welcome. We'll e'en to 't like French[a 1] falconers,[b 1]
fly at any thing we see: we'll have a speech
straight; come, give us a taste of your quality;[b 2]
come, a passionate speech. 460
First Play. What speech, my good[a 2] lord?
Ham. I heard thee speak me a speech once, but
it was never acted; or, if it was, not above
once; for the play, I remember, pleased not
the million; 'twas caviare[b 3] to the general;[b 4] but 465
it was,—as I received it, and others, whose
judgments[a 3] in such matters cried in the top
of mine,[b 5]—an excellent play, well digested in
the scenes, set down with as much modesty
as cunning. I remember, one said there were[a 4] 470
no sallets[b 6] in the lines to make the matter
savoury, nor no matter in the phrase that
might indict[a 5] the author of affection;[a 6][b 7] but called
it an honest method, as wholesome as sweet,
and by very much more handsome than fine.[a 7][b 8] 475
- ↑ 457. French falconers] "It was the fashion of our ancestors to sneer at the French as falconers. They did not regard the rigour of the game, but condescended to any quarry that came in their way" (D. H. Madden, The Diary of Master William Silence, p. 146).
- ↑ 459. quality] see line 366.
- ↑ 465. caviare] The spelling of Q 1 "caviary" and of F 1 "caviarie" indicates the pronunciation here.
- ↑ 465. the general] the multitude. Malone notes that Lord Clarendon uses the word in this sense.
- ↑ 467, 468. cried in the top of mine] sounded with authority above mine, Perhaps a metaphor from a dog's "over-topping" (baying more loudly than the rest of the cry).
- ↑ 471. sallets] salads, containing savoury herbs; here, spicy improprieties. Pope read salts (ed. i) and salt (ed. 2).
- ↑ 473. affection] means the same as F affectation. Love's Labour's Lost, V. i. 4: "witty without affection."
- ↑ 475. more handsome than fine] more becoming and graceful than showy.
