HW HomePrevious CNView CNView TNMView TNINext CN

Line 2344 - Commentary Note (CN) More Information

Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary
For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.
2344 O limed soule, that struggling to be free,3.3.68
1755 Johnson Dict.
Johnson Dict.
2344 lime ] Johnson (1755): To lime- 1. “To entangle; to ensnare.”
2. “To smear with lime.”
3. “To cement.”
4. “To manure ground with lime.”
1773 v1773
v1773: 2H6 //
2344 limed] Steevens (ed. 1773): “This alludes to bird-lime. Shakespeare uses the same again, 2H6 ‘Madam, myself have lim’d a bush for her.’ Steevens.”
1774 capn
capn: 3H6, Wiv. //s
2344 limed] Capell (1783 [1774] 1:1: glossary, lime): “(3H6. [5.6.13, 17 (3087, 3091)]. Wiv. [3.3.79 (1422)]) join as with Lime: also,—to put Lime into any Thing.”
1778 v1778
v1778 = v1773
1784 ays1
ays1=v1773 minus 2H6 //
1785 v1785
v1785 = v1778
1790 mWesley
mWesley ≈ v1785)
2344 limed] Wesley (ms. notes in v1785): “(S. quotes from 2H6) And in the same play;—‘Comb down his hair! Look, look it stands upright/Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul!’”
1790 mal
mal = v1785
1791- rann
rann
2344 limed soul] Rann (ed. 1791-): “entangled, as with bird-lime.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = v1785
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813
1822 Nares
Nares: 1H4 //; Hawkins, Greene analogues
2344 limed] Nares (1822, glossary, lime): “as put into liquor, for adulteration, complained of by Falstaff and others. ‘You rogue, here’s lime in this sack too: there’s nothing but roguery to be found in villainous man: yet a coward is worse than a cup of sack and lime in it.’ 1H4 [2.4.126, 128 (1085, 1087)] Sir Richard Hawkins is quoted as saying that lime was mixed with wine in making ‘for conservation.’ Voy. p. 379. But that cannot be what the tavern keeper is accused of doing. It was probably used for fining. It is said, however, in a pamphlet by R. Greene, to be mixed with ale, ‘to make it mightie.’ How it could have that effect, it is not easy to say.”
1826 sing1
sing1 ≈ rann
2344 limed] Singer (ed. 1826): “i.e. caught as with birdlime.”
1854 del2
del2
2344-5 O limed . . . more ingaged] Delius (ed. 1854): “Die Seele ist gleichsam ein mit Hülfe von Vogelleim gefangener Vogel, der sich loszumachen sucht und sich nur um so tiefer verstrickt.” [The soul is like a bird caught in bird-lime that struggles to free itself and so becomes even more thoroughly entrapped.]
1856 hud1 (1851-6)
hud1 ≈ v1773 (incl. 2H6 //without attribution
2344 limed] Hudson (ed. 1851-6): “That is, caught as with birdlime. See [1.3.88 (474)], note 6.”
1856b sing2
sing2 = sing1
1857 fieb
fieb ≈ hud1
2344 limed] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “Limed, caught as with bird-lime. The same word occurs again, in 2H6 [1.3.88 (474)]: ‘Madam, myself have lim’d a bush for her.”
1864a glo
glo: TN; ≈ capn (2H6, Wiv. //s)
2344 limed] Clark and Wright (ed. 1864a [1865] 9: glossary, Lime): “v.t. to entangle as with bird-lime. TN [3.4.74 (1597)]. To smear with bird-lime. 2H6 2[2.4.54 (1230)]. To mix lime with beer or other liquor. Wiv. [3.3.79 (1422)].”
1866 ktlyn
ktlyn ≈ sing
2344 limed] Keightley (ed. 1866, glossary): “ensnared, as with bird-lime.”
1869 tsch
tsch
2344 limed] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Das Bild ist von einem mit Leim gefangenen Vogel oder Insect hergenommen.” [The image is taken from a bird or insect caught with lime.]
1871 Rushton
Rushton: Lyly analogue
2344 limed] Rushton (1871, p.4): “He that seeketh the depth of knowledge: is as it were in a Laborinth, in the which ye farther he goeth, the farther he is from the end: or like ye bird in the limebush, which the more she striueth to get out, ye faster she sticketh in.”
This quot. from Lyly’s Euphues is Rushton’s idea of the “origin” of Sh’s “famous passage.”
1872 hud2
hud2 ≈ hud1 +
2344 limed] Hudson (ed. 1872): “The birds were caught and held by the feet, and the more they tried to get away, the more they couldn’t. The thing grew to be a common figure for any sort of snare. Shakespeare often uses it so.”
1872 cln1
cln1 ≈ glo (2H6 //)
2344 limed] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “caught with bird-lime. Compare 2H6 [2.4.54 (1230)]: ‘Have all limed bushes to betray thy wings.’”
1877 dyce3
dyce3 = dyce2
1878 rlf1
rlf1: Luc., 3H6, Mac. //s
2344 limed] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “Caught (as with bird-lime). Cf. Luc. 88: “Birds never lim’d no secret bushes fear.” See also 3H6 [5.6.13, 17 (3087, 3091)], Mac. [4.2.34 (1752)], etc.”
