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Line 2685-90 - 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 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary

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

2685-6 Ham. Not where he eates, but where {a} <he> is eaten, a {certaine} <cer-\| taine> conua-

2686-7 cation of {politique} wormes are een at him: your worme | is your onely

2687-8 Emperour for dyet, we fat all creatures els | to fat vs, and wee fat our

2688-9 {selues} <selfe> for maggots, your fat King | and your leane begger is but varia-

2689-90 ble {seruice, two} <service to> dishes | but to one table, that’s the end.

1733- mtby3

mtby3

2686-90 your worme . . . end.] Thirlby (1733-) “Tout estat est viande aux vers Fr. Prov.”

1747-53 mtby4

mtby4

2686 politique] Thirlby (1747-53): “nb Polonius was a politician.”

1843+ mcol1

mcol1

2686 politique] Anon. (ms. notes in Collier, ed. 1843): “not in fo. 1623.”

1853 coln

coln: Cor., Ant. //s; contra “old corrector”

2686 politique] Collier (1853, p. 428): “The folios omit ‘politic,’ probably unintentionally, but possibly because it was not clearly understood why the worms should be called ‘politic.’ The old corrector of the folio, 1632, leads us to suppose that ‘politic’ was misprinted, or miswritten, for an epithet, certainly more applicable in the place where it occurs, in reference to the taste of the worms for the rich repast they were enjoying:—’A certain convocation of palated worms are e’en at him . . . . maggots.’

“It is easy to suppose that ‘politic,’ a word with which the scribe was familiar, was misheard by him for the unusual word palated. Shakespeare employs to palate as a verb in Cor. [3.1.104 (1798)], and in Ant. [5.2.7 (3207)]; and it is doing no great violence to imagine that he here uses the participle of the same verb. If the text had always stood ‘palated worms,’ and it had been proposed to change it to ‘politic worms,’ few readers would for an instant have consented to relinquish an expression so peculiarly Shakespearian.”

1853 Singer

Singer: contra coln

2686 politique] Singer (1853, pp. 265-6): <p.265> “To do Mr. Collier justice I must here give the whole of the argument. ‘The emendation next to be noticed is well worthy of consideration, and perhaps of adoption. The King asks Hamlet where Polonius is at supper, and the answer is this in the quartos:—[quotes 4.3.19-21 (2685-7)] </p.265><p.266> The folios omit ‘politic,’ probably unintentionally, but possibly because it was not clearly understood why the worms should be called ‘politic.’ The old corrector of the folio, 1632, leads us to suppose that ‘politic’ was misprinted, or miswritten, for an epithet, certainly more applicable in the place where it occurs, in reference to the taste of the worms for the rich repast they were enjoying:— [quotes Collier’s text 4.3.19-21 (2685-7)] It is easy to suppose that ‘politic,’ a word with which the scribe was familiar, was misheard by him for the unusual word palated. Shakespeare employs to palate as a verb in Cor. [3.1.104 (1798)], and in Ant. [5.2.7 (3207)]; and it is doing no great violence to imagine that he here uses the participle of the same verb. If the text had always stood ‘palated worms,’ and it had been proposed to change it to ‘politic worms,’ few readers would for an instant have consented to relinquish an expression so peculiarly Shakespearian.’

“An expression so truly Shakespearian!! Had this been applied to the old genuine language of the poet it would have been appropriate, but what possible meaning would Mr. Collier give to the absurd substitution of palated? The old definition of politique is cunning, crafty; and what could be more to the purpose or more effective. Nothing but an over busy desire to find faults in what they had not the capacity to understand, could have induced the correctors to vitiate the text on this and other similar occasions. They were evidently innocent of the reference of Hamlet’s phrase to be political Diets of the Empire, convoked by the Emperor of Worms; but had they lived near the time of Shakespeare, it would have been strange if they had missed the allusion to a matter so notorious from its connection with the history of Protestantism.”

