PROLOGUE.

P. 263, c. 1, l. 4. The princes orgulous,] Orgulous, | i. e. proud, disdainful. Orgueilleux, Fr. Id. l. 20. fulfilling bolts, To fulfill, in this place, means to fill till there be no room for more. In this sense it is now obsolete. Id. 1. 21. Sperr up the sons of Troy.] To sperre, or spar, from the old Teutonic word speren, siguifies to shut up, defend by bars, &c. Id. l. 25. A prologue arm'd,] I come here to speak

the prologue, and come in armour; not defying the audience, in confidence of either the author's or actor's abilities, but merely in a character suited to the subject, in a dress of war, before a warlike play.

Id. 1. 29. --the vaunt-] i. e. the avant, what | went before.

warrior.

Id. 1. 47.

ish

fonder—] i. e. more weak, or fool

Id. c. 2, l. 19. Doth lesser blench-] To blench is to shrink, start, or fly off.

P. 264, c. 1, l. 1. —— and spirit of sense

Hard as the palm of ploughman!] In comparison with Cressida's hand, says he, the spirit of sense, the utmost degree, the most exquisite power of sensibility, which implies a soft hand, since the sense of touching, as Scaliger says in his Exercitations, resides chiefly in the fingers, is hard as the callous and insensible palm of the ploughman. Id. l. 12 - she has the mends-] She may make the best of a bad bargain. This is a proverbial saying.

Id. 1. 57. gruous.

Id. c. 2, l. 3.

sorts,] i. e. fits, suits, is con

SCENE II.

husbandry in war,] Husbandry means economical prudence. Troilus alludes to Hector's early rising. Id. l. 19. their particular additions;] Their peculiar and characteristic qualities or deno

minations.

Id. 1. 22. that his valour is crushed into folly,] To be crushed into folly, is to be con

fused and mingled with folly, so as that they make one mass together.

Id. 1. 26. ——against the air:] Is a phrase equivalent to another now is use- against the grain. The French say - à contrepoil. P. 265, c. 1, l. 32. a merry Greek,] Græcari, among the Romans, signified to play the reveller. The expression occurs in many old English books.

Id. l. 34. compassed window,] The compassed window is the same as the bow window.

ld. l. 41. --so old a lifter?] The word lifter is used for a thief. We still call a person who plunders shops, a shop-lifter, Hliftus, in the Gothic language, signifies a thief.

Id. c. 2, l. 12. that it passed.] i. e. that it went beyond bounds.

Id. l. 45. the rich shall have more.] The allusion is to the word noddy, which, as now, did, in our author's time, and long before, signify a silly fellow, and may, by its etymology, signify likewise full of nods. Cressida means that a noddy shall have more nods. Of such remarks as these is a comment to consist! JOHNSON.

P. 266, c. 1, 7. 40. -no date in the pye.] To account for the introduction of this quibble, it should be remembered that dates were an ingredient in ancient pastry of almost every kind.

Id. l. 43.

at what ward you lie.] A metaphor

from the art of defence. Id. c. 2, 1. 4.. Achievement is command; ungain'd, beseech:] The meaning of this obscure line seems to be - "Men, after possession, become our commanders: before it, they are our suppliants."

Id. l. 5. my heart's content-] Content for capacity, or perhaps for consent.

Id. l. 34.

-

SCENE III.

affin'd-] i e. joined by affinity. Id. 1. 72. "Nestor shall apply] Perhaps Nestor means, that he will attend particularly to, and consider, Agamemnon's latest words. Id. l. 59. -by the brize,] The brize is the gad or horse fly.

Id. 1. 62 And flies fled under shade,] i. e. And flies are fled under shade.

Id. 1. 62. the thing of courage,] It is said of the tiger, that in storms and high winds he rages and roars most furiously.

Id. 1. 66. Returns to chiding-] Chiding is noisy, clamorous.

