And he to England fhall along with you:* GUIL. We will ourselves provide: 2 I like him not; nor ftands it fafe with us, And he to England shall along with you:] In The Hyftory of Hamblett, bl. 1. the king does not adopt this fcheme of fending Hamlet to England till after the death of Polonius; and though he is defcribed as doubtful whether Polonius was flain by Hamlet, his apprehenfion left he might himself meet the fame fate as the old courtier, is affigned as the motive for his wifhing the prince out of the kingdom. This at firft inclined me to think that this short fcene, either from the negligence of the copyift or the printer, might have been misplaced; but it is certainly printed as the author intended, for in the next fcene Hamlet fays to his mother, "I must to England; you know that?" before the king could have heard of the death of Polonius. MALONE. 3 Out of his lunes.] The old quartos, Out of his brows. [The folio reads-Out of his lunacies.] This was from the ignorance of the first editors; as is this unneceffary Alexandrine, which we owe to the players. The poet, I am perfuaded, wrote, -as doth hourly grow Out of his lunes. i. e. his madness, frenzy. THEOBALD. I take brows to be, properly read, frows, which, I think, is a provincial word for perverfe humours; which being, I suppose, not understood, was changed to lunacies. But of this I am not confident. JOHNSON. I would receive Theobald's emendation, because Shakspeare ufes the word lunes in the fame fenfe in The Merry Wives of Windfor and The Winter's Tale. I have met, however, with an inftance in fupport of Dr. Johnfon's conjecture; were you but as favourable as you are frowish—.” Tully's Love, by Greene, 1616. Perhaps, however, Shakspeare defigned a metaphor from horned Moft holy and religious fear it is, Ros. The fingle and peculiar life is bound, cattle, whofe powers of being dangerous increafe with the growth of their brows. STEEVENS. The two readings of brows and lunes-when taken in connection with the paffages referred to by Mr. Steevens, in The Winter's Tale and The Merry Wives of Windfor, plainly figure forth the image under which the King apprehended danger from Hamlet:-viz. that of a bull, which, in his frenzy, might not only gore, but pufh him from his throne." The hazard that hourly grows out of his BROWS" (according to the quartos) correfponds to "the SHOOTS from the ROUGH PASH," [that is the TUFTED PROTUBERANCE on the head of a bull, from whence his horns fpring] alluded to in The Winter's Tale; whilft the imputation of impending danger to "his LUNES" (according to the other reading) anfwers as obviously to the jealous fury of the hufband that thinks he has detected the infidelity of his wife. Thus, in The Merry Wives of Windfor: "Why woman, your hufband is in his old lunes--he fo takes on yonder with my husband; fo rails against all married mankind; fo curfes all Eve's daughters, and fo buffets himfelf on the forehead, crying peer out! peer out! that any madness, I ever yet beheld, feem'd but tamenefs, civility, and patience, to this diftemper he is now in." HENLEY. Shak fpeare probably had here the following paffage in The Hiftory of Hamblett, bl. 1. in his thoughts: "Fengon could not content himfelfe, but ftill his minde gave him that the foole [ Hamlet] would play him fome trick of legerdemaine. And in that conceit feeking to be rid of him, 'determined to find the meanes to do it, by the aid of a stranger; making the king of England minifter of his maffacrous refolution, to whom he purposed to fend him." MALONE. 4 That Spirit, upon whofe weal-] So, the quarto. The folio gives, That Spirit, upon whofe fpirit. STEEVENS. Dies not alone; but, like a gulf, doth draw age; For we will fetters put upon this fear, Ros. GUIL. We will hafte us. [Exeunt ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN. Enter POLONIUS. POL. My lord, he's going to his mother's clofet; Behind the arras I'll convey myself," To hear the process; I'll warrant, fhe'll tax him home : And, as you faid, and wifely was it faid, 'Tis meet, that fome more audience, than a mo ther, Since nature makes them partial,' fhould o'erhear 5-- it is a maffy wheel,] Thus the folio. The quarto reads, -Or it is &c. MALONE. Behind the arras I'll convey myself,] See Vol. VIII. p. 481, n. 9. STEEVENS. The arras-hangings in Shakspeare's time, were hung at fuch a diftance from the walls, that a perfon might easily stand behind them unperceived. MALONE. ↑ Since nature makes them partial, &c.] "In peccato adjutrices, auxilii in paterna injuria STEEVENS. The speech, of vantage. Fare you well, my liege: I'll call upon you ere you go to bed, And tell you what I know. KING. Thanks, dear my lord. [Exit POLONIUS. O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curfe upon't, A brother's murder!-Pray can I not, Though inclination be as fharp as will;" My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent; And, like a man to double bufinefs bound, I stand in pause where I fhall first begin, And both neglect. What if this curfed hand Were thicker than itself with brother's blood? Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens, To wash it white as fnow? Whereto ferves mercy, But to confront the visage of offence? And what's in prayer, but this two-fold force,— To be foreftalled, ere we come to fall, Or pardon'd, being down? Then I'll look up; My fault is past. But, O, what form of prayer Can ferve my turn? Forgive me my foul murder!— 8 of vantage.] By fome opportunity of fecret obfervation. WARBURTON. 9 Though inclination be as sharp as will;] Dr. Warburton would read, Though inclination be as sharp as th' ill. The old reading is-as sharp as will. STEEVANS. I have followed the easier emendation of Mr. Theobald, received by Sir T. Hanmer: i. e. as 'twill. JOHNSON. and Will is command, direction. Thus, Ecclefiafticus, xliii. 16: “ at his will the south wind bloweth." The King fays, his mind is in too great confufion to pray, even though his inclination were as ftrong as the command which requires that duty. STEEVENS. What the King means to fay, is, "That though he was not only willing to pray, but ftrongly inclined to it, yet his intention was defeated by his guilt. M. MASON. That cannot be; fince I am ftill poffefs'd Be foft as finews of the new-born babe; [Retires, and kneels. 2 May one be pardon'd, and retain the offence?] He that does not amend what can be amended, retains his offence. The King kept the crown from the right heir. JOHNSON. A fimilar paffage occurs in Philafter, where the King, who had ufurped the crown of Sicily, and is praying to heaven for forgivenefs, fays, But how can I 3 Yet what can it, when one can not repent?] What can repentance do for a man that cannot be penitent, for a man who has only part of penitence, diftrefs of confcience, without the other part, refolution of amendment? JOHNSON. 4 O limed foul;] This alludes to bird-lime. Shakspeare ufes the fame word again, in King Henry VI. Part II: Madam, myself have lim'd a bush for her." STEEVENS. |