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presents

the Annotated Popular Edition of

THE WIDOW’S TEARS

by George Chapman

1612

Featuring complete and easy-to-read annotations.

Annotations and notes © Copyright ElizabethanDrama.org, 2018
This annotated play may be freely copied and distributed.

	THE ACTORS.	INTRODUCTION to the PLAY
	Tharsalio, the wooer.	The Widow's Tears by George Chapman is a schizophrenic
	Lysander, his brother.	play, whose farcical first-half plot eventually gives way to a
	Cynthia, wife to Lysander.	somewhat more serious second-half one. Yet a single theme,
	Ero, waiting-woman to Cynthia.	the inconstancy of women, is shared by both tales; indeed,
	Hylus, son to Lysander, nephew to Tharsalio.	Chapman has been criticized for his rather cynical approach
		to the ability of women to control their libidos. A bonus in
	Eudora, the widow countess.	the play is the hilarious appearance of the highly ridiculous
	Sthenia, gentlewoman attending on Eudora.	Governor in the final scene.
	Ianthe, gentlewoman attending on Eudora.
	Clinias, a servant to Eudora.	NOTE on the PLAY'S SOURCE
	Lycus, a servant to Eudora.
	Argus, gentleman usher to Eudora	The text of the play is taken from Thomas Marc Parrott's
	Laodice, daughter to Eudora.	1913 collection Chapman's Comedies, fully cited below.
	Rebus, a suitor to Eudora.	NOTES on the ANNOTATIONS
	Hiarbas, Friend to Rebus.
	Psorabeus, Friend to Rebus.	Mention of Parrott, Smeak and Holaday in the annota-
		tions refers to the notes provided by each of these editors
	The Governor of Cyprus	in their respective editions of this play, each cited fully
	Captain of the Watch	below.
	Two Soldiers	The most commonly cited sources are listed in the
		footnotes immediately below. The complete list of footnotes
	Arsace, a pandress.	appears at the end of this play.
	Thomasin, a courtesan	1. Oxford English Dictionary (OED) online.
		2. Crystal, David and Ben. Shakespeare's Words.
	The Scene:	London; New York: Penguin, 2002.
	Paphos, on the Island of Cyprus.	3. Parrott, Thomas Marc. Chapman's Comedies.
		London: George Routledge & Sons, 1914.
		4. Smeak, Ethel, ed. The Widow's Tears. Lincoln: The
		University of Nebraska Press, 1966.
		12. Holaday, Allan. The Plays of George Chapman: The
		Comedies. Urbana: U. of Illinois Press, 1970.
	ACT I.
	SCENE I.
	A Room in the House of Lysander.
	Enter Tharsalio solus, with a glass in his hand,	= alone. = mirror.
	making ready.	Entering Character: our hero Tharsalio is a young man brimming with self-confidence. Tharsalio lives in the home of his brother Lysander.
1	Thar. Thou blind imperfect goddess, that delights	1f: Tharsalio begins the play with a soliloquy addressed to personified Fortune, the goddess who controls people's fates, randomly raising and lowering their circumstances. Tharsalio criticizes her for her fickle (blind) nature.
2	(Like a deep-reaching statesman) to converse	2-5: Fortune only talks with fools, because she knows they
	Only with fools, jealous of knowing spirits,	will always worship her, since they never suspect how fickle she really is; conversely, she avoids dealing with the wise (knowing spirits), who recognize the futility of depending on her. jealous = suspicious.
4	For fear their piercing judgments might discover	= find out.^1
	Thy inward weakness and despise thy power,	= disdain.
6	Contemn thee for a goddess; thou that lad'st	6: Contemn thee for a goddess = the sense is "in their scorn, no longer respect your godhead." thou that...gold = "you who shower wealth on the undeserving". lad'st = ie. lades, loads (as cargo).^1
	Th' unworthy ass with gold, while worth and merit	= ie. those persons who are deserving of good fortune.
8	Serve thee for nought, weak Fortune, I renounce	= nothing.
	Thy vain dependance, and convert my duty	9: thy vain dependence = "my worthless (vain) connection or reliance on you";^1 Tharsalio will no longer pay homage to Fortune. convert = turn or switch.^1
10	And sacrifices of my sweetest thoughts
	To a more noble deity, sole friend to worth,	= ie. those who are meritorious.
12	And patroness of all good spirits, Confidence;	= boldness, here a sentiment more daring than plain vanilla
	She be my guide, and hers the praise of these	confidence.
14	My worthy undertakings.
16	Enter Lysander with a glass in his hand,	Entering Characters: Lysander is Tharsalio's brother;
	Cynthia, Hylus, Ero.	Cynthia is the wife of Lysander, Hylus their son. Ero is Cynthia's personal female servant. Lysander is also holding a mirror (glass), indicating that he too is preparing to go out and face the world.
18
	Lys. Morrow, brother! Not ready yet?	19ff: the initial interaction between the brothers Lysander and Tharsalio, and Lysander's wife Cynthia, is one of good-natured teasing and humorous banter.
20
	Thar. No; I have somewhat of the brother in me.	21: "No. I am a bit like my brother this way."
22	I dare say your wife is many times ready, and you
	not up − Save you, sister; how are you enamoured	23: not up = not ready or awake, but also quite suggestive, with Cynthia being ready. Save you = "God save you", traditional greeting. sister = ie. sister-in-law. It was normal to address one's sister-in-law as sister, and Cynthia will in turn refer to her brother-in-law Tharsalio as brother.
24	of my presence? How like you my aspect?	= appearance.^2
26	Cyn. Faith, no worse than I did last week; the weather	= truly.^1
	has nothing changed the grain of your complexion.	= quality^3 or texture.^1
28
	Thar. A firm proof 'tis in grain, and so are not all	= that it (ie. his complexion) is ingrained, ie. unalterable.^1
30	complexions. A good soldier's face, sister!
32	Cyn. Made to be worn under a beaver.	= visor of a helmet.^3
34	Thar. Ay, and 'twould show well enough under a mask,
	too.
36
	Lys. So much for the face!
38
	Thar. But is there no object in this suit to whet your	39-40: "can you find nothing in my clothes to tease me
40	tongue upon?	about?" The phrase whet the tongue upon means to "sharpen one's tongue on", and suggests to "prepare to attack".^1
42	Lys. None, but Fortune send you well to wear it; for	= "grant you success".^1
	she best knows how you got it.
44
	Thar. Faith, 'tis the portion she bestows upon younger	45-46: 'tis the…clothes = generally, the mass of the fortune
46	brothers, valour and good clothes. Marry, if you ask	of a family was passed on to the eldest son, who in this case is Lysander, leaving the younger sons to fend in the world for themselves. Tharsalio will occasionally remind Lysander of this circumstance, but is not really resentful about it. Marry = an oath, derived from the Virgin Mary.
	how we come by this new suit, I must take time to	= with suit, Tharsalio refers to both his new outfit and a new woman he plans to court.
48	answer it; for as the ballad says, In written books I	48-49: for as…find it = the written books refer to the account books of tailors, in which they register the names of those who owe them money.^3 Tharsalio, in other words, is implying he hasn't paid for his new suit yet. There is another, vaguer allusion here: many ballads at the time contained lines in which the author expressly declared that the tale he has written is true, assuming that such an assertion's very existence would lead an unsophisticated reader to believe it; thus the italicized phrase also means, "since I read it, it must be true"^3,20
	find it. Brother, these are the blossoms of spirit; and I	= ie. full-flowerings, prime.^2
50	will have it said for my father's honour, that some of	= Tharsalio's father is, of course, also Lysander's father.
	his children were truly begotten.	= legitimate.
52
	Lys. Not all?
54
	Thar. Shall I tell you, brother, that I know will rejoice	= ie. "something that".
56	you? My former suits have been all spenders; this shall	56-7: "My former courtships (suits) have all been a waste of time and money (spenders)," with a pun on suits.
	be a speeder.	= success,^1 referring to the newest intended target of his
58		affections.
	Lys. A thing to be heartily wished; but, brother, take
60	heed you be not gulled; be not too forward.	= fooled, deceived. = aggressive, eager.^1
62	Thar. 'T had been well for me if you had followed that
	counsel. You were too forward when you stepped into
64	the world before me and gulled me of the land that my	= cheated, though Tharsalio does not intend such a bitter sense.^1
	spirits and parts were indeed born to.	= qualities.
66
	Cyn. May we not have the blessing to know the aim of
68	your fortunes? What coast, for Heaven's love?	= direction.^1
70	Thar. Nay, 'tis a project of state: you may see the	= scheme; Tharsalio won't reveal the details of his latest
	preparation, but the design lies hidden in the breasts of	plan.
72	the wise.
74	Lys. May we not know't?
76	Thar. Not unless you'll promise me to laugh at it, for
	without your applause I'll none.
78
	Lys. The quality of it may be such as a laugh will not
80	be ill bestowed upon't; pray Heaven I call not Arsace
	sister.	= ie. sister-in-law; Lysander only wants assurance that
82		Tharsalio doesn't intend to marry the bawd Arsace, whom we will meet later. The good humour between the brothers is pleasing.
	Cyn. What, the pandress?
84
	Thar. Know you (as who knows not?) the exquisite	85f: Tharsalio ignores the last comments of Lysander and Cynthia.
86	lady of the palace, the late governor's admired widow,
	the rich and haughty Countess Eudora? Were not she a	= lofty or dignified.^1 = "wouldn't she be".
88	jewel worth the wearing, if a man knew how to win her?
90	Lys. How's that, how's that?	90: Lysander cannot believe what he is hearing.
92	Thar. Brother, there is a certain goddess called	92f: Tharsalio plans to win the rich Eudora, who is somewhat above his class, through sheer audaciousness.
	Confidence, that carries a main stroke in honourable
94	preferments. Fortune waits upon her, Cupid is at her	= advancements.
	beck; she sends them both of errands. This deity doth	94-95: Cupid…beck = the god of love, like the goddess
96	promise me much assistance in this business.	Fortune, is under Confidence's control. of = on.
98	Lys. But if this deity should draw you up in a basket to	98-100: Lysander alludes to a story told in the Middle Ages
	your countess's window, and there let you hang for all	about the Roman poet Virgil, who was imagined to be a
100	the wits in the town to shoot at; how then?	sorcerer; a lady he was wooing asked him to visit her at night, promising to draw him up to her tower window in a basket. Halfway up the tower, she ceased raising Virgil any further, and left him there to be the object of ridicule to the passersby below the next morning.^19 Virgil's revenge is referred to below in Act I.iii.201-3.
102	Thar. If she do, let them shoot their bolts and spare	= arrows with blunt heads.^2
	not; I have a little bird in a cage here that sings me
104	better comfort. What should be the bar? You'll say,	= "What will stop me?"
	I was page to the Count her husband. What of that? I	= a key part of Eudora's upcoming resistance to Tharsalio's courtship will be that he had been a lowly servant (page) to her now-deceased husband, the former governor.
106	have thereby one foot in her favour already. She has	= step.
	taken note of my spirit and surveyed my good parts,	= ie. already had a chance to observe. = physical qualities.
108	and the picture of them lives in her eye; which sleep, I
	know, cannot close till she have embraced the
110	substance.	= ie. the real thing.
112	Lys. All this savours of the blind goddess you speak of.	= ie. Confidence.
114	Thar. Why should I despair but that Cupid hath one
	dart in store for her great ladyship, as well as for any	= arrow.
116	other huge lady whom she hath made stoop gallant to	116: huge = great or high ranking.^2,4 she = ie. Confidence, the blind goddess. made stoop gallant to = the sense is "caused to be humble enough to".^1 The phrase is a nautical one, meaning literally to lower or dip (stoop) one's flag (gallant), which one ship might do in salute or as a sign of respect to another.^4
	kiss their worthy followers? In a word, I am assured	= pursuers, suitors.
118	of my speed. Such fair attempts led by a brave resolve	= success. = determination.
	are evermore seconded by Fortune.	= supported: luck favors the bold.
120
	Cyn. But, brother, have I not heard you say your own	= ie. Tharsalio.
122	ears have been witness to her vows, made solemnly to	122-4: her vows…widow's bed = Eudora had vowed never to remarry if her husband died first.
	your late lord, in memory of him to preserve till death	= ie. Eudora's deceased husband.
124	the unstained honour of a widow's bed? If nothing else,
	yet that might cool your confidence.
126
	Thar. Tush, sister! Suppose you should protest with	= vow.
128	solemn oath (as perhaps you have done) if ever Heaven	128-130: if ever…interred = "if God listens to your prayers that Lysander die before you". Tharsalio's good nature is endearing.
	hears your prayers that you may live to see my brother
130	nobly interred, to feed only upon fish and not endure the	130-2: to feed…life = Tharsalio compares a life without any
	touch of flesh during the wretched Lent of your	men which a widow might vow to lead to the deprivation
132	miserable life; would you believe it, brother?	and sacrifice made by those who give up meat during
		Lent; the word flesh could refer both to meat that one ate and the flesh of a man.
134	Lys. I am therein most confident.
136	Thar. Indeed you had better believe it than try it. But	= test.
	pray, sister, tell me − you are a woman − do not you
138	wives nod your heads and smile one upon another when
	ye meet abroad?
140
	Cyn. Smile? Why so?
142
	Thar. As who should say, “Are not we mad wenches,
144	that can lead our blind husbands thus by the noses?” Do
	you not brag among yourselves how grossly you abuse
146	their honest credulities? How they adore you for saints,
	and you believe it, while you adhorn their temples, and	= "commit adultery with other men"; this is the first of numerous references to the traditional horns that are said to grow on the foreheads of husbands whose wives cheat on them. Additionally, adhorn puns with both adore in line 146 and "adorn", and temple is meant in both senses of "church" (with saints in line 146) and the temples on one's forehead.
148	they believe it not? How you vow widowhood in their	148-9: How you…lifetime = "How you promise to never remarry if your husbands predecease you".
	lifetime and they believe you, when even in the sight of
150	their breathless corse, ere they be fully cold, you join	= corpse. = before.
	embraces with his groom, or his physician, and perhaps	= servant.^2
152	his poisoner; or at least, by the next moon (if you can
	expect so long) solemnly plight new hymeneal bonds,	= wait. = make new marriage vows; Hymen was the god of
154	with a wild, confident, untamed ruffian –	marriage.
156	Lys. As for example?
158	Thar. And make him the top of his house and	= ie. head of the remarried woman's household.
	sovereign lord of the palace? As for example, look you,
160	brother, this glass is mine –	= mirror.
162	Lys. What of that?
164	Thar. While I am with it, it takes impression from my	164f: Tharsalio engages in a creative metaphor: just as a husband cannot stop his wife from becoming attracted to another man, so Tharsalio cannot prevent his mirror from being serviceable to another person, even as it reflects only his own face at the moment.
	face; but can I make it so mine, that it shall be of no use
166	to any other? Will it not do his office to you or you; and	= its (its was rarely used by Elizabethans). = function.
	as well to my groom as to myself? Brother, monopolies	167-8: monopolies...down = "monopolies are condemned
168	are cried down. Is it not madness for me to believe,	(cried down)^1." Tharsalio of course has the monopoly of a woman by any one man in mind, but his reference is a topical one. The Tudor monarchs had granted many monopolies as rewards for service or to favourite individuals; highly unpopular, monopolies were finally brought under control when James I, who ascended the throne in 1603, began to revoke those monopolies whose privileges were abused the most.^5
	when I have conquered that fort of chastity the great	= common military metaphor for a woman's resistance.
170	Countess, that if another man of my making and mettle	= character.
	shall assault her, her eyes and ears should lose their
172	function, her other parts their use, as if Nature had made	= probably suggestive.
	her all in vain, unless I only had stumbled into her
174	quarters?	168-174: Is it not…quarters = "would it not be crazy for me
		to think that if the countess, after marrying me, met another man of my looks and qualities, she would not be attracted to him, as if Nature had wasted creation on her, but for the good luck that brought me into her life?"
176	Cyn. Brother, I fear me in your travels, you have drunk
	too much of that Italian air, that hath infected the whole	= the English believed that travel to Italy corrupted one's
178	mass of your ingenuous nature, dried up in you all sap	morals.^3
	of generous disposition, poisoned the very essence of
180	your soul, and so polluted your senses that whatsoever	180: polluted = corrupted.
	enters there takes from them contagion and is to your	180-183: whatsoever…spotless = "whatever your
182	fancy represented as foul and tainted, which in itself,	senses notice you imagine to be foul and tainted, even
	perhaps, is spotless.	if it is completely pure and good (spotless)."
184		fancy = imagination.
	Thar. No, sister, it hath refined my senses, and made
186	me see with clear eyes, and to judge of objects as they	186-7: and to judge…seem = Smeak has noted that Tharsalio
	truly are, not as they seem, and through their mask to	is responding to Cynthia's reference to Italian air by alluding to, and varying, a point made by Machiavelli in The Prince, that a ruler must be a "great feigner and dissembler", so that "everybody sees what you appear to be", but "few feel what you are."^21
188	discern the true face of things. It tells me how short-
	lived widows' tears are, that their weeping is in truth	189-190: their weeping…a mask = a variation of a proverb
190	but laughing under a mask, that they mourn in their	composed by the 1st century B.C. writer Syrian Publius Syrus, famous for his collection of maxims and sayings: "the weeping of an heir is laughter under a mask",^6 here applied to widows; a common and cynical Elizabethan sentiment.
	gowns and laugh in their sleeves; all which I believe	= ie. with their faces hidden from observation.
192	as a Delphian oracle, and am resolved to burn in that	= ie. as if it had been spoken by the oracle at Delphi, the frequently consulted and most famous seer of the ancient world.
	faith. And in that resolution do I march to the great	192-3: am resolved…faith = "I will die rather than
194	lady.	abandon that belief." Tharsalio's tightly-held opinion in this matter is compared to religious faith, for which, if it were considered heresy, he would gladly be burned at the stake. The burning of Catholic agitators was common through the 16th century in England, the last such execution for heresy not occurring until 1612.
196	Lys. You lose time, brother, in discourse; by this had	196: in discourse = "in chatting away with us." 196-7: by this had you = "by this time you could have".
	you bore up with the lady, and clapped her aboard, for	197-9: with bore up, Lysander begins an extended nautical metaphor: to bear up means to bring a vessel into the wind;^1 clap aboard = to bring one's ship alongside another, usually for fighting purposes.^1
198	I know your confidence will not dwell long in the
	service.	= service means both (1) military service, continuing the maritime metaphor; and (2) a lover's courtship.^1
200
	Thar. No, I will perform it in the conqueror's style.
202	Your way is not to win Penelope by suit, but by	202: Penelope = the wife of Ulysses, Penelope famously resisted the wooing of 108 suitors as she waited for the return of her husband from the Trojan War. suit = ie. old-fashioned courting.
	surprise. The castle's carried by a sudden assault, that
204	would perhaps sit out a twelvemonth's siege. It would	= ie. would otherwise. = resist.
	be a good breeding to my young nephew here, if he	= training, ie. lesson.^1
206	could procure a stand at the palace to see with what	= ie. vantage point from which to watch Tharsalio at work.
	alacrity I'll acoast her countess-ship, in what garb I will	= old form of accost,^3 with its modern meaning, but also continuing Lysander's nautical metaphor, using the meaning "keep to the side of",^1 together with the pun of countess-ship.
208	woo her, with what facility I will win her.	= ease.
210	Lys. It shall go hard but we'll hear your entertainment	210: the sense seems to be, "it won't be easy but we will
	for your confidence sake.	listen to how you expect to manage this."
212
	Thar. And having won her, nephew, this sweet face,	= ie. Hylus, Lysander's son. = ie. Hylus' face.
214	Which all the city says is so like me,	= ie. mine.
	Like me shall be preferred, for I will wed thee	= advanced (in status).
216	To my great widow's daughter and sole heir,
	The lovely spark, the bright Laodicè.
218
	Lys. A good pleasant dream!
220
	Thar. In this eye I see	221-2: In this eye…fire = Tharsalio further comments on his
222	That fire that shall in me inflame the mother,	resemblance to his nephew; this eye = Hylus' eye.
	And that in this shall set on fire the daughter.
224	It goes, sir, in a blood; believe me, brother,	= to go in a blood (here and in the next line) means to
	These destinies go ever in a blood.	"be a family trait" or "run in a family".^1
226
	Lys. These diseases do, brother, take heed of them;	= weaknesses or mental illnesses.^2 = "beware of" or "keep watch for".
228	fare you well; take heed you be not baffled.	= exposed to ridicule, disgraced;^1 Lysander is warning
		his brother to be careful.
230	[Exeunt Lysander, Cynthia, Hylus, Ero;
	manet Tharsalio.]	= Tharsalio remains on-stage alone.
232
	Thar. Now, thou that art the third blind deity	= ie. Confidence, along with Love and Fortune: they are
234	That governs earth in all her happiness,	blind in the sense that they act arbitrarily or randomly.^1
	The life of all endowments. Confidence,
236	Direct and prosper my intentiön.
	Command thy servant deities, Love and Fortune,
238	To second my attempts for this great lady,	= support, back up.
	Whose page I lately was; that she, whose board	= table (for eating);^1 these last few lines of Tharsalio's brief soliloquy contain a pair of humorously dirty and punny contrasts.
240	I might not sit at, I may board abed,	240-1: the scene ends, as scenes often do, with a rhyming
	And under bring, who bore so high her head.	couplet.
242
	[Exit.]
	ACT I, SCENE II.
	A Room in the House of Eudora.
	Enter Lysander, Lycus.	Entering Character: though a servant of Eudora's, Lycus is also a trusted friend of Lysander and Tharsalio.
1	Lycus. 'Tis miraculous that you tell me, sir; he come to	= what. = ie. "Tharsalio is coming".
2	woo our lady mistress for his wife?
4	Lys. 'Tis a frenzy he is possessed with, and will not be	= madness.
	cured but by some violent remedy. And you shall favour
6	me so much to make me a spectator of the scene. But is
	she, say you, already accessible for suitors? I thought
8	she would have stood so stiffly on her widow vow, that	= unyieldingly.
	she would not endure the sight of a suitor.
10
	Lycus. Faith, sir, Penelope could not bar her gates	= second reference to the wife of Ulysses; see the note above in Scene i.202.
12	against her wooers; but she will still be mistress of	12-13: she will…herself = she will do as she pleases.
	herself. It is, you know, a certain itch in female blood:
14	they love to be sued to; but she'll hearken to no suitors.	= wooed, pursued. = listen to, attend or regard.^1
16	Lys. But by your leave, Lycus, Penelope is not so wise
	as her husband Ulysses, for he, fearing the jaws of the	17-18: Ulysses…her voice = the Sirens were mythical sea
18	Siren, stopped his ears with wax against her voice.	creatures who lured sailors to their deaths with their enchanting singing. In the Odyssey, Ulysses had his sailors stop their ears with wax, so they would not hear the Sirens' song, but had himself lashed to a mast without stopping his ears, so that he could hear their music without throwing away his life. Lysander's point is that Eudora is smarter than Penelope because she (Eudora) avoids temptation by refusing to entertain the wooing of her suitors.
	They that fear the adder's sting, will not come near her
20	hissing. Is any suitor with her now?
22	Lycus. A Spartan lord, dating himself our great	22-23: A Spartan…kinsman = Eudora is being courted by one Rebus, a Spartan lord, who, as we shall see, uses his kinship with the Viceroy (which usually refers to a deputy king, but here is identified as no more than an unspecified position superior to the Governor of Cyprus) as a selling point. dating = identifying.
	Viceroy's kinsman, and two or three other of his
24	country lords as spots in his train. He comes armed	24: country lords = fellow Spartan nobles, perhaps nobles who reside in rural areas. spots in his train = "stains on his retinue."
	with his Altitude's letters in grace of his person, with	= his Altitude was a common mock title, applied here to the Viceroy. It may be a humorous variation on "his Highness".^1
26	promise to make her a duchess if she embrace the	26-27: embrace the match = ie. marry him.
	match. This is no mean attraction to her high thoughts;	= base, worthless.
28	but yet she disdains him.
30	Lys. And how then shall my brother presume of	30-31: And how…acceptance = ie. if Eudora is hesitant to meet with one who has that much to offer, how does Tharsalio expect to compete against that?
	acceptance? Yet I hold it much more under her	31-32: under her contentment = ie. she would be less than
32	contentment to marry such a nasty braggart, than under	satisfied.
	her honour to wed my brother − a gentleman, (though I
34	say't) more honourably descended than that lord, who,
	perhaps, for all his ancestry, would be much troubled to
36	name you the place where his father was born.
38	Lycus. Nay, I hold no comparison betwixt your brother
	and him. And the venerean disease, to which they say	39-40: the venerean…wedded = humorous description of Eudora's Spartan wooer allegedly suffering from syphilis.
40	he has been long wedded, shall, I hope, first rot him,
	ere she endure the savour of his sulphurous breath.	= ie. breath having a stench like that of sulphur, a side-effect of syphilis.
42	Well, her ladyship is at hand; y' are best take you to
	your stand.	= Lycus has found Lysander a vantage point from which
44		to view the ensuing scene in Eudora's house.
	Lys. Thanks, good friend Lycus!
46
	[Exit.]
48
	Enter Argus, barehead, with whom another usher,	Entering Character: Argus is an attendant (usher) of the widow Eudora's. He enters the stage not wearing his uniform cap (barehead).
50	Lycus, joins, going over the stage.
	Hiarbas and Psorabeus next, Rebus single before	51: Rebus is Eudora's Spartan suitor; Hiarbas and Psorabeus are his companions.
52	Eudora, Laodice;	52: Eudora is the widowed countess we have been hearing so much about, Laodice her daughter.
	Sthenia bearing her train, Ianthe following.	53: Sthenia and Ianthe are female servants of Eudora.
54
	Reb. I admire, madam, you cannot love whom the	55-56: "I marvel (admire) that you don't love me, since the
56	Viceroy loves.	Viceroy loves me."
58	Hiar. And one whose veins swell so with his blood,	58-59: Hiarbas points out (no doubt for the umpteenth time)
	madam, as they do in his lordship.	how closely Rebus is related to the Viceroy. The use of
60		swell and blood may also be suggestive of Rebus' sexual prowess.
	Psor. A near and dear kinsman his lordship is to his
62	Altitude the Viceroy; in care of whose good speed here	= anxiety over.^1 = success.
	I know his Altitude hath not slept a sound sleep since
64	his departure.	= ie. Rebus'.
66	Eud. I thank Venus I have, ever since he came.	66: "I'm grateful I have slept well, ever since Rebus arrived
		here." Note how Eudora gently mocks Rebus in this conversation, even as he does not recognize the irony. Venus was the goddess of love, and patron goddess of Cyprus (the setting of our play), where legend has it she was born.
68	Reb. You sleep away your honour, madam, if you
	neglect me.
70
	Hiar. Neglect your lordship? That were a negligence	= would be.
72	no less than disloyalty.
74	Eud. I much doubt that, sir; it were rather a	74-75: Eudora cleverly suggests she is not worthy to marry
	presumption to take him, being of the blood viceroyal.	Rebus, with his supposedly high-class bloodline.
76
	Reb. Not at all, being offered, madam.	= ie. "since I am offering myself to you".
78
	Eud. But offered ware is not so sweet, you know.	79: proverbial: "proffered service stinketh."^7
80	They are the graces of the Viceroy that woo me, not
	your lordship's, and I conceive it should be neither	81-83: I conceive…favours = "I imagine you would not be
82	honour nor pleasure to you to be taken in for another	satisfied to know that I married you solely because of
	man's favours.	your kinship to a man with the status and qualities of the Viceroy."
84
	Reb. Taken in, madam? You speak as I had no house	85-86: with taken in in line 82, Eudora meant "received" or
86	to hide my head in.	"embraced", but Rebus, without genuine humour, plays
		on the phrase's alternate meaning of "admitted as a lodger".^1
88	Eud. I have heard so indeed, my lord, unless it be
	another man's.
90
	Reb. You have heard untruth then; these lords can well
92	witness I can want no houses.	= lack.
94	Hiar. Nor palaces, neither, my lord!
96	Psor. Nor courts neither!
98	Eud. Nor temples, I think, neither; I believe we shall
	have a god of him.
100
	Enter Tharsalio.
102
	Arg. See the bold fellow! Whither will you, sir?	103: the servant Argus stops Tharsalio as he attempts to
104		approach Eudora.
	Thar. Away! − All honour to you, madam!
106
	Eud. How now, base companion?	= low fellow; companion was a term of contempt.^13
108
	Thar. Base, madam? He's not base that fights as high	= the sense is "strives (for)".^4
110	as your lips.
112	Eud. And does that beseem my servant?	112: "and is that fitting behavior for one who was once my servant?" Eudora reminds Tharsalio (not for the last time) of his modest past, as he had served as a page in her household when her husband the governor had been alive.
114	Thar. Your court-servant, madam.	= punning, with a secondary meaning of a wooing (courting) professed lover (servant).
116	Eud. One that waited on my board?	= ie. served her dinner table.
118	Thar. That was only a preparation to my weight on	= punning on wait, and not the last time Tharsalio will be
	your bed, madam.	rather risqué with the countess.
120
	Eud. How dar'st thou come to me with such a thought?
122
	Thar. Come to you, madam? I dare come to you at
124	midnight, and bid defiance to the proudest spirit that	= ie. for a sexual encounter.
	haunts these your loved shadows, and would any way
126	make terrible the access of my love to you.	= make difficult, ie. obstruct.^1
128	Eud. Love me? Love my dog!	128: a common proverbial phrase: "if you love me, you must
		love everything about me."^7
130	Thar. I am bound to that by the proverb, madam.
132	Eud. Kennel without with him; intrude not here. What	= "toss him in the gutter (kennel)": kennel also already
	is it thou presum'st on?	had its modern meaning of "doghouse", so Eudora's line
134		is a pun.
	Thar. On your judgment, madam, to choose a man,
136	and not a giant; as these are that come with titles and	= ie. "unlike these other guys here who", referring to Rebus
	authority, as they would conquer or ravish you. But I	and friends.
138	come to you with the liberal and ingenuous graces, love,
	youth, and gentry; which (in no more deformed a person	= ie. the status of gentleman.
140	than myself) deserve any princess.
142	Eud. In your saucy opinion, sir, and sirrah too! Get	= common address form used towards servants, again reminding Tharsalio of his past.
	gone, and let this malapert humour return thee no more,	= impudent.^2
144	for, afore Heaven, I'll have thee tossed in blankets.	= common humiliation practiced on those who deserve
		punishment for misbehavior.
146	Thar. In blankets, madam? You must add your sheets,
	and you must be the tosser.
