6 Which I did store, to be my foster-nurse, my blood;" appears ORL. O good old man; how well in thee 6 and He that doth the ravens feed, Yea, providently caters for the sparrow, &c.] See Saint Luke, xii. 6, and 24. DOUCE. 7 -rebellious liquors in my blood;] That is, liquors which inflame the blood or sensual passions, and incite them to rebel against reason. So, in Othello: "For there's a young and sweating devil here, "That commonly rebels." MALONE. Perhaps he only means liquors that rebel against the constitution. STEEVENS. Even with the having:] Even with the promotion gained by service is service extinguished. JOHNSON. But, poor old man, thou prun'st a rotten tree, ADAM. Master, go on; and I will follow thee, 9 From seventeen years] The old copy reads-seventy. The correction, which is fully supported by the context, was made by Mr. Rowe. MALONE. SCENE IV. The Forest of Arden. Enter ROSALIND in boy's clothes, CELIA drest like a Shepherdess, and TOUCHSTone. Ros. O Jupiter! how weary are my spirits!1 TOUCH. I care not for my spirits, if my legs were not weary. Ros. I could find in my heart to disgrace my man's apparel, and to cry like a woman: but I must comfort the weaker vessel, as doublet and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat: therefore, courage, good Aliena. CEL. I pray you, bear with me; I cannot go no further. 10 Jupiter! how weary are my spirits!] The old copy reads-how merry, &c. STEEVENS. And yet, within the space of one intervening line, she says, she could find in her heart to disgrace her man's apparel, and cry like a woman. Sure, this is but a very bad symptom of the briskness of spirits: rather a direct proof of the contrary disposition. Mr. Warburton and I, concurred in conjecturing it should be, as I have reformed in the text:-how weary are my spirits! And the Clown's reply makes this reading certain. THEOBALD. She invokes Jupiter, because he was supposed to be always in good spirits. A jovial man was a common phrase in our author's time. One of Randolph's plays is called ARISTIPPUS, or The Jovial Philosopher; and a comedy of Broome's, The Jovial Crew, or The Merry Beggars. In the original copy of Othello, 4to. 1622, nearly the same mistake has happened; for there we find "Let us be merry, let us hide our joys," instead of Let us be wary. MALONE. 2 TOUCH. For my part, I had rather bear with you, than bear you: yet I should bear no cross,3 if I did bear you; for, I think, you have no money in your purse. Ros. Well, this is the forest of Arden. TOUCH. Ay, now am I in Arden: the more fool I; when I was at home, I was in a better place; but travellers must be content. Ros. Ay, be so, good Touchstone:-Look you, who comes here; a young man, and an old, in solemn talk. Enter CORIN and SILVIUS. COR. That is the way to make her scorn you still. SIL. O Corin, that thou knew'st how I do love her! COR. I partly guess; for I have lov'd ere now. SIL. No, Corin, being old, thou canst not guess; Though in thy youth thou wast as true a lover As ever sigh'd upon a midnight pillow: But if thy love were ever like to mine, (As sure I think did never man love so,) How many actions most ridiculous Hast thou been drawn to by thy fantasy? 2 COR. Into a thousand that I have forgotten. SIL. O, thou didst then ne'er love so heartily: I had rather bear with you, than bear you:] This jingle is repeated in King Richard III: 3 "You mean to bear me, not to bear with me." STEEVENS. yet I should bear no cross,] A cross was a piece of money stamped with a cross. On this our author is perpetually quibbling. STEEVENS. If thou remember'st not the slightest folly' Or if thou hast not sat as I do now, Wearying thy hearer' in thy mistress' praise, Or if thou hast not broke from company, I have by hard adventure found mine own. TOUCH. And I mine: I remember, when I was in love, I broke my sword upon a stone, and bid him take that for coming anight? to Jane Smile: • If thou remember'st not the slightest folly-] I am inclined to believe that from this passage Suckling took the hint of his song: "Honest lover, whosoever, "If in all thy love there ever "Was one wav'ring thought, if thy flame "Were not still even, still the same. "Know this, "Thou lov'st amiss, "And to love true, "Thou must begin again, and love anew," &c. JOHNSON. Wearying thy hearer-] The old copy has-wearing. Corrected by the editor of the second folio. I am not sure that the emendation is necessary, though it has been adopted by all the editors. MALONE. 6 of thy wound,] The old copy has-they would. The latter word was corrected by the editor of the second folio, the other by Mr. Rowe. MALONE. 7 anight-] Thus the old copy. Anight, is in the night. The word is used by Chaucer, in The Legende of good Women. Our modern editors read, o'nights, or o'night. STEEVENS. |