Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.
King. THERE's matter in these sighs, these 5
profound heaves;

You must translate; 'tis fit we understand them:
Where is your son?

Queen. Bestow this place on us a little while.

[To Ros. and Guil. who go out. 10|
Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night?
King. What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?
Queen. Mad as the sea, and wind, when both

contend

Which is the mightier: In his lawless fit,
Behind the arras hearing something stir,
He whips his rapier out, and cries, Arut! a rat!
And, in his brainish apprehension, kills
The unseen good old man.

King. O heavy deed!

It had been so with us, had we been there:
His liberty is full of threats to all;

15

20

To you yourself, to us, to every one.
Alas! how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?
It will be laid to us; whose providence [haunt', 25
Should have kept short, restrain'd, and out of
This mad young man: but so much was our love,
We would not understand what was most fit;
But, like the owner of a foul disease,
To keep it from divulging, let it feed
Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone?
Queen. To draw apart the body he hath kill'd:
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore2,
Among a mineral of metals base,

30

35

Shews itself pure; he weeps for what is done.
King. O, Gertrude, come away!
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch,
But we will ship him hence: and this vile deed
We must, with all our majesty and skill, [stern!
Both countenance and excuse.-Ho! Guilden-40
Enter Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.
Friends both, go join you with some further aid:
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain,
And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him:
Go, seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body 45
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this.

[Exeunt Ros. and Guil.
Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends;
And let them know, both what we mean to do,
And what's untimely done: for haply, slander,
Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter,

1 Out of haunt, means out of company. Base metals have ore no less than precious.

As level as the cannon to his blank,
Transports his poison'd shot, may miss our name,
And hit the woundless air.-O, come away!
My soul is full of discord, and dismay. [Exeunt.

Ham. -Safely stow'd. But soft,-
Ros. &c. within. Hamlet! Lord Hamlet!
Ham. What noise? who calls on Hamlet? O,
here they come.

Enter Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.
Ros. What have you done, my lord, with the
dead body?
[kin.

Ham. Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis Ros. Tell us where 'tis; that we may take it thence,

And bear it to the chapel.

Ham. Do not believe it.
Ros. Believe what?

Ham. That I can keep your counsel, 'and not mine own. Besides, to be demanded of a spunge! -what replication should be made by the son of a king?

coun

Ros. Take you me for a spunge, my lord? Ham. Ay, sir; that soaks up the king's cou tenance, his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the king best service in the end: He keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw; first mouth'd, to be last swallow'd: When he needs what you have glean'd, it is but squeezing. you, and, spunge, you shall be dry again.

Ros. I understand you not, my lord.

Ham. I am glad of it: A knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear.

Ros. My lord, you must tell us where the body is, and go with us to the king.

Ham. The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body. The king is a thing— Guil. A thing, my lord?

Ham. Of nothing: bring me to him. Hide fox, and all after. [Exeunt.

50 How dangerous is it, that this man goes loose? Yet must not we put the strong law on him:

2 Shakspeare seems to think ore to be or, that is, gold. Hanmer has illustrated this passage with the following note: "It is the way of monkeys, in eating, to throw that part of their food which they take up first, into a pouch they are provided with on the side of their jaw, and there they keep it till they have done with the rest.' This answer Dr. Johnson says he does not comprehend. Perhaps it should be, The body is not with the king, for the king is not with the body. There is a play among childrencalled, Hide fox, and all after.

He's

He's lov'd of the distracted multitude,
Who like not in their judgement, but their eyes;
And, where'tis so, the offender's scourge is weigh'd,
But never the offence. To bear all smooth and
This sudden sending him away must seem [even,
Deliberate pause: Diseases, desperate grown,
By desperate appliance are reliev'd,

Or not at all. How now? what hath befallen?

Enter Rosencrantz.

5

[Exit.

my mother. Come, for England.
King. Follow him at foot; tempt him with
speed aboard;

Delay it not, I'll have him hence to-night:
Away; for every thing is seal'd and done
That else leans on the affair: Pray you, make
haste.
[Exeunt Ros. and Guil.
And, England if my love thou hold'st at aught,
(As my great power thereof may give thee sense;

Ros. Where the dead body is bestow'd, my lord, 10 Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red
We cannot get from him.

King. But where is he?

Ros. Without, my lord; guarded, to know your pleasure.

King. Bring him before us.

Ros. Ho, Guildenstern! bring in my lord.
Enter Hamlet, and Guildenstern.

King. Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius?
Ham. At supper.

King. At supper? Where?

After the Danish sword, and thy free awe
Pays homage to us) thou may'st not coldly set2
Our sovereign process; which imports at full,
By letters conjuring to that effect,

15 The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England;
For like the hectic in my blood he rages,
And thou must cure me: 'Till I know 'tis done,
Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun.

