[Page 242]
Coniure the wandring Starres, and makes them stand [Sidenote: Coniues] Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I,Hamletthe Dane.[1]
Laer. The deuill take thy soule.[2]
Ham. Thou prai'st not well,I prythee take thy fingers from my throat;[3]Sir though I am not Spleenatiue, and rash,[Sidenote: For though | spleenatiue rash,]Yet haue I something in me dangerous, [Sidenote: in me something]Which let thy wisenesse feare. Away thy hand.[Sidenote: wisedome feare; hold off they]
King. Pluck them asunder.
Qu. Hamlet, Hamlet. [Sidenote:All. Gentlemen.]
Gen. Good my Lord be quiet. [Sidenote:Hora. Good]
Ham. Why I will fight with him vppon this Theme, Vntill my eielids will no longer wag.[4]
Qu. Oh my Sonne, what Theame?
Ham. I lou'dOphelia[5]; fortie thousand Brothers Could not (with all there quantitie of Loue) Make vp my summe. What wilt thou do for her?[6]
King. Oh he is madLaertes.[7]
Qu. For loue of God forbeare him.
Ham. Come show me what thou'lt doe.[Sidenote:HamS'wounds shew | th'owt fight,woo't fast, woo't teare]Woo't weepe? Woo't fight? Woo't teare thy selfe?Woo't drinke vpEsile, eate a Crocodile?[6]Ile doo't. Dost thou come heere to whine; [Sidenote: doost come]To outface me with leaping in her Graue?Be[8] buried quicke with her, and so will I.And if thou prate of Mountaines; let them throwMillions of Akers on vs; till our groundSindging his pate against the burning Zone,[Sidenote: 262] MakeOssalike a wart. Nay, and thoul't mouth,Ile rant as well as thou.[9]
[Footnote 1: This fine speech is yet spoken in the character of madman, which Hamlet puts on once more the moment he has to appear before the king. Its poetry and dignity belong to Hamlet's feeling; its extravagance to his assumed insanity. It must be remembered that death is a small affair to Hamlet beside his mother's life, and that the death of Ophelia may even be some consolation to him.
In theFolio, a few lines back, Laertes leaps into the grave. There is no such direction in theQ. In neither is Hamlet said to leap into the grave; only the1st Q.so directs. It is a stage-business that must please thecommonactor of Hamlet; but there is nothing in the text any more than in the margin ofFolioorQuartoto justify it, and it would but for the horror of it be ludicrous. The coffin is supposed to be in the grave: must Laertes jump down upon it, followed by Hamlet, and the two fight and trample over the body?
Yet I take the 'Leaps in the grave' to be an action intended for Laertes by the Poet. His 'Hold off the earth a while,' does not necessarily imply that the body is already in the grave. He has before said, 'Lay her i'th' earth': then it was not in the grave. It is just about to be lowered, when, with that cry of 'Hold off the earth a while,' he jumps into the grave, and taking the corpse, on a bier at the side of it, in his arms, calls to the spectators to pile a mountain on them—in the wild speech that brings out Hamlet. The quiet dignity of Hamlet's speech does not comport with his jumping into the grave: Laertes comes out of the grave, and flies at Hamlet's throat. So, at least, I would have the thing acted.
There is, however, nothing in the text to show that Laertes comes out of the grave, and if the manager insist on the traditional mode, I would suggest that the grave be represented much larger. In Mr. Jewitt's book on Grave-Mounds, I read of a 'female skeleton in a grave six feet deep, ten feet long, and eight feet wide.' Such a grave would give room for both beside the body, and dismiss the hideousness of the common representation.]
[Footnote 2: —springing out of the grave and flying at Hamlet.]
[Footnote 3: Note the temper, self-knowledge, self-government, and self-distrust of Hamlet.]
[Footnote 4: The eyelids last of all become incapable of motion.]
[Footnote 5: That he loved her is the only thing to explain the harshness of his behaviour to her. Had he not loved her and not been miserable about her, he would have been as polite to her as well bred people would have him.]
[Footnote 6: The gallants of Shakspere's day would challenge each other to do more disagreeable things than any of these in honour of their mistresses.
'Ésil.s.m. Ancien nom du Vinaigre.'Supplement to Academy Dict., 1847.—'Eisile,vinegar': Bosworth'sAnglo-Saxon Dict., from Somner'sSaxon Dict., 1659.—'Eisel (Saxon), vinegar; verjuice; any acid': Johnson'sDict.
1st Q. 'Wilt drinke vp vessels.' The wordupvery likely implies the steady emptying of a vessel specified—at a draught, and not by degrees.]
[Footnote 7: —pretending care over Hamlet.]
[Footnote 8: Emphasis onBe, which I take for theimperative mood.]
[Footnote 9: The moment it is uttered, he recognizes and confesses to the rant, ashamed of it even under the cover of his madness. It did not belongaltogetherto the madness. Later he expresses to Horatio his regret in regard to this passage between him and Laertes, and afterwards apologizes to Laertes. 252, 262.
Perhaps this is the speech in all the play of which it is most difficult to get into a sympathetic comprehension. The student must call to mind the elements at war in Hamlet's soul, and generating discords in his behaviour: to those comes now the shock of Ophelia's death; the last tie that bound him to life is gone—the one glimmer of hope left him for this world! The grave upon whose brink he has been bandying words with the sexton, is forher! Into such a consciousness comes the rant of Laertes. Only the forms of madness are free to him, while no form is too strong in which to repudiate indifference to Ophelia: for her sake, as well as to relieve his own heart, he casts the clear confession of his love into her grave. He is even jealous, over her dead body, of her brother's profession of love to her—as if any brother could love as he loved! This is foolish, no doubt, but human, and natural to a certain childishness in grief. 252.
Add to this, that Hamlet—see later in his speeches to Osricke—had a lively inclination to answer a fool according to his folly (256), to outherod Herod if Herod would rave, out-euphuize Euphues himself if he would be ridiculous:—the digestion of all these things in the retort of meditation will result, I would fain think, in an understanding and artistic justification of even this speech of Hamlet: the more I consider it the truer it seems. If proof be necessary that real feeling is mingled in the madness of the utterance, it may be found in the fact that he is immediately ashamed of its extravagance.]
[Page 244]
Kin.[1] This is meere Madnesse: [Sidenote:Quee.[1]]And thus awhile the fit will worke on him: [Sidenote: And this]Anon as patient as the female Doue,When that her golden[2] Cuplet[3] are disclos'd[4];[Sidenote: cuplets[3]]His silence will sit drooping.[5]
Ham. Heare you Sir:[6] What is the reason that you vse me thus? I loud' you euer;[7] but it is no matter:[8] LetHerculeshimselfe doe what he may, The Cat will Mew, and Dogge will haue his day.[9]Exit.[Sidenote:Exit Hamlet and Horatio.]
