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Line 599 - 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.”

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

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

599 Haue you so slaunder any moment leasure {D1}	1.3.133

-1729 mtheo4

mtheo4 in Q5 (DYCE M 8965 D.25.63)

599 slaunder] Theobald (-1729) writes, “vid. Cimb. p.179 [Cym. 3.4.103 (1780)]. Why hast thou abus’d so many miles?”

1805 Seymour

Seymour

599 slaunder] Seymour (1805, 2:155): “To slander is to abuse; and to misemploy being also to abuse, the poet thought he might say, ‘slander’ for ‘misemploy.’”

1819 cald1

cald1

599 slaunder] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Let in reproach upon.”

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1; = Seymour without attribution in magenta underlined

598-9 slaunder] Caldecott (ed. 1832): “i.e. abuse, let in reproach upon.”

1843 col1

col1

599 moment leasure] Collier (ed. 1843): “i.e. any leisure moment. The old copies, quarto and folio, are uniform in this text, and modern editors uniform in varying from it. At the same time it is to be admitted, that ‘any moment’s leisure’ would not be objectionable, if change were required.”

1844 Dyce

Dyce = col1 +

599 moment leasure] Dyce (1844, p. 209): “It is absolutely necessary to print ‘moment’s.’ Would Shakespeare have employed such a ridiculous inversion, when ‘leisure moment’ suited the metre as well?”

Ed. note: See his unexplained reversal in dyce1

1853 Collier

Collier

599 slaunder . . . moment] Collier (1853, p. 421) says that there “occurs an emendation in the folio, 1632, which nobody has speculated upon, but which is at least equally plausible. Polonius says to Ophelia,—‘I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, Have you so slander any moment leisure, As to give words or talk with the lord Hamlet.’ For ‘slander’ read squander, and for ‘moment’ moment’s: she was not to waste a moment’s leisure upon him. The scribe seems to have misheard both bawd [596] and squander.”

1853 Singer

Singer: Collier +

599 slaunder] Singer (1753, p.262): “The change of ‘slander’ to squander, in the passage of Polonius’s advice to Ophelia, is quite uncalled for, and most assuredly erroneous:— [quotes]. It is doubtful if Shakespeare would have squander here, indeed it is rarely used at all by him; but we have in Cymbeline a similar figurative use of slander. Cloten says of Imogen,—‘But Disdaining me, and throwing favours on The low Posthumus, slanders so her judgment, &c.’ We must therefore adhere to the authentic old text, and reject the innovation of the correctors.”

1853 Blackwood’s

Anon gloss ≈ cald2 without attribution; contra col2 [Perkins F2]

599 slaunder] Anon. (1853, p. 462): “We believe that ‘slander’ here means abuse, misuse, and therefore we prefer the received text to squander, the reading of the MS. corrector.”

1854 del2

del2

599 moment leasure] Delius (ed. 1854): “ ‘eine augenblickliche Musse.’ —Viele Herausgebeer lesen moment’s leisure ohne Autorität.” [’momentary leisure’ — Many editors, without authority, read moment’s leisure.]

1855 Keightley

Keightley: Collier

599 slaunder] Keightley (1855, pp. 301-2): <p. 301>“Of substitution, the cases are numerous, and this in in effect a great cause of the difficulties in Shakespeare. Indeed, we think it might be almost laid down as a rule, that a passage, to give a meaning to which statemenss is requisite for the critic, cannot be as it came from the pen of the poet. His text, if we had it pure, would, we are convinced, present no critical difficulties whatever. </p. 301> <p. 302>

“The substituted word resembles the true one, sometimes in form, sometimes in meaning. . . . “Read squanderany moment’s leisure. * ” </p. 302>

<n302> “The very same correction was made by Mr. Collier’s corrector [Perkins F2].” </n302>

Ed. note: Keightley does not use the word squander in his edition.

1857 dyce1

dyce1: Dyce; col1; col2;

599 moment leasure] Dyce (ed. 1857): “In my Remarks on Mr. Collier’s and Mr. Knight’s eds/ of Shakespeare, p. 209, I perhaps too hastily found fault with Mr. Collier for retaining ‘moment leisure,’ instead of printing ‘moment’s leisure.’ —Ms. Corrector substitutes ‘so squander any moment’s leisure,’ &c.: but see Johnson’s note ad l.”

1858 col3

col3 ≈ Collier

599 slaunder . . . moment] Collier (ed. 1858): “For ‘squander’ the old copies have slander, and for ‘moments’,’ moment: both emendations are from the corr. fo. 1632.”

Ed. note: This note continues in 601

1860 stau

stau : dyce1; gloss on slander ≈ cald

599 slaunder . . . moment] Staunton (ed. 1860): “That is, abuse, &c. Modern editors, with the exception of Mr. Dyce, all deviate slightly from the old text in this line by reading, ‘—moment’s leisure’.”

1866 dyce2

dyce2

599 slaunder . . . moment] Dyce (ed. 1866): “For ‘slander,’ —which is explained ‘disgrace,’ ‘abuse,’— Mr. Collier’s Ms. Corrector substitutes ‘squander.’ — Mr. Collier and Mr. Grant White are mistaken in stating that all the old copies have ‘moment leisure:’—the quarto of 1611, now before me, reads as in my text.”

