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Line 3603, etc. - 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.”

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Notes for lines 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand

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

3603-4 Ham. {But yet} me thinkes it is very {sully} <soultry> and hot, {or} <for> my \| complec-

3604 tion.

1747 warb

warb

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection] Warburton (ed. 1747) : “This is not English. The old Quarto reads, OR my complexion And this is right. He was going to say, Or my complexion deceives me; but the over-complaisance of the other interrupted him.”

1755 John

John

3603 sully] Johnson (1755, Sultry): “adj. [This is imagined by Skinner to be corrupted from sulphury, or sweltry.] Hot without ventilation; hot and close; hot and cloudy. [[cites Hamlet] ‘The sultry breath Of tainted air had cloy’d the jaws of death.’ Sandys. ‘Such as born beneath the burning sky, And sultry sun betwixt the tropicks lie.’ Dryden’s Æn. ‘Our foe advances on us, And envies us even Lybia’s sultry desarts.’ Addison’s Cato. ‘Then would sultry heats and a burning air have scorched and chapped the earth, and galled the animal tribes in houses or dens.’ Cheyne.”

1773 v1773

v1773

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection] Steevens (ed. 1773) : “Hamlet is here playing over the same farce with Osrick, which he had formerly done with Polonius.”

1774 capn

capn

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection] Capell (1774:1:1:147-8) : <p. 147>“deceives me, he would have added; but is prevent- </p. 147> <p. 148> ed by the other’s great courtliness, and eagerness of assenting: But this is an assentation of levity, different from tht of the designing Greek nation, whose picture is produc’d out of Juvenal (Sat. III) by the third modern [See TLN 3599] , and set beside this, which he pronounces —a copy.§ This branch of the character is convey’d to us upon Osrick’s first entry in the question that Hamlet puts to Horatio, —”Dost thou know this water-fly ?” a most happy comparison, as all who have seen that fly’s motions will acknowledge immediately: Affectation, another notable part of it, is describ’d most inimitably, and as exquisitely banter’d by Hamlet, in a speech that is fuller of ‘golden words’ than the other’s, and the words themselves are much richer; so rich, that the brain has much ado to conceive them, and the stomach to carry them. Of these speeches we are depriv’d by the folio’s, the first, second, and fourth moderns. [POPE, WARBURTON, HANMER]” </p. 148>

1778 v1778

v1778 = v1773

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection]

1785 v1785

v1785 = v1778

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection]

1787 ann

ann = v1785

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection]

1790 mal

mal = v1785

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection]

1791- rann

rann

3603-4 or my complection] Rann (ed. 1791-) : “my constitution leads me into an error.”

1793 v1793

v1793 = v1785

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection]

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection]

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection]

1818 Todd

Todd = John +

3603 sully] Todd (1818, sultry): “†adj. [This is imagined by Skinner to be corrupted from sulphury, or sweltry. [speltan], Sax. signifies to die.Chaucer uses swelte to signify the effect of ag reat opression of spirits. Hence our word sultry, i.e. sweltry, to express a suffocatin heat. Tyrwhitt. —Hence formerly, which our etymologists have not observed, the verb sulter or soulter, was used for swelter, i.e to overpower with heat. ‘Horse and asses tired, and soultred with the heat of the day.’ Gayton, Notes on Don Quix. 1654, p. 64] Hot without ventilation; hot and close; hot and cloudy. [[cites Hamlet] “The sultry breath Of tainted air had cloy’d the jaws of death. Sandys.” Such as born beneath the burning sky, And sultry sun betwixt the tropicks lie. Dryden’s Æn.” “Our foe advances on us, And envies us even Lybia’s sultry desarts. Addison’s Cato.” “Then would sultry heats and a burning air have scorched and chapped the earth, and galled the animal tribes in houses or dens. Cheyne.”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection]

v1821

3604 complection] Boswell (ed. 1821, 21:Glossary): “humour.”

1854 del2

del2

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection] Delius (ed. 1854) : “for my complexion]] So schliesst die Fol. den Satz ab; nach der Lesart der Qs: or my complexion, bleibt er überflüssiger Weise unvollständig.—Der folgende Austausch schöner Redensarten zwischen Hamlet und Osrick ist; soweit er nur zur Persiflage solcher Modesprache dient und nicht Osrick’s Auftrag betrifft, in der Fol. sehr zusammengestrichen.” [So concludes the sentence in the Fol; after the reading of the Qq: or my complexion it remains in a superfluous manner incomplete. The following exchange between Hamlet and Osrick is an exchange of wonderful oratorical speeches, so far as I know, it serves only as persiflage of such modes of speech and does not concern Osrick’s commission. In the Fol., it is often omitted.]

