King.
There's matter in these sighs, these profound heaves;
You must translate; 'tis fit we understand them:
Where is your son?

Queen.
Bestow this place on us a little while^{2 note}.— [To Ros. and Guil. who go out.
Ah, my good lord^{3 note}, what have I seen to-night?

King.
What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?

Queen.
Mad as the sea, and wind, when both contend
Which is the mightier: In his lawless fit,

Behind the arras hearing something stir,
He whips his rapier out, and cries, A rat! a rat!
And, in this brainish apprehension, kills
The unseen good old man.

King.
O heavy deed!
It had been so with us, had we been there:
His liberty is full of threats to all;
To you yourself, to us, to every one.
Alas! how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?
It will be laid to us; whose providence
Should have kept short, restrain'd, and ^{4 note}

Queen.
To draw apart the body he hath kill'd:
O'er whom his very madness, ^{5 note}like some ore,
Among a mineral of metals base,
Shews itself pure; he weeps for what is done.

King.
O, Gertrude, come away!
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch,
But we will ship him hence: and this vile deed
We must, with all our majesty and skill,
Both countenance and excuse.—Ho! Guildenstern!

Enter Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.
Friends both, go join you with some further aid:
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain,
And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him:
Go, seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this. [Exeunt Ros. and Guil.
Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends;
And let them know, both what we mean to do,
And what's untimely done: for haply, slander,
^{6 note}







Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter,
As level as the cannon to his blank,
Transports his poison'd shot, may miss our name,

And hit the woundless air.—O, come away!
My soul is full of discord, and dismay. [Exeunt.

Previous section

Next section