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To ears of flesh and blood.-List, list, O list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love,-
Ham. O heaven!

Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural

murder.

Ham. Murder.

Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. Ham. Haste me to know it; that I, with wings as swift

As meditation, or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.
Ghost

I find thee apt; And duller should'st thou be than the fat weed That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, Would'st thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:

"Tis given out, that sleeping in mine orchard,
A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abus'd: but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life,
Now wears his crown.

Ham. O, my prophetick soul! my uncle! Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,

With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,

(O wicked wit, and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce !) won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming virtuous queen:
O, Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!
From me, whose love was of that dignity,
That it went hand in hand even with the vow
1 made to her in marriage; and to decline
Upon a wretch, whose natural gifts were poor
To those of mine!

But virtue, as it never will be mov'd,

Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven;
So lust, though to a radiant angel'link'd,
Will sate itself in a celestial bed,

And prey on garbage.

But soft methinks, I scent the morning air;
Brief let me be :-Sleeping within mine orchard,
My custom always of the afternoon,
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of mine ears did pour
The leperous distilment: whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man,
That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body;
And with a sudden vigour, it doth posset
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood: so did
mine;

And a most instant tetter bark'd about,

Most lazar-like with vile and loathsome crust, All my sinooth body.

Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand,

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Of life, of crown, of queen, at once despatch'd;
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd;
No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head:
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursu'st this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught; leave her to heaven,
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once!
The glow worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire;
Adieu, adiet, adieu! remember me.
Ham. O all you host of heaven! O earth! What

else ?

[Exit.

And shall I couple hell -O fie -Hold, hold my heart!"

And you, my sinews, grow not instant old

But bear me stiffly up!-Remember thee 7
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee?
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven.
O most pernicious woman!

O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables,-meet it is, I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least, I am sure, it may be so in Denmark:
[Writing.
Now to my word;

So, uncle, there you are.
It is, Adieu, adieu! remember me.
1 have sworn 't.
Hor. [Within.
Mar. Within.
Hor. Within.]

Ham.

My lord, my lord,—
Lord Hamlet,

Heaven secure him!

So be it! Mar. [Within.] Illo, ho, ho, my lord! Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come. Enter Horatio and Marcellus. Mar. How is 't, my noble lord? Hor.

Ham. O wonderful! Hor.

Ham.

You will reveal it.

What news, my lord? Good my lord, tell it. No;

Nor I, my lord.

Hor. Not I, my lord, by heaven.
Mar.
Ham. How say you then; would heart of mas
once think it?

But you'll be secret,-
Hor. Mar.
Ay, by heaven, my lord.
Ham. There's ne'er a villain, dwelling in all

Denmark,

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Consent to swear.

Hor.

Propose the oath, my lord. Ham. Never to speak of this that you have

seen,

Swear by my sword.

Ghost. Beneath.] Swear.

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But if 't be he I mean, he's very wild;
Addicted so and so ;-and there put on him
What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank
As may dishonour him; take heed of that;
But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips,

Ham. Hic et ubique! then we'll shift our As are companions noted and most known

ground:

Come hither, gentlemen,

And lay your hands again upon my sword:

Swear by my sword,

Never to speak of this that you have heard.
Ghost. Beneath.] Swear by his sword.
Ham. Well said, old mole! canst work 'i the
earth so fast?

A worthy pioneer!-Once more remove, good friends.

Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!

Ham. And therefore as a stranger give it wel

come.

There are more things in heaven and earth,
Horatio,

Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
But come-

Here, as before, never, so help you mercy!
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself,
As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet
To put an antick disposition on,-
That you, at such titnes seeing me, never shall,
With arms encumber'd thus, or this head-shake,
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,
As, Well, well, we know ;-or, We could, an if
we would;-or, If we list to speak ;-or, There
be, an if they might;-

Or such ambiguous giving out, to note
That you know aught of me :-This not to do,

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To youth and liberty.

Reg.

