William Shakespeare

“ Let him goe Gertred, that your father is murdred, T'is true, and we most sory for it, Being the chiefest piller of our state: Therefore will you like a most desperate gamster, Swoop-stake-like, draw at friend, and foe, and all? Lear. To his good friends thus wide I'le ope mine arms, And locke them in my hart, but to his foes, I will no reconcilement but by bloud. king Why now you speake like a most louing sonne: And that in soule we sorrow for for his death, Yourselfe ere long shall be a witnesse, Meane while be patient, and content your selfe. Enter Ofelia as before. ”

“ Come sir, I'le prouide for you a graue,
Who was in life a foolish prating knaue.
Exit Hamlet with the dead body.
Enter the King and Lordes. King Now Gertred, what sayes our sonne, how doe you finde him?
Queene Alas my lord, as raging as the sea:
Whenas he came, I first bespake him faire,
But then he throwes and tosses me about,
As one forgetting that I was his mother:
At last I call'd for help: and as I cried, Corambis
Call'd, which Hamlet no sooner heard, but whips me
Out his rapier, and cries, a Rat, a Rat, and in his rage
The good olde man he killes. ”

“ To tell the secrets of my prison house I would a tale vnfold, whose lightest word Would harrow vp thy soule, freeze thy yong blood, Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular haire to stand on end Like quils vpon the fretfull Porpentine, But this same blazon must not be, to eares of flesh and blood Hamlet, if euer thou didst thy deere father loue. ”

“ King Well sonne Hamlet, we in care of you: but specially in tender preseruation of your health, The which we price euen as our proper selfe, It is our minde you forthwith goe for England, The winde sits faire, you shall aboorde to night, Lord Rossencraft and Gilderstone shall goe along with you. Ham. O with all my heart: farewel mother. King Your louing father, Hamlet. Ham. My mother I say: you married my mother, My mother is your wife, man and wife is one flesh, And so (my mother) farewel: for England hoe. exeunt all but the king. ”

“ Hamlet, before I die, here take my hand,
And withall, my loue: I doe forgiue thee. Leartes dies.
Ham. And I thee, O I am dead Horatio, fare thee well.
Hor. No, I am more an antike Roman,
Then a Dane, here is some poison left.
Ham. Vpon my loue I charge thee let it goe,
O fie Horatio, and if thou shouldst die,
What a scandale wouldst thou leaue behinde?
What tongue should tell the story of our deaths,
If not from thee? O my heart sinckes Horatio,
Mine eyes haue lost their sight, my tongue his vse:
Farewel Horatio, heauen receiue my soule. Ham. dies. ”

“ As he liued, looke you how pale he lookes,
See how he steales away out of the Portall,
Looke, there he goes. exit ghost.
Queene Alas, it is the weakenesse of thy braine,
Which makes thy tongue to blazon thy hearts griefe:
But as I haue a soule, I sweare by heauen,
I neuer knew of this most horride murder:
But Hamlet, this is onely fantasie,
And for my loue forget these idle fits.
Ham. Idle, no mother, my pulse doth beate like yours,
It is not madnesse that possesseth Hamlet. ”

“ God a mercy on his soule. And of all christen soules I pray God. God be with you Ladies, God be with you. exit Ofelia. king A pretty wretch! this is a change indeede: O Time, how swiftly runnes our ioyes away! Content on earth was neuer certaine bred, To day we laugh and liue, tomorrow dead. How now, what noyse is that? A noyse within. enter Leartes. Lear. Stay there vntill I come, O thou vilde king, give me my father: Speake, say, where's my father? king Dead. Lear. Who hath murdred him? speake, i'le not Be juggled with, for he is murdred. Queene True, but not by him. ”

“ Go to a Nunnery goe, why shouldst thou Be a breeder of sinners? I am my selfe indifferent honest, But I could accuse my selfe of such crimes It had beene better my mother had ne're borne me, O I am very prowde, ambitious, disdainefull, With more sinnes at my becke, then I haue thoughts To put them in, what should such fellowes as I Do, crawling between heauen and earth? To a Nunnery goe, we are arrant knaues all, Beleeue none of vs, to a Nunnery goe. ”

“ I haue heard The Cocke, that is the trumpet to the morning, Doth with his earely and shrill crowing throate, Awake the god of day, and at his sound, Whether in earth or ayre, in sea or fire, The strauagant and erring spirite hies To his confines, and of the trueth heereof This present obiect made probation. ”

“ The better, the better, mend it all together: There be fellowes that I haue seene play, And heard others commend them, and that highly too, That hauing neither the gate or Christian, Pagan, Nor Turke, haue so strutted and bellowed, That you would a thought, some of Natures journeymen Had made men, and not made them well, They imitated humanitie, so abhominable: Take heede, auoyde it. players I warrant you my Lord. ”

