2927 Rosemary] Thirlby (1723-): “romarin fr, for rosemary will that do anything nb the French memoir.”

2927 Rosemary] Grey (1754, p. 300): “Shakespeare seems here to pay some regard to rosemary as a cephalic, but yet not so great a one, as the person mentioned by Dr. Echard, (Observations upon the answer to The inquiry into the grounds and reasons of the contempt of the clergy), who was cured of a head-ach by a rosemary posset, and afterwards would drink out of nothing but rosemary cans, cut his meat with a rosemary knife, and pick his teeth with a rosemary sprig; and was so strongly taken up with the excellencies of rosemary, that he would have the bible cleared of all other herbs, and only rosemary to be inserted.”

2727-9 Rosemary . . . thoughts] Johnson (ed. 1765): “There is probably some mythology in the choice of these herbs, but I cannot explain it. Pansies is for thoughts, because of its name, Pensées; but why rosemary indicates remembrance, except that it is an ever-green, and carried at funerals, I have not discovered.”

2927 Rosemary] Davies (ms. notes in Johnson, ed, 1765, opp 8. 266): “This herb being carried to Funerals is a proper emblem to put us in mind of our mortality.”

2927 Rosemary] Steevens (ed. 1773): “Rosemary was anciently supposed to strengthen the memory, and was not only carried at funerals, but worn at weddings, as appears from a passage in B. and Fletcher’s Elder Brother 3.3. Steevens.”

2727-8 Rosemary . . . Pancies] Capell (1774, 1:1:143): “Many, or most, of Ophelia’s speeches are pregnant with that kind of sense which is so finely describ’d in p.96 [4.5.4-13 (2749-58)]; but in the distribution of her flowers, this sense is so strong that her brother observes upon’t,—’a document in madness.’ Her first are given to him; ‘pansies for thoughts,’ for a reason obvious enough, the word signifying—thoughts in the French; (pensées) and ‘rosemary’ is made ‘remembrance,’ meaning—of death, the dead corpse being anciently stuck with it: (v. Rom. [4.5.79 (2659)]).”

2927 Rosemary] Steevens (ed. 1778): “And from another in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks, 1611: ‘—will I be wed this morning, Thou shalt not be there, nor once be graced With a piece of rosemary.’

“Again, in the Noble Spanish Soldier, 1634: ‘I meet few but are stuck with rosemary: every one asked me who was to be married.’

“Again, in Greene’s Never too late, 1616: ‘—she hath given the a nosegay of flowers, wherein, as a top-gallant for all the rest, is set in rosemary for remembrance.’ Steevens.”

2928 Pancies] Steevens (ed. 1778): “So, in All Fools, a comedy, by Chapman, 1605: ‘What flowers are these? The Pansie this. O, that’s for lovers’ thoughts!’”

2927-8 Rosemary] Ayscouth (ed. 1784): “Rosemary was anciently supposed to strengthen the memory, and was not only carried at funerals, but worn at weddings.”

2928-9 Pancies] Ayscouth (ed. 1784): “Pansies is for thoughts, because of its name, Pens’ees.”

2927 Rosemary] Steevens (apud ed. 1780, p. 360): “Again, in A Dialogue between Nature and the Phœnix, by R. Chester, 1601: ‘There’s rosemarie, the Arabians justifie (Physitions of exceeding perfect skill) It comforteth the braine and memorie &c.’ Steevens.”

2927 Rosemary . . . Rewe . . . herbe a Grace] Mason (1785, p. 393): “So in the WT [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)]], Perdita says, ‘Reverend sirs . . . there’s rosemary, and rue . . . Grace and remembrance be to you both.’

“And in R2 [3.4.104-107 (1916-19)]. the Gardener says of the Queen, ‘Here did she drop a tear . . . a bank of rue, four herb of grace, Rue even for ruth . . .In the remembrance of a weeping queen.’”

2927 Rosemary . . . remembrance] Wesley (ms. notes in v1785): “(S. gives quotations to show that rosemary was supposed to strengthen the memory.) This seems conclusive.”

2927 Rosemary] Malone (ed. 1790): “Rosemary being supposed to strengthen the memory, was the emblem of fidelity in lovers. So, in A Handfull of Pleasant Delites, containing sundrie new Sonets, 16mo, 1584: ‘Rosemary is for remembrance Betweene us daie and night; Wishing that I might alwaies have You present in my sight.’

“The poem in which these lines are found, is entitled A Nosegaie alwaies sweet for Lovers to send for Tokens of love, &c. Malone.”

2927 Rosemary . . . remembrance] Rann (ed. 1791-): “Rosemary was supposed to strengthen the memory. WT [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)] Per.—For remembrance of death, the corpse being usually stuck with sprigs of it.”

2928 Pancies] Rann (ed. 1791-): “pensées, thoughts.”

2927 Rosemary] Chedworth (1805, p. 357): “So in the WT [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)]: ‘Reverend sirs, For you there’s rosemary and rue; these keep Seeming and savour all the winter long; Grace and remembrance be unto you both, And welcome to our shearing.”

2927 rosemary] Becket (1815, 1: 63): “Rosemary has always been considered as an excellent cephalic. The reason why rosemary indicates remembrance, is, because it is supposed to strengthen the brain. It is well known that in inveterate head-aches, the memory is frequently lost.”

2926 This . . . matter] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “See ‘O matter,’ &c. Lr. [4.6.174 (2617)]. Edg.”

2927 Rosemary] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Rosemary, conceived to have power of strengthening the memory, and prescribed in old medical books for that purpose, was an emblem of remembrance, and of the affection of lovers; and thence, probably was worn at weddings, as it also was at funerals. . . . ‘What is here to do? wine and cakes, and rosemary and nosegaies? what, a wedding?’ The Wit of a Woman, 1604.

“We shall add, ‘My mother hath stolne a whole pecke of flower for a bride cake, and our man hath sworne he will steale a brave Rosemary Bush, and I have spoken for ale that will make a cat speake.’ Nich. Breton’s Poste, &c. 4to. 1637.

