Hamlet (47 page)

153
skin and film
form a thin skin over

154
mining
corroding/undermining/sapping

158
ranker
more abundant

158
virtue
i.e. virtuous talk and rebukes

159
pursy
short-winded/fat

161
curb and woo
bow and entreat

174
That
so that

174
scourge and minister
agent of retribution

175
bestow
dispose of/stow away

175
answer well
justify/pay for

178
behind
yet to come

181
bloat
bloated/flabby/swollen with self-indulgence

182
Pinch wanton
in pinching your cheeks leave marks that proclaim you a wanton (lewd woman)

182
mouse
common term of endearment

183
reechy
filthy, squalid (literally “smoky”)

185
ravel … out
unravel (i.e. reveal) all this business

187
in craft
through cunning, by design

189
paddock … gib
toad, bat, tomcat (creatures popularly supposed to be the familiars of witches)

190
dear concernings
important matters

192
Unpeg
unfasten (thus letting the
birds
out)

193
famous … down
a reference to a lost story; presumably the ape attempted to imitate the birds who had been released from the basket by climbing in, then leaping out in the hope of flying, only to succeed in breaking his neck

194
try conclusions
experiment

202
set me packing
cause me to be sent away at once/make me begin plotting

205
still … grave
quiet, trustworthy and dignified/dead

206
prating
prattling, chattering

207
draw … you
finish my dealings with you/haul you to your grave

209
matter
significance

218
brainish apprehension
headstrong conviction/deluded understanding

220
heavy
sorrowful

224
answered
accounted for

225
providence
foresight/arrangements

226
short
on a tight leash

226
haunt
company

230
divulging
becoming apparent

232
apart
away

233
ore
precious metal

234
mineral
mine or its products

240
countenance
confront/bear out

248
what’s untimely done
i.e. Polonius’ premature death

Act 4 Scene 1

1
Stowed
lodged (refers to Polonius’ body); plays on slang sense of “kept quiet,” “shut up”

5
Compounded
united, mingled

10
keep … own
keep your secrets and not my own/follow your advice (and tell you where the body is) and yet keep my own secret

11
demanded of
questioned by

11
replication
response

14
countenance
favor

15
authorities
power, influence

17
mouthed
taken into the mouth

21
sleeps in
i.e. is wasted on

25
The … body
Claudius has a physical body, but he does not possess true kingship/the body is here in the castle, like Claudius; however he, not being dead, is not with Polonius/Polonius is with the true king, dead Hamlet senior, not with the usurping Claudius/Polonius is with God, rather than Claudius

28
Hide … after
refers to a children’s game in which one person (the
fox
) hides and the others pursue him

Act 4 Scene 2

4
of
by

4
distracted
deranged/confused/foolish

6
scourge
punishment

6
weighed
considered

7
bear … even
manage matters smoothly and evenly

9
Deliberate pause
i.e. the result of careful consideration

10
appliance
remedy

15
Without
outside

22
convocation
political assembly

22
convocation … diet
a punning allusion to the Diet (i.e. assembly) of the German city of Worms

22
e’en
even now

25
variable service
different dishes in the same meal

28
eat
eaten

32
progress
official journey of state undertaken by the monarch

41
tender
hold dear

44
bark
ship

45
tend
await

45
at bent
ready

51
cherub
angel possessed of insight and knowledge

57
at foot
closely

60
leans on
appertains to

61
aught
any worth

62
thereof … sense
may give you an awareness of the value of my love

63
cicatrice
scar

64
free awe
voluntary submission, uncompelled deference

65
coldly set
disregard/regard coolly

66
process
command

66
imports at full
is fully concerned with/conveys detailed instructions for

67
conjuring
solemnly charging/conspiring

68
present
immediate

69
hectic
fever

71
Howe’er my haps
whatever my fortunes

Act 4 Scene 3

4.3
Location: the Danish border
(see “Second Quarto Passages That Do Not Appear in the Folio,” lines 81–139 [pp. 143–44], for a longer version of this scene, in which Hamlet witnesses the army’s march and speaks his soliloquy “How all occasions do inform against me / And spur my dull revenge”)

