Page 24 of The Winter's Tale


  195 worthy feeding rich pasture, grazing land

  197 like sooth truthful

  203 featly skillfully

  206 light upon choose her (for marriage)

  Servant i.e. the Old Shepherd's servant (whose presence indicates that though humble, the household is not impoverished) 209 tabor small drum used for morris dancing

  211 tell count out

  212 ballads narrative songs sung and sold by itinerant peddlers grew listened attentively/were drawn to

  213 better at a better time

  217 milliner vendor of fashionable hats and gloves

  218 bawdry lewdness

  219 burdens refrains

  dildos and fadings nonsense words used in refrains (plays on the senses of "false penis" and "moment after orgasm") 220 "jump ... her" also with sexual connotations stretched-mouthed wide-mouthed/obscene

  221 break ... matter interrupt the song with an obscenity (gap plays on the sense of "vagina") 223 Whoop exclamation of outcry or excitement

  225 brave excellent/impudent

  226 admirable conceited extraordinarily witty, ingenious 227 unbraided untarnished, not shop-soiled ("braid" plays on the sense of "ribbon") 229 points laces used to attach doublet and hose (plays on the sense of "arguments") 230 by th'gross wholesale

  inkles linen tape

  231 caddisses yarn tape used for garters

  cambrics fine linen from Cambray in Flanders

  lawns fine linen

  'em over about them

  232 smock woman's undergarment

  233 sleeve-hand cuff

  work about embroidery on

  234 square square piece of material on the chest area 238 You have there are some

  240 go about wish

  242 Cypress lightweight crepe fabric

  243 sweet scented

  244 Masks worn by women to protect the complexion from the sun 245 Bugle glittering

  247 quoifs close-fitting caps

  stomachers decorated fronts for women's dresses

  249 poking-sticks rod for stiffening the folds of a ruff (with possible phallic play) 254 enthralled enslaved (by love)

  255 bondage (buying and) binding up

  256 against in preparation for

  258 more than that presumably marriage

  260 paid you had sex with you/given you

  261 paid ... again refers to pregnancy and the shame of an illegitimate child plackets slits in skirts or petticoats (hence "vagina") 263 plackets ... faces i.e. reveal their most private affairs in public 264 kiln-hole fire hole at an oven (somewhere to gossip) 267 Clamour silence

  268 tawdry-lace Saint Audrey's lace, a decorative neckerchief 270 cozened tricked

  272 abroad roaming about

  273 behoves befits

  276 charge value

  278 alife on my life

  280 usurer moneylender

  281 brought ... of delivered

  at a burden in one birth

  283 carbonadoed scored and grilled

  287 Tale-porter i.e. "tale-bearer" or bringer of "tail" (vagina), hence pimp 291 lay it by set it aside

  294 fourscore eightieth (four times twenty)

  forty thousand fathom 240,000 feet (about 74,000 meters) 297 exchange flesh have sex

  301 justices' magistrates'

  hands signatures

  302 pack bag, pack of goods

  306 passing extremely

  308 request demand

  309 bear a part sing a part/play a role/handle genitals 311 on't of it

  313 Have ... you let's begin

  322 Or either

  grange farmhouse

  323 ill wrong

  330 have ... anon finish this song later

  331 sad serious

  340 toys ornaments, trinkets

  344 utter offer for sale

  ware-a wares, goods

  345 carters cart drivers

  346 neat-herds cowherds

  made ... hair dressed in hairy disguises, presumably animal skins, to resemble satyrs 347 Saltiers malapropism for "satyrs" (mythical creatures, part man, part goat) 348 gallimaufry of gambols chaotic mixture of leaps 351 bowling i.e. a gentle, sedate activity 353 homely simple

  355 threes trios

  358 by th'square with great precision

  359 prating chattering

  361 stay are waiting

  362 father respectful term of address for an old man you'll ... hereafter presumably refers to a conversation the men were having during the dance 364 He's simple the Shepherd is ignorant/humble

