took the fruits of advice when she obeyed advice; the advice was then made fruitful" (Johnson).

148. Watch. "A sleepless state" (Caldecott). Cf. Cymb. iii. 4. 43: "To lie in watch there and to think on him." For the measure, see Gr. 483.

149. Lightness. Lightheadedness. Schmidt compares C. of E. v. 1. 72 and Oth. iv. I. 280.

151. All we. We all (Gr. 240). The object of for is implied in wherein. 159. The centre. That is, of the earth. Cf. M. N. D. iii. 2. 54:

In W. T. ii. 1. 102 and T. and C. i. 3. 85 centre=the earth, the centre of the Ptolemaic universe.

160. Four. Hanmer substituted "for," as does the Coll. MS.; but, as Malone notes, "four hours together," "two hours together," etc., were common phrases. Cf. Lear, i. 2. 170, W. T. v. 2. 148, etc. So in Webster, Duchess of Malfi: "She will muse four hours together."

162. Loose. He had forbidden her to have any intercourse with Hamlet. 163. Arras. Tapestry hangings; so called from Arras, where they were largely made.

168. Wretch. Sometimes used as a term of endearment, mingled with pity. Cf. R. and J. i. 3. 44: 'The pretty wretch left crying;" Öth. iii. 3. 90: "Excellent wretch!" etc.

170. Board. Accost, address; as often. Cf. T. N. i. 3. 60, M. W. ii. 1. 92, L. L. L. ii. 1. 218, etc.

Presently immediately; its usual meaning in S. Cf. 578 below; also iii. 2. 43, 350, v. 2. 381, etc.

172. God-a-mercy. God have mercy. Cf. iv. 5. 179 below.

182. A good kissing carrion. The reading of all the early eds., as of Pope, Theo., K., Coll., F., and others. Good kissing, as Caldecott and Corson have explained, is good for kissing, or to be kissed, by the sun. See J. C. p. 126, note on A labouring day. Warb. substituted "God" for good, and has been followed by many editors. He compares M. for M. ii. 2. 163-168 and Cymb. iii. 4. 164. Malone adds 1 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 113 and King Edward III., 1596 :

"The freshest summer's day doth soonest taint

The loathed carrion, that it seems to kiss."

184. Conception, etc. "Understanding is a blessing; but if you leave your daughter unrestrained, she will understand what you will not like " (M.). There is probably a play on conception, as in Lear, i. I. 12.

187. How say you by that? Cf. M. of V. i. 2. 58: "How say you by the French lord?" and see note in our ed. p. 132. Gr. 145.

190. I suffered, etc. "It may have been so; but one rather suspects that Polonius's love-reminiscences are like those of Touchstone in A. Y. L. ii. 4" (M.).

193. Matter. Subject-matter. Cf. 95 above. "Hamlet purposely misunderstands the word to mean 'cause of dispute,' as in T.N. iii. 4. 172" (Wr.). 194. Who. Whom. Cf. Macb. iii. 4. 42, Oth. i. 2. 52, etc. Gr. 274.

196. Rogue. The folio has "slave." Warb. sees here a reference to Juvenal, Sat. x. 188.

202. For you yourself, etc. "The natural reason would have been 'For some time I shall be as old as you are now' (and therefore I take such remarks as proleptically personal); but Hamlet turns it to the opposite" (M.). For should would, see Gr. 322.

204. There is method in 't. Cf. M. for M. v. 1. 60:

"If she be mad-as I believe no other

Her madness hath the oddest frame of sense,

Such a dependency of thing on thing,

As e'er I heard in madness."

208. Pregnant. Ready, apt, clever. Cf. iii. 2. 56 below. So pregnancy cleverness in 2 Hen. IV. i. 2. 192.

215. Withal. The emphatic form of with (Gr. 196).

226. Indifferent. Middling, average. Cf. T. G. of V. iii. 2. 44, etc. 236-265. Let me... attended. All this is omitted in the quartos. 242. Confines. Places of confinement. See on i. 1. 155 above. 246. Thinking makes it so. M. quotes Lovelace :

"Stone walls do not a prison make,

Nor iron bars a cage;

Minds innocent and quiet take

These for a hermitage."

259. Then are our beggars, etc. "If ambition is the shadow of pomp, and pomp the shadow of a man, then the only true substantial men are beggars, who are stript of all pomp and all ambition" (M.).

Outstretch'd strained, exaggerated; "strutting stage heroes" (Delius). 261. Fay. "Faith" (Schmidt). Cf. T. of S. ind. 2. 83, etc.

265. Beaten. Familiar, unceremonious. For make, see on i. 2. 164 above. 269. Dear a halfpenny. "Dear of" and "dear at " have been proposed, but no change is called for. Cf. A. Y. L. ii. 3. 74: "too late a week.' Wr. quotes Chaucer, C. T. 8875: "dere y-nough a jane" (a small coin of Genoa); and Id. 12723: "deere y-nough a leeke."

