# Hamlet, First Quarto, 1603 (Huntington Shelfmark 69304)

HAMLET
Shakespeare
London 1603
THE Tragicall Historie of HAMLET
Prince of Denmarke,
By William Shake-speare.
As it hath beene diuerse times acted by his Highnesse ser­uants in the Cittie of London: as also in the two V­niuersities of Cambridge and Oxford, and else‐where
[Printer's mark incorporating the initials “N L”]
At London printed for N.L. and Iohn Trundell. 1603.
The Tragicall Historie of HAMLET Prince of Denmarke.
King Lights, I will to bed.
Cor. The king rises, lights hoe.
Exeunt King and Lordes. Ham. What, frighted with false fires?
Then let the stricken deere goe weepe,
The Hart vngalled play,
For some must laugh, while some must weepe,
Thus runnes the world away.
Hor. The king is mooued my lord.
Hor.am: I Horatio, i'le take the Ghosts word
For more then all the coyne in Denmarke.
Enter Rossencraft and Gilderstone. Ross. Now my lord, how i'st with you?
Ham. And if the king like not the tragedy,
Why then belike he likes it not perdy.
Ross. We are very glad to see your grace so pleasant,
My good lord, let vs againe intreate
To know of you the ground and cause of your distempera­ (ture
Gil. My lord, your mother craues to speake with you.
Ham. We shall obey, were she ten times our mother.
Ross. But my good Lord, shall I intreate thus much?
Ham. I pray will you play vpon this pipe?
Ross. Alas my lord I cannot.
Ham. Pray will you.
Gil. I haue no skill my Lord.
Ham. why looke, it is a thing of nothing,
T'is but stopping of these holes,
And with a little breath from your lips,
It will giue most delicate musick.
Gil. But this cannot wee do my Lord.
Ham. Pray now, pray hartily, I beseech you.
Ros. My lord wee cannot.
Ham. Why how vnworthy a thing would you make of (me?
You
Prince of Denmarke You would seeme to know my stops, you would play vpon mee,
You would search the very inward part of my hart,
And diue into the secreet of my soule.
Zownds do you thinke Iam easier to be pla'yd
On, then a pipe? call mee what Instrument
You will, though you can frett mee, yet you can not
Play vpon mee, besides, to be demanded by a spunge.
Ros. How a spunge my Lord?
Ham. I sir, a spunge, that sokes vp the kings
Countenance, fauours, and rewardes, that makes
His liberalitie your store house: but such as you,
Do the king, in the end, best seruise;
For hee doth keep you as an Ape doth nuttes,
In the corner of his Iaw, first mouthes you,
Then swallowes you: so when hee hath need
Of you, t'is but squeesing of you,
And spunge, you shall be dry againe, you shall.
Ros. Wel my Lord wee'le take our leaue.
Ham Farewell, farewell, God blesse you.
Exit Rossencraft and Gilderstone. Enter Corambis Cor. My lord, the Queene would speake with you.
Ham. Do you see yonder clowd in the shape of a camell?
Cor. T'is like a camell in deed.
Ham. Now me thinkes it's like a weasel.
Cor. T'is back't like a weasell.
Ham. Or like a whale.
Cor. Very like a whale. exit Coram.
Ham. Why then tell my mother i'le come by and by.
Good night Horatio.
Hor. Good night vnto your Lordship. exit Horatio.
Ham. My mother she hath sent to speake with me:
O God, let ne're the heart of Nero enter
This soft bosome.
Let me be cruell, not vnnaturall.48
G I ​G I
____ I will speake daggers, those sharpe wordes being spent,
To doe her wrong my soule shall ne're consent. exit.
Enter the King. King O that this wet that falles vpon my face
Would wash the crime cleere from my conscience!
When I looke vp to heauen, I see my trespasse,
The earth doth still crie out vpon my fact,
Pay me the murder of a brother and a king,
And the adulterous fault I haue committed:
O these are sinnes that are vnpardonable:
Why say thy sinnes were blacker then is ieat,
Yet may contrition make them as white as snowe:
I but still to perseuer in a sinne,
It is an act gainst the vniuersall power,
Most wretched man, stoope, bend thee to thy prayer,
Aske grace of heauen to keepe thee from despaire.
hee kneeles. enters Hamlet Ham. I so, come forth and worke thy last,
And thus hee dies: and so am I reuenged:
No, not so: he tooke my father sleeping, his sins brim full,
And how his soule stoode to the state of heauen
Who knowes, saue the immortall powres,
And shall I kill him now,
When he is purging of his soule?
