Ofr. Ay, my good Lord.

King. Set me the ftoups 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 fhall drink to Hamlet's better breath,
3 And in the cup an Union fhall he throw,
Richer than that which four fucceffive Kings
In Denmark's Crown have worn. Give me the cups
And let the kettle to the trumpets speak,

The trumpets to the cannoneer without,

The cannons to the heav'ns, the heav'ns to earth;
Now the King drinks to Hamlet.-Come. Begin.

And you the Judges bear a wary eye.

Ham. Come on, Sir,

Laer. Come, my Lord.

Ham. One.

Laer. No.

Ham. Judgment.

Ofr. A hit, a very palpable hit.

Laer. Well

again

[They play

King. Stay, give me Drink. Hamlet, this Pearl is

"

thine,

Here's to thy health. Give him the cup. [Trumpets found, Shot goes off. Ham. I'll play this bout first. Set it by awhile.

Come. Another hit. What fay you?
Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confefs.
King. Our fon fhall win.

Queen. He's fat, and fcant of breath.

[They play.

Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows.
The Queen caroufes 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. [Afide.
Ham. I dare not drink yet, Madam. By and by.
Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face.
Laer. I'll hit him now.

King. I do not think't.

Laer. And yet it is almost against my confcience.

[Afide. Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes. You but dally;

I pray you, pafs with your best violence;

I am afraid, you make a Wanton of me.

Laer. Say you fo? come on.

Ofr. Nothing neither way.

Laer. Have at you now.

[Play.

[Laertes wounds Hamlet; then, in fcuffling, they change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds Laertes.

King. Part them, they are incens'd.

Ham. Nay, come again.

+

Ofr. Look to the Queen there, ho!

Hor. They bleed on both fides. How is't, my

Lord ?

Ofr. How is't, Laertes?:

-you make a Wanton of me.] A Wanton was, a man feeble In Cymbeline,

and effeminate.

Laer. Why, as a woodcock to my own fpringe,
Ofrick;

I'm juftly kill'd with mine own treachery.

Ham. How does the Queen?

King. She fwoons to fee them bleed.
Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink-
Oh my dear Hamlet. The drink, the drink,
I am poifon'd-

[Queen dies.

Ham. Oh villainy! ho! let the door be lock'd: Treachery feek it out

Laer. It is here, Hamlet. Thou art flain,
No med'cine in the world can do thee good.
In thee there is not half an hour of life;
The treach'rous inftrument is in thy hand,
Unbated and envenom'd. The foul practice
Hath turn'd itself on me. Lo, here I lye,
Never to rife again. Thy mother's poifon'd.
I can no more—the King, the King's to blame.
Ham. The point envenom'd too?

Then venom do thy work.

All. Treafon, treason.

[Stabs the King:

King. O yet defend me, friends, I am but hurt.

Ham. Here, thou incestuous, murd'rous, damned

Dane,

Drink off this potion. Is the Union here?

Follow my mother.

Laer. He is juftly ferv'd.

It is a poifon temper'd by himself.

[King dies.

Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet;
Mine and my father's death come not on thee,
Nor thine on me!

[Dies.

Ham. Heav'n make thee free of it. I follow thee. I'm dead, Horatio. Wretched Queen, adieu! You that look pale, and tremble at this chance, $ That are but mutes or audience to this act,

5 That are but mutes or audience to this act,] That are either mere auditors of this catastrophe,

X

or at moft only mute performers, that fill the ftage without any part in the action.

2

Had

Had I but time, as this fell Serjeant death
Is ftrict in his arreft, oh, I could tell you
But let it be-Horatio, I am dead;
Thou liv'ft, report me and my cause aright
To the unfatisfied.

Hor. Never believe it.

I'm more an antique Roman than a Dane.
Here's yet fome liquor left.

Ham. As th'art a man,

Give me the cup. Let go; by heav'n, I'll hav't.
Oh good Horatio, what a wounded name,

Things ftanding thus unknown, fhall live behind me ?
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,

Absent thee from felicity a while,

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my ftory. [March afar off, and fhout within.
What warlike noife is this?

SCEN E VÍ.

Enter Ofrick.

Ofr. Young Fortinbras, with Conquest come from
Poland,

To the Ambaffadors of England gives

This warlike volley.

Ham. O, I die, Horatio:

The potent poifon quite o'er-grows my spirit;
I cannot live to hear the news from England.
But I do prophefy, the election lights

On Fortinbras; he has my dying voice

;

So tell him, with th' occurrents more or lefs,
Which have follicited. The reft is filence. [Dies.

6 Which have follicited.] Sollicited, for brought on the

event.

WARBURTON.

Hor.

Hor. Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, fweet Prince;

And flights of angels fing thee to thy Reft!

Why does the Drum come hither?

Enter Fortinbras, and English Ambassadors, with drum, colours, and attendants.

Fort. Where is this fight?

Hor. What is it you would fee?

If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search.
Fort. This quarry cries on havock. Oh proud
Death!

What feaft is tow'rd in thy infernal cell,
That thou fo many Princes at a shot
So bloodily haft ftruck?

Amb. The fight is dismal,

And our affairs from England come too late :
The ears are fenfelefs that fhould give us hearing;
To tell him, his commandment is fulfill'd,
That Rofincrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
Where (hould we have our thanks?

Hor. Not from his mouth,

Had it th' ability of life to thank you :

He never gave commandment for their death.
But fince fo 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 fpeak to th' yet unknowing world,

7 This quarry cries on havock.] I fuppofe, when unfair (portsmen

Hanmer reads,

cries out, havock.

To cry on, was to exclaim againft.

deftroyed more quarry or game than was reasonable, the cenfure was, to cry, Havock.