The Merry Wives of Windsor (34 page)

¹⁸⁵
that flies
which runs away from it (
love
)

¹⁸⁶
satisfaction
payment/sexual gratification

¹⁸⁹
importuned
urged

¹⁹⁴
erected
plays on the idea of penile erection

¹⁹⁷
honest
chaste

¹⁹⁸
mirth
enjoyment of pleasure/merriment

¹⁹⁸
shrewd construction
malicious judgment

²⁰¹
great admittance
i.e. widely received by society/ admitted by the best persons

²⁰¹
authentic
respectable

²⁰²
generally allowed
approved of by all

²⁰³
preparations
accomplishments

²⁰⁸
amiable
amorous

²¹¹
apply well to
be appropriate to/fit in with

²¹³
preposterously
perversely/irrationally/foolishly

²¹⁴
drift
plan

²¹⁵
folly
lewdness/foolishness

²¹⁶
against
at directly (as if she were the sun)

²¹⁷
detection
accusation/exposure

²¹⁸
instance
evidence

²¹⁹
ward
protection/defensive posture (a fencing term)

²²⁰
her
of her

²²⁸
Want
lack

²³⁴
forth
away from home

²³⁵
speed
get on/succeed

²⁴⁰
wittolly
contentedly cuckolded

²⁴⁰
the which
which reason

²⁴¹
well-favoured
good-looking

²⁴²
harvest-home
harvest gathered in/celebratory harvest festival

²⁴⁵
mechanical
base, coarse (from the word for a manual worker)

²⁴⁵
salt-butter
cheap

²⁴⁷
meteor
considered to be a bad omen

²⁴⁸
predominate
have ascendancy (an astrological term)

²⁵⁰
aggravate his style
add to his title (by calling him
cuckold
and
knave
)

²⁵³
Epicurean
pleasure-loving/sensual

²⁵⁴
improvident
unwary/rash

²⁵⁷
false
unfaithful/dishonest

²⁵⁹
stand … terms
have to put up with being called offensive names

²⁶¹
Amaimon … Barbason
names of devils

²⁶²
additions
names/titles

²⁶⁴
secure
overconfident/unsuspecting

²⁶⁵
Fleming
person from Flanders (a country in the Netherlands, whose inhabitants were supposedly very fond of
butter
)

²⁶⁷
aqua-vitae
strong spirits such as whiskey

²⁶⁷
walk
exercise

²⁶⁸
ambling gelding
easily ridden horse

¹¹
no … as
not so dead as he will be when

¹⁴
Villainy
i.e. villain

¹⁷
’Save
God save

²¹
foin
thrust/lunge with a sword

²¹
traverse
pierce with a sword/move from side to side in fencing

²²
punto, thy stock
thrust with the point of the sword

²³
reverse
backhanded thrust or “punto reverso”

²³
distance
(awareness of) the distance that must be kept from the opponent

²³
montant
upward thrust

²⁴
Ethiopian
i.e. person of dark hair and complexion

²⁴
Francisco
i.e. Frenchman

²⁵
Aesculapius
Greek god of medicine

²⁵
Galen
famous second-century Greek physician

²⁵
heart of elder
i.e. as opposed to the firm “heart of oak” that denoted courage; the elder tree is low and has soft wood

²⁶
bully stale
my old laughing-stock/my old inspector of urine (i.e. doctor)

²⁹
Castalion
perhaps suggesting Spanish (from Castile)

²⁹
king-urinal
ruler over urine diagnosis

²⁹
Hector of Greece
the famed warrior was in fact from Troy

³⁵
against the hair
contrary to/against the grain

³⁹
Bodykins
by God’s dear body

⁴⁰
make one
join in

⁴²
salt
savor/liveliness

⁵⁰
guest-justice
like Falstaff, Shallow is also staying at the Garter Inn

⁵⁰
Mockwater
i.e. one who analyzes urine, perhaps with “mock” suggesting a degree of quackery (plays on “make water”—i.e. urinate from fear)

⁵⁴
Jack-dog
male dog/mongrel/knavish dog

⁵⁶
clapper-claw
beat/thrash

⁶⁶
Frogmore
small village near Windsor

⁷²
for a jack-an-ape
on behalf of an ape (i.e. Slender)

⁷⁷
Cried game
probably a sporting exclamation

⁸²
adversary
the Host knows that Caius will misunderstand and take the word to mean something like “advocate”

