Enter two Sentinels-[first,] Francisco, [who paces up and down at his post; then] Bernardo, [who approaches him]. Nay, answer me. Stand and unfold yourself. Long live the King! You come most carefully upon your hour. 'Tis now struck twelve.
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Get thee to bed, Francisco. For this relief much thanks. 'Tis bitter cold, And I am sick at heart.
![Hamlet Line By Line Translation Hamlet Line By Line Translation](http://img13.deviantart.net/faec/i/2012/141/a/c/hamlet_with_synesthesia_by_thegizmocalamity-d50mdki.png)
Buy the Kobo ebook Book Hamlet, with line numbers by William Shakespeare at Indigo.ca, Canada's largest bookstore. + Get Free Shipping on Entertainment books over $25! [Enter Claudius, King of Denmark, Gertrude the Queen, Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes and his sister Ophelia, [Voltemand, Cornelius,] Lords Attendant. Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death. The memory be green, and that it us befitted. To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom. To be contracted in.
Have you had quiet guard? Not a mouse stirring. Well, good night. If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus, The rivals of my watch, bid them make haste. 15 Enter Horatio and Marcellus. I think I hear them. Who is there?
![Hamlet Ebook With Line Numbers Hamlet Ebook With Line Numbers](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31YsZGE2pDL._SY445_QL70_.jpg)
Friends to this ground. And liegemen to the Dane. Give you good night. O, farewell, honest soldier. Who hath reliev'd you?
Bernardo hath my place. Give you good night. Holla, Bernardo! Say- What, is Horatio there?
A piece of him. Welcome, Horatio. Welcome, good Marcellus. What, has this thing appear'd again to-night? I have seen nothing. Horatio says 'tis but our fantasy, And will not let belief take hold of him Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us.
Therefore I have entreated him along, 35 With us to watch the minutes of this night, That, if again this apparition come, He may approve our eyes and speak to it. Tush, tush, 'twill not appear. Sit down awhile, 40 And let us once again assail your ears, That are so fortified against our story, What we two nights have seen.
Well, sit we down, And let us hear Bernardo speak of this. Last night of all, When yond same star that's westward from the pole Had made his course t' illume that part of heaven Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself, The bell then beating one- 50 Enter Ghost. Break thee off! Look where it comes again! In the same figure, like the King that's dead.
Thou art a scholar; speak to it, Horatio. Looks it not like the King? Mark it, Horatio. It harrows me with fear and wonder. It would be spoke to.
Question it, Horatio. What art thou that usurp'st this time of night Together with that fair and warlike form 60 In which the majesty of buried Denmark Did sometimes march?
By heaven I charge thee speak! It is offended. See, it stalks away! Speak, speak! I charge thee speak! 65 Exit Ghost. 'Tis gone and will not answer.
How now, Horatio? You tremble and look pale. Is not this something more than fantasy?
What think you on't? Before my God, I might not this believe Without the sensible and true avouch Of mine own eyes. Is it not like the King? As thou art to thyself. 75 Such was the very armour he had on When he th' ambitious Norway combated. So frown'd he once when, in an angry parle, He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice. 'Tis strange.
Thus twice before, and jump at this dead hour, With martial stalk hath he gone by our watch. In what particular thought to work I know not; But, in the gross and scope of my opinion, This bodes some strange eruption to our state. Good now, sit down, and tell me he that knows, Why this same strict and most observant watch So nightly toils the subject of the land, And why such daily cast of brazen cannon And foreign mart for implements of war; 90 Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task Does not divide the Sunday from the week. What might be toward, that this sweaty haste Doth make the night joint-labourer with the day? Who is't that can inform me? At least, the whisper goes so.
