Sweets to the sweet - eNotes Shakespeare Quotes Sweets to the sweet [Scattering flowers] Sweets to the sweet, farewell! I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife: I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, And not have strew'd thy grave. Read on Owl Eyes This eText is now on Owl Eyes. Clicking this link will open a new window. When Hamlet's mother, the queen, delivers "Sweets to the sweet," she's not bearing a hostess gift or offering candy to her date. The queen's "sweets" are funeral bouquets scattered in the grave of Ophelia, Hamlet's former flame. The prince, who has just finished addressing the skull of Yorick [see ALAS, POOR YORICK ], stumbles upon the funeral, ignorant that Ophelia has likely committed suicide. The murder of her father had driven Ophelia mad; Hamlet was the murderer, and the queen a witness. This is all bad enough. But the queen's elegiac nostalgia for her son's courtship of this deceased "sweet" is all the more disturbing in light of Hamlet's somewhat over-arduous attachment to his mother.

It's therefore ironic that "sweets to the sweet" has become a corny quotation for those special romantic moments. How effective the line proves depends on how vividly one's "sweet" is likely to recall the graveyard scene in Hamlet . You might, however, find these bons mots most winning when offered with a willow branch and a whiff of charm to a soon-to-be-insignificant other. List of Phrases Shakespeare Invented List of Phrases Shakespeare Invented List of Phrases Shakespeare Invented Shakespeare Writing. Stock Montage/Archive Photos/Getty Images Shakespeare Expert By Lee Jamieson Four centuries after his death, we are still using Shakespeare phrases in our everyday speech. This list of phrases Shakespeare invented is testament that the Bard has had a huge influence on the English language. Some people today reading Shakespeare for the first time complain that the language is difficult to read and understand, yet we are still using hundreds of words and phrases coined by him in our everyday conversation. Phrases Coined by Shakespeare You have probably quoted Shakespeare thousands of times without realizing it. If your homework gets you “in a pickle”, your friends have you “in stitches”, or your guests “eat you out of house and home”, then you’re quoting Shakespeare.

Here are some of the most popular Shakespeare phrases in common use today: A laughing stock (The Merry Wives of Windsor ) A sorry sight ( Macbeth ) As dead as a doornail ( Henry V I) Eaten out of house and home ( Henry V , Part 2) I will wear my heart upon my sleeve (Othello) continue reading below our video 10 Best Universities in the United States In the twinkling of an eye (The Merchant Of Venice ) Mum's the word (Henry VI, Part 2) Neither here nor there (Othello) Send him packing (Henry IV) Set your teeth on edge (Henry IV) There's method in my madness ( Hamlet ) Too much of a good thing (As You Like It) Vanish into thin air (Othello) In many cases, it is not known if Shakespeare actually invented these phrases, or if they were already in use during Shakespeare's lifetime . In fact, it is almost impossible to identify when a word or phrase was first used, but Shakespeare’s plays often provide the earliest citation. Shakespeare was writing for the mass audience and his plays were incredibly popular in his own lifetime ...

popular enough to enable him to perform to Queen Elizabeth I and to retire a wealthy gentleman. It is unsurprising therefore that many phrases from his plays stuck in the popular consciousness and subsequently embedded themselves into everyday language. In may ways, it is like a catch phrase from a popular television show today becoming part of everyday speech. Shakespeare was, after all, in the business of mass entertainment ... many centuries before mass media ! In his day, the theater was the most effective way to entertain and communicate with large audiences. But language changes and evolves over time, so the original meanings may have been lost to language. Changing Meanings Over time, many of the original meanings behind Shakespeare's words has evolved. For example, the phrase "sweets to the sweet" from Hamlet has since become a commonly used romantic phrase. In the original play, the line is uttered by Hamlet’s mother as she scatters funeral flowers across Ophelia’s grave in Act 5, Scene 1 : Queen: (Scattering flowers) Sweets to the sweet, farewell! I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife: I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, And not have strew'd thy grave.

This passage hardly shares the romantic sentiment in today’s use of the phrase! Shakespeare’s writing lives on in today’s language, culture and literary traditions because his influence (and the influence of the renaissance ) became an essential building block in the development of the English language . His writing is so deeply engrained that it is impossible to imagine modern literature without his influence. No Fear Shakespeare: Hamlet: Act 5, Scene 1, Page 11 No Fear Shakespeare Home → No Fear Shakespeare → Hamlet → Act 5, Scene 1, Page 11 Hamlet Sweets to the sweet. Farewell! (scatters flowers) I hoped thou shouldst have been my Hamlet’s wife. I thought thy bride-bed to have decked, sweet maid, And not have strewed thy grave. QUEEN Sweet flowers for a sweet girl. Goodbye! (she scatters flowers) I once hoped you’d be my Hamlet’s wife. I thought I’d be tossing flowers on your wedding bed, my sweet girl, not on your grave. 225 Fall ten times treble on that cursèd head, Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense Deprived thee of!

