For the supply and profit of our hope,
Your visitation shall receive such thanks]
That the hope which your arrival has raised may be completed by the
desired effect.
II.ii.47 (203,4) the trail of policy] The _trail_ is the _course of an
animal pursued by the scent_.
Il.ii.52 (203,5) My news shall be the fruit of that great feast] The
_desert_ after the meat.
II.ii.84 (204,7) at night we'll feast] The king's intemperance is never
suffered to be forgotten.
II.ii.86-167 (205,8) My liege, and Madam, to expostulate] This account
of the character of Polonius, though it sufficiently reconciles the
seeming inconsistency of so much wisdom with so much folly, does not
perhaps correspond exactly to the ideas of our author. The commentator
Warburton makes the character of Polonius, a character only of manners,
discriminated by properties superficial, accidental, and acquired. The
poet intended a nobler delineation of a mixed character of manners and
of nature. Polonius is a man bred in courts, exercised in business,
stored with observations, confident of his knowledge, proud of his
eloquence, and declining into dotage. His mode of oratory is truly
represented as designed to ridicule the practice of those times, of
prefaces that made no introduction, and of method that embarrassed
rather than explained. This part of his character is accidental, the
rest is natural. Such a man is positive and confident, because he knows
that his mind was once strong, and knows not that it is become weak.
Such a man excels in general principles, but fails in the particular
application. He is knowing in retrospect, and ignorant in foresight.
While he depends upon his memory, and can draw from his repositories of
knowledge, he utters weighty sentences, and gives useful counsel; but as
the mind in its enfeebled state cannot be kept long busy and intent, the
old man is subject to sudden dereliction of his faculties, he loses the
order of his ideas, and entangles himself in his own thoughts, till he
recovers the leading principle, and falls again into his former train.
This idea of dotage encroaching upon wisdom, will solve all the
phaenomena of the character of Polonius.
II.ii.109 (207,1) _To the celestial, and my soul's idol, the most
beautified Ophelia_] [T: beatified] Both Sir Thomas Hanmer and Dr.
Warburton have followed Theobald, but I am in doubt whether
_beautified_, though, as Polonius calls it, a _vile phrase_, be not the
proper word. _Beautified_ seems to be a _vile phrase_, for the ambiguity
of its meaning, (rev. 1778, X, 241, 3)
II.ii.126 (208,2) more above] is, _moreover, besides_.
II.ii.145 (209,6) she took the fruits of my advice] She took the
_fruits_ of advice when she obeyed advice, the advice was then made
_fruitful_.
II.ii.181 (211,9) For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog,/Being a
god, kissing carrion] [This is Warburton's emendation for "a good
kissing"] This is a noble emendation, which almost sets the critic on a
level with the author.
II.ii.265 (214,2) the shadow of a dream] Shakespeare has accidentally
inverted an expression of Pindar, that the state of humanity is the
_dream_ of a _shadow_.
II.ii.269 (215,3) Then are our beggars, bodies] Shakespeare seems here
to design a ridicule of these declamations against wealth and greatness,
that seem to make happiness consist in poverty.
II.ii.336 (217,7) shall end his part in peace] [After these words the
folio adds, _the clown shall make those laugh whose lungs are tickled o'
th' sere_. WARBURTON.] This passage I have omitted, for the same reason,
I suppose, as the other editors: I do not understand it.
II.ii.338 (217,8) the lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse
shall halt for't] _The lady shall have no obstruction, unless from the
lameness of the verse._
II.ii.346 (217,9) I think, their inhibition comes by the means of the
late innovation] I fancy this is transposed: Hamlet enquires not about
an _inhibition_, but an _innovation_; the answer therefore probably was,
_I think, their_ innovation, _that is_, their new practice of strolling,
_comes by the means of the late_ inhibition.
II.ii.352-379 (218,1) _Ham._ How comes it? do they grow rusty?] The
lines marked with commas are in the folio of 1623, but not in the quarto
of 1637, nor, I suppose, in any of the quartos.
II.ii.355 (218,2) cry out on the top of question] The meaning seems to
be, they ask a common question in the highest notes of the voice.
