P. 393, c. 2, l. 48. - Egypt's widow-] Julius Cæsar had married her to young Ptolemy, who was afterwards drowned. Id. 1. 50. I cannot hope, &c.] espect. To hope, means to Id 1.58. -square] That is, quarrel. Our lives upon, &c.] i. e. to exert our utmost force, is the only consequential way of securing our lives. Id. 1. 66. This play is not divided into Acts by the author or first editors, and therefore the present division may be altered at pleasure. I think the first Act may be commodiously continued to this place, and the second Act opened with the interview of the chief persons, and a change of the state of action. Yet it must be confessed that it is of small importance, where these unconnected and desultory scenes are interrupted. JOHNSON. SCENE II. P. 394, c. 1, l. 1. Were I the wearer of Antonius' beard, I would not shav't to-day.] I believe he means. I would meet him undressed, without show of respect. JOHNSON. Id. 1. 14. If we compose well here,] i. e. if we come to a lucky composition, agreement. Id. l. 26. Nor curstness grow to the matter.] Let not ill-humour be added to the real subject of our difference. Id 1 48. Did practise on my state.] To practise, means to employ unwarrantable arts or stratagems. ld. 49. question.] i. e. my theme or subject of conversation. Id 1.54 - their contestation Was theme for you, you were the word of war] Was theme for you, probably means ouly, was proposed as an example for you to follow on a yet more extensive plan; as themes are given for a writer to dilate upon; but this is much contested. Id 1.58 Id. 1. 74. true reports,] Reports for reporters. -fronted-] i. e. opposed. Id 1. 75. -1 would you had her spirit in such another:] Antony means to say, I wish you had the spirit of Fulvia, embodied in such another woman as her; I wish you were married to such another spirited woman; and then you would find, that though you can govern the third part of the world, the management of such a woman is not an easy matter. Id. c. 2, 1. 16. I told him of myself;] i. e. told him the condition I was in, when he had his last audience. Id. 1. 25. The honour's sacred-] The meaning ap- The honours sacred that he talks on, now, Id 1.35 nor my power Work without it:] Nor my greatness work without mine honesty. Id. 40. Tis noble spoken."-MALONE. Id. 1. 42. The griefs-] i. e. grievances. Id. l. 44. Id. l. 54. -to atone you.] i. e. reconcile you. your considerate stone.] Mr Tollet explains the passage in question thus: "I will henceforth seem senseless as a stone, however I may observe and consider your words and actions." Id. 1. 80."would be tales,”-MALONE. P. 395, c. 1, l. 29. Lest my remembrance suffer ill report:] Lest I be thought too willing to forget benefits, I must barely return him thanks, and then I will defy him. Id. 1. 32. Of us, &c.] In the language of Shakspeare's time, means-by us. Id. 1. 34. "Where lies he?-MALONE. Id. l. 66. be square to her.] i. e. if report quadrates with her, or suits with her merits. Id. c. 2, l. 6. And what they undid, did.] The wind of the fans seemed to give a new colour to Cleopatra's cheeks, which they were employed to cool; and what they undid, i. e. that warmth which they were intended to diminish or allay, they did, i. e. they seemed to produce. Id. l. 9. tended her i'the eyes,] Perhaps this expression may signify that the attendants on Cleopatra looked observantly into her eyes, to catch her meaning, without giving her the trouble of verbal explanation; or only means, they performed their duty in the sight of their mistress. Id. l. 10. · And made their bends adornings:] The plain sense, says Mr. Steevens, of this contested passage seems to be-that these ladies rendered that homage which their assumed characters obliged them to pay to their queen, a circumstance ornamental to themselves. Each inclined her person so gracefully, that the very act of humiliation was an improvement of her own beauty. Id. l. 13. That yarely frame the office.] i. e. readily and dexterously perform the task they undertake. Id. l. 45. -when she is riggish.] i. e. wanton. Id. l. 48. A blessed lottery-] Lottery for allotment. intended an indirect censure of queen Elizabeth, for her unprincely and unfeminine treatment of the amiable Earl of Essex. The play was probably not produced till after her death, when a stroke at her proud and passionate demeanour to her courtiers and maids of honour (for her majesty used to chastise them too) might be safely hazarded, In a subse quent part of this scene there is (as Dr. Grey has observed) an evident allusion to Elizabeth's enquiries concerning the person of her rival, Mary, queen of Scots. MALONE P. 397, c. 1,7. 