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Prince. A glooming peace this morning with

it brings;

The fun, for forrow, will not fhew his head : Go hence, to have more talk of these fad things;

Some shall be pardon'd, and fome punished:
For never was a story of more woe,

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo. [Exeunt omnes.

2 Mr. Steevens fays, that this line has reference to the novel from which the fable is taken. Here we read that Juliet's female attendant was banished for concealing her marriage; Romeo's fervant fet at liberty because he had only acted in obedience to his master's orders; the apothecary taken, tortured, condemned, and hanged; while Friar Lawrence was permitted to retire to a hermitage in the neighbourhood of Verona, where he ended his life in penitence and peace.

HAMLET.

a

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Lords, Ladies, Players, Grave diggers, Sailors, Meffengers, and other Attendants,

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The original flory on which this play is built, may be found in Saxo Grammaticus the Danish iftorian. 2. e me who am already on the watch, and have a right to demand the watch-word. 4 Rivals for partners, according to Warburton. Hanmer fays, that by rivals of the watch are meant hose who were to watch on the next adjoining ground. Rivals, in the original fenfe of the word, were proprietors of neighbouring lands, parted only by a brook, which belonged equally to both.

He

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Had made his courfe to illume that part of heaven | Whofe image even but now appear'd to us,
Where now it burns, Marcellus, and myself,

The bell then beating one,

Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway,
Thereto prick'd on by a most emulate pride,

Mar. Peace, break thee off; look where it Dar'd to the combat, in which, our valiant Hamlet comes again!

Enter Ghoft.

Ber. In the fame figure, like the king that's dead.
Mar. Thou art a scholar, speak to it, Horatio.

ratio.

(For fo this fide of our known world esteem'd him) Did flay this Fortinbras; who, by a feal'd compact, Well ratify'd by law, and heraldry,

Did forfeit, with his life, all thofe his lands,

Ber. Looks it not like the king? mark it, Ho-Which he stood feiz'd of, to the conqueror:
(wonder. Against the which, a moiety competent
Was gaged by our king; which had return'd
To the inheritance of Fortinbras,

Hor. Most like it harrows 2 me with fear and
Ber. It would be spoke to.
Mar. Speak to it, Horatio.

[night, time of

Hor. What art thou, that ufurp'ft this
Together with that fair and wartike form
In which the majesty of bury'd Denmark [fpeak.
Did fometime march? By heaven I charge thee,
Mar. It is offended.

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Ber. See! it ftalks away.

Har. Stay; speak; I charge thee, speak.

[Exit Ghef.

Mar. 'Tis gone, and will not answer.
Ber. How now, Horatio? you tremble,
look pale:

Is not this fomething more than phantafy?
What think you of it?

and

Had he been vanquisher; as, by that covenant,
And carriage of the articles defign'd 6,
His fell to Hamlet: Now, fir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimproved 7 mettle hot and full,
Hath in the skirts of Norway, here and there,
Shark'd up a lift of landless refolutes,
For food and diet, to fome enterprize

That hath aftomach 9 in't; which is no other
(As it doth well appear unto our state)
But to recover of us, by strong hand,
And terms compulfatory, thofe forefaid lands
So by his father loft: And this, I take it,

Is the main motive of our preparations;

The fource of this our watch; and the chief Lead

Hor. Before my God, I might not this believe, Of this post-haste and romage 10 in the land.

Without the fenfible and true avouch

Of mine own eyes.

Mar. Is it not like the king?

Hor. As thou art to thyself:

Such was the very armour he had on,
When he the ambitious Norway combated;
So frown'd be once, when, in an angry parle,
He fmote the fledded Polack 3 on the ice.
'Tis ftrange.

[hour,
Mar. Thus, twice before, and juft at this dead
With martial ftalk he hath gone by our watch.
Hor. In what particular thought to work 4,

I

know not; But, in the grofs and scope 5 of mine opinion, This bodes fome ftrange eruption to our state. Mar. Good now, fit down, and tell me, he that knows,

Why this fame ftrict and most obfervant watch

that age,

Ber. I think, it be no other, but even fo:
Well may it fort, that this portentous figure
Comes armed through our watch; fo like the king
That was, and is the question of thefe wars.

Hor. A mote it is, to trouble the mind's eye.
In the most high and palmy 11 ftate of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,

The graves ftood tenantlets, and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman ftreets;
Stars fhone with trains of fire; dews of blood fell;
Difafters 12 veil'd the fun; and the moist star,
Upon whofe influence Neptune's empire ftands,
Was fick almost to dooms-day with eclipfe.
And even the like precurfe of fierce 1s events,-
As harbingers preceding ftill the fates,
And prologue to the omen 14 coming on,—
Have heaven and earth together demonstrated
Unto our climatures and countrymen.-

si. e.

