A lover's ear will hear the lowest Sound,
When the fufpicious head of theft is stopt'.
Love's Feeling is more soft and fenfible,
Than are the tender horns of cockled Inails.

Love's Tongue proves dainty Bacchus grofs in Tafte:
For valour is not Love a Hercules,

Still climbing trees in the Hefperides?
Subtle as Sphinx; as fweet and musical

3

As bright Apollo's lute, ftrung with his hair 3:
And when Love speaks the voice of all the Gods

the fufpicious bead of
theft is ftopt.] i. e. a lover
in purfuit of his miftrefs has his
fenfe of hearing quicker than a
thief (who fufpects every found
he hears) in purfuit of his prey.
But Mr. Theobald days, there is
no contrast between a lover and a
thief: and therefore alters it to
thrift, between which and love,
he fays, there is a remarkable
antithefis. What he means by
contraft and antithefis, I confefs I
But 'tis no
don't understand.
matter the common reading is
fenfe; and that is better than ei-
WARB.
ther one or the other.

2 For Valour is not Love a
Hercules,

Still climbing Trees in the Hef

perides? The Poet is here
obferving how all the fenfes are
refined by Love. But what has
the poor Senfe of Smelling done,
not to keep its Place among its
Brethren? Then Hercules's Valour
was not in climbing the Trees, but
in attacking the Dragon gardant.
I rather think that for valour we
fhould read favour, and the Poet
meant that Hercules was allured
by the Odour and Fragrancy of
the golden Apples. THEOBALD.

Mark,

3 As bright Apollo's lute, ftrung

with his hair:] This expreffion, like that other in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, ofOrpheus' harp was firung with poets finues, is extremely beautiful, and highly figurative. A pollo, as the fun, is represented with golden hair; so that a lute ftrung with his hair means no more than ftrung with gilded WARBURTON. wire.

4 And when Love Speaks the
voice of all the Gods,
Make, Heav'n drowfie with the

harmony!] This nonfenfe we should read and point thus, And when love peaks the voice of all the Gods,

Mark, heav'n drowfie with the
harmony.

i. e. in the voice of love alone
is included the voice of all the
Alluding to the an-
Gods.
cient Theogony, that love was
the parent and support of all
Hence, as Suidas
the Gods.
tells us, Palcephatus wrote a
poem called, 'Apodions x) "Ef
The voice and
own sej 26y@.
Speech of Venus and Love, which
appears to have been a kind of
Cofmogony, the harmony of which

Mark, Heaven drowsy with the harmony!
Never durft Poet touch a pen to write,
Until his ink were temper'd with love's fighs;
O, then his lines would ravish favage ears,
And plant in tyrants mild humility.

From womens eyes this doctrine I derive:
They fparkle ftill the right Promethean fire,
They are the books, the arts, the academies,
That fhew, contain, and nourish all the world;
Elfe none at all in aught proves excellent.
Then fools you were, thefe women to forfwear :
Or, keeping what is fworn, you will prove fools s.
For wifdom's fake, a word, that all men love;
Or for love's fake, a word, that loves all men;
Or for men's fake, the author of thefe women;
Or women's fake, by whom we men are men;
Let us once lofe our oaths, to find ourselves;
Or elfe we lofe ourselves, to keep our Oaths.
It is religion to be thus forfworn,

For charity itself fulfils the law;

And who can fever love from charity?

King Saint Cupid, then! and, foldiers, to the field! Biron. Advance your ftandards, and upon them, Lords;

a word, THAT LOVES ALL MEN;] We should read, A word all woMEN love.

the following line

The antithefis of a word that all men love, and a word which loves all men, though in itself worth

Or for men's fake (the author little, has much of the spirit of

of these tuomen ;)

this play.

N 2

Pell

Pell-mell, down with them; but be firft advis'd,
In conflict that you get the fun of them.

Long. Now to plain-dealing-lay these glozes byShall we refolve to woo thefe girls of France?

King. And win them too; therefore let us devise Some entertainment for them in their Tents.