[Enter Claudius, King of Denmark, Gertrude the Queen, Hamlet, Polonius, Laertes and his sister Ophelia, [Voltemand, Cornelius,] Lords Attendant. Though yet of Hamlet our dear brother's death The memory be green, and that it us befitted To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom To be contracted in one brow of woe, Yet so far hath discretion fought with nature 205 That we with wisest sorrow think on him Together with remembrance of ourselves. Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, Th' imperial jointress to this warlike state, Have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy, 210 With an auspicious, and a dropping eye, With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage, In equal scale weighing delight and dole, Taken to wife; nor have we herein barr'd Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone 215 With this affair along. For all, our thanks. Now follows, that you know, young Fortinbras, Holding a weak supposal of our worth, Or thinking by our late dear brother's death Our state to be disjoint and out of frame, 220 Colleagued with this dream of his advantage, He hath not fail'd to pester us with message Importing the surrender of those lands Lost by his father, with all bands of law, To our most valiant brother.
So much for him. 225 Now for ourself and for this time of meeting. Thus much the business is: we have here writ To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras, Who, impotent and bedrid, scarcely hears Of this his nephew's purpose, to suppress 230 His further gait herein, in that the levies, The lists, and full proportions are all made Out of his subject; and we here dispatch You, good Cornelius, and you, Voltemand, For bearers of this greeting to old Norway, 235 Giving to you no further personal power To business with the King, more than the scope Of these dilated articles allow. [Gives a paper.] Farewell, and let your haste commend your duty.
[with Voltemand] In that, and all things, will we show our duty. We doubt it nothing.
Heartily farewell. [Exeunt Voltemand and Cornelius.] And now, Laertes, what's the news with you? You told us of some suit. What is't, Laertes? You cannot speak of reason to the Dane 245 And lose your voice. What wouldst thou beg, Laertes, That shall not be my offer, not thy asking? The head is not more native to the heart, The hand more instrumental to the mouth, Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father.
250 What wouldst thou have, Laertes? My dread lord, Your leave and favour to return to France; From whence though willingly I came to Denmark To show my duty in your coronation, 255 Yet now I must confess, that duty done, My thoughts and wishes bend again toward France And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon. Have you your father's leave? What says Polonius? He hath, my lord, wrung from me my slow leave 260 By laboursome petition, and at last Upon his will I seal'd my hard consent.
I do beseech you give him leave to go. Take thy fair hour, Laertes.
Time be thine, And thy best graces spend it at thy will! 265 But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son- •.
[aside] A little more than kin, and less than kind! How is it that the clouds still hang on you?
Not so, my lord. I am too much i' th' sun. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off, 270 And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark. Do not for ever with thy vailed lids Seek for thy noble father in the dust. Thou know'st 'tis common. All that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.
Ay, madam, it is common. If it be, Why seems it so particular with thee? Seems, madam, Nay, it is. I know not 'seems.' 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, 280 Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected havior of the visage, Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, 285 'That can denote me truly. These indeed seem, For they are actions that a man might play; But I have that within which passeth show- These but the trappings and the suits of woe.
'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet, 290 To give these mourning duties to your father; But you must know, your father lost a father; That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound In filial obligation for some term To do obsequious sorrow. But to persever 295 In obstinate condolement is a course Of impious stubbornness. 'Tis unmanly grief; It shows a will most incorrect to heaven, A heart unfortified, a mind impatient, An understanding simple and unschool'd; 300 For what we know must be, and is as common As any the most vulgar thing to sense, Why should we in our peevish opposition Take it to heart? 'tis a fault to heaven, A fault against the dead, a fault to nature, 305 To reason most absurd, whose common theme Is death of fathers, and who still hath cried, From the first corse till he that died to-day, 'This must be so.' We pray you throw to earth This unprevailing woe, and think of us 310 As of a father; for let the world take note You are the most immediate to our throne, And with no less nobility of love Than that which dearest father bears his son Do I impart toward you. For your intent 315 In going back to school in Wittenberg, It is most retrograde to our desire; And we beseech you, bend you to remain Here in the cheer and comfort of our eye, Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son.
Let not thy mother lose her prayers, Hamlet. I pray thee stay with us, go not to Wittenberg. I shall in all my best obey you, madam.
Why, 'tis a loving and a fair reply. Be as ourself in Denmark. 325 This gentle and unforc'd accord of Hamlet Sits smiling to my heart; in grace whereof, No jocund health that Denmark drinks to-day But the great cannon to the clouds shall tell, And the King's rouse the heaven shall bruit again, 330 Respeaking earthly thunder. Exeunt all but Hamlet. O that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd 335 His canon 'gainst self-slaughter! How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world!
