Page 6 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

And every object that might make me fear
Misfortune to my enterprise,° no doubt, / undertaking / venture, there’s no
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Would bring concern.° {Would make me sad}
—Salarino 31 My breath,° cooling my broth,° {wind} / soup
Would blow me to a shiver° when I thought {an ague} / a frenzy / into a chill
What harm a wind, too great, might do at sea.
Each time I saw the sandy hour-glass run,
I’d think of shallow flats and sandy banks,
And see my ship, the Andrew,° docked in sand, 32 / my wealthy Andrew
With her top-sail a-hung° below her ribs—° / hanging / fallen // hull
33 34
Kissing her grave just like° a burial shroud. / as would
And should I go to church, instead of praying,
I’d see the holy edifice of stone
And straightaway bethink of dang’rous rocks° / me of the rocks
Which, by a mere touch° of my vessel’s side, / gentle stroke
Would spread her cache° of spice upon the wave,° 35 / prize //{stream} /sea
And robe the roaring waters with her silk.
And thus, in sum, reduce my worth° to naught.° / wealth // nothing
Had I the mind° to think on all of this, / Should I have thoughts
And should I think on all that could go wrong,
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I, too, would have a mind o’erly concerned .° {o’ercome by sadness}
So tell me not: I know Antonio
Is grave° to think upon° his parlous ventures.° 37 {sad} // about // {merchandise} / risky ventures

30. {Misfortune to my ventures, out of doubt | Would make me sad.}
/Misfortune to my ventures would, no doubt | But make me sad
31. By this description, and the preceding ones, we see that Salarino and Salanio are well-versed in the jargon of
merchants, and both appear to be involved in the business of trade, as is Antonio.
32. {And see my wealthy Andrew docked in sand,}
/ And how my ship, the Andrew, rife with wealth, | Might fall a-ground and die a woeful° death / piteous
33. / Laid out upon her burial like a shroud / Just like a shroud placed upon her grave / A shroud that kisses the
ground of her burial / And now to kiss the ground wherein she lies
34. {Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs | To kiss her burial}
vailing: lowering, bringing down
ribs: the hull of a ship, made up of wooden ribs or center beams
The image here is that of a ship overturned, with her top-sails now lower than her hull; the top-sails are now
kissing the ground, which is the place of the ship’s burial (and the once proud sails have now become its burial
shroud. [ See Additional Notes, 1.1.28]
35. / Would scatter all her spices on the wave
36. / I, too, would have a mind that’s fraught with sadness°
/ besieged by worry / filled with distress / sad and distraught
Salarino (and Salanio) are describing Antonio’s risky business ventures, which would elicit concern, worry,
agitation, stress, etc. rather than sadness. (Thus, ‘sadness’ in this context should be taken to mean, ‘worry, concern,
distress,’ etc.) This talk of Antonio’s sadness seems to be an import of an earlier draft of the play, where the play
initially opened with Antonio talking with Gratziano and Lorenzo about his (Antonio’s) sad nature. Later in the
scene we see the same conversation about Antonio’s sadness repeated with Gratziano—and this relates to Antonio’s
sad and depressed nature, and not a new-arising sadness, related to a specific conditions (as is the subject of the
conversation with Salarino and Salanio).
37. / Is worried when he thinks upon his ventures
These two lines are superfluous and appear too bold for either Salarino or Salanio—sounding more like
something Gratziano would say. These lines may be vestiges of an earlier draft which involved a conversation
between Antonio and Gratziano. Thus, these two lines could be deleted without any a meaningful loss and perhaps