Hamlet (1917) Yale/Text/Act V
ACT FIFTH
Scene One
[A Churchyard]
Enter two Clowns.
[First] Clo. Is she to be buried in Christian
burial that wilfully seeks her own salvation?
Other. I tell thee she is; and therefore make
her grave straight: the crowner hath sat on her,
and finds it Christian burial. 5
[First] Clo. How can that be, unless she
drowned herself in her own defence?
Other. Why, 'tis found so. 8
[First] Clo. It must be se offendendo; it can-
not be else. For here lies the point: if I
drown myself wittingly it argues an act; and
an act hath three branches; it is, to act, to do,
and to perform: argal, she drowned herself
wittingly.
Other. Nay, but hear you, goodman delver,— 15
[First] Clo. Give me leave. Here lies the
water; good: here stands the man; good: if the
man go to this water, and drown himself, it is,
will he, nill he, he goes; mark you that? but if
the water come to him, and drown him, he
drowns not himself: argal, he that is not guilty
of his own death shortens not his own life. 22
Other. But is this law?
[First] Clo. Ay, marry, is 't; crowner's quest
law. 25
Other. Will you ha' the truth on 't? If this
had not been a gentlewoman she should have
been buried out o' Christian burial. 28
[First] Clo. Why, there thou sayest; and the
more pity that great folk should have counte-
nance in this world to drown or hang them-
selves more than their even Christian. Come,
my spade. There is no ancient gentlemen but
gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers; they
hold up Adam's profession. 35
Other. Was he a gentleman?
[First] Clo. A' was the first that ever bore
arms.
Other. Why, he had none. 39
[First] Clo. What! art a heathen? How dost
thou understand the Scripture? The Scripture
says, Adam digged; could he dig without arms?
I'll put another question to thee; if thou an-
swerest me not to the purpose, confess thyself—
Other. Go to. 45
[First] Clo. What is he that builds stronger
than either the mason, the shipwright, or the
carpenter?
Other. The gallows-maker; for that frame
outlives a thousand tenants. 50
[First] Clo. I like thy wit well, in good faith;
the gallows does well, but how does it well? it
does well to those that do ill; now thou dost ill
to say the gallows is built stronger than the
church: argal, the gallows may do well to thee.
To 't again; come.
Other. Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or a carpenter? 58
[First] Clo. Ay, tell me that, and unyoke.
Other. Marry, now I can tell.
[First] Clo. To 't.
Other. Mass, I cannot tell. 62
Enter Hamlet and Horatio afar off.
[First] Clo. Cudgel thy brains no more about
it, for your dull ass will not mend his pace with
beating; and, when you are asked this question
next, say, 'a grave-maker:' the houses that he
makes last till doomsday. Go, get thee to
Yaughan; fetch me a stoup of liquor.
[Exit other Clown.]
[First Clown digs, and] sings.
"In youth, when I did love, did love,
Methought it was very sweet, 70
To contract, O! the time, for-a my behove,
O! methought there was nothing meet."
Ham. Has this fellow no feeling of his busi-
ness, that he sings at grave-making? 74
Hor. Custom hath made it in him a property
of easiness.
Ham. 'Tis e'en so; the hand of little employ-
ment hath the daintier sense. 78
Clown sings.
"But age, with his stealing steps,
Hath claw'd me in his clutch,
And hath shipped me intil the land,
As if I had never been such." 82
[Throws up a skull.]
Ham. That skull had a tongue in it, and
could sing once; how the knave jowls it to the
ground, as if it were Cain's jaw-bone, that did
the first murder! This might be the pate of a
politician, which this ass now o'er-offices, one
that would circumvent God, might it not? 88
Hor. It might, my lord.
Ham. Or of a courtier, which could say,
'Good morrow, sweet lord! How dost thou,
good lord?' This might be my Lord Such-a-
one, that praised my Lord Such-a-one's horse,
when he meant to beg it, might it not? 94
Hor. Ay, my lord.
