Part 8
_Ham._ And smelt so? pah!
[_Gives the skull to HORATIO, who returns it to the grave-digger._]
_Hor._ E'en so, my lord.
_Ham._ To what base uses may we return, Horatio! Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till it find it stopping a bung-hole?
_Hor._ 'Twere to consider too curiously,[27] 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?
Imperial Cæsar,[28] 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![29]
But soft! but soft! aside: Here comes the king, The queen, the courtiers: Who is this they follow? And with such maimèd rites?[30] This doth betoken The corse they follow did with desperate hand Fordo its own life:[31] 'Twas of some estate.[32] Couch we awhile, and mark.
[_Retiring with_ HORATIO, R.H.]
_Enter_ Priests, &c., _in procession; the corpse of_ OPHELIA, LAERTES _and_ Mourners _following_; KING, QUEEN, _their_ Trains, _&c._
_Laer._
(L. _of the grave._)
What ceremony else?
_Ham._ (R.) That is Laertes, A very noble youth.
_1st Priest._
(R. _of the grave._)
Her obsequies have been as far enlarg'd As we have warranty: Her death was doubtful; And, but that great command o'ersways the order,[33] She should in ground unsanctified have lodged Till the last trumpet; for charitable prayers, Shards,[34] flints, and pebbles, should be thrown on her: Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants,[35] Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home Of bell and burial.[36]
_Laer._ Must there no more be done?
_1st Priest._ No more be done: We should profane the service of the dead To sing a _requiem_,[37] and such rest to her As to peace-parted souls.
_Laer._ O, from her fair and unpolluted flesh May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest,[38] A ministering angel shall my sister be, When thou liest howling.
_Ham._ What, the fair Ophelia!
_Queen._
(_Behind the grave_, C. _with the_ KING.)
Sweets to the sweet: Farewell!
[_Scattering flowers._]
I hop'd 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[39] Depriv'd 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,[40] 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.
_Laer._
(L., _leaping from the grave._)
The devil take thy soul!
[_Grappling with him._]
_Ham._ (R.C.) Thou pray'st not well. I prithee, 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._ (C.) Hamlet, Hamlet!
_Ham._ (R.C.) Why, I will fight with him upon this theme Until my eyelids will no longer wag.
_Queen._ O my son, what theme?
_Ham._ I lov'd Ophelia: forty thousand brothers Could not, with all their quantity of love, Make up my sum.--What wilt thou do for her?
_Queen._ O, he is mad, Laertes.
_Ham._ Come, show me what thou'lt do: Wou'lt weep? wou'lt fight? wou'lt fast? wou'lt tear thyself? I'll do't.--Dost thou come here to whine? To outface me[41] 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,[42] Singeing his pate against the burning zone, Make Ossa[43] 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 disclos'd,[44] His silence will sit drooping.
_Ham._ Hear you, sir; What is the reason that you use me thus? I lov'd you ever: But it is no matter; Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew,[45] and dog will have his day.
[_Exit_, R.H.]
_King._ (C.) I pray thee, good Horatio, wait upon him.
[_Exit_ HORATIO, R.H.]
Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son,
[_Exit_ QUEEN, _attended_, R.H.]
Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech;[46]
[_To_ LAERTES.]
We'll put the matter to the present push.-- This grave shall have a living monument:[47] An hour of quiet shortly shall we see; Till then, in patience our proceeding be.
[_The characters group round the grave._]
## SCENE II.--HALL IN THE CASTLE.
_Enter_ HAMLET _and_ HORATIO (R.H.)
_Ham._ But I am very sorry, good Horatio, That to Laertes I forgot myself; For by the image of my cause,[48] I see The portraiture of his.
_Hor._ Peace! who comes here?
_Enter_ OSRIC (L.H.)
_Osr._ Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.
_Ham._ (C.) I humbly thank you, sir.--Dost know this water-fly?[49]
_Hor._ (R.) No, my good lord.
_Ham._ Thy state is the more gracious; for 'tis a vice to know him.
