Hor. My lord, I came to see your father's funeral. Ham. I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow-student; I think, it was to see my mother's wedding.

Hor. Indeed, my lord, it follow'd hard upon.

Ham. Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral bak'd meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. 'Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven2 Ere ever I had seen that day, Horatio!— My father, methinks, I see my father. Hor. O! where, my lord?

Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatio.

Hor. I saw him once he was a goodly king.
Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again.

Hor. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight.
Ham. Saw! who?

Hor. My lord, the king your father.

Ham.

The king my father! Hor. Season your admiration for a while With an attent ear, till I may deliver, Upon the witness of these gentlemen, This marvel to you.

Ham.

For God's love, let me hear. Hor. Two nights together, had these gentlemen, Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch,

In the dead vast and middle of the night1,

2

DEAREST foe in heaven] "Dearest" is here direst. See Vol. iii. p. 409, where this line is quoted.

3 ERE ever I had seen-] The quarto, 1603, and the folio, 1623, (the last with a slight transposition) have "Ere ever," the later quartos, "Or ever," which is equivalent. Malone objects to the folio, that it substitutes a modern for an ancient form of expression, not being, of course, aware that "Ere ever was warranted by the oldest known copy of this play. Besides, ere ever" is perhaps as ancient an expression as "or ever."

* In the dead VAST and middle of the night,] This is the line as it stands in the quarto, 1603; and if that edition had afforded us no other correction of a misprint in the other quartos and folios, its high value would, we think, have been established. Hitherto the reading has been, "In the dead waist and middle of the night;" the word waist having been printed wast or waste in all the old copies subsequent to that of 1603. Few corruptions could be more easy than for the compositor to substitute w for r. The word "vast" is here used VOL. VII.

P

Been thus encounter'd. A figure like your father,
Armed at points, exactly, cap-à-pié,

Appears before them, and with solemn march

Goes slow and stately by them

thrice he walk'd,

By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes,

Within his truncheon's length; whilst they, distill'd
Almost to jelly with the act of fear,

Stand dumb, and speak not to him. This to me
In dreadful secrecy impart they did,

And I with them the third night kept the watch ;
Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time,
Form of the thing, each word made true and good,
The apparition comes. I knew your father;

These hands are not more like.

Ham.

But where was this?

Mar. My lord, upon the platform where we watch'd. Ham. Did you not speak to it?

Hor.

My lord, I did,
But answer made it none; yet once, methought,
It lifted up its head, and did address

Itself to motion, like as it would speak:

But, even then, the morning cock crew loud,
And at the sound it shrunk in haste away,
And vanish'd from our sight.

"Vast of night means the racancy or void of night; and in the line in our text, "the dead rast and middle of the night" is the silent vacancy of midnight. To take wast of the quarto, 1604, &c. in the sense of the waist, or middle of a person, is to impute mere tautology to Shakespeare, instead of the fine meaning derived from the supposition, that his reference is to the deserted emptiness and stillness of midnight. See also note 2 to "Winter's Tale," Vol. iii. p. 430. I may add, that I am entirely seconded by Mr. Amyot and Mr. Barron Field in this alteration.

5 Armed at point,] So all the quartos, excepting that the quarto, 1603, has “Armed to point." The folio, 1623, substitutes“ Arm'd at all points."

6 whilst they, DISTILL'D] Every quarto has "distill'd," and the folio bestil'd. It was probably a mere misprint, and so Southern considered it in his copy of the folio, 1685.

Hor. As I do live, my honour'd lord, 'tis true; And we did think it writ down in our duty,

To let you know of it.

Ham. Indeed, indeed, sirs', but this troubles me. Hold you the watch to-night?

All.

We do, my lord.

Ham. Arm'd, say you?

All.

Arm❜d, my lord.

Ham.

From top to toe?

All. My lord, from head to foot.

Ham. Then, saw you not his face?

Hor. O! yes, my lord; he wore his beaver up.
Ham. What! look'd he frowningly?