Making his way for heauen, this is a benefit,
And not reuenge: no, get thee vp agen,
When hee's at game swaring, taking his carowse, drinking (drunke,
Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed,
Or at some act that hath no relish
Of saluation in't, then trip him
That his heeles may kicke at heauen,
And fall as lowe as hel: my mother stayes,
This phisicke but prolongs thy weary dayes. exit Ham.
King My wordes fly vp, my sinnes remaine below.
No
Prince of Denmarke. No King on earth is safe, if Gods his foe. exit King.
Enter Queene and Corambis. Cor. Madame, I heare yong Hamlet comming,
I'le shrowde my selfe behinde the Arras. exit Cor.
Queene Do so my Lord.
Ham. Mother, mother, O are you here?
How i'st with you mother?
Queene How i'st with you?
Ham, I'le tell you, but first weele make all safe.
Queene Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended.
Ham. Mother, you haue my father much offended.
Queene How now boy?
Ham. How now mother! come here, sit downe, for you shall heare me speake.
Queene What wilt thou doe? thou wilt not murder me:
_elpe hoe.
Cor. Helpe for the Queene.
Ham. I a Rat, dead for a Duckat.
Rash intruding foole, farewell,
I tooke thee for thy better.
Queene Hamlet, what hast thou done?
Ham. Not so much harme, good mother,
As to kill a king, and marry with his brother.
Queene How! kill a king!
Ham. I a King: nay sit you downe, and ere you part,
If you be made of penitrable stuffe,
I'le make your eyes looke downe into your heart,
And see how horride there and blacke it shews.
Queene Hamlet, what mean'st thou by these killing (words?
Ham. Why this I meane, see here, behold this picture,
It is the portraiture, of your deceased husband,
See here a face, to outface Mars himselfe,
An eye, at which his foes did tremble at,
A front wherin all vertues are set downe
For to adorne a king, and guild his crowne,
Whose heart went hand in hand euen with that vow,49
G2 He ​The Tragedy of Hamlet He made to you in marriage, and he is dead.
Murdred, damnably murdred, this was your husband,
Looke you now, here is your husband,
With a face like Vulcan.
A looke fit for a murder and a rape,
A dull dead hanging looke, and a hell‐bred eie,
To affright children and amaze the world:
And this same haue you left to change with this.
What Diuell thus hath cosoned you at hob‐man blinde?
A! haue you eyes and can you looke on him
That slew my father, and your deere husband,
To liue in the incestuous pleasure of his bed?
Queene O Hamlet, speake no more.
Ham. To leaue him that bare a Monarkes minde,
For a king of clowts, of very shreads.
Queene Sweete Hamlet cease.
Ham. Nay but still to persist and dwell in sinne,
To sweate vnder the yoke of infamie,
To make increase of shame, to seale damnation.
Queene Hamlet, no more.
Ham. Why appetite with you is in the waine,
Your blood runnes backeward now from whence it came,
Who'le chide hote blood within a Virgins heart,
When lust shall dwell within a matrons breast?
Queene Hamlet, thou cleaues my heart in twaine.
Ham. O throw away the worser part of it, and keepe the better.
Enter the ghost in his night gowne. Saue me, saue me, you gratious
Powers aboue, and houer ouer mee,
With your celestiall wings.
Doe you not come your tardy sonne to chide,
That I thus long haue let reuenge slippe by?
O do not glare with lookes so pittifull!
Lest that my heart of stone yeelde to compassion,
And
Prince of Denmarke. And euery part that should assist reu_nge,
Forgoe their proper powers, and fall to pitty.
Ghost Hamlet, I once againe appeare to thee,
To put thee in remembrance of my death:
Doe not neglect, nor long time put it off.
But I perceiue by thy distracted lookes,
Thy mother's fearefull, and she stands amazde:
Speake to her Hamlet, for her sex is weake,
Comfort thy mother, Hamlet, thinke on me.
Ham. How i'st with you Lady?
Queene Nay, how i'st with you
That thus you bend your eyes on vacancie,
And holde discourse with nothing but with ayre?
Ham. Why doe you nothing heare?
Queene Not I.
Ham. Nor doe you nothing see?
Queene No neither.
Ham. No, why see the king my father, my father, in the (habite
As he liued, looke you how pale he lookes,
See how he steales away out of the Portall,
Looke, there he goes. exit ghost.
Queene Alas, it is the weakenesse of thy braine,
Which makes thy tongue to blazon thy hearts griefe:
But as I haue a soule, I sweare by heauen,
I neuer knew of this most horride murder:
But Hamlet, this is onely fantasie,
And for my loue forget these idle fits.
