Cost.  No  egma,  no  riddle,  no  I'envoy ;  no  salve

62.  swift,  ready,  smart  (esp.  (Delius).     This  gives  a  tolerable

with  reference  to  repartee).  sense.   Tyrwhitt's  '  in  thern  all'

67.   volable,   so   Q^  :    The  Ff  is  harsh,
and  Q2  voluble.      Volable  '  nim-  73.   I'envoy,  properly  the  con-

ble,'  a  neologism,  expresses  the  eluding  stanza  of  a  ballade  con-

'  bullet'  swiftness  of  Moth,  just  taining  the  dedication  or  farewell,

referred  to,  as  well  as  his  nim-  It  was  used  more  loosely  by  the

bleness  of  wit.  Elizabethans  for  the  conclusion

71.  costard,  a  colloquialism  for  of  a  poem,  or  letter,  and  so,  ac-

the  head.  cording  to  Armado's  definition,

73.    no    salve    in     the    mail;  for  the  '  epilogue  '  which  explains

Costard  declines  not  only  '  egma'  what  precedes.     The  article  was

and    'lenvoy'    but   every   other  felt  as  part  of  the  word;  both

'  salve  '  in  the  (apothecary's)  bag  Qq  and  Ff  give  lenvoy,
42


sc.  I  Love's  Labour  's  Lost

in  the  mail,  sir :  O,  sir,  plantain,  a  plain  plantain  !
no  I'envoy,  no  I'envoy;  no  salve,  sir,  but  a  plantain!
Arm.  By  virtue,  thou  enforcest  laughter;  thy
silly  thought  my  spleen ;  the  heaving  of  my  lungs
provokes  me  to  ridiculous  smiling.  O,  pardon
me,  my  stars  !  Doth  the  inconsiderate  take  salve
for  I'envoy,  and  the  word  I'envoy  for  a  salve  ?  80

Moth.  Do  the  wise  think  them  other  ?   is  not

I'envoy  a  salve  ?
Ar?n.  No,  page  :  it  is  an  epilogue  or  discourse,
to  make  plain
Some  obscure  precedence  that   hath  tofore  been

sain.
I  will  example  it :

The  fox,  the  ape  and  the  humble-bee,
Were  still  at  odds,  being  but  three.
There  's  the  moral.      Now  the  I'envoy.
