Mar. Is it not like the king? Hor. As thou art to thyself. Such was the very armour he had on, "Tis strange. Mar. Thus, twice before, and jump at this dead hour', With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. Hor. In what particular thought to work, I know not; But in the gross and scope of mine opinion, This bodes some strange eruption to our state. Mar. Good now, sit down; and tell me, he that knows, Why this same strict and most observant watch Hor. That can I; At least, the whisper goes so. 6 the SLEDDED POLACKS-] i. e. the sledged Polanders; "Polacks" (spelt Pollar) was the name by which they were known in Shakespeare's time. and JUMP at this dead hour,] So every quarto: the folio explains the meaning of "jump" by substituting just. See also Act v. sc. 2. "Jump" was frequently used for just, as in Chapman's " May Day," 1611: 8 "Your appointment was jump at three." such daily CAST-] Every quarto prints "cast,” cost: the folio, 1623, corrects the probable error. (For so this side of our known world esteem'd him) Did forfeit with his life all those his lands, Had he been vanquisher; as, by the same co-mart, His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras, Hath in the skirts of Norway, here and there, For food and diet, to some enterprize And terms compulsative, those 'foresaid lands 9 as by the same CO-MART, And carriage of the article DESIGN'D,] The folio, 1623, has cor'nant and design, for co-mart" and "design'd." The latter improvement was not made till the folio, 1632. The quartos have "co-mart." 1 Of UNIMPROVED mettle-] The quarto, 1603, reads, inapproved, i. e. unproved; which may have been the true reading, but all the other quartos and folios have "unimproved." 2 — LAWLESS resolutes,] So every quarto, including that of 1603: the folio, probably by an error, gives it "landless resolutes." 3 And terms COMPULSATIVE,] So the folio, 1623, which suits the measure better than "And terms compulsatory" of the quartos. * I think, it be no other, but e'en so:] This and the seventeen following lines are not in the folio, nor is any trace of them to be found in the earliest quarto, that of 1603. They are, however, contained in all the subsequent quarto editions. 5 Well may it SORT,] i. e. agree or accord. See Vol. v. p. 257; and Vol. vi. P. 16. Comes armed through our watch; so like the king Hor. A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye. The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead Re-enter Ghost. But, soft! behold! lo, where it comes again! Speak to me: If there be any good thing to be done, That may to thee do ease, and grace to me, Speak to me: If thou art privy to thy country's fate, 6 As, stars with trains of fire and dews of blood, Disasters in the sun ;] There is evidently some corruption here, which it is perhaps impossible now to set right. Malone imagined, that a line had been accidentally omitted. We suspect also that "disasters" may be a misprint, the compositor having been misled in some way by the words "as stars" in the line immediately preceding. 7 of FIERCE events] So some of the later quartos: that of 1604 has "feare events," and perhaps the true word was fear'd. Stay, illusion!] At these words there is a stage-direction in the edition of 1604, copied into the later quartos, which seems to show the action used by the Ghost: the words are, "It spreads his arms." Lower down, just before the Ghost disappears again, the stage-direction in the quartos (likewise omitted in the folios) is, "The Cock crows." O, speak! Or, if thou hast uphoarded in thy life Extorted treasure in the womb of earth, For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death, [Cock crows. Speak of it-stay, and speak!-Stop it, Marcellus. Hor. Do, if it will not stand. Ber. Hor. Mar. 'Tis gone. "Tis here! "Tis here! [Exit Ghost. We do it wrong, being so majestical, To offer it the show of violence; For it is, as the air, invulnerable, And our vain blows malicious mockery. 10 Ber. It was about to speak, when the cock crew. Mar. It faded on the crowing of the cock. • Shall I strike AT it-] The word "at" is omitted in the quartos ; and in a preceding line they read, " your spirits," for "you spirits." 10-trumpet to the MOKN,] The folio has day for "morn;" but the cock is the trumpet to the "morn," and not to the day; and we have not only "day" just afterwards, but it seems used in such a manner as to show that "morn" (found in all the quartos but that of 1603, which has morning) is the true reading. - no spirit DARES STIR abroad,] So all the quartos, but the first of 1603, which has "dare walk:" the folio, can walk. Lower down, the folio has "the time," for "that time" of the quartos ; but it seems right in substituting "eastern" for eastward. The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike, Hor. So have I heard, and do in part believe it. Mar. Let's do't, I pray; and I this morning know Where we shall find him most conveniently. [Exeunt. SCENE II. The Same. A Room of State. Enter the King, Queen, HAMLET, POLONIUS, LAERTES, VOLTIMAND, CORNELIUS, Lords, and Attendants. King. Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe; Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature, 2 No fairy TAKES.] Talks in the folio. To "take" is to blast or infect. |