Ham. Idle, no mother, my pulse doth beate like yours,
It is not madnesse that possesseth Hamlet.
O mother, if euer you did my deare father loue,
Forbeare the adulterous bed to night,
And win your selfe by little as you may,
In time it may be you wil lothe him quite:
And mother, but assist mee in reuenge,
And in his death your infamy shall die.
Queene Hamlet, I vow by that maiesty,50
G3 Tha_ ​___ Hamlet That knowes our thoughts, and lookes into our hearts,
I will conceale, consent, and doe my best,
What stratagem soe're thou shalt deuise.
Ham. It is enough, mother good night:
Come sir, I'le prouide for you a graue,
Who was in life a foolish prating knaue.
Exit Hamlet with the dead body.
Enter the King and Lordes. King Now Gertred, what sayes our sonne, how doe you finde him?
Queene Alas my lord, as raging as the sea:
Whenas he came, I first bespake him faire,
But then he throwes and tosses me about,
As one forgetting that I was his mother:
At last I call'd for help: and as I cried, Corambis
Call'd, which Hamlet no sooner heard, but whips me
Out his rapier, and cries, a Rat, a Rat, and in his rage
The good olde man he killes.
King Why this his madnesse will vndoe our state.
Lordes goe to him, inquire the body out.
Gil. We will my Lord. Exeunt Lordes.
King Gertred, your sonne shall presently to England,
His shipping is already furnished,
And we haue sent by Rossencrafi and Gilderstone,
Our letters to our deare brother of England,
For Hamlets welfare and his happinesse:
Happly the aire and climate of the Country
May please him better than his natiue home:
See where he comes.
Enter Hamlet and the Lordes. Gil. My lord, we can by no meanes
Know of him where the body is.
King Now sonne Hamlet, where is this dead body?
Ham. At supper, not where he is eating, but
Where
Prince of Denmarke. Where he is eaten, a certaine company of politicke wormes are euen now at him.
Father, your fatte King, and your leane Beggar
Are but variable seruices, two dishes to one messe:
Looke you, a man may fish with that worme
That hath eaten of a King,
And a Beggar eate that fish,
Which that worme hath caught.
King What of this?
Ham. Nothing father, but to tell you, how a King
May go a progresse through the guttes of a Beggar.
King But sonne Hamlet, where is this body?
Ham. In heau'n, if you chance to misse him there,
Father, you had best looke in the other partes below
For him, and if you cannot finde him there,
You may chance to nose him as you go vp the lobby.
King Make haste and finde him out.
Ham. Nay doe you heare? do not make too much haste,
I'le warrant you hee'le stay till you come.
King Well sonne Hamlet, we in care of you: but specially in tender preseruation of your health,
The which we price euen as our proper selfe,
It is our minde you forthwith goe for England,
The winde fits faire, you shall aboorde to night,
Lord Rossencraft and Gilderstone shall goe along with you.
Ham. O with all my heart: farewel mother.
King Your louing father, Hamlet.
Ham. My mother I say: you married my mother,
My mother is your wife, man and wife is one flesh,
And so (my mother) farewel: for England hoe.
exeunt all but the king. king Gertred, leaue me,
And take your leaue of Hamlet,
To England is he gone, ne're to returne:
Our Letters are vnto the King of England,
That on the sight of them, on his allegeance,51
He ​____ He presently without demaunding why,
That Hamlet loose his head, for he must die,
There's more in him than shallow eyes can see:
He once being dead, why then our state is free. exit.
Enter Fortenbrasse, Drumme and Souldiers. Fort. Captaine, from vs goe greete
The king of Denmarke:
Tell him that Fortenbrasse nephew to old Norway,
Craues a free passe and conduct ouer his land,
According to the Articles agreed on:
You know our Randevous, goe march away. exeunt all.
enter King and Queene. King Hamlet is ship't for England, fare him well,
I hope to heare good newes from thence ere long,
If euery thing fall out to our content,
As I doe make no doubt but so it shall.
Queene God grant it may, heau'ns keep my Hamlet safe:
But this mischance of olde Corambis death,
Hath piersed so the yong Ofeliaes heart,
That she, poore maide, is quite bereft her wittes.
King Alas deere heart! And on the other side,
We vnderstand her brother's come from France,
And he hath halfe the heart of all our Land,
And hardly hee'le forget his fathers death,
Vnlesse by some meanes he be pacified.
Qu. O see where the yong Ofelia is!
Enter Ofelia playing on a Lute, and her haire downe singing. Ofelia How should I your true loue know
From another man?
By his cockle hatte, and his staffe,
And
Prince of Denmarke And his sandall shoone.
