I never heard of such another encounter, which lames report to follow it, and undoes description to do it [ruins description in attempting to describe it].-W. T., v. 2. My lord of Hereford, my message is to you.

My lord, my answer is-to Lancaster [I will make my answer when you address me as Duke of Lancaster, which is my title now, and not lord of Hereford].-R. II., ii. 3. Little are we beholden to your love,

And little look'd for at your helping hands [And little was this small amount of love looked for at your hands which should have helped us].-Ibid., iv. 1.

Arrest them to the answer of the law [to make their answer to the law].—H. V., ii. 2. Scorn and defiance; slight regard, contempt,

And anything that may not misbecome

The mighty sender, doth he prize you at [he esteems you worthy of no other than slight regard and contempt].-Ibid., ii. 4.

It may be, his enemy is a gentleman of great sort, quite from the answer of his degree [of great rank, quite removed from a corresponding level of low degree with that of the soldier, and therefore exempt from being called upon to render him an answer].-Ibid., iv. 7.

Me seemeth [it seems to me], then, it is no policy.—2 H. VI., iii. 1.

A sceptre shall it have-have I a soul [as surely as I have a soul]-on which I'll toss the flower-de-luce of France.-Ibid., v. I.

Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain'd,

Think you 'twere prejudicial to his crown? [to the due hereditary succession of his crown].-3 H. VI., ì. i.

The broken rancour of your high-swoln hearts,

But lately splinter'd, knit and join'd together,

Must gently be preserv'd, cherish'd, and kept [The unsound rancour of your proud hearts, like a newly set limb but lately splinted, must be carefully tended until it become perfectly sound and whole].-R. III., ii. 2.

This, this All-Souls' day to my fearful soul

Is the determin'd respite of my wrongs [This All-Souls' day is the period to which my trembling soul sees that the punishment of its misdeeds has been respited].—Ibid., v. i. That blind priest, like the eldest son of fortune,

Turns what he list [turns as he pleases whatever event he chooses to turn, as if it were the wheel of fortune].-H. VIII., ii. 2.

How tastes it? is it bitter? forty pence, no [I'll wager forty pence that it is not].Ibid., ii. 3.

Of which there is not one . . . but will deserve,

For virtue and true beauty of the soul,

For honesty and decent carriage,

A right good husband, let him be a noble [even though he should be a nobleman].— Ibid., iv. 2.

You are potently oppos'd; and with a malice

Of as great a size [as great as is the power that opposes you].-Ibid., v. 1.

What was purpos'd

Concerning his imprisonment, was rather

(If there be faith in men) meant for his trial,
And fair purgation to the world, than malice,-

I'm sure, in me [it was so meant by me].—Ibid., v. 2.

All princes living with her [living at the same epoch with herself].—Ibid.,
His youth in flood [though his youthful blood be in full flow],
I'll prove this truth with my three drops of blood.—Tr. & Cr., i. 3.

And sometimes we are devils to ourselves,

When we will tempt the frailty of our powers,

v. 4.

Presuming on their changeful potency [presuming too far on the strength of that which is variable, unstable, and fallible].-Ibid., iv. 4.

To pray Achilles see us at our tent [To pray that Achilles will come and see us at our tent].-Ibid., v. 10.

He cannot temperately transport his honours

From where he should begin, and end [from where he should begin to where he should end].-Coriol., ii. 1.

I would they would forget me, like the virtues

Which our divines lose by them [as they forget the virtues which our divines vainly endeavour to implant in them].—Ibid., ii. 3.

Put not your worthy rage into your tongue;

One time will owe another [some other time will give you the opportunity which the present time denies you].-Ibid., iii. 1.

And you will rather show our general louts

How you can frown, than spend a fawn upon them,

For the inheritance of their loves, and safeguard

Of what that want [the want of that love] might ruin.—Ibid., iii. 2.

To beg of thee, it is my more dishonour

Than thou of them [it is more dishonour for me to beg of thee than it is dishonour for thee to beg of them].-Ibid., iii. 2.

Fortune's blows,

When most struck home, being gentle wounded, craves

A noble cunning [when Fortune's blows are most struck home, to be gentle, although wounded, demands a noble philosophy].—Ibid., iv. 1.

Thy sight, which should make our eyes flow with joy, hearts dance with comforts, constrains them weep, and shake with fear and sorrow [the sight of thee, which should make our eyes flow with joy and our hearts dance with comfort, constrains our eyes to weep, and our hearts to shake with fear and sorrow].-Ibid., v. 3.

Oh, she is rich in beauty; only poor,

That, when she dies, with beauty dies her store [with her individual beauty dies so large a store of beauty].-R. & Jul., i. I.

Going to find a barefoot brother out,

One of our order, to associate me

Here in this city visiting the sick [to bear me company, he being here in this city visiting the sick].—Ibid., v. 2.

