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Tickling a parfon's nofe as a' lies afleep,
Then dreams he of another benefice :
Sometimes fhe driveth o'er a foldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambufcadoes, Spanish blades,
Of healths five fathom deep; and then anon
Drums in his ear; at which he starts, and wakes ;
And, being thus frighted, fwears a prayer or two,
And fleeps again. Romeo and Juliet, A. 1, S. 4,

Good expedition be my friend, and comfort

The gracious queen, part of his theme, but nothing Of his ill-ta'en fufpicion! Winter's Tale, A. 1, S. 2. We fay, the king

Is wife, and virtuous; and his noble queen

Well ftruck in years 2.

Richard III. A. 1, S. 1.

Good expedition be my friend, and comfort

The gracious queen.] But how could this expedition comfort the queen? On the contrary, it would increase her hufband's fufpicion. We fhould read,

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"The gracious queen's."

i. e, be expedition my friend, and be comfort the queen's friend. WARBURTON.

Dr. Warburton's conjecture is, I think, juft; but what shall be done with the following words, of which I can make nothing? JOHNSON. The obfcurity of this paffage arifes from the wrong pointing. I read,

"Good expedition be my friend and comfort.

"The gracious queen part of his theme, but nothing
Of his ill-ta'en fufpicion!"

The meaning is-may expedition be my friend and comforter; and may the queen again become his (Leontes') theme, but without fufpicion.

A. B.

2 Well ftruck in years.] This odd expreffion in our language was preceded by one as uncouth, though of a fimilar kind.

"Well bot in years he seem'd."

The meaning of neither is very obvious.

Spenfer's F. 2.
STEEVENS.

This is faid with a fneer, and purpofely rendered ambiguous. It may mean, "fomewhat old," or as we now fay, fricken in years or that the queen is no girl, but fo far advanced in age, as to be capable of advising the king.

A. B. RAGE.

I'

R.

RAGË.

Remember when the fight was done,

When I was dry with rage, and extreme toil, Breathlefs and faint, leaning upon my sword,

Came there a certain lord, neat, and trimly drefs'd, Fresh as a bridegroom. Henry IV. P. 1, A. 1, S. 3.

Be gone.

Put not your worthy rage into your tongue;

One time will owe another. Coriolanus, A. 3, S. 1.

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I do know but one

That unaffailable holds on his rank 2,

Unfhak'd of motion.

Julius Cafar, A. 3, S. 1.
RARENESS.

I Put not your worthy rage into your tongue;

One time will owe another.] I know not whether to owe, in this place, means to poffefs by right, or to be indebted: either fenfe may be admitted. One time, in which the people are feditious, will give us power in fome other time: or this time of the people's predominance will own them in debt: that is, will lay them open to the law, and expose them hereafter to more fervile fubjection. JOHNSON. I am of opinion that Dr. Johnfon has mistaken the fenfe; and that we should read, we'll, instead of will.

"Put not your worthy rage into your tongue;
"One time we'll owe (i. e. own) another."

That is, at another time, at a more convenient season, we'll own another kind of tongue :-we'll hold a very different language.

A. B.

holds on his rank.] Perhaps, holds on his race; continues his course. We commonly fsay, to hold a rank, and to hold on a course,

JOHNSON.

"Holds

RARENES S.

Thus did I keep my perfon fresh, and new;
My prefence, like a robe pontifical,
Ne'er feen but wonder'd at: and fo my state,
Seldom, but fumptuous, fhewed like a feaft;
And won, by rarenefs, fuch folemnity.

Henry IV. P. 1, A. 3, S. 2.

If all the year were playing holidays,

To fport would be as tedious as to work;

But, when they feldom come, they wish'd-for come, And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents.

Henry IV. P. 1, A. 1, S. 2.

RASH NES S.

If Cleopatra heard you, your reproof
Were well defery'd of rafhnefs.

Antony and Cleopatra, A. 2, S. 2.

REASON.

Though with their high wrongs I am ftruck to the

quick,

Yet, with my nobler reason, 'gainft my fury

Do I take part.

Tempeft, A. 5, S. 1.

"Holds on" here means, refts on, relies on; and the words unafailable and unfhaken, fufficiently prove that fuch is the fenfe.

Were well deferv'd of rashness.] In the old edition,

66

your reproof

your proof

"Were well deferv'd."

A. B.

Which Mr. Theobald, with his ufual triumph, changes to ap proof, which he explains allowance.

JOHNSON. I think "approof" is right. Approof, with the writers of Shakespeare's time, is commendation. Your commendation of Octavia (fays Cæfar) would, if Cleopatra heard you, be confrued into folly; rashness here is folly.

A. B.

Who

Who was fo firm, fo conftant, that this coil

Would not infect his reafon?

Tempeft, A. 1, S. 2.

Their understanding

Begins to fwell; and the approaching tide

Will fhortly fill the reasonable shore,

That now lies foul and muddy. Tempeft, A. 5, S. 1. -- I perceive, thefe lords

At this encounter do fo much admire,

That they devour their reafon; and scarce think, Their eyes do offices of truth. Tempeft, A. 5, S. 1.

Reason, my fon

Should choose himself a wife; but as good reason, The father (all whofe joy is nothing else

But fair pofterity) fhould hold fome counsel

In fuch a business.

Winter's Tale, A. 4, S. 3.

Is not your father grown incapable

Of reasonable affairs? Is he not stupid

With age, and altering rheums? Can he fpeak, hear? Know man from man? dispute his own estate?

I'll yet follow

Winter's Tale, A. 4, S. 3.

The wounded chance of Antony 1, though my reafon Sits in the wind against me.

Antony and Cleopatra, A. 3, S. 8.

Reason thus with reason fetter:

Love fought is good, but given unfought, is better.

Twelfth Night, A. 3, S. 1.

I, of ladies moft deject and wretched,

That fuck'd the honey of his mufick vows,

* The wounded chance of Antony.] I know not whether the author, who loves to draw his images from the sports of the field, might not have written

"The wounded chafe of Antony."

The allufion is to a deer wounded and chafed, whom all other deer avoid. I will, fays Enobarbus, follow Antony, though chafed and wounded.

"Wounded chance,” i. e. fallen fortunes.

JOHNSON.
A. B.

Now

Now fee the noble and most fovereign reason,
Like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh.

Hamlet, A. 3,

How ftand I then,

That have a father kill'd, a mother ftain'd,
Excitements of my reason, and my blood,
And let all fleep? while, to my fhame, I fee
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantafy, and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds.

S. 1.

Hamlet, A. 4, S. 4.

Sure, he, that made us with fuch large difcourse,
Looking before, and after, gave us not

That capability and god-like reafon

To fuft in us unus'd.

Hamlet, A. 4, S. 4.

Do not banish reafon

For inequality: but let your reafon serve

To make the truth appear, where it seems hid.

Measure for Measure, A. 5, S. 1.

If Cæfar hide himself, fhall they not whisper,

Lo, Cæfar is afraid?

Pardon me, Cæfar; for my dear, dear love
To your proceeding bids me tell you this;
And reafon to my love is liable 1.

Julius Cafar, A. 2, S. 2,

She hath profperous art

When the will play with reafon and discourse,

And well the can perfuade.

Meafure for Meafure, A. 1, S. 3. What, upon compulfion? No, were I at the ftrappado, or all the racks in the world, I would not tell you on compulfion. Give you a reafon on com

And reafon to my love is liable.] And reafon, or propriety of conduct and language, is fubordinate to my love. JOHNSON. Rather-Reafon falls in with, or agrees, to what my love has fuggefted.

I.

A. B.

pulfion!

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