Ant. I know it well. Pant. 'Twere good, I think, your lordship sent him thither: There shall he practise tilts and tournaments, Worthy his youth and nobleness of birth. Ant. I like thy counsel; well hast thou advis'd: And, that thou may'st perceive how well I like it, The execution of it shall make known; Even with the speediest execution I will despatch him to the emperor's court. Are journeying to salute the emperor, And to commend their service to his will. Ant. Good company; with them shall Proteus go: And, in good time,9. -now will we break with him.1 Enter PROTEUS. Pro, Sweet love! sweet lines! sweet life! Here is her hand, the agent of her heart; Here is her oath for love, her honour's pawn: this play. Several of the first German emperors held their courts there occasionally, it being, at that time, their immediate property, and the chief town of their Italian dominions. Some of them were crowned kings of Italy at Milan, before they received the imperial crown at Rome. Nor has the poet fallen into any contradiction by giving a duke to Milan, at the same time that the emperor held his court there. The first dukes of that, and all the other great cities in Italy, were not sovereign princes, as they afterwards became; but were merely governors, or viceroys, under the emperors, and removeable at their pleasure. Such was the Duke of Milan, mentioned in this play. Mr. M. Mason adds, that “during the wars in Italy, between Francis I, and Charles V, the latter frequently resided at Milan." Steevens. 9 -in good time,] In good time was the old expression, when something happened, that suited the thing in hand, as the French say, à propos. Johnson. So, in Richard III: 1 “And, in good time, here comes the sweating lord." Steevens. now will we break with him.] That is, break the matter to him. The same phrase occurs, in Much Ado About Nothing, Act I. sc. i. M. Mason. O, that our fathers would applaud our loves, O heavenly Julia! Ant. How now! what letter are you reading there? Pro. May't please your lordship, 'tis a word or two Of commendation, sent from Valentine, Deliver❜d by a friend, that came from him. Ant. Lend me the letter; let me see what news. Pro. There is no news, my lord: but that he writes How happily he lives, how well belov❜d, And daily graced by the emperor; Wishing me with him, partner of his fortune. Ant. My will is something sorted with his wish: To-morrow, be in readiness to go: Excuse it not, for I am peremptory. Pro. My lord, I cannot be so soon provided: Please you, deliberate a day or two. Ant. Look, what thou want'st shall be sent after thee: No more of stay; to morrow thou must go. Come on, Panthino; you shall be employ'd To hasten on his expedition. [Exeunt ANT. and Pant. I fear'd to shew my father Julia's letter, 2 Like exhibition -] i. e. allowance. So, in Othello: "Due reference of place and exhibition.” Again, in the Devil's Law Case, 1623: 66 - in his riot, does far exceed the exhibition I allowed him." Steevens. O, how this spring of love resembleth3 30, how this spring of love resembleth-] At the end of this verse there is wanting a syllable, for the speech apparently ends in a quatrain. I find nothing that will rhyme to sun, and, therefore, shall leave it to some happier critic. But I suspect that the author might write thus: O how this spring of love resembleth right, Light was, either by negligence or affectation, changed to sun, which, considered without the rhyme, is indeed better. The next transcriber, finding that the word right did not rhyme to sun, supposed it erroneously written, and left it out. Johnson. It was not always the custom, among our early writers, to make the first and third lines rhyme to each other; and when a word was not long enough to complete the measure, they occasionally extended it. Thus Spenser, in his Fairy Queen, B. III. ch.12: "Formerly grounded and fast setteled.” Again, in B. II. ch. 12: "The while sweet Zephirus loud whisteled From this practice, I suppose, our author wrote resembeleth, which, though it affords no jingle, completes the verse. Many poems have been written in this measure, where the second and fourth lines only rhyme. Steevens. Resembleth is here used as a quadrisyllable, as if it was written resembeleth. See Comedy of Errors, Act V. sc. the last: "And these two Dromios, one in semblance." As you like it, Act II. sc. ii: "The parts and graces of the wrestler." And it should be observed, that Shakspeare takes the same liberty with many other words, in which , or r, is subjoined to another consonant. See Comedy of Errors, next verse but one to that cited