From Hamlet, prince of Denmark. Ed. K. Deighton. London: Macmillan.
_________
Stage Direction. Rosencrantz, "A Danish nobleman of this
name attended the Danish ambassador into England on the accession of James I." (Thornbury).
2. Moreover that, over and above the fact that.
3. provoke, incite, instigate.
4. Our hasty sending, our sending for you in such haste.
5. transformation, complete metamorphosis.
6. Sith, since; from "... A.S. sith than ... after that, since ... a
contraction from sith than, put for sith tham, after that; where tham, that, is the dative case masculine of the demonstrative pronoun used as a relative"... (Skeat, Ety. Dict.). Here used
illatively; in 1.12 temporarily.
7. that it was, that which it was; for the omission of the
relative, see Abb. § 244: What it should be, what it is probable that it should be.
8, 9. that thus himself, that has so completely estranged
him from all knowledge of himself; made it impossible for him
to recognize what is proper, becoming to him; for put him ... from,
cp. below, iii. 1. 182, and H. VIII. ii. 2. 57, "And with some
other business put the king From these sad thoughts."
10. I cannot dream of, I cannot conceive in the faintest degree,
by the wildest flight of imagination.
11. being ... him, since you were brought up with him from
your earliest days; for of, applied to time and meaning from,
see Abb. § 167.
12. And sith ... humour, and as you have since then been so
intimately acquainted with his youthful disposition, his disposition since he grew up to manhood; youth and humour, a hendiadys; the quartos read haviour.
13. That, redundant owing to the parenthesis; vouchsafe your rest, be good enough to remain.
14. companies, companionship; for the plural, see note on i.
1. 173.
15. pleasures, indulgence in the way of amusements.
16. So much ... glean, so far as opportunity will enable you to
pick up stray indications; in a literal sense, to gather what is
left of the corn after the field has been reaped and the sheaves
tied together.
17. Whether, metrically a monosyllable.
18. That, ... remedy, which, if made known to us, it would be
in our power to cure.
21. To whom he more adheres, for whom he has a closer regard: cp. 1. 12, above.
22. gentry, courtesy; cp. v. 2. 106.
24. For the supply ... hope, thereby to furnish us with the
means of realizing our hope in regard to Hamlet; thereby to
furnish us with a hope which may be converted into a certainty.
25. visitation, visit; now more generally used for the appearance of some affliction, as the verb to visit, in L. L. L. v. 2. 222, "These lords are visited," sc. by the plague [of love]; or for the
act of habitual visiting, as in the visitation of the sick.
26. As fits ... remembrance, as it is fitting for a king to show
when bearing in mind a service rendered to him.
27. of us, over us; see Abb. § 174.
28, 9. Put your ... entreaty, signified your desires, which are
to a subject too awful to be disobeyed, in the shape of command rather than of entreaty: But, though you might have commanded
rather than entreated, we are just as ready to obey.
30. in the full bent, with the most thorough bending (of our
energies); the figure is that of bending a bow to its fullest extent; cp. below, iii. 2. 367, and M. A. ii. 3. 232, "it seems her affections have their full bent."
32. To be commanded, to be put to such purposes as you may
direct.
34. Thanks ... Rosencrantz, the queen inverts the order of the
king's form of thanks to show that their gratitude was equally
great to each of them.
37. bring, conduct; as frequently in Shakespeare.
38, 9. Heavens ... him! God grant that he may find pleasure in
our society and help in our actions on his behalf; cp. Temp. i. 2.
175, "Heavens thank you for 't!"
41. Are joyfully return'd have come back full of joy at the
success of their mission.
42. Thou still ... news, you have ever been the author, parent,
of good news; cp. A. W. i 2. 62, "whose judgements are Mere
fathers of their garments"; for still, cp. i. 1. 122.
44, 5. I hold ... king, I keep my duty and my soul as equally
things in trust to my God and to my king; my soul to God, my
duty to my king; in hold there seems to be an allusion to feudal
holdings.
46-8, or else ... to do, unless the brain of mine follows up the trail of policy less keenly than it has been accustomed to do; this brain of mine, said with an affectation of humility which yet
does not hide his complacent belief in himself; in trail of policy there seems to be a blending of two ideas, (1) the trail left by events, as an animal leaves a trail behind him either by his foot-marks or by his scent, (2) the clue discovered by sagacious management.
50. 0, speak ... hear, let me hear about that first, and leave the subject of the mission, as of much less interest to me, until afterwards.
51. first, "thus Polonius gains the opportunity of studying a
brief and pointed exordium, the only fault in which is its being
altogether needless and misplaced" (Moberly).
52. the fruit, what we now call the dessert (that which is
served apart), i.e. fruits and sweetmeats (formerly) put on the
table after dinner, or served in a different room.
53. Thyself ... in, do you pay them the compliment of bringing
them in.
54. my dear Gertrude, the folios give 'my sweet Queen,'
which Grant White prefers as smacking more of the honeymoon.
55. distemper, here mental derangement; but also used by
Shakespeare of physical sickness, Cymb. iii. 4. 194, and of intemperance in drinking, H. V. ii. 2. 54, 0th. i. 1. 99; and below, iii. 2. 288.
56. the main, the principal matter; cp. T. C. ii. 8. 273, "We must with all our main of power stand fast."
58. shall sift him, shall discover by sifting him.
60. Most fair ... desires, most courteous reciprocation of your greetings and good wishes.
61. Upon our first, at our first audience with him to state the
object of our mission; sent out issued orders.
62. levies, acts of levying troops.
63. 'gainst the Polack, against the Poles; Polack, used collectively.
64, 5. But, ... highness, but, having looked into the matter
more closely, he found that this preparation was in reality
directed against, etc.; truly goes with was; cp. M. N. D, i. 1.
126, "Of something nearly that concerns ourselves," i.e. which
nearly concerns; and see Abb. § 421.
66, 7. That so ... hand, that he, in the powerlessness to which
he had been reduced by sickness and old age, had been so
imposed upon; cp. Macb, iii. 1. 80, "pass'd in probation to you
How you were borne in hand"; Marlowe, Jew of Malta, iii. 3. 3,
"Both held in hand, and flatly both beguiled"; sends out, for
the ellipsis of the nominative, see Abb. § 399.
68. in brief, not to enter into details.
69. Receives rebuke, is rebuked by, and loyally accepts rebuke.
71. To give ... majesty, to make an attack upon, etc., to make
trial of superiority by first attacking, etc.
73. in annual fee, "the king gave his nephew a feud, or fee (in
land), of that yearly value" (Ritson).
74. commission, authority.
75. So levied as before, levied in the manner already
mentioned.
76. shown, set forth in writing.
77. quiet pass, a free passage.
78. this enterprise, i.e. the troops to be engaged in this
enterprise.
