Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel ;3 Bear it that the opposer may beware of thee. Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy: For the apparel oft proclaims the man;6 And they in France, of the best rank and station, 3 Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel;] The old copies read-with hoops of steel. I have no doubt that this was a corruption in the original quarto of 1604, arising, like many others, from similitude of sounds. The emendation, which was made by Mr. Pope, and adopted by three subsequent editors, is strongly supported by the word grapple. See Minsheu's Dict. 1617: “To hook or grapple, viz. to grapple and to board a ship." A grapple is an instrument with several hooks to lay hold of a ship, in order to board it. This correction is also justified by our poet's 137th Sonnet: "Why of eyes' falshood hast thou forged hooks, "Whereto the judgement of my heart is ty'd ?" It may be also observed, that hooks are sometimes made of steel, but hoops never. Malone. We have, however, in King Henry IV, P. II: "A hoop of gold to bind thy brothers in." The former part of the phrase occurs also in Macbeth: 66 Grapples you to the heart and love of us." ▲ But do not dull thy palm with entertainment Steevens. Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade.] The literal sense is, Do not make thy palm callous by shaking every man by the hand. The figurative meaning may be, Do not by promiscuous conversation make thy mind insensible to the difference of characters. Johnson. 5 each man's censure,] Censure is opinion. So, in King Henry VI, P. II: "The king is old enough to give his censure." Steevens. • For the apparel oft proclaims the man ;] "A man's attire, and excessive laughter, and gait, shew what he is." Ecclus XIX, ver. 30. Todd. 7 Are most select and generous, chief in that.] I think the whole design of the precept shows that we should read: Are most select, and generous chief, in that. Chief may be an adjective used adverbially, a practice common Neither a borrower, nor a lender be: Laer. Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord. What I have said to you. Oph. 'Tis in my memory lock'd, And you yourself shall keep the key of it. to our author: chiefly generous. Yet it must be owned that the punctuation recommended is very stiff and harsh. I would, however, more willingly read: And they in France, of the best rank and station, Select and generous, are most choice in that. Let the reader, who can discover the slightest approach towards sense, harmony, or metre, in the original line, Are of a most select and generous chief, in that,— adhere to the old copies. Steevens. The genuine meaning of the passage requires us to point the line thus: Are most select and generous, chief in that. i. e. the nobility of France are select and generous above all other nations, and chiefly in the point of apparel; the richness and elegance of their dress. Ritson. 8 of husbandry,] i. e. of thrift; œconomical prudence. See Vol. VII, p. 78, n. 9. Malone. 9 And it must follow, as the night the day,] So, in the 145th Sonnet of Shakspeare: "That follow'd it as gentle day my blessing season this in thee!] Season for infuse. Warburton. It is more than to infuse, it is to infix it in such a manner as that it never may wear out. Johnson. So, in the mock tragedy represented before the king: 3 66 who in want a hollow friend doth try, The time invites you;] So, in Macbeth: "I go, and it is done, the bell invites me." Steevens. • your servants tend.] i. e. your servants are waiting for you. Johnson. 4 -yourself shall keep the key of it,] The meaning is, that Laer. Farewel. [Exit LAER. Pol. What is 't, Ophelia, he hath said to you? Oph. So please you, something touching the lord Ham let. Pol. Marry, well bethought: 'Tis told me, he hath very oft of late Given private time to you; and you yourself Have of your audience been most free and bounteous: And that in way of caution,) I must tell you, Oph. He hath, my lord, of late, made many tenders Of his affection to me. Pol. Affection? puh! you speak like a green girl, Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them? Oph. I do not know, my lord, what I should think. Pol. Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby; That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay, Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly; Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, Wronging it thus,) you 'll tender me a fool. your counsels are as sure of remaining locked up in my memory, as if yourself carried the key of it. So, in Northward Hoe, by Decker and Webster, 1607: "You shall close it up like a treasure of your own, and yourself shall keep the key of it." Steevens. 