Pol. He hath, my lord, [wrung from me my flow leave, By labourfome petition; and, at laft, King. Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine, And thy beft graces fpend it at thy will. Take thy fair hour, Lacrtes; time be thine, And thy fair graces; Spend it at thy will.] This is the pointing in both Mr. Pope's editions; but the poet's meaning is loft by it, and the clofe of the fentence miferably flatten'd. The pointing, I have reftored, is that of the beft copies; and the fenfe, this: "You have my leave to go, Laertes; make "the fairest ufe you pleafe of your time, and spend it at your "will with the fairest graces you are mafter of." THEOB. I rather think this line is in want of emendation. I read, -Time is thine, And my best graces; spend it at thy will. JOHNSON. 2 Ham. A little more than kin, and less than kind.] The king had calied him, coufin Hamlet, therefore Hamlet replies, A little more than kin, i. e. A little more than coufin; becaufe, by marrying his mother, he was become the king's fon-in-law: fo far is eafy. But what means the latter part, -and less than kind? The king, in the prefent reading, gives no occafion for this reflection, which is fufficient to fhew it to be faulty, and that we should read and point the first line thus, But now, my coufin Hamlet-KIND my fen i. e. But now let us turn to you, coufin Hamlet. Kind my fon, (or, as we now fay, Good my fon) lay afide this clouded look. For thus he was going to expoftulate gently with him for his melancholy, when Hamlet cut him fhort by reflecting on the titles he gave him; A little more than kin, and less than kind, which we now fee is a pertinent reply. WARBURTON. A little more than kin, and less than kind.] It is not unreasonable to fuppofe that this was a proverbial expreffion, known in Ham. Not fo, my lord, I am 3 too much i' the fun. Queen. Good Hamlet, caft thy nighted colour off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not, for ever, with thy 4 vailed lids, Seek for thy noble father in the dust : Thou know'ft, 'tis common; all, that live, must die; Paffing through nature to eternity. Ham. Ay, Madam, it is common. Queen. If it be, Why feems it fo particular with thee? Ham. Seems, Madam! nay, it is; I know not feems. 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, To give these mourning duties to your father: in former times for a relation fo confufed and blended, that it was hard to define it. HANMER. Kind is the Teutonick word for child. Hamlet therefore anfwers with propriety, to the titles of coufin and fon, which the king had given him, that he was fomewhat more than confin, and lefs than fon. JOHNSON. 3 too much i' the fun.] He perhaps alludes to the proverb, Out of heaven's bleffing into the warm fun. JOHNSON. -too much i' the jun. Meaning probably his being fent for from his ftudies to be expofed at his uncle's marriage as his chiefeft courtier, &c. STEEVENS. Availed lids,] With lowering eyes, caft down eyes. JOHNSON. But, you must know, 5 your father loft a father; To do obfequious forrow. But to perféver 5 your father loft a father; That father, his; and the furvivor bound] Thus Mr. Pope judiciouny corrected the faulty copies. On which the editor Mr. Theobald thus defcants: This fuppofed refinement is from Mr. Pope, but all the editions elfe, that I have met with, old and modern, read, That father loft, loft his ; The reduplication of which word here gives an energy and an elegance, WHICH IS MUCH EASIER TO BE CONCEIVED THAN EXPLAINED IN TERMS. I believe fo: for when explained in terms it comes to this; That father after he had loft himself, loft his father. But the reading is ex fide codicis, and that is enough. WARBURTON. I do not admire the repetition of the word, but it has fo much of our author's manner, that I find no temptation to recede from the old copies. JOHNSON. your father loft a father; That father loft, loft his ; The meaning of the paffage is no more than this. Your father loft a father, i. e. your grandfather, which loft grandfather, alfo loit his father. STEEVENS. 6 obfequious forrow.-] Olfequious is here from obfequies or funeral ceremonies. JOHNSON. So in Titus Andronicus, "To fhed obfequious tears upon his trunk." STEEVENS. In obftinate condolement,] Condolement, for forrow. WARBURTON. -a will most incorrect-] Incarred, for untutor'd. WARBURTON. Το 9 To reafon moft abfurd; whofe common theme As of a father: for, let the world take note, And with no lefs nobility of ove, Than that which dearcft father bears his fon, Queen. Let not thy mother lofe her prayers, Ham let: I pray thee, ftay with us, go not to Wittenberg. To reafon most abfurd; Reafon, for experience. WARB. Reafon is here ufed in its common fenfe, for the faculty by which we form conclufions from arguments. JoHNSON. 1 And with no less nobility of love,] Nobility, for magnitude.. WARBURTON. Nobility is rather generefity. JOHNSON. 2 Do I impart toward you.-] Impart, for profess. WARB. I believe impart is, impart myself, communicate whatever I can bestow. JOHNSON. Do I impart toward you. The crown of Denmark was elective. The king means, that as Hamlet ftands the faireft chance to be next elected, he will ftrive with as much love to enfure it to him, as a father would fhew in the continuance of heirdom to a fon. STEVENS. bend you to remain] i. e. fubdue your inclination to go from hence, and remain, &c. STEEVENS. 3 VOL. X. L No 4 No jocund health, that Denmark drinks to-day, Ham. Oh, that this too too folid flesh would melt, Thaw, and refolve itself into a dew 5! Or that the Everlafting had not fix'd His canon 'gainft felf-flaughter! O God! O God! How weary, ftale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the ufes of this world! Fie on't! oh fie! 'tis an unweeded garden, That grows to feed; things rank, and grofs in nature, Poffefs it merely. That it fhould come to this! But two months dead!-nay, not fo much; not two: 7 So excellent a king, that was, to this, Hyperion 4 No jocund health,-] The king's intemperance is very ftrongly imprefled; every thing that happens to him gives him occafion to drink. JOHNSON. 5 refolve itself into a dew!] Refolve means the fame as diffolve. Ben Jonfon ufes the word in his Volpone, and in the fame fenfe. Forth the refolved corners of his eyes." 6 Or that the Everlasting bad not fix'd STEEVENS. His cannon 'gainst felf-flaughter!-] The generality of the editions read thus, as if the poet's thought were, Or that the Almighty had not planted his artillery, or arms of vengeance, against jelf-murder. But the word which I restored (and which was efpoufed by the accurate Mr. Hughes, who gave an edition of this play) is the true reading, i. e. that he had not reftrained fuicide by his exprefs law and peremptory prohibition. THEOB. There are yet thofe who fuppofe the old reading to be the true one, as they fay the word fixed feems to decide too ftrongly in its favour. I would advife fuch to recollect Virgil's expreffion. -fixit leges pretio, atq; refixit. STEEVENS. 7 So excellent a king, that was, to this, Hyperion to a Satyr:] This fimilitude at firft fight feems to be a little far-fetch'd; but it has an exquifite beauty. By |