From Hamlet, prince of Denmark. Ed. K. Deighton. London: Macmillan.
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1. What are they, what manner of men; What, less definite
than who.
5. I should be greeted, I am likely to receive a greeting.
7. Let him, may he.
9. bound, on his way for.
10. let to know, informed; we still say 'let me know,' i.e. tell
me.
12. overlooked, read.
13. some ... king, some means of access to, etc.
14. Ere we ... sea, before we had been two days at sea.
15. of ... appointment, fitted out in most warlike fashion, i.e.
heavily armed.
16. we put on ... valour, we made a virtue of necessity and
assumed a warlike bearing.
16, 7. in the grapple, as we grappled, i.e. threw out our
grappling-irons in order to hold their vessel fast to ours: boarded,
leaped on board: on the instant, just as I did so.
19. thieves of mercy, merciful thieves; see note on i. 2. 4.
19, 20. but they ... them, but their mercy was due to politic
reasons, for they wanted me in return to do them a service with
the king.
21. repair, make your way; in this sense from Lat. repatriare,
to return to one's own country.
22. as thou, as that with which you.
23. will make, i.e. which will make; for the omission of the
relative, see Abb. § 244.
23, 4. yet are ... matter, yet no words would describe the
matter in sufficiently strong language; the metaphor is that of
shot not heavy enough for the calibre of a gun.
28. I will ... letters, I will give you the means, opportunity, of
delivering these letters.
29. And do 't ... me, and do it all the more quickly that by my
doing so, etc.; the, ablative of demonstration, see Abb. § 94.
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_4_6.html >.