Hold off the earth awhile Till I have caught her once more in mine arms. LAERTES Oh, damn three times, damn ten times the evil man whose wicked deed deprived you of your ingenious mind. Hold off burying her until I’ve caught her in my arms once more. (leaps into the grave) (he jumps into the grave) 230 Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead, Till of this flat a mountain you have made, T' o'ertop old Pelion or the skyish head Of blue Olympus. Now pile the dirt onto the living and the dead alike, till you’ve made a mountain higher than (comes forward) What is he whose grief Bears such an emphasis, whose phrase of sorrow Conjures the wandering stars, and makes them stand Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I, Hamlet the Dane. (leaps into the grave) HAMLET (coming forward) Who is the one whose grief is so loud and clear, whose words of sadness make the planets stand still in the heavens as if they’ve been hurt by what they’ve heard? It’s me, Hamlet the Dane. (he jumps into the grave) 235 The devil take thy soul!

LAERTES Shakespeare's Phrases: List of Phrases Shakespeare Invented January 15, 2014 at 4:37 am How about some more from Hamlet? ‘Something is rotten in Denmark’ from “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” ‘Method in his madness’ is a paraphrase of “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t” ‘Piece of work’ from “What a piece of work is a man…” “Sweets to the sweet.” How many motion picture titles can you find from Hamlet’s 3rd soliloquy? 4 come immediately to mind…”To Be or Not to Be” (1983), “Outrageous Fortune” (1987). Star Trek VI “The Undiscovered Country” (1991). “What dreams May Come” (1998). Shakespeare Said it First? - A Compendium of Familiar Phrases from Hamlet and Their Modern Meanings By Theresa MacNaughton, Community Engagement Associate Artwork by Kimberly Shepherd Dog will have his day. Dead as a door nail. Make your hair stand on end. It was Greek to Me. In the twinkling of an eye.

Sweets to the sweet. Sound familiar? Have you ever wondered about the origins of some of the phrases you use nearly every day – and what they were intended to mean? Many of today’s most common clichés and sayings actually originated with William Shakespeare. Shakespeare used over 34,000 different words in his plays – some of which he invented himself. Not only does Shakespeare’s legacy of brilliant plays remain timeless, so do the numerous words and phrases that he coined through his creative use of language. Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s most revered works, contains many phrases and terms that you may normally use or have heard in popular music or read in contemporary literature. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Spoken by Marcellus to Horatio after seeing the ghost of the dead king. This line can be defined as an ominous omen, with a larger theme of the moral legitimacy of a ruler and the health of his nation as a whole. Sweets to the sweet. Spoken as Queen Gertrude bids farewell to Ophelia. Although this would seem to indicate happiness – in the play, the phrase is tinged with much sadness.

The implied meaning – good things should happen to good people – is more wistful in nature; today, it is intended to mean something more joyous. Brevity is the soul of wit. Spoken by Polonius in a nonsensical speech to the king and queen. Essentially, this line translates to mean that keeping your comments short and concise is the essence of intelligence. It has since become a standard English proverb. To be, or not to be, that is the question. Spoken by Hamlet during his soliloquy in the nunnery scene. It remains one of Shakespeare’s most famous quotes. Although it is more meditative than angry, the phrase deals with the question of whether to commit suicide and has Hamlet contemplating whether one route is "nobler" than the next. (The cat will mew and) dog will have his day. Spoken by Hamlet to Laertes, brother of Ophelia. The most common interpretation of this expression is that any person's moment of glory is inevitable.

Dogs were considered, in Shakespeare’s time, to be lowly animals; thereby, Hamlet considered himself to be an “underdog” who would eventually triumph in his request to seek revenge for his father’s death. Hair to stand on end . Spoken by the dead king’s ghost to Hamlet. This phrase is commonly used today in regard to something extremely frightening. In this particular line of the play, Shakespeare conjures the image of a fretful porcupine with its quills extended. There’s method in my madness. Spoken by Polonius to the audience, in an aside. Americans usually say “method to one’s madness,” while the British say “method in one’s madness.” While Hamlet’s actions seem mad, the purpose behind his words actually makes sense to Polonius. It smells to heaven. Spoken by King Claudius. The entire line is “O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven. It hath the primal eldest curse upon it. A brother’s murder.” Today, the phrase “stinks to high heaven” is more generally used.

