Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary
| 2733 How ere my haps, my ioyes {will nere begin} <were ne’re begun>. Exit. | 4.3.68 |
|---|
1765 Heath
Heath
2733 my haps] Heath (1765, p. 544): “I must own I can make no sense of this passage. I should suspect that the poet might write, ‘Howe’er ’t may hap, my joys will ne-er begin.’”
1765 john1/john2
john1/john2
2733 my haps . . . begin] Johnson (ed. 1765): “This being the termination of a scene, should, according to our authour’s custom, be rhymed. Perhaps he wrote, ‘Howe’er my hopes, my joys are not begun.’”
1773 v1773
v1773 = john1 +
2733 will ne’er begin] Johnson (apud Steevens, ed. 1773): “If haps be retained, the meaning will be, ‘till I know ‘tis done, I shall be miserable, whatever befall me. Johnson.”
This is a rare new note attributed to Johnson. It does not appear, however, in either john1 or john2.
1774 capn
capn
2733 hap] Capell (1774,1:1: glossary, hap, haply, & hapily): “Chance, to chance, & by Chance:—perhaps, & to happen, are from the same Root—Hap; as are also,—happy, and it’s Derivatives.”
capn
2733 Capell (1774, 1:1:142): “The concluding line of the scene after this [note here is provided in connection with comment on preceding scene], is made to rime in the folio’s (v. the ‘V.R.’), and their reading might perhaps be the first, and the cause of that line’s ill expression; which the Poet, preferring reason to rime, amended (partly) himself in the way we now have it, but a comment is still wanting to make the passage intelligible: the sense seems to be this,—whatever ‘haps’ or chances may come to me, I shall joy in none of them.”
1778 v1778
v1778 = v1773 +
2733 Steevens (ed. 1778): “The folio reads, in confirmation of Dr. Johnson’s remark,—‘Howe’er my haps my joys were ne’er begun. Steevens.”
1783 Ritson
Riston: contra john1, v1778
2733 Ritson (1783, p. 208): “This being the termination of a scene, should, according to our author’s custom, be rhymed. Perhaps he wrote, Howe’er my hopes, my joys are not begun. Johnson.’
“‘The folio reads, in confirmation of Dr. Johnson’s remark,—‘Howe’er my haps, my joys were ne’er begun. Steevens.’
“This is true: but is it not, at the same time, a conclusive proof either that Dr. Johnson never looked into the folio, or that he has ascribed what he there found to his own sagacity?
“Something of this nature has been before observed. Dr. Johnson’s captious readyness to question Mr. Theobald’s integrity on similar, though much more dubious, occasions is a sufficient justification of truth and candour to dwell on circumstances which might, perhaps, otherwise have been left unnoticed.”
1785 Mason
Mason
2733 hap] Mason (1785, p. 392): “By his haps, he means his successes. His fortune was begun, but his joys were not.”
1790 mal
mal
2733 will ne-er begin] Malone (ed. 1773): “i.e. (as Dr. Johnson observes,) ‘till I know ‘tis done, I shall be miserable, whatever befall me.’ This is the reading of the quarto. The folio, for the sake of the rhyme reads: ‘Howe’er my haps, my joys were ne’er begun.’
“But this, I think, the poet could not have written. The king is speaking of the future time. To say, till I shall be informed that a certain act has been done, whatever may befall me, my joys never had a beginning, is surely nonsense. Malone.”
1791- rann
rann
2733 How ere my haps] Rann (ed. 1791-): “Whatever good fortune may attend me, I can have no true enjoyment of it—will ne’er begin.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = v1785 +
2733 haps] Steevens (ed. 1793): “Mr. Heath would read: ‘Howe’er ‘t may hap, my joys will ne’er begin.’ Steevens.”
2733 haps] Mason (apud Editor, ed. 1793): “By his haps, he means his successes. His fortune was begun, but his joys were not. M. Mason.”
1819 cald1
cald1
2733 my haps] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Turns of fortune or chance.”
