With ears that sweep away the morning dew;1 Was never holla'd to, nor cheer'd with horn, Judge, when you hear.-But, soft; what nymphs are these? Ege. My lord, this is my daughter here asleep; I wonder of their being here together. The. No doubt, they rose up early, to observe The rite of May; and, hearing our intent, ed. 1575. 3 The poet is describing Acteon's hounds, B. III, p. 34, b. Two of them, like our author's, were of Spartan kind; bred from a Spartan bitch and a Cretan dog: 66 with other twaine, that had a syre of Crete, "And dam of Sparta: tone of them called Jollyboy, a great "And large-flev'd hound." Shakspeare mentions Cretan hounds (with Spartan) afterwards in this speech of Theseus. And Ovid's translator, Golding, in the same description, has them both in one verse, ibid, p. 34, a: "This latter was a hounde of Crete, the other was of Spart." T. Warton. 9 So sanded;] So marked with small spots. Johnson. Sanded means of a sandy colour, which is one of the true denotements of a blood-hound. Steevens. 1 With ears that sweep away the morning dew;] So, in Heywood's Brazen Age, 1613: 66 the fierce Thessalian hounds, "With their flag ears, ready to sweep the dew 2 I wonder of-] The modern editors read-I wonder at, &c. But changes of this kind ought, I conceive, to be made with great caution; for the writings of our author's contemporaries furnish us with abundant proofs that many modes of speech, which now seem harsh to our ears, were justified by the phraseology of former times. In All's well that ends well, we have: 8 thou dislik'st "Of virtue, for the name." they rose up early, to observe Malone. The rite of May;] The rite of this month was once so universally observed, that even authors thought their works would obtain a more favourable reception, if published on May-Day. The Came here in grace of our solemnity.— That Hermia should give answer of her choice? The. Go, bid the huntsmen wake them with their horns. The. Good-morrow, friends. Saint Valentine is past;4 Begin these wood-birds but to couple now? Lys. Pardon, my lord. [He and the rest kneel to THE. How comes this gentle concord in the world, To sleep by hate, and fear no enmity? Lys. My lord, I shall reply amazedly, Half 'sleep, half waking: But as yet, I swear, I came with Hermia hither: our intent Was, to be gone from Athens, where we might be Ege. Enough, enough, my lord; you have enough; I beg the law, the law, upon his head.— They would have stol'n away, they would, Demetrius, Of my consent that she should be your wife. Dem. My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth, following is a title-page to a metrical performance by a once celebrated poet, Thomas Churchyard: "Come bring in Maye with me, 66 My Maye is fresh and greene; "A subiectes harte, an humble mind, "To serue a mayden Queene." "A discourse of Rebellion, drawne forth for to warne the wanton wittes how to kepe their heads on their shoulders." "Imprinted at London, in Fletestreate by William Griffith, Anno Domini 1570. The first of Maye." Steevens. Saint Valentine is past;] Alluding to the old saying, that birds begin to couple on St. Valentine's day. Steevens. Of this their purpose hither, to this wood; Fair Helena in fancy following me." But, my good lord, I wot not by what power, 9 But, like in sickness, did I loath this food: And will for evermore be true to it. The. Fair lovers, you are fortunately met: 5 Fair Helena in fancy following me.] Fancy is here taken for love or affection, and is opposed to fury, as before: "Sighs and tears, poor Fancy's followers." Some now call that which a man takes particular delight in, his fancy. Flower-fancier, for a florist, and bird-fancier, for a lover and feeder of birds, are colloquial words. Johnson. So, in Barnaby Googe's Cupido Conquered, 1563: "The chyefe of them was Ismenis, "Whom best Diana lov'd, "And next in place sat Hyale "Whom Fancye never mov'd." Again in Hymen's Triumph, a Masque, by Daniel, 1623: "With all persuasions sought to win her mind Again: 6 "To fancy him.” "Do not enforce me to accept a man "I cannot fancy.” Steevens. as doth the snow,] The word doth, which seems to have been inadvertently omitted, was supplied by Mr. Capel. The emendation here made is confirmed by a passage in K. Henry V: as doth the melted snow 7 8 9 66 "Upon the vallies." Malone. an idle gawd,] See note on this word, p. 243. Steevens. ere I saw Hermia:] The old copies read-ere I see —. Steevens. like in sickness,] So, in the next line-" as in health The old copies erroneously read-" like a sickness." I owe the present correction to Dr. Farmer. Steevens. Of this discourse we more will hear anon.