Page 23 of The Winter's Tale


  36 take spectators enthrall an audience

  37 which owe who owns

  38 moiety portion

  40 prate prattle

  41 For42 ... spare I value life as I do grief, both of which I could do without 42 for ... for honor is handed down from me to my children and it is only for that reason that I make a stand 45 conscience also "inward consciousness"

  46 grace favor

  47 merited deserved

  encounter behavior (plays on the sense of "sexual act")

  48 With ... thus by what unacceptable behavior have I transgressed that I appear on trial like this 53 fie shame

  54 I ... first I've never heard that adulterers lacked the same audacity to deny (gainsay) their actions that was required to perform them 61 More ... acknowledge I must not answer for more than those faults that I actually possess 73 for as for

  74 dished served up

  78 Wotting knowing

  83 level ... dreams target, aim of your delusions 84 Which i.e. my life

  88 of your fact who have committed your crime

  89 concerns ... avails is of more importance than practical advantage to you 90 like to itself which, as a bastard, it should be 93 in ... death i.e. the very mildest form of your punishment will be death, perhaps preceded by torture 96 bug imagined terror, fearful threat

  97 commodity thing of value

  99 give acknowledge, give up for

  103 Starred most unluckily born under an unlucky star 104 it its

  105 Haled dragged

  post proclamations were nailed up publicly

  106 strumpet harlot/whore

  immodest outrageous

  107 child-bed privilege rights extended to women after they had given birth, including bed-rest 'longs belongs

  108 fashion ranks

  110 strength of limit strength gained during the postnatal period of recuperation 115 free clear

  116 sleeping else otherwise unforthcoming

  117 awake create/muster

  118 rigour ... law severity rather than justice (plays on the phrase "the rigor of the law") 127 flatness absoluteness

  140 truly begotten conceived legitimately

  147 sessions trial

  151 conceit imagining

  152 speed fate

  157 mortal fatal

  168 transported carried away, overcome

  172 tardied held back from

  175 Not ... done depending on whether he did or did not do the deed 177 Unclasped my practice revealed my plot

  179 commended entrusted

  180 No richer than with nothing but

  glisters shines

  184 lace laces that fasten the corset, cut to relieve faintness 187 studied planned

  188 wheels to which victims were tied and beaten Racks torture instruments that stretched the limbs

  193 Fancies imaginings

  green immature

  idle foolish

  196 bygone fooleries previous mistakes

  spices slight tastes

  198 of as

  inconstant disloyal

  201 Poor trespasses small crimes

  204 or either

  205 shed ... done't wept from his fiery eyes, or while burning in hellfire before he would commit such a sin 208 tender young

  cleft broke

  209 conceive understand

  sire father

  211 Laid ... answer something you are required to answer to 212 said finished speaking

  214 dropped down emerged

  218 Tincture or lustre color or brightness

  221 heavier ... stir more sorrowful/weightier than all your remorse/misery can shift 222 betake thee To prepare for/go to

  225 still permanent

  227 look ... wert look in your direction, take pity on you 232 Howe'er ... speech whatever the nature of events you have erred in being so outspoken 240 petition urging, request

  241 minded reminded

  246 remember remind

  247 patience endurance, suffering

  249 Thou ... truth you spoke best when most truthfully 251 of by

  253 them i.e. the gravestones/burial monuments 257 nature ... exercise I am physically able

  259 use undertake

  1 Thou ... o'th'business dialogue between Antigonus and Mariner is set as verse, but may have been intended as prose perfect certain

  2 deserts deserted coastal areas

  5 present blusters impending storms

  conscience opinion

  6 that ... hand what we are undertaking

  9 bark small ship

  12 loud stormy

  22 creature being, figure

  23 some another sometimes on the other side

  24 vessel container, figure

  25 filled ... becoming full of sorrow and so beautiful 26 sanctity holiness

  29 fury strong passion

  anon presently

  35 for because

  36 Perdita literally "the lost one"

  37 ungentle ignoble/cruel

  39 shrieks ghosts were traditionally supposed to shriek in high-pitched voices 42 toys trifles

