Ah, an interjection expressive of various affections, except that of unqualified joy and satisfaction. Mostly an exclamation of mental suffering, of pity, of complaint, of painful surprise: Sonn. 9, 3. 34, 13. 44, 9. 67, 1. 104, 9. 139, 9. Compl. 155. Pilgr. 391. Gentl. II, 1, 5. Err. II, 2, 126. IV, 2, 1. LLL IV, 2, 110. All's III, 4, 18. John III, 3, 54. H6B II, 4, 23. H6B II, 4, 23 H6B II, 4, 23 III, 1, 74. III, 1, 74 III, 3, 5. IV, 4, 41. H6C I, 1, 167. I, 3, 1. V, 2, 5. R3 IV, 4, 9 etc. etc. Sometimes of entreaty and desire: Sonn. 90, 5. Pilgr. 155. Mids. I, 2, 55 etc. Or, on the other hand, of contempt, anger and threat: Pilgr. 56. Tw. II, 5, 41. H6A II, 4, 104. H6B IV, 7, 27. IV, 10, 28. Hml. I, 2, 135 “(ah fie!).” Ant. III, 13, 89. In R3 I, 3, 11. II, 2, 27. II, 2, 27 72 Ff ah, Qq oh; in R2 II, 1, 163 Ff oh, Qq ah. In Ado III, 5, 26 (all thy tediousness on me? ah?) it is the modern “Eh. Ah me!” Rom. V, 1, 10 (as M. Edd. generally write for Ay me! which is the usual reading of O. Edd.)
Ah ha! expresses triumph mixed with some contempt: Wiv. II, 2, 158. Tw. III, 4, 104. R3 III, 7, 71. H8 I, 2, 186. Rom. I, 5, 20. Hml. I, 5, 150. Ant. II, 5, 15. In Troil. IV, 2, 82 Qq have ah ah! Ff less aptly ah ha! In Ado III, 3, 90 Dogberry ejaculates Ha ah ha!
Shakespeare Lexicon. Alexander Schmidt. Berlin. Georg Reimer. 1902.
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