Hamlet (1917) Yale/Text/Act IV
ACT FOURTH
Scene One
[A Room in the Castle]
Enter King, [and Queen, with Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.]
King. There's matter in these sighs, these profound heaves:
You must translate; 'tis fit we understand them.
Where is your son?
[Queen. Bestow this place on us a little while.] 4
[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.]
Ah! my good lord, what have I seen to-night!
King. What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?
Queen. Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend
Which is the mightier. In his lawless fit, 8
Behind the arras hearing something stir,
Whips out his rapier, cries, 'A rat! a rat!'
And, in his brainish apprehension, kills
The unseen good old man.
King. O heavy deed! 12
It had been so with us had we been there.
His liberty is full of threats to all;
To you yourself, to us, to every one.
Alas! how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?
It will be laid to us, whose providence 17
Should have kept short, restrain'd, and out of haunt,
This mad young man: but so much was our love,
We would not understand what was most fit, 20
But, like the owner of a foul disease,
To keep it from divulging, let it feed
Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone?
Queen. To draw apart the body he hath kill'd; 24
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore
Among a mineral of metals base,
Shows itself pure: he weeps for what is done.
King. O Gertrude! come away. 28
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch
But we will ship him hence; and this vile deed
We must, with all our majesty and skill,
Both countenance and excuse. Ho! Guildenstern! 32
Enter Rosencrants and Guildenstern.
Friends both, go join you with some further 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. 37
Exeunt [Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.]
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, 41
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; 44
My soul is full of discord and dismay. Exeunt.
Scene Two
[Another Room in the Castle]
Enter Hamlet.
Ham. Safely stowed.
| Ros. | (Within.) Hamlet! Lord Hamlet! | |
| Guil. |
Ham. What noise? who calls on Hamlet?
O! here they come. 4
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. 8
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? 14
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. 23
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. 28
Ham. The body is with the king, but the
king is not with the body. The king is a thing—
Guil. A thing, my lord!
Ham. Of nothing: bring me to him. Hide
fox, and all after. Exeunt.
Scene Three
[Another Room in the Castle]
Enter King, [attended.]
King. I have sent to seek him, and to find the body.
How dangerous is it that this man goes loose!
Yet must not we put the strong law on him:
He's lov'd of the distracted multitude, 4
Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes;
And where 'tis so, the offender's scourge is weigh'd,
But never the offence. To bear all smooth and even,
This sudden sending him away must seem 8
Deliberate pause: diseases desperate grown
By desperate appliance are reliev'd,
Or not at all.
Enter Rosencrantz.
How now! what hath befall'n?
Ros. Where the dead body is bestow'd, my lord, 12
We cannot get from him.
King. But where is he?
Ros. Without, my lord; guarded, to know your pleasure.
King. Bring him before us.
Ros. Ho, Guildenstern! bring in my lord. 16
Enter Hamlet and Guildenstern.
King. Now, Hamlet, where's Polonius?
Ham. At supper.
King. At supper! Where?
Ham. Not where he eats, but where he is
eaten: a certain convocation of politic 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 ourselves for maggots: your fat
king and your lean beggar is but variable ser-
vice; two dishes, but to one table: that's the
end.
[King. Alas, alas! 28
Ham. A man may fish with the worm that
hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that
hath fed of that worm.]
King. What dost thou mean by this? 32
Ham. Nothing, but to show you how a king
may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.
King. Where is Polonius? 35
Ham. In heaven; send thither to see: if
your messenger find him not there, seek him
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. 40
King. [To some Attendants.] Go seek him there.
Ham. He will stay till you come.
[Exeunt Attendants.]
King. Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety,
Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve 44
For that which thou hast done, must send thee hence
With fiery quickness: therefore prepare thyself;
The bark is ready, and the wind at help,
The associates tend, and every thing is bent 48
For England.
Ham. For England!
King. Ay, Hamlet.
Ham. Good.
King. So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes.
Ham. I see a cherub that sees them. But,
come; for England! Farewell, dear mother. 52
King. Thy loving father, Hamlet.
Ham. My mother: father and mother is man
and wife, man and wife is one flesh, and so, my
mother. Come, for England! Exit.
King. Follow him at foot; tempt him with speed aboard: 57
Delay it not, I'll have him hence to-night.
Away! for every thing is seal'd and done
That else leans on the affair: pray you, make haste. 60
[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.]
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 64
Pays homage to us,—thou mayst not coldly set
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, 69
And thou must cure me. Till I know 'tis done,
Howe'er my haps, my joys were ne'er begun. Exit.
