SHAKSPEARE'S GENIUS JUSTIFIED. RESTORATIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF SEVEN HUNDRED PASSAGES IN SHAKSPEARE'S PLAYS. The Tempest. ACT I. SCENE I.-page 6. BOATSWAIN. Blow, till thou burst thy wind, if room enough! Ariel has so disposed the wind, that the ship is in danger of being driven against the Island; and which, as Adrian observes in Act II. sc. i. is "almost inaccessible." This being perceptible to the Boatswain, he is supposed to address himself to Boreas; and, seamanlike, defies his power, provided the vessel has sufficient sea-room. IN PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE, the sailors express themselves in a similar manner: 1 SAILOR. "Blow, and split thyself." 2 SAILOR. "But sea-room, an the brine and cloudy billow kiss the moon: I care not." B *C VIMU SCENE I.-page 6. ALONSO. Good Boatswain, have care. Where's the Master? plag the men. Although the authorities introduced by various Commentators in support of the word play, seem plausibly strong; yet, in my opinion, the transcriber mistook the sound of the word. We certainly should read, "ply the men:" meaning, that he should make the men work with vigour. SCENE II.-page 19. PROSPERO. Who having unto truth, by telling of it. Mr. M. Mason recommends, "by telling of't," which elision is to limit the verse to its due measure. But, I am of opinion that we should read, "by telling oft:" meaning, that by frequently telling a falshood, he believed it to be a truth. Thus the verse is perfect. It is said of rats, that they generally quit a tottering house a few days before it falls. PROSPERO. SCENE II.-page 25. Now I arise: Sit still and hear the last of our sea-sorrow. Sir William Blackstone demands, "Why does Prospero arise?" He then proposes to give the words"Now I arise," to Miranda. But, why should Miranda arise; she who has manifested so lively an interest in the narration of her father? However, it is evident, from the sequent verse, that she attempts to move from her seat, but is prevented by Prospero; the reason of which will be obvious, by reading as the Author wrote: Now ire, rise! Sit still and hear the last of our sea-sorrow. Prospero, in the course of his narration, smothers all indignation against his brother; but now the retrospect of his treachery figures to his imagination ail the dangers and all the calamities he has endured; and which raising the passion of vengeance in his bosom, he exclaimsNow ire, rise! which words, from his enraged look, attitude, and action, awaking sensations of fear in the breast of Miranda, she attempts to move from her seat; but judging the true cause of her emotion, Prospero curbs his indignant fury, and modulating his voice, tells her to "Sit still, and hear" him recount "the last of their sea-sorrows," and the care he had taken of her education. The transcriber made the blunder: I arise, and, ire, rise! have, perhaps, as close a similarity of sound as any two words formed of different characters. SCENE II.-page 37. PROSPERO. Come forth thou tortoise! When? Prospero calls Caliban, who is a rude monster, from his cell: he is a mass of flesh, destitute of reason; and who, like the tortoise, merely eats, drinks, and crawls about, in sluggish inactivity. In short, Prospero considers him as a piece of unmeaning matter—a mere excrescence. To prepare us, therefore, for the object he is about to introduce, Prospero marks his contempt of him, by the most contemptible appellation that can be given to any object partaking of human form. Come forth thou tortoise wen! i. e. Thou animated excrescence! Prospero considers him no nearer to human nature than is that protuberance called a wen. In the Second Part of KING HENRY IV. Act I. sc. ii. we have a passage that puts this restoration beyond controversy. Prince Henry, in speaking of the familiarity with which he indulges Falstaff, says "I do allow this wen to be as familiar with me as my dog," &c. which Dr. Johnson thus elucidates:-"This swoln excrescence of a man." The researches of my predecessors have been great to establish the existence of sea-mells, or sea-malls; but I profess myself unacquainted with either; and, I believe our great Poet was equally so: for, though many words are now obsolete which took a lead in literature two centuries ago; yet substantives have no more varied than proper-names. Therefore, if sea-mells were known in Shakspeare's time, they must be equally so at present. But they are unknown; nor have our Commentators been able to ascertain that any naturalist, from the time of Pliny to Buffon, ever mentioned such a bird. From these considerations, I am confident the original read: sea. The sea-mews make their nests in rocks close to the The manner in which the error took place is obvious. The transcriber formed the w in mews larger than the other letters connected with the word; and which was taken by the compositor for ll. FERD. ACT III. SCENE I.-page 94. My sweet mistress Weeps when she sees me work; and says, such baseness But these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours, &c. It is difficult to say, whether the blunders in this passage should be attributed to the transcriber's unchaste ear, or to the compositor's not deciphering the letters of the true words: we must be satisfied in obtaining the original, which certainly read: My sweet mistress Weeps when she sees me work; and says, such baseness For these sweet thoughts do even refresh my labours, &c. Meaning:-The tears which Miranda sheds, at seeing me striving to fulfil the laborious task enjoined on me by Prospero, give such consolation to my soul, that I forgive the iron-heart which imposes it. The subsequent word-But, should read-For: the necessity of this latter correction was obvious to Mr. Malone, even in the present corrupt state of the passage. SCENE I.-page 94. Most busy-less, when I do it. The two first folios read-Most busy-lest; altered by Mr. Theobald to busy-less; who observes, on this correction "I cannot afford to think well of my own sagacity, as even with this alteration, the passage is corrupt." |