Men. The noble Menelaus. Hect. O you, my lord? by Mars his gauntlet, thanks! Mock not, that I affect the untraded oath; Your quondam wife swears still by Venus' glove: Nest. I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee oft, Through ranks of Greekish youth:3 and I have seen thee, As hot as Perseus, spur thy Phrygian steed, 1 Men. The noble Menelaus.] Mr. Ritson supposes this speech to belong to Æneas. Reed. As I cannot suppose that Menelaus would style himself "the noble Menelaus," I think Ritson right in giving this speech to Eneas. M. Mason. 2 Mock not, &c.] The quarto has here a strange corruption: Mock not thy affect, the untreaded earth. Johnson. the untraded oath;] A singular oath, not in common use. So, in King Richard II: some way of common trade Under the lady's oath perhaps more is meant than meets the ear; unless the poet caught his idea from Grange's Golden Aphroditis, 4to. 1577, sign. Mij: "At this upper borde next unto Jupiter on the right hande sat Juno, that honourable and gracious goddesse his wyfe: Nexte unto hyr satte Venus, the goddesse of love, with a GLOVE made of floures sticking in hyr bosome." Malone. Glove, in the preceding extract, must be a corruption of some other word, perhaps of Globe. A flowery globe might have been worn by Venus as an emblem of the influence of Love, which, by adding graces and pleasures to the world, may, poetically, be said to cover it with flowers. Our ancient nosegays also (as may be known from several old engravings) were nearly globular. But what idea can be communicated by a glove made of flowers? or how could any form resembling a glove, be produced out of such materials ? Steevens. 3 Labouring for destiny, &c.] The vicegerent of Fate. So, in Co riolanus: 66 His sword, death's stamp, "Where it did mark, it took; from face to foot 4 As hot as Perseus, spur-] As the equestrian fame of Perseus, on the present occasion, must be alluded to, this simile will serve Despising many forfeits and subduements,5 Lo, Jupiter is yonder, dealing life! And I have seen thee pause, and take thy breath, Never like thee: Let an old man embrace thee; Ene. 'Tis the old Nestor. to countenance my opinion, that in a former instance his horse was meant for a real one, and not, allegorically, for a ship. See p. 34, Steevens. n. 3. 5 Despising many forfeits and subduements,] Thus the quarto. The folio reads: "And seen thee scorning forfeits and subduements. Johnson. 6 When thou hast hung thy advanced sword i' the air, Not letting it decline on the declin'd;] Dr. Young appears to have imitated this passage in the second Act of his Busiris : "Has hung in air, forgetful to descend, "And for a moment spar'd the prostrate foe." Steevens. So, in King Henry IV, Part II: "And hangs resolv'd correction in the air, "That was uprear'd to execution." The declin'd is the fallen. So, in Timon of Athens: "Not one accompanying his declining foot." Malone. *Again, in Coriolanus, Act II, sc. i: "Death, that dark spirit, in 's nervy arm doth lie; 71 thy grandsire,] Laomedon. Steevens. 8 'Tis the old Nestor.] So, in Julius Cæsar: "Old Cassius still." Am. Ed. If the poet had the same idea in both passages, Æneas means, "Nestor is still the same talkative old man, we have long known him to be." He may, however, only mean to inform Hector that Nestor is the person who has addressed him. Malone. I believe, that Æneas, who acts as master of the ceremonies is now merely announcing Nestor to Hector, as he had before Hect. Let me embrace thee, good old chronicle, That hast so long walk'd hand in hand with time :Most reverend Nestor, I am glad to clasp thee. Nest. I would, my arms could match thee in contention, As they contend with thee in courtesy. Hect. I would they could. Nest. Ha! By this white beard, I'd fight with thee to-morrow. In Ilion, on your Greekish embassy. Ulyss. Sir, I foretold you then what would ensue: My prophecy is but half his journey yet; For yonder walls, that pertly front your town, Yon towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds,1 announced Menelaus to him; for, as Mr. Ritson has observed, the first speech in p. 153, most evidently belongs to Æneas. Steevens, 9 As they contend-] This line is not in the quarto. Johnson. I know your favour,] I know your features, I know your counAm. Ed. tenance. 