He does deny him, in respect of his,

What charitable men afford to beggars [he refuses to give him that which, in comparison with his own means, is but the usual alms afforded by charitable men to beggars].-Timon, iii. 2.

Had his necessity made use of me,

I would have put my wealth into donation,

And the best half should have return'd to him [I would have treated my wealth as if it had been Timon's gift, and would have sent him back the larger half].—Ibid., iii. 2. If there be such valour in the bearing, what make we abroad? [What do we do out fighting? or what makes us go forth into the field?]—Ibid., iii. 5.

Dry up thy marrows, vines, and plough-torn leas [the marrows of thy vines and plough-torn leas].—Ibid., iv. 3.

Thou shouldst desire to die, being miserable [Willing misery outlives uncertain grandeur, its desires are sooner and more surely fulfilled: the one is ever craving, never satisfied; the other is always at the height of its wishes: the best of states, without content, has a distracted and most wretched existence, worse than the very worst of states, with content. Thou shouldst desire to die, being unwillingly miserable]. -Ibid., iv. 3.

Not a man

Shall pass his quarter, or offend the stream
Of regular justice in your city's bounds,

But shall be render'd to your public laws

At heaviest answer [that he may make answer to its heaviest decrees and penalties]. -Timon, v. 5.

He hath left them you,

And to your heirs for ever,-common pleasures,

To walk abroad, and recreate yourselves [pleasures to be enjoyed by you all in common, where you may walk abroad and recreate yourselves].-Jul. C., iii. 2.

Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake?

What villain touched his body, that did stab,

And not for justice? [Who among those that assailed Cæsar was a villain that stabbed him otherwise than for justice?—Ibid., iv. 3.

Yet, countrymen, oh, yet hold up your heads!—

What bastard doth not? Who is it that would prove himself degenerate by not holding up his head and still maintaining the fight ?].—Ibid., v. 4.

Think upon what hath chanc'd; and, at more time,

The interim having weigh'd it [the interim having allowed of its being duly balanc'd in our minds], let us speak our free hearts each to other.-Macb., i. 3.

Thy letters have transported me beyond

This ignorant present [this present moment unacquainted with the existence of that which hereafter will exist].-Ibid., i. 5.

I will advise you where to plant yourselves;

Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time [the precise time when you may espy him coming.-Ibid., iii. 1.

The head is not more native to the heart,

The hand more instrumental to the mouth,

Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father [The head is not more naturally cooperative with the heart, or the hand more actively useful to the mouth, than the throne of Denmark is willing to be serviceable to thy father].—Hamlet, i. 2.

That, on the supervise, no leisure bated [no abatement of time allowed].-Ibid., v. 2. Answer my life my judgment [Let my life be answerable for my judgment].—Lear, i. 1. World, world, oh, world!

But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee,

Life would not yield to age [we should never be willing to surrender life even in old age].-Ibid., iv. 1.

Mean you to espouse him?—

The let-alone lies not in your good will [The relinquishment of the match depends not upon your will, however much your will might desire that relinquishment].Ibid., v. 3.

In night, and on the court and guard of safety [on the very spot and guarding-place of safety].--Oth., ii. 3.

This broken joint between you and her husband entreat her to splinter; and, my fortunes against any lay worth naming, this crack of your love shall grow stronger than it was before [the bond injured by this crack in your love shall become stronger than it was before (see the similarly constructed passage above quoted from "King Richard III.," ii. 2)).—Ibid., ii. 3.

I have made my way through more impediments

Than twenty times your stop [more impediments than twenty times as much as that by which you would stop me].-Ibid., v. 2.

I would have broke mine eye-strings; crack'd them, but

To look upon him; till the diminution

Of space [diminution caused by space | had pointed him sharp as my needle.—Cym., i. 4. Slaver with lips as common as the stairs

That mount the Capitol [by which the Capitol is mounted].-Ibid., i. 7.

How we may steal hence; and for the gap

That we shall make in time, from our hence-going

And our return [from the period of our hence-going until that of our return (See the similarly constructed passage above quoted from "Coriolanus," ii. 1)], to excuse. -Ibid., iii. 2.

Why hast thou gone so far,

To be unbent [to have thy bow unbent] when thou hast ta'en thy stand,
The elected deer before thee?-Cym., iii. 4.

Must I repent?

I cannot do it better than in gyves,

Desir'd more than constrain'd I cannot repent better than in gyves, desiring to do so more than constrained to do so].—Ibid., v. 4.

This man is better than the man he slew,

As well descended as thyself; and hath

More of thee merited than a band of Clotens

Had ever scar for [hath merited more of thee than a whole band of Clotens ever received a single scar to entitle them to claim].—Ibid., v. 5.

