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Line 510 - Commentary Note (CN)

Commentary notes (CN):

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Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman

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

510 Doe not as some vngracious pastors doe,	1.3.47

- 1761 Rochester?

Rochester

510-14 Rochester? (-1761, p. 200), to agree with Pastors in 510, changes me to us in 511; Whiles to Whilst like [= Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9, Q10] and a to the in 512; Himselfe to Themselves and treads to tread [both = mtby2 conj.] and path to paths in 513; reakes to Reck, his to their, Reed to Read in 514. He explains: “The Amendments in [510-13] were necessary to reconcile them to Grammar and Sense: And the last Line signifies, now properly wrote, that they reckon not their own Reading; or make any Account of the Instructions they give to others.” Ed. note. See CN 11 and bib for information about the forger who tried to pass his ideas on as Rochester’s. TNM entries 511 ff. list the conjectures.

1765 Heath

Heath

510-14 doe not. . . reed] Heath (1765, pp. 525-26): “The true meaning [of the lines and the image] is, Do not you imitate the ungracious teacher, who, while he is preaching up to others self-denial and mortification, at the same time indulges himself, with all the licentiousnes of a bloated abandoned libertine, in the gratification of every appetite, without paying regard to his own doctrine.”

1794 Whiter

Whiter 2nd ed.

510-4 doe not . . . reed] Whiter (1794, rpt. 1967, pp. 216-17), discussing an analogous passage in AWW 4.5.38-48 (2519-29), says of both, <p. 216> “We cannot doubt, that the allusion in this passage is scriptural, as we find the idea expanded by St. Matthew (7. 13-14) ‘Enter ye in at the strait gate; —for wide is the gate, & broad is the way, that </p. 216><p. 217> leadeth to destruction, & many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate & narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be which find it.’ — The great Gate & the Broad Way of the Scriptures, which leads the Votaries of pleasure to the Region of punishment by Fire, or to Hell, where the Devil or the Prince of Darkness reigns, is associated by the Poet, with the Pomp of a great Procession, in which a gay multitude intent only on the vain shews & pleasure of the World, are passing forward on a spacious path to the great or broad gates of a Palace, amidst all the circumstances, which are attendant on such gawdy spectacles, a way strewed with flowers & the blaze of great Bonfires.

“In the following beautiful passage of Hamlet, when Ophelia enforces a great duty of morality in answer to the good advice of Laertes, we find, that the Poet is impressed with the same train of ideas; tho’ the imagery of the Bonfire as connected with Hell does not appear. [quotes 509-14].” </p. 217>

Whiter continues with the analogy of the Porter’s speech in Macbeth, pp. 217ff.

1805 Seymour

Seymour

510-13 pastors . . . Himselfe] Seymour (1805, 2:152-3): <p. 152>“The relative here does not agree with its antecedent ‘Pastors.’ We might read: </p.152><p. 153> ‘Thyself the primrose path of dalliance tread’st And reck’st not thine own read’.”

1854 del2

del2

510-13 pastors . . . Himself] Delius (ed. 1854): “himself, obwohl Singular, bezieht sich in ungenauer Construction auf den Plural some ungracious pastors, indem der Singular like a puff’d and reckless livertine dazwischentrat.” [himself, though singular, refers in inexact construction to the plural some ungracious pastors because the singular like a puff’d and reckless libertine comes in between.]

1868 tsch

tsch

511-13 pastors . . . Himself] Tschischwitz (ed. 1868, apud Furness, ed. 1877): “does not scruple to change” pastors to pastor parsing the first ‘Do’ as the auxiliary verb to the second, as well as to ‘show,” while ‘Himself’ remains in grammatical agreement with what has preceded.

1870 Abbott

Abbott

510-13 pastors . . . Himself] Abbott (§415): “Construction changed by change of thought. . . . . “Himself . . . treads instead of ‘whiles you tread.” . . . .

1872 cln1

cln1

510 vngracious] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “graceless. So [1H4 2.4.490 (1403)].