1854 del2

del2

2686 conuocation . . . wormes] Delius (ed. 1854): “Die Würmer, die an einem so ausgezeichneten Staatsmanns, wie Polonius war, zehren, können eben nur staatskluge sein, um für seiner würdig zu gelten, und ihre Vereinigung ist, diesem Charakter gemäss, eine feierliche Versammlung, wie sie zur Berathung staatlicher oder kirchlicher Angelegenheiten zusammen berufen wird (convocation).” [The worms that feed on such an excellent statesman as Polonius was can be only diplomatic to be worthy of him and in keeping with this character their gathering a solemn assembly like one called together for consideration of state or church affairs (convocation).]

del2

2686 politique wormes] Delius (ed. 1854): “Ueber die Bedeutung von politic, das durch die Uebereinstimmung der Q.A., der Qs. und der Fol. geschützt wird, vgl. Anm. 4. - Palated worms, wie der alte Corrector liest, würde auch nach dem Sinne, in welchem Shakspere sonst das Verbum to palate gebraucht, nur “geschmeckte Würmer” bedeuten können, während nach dem Zusammenhange die Würmer hier die “schmeckenden” sind.” [For the meaning of politic, that is protected by the agreement of Q.A., the Qs. and the folio, cf. Note 4.—Palated worms, as the Old Corrector reads the phrase, could only mean (in the sense in which Shakespeare elsewhere uses the verb to palate) worms which have been tasted, while in this connection the worms are the ones doing the tasting.]

del2: xref.

2686 your worme] Delius (ed. 1854): “Ueber your vor worm vgl. Anm. 43, 3.1.” [About your before worm cf. Note 43, [3.1.124 (1780)]]

del2: xref.

2687 your onely Emperour] Delius (ed. 1854): “Das folgende your only emperor ist ganz zu verstehen, wie your only jig-maker. (Vgl. Anm. 44, A. 3, Sc. 2.).” [The following your only emperor is to be understood just as your only jig-maker (Cf. Note 44, [3.2.125 (1978)]]

del2

2689 seruice] Delius (ed. 1854): “service = Gang der Gerichte, die auf den Tisch aufgetragenen wechselnden Speisen. Der eine Tische, auf den sie kommen, ist der der Würmer.” [service means the series of courses, the various dishes brought to the table. The one table to which they come is that of the worms.]

1856 hud1 (1851-6)

hud1: contra Col2

2686-7 politique . . . dyet] Hudson (ed. 1851-6): “Alluding, no doubt, to the Diet of Worms, which Protestants of course regarded as a convocation of politicians. There were little need of saying this, but that Mr. Collier’s second folio supplies palated for politic, the word being omitted in the folios; and Mr. Collier thinks palated is ‘certainly more applicable in the place where it occurs.’ More applicable! H.”

1856b SING2

sing2 ≈ hud1

2686-7 politique . . . dyet] Singer (ed. 1856): “The reader will not fail to see the allusion here to the Diets of the Empire convoked at Worms; an event so notorious from its connection with the progress of the Reformation.”

1857 1857

fieb

2686 conuacation] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “Convocation, an assembly, especially an assembly of the clergy for consultation upon matters ecclesiastical.”

fieb

2686-9 your . . . King] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “Your worm, your only emperor, and the following your fat king, is a familiar form of appealing to the judgment of those to whom a general sentence is addressed. (See p. 112, 4) The meaning of Hamlet’s metaphorical expression is, the worm is the most eminent the greatest or chiefest eaters; the worm is the most corrosive of all creatures.”

fieb

2689 seruice] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “Service signifies the course or order of dishes.”

1858 col3

col3 ≈ coln (contra “old corrector”)

2686 politique] Collier (ed. 1858): “instead of ‘politic’ the old corrector reads palated: perhaps he so misheard the word ‘politic;’ but although palated has considerable fitness, with reference to the daintiness of the diet of the worms, we do not feel authorized to substitute it for ‘politic.’”