148
	Reb. Nay, then, sir, y' are as gross as you are saucy.	= coarse.^1
150
	Thar. And all one, sir, for I am neither.
152
	Reb. [drawing] Thou art both.	= ie. his sword.
154
	Thar. Thou liest; keep up your smiter, Lord Rebus.	155: thou = Tharsalio and Rebus address each other with the insulting thou to express their contempt for each other. keep up = keep confined.^1 smiter = humorous term for Rebus' sword.
156
	Hiar. Usest thou thus his Altitude's cousin?	157: "this is how you treat (use) the Viceroy's kinsman?"
158
	Reb. The place, thou know'st, protects thee.	159: Rebus, actually a coward, will repeatedly refuse to
160		fight with Tharsalio, out of, so he says, respect for Eudora, whose home they are in.
	Thar. Tie up your valour then till another place turn me
162	loose to you. You are the lord, I take it, that wooed my
	great mistress here with letters from his Altitude; which
164	while she was reading, your lordship (to entertain time)
	straddled and scaled your fingers, as you would show	165: straddled and scaled = to straddle is to spread apart,
166	what an itching desire you had to get betwixt her sheets.	but the word is usually applied to the legs; given the rest of the sentence, there is certainly some suggestive sense intended; to scale means "to peel flakes from".^1 as you would show = as if to show.
168	Hiar. 'Slight, why does your lordship endure him?	= by God's light, a strong oath; a statute of 1606 banned
		the explicit blaspheming use of God's name on stage.
170	Reb. The place, the place, my lord!
172	Thar. Be you his attorney, sir.	= Tharsalio asks Hiarbas to speak for Rebus (ie. fight in his
		stead).
174	Hiar. What would you do, sir?
176	Thar. Make thee leap out at window at which thou	176-7: to come in the window was a euphemism for being a bastard.^3
	cam'st in. Whoreson bagpipe lords!	= ie. long-winded talker.^1 Smeak wonders if there is a swipe
178		here at the recently-enthroned English King James I and the many countrymen of his from Scotland who seemed to have undesirably descended on England in his wake.
	Eud. What rudeness is this?
180
	Thar. What tameness is it in you, madam, to stick at	= scruple or hesitate.^1
182	the discarding of such a suitor? A lean lord, dubbed with	182-3: A lean lord…others = the otherwise insignificant Rebus gains his substance from his connection to the Viceroy.
	the lard of others! A diseased lord, too, that opening	183: diseased lord = Tharsalio alludes to Rebus' alleged
184	certain magic characters in an unlawful book, up start as	suffering from syphilis. 183-4: that opening…up start = "that by opening up and using a book of witchcraft, raise (up start), etc." characters = words. unlawful = in the early 16th century, witchcraft was still illegal.
	many aches in's bones, as there are ouches in's skin.	185: aches was pronounced "aitches" at the time, punning easily with ouches; ouches refers to sores on the skin,^1 which, along with the aching of Rebus' bones, allude to the symptoms of his venereal disease.
186	Send him, mistress, to the widow your tenant, the
	virtuous pandress Arsace. I perceive he has crowns	= Tharsalio is only partially ironic, and not at all cruel: Arsace actually was once a prosperous woman, but who has since fallen on hard times, and now pays rent in one of the countess' properties, where she seems to be running a brothel.
188	in's purse, that make him proud of a string; let her pluck	= the meaning of the phrase is not entirely clear, but appears several times in English writing of the day; the OED cites the phrase from a 1650 work, and suggests, since the phrase is applied to a horse, that string is a shortened form of stringhalt, a condition which causes the hind legs of a horse to contract in a spasm; since proud can mean "sexually excited", the combination could be highly suggestive. The punning is dense in these lines: string can also refer to the cord of a musical instrument, so there is a play on words with pluck; pluck in turn is something you do to a goose (line 189).
	the goose therefore, and her maids dress him.	189: goose = fool, referring to Rebus. maids = euphemism for Arsace's prostitutes. dress him = ie. prepare or cook Rebus, who is a goose; but dress also meant to raise or erect,^1 thus adding to the suggestiveness.
190
	Psor. Still, my lord, suffer him?	= ie. "you tolerate".
192
	Reb. The place, sir, believe it, the place!
194
	Thar. O, good Lord Rebus, the place is never like to be
196	yours that you need respect it so much.
198	Eud. Thou wrong'st the noble gentleman.
200	Thar. Noble gentleman? A tumour, an imposthume, he	= a festering swelling, used figuratively here, as in "swollen with pride".^1
	is, madam: a very hautboy, a bag-pipe, in whom there is	= an early oboe-like instrument, referring again to Rebus' windiness.
202	nothing but wind, and that none of the sweetest	= also meaning flatulence, which smells none too sweet
	neither.	(wind has been used in this way since as far back as 1000 A.D.).^1
204
	Eud. Quit the house of him by th' head and shoulders!	= to her servants: "toss him out of the house".
206
	Thar. Thanks to your honour, madam, and my lord	207-8: Tharsalio seems to be mimicking Rebus.
208	cousin, the Viceroy, shall thank you.
210	Reb. So shall he indeed, sir.
212	Lycus, Arg. Will you begone, sir?
214	Thar. Away, poor fellows!
216	Eud. What is he made of, or what devil sees	= ie. Rebus; Eudora is addressing Tharsalio here.
	Your childish and effeminate spirits in him,	= unmanly.^1
218	That thus ye shun him? Free us of thy sight.
	Begone, or I protest thy life shall go!	= swear.
220
	Thar. Yet shall my ghost stay still, and haunt those beauties	= "remain here always".
222	And glories that have rendered it immortal.
	But since I see your blood runs, for the time,	223-5: But since…agreements = Tharsalio, with typical chauvinism, accepts that Eudora must say "no" first before she eventually says "yes."
224	High in that contradiction that fore-runs
	Truest agreements (like the elements,	225-6: like the…generate = the ancient philosophers recognized four elements - earth, fire, air and water - out of which everything in the universe was created (generated).
226	Fighting before they generate) and that time	226-7: that time…worth = time must be allowed, ie. patience is required, to attain things of great value.
	Must be attended most in things most worth,
228	I leave your honour freely, and commend	228-231: commend…likewise = "I will dedicate (commend)
	That life you threaten, when you please, to be	my life (which you now threaten) to your service,
230	Adventured in your service, so your honour	when you are ready to accept it."
	Require it likewise.
232
	Eud. Do not come again.
234
	Thar. I'll come again, believe it, and again.	235: "I'll be back again and again", but perhaps also highly
236		suggestive, as the vulgar sense of come appears to have originated in the early 17th century.
	[Exit.]
238
	Eud. If he shall dare to come again, I charge you	= direct.
240	Shut doors upon him.
242	Arg. You must shut them, madam,
	To all men else then, if it please your honour;	= common formula of submissive deference.
244	For if that any enter, he'll be one.
246	Eud. I hope, wise sir, a guard will keep him out.
248	Arg. Afore Heaven, not a guard, an't please your	248: Argus likely emphasizes a in a guard, as in "only
	honour!	one guard?" Argus, a coward, worries that he alone is being assigned the job of keeping Tharsalio out of the house.
250
	Eud. Thou liest, base ass; one man enforce a guard?	= "how can one man force (enforce) his way past a guard?"
252	I'll turn ye all away, by our isle's goddess,
	If he but set a foot within my gates.
254
	Psor. Your honour shall do well to have him poisoned.
256
	Hiar. Or begged of your cousin the Viceroy.	= begging was an English legal procedure in which a person
258		could apply to take wardship of an orphan or a mental incompetent, and thus control the ward's property; such a system was easily abused, and was to be abolished in England in 1660.
	[Exeunt.]
	ACT I, SCENE III.
	Before the House of Eudora.
	Lysander, from his stand.	= Lysander's secret viewing area, apparently located outside Eudora's house.
1	Lys. This braving wooer hath the success expected;	= daring. = that is, no success at all.
2	the favour I obtained made me witness to the sport,	= entertainment.
	and let his confidence be sure, I'll give it him home.	= "let him know about it": Lysander intends to tease his brother over his failure.
4	The news by this is blown through the four quarters of	= by now.
	the city. Alas, good confidence! But the happiness is,
6	he has a forehead of proof; the stain shall never stick	6: forehead of proof = an audacious invulnerability;^1 the
	there, whatsoever his reproach be.	sense is, he has no sense of shame or defeat.
8		6-7: the stain…reproach be = no amount of disgrace (stain) will stick to him, no matter how great the shame or insult (reproach).^1
	Enter Tharsalio.
10
	[Aside] What, in discourse?	11: Lysander notices that Tharsalio is talking to himself;
12		Elizabethan characters frequently express their inner thoughts aloud, for the convenience of both the audience and eavesdropping characters.
	Thar. Hell and the Furies take this vile encounter!
14	Who would imagine this Saturnian peacock	= the peacock was sacred to Juno, the queen of the gods, for whom Saturnia was an alternate epithet. The peacock, as an emblem of pride, refers to Eudora.
	Could be so barbarous to use a spirit	= treat.
16	Of my erection with such low respect?	= height (referring to his spirit), with obvious suggestive- ness.
	'Fore Heaven, it cuts my gall; but I'll dissemble it.	= spirit capable of resenting insult.^1 = despite the repulse,
18		Tharsalio will act as if he is not discouraged at all.
	Lys. What, my noble lord?
20
	Thar. Well, sir, that may be yet, and means to be.
22
	Lys. What means your lordship, then, to hang that head	23-24: to hang…erected = Lysander continues the double-
24	that hath been so erected; it knocks, sir, at your bosom	entendre begun by Tharsalio.
	to come in and hide itself.	= ie. from shame.
26
	Thar. Not a jot!
28
	Lys. I hope by this time it needs fear no horns.	= "I trust you are not married yet"; by not being married, Tharsalio need not worry about being cheating on!
30
	Thar. Well, sir, but yet that blessing runs not always in	31-32: to run in a blood means to be a family trait; hence,
32	a blood.	Tharsalio is saying that being cheated on doesn't always run in a family, ie. just because Lysander's wife may be unfaithful doesn't mean Tharsalio's own wife would be.
34	Lys. What, blanketed? O the gods! Spurned out by	34: blanketed? = "have you been tossed in a blanket?" ie. humiliated; see the note at Act I.ii.144. Spurned = kicked.
	grooms, like a base bisogno! Thrust out by th' head and	= servants. = beggar.^1
36	shoulders!
38	Thar. You do well, sir, to take your pleasure of me. −	38: "go ahead and tease me."
	[Aside] I may turn tables with you ere long.	39: he may get his revenge on Lysander yet for these jibes.
40
	Lys. What, has thy wit's fine engine taken cold? Art	= cleverness'.^1 = ingenuity or cunning.^1
42	stuffed in th' head? Canst answer nothing?
44	Thar. Truth is, I like my entertainment the better that	44: ie. "as a matter of fact, I prefer my treatment (from
	'twas no better.	Eudora) this way."
46
	Lys. Now the gods forbid that this opinion should run
48	in a blood!
50	Thar. Have not you heard this principle, “All things by	50-51: All things by strife engender: the sense is generally
	strife engender”?	that "strife is a creative force," suggesting that conflict necessarily precedes success. Chapman had used this idea before: in his famous translation of the Iliad, in Book XIX, line 90, he wrote, "All things are done by strife." R.W. Dent, in his Proverbial Language in English Drama etc., cites an early 16th century appearance of the following line: "All thyngs are create in maner of stryfe".^23
52
	Lys. Dogs and cats do.	53: dogs were associated with living a life of strife; the
54		Roman poet Martiall, in his tenth collection of epigrams, alluded to the "strife of dogs". Lysander humorously alludes to the reproductive habits of dogs and cats.
	Thar. And men and women too.
56
	Lys. Well, brother, in earnest, you have now set your	= "seriously now".
58	confidence to school, from whence I hope't has brought
	home such a lesson as will instruct his master never
60	after to begin such attempts as end in laughter.	= ie. Tharsalio's failure is a source of amusement for those who have learned of it.
62	Thar. Well, sir, you lesson my confidence still; I pray	= meaning both (1) instruct, and (2) admonish.^1
	heavens your confidence have not more shallow ground	62-64: I pray…so: Tharsalio's revenge begins: he
64	(for that I know) than mine you reprehend so.	plants the first seed of doubt in Lysander's mind that he
		should not be so confident in the fidelity of his wife, Cynthia.
66	Lys. My confidence? In what?
68	Thar. May be you trust too much.
70	Lys. Wherein?
72	Thar. In human frailty.	72: frailty was used to suggest female weakness of the flesh.
74	Lys. Why, brother, know you aught that may impeach	= anything.
	my confidence, as this success may yours? Hath your	75f : Hath your… = Lysander takes the bait.
76	observation discovered any such frailty in my wife (for
	that is your aim I know) then let me know it.
78
	Thar. Good, good! Nay, brother, I write no books of	79: good, good! = these words may be an aside, as Tharsa-
80	observations; let your confidence bear out itself, as mine	lio may be expressing pleasure that he has touched a raw
	shall me.	nerve in Lysander. 79-80: books of observations = non-fiction works in the 16th and 17th centuries frequently used the word Observations in their titles or section headings: the first decade of the 17th century, for example, saw books entitled Obseruations vpon the fiue first bookes of Cæsars (1600) and Holy Observations (1607), and numerous other books with subtitles and section headings with the word.
82
	Lys. That's scarce a brother's speech. If there be	83: That's scarce…speech = "that's not how one should speak towards ones brother."
84	aught wherein your brother's good might any way be
	questioned, can you conceal it from his bosom?	= ie. brought into question.
86
	Thar. So, so! Nay, my saying was but general. I	87-88: Tharsalio has not yet actually suggested anything
88	glanced at no particular.	specifically about Cynthia.
		Tharsalio's "So, so!" may be an aside, as was "Good, good!" in line 79 above.
90	Lys. Then must I press you further. You spake (as
	to yourself, but yet I overheard) as if you knew some
92	disposition of weakness where I most had fixed my	92-93: where I…trust = ie. in Cynthia, his wife.
	trust. I challenge you to let me know what 'twas.
94
	Thar. Brother, are you wise?
96
	Lys. Why?
98
	Thar. Be ignorant. Did you never hear of Actӕon?	= a mythological youth who accidentally stumbled across
100		the goddess Diana while she was naked and bathing; she turned him into a stag, and he was torn to death by his own dogs.
	Lys. What then?
102
	Thar. Curiosity was his death. He could not be content
104	to adore Diana in her temple, but he must needs dog her
	to her retired pleasures, and see her in her nakedness.
106	Do you enjoy the sole privilege of your wife's bed?
	Have you no pretty Paris for your page? No young	107-8: Tharsalio speculates as to whether Cynthia has any
108	Adonis to front you there?	attractive young men around her to stimulate her interest.
		Paris and Adonis = two exceptionally good-looking youths from Greek mythology. Paris of course took Helen away from Menelaus, precipitating the Trojan War; Adonis was so beautiful that Venus fell in love with him. for your page = "as your servant" (so as to be a potential side-interest for Cynthia). front = face.
110	Lys. I think none; I know not.
112	Thar. Know not still, brother. Ignorance and credulity	112f: continued typical Elizabethan cynicism: husbands are better off ignorant of what their wives are up to; those who are too smart for their own good, ie. by being aware of their wives' extracurricular activities, are unhappy. Tharsalio goes on to list a number of classes of men (grouped by profession) who fit this latter category.
	are your sole means to obtain that blessing. You see
114	your greatest clerks, your wisest politicians are not that	= scholars.
	way fortunate; your learned lawyers would lose a dozen	115-6: your learned…term: a lawyer would gladly lose twelve cases to get a lease on ignorance, even for just a specified period of tenancy (term);^1 but term also referred to the quarters of the calendar in which the law courts were in session.
116	poor men's causes to gain a lease on't, but for a term.
	Your physician is jealous of his. Your sages in general,	= ie. "suspicious of his wife."
118	by seeing too much, oversee that happiness. Only your	= the sense is, "cheat (oversee)^13 themselves of that happiness."
	blockheadly tradesman, your honest-meaning citizen,
120	your nott-headed country gentleman, your	= short-haired (as opposed to the long hair worn by courtiers).^3
	unapprehending stinkard, is blessed with the sole
122	prerogative of his wife's chamber, for which he is yet	= bedroom.^1
	beholding, not to his stars, but to his ignorance. For, if	= beholden, in debt to. = ie. low-born men are happy in their marriages because they are ignorant of their wives' side activities, and not because the stars (whose position at one's birth was believed to determine one's destiny) told them that their marriages really were secure.
124	he be wise, brother, I must tell you the case alters.	= ie. he learns the truth.
	How do you relish these things, brother?
126
	Lys. Passing ill!	127: "exceedingly poorly!"
128
	Thar. So do sick men solid meats. Heark you, brother,	= foods. = listen.
130	are you not jealous?	= suspicious, apprehensive.^2
132	Lys. No; do you know cause to make me?
134	Thar. Hold you there! Did your wife never spice your
	broth with a dram of sublimate? Hath she not yielded	135: dram of sublimate = small amount of poison (speci- fically mercuric chloride).^1 135-6: yielded…honour = common metaphor for a woman giving up her body to a man.
136	up the fort of her honour to a staring soldado, and	= soldier.
	(taking courage from her guilt) played open bankrout	137-8: played…shame = behaved in an unconcealedly shamelessly (ie. morally bankrupt) manner.
138	of all shame, and run the country with him? Then	= flee.^1
	bless your stars, bow your knees to Juno. Look where	= queen of the gods and protectress of marriage.^9
140	she appears.	= ie. Cynthia.
142	Enter Cynthia, Hylus and Ero.
144	Cyn. We have sought you long, sir; there's a
	messenger within hath brought you letters from the
146	Court, and desires your speech.
148	Lys. [Aside] I can discover nothing in her looks. −	148: "she doesn't look guilty."
	Go, I'll not be long.
150
	Cyn. Sir, it is of weight, the bearer says; and, besides,	= importance, punning with bearer.
152	much hastens his departure. − Honourable brother, cry	152-3: cry mercy = "I beg your pardon." Cynthia suddenly notices Tharsalio is present.
	mercy! What, in a conqueror's style? But come and	153-4: Cynthia mocks Tharsalio's failure to conquer Eudora.
154	overcome?	153-4: come and overcome? = "you came and were defeated?" Cynthia punningly alludes to Julius Caesar's famously brief message of victory in Asia Minor, "Veni, vidi, vici": "I came, I saw, I conquered."
156	Thar. A fresh course!	156: ie. of insults, a dinner metaphor.
158	Cyn. Alas, you see of how slight metal widows' vows	= mettle, substance; Cynthia is ironic.
	are made!
160
	Thar. [Aside] And that shall you prove too ere long.
162
	Cyn. Yet, for the honour of our sex, boast not abroad	163f: Cynthia continues to tease Tharsalio.
164	this your easy conquest; another might perhaps have
	stayed longer below stairs, it but was your confidence	= on the ground floor, where the servants' quarters was.^1
166	that surprised her love.
168	Hyl. My uncle hath instructed me how to acoast an	= ie. Tharsalio. = accost.
	honourable lady; to win her, not by suit, but by surprise.
170
	Thar. The whelp and all!	171: "That's my boy (whelp^1)!"
172
	Hyl. Good uncle, let not your near honours change	173-176: Hylus doesn't seem to be paying close attention to the conversation, as he assumes all is going well with Tharsalio's project; near honours = approaching marriage.
174	your manners; be not forgetful of your promise to me,
	touching your lady's daughter, Laodice. My fancy runs	= Laodice is pronounced with four syllables: la-O-dee-che.
176	so upon't that I dream every night of her.
178	Thar. A good chicken! Go thy ways, thou hast done
	well; eat bread with thy meat.	= also meaning a woman's body.^1
180
	Cyn. Come, sir, will you in?	= ie. come in; the scene has shifted: we are now in front of
182		the home of Lysander and Cynthia.
	Lys. I'll follow you.
184
	Cyn. I'll not stir a foot without you. I cannot satisfy the	185-6: Cynthia, we remember, had brought news to
186	messenger's impatience.	Lysander that a messenger calling him to court has
		arrived at their home.
188	[He takes Tharsalio aside.]
190	Lys. Will you not resolve me, brother?	= "satisfy my curiosity on this matter".
192	Thar. Of what?
194	Lysander stamps and goes out vexed,	194: Lysander is irritated by Tharsalio's mock ignorance.
	with Cynthia, Hylus, Ero.
196
	So, there's veney for veney, I have given't him i' th'	= thrust for thrust(from fencing).^3 = "given it to him".
198	speeding place for all his confidence. Well, out of this	= a vulnerable spot on the body capable of receiving a fatal wound.^3
	perhaps there may be moulded matter of more mirth	199: note the spectacular alliteration in this line.
200	than my baffling. It shall go hard but I’ll make my	= being insulted.^1 = "not be easy to do".
	constant sister act as famous a scene as Virgil did his	201: constant = faithful, loyal. sister = sister-in-law, Cynthia. 201-3: Tharsalio refers to Virgil the Sorcerer's revenge for his earlier humiliation (described in the note at I.i.98- 100): first, Virgil caused all the home fires of Rome to be extinguished; then, in order for the city's fires to be rekindled, his humiliator had to appear in the Forum in her undergarments, at which time she was surrounded by flames; only from this fire could the citizens relight their tapers and torches.^19
202	mistress, who caused all the fire in Rome to fail, so that
	none could light a torch but at her nose. Now forth! At	= Tharsalio arrives at the house of Arsace the pandress, who runs a brothel in the home she rents from Eudora.
204	this house dwells a virtuous dame − sometimes of	= formerly.
	worthy fame, now like a decayed merchant turned	205-6: decayed…broker = ruined businessman who had to turn to pawn broking or peddling to make a living.
206	broker − and retails refuse commodities for unthrifty	206-7: and retails…gallants = (1) like a pawn-broker, "sells cast-off possessions of wasteful gentlemen,"^1 (who have run short of money), and (2) in her current profession, "sells outcast or shunned persons (ie. prostitutes) to gentlemen who would waste their money on such things."
	gallants. Her wit I must employ upon this business to	207-8: Her wit…encounter = Tharsalio has a plan to win Eudora, but needs Arsace's help to implement it.
208	prepare my next encounter, but in such a fashion as
	shall make all split. − Ho, Madam Arsace! − Pray	= go to pieces (as a ship breaking up), ie. upset the status quo.
210	Heaven the oyster-wives have not brought the news	= fish-peddlers, ie. gossipers.^3
	of my wooing hither amongst their stale pilchards.	= to here. = sardines.^1
212
	Enter Arsace, Thomasin.	Entering Characters: the bawd Arsace's name is suggestive of "arse", the British term for the buttocks (a word in use since at least 1000 AD).^1 Thomasin is one of Arsace's prostitutes.
214
	Ars. What, my lord of the palace?	215: Arsace's ironic comment reveals she has indeed
216		learned of Tharsalio's failure at Eudora's house.
	Thar. Look you!
218
	Ars. Why, this was done like a beaten soldier.	= ie. one who is inured to any hardship.^1,3
220
	Thar. Hark, I must speak with you. I have a share
222	for you in this rich adventure. You must be the ass	222-3: the ass charged = the beast of burden loaded.
	charged with crowns to make way to the fort, and I	223: charged…fort = ie. responsible for bribing the guard
224	the conqueror to follow, and seize it. Seest thou this	to open a fort to its besiegers, a metaphor for convincing
	jewel?	Eudora to receive Tharsalio; crowns were coins worth 5
226		shillings.^1
	Ars. Is't come to that? − Why, Thomasin!
228
	Thom. Madam!
230
	Ars. Did not one of the Countess's serving-men tell us
232	that this gentleman was sped?	= was successful (ironic).
234	Thom. That he did; and how her honour graced and
	entertained him in very familiar manner.
236
	Ars. And brought him downstairs herself.
238
	Thom. Ay, forsooth, and commanded her men to bear
240	him out of doors.
242	Thar. 'Slight, pelted with rotten eggs?	= by God's light. = another metaphor for Tharsalio's being
		assaulted with teasing.
244	Ars. Nay, more; that he had already possessed her
	sheets.
246
	Thom. No, indeed, mistress, 'twas her blankets.	= ie. alluding once again to being tossed in a blanket.
248
	Thar. Out, you young hedge-sparrow; learn to tread	249-250: learn…fledge: "learn to walk before you fly."
250	afore you be fledge!	Tharsalio addresses Thomasin.
		be fledge = describes a young bird when it is first ready for flight.^1
252	[He kicks her out.]
254	Well, have you done now, lady?
256	Ars. O, my sweet kilbuck!	= fierce fellow.^1
258	Thar. You now, in your shallow pate, think this a	= uncomprehending. = humorous term for head.
	disgrace to me; such a disgrace as is a battered helmet
260	on a soldier's head; it doubles his resolution. Say, shall
	I use thee?	= "make use of thee."
262
	Ars. Use me?	= use could mean "have sex with", so Arsace is unsure what Tharsalio means exactly.
264
	Thar. O holy reformation, how art thou fallen down	265f: Tharsalio takes Arsace's response to be expressing horror that Tharsalio would suggest she have sex with him; Tharsalio rants, expounding on the hypocrisy of reformed sinners who now act in a manner that is the extreme opposite of their former behavior. Arsace's supposed retiring from her life as a pandress is a theme in a later scene.
266	from the upper bodies of the church to the skirts of the
	city! Honesty is stripped out of his true substance into	= chastity. = its.
268	verbal nicety. Common sinners startle at common	= delicacy of feeling.^1 = vulgar.^1
	terms, and they that by whole mountains swallow down	269-271: they that…eye = those who used to commit the
270	the deeds of darkness, a poor mote of a familiar word	worst sins now act as if they have been mortally offended
	makes them turn up the white o' th’ eye. Thou art the	by the most minor vulgarity to which they are exposed.
272	lady's tenant.
274	Ars. For term, sir.	= a fixed period of time, specified on a lease.^1
276	Thar. A good induction: be successful for me, make	= introduction, ie. "this is a good place to start."
	me lord of the palace, and thou shalt hold thy tenement	277-8: hold thy…ever = Tharsalio will grant a perpetual leasehold of her residence to Arsace and her descen- dants.
278	to thee and thine heirs for ever, in free smockage, as of	= a word of Chapman's creation, punning on socage, a
	the manner of panderage, provided always –	legal term describing the granting of tenancy on land in return for certain specified services;^1 smock refers to ladies' underwear, alluding to Arsace's service as a brothel madam, and is associated generally with loose behavior.
280
	Ars. Nay, if you take me unprovided!	281: Arsace misunderstands Tharsalio's phrase provided always: "not if you take me without warning", ie. unprepared, perhaps with some bawdy sense. Tharsalio ignores her comment.
282
	Thar. Provided, I say, that thou mak'st thy repair to her	= ie. go.
284	presently with a plot I will instruct thee in; and for thy	= immediately. = plan.
	surer access to her greatness thou shalt present her, as
286	from thyself, with this jewel.
288	Ars. So her old grudge stand not betwixt her and me.	288: Eudora, as we shall see, wants nothing to do with this
		brothel-keeper, other than presumably to collect rent.
290	Thar. Fear not that.
	Presents are present cures for female grudges,	291-2: women and judges are both open to bribery.
292	Make bad seem good, alter the case with judges.
294	[Exit with Arsace.]
	ACT II.
	SCENE I.
	A Room in the House of Lysander.
	Enter Lysander and Tharsalio.
1	Lys. So now we are ourselves. Brother, that ill-relished	= both poorly flavoured and unappreciated.^1
2	speech you let slip from your tongue hath taken so deep
	hold of my thoughts, that they will never give me rest
4	till I be resolved what 'twas you said, you know,	= satisfied, informed.
	touching my wife.	= concerning.
6
	Thar. Tush, I am weary of this subject! I said not so.	= expression of contempt.^2 = ie. nothing about Cynthia.
8
	Lys. By truth itself, you did! I overheard you. Come, it
10	shall nothing move me, whatsoever it be; pray thee	= "not upset or anger me".
	unfold briefly what you know.
12
	Thar. Why, briefly, brother, I know my sister to be	= ie. Cynthia.
14	the wonder of the earth and the envy of the heavens,
	virtuous, loyal, and what not. Briefly, I know she hath	= though what not sounds like modern slang, the OED actually records its use as far back as 1540.^1
16	vowed that till death and after death she'll hold inviolate
	her bonds to you, and that her black shall take no other	17-18: her black…other hue = proverbial:^3 she will never
18	hue, all which I firmly believe. In brief, brother, I know	change out of her widow's clothes.
	her to be a woman. But you know, brother, I have other
20	irons on th' anvil.	= ie. projects in motion: a variation on the more familiar "irons in the fire", a phrase which dates back at least to 1549.^1
22	[Exiturus.]	= begins to exit.
24	Lys. You shall not leave me so unsatisfied; tell me
	what 'tis you know.
26
	Thar. Why, brother, if you be sure of your wife's
28	loyalty for term of life, why should you be curious to	= legal expression for "one's whole life".
	search the almanacs for after-times, whether some	= (what will happen in) the future.
30	wandering Æneas should enjoy your reversion, or	30: wandering Aeneas = a prince of Troy, immortalized by Virgil in his epic Latin poem the Aeneid. Having been forced to flee Troy after its capture by the Greeks, Aeneas tried to sail to Italy, but contrary winds and adverse gods (especially Juno) kept him travelling for seven years. enjoy your reversion = reversion is another legal term, referring to the automatic transference of property or an office at the end of a defined period or occurrence of an event, such as the death of the current possessor; the reversion here specifically refers to Lysander's wife. The line refers to the torrid love affair between Aeneas and Dido, the Queen of Carthage, after Aeneas was driven by a storm onto the shores of North Africa.
	whether your true turtle would sit mourning on a	31-32: whether…branch = ie. whether Cynthia will remain unmarried if she becomes a widow; turtle = turtledove.
32	withered branch, till Atropos cut her throat? Beware of	= one of the three Fates, Atropos being responsible for cutting one's thread of life when it is time for one to die; Tharsalio humorously refers to her cutting one's throat instead.
	curiosity, for who can resolve you? You'll say, perhaps,	= "inform you", ie. "satisfy your curiosity in this matter".
34	her vow.
36	Lys. Perhaps I shall.
38	Thar. Tush, herself knows not what she shall do, when
	she is transformed into a widow! You are now a sober
40	and staid gentleman. But if Diana for your curiosity	= referring again to the goddess's ability to turn men into animals: see Act I.iii.99. Tharsalio's point is that just as Lysander could not predict what he would do if he were changed into a monkey, no one can guess what Cynthia would do if Lysander should die.
	should translate you into a monkey, do you know what	= transform.
