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Line 691 - Commentary Note (CN) More Information

Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman
For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.
691 Ham. Speake, I am bound to heare.1.5.6

1607 Fletcher
Fletcher
691-2 Fletcher (The Woman-Hater (2.1, sig. D2) 1607, apud Ingleby et al. 1932, 1: 180): “Count. . . . here me with patience.
“[Lazarello] . . . speake I am bound to heare.
Count. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt heere the fish head is gone, and we know not whither.”
Ed. note: Parodies began early.
1805 Seymour
Seymour
691 Speake] Seymour (1805, 2:158): “‘Speak’ appears to be an idle interpolation.”
1807 Douce
Douce: Fletcher
691-2 Douce (1807, 2:222): “These words have been turned into ridicule by Fletcher in his Woman-hater, Act ii.; ‘Laz, Speak, I am bound. Count. So art thou to revenge when thou shalt hear the fish-head is gone, and we know not whither.’”
1854 del2
del2
691 bound] Delius (ed. 1854): “Hamlet gebraucht bound in dem Sinne = ‘bereit, fertig’; der Geist in seiner Antwort fasst es in dem andern Sinne = ‘verpflichtet’ auf.” [Hamlet uses bound in the sense of ‘prepared, ready’; the Ghost in his answer construes it in another sense, meaning ‘obliged.’]
1872 Wedgwood
Wedgwood
691 bound] Wedgwood (1872): “It is the participle past buinn, prepared, ready, of the on. verb bua, to prepare, set out, address.”
1872 cln1
cln1 ≈ Douce without attribution
691 Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “These words are quoted in Fletcher’s Womanhater (Act ii. sc. 1), written about 1607.”
1877 v1877
v1877 = Douce (minus quotation) + citation
691-2 Furness (ed. 1877): “ . . . Beau[mont]. and Fl[etcher] vol. i, p. 37, ed. Dyce.”
v1877 = del, Wedgwood
691 bound] Furness (ed. 1877): “Delius: Hamlet uses the word in the sense of ready addressed [[past part. of Old Norse buinn,—see Wedgwood]], the Ghost uses it as the past participle of the verb to bind.”
1899 ard1
ard1 ≈ del
691 bound]
1904 ver
verdel without attribution; derivation v1877 without attribution with some additions; + // and analogue
691 bound] Verity (ed. 1904): “ready, as in [Lr. 3.7.10 (2070)]. In the next line the word is understood in the sense ‘under an obligation to.’ The two meanings belong respectively to quite different words, viz. (1) bound = Middle E. boun, ‘ready, prepared,’ from a Scandinavian verb búa, ‘to get ready,’ and (2) bound, p.p. of bind. The former occurs in ‘bound for a place,’ ‘homeward -bound’; literally ‘prepared to go to,’ hence ‘on the way to.’ Scott uses it, e.g. in The Lady of the Lake, iv. 8: ‘Tomorrow’s noon Will see them here for battle boune.’”
1939 kit2
kit2: without del2’s divided meaning between Ham. and ghost
691 bound] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "in duty bound; obliged (in reason and charity)."
1947 cln2
cln2del2 without attribution
691 bound] Rylands (ed. 1947): "ready. The Ghost interprets it as ’obliged.’ "
1980 pen2
pen2 = cln2 without attribution
691 bound] Spencer (ed. 1980): “ready (but the Ghost takes it to mean ’obliged’).”
1982 ard2
ard2:
691 bound] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Commentators say that Hamlet means bound, ’prepared’ ( . . . as in ’bound for England’), which the Ghost converts into bound, ’under obligation’ (pp. of bind). But I take it that Hamlet is ’bound’ in duty and also by inescapable fate (cf. 668). Cf.2317.”
1985 cam4
cam4
691 bound] Edwards (ed. 1985): "all prepared. The word came to be used for proceeding in a certain direction, as in ’homeward bound’. The Ghost in his early reply turns to the quite separate word ’bound’ meaning ’obliged’ or ’compelled’."
1987 oxf4
oxf4: kit2
691 bound] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "‘in duty bound’ (Kittredge)."
1988 bev2
bev2: standard
691 bound] Bevington (ed. 1988): “(1) ready (2) obligated by duty and fate. (The Ghost, in l. 8, answers in the second sense.).”
1992 fol2
fol2cam4 without attribution
691 bound] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “ready (The word also means “in duty bound“ and “obligated,“ which is the sense to which the Ghost responds in the following line.)”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: analogue
691-2 Speake . . . heare] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “This exchange is quoted and parodied in Beaumont and Fletcher’s The Woman Hater (1606) when Lazarello says, ’speake I am bound to heare’, and the Count replies, ’So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt heare. / The fish head is gone, and we know not whither’ (2.1.344-7) . . . .”

ard3q2: standard
691 bound] sulphurous Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “(1) destined, (2) committed, obliged”