1857 elze1

elze1 : warb ; Juvenal

3603-04 or my complection] Elze (ed. 1857, 253): <p. 253>"So lesen QB folgg. Fs: and hot for my complexion, was Waburton für unenglisch erklärt. Hamlet wollte sagen: or my complexion deceives me. Die meisten Herausgg. folgen den Fs, Schlegel den Qs.—Bei der auffallenden Ähnlichkeit dieser Stelle mit Juvenal. III, 100 sqq. Wie nach den bereits früher angeführten Beispielen ((§. 78. 79. 110.)) ist es schwer zu glauben, dass Shakespeare mit dem römischen Satiriker ganz unbekannt gewesen sein sollte. Juvenal sagt a.a.).: ’—Rides, majore achinnno concutitur; flet, sie lacrimas conspexit amici, Nec dolet; igniculum brumæ si tempore poscas, Accipit endromidem; sie dixeris æstuo’, sudat.’ [So read Q2ff. Ff: and hot for my complexion, which Warburton explains as non-English. Hamlet wants to say: ’or my complexion deceives me.’ Most editors follow the Ff, Schlegel den Qs.—At the obvious similarity of this passage with Juvenal (3.100 sqq.) as according to the already cited examples (§78, 79, 110)) it is difficult to believe that Shakespeare should have been entirely unfamilar with the Roman satires. Juvenal says [a.a.O.?] . . . ]

1860 Walker

Walker : knt1

3603-04 or my complection] Walker (1860, 2:322-3): “Knight re-</p. 322> <p. 323> turns to the old error; vulg. recte, 197—’—sultry and hot; or my complexion—.’” </p. 323>

<n> 197Lettsom (apud Walker, 1860, 2: 323): “This contradicts Mr. Dyce’s opinion, as express in the passage quoted just above. The quartos read or, but the break after it is modern. I must own, for appears to me the genuine word.” </n></p. 323>

This doesn’t follow from my 1841 ed. of Knight, which accepts the folio reading. What is Knight talking about here?

1861 wh1

wh1 : see n. 621 +11

3604 complection] White (ed. 1861) : see n. 1.4. ? (621+11)

<p.169. “‘Complexion,’ used now almost exclusively to mean the color of the skin, had formerly a sense more strictly correct, and expressed the result of of the union of certain physical qualities. ‘According to the prevalency of humors a diversity of temper or complexion [temperamenti seu compelxionis ] is caused in us.’” Gate of the Latine Tongue Unlocked , 1656.”

1864-68 c&mc

c&mc

3603-4 or my complection] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1864-68, rpt. 1874-78): “This is the Quarto reading; while the Folio gives ‘for my complexion.’ we think that Hamlet is intended to imply, ‘I find it very sultry and hot; or it may be that my constitutional temperament renders me peculiarly liable to feel heat.’ ‘Complexion’ is here used in a similar sense to that pointed out in Note 110, Act I [621+11].”

1866 dyce2

dyce2

3603-4 or my complection] Dyce (ed. 1866) : “so the folio and quarto 1637.—The quartos, 1604, &c. have ‘or my complection;’ which some editors adopt, putting a break after the words.”

1869 tsch

tsch

3603-04 or my complection] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “for my complexion würde H.’s Aeusserung nur bedingungsweis hinstellen, also dem Witze, den er sich mit Osrick erlaubt, die Spitze abbrechen. Schon das methinks hätte Del. aufmerksam machen müssen, dass die Lesart der Fol. weniger gut ist.” [“for my complexion Hamlet’s expression only conditionally brings forward the sarcasm to dismantle, as well as the wit, which he is granted with Osrick,”]

1870 Daniel

Daniel

3603-04 and hot, or my complection] Daniel (1870, p. 76): <p. 76> “and hot for my Complexion]] The Quartos have,—and hot, or my complexion,—which Warburton adopted, adding after complexion a dash, to mark the sentence as uncompleted.

“I suspect that Hamlet’s speech should end at hot, and that for my complexion is a pretty oath (‘Fore my complexion!) which should be given to Osrick. See Rosland, in [AYL]—Good my complexion!” </p. 76>

1872 del4

del4 = del2

3603-4 Ham. But yet . . . complection]

1872 cln1

cln1

3603-04 and hot, or my complection] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “or my complexion —]] So Warburton. The quartos have no mark of interruption. The folios read ‘for my complexion.’ See [1.4.27 (621+8)].”

