Act I

Act I

[Footnote I.1: _Me:_] _i.e., me_ who am already on the watch, and
have a right to demand the watch-word.]

[Footnote I.2: _Unfold_] Announce, make known.]

[Footnote I.3: _Long live the King._] The watch-word.]

[Footnote I.4: _The rivals of my watch_,] _Rivals_, for partners
or associates.]

[Footnote I.5: _And liegemen to the Dane._] _i.e._, owing
allegiance to Denmark.]

[Footnote I.6: _A piece of him._] Probably a cant expression.]

[Footnote I.7: _To watch the minutes of this night_; This seems
to have been an expression common in Shakespeare's time.]

[Footnote I.8: _Approve our eyes_,] To _approve_, in
Shakespeare's age, signified to make good or establish.]

[Footnote I.9: _What we have seen._] We must here supply "with,"
or "by relating" before "what we have seen."]

[Footnote I.10: _It harrows me with fear and wonder._] _i.e._, it
confounds and overwhelms me.]

[Footnote I.11: _Usurp'st this time of night_,] _i.e._, abuses,
uses against right, and the order of things.]

[Footnote I.12: _I might not this believe, &c._] I _could_ not:
it had not been permitted me, &c., without the full and perfect
evidence, &c.]

[Footnote I.13: _Jump at this dead hour_,] _Jump_ and _just_ were
synonymous in Shakespeare's time.]

[Footnote I.14: _In what particular thought to work_,] In what
particular course to set my thoughts at work: in what particular
train to direct the mind and exercise it in conjecture.]

[Footnote I.15: _Gross and scope_] Upon the whole, and in a
general view.]

[Footnote I.16: _Bodes some strange eruption to our state_,]
_i.e._, some political distemper, which will break out in
dangerous consequences.]

[Footnote I.17: _Palmy state_] Outspread, flourishing. Palm
branches were the emblem of victory.]

[Footnote I.18: _Sound, or use of voice_,] Articulation.]

[Footnote I.19:

        _Uphoarded in thy life
  Extorted treasure in the womb of earth_,]

So in Decker's Knight's Conjuring, &c. "If any of them had bound
the spirit of gold by any charmes _in cares_, or in iron fetters,
_under the ground_, they should, _for their own soule's quiet
(which, questionless, else would whine up and down_,) not for the
good of their children, release it."]

[Footnote I.20:

  _And then it started like a guilty thing
  Upon a fearful summons._]

Apparitions were supposed to fly from the crowing of the cock,
because it indicated the approach of day.]

[Footnote I.21: _Lofty_] High and loud.]

[Footnote I.22: _The extravagant and erring spirit_]
_Extravagant_ is, got out of his bounds. _Erring_ is here used in
the sense of wandering.]

[Footnote I.23: Laertes is unknown in the original story, being
an introduction of Shakespeare's.]

[Footnote I.24: _Green_;] Fresh.]

[Footnote I.25: _Wisest sorrow_] Sober grief, passion discreetly
reined.]

[Footnote I.26: _With a defeated joy_,] _i.e._, with joy baffled;
with joy interrupted by grief.]

[Footnote I.27: _Barr'd_] Excluded--acted without the concurrence
of.]

[Footnote I.28: _Your leave and favour_] The favour of your leave
granted, the kind permission. Two substantives with a copulative
being here, as is the frequent practice of our author, used for
an adjective and substantive: an adjective sense is given to a
substantive.]

[Footnote I.29: _Upon his will I sealed my hard consent:_] At or
upon his earnest and importunate suit, I gave my full and final,
though hardly obtained and reluctant, consent.]

[Footnote I.30:

  _Take thy fair hour! time be thine;
  And thy best graces spend it at thy will!_]

Catch the auspicious moment! be time thine own! and may the
exercise of thy fairest virtue fill up those hours, that are
wholly at your command!]

