Line 2371 - 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.
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Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary
| 2371 This phisick but prolongs thy sickly daies. Exit. | 3.3.96 |
|---|
1747-53 mtby4
mtby4
2371 phisick] Thirlby (1747-): “fsq nm interpret: “This respit, reprieve is only like such physick as cures not but only prolongs a wretched life.””
Transcribed by BWK. who adds: “fsq nm interpret” and read “reprieve” for “reprievi [?] and life for “such [?].”
1854 del2
del2
2371 This phisick . . . daies] Delius (ed. 1854): “Hamlet nennt seine augenblickliche Schonung des Königs eine Arznei, die den Gegner nicht am Leben erhalten, sondern nur seine Krankheit hinziehen soll.” [Hamlet calls his momentary sparing of the king a medicine that does not keep his opponent alive, but only prolongs his sickness.]
1857 fieb
fieb
2371 phisick] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “Hamlet figuratively calls his resolution to spare the kin’s life at this moment, a physick, a remedy by which though he never will be restored.”
1868 c&mc
c&mc
2371 but . . .
sickly daies]
Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868, rpt. 1878): “Thoroughly characteristic of Hamlet, and thoroughly true to an instinct in humanity generally, is this speech. Its violence and exaggerated malice show it to be the refuge taken by a man whose soul is tossed amid conflicting duties. Hamlet’s nature, his reflective mind, his scholarly habits, all cause him to recoil from the idea of shedding blood; but his sense of what is due to a father’s memory, and to avenging a father’s murder, impel him to stern retribution; and while yielding to his own strong reluctance, he satisfies the urgings of his conscience by telling himself that he will take a still more ample vengeance by deferring the deed. It is the excuse of hesitation under the semblance of determined cruelty.”
1869 tsch
tsch
2371 thy sickly daies] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Offenbar tritt H. mit dem Vorsatze ab, den König binnen Kurzem, also unmittelbar nach der Unterredung mit der Mutter (my mother stays) zu tödten; daher nennt er die dem König noch gegönnte Frist: sickly d a y s. Dieser Ausdruck ist indessen nicht g e n a u zu nehmen, da er seinen Vorsatz noch dieselben Nacht ausführen muss, weil er weiss, dass er den folgenden Tag nach England abreisen soll. Hamlet erschlägt aber an Stelle des Königs den Polonius und muss nun Helsingoer verlassen, ohne Claudius getödtet zu haben.” [Clearly Hamlet leaves the stage with the intention of killing the king shortly, that is immediately after his conversation with his mother (my mother stays). Therefore he calls the postponement given the king sickly days. This expression should meanwhile not be taken exactly since he has to carry out his intention this night because he knows that he is to leave for England the following day. But Hamlet strikes Polonius dead in place of the king and must leave Elsinore without having killed Claudius.]
1870 rug1
rug1
2371 This phisick] Moberly (ed. 1870): “The delay which I now grant you.”
1877 v1877
v1877 ≈ del2
2371 phisick]
Furness (ed. 1877):
Delius: Hamlet calls his temporary forbearance a physic which does not impart life to his foe, but prolongs his illness.”
v1877 ≈ hud2 (see n. 2370)
2371 This . . .
daies]
Furness (ed. 1877): “
Hudson: Hamlet here flies off to an
ideal revenge, in order to quiet his filial feelings without violating his conscience; effecting a compromise between them, by
adjourning a purpose which, as a man, he dare not execute, nor, as a son, abandon. He afterwards asks Horatio: —’Is’t not a
perfect conscience, to quit him with this arm?’ which confirms the view here taken, as it shows that even then his mind was not at rest on that score.”
See hud2 at 2370.
1878 rlf1
rlf1
2371 This phisick] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “That is, this temporary forbearance of mine is like a medicine that merely delays the fatal end of the disease.”
1881 hud3
hud3
2371 This phisick] Hudson (ed. 1881): “This physic refers to the reasons Hamlet has been giving for not striking now; a medicine that prolongs the King’s sickness, but does not heal it; that is, the purpose is delayed, not abandoned.”
1885 macd
macd
2371 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “He seems now to have made up his mind, and to await only fit time and opportunity; but he is yet to receive confirmation strong as holy writ.
“This is the first chance Hamlet has had—within the play—of killing the king, and any imputation of faulty irresolution therein is simply silly. It shows the soundness of Hamlet’s reason, and the steadiness of his will, that he refuses to be carried away by passion, or the temptation of opportunity. The sight of the man on his knees might well start fresh doubt of his guilt, or even wake the thought of sparing a repentant sinner. He knows also that in taking vengeance on her husband he could not avoid compromising his mother. Besides, a man like Hamlet could not fail to perceive, how the killing of his uncle, and in such an attitude, would look to others.
