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 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;)"

b

Shall in the general censure take corruption
ease. 4to. From that particular fault: The dram of ill *
Doth all the noble substance often dout, *
To his own scandal. (80)

eale. 4to.

⚫ of a doubt. 4to.

HOR.

Enter Ghost.

Look, my lord, it comes!

HAM. Angels and ministers of grace defend

us!

Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd, (81)
Bring with thee airs from heaven, (82) or blasts from

hell,

It chances that for some vicious mole of nature,—

Or by some habit-that these men] To connect the sentence, we must before "that these men" supply "it happens," or something to that effect. The sense of the latter part of the speech is, A little vice will often obliterate all a man's good qualities; and the effect is, that the vice becomes scandalous, i. e. offensive; being taken for his predominating character. In All's Well, &c. plausive has been twice used for admirable. I.2. King. III. 1. Parolles.

↳ nature's livery, or fortune's star] The vesture or garb in which nature clothes us; the humour innate or complexion born with us: or some casualty or fatality, the influence of the star of fortune or chance.

с

d

undergo] Support, possess.

"To undergo such ample grace and honour."
M. for M. I. 1. Escal.

censure take corruption] Estimate become tainted.

Be thy intents wicked, or charitable,

સ

Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, (89)
That I will speak to thee; I'll call thee, Hamlet,
King, father, royal Dane: O, answer me;
Let me not burst in ignorance! (8) but tell,
Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death,*
Have burst their cerements ! 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 cómplete steel,
*Revisits 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.

C

It wafts you to a more removed ground:
But do not go with it.

HOR.

(85)

(86)

Look, with what courteous action

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 ;(87)
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,

* hearsed in death] Deposited with the accustomed funeral rites: conveyed in the vehicle appropriated to this ceremonial. b cerements] Waxen envelope.

e disposition] Frame of mind; or affection of body and mind.

• Revisitst.

1632.

* Somnet,

4tos.

Sonnet.

1623, 32.

That beetles o'er his base into the sea? (8)
And there assume some other horrible form,
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason, (89)
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. (90)
.(90)]

HAM.

Go on, I'll follow thee.

It wafts me still:

MAR. You shall not go, my lord.
НАМ.

Hold off your hands.

My fate cries out,

HOR. Be rul'd, you shall not go.
HAM.

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

(91)

[Ghost beckons, Still am I call'd;-unhand me, gentlemen ;

[Breaking from them.

By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets

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 Denmark.

HOR. Heaven will direct it."

MAR.

Nay, let's follow him.

[Exeunt.

lets] Obstructs.

Have after] Take, or betake yourself, after! follow!

< Heaven will direct it] "The state of Denmark," to health and soundness.

SCENE V.

A more remote Part of the Platform.

Re-enter Ghost and HAMLET.

HAM. Whither wilt thou lead me? Speak, I'll go no further.

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

HAM.

Speak, I am bound to hear.

GHOST. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.

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 fire,(92)
Till the foul crimes, done in my days of nature,
Are burnt and purg'd away. (93) But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,

I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young
blood;

Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their · spheres; (94)

Thy knotted and combined locks to part,

And each particular hair to stand on end,

harrow up thy soul] Agitate and convulse. See I. 1. Horat. bhair to stand on end] A common image of that day.

"Standing as frighted with erected haire."

Drayton's Moses his Birth, B. II. 4to. 1633.

Like quills upon the fretful porcupine:
But this eternal blazon must not be

To ears of flesh and blood: (95)-List, list, O list!If thou didst ever thy dear father love,

HAM. O heaven!

GHOST. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.

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,(96)
May sweep to my revenge.

GHOST.

I find thee apt;

And duller should'st thou be than the fat weed
That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, (97)

Would'st thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:
'Tis given out, that sleeping in mine orchard,
A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death.

Rankly abus'd: but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life,
Now wears his crown.

HAM. O, my prophetick soul! my uncle! GHOST. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,(98)

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

a

orchard] Garden. See Jul. Cæs. II. Orchard the scene. bforged process] Report of proceedings.