Ham. Why, e'en so, and now my Lady
Worm's; chapless, and knocked about the maz-
zard with a sexton's spade. Here's fine revo-
lution, an we had the trick to see 't. Did these
bones cost no more the breeding but to play at
loggats with 'em? mine ache to think on 't.
Clown sings.
"A pick-axe, and a spade, a spade, 102
For and a shrouding sheet;
O! a pit of clay for to be made
For such a guest is meet."
[Throws up another skull.]
Ham. There's another; why may not that be
the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities
now, his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his
tricks? why does he suffer this rude knave now
to knock him about the sconce with a dirty
shovel, and will not tell him of his action of
battery? Hum! This fellow might be in 's time
a great buyer of land, with his statutes, his re-
cognizances, his fines, his double vouchers, his
recoveries; is this the fine of his fines, and the
recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine pate
full of fine dirt? will his vouchers vouch him no
more of his purchases, and double ones too,
than the length and breadth of a pair of inden-
tures? The very conveyance of his lands will
hardly lie in this box, and must the inheritor
himself have no more, ha? 122
Hor. Not a jot more, my lord.
Ham. Is not parchment made of sheep-skins?
Hor. Ay, my lord, and of calf-skins, too. 125
Ham. They are sheep and calves which seek
out assurance in that. I will speak to this fel-
low. Whose grave 's this, sir?
[First] Clo. Mine, sir,
"O! a pit of clay for to be made 130
For such a guest is meet."
Ham. I think it be thine, indeed; for thou
liest in 't.
[First] Clo. You lie out on 't, sir, and there-
fore it is not yours; for my part, I do not lie in 't,
and yet it is mine. 136
Ham. Thou dost lie in 't, to be in 't and say
it is thine: 'tis for the dead, not for the quick;
therefore thou liest.
[First] Clo. 'Tis a quick lie, sir; 'twill away
again, from me to you.
Ham. What man dost thou dig it for? 142
[First] Clo. For no man, sir.
Ham. What woman, then?
[First] Clo. For none, neither.
Ham. Who is to be buried in 't? 146
[First] Clo. One that was a woman, sir; but
rest her soul, she's dead.
Ham. How absolute the knave is! we must
speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us.
By the Lord, Horatio, these three years I have
taken note of it; the age is grown so picked
that the toe of the peasant comes so near the
heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe. How long
hast thou been a grave-maker? 155
[First] Clo. Of all the days i' the year, I came
to 't that day that our last King Hamlet over-
came Fortinbras. 158
Ham. How long is that since?
[First] Clo. Cannot you tell that? every fool
can tell that; it was the very day that young
Hamlet was born; he that is mad, and sent into
England. 163
Ham. Ay, marry; why was he sent into
England?
[First] Clo. Why, because he was mad: he
shall recover his wits there; or, if he do not, 'tis
no great matter there. 168
Ham. Why?
[First] Clo. 'Twill not be seen in him there;
there the men are as mad as he. 171
Ham. How came he mad?
[First] Clo. Very strangely, they say.
Ham. How strangely? 174
[First] Clo. Faith, e'en with losing his wits.
Ham. Upon what ground?
[First] Clo. Why, here in Denmark; I have
been sexton here, man and boy, thirty years. 178
Ham. How long will a man lie i' the earth
ere he rot?
[First] Clo. Faith, if he be not rotten before
he die,—as we have many pocky corses now-a-
days, that will scarce hold the laying in,—he
will last you some eight year or nine year; a
tanner will last you nine year.
Ham. Why he more than another? 186
[First] Clo. Why, sir, his hide is so tanned
with his trade that he will keep out water a great
while, and your water is a sore decayer of your
whoreson dead body. Here's a skull now; this
skull hath lain you i' the earth three-and-twenty
years. 192
Ham. Whose was it?
[First] Clo. A whoreson mad fellow's it was:
whose do you think it was?
Ham. Nay, I know not. 196
[First] Clo. A pestilence on him for a mad
rogue! a' poured a flagon of Rhenish on my
head once. This same skull, sir, was Yorick's
skull, the king's jester.
