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Hor. Ay, my lord.

Ham. Why, e'en so: and now my lady Worm's; chapless, and knocked about the mazzard with a sexton's spade: Here's fine revolution, an we had

the trick to see't. Did these bones cost no more the breeding, but to play at loggats with them? mine ache to think on't.

1 Clo. A pick-axe, and a spade, a spade, [Sings.
For-and a shrouding sheet:

O, a pit of clay for to be made
For such a guest is meet.
[Throws up a Skull.

Ham. There's another: Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddits' now, his quillets,' his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel, and will not tell him of his action of battery? Humph! This fellow might be in's time a great buyer of land, with his statutes, his recognizances, his fines, his double vouchers, his recoveries: Is this the fine of his fines, and the recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine pate full of fine dirt? will his vouchers vouch him no more of his purchases, and double ones too, than the length and breadth of a pair of indentures? The very conveyances of his lands will hardly lie in this box; and must the inheritor himself have no more? ha?

Hor. Not a jot more, my lord.

Ham. Is not parchment made of sheep-skins? Hor. Ay, my lord, and of calves' skins too. Ham. They are sheep, and calves, which seek out assurance in that. I will speak to this fellow :Whose grave's this, sirrah?

1 Clo. Mine, sir.

O, a pit of clay for to be made
For such a guest is meet.

[Sings.

Ham. I think it be thine, indeed; for thou liest in't.

1 Clo. You lie out on't, sir, and therefore it is not yours: for my part, I do not lie in't, yet it is mine. Ham. Thou dost lie in't, to be in't, and say it is thine: 'tis for the dead, not for the quick; therefore

thou liest.

1 Clo. "Tis a quick lie, sir; 'twill away again from me to you.

Ham. What man dost thou dig it for?

1 Clo. For no man, sir.

Ham. What woman then?

1 Clo. For none neither.

Ham. Who is to be buried in't?

1 Clo. One, that was a woman, sir; but, rest

her soul, she's dead.

• An ancient game played as quoits are at present. 4 Subtilties.

Ham. How absolute the knave is! we must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us. By the lord, Horatio, these three years I have taken of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, note of it; the age is grown so picked,' that the toe he galls his kibe.-How long hast thou been a grave-maker?

day that our last king Hamlet overcame Fortinbras. 1 Clo. Of all the days i' the year, I came to't that Ham. How long's that since?

1 Clo. Cannot you tell that? every fool can tell that: It was that very day that young Hamlet was

born: he that is mad, and sent into England.

Ham. Ay, marry, why was he sent into England! 1 Clo. Why, because he was mad: he shall recover his wits there; or, if he do not, 'tis no great matter there.

Ham. Why?

the men are as mad as he. 1 Clo. "Twill not be seen in him there; there

Ham. How came he mad?

1 Clo. Very strangely, they say.
Ham. How strangely?

1 Clo. 'Faith, e'en with losing his wits.
Ham. Upon what ground?

1 Clo. Why, here in Denmark; I have been sex ton here, man, and boy, thirty years.

Ham. How long will a man lie i' the earth ere he rot?

1 Clo. 'Faith, if he be not rotten before he die, (as we have many pocky corses now-a-days, that will scarce hold the laying in,) he will last you some eight year or nine year: a tanner will last you nine year.

Ham. Why he more than another?

trade, that he will keep out water a great while; 1 Clo. Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his and your water is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body. Here's a skull now hath lain you i' the earth three-and-twenty years.

Ham. Whose was it?

1 Clo. A whoreson mad fellow's it was; Whose do you think it was?

Ham. Nay, I know not.

1 Clo. A pestilence on him for a mad rogue! he poured a flagon of Rhenish on my head once. This same skull, sir, was Yorick's skull, the king's jester.

Ham. This?

1 Clo. E'en that.

[Takes the Skull.

Ham. Alas! poor Yorick!-I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now how abhorred in my imagination it is! my kissed I know not how oft. Where be your gibes gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips, that I have merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar? now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this faPr'ythee, Horatio, tell me one thing. vor she must come: make her laugh at that.

Hor. What's that, my lord?

Ham. Dost thou think, Alexander looked o' this fashion i' the earth?