  44 squared ruled

  49 speed fare, survive

  50 character written account of her history and parentage these gold and jewels later found with the baby

  51 breed ... thine pay for your upbringing with sufficient left over 53 fault crime

  56 enjoined committed, obliged

  59 clamour the noise of hunters and dogs or the roar of the bear 60 chase hunt (of Antigonus)/hunted bear

  bear a real polar bear cub was available at the time of the play's first performance, but some scholars assume an actor in bear costume 65 ancientry elderly/ancestors

  66 boiled-brains idiots

  67 this in this

  70 browsing of feeding on

  an't be thy if it be God's

  71 bairn child

  72 child baby girl

  73 scape sexual transgression

  bookish well-read

  74 stair-work ... behind-door-work i.e. secret sexual liaisons (work plays on the sense of "sexual activity" and trunk plays on the sense of "body") 76 warmer i.e. from sexual activity

  got begot, conceived

  77 tarry wait

  hallooed called out

  78 Clown a rustic, comic character; the Shepherd's son 80 on about

  81 ailest troubles/prevents

  85 firmament sky

  bodkin's pin/needle

  87 chafes seethes

  88 takes up consumes/rebukes

  90 boring piercing

  91 anon then/shortly

  yeast foam

  92 hogshead cask of alcohol

  land-service combat on land/food served on land (i.e. events on land) 95 make ... ship finish the story of the ship/tell you how the ship met its end 96 flapdragoned consumed (as in a game of flapdragon, where raisins are plucked from burning brandy and swallowed) 101 winked shut my eyes

  104 by nearby

  106 your ... footing you would have been unable to stand (footing puns on the sense of "establishment of a charity") 107 Heavy grave, sorrowful

  108 met'st met

  109 bearing-cloth christening robe

  110 squire i.e. one of a relatively high social position 112 changeling child taken by the fairies, or the one substituted for it 115 you're ... live you will live prosperously

  116 fairy gold if not kept secret, riches brought by fairies were thought to bring bad luck 117 close secret

  next nearest

  118 still yet/always

  122 curst vicious

  125 what who

  126 Marry by the Virgin Mary

  1 try test (proverbial: "time tries all things")

  both ... Of bringer of both joy and terror to the

  2 unfolds reveals

  4 wings Time was traditionally depicted as winged

  6 growth untried development unexamined

  8 self-born selfsame/self-created (by Time)

  9 plan
t and o'erwhelm create and overrule

  10 ere ... received since the beginning of time, before the oldest laws and customs were set down and before those of the present day 11 witness bear willing testimony

  12 them i.e. law and custom

  do be

  13 stale ... present redundant and past what is now fresh and gleaming 15 seems to it seems old in comparison to the present 16 glass hourglass

  17 As as if

  Leontes ... himself leaving Leontes to the consequences of his foolish jealousies, so distraught he shuts himself away 20 Gentle noble, wellborn/ excellent/polite, courteous 22 king's i.e. Polixenes'

  23 pace proceed

  25 Equal with wond'ring as great as the admiration her grace inspires 26 list not prophesy wish not to foretell

  28 adheres pertains

  29 argument subject matter

  31 yet yet allow

  1 importunate persistent, urging

  2 'tis ... denying it makes me ill to deny

  3 fifteen the discrepancy between Camillo's fifteen and Time's sixteen years may be a scribal error or a slip on Shakespeare's part 4 been aired lived

  6 feeling heartfelt

  allay comfort

  7 o'erween presume

  11 want be without

  made me businesses handled affairs for me

  15 considered rewarded

  16 heaping friendships growth of Camillo's kindnesses/increase of mutual friendship 17 fatal deadly

  20 reconciled remorseful, confessed

  23 unhappy miserable/unfortunate

  gracious virtuous

  24 approved proved

  28 missingly noted noticed in his absence

  retired absent

  29 exercises activities, pastimes

  32 eyes ... service employees to watch him

  33 removedness absence/where he goes

  37 unspeakable estate indescribable wealth

  39 rare note exceptional report

  40 begin originate

  42 angle fishhook

  44 question conversation

  45 uneasy difficult

  46 present immediate

  Autolycus literally, "the wolf himself" or "the lone wolf"; in classical mythology, he was a crafty thief 1 peer peep out/appear

