The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare

Bear it that the opposer may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice:
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy
judgement.

Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy:
For the apparel oft proclaims the man;
And they in France, of the best rank and
station,

Are most select and generous, chieft in that.
Neither a borrower, nor a lender be:
For loan oft loses both itself and friend;
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all, -To thine ownself be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell; my blessing season|| this in thee!
Laer. Most humbly do I take my leave, my

lord.

If it be so, (as so 'tis put on me,

And that in way of caution,) I must tell you, You do not understand yourself so clearly, As it behoves my daughter, and your honour: What is between you? give me up the truth.

Of his affection to me.

[tenders

Oph. He hath, my lord, of late, made many Pol. Affection? puh! you speak like a green girl, Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them? Oph. I do not know, my lord, what I should think.

Pol. Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby;

That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay, Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly;

Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, Wronging it thus,) you'll tender me a fool. Oph. My lord he hath impórtun'd me_with In honourable fashion.tt

to.

[love,

Pol. Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go Oph. And hath given countenance to his

speech, my lord,

With almost all the holy vows of heaven.

Pol. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do

know,

When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daugh

ter,

Giving more light than heat, extinct in both,
Even in their promise, as it is a making,-
You must not take for fire. From this time,
Be somewhat scanter of your maiden presence;
Set your entreatments at a higher rate,
Than a command to parley. For lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, That he is young;

† Noble.

+ Chiefly. Wait.

And with a larger tether* may he walk,
Then may be given you: In few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows: for they are brokers,t
Not of that die which their investments show,
But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds,
The better to beguile. This is for all,-
I would not, in plain terms, from this time
forth,

Have you so slander any moment's leisure,
As to give words or talk with the lord Hamlet.
Look to't, I charge you; come your ways.
Oph. I shall obey, my lord.

SCENE IV.-The Platform.

[Exeunt.

Enter HAMLET, HORATIO, and MARCELLUS.
Ham. The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold.
Hor. It is a nipping and an eagerý air.
Ham. What hour now ?

Hor. I think, it lacks of twelve.

Mar. No, it is struck.

Hor. Indeed? I heard it not; it then draws

near the season,

Wherein the spirit held is wont to walk.

[A Flourish of Trumpets, and Ordnance shot off, within.

What does this mean, my lord?

Ham. The king doth wake to-night, and

takes his rouse,||

spring reels;**

Keeps wassel, and the swaggering up[down, And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out The triumph of his pledge.

Hor. Is it a custom?

Ham. Ay, marry, is't:
But to my mind, though I am native here,
And to the manner born, it is a custom

More honour'd in the breach, than the obser

vance.

This heavy-headed revel, east and west, Makes us traduc'd, and tax'd of other nations: They clepett us, drunkards, and with swinish phrase

Soil our addition; and, indeed it takes
From our achievements, though perform'd at
height,

The pith and marrow of our attribute.
So, oft it chances in particular men,
That, for some vicious mode of nature in them,
As, in their birth, (wherein they are not guilty,
Since nature cannot choose his origin,)
By the o'ergrowth of some complexion,‡‡
Oft breaking down the pales and forts of rea-
Or by some habit, that too much o'er-leavens
The form of plausive manners;-that these

|| Infix.

++ Manner.

11 Company.

tethered.

Sharp.

** A dance.

Do out,

|| Jovial draught.

+ Pimps.

++ Call.

‡ Implorers.

1 Jollity.

‡‡ Humour.

Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts

from hell,

Be thy intents wicked, or charitable,

Thou com'st in such a questionable* shape,
That I will speak to thee; thee: I'll call thee, Ham-
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me: [let,
Let me not burst in ignorance! but tell,
Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death,
Have burst their cerements! why the sepul-
Wherein we saw thee quietly in-urn'd, [chre,
Hath op'd his ponderous and marble jaws,
To cast thee up again! What may this mean,
That thou, dead corse, again, in cómplete steel,
Revisit'st thus the glimpses of the moon,
Making night hideous; and we fools of nature,
So horridly to shake our disposition,+

With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?
Say, why is this? wherefore? what should we
do?

Hor. It beckons you to go away with it,
As if it some impartment did desire
To you alone.

Ghost. I am thy father's spirit;

Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night;
And, for the day, confin'd to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes, done in my days of nature,
Are burn'd and purg'd away. But that I am
To tell the secrets of my prison-house, [forbid
I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young
[spheres;
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their
Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine:
But this eternal blazon* must not be

blood;

I do not set my life at a pin's fee;§
And, for my soul, what can it do to that,
Being a thing immortal as itself?

It waves me forth again;-I'll follow it.

Hor. What, if it tempt you toward the flood,

Mar. Look, with what courteous action
It waves you to a more removed ground:

But do not go with it.

Hor. No, by no means.

To ears of flesh and blood:- List, list, O list!

Ham. It will not speak; then I will follow it. If thou didst ever thy dear father love,

Hor. Do not, my lord.

