12 S. I. JAN. 8, 1916.]
NOTES AND QUERIES.
" part " read " past " ( =surpassed). Cp. 11. 256,
2169.
Lines 223-5. she laments (riming with " dis- content "). The editors would read " discontents," but this would leave the sense of 1. 223 still un- satisfactory. Mariana is not lamenting, and Salome has remarked, " Her eyes doe sparkle ioy." Alexandra is defending her. Read " she'd lament."
Line 226. And if she ioy, she did not causelesse ioy. The editors would read " doth" for " did." It is simpler to read " And if she ioy'd."
Line 272. To be punctuated " Mariam. Herods spirit "
Line 308. Keepes me lor being the Arabians wife- This use of "for ' may be paralleled by '2 Henry VI.,' IV. i. 74 :
Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth
For swallowing the treasure of the realm. And ' Clyomon and Clamydes ' (Malone Society),
I. 833 : " He is safe for ever being free."
Line 324. To be punctuated " Lord, but for the futures sake."
Line 366. Who thinkes not ought but what Silleus will? The editors suggest "on" for " not." The better change is to remove the note of interrogation and make the line a statement. The source is Josephus, ' Antiq.,' book xvi., Lodge's ' Josephus ' (1640), p. 425 C. : " There was "a King of the* Arabians, named Obodas, a sloathfull man.... and there was one Syllabus that did govern all his affairs."
Line 368. Shalt be to me as It: Obodas slill. Read " as I t' Obodas still."
Line 381. Proverb : " lupus in fabula."
Line 444. Waters-bearing. Read " Water-bear- ing." Cp. Joshua ix. 21.
Line 537. Where in a propertie, contempt doth breede. Read " Wherein a propertie contempt," &c., i.e., minds which despise a thing because they have it.
Line 569. Since Loue can teach blood and kindreds s^.orne. The line is a syllable short, and the editors suggest " teach us." " Blood," however, is unsatisfactory, especially as it is used in the previous line in a different sense. Query, " high blood " ?
Line 650. Proverb: " Amicorum omnia com- munia."
Line 693. rigor. Read " vigor."
Line 765. Omit " a," which has perhaps crept in from the line above.
Line 769. scope. Read " stope " (stoop).
Lines 876-7.
So light as her possessions for most day Is her affections lost, to me tis knowne. The editors would read " losse " for " lost," but it appears .to me they would still not get the sense. Constabarus is speaking of Salome's fickleness, not of his own feelings with regard to her. I am inclined to read :
So light as her possessions formost day
Is her affections lost, to me tis knowne,
i.e., " I have reason to know that her love is lost
as lightly as the first day of her possessing the
object of her love." Cp. 1. 879.
Line 905. After this line there should be a stage-direction : " They fight."
Line 911. A full-stop required after " twelue month."
Line 930. Then list. Read "Thou list" (liest). For the spelling cp. " did " (died),
II. 2027, 2132.
Lines 944-5. I see a courtious foe,
Sterne enmitie to friendship can no art. The editors' note seems to suggest that the- error lies in the word " Sterne." If so, the obvious course would be to change it to " Turne." I. think, however, the corruption is elsewhere, and would read :
I see a courtious foe
Sterne enmitie to friendship can inuart. The sense is borne out by what follows, and the corruption of " inuart " or " mart " to "no art '* may be paralleled by ' Larum for London ' (Malone Society), 1. 76, where " in't " is misprinted for "not." On the use of "invert," cp. 'Tem- pest,' III. i. 70 : " invert What best is boded me to mischief."
Line 973. That makes false rumours long ^v^th' credit past (riming with "last"). Although the rime would be sacrificed , the sense seems to me to require " pass " for " past." If " past " is retained, it must be the past tense. I suppose.'
Line 999. that honour not affects. The sense- is " that affects (affect) not honour."
Lines 1060-1.
Graphina still shall be in your tuition, And her with you be nere the lesse content. The editors would read " here with you. Be." Rather for " her " read "he."
Line 1068. done to death. The proposed emendation " doomed to death " is bold, and,, perhaps, hardly necessary.
Line 1091. To call me base and hungry Edomite.. Perhaps for " hungry " we should read " mun- grel." Cp. 11. 241, 244 :
My birth, thy baser birth so far exceld. Thou Mongrell. The word " hungry " is not found in the invective. .
Line 1210. To be punctuated " still, nay more,, retorted bee."
Line 1251. For " they," perhaps read " she."
Line 1287. The worlds commaunding. Prob- ably " world - commaunding." Cp. 1. 1305, " Rome commanding."
Line 1297. To be punctuated " Whose there ? my Mariam ? more then happie fate ! "
Line 1323. Phasaelus. Read " Phasaelus's " or " Phasaelus his."
Line 1391. The missing line should follow this.
Line 1432. cease ( = " seize," as frequently).
Line 1451. / ivould. From the editors' note one gathers that " I " should not come in the text. [Dr. Greg informs me that "I" was inserted by the printer after the sheets had been passed for press, and that it has been erased in the remaining copies of the play.]
Line 1484. stares ( =" stars . ). Cp. 1. 190.
Line 1512. and Hebrew. Read " ah, Hebrew."
Line 1560. Tis. Read " This," rather than " Thus " as the editors suggest.
Line 1566. your. Perhaps read "her," rather than " our."
Line 1569. Were by ( = Whereby).
Line 1571. therefore. Perhaps read "where- fore."
Line 1596. staid. My friend Mr. Walter Worrall suggests " stand."
Line 1600. icreake. Query " wracke " or " wrecke " ?
Line 1638. your. Query " our " ?
Line 1639. They. Query "Then"?
Line 1646. the. Read "her," unless "her"' hi 1. 1644 should be " his."