Kin. I pray you good Horatio wait vpon him,[Sidenote: pray thee good]Strengthen you patience in our last nights speech, [Sidenote: your][Sidenote: 254] Wee'l put the matter to the present push:[10]GoodGertrudeset some watch ouer your Sonne,This Graue shall haue a liuing[11] Monument:[12]An houre of quiet shortly shall we see;[13][Sidenote: quiet thirtie shall]Till then, in patience our proceeding be.Exeunt.
[Footnote 1: I hardly know which to choose as the speaker of this speech. It would be a fine specimen of the king's hypocrisy; and perhaps indeed its poetry, lovely in itself, but at such a time sentimental, is fitter for him than the less guilty queen.]
[Footnote 2: 'covered with a yellow down'Heath.]
[Footnote 3: The singular is better: 'the pigeon lays no more thantwoeggs.'Steevens. Only,coupletsmight be used liketwins.]
[Footnote 4: —hatched, the sporting term of the time.]
[Footnote 5: 'The pigeon never quits her nest for three days after her two young ones are hatched, except for a few moments to get food.'Steevens.]
[Footnote 6: Laertes stands eyeing him with evil looks.]
[Footnote 7: I suppose here a pause: he waits in vain some response fromLaertes.]
[Footnote 8: Here he retreats into his madness.]
[Footnote 9: '—but I cannot compel you to hear reason. Do what he will, Hercules himself cannot keep the cat from mewing, or the dog from following his inclination!'—said in a half humorous, half contemptuous despair.]
[Footnote 10: 'into immediate train'—to Laertes.]
[Footnote 11:life-like, orlasting?]
[Footnote 12: —again to Laertes.]
[Footnote 13: —when Hamlet is dead.]
[Page 246]
Enter Hamlet and Horatio.
Ham.So much for this Sir; now let me see the other,[1] [Sidenote: now shall you see] You doe remember all the Circumstance.[2]
Hor.Remember it my Lord?[3]
Ham.Sir, in my heart there was a kinde of fighting,That would not let me sleepe;[4] me thought I lay[Sidenote: my thought]Worse then the mutines in the Bilboes,[5] rashly, [Sidenote: bilbo](And praise be rashnesse for it)[6] let vs know, [Sidenote: prayed]Our indiscretion sometimes serues vs well, [Sidenote: sometime]When our deare plots do paule,[7] and that should teach vs,[Sidenote: deepe | should learne us][Sidenote: 146, 181] There's a Diuinity that shapes our ends,[8]Rough-hew them how we will.[9]
Hor.That is most certaine.
Ham.Vp from my CabinMy sea-gowne scarft about me in the darke,Grop'd I to finde out them;[10] had my desire,Finger'd their Packet[11], and in fine, withdrewTo mine owne roome againe, making so bold,(My feares forgetting manners) to vnseale [Sidenote: to vnfold]Their grand Commission, where I foundHoratio,Oh royall[12] knauery: An exact command, [Sidenote: A royall][Sidenote: 196] Larded with many seuerall sorts of reason;[Sidenote: reasons,]Importing Denmarks health, and Englands too,With hoo, such Bugges[13] and Goblins in my life, [Sidenote: hoe]That on the superuize[14] no leasure bated,[15]No not to stay the grinding of the Axe,My head shoud be struck off.
Hor.Ist possible?
Ham.Here's the Commission, read it at more leysure:
[Footnote 1: I would suggest that the one paper, which he has just shown, is a commission the king gave to himself; the other, which he is about to show, that given to Rosincrance and Guildensterne. He is setting forth his proof of the king's treachery.]
[Footnote 2: —of the king's words and behaviour, possibly, in giving him his papers, Horatio having been present; or it might mean, 'Have you got the things I have just told you clear in your mind?']
[Footnote 3: '—as if I could forget a single particular of it!']
[Footnote 4: TheShaping Divinitywas moving him.]
[Footnote 5: The fetters calledbilboesfasten a couple of mutinous sailors together by the legs.]
[Footnote 6: Does he not here check himself and begin afresh—remembering that the praise belongs to the Divinity?]
[Footnote 7:pall—from the root ofpale—'come to nothing.' He had had his plots from which he hoped much; the king's commission had rendered them futile. But he seems to have grown doubtful of his plans before, probably through the doubt of his companions which led him to seek acquaintance with their commission, and he may mean that his 'dear plots' had begun to pallupon him. Anyhow the sudden 'indiscretion' of searching for and unsealing the ambassadors' commission served him as nothing else could have served him.]
[Footnote 8: —even by our indiscretion. Emphasis onshapes.]
[Footnote 9: Here is another sign of Hamlet's religion. 24, 125, 260. We start to work out an idea, but the result does not correspond with the idea: another has been at work along with us. We rough-hew—block out our marble, say for a Mercury; the result is an Apollo. Hamlet had rough-hewn his ends—he had begun plans to certain ends, but had he been allowed to go on shaping them alone, the result, even had he carried out his plans and shaped his ends to his mind, would have been failure. Another mallet and chisel were busy shaping them otherwise from the first, and carrying them out to a true success. Forsuccessis not the success of plans, but the success of ends.]
[Footnote 10: EmphasizeIandthem, as the rhythm requires, and the phrase becomes picturesque.]
[Footnote 11: 'got my fingers on their papers.']
[Footnote 12: Emphasizeroyal.]
[Footnote 13: Abugis any object causing terror.]
[Footnote 14: immediately on the reading.]
[Footnote 15: —no interval abated, taken off the immediacy of the order respite granted.]
[Page 248]
But wilt thou heare me how I did proceed? [Sidenote: heare now how]
Hor. I beseech you.
Ham. Being thus benetted round with Villaines,[1]Ere I could make a Prologue to my braines, [Sidenote: Or I could]They had begun the Play.[2] I sate me downe,Deuis'd a new Commission,[3] wrote it faire,I once did hold it as our Statists[4] doe,A basenesse to write faire; and laboured muchHow to forget that learning: but Sir now,It did me Yeomans[5] seruice: wilt thou know [Sidenote: yemans]The effects[6] of what I wrote? [Sidenote: Th'effect[6]]
Hor. I, good my Lord.
Ham. An earnest Coniuration from the King,As England was his faithfull Tributary,As loue betweene them, as the Palme should flourish,[Sidenote: them like the | might florish,]As Peace should still her wheaten Garland weare,And stand a Comma 'tweene their amities,[7]And many such like Assis[8] of great charge,[Sidenote: like, as sir of]That on the view and know of these Contents, [Sidenote: knowing]Without debatement further, more or lesse,He should the bearers put to sodaine death, [Sidenote: those bearers]Not shriuing time allowed.