17.were submerg'd,] Submerg'd is whelmed under water. Id. 1. 28. "Thou art not what thou'rt sure of."MALONE. Id. l. 40. the feature of Octavia, By feature seems to be meant the cast and make of her face. Feature, however, anciently appears to have signified beauty in general. Id. l. 44. Let him for ever go:] She is now talking in broken sentences, not of the messenger, but of Antony. JOHNSON. SCENE VI. Id. c. 2,1.4. Thou canst not fear us,] Thou canst not affright us with thy numerous navy. Id. 1. 8. At land, indeed, Thou dost o'ercount me of my father's house: At land, indeed, thou dost exceed me in possessions, having added to thy own my father's house. O'ercount seems to be used equivocally, and Pompey perhaps meant to insinuate that Antony not only out-numbered, but had over reached, him. Id. 1. 9. But since the cuckoo builds not for him self, &c.] Since, like the cuckoo, that seizes the nests of other birds, you have invaded a house which you could not build, keep it while you can. Id. l. 12. this is from the present,] i. e. foreign to the object of our present discussion. Id. 1. 45. What counts harsh fortune casts, &c.] Metaphor from making marks or lines in casting accounts in arithmetic. P. 398, c. 1. l. 8. You and I have known, sir.] e. been acquainted. Id. l. 46. conversation] i, e. behaviour, manner of acting in common life. SCENE VII. ld. l. 63. with a Banquet ] A banquet, in our author's time, frequently signified what we now call a dessert; and from the following dialogue the word must here be understood in that sense. Id. l. 64. Some o' their plants-] Plants, besides its common meaning, is here used for the foot, from the Latin. Id. 1. 68. They have made him drink alms-drink. A phrase, amongst good fellows, to signify Id. l. 76. --a partizan-] A pike. word signifying plenty, abundance. Id. 1. 24. I have heard the Ptolemies' pyramises are very goodly things; Pyramis for pyramid was in common use in our author's time From this word Shakspeare formed the English plural, pyramises, to mark the indistinct pronunciation of a man nearly intoxicated, whose tongue is now beginning to "split what it speaks." Id. l. 70. Id. l. 73. partners. or sky inclips,] i, e. embraces. competitors, e. confederates, P. 399, c. 1, 19. - thy pall'd fortunes- Pallet is vapid, past its time of excellence; pared wine, is wine that has lost its original spr.ht liness. JOHNSON. Id. l. 31. Strike the vessels,] i. e. chink the vessels one against the other, as a mark of our unanimity in drinking, as we now say, chink glasses. Id. 1 51. The holding every man shall bear, To bear the burden, or, as it is here called, the holding of a song, is the phrase at this day Id. l. 57. -with pink eyne:] Dr. Johusou, in his Dictionary, says a pink eye is a smal eye, and quotes this passage for his authority, Pink eyne, however, may be red eyes: eyes inflamed with drinking, are very well appropriated to Bacchus. ACT III. SCENE 1. Id. c. 2, 1. 23. -Thy Pacorus, Orodes,] Pacorus was the son of Orodes, king of Parthia. Id. 1. 35. Better to leave," &c.-MALONE. Id. l. 51. That without which a soldier, and his sword, Grants scarce distinction. ] Grant, for afford. It is badly and obscurely expressed; but the sense is this: Thou hast that, l'estidius, which if thou didst want, there would be no distinction between thee and thy sword, You would be both equally cutting and sengeless. Mr. Malone reads "without the which," and adds that to the preceding line. P. 400, c. 1, 7. 4. phoenix. SCENE II. Arabian bird!] The Id. 1 16. They are his shards, and he their beetle i. e. They are the wings that raise this heavy lumpish insect from the ground Id. 1. 25. as my furthest band-] As I wil venture the greatest pledge of security, on the trial of the conduct. Band and bond, in our author's time, were synonymous. Id. l. 37. - therein curious,] . e scrupulous. Id. 1. 42. The elements be kind, &c.] This is obscure. It seems to mean, May the diferent elements of the body, or principles of life. maintain such proportion and harmony as may keep you cheerful. Id. l. 60. were he a horse;] A horse is said to have a cloud in his face, when he has a black or dark-coloured spot in his forebead between his eyes. This gives him a ser look, and being supposed to indicate an temper, is of course regarded as a great blemish. Id. 1. 