And why such daily cast of brazen cannon,
And foreign mart" for implements of war;
Why such impress of shipwrights,(10) 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?
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,
Dar'd 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,(11)
Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands,
Which he stood seiz'd on,* 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 cov'nant 4to. 1604.
And carriage of the article design'd,(12)
His fell to Hamlet: Now, sir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimproved § mettle (13) hot and full,
Hath in the skirts of Norway, here and there,
Shark'd up a list of landless resolutes
For food and diet, to some enterprise
That hath a stomach in't :(14) which is no other
(And it doth well appear unto our state)
But to recover of us by strong hand
And terms compulsative, those 'foresaid lands,
So by his father lost: And this, I take it,
Is the main motive of our preparation;
The source of this our watch; and the chief head
Of this posthaste and romage(15) in the land.
[BAR. I think it be no other, but even so:
mart] i. e. marketing, exchange.
b toward] i. e. in preparation, going forward. See towards. Rom. & Jul. I. 5. Cap.
↑ deseigne. 4tos. designe. 1623.
§ inapproved. 4to. 1603.
Well may it sort," that this portentous figure
Comes armed thro' our watch; so like the king,
That was and is the question of these wars.(16)
HOR. A moth (17) it is to trouble the mind's eye.
In the most high and palmy state(18) 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;(19) and the moist star,(20)
Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands,
Was sick almost to dooms-day with eclipse.
And even the like precurse of fierce events,(21)
As harbingers preceding still the fates,
And prologue to the omen coming on,(22)
Have heaven and earth together démonstrated
Unto our climatures and countrymen.-](23)
But, soft; behold! lo, where it comes again!
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
Speak to me:
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,(24)
sort] i. e. fall in with the idea of: suit, accord.
b stands-sick to dooms-day] i. e. to death, to extinction, as
at the day of doom. Stands is depends, rests.
c sound, or use of voice] i. e. articulation.
a Which, happily, foreknowing &c.] i. e. by good and happy fortune; or haply, i. e. by hap or chance, as the words in our author often seem to be indifferently used.
For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death,
[Cock crows.
Speak of it :-stay, and speak.-Stop it, Marcellus.
MAR. Shall I strike at it with my partizan ?a
HOR. Do, if it will not stand.
And our vain blows malicious mockery.
BAR. It was about to speak, when the cock crew.
HOR. And then it started like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful summons. I have heard,
The cock, that is the trumpet to the day,* (26)
Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat
Awake the god of day; and, at his warning,
Whether in sea (27) or fire, in earth or air,
The extravagant and erring spirit hies (28)
To his confine: and of the truth herein
This present object made probation.
MAR. It faded on the crowing of the cock.(29)
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 can walk abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy (30) takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So 4tos. So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.(31)
my partizan] "A weapon between a pike and an halbert, from Lat. pertica, or Germ. bart, an axe." Douce's Illustr. II. 90. Pertuisane, Fr. halberd.
blofty] i. e. high-raised.
e no spirit can walk] The quartos read, dare sturre: he had just said, "spirits walk in death." The term too is almost technical, a stalking, pedetentim, pace, or sliding motion; such being alone thought consistent with the majesty and state of ghost or apparition.
HOR. So have I heard, and do in part believe it. But, look, the morn,(32) in russet mantle clad, Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern 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?
MAR. Let's do't, I pray; and I this morning know Where we shall find him most conveniently.
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 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 of this warlike state,
Have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy,
With one auspicious, and one dropping eye,(33)
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.
green] i. e. fresh. See Rom. & Jul. IV. 3. Jul.
b wisest sorrow] i. e. sober grief, passion discreetly reined. e barr'd] i. e. shut out, excluded: acted without the concurrence of.
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,(34)
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,(35) scarcely hears
Of this his nephew's purpose, to suppress
His further gait(36) herein; in that the levies,
The lists, and full proportions, are all made
Out of his subject:-(37) and 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.(38)
* So some 4tos. ; others Our bearers.
For bearing, 1623,
Farewell; and let your haste commend your duty. 1603.
COR. VOL. In that, and all things, will we show
KING. 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 lose your voice: What wouldst thou beg, So 4tos.
That shall not be my offer, not thy asking?
The head is not more native to the heart,
Colleagued with the dream] i. e. united with this wild
b power to business] i. e. for the purpose of, commission to transact, business.
You cannot speak of reason to the Dane,
And lose your voice] i. e. of any matter fit to be brought under discussion, and throw away your labour.
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