Ham. Never to speak of this that you have seen, Swear by my sword.

Ghost [beneath]. Swear!

Ham. Hic et ubique? then we will shift our 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 antic disposition on,-

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall,
With arms encumbered 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 do you swear,
So grace and mercy at your most need help you!
Ghost [beneath]. Swear!

Ham. Rest, rest, perturbéd spirit! So, gentle

My lord, I did intend it.

Pol. 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 't were, some distant knowledge of

him;

As thus: "I know his father, and his friends, And, in part, him." Do you mark this, Reynaldo? Rey. Ay, very well, my lord.

Pol. "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.

Rey.

As gaming, my lord.

Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling,

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 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.

Rey.

But, my good lord,

Pol. Wherefore should you do this?

Rey.

Ay, my lord,

I would know that.

Pol.

Marry, sir, here's my drift;
And I believe it is a fetch of warrant:
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
As 't were a thing a little soiled i' the working,
Mark you,

Your party in convérse, 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:-

Pol. Farewell!-How now, Ophelia? what's the matter?

Oph. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted!

Pol. With what, in the name of heaven?

Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced; No hat upon his head; his stockings fouled, Ungartered, and down-gyvéd 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 looséd out of hell, To speak of horrors, he comes before me. Pol. Mad for thy love?

Oph.. My lord, I do not know; But truly I do fear it.

Oph. 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 stayed 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 turned, He seemed 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 áccess to me.

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 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 deem of. I entreat you both,
That, being of so young days brought up with him,
And since so neighboured to his youth and humour,
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, opened, lies within our remedy.

Queen. Good gentlemen, he hath much talked of

Enter POLONIUS.

Pol. The ambassadors from Norway, my good lord,

Are joyfully returned.

King. Thou still hast been the father of good

news.

Pol. Have I, my lord? Assure you, 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. 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 POLONIUS.

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'er-hasty marriage.

Re-enter POLONIUS, with VOLTIMAND and COR

NELIUS.

King. Well, we shall sift him.—Welcome, my good friends!

Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Norway?
Volt. Most fair return of greetings and desires.
Upon our first, he sent out to suppress
His nephew's levies; which to him appeared
To be a preparation 'gainst the Polack;
But, better looked 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 th' assay of arms against your majesty.
Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy,

Pol.

[Exeunt VOLTIMAND and CORNelius.
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.

More matter, with less art.
Pol. Madam, I swear I use no art at all.
That he is mad, 't is true: 't is true, 't is pity;
And pity 'tis, 't is 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."

Queen. Came this from Hamlet to her?

Pol. 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.

Pol.

What do you think of me?
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 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 played the desk or table-book;
Or given my heart a working mute and dumb;
Or looked 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 sphere;
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, repulséd (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.