SCENE IV. The Platform. Enter HAMLET, HORATIO, and MAR

CELLUS.

Ham. The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold. Hor. It is a nipping and an eager* air. Ham. What hour now?

Hor.

I think it lacks of twelve.
Mar. No, it is struck.
Hor. Indeed? I heard it not; it then draws
near the season,

Wherein the spirit held is wont to walk.

[A Flourish of Trumpets, and Ord-
nance shot off, within.

What does this mean, my lord?
Ham. The king doth wake to-night, and
takes his rouse t.
[spring reels;
Keeps wasselt, and the swaggering up-
And as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down,
The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out
The triumph of his pledge.

Hor.

Is it a custom? Ham. Ay, marry, is't: But to my mind, though I am native here, And to the manner boru, it is a custom More honour'd in the breach, than the ob

servance.

This heavy-headed revel, east and west,
Makes us traduced, and taxed of other nations:
They clepe us, drunkards, and with swinish
Soil our addition; and, indeed it takes [phrase
From our achievements, though performed at
The pith and marrow of our attribute. [height,
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 T
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,

Hath oped his ponderous and marble jaws,
To cast thee up again! What may this inean,
That thou, dead corse, again in cómplete steel
Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the inoon,
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?

Hor. It beckons you to go away with it,
As if it some impartment did desire
To you alone.

Mar. Look, with what courteous action,
It waves you to a more removed §§ ground:
But do not go with it.
Hor.
No, by no means.
Ham. It will not speak; then I will follow
Hor. Do not, my lord.
Ham.

[it.

Why, what should be the fear?
I do not set my life at 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.
Hor. What, if it tempt you toward the
flood, my lord,

Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff,
That beetles TT o'er his base into the sea?
And there assume some other horrible form,
Which might deprive your sovereignty of rea-
And draw you into madness? think of it: [son,
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.

Ham.

It waves me still:

Go on, I'll follow thee.
Mar. You shall not go, my lord.
Ham.
Hold off your hands.
Hor. Be ruled, you shall not go.
Ham.

My fate cries out,
And makes each petty artery in this body
As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve.-

[Ghost beckons. Still am I call'd;-unhand me, gentlemen;[Breaking from them. By heaven, I'l make a ghost of him that lets I say, away :-Go on, I'll follow thee. [me: [Exeunt Ghost and HAMLET. Hor. He waxes desperate with imagination. Mar. Let's follow; 'tis not fit thus to obey [come?

him.

Hor. Have after:-To what issue will this
Mar. Something is rotter in the state of
Hor. Heaven will direct it. [Denmark.
Mar.
Nay, let's follow him.
[Exeunt.

A more remote part of the
Platform.

Re enter Ghost and HAMLET.
Ham. Whither wilt thou lead me? speak,
Ghost. Mark me. [I'll go no further.
Ham.
Ghost.

My hour is almost come,

I will.

When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames Must render up myself.

Ham. Alas, poor ghost! Ghost. Pity me not, but lend thy serious To what I shall unfold. [hearing Ham. Speak, I am bound to hear. Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou Ham. What? [shalt hear. 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 To tell the secrets of my prison-house, [forbid I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood; [spheres; Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their Thy knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porcupine; 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,— Ham. O heaven!

Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural Ham. Murder? [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 meditation, or the thoughts of love, [as swift May sweep to my revenge. Ghost. I find thee apt; And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, [hear: Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, 'Tis given out, that sleeping in mine orchardt, A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of DenIs by a forged process of my death [mark Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father's life, Now wears his crown.

Ham. O, my prophetic soul! my uncle!
Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate
beast,
[gifts,
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous
(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,

Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenong 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 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 despatch'd **;
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel'd+t, 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, adieu! remember me. [Exit.
Ham. O all you host of heaven! O earth!
[my heart;
And shall I couple hell?-O fie!-Hold, hold,
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up!-Remember thee?
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a

What else?

seat

In this distracted globe. Remember thee?
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records, [past,
All saws ¶¶ of books, all forms, all pressures
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.

So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;
It is, Adicu, Adieu! remember me.
I have sworn't.

Hor. [Within.] My lord, my lord,Mar. [Within.] Lord Hamlet, Hor. [Within.]

Ham.

Heaven secure him:

So be it!

Without having received the Sacrament. Without extreme unction.