68. destroy. did confound-] To confound is ty SCENE III. Id. c. 2, i. 26. Is she as tall as me? &c. &c. & This scene (says Dr. Grey) is a manifest alasion to the questions put by queen Elizabet to sir James Melvil, concerning his mistress the queen of Srots. But Melvin's Memoirs were not printed until 1683. Id. 1. 39. her station- Station, in this 10stance, means the act of standing. Id 1 61. "her forehead as low"-MALONE. Id. 1. 70. so I harry'd him. To harry, is to use roughly, harass, subdue; or literally, to Id 1 48-forspoke my being-] To forspeak, is to contradict, to speak against, as forbid is to order negatively. Id 1 51. "if not denounced against us," &c.MALONE. Id. 1. 56. - merely lost;] i. e. entirely, absolutely lost. Id. 1. 77. And take in Toryne?] To take in, is to gain by conquest. Id. c. 2, 1. 9. For he dares us-] i. e. because he dares us. Mr. Malone reads "For that he dares us." Id. 1. 17. "muliters,"-MALONE, the old spelling of muleteers. Id. 1. 43. Strange, that his power should be ] It is strange that his forces should be there. Id. 1. 48. my Thetis!] Antony may address Cleopatra by the name of this sea-nymph, because she had just promised him assistance in his naval expedition; or perhaps in allusion to her voyage down the Cydnus, when she appeared liked Thetis, surrounded by the Nereids. Id. 1. 62.- but his whole action grows Not in the power on't:] i. e. His whole conduct in the war is not founded upon that which is his greatest strength (namely, his landforce), but on the caprice of a woman, who wishes that he should fight by sea. Id. 1. 69. Carries beyond belief.] Perhaps this phrase is from archery, Id: 1.71. - distractions,] Detachments, separate bodies. Id 1 77. Mr. Malone omits for. P 403, c. 1, l. 2. as in parturition. Id. l. 11. SCENE VIII. this jump,] i. e. hazard. Id. 1. 24. The Antoniad, &c.] Which Plutarch says, was the name of Cleopatra's ship. Id. l. 31. The greater cantle-] A piece or lump, or rather a corner. Cæsar, in this play, mentions the three-nook' d world. Of this triangular world every triumvir had a corner. Id. I. 35.. token'd-] Spotted. The death of those visited by the plague was certain, when particular eruptions appeared on the skin; and these were called God's tokens. Id. l. 36. Yon' ribald-rid nag-] i. e. You strumpet, who is common to every wanton fellow. Id. l. 41. The brize upon her,] The brize is the gad-fly. Id. l. 44.on't," omitted by Mr. Malone. ship close to the wind. Id. l. 69. The wounded chance of Antony,] i. e. the broken fortunes of Antony. SCENE IX. Id. c. 2, l. 2. —so lated in the world,] Alluding to a benighted traveller ld. l. 24. I have lost command,] i. e. I entreat you to leave me, because I have lost all to command your absence. Id. Power He, at Philippi, kept His sword even like a dancer;] i. e. Cæsar never offered to draw his sword, but kept it in the scabbard, like one who dances with a sword on, which was formerly the custom in England. Id. l. 43. - he alone Dealt on lieutenantry,] i. e. fought by proxy, made war by his lieutenants, or on the strength of his lieutenants. Id. 1. 48. He is unqualitied-] Perhaps, unqualitied signifies unmanned in general, disarmed of his usual faculties. Id. 1. 52. -death will seize her; but-] But has here, as once before in this play, the force of except, or unless. Id. 1. 58. How I convey my shame-] How, by looking another way, I withdraw my ignominy from your sight. Id. l. 65. tied by the strings,] That is, by the heart-string. P. Id. Id. 404, c. 1, 7. |13. SCENE X. his schoolmaster:] The name of this person was Euphronius. He was schoolmaster to Antony's children by Cleo... 23. as petty to his end, As is the morn-dew on the myrtle-leaf To his grand sea.] His grand sea may mean his full tide of prosperity; or it may mean the sea from which the dew-drop is exhaled. Shakspeare might have considered the sea as the source of dews as well as rain. His is used instead of its. 1. 32. circle of the Ptolemies-] The diadem; the ensign of royalty. -friend,] i. e. paramour. Id. 1. 64. "What though”—Malone. and throes forth,] i. e. emits Id. 1. 68. Have nick'd his captainship;] i. e. set the mark of folly on it. DD P. 404, 1, Z. 70. he being The mered question; Mered is, I suspect, a word of our author's formation, from mere. he being the sole, the entire subject or occasion of the war. MALONE. Id. c 2, 1. 1S. his gay comparisons apart, And answer me declin'd, I require of Cæsar not to depend on that superiority which the comparison of our different fortunes may exhibit to him, but to answer me man to man, in this decline of my age or power. JOHNSON, Id. l. 22. be stag'd to the show. that is, er hibited, like conflicting gladiators, to the public gaze. Id. 1. 