Ham. This!
[First] Clo. E'en that. 202
Ham. Let me see.—[Takes the skull.]—Alas!
poor Yorick. I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of
infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath
borne me on his back a thousand times; and
now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my
gorge rises at it. Here hung those lips that I
have kissed I know not how oft. Where be your
gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your
flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the
table on a roar? Not one now, to mock your
own grinning? quite chapfallen? Now get you
to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint
an inch thick, to this favour she must come;
make her laugh at that. Prithee, Horatio, tell
me one thing.
Hor. What's that, my lord? 218
Ham. Dost thou think Alexander looked o'
this fashion i' the earth?
Hor. E'en so.
Ham. And smelt so? pah! 222
[Puts down the skull.]
Hor. E'en so, my lord.
Ham. To what base uses we may return,
Horatio! Why may not imagination trace the
noble dust of Alexander, till he find it stopping
a bung-hole? 227
Hor. 'Twere to consider too curiously, to con-
sider so.
Ham. No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him
thither with modesty enough, and likelihood to
lead it; as thus: Alexander died, Alexander
was buried, Alexander returneth into dust; the
dust is earth; of earth we make loam, and why
of that loam, whereto he was converted, might
they not stop a beer-barrel?
"Imperial Cæsar, dead and turn'd to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away: 238
O! that that earth, which kept the world in awe,
Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw."
But soft! but soft! aside: here comes the king.
Enter King, Queen, Laertes, [a Priest,] and a Coffin, with Lords attendant.
The queen, the courtiers: who is that they follow? 242
And with such maimed rites? This doth betoken
The corse they follow did with desperate hand
Fordo it own life; 'twas of some estate.
Couch we awhile. and mark. 246
[Retiring with Horatio.]
Laer. What ceremony else?
Ham. That is Laertes,
A very noble youth: mark.
Laer. What ceremony else?
Priest. Her obsequies have been as far enlarg'd 250
As we have warrantise: her death was doubtful,
And, but that great command o'ersways the order,
She should in ground unsanctified have lodg'd
Till the last trumpet; for charitable prayers, 254
Shards, flints, and pebbles should be thrown on her;
Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants,
Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home
Of bell and burial. 258
Laer. Must there no more be done?
Priest. No more be done:
We should profane the service of the dead,
To sing a requiem, and such rest to her
As to peace-parted souls.
Laer. Lay her i' the earth; 262
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest,
A ministering angel shall my sister be,
When thou liest howling.
Ham. What! the fair Ophelia? 266
Queen. Sweets to the sweet: farewell!
[Scattering flowers.]
I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife;
I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid,
And not have strew'd thy grave.
Laer. O! treble woe 270
Fall ten times treble on that cursed head
Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense
Depriv'd thee of. Hold off the earth awhile,
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms.
Leaps into the grave.
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead,
Till of this flat a mountain you have made, 276
To o'er-top old Pelion or the skyish head
Of blue Olympus.
Ham. [Advancing.] What is he whose grief
Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow 279
Conjures the wandering stars, and makes them stand
Like wonder-wounded hearers? this is I,
Hamlet the Dane. [Leaps into the grave.]
Laer. The devil take thy soul! 282
[Grapples with him.]
Ham. Thou pray'st not well.
I prithee, take thy fingers from my throat;
For though I am not splenetive and rash
Yet have I in me something dangerous, 286
Which let thy wisdom fear. Away thy hand!
King. Pluck them asunder.
Queen. Hamlet! Hamlet!
All. Gentlemen,—
Hor. Good my lord, be quiet.
[The Attendants part them, and they come out of the grave.]
Ham. Why, I will fight with him upon this theme 290
Until my eyelids will no longer wag.
Queen. O my son! what theme?
Ham. I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers
Could not, with all their quantity of love, 294
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?
King. O! he is mad, Laertes.
Queen. For love of God, forbear him.
