Hor.
How was this seal'd?

Ham.
Why, even in that was heaven ordinant;
I had my father's signet in my purse,
Which was the model of that Danish seal:
Folded the writ up in form of the other;
Subscrib'd it; gave 't the impression; plac'd it safely,
^{5 note}The changeling never known: Now, the next day
Was our sea-fight; and what to this was sequent
Thou know'st already.

Hor.
So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to't.

Ham.
Why, man^{6 note}, they did make love to this employment;
They are not near my conscience; their defeat
^{7 note}Doth by their own insinuation grow:
'Tis dangerous, when the baser nature comes
Between the pass and fell incensed points
Of mighty opposites.

Hor.
Why, what a king is this!

Ham.
Does it not, think thee, stand me now upon?
He that hath kill'd my king, and whor'd my mother;
Popt in between the election and my hopes;
Thrown out his angle for my proper life,
And with such cozenage; is't not perfect conscience,
^{8 note}

Hor.
It must be shortly known to him from England,
What is the issue of the business there.

Ham.
It will be short: the interim is mine;
And a man's life's no more than to say, one.
But I am very sorry, good Horatio,
That to Laertes I forgot myself;
For by the image of my cause, I see
The portraiture of his: I'll count his favours^{9 note}:

But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me
Into a towering passion.

Hor.
Peace; who comes here? Enter Osrick.

Os.
Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.

Ham.
I humbly thank you, sir.—^{1 note}Dost know this water-fly?

Hor.
No, my good lord.

Ham.

Thy state is the more gracious; for 'tis a vice to know him: He hath much land, and fertile: let a beast be lord of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king's mess: ^{2 note}'Tis a chough; but, as I say, spacious in the possession of dirt.

Osr.

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: Put 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.

^{3 note}But yet, methinks, it is very sultry and hot; or my complexion^{4 note}—

Osr.

Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry,—as 'twere,—I cannot tell how.—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—

Osr.

Nay, good my lord; for my ease^{5 note}, in good faith.—Sir^{6 note}, here is newly come to court, Laertes: believe me, an absolute gentleman, ^{7 note}full of most excellent differences, of very soft society, and great shewing: Indeed, to speak feelingly^{8 note} of him, he is ^{9 note}the card or calendar of gentry; ^{1 note}for you shall find in him the continent of what part a gentleman would see.

Ham.

^{2 note}Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you;—though, I know, to divide him inventorially,

would dizzy the arithmetic of memory; ^{3 note}

Osr.

Your lordship speaks most infallibly of him.

Ham.

The concernancy, sir? why do we wrap the gentleman in our more rawer breath?

Osr.

Sir?

Hor.

^{6 note}

Ham.

What imports the nomination of this gentleman?

Osr.

Of Laertes?

Hor.

His purse is empty already; all's golden words are spent.

Ham.

Of him, sir.

Osr.

I know, you are not ignorant—

Ham.

I would, you did, sir; yet, in faith, ^{7 note}if you did, it would not much approve me:—Well, sir.

Osr.

You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is.

Ham.

^{8 note}I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him in excellence; but, to know a man well, were to know himself.

Osr.

I mean, sir, for his weapon; but in the imputation laid on him by them, ^{9 note}in his meed he's unfellow'd.

Ham.

What's his weapon?

Osr.

Rapier and dagger.

Ham.

That's two of his weapons: but, well.

Osr.

The king, sir, hath wager'd with him six Barbary horses: against the which he has ^{1 note}

Osr.

The carriages, sir, are the hangers.

Ham.

The phrase would be ^{4 note}more germane to the matter, if we could carry a cannon by our sides; I would, it might be hangers 'till then. But, on: Six Barbary horses against six French swords, their assigns, and three liberal-conceited carriages; that's the French bett against the Danish: Why is this impon'd, as you call it?

Osr.

^{5 note}

Ham.

^{7 note}

Enter King, Queen, Laertes, Lords, Osrick, and attendants with foils, &c.

King.
Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me. [The King puts the hand of Laertes into that of Hamlet.

Ham.
^{9 note}Give me your pardon, sir: I have done you wrong;
But pardon it, as you are a gentleman.
This presence knows, and you must needs have heard,
How I am punish'd with a sore distraction.
What I have done,
That might your nature, honour, and exception,
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never, Hamlet:

If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,
And, when he's not himself, does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.
Who does it then? His madness: If't be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd;
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.
Sir, in this audience^{1 note},
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.
^{2 note}

Ham.
I embrace it freely;
And will this brother's wager frankly play.—
Give us the foils; come on.

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.

Laer.
You mock me, sir.

Ham.
No, by this hand.

King.
Give them the foils, young Osrick.—Cousin Hamlet,
You know the wager?