79. On such ... allowance, on such conditions regarding the
security of your country and the limits of action to be allowed to them.
80. It likes us well, we are well satisfied; on the frequency
of impersonal verbs in Early and Elizabethan English, see Abb. § 297.
81. at our ... time, at a time more suitable for consideration.
For instances of an indefinite and apparently not passive use of
passive participles, see Abb. § 374.
82. Answer ... business, give our deliberate answer regarding
this business. To get rid of what Shakespeare might call the
'preposterous' position of Answer, the hysteron proteron of grammarians, Hanmer would read 'And think upon an answer to,'
while another conjecture is 'And think upon and answer to.'
83. well-took labour, service loyally undertaken and successfully carried out.
86. liege, see note on i. 1. 15; expostulate, investigate by
means of discussion; in T. G. iii. 1. 251, "The time now serves
not to expostulate," the word means simply to enter into discus-
sion.
87. should be, ought to be; what its essentials are.
90. soul, essence; wit, wisdom.
91. outward flourishes, mere ostentatious embellishments; as
in ornamental writing.
95. But let that go, but let that pass, never mind about
further discussion of that point; matter, what is material.
96. art, "the Queen uses 'art' in reference to Polonius's
stilted style; the latter uses it as opposed to truth and nature" (Delius).
98. figure, in the sense of a figure in rhetoric; said of his own
words "'tis true ... true"; what Puttenham, Art of Poesie, calls
the figure of 'antimetavole.'
100. and now remains, and it, or there, remains; for the
ellipsis, see Abb. § 404.
103. For this ... cause, for this result which is one of deficiency,
is not without its own cause.
104. Thus it ... thus, that is the position of matters so far (i.e. I have stated the case as regards his being mad, and of his madness being due to some cause or other) and now I come to my
conclusion (showing what the cause is of the madness which I have
demonstrated).
105. Perpend, weigh carefully what I am about to say; the
word here used by Polonius in all seriousness, occurs again in the
affected jargon of the Clowns in A. Y. L. iii. 1. 69, Y. N. v. 1.
307, and of the braggart Pistol in M. W. ii. 1. 119, H. V. iv.
4. 8.
106. have ... mine, I say 'have,' which is true so long as she is
mine.
108. gather, and surmise, a further piece of pedantry.
109. the celestial ... idol, the heavenly Ophelia, the object of
my soul's worship; beautified, sc. by nature, i.e. beautiful.
Dyce says 'the vile phrase' is common enough in our earlier
writers, and Polonius's opinion in a matter of taste is certainly
not final. Shakespeare uses the word again in T. G. iv. 1. 55.
113. In her ... these, an imitation of the form of address upon
letters in those days; i.e.. I send these writings to her hoping
they may find a place in, etc., letters being often treasured up in
that way; cp. T. G. iii. 1. 250, "Thy letters ... Which being writ
to me, shall be delivered Even in the milk-white bosom of thy
love."
115. I will be faithful, I will keep nothing back, will reveal to
you everything I know myself.
118. Doubt ... liar, suspect even truth itself of being, etc.
120. ill at these numbers, a poor hand at writing verses; art,
skill, capacily.
121. reckon, number; his groans being innumerable; Delius
takes the word to mean "number metrically"; most best, better
than all superlatives can express; cp. Cymb. iii. 2. 58, "O not
like me; For mine's beyond beyond."
123, 4. whilst ... him, so long as he lives; machine, the body
endowed with life. The Cl. Pr. Edd. point out that the letter
is written in the affected language of euphuism.
126, 8. And more ... ear, and over and above this has described
to me all his solicitations, specifying when, how, and where they
were made
129. What do ... me? said with sorrowful reproach, do you
suppose me to be so wanting in wisdom as to allow her to
receive proffers of love from one so much above her in rank as a
prince?
131. fain, gladly; properly an adjective; what ... think, what
might you not think, as we should now say.
132. this hot ... wing, this love borne upon so strong a wing; a
figure from birds in full flight.
133. As I ... that, for, I must tell you, I certainly did perceive it.
136. If I had ... table-book, if I had shown myself of no more
intelligence than a desk or memorandum-book (which have secrets
committed to their keeping, but no power to take any action
regarding those secrets).
137. Or given ... dumb, or lulled my heart to sleep, so that my
feelings should not trouble me; cp. W. T. i. 2. 317, "To
mine enemy a lasting wink," i.e. put him to sleep for ever.
138. Or look'd ... sight, or, recognizing the real importance of
his love, had not taken such serious notice of it as I ought.
There is a climax here.
139. I went ... work, instead of behaving in such a supine way,
I proceeded to act with promptitude and firmness; Abbott,
Bacon, Essay of Truth, remarks, "round was naturally used of
that which was symmetrical and complete (as a circle is); then
of anything thorough. Hence (paradoxically enough) 'I went
round to work,' means I went straight to the point."
140. bespeak, address with words of caution; more commonly
used of ordering something beforehand. For the use of the prefix be-, see Abb. § 438.
141. oat of thy star, far above you in his fortunes; another
allusion to the influence of the stars upon man's destiny; cp. T.
N. ii. 5. 156, "in my stars I am above thee."
142. prescripts, instructions to govern conduct; cp. A. C. iii.
8. 5, "Do not exceed The prescript of this scroll."
143. lock ... resort, shut herself up where he could not gain
access to her.
144. tokens, sc. of love; presents, etc.
145. she took ... advice, she followed, and profited by, my
advice.
146. repulsed, meeting with this repulse from her.
147. Fell into ... fast, first sank into a state of melancholy,
which was followed by his abstaining from food.
148. a watch, a sleepless state; cp. Cymb. iii. 4. 43, "To lie
in watch there and to think of him"; and the verb, iii. 2. 263,
below.
149. lightness, lightheadedness, flightiness; cp. C. E. v. 1. 72,
"And thereof comes it that his head is light": by this declension,
by these downward degrees, this gradual passage from one state
to another.
151. And all we, and which we all; "a feeling of the unemphatic nature of the nominatives we and they prevents us from
saying 'all we,' 'all they'" (Abb. § 240).
153. Hath there been ... otherwise? in all the years of my
service as lord chamberlain can you call to mind a single occasion when I have made a positive assertion that has afterwards proved to he unfounded? Polonins is deeply scandalized
at the idea of his infallibility being called in question.
156. Take this ... otherwise, you may strike my head from my
shoulders if what I tell you does not prove to be the fact; said
as he points to his head and shoulders.
157. If circumstances lead me, if I have any facts to guide me,
any clue to follow up.
159. the centre, of the earth; How may ... further? what
further test can we employ in order to arrive at certainty in the
matter.
160. four hours, used for a long, but indefinite, time. Staunton
and Eltze have shown that in Elizabethan writing four and forty were frequently used in this indefinite way. To Indian students their own panch chahar will at once occur.
