The pith and marrow of our attribute.' That, for some vicious mole of nature in them, By the o'ergrowth of some complexion,* Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason; Shall in the general censure take corruption To his own scandal. Enter Ghost. Hor. Look, my lord, it comes! Ham. Angels and ministers of grace defend us .-- Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell, Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, That I will speak to thee; I'll call thee, Hamlet, Hath op'd his ponderous and marble jaws, [3] The best and most valuable part of the praise that would be otherwise attributed to us. JOHNSON. [4] Complexion---humour; as sanguine, melancholy, phlegmatic, &c. JOHNSON. WARBURTON. [5] As large as can be accumulated upon man. [6] Dout is a word formed by the coalescence of two others (do and out) like don for do on, doff for do off, both of which are used by Shakespeare. In Warwickshire they always say---dout the candle, dout the fire, put out or extinguish them. STEEVENS. [7] Hamlet's speech to the apparition of his father seems to me to consist of three parts. When first he sees the spectre, he fortifies himself with an invocation, “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!" As the spectre approaches, he deliberates with himself, and determines that whatever it be he will venture to address it. The five next lines he says while his father is advancing; he then, as he had de termined, speaks to him, and calls him--Hamlet, King, Father, Royal Dane: 0, anJOHNSON. swer me. To cast thee up again! What may this mean, Making night hideous;, and we fools of nature, With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls? As if it some impartment did desire To you alone. Mar. Look, with what courteous action It waves you to a more removed ground: But do not go with it. Hor. No, by no means. Ham. It will not speak; then I will follow it. Ham. Why, what should be the fear? I do not set my life at a pin's fee :' It waves me forth again;-I'll follow it. L Hor. What, if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord, Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff, That beetles o'er his base into the sea? 2 And there assume some other horrible form, Ham. It waves me still : Go on, I'll follow thee. Mar. You shall not go, my lord. And makes each petty artery in this body [Ghost beckons. [8] It is probable that Shakespeare introduced his ghost in armour, that it might appear more solemn by such a discrimination from the other characters; though is was really the custom of the Danish kings to be buried in that manner. Vide Olaus Wormius, cap. 7. [9] Disposition, for frame. WARBURTON. STEEVENS. JOHNSON. The value of a pin. [2] Toys for whims." Still am I call'd ;-unhand me, gentlemen ; [Breaking from them. By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me :say, away -Go on, I'll follow thee. I [Exeunt Ghost and HAMLET. Hor. He waxes desperate with imagination. Mar. Let's follow; 'tis not fit thus to obey him. Hor. Have after:-To what issue will this come? Mar. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Hor. Heaven will direct it. Mar. Nay, let's follow him. [Exeunt. SCENE V. Re-enter Ghost and A more remote part of the Platform. HAMLET. Ham. Whither wilt thou lead me? Speak, I'll go no fur Ghost. Mark me. Ham. I will. Ghost. My hour is almost come, When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames Must render up myself. Ham. Alas, poor ghost! Ghost. Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing To what I shall unfold. Ham. Speak, I am bound to hear. [ther. Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear. Ham. What? Ghost. I am thy father's spirit; Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night; And, for the day, confin'd too fast in fires, Till the foul crimes, done in my days of nature, Are burnt and purg'd away. But that I am forbid I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood ; Like quills upon the fretful porcupine : But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood :-List, list, O list!- Ham. O heaven! Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. [8] To let among the old authors, signifies, to prevent, to hinder. STEEVENS. Ham. Murder? Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. Ham. Haste me to know it; that I, with wings as swift As meditation, or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge. Ghost. I find thee apt; And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, Would'st thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear: A serpent stung me: so the whole ear of Denmark Rankly abus'd: but know, thou noble youth, Ham. O, my prophetic soul! my uncle ! Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, But virtue, as it never will be mov'd, Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven ; And prey on garbage. But, soft! methinks, I scent the morning air; Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, [4] Shakespeare, apparently through ignorance, makes Roman Catholics of these Pagan Danes; and here gives a description of purgatory; but yet mixes it with_the Pagan fable of Lethe's wharf. Whether he did it to insinuate to the zealous Protestants of his time, that the Pagan and Popish purgatory stood both upon the same footing of credibility, or whether it was by the same kind of licentious inadvertence that Michael Angelo brought Charon's bark into his picture of the Last Judgment is not easy to decide. WARBURTON. [5] Orchard for garden. So in Romeo and Juliet: "The orchard walls are high, and hard to climb." See also Much Ado about Nothing, p. 105. With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand, No reckoning made, but sent to my account [Exit Ham. O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? And shall I couple hell ?—O fye !-Hold, hold, my heart, [6] The word here used was more probably designed by a metathesis, either of the poet or transcriber, for henebon, that is, henbane; of which the most common kind (hyoscyamus niger) is certainly narcotic, and perhaps, if taken in a considerable quantity, might prove poisonous. Galen calls it cold in the third degree; by which in this, as well as opium, he seems not to mean an actual coldness, but the power it has of benumbing the faculties. GREY. [7] Unhousel'd, is without having received the sacrament. Disappointed, Dr. Johnson observes, is the same as unappointed, and may be properly explained unprepared. Unanel'd is without extreme unction. STEEVENS. [8] It was ingeniously hinted to me by a very learned lady, that this line seems to belong to Hamlet, in whose mouth it is a proper and natural exclamation; and who, according to the practice of the stage, may be supposed to interrupt so long a speech. STEEVENS. JOHNSON. [9] For lewdness. Fire that is no longer seen when the light of morning approaches. STEEVENS |