As venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver, Thou great, and wise,-to hear Ulysses speak. Agam. Speak, prince of Ithaca; and be't of less expect2 That matter needless, of importless burden, Ulyss. Troy, yet upon his basis, had been down, And the great Hector's sword had lack'd a master, But for these instances. The specialty of rule3 hath been neglected: Observe degree, priority, and place, 1 How much the commentators have perplexed them selves and their readers about the following passage! -speeches,-which were such, As Agamemnon and the hand of Greece knit all the Greekish ears To his experienced tongue.' Ulysses evidently means to say that Agamemnon's speech should be writ in brass; and that venerable Nestor, with his silver hairs, by his speech should rivet the attention of all Greece. The phrase hatch'd in silver, which has been the stumbling-block, is a simile borrowed from the art of design; to hatch being to fill a design with a number of consecutive fine lines; and to hatch in silver was a design inlaid with lines of silver, a process often used for the hilts of swords, handles of dag. gers, and stocks of pistols. The lines of the graver on a plate of metal are still called hatchings. Hence hatch'd in silver, for silver-haired or gray-haired. Thus in Love in a Maze, 1632:- 'Thy hair is fine as gold, thy chin is hatch'd 2 Expect for expectation. Strength should be lord of imbecility, So doubly seconded with will and power, And this neglection of degree it is, And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot, Nest. Most wisely hath Ulysses here discover'd The fever whereof all our power' is sick. Agam. The nature of the sickness found, Ulysses, What is the remedy? Ulyss, The great Achilles,-whom opinion crowns And with ridiculous and awkward action 10 14 Verbal eulogium. In Macbeth called mouth honour. 15 Supreme, sovereign. "And topless honours he bestow'd on thee.' Blind Beggar of Alexandria, 1598. 16 Malone's sagacious note informs us that 'the galle. ries of the theatre were sometimes called the scaffolds.' This may be very true, but what has it to do with the 3 The particular rights of supreme authority 41. e. this globe. According to the system of Ptolemy, present passage? The scaffoldage here is the floor of the earth is the centre round which the planets move. the stage, the wooden dialogue is between the player's foot the boards. A scaffold more frequently meant the stage itself than the gallery: Thus Baret, A scaf. fold or stage where to behold plays. Spectaculum, 17 i. e. overstrained, wrested beyond true semblance 18 i. e. unsuited, unfitted. 5 The apparent irregular motions of the planets were supposed to portend some disasters to mankind: indeed the planets themselves were not thought formerly to be confined in any fixed orbits of their own, but to wander about ad libitum, as the etymology of their name demonstrates theatrum.' Now play me Nestor ;-hem, and stroke thy beard, That's done ;-as near as the extremest ends And then, forsooth, the faint defects of age Nest. And in the imitation of these twain, (A slave, whose gall coins slanders like a mint,) Which is that god in office, guiding men? Ulyss. They tax our policy, and call it cowardice; Count wisdom as no member of the war ; Forestall prescience, and esteem no act But that of hand: the still and mental parts,That do contrive how many hands shall strike, When fitness calls them on: and know, by measure Of their observant toil, the enemies' weight,Why, this hath not a finger's dignity: They call this-bed-work, mappery, closet-war; So that the ram, that batters down the wall, For the great swing and rudeness of his poise, They place before his hand that made the engine; Or those, that with the fineness of their souls By reason guide his execution. Nest. Let this be granted, and Achilles' horse Makes many Thetis' sons. [Trumpet sounds. Agam. What trumpet?" look, Menelaus. Enter ENEAS. 