161. lobby, hall, ante room, passage.
162. loose ... him, allow my daughter to come out of her room
to meet him.
163. an arras, a fold of tapestry; more frequently 'the arras';
so called from Arras, a town in Artois, France, the chief seat of
the tapestry manufacture.
164. encounter, meeting.
165. thereon, in consequence of his love.
166. 7. Let me ... carters, let me no longer hold the responsible
post I have so long held, but be sent to the country to busy myself with such a degrading pursuit as agriculture.
170. I'll ... presently, I'll attack him (i.e. in speech) immediately; cp. T. N. i. 3. 60, "board her, woo her, assail her"; presently, sometimes used by Shakespeare in the modern sense of
'by and by', 'shortly', but much more frequently as = at once,
immediately; give me leave, excuse my interrupting you.
174. Excellent well, thoroughly well; for adjectives used as
adverbs, see Abb. 1: a fishmonger, various recondite explanations have been given of Hamlet s meaning here, especially by the metaphysical Germans; the most simple one is Coleridge's, that
Polonius is regarded by Hamlet as being sent to fish out his
secret — if, indeed, Hamlet meant anything more than to mystify
the inquisitive old man.
177. Honest, my lord! Polonius is indignant that his honesty
should be doubted.
181, 2. being a ... carrion, though a God, yet stooping to kiss
carrion; Malone quotes i. H. IV. ii. 4. 113. "didst thou never
see Titan [i.e. the sun] kiss a dish of butter?" and King Edward
the Third, 1596, "The freshest summers day doth soonest taint
The loathed carrion that it seems to kiss." Possibly, as has been
suggested, this obscure speech has reference to something previously passing in Hamlet's mind; more probably, I think, it was intended to contain such an admixture of sense and nonsense as
would lead Polonius to the very conclusion at which he arrives
in 11. 203, 4, "Though this be madness, yet there is method in
it."
185. look to 't, be cautious in the matter; take care that she
does not walk i' the sun.
186. How say you by that? what do you think of that?, said
to himself in congratulation upon his own acuteness in divining
that Hamlet's love for his daughter was the cause of his madness.
For instances of by meaning about, concerning, see Abb. § 145.
186, 7. Still ... daughter, ever dwelling on the subject of my
daughter; ever harping on the same string; cp. R. III. iv. 4. 364,
"Harp on that string, madam; that is past"; A. C. iii. 13. 142,
"harping on what I am, Not what he knew I was."
188. far gone, sc. in love.
189. suffered ... love, suffered the extremest pangs for love's
sake; cp. Touchstone's descriptions of his sufferings, A. Y. l. ii.
4. 46-57: very near this, i.e. and was almost as far gone as
Hamlet.
193. who, for instances of neglect in the inflection of who, see
Abb. § 274. Hamlet pretends to understand Polonius's question
as meaning 'What is the matter in dispute?'
197. eyes ... gum, eyes from which the rheum exudes of the colour and consistency of (liquid) amber or the gum of plum trees; cp. H. V. iv. 2. 48, "The gum down-roping from their
pale-dead eyes."
198. a plentiful lack, strictly speaking, a contradiction of
terms: hams, knee-joints; cp. R. J. ii. 4. 57, "such a case as
yours constrained a man to bow in the hams."
199. most powerfully ... believe, most thoroughly believe; the
exaggerated language is part of the plan to bamboozle the old man.
200. hold it not honesty, do not consider it a gentlemanly
sentiment to give utterance to.
200-2. for yourself ... backward, probably only intended to
puzzle the old man. "The natural reason," says Moberly, "would
have been, 'For some time I shall be as old as you are now' (and,
therefore, I take such sayings as proleptically personal). But
Hamlet turns it to the opposite."
203. method, a certain orderliness.
204. out of the air, out into the air.
206. pregnant, full of point.
207. a happiness, a happy, felicitous turn of expression.
208. hits on, lights on by accident.
208, 9. could not ... of, could not manage to express so
pointedly and neatly.
210. means ... daughter, measures by which he and my
daughter shall be brought together.
216. These tedious old fools! Relieved of the empty verbiage
of the old man, Hamlet at once returns to his natural self,
though ready to assume his "antic disposition" at the appearance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
222. 3. Good lads ... both? my fine fellows, how are you both?
224. As the ... earth, as men whose lot on earth is in neither
extreme.
225. Happy ... happy, happy in the fact that we are not at such
a dizzy height of fortune that we need fear a sudden fall; a button
being often placed at the top of the cap where the seams meet.
231. Then is doomsday near, then must the end of the world,
the day of judgement lie at hand.
232. more in particular, more closely as to the particulars of
your situation.
237. Then is the world one, then must the whole world be a
prison, if Denmark, so happy and free, is one.
238. confines, chambers in which the lunatics are shut up;
more usually in the sense of boundaries, limits.
239. wards, cells.
242. but thinking ... so, unless it is made so by thinking it to
be good or bad.
244. your ambition ... one, it seems to you so because you are
too ambitious to be satistied with your own subordinate position;
an attempt to sound Hamlet as to the cause of his discontent.
246. I could ... nutshell, I could easily be satisfied with the
narrowest limits.
249, 50. for the very ... dream, for that on which the ambitious
feed their minds is even less substantial than a dream, it being
merely the reflection of a dream.
254, 5. Then are ... shadows, in that case {sc. if ambition is of
so airy and light a quality}, since it is only our monarchs and
heroes who "bestride the narrow world like a Colossus" (J. C. i. 2. 134), that are ambitious, it follows that our beggars (who are the antitypes of the monarchs and heroes) must be the true
bodies (the really substantial existences) of which the monarchs
and heroes are but the shadows; shall we to, sc. go; the verb of
motion being omitted, as frequently.
256. fay, "a corruption probably of the French foi, which in
its earlier forms was feid, feit, fey, fe, or it may be a corruption
of 'faith'" ... (Cl. Pr. Edd.). The former seems to be the more
probable origin.
257. We'll wait upon you, we will attend you thither.
258. No such matter, I cannot allow of that, sc. of your waiting upon me; taking the words in a more literal sense than was intended by the speakers.
258-60. I will ... attended, I will not put you on a level with
the rest of my servants, for, to tell you the truth, I am very
badly served, those servants of mine are a bad lot; said as if he
were confiding to them some strange and important secret the
telling of which needed the assurance that he was speaking the
honest truth.
260, 1. But, ... Elsinore? but, to ask you in the ordinary way of
friendship, to ask you a question usual among friends, what has
brought you to Elsinore?
262. occasion, cause, motive.
263. Beggar ... thanks, so utterly a beggar am I that I have
hardly thanks to give you; but I thank you, still I do thank
you.
