Act III Sc. 2
“How! of adultery? wherefore write you not
What monsters her accuse? Leonatus!”
The metre would require ‘O Leonatus!’ but as “What false Italian” follows, it might be better to read ‘monster’s her accuser,’ the r having been lost as in Macb. ii. 1. See on Ant. and Cleop. iv. 10.
“Could not be so cruel to me as you, O the dearest of creatures, would even renew me with your eyes.”
Of this, as far as I can perceive, no sense has been or ever can be made. We should therefore read, with Pope, but for ‘as,’ which may have been suggested by the preceding ‘so’; or ‘would not even,’ with Malone.
“I see before me, man; nor here, nor here,
Nor what ensues; but have a fog in them.”
I think we should read there for the second ‘here,’ and perhaps they for ‘but,’ or ‘they have.’
Sc. 3
“Richer than doing nothing for a bauble.”
The folio has babe, which Rowe judiciously corrected as it is here given. In the MS. ‘bauble’ was probably spelt bable or, it may be, babel; and the latter part may have been effaced. Hanmer read bribe; Johnson and Singer brabe.
“Such gain the cap of him that makes ’em fine.”
For ‘’em’ the folio has him. If we retain the reading of the folio, we must read ‘gains.’ ‘Cap’ is salutation.
“They took thee for their mother
And every day do honour to her grave.”
For ‘her’ we should read of course thy.
Sc. 4
“Ne’er long’d my mother so
To see me first, as I have now... Pisanio!”
“And thou too, Posthumus, that didst set up.”
Posthumus is always to be accented on the first syllable. It is usual to read ‘thou that’; but my reading I think more natural.
“I’ll wake mine eye-balls first.—Whërefore then?”
Hanmer read ‘blind first’; I prefer make, with a (...); Collier’s folio has crack.
“Though peril to my modesty, not death on’t
I would adventure.”
We should perhaps, with Johnson, read Through.
“There’s more to be consider’d, but we’ll even
All that good time will give us.”
A verb seems lost at the end of the first line. Its place may have been taken by ‘even,’ or we might simply add do.
Sc. 5
“Madam, all joy befall your grace and you.”
I think Capell and Steevens were right in reading ’and yours.’ The two last letters had probably been effaced.
“She looks us like
A thing more made of malice than of duty.”
I think we should insert on, at, or to after ‘look.’ The 2nd folio read ‘as like.’
“That will be given to the loudest of noise we make.”
So I read, with preceding editors.
“I have not seen these two days.—Go, look after him.”
“The low Posthumus, she slanders so her judgement.”
Sc. 6
“When resty Sloth
Finds the down-pillow hard.”
Singer quotes Bullokar’s Expositor to show that ‘resty’ is idle, inert. Steevens proposed restive.
“Since Leonatus’ false.”
That is ‘Since Leonatus is,’ to avoid cacophony.