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Line 3072 - 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.”

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Notes for lines 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand

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

3072 As {the King} <checking> at his voyage, and that he meanes	4.7.62

1576 Whetstone

Whetstone

3072 As . . . voyage] Whetstone (1576, p. 39): <p. 39> “But as the hawke, to gad which knowes the way, Will hardly leave to cheake at carren crowes, If long unservde; she waites and wants her pray: Or as the horse, in whom disorder growes, His jadish trickes againe wil hardly loose:So they in youth which Venus joyes do prove, In drouping age Syr Chaucers jestes wil love.” </p. 39>

[Ed. Whetstone, George. The Rocke of Regard, diuded into foure parts. London: for R. Waley, 1576. rpt. 1867 (reputedly by J.P. Collier). (PR 2386 R7 1867).This work is intended for ‘unstayed youth, who having the raines at libertie, are so hote in expence, as that they be many times surfited with incumberances, yea, tyred out right with prodigalitie, before they be brought into any perfect order of spending.” Whetstone has collected these “unlearned devises” to teach these youths the proper way to acquire “honest pleasure.” According to DNB, this work has autobiographical qualities, since Whetstone (1544?-1587?) “haunted gambling houses and brothels, and dissipated his patrimony by reckless living’<p.1361>. A work like The Rocke of Regard seems to be addressing his own dissolute past. The DNB characterizes these works s “crude productions” Steevens is reported to have said of him, “[he is] the most quaint and contemptible writer, both in prose and verse, he ever met with.” [see Bekenhout’s Biogr. Literar. p. 388]].

1606 Hynd

Hynd

3072 As . . . voyage] Hynd (ed. 1606): “‘As soone as he[Amasias] had written his Letter, he dispatched a Messenger as privily as might be, who speedily delivering his Embassage, was willed by Florinda to expect an answer; who ruminating vpon the contents of his Epistle, being incited by sordid preferment, she thought by his approved loyaltie, that her maydenly modestie was sufficiently strayned: and therefore, after a sort, was at length willing, after long warding and awarding his waster, to affoord him the vennie. For who knowes not (quoth she) that this Hawke which comes now so faire to the fist, may to morrow check at the Lure. Having said this, shee wrote as hereafter followeth. . . “

[Ed. Hynd, John. Eliosto Libidinoso: Described in two Bookes: Wherein Their imminent dangers are declared, who guiding the course of their life by the compasse of Affection, either dash their Ship against most dangerous shelues, or else attaine the Hauen with extreame Preiudice. London: Valentine Simmes, 1606. (STC 13509).

This short work is dedicated to Philip Herbert, Earle of Mountgomery and Baron of Shurland. It’s a romance set in Cyprus with King Amasias and is queen Philoclea. They give birth to one Eliosto, who when 14 sees his mother die from a fall from a horse and his father recover from suicidal thoughts. the Prince of Lemnos offers his daughter Cleodora for marriage to Amasias But Amasias has also been smitted by Florinda, an attendant in his court. The context quoted here is her response to a letter Amasias writes].

1770 han3

han3

3072 the King] Hanmer (ed. 1770, 6:Glossary): “checking]] a term in falconry, applied when a hawk stops and turns away from his proper pursuit. P.”

A new definition from Percy, supplied by Hawkins for this new edition

1773 jen

jen : Q2VN ; F1 VN; rowe VN +

3072 As . . . voyage] Jennens (ed. 1773): “J[ohnson] is mistaken in saying the folio ((it is the 3d folio he tells us he has)) reads As choking at his, &c.”

1778 v1778

v1778 : ≈ Hynd : ≈ Whetstone

3072 As . . . voyage] Steevens (ed. 1778): “The folio, ‘As checking at his uoyage.’ Checking is, I think, the best reading. The phrase is from falconry; and may be justified from the following passage in Hinde’s Eliosto Libidinoso, 1606: “—For who knows not, quoth she, that this hawk, which comes now so fair to the fist, may to-morrow check at the lure?”

“Again, in G. Whetstone’s Castle of Delight, 1576: ‘But as the hawke, to gad which knowes the way, ‘Will hardly leave to checke at carren crowes, &c STEEVENS.”

1785 v1785

v1785=1778

3072 As . . . voyage]

1790 mal

mal=v1785+

3072 As . . . voyage] Malone (ed. 1790):“As checking at his voyage] Thus the folio. The quarto, 1604, exhibits a corruption similar to that mentioned in n. 3 [see n. 3030]. It reads: As the king at his voyage. MALONE”

[Ed.Malone has inserted this note before Steevens’ v1778/1785 note].

