Now the king drinks to Hamlet.—Come, begin ;—– Ham. Come on, sir. Laer. Well,-again. Osr. A hit, a very palpable hit. King. Stay, give me drink: Hamlet, this pearl is Here's to thy health.-Give him the cup. [thine ; [Trumpets sound; and cannons shot off within. Ham. I'll play this bout first, set it by a while. Come. Another hit; What say you? [They play. Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess. King. Our son shall win. Queen. He's fat, and scant of breath. Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows: I Ham. Good madam, King. Gertrude, do not drink. Queen. I will, my lord;-I pray you pardon me. I do not think it. [Aside. Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes: You do but pray you, pass with your best violence; I am afeard, you make a wanton of me. Laer. Say you so? come on. Osr. Nothing neither way. Laer. Have at you now. [dally; [They play. [LAERTES wounds HAMLET; then, in scuffling, they change rapiers, and HAMLET wounds LAERTES. Part them, they are incens'd. King. Ham. Nay, come again. [The Queen falls. Osr. Hor. They bleed on both sides:-How is it, my Osr. How is't, Laertes? [lord? Laer. Why, as a woodcock to my own springe, I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery. [Osric; Look to the queen there, ho! Ham. How does the King. queen ? She swoons to see them bleed. Queen. No no, the drink, the drink,-O my dear Hamlet! The drink, the drink;-I am poison'd! [Dies. Ham. O villainy!-Ho! let the door be lock'd: Treachery! seek it out. [LAERTES falls. Laer. It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art slain; No medicine in the world can do thee good, In thee there is not half an hour's life; The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, Unbated, and envenom'd: the foul practice Hath turned itself on me; lo, here I lie, Never to rise again: Thy mother's poison'd; I can no more; the king, the king's to blame. Ham. The point Envenom'd too!-Then, venom, to thy work. [Stabs the King. Osr.& Lords. Treason! treason! King. O, yet defend me, friends, I am but hurt. Ham. Here, thou incestuous, murd'rous, damned Drink off this potion :-Is the union here? Follow my mother. Laer. He is justly serv'd; It is a poison temper'd by himself. [Dane, [King dies. Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet: [Dies. Is strict in his arrest,) O, I could tell you,- Hor. Never believe it; I am more an antique Roman than a Dane, Ham. As thou'rt a man, Give me the cup: let go; by heaven I'll have it.— 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 awhile, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, What warlike noise is this? Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from To the ambassadors of England gives This warlike volley. Ham. O, I die, Horatio; The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit; On Fortinbras; he has my dying voice; So tell him, with the occurrents, more or less, [Poland, [Dies. Hor. Now cracks a noble heart;-Good night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! END OF HAMLET. SIWARD, earl of Northumberland, general of the English Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Murderers, The Ghost of Banquo, and several other Apparitions. SCENE-in the end of the fourth Act, lies in England; through the rest of the play, in Scotland; and, chiefly, at Macbeth's castle. |