“‘The bride-laces, that I give at my wedding, will serve to tye rosemary to.’ The Honest Whore, signat. K 3, b. and see 2H4 Lady Percy, 2. 3.”

2928 Pancies] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “‘Since I have lincked myselfe in mariage, I have never bin without pensees nor soucy.’ The marginal notes says, ‘Penseez is a little flower, called in English heart’s ease, or pansies. Pensees in Fr. signifieth thoughtes. Soucy signifieth in English, care.’ Pet. Erondelle’s Fr. Garden, 12mo. 1605, signat. N 7, b. Mr. Steevens cites Chapman’s All Fools . . . .”

2927-9 There’s Rosemary . . . thought] Singer (ed. 1821): “Our ancestors gave to almost every flower and plant its emblematic meaning, and like the ladies of the east, made them almost as expressive as written language, in their hieroglyphical sense. Perdita, in WT [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)], distributes her floweres in the same manner as Ophelia, and some of them with the same meaning. In The Handfull of Pleasant Delites, 1584, recently reprinted in Mr. Park’s Heliconia, we have a ballad called ‘A Nosegaie alwaies sweet for Lovers to send for Tokens,’ where we find:— ‘Rosemarie is for remembrance Betweene us day and night; Wishing that I might alwaies have You present in my sight.’

“Rosemarie had this attribute because it was said to strengthen the memory, and was therefore used as a token of remembrance and affection between lovers, and was distributed as an emblem both at weddngs and funerals. Why pansies (pensées) are emblems of thoughts is obvious.”

2927 Rosemary] Caldecott (ed. 1832): “And see ‘to rain upon remembrance Rosemary and Romeo.’ Rom. [2.4.206 (1300)]. Nurse.”

2927-9 There’s Rosemary . . . thoughts] Hunter (1845, 2:259): “The commentators have shewn that rosemary was carried at weddings; and, if there needed other proof, we might add the following passage from Henry Burton’s narrative of his own Life:—’ The whole train consisting of two or three hundred, many went out of Egham, not witout their branches of Rosemary and bayes, as ensigns of the wedding.’ Passages in abundance mightalso be added to shew that rosemary and remembrance were connected. But they have not shewn us the beauty of this exquisite passage: the mind of Ophelia is thrown off its poise by the shock which she had received; she thinks of marriage: with that comes the idea of rosemary; the sweet-scented rosemary, and she addresses him who should have been the bridegroom, Hamlet himself, her ‘love.’ She then feels her disappointment. Hamlet is not there, and she turns to another flower wrought up in her wild attire, pansies, as more fitting h≈er condition, a flower connected with the melancholy, then often called thought, and taking its name from it.”

2927 Delius (ed. 1854): “Rosmarin sollte das Gedächtniss stärken und galt as Symbol der Liebestreue; es wurde deshalb bei Leichenbegängnissen wie bei Hochzeiten getragenm.” [Rosemary is said to strengthen memory and was valued as a symbol of faithfulness; therefore it was worn at funerals as well as weddings.]

2928-9 Pancies . . . thoughts] Delius (ed. 1854): “pansies von dem französischen pensées; daher die Beziehung auf thoughts.” [pansies are from the French pensées (thoughts); from this comes the connection with thoughts.]

2927-9 There’s Rosemary . . . thoughts] Hudson (ed. 1851-6): “Our ancestors gave to almost every flower and plant its emblematic meaning, and, like the ladies of the east, made them almost as expressive as written language, in their hieroglyphical sense. Perdita, in The Winter’s Tale, distributes her floweres in the same manner as Ophelia, and some of them with the same meaning. The Handfull of Pleasant Delites, 1584, has a ballad called ‘A Nosegaie alwaies sweet for Lovers to send for Tokens,’ where we find:— ‘Rosemarie is for remembrance Betweene us day and night.’

“Rosemarie had this attribute because it was said to strengthen the memory, and was therefore used as a token of remembrance and affection between lovers. Why pansies (pensées) are emblems of thoughts is obvious.”

2927-9 There’s Rosemary . . . thoughts] Singer (ed. 1821): “Our ancestors gave to almost every flower and plant its emblematic meaning, and like the ladies of the east, made them almost as expressive as written language, in their hieroglyphical sense. Perdita, in The Winter’s Tale, distributes her floweres in the same manner as Ophelia, and some of them with the same meaning. In The Handfull of Pleasant Delites, 1584, recently reprinted in Mr. Park’s Heliconia, we have a ballad called ‘A Nosegaie alwaies sweet for Lovers to send for Tokens,’ where we find:— ‘Rosemarie is for remembrance Betweene us day and night; Wishing that I might alwaies have You present in my sight.’

“Rosemary had this attribute because it was said to strengthen the memory, and was therefore used as a token of remembrance and affection between lovers, and was distributed as an emblem both at weddings and funerals. Why pansies which the folio misprints paconcies (pensées), are emblems of thoughts is obvious.”

2927 Rosemary] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “This plant, because it is an evergreen, is a symbol of remembrance, and used at weddings in England as well as in Germany. Others find the reason of this custom in its being anciently supposed to strengthen the memory, whence it became the emblem of fidelity in lovers. So, in A Dialogue between Nature and the Phoenix, by R. Chester, 1601: ‘There’s rosemarie; the Arabians justifie/(Physitions of exceeding perfect skill)/It comforteth the braine and memorie,’ etc. At weddings it was usual to dip the rosemary in the cup, and drink to the health or the new married couple. Rosemary was also carried at funerals, probably for its odour, and as a token of remembrance of the deceased. In Germany and France the beautiful little blue flower named mouse-ear or scorpion-grass (myosotis scorpioides) is called forget me not, and given as a token of remembrance; which emblem, as Nares observes, has also been adopted in England. Malone quotes from a Handfull of Pleasant Delites, containing sundrie new Sonnets, 1584: ‘Rosemary is for remembrance,/Between us dale and night./Wishing that I might alwaies have/You present in my sight.’ It has been thought that this particular ballad was alluded to by Shakespeare, in this passage; but this, probably was not the case. The combination was proverbial.”

