To bring in (God shield us !) a lion among ladies.—Mid. N. D., iii. 1.
God shield, you mean it not !-All's W., i. 3.
God shield, I should disturb devotion !-R. & Jul., iv. 1.
Sometimes he gives interjections used defiantly or mockingly:-
Do, do.—Thou stool for a witch !--Ay, do, do ; thou sodden-witted lord! ... do,
rudeness; do, camel ; do, do.—Tr. & Cr., ii. 1.

Now the pledge; now, now, now.-Ibid., v. 2.
Thou hast a fine forehead.—Ay, you may, you may.-Ibid., iii. 1.
You are never without your tricks: you may, you may:-Coriol., ii. 3.

In the following passage he uses an interjection sarcastically :-
Still going? This is a lord ! O, noble misery, to be.-Cym., v. 3.
Sometimes he uses an interjection insisting! :-
Ay, good now, love, love, nothing but love.-Tr. & Cr., iii. 1.
Good now, sit down, and tell me.-Hamlet, i. 1.
Sometimes, dissentingly :
Take good Cominius with thee. ...o the gods !—Coriol., iv. I.
And sometimes, deprecatingly :-
Hadst thou foxship to banish him ... O blessed heavens !-Ibid., iv. 2.

PARADOXICAL PHRASEOLOGY. There are some of Shakespeare's passages which are written with so much of paradox in their style, as to possess that startling effect of quaintness and almost humour, which characterises the “ Irish bull." These passages occur in his serious as well as in his comic plays ; because the great dramatist well knew that the human mind, in its emotional moods—whether grave or gay-is apt to deal with, and even to express itself, in strained forms of whimsical idea and imagery:

I am gone, though I am here.—M. Ado, iv. I.

I must tell thee, sirrah, I write man; to which title age cannot bring thee.Alls W., ii. 3.

If thou 'lt see a thing to talk on when thou art dead and rotten, come hither.W. T., iii. 3.

Great king, within this coffin I present
Thy buried fear.-R. II., v. 6.
And all thy friends—which thou must make thy friends
Have but their stings and teeth newly ta'en out.—2 H. IV., iv. 4.

Their wounded steeds
Fret fetlock deep in gore, and with wild rage
Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters,
Killing them twice.-H. V., iv. 7.
Sword, I will hallow thee for this thy deed,
And hang* thee o'er my tomb when I am dead.—2 H. VI., iv, 10.
And dead men's cries do fill the empty air.-Ibid., v. 2.
Well, lords, we have not got that which we have.-Ibid., v. 3.
· Nor no one here; for curses never pass

The lips of those that breathe them in the air.-R. III., i. 3.
* "And hang thee” is a boldly poetical ellipsis for ' And have thee hanged.'

.

Then, taking him from thence that is not there,
You break no privilege nor charter there.—R. III., iii. 1.
Richard except, those whom we fight against
Had rather have us win than him they follow.-Ibid., v. 3.

I do not know
What kind of my obedience I should tender ;
More than my all is nothing.-H. VIII., ii. 3.
You shames of Rome! you herd of-boils and plagues
Plaster you o'er ; that you may be abhorr'd *
Farther than seen, and one infect another

Against the wind a mile !--Coriol., i. 4.
We have power in ourselves to do it, but it is a power that we have no power to do.-
Ibid., ii. 3.

Would I were hanged, but I thought there was more in him than I could think.Ibid., iv. 5.

I would not be a Roman, of all nations; I had as lief be a condemned man.Ibid., iv. 5.

That we did, we did for the best; and though we willingly consented to his banishment yet it was against our will.-Ibid., iv. 6.

She speaks, yet she says nothing : what of that ?
Her eye discourses, I will answer it.—R. & Ful., ii. 2.
Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face,
Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek
For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night.-Ibid., ii. 2.

At what o'clock to-morrow
Shall I send to thee?-At the hour of nine.-
I will not fail : 'tis twenty years till then.—Ibid., ii. 2.
Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes
To rouse thee from thy bed, there art thou dead.—Ibid., iv. 1.
It tutors nature : artificial strife
Lives in these touches, livelier than life.-Timon, i. I.

Leak'd is our bark ;
And we, poor mates, stand on the dying deck,
Hearing the surges threat : we must all part
Into this sea of air.-Ibid., iv. 2.
If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,
Ť hou hadst been a knave and flatterer.-Ibid., iv. 3.
Cowards die many times before their deaths !
The valiant never taste of death but once. - ul. C., ii. 2.
We are two lions litter'd in one day,
And I the eldert and more terrible.-Ibid., ii. 2.
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man, that function
Is smother'd in surmise ; and nothing is
But what is not.—Macb., i. 3.
More is thy due than more than all can pay.-Ibid., i. 4.
If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly.-Ibid., i. 7.
Father'd he is, and yet he's fatherless.-Ibid., iv. 2.