'Tis an unweeded garden That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature 340 Possess it merely. That it should come to this! But two months dead! Nay, not so much, not two.
So excellent a king, that was to this Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother That he might not beteem the winds of heaven 345 Visit her face too roughly. Heaven and earth! Must I remember? Why, she would hang on him As if increase of appetite had grown By what it fed on; and yet, within a month- Let me not think on't! Frailty, thy name is woman!- 350 A little month, or ere those shoes were old With which she followed my poor father's body Like Niobe, all tears- why she, even she (O God! A beast that wants discourse of reason Would have mourn'd longer) married with my uncle; 355 My father's brother, but no more like my father Than I to Hercules. Within a month, Ere yet the salt of most unrighteous tears Had left the flushing in her galled eyes, She married.
O, most wicked speed, to post 360 With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! It is not, nor it cannot come to good. But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue! Enter Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo. Hail to your lordship! I am glad to see you well.
Horatio!- or I do forget myself. The same, my lord, and your poor servant ever. Sir, my good friend- I'll change that name with you. And what make you from Wittenberg, Horatio? 370 Marcellus? My good lord! I am very glad to see you.- [To Bernardo] Good even, sir.- But what, in faith, make you from Wittenberg?
A truant disposition, good my lord. I would not hear your enemy say so, Nor shall you do my ear that violence To make it truster of your own report Against yourself. I know you are no truant. But what is your affair in Elsinore?
380 We'll teach you to drink deep ere you depart. My lord, I came to see your father's funeral. I prithee do not mock me, fellow student. I think it was to see my mother's wedding. Indeed, my lord, it followed hard upon.
Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral bak'd meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables. Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio! My father- methinks I see my father. O, where, my lord? In my mind's eye, Horatio. I saw him once.
He was a goodly king. He was a man, take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight. My lord, the King your father. The King my father? Season your admiration for a while 400 With an attent ear, till I may deliver Upon the witness of these gentlemen, This marvel to you.
For God's love let me hear! Two nights together had these gentlemen 405 (Marcellus and Bernardo) on their watch In the dead vast and middle of the night Been thus encount'red. A figure like your father, Armed at point exactly, cap-a-pe, Appears before them and with solemn march 410 Goes slow and stately by them. Thrice he walk'd By their oppress'd and fear-surprised eyes, Within his truncheon's length; whilst they distill'd Almost to jelly with the act of fear, Stand dumb and speak not to him. This to me 415 In dreadful secrecy impart they did, And I with them the third night kept the watch; Where, as they had deliver'd, both in time, Form of the thing, each word made true and good, The apparition comes.
I knew your father. 420 These hands are not more like. But where was this?
My lord, upon the platform where we watch'd. Did you not speak to it? My lord, I did; 425 But answer made it none. Yet once methought It lifted up it head and did address Itself to motion, like as it would speak; But even then the morning cock crew loud, And at the sound it shrunk in haste away 430 And vanish'd from our sight. 'Tis very strange. As I do live, my honour'd lord, 'tis true; And we did think it writ down in our duty To let you know of it.
Indeed, indeed, sirs. But this troubles me.
Hold you the watch to-night? [with Bernardo] We do, my lord. Arm'd, say you? [with Bernardo] Arm'd, my lord. From top to toe?
[with Bernardo] My lord, from head to foot. Then saw you not his face? O, yes, my lord! He wore his beaver up.
What, look'd he frowningly. A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. Nay, very pale. And fix'd his eyes upon you? Most constantly.
I would I had been there. It would have much amaz'd you. Very like, very like. Stay'd it long? While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred. [with Bernardo] Longer, longer. Not when I saw't.
His beard was grizzled- no? It was, as I have seen it in his life, A sable silver'd. I will watch to-night. 460 Perchance 'twill walk again. I warr'nt it will.
