230. Winter-ground. This seems to have been a term for covering plants with straw, etc., to protect them during the winter. The notion that the redbreast covered the dead with leaves appears to be older than the ballad of The Babes in the Wood. Reed quotes Thos. Johnson, Cornucopia, 1596: "The robin redbreast if he find a man or woman dead, will cover all his face with mosse, and some thinke that if the body should remaine unburied that he would cover the whole body also." Cf. Drayton, The Owl:

"Cov'ring with moss the dead's unclosed eye,

The little red-breast teacheth charitie."

231. Wench-like. Womanish. Wench was originally = woman, with no bad or contemptuous suggestion. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 139, 412, 479, ii. I. 43, T. G. of V. ii. 1. 24, etc.

233. Admiration. The word combines here the senses of wonder and veneration. For the former, see on i. 6. 37 above.

234. Shall 's. Shall us; "Shall 's to the Capitol ?" and v. 5. 228 below.

that is, shall we. Cf. Cor. iv. 6. 148:

See also W. T. i. 2. 178, Per. iv. 5. 7,

244. Great griefs, I see, etc. See on i. 1. 135 above. For medicine as a verb, cf. Oth. iii. 3. 332.

247. Paid. Punished; as in v. 4. 162 below.

248. Reverence, etc. "Reverence, or due regard to subordination, is the power that keeps peace and order in the world" (Johnson).

253. Thersites'. Cf. T. and C. i. 3. 73, etc.; and for Ajax', Id. i. 2. 14, etc.

254. Are. For the plural, cf. L. L. L. ii. 1. 133: "But say that he or we, as neither have," etc.

256. To the east. For old superstitions concerning the position of graves, etc., see Brand's Popular Antiquities (Bohn's ed.), vol. ii. P. 295 fol.

259. Fear no more, etc. Several of the editors quote Collins's imitation of this dirge, which, as Verplanck observes, “exhibits his

usual exquisite taste and felicity of expression, although inferior to the original in condensation and characteristic simplicity: "

"To fair Fidele's grassy tomb

Soft maids and village hinds shall bring
Each opening sweet of earliest bloom,
And rifle all the breathing spring.

No wailing ghost shall dare appear
To vex with shrieks this quiet grove;
But shepherd lads assemble here,

And melting virgins own their love.
No withered witch shall here be seen;
No goblins lead their nightly crew;
The female fays shall haunt the green,
And dress thy grave with pearly dew.

The red-breast oft, at evening hours,
Shall kindly lend his little aid,
With hoary moss and gathered flowers,
To deck the ground where thou art laid.

When howling winds and beating rain
In tempests shake the sylvan cell;

Or, midst the chase, on every plain,

The tender thought on thee shall dwell:

Each lonely scene shall thee restore;
For thee the tear be truly shed;
Beloved till life can charm no more,

And mourned till pity's self be dead."

Knight remarks: "There is nothing to us more striking than the contrast which is presented between the free natural lyric sung by the brothers over the grave of Fidele and the elegant poem which some have thought so much more beautiful. The one is perfectly in keeping with all that precedes and all that follows; the other is entirely out of harmony with its associations. To fair Fidele's

grassy tomb' is the dirge of Collins over Fidele;

Fear no more

the heat o' the sun' is Fidele's proper funeral song by her bold

brothers."

263, 264. Golden lads, etc. Staunton remarks (and I am inclined to agree with him): "There is something so strikingly inferior, both in the thoughts and expression of the concluding couplet to each stanza in this song, that we may fairly set them down as additions from the same hand which furnished the contemptible Masque or Vision that deforms the last act." The poor pun on chimney sweepers and dust could hardly have been tolerated by S. in his latter years; and the couplet has no natural cohesion with the preceding lines. The same is true of those which end the second and third stanzas. The final couplet is not so much out of place, but renowned is a word out of place.

272. Thunder-stone. Thunderbolt. Cf. J. C. i. 3. 39: "Have bar'd my bosom to the thunder-stone." The ancients supposed that a stone actually fell with the thunder. See also Oth. v. 2. 235: "Are there no stones in heaven But what serve for the thunder?"

276. Consign to thee. Come to the same state, submit to the same terms; but the word is strangely used here. Johnson would change thee to "this."

