Cym. O disloyal thing, That thou should'st repair my youth;1 thou heapest A year's age on me!2 Imo. I beseech you, sir, Harm not yourself with your vexation; I Cym. Past grace? obedience? as 1 That should'st repair my youth;] i. e. renovate my youth; make me young again. So, in Pericles, Prince of Tyre, 1609: ". for him, he brought his disease hither: here he doth but repair it." Again, in All's Well that Ends Well: 2 66 it much repairs me, "To talk of your good father." Malone. thou heapest A year's age on me!] The obvious sense of this passage, on which several experiments have been made, is in some degree countenanced by what follows in another scene: "And every day that comes, comes to decay "A day's work in him." Dr. Warburton would read "A yare (i. e. a speedy) age;" Sir T. Hanmer would restore the metre by a supplemental epithet: thou heapest many A year's age &c. and Dr. Johnson would give us: Years, ages, on me! I prefer the additional word introduced by Sir Thomas Hanmer, to all the other attempts at emendation. "Many a year's age," is an idea of some weight; but if Cymbeline meant to say that his daughter's conduct made him precisely one year older, his conceit is unworthy both of himself and Shakspeare.-I would read with Sir Thomas Hanmer. Steevens. 3 a touch more rare Subdues all pangs, all fears.] A touch more rare, may mean a nobler passion Johnson. A touch more rare is undoubtedly a more exquisite feeling; a superior sensation. So, in Antony and Cleopatra, Act I, sc ii: "The death of Fulvia, with more urgent touches, "Do strongly speak to us." Again, in The Tempest: "Hast thou, which art but air, a touch, a feeling A touch is not unfrequently used, by other ancient writers, in this sense. So, in Daniel's Hymen's Triumph, a masque, 1623: "You must not, Philis, be so sensible "Of these small touches which your passion makes." Steevens. Imo. Past hope, and in despair; that way, past grace. Cym. That might'st have had the sole son of my queen! Imo. O bless'd, that I might not! I chose an eagle, And did avoid a puttock.4 Cym. Thou took'st a beggar; would'st have made my throne A seat for baseness. It is your fault that I have lov'd Posthumus: Cym. What!-art thou mad? Imo. Almost, sir: Heaven restore me!-'Would I were A neat-herd's daughter! and my Leonatus Our neighbour shepherd's son! Cym. Re-enter Queen. Thou foolish thing! They were again together: you have done [To the Queen. Not after our command. Away with her, And pen her up. Queen. 'Beseech your patience:-Peace, Dear lady daughter, peace;-Sweet sovereign, Leave us to ourselves; and make yourself some comfort Out of your best advice. 4 Cym. Nay, let her languish a puttock.] A kite. Johnson. A puttock is a mean degenerate species of hawk, too worthless to deserve training. Steevens. 5 overbuys me Almost the sum he pays.] So small is my value, and so great is his, that in the purchase he has made (for which he paid him, self), for much the greater part, and nearly the whole, of what he has given, he has nothing in return. The most minute portion of his worth would be too high a price for the wife he has acquired. Malone. 6 - your best advice.] i. e. consideration, reflection. So, in Measure for Measure: "But did repent me after more advice." Steevens. A drop of blood a day; and, being aged, Die of this folly! Queen. Enter PISANIO. Fy!-you must give way: [Exit. Here is your servant.-How now, sir? What news? No harm, I trust, is done? Pis. Ha! There might have been, But that my master rather play'd than fought, Queen. I am very glad on 't. Imo. Your son's my father's friend; he takes his part.To draw upon an exile!-O brave sir!- I would they were in Africk both together; The goer back.--Why came you from your master? Queen. Pis. I humbly thank your highness. Queen. Pray, walk a while. About some half hour hence, I pray you, speak with me: you shall, at least, Go see my lord aboard: for this time, leave me. [Exeunt. SCENE III. A publick Place. Enter CLOTEN, and Two Lords. 1 Lord. Sir, I would advise you to shift a shirt; the violence of action hath made you reek as a sacrifice: 7 let her languish A drop of blood a day;] We meet with a congenial form of malediction in Othello: Where air comes out, air comes in: there's none abroad so wholesome as that you vent. Clo. If my shirt were bloody, then to shift it-Have I hurt him? 2 Lord. No, faith; not so much as his patience. [Aside. 1 Lord. Hurt him? his body's a passable carcass, if he be not hurt: it is a thoroughfare for steel, if it be not hurt. 2 Lord. His steel was in debt; it went o' the backside, the town. Clo. The villain would not stand me. [Aside. 2 Lord. No; but he fled forward still, toward your face.8 [Aside. 1 Lord. Stand you! You have land enough of your own: but he added to your having; gave you some ground. 2 Lord. As many inches as you have oceans: Puppies! [Aside. Clo. I would, they had not come between us. 2 Lord. So would I, till you had measured how long a fool you were upon the ground. [Aside. Clo. And that she should love this fellow, and refuse me! 2 Lord. If it be a sin to make a true election, she is damned. [Aside. 1 Lord. Sir, as I told you always, her beauty and her brain go not together: She's a good sign, but I have seen small reflection of her wit.1 8 Cressida: 9 he fled forward still, toward your face.] So, in Troilus and thou shalt hunt a lion, that will fly "With his face backward." Steevens. her beauty and her brain go not together:] I believe the lord means to speak a sentence, "Sir, as I told you always, beauty and brain go not together." Johnson. That is, are not equal, "ne vont pás de pair." A similar expression occurs in The Laws of Candy, where Gonzalo, speaking of Erota, says: and walks "Her tongue the same gait with her wit?" M. Mason. 1 She's a good sign, but I have seen small reflection of her wit.] She has a fair outside, a specious appearance, but no wit. O quanta species, cerebrum non habet! Phædrus. Edwards. I believe the poet meant nothing by sign, but fair outward show. Johnson. 2 Lord. She shines not upon fools, lest the reflection should hurt her. [Aside. Clo. Come, I'll to my chamber: 'Would there had been some hurt done! 2 Lord. I wish not so; unless it had been the fall of an ass, which is no great hurt. Clo. You'll go with us? 1 Lord. I'll attend your lordship. Clo. Nay, come, let 's go together. 2 Lord. Well, my lord. SCENE IV. A Room in Cymbeline's Palace. Enter IMOGEN and PISANIO. [Aside. [Exeunt. Imo. I would thou grew'st unto the shores o' the haven, And question'dst every sail: if he should write, And I not have it, 'twere a paper lost As offer'd mercy is. What was the last That he spake to thee? Pis. Imo. Then wav'd his handkerchief? Pis. 'Twas, His queen, his queen! And kiss'd it, madam. Imo. Senseless linen! happier therein than I'!— And that was all? Pis. No, madam; for so long The same allusion is common to other writers. So, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Fair Maid of the Inn: a common trull, "A tempting sign, and curiously set forth, "To draw in riotous guests." Again, in The Elder Brother, by the same authors: "Stand still, thou sign of man To understand the whole force of Shakspeare's idea, it should be remembered, that anciently almost every sign had a motto, or some attempt at a witticism, underneath it. Steevens. 2 -'twere a paper lost, As offer'd mercy is] I believe the poet's meaning is, that the loss of that paper would prove as fatal to her, as the loss of a pardon to a condemned criminal. A thought resembling this, occurs in All's Well that Ends Well: "Like a remorseful pardon slowly carried." Steevens. |