[Footnote I.31: _A little more than kin, and less than kind._]
Dr. Johnson says that _kind_ is the Teutonic word for _child_.
Hamlet, therefore, answers to the titles of _cousin_ and _son_,
which the king had given him, that he was somewhat more than
_cousin_, and less than _son_. Steevens remarks, that it seems to
have been another proverbial phrase: "The nearer we are in blood,
the further we must be from love; the greater the _kindred_ is,
the less the _kindness_ must be." _Kin_ is still used in the
Midland Counties for _cousin_, and _kind_ signifies _nature_.
Hamlet may, therefore, mean that the relationship between them
had become _unnatural_.]

[Footnote I.32: _I am too much i'the sun._] Meaning, probably,
his being sent for from his studies to be exposed at his uncle's
marriage as his _chiefest courtier_, and being thereby placed too
much in the radiance of the king's presence; or, perhaps, an
allusion to the proverb, "_Out of Heaven's blessing, into the
warm sun:_" but it is not unlikely that a quibble is meant
between _son_ and _sun_.]

[Footnote I.33: _Nighted colour_] Black--night-like.]

[Footnote I.34: _Vailed lids_] Cast down.]

[Footnote I.35: _Which passeth show_;] _i.e._, "external manners
of lament."]

[Footnote I.36: _Trappings_] _Trappings_ are "furnishings."]

[Footnote I.37: _That father lost, lost his_;] "That lost father
(of your father, _i.e._, your grandfather), or father so lost,
lost his.]"

[Footnote I.38: _Do obsequious sorrow:_] Follow with becoming and
ceremonious observance the memory of the deceased.]

[Footnote I.39: _But to perséver_] This word was anciently
accented on the second syllable.]

[Footnote I.40: _Obstinate condolement_,] Ceaseless and
unremitted expression of grief.]

[Footnote I.41: _Incorrect to Heaven._] Contumacious towards
Heaven.]

[Footnote I.42: _Unprevailing_] Fruitless, unprofitable.]

[Footnote I.43: _Sits smiling to my heart:_] _To_ is _at_:
gladdens my heart.]

[Footnote I.44: _In grace whereof_,] _i.e._, respectful regard or
honour of which.]

[Footnote I.45: _No jocund health, that Denmark drinks to-day_,]
Dr. Johnson remarks, that the king's intemperance is very
strongly impressed; everything that happens to him gives him
occasion to drink. The Danes were supposed to be hard drinkers.]

[Footnote I.46: _Resolve itself_] _To resolve_ is an old word
signifying _to dissolve_.]

[Footnote I.47: _His canon_] _i.e._, his rule or law].

[Footnote I.48: _The uses of this world!_] _i.e._, the habitudes
and usages of life.]

[Footnote I.49: _Merely._] Wholly--entirely.]

[Footnote I.50: _Hyperion to a satyr:_] An allusion to the
exquisite beauty of Apollo, compared with the deformity of a
satyr; that satyr, perhaps, being Pan, the brother of Apollo. Our
great poet is here guilty of a false quantity, by calling
Hypĕrīon, Hypērĭon, a mistake not unusual among our English
poets.]

[Footnote I.51: _Might not beteem_] _i.e._, might not allow,
permit.]

[Footnote I.52: _I'll change that name with you._] _i.e._, do not
call yourself my _servant_, you are my _friend_; so I shall call
you, and so I would have you call me.]

[Footnote I.53: _In faith._] Faithfully, in pure and simple
verity.]

[Footnote I.54: _But what make you_] What is your object? What
are you doing?]

[Footnote I.55: _What, in faith, make you from Wittenberg?_] In
Shakespeare's time there was a university at Wittenberg; but as
it was not founded till 1502, it consequently did not exist in
the time to which this play refers.]

[Footnote I.56: _My dearest foe_] _i.e._, my direst or most
important foe. This epithet was commonly used to denote the
strongest and liveliest interest in any thing or person, for or
against.]

[Footnote I.57: _Goodly king._] _i.e._, a good king.]

[Footnote I.58:

  _Season your admiration for a while
  with an attent ear_;]

_i.e._, suppress your astonishment for a short time, that you may
be the better able to give your attention to what we will
relate.]

