59 gash wound (may play on the sense of “vagina”)

  65 mends remedy (i.e. she can use cosmetics; possibly also suggestive of masturbation)

  67 I … travail nothing but effort has been the reward for my pains (travail plays on the sense of “travel,” alluding to Pandarus’ role as a go-between) on of of by

  72 an … Sunday i.e. if she were not my relative, I would say that she is as beautiful in the plain clothes appropriate to a fasting day as Helen is in her Sunday best

  74 blackamoor black African

  75 fair beautiful/fair-complexioned

  77 behind her father since her father’s departure let her let her go/rent her out alarum call to battle (usually trumpets or drums)

  85 ungracious inconsiderate, unmannerly rude harsh/uncivilized

  87 paint i.e. as if with cosmetics, rouge

  88 upon this argument for this cause

  89 starved meager, insubstantial

  92 tetchy irritable, peevish wooed to woo entreated to court (Cressida)

  93 suit courtship

  94 Apollo Greek sun god Daphne wood nymph pursued by Apollo; she evaded him by praying to the river god Peneus for deliverance and was thereupon turned into a laurel tree

  95 we I

  96 India East/West Indies (thought of as regions of great wealth)

  97 Ilium Troy/the royal palace of Troy

  98 flood sea

  99 merchant trader/merchant ship sailing possible pun on “selling”

  100 convoy escort bark small vessel (used to escort a larger merchant ship)

  101 Wherefore not afield? Why are you not on the battlefield?

  102 Because not there i.e. “just because” woman’s answer alludes to the proverb “because is woman’s reason” sorts is fitting

  108 scar to scorn wound so slight it deserves nothing but scorn/wound given in return for Paris’ scornful behavior to Menelaus

  109 horn imagined growth on the head of a cuckold (man with an unfaithful wife; Paris has stolen Menelaus’ wife, Helen)

  110 sport action, entertainment (in his reply, Troilus shifts the sense to “sexual amusement”) out of town i.e. outside Troy’s walls

  112 abroad in the outside world

  5 commands as subject dominates, overlooks

  7 fixed steadfast moved roused, angry (plays on the literal sense to provide antithesis with fixed)

  9 like as as if husbandry careful management (rising early for work); plays on being a “husband”

  10 harnessed light dressed in light armor/armored quickly

  15 noise rumor, report

  16 nephew cousin

  18 Good very well

  19 per se in himself/in a class of his own (Latin) stands alone is peerless (Cressida’s response plays on the literal sense, and on the sexual sense of “is erect”)

  20 drunk … legs i.e. cannot stand up/are impotent

  23 particular additions distinctive characteristics, essential attributes churlish violent/ungracious

  24 slow ponderous, slow-moving

  25 humours contradictory moods, temperamental characteristics

  27 glimpse trace, small part attaint fault, stain

  29 against the hair contrary to the prevailing mood, perversely joints parts, components

  30 gouty diseased, with swollen deformed joints Briareus legendary monster with a hundred hands and fifty heads

  31 purblinded blind Argus legendary monster with a hundred eyes

  34 coped grappled, fought with

  35 disdain anger, wounded pride whereof of which

  36 waking sleepless

  48 ere before

  55 lay about him strike out/fight hard

  61 Jupiter Roman supreme god

  63 know a man recognize a proper man (Cressida affects to understand merely “recognize a person”; know may play on the sense of “have sex with”)

  67 in some degrees in some respects/by a long distance

  68 just fair/accurate

  71 Condition … India i.e. Troilus is as likely to recover his true self as I am to walk barefoot to India Condition on the condition that

  73 a he

  74 time … end i.e. time will tell friend befriend

  77 Excuse me expression of polite disbelief or disagreement, like Pardon me

  80 Th’other’s … to’t i.e. Troilus is not as fully mature (come to’t may have connotations of being sexually active) tell … tale i.e. change your tune (tale may pun on “tail,” i.e. “penis”)

