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(that is, kindred things).

Delius remarks that native expresses a connection that is congenital, instrumental one that is mechanical.

66

51. Leave and favour. Kind permission" (Caldecott).

56. Pardon. "Almost = leave, permission" (Schmidt). Cf. A. and C. iii. 6. 60: "His pardon for return."

59. Laboursome. Cf. Cymb. iii. 4. 167: "laboursome (=elaborate) and dainty trims." S. uses the word only twice, laborious not at all.

Lines 58-60 are not in the folio.

63. And thy best graces, etc. "May the fairest graces that you are master of help you to spend the time at your will" (M.).

64. Cousin. Nephew. Elsewhere it means niece (as in A. Y. L. i. 2. 164, i. 3. 44, etc.), uncle (7. N. i. 5. 131, v. 1. 313), brother-in-law (1 Hen. IV. iii. 1. 51), and grandchild (K. John, iii. 3. 17, Oth. i. 1. 113, etc.). It is also used as a mere complimentary form of address between princes, etc. (Hen. V. v. 2. 4, Rich. III. iii. 4. 37, etc.).

65. A little more than kin, etc. If Hamlet refers to himself, the meaning seems to be more than a mere kinsman (being step-son as well as nephew) and less than kind (because I hate you). If he applies them to the king, we may accept the paraphrase of W.: “In marrying my mother you have made yourself something more than my kinsman, and at the same time have shown yourself unworthy of our race, our kind." For sundry other explanations, see F. Coll. quotes Rowley, Search for Money, 1609: "I would he were not so near us in kindred, then sure he would be nearer in kindness." Steevens compares Lyly, Mother Bombie, 1594: "the nearer we are in blood, the further we must be from love; the greater the kindred is, the less the kindness must be ;" and Gorboduc, 1561: “In kinde a father, but not kindelynesse."

67. Too much i' the sun. "More careless and idle than I ought to be" (Schmidt). Johnson, Caldecott, and others see here an allusion to the old proverb, "Out of heaven's blessing into the warm sun," that is, "out of house and home,”-in Hamlet's case, deprived of his right, or the succession to the throne. For a summary of other interpretations, see F.

68. Nighted. Black as night (Gr. 294). S. uses the word again in Lear, iv. 5. 13: "his nighted life."

Scarlet was the colour then worn by the kings, queens, and princes of Denmark. K. says: "It thus happens, curiously enough, that the ob jections of the queen and Claudius to the appearance of Hamlet in black are authorized, not only by the well-known custom of the early Danes never to mourn for their nearest and dearest relatives and friends, but also by the fact that, although black was at least their favourite, if not, indeed, their national colour, Hamlet, as a prince of the blood, should have been attired in the royal scarlet.”

70. Vailed lids. Downcast eyes. Cf. V. and A. 956: "She vail'd her eyelids;" M. of V. i. 1. 28: "Vailing her high top lower than her ribs,"

etc.

See Mer. p. 128. We have a play on the word in Marlowe's Hero and Leander: "Vail'd to the ground, veiling her eyelids close."

72. Lives. The 2d and later folios have "live," which is adopted by Coll., D., and H.

74. Ay, madam, etc. Coleridge says: "Here observe Hamlet's delicacy to his mother, and how the suppression prepares him for the overflow in the next speech, in which his character is more developed by bringing forward his aversion to externals, and which betrays his habit of brooding over the world within him, coupled with a prodigality of beautiful words, which are the half-embodyings of thought, and are more than thought, and have an outness, a reality sui generis, and yet contain their correspondence and shadowy affinity to the images and movements within. Note also Hamlet's silence to the long speech of the king which follows, and his respectful, but general, answer to his mother." M. quotes Tennyson, In Memoriam, vi. :

"That loss is common would not make

My own less bitter; rather more:
Too common! never morning wore
To evening, but some heart did break."

77. Inky. Again used metaphorically in A. Y. L. iii. 5. 46: “your inky brows."

81. Haviour. Often printed "haviour," but see Rich. II. p. 162. 82. Shows. The quartos have "chapes" or "shapes."

83. Denote. Indicate, mark. Cf. Sonn. 148. 7, Ōth. iii. 3. 428, iv. 1. 290, etc.

85. Passeth. As Corson remarks, the older form suits the tone of the passage better, and avoids the concurrence of sibilants.

