Titus Andronicus & Timon of Athens (55 page)

3
How … world?
i.e. how are things with you (the Painter responds to a more literal sense)

4
wears
wears away, decays

4
grows
gets older

6
rarity
exceptional, striking event

6
strange
strange occurrence

7
record
memory/recorded history

7
not matches
cannot equal

8
bounty
liberality, generosity, goodness

8
spirits
i.e. the other people onstage

9
conjured
summoned with an incantation

9
attend
be present (in response to a summons)/serve, wait upon

12
fixed
certain

13
breathed
accustomed (through exercise)

14
continuate
continual

15
passes
surpasses, excels

18
touch the estimate
meet the designated price

19
we
i.e. poets

19
recompense
payment

20
happy
fortunate (in having a worthwhile subject)

21
aptly
readily/rightfully, fittingly/with appropriate language

22
form
shape, appearance

23
rich
valuable

23
water
transparency, luster

24
rapt
engrossed/emotionally carried away

24
dedication
in the hope of securing patronage poets often dedicated their work to noblemen

26
idly
casually, effortlessly

30
Provokes itself
occurs spontaneously (unlike flint which has to be struck to create a spark)

30
current
i.e. of water

30
flies
flees from, rushes past

31
bound
bank

31
chafes
moves against/seethes at/erodes

33
Upon … presentment
immediately after its presentation (to Timon)

36
comes off
turns out

37
indifferent
average

38
this … standing
the grace of the painted figure conveys the dignity of the man himself

40
How big
how powerfully/what a great

41
Moves
comes alive

41
To … interpret
one might readily imagine the words of this silent facial expression

43
pretty
clever, artful

43
mocking
imitation

44
touch
brushstroke/artistic detail

46
tutors nature
i.e. teaches nature what it should be like

46
artificial strife
i.e. the efforts of art to outdo nature

47
livelier
more lifelike/more energetic

48
followed
sought after

51
confluence
meeting point of rivers

53
beneath world
earth (below heaven)

54
entertainment
welcome/treatment

54
drift
i.e. poetic flow

55
particularly
i.e. on specific individuals or details

56
wax
i.e. a malleable substance (used to coat writing tablets)/growth

56
levelled
specifically aimed

57
comma
punctuation mark/phrase

59
tract
trace

60
How … you?
What do you mean?/How shall I interpret your poem?

61
unbolt
reveal, explain

62
conditions
social ranks/dispositions

63
glib
smooth, oily

63
slipp’ry
fickle, treacherous

64
grave
wise/dignified

64
austere
stern

64
quality
rank/character

64
tender down
offer (plays on the sense of “lay down in payment”)

66
hanging
i.e. like clothing

67
Subdues
makes subservient

67
properties
appropriates

67
his … tendance
loving and attending on him

68
glass-faced
mirror-faced (i.e. flattering)

70
abhor
loathe

70
drops … knee
i.e. bows

71
returns
goes home

72
nod
i.e. acknowledging nod

75
Feigned
imagined, depicted poetically

76
ranked … deserts
filled with rows of people of all types of worth

77
sphere
i.e. the earth

78
propagate
multiply, increase
states
fortunes/circumstances/status

79
lady
i.e. Fortune

80
personate
represent

80
frame
disposition/form, appearance

81
wafts
beckons

82
Whose
refers to Fortune

82
present … rivals
current favor immediately turns all his rivals into slaves and servants

84
conceived to scope
devised to the purpose

87
against
in the face of

89
our condition
i.e. in paint

90
hear me on
listen further

91
fellows
equals

91
of late
recently

92
value
merit/status

93
his … tendance
fill his halls with their attentive presence

94
sacrificial
worshipping/self-sacrificing

95
stirrup
i.e. as they help him onto his horse

95
through … air
i.e. make themselves dependent on him even for the air they breathe

97
marry
by the Virgin Mary

99
Spurns down
rejects, kicks down the
mountain

102
declining
falling

105
quick
sudden/sharp (plays on the sense of “living”; to be “quick with child” was to be
pregnant
)

106
pregnantly
compellingly

107
mean
low, inferior, ignorant

108
The … head
i.e. Fortune’s foot, ready to kick one down the mountain/the great man tumbling head over heels

108
suitor
petitioner, one with a formal request to make

110
five talents
a very large sum of money; the exact value of a talent in the early seventeenth century is unclear, but seems to have been somewhere between £150 and £200

111
means
wealth

111
strait
exacting, severe

114
Periods
puts an end to

114
comfort
hope, encouragement

116
feather
i.e. disposition, type

120
ever binds him
makes him obliged to you forever

121
Commend me
convey my greetings

122
enfranchised
set free

127
father
respectful form of address to an old man

133
creature
dependant

135
first
i.e. early life

135
thrift
economy/profit-making

136
more raised
i.e. of higher status

137
one … trencher
i.e. a domestic servant

137
trencher
wooden plate

141
o’th’youngest … bride
i.e. just old enough to marry

142
bred
brought up

143
qualities
accomplishments

144
Attempts
tries to obtain

145
her resort
to visit her

147
honest
honorable, worthy

148
Therefore … be
i.e. he will continue to be so if he does not pursue her

150
bear
carry off as a prize

152
apt
impressionable/sexually inclined

153
precedent
earlier, youthful

154
levity
frivolity/licentiousness, immorality

160
all
completely/of everything

161
How … endowed
what will her dowry be

164
gentleman
a man of good birth attending a man of high rank

166
bond
obligation

167
counterpoise
match, counterbalance

168
with
i.e. as much as

170
Pawn … honour
if you will pledge your honor to do this

173
state
wealth

175
Vouchsafe
deign to accept

176
anon
soon

181
the natural man
man as he really is

182
traffics
has dealings

183
He … outside
i.e. human nature is defined by mere (unreliable) outward appearance

183
pencilled
painted

184
Even … out
exactly what they appear to be

185
shall … it
i.e. will be rewarded for it

189
must needs
must

190
Hath … praise
i.e. cannot hope to financially match the praise it has received (the Jeweller thinks that Timon means that the jewel has been “underpraised”)

192
A mere satiety
an absolute excess

193
extolled
praised

194
unclew
unwind, undo, ruin

195
rated
valued

196
those … give
i.e. at the price the seller would pay

197
like
the same

198
prized … masters
differently valued by different owners/valued according to the respect men have for the owner

199
mend
improve, add value to

200
mocked
acted

201
common tongue
general opinion

203
Will … chid?
Do you want to be scolded?

206
morrow
morning

207
gentle
noble/courteous

207
stay
wait

208
When
and that impossibility will only occur when

214
name
i.e.
knave

215
proud
arrogant, presumptuous (Apemantus shifts the sense to “honored, glad”)

220
doing nothing
i.e. because there are no honest Athenians

222
innocence
inability of the painted character to do harm/foolishness

223
Wrought
worked

224
He
i.e. God

226
dog
plays on the fact that “cynic” is derived from the Greek for “dog”

227
generation
species (implying that the Painter’s mother is a “bitch,” i.e. female dog/lewd woman)

230
eat not lords
do not consume the wealth (or flesh) of lords

231
An
if

232
eat
have sex with

232
come by
acquire (perhaps with orgasmic connotations)

232
great bellies
i.e. through overeating/in pregnancy

233
apprehension
interpretation/sexual grasping

234
So … labour
if you understand it in that way, keep it as a reward for your efforts (
labour
plays on the sense of “pains of childbirth”)

236
Not … doit
“plain-dealing is a jewel, but they that use it die beggars” (proverbial)