[Footnote I.59: _In the dead waste and middle of the night_,]
_i.e._, in the dark and desolate vast, or vacant space and middle
of the night. It was supposed that spirits had permission to
range the earth by night alone.]

[Footnote I.60: _With the act of fear_,] _i.e._, by the influence
or power of fear.]

[Footnote I.61: _Address_] _i.e._, make ready.]

[Footnote I.62: _Writ down_] Prescribed by our own duty.]

[Footnote I.63: _He wore his beaver up._] That part of the helmet
which may be lifted up, to take breath the more freely.]

[Footnote I.64: _Tenable_] _i.e._, strictly maintained.]

[Footnote I.65: _Benefit_,] Favourable means.]

[Footnote I.66: _Trifling of his favour_,] Gay and thoughtless
intimation.]

[Footnote I.67: _Pérfume and suppliance of a minute._] _i.e._, an
amusement to fill up a vacant moment, and render it agreeable.]

[Footnote I.68: _Keep within the rear of your affection_,] Front
not the peril; withdraw or check every warm emotion: advance not
so far as your affection would lead you.]

[Footnote I.69: _The chariest maid_] Chary is cautious.]

[Footnote I.70: _Puff'd and reckless libertine._] Bloated and
swollen, the effect of excess; and heedless and indifferent to
consequences.]

[Footnote I.71: _Recks not his own read._] _i.e._, heeds not his
own lessons or counsel.]

[Footnote I.72: _Shoulder of your sail_,] A common sea phrase.]

[Footnote I.73: _Look thou charácter._] _i.e._, a word often used
by Shakespeare to signify to _write, strongly infix_; the accent
is on the second syllable.]

[Footnote I.74: _Unproportion'd thought_] Irregular, disorderly
thought.]

[Footnote I.75: _Each man's censure_,] Sentiment, opinion.]

[Footnote I.76: _Chief in that._] _i.e._, chiefly in that.]

[Footnote I.77: _Husbandry_] _i.e._, thrift, economical
prudence.]

[Footnote I.78: _Season this in thee!_] _i.e._, infix it in such
a manner as that it may never wear out.]

[Footnote I.79: _Yourself shall keep the key of it._] Thence it
shall not be dismissed, till you think it needless to retain it.]

[Footnote I.80: _Given private time to you_;] Spent his time in
private visits to you.]

[Footnote I.81: _As so 'tis put on me_,] Suggested to, impressed
on me.]

[Footnote I.82: _Is between_] _i.e._, what has passed--what
intercourse had.]

[Footnote I.83: _Green girl, Unsifted_] _i.e._, inexperienced
girl. Unsifted means one who has not nicely _canvassed_ and
examined the peril of her situation.]

[Footnote I.84: _Woodcocks._] Witless things.]

[Footnote I.85: _Slander any leisure moment_,] _i.e._, I would
not have you so disgrace your most idle moments, as not to find
better employment for them than lord Hamlet's conversation.]

[Footnote I.86: _An eager air._] _Eager_ here means _sharp_, from
_aigre_, French.]

[Footnote I.87: _Doth wake to-night_,] _i.e._, holds a late
revel.]

[Footnote I.88: _Takes his rouse_,] _Rouse_ means drinking bout,
carousal.]

[Footnote I.89: _Questionable shape_,] To _question_, in our
author's time, signified to _converse_. Questionable, therefore,
means _capable of being conversed with._]

[Footnote I.90: _Hearsed in death_,] Deposited with the
accustomed funeral rites.]

[Footnote I.91: _Cerements_;] Those precautions usually adopted
in preparing dead bodies for sepulture.]

[Footnote I.92: _Fools of nature_] _i.e._, making sport for
nature.]

[Footnote I.93: _Disposition_] Frame of mind and body.]

[Footnote I.94: _Removèd ground:_] _Removed_ for _remote_.]

[Footnote I.95: _At a pin's fee_;] _i.e._, the value of a pin.]

