с Enter ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN. Friends both, go join you with some farther aid, Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain, And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him: Go, seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this. [Exeunt Ros. and GUIL. Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends; And let them know, both what we mean to do, And what's untimely done: so, haply, slander,Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter, As level as the cannon to his "blank, Transports his poison'd shot,-may miss our name, And hit the woundless air.-O, come away! My soul is full of discord, and dismay. b [Exeunt. SCENE II.-Another Room in the Same. Enter HAMLet. Ham. Safely stowed.-[Ros., &c., within. Hamlet! lord Hamlet!] But soft! what noise ?-Who calls on Hamlet?-O! here they come. Enter ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN. Ros. What have you done, my lord, with the dead body? Ham. Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin. Ros. Tell us where 'tis ; that we may take it thence, And bear it to the chapel. Ham. Do not believe it. Ros. Believe what? Ham. That I can keep your counsel, and not mine own. Besides, to be demanded of a sponge, what replication should be made by the son of a king? Ros. Take you me for a sponge, my lord? Ham. Ay, sir; that soaks up the king's countenance, his rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the king best service in the end: he keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw, first mouthed, to be last swallowed: when he needs what you have gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again. Ros. I understand you not, my lord. Ham. I am glad of it: a knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear. Ros. My lord, you must tell us where the body is, and go with us to the king. Ham. The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body. The king is a thingGuil. A thing, my lord! Ham. Of nothing: bring me to him. Hide fox, [Exeunt. and all after. SCENE III.-Another Room in the Same. Enter King, attended. King. I have sent to seek him, and to find the body. How dangerous is it, that this man goes loose! This sudden sending him away must seem a The blank was the mark aimed at.-b "Woundless," 1. e.. Invulnerable. "Replication," i. e., reply.-d "Hide fox," the juvenile sport of hide and seek. Enter ROSENCRANTZ. Or not at all.-How now! what hath befallen? Enter HAMLET and GUILDENSTERN. King. At supper! Where? Ham. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain convocation of palated worms are e'en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat our selves for maggots. Your fat king, and your lean beggar, is but variable service; two dishes, but to one table: that's the end. King. Alas, alas! Ham. A man may fish with the worm that bath eat of a king; and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. King. What dost thou mean by this? Ham. Nothing, but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar. King. Where is Polonius? Ham. In heaven: send thither to see; if your messenger find him not there, seek bim i'the other place yourself. But, indeed, if you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby. King. Go seek him there. [To some Attendants [Exeunt Attendants. King. Ham. Ay, Hamlet. Good King. So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes. Ham. I see a cherub that sees them.-But, come, England!-Farewell, dear mother. King. Thy loving father, Hamlet. Ham. My mother: father and mother is man and wife, man and wife is one flesh; Come, for England! for aboard: and so, my mother, King. Follow him at foot; tempt him with speed Delay it not, I'll have him hence to-night. Away, for every thing is seal'd and done, That else leans on th' affair: pray you, make haste [Exeunt Ros. and Gen And, England, if my love thou hold'st at aught, (As my great power thereof may give thee sense, Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red After the Danish sword, and thy free awe Pays homage to us) thou may'st not coldly see Our sovereign process, which imports at full, By letters conjuring to that effect, The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England; For like the hectic in my blood he rages, And thou must cure me. Till I know 'tis done, Howe'er my hopes, my joys were ne'er begun. [Ent 1 Cap. The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras. Ham. Goes it against the main of Poland, sir, Or for some frontier? Cap. Truly to speak, and with no addition, How all occasions do inform against me, Be but to sleep, and feed? a beast, no more. [dom, To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be To all that fortune, death, and danger, dare, 1 Enter Queen, HORATIO, and a Gentleman. Queen. I will not speak with her. Gent. She is importunate; indeed, distract: What would she have? The hearers to collection; they aim at it, them, Indeed would make one think, there might be thought, Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds. It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. Re-enter HORATIO, with OPHELIA, 3 distracted. Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark? Queen. How now, Ophelia ? Oph. How should I your true love know [Singing. From another one? By his cockle hat and staff, And his sandal ° shoon. "A plot," i. e.. a plot of ground- Continent means here that which contains.- Enviously," i e., spitefully."To collection," i. e., to collect or draw conclusions from "In his eye," i. e., in his presence-b" Market," i. e., her speech." Aim," ie., guess.-m "Unhappily," i. e., misprofit." Such large discourse," i. e., such great power of chievously.-"Toy," i. e., trifle.-"Shoon," i. e., shoes. comprehension. "To fust," i. e., to grow mouldy.-p" Larded," i. e., garnished.-"God'ild you," i. e., God *" Craven,” i, e., cowardly. Since. reward you. are, but know not what we may be. God be at your | And, as the world were now but to begin, table! So would I ha' done, by yonder sun, An thou hadst not come to my bed. King. How long hath she been thus? Oph. I hope, all will be well. We must be patient; but I cannot choose but weep, to think, they would lay him i' the cold ground. My brother shall know of it, and so I thank you for your good counsel.-Come, my coach! Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies: good night, good night. [Exit. King. Follow her close; give her good watch, I pray you. [Exit HORATIO. O! this is the poison of deep grief; it springs All from her father's death. And now, behold, O Gertrude, Gertrude! pers, When sorrows come, they come not single spies, King. Attend! e Where are my 'Switzers? Let them guard the door. What is the matter? 2 Enter a Gentleman, in haste. Gent. Save yourself, my lord; The ocean, overpeering of his list, Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste, Than young Laertes, in a riotous head, O'erbears your officers! The rabble call him, 3 king; "Don'd," i. e., put on.-b" Dupp'd," i. e., opened."Groenly," i. e., unskilfully.-d" In bugger-mugger." i. e., secretly A murdering piece was a small piece of artillery. Switzers were royal guards. Antiquity forgot, custom not known, I pray you, give me leave. [They retire without the door. Laer. I thank you: keep the door.-O thou vile Give me my father. [king! Quecn. Calmly, good Laertes. Laer. That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard; Cries, cuckold, to my father; brands the harlot Laer. Where is my father? Dead. But not by him King. Let him demand his fill. Laer. How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with. To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil! Conscience, and grace, to the profoundest pit! I dare damnation. To this point I stand, That both the worlds I give to negligence, Let come what comes, only I'll be reveng'd Most throughly for my father. King. Who shall stay you' Laer. My will, not all the world's: And, for my means, I'll husband them so well, They shall go far with little. If Of King. Good Laertes, you desire to know the certainty your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge, That, sweepstake, you will draw both friend and foe, Winner and loser? Laer. None but his enemies. King. Will you know them, then? Laer. To his good friends thus wide I'll ope E And, like the kind life-rendering pelican, [arms; Repast them with my blood. King. Danes. [Within.] Let her come in. Re-enter OPHELIA, still distracted. "Trail," i. e., scent.- Hounds run counter when they trace the scent backwards.-"Unsmirched," i. e, an lied; spotless. Till our scale turns the beam. O rose of May ! Oph. They bore him bare-fac'd on the bier; 1[Sings. Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny : Fare you well, my love! Oph. You must sing, Down a-down, an you call him a-down-a. O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false steward, that stole his master's daughter. Laer. This nothing's more than matter. Oph. There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember: and there is pansies; that's for thoughts. Laer. A document in madness; thoughts and remembrance fitted. SCENE VI.-Another Room in the Same. Enter HORATIO, and a Servant. Hor. What are they, that would speak with me? I do not know from what part of the world 1 Sail. He shall, sir, an't please him. There's a letter for you, sir: it comes from the ambassador that was bound for England, if your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is. Hor. [Reads.] "Horatio, when thou shalt have the king: they have letters for him. Ere we were over-looked this, give these fellows some means to two days old at sea, a pirate of very warlike apslow of sail, we put on a compelled valor; and in pointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves too the grapple I boarded them: on the instant they got clear of our ship, so I alone became their pris oner. They have dealt with me like thieves of mercy; but they knew what they did: I am to do a have sent; and repair thou to me with as much good turn for them. Let the king have the letters haste as thou would'st fly death. I have words to speak in thine ear will make thee dumb; yet are they much too light for the bore of the matter. These good fellows will bring thee where I am. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hold their course for England: of them I have much to tell thee. Farewell; He that thou knowest thine, HAMLET." [Sings. Come, I will give you way for these your letters; And do't the speedier, that you may direct me To him from whom you brought them. [Exeunt. Oph. There's fennel for you, and columbines :there's rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it, herb of grace o' Sundays: you may wear your rue with a difference.-There's a daisy: I would give you some violets; but they withered all when my father died.-They say, he made a good end, For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy,- [Sings. Laer. Thought and affliction; passion, hell itself, She turns to favor, and to prettiness. Oph. And will he not come again? Gone to his death-bed, He never will come again. His beard 3 was white as snow, All flaxen was his poll; He is gone, he is gone, And of all Christian souls! I pray God.-God be Laer. Do you see this, O God? Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give, Το you in satisfaction; but if not, Be you content to lend your patience to us, Laer. Let this be so: Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth, So you shall; And, where th' offence is, let the great axe fall. [Exeunt. "Fine," i. e., refined; subtilized. The wheel is the burden of a ballad. "Pansies" (Fr. pensées), thoughts."Commune with," i. e., partake of SCENE VII.-Another Room in the Same. Enter King and LAERTES. King. Now must your conscience my acquittance And you must put me in your heart for friend, Laer. It well appears. But tell me, King. Is the great love the general & gender bear him; The bore is the caliber of a gun.- Since.- "The general gender," i. e., the common people.- "Gyves," i. e-, fetters. Laer. And so have I a noble father lost, A sister driven into desperate terms; 1 Who was, if praises may go back again, Sole challenger on mount of all the age For her perfections. But my revenge will come. King. Break not your sleeps for that: you must not think, That we are made of stuff so flat and dull, That we can let our beard be shook with danger, And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine,- Mess. Enter a Messenger. Letters, my lord, from Hamlet. This to your majesty: this to the queen. King. From Hamlet! who brought them? Mess. Sailors, my lord, they say; I saw them not: They were given me by Claudio, he receiv'd them Of him that brought them. King. Laertes, you shall hear them. Leave us. [Exit Messenger. [Reads.] "High and mighty, you shall know, I am set naked on your kingdom. To-morrow shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes; when I shall, first asking your pardon thereunto, recount the occasions of my sudden and more strange return. HAMLET." What should this mean? Are all the rest come back? Or is it some abuse, and no such thing? Laer. Know you the hand? King. 'Tis Hamlet's character. "Naked," And, in a postscript here, he says, "alone:" Can you advise me? Laer. I'm lost in it, my lord. But let him come: It warms the very sickness in my heart, That I shall live and tell him to his teeth, "Thus diddest thou." It falls right. Laer. Laer. I have seen myself, and serv'd against the French, And they can well on horseback; but this gallant' Had witchcraft in't; he grew unto his seat; "Of the unworthiest siege," i. e., of the lowest rank. Laer. Upon my life, Lamord. The very same. King. Laer. I know him well: he is the brooch, indeed, And gem of all the nation. King. He made confession of you; And gave you such a masterly report, For art and exercise in your defence, And for your rapier most especially, That he cried out, 'twould be a sight indeed, If one could match you: the scrimers of their nation, He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye, If you oppos'd them. This report of his Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy, That he could nothing do, but wish and beg Your sudden coming o'er, to play with you. Now, out of this, Laer. What out of this, my lord? King. Laertes, was your father dear to you? Or are you like the painting of a sorrow, A face without a heart? Laer. And hath abatements and delays as many, Laer. h Laer. I will do't; And, for that purpose, I'll anoint my sword. I bought an unction of a mountebank, So mortal, that but dip a knife in it, Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare, Collected from all simples that have virtue "In forgery of," i. e., in imagining.— "Brooch,” i e ornament.-"Scrimers" (Fr. escrimeurs), lencers —* * h passages of proof," i. e., in daily experience. Plenaris here means superabundance-s "Remiss," i. e, incautions; not vigilant. “Peruse," i. e., examine-i "Urbated,” i. e. not blunted, as foils usually are "A pass of practice," an insidious thrust. |