Hor. How was this seal'd?
Ham. Why, euen in that was Heauen ordinate; [Sidenote: ordinant,]I had my fathers Signet in my Purse,Which was the Modell of that Danish Seale:Folded the Writ vp in forme of the other,[Sidenote: in the forme of th']Subscrib'd it, gau't th'impression, plac't it safely,[Sidenote: Subscribe it,]The changeling neuer knowne: Now, the next dayWas our Sea Fight, and what to this was sement, [Sidenote: was sequent]Thou know'st already.[9]
Hor. SoGuildensterneandRosincrance, go too't.
[Footnote 1: —the nearest, Rosincrance and Guildensterne: Hamlet was quite satisfied of their villainy.]
[Footnote 2: 'I had no need to think: the thing came to me at once.']
[Footnote 3: Note Hamlet's rapid practicality—not merely in devising, but in carrying out.]
[Footnote 4: statesmen.]
[Footnote 5: 'Yeomen of the guard of the king's bodywere anciently two hundred and fifty men, of the best rank under gentry, and of larger stature than ordinary; every one being required to be six feet high.'—E. Chambers' Cyclopaedia. Hence 'yeoman'sservice' must mean the very best of service.]
[Footnote 6: Note our common phrase: 'I wrote to this effect.']
[Footnote 7: 'as he would have Peace stand between their friendships like a comma between two words.' Every point has in it a conjunctive, as well as a disjunctive element: the former seems the one regarded here—only that some amities require more than a comma to separate them. Thecommadoes not make much of a figure—is good enough for its position, however; if indeed the fact be not, that, instead of standing forPeace, it does not even stand for itself, but for some other word. I do not for my part think so.]
[Footnote 8: Dr. Johnson says there is a quibble here withassesas beasts ofchargeor burden. It is probable enough, seeing, as Malone tells us, that in Warwickshire, as did Dr. Johnson himself, they pronounceashard. In Aberdeenshire the sound of thesvaries with the intent of the word: 'azhe said'; 'assstrongaza horse.']
[Footnote 9: To what purpose is this half-voyage to England made part of the play? The action—except, as not a few would have it, the very action be delay—is nowise furthered by it; Hamlet merely goes and returns.
To answer this question, let us find the real ground for Hamlet's reflection, 'There's a Divinity that shapes our ends.' Observe, he is set at liberty without being in the least indebted to the finding of the commission—by the attack, namely, of the pirate; and this was not the shaping of his ends of which he was thinking when he made the reflection, for it had reference to the finding of the commission. What then was the ground of the reflection? And what justifies the whole passage in relation to the Poet's object, the character of Hamlet?
This, it seems to me:—
Although Hamlet could not have had much doubt left with regard to his uncle's guilt, yet a man with a fine, delicate—what most men would think, because so much more exacting than theirs—fastidious conscience, might well desire some proof more positive yet, before he did a deed so repugnant to his nature, and carrying in it such a loud condemnation of his mother. And more: he might well wish to have something toshow: a man's conviction is no proof, though it may work in others inclination to receive proof. Hamlet is sent to sea just to get such proof as will not only thoroughly satisfy himself, but be capable of being shown to others. He holds now in his hand—to lay before the people—the two contradictory commissions. By his voyage then he has gained both assurance of his duty, and provision against the consequence he mainly dreaded, that of leaving a wounded name behind him. 272. This is the shaping of his ends—so exactly to his needs, so different from his rough-hewn plans—which is the work of the Divinity. The man who desires to know his duty that he maydoit, who will not shirk it when he does know it, will have time allowed him and the thing made plain to him; his perplexity will even strengthen and purify his will. The weak man is he who, certain of what is required of him, fails to meet it: so never once fails Hamlet. Note, in all that follows, that a load seems taken off him: after a gracious tardiness to believe up to the point of action, he is at length satisfied. Hesitation belongs to the noble nature, to Hamlet; precipitation to the poor nature, to Laertes, the son of Polonius. Compare Brutus inJulius Caesar—a Hamlet in favourable circumstances, with Hamlet—a Brutus in the most unfavourable circumstances conceivable.]
[Page 250]
Ham. Why man, they did make loue to this imployment[1]They are not neere my Conscience; their debate[Sidenote: their defeat[2]]Doth by their owne insinuation[3] grow:[4] [Sidenote: Dooes]'Tis dangerous, when the baser nature comesBetweene the passe, and fell incensed pointsOf mighty opposites.[5]
Hor. Why, what a King is this?[6]
Ham. Does it not, thinkst thee,[7] stand me now vpon[8][Sidenote: not thinke thee[7] stand][Sidenote: 120] He that hath kil'd my King,[9] and whor'd my Mother,[Sidenote: 62] Popt in betweene th'election and my hopes,
[Footnote 1:This verse not in Q.]
[Footnote 2: destruction.]
[Footnote 3: 'Their destruction they have enticed on themselves by their own behaviour;' or, 'they havecrept intotheir fate by their underhand dealings.' TheSh. Lex.explainsinsinuationasmeddling.]
[Footnote 4: With the concern of Horatio for the fate of Rosincrance and Guildensterne, Hamlet shows no sympathy. It has been objected to his character that there is nothing in the play to show them privy to the contents of their commission; to this it would be answer enough, that Hamlet is satisfied of their worthlessness, and that their whole behaviour in the play shows them merest parasites; but, at the same time, we must note that, in changing the commission, he had no intention, could have had no thought, of letting them go to England without him: that was a pure shaping of their ends by the Divinity. Possibly his own 'dear plots' had in them the notion of getting help against his uncle from the king of England, in which case he would willingly of course have continued his journey; but whatever they may be supposed to have been, they were laid in connection with the voyage, not founded on the chance of its interruption. It is easy to imagine a man like him, averse to the shedding of blood, intending interference for their lives: as heir apparent, he would certainly have been listened to. The tone of his reply to Horatio is that of one who has been made the unintending cause of a deserved fate: the thing having fallen out so, the Divinity having so shaped their ends, there was nothing in their character, any more than in that of Polonius, to make him regret their death, or the part he had had in it.]
[Footnote 5: The 'mighty opposites' here are the king and Hamlet.]
[Footnote 6: Perhaps, as Hamlet talked, he has been parenthetically glancing at the real commission. Anyhow conviction is growing stronger in Horatio, whom, for the occasion, we may regard as a type of the public.]
