Shakespeare's Hamlet

SCENE V.

A more remote Part of the Platform.

Enter Ghost and HAMLET.

Ham. Where wilt thou lead me? speak, I'll go no farther.
Ghost. Mark me.

Ham.

Ghost.

When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames

I will.

My hour is almost come,

Alas, poor ghost!

Must render up myself.

Ham.

Ghost. Pity me not; but lend thy serious hearing

To what I shall unfold.

Ham.

Speak, I am bound to hear.

Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.
Ham. What?

Ghost. I am thy father's spirit;

Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night,

And for the day confin'd to fast in fires,

Till the foul crimes, done in my days of nature,

Are burnt and purg'd away. | But that I am forbid

46 To tell the secrets of my prison-house,

I could 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 an-end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:

But this eternal blazon must not be

To ears of flesh and blood.

List, list, O list!

If thou didst ever thy dear father love,

Ham. O God!

Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.

Ham. Murder?

Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is;

But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.

Ham. Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as swift As meditation, or the thoughts of love,

May sweep to my revenge.

I find thee apt;

Ghost.
And duller should'st thou be, than the fat weed
That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,
Would'st thou not stir in this: now, Hamlet, hear.
'T is given out, that sleeping in mine orchard,

A serpent stung me: so the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged process of my death

Rankly abus'd; but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.

Ham. O, my prophetic soul! my uncle!

Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,
(O wicked wit, and gifts, that have the power
So to seduce!) won to his shameful lust

The will of my most seeming virtuous queen. ||
O, Hamlet, what a falling off was there!
From me, whose love was of that dignity,
That it went hand in hand even with the vow
I made to her in marriage; and to decline
Upon a wretch, whose natural gifts were poor
To those of mine!

But virtue, as it never will be mov'd,

Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd,

Will sate itself in a celestial bed,

And prey on garbage. Haf

But, soft! methinks, I scent the morning air:

Brief let me be. | Sleeping within mine orchard,

My custom always in the afternoon,

Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenon in à phial,
And in the porches of mine ears did pour
The leperous distilment; whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man,
That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body;
And with a sudden vigour it doth posset,
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;
And a most instant tetter bark'd about,

Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust
All my smooth body.

Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's band,

Of life, of crown, of queen, at once despatch'd:
Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd;

No reckoning made, but sent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head:
O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!

If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest,
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven,
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once.
The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:

Adieu, Adieu! Hamlet, remember me.

[Exit.

51 Ham, O, all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? And shall I couple hell? O fie! Hold, hold, my heart; And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,

But bear me stiffly up!

Remember thee?

Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee?
Yea, from the table of my memory

I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,

All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
That youth and observation copied there,
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with baser matter: yes, by heaven.
O, most pernicious woman!

O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! | 52 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. Now to my word;
It is, "Adieu, adieu! remember me."

[Writing.

Heaven secure him!

Hor. Within. Illo, ho, ho, my lord!

Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come.

Enter HORATIO and MARcellus.

Mar. How is 't, my noble lord?

Hor.

What news, my lord?

Nor I, my lord. |

Ham. How say you, then; would heart of man once think 53

But you'll be secret.

Hor. Mar.

it?

Ay, by heaven, my lord.

Ham. There's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Denmark, But he's an arrant knave.

Hor. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave To tell us this.

Ham.

Why, right; you are i' the right;

And so, without more circumstance at all,

I hold it fit that we shake hands and part:

You, as your business and desire shall point you,
For every man hath business and desire,

Such as it is; and, for mine own poor part,

Look you, I'll go pray.

Hor. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. Ham. I am sorry they offend you, heartily; yes, 'Faith, heartily.

Hor.

There's no offence, my lord. |

Ham. Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio,
And much offence too. Touching this vision here,
It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you:

For your desire to know what is between us,
O'er-master 't as you may. And now, good friends,
As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers,

Give me one poor request.

Hor. What is 't my lord, we will.

Ham. Never make known what you have seen to-night. Hor. Mar. My lord, we will not.

Ham.

Hor.

Nay, but swear 't.

In faith,

Mar.

Ham. Upon my sword.

Mar.

Ham. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.

Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear. I

Ham. Ha, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there, truepenny?55

Come on,

Propose the oath my lord.

Consent to swear.

Hor.

Ham. Never to speak of this that you have seen,

Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Hic et ubique? then, we 'll shift our ground. Come hither, gentlemen,

And lay your hands again upon my sword:

Never to speak of this that you have heard,

Swear by my sword.

Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Well said, old mole! can'st work i' the earth so fast?
A worthy pioner! Once more remove, good friends.
Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
Ham. 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, never, so help you mercy,
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself,
As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet
To put an antic disposition on, -

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall,
With arms encumber'd thus, or this head-shake,
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,
As, "Well, well, we know;"

would!"

Or, "If we list to speak;"

might;'

or "We could, an if we