The usurper's cursed head: the time is free: I see thee compass'd with thy kingdom's pearl, That speak my salutation in their minds; Whose voices I desire aloud with mine,- Hail, king of Scotland!
All. King of Scotland, hail! [flourish. Mal. We shall not spend a large expense of time, Before we reckon with your several loves, [men, And make us even with you. My thanes and kins- Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland In such an honour nam'd. What's more to do, Which would be planted newly with the time,— As calling home our exil'd friends abroad, That fled the snares of watchful tyranny; Producing forth the cruel ministers
Of this dead butcher, and his fiend-like queen; Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands Took off her life;-this, and what necdful else That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace, We will perform in measure, time, and place: So thanks to all at once, and to each one, Whom we invite to see us crown'd at Scone. [flourish; exeunt.
Hor. Tush! tush! 'twill not appear. Ber. Sit down awhile;
And let us once again assail your cars, That are so fortified against our story,
Fran. Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold your-What we two nights have seen. Ber. Long live the king! Fran. Bernardo.
Hor. Well, sit we down,
And let us hear Bernardo speak of this. Ber. Last night of all,
[pole, When yon same star, that's westward from the Had made his course to illume that part of heaven Where now it burns, Marcellus, and myself, The bell then beating one,
Mar. Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again!
Mar. 'Tis gone, and will not answer. [pale: Ber. How now, Horatio? you tremble, and look Is not this something more than fantasy? What think you of it?
Hor. Before my God, I might not this believe, Without the sensible and true avouch Of mine own eyes.
Mar. Is it not like the king? Hor. As thou art to thyself: Such was the very armour he had on, When he th' ambitious Norway combated; So frown'd he once, when, in an angry parle,
He smote the sledded Polack on the ice. 'Tis strange.
[hour, Mar. Thus, twice before, and jump at this dead With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. Hor. In what particular thought to work, I know not;
But, in the gross and scope of mine opinion, This bodes some strange eruption to our state. Mar. Good now, sit down, and tell me, he that knows,
Why this same strict and most observant watch So nightly toils the subjects of the land? And why such daily cast of brazen cannon, And foreign mart for implements of war? Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task Does not divide the Sunday from the week? What might be toward, that this sweaty haste Doth make the night joint-labourer with the day'; Who is't, that can inform me?
At least, the whisper goes so. Our last king, Whose image even but now appear'd to us, Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway, Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride, Dar'd to the combat; in which our valiant Hamlet (For so this side of our known world esteem'd him,) Did slay this Fortinbras; who, by a seal'd compact, Well ratified by law and heraldry,
Did forfeit, with his life, all those his lands, Which he stood seiz'd of, to the conqueror; Against the which, a moiety competent Was gaged by our king; which had return'd To the inheritance of Fortinbras,
Had he been vanquisher; as, by the same co-mart, And carriage of the article design'd, His fell to Hamlet. Now, sir, young Fortinbras, Of unimproved mettle, hot and full, Hath in the skirts of Norway, here and there, Shark'd up a list of landless resolutes, For food and diet, to some enterprise That hath a stomach in't; which is no other (As it doth well appear unto our state,) But to recover of us, by strong hand, And terms compulsatory, those 'foresaid lands So by his father lost: and this, I take it, Is the main motive of our preparations; The source of this our watch; and the chief head Of this post-haste and romage in the land.
Ber. I think, it be no other, but even so: Well may it sort, that this portentous figure Comes armed through our watch; so like the king That was, and is, the question of these wars.
Hor. A mote it is, to trouble the mind's eye. In the most high and palmy state of Rome, A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets. Re-enter Ghost.
But, soft; behold! lo, where it comes again! I'll cross it, though it blast me.-Stay, illusion! If thou hast any sound, or use of voice, Speak to me:
If there be any good thing to be done, That may to thee do ease, and grace to me, Speak to me:
If thou art privy to thy country's fate,
Which, happily, foreknowing may avoid, O, speak!.
Or, if thou hast uphoarded in thy life Extorted treasure in the womb of earth, For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death, [cock crows. Speak of it: stay, and speak. Stop it, Marcellus. Mar. Shall I strike at it with my partizan? Hor. Do, if it will not stand. Ber. 'Tis here! Hor. 'Tis here! Man 'Tis gone!