As, gaming, my lord. Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quar

relling,

Drabbing:-You may go so far.

Rey. My lord, that would dishonour him.
Pol. 'Faith, no; as you may season it in the
charge.

You must not put another scandal on him,
That he is open to incontinency;
That's not iny meaning: but breathe his faults
so quaintly,

That they may seem the taints of liberty;
The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind;
A savageness in unreclaimed blood,
Of general assault.
Rey.
But, my good lord,-
Pol. Wherefore should you do this?
Rey.

I would know that. Pol.

Ay, my lord,

Marry, sir, here's my drift;
And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant :
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i' the working,
Mark you,

Your party in converse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes,
The youth you breathe of, guilty, be assur'd,
He closes with you in this consequence;
Good sir, or so; or friend, or gentleman,-
According to the phrase, or the addition,
Of man, and country.

Rey.
Very good, my lord.
Pol. And then, sir, does he this,-He does-
What was I about to say ?-By the mass, I was
about to say something:-Where did I leave ?
Rey. At, closes in the consequence.

Pol. At, closes in the consequence,-Ay, marry;

He closes with you thus:-I know the gentle

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Pol. Give him this money and these notes, Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth: Reynaldo.

Rey. I will, my lord.

And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, With windlaces, and with assays of bias,

Pol. You shall do marvellous wisely, good By indirections find directions out;

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Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd;' No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purport, As if he had been loosed out of hell,

To whom he more adheres. If it will please you To show us so much gentry, and good will, As to expend your time with us awhile, For the supply and profit of our hope, Your visitation shall receive such thanks As fits a king's remembrance. Both your majesties Might, by the sovereign power you have of us, Put your dread pleasures more into command Than to entreaty. But we both obey; And here give up ourselves, in the full bent, Oph. He took me by the wrist, and held me To lay our service freely at your feet, hard;

To speak of horrors,-he comes before me.
Pol. Mad for thy love?
Oph.

But, truly, I do fear it.

Pol.

My lord, I do not know;

What said he?"

Then goes he to the length of all his arm;
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face,

As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so;
At last, a little shaking of mine arm,
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,-
He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound,
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk,

And end his being: That done, he let's me go:
And, with his head over h's shoulder turn'd,
He seem'd to find his way without his eyes;
For out o' doors he went without their help,
And, to the last, bended their light on me.

Pol. Come, go with me; I will go seek the king.

This is the very ecstasy of love;

Whose violent property foredoes itself,

And leads the will to desperate undertakings,
As oft as any passion under heaven,

That does afflict our natures. I am sorry,What, have you given him any hard words of late?

Oph. No, my good lord; but, as you did command,

I did repel his letters, and denied
His access to me.
Pol.

That hath made him mad.
I am sorry, that with better heed and judgment,
I had not quoted him: I fear'd, he did but trifle,
And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew my
jealousy!

It seems, it is as proper to our age
To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions,
As it is common for the younger sort
To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king:
This must be known; which, being kept close,
might move

More grief to hide, than hate to utter love.
Come.

[Exeunt SCENE II. A Room in the Castle. Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Attendants.

King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern!

Moreover that we much did long to see you,
The need, we have to use you, did provoke
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard
Of Hamlet's transformation; so I call it,
Since not the exterior nor the inward mán
Resembles that it was: What it should be,
More than his father's death, that thus hath put
him

So much from the understanding of himself,
I cannot dream of: I entreat you both,
That, being of so young days brought up with

him;

And, since, so neighbour'd to his youth and hu

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Ros.

Guil.

To be commanded.

King. Thanks, Rosencrantz, and gentle Guil

denstern:

Queen. Thanks, Guildenstern, and gentle Rosencrantz;

And I beseech you instantly to visit

My too much changed son.-Go, some of you,
And bring these gentlemen where Hamlet is.
Guil. Heavens make our presence, and our
practices,
Pleasant and helpful to him!
Queen.