II.ii.362 (218,3) escoted] Paid.
II.ii.362 (218,4) Will they pursue quality no longer than they can
_sing_?] Will they follow the _profession_ of players no longer than
they keep the voices of boys? So afterwards he says to the player,
_Come, give us a taste of your_ quality; come, _a passionate speech_.
II.ii.370 (219,6) to tarre them on to controversy] To provoke any animal
to rage, is _to tarre him_. The word is said to come from the Greek.
(1773)
II.ii.380 (219,8) It is not very strange, for mine uncle is king of
Denmark] I do not wonder that the new players have so suddenly risen to
reputation, my uncle supplies another example of the facility with which
honour is conferred upon new claimants.
II.ii.412 (220,2) Buz, buz!] Mere idle talk, the _buz_ of the vulgar.
II.ii.414 (220,3) _Then came each actor on his ass_] This seems to be a
line of a ballad.
II.ii.420 (221,6) For the law of writ, and the liberty, these are the
only men] All the modern editions have, _the law of_ wit, _and the
liberty_; but both my old copies have, _the law of_ writ, I believe
rightly. _Writ_, for _writing, composition_. Wit_ was not, in our
author's time, taken either for _imagination_, or _acuteness_, or _both
together_, but for _understanding_, for the faculty by which we
_apprehend_ and _judge_. Those who wrote of the human mind distinguished
its primary powers into _wit_ and _will_. Ascham distinguishes _boys_ of
tardy and of active faculties into _quick wits_ and _slow wits_.
II.ii.438 (221,8) the first row of the pious chanson] [It is _pons
chansons_ in the first folio edition. POPE.] It is _pons chansons_ in
the quarto too. I know not whence the _rubric_ has been brought, yet it
has not the appearance of an arbitrary addition. The titles of old
ballads were never printed red; but perhaps _rubric_ may stand for
_marginal explanation_.
II.ii.439 (222,9) For, look, where my abridgment comes] He calls the
players afterwards, _the brief chronicles of the time_; but I think he
now means only _those who will shorten my talk_.
II.ii.448 (223,2) be not crack'd within the ring] That is, _crack'd too
much for use_. This is said to a young player who acted the parts of
women.
II.ii.450 (223,3) like French faulconers] HANMER, who has much
illustrated the allusions to falconry, reads, _like_ French _falconers.
[French falconers_ is not a correction by Hanmer, but the reading of the
first folio. STEEVENS.] (see 1765, VIII, 198, 1)
II.ii.459 (223,5) (as I received it, and others whose judgment in such
matters cried in the top of mine)] [i.e. whose judgment I had the
highest opinion of. WARBURTON.] I think it means only that _were higher
than mine_.
II.ii.466 (224,8) but called it, an honest method] Hamlet is telling how
much his judgment differed from that of others. _One said, there was no
salt in the lines_, &c. _but call'd it an honest method_. The author
probably gave it, _But I called it an honest method_, &c.
II.ii.525 (226,9) _the mobled queen] Mobled signifies _huddled, grossly
covered_.
II.ii.587 (228,5) the cue for passion] The _hint_, the _direction_.
II.ii.589 (228,6) the general ear] The ears of all mankind. So before,
_Caviare to the_ general, that is, to the _multitude_.
II.ii.595 (229,7) unpregnant of my cause] [_Unpregnant_, for _having no
due sense of_. WARBURTON.] Rather, _not quickened with a new desire of
vengeance; not teeming with revenge_.
II.ii.598 (229,8) A damn'd defeat was made] [_Defeat_, for
_destruction_. WARBURTON.] Rather, _dispossession_.
II.ii.608 (229,1) kindless] _Unnatural_.
II.ii.616 (229,3) About, my brain!] _Wits, to your work_. _Brain_, go
_about_ the present business.
II.ii.625 (230,5) tent him] Search his wounds.
II.ii.632 (230,7) More relative than this] [_Relative_, for
_convictive_. WARB.] _Convictive_ is only the consequential sense.
_Relative_ is, _nearly related, closely connected_.
III.i.17 (231,2) o'er-raught on the way] _Over-raught_ is
_over-reached_, that is, _over-took_.
