* I; O. C.

I. O. C. and so throughout the whole.

But, if't be he I mean, he's very wild;
Addicted so and so;-and there put on him3
What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank
As may dishonour him; take heed of that;
But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips,
As are companions noted and most known
To youth and liberty.

REY.

As gaming, my lord.

b

POL. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling,

Drabbing:-You may go so far.

REY. My lord, that would dishonour him.
POL. 'Faith, no; as you may season it in the
charge.

d

You must not put another scandal on him,
That he is open to incontinency;

That's not my meaning: but breathe his faults so
quaintly,

That they may seem the taints of liberty:
The flash and out-break of a fiery mind;

A

savageness in unreclaimed blood, Of general assault."

Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge.] Manage it, by throwing in some qualifying ingredient.

d another scandal, That he is open to, &c.] A different and a further charge; that he is a professed libertine.

e

• Breathe his faults so quaintly-Of general assault.] Glance with an easy gaiety at his faults, as the mischiefs of too large a range, and the wildness of untamed blood, by which all youth is assailed.

POL.

Marry, sir, here's my drift;

And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant:"
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i'the working,"
Mark you,

d

Your party in converse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes,
The youth you breathe of, guilty, be assur'd,
He closes with in this consequence;'
Good sir, or so; or friend, or gentleman,-
According to the phrase, or the addition,
Of man, and country. (3)

REY.

you

Very good, my lord.

POL. And then, sir, does he this,-He doesWhat was I about to say?-By the mass, I was about to say something:*-Where did I leave?

REY. At, closes in the consequence.

POL. At, closes in the consequence,—Ay,marry; He closes with you thus:-I know the gentleman; I saw him yesterday, or t'other day,

Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you
say,

There was he gaming; there o'ertook in his rouse;
There falling out at tennis: or, perchance,

I saw him enter such a house of sale,
(Videlicet, a brothel,) or so forth.-

See you now;

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,

With windlaces, and with assays of bias,(4)

a

* fetch of warrant] Device approved.

bAs 'twere a thing a little soil'd i'the working] As having in his commerce with the world unavoidably contracted some small blemishes.

• Your party in converse] Puttenham uses much the same phrase: "The common conversant." Arte of Poesie, 4to. 1589, p. 251.

with

closes in this consequence] Something to this effect, falls in
you
into this conclusion.

nothing, 1632.

By indirections find directions out;

So, by my former lecture and advice,

Shall

you my son: You have me," have you not? REY. My lord, I have.

POL.

God be wi'

you; fare you well.

REY. Good my lord,

POL. Observe his inclination in yourself. (5)

POL. Farewell!-How now, Ophelia? What's the matter?

OPH. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted!

POL. With what, in the name of heaven?

ОPH. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd; No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd, Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle; (6) Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other; And with a look so piteous in purport,

As if he had been loosed out of hell,

To speak of horrors, he comes before me.
POL. Mad for thy love?

Орн.

But, truly, I do fear it.

POL.

My lord, I do not know;

What said he?

OPH. He took me by the wrist, and held me hard; Then goes he to the length of all his arm;

• You have me] Take, conceive, me.

And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,
He falls to such perusal of my face,

As he would draw it. Long staid he so;

At last, a little shaking of mine arm,

a

And thrice his head thus waving up and down,—
He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound,
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk,
And end his being: That done, he lets me go:
And, with his head over his shoulder turn'd,
He seem'd to find his way without his eyes;
For out o'doors he went without their helps,
And, to the last, bended their light on me.

POL. Come, go with me; I will go seek the king. This is the very ecstasy of love;

Whose violent property foredoes itself, b
And leads the will to desperate undertakings,

As oft as any passion under heaven,

That does afflict our natures. I am sorry,

What, have you given him any hard words of late?

OPH. No, my good lord; but, as you did com

mand,

I did repel his letters, and denied.

His access to me.

POL.

That hath made him mad.

I am sorry, that with better heed and judgment,
I had not quoted him. I fear'd, he did but

trifle,

(7)

And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew

lousy!

It seems, it is as proper to our age

To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions,
As it is common for the younger sort

my jea

To lack discretion. (8) Come, go we to the king:

his bulk] Frame. See R. III. Clar. I. 4.

foredoes] Brings to a premature end, destroys, V. 1.

Haml.

e beshrew my jealousy] A mischief on! See M. N. Dr. II. 3. Hermia.

This must be known; which, being kept close, might move

More grief to hide, than hate to utter love.

Come.

SCENE II.

[Exeunt.

A Room in the Castle.

Enter King, Queen, ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDEN-
STERN, and Attendants.

KING. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern!

Moreover that we much did long to see you, The need, we have to use you, did provoke Our hasty sending. Something have you heard Of Hamlet's transformation; so I call it, Since not the exterior nor the inward man Resembles that it was: What it should be, then O.C. More than his father's death, that thus hath put

• dream, 4tos.

him

So much from the understanding of himself,

I cannot deeme* of: I entreat you both,

That, being of so young days brought up with

him;

And, since, so neighbour'd to his youth and hu

mour,

That you vouchsafe your rest here in our court
Some little time: so by your companies

the understanding of himself,

I cannot deeme of] The just estimate of himself I cannot judge of, or comprehend.

b neighbour'd to] Close familiarity with.