Hamlet (1917) Yale/Text/Act II
ACT SECOND
Scene One
[Polonius' Apartment in the Castle]
Enter Polonius and Reynaldo.
Pol. Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo.
Rey. I will, my lord.
Pol. You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo,
Before you visit him, to make inquiry 4
Of his behaviour.
Rey. My lord, I did intend it.
Pol. Marry, well said, very well said. Look you, sir,
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris;
And how, and who, what means, and where they keep, 8
What company, at what expense; and finding
By this encompassment and drift of question
That they do know my son, come you more nearer
Than your particular demands will touch it: 12
Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him;
As thus, 'I know his father, and his friends,
And, in part, him;' do you mark this, Reynaldo?
Rey. Ay, very well, my lord. 16
Pol. 'And, in part, him; but,' you may say, 'not well:
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; 21
But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips
As are companions noted and most known
To youth and liberty.
Rey. As gaming, my lord? 24
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. 28
You must not put another scandal on him,
That he is open to incontinency;
That's not my meaning; but breathe his faults so quaintly
That they may seem the taints of liberty, 32
The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind,
A savageness in unreclaimed blood,
Of general assault.
Rey. But, my good lord,—
Pol. Wherefore should you do this?
Rey. Ay, my lord, 36
I would know that.
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, 40
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, 44
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. 48
Pol. And then, sir, does he this,—he does,—
what was I about to say? By the mass I was
about to say something: where did I leave?
Rey. At 'closes in the consequence.' 52
At 'friend or so,' and 'gentleman.'
Pol. At 'closes in the consequence,' ay, marry;
He closes with you thus: 'I know the gentleman;
I saw him yesterday, or t' other day, 56
Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say,
There was a' gaming; there o'ertook in 's rouse;
There failing out at tennis;' or perchance,
'I saw him enter such a house of sale,' 60
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, 64
With windlasses, 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. 69
Rey. Good my lord!
Pol. Observe his inclination in yourself.
Rey. I shall, my lord. 72
Pol. And let him ply his music.
Rey. Well, my lord.
Pol. Farewell! Exit Reynaldo.
Enter Ophelia.
How now, Ophelia! what's the matter?
Oph. Alas! my lord, I have been so affrighted.
Pol. With what, in the name of God? 76
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 ankle; 80
Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other;
And with a look so piteous in purport
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors, he comes before me. 84
Pol. Mad for thy love?
Oph. My lord, I do not know;
But truly I do fear it.
Pol. What said he?
Oph. He took me by the wrist and held me hard,
Then goes he to the length of all his arm, 88
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face
As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so;
At last, a little shaking of mine arm, 92
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound
That it did seem to shatter all his bulk
And end his being. That done, he lets me go, 96
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 help,
And to the last bended their light on me. 100
Pol. Come, go with me; I will go seek the king.
This is the very ecstasy of love,
Whose violent property fordoes itself
And leads the will to desperate undertakings
As oft as any passion under heaven 105
That does afflict our natures. I am sorry.
What! have you given him any hard words of late?
Oph. No, my good lord; but, as you did command, 108
I did repel his letters and denied
His access to me.
Pol. That hath made him mad.
I am sorry that with better heed and judgment
I had not quoted him; I fear'd he did but trifle,
And meant to wrack thee; but, beshrew my jealousy! 113
By heaven, it is as proper to our age
To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions
As it is common for the younger sort 116
To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king:
This must be known; which, being kept close, might move
More grief to hide than hate to utter love.
Come. Exeunt.
Scene Two
[A Room in the Castle]
Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, with others.
King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz and Guildenstern!
Moreover that we much did long to see you,
The need we have to use you did provoke
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard
Of Hamlet's transformation; so I call it, 5
Since nor the exterior nor the inward man
Resembles that it was. What it should be
More than his father's death, that thus hath put him 8
So much from the understanding of himself,
I cannot dream of: I entreat you both,
That, being of so young days brought up with him,
And since so neighbour'd to his youth and humour, 12
That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court
Some little time; so by your companies
To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather,
So much as from occasion you may glean, 16
[Whether aught to us unknown afflicts him thus,]
That, open'd, lies within our remedy.
Queen. Good gentlemen, he hath much talk'd of you;
And sure I am two men there are not living 20
To whom he more adheres. If it will please you
To show us so much gentry and good will
As to expend your time with us awhile,
For the supply and profit of our hope, 24
Your visitation shall receive such thanks
As fits a king's remembrance.
Ros. Both your majesties
Mighty by the sovereign power you have of us,
Put your dread pleasures more into command
Than to entreaty.
