might be said to be possessed of, except his life." He compares M. W. iii. 4. 10, to which may be added 7. C. iv. 1. 40.

556. Defeat. Ruin, destruction; as in v. 2. 58 below. i. 2. 107: "Making defeat on the full power of France." Chapman, Revenge for Honour:

"That he might meantime make a sure defeat
On our good aged father's life."

559. The lie, etc. Cf. Rich. II. i. 1. 124:

"as low as to thy heart

See also Hen. V.
Steevens quotes

Through the false passage of thy throat, thou liest."

560. Me. For me. See Gr. 220.

562. 'Swounds. A contraction of "God's wounds;" used again in v. 1.264 below. Here the folio substitutes "Why," there "Come.' Zounds is a corruption of the same oath, and is either omitted or changed in the folio. See on ii. 1. 76 and on 358 above.

563. Pigeon-liver'd. "It was supposed that pigeons and doves owed their gentleness of disposition to the absence of gall" (W.). Cf. Drayton, Eclogue ix. :

"A Milk-white Doue upon her hand shee brought,

So tame 't would goe returning at her call,
About whose Necke was in a Choller wrought

'Only like me my Mistress hath no gall.''

564. To make, etc. To make me feel the bitterness of oppression (D.). 565. Region. See on 473 above.

567. Kindless. Unnatural (Johnson). So kindly=natural; as in A. Y. L. ii. 3. 53, Much Ado, iv. 1. 75, etc.

570. A dear father murther'd. The reading of the 4th and 5th quartos. The earlier quartos have "a deere murthered," and the folio "the Deere murthered," which K. and W. prefer.

573. A-cursing. See on i. 3. 119 above. Gr. 24.

574. Scullion. The 1st quarto has "scalion," the later quartos have "stallyon" or "stallion." Theo. substituted "cullion" (cf. Lear, ii. 2. 3, etc.).

576. About. "To your work!" (Johnson). Steevens quotes Heywood, Iron Age:

"My brain about again! for thou hast found

New projects now to work on."

577-580. Guilty creatures, etc. Todd quotes A Warning for Faire Women, 1599:

"Ile tell you, sir, one more to quite your tale.

A woman that had made away her husband,
And sitting to behold a tragedy

At Linne a towne in Norffolke,

Acted by players trauelling that way,

Wherein a woman that had murtherd hers

Was euer haunted with her husbands ghost:
The passion written by a feeling pen,
And acted by a good tragedian,

She was so mooued with the sight thereof,
As she cryed out, the play was made by her,
And openly confesst her husbands murder."

Cf. Massinger, Roman Actor, ii. 1 :

"I once observed,

In a tragedy of ours, in which a murder

Was acted to the life, a guilty hearer,

Forc'd by the terror of a wounded conscience,
To make discovery of that which torture
Could not wring from him."

578. Presently. Immediately. Cf. 170 above.

580. For murther, etc. Cf. Macb. iii. 4. 122-126 and Rich. II. i. 1. 104. M. quotes Wordsworth:

"Beliefs coiled serpent-like about

The adage on all tongues, 'Murder will out.""

584. Tent. Probe; as in Cymb. iii. 4. 118: "tent to bottom." We have the noun in T. and C. ii. 2. 16:

"the tent that searches To the bottom of the worst;"

and again, with a play on the word, in Id. v. I. II.
Blench. Flinch, start. Cf. T. and C. i. 1. 28:

"Patience herself, what goddess e'er she be,
Doth lesser blench at sufferance than I do."

Steevens quotes Fletcher, Night-Walker: "Blench at no danger, though it be a gallows."

586. The devil hath power, etc.

Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 14.

Sir Thomas Browne (quoted by M.) says: "I believe that these apparitions and ghosts of departed persons are not the wandering souls of men, but the unquiet walks of devils, prompting and insinuating to us... that the blessed spirits are not at rest in their graves, but wander solicitous of the affairs of the world."

590. Abuses. Deceives. Cf. Much Ado, v. 2. 100: "Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused," etc.

591. Relative. "To the purpose, conclusive" (Schmidt). S. uses the

word nowhere else.

"Shall we," says Dr. Bucknill, “think the less nobly of him because his hand is not ready to shed kindred blood; because, gifted with godlike discourse of reason, he does look before and after; because he does not take the law in his own hands upon his oppressor, until he has obtained conclusive evidence of his guilt; that he seeks to make sure he is the natura! justiciar of his murdered father, and not an assassin instigated by hatred and selfish revenge?"

ACT III.

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SCENE I.-I. Drift of circumstance. 'Roundabout method" (Wr.). Cf. ii. 1. 10: "By this encompassment and drift of question;" also i. 5. 127: "without more circumstance at all." Drift=scheme in T. G. of V. ii. 6. 43, iii. 1. 18, iv. 2. 83, etc. The quartos have " conference" for cir

cumstance.