³
physic
medicine

⁴
Petty-ward
i.e. toward Windsor Little (“petit”) Park

⁴
park-ward
toward Windsor Great Park

⁵
Old Windsor
village near Windsor, south of
Frogmore

⁹
chollors
choler (i.e. bile/anger)

¹¹
knog
knock (possibly “knot”)

¹¹
urinals
vessel containing urine for medical inspection (possibly Evans confusedly intends “testicles”)

¹²
costard
head (literally, large apple)

¹⁴
To shallow rivers
throughout the following two stanzas, Evans sings parts of Christopher Marlowe’s well-known poem “Come live with me and be my love”

¹⁴
falls
cascades/waterfalls

¹⁵
madrigals
songs for several voices (more generally, pastoral or love songs)

²¹
When … Pabylon
Evans inserts a line from the metrical version of Psalm 137

²¹
Pabylon
Babylon

²²
vagram
vagrant (malapropism for “fragrant”)

²⁴
he
i.e. Caius

²⁸
No weapons
presumably Simple means that, unlike Evans, Caius has not yet drawn his sword

³⁸
from
Evans means “for”

³⁹
word
i.e. scripture

⁴¹
doublet and hose
close-fitting jacket and breeches (without his
gown
)

⁴⁷
belike
probably

⁴⁸
at most odds
at the greatest variance

⁵⁰
fourscore
eighty (literally, four times twenty)

⁵¹
wide … respect
indifferent to his own reputation/far from proper consideration of himself/far from his own nature

⁵⁶
as lief
just as soon/rather

⁵⁷
mess of porridge
serving of meat and vegetable stew, eaten before the main course

⁵⁹
Hibocrates
Hippocrates, famous Greek physician of the fifth century BC

⁶⁰
a cowardly
i.e. as cowardly a

⁶²
he’s
i.e. Evans

⁶⁹
question
dispute/debate

⁷⁰
hack our English
mangle the English language instead

⁸⁰
coxcomb
head (literally, cap resembling the comb of a cock, worn by a professional fool)

⁸²
stay
waited

⁸⁴
judgement by
judged by/ruled by the judgment of

⁸⁵
Gallia and Gaul
Wales (from the French “Galles”) and France

⁸⁹
politic
cunning/wily

⁸⁹
subtle
crafty/sly

⁸⁹
Machiavel
intriguer/unscrupulous schemer (from Niccolò Machiavelli’s
The Prince
, a sixteenth-century treatise perceived as advocating political cunning)

⁹⁰
motions
bowel motions (i.e. laxatives or enemas)

⁹²
no-verbs
warnings as to what is forbidden/(Welsh) nonsense words

⁹³
terrestrial
i.e. Caius, who ministers to the body

⁹³
celestial
i.e. Evans, who deals with spiritual matters

⁹⁴
art
skill/learning

⁹⁶
issue
outcome

⁹⁷
to pawn
i.e. as they are no longer needed

¹⁰¹
sot
fool

¹⁰³
vlouting-stog
flouting-stock (i.e. laughingstock)

¹⁰⁵
scall
scald (i.e. scabby/scurvy/contemptible)

¹⁰⁵
cogging companion
cheating rascal

¹⁰⁹
noddles
head

¹
keep your way
keep going

¹
were wont
used

²
Whether
which

¹⁰
as … together
as idle as she can be while remaining in one piece/those who are as idle as she is may as well keep each other company

¹⁵
his … of
is the name of the person my husband got the boy from

²¹
league
i.e. of friendship

²⁸
twelvescore
(from a distance of) 240 paces or yards

²⁸
pieces out
increases

²⁹
folly
lewdness

²⁹
motion and advantage
prompting and opportunity

³¹
hear … wind
foresee what is to come (as one may anticipate rain before it actually arrives)

³²
revolted
i.e. from virtue and fidelity

³³
take him
catch him out/encounter him

³⁵
divulge
reveal

³⁶
wilful
willing

³⁶
Actaeon
i.e. a cuckold (due to the horns he received when turned into a stag)

³⁷
cry aim
applaud/shout encouragement (a term from archery)

⁴²
knot
group/company

⁴²
cheer
entertainment/food and drink

⁴⁶
break with
break my word to

⁵⁷
capers
is merry and lively/dances/leaps

⁵⁸
speaks holiday
speaks in a lively, entertaining way/uses choice language

⁵⁸
carry’t
be successful/carry it off

⁵⁹
’tis … buttons
he has the essential quality within him/he is sure to succeed