Guil. But we both obey, 29
And here give up ourselves, in the full bent,
To lay our service freely at your feet,
To be commanded. 32
King. Thanks, Rosencrantz and gentle Guildenstern.
Queen. Thanks, Guildenstern and gentle Rosencrantz;
And I beseech you instantly to visit
My too much changed son. Go, some of you, 36
And bring these gentlemen where Hamlet is.
Guil. Heavens make our presence, and our practices
Pleasant and helpful to him!
Queen. Ay, amen!
Exeunt Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, [and some Attendants.]
Enter Polonius.
Pol. The ambassadors from Norway, my good lord, 40
Are joyfully return'd.
King. Thou still hast been the father of good news.
Pol. Have I, my lord? Assure you, my good liege,
I hold my duty, as I hold my soul, 44
Both to my God, one to my gracious king;
And I do think—or else this brain of mine
Hunts not the trail of policy so sure
As it hath us'd to do—that I have found 48
The very cause of Hamlet's lunacy.
King. O! speak of that; that do I long to hear.
Pol. Give first admittance to the ambassadors;
My news shall be the fruit to that great feast. 52
King. Thyself do grace to them, and bring them in.
[Exit Polonius.]
He tells me, my sweet queen, that he hath found
The head and source of all your son's distemper.
Queen. I doubt it is no other but the main;
His father's death, and our o'erhasty marriage.
King. Well, we shall sift him.
Enter Polonius, Voltimand, and Cornelius.
Welcome, my good friends!
Say, Voltimand, what from our brother Norway?
Volt. Most fair return of greetings, and desires. 60
Upon our first, he sent out to suppress
His nephew's levies, which to him appear'd
To be a preparation 'gainst the Polack;
But, better look'd into, he truly found 64
It was against your highness: whereat griev'd,
That so his sickness, age, and impotence
Was falsely borne in hand, sends out arrests
On Fortinbras; which he, in brief, obeys, 68
Receives rebuke from Norway, and, in fine,
Makes vow before his uncle never more
To give the assay of arms against your majesty.
Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy, 72
Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee,
And his commission to employ those soldiers,
So levied as before, against the Polack;
With an entreaty, herein further shown, 76
[Giving a paper.]
That it might please you to give quiet pass
Through your dominions for this enterprise,
On such regards of safety and allowance
As therein are set down.
King. It likes us well; 80
And at our more consider'd time we'll read,
Answer, and think upon this business:
Meantime we thank you for your well-took labour.
Go to your rest; at night we'll feast together:
Most welcome home.
Exeunt Ambassadors.
Pol. This business is well ended. 85
My liege, and madam, to expostulate
What majesty should be, what duty is,
Why day is day, night night, and time is time,
Were nothing but to waste night, day, and time.
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief. Your noble son is mad: 92
Mad call I it; for, to define true madness,
What is 't but to be nothing else but mad?
But let that go.
Queen. More matter, with less art.
Pol. Madam, I swear I use no art at all. 96
That he is mad, 'tis true; 'tis true 'tis pity;
And pity 'tis 'tis true: a foolish figure;
But farewell it, for I will use no art.
Mad let us grant him, then; and now remains
That we find out the cause of this effect, 101
Or rather say, the cause of this defect,
For this effect defective comes by cause;
Thus it remains, and the remainder thus.
Perpend. 105
I have a daughter, have while she is mine;
Who, in her duty and obedience, mark,
Hath given me this: now, gather, and surmise.
The Letter.
"To the celestial, and my soul's idol, the most beautified Ophelia.—" 109
That's an ill phrase, a vile phrase; 'beautified'
is a vile phrase; but you shall hear. Thus:
"In her excellent white bosom, these, &c.—" 112
Queen. Came this from Hamlet to her?
Pol. Good madam, stay awhile; I will be faithful.
"Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move; 116
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.
O dear Ophelia! I am ill at these numbers:
I have not art to reckon my groans; but that I
love thee best, O most best! believe it. Adieu.
Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst
this machine is to him,
Hamlet."
This in obedience hath my daughter shown me;
And more above, hath his solicitings,
As they fell out by time, by means, and place,
All given to mine ear.
King. But how hath she 128
Received his love?
Pol. What do you think of me?
King. As of a man faithful and honourable.
