As You Like It (36 page)

52
remove
move

Act 3 Scene 5

5
Falls
lets fall

6
But … pardon
without begging pardon first (a traditional practice)

7
he … lives
the executioner who earns his living until he dies

11
pretty
ingenious

13
coward gates
i.e. eyelids

13
atomies
atoms, specks

17
counterfeit
pretend

22
rush
waterside plant

23
cicatrice
scar

23
capable impressure
palpable impression

29
fancy
love

31
keen
sharp

38
What though
what does it matter

40
Than … bed
i.e. than ought to go to bed in darkness so that your lover will not see you

43
ordinary
common condition

44
sale-work
ready-made goods of inferior quality

44.
’
Od’s
(may) God save

45
tangle
ensnare

48
bugle
glass beads, usually black

51
south
south wind

51
wind and rain
i.e. sighs and tears

52
properer
more handsome, finer

55
glass
mirror

57
lineaments
facial features

62
Cry
beg

63
Foul … scoffer
ugliness is most hideous when it is rough and abusive

65
together
uninterruptedly

70
sauce
rebuke

74
in wine
when drunk

76
tuft of olives
clump of olive trees

76
hard
close

77
ply
urge

80
abused in sight
deceived in his perception

82
Dead Shepherd
i.e. Christopher Marlowe (murdered in 1593), from whose poem
Hero and Leander
the ensuing quotation is taken

82
saw
maxim, saying

82
of might
powerful, convincing

91
extermined
exterminated

92
love … neighbourly
refers to the biblical instruction to “love thy neighbor as thyself”

94
covetousness
refers to the Tenth Commandment, which prohibits coveting one’s neighbor’s goods

98
erst
formerly

103
poverty
deficiency

105
ears
i.e. of corn

108
erewhile
a short time ago

110
bounds
land

111
carlot
churl, peasant

113
peevish
silly, foolish/spiteful

119
complexion
face/appearance

124
lusty
lively

126
constant
unchanging

126
damask
pink or light red

128
parcels
bits, parts

134
am remembered
remember

135
again
back

136
omittance … quittance
not having done so does not mean I never shall

140
straight
straight away

142
passing
excessively

Act 4 Scene 1

6
betray
expose

6
modern censure
commonplace judgment

8
sad
Rosalind quibbles on the sense of “massive, solid”

9
post
stout pole

11
emulation
envy of those who are superior

11
fantastical
fanciful, extravagant

13
politic
crafty

14
nice
fastidious

15
simples
ingredients (literally, medicinal herbs)

16
sundry
varied

17
often
frequent

18
humorous
moody

26
travel
voyage/take pains

28
an
if

29
lisp
put on a foreign accent

30
strange suits
foreign clothes

30
disable
disparage

31
nativity
birth (i.e. nationality)

33
swam
floated, traveled

41
clapped him o’th’shoulder
merely tapped him/arrested him

42
heart-whole
essentially unaffected, with the heart unengaged

48
jointure
marriage settlement that provided for the wife in the event of her husband’s death

51
horns
of a snail/of a cuckold

51
fain
obliged

52
beholding
indebted

52
armed … fortune
i.e. as a
snail
, naturally possessed of horns

53
prevents the slander
forestalls the disrepute

58
leer
complexion, appearance

59
holiday humour
festive mood

61
very
true

64
gravelled
stumped

65
out
at a loss for words

66
warn
protect, warrant

66
cleanliest shift
most skillful measure

71
Who … out
Rosalind goes on to play with the sense of “denied vaginal entry”

73
honesty
chastity

73
ranker
more corrupt

74
of my suit
out of my courtship/clothing

81
by attorney
by proxy (as opposed to “in person”)

83
videlicet
“namely” (Latin)

83
Troilus
lover of Cressida, who proved faithless to him; he was killed by Achilles during the Trojan war

85
die
may play on the sense of “experience orgasm”

85
patterns
models

86
Leander
in classical mythology, Leander regularly swam across the river
Hellespont
to see his lover
Hero of Sestos
, until one night he drowned

86
though
even if

90
found it
concluded the cause

94
right
real

97
coming-on
agreeable, encouraging

100
Fridays and Saturdays
days on which Christians abstained from eating meat

102
twenty
twenty more

112
Go to
expression of impatient dismissal

115
fast
firmly/quickly

118
commission
authority

119
goes … priest
proceeds with the service more quickly than the priest

124
possessed
married/had sex with

130
Barbary cock-pigeon
male pigeon thought to be from Barbary (north Africa)

131
against
before, in anticipation of

131
new-fangled
fond of novelty, easily distracted by new things

133
Diana … fountain
the goddess was a fairly popular figure to adorn fountains

140
waywarder
more obstinate, willful

140
Make
shut

140
wit
possible play on the sense of “genitals”

141
casement
window

145
“Wit, whither wilt?”
Wit, where are you going? (proverbial; refers to one with “wandering” wits)

146
check
rebuke

150
take
catch/possess sexually

152
fault
error (plays on the sense of “vagina”)

152
husband’s occasion
excuse to attack her husband (plays on the sense of “sexual business, opportunity for use”)

152
nurse
breastfeed

160
but … away
only one abandoned woman

165
behind your hour
late

166
pathetical
miserable, deplorable

168
gross
whole/inferior

169
censure
condemnation/judgment

171
religion
faithfulness

174
try
test/judge

175
simply misused
absolutely abused

175
love-prate
love talk

177
what … nest
proverbially, the bird fouls its own nest (
nest
also plays on the sense of “vagina”)

179
fathom
six feet

180
sounded
measured, penetrated

184
bastard of Venus
Cupid, son of Venus by Mars (or, variously, Mercury or Jupiter), not by her husband, Vulcan

185
begot
conceived

185
thought
fancy

185
spleen
impulse

186
blind
Cupid was traditionally depicted as sightless

186
abuses
deceives

189
shadow
shade

Act 4 Scene 2

5
branch
wreath (plays on the sense of “subdivision of a deer’s horn”)

13
bear this burden
sing this refrain/bear the cuckold’s horns

18
lusty
lively/lustful

Act 4 Scene 3

2
here much Orlando
“much Orlando there is to be seen here” (said in irony)

9
waspish
spiteful

10
use
employ, adopt

14
swaggerer
quarreler, blusterer

17
phoenix
mythical Arabian bird that was consumed by fire every 500 years, then resurrected from the ashes; only one existed at a time

17.
’
Od’s
God is

20
device
devising

21
protest
declare, vow

25
leathern
leathery, rough

26
freestone
sandstone or limestone

26
freestone-coloured
brownish yellow

26
verily
truly

28
huswife’s
housewife’s (i.e. hard and coarse)

30
invention
style

30
hand
handwriting

32
boisterous
violent, rough

35
giant-rude
extremely rough

36
Ethiope
Ethiopian (i.e. black)

40
Phoebes
i.e. is cruel to

45
apart
aside

49
vengeance
harm

51
eyne
eyes

54
aspect
gaze (with astrological connotations)

56
prayers
entreaties

59
by … mind
i.e. employ Silvius to bring me your decision in a sealed letter

60
kind
nature

62
make
offer

68
instrument
tool/musical instrument

69
strains
melodies

70
snake
i.e. drudge

76
purlieus
borders

78
neighbour bottom
nearby valley

79
rank of osiers
row of willows

80
Left
passed by

86
favour
appearance/face

86
bestows
acquits

87
ripe
mature/elder

87
low
short

91
commend him
i.e. offers his respectful greetings