1861 wh1

wh1 ≈ sing

2686 politique wormes] White (ed. 1861): “The reader will hardly fail to see the allusion in this passage to that assemblage, so whimsically named to an English ear, the Diet of Worms.”

1870 rug1

rug1

2686 politique worms] Moberly (ed. 1870): “Politic worms, holding congress over the great politician.”

1870 Abbott

Abbott

2686-9 your. . . your . . . your] Abbott (1870, §221): “like ‘me’ above (Latin, iste), [your] is used to appropriate an object to a person addressed. So Hamlet, affecting madness: ‘Your worm is your only emperor for diet; your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service.’”

Abbott

2686 een] Abbott (1870, §38): “‘Even now’ with us is applied to an action that has been going on for some long time and still continues, the emphasis being laid on ‘now.’ In Shakespeare the emphasis is often to be laid on ‘even,’ and even now’ means ‘exactly or only now,’ i.e. ‘scarcely longer ago than the present:’ hence ‘but now.’

“We use ‘just now’ for the Shakespearian ‘even now,’ laying the emphasis on ‘just.’ Even is used for ‘even now,’ in the sense of ‘at this moment,’ in ‘A certain convocation of politic worms are even at him.’”

1872 hud2

hud2 = hud1, minus “There were . . . . applicable!”

2686-7 politique . . . dyet] Hudson (ed. 1851-6): “Alluding, no doubt, to the Diet of Worms, which Protestants of course regarded as a convocation of politicians.”

1872 del4

del4 = del2 for conuocation . . . wormes

1872 del4

del4 ≈ del2 for your onely Emperour

1872 cln1

cln1 ≈ del2 (xref.)

2686 your] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “used here as in [3.2.125 (1978)].”

cln1: xref.

2689 variable] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “various, as in [3.1.172 (1829)].”

1873 rug2

rug2 = rug1

1877 v1877

v1877 ≈ col3, New Readings, del2

2686 politique] Furness (ed. 1877): “Collier (ed. 2): The (MS) reads palated; perhaps he so misheard the word ‘politic,’ but although it has considerable fitness with reference to the daintiness of the diet of worms, we do not adopt it. Anonymous (New Readings in Sh., Blackwood’s Maga. Oct. 1853): ‘Convocation’ proves ‘politic’ to be the right word. A ‘convocation’ is a kind of parliament; and does not a parliament imply policy? ‘Politic’ here means polite, social, and discriminating. Delius: The worms that were feeding on so distinguished a politician must needs partake of his character and become ‘politic’; accordingly their assemblage is likened to a convocation for religious or political purposes.”

v1877 ≈ sing2 minus “an event . . . Reformation.”

2686 wormes] Furness (ed. 1877): “Singer: An allusion to the Diets of the Empire convoked at Worms.”

v1877 : xrefs.

2686-9 your] Furness (ed. 1877): “For this colloquial use, see 1.5.167 (864)]; and ‘me,’ [2.2.434 (1479)].”

1877 neil

neil ≈ sing1 + magenta underlined

2686-7 conuacation of politique wormes] Neil (ed. 1877): “Convocation, an assembly; politic polite, social, discriminating. Worms is, Singer thinks, a quip on the Diet of the German Empire held at Worms under the Emperor Charles V, April 1521, at which the doctrines of Luther were condemned.”

1878 rlf1

rlf1 ≈ rug, sing

2686 conuacation . . . wormes] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “’Holding congress over the great politician’ (M.); perhaps alluding, as Sr. suggests, to the Imperial Diets held at Worms.”

rlf1: xrefs.

2686 your] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “See on 1.5.167 (864)], and cf. [3.2.125 (1978)] above. See also 5.1.171 (3360)] below: ‘your water,’ etc.”

1881 hud3

hud3: hud2 + magenta underlined

2686-7 politique . . . dyet] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Alluding, probably, to the Diet of Worms, which Protestants regarded as a convocation of politicians. Here, again, I am indebted to Mr. Joseph Crosby, who aptly prompts me, that there is a further allusion to the character of Polonius; meaning such worms as might naturally be bred in the carcass of a defunct old political wire-puller. And he remarks, ‘Had the old gentleman been conspicuous for his ambition, it would have been just like Shakespeare to call the worms bred from him aspiring worms.’”