Pol. I would fain prove so. But what might you think, 131
When I had seen this hot love on the wing,—
As I perceiv'd it, I must tell you that,
Before my daughter told me,—what might you,
Or my dear majesty, your queen here, think,
If I had play'd the desk or table-book, 136
Or given my heart a winking, mute and dumb,
Or look'd upon this love with idle sight;
What might you think? No, I went round to work,
And my young mistress thus I did bespeak: 140
'Lord Hamlet is a prince, out of thy star;
This must not be:' and then I precepts gave her,
That she should lock herself from his resort,
Admit no messengers, receive no tokens. 144
Which done, she took the fruits of my advice;
And he, repulsed,—a short tale to make,—
Fell into a sadness, then into a fast,
Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness, 148
Thence to a lightness; and by this declension
Into the madness wherein now he raves,
And all we wail for.
King. Do you think 'tis this?
Queen. It may be, very likely. 152
Pol. Hath there been such a time,—I'd fain know that,—
That I have positively said, ' 'Tis so,'
When it prov'd otherwise?
King. Not that I know.
Pol. Take this from this, if this be otherwise:
[Pointing to his head and shoulder.]
If circumstances lead me, I will find
Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed
Within the centre.
King. How may we try it further?
Pol. You know sometimes he walks four hours together 160
Here in the lobby.
Queen. So he does indeed.
Pol. At such a time I'll loose my daughter to him;
Be you and I behind an arras then;
Mark the encounter; if he love her not, 164
And be not from his reason fallen thereon,
Let me be no assistant for a state,
But keep a farm, and carters.
King. We will try it.
Enter Hamlet reading on a book.
Queen. But look, where sadly the poor wretch comes reading. 168
Pol. Away! I do beseech you, both away.
I'll board him presently.
Exeunt King, Queen, [and Attendants.]
O! give me leave.
How does my good Lord Hamlet?
Ham. Well, God a-mercy. 172
Pol. Do you know me, my lord?
Ham. Excellent well; you are a fishmonger.
Pol. Not I, my lord.
Ham. Then I would you were so honest a
man. 177
Pol. Honesty my lord!
Ham. Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world
goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thou-
sand. 181
Pol. That's very true, my lord.
Ham. For if the sun breed maggots in a dead
dog, being a good kissing carrion,—Have you a
daughter? 185
Pol. I have, my lord.
Ham. Let her not walk i' the sun: conception
is a blessing; but not as your daughter may con-
ceive. Friend, look to 't. 189
Pol. [Aside.] How say you by that? Still
harping on my daughter: yet he knew me not
at first; he said I was a fishmonger: he is far
gone, far gone: and truly in my youth I suffered
much extremity for love; very near this. I'll
speak to him again. What do you read, my lord?
Ham. Words, words, words. 196
Pol. What is the matter, my lord?
Ham. Between who?
Pol. I mean the matter that you read, my
lord. 200
Ham. Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue
says here that old men have grey beards, that
their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick
amber and plum-tree gum, and that they have a
plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak
hams: all which, sir, though I most powerfully
and potently believe, yet I hold it not honesty to
have it thus set down; for you yourself, sir,
should be old as I am, if, like a crab, you could
go backward. 210
Pol. [Aside.] Though this be madness, yet
there is method in 't. Will you walk out of the
air, my lord?
Ham. Into my grave? 214
Pol. Indeed, that is out o' the air. [Aside.]
How pregnant sometimes his replies are! a
happiness that often madness hits on, which
reason and sanity could not so prosperously be
delivered of. I will leave him, and suddenly
contrive the means of meeting between him and
my daughter. My honourable lord, I will most
humbly take my leave of you. 222
Ham. You cannot, sir, take from me any
thing that I will more willingly part withal;
except my life, except my life, except my life.
Pol. Fare you well, my lord. [Going.]
Ham. These tedious old fools!
Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Pol. You go to seek the Lord Hamlet; there he is. 228
Ros. [To Polonius.] God save you, sir!
[Exit Polonius.]
Guil. Mine honoured lord!
Ros. My most dear lord!
Ham. My excellent good friends! How dost thou, Guildenstern? Ah, Rosencrantz! Good lads, how do ye both? 234
Ros. As the indifferent children of the earth.
Guil. Happy in that we are not over happy;
on Fortune's cap we are not the very button.
Ham. Nor the soles of her shoe? 238
Ros. Neither, my lord.
Ham. Then you live about her waist, or in
the middle of her favours? 241
Guil. Faith, her privates we.
Ham. In the secret parts of Fortune? O!
most true; she is a strumpet. What news? 244
Ros. None, my lord, but that the world's
grown honest.
Ham. Then is doomsday near; but your news
is not true. Let me question more in particular:
what have you, my good friends, deserved at the
hands of Fortune, that she sends you to prison
hither?
