Line 778. As they pinch one another by the disposition,] A phrase equivalent to that now in use, of Touching one in a sore WARBURTON. place. JOHNSON. -a partizan-] A pike. Line 785. -787. To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in't, are the holes where eyes should be, which pitifully disaster the cheeks.] This speech seems to be mutilated; to supply the deficiencies is impossible, but perhaps the sense was originally approaching to this: To be called into a huge sphere, and not to be seen to move in it, is a very ignominious state; great offices are the holes where eyes should be, which, if eyes be wanting, pitifully disaster the cheeks. JOHNSON. Line 810. I have heard the Ptolemies' pyramises are very goodly things;] Pyramis for pyramid was in common use in our author's MALONE. time. Line 873. thy pall'd fortunes-] Palled is rapid, past its time of excellence; palled wine, is wine that has lost its original sprightliness. JOHNSON. Line 888. That it might go on wheels!] The World goes upon -Wheels, is the title of a pamphlet written by Taylor the waterMALONE. poet. -Strike the vessels,] Try whether the casks JOHNSON. Line 892. sound as empty. ACT III. SCENE I. Line 1. struck;] alludes to darting. Thou whose darts JOHNSON. have so often struck others, art struck now thyself. Line 33. That without which a soldier, and his sword, Grants scarce distinction.] The sense is this: Thou hast that, Ventidius, which if thou didst want, there would be no distinction between thee and thy sword. You would be both equally WARBURTON. cutting and senseless. ACT III. SCENE II. JOHNSON. -Arabian bird!] The phoenix. 67.bards, poets,] Not only the tautology of bards Line 60. and poets, but the want of a correspondent action for the poet, whose business in the next line is only to number, makes me suspect some fault in this passage, which I know not how to mend. JOHNSON. Line 80. -as my furthest band-] As I will venture the greatest pledge of security, on the trial of thy conduct. JOHNS. Band and bond, in our author's time, were synonymous. MALONE. Line 97. The elements be kind &c.] This is obscure. It seems to mean, May the different elements of the body, or principles of life, maintain such proportion and harmony as may keep you cheerful. JOHNSON. ACT III. SCENE III. Line 155. Is she as tall as me? &c. &c. &c.] This scene (says Dr. Grey) is a manifest allusion to the questions put by Queen Elizabeth to Sir James Melvil, concerning his mistress the Queen of Scots. Whoever will give himself the trouble to consult his Memoirs, may probably suppose the resemblance to be more than accidental. STEEVENS. Line 191. -is as low &c.] Low foreheads were, in Shakspeare's age, thought a blemish. So, in The Tempest: "with foreheads villainous low.” Line 200. MALONE. -so I harry'd him.] To harry, is to use roughly. STEEVENS. ACT III, SCENE IV, Line 245. -Wars'twixt you twain would be &c.] The sense is, that war between Cæsar and Antony would engage the world between them, and that the slaughter would be great in so extensive a commotion. JOHNSON. ACT III. SCENE V Line 262. .265. -rivality;] Equal rank. JOHNSON. upon his own appeal,] To appeal, in Shakspear, is to accuse; Cæsar seized Lepidus without any other proof than Cæsar's accusation. JOHNSON. Line 268. Then, world, &c.] i. e. Cæsar and Antony will make war on each other, though they have the world to prey upon between them. JOHNSON. Line 278. -More, Domitius ;] I have something more to tell you, which I might have told at first, and delayed my news. Antony requires your presence. JOHNSON. ACT III. SCENE VI. Line 294. Lydia.! For Lydia, Mr. Upton, from Plutarch, has restored Lybia. JOHNSON. In the translation from the French of Amyot, by Tho. North, in folio, 1597 *, will be seen at once the origin of this mistake: "First of all he did establish Cleopatra queen of Egypt, of Cyprus, of Lydia, and the lower Syria." FARMER. Line 369. The kings o'the earth for war:] Mr. Upton remarks, that there are some errors in this enumeration of the auxiliary