2928 loue] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “By love she means Laertes, her brother.”

2928 Pancies] Fiebig (ed. 1857): “Pansies is for thoughts, on account of its name: pansy, pensee, French. The viola tricolor, three-coloured violet, called also heart’s ease and herb trinity. So, in All Fools, a comedy, by Chapman, 1605: ‘What flowers are these?/The pansie this./O, that’s for lover’s thoughts!’”

2927-8 Rosemary . . . Pancies] Staunton (ed. 1860): “There is method in poor Ophelia’s distribution. She presents to each the herb popularly appropriate to his age or disposition. To Laertes, whom in her distraction she probably confounds with her lover, she gives ‘rosemary’ as an emblem of his faithful remembrance:—

“‘Rosemarie is for remembrance Betweene us daie and night, Wishing that I might alwaies have You present in my sight.’ A Handfull of Pleasant Delites, &c. 1584. And ‘pansies,’ to denote love’s ‘thoughts’ or troubles:—‘I pray what flowers are these? The panzie this; O, that’s for lovers’ thoughts.’ All Fools, Act II. Sc. 1.”

2927 Rosemary] Caldecott (apud Halliwell in ed. 1865): “Rosemary, conceived to have power of strengthening the memory, and prescribed in old medical books for that purpose, was an emblem of remembrance, and of the affection of lovers; and thence, probably was worn at weddings, as it also was at funerals. ‘There’s rosemarie; the Arabians justifie (Physitions of exceeding perfect skill) It comforteth the braine and memorie.’—Chester’s Dialogue betw. Nature and the Phœnix, 1601. ‘Rosemary is for remembrance Betweene us daie and night; Wishing that I might alwaies have You present in my sight.’—Handful of delites, &c. 16mo. 1584, in a ‘Nosegaie alwaies sweet for lovers to send for tokens of love.’

“‘She hath given thee a nosegay of flowers, wherein, as a top-gallant for all the rest, is set in rosemary for remembrance.’—Greene’s Never too late, 1616. ‘Will I be wed this morning, Thou shalt not be there, nor once be graced with A piece of rosemary,’—Ram Alley, 1611.

“‘I met few but are stuck with rosemary; every one asked me, who was to be married.’—Noble Spanish Soldier, 1634.

“‘What is here to do? wine and cakes, and rosemary and nosegaies? what, a wedding?’ The Wit of a Woman, 1604.—Steevens and Malone.

“We shall add, ‘My mother hath stolne a whole pecke of flower for a bride cake, and our man hath sworne he will steale a brave Rosemary Bush, and I have spoken for ale that will make a cat speake.’ Nich. Breton’s Poste, &c. 4to. 1637.

“‘The bride-laces, that I give at my wedding, will serve to tye rosemary to.’ The Honest Whore, sign. K 3, b. and see 2H4 [2.3.59 (1019)]. Lady Percy. And see ‘to rain upon remembrance Rosemary and Romeo.’ Rom. [2.4.211 (1304)]. Nurse. —Caldecott.”

2928-9 Pancies, thats for thoughts] Halliwell (ed. 1865): “Thus are my thoughts fed with fancies, and, to be brief, my life is lengthened out by fancies; then, madam, blame me not if I like penses well, and thinke nothing if I set no other flowre in my nosegay. And truly, lord Meribates, answered Eriphila, you and I are of one mind, I meane in choice of flowres, but not, sir, as it is called a pense, or as you descant on fancie, but as we homely huswives call it, hearts-ease, for of all contents I thinke this the greatest; for in naming this word hearts-ease, I banish as with a charme the frownes of fortune, and the follies of love, for the partie that is toucht by the inconstancy of the one, or the vanitie of the other, cannot boast hee meaneth hearts-ease: seeing then it breedeth such rest into the minde, and such quiet to the thoughts, we will both weare this flowre as a favour, you as a pense, but I as hearts-ease.’—Alcida Greenes Metamorphosis, 1617.”

2927-32 Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Dass Sh. in diese Sprache der Blumen einen tieferen Sinn legt, ist nicht zu bezweifeln, wiewohl natürlich das Zutreffende bei den einzelnen Personen u. Blumen wie blosses Spiel des Zufalls aussehen muss. Ich nehme an, dass O. den Rosmarin der Königin, die pansies dem Horatio, den Aglei dem König giebt, während sie mit dem Bruder noch den Fenchel theilt.” [That Shakespeare places a deeper meaning in this language of the flowers cannot be doubted, although naturally the appropriateness of the individual persons and flowers has to seem like a pure play of coincidence. I assume that Ophelia gives the rosemary to the queen, the pansies to Horatio, and the bluebells to the king, while she divides the fennel with her brother.]

2927 Rosemary] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “An vielen Orten Deutschlands gilt ein Rosmarinstengel heut noch als Zeichen der Trauer, und wird darum als Gedächtnisspflanze bei Leichenzügen getragen, oder auf Gräber gelegt. S. Perger, Pflanzensagen p. 143.” [In many parts of Germany a stalk of rosemary is still today a sign of sadness and is therefore carried in funeral processions or laid on graves. See Perger, Pflanzensagen p. 143.]

2928 Pancies] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Wie gedankenreich die Viola tricolor gewesen sei, beweist die damit verknüpfte Sage. Sie wuchs im Getreide, und weil die Leute so häufig das Blümchen seines Duftes wegen aufsuchten und dabei viel Korn zertraten, that ihm das leid, und es bat in siener Demuth die heil. Dreifaltigkeit, ihm doch den Duft zu nehmen. Perger p. 151 f.” [How full of allusions the Viola tricolor has been is shown by the legend attached to it. The flower grew in the midst of the grain, and because people so often sought it out for its fragrance and thereby trampled much grain, it was sorry and humbly asked the Holy Trinity to take away its fragrance. Perger, p. 151 f.]