Scene Four
[Near Elsinore]
Enter Fortinbras with an army.
For. Go, captain, from me greet the Danish king;
Tell him that, by his licence, Fortinbras
Claims the conveyance of a promis'd march
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous. 4
If that his majesty would aught with us,
We shall express our duty in his eye,
And let him know so.
Cap. I will do 't, my lord.
For. Go softly on. 8
[Exeunt Fortinbras and Soldiers.]
[Enter Hamlet, Rosencrantz, &c.
Ham. Good sir, whose powers are these?
Cap. They are of Norway, sir.
Ham. How purpos'd, sir, I pray you?
Cap. Against some part of Poland. 12
Ham. Who commands them, sir?
Cap. The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras.
Ham. Goes it against the main of Poland, sir,
Or for some frontier? 16
Cap. Truly to speak, and with no addition,
We go to gain a little patch of ground
That hath in it no profit but the name.
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it; 20
Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole
A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee.
Ham. Why, then the Polack never will defend it.
Cap. Yes, 'tis already garrison'd. 24
Ham. Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats
Will not debate the question of this straw:
This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace,
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without 28
Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, sir.
Cap. God be wi' you, sir. [Exit.]
Ros. Will 't please you go, my lord?
Ham. I'll be with you straight. Go a little before.
[Exeunt all except Hamlet.]
How all occasions do inform against me, 32
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure he that made us with such large discourse, 36
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple 40
Of thinking too precisely on the event,
A thought, which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom,
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do;' 44
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do 't. Examples gross as earth exhort me:
Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince, 48
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare, 52
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain' d, 57
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep, while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame, 61
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent 64
To hide the slain? O! from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!
Exit.]
Scene Five
[Elsinore. A Room in the Castle]
Enter Queen and Horatio, [with a Gentleman.]
Queen. I will not speak with her.
Gent. She is importunate, indeed distract:
Her mood will needs be pitied.
Queen. What would she have?
Gent. She speaks much of her father; says she hears 4
There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her heart;
Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing,
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move 8
The hearers to collection; they aim at it,
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts;
Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield them,
Indeed would make one think there might be thought, 12
Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.
Hor. 'Twere good she were spoken with, for she may strew
Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.
Queen. Let her come in. [Exit Gentleman.]
To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is, 17
Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss:
So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. 20
Enter Ophelia distracted.
Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark?
Queen. How now, Ophelia!
Oph. "How should I your true love know
From another one? 24
By his cockle hat and staffs
And his sandal shoon."
Queen. Alas! sweet lady, what imports this song?
Oph. Say you? nay, pray you, mark. 28
"He is dead and gone, lady,
He is dead and gone;
At his head a grass-green turf;
At his heels a stone." 32
O, ho!
Queen. Nay, but Ophelia,—
Oph. Pray you, mark.
"White his shroud as the mountain snow,—" 36
Enter King.
Queen. Alas! look here, my lord.
Oph. "Larded with sweet flowers;
Which bewept to the grave did go
With true-love showers." 40
King. How do you, pretty lady?
Oph. Well, God 'ild you! They say the owl
was a baker's daughter. Lord! we know what
we are, but know not what we may be. God be
at your table! 45
King. Conceit upon her father.
Oph. Pray you, let's have no words of this; but
when they ask you what it means, say you this:
"To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day, 49
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine: 52
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more." 56
King. Pretty Ophelia!
Oph. Indeed, la! without an oath, I'll make an end on 't:
"By Gis and by Saint Charity,
Alack, and fie for shame! 60
Young men will do 't, if they come to 't;
By Cock they are to blame.
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,
You promis'd me to wed. 64
So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed."
King. How long hath she been thus? 67
Oph. I hope all will be well. We must be
patient: but I cannot choose but weep, to think
they should 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 76
All from her father's death. O Gertrude, Gertrude!
When sorrows come, they come not single spies,
But in battalions. First, her father slain;
Next, your son gone; but he most violent author 80
Of his own just remove: the people muddied,
Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers,
For good Polonius' death; and we have done but greenly,
In hugger-mugger to inter him: poor Ophelia
Divided from herself and her fair judgment, 85
Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts:
Last, and as much containing as all these,
Her brother is in secret come from France, 88
Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds,
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear
With pestilent speeches of his father's death;
Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd, 92
Will nothing stick our person to arraign
In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude! this,
Like to a murdering-piece, in many places
Gives me superfluous death. A noise within.
