exceed you three hits : he hath laid, on twelve it be now, 'tis not to come ; if it be not to come, for nine ; and it would come to immediate trial, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will if your lordship would vouchsafe the answer. come: the readiness is all : Since no man, of Ham. How, if I answer, no?

aught he leaves, knows, what is't to leave beOsr. I mean, my lord, the opposition of your times ? Let be. person in trial. Ham. Sir, I will walk here in the hall: If it

Enter King, Queen, LAERTES, Lords, Osric, please his majesty, it is the breathing time of

and Attendants, with foils, &c. day with me: let the foils be brought, the gen- King: Come, Hamlet, come, and take this tleman willing, and the king hold his purpose, I

hand from me. will win for him, if I can; if not, I will gain no

[The King puts the hand of Laertes thing but my shame, and the odd hits.

into that of Hamlet. Osr. Shall I deliver you so ?

Ham. Give me your pardon, sir: I have done Ham. To this effect, sir ; after what flourish you wrong; your nature will.

But pardon it, as you are a gentleman. Osr. I commend my duty to your lordship. This presence knows, and you must needs have

[Exit. heard, Ham. Yours, yours.--He does well, to com- How I am punish'd with a sore distraction. mend it himself; there are no tongues else for's What I have done, turn.

That might your nature, honour, and exception, Hor. This lapwing runs away with the shell Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness

. on his head.

Was't Hamlet wrong’d Laertes ? Never, Hannlet: Ham. He did comply with his dug, before If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away, he sucked it. Thus has he (and many more of And, when he's not himself, does wrong Laertes, the same breed, that, I know, the drossy age Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it. dotes on,) only got the tune of the time, and Who does it then? His madness: If't be so, outward habit of encounter ; a kind of yesty col- Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong’d; lection, which carries them through and through His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy. the most fond and winnowed opinions ; and do Sir, in this audience, but blow them to their trial, the bubbles are out. Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd evil

Free me so far in your most generous thoughts, Enter a Lord.

That I have shot my arrow o'er the house, Lord. My lord, his majesty commended him And hurt my brother. to you by young Osric, who brings back to him, Laer. I am satisfied in nature, that you attend him in the hall : He sends to Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most know, if your pleasure hold to play with Laer- To my revenge: but, in my terms of honour, tes, or that you will take longer time.

I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement, Ham. I ain constant to my purposes, they fol- Till by some elder masters, of known honour, low the king's pleasure: if his fitness speaks, I have a voice and precedent of peace,

а mine is ready; now, or whensoever, provided I To keep my name ungor'd : But till that time, be so able as now.

I do receive your offer'd love like love, Lord. The king, and queen, and all are com- And will not wrong it. ing down.

Ham. I embrace it freely; Ham. In happy time.

And will this brother's wager frankly play.Lord. The queen desires you, to use some Give us the foils; come on. gentle entertainment to Laertes, before you fall Laer. Come, one for me. to play.

Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes ; in inine igHam. She well instructs me. [Erit Lord.

norance Hor. You will lose this wager, my lord. Your skill shall, like a star i'the darkest night,

Ham. I do not think so; since he went into Stick fiery off indeed. France, I have been in continual practice ; I shall Laer. You mock me, sir. win at the odds. But thou would'st not think, Ham. No, by this hand. how ill all's here about my heart : but it is no King. Give them the foils, young Osric.-matter.

Cousin Hamlet, Hor. Nay, good my lord,

You know the wager? Ham. It is but foolery ; but it is such a kind Ham. Very well, my lord ; of gain-giving, as would, perhaps, trouble a wo- Your grace hath laid the odds o'the weaker side. man.

King. I do not fear it: I have seen you Hor. If your mind dislike any thing, obey it: both: I will forestal their repair hither, and say, you But since he's better'd, we have therefore odds

. are not fit.

Laer. This is too heavy, let me see another. Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury; there is Ham. This likes me well: These foils have a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If all a length ? [They prepare to play.

my lord ?

:

Osr. Ay, my good lord.

Hor. They bleed on both sides :-How is it, King. Set me the stoups of wine upon that table :

Osr. How is't, Laertes ? If Hamlet give the first or second hit,

Laer. Why, as a woodcock to my own springe, Or quit in answer of the third exchange,

Osric; Let all the battlement their ordnance fire ; I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery. The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath; Ham. How does the queen? And in the cup an union shall he throw,

King. She swoons to see them bleed. Richer than that which four successive kings Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink, -my In Denmark's crown have worn: Give me the dear Hamlet !cups;

The drink, the drink ;-I am poison'd! [Dies. And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,

Ham. O villainy!-Ho! let the door be lock'd : The trumpet to the cannoneer without, Treachery! seek it out. [Laertes falls. The cannons to the heavens, the heaven to earth, Laer. It is here, Hamlet : Hamlet, thou art Now the king drinks to Hamlet.-Come, be

slain ; gin;

No medicine in the world can do thee good, And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.

In thee there is not half an hour's life; Ham. Come on, sir.

