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Without the seal° of merit? Let none presume {stamp} / badge / mark
To wear an undeservèd dignity.° / worthiness
25
O that one’s status, wealth, and high position
Were not derived corruptly;° and that true° honor / by falsehood {clear} / bright
26 27
Were rightly earned by those who deem to wear it.
28 29
How many then should be without their crowns!° / medals
How many that command would be commanded!
30
How much low peasantry would then be gleaned° / culled // could we extract
31
From those of noble birth;° and how much honor / royal blood
Amply bestowed° upon° our dignitaries / Decorated // Amply awarded to
32
Would be but varnish? Well, but to my choice:
‘Who chooseth me shall get as much as he deserves.’
I will assume what I rightly deserve;
I choose the silver chest. Give me a key, 33

25. {O, that estates, degrees, and offices} / O that position, wealth, and higher office
estates: a) one privilege, one’s position, b) one’s wealth, one’s fortune, what one owns
degrees: rank, position
26. {Were purchased° by the merit of the wearer} / procured
/ Were found upon the worth of those who wear it.
27. / Were not obtained through some corrupted° means; / deceitful
And that true honor were justly bestowed
In accord with the worth of those who wear it.
28. {How many then should cover that stand bare!}
cover: succeed, be covered with the dress of success, wear (cover themselves with) a suit of dignity, b) cover
that: who now
that stand bare: a) those who have nothing, who stand naked (without wealth or honor), b) the bare head of
servants, who do not wear a hat in the presence of their masters.
A) How many then (if rank and position were not derived corruptly) should cover their bare heads—as they do
now—with hats or crowns, to signify their true honor?—none.
B) How many then should keep their hats on (cover their heads) when those of presumed rank passed
by?—everyone. (No one would doff his hat as a sign of respect).
/ All would have covered heads as they pass by / All would keep their hats on as they pass by
C) How many then, would succeed, that now have nothing? How many then, who now stand bare (without
recognition) would be covered with medals (signifying honor)?—a few. [See Additional Notes, 2.9.43]
29. The next six lines are somewhat vague (and the metaphors used are inconsistent) but their intent is clear:
Arragon is saying that those who now have honor are not deserving of it (and that the honor they show was derived
corruptly). Two of the lines, however, could be interpreted more amicably: one could mean that among those who
are low (with bare heads) some are worthy and could wear the hats normally worn by dignitaries (signifying honor);
the other, that among the ‘chaff and ruin’ some are truly honorable—and could be made to appear that way with the
right exterior coating (varnish). For the most part, however, all the lines are emended to reflect Arragon’s view that
those who are currently in the place of honor are undeserving of it, (rather than the more complex image that among
those who are poor and lowly could be found people who are deserving of honor).
In an attempt to rectify the metaphor (and preserve its agricultural references) Bailey (1862) emends the
passage as follows: ‘How much low peasant’s rye would then be screen’d | From the true seed of honor! and how
much seed | Pick’d from the chaff and strewings of the temse | To be new garner’d ! (Temse refers to a kind of
sieve). Bailey notes that the term peasantry is not found in any of Shakespeare’s dramas.
[See Additional Notes, 2.9.48]
30. {How much low peasantry would then be gleaned}
Q reads, ‘how much low peasantry,’ whereas F reads, ‘how much low pleasantry.’
low peasantry: lowliness, low rank or conduct of a peasant
low pleasantry: low remarks of humor; low courteous remarks; lip service, facetiousness
31. {From the true seed of honor} / From so-called ‘noblemen’
32. [See Additional Notes, 2.9.48]
33. {I will assume desert. Give me a key for this}