If it assume my noble father's person, I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all, 465 If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight, Let it be tenable in your silence still; And whatsoever else shall hap to-night, Give it an understanding but no tongue. I will requite your loves. So, fare you well. 470 Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve, I'll visit you. Our duty to your honour.
Your loves, as mine to you. [Exeunt [all but Hamlet].] 475 My father's spirit- in arms? All is not well. I doubt some foul play.
Would the night were come! Till then sit still, my soul. Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes. Enter Laertes and Ophelia. My necessaries are embark'd. And, sister, as the winds give benefit And convoy is assistant, do not sleep, But let me hear from you. Do you doubt that?
For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favour, Hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood; A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent- sweet, not lasting; 490 The perfume and suppliance of a minute; No more. No more but so? Think it no more. For nature crescent does not grow alone 495 In thews and bulk; but as this temple waxes, The inward service of the mind and soul Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now, And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch The virtue of his will; but you must fear, 500 His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own; For he himself is subject to his birth. He may not, as unvalued persons do, Carve for himself, for on his choice depends The safety and health of this whole state, 505 And therefore must his choice be circumscrib'd Unto the voice and yielding of that body Whereof he is the head.
Then if he says he loves you, It fits your wisdom so far to believe it As he in his particular act and place 510 May give his saying deed; which is no further Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal. Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain If with too credent ear you list his songs, Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open 515 To his unmast'red importunity. Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister, And keep you in the rear of your affection, Out of the shot and danger of desire. The chariest maid is prodigal enough 520 If she unmask her beauty to the moon. Virtue itself scopes not calumnious strokes.
The canker galls the infants of the spring Too oft before their buttons be disclos'd, And in the morn and liquid dew of youth 525 Contagious blastments are most imminent. Be wary then; best safety lies in fear. Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.
I shall th' effect of this good lesson keep As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother, 530 Do not as some ungracious pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads And recks not his own rede. O, fear me not! [Enter Polonius. ] I stay too long. But here my father comes.
A double blessing is a double grace; Occasion smiles upon a second leave. Yet here, Laertes?
Aboard, aboard, for shame! The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail, And you are stay'd for. There- my blessing with thee! And these few precepts in thy memory Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, 545 Nor any unproportion'd thought his act. Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar: Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel; But do not dull thy palm with entertainment 550 Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade. Beware Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in, Bear't that th' opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice; Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. 555 Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy; For the apparel oft proclaims the man, And they in France of the best rank and station Are most select and generous, chief in that. 560 Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. This above all- to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, 565 Thou canst not then be false to any man. My blessing season this in thee! Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.
The time invites you. Go, your servants tend. Farewell, Ophelia, and remember well 570 What I have said to you. 'Tis in my memory lock'd, And you yourself shall keep the key of it. What is't, Ophelia, he hath said to you?
So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet. Marry, well bethought! 'Tis told me he hath very oft of late Given private time to you, and you yourself Have of your audience been most free and bounteous. 580 If it be so- as so 'tis put on me, And that in way of caution- I must tell you You do not understand yourself so clearly As it behooves my daughter and your honour. What is between you? Give me up the truth.
He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders Of his affection to me. You speak like a green girl, Unsifted in such perilous circumstance. Do you believe his tenders, as you call them? I do not know, my lord, what I should think, •. Marry, I will teach you!
Think yourself a baby That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay, Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly, Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase, 595 Running it thus) you'll tender me a fool.
My lord, he hath importun'd me with love In honourable fashion. Ay, fashion you may call it. Go to, go to! And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord, 600 With almost all the holy vows of heaven. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks! I do know, When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul Lends the tongue vows. These blazes, daughter, Giving more light than heat, extinct in both 605 Even in their promise, as it is a-making, You must not take for fire.
From this time Be something scanter of your maiden presence. Set your entreatments at a higher rate Than a command to parley.
For Lord Hamlet, 610 Believe so much in him, that he is young, And with a larger tether may he walk Than may be given you. In few, Ophelia, Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers, Not of that dye which their investments show, 615 But mere implorators of unholy suits, Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds, The better to beguile. This is for all: I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth Have you so slander any moment leisure 620 As to give words or talk with the Lord Hamlet. Look to't, I charge you. Come your ways. I shall obey, my lord. Enter Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus.
