Whom Fortune with her ivory hand wafts ['waves,' ‘beckons'] to her.—Timon, i. 1. Too weak to wage [ maintain '] an instant trial.—1 H. IV., iv. 4. And choose to wage [ contend,' 'wage war'] against.-Lear, ii. 4. To wake and wage ['maintain,' 'carry on,' 'encounter,' 'undertake'] a danger profitless.-Oth., i. 3. His taints and honours waged ['maintained contending strength'] equal with him. -Ant. & C., v. 1. Nor the commodity wages ['equals,' 'maintains equal pace'] not with the danger. -Per., iv. 3. Which here we waken [rouse into energy.' See IDIOMS for other passages where "awake" and "wake" are similarly used] to our country's good.—R. ÎII., iii. 7. Doth want ['stand in need of '] her proper limbs.—Ibid., iii. 7. Makes the wappen'd [ worn out,' 'stale.' Shakespeare uses the epithet "o'er-worn,” applied to a widow, in the first scene of "King Richard III."] widow wed again.— Timon, iv. 3. Sent to warn ['summon '] them to his royal presence.-R. III., i. 3. With wine and wassail ['feasting'] so convince.—Macb., i. 7. At wakes and wassails ['feastings'], meetings.-Love's L. L., v. 2. She shall watch ['keep awake '] all night.-Tam. of S., iv. 1. The longest night that e'er I watched ['kept awake '].-Two G of V., iv. 2. Ween ['imagine,'' think,'' suppose'] you of better luck.-H. VIII., v. 1. The world to weet [ know,' be aware'] we stand up peerless.—Ant. & C., i. 1. These weird ['witch,' fatal,'' prophetic'] sisters saluted me.-Ibid., i. 5 (Letter). He that went [was' dressed,'' attired,' or ‘apparelled '] like a base-viol, in a case of leather.-Com. of E., iv. 3. How looked he? Wherein went ['was dressed '] he?-As You L., iii. 2. And he went ['was dressed'] still in this fashion.-Tw. N., iii. 4. Never lack'd gold, and yet went [' dressed'] never gay.-Oth., ii. 1. Oh, how the wheel ['burden of a ballad; also suggesting the idea of the instrument of torture called "the wheel "] becomes it !-Hamlet, iv. 5. Had first been whole ['sound in health,' ' well,' ' not ill,' 'unsick '], ere he by sickness had.-1 H. IV., iv. I. And not wholesome [* favourable,” beneficial,' propitious'] to our cause.—H.VIII,ïïì. 2. Speak to them, I pray you, in wholesome [' propitiatory,'' gracious,' 'conciliatory'] manner. Coriol., ii. 3. If it shall please you to make me a wholesome [gracious,' ' favourable '] answer ・ ・ ・ make you a wholesome [ rational,'' sane,'' healthy '] answer. Hamlet, iii. 2. Good morrow, good wife ['woman.' Falstaff says it in this sense, while Dame Quickly takes it in the sense of married woman '].-Merry W., ii. 2. A cause between an orange-wife [ woman'] and a fosset-seller.-Coriol., ii. 1. A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife* ['woman '].—Oth., i. I. Though inclination be as sharp as will [ determination 'J.-Hamlet, iii. 3. To the perpetual wink [closed eyes'] for aye might put this ancient morsel.-Temp., ii. i. Although you judge I wink [have my eyes closed '].—Two G. of V., i. 2. I'll wink [shut my eyes'] and couch.-Merry W., v. 5. as cited a "Wife" has been suspected of error in this passage: but if the mode be observed in which the word is used in the other passages here cited, and "wives little farther on, we think it will be seen to be the correct reading. To wish [recommend '] him wrestle with affection.-M. Ado, iii. 1. And wish [recommend '] thee to a shrewd.-Ibid., i. 2. When man was wish'd ['recommended,'' desired,' ' enjoined '] to love his enemies.. -Timon, iv. 3. Only shape thou thy silence to my wit ['intelligence,' ' sagacity'].—Tw. N., i. 2. Shall suffer what wit ['ingenuity,'' skill in cruelty,' 'barbarous invention'] can make heavy.-W. T., iv. 3. Away with scrupulous wit ['policy,' 'ingenuity']! now arms 3 H. VI., iv. 7. must rule.-. Since brevity is the soul of wit [' wisdom,' ' intelligential acuteness '].—Hamlet, ii. 2. If I drown myself wittingly ['knowingly'].—Hamlet, v. 1. The deep-revolving witty [sagacious,' 'perspicacious,' and ' ingenious,' ' full of clever devices'] Buckingham.—R. III., iv. 2. You must be witty ['alert-minded,' ' quick-witted '] now.-Tr. & Cr., iii. 2. With men, with wives ['women'] and boys.-H. V., v. (Chorus). Lest that thy wives ['women'] with spits, and boys with stones.-Coriol., iv. 4. Men, wives ['women '] and children, stare.-Jul. C., iii. 1. Like a wood ['mad,' 'distracted,' 'crazy'] woman!-Two G. of V., ii. 3. Raging wood ['mad '] did flesh his.-1 H. VI., iv. 7. Am I a woodman [' huntsman,'' sportsman,' 'one who chases female game '], ha ?— Merry W., v. 5. He's a better woodman [huntsman,' 'sportsman,' 'a chaser of female game'] than thou takest him for.-M. for M., iv. 3. Have proved best woodman ['huntsman,'' sportsman '].—Cym., iii. 6. What, the sword and the word [' the Scriptures,' Holy Writ']! Do you study them both, master parson ?