above: "These are the parents to these children." where some editors, being unnecessarily alarmed for the metre, have endeavoured to help it by a word of their own: “These plainly are the parents to these children.” Tyrwhitt Thus much I had thought sufficient to say upon this point, in the edition of these plays, published by Mr. Steevens in 1778. Since which the author of Remarks, &c. on that edition, has been pleased to assert, p. 7: "that Shakspeare does not appear, from the above instances at least, to have taken the smallest liberty in extending his words: neither has the incident of 1, or r, being Re-enter PANTHINO. Pant. Sir Proteus, your father calls for you; He is in haste; therefore, I pray you, go. subjoined to another consonant, any thing to do in the matter." "The truth is," he goes on to say, "that every verb, in the English language, gains an additional syllable, by its termination in est, eth, ed, ing, or (when formed into a substantive) in er; and the above words, when rightly printed, are not only unexceptionable, but most just. Thus, resemble makes resemble-eth; wrestle, wrestle-er; and settle, whistle, tickle, make settle-ed, whistle-ed, tickle-ed." As to this supposed Canon of the English language, it would be easy to shew, that it is quite fanciful and unfounded; and what he calls the right method of printing the above words, is such as, I believe, was never adopted before by any mortal, in writing them, nor can be followed in the pronunciation of them, without the help of an entirely new system of spelling. But any further discussion of this matter is unnecessary; because the hypothesis, though allowed in its utmost extent, will not prove either of the points to which it is applied. It will neither prove that Shakspeare has not taken a liberty, in extending certain words, nor that he has not taken that liberty chiefly with words, in which l, or r, is subjoined to another consonant. The following are all instances of nouns, substantive or adjective, which can receive no support from the supposed Canon. That Shakspeare has taken a liberty, in extending these words, is evident, from the consideration, that the same words are more frequently used, by his contemporaries and by himself, without the additional syllable. Why he has taken this liberty, chiefly with words in which 7, or r, is subjoined to another consonant, must be obvious to any one who can pronounce the language. Country, trisyllable. T. N. Act I. sc. ii. The like of him. Know'st thou this country ? T. N. Act I. sc. i. And lasting in her sad remembrance. Timon. Act III. sc. v. But who is man, that is not angry? Henry, trisyllable. Rich. III. Act II. sc. iii. So stood the state, when Henry the Sixth -2 H. VI. Act II. sc. ii. Crown'd by the name of Henry the Fourth. And so in many other passages. Monstrous, trisyllable. Macb. Act IV. sc. vi. Who cannot want the thought how monstrous. Othello, Act II. sc. iii. 'Tis monstrous. Iago, who began it? Assembly, quadrisyllable. M. A. A. N. Act V. sc. last. Good morrow to this fair assembly. Douglas, trisyllable. 1 H. IV. Act V. sc. ii. Lord Douglas go you and tell him so. P Pro. Why, this it is! my heart accords thereto; And yet a thousand times it answers, no. [Exeunt. ACT II.....SCENE I. Milan. An Apartment in the Duke's Palace. Enter VALENTINE and SPEED. Speed. Sir, your glove. Val. Not mine; my gloves are on. Speed. Why then this may be yours, for this is but one. Speed. Madam Silvia! madam Silvia! Speed. She is not within hearing, sir. Val. Well, you'll still be too forward. Speed. And yet, I was last chidden for being too slow. Val. Go to, sir; tell me, do you know madam Silvia? Speed. She, that your worship loves? Val. Why, how know you that I am in love? Speed. Marry, by these special marks: First, you have learned, like sir Proteus, to wreathe your arms like a male-content; to relish a love-song, like a robin-redbreast; to walk alone, like one, that had the pestilence; to sigh, like a school-boy, that had lost his A. B. C; to England, trisyllable. Rich. II. Act IV. sc. i. Than Bolingbroke return to England. Humbler, trisyllable. 1 H. VI. Act III. sc. i. Methinks his lordship should be humbler. Nobler, trisyllable. Coriol. Act III. sc. ii. You do the nobler. Cor. I muse my mother. 4 Val. Not mine; my gloves are on. Tyrwhitt. Speed. Why then this may be yours, for this is but one.] It should seem, from this passage, that the word one was anciently pronounced as if it were written, on. The quibble here is lost, by the change of pronunciation; a loss, however, which may be very patiently endured. Malone. |