M. quotes Rich. II. iv. 1. 295–298: ""Tis very true, my grief lies all within," etc.

87. Commendable. Accented on the first syllable, as regularly in S. (cf. Much Ado, iii. 1. 71, 73, etc.), with the single exception (which Schmidt considers doubtful) of M. of V. i. I. III. Abbott (Gr. 490) would give the latter accent here.

90. That father, etc. That lost father lost his; or (Gr. 246) that father (who was) lost lost his.

Bound. Was bound. For the ellipsis, cf. iii. 3. 62 (Wr.). See Gr. 403. 92. Obsequious. Funereal; from obsequies (Johnson); as in T. A. v. 3. 152 and Sonn. 31. 5. Cf. the adverb obsequiously in Rich. III. i. 2. 3. Persever. The regular spelling and accent in S. Cf. A. W. iv. 2. 36, 37, where it rhymes with ever. Gr. 492.

93. Condolement. Sorrow, mourning. Used by S. only here and (blunderingly) in Per. ii. 1. 156.

95. Incorrect. Contumacious, unsubmissive; used by S. only here, like unfortified (weak) in the next line.

97. Simple. Foolish.

99. Any the most. Cf. Cymb. i. 4. 65: "any the rarest."

To sense. Depending on vulgar, and-"anything the most commonly perceived" (Gr. 419a).

104. Who. For who "personifying irrational antecedents," see Gr. 264. 105. Till he. See Gr. 184, 206. 107. Unprevailing. Unavailing. 60: "It helps not, it prevails not." suit prevaileth nought;" Marlowe,

So prevail avail in R. and J. iii. 3. Cf. Peele, Sir Clyomon, 1599: "purDido, v. 2: "What can my tears or

cries prevail me now?" Malone quotes Dryden, Essay on Dramatic Poetry: "He may often prevail himself of the same advantages;" and Absalom and Achitophel, 461 (1st ed.): "Prevail* yourself of what occasion gives."

109. Immediate.

Cf. 2 Hen. IV. iv. 5. 42:

"My due from thee is this imperial crown,

Which, as immediate from thy place and blood,
Derives itself to me."

110. Nobility. "Dignity, greatness " (Schmidt), or "eminence and distinction" (Heath).

112. Impart. As the verb has no object, various emendations, not worth mentioning, have been suggested. It is probably one of the many instances of "confusion of construction" in S. Cf. i. 3. 50 below, and see Gr. 415. As Delius suggests, the poet probably regarded no less nobility of love as the object of impart, and forgot, owing to the intermediate clause, that he had written with no less. On for as for, as regards, see Gr. 149.

113. The university of Wittenberg was founded in 1502, and is mentioned in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and other English books of the time. For school university, cf. A. Y. L. i. 1. 6.

114. Retrograde. Contrary; an astrological term. Cf. A. W. i. 1. 212, where Parolles says he was born "under Mars," and Helena sarcastically remarks," When he was retrograde, I think." See on i. 1. 117 above. 115. Bend you. Bend yourself (Gr. 223), be inclined. Cf. 1 Hen. IV. v. 5. 36: "bend you with your dearest speed." 120. In all my best. Cf. Oth. iii. 4. 127: "I have spoken for you all my best." In i. 5. 27 below we have "in the best" where we should say "at the best."

124. Sits smiling to my heart. The meaning is clear, but the expression is peculiar. Cf. Cor. iv. 2. 48:

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"it would unclog my heart Of what lies heavy to 't;"

M. for. M. v. 1. 394: "Your brother's death, I know, sits at your heart." Delius would connect to with smiling. Ritson proposed "on my heart." In grace. In honour; as in M. N. D. iv. I. 139: "in grace of our solemnity.' 125. Denmark. That is, the king of Denmark. Johnson says: "The king's intemperance is very strongly impressed; everything that happens to him gives him occasion to drink."

127. Rouse. Bumper; as in Oth. ii. 3. 66. The word is of Danish origin (see Wb.), and not connected with carouse. It is now used only in the sense of a drinking bout or carousal. Cf. i. 4. 8 and ii. 1. 58 below. See also Marlowe, Dr. Faustus, iii. 4: "He took his rouse with stoups

*The change to "Avail" in later eds. is due to Derrick, and not, as Malone states, to Dryden himself. There is another instance in the Introduction to the Annus Mirabilis: "I could not prevail myself of it in the English" (here also changed to "avail" by Derrick). It is an imitation of the French idiom, se prévaloir de.

