Line 250 - Commentary Note (CN) 
Commentary notes (CN):
1. SMALL CAPS Indicate editions. Notes for each commentator are divided into three parts:
In the 1st two lines of a record, when the name of the source text (the siglum) is printed in SMALL CAPS, the comment comes from an EDITION; when it is in normal font, it is derived from a book, article, ms. record or other source. We occasionally use small caps for ms. sources and for works related to editions. See bibliographies for complete information (in process).
2. How comments are related to predecessors' comments. In the second line of a record, a label "without attribution" indicates that a prior writer made the same or a similar point; such similarities do not usually indicate plagiarism because many writers do not, as a practice, indicate the sources of their glosses. We provide the designation ("standard") to indicate a gloss in common use. We use ≈ for "equivalent to" and = for "exactly alike."
3. Original comment. When the second line is blank after the writer's siglum, we are signaling that we have not seen that writer's gloss prior to that date. We welcome correction on this point.
4. Words from the play under discussion (lemmata). In the third line or lines of a record, the lemmata after the TLN (Through Line Number] are from Q2. When the difference between Q2 and the authors' lemma(ta) is significant, we include the writer's lemma(ta). When the gloss is for a whole line or lines, only the line number(s) appear. Through Line Numbers are numbers straight through a play and include stage directions. Most modern editions still use the system of starting line numbers afresh for every scene and do not assign line numbers to stage directions.
5. Bibliographic information. In the third line of the record, where we record the gloss, we provide concise bibliographic information, expanded in the bibliographies, several of which are in process.
6. References to other lines or other works. For a writer's reference to a passage elsewhere in Ham. we provide, in brackets, Through Line Numbers (TLN) from the Norton F1 (used by permission); we call these xref, i.e., cross references. We call references to Shakespearean plays other than Ham. “parallels” (//) and indicate Riverside act, scene and line number as well as TLN. We call references to non-Shakespearean works “analogues.”
7. Further information: See the Introduction for explanations of other abbreviations.
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Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman
| 250 Doe not for euer with thy vailed lids | 1.2.70 |
|---|
1723- mtby2
mtby2
250 vailed lids] Thirlby (1723-): “this [veiled?] will not bear examining and yet I will not swear it is not goo[d] [. . . ] f [strong opinion] well enough. Yes, very well.”
1744 han1
han1
250 vailed] Hanmer (ed. 1743, 6: Glossary): “To Vail, to let down, to drop, to stoop.”
1755 Johnson Dict.
Johnson
250 vailed] Johnson (1755): “To Vail v.a. [avaller le bonet, French.]
“1. To let fall, to suffer to descend. . . .
“2. To let fall in token of respect . . .
“3. To fall . . . [quotes ‘Gan vail his stomach’ from 2H4 1.1.129 [189], though he identifies it only as from Sh.]
1773 v1773
v1773
250 vailed] Johnson (ed. 1773): “With lowering eyes, cast down eyes.”
1774 capn
capn
250 vailed] Capell (1774, 1.1:123) “Instead of ‘vailed’ in [250], the folio’s and the moderns have ‘veiled:’ but ‘lids’ are not veiled themselves, but are the veilers of other things, that is—eyes.”
capn: derivation from Johnson’s Dictionary; //
250 vailed] Capell (1774, 1.1:Glossary): “to vail [2H4 1.1.129 (189), MV 1.1.28, (32), & Shr. 5.1.173 (2734)] to abase or let down, to lower. Fre. avaller.”
1778 v1778
v1778 = v1773 subst.
250 vailed]
1784 ays1
ays1= v1778 without attribution
250 vailed] Ayscough (ed. 1784): “With lowering eyes, cast-down eyes.”
1785 v1785
v1785 = v1778
250 vailed]
1787 ann
ann = v1785
250 vailed]
1790 mal
mal = v1785
250 vailed] Malone
1790 mal
mal = v1785
250 vailed]
1790 mal
mal 2H4 1.1.129 = Johnson (perhaps from john1, ck.; Johnson’s Dictionary without attribution; Steevens, also from Johnson’s Dictionary
250 vailed] Johnson (apud Malone, 5: 285, n. 9): “’Gan vail his stomach,] ‘Began to fall his courage, to let his spirits sink under his fortune.’ Johnson.
“From avaller, Fr. to cast down, or to let fall down. See [3:6 n.7]. Malone
“Thus, to vail the bonnet is to pull it off. To vail a staff is to let it fall in token of respect. Steevens.”
1791- rann
rann: standard
250 vailed] Rann (ed. 1791-): “downcast eyes.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = mal + // from capn
250 vailed] Steevens (ed. 1793): “So, in [MV 1.1.28 (32)]: “Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs.”
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
250 vailed]
Malone ref to XII. p.17n9.
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
250 vailed]
1819 cald1
cald1: standard +
250 vailed] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Cast down. See [MV 1.1.28 (32) Salar. & [LLL 5.2.297 (2220)]. Boyet.”
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813
250 vailed]
1826 sing1
sing1
250 vailed] Singer (ed. 1826): “i.e. with eyes cast down. ‘—Vaile your regard Upon a wrong’d, I’d fain have said a maid.’ [MM 5.1.20-1 (2370-1)].”