Queen. Alack! what noise is this?
Enter a Messenger.
King. Where are my Switzers? Let them guard the door. 97
What is the matter?
Mess. 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, 101
O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord;
And, as the world were now but to begin,
Antiquity forgot, custom not known, 104
The ratifiers and props of every word,
They cry, 'Choose we; Laertes shall be king!'
Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds,
'Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!' 108
Queen. How cheerfully on the false trail they cry!
O! this is counter, you false Danish dogs!
King. The doors are broke. Noise within.
Enter Laertes with others.
Laer. Where is the king? Sirs, stand you all without. 112
All. No, let's come in.
Laer. I pray you, give me leave.
All. We will, we will.
[They retire without the door.]
Laer. I thank you: keep the door. O thou vile king!
Give me my father.
Queen. Calmly, good Laertes. 116
Laer. That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard,
Cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot
Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brow
Of my true mother.
King. What is the cause, Laertes,
That thy rebellion looks so giant-like? 121
Let him go, Gertrude; do not fear our person:
There's such divinity doth hedge a king,
That treason can but peep to what it would,
Acts little of his will. Tell me, Laertes, 125
Why thou art thus incens'd. Let him go, Gertrude.
Speak, man.
Laer. Where is my father?
King. Dead.
Queen. But not by him.
King. Let him demand his fill. 128
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, 132
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: 136
And, for my means, I'll husband them so well,
They shall go far with little.
King. Good Laertes,
If you desire to know the certainty
Of your dear father's death, is 't writ in your revenge, 140
That, swoopstake, 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 my arms; 144
And like the kind life-rendering pelican,
Repast them with my blood.
King. Why, now you speak
Like a good child and a true gentleman.
That I am guiltless of your father's death, 148
And am most sensibly in grief for it,
It shall as level to your judgment pierce
As day does to your eye.
A noise within. [Voices.] Let her come in.
Laer. How now! what noise is that? 152
Enter Ophelia.
O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt,
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!
By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight,
Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May!
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia! 157
O heavens! is 't possible a young maid's wits
Should be as mortal as an old man's life?
Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine 160
It sends some precious instance of itself
After the thing it loves.
Oph. "They bore him barefac'd on the bier;
Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny; 164
And in his grave rain'd many a tear;—"
Fare you well, my dove!
Laer. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge,
It could not move thus. 168
Oph. "You must sing, a-down a-down,
And you call him a-down-a."
O how the wheel becomes it! It is the false
steward that stole his master's daughter. 172
Laer. This nothing's more than matter.
Oph. There's rosemary, that's for remem-
brance; pray, love, remember: and there is
pansies, that's for thoughts. 176
Laer. A document in madness, thoughts and
remembrance fitted.
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. O! you
must 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,— 185
"For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy."
Laer. Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself,
She turns to favour and to prettiness. 188
Oph. "And will he not come again?
And will he not come again?
No, no, he is dead;
Go to thy death-bed, 192
He never will come again.
His beard was as white as snow
All flaxen was his poll,
He is gone, he is gone, 196
And we cast away moan:
God ha' mercy on his soul!"
And of all Christian souls! I pray God. God be
wi' ye! Exit Ophelia.
Laer. Do you see this, O God? 201
King. Laertes, I must common with your grief,
Or you deny me right. Go but apart,
Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will, 204
And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me.
If by direct or by collateral hand
They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give,
Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours, 208
To you in satisfaction; but if not,
Be you content to lend your patience to us,
And we shall jointly labour with your soul
To give it due content.
Laer. Let this be so: 212
His means of death, his obscure burial,
No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones,
No noble rite nor formal ostentation,
Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth,
That I must call 't in question.
King. So you shall; 217
And where the offence is let the great axe fall.
I pray you go with me. Exeunt.
Scene Six
[Another Room in the Castle
Enter Horatio with an Attendant.
Hor. What are they that would speak with me?
Atten. Sailors, sir: they say, they have letters for you.
Hor. Let them come in. [Exit Attendant.]
I do not know from what part of the world 4
I should be greeted, if not from Lord Hamlet.
Enter Sailor.
Sail. God bless you, sir.
Hor. Let him bless thee too.
Sail. He shall, sir, an 't please him. There's
a letter for you, sir;—it comes from the am-
bassador that was bound for England;—if
your name be Horatio, as I am let to know
it is. 12
Reads the letter.