1791- rann

rann

3072 As . . . voyage] Rann (ed. 1791): “—recoiling at. The hawk is said to check , when she leaves the pursuit of her proper game, to fly at some inferior object.— “The spannyel checks at it .” [TN 2.5.? (1123)] Sir To.”

1793 v1793

v1793≈mal (omitting underlined portion below and restoring v1785 commentary to beginning of note)

3072 As . . . voyage]Steevens (ed. 1793): “The folio, ‘As checking at his uoyage.’ Checking is, I think, the best reading. The phrase is from falconry; and may be justified from the following passage in Hinde’s Eliosto Libidinoso, 1606: “—For who knows not, quoth she, that this hawk, which comes now so fair to the fist, may to-morrow check at the lure?”

“Again, in G. Whetstone’s Castle of Delight, 1576: ‘But as the hawke, to gad which knowes the way, ‘Will hardly leave to checke at carren crowes, &c STEEVENS.”

1803 v1803

v1803=v1793

3072 As . . . voyage]

1813 v1813

v1813=v1803

3072 As . . . voyage]

1819 cald1

cald1≈v1803

3072 As . . . voyage]Caldecott (ed. 1819):”Holding back, hesitating about. It is a term of falconry. Mr. Steevens quotes Hinde’s Eliosto Libinoso, 1606: ‘—For who knows not, quoth she, that this hawk, which comes now so fair to the fist, may to-morrow check at the lure?’

“Mr. Steevens’s quartos for checking at read liking not: but Mr. Malone states, that the quarto of 1604 reads ‘As the king at his voyage.’”

1821 v1821

v1821=v1813

3072 As . . . voyage]

v1821

3072 the King] Boswell (ed. 1821, 21:Glossary): “checking]] a term in falconry.”

1826 sing1

sing1 ≈ Cald1 without attribution

3072 As . . . voyage] Singer (ed. 1826): “To check, to hold off, or fly from, as in fear. It is a phrase taken from falconry ‘—For who knows not, quoth she, that this hawk, which comes now so fair to the fist, may to-morrow check at the lure?’”

1832 cald2

cald2=cald1

3072 As . . . voyage]

1833 valpy

valpy ≈ standard

3072 the King] Valpy (ed. 1833): “checking]] Starting from. A phrase borrowed from falconry.”

1843 col1

col1: cald2 (only mal paraphrased)

3072 As . . . voyage] Collier (ed. 1843) : ‘This is the clear and correct reading of the undated quarto, that of 1611, &c. Malone seems to have referred here to no other quarto than that of 1604, and finding it read corruptly, ‘As the king at his voyage,’ he adopted the text of the folio, ‘As checking at his voyage,’ which, no doubt, was there introduced as a conjectural emendation.”

1854 del2

del2

3072 As . . . voyage] Delius (ed. 1854): “As checking at his voyage]] So die Fol.—to check at =stutzen, scheu werden vor Etwas, ist ein von der Falkenjagd entlehnter Ausdruck. Die Qs. haben dafÅr grîsstentheils den offenbaren Druckfehler: As the king [at (in corrigenda)] his voyage, was eine spÑtere undatirte Q. auf blosse Vermuthung in As liking not his voyage umÑndert, gewiss matter, als die Lesart der Fol.” [So the Folio. To check at means to be cut short or trimmed before something and is a phrase borrowed from hawking. The Qq have instead for the most part an obvious misprint: As the king [at in corrigenda] his voyage, which a later undated quarto alters with a simple conjecture to As liking not his voyage, indeed weak, compared to the reading of the folio.”]

1856 hud1 (1851-6)

hud1 ≈ col1 ; ≈ sing1

3072 As . . . voyage] HUDSON (1856 ed., p. 339) repeats COLLIER’s 1843 note, without giving him credit, and he makes the same mistake as COLLIER does in seeing Q3, 1611, as agreeing with Q4. He then repeats the note, possibly from SING1, on the gloss on falconry originating in v1778: “To check at is a term in falconry,meaning to start away or fly off from the lure. See Twelfth Night, Act ii. sc. 5, note 10. [This latter analogue in the note probably derives from RANN, who first glosses this this xref: “The spannyel checks at it .”