5 Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.] Unsifted for untried. Untried signifies either not tempted, or not refined; unsifted signifies the latter only, though the sense requires the former. Warburton. It means, I believe, one who has not sufficiently considered, or thoroughly sifted such matters. M. Mason. I do not think that the sense requires us to understand untempted. "Unsifted in," &c. means, I think, one who has not nicely canvassed and examined the peril of her situation. Malone. That sifted means tempted, may be seen in the 31st verse of the 22d chapter of St. Luke's gospel. Harris. 6 Tender yourself more dearly; Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, Wronging it thus,) you'll tender me a fool.] The parenthesis is closed at the wrong place; and we must have likewise a slight correction in the last verse. [Wringing it, &c.] Polonius is racking Oph. My lord, he hath impórtun'd me with love, In honourable fashion. Pol. Ay, fashion you may call it ;7 go to, go to. Oph. And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord, With almost all the holy vows of heaven. Pol. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know, When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter, and playing on the word tender, till he thinks proper to correct himself for the licence; and then he would say-not farther to crack the wind of the phrase, by twisting it and contorting it, as I have done. Warburton. I believe the word wronging has reference, not to the phrase, but to Ophelia; if you go on wronging it thus, that is, if you continue to go on thus wrong. This is a mode of speaking perhaps not very grammatical, but very common; nor have the best writers refused it. Thus to coy it, "With one who knows you too." The folio has it-Roaming it thus. That is, letting yourself loose to such improper liberty. But wronging seems to be more proper. Johnson. I have followed the punctuation of the first quarto, 1604, where the parenthesis is extended to the word thus, to which word the context in my apprehension clearly shows it should be carried. "Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, playing upon it, and abusing it thus,") &c. So, in The Rape of Lucrece: "To wrong the wronger, till he render right." The quarto, by the mistake of the compositor, reads-Wrong it thus. The correction was made by Mr. Pope. Tender yourself more dearly; To tender is to regard with affection. So, in King Richard II: And so betide me, "As well I tender you and all of yours." Again, in The Maydes Metamorphosis, by Lyly, 1601: 56 if you account us for the same 7 "That tender thee, and love Apollo's name." Malone. fashion you may call it;] She uses fashion for manner, and he for a transient practice. Johnson. 8 · springes to catch woodcocks,] A proverbial saying, “Every woman has a springe to catch a woodcock." Steevens. 91 these blazes, daughter,] Some epithet to blazes was probably omitted, by the carelessness of the transcriber or composi Giving more light than heat,-extinct in both, Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds,4 tor, in the first quarto, in consequence of which the metre is defective. Malone. 1 Set your entreatments] Entreatments here mean company, conversation, from the French entrétien. Johnson. Entreatments, I rather think, means the objects of entreaty; the favours for which lovers sue. In the next scene we have a word of a similar formation: "As if it some impartment did desire," &c. Malone. 2—— larger tether-] A string to tie horses. Pope. Tether is that string by which an animal, set to graze in grounds uninclosed, is confined within the proper limits. Johnson. So, in Greene's Card of Fancy, 1601:-" To tie the ape and the bear in one tedder." Tether is a string by which any animal is fastened, whether for the sake of feeding or the air. Steevens. 3 Do not believe his vows, for they are brokers -] A broker in old English meant a bawd or pimp. See the Glossary to Gawin Douglas's translation of Virgil. So, in King John : "This bawd, this broker," &c. See also, Vol. XII, p. 196, n. 1. In our author's Lover's Complaint we again meet with the same expression, applied in the same manner: "Know, vows are ever brokers to defiling." Malone. ▲ Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds,] On which the editor, Mr. Theobald, remarks, Though all the editors have swallowed this reading implicitly, it is certainly corrupt; and I have been surprized how men of genius and learning could let it pass without some suspicion. What idea can we frame to ourselves of a breathing bond, or of its being sanctified and pious, &c. But he was too hasty in framing ideas before he understood those already framed by the poet, and expressed in very plain words. Do not believe (says Polonius to his daughter) Hamlet's amorous vows made to you; which pretend religion in them, (the better to beguile) like those |