HW Home	Previous CN	View CN	View TNM	View TNI	Next CN

Line 2743+58 - 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.

2743+58 {Which is not tombe enough and continent}	4.4.65

1747-53 mtby4

mtby4

2743+58 is] Thirlby (1747-53): “fsql has.”

1755 Johnson Dict.

Johnson Dict.

2743+58 continent ] Johnson (1755): 1. “chaste; abstemious in lawful pleasures.”

2. “refrained; moderate; temperate.”

3. “continuous; connected.”

4. “land not disjoined by the sea from other lands.”

5. “that which contains any thing. This sense is perhaps only in Shakespeare.”

1778 v1778

v1778: Lr. //

2743+58 continent] Steevens (ed. 1778): “Continent, in our author, means that which comprehends or encloses. So, in Lr. [3.2.58 (1712)]: ‘Rive your concealing continents.’ Steevens.”

1784 ays1

ays1 = v1778 minus Lr. //

1785 v1785

v1785 = v1778

1790 mal

mal = v1785

1791- rann

rann ≈ v1785 without attribution

2743+58 continent] Rann (ed. 1791-): “that space which contains. Lr. [3.2.58 (1712)] .”

1793 v1793

v1793 = v1785 + magenta underlined

2743+58 continent] Reed (ed. 1793): “Again, Lord Bacon On the Advancement of Learning, 4to. 1633, p.7: ‘—if there be no fulnesse, then is the continent greater than the content.’ Reed.”

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793 +

2743+58 continent] Steevens (ed. 1803): “Again, in Chapman’s version of the third Iliad: ‘—did take Thy fair form for a continent of parts as fair.’ Steevens”

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

1819 cald1

cald1 = v1813 (Lr. // with attribution to Reed) +

2743+58 continent] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “‘Heart, once be stronger than thy continent.’ Ant. [4.14.40 (2873)]. Ant. ‘The Apron of flowers: To gather flowers Sappha went; And homeward she did bring Within her lawnie continent* ‘The treasure of the spring.’ Herrick’s Poems, 8vo. 1648, p. 295. See [5.2.110-11 (3610+4)]. Osric.”

<n.>*Apron </n.>

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813

1826 sing1

sing1: v1821 without attribution

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1; contra john1

2743+58 continent] Caldecott (ed. 1832): ““or the thing that contans” [before Ant. //] . . . . Johnson has mistakenly conceived, that the use of this word in this sense is only to be found in our author.” [following parallels from Bacon and Herrick].

1854 del2

del2

2743+58-2743+2743+59 tombe . . . slaine] Delius (ed. 1854): “das Stück Land, um das sie fechten, ist nicht geräumig genug, dass die Schaaren auf ihm die Sache zur Entscheidung bringen, die Schlacht durchkämpfen könnten; nicht geräumig genug, um die im Kampfe Gebliebenen in seiner Erde zu begraben.” [The piece of land for which they are fighting is not big enough for the hordes to bring the matter to a decision, to fight the battle to the end, and not roomy enough to bury those who fall in battle in its earth.]

del2

2743+58 continent] Delius (ed. 1854): “continent ist bei Sh. jede Einfassung, Umschliessung, hier = tomb. Die Anwendung der Copula and zur Verknüpfung von Begriffen, die eigentlich schon einen Begriff ausmachen, und von denen der zweite zur Erläuterung des ersten dient, ist bei Sh. sehr gewöhnlich.” [continent is in Shakespeare’s works every container or enclosure; here it means tomb. The use of the conjunction and to tie together concepts that really already make one concept, and where the second serves as an explanation of the first, is a very common construction with Shakespeare.]

1856 hud1 (1851-6)

hud1 ≈ v1793 without attribution

2743+58 continent] Hudson(ed. 1851-6): “Continent means that which contains or encloses. ‘If there be no fulnesse, then is the continent greater than the content.’—Bacon’s Advancement of Learning.”