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Frivolous distinctions.

• Countenance, complexion.

7 Spruce, affected.

Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of | Like wonder-wounded hearers? this is I,

Alexander, till he find it stopping a bunghole? Hor. "Twere to consider too curiously, to consider so.

Ham. No, faith, not a jot: but to follow him thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it: As thus; Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam: And why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beerbarrel?

Imperious Cæsar, dead, and turn'd to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away:

O, that the earth, which kept the world in awe,
Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw!'
But soft! but soft! aside:-Here comes the king.

Enter Priests, &c., in Procession; the Corpse of
OPHELIA, LAERTES, and Mourners following;
KING, QUEEN, their Trains, &c.

The queen, the courtiers: Who is this they follow?
And with such maimed rites! This doth betoken,
The corse, they follow, did with desperate hand
Fordo its own life. "Twas of some estate:
Couch we a while, and mark.

[Retiring with HORATIO.

Laer. What ceremony else?
Ham.

A very noble youth: Mark.

Laer. What ceremony else?

Tha: is Laertes,

1 Priest. Her obsequies have been as far enlarged As we have warranty: Her death was doubtful; And, but that great command o'ersways the order, She should in ground unsanctified have lodg'd Till the last trumpet; for charitable prayers, Shards, flints, and pebbles, should be thrown on her;

Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants,'

Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home
Of bell and burial.

No more be done!

Laer. Must there no more be done?
1 Priest.
We should profane the service of the dead,
To sing a requiem,' and such rest to her
As to peace-parted souls.
Laer.

Lay her i' the earth;—
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh,
May violets spring!-I tell thee, churlish priest,
A minist'ring angel shall my sister be,
When thou liest howling.

Ham.
What, the fair Ophelia!
Queen. Sweets to the sweet: Farewell!
[Scattering Flowers.
I hoped, thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife;
I thought, thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid,
And not have strew'd thy grave.
Laer.
O, treble woe
Fall ten times treble on that cursed head,
Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense
Depriv'd thee of!-Hold off the earth a while,
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms:
[Leaps into the Grave.
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead;
Till of this flat a mountain you have made
To o'ertop old Pelion, or the skyish head
Of blue Olympus.

Ham. [Advancing.] What is he, whose grief
Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow
Conjures the wand'ring stars, and makes them
stand

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Hamlet the Dane.
Laer.

[Leaps into the Grave. The devil take thy soul!

[Grappling with him.

Ham. Thou pray'st not well.

I pr'ythee, take thy fingers from my throat;
For, though I am not splenetive and rash,
Yet have I in me something dangerous,
Which, let thy wisdom fear: hold off thy hand.
King. Pluck them asunder.
Queen.

All. Gentlemen,

Hor.

Hamlet, Hamlet!

Good my lord, be quiet. [The Attendants part them, and they come out of the Grave.

Ham. Why, I will fight with him upon this theme, Until my eyelids will no longer wag.

Queen. O my son! what theme?

Ham. I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers
Could not, with all their quantity of love,
Make up my sum.-What wilt thou do for her?
King. O, he is mad, Laertes.

Queen. For love of God, forbear him.
Ham. 'Zounds, show me what thou'lt do:
Woul't weep? woul't fight? woul't fast? woul't
tear thyself?

Woul't drink up Esil?' eat a crocodile ?
I'll do't.-Dost thou come here to whine?
To outface me with leaping in her grave?
Be buried quick with her, and so will I:
And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw
Millions of acres on us; till our ground,
Singeing his pate against the burning zone,
Make Ossa like a wart! Nay, an thou'lt mouth,
I'll rant as well as thou.

Queen.
And thus a while the fit will work on him;
Anon, as patient as the female dove,
When that her golden couplets are disclos'd,
His silence will sit drooping.

This is mere madness;

Ham.

Hear you, sir,
What is the reason that you use me thus?
I lov'd you ever: But it is no matter;
Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew, and dog will have his day. [Exit.
King. I pray thee, good Horatio, wait upon
him.-
[Exit HORATIO.
Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech;
[To LAERTES.
We'll put the matter to the present push.—
Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son.—
This grave shall have a living monument:
An hour of quiet shortly shall we see;
Till then, in patience our proceeding be. [Exeunt

SCENE II-A Hall in the Castle.