“ Why a Mason, for he buildes all of stone, And will indure long. Clowne That's prety, too't agen, too't agen. 2. Why then a Carpenter, for he buildes the gallowes, And that brings many a one to his long home. Clowne Prety agen, the gallowes doth well, mary howe dooes it well? the gallowes dooes well to them that doe ill, goe get thee gone: And if any one aske thee hereafter, say, A Graue-maker, for the houses he buildes Last till Doomes-day. Fetch me a stope of beere, goe.
Enter Hamlet and Horatio. ”

“ The faire Ofelia dead!
Queene Sweetes to the sweete, farewell:
I had thought to adorne thy bridale bed, faire maide,
And not to follow thee vnto thy graue.
Lear. Forbeare the earth a while: sister farewell:
Leartes leapes into the graue. Now powre your earth on, _lympus hie,
And make a hill to o're top olde Pellon: Hamlet leapes in after Leartes
Whats he that coniures so?
Ham. Beholde tis I, Hamlet the Dane.
Lear. The diuell take thy soule.
Ham. O thou praiest not well,
I prethee take thy hand from off my throate,
For there is something in me dangerous,
Which
Prince of Denmarke. ”

“ I neuer gaue you cause: but stand away, A Cat will meaw, a Dog will haue a day. Exit Hamlet and Horatio. Queene. Alas, it is his madnes makes him thus, And not his heart, Leartes. King. My lord, t'is so: but wee'le no longer trifle, This very day shall Hamlet drinke his last, For presently we meane to send to him, Therfore Leartes be in readynes. Lear. My lord, till then my soule will not bee quiet. King. Come Gertred, wee'l haue Leartes, and our sonne, Made friends and Louers, as befittes them both, Even as they tender vs, and loue their countrie. Queene God grant they may. ”

“ Why this is braue, that I the sonne of my deare father,
Should like a scalion, like a very drabbe
Thus raile in wordes. About my braine,
I haue heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play,
Hath, by the very cunning of the scene, confest a murder
Committed long before.
This spirit that I haue seene may be the Diuell,
And out of my weakenesse and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such men,
Doth seeke to damne me, I will haue sounder proofes,
The play's the thing,
exit.Wherein I'le catch the conscience of the King.
Enter the King, Queene, and Lordes. ”

“ And therefore sweete Nature must pay his due, To heauen must I, and leaue the earth with you. Dutchesse O say not so, lest that you kill my heart, When death takes you, let life from me depart. Duke Content thy selfe, when ended is my date, Thon maist (perchance) haue a more noble mate, More wise, more youthfull, and one. Dutchesse O speake no more for then I am accurst, None weds the second, but she kils the first: A second time I kill my Lord that's dead, When second husband kisses me in bed. ”

“ Doubt that in earth is fire, Doubt that the starres doe moue, Doubt trueth to be a liar, But doe not doubt I loue. To the beautifull Ofelia: Thine euer the most vnhappy Prince Hamlet. My Lord, what doe you thinke of me? I, or what might you thinke when I sawe this? King As of a true friend and a most louing subiect. Cor. I would be glad to prooue so. Now when I saw this letter, thus I bespake my maiden: Lord Hamlet is a Prince out of your starre, And one that is vnequall for your loue: Therefore I did commaund her refuse his letters, Deny his tokens, and to absent her selfe. ”

“ By my troth me thinkes t'is very colde.
Gent. It is indeede very rawish colde.
Ham. T'is hot me thinkes.
Gent. Very swoltery hote:
The King, sweete Prince, hath layd a wager on your side,
Six Barbary horse, against six french rapiers,
With all their acoutrements too, a the carriages:
In good faith they are very curiously wrought.
Ham. The cariages sir, I do not know what you meane.
Gent. The girdles, and hangers sir, and such like.
Ham. The worde had beene more cosin german to the phrase, if he could haue carried the canon by his side,
And howe's the wager? I vnderstand you now. ”

“ No King on earth is safe, if Gods his foe. exit King. [G2] Enter Queene and Corambis. Cor. Madame, I heare yong Hamlet comming, I'le shrowde my selfe behinde the Arras. exit Cor. Queene Do so my Lord. Ham. Mother, mother, O are you here? How i'st with you mother? Queene How i'st with you? Ham, I'le tell you, but first weele make all safe. Queene Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. Ham. Mother, you haue my father much offended. Queene How now boy? Ham. How now mother! come here, sit downe, for you shall heare me speake. Queene What wilt thou doe? thou wilt not murder me: Helpe hoe. ”

“ But if thou wilt needes marry, marry a foole, For wisemen know well enough, What monsters you make of them, to a Nunnery goe. Ofel. Pray God restore him. Ham. Nay, I haue heard of your paintings too, God hath giuen you one face, And you make your selues another, You fig, and you amble, and you nickname Gods creatures, Making your wantonnesse, your ignorance, A pox, t'is scuruy, Ile no more of it, It hath made me madde: Ile no more marriages, All that are married but one, shall liue, The rest shall keepe as they are, to a Nunnery goe, To a Nunnery goe. ”