264. 5. my thanks ... halfpenny, the Cl. Pr. Edd. compare
Chaucer, C. T. 8875. Also, A. Y. L. ii.
3. 74, "too late a week"; Were ... for? I fancy you were sent
for by the king (in order that you, as my old and intimate
acquaintances, might find out what was the matter with me).
265. 6. Is it ... inclining? did you come of your own accord?
266. Is it ... visitation? have you come to visit me of your own
free will?
267. nay, speak, nay, do not hesitate, but speak out.
268. should we say, ought we to say; do you wish us to say?
269. Why ... purpose, an intentionally enigmatical sentence
which might bear either of two meanings, (1) say anything so
long as it is to the point, (2) say anything except what is to the
point. Hamlet has divined clearly enough the reason of this
sudden appearance of his old companions.
270-2. there is ... colour, I can see in your looks a sort of confession which your natural ingenuousness prevents you fiom disguising as you would do if you were more crafty; for colour,
cp. below. iii. 1. 45, and i. H. IV. i. 3. 109, "Never did base and
rotten policy Colour her working with such deadly wounds."
274. That ... me, nay, that is for you to tell me, not for me to
guess.
275-8. by the rights ... no? by the claims which our long friendship give me, by the fact of our having been brought up together in such close companionship, by the ties of affection which have
ever bound us to one another, and by anything even more sacred
to which a more skilful advocate could persuasively appeal, tell
me in plain and straightforward terms whether, etc. For consonancy, cp. T. N. ii. 5. 141, "There is no consonancy in the
sequel."
280. Nay, then ... you, ah, if you hesitate and whisper together,
I see plainly there is something you wish to hide; my eye is
upon you and you cannot deceive me. Steevens explains an eye
of you as "a glimpse of your meaning," but surely Hamlet has a
good deal more than a 'glimpse.' For of, = on, see Abb. § 174.
281. hold not off, do not keep aloof from me (figuratively), do
not hesitate to speak out plainly.
283. I will tell you why, I know that, and will tell you with what object.
283-5. so shall ... feather, by forestalling you in explaining with
what objects you were sent for, I shall save you from revealing it
yourselves, and your good faith to the king and queen, which
binds you to secrecy in the matter, will not suffer in the smallest
particular; prevent, go before and so hinder (put behind, stop);
discovery, cp. H. V, ii. 2. 162, "Never did faithful subject more
rejoice At the discovery (i.e. exposure) of most dangerous
treason"; moult no feather, literally lose none of its feathers,
as birds do at certain seasons of the year; moult, ultimately from
Lat. mutare, to change.
286. forgone ... exercises, completely abandoned all those exercises which were customary with me; such as fencing, horsemanship, etc. For exercises, in this sense, cp. K. J. iv. 2. 60,
"deny his youth The rich advantage of good exercise?"
287. it goes ... disposition, it fares so sadly with the tone of my
mind, my mood has become so desponding.
288, 9. most excellent canopy, supremely beautiful covering.
290. fretted, ornamented; A.S. fraetwan, fraetwian, to adorn;
cp. Cymb. ii. 4. 88, "The roof o' the chamber With golden
cherubins is fretted."
292. What a piece, i.e. what a wonderful piece.
293. in reason, in the matter of reason; faculty, mental power,
literally, facility in acting.
294. moving, movement, carriage of the body; express, "exact,
fitted to its purpose, as the seal fits the stamp" (Cl. Pr. Edd.).
294, 5. the beauty of the world, the supreme excellence of
creation; the paragon of animals, peerless among things endowed with life; paragon, "a model of excellence ... A singular word, owing its origin to two prepositions united in a phrase. —
Span, para, con, in comparison with ... Span. para, for, to, towards, which is itself a compound preposition answering to O. Span. pora, from at. pro, ad, and con, with, from Lat. cum, with. Thus it was really equivalent to the three Lat. prepositions pro, ad, cum" (Skeat, Ety. Dict.).
297. quintessence, literally the fifth essence, the pure essence
of anything. "Aristoteles ... hath put down .... for elements, foure;
and for a fifth, quintessence, the heavenly body which is immutable" (Holland's Plutarch, apud Skeat). Cp. P. L. iii. 714-21.
299. no such stuff, nothing of the kind; my mind was not
filled with any such thought.
302. To think, at the thought; the indefinite infinitive; see
Abb. § 256.
303. lenten entertainment, poor, scanty, welcome; from the
spare diet prescribed during the fast of Lent. Cp. T. N. i. 5. 9,
"A good lenten answer."
304. coted, overtook and passed; the word in the "technical
sense is applied to a brace of greyhounds slipped together at the
stag or hare, and means that one of the dogs outstrips the other
and reaches the game first"... (Ed. Rev., Oct. 1872).
307. shall have ...me, shall receive from me the tribute of
applause, as a king receives tribute of money, etc.; the adventurous knight, the knight-errant who goes in quest of adventures.
308. shall use ..target, shall have full opportunity of displaying his valour; the lover ... gratis, the lover shall be rewarded
for playing his pathetic part.
309. the humorous ... peace, the capricious man shall have his
full opportunity of venting his spleen.
310. tickle o' the sere. "The sere ... of a gun-lock is the bar or balance lever interposed between the trigger on the one side, and the tumbler and other mechanism on the other, and is so
called from its acting the part of a serre, or talon, in gripping
that mechanism and preventing its action ... Now ... this sear ...
may be so tickle or ticklish in its adjustment that a slight
touch, or even jar may displace it, and then, of course, the gun
goes off". Hence 'light,' or 'tickle of the sear' ... applied metaphorically, means that which can be started into action at a mere touch, or on the slightest provocation, or on what ought to
be no provocation at all" (Nicholson). Here, ready to laugh at
the smallest joke. Sere = talon, claw, is common in the dramatists.
311, 2. the lady ... for 't, the lady shall talk as freely as she
likes, or the fault of her not doing so shall lie in the halting
character of the blank verse.
314. city, by this word "Shakespeare's public at once understood London" (Delius).
315. travel, are 'on a tour in the provinces,' as we should
now say.
315, 6. their residence ... ways, it would be better for them, as
regards both fame and profit, if they stayed in the capital.