[Footnote 7: 'thinkst thee,' in the fashion of the Friends, or 'thinke thee' in the sense of 'bethink thee.']
[Footnote 8: 'Does it not rest now on me?—is it not now my duty?—is it notincumbent on me(withlieforstand)—"is't not perfect conscience"?']
[Footnote 9: Note 'my king' notmy father: he had to avenge a crime against the state, the country, himself as a subject—not merely a private wrong.]
[Page 252]
Throwne out his Angle for my proper life,[1]And with such coozenage;[2] is't not perfect conscience,[3][Sidenote: conscience?][Sidenote: 120] To quit him with this arme?[4] And is't not to bedamn'd[5]To let this Canker of our nature comeIn further euill.[6]
Hor.It must be shortly knowne to him from England What is the issue of the businesse there.[7]
Ham.It will be short,[Sidenote: 262] Theinterim'smine,[8] and a mans life's no more[9]Then to say one:[10] but I am very sorry goodHoratio,[Sidenote: 245] That toLaertesI forgot my selfe;For by the image of my Cause, I see[Sidenote: 262] The Portraiture of his;[11] Ile count his fauours:[12]
[Footnote 1: Here is the charge at length in full against the king—of quality and proof sufficient now, not merely to justify, but to compel action against him.]
[Footnote 2: He was such afinehypocrite that Hamlet, although he hated and distrusted him, was perplexed as to the possibility of his guilt. His good acting was almost too much for Hamlet himself. This is his 'coozenage.'
After 'coozenage' should come a dash, bringing '—is't not perfect conscience' (is it not absolutely righteous) into closest sequence, almost apposition, with 'Does it not stand me now upon—'.]
[Footnote 3: Here comes in theQuarto, 'Enter a Courtier.' All from this point to 'Peace, who comes heere?' included, is in addition to theQuartotext—not in theQ., that is.]
[Footnote 4: I would here refer my student to the soliloquy—with itssea of troubles, andthe taking of arms against it. 123, n. 4.]
[Footnote 5: These three questions: 'Does it not stand me now upon?'—'Is't not perfect conscience?'—'Is't not to be damned?' reveal the whole relation between the inner and outer, the unseen and the seen, the thinking and the acting Hamlet. 'Is not the thing right?—Is it not my duty?—Would not the neglect of it deserve damnation?' He is satisfied.]
[Footnote 6: 'is it not a thing to be damned—to let &c.?' or, 'would it not be to be damned, (to be in a state of damnation, or, to bring damnation on oneself) to let this human cancer, the king, go on to further evil?']
[Footnote 7: '—so you have not much time.']
[Footnote 8: 'True, it will be short, but till then is mine, and will be long enough for me.' He is resolved.]
[Footnote 9: Now that he is assured of what is right, the Shadow that waits him on the path to it, has no terror for him. He ceases to be anxious as to 'what dreams may come,' as to the 'something after death,' as to 'the undiscovered country,' the moment his conscience is satisfied. 120. It cannot now make a coward of him. It was never in regard to the past that Hamlet dreaded death, but in regard to the righteousness of the action which was about to occasion his death. Note that he expects death; at least he has long made up his mind to the great risk of it—the death referred to in the soliloquy—which, after all, was not that which did overtake him. There is nothing about suicide here, nor was there there.]
[Footnote 10: 'a man's life must soon be over anyhow.']
[Footnote 11: The approach of death causes him to think of and regret even the small wrongs he has done; he laments his late behaviour to Laertes, and makes excuse for him: the similarity of their condition, each having lost a father by violence, ought, he says, to have taught him gentleness with him. The1st Quartois worth comparing here:—
Enter Hamlet and Horatio
Ham. Beleeue mee, it greeues mee muchHoratio,That toLeartesI forgot my selfe:For by my selfe me thinkes I feele his griefe,Though there's a difference in each others wrong.]
[Footnote 12: 'I will not forget,' or, 'I will call to mind, what merits he has,' or 'what favours he has shown me.' But I suspect the word 'count' ought to becourt.—He does court his favour when next they meet—in lovely fashion. He has no suspicion of his enmity.]
[Page 254]
[Sidenote: 242, 262] But sure the brauery[1] of his griefe did put meInto a Towring passion.[2]
Hor.Peace, who comes heere?
Enter young Osricke.[3] [Sidenote:Enter a Courtier.]
Osr.Your Lordship is right welcome back to [Sidenote:Cour.] Denmarke.
Ham.I humbly thank you Sir, dost know this [Sidenote: humble thank] waterflie?[4]
Hor.No my good Lord.
Ham.Thy state is the more gracious; for 'tis a vice to know him[5]: he hath much Land, and fertile; let a Beast be Lord of Beasts, and his Crib shall stand at the Kings Messe;[6] 'tis a Chowgh[7]; but as I saw spacious in the possession of dirt.[8] [Sidenote: as I say,]
Osr.Sweet Lord, if your friendship[9] were at [Sidenote:Cour.| Lordshippe[?]] leysure, I should impart a thing to you from his Maiesty.
Ham.I will receiue it with all diligence of [Sidenote: it sir with] spirit; put your Bonet to his right vse, 'tis for the [Sidenote: spirit, your] head.
Osr. I thanke your Lordship, 'tis very hot[10][Sidenote: Cour. | it is]
Ham.No, beleeue mee 'tis very cold, the winde is Northerly.
Osr.It is indifferent cold[11] my Lord indeed. [Sidenote:Cour.]
Ham.Mee thinkes it is very soultry, and hot [Sidenote: But yet me | sully and hot, or my] for my Complexion.[12]
Osr.Exceedingly, my Lord, it is very soultry, [Sidenote:Cour.] as 'twere I cannot tell how: but my Lord,[13] his [Sidenote: how: my Lord] Maiesty bad me signifie to you, that he ha's laid a [Sidenote: that a had] [Sidenote: 244] great wager on your head: Sir, this is the matter.[14]
Ham.I beseech you remember.[15]
Osr.Nay, in good faith, for mine ease in good [Sidenote: Cour. Nay good my Lord for my ease]
[Footnote 1: the great show; bravado.]
[Footnote 2: —with which fell in well the forms of his pretended madness. But that the passion was real, this reaction of repentance shows. It was not the first time his pretence had given him liberty to ease his heart with wild words. Jealous of the boastfulness of Laertes' affection, he began at once—in keeping with his assumed character of madman, but not the less in harmony with his feelings—to outrave him.]
[Footnote 3: One of the sort that would gather to such a king—of the same kind as Rosincrance and Guildensterne.
In the1st Q. 'Enter a Bragart Gentleman.']
[Footnote 4: —to Horatio.]