1832 cald2
cald2 = cald1
250 vailed]
1832- mEliot
mEliot
250 vailed] Eliot (1832-): “Sh. frequently uses the past for the perfect participle.”
1833 valpy
valpy
250 vailed lids] Valpy (ed. 1833): “Dejected eyes.”
1843 col1
col1: standard
250 vailed] Collier (ed. 1843): “To ‘vail’ was to lower. See [6:201], and various previous instances there referred to.”
1844 verp
verp: standard
250 vailed]
Verplanck (ed. 1844): “Lowered, cast down.”
1856 sing2
sing2 = sing1 minus ref. to MM; plus han def.
250 vailed] Singer (ed. 1856): “i.e. with eyes cast down. To vail is to lower.”
1856 hud1
hud1 ≈ rann without attribution
250 vailed] Hudson (ed. 1856): “That is, with downcast eyes. We have repeatedly seen, that to vail was to lower or let fall. See [MV 1.1.28 (32)] note 3.”
1858 col3
col3 = col1 except // to 2:525
250 vailed]
1868 c&mc
c&mc: hud1 without attribution + in magenta underlined
250 vailed]
Clarke &
Clarke (ed. 1868): “‘
Drooped lids,’ ‘downcast eyes.’”
1872 cln1
cln1 : standard def., MV //
250 vailed]
cln1
250 lids] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “for ‘eyelids,’ occurs in [Cym. 2. 2. 20 (927)].”
Ugh, what a useless note this seems to me. Meikeljohn ≈ w/o attribution.
1872 hud2
hud2 = hud1 minus //
250 vailed]
1873 rug2
rug2: standard, v1821 derivation from Fr. + in magenta underlined
250 vailed] Moberly (ed. 1873): “lowered. Probably from the French ‘en aval,’ downward (of a river): just as ‘paramount’ answers to the phrase ‘en amont,’ upwards.”
1877 v1877
v1877: john; Steevens MV //
250 vailed]
1878 col4
col4: standard
250 vailed]
1880 meik
meik ≈ cln1 without attribution + in magenta underlined
250 lids] Meikeljohn (ed. 1880): “found in S. six times for eyelids.”
Spevack has 3x lid and 5x lids.
1881 hud3
hud3 = hud2
250 lids]
1885 macd
macd: standard
250 vailed]
1938 parc
parc
250 vailed] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938): “lowered.”
1939 kit2
kit2: standard
250 vailed] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "downcast."
1947 cln2
cln2: standard
250 vailed] Rylands (ed. 1947): "vailéd: lowered, downcast."
1957 pel1
pel1: standard
250 vailed] Farnham (ed. 1957): “downcast.”
1964 HLQ
Doran
250 for euer] Doran (1964, p. 266): “We are soon to learn that her husband has been dead less than two months.”
1970 pel2
pel2 = pel1
250 vailed] Farnham (ed. 1970): “downcast”
1980 pen2
pen2: standard
250 vailed lids] Spencer (ed. 1980): “downcast eyelids.”
1982 ard2
ard2:
250 Doe . . . euer] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Ironical in view of [329-35].”
ard2: OED
250 vailed] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “lowered. OED v2.”
1985 cam4
cam4
250 vailed lids] Edwards (ed. 1985): "lowered eyes."
1987 oxf4
oxf4: standard: OED; Ven. 956
250 vailed] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "lowered, downcast "(OED v.2 1 c). Cp. Ven. 956, ‘She vailed her eye-lids.’ "
1988 bev2
bev2: standard
250 vailed lids] Bevington (ed. 1988): “lowered eyes.”
1992 OED
OED
250 vailed] OED: There may be a difference between vailed and veyled and veiled The word vail, in OED 1b means to lower in sign of submission or respect, 1c to lower or cast down (the eyes) . . . OED also has vailed, and cites F1 Ham, meaning “lowered, drooped...” If it meant veiled, it could mean veiling—lids that behave like a veil, keeping the eyes hidden from view, contrary to the direct gaze. Poetically it is applied to eyes—from Shelley on.
1992 fol2
fol2: standard
250 vailed lids] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “i.e., lowered eyes”
1993 Lupton&Reinhard
Lupton & Reinhard: Lacan
250-3 Lupton & Reinhard (1993, p. 79): “ . . . since Gertrude, as Lacan says in “Seminar X,” demonstrates an ‘absence of mourning” (3 July 1963, 397), Hamlet’s mourning—and hence his desire—is also dysfunctional . . . . The death of
Ophelia, as well as the murder of
Polonius, are, according to Lacan, ritual sacrifices in expiation of the unmourned loss of the father, attempts to institute a lack that can be adequately mourned (‘Desire’ 39).”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: xref; Q2/F1
250 vailed lids] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “vailèd; lowered eyelids. Q2’s ’vailed’ is more popular with editors than F’s ’veyled’ (veiled), though the latter is acceptable if we assume that the downcast lids ’veil’ the eyes (see Thompson & Thompson, [intro] 99-100, 128). The Queen sees in Hamlet’s metaphorically downcast (dropping, [189]) eyes a literal attempt to find his father’s body in the ground—the first of the play’s many references to the physical facts of corporeal decay: see, for example, [1218-20] and [1354-5], [2685-93] and [3353-3403].”
250