Hast thou so crack'd and splitted my poor tongue
In seven short years, that here my only son
Knows not my feeble key of untun'd cares?
Though now this grained face of mine be hid
In sap-consuming winter's drizzled snow,
And all the conduits of my blood froze up,
Yet hath my night of life some memory,
My wasting lamps some fading glimmer left,
My dull, deaf ears a little use to hear:
All these old witnesses (I cannot err)
Tell me thou art my son Antipholus.

Ant. E. I never saw my father in my life.
Ege. But seven years since, in Syracusa, boy,
Thou know'st we parted. But, perhaps, my son,
Thou sham'st to acknowledge me in misery.

8

Ant. E. The duke, and all that know me in the city, Can witness with me that it is not so.

I ne'er saw Syracusa in my life.

Duke. I tell thee, Syracusian, twenty years

Have I been patron to Antipholus,

During which time he ne'er saw Syracusa.

I see, thy age and dangers make thee dote.

Enter Abbess, with ANTIPHOLUS of Syracuse and DROMIO of Syracuse.

Abb. Most mighty duke, behold a man much wrong'd.

[All gather to see them.

Adr. I see two husbands, or mine eyes deceive me! Duke. One of these men is Genius to the other; And so of these: which is the natural man,

And which the spirit? Who deciphers them?

8 Hast thou so crack'd and splitted my poor tongue] We do not venture here to introduce the emendation we meet with in the corr. fo. 1632, although it seems probable that Shakespeare did not leave the line (intelligible though it may be) as it has come down to us: in the corr. fo. 1632 we read,

"Hast thou so crack'd my voice, split my poor tongue."

One reason for our hesitation is, that our poet uses "splitted" as a participle in the first scene of this play; and we likewise meet with it in H. Chettle's "Hoffman," written only a little later, but not printed until 1631, where the hero says,

"I stood upon the top of a high scar,

When I beheld the splitted ship let in
Devouring ruin."

9 All gather to see THEM.] This is the stage-direction of the old folios, applicable to Antipholus and Dromio, both of Syracuse; but modern editors, without the slightest reason, substitute him for "them."

Dro. S. I, sir, am Dromio: command him away.
Dro. E. I, sir, am Dromio: pray let me stay.

Ant. S. Egeon, art thou not? or else his ghost?
Dro. S. Oh, my old master! who hath bound him here?
Abb. Whoever bound him, I will loose his bonds,
And gain a husband by his liberty.

Speak, old Egeon, if thou be'st a man
That hadst a wife once call'd Emilia,
That bore thee at a burden two fair sons.
Oh! if thou be'st the same Ægeon, speak,
And speak unto the same Æmilia!

Ege. If I dream not, thou art Æmilia 1.
If thou art she, tell me, where is that son
That floated with thee on the fatal raft?

Abb. By men of Epidamnum, he, and I,
And the twin Dromio, all were taken up;
But, by and by, rude fishermen of Corinth
By force took Dromio and my son from them,
And me they left with those of Epidamnum.
What then became of them I cannot tell;
I, to this fortune that you see me in.

Duke. Why, here begins his morning story right2 :
These two Antipholus', these two so like,

And these two Dromios, one in semblance,-
Besides her urging of her wreck at sea';
These are the parents to these children,
Which accidentally are met together.
Antipholus, thou cam'st from Corinth first.

Ant. S. No, sir, not I: I came from Syracuse.

Duke. Stay, stand apart: I know not which is which.
Ant. E. I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord.

1 If I dream not, thou art Æmilia.] In the old copies this speech of Ægeon, and the subsequent one of the Abbess, follow the speech of the Duke, beginning with the words-" Why, here begins," &c. Capel made the necessary change, but, without authority or fitness, printed "right" light.

2 Why, here begins his MORNING story right:] The "morning story" is what Ægeon has told the Duke in the first scene of this play.

3 Besides HER urging of HER wreck at sea;] The alteration in the corr. fo. 1632 here is "her" into his in both places; but we doubt the necessity of the change, because the Duke may refer to what Æmilia has just told of the wreck, preservation, and severance of herself, her husband, and the two pairs of twins. At the same time the Duke may allude to the "morning story" of Ægeon; and if so, we must conclude that his has been twice misprinted "her" in the same line. If the old compositor misread the small word once, he might suppose that it was only the same pronoun repeated.

Dro. E. And I with him.

Ant. E. Brought to this town by that most famous warrior, Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.

Adr. Which of you two did dine with me to-day?

Ant. S. I, gentle mistress.

Adr. And are not you my husband?

Ant. E. No; I say nay to that.

Ant. S. And so do I, yet did she call me so :
And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here,
Did call me brother.-What I told you then,
I hope I shall have leisure to make good,
If this be not a dream I see, and hear.

