Page images
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

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;

5

And they in France, of the best rank and station,
Are most select, and generous chief2 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 15
[tend.

lord.

Pol. The time invites you; go, your servants
Laer. Farewell, Ophelia; and remember well
What I have said to you.

Oph. 'Tis in my memory lock'd,
And you yourself shall keep the key' of it.
Laer. Farewell.

[Exit Laertes.

Pol. What is 't, Ophelia, he hath said to you? Oph. So please you, something touching the lord Hamlet.

Pol. Marry, well bethought:

8

1005

Pol. Ay, fashion you may call it: go to, go to.
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,

10

When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows: These blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat,-extinct in both,
10 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;
at a higher rate,
Set your entreatments
Than a command to parley. For lord Hamlet,
he walk,
may
Believe so much in him, That he is young;
And with a larger tether"
Than may be given you: In few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows: for they are brokers;
Not of that dye which their investments shew,
20 But mere implorators of unholy suits,

25

[teous: 30

'Tis told me, he hath very oft of late
Given private time to you; and you yourself
Have of your audience been most free and boun-
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.
Oph. He hath, my lord, of late made many 35
Of his affection to me.

[tenders

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.

[baby;

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 eager 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,

40 Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk.
[Noise of music within.
What does this mean, my lord?
Ham. The king doth wake to-night, and takes
freels:
13
his rouse 1
Keeps wassel, and the swaggering up-spring 15
And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down,
The kettle-drum, and trumpet, thus bray out
The triumph of his pledge."

Pol. Marry, I'll teach you think yourself a That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay, Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more 45 dearly;

poor

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

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

4i. e. your Chief is an adjective used adverbially; a practice common to our author: 3 That is, infix it in such a manner as that it never may wear out.

servants are waiting for you..

7

[ocr errors]

"The meaning is, that your counsels are as sure of remaining locked Unsifted, for untried.-Untried signiup in my memory, as if you yourself carried the key of it. fies either not tempted, or not refined; unsifted, signifies the latter only, though the sense requires the That is, if you continue to go on thus wrong. former. A proverbial saying. for a transient practice. tion; from the French entrétien. uninclosed, is confined within the proper limits.

She uses fashion for manner, and he 10 Entreatments here means company, conversa11 Tether is that string by which an animal, set to graze in grounds 12 Do not believe (says Polonius to his daughter) A rouse is a large dose of liquor, a deHamlet's amorous vows made to you; which pretend religion in them (the better to beguile) like those sanctified and pious vows [or bonds] made to Heaven. 15 That is, the blustering upstart, according to Dr. Johnson: bauch. 14 See Macbeth, Act I.

13

but Mr. Steevens says, that up-spring was a German dance; and that the spring was also anciently the name of a tune.

But,

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 observance.
This heavy-headed revel, east and west,
Makes us traduc'd, and tax'd of other nations:
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase
Soil our addition; and, indeed, it takes
From our atchievements, tho' perform'd at height,
The pith and marrow of our attribute.
So, oft it chances in particular men,

That, for some vicious mole of nature in them,
As, in their birth (wherein they are not guilty,
Since nature cannot choose his origin),
By the o'er-growth of some complexion',
Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason;
Or by some habit, that too much o'er-leavens
The form of plausive manners;-that these men,
Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect;
Being nature's livery, or fortune's star,—
Their virtues else (be they as pure as grace,
As infinite as man may undergo)
Shall in the general censure take corruption
From that particular fault: The dram of base
Doth all the noble substance of worth out',
To his own scandal.

Enter Ghost.

Hor. Look, my lord, it comes!

5

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,
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 reason,
10 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.

15

20

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 Nemean lion's nerve.-
Still am I call'd-unhand me, gentlemen ;-
[Breaking from them.
25 By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets 10 me:
I
say, away:-Go on ;— -I'll follow thee.
[Exeunt Ghost, and Hamlet.
Hor. He waxes desperate with imagination.
Mar. Let's follow; 'tis not fit thus to obey him.
Hor. Have after:-To what issue will this come?
Mar. Something is rotten in the state of Den-
Hor. Heaven will direct it.
Mar. Nay, let's follow him.

Ham. Angels and ministers of grace defend us!
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd; [hell;
Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from 30
Be thy intents wicked, or charitable,
Thou com'st in such a questionable shape',
That I will speak to thee; I'll call thee, Hamlet,
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me!
Let ine not burst in ignorance! but tell,

Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death,
Have burst their cearments? why the sepulchre,
Wherein we saw thee quietly in-urn'd,
Hath op'd his ponderous and marble jaws,
To cast thee up again? What may this mean,-
That thou, dead corse, again, in complete 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.