3. Grating. Vexing. Cf. A. and C. i. 1. 18: "Grates me." So with on in 2 Hen. IV. iv. 1. 90: "suborn'd to grate on you,” etc. 7. Forward. Disposed, inclined.

8. Keeps. For the ellipsis of the subject, see Gr. 399.

above and iv. I. 10 below.

On crafty madness, cf. iii. 4. 186: "mad in craft."

Cf. ii. 2. 67 2.67

12. With much forcing, etc. With apparent unwillingness (M.). 13. Niggard of question, etc. Warb. transposed Niggard and Most free. Malone (so also Schmidt) makes question=talk, and explains the passage thus: "Slow to begin conversation, but free enough in his answers to our demands." Wr. says: "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were completely baffled, and Hamlet had the talk almost to himself. Perhaps they did not intend to give a correct account of the interview."

Of our demands. The Coll. MS. has "to" for of. See Gr. 173. 14. Assay him to. "Try his disposition towards "(Caldecott). 17. O'er-raught. "Over-reached, that is, overtook" (Johnson). Cf. C. of E. i. 2. 96: "o'er-raught of all my money." We find raught both as the past tense and participle of reach. See Hen. V. p. 180. 20. Order. S. regularly uses the singular in this sense. Cf. v. 2. 365 below.

22. Beseech'd. The only instance of the past tense in S.; and the only one of the participle is in L. C. 207, where he also has "beseech'd." In Hen. V. iii. 2. 115 "beseeched"=besieged.

24. Content. Gratify, please; as often in S. Cf. T. G. of V. iii. 1. 93 : "A woman sometimes scorns what best contents her," etc.

26. Edge. Incitement, setting-on. It is a slight modification of edge =desire, appetite, as in Sonn. 56. 2, M. for M. i. 4. 60, T. of S. i. 2. 73, etc. 29. Closely. Secretly; as in K. John, iv. 1. 133, etc. 31. Affront. Meet directly, encounter. Cf. W. T. v. I. 75: "Affront

his eye." See also T. and C. iii. 2. 174 and Cymb. iv. 3. 29. J. H. quotes Cook, Green's Tu Quoque, 1614: "This I must caution you of, in your affront or salute, never to move your hat."

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32. Lawful espials. 'Spies justifiably inquisitive" (Caldecott). We find espials in the same sense in 1 Hen. VI. i. 4. 8 and iv. 3. 6. Sr. quotes Baret, Alvearie: "An espiall in warres, a scoutwatch."

33. Bestow ourselves. See on ii. 2. 508 above.

39. Beauties. F. adopts Walker's suggestion of “beauty;” also “virtue" in next line.

40. Wildness. Distraction, madness; as in Cymb. iii. 4. 9 (Schmidt). 43. Gracious. Addressed to the king. Cf. "High and mighty," iv. 7. 43 below.

47. Too much prov'd. Found by too frequent experience (Johnson). 51. Beautied. Not elsewhere used by S. as a verb.

52. To. Compared to. See on i. 2. 140 above.

53. Painted. Falsely coloured, unreal. Cf. K. John, iii. 1. 105: “painted peace;" T. A. ii. 3. 126: "painted hope," etc.

56. To be, etc. "In ii. 2. Hamlet has spoken of suicide as being against the 'canon of the Everlasting.' Here he considers it as viewed by philosophy... 'Doubtless it might be more entirely desirable to turn the flank

of all sorrows by self-slaughter; and this might be the course which a man of quick decision would take. But reflection, if allowed, must needs make us think that if death is a sleep, it still may have dreams; while conscience warns us what we have deserved that these dreams should be. Thus, instead of condensing into strong purpose, thought melts into mere dreaming meditation; the will is puzzled, the moment of action passes, and we end by inertly bearing our present evils rather than daring to fly to others of whose nature we are ignorant; giving up our deliverance as we should, from the same weakness, give up any other enterprise of pith and moment'" (M.).

59. Take arms against a sea, etc. For a sea of Pope suggested "a siege of," Theo. "th' assay of," Warb. "assail of," etc.; but no change is called for. There are worse cases of "mixed metaphor" in S. than this, which, as Wr. remarks, is "rather two metaphors blended into one." The expression is="take arms against a host of troubles which break in upon us like a sea." Cf. 156 below: "That suck'd the honey of his music vows," which, if a "mixed metaphor," is a very beautiful one-better than many of the "faultily faultless" figures of inferior poets. Keightley, who favours Pope's conjecture, says that this is “almost a solitary instance of the figurative use of sea by S." On the contrary, it is a common metaphor with him. See R. of L. 1100, T. G. of V. iii. 1. 224, 1 Hen. VI. iv. 7. 14, 3 Hen. VI. ii. 5. 106, Hen. VIII. ii. 4. 200, iii. 2. 360, T. and C. iii. 2. 84. T. of A. i. 1. 47, iv. 2. 22, Per. v. I. 194, etc.

