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hamlet.txt
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Shakespeare homepage |
Hamlet | Entire play ACT I
SCENE I. Elsinore. A platform before the castle.
FRANCISCO at his post. Enter to him BERNARDO BERNARDO Who's there?
FRANCISCO Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold yourself. BERNARDO
Long live the king! FRANCISCO Bernardo? BERNARDO He. FRANCISCO
You come most carefully upon your hour. BERNARDO 'Tis now struck
twelve; get thee to bed, Francisco. FRANCISCO For this relief much
thanks: 'tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart. BERNARDO Have
you had quiet guard? FRANCISCO Not a mouse stirring. BERNARDO
Well, good night. If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, The rivals
of my watch, bid them make haste. FRANCISCO I think I hear them.
Stand, ho! Who's there? Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS
HORATIO Friends to this ground. MARCELLUS And liegemen to the Dane.
FRANCISCO Give you good night. MARCELLUS O, farewell, honest
soldier: Who hath relieved you? FRANCISCO Bernardo has my place.
Give you good night. Exit
MARCELLUS Holla! Bernardo! BERNARDO Say, What, is Horatio there?
HORATIO A piece of him. BERNARDO Welcome, Horatio: welcome, good
Marcellus. MARCELLUS What, has this thing appear'd again to-night?
BERNARDO I have seen nothing. MARCELLUS Horatio says 'tis but our
fantasy, And will not let belief take hold of him Touching this
dreaded sight, twice seen of us: Therefore I have entreated him
along With us to watch the minutes of this night; That if again
this apparition come, He may approve our eyes and speak to it.
HORATIO Tush, tush, 'twill not appear. BERNARDO Sit down awhile;
And let us once again assail your ears, That are so fortified against
our story What we have two nights seen. HORATIO Well, sit we down,
And let us hear Bernardo speak of this. BERNARDO Last night of
all, When yond same star that's westward from the pole Had made his
course to illume that part of heaven Where now it burns, Marcellus
and myself, The bell then beating one,-- Enter Ghost
MARCELLUS Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again! BERNARDO
In the same figure, like the king that's dead. MARCELLUS Thou art
a scholar; speak to it, Horatio. BERNARDO Looks it not like the
king? mark it, Horatio. HORATIO Most like: it harrows me with fear
and wonder. BERNARDO It would be spoke to. MARCELLUS Question it,
Horatio. HORATIO What art thou that usurp'st this time of night,
Together with that fair and warlike form In which the majesty of
buried Denmark Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge thee, speak!
MARCELLUS It is offended. BERNARDO See, it stalks away! HORATIO
Stay! speak, speak! I charge thee, speak! Exit Ghost
MARCELLUS 'Tis gone, and will not answer. BERNARDO How now, Horatio!
you tremble and look pale: Is not this something more than fantasy?
What think you on't? HORATIO Before my God, I might not this believe
Without the sensible and true avouch Of mine own eyes. MARCELLUS
Is it not like the king? HORATIO As thou art to thyself: Such was
the very armour he had on When he the ambitious Norway combated;
So frown'd he once, when, in an angry parle, He smote the sledded
Polacks on the ice. 'Tis strange. MARCELLUS Thus twice before,
and jump at this dead hour, With martial stalk hath he gone by our
watch. HORATIO In what particular thought to work I know not; But
in the gross and scope of my opinion, This bodes some strange
eruption to our state. MARCELLUS Good now, sit down, and tell me,
he that knows, Why this same strict and most observant watch So
nightly toils the subject of the land, And why such daily cast of
brazen cannon, And foreign mart for implements of war; Why such
impress of shipwrights, whose sore task Does not divide the Sunday
from the week; What might be toward, that this sweaty haste Doth
make the night joint-labourer with the day: Who is't that can inform
me? HORATIO That can I; At least, the whisper goes so. Our last
king, Whose image even but now appear'd to us, Was, as you know,
by Fortinbras of Norway, Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride,
Dared to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet-- For so this side
of our known world esteem'd him-- Did slay this Fortinbras; who by
a seal'd compact, Well ratified by law and heraldry, Did forfeit,
with his life, all those his lands Which he stood seized of, to the
conqueror: Against the which, a moiety competent Was gaged by our
king; which had return'd To the inheritance of Fortinbras, Had he
been vanquisher; as, by the same covenant, And carriage of the
article design'd, His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimproved mettle hot and full, Hath in the skirts of Norway
here and there Shark'd up a list of lawless resolutes, For food and
diet, to some enterprise That hath a stomach in't; which is no
other-- As it doth well appear unto our state-- But to recover of
us, by strong hand And terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands So
by his father lost: and this, I take it, Is the main motive of our
preparations, The source of this our watch and the chief head Of
this post-haste and romage in the land. BERNARDO I think it be no
other but e'en so: Well may it sort that this portentous figure
Comes armed through our watch; so like the king That was and is the
question of these wars. HORATIO A mote it is to trouble the mind's
eye. In the most high and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the
mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted
dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets: As stars with
trains of fire and dews of blood, Disasters in the sun; and the
moist star Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands Was sick
almost to doomsday with eclipse: And even the like precurse of
fierce events, As harbingers preceding still the fates And prologue
to the omen coming on, Have heaven and earth together demonstrated
Unto our climatures and countrymen.-- But soft, behold! lo, where
it comes again! Re-enter Ghost
I'll cross it, though it blast me. Stay, illusion! If thou hast
any sound, or use of voice, Speak to me: If there be any good thing
to be done, That may to thee do ease and grace to me, Speak to me:
Cock crows
If thou art privy to thy country's fate, Which, happily, foreknowing
may avoid, O, speak! Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life Extorted
treasure in the womb of earth, For which, they say, you spirits oft
walk in death, Speak of it: stay, and speak! Stop it, Marcellus.