42	gambols you should play? Your only way to be resolved	= leaps, as in dancing.^1
	is to die and make trial of her.
44
	Lys. A dear experiment; then I must rise again to be	= worthy. = ie. from the dead.
46	resolved.
48	Thar. You shall not need. I can send you speedier	48-50: Tharsalio leaves his brother with a statement as enigmatic as any he has made to him yet.
	advertisement of her constancy by the next ripier that	= notice. = faithfulness. = a peddler who transports fish inland to sell.^1
50	rides that way with mackerel. And so I leave you.	= mackerel was also slang for a bawd or pimp.^22
52	[Exit Tharsalio.]
54	Lys. All the Furies in hell attend thee! Has given me	= mythological spirits of revenge. = read as "he has".
	A bone to tire on, with a pestilence. 'Slight, know!	55: tire on = fasten onto or gnaw at: a term from falconry, describing a hawk tearing at its prey. 'Slight = God's light, an oath.
56	What can he know? What can his eye observe
	More than mine own, or the most piercing sight
58	That ever viewed her? By this light I think	= a common oath.
	Her privat'st thought may dare the eye of Heaven.	59: the sense is that even if Cynthia's most secret thoughts were exposed, she would have nothing to be ashamed of. the eye of Heaven = the sun.
60	And challenge th' envious world to witness it.	= spiteful.
	I know him for a wild, corrupted youth,	= ie. Tharsalio. = to be; in 61-66, Lysander tries to con- vince himself that Tharsalio is not worth listening to by impeaching his character.
62	Whom profane ruffians, squires to bawds and strumpets,	62: ie. the attendants of pimps and prostitutes.
	Drunkards spewed out of taverns into th' sinks	= cess-pools.^1
64	Of tap-houses and stews, revolts from manhood,	= ale-houses. = brothels. = rebels.^1
	Debauched perdus, have by their companies	= degenerates.^1 65-66: have by…themselves = all the scum
66	Turned devil like themselves, and stuffed his soul	of society have, thanks to Tharsalio's keeping company with them, turned him into as malignant a fellow as they themselves are.
	With damned opinions and unhallowed thoughts
68	Of womanhood, of all humanity,
	Nay, deity itself.
70
	Enter Lycus.
72
	Welcome, friend Lycus.
74
	Lycus. Have you met with your capricious brother?
76
	Lys. He parted hence but now.	= from here.
78
	Lycus. And has he yet resolved you of that point you
80	brake with me about?	= broached.^10
82	Lys. Yes, he bids me die for further trial of her	82-83: "yes, he told me I should die to test her faithfulness."
	constancy.
84
	Lycus. That were a strange physic for a jealous	= would be. = medicine. = suspicious.
86	patient; to cure his thirst with a draught of poison. Faith,
	sir, discharge your thoughts on't; think 'twas but a buzz	= groundless notion.^1
88	devised by him to set your brains a-work, and divert	88-89: divert…disgrace = "to keep you from focusing on his
	your eye from his disgrace. The world hath written your	failure to woo Eudora."
90	wife in highest lines of honoured fame; her virtues so
	admired in this isle as the report thereof sounds in	= that. = reaches, is heard by.
92	foreign ears; and strangers oft arriving here, as some	92: strangers = foreigners.
	rare sight, desire to view her presence, thereby to	92-93: as some rare sight = as if it were an excellent (rare) tourist site.
94	compare the picture with the original.
	Nor think he can turn so far rebel to his blood,	95: "nor should you believe Tharsalio is capable of turning so much against his own family". Note that Lycus has switched to verse in this line.
96	Or to the truth itself, to misconceive	= have a mistaken idea about.^1
	Her spotless love and loyalty; perhaps	= ie. without blemish or sin.
98	Oft having heard you hold her faith so sacred,	98-100: "he has heard you talk so often about her perfect faithfulness, and your going on about how if you were dead no man could rouse her passion so as to convince her to remarry".
	As, you being dead, no man might stir a spark
100	Of virtuous love in way of second bonds,	= marriage vows.
	As if you at your death should carry with you	= ie. "take with you".
102	Both branch and root of all affectiön,
	'T may be, in that point he's an infidel,	103: "(perhaps) it is only on this point that he is doubtful".
104	And thinks your confidence may overween.	104: confidence = ie. over-confidence
		overween = presume too much.^2 In 96-104 (perhaps…overween), Lycus speculates that Tharsalio doubts whether Cynthia can keep from becoming attracted to another man after he is dead, but not whether her love and loyalty to Lysander is genuine.
106	Lys. So think not I.
108	Lycus. Nor I, if ever any made it good.	= "even if anyone could substantiate it."
	I am resolved, of all she'll prove no changeling.	= ie. not to be one who is fickle,^1 a very common phrase.
110
	Lys. Well, I must yet be further satisfied.
112	And vent this humour by some strain of wit;	= whim, inclination; ie. Lysander is in a mood to concoct a plan to test Cynthia's loyalty to him.
	Somewhat I'll do, but what I know not yet.	= "I'll come up with something".
114
	[Exeunt.]
	ACT II, SCENE II.
	A Room in the House of Eudora.
	Enter Sthenia, Ianthe.	Entering Characters: Sthenia and Ianthe are two of Eudora's female attendants. The scene begins with Arsace having arrived at Eudora's house, where she is waiting to be brought in to meet with the countess.
1	Sthen. Passion of virginity, Ianthe, how shall we quit	= an oath. = ie. rid.
2	ourselves of this pandress that is so importunate to	= persistent.
	speak with us? Is she known to be a pandress?
4
	Ian. Ay, as well as we are known to be waiting-	= female servants or attendants.^1
6	women.
8	Sthen. A shrew take your comparison!	8: "don't compare us to her!" a shrew take = beshrew, curse.
10	Ian. Let's call out Argus, that bold ass, that never	10-13: briefly, "let's get Argus, who never thinks before he
	weighs what he does or says, but walks and talks like	talks, to tell Eudora that Arsace is here to see her."
12	one in a sleep, to relate her attendance to my lady, and
	present her.
14
	Sthen. Who, an't please your honour? None so fit to set	= who else. = a polite expression often used to one's
16	on any dangerous exploit. − Ho, Argus!	superiors; but it is also a catch-phrase of Sthenia's, who uses it frequently with her co-servants; an't = if it.
18	Enter Argus, bare.	= bareheaded, ie. with his servant's cap off.
20	Arg. What's the matter, wenches?	= a friendly and familiar form of address.
22	Sthen. You must tell my lady here's a gentlewoman	= ie. Eudora.
	called Arsace, her honour's tenant, attends her to impart
24	important business to her.
26	Arg. I will presently.	26: "I will see her immediately."
28	[Exit Argus.]
30	Ian. Well, she has a welcome present to bear out her	= support or help out,^3 ie. smooth the way for; note the wordplay between welcome present and unwelcome presence.
	unwelcome presence; and I never knew but a good gift
32	would welcome a bad person to the purest. − Arsace!	= ie. most virtuous person.
34	Enter Arsace.
36	Ars. Ay, mistress!
38	Sthen. Give me your present; I'll do all I can to make
	way both for it and yourself.
40
	Ars. You shall bind me to your service, lady.
42
	Sthen. Stand unseen!	43: "stay out of sight for a moment!"
44
	Enter Lycus, Eudora, Laodice; Rebus, Hiarbas,
46	Psorabeus, coming after; Argus coming to Eudora.
48	Arg. Here's a gentlewoman (an't please your honour)
	one of your tenants, desires access to you.
50
	Eud. What tenant? What's her name?
52
	Arg. Arsace, she says, madam.
54
	Eud. Arsace? What, the bawd?
56
	Arg. The bawd, madam? That's without my privity.	= "that is outside my knowledge or business (privity);"^1 but privity also refers to one's private parts.
58
	[She strikes him.]	59: I moved this line from where it originally appears,
60		before Argus' last response: modern scholar Allan Holaday also has commented on the problem with this stage direction's location (p. 555).
	Eud. Out, ass! Know'st not thou the pandress Arsace?
62
	Sthen. She presents your honour with this jewel.
64
	Eud. This jewel? How came she by such a jewel?
66	She has had great customers.	= wealthy.
68	Arg. She had need, madam; she sits at a great rent.	68: a humorous bit of back-talk by Argus; sits at = ie. pays.
70	Eud. Alas, for your great rent! I'll keep her jewel, and
	keep you her out, ye were best: speak to me for a	71: keep you = "you keep".
72	pandress?	ye were best = "it would be best for you." speak = "dare you speak". for = on behalf of
74	Arg. [Aside] What shall we do?	74: Argus addresses the waiting-women.
76	Sthen. [Aside] Go to, let us alone! − Arsace!	= "get out of here".
78	Ars. Ay, lady!
80	Sthen. You must pardon us, we cannot obtain your
	access.
82
	Ars. Mistress Sthenia, tell her honour, if I get not
84	access to her, and that instantly, she's undone.	= ruined.
86	Sthen. This is something of importance − Madam, she
	swears your honour is undone, if she speak not with you
88	instantly.
90	Eud. Undone?
92	Ars. Pray her, for her honour's sake, to give me instant
	access to her.
94
	Sthen. She makes her business your honour, madam;
96	and entreats, for the good of that, her instant speech
	with you.
98
	Eud. How comes my honour in question? Bring her
100	to me.
102	[Arsace advances.]
104	Ars. Our Cyprian goddess save your good honour!	= ie. Venus, who was born in Cyprus.
106	Eud. Stand you off, I pray. How dare you, mistress,	= ie. "don't come so close to me, please."
	importune access to me thus, considering the last	= insist on, demand to have.
108	warning I gave for your absence?
110	Ars. Because, madam, I have been moved by your	110-2: Arsace exaggerates a bit; in fact, all of Arsace's
	honour's last most chaste admonition to leave the	part of the conversation with Eudora is filled with
112	offensive life I led before.	hilarious (if unintentional) double-talk, and awkward
		attempts at high language.
114	Eud. Ay? Have you left it then?
116	Ars. Ay, I assure your honour, unless it be for the
	pleasure of two or three poor ladies, that have prodigal	= wasteful or extravagant.
118	knights to their husbands.	= for; Arsace is splitting hairs here: she is still only involved in the prostitution business to help some unlucky wives make some extra money, but otherwise she has retired!
120	Eud. Out on thee, impudent!	= "damn you".^1
122	Ars. Alas, madam, we would all be glad to live in our
	callings.
124
	Eud. Is this the reformed life thou talk'st on?
126
	Ars. I beseech your good honour mistake me not, I
128	boast of nothing but my charity, that's the worst.	= ie. for those wives she "allows" to work for her.
130	Eud. You get these jewels with charity, no doubt. But
	what's the point in which my honour stands endangered,
132	I pray?
134	Ars. In care of that, madam, I have presumed to	= "it is because I am concerned for your honour".
	offend your chaste eyes with my presence. Hearing it
136	reported for truth and generally that your honour will
	take to husband a young gentleman of this city called
138	Tharsalio −
140	Eud. I take him to husband?
142	Ars. If your honour does, you are utterly undone, for	= ruined.
	he's the most incontinent and insatiate man of women	= unable to control himself (in matters of sex).
144	that ever Venus blessed with ability to please them.
146	Eud. Let him be the devil! I abhor his thought, and	= ie. "even thinking about him".
	could I be informed particularly of any of these
148	slanderers of mine honour, he should as dearly dare it
	as anything wherein his life were endangered.
150
	Ars. Madam, the report of it is so strongly confident,	= certain.
152	that I fear the strong destiny of marriage is at work in it.
	But if it be, madam, let your honour's known virtues	153-7: following Tharsalio's instructions, Arsace, with crude but effective reverse psychology, warns Eudora to avoid him because of his insatiable sexual appetite!
154	resist and defy it for him, for not a hundred will serve	154-5: not a hundred…turn = not even one hundred women can satisfy Tharsalio.
	his one turn. I protest to your honour, when (Venus	= swear.
156	pardon me) I winked at my unmaidenly exercise, I have	= "closed my eyes to", ie. "turned a blind eye to".
	known nine in a night made mad with his love.
158
	Eud. What tell'st thou me of his love? I tell thee I
160	abhor him, and destiny must have another mould for my	160-3: destiny must…of him = not completely clear, but I think than Nature should be read as "rather than for Nature", so that the sense of the whole is something like, "destiny must have another path for me, such as to see both my character and honour turn against me and transform me, or witchcraft transform me, into a form other than one who would give even a single further thought to Tharsalio." mould = form, fashion, or model.^1
	thoughts than Nature or mine honour, and a witchcraft
162	above both, to transform me to another shape as soon as
	to another conceit of him.	= thought.
164
	Ars. Then is your good honour just as I pray for you;
166	and, good madam, even for your virtue's sake, and
	comfort of all your dignities and possessions, fix your
168	whole womanhood against him. He will so enchant you,
	as never man did woman: nay, a goddess (say his
170	light huswives) is not worthy of his sweetness.	= wanton hussies.^1
172	Eud. Go to, begone!
174	Ars. Dear madam, your honour's most perfect
	admonitions have brought me to such a hate of these
176	imperfections, that I could not but attend you with my	= "I felt I had no choice but to".
	duty, and urge his unreasonable manhood to the fill.	177: urge = bring attention to.
178		unreasonable manhood = ie. his unrestrained sexual activity, though highly suggestive in a physical sense. to the fill = "to the maximum extent that I can", also obviously suggestive.
	Eud. Manhood, quoth you?
180
	Ars. Nay, beastlihood, I might say, indeed, madam, but
182	for saving your honour. Nine in a night, said I?	182: saving your honour = phrase used to apologize for a
		potentially offensive comment. said I? = "did I mention that?"
184	Eud. Go to, no more!
186	Ars. No more, madam? That's enough, one would	186: Arsace chooses to interpret Eudora to mean "no more
	think.	than nine?"
188
	Eud. Well, begone, I bid thee!
190
	Ars. Alas, madam, your honour is the chief of our city,
192	and to whom shall I complain of these inchastities
	(being your ladyship's reformed tenant) but to you that
194	are chastest?
196	Eud. I pray thee go thy ways, and let me see this
	reformation you pretend continued.
198
	Ars. I humbly thank your good honour that was first
200	cause of it.
202	Eud. Here's a complaint as strange as my suitor.
204	Ars. I beseech your good honour think upon him, make
	him an example.
206
	Eud. Yet again?	207: "are you still here?"
208
	Ars. All my duty to your Excellence!
210
	[Exit Arsace.]
212
	Eud. These sorts of licentious persons, when they are	213-4: the general idea is that reformed sinners rail the strongest against sin.
214	once reclaimed, are most vehement against licence. But
	it is the course of the world to dispraise faults and use	= criticize, censure.^1
216	them, that so we may use them the safer. What might a
	wise widow resolve upon this point, now? Contentment
218	is the end of all worldly beings. Beshrew her, would she	218: end = goal.
	had spared her news!	218-9: Beshrew…news! = "Curse her, I wish she had
220		not told me all this." Eudora, despite herself, is falling into Tharsalio's trap.
	[Exit.]
222
	Reb. See if she take not a contrary way to free herself
224	of us.
226	Hiar. You must complain to his Altitude.
228	Psor. All this for trial is; you must endure	228-9: "she is just testing your resolve; those of you who
	That will have wives, nought else with them is sure.	want wives will have to put up with a lot: that is the only
230		certain thing about women."
	[Exit Rebus with the others.]
	ACT II, SCENE III.
	Before the House of Eudora.
	Enter Tharsalio, Arsace.
1	Thar. Hast thou been admitted, then?	= received (by Eudora).
2
	Ars. Admitted? Ay, into her heart, I'll able it; never	3: able = warrant.^3
4	was man so praised with a dispraise; nor so spoken for
	in being railed on. I'll give you my word, I have set her
6	heart upon as tickle a pin as the needle of a dial, that	= unstable.^1 = compass.
	will never let it rest till it be in the right position.	5-7: I have set…position = with the metaphor of the
8		wavering compass, Arsace reveals her confidence that she has set Eudora's mind aflame with her hilarious portrayal of Tharsalio's exceptional abilities.
	Thar. Why dost thou imagine this?
10
	Ars. Because I saw Cupid shoot in my words, and	= Arsace's words had the same effect as one of Cupid's arrows.
12	open his wounds in her looks. Her blood went and	12-13: Her blood…heart = Eudora's face wavered between being pale and being flushed, a true sign of her emotional volatility.
	came of errands betwixt her face and her heart, and
14	these changes I can tell you are shrewd tell-tales.	= indicative, telling.^2
16	Thar. Thou speak'st like a doctress in thy faculty; but,	= academic metaphor: doctress = female with a higher degree; faculty = the set of all academics in a particular field.^1
	howsoever, for all this foil I'll retrieve the game once	17: for all this foil = "despite my earlier setback".^2 retrieve the game = a hunting metaphor, literally "flush the game out again."^3
18	again; he's a shallow gamester that for one displeasing	18-19: he's a…lost = he who quits after one bad toss of the
	cast gives up so fair a game for lost.	dice (cast) is not a true gambler (gamester); Tharsalio has switched metaphors.
20
	Ars. Well, 'twas a villanous invention of thine, and had	= wicked idea or scheme.
22	a swift operation; it took like sulphur. And yet this	= alluding to sulphur's ability to catch fire easily.^1
	virtuous Countess hath to my ear spun out many a
24	tedious lecture of pure sister's thread against	= mocking adjective for Puritans.^1
	concupiscence; but ever with such an affected zeal as	= lust.^1 = specifically religious zeal, tying in with pure.
26	my mind gave me she had a kind of secret titillation to	= "put it into my mind that". = desire, itching.^1
	grace my poor house sometimes, but that she feared a	= ie. "visit my unworthy brothel".
28	spice of the sciatica, which, as you know, ever runs in	= touch.^4 = humorous term for syphilis, of which pain in
	the blood.	the joints or sciatic nerve was a symptom.
30
	Thar. And, as you know, soaks into the bones. But to	= another euphemistic description of venereal disease.
32	say truth, these angry heats that break out at the lips of	= passionate or strong words or arguments.
	these strait-laced ladies, are but as symptoms of a lustful
34	fever that boils within them. For wherefore rage wives	= "why do wives rail".
	at their husbands so when they fly out? For zeal against	35: fly out = ie. cheat on their wives.
36	the sin?	For = ie. "is it because of their". zeal = zeal has a religious sense, with sin.
38	Ars. No, but because they did not purge that sin.	= Arsace continues the religious metaphor: "no; wives rage because they are deprived of sex when their husbands cheat on them." Purge literally refers to a moral cleansing or freeing one of guilt or sin.
40	Thar. Th' art a notable siren, and I swear to thee, if I	= enticer, especially to sexual activity, referring to the mythical sea creatures described at Act I.ii.17-18.
	prosper, not only to give thee thy manor-house gratis,	= for free as a gift.
42	but to marry thee to some one knight or other, and bury	42-43: bury…ladyship = ie. "in your becoming a woman
	thy trade in thy ladyship. Go, begone!	of rank and respectability, you can quit your current
44		profession forever."
	[Exit Arsace.]
46
	Enter Lycus.
48
	Thar. What news, Lycus? Where's the lady?	= ie. Eudora.
50
	Lycus. Retired into her orchard.	= garden.
52
	Thar. A pregnant badge of love, she's melancholy. –	= obvious.
54
	Lycus. 'Tis with the sight of her Spartan wooer. But	55: ie. Lycus suggests Eudora is brooding or sullen (melancholy) because of the presence of Rebus.
56	howsoever 'tis with her, you have practised strangely	56-57: practiced…upon = to practice upon is to play a
	upon your brother.	trick on or manipulate.^1
58
	Thar. Why so?
60
	Lycus. You had almost lifted his wit off the hinges.
62	That spark jealousy, falling into his dry, melancholy	= suspicion.
	brain, had well near set the whole house on fire.
64
	Thar. No matter, let it work; I did but pay him in's	65-66: pay him…coin = a metaphor for giving it to Lysander just as Lysander gave it to him.
66	own coin. 'Sfoot, he plied me with such a volley of	= by God's foot.
	unseasoned scoffs, as would have made Patience itself	= ie. disagreeable.^1 = "personified Patience herself".
68	turn ruffian, attiring itself in wounds and blood. But is	= herself.
	his humour better qualified, then?	= mood. = moderated, ie. calmed.^4
70
	Lycus. Yes, but with a medicine ten parts more
72	dangerous than the sickness: you know how strange his	= extreme.^1
	dotage ever was on his wife, taking special glory to have	= infatuation.
74	her love and loyalty to him so renowned abroad; to
	whom she often-times hath vowed constancy after life,
76	till her own death had brought, forsooth, her widow-	76-77: brought...to bed = brought an end to her vows to remain a widow (widow-troth). forsooth = truthfully.
	troth to bed. This he joyed in strangely, and was therein
78	of infallible belief, till your surmise began to shake it;	= conjecture, speculation.
	which hath loosed it so, as now there's nought can settle	= nothing.
80	it but a trial, which he's resolved upon.	= test or experiment.
82	Thar. As how, man, as how?
84	Lycus. He is resolved to follow your advice, to die and
	make trial of her stableness; and you must lend your
86	hand to it.
88	Thar. What, to cut 's throat?	= cut his.
90	Lycus. To forge a rumour of his death, to uphold it by	90-91: uphold…circumstance = the sense is, "behave in
	circumstance, maintain a public face of mourning, and	all ways as if Lysander were actually dead", such as by
92	all things appertaining.	providing a funeral, etc.
94	Thar. Ay, but the means, man? What time? What
	probability?
96
	Lycus. Nay, I think he has not licked his whelp into full	97-98: licked…shape yet = allusion to the belief that bear
98	shape yet, but you shall shortly hear on 't.	cubs were shapeless blobs until their mothers gave them
		form by licking them; a metaphor for Lysander's plan not yet being fully developed.
100	Thar. And when shall this strange conception see light?
102	Lycus. Forthwith; there's nothing stays him but some	= at once. = ie. prevents him from putting his plan into action immediately.
	odd business of import, which he must wind up; lest,	= ie. just in case.
104	perhaps, his absence by occasion of his intended trial
	be prolonged above his aims.	105: ie. takes longer to complete than he anticipates.
106
	Thar. Thanks for this news, i'faith! This may perhaps
108	prove happy to my nephew. Truth is, I love my sister
	well and must acknowledge her more than ordinary
110	virtues. But she hath so possessed my brother's heart
	with vows and disavowings, sealed with oaths, of
112	second nuptials, as, in that confidence, he hath invested	112-8: in that confidence…in ruin = Lysander is so certain that Cynthia will never remarry that he has arranged to leave his entire estate to her should he die, leaving their son Hylus, not to mention Tharsalio, completely dependent on Cynthia for support; and, as he goes on at 115f, since she likely will remarry, her new husband will probably spend the entire family fortune, impoverishing the family.
	her in all his state, the ancient inheritance of our family;
114	and left my nephew and the rest to hang upon her pure
	devotion; so as he dead, and she matching (as I am	= marrying (again).
116	resolved she will) with some young prodigal, what must	= convinced. = extravagantly wasteful man.
	ensue, but her post-issue beggared, and our house,	= children by her second marriage.^3
118	already sinking, buried quick in ruin. But this trial may	118-9: But this…remove it = ie. "but this experiment may cause the dislocation of his confidence in Cynthia, and as a consequence cause him to reconsider leaving her the family fortune."
	remove it; and since 'tis come to this, mark but the issue,	= "observe the outcome (issue)".
120	Lycus; for all these solemn vows, if I do not make her
	prove in the handling as weak as a wafer, say I lost my	121-2: lost my…travel = ie. "wasted my time travelling to Italy"; the Italians were proverbial for being immoral and corrupt, so Tharsalio is suggesting he has learned how to break a woman's resistance there.
122	time in travel. This resolution, then, has set his wits
	in joint again; he's quiet?	= ie. in contrast to "out of joint". = "he has calmed down?"
124
	Lycus. Yes, and talks of you again in the fairest
126	manner; listens after your speed –	= "inquires about your (hoped-for) success".
128	Thar. Nay, he's passing kind; but I am glad of this trial,	= exceedingly.
	for all that.
130
	Lycus. Which he thinks to be a flight beyond your wing.	131: Lycus is actually finishing his line of 125-6, which changes the effect a bit: Lysander still thinks winning Eudora is impossible for Tharsalio.
132
	Thar. But he will change that thought ere long. My bird	= ie. Arsace; Tharsalio picks up on Lycus' bird metaphor of
134	you saw even now sings me good news, and makes	lines 131-2.
	hopeful signs to me.
136
	Lycus. Somewhat can I say too. Since your	137-8: your messenger's = Arsace's.
138	messenger's departure her ladyship hath been	= ie. Eudora.
	something altered − more pensive than before − and
140	took occasion to question of you, what your addictions
	were, of what taste your humour was, of what cut you
142	wore your wit? And all this in a kind of disdainful scorn.
144	Thar. Good calendars, Lycus! Well, I'll pawn this jewel	144: calendars = omens, signs.^3 144-6: I'll pawn…judgment: Tharsalio expresses
	with thee, my next encounter shall quite alter my	confidence that he will indeed succeed with Eudora,
146	brother's judgment. Come, let's in; he shall commend	and thus change Lysander's opinion of him.
	it for a discreet and honourable attempt.
148	Men's judgments sway on that side Fortune leans,	148: "there's nothing like success to make people think
	Thy wishes shall assist me.	better of you".
150
	Lycus. And my means.	= "as well as any practical assistance I can provide." Note
152		the split rhyming couplet of 148-151 which finishes the scene.
	[Exeunt.]
	ACT II, SCENE IV.
	Enter Argus, Clinias, Sthenia, Ianthe.	Entering Characters: Eudora's servants meet.
1	Arg. I must confess I was ignorant what 'twas to court	1-2: Argus begins the scene by mocking Rebus' attempts
2	a lady till now.	to woo Eudora by impressing her with his connections
		to the Viceroy.
4	Sthen. And I pray you, what is it now?
6	Arg. To court her, I perceive, is to woo her with letters
	from Court; for so this Spartan lord's Court discipline	= school, course of action.^2
8	teacheth.
10	Sthen. His lordship hath procured a new packet from	= ie. Rebus. = parcel, ie. containing letters, etc.
	his Altitude.
12
	Clin. If he bring no better ware than letters in's packet,	= in his.
14	I shall greatly doubt of his good speed.	= success.
16	Ian. If his lordship did but know how gracious his	= pleasing, ie. welcome: Ianthe is ironic.
	aspect is to my lady in this solitary humour.	= appearance. = mood to be alone.
18
	Clin. Well, these retired walks of hers are not usual,
20	and bode some alteration in her thoughts. What may
	be the cause, Sthenia?
22
	Sthen. Nay, 'twould trouble Argus with his hundred	23-24: Argus = not our servant Argus, but rather the
24	eyes to descry the cause.	hundred-eyed giant of myth; Argus was charged with
		guarding Io, one of Jupiter's mortal lovers, who had been turned into a cow by Juno, Jupiter's jealous wife.^9 descry = discover, perceive.
26	Ian. Venus keep her upright, that she fall not from the
	state of her honour; my fear is that some of these
28	serpentine suitors will tempt her from her constant vow	= with serpentine, a reference to the Garden of Eden.
	of widowhood. If they do, good night to our good days!
30
	Sthen. 'Twere a sin to suspect her: I have been witness	= it would be. = doubt.
32	to so many of her fearful protestations to our late lord	= awe-inspiring vows. = ie. Eudora's now-deceased
	against that course; to her infinite oaths imprinted on his	husband.
34	lips, and sealed in his heart with such imprecations to
	her bed, if ever it should receive a second impression;	= ie. her bed. = ie. a second indentation, from having a second body, ie. a new husband, in it.
36	to her open and often destestations of that incestuous	36-37: incestuous life = perhaps adulterous should
	life (as she termed it) of widows' marriages, as being	be preferred; for those who frowned on a widow's remarriage, such terms were meant to express censure, but there was no legal prohibition on widows remarrying in 16th-17th century England.
38	but a kind of lawful adultery, like usury permitted by
	the law, not approved; that to wed a second, was no	= ie. "but not".
40	better than to cuckold the first; that women should	= cheat on.
	entertain wedlock as one body, as one life, beyond	= consider or treat.
42	which there were no desire, no thought, no repentance
	from it, no restitution to it: so as if the conscience of her	43-46: so as if…in her = even if a widow's conscience
44	vows should not restrain her, yet the world's shame to	doesn't prevent her from remarrying, the public disgrace it would bring should still stifle any such inclination.
	break such a constant resolution, should repress any
46	such motion in her.	= impulse or inclination.^2
48	Arg. Well, for vows, they are gone to Heaven with her
	husband, they bind not upon earth; and as for women's
50	resolutions, I must tell you, the planets, and (as Ptolemy	50: Ptolemy was the famous and ancient Hellenic astro- nomer, whose earth-centric view of the universe held sway in Elizabethan literature; the alignment of the planets affected one's fortunes and future.
	says) the winds have a great stroke in them. Trust not	= perhaps meaning blow or strike,^1 with the sense of
52	my learning if her late strangeness and exorbitant	"having a large or unavoidable say in the matter".
	solitude be not hatching some new monster.
54
	Ian. Well applied, Argus; make you husbands
56	monsters?
58	Arg. I spoke of no husbands: but you wenches have
	the pregnant wits to turn monsters into husbands, as	= well-inclined.^2
60	you turn husbands into monsters.
62	Sthen. Well, Ianthe, 'twere high time we made in to	62-63: Rebus has been haunting Eudora in her garden.
	part our lady and her Spartan wooer.
64
	Ian. We shall appear to her like the two fortunate stars	65-66: the two fortunate stars refer to two of the brightest
66	in a tempest to save the shipwrack of her patience.	stars in the sky, Castor and Pollux, mythological twins who were turned into constellations by Zeus; they are associated with the phenomena of St. Elmo's fire, a naturally occurring corona of light which can appear on the mast of a ship during a storm, indicating to superstitious sailors the presence of the gods.^3
68	Sthen. Ay, and to him too, I believe; for by this time he	68-69: Sthenia humorously suggests that Rebus, who no
	hath spent the last dram of his news.	doubt has run out of things to say to Eudora, will also
70		appreciate a rescue.
	Arg. That is, of his wit.
72
	Sthen. Just, good wittols!	= true, exactly.^1 = meaning "fools", punning on wit.
