Line 3820, etc. - Commentary Note (CN) 
Commentary notes (CN):
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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).
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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.
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Notes for lines 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand
| 3820 Had I but time, as this fell sergeant Death 3820 | 5.2.336 |
|---|
3821 Is strict in his arrest, ô I could tell you,
3822 But let it be; Horatio I am dead,
1743 mF3
mF3
3820 fell] Anon. (ms. notes in F3, 1734) : “Fell, cruel, wratchful, from A.S. [felle].”
1744 han1
han1: see n. 3564-5.
1753 blair
blair
3820 fell] Blair (ed. 1753, Glossary): “fierce, cruel.”
1780 mals
mals
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
Malone (1780, p. 363) : <p. 363> “So, in our author’s 74th Sonnet: ‘—when that fell
arrest Without all bail , shall carry me away—’ MALONE “
1790 Transactions
Robertson
3822-35 Horatio . . .
story]
Robertson (
Trans. of the Royal Soc. of Edinburgh, 1790, II: 251-2): <p. 251>“The
Character of
Hamlet, has been variously judged of by critics, and what might be expected, it has been still more variously represented by performers upon the stage.
Shakespeare himself seems to have apprehended that this would happen; and that injustice would be done to a hero, who probably, in his estimation, ranked higher than any other that he has brought into the drama.
“When Hamlet was dying, he appears, upon this account, to have made him speak as follows to Horatio [cites 3822-4; 3830-35].
“
Hamlet was here in a situation in which men in general speak truth; and he was besides speaking to a confidential </p. 251> <p. 252>friend, who could not be imposed upon; a friend who, from the strongest possible attachment to him, had been about ‘to put an end to his own life, but was restrained from his purpose, in order to explain to a ‘harsh world,’ the story of
Hamlet, after he was no more.” </p. 252>
1790 mal
mal = mals
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
1791- rann
rann
3820-1 as . . . arrest] Rann (ed. 1791-) : “POEMS, p. 640.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = mal + magenta underlined
3820-1 as . . . arrest] Ritson (apud Steevens, ed. 1793) : “A sergeant is a bailiff, or sheriff’s officer. RITSON”
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
1819 cald1
cald1 ≈ v1813
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
1826 sing1
sing1 = v1821 without attribution + magenta underlined
3820-1 as . . . arrest] Singer (ed. 1826) : “And Joshua Silvester, in his Dubartas:—’And death, sergeant of the eternal Judge, Comes very late,’ &c.”
1832 cald2
cald2 : cald1; sing1 + magenta underlined
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
Caldecott (ed. 1832) : “So
Dubartas : ‘Death, Serjeant of th’ eternal Judge.’
So favourite an image was this and so familiar, that we find it no less in the pulpit than on the stage. ‘Death’s warrants run very high; ‘Non omittas propter ullam libertatem .’ Attach them wherever thou findest them. No places are privileged from the arrests of death. When once this Serjeant , Death , hath arrested them, (that bold, that inexorable, that impartial Serjeant, Death ) execution will be granted out against them.’ Sydenham’s World’s Vanity . A Sermon. 4to. 1651. p. 102.”
1845 Hunter
Hunter
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
Hunter (1845, p. 266) : <p. 266>“The apposite quotation from Sylvester loses its effect through an oversight in the transcriber. It ought to be ‘And Death, dread serjeant of th’ eternal judge Comes very late to his sole-seated lodge.’
“It occurs in the Third Day of theFirst Week. Sylvester is the earlier writer, but Shakespeare’s substitution of ‘fell’ for ‘dread’ shews a master hand.” </p. 266>
1854 del2
del2
3820-1 as . . . arrest] Delius (ed. 1854) :”Der Scherge oder Häscher Tod vollführt seine Verhaftsbefehle pünktlich und ohne den mindesten Aufschub zu gestatten.” [The sergeant or [Hascher?] Death carries out his arrests punctually and without allowing slightest delay.]
1856 sing2
sing2 = sing1
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
1857 elze1
elze1= Ritson
3820 sergeant]
1858 Rushton
Rushton
3820 sergeant] Rushton (1858, p. 40): “Serjeant, or sergeant, is applied to divers offices and callings; but Hamlet refers to serjeant-at-armes or mace, whose office is to attend the king’s person, to arrest traitors or persons of condition, and to attend the lord and high steward, when sitting in judgment”
1864 glo
glo : standard
3820 sergeant] Clark & Wright (ed. 1864) : “sb. a bailiff.”