61. No more. Nothing more.

65. Rub. A metaphor taken from the game of bowls. See Rich. II. p. 197 or Hen. V. p. 157.

67. Coil. Turmoil. Cf. Temp. i. 2. 207, C. of E. iii. 1. 48, M. N. D. iii. 2. 339, etc. S. never uses the word in the familiar modern sense.

68. Give us pause. That is, for reflection. Cf. iii. 3. 42 and iv. 3. 9 below. Respect consideration, motive; as in Sonn. 49. 4, Much Ado, ii. 3. 176, A. W. ii. 5. 71, etc. See also iii. 2. 166 below.

70. Of time. Of the times, of the world. Warb. wished to read "of th' time;" but cf. K. John, v. 2. 12: "such a sore of time;" I Hen. IV. iv. I. 25 "the state of time," etc. S. generally uses the article, as in i. 5. 189 above.

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72. Dispriz'd. Misprized, undervalued; the folio reading.. The 2d and 3d quartos have "despiz'd," which most modern eds. adopt. As F. remarks, a love that is disprized falls more frequently to the lot of man, and is perhaps more hopeless in its misery, than a love that is despised." Disprize occurs again in T. and C. iv. 5. 74.

75. Quietus. The law term for the final settlement of an account. Cf. Sonn. 126. 12: "And her quietus is to render thee." Steevens quotes Webster, Duchess of Malfi, i. 1: "I sign your quietus est.”

76. Bare. Mere, as Schmidt explains it, not "unsheathed," as Malone says; though S. may have had the latter meaning also in mind.

A bodkin was a small dagger. Cf. L. L. L. v. 2. 615 and W. T. iii. 3. 87. Steevens quotes B. and F., Custom of the Country, ii. 3:

"Out with your bodkin,

Your pocket-dagger, your stiletto."

See also Chaucer, C. T. 3958: "with knyf or boydekyn ;” and Id. 16193: "stiked him with boydekyns anoon."

Fardels. Burdens; literally, packs, bundles. Cf. W. T. iv. 4. 728, 739, 781, 783, etc. The folio reads "these Fardles," which is preferred by K., W., H., and others.

77. Grunt. Groan. Steevens quotes many contemporaneous examples; as from Stanyhurst's Virgil, 1582: “sighing it grunts" (congemuit); Turbervile's Ovid: "greefe forst me grunt ;" and again: "Of dying men the grunts," etc. The quarto of 1676 has "groan," which is adopted by Pope, Capell, and others. Cf. J. C. iv. 1. 22: "To groan and sweat under the business." Armin (Nest of Ninnies) has "gronte and sweat under

this massie burden."

79. Bourn. Limit, boundary. Cf. Temp. ii. 1. 152: “Bourn, bound of land;" A. and C. i. 1. 16: “I'll set a bourn," etc.

80. No traveller returns. This has been foolishly criticised, because the Ghost was such a returned traveller; and as foolishly defended by Theo. (on the ground that the Ghost came only from the intermediate state of Purgatory) and others. A child ought to see, and probably would see-having no critical spectacles to dim its vision—that the meaning is, does not come back to live here, as he returns from a visit to a foreign land; or, as Coleridge puts it, "no traveller returns to this world as to his home or abiding-place."

83. Thus conscience, etc. Blakeway compares Rich. III. i. 4. 138 fol. 84. Native hue. Natural colour. Wr. quotes L.L. L. iv. 3. 263: "For native blood is counted painting now."

85. Thought. Anxiety. See 7. C. p. 146, and cf. iv. 5. 168 below.

86. Pith. The folio reading; the quartos have "pitch," which the Camb. editors prefer. In either case, as Wr. notes, there is a change of metaphor in currents. See on 59 above.

88. Soft you now. "Hold, stop" (Schmidt). Cf. Oth. v. 2. 338: "Soft you; a word before you go." See also M. N. D. p. 176.

89. Orisons. Prayers. Cf. Hen. V. ii. 2. 53, 3 Hen. VI. i. 4. 110, R. and J. iv. 3. 3, etc.

Johnson remarks: "This is a touch of nature. Hamlet, at the sight of Ophelia, does not immediately recollect that he is to personate madness, but makes her an address grave and solemn, such as the foregoing meditation excited in his thoughts."

97. I know. So in the folio; the quartos have "you know." Ophelia means, they may have been trifles to you and you forgot that you gave them, but I did not, for they were most precious to me.

103. Honest.

107 below.

Virtuous.

See A. Y. L. p. 141.

107. Should admit, etc. Your honesty should be so chary of your beauty as not to suffer it to entertain discourse, or to be parleyed with (Caldecott).

etc.

109. Commerce. Intercourse. Cf. T. N. iii. 4. 191, T. and C. iii. 3. 205,