Ham. 'Swounds, show me what thou'lt do:
Woo't weep? woo't fight? [woo't fast?] woo't tear thyself? 299
Woo't drink up eisel? eat a crocodile?
I'll do 't. Dost thou come here to whine?
To outface me with leaping in her grave? 302
Be buried quick with her, and so will I:
And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw
Millions of acres on us, till our ground,
Singeing his pate against the burning zone, 306
Make Ossa like a wart! Nay, an thou'lt mouth,
I'll rant as well as thou.
Queen. This is mere madness:
And thus a while the fit will work on him;
Anon, as patient as the female dove, 310
When that her golden couplets are disclos'd,
His silence will sit drooping.
Ham. Hear you, sir;
What is the reason that you use me thus?
I lov'd you ever: but it is no matter; 314
Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew and dog will have his day. Exit.
King. I pray you, good Horatio, wait upon him.
[Exit Horatio.]
[To Laertes.] Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech; 318
We'll put the matter to the present push.
Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son.
This grave shall have a living monument:
An hour of quiet shortly shall we see; 322
Till then, in patience our proceeding be. Exeunt.
Scene Two
[A Hall in the Castle]
Enter Hamlet and Horatio.
Ham. So much for this, sir: now shall you see the other;
You do remember all the circumstance?
Hor. Remember it, my lord?
Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting 4
That would not let me sleep; methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly,—
And prais'd be rashness for it, let us know,
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well 8
When our deep plots do pall; and that should teach us
There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will.
Hor. That is most certain.
Ham. Up from my cabin, 12
My sea-gown scarf'd about me, in the dark
Grop'd I to find out them, had my desire,
Finger'd their packet, and in fine withdrew
To mine own room again; making so bold— 16
My fears forgetting manners—to unseal
Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio,
O royal knavery! an exact command,
Larded with many several sorts of reasons 20
Importing Denmark's health, and England's too,
With, ho! such bugs and goblins in my life,
That, on the supervise, no leisure bated,
No, not to stay the grinding of the axe, 24
My head should be struck off.
Hor. Is 't possible?
Ham. Here's the commission: read it at more leisure.
But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed?
Hor. I beseech you. 28
Ham. Being thus be-netted round with villainies,—
Ere I could make a prologue to my brains
They had begun the play,—I sat me down,
Devis'd a new commission, wrote it fair; 32
I once did hold it, as our statists do,
A baseness to write fair, and labour'd much
How to forget that learning; but, sir, now
It did me yeoman's service. Wilt thou know 36
The effect of what I wrote?
Hor. Ay, good my lord.
Ham. An earnest conjuration from the king,
As England was his faithful tributary,
As love between them like the palm should flourish, 40
As peace should still her wheaten garland wear,
And stand a comma 'tween their amities,
And many such-like 'As'es of great charge,
That, on the view and knowing of these contents, 44
Without debatement further, more or less,
He should the bearers put to sudden death,
Not shriving-time allow'd.
Hor. How was this seal'd?
Ham, Why, even in that was heaven ordinant. 48
I had my father's signet in my purse,
Which was the model of that Danish seal;
Folded the writ up in form of the other,
Subscrib'd it, gave 't th' impression, plac'd it safely, 52
The changeling never known. Now, the next day
Was our sea-fight, and what to this was sequent
Thou know'st already.
Hor. So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to 't. 56
Ham. Why, man, they did make love to this employment;
They are not near my conscience; their defeat
Does by their own insinuation grow.
'Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes 60
Between the pass and fell-incensed points
Of mighty opposites.
Hor. Why, what a king is this!
Ham. Does it not, think'st thee, stand me now upon—
He that hath kill'd my king and whor'd my mother, 64
Popp'd in between the election and my hopes,
Thrown out his angle for my proper life,
And with such cozenage—is 't not perfect conscience
To quit him with this arm? and is 't not to be damn'd 68
To let this canker of our nature come
In further evil?
