Notes and Queries, Number 194, July 16, 1853

COLLIER'S folio of 1632. These proposed are not, however, there, or I would not have troubled you, though it is many months since I first altered the reading of my copy. {52}

Taming of the Shrew, Act V. Sc. 2.--On the exit of Katharina to "fetch" in the disobedient wives, Lucentio remarks:

"Luc. Here is a wonder, if you talk of a wonder.

Hort. And so it is. I wonder what it bodes.

Pet. Marry, peace it bodes, and love, and quiet life, An awful rule, and right supremacy; And, to be short, what not that's sweet and happy."

For "an awful rule" I propose to substitute and lawful rule, as agreeing better with the text and context; indeed, the whole passage indicates it. Petruchio means that the change in Katharina's temper and conduct bodes love, peace, law, and order, in contradistinction to awe or fear. The repetition of the conjunction and also makes the harmony of the language more equal; "and love, and quiet life,