HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK.

Mar-Who is't, that can inform me?
Hor. That can I;

And let us hear Bernardo speak of this.
Ber. Last night of all,
When you 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.

Ber. In the same figure like the king that's
dead.

Mar. Thou art a scholar, speak to it, Horatio.
Ber. Looks it not like the king? mark it,
Horatio.

Mar. Peace, break thee off-look, where it (As it doth well appear unto our state,)

comes again!

Hor. Most like :-it harrows me with fear, and wouder.

Ber. It would be spoke to.

Mar. Speak to it, Horatio.

Hor. What art thou, that usurp'st this time of night,

Mar. Is it not like the king?

Hor. 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 angry parle, t
He smote the sledded Polack on the ice.
'Tis strange.

Together with that fair and warlike form
In which the majesty of buried Denmark
Did sometimes march ?-By heaven I charge
thee, speak!

Mar. It is offended.

Ber. See! it stalks away.

Hor. Stay; speak: speak I charge thee, speak.
[Brit GHOST.
Mar. 'Tis gone, and will not answer.
Ber. How now, Horatio? you tremble, and
look pale:
Is not this something more than fantasy?
What think you of it?

Hor. Before my God, I might not this believe,
Without the sensible and true avouch
Of mine own eyes.

Mar. Thus, twice before, and jump at this dead hour,

With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. Hor. In what particular thought to work, know not;

+ Dispute.

But, in the gross and scope of mine opinion,"
This bodes some strange eruption to our state.
Mar, Good now, sit dowu, and tell me, he
that knows,

1

Speak of it stay, and speak.-Stop it, Mare
cellus.

1.

FTV

Mar. Shall I strike at it with my partizan ?
Hor. Do, if it will not stand.

Ber. 'Tis here!

Hor. 'Tis here! ·

Mar. 'Tis gone!

We do it wrong, being so majestical,
To offer it the show of violence

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 bears
Of this his nephew's purpose, to suppress
His further gait herein; in that the levies,
[Exit GHOST. The lists, and full proportious, are all made
Out of his subject -aud we here despatch
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 dilated articles allow.
[duty.
Farewell; and let your haste, commend your
Cor. Vol In that and all things will we show
... our duty. Yam

For it is, as the air, invulnerable,
And our vain blows malicious mockery.
Ber. It was about to speak, when the cock
il crew: t I w Shull'
b

Hor. And then it started like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful summons.. I have heard,.
The cock, that is the trumpet of 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.+

Mer. It faded on the crowing of the cock.
Some say, that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, ..
This 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.

Hor. So I have heard, and do in part believe

it.

But look, the morn, in russet mantle clad,
Walks o'er the dew of yon bigh eastern hill:
Break we our watch up; and, by my advice,
Let us impart what we have seen to-night-
Uuto 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 ?
Mar. Let's do't, I pray; and I this morning

know
Where we shall find him most convenient.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-The same. A Room of State in the same.

Enter the KING, QUEEN, HAMLET, POLONIUS, LAERTES, VOLTIMAND, CORNELIUS, LORDS, and Attendants.

King. Though yet of Hamlet our dear bro

ther's death

The memory be green; and that it us befitted
To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole king-
dom

+ Proof. Bonds.

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 of this warlike state,..
Have we, as 'twere, with a defeated joy,→
With one auspicious, and one dropping eye;
With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in mar-

riage,

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 Fortin-
bras,
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 this dream of his advantage,
He hath not fail'd to pester us with message,
Importing our surrender of those lands
Lost by his father, with all bands of law,
To our most valiant brother.-So much for

him.

• Wandering.

+ Griefs

J

King. We doubt it nothing; heartily fare. well.

(

[Exeunt VOLTIMAND and CORNELIUS.
And now, Laertes, what's the news with you 1,
You told us of some suit; What is't, Laertes ?
You cannot speak of reason to the Dane,
And lose your voice: What would'st 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 ?
Laer. My dread lord,

Your leave and favour to return to France;
From whence, though willingly, I came to Den-

mark,

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. Have you your father's leave? What
says Polonius?.

Pol. He bath, my lord, [wrung from me my slow leave,

*1

By laboursome petition; and, at last,
Upon bis will I seal'd my hard consent:]
I do beseech you, give him leave to go..
King. 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,-~
Ham. A little more than kin, and less than
kind. t
[Aside.
King. How is it, that the clouds still haug on
you?..

A

1..

Ham. Not so, my lord, I am too much 'the

sun.