White his shrowde as mountaine snowe,
Larded with sweete flowers,
That bewept to the graue did not goe
With true louers showers:
He is dead and gone Lady, he is dead and gone,
At his head a grasse greene turffe,
At his heeles a stone.
king How i'st with you sweete Ofelia?
Ofelia Well God yeeld you,
It grieues me to see how they laid him in the cold ground,
I could not chuse but weepe:
And will he not come againe?
And will he not come againe?
No, no, hee's gone, and we cast away mone,
And he neuer will come againe.
His beard as white as snowe:
All flaxen was his pole,
He is dead, he is gone,
And we cast away moane:
God a mercy on his soule.
And of all christen soules I pray God.
God be with you Ladies, God be with you. exit Ofelia.
king A pretty wretch! this is a change indeede:
O Time, how swiftly runnes our ioyes away?
Content on earth was neuer certaine bred,
To day we laugh and liue, to morrow dead.
How now, what noyse is that?
A noyse within. enter Leartes. Lear. Stay there vntill I come,
O thou vilde king, giue me my father:
Speake, say, where's my father?
king Dead.
Lear. Who hath murdred him? speake, i'le not
Be juggled with, for he is murdred.
Queene True, but not by him.52
H Leartes ​____ Lear. By whome, by heau'n I'le be resolued.
king Let him goe Gertred, away, I feare him not,
There's fuch diuinitie doth wall a king,
That treason dares not looke on.
Let him goe Gertred, that your father is murdred,
T'is true, and we most sory for it,
Being the chiefest piller of our state:
Therefore will you like a most desperate gamster,
Swoop‐stake‐like, draw at friend, and foe, and all?
Lear. To his good friends thus wide I'le ope mine arms,
And locke them in my hart, but to his foes,
I will no reconcilement but by bloud.
king Why now you speake like a most louing sonne:
And that in soule we sorrow for for his death,
Your selfe ere long shall be a witnesse,
Meane while be patient, and content your selfe.
Enter Ofelia as before. Lear. Who's this, Ofelia? O my deere sister!
I'st possible a yong maides life,
Should be as mortall as an olde mans sawe?
O heau'ns themselues! how now Ofelia?
Ofel. Wel God a mercy, I a bin gathering of floures:
Here, here is rew for you,
You may call it hearb a grace a Sundayes,
Heere's some for me too: you must weare your rew
With a difference, there's a dazie.
Here Loue, there's rosemary for you
For remembrance: I pray Loue remember,
And there's pansey for thoughts.
Lear. A document in madnes, thoughts, remembrance:
O God, O God!
Ofelia There is fennell for you, I would a giu'n you
Some violets, but they all withered, when
My father died: alas, they say the owle was
A Bakers daughter, we see what we are,
But can not tell what we shall be.
For
Prince of Denmarke. For bonny sweete Robin is all my ioy.
Lear. Thoughts & afflictions, torments worse than hell.
Ofel. Nay Loue, I pray you make no words of this now:
I pray now, you shall sing a downe,
And you a downe a, t'is a the Kings daughter
And the false steward, and if any body
Aske you of any thing, say you this.
To morrow is saint Valentines day,
All in the morning betime,
And a maide at your window,
To be your Valentine:
The yong man rose, and dan'd his clothes,
And dupt the chamber doore,
Let in the maide, that out a maide
Neuer departed more.
Nay I pray marke now,
By gisse, and by saint Charitie,
Away, and fie for shame:
Yong men will doo't when they come too't:
By cocke they are too blame.
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,
You promised me to wed.
So would I a done, by yonder Sunne,
If thou hadst not come to my bed.
So God be with you all, God bwy Ladies.
God bwy you Loue. exit Ofelia.
Lear. Griefe vpon griefe, my father murdered,
My sister thus distracted:
Cursed be his soule that wrought this wicked act.
king Content you good Leartes for a time,
Although I know your griefe is as a floud,
Brimme full of sorrow, but forbeare a while,
And thinke already the reuenge is done
On him that makes you such a haplesse sonne.
Lear. You haue preuail'd my Lord, a while I'le striue,
To bury griefe within a tombe of wrath,53
H2 Which ​The Tragedy of Hamlet Which once vnhearsed, then the world shall heare
Leartes had a father he held deere.
king No more of that, ere many dayes be done,
You shall heare that you do not dreame vpon. exeunt om.
Enter Horatio and the Queene. Hor. Madame, your sonne is safe arriv'de in Denmarke,
This letter I euen now receiv'd of him,
Whereas he writes how he escap't the danger,
And subtle treason that the king had plotted,
Being crossed by the contention of the windes,
He found the Packet sent to the king of England,
Wherein he saw himselfe betray'd to death,
As at his next conuersion with your grace,
He will relate the circumstance at full.