While the line in Hamlet refers to the metaphorical “stench” of an evil deed, today is used mostly as a hyperbole in reference to extremely unpleasant scents. In my mind's eye . Spoken by Hamlet in reference to his father. It is most commonly used to describe one’s visual memory or imagination. The concept of having an “eye in our mind” first dates back to Chaucer in 1390; and then again in 1577 when “mind’s eye” was mentioned in a letter from Hubert Languet to Sir Philip Sidney in 1577. The phrase is actually believed to have been popularized in Hamlet. Get thee to a nunnery. Spoken by Hamlet to Ophelia. “Nunnery” was common Elizabethan slang for a brothel. The phrase was used in anger and frustration by Hamlet – it could be that he considered Ophelia to be “easy” or, alternately, that he was imploring her to be virtuous. A spoof of this famous line – “bring me the shrubbery” – was used in Monty Python & the Holy Grail. O, woe is me .

Spoken by Ophelia, during a soliloquy, to the audience. This phrase, which also appeared in the Bible (Isaiah 6:5), is a common expression of grief and sorrow. The urban slang term "woe-is-me"ing is a modern adaptation of this phrase to express sorrow and misfortune to others. Neither a borrower nor a lender be. Spoken by Laertes to Polonius. Meant as words of advice, the meaning behind this line is that one should, in general, resist lending and borrowing money, as it usually tends to complicate relationships. The phrase has persisted to this day – taking on many familiar forms (“don’t mix business with pleasure,” “family and money don’t mix”). Witching time of night. Spoken by Hamlet, in soliloquy. This phrase actually appears in several of Shakespeare’s plays, including Macbeth , Julius Caesar and Hamlet. Ghosts and other supernatural phenomena take place around midnight in the plays, but the modern term "witching hour" never appears. It may be used to refer to any arbitrary time of bad luck or in which something bad has a greater likelihood to occur. Frailty, thy name is woman.

Spoken by Hamlet, in the first of five soliloquies. Alluding to the alleged weakness of women, Hamlet is specifically referring to his mother – whom he feels has betrayed him with her remarriage after the death of his father. The phrase is generally defined that women are weaker in spirit and strength than men. Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio . Spoken by Hamlet, to the skull of Yorick. This phrase is, essentially, a meditation on the fragility of life. Yorick was a court jester Hamlet had been entertained by as a child and for whom he now grieves. The line is often misquoted as 'Alas poor Yorick, I knew him well.” Time is out of joint. Spoken by Hamlet to Horatio after being visited by the ghost of his father. The phrase translates as time being dislocated and not in the right place. The phrase was the inspiration for the dystopian novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick. Sick at heart. Spoken by Francisco to Barnardo. Francisco is a minor character in the play, but his line is of great significance.

The more contemporary phrase “heartsick” is a term many use to convey great sadness. Murder most foul. Spoken by the ghost to Hamlet. While the literal meaning is obvious, the phrase is intended to define a peculiarly bad murder. In this instance, familial homicide. What a piece of work is man . Spoken by Hamlet, as part of a soliloquy. While Hamlet uses the phrase to proclaim the goodness of mankind, his father's death make him think about whether it is all an illusion. “What a piece of work” is often used today in a negative way to define someone who is not as they seem. NOTICE: Due to weather conditions, our box office will be closing early. To order tickets or register for classes, please use the links above. Thank you. Hartford Stage Shakespeare' Language Shakespeare' Language Register Shakespeare’s Language Shakespeare is renowned for the poetic imagery of his language and for the word pictures he creates. His reputation is well founded because while he was writing English was not the dominant language – it was Latin. Shakespeare culminated what Chaucer had begun; to make English a respectable language for expressing complex, personal and imaginative ideas.

There is only one reason why Shakespeare’s plays are still alive and read 400 years after they were written; his mastery of clear, powerful visual language. As we have seen most of his plots are not original, but it is ability to revitalise old stories and histories, shape them into compelling dramas with syncopated plots and revitalise them with resonant forceful language that still appeals to us today. It is interesting to note that in most transformations or adaptations to contemporary productions, directors may update everything except Shakespeare’s Language. Al Pacino admits that it is the appeal of Shakespeare’s language that convinced him to attempt to attract more people to his plays. Some outstanding features of Shakespeare’s Language are: His powerful imagery which allows us to visualise his scenes without props or concrete backdrops. The use of nuances, the power of suggestion, implied meanings. His varied vocabulary, including the fact that he coined many new words and hundreds of new sayings that have become part of our argot. The lyricism of his verse and sometimes even his prose has a lightness and resonance or lingering effect on us. The wide range of his allusions to classical, religious and historical icons, stories and people.