Hor. "Horatio, when thou shalt have over-
looked this, give these fellows some means to the
king: they have letters for him. Ere we were
two days old at sea, a pirate of very war-like
appointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves
too slow of sail, we put on a compelled valour;
in the grapple I boarded them: on the instant
they got clear of our ship, so I alone became
their prisoner. They have dealt with me like
thieves of mercy, but they knew what they did;
I am to do a good turn for them. Let the king
have the letters I have sent; and repair thou to
me with as much haste as thou wouldst 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, 32
Hamlet."
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.
Scene Seven
[A Room in the Castle]
Enter King and Laertes.
King. Now must your conscience my acquittance seal,
And you must put me in your heart for friend,
Sith you have heard, and with a knowing ear,
That he which hath your noble father slain 4
Pursu'd my life.
Laer. It well appears: but tell me
Why you proceeded not against these feats,
So crimeful and so capital in nature,
As by your safety, wisdom, all things else, 8
You mainly were stirr'd up.
King. O! for two special reasons;
Which may to you, perhaps, seem much unsinew'd,
But yet to me they are strong. The queen his mother
Lives almost by his looks, and for myself,— 12
My virtue or my plague, be it either which,—
She's so conjunctive to my life and soul,
That, as the star moves not but in his sphere,
I could not but by her. The other motive, 16
Why to a public count I might not go,
Is the great love the general gender bear him;
Who, dipping all his faults in their affection,
Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone, 20
Convert his gyves to graces; so that my arrows,
Too slightly timber'd for so loud a wind,
Would have reverted to my bow again,
And not where I had aim'd them. 24
Laer. And so have I a noble father lost;
A sister driven into desperate terms,
Whose worth, if praises may go back again,
Stood challenger on mount of all the age 28
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 think it pastime. You shortly shall hear more; 33
I lov'd your father, and we love ourself,
And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine,—
Enter a Messenger.
How now! what news?
Mess. Letters, my lord, from Hamlet:
This to your majesty; this to the queen. 37
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 40
[Of him that brought them.]
King. Laertes, you shall hear them.
Leave us. Exit Messenger.
"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 re-
turn. Hamlet."
What should this mean? Are all the rest come back? 49
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.' 52
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, 56
'Thus didst thou.'
King. If it be so, Laertes,
As how should it be so? how otherwise?
Will you be rul'd by me?
Laer. Ay, my lord;
So you will not o'er-rule me to a peace. 60
King. To thine own peace. If he be now return'd,
As checking at his voyage, and that he means
No more to undertake it, I will work him
To an exploit, now ripe in my device, 64
Under the which he shall not choose but fall;
And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe,
But even his mother shall uncharge the practice
And call it accident.
[Laer. My lord, I will be rul'd; 68
The rather, if you could devise it so
That I might be the organ.
King. It falls right.
You have been talk'd of since your travel much,
And that in Hamlet's hearing, for a quality 72
Wherein, they say, you shine; your sum of parts
Did not together pluck such envy from him
As did that one, and that, in my regard,
Of the unworthiest siege.
Laer. What part is that, my lord? 76
King. A very riband in the cap of youth,
Yet needful too; for youth no less becomes
The light and careless livery that it wears
Than settled age his sables and his weeds, 80
Importing health and graveness.] Two months since
Here was a gentleman of Normandy.
I've seen myself, and serv'd against the French,
And they can well on horseback; but this gallant 84
Had witchcraft in 't, he grew unto his seat,
And to such wondrous doing brought his horse,
As he had been incorps'd and demi-natur'd
With the brave beast; so far he topp'd my thought, 88
That I, in forgery of shapes and tricks,
Come short of what he did.
Laer. A Norman was 't?
King. A Norman.
Laer. Upon my life, Lamond.
King. The very same. 92
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 96
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, 100
He swore, had neither motion, guard, nor eye,
If you oppos'd them.] Sir, this report of his
Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy
That he could nothing do but wish and beg 104
Your sudden coming o'er, to play with him.
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, 108
A face without a heart?
Laer. Why ask you this?
King. Not that I think you did not love your father,
But that I know love is begun by time,
And that I see, in passages of proof, 112
Time qualifies the spark and fire of it.
[There lives within the very flame of love
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it,
And nothing is at a like goodness still, 116
For goodness, growing to a plurisy,
Dies in his own too-much. That we would do,
We should do when we would, for this 'would' changes,
And hath abatements and delays as many 120
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents;
And then this 'should' is like a spendthrift sigh,
That hurts by easing. But, to the quick o' the ulcer;]
Hamlet comes back; what would you undertake
To show yourself your father's son in deed 125
More than in words?