Hor. It must be shortly known to him from England
What is the issue of the business there. 72
Ham. It will be short: the interim is mine;
And a man's life's no more than to say 'One.'
But I am very sorry, good Horatio,
That to Laertes I forgot myself; 76
For, by the image of my cause, I see
The portraiture of his: I'll count his favours:
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me
Into a towering passion.
Hor. Peace! who comes here? 80
Enter young Osric.
Osr. Your lordship is right welcome back to
Denmark.
Ham. I humbly thank you, sir. [Aside to
Horatio.] Dost know this water-fly? 84
Hor. [Aside to Hamlet.] No, my good lord.
Ham. [Aside to Horatio.] Thy state is the
more gracious; for 'tis a vice to know him. He
hath much land, and fertile: let a beast be lord
of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king's
mess: 'tis a chough; but, as I say, spacious in
the possession of dirt. 91
Osr. Sweet lord, if your lordship were at
leisure, I should impart a thing to you from his
majesty.
Ham. I will receive it, sir, with all diligence
of spirit. Your bonnet to his right use; 'tis for
the head. 97
Osr. I thank your lordship, 'tis very hot.
Ham. No, believe me, 'tis very cold; the
wind is northerly. 100
Osr. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed.
Ham. But yet methinks it is very sultry and
hot for my complexion. 103
Osr. Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry,
as 'twere, I cannot tell how. But, my lord, his
majesty bade me signify to you that he has laid
a great wager on your head. Sir, this is the
matter,— 108
Ham. I beseech you, remember—
[Hamlet moves him to put on his hat.]
Osr. Nay, good my lord; for mine ease, in
good faith. [Sir, here is newly come to court
Laertes; believe me, an absolute gentleman, full
of most excellent differences, of very soft society
and great showing; indeed, to speak feelingly of
him, he is the card or calendar of gentry, for you
shall find in him the continent of what part a
gentleman would see. 117
Ham. Sir, his definement suffers no perdition
in you; though, I know, to divide him invento-
rially would dizzy the arithmetic of memory, and
yet but yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail.
But, in the verity of extolment, I take him to be
a soul of great article; and his infusion of such
dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of
him, his semblable is his mirror; and who else
would trace him, his umbrage, nothing more.
Osr. Your lordship speaks most infallibly of
him. 128
Ham. The concernancy, sir? why do we wrap
the gentleman in our more rawer breath?
Osr. Sir?
Hor. Is 't not possible to understand in an-
other tongue? You will do 't, sir, really. 133
Ham. What imports the nomination of this
gentleman?
Osr. Of Laertes? 136
Hor. His purse is empty already; all 's
golden words are spent.
Ham. Of him, sir.
Osr. I know you are not ignorant— 140
Ham. I would you did, sir; in faith, if you
did, it would not much approve me. Well, sir.]
Osr. You are not ignorant of what excellence
Laertes is—
[Ham. I dare not confess that, lest I should
compare with him in excellence; but, to know a
man well, were to know himself. 147
Osr. I mean, sir,] for his weapon; [but in the
imputation laid on him by them, in his meed
he's unfellowed.]
Ham. What's his weapon?
Osr. Rapier and dagger. 152
Ham. That's two of his weapons; but, well.
Osr. The king, sir, hath wagered with him six
Barbary horses; against the which he has im-
poned, as I take it, six French rapiers and
poniards, with their assigns, as girdle, hangers,
and so: three of the carriages, in faith, are very
dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most
delicate carriages, and of very liberal conceit. 160
Ham. What call you the carriages?
[Hor. I knew you must be edified by the mar-
gent, ere you had done.]
Osr. The carriages, sir, are the hangers. 164
Ham. The phrase would be more german to
the matter, if we could carry cannon by our
sides; I would it might be hangers till then.
But, on; six Barbary horses against six French
swords, their assigns, and three liberal-conceited
carriages; that's the French bet against the
Danish. Why is this 'imponed,' as you call it?
