The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare

Hor. 'Twere to consider too curiously, to consider so.

Ham. No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it: As thus; Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam: And why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel?

Imperious Cesar, dead, and turn'd to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away: O, that the earth, which kept the world in [flaw!

awe,

Should patch a wall to expel the winter's But soft! but soft! aside: -Here comes the

Could not, with all their quantity of love, Make up my sum.-What wilt thou do for her? King. O, he is mad, Laertes.

Queen. For love of God, forbear him.

Ham. 'Zounds, show me what thou'lt do : Woul't weep? woul't fight? woul't fast? woul't tear thyself?

Woul't drink up Esil? eat a crocodile ?
I'll do't. - Dost thou come here to whine?
To outface me with leaping in her grave?
Be buried quick with her, and so will I:
And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw
Millions of acres on us; till our ground,
Singeing his pate against the burning zone,
Make Ossalike a wart! Nay, an thou'lt mouth,

I'll rant as well as thou.

Queen. This is mere madness: And thus awhile the fit will work on him; Anon, as patient as the female dove, When that her golden couplets are disclos'd,t His silence will sit drooping.

Ham. Hear you, Sir; What is the reason that you use me thus? I lov'd you ever: But it is no matter; Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.

[Exit.

King. I pray thee, good Horatio, wait upon him.[Exit HORATIO. Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech; [TO LAERTES. We'll put the matter to the present push.Good Gertrude, set some watch over your This grave shall have a living monument: An hour of quiet shortly shall we see; Till then, in patience our proceeding be.

son.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-A Hall in the Castle.
Enter HAMLET and HORATIO.

Ham. So much for this, Sir: now shall you see the other;

You do remember all the circumstance?
Hor. Remember it, my lord!

Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting,

That would not let me sleep: methought, I lay

* Eisel is vinegar; but Mr. Steevens conjectures the word should be Weisel, a river which falls into the Baltic † Hatchel.

ocean.

Worse than the mutines in the bilboes.t | They are not near my conscience; their defeat

teach us,

There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
Hor. That is most certain.
Ham. Up from my cabin,

My sea-gown scarf'd about me, in the dark
Grop'd I to find out them: had my desire;
Finger'd their packet; and, in fine, withdrew
To mine own room again: making so bold,
My fears forgetting manners, to unseal
Their grand commission; where I found, Ho-
ratio,

A royal knavery; an exact command,-
Lardeds with many several sorts of reasons,
Importing Denmark's health, and England's

lanies,

Or** I could make a prologue to my brains,
They had begun the play ;-I sat me down;
Devis'd a new commission; wrote it fair:
I once did hold it, as our statists†† do,
A baseness to write fair, and labour'd much
How to forget that learning; but, Sir, now
It did me yeoman's service: Wilt thou know
The effect of what I wrote?

Hor. Ay, good my lord.

Does by their own insinuation grow :
'Tis dangerous, when the baser nature comes
Between the pass and fell incensed points
Of mighty opposites.

Hor. Why, what a king is this!
Ham. Does it not, think thee, stand me now

upon?

He that hath kill'd my king, and whor'd my
mother,
Popp'd in between the election and my hopes;
Thrown out his angle for my proper life,
And with such cozenage; is't not perfect con-
science,

To quit him with this arm? and is't not to
be damn'd,

To let this canker of our nature come
In further evil?

Hor. It must be shortly known to him from
England,

What is the issue of the business there.

Ham. It will be short; the interim is mine;
And a man's life no more than to say, one.
But I am very sorry, good Horatio,
That to Laertes I forgot myself;

For, by the image of my cause, I see
The portraiture of his: I'll countt his favours:
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me
Into a towering passion.

Hor. Peace; who comes here?

Enter OSRIC.

Osr. Your lordship is right welcoine back to Denmark.

Ham. I humbly thank you, Sir.- Dost know this waterfly ?‡

Hor. No, my good lord.

Ham. Thy state is the more gracious; for 'tis a vice to know him: He hath much land, and fertile: let a beast be lord of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king's mess: 'Tis a

Ham. An earnest conjuration from the chough; but, as I say, spacious in the pos

king,

As England was his faithful tributary;
As love between them like the palm might

flourish;

As peace should still her wheaten garland

Without debatement further, more, or less,
He should the bearers put to sudden death,
Not shrivingýý-time allow'd.

Hor. How was this seal'd?

session of dirt.

Osr. Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I should impart a thing to you from his majesty.

Ham. I will receive it, Sir, with all diligence of spirit: Your bonnet to its right use; 'tis for the head.

Osr. 1 thank your lordship, 'tis very hot. Ham. No, believe me, 'tis very cold; the wind is northerly.