2927 for remembrance] Moberly (ed. 1870): “An old dialogue (1601) says—‘There’s rosemarie, the Arabians justify / (Physitions of exceeding perfect skill) / It comforteth the brain and memorie.’”

2928 Pancies] Moberly (ed. 1870): “Pensées, ’thoughts.’”

2927-8 Rosemary . . . Pancies] Hudson (ed. 1872): “The language of flowers is very ancient, and the old poets have many instances of it. In WT 4.3 [1880-82], Perdita makes herself delectable in the use of it, distributing her flowers much as Ophelia does here. Rosemary, being supposed to strengthen the memory, was held emblematic of remembrance, and in that thought was distributed at weddings and funerals.—Pansies, from the French pensees, were emblems of pensiveness, thought being here again used for grief, the same as in page 220, note 13. The next speech, ‘thoughts and remembrance fitted,’ is another instance.”

2927 Rosemary] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “supposed to strengthen the memory, hence it came to symbolize remembrance and fidelity. Compare WT [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)]: ‘For you there’s rosemary and rue; these keep Seeming and savour all the winter long: Grace and remembrance be to you both!’ It was therefore worn at funerals and at weddings. See Rom. [4.5.79 (2659)]. See Drayton, Eclogue ix. 19, 20” ‘Him Rosemary his sweethart, whose intent Is that he her should in remembrance haue.’ On the other hand Cotgrave says, s. v., that ‘donner du rosmarin’ was equivalent to ‘dismiss a lover.’”

2928 Pancies] Clark and Wright (ed. 1872): “pansies] from the French pensées.’ Ophelia gives rosemary and pansies ot her brother.”

2927 Rosemary] Furness (ed. 1877): “See Rom. [4.5.79 (2659)], and notes. Hunter (ii, 259): The mind of Oph. is thrown off its poise by the shock which she had received; she thinks of marriage: with that comes the idea of rosemary; the sweet-scented rosemary, and she addresses him who should have been the bridegroom, Hamlet himself, her ‘love.’ She then feels her disappointment. Ham. is not there, and she turns to another flower wrought up in her wild attire, pansies, as more fitting her condition,— a flower connected with the melancholy, then often called thought, and taking its name from it ‘There’s a daisy; I would give you some violets, but,’ &c. When the mind is unsettled, it is usual for some idea to recure which had been introduced at a critical period of the person’s life. now, when Laer. was warning Oph. against encouraging the attentions of Ham., he urged her to consider his trifling but as ‘A violet in the youth of primy nature [1.3.7 (469)].’ These words had remained imprinted on her mind, associated with the idea of Ham. and the idea of her brother, and they now recur to her memory when she again converses with her brother on the same unhappy subject. The violets withered when her father died. When Ham. had slain Pol. there was a final obstacle interposed to their union. Staunton: There is method in poor Ophelia’s distribution. She presents to each the herb popularly appropriate to his age or disposition. To Laer., whom in her distraction she probably confounds with her lover, she gives ‘rosemary’ as an emblem of his faithful remembrance; and ‘pansies’ to denote love’s ‘thoughts’ or troubles. Delius: Probably these flowers existed only in Ophelia’s fantasy, and there was no distribution of real flowers to the persons present.”

2928 Pancies] Furness (ed. 1877): “Johnson: ‘For thoughts, because if its name, pensées. N.&Q., 22 Oct. 1864. Fabius Oxoniensis gives a number of the names by which this flower is known among rustics and old writers; see also Beisly (Sh. Garden, p. 156).”

2927 Rosemary] Neil (ed. 1877): “The celebrated divine, Rodger Hacket, speaking of rosemary, says: ‘It overtoppeth all the flowers in the garden, boasting man’s rule. It helpeth the braine, it strengheneth the memorie, and is very medicineable for the head. Another property of the rosemary is, it affecteth the heart. Let this rosmarinus, the flower of men, ensigne of your wisdom, love, and loyaltie, be carried not only in your hands but in your hearts and heads’ – Sermons: A Marriage Present, 1607. The silvery foliage of the rosemary (rosmarinus, dew of the sea) and its purple flower made the plant a favourite both at funerals and marriages; and it was called, Lyte tells us, ‘Rosmarinum coronarium, that is to say, Rosemarie, whereof they make crowns and garlands.’ It was formerly esteemed a balsam for the memory, and an invigorator of the mental powers. In Michael Drayton’s Idea; the Shepheard’s Garland, 1593, we have the following illustration of flowers which ‘ a secret meaning bear:’ ‘He from his lass him lavender hath sent, Showing her love, and doth requital crave. Him rosemary, his sweetheart, whose intent Is that he her should in remembrance have. Roses his youth and strong desires express; Her sage doth show his sovereignty in all; The July-flowers declare his gentleness; Thyme, truth; the pansy, heart’s-ease maidens call’ – Eglogues, ix.”

2928 Pancies] Neil (ed. 1877):“Though it is not customary in popular language to term the heart’s-ease a violet, yet such it really is. Pansy, heart’s-ease, three-faces-under-a-hood, herb-trinity, kit-run-about, and love-in-idleness, are among the many names by which this flower is familiarly known. In the neighbourhood of Stratford-on-Avon, extensive grounds are laid out for the culture of the violet, for the purposes of the chemist. Pansy is a corruption of the French word pensee (thought). Ben Jonson spells it ‘paunse.’ There are two wild species, Viola tricolor and Viola lutea, besides the garden varieties introduced from France, Germany, and Switzerland, Viola odorata, Viola amoena, etc.”

2927 Rosemary] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “The symbol of remembrance, particularly used at weddings and funerals (Schmidt). Cf. WT [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)] and Rom. [4.5.79 (2659)]. Sir Thomas More says of it: ‘I lette it run alle over my garden walls, not onlie because my bees love it, but because tis the herb sacred to remembrance, and therefore to friendship; whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language that maketh it the chosen emblem at our funeral wakes and in our buriall grounds.’ Cf. Herrick, The Rosemarie Branch: ‘Grow for two ends, it matters not at all,/Be ’t for my bridall or my buriall;’ and Dekker, Wonderful Year: ‘The rosemary that was washed in sweet water to set out the bridal, is now wet in tears to furnish her burial.’”