5 How rank soever rounded in with danger. strongly soever encompassed by danger. So in Henry V. : See How King How dread an army hath enrounded him.' But this thy countenance, still lock'd in steel, Ene. Courtiers as free, as debonair, unarm'd, As bending angels; that's their fame in peace: But when they would seem soldiers, they have galls, Good arms, strong joints, true swords: and, Jove's accord: Nothing so full of heart." But peace, Eneas, Agam. Sir, you of Troy, call you yourself Æneas?, from Troy. Ene. Nor I from Troy come not to whisper him: I bring a trumpet to awake his ear; To set his sense on the attentive bent,.. And then to speak. Agam. Speak frankly as the wind; It is not Agamemnon's sleeping hour: That thou shalt know, Trojan, he is awake, He tells thee so himself. Ene. We have, great Agamemnon, here in Troy, 7 Malone and Steevens see difficulties in this pas sage; the former proposed to read Jove's a god,' the latter, Love's a lord. There is no point after the word accord in the quarto copy, which reads 'great Jove's accord.' Theobald's interpretation of the pas sage is, I think, nearly correct: They have galls, good arms, &c. and Jove's consent:-Nothing is so full of heart as they. I have placed a colon at accord, by which the sense is rendered clearer. 8 So Jaques, in As You Like It;- Withal, as large a charter as the wind, 9 Of this long truce there has been no notice taken; in this very act it is said, that' Ajax coped Hector yes terday in the battle. Shakspeare found in the seventh chapter of the third book of The Destruction of Troy, that a truce was agreed on, at the desire of the Trojans, for six months. made with idle vows 10 Confession for profession, to the lips of her whom he loves. If any come, Hector shall honour him; Nest. Tell him of Nestor, one that was a man Agam. Fair lord Eneas, let me touch your hand; [Exeunt all but ULYSSES and NESTOR. Ulyss. Nestor, Nest. What says Ulysses? Ulyss. I have a young conception in my brain, Ulyss. This 'tis: Blunt wedges rive hard knots: The seeded pride In rank Achilles, must or now be cropp'd, Or, shedding, breed a nursery of like evil, To overbulk us all. Nest. Well, and how? It is most meet; Whom may you else oppose, For here the Trojans taste our dear'st repute Of things to come at large. It is suppos'd, Ulyss. Nest. I see them not with my old eyes; what are Ulyss. What glory our Achilles shares from Hector Were he not proud we all should share with him? But he already is too insolent; And we were better parch in Áfric sun, Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes, Ulyss. This challenge that the gallant Hector And, by device, let blockish Ajax draw sends, However it is spread in general name, Relates in purpose only to Achilles. The sort to fight with Hector: Among ourselves, For that will physic the great Myrmidon, Nest. The purpose is perspicuous even as sub- Who broils in loud applause; and make him fall stance, 1 Steevens remarks that this is the language of romance. Such a challenge would have better suited Palmerin or Amadis, than Hector or Eneas. 2 An armour for the arm. Avant bras. Milton uses the word in Samson Agonistes, and Heywood in his Iron Age, 1632: peruse his armour, The dint's still in the vantbrace." 3 Be you to my present purpose what time is in respect of all other schemes, viz. a ripener and bringer of them to maturity. 4 Thus in the Rape of Lucrece : 'How will thy shame be seeded in thine age, When thus thy vices bud before thy spring 5 The intent is as plain and palpable as substance, and it is to be collected from small circumstances, as a gross body is made up of many small parts.' This is the Scope of Warburton's explanation, to which I incline. Steevens says that substance is estate, the value of which is ascertained by the use of small characters, i. e. numerals: grossness is the gross sum.' 6 Make no difficulty, no doubt, when this duel comes to be proclaimed, but that Achilles, dull as he is, will discover the drift of it. Thus in a subsequent scene Ulysses says: I do not strain at the position, His crest, that prouder than blue Iris bends. That we have better men. But, hit or miss, Now I begin to relish thy advice: 'When 7 A scantling is a measure, a proportion. The lustre of the better, yet to show But as the quarto copy of the play is generally more 10 Opinion for estimation or reputation. See King Henry IV. Part I. Act v. Sc. iv. The word occurs be fore in this scene, in the same sense :— "Yet in the trial much opinion dwells.' 