E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Feeble.
Most forcible Feeble. A writer whose language is very “loud,” but whose ideas are very jejune. Feeble is a “woman’s tailor,” brought to Sir John Falstaff as a recruit. He tells Sir John “he will do his good will,” and the knight replies, “Well said, courageous Feeble! Thou wilt be as valiant as the wrathful dove, or most magnanimous mouse … most forcible Feeble.” (Shakespeare: 2 Henry IV., iii. 2.)
