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Line 3668, etc. - 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.

3668-9 Ham. Not a whit, we defie augury, {there is} <there’s a> speciall \| prouidence in

1726 theon

theon

3668-9 there is speciall prouidence in the fall of a Sparrowe] Theobald (1726, p. 145) : <p. 145> “S. Matt. 10:29.” </p. 145>

1754 Grey

Grey

3668-9 there is speciall prouidence in the fall of a Sparrowe] Grey (1754, 2:308) : <p. 308> “Alluding to that passage, Matth. x.29.’Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father.’” </p. 308>

[Ed: Grey is using THEOBALD here?]

-1790 mWesley

mWesley: Johnson +

3668-3673+1 Wesley (typescript of ms. notes in ed. 1785): “I marvel that Johnson did not attack this passage as profane, it being a plain allusion to the words of Christ. For my own part, I confess that nothing appears a profane quotation but what is intended to ridicule the authority whence it is taken; and such a quotation is rarely (if at all) to be found in this Authour.”

1805 Seymour

Seymour : Grey?

3668-9 there is speciall prouidence in the fall of a Sparrowe] Chedworth (apud Seymour, 1805, 2:203) : <p.203> “This seems to be taken from St. Luke, 12, 6,7: ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing, and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father.’ Lord Chedworth.”

Chedworth has the wrong verse for the citation. Grey is correct, following Theobald. Chedworth is referring to a similar verse in Luke 12:6,7: ‘Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten bfore God? ‘But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.’

1811-12 CLRLec

Lectures

3668-73+1 Coleridge (Lectures on Shakespeare and Milton, Lecture 12, 1812 rept. in John Payne Collier longhand transcript; rpt. Coleridge, 1987, 5.1:390): <p. 390>“Even after the scene with Osrick, we see Hamlet still indulging in reflections, and thinking little of the action new task he has just undertaken; he is all meditation, all resolution <as far as words are concerned>, but all hesitation & inaction, so that irresolution when called upon to act; so that resolving to do everything he <in fact> does nothing. He is full of purpose, but void of disposition that quality of mind wch wod lead him at the proper time to carry his purpose into effect.”</p.390>

1818-19 mCLR2

mCLR2:

3668-3673+1Coleridge (ms. notes 1819 in Ayscough, ed. 1807; rpt. Coleridge, 1998, 12.4:859): <p. 859>“and his [[Hamlet]] & Shakespear’s fondness for presentiment[[3668-3673+1]]—O my prophetic Soul[[728]]—and his ‘Most generous and free from all contriving’ in his D Fencing-Duel—and all at last done by [? shock] & accident at the conclusion.”</p. 859>

1850 Grinfield

Grinfield

3668-73] we . . . betimes] Grinfield (1850, pp. 47-8): <p. 47> “A brief, but very sententious and remarkable speech; especially as illustrative of Hamlet’s deep and difficult character. The sentiment is in exact harmony with his noted soliloquy on Death, as ‘a consummation devoutly to be wish’d,’ by those who would, by dying, ‘end their heart-ache.’ Just before the present passage, the melancholy Prince had said to his friend Horatio,—’Tho wouldst not hink how ill all’s here about my heart; but it is no matter.’ This is said in expectation of his fencing with Laertes, which proves fatal to both. There is great signification in the brief remark—’the readiness is all;’ it is a sermon in a word; and reminds us of the Divine Warning: ‘Be ye ready.’ The meaning is unfolded in those few memorable words of the Angel to Adam: ‘Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou liv’st Live well: how long, or short, permit to heaven.’ Paradise Lost, Book XI. ‘Since the time of our dying is foreordered by Providence, and we retain no knowledge of what we leave behind; what </p. 47> <p. 48>matter how soon we die? The readiness for death is all.’ One of the many noble thoughts, and mighty truths, flung over his pages by our wild, deep, universal Shakspeare; thick, and bright, and varied as the stars over the midnight heavens!” </p. 48>

1862 N&Q

Warwick

3669-3671 if . . . come] Warwick (1862, p. 266): <p. 266> “On the fatalism of the ancient Danish religion, note a curious parallel to the above passage as follows:—’They (the Icelanders) say that if they were not fey (i.e. fated or fore-doomed to die) they must live; and that if they were fey, they must die.’—Edinburgh Review No. 232, Oct. 1861, p. 450.

“The doomed man was conscious of approaching death. ‘How ill all’s about my heart.’—[Ham. 3661-2].”

1872 cln1

cln1

3668-9 there is . . . Sparrowe] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “See Matthew x.29.”