-Merry W., iii. 1. Do set the word ['Holy Writ'] itself against the word.-R. II., v. 5. The hopeless word ['short phrase,'' sentence'] of "never to return."—Ibid., i. 3. A time for such a word ['sentence '].-Macb., v. 5. Now to my word [' watchword']; it is, “Adieu, adieu! remember me."-Hamlet, i. 5. Give the word [' watchword,' 'password'].—Lear, iv. 6. The word ['motto'], Lux tua vita mihi."-Per., ii. 2. Some words [dispute,'' contention '] there grew 'twixt.-1 H. VI., ii. 5. To fill the world with words [' disputing,'' wrangling'] ?-3 H. VI., v. 5. Not so rich in worth ['rank,' 'wealth,' 'worldly position or estimation'] as beauty.-W. T., v. 1. Not for the worth ['amount of value'] that hangs upon our quarrel.-Tr. & Cr., ii. 3. And to have his worth ['pennyworth,' 'full amount,' fill,' full swing'] of contradiction.-Coriol., iii. 3. Found this trespass worth ['deserving of'] the shame which here it suffers.Lear, ii. 4. Me, wretch, more worth ['deserving,' 'meriting '] your vengeance.—Cym., v. I. * Shakespeare often uses words ending in "less" with some latitude of signification; and he is followed in this practice by a poet of our own day, who, in his poem of "Vivien," uses the word "selfless to express unselfish.' So Shakespeare uses 66 kindless," "artless," "aweless," " 'mindless,' "needless," "opposeless," "sightless," "timeless," "topless,” “trustless," "viewless," "woundless," &c., with quite peculiar meaning. 66 To worthy [merited'] danger and deserved death.-R. II., v. 1. For a score of kingdoms you should wrangle ['dispute,' 'contend overbearingly'], and I would call it fair play.-Temp., v. I. And wrangle [dispute,'' altercate'] with my reason.-Tw. N., iv. 3. To those that wring ['writhe,' 'feel acutely'] under the load of sorrow.-M. Ado, v. 1. Yare [ alertly,'' promptly '], yare! Take in the top-sail.-Temp., i. 1. Whom zeal [religious virtue,'' piety'] and charity brought to the field as God's own soldier. John, i. 2. With tears of innocency and terms of zeal ['piety,' 'religious fervour,' 'holiness'].1 H. IV., iv. 3. Shakespeare occasionally uses the word "there" in reference to some place inferred, rather than directly mentioned: He came too late, the ship was under sail : But there the duke was given to understand, Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica.—Mer. of V., ii. S. And sometimes in reference to a time or circumstance, not to a place: Why, as I told thee, 'tis a custom with him I' the afternoon to sleep: there thou may'st brain him.—Temp., iii. 2. Bearing in mind the above-named peculiarities of our author when occasionally using the word "there," we are inclined to believe it to have been employed by him in the following passage, although it has been suspected of misprint in the First Folio. If "our most quiet there" be what Shakespeare wrote, we take it to signify the supreme quiet which we enjoyed in the stream of time':: We see which way the stream of time doth run, By the rough torrent of occasion.—2 H. IV., iv. 1. The word "though" is also used by Shakespeare in a peculiar manner; allowing it to bear almost the sense of since,' 'if,' 'being that,' inasmuch as': Sowter will cry upon 't, for all this, though it be as rank as a fox.-Tw. N., ii. 5. There's a medlar for thee, eat it. On what I hate I feed not.-Dost hate a medlar? -Ay, though it look like thee.-Timon, iv. 3. I would abate her nothing; though I profess myself her adorer, not her friend.— Cym., i. 5. And, in the following passage, with the sense of ' 'allowing that,' admitting that' :— 'granting that," For though the camomile, the more it is trodden on, the faster it grows, yet youth the more it is wasted, the sooner it wears.-1 H. IV., ii. 4. There are certain words that were affectedly and hackedly used by some of the fops, would-be fine gentlemen, or martial-mannered fellows, of Shakespeare's time, that are recorded by him in a few passages his plays as thus used: of A soldier is better accommodated than with a wife [See AFFECTED PHRASEOLOGY).2 H. IV., iii. 2. * Captain! thou abominable damned cheater, art thou not ashamed to be called captain? An captains were of my mind, they would truncheon you out, for taking their names upon you before you have earned them. You a captain! you slave, for what?... He a captain! Hang him, rogue! . . . A captain! these villains will make the word captain as odious therefore captains had need look to it.-2 H. IV., ii.. I might say element, but the word is over-worn.-Tw. N., iii. 1. 4. Slice that's my humour . . . good humours. nuthook's humour [See the diction of NYM throughout this play].-Merry W., i. I. . I have a humour to knock you that's the humour of it [See the diction of NYM throughout this play also].