Five Revenge Tragedies: The Spanish Tragedy, Hamlet, Antonio's Revenge, The Tragedy of Hoffman, The Revenger's Tragedy (Penguin Classics)
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Leartes. I humbly take my leave; farewell Ofelia,
And remember well what I have said to you. Exit.
Ofelia. It is already locked within my heart,
And you yourself shall keep the key of it.
Corambis. What is’t, Ofelia, he hath said to you?
Ofelia. Something concerning the Prince Hamlet.
Corambis. Marry, well thought on: ’tis given me to understand,
50 That you have been too prodigal of your maiden presence
Unto Prince Hamlet. If it be so,
As so ’tis given to me, and that in way of caution
I must tell you: you do not understand yourself
So well as befits my honour and your credit.
Ofelia. My lord, he hath made many tenders of his love to me.
Corambis. Tenders? ay, ay, tenders you may call them.
Ofelia. And withal, such earnest vows.
Corambis. Springes to catch woodcocks,
What, do I not know when the blood doth burn,
60 How prodigal the tongue lends the heart vows?
In brief, be more scanter of your maiden presence,
Or tendering thus you’ll tender me a fool.
Ofelia. I shall obey, my lord, in all I may.
Corambis. Ofelia, receive none of his letters,
For lovers’ lines are snares to entrap the heart;
Refuse his tokens, both of them are keys
To unlock chastity unto desire.
Come in Ofelia: such men often prove
Great in their words, but little in their love.
70 Ofelia. I will, my lord. Exeunt.
[Scene 4]
Enter Hamlet, Horatio, and Marcellus.
Hamlet. The air bites shrewd; it is an eager and
A nipping wind. What hour is’t?
Horatio. I think it lacks of twelve. Sound Trumpets.
Marcellus. No, ’tis struck.
Horatio. Indeed, I heard it not. What doth this mean, my lord?
Hamlet. O, the king doth wake tonight, and takes his rouse,
Keeps wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels;
And as he dreams his draughts of Rhenish down,
The kettle, drum, and trumpet thus bray out
10 The triumphs of his pledge.
Horatio. Is it a custom here?
Hamlet.Ay marry is’t, and though I am
Native here, and to the manner born,
It is a custom more honoured in the breach
Than in the observance.
Enter the Ghost.
Horatio. look my lord, it comes!
Hamlet. Angels and ministers of grace defend us.
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damned,
Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell,
20 Be thy intents wicked or charitable,
Thou comest in such questionable shape,
That I will speak to thee.
I’ll call thee Hamlet, King, Father, royal Dane.
O answer me: let me not burst in ignorance,
But say why thy canonized bones hearsed in death
Have burst their ceremonies: why thy sepulchre,
In which we saw thee quietly interred,
Hath burst his ponderous and marble jaws,
To cast thee up again? What may this mean,
30 That thou, dead corse, again in complete steel
Revisits thus the glimpses of the moon,
Making night hideous, and we fools of nature,
So horridly to shake our disposition,
With thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?
Say, speak, wherefore, what may this mean?
Horatio. It beckons you, as though it had something
To impart to you alone.
Marcellus. look with what courteous action
It waves you to a more removed ground.
40 But do not go with it.
Horatio. No, by no means, my lord.
Hamlet. It will not speak. Then will I follow it.
Horatio. What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord,
That beckles o’er his base into the sea,
And there assume some other horrid shape,
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason,
And drive you into madness? Think of it.
Hamlet. Still am I called: go on, I’ll follow thee.
Horatio. My lord, you shall not go.
50 Hamlet. Why, what should be the fear?
I do not set my life at a pin’s fee,
And for my soul, what can it do to that
Being a thing immortal, like itself?
Go on: I’ll follow thee.
Marcellus. My lord, be ruled: you shall not go.
Hamlet. My fate cries out, and makes each petty artery
As hardy as the Nemean lion’s nerve.
Still am I called. Unhand me, gentlemen;
By heaven, I’ll make a ghost of him that lets me.
60 Away, I say – go on, I’ll follow thee.
Horatio. He waxeth desperate with imagination.
Marcellus. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
Horatio. Have after. To what issue will this sort?
Marcellus. let’s follow: ’tis not fit thus to obey him. Exit.
[Scene 5]
Enter Ghost and Hamlet.
Hamlet. I’ll go no further: whither wilt thou lead me?
Ghost. Mark me.
Hamlet. I will.
Ghost. I am thy father’s spirit, doomed for a time
To walk the night, and all the day
Confined in flaming fire,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are purged and burnt away.
Hamlet. Alas, poor ghost.
10 Ghost. Nay, pity me not, but to my unfolding
Lend thy listening ear. But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prisonhouse,
I would a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand on end
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine.
