Notes to Shakespeare, Volume III: The Tragedies by Samuel Johnson
page 51 of 398 (12%)
page 51 of 398 (12%)
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I.i.112 (296,7) Which ne'er came from the lungs] with a smile not indicating pleasure, but contempt. I.i.120 (296,9) The counsellor heart] The heart was anciently esteemed the seat of prudence. _Homo cordatum_ is a _prudent man_. I.i.163 (297,1) Thou rascal, that art worst in blood, to ruin,/ Lead'st first, to win some 'vantage] I think, we may better read, by an easy change, _Thou rascal that art worst, in blood, to_ ruin [to run] _Lead'st first, to win_, &c. Thou that art the meanest by birth, art the foremost to lead thy fellows _to ruin_, in hope of some advantage. The meaning, however, is perhaps only this, Thou that art a hound, or running dog of the lowest breed, lead'st the pack, when any thing is to be gotten. (see 1765, VI, 493, 1) I.i.172 (298,4) What would you have, ye curs,/ That like not peace, nor war? The one affrights you,/ The other makes you proud] [W: likes] That _to like_ is _to please_, every one knows, but in that sense it is as hard to say why peace should not _like_ the people, as, in the other sense, why the people should not _like_ peace. The truth is, that Coriolanus does not use the two sentences consequentially, but reproaches them with unsteadiness, then with their other occasional vices. I.i.202 (300,6) I'd make a quarry/With thousands] Why a quarry? I suppose, not because he would pile them square, but because he would give them for carrion to the birds of prey. |
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