The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [2471]
III.x.11 (193,7) Whom leprosy o'ertake!] Leprosy, an epidemical distemper of the Aegyptians; to which Horace probably alludes in the controverted line.
Contaminato cum grege turpium
Morbo virorum.
III.x.36 (195,1) The wounded chance of Antony] I know not whether the author, who loves to draw his images from the sports of the field, might not have written,
The wounded chase of Antony,—
The allusion is to a deer wounded and chased, whom all other deer avoid. I will, says Enobarbus, follow Antony, though chased and wounded.
The common reading, however, may very well stand.
III.xi.3 (195,2) so lated in the world] Alluding to a benighted traveller.
III.xi.23 (196,3) I have lost command] I am not master of my own emotions.
III.xi.35 (196,4) He at Philippi kept/His sword e'en like a dancer] In the Moriaco, and perhaps anciently in the Pyrrhick dance, the dancers held swords in their hands with the points upward.
III.xi.39 (196,6) he alone/Dealt on lieutenantry] I know not whether the meaning is, that Caesar acted only as lieutenant at Philippi, or that he made his attempts only on lieutenants, and left the generals to Antony.
III.xi.47 (197,7) death will seize her; but/Your comfort] But has here, as once before in this play, the force of except, or unless.
III.ii.52 (197,8) How I convey my shame] How, by looking another way, I withdraw my ignominy from your sight.
III.ii.57 (197,9) ty'd by the strings] That is by the heart string.
III.xii.18 (199,1) The circle of the Ptolemies] The diadem; the ensign of royalty.
III.xii.34 (199,2) how Antony becomes his flaw] That is, how Antony conforms himself to this breach of his fortune.
III.xiii.1 (200,3) Think, and die] [Hanmer: Drink] This reading, offered by sir T. Hanmer, is received by Dr. Warburton and Mr. Upton, but I have not advanced it into the page, not being convinced that it is necessary. Think, and die; that is, Reflect on your folly, and leave the world, is a natural answer.
III.xiii.9 (201,4) he being/The meered question] The meered question is a term I do not understand. I know not what to offer, except,
The mooted question.—
That is, the disputed point, the subject of debate. Mere is indeed a boundary, and the meered question, if it can mean any thing, may, with some violence of language, mean, the disputed boundary.
III.xiii.25 (202, 5)
I dare him therefore
To lay his gay comparisons apart
And answer me declin'd]
I require of Caesar not to depend on that superiority which the comparison of our different fortunes may exhibit to him, but to answer me man to man, in this decline of my age or power.
III.xiii.42 (202,6) The loyalty, well held to fools, does make/Our faith meer folly] [T: Though loyalty, well held] I have preserved the old reading: Enobarbus is deliberating upon desertion, and finding it is more prudent to forsake a fool, and more reputable to be faithful to him, makes no positive conclusion. Sir T. Hanmer follows Theobald; Dr. Warburton retains the old reading.
III.xiii.77 (204,9) Tell him, from his all-obeying breath I hear/The doom of Aegypt] Doom is declared rather by an all-commanding, than an all-obeying breath. I suppose we ought to read,
—all-obeyed breath.
III.xiii.81 (205,1) Give me grace] Grant me the favour.
III.xiii.109 (206,3) By one that looks on feeders?] One that waits at the table while others are eating.
III.xiii.128 (207,4) The horned herd] It is not without pity and indignation that the reader of this great poet meets so often with this low jest, which is too much a favourite to be left out of either mirth or fury.
III.xiii.151 (208,5) to quit me] To repay me this insult; to requite me.
III.xiii.180 (209,9) Were nice and lucky] [Nice, for delicate, courtly, flowing in peace. WARBURTON.] Nice rather seems to be, just fit for my purpose, agreeable to my wish. So we vulgarly say of any thing that is done better than was expected,