1856b sing2

sing2 = sing1

1857 fieb

fieb: Lr., Ant. //s; Bacon analogues

2743+58 continent] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “Continent, that which contains, comprehends or encloses any thing. So, in Lr., [3.2.58 (1712)]: ‘Rive your concealing continents.’ Again, in Ant. [4.14.40 (2873)]: ‘Heart, once be stronger than thy continent.’ Again, Lord Bacon On the Advancement of Learning, 1633, p. 7:—if there be no fulnesse, there is the continent greater than the context.’”

1864a glo

glo ≈ hud1 minus Bacon + Lr., MND, 2H4 //s

2743+58 continent] Clark and Wright (ed. 1864a [1865] 9: glossary, Continent): “sb. that which contains anything. Lr. [3.2.58 (1712)]; MND [2.1.92 (467)]. that which is contained. 2H4 [2.4.285 (1311)].”

1868 c&mc

c&mc: MV //

2743+58 continent] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868, rpt. 1878): “A word used by Shakespeare to express that which contains. See Note 33, MV [3.2.130 (1477)].”

1869 Romdahl

Romdahl ≈ glo minus mnd, 2H4 //s (Ant. // appears in other eds.) + magenta underlined

2743+58 continent] Romdahl (1869, p. 37): “is by our author used in its original sense, that which contains anything. Compare Lr. [3.2.58 (1712)], Ant. [4.14.40 (2873)]. In modern usage it denotes, the main land, opposed to islands, as, the continent of Europe.”

1870 rug1

rug1

2743+58 continent] Moberly (ed. 1870): “receptacle.”

1872 hud2

hud2 = hud1

1872 del4

del4 = del2

1872 cln1

cln1 ≈ cald (incl. Ant. //)

2743+58 continent] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “here is used in its primitive sense, that which holds or contains. Compare Ant. [4.14.40 (2873)] ‘O cleave, my sides! Heart, once be stronger than thy continent, Crack thy frail case!’”

1873 rug2

rug2 = rug1

1878 rlf1

rlf1 ≈ feib; glo (MND //), cln1 (Ant. //)

2743+58 continent] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “Receptacle, that which contains. Cf. MND [2.1.92 (467)]: ‘Have every pelting river made so proud/That they have overborne their continents’; Ant. [4.14.40 (2873)]: ‘Heart, once be stronger than thy continent,’ etc. Reed quotes Bacon, Adv. of L.: ‘and if there be no fullness, then is the continent greater than the content.’”

1881 hud3

hud3 = hud2 +

2743+58 continent] Hudson (ed. 1881): “The way Hamlet talks in this and several other places moves me to say somewhat touching his state of mind. He is a man of deep and strong feelings; his sensibilities are quick and keen. But he is also quick and strong in understanding, or in the ‘large discourse looking before and after.’ Now his feelings are goading him on to the instant stroke of revenge; nothing else can satisfy them: they are bidding him throw consequences to the winds, and would have him act just as Laertes talks: ‘To Hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!’ &c. Meanwhile his judgment keeps holding hiim back, as it certainly should. Hence there springs up a fierce, agonized conflict between these two parts of his inner man; and his feelings become terribly insurgent and clamorous: sometimes they seem to get the upper hand of him; he takes part of them, and goes to pleading their cause most vehemently against his higher self; seeking to lease, or to appease, his heart-agony in overwrought strains of self-reproach, and with hopes of speedy satisfaction. All this is profoundly natural. In action, however, Hamlet stands firm and true to his higher self: here his judgment keeps the upper hand; and though he cannot silence his insurgent feelings, yet in his strength of will, he can and does overrule them. While the heart is boiling hot within him, and almost ready to burst its case, still his head, though full of power, and though all alive within, remains generally, cool; his passions never, but once, swamping him into an oblivion of the strong objective considerations that forbid the stroke.”

1883 wh2

wh2: standard

2743+58 continent] White (ed. 1883): “containing place.”

1885 macd

macd ≈ wh2 without attribution

2043+58 continent] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “‘continent,’ containing space.”

1889 Barnett

Barnett: standard

2743+58 continent] Barnett (1889, p. 55): “that which contains.”

