bound to supply. "Well (I'll be hanged [or some equivalent expression]), if any man in Italy have a fairer table (than this); which doth offer to swear upon a book (that) I shall have good fortune." "Doth offer to swear upon a book" is merely his whimsical way of saying "doth offer to testify (by its lines);" and the words are peculiarly appropriate, as the palm would be laid upon the book in swearing. 146 Go to. This elastic expression should, in the present instance, require no explanation for any one who has ever heard the Southern 66 go 'long," or "go 'way," or the rough "ah, go on" of the New York streets. simple, i.e., poor, mean, is, of course, ironic, being part of the unctuous pretended depreciation by which Launcelot shows his relish for his promised good fortune. 146 148 152 170 175 179 181 181 coming in: inheriting (for inheritance); as one is said to for this gear for this business (of promising me such won- Thus with my hat. It was customary to wear hats during studied: prepared by study, as an actor would be in his part. a sad ostent: a grave appearance. ACT II. SCENE III 10 exhibit. This may be one of Launcelot's perversions of language, for "prohibit," or "inhibit"; the sense would then be "tears forbid me to speak." It may, however, mean, "tears set forth my speech," i.e. what my tongue would otherwise say. ACT II. SCENE IV 5 If this awkward line be correctly given, it is equivalent to "We have not yet bespoken torch-bearers for ourselves." But Dr. Furness thinks, with Rowe, Pope, and others, that us is probably a misprint for "as.” 6 quaintly ordered: artistically contrived. What do you understand to be the antecedent of it? 12-14 For a similar play on hand, see As You Like It, Act IV, sc. iii, lines 24-29. 19 What do you suppose this to have been? 26 some hour hence: about an hour hence. In exceptional cases some is used by Shakespeare with a singular noun of time. 29 must needs. Abbott explains the adverb needs as formed from the possessive case of need, thus signifying "of necessity." cross her foot: cross her path, by a figure of association. Compare sc. v, line 55. 35 36 What is the antecedent of she in this line? See sc. ii, line 151. ACT II. SCENE V 3 What, Jessica! What, why, and when were used indifferently as exclamations of impatience. 8 wont: used, accustomed. 18 to-night last night. The same form occurs in 2 Henry VI., Act III, sc. ii, line 31, and in Julius Caesar, Act III, sc. iii, line 1. The allusion to an old superstition explains itself. 20, 21 Launcelot's perversion of language gives Shylock an opportunity to utter, "significantly," says Booth, "his little joke.” But his bitterness goes beyond joking. 24 Black-Monday: Easter Monday. So called because, in 1360, while Edward III. was besieging Paris, the day was unnaturally dark. Of course, the rest of the speech is pure nonsense. "Ash-Wednesday was four year" is rustic English for "four years ago last Ash-Wednesday." 29 the wry-neck'd fife. Here the epithet may refer to the fife, which had a bent mouthpiece; or it may properly belong to 42 the player, and be rhetorically transferred to the instrument. (The elder Booth illustrated the line, says his son, “by turning his head as it is held when one plays upon the fife.") It is even possible that fife, by a figure of association, means fife-player," as in Shakespeare we sometimes find "trumpet" instead of “trumpeter.” 66 "Worth a Jew's eye" was a proverbial phrase; its origin is clear enough, and brings to mind the cruelties practised, for sordid motives, upon a persecuted people. Launcelot is repeating the phrase in a different sense. 43 Hagar's offspring. It will be remembered that the Ishmaelites, the descendants of Hagar, were held in contempt by the Israelites, as 66 sons of the bondwoman." 45 patch: fool. The word probably arose as a nickname from the parti-colored dress of the professional jester, and was afterward applied to fools out of uniform. 50 What is the antecedent of his? 1 pent-house: shed. ACT II. SCENE VI 5 "The doves of Venus are swifter in drawing her chariot, when she goes to seal," etc. 7 obliged: bound, due. How many syllables are demanded? 8 In modern speech, what word would probably follow holds? 9 The second that has the force of "with which." 