The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold. It is a nipping and an eager air. What hour now? I think it lacks of twelve. No, it is struck. I heard it not.
It then draws near the season Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk. [A flourish of trumpets, and two pieces go off.] What does this mean, my lord? The King doth wake to-night and takes his rouse, 635 Keeps wassail, and the swagg'ring upspring reels, And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down, The kettledrum and trumpet thus bray out The triumph of his pledge. Is it a custom? Ay, marry, is't; But to my mind, though I am native here And to the manner born, it is a custom More honour'd in the breach than the observance. This heavy-headed revel east and west 645 Makes us traduc'd and tax'd of other nations; They clip us drunkards and with swinish phrase Soil our addition; and indeed it takes From our achievements, though perform'd at height, The pith and marrow of our attribute.
650 So oft it chances in particular men That, for some vicious mole of nature in them, As in their birth,- wherein they are not guilty, Since nature cannot choose his origin,- By the o'ergrowth of some complexion, 655 Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason, Or by some habit that too much o'erleavens The form of plausive manners, that these men Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect, Being nature's livery, or fortune's star, 660 Their virtues else- be they as pure as grace, As infinite as man may undergo- Shall in the general censure take corruption From that particular fault. The dram of e'il Doth all the noble substance often dout To his own scandal. 665 Enter Ghost. Look, my lord, it comes! Angels and ministers of grace defend us! Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, 670 Be thy intents wicked or charitable, Thou com'st in such a questionable shape That I will speak to thee.
I'll call thee Hamlet, King, father, royal Dane. O, answer me? Let me not burst in ignorance, but tell 675 Why thy canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death, Have burst their cerements; why the sepulchre Wherein we saw thee quietly inurn'd, Hath op'd his ponderous and marble jaws To cast thee up again.
What may this mean 680 That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel, Revisits thus the glimpses of the moon, Making night hideous, and we fools of nature So horridly to shake our disposition With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls? 685 Say, why is this? What should we do? Ghost beckons Hamlet. It beckons you to go away with it, As if it some impartment did desire To you alone.
Look with what courteous action It waves you to a more removed ground. But do not go with it! No, by no means! It will not speak. Then will I follow it.
Do not, my lord! Why, what should be the fear?
I do not set my life at a pin's fee; And for my soul, what can it do to that, Being a thing immortal as itself? 700 It waves me forth again. I'll follow it. What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord, Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff That beetles o'er his base into the sea, And there assume some other, horrible form 705 Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason And draw you into madness? The very place puts toys of desperation, Without more motive, into every brain That looks so many fadoms to the sea 710 And hears it roar beneath. It waves me still.
I'll follow thee. You shall not go, my lord.
Hold off your hands! You shall not go.
My fate cries out And makes each petty artire in this body As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve. [Ghost beckons.] 720 Still am I call'd. Unhand me, gentlemen.
By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me!- I say, away!- Go on. I'll follow thee. Exeunt Ghost and Hamlet. He waxes desperate with imagination. Let's follow. 'Tis not fit thus to obey him. To what issue will this come?
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Heaven will direct it. Nay, let's follow him. Enter Ghost and Hamlet. Whither wilt thou lead me? I'll go no further. My hour is almost come, When I to sulph'rous and tormenting flames Must render up myself.
Alas, poor ghost! Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing 740 To what I shall unfold. I am bound to hear. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear. I am thy father's spirit, 745 Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confin'd to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purg'd away.
But that I am forbid To tell the secrets of my prison house, 750 I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hair to stand on end 755 Like quills upon the fretful porcupine. But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list! If thou didst ever thy dear father love- •.
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murther. Murther most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.
Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift 765 As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge. I find thee apt; And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, 770 Wouldst thou not stir in this.
Now, Hamlet, hear. 'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me.
So the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abus'd. But know, thou noble youth, 775 The serpent that did sting thy father's life Now wears his crown. O my prophetic soul!
Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, 780 With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts- O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power So to seduce!- won to his shameful lust The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there, 785 From me, whose love was of that dignity That it went hand in hand even with the vow I made to her in marriage, and to decline Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor To those of mine! 790 But virtue, as it never will be mov'd, Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd, Will sate itself in a celestial bed And prey on garbage. 795 But soft!
Methinks I scent the morning air. Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard, My custom always of the afternoon, Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hebona in a vial, 800 And in the porches of my ears did pour The leperous distilment; whose effect Holds such an enmity with blood of man That swift as quicksilver it courses through The natural gates and alleys of the body, 805 And with a sudden vigour it doth posset And curd, like eager droppings into milk, The thin and wholesome blood.
So did it mine; And a most instant tetter bark'd about, Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust 810 All my smooth body. Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd; Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, Unhous'led, disappointed, unanel'd, 815 No reckoning made, but sent to my account With all my imperfections on my head. Most horrible! If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not. Let not the royal bed of Denmark be 820 A couch for luxury and damned incest. But, howsoever thou pursuest this act, Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven, And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge 825 To prick and sting her.
Fare thee well at once. The glowworm shows the matin to be near And gins to pale his uneffectual fire. Adieu, adieu, adieu! O all you host of heaven! 830 And shall I couple hell? Hold, hold, my heart!
And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee? Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat In this distracted globe. Remember thee? 835 Yea, from the table of my memory I'll wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past That youth and observation copied there, And thy commandment all alone shall live 840 Within the book and volume of my brain, Unmix'd with baser matter. Yes, by heaven! O most pernicious woman!
O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! Meet it is I set it down 845 That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain; At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark. [Writes.] So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word: It is 'Adieu, adieu! Remember me.' I have sworn't.
[within] My lord, my lord! Enter Horatio and Marcellus. Heaven secure him! Illo, ho, ho, my lord!
Hillo, ho, ho, boy! Come, bird, come. How is't, my noble lord? What news, my lord? O, wonderful! Good my lord, tell it. No, you will reveal it.
Not I, my lord, by heaven! Nor I, my lord. How say you then?
Would heart of man once think it? 865 But you'll be secret?
[with Horatio] Ay, by heaven, my lord. There's neer a villain dwelling in all Denmark But he's an arrant knave. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave 870 To tell us this. You are in the right! And so, without more circumstance at all, I hold it fit that we shake hands and part; You, as your business and desires shall point you, 875 For every man hath business and desire, Such as it is; and for my own poor part, Look you, I'll go pray. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. I am sorry they offend you, heartily; 880 Yes, faith, heartily.
There's no offence, my lord. Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio, And much offence too.
Touching this vision here, It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you. 885 For your desire to know what is between us, O'ermaster't as you may. And now, good friends, As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers, Give me one poor request. What is't, my lord? Never make known what you have seen to-night. [with Horatio] My lord, we will not. Nay, but swear't.
In faith, My lord, not I. Nor I, my lord- in faith. Upon my sword. We have sworn, my lord, already. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed. Ghost cries under the stage. Aha boy, say'st thou so?
Art thou there, truepenny? You hear this fellow in the cellarage. Consent to swear. Propose the oath, my lord. Never to speak of this that you have seen. Swear by my sword.
[beneath] Swear. Hic et ubique? Then we'll shift our ground. Come hither, gentlemen, 910 And lay your hands again upon my sword. Never to speak of this that you have heard: Swear by my sword.
[beneath] Swear by his sword. Well said, old mole! Canst work i' th' earth so fast? 915 A worthy pioner! Once more remove, good friends.' O day and night, but this is wondrous strange! And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. 920 But come! Here, as before, never, so help you mercy, How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself (As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on), 925 That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, With arms encumb'red thus, or this head-shake, Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase, As 'Well, well, we know,' or 'We could, an if we would,' Or 'If we list to speak,' or 'There be, an if they might,' 930 Or such ambiguous giving out, to note That you know aught of me- this is not to do, So grace and mercy at your most need help you, Swear.
[beneath] Swear. 935 [They swear.] •. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!
So, gentlemen, With all my love I do commend me to you; And what so poor a man as Hamlet is May do t' express his love and friending to you, 940 God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together; And still your fingers on your lips, I pray. The time is out of joint.