1890 irv2

irv2 ≈ Barnett

2743+58 continent] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “i.e. that which it contains.”

1891 dtn

dtn ≈ cln1 (Ant. //)

2743+57 continent] Deighton (ed. 1891): “that which contains; cp. Ant. [4.14.40 (2873)], ‘Heart once be stronger than thy continent, Crack thy frail case!’”

1899 ard1

ard1 ≈ glo minus Lr., 2H4 //s

2743+58 continent] Dowden (ed. 1899): “receptacle, that which contains, as in MND [2.1.92 (467)].”

1903 p&c

p&c ≈ rlf1 (MND, Ant. //s, Bacon analogue)

2743+58 continent] Porter & clarke (ed. 1903): “That which contains, as also in MND [2.1.92 (467)]; Ant. [4.14.40 (2873)]. Reed quotes, in illustration of the Elizabethan usage, ‘if there be no fullness, then is the continent greater than the content’ (Bacon, ‘Advancement of Learning’).”

1903 rlf3

rlf3 = rlf1

1905 rltr

rltr

2743+58 continent] Chambers (ed. 1905): “enclosure.”

1906 nlsn

nlsn = Barnett

2743+58 continent] Neilson (ed. 1906, glossary): “that which contains.”

1931 crg1

crg1 = nlsn

1934 rid

rid ≈ nlsn

2743+58 continent] Ridley (ed. 1934): “anything that contains.”

1934 cam3

cam3: Harrison

2743+58-2743+60 not tombe enough etc.] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Perhaps suggested by the fact that Vere for some time occupied an old churchyard outside Ostend, v. note l. 18, and Harrison, Journal, pp. 191-92.”

1939 kit2

kit2 ≈ ard1 minus MND //

2743+58 continent] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “receptacle (that which contains).”

1942 n&h

n&h = ard1 minus nlsn def., MND //

2743+58 continent] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “receptacle.”

1947 cln2

cln2 ≈ n&h

2743+58 continent ] Rylands (ed. 1947): “cover, receptacle.”

1957 pel1

pel1 = n&h

1974 evns1

evns1 ≈ kit2

2743+58 continent] Evans (ed. 1974): “container.”

1980 pen2

pen2 ≈ cln2

2743+58 continent] Spencer (ed. 1980): “receptacle (that is, earth to cover the bodies of those who are killed in battle).”

1982 ard2

ard2 = evns1 + magenta underlined

2743+58 continent] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “container. Cf. [5.2.110-11 (3610+4)].”

1984 chal

chal = pel1

1988 bev2

bev2 ≈ kit2

2743+58 continent] Bevington (ed. 1988): “receptacle, container.”

1993 dent

dent = evns1 + magenta underlined

2743+58 continent] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Container. Hamlet’s point in [4.4.62-65 (2743+56-2743+59)] is that the plot of ground being fought over is too small to hold the massive numbers who will ‘debate’ it.”

1997 evns2

evns2 = evns1

1998 OED

OED

2743+58 continent] OED (Sept. 21, 1998): “b. fig. That which comprises or sums up; summary, sum and substance (sometimes not distinguishable from content, that which is contained). Now rare or arch.

“1590 GREENE Neuer too late (1600) 23 They be women, and therefore the continents of all excellence. 1596 SHAKS. Merch. V. III. ii. 131 Here’s the scroule, The continent, and summarie of my fortune. 1604 –– Ham. V. ii (Qo.), You shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see. 1638 LAUD Conf. with Fisher §14, I did not say that the Book of Articles onely was the Continent of the Church of Englands publique Doctrine. She is not so narrow. 1643 SYMMONS Loyal Subjects Beliefe 61 Rebellion..is the continent and cause of all sin. 1788 tr. Swedenborg’s Wisd. Angels III. §216. 177 The Ultimate is the Complex, Continent and Basis of Things prior. 1869 W. MITCHELL Truthseeker s.v. Change 184 Nowhere do we find the power itself but only the continent of the power.”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2

2743+58 continent] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “container.”