1877 v1877

v1877: warb (paraphrased) ; Walker ; Lettsom ; Daniel

3603-04 and hot, or my complection] Furness (ed. 1877): “Those who follow theQq adopt Warburton’s explanation: Ham. was going on to say ‘or my complexion deceives me,’ but the over-complaisance of Osr. interrupted him. Walker (Crit. ii, 322) follows the Qq, because ‘for’ of the Ff is so frequently misprinted for or. Lettsom upholds the Ff. Daniel (p. 76) suspects that Hamlet’s speech should end at ‘hot,’ and that ‘for my complexion’ is a petty oath (‘Fore my complexion!), which should be given to Osr. See Roslind in [AYL: ‘Good my complexion!’ [3.2.204 (1388)].”

1882 elze2

elze2

3603 But yet] Elze (ed. 1882): “I am afraid that [Q1] and [F1] are right [in omitting “But yet”].”

elze2

3603-4 or my complection] Elze (ed. 1882): “Hamlet, being fat and scant of breath, as we are told in §234 (3756], is therefore more alive to the effects of the heat than other people; there is, consequently, no need of altering or correcting the reading of [F1], whereas that of [Q2] is evidently the result of a mistake.”

1883 wh2

wh2

3603-4 or my complection] White (ed. 1883): “my constitution.”

1885 macd

macd

3603-4 or my complection] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “‘and hot—for my temperament.’”

1885 mull

mull ≈ macd w/o attribution

3604 complection]

1890 irv2

irv2

3603-4 or my complection] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Qq. print or in place of for, which Warburton printed as an unfinished sentence, understanding ‘or my complexion deceives me.’ It seems to me that one reading is just as plausible as the other.”

1900 ev1

ev1=

3603-4 or my complection] Herford (ed. 1900): "some such words as ’deceived me’ are understood. But Hamlet must be supposed to break off, as in his next speech, not to be interrupted by Osric."

1906 nlsn

nlsn

3603-4 complection] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary, complexion): “temperament; external appearance.”

1934 Wilson

Wilson

3603 or] Wilson (1934, 2:280) prefers F1 for my, adopted byROWE, GLO, v1877 over Q2, adopted by v1821, CAM1

3603 or] Wilson (1934, 2:284): <p. 284> “Editors have tried to make sense out of Q2 by printing a dash after ‘complexion’ and thus implying that Osric interrupts Hamlet. It is exceedingly unlikely that such a stickler for politeness as this fop, who refuses to wear his hat in the Prince of Denmark’s presence, would thus rudely interrupt him; the Q2 compositor has left out a letter, that is all.” </p. 284>

1934 cam3

cam3 :

3603-4 complection] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary): “disposition, constitution. One of the four temperaments (sanguine, melancholy, choleric and phlegmatic).”

1939 kit2

kit2≈ standard

3603-4 complection]

3603-4 complection] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary): “temperament.”

1951 alex

alex ≈ standard

3603-4 complection] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary)

1951 crg2

crg2=standard

3603-4 complection] Craig (ed. 1954, Glossary)

1954 sis

sis ≈ standard

3603-4 complection] Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary):

1957 pel1

pel1 : standard

3603-4 complection]

1970 pel2

pel2=pel1

3603-4 complection]

1974 evns1

evns1 ≈ standard

3603-4 complection]

1980 pen2

pen2 : contra Wilson w/o attribution

3603-4 or] Spencer (ed. 1980): “for my complexion]] This if F’s reading. Q2 has ‘or’ instead of for; this could be right if one puts a dash after complexion and supposes that Hamlet is interrupted by Osrick before he can finish his sentence with ‘judges it wrongly’ ((or something of the sort)).”

pen2 ≈ standard

3603-4 complection]

1982 ard2

ard2 ≈ cln1 w/o attribution

3603-04 and hot, or my complection]

1984 chal

chal : cam3a

3603-4 complection]

1985 cam4

cam4 ≈ standard

3603-4 complection]

1987 oxf4

Oxf4 : oed [2. a. Bodily habit or constitution (orig. supposed to be constituted by the "humours"). Obs.]

3603-4 complection]

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

3603-4 complection]

1993 dent

dent

3603-4 complection] Andrews (ed. 1989): “Possibly either a misreading for or a variant of sultry ((the Folio reads soultry, which osrick appears to understand, line 102)). But Hamlet may be coining an adjective that combines sultry ((humid)) and sullied ((soiled, dirty)).”

1992 fol2

fol2≈ standard

3603-4 complection]

1998 OED

OED

3603 sully] OED (sultry) a.SWELTERY.]1. a. Of the weather, the atmosphere, etc.: Oppressively hot and moist; sweltering. 1594 KYD Cornelia II. i. 133 The spring, Whom Sommers pride (with sultrie heate) pursues. 1602 SHAKS. Ham. V. ii. 101 Ham. The winde is Northerly... Mee thinkes it is very soultry, and hot for my Complexion. [etc.]