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Line 12 - 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 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman

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

12 Fran. For this reliefe much thanks, tis bitter cold,	1.1.8

1784 Davies

Davies

12-13 Fran. For . . . hart.] Davies (1784, 3:5-6) <p. 5> “The right expression of a simple thought is sometimes of considerable and unexpected consequence to the speaker. Mr. Boheme was, about the year 1718, accidentally seen by Rich, when playing with some itinerants at Stratford le Bow, who soon distinguished him from his companions, and hired him, at a small income, to act at his theatre in Lincoln’s-inn fields. I have been told, that this actor was, on his first trial, cast into the trifling part of Francisco. His unaffected, yet feeling, manner, of pronouncing this short speech, roused the auditors to an attention of his merit. His salary was immediately increased by the </p. 5> <p. 6> manager, and he proved afterwards a great ornament of the stage.” </p.6>

1819 cald1

cald1

12 bitter cold] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “As to ‘bitter cold,’ see ‘bitter business,’ at the end of Act. III [3.2 (F1 2262)], Hamlet’s soliloquy.”

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1 + correction, eliminates “at the end of”

12 bitter cold] Caldecott (ed. 1832): “See ‘bitter business,’ solil. Haml. III.”

1839 knt1

knt1 See 165

1843- mLewes

mLewes: knt2

12 bitter cold] Lewes (ms. note in 1832 ed.) quotes Knight’s note (from ed. 1843) without comment, but in the 1843 ed. itself, which he reviewed, he disagreed with both Caldecott’s and Knight’s literalism. See cn 165 for all three.

1847 Lewes

Lewes

12-17 Lewes (1847, p. 319): “[ . . . ] in the answer of Francisco we have another slight trait which strikingly exemplifies how careful Shakespeare was to preserve entire consistency in the conduct of his characters:—[quotes 12-13]. And because he is sick at heart, absorbed in the contemplation of his individual griefs, he has not remarked the ill-concealed agitation of Bernardo. With a mind at ease, his attention would have been excited and his curiosity roused. As he is going, Bernardo asks with an off-hand air of assumed indifference, [quotes 14]—an inquiry he dared not make in a formal way, in direct conversation, lest he should betray his anxiety. The assurance he receives [quotes 15] in relieving him as to the hours past, fixes his thoughts the more exclusively on the coming moments. He has no wish to be left alone. He is impatient to be joined by his companions, and his parting word to Francisco is [quotes 16-17].”

In what seems a direct stroke against Coleridge, who had said that the scene was full of commonplace talk, Lewes says, “The few words which pass in the next half-page, common-place as they appear to the inattentive reader, are strokes of character the finest and the most expressive.”

1857 fieb

fieb

12 reliefe] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “The dismission of a sentry from his post.”

1870 Abbott

Abbott

12 much] Abbott (§ 51): “Much, More, is frequently used as an ordinary adjective, after a pronominal adjective, like the Scotch mickle, . . . ”

1872 cln1

cln1 : Abbott + analogues, //s

12 much thanks] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “For this use of ‘much’ with a noun of plural form, compare Luke 12. 19. ‘Thou hast much goods laid up for many years.’ ‘Much,’ like the A. S. micel, mycel, mucel, from which it is derived, was once not used only, as it is now, with abstract or collective nouns, but generally in the sense of ‘great.’ So in [R3 3.7.159 (2380)], ‘Yet so much is my poverty of spirit,’ and MM 5.1.528 (2927)], ‘Thy much goodness.’ Abbott’s Shakespeare Grammar, § 51.

cln1: Abbott § 1 without attribution; //

12 bitter cold] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “Here “bitter’ is used adverbially to qualify the adjective ‘cold.’ So we have ‘daring hardy’ in [R2 1.3.43 (340)]. Where the combination is likely to be misunderstood, modern editors generally put a hyphen between the two words.”

1877 v1877

v1877 ≈ Abbott

12 much thanks] Furness (ed. 1877): “Abbott, § 51: Much, more, is frequently used as an ordinary adjective, like the Scottish mickle, and the Early English muchel.”

v1877 = knt (but at TLN 157, rather than here or at 165)

12 bitter cold]

1878 rlf1

rlf1≈ cln1 without attribution; Abbott §51

12 much thanks]

rlf1: Abbott § 1

12 bitter cold]

1891 dtn1

dtn1

12 much] Deighton (ed. 1891): “great in quantity, formerly used of size also.”

dtn1 ≈ cln1 without attribution

12 bitter] Deighton (ed. 1891): “bitterly.”

1903 rlf3

rlf3 = rlf1 (minus analogues)

12 much thanks]

1913 tut2

tut2 ≈ cln1 gloss great without attribution +

12 much] Goggin (ed. 1913): “one of the many phrases in Hamlet which have become proverbial.”

tut2 ≈ cln1 without attribution

12 bitter]

1930 Granville-Barker

Granville-Barker

12 tis bitter cold] Granville-Barker (1930, rpt. 1946, 1: 49): Though scene 1 is long, the cold suggests a brisk pace.

1934 cam3

cam3

12 bitter cold] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Sh. builds up the atmosphere of the frosty, star-lit, northern night as he proceeds; cf. [47-9 and quotes].”

1980 pen2

pen2

12 bitter cold] Spencer (ed. 1980) believes the action takes place in winter. with a cross-reference to [604].

1982 ard2

ard2: standard

12 much thanks] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “ ’Thanks’ was often used as singular. . . . ”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2

12 tis bitter cold] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006) agree with others that the chill does not reliably indicate a particular season. “Guilfoyle, however, draws an analogy between the opening scene and the topical ’Shepherds’ Play’ in the medieval cycle plays where the shepherds, like Hamlet’s sentries, wait on a cold night for a supernatural event (see 157n. and p. 71).”