William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (327 page)
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Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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A touch, a touch, I do confess.
KING CLAUDIUS
Our son shall win.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
He’s fat and scant of breath.—
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin. Rub thy brows.
The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin. Rub thy brows.
The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
HAMLET
Good madam.
KING CLAUDIUS Gertrude, do not drink.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
I will, my lord, I pray you pardon me.
She drinks, then offers the cup to Hamlet
KING CLAUDIUS (
aside
)
aside
)
It is the poisoned cup; it is too late.
HAMLET
I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.
QUEEN GERTRUDE (
to Hamlet
) Come, let me wipe thy face.
to Hamlet
) Come, let me wipe thy face.
LAERTES (
aside to Claudius
) My lord, I’ll hit him now.
aside to Claudius
) My lord, I’ll hit him now.
KING CLAUDIUS (
aside to Laertes
) I do not think’t.
aside to Laertes
) I do not think’t.
LAERTES (
aside
)
aside
)
And yet ‘tis almost ’gainst my conscience.
HAMLET
Come for the third, Laertes, you but dally.
I pray you pass with your best violence.
I am afeard you make a wanton of me.
I pray you pass with your best violence.
I am afeard you make a wanton of me.
LAERTES
Say you so? Come on.
They play
OSRIC
Nothing neither way.
LAERTES (
to Hamlet
)
to Hamlet
)
Have at you now!
⌈
Laertes wounds Hamlet.
⌉
In scuffling, they change
rapiers,
⌈
and Hamlet wounds Laertes
⌉
Laertes wounds Hamlet.
⌉
In scuffling, they change
rapiers,
⌈
and Hamlet wounds Laertes
⌉
KING CLAUDIUS (
to attendants
)
to attendants
)
Part them, they are incensed.
HAMLET (
to Laertes
)
to Laertes
)
Nay, come again.
⌈
The Queen falls down
⌉
OSRIC
Look to the Queen there, ho!
HORATIO
They bleed on both sides. (
To Hamlet
) How is’t, my lord?
To Hamlet
) How is’t, my lord?
OSRIC How is’t, Laertes?
LAERTES
Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric.
I am justly killed with mine own treachery.
I am justly killed with mine own treachery.
HAMLET
How does the Queen?
KING CLAUDIUS
She swoons to see them bleed.
QUEEN GERTRUDE
No, no, the drink, the drink! O my dear Hamlet,
The drink, the drink—I am poisoned. ⌈
She dies
⌉
The drink, the drink—I am poisoned. ⌈
She dies
⌉
HAMLET
O villainy! Ho! Let the door be locked! ⌈
Exit Osric
⌉
Treachery, seek it out.
Exit Osric
⌉
Treachery, seek it out.
LAERTES
It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain.
No med’cine in the world can do thee good.
In thee there is not half an hour of life.
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated and envenomed. The foul practice
Hath turned itself on me. Lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again. Thy mother’s poisoned.
I can no more. The King, the King’s to blame.
No med’cine in the world can do thee good.
In thee there is not half an hour of life.
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated and envenomed. The foul practice
Hath turned itself on me. Lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again. Thy mother’s poisoned.
I can no more. The King, the King’s to blame.
HAMLET
The point envenomed too? Then, venom, to thy work.
He hurts King Claudius
ALL THE COURTIERS Treason, treason!
KING CLAUDIUS
O yet defend me, friends! I am but hurt.
HAMLET
Here, thou incestuous, murd’rous, damned Dane,
Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?
Follow my mother.
King Claudius dies
Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?
Follow my mother.
King Claudius dies
LAERTES He is justly served.
It is a poison tempered by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet.
Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.
He dies
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet.
Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.
He dies
HAMLET
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,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time—as this fell sergeant Death
Is strict in his arrest—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.
I am dead, Horatio. Wretched Queen, adieu!
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
Is strict in his arrest—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.
HORATIO
Never believe it.
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.
Here’s yet some liquor left.
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.
Here’s yet some liquor left.
