Cymbeline

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Cymbeline Page 28

by William Shakespeare

63 roots vegetables

  63 characters shapes, especially letters

  64 as as though

  64 Juno wife of Jupiter and queen of the gods

  65 dieter one who regulates the diet/feeder

  66 yokes ties together, attaches

  68 that what

  70 commix mingle

  71 rail utter abusive language

  74 spurs tree roots

  75 Grow … vine the wish is that grief, like a stinking elder (which had an evil reputation because of its pungent smell), will disentangle its deadly roots from those of the growing vine (patience)

  77 with from

  78 great morning broad daylight

  79 runagates runaways/rogues

  80 mocked tricked, fooled

  85 held regarded

  86 but only

  87 companies followers, others

  89 soft not so fast

  90 fly run away, flee from

  94 A … knock I never did anything more slavelike than responding to an insulting slave/someone calling me a slave without beating, hitting them

  99 I … mouth i.e. I am not all talk when it comes to fighting

  103 clothes i.e. courtly clothes, showing rank

  107 varlet scoundrel

  111 loath reluctant

  112 injurious insulting

  120 mere confusion absolute destruction/agitation of the mind

  122 not seeming since you don’t seem

  123 So as

  128 proper own

  130 on … heads the heads of traitors were fixed on poles at the gateway to London Bridge

  132 abroad around, about

  133 sure clearly

  135 lines of favour facial lines, lineaments

  136 snatches catches, hesitancy

  137 absolute certain

  138 very indeed

  140 make … with to do well against

  141 fell fierce

  142 Being … man being intellectually defective/barely come to manhood

  143 apprehension perception, understanding

  144 judgement reason, i.e. the rational mind

  148 Hercules classical hero, who wielded a club, and performed a series of impossible tasks

  150 I … this if I hadn’t done this

  153 perfect well aware

  154 after according to

  156 take us in capture us

  161 The … us i.e. because they are banished

  162 tender meek/submissive

  163 threat threaten

  165 For because

  168 safe sane, sound

  169 humour disposition, frame of mind

  170 mutation changeableness (of mood)

  175 cave dwell in caves

  176 make … head assemble a stronger force

  177 like him just like him, in his nature

  177 might break out he might burst out

  178 fetch us in capture us and bring us before the court

  179 To come that he would come

  180 suffering allowing

  181 tail i.e. a group coming after him

  183 ord’nance what is ordained

  184 foresay predict/determine

  184 howsoe’er however it may turn out/nevertheless

  186 mind inclination

  188 way long forth way forward seem long

  192 to i.e. flow to

  194 reck care

  199 So so that

  201 I would I wish that (all the)

  202 possible strength power we might muster

  202 meet i.e. in battle

  203 put … answer force us to answer them in battle/cause us to show them what we’re made of

  208 hasty rash, impetuous

  211 gain restore

  212 let … blood bloodletting or bleeding a patient was a common medical procedure; Arviragus is proposing a different kind of bloodletting here, shedding the blood of (killing) a parish full of Clotens to make Innogen well

  215 blazon’st are depicted

  217 zephyrs soft winds, breezes; the zephyr is the west wind

  218 wagging moving/disturbing

  219 enchafed heated, aroused

  219 rud’st roughest (rudest)

  222 frame train, direct/fit, suit

  224 seen from other not learned from others

  225 wildly naturally, without being cultivated

  230 clotpoll blockhead

  233 ingenious skillfully constructed

  234 occasion reason

  235 give it motion i.e. play it

  239 speak emit sound

  240 answer correspond to

  240 accidents events

  241 Triumphs public celebrations

  241 lamenting toys lamentation over trivial, inconsequential things

  242 jollity for apes i.e. only an imitation of jollity

  242 grief for boys considered emotionally fickle

  248 on of

  250 turned … crutch i.e. turned my youth into old age

  253 the … well half as well

  256 sound thy bottom measure your depths

  256 Find explore

  256 Find … in the experience of melancholy is likened to being in a small boat sailing sluggishly through a muddy river of unknowable depth, with no way of knowing the easiest route to harbor

  257 ooze i.e. the wet mud and slime at the bottom of a river

  257 sluggish slow-moving

  257 crare small trading boat

  258 easiliest most easily

  260 rare exceptional

  262 stark stiff

  263 as … slumber as though some fly had tickled him while he was sleeping

  264 Not … at not as though he was laughing at death’s arrow

  268 leagued folded

  269 clouted brogues hobnailed boots

  269 rudeness roughness

  270 Answered … loud i.e. made his steps echo too loudly

  271 but only, merely

  272 he’ll … bed i.e. because he looks more like someone asleep

  279 azured bright blue-colored

  279 harebell a native plant with delicate blue flowers on slender stems, often called “bluebell” but actually a distinct species

  280 eglantine sweetbriar (wild rose)

  281 ruddock robin (in folklore believed to cover the dead by strewing them with leaves and flowers, hence charitable bill)

