not what to offer better than an easy explanation. That is, _I will not eat_, and _if it will be necessary now for once_ to waste a moment in _idle talk_ of my purpose, _I will not sleep neither_. In common conversation we often use _will be_, with as little relation to futurity. As, Now I am going, it _will be_ fit for me to dine first.

V.ii.98 (254,2)

yet to imagine An Antony, were Nature's piece 'gainst Fancy, Condemning shadows quite]

[W: Nature's prize] In this passage I cannot discover any temptation to critical experiments. The word _piece_, is a term appropriated to works of art. Here Nature and Fancy produce each their _piece_, and the _piece_ done by Nature had the preference. Antony was in reality _past the size of dreaming_; he was more by _Nature_ than _Fancy_ could present in sleep.

V.ii.121 (255,3) I cannot project mine own cause so well] [W: procter] Sir T. Hanmer reads,

_I cannot_ parget _my own cause---_

meaning, I cannot _whitewash, varnish_, or _gloss_ my cause. I believe the present reading to be right. To _project a cause_ is to _represent_ a cause; to _project_ it _well_, is to _plan_ or _contrive_ a scheme of defense.

V.ii.139 (256,4) "tis exactly valued, /Not petty things admitted] [T: omitted] Notwithstanding the wrath of Mr. Theobald, I have restored the old reading. She is angry afterwards, that she is accused of having reserved more than petty things. Dr. Warburton and sir T. Hanmer follow Theobald.

V.ii.146 (257,5) seel my lips] Sew up my mouth.

V.ii.163 (258,7) Parcel the sum of my disgraces by] _To parcel her disgraces_, might be expressed in vulgar language, _to bundle up her calamaties_. (see 1765, VII, 244, 8)

V.ii.176 (259,8)

_Cleo._ Be't known, that we, the greatest, are misthought for things that others do; and, when we fall, We answer others merits in our names; Are therefore to be pitied]

I do not think that either of the criticks [Warburton and Hanmer] have reached the sense of the author, which may be very commodiously explained thus;

We suffer at our highest state of elevation in the _thoughts of mankind for that which others do, and when we fall_, those that contented themselves only to think ill before, call us to _answer in our own names for the merits of others. We are therefore to be pitied. Merits_ is in this place taken in an ill sense, for actions _meriting_ censure.

If any alteration be necessary, I should only propose, _Be 't known, that we_ at _greatest_, &c.

V.ii.185 (259,1) Make not your thoughts your prisons] I once wished to read,

_make not your thoughts your_ poison:--

Do not destroy yourself by musing on your misfortune. Yet I would change nothing, as the old reading presents a very proper sense. _Be not a prisoner in imagination, when in reality you are free._

V.ii.215 (261,2) scald rhimers] Sir T. Hanmer reads,

--stall 'd _rhimers.

Scald_ was a word of contempt, implying poverty, disease, and filth.

V.ii.216 (261,3) quick comedians] The gay inventive players.

V.ii.226 (261,5) Their most absurd intents] [T: assured] I have preserved the old reading. The design certainly appeared _absurd_ enough to Cleopatra, both as she thought it unreasonable in itself, and as she knew it would fail.

V.ii.243 (263,7) the pretty worm of Nilus] _Worm_ is the Teutonick word for _serpent_; we have the _blind-worm_ and _slow-worm_ still in our language, and the Norwegians call an enormous monster, seen sometimes in the northern ocean, the _sea-worm_.

V.ii.264 (263,9) the worm will do him kind] The serpent will act according to his nature.

V.ii.305 (205,2) He'll make demand of her, and spend that kiss,/ Which is my heaven to have] He will enquire of her concerning me, and kiss her for giving him intelligence.

V.ii.352 (267,5) something blown] The flesh is somewhat _puffed_ or _swoln_.

(268) General Observation. This play keeps curiosity always busy, and the passions always interested. The continual hurry of the action, the variety of incidents, and the quick succession of one personage to another, call the mind forward without intermission from the first act to the last. But the power of delighting is derived principally from the frequent changes of the scene; for, except the feminine arts, some of which are too low, which distinguish Cleopatra, no character is very strongly discriminated. Upton, who did not easily miss what he desired to find, has discovered that the language of Antony is, with great skill and learning, made pompous and superb, according to his real practice. But I think his diction not distinguishable from that of others: the most tumid speech in the play is that which Caesar makes to Octavia.

The events, of which the principal are described according to history, are produced without any art of connexion or care of disposition.

