Haft ta'en with equal thanks. And bleft are those Whofe blood and judgment are fo well co-mingled, That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger, In To found what ftop fhe please. Give me that man h Obferve mine uncle; if his occulted guilt Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damned ghoft that we have seen, k As Vulcan's ftithy. Give him 'heedful note; And after we will both our " judgments join Hor. Well, my lord. If he fteal aught, the whilft this play is playing, SCENE VI. Enter King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rofencraus, Guildenftern, and other Lords attendant, with a guard carrying torches. Danish march. Sound a flourish. Ham. They are coming to the play; I muft be idle. Get you a place. King. How fares our coufin Hamlet? Ham. Excellent, i' faith, of the camelion's difh: I eat the air, promife-cramm'd. You cannot feed capons fo. King. I have nothing with this anfwer, Hamlet; these words are not mine. t Ham. No, nor mine now, my lord.---You play'd once i' th' univerfity, you say? [To Polonius. Pol. That did I, my lord, and was accounted a good actor. Ham. What did you enact? Pol. I did enact Julius Cæfar; I was kill'd i' th' capitol Brutus kill'd me. Ham. It was a brute part of him to kill fo capital a calf there. Be the players ready? J. This is called Scene V. by W. and you play'd, &c. Followed by P.'s duodecimo, T. and W. 7. ftops thus, Ne nor mine now.-My lord; you play'd, &c. In the qu's, Enter trumpets and kettle - drumis, King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia. s The qu's stop to make the fenfe as in the text. And are followed by R. P.'s quarto, and H. and C. The fo's kop thus, Ne ner mixe. Now wy lord, This direction first inferted by R. u The fo's and all after, except C, read, I did. &s. w The fo's, and all after, And whaty Ref. Rof. Ay, my lord, they stay upon your patience. X Queen. Come hither, my dear Hamlet, fit by me. Ham. No, good mother, here's metal more attractive. Pol.. O ho, do you mark that? Ham. Lady, fhall I lie in your lap? Oph. No, my lord. b Ham. I mean, my head upon your lap? Oph. Ay, my lord. d Ham. Do you think I meant country matters? Oph. I think nothing, my lord. Ham. That's a fair thought, to lie between a maid's legs. Oph. What is, my lord? Ham. Nothing. Oph. You are merry, my lord. Ham. Who, I? Oph. Ay, my lord. Ham. f Oh God! your only jig-maker. What should a man do but be merry? For, look you how chearfully my mother looks, and my father died within 's two hours. Oph. Nay, 'tish twice two months, my lord. Ham. So long? nay, then let the devil wear black, i for * The fo's and R, read, good. to within these two bours, followed by all y Qu's and fo's, and all but J. and but C. C. mettle. z Second q. ob. a This direction inserted by R. h H. omits tavice. i H. reads, for I'll have a fuit of ermyn. W. fays the true reading is, 'fore What is in italic is omitted in the I'll bave a fuit of fable. But if the qu's, P. and H. c C. in for upon. d. conjectures, manners. e The qu's and fo's omit a. ff. omits God. meaning (according to W.) be, Let the devil wear black for me, I'll have none z why may not the old reading stand, fables not being mourning, but a rich warm fuit worn in that cold country. Se qu's, fo's and R. P. alters this Vide Canons, p. 94, and Revisal, p. 538. G 3 k I'll have a fuit of fables. Oh heav'ns! die two months ago, and not forgotten yet! then there's hope a great man's memory may out-live his life half a year: but, by 'r lady, he must build churches then; or else shall he suffer not thinking on, with the hobby horse; whofe epitaph is, For O, for 0, the hobby harfe is forgot. SCENE VII. "The trumpets found. Dumb fhew follows. Enter a king and a queen P, the queen embracing him, and he her, she kneels, he takes her up, and declines his head upon her neck, he lies down upon a bank of flowers, fhe feeing him afleep, k Qu's, a for be. 1 Among the country may-games, there was an hobby-horse, which, when the puritanical humour of thofe times oppofed and difcredited thefe games, was brought by the poets and balladmakers as an inftance of the ridiculous zeal of the fetaries: from these balJade Hamlet quotes a line. W. But we are referred to no authority for the truth of this. Enter a King and Queen very lovingly:] Thus have the blundering and inadvertent editors all along given us this ftage direction, though we are expressly told by Hamlet anon, that the story of this intended interlude is the murther of Gonzago Duke of Vienna. The fource of this mistake is easy to be accounted for, from the ftage's dreffing the cha racters. Regal coronets being at first ordered by the poet for the duke m This is called Scene VI. by W. and duchefs, the fucceeding players, and J. The fo's, and all editions after, read, Hautboys play. The dumb fhew enters, except C. who reads, Mufick. Dumb Show. • In this ftage-direction it ftands King and Queen through all the editions till T. who alters it to Duke and Duchefs, and has the following note. who did not strictly obferve the quality of the perfons or circumstances of the ftory, miftook them for a King and Queen; and fo was the error deduced down from thence to the prefent times. Methinks Mr. Pope might have indulg ed his private fense in so obvious a mistake, without any fear of rashness being imputed afleep, leaves him: Anon comes in another man, takes off his crown, kiffes it, pours poison in the fleeper's ears, and leaves him: the queen returns, finds the king dead, makes paffionate action; the poifoner, with fome three or four, comes in again, feems to condole with her, the dead body is carried away, the poifoner wooes the queen with gifts, fhe feems harsh awhile, but in the end accepts his love. W imputed to him for the arbitrary correction. T Notwithstanding this feeming clear triumph of T. over the former editors, which he enjoys by the consent of all the fucceeding ones, who follow him in the alteration; perhaps there is a way of accounting for these feeming contradictions in the old editions. The play here acted, Hamlet says, is the image of a murther done in Vienna, Gonzago is the duke's name, bis wife's Baptista; but the poet who may be supposed to have formed this story into a play, must be allowed the right of changing the quality of the perfons as he pleases: So, though in the ftory it was a duke and a duchess, yet in the play it might be altered to a king and a queen, by poetical licence. And that this fuppofition is true, feems to be confirmed by Hamlet's words almost immediately after the above-quoted ones; viz. This is one Lucianus, nephew to the king. But T. has taken care to alter this word king here, which stands fo in all the editions before him, to duke, without giving any notice of the alteration. P After queen the fo's infert, very lovingly. But no edition before T. has these words, with regal coronets; who puts them into the direction without acquainting us that they are his interpolation; and no wonder, as he could make us believe they are to be found in the old editions; for he fays (v. note foregoing) Regal coronets being at first ordered by the poet for the duke and duchess, &c. 9 Thefe words, she kneels, are omitted in the qu's. The fo's, inftead of another man read a fellow. So do all the editions after, except C. • The fo's, R. and P. read, King's ears, &c. The fo's, and all after but C, read, and exit. u The fo's, and all editions after, read, fome two or three minutes, &c. except C, who reads, fome three or four minutes, &c. w The fo's, and the editions after, feeming to lament with her. The fo's, and editions after except C. read, loth and unwilling awhile. The qu's and C. omit bis. |