Guil. Prison, my lord! 252
Ham. Denmark's a prison.
Ros. Then is the world one.
Ham. A goodly one; in which there are
many confines, wards, and dungeons, Denmark
being one o' the worst. 257
Ros. We think not so, my lord.
Ham. Why, then, 'tis none to you; for there is
nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes
it so: to me it is a prison. 261
Ros. Why, then your ambition makes it one;
'tis too narrow for your mind.
Ham. O God! I could be bounded in a nut-
shell, and count myself a king of infinite space,
were it not that I have bad dreams.
Guil. Which dreams, indeed, are ambition,
for the very substance of the ambitious is merely
the shadow of a dream. 269
Ham. A dream itself is but a shadow.
Ros. Truly, and I hold ambition of so airy
and light a quality that it is but a shadow's
shadow. 273
Ham. Then are our beggars bodies, and our
monarchs and outstretched heroes the beggars'
shadows. Shall we to the court? for, by my fay,
I cannot reason. 277
| Ros. | We'll wait upon you. | |
| Guil. |
Ham. No such matter; I will not sort you
with the rest of my servants, for, to speak to you
like an honest man, I am most dreadfully at-
tended. But, in the beaten way of friendship,
what make you at Elsinore?
Ros. To visit you, my lord; no other occa-
sion. 285
Ham. Beggar that I am, I am even poor in
thanks; but I thank you: and sure, dear friends,
my thanks are too dear a halfpenny. Were you
not sent for? Is it your own inclining? Is it
a free visitation? Come, come, deal justly with
me: come, come; nay, speak.
Guil. What should we say, my lord? 292
Ham. Why anything, but to the purpose.
You were sent for; and there is a kind of con-
fession in your looks which your modesties have
not craft enough to colour: I know the good
king and queen have sent for you. 297
Ros. To what end, my lord?
Ham. That you must teach me. But let me
conjure you, by the rights of our fellowship,
by the consonancy of our youth, by the obli-
gation of our ever-preserved love, and by what
more dear a better proposer could charge you
withal, be even and direct with me, whether
you were sent for or no! 305
Ros. [Aside to Guildenstern.] What say
you?
Ham. Nay, then, I have an eye of you. If
you love me, hold not off. 309
Guil. My lord, we were sent for.
Ham. I will tell you why; so shall my antici-
pation prevent your discovery, and your secrecy
to the king and queen moult no feather. I have
of late,—but wherefore I know not,—lost all my
mirth, forgone all custom of exercises; and
indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition
that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a
sterile promontory; this most excellent canopy,
the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firma-
ment, this majestical roof fretted with golden
fire, why, it appears no other thing to me but
a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in
reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and
moving, how express and admirable! in action
how like an angel! in apprehension how like a
god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of
animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintes-
sence of dust? man delights not me; no, nor
woman neither, though, by your smiling, you
seem to say so. 331
Ros. My lord, there was no such stuff in my
thoughts.
Ham. Why did you laugh then, when I said
'man delights not me?' 335
Ros. To think, my lord, if you delight not
in man, what lenten entertainment the players
shall receive from you: we coted them on the
way; and hither are they coming, to offer you
service. 340
Ham. He that plays the king shall be wel-
come; his majesty shall have tribute of me; the
adventurous knight shall use his foil and target;
the lover shall not sigh gratis; the humorous
man shall end his part in peace; the clown shall
make those laugh whose lungs are tickle o' the
sere; and the lady shall say her mind freely,
or the blank verse shall halt for 't. What players
are they? 349
Ros. Even those you were wont to take delight
in, the tragedians of the city.
Ham. How chances it they travel? their
residence, both in reputation and profit, was
better both ways. 354
Ros. I think their inhibition comes by the
means of the late innovation.
Ham. Do they hold the same estimation they
did when I was in the city? Are they so followed?
Ros. No, indeed they are not. 359
Ham. How comes it? Do they grow rusty?
Ros. Nay, their endeavour keeps in the wonted
pace: but there is, sir, an aery of children, little
eyases, that cry out on the top of question, and
are most tyrannically clapped for 't: these are
now the fashion, and so berattle the common
stages,—so they call them,—that many wearing
rapiers are afraid of goose-quills, and dare scarce
come thither. 368
Ham. What! are they children? who main-
tains 'em? how are they escoted? Will they
pursue the quality no longer than they can
sing? will they not say afterwards, if they should
grow themselves to common players,—as it is
most like, if their means are no better,—their
writers do them wrong, to make them exclaim
against their own succession? 376
Ros. Faith, there has been much to-do on
both sides: and the nation holds it no sin to
tarre them to controversy: there was, for a while,
no money bid for argument, unless the poet and
the player went to cuffs in the question. 381
Ham. Is it possible?