10 untread: tread back again, retrace. 11 unbated undiminished. 14 younker: an inexperienced youth. 15 the scarfed bark. What picture does this epithet lead you to form of the vessel as she sails away? How many syllables in scarfed? 18 over-weather'd. Can you supply the ordinary equivalent of this unusual word? 18-19 It is not only characteristic of the talkative Gratiano to multiply illustrations here; it is also characteristic of Shakespeare, with his splendid opulence of expression. The best commentary on the last illustration, lines 14-19, is the parable of the Prodigal Son, in which, it will be remembered, the 21 language is equally plain and powerful. In this simile the experience of the bark is the principal idea, and the prodigal enters only as illustrating it; but so vivid is the poet's imagination that he slips into personifying metaphor in lean, beggar'd, etc. See note on Act I, sc. i, lines 10-14. abode: abiding, stay. 24 you is probably prolonged by the emphasis naturally laid upon it. See Introduction, IV. h. 2. 30 What do you find in this line which would now be a grammatical impropriety? 34 Understand "so that" before you. 36-39 There is a double confusion of ideas between love, or Cupid, and lovers; but the general sense is plain. 42 sooth: truth. What preposition must be understood before good? 42 too too: a very common repetition, for emphasis, in Elizabethan writers. Some editors, recognizing it as a compound, print it "too-too." 42 light is here used in a double sense: "illumined," as by the candle, and "flighty, found wanting in conduct." 45 How does Lorenzo really mean to apply the epithet lovely, here transferred to garnish? 47 close secret (and hence favorable to Lorenzo's present purpose). 51 by my hood. This curious oath, found elsewhere but not in Shakespeare, may be taken literally; or it may originally have meant, as Richard Grant White supposed, "by my condition or estate." (So in the compounds "manhood," "knighthood,” etc.) 51 a Gentile. This reads "gentle" in several of the old editions; and no doubt a play upon the two meanings of Gentile is intended. 52 Beshrew me: curse me (as with a shrew-bite). The tiny shrew-mouse, it was believed, was "deadly to other beasts if he bit them" (Florio's Worlde of Wordes, 1598), and hence came the curse, generally, as in this case, playful. 66 twenty. Not literal, but a rhetorical putting of the definite for the indefinite; what is the figure called? We often say, "I've told you so twenty times." ACT II. SCENE VII 4 What deviation from modern usage do you notice? 5 On the measure of these inscriptions, see Introduction, IV. e. 8 Make this line quite clear by supplying the necessary words. 12 withal: therewith. 22 Why is her the appropriate pronoun here? 26 rated: estimated. 30 disabling disparaging. 34 What preposition must we understand before these? 40 Morocco first uses the figure "to kiss this shrine," a metaphor meaning "to pay their devotions, as to the shrine of a saint"; and even before he has finished the sentence, his thought goes further on the line suggested, and presents Portia, not merely as the shrine sought by pilgrims, but as the saint that makes it holy—a saint, though still breathing mortal breath. 41 The Hyrcanian deserts, south of the Caspian Sea, were supposed to be haunted by tigers. Compare Macbeth, Act III, sc. iv, line 101: "The arm'd rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger." Read "Th' Hyrcan|ian deserts." 42 throughfares. form? Of what familiar word is this obviously an old 44 head. This was sometimes used to mean an insurrection or an insurgent force. Compare Hamlet, Act IV, sc. v, line 101: "Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, O'erbears your officers." 46 spirits: men of spirit. 51 51 rib: enclose; explain the metaphor involved. cerecloth: waxed cloth, used in embalming. How does Shakespeare here accent obscure? 53 undervalued. Compare Act I, sc. i, lines 165, 166. Gold really was to silver as ten to one when this play was produced. 56 angel. The gold angel was worth about ten shillings. insculp'd engraved. Supply "it" after upon, or regard upon as used adverbially, and emphasized. The coin has the angel without; the casket within. 57 |