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.

Ham. It will not speak; then I will follow it.
Hor. Do not, my lord.

Ham. Why, what should be the fear?

I do not set my life at a pin's fee';

135

140

45

SCENE V.

mark. [Exeunt.

[blocks in formation]

Ghost. My hour is almost come,

When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames
Must render up myself.

Ham. Alas, poor ghost!

Ghost. Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing To what I shall unfold.

Ham. Speak, I am bound to hear. [hear. 50 Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt Ham. What?

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,

55 Till the foul crimes, done in my days of nature,
Are burnt and purg'd away. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,

i. e. humour; as sanguine, melancholy, phlegmatic, &c.

tainly, in our author's time signified to converse. buried in that manner

4

The dram of base means the least

alloy of baseness or vice: To do a thing out, is to extinguish it, or to efface or obliterate any thing painted or written. i. e. in a shape or form capable of being conversed with.-To question, cerIt was the custom of the Danish kings to be The expression is fine, as intimating we were only kept (as formerly, fools in a great family) to make sport for nature, who lay hid only to mock and laugh at us, for our vain searches into her mysteries. ? Toys for whims.

take away.

i. e.

6

Disposition, for frame.

[blocks in formation]

10

i. e. hinders or prevents me.

I could

I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thyyoung blood;
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their
spheres;

Thy knotty and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand on end
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine:
But this eternal blazon must not be

To ears of flesh and blood:-List, list, O list!—
If thou didst ever thy dear father love,

Ham. O heaven!

[murder. Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural Ham. Murder?

Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.

Ham. Haste me to know it; that I, with wings
as swift

As meditation', or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.

Ghost. I find thee apt;

[That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body;
And, with a sudden vigour, it doth posset
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
5 The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;
And a most instant tetter bark'd about,
Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth body.

Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand,
10Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd'
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousell'd', disappointed', unaneal'd';
No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head:
150 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.
Put, howsoever thou pursu'st this act,
20Taint 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 shews the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire ':
Adieu, adicu, adieu! remember me.
Ham. O all you host of heaven! O earth! What
else?
[heart:

And duller should'st thou be than the fat weed
That rots itself in ease on Lethè's wharf,
Would'st thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:
"Tis given out, that, sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Den-25
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.

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.

But soft! methinks, I scent the morning air---
Brief let me be :-Sleeping within mine orchard',
My custom always of the afternoon,

[Exit.

And shall I couple hell?-O fie!-Hold, hold, my
30 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 10. Remember thee?
Yea, from the table of my memory

35I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
40 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?
45 At least, I am sure, it may be so in Denmark:

50

[Writing.

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

I have sworn it.

Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenon' 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,

[blocks in formation]

'That is, henbane. * Dispatch'd for bereft.

[Within.

This similitude is extremely beautiful. The word meditation is consecrated, by the mystics, to signify that stretch and flight of mind which aspires to the enjoyment of the supreme good: So that Hamlet, considering with what to compare the swiftness of his revenge, chooses two of the most rapid things in nature, the ardency of divine and human passion, in an enthusiast and a lover. 2 Orchard for garden. i. e. without the sacrament taken; from the old Saxon word for the sacrament, housel. "Disappointed is the same as unappointed; and may be properly explained unprepared. 7 i. e. unanointed, not having the extreme unction. i. e. for lewdness. i. e. fire that is no longer seen when the light of morning approaches. 10 i. e. in this head confused with thought. "Hamlet alludes to the watch-word given every day in the military service, which at this time he says is, Adieu, adieu, remember me. Ham.

[blocks in formation]

Mar. Nor I, my lord.

Ham. Ha, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there, true-penny?

Come on,-you hear this fellow in the celleridge,Consent to swear.

Hor. Propose the oath, my lord.

Ham. Never to speak of this that you have seen, Swear by my sword. [ground:

Ghost. [beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Hic & ubique? then we'll shift our

Ham. How say you then; would heart of man 10 Come hither, gentlemen,

once think it?

But you'll be secret,

Boh. Ay, by heaven, my lord.

[mark,

Ham.There's ne'era villain,dwelling in all Den

But he's an arrant knave.

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 you;For every man hath business and desire, Such as it is, and, for my own poor part, Look you, I will go pray.