-H. V., ii. 1. As odious as the word occupy; which was an excellent good word before it was ill sorted.-2 H. IV., ii. 4. To occupy the argument no longer.-R. & Jul., ii. 4. O Lord, sir! . . . O Lord, sir! [See the rest of the dialogue in this scene.]All's W., ii. 2. I will tell her, sir, that you do protest; which, as I take it, is a gentlemanlike offer. -R. & Jul., ii. 4. The lady protests too much, methinks.-Hamlet, iii. 2. My love to thee is sound, sans crack or flaw.-Sans, Love's L. L., v. 2. 'sans," I pray you.- Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.-As You L., ii. 7. Come, come; sans compliment, what news abroad?—John, v. 6. Taste your legs, sir: put them to motion. My legs do better understand me, sir, than I understand what you mean by bidding me taste my legs.-Tw. N., iii. 1. I pr'ythee vent thy folly somewhere else: thou know'st not me.-Vent my folly! he has heard that word of some great man, and now applies it to a fool: vent my folly! . . . tell me what I shall vent to my lady: shall I vent to her that thou art coming?-Tw. N., iv. 1. By welkin and her stars!-Merry W., i. 3. By thy favour, sweet welkin, I must sigh in thy face.-Love's L. L., iii. 1. PERSONAGES IN THE OLD MORALITIES, &c. In the course of Shakespeare's dramas there are to be found allusions to certain allegorical personages who figured in the old moralities, mysteries, or miracle-plays that were formerly enacted for popular entertainment: Which is the wiser here? Justice or Iniquity ?—M. for M., ii. 1. Merely, thou art Death's Fool.-Ibid., iii. 1. Like to the old Vice . . with dagger of lath, In his rage and his wrath, Cries, ah, ha! to the Devil: Like a mad lad, Pare thy nails, dad; Adieu, goodman drivel.-Tw. N.. iv. 2 (Song). The mode in which the title of "captain was adopted by fellows having no claim to bear it is satirised by a dramatist who wrote at a later date than Shakespeare; for Farquhar, in his comedy of the "Beaux' Stratagem," makes Gibbet the highwayman observe: " Captain is a good travelling name, and so I take it; it stops a great many foolish inquiries that are generally made about gentlemen that travel; it gives a man an air of something, and makes the drawers obedient-and thus far I am a captain, and no farther."-Act iii., sc. 2. That reverend Vice, that grey Iniquity, that father ruffian, that Vanity in years.— 1 H. IV., ii. 4. The slave of life, and life Time's Fool.-Ibid., v. 4. And now is this Vice's dagger become a squire.—2 H. IV., iii. 2. Thus, like the formal Vice, Iniquity, I moralise two meanings in one word.R. III., iii. 1. Let my lady apprehend no Fear: in all Cupid's pageant there is presented no monster.-Tr. & Cr., iii. 2. Oh, I am Fortune's Fool!-R. & Jul., iii. 1. It out-herods Herod: pray you, avoid it.—Hamlet, iii. 2. I am even the natural Fool of Fortune.-Ibid., iv. 6. Thy angel becomes a Fear, as being o'erpower'd.-Ant. & C., ii. 3. Or tie my treasure up in silken bags, To please the Fool and Death.—Per., iii. 2. He also alludes to certain personages in the pageants and puppetshows of his time : When loud Rumour speaks? . . . upon my tongues continual slanders ride.... Who but Rumour, who but only I, make fearful musters? . . . Rumour is a pipe blown by surmises. Why is Rumour here? . . . from Rumour's tongues they bring. 2 H. IV. (Induc.) I was then Sir Dagonet in Arthur's show.-Ibid., iii. 2. And also to certain figurers in the morris-dances of the period: And for womanhood, Maid Marian may be the deputy's wife of the ward to thee.— Ibid., iii. 3. The hobby-horse is forgot.-Love's L. L., iii. 1. With the hobby-horse, whose epitaph is, “ For, oh, for, oh, the hobby-horse is forgot." -Hamlet, iii. 2. PHYSICAL INDICATIONS. Our great dramatic poet gives occasional touches of physical indication, that forcibly heighten the effect of personal truth in actual condition of the characters he draws. Some of these indications serve to enhance prosaic and even humorous effect; while others aid in strengthening the impression of excitement or anguish. Ludicrously well, for instance, are denoted the remnants of sea-sickness still hanging about Stephano, together with the effects of his constant application to the bottle containing the wine he has saved, by his mode of adjuring Trinculo not to embrace him with too demonstrative a hug of congratulation : Pr'ythee, do not turn me about; my stomach is not constant.—Temp., ii. 2. Afterwards, in the same play, how pointedly is Prospero's disturbance of mind marked, by the desire to calm his restlessness by motion :— Sir, I am vex'd: Bear with my weakness; my old brain is troubled : Be not disturb'd with my infirmity. If you be pleas'd, retire into my cell, And there repose: a turn or two I'll walk, To still my beating mind.-Ibid., iv. 1. |