Enter HAMLET and HORATIO.
Ham. So much for this, sir: now, shall you see
the other;-

You do remember all the circumstance?
Hor. Remember it, my lord!

Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting,
That would not let me sleep: methought, I lay
Worse than the mutines" in the bilboes. Rashly,
And prais'd be rashness for it,-Let us know,
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well,
When our deep plots do pall; and that should

teach us,

Eisel is vinegar; but Mr. Steevens conjectures the word should be Weisel, a river which falls into the Baltic ocean. • Hatched. ⚫ Mutineers.

1 Fetters and handcuffs brought from Bilboa in Spain. 2 Fail.

There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.

Hor.

Hor. It must be shortly known to him from
England,

That is most certain. What is the issue of the business there.

Ham. Up from my cabin, My sea-gown scarf'd about me, in the dark Grop'd I to find out them: had my desire; Finger'd their packet: and, in fine, withdrew To mine own room again: making so bold, My fears forgetting manners, to unseal Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio, A royal knavery; an exact command,Larded with many several sorts of reasons, Importing Denmark's health, and England's too, With, ho! such bugs and goblins in my life, That, on the supervise, no leisure bated, No, not to stay the grinding of the axe, My head should be struck off.

Hor.

Is't possible?

Ham. Here's the commission; read it at more leisure.

But wilt thou hear now how I did proceed?

Hor. Ay, 'beseech you.

Ham. Being thus benetted round with villanies, Or I could make a prologue to my brains, They had begun the play;-I sat me down; Devis'd a new commission; wrote it fair: I once did hold it, as our statists' do, A baseness to write fair, and labor'd much How to forget that learning; but, sir, now It did me yeoman's service: Wilt thou know The effect of what I wrote?

Hor. Ay, good my lord. Ham. An earnest conjuration from the king,As England was his faithful tributary; As love between them like the palm might flourish; As peace should still her wheaten garland wear, And stand a comma 'tween their amities; And many such like as's 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 allowed.

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; Subscrib'd it; gave't the impression; placed it safely,

The changeling never known: Now the next day Was our sea-fight; and what to this was sequent, Thou know'st already.

Hor. So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to't. Ham. Why man, they did make love to this employment;

They are not near my conscience; their defeat
Does by their own insinuation grow:
"Tis dangerous, when the baser nature comes
Between the pass and fell incensed points
Of mighty opposites.

Hor.
Why, what a king is this!
Ham. Does it not, think thee, stand me now upon?
He that hath kill'd my king, and whor'd my mother;
Popp'd in between the election and my hopes:
Thrown out his angle for my proper life,

And with such cozenage; is't not perfect conscience,

To quit him with this arm? and is't not to be

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Ham. It will be short: the interim is mine;
And a man's life 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 count his favors:
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me
Into a towering passion.
Hor.

Peace; who comes here?

Enter OSRIC.

Osr. Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.

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

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 shall stand at the king's mess: "Tis a chough; but, as I say, spacious in the possession of dirt.

Osr. Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I should impart a thing to you from his majesty. Ham. I will receive it, sir, with all diligence of spirit: Your bonnet to his right use; 'tis for the head.

Osr. I thank your lordship, 'tis very hot. Ham. No, believe me, 'tis very cold; the wind | is northerly.

Osr. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed. Ham. But yet, methinks it is very sultry and hot; or my complexion

Osr. Exceedingly, my lord: it is very sultryas 'twere,-I cannot tell how.-My lord, his majesty bade me signify to you, that he has laid a great wager on your head: Sir, this is the matter,Ham. I beseech you, remember

[HAMLET moves him to put on his Hat. Osr. Nay, good my lord; for my 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; and yet but raw 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. Ham. The concernancy, sir? why do we warp the gentleman in our more rawer breath? Osr. Sir?

Hor. Is't not possible to understand in another tongue? You will do't, sir, really.

Ham. What imports the nomination of this gentleman?

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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.