1882 elze2

elze2: Middleton analogues; contra sing; wh (Diet of Worms)

2686 politique] Elze (ed. 1882): “Politicke means neither more nor less than cunning. Compare Thom. Middleton, A Trick to Catch the Old One, 4.3 (Works, ed. Dyce, II, 69): We dealt in policy then; always when we strive to be most politic we prove most coxcombs. Id., A Mad World, my Masters, 1.1 (Works, II, 337): ‘Tis nothing but a politic conveyance. “A Yorkshire Tragedy (Malone’s Supplement, II, 649): Though politick whore, subtiler than nine devils. The worms show their cunning in finding out and enjoying a good dish. An allusion to the Diet of the Empire convoked at Worms seems too far-fetched and strained to have flashed into the poet’s mind while writing this scene.”

1883 wh2

wh2 ≈ sing (Diet at Worms)

2687 Emperour for dyet] White (ed. 1883): “a whimisical allusion to the Diet of Worms is manifest.”

1885 macd

macd

2686 politique wormes] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “—such as Rosincrance and Guildensterne!”

1891 dtn

dtn ≈ sing (Diet at Worms)

2685-6 a certain . . . him] Deighton (ed. 1891): “a certain assemblage of discriminating worms, worms that know what they like, are even now engaged upon him; an allusion to the Diet of Worms.”

dtn: Abbott

2686 your] Deighton (ed. 1891): “for your, used in this colloquial sense, see Abb. §220.”

dtn

2687 fat] Deighton (ed. 1891): “fatten.”

dtn: Westward Ho! analogue

2689 but . . . table] Deighton (ed. 1891): “two dishes served in a different way, but placed before the same company; cp. Westward Ho! I. 2, ‘an excellent pickled goose, a new service,’ i.e. dressed in a new way.”

dtn: xref.

2689 variable] Deighton (ed. 1891): “See [3.1.172 (1829)].”

dtn

2690 the end] Deighton (ed. 1891): “what it all comes to.”

1889 Barnett

Barnett

2686 politique wormes] Barnett (1889, p. 54): “are holding a political convocation over the politician.”

Barnett

2689 variable seruice] Barnett (1889, p. 54): “i.e. both are different forms of food for the service of worms.”

1899 ard1

ard1: sing1, Griffin

2686 politique wormes] Dowden (ed. 1899): “such worms as might breed in a politician’s corpse. Singer suggests an allusion to the Diet of Worms. W. Hall Griffin adds, ‘the mention of “emperor” makes it very probable.’”

1903 rlf3

rlf3 = rlf1 minus rug, sing attributions for conuacation . . . wormes

rlf3 = rlf1 for your

1904 ver

ver: Brandes (Florio analogue), Poe analogue

2685-90 Verity (ed. 1904): “Brandes [1898] quotes from Florio’s Montaigne (2.12): ‘The heart and life or a mighty and triumphant emperor is but the breakfast of a seely little worm.’ The general reflection is that of Edgar Poe’s grim poem ‘The Conqueror Worm.’”

1909 subb

subb

2686 politique wormes] Subbarau (ed. 1909): “From the nature of the subject they discuss, the subject here being a great politician. . . . (I.) An assembly of worms is holding a diet (conference) over him: indeed, it is the worm that is the real emperor for (summoning a diet, (not the emperor that should summon a Diet of Worms); (ii.) Worms are already making supper of the great politician; and truly, judging by diet, the worm is the emperor of the world, for men fatten animals and fatten themselves upon them but to become the diet of worms in the end—kings and beggars alike!”

1906 nlsn

nlsn

2686 politique] Neilson (ed. 1906, glossary): “dealing with statecraft.”

