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,

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;
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 arrived, give order that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view;
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 judgements, casual slaughters,
Of deaths put on by cunning, and forced cause,

354. First Amb.] 1. E. Cap. Embas. Qq. Amb. Ff.

357, 361. commandment] commandement Qq (commandment, line 357, Q2 Q). command'ment Ff, Rowe, Pope, Theob. White.

360. life] breath Q'76.

362. jump] apt Q'76. full Pope, Theob. i, Han.

363. Polack] Pollack QQ Pollock

QQ5. Polake FF.

364. arrived, give] arriued. FFF, arrived: Give F 4'

355

360

365

370

Give

365. the view] publick view Q'76. 366. to the yet] Cap. to th' yet QQ,Ff, Rowe +. to yet Q2Q3.

368. carnal] cruell QQ, Rowe+, Cap. Jen.

370. deaths] death's F ̧F,.

forced cause] for no caufe Qq, Jen.

359. his mouth] Of course this refers to the King, as WARBURTON long ago pointed out. But, strange to say, THEOBALD referred it to Ham., a noteworthy slip in one of the best editors Sh. ever had, and it is quite as remarkable that the slip escaped the notice of the subsequent Variorum editors, who omitted no chance of making merry over 'poor Tib and his Toxophilus.'

362. jump] See I, i, 65.

368. carnal] MALONE: Of sanguinary and unnatural acts, to which the perpetrator was instigated by concupiscence, or, to use Shakespeare's own words, by 'carnal stings.' Hor. alludes to the murder of old Hamlet by his brother, previous to his incestuous union with Gertrude. A Remarker asks, Was the relationship between the usurper and the deceased king a secret confined to Hor.?' No, but the murder of Hamlet by Claudius was a secret which the young Prince had imparted to Hor., and to him alone; and to this it is he principally, though covertly, alludes.

369, 370. Of accidental ... cause] DELIUS: The first line refers to Pol., the second to Ros. and Guil., whose deaths were forced' on Ham.

And, in this upshot, purposes mistook

371

Fall'n on the inventors' heads. All this can I

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.
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,

375

Fort.

380

Even while men's minds are wild; lest more mischance,
On plots and errors, happen.

Let four captains

Shall always F.

Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;

370. put on] MALONE: Instigated. See Cor. II, i, 272. [See I, iii, 94.] 371. upshot] CLARENDON: This conclusion of the tragedy. In archery the 'upshot' was the final shot, which decided the match. It is used in the same metaphorical sense in Twelfth Night, IV, ii, 76.

376. rights of memory] MALONE: Some rights which are remembered.

379. voice will draw on] THEOBALD: Hor. is to deliver the message given him by Ham., lines 343, 344, and justly infers that Hamlet's 'voice' will be seconded by others.

380. same] COLLIER (ed. ii): The alteration by the (MS) is so much superior to the QqFf in reference to the words 'perform'd' and 'stage,' which occur just afterwards, that we make the change, not only without reluctance, but with thankfulness for the improvement upon the usual tame and unfigurative line. Same' for scene was the easiest possible misprint from carelessly written manuscript.

382. On] CALDECOTT: In consequence of. [See ABBOTT, § 180.]

382. four captains] HUNTER (ii, 266): As may be seen in the monument in Westminster Abbey of Sir Francis Vere, a soldier, who died 1608. This was no doubt at that time the accustomed mode of burial of a soldier of rank.

For he was likely, had he been put on,

To have proved most royally; and, for his passage,
The soldiers' music and the rites of war

385

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.

390

[A dead march. Exeunt, bearing off the bodies;
after which a peal of ordnance is shot off.

385. Two lines. Ff. royally] royall Qq.

386. soldiers'] Souldiours F.

rites] right Qq, Cap. rights

Q'76, Knt.

388. bodies] body Ff, Rowe+, Cald. Knt, Coll. Del. White.

389. amiss] amiffe Qq. amis F1.

ami eff F

390. [A dead march.] Cap.

Exeunt....] Exeunt solemnly,... Cap. Exeunt. Qq. Exeunt Marching: after the which, a Peale of Ordenance are fhot off. Ff (after which, FF. Ordnance, F2FF).

384. put on] CALDECOTT: Put to the proof, tried.

390. MOBERLY: Ham. has gained the haven for which he longed so often; yet without bringing guilt on himself by his death; no fear that his sleep should have bad dreams in it now. Those whom he loved, his mother, Laer., Oph., have all died guiltless or forgiven. Late, and under the strong compulsion of approaching death, he has done, and well done, the inevitable task from which his gentle nature shrank. Why, then, any farther thought, in the awful presence of death, of crimes, conspiracies, vengeance? Think that he has been slain in battle, like his Sea-King forefathers; and let the booming cannon be his mourners.

INDEX TO SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT
NOTES IN THE FIRST VOLUME