kings: but it is probable that the author did not much wish to be accurate. JOHNSON. Line 400. potent regiment-] Regiment, is government, authority; he puts his power and his empire into the hands of a false woman. JOHNSON. ACT III. SCENE VII. Line 407. forspoke my being-] To forspeak, is to contradict, to speak against, as forbid is to order negatively. JOHNS. Line 457. Their ships are yare; yours, heavy.] Yare generally signifies dextrous, manageable. STEEVENS. Line 492. Sold. By Hercules, I think, I am i the right. Can. Soldier, thou art: but his whole action grows Not in the power on't:] That is, his whole conduct becomes ungoverned by the right, or by reason. JOHNS. distractions,] Detachments, separate bodies. JOHNSON. Line 504. I find the character of this work pretty early delineated: "Than i' th' same Englishman return'd from France." FARMER. Line 518. in Macbeth : corner. We'd jump the life to come." STEEVENS. Line 526. The Antoniad, &c.] Which Plutarch says, was the name of Cleopatra's ship. POPE. Line 532. The greater cantle-] A piece or lump. POPE. Cantle is rather a corner. Cæsar, in this play, mentions the three-nook'd world. Of this triangular world every triumvir had a ACT III. SCENE VIII. this jump.] To jump signifies to hazard; thus Line 536. -token'd-] Spotted. 537. -ribald-] A luxurious squanderer. POPE. By ribald, Scarus, I think, means the lewd Antony in particular, not every lewd fellow." MALONE. Line 539. Whom leprosy o'ertake !] Leprosy, an epidemical distemper of the Ægyptians; to which Horace probably alludes in the controverted line: "Contaminato cum grege turpium Line 575. traveller. Line 598. own emotions. Line 611. JOHNSON. "Morbo virorum." JOHNSON. Line 542. The brize upon her,] The brize is the astrum, or the fly that stings cattle. STEEVENS. Line 547. being loof'd,] To loof is to bring a ship close to the wind. STEEVENS. ACT III. SCENE IX. -so lated in the world,] Alluding to a benighted JOHNSON. -I have lost command,] I am not maker of my He, at Philippi, kept His sword even like a dancer ;] In the Morisco, and perhaps anciently in the Pyrrhick dance, the dancers held swords. in their hands with the points upward. JOHNSON. Line 615. Dealt on lieutenantry,] I believe, means only,-fought by proxy. STEEVENS. Line 624. -death will seize her; but Your comfort &c.] But has here, as once before, in this play, the force of except, or unless. JOHNSON. Line 630. How I convey my shame-] How, by looking another way, I withdraw my ignominy from your sight. JOHNS. Line 637. tied by the strings,] That is, by the heartstring. JOHNSON, ACT III. SCENE X. Line 679. The circle of the Ptolemies-] The diadem; the ensign of royalty. JOHNSON. Line 700. how Antony becomes his flaw ;] That is, how 'Antony conforms himself to this breach of his fortune. JOHNSON. ACT III. SCENE XI. Line 714. -he being The mered question:] Mered is, I suspect, a word of our author's formation, from mere: he being the sole, the entire subject or occasion of the war. MALONE. Line 736. his gay comparisons apart, And answer me declin'd,] I require of Cæsar not to depend on that superiority which the comparison of our different fortunes may exhibit to him, but to answer me man to -man, in this decline of my age or power. JOHNSON. Line 754. The loyalty, well held to fools, &c.] Enobarbas is deliberating upon desertion, and finding it is more prudent to forsake a fool, and more reputable to be faithful to him, makes no positive conclusion. JOHNSON. Line 768. -Cæsar entreats, Not to consider in what case thou stand'st, Further than he is Cæsar.] i. e. Cæsar entreats, that at the same time you consider your desperate fortunes, you would consider he is Cæsar: That is, generous and forgiving, able and willing to restore them. WARBURTON. Line 800. Tell him, from his all-obeying breath &c.] Allobeying breath is, in Shakspeare's language, breath which all obey. Obeying for obeyed. So, inexpressive for inexpressible, delighted for delighting, &c. MALONE. Line 805. Give me grace—] Grant me the favour. JOHNS. |
