L. H. U. E.)
1st Clo. (R.)
Is she to be buried in christian burial
that wilfully seeks her own salvation?
2nd Clo. (L.)
I tell thee she is; therefore make her
grave straight:2 note the crowner3 note hath set on her, and finds
it christian burial.
1st Clo.
How can that be, unless she drowned herself
in her own defence?
2nd Clo.
Why, 'tis found so.
1st Clo.
It must be se offendendo;4 note it cannot be else.
For here lies the point: If I drown myself wittingly, it
argues an act: and an act hath three branches; it is, to
act, to do, and to perform:5 note argal,6 note she drowned herself
wittingly.
2nd Clo.
Nay, but hear you, goodman delver.7 note
1st Clo.
Give me leave. Here lies the water; good:
here stands the man; good: If the man go to this water,
and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes,8 note mark
-- 88 --
you that; but if the water come to him and drown him,
he drowns not himself: argal, he that is not guilty of
his own death shortens not his own life.
2nd Clo.
But is this law?
1st Clo.
Ay, marry is't; crowner's-quest law.9 note
2nd Clo.
Will you ha' the truth on't? If this had not
been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out of
christian burial.
1st Clo.
Why, there thou say'st:10 note And the more pity
that great folks should have countenance in this world to
drown or hang themselves, more than their even christian.11 note
Come, my spade. There is no ancient gentlemen
but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers: they hold up
Adam's profession.
2nd Clo.
Was he a gentleman?12 note
1st Clo.
He was the first that ever bore arms. I'll put
another question to thee: if thou answerest me not to
the purpose, confess thyself—13 note
2nd Clo.
Go to.
1st Clo.
What is he that builds stronger than either
the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?
2nd Clo.
The gallows-maker; for that frame outlives
a thousand tenants.
1st Clo.
I like thy wit well, in good faith: the gallows
does well; But how does it well? it does well to those
that do ill: now, thou dost ill to say the gallows is built
stronger than the church: argal, the gallows may do well
to thee. To't again, come.
2nd Clo.
Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright,
or a carpenter?
-- 89 --
1st Clo.
Ay, tell me that, and unyoke.14 note
2nd Clo.
Marry, now I can tell.
1st Clo.
To't.
2nd Clo.
Mass, I cannot tell.
1st Clo.
Cudgel thy brains no more about it,15 note for your
dull ass will not mend his pace with beating; and, when
you are asked this question next, say, a grave-maker, the
houses that he makes, last till doomsday. Go, get thee
to Yaughan, and fetch me a stoup of liquor.16 note
[Exit 2nd Clown, L. H. U. E.]
Enter Hamlet and Horatio (L. H. U. E.)
First Clown digs and sings.
In youth, when I did love, did love,17 note
Methought, it was very sweet,
To contract, O, the time, for, ah, my behove
O, methought, there was nothing meet.
Ham. (Behind the grave.)
Has this fellow no feeling of
his business, he sings at grave-making?
Hor. (On Hamlet's R.)
Custom hath made it in him a
property of easiness.
Ham.
'Tis e'en so: the hand of little employment
hath the daintier sense.18 note
1st Clo.
But age, with his stealing steps,
Hath clawed me in his clutch,
And hath shipped me into the land,
As if I had never been such.
[Throws up a skull.]
Ham.
That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing
-- 90 --
once: How the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it
were Cain's jaw-bone, that did the first murder! This
might be the pate of a politician, which this ass now o'er-reaches;
one that would circumvent Heaven, might it
not?
Hor.
It might, my lord.
[Gravedigger throws up bones.]
Ham.
Did these bones cost no more the breeding, but
to play at loggats with them?19 note mine ache to think on't.
1st Clo.
A pick-axe and a spade, a spade,
[Sings.]
For and a shrouding sheet:20 note
O, a pit of clay for to be made
For such a guest is meet.
[Throws up a skull.]
Ham.
There's another: Why may not that be the skull
of a lawyer? Where be his quiddits now, his quillets,21 note
his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? Why does he
suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the
sconce22 note with a dirty shovel, and will not tell him of his
action of battery? I will speak to this fellow.—Whose
grave's this, sirrah?
1st Clo.
Mine, sir.—
O, a pit of clay for to be made
[Sings.]
For such a guest is meet.
Ham. (R. of the grave.)
I think it be thine, indeed; for
thou liest in't.
1st Clo.
You lie out on t, sir, and therefore it is not
yours: for my part, I do not lie in't, yet it is mine.
Ham.
Thou dost lie in't, to be in't, and say it is thine:
'tis for the dead, not for the quick; therefore thou liest.
1st Clo.
'Tis a quick lie, sir; 'twill away again, from
me to you.
-- 91 --
Ham.
What man dost thou dig it for?
1st Clo.
For no man, sir.
Ham.
What woman, then?
1st Clo.
For none, neither.
Ham.
Who is to be buried in't?
1st Clo.
One that was a woman, sir; but, rest her soul,
she's dead.