Guil. O! there has been much throwing about
of brains. 384
Ham. Do the boys carry it away?
Ros. Ay, that they do, my lord; Hercules and
his load too. 387
Ham. It is not strange; for my uncle is
King of Denmark, and those that would make
mows at him while my father lived, give twenty,
forty, fifty, a hundred ducats a-piece for his
picture in little. 'Sblood, there is something in
this more than natural, if philosophy could find
it out. Flourish for the Players.
Guil. There are the players. 395
Ham. Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsi-
nore. Your hands, come then; the appurtenance
of welcome is fashion and ceremony: let me
comply with you in this garb, lest my extent to
the players—which, I tell you, must show fairly
outward—should more appear like entertain-
ment than yours. You are welcome; but my
uncle-father and aunt-mother are deceived.
Guil. In what, my dear lord? 404
Ham. I am but mad north-north-west: when
the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a
handsaw.
Enter Polonius.
Pol. Well be with you, gentlemen! 408
Ham. Hark you, Guildenstern; and you too;
at each ear a hearer: that great baby you see
there is not yet out of his swaddling-clouts. 411
Ros. Happily he's the second time come to
them; for they say an old man is twice a child.
Ham. I will prophesy he comes to tell me
of the players; mark it. You say right, sir; o'
Monday morning; 'twas so indeed. 416
Pol. My lord, I have news to tell you.
Ham. My lord, I have news to tell you. When
Roscius was an actor in Rome,—
Pol. The actors are come hither, my lord.
Ham. Buzz, buzz! 421
Pol. Upon my honour,—
Ham. Then came each actor on his ass,—
Pol. The best actors in the world, either for
tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-
comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical,
tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene indi-
vidable, or poem unlimited: Seneca cannot be
too heavy, nor Plautus too light. For the law
of writ and the liberty, these are the only men.
Ham. O Jephthah, judge of Israel, what a
treasure hadst thou! 432
Pol. What a treasure had he, my lord?
Ham. Why
"One fair daughter and no more,
The which he loved passing well." 436
Pol. [Aside.] Still on my daughter.
Ham. Am I not i' the right, old Jephthah?
Pol. If you call me Jephthah, my lord, I have
a daughter that I love passing well. 440
Ham. Nay, that follows not.
Pol. What follows, then, my lord?
Ham. Why,
"As by lot, God wot." 444
And then, you know,
"It came to pass, as most like it was.—"
The first row of the pious chanson will show you
more; for look where my abridgments come.
Enter four or five Players.
You are welcome, masters; welcome, all. I am
glad to see thee well: welcome, good friends.
O, my old friend! Thy face is valanced since I
saw thee last: comest thou to beard me in
Denmark? What! my young lady and mistress!
By 'r lady, your ladyship is nearer heaven than
when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine.
Pray God, your voice, like a piece of uncurrent
gold, be not cracked within the ring. Masters,
you are welcome. We'll e'en to 't like French
falconers, fly at anything we see: we'll have a
speech straight. Come, give us a taste of your
quality; come, a passionate speech. 461
First Play. What speech, my lord?
Ham. I heard thee speak me a speech once,
I but it was never acted; or, if it was, not above
once; for the play, I remember, pleased not the
million; 'twas caviare to the general: but it was—
as I received it, and others, whose judgments in
such matters cried in the top of mine—an ex-
cellent play, well digested in the scenes, set down
with as much modesty as cunning. I remember
one said there were no sallets in the lines to
make the matter savoury, nor no matter in the
phrase that might indict the author of affecta-
tion; but called it an honest method, [as whole-
some as sweet, and by very much more handsome
than fine.] One speech in it I chiefly loved; 'twas
Æneas' tale to Dido; and thereabout of it espe-
cially, where he speaks of Priam's slaughter.
If it live in your memory, begin at this line:
let me see, let me see:— 480
"The rugged Pyrrhus, like the Hyrcanian beast,—"
'Tis not so, it begins with Pyrrhus:—
"The rugged Pyrrhus, he, whose sable arms,
Black as his purpose, did the night resemble
When he lay couched in the ominous horse, 485
Hath now this dread and black complexion smear'd
With heraldry more dismal; head to foot
Now is he total gules; horridly trick'd 488
With blood of fathers, mothers, daughters, sons,
Bak'd and impasted with the parching streets,
That lend a tyrannous and damned light
To their vile murders: roasted in wrath and fire, 492
And thus o'er-sized with coagulate gore,
With eyes like carbuncles, the hellish Pyrrhus
Old grandsire Priam seeks."