Queene Then I perceiue there's treason in his lookes
That seem'd to sugar o're his villanie:
But I will soothe and please him for a time,
For murderous mindes are alwayes jealous,
But know not you Horatio where he is?
Hor. Yes Madame, and he hath appoynted me
To meete him on the east side of the Cittie
To morrow morning.
Queene O faile not, good Horatio, and withall, com­ (mend me
A mothers care to him, bid him a while
Be wary of his presence, lest that he
Faile in that he goes about.
Hor. Madam, neuer make doubt of that:
I thinke by this the news be come to court:
He is arriv'de, obserue the king, and you shall
Quickely finde, Hamlet being here,
Things fell not to his minde.
Queene But what became of Gilderstone and Rossencraft?
Hor. He being set ashore, they went for England,
And in the Packet there writ down that doome
To be perform'd on them poynted for him:
And by great chance he had his fathers Seale,
So
Prince of Denmarke. So all was done without discouerie.
Queene Thankes be to heauen for blessing of the prince,
Horatio once againe I take my leaue,
With thowsand mothers blessings to my sonne.
Horat. Madam adue.
Enter King and Leartes. King. Hamlet from England! is it possible?
What chance is this? they are gone, and he come home.
Lear. O he is welcome, by my soule he is:
At it my iocund heart doth leape for ioy,
That I shall liue to tell him, thus he dies.
king Leartes, content your selfe, be rulde by me,
And you shall haue no let for your reuenge.
Lear. My will, not all the world.
King Nay but Leartes, marke the plot I haue layde,
I haue heard him often with a greedy wish,
Vpon some praise that he hath heard of you
Touching your weapon, which with all his heart,
He might be once tasked for to try your cunning.
Lea. And how for this?
King Mary Leartes thus: I'le lay a wager,
Shalbe on Hamlets side, and you shall giue the oddes,
The which will draw him with a more desire,
To try the maistry, that in twelue venies
You gaine not three of him: now this being granted,
When you are hot in midst of all your play,
Among the foyles shall a keene rapier lie,
Steeped in a mixtur_ of deadly poyson,
That if it drawes but the least dramme of blood,
In any part of him, he cannot liue:
This being done will free you from suspition,
And not the deerest friend that Hamlet lov'de
Will euer haue Leartes in suspect.
Lear. My lord, I like it well:
But say lord Hamlet should refuse this match.
King I'le warrant you, wee'le put on you54
H3 Such ​____ Such a report of singularitie,
Will bring him on, although against his will.
And lest that all should misse,
I'le haue a potion that shall ready stand,
In all his heate when that he calles for drinke,
Shall be his period and our happinesse.
Lear. T'is excellent, O would the time were come!
Here comes the Queene. enter the Queene.
king How now Gertred, why looke you heauily?
Queene O my Lord, the yong Ofelia
Hauing made a garland of sundry sortes of floures,
Sitting vpon a willow by a brooke,
The enuious sprig broke, into the brooke she fell,
And for a while her clothes spread wide abroade,
Bore the yong Lady vp: and there she sate smiling,
Euen Mermaide‐like, twixt heauen and earth,
Chaunting olde sundry tunes vncapable
As it were of her distresse, but long it could not be,
Till that her clothes, being heauy with their drinke,
Dragg'd the sweete wretch to death.
Lear. So, she is drownde:
Too much of water hast thou Ofelia,
Therefore I will not drowne thee in my teares,
Reuenge it is must yeeld this heart releefe,
For woe begets woe, and griefe hangs on griefe. exeunt.
enter Clowne and an other. Clowne I say no, she ought not to be buried
In christian buriall.
2. Why sir?
Clowne Mary because shee's drownd.
2. But she did not drowne her selfe.
Clowne No, that's certaine, the water drown'd her.
2. Yea but it was against her will.
Clowne No, I deny that, for looke you sir, I stand here,
If the water come to me, I drowne not my selfe:
But if I goe to the water, and am there drown'd,
Ergo
Prince of Denmarke. Ergo I am guiltie of my owne death:
Y'are gone, goe y'are gone sir.
2. I but see, she hath christian buriall,
Because she is a great woman.
Clowne Mary more's the pitty, that great folke
Should haue more authoritie to hang or drowne
Themselues, more than other people:
Goe fetch me a stope of drinke, but before thou
Goest, tell me one thing, who buildes strongest,
Of a Mason, a Shipwright, or a Carpenter?