MARCELLUS Shall I strike at it with my partisan? HORATIO Do, if
it will not stand. BERNARDO 'Tis here! HORATIO 'Tis here! MARCELLUS
'Tis gone! Exit Ghost
We do it wrong, being so majestical, To offer it the show of violence;
For it is, as the air, invulnerable, And our vain blows malicious
mockery. BERNARDO It was about to speak, when the cock crew.
HORATIO And then it started like a guilty thing Upon a fearful
summons. I have heard, The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn,
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat Awake the god of
day; and, at his warning, Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air,
The extravagant and erring spirit hies To his confine: and of the
truth herein This present object made probation. MARCELLUS It faded
on the crowing of the cock. Some say that ever 'gainst that season
comes Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning
singeth all night long: And then, they say, no spirit dares stir
abroad; The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike, No fairy
takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallow'd and so gracious
is the time. HORATIO So have I heard and do in part believe it.
But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, Walks o'er the dew of
yon high eastward hill: Break we our watch up; and by my advice,
Let us impart what we have seen to-night Unto young Hamlet; for,
upon my life, This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him. Do you
consent we shall acquaint him with it, As needful in our loves,
fitting our duty? MARCELLUS Let's do't, I pray; and I this morning
know Where we shall find him most conveniently. Exeunt
SCENE II. A room of state in the castle.
Enter KING CLAUDIUS, QUEEN GERTRUDE, HAMLET, POLONIUS, LAERTES,
VOLTIMAND, CORNELIUS, Lords, and Attendants KING CLAUDIUS Though
yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death The memory be green, and
that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe, Yet so far hath discretion
fought with nature That we with wisest sorrow think on him, Together
with remembrance of ourselves. Therefore our sometime sister, now
our queen, The imperial jointress to this warlike state, Have we,
as 'twere with a defeated joy,-- With an auspicious and a dropping
eye, With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage, In equal
scale weighing delight and dole,-- Taken to wife: nor have we herein
barr'd Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone With this affair
along. For all, our thanks. Now follows, that you know, young
Fortinbras, Holding a weak supposal of our worth, Or thinking by
our late dear brother's death Our state to be disjoint and out of
frame, Colleagued with the dream of his advantage, He hath not
fail'd to pester us with message, Importing the surrender of those
lands Lost by his father, with all bonds of law, To our most valiant
brother. So much for him. Now for ourself and for this time of
meeting: Thus much the business is: we have here writ To Norway,
uncle of young Fortinbras,-- Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely
hears Of this his nephew's purpose,--to suppress His further gait
herein; in that the levies, The lists and full proportions, are all
made Out of his subject: and we here dispatch You, good Cornelius,
and you, Voltimand, For bearers of this greeting to old Norway;
Giving to you no further personal power To business with the king,
more than the scope Of these delated articles allow. Farewell, and
let your haste commend your duty. CORNELIUS VOLTIMAND In that and
all things will we show our duty. KING CLAUDIUS We doubt it nothing:
heartily farewell. Exeunt VOLTIMAND and CORNELIUS
And now, Laertes, what's the news with you? You told us of some
suit; what is't, Laertes? You cannot speak of reason to the Dane,
And loose your voice: what wouldst thou beg, Laertes, That shall
not be my offer, not thy asking? The head is not more native to
the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth, Than is the
throne of Denmark to thy father. What wouldst thou have, Laertes?
LAERTES My dread lord, Your leave and favour to return to France;
From whence though willingly I came to Denmark, To show my duty in
your coronation, Yet now, I must confess, that duty done, My thoughts
and wishes bend again toward France And bow them to your gracious
leave and pardon. KING CLAUDIUS Have you your father's leave? What
says Polonius? LORD POLONIUS He hath, my lord, wrung from me my
slow leave By laboursome petition, and at last Upon his will I
seal'd my hard consent: I do beseech you, give him leave to go.
KING CLAUDIUS Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine, And thy
best graces spend it at thy will! But now, my cousin Hamlet, and
my son,-- HAMLET [Aside] A little more than kin, and less than kind.
KING CLAUDIUS How is it that the clouds still hang on you? HAMLET
Not so, my lord; I am too much i' the sun. QUEEN GERTRUDE Good
Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, And let thine eye look like a
friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailed lids Seek for
thy noble father in the dust: Thou know'st 'tis common; all that
lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity. HAMLET Ay,
madam, it is common. QUEEN GERTRUDE If it be, Why seems it so
particular with thee? HAMLET Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not
'seems.' 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary
suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, No,
nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected 'havior of the
visage, Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can
denote me truly: these indeed seem, For they are actions that a man
might play: But I have that within which passeth show; These but
the trappings and the suits of woe. KING CLAUDIUS 'Tis sweet and
commendable in your nature, Hamlet, To give these mourning duties
to your father: But, you must know, your father lost a father; That
father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound In filial obligation
for some term To do obsequious sorrow: but to persever In obstinate
condolement is a course Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief;
It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, A heart unfortified, a
mind impatient, An understanding simple and unschool'd: For what
we know must be and is as common As any the most vulgar thing to
sense, Why should we in our peevish opposition Take it to heart?
