A SHAKESPEAREAN EMENDATION.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—There is a vexed passage in Cymbeline (Act III., Scene 4, 134-137) about which I should like to express a view. I quote it here from the First Folio :-
" No Court, no Father, nor no more adoe With that harsh, noble, simple nothing :
That Cloten, whose Love-suite hath bene to me As fearefull as a Siege."
It is a difficult passage, and has so far defied solution. But the difficulty is at least confined to clear limits, and a restora- tion of the true reading is therefore not beyond the bounds of possibility. This is neither the first nor the last time that Imogen expresses herself in very strong terms on the subject of Cloten : we ought to have a good idea what kind of epithets that very forcible and wholly delightful heroine would be likely to employ. But, first of all, what sort of a young man was Cloten ? What Imogen thinks of him lyre know. But every man (as we learn from Browning, who is not so very far behind Shakespeare in his optimism) boasts two soul-sides, and Cloten is no exception to the rule : unfortunately he is exceptional in showing the worst side of himself to his lady. His mother would doubtless have called him an " irregular scapegrace," and she would have called him so with affectionate pride : there is, in fact, just something to be said in favour of her view of him. For beyond a doubt Cloten is extraordinarily brave : he might have asked with Nelson, " What is fear ? " We can never recall without gratitude the answer which he actually made to Gains Lucius " There be many Caesars Ere such another Julius. Britain is A world by itself, and we will nothing pay For wearing our own noses."
A less consummate author would have made Cloten an arch-villain, cowardly as well as lustful : but that was never Shakespeare's way. Shakespeare's Cloten is a Briton, and like other Britons brave, for it will be remembered that, in dealing with the Britons
" Julius Caesar Smiled at their lack of skill, but found their courage Worthy his frowning at."
They were undisciplined in those days, but :— " Their discipline,
Now mingled with their courages, will make known To their approvers they are people such That mend upon the world."
Unfortunately Cloten himself remains still undisciplined has a mother who is only .consistent in spoiling him, and that makes all the difference, especially to such a character as his. Had he been at a Public School, had he fagged for a stern fagmaster and been caned, had he been up to " the stern Lower Master " and been flogged, he might have been Captain of the Boats or Captain of the Eleven, and, what is more, self-respecting and respected by his school-fellows, a law-abiding and law-enforcing Captain of the House. As it was, what he became we know, but at least he was consist- ently brave, whether dealing with a public or a private foe : I do not doubt that he died without fear, and that up to the last moment he was confident of victory. Let " irregular scapegrace " be his epitaph. But, to come to the point at last, what exactly does Imogen call him now, and here, in the passage upon which I am commenting ? Obviously something not quite so bad as when she thinks that he has
murdered Posthumus. Then she calls him, " that irregulous divell " (First Folio), and, of course, she is right: "irregulous," a word which the gallant girl coins for the occasion, describes exactly what he is. She is therefore not unlikely to call him something of the same kind on the present occasion, but, since so far there is no suggestion of his having murdered Posthumus, or, indeed, anyone at all, presumably it will be something a good deal less bad than " divell." What is it to be ? What is the real fault in Cloten ? Want of discipline. Cloten is anarchy personified, and Shakespeare has given us his view of anarchy, as a. policy of state, in this anarchic individual. My secret has slipped out unawares, for " anarchic " is the word required. But Cloten is still " noble," not yet a " divell." Why might not " anarchic noble " have been Shakespeare's words ? What is the duty of a noble ? Every- one knows that " noblesse oblige," " privilege constrains." An anarchic noble is almost an instance of oxymoron. A noble, more than other men, is bound to live according to law, and yet here is a noble who is ungoverned and unre- strained. But, it may be said, " anarchic " is not found elsewhere in Shakespeare. Why should it be ? Imogen is a very exceptional young woman. She finds it as easy to talk as Cordelia finds it easy to be silent. She is " lord of language." Words obey her, and the right word comes at call. Just so " irregulous " is not found elsewhere in Shakespeare or, indeed, in any other author. But it is exactly the right word in that passage, as " anarchic " is in this : that is the only thing that matters. Shakespeare (or Imogen) makes no mistake about Cloten, and the adjective required is always forthcoming whether, in derivation, English or Latin or Greek. But the copyist or printer might easily make a mistake about " anarchic," being unfamiliar with the word, and " harsh " resembles it rather closely. Leave out the initial "a" and write "n"like"h" : the nearest word to that, which makes any kind of sense, is "harsh." To this reading there are two fatal objec- tions : (1) It makes the poorest sense ; (2) it reduces the line by two feet. But Imogen at the moment is full of indignation, and is much more likely to crowd the line to bursting-point than to shorten it. Shakespeare, I believe, wrote :-
" No more ado With that anarchic noble, simple nothing."
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