НАМ. Ay, lady, 't was my word. [Lifts up the arras and discovers Polonius. If it be made of penetrable stuff; If damned custom have not brass'd it so, QUEEN. What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue In noise so rude against me? HAM. A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow; 38 against sense] against feeling. 42 takes off the rose] removes the grace, the beauty. Cf. III, i, 152, supra: "the rose of the fair state." 46 contraction] the marriage contract, matrimony. 49 solidity] solid earth. 50 as against the doom] as if in sight of the day of judgment. 50 QUEEN. Ay me, what act, follows: Here is your husband; like a mildew'd ear, Blasting his wholesome brother. Have you eyes? what 52 index] prelude (of the indictment). An "index" commonly prefaced an Elizabethan book. 53 Look here... and on this] There is some difference of opinion as to whether Hamlet points to two portraits hung on the walls, or takes a miniature of his father from his pocket, or is merely drawing on his imagination. The last interpretation seems, in the view of the scanty scenic machinery of Shakespeare's stage, to be the most probable. 54 counterfeit presentment] portrait, mimic representation. 56 Hyperion's curls] See note on I, ii, 140, supra. front] forehead. The statues of Jupiter gave him a very noble brow, indicating much intellectual power. 58 station] attitude or pose. 58-59 Mercury... hill] The god Mercury is very similarly described in Virgil, Æneid, IV, 246–255, which was accessible in English translations. 60 Could you on this fair mountain leave to feed, The hey-day in the blood is tame, it's humble, And waits upon the judgement: and what judgement 70 To serve in such a difference. What devil was't Could not so mope. O shame! where is thy blush? Rebellious hell, 66 leave to feed] leave off feeding. 67 batten] gourmandise, feed like a glutton. this moor] this low and uninviting pasture. 71-76 Sense... difference] This passage is omitted from the Folios. It is only found in the Second and later Quartos. In this passage "sense" is thrice used with a meaning indistinguishable from "reason." Taking the words generally Hamlet points out that his mother must have reason or brains, otherwise she could not have power of movement. But her reasoning faculty is paralysed, quite stifled, not merely perverted as in madness. When reason is dominated by insanity, it still retains some power of choice, which must have come into play, when the difference between the objects of choice differed so vastly. 77 hoodman-blind] blind man's buff. 81 so mope] show so much stupidity. Cf. Tempest, V, i, 239-240: "Even in a dream were we . . . brought moping hither." 80 If thou canst mutine in a matron's bones, And melt in her own fire: proclaim no shame And reason pandars will. QUEEN. O Hamlet, speak no more: НАМ. Nay, but to live In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love QUEEN. O, speak to me no more; These words like daggers enter in my ears; HAM. A murderer and a villain; A slave that is not twentieth part the tithe 83 mutine] mutiny; only used here as a verb. But the word reappears as a noun, meaning mutineer, V, ii, 6, infra. 85 her own fire] the fire of flaming youth. 88 reason pandars will] reason becomes the pander, or disreputable agent, of lust. “Lust" is a common sense of "will.” 90 grained] ingrained, fast dyed. 92 enseamed] defiled. 98 a vice of kings] a buffoon or clown of a king. In the old morality plays the "vice" was a clown or buffoon. 90 100 QUEEN. No more! HAM. A king of shreds and patches Enter Ghost Save me, and hover o'er me with your wings, You heavenly guards! What would your gracious figure? HAM. Do you not come your tardy son to chide, GHOST. Do not forget: this visitation HAM. How is it with you, lady? QUEEN. Alas, how is't with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy And with the incorporal air do hold discourse? 102 shreds and patches] an allusion to the motley or patchwork dress of the professional fool or clown. 104 your gracious] Thus the Quartos. The Folios read you gracious. 107 lapsed passion] having let time slip by through indulgence in mere passion. 108 important] urgent, importunate. 114 Conceit in weakest bodies] Imagination in weakest creatures. 118 incorporal] ethereal, immaterial. "Corporal" for "corporeal" is not uncommon. But this form seems unknown elsewhere. 110 |