Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

No night is now with hymn, or carol bleft: -
Therefore, the moon, the governefs of floods,

Pale

never dye; the inferior agents must neceffarily be fuppofed to enjoy the fame privilege; and the ingenious commentator may rely upon it, that the oldeft woman in England never heard of the death of a Fairy. Human mortals is, notwithstanding, evidently put in oppofition to fairies who partook of a middle nature between men and fpirits." It is a misfortune as well to the commentators, as to the readers of Shakspeare, that fo much of their time is obliged to be employed in explaining and contradicting unfounded conjectures and affertions. Spenfer, in his Faery Queen, b. ii. c. 10. fays, (I use the words of Mr. Warton; Obfervations on Spenfer, vol. i. p 55.) "That man was firft made by Prometheus, was called Elfe, who wandering over the world, at length arrived at the gardens of Adonis, where he found a female whom he called Fay.The iffue of Elfe and Fay were called Fairies, who foon grew to be a mighty people, and conquered all nations. Their eldest fon Elfin governed America, and the next to him, named Elfinan, founded the city of Cleopolis, which was enclosed with a golden wall by Elfinine. His fon Elfin overcame the Gobbelines; but of all fairies, Elfant was the most renowned, who built Panthea of chryftal. To thefe fucceeded Elfar, who flew two brethren giants; and to him Elfinor, who built a bridge of glass over the fea, the found of which was like thunder. At length Elficleos ruled the Fairy land with much wisdom, and highly advanced its power and honour: he left two fons, the eldest of which, fair Elferon, died a premature death, his place being fupplied by the mighty Oberon; a prince, whofe wide memorial' fill remains; who dying left Tanaquil to fucceed him by will fhe being alfo called Glorian or Gloriana." I tranfcribe this pedigree merely to prove that in Shakspeare's time the notion of Fairies dying was generally known; and Tickell's Poem, called Kenfington Gardens, will flew that the opinion prevailed in the prefent century. A future editor of our author may without any detriment to his work omit this note, which I should have been better pleased to have had no occafion to incumber the page with. EDITOR.

3 The human mortals want their winter HERE,] But fure it was not one of the circumftances of mifery, here recapitulated, that the fufferers wanted their winter. On the contrary, in the poetical deferiptions of the golden age, it was always one circumftance of their happiness that they wanted winter. This is an idle blunder of the editors. Shakspeare without question wrote: "The human mortals want their winter HERYED,"

[blocks in formation]

Pale in her anger, wafhes all the air,
That rheumatic difcafes do abound:

And,

i. e. praifed, celebrated. The word is obfolete; but ufed both by Chaucer and Spenfer in this fignification ;

"The would ft thou learne to CAROLL of love,
"And HERY with HYMNES thy laffie's glove."

The following line confirms the emendation.

Spenc. Cal. Feb.

No night is now with Hymn or Carol bleft; and the propriety of the fentiment is evident. For the winter is the feafon of rural rejoicing, as the gloominefs of it and its vacancy from country labours give them the inclination and opper ertunity for mirth; and the fruits, now gathered in, the means. Well therefore might fle fay, when the had deferibed the dearths of the feafons and fruitless toil of the hufbandmen, that

The human mortals want their winter heryed.

But, principally, fince the coming of Chriftianity, this feason, in commemoration of the birth of Chrift, has been particularly devoted to festivity. And to this cuftom, notwithstanding the impropriety, hymn or carol bleft certainly alludes. Mr. Theobald fays, he should undoubtedly have advanced this conjecture into the text, but that Shakspeare feems rather fond of ballon'd. Rather than what? balloved is not fynonymous to heryed, but to bleft. What was he thinking of? The ambiguity of the English word bleft confounded him, which fignifies either prais'd or fanétified. WARBURTON.

Soon after the publication of Theobald's edition, the following explanation appeared in a news-paper printed in the Weft Indies, July 22d, 1735 "By the human mortals in fo great diftrefs, we must understand the warlike Amazons that Thefeus had conquered; and by the word bere, an allufion to Hippolita, the princess of the Amazons, whom Thefeus had carried with him captive to Athens. Here is an old word fignifying lord, prince, mafter, chief, leader, from the Teut. HERR, Belg. HEER, Dominus; all from the Latin Herus, a lord or inafter."

"The human mortals want there winter here,

i. e. the human mortals want their princefs or encourager of their winter revels; which is both genuine, plain, and intelligible without any emendation." For the ufe of the word here the writer refers to Douglas's Virgil, fol. 258, 1. 49.427. 1 435. 8. 281.41. 292. 41. See Caribbeana, 4to. 1741. vol. ii. P. 73. EDITOR.

After all the endeavours of the editors, this paffage ftill remains, to me unintelligible. I cannot fee why winter is, in the general confufion of the year now defcribed, more wanted than any other feafon. Dr. Warburton obferves that he alludes to our practice of

fing

And, thorough this diftemperature, we fee
The feafons alter: hoary headed frofts

Fall

finging carols in December; but though Shakspeare is no great chronologer in his dramas, I think he has never fo mingled true and false religion, as to give us reason for believing that he would make the moon incenfed for the omiffion of our carols. I therefore imagine him to have meant heathen rites of adoration. This is not all the difficulty. Titania's account of this calamity is not fufficiently confequential. Men find no winter, therefore they fing no hymns: the moon provoked by this omiffion, alters the fea fons: that is, the alteration of the feafons produces the alteration of the feafons. I am far from fuppofing that Shakspeare might not fometimes think confufedly, and therefore am not fure that the paffage is corrupted. If we fhould read:

And human mortals want their wonted year,

yet will not this licence of alteration much mend the narrative; the cause and the effect are still confounded. Let us carry critical temerity a little further. Scaliger tranfpofed the lines of Virgil's Gallus. Why may not the fame experiment be ventured upon Shakspeare.

