The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 7 of 9]

by William Shakespeare

Note III.

II. 1. 13. Pope was the first commentator who called attention to the ballad which is alluded to in this passage, and it is remarkable that with all his partiality for the first Quarto he did not adopt the reading 'trim,' found both there and in the ballad. Percy, in a note to the ballad printed in his Reliques, conjectured that Shakespeare had written 'trim,' not 'true,' apparently without knowing that the word was found in the first Quarto. Capell, in his note, says that he had retained 'true' in his text, owing to his not having observed the authority for the other reading.