Fie! 'tis a fault to heaven, A fault against the dead, a fault to
nature, To reason most absurd: whose common theme Is death of
fathers, and who still hath cried, From the first corse till he
that died to-day, 'This must be so.' We pray you, throw to earth
This unprevailing woe, and think of us As of a father: for let the
world take note, You are the most immediate to our throne; And with
no less nobility of love Than that which dearest father bears his
son, Do I impart toward you. For your intent In going back to school
in Wittenberg, It is most retrograde to our desire: And we beseech
you, bend you to remain Here, in the cheer and comfort of our eye,
Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son. QUEEN GERTRUDE Let not
thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet: I pray thee, stay with us; go
not to Wittenberg. HAMLET I shall in all my best obey you, madam.
KING CLAUDIUS Why, 'tis a loving and a fair reply: Be as ourself
in Denmark. Madam, come; This gentle and unforced accord of Hamlet
Sits smiling to my heart: in grace whereof, No jocund health that
Denmark drinks to-day, But the great cannon to the clouds shall
tell, And the king's rouse the heavens all bruit again, Re-speaking
earthly thunder. Come away. Exeunt all but HAMLET
HAMLET O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve
itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon
'gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and
unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on't! ah
fie! 'tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and
gross in nature Possess it merely. That it should come to this!
But two months dead: nay, not so much, not two: So excellent a king;
that was, to this, Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother That
he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly.
Heaven and earth! Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, As
if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on: and yet, within
a month-- Let me not think on't--Frailty, thy name is woman!-- A
little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she follow'd
my poor father's body, Like Niobe, all tears:--why she, even she--
O, God! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn'd
longer--married with my uncle, My father's brother, but no more
like my father Than I to Hercules: within a month: Ere yet the salt
of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes,
She married. O, most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to
incestuous sheets! It is not nor it cannot come to good: But break,
my heart; for I must hold my tongue. Enter HORATIO, MARCELLUS, and
BERNARDO
HORATIO Hail to your lordship! HAMLET I am glad to see you well:
Horatio,--or I do forget myself. HORATIO The same, my lord, and
your poor servant ever. HAMLET Sir, my good friend; I'll change
that name with you: And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?
Marcellus? MARCELLUS My good lord-- HAMLET I am very glad to see
you. Good even, sir. But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg?
HORATIO A truant disposition, good my lord. HAMLET I would not
hear your enemy say so, Nor shall you do mine ear that violence,
To make it truster of your own report Against yourself: I know you
are no truant. But what is your affair in Elsinore? We'll teach
you to drink deep ere you depart. HORATIO My lord, I came to see
your father's funeral. HAMLET I pray thee, do not mock me,
fellow-student; I think it was to see my mother's wedding. HORATIO
Indeed, my lord, it follow'd hard upon. HAMLET Thrift, thrift,
Horatio! the funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the
marriage tables. Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever
I had seen that day, Horatio! My father!--methinks I see my father.
HORATIO Where, my lord? HAMLET In my mind's eye, Horatio. HORATIO
I saw him once; he was a goodly king. HAMLET He was a man, take
him for all in all, I shall not look upon his like again. HORATIO
My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. HAMLET Saw? who? HORATIO
My lord, the king your father. HAMLET The king my father! HORATIO
Season your admiration for awhile With an attent ear, till I may
deliver, Upon the witness of these gentlemen, This marvel to you.
HAMLET For God's love, let me hear. HORATIO Two nights together
had these gentlemen, Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch, In the
dead vast and middle of the night, Been thus encounter'd. A figure
like your father, Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pe, Appears before
them, and with solemn march Goes slow and stately by them: thrice
he walk'd By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes, Within his
truncheon's length; whilst they, distilled Almost to jelly with the
act of fear, Stand dumb and speak not to him. This to me In dreadful
secrecy impart they did; And I with them the third night kept the
watch; Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time, Form of the
thing, each word made true and good, The apparition comes: I knew
your father; These hands are not more like. HAMLET But where was
this? MARCELLUS My lord, upon the platform where we watch'd. HAMLET
Did you not speak to it? HORATIO My lord, I did; But answer made
it none: yet once methought It lifted up its head and did address
Itself to motion, like as it would speak; But even then the morning
cock crew loud, And at the sound it shrunk in haste away, And
vanish'd from our sight. HAMLET 'Tis very strange. HORATIO As I
do live, my honour'd lord, 'tis true; And we did think it writ down
in our duty To let you know of it. HAMLET Indeed, indeed, sirs,
but this troubles me. Hold you the watch to-night? MARCELLUS
BERNARDO We do, my lord. HAMLET Arm'd, say you? MARCELLUS BERNARDO
Arm'd, my lord. HAMLET From top to toe? MARCELLUS BERNARDO My
lord, from head to foot. HAMLET Then saw you not his face? HORATIO
O, yes, my lord; he wore his beaver up. HAMLET What, look'd he
frowningly? HORATIO A countenance more in sorrow than in anger.