2928-9 for thoughts] Rolfe (ed. 1878): “Because the name is from the Fr. pensée, thought. The flower is the love-in-idleness of MND [2.1.168 (545)] and Shr. [1.1.151 (454)]. Spenser calls it by the old name paunce. Cf. FQ 3. 1. 36: ‘Sweet Rosemaryes/And fragrant violets, and Paunces trim;’ Id. 3. 11. 37: ‘The one is Paunce, the other a Sweet-breare;" and Shep. Kal. Apr.: ‘The pretie Pawnce,/And the Chevisaunce.’ Milton (Lycidas, 144) speaks of it as "the pansy freak’d with jet." Cf. PL ix. 1040 and Comus, 851.”

2927 There’s Rosemary] Halliwell-Phillipps (1879, p. 62)” <p.62> “Webster, in his White Divel, published in 1612, appears to refer to Ophelia’s speech in the following lines, sig. L,—‘There’s rosemarie for you and rue for you, Hearts-ease for you.’” </p.62>

2927 Rosemary] Elze (ed. 1882): “This distribution of flowers seems to have been imitated, or at least alluded to, in Webster’s White Devil; or, Vittoria Corombona, A. V (Works, ed. Dyce, in I vol., p. 45a), where Cornelia, in her distraction, says:—’There’s rosemary for you, and rue for you. Heart’s-case for you. I pray make much of it, I have left more for myself.’ This passage is not contained in Dr Ingleby’s Centurie of Prayse. — Compare also the pretty song in Clement Robinson’s Handefull of pleasant delites &c. (1584), ed. Arber, p. 3-6 (A Nosegaie alwaies sweet, for Louers to send for Tokens, &c.). Compare Middleton, Blurt, Master-Constable, I, I (Works, ed. Dyce, I, 231): I’d ride forty miles to follow such a feellow to chruch; and would make more of a sprig of rosemary at his burial, than of a gilded bride-branch at mine own wedding. Dekker, The Honest Whore, Part II, II, I (Middleton, ed. Dyce, III, 151): Yes, faith, my winding-sheet was taken out of lavender, to be stuck with rosemary. Ib. V, 2 (Middleton, III, 234): The bride-laces that I give at my wedding will serve to tie rosemary to both your coffins when you come from hanging. Dichtungen von Johann Martin Usteri. Herausgeg. von David Hess (2te Aufl., Leipzig, 1853), II, 279: und gab mir mein Mutter noch ein Rosmarinzwyglein, das ihr die Helene geben hatt’, und meint ihr Absehen dabey wär wohl mehr auf mich gangen, als auf sie. Das steckt ich auf meinen Hut... aber da wir bey Waldshut vorbey fuhrend, da ersieht der Kippenhan das Zwyglein, und sagt: von welchem Mägdlein hast du das Denkzeichen?”

2928 Pray loue remember] Elze (ed. 1882): “The reading of Q2 has been inserted in the text by mistake; the agreement of Q1 and F1 with respect to the omission of you is decisive.”

2927 Rosemary] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “—an evergreen, and carried at funerals: Johnson. ‘For you there’s rosemary and rue; these keep Seeming and savour all the winter long: Grace and remembrance be to you both.’ WT 4.3 [1880-82].”

2928 pancies] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “pensées.”

2927-8 Rosemary . . . Pancies] Barnett (1889, p. 57): “Cf. WT 4.3.74 [1880-82]. Rosemary, the ros maris of Ovid; lit. sea spray. Pansies, Fr. pensée, thought.”

2927 Rosemary] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Rosemary was thought to strengthen the memory, and was carried, as an amblem of remembrance, at weddings and funerals. Compare Dekker, The Honest Whore, part II. ii. 1: ‘Bell. O my sweet husband! wert thou in thy grave and art alive again? Oh, welcome, welcome! Mat. Dost know me? my cloak, prithee, lay’t up. Yes. faith, my winding-sheet was taken out of lavender, to be stuck with rosemary.’ Steevens and Malone give a number of illustrative quotations from the writings of Shakespeare’s time. See A Handfull of Pleasant Delites, 1584 (p. 4 Arber’s Reprint): ‘Rosemary is for remembrance Betweene us daie and night; Wishing that I might always have You present in my sight.’ Shakespeare has several allusions to rosemary. Compare WT. [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)]: ‘For you there’s rosemary and rue; these keep Seeming and savour all the winter long: Grace and remembrance be to you both!’”

2928 Pancies] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Fr. pensées, thoughts.”

2927 Rosemary] Deighton (ed. 1891): “from Lat. ros marinus, or ros maris, as Ovid calls it, the plant which delights in the sea spray. It was an emblem of faithful remembrance, and, according to Staunton, is here presented to Laertes, whom Ophelia in her distraction probably confounds with her lover.”

2927 for] Deighton (ed. 1891): “appropriate to, emblematical of.”

2928 Pancies] Deighton (ed. 1891): “from F. pensées, thoughts, of which the flower is supposed to be symbolical.”

2927 Rosemary] Dowden (ed. 1899): “Used as a symbol of remembrance, both at weddings and funerals. Compare Rom. [4.5.79 (2659)], and WT [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)]. See Ellacombe’s Plant Lore of Shakespeare for this and the other flowers. Perhaps the rosemary is given to Laertes, mistaken by Ophelia for her lover. Delius supposes the flowers to exist only in Ophelia’s distracted imagination. In Q1 her first words, after re-entrance, are ‘Wel God a mercy, I a bin gathering of floures.’”

2928 Pancies] Dowden (ed. 1899): “for thoughts, Fr. pensées. Ellacombe states that still in Warwickshire the pansy is named love-in-idleness, signifying love in vain. Chapman in All Fools, 2.1, refers to the pansy as ‘for lover’s thoughts.’”