The queen that bore thee
Oftener upon her knees than on her feet,
Died every day she liv’d.-Ibid., iv. 3.

Here “abhorr'd” is, with poetic licence, employed for 'smelt abhorringly.' + For an explanation of Shakespeare's peculiar and inclusive mode of employing the word “elder," See Elder, &c., and PECULIAR USE OF WORDS.

The poet adopted the foregoing expression from Scripture: “I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."-1. Cor., xv. 31.

What you have charg'd me with, that have I done;
And more, much more; the time will bring it out:
'Tis past, and so am 1.-Lear, v. 3.
I must be cruel, only to be kind.-Hamlet, iii. 4.
Whip me such honest knaves.—0th., i. 1.
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.-

1.-Ibid., i. 1.
Her honour is an essence that's not seen;
They have it very oft, that have it not.-Ibid., iv. 1.
Where is this rash and most unfortunate man ?-
That's he that was Othello ;-here I am.-Ibid., v. 2.
What our contempts do often hurl from us,
We wish it ours again; the present pleasure,
By revolution lowering, does become,
The opposite of itself: she's good, being gone.-Ant. & C., i. 2.
I am his fortune's vassal, and I send him
The greatness he has got.-Ibid., v. 2.
Wherein I am false I am honest ; not true, to be true.-Cym., iv. 3.

So I'll die
For thee, O Imogen, even for whom my life
Is, every breath, a death.-Ibid., v. I.
O Imogen! I'll speak to thee in silence.-Ibid., v. 4.
What think you ?--The same dead thing alive.-Ibid., v. 5.
By thine own tongue thou art condemn'd, and must
Endure our law : thou art dead.-Ibid., v. 5.
Yon sometime famous princes, like thyself,
Drawn by report, adventurous by desire,
Tell thee, with speechless tongues and semblance pale,
That, without covering, save yon field of stars,
Here they stand martyrs, slain in Cupid's wars;
And with dead cheeks advise thee to desist.-Per., i. 1.
Those that much covet are with gain so fond,
That what they have not, that which they possess,
They scatter and unloose it from their bond,
And so, by hoping more, they have but less;
Or, gaining more, the profit of excess
Is but to surfeit, and such griefs sustain,
That they prove bankrupt in this poor-rich gain.—Lucrece, Starza 20.

PARAPHRASES.

Shakespeare occasionally uses a paraphrase, or a periphrastic form of expression. Sometimes seriously, with graceful effect; and sometimes playfully or humorously, with exaggerated effect :

I with the morning's love [· Cephalus:' of whom Aurora was enamoured] have oft made sport.- Mid. N. D., iii. 2.

2.

Holla your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air [' Echo ')

Cry out, Olivia Tw. N., i. 5. Fare ye well at once: my bosom is full of kindness; and I am yet so near the manners of my mother ['so nearly betrayed into shedding womanish tears '] that, upon the least occasion more, mine eyes will tell tales of me.-Ibid., ii. 1.

And all my mother came into mine eyes [ all the womanly emotion in my nature sprang to mine eyes '], and gave me up to tears.-H. V., iv. 6.

And embraced, as it were, from the ends of opposed winds [“ the quarters whence the four winds blow,' . east to west, north to south,' opposite regions'].-W. T., i. 1.

And my name yok'd with his that did betray the Best! [* Judas Iscariot's').Ibid., i.

And stop this gap of breath [' mouth ’] with fulsome dust.-Yohn, iii. 4.

Now, now, you stars that move in your right spheres [' nobles who revolted, but have now returned to your allegiance '].-Ibid., v. 7.

His face thou hast, for even so look'd he,
Accomplish'd with the number of thy hours [' when he was of thy age '].-R.II., ii. 1.
Ten thousand bloody crowns of mothers' sons

Shall ill become the flower of England's face [' the flowery face of England's soil : ' including the idea of the Power of England's youth,' the finest and choicest young men of England '].—Ibid., iii. 3.

I can speak English, lord, as well as you ;
For I was train'd up in the English court;
Where, being but young, I framed to the harp
Many an English ditty, lovely well,

And gave the tongue a helpful ornament [' gave the language the aiding ornament of versification,' by writing poetry]. .-1 H. IV., iii. 1.

I understand thy looks: that pretty Welsh [' those speaking tears '] which thou pour'st down from these swelling heavens [' these blue eyes swollen with weeping '] I am too perfect in.-Ibid., iii. 1.

They come like sacrifices in their trim,

And to the fire-ey'd maid of smoky war ['the goddess Bellona'], all hot and bleeding, will we offer them.-Ibid., iv. 2.

