ere is something in this more than natural, if philosophy could find it out. A flourish Guildenstern 378 There are the players. Hamlet Gentlemen<,> you are welcome to Elsinore,(:) your hands<,> come {then},(:) th' appurtenance of wel- come<,> is fashion and ceremony;(.) let me comply with you in this (the) garb:(,) {let me} extent to the players{,} <(>which, I tell you, must show fairly outward,()) should more appear like entertainment than yours?(.) you are welcome: but my uncle-father, and aunt-mother<,> are deceived. Guildenstern 386 In what, my dear lord? Hamlet I am but mad north-north-west;(:) when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw. Enter Polonius. Polonius 390 Well be with you, gentlemen. Hamlet Hark you, Guildenstem, and you too,(:) at each ear a hearer,(:) that great baby you see there<,> is not yet out of his swaddling (swathing) clouts. Rosencrantz 394 Haply (Happily) he's the second time come to them,(:) for they say<,> an old man is twice a child. Hamlet I will prophesy,(.) he comes to tell me of the play- ers,(.) mark it.(,) You say right sir,(: for) a Monday morning<,> 'twas then (so) indeed. Polonius My lord, I have news to tell you. Hamlet 400 My lord, I have news to tell you:(.) when Roscius {was} an actor in Rome.(-) Polonius The actors are come hither my lord. Hamlet Buz, buz. Polonius Upon mine honour. Hamlet 405 Then came (can) each actor on his ass.(-) Polonius The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral,(:) pastoral-comical,(-)historical- pastoral, ,(:) scene individable, or poem unlimited,(.) Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light<,> for the law of writ, and the liberty:(.) these are the only men. Hamlet 413 О Jephthah, judge of Israel, what a treasure hadst thou? Polonius What a treasure had he<,> my lord? Hamlet Why one fair daughters<,> and no more, the which he loved passing well. Polonius Still on my daughter. Hamlet 419 Am I not i' th' right old Jephthah? Polonius If you call me Jephthah my lord, I have a daughter that I love passing well. Hamlet Nay that follows not. Polonius 423 What follows then<,> my lord? Hamlet Why, As by lot, God wot, and then you know<,> It came to pass, as most like it was;(:) the first row of the pious (pons) chanson will show you more,(.) for look{,} where my abridgement come{s}. Enter the (four or five) Players. 429 You are welcome masters, welcome all,(.) I am glad to see thee well.(,) welcome, good friends,(.) о old friend,(?) (why) thy face is valenced (valiant) since I saw thee last,(:) com'st thou to beard me in Denmark? what, my young lady and mis- tress,(?) by (by'r) lady your ladyship is nearer {to} heaven than when I saw you last<,> by the altitude of a chopine,(.) pray God, your voice like apiece of uncurrent gold{,} be not cracked within the ring:(.) masters, you are all welcome,(:) we'll e'en to't like friendly (French) Fankners (falconers), fly at any thing we see,(:) we'll have a speech straight,(.) come give us a taste of your quality,(:) come a passionate speech. player 444 What speech<,> my {good} lord? Hamlet I heard thee speak me a speech once, but it was never acted,(:) or if it was, not above once, for the play I remember pleased not the million, 'twas caviare to the general,(:) but it was <(>as I received it<,> & others, whose judgement{s} in such mat- ters<,> cried in the top of mine,()) an excellent play,(:) well digested in the scenes, set down with as much modesty<,> as cunning. I remember, one said there were (was) no sallets in the lines, to make the matter savoury,(,) nor no matter in the phrase that might indict the author of affection, but called it an honest method,(.) {as wholesome as sweet, & by very much, more handsome than fine:} one speech in 't<,> I chiefly loved, 'twas Aeneas' talke (tale) to Dido, & thereabout of it especially<,> when (where) he speaks of Priam's slaughter,(.) if it live in your memory<,> begin at this line, let me see, let me see,(:) The rugged Pyrrhus like the Hyrcanian beast, 'tis not so,(:) it begins with Pyrrhus{,} 465 the rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms<,> Black as his purpose<,> did the night resemble When he lay couched in the ominous horse, Hath now this dread and black complexion smear'd<,> With heraldry more dismal<:> head to foot{,} 470 Now is he total (to take) gules<,> horridly trick'd With blood of fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, Baked and impasted with the parching streets<,> That lend a tyrannous<,> and {a} damned light To their {lord's murder} , roasted wrath and fire, 475 And thus o'ersized with coagulate gore, With eyes like carbuncles, the hellish Pyrrhus Old grandsire Priam seeks;(.) {so proceed you.