Page 75 - William_Shakespeare_-_The_Merchant_of_Venice_191

Do so in hope of some untoward advantage.° 5 / unseemly gain / of undeservèd gain
6
A golden mind stoops not to petty° schemes. / lowly
I’ll neither° give nor hazard all° for lead. {I’ll then nor} {aught}
7
What says the silver with her virgin° hue? / moonlike
‘Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.’
As much as he deserves. Pause° there Morocco / stay / stop
And weigh thy value with an even° hand. / a steady
If thou be° valued° by thine worthiness, 8 {be’st} {rated}
9
Thou dost deserve enough —and yet ‘enough’
May not extend so far as to the lady.
And yet to be afraid° of my deserving° {afeared} // fear what I truly deserve
Would be° a weak disabling° of myself. 10 {Were but} // debasing / discredit
‘As much as I deserve’—why, that’s the lady!
I do in birth deserve her, and in fortunes,
11
In graces,° and in qualities of breeding°— / In manner // in royal ancestry
But more than these, in love I do deserve.° / deserve her
What if I strayed no further,° but chose here?
Let’s see, once more, this saying ‘graved° in gold: / carved > engraved
‘Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire.’
Why that’s the lady! All the world desires her.
From the four corners of the earth they come
12
To kiss this shrine, this mortal-breathing saint.
13
The Persian deserts and the vasty wilds° / wilderness / barren wilds
Of wide Arabia are as thoroughfares now
For every prince to come and view fair Portia.
The wat’ry kingdom° whose high-reaching wave° 14 / raging ocean {ambitious head}
15
16
Spits in the face of heaven, is no bar° / barrier // cannot block

5. {Do it in hope of fair advantages}
fair advantages: gaining something not fully deserved
/ Do so in hope of quick and feeble gain
6. {A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross}
shows of dross: worthless displays
7. virgin hue: ‘silver is the color of the moon, and Diana, the virgin goddess, is the moon’s goddess.’ (Kittredge)
8. {estimation} / reputation / own repute
9. / If estimated by mine worthiness | I do deserve enough
10. / Would be to lower and debase myself / Would be to weaken and debase my value
11. qualities of breeding: more suggestive of Arabian horses than a royal bloodline. This is an image favored by
Morocco but may be ill-suited for European sentiments.
12. this shrine: a container for the relics (and/or bones) of a saint. Morocco refers to the Portia as a shrine—an
object of worship—but, realizing that a shrine may also refer to a tomb, which contains a dead saint, quickly corrects
himself with a modifier, calling Portia, a ‘mortal breathing saint.’
13. {The Hyrcanian deserts and vasty wilds} / The unrelenting deserts and vast wilds
Q1 = ‘vastie’; F1 = ‘vast.’
Hyrcania: an area south of the Caspian Sea known for its wilderness.
14. {The wat’ry kingdom, whose ambitious head}
ambitious head: / high-reaching waves
15. spits: the image of a wave’s crest spewing water into the air
16. {is no bar} / has no chance / is no barrier
/ cannot slow / cannot stymie | Nor stop