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Queen. I will not speak with her.
Queen. What would she have?
Gent. She speaks much of her father, says she hears[1666]
There's tricks i' the world, and hems and beats her heart, 5
Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing,
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move
The hearers to collection; they aim at it,[1668]
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts;[1669] 10
Which, as her winks and nods and gestures yield them,[1670]
Indeed would make one think there might be thought,[1671]
Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.
There's tricks i' the world, and hems and beats her heart, 5
Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing,
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move
The hearers to collection; they aim at it,[1668]
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts;[1669] 10
Which, as her winks and nods and gestures yield them,[1670]
Indeed would make one think there might be thought,[1671]
Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.
Re-enter Gentleman, with Ophelia.
Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark?
Queen. How now, Ophelia![1678]
Oph. [Sings] How should I your true love know[1679][1680]
From another one?[1680]
By his cockle hat and staff[1680] 25
And his sandal shoon.[1680][1681]
From another one?[1680]
By his cockle hat and staff[1680] 25
And his sandal shoon.[1680][1681]
Queen. Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song?
Oph. Say you? nay, pray you, mark.[1682]
[Sings] He is dead and gone, lady,[1683][1684][1685]
He is dead and gone;[1684][1685] 30
At his head a grass-green turf,[1685][1686]
At his heels a stone.[1685]
Oh, oh![1687]
[Sings] He is dead and gone, lady,[1683][1684][1685]
He is dead and gone;[1684][1685] 30
At his head a grass-green turf,[1685][1686]
At his heels a stone.[1685]
Oh, oh![1687]
Queen. Nay, but, Ophelia,—
Oph. Pray you, mark.
[Sings] White his shroud as the mountain snow,—
[Sings] White his shroud as the mountain snow,—
Enter King.[1688]
Queen. Alas, look here, my lord. 35
Oph. [Sings] Larded with sweet flowers;[1689]
Which bewept to the grave did go[1690]
With true-love showers.[1691]
Which bewept to the grave did go[1690]
With true-love showers.[1691]
King. How do you, pretty lady?[1692]
Oph. Well, God 'ild you! They say the owl was a[1693] 40
baker's daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know[1694]
not what we may be. God be at your table![1695]
baker's daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know[1694]
not what we may be. God be at your table![1695]
King. Conceit upon her father.
Oph. Pray you, let's have no words of this; but when[1696]
they ask you what it means, say you this: 45
[Sings] To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,[1697][1698][1699]
All in the morning betime,[1698][1700]
And I a maid at your window,[1698]
To be your Valentine.[1698]
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,[1701][1702] 50
And dupp'd the chamber-door;[1701][1703]
Let in the maid, that out a maid[1701][1704]
Never departed more.[1701]
they ask you what it means, say you this: 45
[Sings] To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,[1697][1698][1699]
All in the morning betime,[1698][1700]
And I a maid at your window,[1698]
To be your Valentine.[1698]
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,[1701][1702] 50
And dupp'd the chamber-door;[1701][1703]
Let in the maid, that out a maid[1701][1704]
Never departed more.[1701]
King. Pretty Ophelia!
Oph. Indeed, la, without an oath, I'll make an end on't:[1705] 55
[Sings] By Gis and by Saint Charity,[1706][1707]
Alack, and fie for shame![1707]
Young men will do't, if they come to't;[1707]
By cock, they are to blame.[1707][1708]
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,[1709][1710] 60
You promised me to wed.[1710]
He answers:[1711]
So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed.[1712]
[Sings] By Gis and by Saint Charity,[1706][1707]
Alack, and fie for shame![1707]
Young men will do't, if they come to't;[1707]
By cock, they are to blame.[1707][1708]
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,[1709][1710] 60
You promised me to wed.[1710]
He answers:[1711]
So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed.[1712]
King. How long hath she been thus?[1713]
Oph. I hope all will be well. We must be patient: but 65
I cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay him i'[1714]
the cold ground. My brother shall know of it: and so I
thank you for your good counsel. Come, my coach!
Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies; good night,[1715]
good night. [Exit.[1715][1716] 70
I cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay him i'[1714]
the cold ground. My brother shall know of it: and so I
thank you for your good counsel. Come, my coach!
Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies; good night,[1715]
good night. [Exit.[1715][1716] 70
King. Follow her close; give her good watch, I pray you. [Exit Horatio.[1717]
O, this is the poison of deep grief; it springs[1718]
All from her father's death. O Gertrude, Gertrude,[1719]
When sorrows come, they come not single spies,[1720]
But in battalions! First, her father slain:[1721] 75
Next, your son gone; and he most violent author
Of his own just remove: the people muddied,
Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers,[1722]
For good Polonius' death; and we have done but greenly,[1723]
In hugger-mugger to inter him: poor Ophelia[1724] 80
Divided from herself and her fair judgement,
Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts:[1725]
Last, and as much containing as all these,
Her brother is in secret come from France,
Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds,[1726] 85
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear[1727]
With pestilent speeches of his father's death;
Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd,[1728]
Will nothing stick our person to arraign[1729]
In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this, 90
Like to a murdering-piece, in many places[1730][1731]
Gives me superfluous death. [A noise within.[1731]
O, this is the poison of deep grief; it springs[1718]
All from her father's death. O Gertrude, Gertrude,[1719]
When sorrows come, they come not single spies,[1720]
But in battalions! First, her father slain:[1721] 75
Next, your son gone; and he most violent author
Of his own just remove: the people muddied,
Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers,[1722]
For good Polonius' death; and we have done but greenly,[1723]
In hugger-mugger to inter him: poor Ophelia[1724] 80
Divided from herself and her fair judgement,
Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts:[1725]
Last, and as much containing as all these,
Her brother is in secret come from France,
Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds,[1726] 85
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear[1727]
With pestilent speeches of his father's death;
Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd,[1728]
Will nothing stick our person to arraign[1729]
In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this, 90
Like to a murdering-piece, in many places[1730][1731]
Gives me superfluous death. [A noise within.[1731]
Queen. Alack, what noise is this?[1732]
Enter another Gentleman.[1734]
What is the matter?[1734]
Gent. Save yourself, my lord:[1734][1735]
The ocean, overpeering of his list, 95
Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste[1736]
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head,
O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord;[1737]
And, as the world were now but to begin,[1738]
Antiquity forgot, custom not known,[1738] 100
The ratifiers and props of every word,[1738][1739][1740]
They cry 'Choose we; Laertes shall be king!'[1739][1741]
Caps, hands and tongues applaud it to the clouds,[1742]
'Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!'[1743]
The ocean, overpeering of his list, 95
Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste[1736]
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head,
O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord;[1737]
And, as the world were now but to begin,[1738]
Antiquity forgot, custom not known,[1738] 100
The ratifiers and props of every word,[1738][1739][1740]
They cry 'Choose we; Laertes shall be king!'[1739][1741]
Caps, hands and tongues applaud it to the clouds,[1742]
'Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!'[1743]
Queen. How cheerfully on the false trail they cry! 105
O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs! [Noise within.[1744]
O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs! [Noise within.[1744]
King. The doors are broke.
Enter Laertes, armed; Danes following.[1745]
Laer. Where is this king? Sirs, stand you all without.[1746]
Danes. No, let's come in.[1747]
Laer. I pray you, give me leave.
Danes. We will, we will. 110
[They retire without the door.[1747][1748]
Queen. Calmly, good Laertes.
Laer. That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard;[1751]
Cries cuckold to my father; brands the harlot
Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brow[1752] 115
Of my true mother.
Cries cuckold to my father; brands the harlot
Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brow[1752] 115
Of my true mother.
King. What is the cause, Laertes,
That thy rebellion looks so giant-like?
Let him go, Gertrude; do not fear our person:
There's such divinity doth hedge a king,
That treason can but peep to what it would,[1753] 120
Acts little of his will. Tell me, Laertes,[1754]
Why thou art thus incensed: let him go, Gertrude:[1755]
Speak, man.
That thy rebellion looks so giant-like?
Let him go, Gertrude; do not fear our person:
There's such divinity doth hedge a king,
That treason can but peep to what it would,[1753] 120
Acts little of his will. Tell me, Laertes,[1754]
Why thou art thus incensed: let him go, Gertrude:[1755]
Speak, man.
Laer. Where is my father?
King. Dead.
Queen. But not by him.[1756]
King. Let him demand his fill. 125
Laer. How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil![1757]
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit![1758]
I dare damnation: to this point I stand,[1758]
That both the worlds I give to negligence, 130
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
Most throughly for my father.
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil![1757]
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit![1758]
I dare damnation: to this point I stand,[1758]
That both the worlds I give to negligence, 130
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
Most throughly for my father.
King. Who shall stay you?
Laer. My will, not all the world:[1759]
And for my means, I'll husband them so well,
They shall go far with little.[1760]
And for my means, I'll husband them so well,
They shall go far with little.[1760]
King. Good Laertes,[1761] 135
If you desire to know the certainty[1761]
Of your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge,[1762]
That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe,[1763]
Winner and loser?[1764]
If you desire to know the certainty[1761]
Of your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge,[1762]
That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe,[1763]
Winner and loser?[1764]
Laer. None but his enemies.
King. Will you know them then?[1765] 140
Laer. To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms;[1766]
And, like the kind life-rendering pelican,[1767]
Repast them with my blood.[1768]
And, like the kind life-rendering pelican,[1767]
Repast them with my blood.[1768]
King. Why, now you speak
Like a good child and a true gentleman.