} Polonius 'Fore God<,> my lord<,> well spoken, with good ac- cent<,> and good discretion. player Anon he finds him, Striking too short at Greeks,(.) his antique sword<,> Rebellious to his arm, lies where it falls{,} Repugnant to command;(:) unequal match{ed}, 485 Pyrrhus at Priam drives, in rage strikes wide,(:) But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword, The unnerved father falls:(.) Seeming to feel this (his) blow, with flaming top Stoops to his base;(,) and with a hideous crash 490 Takes prisoner Pyrrhus' ear,(.) for, lo! his sword, Which was declining on the milky head Of reverend Priam, seem'd i' th' air to stick,(:) So as a painted tyrant Pyrrhus stood<,> like a neutral to his will and matter, 495 Did nothing:(.) But as we often see, against some storm, A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still, The bold winds speechless, and the orb below As hush as death,(:) anon the dreadful thunder 500 Doth rend the region,(.) so after Pyrrhus' pause, Aroused vengeance sets him new a-work. And never did the Cyclops' hammers fall{,} On Mars's armour forged for proof eterne, With less remorse than Pyrrhus' bleeding sword 505 Now falls on Priam. Out, out, thou strumpet Fortune, all you gods, In general synod take away her power,(:) Break all the spokes{,} and follies (fallies) {*} from her wheel, {* fellies Ed.} And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven<,> 510 As low as to the fiends. Polonius This is too long. Hamlet It shall to the barber's<,> with your beard;(.) prithee say on,(:) he's for a jig, or a tale of bawdry, or he sleeps,(.) say on,(;) come to Hecuba. player 515 But who, {ah woe} had seen the mobled (inobled) queen,(.) Hamlet The mobled (inobled) queen.(?) Polonius That's good.(:) player Run barefoot up and down, threatening the flame{s} 520 With bison rehume (rheum),(:) a clout upon (about) that head<,> Where late the diadem stood, and for a robe{,} About her lank and all o'er-teemed loins, A blanket, in the alarm of fear caught up,(.) Who this had seen, with tongue in venom steep'd, 525 Gainst Fortune's state would treason have pronounced;(?) But if the gods themselves did see her then, When she saw Pyrrhus make malicious sport In mincing with his sword her husband limbs, The instant burst of clamour that she made{,} 530 <(>Unless things mortal move them not at all,()) Would have made milch the burning eyes of heaven<,> And passion in the gods. Polonius Look whether he has not turned his colour, and has tears in's eyes,(.) prithee (pray you) no more. Hamlet 535 'Tis well, I'll have thee speak out the rest<,> (of this) soon,(.) Good my lord<,> will you see the players well bestowed;(.) do you hear, let them be well used,(:) for they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time;(.) after your death<,> you were better have a bad epitaph<,> than their ill report while you live (liued). Polonius 541 My lord, I will use them according to their desert. Hamlet God's bodkin man, {much} better,(.) use every man after his desert, & who shall (should) 'scape whipping,(:) use them after your own honour and dignity,(.) the less they deserve<,> the more merit is in your bounty. Take them in. Polonius Come sirs. Hamlet 550 Follow him friends,(:) we'll hear a play tomorrow;(.) dost thou hear me old friend, can you play the Mur- der of Gonzago? +First+ player Ay my lord. Hamlet 554 We'll hate (ha 't) tomorrow night,(.) you could for need, study a speech of some dosen {lines,} or sixteen lines, which I would set down and insert in 't,(?) could you not? +First+ player Ay my lord. Hamlet 559 Very well,(.) follow that lord, & look you mock him not. My good friends, I'll leave you tell (til) night{,} you are welcome to Elsinore.(?) {Exeunt Polonius and Players.} Rosencrantz Good my lord. Exeunt. Hamlet Ay so, God buy {to}you, now I am alone,(.) O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I.(?) 565 Is it not monstrous that this player here<,> But in a fiction, in a dream of passion<,> Could force his soul so to his own (whole) conceit<,> That from her working all the (his) visage waned (warm'd),(;) Tears in his eyes, distraction ins aspect, 570 A broken voice, an (and) his whole function suiting With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing,(?) For Hecuba.(?) What's Hecuba to him, or he to her (Hecuba), That he should weep for her? what would he do<,> 575 Had he the motive{,} and that (the cue) for passion That I have? He would drown the stage with tears, And cleave the general ear with horrid speech,(:) Make mad the guilty, and appal the free, Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed<,> 580 The very facult{ies} of eyes and ears;(.) yet I, A dull and muddy-mettled rascal<,> peak{,} Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, And can say nothing;(:) no<,> not for a king, Upon whose property and most dear life, 585 A damn'd defeat was made:(.) Am I a coward,(?) Who calls me villain,(?) breaks my pate across,(?) Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face,(?) Tweaks me by the nose,(?) gives me the lie i' th' throat<,> As deep as to the lungs,(?) who does me this,(?) 590 Ha,(?) 'swounds (why) I should take it: for it cannot be<,> But I am pigeon-liver'd, and lack gall To make oppression bitter, or ere this<,> I should a (have) fatted all the region kites With this' slave's offal, bloo(u)dy,(:) bawdy villain, 595 Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, landless villain.