:

And woo her with some spirit when she comes.
Say, that she rail; Why, then I'll tell her plain,
She sings as sweetly as a nightingale:

Say, that she frown; I'll say, she looks as clear
As morning roses newly wash'd with dew:9
Say, she be mute, and will not speak a word;
Then I'll commend her volubility,
And say-she uttereth piercing eloquence:
If she do bid me pack, I'll give her thanks,
As though she bid me stay by her a week;
If she deny to wed, I'll crave the day
When I shall ask the banns, and when be married :---
But here she comes; and now, Petruchio, speak.

Enter KATHARINA.

Good morrow, Kate; 1 for that's your name, I hear.

9 As morning roses newly wash'd with dew:] Milton has honoured this image by adopting it in his Allegro: "And fresh-blown roses wash'd in dew."

Steevens.

1 Good-morrow, Kate; &c.] Thus, in the original play:
"Feran. Twenty good-morrows to my lovely Kate.
"Kate. You jeast I am sure; is she yours already?
"Feran. I tel thee Kate, I know thou lov'st me wel.
"Kate. The divel you do; who told you so?
"Feran. My mind, sweet Kate, doth say I am the man,

"Must wed, and bed, and marrie bonnie Kate.
"Kate. Was ever seene so grosse an asse as this?
"Feran. I, to stand so long and never get a kisse.
"Kate. Hands off, I say, and get you from this place;
"Or I will set my ten commandments in your face.
"Feran. I prithy do, Kate; they say thou art a shrew,
"And I like thee better, for I would have thee so.
"Kate. Let go my hand, for feare it reach your eare.
"Feran. No, Kate, this hand is mine, and I thy love.
"Kate. Yfaith, sir, no; the woodcoke wants his taile.
"Feran. But yet his bil will serve, if the other faile.
"Alfon. How now, Ferando? what [says] my daughter?
"Feran. Shee's willing, sir, and loves me as her life.
"Kate. 'Tis for your skin then, but not to be your wife.
"Alfon. Come hither, Kate, and let me give thy hand,
"To him that I have chosen for thy love;
"And thou to-morrow shalt be wed to him.

"Kate. Why, father, what do you mean to do with me,

"To give me thus unto this brainsicke man, "That in his mood cares not to murder me?

[She turnes aside and speaks.

"But yet I will consent and marry him,

Kath. Well have you heard, but something hard of

hearing;2

They call me-Katharine, that do talk of me.

Pet. You lie, in faith; for you are call'd plain Kate, And bonny Kate, and sometimes Kate the curst; But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom, Kate of Kate-Hall, my super-dainty Kate, For dainties are all cates: and therefore, Kate, Take this of me, Kate of my consolation;Hearing thy mildness prais'd in every town, Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded, (Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs) Myself am mov'd to woo thee for my wife.

Kath. Mov'd! in good time: let him that mov'd you

hither,

Remove you hence: I knew you at the first,

You were a moveable.

Pet.

Kath. A joint stool.3

Pet.

Why, what's a moveable?

Thou hast hit it: come, sit on me.

Kath. Asses are made to bear, and so are you.
Pet. Women are made to bear, and so are you.

Kath. No such jade, sir, as you, if me you mean.

"(For I methinkes have liv'd too long a maide)
"And match him too, or else his manhood's good.

"Alfon. Give me thy hand: Ferando loves thee well,
"And will with wealth and ease maintaine thy state.
"Here Ferando, take her for thy wife,

"And Sunday next shall be our wedding-day.

"Feran. Why so, did I not tel thee I should be the man? Father, I leave my lovely Kate with you. "Provide yourselves against our marriage day, "For I must hie me to my country-house "In haste, to see provision may be made

"To entertaine my Kate when she doth come," &c. Steevens.

2 Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing;] A poor quibble was here intended. It appears from many old English books that heard was pronounced in our author's time, as if it were written hard. Malone.

3 A joint-stool.] This is a proverbial expression:

"Cry you mercy, I took you for a join'd stool.” See Ray's Collection. It is likewise repeated as a proverb in Mother Bombie, a comedy, by Lyly, 1594, and by the Fool in King Lear. Steevens.

Pet. Alas, good Kate! I will not burden thee:
For, knowing thee to be but young and light,-
Kath. Too light for such a swain as you to catch:
And yet as heavy as my weight should be.

Pet. Should be? should buz.
Kath.

Well ta'en, and like a buzzard. Pet. O, slow-wing'd turtle! shall a buzzard take thee? Kath. Ay, for a turtle; as he takes a buzzard.5 Pet. Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too

angry.

Kath. If I be waspish, best beware my sting.

Pet. My remedy is then, to pluck it out.

Kath. Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies.

Pet. Who knows not where a wasp doth wear his

Kath. Yours, if you talk of tails; and so farewel. Pet. What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come

again,

Good Kate; I am a gentleman.

