215. out of... fortune, Steevens explains "turned out of her service, and stripped of her livery

perhaps with a quibble on

suits in the sense of solicitations for favour.

66

216. could, so far as inclination goes.

220. Is but... block, has no more energy in itself than a quintain. Of the quintain there were various forms. According to Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, quoted by Dyce, Gloss., it originally was nothing more than the trunk of a tree or post set up for the practice of tyros in chivalry. Afterward a staff or spear was fixed in the earth, and a shield, being hung upon it, was the mark to strike at: the dexterity of the performer consisted in smiting the shield in such a manner as to break the ligatures and bear it to the ground. In process of time this diversion was improved, and instead of the staff and the shield, the resem. blance of a human figure carved in wood was introduced. To render the appearance of this figure more formidable, it was generally made in the likeness of a Turk or a Saracen armed at all points, bearing a shield upon his left arm, and brandishing a club or sabre with his right. The quintain thus fashioned was placed upon a pivot, and so contrived as to move round with facility. In running at this figure it was necessary for the horseman to direct his lance with great adroitness, and make his stroke upon the forehead between the eyes or upon the nose; for if he struck wide of those parts, especially upon the shield, the quintain turned about with much velocity, and in case he was not exceedingly careful, would give him a severe blow upon the back with the wooden sabre held in the right hand, which was considered as highly disgraceful to the performer, while it excited the laughter and ridicule of the spectators.' It is to this form of quintain that Dyce supposes allusion to be made here.

222. what he would, what he wishes.

225. Have with you, an expression of readiness to accompany her; so "have after, "have at,' ""have to," "have through,' "have with," always with this ellipse of the future or the imperative.

226. passion, strong emotion.

227. urged conference, seemed to invite me to a colloquy.

233. condition, temperament, disposition; cp. M. V. i. 2. 143, "the condition of a saint, and the complexion of a devil."

235. humorous, generally explained as 'capricious' or 'perverse.' Furness, however, seems to be right in questioning the applicability of such a sense to the Duke as described in this play, and thinks the meaning is rather wayward, headstrong,

obstinate. Le Beau apparently is intended to use a term of ambiguous nature.

236. than I to speak of, "after a conjunction and before an infinitive we often find I, thou, etc., where in Latin we should have 'me,' 'te,' etc. The conjunction seems to be regarded as introducing a new sentence, instead of connecting one clause with another. Hence the pronoun is put in the nominative, and a verb is, perhaps, to be supplied from the context: 'what he is indeed, More suits you to conceive than I (find it suitable) to speak of "" (Abb. § 216).

241. lower, the folios have 'taller,' which is evidently a mistake, whether of Shakespeare's or the compositor's, since in i. 3. 109 Rosalind speaks of herself as "more than common tall," and in iv. 3. 86, 7, of Celia it is said "the woman low And browner than her brother," whom Rosalind is personating; "shorter, 66 smaller," "lesser,' ," have been conjectured besides lower, which is due to Staunton.

248. argument, cause, reason; cp. T. N. iii. 3. 12, " 'my willing love, The rather by these arguments of fear, Set forth in your pursuit."

253. in a better world, in a better state of things.

254. I shall ... you, I shall hope to know you better and better deserve your love.

256. from the smoke... smother, out of the frying-pan into the fire; smother, "is the thick, stifling smoke of a smouldering fire. Bacon uses to pass in smother' for to be stifled, in Essay xxvii; and 'to keep in smother' for to stifle, in Essay xxxi” (Wright).

SCENE III.

5. lame... reasons, pelt me as thickly with reasons as you might pelt a dog with stones and so lame him; the idea is suggested by Rosalind's words in 1. 3.

6. laid up, crippled.

6-8. when the one... any, the one being lamed, etc.; mad, used in exaggerated condemnation of herself for falling in love with Orlando without having been wooed by him.

10. my father's child, i.e. herself; the folios give 'my child's father,' which apart from the indelicacy involved seems out of place when Rosalind is evidently commiserating herself so greatly. Dyce also points out that "for my child's father" would have been an appropriate answer, only if the question had been 'But is all this for your child.'

G

11. briers, thorny bushes, i.e. sharp troubles: this workingday world, this world of toil and labour.

12. burs, the prickly envelope of the seeds of certain plants, such as the bur-dock, which attaches itself tenaciously to clothes.

12, 3. thrown... foolery, with which you are pelted by circumstances as children pelt one another with wild flowers, berries, etc., when holiday making.

13, 4. if we walk ... them, i.e. the slightest indiscretion involves one in such annoyances.

15. coat, not elsewhere used by Shakespeare of a woman's garment.

17. Hem them away, cough them out of your heart as you would anything sticking in your throat.

18. if I could ... him, if all that was necessary to have him were to cry 'hem'; perhaps with a play on hem and him.

6

21. O, a good... you, "used where my blessing on you' would be too strong" (Furness).

23. in good earnest, seriously; on such a sudden, so suddenly; not elsewhere used in Shakespeare.

