SCENE IV.--Mercutio is thus described in Brooke's poem:--

"At thone syde of her chayre, her lover Romeo: And on the other side there sat one cald Mercutio. A courtier that eche where was highly had in pryce: For he was coorteous of his speche, and pleasant of devise. Euen as a Lyon would emong the lambes be bolde: Such was emong the bashfull maydes, Mercutio to beholde. With frendly gripe he ceasd [seized] fayre Juliets snowish hand: A gyft he had that nature gaue him in his swathing band. That frosen mountayne yse was neuer halfe so cold As were his handes, though nere so neer the fire he dyd them holde."

In Paynter's _Palace of Pleasure_ he is spoken of as "an other Gentleman called _Mercutio_, which was a courtlyke Gentleman, very well beloued of all men, and by reason of his pleasaunt and curteous behauior was in euery company wel intertayned." His "audacity among Maydens" and his cold hands are also mentioned.

1. _This speech._ Furness would read "the speech"; but, as the scene opens in the midst of the conversation, S. may have meant to imply that some one in the company has suggested an introductory speech. See the following note.

3. _The date is out_, etc. That is, such tediousness is now out of fashion. Steevens remarks: "In _Henry VIII._ where the king introduces himself to the entertainment given by Wolsey [i. 4] he appears, like Romeo and his companions, in a _mask_, and sends a messenger before to make an apology for his intrusion. This was a custom observed by those who came uninvited, with a desire to conceal themselves for the sake of intrigue, or to enjoy the greater freedom of conversation. Their entry on these occasions was always prefaced by some speech in praise of the beauty of the ladies or the generosity of the entertainer; and to the _prolixity_ of such introductions I believe Romeo is made to allude. So in _Histrio-mastix_, 1610, a man expresses his wonder that the maskers enter without any compliment: 'What, come they in so blunt, without device?' In the accounts of many entertainments given in reigns antecedent to that of Elizabeth, I find this custom preserved. Of the same kind of masquerading see a specimen in _T. of A._ [i. 2], where Cupid precedes a troop of ladies with a speech." Collier compares _L. L. L._ v. 2. 158 fol.

5. _Bow of lath._ The Tartar bows resembled in form the old Roman or Cupid's bow, such as we see on medals and bas-reliefs; while the English bow had the shape of the segment of a circle.

6. _Crow-keeper._ Originally a boy stationed in a field to drive the birds away (as in _Lear_, iv. 6. 88: "That fellow handles his bow like a crow-keeper"); afterwards applied, as here, to what we call a _scarecrow_. The latter was often a stuffed figure with a bow in his hand.

7, 8. These lines are found only in the 1st quarto, and were first inserted in the text by Pope. White believes that they were purposely omitted, but only on account of their disparagement of the prologue-speakers on the stage. Prologues and epilogues were often prepared, not by the author of the play, but by some other person; and this was probably the case with some of the prologues and epilogues in S. _Faintly_ = "in a weak mechanical way" (Ulrici). _Entrance_ is a trisyllable, as in _Macb._ i. 5. 40.

10. _A measure._ A formal courtly dance. Cf. _Much Ado_, ii. 1. 80: "as a measure, full of state and ancientry;" and for the play on the word, _Id._ ii. 1. 74, _L. L. L._ iv. 3. 384, and _Rich. II._ iii. 4. 7.

11. _A torch._ Maskers were regularly attended by torch-bearers. The commentators quote illustrations of this from other authors, but do not refer to _M. of V._ ii. 4. 5: "We have not spoke us yet of torch-bearers;" and 21 just below:--

"Will you prepare you for this masque to-night? I am provided of a torch-bearre."

See also _Id._ ii. 6. 40 fol. For the contemptuous use of _ambling_, see _Ham._ iii. 1. 151, _1 Hen. IV._ iii. 2. 60, etc.

12. _The light._ For the poet's frequent playing on the different senses of _light_, see on i. 1. 134 above. Cf. ii. 2. 105 below.

15. _Soul._ For the play on the word, cf. _M. of V._ ii. 4. 68, iv. 1. 123, and, _J.C._ i. 1. 15.

19. _Enpierced._ Used by S. nowhere else.

20. _Bound._ For the quibble, Steevens compares Milton, _P.L._ iv. 180:--

"in contempt At one slight bound high overleap'd all bound Of hill or highest wall," etc.

29. _Give me a case._ Perhaps Mercutio thinks he will wear a mask, and then changes his mind. Littledale suggests pointing "visage in!" It is possible, however, that lines 30-32 refer to a mask that is handed to him, and which he decides to wear, though it is an ugly one. On the whole, I prefer this explanation.

31. _Quote._ Note, observe. Cf. _Ham._ ii. 1. 112:--

"I am sorry that with better heed and judgment I had not quoted him."

