IV. iii. 445. moon'; Theobald, 'mounds'; Capell, 'earth' Tollet conj. ' main.'

IV. iii. 500. dangerous nature mild'; Thirlby conj.; Folios, 'wild'; Becket conj. 'nature dangerous-wild'; Jackson conj. 'dolorous nature wild.'

V. i. 47. black-corner'd,' i.e. hiding things in dark corners Hanmer, 'black-corneted'; Warburton conj. 'black-cornette'; Farmer conj. MS. 'black-coroned'; Mason conj. 'black. crowned'; Jackson conj. 'dark-horned'; Singer conj. 'blackcurtain'd,' etc.

V. i. 116. You have work'; so Folios; Hanmer, 'You have work'd'; Malone, 'You have done work'; Steevens conj. 'You've work'd.

V. i. 136. 'as a cauterizing'; Rowe's emendation; Folio 1, as a Cantherizing'; Folios 2, 3, 4, as a Catherizing'; Pope, cauterizing'; Capell, cancerizing.'

V. i. 147. 'general, gross:'; Pope's emendation of Folios, 'generall grosse:'; S. Walker conj., adopted by Dyce, 'generalgross.'

V. i. 213. haste'; Pope, 'taste'; Warburton conj. MS. 'tatch'; Collier MS. ' halter.

V. ii. 7. 'whom,' instead of 'who,' owing to confusion of constructions; Pope, 'Who'; Hanmer, 'And'; Singer, 'When,' etc. V. ii. 8. made a particular force'; Hanmer reads ' had force'; Staunton conj. 'took

force with,' etc.

truce'; Bailey conj. 'had

V. iii. 3-4. These words are in all probability the reflection of the soldier; this view is certainly more acceptable than to believe them to be an inscription placed by Timon somewhere near the tomb. Nor is it necessary, with Warburton, to change 'read' into 'rear'd. The soldier, seeing the tomb, infers that Timon is dead, but he cannot read the inscription; 'some beast read this! there does not live a man able to do so' (v. Preface).

V. iv. 28. 'Shame, that they wanted cunning, in excess'; Theobald's emendation ('extreme shame for their folly in banishing you hath broke their hearts'); Folio 1 reads '(Shame that they wanted, cunning in excesse)'; Folios 2, 3, 4, 'Shame (that they wanted cunning in excesse)'; Johnson conj. 'Shame that they wanted, coming in excess.'

V. iv. 62. render'd to your'; the conj. of Chedworth, adopted by Dyce; Folio I reads 'remedied to your'; Folios 2, 3, 4, remedied by your'; Pope, ‘remedied by '; Johnson, ' remedied

to'; Malone, 'remedy'd, to your'; Singer (ed. 2), 'remitted to your.'

V. iv. 79. On thy low grave, on faults forgiven. Dead'; the reading of Folios; Theobald reads On thy low grave.-On: faults forgiven.-Dead'; Hanmer, ' On thy low grave our faultsforgiv'n, since dead!

Explanatory Notes.

The Explanatory Notes in this edition have been specially selected and adapted, with emendations after the latest and best authorities, from the most eminent Shakespearian scholars and commentators, including Johnson, Malone, Steevens, Singer, Dyce, Hudson, White, Furness, Dowden, and others. This method, here introduced for the first time, provides the best annotation of Shakespeare ever embraced in a single edition.

ACT FIRST.

Scene I.

I et seq. In Timon, as in Coriolanus, Shakespeare put his own thoughts and feelings into the mouths of the various characters of the play. Falseness and ingratitude are the subjects of the most frequent allusion. They were uppermost in Shakespeare's mind at the time, and the changes are rung upon these vices by the Epicurean and the Cynic, by servants and strangers, before and after the climax. Even the fickle Poet serves as spokesman for the all-prevailing idea; and the Painter is every whit as worthless.

30, 31. This picture, it would seem, is a full-length portrait of Timon, in which the gracefulness of the attitude expresses the habitual standing or carriage of the original.

37. artificial strife:-The excellence of an artist was often set forth by representing him as the tutor or the competitor of nature. The execution of the pencil emulating Nature," says Heath, displays a life in those touches which is livelier than even life itself." So in the Poet's Venus and Adonis:

"Look, when a painter would surpass the life,
In limning out a well proportion'd steed,
His art with nature's workmanship at strife,
As if the dead the living should exceed."