(!) Why (Who?) what an ass am I,(? I sure,) this is most brave. That I, the son of a (the) dear {*} murder'd, {* dear father 3Кв} Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, 600 Must <(>like a whore<)> unpack my heart with words, And fall a-cursing like a very drab;(.) A stallyon {hum,} I have heard, That guilty creatures sitting at a play, 605 Have by the very cunning of the scene, Been struck so to the soul, that presently They have proclaim'd their malefactions:(.) For murder, though it have no tongue<,> will speak With most miraculous organ:(.) I'll have these players 610 Play something like the murder of my father<,> Before mine uncle,(.) I'll observe his looks, I'll tent him to the quick,(:j if he do (but) blench I know my course. The spirit that I have seen May be a (the) deale (devil), and the deale (devil) hath power 615 To assume a pleasing shape, yea{,} and perhaps<,> Out of my weakness, and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me;(.) I'll have grounds More relative than this,(:) the play 's the thing 620 Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king. Exit. +ACT 3+ +SCENE 1+ Enter King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Lords. King An can you, by no drift of conference (circumstance) Get from him why he puts on this confusion,(:) Grating so harshly all his days of quiet With turbulent and dangerous lunacy?(.) Rosencrantz 5 He does confess he feels himself distracted, But from what cause he will by no means speak. Guildenstern Nor do we find him forward to be sounded, But, with a crafty madness, keeps aloof<:> When we would bring him on to some confession 10 Of his true state. Queen Did he receive you well? Rosencrantz Most like a gentleman. Guildenstern But with much forcing of his disposition. Rosencrantz Niggard of question, but, of our demands Most free in his reply. Queen 15 Did you assay him to any pastime? Rosencrantz Madam, it so fell out<,> that certain players We o'erraught (orewrought) on the way,(:) of these we told him, And there did seem in him a kind of joy To {hear} of it: they are about the court, 20 And <(>as I think,()> they have already order This night to play before him. Polonius 'Tis most true,(:) And he beseech'd me to entreat your majesties To hear<,> and see the matter. King With all my heart, And it doth much content me 25 To hear him so inclined. Good gentlemen<,> give him a further edge, And drive his purpose {into these delights.} Rosencrantz We shall my lord. Exeunt (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern}. King Sweet Gertrude, leave us two (too), 30 For we have closely sent for Hamlet hither, That he<,> as 'twere by accident, may here (there) Affront Ophelia;(.) Her father and myself{,} <(lawful espials)> We'll (Will) so bestow ourselves, that seeing unseen{,} 35 We may of their encounter frankly judge, And gather by him, as he is behaved, If 't be the affliction of his love<,> or no<.> That thus he suffers for. Queen I shall obey you.(,) And for your part, Ophelia, I do wish 40 That your good beauties be the happy cause Of Hamlet's wildness,(:) so shall I hope your virtues{,} Will bring him to his wonted way again, To both your honours. Ophelia Madam, I wish it may. Polonius Ophelia, walk you here,(.) gracious, so please you{,} 45 We will bestow ourselves;(:) read on this book, That show of such an exercise may colour Your lowlines (loneliness);(.) we are oft to blame in this, 'Tis too much proved, that with devotions visage<,> And pious action, we do sugar (surge) o'er 50 The devil himself. King O, 'tis {too} true! How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience.(?) The harlot's cheek, beautied with plastering art, Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it, Than is my deed to my most painted word:(.) 55 О heavy burthen.(!) {Enter Hamlet.} Polonius I hear him coming, withdraw my lord. Hamlet To be, or not to be, that is the question,(:) Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 60 Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them,(:) to die<,> to sleep No more,(:) and by a sleep<,> to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to;(?) 'tis a consummation 65 Devoutly to be wish'd<.> to die to sleep, To sleep, perchance to dream,(;) ay<,> there's the rub, For in that sleep of death<,> what dreams may come<,> When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause,(.) there's the respect 70 That makes calamity of so long life: For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud (poore) man's contumely, The pangs of despised (dispriz'd) love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns 75 That patient merit of th' unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear{,} To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, 80 The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn No traveller returns,(.) puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have, Than fly to others that we know not of. Thus conscience does make cowards . 