Sentence:  Between two blades, which bears the better <WSD>temper</WSD>: ... / I have perhaps some shallow spirit of judgement; / But in these nice sharp quillets of the law, / Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The state of a metal or other substance, especially as to its hardness, produced by some process of heating or cooling.