Browne, Britannia's Pastorals, B.i. Song ii. Clarke, p. 84,

"But stay, methinks I hear something in me,

That bids me keep the bounds of modesty."

Browne's rhythm requires something.
Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, iv. 8,—

“Why, woman, grieves it you to ope the door?
Belike, you get something to keep it shut."

Marmion, Antiquary, iv. 2 (not 1), Dodsley, vol. x. p. 64,—

"My suit no sooner ended, but came in

My jealous husband.

Lionel.

That was something indeed!"

For the two last hemistichs seem to form one line.

May, Old Couple, iv. 4 (not 1, as in Dodsley), ib., p. 403,—

Donne, Anatomy of the World, First Anniversary, 1633, p. 250,

ແ

'tis in vain to dew or mollify

It with thy tears, or sweat, or blood: nothing

Is worth our travail, grief, or perishing,

But those rich joys," &c.

Beaumont and Fletcher, King and No King, v, 3, early in

the scene,

'Though I have done nothing but what was good,

I dare not see my father."

Otherwise the flow would be unlike Beaumont and Fletcher. Rule a Wife, &c., iv. 3, Moxon, vol. i. p. 361, col. 2,

66

as mad as a French tailor,

That has nothing in 's head but ends of fustians."

Shirley, Imposture, v. 3, Gifford and Dyce, vol. v. p. 258,I could, if you

Durst hear me, say something, perhaps, would take

Your charity."

XXXVII.

Double Forms of some Proper Names.

Midsummer Night's Dream, ii. 3,

"Transparent Helena! Nature here shows art," &c. Read Helen, as in half a dozen other passages in the play. A few lines below, the folio has,

"Not Hermia but Helena now I love:

the quarto F. (teste Var.) omits now. I do not think, however, that now can be dispensed with. The editions follow the quarto in question. Read Helen; and so likewise iii. 2,

"Be not afraid; she shall not harm thee, Helena; "

to avoid the trisyllabic termination; see S. V. art. liii. (All's Well, &c., i. 1,-" No more of this, Helena, go to,” &c. Should we not write Helen, as everywhere else in the play?) So in Othello the verse requires that we should write Desdemon, iii. 1, fol. p. 322, col. 2,

"Give me advantage of some breefe Discourse

With Desdemon alone."

So the folio prints the name in several other passages; 3, p. 323, col. 1,—

"Not now (sweet Desdemon) some other time."

iv. 2, p. 331, col. 2,—

“Ah Desdemon, away, away, away."

v. 2, p. 337, col. 2,—

"Poore Desdemon :

I am glad thy Father's dead."

Ib., p. 338, col. 1,

"Oh, Desdemon! dead Desdemon: dead. Oh, oh."

This spelling ought to be restored in the above passages. Knight has done so in all but the first, where he doubtless supposes it to be an erratum. But he is wrong, I think, in saying that it is "clearly used as an epithet* of familiar tenderness." It seems to be like Helen for Helena, and similar double forms. Perhaps also we should read Desdemon in iii. 3, fol., p. 323, col. 2,

"Farewell my Desdemona, Ile (vulg. I will) come to thee strait."

But of this last I much doubt. Pericles, v. 1,

"Where's the lord Helicanus? he can resolve you."

Should we not write Helicane, as ii. Gower's second speech, and Sc. 4 of the same act, passim? Two Gentlemen of Verona, ii. 4,

"Know you Don Antonio, your countryman?

Qu., Antonie; as Don John. Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 3,—

* Epithet, for title or designation, a solecism, which has been

of late creeping into our language.—W.

Nor shall appear in Sicilia 76.

Camillo.

Fear none of this," &c.

My lord,

Sicilie. Twelfth Night, ii. 3,-" Marian, I say ;-a stoop of wine!" Marian occurs nowhere else in Twelfth Night. Can it ever have been synonymous with Maria and Mary? Isabel, in Measure for Measure, appears to be sometimes pronounced as Isbel. So Marlowe, K. Edward II., Dodsley, vol. ii. p. 376,

“God save queen Isabel, and her princely son.” Harrington's Ariosto, B. iii. St. liv.,

"Three worthy children shall of her be seen,

Isabell by name, Alfonso, and his brother."

B. xxiii. St. lxxv.,—

"Poor Isabell shedding tears for tender heart."

So B. xxiv. St. lxxv.-B. xxix. St. xxiv.

Other poets. In the play of Lust's Dominion, Dyce's Marlowe,77 vol. iii., read Philippo for Philip, passim: in that of Soliman and Perseda, passim, for Ferdinando read Fernando

76 Sicilia is the reading of the first folio, Sicily of the second. For appear Mr. Collier's Old Corrector reads appear't. This is scarcely English, but it suggested to me what I suspect to be the genuine reading,

"Nor shall appear so in Sicilia." My lord seems to be extra metrum. The dash after Sicilia is modern.-Ed.

77 This edition has been disavowed by Mr. Dyce. I have not seen it. In the play, as it is given in "Old English Plays," vol. i., Philip, Philippo, Lord Philip, and Prince Philip, all occur in situations where they suit the metre. In several passages, no doubt, Philip is wrong.-Ed.

(both forms are used in the play); and D 3, p. 3, Ferdinand. Fletcher, &c., Love's Pilgrimage, iv. 1, Moxon, vol. ii. p. 627, col. 2,—

Gent.

Yes, sir, all happiness

To that fair lady, as I hope.

Marc-Antonio!"

This part is Massinger's (meo periculo), and his metre demands Marc-Antonie, and so read v. 2, as in the passage from the Two Gentlemen of Verona, quoted above, —

I have heard so much

Will keep me deaf for ever! No, Marc-Antonio," 78 &c.

Phil.

She is not here.-Marc-Antonio,

Saw you not Leocadia ?"

On the other hand, v. 4, p. 632, 1. 1,—

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"And, which is worse, even Marc-Antony
Would be call'd just," &c. ;

the dissyllabic even looks suspicious; I think, "e'en MarcAntonio," &c.

XXXVIII.

The final s frequently interpolated and frequently omitted in the first folio.

Merchant of Venice, iv. 1,—

"Bring us the letters; call the messenger."

78 So Moxon's edition, to which Walker refers, and the second folio ; but the first folio, the best authority (not that authority is worth much in a case of this kind) has Mark-antonie.-Ed.