led to execution, as the loss of his goods and burning of his house which often, with more laughter than tears of the hearers, he made pitiful exclamations upon." : iii. 2, ແ But her eyes, How could he see to do them? having made one, Unfinish'd, certainly.2 Ib., tr Here is a letter, lady; The paper as the body of my friend, And every word in it a gaping wound, Is, I more than suspect. 4. Arrange, perhaps, To wish it back on you:- iv. 1, near the beginning, and am well pleas'd -Now, Balthazar, "Thou wilt not only lose the forfeiture," &c. Shakespeare would have written "consent to lose," or the like. Write loose, i.e., release, remit. The loose of the folio may be either the one or the other. Jonson, Epigram lviii. (noticed Art. lxxvi., near the beginning),— "And so my sharpness thou no less disjoints, 2 But see Mr. Dyce's note.-Ed. Read loosing; a play upon words.3 Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet, Var. Shakespeare, vi. page 341, 128 (the knotte which onely death might lose"), for lose read loose. Chapman, Il. ix., Taylor, vol. i. p. 211, ult.,nor fits it the respects Of thy vow'd love, to honour him, who hath dishonour'd me ; Lest such loose kindness lose his heart that yet is firm to thee." Loose, I suspect. Chapman and Shirley, Chabct, i. 1, Gifford and Dyce's Shirley, vol. vi. p. 93, l. 1,— all combining A gordian beyond the Phrigian [Phrygian] knot, Must yield to such inevitable shame, Point, for the sake of harmony, "As to offend himself, being offended." And so some editions have it; referring to when the bagpipe &c. The folio has no stop except after offended. Vice versá, in Jonson's Poetaster, v. 1, Gifford, vol. ii. p. 538,if thou thyself, being dear, Shalt tax in person a man fit to bear (i.q., a man fit to bear in person ?) we should point,- Shalt tax" &c. 3 It would seem from this that the words were not merely spelt but pronounced alike. The word in question was first written lose in the fourth folio, whence it crept into most modern editions. Capell, Mr. Singer, and Mr. Dyce, read loose.-Ed. Ib., I'll pay it instantly with all my heart." A play upon the words, if it needs noticing. v. 1,— In such a night Stood Dido with a willow in her hand Upon the wild sea-banks, and wav'd her love To come again to Carthage." Fol., waft ; in all probability a corruption; but the same form occurs in the Contention of the Houses, P. ii. ii. 3, Knight, cr And, as he tottering sat upon his steed, He waft his hand to me, and cried aloud, In Hamlet, i. 4, fol. p. 257, col. 1, waft occurs in the present tense, Looke with what courteous action It wafts you to a more removed ground: It wafts me still: goe on, Ile follow thee." Compare saft for saved, Chapman, Il. viii., Taylor, vol. i. p. 188, penult., Ajax neglected not to aid his brother thus depress'd; Struck short with all his violence; Tydides' life was saft." 4 In the Merchant of Venice, the quartos, I believe, as well as the first folio, have waft. In Hamlet, all the quartos, according to Mr. Collier, have waves, and even the first folio has "It waves me forth again." The former play was first printed in 1600, the latter in 1603 and 1604.-Ed. Odyssey, iv. fol. p. 60, "But in return swift Ajax lost the light In his long-oar'd ship. Neptune yet awhile ν. 501, ἐξεσάωσε θαλάσσης. Ib. Read (and so Pope :) [probably after the second folio. -Ed.), Alluding to En. iv. 522 sqq., and Metam. vii. 185 sqq. In both poets there is a description of night, wherein its stillness is dwelt upon. If you did know to whom I gave the ring, If you did know for whom I gave the ring," &c. Similar instances, King John, iii. 1, near the beginning, "For I am sick, and capable of fears; Oppress'd with wrongs, and therefore full of fears;" &c. King Richard III. i. 3,— "Have not to do with him, beware of him; Sin, death, and hell have set their marks on him; Comedy of Errors, i. 2, near the end, ; "Your worship's wife, my mistress at the Phoenix She that doth fast till you come home to dinner, And prays that you will hie you home to dinner." Play of Locrine, iv. 2, My bowels cry, Humber, give us some meat," &c. Marlowe, Faustus [Dyce, vol. ii. p. 20], "And what are you that live with Lucifer ?" &c. Nash, Summer's Last Will and Testament, Dodsley, edit. 1825, vol. ix. p. 62, “Then censure (good my lord) what bookmen are ; He is unfit to sit at stern of state, That favours such as will o'erthrow his state." Otherwise, Soliman and Perseda, near the end. AS YOU LIKE IT. i. 1, near the beginning,-" Besides this nothing that he so plentifully gives me, the something that nature gave me his countenance seems to take from me: he lets me feed with his hinds," &c. Does not his countenance here mean his entertainment of me, the style of living which he allows me? Selden's Table Talk, art. Fines,"The old law was, that when a man was fined, he was to be fined salvo contenemento, so as his countenance might be safe, taking countenance in the same sense as your countryman does, when he says, if you will come unto my house, I will show you the best countenance I can; that is, not the best face, but the best entertainment. The meaning of the law was, that so much should be taken from a man, such a gobbet sliced off, that yet notwithstanding he might live in the same rank and condition he lived in before; but now they fine men ten times more than they are worth." Such, I think, is the meaning of the word in Chaucer, Persones |