20

Ham. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain convocation of politick worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else, to fat us; and we fat ourselves for maggots: Your fat king, and your 25 lean beggar, is but variable service; two dishes, but to one table; that's the end.

King. What dost thou mean by this?
Ham. Nothing, but to shew you how a king
may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.
King. Where is Polonius?

Ham. In heaven; send thither to see: if your messenger find him not there, seek him the other place yourself. But, indeed, if you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby.

King. Go seek him there.

Ham. He will stay 'till you come.
[Exeunt Attendants.
King. Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial
safety,-

Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve
For that which thou hast done,-must send thee
hence

With fiery quickness: Therefore, prepare thyself;
The bark is ready, and the wind at help',
The associates tend, and every thing is bent
For England.

Ham. For England?
King. Ay, Hamlet.
Ham. Good.

King. So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes. Ham. I see a cherub, that sees them.-But, come; for England!-Farewell, dear mother. King. Thy loving father, Hamlet.

35

40

SCENE IV.

The Frontiers of Denmark.

Enter Fortinbras, with an Army.

[Exit.

For. Go, captain, from me greet the Danish
Tell him, that, by his licence, Fortinbras [king;
Craves the conveyance of a promis'd march
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous.
If that his majesty would aught with us,
We shall express our duty in his eye,
And let him know so.

Capt. I will do't, my lord.
For. Go softly on.

[Exeunt Fortinbras, &c. Enter Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, &c. Ham. Good sir, whose powers are these?

Capt. They are of Norway, sir.

Hum. How purpos'd, sir, I pray you?
Capt. Against some part of Poland.

Hum. Who commands them, sir?

Capt. The nephew of old Norway, Fortinbras.
Ham. Goes it against the main of Poland, sir,
Or for some frontier?

Capt. Truly to speak, and with no addition,
We go to gain a little patch of ground,
45 That hath in it no profit but the name.
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it;
Nor will it yield to Norway, or the Pole,
A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee.

50

Ham. Why, then the Polack never will defend it.

Capt. Yes, 'tis already garrison'd.

Ham. Two thousand souls, and twenty thou
sand ducats,

Will not debate the question of this straw:
55 This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace;
That inward breaks, and shews no cause without
Why the man dies.-I humbly thank you, sir.
Capt. God be wi' ye, sir. [Exit Captain.
Ros. Will't please you go, my lord?
Ham. I will be with you straight. Go a little
before. [Exeunt Ros. and the rest.

Ham. My mother:-Father and mother is man 60 and wife; man and wife is one flesh; and, so,

1 Dr. Johnson supposes it should be read, The bark is ready, and the wind at helm. an expression taken from the gaming-table.

3 U 2

How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good, and market of his time,
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.

[And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts; Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield

them, [thought, Indeed would make one think, there might be

Sure, He, that made us with such large discourse', 5 Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily'.

Looking before, and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason

To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,

A thought, which, quarter'd, hath but one part
wisdom,

Queen. 'Twere good, she were spoken with; for she may strew

Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds: Let her come in. [Exit Horatio. 10 To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is, Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss: So full of artless jealousy is guilt,

And, ever, three parts coward,-I do not know
Why yet I live to say, This thing's to do;
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means 15
To do't. Examples, gross as earth, exhort me:
Witness, this army, of such mass, and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince;
Whose spirit, with divine ambition puft,
Makes mouths at the invisible event;
Exposing what is mortal, and unsure,

To all that fortune, death, and danger, dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly, to be great
Is not to stir without great argument;
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw,

When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason, and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy, and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds; fight for a plot,
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough, and continent,
To hide the 'slain?-O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!

SCENE V.

Elsinour. A Room in the Palace.

Enter Queen, and Horatio.

[Exit.

Queen. I will not speak with her.
Hor. She is importunate; indeed, distract :

Her mood will needs be pity'd.
Queen. What would she have?

Hor. She speaks much of her father; says, she
hears,
[her heart;

20

it spills itself, in fearing to be spilt.

Re-enter Horatio, with Ophelia.

Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Den-
Queen. How now, Ophelia ?

[mark?

Oph. How should I your true love know

From another one?

By his cockle hat, and staff,

And by his sandal shoon.

[Singing.

Queen. Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song?

Oph. Say you? nay, pray you, mark.
He is dead and gone, lady,

25

O, ho!

30

35

He is dead and gone;

At his head a grass-green turf,

At his heels a stone.

Queen. Nay, but, Ophelia,

Oph. Pray you, mark.

White his shroud as the mountain snow.
Enter King.

Queen. Alas, look here, my lord.
Oph. Larded all with sweet flowers;
Which bewept to the grave did go,

With true-love showers.

King. How do you, pretty lady?

