P. 20. (23) "A speedier course than lingering languishment The old eds. have "A speedier course this lingring," &c.; "which," says Steevens, "may mean, we must pursue by a speedier course this coy languishing dame, this piece of reluctant softness." It could not possibly mean so. Mr. Collier ad l. states that this reading (obviously the right one) is that of "the quartos." But the quarto of 1611 has, like the folios, "their fits," &c.: the earlier quarto I have not seen. "the morn is bright and grey," &c. bright and gay," &c.: P. 21. (25) Hanmer and Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector read “ but see the notes ad l. in the Varior. Shakespeare. 66 P. 21. (26) "I promised your grace a hunter's peal. lustily, my Lords," &c.: but Saturninus is evidently The old eds. have " All the old eds., I believe, have "thy quarrell," &c. P. 24. (28) "and the hounds Should drive upon thy new-transformèd limbs,” &c. Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector reads, very speciously, “Should dine upon," &c.: but see Johnson's Dict. for examples of "Drive, v.n." used in the sense of "to rush with violence." P. 24. (29) "Bas. The king my brother shall have note of this. The old eds. read " shall have notice of this;" which, though the next line proves it to be wrong, has been brought back into the text by Mr. Collier and Mr. Knight. P. 24. (30) "Why have I patience to endure all this ?" So the second folio.-The earlier eds. have " Why I haue patience," &c. P. 25. (31) 66 'And with that painted hope braves your mightiness." A corrupted line, doubtless. P. 25. () "But when ye have the honey ye desire, Let not this wasp outlive, us both to sting." So the second folio.-The earlier eds. have "- the honey we desire," &c.Qy. Ought we to read "Let not this wasp outlive ye, both to sting"? So the second quarto and the folio.-The first quarto has "who it is," &c.; which, strangely enough, Malone preferred. All the old eds., as far as I know, have "if the faults," &c. All the old eds., I believe, have "my cause," &c. (The words are very often confounded by transcribers and printers.) P. 31. (36) "And might not gain so great a happiness The old eds. have "As halfe thy loue."-When I, long ago, corrected the obvious error in this passage, I was not aware that Theobald had anticipated me; for the Varior. Shakespeare gives the old reading without any comment: nor could I know that Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector had also changed "halfe" to "have;" see Mr. Collier's one-volume ed. of Shakespeare. (On looking into Capell's Notes, &c., I find that he thus defends the old reading: "Where had been the unfitness, had Marcus said in this place-As any part of thy love? yet this is said by him; only a certain term is made use of in room of an uncertain, after the usage of poets." Vol. ii. 103. "ANY PART of thy love"!!-could the "unfitness" of "half thy love" be more clearly shown?) P. 31. (37) "detect him," &c. The old eds. have "detect them," &c. P. 31. (3) "with three issuing spouts," &c. Hanmer's correction.-The old eds. have "with their issuing," &c. P. 32. (39) "Which that sweet tongue hath made," &c. It is very unlikely that the author intended an imperfect line here: Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector fills it up in one way,—and the reader, if " the gods have made him poetical," can complete it in some other. P. 33. (40) "For these, tribunes, in the dust I write," &c. The editor of the second folio gave, to assist the metre, "For these, these, Tribunes," &c.—Malone prints "For these, good tribunes," &c. Hanmer's correction.-The old eds. have "these two ancient ruines," &c. P. 33. (42) "Tit. Why, 'tis no matter, man: if they did hear, They would not mark me; or if they did mark, They would not pity me; yet plead I must, And bootless unto them. Therefore I tell my sorrows to the stones," &c. In this passage, which suffered new corruptions in each successive edition, I adhere (with Mr. Collier) to the earliest quarto. But I cannot believe even the reading of that quarto to be the genuine one: something seems to have dropped out; and I apprehend that the author must have written to the following effect (though not exactly in the following words): "Tit. Why, 'tis no matter, man: if they did hear, They would not mark me; or if they did mark, They would not pity me. Yet plead I must: And bootless unto them since I complain, The quarto of 1611 has, The folio has, P. 34. (43) "Titus. Why tis no matter man, if they did heare Therefore I tell my sorrowes bootles to the stones," &c. "Ti. Why tis no matter man, if they did heare They would not marke me: oh if they did heare They would not pitty me. Therefore I tell my sorrowes bootles to the stones," &c. The editor of the second folio prints "Speak my Lavinia,” &c. A correction made in the fourth folio.-The earlier eds. have "with her true teares," &c. Here Theobald altered "castle" to "casque :" but see notes in the Varior. Shakespeare. So the second folio.-The earlier eds. have "doe flow." P. 39. (45) "For why my bowels cannot," &c. Here the modern editors erroneously follow the old eds. in putting an interrogation-point after "For why" (which means-because, for this reason that: see my Few Notes, &c. p. 29). P. 40. (50) "Lavinia, thou shalt be employ'd in these things; The quartos have, “And Lauinia thou shalt be imployd in these armes," &c. The folio has, "And Lauinia thou shalt be employd in these things," &c.— With the editor of the second folio, I omit the "And," which, in all probability, was repeated here from the commencement of the preceding line by the transcriber's or compositor's mistake.—The reading of the quartos, "armes,” would seem to be an error for “aims:" and yet "employ'd in aims” is a very questionable expression. (Capell prints, "Lavinia, thou shalt be employ'd in these things, Bear thou my hand, sweet wench, between thy arms;" and in his Notes, &c., vol. ii. 105, he calls "between thy teeth”—“ a reading of the greatest absurdity." But compare what Titus, in the next page, says to Lavinia, "Or get some little knife between thy teeth, And just against thy heart make thou a hole," &c., an operation, by the by, which she would have found more difficult than the 'employment" now assigned to her.) 66 P. 40. (1) "He leaves," &c. The old eds. have "He loues," &c. P. 40. (52) “And make proud Saturnine and his empress," &c. 66 Here in the second folio" Saturnine" is altered to "Saturninus," because the editor did not perceive that the words and his empress" were to be read "and's emperess." (See Walker's Shakespeare's Versification, &c. p. 56.) 66 P. 41. (53) Who, when my heart, all mad with misery, Beats in this hollow prison of my flesh, Then thus I thump it down.” 66 Here the modern editors agree in altering " Who" to a word which bears no resemblance to it,-"And." But qy. if the avakoλoveíu in this passage is not to be referred to the author's ungrammatical use of the relative? So the second folio.-The first folio omits "thy."-This scene is not in the quartos. P. 42. (55) "Mine eyes are cloy'd," &c. So the second folio.-The first folio omits "are." P. 42. (56) "But how, if that fly had a father and mother? The punctuation of the folio is "But? How: if that Flie had,” &c.; and it has been understood as if Titus were echoing the "But" of Marcus; which I do not believe that the author intended. As to,-"How would he hang his slender gilded wings,”—if what precedes be right, the sense would certainly seem to require they hang their," &c.:-but there is little sense throughout this scene. 46 Has been amended variously-" Yet still I think,” &c., “Why, yet, I think,” &c., "Yet I do think," &c. The folio has "begin to dazell;" and so perhaps the author wrote, considering the preceding "sight" as equivalent to "eyes." |