Page 109 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

And here, her gentle° lips lay slightly open / muted / dreamy
Parted with sugar breath. So sweet an air° {a bar} / breath / wisp
89
Should sunder such sweet friends. And in her hair
The painter plays the spider and hath woven
A golden mesh t’entrap the hearts of men
90
Faster than gnats in cobwebs. But her eyes—
How could he see to do them? Having made one,
Methinks its power should steal both his eyes
91
And leave the work° undone.° Yet look how far {itself} // unfinished
The substance° of my praise doth wrong this shadow° / fullness // copy
In underprizing it, just as this copy° {so far this shadow}
92
Doth limp behind her true form.° Here’s the scroll, {the substance}
93
94
The continent and summ’ry of my fortune:
Thou who° choose not by the view, / You that
Chance as fair and choose as true. / Take fair chance and chose quite true
Since this fortune falls to you,
Be content, and seek no new.

In the original, Bassanio’s two iamb line (What find I here?) completes Portia’s previous three iamb line (For fear I
surfeit.) Due to the anomalous nature of Portia’s two iamb line (see previous note) it has herein been emended to
fulfill the standard iambic meter, which leaves Bassanio’s two iamb line somewhat truncated. To accommodate this,
one possibility would be to add a pause before or after Bassanio’s words:
a) __ __ __ __ __ __ What find I here? b) What find I here? __ __ __ __ __ __
87. What artist, wielding the skill of a god,
Hath come so near creation? O these eyes—
Do these eyes move or do they ride upon
The balls of mine own eyes and seem to move°? {seem they in motion}
88. What find I here? . . .
Fair Portia’s portrait!° What +artist, possessed°
Of all the powers of a , demigod
What +artist, possessing° / wielding
The spectral powers of a , demigod
Hath come so near creation? What is this?

What demigod hath fashioned such a picture
So near to God’s own creation? And now—
89. { . . . Here are severed lips | Parted with sugar breath. So sweet a bar | Should sunder such sweet friends.}
/ Here find her lips, parted by sugar breath; | So sweet a breath could sunder such sweet friends.
90. faster than: a) more quickly than, b) more securely than (as in ‘bind fast’)
91. undone: {unfurnished} / unfinished a) without finishing the portrait, b) without being able to furnish the second
eye
92.{Doth limp behind the substance} The metaphor of ‘limping behind the substance’ refers to something which
falls short of the real thing (substance), and specifically to a lifeless shadow which follows, or ‘limps behind,’ the
form of a real person. Limp, moreover, implies a defective or imperfect kind of following which is not found in the
term ‘walk behind’ or ‘follow behind.’ Bassanio is here invoking the Neo-platonic theme of opposites highlighted by
the contrasting concepts of substance and shadow. Hence, Bassanio is saying that the ‘substance of my praise (i.e.,
my words) does wrong this shadow (this portrait) in underprizing it (failing to capture its beauty)’—just as this
shadow (picture) falls short of (limps behind) the substance (the real Portia); i.e.,, his words (as eloquent as they are)
do no justice (fall short) in describing the beauty of this portrait, just as this portrait (as wondrous as it is) does no
justice in capturing Portia’s true beauty.
93. continent: contents, container. Continent can also be an oblique reference to the fullness, totality, or grandeur
of my fortune (as in the size of a continent).
94. {Doth limp behind the substance. Here’s the scroll, | The continent and summary of my fortune}
/ Doth limp behind the living form of Portia
/ Falls hopelessly° short of the real Portia. / lifelessly / dreadfully
/ Here’s the scroll, the summ’ry (/summate) of my fortune: [See Additional Notes, 3.2.129]