317, 8. I think ... innovation, Steevens explains, "Rosencrantz
means that their permission to act any longer at an established
house is taken away in consequence of the new custom of introducing personal abuse into their comedies. Several companies of actors in the time of Shakespeare were silenced on account of
this licentious practice." This explanation is questioned by the
Cl. Pr. Edd., who in a very full discussion of the point (Introduction, pp. xiii.-xv.) show that for a very long period there had been a strong opposition in the city to theatrical
performances. Inhibitions, or refusals to license theatres, had
occurred in 1573, 1574, 1575, 1581, 1589, 1590, 1597, and other
measures to restrain the abuses of the actors had been taken
during the period. "It is difficult therefore," continue the
editors, "to see at what precise period the explanation offered by Steevens could be true. In 1604 the indulgence of the actors in personal abuse could hardly be called an 'innovation'; on the
contrary, it was a practice from which the stage had never been
entirely free." They therefore conjecture that the 'innovation' may refer to the authority given to the children to act at the regularly licensed theatres, a permission which might have
operated as an 'inhibition' upon the older actors by driving
them into the country. They also point out that nothing is
said about 'inhibition' or 'innovation' in the quarto of 1603; the first mention of the words being in the quarto of 1604, and "it is to the interval therefore that we must look for the
explanation." See also Sidney Lee, Life of Shakespeare, p. 214.
319. do they ... estimation, are they held in the same esteem
as, etc.
320. so followed, so much run after.
322. Do they grow rusty? is their acting less sprightly than
before? have their powers of acting grown rusty by want of exercise?
323. Nay, ... pace, not in the least, they take just as much
pains to please.
324. aery, nest; from "Low Lat. area, a nest of a bird of
prey" ... (Skeat, Ety. Dict.); so Shakespeare speaks of a "nest of traitors," W. T. ii. 3. 81; "a nest of hollow bosoms," H. V. ii. Chor. 21; eyases, young hawks; "'niais, a nestling, a
young bird taken out of a nest; hence a youngling, novice,'
etc., Cotgrave" (Dyce). Capell says "these children were so called from their eagerness, and their flying at game above them."
324, 5. cry ... question, probably means 'declaim at the top of
their shrill, querulous voices'; as though their speeches were
one perpetual shriek of interrogation; tyrannically clapped,
fiercely applauded.
326-8. and so ... thither, and make such an uproar on the
common stages (i.e. the stages occupied by the ordinary player) — as they contemptuously call them — that many of man's estate (as shown by their wearing swords) are afraid to face these
pigmies whose only weapon is a goose-quill (i.e. that are merely
armed with the words put into their mouths by the play-writers); berattle, the prefix is intensive, and berattle the stages is an expression like 'be-thump the pulpit cushion,' though there
may be in it the figurative sense of vociferous crying down the ordinary players.
330. escoted, paid; "'Escot, A shot ... Escotter, Everyone to
pay his shot,' etc., Cotgrave" (Dyce); quality, profession of
acting; as frequently in Massinger.
331-4. will they not ... succession? will they not hereafter say,
when they come to be men and are obliged to content themselves
with being ordinary actors (such as they now despise) — which in
all probability is what will happen to them, unless they find
some more lucrative occupation — that the authors whose plays
they act, by putting such words into their mouths, are doing
them a wrong in making them call out against that very occupation they must inherit? After will they afterwards we should
expect didthem wrong.
335-8. 'Faith ... question, indeed, there has already been much
dispute on this point, and both sides have been pretty actively
engaged, the children and the ordinary actors each attacking the other while
the nation is not ashamed to fan the flame of the quarrel; to such an extent has this gone on that for a time the
stage companies would give nothing for argument in a play unless in the dialogue poet and player were ready to belabour one another, the poet running down the ordinary actor and
the ordinary actor retaliating on the poet, i.e. the poet was
called upon by those who employed him to dramatize the
quarrel, himself representing one side and the ordinary actor the
other. For went to cuffs, cp. i. H. IV. ii. H. 35, "I could
divide myself and go to buffets," i.e. fight one hand against the
other. Delius and Schmidt take argument as 'plot of the drama,'
but in all the other passages in Shakespeare in which the word
is used in this sense it has either the article or a pronominal
adjective before it; tarre, cp. K. J. iv. 1. 117, "And like a dog
... Snatch at his master that doth tarre him on"; an old verb from
A.S. tergan, tyrgan, to irritate.
340. much ... brains, plenty of lively fighting.
341. carry it away, come off best in their rivalry with the
older players.
342. that they do, assuredly they do; an emphatic assent.
Hercules ... too, most completely; Steevens thinks there may be
an allusion to the Globe theatre, the sign of which was Hercules
carrying the globe.
343. It is ... strange, there is nothing very strange in this
change of fashion.
343, 4. for mine ... that, i.e. for now that my uncle is king,
those that, etc.; mows, grimaces; F. moue, a thrusting out of
the lips.
346. a-piece, each as his share; literally on piece, as a-bed,
asleep, etc.; in little, in miniature: 'Sblood (by) God's blood,
i.e. as taken in the eucharist; so 'zounds, or 'swounds, God's
wounds; 'slife, God's life; 'sbody, God's body.
347. if philosophy ... out, if philosophy, which is so proud of
its achievements, could only find it out.
350-1. come then, i.e. do not hesitate to shake hands with me; the appurtenance ... ceremony, ceremonious courtesy is an
essential part of welcome; for similar formalities of welcomc, cp.
Macb. iii. 3. 32-5).
351-3. let me comply yours, let me show courtesy to you by
the outward formality of shaking hands, lest in that welcome
which I shall hold out to the players, — a courtesy that must be
evidenced by formal civilities, — I should seem to be giving
then a warmer reception than I do to you. Singer takes comply
here, and in v, 2. 176, for 'embrace,'
357. I am ... north-north-west, I am mad only in one quarter
of my mental compass. when the wind ... handsaw, when the wind is southerly
with me (i.e. not in the quarter in which alone I am mad) I can
distinguish between a hawk and a heron. Heath, quoted by the
Cl. Pr. Edd., explains as follows; "The expression obviously
refers to the sport of hawking. Most birds, especially one of
heavy flight like the heron, when roused by the falconer or his
dog, would fly down, or with the wind in order to escape. When
the wind is from the north, the heron flies towards the south,
and the spectator may be dazzled by the sun, and be unable to
distinguish the hawk from the heron. On the other hand, when
the wind is southerly, the heron flies towards the north, and it
and the pursuing hawk are clearly seen by the sportsman, who
has then his back to the sun, and without difficulty knows the
hawk from the hernsew"... The Cl. Pr. Edd. add that in Suffolk
and Norfolk 'hernsew' is pronounced 'harnsa,' from which to
'handsaw' is but a single step.
359. Well be with you, may things be well with you; probably
a piece of Polonius's pedantic affectation.
360, 1. at each ... hearer, a curious way of saying 'let each of
you lend me an ear,' i.e. listen to me.
362. swaddling-clouts, the clothes in which infants are swathed
or enwrapped.
363. Happily, possibly, perhaps; see Abb. § 42.
364. an old ... child, so we speak of extreme old age as second
childhood.
366, 7. You say ... indeed, it is just as you say; it did happen
on Monday morning: said merely to prevent Polonius from
guessing that they had been talking about him.
369. My lord ... you, nay, my lord (mimicking his address),
first hear what I have to say; you, emphatic.
