You know sometimes he walks four hours together
Here in the lobby.
Most notes on this line will tell you that this means that Hamlet tends to walk in that lobby at 4 o’clock. It is curious phrasing that makes it SOUND like he’s pacing back and forth there for four hours but it’s not likely that that’s what Polonius is SAYING.
But four hours. . . is there another instance of the time of day being phrased this way? Or is four hours a sort of regular walk time. Like elevenses for the mid-morning snack, or tea, the meal around five. Maybe a stroll at 4 is a cultural tradition? The way the passaggiata is an Italian one and the way my grandparents ate and walked, and walked and then ate, at extremely regular intervals.
It is the “Together’ though that confuses me – 4 hours together really makes it sound like one hour, then another hour, followed by two more hours, making four hours together of walking there in the lobby. This would be a LOT of walking for the Prince of Denmark but maybe it’s his way to get some exercise.
No, no, it’s probably just a weird way to say 4 o’clock.
The Hamlet Project 