We do it wrong, being so majestical, To offer it the show of violence; For it is, as the air, invulnerable, And our vain blows malicious mockery. Ber. It was about to speak, when the cock erow. Hor. And then it started, like a guilty thing Upon a fearful summons. I have heard,
The cock, that is the trumpet of the morn, Doth with his lofty and shrill-sounding throat Awake the god of day; and, at his warning, Whether in the sea or fire, in earth or air, The extravagant and erring spirit hies To his confine; and of the truth herein This present object made probation.
Mar. It faded on the crowing of the cock. Some say, that ever 'gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, This bird of dawning singeth all night long: And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad; The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike. No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.
Hor. So have I heard, and do in part believe it But, look, the morn, in russet mantle clad, Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill:.. Break we our watch up; and by my advice, Let us impart what we have seen to-night Unto young Hamlet: for, upon my life. This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him: Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it, As needful in our loves, fitting our duty? [know, Mar. Let's do't, I pray; and I, this morning, Where we shall find him most convenient. [exeunt. SCENE II. THE SAME. A ROOM OF STATE IN THE SAME.
Enter the King, Queen, Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes, Voltimand, Cornelius, Lords, and Attendants. King. Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's
The memory be green and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe; Yet so far hath discretion fraght with nature, That we with wisest sorrow think on him, Together with remembrance of ourselves. Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, The imperial jointress of this warlike state, Have we, as 'twere, with a defeated joy,- With one auspicious, and one dropping eye; With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage In equal scale weighing delight and dole, Taken to wife: nor have we herein barr'd Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone With this affair along:-for all, our thanks
Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected 'haviour of the visage, Together with all forms, modes, shows of grief, That can denote me truly: these, indeed, seem, For they are actions that a man might play: But I have that within, which passeth show; These, but the trappings and the suits of woe.
King. 'Tis sweet and commendable in your
Now follows, that you know, young Fortin- | Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Holding a weak supposal of our worth; [bras, Or thinking, by our late dear brother's death, Our state to be disjoint and out of frame, Colleagued with this dream of his advantage, He hath not fail'd to pester us with message, Importing the surrender of those lands, Lost by his father, with all bands of law, To our most valiant brother.-So much for him. Now for ourself, and for this time of meeting. Thus much the business is: we have here writ To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras,- Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears Of this his nephew's purpose,—to suppress His further gait herein; in that the levies, The lists, and full proportions, are all made Out of his subjects: and we here despatch You, goud Cornelius, and you, Voltimand, For bearers of this greeting to old Norway; Giving to you no further personal power To business with the king, more than the scope Of these dilated articles allow. Farewell: and let your haste commend your duty. Cor. & Vol. In that, and all things, will we shew our duty.
King. We doubt it nothing: heartily farewell. [exeunt Voltimand and Cornelius. And now, Laertes, what's the news with you? You told us of some suit. What is't, Laertes? You cannot speak of reason to the Dane, And lose your voice: what wouldst thou beg, Laer- That shall not be my offer, not thy asking? [tes, The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth, Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father. What wouldst thou have, Laertes?
Your leave and favour to return to France; From whence, though willingly I came to Den- To shew my duty in your coronation; Yet now, I must confess, that duty done, My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France, And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon. King. Have you your father's leave? what says Polonius? [leave, Pol. He hath, my lord, wrung from me my slow By laboursome petition; and, at last, Upon his will seal'd my hard consent: I do beseech you, give him leave to go. King. Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine, And thy best graces: spend it at thy will.. But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son,- Ham. A little more than kin, and less than kind. [aside. King. How is it, that the clouds still hang on you? Ham. Not so, my lord, I am too much i'the sun. Queen. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not, for ever, with thy vailed lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust:
Thou know'st, 'tis common; all, that live, must Passing through nature to eternity.
Ham. Ay, madam, it is common. Queen. If it be,
Why seems it so particular with thee?