Ay, amen!
[Exeunt Ros. Guil. and some Attendants
Enter Polonius.

Pol. The ambassadors from Norway, my good

lord,

Are joyfully return'd.

I

King. Thou still hast been the father of good

news.

[liege,

Pol. Have I, my lord? Assure you, my good hold my duty, as I hold my soul,

Both to my God, and to my gracious king;
And I do think (or else this brain of mine
Hunts not the trail of policy so sure
As it hath us'd to do) that I have found
The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy.

King. O, speak of that; that do I long to hear.
Pol. Give first admittance to the ambassadors;
My news shall be the fruit to that great feast.
King. Thyself do grace to them, and bring
them in.
[Exit. Polonins
He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found
The head and source of all your son's distemper.
Queen. I doubt, it is no other but the main;
His father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage.
Re-enter Polonius, with Voltimand and Cor-
nelius.

King. Well, we shall sırt him.-Welcome my good friends! Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Norway? Vol. Most fair return of greetings and desires Upon our first, he sent out to suppress His nephew's levies; which to him appear'd To be a preparation 'gainst the Polack; But, better look'd into, he truly found It was against your highness: Whereat griev'd,-That so his sickness, age, and impotence, Was falsely borne in hand,--sends out arrests On Fortinbras; which he, in brief, obeys; Receives rebuke from Norway; and, in fine, Makes vow before his uncle, never more To give the assay of arms against your majesty Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy, Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee; And his commission, to employ those soldiers, So levied as before, against the Polack: With an entreaty, herein further shown,

[Gives a Paper.

That it might please you to give quiet pass
Through your dominions for this enterprise;
On such regards of safety and allowance
As therein are set down.

King.

It likes us well: And, at our more consider'd time, we'll read, Answer, and think upon this business. Mean time, we thank you for your well-took labour:

Go to your rest; at night we'll feast together: Most welcome home!

[Exeunt Voltimand and Cornelius.
Pol.
This business is well ended.
My liege, and madam, to expostulate
What majesty should be, what duty is,
Why day is day, night, night, and time is time,
Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time.
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flou-
rishes,-

1 will be brief: Your noble son is mad:
Mad call I it for, to define true madness,
What is't, but to be nothing else but mad:
But let that go.
Queen.

More matter, with less art.
Pol. Madam, I swear, I use no art at all.
That he is mad, 'tis true: 'tis true, 'tis pity;
And pity 'tis, 'tis true: a foolish figure;
But farewell it, for I will use no art.

Mad let us grant him then: and now remains,
That we find out the cause of this effect;
Or, rather say, the cause of this defect;
For this effect, defective, comes by canse:
Thus it remains, and the remainder thus.
Perpend.

I have a daughter; have, while she is mine;
Who, in her duty and obedience, mark,
Hath given me this: Now gather and surmise.-
To the celestial, and my soul's idol, the most
beautified Ophelia.

That's an ill phrase, a vile phrase; beautifed is
a vile phrase; but you shall hear.--Thug:
In her excellent white bosom, these, &c.
Queen. Came this from Hamlet to her?
Pol. Good madam, stay awhile; I will be
faithful.-

Doubt thou the stars are fire,
Doubt, that the sun doth move,
Doubt truth to nea liar;

But never doubt I love.

[Reads.

O dear Ophelia, I am ill at these numbers; I have not art to reckon my groans; but that I love thee best, O most best, believe it. Adieu.

Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst this machine is to him, HAMLET. This, in obedience, hath my daughter shown me: And more above, hath his solicitings, As they fell out by time, by means, and place, All given to mine ear.

King.

Receiv'd his love?

Pol.

