Give him defence against the elements, Mon. Is he well shipp'd? Caf. His bark is ftoutly timber'd, and his pilot Of very expert and approv'd allowance 4; Therefore my hopes, not furfeited to death, Stand in bold cure 5. Within.] A fail, a fail, a fail! Enter another Gentleman. Caf. What noise? 4. Gent. The town is empty; on the brow o' the fea Stand ranks of people, and they cry-a fail. Caf. My hopes do fhape him for the governour. 2. Gent. They do discharge their thot of courtesy; Our friends, at least. Caf. I pray you, fir, go forth, [Guns beard. And 4 Of very expert and approv'd allowance ;] Expert and approv'd allowance is put for allow'd and approv'd expertnefs. This mode of expreffion is not unfrequent in Shakspeare. STEEVENS. 5 Therefore my bopes, not furfeited to death, Stand in bold cure.] Dr. Johnson fays, "he knows not why bope should be confidered as a difeafe." But it is not bope which is here defcribed as a disease; those misgiving apprehenfions which diminish hope, are in fact the disease, and hope itself is the patient. A furfeit being a disease arifing from an exceffive overcharge of the ftomach, the poet with his ufual licence ufes it for any fpecies of excefs.-Therefore, fays Caffio, my hopes, which, though faint and fickly with apprehenfion, are not totally deftroyed by an excefs of defpondency, erect themselves with fome degree of confidence that they will be relieved, by the fafe arrival of Othello, from thofe ill-divining fears under which they now languish. The word furfeit having occurred to Shakspeare, led him to confider fuch a hope as Caffio entertained, not a fanguine, but a faint and languid hope, ("ficklied o'er with the pale caft of thought,") as a disease, and to talk of its cure. A paffage in Twelfth Night, where a fimilar phrafeology is ufed, may ferve to ftrengthen this interpretation: "Give me excess of it; that, furfeiting, Again, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: "O, I have fed upon this woe already, "And now excess of it will make me furfeit." MALONE: To ftand in bold cure, is to erect themselves in confidence of being fulfilled. A parallel expreffion occurs in K. Lear, A&t III. sc. vi. And give us truth who 'tis that is arriv'd. 2. Gent. I fhall. [Exit. Mon. But, good lieutenant is your general wiv'd? Does bear all excellency'.-How now? who has put in ? "This reft might yet have balm'd thy broken senses, "Stand in affured lofs." In bold care means, in confidence of being cured. Re-enter STEEVENS. I believe that Solomon upon this occafion will be found the best interpreter: "Hope deferred maketh the beart fick." HENLEY. One that excels the quirks of blazoning pens,] So, in our poet's 103d Sonnet: $6 a face "That over-goes my blunt invention quite, "Dulling my lines, and doing me difgrace." MALONE. 7 And, in the effential vefture of creation Does bear all excellency.] The author feems to ufe effential, for exiftent, real. She excels the praifes of invention, fays he, and in real qualities, with which creation has invefted her, bears all excellency. JOHNSON. Does bear all excellency.] Such is the reading of the quartos ; for which the folio has this: And in the effential vefture of creation Do's tyre the ingeniuer. Which I explain thus: Does tire the ingenious verse. This is the beft reading, and that which the author fubftituted in his revifa!. JOHNSON. The reading of the quarto is fo flat and unpoetical, when compared with that fenfe which feems meant to have been given in the folio, that I heartily with fome emendation could be hit on, which might entitle it to a place in the text. I believe the word tire was not introduced to fignify-to fatigue, but to attire, to drefs. The verb to attire, is often fo abbreviated. So, in Holland's Leaguer, 1633: Cupid's a boy, "And would you tire him like a fenator ?" Again, in the Comedy of Errors, A&t II. fc. ii. "To fave the money he fpends in tiring," &c. The Re-enter fecond Gentleman. 2. Gent. 'Tis one Iago, ancient to the general. As The effential vefture of creation tempts me to believe it was so used on the prefent occation. I would read fomething like this: And in the effential veflure of creation Does tire the ingenuous virtue. i. e. invests her artlefs virtue in the fairest form of earthly fubftance. In the Merchant of Venice, A&t V. Lorenzo calls the body-" the muddy vefture of decay." It may, however, be obferved, that the word ingener did not anciently fignify one who manages the engines or artillery of an army, but any ingenious perfen, any mafier of liberal science. So, in B. Jonfon's Sejanus, Act I. fc. i: "No, Silius, we are no good ingeners, "We want the fine arts," &c. Ingene therefore may be the true reading of this paffage: and a fimilar thought occurs in the Tempeft, A& IV. fc. i: For thou fhalt find the will outftrip all praise, "And make it balt behind her." In the argument of Sejanus, Jonfon likewife fays, that his hero "work. eth with all his ingene," apparently from the Latin ingenium. STEEV. Perhaps the words intended in the folio, were, Does tire the ingene ever. Ingene is used for ingenium by Puttenham, in his Arte of Poefie, 1589-fuch alfo as made moft of their workes by tranflation out of the Latin and French tongue, and few or none of their owne engine." Engine is here without doubt a misprint for ingene.