1 i. e. add a new teflimony to that of our eyes. 2 To harrow is to conquer, to fubdue. The word is of Saxon origin. 3 He fpeaks of a prince of Poland whom he flew in battle. Pelack was, in the term for an inhabitant of Poland: Polaque, French. A fled, or fledge, is a carriage made use of in the cold countries. 4 i. e. what particular train of thinking to follow. general thoughts, and tendency at large. Carriage is import: defign'd, is formed, drawn up beteen them. 7 Unimproved, for unrepned. 8 Tofhark up may mean to pick up without diftinction, as the fhark-fith colicets his prey. 9 Stomach, in the time of our author, was used for conftancy, refolution. 10 i. e. tumultuous hurry. 11 Palmy for victorious, flourishing. 12 Difafters is here finely fed in its original fignification of evil conjunction of stars. 13 Fierce, for confpicuous, glaring.

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Re-enter

Re-enter Ghoft.

But, foft; behold! lo, where it comes again!
I'll cross it, though it blaft me.---Stay, illufion!
If thou haft any found, or use of voice,
Speak to me :

If there be any good thing to be done,

That may to thee do ease, and grace to me,
Speak to me:

If thou art privy to thy country's fate,
Which, haply, foreknowing may avoid,
O, fpeak!

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death

The memory be green; and that it us befitted
To bear our hearts in grief, and our whole kingdom
To be contracted in one brow of woe;
Yet fo far hath difcretion fought with nature,
That we with wifeft forrow think on him,
Together with remembrance of ourselves.
Therefore our fometime fifter, now our queen,
The imperial jointress of this warlike ftate,
Have we, as 'twere, with a defeated joy,-
With one aufpicious, and one dropping eye;
With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage,
In equal fcale weighing delight and dole,-
Taken to wife: nor have we herein barr'd
[Exit Ghoft. Your better wifdoms, which have freely gone
With this affair along :-For all, our thanks.

Or, if thou haft uphoarded in thy life
Extorted trenfure in the womb of earth,
For which, they fay, you fpirits oft walk in death,
[Cock crows.
Speak of it :-ftay, and speak.-Stop it, Marcellus.
Mar. Shall I ftrike at it with my partizan ?
Hor. Do, if it will not ftand

Ber. 'Tis here!

Hor. 'Tis here!

Mar. 'Tis gone!

We do it wrong, being fo majeftical,
To offer it the thew of violence;
For it is, as the air, invulnerable,
And our vain blows malicious mockery.

Ber. It was about to speak, when the cock crew.
Hor. And then it started like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful fummons. I have heard,
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn,
Doth with his lofty and thrill-founding throat
Awake the god of day; and, at his warning,
Whether in fea or fire, in earth or air 1,
The extravagant 2 and erring fpirit hies
To his confine 3: and of the truth herein
This prefent object made probation.

Mar. It faded on the crowing of the cock 4.
Some fav, that ever 'gainft that feafon comes
Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated,
This bird of dawning fingeth all night long:
And then, they fay, no fpirit dares ftir abroad;
The nights are wholefome; then no planets itrike,
No fairy takes 5, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and fo gracious is the time.

Hor. So have I heard, and do in part believe it.
But, look, the morn, in ruffet mantle clad,
Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastern hill:
Break we our watch up; and, by my advice,
Let us impart what we have feen to-night
Unto young Hamlet; for, upon my life,
This fpirit, dumb to us, will fpeak to him:
Do you confent we shall acquaint him with it,
As needful in our loves, fitting our duty?

Mur. Let's do't, I pray; and I this morning

know

Now follows,that you know, young Fortinbras,-
Holding a weak fuppofal of our worth;
Or thinking, by our late dear brother's death,
Our state to be disjoint and out of frame,--
Colleagued with this dream of his advantage 6,
He hath not fail'd to pefter us with meflage
Importing the furrender of thofe lands
Loft by his father, with all bands of law,
To our most valiant brother.So much for him.
Now for ourfelf, and for this time of meeting:
Thus much the bufinefs is: We have here writ
To Norway, uncle of young Fortinbras,-
Who, impotent and bed-rid, scarcely hears
Of this his nephew's purpofe,-to fupprefs
His further gait 7 herein; in that the levies,
The lifts, and full proportions, are all made
Out of his fubject:-and we here dispatch
You, good Cornelius, and you, Voltimand,
For bearers of this greeting to old Norway ;
Giving to you no further perfonal power
To bufinefs with the king, more than the fcope
Of thefe dilated articles allows.
Farewel; and let your hafte commend your duty.
Vol. In that and all things will we fhew our

duty.

King. We doubt it nothing; heartily farewel.
[Exeunt Voltimand, and Cornelius.
And now, Laertes, what's the news with you?
You told us of fome fuit; What is't, Laertes? 1
You cannot speak of reafon to the Dane,
And lofe your voice: What would't thou beg,
Laertes,

Where we shall find him most convenient. [Exeunt. That shall not be my offer, not thy asking?

2 i. c. got "It

According to the pneumatology of that time, every element was inhabited by its peculiar order of fpirits, who had dispositions different, according to their various places of abode. 3 Bourne of Newcastle, in his Antiquities of the Common People, informs us, out of its bounds. is a received tradition among the vulgar, that at the time of cock-crowing the midnight fpirits for4 This is a very ancient fuperftition. fake thefe lower regions, and go to their proper places." The meaning is, He goes to war fo indifcreetly, s No fairy frikes with lamenets or difeafes. and unprepared, that he has no allies to fupport him but a dream, with which he is colleagued 1 Gate or gait is here used in the northern fenfe, for proceeding, paluge. articics when dilated.

federated.

or con

8 i. e. the

The

The head is not more native to the heart,
The hand more intti umental to the mouth,
Than is the throne of Denmark to thy father'.
What would'it thou have, Laertes ?