1856b sing2

sing2=sing1

3072 As . . . voyage]

1857 dyce1

dyce1≈col1

3072 As . . . voyage] Dyce (ed. 1857): “Mr. Collier prints ‘As liking not his voyage,’ &c., and observes, ‘This is the clear and correct reading of the undated quarto, that of 1611, &c. Malone seems to have referred here to no other quarto that that of 1604, and finding it read corruptly, ‘as the king at his voyage,’ he adopted the text of the folio, ‘As checking at his voyage,’ which, no doubt, was there introduced as a conjectural emendation.’ Here I altogether differ from Mr. Collier: ‘the king at’ of the quarto, 1604, is obviously a mistake for ‘checking at,’—a reading much more in Shakespeare’s manner than ‘liking not.’”

1857 elze1

elze1

3072 As . . . voyage] Elze (ed. 1857): "So lesen QD [As liking not his voyage], QF folgg; Qb fälschlich: As the king at his voyage. Fs: As checking at his voyage—’To check at the lure’ wird nach Steevens vom Falken gesagt, wenn er auf das Locken nicht kommen will." ["So reads QD [Q4], QF [Q6] ff; QB [Q2] false reads ’As the king at his voyage.’ Fs: ’As checking at his voyage.’ ’To check at the lure’ is said by Steevens of falcons when it doesn’t want to come from the bait."]

1859 stau

stau≈v1821(minus Whetsone)+ underlined magenta

3072 As . . . voyage] Staunton (ed. 1859: “‘To check,’ a technical phrase from falconry, means ’to fly from or shy at .’—For who knows not, quoth she, that this hawk, which comes now so fair to the fist, may to-morrow check at the lure.’—HINDE’s Eliosto Libidinoso, 1606, quoted by Steevens. Again, in Massinger’s play of The Unnatural Combat, Act V. Sc.2,— ‘---and there’s something here that tells me I stand accomptable for greater sins I never check’d at.’”

1859 Dyce

Dyce : dyce1

3072 As . . . voyage] Dyce (1859, p. 190) : <p. 190>“The reading ‘As liking not his voyage’ (adopted by mr. Collier without any remark) is that of the undated quarto, of the quarto 1611, &c.: but it is far less spirited and far less Shaksperian than that of the folio, ‘As checking at his voyage:’—which same reading is undoubtedly to be detected in the corruption of the quarto 1604, ‘As the king at his voyage.’” </p. 191>

1861 wh1

wh1

3072 As . . . voyage] White (ed. 1861) : “as rebelling against it.”

1864-68 c&mc

c&mc ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1864-68, rpt. 1874-78): “‘Shying at,’ ‘flying startingly from;’ an expression borrwed from falconry. See Note 9, Act iii, [TN].’”

1865 hal

hal = v1821

3072 As . . . voyage]

1866a dyce2

dyce2=dyce1

3072 As . . . voyage]

1869 stratmann

stratmann

3072 As . . . voyage] Stratmann (ed. 1869): “”’checking at’ is obviously the true reading, supported by the mistake ‘the king at’ of A [Q2]; ‘liking not’ in BC [Q3-4], a conjectural emendation of the senseless reading of A.”

If B is Q3, Stratmann’s variant is wrong here. My Q3 reads as the Q2 with “the King at”

1870 Abbott

Abbott

3072 As . . . voyage] Abbott (§115): “As is also used nearly redundantly before participles to denote a cause, ‘inasmuch as:’ [cites 3072].”

1872 del4

del4 ≈ del2 (minus gewiss matter, als die Lesart der Fol. at end of commentary)

1872 cln1

cln1 : standard

3072 the King] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “checking]] so the folios. The earlier quartos have a curious blunder, ‘the king at.’ conjecturally altered in a later quarto [Q4ff] to ‘liking not.’ The metaphor is taken from falconry, and is technically applied to a falcon that forsakes her proper game to fly after some other bird. Compare [TN 2.5.124 (1123)]: ‘with what wing the staniel [sic] checks at it.’ and [3.1.71 (1275)], of the same play: ‘And like the haggard check at every feather That comes before his eye.’ The use of the word is not quite the same here, because the voyage was Hamlet’s ‘proper game,’ which he abandons.”

1872 hud2

hud2

3072 As . . . voyage] Hudson (ed. 1872): “To check at is a term in falconry, meaning to start away or fly off from the lure. See page 207, note 14 [TN : see next note], and page 211, note 10 [TN].”