1872 hud2

hud2 ≈ Heath

510 vngracious pastors]Hudson (ed. 1872): “Pastors that have not the grace to practice what they preach.”

1877 v1877

v1877 = cln1

510 vngracious]

1877 v1887

v1877; tsch; ; Abbott §415,

510-13 pastors . . . Himself] Furness (ed. 1877): “See [2058-9], for a construction the reverse of this: a plural relative and a singular antecedent.”

1880 meik

meik = cln1 gloss + in magenta underlined

510 vngracious] Meikeljohn (ed. 1880): “= graceless. The un destroys the force of the ous.”

1881 hud3

hud3 = hud2

510 vngracious pastors]

1899 ard1

ard1 = cln1 without attribution gloss, //

510 vngracious]

1926 Tilley

Tilley § 672: Euphues, 392; MV 1.2.15 (000)

510-13 He tells me my way, and does not know it himself.

1929 trav

trav

512 reckles] Travers (ed. 1929): “rashly (almost defiantly) careless.”

1938 parc

parc

510 vngracious] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938): “graceless.”

1939 kit2

kit2: standard

510 vngracious] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "graceless."

1947 cln2

cln2: standard

510 vngracious pastors] Rylands (ed. 1947): "clergy without grace."

1950 Tilley

Tilley

510-14 Tilley (1950, W 160): “He tells me my Way and does not know it himself ”

1973 E. C. Wilson

Wilson

510-14 but good . . . reed] E. C. Wilson (1973, p. 135): “ Freely comic material first emerges . . . in the amusing deflation of Laertes by Ophelia” and in his response.

1980 pen2

pen2

510 vngracious] Spencer (ed. 1980): “without grace.”

pen2: bible

510 pastors] Spencer (ed. 1980): “The word is carefully chosen. The ’good shepherd’, unlike the ungracious pastor, will ’put forth his own sheep; he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him’ (John 10.4).”

1982 ard2

ard2: standard

510 vngracious] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “lacking (spiritual) grace, ungodly. Cf. R2 2.3.89; 1H4 2.4.430.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4: Abbott § 415; kit2 CN 513 Matthew reference without attribution; Panofsky on Hecules’s choice

510-14 pastors . . . reed] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "Shakespeare has lost control of his sentence. He has allowed ‘the puffed and reckless libertine’ of the comparison to take over the grammatical function of the true subject ‘my brother’. For further examples of the same kind of grammatical shift, see Abbott 415.

The whole passage is indebted to Matthew 7:13-14: ‘Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.’ It also seems to have been affected, however, by the story of Hercules’ Choice, which goes back to Hesiod. In it Hercules has to choose between Vice and Virtue. Standing at a fork in the road, Hercules has to decide whether to take the smooth easy way that leads to wickedness or the long, steep, stony path that leads to virtue. See Erwin Panofsky, Hercules am Scheidewege (Leipzig, 1930). The proverbial ‘Practise what you preach’ (Tilley P537a) is also relevant."

oxf4: OED

510 vngracious] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "wicked, devoid of spiritual grace (OED 1)."

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

510 vngracious] Bevington (ed. 1988): “ungodly.”

1992 fol2

fol2: standard

510 vngracious] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “ungodly”

fol2: oxf4 without attribution on Matt.; standard gloss

510-13 Showe me . . . treads] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): Do not “i.e., show me how to live a strict and virtuous life while you yourself follow a life of self-indulgence (See Matthew 7.13-14.)”

1994 Kliman

Kliman

510-14 Kliman (1994): (1) Do not, as some...pastors do, show me...., whiles, a puft and careless libertine himself, the primrose path of dalliance treads.... Here pastor seems to be the implied subject of treads. Or (2) Do not, as some..., show me...., whilst like a puft a reckless libertine, himself the primrose path of dalliance treads.... Here [he] himself is the implied subject of treads.

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: Dent

510-14 Doe . . . reed] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “ ’Practise what you preach’ was proverbial (Dent, P537a).”

ard3q2: standard

510 vngracious] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “irreligious (lacking divine grace)”

ard3q2

510 pastors] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “priests (literally, shepherds)”