Jack-a-Lent

"See now, how wit may be made a Jack-a-Lent, when 'tis upon ill employment."

William Shakespeare John Masefield 1922

PageYou little Jack-a-Lent, have you been true to us?

Act III. Scene III. The Merry Wives of Windsor 1914

And this objection Shakespeare himself felt, for he meets it by making Falstaff explain how near he came to discovering the fraud, and how wit is made “a Jack-a-Lent when 'tis upon ill employment.”

The Man Shakespeare Harris, Frank, 1855-1931 1909

And this objection Shakespeare himself felt, for he meets it by making Falstaff explain how near he came to discovering the fraud, and how wit is made "a Jack-a-Lent when 'tis upon ill employment."

The Man Shakespeare Frank Harris 1893

See now how wit may be made a Jack-a-Lent, when 'tis upon ill employment!

The Merry Wives of Windsor 1597

_ You little Jack-a-Lent, have you been true to us?

The Merry Wives of Windsor The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] William Shakespeare 1590

See now how wit may be made a Jack-a-Lent, when ’tis upon ill employment!

The Merry Wives of Windsor 2004

See now how wit may be made a Jack-a-Lent, when ’tis upon ill employment!

The Merry Wives of Windsor The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] William Shakespeare 1590