Ham. That's two of his weapons: but, well. Osr. The king, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary horses: against the which he nas impawned, 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?

your pleasure hold to play with Laertes, or that you will take longer time.

Ham. I am constant to my purposes, they follow the king's pleasure: if his fitness speaks, mine is ready; now, or whensoever, provided I be so able

as now.

Lord. The king, and queen, and all are coming down.

Ham. In happy time.

Lord. The queen desires you to use some gentle entertainment to Laertes, before you fall to play.

Ham. She well instructs me.

[Exit Lord. Hor. You will lose this wager, my lord. Ham. I do not think so; since he went into France, I have been in continual practice; I shall win at the odds. But thou wouldst not think, how ill all's here about my heart: but it is no matter. 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

Hor. I knew you must be edified by the mar- will forestall their repair hither, and say, you are gent,' 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 a 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 impawned, as you call it?

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.

Ham. Sir, I will walk here in the hall: If it please his majesty, it is 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, if I can; if not, I will gain nothing but my shame, and the odd hits.

Osr. Shall I deliver you so?

not fit.

Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury; there is 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, of aught he leaves, knows, what is't to leave betimes? Let be. Enter KING, QUEEN, LAERTES, Lords, OSRIC,

and Attendants, with Foils, &c.

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

[The KING puts the Hand of LAERTEs into that of HAMLET.

Ham. Give me your pardon, sir: I have done

you wrong;

But pardon it, as you are a gentleman.
This presence knows, and you must needs have
heard,

How I am punish'd with a sore distraction.
What I have done,

That might your nature, honor, and exception,
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was't Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet;

Ham. To this effect, sir; after what flourish If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, your nature will.

Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship. [Exit. Ham. Yours, yours. 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.

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And, when he's not himself, does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.
Who does it then? His madness: If 't be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged;
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.
Sir, in this audience,

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

Laer.
I am satisfied in nature,
Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most
To my revenge: but in my terms of honor,
I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder masters of known honor,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,
To keep my name ungor'd: 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.

Misgiving.
Unwounded.

Come, one for me. The king and queen's presence.

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Your grace hath laid the odds o' the weaker side.
King. I do not fear it:-I have seen you both:-
But since he's 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.
King. Set me the stoups of wine upon that
table:-

If Hamlet give the first or second hit,
Or quit in answer of the third exchange,
Let all the battlements their ordnance fire,
The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath;
And in the cup an union' shall he throw,
Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark's crown have worn; Give me the cups;
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,
The trumpet to the cannoneer without,
The cannons to the heavens, the heaven to earth,
Now the King drinks to Hamlet.-Come, begin;-
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.
Ham. Come on, sir.

Laer.

Ham.

Laer.

Ham.

Come, my lord. [They play. One.

No. Judgment. Well,-again. King. Stay, give me drink: Hamlet, this pearl is thine;

Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit.
Laer.

Here's to thy health.-Give him the cup.
[Trumpets sound, and Cannon shot off within.
Ham. I'll play this bout first, set it by a while.
Come. Another hit; What say you? [They play.
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. Ham. Good madam,

King.

Gertrude, do not drink. Queen. I will, my lord;-I pray you, pardon me. King. It is the poison'd cup; it is too late. [Aside. 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 it. Laer. And yet it is almost against my conscience. [Aside.

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

I pray you, pass with your best violence;

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The drink, the drink;-I am poison'd! [Dies.
Ham. O villany!-Ho! let the door be lock'd:
Treachery! seek it out.
[LAERTES falls.
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's 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 point
Envenom'd too!-then, venom, to thy work.
[Stabs the KING.
Osr.& Lords. Treason! treason!

King. O, yet defend me friends, I am but hurt.
Ham. Here thou incestuous, murd'rous, damned
Dane,

Drink off this potion:-Is thy union here?
Follow my mother.

[KING dies.

Laer. He is justly serv'd; 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,) O, I could tell you,-
But let it be:-Horatio, I am dead;
Thou liv'st; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.
Hor.

Never believe it;
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 it.-
O God!-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?
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 or less,
Which have solicited,'—the rest is silence. [Dies
Not blunted, without a button.
Mixed.
A sergeant is a sheriff's officer.
Occurrences. • Incited.

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