1881 hud3
hud3 = hud2 + magenta underlined
2344 limed] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Alluding to an old mode of catching birds, by spreading upon the twigs, where they are likely to light, a sticky substance called bird-lime. See vol. iv. page 200, note 10.”
1883 wh2
wh2 = rlf1 minus //s
2344 limed] White (ed. 1883): “caught as with bird-lime.”
1885 macd
macd: standard
2344 limed] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “—caught and held by crime, as my bird-lime.”
1889 Barnett
Barnett ≈ wh2
2344 limed] Barnett (1889, p. 50): “caught with bird-lime.”
1890 irv2
irv2 = Barnett
1891 dtn
dtn
2344-5 O limed . . . ingaged] Deighton (ed. 1891): “O soul entangled in difficulties, and only more thoroughly entangled by your efforts to free yourself. The metaphor is from snaring a bird by means of bird-lime, a glutinous substance which bow smear over a stick placed across the nest, and by which the bird when alighting is held fast, its struggles to get free only causing it to smear itself with more of the bird-lime.”
1899 ard1
ard1 = wh2
2344 limed] Dowden (ed. 1899): “caught, as with birdlime.”
1903 rlf3
rlf3 = rlf1 for limed
1905 rltr
rltr = irv2
1906 nlsn
nlsn ≈ ard1 without attribution
2344 limed] Neilson (ed. 1906, glossary): “vb., to catch with birdlime.”
1931 crg1
crg1 = ard1
1934 cam3
cam3: Bond (Euphues analogue)
2344-5 O limed soule . . . ingaged] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Bond (i.173) quotes Euphues, ‘Like a bird in the limebush which the more she striueth to get out, ye faster she sticketh in”’
1937 pen1
pen1 ≈ rltr
2344 limed] Harrison (ed. 1937): “entangled in bird lime.”
1939 kit2
kit2: Ariosto analogue
2344 limed soul] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “The figure is that of a bird caught by alighting upon a twig smeared with the sticky substance called birdlime. The harder it struggles, the more it is besmeared and ensnared (‘engaged’). Thus the King’s soul, in its efforts to find some escape from guilt, merely succeeds in convincing itself that no escape is possible—since he can neither pray nor repent. Cf. Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, xxiii, 105: ‘Like the heedless bird that finds itself caught in a net or in birdlime: the more it beats its wings and strives to get loose, the more it entangles itself.’”
1942 n&h
n&h ≈ ard1
2344 limed] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “caught (as in bird lime).”
1947 cln2
cln2
2344 limed] Rylands (ed. 1947): “snared.”
1957 pel1
pel1 ≈ n&h, hud3 without attribution
2344 limed] Farnham (ed. 1957): “limed caught in birdlime, a gluey material spread as a bird-snare.”
1974 evns1
evns1 ≈ pel1
2344 limed] Evans (ed. 1974): “caught (as in birdlime, a sticky substance used for catching birds).”
1980 pen2
pen2 ≈ pel1
2344 limed soul] Spencer (ed. 1980): “The soul is like a bird which has been caught by the laying of ‘lime’, a glue-like substance.”
1984 chal
chal ≈ n&h
2344 limed soule] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “limed soul like a bird caught in birdlime.”
1987 oxf4
oxf4: Tilley
2344-5 O limed . . . ingaged] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “Compare ‘The more the bird caught in the lime strives the faster he sticks’ (Tilley B380).”
1988 bev2
bev2 ≈ evns1
2344 limed] Bevington (ed. 1988): “caught as with birdlime, a sticky substance used to ensnare birds.”
1993 dent
dent: xrefs., Mac. //
2344 limed] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Trapped, as in a sticky snare of birdlime. Hamlet has succeeded in his effort to ‘catch the Conscience of the King’ (2.2.643 [1645]). Will he now wish to see Claudius set ‘free’ (see line 26 [2299], and compare 3.2.266 [2109]) by a repentance that removes him from office, results in his public confession and execution, and sends a redeemed sinner to Heaven? See Mac. 1.4.1-11 [280-291].”
1997 evns2
evns2 = evns1
1998 OED
OED
2344 limed] OED (Sept. 10, 1998): “limed (lamd), ppl. a. [f. LIME v.1 + -ED1.]1. Smeared with birdlime (or other sticky substance); fig. said of hands given to pilfering.
c 13. Seuyn Sages (W.) 1280 The wise man dede make a dich Ful of lim and of pich, The fader lep in bifore, Into the limed diche. 1399 LANGL. Rich. Redeles II. 186 Lymed leues were leyde all aboute. 1563 B. GOOGE Eglogs vi. (Arb.) 54 Somtime I wold betraye the Byrds, that lyght on lymed tree. 1583 STUBBES Anat. Abus. II. (1882) 38 Men..who haue limed fingers, liuing vpon pilfering. 1602 SHAKS. Ham. III. iii. 68 Oh limed soule, that strugling to be free, Art more ingag’d. 1720 GAY Dione II. v. Poems II. 467 On the lim’d twig thus finches beat their wings. 1849 JAMES Woodman ii, There are limed twigs about them, my child.”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2 ≈ dent
2344 limed] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “limd; trapped, as a bird with birdlime, a sticky substance spread on the branches of trees.”
2344