Laer. To cut his throat i' the church.
King. No place, indeed, should murder sanctuarize;
Revenge should have no bounds. But, good Laertes, 128
Will you do this, keep close within your chamber.
Hamlet return'd shall know you are come home;
We'll put on those shall praise your excellence,
And set a double varnish on the fame 132
The Frenchman gave you, bring you, in fine, together,
And wager on your heads: he, being remiss,
Most generous and free from all contriving,
Will not peruse the foils; so that, with ease 136
Or with a little shuffling, you may choose
A sword unbated, and, in a pass of practice
Requite him for your father.
Laer. I will do 't;
And, for that purpose, I'll anoint my sword. 140
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 144
Under the moon, can save the thing from death
That is but scratch'd withal; I'll touch my point
With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly,
It may be death.
King. Let's further think of this; 148
Weigh what convenience both of time and means
May fit us to our shape. If this should fail,
And that our drift look through our bad performance 151
'Twere better not assay'd; therefore this project
Should have a back or second, that might hold,
If this should blast in proof. Soft! let me see;
We'll make a solemn wager on your cunnings:
I ha't: 156
When in your motion you are hot and dry,—
As make your bouts more violent to that end,—
And that he calls for drink, I'll have prepar'd him
A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping,
If he by chance escape your venom'd stuck, 161
Our purpose may hold there. [But stay! what noise?]
Enter Queen.
How now, sweet queen!
Queen. One woe doth tread upon another's heel, 164
So fast they follow: your sister's drown'd, Laertes.
Laer. Drown'd! O, where?
Queen. There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
There with fantastic garlands did she come, 169
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples,
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them: 172
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke,
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide, 176
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up;
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes,
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indu'd 180
Unto that element; but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.
Laer. Alas! then, she is drown'd? 184
Queen. Drown'd, drown'd.
Laer. Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia,
And therefore I forbid my tears; but yet
It is our trick, nature her custom holds, 188
Let shame say what it will; when these are gone
The woman will be out. Adieu, my lord!
I have a speech of fire, that fain would blaze,
But that this folly douts it. Exit.
King. Let's follow, Gertrude.
How much I had to do to calm his rage! 193
Now fear I this will give it start again;
Therefore let's follow. Exeunt.
Footnotes to Act IV
Scene One
1 heaves: prolonged sighs
11 brainish apprehension: insane illusion, or, brain-sick mood
12 heavy: grievous
17 providence: foresight
18 short: under control, tethered
out of haunt: out of company
22 divulging: becoming known
26 mineral: mine
36 fair: courteously
40 so, haply, slander; cf. n.
41 diameter: extent from side to side
42 level: straight
blank: white spot in the centre of a target
44 woundless: invulnerable
Scene Two
13 replication: reply
17 countenance: favor
authorities: offices of authority
29 The . . . body; cf. n.
32 Hide fox, and all after: signal cry in the game of hide-and-seek
Scene Three
4 distracted: without power of forming logical judgments
6 scourge: punishment
weigh'd: estimated, considered
7 bear: execute
smooth and even: pleasantly and equably
10 appliance: remedy
21 convocation: assembly; cf. n.
politic: crafty
25 variable service: variety of food
34 progress: state journey
48 bent: prepared
57 at foot: close behind
60 leans on: depends upon
63 cicatrice: scar
64 free awe: awe still felt but no longer enforced by arms
65 set: esteem
66 process: formal command
69 hectic: wasting fever
71 haps: fortunes
Scene Four
3 conveyance: convoy
6 in his eye: in his presence
8 softly: slowly
9 powers: troops
15 main: chief part, or, chief power
17 no addition: without adding fine words, or, without amplification
22 ranker: richer
sold in fee: sold absolutely
26 debate: bring to a settlement
straw: trifling matter
27 imposthume: abscess
34 market: marketing
36 large discourse: latitude of comprehension
39 fust: become mouldy
40 Bestial oblivion: animal-like forgetfulness
41 event: outcome
45 Sith: since
47 charge: expense
50 mouths: grimaces
54 argument: cause
58 Excitements: incentives
61 trick: trifle
64 continent: receptacle
Scene Five
Scene V, S. d.; cf. n.
