Page 267 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

i6o N O T E S 1.5.

for the Ghost to waft Ham. to "a more removed ground"
(1. 4. 61), and the effect of 1. 5. 148, where "Ghost
cries under the Stage," would be less' (Eliz. Stage, iii.
116). The first point is disputable; the second I do not
understand, the hilt.. .before him The sword, drawn
to threaten his friends in the previous scene, is now used,
I suggest, as a protection against the powers of evil. Cf.
note I. 5. 147 and Lavater, p. 247.
11.* fast in fires This has puzzled many; but Dante
(Purg. xxiii, esp. 11. 64-9) describes how the intem-
perate in food and drink are condemned to suffer
agonies of hunger and thirst in the cleansing fires of
Purgatory. It seems to follow that the 'foul crimes' of
which the Ghost speaks were those of intemperance;
cf. 3. 3. 80 'A' took my father grossly, full of bread' and
note 1. 4. 13 above.
19. anend(Qz, Fi) v. G. Many edd. read'on end.'
20. Like quills.. .porpetitine A striking model of a
porcupine with quills erect, the crest of the Sidney
family, faces one as one enters the court of the Leicester
Hospital founded at Warwick in 1571 by the Earl of
Leicester. Sh. must have seen it when a boy; and if so
could hardly have forgotten it, while the memory would
naturally suggest 'blazon' (v. G.) in 1. 21. The 'por-
pentine' was also used as a sign in London (v. MSH.
p. 260).
21. eternal blazon = revelation of the secrets of
eternity, v. G. 'blazon.' Schmidt notes that Sh. often
uses 'eternal' to express extreme abhorrence. Cf.
Jul. Caes. 1. 2. 160; Oth. 4. 2. 130.
33. rots (Fi) Q,2,Q 1 'rootes.' Cf.A. fcf C. 1. 4.
45-7:
Like to a vagabond flag upon the stream
Goes to and back, lackeying the varying tide
To rot itself with motion.
MSH. p. 282.
42-57.*//y, that.. .prey on garbage The burden of