When thou art old, and rich, Thou haft neither heat, affection, limb, nor beauty, To make thy riches pleasant. Meafure for Measure, A. 3, Kent, in the commentaries Cæfar writ, S. I. Is term'd the civil'ft place of all this isle; I have often wish'd come nearer to you. Henry VI. P. 2, A. 4, S. 7. myself poorer, that I might We are born to do benefits: and what better or properer can we call our own, than the riches of our friends? O, what a precious comfort 'tis, to have fo many, like brothers, commanding one another's fortunes! Timon of Athens, A. 1, S. 2. O, the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us! Who would not wish to be from wealth exempt, Since riches point to mifery and contempt? Who'd be fo mock'd with glory? or to live But in a dream of friendship? Timon of Athens, A. 4, S. 2. RIDDL E. No egma, no riddle, no l'envoy1; no falve in the male, fir: O fir, plantain, a plain plantain; no l'envoy, no l'envoy, no falve, fir, but a plantain ! Love's Labour Loft, A. 3, S. 1. ROME. No l'envoy.] The l'envoy is a term borrowed from the old French poetry. It appeared always at the head of a few concluding verfes to each piece, which either ferved to convey the moral, or to address the poem to fome particular perfon. It was frequently adopted by the ancient English writers. No falve in the male, fir.] What this can mean is not cafily difcovered. Would'ft thou be window'd in great Rome, and fee To penetrative fhame; whilst the wheel'd feat Antony and Cleopatra, A. 4, S. 12. The noble fifter of Publicola, The moon of Rome; chafte as the ificle difcovered. If mail, for a pocket or bag, was a word then in use, no falve in the male, may mean, No falve in the mountebank's budget. Or, fhall we read, no enigma, no riddle, no l'envoy— in the vale, fir, O, fir plantain. The matter is not great, but one could wish for fome meaning or other. JOHNSON. I believe we should read and point the paffage thus: "No egma, no riddle, no l'envoy. No falve for the mal, fir. "O, fir plantain, a plain plantain; no l'envoy, no falve, fir, "but a plantain." There is a quibble on the word envoy, which fignifies both an ambajador, and the addrefs that Dr. Johnfon has noticed. When Coftard and Moth come in, Armado fays," Here is "fome riddle, come, the l'envoy, the addrefs---begin." Coftard plays upon envoy, which he fuppofes to mean ambassador, whom he confiders as a falve, meaning that an envoy is frequently fent to heal grievances, but that envoy would not heal a broken pate. He therefore goes on,---" No falve for the mal, fir" (i. e. this is no falve for the fore, fir). "Plantain, plantain, fir, no falve like a plain plantain.' That fuch is the quibble, will be feen by what follows: Armad. Doth the inconfiderate take falve for l'envoy, and the word envoy for a falve? Moth. Doth the wife confider them other? is not l'envoy a falve? A. B. STEEVENS. 1 His corrigible neck] Corrigible for corrected. Corrigible does not here mean corrected; but ready, or willing to be corrected. The fenfe is---would't thou fee thy master bending his neck, and tamely fubmitting or yielding himself to any ignominious punishment that the victor may choose to inflict on him? A a 2 A. B. What What trash is Rome, What rubbish, and what offal, when it ferves So vile a thing as Cæfar? Julius Cæfar, A. 1, S. 3. If there be any in this affembly, any dear friend of Cæfar's, to him I fay, that Brutus' love to Cæfar was no less than his. If then that friend demand, why Brutus rofe against Cæfar, this is my answer,Not that I lov'd Cæfar lefs, but that I lov'd Rome more. Had you rather Cæfar were living, and die all flaves; than that Cæfar were dead, to live all free men? Julius Cæfar, A. 3, S. 2. S.2. Thou laft of all the Romans, fare thee well! It is impoffible, that ever Rome Should breed thy fellow.-Friends, I owe more tears To this dead man, than you shall see me pay. Julius Cæfar, A. 5, S. 3. Muft I back, Because that John hath made his peace with Rome? To underprop this action? King John, A. 5, S. 2. Tygers must prey; and Rome affords no prey, Titus Andronicus, A. 3, S. 1. In the most high and palmy state of Rome, The grave stood tenantlefs, and the sheeted dead. Hamlet, A. 1, S. 1. Shall they hoift me up, And fhew me to the fhouting varlets Of cenfuring Rome? rather a ditch in Egypt Blow me into abhorring! Antony and Cleopatra, A. 5, S. 2. By the discovery, We shall be shorten'd in our aim; which was, To take in many towns, ere, almost, Rome Say, that she rail; why then I'll tell her plain, Say, that the frown; I'll fay, fhe looks as clear And fay,-fhe uttereth piercing eloquence. Taming of the Shrew, A. 2, S. 1. Henry IV. P. 1, A. 1, S. 3. 1 To take in many towns.] To take in, is here, as in many other places, to fubdue. STEEVENS. To take in, is here confidered by Mr. Steevens, I think, in too large and pofitive a fenfe. By take in the poet furely means, include in the plan of operations, that is, their plan was to make an attack on many towns, in the hope of fubduing them. A a 3 A. B. Since 1 - Since she did neglect her looking-glass, Two Gentlemen of Verona, A. 4, Hoary headed frosts Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rofe. S. 3 Midfummer Night's Dream, A. 2, S. 2, Earthlier happy is the rofe diftill'd, Than that, which withering on the virgin-thorn, Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness. Midfummer Night's Dream, A. 1, S. 1. When I have pluck'd thy rose, I cannot give it vital growth again, It needs must wither :-I'll fmell it on the tree. Othello, A. 5, S. 2. But fince he did neglect her looking-glafs, That now he is become as black as I.] What is pinching a tincture? Starved, in the third line, made the blundering edi tors write pinch'd in the fourth, though they might have seen that it was a tanning, fcorching, not a freezing air, that was fpoken of. For how could this latter quality in the air fo affect the whiteness of the skin as to turn it black? We should read, "And pitch'd the lily tincture," &c. i. e. turned the white tincture black. WARBURTON. This is no emendation. None ever heard of a face being pitched by the weather. The colour of a part pinched is livid, as it is commonly termed, black and blue. The weather may there: fore be justly faid to pinch, when it produces the fame vifible ef fect. JOHNSON. "Pinch'd" fhould be pencte, i. e. painted. Since the threw her mafk away, the air hath starved the roses in her cheeks, and fo painted or changed her lily complexion, that she is now swarthy as I am. The word is found in Chaucer, and other early writers. A. B. SADNESS. |