35. toward: "coming upon us." 43. purgation : proof, trial," properly a legal term signifying "exculpation." measure : a solemn and stately dance, not unlike a minuet; one in which the chief and gravest dignitaries of the law did not disdain to take a part when revels were celebrated at the Inns of Court. diplomatic.' 44. politic used as we now use : 45. undone three tailors: i.e. ruined them by running up long bills never to be paid. 66 46. like: was like, was likely"; this use has now largely fallen out of polite language. 47. ta'en up : made up." 53 God 'ild you: "God yield you (good luck)." I desire you of the like: "I desire the same of you," i.e. "I am honoured by your good will and hope you will continue to feel it for me.' 54. country copulatives: "country folk who wish to be joined in matrimony. : 55. to swear . . breaks: "to swear, according as marriage binds (me to her alone) and to forswear, according as passion will probably induce me to break my oath." Cp. III. iii. 69-72. Apparently Audrey will have but a poor time of it; still Touchstone may prove better than his word. 58. that... will: this shows that Touchstone is joking, for what about William? rich honesty: "the riches of chastity." 61. swift and sententious: " 'prompt and pithy." 66 62. according to the fool's bolt: (swift) as the fool's bolt (which, says the old proverb, is soon shot)." A bolt was of course an arrow. such dulcet diseases: Johnson altered diseases to discourses; others think diseases means sayings, supposing it to be used capriciously. The sense appears to be that proverbs and fanciful speeches are no proper ornament of talk, but a mere affectation. 66. a lie seven times removed: the seven stages or removals are named below. 66 67. seeming "seemly." did dislike: "said that I disliked." 72. quip: a smart, satirical saying." 66 73. disabled: 66 disparaged." 78. lie circumstantial. direct: Touchstone mockingly says that it took a sharper insult than the countercheck quarrelsome, you lie," or even the lie circumstantial—the terms of which he does not specify-before a courtier of the day held himself in honour bound to meet his man. 83. measured swords: they got as far as the immediate preliminaries of a duel, which had to be fought with swords of equal length. 86 we quarrel . . . book: there were extant and popular in Shakespeare's day several Books setting forth the rules of the duello. Vincentio Saviolo in his Practise of the Rapier and Dagger, 1594, goes deep into the question of what constitutes a challenge not to be evaded. Among other ways of giving the lie he names the Lie Conditional, which corresponds pretty closely to some of 9 A. Y. L. I. Touchstone's definitions. The lie conditional is given, it seems, when a man says or writes to his enemy, e.g., "If thou hast said that I have offered my Lord abuse, thou liest or if thou sayest so hereafter, thou shalt lie." A similar volume entitled The Book of Honor and Arms (1590) cites the following method of getting out of a quarrel the person aggrieved may send to know of his enemy "with what intent you spake those words of injury whereupon I gave you the lie." If the latter answers, "I spake them in choler, or, with no meaning to offend you," the quarrel may be dropped without dishonour. These extracts suffice to show the point of Touchstone's satire. On the modern stage this speech scarcely raises a laugh; but on the Elizabethan, when half the men in the audience must have been out on the field of honour in their time, the humour must have been exquisitely funny. 87. books for good manners: "handbooks of etiquette." 94. justices: judges.' take up: "make up." 97. swore brothers: an allusion to the medieval custom by which two men swore to be brothers, i.e. to be faithful friends and allies, while engaged together upon some expedition or campaign. 101. stalking-horse: Gee, in his New Shreds of the Old Snare, 1624, describes cunning fowlers "that do shoot at woodcocks, snipes, and wild fowl, by sneaking behind a painted cloth which they carry before them, having pictured in it the shape of a horse; which while the silly fowl gazeth on, it is knocked down with shot, and so put in the fowler's budget." Similar allusions occur elsewhere. Sometimes a real horse was used to the same purpose. presentation: "show, semblance." : HYMEN the appearance of Hymen, god of marriage-presumably a forester dressed up for the occasion, since Rosalind is not to be supposed to have any magical powers-forms a kind of brief Masque, such as was very popular in Elizabethan times. From the stage directions left by Ben Jonson in his Hymenaei, it may be supposed that Hymen came in clad in a saffron robe, yellow socks, and a yellow silk veil, with a crown of roses and marjoram on his head, and a pine-torch in his hand. But some deny that Shakespeare was the author of the part spoken by Hymen. Rosalind and Celia are dressed as befits their sex and rank, and Celia has washed off her umber. STILL MUSIC: "soft music," a common accompaniment of the Masque. 