Ham.
Very well, my lord;
^{3 note}

King.
I do not fear it; I have seen you both:—
But since he's better'd, we have therefore odds.

Laer.
This is too heavy, let me see another.

Ham.
This likes me well: These foils have all a length? [They prepare to play.

Osr.
Ay, my good lord.

King.
Set me the stoups^{4 note} of wine upon that table:—
If Hamlet give the first, or second hit,
Or quit in answer of the third exchange,
Let all the battlements their ord'nance fire;
The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath;
^{5 note}

Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark's crown have worn: Give me the cups;
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,
The trumpet to the cannoneer without,
The cannons to the heavens, the heavens 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^{6 note} thine;
Here's to thy health.—Give him the cup. [Trumpets sound; shot goes off.

Ham.
I'll play this bout first, set it by a while. [They play.

Come.—Another hit; What say you?

Laer.
A touch, a touch, I do confess.

King.
Our son shall win.

Queen.
He's fat, and scant of breath^{7 note}.—
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows:
The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet^{8 note}

Ham.
Good madam,—

King.
Gertrude, do not drink.

Queen.
I will, my lord;—I pray you, pardon me.

King.
It is the poison'd cup; it is too late. [Aside.

Ham.
I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.

Queen.
Come, let me wipe thy face.

Laer.
My lord, I'll hit him now.

King.
I do not think't.

Laer.
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 afraid, ^{9 note}

you make a wanton of me.

Laer.
Say you so? come on. [Play.

Osr.
Nothing neither way.

Laer.
Have at you now. [Laertes wounds Hamlet; then, in scuffling, they change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds Laertes.

King.
Part them, they are incens'd.

Ham.
Nay, come again.

Osr.
Look to the queen there, ho! [The Queen falls.

Hor.
They bleed on both sides:—How is it, my lord?

Osr.
How is't, Laertes?

Laer.
Why, as a woodcock to my own springe, Osrick;
I am justly kill'd 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 dies.

Ham.
O villainy!—Ho! let the door be lock'd:
Treachery! seek it out.

Laer.
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: the foul practice
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, [Stabs the King.

All.
Treason! treason!

King.
O, yet defend me, friends, I am but hurt.

Ham.
Here, thou incestuous, murd'rous, damned Dane,
Drink off this potion:—Is the union here^{1 note}?
Follow my mother. [King dies.

Laer.
He is justly serv'd;
It is a poison temper'd by himself.—
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee;
Nor thine on me! [Dies.

Ham.
Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.
I am dead, Horatio:—Wretched queen, adieu!—
You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
^{2 note}That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time, (as this fell serjeant, death,
Is strict in his arrest 9Q1214) O, I could tell you,—
But let it be:—Horatio, I am dead;
Thou liv'st; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.

Hor.
Never believe it;
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane,
Here's yet some liquor left.

Ham.
As thou'rt a man,—
Give me the cup; let go; by heaven, I'll have it.—
O God!—Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me^{3 note}?
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,
Absent thee from felicity a while,

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story.— [March afar off, and shot within.
What warlike noise is this?

Osr.
Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland,
To the embassadors of England gives
This warlike volley.

Ham.
O, I die, Horatio;
The potent poison quite o'er-grows my spirit^{4 note}

Hor.
^{7 note}

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!—
Why does the drum come hither?

Enter Fortinbras, the English Embassadors, and others.

Fort.
Where is this sight?

Hor.
What is it, you would see?
If aught of woe, or wonder, cease your search.

Fort.
^{8 note}

Amb.
The sight is dismal;
And our affairs from England come too late:
The ears are senseless, that should give us hearing,
To tell him, his commandment is fulfill'd,
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead:
Where should we have our thanks?

Hor.
Not from his mouth^{1 note},
Had it the ability of life to thank you;
He never gave commandment for their death.

But since, so jump upon this bloody question,
You from the Polack wars, and you from England
Are here arriv'd; give order, that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view;
And let me speak, to the yet unknowing world,
How these things came about: So shall you hear
Of cruel^{2 note}, bloody, and unnatural acts;
Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters;
Of deaths put on 9Q1215 by cunning, and forc'd cause^{3 note};
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall'n on the inventors' heads: all this can I
Truly deliver.

Fort.
Let us haste to hear it,
And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune;
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.

Hor.
Of that I shall have also cause to speak,
^{2 note}

Even while men's minds are wild; lest more mischance
On plots, and errors, happen.

Fort.
Let four captains
Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have prov'd most royally: and, for his passage,
The soldiers' music, and the rites of war,
Speak loudly for him.—
Take up the bodies:—Such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shews much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot. [Exeunt: after which, a peal of ord'nance is shot off. ^note