HAMLET Pale or red? HORATIO Nay, very pale. HAMLET And fix'd his
eyes upon you? HORATIO Most constantly. HAMLET I would I had been
there. HORATIO It would have much amazed you. HAMLET Very like,
very like. Stay'd it long? HORATIO While one with moderate haste
might tell a hundred. MARCELLUS BERNARDO Longer, longer. HORATIO
Not when I saw't. HAMLET His beard was grizzled--no? HORATIO It
was, as I have seen it in his life, A sable silver'd. HAMLET I
will watch to-night; Perchance 'twill walk again. HORATIO I warrant
it will. HAMLET If it assume my noble father's person, I'll speak
to it, though hell itself should gape And bid me hold my peace. I
pray you all, If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight, Let it be
tenable in your silence still; And whatsoever else shall hap to-night,
Give it an understanding, but no tongue: I will requite your loves.
So, fare you well: Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve,
I'll visit you. All Our duty to your honour. HAMLET Your loves,
as mine to you: farewell. Exeunt all but HAMLET
My father's spirit in arms! all is not well; I doubt some foul play:
would the night were come! Till then sit still, my soul: foul deeds
will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes. Exit
SCENE III. A room in Polonius' house.
Enter LAERTES and OPHELIA LAERTES My necessaries are embark'd:
farewell: And, sister, as the winds give benefit And convoy is
assistant, do not sleep, But let me hear from you. OPHELIA Do you
doubt that? LAERTES For Hamlet and the trifling of his favour,
Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood, A violet in the youth of primy
nature, Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and
suppliance of a minute; No more. OPHELIA No more but so? LAERTES
Think it no more; For nature, crescent, does not grow alone In thews
and bulk, but, as this temple waxes, The inward service of the mind
and soul Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now, And now no
soil nor cautel doth besmirch The virtue of his will: but you must
fear, His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own; For he himself
is subject to his birth: He may not, as unvalued persons do, Carve
for himself; for on his choice depends The safety and health of
this whole state; And therefore must his choice be circumscribed
Unto the voice and yielding of that body Whereof he is the head.
Then if he says he loves you, It fits your wisdom so far to believe
it As he in his particular act and place May give his saying deed;
which is no further Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal.
Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain, If with too credent
ear you list his songs, Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure
open To his unmaster'd importunity. Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my
dear sister, And keep you in the rear of your affection, Out of the
shot and danger of desire. The chariest maid is prodigal enough,
If she unmask her beauty to the moon: Virtue itself 'scapes not
calumnious strokes: The canker galls the infants of the spring, Too
oft before their buttons be disclosed, And in the morn and liquid
dew of youth Contagious blastments are most imminent. Be wary then;
best safety lies in fear: Youth to itself rebels, though none else
near. OPHELIA I shall the effect of this good lesson keep, As
watchman to my heart. But, good my brother, Do not, as some ungracious
pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven; Whiles,
like a puff'd and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of
dalliance treads, And recks not his own rede. LAERTES O, fear me
not. I stay too long: but here my father comes. Enter POLONIUS
A double blessing is a double grace, Occasion smiles upon a second
leave. LORD POLONIUS Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail, And you are stay'd for.
There; my blessing with thee! And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, Nor any unproportioned
thought his act. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Those
friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy
soul with hoops of steel; But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware Of entrance to a
quarrel, but being in, Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; Take each man's censure,
but reserve thy judgment. Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy; For the apparel oft
proclaims the man, And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that. Neither a borrower
nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And
borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all: to thine
ownself be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou
canst not then be false to any man. Farewell: my blessing season
this in thee! LAERTES Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.
LORD POLONIUS The time invites you; go; your servants tend. LAERTES
Farewell, Ophelia; and remember well What I have said to you.
OPHELIA 'Tis in my memory lock'd, And you yourself shall keep the
key of it. LAERTES Farewell. Exit
LORD POLONIUS What is't, Ophelia, be hath said to you? OPHELIA So
please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet. LORD POLONIUS
Marry, well bethought: 'Tis told me, he hath very oft of late Given
private time to you; and you yourself Have of your audience been
most free and bounteous: If it be so, as so 'tis put on me, And
that in way of caution, I must tell you, You do not understand
yourself so clearly As it behoves my daughter and your honour. What
is between you? give me up the truth. OPHELIA He hath, my lord,
of late made many tenders Of his affection to me. LORD POLONIUS
Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl, Unsifted in such
perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call
them? OPHELIA I do not know, my lord, what I should think. LORD
POLONIUS Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby; That you
have ta'en these tenders for true pay, Which are not sterling.
Tender yourself more dearly; Or--not to crack the wind of the poor
phrase, Running it thus--you'll tender me a fool. OPHELIA My lord,
he hath importuned me with love In honourable fashion. LORD POLONIUS
Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to. OPHELIA And hath given
countenance to his speech, my lord, With almost all the holy vows
of heaven. LORD POLONIUS Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do
know, When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul Lends the tongue
vows: these blazes, daughter, Giving more light than heat, extinct
in both, Even in their promise, as it is a-making, You must not
take for fire. From this time Be somewhat scanter of your maiden
presence; Set your entreatments at a higher rate Than a command to
parley. For Lord Hamlet, Believe so much in him, that he is young
And with a larger tether may he walk Than may be given you: in few,
Ophelia, Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers, Not of that
dye which their investments show, But mere implorators of unholy
suits, Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds, The better to
beguile. This is for all: I would not, in plain terms, from this
time forth, Have you so slander any moment leisure, As to give words
or talk with the Lord Hamlet. Look to't, I charge you: come your
ways. OPHELIA I shall obey, my lord. Exeunt
SCENE IV. The platform.