O cursed spite That ever I was born to set it right! Nay, come, let's go together.
First performed between the years 1600-01, first printed in 1603. Throughout Shakespeare's plays, the maintenance of identity is a very common conflict, as it was shown in Macbeth and now in Hamlet. In this play Shakespeare has portrayed young Hamlet to convey the two sides to him; one side shows his insane behaviour towards his family, the other side determines his thoughts of either doing right or wrong according to what he has seen. The play trembles with conflicts: one being identity, which shows all the characters in different disputes of their own. We also see the problems of lack of self-confidence, misjudgement, and betrayal.--Submitted by imran. ~ First performance at the end of 15th century, ~ timeline, death of Elizabeth I and accession of James VI and I. First printing 1603.
One of the more accessible Renaissance/early modern period texts. One constant theme of the English renaissance is the development of personal character and fame. Hamlet is portrayed as being uncertain as to whether he is the prince of the title, or student. Throughout the play Hamlet is presented with choices, of belief, of action, of love, of justice and of conscience. The play is famous for its soliloquies, where Hamlet presents the audience privately with his perceived choices.
The results of his limited choices culminate in the tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.--Submitted by Anonymous ~. I'm writing an essay for a literary criticism class.
I chose a psychoanalytic approach to Hamlet. I'm having trouble finding a thesis in all of my ideas. I want to write about Hamlet's Oedipal complex, because it sticks out like a sore thumb to me. But the way I see it, there are three 'fathers' (Ghost Hamlet, Claudius, and Polonius). I also think the Hamlet has identified a lot with his mother, and that's why he calls his grief and cowardice 'feminine' and compares himself to Fortinbras, who does masculine things in Hamlet's eyes.
He also acts crazy towards Ophelia and thinks the same of her as he does of his mother, and I think there's something there maybe because according to Freud Hamlet needs to project his want for his mother onto another woman, and he does but that also conflicts with the anger for his mother causing the anger towards her. If you can help in any way, please do! Posted By shakespearebtch at Sat 7 Nov 2015, 5:52 PM in Hamlet|| 1 Reply.
(This is extracted from my free and ad-free Hamlet website, which I've been working on for over 20 years. For more, please google for 'Smith's Hyper Hamlet, then see my introductory essay, 'How to Love Hamlet.' ) I Know a Hawk from a Handsaw - Hamlet and the Spanish Armada HAMLET (2.2.387-388} I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw. BERNARDO (1.1.44-47} Last night of all, When yond same star that's westward from the pole Had made his course to illume that part of heaven Where now it burns, The 'pole' is the North Star. 'Westward from the pole' would be 'north-northwest.' Thus 'I am but mad, north-northwest' means that Hamlet is only mad when under the influence of his father's ghost. 'Pole' might also be an allusion to Reginald Pole, who, as Bloody Mary's Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, liked to call himself 'the Pole Star' because he thought of himself as the guiding star about which the English people revolved.
Please see Shakespeare, Breakspear, and Broken Pole (The Prophesy) (Note: I mark my speculations with green italics. The rest is accepted historical fact.) But Reginald Pole died of a broken heart when Queen Mary died and England reverted to Protestantism.
Thirty years later, Queen Mary's widower, King Phillip of Spain sent the Duke of Medina Sidonia with the Spanish Armada to bring England back to the Catholic Church by 'strong hands and terms compulsatory.' But like Hamlet, Medina was but mad north-north-west: when the wind southerly,) he was sane.
On August 8, Saint Dominic's Day, Medina decided that if the wind continued to blow from the south (which it did) he would have to abandon the attack on England. He was unable to recapture the faith of Englishmen by force. He did 'it wrong, being so majestical, to offer it the show of violence, for it is, as the air, invulnerable, and vain blows malicious mockery.' St Dominic had advocated reasoning with heretics to bring them back to the Church by persuasion rather than burning them. The significance of St Dominic's Day was not lost on English Catholics. From the context, 'I know the difference between a hawk and a handsaw' clearly means 'I am in my right mind.'
