Duke. Pro. Saw you my daughter? Neither. Duke. Why, then, she's fled unto that peasant Va lentine; And Eglamour is in her company. "Tis true; for friar Laurence met them both, At Patrick's cell this even; and there she was not: That leads towards Mantua, whither they are fled. Thu. Why, this it is to be a peevish girl,2 [Exit. [Exit. Pro. And I will follow, more for Silvia's love, Than hate of Eglamour, that goes with her. [Exit. Jul. And I will follow, more to cross that love, Than hate for Silvia, that is gone for love. SCENE III. [Exit. Out, Come, come; Be patient; we must bring you to our captain. Sil. A thousand more mischances, than this one, Have learn'd me how to brook this patiently. 2 Out. Come, bring her away. 1 Out. Where is the gentleman, that was with her? 3 Out. Being nimble-footed, he hath out-run us, 2 a peevish girl,] Peevish, in ancient language, signifies foolish. So, in King Henry VI. P. I; Steevens. "To send such peevish tokens to a king." But Moyses, and Valerius, follow him. Go thou with her to the west end of the wood; There is our captain: we 'll follow him that 's fled; 1 Out. Come, I must bring you to our captain's cave: Fear not; he bears an honourable mind, And will not use a woman lawlessly. Sil. O Valentine! this I endure for thee. SCENE IV. Another part of the Forest. Enter VALENTINE. Val. How use doth breed a habit in a man! [Exeunt. 4 ·record my woes.] To record anciently signified to sing, So, in The Pilgrim, by Beaumont and Fletcher: 66 O sweet, sweet! how the birds record too?" Again, in a pastoral, by N. Breton, published in England's Helicon, 1614: "Sweet Philomel, the bird that hath the heavenly throat, "Doth now, alas! not once afford recording of a note." Again, in another Dittie, by Thomas Watson, ibid: "Now birds record with harmonie." Sir John Hawkins informs me, that to record is a term still used by bird-fanciers, to express the first essays of a bird in singing. Steevens. 50 thou that dost inhabit in my breast, Leave not the mansion so long tenantless; Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall, And leave no memory of what it was!] It is hardly possible to point out four lines, in any of the plays of Shakspeare, more remarkable for ease and elegance. Steevens. And leave no memory of what it was!] So, in Marlowe's Jew of Malta: "And leave no memory that e'er I was." Ritson. Thou gentle nymph, cherish thy forlorn swain!— They love me well; yet I have much to do, Withdraw thee, Valentine; who 's this comes here? Enter PROTEUS, SILVIA, and JULIA. And less, than this, I am sure, you cannot give. [Aside. Sil. O miserable, unhappy that I am! Sil. By thy approach thou mak'st me most unhappy. Sil. Had I been seized by a hungry lion, Therefore, be gone; solicit me no more. [Aside. Pro. What dangerous action, stood it next to death, Would I not undergo for one calm look? O, 'tis the curse in love, and still approv❜d," 66 my meed,] i. e. reward. So, in Titus Andronicus: thanks, to men "Of noble minds, is honourable meed." Again, in Gammer Gurton's Needle, 1575: Steevens. "O Christ! that I were sure of it! in faith he should have his mede." See also Spenser, and almost every writer of the times. Reed. and still approv'd,] Approv'd is felt, experienced. Malone. When women cannot love, where they 're belov'd. Sil. When Proteus cannot love, where he 's belov'd. Read over Julia's heart, thy first best love, For whose dear sake thou didst then rend thy faith Thou hast no faith left now, unless thou hadst two, -Pro. Who respects friend? Sil. In love, All men, but Proteus. Pro. Nay, if the gentle spirit of moving words Can no way change you to a milder form, I'll woo you like a soldier, at arms' end; And love you 'gainst the nature of love, force you. Pro. I'll force thee yield to my desire. Val. Ruffian, let go that rude uncivil touch; Thou friend of an ill fashion! Pro. Valentine! Val. Thou common friend, that 's without faith or love; 8 (For such is a friend now) treacherous man! I have one friend alive: thou would'st disprove me. 8 that 's without faith or love;] That's is perhaps here used, not for who is, but for id est, that is to say. Malone. Who should be trusted now, when one's right hand-] The word now is wanting in the first folio. Steevens. The second folio, to complete the metre, reads: "Who shall be trusted now, when one's right hand -." The addition, like all those made in that copy, appears to have been merely arbitrary; and the modern word [own, which was introduced by Sir Thomas Hanmer] is, in my opinion, more likely to have been the author's than the other. Malone. What! "all at one fell swoop!" are they all arbitrary, when Mr. Malone has honoured so many of them with a place in his text? Being completely satisfied with the reading of the second folio, I have followed it. Steevens. X Is perjur'd to the bosom? Proteus, I am sorry, I must never trust thee more, But count the world a stranger for thy sake. The private wound is deepest:1 O time, most curst ! Be a sufficient ransom for offence, I tender it here; I do as truly suffer, As e'er I did commit. Val. Then I am paid; And once again I do receive thee honest:- Is nor of heaven nor earth; for these are pleas'd; 1 The private wound, &c.] I have a little mended the measure. The old editions, and all but Sir Thomas Hanmer's, read: "The private wound is deepest: O time most accurs'd." Johnson. Deepest, highest, and other similar words, were sometimes used by the poets of Shakspeare's age, as monosyllables. So, in our poet's 133d Sonnet: "But slave to slavery my sweetest friend must be." Malone. Perhaps our author only wrote-" sweet," which the transcriber, or printer, prolonged into the superlative—“ sweetest.” Steevens. 2 All that was mine in Silvia, I give thee.] It is (I think) very odd, to give up his mistress thus at once, without any reason alleged. But our author probably followed the stories, just as he found them in his novels as well as histories. Pope. This passage either hath been much sophisticated, or is one great proof, that the main parts of this play did not proceed from Shakspeare; for it is impossible he could make Valentine act and speak so much out of character, or give to Silvia so unnatural a behaviour, as to take no notice of this strange concession, if it had been made. Hanmer. Valentine, from seeing Silvia in the company of Proteus, might conceive she had escaped with him from her father's court, for the purposes of love, though she could not foresee the violence which his villany might offer, after he had seduced her, under the pretence of an honest passion. If Valentine, however, be supposed to hear all that passed between them in this scene, I am afraid I have only to subscribe to the opinions of my predecessors. Steevens. |