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As peace should still her wheaten garland wear
And stand a comma 'tween their amities,
And many such-like 'As'es of great charge,
That, on the view and knowing of these contents,
Without debatement further, more or less,
He should the bearers put to sudden death,
Not shriving-time allow'd.
Hor.
How was this seal'd?
Ham. Why, even in that was heaven ordinant.
I had my father's signet in my purse,
Which was the model of that Danish seal;
Folded the writ up in form of the other,
Subscribed it, gave't the impression, placed it
safely,

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Hor. It must be shortly known to him from England

What is the issue of the business there.

Ham. It will be short: the interim is mine; And a man's life 's no more than to say 'One.' But I am very sorry, good Horatio, That to Laertes I forgot myself; For, by the image of my cause, I see The portraiture of his: I'll court his favours. But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me Into a towering passion. Hor.

Peace! who comes here? 80 Enter OSRIC.

Osr. Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.

Ham. I humbly thank you, sir. Dost know this water-fly?

Hor. No, my good lord.

Ham. Thy state is the more gracious; for 'tis a vice to know him. He hath much land, and fertile let a beast be lord of beasts, and his crib

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ter,

Ham. I beseech you, remember

[Hamlet moves him to put on his hat. Osr. Nay, good my lord; for mine ease, in good faith. Sir, here is newly come to court Laertes; believe me, an absolute gentleman, full of most excellent differences, of very soft society and great showing: indeed, to speak feelingly of him, he is the card or calendar of gentry, for you shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see.

Ham. Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you; though, I know, to divide him inventorially would dizzy the arithmetic of memory, fand yet but yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail. But, in the verity of extolment, I take him to be a soul of great article; and his infusion of such dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of him, his semblable is his mirror; and who else would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more.

Osr. Your lordship speaks most infallibly of

him.

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Hor. His purse is empty already; all's golden words are spent.

Ham. Of him, sir.

Osr. I know you are not ignorant

Ham. I would you did, sir; yet, in faith, if you did, it would not much approve me. Well, sir?

Osr. You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is

Ham. I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him in excellence; but, to know a man well, were to know himself.

Osr. I mean, sir, for his weapon; but in the imputation laid on him by them, in his meed he's unfellowed.

Ham. What's his weapon?
Osr. Rapier and dagger.

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Ham. That's two of his weapons: but, well. Osr. The king, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary horses: against the which he has imponed, as I take it, six French rapiers and

poniards, with their assigns, as girdle, hangers, and so three of the carriages, in faith, are very dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most delicate carriages, and of very liberal conceit. Ham. What call you the carriages? Hor. I knew you must be edified by the margent ere you had done.

Osr. The carriages, sir, are the hangers. Ham. The phrase would be more german to the matter, if we could carry cannon by our sides: I would it might be hangers till then. But, on: six Barbary horses against six French swords, their assigns, and three liberal-conceited carriages; that's the French bet against the Danish. Why is this 'imponed,' as you call it?

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Osr. The king, sir, hath laid, that in a dozen passes between yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits: he hath laid on twelve for nine; and it would come to immediate trial, if your lordship would vouchsafe the answer.

Ham. How if I answer "no"?

Osr. I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person in trial. 179 Ham. Sir, I will walk here in the hall: if it please his majesty, 'tis the breathing time of day with me; let the foils be brought, the gentleman willing, and the king hold his purpose, I will win for him an I can; if not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits.

Osr. Shall I re-deliver you e'en so? Ham. To this effect, sir; after what flourish your nature will.

Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship. Ham. Yours, yours. [Exit Osric.] He does well to commend it himself; there are no tongues else for's turn.

Hor. This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.

Ham. He did comply with his dug, before he sucked it. Thus has he-and many more of the same breed that I know the drossy age dotes ononly got the tune of the time and outward habit of encounter; a kind of yesty collection, which carries them through and through the most ffond and winnowed opinions; and do but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out.

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Hor. Nay, good my lord,Ham. It is but foolery; but it is such a kind of gain-giving, as would perhaps trouble a woman. Hor. If your mind dislike any thing, obey it: I will forestal their repair hither, and say you are not fit. 229 Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is 't to leave betimes? Enter KING, QUEEN, LAERTES, Lords, OSRIC, and Attendants with foils, &c.

King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me.

[The King puts Laertes' hand into Hamlet's. Ham. Give me your pardon, sir: I've done

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Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house,
And hurt my brother.

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Laer. I am satisfied in nature, Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most To my revenge: but in my terms of honour I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement, Till by some elder masters, of known honour, I have a voice and precedent of peace, To keep my name ungored. But till that time, I do receive your offer'd love like love, And will not wrong it. Ham. I embrace it freely; And will this brother's wager frankly play. Give us the foils. Come on. Laer. Come, one for me. Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes: in mine ig

norance

Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night,. Stick fiery off indeed.

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Laer. You mock me, sir. Ham. No, by this hand. King. Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet, You know the wager? Ham. Very well, my lord; Your grace hath laid the odds o' the weaker side. King. I do not fear it; I have seen you both: But since he is better'd, we have therefore odds. Laer. This is too heavy, let me see another. Ham. This likes me well. These foils have all a length? [They prepare to play.

Osr.

Ay, my good lord.

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Well; again.

Hamlet, this

King. Stay; give me drink. pearl is thine;

Here's to thy health. [Trumpets sound, and cannon shot off within. Give him the cup.

Ham. I'll play this bout first; set it by awhile. Come. [They play.] Another hit; what say you? Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess. King. Our son shall win. Queen. He's fat, and scant of breath. Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows: The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. 300 Ham. Good madam! King.

I

Gertrude, do not drink.

Queen. I will, my lord; I pray you, pardon me. King. [Aside] It is the poison'd cup: it is too late.