  367 handed handled

  wont accustomed

  368 she with knacks lady with trifles, presents

  371 marted bargained/ bought

  372 Interpretation should abuse should misinterpret 373 bounty generosity

  straited at a loss

  374 make ... her care about keeping her happy

  378 looks looks for

  380 delivered i.e. legally, through formal betrothal breathe my life i.e. pledge my love

  382 sometime formerly, at some time

  384 bolted sifted, refined

  385 blasts winds

  387 wash clean/ whitewash

  388 was that was

  put you out disconcerted you (by interrupting); also used for actor forgetting his lines 389 to return to

  protestation declaration

  396 Thereof of all monarchs

  400 Commend ... perdition either commit them to her service, or consign them to ruin.

  408 By ... his through understanding the purity of my own thoughts I recognize that of his (a dressmaking metaphor) 413 portion dowry

  415 one being dead i.e. when Polixenes dies and Florizel inherits the throne 418 Contract ... witnesses the formal betrothal; a pledge of marriage uttered before witnesses was legally binding 421 Soft wait a moment

  swain country gallant or lover/young man/rustic

  428 becomes befits

  429 incapable Of unable to understand (through senility) 431 alt'ring rheums weakening catarrh or similar ailments of old age 432 Dispute deal with

  433 does ... childish i.e. suffers dementia and returns to a state of childish dependency 440 unfilial not like a son, unnatural

  Reason it is reasonable that

  443 posterity family, descendants

  hold some counsel be involved, consulted

  445 yield grant

  456 Mark witness

  460 affects aspires to/seeks to obtain/loves/assumes the character of/puts on a pretense of sheep-hook shepherd's crook, and by implication a shepherd girl (derogatory) 463 excellent skilled

  of force by necessity

  464 cop'st with deal with/embrace

  467 homely ugly/humble

  fond foolish/doting

  469 knack toy/piece of trickery

  470 succession i.e. to the throne

  471 Not ... blood disown you

  472 Far ... off less linked in kinship than to Deucalion, in classical mythology the common ancestor of humankind and thus the most distant relation possible 473 churl rustic/villain, i.e. the Shepherd 475 dead ... it i.e. execution

  enchantment enchantress, witch, i.e. Perdita

  476 him i.e. Florizel

  477 That ... thee i.e. were it not for his royal blood, his behavior has made him even unworthy of a lowly person like you 479 rural latches metaphorical gates that lead from Perdita's rustic world into Florizel's 482 tender acutely receptive

  483 undone ruined

  487 visage face

  488 alike both alike

  497 fourscore three eighty-three

  498 fill ... quiet die peacefully

  502 no ... dust criminals were denied a Christian burial 503 adventure dare

  504 mingle faith exchange vows (perhaps with play on the belief in the mingling of blood during sex) 510 straining ... back determined for being deterred following ... unwillingly being dragged against my will 515 purpose intend

  hardly with great difficulty/unwil
lingly

  520 I think, Camillo? Camillo either takes off his disguise or is recognized by Florizel, even with it on 523 dignity worth

  524 But only

  526 violation ... faith breaking of my oaths

  528 seeds i.e. of life

  Lift ... looks look at me/be cheerful

  529 wipe erase

  531 Be advised be cautious, think carefully

  532 fancy feelings, love

  536 desperate extreme/rash/dangerous

  538 honesty right, honorable

  539 pomp splendor, ostentation

  541 close secret/enclosed

  wombs holds within

  profound deep

  547 passion rage

  548 Tug contend with one another

  549 deliver report

  552 rides fast by anchored nearby

  553 What ... hold where I intend to go

  554 Shall ... reporting will not benefit you to hear or me to tell you 557 for advice to advise

  561 irremovable determined

  563 frame ... turn use for my purposes

  565 Purchase obtain

  569 fraught burdened

  curious difficult

  570 ceremony courtesy (toward you)

