Even here, between the chaste unsmirched' brow Of my true mother. King. What is the cause, Laertes, That thy rebellion looks so giant-like?— Let him go, Gertrude; do not fear our person; That treason can but peep to what it would, Why thou art thus incens'd;-Let him go, Gertrude ;— Speak, man. Laer. Where is my father? King. Queen. Dead. But not by him. King. Let him demand his fill. Laer. How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with: To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience, and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation: To this point I stand,That both the worlds I give to negligence, Let come what comes; only I'll be reveng'd Most throughly for my father. King. Who shall stay you? Laer. My will, not all the world's: And, for my means, I'll husband them so well, They shall go far with little. King. Good Laertes, If you desire to know the certainty Of your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge, Laer. None but his enemies. King. Will you know them then? Laer. To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms; And, like the kind life-rend'ring pelican, Repast them with my blood. we find, unsmirched—] i.e. Not defiled. like the kind life-rend'ring pelican,] In the old play of King Leir, 1605, "I am as kind as is the pelican That kills itselfe, to save her young ones' lives." It is almost needless to add that this account of the bird is entirely fabulous. -STEEVENS. King. Why, now you speak Like a good child, and a true gentleman. As day does to your eye. Danes. [within.] Let her come in. Laer. How now! what noise is that? Enter OPHELIA, fantastically dressed with Straws and O heat, dry up my brains! tears, seven times salt, Oph. They bore him barefac'd on the bier ; And in his grave rain'd many a tear;— Fare you well, my dove! Laer. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge, It could not move thus. Oph. You must sing, Down a-down, an you call him adown-a. O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false steward, that stole his master's daughter. - 'pear,] For appear. i Nature is fine in love: and, where 'tis fine, It sends some precious instance of itself After the thing it loves.] Love (says Laertes) is the passion by which nature is most exalted and refined; and as substances, refined and subtilised, easily obey any impulse, or follow any attraction, some part of nature, so purified and refined, flies off after the attracting object, after the thing it loves.-JOHNSON. k how the wheel becomes it!] Wheel is supposed to have been the old word for the burthen of a song. Perhaps it means the musical instrument, which by Chaucer was called a rote, by others a vielle; and which was played on by the friction of a wheel.-STEEVENS and MALONE. Laer. This nothing's more than matter. Oph. There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's for thoughts." Laer. A document in madness; thoughts and remembrance fitted. Oph. There's fennel for you, and columbines:"-there's rue for you; and here's some for me:--we may call it, herb of grace o'Sundays:°-you may wear your rue with a difference.P-There's a daisy :-I would give you some violets; but they withered all, when my father died :— :-They say, he made a good end,————— For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy, [Sings. Laer. Thought' and affliction, passion, hell itself, Oph. And will he not come again? No, no, he is dead, Go to thy death-bed, He never will come again. 1 There's rosemary, that's for remembrance ;] Rosemary was anciently supposed to strengthen the memory, and was not only carried at funerals, but worn at weddings.-STEEVENS. n - pansies,] From pensées, Fr. thoughts. fennel for you and columbines:] Fennel was regarded as emblematical of flattery; columbines of ingratitude: the reasons for attributing to them these qualities it is no longer possible to discover. Ophelia gives the courtiers fennel and columbines, "to mark," says archdeacon Nares, "that though they flattered to get favours, they were thankless after receiving them." 0 rue for you, &c.] Rue anciently signified the same as ruth, i. e. sorrow. It was called herb of grace from its being used in exorcisms against evil spirits. -STEEVENS and NARES. p •you may wear your rue with a difference.] The slightest variation in the bearings, their position, or colour, constituted a different coat in heraldry; and between the ruth and wretchedness of guilt, and the ruth and sorrows of misfortune, it would be no difficult matter to distinguish.-Specimen of a New Edition of Shakspeare, published by Murray, 1819. qa daisy:] This flower signified deceit. Green speaks of "the dissembling daisie." г violets;] The violet is thus characterized in an old collection of sonnets printed in 1584. "Violet is for faithfulnesse."-MALONE. Thought-] This word, as in many other places, here signifies melancholy. -MALONE. His beard was as white as snow, He is gone, he is gone, And of all christian souls!" I pray God. you! Laer. Do you see this, O God? God be wi' [Exit OPHELIA. King. Laertes, I must commune with your grief, Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give, To you in satisfaction; but, if not, Be you content to lend your patience to us, Laer. Let this be so; His means of death, his obscure funeral, No trophy, sword, nor hatchment, o'er his bones,* Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth, King. So you shall; And, where the offence is, let the great axe fall. [Exeunt. flaxen]-Does not here mean yellow, but white. The four colours signify these four virtues. The flaxy having whiteness, appertains to temperance, because it makes candidam et mundam animam."" Sir W. Sandys, Ess. 1634. And of all christian souls!] This is the common conclusion to many of the ancient monumental inscriptions.-STÉEVENS. * No trophy, sword, nor hatchment, o'er his bones,] It was the custom, in the times of our author, to hang a sword over the grave of a knight. This practice is uniformly kept up to this day. Not only the sword, but the helmet, gauntlet, spurs, and tabard (i. e. a coat whereon the armorial ensigns were anciently depicted, from whence the term coat of armour), are hung over the grave of every knight.-JOHNSON and Sir JOHN HAWKINS. SCENE VI. Another Room in the same. Enter HORATIO, and a Servant. Hor. What are they, that would speak with me? They say, they have letters for you. Hor. Sailors, sir; Let them come in.— [Exit Servant. I do not know from what part of the world Enter Sailors. 1 Sail. God bless you, sir. Hor. Let him bless thee too. 1 Sail. He shall, sir, an't please him. There's a letter for you, sir; it comes from the ambassador that was bound for England; if your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. Hor. [reads.] Horatio, when thou shalt have overlooked this, give these fellows some means to the king; they have letters for him. Ere we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave us chace: Finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valour; and in the grapple I boarded them: on the instant, they got clear of our ship; so I alone became their prisoner. They have dealt with me, like thieves of mercy; but they knew what they did; I am to do a good turn for them. Let the king have the letters I have sent; and repair thou to me with as much haste as thou would'st fly death. I have words to speak in thine ear, will make thee dumb; yet are they much too light for the bore of the matter. These good fellows will bring thee where I am. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hold their course for England; of them I have much to tell thee. Farewell. У He that thou knowest thine, Hamlet. - for the bore of the matter.] The bore is the caliber of a gun, or the capacity of the barrel. The matter (says Hamlet) would carry heavier words.JOHNSON. |