24. strong, Walker would follow the reading of the third and fourth folios 'strange,' which is perhaps preferable.

27. ensue, follow as a natural consequence.

28. By this... chase, if one followed out this line of argument.

29. dearly, “dear is used of whatever touches us nearly, either in love or hate, joy or sorrow" (Cl. Pr. Edd. on Haml. i. 2. 182, "my dearest foe ").

31. Why should I not? possibly Malone's explanation why should I not not-hate him,' i.e. why should I not love him,' may be right. If the words mean why should I not hate him,' the following ones, doth... well, though intended by Celia to mean 'does he not well deserve to be hated' (for making you so sad), must be understood by Rosalind as meaning 'has he not shown himself a man of much desert?', the more obvious sense of them. Of course if Celia means 'why should I not hate him,' she is contradicting her assertion" yet I hate not Orlando"; but she may be teazing her cousin and saying in effect, 'It is all very well for you to tell ine not to hate him, but I must have some reasons given me for not doing so.' Capell cut the knot by omitting not, and Dyce follows him.

35. despatch... haste, make your arrangements for leaving our court as quickly as you can; for the quicker you do it, the better it will be for you.

36. cousin, formerly used of any relationship not in the first degree of affinity; properly the child of a mother's sister.

41. If with myself... intelligence, if I am not an utter stranger to my own thoughts and feelings.

43. If that, for the conjunctional affix, see Abb. § 287.

45. a thought unborn, a thought still in embryo, a conception of the mind which had not reached the stage of development at which it could properly be called a thought.

47. purgation, a technical use of a legal term... Vulgar purgation, as distinguished from canonical purgation, demanded not alone oaths, but ordeals by fire, or water, or combat " (Furness).

48. grace, virtue.

51. Tell me ... depends, tell me to what circumstances the likelihood of my being a traitor attaches itself; with what circumstances has it any connection?

56. if we did derive it, sc. which we do not.

57. What's that to me? that circumstance does not, and would not, concern me in the least.

58. good my liege, for the transposition of the adjective, see Abb. § 13.

59. To think... treacherous, as to suppose that a poor creature like myself should be treacherous; for instances of the omission of as, see Abb. § 281.

62. ranged along, accompanied in his wanderings, been sent forth to wander about the world with him.

63. then, when you kept her back.

64. remorse, tenderness of heart for me; rarely in Shakespeare in the sense of compunction for some bad thought or deed.

67. still, ever, constantly.

69. Juno's swans, Wright points out, what has escaped all other critics and commentators, that according to classical mythology it should be Venus' swans.'

71. smoothness, gentleness; but used in depreciatory sense. 73. Speak to the people, are full of eloquence to, etc.

75. virtuous, "this means gifted, not with virtue, but virtues virtuous and good qualities of all sorts" (Capell).

80. out of, away from.

82. the time, sc. which I have allowed you.

83. And in the greatness... word, and by the might of a duke's word.

88. Prithee, a contraction of 'I pray thee.' 90. No? hath not? is that so? has he not?

91. Which teacheth... one, Johnson defends thee against 'me,' Theobald's conjecture, by asking "Where would be the absurdity of saying, You know not the law which teaches you to do right?" But the objection to thee is not in the sense but in the transition from the third person in the former line to the second person in the latter line. This objection, however, attaches to thou also, and according to modern grammar there is a further objection to am. We should now write "Which teacheth her that she and I are one." In support of am, as the structure of the time, Keightley quotes Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, i. 1, "My thoughts and I am for this other element"; and Wright, The Fox, ii. 1, "Take it or leave it, howsoever, both it and I am at your service.

95. to bear, to carry in the way of necessaries for travel.

96. to take... you, to submit yourself to your altered circumstances without me-to be supplied from the words and leave me out in the next line.

98. now at .pale, the brightness of which has faded in sympathy with our grief.

99. Say... canst, in spite of any argument you can urge against my doing so.

102. what danger, how great will be the danger.

106. umber, 66

'a dusky, yellow-coloured earth, brought from Umbria in Italy" (Malone): smirch, besmear.

108. And never stir assailants, without tempting any one to treat us with rudeness.

109. more... tall, taller than women usually are.

110. suit me, dress myself; cp. Lear, iv. 7. 6, "Be better suited"; said to Kent who is disguised as a menial servant.

111. curtle-axe, short sword; a corruption of cutlass, Fr. coutelas; "the F. suffix -as, Ital. -accio, was suggested by the Lat. suffix -aceus; but was so little understood that it was confused with the E. axe (Skeat, Ety. Dict.).

...

112. A boar-spear, had “a blade very broad and strong, with a crossbar inserted immediately below it, to prevent its passing directly through the animal" (Fairholt).

114. swashing, such as a swaggering bully would wear. To swash is to strike with force, and a swasher one who makes a great noise about his valour.

115. mannish cowards, cowards who make a pretence of manliness; the termination -ish here gives the word a contemptuous sense, though in Cymb. iv. 2. 236, "the mannish crack means the break in the voice which comes when the boy is passing into the man.