74
	Ian. If not, and that my lady be not too deep in her new
76	dumps, we shall hear from his lordship what such a lord	= low spirits. = ie. Rebus; in 76-81, Ianthe describes the type of gossip Rebus is dependent on to keep conver- sation going.
	said of his wife the first night he embraced her; to what	77-79: to what…children = a very funny description of a
78	gentleman such a count was beholding for his fine	count whose wife has blessed his marriage by giving him children by another man.
	children; what young lady such an old count should
80	marry; what revels, what presentments, are towards;	= essentially meaning "parties". = plays. = approaching.^1
	and who penned the pegmas, and so forth: and yet, for	= inscriptions on the framework on a stage.^13
82	all this, I know her harsh suitor hath tired her to the	= harsh has a number of senses, all of which could apply: coarse, unpleasant to listen to or see, and causing physical revulsion^1
	uttermost scruple of her forbearance, and will do more,	= last bit or ounce.^2
84	unless we two, like a pair of shears, cut asunder the
	thread of his discourse.
86
	Sthen. Well then, let's in; but, my masters, wait you	87-88: wait you…perils = "make sure to do your duties, or
88	on your charge at your perils, see that you guard her	beware the consequences".
	approach from any more intruders.
90
	Ian. Excepting young Tharsalio.
92
	Sthen. True, excepting him indeed, for a guard of men
94	is not able to keep him out, an't please your honour.
96	Arg. Oh, wenches, that's the property of true valour,	= characteristic, nature.^1
	to promise like a pigmy and perform like a giant. If he
98	come, I'll be sworn I'll do my lady's commandment upon
	him.	97-99: If he…upon him = Argus talks bravely about dealing
100		with Tharsalio, but his courage is a sham; Argus regularly and humorously reveals himself to actually be quite the submissive coward!
	Ian. What, beat him out?
102
	Sthen. If he should, Tharsalio would not take it ill at his	= illy, badly.
104	hands, for he does but his lady's commandment.	= ie. Argus.
106	Enter Tharsalio.
108	Arg. Well, by Hercules, he comes not here!
110	Sthen. By Venus, but he does: or else she hath heard	= ie. Venus.
	my lady's prayers, and sent some gracious spirit in his	= ie. ghost.
112	likeness to fright away that Spartan wooer that haunts
	her.
114
	Thar. There stand her sentinels.
116
	Arg. 'Slight, the ghost appears again!	= God's light, an oath.
118
	Thar. Save ye, my quondam fellows in arms! Save ye,	119: Save ye = common greeting, short for "God save you".
120	my women!	quondam = one-time: Tharsalio acknowledges his
		former status as a page in Eudora's household.
122	Sthen. Your women, sir?
124	Thar. 'Twill be so. What, no courtesies? No	= ie. "you will be my servants soon." = bowing or courtsies,^1 as would be expected from one's own servants.
	preparation of grace? Observe me, I advise you for	= "treat me with a proper show of respect".^1
126	your own sakes.
128	Ian. For your own sake, I advise you to pack hence,	= depart from here.
	lest your impudent valour cost you dearer than you think.
130
	Clin. What senseless boldness is this, Tharsalio?
132
	Arg. Well said, Clinias, talk to him.	133: Argus gladly lets Clinias deal with Tharsalio!
134
	Clin. I wonder that notwithstanding the shame of your
136	last entertainment, and threatenings of worse, you would	= most recent welcome.
	yet presume to trouble this place again.
138
	Thar. Come, y' are a widgeon; off with your hat, sir,	= a type of wild duck, meaning a fool. = Tharsalio is addressing Clinias, who has refused to show the appropriate sign of respect by removing his hat.
140	acknowledge! Forecast is better than labour. Are you	= prudence.^1
	squint-eyed? Can you not see afore you? A little	= ie. "who it is that stands before you?"
142	foresight, I can tell you, might stead you much,	= help, be advantageous to.^1
	as the stars shine now.	143: Tharsalio expects the stars are aligning in his favor; his
144		point is that the servants would be wise to treat him with the appropriate respect, as he expects to be their master soon enough.
	Clin. 'Tis well, sir, 'tis not for nothing your brother is
146	ashamed on you. But, sir, you must know, we are	= of.
	charged to bar your entrance.
148
	Thar. But, whiffler, know you, that whoso shall dare to	= one in charge of clearing the way for a procession, usually
150	execute that charge, I'll be his executioner.	a piper or hornblower,^14 but referring here to Clinias'
		position as gentleman usher, one of whose responsibi- lities was to precede his master or mistress as he or she formally moved about.
152	Arg. By Jove, Clinias, methinks the gentleman speaks
	very honourably.
154
	Thar. Well, I see this house needs reformation; here's
156	a fellow stands behind now of a forwarder insight than	156: fellow = indicating Argus. behind = cowardly Argus has been standing behind the others! forwarder insight = greater ability to foresee the situation towards which events are heading.
	ye all. − What place hast thou?	= position in the household, ie. job.
158
	Arg. What place you please, sir.
160
	Thar. Law you, sir! Here's a fellow to make a	= a mild exclamation, often written as la you.
162	gentleman usher, sir! I discharge you of the place,	162-3: I discharge…his room = Tharsalio relieves Clinias from his office of gentleman usher, and puts Argus in his place. The position of gentleman usher was an important one: Tharsalio has put Argus in charge of all the household's servants!
	and do here invest thee into his room. Make much of	= position.^1
164	thy hair, thy wit will suit it rarely. And for the full
	possession of thine office, come, usher me to thy lady;
166	and to keep thy hand supple, take this from me.	= ie. Tharsalio offers Argus a gratuity
168	Arg. No bribes, sir, an't please your worship!
170	Thar. Go to, thou dost well, but pocket it for all that;	= "get going".
	it's no impair to thee, the greatest do 't.	= harm or dishonour.^2
172
	Arg. Sir, 'tis your love only that I respect, but since out
174	of your love you please to bestow it upon me, it were	= would be.
	want of courtship in me to refuse it; I'll acquaint my	= a lack of proper courtly behavior.
176	lady with your coming.
178	[Exit Argus.]
180	Thar. How say by this? Have not I made a fit choice,	= ie. "what do the rest of you have to say now?"
	that hath so soon attained the deepest mystery of his	181-2: deepest…profession = a religious pun and metaphor, meaning literally that Argus has learned the secret rites (mystery) of his chosen religion (profession),^1 the rite being the taking of a bribe, and profession also having its normal meaning of "occupation".
182	profession? Good sooth, wenches, a few courtesies
	had not been cast away upon your new lord.	183: "would not have been wasted on me", ie. would also
184		have been appropriately rewarded.
	Sthen. We'll believe that, when our lady has a new son
186	of your getting.
188	Enter Argus, Eudora, Rebus, Hiarbas, Psorabeus.
190	Eud. What's the matter? Who's that you say is come?
192	Arg. The bold gentleman, an't please your honour.
194	Eud. Why, thou fleering ass, thou –	= grinning.^1
196	Arg. An't please your honour.
198	Eud. Did not I forbid his approach by all the charge
	and duty of thy service?
200
	Thar. Madam, this fellow only is intelligent; for he	= is the only intelligent one.
202	truly understood his command according to the style	202-4: according…bid = according to the rules of Venus,
	of the Court of Venus, that is, by contraries: when you	the goddess of love, by which a woman means the
204	forbid, you bid.	the opposite of what she says.
206	Eud. By Heaven, I'll discharge my house of ye all!	206: "By God, I'll fire all of you!"
208	Thar. You shall not need, madam, for I have already
	cashiered your officious usher here, and choosed this	209: your usher is Clinias, who is officious because he had
210	for his successor.	been over-zealous in the performance of his duties; this
		refers to Argus.
212	Eud. O incredible boldness!
214	Thar. Madam, I come not to command your love with
	enforced letters, nor to woo you with tedious stories of	= ie. letters of recommendation, such as those the Viceroy wrote on behalf of Rebus.
216	my pedigree, as he who draws the thread of his descent
	from Leda's distaff, when 'tis well known his grandsire	= in Greek mythology, Leda, the daughter of a king, was impregnated by Zeus, who at the time was disguised as a swan, resulting in the birth of the twins Castor and Pollux^9 (see the note above at lines 65-66); a distaff was an instrument for spinning wool;^1 thus, in lines 216-8, Tharsalio is mocking Rebus' tenuous or false claims to a grand lineage, comparing them to a very thin thread drawn from a distaff.
218	cried cony skins in Sparta.	= was a seller of rabbit furs for hats;^3 to cry a commodity
		means to announce its sale, like a hawker.
220	Reb. Whom mean you, sir?
222	Thar. Sir, I name none but him who first shall name
	himself.
224
	Reb. The place, sir, I tell you still, and this goddess's	= Rebus once again suggests that it is only out respect for
226	fair presence, or else my reply should take a far other	Eudora and her home that he will not immediately
	form upon 't.	challenge Tharsalio to a duel; this barely disguises his
228		cowardice.
	Thar. If it should, sir, I would make your lordship an
230	answer.
232	Arg. Anser's Latin for a goose, an't please your	232: anser is indeed Latin for goose, which itself was a
	honour.	common term for a fool. A servant would be proud if he actually could show off any knowledge of Latin.
234
	Eud. Well noted, gander; and what of that?	= "what is your point?"
236
	Arg. Nothing, an't please your honour, but that he said	237-8: "only that when Tharsalio said he intends to make
238	he would make his lordship an answer.	Rebus an answer, he really meant he will make him a
		goose, ie. a fool."
240	Eud. Thus every fool mocks my poor suitor. Tell me,
	thou most frontless of all men, didst thou (when thou	241: frontless = shameless. 241-2: when thou…best = ie. "when you had plenty of opportunity to make a note of my morals", referring to when Tharsalio served her household as a page.
242	hadst means to note me best) ever observe so base a
	temper in me as to give any glance at stooping to my	= bowing down, ie. submitting herself.
244	vassal?	= slave or servant, meaning Tharsalio when he was her page.
246	Thar. Your drudge, madam, to do your drudgery.	= servant who worked on low and menial tasks.^1
248	Eud. Or am I now so scant of worthy suitors that may
	advance mine honour, advance my estate, strengthen my
250	alliance (if I list to wed) that I must stoop to make my	= wish.
	foot my head?	250-1: stoop…head = proverbial concept, suggesting
252		making the lowest the highest, ie. an improper reversal of some kind; here meaning Eudora would be marrying well below her rank, and making her servant (Tharsalio) her master.
	Thar. No, but your side, to keep you warm a-bed. But,
254	madam, vouchsafe me your patience to that point's	254-5: vouchsafe…answer = "please grant me permission to answer, in all seriousness, your point."
	serious answer. Though I confess, to get higher place in	255-6: to get…honourable = "I would wish I was wealthier
256	your graces, I could wish my fortunes more honourable,	and of higher rank, to be more worthy of your favour."
	my person more gracious, my mind more adorned with
258	noble and heroical virtues, yet, madam (that you think	258-9: that you…mine = "so that you don't think it would
	not your blood disparaged by mixture with mine) deign	be a dishonour to your blood-line to have it mix with
260	to know this: howsoever, I once, only for your love,	mine".
	disguised myself in the service of your late lord and
262	mine, yet my descent is as honourable as the proudest
	of your Spartan attempters, who, by unknown quills	= small tubes or channels for moving liquids, with perhaps also a punning glance at Rebus as a goose.
264	or conduits underground, draws his pedigree from
	Lycurgus his great toe to the Viceroy's little finger, and	= legendary lawgiver of Sparta (Rebus' home state).
266	from thence to his own elbow, where it will never leave	266-7: if his elbow itches, then he would scratch it: the OED
	itching.	suggests that rubbing or scratching one's elbow means
268		that one is pleased with oneself (def. of elbow, n., 4 Phrases d), but another old reference (which I found but then could not find again) suggests there was an old superstition that one who scratches his elbow while speaking is lying.
	Reb. 'Tis well, sir; presume still of the place.
270
	Thar. 'Sfoot, madam, am I the first great personage	= God's foot; in 271-6, Tharsalio defends his pretending to be worthy of no higher a position than Eudora's page, when in reality he is of noble stock, by claiming he acted this way just so he could be near her.
272	that hath stooped to disguises for love? What think you
	of our countryman Hercules, that for love put on	273f: Hercules, attacked with a severe illness, was told by
274	Omphale's apron and sate spinning amongst her	the Delphic oracle that his health would be restored if he sold himself as a slave and worked for three years for wages; Hercules subsequently was purchased by Omphale, the queen of Lydia; it was written by later Roman authors that he frequently did women's work while dressed in women's clothes, while Omphale wore the lion-skin normally associated with Hercules.^9 Tharsalio's allusion is not really to the point, as love had no role in the myth, although Hercules later did marry Omphale. sate = old variation of sat.
	wenches, while his mistress wore his lion's skin, and
276	lamb-skinned him if he did not his business?	= beat.^1
278	Eud. Most fitly thou resemblest thyself to that violent	= compares.
	outlaw that claimed all other men's possessions as his
280	own by his mere valour. For what less hast thou done?	= the sense is "by force alone".
	Come into my house, beat away these honourable
282	persons –
284	Thar. That I will, madam. − Hence, ye Sparta-velvets!	284: Tharsalio has taken Eudora's last sentence as an
		imperative! hence means "begone", and velvets alludes to the fine clothes and softness of Rebus and his companions, and is meant as an insult.
286	[Beating them.]
288	Psor. Hold, she did not mean so.
290	Thar. Away, I say, or leave your lives, I protest, here.	= die. = promise.
292	Hiar. Well, sir, his Altitude shall know you.
294	Reb. I'll do your errand, sir.
296	[Exeunt.]
298	Thar. Do, good cousin Altitude, and beg the reversion	298-9: beg…lady = ie. "ask the Viceroy to help you find another wife who can be handed off to you"; reversion is a legal term, referring to the automatic taking possession of a property at the end of a defined period or occurrence of an event, such as the death of the current possessor.
	of the next lady, for Dido has betrothed her love to me.	= Tharsalio compares himself to Aeneas (see the note at Act II.i.30), whom Dido, the Queen of Carthage, fell in love with.
300	By this fair hand, madam, a fair riddance of this
	Calydonian boar.	= the Calydonian Boar was the famous monster-boar sent by the goddess Artemis (the Roman Diana) to wreak havoc in Aetolia (in Greece); the boar was hunted to death by a collection of Greek heroes; Tharsalio is punning boar with boor, calling Rebus a rustic or a clown.^1 The two words would have sounded essentially the same in the 17th century. Smeak notes that as the ancient name for Scotland was Caledonia, Chapman once again associates the undesirable Rebus with Scotland, as he did earlier in referring to him and his companions as whoreson bagpipe lords.
302
	Eud. O most prodigious audaciousness!	= monstrous.
304
	Thar. True, madam! O fie upon 'em, they are	= "shame on them";^2 Tharsalio again deliberately misinter-
306	intolerable! And I cannot but admire your singular	prets Eudora's intended meaning, pretending her last
	virtue of patience, not common in your sex, and must	comment was aimed at the Spartans!
308	therefore carry with it some rare endowment of other
	masculine and heroical virtues. To hear a rude Spartan
310	court so ingenuous a lady, with dull news from Athens
	or the Viceroy's Court; how many dogs were spoiled
312	at the last bull-baiting, what ladies dubbed their	312: bull-baiting = popular Elizabethan entertainment, along
	husbands knights, and so forth!	with bear-baiting, consisting of tethering a large wild animal
314		to a post and setting dogs to attack it. dubbed = dub has a suggestive sense as well, perhaps also punning knights and "nights". There may be an additional reference here to the custom of a lady granting a man the title of "knight" for the evening if he has knelt down and pledged a drink to her health.^11
	Eud. But hast thou no shame? No sense of what
316	disdain I showed thee in my last entertainment, chasing
	thee from my presence, and charging thy duty not to
318	attempt the like intrusion for thy life; and dar'st thou
	yet approach me in this unmannerly manner? No
320	question this desperate boldness cannot choose but go	= impudence.
	accompanied with other infinite rudenesses.
322
	Thar. Good madam, give not the child an unfit
324	name, term it not boldness which the sages call true	= "don't refer to my behavior as 'impudence'".
	confidence, founded on the most infallible rock of a	325-6: the most…constancy = Tharsalio is being ironic in
326	woman's constancy.	comparing a woman's faithfulness (constancy) to an
		unfailing rock.
328	Eud. If shame cannot restrain thee, tell me yet if any
	brainless fool would have tempted the danger attending
330	thy approach.
332	Thar. No, madam, that proves I am no fool. Then had I
	been here a fool and a base, low-spirited Spartan, if for	= in response to.
334	a lady's frown, or a lord's threats, or for a guard of	334-5: guard of grooms = a crew of servants acting as sentries.
	grooms, I should have shrunk in the wetting, and	= to shrink at the wetting refers to the physical shrinking of a cloth upon getting wet; but Tharsalio's shrink means to withdraw or curl up in fright in response to any of the listed stimuli.
336	suffered such a delicious flower to perish in the stalk,	336-7: suffered…finger = "allowed such a pleasant-scented
	or to be savagely plucked by a profane finger. No,	flower (ie. Eudora) to wither away (as a result of never taking another man again) or be rudely plucked by an unholy or spiritually polluted person (ie. Rebus)." The botanical metaphor is intense.
338	madam, first let me be made a subject for disgrace; let
	your remorseless guard seize on my despised body, bind
340	me hand and foot, and hurl me into your ladyship's bed.
342	Eud. O gods! I protest thou dost more and more make	= swear.
	me admire thee.	= be astonished by.^1
344
	Thar. Madam, ignorance is the mother of admiration:
346	know me better, and you'll admire me less.
348	Eud. What would'st thou have me know? What seeks
	thy coming? Why dost thou haunt me thus?
350
	Thar. Only, madam, that the Ætna of my sighs and	= Mt. Etna, the famous volcano in Sicily.
352	Nilus of my tears, poured forth in your presence, might	= the Nile River.
	witness to your honour the hot and moist affection of	= like Mt. Etna and the Nile respectively; moistness also
354	my heart, and work me some measure of favour from	suggests passion.
	your sweet tongue, or your sweeter lips, or what else
356	your good ladyship shall esteem more conducible to
	your divine contentment.
358
	Eud. Pen and ink-horn, I thank thee! This you learned	= container of writing ink; Eudora is suggesting mockingly
360	when you were a serving-man.	that Tharsalio learned to speak with such affectation
		when he worked for her.
362	Thar. Madam, I am still the same creature; and I will
	so tie my whole fortunes to that style, as, were it my	= name or title.
364	happiness (as I know it will be) to mount into	= good fortune. = highly suggestive.
	my lord's succession, yet vow I never to assume other	= Eudora's deceased husband's place.
366	title, or state, than your servant's: not approaching your	= lover and devotee.
	board, but bidden; not pressing to your bed, but your	= dinner table.
368	pleasure shall be first known, if you will command me
	any service.
370
	Eud. Thy vows are as vain as a ruffian's oaths, as
372	common as the air, and as cheap as the dust. How many	= ordinary, and therefore worthless.^1,2
	of the light huswives, thy muses, hath thy love promised	= wanton hussies.^1 = inspirations.
374	this service besides, I pray thee?	= ie. "besides to me".
376	Thar. Compare shadows to bodies, madam, pictures to	376-7: Tharsalio doesn't actually answer Eudora's question.
	the life; and such are they to you, in my valuation.
378
	Eud. I see words will never free me of thy boldness,
380	and will therefore now use blows; and those of the
	mortallest enforcement. Let it suffice, sir, that all this	= force.
382	time, and to this place, you enjoy your safety; keep
	back; no one foot follow me further; for I protest to	= promise.
384	thee, the next threshold past, lets pass a prepared
	ambush to thy latest breath.	= last.
386
	[Exit Eudora.]
388
	Thar. [He draws] This for your ambush!	= ie. his sword.
390	Dare my love with death?
392	[Exit.]	392: Tharsalio follows Eudora offstage, to where she has just forbidden him to enter.
394	Clin. 'Slight! Follow, an't please your honour!	394: the sense is, "God's light! why don't you go after him?"
396	Arg. Not I, by this light!	= common oath.
398	Clin. I hope, gentlewomen, you will.
400	Sthen. Not we, sir, we are no parters of frays.
402	Clin. Faith, nor I'll be any breaker of customs.
404	[Exeunt.]
	ACT III.
	SCENE I.
	Before the House of Lysander.
	Enter Lysander and Lycus, booted.	= ie. prepared to go riding.
1	Lycus. Would any heart of adamant, for satisfaction of	= legendary mineral of great hardness.^2
2	an ungrounded humour, rack a poor lady's innocency as	= whim. = torture; Lycus plays the role of the voice of reason tempering the extreme passions of the brothers.
	you intend to do? It was a strange curiosity in that
4	Emperor that ripped his mother's womb to see the place	4-5: Emperor Nero, after having his mother killed, inspected
	he lay in.	and handled her body; Lycus' description, as Parrott
6		suggests, is greatly exaggerated.
	Lys. Come, do not load me with volumes of persuasion;
8	I am resolved, if she be gold she may abide the test; let's	= the purity of a precious metal could be tested by rubbing it with a touchstone; hence, "if Cynthia passes this test, she is proved to be as good as pure gold."
	away. I wonder where this wild brother is.	= ie. Tharsalio.
10
	Enter Cynthia, Hylus, and Ero.
12
	Cyn. Sir!
14
	Lys. I pray thee, wife, show but thyself a woman, and
16	be silent; question no more the reason of my journey,
	which our great Viceroy's charge, urged in this letter,	= command.^2
18	doth enforce me to.	= obliges.^1
20	Cyn. Let me but see that letter. There is something
	In this presaging blood of mine, tells me	= foreboding, predicting.^1
22	This sudden journey can portend no good;
	Resolve me, sweet; have not I given you cause	= "tell me". = "have I".
24	Of discontent by some misprisiön,	= error, mistake.^2
	Or want of fit observance? Let me know,	= lack of proper attention, respect, or carrying out of duties.^1,2
26	That I may wreak myself upon myself.	= revenge. Cynthia is distraught at Lysander's sudden departure.
28	Lys. Come, wife, our love is now grown old and staid,	28-33: Lysander suggests they have been married too long
	And must not wanton it in tricks of court,	to engage in overly-amorous behavior (wanton it),^1 ie. he doesn't want Cynthia to make a scene. tricks of the court = the manner of those who attend court, ie. the nobility.^1
30	Nor interchanged delights of melting lovers,	= weeping.
	Hanging on sleeves, sighing, loath to depart;
32	These toys are past with us; our true love's substance	32: toys = trifles. 32-33: our true…show = "the reality of our love makes superficial demonstrations of it unnecessary."
	Hath worn out all the show; let it suffice,	33-34: let it…dear = "let it be enough for you to know that I value and love you."
34	I hold thee dear; and think some cause of weight,	= think is an imperative: "accept that an important matter".
	With no excuse to be dispensed withal,	= with.
36	Compels me from thy most desired embraces.
	I stay but for my brother; came he not in last night?	= wait.
38
	Hyl. For certain no, sir, which gave us cause of	39-40: Hylus' comment reminds us that the last we saw of Tharsalio, he was following Eudora into her private chambers with his sword drawn!
40	wonder what accident kept him abroad.	= away from home, out and about.
42	Cyn. Pray Heaven it prove not some wild resolution,	42-43: "I hope he hasn’t done something crazy, as a result
	bred in him by his second repulse from the Countess.	of being rejected a second time by Eudora."
44
	Lys. Trust me, I something fear it, this insatiate spirit of
46	aspiring being so dangerous and fatal; desire, mounted	= ie. wanting to marry someone of so much higher standing
	on the wings of it, descends not but headlong.	than he has.
48		46-47: desire…headlong = desire, carried on the wings of an insatiable spirit, comes crashing down head-first.
	Enter Tharsalio cloaked.
50
	Hyl. Sir, sir, here's my uncle.
52
	Lys. What, wrapp'd in careless cloak, face hid in hat	= careless suggests Tharsalio's lack of concern for his own appearance.
54	unbanded! These are the ditches, brother, in which	54: unbanded = without a hatband, which was fashionable in Chapman's time. 54-55: These are…riders = with this riding metaphor, Lysander warns Tharsalio that his reckless behavior will lead to disaster. in which = into which.
	outraging colts plunge both themselves and their riders.	= wild.
56
	Thar. Well, we must get out as well as we may; if not,	= ie. get out of the ditch
58	there's the making of a grave saved.	58: ie. "if we are killed falling into the ditch, we save others the trouble of digging us a grave."
60	Cyn. That's desperately spoken, brother; had it not	= ie. "wouldn't the result have".
	been happier the colt had been better broken, and his	= read as "if the". = ie. broken in, trained.
62	rider not fallen in?
64	Thar. True, sister, but we must ride colts before we	= while continuing the horse metaphor, Tharsalio may also
	can break them, you know.	be amusing himself with this suggestive comment about
66		Eudora.
	Lys. This is your blind goddess Confidence.
68
	Thar. Alas, brother, our house is decayed, and my	= "the fortunes of our family have declined".
70	honest ambition to restore it I hope be pardonable. My
	comfort is: the poet that pens the story will write o'er
72	my head
	Magnis tamen excidit ausis!	= "he died in a great undertaking"; this quote comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses, in which he tells the story of Apollo's son Phaeton, who was killed by Jupiter as he tried to drive his father's chariot (ie. the sun) across the sky, losing control of the horses in the process.
74	Which, in our native idiom, lets you know
	His mind was high, though Fortune was his foe.	= allusion to a frequently referred-to ballad entitled "Fortune My Foe."^4
76
	Lys. A good resolve, brother, to out-jest disgrace.	77: "that's a good decision to save face by making a joke out of your failure."
78	Come, I had been on my journey but for some private	= "would already have been".
	speech with you; let's in.
80
	Thar. Good brother, stay a little, help out this ragged
82	colt out of the ditch.
84	[Uncloaks and reveals a splendid suit.]
86	Lys. How now?
88	Thar. Now I confess my oversight, this have I	= omission,^1 ie. not yet having revealed his true situation.
	purchased by my confidence.
90
	Lys. I like you, brother, 'tis the true garb, you know,
92	What wants in real worth supply in show.	92: "if the reality is rotten, at least you can look good";
		Lysander assumes his brother is up to one of his gags. wants = lacks.
94	Thar. In show? Alas, 'twas even the thing itself;
	I op'd my counting house, and took away	= "I opened up the office where my wealth is stored";^1 with
96	These simple fragments of my treasury.	my, Tharsalio really means Eudora's, which is now his to
	“Husband,” my Countess cried, “take more, more yet”;	control through his surprise marriage to the Countess.
98	Yet I, in haste to pay in part my debt,
	And prove myself a husband of her store,	99: "and prove I will not waste her wealth" (store = fortune,
100	Kissed and came off, and this time took no more.	property);^2 this may be the first time Tharsalio has shown
		a genuinely honourable side to his character.
102	Cyn. But good brother –
104	Thar. Then were our honoured spousal rites performed,
	We made all short, and sweet, and close, and sure.	= secret.
106
	Lys. He's rapt.	107: Lysander suggests Tharsalio is out of his senses.
108
	Thar. Then did my ushers and chief servants stoop,	= bow down.^2
110	Then made my women curtsies and envíed	= ie. "my women made": the words are inverted to suit the meter, as Tharsalio is speaking in verse here.
	Their lady's fortune: I was magnified.	= (1) praised and glorified, and (2) raised in status.^1
112
	Lys. Let him alone, this spirit will soon vanish.
114
	Thar. Brother and sister, as I love you, and am true
116	servant to Venus, all the premises are serious and true,	116-7: with premises and conclusion, Tharsalio makes a
	and the conclusion is: the great Countess is mine, the	logic metaphor.
118	palace is at your service, to which I invite you all to
	solemnize my honoured nuptials.
120
	Lys. Can this be credited?
122
	Thar. Good brother, do not you envy my fortunate
124	achievement?
126	Lys. Nay, I ever said the attempt was commendable –
128	Thar. Good!
130	Lys. If the issue were successful.	= outcome.
132	Thar. A good state conclusion; happy events make	132-3: happy…attempts = successful results (events) justify even the lowest means.
	good the worst attempts. Here are your widow-vows,	133f: Here are…: Tharsalio boasts how his success with Eudora has proven how worthless a wife's vow is to never remarry, should her husband predecease her.
134	sister; thus are ye all in your pure naturals; certain	= ie. "all you women". = true character.^1
	moral disguises of coyness, which the ignorant call
136	modesty, ye borrow of art to cover your busk points;	= use in artifice. = bosoms;^3 busk refers to whalebone used to stiffen corsets, while points are the tagged laces that hold the two parts of the corset (or attach any two articles of clothing) together.^14
	which a blunt and resolute encounter, taken under a	= ie. "an aggressive bit of courtship by a determined suitor".
138	fortunate aspect, easily disarms you of; and then, alas,	= typical astrological allusion: an alignment of the planets which will affect one's fortunes in a positive way.
	what are you? Poor naked sinners, God wot! Weak	139: wot = knows 139-140: Weak…finger = despite all modesty and moral posturing, women give in as easily as do paper walls.
140	paper walls thrust down with a finger. This is the way
	on't, boil their appetites to a full height of lust; and then	= to do it. = ie. sexual appetites.
142	take them down in the nick.	= at the right moment.^1
144	Cyn. Is there probability in this, that a lady so great, so	= ie. "is it possible".
	virtuous, standing on so high terms of honour, should so
146	soon stoop?	= ie. deign to marry one so far below herself.
148	Thar. You would not wonder, sister, if you knew the	148-9: the lure…stooped at = Tharsalio turns Cynthia's use of stoop into a metaphor of falconry, comparing himself to an attractive lure to which Eudora (a hawk) would descend.
	lure she stooped at. Greatness? Think you that can curb	149-150: Think you…affection = "do you think you can suppress a woman's desires?"
150	affection? No, it whets it more; they have the full stream	= stream begins an extended metaphor through line 156 of a woman as a ship moving along nicely in fair weather.
	of blood to bear them, the sweet gale of their sublimed	= passion, lust.
152	spirits to drive them, the calm of ease to prepare them,
	the sunshine of fortune to allure them, greatness to waft
154	them safe through all rocks of infamy. When youth, wit,	154-6: When youth…main = "when a woman sees youth, intelligence (wit) and good looks (person) in one individual - me - can she help but fall in love?"
	and person come aboard once, tell me, sister, can you
156	choose no but hoise sail, and put forward to the main?	= "but to hoist". = open sea.^2
158	Lys. But let me wonder at this frailty yet;	= moral lapse or weakness.^1
	Would she in so short time wear out his memory,
160	So soon wipe from her eyes, nay, from her heart,
	Whom I myself, and this whole isle besides,	= "he whom", meaning Eudora's first husband.
162	Still remember with grief, the impression of his loss
	Taking worthily such root in us;
164	How think you, wife?
166	Cyn. I am ashamed on't, and abhor to think
	So great and vowed a pattern of our sex	= example.