HAMLET As thou’rt a man,
Give me the cup. Let go. By heaven, I’ll ha’t.
O God, Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!
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.
O God, Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!
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 shout within
What warlike noise is this?
Enter Osric
OSRIC
Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland,
To th’ambassadors of England gives
This warlike volley.
To th’ambassadors of England gives
This warlike volley.
HAMLET
O, I die, Horatio!
The potent poison quite o‘ercrows my spirit.
I cannot live to hear the news from England,
But I do prophesy th’election lights
On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice.
So tell him, with th’occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.
O, O, O, O!
I cannot live to hear the news from England,
But I do prophesy th’election lights
On Fortinbras. He has my dying voice.
So tell him, with th’occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.
O, O, O, O!
He dies
HORATIO
Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.—
Why does the drum come hither?
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.—
Why does the drum come hither?
Enter Fortinbras with the English
⌈
Ambassadors
⌉,
with a drummer, colours, and attendants
FORTINBRAS Where is this sight?
HORATIO What is it ye would see?
If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search.
FORTINBRAS
This quarry cries on havoc. O proud death,
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell
That thou so many princes at a shot
So bloodily hast struck!
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell
That thou so many princes at a shot
So bloodily hast struck!
AMBASSADOR
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 fulfilled,
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
Where should we have our thanks?
And our affairs from England come too late.
The ears are senseless that should give us hearing
To tell him his commandment is fulfilled,
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
Where should we have our thanks?
HORATIO
Not from his mouth,
Had it th‘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 arrived, give order that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view;
And let me speak to th’ yet unknowing world
How these things came about. So shall you hear
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
Of accidental judgements, casual slaughters,
Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause;
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall’n on th’inventors’ heads. All this can I
Truly deliver.
Had it th‘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 arrived, give order that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view;
And let me speak to th’ yet unknowing world
How these things came about. So shall you hear
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
Of accidental judgements, casual slaughters,
Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause;
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall’n on th’inventors’ heads. All this can I
Truly deliver.
FORTINBRAS 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.
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.
HORATIO
Of that I shall have also cause to speak,
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more.
But let this same be presently performed,
Even whiles men’s minds are wild, lest more
mischance
On plots and errors happen.
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more.
But let this same be presently performed,
Even whiles men’s minds are wild, lest more
mischance
On plots and errors happen.
FORTINBRAS
Let four captains
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have proved most royally; and for his passage,
The soldiers’ music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.
Take up the body. Such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot.
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have proved most royally; and for his passage,
The soldiers’ music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.
Take up the body. Such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot.
Exeunt, marching, with the bodies; after the which, a peal of ordnance are shot off
ADDITIONAL PASSAGES
A. Just before the second entrance of the Ghost in 1.1 (l. 106.1), Q2 has these additional lines:
BARNARDO
I think it be no other but e’en so.
Well may it sort that this portentous figure
Comes armed through our watch so like the king
That was and is the question of these wars.
Well may it sort that this portentous figure
Comes armed through our watch so like the king
That was and is the question of these wars.
HORATIO
A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye.
In the most high and palmy state of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets
At stars with trains of fire, and dews of blood,
Disasters in the sun; and the moist star,
Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands,
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse.
And even the like precurse of feared events,
As harbingers preceding still the fates,
And prologue to the omen coming on,
Have heaven and earth together demonstrated
Unto our climature and countrymen.
In the most high and palmy state of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets
At stars with trains of fire, and dews of blood,
Disasters in the sun; and the moist star,
Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands,
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse.
And even the like precurse of feared events,
As harbingers preceding still the fates,
And prologue to the omen coming on,
Have heaven and earth together demonstrated
Unto our climature and countrymen.
B. Just before the entrance of the Ghost in 1.4 (l. 18.1),
Q2 has these additional lines continuing Hamlet’s speech:
This heavy-headed revel east and west
Makes us traduced and taxed of other nations.
