Pro. By what? by any other house, or person? Of any thing the image tell me, that Hath kept with thy remembrance. Mira. 'Tis far off; And rather like a dream, than an assurance Pro. Thou had'st, and more, Miranda: But how is it, If thou remember'st aught, ere thou cam'st here, Mira. But that I do not. Pro. Twelve years since, Miranda, twelve years since,3 Thy father was the duke of Milan, and A prince of power. Mira. Sir, are not you my father? Pro. Thy mother was a piece of virtue, and She said thou wast my daughter; and thy father A princess;-no worse issued.9 Mira. O, the heaven's ! What foul play had we, that we came from thence? Pro. 7 abysm of time?] i. e. Abyss. This method of spelling the word is common to other ancient writers. They took it from the French abysme, now written abime. So, in Heywood's Brazen Age, 1613: "And chase him from the deep abysms below." Steevens. 8 Twelve years since, Miranda, twelve years since,] Years, in the first instance, is used as a dissyllable, in the second as a monosyllable. But this is not a license, peculiar to the prosody of Shakspeare. In the second book of Sidney's Arcadia are the following lines, exhibiting the same word, with a similar prosodical variation : "And shall she die ? shall cruel fier spill "Those beames that set so many hearts on fire?" Steevens. 9 A princess;-no worse issued.] The old copy reads-" And princess." For the trivial change in the text I am answerable. Issued is descended. So, in Greene's Card of Fancy, 1608: "For I am by birth a gentleman, and issued of such parents," &c. Steevens. Mira. O, my heart bleeds To think o' the teen3 that I have turn'd you to, Which is from my remembrance! Please you, further. I pray thee, mark me,—that a brother should Without a parallel; those being all my study, And to my state grew stranger, being transported, Mira. Sir, most heedfully. Pro. Being once perfected how to grant suits, How to deny them; whom to advance, and whom To trash for over-topping;5 new created The creatures that were mine; I say, or chang'd them, 3 4 66 -teen-] is sorrow, grief, trouble. So, in Romeo and Juliet: to my teen be it spoken." Steevens. whom to advance, and whom -] The old copy has who in both places. Corrected by the editor of the second folio. Malone. 5 To trash for over-topping;] To trash, as Dr. Warburton observes, is to cut away the superfluities. This word I have met with in books, containing directions for gardeners, published in the time of queen Elizabeth. The present explanation may be countenanced by the following passage in Warner's Albion's England, 1602, B. X. ch. 57: "Who suffreth none by might, by wealth or blood to overtopp, "Himself gives all preferment, and whom listeth him doth lop." Again, in our author's K. Richard II: "Go thou, and, like an executioner, "Cut off the heads of too-fast-growing sprays "That look too lofty in our commonwealth." Mr. Warton's note, however, on-" trash for his quick hunting," in the second act of Othello, leaves my interpretation of this passage somewhat disputable. Mr. M. Mason observes, that to trash for overtopping, " may mean to lop them, because they did overtop, or in order to preC Or else new form'd them: having both the key To what tune pleas'd his ear; that now he was And suck'd my verdure out on't.8-Thou attend'st not: vent them from overtopping. So Lucetta, in the second scene of The Two Gentlemen of Verona, says: "I was taken up for laying them down, "Yet here they shall not lie, for catching cold.” That is, lest they should catch cold. See Mr. M. Mason's note on this passage. In another place (a note on Othello) Mr. M. Mason observes, that Shakspeare had probably in view, when he wrote the passage before us, "the manner in which Tarquin conveyed to Sextus his advice to destroy the principal citizens of Gabii, by striking off, in the presence of his messengers, the heads of all the tallest poppies, as he walked with them in his garden." Steevens. I think this phrase means " to correct for too much haughtiness or overbearing." It is used by sportsmen in the North, when they correct a dog for misbehaviour in pursuing the game. This explanation is warranted by the following passage in Othello, Act II. sc. i: "If this poor trash of Venice, whom I trash It was not till after I made this remark, that I saw Mr. Warton's note on the above lines in Othello, which corroborates it. Douce. A trash is a term still in use among hunters, to denote a piece of leather, couples, or any other weight, fastened round the neck of a dog, when his speed is superior to the rest of the pack; i. e. when he over-tops them, when he hunts too quick, C. See Othello, Act II. sc. i. Steevens. 