1931 crg1

crg1 ≈ sing (Diet at Worms)

2686 conuacation . . . wormes] Craig (ed. 1931): “allusion to the Diet of Worms (1521).”

crg1

2686 politique] Craig (ed. 1931): “crafty.”

crg1

2689 variable seruice] Craig (ed. 1931): “a variety of dishes.”

1934 cam3

cam3: xref.

2685-97 Not where he eates...yourselfe] Wilson (ed. 1934): “An elaboration of ‘The body is with the king, but the king is not (yet) with the body’ at [4.2.27-8 (2656-7)].”

cam3: sing; Brandes (Florio analogue) = ver without attribution

2686 convacation of politique wormes] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Prob. a glance at the Diet of Worms (Singer); cf. ‘emperor for diet.’ ‘Politic worms’ is a pregnant phrase, ‘politic’ suggesting craftiness and ‘worm’ an insidious prying into another’s secrets. Brandes (Will. Shak. p. 354) quotes Florio’s Montaigne, ii.12 ‘The heart and life of a mighty and triumphant Emperor, is but the break-fast of a Seely little Worm.’”

cam3

2689 variable service] Wilson (ed. 1934): “different courses, v. G.”

1934 cam3 Glossary

cam3

2689 variable] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary): “different courses of food.”

1937 pen1

pen1

2689 variable seruice] Harrison (ed. 1937): “choice of dishes.”

1939 kit2

kit2 ≈ sing (Diet at Worms)

2686 politique] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “skilled at statecraft. Shakespeare may have remembered ‘the Diets of the Empire convoked at Worms’ (Singer).”

kit2: Brandes (Montaigne analogue) = cam3 without attribution

2686-90 your worme . . . table] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “Brandes compares Montaigne’s Essays, ii, 2 (Florio’s translation, 1603, p. 266): ‘The heart and life of a mighty and triumphant Emperour, is but the break-fast of a seely-little Worme.’”

kit2: xref.

2686-9 your . . . your . . . your . . . your] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “See n. [1.5.167 (864)].”

kit2

2689 variable seruice] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “two ways of serving the same kind of food.”

1942 n&h

n&h ≈ nsln

2686 politique] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “statesmanlike.”

n&h

2689 variable seruice] Neilson & Hill (ed. 1942): “i.e., different ways of serving the same food.”

1947 cln2

cln2: standard Brandes (Montaigne analogue)

2686 conuacation . . . wormes] Rylands (ed. 1947): “parliament [N].” notes: “A punning reference to the Diet of Worms, or congress of the states of the (German) Roman Empire. Cf. ‘emperor for diet’ [4.2.21 (2687)]. Brandes compares Florio’s Montaigne, ii. 12: ‘The heart and life of a mighty and triumphant Emperor, is but the break-fast of a seely little Worm.’”

cln2 ≈ fieb

2690 variable seruice] Rylands (ed. 1947): “different courses.”

1957 pel1

pel1

2686 politique wormes] Farnham (ed. 1957): “political and craftily scheming worms (such as Polonius might well attract).”

pel1 ≈ sing (Diet of worms)

2687 diet] Farnham (ed. 1957): “diet food and drink (perhaps with a play upon a famous ’convocation,’ the Diet of Worms opened by the Emperor Charles V on January 28, 1521, before which Luther appeared).”

pel1

2690 variable service] Farnham (ed. 1957): “different servings of one food.”

1974 evns1

evns1 ≈ ard1

2686 politique] Evans (ed. 1974): “crafty, prying: ‘such worms as might breed in a politician’s corpse’ (Dowden).”

evns1

2686 een] Evans (ed. 1974): “even now.”

evns1

2687 for dyet] Evans (ed. 1974): “with respect to what it eats.”

evns1 ≈ cln2

2689 variable seruice] Evans (ed. 1974): “different courses of a meal.”

