It’s unlikely that he would say this to the gravedigger – as one would presume that the gravedigger would know all this very well. Not that Hamlet would be above a condescending passing on of obvious knowledge – but it feels more likely that he’s saying this to Horatio. Which reminds me of my pet theory that Horatio is more foreigner than friend. He affords the opportunity for Hamlet to explain customs and traditions that would not require explanations to a native Dane. Horatio allows Hamlet to give us some context.

The place I came to write is surprise closing in five minutes. My own rites are being a bit maimed against my will today. I have not had time to do any of the things I came here to do. So. This line analysis is a bit lame, the ritual has been maimed and we will have to proceed again tomorrow.

The logistics of this are tricky. If the King, Queen and courtiers are following the body – then the body would seem to be the first “person” out onstage but he doesn’t say anything about it until after he’s acknowledged the king and train.
I suppose, the way to do it is for those two “But soft”s to be the seeing of the coffin and then he circles back around to the coffin once he’s processed who’s here.
So it’s: dead body, King, Queen, courtiers…
Wait, if they’re here who is that dead body? Who is dead that those folks are here?
And wait – what’s missing?
Some of the usual trappings.
So was this dead body a suicide?
It’s a lot to follow that train of thought.
But it is logical.

I’m looking at the text on Genius.com. I used to photocopy pages from my New Penguin edition but this has become easier. I just look at it on my smartphone and boom. I know the next line.
The problem with this convenience, though, is that it has no context. There are no indications of where Genius pulled their text from – which edition, which copy. There are major variations between editions, especially with this play, as there are three original sources – the first folio, the 2nd Quarto and the 1st, known as the Bad Quarto. And almost every edition is some combination of all three – cobbled together by an editor. But who edited the Genius text?
I mean, we, the Genius users, can edit the notes – but the actual text?

There are none of the deep cut textual notations that are characteristic of the Arden edition – so there is nothing to clue us in to editorial choices or variations.

I’m wondering about this now because the stage direction of the funeral processions entrance happens right before this line in the Genius “edition.” Is it always thus?
I imagine there are editions that might read: Here comes the King, the Queen, the courtiers.
But this edition has chosen (or not chosen, just pulled from some unknown source) to set the king apart from the rest. To insert a period where there might, in other cases, be a comma.
I might need to look at some actual editions.

I bet Hamlet wasn’t expecting to see the king here – since he didn’t know Ophelia had died – he’s not camped out here waiting for him.
But that raises the question of why Hamlet is in the graveyard. Are he and Horatio just out taking a stroll? That’s how I’ve always imagined it. They’re just out for a walk when they, by accident, stumble into a graveyard.
But what if that’s not it? What if they’re there on purpose? Like – to see what happened to Polonius’ body? Maybe to visit his grave to beg his pardon or ask his forgiveness? I’d like a Hamlet who turned up for that reason. I’m not sure it’s actually likely – but I like it.
One reason I know he’s NOT there is to have a psychological/philosophical discussion about death. That just happens to him when he turns up. I suppose he could have had a tip-off that the king is headed that way and he’s there to head him off – but he doesn’t know WHY Claudius is turning up there.

I don’t know why we don’t use this word to get people out of the way anymore. We know what it means. But somehow if we’re going to use it, we have to add the verb. It has to be Step Aside or Move Aside. I don’t know why Aside on its own wouldn’t do the trick.

This repetition of “but soft” is funny – because he’s definitely the only one talking.
So he tells himself to be quiet and then tells himself to be quiet again?
It could be that the first one is to quiet himself – and then when Horatio or the gravedigger look like they’ve about to ask why he tells them to hush up.
Certainly it could be said twice just for emphasis, just for rhythm. But there could also be business!

There are lines that can reliably make middle school boys giggle, given the chance. But soft is one of them. They will often make the quick leap to “Butt Soft” and there will be laughs for days. They’ll be sure they invented this hilarity and I will be sure to allow them this fiction – because, they did, in a way. It’s just that almost every other middle school boy also invented the exact same joke.

This sense of flaw seems like one that Shakespeare could have made up. The word feels like a combination of flood, froze and thaw. Like it’s a word that should exist instead of one that did. But it would appear that flaw once meant flake, as in snowflake. So when snow fell in the 13th century, folks might say “Look at all those flaws!”
“I caught a flaw on my tongue!”
Or when it’s a clear day and suddenly a snowflake seems to appear – “Was that a flaw?”
How did this word shift meaning so dramatically?
I know its sense of flake expanded outside of snow – that you could have a flaw of fire or flint at a certain point …but then from there – how did we get to a sense of blemish or mistake?

PARTICLES of CAESAR, MIXED with SAND and SILT and CLAY
HANGING OUT in a WALL:
No, no, my earthy friends, I am not ambitious for a crown of silt. I am here among my friends to stop up this hole, just as the rest of you are. Just because I once ruled an empire, because I was once an emperor, because I ruled over all I could see, does not mean I want to be treated any differently than the rest of you fellows.

I mean, if you insist, Sand. I wouldn’t want to insult you as we sit here keeping this house from becoming too drafty. For you, then, Sand, I will wear this crown. But of course – we must all hang together here to keep this hole filled.