But this same blazon must not be, to ears of flesh and blood.
20 Hamlet, if ever thou didst thy dear father love –
Hamlet. O God –
Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
Hamlet. Murder?
Ghost. Yea, murder in the highest degree,
As in the least, ’tis bad,
But mine most foul, beastly, and unnatural.
Hamlet. Haste me to know it, that with wings as swift as meditation, or the thought of it, may sweep to my revenge.
Ghost. O I find thee apt, and duller shouldst thou be
30 Than the fat weed that roots itself in ease
On lethe wharf: brief let me be.
’Tis given out, that sleeping in my orchard,
A serpent stung me, and so the whole ear of Denmark
Is with a forged process of my death rankly abused.
But know, thou noble youth: he that did sting
Thy father’s heart now wears his crown.
Hamlet. O my prophetic soul! My uncle, my uncle!
Ghost. Yea he, that incestuous wretch, won to his will with gifts –
O wicked will, and gifts that have the power
40 So to seduce – my most seeming virtuous queen.
But virtue, as it never will be moved,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So lust, though to a radiant angel linked,
Would sate itself from a celestial bed,
And prey on garbage: but soft, methinks
I scent the morning’s air, brief let me be.
Sleeping within my orchard, my custom always
In the afternoon, upon my secure hour
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br /> Thy uncle came, with juice of hebona
50 In a vial, and through the porches of my ears
Did pour the leprous distilment, whose effect
Hold such an enmity with blood of man,
That swift as quicksilver, it posteth through
The natural gates and alleys of the body,
And turns the thin and wholesome blood
Like eager droppings into milk.
And all my smooth body, barked and tettered over.
Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand
Of crown, of queen, of life, of dignity,
60 At once deprived. No reckoning made of,
But sent unto my grave,
With all my accompts and sins upon my head.
O horrible, most horrible!
Hamlet. O God!
Ghost. If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not,
But howsoever, let not thy heart
Conspire against thy mother aught,
Leave her to heaven
And to the burden that her conscience bears.
70 I must be gone: the glow-worm shows the matin
To be near and ’gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Hamlet, adieu, adieu, adieu: remember me. Exit.
Hamlet. O all you host of heaven! O earth, what else?
And shall I couple hell? Remember thee?
Yes, thou poor ghost. From the tables
Of my memory, I’ll wipe away all saws of books,
All trivial fond conceits
That ever youth, or else observance noted,
And thy remembrance all alone shall sit.
80 Yes, yes, by heaven! A damned pernicious villain,
Murderous, bawdy, smiling damned villain!
My tables – meet it is I set it down,
That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
At least I am sure, it may be so in Denmark.
So uncle, there you are, there you are.
Now to the words: it is adieu, adieu, remember me.
So ’tis, enough, I have sworn.
Enter Horatio, and Marcellus.
Horatio. My lord, my lord!
Marcellus. lord Hamlet.
Hamlet. Illo, lo, ho, ho!
90 Marcellus. Illo, lo, so, ho, so, come boy, come!
Horatio. Heavens secure him.
Marcellus. How is’t, my noble lord?
Horatio. What news, my lord?
Hamlet. O wonderful, wonderful.
Horatio. Good my lord, tell it.
Hamlet. No not I: you’ll reveal it.
Horatio. Not I, my lord, by heaven.
Marcellus. Nor I, my lord.
100 Hamlet. How say you then? Would heart of man
Once think it? But you’ll be secret?
Both. Ay, by heaven, my lord.
Hamlet. There’s never a villain dwelling in all Denmark, But he’s an arrant knave.
Horatio. There need no ghost come from the grave to tell you this.
Hamlet. Right, you are in the right, and therefore
I hold it meet without more circumstance at all,
We shake hands and part, you as your business
And desires shall lead you: for look you,
110 Every man hath business, and desires, such
As it is, and for my own poor part, I’ll go pray.
Horatio. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.
Hamlet. I am sorry they offend you; heartily, yes ’faith, heartily.
Horatio. There’s no offence, my lord.
Hamlet. Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio,
And much offence too. Touching this vision,
It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you.
For your desires to know what is between us,
O’ermaster it as you may:
120 And now kind friends, as you are friends,
Scholars and gentlemen:
Grant me one poor request.
Both. What is’t, my lord?
Hamlet. Never make known what you have seen tonight.
Both. My lord, we will not.
Hamlet. Nay, but swear.
Horatio. In faith, my lord, not I.
Marcellus. Nor I, my lord, in faith.
Hamlet. Nay, upon my sword, indeed upon my sword.
130 Ghost. Swear.
The Ghost under the stage.
Hamlet. Ha, ha! Come you here, this fellow in the cellarage,
Here consent to swear.
Horatio. Propose the oath, my lord.