1865 hal
hal : v1821 (unattributed) ; cald2 (attributed) +
3820 sergeant] Halliwell (ed. 1865) : “The inexorable type of Death is well represented in any of the engravings in the dance of Death, one of which is here given [illus.].”
1869 tsch
tsch
3822 But let it be] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “stimmt zu [[1.2.159]].” [“similar to [[1.2.159]].”]
1870 Abbott
Abbott
3820-1 Had . . . arrest] Abbott (§110): “An ellipsis must be supplied in ‘Had I but time (which I have not)—as this fell sergeant Death, Is strict in his arrest.’ [Ham. 5.2.347 (3820)].”
1872 del4
del4 = del2
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
1872 cln1
cln1
3820 as] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “Compare [4.3.58 (0000), 4.7.157 (0000)], for similar instances of the usage of ‘as’ in a parenthesis.”
cln1 : standard
3820 fell] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “cruel. Compare Sonnet lxxiv.1: ‘When that fell arrest, Without all bail shall carry me away.’”
cln1 : Hunter? [erroneously recorded as Malone?] ∑
3820 sergeant] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “a sheriff’s officer. See [H8 1.1.198 (0000)]. When Buckingham is arrested, Brandon says: ‘Your office, sergeant; execute it:’ the sergeant in this case being the sergeant-at-arms. Cotgrave (French Dict.) gives, ‘Sergeant: m. A Sergeant, Officer, Pursuyuant, Apparitor.’ Malone quotes from Sylvester’s Du Bartas [The third Day off the first Weeke p.88 (86), third ed.]: ‘And Death, drad Seriant of th’ eternall Iudge, Coms very late to his sole seated Lodge.’”
1877 v1877
v1877 : cln1 (minus 4.7.157 (0000) //)
3820 as]
Furness (ed. 1877): “See [4.3.58 (0000)]”
v1877 : ≈Abbott
3820 as]
Abbott (
apud Furness, ed. 1877):
§110
v1877 : ≈ v1793 (Ritson) ; ≈ sing2 (Du Bartas //; misidentified as mal) ; ≈ Hunter (only “Silvester is . . . a master hand.”)
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
1877 neil
neil ≈ cln1 w/o attribution (Sylvester trans. // ; Sonnet 79 //)
3820-1 as . . . arrest]
1881 hud3
Hud3 : standard
3820 sergeant] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Sergeant was the title of a sheriff’s officer, whose business it was to make arrests and execute warrants.”
1882 elze2
elze2 ≈ cln w/o attribution
3820 fell]
1885 mull
mull ≈ standard
3820 fell]
1889 Barnett
Barnett
3820 sergeant]
Barnett (1889, p. 64): <p. 64> “
officer. Lat.
servientem, through Fr.
sergent.” </p. 64>
1890 irv2
irv2: Cotgrave ; v1821 (making same error of MALS for SING in Du Bartas attribution)
3820 sergeant] Cotgrave (apud Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Sergent: m. a Sergeant, Officer, Pursuyant, Apparitor.”
1899 ard1
ard1 ≈ v1877 (erroneously reported MAL/Du Bartas // ) w/o attribution ; cln1 (Sh. sonnet lxxiv) w/o attribution
1906 nlsn
nlsn: standard
3820 sergeant] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary)
1909 N&Q
W.C.B.
3820 sergeant][W.C.B.] (1909, 85): <p. 85> “F. Quarles, ‘Emblems,’ 1635 (1845, p. 114).—’If that pale-fac’d sergeant [death] make arrest.”
1931 crg1
crg1 : cites Chambers
3820 sergeant] Craig (ed. 1931): “sheriff’s officer. Chambers takes the word to mean the officer who enforces a judgment of a tribunal or the commands of a person in authority.”