[Footnote 5: 'Thou art the more in a state of grace, for it is a vice to know him.']
[Footnote 6: 'his manger shall stand where the king is served.' Wealth is always received by Rank—Mammon nowhere better worshipped than in kings' courts.]
[Footnote 7: 'a bird of the crow-family'—as a figure, 'always applied to rich and avaricious people.' Achuffis a surlyclown. In Scotch acoofis 'a silly, dastardly fellow.']
[Footnote 8: land.]
[Footnote 9: 'friendship' is better than 'Lordshippe,' as euphuistic.]
[Footnote 10: 'I thanke your Lordship; (puts on his hat) 'tis very hot.']
[Footnote 11: 'rather cold.']
[Footnote 12: 'and hot—formytemperament.']
[Footnote 13: Not able to go on, he plunges into his message.]
[Footnote 14: —takes off his hat.]
[Footnote 15: —making a sign to him again to put on his hat.]
[Page 256]
faith[1]: Sir, [A] you are not ignorant of what excellenceLaertes[B] is at his weapon.[2] [Sidenote:Laertesis.[2]]
Ham. What's his weapon?[3]
Osr. Rapier and dagger. [Sidenote:Cour.]
Ham. That's two of his weapons: but well.
Osr. The sir King ha's wag'd with him six [Sidenote:Cour. The King sir hath wagerd] Barbary Horses, against the which he impon'd[4] as I [Sidenote: hee has impaund] take it, sixe French Rapiers and Poniards, with
[Footnote A:Here in the Quarto:—
[5] here is newly com to CourtLaertes, belieue me an absolute gentlemen, ful of most excellent differences,[6] of very soft society,[7] and great [Sidenote: 234] showing[8]: indeede to speake sellingly[9] of him, hee is the card or kalender[10] of gentry: for you shall find in him the continent of what part a Gentleman would see.[11]
[Sidenote: 245]Ham.[12] Sir, his definement suffers no perdition[13] in you, though I know to deuide him inuentorially,[14] would dosie[15] th'arithmaticke of memory, and yet but yaw[16] neither in respect of his quick saile, but in the veritie of extolment, I take him to be a soule of great article,[17] & his infusion[18] of such dearth[19] and rarenesse, as to make true dixion of him, his semblable is his mirrour,[20] & who els would trace him, his vmbrage, nothing more.[21]
Cour. Your Lordship speakes most infallibly of him.[22]
Ham. The concernancy[23] sir, why doe we wrap the gentleman in our more rawer breath?[24]
Cour. Sir.[25]
Hora. Ist not possible to vnderstand in another tongue,[26] you will too't sir really.[27]
Ham. What imports the nomination of this gentleman.
Cour. OfLaertes.[28]
Hora. His purse is empty already, all's golden words are spent.
Ham. Of him sir.[29]
Cour. I know you are not ignorant.[30]
Ham. I would you did sir, yet in faith if you did, it would not much approoue me,[31] well sir.
Cour.]
[Footnote B:Here in the Quarto:—
Ham. I dare not confesse that, least I should compare with him in excellence, but to know a man wel, were to knowe himselfe.[32]
Cour. I meane sir for this weapon, but in the imputation laide on him,[33] by them in his meed, hee's vnfellowed.[34]]
[Footnote 1: 'in good faith, it is not for manners, but for my comfort I take it off.' Perhaps the hat was intended only to be carried, and would not really go on his head.]
[Footnote 2: TheQuartohas not 'at his weapon,' which is inserted to take the place of the passage omitted, and connect the edges of the gap.]
[Footnote 3: So far from having envied Laertes' reputation for fencing, as the king asserts, Hamlet seems not even to have known which was Laertes' weapon.]
[Footnote 4: laid down—staked.]
[Footnote 5: This and the following passages seem omitted for curtailment, and perhaps in part because they were less amusing when the fashion of euphuism had passed. The good of holding up the mirror to folly was gone when it was no more the 'form and pressure' of 'the very age and body of the time.']
[Footnote 6: of great variety of excellence.]
[Footnote 7: gentle manners.]
[Footnote 8: fine presence.]
[Footnote 9: Is this a stupid attempt at wit on the part of Osricke—'to praise him as if you wanted to sell him'—stupid because it acknowledges exaggeration?]
[Footnote 10: 'the chart or book of reference.' 234.]
[Footnote 11: I thinkparthere should be plural; then the passage would paraphrase thus:—'you shall find in him the sum of what parts (endowments) a gentleman would wish to see.']
[Footnote 12: Hamlet answers the fool according to his folly, but outdoes him, to his discomfiture.]
[Footnote 13: 'his description suffers no loss in your mouth.']
[Footnote 14: 'to analyze him into all and each of his qualities.']
[Footnote 15: dizzy.]
[Footnote 16: 'and yetwouldbut yaw neither'Yaw, 'the movement by which a ship deviates from the line of her course towards the right or left in steering.' Falconer'sMarine Dictionary. The meaning seems to be that the inventorial description could not overtake his merits, because it wouldyaw—keep turning out of the direct line of their quick sail. But Hamlet is set on using far-fetched and absurd forms and phrases to the non-plussing of Osricke, nor cares much to becorrect.]
[Footnote 17: I take this use of the wordarticleto be merely for the occasion; it uas never surely inuseforsubstance.]
[Footnote 18: '—the infusion of his soul into his body,' 'his soul's embodiment.' TheSh. Lex.explainsinfusionas 'endowments, qualities,' and it may be right.]
[Footnote 19: scarcity.]
[Footnote 20: '—it alone can show his likeness.']
[Footnote 21: 'whoever would follow in his footsteps—copy him—is only his shadow.']
[Footnote 22: Here a pause, I think.]
[Footnote 23: 'To the matter in hand!'—recalling the attention ofOsricke to the purport of his visit.]
[Footnote 24: 'why do we presume to talk about him with our less refined breath?']
[Footnote 25: The Courtier is now thoroughly bewildered.]
[Footnote 26: 'Can you onlyspeakin another tongue? Is it not possible tounderstandin it as well?']
[Footnote 27: 'It is your own fault; youwillcourt your fate! youwillgo and be made a fool of!']
[Footnote 28: He catches at the word he understands. The actor must here supply the meaning, with the baffled, disconcerted look of a fool who has failed in the attempt to seem knowing.]
[Footnote 29:—answering the Courtier.]
[Footnote 30: He pauses, looking for some out-of-the-way mode wherein to continue. Hamlet takes him up.]
[Footnote 31: 'your witness to my knowledge would not be of much avail.']
[Footnote 32: Paraphrase: 'for merely to know a man well, implies that you yourselfknow.' To know a man well, you must know his knowledge: a man, to judge his neighbour, must be at least his equal.]