1867 Keightly

Keightly: col +

599 slaunder . . . moment] Keightley (1867, p. 287): “Collier’s folio reads squander, which may be right; but we have ‘She slanders so her judgement’ [Cym. 3.5.76 (1983)]. and ‘To slander music any more than once’ [Ado 2.3.45 (877)]. In ‘any moment leisure’ the structure is perfectly correct.”

1868 c&mc

c&mc: john, Seymour + in magenta underlined

599 slaunder] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868): “‘injure,’ ‘disgrace,’ ‘abuse.’”

1870 Abbott

Abbott

599 moment] Abbott (§ 22): “The licence of converting one part of speech into another may be illustrated by the following words used as adjectives: . . .[quotes 1526, ‘As hush (silent) as death.’] . . .

“This licence, however, was sometimes used where we should prefer the genitive or an adjective. . . . So, perhaps, ‘a moment leisure’ . . . .”

Abbott

599 moment] Abbott (§ 430): “Noun-Compounds. Sometimes the first noun may be treated as a genitive used adjectively. (See § 22.) . . . So [quotes 599,1619 ]. . . .”

1870 rug1

rug1: col2 +

599 slaunder] Moberly (ed. 1870): “If the reading in the text is correct, the meaning is ‘Do not misuse any moment of leisure,’ as, conversely, you have ‘misused our sex’ means ‘you have slandered it.’—[AYL 4.1.61 (1975)].”

1872 cln1

cln1 ≈ dyce2 gloss without attribution

599 slaunder] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “abuse, or disgrace.”

cln1

599 moment] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “If the reading of the text be correct, ‘moment’ must be taken as an adjective. This is very common when the first substantive is the name of a place, as ‘Lethe wharf,’ [720].”

1873 rug2

rug2 = rug1

599 slaunder]

1877 v1887

v1877: john gloss only, rug2

599 slaunder]

v1877: Dyce, Abbott (§22, §430) xref 1812 music vows

599 moment]

1881 hud3

hud3 : standard + in magenta underlined

599 slaunder] Hudson (ed. 1881): “That is, so disgrace, or misuse, as to cause slander.”

√1885 macd

macd

599 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “‘so slander any moment with the name of leisure as to’: to call it leisure, if leisure stood for talk with Hamlet, would be to slander the time. We might say, ‘so slander any man friend as to expect him to do this or that unworthy thing for you.’”

1885 mull

mull : standard

599 slaunder] Mull (ed. 1885): “misuse.”

1888 macl

macl

599 any moment] Maclachlan (ed. 1888) demonstrates that a compositor could mistake an ynnocent for any moment (because of several indistinguishable downstrokes). The phrase as it stands is meaningless, but “innocent in the critical circumstances alike of father and child would be sweet to both their hearts: it expressed his confidence in her; it assured her of his love; and it restored her to the strength and vigilance of her virtue. This is like Shakspeare.”

1899 ard1

ard1: cln1

599 moment]

1938 parc

parc

599 slaunder] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938): “disgrace.”

1939 kit2

kit2: standard

599 slaunder] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "disgrace; spend discrediably."

kit2 = del2, 1854, gloss without attribution

599 moment] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "momentary."

1947 cln2

cln2: standard

599 slaunder] Rylands (ed. 1947): "bring shame upon."

1957 pel1

pel1: standard

599 slaunder] Farnham (ed. 1957): “use disgracefully.”

pel1: standard

599 moment] Farnham (ed. 1957): “momentary.”

1970 pel2

pel2 = pel1

599 slaunder] Farnham (ed. 1970): “use disgracefully”

pel2 = pel1

599 moment] Farnham (ed. 1970): “momentary”

1980 pen2

pen2

599 slaunder] Spencer (ed. 1980): “misuse.”

pen2: standard

599 moment] Spencer (ed. 1980): “moment’s.”

1982 ard2

ard2:

599 slaunder] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “disgrace, abuse.”

ard2: //; Abbott

599 moment] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “For the noun used adjectivally, cf. IH6 1.4.54, ’every minute while’ (F). Later idiom prefers the genitive, as in Q3 and TGV 1.1.30, ’one fading moment’s mirth’. But cf. ’the region kites’ (1619), and see Abbott 22, 430.”

1985 cam4

cam4

599 slaunder] Edwards (ed. 1985): "disgrace, misuse"

1987 oxf4

oxf4

599 slaunder] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "bring into disrepute."

oxf4: Abbott §§ 22, 430

599 moment leasure]

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

599 slaunder] Bevington (ed. 1988): “abuse, misuse.”

bev2: standard

599 moment] Bevington (ed. 1988): “moment’s.”

1992 fol2

fol2 ≈ cam4 without attribution

599 slander] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “disgrace by misusing”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: standard

599 slaunder] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “bring into disrepute, abuse”

ard3q2: Hope

599 moment leasure] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “moment’s leisure (which is the modernized Q3 reading, as compared with Q2’s ’zero genitive’: see Hope, 1.1.4f)”