Pan. Know you the musicians ? Pan. Who play they to? Serv. To the hearers, fir. Pan. At whofe pleasure, friend? Serv. At mine, fir, and theirs that love mufick. Pan. Command, I mean, friend. Serv. Who fhall I command, fir? Pan. Friend, we understand not one another; I am too courtly, and thou art too cunning: At whofe request do these men play? Serv. That's to't, indeed, fir: Marry, fir, at the requeft of Paris my lord, who is there in perfon; with him, the mortal Venus, the heart-blood of beauty, love's invifible foul 2, Pan. Who, my coufin Creffida? Serv. No, fir, Helen; Could you not find out that by her attributes? Pan. It fhould feem, fellow, that thou haft not seen the lady Creffida. I come to fpeak with Paris from the prince Troilus: I will make a complimental affault upon him, for my bufinefs feeths. Serv.Sodden bufinefs! there's a ftew'd phrafe, indeed! Enter PARIS, and HELEN, attended. Pan. Fair be to you, my lord, and to all this fair company! fair defires, in all fair meafure, fairly guide themefpecially to you, fair queen! fair thoughts be your fair pillow! Helen. Dear lord, you are full of fair words. Pan. You fpeak your fair pleafure, fweet queen.Fair prince, here is good broken mufick. Par. You have broke it, coufin: and, by my life, you fhall make it whole again; you fhall piece it out with a piece of your performance:-Nell, he is full of har 2 love's invifible foul,] may mean the foul of love invifible every where elfe. JOHNSON. Helan ~ Helen. O, fir, Pan. Rude, in footh; in good footh, very rude. Helen. Nay, this fhall not hedge us out: we'll hear fing, certainly. you Pan. Well, fweet queen, you are pleasant with me.But (marry) thus, my lord,-My dear lord, and most efteemed friend, your brother Troilus Helen. My lord Pandarus; honey-fweet lord, Pan. Go to, fweet queen, go to:-commends himself moft affectionately to you. Helen. You fhall not bob us out of our melody; If you do, our melancholy upon your head! Pan. Sweet queen, fweet queen; that's a sweet queen, i'faith. Helen. And to make a sweet lady fad, is a four offence. Pan. Nay, that shall not ferve your turn; that fhall it not, in truth, la. Nay, I care not for fuch words; no, no. And, my lord, he defires you, that, if the king call for him at fupper, you will make his excuse. Helen. My lord Pandarus, Pan. What fays my fweet queen; my very very fweet queen? Par. What exploit's in hand? where fups he to-night? 3 — in fits.] i. e. now and then, by fits; or perhaps a quibble is intended. A fit was a part or divifion of a fong, fometimes a ftrain in mufick, and fometimes a measure in dancing. The reader will find it fufficiently illuftrated in the two former fenfes by Dr. Percy, in the first volume of his Reliques of ancient English Poetry in the third of these fignifications it occurs in All for Money, a Morality, by T. Lupton, 1578: Satan. Upon these chearful words I needs must dance a fitte,” STEEVENS. ♦ And, my lord, be defires you,-] Here I think the fpeech of Pandarus fhould begin, and the rest of it should be added to that of Helen; but I have followed the copies. JOHNSON. Mr. Rowe had difpofed thefe fpeeches in this manner. Hanmet annexes the words " And to make a fweet lady," &c. to the preceding fpeech of Pandarus, and in the reft follows Rowe. MALONE. 1 Helen. Nay, but my lord, Pan. What fays my sweet queen?-My coufin will fall out with you. You must not know where he fups 5. Par. I'll lay my life, with my difpofer Crefida. ་་ 5 You must not know where be fups.] Thefe words are in the quarto given to Helen, and the editor of the folio did not perceive the errour. In like manner in Act II. fc. i. p. 185, four fpeeches belonging to different perfons are all in the quarto affigned to Ajax. "Cob-loaf ! He would pun thee," &c. and in the laft fcene of the fame act, words that evidently belong to Neftor are given to Ajax, [See p. 207, n. 4.] both in the quarto and folio. I have not therefore hefitated to add the words, "You must not know where he fups," to the speech of Pandarus. Mr. Steevens propofes to affign the next fpeech, "I'll lay my life," &c. to Helen, inftead of Paris. This arrangement appeared to me fo plaufible, that I had once regulated the text accordingly. But it is obfervable that through the whole of the dialogue Helen steadily perfeveres in foliciting Pandarus to fing: "My lord Pandarus,”"Nay, but my lord,"-&c. I do not therefore believe that Shakfpeare intended the hould join in the prefent inquiry. Mr. Mafon's objection alfo to fuch an arrangement is very weighty. "Pandarus," he obferves," in his next speech