  2 doxy whore/low woman

  3 sweet o' sweetest part of

  4 pale paleness/domain

  5 sheet ... hedge spring-cleaning involved washing linen, which was hung out to dry on hedges 7 set ... edge unclear; the general sense seems to be "whet my appetite for thieving" ("to pug" means "to tug or pull," hence possibly "to steal"); alternative possibility is sexual ("pug" meant mistress/whore and "tooth" was associated with desire, as in "toothsome") 11 aunts whores, wenches

  12 tumbling having sex

  13 three-pile costly thick velvet

  14 out of service unemployed

  19 tinkers menders of metal pots and kettles (also applied to beggars and thieves) leave to live permission to live freely

  20 sow-skin budget pigskin toolbag

  stocks instrument of punishment in which the arms or legs were confined 22 in ... avouch it affirm that I am a tinker (rather than a vagabond) and thus escape punishment 23 traffic trade, goods

  kite ... linen the kite (a bird of prey) supposedly stole pieces of cloth to build its nest; Autolycus steals sheets that have been left out to dry 24 littered under fathered by/born under the influence of (the connotations of animal birth recall Autolycus' wolfishness) 25 Mercury Roman god of thieves/the planet

  unconsidered disregarded, unattended

  26 die i.e. gambling

  drab whoring/pimping

  caparison clothing, outfit

  27 silly cheat petty deception/foolish victim of my trickery Gallows and knock hanging and beating (punishments of a highwayman) 29 For ... come as for the future/the afterlife

  31 'leven wether tods eleven sheep will produce 12 kg (a tod) of wool 32 odd one

  34 springe trap

  cock woodcock, a proverbially stupid bird

  35 counters round metal disks used for calculating 36 sheep-shearing feast festival held between May and July; the shearing of the sheep was accompanied by general celebrations 39 lays it on sets about it thoroughly

  made me made

  40 nosegays posies of flowers

  three-man-song-men men who sing three-part songs

  41 means boy altos or adult countertenors

  42 puritan pious Protestant, opposed to excessive festivity 43 hornpipes wind instruments/lively vigorous dance/piece of music for such a dance; the puritan is so religious he will only sing psalms to them warden pies made from a variety of pear

  44 Mace spice made from nutmeg

  out of my note not on my list

  45 race root

  46 o'th'sun sun-dried

  48 I'th'name of me a mild, and unusual, oath

  54 stripes lashes of a whip

  57 great matter serious consequences/ infected wounds 60 horseman ... footman highwayman or robber on foot (who would wear inferior garments) 64 hot service active use, i.e. excessive wear 69 out dislocated

  80 troll-my-dames loose women/whores

  85 abide stay briefly

  87 ape-bearer showman with a performing monkey

  process-server officer who serves a summons

  88 compassed a motion traveled around with a puppet show prodigal son in the New Testament parable, the younger son who squanders his inheritance but is forgiven by his father (Luke 15) 90 living property

  flown over dabbled with

  92 Prig thief/tinker

  93 wakes country festivals

  98 false of heart fearful

  102 softly gently

  105 good-faced honest, kind

  108 hot full (plays on the sense of "spicy")