However, I don't know why Shakespeare used that phrase to denote sanity. It might be related to the following line in Hamlet's instructions to the players: HAMLET (3.2.4)... Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness. In the tempest that had blown his Armada off course, Medina acquired and begat a temperance to abandon his vain blows against England.
Perhaps 'hand' is a pun on 'Armada', similar to 'Fort-in-bras' (near French for 'strong arm'). It is worth noting that Shakespeare took pains to let us know that there had been a 30-year interval between the time old Fortinbras died and the time young Fortinbras came to reclaim those lands by strong hand and terms compulsatory.
There was also a 30-year interval between the time Queen Mary died and the time her widower, Prince Phillip of Spain, sent the Spanish Armada to attempt to reclaim England by strong hand and terms compulsatory. Elsewhere Hamlet alludes to another war to recover lost land, with his cryptic reference to old Jephtha. HAMLET (2.2.418) Am I not i' the right, old Jephthah?... HAMLET (2.2.426)... 'It came to pass, as most like it was, 'As most like it was' sounds like 'so like the king that was.'
BERNARDO (1.1.121-124)).... So like the king that was and is the question of these wars. That is Hamlet's dilemma - whether 'to be or not to be,' like the Ghost, 'so like the king that was and is the question of these wars.' So like so many kings, his father, or old Jephtha. The story of Jephtha, in Judges 11, sounds most like the story of the king that was and is the question of these wars. The Ammonites were preparing for war against Israel to recover land Israel had taken from them, just as young Fortinbras was preparing for war to recover of us, by strong hand and terms compulsatory, those foresaid lands so by his father lost in the fatal duel with old King Hamlet.
Judges 11.12. What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me to fight in my land? Judges 11.13.Because Israel took away my land. Now therefore restore those lands again And you, the judges, bear a wary eye. (5.2.278) Also please see The Memory Be Green - Hamlet in Historical Context The Madness of Hamlet How to Love Hamlet Posted By RayEstonSmithJr at Wed 22 Apr 2015, 1:11 PM in Hamlet|| 0 Replies. I am a college sophomore.
In less than twelve hours I need to submit a 12 page essay about Hamlet. I am supposed to include another work from the course to argue with it. I was thinking Don Quixote. But if I can write a good paper without a second argument i would rather do that than submit a bad one that includes two texts. My problem is that like Hamlet I am indecisive. This is the assignment --The final 10-12 pages, double-spaced, size 12 Times New Roman, including works cited. These will be an argumentative analysis on a topic of your choice.
These will consider two of the texts we cover. I want to write a great paper but I can't decide where to focus it. I was thinking about the idea of madness, how hamlet is relative because it focuses on the individual, Hamlet and queer theory, how it is philosophical, or existential, so on.The problem is I do see hamlet in myself, and this makes it difficult. I am intrigued by the philosophy in Hamlet, what it means to be alive, and so forth. But I am afraid that if I take this route I will not properly analyze the text and I will not have a central argument. The point is I cannot decide or make a thesis statement to save my life right now. I am afraid I will make it a philosophy or psychology maybe even sociology paper.
Any help to get me started on a solid and workable topic would be so deeply appreciated. I am open to ANY ideas. Posted By c_elisabeth at Mon 15 Dec 2014, 2:12 AM in Hamlet|| 0 Replies. 'Time is out of joint' notwithstanding, I'm confused about how time passes in act 1, scene 1. They meet and clearly state that it's 12 midnight. The ghost disappears on account of the rooster crowing, meaning morning is coming soon. While Marcellus mentions (l.158) that around xmas, 'the bird of dawning singeth all night long' - it makes the phenomenon seem as if it is not happening then - as if he's talking about a different time from that of the scene.
By a liberal estimate, the whole scene could take a maximum half an hour, meaning the rooster crowed at 12:30am. Why is time in this night so compressed? Why would none of the characters find it weird, even if Shakespeare wanted for us to feel that time was 'out of joint'? The midnight sun would not be shining on a Denmark during a cold season.
Posted By mattmiklas at Mon 2 Jun 2014, 9:10 AM in Hamlet|| 1 Reply.