TIMON OF ATHENS

I.i.3 (271,3)

_Poet_. Ay, that's well known: But what particular rarity! what strange, Which manifold record not matches? See, Magick of bounty!]

The learned commentator's [Warburton's] note must shift for itself. I cannot but think that this passage is at present in confusion. The poet asks a question, and stays not for an answer, nor has his question any apparent drift or consequence. I would range the passage thus:

Poet. _Ay, that's well known. Bat what particular rarity? what so strange, That manifold record not matches?_

Pain. _See!_

Poet. _Magick of--bounty, &c._

It may not be improperly observed here, that as there is only one copy of this play, no help can be had from collation, and more liberty must be allowed to conjecture.

I.i.10 (272,4) breath'd as it were/To an untirable and continuate goodness] _Breathed_ is _inured by constant practice; so trained as not to be wearied. To _breathe_ a horse, is to exercise him for the course.

I.i.20 (273,8) _Poet_.

A thing slipt idly from me. Our poesy is as a gum, which oozes From whence 'tis nourished. The fire i' the flint Shews not, 'till it be struck: our gentle flame Provokes itself, and, like the current flies Each bound it chafes. What have you there!]

This speech of the poet is very obscure. He seems to boast the copiousness and facility of his vein, by declaring that verses drop from a poet as gums from odoriferous trees, and that his flame kindles itself without the violence necessary to elicit sparkles from the flint. What follows next? that it, _like a current, flies each bound it chafes_. This may mean, that it expands itself notwithstanding all obstructions: but the images in the comparison are so ill-sorted, and the effect so obscurely expressed, that I cannot but think something omitted that connected the last sentence with the former. It is well knovn that the players often shorten speeches to quicken the representation; and it may be suspected, that they sometimes performed their amputations with more haste than judgment, (see 1765, VI, 169, 6)

I.i.27 (274,9) _Poet_. Upon the heels of my presentment, sir.] As soon as my book has been presented to lord Timon.

I.i.29 (274,1) This comes off weil and excellent] [By this we are to understand what the painters call the _goings off_ of a picture, which requires the nicest execution. WARBURTON.] The note I understand less than the text. The meaning is, This figure rises weil from the canvas. _C'est bien relevè._

I.i.37 (275,3) artificial strife] _Strife_ is either the contest or act with nature.

_Hic ille est_ Raphael, _timuit, quo aospite vinci Rerum magna parens, & moriente, mori_.

Or it is the contrast of forms or opposition of colours.

I.i.43 (275,4) this confluence, this great flood of visitors] _Mane salutantúm totis vomit aedibus undam_.

I.1.46 (275,5) Halts not particularly] My design does not stop at any single characters.

I.1.47 (276,7)

no levell'd malice Infects one comma in the course I hold; But flies an eagle-flight, bold, and forth on, Leaving no tract behind]

To _level_ is to _aim_, to point the shot at a mark. Shakespeare's meaning is, my poem is not a satire written with any particular view, or _levelled_ at any single person; I fly like an eagle into the general expanse of life, and leave not, by any private mischief, the trace of my passage.

I.i.51 (276,8) I'll unbolt] I'll open, I'll explain.

I.i.53 (276,9) glib and slippery creatures] Hanmer, and Warburton after him, read, _natures_. _Slippery_ is _smooth_, unresisting.

I.i.58 (276,1) glass-fac'd flatterer] That shows in his own look, as by reflection, the looks of his patron.

I.i.65 (277,3) rank'd with all deserts] _Cover'd with ranks_ of all kinds of men.

I.i.67 (277,4) To propagate their states] To advance or improve their various conditions of life.

I.i.72 (277,5) conceiv'd to scope] Properly imagined, appositely, to the purpose.

I.i.82 (278,8) through him/Drink the free air] That is, catch his breath in affected fondness.

I.i.90 (278,9) A thousand moral paintings I can shew] Shakespeare seems to intend in this dialogue to express some competition between the two great arts of imitation. Whatever the poet declares himself to have shewn, the painter thinks he could have shewn better. (1773)

I.i.107 (279,1) 'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,/But to support him after] This thought is better expressed by Dr. Madden in his elegy on archbishop Boulter.

--_He thought it mean Only to help the poor to beg again._

I.i.129 (280,2) Therefore he will be, Timon] I rather think an emendation necessary, and read,

_Therefore_ well be him, _Timon. His honesty rewards him in itself._

That is, _If he in honest_, bene fit illi, _I wish him the proper happiness of an honest man, but his honesty gives him no claim to my daughter_.

