See! they forfake me. Now the time is come, That France muft vail her lofty-plumed creft, My ancient incantations are too weak, And hell too ftrong for me to buckle with:--- Alarums. Enter French and English, fighting. La LA Pu YORK. Damfel of France, I think, I have you faft: And may ye both be fuddenly furpriz'd 3 vail her lofty-plumed creft,] i. e. lower it. Merchant of Venice: "Vailing her high top lower than her ribs." See Vol. VII. p. 398, n. 9. STEEVENS. So, in The As if, with Circe, &c.] So, in The Comedy of Errors: "I think, you all have drank of Circe's cup." STEEVENS. Fell, banning hag!] To ban is to curfe. So, in The Jew of Malta, 1633: "I ban their fouls to everlafting pains." STEEVEND Puc. I pr'ythee, give me leave to curfe a while. YORK. Curfe, mifcreant, when thou comeft to the flake. [Exeunt. Alarums. Enter SUFFOLK, leading in lady MARGAret. SUF. Be what thou wilt, thou art my prifoner. [Gazes on her. O faireft beauty, do not fear, nor fly; For I will touch thee but with reverent hands, I kiss these fingers [Kiffing her hand.] for eternal Who art thou? fay, that I may honour thee. MAR. Margaret my name; and daughter to a king, The king of Naples, whofoe'er thou art. SUF. An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call'd. Be not offended, nature's miracle, Thou art allotted to be ta'en by me: I kifs thefe fingers for eternal peace: ] lines are thus arranged and pointed: In the old copy these For I will touch thee but with reverent hands, "I kiss these fingers for eternal peace, "And lay them gently on thy tender fide." by which Suffolk is made to kifs his own fingers, a fymbol of pease of which there is, I believe, no example. The tranfpofition was made, I think, rightly, by Mr. Capell. In the old edition, as here, there is only a comma after "hands," which feems to countenance the regulation now made. To obtain fomething like fense, the modern editors were obliged to put a full point at the end of that line. In confirmation of the tranfpofition here made, let it be remem. bered that two lines are in like manner misplaced in Troilus and Crefida, Ad I. fol. 1623: "Or like a ftar dis-orb'd; nay, if we talk of reason, Again, in King Richard III. A& IV. fc. iv: "That reigns in galled eyes of weeping fouls, "That excellent grand tyrant of the earth.", MALONE. So doth the fwan her downy cygnets fave, [She turns away as going. mind: her wings.] Old copy-his. This manifeft error I only mention, because it supports a note in Vol. VIII. p. 335, n. 8. and juftifies the change there made. Her was formerly fpelt hir; hence it was often confounded with his. MALONE. 5 My hand would free her, but my heart fays-no.] Thus, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: เ my heart accords thereto, And yet a thousand times it answers-no." STEEVENS. 6 As plays the fun upon the glassy ftreams, &c.] This comparison, made between things which feem fufficiently unlike, is intended to exprefs the softness and delicacy of Lady Margaret's beauty, which delighted, but did not dazzle; which was bright, but gave no pain by its luftre. JOHNSON. Thus, Taffo: 7 Qual raggio in onda, le fcintilla unrifo "Negli umidi occhi tremulo -." HENLEY. difable not thyself;] Do not represent thyself so weak. To difable the judgement of another was, in that age, the fame as to deftroy its credit or authority. JOHNSON. So, in As you like it, A& V : " If again, it was not well cut, he difabled my judgement." STEEVENS. 8 Haft not a tongue? is the not here thy prifoner?] The wordsthy prifoner, which are wanting in the first folio, are found in the fecond. STEEVENS. L S Ay; beauty's princely majefty is fuch, Confounds the tongue, and makes the fenfes rough." MAR. Say, earl of Suffolk,if thy name be fo.What ransom muft I pay before I pass? For, I perceive, I am thy prisoner. SUF. How canft thou tell, fhe will deny thy fuit, Before thou make a trial of her love? [Afide. MAR. Why fpeak'ft thou not? what ransom must I pay? 8 SUF. She's beautiful; and therefore to be woo'd: She is a woman; therefore to be won." [Afide. MAR. Wilt thou accept of ranfom, yea, or no? SUF. Fond man! remember, that thou haft a wife; Then how can Margaret be thy paramour? [Afide. MAR. I were beft to leave him, for he will not hear. SUF. There all is marr'd; there lies a cooling card.9 MAR. He talks at random; fure, the man is mad. SUF. And yet a dispensation may be had. MAR. And yet I would that you would answer me. SUF. I'll win this lady Margaret. For whom? Why, for my king: Tufh! that's a wooden thing.* 7 and makes the fenses rough, ] The meaning of this word is not very obvious. Sir Thomas Hanmer reads-crouch. MALONE. 8 She is a woman; therefore to be won. ] This feems to be a proverbial line, and occurs in Greene's Planetomachia, 1585: 2 STEEVENS. a cooling card.] So, in Marius and Sylla, 1594: a wooden thing.] Is an aukward business, an undertaking not likely to fucceed. MAR. He talks of wood: It is fome carpenter. 3 SUF: Yet fo my fancy may be fatisfy'd, [Afide. MAR. What though I be enthrall'd? he seems a knight, And will not any way difhonour me. [Afide. SUF. Lady, vouchsafe to liften what I fay. SUF. Sweet madam, give me hearing in a cause— SUF. Lady, wherefore talk you fo? MAR. I cry you mercy, 'this but quid for quo. SUF. Say, gentle princefs, would you not fuppofe Your bondage happy, to be made a queen? So, in Lyly's Galathea, 1592: "Would I were out of thefe woods, for I fhall have but wooden luck. 3 - Dream: To make an end of that fame wooden phrafe." STEEVENS. - my fancy — ] i. e. my love. So, in A Midsummer Night's "Fair Helena in fancy following me." See Vol. VII. p. 132, n. 6. STEEVENS. |