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase
Soil our addition; and indeed it takes
From our achievements, though performed at height,
So, oft it chances in particular men
That, for some vicious mole of nature in them—
As in their birth, wherein they are not guilty,
Since nature cannot choose his origin,
By the o‘ergrowth of some complexion,
Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason,
Or by some habit that too much o’erleavens
The form of plausive manners—that these men,
Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect,
Being nature’s livery or fortune’s star,
His virtues else be they as pure as grace,
As infinite as man may undergo,
Shall in the general censure take corruption
From that particular fault. The dram of evil
Doth all the noble substance over-daub
To his own scandal.
Makes us traduced and taxed of other nations.
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase
Soil our addition; and indeed it takes
From our achievements, though performed at height,
So, oft it chances in particular men
That, for some vicious mole of nature in them—
As in their birth, wherein they are not guilty,
Since nature cannot choose his origin,
By the o‘ergrowth of some complexion,
Oft breaking down the pales and forts of reason,
Or by some habit that too much o’erleavens
The form of plausive manners—that these men,
Carrying, I say, the stamp of one defect,
Being nature’s livery or fortune’s star,
His virtues else be they as pure as grace,
As infinite as man may undergo,
Shall in the general censure take corruption
From that particular fault. The dram of evil
Doth all the noble substance over-daub
To his own scandal.
C. After 1.4.55, Q2 has these additional lines continuing Horatio’s speech:
The very place puts toys of desperation,
Without more motive, into every brain
That looks so many fathoms to the sea
And hears it roar beneath.
Without more motive, into every brain
That looks so many fathoms to the sea
And hears it roar beneath.
D. After 3.2.163, Q2 has this additional couplet concluding the Player Queen’s speech:
Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear;
Where little fears grow great, great love grows there.
Where little fears grow great, great love grows there.
E. After 3.2.208, Q2 has this additional couplet in the middle of the Player Queen’s speech:
To desperation turn my trust and hope;
An anchor’s cheer in prison be my scope.
An anchor’s cheer in prison be my scope.
F. After ‘this?’ in 3.4.70, Q2 has this more expansive version of Hamlet’s lines of which F retains only ‘what devil . . . blind’:
Sense sure you have,
Else could you not have motion; but sure that sense
Is apoplexed, for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne’er so thralled
But it reserved some quantity of choice
To serve in such a difference. What devil was’t
That thus hath cozened you at hoodman-blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,
Or but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope.
Else could you not have motion; but sure that sense
Is apoplexed, for madness would not err,
Nor sense to ecstasy was ne’er so thralled
But it reserved some quantity of choice
To serve in such a difference. What devil was’t
That thus hath cozened you at hoodman-blind?
Eyes without feeling, feeling without sight,
Ears without hands or eyes, smelling sans all,
Or but a sickly part of one true sense
Could not so mope.
G. After 3.4.151, Q2 has this more expansive version of Hamlet’s lines of which F retains only ‘refrain . . . abstinence’:
That monster custom, who all sense doth eat,
Of habits devilish, is angel yet in this:
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery
That aptly is put on. Refrain tonight,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence, the next more easy—
For use almost can change the stamp of nature—
And either in the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency.
Of habits devilish, is angel yet in this:
That to the use of actions fair and good
He likewise gives a frock or livery
That aptly is put on. Refrain tonight,
And that shall lend a kind of easiness
To the next abstinence, the next more easy—
For use almost can change the stamp of nature—
And either in the devil, or throw him out
With wondrous potency.
H. At 3.4.185, Q2 has these additional lines before ‘This man . . .’:
HAMLET
There’s letters sealed, and my two schoolfellows—
Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged—
They bear the mandate, they must sweep my way
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work,
For ‘tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoised with his own petard; and’t shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon. O, ’tis most sweet
When in one line two crafts directly meet.
Whom I will trust as I will adders fanged—
They bear the mandate, they must sweep my way
And marshal me to knavery. Let it work,
For ‘tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoised with his own petard; and’t shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon. O, ’tis most sweet
When in one line two crafts directly meet.
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