Osr. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed. Ham. But yet, methinks, it is very sultry and hot; or my complexion

Osr. Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sul

Ham. Why, even in that was heaven ordi- try, -as 'twere, -I cannot tell how-My lord,

nant;
I had my father's signet in my purse,
Which was the model|||| of that Danish seal:
Folded the writ up in form of the other;
Subscrib'd it; gave't the impression; plac'd it

safely,
The changeling never known: Now, the next
day
[quent
Was our sea-fight; and what to this was se-
Thou know'st already.

Hor. So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go

to't.

Garnished.

** Before.

Confessing.

Bugbears.
++ Statesmen.
Copy.

1 Looking over.

A note of connection.

his majesty bade me signify to you, that he has laid a great wager on your head: Sir, this is the matter,

Ham. I beseech you, remember

[HAMLET moves him to put on his Hat. Osr. Nay, good my lord; for my ease, in good faith. Sir, here is newly come to court, Laertes: believe me, an absolute gentleman, full of most excellent differences, of very soft society, and great showing: Indeed, to speak feelingly of him, he is the card** or calendar of gentry, for you shall find in him the continentit of what part a gentleman would see.

Ham. Sir, this definement suffers no perdition in you;-though, I know, to divide him

11 Following.

ft The country and pattern for imitation:

nventorially, would dizzy the arithmetic of memory; and yet but raw neither, in respect of his quick sail. But, in the verity of extolment, I take him to be a soul of great article; and his infusion of such dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of him, his semblable is his mirror; and, who else would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more.*

Osr. Your lordship speaks most infallibly of him.

Ham. The concernancy, Sir? why do we wrap the gentleman in our more rawer breath? Osr. Sir?

Hor. Is't not possible to understand in another tongue? You will do't, Sir, really.

Ham. What imports the nominationt of this

gentleman?

Osr. Of Laertes?

Osr. Shall I deliver you so ? Ham. To this effect, Sir; after what flourish your nature will.

Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship. [Exit.

Ham. Yours, yours.-He does well to commend it himself; there are no tongues else for's turn.

Hor. This lapwing* runs away with the shell on his head.

Ham. He did complyt with his dug, before he sucked it. Thus has he (and many more of the same breed, that, I know, the drossy‡ age dotes on,) only got the tune of the time, and outward habit of encounter; a kind of yestys collection, which carries them through and through the most fond and winnowed opinions; and do but blow them to their trial,

Hor. His purse is empty already; all his the bubbles are out.

golden words are spent.

Ham. Of him, Sir.

Osr. I know, you are not ignorant

Ham. I would, you did, Sir; yet, in faith, if you did, it would not much approve me;Well, Sir.

Osr. You are not ignorant of what excellence

Laertes is

Ham. I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him in excellence; but, to know a man well, were to know himself.

Osr. I mean, Sir, for his weapon; but in the imputation laid on him by them, in his meeds

he's unfellowed.

Ham. What's his weapon?
Osr. Rapier and dagger.

Ham. That's two of his weapons: but, well. Osr. The king, Sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary horses: against the which he has impawned, as I take it, six French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns, as girdle, hangers, and so: Three of the carriages, in faith, are very dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most delicate carriages, and of very liberal conceit.

Ham. What call you the carriages?

Hor. I knew, you must be edified by the margent,** ere you had done.

Osr. The carriages, Sir, are the hangers.

Ham. The phrase would be more germantt to the matter, if we could carry a cannon by our sides; I would, it might be hangers till then. But, on: Six Barbary horses against six French swords, their assigns, and three liberal conceited carriages; that's the French bet against the Danish: Why is this impawned, as you call it?

Osr. The king, Sir, hath laid, that in a dozen passes between yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits; he hath laid, on twelve for nine; and it would come to immediate trial, if your lordship would vouchsafe

the answer.

Ham. How, if I answer, no?
Osr. I mean, my lord, the opposition of your

person in trial.

Ham. Sir, I will walk here in the hall: If it please his majesty, it is the breathing time of day with me: let the foils be brought, the gentleman willing, and the king hold his purpose, I will win for him, if I can; if not, I will gain nothing but my shame, and the odd hits.

* This speech is a ridicule of the court jargon of that time.. + Mentioning.

‡ Recommend. Praise. 11 Imponed, put down, staked. That part of the belt by which the sword was suspended. ** Margin of a book which contains explanatory notes.

Enter a LORD.

Lord. My lord, his majesty commended him to you by young Osric, who brings back to him, that you attend him in the hall: He sends to know, if your pleasure hold to play with Laertes, or that you will take longer time.

Ham. I am constant to my purposes, they follow the king's pleasure: if his fitness speaks, mine is ready; now, or whensoever, provided I be so able as now.

Lord. The king, and queen, and all are coming down.

Ham. In happy time.

Lord. The queen desires you, to use some gentle entertainment to Laertes, before you fall to play.

Ham. She well instructs me. [Exit LORD. Hor. You will lose this wager, my lord.

Ham. I do not think so; since he went into France, I have been in continual practice; I shall win at the odds. But thou wouldst not think, how ill all's here about my heart: but it is no matter.