1 Yon towers, whose wanton tops do buss the clouds,] So, in our author's Rape of Lucrece: "Threatening cloud kissing Ilion with annoy." Again, in Pericles, Prince of Tre, 1609: "Whose towers bore heads so high, they kiss'd the clouds." Ilion, according to Shakspeare's authority, was the name of Priam's palace, that was one of the richest and strongest that ever was in all the world. And it was of height five hundred paces, besides the height of the towers, whereof there was great plenty, and so high as that it seemed to them that saw them from farre, they raught up unto the heaven." The Destruction of Troy, Book II, p. 478 So also Lydgate, sign. F 8, verso: "And whan he gan to his worke approche, "He made it builde hye upon a roche, "It for to assure in his foundation, "And called it the noble Ylion." Shakspeare was thinking of this circumstance when he wrote, in the first Act, these lines. Troilus is the speaker: "Between our Ilium, and where she resides, [i. e. Troy] "Let it be call'd the wild and wand'ring flood." Malone. Must kiss their own feet. Hect. I must not believe you: There they stand yet; and modestly I think, Will one day end it. Ulyss. So to him we leave it. Most gentle, and most valiant Hector, welcome: To feast with me, and see me at my tent. Achil. I shall forestall thee, lord Ulysses, thou!”. 2 I shall forestall thee, lord Ulysses, thou!] Should we not read -though? Notwithstanding you have invited Hector to your tent, I shail draw him first into mine. So, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Cupid's Revenge, Act III, sc. i: 66 O dissembling woman, "Whom I must reverence though—” Tyrwhitt. The repetition of thou! was anciently used by one who meant to insult another. So, in Twelfth Night: "if thou thou'st him some thrice, it shall not be amiss." Again, in The Tempest: "Thou ly'st, thou jesting monkey, thou!" Again, in the first scene of the fifth Act of this play: "tassel of a prodigal's purse, thou!” Steevens. - thou Steevens's observations on the use of the word thou are per. fectly just, and therefore I agree with Tyrwhitt that we ought to read: "- lord Ulysses, though!" as it could not be the intention of Achilles to affront Ulysses, but merely to inform him, that he expected to entertain Hector before he did. M. Mason. Mr. Steevens's remark is incontrovertibly true; but Ulysses Malone had not said any thing to excite such contempt. Perhaps the scorn of Achilles arose from a supposition that Ulysses, by inviting Hector immediately after his visit to Agamemnon, designed to represent himself as the person next in rank and consequence to the general of the Grecian forces. Steevens. 3 Now, Hector, I have fed mine eyes on thee;] The hint for this scene of altercation between Achilles and Hector is taken from Steevens. Lydgate. See p. 178. 4 And quoted joint by joint.] To quote is to observe. So, in Hamlet: "I am sorry that with better heed than judgment "I had not quoted him." Hect. Achil. I am Achilles. Is this Achilles? Hect. Stand fair, I pray thee: let me look on thee. Achil. Behold thy fill. Hect. Nay, I have done already. Achil. Thou art too brief; I will the second time, As I would buy thee, view thee limb by limb. Hect. O, like a book of sport thou 'It read me o'er; But there's more in me than thou understand'st. Why dost thou so oppress me with thine eye? Achil. Tell me, you heavens, in which part of his body Think'st thou to catch my life so pleasantly, Where thou wilt hit me dead? Achil. I tell thee, yea. Hect. Wert thou an oracle to tell me so, But I'll endeavour deeds to match these words, Or may Ajax. Do not chafe thee, cousin ; And you Achilles, let these threats alone, Again, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: "Val. I quote it in your jerkin." Steevens. 5 But, by the forge that stithied Mars his helm,] A stithy is an anvil, and from hence the verb stithied is formed. M. Mason. The word is still used in Yorkshire. Malone. A stith is an anvil, a stithy a smith's shop. See Hamlet, Act III, sc. ii, Vol. XV. Steevens. |