Kath.

That I'll try. [Striking him.

4 No such jade, sir,] The latter word, which is not in the old copy, was supplied by the editor of the second folio. Malone. Perhaps we should read-no such jack. However, there is authority for jade in a male sense. So, in Soliman and Perseda, Piston says of Basilisco, "He just like a knight! He'll just like a jade." Farmer.

So, before, p. 55: "I know he'll prove a jade." Malone. 5 Ay, for a turtle; as he takes a buzzard.] Perhaps we may read better

Ay, for a turtle, and he takes a buzzard.

That is, he may take me for a turtle, and he shall find me a hawk. Johnson.

This kind of expression likewise seems to have been proverbial. So, in The Three Lords of London, 1590:

- hast no more skill,

"Than take a faulcon for a buzzard?" Steevens.

• Yours, if you talk of tails;] The old copy reads-tales, and it may perhaps be right.-" Yours, if your talk be no better than an idle tale." Our author is very fond of using words of similar sounds in different senses. I have, however, followed the emendation made by Mr. Pope, which all the modern editors have adopted. Malone.

Pet. I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again.

Kath. So may you lose your arms:

If you strike me, you are no gentleman;
And if no gentleman, why, then no arms.

Pet. A herald, Kate? O, put me in thy books.
Kath. What is your crest? a coxcomb?

Pet. A combless cock, so Kate will be my hen.
Kath. No cock of mine, you crow too like a craven."
Pet. Nay, come, Kate, come; you must not look so

sour.

Kath. It is my fashion, when I see a crab.

Pet. Why, here's no crab; and therefore look not

sour.

Kath. There is, there is.

Pet. Then show it me.

Kath.

Had I a glass, I would.

Pet. What, you mean my face?

Kath.

Well aim'd of such a young one. Pet. Now, by saint George, I am too young for you.

Kath. Yet you are wither'd,

Pet.

Kath.

'Tis with cares.

I care not.

Pet. Nay, hear you, Kate: in sooth, you 'scape not

so.

Kath. I chafe you, if I tarry; let me go.

Pet. No, not a whit; I find you passing gentle.

'Twas told me, you were rough, and coy, and sullen, And now I find report a very liar;

For thou art pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous;
But slow in speech, yet sweet as spring-time flowers:
Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance,
Nor bite the lip, as angry wenches will;
Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk;
But thou with mildness entertain'st thy wooers,

7

a craven.] A craven is a degenerate, dispirited cock. So, in Rhodon and Iris, 1631:

"That he will pull the craven from his nest." Steevens. Craven was a term also applied to those who in appeals of battle became recreant, and by pronouncing this word, called for quarter from their opponents; the consequence of which was, that they for ever after were deemed infamous.

See note on 'Tis Pity she's a Whore. Dodsley's Collection of Old Plays, Vol. VIII, p. 10, edit. 1780. Reed.

With gentle conference, soft and affable.
Why does the world report, that Kate doth limp?
O slanderous world! Kate, like the hazle-twig,
Is straight, and slender; and as brown in hue
As hazle nuts, and sweeter than the kernels.
O, let me see thee walk: thou dost not halt.
Kath. Go, fool, and whom thou keep'st command.

Pet. Did ever Dian so become a grove,
As Kate this chamber with her princely gait?
O, be thou Dian, and let her be Kate;
And then let Kate be chaste, and Dian sportful!
Kath. Where did you study all this goodly speech?
Pet. It is extempore, from my mother-wit.
Kath. A witty mother! witless else her son.
Pet. Am I not wise?

Kath.

Yes; keep you warm.

9

Pet. Marry, so I mean, sweet Katharine in thy bed:

And therefore, setting all this chat aside,

Thus in plain terms:-Your father hath consented
That you shall be my wife; your dowry 'greed on;
And, will you, nill you, I will marry you.
Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn;
For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,
(Thy beauty, that doth make me like thee well)
Thou must be married to no man but me:
For I am he am born to tame you, Kate;

8 Go, fool, and whom thou keep'st command.] This is exactly the Πασσάμενο ἐπίτασσε of Theocritus, Eid. xv, v. 90, and yet I would not be positive that Shakspeare had ever read even a translation of Theocritus. Tyrwhitt.

9 Pet. Am I not wise?

Kath. Yes; keep you warm.] So, in Beaumont and Fletcher's

Scornful Lady:

"

your house has been kept warm, sir.

"I am glad to hear it; pray God, you are wise too."

Again, in our poet's Much Ado about Nothing:

"

that if he has wit enough to keep himself warm."

Steevens.

1 nill you,] So, in The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington,

1601:

"Will you or nill you, you must yet go in."

Again, in Damon and Pithias, 1571:

"Neede hath no law; will I, or nill I, it must be done." Steevens.