1980 pen2

pen2 ≈ pel1

2686 conuacation of politique wormes] Spencer (ed. 1980): “There is doubtless a punning allusion to the Diet of Worms (a city on the Rhine), opened by the Emperor (see line 21) Charles V in 1521, which brought together the dignitaries of the Roman Empire.”

pen2

2686 conuacation] Spencer (ed. 1980): “parliament.”

pen2 = crg1 for politique

pen2 = evns1 for een

pen2 = dtn for fat

pen2 = evns1 for variable seruice

1982 ard2

ard2

2686 conuacation of politique] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “shrewd; but, convocation recalling the literal sense, also (2) busy in statecraft.”

ard2 ≈ evns1

2686 een] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “i.e. even now, at this moment.”

ard2: xrefs.

2687-9 Your. . . your . . . Your. . . your] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “The fourfold your gives a classic illustration of the indefinite use. Cf. 135 and n., [1.5.167 (864), 3.2.3 (1851), 5.1.56-7 (3246-7), 5.1.171-2 (3360-1)].”

ard2 ≈ crg1 (Diet of Worms allusion), cln1 (Florio’s Montaigne)

2686-8 Your worme . . . dyet] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Wittily improving on the usual aphorism, in which an emperor is the food of worms (e.g. Florio’s Montaigne, ii.12, ‘The heart and life of a mighty and triumphant emperor, is but the breakfast of a seely little worm’). There is play on diet, council, with reference to the Diet at the German city of Worms, presided over by the emperor. In 1521 it pronounced its ban on Luther after his famous refusal to recant.”

ard2: OED; Mac. //

2689-90 seruice] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “food served at table. OED service1 27b. Cf. Mac. [1.7.1 (472)] S.D. (‘Enter . . . Servants with Dishes and Service’).”

1984 chal

chal: xref.

2685-6 a] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “’a [1.1.43 (55)].”

chal

2685-6 conuocation] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “assembly.”

chal ≈ pel1

2687-8 dyet] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “punning on the sense ‘council’, and prob. on the Diet of Worms, presided over by the German Emperor.”

chal

2689-90 seruice] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “the food served at table.”

1985 cam4

cam4

2689 variable] Edwards (ed. 1985): “interchangeable, i.e. they may be different dishes, but they are both served to the one table.”

1987 oxf4

oxf4

2686-8 conuocation . . . dyet] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “Hamlet, very much the student from Wittenberg at this point, wittily alludes to the celebrated Diet of Worms of 1521, a meeting of the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire, summoned by the Emperor Charles V to hear Luther defend his new doctrine.”

oxf4: OED

2689 seruice] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “dishes, food served up (OED service 27b).”

1988 bev2

bev2

2686 politique wormes] Bevington (ed. 1988): “crafty worms (suited to a master spy like Polonius).”

bev2 = evns1 for eeen (2686)

bev2

2686 your worme] Bevington (ed. 1988): “your average worm. (On your, compare your fat king and your lean beggar).”

bev2

2687-8 dyet] Bevington (ed. 1988): “food, eating (with a punning reference to the Diet of Worms, a famous convocation held in 1521).”

bev2 ≈ evns1

2688-9 variable seruice] Bevington (ed. 1988): “different courses of a single meal.”

1993 dent

dent: xref.

2686 politique wormes] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Worms who are occupied with affairs of state. See the note to 3.3.10 [2282].”

dent ≈ oxf4 + magenta underlined

2687 your . . . dyet] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Hamlet plays on two sense of Diet: (a) food, and (b) a council or convocation. He alludes in particular to the Diet of Worms (a famous council in the German city of Worms); here the Holy Roman Emperor presided over an assembly at which Martin Luther was condemned for heresy in 1521. Hamlet adopts the colloquial your throughout this dialogue; it is a familiar, informal way of saying ‘the’, and here it reinforces the satirical reductiveness of everything Hamlet utters about matters that are normally treated with formal reverence and stately reserve.”

dent: xrefs.