2. Why a Mason, for he buildes all of stone,
And will indure long.
Clowne That's prety, too't agen, too't agen.
2. Why then a Carpenter, for he buildes the gallowes,
And that brings many a one to his long home.
Clowne Prety agen, the gallowes doth well, mary howe dooes it well? the gallowes dooes well to them that doe ill, goe get thee gone:
And if any one aske thee hereafter, say,
A Graue‐maker, for the houses he buildes
Last till Doomes‐day. Fetch me a stope of beere, goe.
Enter Hamlet and Horatio. Clowne A picke‐axe and a spade,
A spade for and a winding sheete,
Most fit it is, for t'will be made, he throwes vp a shouel.
For such a ghest most meete.
Ham. Hath this fellow any feeling of himselfe,
That is thus merry in making of a graue?
See how the slaue joles their heads against the earth.
Hor. My lord, Custome hath made it in him seeme no­ (thing.
Clowne A pick‐axe and a spade, a spade,
For and a winding sheete,
Most fit it is for to be made,
For such a ghest most meet.
Ham. Looke you, there's another Horatio.55
Why ​____ Why mai't not be the scull of some Lawyer?
Me thinkes he should indite that fellow
Of an action of Batterie, for knocking
Him about the pate with's shouel: now where is your
Quirkes and quillets now, your vouchers and
Double vouchers, your leases and free‐holde,
And tenements? why that same boxe there will scarse
Holde the conueiance of his land, and must
The honor lie there? O pittifull transformance!
I prethee tell me Horatio,
Is parchment made of sheep‐skinnes?
Hor. I my Lorde, and of calues‐skinnes too.
Ham. Ifaith they prooue themselues sheepe and calues
That deale with them, or put their trust in them.
There's another, why may not that be such a ones
Scull, that praised my Lord such a ones horse,
When he meant to beg him? Horatio, I prethee
Lets question yonder fellow.
Now my friend, whose graue is this?
Clowne Mine sir.
Ham. But who must lie in it?
Clowne If I should say, I should, I should lie in my throat (sir.
Ham. What man must be buried here?
Clowne No man sir.
Ham. What woman?
Clowne. No woman neither sir, but indeede
One that was a woman.
Ham. An excellent fellow by the Lord Horatio,
This seauen yeares haue I noted it: the toe of the pesant,
Comes so neere the heele of the courtier,
That hee gawles his kibe, I prethee tell mee one thing,
How long will a man lie in the ground before hee rots?
Clowne I faith sir, if hee be not rotten before
He be laide in, as we haue many pocky corses,
He will last you, eight yeares, a tanner
Will last you eight yeares full out, or nine.
Ham.
Prince of Denmarke Ham. And why a tanner?
Clowne Why his hide is so tanned with his trade,
That it will holde out water, that's a parlous
Deuourer of your dead body, a great soaker.
Looke you, heres a scull hath bin here this dozen yeare,
Let me see, I euer since our last king Hamlet
Slew Fortenbrasse in combat, yong Hamlets father,
Hee that's mad.
Ham. I mary, how came he madde?
Clowne Ifaith very strangely, by loosing of his wittes.
Ham. Vpon what ground?
Clowne A this ground, in Denmarke.
Ham. Where is he now?
Clowne Why now they sent him to England.
Ham. To England! wherefore?
Clowne Why they say he shall haue his wittes there,
Or if he haue not, t'is no great matter there,
It will not be seene there.
Ham. Why not there?
Clowne Why there they say the men are as mad as he.
Ham. Whose scull was this?
Clowne This, a plague on him, a madde rogues it was,
He powred once a whole flagon of Rhenish of my head,
Why do not you know him? this was one Yorickes scull.
Ham. Was this? I prethee let me see it, alas poore Yoricke
I knew him Horatio,
A fellow of infinite mirth, he hath caried mee twenty times vpon his backe, here hung those lippes that I haue Kissed a hundred times, and to see, now they abhorre me: Wheres your iests now Yoricke? your flashes of meriment: now go to my Ladies chamber, and bid her paint her selfe an inch thicke, to this she must come Yoricke. Horatio, I prethee tell me one thing, doost thou thinke that Alexander looked thus? Hor. Euen so my Lord.
Ham. And smelt thus?56
I Hor. ​____ Hor. I my lord, no otherwise.
Ham.
No, why might not imagination worke, as thus of Alexander, Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander became earth, of earth we make clay, and Alexander being but clay, why might not time bring to passe, that he might stoppe the boung hole of a beere barrell? Imperious Cæsar dead and turnd to clay,
Might stoppe a hole, to keepe the winde away.
