And to my state grew stranger, being transported, And rapt in secret studies. Thy false uncleDost thou attend me? Mira. Sir, most heedfully. Pro. Being once perfected how to grant suits, How to deny them; whom to advance, and whom To trash for over-topping; new created The creatures that were mine; I say, or chang'd them, Or else new form'd them; having both the key9 To what tune pleas'd his ear; that now he was And suck'd my verdure out on't.-Thou attend'st O good sir, I do. Pro. I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicate To closeness, and the bettering of my mind With that, which, but by being so retired, O'er-priz'd all popular rate, in my false brother 2 Like a good parent, did beget of him 8 To trash for over-topping;] To trash, in old books of gardening, is to cut away the superfluities. It is used, also, by sportsmen in the North, when they correct a dog for misbehaviour in pursuing the game. A trash, among hunters, denotes a piece of leather, couples, or any other weight fastened round the neck of a dog, when his speed is superior to the rest of the pack; i. e. when he over-tops them, when he hunts too quick. See Othello, Act. II. sc. i. 9 both the key-] This is meant of a key for tuning the harpsichord, spinnet, or virginal; called now a tuning hammer. I pray thee, mark me.] In the old copy, these words are the beginning of Prospero's next speech; but, for the restoration of metre, I have changed their place. STEEVENS. Like a good parent, &c.] Alluding to the observation, that a father above the common rate of men has commonly a son below it. Heroum filii noxæ. JOHNSON. A falsehood, in its contrary as great As my trust was; which had, indeed, no limit, To credit his own lie,'-he did believe Mira. Your tale, sir, would cure deafness, Pro. To have no screen between this part he play'd, And him he play'd it for, he needs will be The dukedom, yet unbow'd, (alas, poor Milan!) Mira. O the heavens! Pro. Mark his condition, and the event; then tell me, If this might be a brother. 1 like one, Who having, unto truth, by telling of it, To credit his own lie,] There is, perhaps, no correlative, to which the word it can with grammatical propriety belong. Lie, however, seems, to have been the correlative to which the poet meant to refer, however ungrammatically. He was the duke; out of the substitution,] The reader should place his emphasis on-was. STEEVENS. 5(So dry he was for sway)] i. e. So thirsty. Mira. I should sin 6 To think but nobly of my grandmother: Pro. Now the condition. The gates of Milan; and, i' the dead of darkness, Mira. Alack, for pity! I, not rememb'ring how I cry'd out then, That wrings mine eyes.? Pro. 8 Hear a little further, And then I'll bring thee to the present business Which now's upon us; That hour destroy us? My tale provokes that not; without the which, this Wherefore did they not Well demanded, wench; question. Dear, they durst (So dear the love my people bore me) nor set A mark so bloody on the business; but 6 To think but nobly-] But, i. e. in this place otherwise than. 7-in lieu o' the premises, &c.] In lieu of, means here, in consideration of; an unusual acceptation of the word. 8a hint,] Hint is suggestion. › That wrings mine eyes.] i. e. squeezes the water out of them. With colours fairer painted their foul ends. Bore us some leagues to sea; where they prepared Mira. Was I then to you! Pro. Alack! what trouble O! a cherubim Thou wast, that did preserve me! Thou didst smile, Infused with a fortitude from heaven, When I have deck'd the sea' with drops full salt; Under my burden groan'd; which rais'd in me An undergoing stomach,2 to bear up Against what should ensue. Mira. How came we ashore? Pro. By Providence divine. Some food we had, and some fresh water, that Out of his charity (who being then appointed deck'd the sea— -] To deck the sea, if explained to honour, adorn, or dignify, is indeed ridiculous, but the original import of the verb deck, is to cover; so, in some parts, they yet say deck the table. This sense may be borne, but perhaps the poet wrote fleck'd, which I think is still used in rustic language of drops falling upon water. Dr. Warburton reads mock'd; the Oxford edition brack'd. JOHNSON. To deck signifies in the North to sprinkle; and degg'd, which means the same, is in daily use in the North of England. When clothes that have been washed are too much dried, it is necessary to moisten them before they can be ironed, which is always done by sprinkling; this operation the maidens universally call degging. An undergoing stomach,] Stomach is stubborn resolution. 3 Some food we had, and some fresh water, that A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo, Rich garments, linens, stuffs, and necessaries, Which since have steaded much; so, of his gentle ness, Knowing I lov'd my books, he furnish'd me, From my own library, with volumes that I prize above my dukedom. Mira. But ever see that man! Pro. 'Would I might Now I arise:-4 Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow. Have I, thy school-master, made thee more profit Out of his charity, (who being then appointed Master of this design,) did give us ;] Mr. Steevens has suggested, that we might better read-he being then appointed; and so we should certainly now write: but the reading of the old copy is the true one, that mode of phraseology being the idiom of Shakspeare's time. MALONE. I have left the passage in question as I found it, though with slender reliance on its integrity. What Mr. Malone has styled "the idiom of Shakspeare's time," can scarce deserve so creditable a distinction. The genuine idiom of our language, at its different periods, can only be ascertained by reference to contemporary writers whose works were skilfully revised as they passed through the press, and are therefore unsuspected of corruption. A sufficient number of such books are before us. If they supply examples of phraseology resembling that which Mr. Malone would establish, there is an end of controversy between us. STEEVENS. Now I arise:] Perhaps these words belong to Miranda, and we should read: Mir. 'Would I might But ever see that man!-Now I arise. Pro. Sit still, and hear the last of our sea-sorrow. As the words " now I arise "-may signify, " now I rise in my narration,".- now my story heightens in its consequence," I have left the passage in question undisturbed. We still say, that the interest of a drama rises or declines. STEEVENS. |