The play on words; he likes to use puns, oxymorons, s-xual innuendo, assonance, alliteration, ambiguity and any other tactics to engage and entertain his audiences. Shakespeare shed many archaic words even though he retained some. His greatest contribution was coinage – neologisms. There are no less than 1500 words and phrases that didn’t appear anywhere before the bard used them. He made up words to express his ideas without losing his audience. Examples include: antipathy, critical, frugal, hereditary, horrid, excellent, assassination, lonely, leapfrog, indistinguishable, well-read, zany, “eyeball”, “hot-blooded” and “obscene”,…. Many of his expressions have become so well known and much used to become clichéd: the milk of human kindness, down the primrose path, in a pickle, more sinned against than sinning, beggar all description, cold comfort, to thine own self be true, salad days, be cruel to be kind, pomp and circumstance, and foregone conclusion.

Some passages have given us titles for books such as: Macbeth : She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more; it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing. Hamlet: “Though I am native here and to the manner born, it is a custom more honoured in the breach than the observance” Common Phrases Invented by Shakespeare By Lee Jamieson , About.com Guide Shakespeare has had a huge influence on the English language. Some people today reading Shakespeare for the first time complain that the language is difficult to read and understand, yet we are still using hundreds of words and phrases coined by him in our everyday conversation. Phrases Coined by Shakespeare You have probably quoted Shakespeare thousands of times without realizing it.

If your homework gets you “in a pickle”, your friends have you “in stitches”, or your guests “eat you out of house and home”, then you’re quoting Shakespeare. Here are some of the most popular Shakespeare phrases in common use today: A laughing stock (The Merry Wives of Windsor) A sorry sight (Macbeth) In the twinkling of an eye (The Merchant Of Venice) Mum's the word (Henry VI, Part 2) Neither here nor there (Othello) Send him packing (Henry IV) Set your teeth on edge (Henry IV) There's method in my madness (Hamlet) Too much of a good thing (As You Like It) Vanish into thin air (Othello) In many cases, it is not known if Shakespeare actually invented these phrases, or if they were already in use during Shakespeare's lifetime. In fact, it is almost impossible to identify when a word or phrase was first used, but Shakespeare’s plays often provide the earliest citation. Changing Meanings Over time, many of the original meanings behind Shakespeare's words has evolved. For example, the phrase "sweets to the sweet" from Hamlet has since become a commonly used romantic phrase.

In the original play, the line is uttered by Hamlet’s mother as she scatters funeral flowers across Ophelia’s grave in Act 5, Scene 1: Queen Gertrude: (Scattering flowers) Sweets to the sweet, farewell! I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife: I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, And not have strew'd thy grave. The Pun A Pun is part of word play where the same word has the same sound but different meanings. As he is dying in Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio says’ “Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man”. Today the pun is out of vogue, but during medieval times it was very popular. It is undeniable that the British, especially in Shakespeare’s time were fond of puns. It is usual to sneer at the pun as the lowest form of wit. Such, alas! It too often is, and frequently, as well, it is a form of no wit at all. But the pun may contain a very high form of wit, and may please either for its cleverness, or for its amusing quality, or for the combination of the two.

Naturally, the really excellent pun has always been in favour with the wits of all countries. Johnson's saying, that ”a man who would make a pun would pick a pocket,” is not to be taken too seriously. It is recorded that Napier when he captured Scinde, notified the government at home of this victory by sending a dispatch of one word, "_Peccavi_" (" Latin for: “I have sinned"). The pun is of the sort that may be appreciated intellectually for its cleverness, while not calculated to cause laughter. Shakespeare’s double entendres: A much debated topic is the suitability of Shakespeare’s language for general audiences. During his time he was considered a relatively clean writer when compared to Christopher Marlowe or Ben Jonson. Yet moves have been made to cleanse his works. The Eighteenth-century Divine, the Rev Dr Bowdler, made the plays suitable “to be read aloud by a gentleman to a company of ladies” by excising or expurgating any rude bits. Bowdlerize derives from the name Thomas Bowdler , an editor in Victorian times who rewrote Shakespeare, removing all profanity and sexual references so as not to offend the sensibilities of the audiences of his day.

For more see: In her book entitled Filthy Shakespeare, Pauline Kiernan contends that most of Shakespeare’s ribald language is hidden in outrageous puns that were easily picked up in his day such as Mistress Quickly = Quick-lay. This is quite plausible since much of the squeamishness and prudery we share was influenced by the Victorian Era from 1838 – 1901. It was only after the 1960’s that linguistic freedoms were unleashed. Hear Shakespeare as it was meant to be heard -- "The stereotypical English accent of today is not the English accent of Shakespeare’s time, which goes at least some way towards explaining why, when you read Romeo and Juliet in High school, half the play didn’t make sense ... as David Crystal, a linguist from the University of Wales, explains in the video above, some of the puns, and many of the rhymes, just don’t work anymore." From Dictionary.com Zeugma [zoog-muh] Are your verbs slacking off? Take a tip from the Bard and try a zeugma.