66

47-50. no levell'd malice, etc.:-Johnson explains the passage thus: My poem is not a satire written with any particular view, or levell'd at any single person: I fly, like an eagle, into a general expanse of life, and leave not, by any private mischief, the trace of my passage."

59. To Apemantus:-Ritson thinks that the Poet, seeing that Apemantus paid frequent visits to Timon, naturally concluded that he was as much of a courtier as the other guests.

171. prized by their masters:-Johnson explains: "Are rated according to the esteem in which their possessor is held." For the use of by, compare Coriolanus, III. ii. 52-54:—

Because that now it lies you on to speak

To the people; not by your own instruction,

Nor by the matter which your heart prompts you," etc.

180. When thou art Timon's dog, etc.:-" That is," explains Rolfe, "till you become a dog, and these knaves become honesta far-off morrow to wait for." Hanmer read "When I am Timon's dog"; and Johnson interpreted the passage thus: "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 worthy kindness and salutation."

185. Here, according to the judgement of most of the latest commentators, begins the anonymous workmanship. Hudson (Harvard ed.) indicates what he regards as the anonymous portions of the play by asterisks placed before the lines. From this indication it appears that Hudson assigns about three-fifths of the play to Shakespeare, including nearly the whole of Act. I. i., all of Act II. i., most of Act II. ii., almost the whole of Act III. vi., all but about thirty lines of Act IV., and all except a dozen lines of Act V. White's interesting opinion may be summarized as follows: Act I. Sc. i., Shakespeare's until the entrance of Apemantus; Sc. ii., not Shakespeare's; Act. II. Sc. i., Shakespeare's; Sc. ii., Shakespeare's, except where the Fool appears; Act III. Sc. i., not Shakespeare's, except, perhaps, the last speech; Sc. ii., probably not Shakespeare's; Sc. iii., not Shakespeare's; Sc. iv., not Shakespeare's; Sc. v., not Shakespeare's; Sc. vi., mostly not Shakespeare's; Act IV. Sc. i., Shakespeare's; Sc. ii., mostly Shakespeare's; Sc. iii., Shakespeare's, “and in his largest style"; Act. V. Sc. i., partly Shakespeare's; Scs. ii. and iii., not Shakespeare's; Sc. iv., Shakespeare's beyond question.

195. for the innocence:-Rolfe says that "it may be a question

whether this is to be taken literally or ironically." Crosby surmises that "the cynic means that the picture has no spirit, no expression; and dog-like he prefers it on that account.”

233. That I had no angry wit to be a lord :—In Clarke's opinion, this bears "the interpretation, ‘That, being a lord, I should have no angry wit,' no faculty for acrimonious satire—such as Apemantus prides himself upon possessing. The sentence also includes the effect of ‘that I had given up (Apemantus's) angry wit in order to be a lord."" "This,” adds Rolfe, “is perhaps the best of the attempts to explain the text, but it seems rather forced. If we simply strike out angry, we doubtless get the real meaning of the passage. The adjective is almost certainly wrong, but it is difficult to replace it satisfactorily.”

Scene II.

12, 13. If our betters, etc.:-That is, the faults of rich persons, as the world goes, are thought fair; still they are faults.

22. confess'd it! hang'd it:-Perhaps an allusion to a proverbial saying of Shakespeare's time, "Confess and be hanged."

35, 36. I myself would have no power:-Tyrwhitt explains thus: "I myself would have no power to make thee silent, but I wish thou wouldst let my meat make thee silent. Timon, like a polite landlord, disclaims all power over the meanest or most troublesome of his guests."

37, 38. 'twould choke me, for, etc. :—“I could not swallow thy meat, for I could not pay for it with flattery." So Johnson interprets.

66

51. my windpipe's dangerous notes:-" The notes of the windpipe seem to be only the indications which show where the windpipe is." Thus Johnson. Of course the windpipe's notes are the sounds or motions made by the throat in drinking." There appears to be, as Steevens observes, a quibble on windpipe and notes.

109. Thou weep'st, etc. :-On this rather obscure passage, Johnson remarks: "The covert sense of Apemantus is, 'what thou losest, they get."" Heath's explanation is: "The words Thou weep'st do not only refer to the tears then actually shed, but to those future ones for which Timon was laying the foundation;

implying a prediction that the excess of drinking to which he was now encouraging his false friends would prove the source of tears to him flowing from real regret." Rolfe finds