  81 have his wit be able to compete with Troilus’ intelligence

  87 become suit

  89 a brown favour someone with a dark complexion (considered less attractive)

  91 No, but brown Cressida mocks Pandarus’ quibbling distinctions

  97 should i.e. must therefore

  98 his … his i.e. Troilus’ … Paris’

  99 flaming extravagant, high-flown/brightly colored, flushed

  100 as lief rather, just as soon

  101 copper red (from drinking; conceivably suggests the metal noses occasionally worn by those who had lost their real noses to syphilis)

  104 merry Greek jolly person/one of loose morals

  106 compassed curved, rounded

  108 tapster’s arithmetic i.e. simple calculation tapster barman, tavern keeper

  109 particulars individual details, particular features

  112 old experienced lifter weightlifter/thief (possibly also plays on the sense of “one who has sex”)

  114 cloven dimpled (Cressida plays on the literal sense of “split apart”)

  115 Juno queen of the Roman gods, wife of Jupiter

  120 an … autumn i.e. as if he were a dark cloud or a cloud through which the sun is vainly trying to shine

  123 stand … proof stand up to the test (plays on the sense of “be erect for sex”)

  125 addle rotten/partly hatched (the sense Cressida picks up on in her reply)

  126 If … i’th’shell perhaps alludes to the proverb “as good be an addled egg as an idle bird” (addle puns on idle)

  129 marvellous marvelously

  130 confess admit (Cressida plays on the idea of confession after torture)

  131 rack torture instrument that stretched the limbs

  134 richer i.e. has more hairs than Troilus’ youthful chin

  136 that so much that ran o’er watered

  137 millstones proverbially the hard-hearted weep millstones

  139 pot cooking pot

  143 Marry by the Virgin Mary

  145 green plays on the sense of “youthful, inexperienced”

  148 pretty artful, clever

  154 hairs puns on “heirs”

  155 all … sons traditionally, Priam had fifty sons; perhaps the forked hair counts as two

  156 forked split (alludes to the cuckold’s horns that supposedly grew from the head of a man with an unfaithful wife)

  158 so chafed was so irritated

  159 it passed the occasion surpassed all description

  160 So … now i.e. let it pass, be forgotten going by i.e. in the telling

  163 weep … April i.e. weep like one born in the month of showers

  165 spring grow (plays on the sense of the season itself) an … May as if I were a nettle anticipating the arrival of May (plays on the notion of “nettling,” i.e. irritating Troilus)

  172 bravely splendidly

  173 mark note, observe

  175 brave splendid/bold

  177 anon shortly

  179 shrewd sharp

  180 one o’th’soundest judgement one of those with the greatest wisdom, discretion

  181 whosoever out of anyone proper … person fine example of a man

  184 give … nod acknowledge you with a nod of the head/call you a fool (nod)

  186 the … more i.e. your foolishness will increase further

  188 Go thy way expression of well-wishing

  189 countenance (fine) face/demeanor/appearance

  192 a he

  193 hacks dents, gashes

  194 jesting make believe/playing laying on (evidence of) vigorous attack take’t … will whatever anyone says to the contrary (plays on the antithesis between “lay on” and “take off”)

  196 with swords dents made with swords

  198 God’s lid God’s eyelid (a common oath)

  205 marvel wonder

  206 he i.e. Troilus forth out (to fight)

  208 indifferent moderately

  211 sneaking creeping/shifty

  214 Hem! Pandarus either tries to catch Troilus’s attention, coughs awkwardly to cover his error or tries to prompt Cressida’s agreement

  218 helm helmet

  219 goes walks, bears himself ne’er … twenty is not yet twenty-three

  221 grace in Greek mythology, one of the three goddesses of grace and beauty

  222 to compared to warrant am sure

  223 change exchange (one man for the other) to boot in addition

  225 Chaff and bran husks, i.e. useless things

  226 porridge after meat a vegetable soup after the main course (both terms could also refer to sexual organs or their possessors)

