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

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."