The Winter's Tale (39 page)

²¹⁸
bawdry
lewdness   

²¹⁹
burdens
refrains   

dildos and fadings
nonsense words used in refrains (plays on the senses of “false penis” and “moment after orgasm”)   

²²⁰
“jump … her”
also with sexual connotations   

stretched-mouthed
wide-mouthed/obscene   

²²¹
break … matter
interrupt the song with an obscenity (
gap
plays on the sense of “vagina”)   

²²³
Whoop
exclamation of outcry or excitement   

²²⁵
brave
excellent/impudent   

²²⁶
admirable conceited
extraordinarily witty, ingenious   

²²⁷
unbraided
untarnished, not shop-soiled (“braid” plays on the sense of “ribbon”)   

²²⁹
points
laces used to attach doublet and hose (plays on the sense of “arguments”)   

²³⁰
by th'gross
wholesale   

inkles
linen tape   

²³¹
caddisses
yarn tape used for garters   

cambrics
fine linen from Cambray in Flanders   

lawns
fine linen   

'em over
about them   

²³²
smock
woman's undergarment   

²³³
sleeve-hand
cuff   

work about
embroidery on   

²³⁴
square
square piece of material on the chest area   

²³⁸
You have
there are some   

²⁴⁰
go about
wish   

²⁴²
Cypress
lightweight crepe fabric   

²⁴³
sweet
scented   

²⁴⁴
Masks
worn by women to protect the complexion from the sun   

²⁴⁵
Bugle
glittering   

²⁴⁷
quoifs
close-fitting caps   

stomachers
decorated fronts for women's dresses   

²⁴⁹
poking-sticks
rod for stiffening the folds of a ruff (with possible phallic play)   

²⁵⁴
enthralled
enslaved (by love)   

²⁵⁵
bondage
(buying and) binding up   

²⁵⁶
against
in preparation for   

²⁵⁸
more than that
presumably marriage   

²⁶⁰
paid you
had sex with you/given you   

²⁶¹
paid … again
refers to pregnancy and the
shame
of an illegitimate child   

plackets
slits in skirts or petticoats (hence “vagina”)   

²⁶³
plackets … faces
i.e. reveal their most private affairs in public   

²⁶⁴
kiln-hole
fire hole at an oven (somewhere to gossip)   

²⁶⁷
Clamour
silence   

²⁶⁸
tawdry-lace
Saint Audrey's lace, a decorative neckerchief   

²⁷⁰
cozened
tricked   

²⁷²
abroad
roaming about   

²⁷³
behoves
befits   

²⁷⁶
charge
value   

²⁷⁸
alife
on my life   

²⁸⁰
usurer
moneylender   

²⁸¹
brought … of
delivered   

at a burden
in one birth   

²⁸³
carbonadoed
scored and grilled   

²⁸⁷
Tale-porter
i.e. “tale-bearer” or bringer of “tail” (vagina), hence pimp   

²⁹¹
lay it by
set it aside   

²⁹⁴
fourscore
eightieth (four times twenty)   

forty thousand fathom
240,000 feet (about 74,000 meters)   

²⁹⁷
exchange flesh
have sex   

³⁰¹
justices'
magistrates'   

hands
signatures   

³⁰²
pack
bag, pack of goods   

³⁰⁶
passing
extremely   

³⁰⁸
request
demand   

³⁰⁹
bear a part
sing a part/play a role/handle genitals   

³¹¹
on't
of it   

³¹³
Have … you
let's begin   

³²²
Or
either   

grange
farmhouse   

³²³
ill
wrong   

³³⁰
have … anon
finish this song later   

³³¹
sad
serious   

³⁴⁰
toys
ornaments, trinkets   

³⁴⁴
utter
offer for sale   

ware-a
wares, goods   

³⁴⁵
carters
cart drivers   

³⁴⁶
neat-herds
cowherds   

made … hair
dressed in hairy disguises, presumably animal skins, to resemble satyrs   

³⁴⁷
Saltiers
malapropism for “satyrs” (mythical creatures, part man, part goat)   

³⁴⁸
gallimaufry of gambols
chaotic mixture of leaps   

³⁵¹
bowling
i.e. a gentle, sedate activity   

³⁵³
homely
simple   

³⁵⁵
threes
trios   

³⁵⁸
by th'square
with great precision   

³⁵⁹
prating
chattering   

³⁶¹
stay
are waiting   

³⁶²
father
respectful term of address for an old man   

you'll … hereafter
presumably refers to a conversation the men were having during the dance   