“It may be judged, however, that the reason he gives to himself for not slaying the king, was only an excuse, that his soul revolted from the ideal of assassination, and was calmed in a measure by the doubt whether a man could thus pray—in supposed privacy, we must remember—and be a murderer. Not even yet had he proof positive, absolute, conclusive: the king might well take offence at the play, even were he innocent; and in any case Hamlet would desire presentable proof: he had positively none to show the people in justification of vengeance.
“As in excitement a man’s moods may be opalescent in their changes, and as the most contrary feelings may coexist in varying degrees, all might be in a mind, which I have suggested as present in that of Hamlet.
“To have been capable of the kind of action most of his critics would demand of a man, Hamlet must have been the weakling they imagine him. When at length, after a righteous delay, partly willed, partly inevitable, he holds documents in the king’s handwriting as proofs of his treachery—proofs which can be shown—giving him both right and power over the life of the traitor, then, and only then, is he in cool blood absolutely satisfied as to his duty—which conviction, working with opportunity, and that opportunity plainly the last, brings the end; the righteous deed is done, and done righteously, the doer blameless in the doing of it. The Poet is not careful of what is called poetic justice in his play, though therein is no failure; what he is careful of is personal rightness in the hero of it.”
1891 dtn
dtn ≈ del
2371 aduauncement] Deighton (ed. 1891): “‘Hamlet calls his temporary forbearance a physic which does not impart life to his foe, but prolongs his illness’ (Delius).”
1907 Werder
Werder
2371 Werder (1907; rpt. 1977, pp.146-7): <p.146> “
Thus the poet fulfils the words of Hamlet.
Thus do they express to the letter Shakespeare’s </p.146> <p.147> idea of vengeance, of punishment, of judgement, in such a case as this—
his way of dealing justice to
this transgressor. And it must not be forgotten that it is Hamlet who brings the King to this end.
He alone does it by his hits and by his misses, by the play he uses and by the killing of Polonius. These things so work that ‘this physic but prolongs the sickly days’ of the criminal.” </p.147>
1931 crg1
crg1
2371 phisick] Craig (ed. 1931): “purging (by prayer).”
1934 cam3
cam3 ≈ crg1 + xref.
2371 This phisick] Wilson (ed. 1934): “i.e. prayer; cf. ‘purging’ l. 85 [2361].”
1939 kit2
kit2: cam3
2371 This phisick] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “the consideration which lead me to postpone revenge. Wilson interprets physic as ‘prayer,’ comparing [1739].”
1947 yal2
yal2 ≈ kit2
2371 phisick] Cross & Brooke (ed. 1947): “medicine, i.e., the postponement.”
1974 evns1
evns1 ≈ crg1
2371 phisick] Evans (ed. 1974): “(attempted) remedy, i.e. prayer.”
1980 pen2
pen2
2371 Spencer (ed. 1980): “the spiritual medicine you (the King) are now taking (by praying to God, and in the purging of his soul, line 85) only gives you a respite; you are like a sick man who takes medicine, but thereby only postpones the inevitable approach of death.”
1982 ard2
ard2 ≈ crg1 + xref.
2371 This phisick] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Prayer. Cf. ‘purging’ [3.3.85 (2361)].”
1985 cam4
cam4
2371 This phisick] Edwards (ed. 1985): “Hamlet sees his decision as a medicine temporarily preserving Claudius’s life. Some commentators think the physic is Claudius’s prayer.”
1987 oxf4
oxf4
2371 This phisick . . . daies] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “This cryptic line, like so much else that Hamlet says, condenses two meanings into one. This physic is both the treatment the King is giving himself by praying and the treatment Hamlet is giving him by forbearing to kill him now.”
1984 chal
chal ≈ evns1
2371 phisick] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “physic medicine i.e. his praying.”
1988 bev2
bev2
2371 phisick] Bevington (ed. 1988): “purging (by prayer), or, Hamlet’s postponement of the killing.”
1993 dent
dent: xrefs.
2371 phisick] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Medication. Hamlet probably refers to Claudius’ ‘Purging of his Soul’ (line 85 [2361]). Compare 3.2.325-32 [2172], and see the note to 3.2.331 [2177].”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2
2371 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Although this line is rhetorically addressed to the King, it cannot be heard by him.”
ard3q2 ≈ bev2
2371 physic] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “ i.e. the King’s prayer (or Hamlet’s decision not to kill him at once?)”
2371