  227 daws jackdaws (proverbially foolish birds)

  232 drayman cart-driver camel i.e. misshapen, lumbering

  234 discretion good judgment

  235 birth noble ancestry

  236 discourse conversational skill/sound understanding gentleness good breeding, courtesy

  237 liberality generosity

  239 minced cut into small pieces for cooking/dainty, effeminate, pretentious no … pie i.e. with a crucial ingredient lacking/with an impotent penis (no use to the vaginal pie)

  240 the … out he is out of date, no good

  241 You … woman! What a woman you are! at … lie which defensive position you assume (fencing term; plays on the notion of sexual positions, which Cressida picks up on in her reply)

  243 belly stomach/womb/vagina wit may play on a sense of “genitals”

  244 wiles tricks secrecy ability to keep secrets (such as a love affair or pregnancy)/sexual organs honesty integrity/virtue/chastity

  245 mask worn to shield the complexion from the sun and retain a fashionable pallor

  246 wards defensive positions/designated guard stations watches vigilant observances/periods of the night during which a guard was kept (plays on “watch and ward,” i.e. to keep guard)

  247 watches wakeful periods of the night (also suggestive of secretive sexual activity, perhaps with more than one man)

  248 watch be wary of

  249 them i.e. things I have to guard against ward defend

  250 hit struck/penetrated sexually watch … telling be on guard to prevent you revealing

  251 swell become infected/swell with pregnancy past watching too late to safeguard against Boy servant

  252 You … another! What a woman you are!

  257 doubt fear

  259 by and by soon

  260 To bring i.e. are you going to bring something

  261 token lover’s gift, keepsake

  262 By … token on that basis bawd procurer, pimp

  264 in … enterprise on behalf of another

  266 glass mirror, reflection

  267 wooing while being wooed

  268 done finished with (plays on the sense of “sexually conquered”)

  269 she woman who is

  270 Men … is men value what they have not got more than its worth

  271 That … sue never was there a woman for whom love was as sweet after she had been won as when she was still being wooed

  273 out of drawn from

  274 ‘Achievement … beseech’ “Winning a woman’s love gives a man control; if she has not been won, he must continue entreating her”

  275 That so that though … bear i.e. although my heart loves surely, steadily

  Sennet trumpet call signaling a procession

  2 grief grievance, displeasure jaundice i.e. yellowness (suggestive of jealousy and disease)

  3 proposition offer, proposal makes … below gives to all enterprises begun here on earth

  5 in … largeness to fulfill its promise checks obstacles

  6 veins i.e. vessels in a plant for carrying sap actions highest reared the most ambitious military endeavors

  7 by … sap at the point where flowing streams of sap meet

  8 sound pine healthy pine tree grain i.e. the grain of the wood

  9 Tortive and errant twisted and straying

  11 suppose expectation/intention

  13 Sith … thwart since every previous recorded military action went wrong

  15 not … shape not falling out in accordance with the original plan

  18 works deeds, endeavors

  20 protractive protracted, drawn-out Jove Jupiter, Roman king of the gods

  21 persistive persistent, enduring

  22 metal strong substance (plays on “mettle,” i.e. courage, character)

  23 In fortune’s love during the good times

  24 artist scholar

  25 affined related (continues aural play on find, fineness)

  26 her i.e. fortune’s

  27 Distinction the practice of distinguishing between things

  28 winnows separates and blows away (as the lighter chaff is separated from the wheat by the wind)

  29 matter substance, worth

  30 virtue worth, value

  31 observance of respect for seat throne, i.e. authority

  32 apply interpret

  33 reproof rebuffing, rebuking, defiance

  34 proof test (puns on reproof)

  35 bauble toy-like

  38 Boreas Greek god of the north wind

  39 Thetis sea nymph, mother of Achilles (here represents the sea)

  40 bark ship liquid mountains i.e. waves

  41 two moist elements i.e. air and water

  42 Perseus’ horse Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology that sprang from Medusa’s blood when Perseus beheaded her; technically, he belonged to Bellerophon saucy insolent