T

such,

which were

As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece
Should hold up high in brass; and such
again,

As venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver,
Should with a bond of air

-knit all the Greekish ears

To his experienc'd tongue,] Ulysses begins his oration with praising those who had spoken before him, and marks the characteristic excellencies of their different eloquence,-strength and sweetness, which he expresses by the different metals on which he recommends them to be engraven for the instruction of posterity. The speech of Agamemnon is such that it ought to be engraven in brass, and the tablet held up by him on the one side, and Greece on the other, to show the union of their opinion. And Nestor ought to be exhibited in silver, uniting all his audience in one mind by his soft and gentle elocution. Brass is the common emblem of strength, and silver of gentleness. We call a soft voice a silver voice, and a persuasive tongue, a silver tongue. To hatch is a term of art for a particular method of engraving. Hacher, to cut, Fr. JOHNSON. The commentators differ in some respects from this explanation.

Id. c.7. - expect-] Expect for expectation. Id. 1. 15. The speciality of rule-] The particular rights of supreme authority.

Id. 1. 18. When that the general is not like the hive,] The meaning is, - When the general is not to the army like the hive to the bees, the repository of the stock of every individual, that to which each particular resorts with whatever he has collected for the good of the whole, what honey is expected? what hope of advantage? The sense is clear, the expression is confused. JOHNSON.

Id. l. 22. the planets, and this center,] By

this center, Ulysses means the earth itself, not the center of the earth. According to the system of Ptolemy, the earth is the center round which the planets move.

Id. l. 36. deracinate-] i. e. force up by the

roots.

Id. l. 41.

-brotherhoods in cities] Corporations, companies, confraternities. Id. l. 42. - dividable shores,] i. e. divided. Id. 1. 48. mere-] Mere is abolute.

Id. 1. 65. That by a space-] That goes backward step by step

Id. l. 66. with a purpose

It hath to climb. With a design in each man to aggrandize himself, by slighting his immediate superior.

Id. l. 71.—-bloodless emulation:] An emulation not vigorous and active, but malignant and sluggish.

Id. l. 76. —— our power-] i. e. our army Id. c. 2, 1. 9. Thy topless deputation,-] Topless is that which has nothing topping or overtopping it; supreme; sovereign.

Id. 1. 13. Twixt his stretch'd footing and the scaffoldage,] The galleries of the theatre, in the time of our author, were sometimes termed the scaffolds.

Id. l. 14. --o'er-wrested seeming-] i. e. wrested beyond the truth.

Id. l. 16. unsquar'd,] i. e. unadapted to their subject, as stones are unfitted to the purposes of architecture, while they are yet unsquar'd. Id. 1. 25. - as near as the extremest ends

Of parallels:] The parallels to which the allusion seems to be made, are the parallels on a map. As like as east to west.

Id. l. 46. -bears his head

In such a rein,] That is, nolds up his head as haughtily. We still say of a girl, she bridles.

Id. l. 50. whose gall coins slanders like a mint,] i e as fast as a mint coins money. Id. 1. 53. How rank soever rounded in with dan ger] A rank weed is a high weed.

Id. 1. 59. - by measure-] i. e. “by means of their observant toil."

P. 268, c. 1, l. 4. A stranger to those most imperial looks-] And yet this was the seventh year of the war. Shakspeare, who so wonderfully preserves character, usually confounds the customs of all nations, and probably supposed that the ancients (like the heroes of chivalry) fought with beavers to their helmets. So, in the fourth Act of this play Nestor says to Hector:

“But this thy countenance, still lock'd in steel, "I never saw till now."

Shakspeare might have adopted this error from the wooden cuts to ancient books, or from the illuminators of manuscripts, who never seem to have entertained the least idea of habits, manners, or customs more ancient than their own. There are books in the British Museum of the age of King Henry VI.; and in these the heroes of ancient Greece are represented in the very dresses worn at the time when the books received their decorations.

Id. 1. 18.

-they have galls, &c.] This is not very intelligible, but perhaps the speaker means to say, that when they have the accord of Jove on their side, nothing is so courageous as the Trojans.