“ King This shewes a louing care in you, Sonne Hamlet,
But you must thinke your father lost a father
That father dead, lost his, and so shalbe vntill the
Generall ending. Therefore cease laments,
It is a fault gainst heauen, fault gainst the dead,
A fault gainst nature, and in reasons
Common course most certaine,
None liues on earth, but hee is borne to die. ”

“ Clowne No man sir.
Ham. What woman?
Clowne. No woman neither sir, but indeede
One that was a woman.
Ham. An excellent fellow by the Lord Horatio,
This seauen yeares haue I noted it: the toe of the pesant,
Comes so neere the heele of the courtier,
That hee gawles his kibe, I prethee tell mee one thing,
How long will a man lie in the ground before hee rots?
Clowne I faith sir, if hee be not rotten before
He be laide in, as we haue many pocky corses,
He will last you, eight yeares, a tanner
Will last you eight yeares full out, or nine.
Ham.
Prince of Denmarke Ham. And why a tanner? ”

“ Why what should be the feare? I do not set my life at a pinnes fee, And for my soule, what can it do to that? Being a thing immortall, like it selfe, Go on, ile follow thee. Mar. My Lord be rulde, you shall not goe. Ham. My fate cries out, and makes each pety Artiue As hardy as the Nemeon Lyons nerue, Still am I cald, vnhand me gentlemen; By heauen ile make a ghost of him that lets me, Away I say, go on, ile follow thee. Hor. He waxeth desperate with imagination. Mar. Something is rotten in the state of Denmarke. ”

“ Thus was I sleeping by a brothers hand Of Crowne, of Queene, of life, of dignitie At once depriued, no reckoning made of, But sent vnto my graue, With all my accompts and sinnes vpon my head, O horrible, most horrible! Ham. O God! ghost If thou hast nature in thee, beare it not, But howsoeuer, let not thy heart Conspire against thy mother aught, Leaue her to heauen, And to the burthen that her conscience beares. I must be gone, the Glo-worme shewes the Martin To be neere, and gin's to pale his vneffectuall fire: Hamlet adue, adue, adue: remember me. Exit Ham. O all you hoste of heauen! ”

“ Imperious Cæsar dead and turnd to clay, Might stoppe a hole, to keepe the winde away. Enter King and Queene, Leartes, and other lordes, with a Priest after the coffin. Ham. What funerall's this that all the Court laments? It shews to be some noble parentage: Stand by a while. Lear. What ceremony else? say, what ceremony else? Priest My Lord, we haue done all that lies in vs, And more than well the church can tolerate, She hath had a Dirge sung for her maiden soule: And but for fauour of the king, and you, She had beene buried in the open fieldes, Where now she is allowed christian buriall. ”

“ A looke fit for a murder and a rape, A dull dead hanging looke, and a hell-bred eie, To affright children and amaze the world: And this same haue you left to change with this. What Diuell thus hath cosoned you at hob-man blinde? A! haue you eyes and can you looke on him That slew my father, and your deere husband, To liue in the incestuous pleasure of his bed? Queene O Hamlet, speake no more. Ham. To leaue him that bare a Monarkes minde, For a king of clowts, of very shreads. Queene Sweete Hamlet cease. Ham. ”

“ King Loue? No, no, that's not the cause, Enter King and Some deeper thing it is that troubles him. Corambis. Cor. Wel, something it is: my Lord, content you a while, I will my selfe goe feele him; let me worke, Ile try him euery way: see where he comes, Send you those Gentlemen, let me alone To finde the depth of this, away, be gone. exit King. Now my good Lord, do you know me? Enter Hamlet. Ham. Yea very well, y'are a fishmonger. Cor. Not I my Lord. Ham. Then sir, I would you were so honest a man, For to be honest, as this age goes, Is one man to be pickt out of tenne thousand. ”

“ What, Gilderstone, and Rossencraft, Welcome kinde Schoole-fellowes to Elsanoure. Gil. We thanke your Grace, and would be very glad You were as when we were at Wittenberg. Ham. I thanke you, but is this visitation free of Your selues, or were you not sent for? Tell me true, come, I know the good King and Queene Sent for you, there is a kinde of confession in your eye: Come, I know you were sent for. Gil. What say you? Ham. Nay then I see how the winde sits, Come, you were sent for. Ross. My lord, we were, and willingly if we might, Know the cause and ground of your discontent. Ham. ”

“ And not with such as thou Horatio.
There is a play to night, wherein one Sceane they haue
Comes very neere the murder of my father,
When thou shalt see that Act afoote,
Marke thou the King, doe but obserue his lookes,
For I mine eies will riuet to his face:
And if he doe not bleach, and change at that,
It is a damned ghost that we haue seene.
Horatio, haue a care, obserue him well.
Hor. My lord, mine eies shall still be on his face,
And not the smallest alteration
That shall appeare in him, but I shall note it.
Ham. Harke, they come.
Enter King, Queene, Corambis, and other Lords. ”