372. Buz, buz! nonsense, nonsense! probably, as Steevens
says, "only interjections employed to interrupt Polonius," or
rather, perhaps, to disconcert him.
374. Then came ... ass, — , probably a line from an old ballad.
377, 8. scene ... unlimited, the former "refers to dramas that
carefully observed the unity of Place"; the latter "to those
that disregarded such restrictions" (Delius).
379. For the law ... liberty, for those plays in which the laws
of dramatic composition are observed, and equally for those
which are a law unto themselves, allow themselves every kind of
licence, these, etc. This seems to be the meaning of the text, if
genuine; but no example of writ - that which is written, has yet
been cited. Of course, 'a writ,' 'the writ,' 'that writ,' etc., are
common enough; but Walker"s criticism is undeniable when he
says "It is as if we should say, the laws of poem for the laws of
poetry ... or the genius of ode meaning the genius of lyrical composition." He reads wit, and points out that the same error occurs in J. C. iii. 2. 225.
381. Jephthah, one of the twelve judges of Israel, when it was
under that form of government, who, going to fight against the
Ammonites, vowed that if successful against them, he would
sacrifice to the Lord the first thing that met him on his return
home. His daughter coming out to welcome him, was accordingly
offered up. See Judges, xi. 30-40; and Tennyson, Dream of Fair
Women, 180-244.
385, 6. 'One fair ... well,' from an old ballad on the subject
published in Percy's Reliques, in 1757.
387. Still on my daughter, still thinking of my daughter; cp. above 11. 186, 7.
389, 90. If you ... well, if by Jephthah you mean me, I, like
him have a daughter whom I love most dearly; passing, surpassingly, exceedingly.
391. Nay, that follows not, Hamlet uses follows in an ambiguous
sense, 1) that is not a necessary consequence, 2) those are not
the words that follow in the ballad; and when Polonius takes
them in the former sense, Hamlet replies in the latter.
397, 8. the first row ... comes, the first verse of the pious (i.e.
scriptural) ballad will tell you more, and to that I must leave
you, for see, there come those who interrupt me. Though
abridgement is used in M. N. D. v. 1. 39, for a pastime, a
dramatic entertainment, and there may here be an allusion to the
same sense, it is doubtful whether it means anything more than
'that which cuts short what I was about to say.' The reading
of the folios, 'abridgements,' seems against the double sense.
401. is valanced, has become fringed with a beard; the
'valance' in the beds of former days was the drapery which
hung from the bedstaff to the ground; the word is supposed to
be derived from Valence, in France, not far from Lyons, a city
still celebrated for its silks; to beard me, to defy me; of course
said jestingly.
402. What, ... mistress! what, is that you, my young lady
whom I remember so well? By'r lady, by our lady, i.e. the
Virgin Mary. Until after the restoration women's parts were
acted by men.
404. chopine, 'chopines,' or 'chapineys,' as Coryat calls them,
were contrivances of wood covered with leather which ladies,
especially those of Venice, wore under the shoe to add to their
height. Furness mentions that he was present at a Jewish
wedding in Jerusalem, in 1856, when the young bride, aged
twelve, wore chopines at least ten inches high.
405. cracked within the ring, i.e. cracked beyond all use;
coins cracked within the ring running round them were no longer
current. The voice is said to crack when, at the age of puberty,
it gradually passes from the "childish treble" {A. Y. L. ii. 7.
162} to a more manly fulness, having during the transition a
cracked sound. Cp. Cymb. iv. 2 2.36, "though now our voices
Have got the mannish crack"; M. V. iii. 4. 66, "And speak
between the change of man and boy With a reed voice," i.e. shrill
as the note of a reed.
406, 7. We'll e'en ... see, we will set to work upon some dramatic
performance or other, whatever may come most readily for the
moment. This has been taken as a sneer at French sportsmanship, but Tollet quotes Sir T. Browne that "The French seem
to have been the first and noisiest falconers in the western part
of Europe," and the Cl. Pr. Edd. add a passage from the same
author in which is mentioned a falcon of Henry of Navarre
"which Scaliger saith, he saw strike down a buzzard, two wild
geese, divers kites, a crane and a swan."
408. give us ... quality, give us a specimen of your capabilities; not here, I think, used in the technical sense of profession, as in 1. 329 above.
413. the million, the multitude.
413, 4. 'twas ... general, it was a delicacy not appreciated by
the common herd of play-goers; caviare, the preserved roe of
the sturgeon, a delicacy new in Shakespeare's day, and "not generally relished; general, cp. M. M. ii. 4. 27, "and even so The general, subject to a well-wish'd king, Quit their own part"; J. C. ii. 1. 12, "I know no personal cause to spurn at him, But for the general" i.e. except for the people at large; as I received
it, in my opinion.
415. cried ... mine, were of greater weight than mine; out-went mine in authority. Henley says, "To over-top is a hunting
term applied to a dog when he gives more tongue than the rest
of the cry," i.e. pack.
416. well ... scenes, the scenes of which were well arranged.
417. modesty, propriety; cunning, skill; one said, it was said
by somebody.
418. no sallets ... savoury, nothing piquant to give the lines a
relish; no indecencies to suit vicious tastes; sallets, another
form of salads, preparations of garden green-stuff, mixed with
oil, vinegar, mustard, etc., and used as a relish with meat.
418-20. nor no ... affection, nothing in the language which
could charge the author with affectation; affection is the reading
of the quartos here, as of the quartos and the first folio in L. L. L. V. 1. 4, "Your reasons at dinner have been sharp and sententious; pleasant without scurrility, witty without affection" (a
passage closely resembling our text); and in T. N. ii. 3. 160, Malvolio is called "an affectioned (i.e. affected) ass"; the folios
here give affectation, and that form is found in L. L. L. v. 2. 407:
as wholesome as sweet, equally healthy in tone and pleasant.
421. by very ... fine, with a very great deal more of real beauty
in it than of tawdry splendour; "rich not gaudy," as Polonius
recommends that Laertes' dress should be, i. 2. 71; one speech,
see Introduction, p. xxvii.
422. thereabout of it, about that part in it.
426. Hyrcanian beast, i.e. the tiger. Hyrcania, a province of
the ancient Persian empire, on the south and south-east of the
Caspian or Hyrcanian Sea, is frequently mentioned in old English
writers as the habitat of tigers, the Hyrcan tiger being by them
regarded, like the Bengal tiger of today, as the symmbol of deadliest ferocity. Cp. Macb. iii. 4. 101, M. V. ii. 7. 41.
428. sable, see note on i. 2. 242.
430. coached ... horse, Pyrrhus, or Neoptolemus, son of
Achilles, was one of the band of heroes who concealed themselves
in a wooden horse they had constructed, and which Sinon induced the Trojans to receive within their gates. In the side of this horse was a door which Sinon at nightfall unlocked, and his
fellow Greeks being let out opened the gates of the city and with
the rest of the Grecian army sacked Troy.