-I believe, however, the reading of the quarto is the true one.-If tire was used in the fenfe of weary, then ingener must have been used for the ingenious perfon who should attempt to enumerate the merits of DefdeTo the inftance produced by Mr. Steevens from Sejanus, may be added another in Fleckno's Difcourfe of the Englife Stage, 1664, "Of this curious art the Italians (this latter age) are the greatest mafters, the French good proficients, and we in England only schollars and learners, yet, having proceeded no further than to bare painting, and not arrived to the ftupendous wonders of your great ingeniers." In one of Daniel's Sonnets, we meet with a fimilar imagery to that in the firft of thefe lines: mona. "Though time doth fpoil her of the fairest waile 8 Traitors enfteep'd-] Thus the folio and one of the quartos. The firft copy reads-enferped, of which every reader may make what he VOL. IX. K k pleafes, As having fenfe of beauty, do omit Their mortal natures, letting go fafely by Mon. What is the? Caf. She that I fpake of, our great captain's captain, Left in the conduct of the bold lago; Whofe footing here anticipates our thoughts, A fe'nnights Ipeed.-Great Jove,* Othello guard, And bring all Cyprus comfort!'- O, behold, Enter DESDEMONA, EMILIA, IAGO, RODERICO, and Attendants. The riches of the fhip is come on shore! Ye men of Cyprus, let her have your knees :- Def. I thank you, valiant Caffio. What tidings can you tell me of my lord? Caf. He is not yet arriv'd; nor know I aught But that he's well, and will be shortly here. pleafes. Perhaps efcerped was an old English word borrowed from the French efcarpé, which Shakspeare not finding congruous to the image of clogging the keel, afterwards changed. I once thought that the poet had written-traitors enfcarf'd, i. e. muffled in their robes, as in Julius Cæfar. So, in Hamlet: "My fea gown fearfd about me ;" and this agrees better with the idea of a traitor: yet whatever is gained one way is loft another. The poet too often adopts circumftances from every image that arose in his mind, and employing them without attention to the propriety of their union, his metaphorical expreflions become inextricably confufed. STEEVENS. * Great Jove, &c.] For this abfurdity I have not the smallest doubt that the Mafter of the Revels, and not our poet, is answerable. See The Hiftorical Account of the English Stage, Vol. I. Part II. MALONE. 9 Make love's quick pants in Desdemona's arms,] Thus the folio. The quarto, with lefs animation: And fiftly come to Desdemona's arms. STEEVENS. And bring all Cyprus comfort!] This paffage is only found in the quartos. STEEVENS. Def. Def. O, but I fear;-How loft you company? Caf. The great contention of the fea and fkies Parted our fellowship: But, hark! a fail. [Cry within. A fail, a fail! Then guns heard. 2. Gent. They give their greeting to the citadel; This likewife is a friend. Caf. See for the news 2. Good ancient, you are welcome ;-Welcome, miftrefs: [Exit Gentleman. [to Emilia. Let it not gall your patience, good Iago, That I extend my manners; 'tis my breeding [kiffing her. Iago. Sir, would fhe give you fo much of her lips, As of her tongue fhe oft beftows on me, You'd have enough. Def. Alas, the has no fpeech. Iago. In faith, too much 3; I find it fill, when I have lift to fleep: Emil. You have little caufe to fay fo. Iago. Come on, come on; you are pictures out of doors, Bells in your parlours, wild cats in your kitchens, Saints 2 See for the news.] The firft quarto reads, So fpeaks this voice. STEEV. 3 In faith, too much;] Thus the folio. The first quarto thus: I know too much; I find it, I; for when, &c. STEEVENS. 4 Saints in your injuries, &c.] When you have a mind to do injuries, you put on an air of fanctity. JOHNSON. In Puttenham's Art of Poetry, 1589, I meet with almost the same thoughts:-"We limit the comely parts of a woman to confift in four "points; that is, to be a fhrew in the kitchen, a faint in the church, ❝an angel at board, and an ape in the bed; as the chronicle reports by mistress Shore, paramour to K. Edward the Fourth." Again, in a play of Middleton's, called Blurt Mafter Conftable, or, The Spaniard's Night-walk, 1602: "according to that wife faying of you, you be faints in the church, angels in the street, devils in the kitchen, and apes in your beds." Again, in the Miseries of inforc'd Marriage, 1607: "Women are in churches faints, abroad angeli, at bome devils." K k z Puttenham |