168	Should take into her thoughts, nay, to her bed
	(O stain to womanhood!) a second love.
170
	Lycus. In so short time!
172
	Cyn. In any time!
174
	Lys. No, wife?	175: Lysander turns a skeptical eye towards Cynthia.
176
	Cyn. By Juno, no; sooner a loathsome toad!	177: Juno = the queen of the gods, and the goddess of
178		marriage. sooner = ie. "I'd rather be".
	Thar. High words, believe me, and I think she'll keep
180	them. − Next turn is yours, nephew; you shall now
	marry my noblest lady-daughter; the first marriage in	= daughter of high rank, ie. Eudora's daughter, Laodice.
182	Paphos next my nuptials shall be yours. These are	= after.
	strange occurrents, brother, but pretty and pathetical;	= occurrences. = arousing sympathy or passion.^1
184	if you see me in my chair of honour, and my Countess
	in mine arms, you will then believe, I hope, I am lord
186	of the palace; then shall you try my great lady's	= test or experience.
	entertainment, see your hands freed of me, and mine	= ie. Tharsalio can finally move out of his brother's house.
188	taking you to advancement.	= greater status.
190	Lys. Well, all this rids not my business. Wife, you shall
	be there to partake the unexpected honour of our house.	= ie. at Tharsalio's wedding celebration.
192	Lycus and I will make it our recreation by the way to	= "during our journey".^2
	think of your revels and nuptial sports. − Brother, my
194	stay hath been for you. − Wife, pray thee be gone, and	= delay.
	soon prepare for the solemnity; a month returns me.	= "I'll be back in a month."
196
	Cyn. Heavens guide your journey!
198
	Lys. Farewell!
200
	Thar. Farewell, nephew; prosper in virility; but − do
202	you hear? − keep your hand from your voice; I have a
	part for you in our hymeneal show.	= Hymen was the god of marriage; at the wedding festival, some of the guests will put on a show in the nature of a brief masque (a performance in which the characters are gods and the such, usually with music and dancing).
204
	Hyl. You speak too late for my voice; but I'll discharge	205: You speak…voice = perhaps alluding to his voice
206	the part.	already having changed; the part may have been written
		specifically for a young actor in the midst of puberty.
208	[Exit Cynthia, Hylus and Ero.]
210	Lys. Occurrents call ye them? Foul shame confound	210ff: now that Cynthia has exited, Lysander can express
	them all! That impregnable fort of chastity and loyalty,	his distress: if Eudora could not keep her vow to never remarry, can Cynthia be expected to do any better?
212	that amazement of the world − O ye deities, could
	nothing restrain her? I took her spirit to be too haughty	= high-minded.
214	for such a depression.	= reduction in status^1(contrasted with haughty).
216	Thar. But who commonly more short-heeled than they	= ie. who is. = wanton.^3
	that are high i' th' instep?	= proud.^3
218
	Lys. Methinks yet shame should have controlled so
220	sudden an appetite.	= lustful desire.
222	Thar. Tush, shame doth extinguish lust as oil doth fire!	222: that is, not at all!
	The blood once het, shame doth inflame the more,	= ie. passion, lust. = heated up.^1
224	What they before by art dissembled most,	224: they = women.
	They act more freely; shame once found is lost;	art = artifice. 224-5: Tharsalio, cynical as ever, comments yet again on the hypocrisy of women. Note the rhyming couplet expressing this pithy sentiment; most and lost would have sounded more alike at the time then they do today.
226	And to say truth, brother, what shame is due to't? Or
	what congruence doth it carry, that a young lady,	= the sense is, "how does it make sense".
228	gallant, vigorous, full of spirit and complexion, her
	appetite new-whetted with nuptial delights, to be	= sexual desires.
230	confined to the speculation of a death's-head; or, for	= contemplation.^1 = skull; it was fashionable in this era to wear a piece of jewelry engraved with a skull and cross- bones to remind its owner of the inevitability of death.^15
	the loss of a husband, the world affording flesh enough,
232	make the noontide of her years the sunset of her	= noon, metaphorically meaning "zenith".^1
	pleasures?
234
	Lycus. And yet there have been such women.
236
	Thar. Of the first stamp, perhaps, when the metal was	237: first stamp = alluding to the first minting of a coin.
238	purer than in these degenerate days. Of later years	237-8: metal…days = Tharsalio suggest women, like coins, possessed greater value when the precious metal of which they were made was pure; but now, being mixed with baser metals, coins have depreciated in value; women, similarly, were once of perfect morals, but are now more degenerate, their high-mindedness being mixed with low passions such as lust.
	much of that coin hath been counterfeit, and besides,
240	so cracked and worn with use, that they are grown light,	240-1: Tharsalio continues to compare coins and women;
	and indeed fit for nothing but to be turned over in play.	coins can be cracked or worn away, so as to grow physically light, and hence no longer fit to be used as genuine currency; women, similarly, can become cracked (meaning they have developed flaws in their moral character)^1 and worn out with use, so that they can be described as wanton (another meaning for light). Tharsalio's follow-up comment about women being fit only to be turned over in play (line 240) is of course quite bawdy!
242
	Lys. Not all, brother!	= ie. "Not all women, brother!" Lysander may be trying to convince himself of this more than he is Tharsalio.
244
	Thar. My matchless sister only excepted; for she, you	245-7: for she…mother = Tharsalio seems to be suggesting that Cynthia's mother was somewhat less chaste than Cynthia herself.
246	know, is made of another metal than that she borrowed
	of her mother. But do you, brother, sadly intend the	= seriously.
248	pursuit of this trial?
250	Lys. Irrevocably.
252	Thar. It's a high project; if it be once raised, the earth	252-5: Tharsalio warns Lysander of the danger of following
	is too weak to bear so weighty an accident; it cannot be	through on his foolish plan to test Cynthia's faithfulness by pretending to die.
254	conjured down again without an earthquake: therefore
	believe she will be constant.	= faithful, ie. not take another man or husband.
256
	Lys. No, I will not.
258
	Thar. Then believe she will not be constant.
260
	Lys. Neither! I will believe nothing but what trial	= ie. "I will believe neither!" = a test or experiment.
262	enforces. Will you hold your promise for the governing	= compels, proves.^1
	of this project with skill and secrecy?
264
	Thar. If it must needs be so. But heark you, brother;	= "listen to me".
266	have you no other capricions in your head to entrap my	= whims, notions; but also referring to the constellation of the goat, Capricorn, with its horns growing on the head of the cuckolded husband.^1
	sister in her frailty, but to prove the firmness of her	= weakness or vulnerability to temptation.^1 = test.
268	widow-vows after your supposed death?
270	Lys. None in the world.
272	Thar. Then here's my hand; I'll be as close as my	= secretive, but also meaning "tight" in the following shoe simile.
	lady's shoe to her foot, that pinches and pleases her, and
274	will bear on with the plot till the vessel split again.	274: Tharsalio switches to a maritime metaphor with bear on and vessel split.
276	Lys. Forge any death, so you can force belief.	276: "make up any explanation of how I died, so long as it is
	Say I was poisoned, drowned.	believable;" he is addressing Lycus, who will accompany him on his trip, then return with the announcement of his death.
278
	Thar. Hanged!	279: ie. like a criminal.
280
	Lys. Anything,
282	So you assist it with likely circumstance; I need not	= ie. a believable story.
	instruct you; that must be your employment, Lycus.
284
	Lycus. Well, sir!
286
	Thar. But, brother, you must set in, too, to countenance	287: set in = take part. 287-8: to countenance truth out = make the story more believable.
288	truth out; a hearse there must be too. It's strange to	= coffin.
	think how much the eye prevails in such impressions; I
290	have marked a widow, that just before was seen	290-1: was seen pleasant enough = was observed to be
	pleasant enough, follow an empty hearse and weep	quite happy.
292	devoutly.
294	Lycus. All those things leave to me.
296	Lys. But, brother, for the bestowing of this hearse in
	the monument of our family, and the marshalling of a	= tomb.
298	funeral –
300	Thar. Leave that to my care, and if I do not do the	= ie. play the part of.
	mourner as lively as your heir, and weep as lustily as
302	your widow, say there's no virtue in onions: that being	= ie. as a tool to help him shed tears!
	done, I'll come to visit the distressed widow, apply old
304	ends of comfort to her grief, but the burden of my song	304-311: but the …forth = Tharsalio warns Lysander he will try to tempt Cynthia to take another man once Lysander is "dead and buried".
	shall be to tell her words are but dead comforts; and
306	therefore counsel her to take a living comfort, that might	= humorous for "another man".
	ferret out the thought of her dead husband; and will	= force out, ie. take the place of.
308	come prepared with choice of suitors, either my Spartan
	lord for grace at the Viceroy's Court, or some great
310	lawyer that may solder up her cracked estate, and so
	forth. But what would you say, brother, if you should
312	find her married at your arrival?
314	Lys. By this hand, split her weasand!	= throat or windpipe.^1
316	Thar. Well, forget not your wager, a stately chariot	316f: Tharsalio and Lysander have wagered on the outcome of the experiment; Tharsalio is betting that Cynthia will fail to keep her widow-vows.
	with four brave horses of the Thracian breed, with all	= Smeak notes that horses from Thrace were highly prized.
318	appurtenances. I'll prepare the like for you, if you prove	= accompanying equipment, accessories.
	victor. But, well remembered, where will you lurk the
320	whiles?
322	Lys. Mewed up close, some short day's journey hence;	= hidden away, confined (close = in secret).
	Lycus shall know the place. Write still how all things	= continuously, the sense being "frequently".
324	pass. Brother, adieu; all joy attend you!
326	Thar. Will you not stay our nuptial now so near?	= ie. "for our".
328	Lys. I should be like a man that hears a tale
	And heeds it not, one absent from himself.
330	My wife shall attend the countess, and my son.
332	Thar. Whom you shall hear at your return call me	332-3: call me father: he expects Hylus to marry Eudora's daughter, Laodice, making him, Tharsalio, his father-in- law.
	Father. Adieu; Jove be your speed.	= "I wish you success", a variation on the still-used "God- speed".
334	My nuptials done, your funerals succeed.	= come next.
336	[Exeunt.]
	ACT III, SCENE II.
	A Room in the House of Eudora.
	Enter Argus barehead.	= ie. his servant's cap held in his hand, as a sign of respect.
1	Arg. A hall, a hall! Who's without there?	= an exclamation to "make room" in a crowded hall, ahead
2		of the masque.^3
	Enter two or three with cushions.
4
	Come on, y'are proper grooms, are ye not? 'Slight, I	= servants. = God's light, an oath; Argus, in his new office of gentleman usher, is now responsible for many of the household's activities, and as such has taken charge of making preparations for the wedding celebration.
6	think y'are all bridegrooms, ye take your pleasures so. A
	company of dormice! Their honours are upon coming,	= dormice were believed to be sleepy animals.^10
8	and the room not ready. Rushes and seats instantly!	= rushes (the marsh plant) were frequently strewn on the
		floors of Elizabethan homes, especially when guests were expected.
10	Enter Tharsalio.
12	Thar. Now, alas, fellow Argus, how thou art cumbered
	with an office!
14
	Arg. Perfume, sirrah, the room's dampish.	15: Argus continues to bark orders; stale Elizabethan rooms
16		might be perfumed to sweeten the air; sirrah = common term of address to a servant, or in this case a lesser servant.
	Thar. Nay, you may leave that office to the ladies,
18	they'll perfume it sufficiently.
20	Arg. [perceiving Tharsalio] Cry mercy, sir! Here's	= a phrase of apology.
	a whole chorus of Sylvans at hand, cornetting and	= mythological dwellers of the woods. = playing their horns; Argus is describing the characters that will appear in the show.
22	tripping o' th' toe, as the ground they trod on were too	= skipping around or dancing. = as if.
	hot for their feet. The device is rare; and there's your	= "the idea for the masque is excellent."
24	young nephew too, he hangs in the clouds deified with	24-25: Hylus will play Hymen, the god of marriage; earlier
	Hymen's shape.	editors have suggested that Hylus is, from this scene's
26		opening, suspended above the stage, and Argus is pointing him out. See lines 121-2 below.
	Thar. Is he perfect in's part? Has not his tongue learned
28	of the Sylvans to trip o' th' toe?	= from. = ie. how to dance or move nimbly, ie. act his part
		well.
30	Arg. Sir, believe it, he does it preciously for accent and
	action, as if he felt the part he played; he ravishes all the	= captivates.^1
32	young wenches in the palace; pray Venus my young	= girls.
	lady Laodice have not some little prick of Cupid in her,	= ie. stung with Cupid's arrow, with clearly suggestive pun.
34	she's so diligent at's rehearsals.	= "at his", ie. Eudora's daughter is always watching Hylus.
36	Thar. No force, so my next vows be heard, that	36-37: No force = "it does not matter".^1
	if Cupid have pricked her, Hymen may cure her.	so = so long as. if Cupid had pricked her = "if Cupid has caused Laodice to fall in love Hylus". Hymen may cure her = this last clause is loaded with meanings: Hymen, as the god of marriage, may give satisfaction for Laodice's desire for Hylus; but Hymen also refers to Hylus, who is playing the god, as Argus notes in his follow-up comment; and cure suggests a medical metaphor with prick, which refers to the wound or sting caused by Cupid's arrow.
38
	Arg. You mean your nephew, sir, that presents	= "who is playing the part of".
40	Hymen.
42	Thar. Why, so! I can speak nothing but thou art within	42-43: thou art within me = "you understand me perfectly"; Tharsalio of course is gently mocking Argus' attempts at humorous equivocation. The phrase within me is a fencing term, meaning "inside my guard."^3
	me; fie of this wit of thine, 'twill be thy destruction! But	= shame or a curse on.^2
44	howsoever you please to understand. Hymen send the
	boy no worse fortune; and where's my lady's honour?	= ie. Eudora.
46
	Arg. At hand, sir, with your unparagoned sister; please	= unmatchable.
48	you take your chair of honour, sir?
50	Thar. Most serviceable Argus, the gods reward thy
	service; for I will not.	= humorous: "but don’t expect a tip from me."
52
	Enter Eudora leading Cynthia, Laodice, Sthenia,
54	Ianthe, Ero, with others following.
56	Eud. Come, sister, now we must exchange that name	56-57: we must…titles = "let us exchange the more formal
	For stranger titles, let's dispose ourselves	(stranger) titles by which we till now have addressed each other for that of sister".^3
58	To entertain these Sylvan revellers
	That come to grace our lovèd nuptials.
60	I fear me we must all turn nymphs to-night,	= Eudora no doubt refers to the goddess-maidens of the woods, who are to appear in the show, but she may also intend a more suggestive secondary meaning, since it is her wedding day, and nymph did already possess in Chapman's time the additional sense of a woman with an insatiable sexual appetite.^1
	To side those sprightly wood-gods in their dances;	= walk by the side of, ie. dance along with.
62	Can you do't nimbly, sister? 'Slight, what ails you,
	Are you not well?
64
	Cyn. Yes, madam.
66
	Eud. But your looks,
68	Methinks, are cloudy; suiting ill the sunshine
	Of this clear honour to your husband's house.	69: ie. Eudora's becoming connected by marriage to Lysander's family.
70	Is there aught here that sorts not with your liking?	= anything.
72	Thar. Blame her not, mistress, if her looks show care.	= anxiety.
	Excuse the merchant's sadness that hath made	73-79: an extended shipping metaphor: a merchant would risk a large amount of money in sending out a ship full of his wares to trade in foreign ports; if the ship returned successfully, he could make an enormous fortune; but if the ship sank or met some other like misfortune, he could be ruined. Here, Cynthia is the merchant, Lysander her ship which has sailed.
74	A doubtful venture of his whole estate,	= uncertain risk or gamble of the loss of.^1
	His livelihood, his hopes, in one poor bottom,	= ship; Tharsalio in lines 74-75 has adapted the proverb, "venture not all in one bottom".^4
76	To all encounters of the sea and storms.
	Had you a husband that you loved as well.	= "if you had".
78	Would you not take his absent plight as ill?	= risky undertaking.^1 = illy.
	Cavil at every fancy? Not an object	79: Cavil at every fancy = find a fault with every thought or mental image;^1 Cynthia cannot help but project misfortune on Lysander's enterprise. 79-81: Not an object...safety = Cynthia, in her anxious state of mind, will read an evil omen into everything she sees that reminds her of Lysander's journey.
80	That could present itself, but it would forge
	Some vain objection that did doubt his safety;	= raise doubt about.^2
82	True love is ever full of jealousy.	= apprehension.^2
84	Eud. Jealous? Of what? Of every little journey?
	Mere fancy, then, is wanton; and doth cast	= imagination. = capricious, uncontrollable or self-serving.^1
86	At those slight dangers there too doting glances;
	Misgiving minds ever provoke mischances.	87: apprehensive minds always invite misfortune.
88	Shines not the sun in his way bright as here?	= ie. Lysander's
	Is not the air as good? What hazard doubt you?	= "dangers worry".
90
	Arg. His horse may stumble, if it please your honour;	91f: Argus tries to be helpful.
92	The rain may wet, the wind may blow on him;
	Many shrewd hazards watch poor travellers.	= dangerous or malicious.^2
94
	Eud. True, and the shrewdest thou hast reckoned us. −	95: "Yes, you have just related to us (reckoned us)^1 the worst that could happen to him", ie. nothing really bad at all.
96	Good sister, these cares fit young married wives.	96: the sense is, "you have been married too long too have such baseless worries."
98	Cyn. Wives should be still young in their husbands' loves.	98-100: Cynthia defends her feelings: the character of true love should not change with time.
	Time bears no scythe should bear down them before him;
100	Our lives he may cut short, but not our loves.	= ie. Time personified.
102	Thar. Sister, be wise, and ship not in one bark	= boat; Tharsalio resumes his shipping metaphor.
	All your ability; if he miscarry,
104	Your well-tried wisdom should look out for new.	104: for the first time, Tharsalio raises the idea to Cynthia that she should find another man, should Lysander die.
106	Cyn. I wish them happy winds that run that course;	106: "I wish good luck to those that take that route." Cynthia
	From me 'tis far; one temple sealed our troth;	adds one last touch to the sailing metaphor.
108	One tomb, one hour shall end and shroud us both.
110	Thar. Well, y'are a phoenix; there, be that your cheer:	= wonder.^2
	Love with your husband be your wisdom here.	111: a not entirely clear line; Parrott believes Tharsalio is addressing Eudora in this line, saying something like, to quote him, "let your wisdom show itself in your affection for you husband"; but could he be continuing to address Cynthia, whom he just called a phoenix?
112	Heark, our sports challenge it! Sit, dearest mistress.	= listen. = entertainment demands.
114	Eud. Take your place, worthiest servant.	= lover, devotee.
116	[Music.]
118	Thar. Serve me, Heaven,
	As I my heavenly mistress! − Sit, rare sister.	= "my excellent sister-in-law", ie. Cynthia.
120
	[Music: Hymen descends, and six Sylvans	= Hylus, playing the god of marriage, is lowered onto the stage by a mechanical device.
122	enter beneath, with torches.]	= Hymen was usually portrayed as carrying a bridal torch.^9
124	Arg. A hall, a hall! Let no more citizens in there!	= "make room!"
126	Laod. O not my cousin, see, but Hymen's self.	126: "it's not Hylus, but Hymen himself;" cousin was used loosely to describe any of one's kin, so now that Tharsalio is wedded to Eudora, Laodice and Hylus are related by marriage.
128	Sthen. He does become it most enflamingly.	128: a nod to Hyman's bridal torch.
130	Hym. Hail, honoured bridegroom, and his princely bride,	130ff: Hylus is reciting his lines.
	With the most famed for virtue, Cynthia;
132	And this young lady, bright Laodice,	= Laodice, we remember, is a four-syllable word: la-O-di-
	One rich hope of this noblest family –	che.
134
	Sthen. Heark how he courts. He is enamoured too.	= Sthenia comments that Hylus sounds as if he is wooing
136		Laodice - who hopes he is doing so!
	Laod. Oh, grant it, Venus, and be ever honoured!
138
	Hym. In grace and love of you, I, Hymen, searched
140	The groves and thickets that embrace this palace
	With this clear-flamed and good-aboding torch
142	For summons of these fresh and flowery Sylvans
	To this fair presence, with their winding hays,	= country dances.^3
144	Active and antic dances, to delight	= comic or bizarre.^1
	Your frolic eyes, and help to celebrate
146	These noblest nuptials; which great Destiny
	Ordained past custom and all vulgar object,	147: past custom = above convention,^3 ie. perhaps referring to Tharsalio marrying above his own station to the wealthy and noble Eudora, or maybe to the unusual nature of his courtship. vulgar object = common objections.^3
148	To be the readvancement of a house
	Noble and princely, and restore this palace
150	To that name that six hundred summers since
	Was in possession of this bridegroom's ancestors,
152	The ancient and most virtue-famed Lysandri. −
	Sylvans, the courtships you make to your Dryads,	= courting or attentive behaviour.^1 = nymphs who live in the woods.^1
154	Use to this great bride and these other dames,	= perform for.
	And heighten with your sports my nuptial flames.	= entertainment. = another reference to Hymen's bridal
156		torch.^9
	Laod. O, would himself descend, and me command!
158
	Sthen. Dance, and his heart catch in another's hand.	159: Sthenia is addressing Laodice, telling her (quoting Parrott) "Dance, and win his heart by showing your charms while you are in the arms of another." Note also the rhyming couplet of 157-9.
160
	[Sylvans take out the Bride and the rest;	161-3: there is a pause in the play as a dance takes place,
162	they dance; after which, and all set in	for the entertainment of the audience and on-stage
	their places, Hymen speaks.]	characters alike.
164
	Hym. Now, what e'er power my torch's influence
166	Hath in the blessings of your nuptial joys,
	Great bride and bridegroom, you shall amply part	= divide.
168	Betwixt your free loves, and forego it never.	= neglect or abandon.^1
170	Omnes. Thanks to great Hymen and fair Sylvans ever.	= everyone.
172	[Exeunt.]
	ACT IV.
		Act IV: about a week has passed since the wedding festival.^3 Acts IV-V: with Tharsalio's mission to marry Eudora complete, the play takes a somewhat more serious turn for the remaining acts.
	SCENE I.
	A Room in the House of Eudora.
	Enter Tharsalio, and Lycus with his arm in a scarf,	= sling or bandage.^1
	a night-cap on his head.	= the traditional head-wear of an invalid.
1	Lycus. I hope, sir, by this time –	1: as a show of respect for his new master, Lycus removes his cap.
2
	Thar. Put on, man, by ourselves!	3: Tharsalio tells his friend Lycus there is no need to observe such formalities when they are alone: put on = "put your cap back on"; notice, however, that Lycus always makes sure to address Tharsalio with the formal "you", while Lysander frequently slips into the more informal "thee" when addressing his friend.
4
	Lycus. The edge of your confidence is well taken off;	5-6: as Tharsalio is no longer so confident he will win his
6	would you not be content to withdraw your wager?	bet with Lysander (for reasons which will shortly become apparent), should he not call off the bet?
8	Thar. Faith, fellow Lycus, if my wager were weakly	= truthfully.
	built, this unexpected accident might stagger it. For the	= occurrence, in the sense of "development".
10	truth is, this strain is extraordinary, to follow her
	husband's body into the tomb, and there, for his
12	company, to bury herself quick; it's new and stirring;	= alive.
	but, for all this, I'll not despair of my wager.
14
	Lycus. Why, sir, can you think such a passion	15-16: "do you think she is faking this show of sorrow?"
16	dissembled?
18	Thar. All's one for that; what I think I think. In the	= it doesn't really matter.^2
	meantime, forget not to write to my brother how the plot
20	hath succeeded, that the news of his death hath taken, a	= ie. is generally believed.
	funeral solemnity performed, his supposed corse	= corpse.
22	bestowed in the monument of our family, thou and I	= tomb.
	horrible mourners. But above all, that his intolerable	= extreme.^2 = ie. intolerably, with perhaps an additional sense of "excessive".^1
24	virtuous widow, for his love, and (for her love) Ero, her
	handmaid, are descended with his corse into the vault;	= corpse.
26	there wipe their eyes time out of mind, drink nothing but	= ie. endlessly; the phrase, and its predecessor out of mind,
	their own tears, and by this time are almost dead with	(without the word time) first appeared in English in the
28	famine. There's a point will sting it (for you say 'tis	late 14th century.^1
	true); where left you him?
30
	Lycus. At Dipolis, sir, some twenty miles hence.	= perhaps the town of Polis in Cyprus.
32
	Thar. He keeps close?	= hidden.
34
	Lycus. Ay, sir, by all means; skulks unknown under	= skulk is a great word; it was borrowed from Scandinavian, as many words containing k were, and was in use in England as early as the 13th century.^1
36	the name of a strange knight.	= foreign.
38	Thar. That may carry him without descrying, for	= being discovered.
	there's a number of strange knights abroad. You left	39: strange knights = foreign knights. James I, the Scottish
40	him well?	king who ascended England's throne in 1603, was notorious for having sold large numbers of knighthoods to raise money for the crown; thus England was filled with numerous new knights, whose undeserved status was a common target for dramatists of the era. The fact that many of them were Scottish (strange = foreign) only added to their ludicrousness. abroad = around, out and about.
42	Lycus. Well, sir, but for this jealous humour that haunts	= suspicious mood.
	him.
44
	Thar. Well, this news will absolutely purge that	45-46: purge that humour = "remove that mood"; but humours also referred to the four fundamental fluids (blood, phlegm, and yellow and black bile), that were contained in the human body; if any of the humours was present in excess, thus causing illness, such excess had to be removed, or purged, to bring the body back into equilibrium. Hence purge was a polite way of indicating vomiting or emptying of the bowels.
46	humour. Write all; forget not to describe her passion
	at thy discovery of his slaughter. Did she perform it	47: discovery = revelation, ie. relation.
48	well for her husband's wager?	47-48: Did she…wager = Tharsalio is both suspicious and hopeful that Cynthia is faking her extreme show of mourning in order to reinforce her fame and reputation for loyalty to her husband.
50	Lycus. Perform it, call you it? You may jest; men hunt	50f: Lycus is always a little more serious than Tharsalio.
	hares to death for their sports, but the poor beasts die in
52	earnest: you wager of her passions for your pleasure,	= on.
	but she takes little pleasure in those earnest passions. I
54	never saw such an ecstasy of sorrow, since I knew the
	name of sorrow. Her hands flew up to her head like
56	Furies, hid all her beauties in her dishevelled hair, and	= the avenging spirits of ancient mythology.
	wept as she would turn fountain. I would you and her	= wish.
58	husband had been behind the arras but to have heard	= hanging tapestries, a common place for hiding.
	her. I assure you, sir, I was so transported with the	= moved.
60	spectacle, that, in despite of my discretion, I was forced
	to turn woman and bear a part with her. Humanity	= common Elizabethan expression for crying.
62	broke loose from my heart and streamed through mine
	eyes.
64
	Thar. In prose, thou wept'st. So have I seen many a
66	moist auditor do at a play, when the story was but a
	mere fiction. And didst act the Nuntius well? Would	67: mere = complete. didst = "did you". Nuntius = narrator or messenger.^1,4 Would = "I wish".
68	I had heard it! Could'st thou dress thy looks in a
	mournful habit?	68-69: Could'st…habit = a clothing metaphor: "were you
70		able to appear to be mourning when you met with Cynthia?" habit = outfit. Lycus, we remember, who had travelled with Lysander, was responsible for returning and informing Cynthia of her husband's death.
	Lycus. Not without preparation, sir, no more than my
72	speech; 'twas a plain acting of an interlude to me to	= a light comic show;^1 part of the extended stage metaphor employed by both men in lines 67-73.
	pronounce the part.	= speak.
74
	Thar. As how, for Heaven's sake?	= Tharsalio, who was not at the funeral, asks Lycus to repeat the story he told of how Lysander met his death.
76
	Lycus. “Phoebus addressed his chariot towards the west	77-78: Pheobus was an alternative name for Apollo, who, as
78	To change his wearied coursers”, and so forth.	the sun-god, drove the sun (his chariot) across the sky every day.
80	Thar. Nay, on, and thou lov'st me.	= "don't stop", ie. "tell me everything". = if.
82	Lycus. “Lysander and myself beguiled the way	82ff: Lycus describes the "business trip" he took with Lysander.
	With interchanged discourse; but our chief theme	83-84: but our…wife = "we primarily talked about you".
84	Was of your dearest self, his honoured wife,
	Your love, your virtue, wondrous constancy.”
86
	Thar. Then was her cue to whimper; on!	= cue continues the earlier stage metaphor.
88
	Lycus. "When suddenly appeared, as far as sight,
90	A troop of horse, armed, as we might discern,
	With javelins, spears, and such accoutrements.	= additional pieces of equipment, trappings.^1
92	He doubted nought (as innocency ever	= Lysander suspected nothing.
	Is free from doubting ill.)”
94
	Thar. There dropt a tear.
96
	Lycus. “My mind misgave me.	97-98: note the intense alliteration of the first two short
98	They might be mountaineers. At their approach	but full sentences of this speech.
	They used no other language but their weapons,
100	To tell us what they were; Lysander drew,
	And bore himself Achilles-like in fight;	= Achilles was of course the greatest Greek warrior of the Trojan War.
102	And as a mower sweeps off th' heads of bents,	102: mower = one who cuts grass with a scythe. th' heads of bents = the seeding heads of a type of small leafy plant.^1,18
	So did Lysander's sword shave off the points	= sharp ends.
104	Of their assaulting lances.
	His horse at last, sore hurt, fell under him;
106	I, seeing I could not rescue, used my spurs	= read as "rescue Lysander".
	To fly away.”
108
	Thar. What, from thy friend?	109: Tharsalio plays devil's advocate: "am I supposed to
110		believe you abandoned your friend in this time of need?"
	Lycus. Ay, in a good quarrel, why not?
112
	Thar. Good; I am answered.
114
	Lycus. “A lance pursued me, brought me back again;	= ie. one of the bandits.
116	And with these wounds left me t' accompany
	Dying Lysander. Then they rifled us,	= robbed.
118	And left us.
	They gone, my breath not yet gone, 'gan to strive	= ie. "I began".
120	And revive sense; I with my feeble joints
	Crawled to Lysander, stirred him, and withal	= notwithstanding (his injuries).^2
122	He gasped, cried "Cynthia!" and breathed no more.”
124	Thar. O then she howled outright.
126	Lycus. “Passengers came, and in a chariot brought us	= passersby.
	Straight to a neighbour-town; where I forthwith
128	Coffined my friend in lead, and so conveyed him	= either the body would have been wrapped in a lead sheet
	To this sad place.”	before being placed in a wooden coffin, or the coffin
130		itself would be enclosed in a sheet of lead.^16
	Thar. 'Twas well; and could not show but strangely.