Enter HAMLET, HORATIO, and MARCELLUS HAMLET The air bites shrewdly;
it is very cold. HORATIO It is a nipping and an eager air. HAMLET
What hour now? HORATIO I think it lacks of twelve. HAMLET No, it
is struck. HORATIO Indeed? I heard it not: then it draws near the
season Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk. A flourish of
trumpets, and ordnance shot off, within
What does this mean, my lord? HAMLET The king doth wake to-night
and takes his rouse, Keeps wassail, and the swaggering up-spring
reels; And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down, The kettle-drum
and trumpet thus bray out The triumph of his pledge. HORATIO Is
it a custom? HAMLET Ay, marry, is't: But to my mind, though I am
native here And to the manner born, it is a custom More honour'd
in the breach than the observance. This heavy-headed revel east
and west Makes us traduced and tax'd of other nations: They clepe
us drunkards, and with swinish phrase Soil our addition; and indeed
it takes From our achievements, though perform'd at height, The
pith and marrow of our attribute. So, oft it chances in particular
men, That for some vicious mole of nature in them, As, in their
birth--wherein they are not guilty, Since nature cannot choose his
origin-- By the o'ergrowth of some complexion, Oft breaking down
the pales and forts of reason, Or by some habit that too much
o'er-leavens The form of plausive manners, that these men, Carrying,
I say, the stamp of one defect, Being nature's livery, or fortune's
star,-- Their virtues else--be they as pure as grace, As infinite
as man may undergo-- Shall in the general censure take corruption
From that particular fault: the dram of eale Doth all the noble
substance of a doubt To his own scandal. HORATIO Look, my lord,
it comes! Enter Ghost
HAMLET Angels and ministers of grace defend us! Be thou a spirit
of health or goblin damn'd, Bring with thee airs from heaven or
blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitable, Thou comest
in such a questionable shape That I will speak to thee: I'll call
thee Hamlet, King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me! Let me not
burst in ignorance; but tell Why thy canonized bones, hearsed in
death, Have burst their cerements; why the sepulchre, Wherein we
saw thee quietly inurn'd, Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws,
To cast thee up again. What may this mean, That thou, dead corse,
again in complete steel Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon,
Making night hideous; and we fools of nature So horridly to shake
our disposition With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls? Say,
why is this? wherefore? what should we do? Ghost beckons HAMLET
HORATIO It beckons you to go away with it, As if it some impartment
did desire To you alone. MARCELLUS Look, with what courteous action
It waves you to a more removed ground: But do not go with it.
HORATIO No, by no means. HAMLET It will not speak; then I will
follow it. HORATIO Do not, my lord. HAMLET Why, what should be
the fear? I do not set my life in a pin's fee; And for my soul,
what can it do to that, Being a thing immortal as itself? It waves
me forth again: I'll follow it. HORATIO What if it tempt you toward
the flood, my lord, Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff That
beetles o'er his base into the sea, And there assume some other
horrible form, Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason And
draw you into madness? think of it: The very place puts toys of
desperation, Without more motive, into every brain That looks so
many fathoms to the sea And hears it roar beneath. HAMLET It waves
me still. Go on; I'll follow thee. MARCELLUS You shall not go,
my lord. HAMLET Hold off your hands. HORATIO Be ruled; you shall
not go. HAMLET My fate cries out, And makes each petty artery in
this body As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve. Still am I call'd.
Unhand me, gentlemen. By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that
lets me! I say, away! Go on; I'll follow thee. Exeunt Ghost and
HAMLET
HORATIO He waxes desperate with imagination. MARCELLUS Let's follow;
'tis not fit thus to obey him. HORATIO Have after. To what issue
will this come? MARCELLUS Something is rotten in the state of
Denmark. HORATIO Heaven will direct it. MARCELLUS Nay, let's
follow him. Exeunt
SCENE V. Another part of the platform.
Enter GHOST and HAMLET HAMLET Where wilt thou lead me? speak; I'll
go no further. Ghost Mark me. HAMLET I will. Ghost My hour is
almost come, When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames Must render
up myself. HAMLET Alas, poor ghost! Ghost Pity me not, but lend
thy serious hearing To what I shall unfold. HAMLET Speak; I am
bound to hear. Ghost So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.
HAMLET What? Ghost I am thy father's spirit, Doom'd for a certain
term to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged
away. But that I am forbid To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul,
freeze thy young blood, Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from
their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part And each
particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful
porpentine: But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh
and blood. List, list, O, list! If thou didst ever thy dear father
love-- HAMLET O God! Ghost Revenge his foul and most unnatural
murder. HAMLET Murder! Ghost Murder most foul, as in the best it
is; But this most foul, strange and unnatural. HAMLET Haste me to
know't, 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
shouldst thou be than the fat weed That roots itself in ease on
Lethe wharf, Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear: 'Tis
given out that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me; so the
whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly
abused: but know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy
father's life Now wears his crown. HAMLET O my prophetic 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 I 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 moved, 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 my 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 my 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 doth posset And curd, like eager
droppings into milk, The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;
And a most instant tetter bark'd about, Most lazar-like, with vile
and loathsome crust, All my smooth body. Thus was I, sleeping, by
a brother's hand Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'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 pursuest 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, adieu! Hamlet, remember me. Exit
HAMLET O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else? 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! 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'm sure it may be so in Denmark: Writing
So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word; It is 'Adieu, adieu!
remember me.' I have sworn 't. MARCELLUS HORATIO [Within] My lord,
my lord,-- MARCELLUS [Within] Lord Hamlet,-- HORATIO [Within]
Heaven secure him! HAMLET So be it! HORATIO [Within] Hillo, ho,
ho, my lord! HAMLET Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come. Enter
HORATIO and MARCELLUS
MARCELLUS How is't, my noble lord? HORATIO What news, my lord?