[So proceed you.] 496
Pol. 'Fore God, my lord, well spoken; with
good accent and good discretion.
First Play. "Anon, he finds him
Striking too short at Greeks; his antique sword,
Rebellious to his arm, lies where it falls, 500
Repugnant to command. Unequal match'd,
Pyrrhus at Priam drives; in rage strikes wide;
But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword
The unnerved father falls. Then senseless Ilium, 504
Seeming to feel this blow, with flaming top
Stoops to his base, and with a hideous crash
Takes prisoner Pyrrhus' ear: for lo! his sword,
Which was declining on the milky head 508
Of reverend Priam, seem'd i' the air to stick:
So, as a painted tyrant, Pyrrhus stood,
And like a neutral to his will and matter,
Did nothing. 512
But, as we often see, against some storm,
A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still,
The bold winds speechless and the orb below
As hush as death, anon the dreadful thunder 516
Doth rend the region; so, after Pyrrhus' pause,
Aroused vengeance sets him new a-work;
And never did the Cyclops' hammers fall
On Mars's armour, forg'd for proof eterne, 520
With less remorse than Pyrrhus' bleeding sword
Now falls on Priam.
Out, out, thou strumpet, Fortune! All you gods,
In general synod, take away her power; 524
Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel,
And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven,
As low as to the fiends!"
Pol. This is too long. 528
Ham. It shall to the barber's, with your
beard. Prithee, say on: he's for a jig or a
tale of bawdry, or he sleeps. Say on; come to
Hecuba. 532
First Play. "But who, O! who had seen the mobled queen—"
Ham. 'The mobled queen?'—
Pol. That's good; 'mobled queen' is good.
First Play. "Run barefoot up and down, threat'ning the flames 536
With bisson rheum; a clout upon that head
Where late the diadem stood; and, for a robe,
About her lank and all o'er-teemed loins,
A blanket, in the alarm of fear caught up; 540
Who this had seen, with tongue in venom steep'd,
'Gainst Fortune's state would treason have pronounc'd:
But if the gods themselves did see her then,
When she saw Pyrrhus make malicious sport
In mincing with his sword her husband's limbs, 545
The instant burst of clamour that she made—
Unless things mortal move them not at all—
Would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven, 548
And passion in the gods."
Pol. Look! wh'er he has not turned his colour
and has tears in 's eyes. Prithee, no more. 551
Ham. 'Tis well; I'll have thee speak out the
rest soon. Good my lord, will you see the players
well bestowed? Do you hear, let them be well
used; for they are the abstracts and brief chroni-
cles of the time: after your death you were bet-
ter have a bad epitaph than their ill report while
you live.
Pol. My lord, I will use them according to
their desert. 560
Ham. God's bodikins, man, much better; use
every man after his desert, and who should 'scape
whipping? Use them after your own honour and
dignity: the less they deserve, the more merit is
in your bounty. Take them in. 565
Pol. Come, sirs.
Ham. Follow him, friends: we'll hear a play
to-morrow. Exit Polonius, [with all the Players
but the First.] Dost thou hear me, old friend;
can you play the Murder of Gonzago? 570
First Play. Ay, my lord.
Ham. We'll ha 't to-morrow night. You could,
for a need, study a speech of some dozen or six-
teen lines, which I would set down and insert
in 't, could you not?
First Play. Ay, my lord. 576
Ham. Very well. Follow that lord; and look
you mock him not. [Exit First Player. To Ro-
sencrantz and Guildenstern.] My good friends,
I'll leave you till night; you are welcome
to Elsinore. 581
Ros. Good my lord!
Exeunt [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.]
Ham. Ay, so, God be wi' ye! Now I am alone.
O! what a rogue and peasant slave am I: 584
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit 587
That from her working all his visage wann'd,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in 's aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing!
For Hecuba! 592
What's Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba
That he should weep for her? What would he do
Had he the motive and the cue for passion
That I have? He would drown the stage with tears, 596
And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,
Make mad the guilty and appal the free,
Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed
The very faculties of eyes and ears. 600
Yet I,
A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak,
Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause,
And can say nothing; no, not for a king, 604
Upon whose property and most dear life
A damn'd defeat was made. Am I a coward?
Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across?
Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face? 608
Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i' the throat,
As deep as to the lungs? Who does me this?
Ha!