432. With heraldry more dismal, with a tincture (as it is called
in heraldry) of more dismal colour.
433. total gules, one mass of blood; from "F. gueules, 'gules,
red, or sanguine, in blazon,' Cotgrave ... This word is nothing but the
plural of F. gueule, the mouth ... though the reason for the name
is not very clear, unless the reference be (as is probable) to the
colour of the open mouth of the (heraldic) lion. — Lat. gula, the
throat" (Skeat, Ety. Dict.): trick'd, smeared; cp. Jonson, The,
Poetaster, i. 1, "there they are trick'd, they and their pedigrees";
i.e. have their coat of arms drawn with a pen.
435. Baked .. streets, which (sc. the blood) was caked into a
thick crust by the heat of the streets; the city having been set
on fire by the Greeks. Or perhaps better refered to 'Pyrrhus.'
436, 7. That lend ... murders, which by their accursed light
give the Greeks a cruel opportunity for their, etc. For vile, of
the folios, the quartos give lord's, which is objectionable as
Priam's murder is afterwards mentioned, and, of course, was
not the only murder; roasted ... fire, ablaze with wrath and
fire.
438. o'er-sized, smeared over as with size; a gluey substance;
coagulate gore, blood curdled by the heat. Cp. T. N. K. 1. 1. 99,
"th' blood-siz'd field."
439. like carbuncles, as crimson as carbuncles.
441. So, proceed you, go on from that point.
445. Striking ... Greeks, unable to reach his opponents with
his sword.
446. Rebellious to his arm, refusing to obey his arm; i.e. his
arm being too weak to wield it.
447. unequal match'd, in the strength of his youth more than a
match for the old man; unequal, used adverbially; see Abb. § 1,
448. in rage strikes wide, in his fury misses his blow.
449. But with the whiff, with the mere whiff.
450. unnerved, sc. by bodily weakness; senseless, though, as
a material thing, without feeling.
452. his, its.
453. Takes ... ear, so stuns him that his action is arrested.
454. declining, about to fall upon; milky, milk-white with
age.
456. as a ... tyrant, like the figure of a tyrant in the old
tapestry hangings; cp. Macb. v. 8. 23-5, for a similar image,
"We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are, Painted upon a
pole, and underwrit, 'Here you may see the tyrant.'"
457. And like ... matter, and like one who inclines neither to
one party nor to the other; his will, being one party, matter, the
stroke of his sword, the other.
459. against, in anticipation of, shortly before; see Abb. § 142,
and cp. i. 1. 158 above, and iii. 3. 30 below.
460. the rack, "a mass of vapoury clouds. So Bacon's Sylva
Sylvarum, § 115, 'The winds in the upper region, which move
the clouds above (which we call the rack)'" (Dyce).
462. hush, hushed, silent; see Abb. § 22.
463. the region, "originally a division of the sky marked out by the Roman augurs. In later times the atmosphere was divided into three regions, upper, middle, and lower. By
Shakespeare the word is used to denote the air generally" (Cl. Pr. Edd.). So climate from meaning the region of the earth lying in the same parallel of latitude, has come to mean the
condition of a region as regards its atmospheric phenomena.
464. Aroused ... a-work, his vengeance stirred to double fury
by the pause he had been constrained to make.
465. Cyclops', the Cyclops were Titans, sons of Uranus
(heaven) and Ge (earth), who, as the assistants of Hephaestus
(Vulcan), forged armour, etc., for the gods and heroes.
466. forged ... eterne, so forged as to be forever proof against
all strain put upon them; cp. Cymb. v. 5. 5, "whose naked
breasts, Stepp'd before targes of proof"; and see note on iv. 7.
154, below.
467. remorse, pity; as usually in Shakespeare, not the regret
felt for some ill doing, the only modern sense.
470. In general synod, assembled in full conclave; their decision being thus made more solemn.
471. fellies, or felloes, the outer circumference of the wheel put
together in separate parts and contined by the tire; from A. S. feolan, to stick.
472. the nave, the central portion of the wheel through which
the axle passes and the spokes radiate.
475. Its hall ... beard, it, like your beard, shall pay a visit to
the barber's shop.
476. he's for a jig, he (sc. Polonius) would prefer a jig, i.e. a
ludicrous composition in verse, something that he could laugh
at; or he sleeps, or he is drowsy, and does not care to be awakened by anything so stirring in character.
478. mobled queen, queen muffled up in a cap; the word mobcap, as Coleridge points out, is still used of a large cap, worn
more commonly by old women of the lower classes in the early
morning, and differing little from a night-cap. The picture
is of the aged Hecuba roused up from bed by the alarm of tire.
480. that's good, Polonius, who had objected to "beautified" (1. 109 above) as "a vile phrase," speaks with patronizing approval of this affected expression.
481, 2. threatening ... rheum, threatening the flames that she
will put them out with her blinding tears; bisson, literally pur-blind, as in Cor. ii. 1. 70, "your bisson conspectuities"; clout, a piece of cloth, which she has snatched up in her hurry; used
contemptuously.
483. for, in place of.
484. o'erteemed loins, "exhausted by child-bearing" (Cl. Pr. Edd.). Priam was said to have had fifty-two children by her.
486. Who this had seen, any one who had witnessed so sad a
spectacle as this.
487. 'Gainst ... pronounced, would have railed against the majesty of Fortune in the most treasonable language; cp. A. Y. L. ii. 7. 16, "And rail'd on Lady Fortune in good terms."
492. Unless ... all, unless, as philosophers say, they are
utterly indifferent to the concerns of men.
493. Would have ... heaven, would have drawn tears from the
burning eyes of heaven, as milk is drawn from the udder of a
cow; milch, milky; a 'milch-cow' is still in common use.
494. And passion ... gods, and would have excited deep compassion in the gods.
495. 6. Look, ... eyes, see if he (sc. the player) has not turned
pale, and if the tears are not ready to fall from his eyes, he
having entered so thoroughly into the pathos of the scene.
497. speak out the rest, complete the speech.
498. well bestowed, comfortably lodged.
499, 500. the abstracts ... time, the compendium in which the
events of the time are summarized; the quartos give abstract,
but the adjective is nowhere else found in Shakespeare.
500, 1. you were better have, it would be better for you to
have; for this ungrammatical remnant of ancient usage, see
Abb. § 230.
502. I will use ... desert, I will treat them as men in their
station of life deserve to be treated.
503. God's bodykins, by God's little body; an affectionately
irreverent adjuration; cp. "od's pittikins," Cymb. iv. 2. 293;
"od's heartlings," M. W. iii. 2. 49; "od's my little life,"
A. Y. L. iii. 5. 43.
504. after, according to; who should, i.e. nobody would.