Ham. O heaven!

Ham. Why, what should be the fear?

As meditation, or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.
Ghost. I find thee apt;

reason,

That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, [hear:
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet,
'Tis given out, that sleeping in mine orchard,
A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Den-
Is by a forged process of my death [mark
Rankly abus'd: but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life,
Now wears his crown.

my lord,

Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff,
That beetles|| o'er his base into the sea?

And there assume some other horrible form,

Which might deprive your sovereignty of And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed

And draw you into madness? think of it:
The very place puts toys of desperation,
Without more motive, into every brain,
That looks so many fathoms to the sea,
And hears it roar beneath.

Ham. It waves me still:

Go on, I'll follow thee.

Mar. You shall not go, my lord.
Ham. Hold off your hands.
Hor. Be rul'd, you shall not go.
Ham. My fate cries out,

And makes each petty artery in this body
As hardy as the Némean lion's nerve.-

Ham. O, my prophetic soul! my uncle!
Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate

beast,

With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,
(O wicked wit, and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!) won to his shameful lust
The will of my most seeming virtuous queen:
O, Hamlet, what a falling-off was there!
From me, whose love was of that dignity,
That it went hand in hand even with the vow
I made to her in marriage; and to decline
Upon a wretch, whose natural gifts were poor
To those of mine!

But virtue, as it never will be mov'd,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven;
So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd,
Will sate itself in a celestial bed,

And prey on garbage.

[chard,

But, soft! methinks, I scent the morning air;
Brief let me be:-Sleeping within mine or-
My custom always ways of the afternoon,
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenons in a vial,
And in the porches of mine ears did pour
The leperous distilment: whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man,
Ham. Whither wilt thou lead me? Speak; That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body;

form.

Re-enter GHOST and HAMLET.

I'll go no further.

* Conversable. + Frame.
{} Hangs.
Whims.

† Remote. Value,

** Hinders:

* Display. + Garden, Satiate Henbane.

And, with a sudden vigour, it doth posset
Ham. There's ne'er a villain, dwelling in
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
all Denmark,
The thin and wholesome blood: so did it But he's an arrant knave.

patch'd:‡

Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel'd, disappointed,|| unanel'd;
No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head:
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursu'st this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught; leave her to heaven,
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at
once!

The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu, adieu! remember me.

[Exit.

Ham. O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else?

And shall I couple hell?-O fie!-Hold, hold, my heart;

And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear me stiffly up!-Remember thee?

Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a

seat

In this distracted globe.** Remember thee?
Yea, from the table of my memory
I'll wipe away all trivial fond records, [past,
All sawstt of books, all forms, all pressures
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven.
O most pernicious woman!

O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables,-meet it is, I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least, I am sure, it may be so in Denmark:
[Writing.

So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;
It is, Adien, adieu! remember me.

I have sworn't.

Hor. Not I, my lord, by heaven. Mar. Nor I, my lord.

man once think it?

Hor. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave,

To tell us this.

Ham. Why, right; you are in the right; And so, without more circumstance at all; I hold it fit, that we shake hands, and part: You, as your business, and desire, shall point

Come hither gentlemen,

And lay your hands again upon my sword:
Swear by my sword,

Never to speak of this that you have heard.
Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear by his sword.

Ham. Well said, old mole! canst work i'the

earth 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 your philosophy. But come;|

Ham. How say you then; would heart of Here, as before, never, so help you mercy !

How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself, As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on,

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, With arms encumber'd thus, or this head

shake,

Here and every where.

Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase, As, Well, well, we know;-or, We could, an if we would; or, If we list to speak, or, There be, an if they might ;

Or such ambiguous giving out, to note

That you know aught of me:- This do you

swear,

[you!

So_grace and mercy at your most need help
Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! So, gen-
tlemen,

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
[ther;

you,
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in toge
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.

ACT II.

[Exeunt.

SCENE 1.-A Room in POLONIUS' House.
Enter POLONIUS and REYNALDO.

Rey. But, my good lord,-

Pol. Wherefore should you do this?
Rey. Ay, my lord,

I would know that.

Pol. Marry, Sir, here's my drift;
And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant:
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i'the working,
Mark you,

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, or the addition,
Of man, and country.

Rey. Very good, my lord.

Pol. And then, Sir, does he this, -He doesWhat was I about to say?-By the mass, 1 was about to say something: -Where did I leave?

Rey. At, closes in the consequence.

Pol. At, closes in the consequence,-Ay,

murry;

He closes with you thus:-I know the gentlePol. Give him this money, and these notes, Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as I saw him yesterday, or t'other day, [man; Reynaldo.

Rey. I will, my lord.

you say,

Pol. You shall do marvellous wisely, good There falling out at tennis: or, perchance,

There was he gaming; there o'ertook in his rouse;

Reynaldo,

Before you visit him, to make inquiry

Of his behaviour.