  572 poor meager

  576 not ... on and important to him to reward your service as fully as he values it 581 embrace ... direction accept my advice, adopt my plan 582 ponderous weighty

  settled fixed, determined

  583 suffer alteration permit some adjustments

  584 receiving a reception

  586 Enjoy make love to/love freely

  587 disjunction separation

  588 forfend forbid

  590 discontenting discontented

  qualify pacify

  591 liking giving his approval

  595 after ... to ever after trust

  596 on of

  599 th'unthought ... do this unexpected event is responsible for our rash behavior now 601 flies ... blows blown about like flies in the wind 603 list listen

  608 habited dressed

  612 As ... person as though he were your father

  613 divides ... kindness veers between chastising himself for his past unkindness/unnatural behavior and endeavoring to be kind/ fatherly now 618 colour pretext

  622 bearing behavior

  623 as as if

  625 point ... sitting direct you at every discussion (with regard to) 627 bosom most personal thoughts

  630 sap life

  633 unpathed uncharted

  635 one one misery

  636 nothing ... as your only certainty

  637 stay hold, keep

  639 Prosperity's ... love good fortune secures love 641 Affliction alters (love) is changed by adversity 643 subdue the cheek make the complexion pale

  644 take in affect/conquer

  646 seven years i.e. for a long time

  647 such such as Perdita

  649 as ... birth as superior to her lowly upbringing as she is inferior to us in rank 652 instructions education

  660 furnished dressed/equipped

  661 appear appear so

  663 fortunes wealth

  665 appointed provided for

  666 mine written/performed by me

  instance proof

  667 want go without

  670 trumpery worthless finery

  stone gem

  glass mirror

  671 pomander ball of sweet-smelling substances carried about for ornament or to prevent infection table-book notebook

  672 horn-ring ring made from horn, thought to possess magical qualities fasting i.e. being empty

  674 hallowed sacred

  benediction blessing

  675 best in picture looked best (to steal)

  676 use purpose/opportunity/profit

  wants lacks

  677 something some thing

  grew plays on the phallic sense of "became erect"

  678 pettitoes feet (literally, pig's trotters)

  680 stuck in ears were devoted to hearing

  681 placket literally, slit in a petticoat, hence "vagina"

  geld ... purse cut a purse free from the codpiece it is attached to/castrate (geld) a scrotum 683 my sir's i.e. the Clown's

  684 nothing meaninglessness/silliness (puns on musical "noting," which was pronounced similarly) 686 whoo-bub hullabaloo

  687 choughs small chattering birds of crow family, especially jackdaws (plays on "chuffs," meaning "rustics") chaff wares, pickings/husks of grain after threshing/refuse 692 satisfy appease

  697 Nothing nothing that

  703 outside ... poverty i.e. poor clothing 704 discase undress

  705 think believe, understand

  706 pennyworth bargain

  707 some boot something more

  710 dispatch hurry

  flayed stripped

  712 in earnest sincere (sense then shifts to "advance payment") trick knack/habit/trickery

  on't of it, i.e. duping people

  718 Come ... ye be fulfilled

  719 covert hiding place

  720 pluck pull

  721 Dismantle you take off your outer clothes

  disliken disguise

  722 seeming appearance

  723 eyes over spies

  724 undescried undetected

  725 lies plays on the sense of "dissimulates"

  727 remedy alternative

  734 twain two

  739 after in pursuit

  740 review see again

  741 woman's i.e. overwhelming

  742 speed favor/hasten

  747 cutpurse one who steals by cutting purses which were worn hanging from the waist 749 exchange conversation/exchange of garments/financial transaction without boot even without payment

  750 boot benefit/profit/shoe

  751 connive at conspire with

  extempore on a whim, spontaneously

  752 piece of iniquity wrongful act

  753 clog burden (block of wood tied to man or animal to prevent escape)/mistress 754 withal with this

  756 constant faithful

  fardel bundle

  757 hot enthusiastic, active

  758 session court session

  759 careful attentive, cunning

  761 changeling fairy child (usually substituted for a stolen mortal baby) 765 Go to go ahead