_Osr._ (L.) 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.[50] 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,[51] for my complexion,--
_Osr._ Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry, as 'twere,--I cannot tell how.--But, 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 mine ease, in good faith.[52] Sir, here is newly come to court Laertes; believe me, an absolute gentleman, full of most excellent differences, of very soft society and great showing:[53] Indeed, to speak feelingly of him,[54] he is the card or calendar of gentry,[55] for you shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see.[56]
_Ham._ What imports the nomination of this gentleman?[57]
_Osr._ Of Laertes?
_Ham._ Of him, sir.
_Osr._ Sir, 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.[58]
_Osr._ I mean, sir, for his weapon.
_Ham._ What is his weapon?
_Osr._ Rapier and dagger.
_Ham._ That's two of his weapons: but, well.
_Osr._ The king, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary horses: against the which he has imponed,[59] as I take it, six French rapiers and poignards, with their assigns, as girdle, hangers,[60] or 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.[61]
_Ham._ What call you the carriages?
_Osr._ The carriages, sir, are the hangers.
_Ham._ The phrase would be more german[62] to the matter, if we could carry cannon by our sides.
_Osr._ The king, sir, hath laid, that in a dozen passes between yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits; and it would come to immediate trial, if your lordship would vouchsafe the answer.[63]
_Ham._ How if I answer no?[64]
_Osr._ I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person in trial.
_Ham._ Sir, 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_, L.H.]
_Hor._ (R.) You will lose this wager, my lord.
_Ham._ (C.) I do not think so; since he went into France, I have been in continual practice; I shall win at the odds.[65] 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 gain-giving,[66] as would, perhaps, trouble a woman.
_Hor._ If your mind dislike any thing, obey it:[67] I will forestall 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.
[_Exeunt_, L.H.]
## SCENE III.--ROOM IN THE CASTLE.
KING _and_ QUEEN, _on a dais_, LAERTES (R.), LORDS (R.), LADIES (L.), OSRIC (R.) _and_ Attendants, _with Foils, &c., discovered_ (R.H.); _Tables_ (R. _and_ L.)-- _Flourish of Trumpets._
_Enter_ HAMLET _and_ HORATIO (L.H.)
_King._ Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me.
_Ham._ (_offering his hand to_ LAERTES) Give me your pardon, sir: I have done you wrong; But pardon it, as you are a gentleman. Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd 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._ (R.) I am satisfied in nature, Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most To my revenge. 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.
_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.[68]
_Laer._ You mock me, sir.
_Ham._ No, by this hand.
_King._ Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet, You know the wager?
_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,[69] we have therefore odds.
_Laer._ This is too heavy, let me see another.
_Ham._ This likes me well. These foils have all a length?
_Osr._ Ay, my good lord.
_King._ Set me the stoups of wine[70] upon that table.--
[Pages _exeunt_ R. _and_ L.]
If Hamlet give the first or second hit, Or quit[71] in answer to the third exchange, Let all the battlements their ordnance fire; The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath; And in the cup an union shall he throw,[72] Richer than that which four successive kings In Denmark's crown have worn.
[Pages _return with wine._]
Give me the cup; And let the kettle[73] to the trumpet speak, The trumpet to the cannoneer without, The cannons to the heavens, the heaven 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.
[_They play._]
_Ham._ One.
_Laer._ No.
_Ham._ Judgment.
_Osr._ A hit, a very palpable hit.
_Laer._ Well:--again.
_King._ Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine;
[_Drops poison into the goblet._]
Here's to thy health.
[_Pretends to drink._] [_Trumpets sound; and cannon shot off within._]
Give him the cup.
_Ham._ I'll play this bout first; set it by awhile.
[Page _places the goblet on table_, L.]
Come. Another hit; What say you?
[_They play._]
_Laer._ A touch, a touch, I do confess.
_King._ Our son shall win.
_Queen._ The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.[74]
_Ham._ Good madam!----
[_Trumpets sound._]
_King._ Gertrude, do not drink.