Shakespeare has some passages of very peculiar and condensed construction, where a comparison is made [See ELLIPSES OF COMPARISON]—

And for womanhood, Maid Marian may be the deputy's wife of the ward to thee [might be wife to the deputy of the ward if compared in fitness with thee].-1 H. IV., iii. 3. Upon their ancient malice, will forget,

With the least cause, these his new honours; which,

That he will give them, make I as little question

As he is proud to do't which cause, that he will give them, I as little question as that he is proud enough to do it, and proud of doing it.-Coriol., ii. 1.

Like madness is the glory of this life,

As this pomp shows to a little oil and root [Just such madness is the glory of this life, as the pomp of this feast appears when compared with the philosopher's frugal repast of a little oil and a few roots).-Timon, i. 2.

What if this cursed hand were thicker than itself with brother's blood [were steep'd in brother's blood to the thickness of itself].-Hamlet, iii. 3.

Sometimes Shakespeare uses the present or future tense in the kind of sentence where the participle is generally used :

-

Though bride and bridegroom wants [are wanting] for to supply the places at the table.-Tam. of S., iii. 2.

Your betters have endured me say [my saying] my mind.-Ibid., iv. 3.

I know not how I shall assure you farther,

But I shall lose [by losing] the grounds I work upon.-All's W., iii. 7.

Sometimes he uses the present tense in the kind of sentence where other forms of phraseology are generally used :—

You are the first that rears [are to rear] your hand.-Jul. C., iii. 1.

I cannot say whore-it does abhor me [it is abhorrent to me], now I speak the word. Oth., iv. 2.

Sometimes he uses the infinitive mood in the kind of sentence where other forms of phraseology are employed :—

I fly not death, to fly [by flying] his deadly doom.—Two G. of V., iii. 1.

Heaven would that she these gifts should have,

And I to live [that I should live] and die her slave.-As You L., iii. 2 (Verses). His private arbours, and new-planted orchards,

...

To walk [where you may walk] abroad, and recreate yourselves.-Jul. C., iii. 2. Myself the while to draw [might draw] the Moor apart.-Oth., ii. 3. What a plague mean ye to colt [by colting] me thus ?-1 H. IV., ii. 2. Who, then, shall blame his pester'd senses to recoil and start [for recoiling and starting], when all that is within him does condemn itself for being there?-Macb., v.2. And, for I am richer than to hang [to be hung] by the walls, I must be ripp'd.-Cym., iii.4And how achiev'd you these endowments, which you make more rich to owe by possessing them].-Per., v. 1.

Sometimes he uses the participle in the kind of sentence where other forms of phraseology are ordinarily employed :

And, now I am remember'd [I remember], scorn'd at me.-As You L., iii. 5.
But if you be remember'd [remember], I did not bid.-Tam. of S., iv. 3.

My person; which I weigh not, being [if it be] of those virtues vacant.-H. VIII., v. I. How have I been behaved [can I have behaved] that he might stick the small'st opinion on my least misuse ?-Oth., iv. 2.

What's her price, Boult ?—I cannot be bated [get them to bate me] one doit of a thousand pieces.-Per., iv. 3.

Sometimes he has sentences with verbs somewhat pleonastically employed :

Admit him entrance, Griffith.-H. VIII., iv. 2.

We shall not spend a large expense of time,*

Before we reckon with your several loves.-Macb., v. 7.
That we the pain of death would hourly die,
Rather than die at once!-Lear, v. 3.

Shakespeare has some passages where one sentence is followed up by a second illustrating the first; and sometimes with a repeated word:Dost think I am so muddy, so unsettled,

To appoint myself in this vexation.-W. T., i. 2.
Take pity of your town and of your people,

Whiles yet my soldiers are in my command;

Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace

O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds.-H. V., iii. 3.

In him there is a hope of government;

That, in his nonage, council under him,

And, in his full and ripen'd years, himself,

No doubt, shall then, and till then, govern well.—R. III., ii. 3.
There's his period to sheathe his knife in us.-H. VIII., i. 2.

After my death I wish no other herald,

No other speaker of my living actions,

To keep mine honour from corruption,

But such an honest chronicler as Griffith.-Ibid., iv. 2.

Know you not

How your state stands i' the world, with the whole world?—Ibid., v. 1.

Now shall we see to-morrow,

An act that very chance doth throw upon him,

Ajax renown'd.-Tr. & Cr., iii. 3.

No, Cassius; for the eye sees not itself,

But by reflection, by some other things.-Jul. C., i. 2.

Tell me but truly-but then speak the truth,

Do you not love my sister?-Lear, v. i.

To take the widow,

Exasperates, makes mad, her sister.-Ibid., v. I.

Let's teach ourselves that honourable stop,
Not to out-sport discretion.-Oth., ii. 3.

Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can

Her heart inform her tongue-the swan's down feather,
That stands upon the swell at the full of tide,

And neither way inclines.-Ant. & C., ii. 2.

* See our remarks upon this passage under REPEATED WORDS.