Eccles. v. 11—“The sleep of him that travelleth (travaileth) is sweete, whether he eate litle or much, but the sacietie of the rich will not suffer him to sleep." Prov. xv. 16-"Better is a litle with the feare of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble therewith." Eccles. iv. 6-" Better is an handfull with quietnesse, then two handfuls with labour and vexation of spirit." Hag. i. 6-"Ye have sowen much and bring in litle: ye eate but ye have not enough: ye drinke but ye are not filled: yee clothe you but ye be not warme: and he that earneth wages, putteth the wages into a broken bagge." Act IV. iv. 196— King Henry. "How quickly nature fall into revolt When gold becomes her object." 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10-" For they that will be rich, fall into tentations and snares, and into many foolish and noysome lustes, which drowne men in perdition and destruction." Matt. xxvi. 14, 15-"Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot went into the chiefe Priests, and sayd, What will ye give me and I will deliver Him unto you? and they appoynted unto him thirtie pieces of silver." 16—“ And from that time, he sought opportunitie to betray Him." Act IV. iv. 273 P. Henry. "There is your Crowne ; And he that weares the Crowne immortally Rev. xi. 15-" The kingdoms of this world are our Lord's and His Christ's and He shall reigne for evermore." Rev. xvii. 14-"Lorde of Lordes and King of Kings." Rev. xix. 16--"The King of Kings and Lord of Lords." Act IV. iv. 330 King Henry. "For what in me was purchas'd Compare Falles upon thee in a more Fayrer sort." Acts xxii. 28-" And the chiefe captaine answered, With a greate summe obtained I this freedome. Then Paul said, But I was so born." Act V. i. 78-Falstaff. "It is certaine, that either wise bearing or ignorant carriage, is caught as men take diseases, one of another: therefore, let men take heed of their companie." Prov. xiii. 20-" He that walketh with the wise, shal be wise; but a companion of fooles shal be afflicted." Ecclus. viii. 4-"Play not with a man that is untaught, lest thy kinred be dishonoured." I Cor. xv. 33-"Evil speakings corrupt good manners. Wisd. of Sol. iv. 10-"So that whereas he lived among sinners, he translated him. He was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding or deceit beguile his mind." Act V. ii. 1-Warwick. "How now my Lord Chiefe Justice, whither away?" Ch. Just. "How doth the King?” Warwick. "Exceeding well: his cares are now all ended." Warwick. "He's walked the way of Nature And to our purposes, he lives no more." Eccles. iii. 20—“All goe to one place, and all was of the dust and all shall returne to the dust." Job iii. 17-" The wicked have there ceased from their tyrannie, and they that laboured valiantly are at rest." Rev. xiv. 13-"Then I heard a voyce from heaven saying unto me, Write, the dead which die in the Lord are fully blessed. Even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours." Act V. iii. 114-Shallow. "I am, sir, under the King, in some authority." Compare the reply of the Centurion Luke vii. 8—“For I likewise am a man set under authority, and have under me souldiers, and I say unto one, Goe and he goeth." Act V. v. 47 King. "I know thee not, old man; fall to thy prayers; How ill white haires become a Foole and Jester." Prov. xvi. 31-" Age is a crowne of glory, when it is found in the way of righteousnesse." Wisd. of Sol. iv. 8-" For the honourable age is not that of which is of long time neither that which is measured by the number of yeeres. But wisedome is the gray haire, and an undefiled life is the old age." Tit. ii, 2-"That the elder men be watchfull, grave, temperate." THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR. "In all probability The Merry Wives of Windsor,' a comedy inclining to farce, and unqualified by any pathetic interest, followed close upon Henry IV. An imperfect draft of the play was printed by Thomas Creede in 1602; the folio of 1623 first supplied a complete version.”