Hor.

In sorrow than in anger.

Ham.

Hor. Nay, very pale.

Ham.

Hor. Most constantly.
Ham.

A countenance more

Pale, or red?

And fix'd his eyes upon you?

I would I had been there.

Very like,

Hor. It would have much amaz'd you.

Ham.

Very like. Stay'd it long?

Hor. While one with moderate haste might tell a

hundred.

Mar. Ber. Longer, longer.

Hor. Not when I saw it.

Ham.

His beard was grizzled? no?

Hor. It was, as I have seen it in his life,

Indeed, indeed, sirs,] All the quartos, but the first, omit the second "indeed." Farther on, the same remark will apply to the repetition of " very like."

His beard was GRIZZLED?] So every quarto: the folios, grisly.

9 I warrant it will.] The folio inserts you after "warrant," to the injury of

Ham. If it assume my noble father's person,
I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape,
And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all,
If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight,
Let it be tenable in your silence still';
And whatsoever else shall hap to-night,
Give it an understanding, but no tongue :
I will requite your loves. So, fare you well:
Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve,
I'll visit you.

All.

Our duty to your honour. Ham. Your loves, as mine to you.

Farewell.

[Exeunt HORATIO, MARCELLUS, and BERNARDO.

My father's spirit in arms! all is not well;

I doubt some foul play: would the night were come! Till then sit still, my soul. Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes.

[Exit.

SCENE III.

A Room in POLONIUS' House.

Enter LAERTES and OPHELIA.

Laer. My necessaries are embark'd; farewell: And, sister, as the winds give benefit,

And convoy is assistant, do not sleep,

But let me hear from you.

Do you doubt that?

Oph.
Laer. For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favour,
Hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood;

the metre. "Warrant" is to be pronounced as one syllable, or in the time of one syllable; and so it is printed in every quarto subsequent to that of 1603, which has the word at length.

Let it be TENABLE in your silence still ;] The folio misprints "tenable," as it stands in the quartos, treble. The quarto, 1603, spells the word tenible.

A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute2;
No more.

Oph.

Laer.

No more but so?

Think it no more:

For nature, crescent, does not grow alone
In thews, and bulk; but, as this temple waxes,
The inward service of the mind and soul
Grows wide withal. Perhaps, he loves you now;
And now no soil, nor cautel, doth besmirch
The virtue of his will3: but you must fear,
His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own,
For he himself is subject to his birth*:
He may not, as unvalued persons do,
Carve for himself; for on his choice depends
The safety and health of this whole state";
And therefore must his choice be circumscrib'd
Unto the voice and yielding of that body,
Whereof he is the head.

you,

Then, if he says he loves

It fits your wisdom so far to believe it,

As he in his particular act and place

May give his saying deed; which is no farther,

2 The perfume and suppliance of a minute ;] Tho folio strangely omits the words "perfume and," absolutely necessary to the line.

3 The virtue of his WILL:] So every quarto: the folios have fear for "will," which last is evidently the right word. The compositor, perhaps, caught fear from the end of the line. "Besmirch," in the previous line, is a word which has frequently occurred before (Vol. ii. pp. 235. 246; Vol. iii. p. 26; and Vol. iv. p. 542) with the same meaning, viz., soiled or sullied.

♦ For he himself is subject to his birth.] This line is only in the folios. The quarto, 1603, has no trace of it, and the whole speech of Laertes is there much abridged.

5 The SAFETY and health of THIS WHOLE state;] We follow the quartos, 1604, &c.: the folio is very incorrectly printed in this part of the scene, and reads, "The sanctity and health of the weole state." "Safety" was often of old, as in this line, pronounced as a trisyllable.

61

his PARTICULAR ACT and PLACE,] So the quartos, 1604, &c. The folio reads, " peculiar sect and force;" but there is little doubt that it is a misreading. Sect and force may be strained into a meaning, but "act and place" require no such effort.