Hor. E'en so.

Ham. And smelt so? pah! [Throws 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 we find it stopping a bunghole?

Hor. 'Twere to consider too curiously, to consider 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 to 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?

Imperious Cæsar, dead and turn'd to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away:
O, that the 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 Priests, &c., in procession; the corpse of OPHELIA,
LAERTES and mourners following; KING, QUEEN,
their trains, dc.

The queen, the courtiers: who is this they follow?
And with such maimed rites? This doth betoken
The corse they follow did with desperate hand
Fordo its own life: 'twas of some estate.

Couch we a while and mark. [Retiring with HORATIO.
Laer. What ceremony else?

Ham. That is Laertes,

A very noble youth: mark.

Laer. What ceremony else?

1 Priest. Her obsequies have been as far enlarged
As we have warranty: her death was doubtful;
And, but that great command o'ersways the order,
She should in ground unsanctified have lodged
Till the last trumpet; for charitable prayers,
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.

Laer. Must there no more be done?

1 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;

And from her fair and unpolluted flesh

May violets spring!-I tell thee, churlish priest,
A minist'ring angel shall my sister be,
When thou liest howling.

Ham. What, the fair Ophelia!

Queen. Sweets to the sweet: farewell!

[Scattering flowers.

I hoped 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

Fall ten times treble on that cursed head,
Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense
Deprived thee of!-Hold off the earth a while,
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,
To o'ertop old Pelion, or the skyish head
Of blue Olympus.

Ham. [Advancing.] What is he, whose grief
Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow
Conjures the wand'ring 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! [Grappling with him. Ham. Thou pray'st not well.

I prythee, take thy fingers from my throat;
For though I am not splenetive and rash,
Yet have I in me something dangerous,
Which let thy wisdom fear: hold off 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 orare

Ham. Why, I will fight with him upon this theme, Until my eyelids will no longer wag.

Queen. O my son! what theme?

Ham. I loved Ophelia: forty thousand brothers
Could not, with all their quantity of love,
Make up my sum.-What wilt thou do for her?
King. O, he is mad, Laertes.

Queen. For the love of God, forbear him.
Ham. 'Zounds, shew me what thou 'It do:
Woul't weep? woul't fight? woul't fast? woul't tear
Woul 't drink up Esil? eat a crocodile? [thyself?
I'll do 't.-Dost thou come here to whine?
To outface me with leaping in her grave?
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,
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,
When that her golden couplets are disclosed,
His silence will sit drooping.

Ham. Hear you, Sir;

[Exit

What is the reason that you use me thus?
I loved you ever: but it is no matter;
Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.
King. I pray thee, good Horatio, wait upon him.--
[Exit HORATIO.
Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech;
[TO LAERTES

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;
Till then, in patience our proceeding be.

SCENE II-A Hall in the Castle.

Enter HAMLET and HORATIO.

[Exeunt

Fam. So much for this, Sir: now shall you see the You do remember all the circumstance? [other:

Hor. Remember it, my lord!

Ham. Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting, That would not let me sleep: methought I lay Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly,

And praised be rashness for it,-let us know,

Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well,

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,

My sea-gown scarf'd about me, in the dark
Groped I to find out them: had my desire;
Finger'd their packet; and, in fine, withdrew
To mine own room again: making so bold,
My fears forgetting manners, to unseal
Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio,
A royal knavery; an exact command,-

Larded with many several sorts of reasons,

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, My head should be struck off.

Hor. Is 't possible?

A shriving-time allow'd.

Hor. How was this seal'd?

Ham. Why, even in that was heaven ordinant. 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; Subscribed it; gave 't the impression; placed it safely, 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. Ham. Why, man, they did make love to this employThey are not near my conscience; their defeat [ment; Does by their own insinuation grow:

'Tis dangerous, when the baser nature comes Between the pass and fell incensed points

Of mighty opposites.

Hor. Why, what a king is this!

Ham. Does it not, think thee, stand me now upon? He that hath kill'd my king, and whored my mother; 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, 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.

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;

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?

Enter OSRIC.

Osr. Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark. Ham. I humbly thank you, Sir.-[Aside.] Dost know this water-fly?

Hor. No, my good lord.

Ham. [Aside.] 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.

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. Osr. I thank your lordship, 'tis very hot.

Ham. No, believe me, 'tis very cold; the wind is northerly.

Osr. It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed. Ham. But yet, methinks, it is very sultry and hot; or my complexion

Osr. Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry, -as 'twere,-I cannot tell how.-My lord, his majesty bade me signify to you that he has laid a great wager on your head: Sir, this is the matter,

Ham. I beseech you, remember

[HAMLET moves him to put on his hat. Osr. Nay, good my lord; for my 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 shewing: 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.

Ham. Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you-though, I know, to divide him inventorially, would dizzy the arithmetic of memory; and yet but raw 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. 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 another tongue? You will do 't, Sir, really.

Ham. What imports the nomination of this gentleman?

Osr. Of Laertes?

Hor. [As de.] His purse is empty already; all his golden words are spent.

Ham. Of him, Sir.

Osr. I know you are not ignorantHam. I would you did, Sir; yet, 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.

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.

Ham. That's two of his weapons: but, well.

Osr. The king, Sir, hath wager'd with him six Bar bary horses: against the which he has impawned, 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.

Ham. What call you the carriages?