2927 Rosemary] Porter & clarke (ed. 1903): “‘There rosemarie, the Arabians justifie (Physitians of exceeding perfect skill). It comforteth the braine and memorie.’ (Chester’s ‘Dialogue between Nature and the Phœnix,’ 1601) ‘Rosemary is for remembrance Betweene us daie and night; wishing that I might always have you present in my sight, a nosegay always sweet for lovers to send for tokens of love’ (‘Handful of Delites,’ 1584).”

2928 Pancies] Porter & clarke (ed. 1903): “The quaint misprint of the Folio for pansies, which Shakespeare appropriately makes his maiden’s fancy associate with what Greene said of them in his romance of ‘Alcida’” ‘Thus are my thoughts fed with fancies, and to be brief, my life is lengthened out by fancies; then, madam, blame not me if I like penses well, and think nothing if I set no other flower in my nosegay. And truly, lord Meribates, answered Eriphila, you and I are of one mind, I meane in choice of flowers, but not, sir, as it is called a pense, or as you secant on fancie, but as we homely huswifes call it, hearts-ease, for of all contents I thinke this the greatest; for I naming this word hears-ease, I banish as with a charme the frownes of fortune and the follies of love, for the partie that is toucht by the inconstancy of love, for the partie that is toucht by the inconstancy of the one, or the vanities of the other, cannot boast hee meaneth hearts-ease: seeing then it breedeth such rest unto the mind, and such quiet to the thoughts, we will both weare this flower as a favour, you as a pense, but I as hearts-ease.’ The form here, ‘pense,’ seems to show that to the Elizabethan it carried as much the sense of pensée, thought, as to a Frenchman, and Spenser’s spelling approaches the French pronunciation: ‘Sweet Rosemaryes And fragrant violets and Paunces trim’ (‘Faerie Queene,’ III.i.16).”

2927-37 Verity (ed. 1904): “All the flowers have a meaning in ‘the language of flowers,’ and from the qualities they represent we may conjecture their respective recipients.”

2927-37 Subbarau (ed. 1909): “The stage-direction in Q1 is, ‘Enter Ofelia playing on a Lute, and her haire downe singing’: and though in 1692, she says, ‘I a bin gathering of floures,’ it is a mistake to suppose that Ophelia really has with her all the flowers which she professes to distribute and that she correctly produces them. See n. 157.”

2927-8 There’s Rosemary . . . remember] Subbarau (ed. 1909): “Ophelia offers the flowers to her lover, Hamlet, who she addresses in her imagination.”

2927 Rosemary] Goggin (ed. 1913): “in the language of flowers the symbol of remembrance, as the pansies (Fr. pensees) are the symbol of thoughts. Ophelia gives these to Laertes, mistaking him perhaps for her lover.”

2927 There’s] Travers (ed. 1929): “Whether the flowers she is going to distribute are real (as usually, probably long since, on the stage; cp. p. 187, n. 4 [4.5.154 (2905)] or imaginary, she is guided in the choice of each by the ‘fitness’ [4.5.179 (2931)] between the symbolical value popularly attached to it and the character of the person to whom she gives it. At the sound of Laertes’ voice, she may have turned towards him, conscious of a loving presence, which she confuses perhaps (cp. next line; but keep in mind also [4.5.70 (2807)]) with that of the Hamlet of bygone days.”

2927 for remembrance] Travers (ed. 1929): “possibly because it is one of the scented plants that ‘keep seeming (= outward appearance) and savour, all the winter long’ [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)]. It figured traditionally both at weddings and at burial; which is to the point, here (cp. Coleridge, n. [4.5.27 (2771)].”

2927 Rosemary] Craig (ed. 1931): “used as a symbol of remembrance both at weddings and at funerals.”

2928 Pancies] Craig (ed. 1931): “emblems of love and courtship. Df. French pensées.”

2927-36 There’s Rosemary . . . Violets] Wilson (ed. 1934): “Each flower has its meaning and is presented to an appropriate person. Rosemary = remembrance, used both at weddings and funerals (cf. Rom. 4.5.79; Wint. 4.4.74-6), she gives to Laer. Pansies = thought, esp. love-thoughts, she keeps, I think, for herself. Fennel = flattery and columbines = cuckoldry (from their horned shape) were appropriate to the K. Rue = sorrow (for herself) and repentance (for the Queen); herb of grace is another name for ‘rue,’ though actually with no religious significance. Daisy = dissembling (cf. Greene, Quip for an upstart courtier, ‘Next them grewe the dissembling daisie, to warn such light of loue wenches not to trust euery faire promise that such amorous batchelers make them’), which she would place next the ‘pansies’ in her own bosom as a warning. Violets = faithfulness; these she cannot give to anyone, as there are no more left in the world. Some suppose she addresses herself to Hor. here; but he is not in this scene. (v. Furness for much of the material in this note.)”

2927-36 Rosemary . . . Violets] Harrison (ed. 1937): “In the language of flowers Ophelia’s gifts have their special meanings. Rosemary (remembrance) and pansies (thoughts) for her brother; fennel (flattery) and columbine (thanklessness) for the King; rue (sorrow) and a daisy (light o’ love) for the Queen; violets (faithfulness), for neither.”

2927-37 Kittredge (ed. 1939): “Whether Ophelia actually brings flowers and herbs on the stage or simply imagines them, nobody can tell for certain. That she has culled precisely those that she mentions is out of the question. There is no indication in the old stage directions how the distribution (real or imagined) was made. Editors are pretty well agreed, however, that she gives rosemary and pansies to Laertes (as if he were her true-love), fennel and columbines to the King, and rue to the Queen—saving some for herself. The daisy remains in doubt. Perhaps she gave it to the King or the Queen. Wilson thinks she kept it (as well as the pansies) for herself. For the old ‘language of flowers’ see Clement Robinson, A Handfull of Pleasant Delites, 1584, and the first few pages of Greene’s A Quip for an Upstart Courtier, 1592 (ed. Grosart, XI, 213 ff.).”