Oph. Well, God'ield you! They say, the owl was a baker's daughter Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may be. God be 40 at your table!

45

There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats
Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing,50
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move
The hearers to collection1; they aim at it,

4

King. Conceit upon her father.

Oph. Pray, let us have no words of this; but when they ask you, what it means, say you this: To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,

All in the morning betime,

And I a maid at your window,

To be your Valentine:

Then up he rose, and don'd' his clothes,
And dup't' the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.

King. Pretty Ophelia!

3

1i. e. such latitude of comprehension; such power of reviewing the past, and anticipating the future, 2 Continent, in our author, means that which comprehends or encloses. 'i. e. to deduce conse quences from such premises. 4 To aim is to guess. i. e. Though her meaning cannot be certainly collected, yet there is enough to put a mischievous interpretation to it. This is the description of a pilgrim. While this kind of devotion was in favour, love intrigues were carried on under that mask. Hence the old ballads and novels made pilgrimages the subjects of their plots.The cockle-shell hat was one of the essential badges of this vocation; for, the chief places of devotion being beyond sea, or on the coasts, the pilgrims were accustomed to put cockle-shells upon their hats, to denote the intention or performance of their devotion. 'This alludes to a legendary story, where our Saviour, being refused bread by the daughter of a baker, is described as punishing her by turning her into an owl. * To don, is to do on, to put on; as doff is to do of, put off. To dup, is to do up; to lift the latch.

Oph.

Oph. Indeed, without an oath, I'll make an end [They cry, Choose we; Laertes shall be king! on't,

By Gis, and by Saint Charity,
Alack, and fie for shame!

Young men will do 't, if they come to 't;
By cock, they are to blame.
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,

You promis'd me to wed: Ile answers,
So would I ha' done, by yo.der sun,

An thou hadst not come to my bed.
King. How long hath she been thus?

10

Oph. I hope, all will be well. We must be
patient: but I cannot choose but weep, to think,
they should lay him i' the cold ground: My bro-
ther shall know of it, and so I thank you for your 15
good counsel. Come, my coach! Good night,
ladies; good night, sweet ladies: good night,
good night,
[Exit.
King. Follow her close; give her good watch,
I pray you.
[Exit Horatio.20
O! this is the poison of deep grief; it springs
All from her father's death: And now, behold,
O Gertrude, Gertrude,

When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
But in battalions! First, her father slain;
Next, your son gone; and he most violent author
Of his own just remove: The people muddy'd,
Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and
whispers,

Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds,
Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!

Queen. How cheerfully on the false trail they cry!
O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs'.
King. The doors are broke.

[Noise within. Enter Laertes, with others.

Laer. Where is this king?-Sirs, stand you all

without.

King. What is the cause, Laertes,
That thy rebellion looks so giant-like?
Let him go, Gertrude; do not fear our person;
25 There's such divinity doth hedge a king,
That treason can but peep to what it would,
Acts little of his will.-Tell me, Laertes,
Why thou art thus incens'd;-Let him go, Ger-
trude;-

For good Polonius' death; and we have done but 30
greenly 2,

In hugger-mugger' to inter him: Poor Ophelia,
Divided from herself, and her fair judgement;
Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts.
Last, and as much containing as all these,
Her brother is in secret come from France:
Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds,
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear
With pestilent speeches of his father's death;
Wherein necessity of matter beggar'd,
Will nothing stick our person to arraign,
In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this,
Like to a murdering piece, in many places
Gives me superfluous death! [A noise within.

Queen. Alack! what noise is this?
Enter a Gentleman.

King. Attend. Where are my Switzers? Let
them guard the door:-

What is the matter?

Gent. Save yourself, my lord;

The ocean, over-peering of his list",

Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste,
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, [lord;
O'er-bears your officers! The rabble call him,
And, as the world were now but to begin,
Antiquity forgot, custom not known,
The ratifiers and props of every ward',

35

Speak, man.

Laer. Where is my father?
King. Dead.

Queen. But not by him.

King. Let him demand his fill.

[with.

Laer. How came he dead? I'll not be juggled
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!
Conscience, and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation: To this point I stand,
That both the worlds I give to negligence,
40 Let come what comes; only I'll be reveng'd
Most throughly for my father.

King. Who shall stay you?

Laer. My will, not all the world's:

And, for my means, I'll husband them so well, 45 They shall go far with little.

King. Good Laertes,

If you desire to know the certainty

Of

[venge,

your dear father's death, is 't writ in your reThat, sweepstake, you will draw both friend and

50 Winner and loser?

Luer. None but his enemies.

Laer. To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my

[foe,

King. Will you know them then?

[arms;

And, like the kind life-rend'ring pelican,

55

Repast them with my blood.

King. Why, now you speak

Like a good child, and a true gentleman.

