Notes for lines 2023-2950 ed. Frank N. Clary
| 2902 It shall as leuell to your iudgement {peare} <pierce> | 4.5.152 |
|---|
1778 v1778
v1778: B&F analogue
2902 peare] Steevens (ed. 1778): “This elision of the verb to appear, is common to Beaumont and Fletcher. So, in The Maid in the Mill: ‘—they ‘pear so handsomely, I will go forward.’ Again, ‘And where they ‘pear so excellent in little, They will but flame in great.’ Steevens.”
1784 ays1
ays1 = v1778 minus B&F analogue
1819 cald1
cald1
2902 peare] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Make its way.”
1826 sing1
sing1: contra john, v1773
2902 peare] Singer (ed. 1826): “Peirce [sic] is the reading of the folio. The quarto has ‘pear, an awkward contraction of appear. I do not see why appear is more intelligible. Indeed as level is here used for direct, Shakspeare’s usual meaning of the word, the reading of the quarto, preferred by Johnson and Steevens, is less proper.”
1854 del2
del2
2902 leuell . . . peare] Delius (ed. 1854): “Ebenso verwerfen sie mit Unrecht in der folgenden Zeile die Lesart der Fol. pierce für die der Qs. ’pear. To pierce, = eindringen in Euer Urtheil, fügt sich besser zu level = in gerader Richtung.” [they incorrectly discard in the line the reading of the Folio pierce for the Quartos ’pear. To pierce, to penetrate into your judgment fits better with level, meaning in a straight direction.]
1854 White
White: john1, knt1
2902 peare]
White (1854, pp. 419-20): <p.419> “Johnson says that, ‘It shall as level to your judgment pierce,’ </p.419><p.420> which is the reading of the original, is ‘less intelligible’ than, ‘It shall as level to your judgment ‘pear,’ which is the reading of the quarto of 1611, and which appears in all the modern editions except Mr. Knight’s. If Johnson had not said so, it wold be difficult to believe that he could say so. What can be more intelligible than that a conviction should pierce to the judgment, as level [
i.e. as directly, as ‘point blank’] as light does to the eye. This is clear sense and forcible comparison. But use ‘pear [appear], and nonsense and confusion ensue. The lines as they stand in the authentic text assert,—‘it [the conviction] shall pierce as level to your judgment, as day does [pierce] to your eye:’ but use ‘ ’pear,’ or ‘appear,’ and the assertion would be that—’it shall appear as level to your judgment as day does [appear] to your eye.’ But how does, or how can, day appear level to the eye? The absurdity is palpable. In the copies in general use, Johnson is followed and ‘ ’pear,’ is given. The original text should be restored without question.” </p.420>
All brackets are White’s.
1856 hud1 (1851-6)
hud1
2902 peare] Hudson (ed. 1851-6): “The folio has pierce; the quartos, pear, meaning, of course, appear. The latter is both awkward in language and tame in sense. Understanding level in the sense of direct, pierce, gives an apt and clear enough meaning. H.”
1857 fieb
fieb ≈ john, v1778
2902 peare] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “So, the quarto. The folio and many later editions, read: —‘to your judgment pierce,’ less intelligibly, as Johnson says, though several commentators have contended for this reading, admiring the convenience of the two expressions to pierce and level in the meaning of directly, straight.—This elision of the verb to appear, is common to Beaumont and Fletcher. So, in The Maid in the Mill: ‘They ‘pear so handsomely, I will go forward.’—Again, ‘And where they ‘pear so excellent in little, They will but flame in great.’ St.”
1861 wh1
wh1
2902 peare] White (ed. 1861): “So the folio; the 4tos., ‘to your iudgment peare”—an absurd reading, which represents day as appearing level to the eye, instead of piercing level, i.e., directly, point blank to the eye, and which would not be worthy of notice but for the attempted support of it by ‘eminent hands.’”
1872 hud2
hud2 = hud1 for peare
1872 cln1
cln1: xref.
2902 leuell . . . peare] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “pierce] The folios read ‘pierce, the quartos ‘peare,’ whence Johnson ‘’pear’ i.e. appear. ‘Pierce’ suits the metaphor better. Compare [4.1.43 (2628+3)].”
1877 v1877
v1877 ≈ wh1, strat
2902 peare]
Furness (ed. 1877): “
White: Peare of Qq is an absurd reading, which represents day as
appearing level to the eye, instead of piercing level,
i.e. directly, point blank to the eye.
Stratmann”
Peare is a misprint for
pearce, just aas
feare for
fearce, in [1.1.121 (124+14)].”
1881 hud3
hud3
2902 leuell . . . peare] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Level, again, for direct.—Pierce, here, has the sense of penetrate, that is, go through or reach.”
1885 macd
macd
2902-3 MacDonald (ed. 1885): “‘pierce as directly to your judgment’
“But the simile of the day seems to favour the reading of Q2—‘’peare,’ for appear. In the word level would then be indicated the rising sun.”
1890 irv2
irv2 ≈ cln1
2902 peare] Symons (Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “pierce] There is very little doubt that the Ff. pierce is the true reading (compare [4.1.43 (2628+3)]: ‘As level as the cannon to his blank’).”
1891 dtn
dtn
2902-3 Deighton (ed. 1891): “it shall force its way as directly to your judgement as the daylight; It, the nominative repeated owing to the parenthesis of [4.5.151 (2901)].”
1904 ver
ver: xref.
