HAM. A little more than kin, and less than

kind. (37)

[Aside.

KING. How is it that the clouds still hang on

you?

HAM. Not so, my lord, I am too much i'the

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 lives (39) must

die,

Passing through nature to eternity.

HAM. Ay,* madam, it is common.
QUEEN.

с

Why seems it so particular with thee?

HAм. Seems, madam! nay, it is; I know not

seems.

'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,

Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath,(40)
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;41)
These, but the trappings and the suits of woe.

a

nighted colour] Black, night-like; as presently he says, "inky cloak:" and in Lear, IV. 5, Regan speaks of the "nighted life," of "the dark and blinded Gloster."

bvailed lids] Cast down. See M. of V. Salar. I. 1. & L. L. L. V. 2. Boyet.

C

Ay, madam, it is common] Similar examples of frailty, connected with such an event, are the things or occurrences, that, he would have it inferred, were common.

d

trappings] Trappings are furnishings,' as in Lear III. 1.

Kent.

KING. 'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet,

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

a

To do obsequious sorrow: But to perséver
In obstinate condolement, is a course

e

Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief:
It shews a will most incorrect to heaven;'
A heart unfortified, 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? Fye! '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,

That father lost, lost his] "That lost father (of your father, i. e. your grandfather) or father so lost, lost his."

b do obsequious sorrow] Follow with becoming and ceremonious observance the memory of the deceased. See III. H. VI. Father. II. 5. & M. W. of W. IV. 2. Falst. We have

"Shed obsequious tears upon his trunk."

Tit. Andr. V. 3. Luc. cobstinate condolement] Ceaseless and unremitted expression of grief.

d incorrect to heaven] Contumacious towards.

as common

As any the most vulgar thing to sense] To sense is as "addressed to" sense: in every hour's occurrence offering itself to our observation and feelings.

“Most sure and vulgar." Lear, IV. 6. Gent.
unprevailing] Fruitless, unprofitable.

Than that which dearest father bears his son,
Do I impart toward you. (42)
(42) For
For your intent
In going back to school in Wittenberg,
It is most retrograde to our desire:
And, we beseech you, bend youa 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, madam.
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,(43)
But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell;
And the king's rouse the heaven shall bruit
again,(44)

Re-speaking earthly thunder. Come away.

[Exeunt King, Queen, Lords, &c. POLONIUS, and LAERTES.

HAM. O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself (45) into a dew!

Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd

His canon (46) 'gainst self-slaughter! O God! O
God!

How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world!

Fye on't! O fye! 'tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank, and gross in

nature,

Possess it merely. That it should come to this! But two months dead!-nay, not so much, not two:

bend you] Dispose, incline.

Sits smiling to my heart] To is at: gladdens. e in grace whereof] Respectful regard or honour. merely] Wholly. See Tempest, I. 1. Anton.

So excellent a king; that was, to this,
Hyperion to a satyr: (47) so loving to my mother,
That he might not beteem (48) 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.(49) And yet, within a month,-
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,

My father's brother; but no more like
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, BARNARDO, and MARCELLUS.

·HOR. Hail to your lordship!

НАМ.

I am glad to see you well: Horatio,—or I do forget myself.

HOR. The same, my lord, and your poor servant

ever.

HAM. Sir, my good friend; I'll change that name with you.b

a Discourse of reason] Faculty of discussing and reasoning. See Tr. & Cr. II. 2, Hect. & infra IV. 4. Haml.

I'll change that name with you]

myself upon an exact level with.

Reciprocally use: I'll put

And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio?Marcellus?

MAR. My good lord,——

HAM. I am very glad to see you; good even, (50)

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, fellow-
student;

I think, it was to see my mother's wedding.

HOR. Indeed, my lord, it followed hard upon. HAM. Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral bak'd

meats

(51)

Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.
Would I had met my dearest foe (52) in heaven
Ere I had ever seen that day, Horatio!—
My father, Methinks, I see my father.

HOR. My lord?

HAM.

-

In

In my

mind's eye, (53) Horatio.

Where,

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 him yesternight.

in faith] Faithfully and honestly, in pure and simple verity. b But what make you] Is your object? Are you doing. See M. W. of W. IV. 2. Mrs. Page.

goodly king] See "goodliest," H. VIII. IV. 2. 3 Gent.