  286 winter-ground cover and protect in winter

  288 wench-like womanish

  290 admiration i.e. of Innogen/amazement, wonder

  291 due debt the debt that needs to be paid, i.e. burial

  292 shall’s shall us (i.e. shall we)

  296 Have … crack i.e. have broken

  297 once we once did for

  297 like the same

  298 save except

  300 word speak

  302 fanes temples

  304 med’cine the less cure lesser ones

  306 came came here as

  307 paid given his payment, i.e. death

  307 mean … dust i.e. both high and low come to the same end

  308 reverence respect, deference

  314 Thersites in Homer’s Iliad, the most scurrilous and cowardly of all the Greek warriors at the siege of Troy

  314 Ajax heroic Greek warrior in the Iliad

  317 the whilst in the meanwhile

  318 to th’east emphasizing the pagan setting since it is the opposite in Christian practice

  321 remove move

  326 Home i.e. heaven

  326 ta’en thy wages payment for the worldly task

  327 Golden … dust i.e. the rich must die as surely as the poor; dandelions were known as chimney-sweepers in Warwickshire

  328 As like

  333 sceptre, learning, physic i.e. kings, scholars, doctors

  336 thunder-stone thunderbolt

  340 consign to thee seal the same contract with/entrust to your charge

&nb
sp; 341 exorcizer one who conjures or raises spirits

  342 charm cast a spell on

  343 Ghost … thee let any ghost which has not been laid to rest stay away from you

  345 consummation end, fulfillment

  347 obsequies funeral rites

  350 upon their faces meaning is unclear; possibly “strew the flowers on the front of their bodies”/“turn the bodies facedown”/“strew the flowers on their faces”

  352 herblets shall small herbs will also (wither)

  353 apart … knees let us go and pray

  354 gave them first i.e. bore them

  358 ’Od’s pittikins a diminutive of “God’s pity,” reduced to its mildest form

  359 gone journeyed

  360 But … bedfellow! But wait, I don’t remember any bedfellow!

  362 care on’t its (the world’s) grief

  363 so in the same way, i.e. dreaming

  365 bolt arrow

  366 fumes bodily vapors, thought to rise from the body to the brain, thus causing dreams

  370 wren’s eye i.e. a tiny amount, the wren being regarded as the smallest bird

  370 a part give me some of it

  372 Without … me outside me (a physical reality), as it was inside me (in my imagination, dream)

  372 felt tangible

  375 His … face Innogen likens bodily attributes to those of gods and heroes; Mercury was the messenger of the gods, Mars the god of war, Hercules a hero famed for his strength, and Jove (Jupiter) king of the gods

  376 brawns muscles

  378 madded maddened

  378 Hecuba wife of Priam, King of Troy; accounts describe her frenzied grief, cursing the Greeks as they sacked Troy and murdered Priam

  379 darted shot like darts (arrows)

  380 Conspired i.e. having conspired

  380 irregulous lawless

  384 this … vessel i.e. Posthumus, likened to a ship

  384 bravest most excellent/handsome/courageous, strong

  384 of in

  385 Struck the main-top chopped off the top part of the ship’s mainsail, i.e. his head

  389 lucre greed for money

  390 laid inflicted/placed, laid out

  390 pregnant obvious, clear

  392 cordial healthful, restorative

  393 home i.e. to my heart

  395 Give … blood i.e. she smears his blood on her cheeks

  396 horrider more ghastly, intimidating

  397 Which chance who happen

  397 Soothsayer one who foretells the future

  398 Gallia France

  399 After in accordance with

  399 attending waiting for

  403 confiners those dwelling within the confines, inhabitants (presumably means common men, as opposed to gentlemen)

  407 Siena Duke of Siena

  409 benefit advantage

  410 forwardness diligence, industriousness/promptness

  413 purpose outcome

  415 fast fasted

  415 intelligence information, message

  416 winged flying, on the wing

  417 spongy damp

  418 portends indicates

  419 sins … divination earthly sins distort my ability to communicate with the gods

  420 host army

  422 trunk body

  423 his its

  423 speaks suggests, attests

  425 or either

  426 nature doth abhor i.e. living creatures naturally detest

  427 defunct deceased

  430 instruct us of tell us about

  432 crave … demanded beg to be asked about

  435 altered … picture i.e. by cutting off the head

  436 wreck ruin, catastrophe/mutilated person

  442 is are

  443 occident west

  443 service masters to serve

  446 ’Lack alas (alack)

  447 complaining lamenting, mourning

  451 Say you did you speak

  454 approve … same i.e. prove yourself true to your name (Fidele means “the faithful one” in Latin)