Id. 1. 26. " follows"-MALONE, and so in Steevens' last edition, but, I suspect, erroneously. C. Id. 1. 50. long-continued truce-] Of this long truce there has been no notice taken; in this very Act it is said, that Ajax coped Hector yesterday in the battle. Here we have another proof of Shakspeare's falling into inconsistencies, by sometimes adhering to, and sometimes deserting, his original. Id. l. 57. - more than in confession,] Confession for profession.

Id. c. 2, l. 5. And in my vantbrace-] An armour for the arm, avantbras.

Id. 1. 21. Be you my time, &c.] i. e. be you to my present purpose what time is in respect of all other schemes, viz. a ripener and bringer of them to maturity.

Id. l. 37. And, in the publication, make no strain,] i. e. make no difficulty, no doubt.

Id. l. 54. -scantling-] that is, a measure, proportion. The carpenter cuts his wood to a certain scantling.

Id. l. 56. small pricks-] Small points compared with the volumes, or perhaps indexes, which were, in Shakspeare's time, often prefired to books.

P. 269, c. 1, l. 6. — our main opinion—] is, our general estimation or character. Id. I. 9. The sort-] i. e. the lot.

ld. l. 16.

-- under our opinion-] Here again opinion means character.

Id. 1. 25. Must tarre the mastiffs on,] Tarre, an old English word, signifying to provoke or

urge on.

ACT II. SCENE I.

Id. 1. 27. Act II.] This play is not divided into
Acts in any of the original editions.
Id. 1. 67. Cobloaf!] A crusty, uneven, gibbous
loaf, is in some counties called by this name.

P. 269, c. 1, 7. 68. -pun thee into shivers-] Pun is in the midland counties the vulgar and colloquial word for-pound.

d. l. 70. Thou stool for a witch!] In one way of trying a witch, they used to place her on a chair or stool, with her legs tied across, that all the weight of her body might rest upon her seat; and by that means, after some time, the circulation of the blood would be much stopped, and her sitting would be as painful as the wooden horse. GREY.

Id. l. 73.

Id. l. 75.

an assinego-] A he-ass.

-thou art bought and sold-] This

was a proverbial expression.

Id. l. 76. If thou use to beat me,] i. e. if thou continue to beat me, or make a practice of beating me.

Id. c. 2, l. 26. —his pia mater, &c.] The pia mater is a membrane that protects the substance of the brain.

Id l. is beaten voluntary:] i. e. voluntarily. Shakspeare often uses adjectives adverbially. Id. l. 72. — when Achilles' brach bids me,] The commentators are not agreed on the meaning of this word, some referring it to a species of dog, and some to an ornament called a broche, or broach.

SCENE II.

P. 270, c. 1, l. 34. many thousand dismes,] Disme. Fr. is the tithe, the tenth. Id. 1. 45. The past-proportion of his infinite?] i. e. that greatness to which no measure bears any proportion.

Id. l. 69. reason and respect,

Make livers pale, &c.] Respect is caution, a regard to consequences.

Id. 1. 79. And the will dotes, that is attributive-] | i. e. the will dotes that attributes or gives the qualities which it affects; that first causes excellence, and then admires it.

Id. c. 2, l. 13. -unrespective sieve,] that is,

unto a common voider.

Id. 1. 72. To make it gracious.] i. e. to set it off; to show it to advantage.

Id. l. 77. -convince of levity-] This word, which our author frequently employs in the obsolete sense of-to overpower, subdue, seems, in the present instance, to signify-convict, or subject to the charge of levity.

Id. l. 79. your full consent-] Your unanimous approbation.

P. 271, c. 1, 7. 34. Have gloz'd,] Have commented. Id. l. 35.. Aristotle-] Let it be remembered,

as often as Shakspeare's anachronisms occur, that errors in computing time were very frequent in those ancient romances which seem to have formed the greater part of his library. Id. 1. 47. -of partial indulgence—] i. e. through partial indulgence.

Id. l. 48. benumbed wills,] That is, inflexible, immoveable, no longer obedient to superior direction.

Id. l. 19. the serpentine craft of thy Caduceus;] The wand of Mercury is wreathed with serpents. Id. 1. 23. -without drawing their massy irons,] That is, without drawing the swords to cut their web. They use no means but those of violence. JOHNSON.