Swounds, I should take it, for it cannot be 612
But I am pigeon-liver'd, and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave's offal. Bloody, bawdy villain!
Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! 617
O! vengeance!
Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave
That I, the son of a dear [father] murder'd, 620
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion! 624
Fie upon 't! foh! About, my brain! I have heard,
That guilty creatures sitting at a play
Have by the very cunning of the scene
Been struck so to the soul that presently 628
They have proclaim'd their malefactions;
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ. I'll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father 632
Before mine uncle; I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick: if he but blench
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen
May be the devil: and the devil hath power 636
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy—
As he is very potent with such spirits—
Abuses me to damn me. I'll have grounds 640
More relative than this: the play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king. Exit.
Footnotes to Act II
Scene One
7 Danskers: Danes
8 keep: live
10 encompassment: 'talking round' a subject
12 demands: questions
13 Take: assume
19 put on: impute to
20 forgeries: invented tales
rank: excessive
22 wanton: unrestrained
26 Drabbing: associating with immoral women
30 incontinency: habitual loose behavior
31 quaintly: ingeniously
32 taints of liberty: blemishes due to freedom
34 unreclaimed: untamed
35 Of general assault: to which all are liable; cf. n.
38 fetch of warrant: justifiable trick
39 sulllies: blemishes
43 prenominate: aforesaid
45 closes: agrees
consequence: conclusion
51 leave: leave off
58 a': he
o'ertook in 's rouse: drunk
60 house of sale: house of ill fame
61 Videlicet: namely
64 reach: ability
65 windlasses: roundabout ways
assays of bias: indirect attempts
66 indirections: devious courses
directions: straight courses—i.e., the truth
67 lecture: instruction
71 inclination in yourself: character for yourself
73 ply his music: go his own gait
77 closet: apartment
78 doublet: close-fitting coat
unbrac'd: unfastened
80 down-gyved: hanging down like gyves or fetters
90 perusal: scrutiny
95 bulk: breast
102 ecstasy: madness
103 property: nature
fordoes: destroys
112 quoted: observed
113 wrack: ruin
beshrew: curse
jealousy: suspicion, mistrust
115 cast beyond: be over subtle
119 More . . . love; cf. n.
Scene Two
11 of so young days: from such early youth
12 neighbour'd . . . humour: near in age and temperament
13 vouchsafe your rest: please to reside
18 open'd: revealed
22 gentry: courtesy
24 supply and profit: aid and successful outcome
30 in the full bent: to the utmost degree of mental capacity
47 policy: conduct of public affairs
52 fruit: dessert
56 main: the chief point
67 borne in hand: deluded
69 in fine: in conclusion
71 assay: trial
73 fee: payment
79 regards . . . allowance; cf. n.
81 consider'd: fit for considering
86 expostulate: set forth one's views
90 wit: judgment, understanding
91 flourishes: embellishments
98 figure: figure of speech
105 Perpend: consider
109 beautified: beautiful, or, accomplished
112 these: i.e., these lines
119 ill at: unskilled at making
numbers: verses
120 reckon: number metrically, scan
123 machine: bodily frame; cf. n.
126 more above: moreover
127 fell out: occurred
means: opportunities of access
137 winking: with eyes shut, i.e., allowed my heart to connive
139 round: straightforwardly
140 bespeak: address
141 out of thy star: above the position allotted thee by fortune
148 watch: state of sleeplessness
149 lightness: lightheadedness
declension: decline
159 centre: middle point of the earth
163 arras: hanging tapestry
164 encounter: manner of behavior
170 board: accost
presently: immediately
174 fishmonger; cf. n.
184 good kissing; cf. n.
187 conception; cf. n.
197 matter: substance
198 Between who?; cf. n.
203 purging: discharging
204 amber . . . gum; cf. n.
207 honesty: decency
216 pregnant: full of meaning
217 happiness: appropriateness
218 prosperously: successfully
224 withal: with
235 indifferent: ordinary, average
237 on . . . button; cf. n.
244 strumpet; cf. n.
272 quality: nature
274 beggars bodies; cf. n.
275 outstretched: strutting
276 fay: faith
277 reason: argue
278 wait upon: accompany
279 sort: class
282 beaten way: ordinary course
288 too dear a halfpenny; cf. n.
290 free: voluntary
296 colour: disguise
300 conjure: adjure
301 consonancy of youth: being of the same age
303 better proposer: more skillful exhorter
304 even: straightforward
308 have an eye of you: have an eye upon you
312 prevent: precede
discovery: disclosure
319 brave: splendid
320 fretted: adorned
324 faculty: capacity
325 express: well-modelled
326 apprehension: understanding
328 quintessence; cf. n.
