His fretted fortunes give him hope, and fear, ANT. Alarum afar off, as at a fea-fight. Re-enter ANTONY. All is loft; This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me: My fleet hath yielded to the foe; and yonder 3 Triple-turn'd whore !] She was firft for Antony, then was fuppofed by him to have turned to Cæfar, when he found his meffenger kiffing her hand; then she turned again to Antony, and now has turned to Cæfar. Shall I mention what has dropped into my imagination, that our author might perhaps have written triple-tongued? Double-tongued is a common term of reproach, which rage might improve to triple-tongued. But the prefent reading may ftand. JOHNSON. Cleopatra was firft the miftrefs of Julius Cæfar, then of Cneius Pompey, and afterwards of Antony. To this, I think, the epithet triple-turn'd alludes. So, in a former fcene: "I found you as a morfel, cold upon "Dead Cæfar's trencher; nay, you were a fragment Mr. Tollet fuppofed that Cleopatra had been miftrefs to Pompey the Great; but her lover was his eldest fon, Cneius Pompey. MALONE. She first belonged to Julius Cæfar, then to Antony, and now, as he fuppofes, to Auguftus. It is not likely that in recollecting her turnings, Antony fhould not have that in contemplation which gave him moft offence. M. MASON. This interpretation is fufficiently plaufible, but there are two objections to it. According to this account of the matter, her connexion with Cneius Pompey is omitted, though the poet certainly was apprized of it, as appears by the paffage juft quoted. 2. There is no ground for fuppofing that Antony meant to infinuate Haft fold me to this novice; and my heart [Exit SCARUS. O fun, thy uprise fhall I fee no more: Do we shake hands.-All come to this?-The hearts That spaniel'd me at heels, to whom I gave that Cleopatra had granted any perfonal favour to Auguftus, though he was perfuaded that the had "fold him to the novice." MALONE. Mr. M. Mafon's explanation is, I think, very fufficient; and Antony may well enough be excufed for want of circumftantiality in his invective. The fober recollection of a critick should not be expected from a hero who has this moment loft the one half of the world. STEEVENS. 4 That spaniel'd me at heels,] All the editions read: That pannell'd me at heels, Sir T. Hanmer fubftituted spaniel'd by an emendation, with which it was reasonable to expect that even rival commentators would be fatisfied; yet Dr. Warburton proposes pantler'd, in a note, of which he is not injur'd by the fuppreffion; and Mr. Upton having in his first edition propofed plausibly enough; That paged me at heels, in the fecond edition retracts his alteration, and maintains pannell'd to be the right reading, being a metaphor taken, he fays, from a pannel of wainscot. JOHNSON. Spaniel'd is fo happy a conjecture, that I think we ought to acquiefce in it. It is of fome weight with me that Spaniel was often formerly written Spannel. Hence there is only the omiffion of the first letter, which has happened elsewhere in our poet, as in the word chear, &c. To dog them at the heels is not an uncommon expreffion in Shakspeare; and in The Midfummer Night's Dream, Act II. fc. ii. Helena fays to Demetrius : "I am your Spaniel,-only give me leave, "Unworthy as I am, to follow you." TOLLET. Spannel for Spaniel is yet the inaccurate pronunciation of fome perfons, above the vulgar in rank, though not in literature. Our author has in like manner ufed the fubftantive page as a verb in Timon of Athens: Their wishes, do difcandy, melt their sweets Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end," 66 Will these moist trees "That have out-liv'd the eagle, page thy heels," &c. In King Richard III. we have "Death and deftruction dog thee at the heels." MALONE. 