1874 Tyler

Tyler

3668-71 there . . . all] Tyler (1874, p. 23): <p. 23): “It is worth while to observe that in the Quarto of 1603, instead of ‘there’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow,’ we have ‘there’s a predestinate providence in the fall of a sparrow.’” </p. 23>

Tyler

3668 we defie augury] Tyler (1874, p. 25): <p. 25>“And when the destined hour for the final catastrophe has at last come, Hamlet ‘defies augury.’ Thrusting aside with decision Horatio’s kindly proffered excuse, he expresses his fixed determination to accept the challenge of Laertes. But here again there is indication of the working of the invisible. ‘Thou wouldest not hink,’ he says, ‘how ill all’s here about my heart; but it is no matter.’ [3661] † ‘But it such a kind of gain-giving as would perhaps trouble a woman’ [3664-65].” </p. 25>

<n>†The Folio has probably a misprint:—’Thou wouldest not thinke how all heare about my heart.’ The Quarto of 1603 gives:—’My hart is on the sodaine Very sore, all here about.’”</n>

1875 Marshall

Marshall

3668-3673+1 Marshall (1875, p. 104): <p. 104> “Hamlet’s last speech to Horatio points to the fact that his fatalism has been growing upon him until it has entirely usurped the place of any other faith. true that it is not a pagan fatalism, but neither is it the resignation of a Christian, in spite of the allusion to the New Testament. It is at best the negative courage of a conscientious doubter, who knows that death must come, but is content to leave the hereafter in uncertainty.” </p. 104>

1877 v1877

v1877

3668 augury] Cornhill Magazine (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “This passage is one of the simplest, as it is one of the strongest, proofs of Shakespeare’s belief in presentiments. In all the instances he gives us, the moral to be drawn is that the warning is neglected and the fate comes. At first we might that Hamlet’s feleing was natural. He had detected the King’s villainy, and he know his own counterplot would not long be secret. But it is plain that he suspected nothing in the challenge to fence with Laer. He never once examined the foils, or measured them, but picked up the first that came to hand, and took the length on trust. Just before, when Hor. warned him, he had said, ‘The interim is mine,’ and he clearly looked forward to having things his own way till the next news from England. [See [Rom 5.1.1. (2723-4)]].”

[Ed:Furness identifies this as the Oct. 1866 issue, p. 459 and an article entitled ‘Presentiments.’]

1881 hud3

hud3

3668 defie] Hudson (ed. 1881): “To defy, here, is to renounce or disclaim. Often so.”

1882 elze2

elze2

3668 there is] Elze (ed. 1882): “There is, in the text, is a mistake.”

1885 macd

macd

3668 augury] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “The knowledge, even, of what is to come could never, any more than ordinary expediency, be the law of a man’s conduct. St. Paul, informed by the prophet Aabus of the troubles that awaited him at Jerusalem, and entreated by his friends not to go thither, believed the prophet, and went on to Jerusalem to be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles.”

3669 it] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “—death, the end.”

macd ≈ standard

3668-9 there is . . . Sparrowe]

1934 Wilson

Wilson

3668-3673+1 Wilson (1934, 2:214-15): <p. 214>“My final example of Q2 punctuation . . . provides an even more triumphant proof of its general superiority over that of F1, since it makes sense of an important and difficult passage which has hitherto baffled every editor of Hamlet. 1

“Hamlet is troubled with his ‘gain-giving’ before the fencing with Laertes, and Horatio offers to have the match postponed; to which offer Hamlet replies, in the two versions, as follows (5.2.230-55 [3668-3673+1]): [cites Q2 and F1 versions] The passage illustrates the quality of both texts in admirable fashion. We have the inevitable omission in Q2, together with the spelling ‘well’ for ‘will’ in the third line, while the stops are commas throughout. In F1, on the other hand, there is not merely the heavier, and at first sight far more intelligible, punctuation, but high-handed interference with the sense, amounting to a complete re-writing of the last line, with the result that obscurity becomes more </p. 214 <p. 215>obscure. Editors, as usual, have attempted to make the best of both worlds. Here, for example, is the Globe text: [cites Glo version] Dr. Johnson, who proposed to conclude the speech ‘since no man knows aught of what he leaves, what is’t to leave betimes?’, criticises the F1 text and points out truly enough that Hamlet is much more likely to leave life willingly because he cannot fathom it than because he cannot take this world’s goods away with him. But Dr. Johnson, like every other editor, has been misled by the F1 query after ‘betimes’, as the F1 scribe in his turn was clearly misled by the word ‘is’t’. Yet ‘is’t’ may of course be affirmative just as well as interrogative (cf. 1.4.13 ‘Ay, marry is’t’.). And if we restore the Q2 comma after ‘betimes’ and thus make ‘let be’ the principal clause of the last sentence of the speech, there is no difficulty whatever with the text, though a modern editor will do well to translate some of the commas into dashes and periods so as to break the speech up for the reader’s convenience. Thus modernised it runs: ‘Not a whit, we defy augury, there is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ‘tis not to come—if it be not to come, it will be now—if it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all. Since no man of aught he leaves knows what is’t to leave betimes, let be.’ Hamlet’s argument is: ‘early’ or ‘late’ is no matter, so long as one is prepared; and since we can gather from nothing in this life whether we are leaving it early or late, why bother about it?” </p. 215>

<n> <p. 214>“1Mommsen (vide vol. I, p. 12n.), however, came very near to solving it.” </p. 214>

Wilson

3668-3673+1 Wilson (1934, 2:277): <p. 277>“This has been already dealt with under the head of punctuation on pp. 214-15.” </p. 277>

Wilson

3668 there is speciall] Wilson (1934, 2:252) characterizes the probability that Q2’s reading reflects an “omission” of the F1 reading to be “doubtful.” He adds, <p. 254> “I do not think, however, that it is possible to make out any case in favour of the F1 variants in list Iic, and should accordingly refuse to accept them. They add nothing perceptible to meaning or rhythm. “ </p. 254>. He observes that GLO and v1821 agree with F1 and that CAP and CAM1 agree with Q2.