1934 cam3
cam3 ≈ v1877 w/o attribution
3820 sergeant]
Wilson probably takes this note from v1877, since he erroneously cites Malone as the source of the Du Bartas commentary instead of Singer, an error introduced by
Furness
cam3 : standard
3820 sergeant] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary)
1939 kit2
kit2 ≈ standard
3820 sergeant]
3820 sergeant] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary):
kit2 ≈ standard
3820 fell] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary):
1938 parc
parc ≈ standard
3820 sergeant]
1947 cln2
cln2 ≈ standard
3820 sergeant]
1951 alex
Alex ≈ standard
3820 sergeant] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary)
1951 crg2
crg2 ≈ standard (cites Chambers)
3820 sergeant]
1954 sis
sis ≈ standard
3820 fell] Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary):
1957 pel1
pel1 : standard
3820 sergeant]
1970 pel2
pel2=pel1
3820 sergeant]
1974 evns1
evns1≈ standard
3820 sergeant]
evns1≈ standard
3820 fell]
1980 pen2
pen2
3820 as] Spencer (ed. 1980): “which I have not, because.”
pen2
3821 arrest] Spencer (ed. 1980): “((doubtless a final pun: death stops him from proceeding with his story)).”
pen2 ≈ standard
3820 sergeant]
1982 ard2
ard2 ≈ standard (Son. 74 //)
3820 sergeant]
ard2
3820 sergeant]
Jenkins (ed. 1982, Longer Notes, 571): <p. 571>“For the metapor of
Death as a sergeant making an arreast, see e.g. the mediaeval treatise of
The Dying Creature ((MS Harl. 1706, fols. 96-105; printed W. de Worde, 1507, etc.; included in F.M.M. Comper,
Book of the Craft of the Dying, 1917)), ‘Here hath been with me a sergeant of arms whose name is Cruelty [[cf.
fell]], from the King of all Kings, Lord of all Lords, and Judge of all Judges; laying on me the mace of his office, saying unto me: I arrest thee and warn thee to make thee ready . . . The Judge that shall sit upon thee, He will not be partial [[cf.
strict]] . . . but He will minister to thee ijustice and equity’ ((fol. 96; Comper, pp. 137-8)); stubbes,
A Crystal Glass for Christian Women ((1591)), ‘Send thy messenger death to fetch me, send thy sergeant to arrest me, send thy pursuivant to apprehend me . . .’ ((A4)); ((I.iii.1087)). See T. Spencer,
Death and Elizabethan Tragedy, pp. 79-80;
SQ, xx, 486-91; xxvi, 74-5; xxix, 84-5. In a Morality play called
The Cradle of Security, witnessed by R. Willis as a small boy about 1570 and described by him in
Mount Tabor, 16339 ((pp. 110-13)), the death of a prince was dramatically signalled by the arrival of a sergeant-at-arms: ‘There came forth . . . two old men, the one in blue with a sergeant-at-arms his mace on his shoulder, the other in red with a drawn sword in his hand and . . . the foremost old man with his mace stroke a fearful blow upon the cralde’ whereupon ‘all vanished’ but ‘the desolate prince’ who was ‘thus sent for to judgment’. This spectacle so impressed the boy that the man remembered it in his old age ‘as if I had seen it newly acted’. His account is quoted in full in F.P. Wilson,
The English Drama 1485-1585, pp. 76-7.” </p. 571>
ard2
3821 strict] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “both just and inescapable.”
1984 chal
chal : standard
3820 fell] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “ruthless.”
chal : standard
3820 sergeant]
1985 cam4
cam4 ≈ standard
3820 sergeant]
1987 oxf4
oxf4 : OED
3820 as] Hibbard (ed. 1987): ‘whereas ((OED B8d, quoting this passage)).”
oxf4 : Sonnet 74 ; Dent D142.2
3820 sergeant]
oxf4 ≈ standard
3820 sergeant]
bev2: standard
3820 sergeant]
bev2: standard
3821 strict]
bev2 : pen2 +
3821 arrest] Bevington (ed. 1988): “taking into custody.”
1992 fol2
fol2≈ standard
3820 fell sergeant]
1993 dent
dent ≈ standard
3820 as]
2000 Edelman
Edelman
3820 sergeant] Edelman (2000): “In Shakespeare, normally a civilian officer with power of arrest, as in Hamlet’s ‘fell sergeant Death’ [3820].” Edelman says that the word could be pronounced as three syllables.
2008
OED
OED
3820 as] OED
d.In antithetical or parallel clauses, introducing a known circumstance with which a hypothesis is contrasted, or beside which a new circumstance is placed:...as on the other hand; even as; whereas; whilst. 1523 LD. BERNERS Froiss. I. clxxvi. 213 If kyng Johan had ben in Fraunce, as he was in Englande [i.e. instead of being, as was the fact, in England], he durst not haue done as he dyd. 1602 SHAKES. Ham. V. ii. 347 Had I but time, (as this fell sergeant, death, Is strick’d in his Arrest).
3820 3821 3822