2902 Verity (ed. 1904): “For the metaphor cf. [4.1.43 (2628+3)].”
1934 Wilson
Wilson: john, v1821
2902 peare] Wilson (1934, rpt. 1963, 2:275): <2:275> “Q2 ‘peare,’ F1 ‘pierce.’ The scales here seem at first sight to be pretty even, as will be clear when the variants are seen in the full context, which in its Q2 version runs: ‘It shall as leuell to your iudgement peare As day dooes to your eye.’ If ‘pierce’ be read for ‘peare,’ then ‘leuell’ must refer to taking aim in shooting, an image which Shakespeare is fond of and employs in this very play, viz. 2628+3. Moreover, ‘peare’ can readily be explained as a misprint by omitted letter for ‘pierce’ (sp. pearce), on the analogy of ‘feare’ for ‘fearce’ (fierce) at [1.2.122 (124+14)]. On the other hand, ‘leuell’ may mean plain or open with Shakespeare </2:275><2:276> (cf. 2H4 [4.4.7 (2377)], ‘everything lies level to our wish’), and that this significance is intended here is, I think, proved by the simile ‘As day does to your eye.’ Day does not ‘pierce’ the eye; it reveals everything to its gaze, openly and without concealment, as Claudius declares he is prepared to do with Laertes. Had the shooting image been in Shakespeare’s mind, he would assuredly have written ‘As sun does to your eye’ or ‘As light does to your eye,’ since ‘sun’ or ‘light’ would have implied rays. He wrote ‘day’; and I do not doubt therefore that Q2 is correct and that ‘peare’ should be printed ‘ ’peare’ (= appear) in modern texts as it was in Boswell’s Variorum, and as Dr Johnson understood it.” </2:276>
1934 cam3
cam3: john; MSH
2902 peare] Wilson (ed. 1934): ‘pear] “(Johnson) Q2 ‘peare,’ F1 ‘pierce.’ Day does not pierce the eye; it reveals everything to its gaze, as the K. offers to do with Laer. v. G. ‘level,’ MSH. pp. 275-76.”
1934 cam3 Glossary
cam3: xref.; 2H4 //
2902 levell] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary): “(adj.), (i) with direct aim, straight; [4.1.42 (2628+2)]; (ii) plain, straightforward, readily accessible to (cf. 2H4 [4.4.7 (2377)] ‘everything lies level to our wish’); [4.5.152 (2902)].”
1939 kit2
kit2: standard
2902 as leuell] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “with as sure an aim.”
kit2
2902 peare] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “pierce] i.e., through all doubts and obscurities—as the sun pierces the clouds and mists.”
kit2: rowe, cam3
2905 Enter Ophelia] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “Rowe adds ‘fantastically drest with Strawes and Floweres’: Wilson reads ‘with flowers in her hand.’”
1947 yal2
yal2
2902 peare] Cross & Brooke (ed. 1947): “show itself.”
1957 pel1
pel1
2902 level] Farnham (ed. 1957): “plain.”
1980 pen2
pen2 ≈ pel1
2902 leuell] Spencer (ed. 1980): “plain (like a path on the level).”
pen2
2902 peare] Spencer (ed. 1980): “appear. Q2 read ‘peare’, which some editors have interpreted as ‘peer’. F read ‘pierce’.”
1982 ard2
ard2: xref., 2H4 //
2902 levell] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “unimpeded. Cf. 2H4 [4.4.7 (2377)], ‘everything lies level to our wish’.”
ard2: Dover Wilson, Shr., WT //s; OED
2902 peare] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “ ‘pear] On the superiority of this (= appear) to F pierce, see MSH, pp.275-6. There is no clear distinction between ‘pear and peer, to peep out, to be (faintly) discernible (as in Shr. [4.3.174 (2157)], ‘Hounour peereth in the meanest habit’; WT [4.3.31 (1669)], [4.4.3 (1800)]; etc.) and the meanings of the two words interact. See OED peer v.2.”
1984 chal
chal ≈ evns1
2902 leuell] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “plainly, directly.”
1985 cam4
cam4: Tmp. //
2902 peare] Edwards (ed. 1985): pierce] “So F. Q2 reads ‘peare’, which Dr. Johnson and many later editors have supposed to be an alphabetic form of ‘appear’. ‘pierce’ is a strong and more Shakespearean word, often used for communication to the senses, as in the Epilogue to Tmp.[Epilogue 16-17 (2336-7)] (‘prayer, / Which pierces so . . . ’). Claudius’s meaning is ‘My innocence will come as sharply home to your judgment as daylight strikes the eye.’ I assume Shakespeare wrote ‘pearce’, and that Q2’s ‘peare’ is a misprint.”
1987 oxf4
oxf4: Tilley
2902-03 It . . . eye] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “Shakespeare has combined two proverbial expressions – ‘As swift as an arrow’ and ‘As clear as the day’ (Tilley A322 and D56) – to convey the notion of suddenly realizing something with piercing clarity. For ‘level’. Meaning ‘directly’, see Appendix A, xii. 3 [3.4.204 (2577+3)].”
1988 bev2
bev2
2902 leuell] Bevington (ed. 1988): “plain.”
1993 dent
dent: xref.
2902 leuell] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Even, clear. The King may be thinking of himself as a target (with his pure heart as the ’blank’ or centre) at which Laertes’ ‘Judgement’ may ‘level’ (take aim). His implication is that because he is innocent, he can withstand the most penetrating scrutiny. Compare lines [4.5.945-96 (21831-33)], and see [4.1.38-44 (2626-2828+4)].”
dent: xrefs.
2902 peare] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Appear. This word plays on peer and echoes lines [4.5.100, 125 (2839, 2869)].”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2
2902 level] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “straightforwardly.”
ard3q2: Edwards
2902 ’pear] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “appear (F’s ’pierce’ seems to Ewards a ’more Shakespearean word’).”
2902