2927 thats for remembrance] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “The smell of rosemary was thought to strengthen the memory. Cf. Greene, Never Too Late (ed. Grosart, VIII, 198): ‘Shee hath giuen thee a Nose-gay of flowers wherein as a top gallant for all the rest, is set in Rosemary for remembrance.’”

2929 thoughts] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “Pansy comes from the French pensée. Cf. Chapman, All Fools, ii (Pearson ed., I, 139): ‘Cornelio. I pray, what flowers are those? Gazetta. The Pancie this. Cornelio. O, thats for louers thoughtes.’”

2927-37 Rylands (ed. 1947): “The flowers have their own language and are given by Ophelia to the appropriate characters. Rosemary for remembrance to Laertes, just as the Ghost has laid his command upon Hamlet, ‘Remember me’ [1.5.91 (776)]; pansies for thoughts or love-thoughts to him or to herself; fennel and columbines for the King, signifying flattery and ingratitude; rue for sorrow for herself and the rue of repentance for the Queen. The daisy is the emblem of dissembling and might be given to one who can ‘smile and be a villain’ [1.5.108 (793)] or to herself as a warning ‘not to trust every fair promise that amorous bachelors make’ )Greene, Quip for an upstart courtier), the very warning which Laertes had given her so long ago, or to the Queen seduced by Claudius. Violets are the emblem of faithfulness. The distribution of herbs and flowers was an old funeral custom, and Ophelia imagines herself giving her father proper burial.”

2927-37 There’s . . . remembrance] Munro (ed. 1958): “Ophelia’s distribution of flowers is to Laertes rosemary and pansies; to the King fennel for flattery, columbines for thanklessness and cuckoldry; to the Queen and herself rue, meaning herb of grace for herself and ruth for Gertrude; to the Queen also a daisy for light of love as against violets signifying faithfulness.”

2927-37 Spencer (ed. 1980): “Presumably these flowers are distributed by Ophelia to be taken to her father’s undecked grave. We can only guess who are the recipients, nor do we know whether the flowers are intended to be real or fantasies of Ophelia’s disordered brain.”

2927-9 Rosemary . . . for thoughts] Spencer (ed. 1980): “These are probably gifts to a lover. Perhaps she imagines Laertes to be her lover, and gives these flowers to him.”

2927-37 Jenkins (ed. 1982): “The plants have their meanings appropriate to their recipients. Rosemary and pansies are presented to Laertes; fennel and columbines, signifying marital infidelity, to the Queen; rue or herb o’ grace, for repentance, to the King. The daisy is the flower of (unhappy) love, violets of faithfulness. ln. Ophelia’s distribution of flowers still awaits satisfactory elucidation. The problems are of two kinds, mutually dependent: to determine the symbolic meanings of the plants and, in the absence of any guidance from stage-directions, to identify the various recipients. But first to dispel some critical misconceptions: (1) that the flowers exist only in Ophelia’s fantasy and (2) that they have no serious significance. (1) The custom on which this episode is based is also used by Shakespeare in WT [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)]; and there is no apparent reason why Ophelia, who will presently gather many flowers for her fatal garlands [4.7.168-169 (3160-1)], should not be as well supplied with them as Perdita herself. In neither play are flowers mentioned in contemporary stage-directions. It was Rowe who made Ophelia enter ‘fantastically drest with straws and flowers’, presumably by analogy with the mad King Lear (as described in Lr. [4.4.3-6 (2354-6)]); but her exclamation in Q1, ‘Wel God a mercy, I a bin gathering of floures’, is evidently occasioned by her appearance with them. With only imaginary flowers the dramatic effect would be hopelessly imppoverished and the comments of Laertes would make little sense. Ophelia’s madness shows itself not in gesturing with non-existent flowers but in unawareness of her surroundings and of the identity of those whom she gives her flowers to. Note that even the brother whom she bade affectionate farewell [1.3.4, 84-86 (466, 549-52)]and who was but just now in her thoughts [4.5.70 (2807)] receives on his return no greeting nor any sign of recognition. (2) Accordingly the effect of her flower-giving is not to be measured by Ophelia’s intent. Nor can it be summed up by the comment of Laertes on its ‘prettiness’ (2940), as maintained by J. W. Lever in an unexpectedly perverse and obfuscating article (RES, n.s. iii, 123-9). He might instead have quoted her brother’s previous comment: A document in madness (2930), a lesson conveyed through mad talk. We are reminded of Lear’s ‘reason in madness’ Lr. [4.6.175 (2618)] and still more of those comments of Polonius on Hamlet’s cryptic sayings [2.2.206 (1243-45)], which alert us to the dramatist’s purpose of using madness to convey what rational discourse could not. With rosemary and pansies, the first two flowers, Ophelia indicates and Laertes accepts an emblematic meaning, thereby inviting us to do the same for those which follow. This could not have been beyond the capactiy of an intelligent audience which had the advantage denied to us of seeing who the authentic recipients were and belonged to an age more accustomed than our own to emblematic usages. There was a little vogue for floral verses. The youth in Philaster could show in his garland ‘What every flower, as country people hold, Did signify’ (1.2.130-3). This is a lore, however, which must be sought less (where Lever looks) in the standard herbals than in popular beliefs. A difficulty for us is that much of it has not survived and that the literary allusions from which we may recover it, though for some plants abundant, are in other cases sparse. Among many extant words which have supplied quotations, regularly repeated since the time of Steevens and Malone, the two most often cited, because of the number of relevant flowers they include, are the first few pages of Robert Greene’s A Quip for an Upstart Courtier (1592) and the poem in Clemen Robinson’s A Handful of Pleasant Delights (1584) called ‘A Nosegay always sweet, for Lovers to send for Tokens . . . ‘ In this mystic language, not surprisingly perhaps, the same flowers do not always signify the same thing; so that there is the further difficulty, too often ignored by the Shakespearean annotators, of selecting the meanings which are applicable to the play. Nevertheless, while making due allowance for the inconsequentiality of madness, I think it wrong to assume that what we cannot explain is designedly confused in order to symbolize ‘the murky world of intrigue and mental disorder’ (ELH, xliv, 63). . . . see n. [4.5.175, 176, 180, 183, 184, 184 (2927, 2928, 2932-3, 2932-5, 2935, 2936)].