2
licence
permission

3
conveyance of
granting of/Danish escort for

6
duty
respect

6
eye
presence

9
softly
slowly, carefully

Act 4 Scene 4

4.4
Location: within the royal castle at Elsinore

2
importunate
insistent, pressing

2
distract
agitated/deranged

6
hems
makes “hmm” noises

7
Spurns … straws
strikes out spitefully at trifles

7
in doubt
of unclear meaning

9
use
manner/utterance

10
collection
a gathering of meaning

10
aim
guess

11
botch
patch, stitch clumsily together

12
Which
which words

12
yield
convey, deliver

13
thought
intended

14
unhappily
ominously near the truth/maliciously

16
ill-breeding
mischief-making

19
toy
trifle

19
amiss
wrong, calamity

20
artless jealousy
unskilled suspicion

21
It … spilt
its excessive fear of being revealed ends up betraying it (“to spill” means both to destroy and to reveal)

26
cockle hat
hat with a cockle-shell on it, showing that the wearer had visited the Spanish shrine of Santiago (Saint James) of Compostela; a
staff
and sandals were also typical of such a pilgrim

27
shoon
shoes

38
Larded
strewn, covered

40
showers
i.e. of tears

42
yield
reward; a common way to express thanks

42
owl … daughter
refers to the tale of a baker’s daughter who was turned into an owl after she had been ungenerous to Jesus when he begged for bread

45
Conceit upon
fanciful thinking about/brooding on

49
betime
early

51
Valentine
sweetheart, supposedly the first person of the opposite sex one saw on Valentine’s Day

52
rose
the sexual innuendo of Ophelia’s language suggests possible erectile connotations

53
dupped
opened (perhaps punning on “tupped,” i.e. “had sex with”)

53
chamber door
playing on vaginal connotations

54
maid
virgin

58
Gis
Jesus

60
do’t
have sex

61
cock
euphemism for God, plays on sense of “penis”

62
tumbled
had sex with

65
An
if

76
spies
scouts sent ahead of the main army

79
remove
removal

79
muddied
stirred up

81
greenly
foolishly

82
hugger-mugger
secrecy

85
as much containing
of as much significance

87
wonder
bewilderment/doubt (about his father’s death)

87
in clouds
in a state of confusion (or suspicion)/aloof and inscrutable

88
wants
lacks

88
buzzers
gossips, rumor-mongers

90
of matter beggared
deprived of facts and solid evidence

91
nothing … ear
not hesitate to accuse me to one listener after another

93
murdering-piece
small cannon which scattered its shot and so could kill more people

94
Gives … death
kills me over and over

96
Switzers
Swiss guards (mercenaries commonly employed in royal households)

99
overpeering … list
rising over its boundary

100
flats
flat or low-lying land near the shore

101
head
insurrection

103
as
as if

104
Antiquity
ancient tradition

105
The … word
(antiquity and custom are) the things that confirm and support every utterance

107
Caps
thrown into the air in support

110
counter
following the scent in the wrong direction (hunting term)

110
false
disloyal/er ring

112
without
outside

116
keep
guard

120
cuckold
man with an unfaithful wife

121
between
in the middle of

121
unsmirchèd
unstained

122
true
faithful

125
fear
fear for

126
hedge
protect

127
but … will
only peep through at what it desires, and carry out little of its intention

135
juggled with
tricked, deceived

138
To … stand
I am fixed in this resolve

139
both … negligence
I disregard both this world and the next

141
throughly
thoroughly, completely

142
stay
prevent

143
My … world
by my will, not all the world shall stop me

144
husband
manage

149
sweepstake
indiscriminately (from gambling, where one person sweeps up all the stakes on the table)

149
draw
gather

154
pelican
supposedly this bird fed its young with its own blood