TWELFTH-NIGHT:

OR,

1

WHAT YOU WILL.

ACT I. SCENE I.

An Apartment in the DUKE'S Palace.

Enter DUKE, CURIO, Lords; Musicians attending.
Duke. If music be the food of love, play on:
Give me excess of it; that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again;—it had a dying fall:
O! it came o'er my ear like the sweet south,
That breathes upon a bank of violets',
Stealing, and giving odour.—Enough! no more:
"Tis not so sweet now, as it was before.

O, spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity

like the sweet south,

That breathes upon a bank of violets,] The old copies read "the sweet sound." Fope substituted south, to the manifest improvement of the passage; and as sound for south was an easy misprint, we have continued the alteration, being of opinion, that it is much more likely that the printer should have made an error, than that Shakespeare should have missed so obvious a beauty. As Steevens remarked, there is great similarity of expression in the following passage from Sir P. Sidney's "Arcadia," 4to, 1590:-" her breath is more sweet than a gentle south-west wind, which comes creeping over flowery fields and shadowed waters." There is no doubt that Shakespeare saw this passage. See p. 325, note 4. No "sweet sound" "breathes upon a bank of violets," but "the sweet south" may very properly be said to breathe upon it.

Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity' and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute! so full of shapes is fancy,
That it alone is high-fantastical.

Cur. Will you go hunt, my lord?

Duke.

What, Curio?

Cur.

Duke. Why, so I do, the noblest that I have. O! when mine eyes did see Olivia first, Methought she purg'd the air of pestilence: That instant was I turn'd into a hart,

The hart.

And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds,
E'er since pursue me3.-How now! what news from

her?

Enter VALENTINE.

Val. So please my lord, I might not be admitted,
But from her handmaid do return this answer:-
The element itself, till seven years' heat,
Shall not behold her face at ample view;
But, like a cloistress, she will veiled walk,
And water once a day her chamber round

2 Of what VALIDITY—] i. e. ralue. See "All's Well that Ends Well," A. v. sc. 3.

3 And my desires, like fell and cruel hounds,

E'er since pursue me.] Malone quoted the whole of the fifth sonnet of Samuel Daniel, to show that this thought was not new in Shakespeare. Daniel's "Delia," in which it is contained, was twice printed in 1592, 4to, and when coincidences of the kind occur, dates are important: Malone used an edition of 1594. The following are the only applicable lines, as they stand in the first impression the poet is complaining of the disdain of his mistress,

"Which turn'd my sport into a hart's dispaire,

Which still is chac'd, whilst I have any breath,
By mine owne thoughts, set on me by my faire :
My thoughts, like hounds, pursue me to my death."

While Malone was insisting that Shakespeare undoubtedly had Daniel's sonnet in his mind, he himself produced several instances, which prove that various other writers had fallen upon the same thought, in nearly the same words, including Adlington, in his translation of "The Golden Asse (not Ages, as misprinted in Malone's Shakespeare by Boswell) of Apuleius," which came from the press as early as 1566, and of which there were various subsequent impressions.

With eye-offending brine: all this, to season
A brother's dead love, which she would keep fresh
And lasting in her sad remembrance.

Duke. O she that hath a heart of that fine frame, To pay this debt of love but to a brother,

How will she love, when the rich golden shaft
Hath kill'd the flock of all affections else1
That live in her when liver, brain, and heart,
These sovereign thrones, are all supplied, and fill'd,
(Her sweet perfections) with one self king.---
Away, before me to sweet beds of flowers;
Love-thoughts lie rich, when canopied with bowers.
[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

The Sea-coast.

Enter VIOLA, Captain, and Sailors.

Vio. What country, friends, is this?
Cap.
This is Illyria, lady.
Vio. And what should I do in Illyria?

4 Hath kill'd the FLOCK of all affections else] Sir P. Sidney, in his "Arcadia,” 1590, as Steevens observes, has a similar expression,-" the flock of unspeakable virtues," meaning, of course, the assemblage of them. It deserves remark, that this passage occurs in the " Arcadia," just below one already quoted, respecting "the sweet south,”—a confirmation of that reading.