but one clearly addreffes Paris, and in that speech he calls Creffida his difpofer." In what sense, however, Paris can call Creffida his difpofer, I am altogether ignorant. Mr. Mafon fuppofes that "Paris means to call Creffida his governonr or director, as it appears from what Helen fays afterwards that they bad been good friends." Perhaps Shakspeare wrote-defpifer. What Pandarus fays afterwards, that "Paris and Creffida are rauain," fupports this conjecture. I do not believe that depofer (a reading fuggefted below) was our authour's word; for Creffida had not depofed Helen in the affections of Troilus. A fpeech in a former fcene in which Pandarus fays, Helen loves Troilus more than Paris, (which is infifted on by an anonymous Remarker,) proves nothing. Had he faid that Troilus once loved Helen better than Creffida, and afterwards preferred Creffida to her, the obfervation might deferve fome attention. The words, I'll lay my life-are omitted in the folio. The words"You must not know where he fups," I find Sir T. Hanmer had affigned to Pandarus. MALONE. That Creffida wanted to feparate Paris from Helen, or that the beauty of Cresida had any power over Paris, are circumftances not evident from the play. The one is the opinion of Dr. Warburton, the other a conjecture by the author of The Revifal. By giving, however, this line, I'll lay my life, with my difpofer Creffida, to Helen, and by changing the word di pofer into depofer, fome meaning may be obtained. She addrefles herself, I fuppofe, to Pandarus, and, by her depofer, means--the who thinks her beauty (or, whofe beauty you fuppofe) to be fuperior to mine. STEEVENS. Pan. Pan. No, no, no fuch matter, you are wide; come, your difpofer is fick. Par. Well, I'll make excufe. Pan. Ay, good my lord. Why should you fay-Creffida? no, your poor difpofer's fick. Par. I spy. Pan. You fpy! what do you spy?-Come, give me an inftrument.-Now, fweet queen. Helen. Why, this is kindly done. Pan. My niece is horribly in love with a thing you have, fweet queen. Helen. She thall have it, my lord, if it be not my lord Paris. Pan. He! no, fhe'll none of him; they two are twain. Helen. Falling in, after falling out', may make them three. Pan. Come, come, I'll hear no more of this; I'll fing you a fong now. Helen, Ay, ay, pr'ythee now. By my troth, fweet lord', thou haft a fine forehead. Pan. Ay, you may, you may Helen. Let thy fong be love: this love will undo us all. O, Cupid, Cupid, Cupid! Pan. Love! ay, that it fhall, i'faith. Par. Ay, good now, love, love, nothing but love.. Pan. In good troth, it begins fo: Love, love, nothing but love, ftill more! » For, ob, love's bow The shaft confounds 61fpy.] This is the usual exclamation at a childish game called Hie, fpie, bie. STEEVENS. 1 Falling in, after falling out, &c.] i. e. The reconciliation and wanton dalliance of two lovers after a quarrel, may produce a child, and fo make three of two. TOLLIT. -fweet lord,] In the quarto, fweet lad. JOHNSON. 9 The shaft confounds-] To confound, it has already been obferv. ed, formerly meant to deftroy. MALONE. that it wounds,] i, e. that which it wounds. MUSGRAVE. P 3 These These lovers cry-Oh! oh! they die! Oh! oh! a while, but ha! ha! ba! Hey bo! Helen. In love, i'faith, to the very tip of the nofe. Par. He eats nothing but doves, love; and that breeds hot blood, and hot blood begets hot thoughts, and hot thoughts beget hot deeds, and hot deeds is love. Pan. Is this the generation of love? hot blood, hot thoughts, and hot deeds?-Why, they are vipers: Is love a generation of vipers? Sweet lord, who's a-field to-day? Par. Hector, Deiphobus, Helenus, Antenor, and all the gallantry of Troy: I would fain have arm'd to-day, but my Nell would not have it fo. How chance my brother Troilus went not? Helen. He hangs the lip at fomething;-you know all, lord Pandarus. Pan. Not I, honey-fweet queen.-I long to hear how they fped to-day. You'll remember your brother's ex cufe? Par. To a hair. Pan. Farewel, fweet queen. Helen. Commend me to your niece. Pan. I will, fweet queen. [Exit. A Retreat founded. Par. They are come from field: let us to Priam's hall, To greet the warriors. Sweet Helen, I must woo you 2 Thefe lovers cry-Ob! ob! they die! Yet that which feems the wound to kill, Doth turn ob! ob! to ba! ba! be! So dying love lives fill :] So, in our authour's Venus and Adonis "For I have heard, it [love] is a life in death, "That laughs and weeps, and all but in a breath!" MALONE. The round to kill may mean the wound that seems mortal, JoHNSON. The wound to kill is the killing wound. MASON. Το |