Note VII.
II. 5. 15, 16. The second Quarto reads here:
'M. And his to me, but old folks, many fain as they wer dead,
Vnwieldie, slowe, heauie, and pale as lead.'
And this is followed with slight variations of spelling by the third.
The fourth and fifth omit the M., as do the Folios, which give the passage thus:
'And his to me, but old folkes,
Many faine as they were dead,
Vnwieldie, slow, heauy, and pale as lead.'
Pope omits the lines 'But old folks ... lead,' thinking probably that they are due to interpolation, a supposition which the unmeaning 'M.' in the earlier Quartos seems to confirm.
Mr Collier's MS. corrector has (Shakespeare, Ed. 2, Note ad loc.):
'As his to me: but old folks seem as dead,
Unwieldy, slow, heavy, and dull as lead.'
This is not mentioned in his Notes and Emendations.
For 'many' Johnson substitutes 'marry;'
'But old folks, marry, feign as they were dead, &c.'