Enter King and Queene, Leartes, and other lordes, with a Priest after the coffin. Ham. What funerall's this that all the Court laments?
It shews to be some noble parentage:
Stand by a while.
Lear. What ceremony else? say, what ceremony else?
Priest My Lord, we haue done all that lies in vs,
And more than well the church can tolerate,
She hath had a Dirge sung for her maiden soule:
And but for fauour of the king, and you,
She had beene buried in the open fieldes,
Where now she is allowed christian buriall.
Lear. So, I tell thee churlish Priest, a ministring Angell shall my sister be, when thou liest howling.
Ham. The faire Ofelia dead!
Queene Sweetes to the sweete, farewell:
I had thought to adorne thy bridale bed, faire maide,
And not to follow thee vnto thy graue.
Lear. Forbeare the earth a while: sister farewell:
Leartes leapes into the graue. Now powre your earth on, _lympus hie,
And make a hill to o're top olde Pellon: Hamlet leapes in after Leartes
Whats he that coniures so?
Ham. Beholde tis I, Hamlet the Dane.
Lear. The diuell take thy soule.
Ham. O thou praiest not well,
I prethee take thy hand from off my throate,
For there is something in me dangerous,
Which
Prince of Denmarke. Which let thy wisedome feare, holde off thy hand:
I lou'de Ofelia as deere as twenty brothers could:
Shew me what thou wilt doe for her:
Wilt fight, wilt fast, wilt pray,
Wilt drinke vp vessels, eate a crocadile? Ile doot:
Com'st thou here to whine?
And where thou talk'st of burying thee a liue,
Here let vs stand: and let them throw on vs,
Whole hills of earth, till with the heighth therof,
Make Oosell as a Wart.
King. Forbeare Leartes, now is hee mad, as is the sea,
Anone as milde and gentle as a Doue:
Therfore a while giue his wilde humour scope.
Ham. What is the reason sir that you wrong mee thus?
I neuer gaue you cause: but stand away,
A Cat will meaw, a Dog will haue a day.
Exit Hamlet and Horatio. Queene. Alas, it is his madnes makes him thus,
And not his heart, Leartes.
King. My lord, t'is so: but wee'le no longer trifle,
This very day shall Hamlet drinke his last,
For presently we meane to send to him,
Therfore Leartes b_ in readynes.
Lear. My lord, till then my soule will not bee quiet.
King. Come Gertred, wee'l haue Leartes, and our sonne,
Made friends and Louers, as befittes them both,
Euen as they tender vs, and loue their countrie.
Queene God grant they may. exeunt omnes.
Enter Hamlet and Horatio Ham. beleeue mee, it greeues mee much Horatio,
That to Leartes I forgot my selfe:
For by my selfe me thinkes I feele his griefe,
Though there's a difference in each others wrong.
Enter a Bragart G_ntleman. Horatio, but marke yon water‐flie,
The Court knowes him, but hee knowes not the Court.57
I2 Gen. ​____ Gent. Now God saue thee, sweete prince Hamlet.
Ham. And you sir: foh, how the muske‐cod smels!
Gen. I come with an embassage from his maiesty to you
Ham. I shall sir giue you attention:
By my troth me thinkes t'is very colde.
Gent. It is indeede very rawish colde.
Ham. T'is hot me thinkes.
Gent. Very swoltery hote:
The King, sweete Prince, hath layd a wager on your side,
Six Barbary horse, against six french rapiers,
With all their acoutrements too, a the carriages:
In good faith they are very curiously wrought.
Ham. The cariages sir, I do not know what you meane.
Gent. The girdles, and hangers sir, and such like.
Ham. The worde had beene more cosin german to the phrase, if he could haue carried the canon by his side,
And howe's the wager? I vnderstand you now.
Gent. Mary sir, that yong Leartes in twelue venies
At Rapier and Dagger do not get three oddes of you,
And on your side the King hath laide,
And desires you to be in readinesse.
Ham. Very well, if the King dare venture his wager,
I dare venture my skull: when must this be?
Gent. My Lord, presently, the king, and her maiesty,
With the rest of the best iudgement in the Court,
Are comming downe into the outward pallace.
Ham. Goe tell his maiestie, I wil attend him.
Gent. I shall deliuer your most sweet answer. exit.
Ham. You may sir, none better, for y'are spiced,
Else he had a bad nose could not smell a foole.
Hor. He will disclose himselfe without inquirie.
Ham. Beleeue me Horatio, my hart is on the sodaine
Very sore, all here about.
Hor. My lord, forbeare the challenge then.