2688 fat] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Feed to make fat. See the note to [3.3.10 (2282)]. Fat recalls [1.5.32 (719)], 2.2.577-580 [1617-20].”

dent

2689-90 variable seruice . . . end] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Different dishes or servings. End echoes 3.4.212 [2583]; Hamlet hints at his desire to ‘draw toward an End’ with the ‘Fat King’, a capon who is now plump enough to be harvested and served (see 3.2.92-95 [1948-50]).”

1997 evns2

evns2 = evns1

2008 SQ

Halpern: Adam Smith

2685 Not where he eates . . . eaten] Halpern (2008, pp. 461-2): <p. 461> The play contrasts “the act that cannot take place [the act of revenge] ” to acts that “take place ceaselessly . . . .the worms that dine on Polonius, the king going a progress through the guts of the beggar [2692-3], Alexander turning into loam that would stop a beer barrel [3400-1] , the sun breeding maggots in a dead dog [1218], the old mole burrowing underground [859], violets springing from the fair and unpolluted flesh of Ophelia [3430-1]. . . . </p. 461> <p. 462> . . . . ” This work of nature “churns on without end or interruption, oblivious . . . . Hamlet imagines an act that will bring things to a definitive conclusion, that will fulfill an ethical mandate, right a wrong, reinstate a political dynasty, and end a play. . . . While Hamlet’s crisis of the act precipitates out the most individuated character in the history of drama, nature’s productivity is anonymous, activity without a subject. . . . ongoing, productive—much like labor in Smith’s Wealth of Nations. ”

2008 SQ

Halpern: Arendt

2687-9 We fat . . . for maggots] Halpern (2008, p. 265): “These interlocking cycles of consumption define man’s natural existence as an essentially transient one. Hamlet’s sustained if implicit analogy between human labor and nature’s—the work of shipwrights and the work of maggots—anticipates certain aspects of [Hannah] Arendt’s thinking. . . , ” but, Halpern says, goes beyond her construction.

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: Greenblatt

2686 convocation. . . worms] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “generally taken to be a punning reference to the Diet or council of the German city of Worms made famous in 1521 when Martin Luther appeared to justify his Protestant views; see Greenblatt (Purgatory, 241), who argues that this passage parodies the debate about transubstantiation, i.e. the transformation of the body and blood of Jesus into the bread and wine of the Christian communion or mass.”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: 864, 3360 xrefs; Blake, Hope analogues

2687 Your. . . your] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Used colloquially (see Blake, 3.3.4.5c or Hope 1.3.2b) in a general rather than a personal sense, as in your philosophy at 1.5.166 [864] and your water at 5.1.161-2 [3360].”

ard3q2

2687 emperor] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Hamlet is playing on the (proverbial?) saying that even an emperor is food for worms.”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2

2688 fat] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “fatten.”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: 864, 3360 xrefs; Blake, Hope analogues

ard3q2: OED

2689 variable service] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “various or interchangeably dishes or courses (of a meal); OED service sb. V 27b.”

2008 SQ

Halpern: Adam Smith

2685 Not where he eates . . . eaten] Halpern (2008, pp. 461-2): <p. 461> “The play contrasts ’the act that cannot take place [the act of revenge]’ to acts that ’take place ceaselessly’ . . . . ’the worms that dine on Polonius, the king going a progress through the guts of the beggar [2692-3], Alexander turning into loam that would stop a beer barrel [3400-1], the sun breeding maggots in a dead dog [1218], the old mole burrowing underground [859], violets springing from the fair and unpolluted flesh of Ophelia [3430-1]. . . . ’ </p. 461> <p. 462>. . . . ’This work of nature ’churns on without end or interruption, oblivious . . . . Hamlet imagines an act that will bring things to a definitive conclusion, that will fulfill an ethical mandate, right a wrong, reinstate a political dynasty, and end a play. . . . While Hamlet’s crisis of the act precipitates out the most individuated character in the history of drama, nature’s productivity is anonymous, activity without a subject. . . . ongoing, productive—much like labor in Smith’s Wealth of Nations.’”