THE MEANING OF "DRINK UP EISELL" IN HAMLET

Few passages have been more discussed than this wild challenge of Hamlet to Laertes at the grave of Ophelia: "Ham. I lov'd Ophelia! forty thousand brothers Could not, with all their quantity of love, Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her? —Zounds! show me what thou'lt do? Woo't weep? Woo't fight? Woo't fast? Woo't tear thyself? *Woo't drink up Eisell?* eat a crocodile? I'll do't". The sum of what has been said may be given in the words of Archdeacon Nares: "There is no doubt that eisell meant vinegar, nor even that Shakspeare has used it in that sense; but in this passage it seems that it…