6 both the key -] This is meant of a key for tuning the harpsichord, spinnet, or virginal; we call it now a tuning hamSir J. Hawkins. mer. 7 Of officer and office, set all hearts —] The old copy reads—“ all hearts i th' state," but redundantly in regard to metre, and unnecessarily respecting sense; for what hearts, except such as were ith' state, could Alonso incline to his purposes? I have followed the advice of Mr. Ritson, who judiciously proposes to omit the words now ejected from the text. Steevens. 8 And suck'd my verdure out on't.] So in Arthur Hall's translation of the first book of Homer, 1581, where Achilles swears by his sceptre: "Who having lost the sapp of wood, eft greenenesse cannot drawe." Steevens. 9 I pray thee, mark me.] In the old copy, these words are the beginning of Prospero's next speech; but, for the restoration of metre, I have changed their place. Steevens. Mira. O, good sir, I do. Pro. I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicate1 A falsehood, in its contrary as great As my trust was; which had, indeed, no limit, Made such a sinner of his memory, To credit his own lie,3-he did believe 1 I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicate-] The old copy has-" dedicated," but we should read, as in the present text, "dedicate." Thus, in Measure for Measure: 66 Prayers from fasting maids, whose minds are dedicate "To nothing temporal." Ritson. 2 Like a good parent, &c.] Alluding to the observation, that a father above the common rate of men has commonly a son below it. Heroum filii noxæ. Johnson. 3 like one, Who having, unto truth, by telling of it, Made such a sinner of his memory, To credit his own lie,] There is, perhaps, no correlative, to which the word it can with grammatical propriety belong. Lie, however, seems to have been the correlative to which the poet meant to refer, however ungrammatically. The old copy reads-" into truth." The necessary correction was made by Dr. Warburton. Steevens. Mr. Steevens justly observes that there is no correlative, &c. This observation has induced me to mend the passage, and to read: Who having unto truth, by telling of't-instead of, of it. And I am confirmed in this conjecture, by the following passage quoted by Mr. Malone, &c. M. Mason. There is a very singular coincidence between this passage and one in Bacon's History of King Henry VII. [Perkin Warbeck] "did in all things notably acquit himself; insomuch as it was generally believed, that he was indeed Duke Richard. Nay, himself, with long and continual counterfeiting, and with OFT telling a lye, was turned by habit almost into the thing he seemed to be; and from a liar to be a believer." Malone. He was the duke; out of the substitution,* Mira. Your tale, sir, would cure deafness. The dukedom, yet unbow'd, (alas, poor Milan!) Mira. O the heavens ! Pro. Mark his condition, and the event; then tell me, If this might be a brother. Mira. I should sin To think but nobly of my grandmother: Pro. Now the condition. This king of Naples, being an enemy To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's suit; ▲ He was the duke; out of the substitution,] The old copy reads -"He was indeed the duke." I have omitted the word indeed, for the sake of metre. The reader should place his emphasis on -was. Steevens. 5 (So dry he was for sway)] i. e. So thirsty. The expression, I am told, is not uncommon in the midland counties. Thus, in Leicester's commonwealth: " against the designments of the hasty Erle who thirsteth a kingdom with great intemperance." Again, in Troilus and Cressida: “ His ambition is dry." Steevens. 6 To think but nobly—] But, in this place, signifies otherwise than. Steevens. in lieu o' the premises, &c.] In lieu of, means here, in consideration of; an unusual acceptation of the word. So, in Fletcher's Prophetess, the chorus, speaking of Drusilla, says: "But takes their oaths, in lieu of her assistance, "That they shall not presume to touch their lives." M. Mason. |