From the Greek zeugnynai meaning "to yoke or join," zeugma is the clever use of a single verb in two different idiomatic senses within one sentence: "Golden lads and girls all must As chimney-sweepers, come to dust." In this funeral song in Shakespeare's Cymbeline chimney-sweepers encounter literal "dust" in their work, whereas "Golden lads and girls" become figurative "dust" in death. Groucho Marx also used zeugma in the film Duck Soup: "Leave in a minute," he said, "and a huff." Enjambment [en-jam-muhnt, -jamb-] Queen Hermione stands trial in Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale after being falsely accused of adultery by her husband. But could any literary device give voice to her frantic plea? Enjambment can try. "I am not prone to weeping," Hermione says, "but I have / that honourable grief lodged here which burns / Worse than tears drown." From the French word enjamb meaning "to encroach," enjambment is the running on of a thought from one line of text onto the next without a syntactical break.

Here, Hermione's words spill over the way her tears would if she could cry. Litotes [lahy-tuh-teez, lit-uh-, lahy-toh-teez] In the third act of Julius Caesar, Marc Antony enters the Roman forum holding Caesar's body. How will he convince the crowd that their emperor was murdered wrongly? Litotes! "You all did love him once, not without cause." From the Greek litos meaning "plain, small, meager," litotes is an understatement, usually illustrated using a double negative. Antony tells the assembled Romans that they loved their murdered emperor "not without cause," using the double negative "not without" to imply that they had great cause to love Caesar. Slant rhyme Shakespeare's King Lear is about to end, and with his last lines, the young Edgar looks toward his future as his whole family lies dead around him. "The oldest have borne most;we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long." This desperately sad slant rhyme on "young" and "long" recalls the fatal miscommunications between young and old that set the tragic events of the play in motion.

Slant rhymes typically share at least one identical stressed phoneme, but like the ambitions of this ill-fated family, not all their syllables align. Isocolon [ahy-suh-koh-luhn] Hamlet has just begun; Claudius just married Gertrude after killing her husband his brother. How can he show his happiness while publicly respecting his secret victim? Isocolon. Claudius says, "With mirth in funeral, and with dirge in marriage." From the Greek isokolos meaning "of equal members," isocolon unites two clauses using parallel structure and similarly distributed syllables. Claudius uses "With __ in __" as a template to compare opposing concepts of equal syllable length: "mirth" vs. "dirge" and "funeral" (pronounced with two syllables) vs. "marriage." Antanaclasis [ant-an-uh-klas-is] In the final act of Henry V, Pistol, a drunkard and braggart turned soldier, decides to return to England to become a pickpocket after winning the Battle of Agincourt in France, but how can he explain his plan with finesse? Antanaclasis!

"To England will I steal, and there I'll steal." Pistol plans to flee or steal from France to England and once there, to steal people's wallets, thus using the same word in two different senses in the same sentence. Derived from the combination of three Greek roots, antanaclasis literally translates as an "echo that is bent or broken." Assonance [as-uh-nuhns] The Tempest, one of Shakespeare's last plays, is about to end. Prospero, a former wizard widely thought to represent Shakespeare himself in this epilogue, has renounced his magic powers and is about to leave his mystical island once and for all. But he is trapped onstage until the audience applauds, how can he gracefully ask for their approval? Perhaps a touch of assonance, or vowel rhyme would do the trick. "But release me from my bands / with the help of your good hands," Prospero implores. The word is derived from the French assonare meaning "to sound." Performing Shakespeare on Stage as to film: The language of Shakespeare is the language of thoughts. In the theatre, to do this well, you have to speak loudly; and there are very few actors who can speak loud and still be truthful.

That is the actor’s problem. Every actor knows that the quieter he speaks, the closer he can be to himself. And when you play Shakespeare close up, in film, with a mike, you can really speak the verse, you’re not going against the nature of the verse….” (Peter Brook) You can find examples of parodies of Shakespeare’s Language @: Frank Kermode Shakespeare’s Language describes in rich detail the changes in Shakespeare’s style, above all the gradual development of a new, idiosyncratic, and complex manner that must surely have become almost as difficult for a contemporary public to understand as for one today. Kermode reveals an author who developed an approach to words more personal and radically original than any other dramatist of his time. Shakespeare’s Language is best read along with a copy of the plays, since, in spite of the lavish quotations, it inspires a new appreciation and rethinking of the whole body of work.

