O most false love!
Where be the sacred vials thou shouldst fill
With sorrowful water?]
Alluding to the lachrymatory vials, or bottles of tears, which the
Romans sometimes put into the urn of a friend.
I.iii.77 (125,6) the tears/Belong to Egypt] To me, the queen of Egypt.
I.iii.90 (126,7) Oh, ny oblivion is a very Antony,/And I am all
forgotten] [The plain meaning is, _My forgetfulness makes me forget
myself_. WARBURTON.] [Hanmer explained "all forgotten" as "apt to forget
everything"] I cannot understand the learned critic's explanation. It
appears to me, that she should rather have said,
_O my_ remembrance _is a very_ Antony,
_And I am all forgotten._
It was her memory, not her oblivion, that, like Antony, vas forgetting
and deserting her. I think a slight change will restore the passage. The
queen, having something to say, which she is not able, or would not seem
able to recollect, cries out,
_O my oblivion_!--'Tis _a very Antony_.
The thought of which I was in quest is a very Antony, is treacherous and
fugitive, and has irrevocably left me,
_And I am all forgotten._
If this reading stand, I think the explanation of Hanmer must be
received, (see 1765, VII, 122, 6)
I.iv.3 (127,9) One great competitor] Perhaps, _Our_ great competitor.
I.iv.12 (128,1) as the spots of heaven,/More fiery by night's blackness]
If by spots are meant stars, as night has no other fiery spots, the
comparison is forced and harsh, stars having been always supposed to
beautify the night; nor do I comprehend what there is in the
counter-part of this simile, which answers to night's blackness. Hanmer
reads,
--_spots_ on ermine
Or fires, _by night's blackness_.
I.iv.14 (128,2) purchas'd] Procured by his own fault or endeavour.
I.iv.21 (128,3) say, this becomes him, (As his composure must be rare,
indeed, Whom these things cannot blemish] This seems inconsequent. I
read
_And his composure_, &c.
_Grant that this becomes him_, and _if it can become him, he must
have in him something very uncommon_; yet, _&c._
I.iv.25 (128,4) So great weight in his lightness] The word _light_ it
one of Shakespeare's favourite play-things. The sense is, His trifling
levity throws so much burden upon us.