Hor. Nay, good my lord,Ham. It is but foolery; but it is such a kind of gain-giving, as would, perhaps, trouble a woman.

Hor. If your mind dislike any thing, obey it: I will forestal** their repair hither, and say, you are not fit. a

Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury; there is special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all: Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows, what is't to leave

betimes? Let be.

ft A-kin.

* A bird which runs about immediately as it is hatched,
† Compliment. † Worthless.
Frothy.
|| For fond read fanned.
1 Misgiving.
it The king and queen's presence,

** Prevent.

Sir, in this audience,

Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot my arrow o'er the house,
And hurt my brother.

Laer. I am satisfied in nature,
Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most
To my revenge: but in my terms of honour,
I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder masters, of known honour,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,

To keep my name ungor'd:* But till that time,
I do receive your offer'd love like love,
And will not wrong it.

Ham. I embrace it freely;

And will this brother's wager frankly play.

Give us the foils; come on.

Laer. Come, one for me.

Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes; in mine ig

both :

But since he's better'd, we have therefore odds.
Laer. This is too heavy, let me see another.
Ham. This likes me well: These foils have
all a length? [They prepare to play.
Osr. Ay, my good lord.
King. Set me the stoups of wine upon that
table:-

If Hamlet gives the first or second hit,
Or quit in answer of the third exchange,
Let all the battlements their ordnance fire;
The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath;
And in the cup an union shall he throw,
Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark's crown have worn; Give me the
cups;

And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,
The trumpet to the cannoneer without, [earth,
The cannons to the heavens, the heaven to
Now the king drinks to Hamlet. -Come, begin;-

And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.

Ham. Come on, Sir.

Laer. Come, my lord.

Ham. One.

Luer. No.

Ham. Judgement.

Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit.
Luer. Well, again.

[LAERTES wounds HAMLET; then, in scuffling, they change Rapiers, and HAMLET wounds LAERTES.

King. Part them, they are incens'd.
Ham. Nay, come again. [The QUEEN falls.
Osr. Look to the queen there, ho!

Hor. They bleed on both sides:-How is it,

my lord?

Osr. How is't, Laertes?

Laer. Why, as a woodcock to my own

springe, Osric;

I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.
Ham. How does the queen?

King. She swoons to see them bleed.

Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink,-O my

dear Hamlet!

The drink, the drink: I am poison'd! [Dies.
Ham. Ó villany!-Ho! let the door be
lock'd:
Treachery! seek it out.
[LAERTES falls.
Laer. It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art
slain;

No medicine in the world can do thee good,
In thee there is not half an hour's life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated, and envenom'd: the foul practice
Hath turn'd itself on me; lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again: Thy mother's poison'd;
I can no more; the king, the king's to blame.

Ham. The point Envenom'd too! -Then, venom, to thy work. [Stabs the KING.

Osr. & Lords. Treason! treason!
King. O, yet defend me, friends, I am but

hurt.

[They play. Drink off this potion :-Is the union here?

King. Stay, give me drink; Hamlet, this

pearl is thine;

Here's to thy health. - Give him the cup.

[Trumpets sound; and Cannon shot off within. Ham. I'll play this bout first, set it by awhile.

Unwounded. † Large jugs. † A precious pearl.

Follow my mother.

[KING dies.

Laer. He is justly serv'd; It is a poison temper'd|| by himself.Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet: Mine and my father's death come not upon

thee;

Nor thine on me.

[Dies.

Ham. Heaven make thee free of it! I follow

thee.

* Handkerchief. + Drinks good luck to you. † Boy. The foil without a button, and poisoned point. || Mixed.

I am dead, Horatio :-Wretched queen, a- | What feast is toward in thine eternal cell,

dieu!

You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time, (as this fell sergeant, death,
Is strict in his arrest,) O, I could tell you,-
But let it be:-Horatio, I am dead;

Thou liv'st; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.

Hor. Never believe it;

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane,
Here's yet some liquor left.

Ham. As thou'rt a man,-
[it.
Give me the cup; let go; by heaven I'll have
O God!-Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live be-

hind me?

That thou so many princes, at a shot,
So bloodily hast struck?

1 Amb. The sight is dismal; And our affairs from England come too late: The ears are senseless, that should give us

hearing,

To tell him, his commandment is fulfill'd, That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead: Where should we have our thanks?

Hor. Not from his mouth,

Had it the ability of life to thank you;
He never gave commandment for their death.
But since, so jumpt upon this bloody question,
You from the Polack; wars, and you from
England,

Are here arriv'd; give order, that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view;
And let me speak, to the yet unknowing world,
How these things come about: So shall you
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts; [hear
Of accidental judgements, casual slaughters;
Of deaths put on by cunning, and forc'd cause;
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook

on the inventors' heads: all this can I Truly deliver.

Fort. Let us haste to hear it, And call the noblest to the audience. For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune; I have some rights of memory in this kingdom, Which now to claim my vantage doth invite

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