When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames Ham. Alas, poor ghost! 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, I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word And each particular hair to stand on end, To ears of flesh and blood: - List, list, O list! -- If thou didst ever thy dear father love, Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. Ham. Haste me to know it; that I, with wings as swift As meditation, or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge. Ghost. I find thee apt; And duller should'st thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, 8 8 And duller should'st thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,] Shakspeare, apparently Would'st thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear : Rankly abus'd: but know, thou noble youth, Ham. O, my prophetick soul! my uncle! But virtue, as it never will be mov'd, Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven; Will sate itself in a celestial bed, And prey on garbage. But, soft! methinks, I scent the morning air; My custom always of the afternoon, Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,1 through ignorance, makes Roman Catholicks of these Pagan Danes; and here gives a description of purgatory; but yet mixes it with the Pagan fable of Lethe's wharf. Mr. Malone reads " roots itself." 9 mine orchard,] Orchard for garden. With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,] The word here used was more probably designed by a metathesis, either of the poet or transcriber, for henebon, that is, henbane; of which the most common kind (hyoscyamus niger) is certainly narcotick, and perhaps, if taken in a considerable quantity, might prove poisonous. And in the porches of mine ears did pour Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust, Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand, Of life, of crown, of queen, at once despatch'd: 2 No reckoning made, but sent to my account 2 at once despatch'd:] Despatch'd, for bereft. [Exit. 3 Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd;] Unhousel'd is without having received the sacrament. Disappointed, as Dr. Johnson observes, "is the same as unappointed, and may be properly explained unprepared. A man well furnished with things necessary for an enterprize, was said to be well appointed." Unanel'd is without extreme unction. 4 - pale his uneffectual fire:] Fire that is no longer seen when the light of morning approaches. Ham. O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else? And shall I couple hell?-O fye! - Hold, hold, my heart; And you, my sinews, grow not instant old, But bear me stiffly up! 5 Remember thee? Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat I'll wipe away all trivial fond records, All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past, O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain ! So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;7 I have sworn't. Hor. [within.] My lord, my lord, Mar. [within.] Lord Hamlet, Hor. [within.] Ham. [Writing. Heaven secure him! Mar. [within.] Illo, ho, ho, my lord! So be it! 5 - this distracted globe.] i. e. in this head confused with thought. 6 My tables,] Table-books in the time of our author appear to have been used by all ranks of people. In the church they were filled with short notes of the sermon, and at the theatre with the sparkling sentences of the play. 7-Now to my word;] Hamlet alludes to the watch-word given every day in military service, which at this time he says is, Adieu, adieu! remember me. Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come. Ham. How say you then; would heart of man once think it? But you'll be secret, — Hor. Mar. 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 in 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 my own poor part, Look you, I will 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,— 8 come, bird, come.] This is the call which falconers use to their hawk in the air, when they would have him come down to them. |