  43 untimbered unsound, lacking a strong wooden frame even … greatness only a moment ago accompanied and competed with greater ships

  45 toast sop, piece of bread soaked in wine Neptune Roman god of the seas Even so in just such a way

  46 show outward appearance

  47 her i.e. fortune’s

  48 breeze gadfly (which bites animals)/light wind

  51 shade shelter

  52 sympathize respond, be in accordance

  54 Retires returns, reverts

  56 nerve sinew, muscle

  57 numbers i.e. army only sole/preeminent, exceptional spirit vital power, essence of life

  58 tempers temperaments

  59 shut up incorporated, absorbed

  61 The which which place and sway position and authority

  62 reverend worthy, respected stretched-out long-lasting

  64 and i.e. who is

  65 in brass engraved in brass, i.e. as a model of eloquence

  66 hatched in silver i.e. white-haired hatched streaked, inlaid/engraved

  67 air i.e. his speech axle-tree … ride axis on which the universe revolves (the heavens were thought to revolve around the earth)

  68 knit unite, tie

  70 great, and wise i.e. Agamemnon, and Nestor

  71 Ithaca island west of Greece, home of Ulysses of less expect less likely

  72 importless burden insignificant content

  74 rank stinking/diseased/lustful/coarse opes opens mastic gummy/rotten (possibly also relates to “mastix,” a scourge)

  76 yet … basis still standing on its foundations had would have

  78 instances factors, reasons

  79 specialty of rule rights and obligations of effective authority

  80 how however

  81 Hollow empty so … factions there are just as many deceptive factions

  82 general military leader hive beehive (i.e. the focal point, center of command)

  83 repair return

  84 Degree rank, hierarchy vizarded masked, concealed

  85 shows as fairly appears just as attractive, as worthy

  86 this centre i.e. the earth (which, according to the Ptolemaic model, was the center of the universe)

  88 Insisture regularity, constancy, steady continuance

  89 Office particular function

  90 Sol the sun (thought to be a planet)

  91 sphered contained within its sphere (each planet was thought to orbit within a hollow crystalline sphere)

  92 other i.e. other planets med’cinable healing

  93 ill sick, unwell/ominous, causing misfortune aspects planetary positions, directions of alignment

  94 posts speeds

  95 Sans check without pause

  96 mixture conjunction to disorder wander move into unfavorable alignment

  100 deracinate uproot

  101 married harmonious, united

  102 Quite completely fixure fixed position degree rank, hierarchy (plays on the sense of “ladder’s rung”)

  103 high designs noble undertakings (high plays on its literal sense)

  105 Degrees in schools academic ranks brotherhoods guilds

  106 dividable shores countries separated by sea

  107 primogenitive primogeniture, the inheritance rights of an eldest son

  109 But except, other than stand … place remain in their legitimate positions

  112 mere oppugnancy total conflict bounded enclosed, contained (by their shores)

  113 Should would

  114 make … globe i.e. drown the world sop piece of bread soaked in wine

  115 imbecility physical weakness

  116 rude violent, uncivilized

  118 jar conflict, clash

  119 names individual identities

  120 includes subsumes, absorbs/concludes, terminates

  121 will willfulness appetite desire, greed

  123 seconded supported, assisted

  124 make … prey inevitably prey upon everything

  126 suffocate suffocated

  127 choking act of suffocating

  129 by a pace step by step in … climb when the intention had been to climb upward

  133 Exampled given the example, shown a precedent the … superior the morally corrupt step taken previously by his superior

  135 emulation rivalry/grudging envy

  136 on foot upstanding

  139 discovered revealed

  140 power army/strength/authority

  143 opinion public opinion/reputation

  144 forehand foremost part, mainstay host army

  145 airy widely acknowledged/insubstantial

  146 dainty of particular, fastidious about