Kermode is, for once, aggressive in his rejection of many of the most fashionable recent scholarly approaches to Shakespeare, exposing his distaste frankly in the preface: There are modern attitudes to Shakespeare I particularly dislike: the worst of them maintains that the reputation of Shakespeare is fraudulent, the result of an eighteenth-century nationalist or imperialist plot. A related notion, almost equally presumptuous, is that to make sense of Shakespeare we need first to see the plays as involved in the political discourse of his day to a degree that has only now become intelligible. These and other ways of taking Shakespeare down a peg seem, when you examine them, to be interesting only as evidence of a recurring need to find something different to say, and to say it on topics that happen to interest the writer more than Shakespeare’s words, which are, as I say, only rarely invoked. The tone of these novelties is remarkably self-confident…. Sweets To The Sweet Sweets To The Sweet In Hamlet, what does "Sweets to the sweet" mean?

Asked on accessteacher | High School Teacher | (Level 3) Distinguished Educator Posted on This quote from the play comes in Act V scene 1, and is uttered by Gertrude as she throws flowers on the grave of Ophelia. Let us just remember briefly what it is that she says: Sweets to the sweet, farewell! I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife: I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid, And not have strew'd thy grave. The "sweets" that Gertrude is refering to therefore means the flowers that she is bestrewing the grave of the "sweet," which of course refers to Ophelia and her dead body. Gertrude is very aware that in a different world, Ophelia could have been her daughter-in-law and perhaps the answer to her son's problems and aloof nature. However, fate had a different plan and as a result Ophelia has died from grief and madness. The origin of this phrase, that is nowadays normally associated with romantic moments, is actually one of sadness and grief.

Sources: February 11, 2015 at 7:39 PM As accessteacher says, "sweets to the sweet" refers to the flowers that Gertrude scatters over Ophelia's grave. This image of the flowers over Ophelia's grave contrasts with what the priest has just been saying, that "shards, flints, and pebbles, should be thrown on her" because she is a suicide. According to tradition, this means that, because she took her own life, she should not be allowed a proper Christian burial. Gertrude, however, praises Ophelia in death. Her brother Laertes, meanwhile, is dismayed at the priest's attitude, calling him "churlish" and declaring that "a ministr'ing angel shall my sister be/when thou liest howling." Although Laertes also praises his sister, he doesn't really speak eloquently over her grave like Gertrude does. Still less does her lover, Hamlet. In fact, rather than respecting the dead, the two of them start a fight in the grave and have to be restrained.

They really seem more interested in scoring points against each other than in grieving over Ophelia. Gertrude's moving address to the dead girl contrasts sharply with the undignified spectacle between Hamlet and Laertes. Sources: Start your free trial for complete access to this answer and thousands more. Homework Help 300,000+ answers or ask real teachers questions on any subject. 30,000+ Study Guides Save time with thousands of teacher-approved book and topic summaries. On the Go Access Hamlet - Wikiquote Hamlet How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world . The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a revenge tragedy by William Shakespeare , and is one of his most well-known and oft-quoted plays. It is uncertain exactly when it was written, but scholars tend to place its composition between 1600 and the summer of 1602. Contents I'll speak to it though Hell itself should gape And bid me hold my peace . You come most carefully upon your hour. Francisco, scene i Our sometime sister, now our Queen.

Claudius, scene ii Claudius: ...But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son — Hamlet: A little more than kin, and less than kind. Claudius: How is it that the clouds still hang on you? Hamlet: Not so my lord; I am too much i' the sun. scene ii Seems, madam! Nay, it is; I know not "seems." Hamlet, scene ii O, that this too too solid flesh would melt, Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew. Hamlet, scene ii Note: "Solid" is the word found in the First Folio edition of the plays (1623). Earlier versions (the First and Second Quartos), had used the word "sallied." In some later editions, the word was "sullied." How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world. Hamlet, scene ii Frailty, thy name is woman! Hamlet, scene ii But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue. Hamlet, scene ii Thrift, thrift, Horatio! The funeral bak'd meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.

Hamlet, scene ii A countenance more in sorrow than in anger. Horatio, scene ii I'll speak to it though Hell itself should gape And bid me hold my peace. Hamlet, scene ii For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favours, Hold it a fashion and a toy in blood; A violet in the youth of primy nature, Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting, The perfume and suppliance of a minute — No more. Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine, Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads. And recks not his own rede. Ophelia, scene iii Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar. Polonius, scene iii Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice; Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. Polonius, scene iii Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy; For the apparel oft proclaims the man.