276. Modesties. See on loves, i. 1. 173.

280. Consonancy, etc. Cf. 11 above.

282. A better proposer. A more eloquent speaker. Cf. propose=speak, in Much Ado, iii. 1. 3, Oth. i. I. 25, etc.

283. Even. Plain, honest. Cf. Hen. V. iv. 8. 114.

286. Of you.

174, 175.

Upon you (Caldecott). Cf. Lear, i. 5. 22, and see Gr.

289. Prevent your discovery. Anticipate your disclosure. Gr. 439. Cf. J. C. v. 1. 105: "to prevent The time of life," etc.

294. A sterile promontory. "Thrust out into the dread ocean of the unknown, and as barren as the waves themselves" (M.).

295. Brave. Beautiful, grand. Cf. Sonn. 12. 2: “And see the brave day sunk in hideous night," etc. For majestical, see on i. 1. 143. 296. Fretted. Embossed, adorned. Cf. Cymb. ii. 4. 88 :

"The roof o' the chamber With golden cherubins is fretted;"

Milton, P. L. i. 717: "The roof was fretted gold," etc.

298. A congregation of vapours. "Veiling the true sunlight. Cf. Sonn. 33. 1-8" (M.).

Man. The early eds. have "a man," which is followed by the modern editors except D. and F. As Walker suggests, the a is probably an accidental interpolation.

299. Faculty. The folio reading; the quartos have "faculties."

300. Express. "Expressive" (Schmidt); or, perhaps, "exact, fitted to its purpose" (Wr.). Cf. Heb. i. 3.

303. Quintessence. The fifth or highest essence of the alchemists. S. uses the word only here and in A. Y. L. iii. 2. 147.

310. Lenten. Meagre, poor. Cf. T. N. i. 5. 9: "A good lenten answer."

311. Coted. Passed by, outstripped, "o'er - raught" (iii. 1. 17 below). Steevens quotes The Return from Parnassus, 1606: "we presently coted and outstript them;" Golding, Ovid: "With that Hippomenes coted [Latin, praeterit] her;" Warner, Albion's England: "Gods and goddesses for wantonness out-coted," etc. See also Greene, Friar Bacon: "Cote him, and court her to control the clown." It was a term in hunting. Turbervile says: "A Cote is when a Greyhound goeth endwayes by his fellow and giveth the Hare a turn," etc. It is not simply to come up with (as Wr. explains it), but to go beyond. Thus, in this case, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, having "coted" the players, reach the palace first and tell Hamlet that they are coming.

316. Humorous. Capricious. See A. Y. L. p. 146. 317. The clown... sere. Omitted in the quartos.

Tickle o' the sere. This expression, long a stumbling-block to the critics, appears to have been correctly explained by Mr. Nicholson in Notes and Queries, July 22, 1871: "The sere, or, as it is now spelt, sear (or scear) of a gun-lock is the bar or balance-lever interposed between the trigger on the one side, and the tumbler and other mechanism on the other, and is so called from its acting the part of a serre, or talon, in gripping the mechanism and preventing its action. . . . Now if the lock be so made on purpose, or be worn, or be faulty in construction, this sear, or grip, may be so tickle or ticklish in its adjustment that a slight touch or even jar may displace it, and then of course the gun goes off. Hence 'light' or 'tickle of the sear’(equivalent to, like a hair-trigger), applied metaphorically, means that which can be started into action at a mere touch, or on the slightest provocation, or on what ought to be no provocation at all." Lungs tickle o' the sere, then, are lungs easily moved to laughter. For tickle-ticklish, cf. M. for M. i. 2. 177: "thy head stands so tickle on thy shoulders that a milk-maid, if she be in love, may sigh it off;" and 2 Hen. VI. i. 1. 216:

"the state of Normandy Stands on a tickle point."

On the passage, cf. Temp. ii. I. 174: "who are of such sensible [that is, sensitive] and nimble lungs that they always use to laugh at nothing."

319. The lady, etc. The lady shall mar the measure rather than not express herself freely (Henderson); or, if through delicacy she omit anything, the lameness of the metre will show it (Seymour).

322. Their residence. Their remaining in the city.

324. Inhibition. Prohibition. Coll. thinks this probably refers to the limiting of public theatrical performances to two theatres, the Globe and the Fortune, in 1600 and 1601. The players, by a late innovation, were inhibited, or forbidden to act in or near the city, and therefore travelled, cr strolled, into the country. Wr. is disposed to think that the innovation was the license given Jan. 30, 1603-4, to the Children of the Queen's Revels to play at the Blackfriars Theatre and other convenient places. The popularity of the children may well have driven the older actor into the country, and so have operated as an inhibition, though no formal inhibition was issued. For other explanations of the passage, see F. vol. i. pp. 162-164.

331. Aery. A brood of nestlings (literally, an eagle's or hawk's nest). Ct. K. John, v. 2. 149, Rich. III. i. 3. 264, 270.

Eyases. Unfledged hawks, nestlings.