_Queen._ I have, my lord; I pray you, pardon me.
_King._ It is the poison'd cup; it is too late.
[_Aside._]
_Laer._ I'll hit him now And yet it is almost against my conscience.
[_Aside._]
_Ham._ Come, for the third, Laertes: You do but dally; I pray you, pass with your best violence; I am afeard you make a wanton of me.[75]
_Laer._ Say you so? come on.
[_They play._]
[LAERTES _wounds_ HAMLET; _then, in scuffling they change Rapiers, and_ HAMLET _wounds_ LAERTES.]
_King._ Part them; they are incensed.
_Ham._ Nay, come, again.
[_The_ QUEEN _falls back in her chair._]
_Osr._
(_Supporting_ LAERTES, R.)
Look to the queen there, ho!
_Hor._
(_Supporting_ HAMLET, L.)
How is it, my lord?
_Osr._ How is't, Laertes?
_Laer._ Why, as a woodcock to my own springe,[76] Osric; I am justly killed with mine own treachery.
_Ham._ How does the queen?
_King._ She swoons to see them bleed.
_Queen._ No, no, the drink, the drink,--O, my dear Hamlet,-- The drink, the drink! I am poison'd.
[_The_ QUEEN _is conveyed off the stage by her attendant_ Ladies, _in a dying state_, L.H.U.E.]
_Ham._ O villainy! Ho! let the doors be lock'd: Treachery! seek it out.
[LAERTES _falls._]
_Laer._ (R.) 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:[77] the foul practice[78] 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. Here, thou incestuous, murd'rous, damnèd Dane, Follow my mother.
[_Stabs the_ KING, _who is borne away by his attendants, mortally wounded_, R.H.U.E.]
_Laer._ He is justly serv'd; Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet: Mine and my father's death come not upon thee, Nor thine on me!
[_Dies._]
_Ham._ (C.) Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee. 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,[79] Is strict in his arrest), O, I could tell you,-- But let it be. Horatio, Report me and my cause aright To the unsatisfied.
_Hor._ (L.) Never believe it: I am more an antique Roman than a Dane: Here's yet some liquor left.
[_Seizing the goblet on table_, L.]
_Ham._ As thou'rt a man,-- Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have it.
[_Dashes the goblet away._]
O good Horatio, what a wounded name, Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me![80] If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, Absènt thee from felicity awhile, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, To tell my story.-- O, I die, Horatio; The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit;[81] The rest is silence.
[_Dies_, C., OSRIC _on his_ R., _and_ HORATIO _on his_ L.]
_Dead March afar off._
_Curtain slowly descends._
THE END.
Notes
## Act V
[Footnote V.1: _Enter two Clowns_,] These characters are not in the original story, but are introduced by Shakespeare.]
[Footnote V.2: _Make her grave straight:_] _i.e._, straightways, forthwith.]
[Footnote V.3: _The crowner_] A corruption of coroner.]
[Footnote V.4: _It must be se offendendo_;] A confusion of things as well as of terms: used for _se defendendo_, a finding of the jury in justifiable homicide.]
[Footnote V.5: _To act, to do, and to perform:_] Warburton says, this is ridicule on scholastic divisions without distinction, and of distinctions without difference.]
[Footnote V.6: _Argal_,] A corruption of the Latin word, _ergo, therefore_.]
[Footnote V.7: _Delver._] _i.e._, a digger, one that opens the ground with a spade.]
[Footnote V.8: _If the man go to this water,--it is, will he, nill he, he goes_,] Still floundering and confounding himself. He means to represent it as a _wilful_ act, and of course without any mixture of _nill_ or nolens in] it. Had he gone, as stated, whether he _would or not_, it would not have been of his own accord, or his act.]
[Footnote V.9: _Crowner's-quest law._] Crowner's-quest is a vulgar corruption of coroner's inquest.]
[Footnote V.10: _Why, there thou say'st_] Say'st something, speak'st to the purpose.]
[Footnote V.11: _More than their even christian._] An old English expression for fellow-christian.]
