KING. How is it that the clouds still hang on you? HAM. Not so, my lord, I am too much i'the sun. off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not, for ever, with thy vailed lids" his relationship was become an unnatural one, as it was partly founded upon incest. Our author's Julius Cæsar, Antony and Cleopatra, King Richard II. and Titus Andronicus, exhibit instances of kind being used for nature; and so too in this play of Hamlet, Act II. sc. the last: "Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain." Dr. Farmer, however, observes that kin is still used for cousin in the midland counties. STEEVENS. Hamlet does not, I think, mean to say, as Mr. Steevens supposes, that his uncle is a little more than kin, &c. The King had called the Prince-"My cousin Hamlet, and my son.". His reply, therefore, is," I am a little more than thy kinsman, [for I am thy step-son;] and somewhat less than kind to thee, [for I hate thee, as being the person who has entered into an incestuous marriage with my mother.]" Or, if we understand kind in its ancient sense, then the meaning will be,-I am more than thy kinsman, for I am thy step-son; being such, I am less near to thee than thy natural offspring, and therefore not entitled to the appellation of son, which you have now given me. 6 MALONE. too much i'the sun.] He perhaps alludes to the proverb, "Out of heaven's blessing into the warm sun." JOHNSON. Meaning probably his being sent for from his studies to be exposed at his uncle's marriage as his chiefest courtier, &c. STEEVENS. I question whether a quibble between sun and son be not here intended. FARMER. 7 vailed lids-] With lowering eyes, cast down eyes. So, in The Merchant of Venice: "Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs." JOHNSON. See Vol. XII. p. 17, n. 9. MALOne. STEEVENS. Seek for thy noble father in the dust: Thou know'st, 'tis common; all, that live, must die,R Passing through nature to eternity. HAM. Ay, madam, it is common. Why seems it so particular with thee? If it be, HAM. Seems, madam! nay, it is; I know not seems. 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, • Thou know'st, 'tis common; all, that live, must die,] Perhaps the semicolon placed in this line, is improper. The sense, elliptically expressed, is,-Thou knowest it is common that all that live, must die.-The first that is omitted for the sake of metre, a practice often followed by Shakspeare. STEEVENS. 9 —shows of grief,] Thus the folio. The first quarto reads-chapes-I suppose, for shapes. STEEVENS. 1 But I have that within, which passeth show; These, but the trappings and the suits of woe.] So, in King Richard II: 66 -my grief lies all within ; "And these external manners of lament "Are merely shadows to the unseen grief "That swells with silence in the tortur'd soul." VOL. XVIII. D MALONE. To give these mourning duties to your father: To do obsequious sorrow: But to perséver Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief: -your father lost a father; That father lost, lost his ;] Mr. Pope judiciously corrected the faulty copies thus: your father lost a father; That father, his ; On which the editor Mr. Theobald thus descants:-This supposed refinement is from Mr. Pope, but all the editions else, that I have met with, old and modern, read: That father lost, lost 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 so: for when explained in terms it comes to this:-That father after he had lost himself, lost 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 so much of our author's manner, that I find no temptation to recede from the old copies. JOHNSON. The meaning of the passage is no more than this,-Your father lost a father, i. e. your grandfather, which lost grandfather, also lost his father. The metre, however, in my opinion, shows that Mr. Pope's correction should be adopted. The sense, though elliptically expressed, will still be the same. STEEVENS. 3 obsequious sorrow:] Obsequious is here from obsequies, or funeral ceremonies. JOHNSON. So, in Titus Andronicus: "To shed obsequious tears upon his trunk.” See Vol. XIV. p. 282, n. 4. STEEVENS. * In obstinate condolement,] Condolement, for sorrow. WARBURTON. --a will most incorrect-] Incorrect, for untutored. WARBURTON. A heart unfortified, or mind impatient; Than that which dearest father bears his son, 8 Incorrect does not mean untutored, as Warburton explains it but ill-regulated, not sufficiently subdued. M. MASON. Not sufficiently regulated by a sense of duty and submission to the dispensations of Providence. MALONE. • To reason most absurd;] Reason is here used in its common sense, for the faculty by which we form conclusions from arguments. JOHNSON. 7 And, with no less nobility of love,] Nobility, for magnitude Nobility is rather generosity. JOHNSON. By nobility of love, Mr. Heath understands, eminence and distinction of love. MALONE. So, afterwards, the Ghost, describing his affection for the Queen: "To me, whose love was of that dignity," &c. STEEVENS. Do I impart toward you.] I believe impart is, impart myself, communicate whatever I can bestow. JOHNson. The crown of Denmark was elective. Knight of the Golden Shield, &c. 1599: So, in Syr Clyomon, In going back to school in Wittenberg," "And me possess for spoused wife, who in election am same." The King means, that as Hamlet stands the fairest chance to be next elected, he will strive with as much love to ensure the crown to him, as a father would show in the continuance of heirdom to a son. STEEVENS. I agree with Mr. Steevens, that the crown of Denmark (as in most of the Gothick kingdoms) was elective, and not hereditary; though it must be customary, in elections, to pay some attention to the royal blood, which by degrees produced hereditary succession. Why then do the rest of the commentators so often treat Claudius as an usurper, who had deprived young Hamlet of his right by heirship to his father's crown? Hamlet calls him drunkard, murderer, and villain; one who had carried the election by low and mean practices; had had "Popp'd in between the election and my hopes-.” "From a shelf the precious diadem stole, His discontent arose but never hints at his being an usurper. from his uncle's being preferred before him, not from any legal right which he pretended to set up to the crown. Some regard was probably had to the recommendation of the preceding prince, in electing the successor. And therefore young Hamlet had "the voice of the king himself for his succession in Denmark;" and he at his own death prophecies that "the election would light on Fortinbras, who had his dying voice," conceiving that by the death of his uncle, he himself had been king for an instant, and had therefore a right to recommend. When, in the fourth Act, the rabble wished to choose Laertes king, I understand that antiquity was forgot, and custom violated, by electing a new king in the life-time of the old one, and perhaps also by the calling in a stranger to the royal blood. BLACKSTONE. 9 -to school in Wittenberg,] In Shakspeare's time there was an university at Wittenberg, to which he has made Hamlet propose to return. The university of Wittenberg was not founded till 1502, consequently did not exist in the time to which this play is referred. MALONE. Our author may have derived his knowledge of this famous |