3072 As . . . voyage] Hudson (ed. 1872): “To check, says Latham in his book of Falconry, is, ‘when crows, rooks, pies, or other birds coming in view of the hawk, she forsaketh her natural flight to fly at them.” This note is that from page. 207, note 14.

3072 As . . . voyage] Hudson (ed. 1872):”A haggard is a wild or untrained hawk, which flies, checks, at all birds, or birds of every feather, indiscriminately. See page 207, note 14 [see note above].” This is note 10 on page 211.

1873 rug2

rug2 ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage] Moberly (ed. 1873): “as a falcon does which leave her quarry to attack another.”

18?? dyce3

dyce3 = dyce2

3072 As . . . voyage

1877 v1877

v1877 = Abbott

3072 As] §115

v1877 : v1778 (“The phrase . . . ‘at the lure?’”)(subst.) ; Dyce (Glossary) ; Cln1 ; ≈ col1;dyce1(minus Mr. Collier . . . a mistake for ‘checking at.’)

3072 As . . . voyage] Dyce (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “Applied to a hawk when she forsakes her proper game and follows some other of inferior kind that crosses her in her flight.”

[This is the Glossary entry we’ll need to check]

3072 As . . . voyage] Clark & Wright (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “Compare [TN 2.5.124 (1123), and 3.1.71 (1275)]. The use of the word is not quite the same here, because the voyage was Hamlet’s ‘proper game,’ which he abandons.”

3072 As . . . voyage] Dyce (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “The Ff reading is much more in Shakespeare’s manner than liking not.”

1881 hud3

hud3 : standard (hud1? ; cald2?; stau?)

3072 As . . . voyage] Hudson (ed. 1881): “To check at is a term in falconry, meaning to start away or fly off from the lure. So in Hinde’s Eliosto Libidinoso, 1606: ‘For who knows not, quoth she, that this hawk, which comes now so fair to the fist, may to-morrow check at the lure?’”

1883 wh2

wh2 : Dyce?

3072 As . . . voyage] White (ed. 1883): “when a hawk in pursuit of one bird turned aside and made a dash at another, she was said to check at it.”

1885 macd

macd

3072 As . . . voyage] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “A hawk was said to check when it forsook its proper game for some other bird that crossed its flight. The blunder in the Quarto is odd [the King], plainly from manuscript copy, and is not likely to have been set right by any but the author.”

1890 irv2

irv2 : standard

3072 As . . . voyage] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Q.2, Q.3 have the preposterous misprint the King at , altered conjecturally in Q.4 into liking not . To check is a metaphor from falconry, applied to a hawk when she forsakes her proper game to fly after some other bird. Compare [TN 2.5.124 (1123) and 3.1.71 (1275)].”

1899 ard1

ard1 ≈ irv2 w/o attribution

3072 As . . . voyage] Dowden (ed. 1899): “A hawk ‘checks’ when it forsakes its proper quarry and follows some inferior game. See [TN 3.1.71 (1275)]

1906 subb

subb ≈ Dyce (Glossary)

3072 As . . . voyage]

1931 crg1

crg1 ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

1938 parc

parc : standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

1939 kit2

kit2 ≈ v1877 (Dyce’s Glossary)

3072 As . . . voyage]

kit2

3072 that] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “if that. Cf. l. 160.”

1942 n&h

n&h ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

1947 cln2

cln2

3072 Rylands (ed. 1947): “checking at]] swerving from”

1951 crg2

crg2= crg1

3072 As . . . voyage]

crg2 ≈ standard

3072 Craig (ed. 1954, Glossary, check)

1954 sis

sis ≈ standard

3072 Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary): “check]]”

1957 pel1

pel1 : standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

pel2=pel1

3072 As . . . voyage]

1974 evns1

evns1 ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

1980 pen2

pen2 ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

pen2 ≈ kit1 w/o attribution

3072 that]

1982 ard2

ard2 ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

1984 chal

chal : standard ; VN Q2 √

3072 As . . . voyage]

1985 cam4

cam4 ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

1987 oxf4

oxf4 : Abbott

3072 As]

oxf4 : OED

3072 checking] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “stopping short in, shying away from ((OED check v 1 5)). [HLA: or, perhaps, def. 6. Hawking. a. to check at the fist: to refuse to come to, recoil from, "shy" at the fist.]

1988 bev2

bev2 ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

bev2

3072 that] Bevington (ed. 1988): “if.”

1992 fol2

fol2≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage]

1993 dent

dent ≈ standard

3072 As . . . voyage]