3 (Her sweet perfections)] The passage would run better for the sense, and equally well for the verse, if we were to read,

"when liver, brain, and heart,

These sovereign thrones, her sweet perfections,
Are all supplied and fill'd with one self king."

In the folio, 1623, there are no marks of parenthesis before or after " her sweet perfections," but they seem necessary to cure the defective collocation in the old text. "Liver, brain, and heart," says Steevens, "are admitted in poetry as the residence of passions, judgment, and sentiments. These are what Shakespeare calls her sweet perfections.'" If we could read "perfections" in the singular, the meaning might be that "one self king," viz. "her sweet perfection," would fill the three sovereign thrones of "liver, brain, and heart."

6

6 — with one self king.] The second folio reads "with one self same king,"

as if the metre were defective; but "perfections" being read as four syllables, as is constantly the case with words ending in tion and sion, the line is complete.

My brother he is in Elysium.

Perchance, he is not drown'd:—what think you, sailors? Cap. It is perchance that you yourself were sav'd. Vio. O, my poor brother! and so, perchance, may he

be.

Cap. True, madam: and, to comfort you with chance,
Assure yourself, after our ship did split,
When you, and those poor number saved with you',
Hung on our driving boat, I saw your brother,
Most provident in peril, bind himself

(Courage and hope both teaching him the practice)
To a strong mast, that lived upon the sea;
Where, like Arion on the dolphin's back,
I saw him hold acquaintance with the waves
So long as I could see.

Vio.
For saying so there's gold.
Mine own escape unfoldeth to my hope,
Whereto thy speech serves for authority,
The like of him. Know'st thou this country?

Cap. Ay, madam, well; for I was bred and born,
Not three hours' travel from this very place.

A noble duke, in nature

Vio. Who governs here?
Cap.

As in names.

Vio.

What is his name?

Cap.

Orsino.

Vio. Orsino! I have heard my father name him: He was a bachelor then.

Cap. And so is now, or was so very late; For but a month ago I went from hence,

7 When you, and THOSE poor number saved with you,] Shakespeare uses "number" as the plural, and there is no need to alter "those" into that, as was done by Malone, Steevens, &c.

8

A noble duke, in nature

As in name.] Malone or Boswell silently interpolated his before "name." As the text now stands it is not exactly according to the old copies, where “A noble duke, in nature as in name," is made a line by itself, without regard to "Who governs here?" preceding it, and " What is his name?" following it. It may be doubted which is the better regulation.

And then 'twas fresh in murmur, (as, you know,
What great ones do the less will prattle of)
That he did seek the love of fair Olivia.

Vio. What's she?

Cap. A virtuous maid, the daughter of a count
That died some twelvemonth since; then leaving her
In the protection of his son, her brother,
Who shortly also died: for whose dear love,
They say, she hath abjur'd the company,
And sight of men'.
Vio.
O! that I serv'd that lady,
And might not be delivered to the world,
Till I had made mine own occasion mellow,
What my estate is.
Cap.

That were hard to compass,
Because she will admit no kind of suit,
No, not the duke's.

Vio. There is a fair behaviour in thee, captain,
And though that nature with a beauteous wall
Doth oft close in pollution, yet of thee

I will believe, thou hast a mind that suits
With this thy fair and outward character.
I pr'ythee, (and I'll pay thee bounteously,)
Conceal me what I am, and be my aid
For such disguise as haply shall become
The form of my intent. I'll serve this duke:
Thou shalt present me as an eunuch to him.
It may be worth thy pains; for I can sing,
And speak to him in many sorts of music,
That will allow me very worth his service.
What else may hap to time I will commit;

9 They say, she hath abjur'd the COMPANY

:

66

And SIGHT of men.] In all the old copies the passage stands as follows :-
They say she hath abjur'd the sight,
And company of men."

The alteration, making "sight" and "company change places, was introduced by Sir Thomas Hanmer; and it is unquestionably for the better, both as regards metre and sense. Olivia has abjured not only the "company" but even the 66 sight" of men.