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Line 3263-66 - 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 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand

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

3263 {Clow. } But age with his stealing steppes {Song.}	5.1.71

3264 hath {clawed} <caught> me in his clutch,	5.1.72

3265 And hath shipped me {into} <intill> the land,	5.1.73

3266 as if I had neuer been such. 3266	5.1.74

1765 john1

john1

3263-6 But . . . such] Johnson (ed. 1765) : ““This stanza is evidently corrupted; for it wants what is found in the other two, an alternate rhyme. We may read thus, till something better shall occur: But age, with his stealing sand,/Hath claw’d me in his clutch:/And hath shifted me into his land,/ As though I had neuer been such.”

1765b john2

john2

3265 into the land] Johnson (ed. 1765b, Appendix, Ll4r) : < Ll4r >“In this note, for into his land [sic], read band. Conjecture is unnecessary; for Mr. Percy has published the original song in his collection of old ballads.” < /Ll4r >

1773 v1773

v1773 : see also n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such] Steevens (ed. 1773) : “Thus, in the original.‘For age with stealing steps Hath claw’d me with his crowch; And lusty youth away he leaps, As there had been none such.’ STEEVENS “

1773 jen

jen = john1

3263-6 But . . . such]

1774-79? capn

capn : a VN with some commentary explaining his change of Qq text; also see n. 3252-5

3265 And hath shipped me into the land] Capell (1779-83 [1774]:1:1: 146) : “And shipped me into the land]] “the latter [change is] new.”

1778 v1778

v1778 = v1773 ; also see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1785 v1785

v1785 = 1778 ; also see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1787 ann

ann = v1785

3263-6 But . . . such]

1790 mal

mal = v1785 ; also see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1791- rann

1793 v1793

v1793 = v1785 ; also see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793 ; also see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1793 ; also see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1819 cald1

cald1 ≈ v1813 + magenta underlined

3263-6 But . . . such] Caldecott (ed. 1819) : “the originals of this, and the preceding stanza [see n. 3252-5] are thus given in Dr. Percy’s Ancient Songs: [repeats original lyrics; see Steevens , ed. 1773]

“Another passage in the original, as given by Lord Surrey, in Surrey and Wyatt’s Poems, 1717, 8vo. p. 155, runs thus: ‘For beauty with her band, These croked cares hath wrought, And shipped me into the land , From whence I first was brought.’

“The deviations in the text are very natural strokes of our great artist: for so that the clown relieves his labour, and prevents those impressions or unesy sensations, which the nature of that labour might subject him to, he is utterly regardlss of the rhyme and sense; and accordingly is made to introduce a line that consists with neither. This line not being found in Lord Vaux, but being taken from another author, Lord Surrey, the clown could only be made to depart from the original, in order to be more in character. The same observations apply as well to passages in the (Wiv 3.1. [1174-78]). Sir Hugh, as to Lear, ‘come on the broom,’ (Lr 3.6. [1180-83]. Edgar”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813 ; see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1826 sing1

sing1 : see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1

3263-6 But . . . such]

1841 knt1 (nd)

knt1: see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1843 col1

col1:

3264 hath clawed me in his clutch] Collier (ed. 1843) : “This is the quarto reading, and we prefer it because it accords with the original song; the folio has caught for ‘claw’d.’”

1854 del2

del2 ≈ col1

3264 hath clawed me in his clutch] Delius (ed. 1854) : “Die Fol. hat caught. Obgleich sonst die Version, die der Todtengräber von diesem Liede giebt, sehr bedeutend von der ursprünglichen abweicht, so stimmt hier die Lesart der Qs. doch damit überein.” [“The Folio has caught. Although usually the version which the gravedigger gives OF this song differs very importantly from the original, here the reading of the Qq corresponds [to the original].”

1856 hud1 (1851-6)

hud1 : see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1856b sing2

sing2 : see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1857 elze1

elze1

3266 throws up a Scull Elze (ed. 1857):"Woher rührt diese in StR fehlende Bühnenweisung?—Das für die Ophelia bestimmte Grab enthält bereits mehrere Bewohner, welche dem neuen Ankömmling Platz machen müssen. Shakespeare folgt hierbei einer barbarischen Unsite der Engländer, welche sich leider bis auf den heutigen Tag erhalten hat. Vgl. Atlantis I, 53-56." [From where does this absent stage direction come in StR [Steevens’ 1766 edition]?—The grave determined for Ophelia already holds more inhabitants, which must make room for the new arrival. Shakespeare follows here a barbaric custom of England, which it has held unfortunately till today. Compare Atlantis I, 53-56.]

1859 stau

stau : see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1861 wh1

wh1 : see n. 3252-5

3263-6 But . . . such]

1864b ktly

ktly

3264 clawed] Keightley (ed. 1864 [1866]: Glossary): “to flatter.”

1865 hal

hal: see n. 3252-5

1869 tsch

tsch: see n. 3252-5

1872 del4

del4 = del2

1870 Abbott

Abbott

3265 into the land] Abbott (§184): “intill the land]] Till is used for to: . . . [cites 3265].”

1872 cln1

cln1

3265 into] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “intill]] See Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, 2064: ‘Ther saugh I Dyane turned intil a tree.’ Similarly in Passionate Pilgrim, 382: ‘She, poor bird, as all forlorn Lean’d her breast up-till a thorn.’”

