[II.144] ll. 16-24: Cf. Hamlet, I, i, 113-125; Vergil, Georgics, I, 465-488.
[II.145] hurtled F1 | hurried F2F3F4.
[II.146] hurtled: clashed. The onomatopoetic 'hurtling' is used in As You Like It, IV, iii, 132, to describe the clashing encounter between Orlando and the lioness. Chaucer, in The Knightes Tale l. 1758, uses the verb transitively, suggesting a diminutive of 'hurt':
And he him hurtleth with his horse adown.
[II.147] did neigh F2F3F4 | do neigh F1.
[II.148] taste of death. This expression occurs thrice in the New Testament (King James version). Plutarch relates that, a short time before Cæsar fell, some of his friends urged him to have a guard about him, and he replied that it was better to die at once than live in the continual fear of death. He is also said to have given as his reason for refusing a guard, that he thought Rome had more need of him than he of Rome. "And the very day before, Cæsar, supping with Marcus Lepidus, sealed certain letters, as he was wont to do, at the board: so, talk falling out amongst them, reasoning what death was best, he, preventing their opinions, cried out aloud, 'Death unlooked for.'"—Plutarch, Julius Cæsar.
[II.149] Re-enter ... | Enter a ... Ff.
[II.150] should: would. The present-day usage is post-Elizabethan.
[II.151] are Capell | heare F1F2 | hear F3F4 | heard Rowe.
[II.152] Scene V Pope.