Page:Hamlet - The Arden Shakespeare - 1899.djvu/111

in form and moving how express^{[b 1]} and admirable! 320
in action how like an angel! in apprehension
how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to
me, what is this quintessence of dust? man
delights not me; no,^{[a 1]} nor woman^{[a 2]} neither, though 325
by your smiling you seem to say so.^{[b 2]}

Ros. My lord, there was no such stuff in my
thoughts.

Ham. Why did you^{[a 3]} laugh then,^{[a 4]} when I said man
delights not me"? 330

Ros. To think, my lord, if you delight not in man,
what lenten^{[b 3]} entertainment the players shall
receive from you; we coted^{[b 4]} them on the
way; and hither are they coming, to offer you
service. 335

Ham. He that plays the king shall be welcome; his
majesty shall have tribute of me;^{[a 5]} the adventurous
knight shall use his foil and target; the
lover shall not sigh gratis; the humorous man^{[b 5]}
shall end his part in peace; the clown^{[a 6]} shall 340

1. 325. no] omitted in Q.
2. 325. woman] F, women Q.
3. 329. you] F, yee Q.
4. 329. then] Q, omitted in F.
5. 337. of me] F, on me Q.
6. 340–342. the clown . . . sere"] omitted in Q.

1. 320. express] exact. Clar. Press quote Hebrews i. 3: "express image." Schmidt, "expressive."
2. 325, 326.] to follow such a confession with laughter, from any cause, is a measure of the courtiers' intelligent sympathy.
3. 332. lenten] meagre, as in Twelfth Night, I. v. 9.
4. 333. coted] overtook and passed beyond. Goulding's Ovid Met. B. x.: "With that Hippomenes coted her" (Lat. praterit); used specially as a term in coursing, and so explained by Turbervile.
5. 339. humorous man] "Not the funny man or jester . . . but the actor who personated the fantastic characters . . . for the most part represented as capricious and quarrelsome" (Staunton). "Such characters as Faulconbridge, Jaques, and Mercutio" (Delius). The characters of the stock company suit the present play