HAMLET O, wonderful! HORATIO Good my lord, tell it. HAMLET No;
you'll reveal it. HORATIO Not I, my lord, by heaven. MARCELLUS
Nor I, my lord. HAMLET How say you, then; would heart of man once
think it? But you'll be secret? HORATIO MARCELLUS Ay, by heaven,
my lord. HAMLET There's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Denmark
But he's an arrant knave. HORATIO There needs no ghost, my lord,
come from the grave To tell us this. HAMLET Why, right; you are
i' the right; And so, without more circumstance at all, I hold it
fit that we shake hands and part: You, as your business and desire
shall point you; For every man has business and desire, Such as it
is; and for mine own poor part, Look you, I'll go pray. HORATIO
These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. HAMLET I'm sorry
they offend you, heartily; Yes, 'faith heartily. HORATIO There's
no offence, my lord. HAMLET Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is,
Horatio, And much offence too. Touching this vision here, It is an
honest ghost, that let me tell you: For your desire to know what
is between us, O'ermaster 't as you may. And now, good friends, As
you are friends, scholars and soldiers, Give me one poor request.
HORATIO What is't, my lord? we will. HAMLET Never make known what
you have seen to-night. HORATIO MARCELLUS My lord, we will not.
HAMLET Nay, but swear't. HORATIO In faith, My lord, not I. MARCELLUS
Nor I, my lord, in faith. HAMLET Upon my sword. MARCELLUS We have
sworn, my lord, already. HAMLET Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.
Ghost [Beneath] Swear. HAMLET Ah, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art
thou there, truepenny? Come on--you hear this fellow in the
cellarage-- Consent to swear. HORATIO Propose the oath, my lord.
HAMLET Never to speak of this that you have seen, Swear by my sword.
Ghost [Beneath] Swear. HAMLET Hic et ubique? then we'll shift our
ground. Come hither, gentlemen, And lay your hands again upon my
sword: Never to speak of this that you have heard, Swear by my
sword. Ghost [Beneath] Swear. HAMLET Well said, old mole! canst
work i' the earth so fast? A worthy pioner! Once more remove, good
friends. HORATIO O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
HAMLET And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. 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 antic disposition on, That you, at such
times seeing me, never shall, With arms encumber'd thus, or this
headshake, 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, So grace
and mercy at your most need help you, Swear. Ghost [Beneath] Swear.
HAMLET Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! They swear
So, gentlemen, With all my love I do commend me to you: And what
so poor a man as Hamlet is May do, to express his love and friending
to you, God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together; And
still your fingers on your lips, I pray. The time is out of joint:
O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right! Nay, come,
let's go together. Exeunt
ACT II
SCENE I. A room in POLONIUS' house.
Enter POLONIUS and REYNALDO LORD POLONIUS Give him this money and
these notes, Reynaldo. REYNALDO I will, my lord. LORD POLONIUS
You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo, Before you visit
him, to make inquire Of his behavior. REYNALDO My lord, I did
intend it. LORD POLONIUS Marry, well said; very well said. Look
you, sir, Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris; And how, and
who, what means, and where they keep, What company, at what expense;
and finding By this encompassment and drift of question That they
do know my son, come you more nearer Than your particular demands
will touch it: Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him;
As thus, 'I know his father and his friends, And in part him: ' do
you mark this, Reynaldo? REYNALDO Ay, very well, my lord. LORD
POLONIUS 'And in part him; but' you may say 'not well: 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
As are companions noted and most known To youth and liberty. REYNALDO
As gaming, my lord. LORD POLONIUS Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing,
quarrelling, Drabbing: you may go so far. REYNALDO My lord, that
would dishonour him. LORD POLONIUS '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 my 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. REYNALDO But, my good lord,-- LORD
POLONIUS Wherefore should you do this? REYNALDO Ay, my lord, I
would know that. LORD POLONIUS Marry, sir, here's my drift; And I
believe, it is a fetch of wit: 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 assured
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. REYNALDO Very good, my lord. LORD POLONIUS
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? REYNALDO
At 'closes in the consequence,' at 'friend or so,' and 'gentleman.'
LORD POLONIUS At 'closes in the consequence,' ay, marry; He closes
thus: 'I know the gentleman; I saw him yesterday, or t' other day,
Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say, There was
a' gaming; there o'ertook in's rouse; There falling out at tennis:'
or perchance, 'I saw him enter such a house of sale,' Videlicet, a
brothel, or so forth. See you now; Your bait of falsehood takes
this carp of truth: And thus do we of wisdom and of reach, With
windlasses and with assays of bias, By indirections find directions
out: So by my former lecture and advice, Shall you my son. You have
me, have you not? REYNALDO My lord, I have. LORD POLONIUS God be
wi' you; fare you well. REYNALDO Good my lord! LORD POLONIUS
Observe his inclination in yourself. REYNALDO I shall, my lord.
LORD POLONIUS And let him ply his music. REYNALDO Well, my lord.