2 importunate: persistent
5 tricks: deceptions
6 Spurns: kicks
enviously: spitefully
in doubt: ambiguous
8 unshaped: artless
9 collection: inference
aim: guess
11 yield them: bring her words forth
13 nothing: not at all
much: very
15 ill-breeding: plotting ill
18 great amiss: calamity
19 artless: unskilful
20 spills: ruins
S. d. Cf. n.
25 cockle hat: pilgrim's hat; cf. n.
26 shoon: shoes
38 larded: garnished
42 God 'ild: God reward
owl was a baker's daughter; cf. n.
54 dupp'd: opened
59 by Gis: by Jesus
62 Cock: perversion of 'God' in oaths
81 remove: removal
muddied: confused in mind
83 greenly: foolishly
84 In hugger-mugger: secretly
89 wonder: doubt
in clouds: in gloom, or, invisible
90 buzzers: tale-bearers
92 Wherein: i.e., in which pestilent speeches
93 nothing stick: not at all hesitate
94 In ear and ear: in many ears
95 murdering-piece: small cannon firing case shot
97 Switzers: Swiss guards; cf. n.
99 overpeering: rising above
list: boundary
101 head: hostile advance
110 counter: following the trail in a direction opposite to that which the game has taken
118 cuckold: husband with an unfaithful wife
131 grace: sense of duty
133 give to negligence: disregard
136 My will: as regards my will
141 swoopstake: indiscriminately; cf. n.
145 life-rendering pelican; cf. n.
146 Repast: feed
149 sensibly: feelingly
160 fine: delicate, subtle
161 instance: illustrative example
164 Hey non nonny; cf. n.
171 wheel; cf. n.
false steward; cf. n.
174 rosemary; cf. n.
176 pansies; cf. n.
177 document: lesson
179 fennel: emblem of flattery
columbines: emblems of thanklessness
180 rue: emblem of repentance; cf. n.
182 difference; cf. n.
183 daisy: emblem of dissemblers
violets: emblems of faithfulness
186 For . . . joy; cf. n.
187 passion: suffering
188 favour: charm
189 And . . . again; cf. n.
195 poll: head
197 cast away: shipwrecked
202 common: share
203 right: equitable treatment
206 collateral: indirect
207 touch'd: implicated
213 means: manner
obscure: lowly, mean
214 trophy: emblem, or, memorial over a grave
hatchment: tablet displaying armorial bearings
215 ostentation: funeral ceremony
217 call 't in question: demand an explanation
Scene Six
13 overlooked: perused
17 appointment: equipment
24 repair: come
28 bore: literally, calibre, hence importance
34 way: passage
Scene Seven
3 knowing: intelligent, or, convinced
5 Pursu'd: sought
7 capital: punishable by death
10 unsinew'd: weak
14 conjunctive: closely united
17 count: legal indictment
18 general gender: common people
20 spring; cf. n.
21 gyves: leg-irons; cf. n.
22 slightly timber'd: of too light a wood
23 reverted: returned; cf. n.
27 praises . . . again; cf. n.
28 challenger on mount; cf. n.
40 Claudio; cf. n.
44 naked: without resources
50 abuse: imposture
51 character: handwriting
62 checking: stopping short
67 uncharge: acquit of guilt
practice: stratagem
70 organ: instrument
falls: happens
76 siege: rank; cf. n.
part: attribute
77 riband: ribbon
79 livery: garb
80 weeds: garments
81 health: prosperity
84 can well: are skilled
87 incorps'd and demi-natur'd; cf. n.
88 topp'd: surpassed
89 in . . . tricks; cf. n.
95 confession: report
96 masterly report; cf. n.
97 art and exercise: skilful exercise
defence: science of defence
100 scrimers: fencers
105 play: fence
112 passages of proof; cf. n.
117 plurisy: fulness; cf. n.
120 abatements: diminutions
122 spendthrift sigh; cf. n.
131 put on: instigate
136 peruse: inspect
138 unbated: not blunted
pass of practice; cf. n.
140 anoint: smear
141 mountebank; cf. n.
143 cataplasm: poultice
144 simples: medicinal herbs
145 moon; cf. n.
150 our shape: part we purpose to act
154 blast in proof: burst when tested
155 cunnings: skill; cf. n.
157 motion: bodily exertion
160 for the nonce: for the purpose
161 stuck: thrust
168 hoar: greyish-white
170 crow-flowers: buttercups; cf. n.
long purples: early purple orchids
171 liberal: licentious
173 coronet: garlanded
175 weedy: of plants
179 incapable: having no understanding
180 indu'd: endowed with qualities fitting her
188 trick: custom
190 woman; cf. n.
192 douts: puts out, extinguishes