[Footnote V.12: _Was he a gentleman?_] Mr. Douce says this is intended as a ridicule upon heraldry.]
[Footnote V.13: _Confess thyself----_] Admit, or by acknowledgment pass sentence upon thyself, as a simpleton? "Confess, and be hanged," was a proverbial sentence.]
[Footnote V.14: _Tell me that, and unyoke._] Unravel this, and your day's work is done, your team may then unharness.]
[Footnote V.15: _Cudgel thy brains no more about it_;] _i.e._, beat about thy brains no more.]
[Footnote V.16: _A stoup of liquor._] A stoup is a jug.]
[Footnote V.17: _In youth, when I did love, did love._] The three stanzas sung here by the Grave-Digger, are extracted, with a slight variation, from a little poem called _The Aged Lover renounceth Love_, written by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, who was beheaded in 1547. The song is to be found in Dr. Percy's _Reliques of Ancient English Poetry_.]
[Footnote V.18: _The hand of little employment hath the daintier sense._] _i.e._, its "palm less dulled or staled."]
[Footnote V.19: _But to play at loggats with them?_] A _loggat_ is a small _log_, or piece of wood; a diminutive from _log_. Hence _loggats_, as the name of an old game among the common people, and one of those forbidden by a statute of the 33rd of Henry VIII. A stake was fixed into the ground, and those who played threw _loggats_ at it.]
[Footnote V.20: _For and a shrouding sheet:_] For and is an ancient expression, answering to _and eke, and likewise_.]
[Footnote V.21: _Where be his quiddits now, his quillets_,] Quiddits are subtilties; quillets are nice and frivolous distinctions.]
[Footnote V.22: _Knock him about the sconce_] _i.e._, head.]
[Footnote V.23: _How absolute the knave is!_] Peremptory, strictly and tyrannously precise.]
[Footnote V.24: _We must speak by the card_,] The _card_ is the mariner's compass. Properly the paper on which the points of the wind are marked. Hence, _to speak by the card_, meant to speak with great exactness; true to a point.]
[Footnote V.25: _The very day that young Hamlet was born_,] It would appear by this that Hamlet was thirty years old, and knew Yorick well, who had been dead twenty-two years.]
[Footnote V.26: _Favour_] Feature, countenance, or complexion.]
[Footnote V.27: _'Twere to consider too curiously_,] Be pressing the argument with too much critical nicety, to dwell upon mere possibilities.]
[Footnote V.28: _Imperial Cæsar_,] In some edition it is _imperious_ Cæsar. Imperious was a more ancient term, signifying the same as imperial.]
[Footnote V.29: _The winter's flaw!_] _i.e._, winter's blast.]
[Footnote V.30: _Maimèd rites?_] Curtailed, imperfect.]
[Footnote V.31: _Fordo its own life:_] Destroy.]
[Footnote V.32: _'Twas of some estate._] _i.e._, of rank or station.]
[Footnote V.33: _Command o'ersways the order_,] The course which ecclesiastical rules prescribe.]
[Footnote V.34: _Shards_,] _i.e._, broken pots or tiles.]
[Footnote V.35: _Virgin crants_,] _i.e._, virgin garlands. Nares, in his Glossary, says that _crants_ is a German word, and probably Icelandic.]
[Footnote V.36: _Bringing home of bell and burial_,] Conveying to her last home with these accustomed forms of the church, and this sepulture in consecrated ground.]
[Footnote V.37: _A requiem_,] A mass performed in Popish churches for the rest of the soul of a person deceased.]
[Footnote V.38: _Churlish priest_,] Churlish is, figuratively, ill-humoured, ill-bred, uncourtly, "rustic and rude."]
[Footnote V.39: _Ingenious sense_] Life and sense.]
[Footnote V.40: _To o'ertop old Pelion_,] Pelion is one of a lofty range of mountains in Thessaly. The giants, in their war with the gods, are said to have attempted to heap Ossa and Olympus on Pelion, in order to scale Heaven.]