The human mortals want their wonted year,
The feafons alter; hoary-headed frofts
Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rofe;
And on old Hyems' chin, and icy crown,
An od'rous chaplet of fweet fummer buds
Is, as in mock'ry fet. The fpring, the fummer,
The childing autumn, angry winter, change
Their wonted liveries; and the 'mazed world,
By their increafe, now knows not which is which,
No night is now with hymn or carol bleft ; ·
Therefore the moon, the governess of floods,
Pale in her anger, washes all the air :
And thorough this diflemperature, we fee
That rheumatick difcafes do abound.
And this fame progeny of evil comes

From our debate, from our diffenfion.

I know not what credit the reader will give to this emendation, which I do not much credit myself. JOHNSON.

I think we ought to read:

The human mortals want their winter cheer. according to fir T. Hanmer's correction, fuggefted by Theobald. TYRWHITT.

The repeated adverb therefore, throughout this fpeech, I fuppose to have conftant reference to the first time when it is ufed. All these irregularities of feafon, happened in confequence of D 4

the

Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rofe1;
And on old Hyems' chin', and icy crown,

An

the difagreement between the king and queen of the fairics, and not in confequence of each other.-Ideas crouded faft on Shakfpeare; and as he committed them to paper, he did not attend to the distance of the leading object from which they took their rife.-Mr. Malone concurs with me on this occafion. See his note, which, on account of its length, is added at the conclufion of the play.

That the feftivity and hofpitality attending Christmas, decreafed, was the fubject of complaint to many of our ludicrous writers. Among the rest to Nafh, whofe comedy called Summer's Laft Will and Teflament, made its first appearance in the fame year with this play, viz, 1600. There Christmas is introduced, and Sum mer fays to him:

"Chriftmas, how chance thou com'ft not as the rest
"Accompanied with fome mufic or fome fong?
"A merry carrol would have grac'd thee well,
"Thy ancestors have us'd it heretofore."

Christmas."Ay, antiquity was the mother of ignorance, &c." and then proceeds to give reafons for fuch a decay in mirth and houfe-keeping.

The confufion of feafons here defcribed, is no more than a poetical account of the weather, which happened in England about the time when this play was first publifhed. For this information I am indebted to chance. which furnished me with a few leaves of an old meteorological hiftory. STEEVENS.

5 diftemperature,] is perturbation of the elements. STEEVENS. 6 Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rofe ;] To have "snow in the lap of June," is an expreffion ufed in Northward Hoe, 1607, and Shakspeare himfelf in Coriolanus, talks of the "confecrated fnow that lies on Dian's lap :" and Spenfer in his Faery Queen, B. ii. c. 2. has:

"And fills with flow'rs fair Flora's painted lap,"

STEEVENS.

And on old Hyem's chin, and icy crown,] I believe this peculiar image of Hyen's chin must have come from Virgil, through the medium of the tranflation of the day. "Tum flumina mento, En. iv. 253. Præcipitant fenifet glacie riget horrida." Virgil borrowed the idea from Sophocles' barba Trachiniæ,

V. 13.

ἐκ δὲ δασκία γενειάδος Κρονοὶ διεῤῥαίνοντο κρηναίοπολ.

S. W.

-Hyem's chin,] Dr. Grey, not inelegantly, conje&ures, that the poet wrote:

[ocr errors]

-on old Hyems' chill and icy crown.'

[ocr errors]

An odorous chaplet of fweet fummer buds.
Is, as in mockery, fet: The fpring, the fummer,
The childing autumn 7, angry winter, change
Their wonted liveries; and the 'mazed world,
By their increase, now knows not which is which:
And this fame progeny of evils comes

From our debate, from our diffention;

We are their parents and original.

Ob. Do you amend it then; it lies in you;
Why fhould Titania crofs her Oberon?
I do but beg a little changeling boy,
To be my henchman '.

Queen.

It is not indeed eafy to difcover how a chaplet can be placed on the chin. STEEVENS

It should rather be for thin, i. e. thin-hair'd. TYRWHITT.

So, Cordelia fpeaking of Lear:

to watch poor perdu!
STEEVENS.

With this thin helm.

The childing autumn,] is the pregnant autumn, frugifer autumnus

So, in Heywood's Brazen Age, 1613:.

"Fifty in number childed all one night."

Again, in his Golden Age, 1611:

"I childed in a cave remote and filent."

Again, in his Silver Age, 1613:

"And at one inftant fhe fhall child two iffues." There is a rofe called the childing rofe. STEEVENS.

9 By their increase,] That is, By their produce. JOHNSON, So, in our author's 97th Sonnet :

"The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,
"Bearing the wanton burthen of the prime

[ocr errors]

MALONE.

1 benchman.] Page of honour. This office was abolished by queen Elizabeth. GREY.

The office might be abolished at court, but probably remained in the city. Glapthorne, in his comedy called Wit in a Conftable, 1637, has this paffage:

66

I will teach his bench-boys,
"Serjeants, and trumpeters to act, and fave
"The city all that charges."

So, again :

"When she was lady may'refs, and you humble
As her trim bench-boys."

« AnteriorContinuar »