LORD POLONIUS Farewell! Exit REYNALDO
Enter OPHELIA
How now, Ophelia! what's the matter? OPHELIA O, my lord, my lord,
I have been so affrighted! LORD POLONIUS With what, i' the name
of God? OPHELIA My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet,
with his doublet all unbraced; 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 speak of horrors,--he comes
before me. LORD POLONIUS Mad for thy love? OPHELIA My lord, I do
not know; But truly, I do fear it. LORD POLONIUS What said he?
OPHELIA He took me by the wrist and held me hard; 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 raised a sigh so piteous and
profound As it did seem to shatter all his bulk And end his being:
that done, he lets me go: And, with his head over his shoulder
turn'd, He seem'd to find his way without his eyes; For out o' doors
he went without their helps, And, to the last, bended their light
on me. LORD POLONIUS Come, go with me: I will go seek the king.
This is the very ecstasy of love, Whose violent property fordoes
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? OPHELIA No, my
good lord, but, as you did command, I did repel his fetters and
denied His access to me. LORD POLONIUS 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! By heaven, 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. Exeunt
SCENE II. A room in the castle.
Enter KING CLAUDIUS, QUEEN GERTRUDE, ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN, and
Attendants KING CLAUDIUS 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 call it, Sith nor the exterior nor the
inward man 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 sith so neighbour'd to his
youth and havior, That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court
Some little time: so by your companies To draw him on to pleasures,
and to gather, So much as from occasion you may glean, Whether
aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus, That, open'd, lies within
our remedy. QUEEN GERTRUDE Good gentlemen, he hath much talk'd of
you; And sure I am two men there are not living 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. ROSENCRANTZ Both your majesties Might,
by the sovereign power you have of us, Put your dread pleasures
more into command Than to entreaty. GUILDENSTERN But we both obey,
And here give up ourselves, in the full bent To lay our service
freely at your feet, To be commanded. KING CLAUDIUS Thanks,
Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern. QUEEN GERTRUDE 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. GUILDENSTERN Heavens make our presence
and our practises Pleasant and helpful to him! QUEEN GERTRUDE Ay,
amen! Exeunt ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN, and some Attendants
Enter POLONIUS
LORD POLONIUS The ambassadors from Norway, my good lord, Are joyfully
return'd. KING CLAUDIUS Thou still hast been the father of good
news. LORD POLONIUS Have I, my lord? I assure my good liege, I
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 used to do, that I have found The very
cause of Hamlet's lunacy. KING CLAUDIUS O, speak of that; that do
I long to hear. LORD POLONIUS Give first admittance to the
ambassadors; My news shall be the fruit to that great feast. KING
CLAUDIUS Thyself do grace to them, and bring them in. Exit POLONIUS
He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found The head and source
of all your son's distemper. QUEEN GERTRUDE I doubt it is no other
but the main; His father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage. KING
CLAUDIUS Well, we shall sift him. Re-enter POLONIUS, with VOLTIMAND
and CORNELIUS
Welcome, my good friends! Say, Voltimand, what from our brother
Norway? VOLTIMAND 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
grieved, 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, Giving 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 CLAUDIUS It likes us well; And at our
more consider'd time well read, Answer, and think upon this business.
Meantime 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
LORD POLONIUS 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 flourishes, I 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
GERTRUDE More matter, with less art. LORD POLONIUS 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 cause: 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. Reads
'To the celestial and my soul's idol, the most beautified Ophelia,'--
That's an ill phrase, a vile phrase; 'beautified' is a vile phrase:
but you shall hear. Thus: Reads
'In her excellent white bosom, these, & c.' QUEEN GERTRUDE Came
this from Hamlet to her? LORD POLONIUS Good madam, stay awhile; I
will be faithful. Reads
'Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt
truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love. '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 CLAUDIUS But how hath she Received his love?
LORD POLONIUS What do you think of me? KING CLAUDIUS As of a man
faithful and honourable. LORD POLONIUS I would fain prove so. But
what might you think, When I had seen this hot love on the wing--
As I perceived 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 and 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 I
did 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 CLAUDIUS Do you think 'tis this? QUEEN GERTRUDE It may
be, very likely. LORD POLONIUS Hath there been such a time--I'd
fain know that-- That I have positively said 'Tis so,' When it
proved otherwise? KING CLAUDIUS Not that I know. LORD POLONIUS
[Pointing to his head and shoulder] Take this from this, if this
be otherwise: If circumstances lead me, I will find Where truth is
hid, though it were hid indeed Within the centre. KING CLAUDIUS
How may we try it further? LORD POLONIUS You know, sometimes he
walks four hours together Here in the lobby. QUEEN GERTRUDE So he
does indeed. LORD POLONIUS At such a time I'll loose my daughter
to him: Be you and I behind an arras then; Mark the encounter: if
he love her not And be not from his reason fall'n thereon, Let me
be no assistant for a state, But keep a farm and carters. KING
CLAUDIUS We will try it. QUEEN GERTRUDE But, look, where sadly the
poor wretch comes reading. LORD POLONIUS Away, I do beseech you,
both away: I'll board him presently. Exeunt KING CLAUDIUS, QUEEN
GERTRUDE, and Attendants
Enter HAMLET, reading
O, give me leave: How does my good Lord Hamlet? HAMLET Well,
God-a-mercy. LORD POLONIUS Do you know me, my lord? HAMLET Excellent
well; you are a fishmonger. LORD POLONIUS Not I, my lord. HAMLET
Then I would you were so honest a man. LORD POLONIUS Honest, my
lord! HAMLET Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes, is to be
one man picked out of ten thousand. LORD POLONIUS That's very true,
my lord. HAMLET For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being
a god kissing carrion,--Have you a daughter? LORD POLONIUS I have,
my lord. HAMLET Let her not walk i' the sun: conception is a
blessing: but not as your daughter may conceive. Friend, look to
't. LORD POLONIUS [Aside] How say you by that? 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? HAMLET Words, words, words. LORD POLONIUS
What is the matter, my lord? HAMLET Between who? LORD POLONIUS I
mean, the matter that you read, my lord. HAMLET Slanders, sir: for
the satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards, that
their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree
gum and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most
weak hams: all which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently
believe, yet I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down, for
yourself, sir, should be old as I am, if like a crab you could go
backward. LORD POLONIUS [Aside] Though this be madness, yet there
is method in 't. Will you walk out of the air, my lord? HAMLET
Into my grave. LORD POLONIUS Indeed, that is out o' the air. Aside
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. HAMLET You cannot, sir, take
from me any thing that I will more willingly part withal: except
my life, except my life, except my life. LORD POLONIUS Fare you
well, my lord. HAMLET These tedious old fools! Enter ROSENCRANTZ
and GUILDENSTERN
LORD POLONIUS You go to seek the Lord Hamlet; there he is. ROSENCRANTZ
[To POLONIUS] God save you, sir! Exit POLONIUS
GUILDENSTERN My honoured lord! ROSENCRANTZ My most dear lord!