132
	Lycus. Well, sir, this tale pronounced with terror, suited	133-4: suited with action = accompanied by the appropriate gestures, ie. not just saying the words, but performing correctly as well; Lycus also puns suited with clothed in line 134.
134	with action, clothed with such likely circumstance, my	= details; the sense of Lycus' speech is that his tale was made more believable by the totality of his story, the way he told it, and the evidence.
	wounds in show, her husband's hearse in sight − think	= coffin.
136	what effect it wrought; and if you doubt, let the sad
	consequence of her retreat to his tomb be your woeful
138	instructor.
140	Thar. For all this, I'll not despair of my wager;
	These griefs that sound so loud, prove always light,	141-2: note the rhyming couplet containing a moral lesson:
142	True sorrow evermore keeps out of sight.	the sorrow of those people who make a public spectacle of their mourning is not true or deep; those who suffer the deepest grief experience it privately.
	This strain of mourning wi' th' sepulchre, like an
144	overdoing actor, affects grossly, and is indeed so far	= is obviously (grossly^1) dissembled.
	forced from the life, that it bewrays itself to be	145: forced from the life = the sense is "overdone", ie. not the way a genuine mourner would behave. bewrays = betrays.
146	altogether artificial. To set open a shop of mourning!	= Cynthia has set up shop in the tomb, which she has not left since the funeral.
	'Tis palpable. Truth, the substance, hunts not after the
148	shadow of popular fame. Her officious ostentation of	= overdone pretense or exaggerated show.
	sorrow condemns her sincerity. When did ever woman
150	mourn so unmeasurably, but she did dissemble?	= unrestrainedly, or to such an extent as cannot be
		measured.^1
152	Lycus. O gods, a passion thus borne, thus apparelled
	with tears, sighs, swownings, and all the badges of true	= swooning.
154	sorrow, to be dissembled! By Venus, I am sorry I ever
	set foot in't. Could she, if she dissembled, thus dally	= took part in this charade.
156	with hunger, be deaf to the barking of her appetite, not
	having these four days relieved nature with one dram
158	of sustenance?
160	Thar. For this does she look to be deified, to have	160f: Tharsalio is severely cynical about Cynthia's motives.
	hymns made of her, nay to her; the tomb where she is
162	to be no more reputed the ancient monument of our
	family, the Lysandri, but the new-erected altar of
164	Cynthia, to which all the Paphian widows shall after
	their husbands' funerals offer their wet muckinders for	= handkerchiefs.^1
166	monuments of the danger they have passed, as seamen
	do their wet garments at Neptune's temple after a	= god of the sea.
168	shipwrack.
170	Lycus. Well, I'll apprehend you, at your pleasure; I, for	= understand or consider^1 (Tharsalio's viewpoint).
	my part, will say that if her faith be as constant as her
172	love is hearty and unaffected, her virtues may justly
	challenge a deity to enshrine them.	= demand as a right.
174
	Thar. Ay, there's another point, too. But one of those	175-9: Tharsalio's point is that no person can possess such
176	virtues is enough at once. All natures are not capable of	a complete package of virtues as Cynthia appears to own.
	all gifts. If the brain of the wise were in the heads of
178	the learned, then might parish clerks be common-
	councilmen, and poets aldermen's deputies. My sister
180	may turn Niobe for love; but till Niobe be turned to a	= in Greek mythology, Niobe, proud of her 12 children, bragged that she was superior to the gods, who vindictively slew all of the children; in mourning, Niobe went to Mt. Sypilus, where she was turned into stone, in which form she continued to mourn forever.^9 Tharsalio's point in 180-1 is that despite Cynthia's appearing to mourn as much as did Niobe, he expects that her true female nature (ie. weakness for flesh) will eventually reveal itself, at least until she actually turns into stone, as did Niobe, to prove otherwise.
	marble, I'll not despair but she may prove a woman. Let	= ie. to be fickle in love.
182	the trial run on; if she do not outrun it, I'll say poets are	182-4: if she…wood-mongers = the sense here seems to be that if Cynthia cannot keep up this act, ie. indeed takes a new man before the experiment concludes, than all those who famously praise women will be proven to be frauds.
	no prophets, prognosticators are but mountebanks, and	= quacks or charlatans.
184	none tell true but wood-mongers.	= speak truthfully. = sellers of wood.
186	[Exit.]
188	Lycus. A sweet gentleman you are! I marvel what
	man, what woman, what name, what action, doth his
190	tongue glide over, but it leaves a slime upon't? Well,
	I'll presently to Dipolis, where Lysander stays, and	= go immediately.
192	will not say but she may prove frail:	192: Lycus concedes that even he can't say for sure that Cynthia will remain true to Lysander's memory. frail = vulnerable to temptation, morally weak.
	But this I'll say, if she should chance to break,	193-4: "even if Cynthia falls, her mourning at this moment is genuine."
194	Her tears are true, though women's truths are weak.	193-4: Note the rhyming couplet to end the scene; the ea
		in break and weak would have been pronounced about halfway between the ai in bait and e in bet. truths = vows or fidelity.
196	[Exit.]
	ACT IV, SCENE II.
	The Graveyard.	The Graveyard: the remainder of the play takes place in the graveyard in which "Lysander" is buried. In the rear of the stage there would likely be a mock-up of a crypt or tomb with a door or curtain in front of it; the action alternates between "inside" and "outside" the tomb.
	Enter Lysander, like a Soldier disguised
	at all parts; a half-pike, gorget, etc.	= small spear.^1 = throat-protecting armor.^2
	He discovers the tomb, looks in, and wonders, etc.	= ie. his family's tomb.
1	Lys. O miracle of Nature, women's glory,	1-4: O miracle…condemned = without irony, Lysander
2	Men's shame, and envy of the deities!	praises women, and rues that they must forever be
	Yet must these matchless creatures be suspected,	suspected, like criminals, of not being worthy of men's trust.
4	Accused, condemned! Now by th’ immortal gods,
	They rather merit altars, sacrifice,	5-6: the sense is, "women actually deserve to be treated as
6	Than love and courtship.	goddesses, rather than be pursued as mortal lovers."
	Yet see, the queen of these lies here interred,
8	Tearing her hair, and drownèd in her tears,
	Which Jove should turn to crystal, and a mirror
10	Make of them, wherein men may see and wonder
	At women's virtues. Shall she famish, then?
12	Will men, without dissuasions, suffer thus	12-14: Will men…bosom = "will men allow a lady as virtuous as Cynthia to starve to death in the tomb without at least trying to persuade her to return to the land of the living?"
	So bright an ornament to earth, tombed quick	= alive.
14	In earth's dark bosom? − Ho! Who's in the tomb there?
16	Ero. [within] Who calls? Whence are you?	= from where.^2
18	Lys. I am a soldier of the watch and must enter.
20	Ero. Amongst the dead?
22	Lys. Do the dead speak? Ope, or I'll force it open.
24	Ero. [opening the door of the tomb]
	What violence is this? What seek you here,	25ff: Ero does not recognize Lysander in his soldier's
26	Where nought but Death and her attendants dwell?	costume; it was a convention of Elizabethan drama
		that disguises were impenetrable to other characters.
28	Lys. What wretched souls are you, that thus by night
	Lurk here amongst the dead?
30
	Ero. Good soldier, do not stir her.
32	She's weak, and quickly seized with swowning and passions,
	And with much trouble shall we both recall	33-34: "it will be difficult to bring her back if she faints
34	Her fainting spirits.	again."
	Five days thus hath she wasted, and not once
36	Seasoned her palate with the taste of meat;
	Her powers of life are spent; and what remains
38	Of her famished spirit serves not to breathe but sigh.
	She hath exiled her eyes from sleep or sight,
40	And given them wholly up to ceaseless tears
	Over that ruthful hearse of her dear spouse,	= piteous.^2
42	Slain by bandittos, nobly-born Lysander.
44	Lys. And hopes she with these heavy notes and cries
	To call him from the dead? In these five days
46	Hath she but made him stir a finger or fetch
	One gasp of that forsaken life she mourns? −
48	Come, honoured mistress, I admire your virtues,
	But must reprove this vain excess of moan;	49: typical Elizabethan sentiment, criticizing excessive displays of emotion.
50	Rouse yourself, lady, and look up from death. −
	Well said, 'tis well; stay by my hand and rise.	= common phrase for "well done": Cynthia has responded to his entreaties.
52	This face hath been maintained with better huswifery.	52: the sense is, "this face of yours has no doubt looked
		better when you were engaged in more appropriate housewife-like activities, ie. house-keeping (huswifery)."
54	Cyn. [at the door of the tomb]
	What are you?	= who.
56
	Lys. Lady, I am sentinel,	57-63: Lysander tells the ladies he has been assigned to
58	Set in this hallowed place, to watch and guard,	protect the tombs of the cemetery, and at the same time
	On forfeit of my life, these monuments	make sure no crucified bodies are taken down, as by, for
60	From rape and spoil of sacrilegious hands;	example, their loved ones.
	And save the bodies, that without you see,
62	Of crucified offenders, that no friends	= the crucified bodies of convicted criminals were not
	May bear them hence to honoured burial.	permitted proper burial; in ancient Greek belief, this
64		would prevent their souls from passing on to the next world.
	Cyn. Thou seem'st an honest soldier; pray thee then,
66	Be as thou seem'st; betake thee to thy charge,	66: "be as honest as you seem to be; and go about your
	And leave this place; add not afflictiön	business".
68	To the afflicted.
70	Lys. You misname the children.
	For what you term affliction now, in you
72	Is but self-humour; voluntary penance	= likely meaning "self-indulgence".
	Imposed upon yourself, and you lament,
74	As did the Satyr once, that ran affrighted	74-75: Lysander mocks Cynthia by comparing her to a satyr
	From that horn's sound that he himself had winded.	(a mythical half-man half-goat) that was frightened by a horn he himself blew. The anecdote appeared in the opening lines of a sonnet by the 16th century poet Philip Sydney.^3
76	Which humour to abate, my counsel tending your termed affliction,	76-77: "in order to temper (abate) your odd mood (humour), I am giving you advice to minister (tend) to what you call (term) an affliction, which would act on you as medicine, (physic), but you regard it as if it were poison." Lysander has begun a medical metaphor, which Ero will continue in her aside.
	What I for physic give, you take for poison.
78	I tell you, honoured mistress, these ingredients	= ie. his advice.
	Are wholesome, though perhaps they seem untoothsome.	= unpalatable.^1
80
	Ero. [Aside] This soldier, sure, is some decayed pothecary.	= used to describe one whose fortune has fallen or collapsed.
82
	Lys. Dear ghost, be wise, and pity your fair self,
84	Thus by yourself unnaturally afflicted;
	Chide back heart-breaking groans, clear up those lamps,	= ie. her eyes.
86	Restore them to their first creatiön,	= ie. the purpose for which they were intended.
	Windows for light, not sluices made for tears;
88	Beat not the senseless air with needless cries,
	Baneful to life and bootless to the dead.	= injurious, ruinous.^1 = useless.
90	This is the inn where all Deucalion's race,	90: the inn = with lodging in line 91, a metaphor for the
	Sooner or later, must take up their lodging;	tomb. all Deucalion's race = ie. all human beings; when Zeus sent a flood to destroy the race of degenerate men which had come to occupy the earth, Deucalion built a boat, saving the lives of himself and his wife; after the flood subsided, the couple prayed to Zeus for the restoration of mankind; on the advice of the gods, the pair threw stones behind their backs, and from these stones arose the modern race of mankind.^9
92	No privilege can free us from this prison;
	No tears, no prayers, can redeem from hence
94	A captived soul; make use of what you see;	= learn the lesson.
	Let this affrighting spectacle of death
96	Teach you to nourish life.
98	Ero. Good mistress hear him; this is a rare soldier.	= excellent.
100	Lys. Say that with abstinence you should unloose	= suppose; 100-1: unloose…of life = ie. die, or approach
	The knot of life; suppose that in this tomb	death.
102	For your dear spouse you should entomb yourself
	A living corse; say that before your hour,	= corpse.
104	Without due summons from the Fates, you send	= the three goddesses who determined the length of each
	Your hasty soul to hell; can your dear spouse	person's life.
106	Take notice of your faith and constancy?	= loyalty.
	Shall your dear spouse revive to give you thanks?
108
	Cyn. Idle discourser!	109: foolish talker, ie. chatterer.^2
110
	Lys. No, your moans are idle.
112	Go to, I say, be counselled! Raise yourself;	= ie. from the dead.
	Enjoy the fruits of life, there's viands for you.	= Lysander offers Cynthia food he has brought.
114	Now, live for a better husband. No? Will you none?	= ie. "take no food?"
116	Ero. For love of courtesy, good mistress, eat,
	Do not reject so kind and sweet an offer;
118	Who knows but this may be some Mercury	= the messenger god.
	Disguised, and sent from Juno to relieve us?	= queen of the gods, and the goddess of marriage.
120	Did ever any lend unwilling ears
	To those that came with messages of life?
122
	Cyn. I pray thee leave thy rhetoric.
124
	Ero. By my soul, to speak plain truth, I could rather	125-7: Ero would rather eat than talk, but feels she cannot
126	wish t' employ my teeth than my tongue, so your	unless Cynthia eats first.
	example would be my warrant.	= permission.
128
	Cyn. Thou hast my warrant.
130
	Lys. Well then, eat, my wench;
132	Let obstinacy starve, fall to!	= stubbornness, meaning Cynthia.
134	Ero. Persuade
	My mistress first.
136
	Lys. 'Slight, tell me, lady.
138	Are you resolved to die? If that be so,
	Choose not, for shame, a base and beggar's death;
140	Die not for hunger, like a Spartan lady;	= uncertain reference.
	Fall valiantly upon a sword, or drink
142	A noble death, expel your grief with poison.
	There 'tis, seize it.
144
	[offering his sword]
146
	Tush, you dare not die! −
148	Come, wench,	148-150: Lysander addresses Ero.
	Thou hast not lost a husband; thou shalt eat;
150	Th' art now within the place where I command.	= ie. as guard of the cemetery.
152	Ero. I protest, sir!
154	Lys. Well said; eat, and protest; or I'll protest,	= "Well done."
	And do thou eat; thou eat'st against thy will,
156	That's it thou would'st say?
158	Ero. It is.
160	Lys. And under such a protestation	160-1: Ero is behaving now as she did once before, when
	Thou lost thy maidenhead. −	she said "no" to a man, even as she willingly gave him her virginity (maidenhead).
162	For your own sake, good lady, forget this husband;
	Come, you are now become a happy widow,
164	A blessedness that many would be glad of.
	That and your husband's inventory together,	= list of Lysander's possessions at his death, ie. his estate.^1
166	Will raise you up husbands enow. What think you of me?	= plural for "enough".
168	Cyn. Trifler, pursue this wanton theme no further;
	Lest (which I would be loath) your speech provoke
170	Uncivil language from me; I must tell you,
	One joint of him I lost was much more worth
172	Than the racked value of thy entire body.	= a generous estimate of the value of.^3
174	Ero. O know what joint she means!	174: highly suggestive.
176	Lys. Well, I have done;
	And well done, frailty; proface! How lik'st thou it?	177: frailty = likely playful term for "woman". proface = "much good may it do you", a word of welcome, salute, or good wishes used at a meal or in a toast.^1,14 How lik'st thou it? = Ero has begun to eat.
178
	Ero. Very toothsome ingredients surely, sir;	= tasty.
180	Want but some liquor to incorporate them.	= mix with.^1
182	Lys. There 'tis, carouse!	182: Lysander now passes a bottle of wine to Ero.
184	Ero. I humbly thank you, sir.
186	Lys. Hold, pledge me now!
188	Ero. 'Tis the poison, sir,
	That preserves life, I take it.
190
	[Bibit Ancilla.]	191: "the maid drinks."
192
	Lys. Do so, take it!
194
	Ero. Sighing has made me something short-winded.	195-6: Ero fulfills the traditional stereotype of the freely
196	I'll pledge y' at twice.	imbibing servant.
198	Lys. 'Tis well done; do me right!	= "answer my toast", a phrase used in pledging healths.^3,4
200	Ero. I pray, sir, have you been a pothecary?
202	Lys. Marry have I, wench! A woman's pothecary.	202-4: Lysander's line, and Ero's response, are vaguely
		suggestive.
204	Ero. Have you good ingredients?
	I like your bottle well. − Good mistress, taste it.
206	Try but the operation, 'twill fetch up
	The roses in your cheeks again.
208	Doctor Verolles' bottles are not like it;	= presumably referring to a miracle health cure, such as would be sold by a quack in a medicine show; the brand name is a joke, as verolles means "pox" in French, hence "Dr. Pox".
	There's no guaiacum here, I can assure you.	= a drug prepared from the resin of the guaiacum tree.^3 Ero's point is that there are no superfluous ingredients in the soldier's "medicine" - only alcohol.
210
	Lys. This will do well anon.	= presently.^2
212
	Ero. Now fie upon't!
214	Oh, I have lost my tongue in this same limbo;	= Ero is getting inebriated. = after-death home for meritorious but unbaptized souls, here simply used to mean a place of confinement.^4
	The spring on't's spoiled, methinks; it goes not off	= "on it is".
216	With the old twang.
218	Lys. Well said, wench, oil it well; 'twill make it slide	= Lysander picks up on Ero's metaphor of a faulty spring
	well.	in her tongue.
220
	Ero. Aristotle says, sir, in his Posterionds –	= Ero mispronounces Aristotle's Analytica Posterora.
222
	Lys. This wench is learnèd − and what says he?
224
	Ero. That when a man dies, the last thing that moves
226	is his heart; in a woman her tongue.
228	Lys. Right; and adds further, that you women are
	A kind of spinners; if their legs be plucked off.	= "like spiders."^3
230	Yet they'll still wag them; so will you your tongues.
	[Aside] With what an easy change does this same weakness
232	Of women slip from one extreme t' another?
	All these attractions take no hold of her;	233: Cynthia is not taking his food or liquor.
234	No, not to take refection; 't must not be thus. –	= nourishment.^1
	Well said, wench; tickle that Helicon!	= Mount Helicon, located in Boeotia in central Greece, was
236	But shall we quit the field with this disgrace	the traditional home of the nine Muses, the goddesses
	Given to our oratory? Both not gain	who acted as the protectors of the arts. The rivers that
238	So much ground of her as to make her eat?	flowed down from the mountain were thought to have the attribute of inspiration. Smeak suggests Lysander is joking that the booze is inspiring Ero's attempts at scholarly discourse.
240	Ero. Faith, the truth is, sir, you are no fit organ	= means.^1
	For this business;
242	'Tis quite out of your element.
	Let us alone, she'll eat, I have no fear:
244	A woman's tongue best fits a woman's ear.
	Jove never did employ Mercury,	245-6: if Jove wanted something from Juno, he sent the
246	But Iris, for his messenger to Juno.	messenger goddess Iris - who Ero emphasizes is female - to her, and not his regular herald, the god Mercury.
248	Lys. Come, let me kiss thee, wench; wilt undertake	= "you will".
	To make thy mistress eat?
250
	Ero. It shall go hard, sir.
252	But I will make her turn flesh and blood,
	And learn to live as other mortals do.
254
	Lys. Well said; the morning hastes; next night expect me.	= is fast approaching.
256
	Ero. With more provision, good sir.
258
	Lys. Very good!
260
	[Exiturus.]	= Lysander exits the tomb, but not the stage.
262
	Ero. And bring more wine.
264
	[She shuts up the tomb.]
266
	Lys. What else? Shalt have enough. −	267: "Of course! I'll bring you plenty."
268	O Cynthia, heir of her bright purity	268-9: O Cynthia...inherit = Cynthia was an alternate name for the goddess Diana, who as a virgin had the purity Lysander celebrates; as Cynthia Diana was also identified as the goddess of the moon, hence Lysander's description of her as bright.
	Whose name thou dost inherit, thou disdain'st
270	(Severed from all concretiön) to feed	= the sense seems to be, "you who exist apart from the material or concrete".
	Upon the base food of gross elements.
272	Thou all art soul, all immortality,	272: unwilling to eat the food of mortals, Cynthia is like a goddess.
	Thou fast for nectar and ambrosia;	273-5: nectar and ambrosia are the drink and food of the
274	Which till thou find'st, and eat'st above the stars,	gods; the sense of the lines is thus: "you are starving
	To all food here thou bidd'st celestial wars.	yourself to die, and until that time, when you will eat with the other gods (above the stars), you have declared heavenly war against all earthly food."
276
	[Exit.]	End of Scene ii: so far, Cynthia has passed Lysander's test of faithfulness; if only he would let well enough alone!
	ACT IV, SCENE III.
	The Graveyard.	Scene iii: Parrott suggests about a day has passed since
		the end of the last scene.
	Cynthia, Ero, the tomb opening.
1	Ero. So; let's air our dampish spirits, almost stifled in
2	this gross muddy element.	2: ie. earth, one of the four recognized elements of which all
		matter was made (the others being air, fire and water).
4	Cyn. How sweet a breath the calmness of the night
	Inspires the air withal!
6
	Ero. Well said, now y' are yourself; did not I tell you	7-8: Ero's comments reveal that Cynthia has finally
8	how sweet an operation the soldier's bottle had? And if	consented to drink some of the soldier's wine.
	there be such virtue in the bottle, what is there in the
10	soldier? Know and acknowledge his worth when he
	comes, in any case, mistress,
12
	Cyn. So, maid!	13: Cynthia is embarrassed by Ero's plain speaking.
14
	Ero. God's my patience! Did you look, forsooth, that	= in truth.
16	Juno should have sent you meat from her own trencher	16: in this humorous metaphor, Ero suggests that the queen of the gods has sent Cynthia a man worthy of her own glorious self; trencher = plate or platter.^2
	in reward of your widow's tears? You might sit and sigh
18	first till your heart-strings broke, I'll able't.	= the anatomical seat of intense love.^1 = ie. warrant it.
20	Cyn. I fear me thy lips have gone so oft to the bottle,	= ie. "I fear".
	that thy tongue-strings are come broken home.
22
	Ero. Faith, the truth is my tongue hath been so long
24	tied up, that 'tis covered with rust, and I rub it against
	my palate, as we do suspected coins, to try whether it	= test.
26	be current or no. But now, mistress, for an upshot of	26: current = authentic; Elizabethan drama frequently alludes to the testing of coins for genuineness. for an upshot of = to finish off.^3
	this bottle; let's have one carouse to the good speed	= success.
28	of my old master, and the good speed of my new.	= ie. the now deceased Lysander. = the soldier; Ero is
		drunkenly jumping the gun a bit.
30	Cyn. So, damsel!
32	Ero. You must pledge it, here's to it. Do me right, I
	pray!
34
	Cyn. You say I must.
36
	[She drinks.]	37: Cynthia further softens her stance.
38
	Ero. Must! What else?
40
	Cyn. How excellent ill this humour suits our habit.	41: "how extremely (excellent, with negative connotation)^2 poorly our current mood (referring to their drunkenness) fits our appearance/clothing/custom/character (habit).^1"
42
	Ero. Go to, mistress, do not think but you and I shall
44	have good sport with this jest, when we are in private at	= ie. a good laugh over. = referring either to their getting drunk, or their week of mourning in the tomb.
	home. I would to Venus we had some honest shift or	= means.
46	other to get off withal, for I'll no more on't; I'll not turn	= get away (from here).^1 = nevertheless.^1
	salt-petre in this vault for never a man's company living,	= the explosive compound, potassium nitrate, which, as Shakespeare wrote in Henry IV, Part I, had to be "digged out of the bowels of harmless earth."
48	much less for a woman's. Sure I am the wonder's over,	= "I am sure that". = Ero alludes to the common phrase, "a nine days wonder", which describes a phenomenon which holds the public's interest for only a brief period of time before fading out of consciousness; Ero's point is then of course that to whatever extent people were talking about Cynthia's remarkable mourning before, that moment has passed.
	and 'twas only for that, that I endured this; and so, o' my	= ie. the sake of that.
50	conscience, did you. Never deny it.	49-50: and so…deny it = Ero directly accuses Cynthia of going through this extreme show of mourning solely to have others notice her.
52	Cyn. Nay, pray thee take it to thee.	= "speak for yourself."^3
	Heark, I hear some footing near us.
54
	Enter Lysander.
56
	Ero. God's me, 'tis the soldier, mistress! By Venus, if
58	you fall to your late black Sanctus again, I'll discover	58: black Sanctus = meaning "lamentation", according to
	you.	Parrott, or perhaps "horrible din or noise."^17
60		58-59: I'll discover you = "I'll expose you"; Ero threatens to tell the soldier Cynthia has drunk his wine.
	Lys. [Aside] What's here? The maid hath certainly
62	prevailed with her; methinks those clouds that last night
	covered her looks are now dispersed. I'll try this further.	= test, push.
64	− Save you, lady!	= Elizabethan salutation, short for "God save you."
66	Ero. Honourable soldier, y' are welcome! Please you
	step in, sir?
68
	Lys. With all my heart, sweetheart; − by your patience,
70	lady. Why, this bears some shape of life yet! − Damsel,	= Lysander address Ero.
	th'ast performed a service of high reckoning, which	= thou hast. = value, with perhaps a glance at the Last
72	cannot perish unrewarded.	Judgment,^1 together with perish unrewarded.
74	Ero. Faith sir, you are in the way to do it once, if you	74-75: something like "you have it in you to reward me if
	have the heart to hold on.	you want to."
76
	Cyn. Your bottle has poisoned this wench, sir.
78
	Lys. A wholesome poison it is, lady, if I may be judge;
80	of which sort here is one better bottle more.
	Wine is ordained to raise such hearts as sink;	81-82: Chapman has adapted, with modification, these lines
82	Whom woful stars distemper, let him drink.	from an earlier long poem started by Christopher Marlowe, and finished by Chapman himself, Hero and Leander.^3 82: "those whom the woe-bringing stars cause to go mad (distemper), let them drink." The astrological allusion is to the old belief that the alignment of heavenly bodies at one's birth foretold one's fortune in life; note that distemper can also mean "to get drunk".
	I am most glad I have been some mean to this part of	= ie. a means.
84	your recovery, and will drink to the rest of it.
86	Ero. Go to, mistress, pray simper no more; pledge the	= please.
	man of war here!
88
	Cyn. Come, y' are too rude.
90
	Ero. Good!
92
	Lys. Good sooth, lady, y' are honoured in her service.	= in truth.^2
94	I would have you live, and she would have you live
	freely, without which life is but death. To live freely
96	is to feast our appetites freely, without which humans
	are stones; to the satisfaction whereof I drink, lady.
98
	Cyn. I'll pledge you, sir.
100
	[She drinks.]
102
	Ero. Said like a mistress, and the mistress of yourself!
104	Pledge him in love too; I see he loves you. − She's
	silent, she consents, sir.
106
	Lys. O happy stars! And now pardon, lady,
108
	[Kisses her.]
110
	Methinks these are all of a piece.	= in harmony, all the same.^3
112
	Ero. Nay, if you kiss all of a piece, we shall ne'er have	= ie. "if your kisses are of equal passion, etc."
114	done. Well, 'twas well offered, and as well taken.
116	Cyn. If the world should see this!
118	Lys. The world! Should one so rare as yourself respect	= excellent. = care about or take notice of.^1
	the vulgar world?	= common.
120
	Cyn. The praise I have had, I would continue.
122
	Lys. What, of the vulgar? Who hates not the vulgar,	= common people. = ie. "he who does not hate".
124	deserves not love of the virtuous. And to affect praise	= desire, prize.
	of that we despise, how ridiculous it is!	= those.
126
	Ero. Comfortable doctrine, mistress; edify, edify!	= "a reassuring or pleasing". = ie. "learn from this".^1
128	Methinks even thus it was when Dido and Æneas met	128-130: yet another reference to the Aeneid: Dido and Aeneas consummated their love in a cave, into which they had escaped during a storm which had arisen during a hunting outing.
	in the cave; and heark, methinks I hear some of the
130	hunters.	= a reference to the other members of Dido's and Aeneas'
		hunting party, which had lost track of the royal couple when they took refuge in the cave; Ero means she hears someone approaching.
132	[She shuts the tomb.]
	ACT V.
	SCENE I.
	The Graveyard.
	Enter Tharsalio, Lycus.
1	Lycus. 'Tis such an obstinacy in you, sir,	1f: Lycus begins the scene by chiding Tharsalio for continuing to believe that Cynthia would ever take another lover, when faced as they are by evidence of her intense mourning.
2	As never was conceited, to run on	= (before) imagined.
	With an opinion against all the world
4	And what your eyes may witness; to adventure	4-5: to adventure…for grief = Lycus worries that by continuing their deception, he and Tharsalio are risking (adventure = to risk) having Cynthia starve to death in her grief.
	The famishment for grief of such a woman	5-7: such…deserve = Cynthia is a woman whom even a man
6	As all men's merits, met in any one,	who possessed all the virtues of all men in himself would
	Could not deserve.	not deserve.
8
	Thar. I must confess it, Lycus;
10	We'll therefore now prevent it if we may,
	And that our curious trial hath not dwelt	= if. = elaborate experiment or test.^2
12	Too long on this unnecessary haunt,
	Grief and all want of food not having wrought	= worked.
14	Too mortally on her divine disposure.	14: Tharsalio contrasts Cynthia's divine nature (disposure)
		with her mortal body which she is starving to death.
16	Lycus. I fear they have, and she is past our cure.
18	Thar. I must confess with fear and shame as much.
20	Lycus. And that she will not trust in anything
	What you persuade her to.
22
	Thar. Then thou shalt haste
24	And call my brother from his secret shroud,	= shelter,^2 with a pun on the cloth used to cover a dead
	Where he appointed thee to come and tell him	body.
26	How all things have succeeded.
28	Lycus. This is well;
	If, as I say, the ill be not so grown,
30	That all help is denied her. But I fear
	The matchless dame is famished.	= starving to death.^1
32
	[Tharsalio looks into the tomb.]
34
	Thar. 'Slight, who's here?
36	A soldier with my sister! Wipe, wipe, see,	= ie. your eyes.
	Kissing, by Jove! She, as I lay, 'tis she!	= wager.
38
	Lycus. What, is she well, sir?
40
	Thar. O no, she is famished;
42	She's past our comfort, she lies drawing on.	= (1) drawing near death, and (2) enticing.^3
44	Lycus. The gods forbid!	44: Lycus assumes Tharsalio intends the first meaning of
		drawing on.
46	Thar. Look thou, she's drawing on.
	How say'st thou?