1854 del2
del2
2733 will nere begin] Delius (ed. 1854): “were ne’re begun] So die Fol., deren Lesart den die Scenen abschliessenden Reim gewährt. Were ist als Conjunctiv zu fassen: Wie es mir auch ergehen möchte, meine Freuden würden nicht einmal angefangen sein. Die meisten Herausgeber lesen mit den Qs.: my joys will ne’er begin.” [The folio edition has it this way, preserving the final rhyme of the scene. Were should be understood as a subjunctive. Whatever might happen to me, my joys would not even be begun. Most editors read with the Quartos: my joys will ne’er begin.]
1856+ msing
msing
2733 begin] [Singer] (ms. notes in Singer, ed. ?): “begun] The much more probable reading as done & [be]’gin don’t rhyme.”
Transcribed by HLA, who notes that these ms. notes are identified by the Folger Library as Singer’s. The play is in v. 10, which makes it a latter one that sing2, but HLA does not provide date. See PR 3071 D83 copy 2 As. Col. HLA notes: “The Folger has catalogued this edition with the same call number as Dyce’s Remarks on Collier & Knight’s Shakespeare.”
1856 hud1 (1851-6)
hud1
2733 will nere begin] Hudson (ed. 1851-6): “will ne’er begun] Thus the folio; the quartos, ‘my joys will ne’er begin.’ The folio reading is preferred on account of the rhyme; with which the scenes in this play are commonly closed. H.”
1857 dyce1
dyce1 ≈ john1, col2
2733 begin] Dyce (ed. 1857): “a rhyme was evidently intended here.—Johnson suggested that ‘haps’ ought to be ‘hopes;’ and Mr. Collier’s Ms. Corrector agrees with him;—see Mr. Collier’s one-volume Shakespeare.”
1857 fieb
fieb = v1793
A. I. Fish comments on Fiebig’s note: “This note of Fiebig’s like indeed all his best notes is a condensed statement of note 8 p. 418 VIII Var. Shak. where the notes are quoted in full.”
fieb: mal, john
2733 Fiebig (ed. 1857): “This is the reading of the quarto. The folio for the sake of rhyming, which our author usually does at the termination of a scene, reads: ‘Howe’er my haps, my joys were ne’er begun.’ By his haps, he means his successes. His fortune was begun, but his joys were not. Malone judiciously observes, that the poet could not have written ‘—my joys were ne’er begun;’ for, the king is speaking of the future time. To say, till I shall be informed that a certain act has been done; whatever may befall me, my joys never had a beginning, is surely nonsense. Taking though were begun to be the conjunctive put instead of the conditional, would have begun, the ‘nonsense might be avoided.—Heath would read: ‘Howe’er ‘t may hap, my joys will ne’er begin.’—Johnson proposes the conjecture; “Howe’er my hopes, my joys are not begun;’ adding, however, that, if haps be retained, the meaning will be, ‘till I know ‘tis done, I shall be miserable, whatever befall me.”
1857- mstau
mstau
2733 my ioyes will nere begin] Staunton (ms. note in Knight, ed. 1857): “my fears will ne’er begonne. or better —my joy’s well neer begone.”
Note in pencil hand3.
1858 col3
col3
2733 my haps] Collier (ed. 1858): “‘Haps’ is hopes in the corr. fo. 1632.”
1860 Walker
Walker: Heath
2733 begin] Walker (1860, 3:268): “Begun, certainly; rhyme is demanded here. As to the rest, GREEK” <n7> ‘The quarto reading is, will ne’er begin, the folio, were ne’er begun. Howev’er my haps is common to both. Hopes is a futile reading; not so Heath’s Howe’er’t may hap. The quarto, 1603, gives at least sense and English:—’There’s more in him than shallow eyes can see: He once being dead, why then our state is free.” </n7>
Walker ≈ dyce, tsch
2733 begin] White (ms. notes in Walker, 1860, 3:268): “‘were ne’re begun’ Dyce. Tschischwitz proposes ‘will ne’re be gun.’”