Rey. My lord, I did intend it.

Pol. Marry, well said: very well said. Look

you, Sir,

Inquire me first what Danskers* are in Paris;
And how, and who, what means, and where
they keep,

What company, at what expense; and finding,
By this encompassment and drift of question,
That they do know my son, come you more

nearer

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, Rey

naldo?

Rey. Ay, very well, my lord.
Pol. And, in part, him;-but, you may say,
not well:

But, if't be he I mean, he's very wild;
Addicted so and so ;-and there put on him
What forgeries you please; marry, none so

rank

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
By indirections find directions out;
With windlaces, and with assays of bias,
So, by former lecture and advice,
Shall you my son: You have me, have you not?
Rey. My lord, I have.

Pol. God be wi' you; fare you well.

Rey. Good my lord,

Pol. Observe his inclination in yourself.

Rey. I shall, my lord.

Pol. And let him play his music.

Rey. Well, my lord.

Enter OPHELIA.

[Exit.

Pol. Farewell!-How now, Ophelia? what's the matter;

Oph. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted!

Pol. With what, in the name of heaven?

Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my clo-
set,

Lord Hamlet, - with his doublet all unbrac'd;
Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ankle;
No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd,

Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each
And with a look so piteous in purport, [other;
As if he had been loosed out of hell,

To speak of horrors, he comes before me.

Pol. Mad for thy love?
Oph. My lord, I do not know;

But, truly, I do fear it.
Pol. What said he?

Oph. He took me by the wrist, and held me

And thrice his head thus waving up and

down,

He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound,

As it did seem to shatter all his bulk,*

And end his being: That done, he lets me go: And, with his head over his shoulder turn'd, He seem'd to find his way without his eyes; For out o'doors he went without their helps, And, to the last, bended their light on me.

Pol. Come, go with me; I will go seek the This is the very ecstasy of love; [king. Whose violent property foredoest itself, And leads the will to desperate undertakings, As oft as any passion under heaven, That does afflict our natures. I am sorry, What, have you given him any hard words of

late?

Oph. No, my good lord; but, as you did command,

I did repel his letters, and denied
His access to me.

Pol. That hath made him mad. [ment, I am sorry, that with better heed and judgeI had not quoted him; I fear'd, he did but [jealousy!

trifle, And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew my It seems, it is as proper to our age To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions, As it is common for the younger sort

To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king: This must be known; which, being kept close, might move More grief to hide, than hate to utter love. Come. [Exeunt.

SCENE II.-A Room in the Castle. Enter KING, QUEEN, ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN, and Attendants.

King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz, and
Guildenstern!
Moreover that we much did long to see you,
The need, we have to use you, did provoke
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard
Of Hamlet's transformation; so I call it,
Since not the exterior nor the inward man
Resembles that it was: What it should be,
More than his father's death, that thus hath
put him

So much from the understanding of himself,
I cannot dream of: I entreat you both,
That,-being of so young days brought up
[humour,

with him;

And, since, so neighbour'd to his youth and That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court

Some little time: so by your companies
To draw him on to pleasures; and to gather,
So much as from occasion you may glean,
Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him
That, open'd, lies within our remedy. [thus,
Queen. Good gentlemen, he hath much talk'd
of you;

And, sure I am, two men there are not living, To whom he more adheres. If it will please you

To show us so much gentry, and good-will,
As to expend your time with us a while,
For the supply and profit of our hope,
Your visitation shall receive such thanks
As fits a king's remembrance.

Ros. Both your majesties
Might, by the sovereign power you have of us,
Put your dread pleasures more into command
Than to entreaty.

Body. + Destroys. & Observed. Complaisance,

Guil. But we both obey; And here give up ourselves, in the full sent, To lay our service freely at your feet, To be commanded.

King. Thanks, Rosencrantz, and gentle Guildenstern.

Queen. Thanks, Guildenstern, and gentle
Rosencrantz:

And I beseech you instantly to visit
My too much changed son. -Go, some of you,
And bring these gentlemen where Hamlet is.
Guil. Heavens make our presence, and our
Pleasant and helpful to him!
[practices,
Queen. Ay, amen!

[Exeunt ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN,
and some Attendants.

griev'd,

That so his sickness, age, and impotence,
Was falsely borne in hand,||-sends out arrests
On Fortinbras; which he, in brief, obeys;
Receives rebuke from Norway; and, in fine,
Makes vow before his uncle, never more
To give the assay of arms against your majesty.
Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy,
Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee;
And his commission, to employ those soldiers,
So levied as before, against the Polack;
lack;
With an entreaty, herein further shown,
[Gives a Paper.

That it might please you to give quiet pass
Through your dominions for this enterprise;
On such regards of safety, and allowance,
As therein are set down.

King. It likes us well:

And, at our more consider'd time, we'll read,

Answer, and think upon this business.

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