Brief let me be.-Sleeping within mine orchard, Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand, No reckoning made, but sent to my account 9 My custom always IN the afternoon,] So the folio, supported by the 4to, 1603. The later 4tos. read of for "in." 1- like EAGER droppings] We have had "cager" in the second line of this scene here it means sour, as in the former instance it meant sharp. In the Prompt. Parv. we have "Egyr, or egre," translated acer. In the folio it is here spelt aygre, according to the Fr. etymology. 2 BARK'D about,] The 4to, 1603, comes again to our aid here: it has "bark'd," which is the reading of all the other 4tos, and no doubt the right word, though in the folio it is misprinted bak'd, for which some editors contend. 3 at once DISPATCH'D:] Depriv'd is the word in the 4to, 1603; but in the other 4tos. and folios "dispatch'd." The corr. fo. 1632 substitutes despoil'd, which on some accounts may seem preferable; but as "dispatch'd" is so warranted, and, as far as intelligibility is concerned, so unobjectionable, we retain it. Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd;] "Unhousel'd" is without having received the sacrament: 'disappointed" is unappointed or unprepared; and "unanel'd" is unoiled, without extreme unction. In the 4to, 1604, (the earliest that contains the word) it is spelt unanueid. 5 66 most horrible!] Johnson recommended that this line should be trans. ferred to Hamlet, and Garrick so repeated it; but that it was not so intended by the poet, is proved by every old copy, including the 4to, 1603. The old annotator on the fo. 1632, also, who was usually very attentive to such matters, made no change. We therefore make none. But, howsoever thou pursuest this act, To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once. Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me°. [Exit. Ham. Oh, all you host of heaven! Oh earth! What else? And shall I couple hell?-Oh fie!-Hold, hold, my heart; But bear me stiffly up'!-Remember thee? I'll wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, I have sworn't. Hor. [Within.] My lord! my lord! [Writing. Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me.] This is the line in the folios: it differs from that in the 4tos. by having "Hamlet," instead of adieu repeated a third time. It is so far supported by the 4to, 1603, that we find "Hamlet" in the line there, in addition to "adieu, adieu, adieu!" 7 bear me STIFFLY up!] The 4to, 1603, has not the passage: the other 4tos. read corruptly, "Bear me swiftly up," but the folio, 1623, “stiffly up." 8 Oh, most pernicious AND PERFIDIOUS Woman!] "And perfidious," clearly required by the line, is only found in the corr. fo. 1632. The two words "pernicious" and "perfidious," looking like each other, perhaps the old printer, having composed the first, fancied he had composed both, and thus omitted a very striking and appropriate epithet. My tables,-meet it is, I set it down,] The folio needlessly repeats "My tables," and just above it inserts "yes" twice, in both cases to the injury of the metre, as it stands in the 4tos. Hor. Within.] Heaven secure him! Mar. Within.] So be it! Hor. [Within.] Illo, ho, ho, my lord! Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come'. Ham. How say you, then; would heart of man once think it ? But you'll be secret. Hor. Mar. Ay, by heaven, my lord. Ham. There's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Denmark, But he's an arrant knave. Hor. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave To tell us this. Ham. Why, right; you are i̇' the right; And so, without more circumstance at all, I hold it fit that we shake hands and part: You, as your business and desire shall point you, Such as it is; and, for mine own poor part, Look you', I'll go pray. Hor. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. Ham. I am sorry they offend you, heartily; yes, 'Faith, heartily. Hor. There's no offence, my lord. Ham. Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio, And much offence too. Touching this vision here, 1 - come, bird, come.] An exclamation used by falconers. In the 4tos. it stands "boy, come and come:" there also the short speeches are somewhat differently distributed, but we have followed the folio, where the arrangement seems preferable. 2 Look you,] These words are only in the folio impressions. 3 but wild and WHIRLING Words,] The folio has hurling: we adopt "whirling" not merely because it is the reading of the 4tos, 1604, &c., but because it is found also in the 4to, 1603. It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you: And now, good friends, As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers, Give me one poor request. Hor. What is't, my lord? we will. Ham. Never make known what you have seen to-night. Hor. Mar. My lord, we will not. Ham. Hor. Nay, but swear't.. In faith, Ham. Ha, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there, true Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage,— Consent to swear. Hor. Propose the oath, my lord. Ham. Never to speak of this that you have seen, Swear by my sword. Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear. Ham. Hic et ubique? then, we'll shift our ground. Come hither, gentlemen, And lay your hands again upon my sword: 4 Upon my sword.] It is useless to accumulate instances of the ordinary practice of swearing on the cross of the hilt of the sword. Warburton quoted Bartholinus to show that with the Danes it was a religious ceremony, but Shakespeare attended only to the manners of his own country. In the opening of R. Greene's "Pinner of Wakefield," 1599, the Earl of Kendall swears upon his sword to relieve the poor; and Dekker in his play of "Fortunatus," 1600, makes one of the characters say, "He has sworn to me on the cross of his pure Toledo." It would be easy to adduce many other passages, but they would establish no more than has been already proved. art thou there, TRUE-PENNY?] "True-penny" was used by other authors besides Shakespeare; by Nash, for instance, in his “Almond for a Parrot." It is (as I learn from Mr. Pryme, Mr. Kennedy of Sheffield, and other authorities) a mining term, and signifies a particular indication in the soil of the direction in which ore is to be found. Hence Hamlet may with propriety address the Ghost under ground by that name. • Never to speak of this that you have heard, Swear by my sword.] In the 4tos, 1604, &c. "Swear by my sword" pre Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear. Ham. Well said, old mole! canst work i'the earth so fast? How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself,- That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, As, "Well, well, we know ;"-or, "We could, an if we would;" Or, "If we list to speak;"-or, "There be, an if they might;" Or such ambiguous giving out, to note That you know aught of me :-this not to do, most need help you, Ham. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit !-So, gentlemen, With all my love I do commend me to you: And what so poor a man as Hamlet is May do, t' express his love and friending to you, God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together; [Exeunt. cedes the line "Never to speak," &c. In the 4to, 1603, and in the folio, the order is reversed, and the passage stands as in our text. In the later 4tos. also the Ghost afterwards says, "Swear by his sword," and not merely "Swear," as in the two previous instances. In the next line, the folio has ground, for "earth" of every anterior copy. 7 in YOUR philosophy.] So every 4to, that of 1603 included: the folio, 1623, first introduced our. 8 this not to do,] So the folio, and so the 4to, 1603: the other 4tos, "this do swear." |