It is not . . . epilogue In John Lyly's Galatea (1585) and in Every Woman in Her Humour (1607-9, perhaps by Lewis Machin) the epilogue is spoken by the play's heroine, but such epilogues spoken by women (or, more exactly, by boy actors in the roles of women) are otherwise rare. Every Woman in Her Humour calls attention to the rarity of "a she prologue," perhaps echoing Rosalind (Hattaway and Knowles). Tiffany Stern argues, with convincing evidence, that epilogues were provided for new plays as a means of testing the viability of an extended run, and might then be discarded ("'A small-beer health to his second day': Playwrights, Prologues, and First Performances in the Early Modern Theater', Studies in Philology 101 (2004), 172-99). unhandsome Indecorous, improper. See OED adj. 4, gives a quotation in 1645 as its earliest. good . . . bush Proverbial (Dent W462), alluding to the custom of hanging up a branch of ivy over a tavern door to signify that wine is to be had within. insinuate with you Ingratiate myself to you. furnished Decked out. As at TLN 1439. become Befit, suit. conjure Adjure, earnestly charge. See OED v. 3; but recalling also Rosalind's adopting the role of magician in Act 5. to like . . . as please you To like as much of the play as it may please you to like. Alluding to the play's title, As You Like It (Wilson, ed., 1926, quoted in Knowles). If I were a woman Women's parts were played on the Elizabethan stage by boys in women's dress. Whether the boy playing Rosalind in 1598-99 came "out of character" at this point by removing his/her wig or by some such gesture is an intriguing question raised by Michael Shapiro, Gender in Play on the Shakespearean Stage: Boy Heroines and Female Pages, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994, p. 132 (cited by Hattaway). liked Pleased. OED Like v.¹ 1. defied Rejected, disdained. See OED Defy v.¹ 5, quoting this passage. bid me farewell I.e. applaud me. Wilson, ed. 1926, cites the epilogue to Tmp. for a similar appeal to the audience to release the actor by its applause. Cited in Knowles.