332 stuff: matter
337 lenten: meagre
338 coted: passed
343 foil and target: sword and shield
344 humorous man: actor of whimsical characters
345 clown: low comedian
346 tickle o' the sere: yield easily to any impulse; cf. n.
348 halt: limp
353 residence: remaining in one place
355 inhibition: formal prohibition
356 innovation; cf. n.
357 estimation: reputation
362 aery: nest; cf. n.
363 eyases: young hawks
cry . . . question: recite at the highest pitch of the voice; cf. n.
364 tyrannically: outrageously
365 berattle: fill with din
common stages: public theatres
367 afraid of goose-quills: afraid of being satirized
370 escoted: maintained
371 quality: profession
373 common players: professional players
376 succession: future, or, inheritance
379 tarre: incite
380 argument: subject-matter, plot
381 cuffs: blows
385 carry it away: carry the day
386 Hercules and his load; cf. n.
390 mows: grimaces
391 ducats: gold or silver coins
392 in little: in miniature
'Sblood: God's blood
394 Flourish: a trumpet call
397 appurtenance: proper accompaniment
399 comply: observe the formalities of courtesy
garb: manner
extent: showing of kindness
407 handsaw: saw managed with one hand; cf. n.
411 swaddling-clouts: bandages in which newborn children were wrapped
419 Roscius; cf. n.
421 Buzz, buzz: an exclamation of contempt
427 scene individable; cf. n.
428 poem unlimited; cf. n.
Seneca; cf. n.
429 Plautus; cf. n.
law of writ and the liberty; cf. n.
431 Jephthah: title of an old ballad; cf. n.
436 passing: surpassing
446 'as most like it was': as was most probable
447 row: stanza, verse, column of print (?)
chanson: song
448 abridgments: means of whiling away the time
451 valanced: 'curtained,' with a beard
454 By 'r lady: By our Lady (The Virgin)
455 chopine: a Venetian raised shoe often worn by actors
456 uncurrent: not passable as lawful coinage
457 cracked . . . ring; cf. n.
460 straight: immediately
466 caviare . . . general; cf. n.
468 cried in the top of: spoke with a louder voice of authority than
469 digested: arranged; cf. n.
470 modesty: without exaggeration, moderation
cunning: skill in technique
471 sallets . . . savoury; cf. n.
473 indict: convict
475 handsome; cf. n.
476 fine: elaborately fashioned
477 Æneas' tale to Dido; cf. n.
481 Hyrcanian; cf. n.
485 ominous horse; cf. n.
488 gules: red
trick'd: spotted
490 impasted: made into a paste
493 o'er-sized: covered with something like size, a kind of glue
501 Repugnant to: resisting
503 fell: cruel
504 senseless: without physical sensation
510 painted tyrant: picture of a tyrant in a tapestry
511 a neutral: one indifferent
matter: task
513 against: just before
514 rack: mass of cloud
516 anon: presently
517 region: the air
520 proof eterne: eternal impenetrability
524 synod: assembly
525 fellies: the pieces of wood of which the circumference is made
526 nave: hub
530 jig: lively dance, often accompanied by coarse comic verses or dialogue
531 bawdry: indecency
532 Hecuba; cf. n.
533 mobled: muffled; cf. n.
537 bisson rheum: blinding tears (?)
clout: piece of cloth
539 o'er-teemed: exhausted by excessive child-bearing
542 pronounc'd: proclaimed
548 made milch: made weep
550 turned . . . colour: grown pale
554 bestowed: lodged
555 abstracts: summary accounts
561 God's bodikins; cf. n.
573 for a need: in case of necessity
dozen or sixteen lines; cf. n.
584 peasant: base
587 conceit: imagination
590 function: action of the body
suiting: fitting
591 forms: bodily expression
595 cue; cf. n.
597 horrid: horrible
598 free: free from offence, guiltless
602 muddy-mettled: dull-spirited
peak: mope about
603 John-a-dreams: dreamy fellow; cf. n.
unpregnant of: not quickened by
605 property; cf. n.
606 defeat: destruction
612 Swounds: God's wounds
613 But: but that
pigeon-liver'd: meek; cf. n.
614 make oppression bitter: make me feel the bitterness of oppression
615 region kites: kites of the air
617 kindless: unnatural
623 drab: street woman
624 scullion: kitchen servant
625 About, my brain: bestir yourself, my brain, or, my brain, on another tack
634 tent: probe
blench: start aside
639 spirits: mental moods
641 relative: relevant, to the purpose