Ham.
How absolute the knave is!23 note we must speak by
the card,24 note or equivocation will undo us. [To Horatio, R.]
How long hast thou been a grave-maker?
1st Clo.
Of all the days i'the year, I came to't that day
that our last king Hamlet overcame Fortinbras.
Ham.
How long's that since?
1st Clo.
Cannot you tell that? every fool can tell that:
It was the very day that young Hamlet was born,25 note he
that is mad, and sent into England.
Ham.
Ay, marry, why was he sent into England?
1st Clo.
Why, because he was mad: he shall recover
his wits there; or, if he do not, 'tis no great matter
there.
Ham.
Why?
1st Clo.
'Twill not be seen in him there; there the
men are as mad as he.
Ham.
How came he mad?
1st Clo.
Very strangely, they say.
Ham.
How strangely?
1st Clo.
'Faith, e'en with losing his wits.
Ham.
Upon what ground?
1st Clo.
Why, here in Denmark: I have been sexton
here, man and boy, thirty years.
Ham.
How long will a man lie i'the earth ere he rot?
1st Clo.
'Faith, if he be not rotten before he die, he
-- 92 --
will last you some eight year or nine year: a tanner will
last you nine year.
Ham.
Why he more than another?
1st Clo.
Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his trade,
that he will keep out water a great while; and your water
is a sore decayer of your ill-begotten dead body. Here's
a skull now, hath lain in the earth three-and-twenty years.
Ham.
Whose was it?
1st Clo.
O, a mad fellow's it was: Whose do you think
it was?
Ham.
Nay, I know not.
1st Clo.
A pestilence on him for a mad rogue! he
poured a flagon of Rhenish on my head once. This same
skull, sir, was Yorick's skull, the king's jester.
Ham.
This?
[Takes the skull.]
1st Clo.
E'en that.
Ham.
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a
fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath
borne me on his back a thousand times. Here hung
those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft; and
now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! Where be
your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes
of merriment, that were wont to set the table on a roar?
Not one now, to mock your own grinning? Quite chap-fallen?
Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell
her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour26 note she must
come; make her laugh at that. Prithee, Horatio, tell me
one thing.
Hor.
What's that, my lord?
Ham.
Dost thou think Alexander look'd o'this fashion
i'the earth?
Hor.
E'en so.
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?
-- 93 --
Hor.
'Twere to consider too curiously,27 note 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 note 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 note
But soft! but soft! aside: Here comes the king,
The queen, the courtiers: Who is this they follow?
And with such maimèd rites?30 note This doth betoken
The corse they follow did with desperate hand
Fordo its own life:31 note 'Twas of some estate.32 note
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 note
She should in ground unsanctified have lodged
Till the last trumpet; for charitable prayers,
Shards,34 note flints, and pebbles, should be thrown on her:
-- 94 --
Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants,35 note
Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home
Of bell and burial.36 note
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 note 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 note
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 sense39 note
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 note or the skyish head
Of blue Olympus.
Ham. (Advancing.)
What is he whose grief
Bears such an emphasis?—whose phrase of sorrow
-- 95 --
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 me41 note 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 note
Singeing his pate against the burning zone,
Make Ossa43 note 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 note
His silence will sit drooping.
-- 96 --
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 note 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 note
[To Laertes.]
We'll put the matter to the present push.—
This grave shall have a living monument:47 note
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 note I see
The portraiture of his.
Hor.
Peace! who comes here?
Enter Osric (L. H.)
Osr.
Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.
-- 97 --
Ham. (C.)
I humbly thank you, sir.—Dost know this
water-fly?49 note
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 note 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 note 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 note
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 note Indeed, to speak
feelingly of him,54 note he is the card or calendar of gentry,55 note
-- 98 --
for you shall find in him the continent of what part a
gentleman would see.56 note
Ham.
What imports the nomination of this gentleman?57 note
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 note
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 note as I take it,
six French rapiers and poignards, with their assigns, as
girdle, hangers,60 note 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 note
Ham.
What call you the carriages?
Osr.
The carriages, sir, are the hangers.
-- 99 --
Ham.
The phrase would be more german62 note 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 note
Ham.
How if I answer no?64 note
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 note 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 note
as would, perhaps, trouble a woman.
Hor.
If your mind dislike any thing, obey it:67 note 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.]
-- 100 --
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 note
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 note we have therefore odds.
-- 101 --
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 wine70 note upon that table.—
[Pages exeunt R. and L.]
If Hamlet give the first or second hit,
Or quit71 note 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 note
Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark's crown have worn.
[Pages return with wine.]
Give me the cup;
And let the kettle73 note 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.
-- 102 --
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 note
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 note
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 note 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.]
-- 103 --
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 note the foul practice78 note
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 note
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,
-- 104 --
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!80 note
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 note
The rest is silence.
[Dies, C., Osric on his R., and Horatio on his L.]
Dead March afar off.
Curtain slowly descends.