Hamlet. Never to speak what you have seen tonight,
Swear by my sword.
Ghost. Swear.
Hamlet. Hic et ubique? Nay then, we’ll shift our ground.
Come hither gentlemen, and lay your hands
Again upon this sword: never to speak
140 Of that which you have seen, swear by my sword.
Ghost. Swear.
Hamlet. Well said old mole, can’st work in the earth? So fast, a worthy pioneer, once more, remove.
Horatio. Day and night, but this is wondrous strange.
Hamlet. And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy,
But come here, as before, you never shall,
How strange or odd soe’er I bear myself,
150 As I perchance hereafter shall think meet,
To put an antic disposition on,
That you at such times seeing me, never shall
With arms, encumbered thus, or this head shake,
Or by pronouncing some undoubtful phrase,
As well, well, we know, or we could and if we would,
Or there be, and if they might, or such ambiguous
Giving out, to note that you know aught of me.
This not to do, so grace and mercy
At your most need help you, swear.
160 Ghost. Swear.
Hamlet. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! So, gentlemen,
In all my love I do commend me to you,
And what so poor a man as Hamlet may
To pleasure you, God willing shall not want.
Nay come, let’s go together.
But still your fingers on your lips, I pray,
The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right,
Nay come, let’s go together. Exeunt.
[Scene 6]
Enter Corambis, and Montano.
Corambis. Montano, here, these letters to my son,
And this same money with my blessing to him,
And bid him ply his learning, good Montano.
Montano. I will, my lord.
Corambis. You shall do very well, Montano, to say thus:
‘I knew the gentleman’, or ‘know his father’,
To inquire the manner of his life,
As thus: being amongst his acquaintance,
You may say, you saw him at such a time, mark you me,
10 At game, or drinking, swearing, or drabbing,
You may go so far.
Montano. My lord, that will impeach his reputation.
Corambis. Ay faith, not a whit, no, not a whit,
Now happily he closeth with you in the consequence,
As you may bridle it, not disparage him a jot.
What was I about to say … ?
Montano. He closeth with him in the consequence.
Corambis. Ay, you say right, he closeth with him thus,
This will he say – let me say, what he will say –
20 Marry this, ‘I saw him yesterday’, or ‘t’other day’,
Or then, or ‘at such a time a-dicing’,
Or ‘at tennis’, aye, or ‘drinking drunk’, or ‘entering
Of a house of lightness’ – viz. brothel –
Thus sir, do we that know the world, being men of reach,
By indirections, find directions forth,
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br /> And so shall you my son. You ha’ me, ha’ you not?
Montano. I have, my lord.
Corambis. Well, fare you well, commend me to him.
Montano. I will, my lord.
30 Corambis. And bid him ply his music
Montano. My lord, I will. Exit.
Enter Ofelia.
Corambis. Farewell. How now, Ofelia, what’s the news with you?
Ofelia. O my dear father: such a change in nature,
So great an alteration in a prince,
So pitiful to him, fearful to me,
A maiden’s eye ne’er looked on.
Corambis. Why, what’s the matter, my Ofelia?
Ofelia. O young Prince Hamlet, the only flower of Denmark,
He is bereft of all the wealth he had,
40 The jewel that adorned his feature most
Is filched and stolen away: his wit’s bereft him.
He found me walking in the gallery all alone,
There comes he to me, with a distracted look,
His garters lagging down, his shoes untied,
And fixed his eyes so steadfast on my face,
As if they had vowed this is their latest object.
Small while he stood, but grips me by the wrist,
And there he holds my pulse till with a sigh
He doth unclasp his hold, and parts away
50 Silent, as is the mid-time of the night.
And as he went, his eye was still on me,
For thus his head over his shoulder looked,
He seemed to find the way without his eyes,
For out of doors he went without their help,
And so did leave me.
Corambis. Mad for thy love.
What, have you given him any cross words of late?
Ofelia. I did repel his letters, deny his gifts,
As you did charge me.
60 Corambis. Why that hath made him mad.
By heaven, ’tis as proper for our age to cast
Beyond ourselves as ’tis for the younger sort
To leave their wantonness. Well, I am sorry
That I was so rash: but what remedy?
Let’s to the king: this madness may prove,
Though wild a while, yet more true to thy love.
Exeunt.
[Scene 7]
Enter King and Queen, Rossencraft and Gilderstone.
King. Right noble friends, that our dear cousin Hamlet
Hath lost the very heart of all his sense,
It is most right, and we most sorry for him.
Therefore we do desire, even as you tender
Our care to him, and our great love to you,
That you will labour but to wring from him
The cause and ground of his distemperancy.
Do this: the king of Denmark shall be thankful.
Rossencraft. My lord, whatsoever lies within our power