This is a corruption of the sacred name. See note, page 48. 2 That is, without maturity

1i. e. in private to inter him.

Such a piece as assassins use, with many similitude, "The lists are

of judgement.
barrels. It is necessary, to apprehend this, to see the justness of the
the barriers which the spectators of a tournament must not pass.
securities that nature and law place about the person of a king.
trace the trail backwards. i. e. clean, not defiled.
3 U 3

i. e. of every one of those Hounds run counter when they

That

That I am guiltless of your father's death,
And am most sensible in grief for it,
It shall as level to your judgement 'pear',
As day does to your eye.

Crowd, within. Let her come in.

Laer. How now! what noise is that?
Enter Ophelia, fantastically dress'd with straws
and flowers.

O heat, dry up my brains! tears, seven times salt,
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!-
By heaven,thy madness shall be pay'd with weight,
'Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May!
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!

O heavens! is 't possible, a young maid's wits
Should be as mortal as an old man's life?
Nature is fine in love: and, where 'tis fine,
It sends some precious instance of itself
After the thing it loves.

Oph. They bore him bare-fac'd on the bier;
Hey no nonny, nonny hey nonny:

And on his grave ruin'd many a tear;

Fare you well, my dove!

[revenge, Laer. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade It could not move thus.

10

15

[self,

Laer. Thought, and affliction, passion, hell it-
She turns to favour, and to prettiness.
Oph. And will he not come again?
And will he not come again?
No, no, he is dead,
Go to thy death-bed,
He never will come again.

His beard was as white as snow,

All flaxen was his poil:

He is gone, he is gone,

And we cast away moan:

God a' mercy on his soul!

And of all christian souls! I pray God. God be

wi' you.

Laer. Do you see this, O God?

[Exit Oph.

King. Laertes, I must commune with your grief, Or you deny me right. Go but apart,

Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, 20 And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me: If by direct or by collateral hand

O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false stew-
That stole his master's daughter 3.

Laer. This nothing's more than matter.
Oph. There's rosemary, that's for remem-30
brance; pray you, love, remember: and there is
pansies', that's for thoughts.

Laer. A document in madness; thoughts and remembrance fitted.

Oph. There's fennel for you, and columbines 6.35 There's rue for you;-and here's some for me; -we may call it, herb of grace o' Sundays:you may wear your rue with a difference'.--There's a daisy:-1 would give you some violets; but they wither'd all, when my father died :-They 40 say, he made a good end,

For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy",

This is an elision of the yerb to appear.

They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give,
Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours,
To you in satisfaction; but, if not,

Be you content to lend your patience to us,
And we shall jointly labour with your soul
To give it due content.

Laer. Let this be so:

And, where the offence is, let the great ave fall. pray you, go with me.

SCENE VI,

Another Room,

Enter Horatio, with a Sercant.

[Exeunt.

Hor. What are they, that would speak with me?
Serv. Sailors, sir;

2 Dr. Johnson explains this passage thus: "Love (says Laertes) is the passion by which nature is most exalted and refined: and as substances, refined and subtilised, easily obey any impulse, or follow any attraction, some part of nature, so purified and refined, flies off after the attracting object, after the thing it loves." 3 Mr. Steevens says, the wheel may mean no more than the burthen of the song, which she had just repeated, and as such was formerly used.-Dr. Johnson says, “The story alluded to I do not know; but perhaps the lady stolen by the steward was reduced to spin." * Rosemary was anciently supposed to strengthen the memory, and was not only carried at funerals, but worn at weddings. Pansies is for thoughts, because of its name, Pensées. "Mr. Steevens says, Greene, in his Quip for an Upstart Courtier, 1620, calls fennel women's weeds: “ fit generally for that sex, sith, while they are maidens, they wish wantonly."-Mr. Steevens adds, that he knows not of what columbines were supposed to be emblematical; but that Gerard, and other herbalists, impute few, if any, virtues to them: and they may therefore be styled thankless, because they appear to make no grateful return for their creation. 7 Dr. Warburton says, that herb of grace is the name the country-people give to rue; and the reason is, because that herb was a principal ingredient in the potion which the Romish priests used to force the possessed to swallow down when they exorcised them. Now, these exorcisms being performed generally on a Sunday, in the church before the whole congregation, is the reason why she says, we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. Mr. Steevens believes there is a quibble meant in this passage; rue anciently signifying the same as Ruth, i. e. sorrow. Ophelia giyes the queen some, and keeps a proportion of it for herself. There may, however, he adds, be somewhat more implied here than is expressed. You, madam, (says Ophélia to the queen,) may call your RUE by its Sunday name, HERB OF GRACE, and so wear it with a difference to distinguish it from mine, which can never be any thing bat merely RUE, i. e. sorrow. This is part of an old song.

They