Ham. Seems, madam! nay, it is; I know not
To give these mourning duties to your father: But, you must know, your father lost a father; That father lost, lost his; and the survivor bound In filial obligation, for some term
To do obsequious sorrow: but to perséver In obstinate condolement, is a course
Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief: It shows a will most incorrect to heaven; A heart unmortified, or mind impatient; An understanding simple and unschool'd; For what, we know, must be, and is as common As any the most vulgar thing to sense, Why should we, in our peevish opposition, Take it to heart? fie! 'tis a fault to heaven, A fault against the dead, a fault to nature, To reason most absurd; whose common theme Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried, From the first corse, till he that died to-day, This must be so. We pray you, throw to earth This unprevailing woe; and think of us As of a father: for let the world take note, You are the most immediate to our throne; And, with no less nobility of love, Than that which dearest father bears his son, Do I impart toward you. For your intent
In going back to school at Wittenberg, It is most retrograde to our desire: And, we beseech you, bend you to remain Here, in the cheer and comfort of our eye, Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son. Queen. Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet;
I pray thee, stay with us, go not to Wittenberg. Ham. I shall, in all my best, obey you, madain. King. Why, 'tis a loving and a fair reply; Be as ourself in Denmark.-Madam, come; This gentle and unforc'd accord of Hamlet Sits smiling to my heart: in grace whereof, No jocund health, that Denmark drinks to-day, But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell; And the king's rouse the heavens shall bruit again, Re-speaking earthly thunder. Come, away. [exeunt King, Queen, Lords, &c. Pol. and Laer. Ham. O, that this too, too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! O God! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on't! O fie! 'tis an unweeded garden, [nature That grows to seed; things rank, and gross in Possess it merely. That it should come to this! But two months dead!-nay, not so much, not two So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr: so loving to my mother, That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth! Must I remember? why, she would hang on him, As if increase of appetite had grown
By what it fed on: and yet within a mouth,Let me not think on't;-Frailty, thy name is woman!
A little month; or ere those shoes were old, With which she follow'd my poor father's body, Like Niobe, all tears;-why she, even she,- O heaven! a beast, that wants discourse of reason, Would have mourn'd longer,-married with my uncle,
My father's brother; but no more like my father, Than I to Hercules: within a month; Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married: O most wicked speed, to post With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to, good; But break, my heart: for I must hold my tongue! Enter Horatio, Bernardo, and Marcellus. Hor. Hail to your lordship. Ham. I am glad to see you well: Horatio, or I do forget myself.
Hor. The same, my lord, and your poor servant Ham. Sir, my good friend; I'll change that name with you.
And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio? Marcellus?
Ham. I am very glad to see you; good even, sir. But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg? Hor. A truant disposition, good my lord. Ham. I would not hear your enemy say so: Nor shall you do mine ear that violence, To make it truster of your own report Against yourself: I know, you are no truant. But what is your affair in Elsinore? We'll teach you to drink deep, ere you depart.
Hor. My lord, I came to see your father's funeral. Ham. I pray thee, do not mock me, fellowstudent;
I think, it was to see my mother's wedding.
Hor. Indeed, my lord, it follow'd hard upon. Ham. Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral bak'd Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. [meats 'Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven, Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio!— My father, methinks, I see my father. Hor. Where,
Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatio.
Hor. I saw him once, he was a goodly king. Ham. He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again.
Hor. My lord, I think I saw himn vesternight. Ham. Saw! who?
Hor. My lord, the king, your father. Ham. The king, my father!
Hor. Season your admiration for a while With an attent ear; till I may deliver, Upon the witness of these gentlemen, This marvel to you.
Ham. For God's love, let me hear
Hor. Two nights together had these gentlemen, Marcellus and Bernardo, on their watch, In the dead waist and middle of the night, Been thus encounter'd. A figure like your father, Armed at point, exactly, cap-à-pé,
Appears before them, and, with solemn march, Goes slow and stately by them: thrice he walk'd By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes, Within his truncheon's length; whilst they, Almost to jelly with the act of fear, [distill'd Stand dumb, and speak not to him. This to me, In dreadful secrecy, impart they did; And I with them, the third night, kept the watch: Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time, Form of the thing, each word made true and good, The apparition comes: I knew your father; These hands are not more like.
Ham. But where was this? Hor. My lord, upon the platform where we Ham. Did you not speak to it? [watch'd. Hor. My lord, I did;
But answer made it none: yet once, methought, It lifted up its head, and did address Itself to motion, like as it would speak: But, even then, the morning cock crew loud; And at the sound it shrunk in haste away, And vanish'd from our sight.
Hor. As I do live, my honour'd lord, 'tis true; And we did think it writ down in our duty To let you know of it.
Ham. Indeed, indeed, sirs, but this troubles me, Hold you the watch to-night?
All. We do, my lord. Ham. Arm'd, say you? All. Arm'd, my lord. Ham. From top to toe?
All. My lord, from head to foot. Ham. Then saw you not
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