Online Book Reader

Home Category

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [2477]

By Root 21194 0
him, read, natures. Slippery is smooth, unresisting.

I.i.58 (276,1) glass-fac'd flatterer] That shows in his own look, as by reflection, the looks of his patron.

I.i.65 (277,3) rank'd with all deserts] Cover'd with ranks of all kinds of men.

I.i.67 (277,4) To propagate their states] To advance or improve their various conditions of life.

I.i.72 (277,5) conceiv'd to scope] Properly imagined, appositely, to the purpose.

I.i.82 (278,8) through him/Drink the free air] That is, catch his breath in affected fondness.

I.i.90 (278,9) A thousand moral paintings I can shew] Shakespeare seems to intend in this dialogue to express some competition between the two great arts of imitation. Whatever the poet declares himself to have shewn, the painter thinks he could have shewn better. (1773)

I.i.107 (279,1) 'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,/But to support him after] This thought is better expressed by Dr. Madden in his elegy on archbishop Boulter.

—He thought it mean

Only to help the poor to beg again.

I.i.129 (280,2) Therefore he will be, Timon] I rather think an emendation necessary, and read,

Therefore well be him, Timon.

His honesty rewards him in itself.

That is, If he in honest, bene fit illi, I wish him the proper happiness of an honest man, but his honesty gives him no claim to my daughter.

The first transcriber probably wrote will be him, which the next, not understanding, changed to, he will be. (1773)

I.i.149 (281,3)

never may

That state, or fortune, fall into my keeping,

Which is not ow'd to you!]

The meaning is, let me never henceforth consider any thing that I possess, but as owed or due to you; held for your service, and at your disposal.

I.i.159 (281,4) pencil'd figures are/Even such as they give out] Pictures have no hypocrisy; they are what they profess to be.

I.i.165 (282,5) unclew me quite] To unclew, is to unwind a ball of thread. To unclew a man, is to draw out the whole mass of his fortunes.

I.i.171 (282,5) Are prized by their masters] Are rated according to the, esteem in which their possessor is held.

I.i.178 (282,8)

Tim. Good-morrow to thee, gentle Apemantua!

Apam. 'Till I be gentle, stay for thy good-morrow.

When thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves honest,—]

[Warburton conjectured a line lost and added one of his own making] I think my punctuation may clear the passage without any greater effort.

I.i.180 (283,9) Then thou art Timon's dog] When thou hast gotten a better character, and instead of being Timon, as thou art, shalt be changed to Timon's dog, and become more worth; of kindness and salutation. (1773)

I.i.241 (284,9) That I had no angry wit to be a lord] [W: so hungry a wit] The meaning may be, I should hate myself for patiently enduring to be a lord. This is ill enough expressed. Perhaps some happy change may set it right. I have tried, and can do nothing, yet I cannot heartily concur with Dr. Warburton.

I.i.259 (286,2) The strain of man's bred out/Into baboon and monkey] Man is exhausted and degenerated; his strain or lineage is worn down into monkey.

I.ii.12 (288,5)

If our betters play at that game, we must not dare

To imitate them. Faults that are rich, are fair]

[Warburton gave the second line to Apemantus] I cannot see that these lines are more proper in any other mouth than Timon's, to whose character of generosity and condescension they are very suitable. To suppose that by our betters are meant the Gods, is very harsh, because to imitate the Gods has been hitherto reckoned the highest pitch of human virtue. The whole is a trite and obvious thought, uttered by Timon with a kind of affected modesty. If I would make any alteration, it should be only to reform the numbers thus:

Our betters play that game; we must not dare

T' imitate then; faults that are rich are fair.

I.ii.34 (289,6) thou art an Athenian,/Therefore welcome: I myself would have no power] If this be the true reading, the sense is, all Athenians are welcome to share my fortune; I would myself have no exclusive right or power in this house. Perhaps we might read, I myself would have no poor.

Return Main Page Previous Page Next Page

®Online Book Reader