The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, Laer. Come, my lord. [They play. Unbated, and envenom'd : the foul practice Ham. One.

Hath turn'd itself on me; lo, here I lie, Laer. No.

Never to rise again. Thy mother's poison'd; Ham. Judgment.

I can no more; the king, the king's to blame. Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit.

Ham. The point Laer. Well,-again.

Envenom'd too !—Then, venom, to thy work. King. Stay, give me drink : Hamlet, this pearl

[Stabs the King is thine ;

Osr. & Lords. Treason ! treason!
Here's to thy health.-Give him the cup. King: 0, yet defend me, friends, I am but

[Trumpets sound ; and cannon shot of hurt.
within.

Ham. Here, thou incestuous, murd'rous, damnHam. I'll play this bout first, set it by awhile.

ed Dane, Come.—Another hit; What say you ?

Drink off this potion :-Is the union here? [They play. Follow my mother.

[King dies. Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess.

Laer. He is justly serv'd; King. Our son shall win.

It is a poison temper'd by himself.Queen. He's fat, and scant of breath. Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet : Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows; Mine and my father's death come not upon thee ; The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet. Nor thine on me!

[Dies. Ham. Good madam,

Ham. Heaven make thee free of it! I follow King. Gertrude, do not drink.

thee. Queen. I will, my lord ;-I pray you, pardon I am dead, Horatio :-Wretched queen, adieu:

You that look pale and tremble at this chance, King. It is the poison'd cup; it is too late. That are but mutes or audience to this act,

[Aside. Had I but time, (as this fell sergeant, death, Ham. I dare not drink yet, madam; by and Is strict in his arrest,) 0, I could tell you,by.

But let it be :—Horatio, I am dead ; Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face.

Thou liv'st; report me and my cause aright Laer. My lord, I'll hit him now.

To the unsatisfied. King. I do not think it.

Hor. Never believe it ; Laer. And yet it is almost against my consci- I am more an antique Roman than a Dane,

[Aside. Here's yet some liquor left. Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes : You do Ham. As thou'rt a man,but dally ;

Give me the cup; let go; by heaven I'll have it.I pray you, pass with your best violence; O God !-Horatio, what a wounded name, I am afeard, you make a wanton of me. Things standing thus unknown, shall live beLaer. Say you so ? come on. [They play.

hind me? Osr. Nothing neither way.

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, Laer. Have at you now.

Absent thee from felicity awhile,
[Laertes wounds Hamlet ; then, in scuffling, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,

they change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds To tell my story:-
Laertes.

ĽMarch afar off, and shot within. King. Part them, they are incens’d.

What warlike noise is this? Ham. Nay, come again. [The Queen falls. Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come Osr. Look to the queen there, ho !

from Poland,

me.

ence.

To the ambassadors of England gives

You from the Polack wars, and you from EngThis warlike volley.

land, Ham. 0, I die, Horatio ;

Are here arriv'd ; give order, that these bodies The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit ; High on a stage be placed to the view; I cannot live to hear the news from England : And let me speak, to the yet unknowing world, But I do prophecy the election lights

How these things come about: So shall you bear On Fortinbras; he has my dying voice ; Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts; So tell him, with the occurrents, more or less, Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters; Which have solicited. The rest is silence. Of deaths put on by cunning, and forc'd cause ;

[Dies. And, in this upshot, purposes mistook Hor. Now cracks a noble heart ;-Good night, Fall’n on the inventors' heads: all this can I sweet prince ;

Truly deliver.
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest ! Fórt. Let us haste to hear it,
Why does the drum come hither ?

And call the noblest to the audience.
[March within. For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune ;

I have some rights of memory in this kingdom, Enter FORTINBRAS, the English Ambassadors, Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me. and Others.

Hor. Of that I shall have also cause to speak, Fort. Where is this sight?

And from his mouth whose voice will draw on Hor. What is it, you would see?

more: If aught of woe, or wonder, cease your search. But let this same be presently perform’d, Fort. This quarry cries on havock !-O proud Even while men's minds are wild; lest more misdeath!

chance, What feast is toward in thine eternal cell, On plots, and errors, happen. That thou so many princes, at a shot,

Fort. Let four captains So bloodily hast struck ?

Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage ; 1 Amb. The sight is dismal ;

For he was likely, had he been put on, And our affairs from England come too late : To have prov'd most royally: and, for his pasThe ears are senseless, that should giveus hearing, sage, To tell him, his commandment is fulfill’d, The soldiers' music, and the rites of war, That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead : Speak loudly for him.Where should we have our thanks ?

Take up the bodies :-Such a sight as this Hor. Not from his mouth,

Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss. Had it the ability of life to thank you ;

Go, bid the soldiers shoot. [A dead march. He never gave commandment for their death. [Ereunt, bearing off the dead bodies ; after But since, so jump upon this bloody question, which, a peal of ordnance is shot off

SCENE,- for the first Act, in Venice ; during the rest of the Play, at a Sca-port in Cyprus.