277. Exorciser. Conjurer, one who raised spirits. Cf. exorcist in A. W. v. 3. 305 and J. C. ii. 1. 323.

281. Consummation. The final summing-up or end of mortal life. Cf. Ham. iii. 1. 63:—

" a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd."

Steevens quotes Edw. III. iv. 9: "To darkness, consummation, dust, and worms."

286. Faces. Malone objected to the plural, as Cloten's corpse was headless; but the flowers are to be scattered upon him also, and to be literally exact here would be unnatural and ridiculous. Clarke takes it to refer to "the faces of corpses generally," but that seems inadmissible.

288. Herblets. The only instance of the diminutive in S.

294. 'Ods pittikins! One of the petty oaths of the time, corrupted from "God's pity!" Cf. 'Ods pity (Oth. iv. 3. 75), 'Ods heartlings (M. W. iii. 59), 'Ods lifelings (T. N. v. 1. 187), etc. For

mile, cf. Macb. v. 5. 37 : "within this three mile," etc.

299. Cave-keeper. Dweller in a cave; like housekeeper, etc.

302. Fumes. Vapours, phantoms; as in Temp. v. 1. 67 :—

311. Mercurial. "Light and nimble like that of Mercury" (Schmidt); the only instance of the adjective in S.

312. Brawns. Brawny arms. Cf. Cor. iv. 5. 126: "to hew thy target from thy brawn," etc. Jovial = like that of Jove; used by S. only here and in v. 4. 105 below. Cf. Ham. iii. 4. 56: "the front of Jove himself."

314. Madded. See on ii. 2. 37 above.

For Hecuba, cf. Ham. ii. 2. 523, 584, T. and C. i. 2. 1, etc. The allusion here is to the slaying of Hector by Achilles.

=

316. Irregulous. Apparently irregular, lawless; a word found nowhere else.

320. Most bravest. See on i. 6. 161 above.

326. Pregnant. Full of probability. Cf. M. for M. ii. 1. 23: "'T is very pregnant," etc.

329. Home. Fully. See on iii. 5..92 above.

333. Which. Who. Cf. ii. 3. 108 above.

334. To them. In addition to them. Cf. K. John, i. 1. 144: "And, to his shape, were heir of all this land," etc.

338. Confiners. Probably inhabitants (Schmidt), not "bor

=

derers' as generally explained. Cf. the use of confines = territory; as in A. Y. L. ii. 1. 24, Rich. II. i. 3. 137, J. C. iii. 1. 272, etc. Brother to the ruler of Sienna. Cf. Ham. i. 3. 2: "as the winds give

342. Sienna's brother. 343. Benefit o' the wind. benefit."

348. Fast. Fasted. In verbs in which the infinitive ends in -t, -ed is often omitted in the past indicative for euphony. Cf. lift in John, xiii. 18 (lifted in the "Revised Version" of 1881), roast in Exodus, xii. 8, etc.

350. Spongy south. See on ii. 3. 132 above.

352. Abuse. Corrupt, pervert.

361. Instruct us of. Equivalent to inform us of in next line. 363. Crave to be demanded. Call for investigation. For demand = ask, inquire (the more common meaning in S.), cf. Temp. i. 2. 139, Oth. v. 2. 301, etc.

365. That, otherwise than noble nature, etc. "Who has altered this picture, to make it otherwise than nature did it ?" (Johnson).

367. Wrack?

372. There is.

See on i. 6. 83 above.

See on iii. 4. 141 above.

380. Say you, sir?

See on ii. 1. 26 above.

381. Approve. Prove; as in v. 5. 245 below.

387. Prefer. Recommend. See on ii. 3. 47 above, and cf. 401 below.

390. Pickaxes. "Meaning her fingers" (Johnson). 392. Century. Hundred. Elsewhere (Cor. i. 7. 3 and Lear, iv. 4. 6) it means a company of a hundred men.

395. Entertain. Employ, take into service; as in Much Ado, i. 3. 60: "entertained for a perfumer; " Lear, iii. 6. 83: “You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred," etc.

400. Partisans. Halberds. Cf. R. and J. i. 1. 80, 201, A. and C. ii. 7. 14, etc.

401. Arm him. Take him in your arms. Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 3. 135:

Steevens cites