Wilson

3669 it be] Wilson (1934, 2:248) characterizes the Q2 omission of this F1 variant as “certainly omitted.” </p. 248>

1934 cam3

cam3

3668-69 there is . . . Sparrowe] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Cf. Matth. x.29. As ususal when Sh. quotes, the context should be borne in mind; e.g. ‘And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul,’ and ‘But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.’”

1939 kit2

kit2

3668 we] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “i.e., men like you and me, who believe in God’s providence.”

kit2 ≈ standard

3668-69 there is . . . Sparrowe]

1942 n&h

n&h

3669 it] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “death.”

1947 cln2

cln2

3668 augury] Rylands (ed. 1947): “foreboding.”

cln2 ≈ cam3 ; kit2 w/o attribution

3669 if it be] Rylands(ed. 1947, Notes)

1954 sis

sis ≈ standard

3668 augury]

1974 evns1

evns1 ≈ standard

3668-69 there is . . . Sparrowe]

1980 pen2

pen2

3668 we defie augury] Spencer (ed. 1980): “I shall disdain forebodings. For a moment Hamlet becomes almost like his admired Horatio (III.2.75-81—though Horatio’s stoicism has no religious foundation)). But it is perhaps felt to be a moment of carelessness, rather than heroism, before the catastrophe of the duel.”

pen2

3669 it] Spencer (ed. 1980): “my death.”

pen2 ≈ standard

3668-69 there is . . . Sparrowe]

1982 ard2

ard2

3667 we] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Note that Hamlet does not speak for himself alone. Characteristically the personal predicament expands to the general.”

ard2 ≈ standard (Matthew //) +

3668-69 there is . . . Sparrowe] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “The Elizabethans believed both in general providence manifesting itself in the whole system of creation and, within this, in in a singular or special providence manifesting itself in the particular event. The latter, along with its scriptural exemplification in the sparrow, was especially insisted on by Calvin ((see Institutes, I, esp. xvi.I, xvii.6)). Cf. above, [3509-10, 3551].”

ard2 ≈ standard

3669 it]

1985 cam4

cam4 ≈ standard

3668-69 there is . . . Sparrowe] Edwards (ed. 1985): “Hamlet rejects ‘augury’, the attempt to read signs of future events and to take steps accordingly. All occurrences show God’s immediate concern and control, and he will therefore accept the circumstances which present themselves and not try to avoid them. ‘special providence’ is a theological term for a particular act of divine intervention. ‘the fall of a sparrow’ alludes to Matthew 10.29.”

cam4 ≈ standard

3369 if it be] Edwards (ed. 1985): “i.e. his own death. He knows the king will be making a second attempt to murder thim. He must also have in mind the final confrontation when he will ‘quit’ Claudius, even if it costs him his life.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4

3668 defie] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “reject ((OED v. 1 5)) Compare [Jn. 3.4.23 (1405)], ‘No, I defy all counsel, all redress’.”

oxf4 ≈ standard

3668-69 there is . . . Sparrowe]

oxf4 ≈ standard

3669 it]

1993 dent

dent ≈ standard

3668 we defie augury]

dent ≈ standard

3668-69 there is . . . Sparrowe]

1992 fol2

fol2≈ standard

3668-69 there is . . . Sparrowe]

2008 oed

oed ≈ standard

3668 defie] OED 5. To set at nought; to reject, renounce, despise, disdain, revolt at. Obs. c1320 R. BRUNNE Med. 743 Y haue be skurged, scorned dyffyed, Wounded, angred, and crucyfyed. c1440 Promp. Parv. 115 Dyffyyn, or vtterly dyspysyn, vilipendo. 1484 CAXTON Curiall 9 Certes, brother, thou demandest that whyche thou oughtest to deffye. 1537 TURNER Olde Learnyng To Rdr., Some ther be that do defye All that is newe, and ever do crye The old is better, away with the newe. 1549 OLDE Erasm. Par. Thess. 4, I defie all thinges in comparison of the gospel of Christ. 1600 SHAKES. A.Y.L. Epil. 21 If I were a Woman, I would kisse as many of you as had..breaths that I defi’de not. [etc.]

2004 DiMatteo

DiMatteo

3668-9 DiMatteo (2004, para. 33), with an emphasis on the word fall in “ithe fall of a sparrow,” states that Ham. comes to understand the limits of sovereignty.

3668 3669