Ham. Seems, Madam? nay, it is, I know not jeems : "Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,

Nor cuftomary fuits of folemn Black
Nor windy fufpiration of forc'd breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected 'haviour of the vifage,
Together with all forms, moods, fhews of grief,
That can denote me truly. These indeed feem,
For they are actions that a man might play;
But I have That within, which paffeth fhew:
Thefe, but the trappings, and the fuits of woe.
King. 'Tis fweet and commendable in your nature,
Hamlet,

To give thefe mourning duties to your father:
But you niuft know, (1) your father loft, loft his father
That father loft, loft his; and the furvivor bound
In filial obligation, for fome term,

To do (2) obfequious forrow. But to perfevere
(3) In obftinate condolement, is a courfe
Of impious ftubbornnefs, unmanly grief.
It fhews (4) a will moft incorrect to heav'n,
A heart unfortify'd, a mind impatient,
An understanding fimple, and unfchool'd;

(1)

your father loft a father:

That father, bis; and the furvivor bound-] Thus Mr. Pope judiciously corrected the faulty copies. On which the editor Mr. Theobald thus defcants; This fuppofed refinement is from Mr. Pope, but all the editions elfe, that I bave met with, old and modern, read,

That father loft, loft bis ;

The reduplication of which word bere gives an energy and an elegance

WHICH IS MUCH EASIER TO BE CONCEIVED THAN EX

PLAINED IN TERMS. I believe fo: For when explained in terms it comes to this; That father after he had loft himself, loft his father. But the reading is ex fide Codicis, and that is enough.

WARBURΤΟΝ,

I do not admire the repetition of the word, but it has fo much of our authour's manner, that I find no temptation to recede from the old copies.

(2) obfiquious forrow.] Obfequious is here from obfequiés, or funeral ceremonies.

(3) In obftinate condolement,

caufe forrow is ufed to be condoled.

(4) a will most incorrect

-] Condolement, for forrow; be

WARBURTON. Incorrect, for untutor❜d.

WARBURTON.

For, what we know must be, and is as common
As any the most vulgar thing to fenfe,
Why should we, in our peevifh oppofition,.
Take it to heart? Fie! 'tis a fault to heav'n,
A fault against the dead, a fault to nature,
(5) To Reafon moft abfurd; whofe common theam
Is death of fathers, and who ftill hath cry'd,
From the first coarfe, 'till he that died to day,
"This must be fo." We pray you, throw to earth
This unprevailing woe, and think of us

As of a father; for let the world take note,
You are the most immediate to our Throne ;.
(6) And with no lefs nobility of love,

Hamlet

Than that which deareft father bears his fon,
(7) Do I impart tow'rd you. For your intent
In going back to school to Wittenberg,
It is most retrograde to our defire;
And we beseech you, bend you to remain
Here in the cheer and comfort of our eye,
Our chiefeft courtier, coufin, and our fon.
Queen. Let not thy mother lose her
prayers,
I pr'ythee, ftay with us, go not to Wittenberg.
Ham. I fhall in all my beft obey you, Madam.
King. Why, 'tis a loving, and a fair reply;
Be as ourself in Denmark. Madam, come;
This gentle and unforc'd accord of Hamlet
Sits finiling to my heart, in grace whereof
(8) No jocund health, that Denmark drinks to day;
But the great Cannon to the clouds shall tell,

(5) To Reafon most abfurd;

Rafn for experience.

WARBURTON.

Reafon is here ufed in its common fenfe, for the faculty by which

we form conclufions from arguments. (6) And with no lefs nobility of love,] Nobility, for Magnitude.

Nobility is rather generofity.

WARBURTON,

(7) Do I impart tow'rd you. -] Impart, for profess.

WARBURTON.

I believe impart is, impart myself, communicate whatever I can.

bestow.

(8) No jocund health,] The King's intemperance is very strongly impreffed; every thing that happens to him gives him occafion to

drink.

And

And the King's rowse the heav'n fhall bruit again,
Re-speaking earthly thunder. Come, away. [Exeunt.

SCENE III.

Manet Hamlet.

Ham. Oh, that this too too folid flesh would melt, Thaw, and refolve itself into a dew!

(9) Or that the Everlafting had not fixt

His cannon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God!
How weary, ftale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the ufes of this world!..
Fie on't! oh fie! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to feed; things rank, and grofs in nature,
Poffefs it merely. That it should come to this!
But two months dead! nay, not fo much; not two
(1) So excellent a King, that was, to this,
Hyperion to a Satyr; fo loving to my mother,
(2) That he might not let e'en the winds of heav'n

(9) Or that the Everlasting bad not fix'd

Vifit

His cannon "gainft felf flaughter!] The generality of the editions read thus, as if the Poet's thought were, Or that the Almighty bad not planted bis artillery, or arms of vengeance, against felf-murder. But the word, which I restored, (and which was efpous'd by the accurate Mr. Hughes, who gave an edition of this Play;) is the true reading. i. e. That he had not reftrain'd fuicide by his exprefs law, and peremptory prohibition. THEOBALD.