Laer. My dread lord,

Your leave and favour to return to France; [mark,

But, you must know, your father loft a father:
That father loft, lost his 5; and the furvivor bound
In filial obligation, for fome term.

6

To do obfequious forrow: but to persever
In obftinate condolement 7, is a courfe

Of impious stubbornnefs: 'tis unmanly grief :

From whence though willingly I came to Den-It fhews a will moit incorrect ® to heaven;

To fhew my duty in your coronation;
Yet now, I muft confefs, that duty done,

A heart unfortify'd, or mind impatient;

An understanding fimple and uníchool'd:
For what, we know, muft be, and is as common

My thoughts and withes bend again toward France,
And bow them to your gracious leave and pardon. As any the most vulgar thing to fenfe,
King. Have you your father's leave? What Why should we, in our peevish opposition,
Take it to heart? Fie! 'tis a fault to heavent,
A fault against the dead, a fault to nature,
To reason most abfurd, whose common theme
Is death of fathers, and who ftill hath cry'd,
From the first corfe, 'till he that died to-day,

fays Polonius?
[flow leave,
Pal. He hath, my lord, wrung from me my
By labourtome petition: and, at laft,
Upon his will I feal'd my hard confent:

1 do befcech you, give him leave to go.

King. Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be This must be fo. We pray you throw to earth

thine,

And thy best graces frend it at thy wi!!

But now, my coufin Hamlet, and my fon,-
Ham. A little more than kin, and lets than kind 2.

[ide.

This unprevailing woe; and think of us As of a father: for, let the world take note, You are the most immediate to our throne; And, with no lefs nobility 9 of love Than that which dearest father bears his fon, King. How is it that the clouds ftill hang on Do I impart toward you. For your intent you? [fun 3. In going back to school in Wittenberg, Ham. Not fo, my lord, I am too much i' the It is most retrograde to our defire : Qugen. Good Hamlet, caft thy nighted colour off,

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Ham. Seems, madam! nay, it is; I know not 'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,

Nor cuftomary fuits of folemu black,
Nor windy fufpiration of forc'd breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected haviour of the vitage,
Together with all forms, modes, fhews of grief,
That can denote me truly: Thefe, indeed, feem,
For they are actions that a man might play:
But I have that within, which palleth fhow;
Thefe, but the trappings and the fuits of woe.
King. 'Tis tweet and commendable in your na-
ture, Hamlet,

To give thofe mourning duties to your father:

And, we beseech you, bend you to remain
Here, in the chear and comfort of our eye,
Our chiefeft courtier, coufin, and our fon.

Queen. Let not thy mother lote her prayers,
Hamlet;

I pray thee, stay with us, go not to Wittenberg.
Ham. I fhall in all my best obey you, macam.
King. Why, 'tis a loving and a fair reply;
Be as ourfelf in Denmark.-Madam, come;
This gentle and unforc'd accord of Hamlet
Sits fmiling to my heart: in grace whereof,
No jocund health, that Denmark drinks to-day,
But the great cannon to the clouds fhall tell;
And the king's rouze the heaven shall bruit again,
Re-fpeaking earthly thunder. Come, away.
[Exeunt.

Manet Hamlet.

Ham. O, that this too too folid flesh would melt, Thaw, and refolve itself into a dew!

Or that the Everlasting had not fix'd

His canon 12 'gainst felf-flaughter! O God! O God!
How weary, ftale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the utes of this world!
Fie on't! Ofie! 'tis an unweeded garden,

The fenfe is, The head is not formed to be more ufeful to the heart, the hand is not more at the fervice of the mouth, than my power is at your father's fervice. 2 Hanmer obferves. It is not unreafonable to fuppofe that this was a proverbial expreflion, known in former times for a relation fo couiufed and blended, that it was hard to define it. Dr. Johnfon afferts kind to be the Teutonick word for child: Hamlet therefore, he adds, anfwers with propriety, to the titles of coujon and fon, which the king had given him, that he was fomewhat more than coufin, and lefs than Jon. Mr. Steevens fays, that a jingle of the fame fort is found in another oid play, and seems to have been proverbial, as he has met with it more than once. 3 Mr. Farmer questions whether a quibble between fun and fon be not here intended. 4 With lowering eves, cait-down eyes. 3 That is, Your father tot a father, i. e. your grandfather, which left grandfather alfo loft his father. 6 05quicus is here from cheques or funeral ceremonies. 7 Condolement, for forrow.

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8 Incorrect, tor

10 i. e. communicate whatever I can beitow.

9 Notility here means generopty. 11 Refolte means the fame as diffolve. 12 i. e. that he had not reftrained fuicide by his exprets law and peremptory prohibition.

That

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