48
	Lycus. Drawing on? Illustrious witchcrafts!
50
	Thar. Lies she not drawing on?
52
	Lycus. She draws on fairly.
54	Your sister, sir? This she, can this be she?	= ie. sister-in-law.
56	Thar. She, she, she, and none but she!
58	[He dances and sings.]
60	She only queen of love and chastity.
	O chastity! This women be!
62
	Lycus. 'Slight, 'tis prodigious!	= monstrous, abnormal.^2
64
	Thar. Horse, horse, horse!	65: Tharsalio refers to the winnings of his bet with Lysander.
66	Four chariot-horses of the Thracian breed
	Come, bring me, brother. O the happiest evening,
68	That ever drew her veil before the sun!
	Who is't, canst tell?
70
	Lycus. The soldier, sir, that watches
72	The bodies crucified in this hallowed place,
	Of which to lose one it is death to him;
74	And yet the lustful knave is at his venery,	= satisfying his sexual appetite.
	While one might steal one.	= ie. one of the bodies.
76
	Thar. What a slave was I,
78	That held not out my mind's strength constantly
	That she would prove thus! O, incredible!
80	A poor eightpenny soldier! She that lately	= ie. worthless.^3
	Was at such height of interjectiön,	= expression of emotions.^1
82	Stoop now to such a base conjunctiön!	= union, coming together.^2
	By Heaven, I wonder, now I see't in act,
84	My brain could ever dream of such a thought.
	And yet 'tis true. Rare, peerless, is't not, Lycus?	= exceptional.^1
86
	Lycus. I know not what it is, nor what to say.
88
	Thar. O had I held out (villain that I was)
90	My blessèd confidence but one minute longer,
	I should have been eternized. God's my fortune.	= would. = made famous.^2
92	What an unspeakable sweet sight it is!
	O eyes, I'll sacrifice to your dear sense,
94	And consecrate a fane to Confidence.	= temple.^1
96	Lycus. But this you must at no hand tell your brother;
	Twill make him mad; for he that was before	= ie. "drive him crazy."
98	So scourged but only with bare jealousy,	= suspicion.
	What would he be if he should come to know it?
100
	Thar. He would be less mad; for your only way
102	To clear his jealousy is to let him know it.
	When knowledge comes, suspicion vanishes.	103: not knowing whether an undesirable condition has arisen is much more frustrating than finally learning that it has appeared; Chapman demonstrates a good understanding of human nature's sometimes paradoxical nature.
104	The sunbeams breaking forth swallow the mists. −
	But as for you, sir gallant, howsoever	105f: Tharsalio now directs his remarks towards the soldier.
106	Your banquet seems sweet in your liquorous palate,	= dessert,^2 but also referring to an orgy of wine drinking,^1 with liquorous.
	It shall be sure to turn gall in your maw. −	= bitter. = throat or stomach.^2 Smeak notes that Tharsalio is
108	Thy hand a little, Lycus, here without!	referring in 106-7 to the proverb, "what is sweet in the
		mouth is oft sour in the belly."
110	Lycus. To what?
112	Thar. No booty serve you, sir soldado,	= "is there no other plunder available to satisfy you, sir soldier".^1
	But my poor sister? Come, lend me thy shoulder,	= sister-in-law.
114	I'll climb the cross; it will be such a cooler
	To my venerean gentleman's hot liver,	= lascivious. = the seat of many emotions, including lust.^2
116	When he shall find one of his crucified	116f: to get revenge on the soldier, Tharsalio will take down one of the crucified bodies the soldier is supposed to be guarding; if caught, the soldier could expect to be punished with death.
	Bodies stol'n down, and he to be forthwith	117-8: and he…thereof = the soldier can expect to be hung
118	Made fast in place thereof, for the sign	on the crucifix in place of the body they are stealing.
	Of the lost sentinel. Come, glorify
120	Firm confidence in great inconstancy.	= unfaithfulness.
	And this believe (for all proved knowledge swears)	121-2: a rhyming couplet ends this part of the scene; errs probably sounded more like swears.
122	He that believes in error, never errs.	122: you can't go wrong if you expect the worst.
124	[Exeunt.]
126	[The tomb opens, disclosing Lysander,	126-7: the three step out of the tomb.
	Cynthia, Ero.]
128
	Lys. 'Tis late; I must away.
130
	Cyn. Not yet, sweet love!
132
	Lys. Tempt not my stay, 'tis dangerous. The law is
134	strict, and not to be dispensed with. If any sentinel be
	too late in's watch, or that by his neglect one of the
136	crucified bodies should be stolen from the cross, his life
	buys it.	= ie. pays the penalty.
138
	Cyn. A little stay will not endanger them.	= delay.
140	The day's proclaimer has not yet given warning.
	The cock yet has not beat his third alarm.	141: the rooster has not crowed a third time yet, ie. it is not
142		yet the hour before dawn.^4
	Lys. What, shall we ever dwell here amongst th'
144	Antipodes? Shall I not enjoy the honour of my fortune	= those who live on the other side of the world,^1 meaning
	in public, sit in Lysander's chair, reign in his wealth?	with the dead rather than with the living.
146
	Cyn. Thou shalt, thou shalt; though my love to thee
148	Hath proved thus sudden, and for haste leapt over	= skipped.
	The complement of wooing,	= formalities.^2 = courtship.
150	Yet only for the world's opiniön −	150: Cynthia, though fallen, still worries about her
		reputation.
152	Lys. Mark that again!
154	Cyn. I must maintain a form in parting hence.	154: appearances still matter.
156	Lys. Out upon't! Opinion, the blind goddess of fools,	= similar meaning as "to hell with it". = reputation.
	foe to the virtuous, and only friend to undeserving
158	persons − contemn it. Thou know'st thou hast done	= scorn.
	virtuously, thou hast strangely sorrowed for thy
160	husband, followed him to death, further thou could'st	160-1: further…not = ie. "there is nothing else anyone could expect you to have done for him."
	not; thou hast buried thyself quick − [Aside] O that	= alive. = ie. "if only that".
162	'twere true! – spent more tears over his carcase
	than would serve a whole city of saddest widows in	= satisfy, the implication being "be shed by".
164	a plague-time, besides sighings and swounings not to be	= London was still regularly visited by the plague during the 17th century.
	credited.	= believed.
166
	Cyn. True; but those compliments might have their	167-8: "true; but time must still be dedicated for conven-
168	time, for fashion sake.	tional tribute (compliments),^3 ie. the traditional acts of a mourning widow, as is fashionable to do", ie. as is expected of her.
170	Lys. Right, opinion, and fashion! 'Sfoot, what call you	= God's foot, an oath.
	time? Th' ast wept these four whole days.	= "thou hast", ie. "you have".
172
	Ero. Nay, by'r lady, almost five!
174
	Lys. Look you there; near upon five whole days!
176
	Cyn. Well, go and see; return, we'll go home.
178
	[Exeunt Cynthia and Ero into the tomb.]
180
	Lys. Hell be thy home! Huge monsters damn ye, and
182	your whole creation, O ye gods! In the height of her	= ie. all women.
	mourning, in a tomb, within sight of so many deaths, her
184	husband's believed body in her eye, he dead a few days
	before! This mirror of nuptial chastity, this votress of	= a female bound by religious vows.^1
186	widow-constancy, to change her faith, exchange kisses,	= exchange vows.
	embraces, with a stranger, and, but my shame withstood,
188	to give the utmost earnest of her love to an eightpenny
	sentinel; in effect, to prostitute herself on her husband's
190	coffin! Lust, impiety, hell, womanhood itself, add, if	1901-: if…to this = ie. "could anything worse than this
	you can, one step to this!	happen?"
192
	Enter Captain, with two or three Soldiers.
194
	Cap. One of the crucified bodies taken down –
196
	Lys. [Aside] Enough.
198
	[Slinks away.]	199: Lysander of course would hate to be caught with one
200		of the bodies missing from the crosses.
	Cap. And the sentinel not to be heard of?
202
	1^st Sold. No, sir.
204
	Cap. Make out! Haste, search about for him! Does
206	none of you know him, nor his name?
208	2^nd Sold. He's but a stranger here, of some four days'
	standing; and we never set eye on him but at setting the	= posting of.
210	watch.
212	Cap. For whom serves he? You look well to your
	watch, masters!
214
	1^st Sold. For Seigneur Stratio; and whence he is, 'tis	= from wherever.
216	ignorant to us; we are not correspondent for any but our	= unknown.^1 = answerable.^3
	own places.
218
	Cap. Y' are eloquent. Abroad, I say, let me have him!	= probably an imperative: "get going!" or "spread out!"
220
	[Exeunt Soldiers.]
222
	This negligence will, by the Governor, be wholly cast on	223f: in this soliloquy, the Captain expresses his
224	me; he hereby will suggest to the Viceroy that the city-	expectation that the Governor will complain about him to the Viceroy, blaming him for the soldier's negligence.
	guards are very carelessly attended.
226	He loves me not, I know, because of late	226f: The Captain suggests the Governor dislikes him
	I knew him but of mean conditiön;	because the Captain knew him when he was a poor
228	But now, by Fortune's injudicious hand	nobody, and that he got his position through bribery -
	Guided by bribing courtiers, he is raised	a nice bit of insight into human nature shown again by Chapman. Note also the Captain switches to verse starting in line 226.
230	To this high seat of honour.
	Nor blushes he to see himself advanced	= "is he embarrassed". = promoted.
232	Over the heads of ten times higher worths,
	But takes it all, forsooth, to his meríts,	= as if he deserved it.
234	And looks (as all upstarts do) for most huge observance.	= more than an ordinary show of respect and deference; Chapman again demonstrates insight into human psychology.
	Well, my mind must stoop to his high place,	= humble itself.^1
236	And learn within itself to sever him from that,	236-7: to bear with having to be so subservient to the
	And to adore th’ authority, the goddess,	Governor, the Captain must separate the man from the office, and just focus on his paying due ceremony to the position.
238	However borne by an unworthy beast;
	And let the beast's dull apprehension take	= ability to grasp an idea.^1
240	The honour done to Isis, done to himself.	238-240: the reference here is to that Aesop's fable in which an ass carrying a carving of an Image believed the people were worshipping him, the ass, when in fact they were worshipping the statue.^8 The governor, like the ass, will take the respect shown to his office as personally given to him. Isis = an Egyptian goddess who was also worshipped by the Romans;
	I must sit fast, and be sure to give no hold
242	To these fault-hunting enemies.
244	[Exit.]
	ACT V, SCENE II.
	The Graveyard.
	Tomb opens, and Lysander within lies along,
	Cynthia and Ero.
1	Lys. Pray thee disturb me not; put out the lights.
2
	Ero. Faith I'll take a nap again.
4
	Cyn. Thou shalt not rest before I be resolved	= informed, told.
6	What happy wind hath driven thee back to harbour?
	Was it my love?
8
	Lys. No.
10
	Cyn. Yet say so, sweet, that with the thought thereof
12	I may enjoy all that I wish in earth.
14	Lys. I am sought for. A crucified body is stolen while
	I loitered here; and I must die for't.
16
	Cyn. Die? All the gods forbid! O this affright
18	Torments me ten parts more than the sad loss
	Of my dear husband.
20
	Lys. [Aside] Damnation! I believe thee.
22
	Cyn. Yet hear a woman's wit;	= cleverness, ie. advice.
24	Take counsel of necessity and it.
	I have a body here which once I loved
26	And honoured above all − but that time's past –	= Cynthia's reversal is breathtaking!
28	Lys. [Aside] It is; revenge it, Heaven!
30	Cyn. That shall supply at so extreme a need
	The vacant gibbet.	= gibbet usually applies to gallows, but it can also refer generally to any upright structure from which the body of a dead criminal is left to hang.^1
32
	Lys. Cancro! What, thy husband's body?	= an Italian curse, wishing cancer on a person.^3
34
	Cyn. What hurt is't, being dead, it save the living?	= ie. if it.
36
	Lys. O heart, hold in, check thy rebellious motion!	= impulse (to lash out or say something); Lysander is
38		trying desperately to keep calm in the face of Cynthia's outrageous suggestion to replace the missing body on the cross with Lysander's own dead one!
	Cyn. Vex not thyself, dear love, nor use delay;
40	Tempt not this danger, set thy hands to work.
42	Lys. I cannot do't; my heart will not permit
	My hands to execute a second murther.
44	The truth is I am he that slew thy husband.
46	Cyn. The gods forbid!
48	Lys. It was this hand that bathed my reeking sword
	In his life blood, while he cried out for mercy;
50	But I, remorseless, paunched him, cut his throat,	= pierced his belly.^3
	He with his last breath crying, “Cynthia!”
52
	Cyn. O thou hast told me news that cleaves my heart.
54	Would I had never seen thee, or heard sooner
	This bloody story; yet see, note my truth,
56	Yet I must love thee.
58	Lys. Out upon thee, monster!	= "damn you".
	Go, tell the Governor; let me be brought
60	To die for that most famous villainy,	= ie. infamous crime, ie. the murder of Lysander.
	Not for this miching, base transgressiön	= sneaking.^3
62	Of truant negligence.	61-62: "but not for this minor crime of allowing a body to be
		stolen."
64	Cyn. I cannot do't.
	Love must salve any murther; I'll be judge
66	Of thee, dear love, and these shall be thy pains,
	Instead of iron, to suffer these soft chains.	= ie. her arms.
68
	[Embracing him.]
70
	Lys. O, I am infinitely obliged.
72
	Cyn. Arise, I say, thou saver of my life,
74	Do not with vain-affrighting consciënce
	Betray a life, that is not thine, but mine;
76	Rise and preserve it.
78	Lys. Ha, thy husband's body!
	Hang't up, you say, instead of that that's stolen.
80	Yet I his murtherer, is that your meaning?
82	Cyn. It is, my love.
84	Lys. Thy love amazes me.
	The point is yet how we shall get it thither.	= to there.
86	Ha! Tie a halter about's neck, and drag him to the gallows;	= ie. "around his".
	Shall I, my love?
88
	Cyn. So you may do indeed.
90	Or if your own strength will not serve, we'll aid	= help with or add.^3
	Our hands to yours, and bear him to the place.
92	For Heaven's love, come, the night goes off apace.	= "is passing quickly."
94	Lys. [Aside] All the infernal plagues dwell in thy soul! –
	I'll fetch a crow of iron to break the coffin.	= crow-bar.
96
	Cyn. Do, love; be speedy.
98
	Lys. [Aside] As I wish thy damnation.
100
	[Shuts the tomb.]
102	[Lysander comes forward.]
104	O I could tear myself into atoms; off with this antic,	= tiny pieces. = grotesque costume,^1 ie. his soldier's disguise.
	the shirt that Hercules wore for his wife was not	105-6: Hercules' wife Deianeira, jealous that Hercules might
106	more baneful.	be interested in a young female prisoner he had recently
		taken, sent him a charmed garment to wear in the hopes it would keep him loyal to her; the garment, which unbeknownst to Deianeira was poisoned, caused Hercules such suffering that he could not bear it, and only his death could bring him relief. . baneful = destructive, harmful.
108	[Throwing off his armour.]
110	Is't possible there should be such a latitude in the sphere
	of this sex, to entertain such an extension of mischief
112	and not turn Devil? What is a woman? What are the	= who.
	worst when the best are so past naming? As men like
114	this, let them try their wives again. Put women to the	= test.
	test, discover them? Paint them, paint them ten parts	115: discover them = reveal them to be what they really are. Paint them = apply make-up to them: read as "they would be better off to paint them, etc." ten parts = ten times (more thickly).
116	more than they do themselves, rather than look on them
	as they are; their wits are but painted that dislike their	117-8: their wits…painting = those who do not prefer their
118	painting.	women with make-up (ie. wish to see them in their true character) are concealing, as with cosmetics (paint), their own intelligence (wit), ie. they are fools.
	Thou foolish thirster after idle secrets	119-120: Lysander admonishes those who are foolish
120	And ills abroad, look home, and store, and choke thee;	enough to seek trouble away from home (abroad); they should instead be satisfied with the trouble that inevitably awaits them at home, and suffer the consequences.
	There sticks an Acheloüs' horn of ill,	121-2: the sense is, "at home there exists a horn of
122	Copie enough,	immorality or wickedness (ill), which is cornucopia (copie)^1 enough." Achelous was the god of Greece's largest river of the same name; he fought with Hercules for possession of Deianeira, a river nymph. Hercules defeated Achelous, even as the god used his ability to change himself into different shapes. Hercules broke off one of Achelous' horns when he was in the shape of a bull. The horn was later turned into a horn of plenty, which Lysander parodies here, as a horn of ill. The line of course also refers (yet again) to the horns which grow on the head of cuckolded husbands.
	As much as Alizon of streams receives,	123-4: ie. "there are as many troubles at home as there is
124	Or lofty Ida shows of shady leaves.	water flowing through Alizon (an unidentified name) or
		leaves on the trees of Ida (the famously wooded moun- tain range of western Asia Minor.
126	Enter Tharsalio.
128	Who's that?
130	Thar. I wonder Lycus fails me. Nor can I hear what's	130: ie. "why Lycus has not returned yet."
	become of him. He would not, certain, ride to Dipolis to	131-2: He would…knowledge = Tharsalio seems to have
132	call my brother back without my knowledge.	forgotten that he sent Lycus to fetch Lysander at Act
		V.i.23-24.
134	Lys. [Aside] My brother's voice; what makes he
	hereabouts so untimely? I'll slip him.
136
	[Exiturus.]	137: Lysander tries to get away without being seen.
138
	Thar. Who goes there?
140
	Lys. A friend!
142
	Thar. Dear friend, let's know you.
144
	[Recognising Lysander.]
146
	A friend least looked for, but most welcome, and with
148	many a long look expected here. What, sir, unbooted!	= in addition to his armour, Lysander appears to have
	Have you been long arrived?	removed his soldier's boots.
150
	Lys. Not long, some two hours before night.	= ie. nightfall.
152
	Thar. Well, brother, y' have the most rare, admirable,	153f: Tharsalio, still overjoyed at having won the bet, greatly
154	unmatchable wife, that ever suffered for the sin of a	amuses himself as he pelts Lysander with irony,
	husband. I cannot blame your confidence indeed now;
156	'tis built on such infallible ground. Lycus I think be gone
	to call you to the rescue of her life. Why she − O	157-8: O incomprehensible = perhaps it is at this moment
158	incomprehensible!	that Tharsalio connects Lysander to the soldier he saw in the cave; by line 195 below, Tharsalio certainly has put two and two together.
160	Lys. I have heard all related since my arrival. We'll	160-1: Lysander assumes that Tharsalio knows nothing of
	meet to-morrow. [going]	"the soldier" - or at least acts that way.
162
	Thar. What haste, brother! But was it related with
164	what intolerable pains I and my mistress, her other
	friends, matrons and magistrates, laboured her diversion	= to divert her (from her excessive mourning).
166	from that course?
168	Lys. Yes, yes!
170	Thar. What streams of tears she poured out, what
	tresses of her hair she tore, and offered on your
172	supposed hearse!
174	Lys. I have heard all.
176	Thar. But above all, how since that time her eyes
	never harboured wink of slumber these six days; no,	= ie. slept.
178	nor tasted the least dram of any sustenance.
180	Lys. How is that assured?	180: "is that known to be certain?"
182	Thar. Not a scruple!	= doubt.^1
184	Lys. Are you sure there came no soldier to her, nor
	brought her victuals?
186
	Thar. Soldier? What soldier?
188
	Lys. Why, some soldier of the watch, that attends the
190	executed bodies. Well, brother, I am in haste; to-morrow
	shall supply this night's defect of conference. Adieu!	191: supply…conference = "make up for our not finishing
192		the conversation this evening"
	[Exit Lysander.]
194
	Thar. A soldier? Of the watch? Bring her victuals? Go	195-6: Go to = "go on!"
196	to, brother, I have you in the wind: he's unharnessed of	196: I have you in the wind = ie. "I have found you out"; to have in the wind is a hunting term, meaning "to be on the scent of". 196-7: He's unharnessed…accoutrements = "he (the soldier) has removed his uniform." Tharsalio is letting the audience know he knows the soldier and his brother are the same; he goes on to list the evidence for his revelation.
	all his travelling accoutrements; I came directly from's
198	house, no word of him there; he knows the whole
	relation; he's passionate. All collections speak he was	= story. = in a highly emotional state. = evidence.^3
200	the soldier. What should be the riddle of this that he is
	stolen hither into a soldier's disguise? He should have
202	stayed at Dipolis to receive news from us. Whether he
	suspected our relation, or had not patience to expect it,	= report (of Cynthia's mourning). = wait for.
204	or whether that furious, frantic, capricious devil,
	Jealousy, hath tossed him hither on his horns, I cannot	= ie. on its horns. Personified Jealousy (ie. Suspicion) is identified as a bull; and need we point out yet another reference to the horns of the cuckolded husband?
206	conjecture. But the case is clear, he's the soldier. −
	Sister, look to your fame, your chastity's uncovered.	207-9: Tharsalio apostrophizes to the absent Cynthia. fame = reputation. uncovered = revealed, ie. shown to the world to be a sham.
208	Are they here still? Here, believe it, both, most wofully
	weeping over the bottle.	= ie. over their drinks.
210
	[He knocks.]
212
	Ero. Who's there?
214
	Thar. Tharsalio; open!
216
	Ero. Alas, sir, 'tis no boot to vex your sister and	= useless; Ero tries to convince Tharsalio that she and
218	yourself; she is desperate, and will not hear persuasion;	Cynthia are still in mourning.
	she's very weak.
220
	Thar. Here's a true-bred chamber-maid! Alas, I am	= genuine (ie. loyal) lady's maid; perhaps Tharsalio here is referring to the loyal Ero's willingness to cover-up for her mistress.
222	sorry for't; I have brought her meat and Candian wine	= wine from the island of Crete.
	to strengthen her.
224
	Ero. O the very naming on't will drive her into a
226	swoun; good sir, forbear.
228	Thar. Yet open, sweet, that I may bless mine eyes
	With sight of her fair shrine;
230	And of thy sweetest self (her famous pandress);	= bawd, pimp.
	Open, I say! − Sister, you hear me well.	= ie. "I know you can hear me."
232	Paint not your tomb without; we know too well	232-3: while not exactly clear, the general sense is, "do
	What rotten carcasses are lodged within:	not try to deceive me by pretending you are still in
234	Open I say.	mourning, as I know what corrupt individuals are within."
		Tharsalio seems to be punning on paint with both its modern meaning and its older meaning of "deceive". By rotten carcasses, Tharsalio of course means Cynthia and Ero, and not just Lysander's corpse.
236	[Ero opens, and he sees her head
	laid on the coffin, etc.]
238
	Sister, I have brought you tidings to wake you out of
240	this sleeping mummery.	= play-acting, charade.
242	Ero. Alas, she's faint, and speech is painful to her!
244	Thar. Well said, frubber! Was there no soldier here	= a furbisher or polisher of armour,^3 again referring to Ero's
	lately?	presumed role in providing Cynthia with the soldier.
246
	Ero. A soldier? When?
248
	Thar. This night, last night, tother night; and I know	= the other.
250	not how many nights and days.
252	Cyn. Who's there?
254	Ero. Your brother, mistress, that asks if there were	= ie. brother-in-law.
	not a soldier here.
256
	Cyn. Here was no soldier.
258
	Ero. Yes, mistress; I think here was such a one, though
260	you took no heed of him.
262	Thar. Go to, sister! Did not you join kisses, embraces,	= "go on!", or "please!"
	and plight indeed the utmost pledge of nuptial love with	= promise.
264	him? Deny't, deny't; but first hear me a short story. The
	soldier was your disguised husband; dispute it not.
266	That you see yonder is but a shadow; an empty chest,	= ie. "the coffin that you see there".
	containing nothing but air. Stand not to gaze at it, 'tis
268	true. This was a project of his own contriving, to put
	your loyalty and constant vows to the test; y' are	269-270: y' are…armed = the conceit that "to be warned is to
270	warned, be armed.	be armed" was proverbial, going back at least to John
		Heywood's famous 1546 The Proverbs of John Heywood, in which he wrote, "Halfe warnd halfe armd."
272	[Exit.]
274	Ero. O fie o' these perils!
276	Cyn. O Ero, we are undone!	= ruined.
278	Ero. Nay, you'd ne'er be warned; I ever wished you to	= "I had always wanted you".
	withstand the push of that soldier's pike, and not enter	= highly suggestive, as is the next clause.
280	him too deep into your bosom, but to keep sacred your
	widow's vows made to Lysander.
282
	Cyn. Thou didst, thou didst!	283: Cynthia is presumably sarcastic.
284
	Ero. Now you may see th' event. Well, our safety lies	= result.
286	in our speed; he'll do us mischief if we prevent not his	= anticipate.
	coming. Let's to your mother's, and there call out your	= "Let's go to".
288	mightiest friends to guard you from his fury. Let them	= ie. Lysander's.
	begin the quarrel with him for practising this villany on
290	your sex to entrap your frailties.	= weakness as a woman.
292	Cyn. Nay, I resolve to sit out one brunt more.	= assault or blow.^1
	To try to what aim he'll enforce his project;	293: "to test or determine to what degree Lysander intends to go on with this scheme"; Cynthia will not yet let Lysander know that she is aware he is the soldier.
294	Were he some other man, unknown to me,
	His violence might awe me;	= (expected) intensity of emotion.^1
296	But knowing him as I do, I fear him not.
	Do thou but second me, thy strength and mine	= support.
298	Shall master his best force,	298-9: "should be more than a match for any violence or
	If he should prove outrageous.	fury Lysander might be display."
300	Despair, they say, makes cowards turn courageous.
	Shut up the tomb.
302
	[Shuts the tomb.]
	ACT V, SCENE III.
	The Graveyard.
	Enter one of the Soldiers sent out before
	to seek the Sentinel.
1	1^st Sold. All pains are lost in hunting out this soldier;
2	his fear (adding wings to his heels) out-goes us as far	2-3: "the guilty soldier, motivated by fear for his life, flees
	as the fresh hare the tired hounds. Who goes there?	more quickly from us than does a hare chased by tired
4		hounds."
	Enter 2^nd Soldier, another way.
6
	2^ndSold. A friend!
8
	1^st Sold. O your success and mine, touching this	= result.^2 = concerning.^2
10	sentinel, tells, I suppose, one tale; he's far enough, I	= ie. "we both have failed to find him."
	undertake, by this time.
12
	2^nd Sold. I blame him not; the law's severe (though
14	just) and cannot be dispensed.
16	1^st Sold. Why should the laws of Paphos, with more	16-19: Why should…death? = the sympathetic soldier
	rigour than other city laws, pursue offenders, that, not	wonders why the city applies its laws so strictly,
18	appeased with their lives' forfeit, exact a justice of them	gratuitously further punishing those criminals (offenders) who have been executed by leaving them on their crucifixes, thus preventing them from receiving a proper burial.
	after death? And if a soldier in his watch, forsooth, lose
20	one of the dead bodies, he must die for't! It seems the	20-21: It seems…a law = that the state can be so liberal in
	state needed no soldiers when that was made a law.	taking its own soldiers' lives suggests the law was
22		promulgated during a time of peace, when there was little need for soldiers to fight its enemies.
	2^nd Sold. So we may chide the fire for burning us, or
24	say the bee's not good because she stings. 'Tis not the
	body the law respects, but the soldier's neglect, when	= has in mind.^2
26	the watch (the guard and safety of the city) is left
	abandoned to all hazards. But let him go; and tell me if	= perils.^1
28	your news sort with mine for Lycus, apprehended, they	28: sort with = is the same as, corresponds with; note that
	say, about Lysander's murther.	news is treated as a plural word.
30		for = regarding. apprehended = seized, ie. arrested.
	1^st Sold. 'Tis true; he's at the Captain's lodge under
32	guard, and 'tis my charge, in the morning, to unclose	= responsibility.
	the leaden coffin and discover the body. The Captain	= ie. reveal the body by opening the coffin.
34	will assay an old conclusion, often approved, that	34: assay an old conclusion = try out the old experiment.^1 approved = proved.
	at the murtherer's sight the blood revives again, and	35-37: the soldier refers to an old superstition, that at the
36	boils afresh; and every wound has a condemning voice	sight of its murderer, a corpse will begin to bleed again,
	to cry out guilty gainst the murtherer.	thus helping to identify who its murderer (murtherer)
38		was.^3
	2^nd Sold. O world, if this be true; his dearest friend,
40	his bed-companion, whom of all his friends he culled	40: bed-companions = friends frequently shared beds in the
	out for his bosom!	old days. 40-41: whom of…bosom = who out of all of his friends he chose to be his closest.
42
	1^st Sold. Tush, man, in this topsy-turvy world friendship	= the first recorded use of this phrase was in 1528.^1
44	and bosom-kindness are but made covers for mischief,	= pretexts.
	means to compass ill. Near-allied trust is but a bridge for	= commit or plan evil.^1
46	treason. The presumptions cry loud against him, his	= evidence.^1 = ie. Lycus, who is being interrogated as a suspect in Lysander's murder.
	answers sound disjointed, cross-legged, tripping up one
48	another. He names a town whither he brought Lysander	= to where.
	murthered by mountaineers; that's false; some of the
50	dwellers have been here, and all disclaim it. Besides, the
	wounds he bears in show are such as shrews closely	= ie. "like those (hidden wounds) that vexatious wives
52	give their husbands, that never bleed, and found to be	secretly, etc".^1 The sense is that the wounds are not
	counterfeit.	visible.
54
	2^nd Sold. O that jade falsehood is never sound of all,	= a worthless horse, used as a metaphor for personified falsehood, with halts (limps) and pace.
56	But halts of one leg still.	= on. = always.
	Truth's pace is all upright, sound everywhere,	57: unlike Falsehood, which limps, Truth is able to walk upright and soundly.
58	And, like a die, sets ever on a square.	= switching metaphors, the soldier compares Truth to an
	And how is Lycus his bearing in this condition?	unloaded die.
60
	1^st Sold. Faith (as the manner of such desperate	61-63: as the manner…pity her = like all those who are guilty, Lycus exudes ease and confidence, which will only last until the moment irrefutable evidence is brought out. Faith simply means "truly".
62	offenders is till it come to the point), careless and
	confident, laughing at all that seem to pity him. But	63-64: But leave…event: "but let's see what happens."
64	leave it to th' event. Night, fellow-soldier! You'll not	= outcome. = ie. "won't you".
	meet me in the morning at the tomb, and lend me your
66	hand to the unrigging of Lysander's hearse?	= unrigging refers to the removing of the rigging on a ship, and is used metaphorically here; a hearse is a coffin.^1
68	2^nd Sold. I care not if I do, to view Heaven's power in	68-69: "I would be glad to, in order to be a witness to the
	this unbottomed cellar.	power of Heaven" (alluding to the superstition described above at lines 35-37); unbottomed cellar = tomb or grave.
