Page:Hamlet - The Arden Shakespeare - 1899.djvu/144

Will you two help to hasten them?

Ros., Guil.^{[a 1]} We will,^{[a 2]} my lord.

[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Ham. What ho! Horatio! 60

Enter Horatio.

Hor. Here, sweet lord, at your service.

Ham. Horatio, thou art e'en as just^{[b 1]} a man
As e'er my conversation coped withal.^{[b 2]}

Hor. O, my dear lord,—^{[a 3]}

Ham. Nay, do not think I flatter;
For what advancement may I hope from thee, 65
That no revenue^{[b 3] [b 4]} hast but thy good spirits,
To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be flattered?
No, let the candied tongue lick^{[a 4]} absurd pomp,
And crook the pregnant^{[b 5]} hinges of the knee
Where thrift may follow fawning.^{[a 5]} Dost thou hear? 70
Since my dear^{[b 6]} soul was mistress of her^{[a 6]} choice,
And could of men distinguish, her election^{[a 7]}
Hath^{[a 8]} seal'd thee for herself; for thou hast been

1. 59. Ros., Guil.] Dyce, Both F, Ros. Q.
2. 59. We will] F, I [=Ay] Q.
3. 64. lord,—] Rowe, Lord, Q, F.
4. 68. tongue lick] Q, tongue, like F.
5. 70. fawning] Q, faining? F.
6. 71. her] Q, my F.
7. 72. distinguish, her election] F, distinguish her election Q.
8. 73. Hath] F, S'hath Q, She hath Malone.

1. 62. just] Hamlet, at this moment, needs before all else a man of sound judgment, unswayed by passion. The eulogy that follows has here a dramatic propriety.
2. 63. coped withal] as ever my intercourse with men encountered. So copest in Winter's Tale, IV. iv. 435.
3. 66. revenue] accented here on the second syllable. The accent varies in Shakespeare.
4. 68. candied] sugared.
5. 69. pregnant] Schmidt: "disposed, ready, prompt." Perhaps, quick with meaning. Furness explains, "because untold thrift is born from a cunning use of the knee."
6. 71. dear] see I. ii. 182.