Ham. No Horatio, not I, if danger be now,
Why then it is not to come, theres a predestinate prouidence
in
___ in the fall of a sparrow: heere comes the King.
Enter King, Queene, Leartes, Lordes. King Now sonne Hamlet, we haue laid vpon your head,
And make no question but to haue the best.
Ham. Your maiestie hath laide a the weaker side.
King We doubt it not, deliuer them the foiles.
Ham. First Leartes, heere's my hand and loue,
Protesting that I neuer wrongd Leartes.
If Hamlet in his madnesse did amisse,
That was not Hamlet, but his madnes did it,
And all the wrong I e're did to Leartes,
I here proclaime was madnes, therefore lets be at peace,
And thinke I haue shot mine arrow o're the house,
And hurt my brother.
Lear. Sir I am satisfied in nature,
But in termes of honor I'le stand aloofe,
And will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder maisters of our time
I may be satisfied.
King Giue them the foyles.
Ham. I'le be your foyle Leartes, these foyles,
Haue all a laught, come on sir: a hit.
Lear. No none. Heere they play_
Ham. Iudgement.
Gent. A hit, a most palpable hit.
Lear. Well, come againe. They play againe.
Ham. Another. Iudgement.
Lear. I, I grant, a tuch, a tuch.
King Here Hamlet, the king doth drinke a health to the_
Queene Here Hamlet, take my napkin, wipe thy face.
King Giue him the wine.
Ham. Set it by, I'le haue another bowt first,
I'le drinke anone.
Queene Here Hamlet, thy mother drinkes to thee.
Shee drinkes. King Do not drinke Gertred: O t'is the poysned cup!58
I3 Ham. ​____ Ham. Leartes come, you dally with me,
I pray you passe with your most cunningst play.
Lear. I! say you so? haue at you,
Ile hit you now my Lord:
And yet it goes almost against my conscience.
Ham. Come on sir.
They catch one anothers Rapiers, and both are wounded, Leartes falles downe, the Queene falles downe and dies. King Looke to the Queene.
Queene O the drinke, the drinke, Hamlet, the drinke.
Ham. Treason, ho, keepe the gates.
Lords How ist my Lord Leartes?
Lear. Euen as a coxcombe should,
Foolishly slaine with my owne weapon:
Hamlet, thou hast not in thee halfe an houre of life,
The fatall Instrument is in thy hand.
Vnbated and invenomed: thy mother's poysned
That drinke was made for thee.
Ham. The poysned Instrument within my hand?
Then venome to thy venome, die damn'd villaine:
Come drinke, here lies thy vnion here. The king dies.
Lear. O he is iustly serued:
Hamlet, before I die, here take my hand,
And withall, my loue: I doe forgiue thee. Leartes dies.
Ham. And I thee, O I am dead Horatio, fare thee well.
Hor. No, I am more an antike Roman,
Then a Dane, here is some poison left.
Ham. Vpon my loue I charge thee let it goe,
O fie Horatio, and if thou shouldst die,
What a scandale wouldst thou leaue behinde?
What tongue should tell the story of our deaths,
If not from thee? O my heart sinckes Horatio,
Mine eyes haue lost their sight, my tongue his vse:
Farewel Horatio, heauen receiue my soule. Ham. dies.
Enter
This page is a facsimile from the British Library copy. For more information, see the foreword to Shakespeare's Plays in Quarto: A Facsimile Edition of Copies Primarily from the Henry E. Huntington Library, edited by Michael J. B. Allen and Kenneth Muir (University of California Press, 1981). Prince of Denmarke. Enter Voltemar and the Ambassadors from England. enter Fortenbrasse with his traine. Fort. Where is this bloudy sight?
Hor. If aught of woe or wonder you'ld behold,
Then looke vpon this tragicke spectacle.
Fort. O imperious death! how many Princes
Hast thou at one draft bloudily shot to death?
Ambass. Our ambassie that we haue brought from Eng­ (land,
Where be these Princes that should heare vs speake?
O most moft vnlooked for time! vnhappy country.
Hor. Content your selues, Ile shew to all, the ground,
The first beginning of this Tragedy:
Let there a scaffold be rearde vp in the market place,
And let the State of the world be there:
Where you shall heare such a sad story tolde,
That neuer mortall man could more vnfolde.
Fort. I haue some rights of memory to this kingdome,
Which now to claime my leisure doth inuite mee:
Let foure of our chiefest Captaines
Beare Hamlet like a souldier to his graue:
For he was likely, had he liued,
To a prou'd most royall.
Take vp the bodie, such a fight as this
Becomes the fieldes, but here doth much amisse.
Finis