24. are A parcel of their fortunes; i, e as we should say at present, are of a piece with them. to square 1. e. to quarrel, Id. 1. 36. P 405, c. 1, 1. 6. Tell him, from his all-obeying breath, &c. All-obeying breath is, in Shak speare's language, breath which all obey. Obeying for obeyed. So, mexpressive for inexpressible, delighted for delighting, &c. Id. l. 11. Give me grace-, Grant me the favour. the fullest man, The most complete Id. 1 37. It sings well, &c.] i. e. it is a good siga, Id. 1. 21. and perfect. Id. 1. 29. scramble. Like boys unto a muss.] i. e. a it bodes well. SCENE IV. Id 1 64. Mr. Malone omits my. Id. 75. Briefly, sir. That is, quickly, sit P. 407. c. 1, l. 3. To dofft-] To doff is to d off, to put off. Id 1.50 Id. l. 75. The horned herd! It is not without pity and indignation that the reader of this great poet meets so often with this low jest, which is too much a favourite to be left out of either mirth or fury. Id. c. 2, l. 20. to quit me: To repay me this insult to requite me. Id. 1. 28. With one that ties his points? i. e. with a menial attendant. Points were laces with metal tags, with which the old trunkhose were fastened. Id. l. 34. as it determines,] That is, as the hailstone dissolves. Id. 1. 50 I and my sword will earn our chronicle: and my sword will do such acts as shal deserve to be recorded. Id. l. 56. Were nice and lucky, Nice is trifling ld. l. 58. gaudy night: This is still an epithet bestowed on feast days in the colleges of either university. Gaudy, or grand days in the ins of court, are four in the year, Ascension day, Midsummer day, All-saints day, and Candle mas day. The etymology of the word," says Blount, in his Dictionary, "may be taken from Judge Gawdy, who (as some affirm) was the first institutor of those days, or rather from gaudium because (to say truth) they are days of joy, as bringing good cheer to the hungry students. In colleges they are most commonly called Gowdy, in iuns of court Grand days, and in some other places they are called Collar days." Days of Good cheer, in some of the foreign universities,are called Gaudeamus days. Id. 1. 5. More tight at this, than thou:) Tight is handy, adroit. Id. l. 69. Our will is, Antony be took alive; It is observable with what judgment Shakspeare draws the character of Octavius. Antony was his hero; so the other was not to shine: yet being an historical character, there was a Le cessity to draw him like. But the ancie historians, his flatterers, had delivered him down so fair, that he seems ready cut and dried for a hero. Amidst these difficulties Shakspeare has extricated himself with great address. He has admitted all those great strokes of his character as he found them, and yet has mad him a very unamiable character, deceitfu, meanspirited, narrow-minded, proud, and revengeful WARBURTON. Id. c. 2. 25. Mr. Malone omits that Id. 1. 30 And feel I am so most. i. e. I am preeminently the first, the greatest villain of the earth. To stand alone, is still used in that sense, where any one towers above his competitors. And feel I am so most, must signify I feel or know it myself, more than any other person can or does feel it. REED. Id 1. 33. This blows my heart: This generosity (Says Enobarbus), swells my heart, s that it will quickly break, if thought break i not, a swifter mean. Id 1. 35. -but thought will do't, I feel Thought, in this passage, as in many others. signifies melancholy SCENE VII. Id. 1. 43. and our oppression- i. e. th force by which we are oppressed or over powered. Id. l. 11. -proof of harness- i. e. armour of proof. Harnois, Fr. Arnese, Ital. Id. 1. 15. the war. The world's great snare- -] i. e. ld l. 19. our younger brown;"— MALONE. Id. 121. Get goal for goal of youth.] At all plays of barriers, the boundary is called a goal; to win a goal, is to be a superior in a contest of activity. Id. 1. 31. Bear our hack'd targets like the men that owe them:] i. e. hack'd as much as the men to whom they belong; or perhaps, Bear our hack'd targets with spirit and exultation, such as becomes the brave warriors that own them. Id. l. 37. tabourines ;] A tabourin was a small drum. It is often mentioned in our ancient romances. Id. l. 44. SCENE IX. the court of guard:] i. e. the guardroom, the place where the guard musters. The same expression occurs again in Othello. Id. L. 51. list him."