ACT I.

lago. Despise me, if I do not. Three great SCENE I.-Venice. A street.

ones of the city,

In personal suit to make me his lieutenant, Enter RODERIGO and Iago.

Oft capp'd to him ;-and, by the faith of man, Rod. Tush, never tell me, I take it much un- I know my price, I am worth no worse a place : kindly,

But he, as loving his own pride and purposes, That thou, lago,—who hast had my purse,

Evades them, with a bombast circumstance, As if the strings were thine,-should'st know of Horribly stuff'd with epithets of war ; this.

And, in conclusion, nonsuits
Iago. 'Sblood, but you will not hear me :- My mediators; for, certes, says he,
If ever I did dream of such a matter,

I have already chose my officer.

And what was he?
Rod. Thou told’st me, thou didst hold him in Forsooth, a great arithmetician,
thy hate.

One Michael Cassio, a Florentine,

Abhor me.

A fellow almost damn'd in a fair wife; And, though he in a fertile climate dwell, That never set a squadron in the field,

Plague him with flies: though that his joy be Nor the division of a battle knows

joy, More than a spinster; unless the bookish theoric, Yet throw such changes of vexation on't, Wherein the toged consuls can propose As it may lose some colour. As masterly as he: mere prattle, without prac- Rod. Here is her father's house; I'll call aloud. tice,

Iago. Do; with like timorous accent, and dire Is all his soldiership. But he, sir, had the elec- yell, tion :

As when, by night and negligence, the fire And 1,-of whom his eyes had seen the proof, Is spied in populous cities. At Rhodes, at Cyprus ; and on other grounds, Rod. What, ho! Brabantio! signior BrabanChristian and heathen,-must be be-lee'd and tio, ho ! calm'a

Iago. Awake! what, ho ! Brabantio ! thieves! By debitor and creditor, this counter-caster;

thieves ! thieves ! He, in good time, must his lieutenant be, Look to your house, your daughter, and your And I, (God bless the mark!) his Moor-ship's

bags ! ancient.

Thieves ! thieves ! Rod. By heaven, I rather would have been his hangman.

BRABANTIO, above, at a window. Iago. But there's no remedy, 'tis the curse of Bra. What is the reason of this terrible sumservice;

mons ? Preferment goes by letter, and affection, What is the matter there? Not by the old gradation, where each second Rod. Signior, is all your family within? Stood heir to the first. Now, sir, be judge your- Iago. Are your doors lock'd ? self,

Bra. Why? wherefore ask you this? Whether I in any just term am affin'd

Iago. 'Zounds, sir, you are robb'd; for shaine, To love the Moor.

put on your gown; Rod. I would not follow him then.

Your heart is burst, you have lost half your soul; Iago. 0, sir, content you ;

Even now, very now, an old black ram I follow him to serve my turn upon hiin: Is tupping your white ewe. Arise, arise ; We cannot all be masters, nor all masters Awake the snorting citizens with the bell, Cannot be truly follow'd. You shall mark Or else the devil will make a grandsire of you: Many a duteous and knee-crooking knave,

Arise, I say That, doting on his own obsequious bondage, Bra. What, have you lost your wits? Wears out his time, much like his master's ass, Rod. Most reverend signior, do you know my For nought but provender; and, when he's old, voice? cashier'd;

Bra. Not I; What are you? Whip me such honest knaves : Others there are, Rod. My name is-Roderigo. Who, trimm'd in forms and visages of duty, Bra. The worse welcome : Keep yet their hearts attending on themselves ; I have charg'd thee not to haunt about my doors: And, throwing but shows of service on their lords, In honest plainness thou hast heard me say, Do well thrive by them, and, when they have My daughter is not for thee ; and now, in madlin'd their coats,

ness, Do themselves homage: these fellows have some Being full of supper, and distempering draughts,

Upon malicious bravery, dost thou come And such a one do I profess myself.

To start my quiet: For, sir,

Rod. Sir, sir, sir, sir, It is as sure as you are Roderigo,

Bra. But thou must needs be sure, Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago: My spirit, and my place, have in them power In following him I follow but myself;

To make this bitter to thee. Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty, Rod. Patience, good sir. But seeming so, for my peculiar end :

Bra. What tell'st thou me of robbing? this For when my outward action doth demonstrate

is Venice ; The native act and figure of my heart

My house is not a grange. In compliment extern, 'tis not long after

Rod. Most grave Brabantio, But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve, In simple

and pure soul I come to you. For daws to peck at: I am not what I am. Iago. 'Zounds, sir, you are one of those, that Rod. What a full fortune does the thick-lips will not serve God, if the devil bid you. Because owe,

we come to do you service, you think we are rufIf he can carry't thus !

fians: You'll have your daughter covered with Iago. Call up her father ;

a Barbary horse ; you'll have your nephews Rouse him: make after him, poison his delight, neigh to you; you'll have coursers for conside, Proclaim him in the streets; incense her kinsmen, and genbets for germans.

soul;

а