SERIES I.

HORATIO.

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,
You from the Polack wars, and you from England,
Are here arriv'd; give order, that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view;

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 judgments, casual slaughters;
Of deaths put on by cunning, and forc'd cause;
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall'n on the inventor's heads: all this can I
Truly deliver.

PL. 16.

SERIES I.

PL. 17.

This drawing exhibits a sort of summary of the piece. Under the form of a funereal monument, it represents the expiatory victims of a dark destiny at last united in death..

On the sepulchre reposes the statue of Hamlet; above him the head of the ghost is perceived. His mouth and eyes are open, not only to explain the active part he has in the tragedy, but also that he is its main-spring. On the left are kneeling the figures of the king and queen. A kind of demon lifts his claws in a menacing manner towards the guilty pair, but inclining more especially, in grinding his teeth, toward, the head of the kingly fratricide; who, even from the sleep of death, starts up with all the signs of agony and terror; while the queen, whose features equally express grief and a sort of affright, elevates her hands in the attitude of prayer and repentance. On the opposite side, kneeling and

asleep, appear Polonius and Ophelia, over whom an angel extends its protecting hand. The image of Laertes, from the lower part of the tomb, seems to implore forgiveness of heaven for the involuntary hand he had in the murder of Hamlet, in fencing with a poisoned weapon. The nature of this death is designed by two swords crossing a heart. The arabesques on which this symbol repose terminate by the spirits of genii. The bats'-wings, at the angles of the monument, indicate that the dark deed was done during the night. The skulls refer to the scene of the grave-digger, and are also there perhaps to increase the gloomy terror that pervades the whole play, even those that placed monumentally seem to exclaim: O, horrible!... most horrible!... are doubtless meant to give still more force to this impression. Their flowing veils terminate in a cross, the emblem of peace and reconciliation.