1864a glo
glo: Err. //
2733 haps] Clark and Wright (ed. 1864a [1865] 9: glossary, Hap): “sb. chance, fortune. Err. [1.1.113 (116)].”
1866a dyce2
dyce2 = dyce1 + Walker
2733 begin] Dyce (ed. 1866): “1865. ‘Begun,’ certainly; rhyme is demanded here. As to the rest, GREEK HERE, Walker’s Crit. Exam. &c. vol. iii. p. 268.”
1868 c&mc
c&mc: Cor. //
2733 till I know . . .
ne’re begun]
Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868, rpt. 1878): “‘Until I know this deed is done, however I may fare (or whatever may happen to me), my joys will never have begun.’ That Shakespeare could use ‘were ne’er’ for ‘will never have,’ is in consonance with an occasional practice of his with regard to indefinite future time. See Note 42,
Cor. [1.1.79 (80)]. The rhyme in this final couplet of the scene shows it to be the reading probably intended by Shakespeare; although the Quartos give the last line thus—’Howe’er my haps, my joys will ne’er begin.’”
1869 tsch
tsch: Chaucer, Scott analogues; Nares, Koch, dyce, Walker
2733 begun] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Die Verwendung des einfachen Verbums gin, bei Chaucer ginne, geht durch alle Sprachperioden, bis herab zu W. Scott. Nares sagt darüber: It is very common in all old writers, and is used through a l l t e n s e s , which can no longer be thought extraordinary now it is known to have been the primitive form. S. Koch I. §. 13. 4. M. III. p. 6 u. I. p. 347. Demnach ist die Schwierigkeit, welche Walker Crit. Exam. etc. III. p. 268. u. Dyce VII. p. 233. in der Stelle finden, nicht vorhanden, sobald man be von gun getrennt liest.” [The use of the simple verb gin, in Chaucer ginne, goes through all language periods up to W. Scott. Nares says about it: It is very common in all old writers, and is used through all tenses, which can no longer be thought extraordinary, now it is known to have been the primitive form. See Koch I. §13. 4. M. III. p. 6 and I. p. 347. Thus the difficulty that Walker Crit. Exam. etc. III. p. 268 and Dyce VII. p. 233 have with it is not present as soon as one reads be separated from gun.]
1877 v1877
v1877 = john, Walker, Lettsom (fn to Walker), tsch
2733 haps . . .
begin]
Furness (ed. 1877): “
Johnson: “This being the end of a scene, should, according to Shakespare’s custom, be rhymed. Perhaps he wrote, ‘Howe’er my
hopes, my joys
are not begun.’ [Collier’s (MS) has
hopes.] If ‘haps’ be retained, the meaning will be: ‘till I know ‘tis done, I shall be miserable,’ whatever befall me.
Walker (
Crit. iii, 268):
Begun, certainly; rhyme is demanded here. As to the rest,
GREEK HERE.
Lettsom (
Footnote to Walker): Q1 gives at least sense and English. [See [[2.2.572 (1612, 1613)]].
Tschischwitz, having found that
gin is used for
begin, suggests, reads, and defends ‘my joys will ne’er be
gun.’”
1878 rlf1
rlf1: col2, john; Ado, Tim. //
2733 haps] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “Cf. Ado [3.1.105 (1196)]: “loving goes by haps”; Tim. 5.3.202 [0000]: ‘our heavy haps,’ etc. The Coll. MS. has ‘hopes,’ which was also a conjecture of Johnson’s.”
I find no corresponding phrase in Tim.
rlf1 = v1877 (for tsch)
2733 begin] Rolfe (ed. 1878): Begun.] “’Tschischwitz, having found that gin is used for begin, suggests, reads, and defends ’my joys will ne’er be gun’” (F.).”