Though it discolours the complexion of my greatness [- it makes my princehood blush '] to acknowledge it.—2 H. IV., ii. 2.

And the examples of every minute's instance [' that every minute produces or brings forth ’].-Ibid., iv. 1.

And consecrate commotion's bitter edge ['the sword of bitter contention and rebellion ').—Ibid., iv. I.

And I, in the clear sky of fame, o'ershine you as much as the full moon doth the cinders of the element ('the stars '], which show like pins' heads to her.--Ibid., iv. 3.

Nay, more, to spurn at your most royal image,

And mock your workings in a second body [' set at naught your decrees as carried out in the person of a deputed representative'].-Ibid., v. 2.

Go, clear thy crystals [' dry thine eyes ').-H. V., ii. 3.

Say, if my father render fair return [* send back a favourable answer '], it is against my will.-Ibid., ii. 4.

Thus with imagin'd wing [' the wing of imagination '] our swift scene flies in motion of no less celerity than that of thought.-Ibid., iii. (Chorus).

Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd speed [- the speed of imagination ') unto the Tranect, to the common ferry.-Mer. of V., iii.

4.
Small time, but, in that small, most greatly liv'd
This star of England [* Henry V.').-H. V., V. 2 (Chorus).
And stood against them as the hope of Troy (* Hector ']
Against the Greeks that would have enter'd Troy.—3 H. VI., ii. 1.

I pass’d, methought, the melancholy flood ['the river Styx ']
· With that grim ferry-man [' Charon'] which poets write of,

Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.—R. III., i. 4. Why, then the thing of courage ('the tiger '], as rous'd with rage, with rage doth sympathise.—Tr. & Cr., i. 3.

For that will physic the great Myrmidon [* Achilles '].—Ibid., i. 3.

Come, draw this curtain, and let's see your picture [' put back your veil, and let us behold your face '].—Ibid., iii. 2.

But we will draw the curtain, and show you the picture [' put back my veil, and let you see my face '].— Tw. N., i. 5.

By all Diana's waiting-women [' the stars, attendant upon the crescent moon'] yond', and by herself.—Tr. & Cr., v. 2.

When with his Amazonian chin ['chin with no more beard upon it than an Amazon's chin,' • unbearded chin'] he drove the bristled lips before him.-Coriol., ii. 2.

Here I clip the anvil of my sword (that body upon which I have heretofore laid as heavy blows as those which a smith lays upon an anvil ']; and do contest as hotly:Ibid., iv. 5.

Now, by the jealous queen of heaven ( Juno'], that kiss I carried from thee, dear.Ibid., v. 3.

Turn back, dull earth ['the earthly part of me,' • my body,' 'the corporeal and material portion of me'], and find thy centre out.—R. & Jul., ii. 1.

O blessed breeding sun, draw from the earth
Rotten humidity; below thy sister's orb [' the moon ']

Infect the air !--Timon, iv. 3. And, but in the plainer and simpler kind of people, the deed of saying [' the fulfilment of protestation '] is quite out of use.-Ibid., v. 1.

Till that Bellona's bridegroom [ Macbeth ; worthy to be matched with the goddess of war'], lapp'd in proof ( incased in armour of proof'], confronted him with selfcomparisons [' met him with competitive strokes equal to his own ').—Macb., i. 2.

The wind-shak'd surge, with high and monstrous mane,
Seems to cast water on the burning bear ['the Great Bear constellation'],

And quench the guards of th' ever-fixed pole [' the star Arctophylax, guarding the polar or North Star and the Great Bear ').-Oth., ii. 1.

Even then this forked plague [' this penalty of horns '] is fated to us when we do quicken.-Ibid., iii. 3.

Now canopied under these windows ['eyelids,' eyes,' "casements'], white and azure, lac'd with blue of heaven's own tinct.-Cym., ii. 2.

The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade

To paly ashes; thy eyes' windows ['eyelids'] fall.-R. & Yul., iv. I. And makes Diana's rangers [' virgin ladies') false themselves.-Cym., ii. 3.

This mortal house ( body,' . perishable frame'] I'll ruin,

Do Cæsar what he can.-Ant. & C., v. 2. He bears a tempest, which his mortal vessel [' his frail body '] tears, and yet he rides it out.—Per., v. 4 (Gower).

Celestial Dian, goddess argentine [' deity of the silver moon '] I will obey thee.Ibid., v. 2.

PARENTHESES. It is noteworthy that Shakespeare's parentheses are frequently of very condensed significance, containing much earnestness and wisdom put into extremely small space :

If powers divine
Behold our human actions (as they do),
I doubt not then, but innocence shall make
False accusation blush.-W. T., iii. 2.