Laer. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge, It could not move thus. Oph. You must sing, Down a-down, an you call him a-down-a. O, how the wheel becomes it! 28 It is the false steward, that stole his master's daughter."9 Laer. This nothing's more than matter. Oph. There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's for thoughts.30 28 The wheel is the burthen of a ballad, from the Latin rotu, a round, which is usually accompanied with a burthen frequently repeated. Thus also, in old French, roterie signified such a round or catch. Steevens forgot to note from whence he made the following extract, though he knew it was from the preface to some black letter collection of songs or sonnets: "The song was accounted a good one, though it was not moche graced with the wheele, which in no wise accorded with the subject matter thereof." It should be remembered that the old musical instrument called a rote, from its wheel, was also termed vielle, quasi wheel. 29 Meaning, probably, some old ballad, of which no traces have survived. H. 30 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. Perdita, in The Winter's Tale, distributes her flowers 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 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. Fennel was emblematic of flattery Browne, in his Britannia's Pastorals, says, "The columbine, in tawny often taken, Is then ascrib'd to such as are forsaken." Rue was for ruth of repentance. It was also commonly called Laer. A document in madness; thoughts and remembrance fitted. may Oph. There's fennel for you, and columbines:— there's rue for you, and here's some for me: we call it herb of grace o'Sundays: - you may wear your rue with a difference. There's a daisy: I would give you some violets, but they wither'd all, when my father died. They say, he made a good end, [Sings.] For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy, — Laer. Thought and affliction," passion, hell itself, She turns to favour, and to prettiness. Oph. [Sings.] And will he not come again? No, no, he is dead; Go to thy death-bed; He never will come again. His beard was as white as snow, All flaxen was his poll: He is gone, he is gone, And we cast away moan: herb grace, probably from being accounted "a present remed, against all poison, and a potent auxiliary in exorcisms, all evil things fleeing from it." Wearing it with a difference was an heraldic term for a mark of distinction. The daisy was emblematic of a dissembler. The violet is for faithfulness, and is thus characterised in The Lover's Nosegaie. "Curarum 31 Thought was used for grief, care, pensiveness. volvere in pectore. He will die for sorrow and thought." - BA RET. 32 Poor Ophelia in her madness remembers the ends of many old popular ballads. Bonny Robin" appears to have been a favourite, for there were many others written to that tune. This iast stanza is quoted with some variation in Eastward Ho! 1605, by Jonson, Marston, and Chapman. And of all Christian souls! I pray God. wi' you! 33 Laer. Do you see this, O God? God be [Exit. King. Laertes, I must common with your grief,*4 Or you deny me right. Go but apart; Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me. If by direct or by collateral hand They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give, Be you content to lend your patience to us, Laer. Let this be su. His means of death, his obscure funeral, – Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth, That I must call't in question.3 King. 35 So you shall; And where th' offence is, let the great axe fall. I pray you, go with me. [Exeunt H. 33 The words, "I pray God," are not in the quartos. 34 The use of common as a verb, in the sense of making com. mon, or of having or feeling in common, is very frequent in the old writers. In this place, as in many others, it is usually changed to commune, with which is nearly synonymous. We retain the old form, as giving a somewhat stronger sense, and also as suiting the measure better. H. 35 The funerals of knights and persons of rank were made with great ceremony and ostentation formerly. Sir John Hawkins ob serves that " the sword, the helmet, the gauntlet, spurs, and tabard are still hung over the grave of every knight." SCENE VI. Another Room in the Same. Enter HORATIO and a Servant. Hor. What are they that would speak with me? Serv. Sailors, sir:' they say they have letters for you. Hor. Let them come in. [Exit Servant. I do not know from what part of the world Enter Sailors. 1 Sail. God bless you, sir. Hor. Let Him bless thee too. 1 Sail. He shall, sir, an't please Him. There's a letter for you, sir: it comes from th' ambassador that was bound for England; if your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. Hor. [Reads.] Horatio, when thou shalt have overlook'd this, give these fellows some means to the king: they have letters for him. Ere we were two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike appointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valour; and in the grapple I boarded them: on the instant, they got clear of our ship; so I alone became their prisoner. They have dealt with me like thieves of mercy; but they knew what they did; I am to do a good turn for them. Let the king have the letters I have sent; and repair thou to me with as much haste as thou would'st fly death. I have words to speak in thine ear, will make thee dumb; yet are they much too light for the bore of the matter." These good fellows will bring thee where I am. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hold their course for England: of them I have much to tell thee. Farewell: He that thou knowest thine, HAMLET. The quartos read Sea-faring men instead of Sailors. H Come, I will give you way for these your letters; And do't the speedier, that you may direct me To him from whom you brought them. [Exeunt. SCENE VII. Another Room in the Same. Enter the King and LAERTES. King. Now must your conscience my acquittance seal, And you must put me in your heart for friend; Laer. It well appears: -But tell me, Why you proceeded not against these feats, As by your safety, greatness, wisdom, all things else King. O! for two special reasons; Which may to you, perhaps, seem much unsinew'd, But yet to me they are strong. The queen, his mother, Lives almost by his looks; and, for myself, Why to a public count I might not go, Is the great love the general gender2 bear him; Who, dipping all his faults in their affection, Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone, So the folio; the quartos, criminal. 2 That is, the common race of the people. We have the gen eral and the million in other places in the same sense. |