5this grave charm,] I know not by what authority, nor for what reafon, this grave charm, which the firft, the only original copy exhibits, has been through all the modern editions changed to this gay charm. By this grave charm, is meant, this fublime, this majefick beauty. JOHNSON. I believe grave charm means only deadly, or deftructive piece of witchcraft. In this fenfe the epithet grave is often ufed by Chapman in his tranflation of Homer. So, in the 19th book: 66 - but not far hence the fatal minutes are Of thy grave ruin.” It feems to be employed in the fenfe of the Latin word gravis. STEEVENS. was my crownet, my chief end,] Dr, Johnson fuppofes that crownet means laft purpose, probably from finis coronat opus. Chapman, in his tranflation of the fecond book of Homer, ufes crown in the fenfe which my learned coadjutor would recommend: -all things have their crowne,' Again, in our author's Cymbeline: My fupreme crown of grief." Again, in Troilus and Creffida: "As true as Troilus fhall crown up the verfe, "And fanctify the numbers.' So again, in All's Well that ends Well: STEEVENS. All's well that ends well; ftill the fine's the crown." C. Like a right gipfy, bath, at faft and loose, Beguil'd me &c.] There is a kind of pun in this paffage, arifing from the corruption of the word Egyptian into giphy. The old C 1 Enter CLEOPATRA. Ah, thou fpell! Avaunt. CLEO. Why is my lord enrag'd against his love? law-books term fuch perfons as ramble about the country, and pretend skill in palmistry and fortune-telling, Egyptians. Faft and loofe is a term to fignify a cheating game, of which the following is a defcription. A leathern belt is made up into a number of intricate folds, and placed edgewife upon a table. One of the folds is made to refemble the middle of the girdle, fo that whoever fhould thruft a fkewer into it would think he held it faft to the table; whereas, when he has fo done, the perfon with whom he plays may take hold of both ends, and draw it away. This trick is now known to the common people, by the name of pricking at the belt or girdle, and perhaps was practifed by the Gypfies in the time of Shakspeare, SIR J. HAWKINS. Sir John Hawkins's fuppofition is confirm'd by the following Epigram in an ancient collection called Run and a great Caft, by Thomas Freeman, 1614: In Egyptum fufpenfum, Epig 95. "Charles the Egyptian, who by jugling could Surely it feem'd he was not his craft's mafter, 66 Seeming to loofe indiffoluble knots; "Had you been there, but to have seen the caft, STEEVENS. That the Ægyptians were great adepts in this art before Shakfpeare's time, may be feen in Scot's Difcoverie of Witchcraft, 1584, P. 336, where these practices are fully explained. REED. 8 JOHNSON. "Here is the heart of my purpose." STEEVENS. And blemish Cæfar's triumph. Let him take thee, With her prepared nails. [Exit CLEO.] 'Tis well thou'rt gone, If it be well to live: But better 'twere most monster-like, be shown For poor'ft diminutives, to dolts;] [Old copy-for dolts;] As the allufion here is to monsters carried about in fhows, it is plain, that the words, for pooreft diminutives, muft mean for the least piece of money: we must therefore read the next word: -for doits, i. e. farthings, which shows what he means by pooreft diminutives. WARBURTON. There was furely no occafion for the poet to show what he meant by pooreft diminutives. The expreffion is clear enough, and certainly acquires no additional force from the explanation. I rather believe we should read: For poor ft diminutives, to dolts; This aggravates the contempt of her fuppofed fituation; to be fhown, as monsters are, not only for the smallest piece of money, but to the moft ftupid and vulgar spectators. TYRWHITT. I have adopted this truly fenfible emendation. STEEVENS. It appears to me much more probable that dolts should have been printed for doits, than that for fhould have been fubftituted for to. Whichfoever of these emendations be admitted, there is still a difficulty. Though monsters are shown to the stupid and the vulgar for poor'ft diminutives, yet Cleopatra according to Antony's fuppofition, would certainly be exhibited to the Roman populace for nothing. Nor can it be faid that he means that he would be exhibited gratis, as monfters are fhown for fmall pieces of money; because his words are " monster-like," be [thou] fhown for poor'st diminutives, &c. The following paffage in Troilus and Creffida adds fome fupport to my conjecture: "How this poor world is pefter'd with such water-flies; diminutives of nature!" MALONE. 2 With her prepared nails.] i. e. with nails which the fuffered to grow for this purpose. WARBURTON. |