Hor. I knew you must be edified by the margent, ere you had done.

Osr. The carriages, Sir, are the hangers.

Ham. The phrase would be more german to the matter, if we could carry a 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 impawned, 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.

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, it is 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, if I can; if not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd hits. Osr. Shall I deliver you so?

Ham. To this effect, Sir; after what flourish your nature will.

Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship. [Exit. Ham. Yours, yours.-He does well to commend it himself; there are no tongues else for's turn. 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 breed, 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.

Enter a Lord.

Lord. My lord, his majesty commended him to you by young Osric, who brings back to him, that you at tend him in the hall; he sends to know if your pleasure hold to play with Laertes, or that you will take longer time.

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 coming down. Ham. In happy time.

Lord. The queen desires you to use some gentle entertainment to Laertes, before you fall to play. 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. Hor. Nay, good my lord,Ham. It is but foolery; but it is such a kind of gaingiving, as would perhaps trouble a woman.

Hor. If your mind dislike anything, obey it: I will forestal their repair hither, and say you are not fit.

Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury: there is 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, of aught he leaves, knows, what is't to leave betimes? Let be.

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,

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;
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.

Sir, in this audience,

Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil

Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot my arrow o'er the house,
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,
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 ungored. But till that time,

I do receive your offer'd love like love,

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.

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.

King. Give them the foils, young Osric.-Cousin You know the wager?

[Hamlet,

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's 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?
[They prepare to play.

Osr. Ay, my good lord.

King. Set me the stoups of wine upon that table.

If Hamlet gives the first or second hit,

Or quit in answer of the third exchange,

Let all the battlements their ordnance fire;
The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath;

And in the cup a union shall he throw,
Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark's crown have worn.

Give me the cups;

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.

Ham. Come on, Sir.

Laer. Come, my lord.

Ham. One.

Laer. No.

Ham. Judgment.

Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit.

Laer. Well;-again.

[They play.

King. Stay, give me drink.-Hamlet, this pearl is Here's to thy health.-Give him the cup.

[thine;

[Trumpets sound, and cannon shot off within. Ham. I'll play this bout first, set it by a while. Come.-[They play.] Another hit; what say you? Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess.

King. Our son shall win.

Queen. He's fat, and scant o' breath.

Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows: The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.

Ham. Good Madam,

King. Gertrude, do not drink.

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.
Laer. My lord, I'll hit him now.
King. I do not think it.

[LABRTES falls. Laer. It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art slain; No medicine in the world can do thee good; In thee there is not half an hour's 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. 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.

Ham. Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.
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,
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;

Thou livest; report me and my cause nright
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,

The ears are senseless that should give us hearing,
To tell him his commandinent 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 judgments, casual slaughters:
Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause;
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook

Fallen on the inventors' heads: all this can I
Truly deliver.

Fort. Let us haste to hear it,

And call the noblest to the audience.

Glo. I shall, my liege.

ACT I.

SCENE I.-A Room of State in KING LEAR's Palace.

Enter KENT, GLOSTER, and EDMUND.

Kent. I thought the king had more affected the duke of Albany, than Cornwall.

Glo. It did always seem so to us: but now, in the division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes he values most; for equalities are so weigh'd, that curiosity in neither can make choice of either's moiety.

Kent. Is not this your son, my lord?

Glo. His breeding, Sir, hath been at my charge: I have so often blushed to acknowledge him, that now I am brazed to it.

Kent. I cannot conceive you.

Glo. Sir, this young fellow's mother could: wherenpon she grew round-wombed; and had, indeed, Sir, a son for her cradle ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault?

Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being so proper.

Glo. But I have, Sir, a son by order of law, some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account: though this knave came somewhat saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged.-Do you know this noble gen- | tleman, Edmund ?

Edm. No, my lord.

Glo. My lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as my honourable friend.

Edm. My services to your lordship.

Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you better. Edm. Sir, I shall study deserving.

Glo. He hath been out nine years, and away he shall again. The king is coming. [Trumpets sound within. Enter LEAR, CORNWALL, ALBANY, GONERIL, REGAN, CORDELIA, and Attendants.

Lear. Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloster.

[Exeunt GLOSTER and EDMUND Lear. Meantime we shall express our darker purpose. Give me the map there.-Know that we have divided In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent To shake all cares and business from our age; Conferring them on younger strengths, while we Unburden'd crawl toward death.-Our son of Cornwall, And you, our no less loving son of Albany, We have this hour a constant will to publish Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife May be prevented now. The princes, France and Bur Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love, [gundy, Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn, And here are to be answer'd.-Tell me, my daughters, (Since now we will divest us, both of rule, Interest of territory, cares of state,) Which of you, shall we say, doth love us most? That we our largest bounty may extend Where merit doth most challenge it.-Goneril, Our eldest-born, speak first.

Gon. Sir, I

Do love you more than words can wield the matter;
Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour:
As much as child e'er loved, or father found;
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.

[silent
Cor. [Aside.] What shall Cordelia do? Love, aud be
Lear. Of all these bounds, even from this line to this
With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,
We make thee lady: to thine and Albany's issue
Be this perpetual.-What says our second daughter,
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.

Reg. I am made of that self metal as my sister,
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart
I find she names my very deed of love;
Only she comes too short, that I profess
Myself an enemy to all other joys,

Which the most precious square of sense possesson;
And find I am alone felicitate