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Line 1241-2 - 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 1018-2022 ed. Eric Rasmussen

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

1241-2 as I am: if like a Crab you could \| goe backward.

1805 Seymour

Seymour

1240-2 your selfe sir...goe backward.] Seymour (1805): “This is not conclusive. The quarto reads: ‘For yourself, sir, shall grow old as I am, if, like a crab, you could go backward.’ Perhaps, we should read— ‘For yourself, sir, will grow old as I am, if, &c. It is, perhaps, superfluous to remark, that Hamlet, in his sarcastic vein, is inferring that he is the old man, whose deformity and weakness corresponds with ‘the satirical rogue’s’ description, which, though undoubtedly true (as he says) with respect to him, he yet condemns, because Polonius, notwithstanding his present youth and comeliness, will grow old—old even as himnself—that is, adds he, (with more seriousness) if the order of nature were reversed, and the course of your life should go backward.”

1841 knt1 (nd)

knt1

1240-1 your selfe sir ... as I am] Knight (ed. 1839): “This is sometimes printed ‘yourself, sir, shall be as old as I am , ‘--- a made up reading.”

1874 corson

corson ≈Seymour

1240-2 your selfe sir...goe backward] Corson (1874, p. 21): “For you your selfe Sir, should I be as old as I am, if like a Crab you could go backward. F. for yourself, sir, shall grow as old as I am, if like a crab you could go backward. F. for yourself, sir, shall grow as old as I am, if like a crab you could go backward. C. It is not likely that the poet meant that Hamlet should talk nonsense in this passage, but rather that he should express himself in a way to puzzle the old man. As it stands in the F. it would seem that ’old’ is used, not as opposed to ’young,’ but as denoting age in general. So that the expression really means, ’you yourself, sir, should be as young as I am , if, like, a crab, you could go backward.’ The sense is further obfuscated by speaking of the purely ideal going backward in time under the purely literal image of going backward like a crab.

1881 hud2

hud2 ≈ corson

1241-2 your selfe sir...goe backward]Hudson (ed. 1881): “That is, ‘if you could turn your life backward, and grow young.’”

1889-90 mbooth

mbooth ≈ hud2

1241-2 like a Crab . . . backward] E. Booth (ms. notes in PB 82, HTC, Shattuck 108): “The crab does not go backwards usually, but side-wise. When casting his old shell he backs out of it & becomes a ‘shedder’ or soft-shell crab—to all intents a young one, certainly a callow crab. If, like a crab, you could back out of your venerable appearance, sir.’ Hamlet went crabbing with me one day & we caught a ‘shedder.’ E.B.”

1964 Falconer

Falconer

1241 Crab] Falconer (1964, p. 139) says that Sh. shows no uncommon knowledge of “creatures of the deep, ” referring to, among others, “the odd, sideways and backward motion of the crab.”