70	Blood, though it sleep a time, yet never dies.
	The gods on murtherers fix revengeful eyes.	70-71: the soldiers' scene ends with a rhyming couplet.
72
	[Exeunt.]
74
	Lysander solus with a crow of iron and a halter,	= enters alone. = rope.
76	which he lays down,
	and puts on his disguise again.
78
	Lys. Come, my borrowed disguise, let me once more	79-89: Lysander engages in a lengthy apostrophe to his
80	Be reconciled to thee, my trustiest friend;	disguise.
	Thou that in truest shape hast let me see
82	That which my truer self hath hid from me,	= ie. Cynthia's lack of a true devotion to him.
	Help me to take revenge on a disguise	= ie. Cynthia's false show of loyalty to him.
84	Ten times more false and counterfeit than thou.
	Thou, false in show, hast been most true to me;
86	The seeming true hath proved more false than thee.	= that which appeared to be true.
	Assist me to behold this act of lust;
88	Note, with a scene of strange impiety,	88-89: alluding to the plan to remove his own body from the
	Her husband's murthered corse! O more than horror!	coffin and hang it from the cross.
90	I'll not believe 't untried; if she but lift
	A hand to act it, by the fates, her brains fly out!
92	Since she has madded me, let her beware my horns.	= another allusion to the horns of the cuckolded husband.
	For though by goring her no hope be shown
94	To cure myself, yet I'll not bleed alone.	93-94: Lysander's soliloquy ends with a rhyming couplet.
96	[He knocks.]
98	Ero. Who knocks?
100	Lys. The soldier; open!
102	[She opens, and he enters.]
104	See, sweet, here are the engines that must do't,	= tools, implements. = ie. remove and move the body.
	Which, with much fear of my discovery,
106	I have at last procured.
	Shall we about this work? I fear the morn
108	Will overtake's; my stay hath been prolonged	= ie. "delay (in returning)", or "time away from you".
	With hunting obscure nooks for these employments!	= tools, implements.^1
110	The night prepares a way. Come, art resolved?	= "are you (still) determined to do this?"
112	Cyn. Ay, you shall find me constant.	= "unwavering in my resolve"; but Lysander's response sarcastically alludes to constant's more common meaning of "faithful".
114	Lys. Ay, so I have, most prodigiously constant;	= extremely.^1
	Here's a rare halter to hug him with.	= excellent rope. = embrace, probably meaning "tie around".
116
	Ero. Better you and I join our hands and bear him
118	thither, you take his head.
120	Cyn. Ay, for that was always heavier than's whole	120ff: Cynthia, knowing of course the soldier is Lysander,
	body besides.	gratuitously insults her "dead" husband.
122
	Lys. [Aside] You can tell best that loaded it.	= probably in the sense of "who was a burden to it".^1
124
	Ero. I'll be at the feet, I am able to bear against you, I
126	warrant you!
128	Lys. Hast thou prepared weak nature to digest	= ie. "your naturally weak constitution, as a woman".
	A sight so much distasteful; hast seared thy heart,	= "have you".
130	It bleed not at the bloody spectacle?	= ie. "so it".
	Hast armed thy fearful eyes against th' affront	= fearing.
132	Of such a direful object?
	Thy murthered husband ghastly staring on thee.
134	His wounds gaping to affright thee, his body soiled with gore!
	Fore Heaven my heart shrugs at it.	= shudders from fear.^1
136
	Cyn. So does not mine;	137: "mine does not."
138	Love's resolute, and stands not to consult	= ie. Love is. = hesitates.
	With petty terror; but in full career	= ie. the charge of a horse at full speed.
140	Runs blindfold through an army of misdoubts
	And interposing fears; perhaps I'll weep
142	Or so, make a forced face and laugh again.
144	Lys. O most valiant love!
	I was thinking with myself as I came,	145-151: the soldier" (Lysander) wonders whether Cynthia has considered that Lysander's body, hanging from the cross, might be recognized, and has consequently weighed the harm that would result to her reputation.
146	How if this brake to light; his body known;	= came.
	(As many notes might make it) would it not fix
148	upon thy fame an unremovèd brand	= reputation. = permanent.
	Of shame and hate; they that in former times	= ie. those who.
150	Adored thy virtue, would they not abhor
	Thy loathest memory?
152
	Cyn. All this I know, but yet my love to thee
154	Swallows all this, or whatsoever doubts
	Can come against it.
156	Shame's but a feather balanced with thy love.	= ie. no heavier than. = ie. when placed on a scale against.
158	Lys. Neither fear nor shame? You are steel to th' proof.	= like proven armour, ie. impenetrable or emotionally hardened.^1
	[Aside] But I shall iron you. − Come then, let's to work.	= shackle, ie. catch,^1,4 punning with steel.
160	Alas, poor corpse, how many martyrdoms
	Must thou endure, mangled by me a villain,
162	And now exposed to foul shame of the gibbet!	= cross.
	Fore piety, there is somewhat in me strives	163-4: there is…deed = "something in me causes me to
164	Against the deed, my very arm relents	resist doing this deed".
	To strike a stroke so inhuman,	165-6: note the wordplay of strike and stroke, and the alliteration in 166 of hallowed hearse.
166	To wound a hallowed hearse? Suppose 'twere mine,	= ie. "my body in there".
	Would not my ghost start up and fly upon thee?
168
	Cyn. No, I'd mall it down again with this.	= strike (obsolete precursor of maul).^1
170
	[She snatches up the crow.]
172
	Lys. How now?
174
	[He catches at her throat.]
176
	Cyn. Nay, then, I'll assay my strength; a soldier, and	= test. = read as "you, a soldier, etc."
178	afraid of a dead man! A soft-roed milk-sop! Come, I'll	= soft-roe refers to the spawn or sperm of a male fish;
	do't myself.	milk-sop suggests effeminacy; the combined effect of
180		the insult is devastating.
	Lys. And I look on? Give me the iron.
182
	Cyn. No, I'll not lose the glory on't. This hand, etc.	= it is unclear whether this refers to an unfinished speech
184		or indicates an instruction for gesturing.^12
	Lys. Pray thee, sweet, let it not be said the savage act
186	was thine; deliver me the engine.	= give. = tool.
188	Cyn. Content yourself, 'tis in a fitter hand.	= suit, satisfy.
190	Lys. Wilt thou first? Art not thou the most −
192	Cyn. Ill-destined wife of a transformèd monster,	192f: Cynthia, in finishing Lysander's sentence, finally
	Who to assure himself of what he knew,	reveals that she is aware that the soldier is Lysander.
194	Hath lost the shape of man.
196	Lys. Ha! Cross-capers?	= an unanticipated turn of events which frustrates one's plans.^3
198	Cyn. Poor soldier's case! Do not we know you, sir?	= clothes, outfit.
	But I have given thee what thou cam'st to seek.
200	Go, satyr, run affrighted with the noise	200-1: Cynthia throws back into Lysander's face the
	Of that harsh-sounding horn thyself hast blown.	metaphor he used to describe her when he, playing the soldier, first met her: see the note at Act IV.ii.74-75.
202	Farewell; I leave thee there my husband's corpse,
	Make much of that.
204
	[Exit cum Ero.]	205: Cynthia and Ero exit.
206
	Lys. What have I done?
208	Oh, let me lie and grieve and speak no more.
210	[Tomb closes.]	210: Lysander remains inside the tomb.
212	Enter Captain, Lycus with a guard
	of three or four soldiers.
214
	Cap. Bring him away! − You must have patience, sir;	= addressed to Lycus.
216	if you can say aught to quit you of those presumptions	= anything. = acquit. = the evidence (of his having murdered Lysander).
	that lie heavy on you, you shall be heard. If not, 'tis not
218	your braves, nor your affecting looks, can carry it. We	= defiant or boastful behavior.
	we acquit our duties.	= perform.^3
220
	Lycus. Y' are Captain o' th' watch, sir?
222
	Cap. You take me right.
224
	Lycus. So were you best do me; see your presumptions	= evidence.
226	be strong; or be assured that shall prove a dear
	presumption to brand me with the murther of my friend.
228	But you have been suborned by some close villain to	= persuaded or bribed. = anonymous.
	defame me.
230
	Cap. 'Twill not be so put off, friend Lycus; I could wish
232	your soul as free from taint of this foul act as mine from
	any such unworthy practice.
234
	Lycus. Conduct me to the Governor himself to confront
236	before him your shallow accusations.
238	Cap. First, sir, I'll bear you to Lysander's tomb to
	confront the murthered body, and see what evidence the
240	wounds will yield against you.
242	Lycus. You're wise, Captain. But if the body should
	chance not to speak − if the wounds should be tongue-
244	tied, Captain − Where's then your evidence, Captain?
	Will you not be laughed at for an officious captain?	= overzealous.^1
246
	Cap. Y' are gallant, sir.	= nobly brave^1 (ironic).
248
	Lycus. Your Captainship commands my service no further.
250
	Cap. Well, sir, perhaps I may, if this conclusion take	251-2: if this conclusion take not = "if the result of this test
252	not; we'll try what operation lies in torture to pull	fails to prove your guilt."
	confession from you.
254
	Lycus. Say you so, Captain? But heark you, Captain,
256	might it not concur with the quality of your office, ere	= "agree with your rank", or "be acceptable to the nature of your position".
	this matter grow to the height of a more threatening
258	danger, to wink a little at a by-slip or so?	= "close your eyes to", ie. look the other way. = minor fault
		or error.^1
260	Cap. How's that?
262	Lycus. To send a man abroad under guard of one of	= meaning himself; in these lines Lycus is good-naturedly wondering whether the Captain might send him to be beaten somewhere out of the way by an incompetent soldier, during which time he might be able to run away.
	your silliest shack-rags, that he may beat the knave,	= most ignorant or rascally person^1, ie. one of the Captain's less-efficient soldiers.
264	and run's way? I mean this on good terms, Captain; I'll	= "run his way", ie. run away.
	be thankful.
266
	Cap. I'll think on't hereafter. Meantime I have other
268	employment for you.
270	Lycus. Your place is worthily replenished, Captain. My
	duty, sir! Heark, Captain, there's a mutiny in your army;
272	I'll go raise the Governor.
274	[Exiturus.]	274: Lycus starts to exit.
276	Cap. No haste, sir; he'll soon be here without your
	summons.
278
	[Soldiers thrust up Lysander from the tomb.]
280
	1^st Sold. Bring forth the Knight o' th' Tomb; have we
282	met with you, sir?
284	Lys. Pray thee, soldier, use thine office with better	284-5: ie. "please (pray thee), there is no need to be so
	temper.	rough!"
286
	2^nd Sold. Come, convey him to the Lord Governor.
288
	Lys. First afore the Captain, sir. − [Aside] Have the	289-291: Lysander, in this aside, alludes to the astrological
290	heavens nought else to do but to stand still, and turn all	belief that the position of the heavenly bodies (ie. their
	their malignant aspects upon one man?	aspect) affects a person's destiny, for better or worse -
292		and in his case, he feels, decidedly worse.
	2^nd Sold. Captain, here's the sentinel we sought for;
294	he's some new-pressed soldier, for none of us know	= newly enlisted, perhaps by force.^1
	him.
296
	Cap. Where found you him?
298
	1^st Sold. My truant was miched, sir, into a blind corner	= hidden.^1
300	of the tomb.
302	Cap. Well said, guard him safe. But for the corpse?	= common phrase for "well done".
304	1^st Sold. For the corpse, sir? Bare misprision: there's	= error, misconception.^2
	no body, nothing. A mere blandation, a deceptio visus.	= illusion.^3 = optical illusion.^1
306	Unless this soldier for hunger have eat up Lysander's
	body.	304-7: let us keep in mind, the soldiers have two projects
308		going on: (1) find the missing sentinel who allowed the body to be removed from the cross, and (2) bring Lycus before Lysander's body, to see if it will provide evidence against him.
	Lycus. Why, I could have told you this before, Captain;
310	the body was borne away piecemeal by devout ladies of	310-1: devout…order = devotees or priestesses of Venus
	Venus' order, for the man died one of Venus' martyrs.	or her temple.
312	And yet I heard since 'twas seen whole o' th' other side
	the downs upon a colestaff betwixt two huntsmen, to	313: downs = treeless elevated lands, as exist in south
314	feed their dogs withal. Which was a miracle, Captain!	England.^1
		colestaff = ie. cowl-staff: a pole held up on both ends on the shoulders of two bearers, used to carry large game, for example.^1
316	Cap. Mischief in this act hath a deep bottom, and
	requires more time to sound it. But you, sir, it seems,	= test the depth of, as of a body of water: used with deep in line 316.
318	are a soldier of the newest stamp. Know you what	= ie. Lysander, the recently recruited soldier, is compared to a newly-minted coin
	'tis to forsake your stand? There's one of the bodies	= "abandon your post?"
320	in your charge stolen away; how answer you that?
	See, here comes the Governor.
322
	Enter a Guard, bare after the Governor;	= bareheaded.
324	Tharsalio, Argus, Clinias before Eudora, Cynthia,
	Laodice, Sthenia, Ianthe, Ero, etc.	323-5: it was traditional to bring all the characters onto the
326		stage for the final scene and the play's dénouement.
	Guard. Stand aside there!
328
	Cap. [Aside] Room for a strange Governor! The	= causing wonder, or abnormal or bizarre.^1
330	perfect draught of a most brainless, imperious upstart. −	= example or image.^1
	O desert, where wert thou when this wooden dagger	331-2: the Captain apostrophizes to his own merit (desert):
332	was gilded over with the title of Governor?	the Governor is innately of a cheap and worthless character (this wooden dagger), but dressed up on the outside (gilded) with a title and position of honour.
334	Guard. Peace, masters, hear my lord!	= "quiet".
336	Thar. All wisdom be silent; now speaks authority.	336ff: throughout this scene, Tharsalio will respond with
		this sort of humorous irony to the Governor's speeches.
338	Gov. I am come in person to discharge justice.
340	Thar. Of his office.	340: "from its job"; Tharsalio puns on discharge, employing its meaning of "dismiss".
342	Gov. The cause you shall know hereafter; and it is this.	342ff: the Governor is perhaps Chapman's funniest creation;
	A villain, whose very sight I abhor − Where is he? Let	the utter contradictory nonsense he spews forth is truly
344	me see him.	awe-inspiring.
346	Cap. Is't Lycus you mean, my lord?
348	Gov. Go to, sirrah; y' are too malapert; I have heard of	348: sirrah = a form of address expressing both contempt
	your sentinel's escape, look to't.	and assumption of authority.^1
350		malapert = impudent;^2 the Governor, having heard of the escape of Lysander, appears to be irritated at the Captain.
	Cap. My lord, this is the sentinel you speak of.
352
	Gov. How now, sir? What time o' day is't?
354
	Arg. I cannot show you precisely, an't please your	= if it; the Governor may have addressed Argus directly;
356	honour.	or perhaps Argus, standing near the Governor, simply inserted himself into the conversation.
358	Gov. What? Shall we have replications, rejoinders?	= echoes.^1 = witty responses.^1
360	Thar. [Aside] Such a creature a fool is, when he
	bestrides the back of authority.	= mounts or rides on.^1
362
	Gov. Sirrah, stand you forth! It is supposed thou hast
364	committed a most inconvenient murther upon the body
	of Lysander.
366
	Lycus. My good lord, I have not.
368
	Gov. Peace, varlet, dost chop with me? I say it is	= bandy words,^3 as in "to chop logic".
370	imagined thou hast murthered Lysander. How it will be
	proved, I know not. Thou shalt therefore presently be
372	had to execution; as justice, in such cases, requireth. −
	Soldiers, take him away. Bring forth the sentinel.
374
	Lycus. Your lordship will first let my defence be heard.
376
	Gov. Sirrah, I'll no fending nor proving! For my part, I	= ie. "I'll have no", ie. "I'll not listen to". = defending.
378	am satisfied it is so; that's enough for thee. I had ever a
	sympathy in my mind against him. Let him be had away.
380
	Thar. [Aside] A most excellent apprehension! He's	= conception or view (of the law).^1
382	able, ye see, to judge of a cause at first sight, and hear
	but two parties. Here's a second Solon.	383: but two parties = Parrott notes how unclear this is;
384		does Tharsalio mean the Governor hears only the accuser and himself, but not the defendant? Solon was an ancient Athenian legislator and law-giver, famed for his wisdom; he was invested with the power to solve a paralyzing political stalemate, during which time he significantly reformed the laws of the state, and later gave Athens a new Constitution.^3
	Eud. Hear him, my lord; presumptions oftentimes	= evidence.
386	(Though likely grounded) reach not to the truth,	386: "(Though appearing to have a firm basis)^1 is mislead- ing".
	And truth is oft abused by likelihood.	387: the sense is that the real facts are often obscured by
388	Let him be heard, my lord.	the appearance of a false truth. likelihood = probability.^1
390	Gov. Madam, content yourself. I will do justice; I will
	not hear him. Your late lord was my honourable
392	predecessor, but your ladyship must pardon me; in
	matters of justice I am blind.
394
	Thar. [Aside] That's true.
396
	Gov. I know no persons. If a Court favourite write to	= acknowledge.^1
398	me in a case of justice, I will pocket his letter, and
	proceed. If a suitor in a case of justice thrusts a bribe
400	into my hand, I will pocket his bribe, and proceed.
	Therefore, madam, set your heart at rest; I am seated
402	in the throne of justice, and I will do justice; I will not
	hear him.
404
	Eud. Not hear him, my lord?
406
	Gov. No, my lady: and moreover, put you in mind in	= "keep", an imperative.
408	whose presence you stand, if you parrot to me long −	= ie. "repeat my words".
	go to!	= "be gone!"
410
	Thar. [Aside] Nay, the Vice must snap his authority at	= the Governor is compared to Vice, a stock comic character of the old morality plays, who played the tempter and bully; Tharsalio describes him as one who throws his authority around.
412	all he meets; how shall't else be known what part he	412-3: how shall't…plays? = "how else would anyone
	plays?	recognize him as the possessor of a position of rank?"
414
	Gov. Your husband was a noble gentleman, but, alas, he
416	came short, he was no statesman! He has left a foul city
	behind him.
418
	Thar. [Aside] Ay, and I can tell you 'twill trouble his
420	lordship and all his honourable assistants of scavengers
	to sweep it clean.
422
	Gov. It's full of vices, and great ones, too.
424
	Thar. [Aside] And thou none of the meanest.	425: "and you aren't the least of them."
426
	Gov. But I'll turn all topsy-turvy, and set up a new
428	discipline amongst you. I'll cut off all perished members.	= state of order.^1 = rotten limbs.
430	Thar. [Aside] That's the surgeon's office.	= job.
432	Gov. Cast out these rotten, stinking carcasses, for
	infecting the whole city.
434
	Arg. Rotten they may be, but their wenches use to
436	pepper them, and their surgeons to parboil them; and	= infect with venereal disease.^1 = a reference to the sweating tub, a treatment for VD which was frequently alluded to in Elizabethan drama.
	that preserves them from stinking, an't please your	= in this pun, Argus plays on the meaning of to pepper
438	honour.	with "to give flavour to", which would then keep the carcasses from rotting.
440	Gov. Peace, sirrah, peace! And yet 'tis well said, too.	= sirrah was also used as a form of address to servants, of which Argus is one.
	A good pregnant fellow, i'faith! But to proceed. I will	= ready, resourceful.^3
442	spew drunkenness out o' th' city −
444	Thar. [Aside] Into th' country.
446	Gov. Shifters shall cheat and starve, and no man shall	= tricksters or cheater.^1
	do good but where there is no need. Braggarts shall live	447-8: Braggarts…taverns = it is difficult to find meaning
448	at the head, and the tumult that haunt taverns. Asses	in the Governor's nonsense here, but perhaps there may simply be a printer's error, and where we have head, and should be head of: the common meaning of tumult was disorder, commotion or riots,^1 which gives a little more sense to the line. Recent Chapman editor Allan Holaday suggests the less frequent meaning of mobs for tumults. Alternatively, Parrott hesitantly suggests at the head to mean "on the best."
	shall bear good qualities, and wise men shall use them. I
450	will whip lechery out o' th' city; there shall be no more
	cuckolds. They that heretofore were errant cornutos,	= cuckolds.
452	shall now be honest shopkeepers, and justice shall take
	place. I will hunt jealousy out of my dominion.	= suspicion.
454
	Thar. [Aside] Do ye hear, brother?
456
	Gov. It shall be the only note of love to the husband to
458	love the wife; and none shall be more kindly welcome to
	him than he that cuckolds him.	= ie. the man that slept with the husband's wife.
460
	Thar. [Aside] Believe it, a wholesome reformation!
462
	Gov. I'll have no more beggars. Fools shall have wealth,
464	and the learned shall live by their wits. I'll have no more
	bankrouts. They that owe money shall pay it at their best	= bankrupts. 465-6: at their best leisure = "when they can".
466	leisure, and the rest shall make a virtue of imprisonment,	= debtors' prisons were a very real part of Elizabethan life.
	and their wives shall help to pay their debts. I'll have all
468	young widows spaded for marrying again. For the	= "spayed to prevent them from".
	old and withered, they shall be confiscate to unthrifty	469: old and withered = referring to elderly widows, as opposed to the young widows of the previous sentence. confiscate = a legal term, describing land appropriated for public use, but here meaning "conferred" or "granted", ie. married to.
470	gallants and decayed knights; if they be poor they shall	= destitute.
	be burnt to make soap-ashes, or given to Surgeons' Hall	471: burnt to make soap-ashes = Parrott sees a possible reference to the belief that Chinese women were incinerated to make gunpowder once they were too old to have more children. Surgeon's Hall = more properly Barber-Surgeons' Hall, home of one of London's oldest livery companies, the Barbers' Guild (of which the Surgeons were members, until they broke away in the 18th century).
472	to be stamped to salve for the French measles. To	= healing ointment. = venereal disease.
	conclude, I will cart pride out o' th' town.	= traditional means of transporting criminals and prostitutes.
474
	Arg. An't please your honour, pride, an't be ne'er so	475-6: Argus once again shows off his learning with a
476	beggarly, will look for a coach.	reference to the proverbial idea that pride rides in a
		coach: no matter how poor a person is, if he is proud, he will always seek to be treated as if he were well off.
478	Gov. Well said, o' mine honour! A good significant
	fellow, i'faith! What is he? He talks much; does he	= who.
480	follow your ladyship?
482	Arg. No, an't please your honour, I go before her.	= Argus takes follow, by which the Governor meant
		"serve", in its more literal sense, and points out that he actually precedes the Countess when she is on the move, as would be proper for a gentleman usher.
484	Gov. A good undertaking presence; a well-promising
	fore-head! Your gentleman usher, madam?	= countenance.
486
	Eud. Yours, if you please, my lord!
488
	Gov. Born i' th' city?
490
	Arg. Ay, an't please your honour, but begot i' th' Court.	= conceived.
492
	Gov. Tressel-legged?	493: OED cites this quote without explaining it, a tressel
494		being a horizontal cross-beam on a ship's mast; Smeak suggests it means "standing with legs wide apart".
	Arg. Ay, an't please your honour.
496
	Gov. The better; it bears a breadth, makes room o' both	= carries an air of importance.^3
498	sides. Might I not see his pace?	= the appropriate manner of walking an usher was expected
		to have learned to use as he preceded his master or mistress.
500	Arg. Yes, an't please your honour.
502	[Argus stalks.]	502: ie. Argus walks about in a stiff-legged and haughty
		manner - his pace.
504	Gov. 'Tis well, 'tis very well! Give me thy hand.
	Madam, I will accept this property at your hand, and
506	will wear it threadbare for your sake. − Fall in there,
	sirrah! − And for the matter of Lycus, madam, I must
508	tell you you are shallow. There's a State point in't.	= lacking depth or superficial in thought.^1 = the sense of this phrase seems to be something like "point of justice" or "point of legal equity".
	Heark you! The Viceroy has given him, and we must	= identified him as deserving punishment.^3
510	uphold correspondence. He must walk. Say one man	= harmony, agreement.^1
	goes wrongfully out o' th' world, there are hundreds
512	to one come wrongfully into th' world.	= ie. as bastards.
514	Eud. Your lordship will give me but a word in private.
516	[Whispers to the Governor.]
518	Thar. Come, brother, we know you well. What means
	this habit? Why stayed you not at Diopolis, as you	= outfit, referring to Lysander's disguise.
520	resolved, to take advertisement for us of your wife's	= ie. "originally had decided". = "(wait to) receive infor-
	bearing?	mation from us".
522
	Lys. O brother, this jealous frenzy has borne me
524	headlong to ruin.
526	Thar. Go to, be comforted! Uncase yourself and	= literally "get undressed", meaning to remove his disguise.
	discharge your friend.	527: "deliver Lycus from the hands of the law."
528
	Gov. Is that Lysander, say you? And is all his story
530	true? By'r lady, madam, this jealousy will cost him dear.
	He undertook the person of a soldier; and, as a soldier,	= ie. to impersonate.
532	must have justice. Madam, his Altitude in this case
	cannot dispense. − Lycus, this soldier hath acquitted you.
534
536	Thar. And that acquital I'll for him requite; the body
	lost is by this time restored to his place.
538
	Sold. It is, my lord.
540
	Thar. These are State points, in which your lordship's time	= Lysander mimics the Governor's use of this phrase in line 508.
542	Has not yet trained your lordship; please your lordship
	To grace a nuptial we have now in hand
544	Twixt this young lady and this gentleman.
546	[Hylus and Laodice stand together.]
548	Your lordship there shall hear the ample story;
	And how the ass wrapped in a lion's skin	549-551: another of Aesop's fables: an ass disguised
550	Fearfully roared; but his large ears appeared	himself in a lion's skin and went around scaring others,
	And made him laughed at, that before was feared.	amusing himself greatly, until his braying in exultation gave him away.^8 Lysander is the ass.
552
	Gov. I'll go with you. For my part, I am at a non-plus.	= perplexed.
554
	[Eudora whispers with Cynthia.]
556
	Thar. Come, brother, thank the Countess; she hath sweat
558	To make your peace. −Sister, give me your hand.
	So; − brother, let your lips compound the strife,	= settle your differences^1 with Cynthia (with a kiss).
560	And think you have the only constant wife.	559-560: the play ends with a rhyming couplet.
562	[Exeunt.]
	FINIS	Postscript: one may notice in hindsight that none of the characters has behaved admirably in this play. Furthermore, as Parrott notes, the conflict between Lysander and Cynthia was never really resolved, as if Chapman had decided that since they were both guilty of ignominious behavior, their errors simply cancelled each other out. It is likely that Chapman was simply not particularly interested in tying up loose ends, so as to make the ending either clever or satisfying.
	Chapman's Invented Words
	Like all of the writers of the era, George Chapman made up
	words when he felt like it, usually by adding prefixes and
	suffixes to known words, combining words, or using a word
	in a way not yet used before. The following is a list of words
	from The Widow's Tears that are indicated by the OED as
	being either the first or only use of a given word, or as noted,
	the first use with a given meaning:
	the phrase tear to atoms, and its equivalents
	beastlihood
	blandation (meaning illusion)
	blockheadly
	the phrase over a/the bottle
	buzz
	by-slip
	Capricion
	cornet (as a verb)
	correspondent (meaning answerable )
	date (meaning to identify oneself as)
	fault-hunting
	frubber
	inflamingly
	killbuck
	nott-headed
	ouche (meaning a sore or carbuncle on the skin)
	panderage
	the phrase all of a piece
	post-issue
	shack-rag (variation of shake-rag)
	smockage
	spade (meaning to spay)
	the phrase turn the tables
	take (meaning to catch fire, without using the word "fire")
	unparagoned
	the phrase veny for veny
	FOOTNOTES
	The footnotes in the annotations correspond as follows:
	1. Oxford English Dictionary (OED) online.
	2. Crystal, David and Ben. Shakespeare's Words.
	London; New York: Penguin, 2002.
	3. Parrott, Thomas Marc. Chapman's Comedies.
	London: George Routledge & Sons, 1914.
	4. Smeak, Ethel, ed. The Widow's Tears. Lincoln: The
	University of Nebraska Press, 1966.
	5. The Encyclopedia Britannica. 11th edition. New
	York: 1911.
	6. Lyman, D. The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus. Cleve-
	land, OH: L.E. Barnard and Co., 1856.
	7. Heywood, John; Julian Sharman, Ed. Proverbs.
	London: George Bell & Sons, 1874.
	8. Jones, V.S. Vernon. Aesop's Fables. London: William
	Heinemann, 1912.
	9. Smith, W., ed. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman
	Biography and Mythology. London: John Murray, 1849.
	10. Cross, Wilbur, ed. The Yale Shakespeare. New
	Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1917.
	11. Hemingway, Samuel B., ed. Shakespeare, W. The
	Second Part of Henry IV. New Haven: Yale University
	Press, 1921.
	12. Holaday, Allan. The Plays of George Chapman: The
	Comedies. Urbana: U. of Illinois Press, 1970, pp. 555-6.
	13. Skeat, Walter W. A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1914.
	14. Halliwell, James O. A Dictionary of Archaic and
	Provincial Words. London: John Russell Smith, 1878.
	15. Brooke, Tucker, and Hemingway, Samuel B., ed.
	Shakespeare, W. The First Part of Henry IV. New Haven:
	Yale University Press, 1921.
	16. On the Tudor Trail Website. Embalming in Tudor
	England. Retrieved 12/17/2017: http://onthetudortrail.com/
	Blog/2014/10/19/embalming-in-tudor-england/.
	17. Wright, Thomas. Dictionary of Obsolete and
	Provincial English. London: George Bell and Sons, 1886.
	18. Bailey, Nathan. An Universal Etymological English
	Dictionary. London: Printed for T. Osborne etc., 1763.
	19. The Wonderful History of Virgilius the Sorcerer of
	Rome. London: David Nutt in the Strand, 1893.
	20. Rollins, Hyder E. The Black-letter Broadside Ballad,
	published in Publications of the Modern Language
	Association of America, Vol. 34. Baltimore: J.H. Furst
	Company, 1919.
	21. Ricci, Luigi, trans. Niccolo Machiavelli. The Prince.
	London: Oxford University Press, 1921.
	22. Grose, Francis. A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar
	Tongue. London: Printed for S. Hooper, 1788.
	23. Dent, R.W. Proverbial Language in English Drama
	Exclusive of Shakespeare, 1495-1616. Berkeley: University
	of California Press, 1984.