505. after your ... dignity, with such courtesy and condescension as befits a man in your high position.
505, 6. the less ... bounty, cp. M. N. D. v. 1. 89-92.
512. for a need, if it was necessary.
513. a speech ... lines, see note on iii. 2. 182.
521. peasant slave, wretched bondman.
523. But in ... passion, under the influence of nothing more
real than a poet's creation, a mere imaginary passion.
524. Could force ... conceit, could so constrain his soul into
sympathy with the idea which he had made his own in interpreting it.
525. That from ... wann'd, that, from the emotion of his soul,
his face became pale; cp. above 1. 495.
526. Tears ... aspect, that tears showed themselves in his eyes,
frenzy possessed his looks.
527. 8. A broken ... conceit, that his voice became broken with
sobs, and all the faculties of his body took shape from the idea in his mind. The various particulars of his emotion are generalized in the last clause.
530, 1. What's Hecuba ... her? what relation is there between
Hecuba and him that he should so sympathize with her woes?
i.e. there is no such relation.
532. cue, indication, prompting; literally the last words in
the player's acting copy of the speech preceding that which the
player is himself to deliver; according to some from Q, the first
letter of the Lat. quando, when, showing when the actor was
to enter and speak, according to others from the F. queue,
a tail.
534. And cleave ... speech, and split the ears of his audience
with the horror of his words.
535. Make mad ... free, drive those conscious of guilt to down-right madness, and fill with terror even those whose conscience was clear of guilt; for free, cp. iii. 2. 235.
536, 7. Confound ears, utterly bewilder the ignorant, and so amaze spectators and hearers that they would not know whether their faculties were their own, whether they were not under
some horrible hallucination.
539. muddy-mettled, dull-brained, sluggish-natured; for a
similar metaphor, cp. M. V. i. 1. 88, 9, "a sort of men whose
visages Do cream and mantle like a-standing pond"; for mettled,
see note on i. 1. 96; peak, allow my resolution to fade into
nothing; more usually of physical dwindling away; cp. Macb.
i. 3. 23, "Weary se'nnights nine times nine Shall he dwindle,
peak and pine."
540. John-a-dreams, i.e. John of dreams, = a sluggish, sleepy,
fellow; cp. Jack-a-lent, Jack-a-lantern, Jack-an-apes, etc. Collier
quotes Armins's Nest of Ninnies, 1608. "His name is John,
indeede, saies the cinnick; but neither John a nods, nor John a
dreams, yet either as you take it"; unpregnant of my cause,
with my mind utterly barren of all designs to effect my purpose;
with a mind that as yet has conceived no method of action; cp. Lear; ii. 6. 229, "Who, by the act of known and feeling sorrows, Am pregnant to good pity."
542. property, everything that belonged to him; cp. above, i. 5. 75, "Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd."
543. A damn'd ... made, ruin was brought down by most
accursed means. Steevens compares Chapman's Revenge for Honour, i. 1, "That he meantime might make a sure defeat On our aged father's life and empire." Cp. also v. 2. 58, below.
544. Who calls me villain? does any one call me villain? i.e. anyone might do so without fear of consequences, for, as he says below, 1. 549, I should meekly accept the insult: breaks ... across? breaks my head from one side to the other; perhaps with an allusion to the clumsiness of those who in tilting broke their
spear across the body of their antagonist and not by a direct
thrust, as in A. W. ii. 2. 20, "King. I would I had; so I had
broke thy pate. And ask'd thy mercy for 't. Lafeu. Good faith,
across."
545. blows it in my face, gives it to the wind to blow it into
my face, thus adding to the insult of plucking it out.
546. Tweaks, pulls; a word always used in a contemptuous
sense.
546, 7. gives me ... lungs, there were various gradations of
giving the lie; as the simple "Thou liest"; then "Thou liest in the throat"; "Thou liest in the throat like a rogue " ; "Thou liest in the throat like a rogue as thou art"; here the lie is
given deeper still, in the lungs; who does me this? is there any one who does this to me? for the old dative thus used see Abb. § 220.
549. 'Swounds, I should take it, by God's wounds (i.e. those
inflicted upon Christ in His crucifixion) I should accept the
insult without retaliating.
549-51. for it ... bitter, for clearly I must have the liver of a
pigeon (i.e. he no more courageous than the timid pigeon), and be
utterly wanting in that spirit which feels and resents an injury; the liver was of old supposed to be the seat of courage, passion, love, etc.; for gall, cp. T. C. i. 3. 237, H. V. ii. 2. 30.
552. fatted, fattened; all the region kites, all the kites of this
part of the country; see note on 1. 463, above.
553. offal, refuse: ... "formerly used of chips of wood falling
from a cut log; and ... merely compounded of off and fall ..."
(Skeat, Ety. Dict.).
554. Remorseless, pitiless; see note on 1. 467, above; kindless,
without natural feeling.
556. most brave, said ironically.
558. by heaven and hell, by heaven, as shown by the prodigies
seen; by hell, in its sending the spirit of the dead king to stir
me up.
559. Must ... words, cannot help exhibiting my fury in mere
words; unpack, an allusion to peddlers opening their packs and
displaying their wares.
560. a-cursing, i.e. on cursing; see Abb. § 24.
561. A scullion, a sharp-tongued kitchen-wench.
562. About, my brain! be active, my brain! stir yourself to some design!
563. sitting at a play, Todd gives one such story from A Warning for Faire Women, 1599, and the Cl. Pr. Edd. refer to Massinger's Roman Actor, ii. 1.
564. cunning, skill with which the scene was portrayed.
565. to the soul, cp. 1. 571, "tented to the quick"; presently,
at once.
567, 8. will speak ... organ, will make itself known by most
miraculous means; cp. Temp. iii. 3. 96-9, "Methought the
billows spoke and told me of it; The winds did sing it to me,
and the thunder. That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounced
The name of Prosper; it did bass my trespass"; also Macb. iii.
4. 122-6.
571. I'll tent ... quick, I'll probe him to the sensitive point; tent, "to search with a tent, which was a roll of lint for searching or cleansing a wound or sore" (Dyce); the quick, the living,
sensitive, part; blench, shrink.
572. I know my course, I shall at once know how to proceed; the present tense indicates the instantaneous knowledge which will then be his.
575. Out of, by means of.
576. As he is ... spirits, for such spirits are allies which he
turns to the fullest use.
577. Abuses ... me, misleads me with the object of making me
commit some great crime which will consign me to perdition.
578. more relative, more pertinent, and so more conclusive.
579. catch, snare.
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How to cite the explanatory notes:
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, prince of Denmark. Ed. K. Deighton. London: Macmillan, 1919. Shakespeare Online. 20 Feb. 2010. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/hamlet_2_2.html >.