Polonius, scene iii Neither a borrower nor a lender be: For loan oft loses both itself and friend. Polonius, scene iii This above all — to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. Polonius, scene iii But to my mind, — though I am native here And to the manner born, — it is a custom More honour'd in the breach than the observance. Hamlet, scene iv Why, what should be the fear? I do not set my life at a pin's fee, And for my soul, what can it do to that, Being a thing immortal as itself? Hamlet, scene iv Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Marcellus, scene iv My hour is almost come When I to sulphrous and tormenting flames Must render up myself. Murder most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. Ghost, scene v The serpent that did sting thy father's life Now wears his crown. Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin. Ghost, scene v O horrible, O horrible, most horrible!

Ghost, scene v And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porpentine. Ghost, scene v Variant: Most modern publications modernize this phrase to "Like quills upon the fretful porcupine." O most pernicious woman! O, villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! My tables, — meet it is I set it down, That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain. Hamlet, scene v There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Hamlet, scene v How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself — As I perchance hereafter shall think meet To put an antic disposition on. Hamlet, scene v The time is out of joint; O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right! Hamlet, scene v Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king. Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit, And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief. More matter with less art. Gertrude, scene ii.

That he is mad, 'tis true; 'tis true 'tis pity; And pity 'tis 'tis true: a foolish figure; But farewell it, for I will use no art. Polonius, scene ii Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love. Hamlet, from a letter read by Polonius, scene ii Polonius: Do you know me, my lord? Hamlet: Excellent well; you're a fishmonger. Polonius: Not I, my lord. Hamlet Then I would you were so honest a man. Polonius: Honest, my lord! Hamlet: Ay, sir; to be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand. Polonius: That's very true, my lord. Hamlet: [Reads] For if the sun breed maggots in a dead dog, being a god kissing carrion, — Have you a daughter? Polonius: I have, my lord.

Hamlet: Let her not walk i' the sun: conception is a blessing: but not as your daughter may conceive; — friend, look to 't. Polonius: [Aside] How say you by that? Still harping on my daughter: — yet he knew me not at first; he said I was a fishmonger: he is far gone, far gone: and truly in my youth I suffered much extremity for love; very near this. scene ii Polonius: What do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words. scene ii Polonius: [Aside] Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. — Will you walk out of the air, my lord? Hamlet: Into my grave. scene ii Polonius: My honored lord, I will most humbly take my leave of you. Hamlet: You cannot, sir, take from me anything that I will more willingly part withal — except my life — except my life — except my life. scene ii Hamlet: My excellent good friends! How dost thou Guildenstern? Ah, Rosencrantz! Good lads, how do you both?

Rosencrantz: As indifferent as children of the earth. Guildenstern: Happy in that we are not overhappy; on Fortune's cap we are not the very button. Hamlet: Nor the soles of her shoe? Rosencrantz: Neither, my lord. Hamlet: Then you live about her waist, or in the middle of her favours? Guildenstern: Faith, her privates we. Hamlet: In the secret parts of Fortune? O, most true! She is a strumpet. What's the news? Rosencrantz: None, my lord, but that the world's grown honest. Hamlet: Then is doomsday near. scene ii There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. Hamlet, scene ii I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams. Hamlet, scene ii Beggar that I am, I am even poor in thanks.

Hamlet, scene ii I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth, forgone all custom of exercises, and indeed it goes so heavily with my disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a sterile promontory. This most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to me then a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours. What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me; no, nor woman neither, though, by your smiling, you seem to say so. Hamlet, scene ii Use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping? Hamlet, scene ii O! what a rogue and peasant slave am I!

Hamlet, scene ii What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, That he should weep for her? Hamlet, scene ii That I, the son of a dear father murdered, Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, Must like a whore unpack my heart with words, and fall a-cursing like a very drab Hamlet, scene ii The spirit that I have seen May be the devil: and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps Out of my weakness and my melancholy, As he is very potent with such spirits, Abuses me to damn me: I'll have grounds More relative than this: the play 's the thing Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king. Hamlet, scene ii Be all my sins remembered. Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? We are oft to blame in this, — 'Tis too much prov'd, — that with devotion's visage, And pious action, we do sugar o'er The devil himself.

To be, or not to be, — that is the question: — Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? — To die, to sleep, — No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, — 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; — To sleep, perchance to dream: — ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause: there's the respect That makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes, When he himself might his quietus make With a bare bodkin?

who would these fardels bear, To grunt and sweat under a weary life, But that the dread of something after death, — The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn No traveller returns, — puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know naught of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; And enterprises of great pith and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action. Hamlet, scene i The fair Ophelia! — Nymph, in thy orisons Be all my sins remember'd. Hamlet, scene i Get thee to a nunnery: why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest; but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me. I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious; with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in. What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven?