III.i.31 (232,4) Affront Ophelia.] To _affront_, is only _to meet
directly_.
III.i.47 (233,5) 'Tis too much prov'd] It is found by too frequent
experience.
III.i.52 (233,6) more ugly to the thing that helps it] That is,
_compared with_ the thing that helps it.
III.i.56-88 (233,7) To be, or not to be?] Of this celebrated soliloquy,
which bursting from a man distracted with contrariety of desires, and
overwhelmed with the magnitude of his own purposes, is connected rather
in the speaker's mind, than on his tongue, I shall endeavour to discover
the train, and to shew how one sentiment produces another. Hamlet,
knowing himself injured in the most enormous and atrocious degree, and
seeing no means of redress, but such as must expose him to the extremity
of hazard, meditates on his situation in this manner: _Before I can form
any rational scheme of action under this pressure of distress_, it is
necessary to decide, whether, _after our present state, we are_ to be or
not to be. That is the question, which, as it shall be answered, will
determine, _whether 'tis nobler_, and more suitable to the dignity of
reason, _to suffer the outrages of fortune_ patiently, or to take arms
against _them_, and by opposing end them, _though perhaps_ with the loss
of life. If _to die_, were _to sleep_, no more, _and by a sleep to end_
the miseries of our nature, such a sleep were _devoutly to be wished_;
but if _to sleep_ in death, be _to dream_, to retain our powers of
sensibility, we must _pause_ to consider, _in that sleep of death what
dreams may come_. This consideration _makes calamity_ so long endured;
for _who would bear_ the vexations of life, which might be ended _by a
bare bodkin_, but that he is afraid of something in unknown futurity?
This fear it is that gives efficacy to conscience, which, by turning the
mind upon _this regard_, chills the ardour of _resolution_, checks the
vigour of _enterprize_, and makes the _current_ of desire stagnate in
inactivity. We may suppose that he would have applied these general
observations to his own case, but that he discovered Ophelia.
III.i.59 (234,8) Or to take arms against a sea of troubles] [W: against
assail] Mr. Pope proposed _siege_. I know not why there should be so
much solicitude about this metaphor. Shakespeare breaks his metaphors
often, and in this desultory speech there was less need of preserving
them.
III.i.70 (235,2) the whips and scorns of time] [W: of th' time] I doubt
whether the corruption of this passage is not more than the editor has
suspected. _Whips_ and _scorns_ have no great connexion with one
another, or with _time: whips_ and _scorns_ are evils of very different
magnitude, and though at all _times scorn_ may be endured, yet the
_times_ that put men ordinarily in danger of _whips_, are rery rare.
Falstaff has said, that the _courtiers would_ whip _him with their quick
wits_; but I know not that _whip_ can be used for a _scoff_ or _insult_,
unless its meaning be fixed by the whole expression.
I am afraid lest I should venture too far in correcting this passage. If
_whips_ be retained, we may read,
_For who would bear the whips and scorns of_ tyrant.
But I think that _quip_, a _sneer_, a _sarcasm_, a _contemptuous_ jest,
is the proper word, as suiting very exactly with _scorn_. What then must
be done with _time_? it suits no better with the new reading than with
the old, and _tyrant_ is an image too bulky and serious. I read, but not
confidently,
_For who would bear the_ quips _and scorns of_ title.
It say be remarked, that Hamlet, in his enumeration of miseries,
forgets, whether properly or not, that he is a prince, and mentions many
evils to which inferior stations only are exposed.
III.i.77 (236,4) To groan and sweat] All the old copies have, _to_ grunt
_and sweat_. It is undoubtedly the true reading, but can scarcely be
borne by modern ears.
III.i.89 (237,5) Nymph, in thy orisons] This is a touch of nature.
Hamlet, at the sight of Ophelia, does not immediately recollect, that he
is to personate madness, but makes her an address grave and solemn, such
as the foregoing meditation excited in his thoughts.
III.i.107 (237,6) That if you be honest and fair, you should admit no
discourse to your beauty] This is the reading of all the modern
editions, and is copied from the quarto. The folio reads, your honesty
_should admit no discourse to your beauty_. The true reading seems to be
this, _If you be honest and fair, you should admit_ your honesty _to no
discourse with your beauty_. This is the sense evidently required by the
process of the conversation.