(1) So excellent a King, that was, to this,

Hyperion to a Satyr: -] This fimilitude at firft fight feems to be a little far-fetch'd; but it has an exquifite beauty. By the Satyr is meant Pan, as by Hyperion, Apollo. Pan and Apollo were brothers, and the allufion is to the contention between those two Gods for the preference in mufick. WARBURTON.

(2) In former editions,

That be permitted not the winds of beav'n] This is a fophiftical reading, copied from the players in fome of the modern editions, for want of understanding the Poet, whofe text is corrupt in the old impreffions: All of which that I have had the fortune to fee, concur in reading;

So loving to my mother,

That be might not beteene the winds of beav'n

Vifit ber face too roughly.

Beteene is a corruption without doubt, but not fo inveterate a one, but that, by the change of a fingle letter, and the feparation of

F S

two

Vifit her face too roughly. Heav'n and earth!!
Muft I remember? why, fhe would hang on him,
As if Increase of Appetite had grown

By what it fed on; yet, within a month,

Let me not think

Frailty, thy name is Woman.

A little month! or ere thofe shoes were old,
With which the follow'd my poor father's body,
Like Niobe, all tears — Why the, ev'n she,

O heav'n! (3) a beaft, that wants difcourfe of reafon,
Would have mourn'd longer

uncle,

married with mine

My father's brother; but no more like my father, woll
Than I to Hercules. Within a month!
Ere yet the falt of moft unrighteous tears
Had left the flufhing in her gauled eyes,
She married. Oh, moft wicked speed, to post
With fuch dexterity to inceftuous fheets!
It is not, nor it cannot come to Good.

But break, my heart, for I muft hold my tongue.

SCENE IV.

Enter Horatio, Bernardo, and Marcellus.

Hor. Hail to your Lordship!

Ham. I am glad to fee

Horatio,

you well;

or I do forget myfelf?

Hor. The fame, my lord, and your poor fervant ever. Ham. Sir, my good friend, I'll change that name with you;

67

two words miftakenly jumbled together, I am verily perfuaded, I have retrieved the Poet's reading. That be might not let e'en the winds of heav'n, &c.

THEOBALD.

(3) --- a beaft, that wants difcourfe of reafon,] This is finely expreffed, and with a philofophical exactnefs. Beafts want not reafon, but the difcourfe of reafon i. e. the regular inferring one thing from another by the affiftance of univerfals. WARBURTONL Difcourfe of reafon, as the logicians name the third operation of the mind, is indeed a philofophical term, but it is fine no otherwife than as it is proper; it coft the authour nothing, being the common language of his time. Of finding fuch beauties in any poet there is no end.

And

And (4) what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?
Marcellus!

Mar. My good lord

Ham. I a am very glad to fee you; (5) good even, Sir.
But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg?
Hor. A truant difpofition, good my lord.
Ham. I would not hear your enemy fay fo;
Nor fhall you do mine ear that violence,
To make it Trufter of your own report
Againft yourself. I know, you are no truant ;
But what is your affair in Elfingar?

We'll teach you to drink deep, ere you depart.
Hor. My lord, I came to fee your father's funeral.
Ham. I pr'ythee, do not mock me, fellow-ftudent;
I think, it was to fee 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 (6) deareft foe in heav'n,
Or ever I had feen that day, Horatio!!

My father
Hor. Oh where, my lord and

methinks, I fee my father.

Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatianco n

Hor. I faw him once, he was a goodly King.
Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all,
I fhall not look upon his like again.

Hor. My lord, I think, I faw him yesternight.

(4) doing.

what make you] A familiar phrafe for what are you

(5) good even, Sir.] So the copies. Sir Tb. Hanmer and Dr. Warburton put it, good morning. The alteration is of no importance, but all licence is dangerous. There is no need of any change. Between the first and eighth fcene of this act it is apparent that a natural day muft pafs, and how much of it is already over, there is nothing that can determine. The King has held a council. It may now as well be evening as morning.

(6) Deareft, for direft, moft dreadful, moft dangerous. *Hor. I faw bim once, be was

A goodly king.

Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all,

Eye fhail not look upon bis like again.

the true fpirit of Shakespeare, than 7.

The emendation of Sir T. SAMWEL.

] This feems to me more

. Mr. HOLT.

Ham,