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Line 887 - 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.

887 Nay come, lets goe together. Exeunt.	1.5.190

1770 Gentleman

Gentleman

887 Gentleman (1770, 1:19): “Thus ends the first act; which is so full of business, and that of so important a nature, that perhaps no author but Shakespeare could have produced any thing after, relative to the same story, worthy of attention; yet what follows shews us the possibility and executive power.”

1805 Seymour

Seymour

887 Seymour (1805, 2:165): “It must often have been observed, throughout these works, that after a scene has apparently been closed with a studied rhyme; other words are superadded without necessity, as here; and this, if, indeed, the additions be supposed to have proceeded from the poet himself, would furnish ground for a conjecture that he disapproved of the very practice he was indulging in.”

His antecedent is not clear: The practice of ending with a rhymed couplet? The practice of adding on after a rhymed couplet? I suspect he means the former, but I don’t know.

1929 trav

trav

887 Nay] Travers (ed. 1929) assumes the nay is directed to Hamlet himself: “a rapid rebuke for having just lost himself in bitter regret.”

1939 kit2

kit2

887 together] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "(emphatic): i.e., as friends and equals. This is Hamlet’s protest against the ceremonious respect which his companions strive to pay him. They stand back to let him go first, as if they were his attendants; but he insists on their walking by his side. Cf. [451, 455]."

1980 pen2

pen2 ≈ kit2 without attribution

887 together] Spencer (ed. 1980): “(without an order of precedence. Hamlet’s friendliness and avoidance of formality seems to be emphasized.).”

1982 ard2

ard2 ≈ kit2 without attribution

887 Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Evidently they stand aside to give him precedence, which he, characteristically (cf. 351, 454-5), declines.”

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

887 lets goe together] Bevington (ed. 1988): “(Probably they wait for him to leave first, but he refuses this ceremoniousness).”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2 ≈ ard2 without attribution; xref

887 Nay come] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Presumably the others wait for Hamlet to precede them offstage but he insists on their going together. See his previous insistence that Horatio is his friend, not his servant, and that the relationship between them all is one of love, not duty ([351, 455]).”