85 And thus the native hue of resolution Is sickled o'er<,> with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pit{c}h and moment, With this regard their currents turn awry (away), And lose the name of action. Soft you now, 90 The fair Ophelia,(?) Nymph<,> in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd. Ophelia Good my lord, How does your honour for this many a day? Hamlet I humbly thank you<:> well<, well, well>. Ophelia My lord, I have remembrances of yours<,> 95 That I have longed long to re-deliver,(.) I pray you<,> now receive them. Hamlet No, {not I} , I never gave you aught. Ophelia My honour'd lord, you (I) know right well you did, And with them words of so sweet breath composed 100 As made these (the) things more rich, their (then) perfume lost (left),(:) Take these again, for to the noble mind Rich gifts wax poor<,> when givers prove unkind. There my lord. Hamlet Ha, ha,(:) are you honest.(?) Ophelia 105 My lord. Hamlet Are you fair? Ophelia What means your lordship? Hamlet That if you be honest & fair, you should admit no discourse to your beauty. Ophelia 110 Could beauty my lord<,> have better commerce than with (your) honesty? Hamlet Ay, truly,(:) for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what {it} is<,> to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his like- ness,(.) this was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof,(.) I did love you once. Ophelia 117 Indeed my lord<,> you made me believe so. Hamlet You should not have believed me,(.) for virtue can- not so euocutat (inoculate) our old stock, but we shall relish of it,(.) I loved you not. Ophelia I was the more deceived. Hamlet 122 Get thee a nunnery,(.) why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners,(?) I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things, that it were better my mother had not bome me:(.) I am very proud, reven- geful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck, than I have thoughts to put them in{,} imagination<,> to give them shape, or time to act them in:(.) what should such fellows as I do<,> crawling between earth (heauen) and heaven (earth)? We are arrant knaves, believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery. Where's your father? Ophelia 132 At home<,> my lord. Hamlet Let the doors be shut upon him, That he may play the fool nowhere (no way) but in 's own house,(.) Farewell. Ophelia 135 О help him<,> you sweet heavens. Hamlet If thou dost marry, I'll give thee this plague for thy dowiy,(.) be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny;(.) get thee to a nunnery,(. Go,) farewell. Or if thou wilt needs marry, marry a fool,(:) for wise men know well enough<,> what monsters you make of them:(.) to a nunnery go, and quickly too,(.) farewell. Ophelia 142 Heavenly powers<,> restore him. Hamlet I have heard of your paintings (pratlings too,) well enough,(.) God hath (has) given you one face ignorance;(.) go to, I'll no more on 't, it hath made me mad,(.) I say<,> we will have no more marriage,(.) those that are married already, all but one shall live, the rest shall keep as they are:<.) to a nunnery<,> go. Exit. Ophelia 152 О what a noble mind is here o'erthrown!(?) The courtier's, soldier's, scholar's,(:) eye, tongue, sword; The expectation (expectancy){,} and rose of the fair state, 155 The glass of fashion, and the mould of form, Th' observ'd of all observers, quite<,> quite down,(.) And (Have) I of ladies most deject and wretched, That suck'd the honey of his musicke{d} vows;(:) Now see what (that) nobleand most sovereign reasons 160 Like sweet bells jangled, out of time (tune), and harsh, That unmatch'd form{,} and stature (feature) of blown youth<,> Blasted with ecstasy,(.) о woe is me<,> To have seen what I have seen,(:) see what I see. {Exit.} Enter King<,> and Polonius. King Love,(?) his affections do not that way tend, 165 Nor what he spake, though it lack'd form a little, Was not like madness,(.) there's something in his soul O'er which his melancholy sits on brood, And I do doubt{,} the hatch-v and the disclose Will be some danger;(,) which {for} to prevent{,} 170 I have in quick determination Thus set it down?.) he shall with speed to England{,} For the demand of our neglected tribute(:) Haply the seasu and countries different{,} With variable objects, shall expel 175 This something-settled matter in his heart,(:) Whereon his brains still beating<,> Puts him thus from fashion of himself. What think you on't? Polonius It shall do well. But yet do I believe the origin and commencement of his (this) grief{,} 180 Sprung from neglected love:(.) How now Ophelia? You need not tell us what Lord Hamlet said, We heard it all:(.) my lord, do as you please, But if you hold it fit{,} after the play, Let his queen mother all alone entreat him 185 To show his grief (Greefes),(:) let her be round with him, And I'll be placed {(}so<,> please you{)} in the ear Of all their conference,(.) if she find him not, To England send him: or confine him where Your wisdom best shall think. King It shall be so,(:) 190 Madness in great ones must not unwatched go. Exeunt. +SCENE 2+ Enter Hamlet, and three