1877 col4

col4 ≈ col1

3264 hath clawed me in his clutch] Collier (ed. 1877) : “This is the quarto reading, and we prefer it because it accords with the original song (which is in Tottel’s Miscellany); the folio has caught for ‘claw’d.’”

1882 elze2

elze2

3266 neuer been such] Elze (ed. 1882): “Capell has added the stage-direction: Throws up a skull, which has been retained by all subsequent editors.”

1883 wh2

wh2

3265 into] White (ed. 1883): “into.”

1884 Gould

Gould

3263 stealing steppes] Gould (1884, p. 71): <p. 71> “stealthy hand]] This makes the figure perfect and supplies the required rhyme.” </p. 71>

3264 clawed me in his clutch] Gould (1884, p. 52) : <p. 52> “word of old song also.” </p. 52>

1889 Barnett

Barnett

3265 into] Barnett (1889, p. 59): <p. 59> “intill]]into. Til is Icel. and Scand. for to.” </p. 59>

1899 ard1

ard1 : standard (cln1?)

3265 into] Dowden (ed. 1899): “intill]] into, as in Chaucer.”

1905 rltr

rltr : standard

3265 into]

1906 nlsn

nlsn: standard

3265 into] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary, intil): “intil]]

1934 Wilson

Wilson

3264 clawed] Wilson (1934, 2:272): Wilson feels that Q2 offers the more “attractive reading” than F1. He observes that ROWE and “a few” follow F1

3264 clawed] Wilson (1934, 2:278) <p. 278> Wilson provides a table of Q2 and F1 words to indicate that Q2 often has the more poetic form:

iump : iust

deuise : aduise

topt : past

prefard : prepar’d

ascaunt :aslant

cronet : Coronet

laudes : tunes

clawed : caught

Crants : Rites

[Ed. Wilson’s conclusion is: “A study of these variants is a lesson at once in Shakespearian diction and in the kind of degradation his verse suffered at the hands of those responsible for the F1 text, for what the context loses in every instance is poetic value rather than meaning”].

Wilson

3265 into] Wilson (1934, 1:148): <p. 148> “It is he [the Q2 press corrector] too, we may guess, who ‘corrected’, this time in the best social sense, the rude Clown’s ‘intill’ at [3265] to the more polite ‘into’”. </p. 148>

3265 into] Wilson (1934, 2:280) prefers intill over the Q2 reading adopted by pope, cap, v1821. He also presents the following pairs of F1/Q2 variants: <p. 281>

crimefull :criminall

doubts (=douts) : drownes

intill : into

rude : madde

sage : a

wisenssse : wisedome

vnseale : vnfold

Beauy : breede

affear’d : sure

Wilson concludes: “Inspecting this list no one, I think, can reasonably doubt that the first word in each pair belongs to Shakespeare, while the fact that the inferior redaings here come from the better text [Q2] should not, I hope, trouble readers who have followed the argument up to this point; some of them have already been explained as misprints, misreadings or miscorrections, and the rest may be with confidence assigned to the same categories. In a few instances the balance does not tilt so definitely on the side of F1, though since the latter gives an easier reading, attested by the votes of most editors, and since the Q2 variant is readily explicable in every case, there need be no hesitation in following the 1623 text.” </p. 281>

1934 cam3

cam3 : standard

3265 into] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary, intil): “intil]]

1939 kit2

kit2

3264 clawed] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “seized.”

3265 Kittredge (ed. 1939): “has stopped my voyage and sent me ashore.”

kit2 ≈ standard

3265 into]

3265 into] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary, intil):

1947 cln2

cln2 ≈ standard

3265 into] intil]]

1957 pel1

pel1 : standard

3265 into] intil]]

1970 pel2

pel2=pel1

3265 into] intil]]

1980 pen2

pen2

3266 such] Spencer (ed. 1980): “(as I was in my youth).”

1982 ard2

ard2 : see n. 3242-5

3263-6

ard2 : Tilley

3263 stealing steppes] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “A proverbial alliteration. Tilley A 70. See I.i.40n. for his, uetuer ((as also in [3264])).”

3265 shipped] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “dispatched.”

ard2 : contra kit2

3265 Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Kittredge glosses ‘ashore’, but it is difficult to attach a precise meaning to everything the Clown sings. The original poem has ‘into the lande, From whence I first was brought’.

ard2

3265 into] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “intil]] to, ((dialectal, rather than Danish)).”

ard2 ≈ pen2 w/o attribution

3266 such]

1984 chal

chal :

3265 Wilkes (ed. 1984): "i.e. dispatched me to the grave."

1985 cam4

cam4

3265 into] Edwards (ed. 1985): “intil]] into ((F’s reading, hardly likely to be scribal)).”

3266 throws up a Scull] Edwards (ed. 1985): “Capell’s SD reflects Q1, ‘he throwes up a shouel’, where ‘shouel’ is presumably a compositor’s misreading of ‘skull’.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4 ≈ standard

3263-6

oxf4 ≈ ard2 w/o attribution

3263 stealing steppes]

1993 dent

dent ≈ standard

3264 clawed

3265 into the land] Andrews (ed. 1989): “intill the land]] into the land. Here the phrase suggests ‘into the grave.’”