Id. 1. 38. Let thy blood be thy direction] Thy blood means, thy passions; thy natural propensities.

Id. l. 59. decline-] Deduce the question from the first case to the last.

P. 272, c. 1, l. 11. He shent our messengers:] i. e. rebuked, rated.

Id. 1 45. - noble state,] i. e. the stately train of attending nobles whom you bring with you.

Id.

Id. l. 48.--breath,] Breath, in the present instance, stands for breathing, i. e. exercise. 1. 64. tend the savage strangeness-] i. e. shyness, distant behaviour. To tend, is to attend upon.

Id. l. 66. ——underwrite-] To subscribe, in Shakspeare, is to obey.

ld. 1. 66. --in a observing kind—] i. e. in a mode religiously attentive.

Id. l. 75. - allowance give-] Allowance is probation.

ap

Id. c. 2, l. 41.- - the death-tokens of it-] Alluding to the decisive spots appearing on those infected by the plague.

Id. 1. 50. with his own seam;] Swine-seam, in the North, is hog's-lard.

Id. 1. 60. That were to enlard, &c.] This is only the well-known proverb-Grease a fat sow, &c. in a more stately dress.

Id. l. 70.—I'll pash him-] i: e. strike him with

violence.

Id. l. 72. -pheeze his pride:] To pheeze is to comb or curry.

Id. 1. 74. Not for the worth-] Not for the value of all for which we are fighting.

P. 273, c. 1, 7 4. "He will be the "-MALONE. Id l. 16. -force him-] i. e. stuff him. Farcir, Fr.

Id. 1. 27. He is not emulous,] Emulous, in this in

stance, and perhaps in some others, may well enough he supposed to signify-jealous of higher authority.

Id. l. 29. that shall palter-] That shall juggle with us, or Hy from his engagements.

Id. 1. 46. Bull-bearing Milo his addition yieldi. e. yield his titles, his celebrity for strength. Addition, in legal language, is the title given to each party, showing his degree, occupation, &c. as esquire, gentleman, yeoman, merchant, &c.

ACT III.

SCENE I.

P. 273, c. 2, 1. 53. in fits. i. e. now and then, by fits; or perhaps a quibble is intended. A fit was a part or division of a song, sometimes a strain in music, and sometimes a measure in dancing.

P. 274, c. 1, 7. 6. -you are wide;] i. e. wide of your mark; a common exclamation when an archer missed his aim.

Id. l. 56. "To-day," -STEEVENS, edit. 1793, 15 vol.

SCENE II.

Id. c. 2. l. 55. i'the fills.] That is, in the shafts. Fill is a provincial word used in some counties for thills, the shafts of a cart or waggon. Id. 1. 59. So, so; rub on, and kiss the mistress.] The allusion is to bowling. What we now call the jack, seems, in Shakspeare's time, to have been termed the mistress. A bowl that kisses the jack, or mistress, is in the most advantageous situation. Rub on is a term at the same game.

id. l. 62. The falcon as the tercel-] Pandarus means, that he'll match his niece against her lover for any bet. The tercel is the male hawk; by the falcon we generally understand the female

P. 275, c. 1, l. 29.

-his addition shall be humble.]

We will give him no high or pompous titles.
JOHNSON.

ld. l. 31. - what envy can say worst, shall be a mock for his truth; i. e. shall be only a mock for his truth. Even malice (for such is the meaning of the word envy) shall not be able to impeach his truth, or attack him in any other way, except by ridiculing him for his constancy.

Id. c. 2,1. 29. Might be affronted with the match] I wish "my integrity might be met and matched with such equality and force of pure unmingled love." JOHNSON.

Id. l. 33. And simpler than the infancy of truth.] This is fine; and means, "Ere truth, to defend itself against deceit in the commerce of the world, had, out of necessity, learned worldly policy."

Id. l. 41. compare,] i. e. comparison. Id. 1. 47. As truth's authentic author to be cited,] Troilus shall crown the verse, as a man to be cited as the authentic author of truth, as one whose protestations were true to a proverb. Id. l. 49. crown up-] i e. conclude it.