1881 hud3
hud3
2733 will nere begin] Hudson (ed. 1881): were ne’er begun] “Of course strict grammar would here require ‘will ne’er begin’; the tense being changed for the rhyme. See page 190, note 25 [2.1.116 (1017)]. Critical Notes: “were ne’er begun] So the folio. The quartos read ‘my joyes will nere begin.’ The change was doubtless made in the folio in order to have the scene end with a rhyme. But is the rhyme worth the breach of grammar which it cost? I should certainly read with the quartos, but that Walker, Dyce, the Cambridge editors, Singer, Staunton, and White all prefer the folio reading.”
1885 macd
macd
2733 How ere my haps] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “‘whatever my fortunes.”
macd
2733 my ioyes . . . begin] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “my ioyes . . . begun] The original, the Q2 reading—’my joys will nere begin’ seems to me in itself better, and the cause of the change to be as follows:—’o from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth. Exit.’ This was the act-pause, the natural end of act iii.
“But when the author struck out all but the commencement of the scene, leaving only the three little speeches of Fortinbras and his captain, then plainly the act-pause must fall at the end of the preceding scene. He therefore altered the end of the last verse to make it rime with the foregoing, in accordance with his frequent way of using a rime before an important pause.
“It perplexes us to think how on his way to the vessel, Hamlet could fall in with the Norwegian captain. This may have been one of Shakspere’s reasons for striking the whole scene out—but he had other and more pregnant reasons.”
macd
2733 Exit] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “Here is now the proper close of the Third Act.”
1889 Barnett
Barnett ≈ macd
2733 haps] Barnett (1889, p. 55): “what happens, my fortunes.”
1890 irv2
irv2: ≈ hud1
2733 will nere begin] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): were ne’er begun] “Qq. read will nere begin, which, though better English, is obviously inadmissible here on account of the rhyme.”
1891 dtn
dtn
2733 Deighton (ed. 1891): “whatever may happen to me, I can never feel that the happiness I long for has begun.”
1899 ard1
ard1: john1, col3
2733 haps] Dowden (ed. 1899): “Johnson suggested and Collier’s MS. has ‘hopes.’”
1903 rlf3
rlf3 = rlf1 minus col2,john; Tim. //
1931 crg1
crg1: standard
2733 haps] Craig (ed. 1931): “fortunes.”
1934 Wilson
Wilson
2733 Wilson (1934, rpt. 1963, 1:144): <1:144> “[The transformation of the couplet] can, perhaps, best be explained by imagining that the compositor first set up ‘will nere begun’ by one of those accidental changes of verb to which all compositors are prone, and that the corrector then corrected the grammar.” </1:144>
1934 rid1
rid1
2733 will nere begin] Ridley (ed. 1934): “so Q2. F completes the expected couplet, but with awkward syntax, were ne’er begun.”
1939 kit2
kit2
2733 How . . . haps] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “whatever fortune I may have had or may have in the future.”
1947 cln2
cln2 ≈ macd
2733 How . . . haps] Rylands (ed. 1947): “whatever befall me.”
1980 pen2
pen2 ≈ kit2
2733 How . . . haps] Spencer (ed. 1980): “whatever my fortunes may be.”
pen2 ≈ rid1
2733 were ne’re begun] Spencer (ed. 1980): “This is the F reading. Q2 reads ‘will nere begin’, which is perhaps better grammar, but fails to rhyme.”
1982 ard2
ard2 ≈ rid1
2733 will nere begin] Jenkins (ed. 1982): were ne’er begun] “The rhyme seems to authenticate F’s otherwise inferior reading.”
1993 dent
dent
2733 Andrews (ed. 1993): “However my fortunes have been (a) before, or (b) ever in the past.
“Nere echoes ere, and here it means ‘ne’er’ (with a suggestion that Claudius hopes the day when he will be secure in his joys is now quite ‘near’). Most editions adopt the Folio reading, were ne’re begun, which conforms to Shakespeare’s frequent practice of concluding a scene-ending soliloquy with a rhymed couplet.”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2
2733 Howe’er my haps] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “however (good) my fortunes.”
ard3q2: Jenkins
2733 will ne’er begin] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Jenkins, who adopts F’s ’were ne’re begun’, comments, ’The rhyme seems to authenticate F’s otherwise inferior reading.’”
2733
