Page 292 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

3.2. NOTES 185
Aen. ii. 551 'in multo lapsantem sanguine nati/ which
refers to Priam not Pyrrhus. It is noteworthy that
Dryden clearly had Sh.'s lines in mind in translating
Vergil's account of Pyrrhus.
460. keraldy v. G.
461. gules.. .tricked Heraldic terms; v. G.
473-75. Striking.. .command Cf. Aen. ii. 509-11,
and 544-46:
arma diu senior desueta trementibus aevo
circumdat nequiquam umeris et inutile ferrum
cingitur.
sic fatus senior telumque imbelle sine ictu
coniecit, rauco quod protinus aere repulsum,
et summo clipei nequiquam umbone pependit.
473. antique Either (a) ancient, or (b) 'antic'
= ludicrous.
476-78. in rage.. .father falls The lines owe
nothing to Vergil and must be borrowed from Dido,
Qjieen of Carthage (v. note 1. 451), 2. 1. 253-54:
Which he disdaining, whisk'd his sword about,
And with the wind thereof the king fell down.
478-80. then senseless Ilium.. .his base Cf. Aen.
ii. 554-56:
haec finis Priami fatorum, hie exitus ilium
sorte tulit Troiam incensam et prolapsa videntem
Pergama.
487-91. But as we often see.. .region This studied
simile, so like Chapman in manner (cf. Bussy, 2.1.94 ff.
'Then, as in Arden I have seen an oak' etc.), is in
diction pure Sh., e.g. the words 'rack,' 'region,' 'hush'
(for wind or weather) are favourites of his; cf. Ado, 2.
3. 37-8 ' How still the evening is,/As hushed on purpose
to grace harmony'; Temp. 4. 1. 207; Oth. 4. 2. 79;
John, 5.1. 20; Son. 102.10. For 'region' cf. 2. 2. 582.
493-94. the Cyclops' hammers etc. Cf. 'Vulcan's
stithy' 3. 2. 82.