NOTICES OF IT BY SHAKSPEARE. 137 



resolved to " be a boy outright ;" and again, in " As 

 You Like It," — 



" I know not the contents ; but, as I ^ess 

 By the stern brow and waspish action 

 Wliich she did use as she was writing it. 

 It bears an angry tenour." — Act IV. Sc. III. 



In the celebrated scene in which the reconciliation 

 between Brutus and Cassius is effected, the word is 

 used in a similar manner : — 



" I '11 use you for my mirth ; yea, for my laughter. 

 When you are waspish." — Act IV. Sc. III. 



In the first interview between Catherine and Pe- 

 truchio, the word has precisely a similar signification. 

 In accordance with his resolution to " woo her with 

 some spirit when she comes," Petruchio, ere long, 

 addresses his intended spouse by an epithet not 

 usually found in a lover's vocabulary — 



" Pet. — Come, come, you u-asp, V faith — you are too angry. 

 Kath.— If I be waspish, best beware my sting. 

 Pet. — IMy remedy is then to pluck it out. 

 Kath.— Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies. 

 Pet.—Vs'ho knows not where a wasp doth wear his sting ? 

 In his t&il."— Taming of the Shreiv, Act II. Sc. I. 



Its power of stinging, and its proneness to exert 

 that power, are the reasons why the word " wasp" is 

 applied to individuals who would be apt to avenge 

 real or imaginary injuries. This may be exemplified 

 by the line. 