of the Players. Hamlet Speak the speech, I pray you<,> as I pronoun'd (pronounced) it to you{,} trippingly on the tongue,(:) but if you mouth it<,> as many of our (your) players do, I had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines,<:) nor do not saw the air too much (with) your hand thus, but use all gently,(:) for in the very tor- rent, tempest, and <(>as I may say,() the) whirlwind of (your) passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance{,} that may give it smoothness,(.) o, it offends me to the soul, to hear (see) a robustious periwig-pated fellow<,> tear a passion to tatters, to very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing<,> but in- explicable dumbshows, and noise: I would (could) have such a fellow whipped for o'erdoing Terma- gant,(:) it out-herods Herod,(.) pray you, avoid it. Player 16 I warrant your honour. Hamlet Be not too tame neither,(:) but let your own dis- cretion be your tutor,(.) suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special obseru- ance,(:) that you o'erstep (ore-stop) not the modesty of nature:(;) For any thing so overdone, is from the purpose of playing, whose end both at the first, and now, was and is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature,(:) to show virtue her own feature;(,) scorn her image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure:(.) Now<,> this overdone, or come tardy off, though it make(s) the unskilful laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve,(;) the censure of which one, must in your allowance o'erweigh a whole theatre of others. O<,> there be players that I have seen play, and heard others praysd (praise), and that highly{,} <(>not to speak it profanely,()) that nei- ther having the accent of Christians, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, {n}or man (Norman), have so strutted & bellowed, that I have thought some of nature's journeymen had made men, and not made them well, they imitated humanity so abominably. Player 37 I hope we have reformed that indifferently with us<, sir>. Hamlet O, reform it altogether,(.) and let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them,(.) for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too, though in the mean time, some necessary question of the play be then to be considered.(:) that's villanous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it:(.) go make you ready. 46 How now, my lord! Will the king hear this piece of work? (Enter Polonius, Guildenstern, & Rosencrantz.) Polonius And the queen too, and that presently. Hamlet Bid the players make haste. 50 Will you two help to hasten them? Rosencrantz (Both We will) {Ay} my lord. Exeunt {they two}. Hamlet What ho, Horatio.(?) {Enter Horatio.} Horatio Here, sweet lord, at your service. Hamlet Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man 55 As e'er my conversation coped withal. Horatio O, my dear lord. Nay, do not think I flatter,(:) For what advancement may I hope from thee<,> That no revenue hast<,> but thy good spirits To feed and clothe thee,(.) why should the poor be flatter'd? 60 No, let the candied tongue<,> lick (like) absurd pomp, And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee<,> Where thrift may follow fawning (faining);(?) dost thou hear, Since my dear soul was mistress of her (my) choice, And could of men distinguish<,> her election{,} 65 S'hath (Hath) seal'd thee for herself, for thou hast been As one in suffering all<,> that suffers nothing,(.) A man that fortune's buffets<,> and rewards Hast (Hath) ta'en with equal thanks;(.) and blest are those Whose blood and judgment are so well commenddled (commingled), 70 That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger<,> To sound what stop she please:(.) Give me that man That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him In my heart's core,(:) ay<,> in my heart of heart<,> As I do thee. Something too much of this,(.) 75 There is a play tonight before the king, One scene of it comes near the circumstance Which I have told thee of my father's death,(.) I prithee<,> when thou seest that act afoot, Even with the very comment of thy (my) soul 80 Observe mine uncle,(:) if his occulted guilt<,> Do not itself unkennel in one speech, It is a damned ghost that we have seen,(:) And my imaginations are as foul As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note, 85 For I mine eyes will rivet to his face,(:) And after we will both our judgments join<,> In (To) censure of his seeming. Horatio Well my lord,(.) If he steal aught the whilst this play is playing<,> And 'scape detected (detecting), I will pay the theft. Enter {Trumpets and Kettle Drums,} King, Queen, Polonius, Ophelia, Hamlet 90 They are coming to the play.(:) I must be idle,(.) Get you a place. King How fares our cousin Hamlet? Hamlet Excellent i' faith, Of the chameleon's dish, I eat the air<,> Promise-crammed, you cannot feed capons so. King 95 I have nothing with this answer Hamlet, these words are not mine. Hamlet No, nor mine<.> now my lord.(,) You played once i' th' university<,> you say?