May things be well with you, gentlemen!

A formulaic greeting.

The adventurous knight will use his sword and shield, the lover will not sigh in vain, the eccentric man will end his part in peace, the clown will make those laugh who laugh easily, and the lady will speak her mind freely, or the verse will sound lame as a result [of the censored words].

Hamlet is describing archetypal roles from the world of stage drama and declaring that they will all be welcome.

humorous: means, in this context, not “funny” but “moody” or (per the Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd ed.) “dominated by some eccentric trait (like the melancholy Jacques in As You Like It).” Refers to the ancient theory of the four humors.

lungs…sere: i.e., who laugh easily. Some editions read “tickle.” Riverside Shakespeare note: “literally, describing a gun that goes off easily; sere = a catch in the gunlock; tickle = easily affected, highly sensitive to stimulus.”

blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter (the standard meter for Elizabethan verse plays, including Shakespeare’s).

coted: overtook.

Rosencrantz speaks as if they’re coming to entertain Hamlet in particular. Of course they’re coming to entertain the court as a whole, but as a lover of the theater, Prince Hamlet is presumably an enthusiastic supporter and patron.

More deferential, flattering, formulaic speech from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Notice they’re about as deferential toward Polonius as their old friend Hamlet–they are clearly on the lower rungs of the ladder at court.

From Trevor Nunn’s production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, 2011

This is their first interaction in the play, so Polonius may be genuinely unsure whether Hamlet knows who he is. (Hamlet clearly does, as evidenced by his barely disguised barbs about Ophelia.) However, it’s also possible that Polonius is testing the state of Hamlet’s memory and sanity.

give me leave: A deferential way of saying “Pardon me” or “Let me have a word with you.”

God-a-mercy: “God have mercy on you – a polite response to a greeting from a social inferior” (Arden Shakespeare, Third Series, p. 250).

Compare “How does my good lord Hamlet?” with “How dost thou, good lord?” (Hamlet’s parody of a courtier) in 5.1.

Clear out, please, both of you, clear out–I’ll approach him now.

board: approach, address.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l93LR6Sw75Q

In other words, let’s get right to it and start wherever. The Arden Shakespeare (Third Series, p. 265) notes that “The assumption is that the French are enthusiastic at this sport….The implication is that the speech will be chosen at random, but in fact Hamlet makes a very specific request.”

Digs against the French are common in Shakespeare, as is clear from this list of “French” references in the play. No doubt Shakespeare’s audiences agreed with Iachino in Cymbeline: “It is a recreation to be by / And hear him mock the Frenchman.”

Henri Emilien Rousseau, The Falconer, 19th c.