[The air hath starv'd the roses in her cheeks,
And pinch'd the lily-tincture of her face.
That now she is become as black as I]
[W: And pitch'd] This is no emendation; none ever heard of a face
being _pitched_ by the weather. The colour of a part _pinched_, is
livid, as it is commonly termed, _black and blue_. The weather may
therefore be justly said to _pinch_ when it produces the same
visible effect. I believe this is the reason why the cold is
said to _pinch_.
IV.iv.198 (179,2) [her forehead's low] A high forehead was in our
author's time accounted a feature eminently beautiful. So in
_The History of Guy of Warwick_, Felice his lady is said to have
_the same high forehead as Venus_.
IV.iv.206 (179,3) [My substance should be statue in thy stead] [W:
statued] _Statued_ is, I am afraid, a new word, and that it should
be received, is not quite evident.
V.i.12 (180,4) [sure enough] _Sure_ is safe, out of danger.
V.iv.71 (185,1) [The private wound is deepest. Oh time, most curst!]
I have a little mended the measure. The old edition, and all but
Sir T. Hammer, read,
_The private wound is deepest_, _oh time most_ accurst.
V.iv.106 (187,4) [if shame live In a disguise of love] That is, _if
it be any shame to wear a disguise for the purposes of love_.
V.iv.126 (187,5) [Come not within the measure of my wrath] The
length of my sword, the reach of my anger.
General Observation (189,8) In this play there is a strange mixture
of knowledge and ignorance, of care and negligence. The versification
is often excellent, the allusions are learned and just;
but the author conveys his heroes by sea from one inland town to
another in the same country; he places the emperor at Milan, and
sends his young men to attend him, but never mentions him more;
he makes Protheus, after an interview with Silvia, say he has
only seen her picture; and, if we may credit the old copies, he
has, by mistaking places, left his scenery inextricable. The
reason of all this confusion seems to be, that he took his story
from a novel, which he sometimes followed, and sometimes forsook,
sometimes remembered, and sometimes forgot.
That this play is rightly attributed to Shakespeare, I have
little doubt. If it be taken from him, to whom shall it be
given? This question may be asked of all the disputed plays,
except _Titus Andronicus_; and it will be found more credible, that
Shakespeare might sometimes sink below his highest flights, than
that any other should rise up to his lowest. (see 1765, I,259,5)