SCENE TWO] NOTES 213 on them," a meaning which, of course, it can bear. But Hart has found many contemporary passages in which the phrase is an idiom, like the modern kick one's heels," for "to wait patiently while one has nothing to do." And, naturally, the sheep would have been brought into shelter from such extreme cold as the song mentions. That clinches Hart's interpretation. 930. keel the pot, cool the pot " by stirring, skimmering, or pouring on something cold, in order to prevent it from boiling over." 931. all. Used intensively; cf. all-admiring (Henry V, i. 1. 39). 932. saw, saying, what is said. 935. roasted crabs, roasted crab-apples; cf. A Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 1. 47. Malone remarks that the Elizabethans were fond of a peculiar concoction called lamb's wool, made by adding a roasted crab, spices, and sugar to a bowl of ale. And the many references to this concoction show that it must have been inordinately popular with confirmed tipplers in rural England. 940. The words of Mercury, the most eloquent prose; alluding perhaps to Acts, xiv. 12. THE NINE WORTHIES The following is a pageant of the Nine Worthies as copied by Ritson from an original MS. of Edward the Fourth's time (MSS. Tanner, 407), printed by him in his Remarks, Critical and Illustrative, London, 1783, and reprinted by Furness. METRE It is not possible to give a perfectly consistent analysis of the prosody of this play. At the outset, we cannot always be sure whether a passage is meant to be in prose or in verse, especially when the option is apparently between prose and doggerel: thus, ii. 1. 37–38 are printed as prose in Ff and Qq, as verse from Rowe onwards; iv. 2. 29-30, as prose in Ff and Qq, as (doggerel) verse from Hanmer onwards; v. 1. 160-163, as prose in Ff and Qq and in many modern editions, but as verse in the Globe and some other modern editions; v. 2. 724–727, as prose in Ff and Qq, as verse in most modern editions. Further, when one possible verse is distributed amongst many speakers, or divided by change of speaker more than once, it is not always easy to know whether to regard it as prose or verse, or, at all events, whether to take it as one type of verse or another. Finally, where passages are indubitably in metre, it is not always clear what is their precise lineation: thus, iv. 2. 58-63 are printed as twelve lines in Ff and Qq; iii. 1. 178–180 are printed as three lines in Q 1, six in Ff, but even the Folio six do not correspond exactly to the six of the modern editions (see note on the passage). And when one comes to consider the individual verses, one is frequently faced with alternate readings, which, of course, may make differences in the structure and the length of the line (see v. 2. 309, 332, etc.). there are in Of the 1703 1. DISTRIBUTION OF PROSE AND VERSE According to Fleay's table, corrected by Furnivall, all 2789 lines in the play, of which 1086 are in prose. in verse, 579 are in blank verse and the rest in rhyme. in rhyme, some are in couplets and couplet-sequences, some in alternate rhyme, either in a simple succession or enclosed in more elaborate rhyme-structures like quatrains, sestets, and even sonnets. In addition, the rhyming lines vary in integral structure, having iambic, trochaic and anapæstic rhythm, and differing in length 216 from one foot to six, while some of them, being "doggerel,” have no fixed system at all. There does not seem to have been a precise plan in the use of all these prosodaic varieties which would account for their application wherever they occur. But one can more or less clearly differentiate the functions of prose, blank verse, simpler rhyme-schemes, more ornate ones, and doggerel. 2. PROSE 1. Normal Uses. (a) Formal documents: see i. 1. 119-120. (b) Letters: i. 1. 221 ff., iv. 1. 60 ff., the formal address and signature of Biron's letter, iv. 2. 135–136, 139–140, the contents of which, for other reasons, are deliberately in verse. (c) The utterance of the lower characters the page Moth, and the country folk, Dull, Costard, and Jaquenetta; but (1) the Forester, talking to the Princess in dialogue, speaks in verse (iv. 1. 9–10, etc.), and (2) under special circumstances Dull and Costard rise to verse, generally doggerel. (d) The courtly characters when talking to the lower ones: thus (i. 1. 183 ff.) Biron, Longaville, and the King when talking to Costard and Dull use prose, but when the King turns definitely to address Biron, he speaks in verse (i. 1. 307–308); and Biron (iii. 1. 144), merely answering Costard, uses prose, but when explicitly addressing him in command (iii. 1. 152–154), and when mentioning the ladies to him (iii. 1. 165–170), speaks in verse. 2. Specific Uses. (a) As a medium of characterization: (1) Ornate prose in the character of Armado and of Biron at least once (iv. 3. 1-21); (2) heavy prose, typifying Holofernes' pedantry and Nathaniel's inanity. In these cases, however, prose may rise to doggerel verse under certain circumstances. (b) To mark the tone of the play at the opening of a scene or of a conversation, before the tone has attained subtlety or vivacity, as in ii. 1. 89-94, 114–119, 180-185, iv. 3. 1-21. (c) In merely interjectional repartee. 3. VERSE Verse is in general the normal speech of the courtly characters (except in circumstances accounted for above); and in special forms, it is the expression of the other characters under special circumstances. Generally, blank verse, couplets (or alternates), and more elaborate stanza forms are regarded as possessing qualities of expression in ascending degrees of force and spirit. This sequence is in harmony with the general character of the play: the |