Hamlet (49 page)

29
Adam’s profession
in the Bible, Adam’s job was to look after the Garden of Eden

31
bore arms
had a coat of arms (the sign of a gentleman); with obvious play on sense of “limbs”

36
confess thyself
the saying continues “and be hanged”

42
does well
i.e. as an answer (the sense then shifts to “serves well”)

49
unyoke
give up, stop laboring (literally, unyoke the oxen)

54
mend
improve

56
Yaughan
variant spelling of Vaughan, presumably the name of the local innkeeper, perhaps based on one near the Globe

57
stoup
tankard

58
In … love
this and the following stanza are loose versions of parts of Thomas Vaux’s poem “The Aged Lover Renounceth Love,” printed in 1557;
O
and
a
may be the gravedigger’s grunts as he goes about his work

60
contract … behove
pass away the time to my own advantage

61
meet
(more) fitting

64
property of easiness
something he can undertake with indifference

65
hath … sense
is more sensitive/fastidious

69
shipped … land
dispatched me into the earth (i.e. my grave/dust)

69
intil
into

70
been such
been a young man in love

72
jowls
strikes, dashes (puns on “jowl”–i.e. jawbone)

72
Cain
in the Bible, the first murderer; he killed his brother Abel

74
politician
crafty schemer

74
o’er-offices
lords it over (on account of his office as gravedigger)

75
circumvent
cheat, outwit

82
chapless
jawless

83
mazzard
head (from the term for a drinking bowl)

84
revolution
change/turn of the wheel of fortune

84
trick
knack

84
Did … ’em?
Did these people cost so little to bring up that we may play games with their bones?

85
loggats
a game where pieces of wood shaped like bowling pins were thrown at a stake fixed in the ground

88
For and
and furthermore

88
shrouding sheet
sheet in which the corpse was wrapped

92
quiddities … quillets
subtleties, verbal distinctions, quibbling arguments

93
tenures
(documents or cases relating to) conditions on which property is held

93
rude
ignorant/rough

94
sconce
head

95
action of battery
litigation concerning physical assault

96
statutes
legal documents that secured a debt on land and property (similar to a mortgage)

97
recognizances
legal documents that formally acknowledged a debt

97
fines … recoveries
legal processes concerned with securing the outright ownership of land;

97
double vouchers
refers to the practice of having two people vouch for a claimant’s ownership of the land

98
fine … fines
end of his fines (the sense of
fine
then shifts to “elegant, handsome” and then to “finely powdered”)

99
vouch
guarantee

100
the … indentures
land (i.e. his grave) only as long and wide as a legal document

101
pair of indentures
two copies of an agreement drawn up on the same sheet of paper, which was then halved along a zigzag line to form documents that, when placed together, were a unique match

102
conveyances
deeds relating to the transfer of land and property (plays on the sense of “light-fingered theft/sleight of hand”)

102
box
deed-box/coffin

103
inheritor
i.e. owner

107
assurance in that
security in legal documents

108
sirrah
sir (used to a social inferior)

114
not lie
the First Clown begins a series of puns on the senses of “dwell/fib”

116
quick
living (in his reply, the First Clown plays on the senses of “quick-witted/speedy”)

126
absolute
strictly accurate

126
by the card
precisely (literally, according to either the sailor’s map or compass)

127
equivocation
verbal ambiguity

129
picked
over-refined/fastidious

130
galls his kibe
chafes his chilblain

148
ground
cause (but the First Clown responds to the literal sense of the word)

153
pocky
diseased, especially with the pox i.e. syphilis

153
hold … in
hold together long enough to be buried

155
tanner
one who converts animal hides into leather by tanning (infusing with an astringent liquid)

159
whoreson
wretched (an abusive intensifier used in a jocular manner)

159
Here’s a skull
presumably one of the two thrown up earlier, but conceivably a third if he is still digging

165
A
he

166
Rhenish
German wine from the area around the River Rhine

172
fancy
imagination

173
abhorred
filled with horror

173
My gorge rises
i.e. I feel like vomiting

173
gorge
stomach contents

177
No … jeering?
There’s no one left to laugh at the way you mocked and made fun of people?

178
chop-fallen
downcast/lacking the lower jaw

179
favour
facial appearance

183
Alexander
Alexander the Great, fourth-century king of Macedonia and one of the world’s most successful military leaders