Osr. The king sir, hath laid, that in a dozen
passes between yourself and him, he shall not
exceed you three hits; he hath laid on twelve
for nine, and it would come to immediate trial,
if your lordship would vouchsafe the answer. 176
Ham. How if I answer no?
Osr. I mean, my lord, the opposition of your
person in trial.
Ham. Sir, I will walk here in the hall; if it
please his majesty, 'tis the breathing time of day
with me; let the foils be brought; the gentleman
willing, and the king hold his purpose, I will win
for him an I can; if not, I will gain nothing but
my shame and the odd hits. 185
Osr. Shall I re-deliver you so?
Ham. To this effect, sir; after what flourish
your nature will. 188
Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship.
Ham. Yours, yours. [Exit Osric.] He does
well to commend it himself; there are no
tongues else for 's turn. 192
Hor. This lapwing runs away with the shell
on his head.
Ham. He did comply with his dug before he
sucked it. Thus has he—and many more of the
same bevy, that I know the drossy age dotes
on—only got the tune of the time and outward
habit of encounter, a kind of yesty collection
which carries them through and through the
most fond and winnowed opinions; and do but
blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out. 202
[Enter a Lord.
Lord. My lord, his majesty commended him
to you by young Osric, who brings back to him,
that you attend him in the hall; he sends to
know if your pleasure hold to play with Laertes,
or that you will take longer time. 207
Ham. I am constant to my purposes; they
follow the king's pleasure: if his fitness speaks,
mine is ready; now, or whensoever, provided I
be so able as now.
Lord. The king, and queen, and all are com-
ing down. 213
Ham. In happy time.
Lord. The queen desires you to use some
gentle entertainment to Laertes before you fall
to play. 217
Ham. She well instructs me.] [Exit Lord.
Hor. You will lose this wager, my lord.
Ham. I do not think so; since he went into
France, I have been in continual practice; I
shall win at the odds. But thou wouldst not
think how ill all 's here about my heart; but it
is no matter. 224
Hor. Nay, good my lord,—
Ham. It is but foolery; but it is such a kind
of gain-giving as would perhaps trouble a
woman. 228
Hor. If your mind dislike any thing, obey it;
I will forestall their repair hither, and say you
are not fit. 231
Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury; there's a
special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it
be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it
will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come:
the readiness is all. Since no man has aught
of what he leaves, what is 't to leave betimes?
[Let be.] 238
Enter King, Queen, Laertes and Lords, with other Attendants with foils and gauntlets, a table and flagons of wine on it.
King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me.
[The King puts the hand of Laertes into that of Hamlet.]
Ham. Give me your pardon, sir; I've done you wrong;
But pardon 't, as you are a gentleman.
This presence knows,
And you must needs have heard, how I am punish'd
With sore distraction. What I have done, 244
That might your nature, honour and exception
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was 't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never Hamlet:
If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, 248
And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not; Hamlet denies it.
Who does it then? His madness. If 't be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd; 252
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.
Sir, in this audience,
Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house, 257
And hurt my brother.
Laer. I am satisfied in nature,
Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most
To my revenge; but in my terms of honour 260
I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder masters, of known honour,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,
To keep my name ungor'd. But till that time,
I do receive your offer'd love like love, 265
And will not wrong it.
Ham. I embrace it freely;
And will this brother's wager frankly play.
Give us the foils. Come on.
Laer. Come, one for me. 268
Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes; in mine ignorance
Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night,
Stick fiery off indeed.
Laer. You mock me, sir.
Ham. No, by this hand. 272
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 is 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. 280
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; 284
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. Give me the cups; 288
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. 293
Ham. Come on, sir.
Laer. Come, my lord. They play.
Ham. One.
Laer. No.
Ham. Judgment.
Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit.
Laer. Well; again.
King. Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine; 296
Here's to thy health. Give him the cup.
Trumpets sound; and shot goes off.
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. 300
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. 304
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. 308
Laer. My lord, I'll hit him now.
King. I do not think 't.
Laer. [Aside.] And yet 'tis almost 'gainst my conscience.
Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes. You but dally;
I pray you, pass with your best violence. 312
I am afeard you make a wanton of me.
Laer. Say you so? come on. [They] play.
Osr. Nothing, neither way.
Laer. Have at you now.
In scuffling they change rapiers.
King. Part them! they are incens'd.
Ham. Nay, come, again. [The Queen falls.]
Osr. Look to the queen there, ho!
Hor. They bleed on both sides. How is it, my lord?
Osr. How is it, Laertes?
Laer. Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric; 320
I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.
Ham. How does the queen?
King. She swounds to see them bleed.
Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink, [—O my dear Hamlet! 323
The drink, the drink;] I am poison' d. [Dies.]
Ham. O villainy! 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; 328
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, 332
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. Hurts the King.
All. Treason! treason! 337
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? 340
Follow my mother. King dies.
Laer. He is justly serv'd;
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. 346
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, 349
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; 352
Thou liv'st; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.
Hor. Never believe it;
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane:
Here's yet some liquor left.
Ham. As thou'rt a man, 356
Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have 't.
O good Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me.
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, 360
Absent thee from felicity awhile,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story.
March afar off, and shout within.
What war-like noise is this?
Enter Osric.
Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland, 364
To the ambassadors of England gives
This war-like volley.
Ham. O! I die, Horatio;
The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit:
I cannot live to hear the news from England, 368
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, 373
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
Why does the drum come hither?
Enter Fortinbras, and English Ambassador, with drum, colours, and Attendants.
Fort. Where is this sight?
Hor. What is it ye would see? 376
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 shot 380
So bloodily hast struck?
Amb. The sight is dismal;
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, 384
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
Where should we have our thanks?
Hor. Not from his mouth,
Had it the ability of life to thank you: 387
He never gave commandment for their death.
But since, so jump upon this bloody question,
You from the Polack wars, and you from England,
Are here arriv'd, give order that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view; 392
And let me speak to the yet unknowing world
How these things came about: so shall you hear
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters; 396
Of deaths put on by cunning and forc'd cause,
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall'n on the inventors' heads; all this can I
Truly deliver.
Fort. Let us haste to hear it, 400
And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune;
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me. 404
Hor. Of that I shall have also cause to speak,
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more:
But let this same be presently perform'd,
Even while men's minds are wild, lest more mischance 408
On plots and errors happen.
Fort. Let four captains
Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have prov'd most royally: and, for his passage, 412
The soldiers' music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.
Take up the bodies: such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot. 417
Exeunt marching, after the which, a peal of ordnance are shot off.
Footnotes to Act V
Scene One
S. d. Clowns: low comedians, or, peasants; cf. n.
4 crowner: coroner
sat on: passed on
9 se offendendo; cf. n.
12 branches: divisions [of learning]
13 argal: corruption of ergo, therefore
15 delver: digger
24 quest: inquest
32 even: fellow
37 bore arms; cf. n.
44 confess thyself; cf. n.
59 unyoke; cf. n.
68 Yaughan; cf. n.
stoup: two quart measure
69 In . . . love; cf. n.
71 behove: benefit
75 property of easiness; cf. n.
81 intil: into
84 jowls: dashes
87 o'er-offices: exercises his office over
97 chapless: lacking the lower jaw
mazzard: head
101 loggats; cf. n.
107 quiddities: subtleties
108 quillets: minute distinctions
tenures; cf. n.
110 sconce: head
111 action of battery; cf. n.
113 recognizances; cf. n.
statutes; cf. n.
115 fines; cf. n.
vouchers; cf. n.
116 recoveries; cf. n.
fine: end
119 indentures: mutual agreements
120 conveyance; cf. n.
127 assurance: security; cf. n.
149 absolute: precise
150 by the card: with precision; cf. n.
152 picked: fastidious
154 kibe: chilblain
182 pocky: diseased
189 sore: grievous
190 whoreson: plagued
215 favour: appearance
228 curiously: minutely
231 likelihood: probability
240 flaw: squall of wind
245 estate: rank
250 enlarg'd: extended
251 warrantise: warrant
doubtful: suspicious
255 Shards: fragments of pottery
256 crants: garlands; cf. n.