332. Top of question. At the top of their voices. Cf. question=speech, talk; as in Macb. iii. 4. 118, A. Y. L. iii. 4. 39, v. 4. 167, etc. See also iii. 1. 13 below.

M. paraphrases the whole passage thus: "What brings down the professional actors is the competition of a nest of young hawks (the boys of the Chapel Royal, etc.) who carry on the whole dialogue without modulation at the top of their voices, get absurdly applauded for it, and make such a noise on the common stage, that true dramatists, whose wit is as strong and keen as a rapier, are afraid to encounter these chits, who fight, as it were, with a goose-quill.”

Tyranically. Vehemently, extravagantly; probably alluding to what Bottom calls "a tyrant's vein," or "a part to make all split." See M. N. D. p. 133.

338. Escoted. Paid; used by S. nowhere else. D. quotes Cotgrave, Fr. Dict.: "Escotter. Euery one to pay his shot," etc.

Will they pursue, etc. "Will they follow the profession of players no longer than they can keep the voices of boys?" (Johnson). For quality= profession, cf. 418 below; also Hen. V. iii. 6. 146: "What is thy name? I know thy quality?"

342. Succession. Futurity (Schmidt). Cf. C. of E. iii. 1. 105: "For slander lives upon succession" (that is, feeds on futurity, makes all that is to come its prey).

344. To-do. Equivalent to ado (Schmidt). 345. Tarre.

I. 117:

Set on (to fight); used literally of dogs. Cf. K. John, iv.
"And like a dog that is compell'd to fight,
Snatch at his master that doth tarre him on;"

and T. and C. i. 3. 392:

"pride alone

Must tarre the mastiffs on, as 't were their bone."

346. Argument. The plot of the play. Cf. 1 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 310: "the argument shall be thy running away," etc.

Unless the poet, etc. Schmidt calls this an "obscure passage," and so

it is.

It probably does not mean, as Delius makes it, "unless the dia

logue (the question) is well seasoned with warfare (cuffs)." M. says: "See iii. 2 [35-41], where the same contest between actor and dramatist is spoken of."

352. Carry it away. Carry off the palm, gain the day.

353. Hercules. Perhaps, as Steevens suggests, an allusion to the Globe Theatre, the sign of which was Hercules carrying the globe.

355. It is not very strange, etc. "I do not wonder that the new players have so suddenly risen to reputation; my uncle supplies another example of the facility with which honour is conferred on new claimants" (Johnson).

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356. Mows. Grimaces. The folio reading; the quartos have "mouths." Cf. Temp. iv. I. 47: "with mop and mow;" Cymb. i. 6. 41 : Contemn with mows." We have the word as a verb in Temp. ii. 2. 9 and Lear, iv. 1. 64.

358. In little. In miniature. Cf. A. Y. L. iii. 2. 148: "Heaven would in little show ;" and L. C. 90: "in little drawn."

'Sblood. An abbreviation of "God's blood," a mode of swearing by the eucharist. Cf. iii. 2. 345 below. In the folio it is generally omitted (as here) or replaced by other words (as "I' faith" in 1 Hen. IV. ii. 4. 488). 362. Appurtenance. 'Proper accompaniment" (Wr.); used by S. only here.

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363. Comply with you, etc. "Use ceremony with you in this fashion" (Wr.). Cf. v. 2. 179 below.

Extent. "Behaviour, deportment" (Schmidt). Cf. T. N. iv. 1. 57: "this uncivil and unjust extent."

369. North-north-west. For a genuine German gloss, take that of Francke (apud F.): "Perhaps the meaning is: Great powerful tempests in the moral world, apparitions from the mysterious Hereafter, can make me mad, can crush my reason; but such people as you are, who come around me with sweet phrases and mock friendship, I have yet wit enough to elude." A Daniel come to judgment, yea, a Daniel !"

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370. Handsaw. The word in this proverb is probably a corruption of hernshaw, a heron; but the old "saw" is always found in this form, and, as Schmidt says, "S. undoubtedly thought of a real saw. A writer in Notes and Queries, with evident "fellow-feeling," suggests "anser, the generic name for our domestic water-fowl"-which in the vulgar, as Touchstone would say, is goose. F. thinks he has heard "handschuh, the German for glove," proposed as an emendation, but let us hope that he is mistaken. W., on the other hand, suspects that hawk is "the tool called a hawk." For more of this admirable fooling of the commentators, see F. 371. Well be with you. Cf. A. W. i. 1. 190: "God send him well!" See also 2 Hen. IV. iv. 4. 19. Wr. quotes Psa. cxxviii. 2 [Prayer-book version]: "Well is thee;" and Chaucer, C. T. 16362: "He loved hir so that well him was therwith."

375. Happily. Haply. See on i. 1. 134 above. Gr. 42.

378. You are right, etc. This is said merely that Polonius may not suspect what they have been talking about.

382. Buz, buz! Blackstone says that buz was an Oxford when one began a story already well known.

interjection used at See Macb. p. 243.