That I am guiltless of your father's death, 145
And am most sensibly in grief for it,[1769]
It shall as level to your judgement pierce[1770]
As day does to your eye.
Like a good child and a true gentleman.
That I am guiltless of your father's death, 145
And am most sensibly in grief for it,[1769]
It shall as level to your judgement pierce[1770]
As day does to your eye.
Danes. [Within] Let her come in.
Laer. How now! what noise is that?
Re-enter Ophelia.[1771]
O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt, 150
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye![1772]
By heaven, thy madness shall be paid with weight,[1773]
Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May![1774]
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!
O heavens! is't possible a young maid's wits 155
Should be as mortal as an old man's life?[1775]
Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine[1776][1777]
It sends some precious instance of itself[1776][1777]
After the thing it loves.[1776]
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye![1772]
By heaven, thy madness shall be paid with weight,[1773]
Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May![1774]
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!
O heavens! is't possible a young maid's wits 155
Should be as mortal as an old man's life?[1775]
Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine[1776][1777]
It sends some precious instance of itself[1776][1777]
After the thing it loves.[1776]
Oph. [Sings] They bore him barefaced on the bier;[1778] 160
Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny:[1779]
And in his grave rain'd many a tear,—[1780]
Fare you well, my dove![1781]
Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny:[1779]
And in his grave rain'd many a tear,—[1780]
Fare you well, my dove![1781]
Laer. Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge,[1782]
It could not move thus.[1782][1783] 165
It could not move thus.[1782][1783] 165
Oph. [Sings] You must sing down a-down,[1784]
An you call him a-down-a.[1785]
O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false steward, that[1786]
stole his master's daughter.
An you call him a-down-a.[1785]
O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the false steward, that[1786]
stole his master's daughter.
Laer. This nothing's more than matter.[1787] 170
Oph. There's rosemary, that's for remembrance: pray[1788][1789]
you, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's for[1789][1790]
thoughts.
you, love, remember: and there is pansies, that's for[1789][1790]
thoughts.
Laer. A document in madness; thoughts and remembrance
fitted. 175
fitted. 175
Oph. There's fennel for you, and columbines: there's
rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it herb[1791]
of grace o' Sundays: O, you must wear your rue with a[1791][1792]
difference. There's a daisy: I would give you some
violets, but they withered all when my father died: they 180
say a' made a good end,—[1793]
rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it herb[1791]
of grace o' Sundays: O, you must wear your rue with a[1791][1792]
difference. There's a daisy: I would give you some
violets, but they withered all when my father died: they 180
say a' made a good end,—[1793]
[Sings] For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy.[1794]
Oph. [Sings] And will a' not come again?[1796][1797] 185
And will a' not come again?[1797]
No, no, he is dead,[1798]
Go to thy death-bed,[1798][1799]
He never will come again.
And will a' not come again?[1797]
No, no, he is dead,[1798]
Go to thy death-bed,[1798][1799]
He never will come again.
His beard was as white as snow,[1800] 190
All flaxen was his poll:[1801]
He is gone, he is gone,[1802]
And we cast away moan:[1802]
God ha' mercy on his soul![1803]
All flaxen was his poll:[1801]
He is gone, he is gone,[1802]
And we cast away moan:[1802]
God ha' mercy on his soul![1803]
And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God be wi' you. 195
[Exit.[1804]
Laer. Do you see this, O God?[1805]
King. Laertes, I must commune with your grief,[1806]
Or you deny me right. Go but apart,
Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will,
And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me: 200
If by direct or by collateral hand[1807]
They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give,[1808]
Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours,
To you in satisfaction; but if not,
Be you content to lend your patience to us,[1809] 205
And we shall jointly labour with your soul
To give it due content.
Or you deny me right. Go but apart,
Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will,
And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me: 200
If by direct or by collateral hand[1807]
They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give,[1808]
Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours,
To you in satisfaction; but if not,
Be you content to lend your patience to us,[1809] 205
And we shall jointly labour with your soul
To give it due content.
Laer. Let this be so;
His means of death, his obscure funeral,[1810]
No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones,[1811]
No noble rite nor formal ostentation,[1812] 210
Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth,
That I must call't in question.[1813]
His means of death, his obscure funeral,[1810]
No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones,[1811]
No noble rite nor formal ostentation,[1812] 210
Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth,
That I must call't in question.[1813]
King. So you shall;
And where the offence is let the great axe fall.[1814]
I pray you, go with me. [Exeunt.
And where the offence is let the great axe fall.[1814]
I pray you, go with me. [Exeunt.
Scene VI. Another room in the castle.
Enter Horatio and a Servant.[1815]