HAMLET My excellent good friends! How dost thou, Guildenstern? Ah,
Rosencrantz! Good lads, how do ye both? ROSENCRANTZ As the indifferent
children of the earth. GUILDENSTERN Happy, in that we are not
over-happy; On fortune's cap we are not the very button. HAMLET
Nor the soles of her shoe? ROSENCRANTZ Neither, my lord. HAMLET
Then you live about her waist, or in the middle of her favours?
GUILDENSTERN 'Faith, her privates we. HAMLET In the secret parts
of fortune? O, most true; she is a strumpet. What's the news?
ROSENCRANTZ None, my lord, but that the world's grown honest. HAMLET
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? GUILDENSTERN
Prison, my lord! HAMLET Denmark's a prison. ROSENCRANTZ Then is
the world one. HAMLET A goodly one; in which there are many confines,
wards and dungeons, Denmark being one o' the worst. ROSENCRANTZ
We think not so, my lord. HAMLET 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. ROSENCRANTZ Why then, your ambition makes it
one; 'tis too narrow for your mind. HAMLET O God, I could be bounded
in a nut shell and count myself a king of infinite space, were it
not that I have bad dreams. GUILDENSTERN Which dreams indeed are
ambition, for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the
shadow of a dream. HAMLET A dream itself is but a shadow. ROSENCRANTZ
Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy and light a quality that it
is but a shadow's shadow. HAMLET Then are our beggars bodies, and
our monarchs and outstretched heroes the beggars' shadows. Shall
we to the court? for, by my fay, I cannot reason. ROSENCRANTZ
GUILDENSTERN We'll wait upon you. HAMLET 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? ROSENCRANTZ
To visit you, my lord; no other occasion. HAMLET 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, deal justly with
me: come, come; nay, speak. GUILDENSTERN What should we say, my
lord? HAMLET Why, 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 craft enough to colour: I know the good king and
queen have sent for you. ROSENCRANTZ To what end, my lord? HAMLET
That you must teach me. But let me conjure you, by the rights of
our fellowship, by the consonancy of our youth, by the obligation
of our ever-preserved love, and by what more dear a better proposer
could charge you withal, be even and direct with me, whether you
were sent for, or no? ROSENCRANTZ [Aside to GUILDENSTERN] What say
you? HAMLET [Aside] Nay, then, I have an eye of you.--If you love
me, hold not off. GUILDENSTERN My lord, we were sent for. HAMLET
I will tell you why; so shall my anticipation 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 sterile 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 infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable!
in action how like an 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. ROSENCRANTZ
My lord, there was no such stuff in my thoughts. HAMLET Why did
you laugh then, when I said 'man delights not me'? ROSENCRANTZ 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. HAMLET 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 are they? ROSENCRANTZ Even those
you were wont to take delight in, the tragedians of the city. HAMLET
How chances it they travel? their residence, both in reputation and
profit, was better both ways. ROSENCRANTZ I think their inhibition
comes by the means of the late innovation. HAMLET Do they hold the
same estimation they did when I was in the city? are they so followed?
ROSENCRANTZ No, indeed, are they not. HAMLET How comes it? do they
grow rusty? ROSENCRANTZ Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted
pace: but there is, sir, an aery of children, little eyases, that
cry out on the top of question, and are most tyrannically clapped
for't: 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. HAMLET What, are they
children? who maintains 'em? 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 is most
like, if their means are no better--their writers do them wrong,
to make them exclaim against their own succession? ROSENCRANTZ
'Faith, there has been much to do on both sides; and the nation
holds it no sin to tarre them to controversy: there was, for a
while, no money bid for argument, unless the poet and the player
went to cuffs in the question. HAMLET Is't possible? GUILDENSTERN
O, there has been much throwing about of brains. HAMLET Do the
boys carry it away? ROSENCRANTZ Ay, that they do, my lord; Hercules