Hor. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.

Ham. I am sorry they offend you, heartily; Yes 'faith, heartily.

Hor. There's no offence, my lord. Ham.Yes,by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio, And much offence too. Touching this vision here,-It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you: For your desire to know what is between us,

15

20

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! can'st work i' the
earth so fast?
[friends.
A worthy pioneer!-Once more remove, good
Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous

strange! [come '. Ham. And therefore as a stranger give it welThere are more things in heaven and earth, HoraThan are dreamt of in your philosophy. [tio, But come;

Here, as before, never, so help you mercy! 25 How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself,As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet To put an antick disposition on,

30

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall With arms encumber'd thus; or this head-shake; 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;) denote

O'er-master it as you may. And now, good friends, 35 That you know aught of me: This do ye swear,

As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers,

Give me one poor request.

Hor. What is't, my lord? we will.

Ham. Never make known what you have seen

[blocks in formation]

So grace and mercy at your most need help you! Swear.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

This is the call which falconers use to their hawk in the air when they would have him come down to them.. It was common to swear upon the sword, that is, upon the cross which the old swords always had upon the hilt. i. e. receive it to yourself; take it under your own roof; as much as to say, Keep it secret ;-alluding to the laws of hospitality. * Danske is the ancient name of Denmark.

And

[blocks in formation]

What company, at what expence; and finding,
By this encompassment and drift of question,
That they do know my son,come you more nearer; 5
Then your particular demands will touch it: [him;
Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of
As thus,-I know his father, and his friends,
And, in part, him, Do you mark this, Reynaldo?
Rey. Ay, very well, my lord.

[not well: 10

Pol. And, in part, him;-but, you may say,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 As may dishonour him; take heed of that; But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips, As are companions noted and most known To youth and liberty.

Rey. As gaming, my lord.

Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing,
Quarrelling, drabbing:-You may go so far.
Rey. My lord, that would dishonour him.
Pol.'Faith,no; as you may season it in the charge.
You must not put another scandal on him,
That he is open to incontinency;
That's not my meaning: but breathe his faults so
That they may seem the taints of liberty;
The flash and out-break of a fiery mind;

A savageness in unreclaimed blood,
Of general assault2.

Rey. But, my good lord,

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

I would know that.

15

20

[quaintly, 25

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.

[What was I Pol. And then, sir, does he this,---He does--About to say? I was about to say Something: Where did I leave?

[say,

(Videlicet, a brothel) or so forth.---See you now;
Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlaces, and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out;
So, by my 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 ply his musick.

Rey. Well, my lord.

Enter Ophelia.

[Exit.

Pol. Farewell.---How now, Ophelia? what's

the matter?

[frighted! Oph. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so afPol. With what, in the name of heaven? Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet,---with his doublet all unbrac'd; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle; Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purport,

6

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;

30 But, truly, I do fear it.

Pol. What said he?

[hard;

Oph. He took me by the wrist, and held me
Then goes he to the length of all his arm;
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,

35 He falls to such perusal of my face,

As he would draw it. Long staid he so;
At last,--a little shaking of mine arm,

And thrice his head thus waving up and down,---
He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound,
40 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,
45 And, to the last, bended their light on me. [king.
Pol. Come, go with nre; I will go seck the
This is the very ecstasy of love;

Whose violent property foredoes' itself, And leads the will to desperate undertakings, 50 As oft as any passion under heaven, That does aillict our natures. I am sorry,What, have you given him any hard words of late? Oph. No, my good lord; but, as you did comI did repel his letters, and deny'd [mand, His access to me.

Pol. At, closes in the consequence.
Rey. At, closes in the consequence,-Ay, marry;
He closes with you thus:-I know the gentleman;
I saw him yesterday, or t'other day,
Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you 55
There was he gaming; there o'ertook in his rouse;
There falling out at tennis: or, perchance,

I saw him enter such a house of sale,

2 Savageness, for wildness.

Pol. That hath made him mad.

I am sorry, that with better heed, and judgement, I had not quoted him: I fear'd, he did but trifle,

2i. e. such as youth in general is liable to. 3 i. e. crimes already named. It is a common mode of colloquial language to use, or so, as a slight intimation of more of the same, or a like kind, that might be mentioned. i. e. in your own person, not by spies. Down-gyved means hanging down like the loose cincture which confines the fetters round the ancles. To foredo is to destroy. To quote here means to reckon, to take an account of. 3 T

[ocr errors]

And

« PreviousContinue »