Page:Hamlet - The Arden Shakespeare - 1899.djvu/48

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SC. II.]
PRINCE OF DENMARK
15

Now follows that you know:[b 1] young[a 1] Fortinbras,
Holding a weak supposal of our worth,
Or thinking by our late dear brother's death
Our state to be disjoint and out of frame, 20
Colleagued[b 2] with the[a 2] dream of his advantage,[b 3]
He hath not fail'd to pester[b 4] us with message,
Importing[b 5] the surrender of those lands
Lost by his father, with all bonds[a 3] of law,
To our most valiant brother. So much for him.[a 4] 25
Now for ourself and for this time of meeting:[a 5]
Thus much the business is; we have here writ
To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras,—
Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears
Of this his nephew's purpose,—to suppress 30
His further gait herein; in that the levies,
The lists and full proportions,[b 6] are all made
Out of his subject: and we here dispatch
You, good Cornelius, and you, Voltimand,
For bearers[a 6] of this greeting to old Norway, 35
Giving to you no further personal power
To business with the king more than the scope

  1. 17. know: young] Walker; no comma after know Q, F; comma after follows F.
  2. 21. the] F, this Q.
  3. 24. bonds] F, bands Q and many editors.
  4. 25.] Enter Voltemand and Cornelius F.
  5. 26. meeting:] F 4, meeting, Q, meeting F.
  6. 35. For bearers] Q 1, Q; For bearing F.
  1. 17. that you know,] that which you know. The pointing is that suggested by S. Walker; commonly with commas after "follows" and "know."
  2. 21. Colleagued] Theobald suggested "collogued," flattered, cajoled. The "supposal," line 18, is colleagued, united, with the "dream."
  3. 21. his advantage] his superiority to us.
  4. 22. pester] annoy and especially by crowding, as in Coriolanus, IV. vi. 7: "Dissentious numbers pestering streets."
  5. 23. Importing] having for import; not, as Abbott explains, importuning. See Othello, II. ii. 3.
  6. 32. proportions] number of troops, as in Henry V, I. ii. 304: "let our proportions for these wars be soon collected."