III.i.127 (238,7) I have thoughts to put them in] _To put a thing into
thought_, is _to think on it_.
III.i.148 (239,8) I have heard of your paintings too, well enough] This
is according to the quarto; the folio, for _painting_, has _prattlings_,
and for _face_, has _pace_, which agrees with what follows, _you jig,
you amble_. Probably the author wrote both. I think the common reading
best.
III.i.152 (239,9) make your wantonness your ignorance] You mistake by
_wanton_ affectation, and pretend to mistake by _ignorance_.
III.i.161 (239,2) the mould of form] The model by whom all endeavoured
to form themselves.
III.ii.12 (241,3) the groundlings] The meaner people then seem to have
sat below, as they now sit in the upper gallery, who, not well
understanding poetical language, were sometimes gratified by a mimical
and mute representation of the drama, previous to the dialogue.
III.ii.14 (242,4) inexplicable dumb shews] I believe the meaning is,
_shews, without words to explain them_.
III.ii.26 (242,6) the very age and body of the time, his form and
pressure] The _age_ of the _time_ can hardly pass. May we not read, the
_face_ and _body_, or did the author write, the _page_? The _page_ suits
well with _form_ and _pressure_, but ill with _body_.
III.ii.28 (242,7) pressure] Resemblance, as in a _print_.
III.ii.34 (242,8) (not to speak it profanely)] _Profanely_ seems to
relate, not to the praise which he has mentioned, but to the censure
which he is about to utter. Any gross or indelicate language was called
_profane_.
III.ii.66 (243,9) the pregnant hinges of the knee] I believe the sense
of _pregnant_ in this place is, _quick, ready, prompt_.
III.ii.68 (244,1) my dear soul] Perhaps, my _clear_ soul.
III.ii.74 (244,2) Whose blood and judgment] According to the doctrine of
the four humours, _desire_ and _confidence_ were seated in the blood,
and _judgment_ in the phlegm, and the due mixture of the humours made a
perfect character.
III.ii.89 (244,3) Vulcan's stithy] _Stithy_ is a smith's _anvil_.
III.ii.103 (245,4) nor mine now] A man's words, says the proverb, are
his own no longer than he keep them unspoken.
III.ii.112 (245,5) they stay upon your patience] May it not be read more
intelligibly, _They stay upon your_ pleasure. In _Macbeth_ it is, "Noble
Macbeth, we stay upon your _leisure_."
III.ii.123 (245,6) Do you think I meant country matters?] I think we
must read, _Do you think I meant country_ manners? Do you imagine that I
meant to sit in your lap, with such rough gallantry as clowns use to
their lasses?
III.ii.137 (246,7) Nay, then, let the devil wear black, for I'll have a
suit of sables] I know not why our editors should, with such implacable
anger, persecute our predecessors. The dead, it is true, can make no
resistance, they may be attacked with great security; but since they can
neither feel nor mend, the safety of mauling them seems greater than the
pleasure; nor perhaps would it much misbeseem us to remember, amidst our
triumphs over the _nonsensical_ and the _senseless_, that we likewise
are men; that _debemur morti_, and, as Swift observed to Burnet, shall
soon be among the dead ourselves.
I cannot find how the common reading is nonsense, nor why Hamlet, when
he laid aside his dress of mourning, in a country where it was _bitter
cold_, and the air was _nipping and eager_, should not have a _suit of
sables_. I suppose it is well enough known, that the fur of sables is
not black.
III.ii.147 (249,1) Marry, this is miching maliche; it means mischief]
[W: malhechor] I think Hanmer's exposition most likely to be right. Dr.
Warburton, to justify his interpretation, must write, _miching_ for
_malechor_, and even then it will be harsh.
III.ii.167 (250,3) sheen] Splendor, lustre.
III.ii.177 (250,4) For women fear too much, even as they love] Here
seems to be a line lost, which should have rhymed to _love_.
III.ii.192 (251,6) The instances, that second marriage move] The
_motives_.