-MALONE. Id. 1. 60. disponge upon me ;] i. e. discharge, as a sponge, when squeezed, discharges the moisture it had imbibed. STEEVENS. Id. l. 62. Throw my heart-] The pathetic of Shakspeare too often ends in the ridiculous. It is painful to find the gloomy dignity of this noble scene destroyed by the intrusion of a conceit so far-fetched and unaffecting. JOHN SON Id. 1. 77. "sleep." MALONE. Id. c. 2, 1. 3. The hand of death hath raught him.] Raught is the ancient preterite of the verb to reach. 14. 15. Hark, the drums Demurely-] Demurely for solemnly. SCENE X. Id 1 20. For further on," Mr. Malone reads, or rather substitutes, "Let's seek a spot," &c. Id 1 22. Where their appointment we may best discover, And look on their endeavour.] i. e. where we may best discover their numbers, and see their motions. Id 1. 25. But being charg’d, we will be still by land, Which, as I take't, we shall;} i. e, unless we be charg'd we will remain quiet at land, which quiet I suppose we shall keep. But being charg'd was a phrase of that time, equivalent to unless we be Id. 1. 46. Triple-turn'd whore!] She first belonged to Julius Cæsar, then to Antony, and now, as he supposes, to Augustus. It is not likely that in recollecting her turnings, Antony should not have that in contemplation which gave him most offence. Id 1 60 this grave charm,] By this grave charm, is meant, this sublime, this majestic beauty; or rather, this deadly, or destructive piece of witchcraft. Id. 1. 63. was my crowned, my chief end,] i. e. last purpose, probably from finis coronat opus. Id. 1. 65. Like a right gipsy, hath, at fast and loose, Beguil'd me, &c.] There is a kind of pun in this passage, arising from the corruption of the word Egyptian into gipsy. The old law-books term such persons as ramble about the country, and pretend skill in palmistry and fortune-telling, Egyptians. Fast and loose is a term to signify a cheating game, of which the following is a description. A leathern belt is made up into a number of intricate folds, and placed edgewise upon a table. One of the folds is made to resemble the middle of the girdle, so that whoever should thrust a skewer into it would think he held it fast to the table; whereas, when he has so done, the person with whom he plays may take hold of both ends, and draw it away. This trick is now known to the common people, by the name of pricking at the belt or girdle, and perhaps was practised by the gipsies in the time of Shakspeare. SIR J. HAWKINS. Id. 1. 65. to the very heart of loss.] To the utmost loss possible. Id. l. 75. -most monster-like, be shown For poor'st diminutives, to dolts; ] i. e. shown as monsters are, not only for the smallest piece of money, but to the most stupid and vulgar spectators. Mr. Malone reads "for doits," i. e. farthings. P. 409, c. 1, l. 9. Let me lodge Lichas on the horns o'the moon;] This image our poet may have taken from Seneca's Hercules, who says Lichas, being launched into the air, sprinkled the clouds with his blood; or more probably from Golding's version of Ovid's Metamorphoses. SCENE XI. Id. 1. 18. Than Telamon for his shield;] i. e. than Ajax Telamon for the armour of Achilles, the most valuable part of which was the shield. The boar of Thessaly was the boar killed by Meleager. Id. l. 19. Was never so emboss'd.] A hunting term; when a deer is hard run, and foams at the mouth, he is said to be imbost. SCENE XII. Id. 1. 41. They are black vesper's pageants.] The beauty both of the expression and the illusion is lost, unless we recollect the frequency and the nature of these shows in Shakspeare's age. Id. 1. 45. The rack dislimns;] i. e. the fleeting away of the clouds destroys the picture. Id. l. 76. "Unarm, Eros ;"-MALONE. Id. c. 2, l. 5. thy continent,] i. e. the thing that contains thee. ld. l. 15. Seal then, and all is done.] Metaphor taken from civil contracts, where, when all is agreed on, the sealing completes the contract; so he hath determined to die, and nothing remained but to give the stroke. 1. 43. -pleach'd arms,] Arms folded in Id. each other. Id. 1. 44. His corrigible neck,] Corrigible for corrected, and afterwards penetrative for penetrating. Id. l. 47. His baseness that ensued?] The poor conquered wretch that followed. JOHNSON. Id. 1. 59. -the worship of the whole world-] The worship is the dignity, the authority. P. 410, c. 1, l. 3. Mr. Malone omits yet. Id. 1 37. She had dispos'd with Cæsar.] To dispose, in this instance, perhaps signifies to make tems, to settle matters. |