“The interpretation of the flowers here advanced has the result of giving them greater significance than they are usually accorded even by those who regard them as more than an incidental ‘prettiness’. It is not a valid objection that some of them allude to things which Ophelia could not have known. The whole principle of dramatic irony depends on the use of dialogue to convey more than the speakers suspect. The distribution of the flowers, once these are correctly assigned, connects the characters involved (King, Queen, Laertes, Ophelia) beyond the present moment with their essential dramatic roles, and glances even at the absent hero (as well as the dead Polonius) in one aspect of his. Ophelia’s lasting love for the lover who has forsaken her is an undercurrent throughout. As befits the warning given by the play [4.5.6-9 (2751-5)] of the risks of misconstruction, the meanings of the flowers are more suggested than defined—it is a virtue of the emblems to be, as is said nowadays, open-ended. But through the suggestions that they bring it is a function of this little episode, as of the Pyrrhus speech and The Murder of Gonzago, to represent in a different mode some basic motifs of the play.”

2927 Rosemary] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Rosemary was for remembrance because it was popularly supposed to strengthen the memory. It is still associated with funerals and the remembrance of the dead (cf. Rom. [4.5.79 (2659)]). Ironically, in giving it to Laertes, Ophelia plays in his revenge (cf. [4.5.169-170 (2921-22)]) the role of the Ghost in Hamlet’s (i.v.91). But rosemary is also given as a token of remembrance between lovers. For the lover of ‘A Nosegay’ ‘Rosemary is for remembrance between us day and night: Wishing that I might always have you present in my sight.’ And a lover in Drayton’s Pastorals (ix) is given it by ‘His sweetheart, whose intent is that he her should in remembrance have.’ Very much as she has merged a lover’s with a father’s loss in her songs of lamentation, Ophelia confuses her brother with her lover.”

2928 Pancies] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Pansies, given along with rosemary, continue the double application. For thoughts because of their name (Fr. pensées), they can strengthen in Laertes the thoughts prompted by his father’s death; but they too are associated with the sentiments of love. Drayton implies that maidens call them heartsease for that reason, and among their other names is love-in-idleness. When the wife in Chapman’s All Fools points to a pansy in her needlework, her jealous husband retorts ‘O that’s for lover’s thoughts’ (2.1.234).”

2927 Rosemary] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “the evergreen fragrant shrub, thought to strengthen the powers of memory.”

2928 Pancies] Wilkes (ed. 1984): “from Fr. Pensee (thought). Both flowers [Rosemary and Pancies] are presumably given to Laertes.”

2927-37 There’s Rosemary . . . dyed] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “The obvious parallel and contrast to this passage is that in WT [4.4.74-76 (1880-82)] where Perdita, the embodiment of health and sanity, also distributes flowers but in very different circumstances. Flower symbolism flourished in Elizabethan England; and Shakespeare had already made use of it in R2 (3.4.I04-6 (1917-19)]. Much of it is conveniently gathered together in a poem called ‘A Nosegay Always Sweet’, first published in Clement Robinson’s A Handful of Pleasant Delights (1584), and at the beginning of Robert Greene’s A Quip for an Upstart Courtier (I592). But, while the significance given to each flower in the lyric are well authenticated and represent popular traditions, those attributed to them by Greene seem more idiosyncratic.”

2927-9 There’s Rosemary . . . thoughts] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “Compare ‘A Nosegay’ in which the fourth verse begins ‘Rosemary is for remembrance between us day and night’. The pansies are for thoughts because the word comes from the French pensèes. While the speech echoes Laertes’ ‘remember well’ of [1.3.84 (549)], Ophelia appears to be confusing him with Hamlet.”

2927 you] Hibbard (ed. 1987): to Laertes] “In this case there can be no doubt about the identity of the recipient. Not only are the flowers appropriate, but it is also Laertes who comments on what Ophelia says.”

2927 Rosemary] Bevington (ed. 1988): “(Used as a symbol of remembrance both at weddings and at funerals).”

2928 Pancies] Bevington (ed. 1988): “(emblems of love and courtship; perhaps from French pensees, thoughts).”

2927 remembrance] Andrews (ed. 1993): “Mindfulness; fidelity to one’s obligations; commitment to those to whom one is indebted.”

2927 Rosemary] Dessen & Thomson(1999): “Ophelia associates rosemary with ‘remembrance’ . . . but as an onstage property it is linked more specifically to weddings . . . .”

2927-33 There’s Rosemary . . . Rewe for you] Bate (2008, p.55): “it is clear that rosemary if for remembrance and pansies for thought, because Ophelia says so . . . . But the signification of her other flowers is left to the audience to supply. Scholars usually assume that rue is for the queen, fennel and columbines for the king, but some commentators propose vice versa on the grounds that fennel signifies flattery and is also associated with wanton and dissembling women, while the horned shape of the columbine suggests cuckoldry . . . Rue is for repentance, which is what Claudius has been trying unsuccessfully to engage in.”

2927-36 Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “ Apart from Laertes, the particular recipients of the flowers are not specified in any of the three texts, but some assumptions have been made base don the traditional flower symbolism: rue or herb of grace signifies repentance and may therefore be appropriate to the Queen or to the King (though not to obviously to Ophelia); daisies signify (unrequited) love and are appropriate to Ophelia herself; rosemary for remembrance and pansies for thought are offered to Laertes (see 169-71); fennel was associated with flattery and may be given to any courtier (or to the King); either violets signifying fidelity or columbines signifying infidelity may be offered to the Queen (see John Gerard, The Herbal (1597); Willima Langham, The Garden of Health (1579); and Jenkins).”