[Footnote 33: faculty attributed to him.]
[Footnote 34:Point thus: 'laide on him by them, in his meed hee's unfellowed.' 'in his merit he is peerless.']
[Page 258]
their assignes,[1] as Girdle, Hangers or so[2]: three of [Sidenote: hanger and so.] the Carriages infaith are very deare to fancy,[3] very responsiue[4] to the hilts, most delicate carriages and of very liberall conceit.[5]
Ham. What call you the Carriages?[6]
Osr. The Carriages Sir, are the hangers. [Sidenote:Cour. The carriage]
Ham. The phrase would bee more Germaine[7] to the matter: If we could carry Cannon by our sides; [Sidenote: carry a cannon] I would it might be Hangers till then; but on sixe [Sidenote: it be | then, but on, six] Barbary Horses against sixe French Swords: their Assignes, and three liberall conceited Carriages,[8] that's the French but against the Danish; why is [Sidenote: French bet] this impon'd as you call it[9]? [Sidenote: this all you[9]]
Osr. The King Sir, hath laid that in a dozen [Sidenote:Cour. | layd sir, that] passes betweene you and him, hee shall not exceed [Sidenote: your selfe and him,] you three hits;[10] He hath one twelue for mine,[11] [Sidenote: hath layd on twelue for nine,] and that would come to imediate tryall, if your [Sidenote: and it would] Lordship would vouchsafe the Answere.[12]
Ham. How if I answere no?[13]
Osr. I meane my Lord,[14] the opposition of your [Sidenote:Cour.] person in tryall.
Ham. Sir, I will walke heere in the Hall; if it please his Maiestie, 'tis the breathing time of day [Sidenote: it is] with me[15]; let the Foyles bee brought, the Gentleman willing, and the King hold his purpose; I will win for him if I can: if not, Ile gaine nothing but [Sidenote: him and I | I will] my shame, and the odde hits.[16]
Osr. Shall I redeliuer you ee'n so?[17][Sidenote:Cour. Shall I deliuer you so?]
Ham. To this effect Sir, after what flourish your nature will.
Osr. I commend my duty to your Lordship. [Sidenote:Cour.]
Ham. Yours, yours [18]: hee does well to commend [Sidenote:Ham. Yours doo's well[18]] it himselfe, there are no tongues else for's tongue, [Sidenote: turne.]
[Footnote A:Here in the Quarto:—
Hora. I knew you must be edified by the margent[19] ere you had done.]
[Footnote 1: accompaniments or belongings; thingsassignedto them.]
[Footnote 2: the thongs or chains attaching the sheath of a weapon to the girdle; what the weaponhangsby. The 'or so' seems to indicate that Osricke regrets having used the old-fashioned word, which he immediately changes forcarriages.]
[Footnote 3: imagination, taste, the artistic faculty.]
[Footnote 4: 'corresponding to—going well with the hilts,'—in shape, ornament, and colour.]
[Footnote 5: bold invention.]
[Footnote 6: a new word, unknown to Hamlet;—court-slang, to which he prefers the old-fashioned, homely word.]
[Footnote 7: related; 'akin to the matter.']
[Footnote 8: He uses Osricke's words—with a touch of derision, I should say.]
[Footnote 9: I do not take theQuartoreading for incorrect. Hamlet says: 'why is this all——you call it —? —?' as if he wanted to use the word (imponed) which Osricke had used, but did not remember it: he asks for it, saying 'you call it' interrogatively.]
[Footnote 10:1st Q
that yong Leartes in twelue venies 223 At Rapier and Dagger do not get three oddes of you,]
[Footnote 11: In all printer's work errors are apt to come in clusters.]
[Footnote 12: the response, or acceptance of the challenge.]
[Footnote 13: Hamlet plays with the word, pretending to take it in its common meaning.]
[Footnote 14: 'Byanswer, I mean, my lord, the opposition &c.']
[Footnote 15: 'my time for exercise:' he treats the proposal as the trifle it seems—a casual affair to be settled at once—hoping perhaps that the king will come with like carelessness.]
[Footnote 16: thethree.]
[Footnote 17: To Osricke the answer seems too direct and unadorned for ears royal.]
[Footnote 18: I cannot help here preferring theQ. If we take theFolioreading, we must take it thus: 'Yours! yours!' spoken with contempt;—'as ifyouknew anything of duty!'—for we see from what follows that he is playing with the wordduty. Or we might read it, 'Yours commends yours,' with the same sense as the reading of theQ., which is, 'Yours,' that is, 'Yourlordship—does well to commend his duty himself—there is no one else to do it.' This former shape is simpler; that of theFoliois burdened with ellipsis—loaded with lack. And surelyturneis the true reading!—though we may take the other to mean, 'there are no tongues else on the side of his tongue.']
[Footnote 19: —as of the Bible, for a second interpretative word or phrase.]
[Page 260]
Hor. This Lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.[1]
[Sidenote: 98]Ham. He did Compile[2] with his Dugge before [Sidenote:Ham. A did sir[2] with] hee suck't it: thus had he and mine more of the [Sidenote: a suckt has he | many more] same Beauy[3] that I know the drossie age dotes [Sidenote: same breede] on; only got the tune[4] of the time, and outward [Sidenote: and out of an habit of[5]] habite of encounter,[5] a kinde of yesty collection, [Sidenote: histy] which carries them through and through the most fond and winnowed opinions; and doe but blow [Sidenote: prophane and trennowed opinions] them to their tryalls: the Bubbles are out.[6] [Sidenote: their triall, the]
Hor. You will lose this wager, my Lord. [Sidenote: loose my Lord.]
Ham. I doe not thinke so, since he went into France, I haue beene in continuall practice; I shall [Sidenote: 265] winne at the oddes:[7] but thou wouldest not thinke [Sidenote: ods; thou] how all heere about my heart:[8] but it is no matter[9] [Sidenote: how ill all's heere]
Hor. Nay, good my Lord.
Ham. It is but foolery; but it is such a kinde of gain-giuing[10] as would perhaps trouble a woman, [Sidenote: gamgiuing.]
Hor. If your minde dislike any thing, obey.[11] [Sidenote: obay it.] I will forestall[12] their repaire hither, and say you are not fit.
Ham. Not a whit, we defie Augury[13]; there's a [Sidenote: there is speciall] [Sidenote: 24, 125, 247] speciall Prouidence in the fall of a sparrow.[14] If
[Footnote A:Here in the Quarto:—
Enter a Lord.[15]
Lord. My Lord, his Maiestie commended him to you by young Ostricke,[16] who brings backe to him that you attend him in the hall, he sends to know if your pleasure hold to play withLaertes, or that you will take longer time?[17]
Ham. I am constant to my purposes, they followe the Kings pleasure, if his fitnes speakes, mine is ready[18]: now or whensoeuer, prouided I be so able as now.