The first transcriber probably wrote _will be him_, which the next, not understanding, changed to, _he will be_. (1773)

I.i.149 (281,3)

never may That state, or fortune, fall into my keeping, Which is not ow'd to you!]

The meaning is, let me never henceforth consider any thing that I possess, but as _owed_ or _due_ to you; held for your service, and at your disposal.

I.i.159 (281,4) pencil'd figures are/Even such as they give out] Pictures have no hypocrisy; they are what they profess to be.

I.i.165 (282,5) unclew me quite] To _unclew_, is to _unwind_ a ball of thread. To _unclew_ a man, is to draw out the whole mass of his fortunes.

I.i.171 (282,5) Are prized by their masters] Are rated according to the, esteem in which their possessor is held.

I.i.178 (282,8)

_Tim._ Good-morrow to thee, gentle Apemantua! _Apam._ 'Till I be gentle, stay for thy good-morrow. When thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves honest,--]

[Warburton conjectured a line lost and added one of his own making] I think my punctuation may clear the passage without any greater effort.

I.i.180 (283,9) Then thou art Timon's dog] When thou hast gotten a better character, and instead of being Timon, as thou art, shalt be changed to Timon's dog, and become more worth; of kindness and salutation. (1773)

I.i.241 (284,9) That I had no angry wit to be a lord] [W: so hungry a wit] The meaning may be, I should hate myself for _patiently enduring to be a lord_. This is ill enough expressed. Perhaps some happy change may set it right. I have tried, and can do nothing, yet I cannot heartily concur with Dr. Warburton.

I.i.259 (286,2) The strain of man's bred out/Into baboon and monkey] Man is exhausted and degenerated; his _strain_ or lineage is worn down into monkey.

I.ii.12 (288,5)

If our betters play at that game, we must not dare To imitate them. Faults that are rich, are fair]

[Warburton gave the second line to Apemantus] I cannot see that these lines are more proper in any other mouth than Timon's, to whose character of generosity and condescension they are very suitable. To suppose that by _our betters_ are meant the Gods, is very harsh, because to imitate the Gods has been hitherto reckoned the highest pitch of human virtue. The whole is a trite and obvious thought, uttered by Timon with a kind of affected modesty. If I would make any alteration, it should be only to reform the numbers thus:

_Our betters play that game; we must not dare T' imitate then; faults that are rich are fair._

I.ii.34 (289,6) thou art an Athenian,/Therefore welcome: I myself would have no power] If this be the true reading, the sense is, _all Athenians are welcome to share my fortune_; I would myself have no _exclusive right or power in this house_. Perhaps we might read, _I myself would have no_ poor. I would have every Athenian consider himself as joint possessor of my fortune.

I.ii.38 (289,7) I scorn thy meat, 'twould choke me, for I should/ Ne'er flatter thee] [W: 'fore/I should e'er] Of this emendation there is little need. The meaning is, I could not swallow thy meat, for I could not pay for it with flattery; and what was given me with an ill will would stick in my throat.

I.ii.41 (290,8) so many dip their meat/In one man's blood] The allusion is to a pack of hounds trained to pursuit by being gratified with the blood of the animal which they kill, and the wonder is that the animal on which they are feeding _cheers them_ to the chase.

I.ii.52 (290,9) wind-pipe's dangerous notes] The notes of the windpipe seem to be the only indications which shew where the windpipe is. (see 1765, VI, 184, 4)

I.ii.54 (290,1) My lord, in heart] That is, _my lord's health with sincerity_. An emendation hat been proposed thus:

_My_ love _in heart_;--

but it is not necessary.

I.ii.89 (292,2) we should think ourselves for ever perfect] That is, arrived at the perfection of happiness.

I.ii.94 (292,4) did not you chiefly belong to my heart?] I think it should be inverted thus: _did I not chiefly belong to_ your hearts. Lacius wishes that Timon would give him and the rest an opportunity _of expressing some part of their zeals_. Timon answers that, _doubtless the Gods have provided that I should have help from you; how else are you my friends_? why are you stiled my friends, if--what? _if I do not love you_. Such is the present reading; but the consequence is not very clear; the proper close must be, _if you do not love me_, and to this my alteration restores it. But, perhaps, the old reading may stand. [The _Revisal_'s note on this line is quoted.] The meaning is probably this. Why are you distinguished from thousands by that title of endearment, was there not a particular connection and intercourse of tenderness between you and me. (see 1765, VI, 185, 8)

I.ii.97 (293,5) I confirm you] I fix your characters firmly in my own mind.