257 strewments: flowers strewn on a grave
262 peace-parted: departed in peace
272 ingenious: delicately sensitive
277 Pelion; cf. n.
280 wandering stars: planets
285 splenetive: quick-tempered
297 forbear: leave alone
299 Woo't: wilt thou
300 eisel: vinegar; cf. n.
306 burning zone: path of the sun
308 This . . . drooping; cf. n.
311 golden couplets; cf. n.
318 in: in the thought of
319 present push: immediate trial
321 living: lasting
Scene Two
6 mutines: mutineers
bilboes: shackles
9 pall: fail
13 sea-gown; cf. n.
15 Finger'd: pilfered
22 bugs . . . life; cf. n.
23 supervise: perusal
bated: deducted
29 be-netted: ensnared
30 prologue . . . play; cf. n.
33 statists: statesmen
36 yeoman's service: good and faithful service
41 wheaten garland: emblem of peace
42 comma: bond of connection; cf. n.
43 'As'es; cf. n.
47 shriving-time: time for absolution
48 ordinant: controlling
50 model: exact likeness
52 Subscrib'd: signed, or, addressed
impression: i.e., of the seal
53 changeling: substitute
59 insinuation: artful intrusion
61 fell-incensed: cruelly angered
62 opposites: opponents
63 stand . . . upon: vitally concern
65 election; cf. n.
66 angle: fishing-hook
67 cozenage: cheating
78 count: make account of
79 bravery: ostentatious display
84 water-fly; cf. n.
90 mess; cf. n.
chough: small chattering bird (?); cf. n.
109 remember; cf. n.
110 mine ease; cf. n.
112 absolute: perfect
113 differences: distinguishing features
soft: gentle
115 card: directory
118 definement: description
perdition: loss
119 divide inventorially: catalogue
121 yaw: stagger; cf. n.
neither: too
123 great article: large scope
infusion: character imparted by nature
125 semblable: like
126 trace: follow
umbrage: shadow
129 concernancy: meaning
130 more rawer: too unskilled
132 another tongue; cf. n.
134 nomination: naming
142 approve me: commend me
146 compare with: vie with
149 imputation: reputation
meed: merit, worth
150 unfellowed: without an equal
155 imponed: staked
157 assigns: appurtenances
hangers: straps from which a sword is suspended
158 carriages: hangers
159 dear to fancy: unusual in design
responsive: corresponding
160 delicate: finely wrought
liberal conceit: tasteful design
162 margent: commentary
165 german: appropriate
174 twelve for nine; cf. n.
181 breathing time: exercise period
193 lapwing: peewit; cf. n.
197 drossy: frivolous, or, composed of dross, unrefined
198 tune: temper, humor, mood
199 yesty: frothy
201 fond and winnowed; cf. n.
214 In happy time: at an appropriate time
227 gain-giving: misgiving
242 presence: royal assembly
245 exception: disapproval
258 satisfied in nature; cf. n.
263 voice: opinion
264 ungor'd: uninjured
269 foil; cf. n.
271 Stick . . . off: stand out in relief
283 quit; cf. n.
286 union: pearl
289 kettle: kettledrum
301 fat: out of training
302 napkin: handkerchief
313 wanton: spoiled child
316 S. d. cf. n.
322 swounds: swoons
342 temper'd: compounded
350 sergeant: sheriff's officer
355 Roman; cf. n.
367 o'er-crows: overpowers
371 occurrents: incidents
372 solicited: moved; cf. n.
374 flights: troops
378 quarry: heap of slain
cries on havoc: proclaims merciless slaughter (?); cf. n.
392 stage: platform
396 casual: unpremeditated
397 forc'd: unreal
403 rights of memory: ancient claims
406 draw on more: be seconded by others
411 been put on: been put to the proof, tried