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Line 2327 - 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. Click here for more information about browsing the entries and here for more information about the special symbols used in Hamletworks. Click the question mark icon above to remove this help message.

Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary

For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.

2327 My fault is past, but oh what forme of prayer	3.3.51

1845 Hunter

Hunter

2327-8 but . . . turne] Hunter (1845, 2:255-6): <p.255> “The play had certainly its effect. It had con- </p.255><p.256> firmed Hamlet in his opinion of his uncle’s guilt, and it had awakened remorse in the King’s bosom, and we have here the workings of it portrayed by a masterly hand. The speech is in many respects admirable. But it wants an issue. We are left at last uncertain in what mould the prayer will be cast, when at the close of it he ‘retires and prays.’ It was not so when the play was originally written. His meditations there issue in this resolve:—‘Most wretched man! stoop, bend thee to thy prayer; Ask grace of heav’n to keep thee from despair.’ This is among the best of our obligations to the new-found quarto.” </p.256>

1857 fieb

fieb: xref.

2327 past] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “Past, properly passed, (i.e. done, gone through) spelled often in this manner, like passest, drest, a. o., especially to accommodate rhymes to the eye, which now would be a disgrace to orthography. See p. 102, 5 [3.1.155 (1811)].”

1877 v1877

v1877 ≈ Hunter

2327 what forme] Furness (ed. 1877): “Hunter (ii, 256): This speech is in many respects admirable. But it wants an issue. We are left at last uncertain in what mould the prayer will be cast, when at the close of it he ‘retires and prays.’ It was not so when the play was originally written. His meditations there issue in a resolve. [See Reprint of Hamlet, 1603, line [2.2.376 (1423)], in Appendix.]”

1980 pen2

pen2

2327 My fault is past] Spencer (ed. 1980): “once I have appealed to God for mercy, my sin will have been forgiven. (But he knows that appealing to God brings with it certain conditions).”

1987 oxf4

oxf4

2327 My fault is past] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “i.e. my sin has already been committed.”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: H5 //

2327 past] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “already committed (i.e. it is too late for sin to be forestalled, but there is still the possibility of pardon). A similar thought is expressed by Henry V on the night before Agincourt when he notes that his penitence for his father’s ’fault’ (also, in effect, regicide) ’comes after all’ (H5 4.1.300): he cannot undo the murder of Richard II and he still possesses the effects of the crime.”