12 Shakspeare, misled by The Destruction of Troy, To Agamemnon: go we to him straight. Ajax. You dog! Ther. You scurvy lord! Ajax. You cur! [Beating him ACT II.2 [Exeunt. Ther. Then would come some matter from him; I see none now. Ajax. Thou bitch-wos son,canst thou not hear? Feel, then. [Strikes him. Ther. The plague of Greece upon thee, thou mongrel beef-witted lord !4 Ajar. Speak, then, thou unsalted leaven, speak! I will beat thee into handsomeness. Ther. I shall sooner rail thee into wit and holiness: but, I think, thy horse will sooner con an oration, than thou learn a prayer without book. Thou canst strike, canst thou? a red murrain o' thy jade's tricks! Ajax. Toads-stool, learn me the proclamation. Ther. Dost thou think, I have no sense, thou strikest me thus? Ajar. The proclamation, Ther. Thou art proclaimed a fool, I think. Ajax. Do not, porcupine, do not; my fingers itch. Ther. I would, thou didst itch from head to foot, and I had the scratching of thee; I would make thee the loathsomest scab in Greece. When thou art forth in the incursions, thou strikest as slow as another. Ajax. I say, the proclamation, Ther. Thou grumblest and railest every hour on Achilles; and thou art as full of envy at his greatness, as Cerberus is at Proserpina's beauty, ay, that thou barkest at him. Ajax. Mistress Thersites ! Ther. Thou shouldst strike him. Ajax. Cobloaf!" Ther. He would pun thee into shivers with his fist, as a sailor breaks a biscuit. Ajax. You whoreson cur! Ther. Do, do. [Beating him. Ajax. Thou stool for a witch! Ther. Ay, do, do; thou sodden-witted lord! thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows: an assinico may tutor thee: Thou scurvy-valiant ass! thou art here put to thrash Trojans; and thou art bought and sold among those of any wit, like a Barbarian slave. If thou use to beat me, I will begin at thy heel, and tell what thou art by inches, thou thing of no bowels, thou! 1 i. e. urge, stimulate, or set the mastiffs on. King John, Act iv. Sc. 1. See 2 This play is not divided into acts in any of the ori. ginal editions. Ther. Mars his idiot! do, rudeness; do, camel; do, do. Enter ACHILLES and PATROCLUS. Achil. Why, how now, Ajax? wherefore do you thus? How now, Thersites? what's the matter, man? Achil. Ay; what's the matter? Achil. So I do; What's the matter? Ther. But yet you look not well upon him: for whosoever you take him to be, he is Ajax. Achil. I know that, fool. Ther. Ay, but that fool knows not himself. Ther. Lo, lo, lo, lo, what modicums of wit he utters! his evasions have cars thus long. I have bobbed his brain, more than he has beat my bones; I will buy nine sparrows for a penny, and his pia mater is not worth the ninth part of a sparrow. This, lord Achilles, Ajax,-who wears his wit in his belly, and his guts in his head,-I'll tell you what I say of him. Ther. I would have peace and quietness, but the fool will not he there; that he; look there Ajax. O thou damned cur! I shallAchil. Will you set your wit to a fool's? Ther. No, I warrant you: for a fool's will shame it. Patr. Good words, Thersites. Achil. What's the quarrel? Ajax. I bade the vile owl, go learn me the tenor of the proclamation, and he rails upon me. Ther. I serve thee not. Ajax. Well, go to, go to. Ther. I serve here voluntary. 12 Achil. Your last service was sufferance, 'twas not voluntary; no man is beaten voluntary; Ajax was here the voluntary, and you as under an impress. Ther. Even so?-a great deal of your wit too lies in your sinews, or else there be liars. Hector shall have a great catch, if he knock out either of your brains; 'a were as good crack a fusty nut with no kernel. Achil. What, with me too, Thersites ? Ther. There's Ulysses, and old Nestor,-whose wit was mouldy ere your grandsires had nails on his mistress knock with her foot to call up her attendant, he said, 'Hark! madam is punning. 