³⁶⁴
He's simple
the Shepherd is ignorant/humble   

³⁶⁷
handed
handled   

wont
accustomed   

³⁶⁸
she with knacks
lady with trifles, presents   

³⁷¹
marted
bargained/ bought   

³⁷²
Interpretation should abuse
should misinterpret   

³⁷³
bounty
generosity   

straited
at a loss   

³⁷⁴
make … her
care about keeping her happy   

³⁷⁸
looks
looks for   

³⁸⁰
delivered
i.e. legally, through formal betrothal   

breathe my life
i.e. pledge my love   

³⁸²
sometime
formerly, at some time   

³⁸⁴
bolted
sifted, refined   

³⁸⁵
blasts
winds   

³⁸⁷
wash
clean/ whitewash   

³⁸⁸
was
that was   

put you out
disconcerted you (by interrupting); also used for actor forgetting his lines   

³⁸⁹
to
return to   

protestation
declaration   

³⁹⁶
Thereof
of all monarchs   

⁴⁰⁰
Commend … perdition
either commit them to her service, or consign them to ruin.   

⁴⁰⁸
By … his
through understanding the purity of my own thoughts I recognize that of his (a dressmaking metaphor)   

⁴¹³
portion
dowry   

⁴¹⁵
one being dead
i.e. when Polixenes dies and Florizel inherits the throne   

⁴¹⁸
Contract … witnesses
the formal betrothal; a pledge of marriage uttered before witnesses was legally binding   

⁴²¹
Soft
wait a moment   

swain
country gallant or lover/young man/rustic   

⁴²⁸
becomes
befits   

⁴²⁹
incapable Of
unable to understand (through senility)   

⁴³¹
alt'ring rheums
weakening catarrh or similar ailments of old age   

⁴³²
Dispute
deal with   

⁴³³
does … childish
i.e. suffers dementia and returns to a state of childish dependency   

⁴⁴⁰
unfilial
not like a son, unnatural   

Reason
it is reasonable that   

⁴⁴³
posterity
family, descendants   

hold some counsel
be involved, consulted   

⁴⁴⁵
yield
grant   

⁴⁵⁶
Mark
witness   

⁴⁶⁰
affects
aspires to/seeks to obtain/loves/assumes the character of/puts on a pretense of   

sheep-hook
shepherd's crook, and by implication a shepherd girl (derogatory)   

⁴⁶³
excellent
skilled   

of force
by necessity   

⁴⁶⁴
cop'st with
deal with/embrace   

⁴⁶⁷
homely
ugly/humble   

fond
foolish/doting   

⁴⁶⁹
knack
toy/piece of trickery   

⁴⁷⁰
succession
i.e. to the throne   

⁴⁷¹
Not … blood
disown you   

⁴⁷²
Far … off
less linked in kinship than to
Deucalion
, in classical mythology the common ancestor of humankind and thus the most distant relation possible   

⁴⁷³
churl
rustic/villain, i.e. the Shepherd   

⁴⁷⁵
dead … it
i.e. execution   

enchantment
enchantress, witch, i.e. Perdita   

⁴⁷⁶
him
i.e. Florizel   

⁴⁷⁷
That … thee
i.e. were it not for his royal blood, his behavior has made him even unworthy of a lowly person like you   

⁴⁷⁹
rural latches
metaphorical gates that lead from Perdita's rustic world into Florizel's   

⁴⁸²
tender
acutely receptive   

⁴⁸³
undone
ruined   

⁴⁸⁷
visage
face   

⁴⁸⁸
alike
both alike   

⁴⁹⁷
fourscore three
eighty-three   

⁴⁹⁸
fill … quiet
die peacefully   

⁵⁰²
no … dust
criminals were denied a Christian burial   

⁵⁰³
adventure
dare   

⁵⁰⁴
mingle faith
exchange vows (perhaps with play on the belief in the mingling of blood during sex)   

⁵¹⁰
straining … back
determined for being deterred   

following … unwillingly
being dragged against my will   

⁵¹⁵
purpose
intend   

hardly
with great difficulty/unwillingly   

⁵²⁰
I think, Camillo?
Camillo either takes off his disguise or is recognized by Florizel, even with it on