Ros. Another of these students at that time Prin. God bless my ladies! are they all in love; With such bedecking ornaments of praise? Prin. Re-enter BOYET. Now, what admittance, lord? Boyet. Navarre had notice of your fair approach; Were all address'd to meet you, gentle lady, (Like one that comes here to besiege his court) [The ladies mask. Enter KING, LONGAVILLE, DUMAIN, BIRON, and attendants. King. Fair princess, welcome to the court of Navarre. Prin. Fair, I give you back again; and, welcome I have not yet: the roof of this court is too high to be yours; and welcome to the wild fields too base to be mine. 7 competitors in oath,] i. e. confederates. So, in Antony and Cleopatra: "It is not Cæsar's natural vice to hate "Our great competitor." Steevens. & Were all address'd-] To address is to prepare. So, in Hamlet: It lifted up its head, and did address "Itself to motion." Steevens. King. You shall be welcome, madam, to my court. Prin. Were my lord so, his ignorance were wise, But pardon me, I am too sudden-bold; Vouchsafe to read the purpose of my coming, [Gives a paper. King. Madam, I will, if suddenly I may. Prin. You will the sooner, that I were away; For you '11 prove perjur'd, if you make me stay. Biron. Did not I dance with you in Brabant once? Ros. Did not I dance with you in Brabant once?2 Biron. I know, you did. Ros. To ask the question! 9 Biron. How needless was it then You must not be so quick. Ros. 'Tis 'long of you that spur me with such questions. Biron. Your wit's too hot, it speeds too fast, 'twill tire. Ros. Not till it leave the rider in the mire. Biron. What time o' day? Ros. The hour that fools should ask. Biron. Now fair befal your mask! -Where-] Where is here used for whereas. So, in Pericles, Act I, sc. i: "Where now you're both a father and a son." See note on this passage. Steevens. 1 And sin to break it:] Sir T. Hanmer reads:" "Not sin to break it:" I believe erroneously. The princess shows an inconvenience, very frequently attending rash oaths, which, whether kept or broken, produce guilt. Johnson 2 Ros. Did not I dance with you in Brabant once? Thus the folio. In the first quarto, this dialogue passes between Katharine and Biron. It is a matter of little consequence. Malone. Ros. Fair fall the face it covers! Biron. Nay, then will I be gone. King. Madam, your father here doth intimate But say, that he, or we, (as neither have) Although not valued to the money's worth. Which we much rather had depart withal,* 3 and not demands, On payment &c.] The former editions read: crowns. 66 and not demands "One payment of a hundred thousand crowns, I have restored, I believe, the genuine sense of the passage. Aquitain was pledged, it seems, to Navarre's father, for 200,000 The French king pretends to have paid one moiety of this debt, (which Navarre knows nothing of,) but demands this moiety back again: instead whereof (says Navarre) he should rather pay the remaining moiety, and demand to have Aquitain re-delivered up to him. This is plain and easy reasoning upon the fact supposed; and Navarre declares, he had rather receive the residue of his debt, than detain the province mortgaged for security of it. Theobald. The two words are frequently confounded in the books of our author's age. See a note on King John, Act III, sc. iii. Malone. depart withal,] To depart and to part were anciently synonymous. So, in King John: "Hath willingly departed with a part." Again, in Every Man out of his Humour: "Faith, sir, I can hardly depart with ready money." Steevens And have the money by our father lent, Dear princess, were not his requests so far From reason's yielding, your fair self should make Prin. You do the king my father too much wrong, Prin. We arrest your word:— Boyet, you can produce acquittances, Boyet. So please your grace, the packet is not come, Where that and other specialties are bound; To-morrow you shall have a sight of them. King. It shall suffice me: at which interview, Mean time, receive such welcome at my hand, As you shall deem yourself lodg'd in my heart, Prin. Sweet health and fair desires consort your grace! [Exeunt King and his train. Biron. Lady, I will commend you to my own heart. Ros. 'Pray you, do my commendations; I would be glad to see it. 5 gelded] To this phrase Shakspeare is peculiarly at tached. It occurs in The Winter's Tale, King Richard II, Ki Henry IV, King Henry VI, &c. &c. but never less properly th in the present formal speech, addressed by a king to a mai princess. Steevens. Biron. I would, you heard it groan. Ros. Is the fool sick?6 Biron. Sick at heart. Ros. Alack, let it blood. Biron. Would that do it good? Ros. My physick says, I.7 8 Biron. Will you prick 't with your eye? [Retiring. Dum. Sir, I pray you, a word: What lady is that same?9 Boyet. The heir of Alençon, Rosaline her name. Dum. A gallant lady! Monsieur, fare you well. [Exit. Long. I beseech you a word; what is she in the white? Boyet. A woman sometimes, an you saw her in the light. Long. Perchance, light in the light: I desire her name. Boyet. She hath but one for herself; to desire that, were a shame. Long. Pray you, sir, whose daughter? Is the fool sick?] She means perhaps his heart. So, in Much Ado about Nothing: "D. Pedro. In faith, lady, you have a merry heart." "Beat. Yes, my lord; I thank it, poor fool, it keeps on the windy side of care." Malone. 7 My physick says, I.] She means to say, ay. The old spelling of the affirmative particle has been retained here for the sake of the rhyme. Malone. 8 No poynt,] So, in The Shoemaker's Holliday, 1600: 66 tell me where he is. "No point. Shall I betray my brother?" Steevens. No point was a negation borrowed from the French. See the note on the same words, Act V, sc. ii. Malone. 9 What lady is that same?] It is odd that Shakspeare should make Dumain inquire after Rosaline, who was the mistress of Biron, and neglect Katharine, who was his own. Biron behaves in the same manner. No advantage would be gained by an exchange of names, because the last speech is determined to Biron by Maria, who gives a character of him after he has made his exit. Perhaps all the ladies wore masks but the princess. Steevens. They certainly did. See p. 33, where Biron says to Rosaline"Now fair befal your mask!" Malone. |