Act IV Sc. 1
“O sir, we are undone; these are the villains.”
So Capell read also.
“An heir, and near-allied unto the Duke.”
The folio has “And heir and niece.” Theobald made the corrections.
“Come, go with us; we’ll bring thee to our crews.”
As in v.1 we have
“Come, I must bring thee to our captain’s cave,”
we should probably read here cave or caves for ‘crews.’
Sc. 3
“Vain Thurio whom my very soul abhorred.”
‘Abhorreth’ is probably what the poet wrote.
“Madam, I pity much your grievances,
Which since I know they virtuously are placed.”
This is mere nonsense; ‘grievance’ never had any meaning but that which it has at present. A line has evidently been lost; something like this:—“And sympathize with your affections.” The corrector of Collier’s folio, who first saw the loss, added—“And the most true affections that you bear,” which seems wanting in ease and simplicity.
“When will you go?—This evening coming on.”
Sc. 4
“It seems you loved not her, not leave her token.”
For the second ‘not’ we should read to. See on All’s Well, v. 3. For ‘leave,’ see Index s. v.
“Why dost thou cry Alas?—I cannot choose
But pity her.—Wherefore should’st thou pity her?”
This is the proper arrangement; that of the editions, my own included, is wrong.
“Well, give to her that ring, and therewithal.”
“From whom?—From Sir Proteus, my master, madam.”
So I should have given it in my Edition.
“Aye, but her forehead’s low, and mine’s as high.”
The sense might seem to require ‘mine is high,’ as Pope also saw; but her meaning may be, so is mine also. A high forehead was, however, a part of beauty. See Fletcher, Woman-hater, iii. 1.
“She hath a freckled face,
A low forehead, and a lumpish eye.”
Marston, Ant. and Mel. I. iv.