'Ham'. For if the sun breeds maggots in a dead dog,
Being a god, kissing carrion—
These purposely obscure lines, I rather think, refer to some thought in Hamlet's mind, contrasting the lovely daughter with such a tedious old fool, her father, as he, Hamlet, represents Polonius to himself:—'Why, fool as he is, he is some degrees in rank above a dead dog's carcase; and if the sun, being a god that kisses carrion, can raise life out of a dead dog,—why may not good fortune, that favours fools, have raised a lovely girl out of this dead-alive old fool?' Warburton is often led astray, in his interpretations, by his attention to general positions without the due Shakspearian reference to what is probably passing in the mind of his speaker, characteristic, and expository of his particular character and present mood. The subsequent passage,—
O Jephtha, judge of Israel! what a treasure hadst thou!
is confirmatory of my view of these lines.
Ib.
'Ham'. You cannot, Sir, take from me any thing that I will more
willingly part withal; except my life, except my life, except my life.
This repetition strikes me as most admirable.
Ib.
'Ham'. Then are our beggars, bodies; and our monarchs, and
out-stretched heroes, the beggars' shadows.
I do not understand this; and Shakspeare seems to have intended the meaning not to be more than snatched at:—'By my fay, I cannot reason!'