Page:Hamlet - The Arden Shakespeare - 1899.djvu/46

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SC. I.]
PRINCE OF DENMARK
13

And then, they say, no spirit can walk[a 1][b 1] abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,[b 2]
No fairy takes,[a 2] nor witch hath power to charm.
So hallow'd and so gracious is the[a 3][b 3] time.

Hor. So have I heard and do in part believe it. 165
But look, the Morn, in russet mantle clad,
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern[a 4] hill;
Break we our watch up; and by my advice,
Let us impart what we have seen to-night
Unto young Hamlet; for, upon my life, 170
This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it,
As needful in our loves, fitting our duty?

Mar. Let's do't, I pray; and I this morning know
Where we shall find him most conveniently.[a 5] 175
[Exeunt.

  1. 161. can walk] F, dare sturre Q, dare walke Q 1.
  2. 163. takes] Q, talkes F.
  3. 164. the] F, that Q 1, Q.
  4. 167. eastern] F, eastward Q.
  5. 175. conveniently] Q 1, F; convenient Q.
  1. 161. walk] The Q "stir" has not the special ghostly significance of "walk," which is frequent in Shakespeare, e.g. Winter's Tale, V. i. 63: "were I the ghost that walk'd."
  2. 162. strike] blast, especially of planetary influence. Coriolanus, II. ii. 117: "struck Corioli like a planet." Furness quotes Florio's Dict.: "Assiderare: to blast or strike with a planet, to be taken."
  3. 163. takes] affects with malignant influence. Merry Wives, IV. iv. 32 (of Herne the Hunter): "And there he blasts the tree and takes the cattle." So "taking airs" in Lear, II. iv. 166.