—Sidney Lee, Life, pp. 171, 172. Act I. i. 31-" Not a whit." Act I. i. 82-" By yea and no I do." Biblical expressions. Act I. i. 146 Falstaff. "Pistol." Pistol. "He hears with ears." (Parson) Evans. "The tevil and his tam! what phrase is this, 'He hears with ear?' why it is affectations." Luke viii. 8-"Hee that hath eares to heare, let him heare." Is this a jest at Parson Evans because he did not know his Bible? Act I. iii. 33-Pistol. "Young ravens must have food." Direct use of Scripture Job xxxix. 3-"Who prepareth for the raven his meate, when his birds crie unto God, wandering for lacke of meate." Ps. cxlvii. 9-"Which giveth to beasts their foode, and to the yong ravens that crie." Act I. iii. 50-Falstaff. "Now, the report goes, she has all the rule of her husband's purse; she hath a legend of angels." Pistol. "As many devils entertain." Play on the word and incident in the Gospel Luke viii. 30-"Then Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? and he said, Legion, because many devils were entred into him." Matt. xxvi. 53-"Twelve Legions of Angels.' Act I. iii. 84-Pistol. "And high and low beguile the rich and poor." A fragment of a Genevan Psalm (see Act II.), Ps. xlix. 2-" As well lowe and hie, both rich and poore." Genevan Psalm, xlix., J. H.— "Both hye and low, both rich and poore That in the world do dwell." Pistol goes on to say— "And I to Ford shall eke unfold How Falstaff, varlet vile, His dove will prove, his gold will hold, And his soft couch defile." Compare Psalm xlix., J. H., in thought and metre— "I will incline mine eares to know The parables so darke, And open all my doubtfull speech Act I. iv. 9-Quickly. "An honest, willing, kind fellow, as ever servant shall come in house withal; and I warrant you, no tell-tale, nor no breed-bate: his worst fault is, that he is given to prayer; he is something peevish that way, but nobody but has his fault; but let that pass.' Is this a commendation of the Puritan character? If it were the other way it would probably be cited as an evidence of Shakespeare's hostility to the Puritans. See Introduction. Act I. iv. 36-Rugby. “Out alas! here comes my Master." Quickly. "We shall all be shent: Run in here, good young man." A very interesting word, Preterite or Past Participle of = ruin, defeat, punish, destroy. Used by Chaucer, Spenser, Peele, Dryden. It occurs in In the Psalms, Genevan, lxxiii., Thomas Sternhold— When other men be shent; And with the rest they take no part Of plague or punishment." Act I. iv. 94-"The very yea and the no is." Direct use of Scripture. Act II. i. 21—Mrs. Page. “What a Herod of Jurie is this, O wicked, wicked world! one that is well-nye worne to peeces with age, to show himselfe a yong Gallant." Herod had taken to wife the mother (Herodias) of the dancer for whose sake John the Baptist was killedMark vi. 17-"For Herodias' sake, which was his brother Philip's wife." 22-" And the daughter of the same Herodias came in and daunced and pleased Herod and them that sate at table together, the King saide to the maide, Aske of me what thou wilt and I will give it thee." Act II. i. 62-Mrs. Ford. "But they do no more adhere and keep place together, than the Hundredth Psalm to the tune of 'Green Sleeves.'" See also Act V. iv. 19-Falstaff. "Let the sky rain potatoes; let it thunder to the tune of Green Sleeves." Phrases expressive of incongruity. For an account of the tune "Green Sleeves" see Hawkins, Act II. i. 113 Pistol. "He woos both high and low, both rich and poor, Pistol again quotes the Psalm, Ps. xlix. 2—“ As well lowe Ps. xlix., J. H.— "All people harken and give eare To that that I shall tell; Both hye and lowe, both rich and poore That in the world do dwell." Act II. ii. 165-Ford. "If money go before, all wayes lie open." For parallel in thought see Eccles. x. 19-"Silver answereth to all." Ecclus. xiii. 23-" If a rich man offend, he hath many helpers, he speaketh proud words, and yet men justifie him." Act III. i. 25: Parson Evans (sings)— "Melodious birds sing madrigals ; When as I sat in Pabylon, And a thousand vagrom posies To shallow; A fragment of a Metrical Psalm, compare Psalm cxxxvii. 2. |