"Stands bound to

of Rhenish wine;" Massinger, Duke of Milan, i. 1 : take his rouse ;" Bondman, ii. 3: "another rouse !" etc.

The Danish court in the time of S. was known throughout Europe for its intemperance. Sir John Harrington in 1606 refers as follows to the visit of Christian IV. of Denmark (uncle of Anne, queen of James I.) to England: "From the day the Danish king came, until this hour, I have been well nigh overwhelmed with carousal, and sports of all kinds. . . . I think the Dane hath strangely wrought on our good English nobles; for those whom I could never get to taste good liquor, now follow the fashion, and wallow in beastly delights. The ladies abandon their sobriety, and are seen to roll about in intoxication. I do often say (but not aloud) that the Danes have again conquered the Britains; for I see no man, or woman either, that can now command himself or herself." Bruit. Noise abroad. Cf. Macb. v. 7. 22, etc.

129. Too, too. A common reduplication. Cf. R. of L. 174, T. G. of V. ii. 4. 205, M. W. ii. 2. 260, M. of V. ii. 6. 42, etc. See Mer. p. 143.

On the passage Coleridge remarks: "This tædium vita is a common oppression on minds cast in the Hamlet mould, and is caused by disproportionate mental exertion, which necessitates exhaustion of bodily feeling. Where there is a just coincidence of external and internal action, pleasure is always the result; but where the former is deficient, and the mind's appetency of the ideal is unchecked, realities will seem cold and unmoving. In such cases, passion combines itself with the indefinite alone. In this mood of his mind the relation of the appearance of his father's spirit in arms is made all at once to Hamlet: it is-Horatio's speech, in particular—a perfect model of the true style of dramatic narrative; the purest poetry, and yet in the most natural language, equally remote from the ink-horn and the plough.'

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M. says: "The base affinities of our nature are ever present to Hamlet's mind. Here he thinks of the body as hiding from us the freshness, life, and nobleness of God's creation. If it were to pass away, silently and spontaneously, like the mist on mountain-side, or if, curtain-like, we might tear it down by an act of violence, it may be that we should see quite another prospect; at any rate, the vile things now before us would be gone forever."

130. Resolve. Cf. L. C. 296: "resolv'd my reason into tears;" T. of A. iv. 3. 442: "The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves The moon into salt tears.'

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Nares quotes Lyly, Euphues: "I could be content to resolve myself into tears."

132. Canon. "Theo. first pointed out that this did not refer to a piece of artillery, but to a divine decree" (F.). Wordsworth (Shakespeare's Knowledge and Use of the Bible) says: "Unless it be the Sixth Commandment, the canon must be one of natural religion." Cf. Cymb. iii. 4. 77: Against self-slaughter There is a prohibition so divine That cravens my weak hand."

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137. Mercly. Absolutely. See Temp. p. 111 or J. C. p. 129.

etc.

140. Hyperion. Apollo. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 1. 292, T. and C. ii. 3. 207, The accent is properly on the penult, but the general usage of English poets has thrown it back. See Worc. Even an accomplished classical scholar like Gray could write: "Hyperion's march and glittering shafts of war."

To is often thus used in comparisons. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 480, C. of E. i. 2. 35, etc. See also i. 5. 52 and iii. 1. 52 below.

A satyr. Warb. says: "By the satyr is meant Pan, as by Hyperion Apollo. Pan and Apollo were brothers; and the allusion is to the contention between those gods for the preference in music." But more probably, as Steevens suggests, the beauty of Apollo is contrasted with the deformity of a satyr.

141. Might not beteem.

HEAD OF A SATYR.

Could not allow. Gr. 312. S. uses beteem again in M. N. D. i. 1. 131. See note in our ed. p. 128. 142. Visit. For the omission of to, see Gr. 349.

147. Or ere. 149. Niobe.

A reduplication, or being before. See Temp. p. 112. Again alluded to in T. and C. v. 10. 19: "Make wells and Niobes of the maids and wives."

150. Discourse of reason. "The reasoning faculty" (Wr.). The phrase occurs again in T. and C. ii. 2. 116, and “discourse of thought" in Oth. iv. 2. 153. Cf. " reason and discourse" in M. for M. i. 2. 190, and “discourse " in iv. 4. 37 below.

153. Hercules. Cf. ii. 2. 353 below. Allusions to Hercules are very common in S.

155. Left the flushing. Ceased to produce redness. Cf. iii. 4. 34 below: "Leave wringing of your hands," etc. Schmidt suggests doubtfully,

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