[Footnote I.96: _What if it tempt you toward the flood, &c._]
Malignant spirits were supposed to entice their victims into
places of gloom and peril, and exciting in them the deepest
terror.]

[Footnote I.97: _Beetles o'er his base into the sea_,] _i.e._,
projects darkly over the sea.]

[Footnote I.98: _Némean lion's nerve._] Shakespeare, and nearly
all the poets of his time, disregarded the quantity of Latin
names. The poet has here placed the accent on the first syllable,
instead of the second.]

[Footnote I.99: _That lets me:_] To let, in the sense in which it
is here used, means to hinder--to obstruct--to oppose. The word
is derived from the Saxon.]

[Footnote I.100: _To fast in fires_,] Chaucer has a similar
passage with regard to eternal punishment--_"And moreover the
misery of Hell shall be in default of meat and drink."_]

[Footnote I.101: _Harrow up thy soul_;] Agitate and convulse.]

[Footnote I.102: _Hair to stand on end_,] A common image of that
day.

  "_Standing_ as frighted with _erected haire_."]

[Footnote I.103: _The fretful porcupine:_] This animal being
considered irascible and timid.]

[Footnote I.104: _Eternal blazon_] _i.e._, publication or
divulgation of things eternal.]

[Footnote I.105: _Rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf_,] _i.e._,
in indolence and sluggishness, by its torpid habits contributes
to that morbid state of its juices which may figuratively be
denominated rottenness.]

[Footnote I.106: _Orchard_,] Garden.]

[Footnote I.107: _Forged process_] _i.e._, false report of
proceedings.]

[Footnote I.108: _Decline upon a wretch._] Stoop with degradation
to.]

[Footnote I.109: _Secure_] Unguarded.]

[Footnote I.110: _Hebenon_] Hebenon is described by Nares in his
Glossary, as the juice of ebony, supposed to be a deadly poison.]

[Footnote I.111: _Despatch'd:_] Despoiled--bereft.]

[Footnote I.112: _Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd_;] To
_housel_ is to minister the sacrament to one lying on his death
bed. _Disappointed_ is the same as unappointed, which here means
unprepared. _Unanel'd_ is without extreme unction.]

[Footnote I.113: _Luxury_] Lasciviousness.]

[Footnote I.114: _Pale his uneffectual fire:_] _i.e._, not seen
by the light of day; or it may mean, shining without heat.]

[Footnote I.115: _In this distracted globe._] _i.e._, his head
distracted with thought.]

[Footnote I.116: _Pressures past_,] Impressions heretofore made.]

[Footnote I.117: _Come, bird, come._] This is the call which
falconers used to their hawk in the air when they would have him
come down to them.]

[Footnote I.118:

  _There's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Denmark--
  But he's an arrant knave._]

Hamlet probably begins these words in the ardour of confidence
and sincerity; but suddenly alarmed at the magnitude of the
disclosure he was going to make, and considering that, not his
friend Horatio only, but another person was present, he breaks
off suddenly:--"There's ne'er a villain in all Denmark that can
match (perhaps he would have said) my uncle in villainy; but
recollecting the danger of such a declaration, he pauses for a
moment, and then abruptly concludes:--"but he's an arrant
knave."]

[Footnote I.119: _Whirling words_,] Random words thrown out with
no specific aim.]

[Footnote I.120: _By Saint Patrick_,] At this time all the whole
northern world had their learning from Ireland; to which place it
had retired, and there flourished under the auspices of this
Saint.]

[Footnote I.121: _O'er-master it_] Get the better of it.]

[Footnote I.122: _Give it welcome._] Receive it courteously, as
you would a stranger when introduced.]

[Footnote I.123: _Antick disposition_] _i.e._, strange, foreign
to my nature, a disposition which Hamlet assumes as a protection
against the danger which he apprehends from his uncle, and as a
cloak for the concealment of his own meditated designs.]

[Footnote I.124: _Arms encumber'd thus_,] _i.e._, folded.]

[Footnote I.125: _Friending to you--shall not lack_] Disposition
to serve you shall not be wanting.]