Lord. The King, and Queene, and all are comming downe.
Ham. In happy time.[19]
Lord. The Queene desires you to vse some gentle entertainment[20]Laertes, before you fall to play.
Ham. Shee well instructs me.]
[Footnote 1: 'Well, heisa young one!']
[Footnote 2: 'Com'ply,' with accent on first syllable:comply withmeanspay compliments to, compliment. SeeQ.reading: 'A did sir with':—sirhere is a verb—sir withmeanssay sir to: 'hesirred, compliedwith his nurse's breast before &c.' Hamlet speaks in mockery of the affected court-modes of speech and address, the fashion of euphuism—a mechanical attempt at the poetic.]
[Footnote 3:a flock of birds—suggested by 'This Lapwing.']
[Footnote 4: 'the mere mode.']
[Footnote 5: 'and external custom of intercourse.' But here too I rather take theQ.to be right: 'They have only got the fashion of the time; and, out of a habit of wordy conflict, (they have got) a collection of tricks of speech,—a yesty, frothy mass, with nothing in it, which carries them in triumph through the most foolish and fastidious (nice, choice, punctilious, whimsical) judgments.'YestyI take to be right, andprophane(vulgar) to have been altered by the Poet tofond(foolish); oftrennowedI can make nothing beyond a misprint.]
[Footnote 6: Hamlet had just blown Osricke to his trial in his chosen kind, and the bubble had burst. The braggart gentleman had no faculty to generate after the dominant fashion, no invention to support his ambition—had but a yesty collection, which failing him the moment something unconventional was wanted, the fool had to look a discovered fool.]
[Footnote 7: 'I shall win by the odds allowed me; he will not exceed me three hits.']
[Footnote 8: He has a presentiment of what is coming.]
[Footnote 9: Nothing in this world is of much consequence to him now.Also, he believes in 'a special Providence.']
[Footnote 10: 'a yielding, a sinking' at the heart? TheSh. Lex.saysmisgiving.]
[Footnote 11: 'obey the warning.']
[Footnote 12: 'go to them before they come here'—'preventtheir coming.']
[Footnote 13: The knowledge, even, of what is to come could never, any more than ordinary expediency, be thelawof a man's conduct. St. Paul, informed by the prophet Agabus of the troubles that awaited him at Jerusalem, and entreated by his friends not to go thither, believed the prophet, and went on to Jerusalem to be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles.]
[Footnote 14: One of Shakspere's many allusions to sayings of the Lord.]
[Footnote 15: Osricke does not come back: he has begged off but ventures later, under the wing of the king.]
[Footnote 16: May not this form of the name suggest that in it is intended the 'foolish' ostrich?]
[Footnote 17: The king is making delay: he has to have his 'union' ready.]
[Footnote 18: 'if he feels ready, I am.']
[Footnote 19: 'They arewell-come.']
[Footnote 20: 'to be polite to Laertes.' The print shows wheretohas slipped out.
The queen is anxious; she distrusts Laertes, and the king's influence over him.]
[Page 262]
it[1] be now, 'tis not to come: if it bee not to come,[Sidenote: be, tis]it will bee now: if it be not now; yet it will come;[Sidenote: it well come,][Sidenote: 54, 164] the readinesse is all,[2] since no man ha's ought of[Sidenote: man of ought he leaues, knowes what istto leaue betimes, let be.][Sidenote: 252] what he leaues. What is't to leaue betimes?[3]
Enter King, Queene, Laertes and Lords, with otherAttendants with Foyles, and Gauntlets, a Tableand Flagons of Wine on it.[Sidenote:A table prepard, Trumpets, Drums and officerswith cushion, King, Queene, and all the state,Foiles, Daggers, and Laertes.]
Kin. ComeHamletcome, and take this hand from me.
[Sidenote: 245]Ham.[4] Giue me your pardon Sir, I'ue done youwrong,[5] [Sidenote: I haue]But pardon't as you are a Gentleman.This presence[6] knowes,And you must needs haue heard how I am punishtWith sore distraction?[7] What I haue done [Sidenote: With a sore]That might your nature honour, and exception[Sidenote: 242, 252] Roughly awake,[8] heere proclaime was madnesse:[9]Was'tHamletwrong'dLaertes? NeuerHamlet.IfHamletfrom himselfe be tane away: [Sidenote: fane away,]And when he's not himselfe, do's wrongLaertes,ThenHamletdoes it not,Hamletdenies it:[10]Who does it then? His Madnesse? If't be so,Hamletis of the Faction that is wrong'd,His madnesse is pooreHamletsEnemy.[11]Sir, in this Audience,[12]Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd euill,[13]Free me so farre[14] in your most generous thoughts,That I haue shot mine Arrow o're the house, [Sidenote: my]And hurt my Mother.[15] [Sidenote: brother.[15]]
[Footnote 1: 'it'—death, the end.]
[Footnote 2: His father had been taken unready. 54.]
[Footnote 3:Point: 'all. Since'; 'leaves, what'—'Since no man has anything of what he has left, those who left it late are in the same position as those who left it early.' Compare the common saying, 'It will be all the same in a hundred years.' TheQ.reading comes much to the same thing—'knows of ought he leaves'—'has any knowledge of it, anything to do with it, in any sense possesses it.'
We may find a deeper meaning in the passage, however—surely not too deep for Shakspere:—'Since nothing can be truly said to be possessed as his own which a man must at one time or another yield; since that which isowncan never be taken from the owner, but solely that which is lent him; since the nature of a thing that has to be left is not such that itcouldbe possessed, why should a man mind parting with it early?'—There is far more in this than merely that at the end of the day it will be all the same. The thing that ever was really a man's own, God has given, and God will not, and man cannot, take away. Note the unity of religion and philosophy in Hamlet: he takes the one true position. Note also his courage: he has a strong presentiment of death, but will not turn a step from his way. If Death be coming, he will confront him. He does not believe in chance. He is ready—that is willing. All that is needful is, that he should not go as one who cannot help it, but as one who is for God's will, who chooses that will as his own.
There is so much behind in Shakspere's characters—so much that can only be hinted at! The dramatist has not theword-scope of the novelist; his art gives him littleroom; he must effect in a phrase what the other may take pages to. He needs good seconding by his actors as sorely as the composer needs good rendering of his music by the orchestra. It is a lesson in unity that the greatest art can least work alone; that the greatestfindermost needs the help of others to show hisfindings. The dramatist has live men and women for the very instruments of his art—who must not be mere instruments, but fellow-workers; and upon them he is greatly dependent for final outcome.
