"I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;
I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seen
Our means _secure_ us; and our mere defects
Prove our commodities."
Does not Shakspeare here use _secure_ as a verb, in the sense "to make
careless?" If so, the passage would mean, "Our means," that is, our power,
our strength, make us wanting in care and vigilance, and too
self-confident. Gloucester says, "I stumbled when I saw;" meaning, When I
had eyes I walked carelessly; when I had the "means" of seeing and avoiding
stumbling-blocks, I stumbled and fell, because I walked without care and
watchfulness. Then he adds, "And our mere defects prove our commodities."
Our deficiencies, our weaknesses (the sense of them), make us use such care
and exertions as to prove advantages to us. Thus the antithesis is
preserved.
How scriptural is the first part of the passage!
"Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."--1 Cor. x.
12.
"He hath said in his heart, Tush, I shall never be cast down; there
shall no harm happen unto me."--Ps. x. 6.
The second part is also scriptural:
"My strength is made perfect in weakness."--2 Cor. xii. 9.
"When I am weak then am I strong."--2 Cor. xii. 10.
In _Timon of Athens_ we find _secure_ used as verb "_Secure_ thy
heart."--Act II. Sc. 2.
Again, in _Othello_:
"I do not so _secure_ me in the error."--Act I. Sc. 3.
In Du Cange's _Gloss._ is the verb "_Securare_ nude pro securum reddere."
In the "Alter Index sive Glossarium" of Ainsworth's _Dictionary_ is the
verb "_Securo_, as ... to live carelessly." In the "Verba partim Graeca
Latine scripta, partim barbara," &c., is "_Securo_, as securum reddo."
The _means_ of the hare in the fable for the race (that is, her swiftness)
_secured_ her; the defects of the tortoise (her slowness) proved her
_commodity_.