105. atone: the verb is used here in an intransitive sense ("agree") corresponding to its original sense of "to set at one, to reconcile." 109. her hand. . . bosom is the Folios have his hand, which some editors take to be a delicate allusion to Ganymede; but it seems better to change his to her. Whose then refers to her, i.e. Rosalind, and the sense is "Give Rosalind to the man in whose bosom her heart is lodged "whom she loves, in fine. 111, 112. The former line is, of course, spoken to the Duke, the latter to Orlando. 125. if truth . . . contents: son). 130. sure: "surely bound.” Audrey, of course. 134. reason: "talk." "if there be truth in truth" (John This is spoken to Touchstone and 136. Juno's crown: Juno, wife of Jove and Queen of Heaven, was the patroness of marriage. 143. even degree: this line does not yield a very clear sense. The obvious meaning is that the Duke assures Rosalind that she is as welcome as Celia, but this is improbable. The simplest interpretation takes these words as addressed to Celia ; the Duke calls her first his niece, but checks himself, and calls her his daughter by adoption, no less welcome than his real daughter. 144. eat my word: "break my promise" to marry Silvius, if Rosalind could induce her to cease to wish to marry Ganymede. 145. thy faith. . . combine: "thy faithfulness binds to thee my love." 151. address'd: "prepared against them." power: "army"; we still say "forces.' which used for "who. : 152. in conduct: "led by him in person." purposely : "purposing." 155. religious man: a hermit, devoted to a life of seclusion and prayer. 156. question: "intercourse, converse. was: "he was." 159. their lands restored: the construction is not quite clear, but it seems most likely that the phrase is participial, and that being is understood (their lands being restored). 161. engage: "pledge.' 66 162. offer'st fairly: bringest fair presents." 164. a land itself at large: not lands-not the limited property of a private person-but the land of a king, because Orlando, wedding Rosalind, will become the heir of the duke. 165. do those ends: " carry to an end those designs," that is the fourfold nuptials. 167. every used here as a pronoun meaning "every one." 168. shrewd : 'sharp, painful." 170. according 66 states that is, each shall receive a reward proportioned to his birth, position, and deserts. 174. with.. joy: "with heaped measure of joy." to... fall : here measure, by a common quibble, signifies a dance; cp. note on V. iv. 43. 175. by your patience: perhaps an apology to the Duke for his interruption. 177. pompous here used in its primary sense, "ceremonious, full of pomp. 179. convertite: "one that hath turned to the faith . . . or hath abandoned a loose to follow a godly-a vicious to lead a virtuous, life" (Cotgrave). 181. bequeath: a curious use of the word. It would be more natural to bequeathe the crown to the Duke than the Duke to the crown. But Jaques evidently uses the expression loosely; he is taking leave of the world for a time to join Duke Frederick in seclusion, and so considers himself to be in the position of one who makes his will before dying. EPILOGUE. Epilogues in verse are introduced by Shakespeare only in All's Well that Ends Well, Henry V., Troilus and Cressida, and The Tempest, and in the two doubtful plays of Henry VIII. and Pericles ; and prose epilogues only in Henry IV. and As You Like It. Popular as epilogues were in his day, it seems that Shakespeare did not much care to use them. The present example turns upon the quaint situation of the actor. Since women's parts were taken by boys, it follows that here it is a boy who has to coquet with the audience in Rosalind's name. 1. it is. prologue: prologues and epilogues were spoken at first by the author, and afterwards by one of the men characters. The heroine, boy or woman, however, gradually usurped this post. 3. good wine. bush a proverbial allusion to the old custom of hanging a wreath of ivy (sacred to Bacchus, god of Wine) over the door of a wineseller's shop. The proverb implies that the fame of good wine will be noised abroad and known without a sign. 7. epilogue: here used in the sense of " person speaking the epilogue"; cp. Midsummer Night's Dream, V. i. 106, "The Prologue is addressed (i.e. ready)-Let him approach. insinuate : "plead, ingratiate myself." 8. furnished: "dressed." 10. conjure "call upon solemnly." : 66 66 12. as please you : as may please you or as (it) may please you (to like). In either case please is subjunctive. 15. if I were a woman: the change whereby women came to act women's parts was gradual and arose from necessity. Jordan puts the facts comically enough "For to speak truth, men act, that are between With bone so large, and nerve so incompliant, These lines appear in a Prologue to "Othello" in 1662, heralding the fact that women would take women's parts. 66 17. complexions that liked me : appearances that I liked." Like is here used with the sense of please. So "if you like" originally meant "if it like you," i.e. "please you." defied: "despised," i.e. disliked. |