We are arrant knaves all; believe none of us. Hamlet, scene i Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind. Ophelia, scene i I say, we will have no more marriages: those that are married already, — all but one, — shall live; the rest shall keep as they are. Hamlet, scene i O! what a noble mind is here o'erthrown! Ophelia, scene i To have seen what I have seen, see what I see! Ophelia, scene i Madness in great ones must not unwatched go. Claudius, scene i Gertrude: Come hither, my dear Hamlet, sit by me. Hamlet: No, good mother, here's metal more attractive. [Hamlet takes a place near Ophelia.] scene ii Hamlet: Lady, shall I lie in your lap? Ophelia: No, my lord. Hamlet: I mean, my head upon your lap? Ophelia: Ay, my lord. Hamlet: Do you think I meant country matters? scene ii So long? Nay, then, let the devil wear black, for I'll have a suit of sables. Oh heavens!

die two months ago, and not forgotten yet? Then there's hope a great man's memory may outlive his life half a year. Hamlet, scene ii The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Gertrude, scene ii Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me. You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mystery; you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass; and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me. Hamlet, scene ii Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud that's almost in shape of a camel? Polonius: By th' Mass, and 'tis like a camel, indeed. Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel. Polonius: It is backed like a weasel. Hamlet: Or like a whale. Polonius: Very like a whale.

scene ii Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world: now could I drink hot blood, And do such bitter business, as the day Would quake to look on. Hamlet, scene ii Let me be cruel, not unnatural; I will speak daggers to her, but use none. Hamlet, scene ii O! my offence is rank, it smells to heaven. Claudius, scene iii What if this cursed hand Were thicker than itself with brother's blood, — Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens To wash it white as snow? Claudius, scene iii Now might I do it pat, now he is praying; And now I'll do 't: and so he goes to heaven; And so am I reveng'd. Hamlet, scene iii My words fly up, my thoughts remain below; Words without thoughts never to heaven go. Claudius, scene iii Hamlet: How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, dead! Polonius: Oh, I am slain! scene iv Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! I took thee for thy better.

Hamlet, scene iv In the rank sweat of an enseamed bed, Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love Over the nasty sty. I must be cruel, only to be kind: Thus bad begins and worse remains behind. Hamlet, scene iv Be thou assur'd, if words be made of breath, And breath of life, I have no life to breathe What thou hast said to me. Gertrude, scene iv Good-night, ladies; good-night, sweet ladies; good-night, good-night. So, haply, slander — Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter, As level as the cannon to his blank, Transports his poisoned shot — may miss our name And hit the woundless air. — O, come away! My soul is full of discord and dismay. Claudius, scene i Rosencrantz: I understand you not, my lord. Hamlet: I am glad of it: a knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear. Rosencrantz: My lord, you must tell us where the body is, and go with us to the king. Hamlet: The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body.

The king is a thing — Guildenstern: A thing, my lord? Hamlet: Of nothing. scene ii Hamlet: A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm. Claudius: What dost thou mean by this? Hamlet: Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar. scene iii Claudius: Where is Polonius? Hamlet: In heaven; send thither to see. If your messenger find him not there, seek him i' the other place yourself. But, indeed, if you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby. scene iii How all occasions do inform against me, And spur my dull revenge! Hamlet, scene iv O! from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! Hamlet, scene iv We know what we are, but know not what we may be. Ophelia, scene v Good-night, ladies; good-night, sweet ladies; good-night, good-night.

Ophelia, scene v When sorrows come, they come not single spies, But in battalions. I'm lost in it, my lord. But let him come; It warms the very sickness in my heart, That I shall live and tell him to his teeth, 'Thus diest thou.' Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, And therefore I forbid my tears. Laertes, scene vii What is the reason that you use me thus? I lov'd you ever: but it is no matter. Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew, and dog will have his day. Hamlet, scene i There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will. Hamlet, scene ii We defy augury; there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.

Hamlet, scene ii The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit: I cannot live to hear the news from England; But I do prophesy the election lights On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice; So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less, Which have solicited. The rest is silence. Hamlet, scene ii; variant, from the First Folio: The rest is silence. O, o, o, o. [Dies] If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, Absent thee from felicity awhile, And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, To tell my story. Now cracks a noble heart. Good-night, sweet prince; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. Horatio, scene ii Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage. Fortinbras, scene ii Go, bid the soldiers shoot. Fortinbras, scene ii

Question: The phrase ‘Sweets to the sweet’ is from which Shakespeare play?
Answer: Hamlet