Here the actor should show a marked calmness and elevation in Hamlet. He should have around him as it were a luminous cloud, the cloud of his coming end. A smile not all of this world should close the speech. He has given himself up, and is at peace.]
[Footnote 4: Note in this apology the sweetness of Hamlet's nature. How few are alive enough, that is unselfish and true enough, to be capable of genuine apology! The low nature always feels, not the wrong, but the confession of it, degrading.]
[Footnote 5: —the wrong of his rudeness at the funeral.]
[Footnote 6: all present.]
[Footnote 7: —true in a deeper sense than they would understand.]
[Footnote 8: 'that might roughly awake your nature, honour, and exception,':—consider the phrase—to take exception at a thing.]
[Footnote 9: It was by cause of madness, not by cause of evil intent. For all purpose of excuse it was madness, if only pretended madness; it was there of another necessity, and excused offence like real madness. What he said was true, not merely expedient, to the end he meant it to serve. But all passion may be called madness, because therein the mind is absorbed with one idea; 'anger is a brief madness,' and he was in a 'towering passion': he proclaims it madness and so abjures it.]
[Footnote 10: 'refuses the wrong altogether—will in his true self have nothing to do with it.' No evil thing comes of our true selves, and confession is the casting of it from us, the only true denial. He who will not confess a wrong, holds to the wrong.]
[Footnote 11: All here depends on the expression in the utterance.]
[Footnote 12:This line not in Q.]
[Footnote 13: This is Hamlet's summing up of the whole—his explanation of the speech.]
[Footnote 14: 'so far as this in your generous judgment—that you regard me as having shot &c.']
[Footnote 15:Brotheris much easier to accept, thoughMothermight be in the simile.
To do justice to the speech we must remember that Hamlet has no quarrel whatever with Laertes, that he has expressed admiration of him, and that he is inclined to love him for Ophelia's sake. His apology has no reference to the fate of his father or his sister; Hamlet is not aware that Laertes associates him with either, and plainly the public did not know Hamlet killed Polonius; while Laertes could have no intention of alluding to the fact, seeing it would frustrate his scheme of treachery.]
[Page 264]
Laer. I am satisfied in Nature,[1]Whose motiue in this case should stirre me mostTo my Reuenge. But in my termes of HonorI stand aloofe, and will no reconcilement,Till by some elder Masters of knowne Honor,I haue a voyce, and president of peaceTo keepe my name vngorg'd.[2] But till that time,[Sidenote: To my name vngord: but all that]I do receiue your offer'd loue like loue,And wil not wrong it.
Ham. I do embrace it freely, [Sidenote: I embrace] And will this Brothers wager frankely play. Giue vs the Foyles: Come on.[3]
Laer. Come one for me.[4]
Ham. Ile be your foile[5]Laertes, in mine ignorance, [Sidenote: 218] Your Skill shall like a Starre i'th'darkest night,[6] Sticke fiery off indeede.
Laer. You mocke me Sir.
Ham. No by this hand.[7]
King. Giue them the Foyles yongOsricke,[8] [Sidenote:Ostricke,[8]] CousenHamlet, you know the wager.
Ham. Verie well my Lord, Your Grace hath laide the oddes a'th'weaker side, [Sidenote: has]
King.I do not feare it,I haue seene you both:[9]But since he is better'd, we haue therefore oddes.[10][Sidenote: better, we]
[Footnote 1: 'in my own feelings and person.' Laertes does not refer to his father or sister. He professes to be satisfied in his heart with Hamlet's apology for his behaviour at the funeral, but not to be sure whether in the opinion of others, and by the laws of honour, he can accept it as amends, and forbear to challenge him. But the words 'Whose motiue in this case should stirre me most to my Reuenge' may refer to his father and sister, and, if so taken, should be spoken aside. To accept apology for them and not for his honour would surely be too barefaced! The point concerning them has not been started.
But why not receive the apology as quite satisfactory? That he would not seems to show a lingering regard torealhonour. A downright villain, like the king, would have pretended itsthoroughacceptance—especially as they were just going to fence like friends; but he, as regards his honour, will not accept it until justified in doing so by the opinion of 'some elder masters,' receiving from them 'a voice and precedent of peace'—counsel to, and justification, or example of peace. He keeps the door of quarrel open—will not profess to bealtogetherfriends with him, though he does not hint at his real ground of offence: that mooted, the match of skill, with its immense advantages for villainy, would have been impossible. He means treachery all the time; careful of his honour, he can, like most apes of fashion, let his honesty go; still, so complex is human nature, he holds his speech declining thorough reconciliation as a shield to shelter his treachery from his own contempt: he has taken care not to profess absolute friendship, and so left room for absolute villainy! He has had regard to his word! Relieved perhaps by the demoniacal quibble, he follows it immediately with an utterance of full-blown perfidy.]
[Footnote 2: Perhapsungorg'dmight meanunthrottled.]
[Footnote 3: 'Come on'is not in the Q.—I suspect thisCome onbut a misplaced shadow from the 'Come one' immediately below, and better omitted. Hamlet could not say 'Come on' before Laertes was ready, and 'Come one' after 'Give us the foils,' would be very awkward. But it may be said to the attendant courtiers.]
[Footnote 4: He says this while Hamlet is still choosing, in order that a second bundle of foils, in which is the unbated and poisoned one, may be brought him. So 'generous and free from all contriving' is Hamlet, (220) that, even with the presentiment in his heart, he has no fear of treachery.]
[Footnote 5: As persons of the drama, the Poet means Laertes to be foil to Hamlet.—With the play upon the word before us, we can hardly help thinking of thethirdsignification of the wordfoil.]
[Footnote 6: 'My ignorance will be the foil of darkest night to the burning star of your skill.' This is no flattery; Hamlet believes Laertes, to whose praises he has listened (218)—though not with the envy his uncle attributes to him—the better fencer: he expects to win only 'at the odds.' 260.]
[Footnote 7: —not 'by these pickers and stealers,' his oath to his false friends. 154.]
[Footnote 8: Plainly a favourite with the king.—He isOstrickealways in theQ.]
[Footnote 9: 'seen you both play'—though not together.]
[Footnote 10:Point thus:
I do not fear it—I have seen you both!But since, he is bettered: we have therefore odds.
'Since'—'since the time I saw him.']
[Page 266]
Laer. This is too heauy, Let me see another.[1]
Ham. This likes me well, These Foyles haue all a length.[2]Prepare to play.[3]
Osricke. I my good Lord. [Sidenote:Ostr.]