Act IV Sc. 1
“Toad that under cold stone.”
A syllable is lost. Pope read ‘the cold’; Steevens ‘coldest.’ I read ‘underneath,’ as in Jonson’s line, “Underneath this stone doth lie.”
“Rebellious head rise never.”
This is Theobald’s reading for dead of the folio. Hanmer reads ‘Rebellions,’ which may be right, but ‘head,’ often means insurrectionary forces.
Sc. 2
“But cruel are the times when we are traitors
And do not know it ourselves.”
“It shall not be long but I’ll be here again.”
“Thou liest thou shag-ear’d villain.”
Both Singer and Dyce read hair’d, and I think rightly. Hair was originally pronounced hear, under which form it occurs in two of Shakespeare’s older plays; so shag-heared and ‘shag-eared’ would sound exactly alike.
Sc. 3
“You may deserve of him, and wisdom ’twere.”
A syllable has plainly been lost. For ‘deserve,’ the correction of Theobald, the folio has discern.
“I would not be the villain that thou think’st me.”
“Of aid of goodly thousands; but for all this.”
The foot which is wanting may be thus supplied.
“Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty.”
For ‘Convey,’ which hardly makes sense, Singer reads Enjoy.
“Uproar the universal peace, confound
All unity on earth.”
As it may be doubted if there is such a verb as ‘Uproar,’ and as it makes little sense, I would read Uproot or Uptear.
“Then Heaven forgive him too.—This time goes manly.”
This is the reading of the folio; but editors read tune for ‘time.’ The terms were synonymous. See Gifford on Massinger’s Roman Actor, ii. 1.
“About him fairies, sing a scornful rime,
And, as you trip, still pinch him to your time.”
Mer. Wives, v. 5.