But how hath she

What do you think of me 7 King. As of a man faithful and honourable. Pol. I would fain prove so. But what might you think,

When I had seen this hot love on the wing
(As I perceiv'd it, I must tell you that,
Before my daughter told me,) what might you,
Or my dear majesty your queen here, think,
If I had play'd the desk, or table-book;
Or given my heart a winking, mute a dumb:
Or look'd upon this love with idle sight;
What might you think? no, I went round to

work,

And my young mistress thus did I bespeak;
Lord Hamlet is a prince out of thy star;
This must not be: and then I precepts gave her,
That she should lock herself from his resort,
Admit no messengers, receive no tokens.
Which done, she took the fruits of my advice;
And he, repulsed, (a short tale to make,)
Fell into a sadness; then into a fast;
Thence to a watch; thence into a weakness;
Thence to a lightness; and, by this declension,
Into the madness wherein now he raves,
And all we mourn for.
King.
Do you think, 'tis this?
Queen. It may be, very likely.
Pol. Hath there been such a time (I'd fain
know that.)

That I have positively said, 'Tis so,

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Enter Hamlet, reading.

Queen. But, look, where sadly the poor wretch comes reading.

Pol. Away, I do beseech you, both away;
I'll board him presently;-0, give me leave.--
[Exeunt King, Queen and Attendants
How does my good Lord Hamlet?
Ham. Well, god-'a-mercy.

Pol. Do you know me, my lord?
Ham. Excellent well; you are a fishmonger.
Pol. Not I, my lord.

Ham. Then I would you were so honest a man.
Pol. Honest, my lord?

Ham. Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand. Pol. That's very true, my lord.

Ham. For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a god, kissing carrion,-Have you a daughter 7

Pol. I have, my lord.

Ham. Let her not walk i' the sun conception is a blessing, but as your daughter may conceive,-friend, look to't.

Pol. How say you by that? [Aside.] Still harping on my daughter-yet he knew me not at first; he said, I was a fishmonger: He is far gone, far gone: and, truly in my youth I suffered much extremity for love; very near this. I'll speak to him again.-What do you read, my lord ?

Ham. Words, words, words!
Pol. What is the matter, my lord?
Ham. Between who?

Pol. I mean, the matter that you read, my lord. Ham. Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here, that old men have gray beards; that their faces are wrinkled; their eyes purging thick amber, and plum-tree gum; and that they have a plentiful fack of wit, together with most weak hams: All of which, sir, though I most power fully and potently believe, yet I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down; for yourself, sir, should be as old as I am, if, like a crab, you could go backward. Pol. Though this be method in it. [Aside.] the air, my lord?

Ham. Into my grave?

madness, yet there's Will you walk out of

Pol. Indeed, that is out o' the air-How pregnant sometimes his replies are! a happiness that often madness hits on, which reason and sanity could not so prosperously be delivered of. I will leave him, and suddenly contrive the means of meeting between him and my daughter.--My honourable lord, I will most humbly take my leave of you.

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. Pol. Fare you well, my lord. Ham. Those tedious old fools!

Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Pol. You go to seek the Lord Hamlet; there

he is.

Ros. God save you, sir!

[To Polonius. [Exit Polonius.

Guil. My honour'd lord!Ros. My most dear lord !Ham. My excellent good friends! How dost thou, Guildenstern? Ah, Rosencrantz! Good lads, how do ye both?

Ros. As the indifferent children of the earth. Guil. Happy, in that we are not overhappy; On fortune's cap we are not the very button. Ham. Nor the soles of her shoe?

Ros. Neither, my lord.

Ham. Nay, then I have an eye of you; [Aside] -if you love me, hold not off Guil. My lord, we were sent for.

Ham. I will tell you why; so shall my antici pation prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to the king and queen moult no feather. I have of late (but, wherefore, I know not,) lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises: and, indeed, it goes so heavily with my disposition, that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a steril promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me, than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how express and admirable! in action, how like aa angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me, no, nor woman neither; though, by your smiling, you seem to say so. Ros. My lord, there is no such stuff in my thoughts.

Ham. Then you live about her waist, or in the infinite in faculties! in form, and moving, how middle of her favours?

Guil. 'Faith, her privates we. Ham. In the secret paths of fortune? O, most true; she is a strumpet. What news? Ros. None, my lord; but that the world is grown honest.

