Holds such an enmity with blood of man, Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand, Of life, of crown, of queen, at once despatch'd:" No reckoning made, but sent to my account Adieu, adieu, adieu! remember me. 2 [Exit. Ham. O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? at once despatch'd:] Despatch'd, for bereft. 3 Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd;] Unhousel'd is without having received the sacrament. Disappointed, as Dr. Johnson observes, "is the same as unappointed, and may be properly explained unprepared. A man well furnished with things necessary for an enterprise, was said to be well appointed." Unanel'd is without extreme unction. pale his uneffectual fire:] Fire that is no longer seen when the light of morning approaches. And shall I couple hell?-O fye!-Hold, hold, my heart; And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, I'll wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! [Writing. So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;' It is, Adieu, adieu! remember me. I have sworn't. Hor. [Within.] My lord, my lord,- Hor. [Within.] Ham. Heaven secure him! So be it! Mar. [Within.] Illo, ho, ho, my lord! thought. this distracted globe.] i. e. in this head confused with My tables,-] Table-books in the time of our author appear to have been used by all ranks of people. In the church they were filled with short notes of the sermon, and at the theatre with the sparkling sentences of the play. 7 Now to my word;] Hamlet alludes to the watch-word given every day in military service, which at this time he says is, Adieu, adieu! remember me. come, bird, come.] This is the call which falconers use to Nor I, my lord. Hor. Not I, my lord, by heaven. Mar. Ham. How say you then; would heart of man once think it?— But you'll be secret, Hor. Mar. Ay, by heaven, my lord. Ham. There's ne'er a villain, dwelling in all Den mark, But he's an arrant knave. Hor. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave, To tell us this. Ham. Why, right; 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 desire, shall point you;For every man hath business, and desire, Such as it is, and, for my own poor part, Look you, I will go pray. Hor. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. Ham. I am sorry they offend you, heartily; yes, 'Faith, heartily. Hor. There's no offence, my lord. Ham. Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio, And much offence too. Touching this vision here, their hawk in the air, when they would have him come down to them. It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you; Give me one poor request. Hor. We will. What is't, my lord? Ham. Never make known what you have seen to Ham. Upon my sword. Mar. We have sworn, my lord, already. Ham. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed. Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear. Ham. Ha, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there, true-penny? Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage,Consent to swear. Hor. Propose the oath, my lord. Ham. Never to speak of this that you Swear by my sword. Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear. have seen, Ham. Hic & ubique? then we'll shift our ground: Come hither, gentlemen, And lay your hands again upon my sword: Swear by my sword, Never to speak of this that you have heard. Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear by his sword. Ham. Well said, old mole! can'st work i'the earth so fast? A worthy pioneer!-Once more remove, good friends. Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous strange! Ham. And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. But come; Here, as before, never, so help you mercy! That you, at such times seeing me, never shall, Or such ambiguous giving out, to note That you know aught of me:-This do you swear, So grace and mercy at your most need help you! Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear. Ham. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! So, gentlemen, 9 Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!] The skill displayed in Shakspeare's management of his Ghost, is too considerable to be overlooked. He has rivetted our attention to it by a succession of forcible circumstances:-by the previous report of the terrified centinels, by the solemnity of the hour at which the phantom walks, -by its martial stride and discriminating armour, visible only per incertam lunam, by the glimpses of the moon,—by its long taciturnity, by its preparation to speak, when interrupted by the morning cock, by its mysterious reserve throughout its first scene with Hamlet,-by his resolute departure with it, and the subsequent anxiety of his attendants,-by its conducting him to a solitary angle of the platform,—by its voice from beneath the earth,-and by its unexpected burst on us in the closet. Hamlet's late interview with the spectre, must in particular be regarded as a stroke of dramatick artifice. The phantom might have told his story in the presence of the Officers and Horatio, and yet have rendered itself as inaudible to them, as afterwards to the Queen. But suspense was our poet's object; and never was it more effectually created, than in the present instance. Six times |