I.i.1 (3,2) [In delivering my son from me] [W: dissevering] Of this
change I see no need: the present reading is clear, and, perhaps,
as proper as that which the great commentator would substitute;
for the king _dissevers_ her son from her, she only _delivers_ him.
I.i.5 (4,3) [to whom I am now in ward] Under his particular care, as
my guardian, till I come to age. It is now almost forgotten in
England that the heirs of great fortunes were the king's _wards_.
Whether the same practice prevailed in France, it is of no great
use to enquire, for Shakespeare gives to all nations the manners
of England.
I. i.19 (4,5) [This young gentlewoman had a father, (O, that _had_!
how sad a passage 'tis!)] [W: presage 'tis] This emendation is
ingenious, perhaps preferable to the present reading, yet since
_passage_ may be fairly enough explained, I have left it in the
text. _Passage_ is _anything that passes_, so we now say, a _passage_
of an _authour_. and we said about a century ago, the _passages_ of a
_reign_. When the _countess_ mentions Helena's loss of a father, she
recollects her own loss of a husband, and stops to observe how
heavily that word _had_ passes through her mind.
I.i.48 (6,6) [for where an unclean mind carries virtuous qualities,
there commendations go with pity, they are virtues and traitors
too; in her they are the better for their simpleness; she derives
her honesty, and atchieves her goodness] [W: her simpleness] This
is likewise a plausible but unnecessary alteration. _Her virtues
are the better for their simpleness_, that is, her excellencies are
the better because they are artless and open, without fraud, without
design. The learned commentator has well explained _virtues_.
but has not, I think, reached the force of the word _traitors_, and
therefore has not shown the full extent of Shakespeare's masterly
observation. _Virtues in an unclean mind are virtues and traitors
too_. Estimable and useful qualities, joined with evil disposition,
give that evil disposition power over others, who, by admiring the
virtue, are betrayed to the malevolence. The _Tatler_ mentioning
the sharpers of his time, observes, that some of them are men of
such elegance and knowledge, that _a young man who falls into their
way is_ betrayed _as much by his judgment as his passions_.
I.i.86 (7,8) [If the living be enemy to the grief, the excess makes
it soon mortal] [W: be not enemy] This emendation I had once admitted
into the text, but restored the old reading, because I
think it capable of an easy explication. _Lafeu_ says, _excessive
grief is the enemy of the living_: the countess replies, _If the
living be an enemy to grief, the excess soon makes it mortal_:
that is, _if the living do not indulge grief, grief destroys itself
by its own excess_. By the word _mortal_ I understand _that which
dies_, and Dr. Warburton, _that which destroys_. I think that my
interpretation gives a sentence more acute and more refined. Let
the reader judge.
I.i.78 (8,9) [That thee may furnish] That may help thee with more
and better qualifications.
I.i.84 (8,1) [The best wishes that can beforg'd in your thoughts, be
servants to you!] That is, may you be mistress of your wishes, and
have power to bring then to effect.
I.i.91 (8,2) [And these great tears grace his remembrance more] The
tears which the king and countess shed for him.
I.i.99 (8,3) [In his bright radiance and collateral light
Must I be comforted, not in his sphere] I cannot be united with him
and move in the same _sphere_, but _must be comforted_ at a distance
by the _radiance_ that shoots _on all sides_ from him.
I.i.107 (9,4) [Of every line and trick of his sweet favour!] So in
King John; _he hath a_ trick _of Coeur de Lion's face. Trick_ seen
to be some peculiarity of look or feature.
I.i.122 (9,6) [you have some stain of soldier in you] [W: _"Stain_ for
colour."] _Stain_ rather for what we now say _tincture_, some
qualities, at least superficial, of a soldier. (1773)
I.i.150 (10,8) [He, that hangs himself, is a virgin] [W: As he...so
is] I believe most readers Will spare both the emendations, which
I do not think much worth a claim or a contest. The old reading
is more spritely and equally just.
I.i.165 (11,1) [Marry, ill, to like him that ne'er it likes] Parolles,
in answer to the question, _how one shall lose virginity to her own
liking?_ plays upon the word _liking_, and says, _she must do ill, for_
virginity, to be so lost, _must like him that likes not_ virginity.
I.i.178-191 (12,5) [Not my virginity yet] This whole speech is abrupt,
unconnected, and obscure. Dr. Warburton thinks much of it suppofititious.
I would be glad to think so of the whole, for a commentator
naturally wishes to reject what he cannot understand. Something,
which should connect Helena's words with those of Parolles,
seems to be wanting. Hammer has made a fair attempt by reading,
_Not my virginity yet_--You're for the court,
_There shall your master_, &c.
Some such clause has, I think, dropped out, but still the first
words want connection. Perhaps Parolles, going away after his
harangue, said, _will you any thing with me_? to which Helen may
reply--I know not what to do with the passage.
I.i.184 (13,7) [a traitress] It seems that traitress was in that age
a term of endearment, for when Lafeu introduces Helena to the king,
he says, _You like a_ traytor, _but such_ traytors _his majesty does
not much fear_.
I.i.199 (14,8) [And shew what we alone must think] And _shew_ by realities
what we now _must only think_.
I.i.218 (14,9) [is a virtue of a good wing, and I like the wear well]
[W: good ming] This conjecture I could wish to see better proved.
This _common_ word _ming_ I have never found. The first edition of
this play exhibits wing without a capital: yet, I confess, that
a _virtue of good wing_ is an expression that I cannot understand,
unless by a metaphor taken from falconry, it may mean, _a virtue
that will fly high_, and in the stile of Hotspur, _Pluck honour from
the moon_.
I.i.235 (15,1) [What power is it, which mounts my love so high;
That makes me see, and cannot feed mine eye?]
She means, by what influence is my love directed to a person so
much above me. [why am I made to discern excellence, sad left to
long after it, without the food of hope.]