- For in the temple, by and by with us, 1 Come Hippolyta. [Exeunt THE. HIP. EGE. and train. Dem. These things seem small, and undistinguishable, Like far-off mountains turned into clouds. Her. Methinks, I see these things with parted eye, When every thing seems double. Hel. So methinks: And I have found Demetrius like a jewel, 1 Come, Hippolyta.] I suppose, for the sake of measure, we should read" Come my Hippolyta." Steevens. 2 And I have found Demetrius like a jewel, Mine own, and not mine own.] Hermia had observed that things appeared double to her. Helena replies, so methinks; and then subjoins, that Demetrius was like a jewel, her own and not her own. He is here, then, compared to something which had the property of appearing to be one thing when it was another. Not the property sure of a jewel; or, if you will, of none but a false one. We should read: And I have found Demetrius like a gemell, Mine own and not mine own. From Gemellus, a twin. For Demetrius had that night acted two such different parts, that she could hardly think them both played by one and the same Demetrius; but that there were twin Demetriuses like the two Sosias in the farce. From Gemellus comes the French Gemeau or Jumeau, and in the feminine, Gemelle or Fumelle: So, in Maçon's translation of The Decameron of Boccace: "Il avoit trois filles plus âgées que les masles, des quelles les deux qui estoient jumelles avoient quinze ans." Quatrieme Four. Nov. 3. Warburton. This emendation is ingenious enough to deserve to be true. Johnson. Dr. Warburton has been accused of coining the word gemell; but Drayton has it in the preface to his Barons' Wars: "The quadrin doth never double; or to use a word of heraldrie, never bringeth forth gemels." Farmer. Again: 66 unless they had been all gemels or couplets." Steevens. Dem. It seems to me,3 Her. Yea; and my father. And Hippolyta. Lys. And he did bid us follow to the temple. Dem. Why then, we are awake: let's follow him: And, by the way, let us recount our dreams. [Exeunt. Helena, I think, means to say, that having found Demetrius unexpectedly, she considered her property in him as insecure as that which a person has in a jewel that he has found by accident; which he knows not whether he shall retain, and which therefore may properly enough be called his own and not his own. She does not say, as Dr. Warburton has represented, that Demetrius was like a jewel, but that she had found him, like a jewel, &c. A kindred thought occurs in Antony and Cleopatra: by starts Of what he has, and has not." The same kind of expression is found also in The Merchant of Venice: "Where ev'ry something, being blent together, "Exprest, and not exprest." Malone. See also Mr. Heath's REVISAL, p. 57. Reed. 3 It seems to me,] Thus the folio. The quartos begin this speech as follows: I had once injudiciously restored these words; but they add no weight to the sense of the passage, and create such a defect in the measure as is best remedied by their omission. Are you sure Steevens. That we are awake?] Sure is here used as a dissyllable: so sire, fire, hour, &c. The word now [That we are now awake?] seems to be wanting, to complete the metre of the next line. Malone. I cannot accede to a belief that sure was ever employed as a dissyllable, much less at the end of a verse. Fire (anciently spelt fier) and hour (anciently spelt bower) might be dissyllabically used, because the duplicate vowels in each of them were readily separated in pronunciation. Our author might have written: "But are you sure "That we are now awake? —" Having exhibited this passage, however, only in my note on the hemistich that follows it, I have little solicitude for its reformation. Steevens. |