[65]. See the passage, beginning—‘It is impossible you should see this, were they as prime as goats,’ etc.
[66].
‘Iago. Ay, too gentle.
Othello. Nay, that’s certain.’
[67]. In the account of her death, a friend has pointed out an instance of the poet’s exact observation of nature:—
‘There is a willow growing o’er a brook,
That shews its hoary leaves i’ th’ glassy stream.’
The inside of the leaves of the willow, next the water, is of a whitish colour, and the reflection would therefore be ‘hoary.’
[68]. See an article, called Theatralia, in the second volume of the Reflector, by Charles Lamb.
[69]. There is another instance of the same distinction in Hamlet and Ophelia. Hamlet’s pretended madness would make a very good real madness in any other author.