Queen. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour
off,

And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.
Do not, for ever, with thy veiled lids
Seek for thy noble father in the dust:

Thou know'st 'tis common; all that live must
die;

Passing through nature to eternity.
Ham. Ay, madam, it is common.
Queen. If it be,

Why seems it so particular with thee?"

Ham. Seems, madamn! 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 fore'd breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected haviour of the visage,
Together with all forms, modes, shows 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. 'Tis sweet and commendable in your
nature, Hamlet,

To give these mourning duties to your father:

Way-path

child.

Kim is the Teutonick word for 1 Dejected eyes.

HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK.

It is not, nor it cannot come to, good.-
But break, my heart; for I must hold
tongue l

Enter HORATIO, BERNARDO, and MARCELLUS.
Hor. Hail to your lordship!
Ham. I am glad to see you well:
Horatio,-or I do forget myself.

Hor. The same, my lord, and your poor ser

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 hea-

vant ever.

Ham. Sir, my good friend; I'll change that
[lio !-
name with you.
And what make you from Wittenberg, Hora-
Marcellus ?

---

Mar. My good lord,-
Ham. I am very glad to see you; good even,

Sir.

But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg ?
Hor. A truant disposition, good my lord.
Ham. 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
Hor. My lord, I came to see your father's
funeral.

ven

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 heaven! a beast, that wants discourse of rea-
son,

Would have mourn'd longer,-married with my
uncle,

Ham. I pray thee, do not mock me, fellow
student;

I think, it was to see my mother's wedding.
Hor. Indeed, my lord, it follow'd hard upon.
Ham. Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral bak'd

meats.

My father's brother; but no more like my fa-
ther,
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!

✰ Report. • It was anciently the custom to give a cold entertain
Entirely.ment at a funeral.
1 Attentis.

† Chiefest.

And we did think it writ down in our duty,
To let you know of it.

[me.

Ham. Indeed, indeed, Sirs, but this troubles
Hold you the watch
-night?
All. We do, my lord.
Ham. Arm'd, say you?
All. Arm'd, my lord.

Ham. From top to toe?

All. My lord, from head to foot.

Ham. Then saw you not
His face.

up.

Ham. What, look'd he frowningly?

Hor. A countenance more

If with too credent tear you list his songs;

Hor. O yes, my lord; he wore his beaver 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 disclos'd;
And in the morn and liquid dew of youth
Contagious blastments are most imminent.
Be wary then: best safety lies in fear;

Very like Stay'd it long?

Hor. While one with moderate haste might Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.

Oph. I shall the effect of this good lesson

keep,

In sorrow than in anger.

Ham. Pale, or red?

Hor. Nay, very pale.

Ham. And fix'd his eyes upon you?

Hor. Most constantly.

Ham. I would I had been there.

Hor. It would have much amaz'd you.
Ham. Very like,

tell a bundred.

Mar. Ber. Longer, longer.

Hor. Not when I saw it.

Ham. His beard was grizzl'd? no?

Hor. It was, as I have seen it in his life,

A sable silver'd.

Ham. I will watch to-night:

Perchance, 'twill walk again.

Hor. I warrant it will.

Ham. 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,
r'il visit you.

NARDO.

My father's spirit in arms! all is not well;

I doubt some foul play: 'would, the night were

come!

eyes.

Till then, sit still, my soul: Foul deeds will rise
(Though all the earth o'erwhelm them) to men's
[Exit.
SCENE III-A Room in POLONIUS' House.
Enter LAERTES and OPHELIA.
Laer. 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.

Oph. Do you doubt that?

Laer. For Hamlet, and the trifling of
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.

'tis

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 the health of the whole state;
And therefore must his choice be circumscrib'd
Unto the voice and yielding of that body,
Whereof he is the head: Then if he says he
loves you,

his fa-
[vour,

All. Our duty to your honour.
Ham. Your loves, as mine to you: Farewell.
[Exeunt HORATIO, MARCELLUS, and 'BER-Look

Oph. No more but so ?

Luer. 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;

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 sus-
tain,

That part of the helmet which may be lifted up.
+ lacreasing.
↑ Sinews.

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;
Whilst, like a puff'd and and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own read. it

Laer. 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.

Pol. Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for
shame ;

The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are staid for: (n) There,-my blessing
with you;

[Laying his Hand on LAERTES' Head. And these few precepts in thy memory

thou character. # Give thy thoughts no
tongue,

Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel;
But do not dull thy palm 5 with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade. Be-

ware

Of entrance to a quarrel: but, being in,
Bear it that the opposer may beware of thee,
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice:
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy
judgment.

31

Costly thy babit 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 sta
tion,
Are 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. +++