And how, and who; what means, and where they keep,' Pol. And in part him; but, you may say, not well: Addicted so and so; As and there put on him What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank may dishonour him, take heed of that; But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips, As are companions noted and most known To youth and liberty. Rey. As gaming, my lord? Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, кравит Quarrelling, drabbing:-you may go so far.ndnuse ig Rey. My lord, that would dishonour him. ladies Pol. 'Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge. You must not put another scandal on him, That he is open to incontinency; That's not my meaning: but breathe his faults so quaintly, That they may seem the taints of liberty; The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind; A savageness in unreclaimed blood, Of general assault.1 Rey. But, my good lord, Pol. Wherefore should you do this? And I believe it is a fetch of warrant:5 Your party in convérse, him you would sound, 2 The Poet repeatedly has keep in the sense of lodge or dwell. See page 267, note 22 3 Quaintly, from the Latin comptus, properly means elegantly, but is here used in the sense of adroitly or ingeniously. See page 121, note 2. 4 A wildness of untamed blood, such as youth is generally assailer by. 5 "A fetch of warrant" seems to mean an allowable stratagem or artifice. Having at any time seen the youth you speak of guilty in the forenamed Very good, my lord. Pol. And then, sir, does he this, he does what was I about to say? By the Mass,' I was about to say something: - where did I leave? Rey. At, closes in the consequence, At friend or so and gentleman. Pol. At closes in the consequence, ay, marry; He closes with you thus: I know the gentleman; I saw him yesterday, or t'other day, Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say, There fulling out at tennis. See you now, Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth of And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,Ĉe. With windlaces and with assays of bias, By indirections find directions out: So, by my former lecture and advice, Shall you my son. You have me, have you not? Rey. My lord, I have. Pol. God b' wi' you! fare you well. Rey. Good my lord! Pol. Observe his inclination in yourself.10 Rey. I shall, my lord. Pol. And let him ply his music.11 means, apparently, agrees with you in this conclusion. — Addition again for title. 7 Mass is the old name of the Lord's Supper, and is still used by the Roman Catholics. It was often sworn by, as in this instance. -As marry occurs several times here, it may be well to remark that this use of the word grew from the custom of swearing by Saint Mary the Virgin. 8 The shrewd old wire-puller is fond of angling arts. The carp is a species of fish. 9 "Of wisdom and of reach" is here equivalent to by cunning and overreaching. Windlaces is here used in the sense of taking a winding, circuitous, or round-about course to a thing, instead of going directly to it; or, as we sometimes say, "beating about the bush," instead of coming straight to the point. This is shown by a late writer in the Edinburgh Review, who quotes two passages in illustration of it from Golding's translation of Orid, which is known to have been one of the Poet's books. Here is one of the quotations: "The winged god, beholding them returning in a troupe, "Assays of bias" are trials of inclination. A bias is a weight in one side 11 Eye him sharply, but do it slyly, and let him fiddle his secrets all out. Rey. Well, my lord. [Exit REYNALDO. Begin. Enter OPHELIA. How now, Ophelia! what's the matter? Oph. Alas, my lord, I have been so affrighted! Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my chamber, As if he had been loosed out of Hell 18 To speak of horrors, he comes before me. My lord, I do not know; What said he? Oph. He took me by the wrist, and held me hard; Then goes he to the length of all his arm; And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow, He falls to such perusal of my face As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so: 14 For out o' doors he went without their help, And, to the last, bended their light on me. Pol. Come, go with me: I will go seek the King. This is the very ecstasy of love; Whose violent property fordoes itself,15 And leads the will to desperate undertakings, As oft as any passion under heaven 12 Unbrac'd is the same as our unbuttoned. So used twice in Julius Cesar. 18 Hanging down like the loose cincture which confines the fetters or gyves round the ankles. 14 Bulk is breast. "The bulke or breast of a man, Thorax, la poitrine.". BARET. 15 Fordo was the same as undo or destroy. — Ecstasy occurs several times in this play for madness. Such was the more common meaning of the word in Shakespeare's time; though it was also used for any violent working of the mind. That does afflict our natures. I am sorry, What, have you given him any hard words of late? His access to me. Pol. That hath made him mad. I'm sorry that with better heed and judgment I had not quoted him: 16 I fear'd he did but trifle, To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions, As it is common for the younger sort To lack discretion.18 Come, go we to the King: This must be known; which, being kept close, might move More grief to hide than hate to utter love.19 [Exeunt. SCENE II. The Same. A Room in the Castle. Enter the KING, the QUEEN, ROSENCRANTZ, GUildenstern, and Attendants. King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern! Moreover that we much did long to see you,1 The need we had to use you did provoke Our hasty sending. Something have you heard Since nor th' exterior nor the inward man I cannot dream of: I entreat you both, That, being of so young days brought up with him, 16 To quote is to note, to mark, or observe. 17 In this admirable scene, Polonius, who is throughout the skeleton of his own former skill in state-craft, hunts the trail of policy at a dead scent, supplied by the weak fever-smell in his own nostrils. - COLERIDGE. 18 We old men are as apt to overreach ourselves with our own policy, as the young are to miscarry through inconsideration. 19 The sense is rather obscure, but appears to be,- By keeping Hamlet's love secret, we may cause more of grief to others, than of hatred on his part by disclosing it. The Poet sometimes goes out of his way to close a scene with a rhyme. 1 I do not recollect another instance of moreover that used in this way. It means the same as besides that. Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus, Queen. Good gentlemen, he hath much talk'd of you; And sure I am two men there are not living 2 To whom he more adheres. If it will please you Both your Majesties Ros. Guil. But we both obey; And here give up ourselves, in the full bent, To be commanded. inclinatuin. King. Thanks, Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern. Queen. Thanks, Guildenstern and gentle Rosencrantz: And I beseech you instantly to visit My too-much-changed son. Go, some of you, And bring these gentlemen where Hamlet is. Guil. Heavens make our presence and our practices Pleasant and helpful to him! Queen. Ay, amen! [Exeunt Ros., GUIL., and some Attendants. Pol. Th' ambassadors from Norway, my good lord, King. Thou still hast been the father of good news. I hold my duty, as I hold my soul, Both to my God and to my gracious King: And I do think (or else this brain of mine Hunts not the trail of policy so sure As it hath us'd to do) that I have found The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy. King. O, speak of that; that do I long to hear. My news shall be the fruit to that great feast. King. Thyself do grace to them, and bring them in. — Gentry for gentle courtesy. [Exit POLONIUS. "The supply and profit" is the feeding and realizing. I hold my duty both to my God and to my King, as I do my soul. |