It were a delicate stratagem, to shoe Upon the king's saying, I will preach to thee, the poet seems to have meant him to pull off his hat, and keep turning it and feeling it, in the attitude of one of the preachers of those times, (whom I have seen so represented in ancient prints,) till the idea of felt, which the good hat or block was made of, raises the stratagem in his brain of shoeing a troop of horse with a substance soft as that which he held and moulded between his hands. This makes him start from his preachment.-Block anciently signified the head part of the hat, or the thing on which a hat is formed, and sometimes the hat itself.-See Much Ado about Nothing: "He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it changes with the next block." Again, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit at several Weapons: "I am so haunted with this broad-brim'd hat "Of the last progress block, with the young hatband." Again, in The Two Merry Milkmaids, 1620: "my haberdasher has a new block, and will find me and all my generation in beavers," &c. Again, in Decker's Gul's Hornbook, 1609: "—that cannot observe the time of his hatband, nor know what fashioned block is most kin to his head; for in my opinion, the braine that cannot chuse his felt well," &c. Again, in The Seven deadly Sinnes of London, by Decker, 1606: " -The blocke for his head alters faster than the felt maker can fitte him." Again, in Run and a great Cast, an ancient collection of Epigrams, 4to. without date, Epigram 46. In Sextinum : "A pretty blocke Sextinus names his hat; "So much the fitter for his head by that." STEEvens. It were a delicate stratagem, to shoe A troop of horse with felt:] i. e. with flocks kneaded to a mass, a practice I believe sometimes used in former ages, for it is mentioned in Ariosto: "fece nel cadar strepito quanto "Avesse avuto sotto i piedi il feltro." JOHNSON. Shakspeare however might have adopted the stratagem of shoeing a troop of horse with felt, from the following passage in Fenton's Tragicall Discourses, 4to. bl. 1. 1567: "he attyreth himselfe for the purpose in a night-gowne girt to hym, with a paire of shoes of felte, leaste the noyse of his feete shoulde discover his goinge." P. 58. And when I have stolen upon these sons-in-law, Then, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.‘ Enter a Gentleman, with Attendants. GENT. O, here he is; lay hand upon Your most dear daughter him.-Sir, LEAR. No rescue? What, a prisoner? I am even The natural fool of fortune. Use me well ; You shall have ransome. Let me have a surgeon, I am cut to the brains. GENT. You shall have any thing. Again, in Hay any Worke for a Cooper, an ancient pamphlet, no date: "Their adversaries are very eager : the saints in heaven have felt o' their tongues." STEEVENS. This" delicate stratagem" had actually been put in practice about fifty years before Shakspeare was born, as we learn from Lord Herbert's Life of Henry the Eighth, p. 41. " And now," says that historian," having feasted the ladies royally for divers dayes, he [Henry] departed from Tournay to Lisle, [Oct. 13, 1513,] whither he was invited by the lady Margaret, who caused there a juste to be held in an extraordinary manner; the place being a fore-room raised high from the ground by many steps, and paved with black square stones like marble; while the horses, to prevent sliding, were shod with felt or flocks (the Latin words are feltro sive tomento): after which the ladies danced all night." MALone. • Then kill, kill, &c.] This was formerly the word given in the English army, when an onset was made on the enemy. So, in Venus and Adonis: "Gives false alarms, suggesteth mutiny, "And in a peaceful hour doth cry, kill, kill.” Again, in The Mirrour for Magistrates, 1610, p. 315: "For while the Frenchmen fresh assaulted still, "Our Englishmen came boldly forth at night, "Crying St. George, Salisbury, kill, kill, "And offered freshly with their foes to fight." MALONE. The natural fool of fortune.] So, in Romeo and Juliet: "O, I am fortune's fool!" STEEvens. LEAR. No seconds? All myself? GENT. 8 Good sir,1 LEAR. I will die bravely, like a bridegroom: I will be jovial; come, come; I am a king, GENT. You are a royal one, and we obey you. LEAR. Then there's life in it.2 Nay, an you get it, you shall get it by running. Sa, sa, sa, sa. [Exit, running; Attendants follow. GENT. A sight most pitiful in the meanest wretch; Past speaking of in a king!-Thou hast one daugh ter, Who redeems nature from the general curse 8 a man salt,] A man of salt is a man of tears. In All's Well that ends Well, we meet with—“ your salt tears' head ;" and in Troilus and Cressida," the salt of broken tears.". Again, in Coriolanus: "He has betray'd your business, and given up "For certain drops of salt, your city Rome." Malone. Ay, and for laying autumn's dust.] These words are not in the folio. MALONE. For the sake of metre, I have here repeated the prepositionfor, which appears to have been accidentally omitted in the old copies. STEEVENS. 1 Gent. Good sir,] These words I have restored from one of the quartos. In the other, they are omitted. The folio reads: STEEVENS. a smug bridegroom 2 Then there's life in it.] The case is not yet desperate. So, in Antony and Cleopatra: "There's sap in't yet." STEEvens. JOHNSON. EDG. Hail, gentle sir. GENT. Sir, speed you: What's your will? EDG. Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward? GENT. Most sure, and vulgar: every one hears that, Which can distinguish sound. EDG. How near's the other army? But, by your favour, GENT. Near, and on speedy foot; the main descry Stands on the hourly thought.3 GLO. You ever-gentle gods, take my breath from me; Let not my worser spirit tempt me again To die before you please! 3 EDG. Well pray you, father. GLO. Now, good sir, what are you? EDG. A most poor man, made tame by fortune's blows.;5 the main descry, Stands on the hourly thought.] The main body is expected to be descry'd every hour. The expression is harsh. JOHNSON. my worser spirit-] By this expression may be meant-my evil genius. STEEVENS. 4 5 made tame by fortune's blows;] So, in Much Ado about Nothing: 66 Taming my wild heart to thy gentle hand." The quartos read: 66 -made lame by fortune's blows." STEEVENS. 6 Who, by the art of known and feeling sorrows, Am pregnant to good pity. Give me your hand, I'll lead you to some biding. GLO. Hearty thanks: Enter Steward. STEW. A proclaim'd prize! Most happy! That eyeless head of thine was first fram'd flesh To raise my fortunes.-Thou old unhappy traitor, Briefly thyself remember :-The sword is out That must destroy thee. GLO. Now let thy friendly hand Put strength enough to it. STEW. Wherefore, bold peasant, Dar'st thou support a publish'd traitor? Hence; The folio has-made tame to fortune's blows. I believe the original is here, as in many other places, the true reading. So, in our poet's 37th Sonnet: "So I, made lame by fortune's dearest spight,—. MALONE. 6 Who, by the art of known and feeling sorrows,] i. e. Sorrows past and present. WARBurton. “Haud ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco." I doubt whether feeling is not used, with our poet's usual licence, for felt. Sorrows known, not by relation, but by experience. Malone. 7 Briefly thyself remember:] i. e. Quickly recollect the past offences of thy life, and recommend thyself to heaven. So Othello says to Desdemona : "If you bethink yourself of any crime, WARBURTON. |