Ang. That is the chain, sir, which you had of me.
Ant. S. I think it be, sir: I deny it not.
Ant. E. And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.
Ang. I think I did, sir: I deny it not.
Adr. I sent you money, sir, to be your bail,

By Dromio; but I think, he brought it not.

Dro. E. No, none by me.

Ant. S. This purse of ducats I received from you,
And Dromio, my man, did bring them me.

I see, we still did meet each other's man,
And I was ta'en for him, and he for me,
And thereupon these errors all arose *.

4

Ant. E. These ducats pawn I for my father here.
Duke. It shall not need: thy father hath his life.
Cour. Sir, I must have that diamond from you.

Ant. E. There, take it; and much thanks for my good cheer.

Abb. Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the pains

To go with us into the abbey here,

And hear at large discoursed all our fortunes;

And all that are assembled in this place,
That by this sympathized one day's error
Have suffered wrong, go, keep us company,
And we shall make full satisfaction.

4 And thereupon these errors ALL arose.] So the corr. fo. 1632, and so Mr. Singer, for "these errors are arose " of the old editions. Mr. Singer adds that the emendation was made by him in 1851; that is, two years before the appearance of our Vol. of "Notes and Emendations." We entirely believe it, and can have no wish to deprive Mr. Singer of any credit due to him for the change; but, in our turn, we may mention that we suggested that are ought to be "all" as long ago as 1843, and that conjecture is now fully borne out. We have already seen "all" misprinted are in "The Tempest," this Vol. p. 24.

5

Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail
Of you, my sons; and at this present hour
My heavy burdens are delivered.-

The duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,

Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me:

After so long grief such nativity!

Duke. With all my heart: I'll gossip at this feast.

[Exeunt Duke, Abbess, ÆGEON, Courtezan, Merchant, ANGELO, and Attendants.

Dro. S. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard? Ant. E. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou embark'd? Dro. S. Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in the Centaur. Ant. S. He speaks to me.- I am your master, Dromio: Come, go with us; we'll look to that anon.

5 TWENTY-FIVE years] In all the old copies "thirty-three years," which must be wrong. "Twenty-five" is the correct number; for Ægeon says, in a former part of the play, that he had parted from his son seven years ago, when the boy was only eighteen, making together the "twenty-five years." Theobald introduced the correction, but the contradiction remains in the corr. fo. 1632.

66

The only difference in the second folio is, that 'burthen" is made burthens, and that change cannot be disputed. The annotator on the corr. fo. 1632 alters till to "at," and the old difficulty, which has puzzled so many editors and commentators, is at an end: at that hour Æmilia might be said to be delivered of the burdens with which she had so long "gone in travail," viz. her twin sons of Ephesus and Syracuse. The Rev. Mr. Dyce would read (Mr. Singer following him),

"My heavy burden ne'er delivered,"

and he asserts ("Few Notes," p. 36) that "our old printers sometimes mistook ne'er (written nere) for are." If they did so (and we do not 'say that evidence of the kind may not be found), it is surprising that, with his strong propensity for multiplying quotations, Mr. Dyce does not furnish a single instance in support of his position. This, in truth, is only a case in which a commentator, having given an opinion in 1844, does his best to support it in 1853: that "best" would have been much bettered, if Mr. Dyce had troubled himself to subjoin, we do not say a few proofs, but a single proof. All we require is, that it should be supposed, that the old compositor, as often before, mistook the preposition, and printed till, when he ought to have printed "at."

7

for "

and go with me:

After so long grief such NATIVITY!] i. e. Such a feast on the nativity of my two sons. Johnson proposed festivity for "nativity," and Heath "joy with me go with me;" but neither misprint was very probable, and neither is found in the corr. fo. 1632. We therefore prefer the original, and very intelligible, text of all the folios.

Embrace thy brother there; rejoice with him.

[Exeunt ANT. S. and E., ADR., and Luc3.

Dro. S. There is a fat friend at your master's house,

That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner :

She now shall be my sister, not my wife.

Dro. E. Methinks, you are my glass, and not my brother: I see by you I am a sweet-faced youth.

Will you walk in to see their gossiping?
Dro. S. Not I, sir; you are my elder.

Dro. E. That's a question: how shall we try it?

Dro. S. We'll draw cuts for the senior: till then, lead thou first.

Dro. E. Nay, then thus:

We came into the world like brother and brother;

And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.

[Exeunt.

8 Exeunt Ant. S. and E., Adr., and Luc.] The old stage-direction is, “Exeunt omnes. Mane[n]t the two Dromios and two brothers." Such may have been the case; but it is more likely that the two Antipholuses went out with Adriana and Luciana, the two Dromios only remaining to conclude the play. Possibly the conjunction ought to be omitted, and then it would stand, "Manent the two Dromios, two brothers."

END OF VOL. I.

GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS, ST. JOHN'S SQUAre, london.