A NOTE ON THE VERSE Read over these lines to yourself : You all do know this mantle: I remember As you read, your voice will rest longer on some syllables than on others; you will say, for instance— The first time éver Caésar pút it ón:! Your voice will rest on the word 'first' in a way that it does not on the word 'the'. This is called stress, and 'first' is a stressed syllable. Look at the lines again, and you will find : (1) that they have five stresses; (2) that the stress falls on every other syllable ; This is what we call blank verse, and it has been the metre for plays since Marlowe used it. He writes it very regularly, and in trying to learn what blank verse is, you had better begin with him. But if all blank verse lines were exactly like ‘The first time ever Caesar put it on', our ear would get tired of the sound as we went on reading or hearing them. And, if you and I feel that, a poet's fine ear feels it much more. So he varies the rhythm for us by changing the stress; he does this after a pause or break in the line. The breaks are marked for us by the stops, and there is a slight pause at the end of the line. Thus we get lines like Só, I am sátisfied. | Gíve me a bowl of wine. After the break at 'satisfied', the verse seems to start off again, and the next word will bear a stress; so too at the beginning of the line after the pause from the line before. The effect is often very fine, as when Antony says over the dead Caesar Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, The word 'shrunk' falls on the ear with a mournful stress; the great man is so little now! Six stresses are found sometimes where the line is broken by a pause : The old Anchíses beár, | só from the waves of A thousand times more faír, | ten thousand times Whát, is António hére? | Reády, so please your gráce. Sometimes there are less than five stresses, but then usually the line is meant to be startling : Is he so hasty that he doth suppose My sleep my death? Find him, my Lord of Warwick; chide him hither, Here the unfinished line reads like a broken cry; the speaker stops in anger. But at present you had better fix your attention on the five-stress lines. One warning: some words in this old verse have an old-fashioned pronunciation. You may have to say 'power' (two syllables), and 'fire' in the same way; and you will find 'ambit-i-ous', 'conven-i-ent' (four syllables); the ending-ion' is often two syllables, as prevent-i-on'; and the '-ed' of the past participle fully sounded, as establishèd. GLOSSARY Where a reference seemed desirable, the number of the page is inserted in brackets. An asterisk denotes an absurdity or misuse of a word by characters like Dogberry and Bottom. Adoration, worship. Advantage (154), interest. Advantages (79), additions. Adventures, at all, at any risks. Afoot, on foot (meaning, has started off). After-supper (205), dessert, &c., taken at the end of supper. *Aggravate (200), to make worse. B. means 'make less'. Alacrity, briskness. Albeit, although. Allay, to make quiet. Allegiance, being true to the king, loyalty. An, if. Antipodes, the people at the opposite side of the world. Apace, quickly. Apparelled, dressed, fitted out. Apparent, which can be seen; so (1) clear, plain, (2) seeming. Apparition (105), appearance. Appertinents, belongings, things which go with some principal thing. Apprehensive (126), having intelligence, able to understand. Apt, ready. Arbitrament, decision. Argosy, a large merchant-ship. Argument, something to consider: so (60, 218) a thing to discuss; (71) a piece of work to do; (58, 223) the plot of a play, the subject which it treats. Arras, tapestry (see 'hangings'). *Aspicious: D. means 'suspicious'. Athwart, across. Attach (87), to arrest. Attaint (73), infection (meaning bad influences, such as fear, or the effect of a sleepless night). Attaint (87), to find guilty of treason, and to condemn to loss of property and civil rights and title. Attended (179), attended to. Attribute (171), something that we think of as always belonging to a person. We say 'God is good'; so goodness is an attribute of God. Audacious, bold. Audacity, boldness. Audit, having your business books examined. Auditor (203), hearer. Bagpudding (184), a pudding boiled in a bag. Bait, to torment for sport (as in Baned (167), destroyed. (226), sugar brought from Barbary; so, very sweet and rare. Barnacle (225), goose. (Really a wild goose which breeds in the arctic seas.) Basis (128), the lower part of a Bay (140), to bark at; (130) to Bear me hard (129), suspect me, think me dangerous. (Literally, to keep a tight rein on a horse.) Beaver, the faceguard of the helmet; so, the helmet itself. Beguile (the time), to while away. Beholding, obliged to anybody, beholden. Benighted, overtaken by the night. Bergomask dance (212), a clownish dance, originally that of the peasants of Bergamo. Beshrew me. A playful cry, meaning 'Mischief to me'. Besmirch, to soil, stain. Best-conditioned, having the best temper. Bestow yourself (80), place your self. Bethink me (153), consider with Bills, brown (187). See note, p. 191. *Blunt (194). D. means 'sharp'. Boding (19), giving a warning of evil. The cry of the owl was a sign of bad luck. Boisterous, rough. Bolted (68), sifted like fine meal. Bondman, slave. Book (82), to register, make a list of. Breathing courtesy (180), politeness expressed only in words. Breech, to flog. Breeks, breeches. Brief (205), a short programme. Brisky (203), brisk, smart. Broach, to tap liquor. Brood (26), to protect like a hen Buckram, coarse linen or cloth Bully (201), a jolly fellow. By and by, at once. By 'r lakin (201), by our ladykin, or little lady (an old oath). Calendar of Virtue (105), a list in which good deeds appear like the Saints' names in an almanac. Canker, a caterpillar which destroys the buds and leaves of plants. Capacity, to my (206), to my understanding, as far as I am able to take things in. Capital, punished with death. Carat, the proportion of pure metal in anything made of gold. Carriage (97), the way a man carries himself or behaves. Carrion, dead and rotting. Case ye (217), put on your disguises. Casement, the frame of a window. Caterpillar (218), one who preys Cess (213), reckoning, measure. Chamberlain (215), the upper servant of an inn. Chantry (77), a chapel or altar endowed for a priest to sing mass daily for the souls of the dead. Charging-staff, a long weapon like the quarter-staff, used for attack and defence. Chattels, property. Cheerly, cheerfully. Chide him hither (56). A short way of saying 'Talk to him severely and send him here'. Choice-drawn (70), carefully Christen (214), christened. Christendom (37), baptism, or the faith of a Christian. Cloy, to fill with too much of a thing. no Cockpit (63), a pit in which cock- Coffer, a money-chest. Commiseration, pity. Commission, a warrant allowing people certain rights or ordering them to carry out certain duties. Commissioner, one who has a commission. Commodity (151), goods on which money could be raised. *Commodity (189). 'comedy Compact, agreement. Compass (114), reach. Compound (57), to mix. H. means |