Note IX

IV. 2. 55, 56. The first Quarto has:

'A fixed figure, for the time of scorne,
To point his slow vnmouing fingers at—oh, oh,'

The second and third have the same except that they substitute 'finger' for fingers. The first Folio, which is followed substantially by the rest, has:

'The fixed Figure for the time of Scorne,
To point his slow, and mouing finger at.'

Rowe:

'A fixed Figure for the hand of Scorn
To point his slow and moving Finger at—.'

He is followed by Pope, Theobald, and Hanmer.

Warburton also follows Rowe, except that he reads 'unmoving' for 'and moving.'

Johnson, Capell and Jennens adopt Warburton's reading.

Capell puts 'O! O!' in a separate line.

Steevens reads with the second and third Quartos, followed by Malone, Rann and the Variorum Editors.

Malone conjectures:

'A fixed figure for the scorn of time
To point his slow unmoving finger at,—'

Mason proposes 'slowly moving' for 'slow unmoving': a conjecture which has been also made by Mr Collier's MS. corrector and adopted by Mr Collier in his second edition.

Becket conjectures:

'A fixed figure and in scorn, for time
To point his slow-unmoving finger at.'

Jackson:

'A fix'd figure, for the type of scorn
To point his low unmoving finger at.'

Mr Knight, in his 'Stratford' Edition, and Mr Staunton adopt Hunter's conjecture:

'The fixed figure of the time, for scorn
To point his slow and moving finger at,—'

Mr Grant White, in his Shakespeare's Scholar, expressed his approval of this conjecture, changing however, 'and moving' to 'unmoving' in the second line. In his edition he follows, as we do, the second Quarto. 'The time of scorn' (he says) is a phrase like 'the day of sorrow,' 'the hour of joy,' or 'the age of progress.'

Dr Cartwright reads:

'A fixed figure for the time of scorn
To point his cold unmoving finger at.'

Mr Bailey conjectures:

'A fixed figure for the time, in scorn
To point his sly and mocking finger at.'

Mr Bullock proposes to read:

'A fixed figure for the rhymer's scorn,
To point his foul unmoving finger at.'

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