190
bung-hole
hole in a barrel stoppered with a bung

191
too curiously
too closely/overly ingeniously

193
modesty
moderation

195
loam
mortar made of clay, sand and straw

201
flaw
squall, violent gust of wind

204
maimèd
truncated, insufficient

205
desperate
filled with spiritual despair, suicidal

206
Fordo
destroy

206
estate
status

207
Couch
hide

211
obsequies
commemorative rites for the dead

212
warrantise
authorization

212
doubtful
suspicious

213
o’ersways
overrules

214
unsanctified
not consecrated by the Church

215
last trumpet
i.e. Doomsday, which would, according to the Bible, be heralded by the sound of a trumpet

215
For
instead of

216
Shards
fragments of broken pottery

218
strewments
flowers strewn on the coffin or grave

218
bringing … burial
bringing her to her final resting place accompanied by the funeral bell and burial rites

223
sage requiem
a solemn funeral chant

223
such rest
pray for the same rest

224
peace-parted
peacefully departed

227
violets
the flower was associated with chastity

229
howling
i.e. in hell

237
ingenious sense
quick, intelligent mind

240
quick
living (i.e. Laertes)

242
Pelion
the mountain in Thessaly that, in Greek mythology, the warring giants piled on top of Mount Ossa in their attempt to scale
Olympus
, the mountain home of the gods

245
emphasis
strength of expression (a rhetorical term)

246
Conjures … stars
casts a spell on the planets

252
splenitive
hot-tempered (the spleen was thought to be the seat of the passions)

257
quiet
calm

259
wag
open and shut

265
forbear him
leave him alone

267
Woo’t
wilt thou

267
tear
tear violently at (hair, clothing)/injure/destroy

268
eisel
vinegar

268
crocodile
i.e. something tough and dangerous, the creature that was supposed to shed copious hypocritical tears

270
outface
defy/defeat

273
our ground
the piled-up earth above us

274
burning zone
sun’s orbit between the tropics

275
Ossa
in Greek mythology, the mountain on which the giants piled Pelion in their attempt to reach Olympus

275
an
if

275
mouth
grimace/rant

277
mere
complete

280
golden couplets
baby birds covered in golden down

280
disclosed
hatched

283
use
treat

285
Let … day
i.e. even Hercules could not stop Laertes from his tiresome rant/my turn will come and even Hercules (or the ranting Laertes) cannot stop me

288
in
i.e. by remembering

289
present push
immediate test (
push
may also be suggestive of the thrust of a weapon)

291
living
lasting (but also implies that murdering Hamlet will serve as a memorial)

Act 5 Scene 2

5.2
Location: within the royal castle at Elsinore

1
this
the pair enter mid-conversation;
this
refers to what Hamlet has just been telling Horatio

1
see the other
hear the other news

2
circumstance
details

6
mutines … bilboes
mutineers in shackles

6
Rashly
on impulse (Hamlet then digresses before returning to his tale in line 13)

7
know
acknowledge

8
indiscretion
lack of forethought and prudence

9
dear
important

9
pall
weaken/become flat and stale

11
Rough-hew
carve roughly

14
sea-gown
short-sleeved, calf-length sailor’s gown made of coarse material

14
scarfed
wrapped loosely

15
them
i.e. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

16
Fingered
stole

16
in fine
finally, in conclusion

21
Larded
garnished, interspersed

21
several
various

22
Importing
concerning

23
bug
hobgoblin, bogeyman

23
bugs … life
terrors to be feared were I to be allowed to continue living

24
supervise
reading (of the commission)

24
leisure bated
time wasted

25
stay
await

31
benetted round
snared, surrounded as if in a net

32
Ere … play
i.e. before my brain could begin to consider the issue, I had already taken action

34
fair
in elegant handwriting

35
statists
statesmen

38
yeoman’s
i.e. efficient, loyal (a yeoman was an attendant in a royal household)

39
effect
nature

41
conjuration
entreaty

42
tributary
country owing him a tribute (a regular payment after defeat in war)