Ham. Then is doomsday near: But your news is not true. Let me question more in particular: What have you, my good friends, deserved at the hands of fortune, that she sends you to prison

hither?

Guil. Prison, my lord!
Ham. Denmark's a prison.
Ros. Then is the world one.

Ham. A goodly one; in which there are many confines, wards, and dungeons; Denmark being

one of the worst.

Ros. We think not so, my lord.

Ham. Why, then 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so to me it is a prison.

Ros. Why, then your ambition makes it one; 'tis too narrow for your mind.

Ham. Why did you laugh then when I said, Man delights not me?

Ros. To think, my lord, if you delight not in man, what lenten entertainment the players shall receive from you: we coted them on the way; and hither are they coming, to offer you service.

Ham. He that plays the king, shall be welcome; his majesty shall have tribute of me; the adventurous knight shall use his foil, and target: the lover shall not sigh gratis; the humourous man shall end his part in peace; the clown shall make those laugh, whose lungs are tickled o' the sere; and the lady shall say her mind freely, or the blank verse shall halt for 't-What players

Ham. O God! I could be bounded in a nut-are they? shell, and count myself a king of infinite space;| were it not that I have bad dreams.

Guil. Which dreams, indeed, are ambition; for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.

Ham. A dream itself is but a shadow. Ros. Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and light a quality, that it is but a shadow's shadow. Ham. Then are our beggars, bodies; and our monarchs, and outstretch'd heroes, the beggar's shadows: Shall we to the court? for, by my fay, I cannot reason.

Ros. Guil. We'll wait upon you. Ham. No such matter: I will not sort you with the rest of my servants; for, to speak to you like an honest man, I am most dreadfully attended. But, in the beaten way of friendship, what make you at Elsinore?

Ros. To visit you, my lord; no other occasion. Ham. Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks; but I thank you; and sure, dear friends, my thanks are too dear, a halfpenny. Were you not sent for? Is it your own inclining? Is it a free visitation? Come, come; deal justly with me; come, come; nay, speak.

Guil. What should we say, my lord ? Ham. Any thing-but to the purpose. You were sent for; and there is a kind of confession in your looks, which your modesties have not crat enough to colour: I know, the good king and ueen have sent for you.

Ro To what end, my lord?

Her That you must teach me. But let me co ju e you by the rights of our fellowship, by the 20 Bonancy of our youth, by the obligation ou ever-preserved love, and by what more drar etter proposer could charge you withal, be ever and direct with me, whether you were sent for or no?

Ros. What say you?

Ros. Even those you were wont to take such delight in, the tragedians of the city. Ham. How chances it, they travel? their residence, both in reputation and profit, was better both ways.

Ros. I think, their inhibition comes by the means of the late innovation.

Ham. Do they hold the same estimation they did when I was in the city? Are they so fol lowed?

Ros. No, indeed, they are not.

Ham. How comes it ? Do they grow rusty? Ros. Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted pace: But there is, sir, an aiery of children, little eyases, that cry out on the top of question, and are most tyrannically clapped for ; these are now the fashion; and so berattle the common stages, (so they call them,) that many, wearing rapiers, are afraid of goose quills, and dare scarce come thither.

Ham. What, are they children? who maintains them ? how are they escoted? Will they pursue the quality, no longer than they can sing? will they not say afterwards, if they should grow themselves to common players, (as it a most like, if their means are no better,) ther writers do them wrong, to make them exclain against their own succession ?

Ros. 'Faith, there has been much to do on both sides; and the nation holds it no sin, to tarry them on to controversy: there was, for a while, no money bid for argument, unless the poet and the player went to cuffs in the question. Ham. Is it possible?

Guil. O, there has been much throwing about of brains. Ham. Do the boys carry it away? Ros. Ay, that they do, my lord; Hercules and his load too.

Ham. It is not very strange for my uncle is [To Guildenstern. King of Denmark, and those, that would make

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