9 The commentators changed this word to asinego, and then erroneously affirm it to be Portuguese. It s 3 Alluding to the plague sent by Apollo on the Gre-evidently from the Spanish asnico, a young or little ass; cian army. 4 He calls Ajax mongrel, on account of his father being a Grecian and his mother a Trojan. Sir Andrew Aguecheck says, in Twelfth Night, I am a great eater of beef, and I believe that does harm to my wit. 5 The folio has thou whinid'st leaven, a corruption undoubtedly of vinew'dst or vinniedst, i. e. mouldy leaven. Thou unsalted leaven, is as much as to say, "thou foolish lump.' 6 In The Tempest, Caliban says, 'The red plague rid you.' 7 Cobloaf is perhaps equivalent to ill shapen lump. Minsheu says, a cob-loaf is a little loaf made with a round head, such as cob irons which support the fire. 8 i. e. pound; still in use provincially. It is related of a Staffordshire servant of Miss Seward, that hearing] a word indeed entirely similar in sound, and seems to have been adopted into our language to signify a silly ass, a stupid fellow. The Italians and French have several kindred terms with the same meaning. Shak. speare may have used the word for an ass driver, confounding it with asinaccio or asinaio; like the French gros-asnier, used to denote the most gross stupidity or folly. 10 1. e. if you accustom yourself, or make it a prac tice to beat me.' 11 See vol. i. p. 104. 12 Voluntarily. Another instance of an adjective used adverbially. 13 The same thought occurs in Cymbeline:-Not Hercules Could have knock'd out his brains, for he had none.' their toes,-yoke you like draught oxen, and make | As fears and reasons? fye, for godly shame! you plough up the wars. Achil. What, what? Ther. Yes, good sooth; To, Achilles! to, Ajax! to! Ther. "Tis no matter; I shall speak as much as thou, afterwards. Patr. No more words, Thersites; peace. Ther. I will hold my peace when Achilles' brach' bids me, shall I ? Achil. There's for you, Patroclus. Ther. I will see you hanged, like clotpoles, ere I come any more to your tents; I will keep where there is wit stirring, and leave the faction of fools. [Exit. Patr. A good riddance. our host: That Hector, by the first hour of the sun, Ajar. O, meaning you :-I'll go learn more of it. Pri. After so many hours, lives, speeches spent, Shall be struck off:-Hector, what say you to't? As far as toucheth my particular, yet, There is no lady of more softer bowels, Tro. 1 Both the old copies read brooch, which may be right; for we find monile and bulla in the dictionaries interpreted a bosse, an hart; a brooch, or jewell of a round compasse to hang about ones neck. It has been observed that Thersites afterwards calls Patroclus Achilles's male harlot, and his masculine whore. The term brach was suggested by Rowe, and which later editors have continued in the text, has been already explained, it is a mannerly name for all hound-bitches.' 2 Who knows what ill consequences may follow from pursuing this or that course? 3 Disme is properly tenths or tythes, but dismes is here used for tens. 4 i. e. that greatness to which no measure bears any proportion. 5 i. e. consideration, regard to consequences. Hel. No marvel, though you bite so sharp at You know, an enemy intends you harm; thoughts With this cramm'd reason: reason and respect' Hect. Brother, she is not worth what she doth cost Tro. What is aught, but as 'tis valued? Tro. I take to-day a wife, and my election ness Wrinkles Apollo's, and makes pale the morning. If you'll avouch, 'twas wisdom Paris went, 7 i. e. under the guidance of my will. 9 That is, into a common voider. It is well known that sieves and half sieves are baskets, to be met with in every quarter of Covent Garden: and baskets lined with tin are still employed as voiders. In the former of these senses sieve is used in The Wits, by Sir W. Da-apple-wives venant That wrangle for a sieve.' Dr. Farmer says, that in some counties the baskets used for carrying out dirt, &c. are called sieves. The folio copy reads by mistake unrespective same.' 10 Priam's sister, Hesione. 6 The will dotes that attributes or gives the quali-11 Fortune was never so unjust and mutable as to rate ties which it affects that first causes excellence, and then admires it. The folio reads inclinable, the quarto attributive. a thing on one day above all price, and on the next to set no estimation whatsoever upon it. You are doing what Fortune, inconstant as she is, never did |