Biron. First, from the Park let us conduct them
thither;

Then homeward every man attach the hand
Of his fair mistress; in the afternoon

We will with fome strange paftime folace them,
Such as the fhortnefs of the time can fhape:
For revels, dances, mafks, and merry hours,
Forerun fair love, ftrewing her way with flowers.
King. Away, away! no time fhall be omitted,
That will be time, and may by us be fitted.
Biron. Allons! Allons! fown Cockle reap'd no
corn';

And juftice always whirls in equal measure;
Light wenches may prove plagues to men forfworn;
If fo, our copper buys no better treasure *.

[Exeunt.

6-fown cockle reap'd no corn;] lowing lines lead us to this sense.

WARBURTON.

Here Mr. Theobald ends the

This proverbial expreffion inti

mates, that beginning with per

jury, they can expect to reap no

third act.

thing but falfhood. The fol

ACT

ACT V.

V. SCENE I.

The STREET.

Enter Holofernes, Nathanael and Dull.

HOLOFERNES.

Atis quod fufficit.

SA

7

Nath. I praife God for you, Sir, your reasons at dinner have been sharp and fententious; pleasant without fcurrility, witty without affectation, audacious without impudency, learned without opinion, and ftrange without herefy. I did converfe this quondam-day with a companion of the King's, who is entitled, nominated, or called, Don Adriano d'Armado.

Hol. Novi hominem, tanquam te. His humour 's lofty, his difcourfe peremptory, his tongue filed, his eye ambitious, his gait majestical, and his general behaviour vain, ridiculous, and thrafonical. He is too piqued, too fpruce, too affected, too odd, as it were ; too peregrinate, as I may call it.

7 Your reafons at dinner have been, &c.] I know not well what degree of refpect Shakespeare intends to obtain for this vicar, but he has here put into his mouth a finished reprefentation of colloquial excellence. It is very difficult to add any thing to this character of the fchoolmaster's table-talk, and perhaps all the precepts of Caftiglione will fcarcely be found to comprehend a rule for converfation fo juftly delineated, fo widely dilated, and fo nicely limited.

It may be proper just to note, that reafon here, and in many other places, fignifies difcourfe, and that audacious is used in a good fenfe for fpirited, animated, confident. Opinion is the fame with obftinacy or opiniatreté.

8 He is too piqued.] To have the beard piqued or thorn so as to end in a point, was in our Author's time a mark of a traveller affecting foreign fashions: fo fays the Baftard in K. John. I catechife My piqued man of countries. N 3

Nath.

Nath. A moft fingular and choice epithet.

[Draws out his table book.

Hol. He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the ftaple of his argument. I abhor fuch phanatical phantafms, fuch infociable and point-devife companions; fuch rackers of orthography, as to fpeak dout fine, when he fhould fay, doubt; det, when he fhould pronounce debt; d, e, b, t; not, d, e, t: he clepeth a calf, cauf: half, hauf: neighbour vocatur nebour; neigh abbreviated ne: this is abominable, which he would call abhominable: 'it infinuateth me of

9 this is abominable, &c.] He has here well imitated the language of the moft redoubtable pedants of that time. On fuch fort of occafions, Jofeph Scaliger ufed to break out, Abominor, execror. Afinitas mera eft, impi etas, &c. and calls his adverfa. ry Lutum ftercore maceratum, De moniacum retrimentum inftitiæ, Sterquilinium, Stercus Diaboli, Scarabæum, Larvam, Pecus pof tremum befiarum, infame profuciun, nabagua. WARB.

In former Editions: It infinuateth me of infamy: Ne intelligis, Domine, to make fran tick, lunatick ?

Nath. Laus Deo, bene intelligo.

Hol. Bome, boon for boon Prefcian; a little Scratch, 'twill ferve.] This Play is certainly none of the beft in itself, but the Editors have been fo very happy in making it worfe by their Indolence, that they have left me Augeas's Stable to cleanfe: and a Man had need to have the Strength of a Hercules to heave out all their Rubbish. But to