  778 I ... ounce i.e. nothing at all

  779 puppies i.e. silly ones

  780 fardel bundle

  782 complaint lament, grounds for grievance

  783 master i.e. Florizel

  786 pocket up put away

  787 excrement i.e. mustache/beard

  789 an it like if it please

  791 condition nature

  792 having means, wealth

  793 discover reveal

  794 plain simple (Autolycus plays on sense of "smooth") 796 give ... lie deceive us/accuse us of lying (a valid cause for a duel) 797 pay ... lie i.e. even if cheated or insulted, since soldiers pay with legitimate currency rather than by stabbing, tradesmen cannot claim to have given anything (free goods/the lie), and a duel is thus avoided 799 one the lie/a duel

  800 taken ... manner behaved properly/caught yourself in time 803 enfoldings clothing

  804 gait posture, bearing

  measure graceful movement

  805 baseness lowly status, which the court would find contemptuous 806 for that because

  insinuate draw out subtly

  toaze tease out

  808 cap-a-pie from head to toe

  809 open thy affair disclose your business

  812 advocate representative

  814 pheasant the only courts known to the Clown are those of local justices; he assumes Autolycus refers to bribing the judge with a gift 820 but anyone but

  823 fantastical imaginative/eccentric

  824 picking on's teeth the way he picks his teeth (ornate toothpicks were a mark of fashion) 830 Age old man

  834 be'st ... serious are able to und
erstand important things 838 hand-fast arrested

  fly flee, escape

  842 wit ... heavy ingenuity can make brutal

  843 germane related

  846 sheep-whistling rogue rascal who whistles to his sheep ram-tender one who looks after rams

  offer attempt

  847 grace favor at court

  849 sheep-cote building sheltering sheep

  854 'nointed anointed, covered

  855 dram tiny bit

  856 aqua-vitae liquor

  857 prognostication proclaims the calendar forecasts 860 blown swollen with flies' eggs (laid in wounds) 862 capital worthy of the death penalty

  863 to to say to

  Being ... considered as I am deemed noble/esteemed at court 865 tender offer, present

  him in to him on

  866 man any man

  868 Close make a deal

  874 that what

  875 in pawn as security

  878 moiety half

  880 case circumstances/skin

  886 gone else dead otherwise

  890 before ahead of me

  891 look ... hedge i.e. urinate

  897 suffer allow

  booties booty, benefits

  courted wooed

  898 occasion opportunity

  901 him i.e. Florizel's ship

  902 shore them put them ashore

  904 officious interfering

  proof against impervious to

  906 matter serious business/reward

  2 sorrow i.e. penitence

  3 paid ... trespass endured and repented more than the sin warranted 9 in them with regard to them

  16 the ... are all existing women

  22 good now expression of entreaty

  26 done ... benefit been more helpful

  32 sovereign name royal lineage, i.e. through an heir 33 fail of issue childlessness

  35 Incertain lookers on subjects or spectators who are unsure and anxious about the future 36 well i.e. in heaven

  42 Respecting compared to

  45 tenor substance

  48 monstrous incredible, unnatural

  50 on my life I am certain

  51 counsel advice

  54 Great ... th'worthiest Alexander the Great reportedly urged his followers simply to choose the worthiest man as his successor 60 squared me conformed

  61 full perfect

  67 her i.e. Hermione's

  68 and i.e. and do so/and appear

  69 now i.e. now stand (or perhaps a printer's error for "mourn") soul-vexed tormented (dying with a troubled soul was thought to make the dead rise as ghosts) 70 Why i.e. why offer this insult

  72 had would have

  75 should so would also incite you to do so

  76 mark note, observe

  79 rift split

  80 mine i.e. my eyes

  82 eyes else other eyes

  85 leave permission

  88 tempt test

  91 Affront come before

  95 office task, responsibility

  98 walked ... ghost were the ghost of Hermione to walk 104 Servant so called in Folio, but clearly a gentleman courtier (he has once written poetry in praise of Hermione) 105 gives out himself claims to be

  109 What i.e. what attendants, company

  111 out of circumstance without ceremony

  112 framed planned

  113 accident chance event

  train retinue (has he with him)

  115 mean humble

  117 peerless ... earth perfect mortal