[Footnote V.41: _Outface me_] _i.e._, brave me.]
[Footnote V.42: _Our ground_,] The earth about us.]
[Footnote V.43: _Ossa_] A celebrated mountain in Thessaly, connected with Pelion, and in the neighbourhood of Mount Olympus.]
[Footnote V.44: _Her golden couplets are disclos'd_,] To disclose, was anciently used for to _hatch_. A pigeon never lays more than two eggs.]
[Footnote V.45: _The cat will mew, and dog, &c._] "Things have their appointed course; nor have we power to divert it," may be the sense here conveyed.]
[Footnote V.46: _Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech_;] Let the consideration of the topics then urged, confirm your resolution taken of quietly waiting events a little longer.]
[Footnote V.47: _This grave shall have a living monument:_] There is an ambiguity in this phrase. It either means an _endurable_ monument such as will outlive time, or it darkly hints at the impending fate of Hamlet.]
[Footnote V.48: _Image of my cause_,] Representation or character.]
[Footnote V.49: _Dost know this water-fly?_] Dr. Johnson remarks that a _water-fly_ skips up and down upon the surface of the water, without any apparent purpose or reason, and is thence the proper emblem of a busy trifler.]
[Footnote V.50: _All diligence of spirit._] "With the whole bent of my mind." A happy phraseology; in ridicule, at the same time that it was in conformity with the style of the airy, affected insect that was playing round him.]
[Footnote V.51: _Very sultry and hot_,] Hamlet is here playing over the same farce with Osric which he had formerly done with Polonius. The idea of this scene is evidently suggested by Juvenal.]
[Footnote V.52: _For mine ease, in good faith._] From contemporary authors this appears to have been the ordinary language of courtesy in our author's own time.]
[Footnote V.53: _An absolute--a great showing:_] A finished gentleman, full of various accomplishments, of gentle manners, and very imposing appearance.]
[Footnote V.54: _To speak feelingly of him_,] With insight and intelligence.
[Footnote V.55: _Card or calendar of gentry_,] The card by which a gentleman is to direct his course; the calendar by which he is to choose his time, that what he does may be both excellent and seasonable.]
[Footnote V.56: _The continent of what part a gentleman would see._] The word continent in this sense is frequently used by Shakespeare; _i.e._, you shall find him _containing_ and _comprising_ every quality which a _gentleman_ would desire to _contemplate_ for imitation.]
[Footnote V.57: _What imports the nomination, &c._] What is the object of the introduction of this gentleman's name?]
[Footnote V.58: _I dare not--lest I should compare--were to know himself._] No one can have a perfect conception of the measure of another's excellence, unless he shall himself come up to that standard. Dr. Johnson says, I dare not pretend to know him, lest I should pretend to an equality: no man can completely know another, but by knowing himself, which is the utmost extent of human wisdom.]
[Footnote V.59: _He has imponed_,] _i.e._, to lay down as a stake or wager. Impono.]
[Footnote V.60: _Hangers_,] That part of the girdle or belt by which the swords were suspended was, in our poet's time, called the _hangers_.]
[Footnote V.61: _Very dear to fancy--very liberal conceit._] Of exquisite invention, well adapted to their hilts, and in their conception rich and high fashioned.]
[Footnote V.62: _More german_] More a-kin.]
[Footnote V.63: _Vouchsafe the answer._] Condescend to answer, or meet his wishes.]
[Footnote V.64: _How if I answer, no?_] Reply.]
[Footnote V.65: _I shall win at the odds._] I shall succeed with the advantage that I am allowed.]
[Footnote V.66: _Gain-giving_,] Misgiving.]
[Footnote V.67: _If your mind, &c._] If you have any presentiment of evil, yield to its suggestion.]
[Footnote V.68: _Like a star i'the darkest night, stick fiery off_] Be made by the strongest relief to stand brightly prominent.]
[Footnote V.69: _Better'd_,] He stands higher in estimation.]
[Footnote V.70: _Stoups of wine_] Flagons of wine.]