SCENE III.

P. 276, c. 1, 1. 28. - such a wrest-] Wrest is an instrument for tuning the harp by drawing up the strings. Id. l. 35. I most accepted pain.] i. e. Her presence, says Calchas, shall strike off, or recompense the service I have done, even in those labours which were most accepted. JOHNSON.

Id. c. 2, l. 21. "riches, and favour,"-MALONE. Id. l. 37. - - how dearly ever parted,] However excellently endowed, with however dear or precious parts enriched or adorned. Id. 1. 56. in his circumstance,] In the detail or circumduction of his argument.

Id. 1.68. The unknown Ajax.] Ajax, who has abilities, which were never brought into view or use. JOHNSON.

P. 277, c. 1, l. 45. And give to dust, that is a little gilt,

More laud than gilt o'er-dusted.] Dust a little gilt means, ordinary performances ostentatiously displayed and magnified by the favour of friends and that admiration of novelty which prefers "new-born gawds" to "things past.” Gilt o'er-dusted means, splendid actions of preceding ages, the remembrance of which is weakened by time.

Id. 1. 55. Made emulous missions-] This means the descent of deities to combat on either side; an idea which Shakspeare very probably adopted from Chapman's translation of Homer. In the fifth Book, Diomed wounds Mars, who on his return to heaven is rated by Jupiter for having interfered in the battle. This disobedience is the faction which I suppose Ulysses would describe. STEEVENS.

Id. l. 62. one of Priam's daughters.] Polyxena, in the act of marrying whom he was afterwards killed by Paris.

Id. l. 71. —— with whom relation

Id. 1. 47. During all question—] Question means intercourse, interchange of conversation. Id. 1. 72. His purpose meets you;] I bring you his meaning and his orders. JOHNSON.

Id. c. 2, 1. 27. --a flat tamet piece ;] i. e. a piece of wine out of which the spirit is all Hlown.

Id. 1. 30. Both merits pois'd, &c.] The sense appears to be this: the merits of either are sunk in value, because the contest between them is only for a strumpet.

Id. 1. 35. For I will throw my glove to death-] That is, I will challenge death himself in defence of thy fidelity.

Id. c. 2, l. 61.

-the high lavolt,] The lavolta

was a dance. Id. c. 2, 1. - catch mere simplicity;] The meaning, I think, is while others, by their art, gain high estimation, I, by honesty, obtain a plain simple approbation. JOHNSON

Id. l. 10. At the port,] The port is the gate. id. l. 11. possess thee what she is. ] I will make thee fully understand. This sense of the word possess is frequent in our author. Id. l. 33. my lust: Lust is inclination, will. Id. l. 37. “I tell thee, Diomed,"-MALONE.

SCENE V.

Id. l. 58. - -in appointment—] Appointment is preparation. ld l. 66. -bias cheek-] Swelling out like the bias of a bowl. The idea is taken from the puffy cheeks of the winds, as represented in ancient prints, maps, &e.

P. 281, c. 1, l. 23. I'll make my match to live,] Perhaps this means-I'll lay my life.

Id. l. 48. -motive-] Motive, for part that contributes to motion.

Id. 1. 50. That give a coasting welcome ere it comes,] A coasting welcome, is a conciliatory welcome; that make silent advances before the tongue has uttered a word.

Id. l. 53. sluttish spoils of opportunity.] Corrupt wenches, of whose chastity every opportunity may make a prey. JOHNSON. Id. 1. 79. Valour and pride excel themselves in Hector; Shakspeare's thought is not exactly deduced. Nicety of expression is not his character. The meaning is plain: "Valour (says Æneas) is in Hector greater than valour in other men, and pride in Hector is less than pride in other men. So that Hector is distinguished by the excellence of having pride less | than other pride, and valour more than other valour." JOHNSON.

Id. c. 2, 1, 3. This Ajax is half made of Hector's blood:] Ajax and Hector were cousin-germans. Id. 1. 13. a breath;] i. e. breathing, a slight exercise of arm.