32. _Beetle-brows._ Prominent or overhanging brows. Cf. the verb _beetle_ in _Ham._ i. 4. 71.

36. _Rushes._ Before the introduction of carpets floors were strewn with rushes. Cf. _1 Hen. IV._ iii. 1. 214: "on the wanton rushes lay you down;" _Cymb._ ii. 2. 13:--

"Our Tarquin thus Did softly press the rushes," etc. See also _R. of L._ 318, _T. of S._ iv. 1. 48, and _2 Hen. IV._ v. 5. 1. The stage was likewise strewn with rushes. Steevens quotes Dekker, _Guls Hornbook_: "on the very rushes where the comedy is to daunce."

37. _I am proverb'd_, etc. The old proverb fits my case, etc. _To hold the candle_ is a very common phrase for being _an idle spectator_. Among Ray's proverbs is "A good candle-holder proves a good gamester" (Steevens).

39. _The game_, etc. An old proverbial saying advises to give over when the game is at the fairest; and Romeo also alludes to this.

40. _Dun's the mouse._ Apparently = keep still; but no one has satisfactorily explained the origin of the phrase. Malone quotes _Patient Grissel_, 1603: "yet don is the mouse, lie still;" and Steevens adds _The Two Merry Milkmaids_, 1620: "Why then 'tis done, and dun's the mouse and undone all the courtiers."

41. _If thou art Dun_, etc. Douce quotes Chaucer, _C.T._ 16936:

"Ther gan our hoste for to jape and play, And sayde, 'sires, what? Dun is in the myre.'"

Gifford explains the expression thus: "_Dun in the mire_ is a Christmas gambol, at which I have often played. A log of wood is brought into the midst of the room: this is _Dun_ (the cart-horse), and a cry is raised that he is _stuck in the mire_. Two of the company advance, either with or without ropes, to draw him out. After repeated attempts, they find themselves unable to do it, and call for more assistance. The game continues till all the company take part in it, when Dun is extricated of course; and the merriment arises from the awkward and affected efforts of the rustics to lift the log, and from sundry arch contrivances to let the ends of it fall on one another's toes. This will not be thought a very exquisite amusement; and yet I have seen much honest mirth at it." Halliwell-Phillipps quotes _Westward Hoe_, 1607: "I see I'm born still to draw dun out o' th' mire for you; that wise beast will I be;" and Butler, _Remains_: "they meant to leave reformation, like Dun in the mire."

42. _Sir-reverence._ A contraction of "save reverence" (_salva reverentia_), used as an apology for saying what might be deemed improper. Cf. _C. of E._ iii. 2. 93: "such a one as a man may not speak of without he say 'Sir-reverence.'" Taylor the Water-Poet says in one of his epigrams:--

"If to a foule discourse thou hast pretence, Before thy foule words name sir-reverence, Thy beastly tale most pleasantly will slip, And gaine thee praise, when thou deserv'st a whip."

Here "Mercutio says he will draw Romeo from the _mire of this love_, and uses parenthetically the ordinary form of apology for speaking so profanely of love" (Knight). For the full phrase, see _Much Ado_, iii. 4. 32, _M. of V._ ii. 2. 27, 139, etc.

43. _Burn daylight._ "A proverbial expression used when candles are lighted in the daytime" (Steevens); hence applied to superfluous actions in general. Here it is = waste time, as the context shows. Cf. _M.W._ ii. 1. 54, where it has the same meaning.

45. _We waste_, etc. The quartos have "We waste our lights in vaine, lights lights by day;" the folios, "We wast our lights in vaine, lights, by day." The emendation is Capell's. Daniel and Dowden read, "light lights by day," which is very plausible.

47. _Five wits._ Cf. _Much Ado_, i. 1. 66: "four of his five wits went halting off;" _Sonn._ 141. 9: "But my five wits nor my five senses." Here the _five wits_ are distinguished from the _five senses_; but the two expressions were sometimes used interchangeably. The _five wits_, on the other hand, were defined as "common wit, imagination, fantasy, estimation (judgment), and memory."

50. _To-night._ That is, last night, as in _M.W._ iii. 3. 171: "I have dreamed to-night;" _W.T._ ii. 3. 10: "He took good rest to-night," etc. See also ii. 4. 2 below.

53. _Queen Mab._ No earlier instance of _Mab_ as the name of the fairy-queen has been discovered, but S. no doubt learned it from the folk-lore of his own time. Its derivation is uncertain.

54. _The fairies' midwife._ Not midwife _to_ the fairies, but the fairy whose department it was to deliver the fancies of sleeping men of their dreams, those _children of an idle brain_ (Steevens). T. Warton believes she was so called because she steals new-born infants, and leaves "changelings" (see _M.N.D._ ii. 1. 23, etc.) in their place.

