To keep my name ungored. But till that time, I do receive your offer'd love like love,

And will not wrong it.

I embrace it freely;

Ham.
And will this brother's wager frankly play.
Give us the foils. Come on.

Laer.

Ham. I'll be your foil,

ignorance

Come, one for me.

Laertes; in mine

Your skill shall, like a star i̇' the darkest night,

Stick fiery off indeed.

Laer.

You mock me, sir.

Ham. No, by this hand.

King. Give them the foils, young Osric.

Cousin Hamlet,

You know the wager?

Ham.

Very well, my lord;

Your grace hath laid the odds o' the weaker

side.

King. I do not fear it: I have seen you both. But since he's better'd, we have therefore odds. Laer. This is too heavy, let me see another. Ham. This likes me well. These foils have all a length?

Osr. Ay, my good lord. [They prepare to play King. Set me the stoups 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 shall drink to Hamlet's better breath;
And in the cup an union shall he throw,

Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark's crown have worn.

cups;

Give me the

And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,

The trumpet to the cannoneer without,

The cannons to the heavens, the heavens to earth,

Now the king drinks to Hamlet.-Come, begin ;And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.

Ham. Come on, sir.

Laer.

Come on, sir.

[They play.

Ham.

One.

Laer.

No.

Ham.

Judgment.

Laer.

Well,-again.

Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit.

King. Stay, give me drink :-Hamlet, this pearl is thine;

Here's to thy health.

[Trumpets sound; and cannon shot off within. Give him the cup.

Ham. I'll play this bout first; set it by awhile.

Come. [They play.] Another hit; what say you? Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess.

King. Our son shall win.

Queen.

He's fat, and scant of breath.

Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy

brows:

The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
Ham. Good, madam.

King.

Gertrude, do not drink. Queen. I will, my lord;-I pray you, pardon

me.

King. [aside.] It is the poison'd cup it is too late.

Ham. I dare not drink yet, madam; by

and-by.

Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face.

Laer. My lord, I'll hit him now.

King.

I do not think it.

Laer. [aside.] And yet it is almost against my

conscience.

Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes: you but dally;

I pray you, pass with your best violence;

I am afeard you make a wanton of me.
Laer. Say you so? come on.

Osr. Nothing, neither way.

Laer. Have at you now.

King.

[They play.

[LAER. wounds HAM.; then, in scuffling, they change rapiers, and HAM. wounds LAER.

Part them, they are incensed.

Ham. Nay, come again.

Osr.

[The QUEEN falls.

Look to the queen there, ho!

Hor. They bleed on both sides !-How is it, my lord?

Osr. How is't, Laertes?

Laer. Why, as a woodcock to mine own
springe, Osric;

I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.
Ham. How does the queen?

King.

She swoons to see them bleed. Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink,- my dear Hamlet!

The drink, the drink ;-I am poison'd! [Dies. Ham. O villany!-Ho! Let the door be

lock'd:

Treachery! seek it out.

[LAERTES falls. Laer. It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art

slain;

No medicine in the world can do thee good,
In thee there is not half an hour of life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated, and envenom'd: the foul practice
Hath turn'd itself on me; lo, here I lie,

Never to rise again! thy mother's poison'd;
I can no more; the king, the king's to blame.
Ham. The point-envenom'd too!-
Then, venom, to thy work.

[Stabs the KING. Osr. and Lords. Treason! treason! King. O, yet defend me, friends, I am but hurt.

Ham. Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane,

Drink off this potion :-is thy union here?

Follow my mother.

Laer.

[KING dies.

He is justly served; It is a poison temper'd by himself.

Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet : Mine and my father's death come not upon thee,

Nor thine on me!

[Dies.

Ham. Heaven make thee free of it! I follow

thee.

I am dead, Horatio.-Wretched queen, adieu !
You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time, (as this fell sergeant, death,
Is strict in his arrest,) O, I could tell you,-
But let it be :-Horatio, I am dead;

Thou liv'st; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.

Never believe it.

Hor.
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane,
Here's yet some liquor left.

As thou'rt a man,

Ham. Give me the cup; let go; by heaven I'll have it. O, good Horatio, what a wounded name, Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind

me!

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,

Absent thee from felicity awhile,

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,

To tell my story.

[March afar off, and shot within.

What warlike noise is this?

Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland,

To the ambassadors of England gives

This warlike volley.

Ham.

O, I die, Horatio; The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit ; I cannot live to hear the news from England; But I do prophesy the election lights On Fortinbras; he has my dying voice; So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less, Which have solicited.-The rest is silence.

[Dies. Hor. Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince;

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! Why does the drum come hither? [March within.

Enter FORTINBRAS, the English Ambassadors,

and others.

Fort. Where is this sight?

Hor.

What is it ye would see?

If aught of woe, or wonder, cease your search. Fort. This quarry cries on havoc.-O proud death!

What feast is toward in thine eternal cell,
That thou so many princes, at a shoot,

So bloodily hast struck?

The sight is dismal;

I Amb. And our affairs from England come too late : The ears are senseless that should give us hearing, To tell him, his commandment is fulfill'd,