Shall we strike a bolder stroke, and
read thus?
_Therefore my hopes, not_ forfeited _to death_,
_Stand_ bold, not sure.
II.i.49 (398,4) Of very expert and approv'd allowance] I read, _Very
expert, and of approv'd allowance_.
II.i.64 (308,5) And in the essential vesture of creation/Does bear all
excellency; We in terrestrial] I do not think the present reading
inexplicable. The author seems to use _essential_, for _existent, real_.
She excels the praises of invention, says he, and in _real qualities_,
with which _creation_ has _invested_ her, _bears all excellency_.
_Does bear all excellency_----] Such is the reading of the quartos, for
which the folio has this,
_And in the essential vesture of creation_
Do's tyre the ingeniuer.
Which I explain thus,
_Does tire the_ ingenious verse.
This is the best reading, and that which the author substituted in his
revisal.
II.i.112 (401,9) Saints in your injuries] When you have a mind to do
injuries, you put on an air of sanctity.
II.i.120 (402,1) I am nothing, if not critical] That is, _censorious_.
II.i.137 (402,2) _She never yet was foolish_] We may read,
She ne'er was yet so foolish that was fair,
But even her folly help'd her to an heir.
Yet I believe the common reading to be right; the lay makes the power of
cohabitation a proof that a man is not a _natural_; therefore, since the
foolishest woman, if _pretty_, may have a child, no _pretty woman_ is
ever foolish.
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