55. _No bigger_, etc. That is, no bigger than the figures cut in such an agate. Cf. _Much Ado_, iii. 1. 65: "If low, an agate very vilely cut." Rings were sometimes worn on the _thumb_. Steevens quotes Glapthorne, _Wit in a Constable_, 1639: "and an alderman as I may say to you, he has no more wit than the rest o' the bench; and that lies in his thumb-ring."

57. _Atomies._ Atoms, or creatures as minute as atoms. Cf. _A.Y.L._ iii. 2. 245: "to count atomies;" and _Id._ iii. 5. 13: "Who shut their coward gates on atomies." In _2 Hen. IV._ v. 4. 33, Mrs. Quickly confounds the word with _anatomy._ S. uses it only in these four passages, _atom_ not at all.

59. _Spinners._ Long-legged spiders, mentioned also in _M.N.D._ ii. 2. 21: "Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence!"

65. _Worm._ Nares says, under _idle worms_: "Worms bred in idleness. It was supposed, and the notion was probably encouraged for the sake of promoting industry, that when maids were idle, worms bred in their fingers;" and he cites Beaumont and Fletcher, _Woman Hater_, iii. 1:--

"Keep thy hands in thy muff and warm the idle Worms in thy fingers' ends."

67-69. _Her chariot ... coachmakers._ Daniel puts these lines before 59. Lettsom says: "It is preposterous to speak of the parts of a chariot (such as the waggon-spokes and cover) before mentioning the chariot itself." But _chariot_ here, as the description shows, means only the _body_ of the vehicle, and is therefore one of the "parts."

76. _Sweetmeats._ That is, kissing-comfits. These artificial aids to perfume the breath are mentioned by Falstaff, in _M.W._ v. 5. 22.

77. _A courtier's nose._ As this is a repetition, Pope substituted "lawyer's" (from 1st quarto), but this would also be a repetition. Other suggestions are "tailor's" and "counsellor's;" but the carelessness of the description is in perfect keeping with the character. See the comments on the speech p. 290 below.

79. _Sometime._ Used by S. interchangeably with _sometimes_.

84. _Ambuscadoes._ Ambuscades; used by S. only here. The _Spanish blades_ of Toledo were famous for their quality.

85. _Healths_, etc. Malone quotes _Westward Hoe_, 1607: "troth, sir, my master and sir Goslin are guzzling; they are dabbling together fathom deep. The knight has drunk so much health to the gentleman yonder, upon his knees, that he hath almost lost the use of his legs." Cf. _2 Hen. IV._ v. 3. 57:--

"Fill the cup, and let it come; I'll pledge you a mile to the bottom."

89. _Plats the manes_, etc. "This alludes to a very singular superstition not yet forgotten in some parts of the country. It was believed that certain malignant spirits, whose delight was to wander in groves and pleasant places, assumed occasionally the likeness of women clothed in white; that in this character they sometimes haunted stables in the night-time, carrying in their hands tapers of wax, which they dropped on the horses' manes, thereby plaiting them in inextricable knots, to the great annoyance of the poor animals and vexation of their masters. These hags are mentioned in the works of William of Auvergne, bishop of Paris in the 13th century" (Douce).

90. _Elf-locks._ Hair matted or clotted, either from neglect or from the disease known as the _Plica Polonica_. Cf. _Lear_, ii. 3. 10: "elf all my hair in knots;" and Lodge, _Wit's Miserie_, 1596: "His haires are curld and full of elves locks."

91. _Which_, etc. The real subject of _bodes_ is _which once untangled_ = the untangling of which.

97. _Who._ For _which_, as often; but here, perhaps, on account of the personification. Cf. _2 Hen. IV._ iii. 1. 22:--

"the winds, Who take the ruffian billows by the top."

103. _My mind misgives_, etc. One of many illustrations of Shakespeare's fondness for presentiments. Cf. ii. 2. 116, iii. 5. 53, 57, etc., below. See also 50 above.

105. _Date._ Period, duration; as often in S. Cf. _R. of L._ 935: "To endless date of never-ending woes;" _Sonn._ 18. 4: "And summer's lease hath all too short a date;" _M.N.D._ iii. 2. 373: "With league whose date till death shall never end," etc.

106. _Expire._ The only instance of the transitive use in S. Cf. Spenser, _F.Q._ iv. 1. 54: "Till time the tryall of her truth expyred."

107. _Clos'd._ Enclosed, shut up. Cf. v. 2. 30 below: "clos'd in a dead man's tomb." See also _R. of L._ 761, _Macb._ iii. 1. 99, etc.

111. In the early eds. the stage-direction is "_They march about the Stage, and Seruingmen come forth with_ [or _with their_] _Napkins_." This shows that the scene was supposed to be immediately changed to the hall of Capulet's house.