Ham. I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.
Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face.
Laer. My lord, I'll hit him now.
King.

I do not think 't. Laer. [Aside] And yet 'tis almost 'gainst my conscience.

Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes: you but dally;

pray you, pass with your best violence;

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[They play.

I am afeard you make a wanton of me. Laer. Say you so? come on. Osr. Nothing, neither way. Laer. Have at you now! [Laertes wounds Hamlet; then, in scuffling, they change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds

Laertes.

King.
Part them; they are incensed.
Ham. Nay, come, again. [The Queen falls.
Osr.
Look to the queen there, ho!
Hor. They bleed on both sides. How is it,
my lord?

Osr. How is't, Laertes?

Laer. Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe,
Osric;

I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.
Ham. How does the queen?
King.

Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink,
dear Hamlet,-

Ham. O villany! Ho! let the door be lock'd: Treachery! Seek it out.

Laer. It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art slain;

No medicine in the world can do thee good;
In thee there is not half an hour of life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated and envenom'd: the foul practice
Hath turn'd itself on me; lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again: thy mother's poison'd:
I can no more: the king, the king's to blame.
Ham. The pointenvenom'd too!
Then, venom, to thy work.
All.

Treason! treason!

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[Stabs the King.

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He is justly served; It is a poison temper'd by himself. Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet: Mine and my father's death come not upon thee, Nor thine on me!

[Dies.

Ham. Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.

I am dead, Horatio. Wretched queen, adieu!
You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time-as this fell sergeant, death,
Is strict in his arrest-0, I could tell you-
But let it be. Horatio, I am dead;
Thou livest; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.
Hor.

Never believe it:

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I am more an antique Roman than a Dane:
Here's yet some liquor left.
Ham.
As thou'rt a man,
Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have't.
O good Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind
me!

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,
Absent thee from felicity awhile,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story.

[March afar off, and shot within. What warlike noise is this? 360 Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland,

To the ambassadors of England gives
This warlike volley.

Ham.

O, I die, Horatio;
The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit:
I cannot live to hear the news from England;
But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence. [Dias.
Hor. Now cracks a noble heart. Good night,
sweet prince;

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
Why does the drum come hither?

370

[March within. Enter FORTINBRAS, the English Ambassadors, and others.

She swounds to see them bleed.

O my 320 [Dies.

Fort. Where is this sight?

The drink, the drink! I am poison'd.

Hor.

If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search. Fort. This quarry cries on havoc. O proud death,

What is it ye would see? | Fall'n on the inventors' heads: all this can I
Truly deliver.
Fort. Let us haste to hear it,
And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune:
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.
Hor. Of that I shall have also cause to speak,
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on

What feast is toward in thine eternal cell,
That thou so many princes at a shot

So bloodily hast struck?

First Amb.

The sight is dismal;

And our affairs from England come too late:
The ears are senseless that should give us hearing,
To tell him his commandment is fulfill'd, 381
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead:
Where should we have our thanks?
Hor.
Not from his mouth,
Had it the ability of life to thank you:

He never gave commandment for their death.
But since, so jump upon this bloody question,

more:

But let this same be presently perform'd,
Even while men's minds are wild; lest more mis-
chance,

On plots and errors, happen.
Fort.

Let four captains
Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,

You from the Polack wars, and you from Eng-To have proved most royally: and, for his pasland,

Are here arrived, give order that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view;

389

And let me speak to the yet unknowing world
How these things came about: so shall you hear
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
Of accidental judgements, casual slaughters,
Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook

sage,

The soldiers' music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.

410

Take up the bodies: such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot.

[A dead march. Exeunt, bearing off the
dead bodies; after which a peal of ord-
nance is shot off.

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SCENE I. King Lear's palace. Enter KENT, GLOUCESTER, and EDMUND. Kent. I thought the king had more affected the Duke of Albany than Cornwall. Glou. It did always seem so to us: but now, in the division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes he values most; for equalities are so weighed, that curiosity in neither can make choice of either's moiety.

Kent. Is not this your son, my lord? Glou. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I have so often blushed to acknowledge him, that now I am brazed to it.

Kent. I cannot conceive you.

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Glou. Sir, this young fellow's mother could: whereupon she grew round-wombed, and had, indeed, sir, a son for her cradle ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault? Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being so proper.

Glou. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account though this khave came something saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged. Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund? Edm. No, my lord.

Glou. My lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as my honourable friend,

Edm. My services to your lordship.

Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you better.

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Edm. Sir, I shall study deserving.
Glou. He hath been out nine years, and away
he shall again. The king is coming.

Sennet. Enter KING LEAR, CORNWALL, ALBANY,
GONERIL, REGAN, CORDELIA, and Attendants.
Lear. Attend the lords of France and Bur-
gundy, Gloucester.
Glou. I shall, my liege.

Lear. Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.

Give me the map there. Know that we have
divided

In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age; 40
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of

Cornwall,

And you, our no less loving son of Albany,
We have this hour a constant will to publish
Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife
May be prevented now. The princes, France
and Burgundy,

Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,
Long in our court have made their amorous
sojourn,

And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my daughters,

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Since now we will divest us, both of rule,
Interest of territory, cares of state,-
Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
That we our largest bounty may extend
Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril,
Our eldest-born, speak first

Gon. Sir, I love you more than words can
wield the matter;

Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty,
honour;

As much as child e'er loved, or father found; 60
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
Cor. [Aside] What shall Cordelia do? Love,
and be silent.

Lear.

Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,

With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,
We make thee lady: to thine and Albany's issue
Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter,
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.
Reg. Sir, I am made

Of the self-same metal that my sister is,
[Exeunt Gloucester and Edmund. | And prize me at her worth. In my true heart

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