HAM. Never to speak of this that you have seen,

Swear by my sword.(112)

GHOST. [Beneath] Swear.

HAM. Hic & ubique? then we'll shift our* So 4tos.

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 [by his sword].

HAM. Well said, old mole! can'st work i'the ground+ 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 welcome." There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in our philosophy.

But come ;

Here, as before,(113) never, so help you mercy!
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself,
As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet
To put an antick disposition on,—
That you, at such time § seeing me, never shall,
With arms encumber'd thus, or thus|| head-shake,
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful¶ phrase,
As, Well, we know ;-or, We could, an if
would;-or, If we list to speak ;-or, There be,
if there** might ;—

Or such ambiguous giving out, to note

for. 1623.

32.

we nouncing an some un

O day and night] A petty adjuration, or proverbial exclamation, by reference to the inscrutable ways of Providence, expressive of the pitiable ignorance of man, as well in the scheme of the universe as in the nature and constitution of his own Being. See M. W. of W. III. 1. Mrs. Page; and H. VIII. V. 2. K. Hen.

give it welcome] i. e. receive it courteously and compliantly. arms encumber'd thus] i. e. close pressed upon each other, folded.

с

doubtful. 1603.

** they. 4tos. &

1603.

you swear,

This do That you know aught of me :-This do and mercy at your most need help you!

sweare. So

4tos.

grace

swear!

GHOST. [Beneath] Swear.

HAM. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit !(114) So, gentle

men,

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.

a friending to you-shall not lack] i. e. disposition to serve you shall not be wanting.

ACT II. SCENE I.

A Room in Polonius's House.

Enter POLONIUS and REYNOLDO.

POL. Give him this* money, and these notes,* So 4tos,

Reynoldo.

REY. I will, my lord.

his. 1623, 32.

POL. You shall do marvellous+ wisely, good+ So 4tos,

Reynoldo,

Before you visit him, you make inquiry ‡

Of his behaviour.

REY.

My lord, I did intend it.

POL. Marry, well said: very well said.(1) Look

you, sir,

Inquire me first what Danskers (2) are in Paris;
And how, and who, what means, and where they

keep,

What company, at what expence; and finding,
By this encompassment and drift of question,

marvels. 1623, 32.

to make inquire. 4tos.

1632.

That they do know my son, come you more nearer§§ neere.
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, Reynoldo? And. 1623,
REY. Ay, very well, my lord.

POL. And, in part, him ;—but, you may say, not

well:

encompassment and drift] i. e. winding and circuitous

course.

Than your particular demands will touch it] i. e. than such inquiry into particulars is likely to reach. Then, taken in its now sole accepted sense, would give a clear meaning: but than at that time was almost ever, as in the Old Copies it is here, spelt then; and by that spelling was meant to be so used here.

32,

So 4tos.

But, if't be he I mean, he's very wild;
Addicted so and so ;-and there put on him3
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, quar

relling,b

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 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.

Ay, my lord,

put on him—rank] i. e. impute to him-gross.

b fencing, quarrelling] "Their cunning is now applied to quarrelling: they thinke themselves no men, if, for stirring of a straw, they prove not their valure upon some bodies fleshe." Gosson's Schoole of Abuse, 1579. MALONE.

'Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge] i. e. manage it, by throwing in some qualifying ingredient.

d another scandal, That he is open to, &c.] i. e. a different and a further charge; that he is a professed libertine.

eBreathe his faults so quaintly-Of general assault] i. e. glance with an easy gaiety at his faults, as the mischiefs of too large a range, and the wildness of untamed blood, by which all youth is assailed. "Quaint Ariel," Tempest, I. 2. Prosp. is "delicate."

POL.

Marry, sir, here's my drift;

And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant:a
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i'the working,"
Mark you,

d

Your party in converse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes,
The youth you breathe of, guilty, be assur'd,
He closes with you in this consequence;
Good sir, or so; or friend, or gentleman,-
According to the phrase, and the addition,
Of man, and country.(3)

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 something: -Where did I leave? REY. At, closes in the consequence.

At friend, or so, and gentleman.

POL. At, closes in the consequence,-Ay, marry; He closes with you thus:-I know the gentleman;

I saw him yesterday, or t other day,

or. 4tos.

† nothing. 1632.

Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say, So 4tos.

There was he 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:

a

fetch of warrant] i. e. device approved.

As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i'the working] i. e. as having in his commerce with the world unavoidably contracted some small blemishes.

e Your party in converse] Puttenham uses much the same phrase: "The common conversant." Arte of Poesie, 4to. 1589, p. 251.

d closes in this consequence] i. e. something to this effect, falls in with you into this conclusion.

carp of truth] This alone is sufficient to establish the value of the 4tos.; as no conjecture could have reached it; or, if it had, could have made it satisfactory.

and. 1623, 22.

§ So 4tos. lightness. 1603. saile. 1623, 32.

|| So 4tos. cape. 1623, 32.