  460 prefer recommend

  461 an’t if it

  463 poor pickaxes i.e. her fingers

  465 century of hundred

  466 can am able to

  468 So … me if it please you to take me into your service

  474 pikes pointed metal tips of a staff or spear

  474 partisans long-handled spears with broad blades

  475 arm him take him up in your arms

  475 preferred commended

  477 can are, have the right to be

  Act 4 Scene 3

  4.3 Location: Britain

  1 Again i.e. go back again

  2 with due to

  3 of as a result of

  4 touch wound, afflict

  6 upon … bed i.e. she is desperately ill

  8 present i.e. present moment

  11 enforce … thee force it out of you

  15 nothing know know nothing about

  16 purposes intends to

  17 Hold consider

  21 subjection duty as a subject

  22 wants lacks

  23 will he will

  25 slip … season let you be for a while

  25 jealousy suspicion

  26 Does yet depend still hangs in the balance/remains

  30 gentlemen i.e. officers

  31 Now for if only I now had

  32 amazed with matter overwhelmed by all these matters

  34 affront confront, face

  35 Come more if more come

  36 The … but the only thing now needed is

  40 annoy harm

  41 chances events

  42 no letter i.e. no news

  46 is betid has happened

  49 find reveal, prove

  50 Even … o’th’king even to the point where the king takes note

  50 fall die, perish

  52 Fortune … steered i.e. even some boats that are cast adrift are brought safely back to harbor by good fortune

  Act 4 Scene 4

  4.4 Location: Wales, outside Belarius’ cave

  1 noise i.e. of the armies preparing for battle

  3 lock it lock it away

  6 This way if we do this

  7 or for either as

  7 receive … use recruit us, thinking us rebels to make use of and then kill us

  11 secure us make ourselves safe, find a stronghold

  13 not … bands i.e. not listed among the forces

  13 mustered enlisted as soldiers

  14 drive … render force us to give an account of

  15 extort from’s extract from us

  16 answer reward, recompense

  17 Drawn on with brought about by

  23 quartered fires campfires (from their quarters in the field)

  24 cloyed importantly clogged, filled with important matters

  25 upon our note in taking notice of us

  28 Of by

  29 then was then

  29 wore effaced, removed

  30 remembrance memory

  32 want of breeding lack of education, cultivation

  33 certainty inevitability

  33 aye hopeless forever without hope

  34 courtesy respect/refined manners

  34 cradle i.e. your circumstances at birth

  35 still forever

  35 tanlings i.e. those tanned by constant exposure to the sun

  36 shrinking as

  36 slaves will recoil from and tremble at punishment, so the

  36 winter cold makes one shiver

  40 out of thought forgotten about

  40 thereto so o’ergrown in that respect your memory obscured/your face covered with hair

  41 questioned suspected

  43 thing is’t a shameful thing it is

  45 hot lecherous

  45 venison deer

  47 rowel the rotating blade at the
end of the spur

  47 rowel Nor iron i.e. spurs

  48 iron the framework which attaches it

  54 care attention, caution

  55 hazard therefore due chance, danger coming to me

  60 cracked i.e. because old

  61 country country’s

  63 their … out their mettle, noble spirit/royal blood, stock despises everything until it may break out/be shed in battle

  Act 5 Scene 1

  5.1 Location: Wales

  1 bloody cloth sent by Pisanio to Posthumus as proof that he had murdered Innogen

  3 course i.e. of action

  5 wrying erring, going astray

  6 does not does not carry out

  7 No bond but there is no obligation except

  8 Should have had

  9 put on this instigate Innogen’s murder/take such a fault upon myself/wear these clothes

  10 repent i.e. her supposed unfaithfulness

  11 worth deserving

  13 fall i.e. sin

  14 second support/follow up

  14 elder later, next (with the implication that evils mature with time)/earlier, with the more recent evils diminishing in severity until finally repentance sets in

  15 make … it i.e. make the perpetrators fearful and repentant

  15 thrift gain, advantage (by becoming saved through repentance)

  23 weeds clothes

  23 suit dress

  25 part side

  28 pitied neither pitied

  30 habits peasant’s clothes/customary behavior

  32 guise custom, practice

  33 less … within i.e. to privilege inner qualities over outward finery

  Act 5 Scene 2

  1 bosom heart

  2 off away

  2 belied slandered, lied about

  3 on’t of it

  4 or could or else could

  4 carl bondman, peasant

  5 very … nature’s natural-born slave

  6 profession i.e. as a soldier

  7 but of scorn only a mockery

  8 go before outgo, excel

  9 odds likelihood

  12 routs defeats

  12 seconds gives aid to

  17 As as though

  17 hoodwinked blindfolded

  19 or … fly let’s either reinforce our numbers or flee before it’s too late

  Act 5 Scene 3

  3 fliers i.e. those who fled

  6 But had it not been

  7 wings flank of the army

  8 but only

  9 strait narrow

  9 full-hearted full of confidence

  10 Lolling the tongue i.e. slavering like dogs, their tongues hanging out

  12 mortally fatally

  12 touched wounded

  13 dammed blocked up, like a dam

  15 lengthened i.e. after spending the rest of their lives in shame

  18 ancient old/noble

  19 who … to who deserved to have lived as long a life as his white beard showed he had

  22 striplings young men

 

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