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- Act 2 Scene 4
-
- Orsino instructs Viola/Cesario about the nature of
- love; and in an oblique manner Viola confesses her
- own feelings. Once again, however, she is sent to
- Olivia to court the lady on behalf of Orsino.
- 1 morrow: morning.
- 2 but: only.
- 3 antic: quaint.
- 4 Methought: I thought.
- 5 recollected terms: elaborate musical
- phrases.
- 17 Unstaid: unsure.
- skittish: playful.
- all motions else: all other emotions.
- 18 image: idea.
- 20 The music echoes the very heart of love.
- 22 My life uponÆt: I would bet my life upon
- it.
- 23 stayÆd: looked, rested.
- favour: face.
- 24 by your favour: if I may say so (with a
- pun on ôfavourö in line 24).
- 25 Of your complexion: rather like you.
- 28 still: always.
- 29 wears she to him: she adapts herself to
- suit him (as clothes come to fit the wearer).
- 30 sways . . . heart: her love holds an equal
- balance with her husbandÆs.
- 32 fancies: loves.
- 33 worn: exhausted.
- 36 hold the bent: stand the strain. (The
- ôbentö is the degree to which a bow can be bent
- before it breaks.)
- 38 displayed: opened, in full bloom.
- 40 even: just.
- 42 Mark it: listen to it.
- 43 spinsters: women spinning thread.
- 44 free: carefree.
- weave . . . bones: make lace (using bobbins made
- of bone).
- 45 Do . . . it: often sing it.
- silly sooth: simple truth.
- 47 Like the old age: as they did in the old
- days.
- 50 Come away: come quickly to me.
- 51 cypress: coffin of cypress wood.
- 52 Fie away: be off.
- 54 stuck . . . yew: covered over with yew-
- leaves.
- 56 No lover so true ever played my part, in
- dying of love.
- 66 pains: troubles (i.e. in singing).
- 69 pleasure . . . paid: part of a proverbial
- saying that ôpleasure will be paid for with painö.
- 71 The Duke dismisses Feste politely,
- speaking as though the fool were the master.
- 72 the melancholy god: Saturn; those born
- under his planet were said to be of heavy, gloomy
- temperament.
- 73 Get the tailor to make your next suit
- (doublet) of shot silk (taffeta) which shows
- different colours, because you are always changing
- your mind.
- 74 opal: a semi-precious stone which (like
- taffeta) changes its colour in different lights.
- 74ff. I wish they would make men like you go
- to sea (as merchants), so that they can trade in
- everything and sail everywhere, because thatÆs the
- way to make a profitable business out of nothing.
- 78 give place: take themselves away.
- 79 yond: yonder.
- sovereign cruelty: queen of cruelty.
- 80 than the world: than any other in the
- world.
- 82 parts: property (the ôdirty lands ö).
- 83 hold: value.
- giddily: lightly (Fortune does not value worldly
- goods because she is so careless in distributing
- them).
- 84 that . . . gems: i.e. her beauty.
- 85 pranks her in: adorns her with.
- 87 Sooth: indeed.
- 88 Say that: suppose.
- 95 retention: a medical term, referring to the
- bodyÆs ability to retain its contents.
- 97 motion: emotion.
- liver: thought to be the seat of love (cf. 1.1.37);
- and an organ that helps with digestion.
- 98 After over-eating (surfeit), the appetite is
- tired of food (cloyed) and rejects it (revolts).
- 110 a blank: an unwritten book.
- 111 concealment: secrecy.
- worm iÆthÆbud: i.e. canker, a disease which
- destroys roses from the inside of the flower.
- 112 damask: a blend of red and white found
- especially in roses.
- thought: sadness.
- 113 with . . . melancholy: pale and sick with
- misery.
- 114 like . . . grief: like the smiling figure of
- Patience cut on a tombstone.
- 117 Our . . . will: we show greater passion
- than we feel.
- still: always.
- 122 shall I to: shall I go to.
- theme: business.
- 124 give no place: not be held back.
- bide no denay: accept no refusal.
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