f

Things ftanding thus unknown, fhall I leave behind me

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,

Abfent thee from felicity awhile,

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,

Ofr. Young Fortinbras, with conqueft come from Poland, * To the ambaffadors of England gives

k

Hor. Now a cracks a noble heart. Good night, fweet

prince ;

And flights of angels r fing thee to thy reft!

Why does the drum come hither?

t

• Enter Fortinbras, and English Ambassadors, with drum, colours, and attendants.

Fort. Where is this fight?

Hor. What is it you would fee?

If aught of woe or wonder, ceafe your search.

Fort. This quarry cries on havock. O proud death! What feaft is tow'rd in thine infernal cell,

That thou fo many princes at a fhot

So bloodily haft ftruck ?

Amb. The fight is difmal,

And our affairs from England come too late :
The ears are fenfeless that should give us hearing;
To tell him his commandment is fulfill'd,

That Rofencraus and Guildenstern are dead.
Where should we have our thanks?

Hor. Not from his mouth,

Had it th' ability of life to thank you:
He never gave commandment for their death.
But fince fo a jump upon this bloody question,

q Firft f. cracke.

r W. reads wing for fung.

• The qu's read, Enter Fortinbrasse with the embaladors.

The fo's, R. P. and H. read am

bajador.

The fo's read His for This.

x H. reads, cries out, bavock!
y So the 3d q. T. W. and 7; the
reft read eternal.

z The fo's and R. read shoot,
a P. T.'s octavo, and H. read full for

The 3d and 4th f. and R. read, the jump.

You

You from the Polack wars, and you from England,
Are here arriv'd; 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 fhall you
Of cruel, bloody, and unnatural acts;
Of accidental judgments, cafual flaughters;
Of deaths put on by cunning,

d

hear

and for no caufe;

And, in this upshot, purposes miftook

Fall'n on th' inventors' heads. All this can I

Truly deliver.

Fort. Let us hafte to hear it,

And call the nobleft to the audience.

For me, with forrow I embrace my fortune;

f

I have fome rights of memory in this kingdom,

Which, now to claim my vantage doth invite me.

h

Hor. Of that I fhall have also cause to speak,

And from his mouth, whofe voice will draw on more:
But let this fame be presently perform'd,

Even while men's minds are wild, left more mischance
On plots and errors happen.

Fort. Let four captains

k

Bear Hamlet, like a foldier, to the stage;

For he was likely, had he been put on,

b Firft q. omits th'.

c. The Ift q. and the fo's, read carnal for cruel.

d So the qu's; all the reft, and forc'd caufe.

e P.'s duodecimo, T. W. and J. read Nobless. It matters not; the noblesse are

the nobleft of the people.
f Fo's, rites.

g The fo's read are for now.
h The fo's read always for alse.
i The qu's, R. and P. read no.
* The 3d and 4th fo's, R. and P.'s
q. read off for :0.

To

To have prov'd moft royally. And for his paffage,
The foldiers' mufic, and the m rites of war

Speak loudly for him.

Take up the bodies.

Such a fight as this

Becomes the field, but here fhews much amifs.

Go bid the foldiers fhoot.

[Exeunt, marching: after which, a peal of Ordnance is hot off.

1 The qu's read royal.

The qu's and C. read right of war. n So the qu's and C; all the reft read body, so according to thefe editors, only

the body of Hamlet was to be taken up, and the reft lie and rot where they were. • This direction not in the qu's.

FINIS.