  110 cheat deception

  bring out lead to

  111 sheep i.e. to be stupid

  unrolled removed from the list of thieves and vagabonds 114 hent grasp

  1 unusual weeds special (festival) clothes

  2 Flora Roman goddess of flowers

  3 Peering ... front appearing at the beginning of April 4 petty minor

  7 chide ... extremes rebuke your exaggerations

  9 mark o'th'land object of public attention

  obscured concealed, disguised

  10 swain's wearing rustic clothing

  11 pranked up dressed up, adorned

  12 mess group of diners/collection of dishes

  folly lewd or foolish behavior

  13 Digest ... custom tolerate it because it is a tradition 15 show ... glass look at myself in a mirror

  20 difference i.e. in rank

  22 accident chance event

  25 Vilely bound up humbly/degradingly dressed (literally, bound like a book) 26 flaunts fancy clothes

  27 sternness majesty

  28 Apprehend be apprehensive about, imagine

  31 Jupiter ... bull in classical mythology the Roman supreme god Jupiter transformed himself into a bull and abducted Europa 32 Neptune ... ram the Roman sea god Neptune took on the shape of a ram to carry off Theopane 34 Apollo ... swain the classical sun god Apollo disguised himself as a shepherd to seduce a mortal nymph 37 in a way for an undertaking/in a manner

  38 Run not before do not overtake

  45 I my life possibly Perdita anticipates being threatened with death 47 forced unnatural/uneasy

  48 Or either

  52 Though even if

  53 with ... while i.e. by occupying yourself with anything else in the meantime 55 as as if

  59 Stand you be/remain (Fortune was traditionally fickle) 61 Address prepare

  sprightly in a lively, cheerful manner

  64 pantler pantry maid

  65 dame hostess

  68 On his at one person's

  70 to ... sip toast each person

  retired withdrawn

  83 rosemary herb symbolizing remembrance

  rue herb symbolizing repe
ntance and grace

  84 Seeming and savour appearance and smell

  88 fit suit, match

  90 the year ... winter i.e. in autumn

  93 gillyvors gillyflowers, a type of dual-colored carnation 94 nature's bastards gillyflowers are a result of cross-pollination 96 slips cuttings (plays on sense of "sexual lapse") 97 Wherefore why

  98 neglect reject

  99 For because

  piedness being multicolored

  100 an ... nature i.e. artificial cross-breeding, in its effect of creating streaked color, only imitates nature's skill 103 mean method

  104 over ... makes i.e. man and his materials are created by nature, therefore anything he does is essentially natural too 107 gentler scion nobler shoot

  stock stem/ancestry

  109 race root/ancestry, i.e. through cross-breeding, a superior plant is generated from a baser one 110 mend improve

  116 dibble tool for making holes in which to plant seedlings set plant

  117 painted wearing makeup

  120 Hot herbs were divided into "hot" or "cold" varieties based on their supposed qualities savory a type of herb

  121 goes ... weeping the marigold closes at sunset and opens, filled with dew, at sunrise 127 Out, alas! exclamation of dismay

  134 maidenheads virginities

  Proserpina in Ovid's Metamorphoses, Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres, is abducted by Dis (Pluto) as she gathers flowers, and is taken in his chariot (wagon) to the underworld where he rules 137 dares i.e. return from its migration

  take bewitch

  138 dim modest/drooping

  139 Juno queen of the Roman gods

  140 Cytherea Venus

  142 Phoebus the sun god

  malady ... maids i.e. greensickness, a type of anemia that caused pallor and weakness; it affected adolescent girls 144 crown imperial a lily first imported into England from Constantinople in the late sixteenth century 145 flower-de-luce fleur-de-lis, heraldic lily (actually a type of iris) 150 if if so

  151 quick alive

  153 Whitsun pastorals morris dances and plays celebrating Whitsun, seven Sundays after Easter 156 Still always

  158 alms charity to the poor or sick

  159 ord'ring arranging of

  162 still plays on the sense of "motionless"

  163 own ... function perform no other activity

  your doing thing you do

  particular individual aspect

  164 singular exceptional (plays on the sense of "individual, particular") 165 what ... deeds your present actions

  167 Doricles the name Florizel has assumed

  169 true honorable/faithful

  170 give you out proclaim you to be

  172 the false way with dishonorable intentions

  174 skill cause

  176 turtles turtledoves, thought to mate for life 180 greensward grass

  184 blood look out blush

  sooth truth

  185 curds and cream derived from milk and thus associated with shepherds 187 mistress dance partner

  188 mend ... with i.e. improve her breath (so bad that even garlic would help) 189 in good time expression of indignation

  190 stand upon insist on

  194 boasts say he boasts