*** Memorandum book

But you'll be secret,-
Hor. Mar.
Ay, by heaven, my lord.
Ham. There's ne'er a villain, dwelling in
But he's an arrant knave. [all Deumark,
Hor. There needs no ghost, my lord, come
To tell us this.
[from the grave,
Ham. Why, right; you are in 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
For every man hath business and desire, [you;
Such as it is,-and, for my own poor part,
Look you, I will go pray.

Hor. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. [yes, Ham. I am sorry they offend you, heartily; 'Faith, heartily. Hor. There's no offence, my lord. Ham. 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 it as you may. And now, good
friends,

As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers,
Give me one poor request.

Hor.
What is't, my lord?
We will.
[seen to night.
Ham. Never make known what you have
Hor. Mar. My lord, we will not.
Nay, but swear't.

Ham.

Hor.

In faith,

Nor I, my lord, in faith. Ham. Upon my sword.

Mar. We have sworn, my lord, already. Ham. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed. Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Hic et ubique *? then we'll shift our Come hither, gentlemen, [ground: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! can'st work i'the earth so fast? [friends. A worthy pioneer! Once more remove, good Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous [welcome.

strange!

Ham. And therefore as a stranger give it There are more things in heaven and earth, HoThan are dreamt of in your philosophy. [ratio, 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 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 [swear,
That you know aught of me:-This do you
So grace and mercy at your most need help
Chost. [Beneath.] Swear.
[you!
Ham. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! So, gen-
tlemen,

With all my love I do commend me to you:
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is [yon,
May do to express his love and friending to
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in to-
gether;

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.

II.

[Exeunt.

As thus, I know his father, and his friends, And, in part, him;-Do you mark this, Reynaldo?

Rey. Ay, very well, my lord.

+ Danes.

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.

Key.

As gaming, my lord. Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, Drabbing: You may go so far. [quarrelling, 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; [so quaintly,
That's not my meaning: but breathe his faults
That they may seem the taints of liberty:
The flash and out-break 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 predominate + crimes,
The youth you breathe of, guilty, be assured,
Hle 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 doesWhat was I about to say?-By the mass, I was about to say some something:-Where did I leave?

Rey. At, closes in the consequence. [marry;
Pol. At, closes in the consequence,-Ay,
He closes with you thus:-I know the gentle-
I saw him yesterday, or t'other day, [man;
Or then, or then; with such, or such; and,
as you say,
[rouse;
There was he gaming; there o'ertook in his
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 windlaces, and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out;
So, by former lecture and advice,
Shall you my son: You have me, have you
Rey. My lord, I have.
Pol.

[not?

God be wi' you; fare you well. Rey. Good, my lord,

Pol. Observe his inclination in yourself. Rey. I shall, my lord.

• Wildness.

Pol. And let him ply his music. Rey.

Well, my lord. [Exit. Enter OPHELIA.

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

Oph. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so 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 foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each And with a look so piteous in purport, [other; As if he had been loosed out of hell, To speak of horrors,-he comes before me. Pol. Mad for thy love? My lord, I do not know;

Oph.

But, truly, I do fear it. Pol.

What said he? [hard;

Oph. He took me by the wrist, and held me
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."

Pol. Come, go with me; I will go seek the
This is the very ecstasy of love; [king.
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?
[command,
Oph. No, my good lord; but, as you did
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,
[jealousy!
And meant to wreck thee; but beshrew my
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, GUIL-
DENSTERN, and Attendants.

King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz, and

Hanging down like fetters.

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.
Ros.
Both your majesties
Might, by the sovereign power you have of us,
Put your dread pleasures more into command
Than to entreaty.

Guil.
But we both obey;
And here give up ourselves, in the full bentt,
To lay our service freely at your feet,
To be commanded.

King. Thanks, Rosencrantz, aud gentle Guildenstern.

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
Pleasant and helpful to him! [practices,
Queen.
Ay, amen!

[Exeunt ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN, and some Attendants.

news.

Enter POLONIUS.

Pol. The embassadors from Norway, my Are joyfully return'd. [good lord, King. Thou still hast been the father of good [good liege, Pol. Have I, my lord? Assure you, my 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. [sadors; Pol. Give first admittance to the embasMy 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'erhasty marriage. Re-enter POLONIUS, with VOLTIMAND and CORNELIUS.

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

Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Nor-
way?
[desires.
Volt. Most fair return of greetings, and
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 T-sends out arrests
On Fortinbras; which he, in brief, obeys;
Receives rebuke from Norway; and, in fine,
Makes vow before bis 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 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, '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 theu: 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;
Poland.

Scent. § Dessert
• Discuss.