Id. l. 14.

- stints-] i. e. stops.

Id. l. 20. deedless in his tongue;] i. e. no boaster of his own deeds.

Id. l. 25. —an impair thought-] A thought unsuitable to the dignity of his character. Hector- -subscribes-] that is,

Id. 1 27.

Id.

yields, gives way.

34. - thus translate him to me.] Thus explain his character.

Id. l. 61. My sacred aunt,] It is remarkable that

the Greeks give to the uncle the title of Sacred, Θειος. And this circumstance may tend to establish the opinion, that this play was not the entire composition of Shakspeare, to whom the Grecism before us was probably unknown. Id. 1. 69. A great addition-1 i. e. denomination. Id. 1. 70. Not Neoptolemus-] My opinion is, that by Neoptolemus the author meant Achilles himself; and remembering that the son was Pyrrhus Neoptolemus, considered Neoptolemus as the nomen gentilitium, and thought the father was likewise Achilles Neoptolemus. JOHNSON

P. 282, c. 1, l. 25. most imperious-] Imperious and imperial had formerly the same signification.

Id. 1. 35. the untraded oath ;] A singular oath not

in common use.

ld. l. 48. -the declin'd;] The declin'd is the fallen. Id. 1. 55.

thy grandsire, Laomedon.

Id. c. 2, l. 15. And quoted joint by joint] To is to observe.

ld.

quote 42. that stithied Mars his helm,] A stith is an anvil, and from hence the verb stithied is formed.

Id. 1. 52.

the general state, I fear,

Can scarce entreat you to be odd with him.] Ajax treats Achilles with contempt, and means to insinuate that he was afraid of fighting with Hector. "You may every day (says he) have enough of Hector, if you choos it; but I believe the whole state of Greece will scarcely prevail on you to engage with him." Id. 1. 55. pelting wars,] i. e. petty, inconsiconvive-] To convive is to feast. Id. l. 66. Beat loud the tabourines,] Tabourines are small drums.

derable ones.

Id. l. 63.

ACT V.

SCENE I.

P. 283, c. 1, l. 25. The surgeon's box,] In this answer Thersites quibbles upon the word tent. Id. l. 26. Well said. Adversity!] Adversity, in this instance, signifies contrariety. The reply of Thersites has been studiously adverse to the drift of the question urged by Patroclus. Id. l. 46. thou idle immaterial skein of sleive silk,] All the terms used by Thersites of Patroclus, are emblematically expressive of flexibility, compliance, and mean officiousness. Id. l. 52 Finch egg!] A finch's egg is remarkable gaudy; but of such terms of reproach it is difficult to pronounce the true signification. Id. c. 2, l. 1. ——a fitchew,] i. e. a polecat. Id. l. 7. · spirits and fires!] This Thersites speaks upon the first sight of the distant lights. Id. 1. 26. "sweet lord Menelaus." MALONE. Id.

1. 50.- - he will spend his mouth, and promise, like Brabler the hound;] If a hound gives his mouth, and is not upon the scent of the game, he is by sportsmen called a babler or brabler.

Id. l. 51. - prodigious,] i. e. portentous, omi

Id. l. 72. -keep this sleeve.] The custom of wearing a lady's sleeve for a favour, is of ancient date, but the sleeve given in the present instance was the sleeve of Troilus. be supposed to be an ornamented cuff, such, perhaps, as was worn by some of our young nobility at a tilt, in Shakspeare's age.

Id. l. 79. "It is no matter,”-MALONE, Id. c. 2, 1. 24. By all Diana's waiting-women yonder,] i. e. the stars which she points to. Id. l. 68, I cannot conjure, Trojan.] that is, I cannot raise spirits in the form of Cressida. ld. l. 74. for womanhood!] i. e. for the sake of womanhood.

Id. 1. 76. To stubborn critics-] Critic has here, probably, the signification of cynic.

P. 285, c. 1, l. 7. If there be rule in unity itself.] If it be true that one individual cannot be two distinct persons.