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Arden
Hamlet Electronic Text (1982)
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[SCENE IV]
Enter HAMLET, HORATIO, and MARCELLUS.
Ham. The air bites
shrewdly, it is very cold.
Enter GHOST.
Hor.
Look, my lord, it comes.
[SCENE V]
Ham. Whither wilt
thou lead me? Speak, I'll go no further.
Enter HORATIO and
MARCELLUS [calling].
Hor. My lord, my lord.
Copyright © 1982. The Arden
Shakespeare. All rights reserved.
Hor. It is a nipping
and an eager air.
Ham. What hour now?
Hor.
I think it lacks of twelve.
Mar. No, it is struck.
Hor.
Indeed? I heard it not.
It then
draws near the season
5
Wherein
the spirit held his wont to walk.
A flourish of trumpets, and two pieces [of ordnance] go
off.
What
does this mean, my lord?
Ham. The King doth
wake tonight and takes his rouse,
Keeps
wassail, and the swaggering upspring reels;
And as
he drains his draughts of Rhenish down,
10
The kettle-drum
and trumpet thus bray out
The triumph
of his pledge.
Hor.
Is it a custom?
Ham. Ay marry is't,
But to
my mind, though I am native here
And to
the manner born, it is a custom
15
More
honour'd in the breach than the observance.
This
heavy-headed revel east and west
Makes
us traduc'd and tax'd of other nations-
They
clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase
Soil
our addition; and indeed it takes
20
From
our achievements, though perform'd at height,
The pith
and marrow of our attribute.
So, oft
it chances in particular men
That
for some vicious mole of nature in them,
As in
their birth, wherein they are not guilty
25
(Since
nature cannot choose his origin),
By their
overgrowth of some complexion,
Oft breaking
down the pales and forts of reason,
Or by
some habit, that too much o'erleavens
The form
of plausive manners-that these men,
30
Carrying,
I say, the stamp of one defect,
Being
Nature's livery or Fortune's star,
His virtues
else, be they as pure as grace,
As infinite
as man may undergo,
Shall
in the general censure take corruption
35
From
that particular fault. The dram of evil
Doth
all the noble substance often dout
To his
own scandal.
Ham. Angels and ministers
of grace defend us!
Be thou
a spirit of health or goblin damn'd,
40
Bring
with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell,
Be thy
intents wicked or charitable,
Thou
com'st in such a questionable shape
That
I will speak to thee. I'll call thee Hamlet,
King,
father, royal Dane. O answer me.
45
Let me
not burst in ignorance, but tell
Why thy
canoniz'd bones, hearsed in death,
Have
burst their cerements, why the sepulchre
Wherein
we saw thee quietly inurn'd
Hath
op'd his ponderous and marble jaws
50
To cast
thee up again. What may this mean,
That
thou, dead corse, again in complete steel
Revisits
thus the glimpses of the moon,
Making
night hideous and we fools of nature
So horridly
to shake our disposition
55
With
thoughts beyond the reaches of our souls?
Say why
is this? Wherefore? What should we do?
Ghost beckons.
Hor. It beckons you
to go away with it,
As if
it some impartment did desire
To you
alone.
Mar.
Look with what courteous action
60
It waves
you to a more removed ground.
But do
not go with it.
Hor.
No, by no means.
Ham. It will not
speak. Then I will follow it.
Hor. Do not, my lord.
Ham.
Why, what should be the fear?
I do
not set my life at a pin's fee,
65
And for
my soul, what can it do to that,
Being
a thing immortal as itself?
It waves
me forth again. I'll follow it.
Hor. What if it tempt
you toward the flood, my lord,
Or to
the dreadful summit of the cliff
70
That
beetles o'er his base into the sea,
And there
assume some other horrible form
Which
might deprive your sovereignty of reason
And draw
you into madness? Think of it.
The very
place puts toys of desperation,
75
Without
more motive, into every brain
That
looks so many fathoms to the sea
And hears
it roar beneath.
Ham.
It waves me still.
Go on,
I'll follow thee.
Mar. You shall not
go, my lord.
Ham.
Hold off your hands.
80
Hor. Be rul'd; you
shall not go.
Ham.
My fate cries out
And makes
each petty artire in this body
As hardy
as the Nemean lion's nerve.
Still
am I call'd. Unhand me, gentlemen.
By heaven,
I'll make a ghost of him that lets me.
85
I say
away.-Go on, I'll follow thee.
Exeunt Ghost and Hamlet.
Hor. He waxes desperate
with imagination.
Mar. Let's follow.
'Tis not fit thus to obey him.
Hor. Have after.
To what issue will this come?
Mar. Something is rotten
in the state of Denmark.
90
Hor. Heaven will
direct it.
Mar.
Nay, let's follow him.
Exeunt.
Enter GHOST and HAMLET.
Ghost. Mark me.
Ham.
I Will.
Ghost.
My hour is almost come
When
I to sulphurous and tormenting flames
Must
render up myself.
Ham.
Alas, poor ghost.
Ghost. Pity me not,
but lend thy serious hearing
5
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,
10
And for
the day confin'd to fast in fires,
Till
the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt
and purg'd away. But that I am forbid
To tell
the secrets of my prison-house,
I could
a tale unfold whose lightest word
15
Would
harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make
thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,
Thy knotted
and combined locks to part,
And each
particular hair to stand an end
Like
quills upon the fretful porpentine.
20
But this
eternal blazon must not be
To ears
of flesh and blood. List, list, O list!
If thou
didst ever thy dear father love-
Ham. O God!
Ghost. Revenge his
foul and most unnatural murder.
25
Ham. Murder!
Ghost. Murder most
foul, as in the best it is,
But this
most foul, strange and unnatural.
Ham. Haste me to
know't, that I with wings as swift
As meditation
or the thoughts of love
30
May sweep
to my revenge.
Ghost.
I find thee apt.
And duller
shouldst thou be than the fat weed
That
roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,
Wouldst
thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear.
'Tis
given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
35
A serpent
stung me-so the whole ear of Denmark
Is by
a forged process of my death
Rankly
abus'd-but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent
that did sting thy father's life
Now wears
his crown.
40
Ham. O my prophetic
soul! My uncle!
Ghost. Ay, that incestuous,
that adulterate beast,
With
witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts-
O wicked
wit, and gifts that have the power
So to
seduce!-won to his shameful lust
45
The will
of my most seeming-virtuous queen.
O Hamlet,
what a falling off was there,
From
me, whose love was of that dignity
That
it went hand in hand even with the vow
I made
to her in marriage, and to decline
50
Upon
a wretch whose natural gifts were poor
To those
of mine.
But virtue,
as it never will be mov'd,
Though
lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So lust,
though to a radiant angel link'd,
55
Will
sate itself in a celestial bed
And prey
on garbage.
But soft,
methinks I scent the morning air:
Brief
let me be. Sleeping within my orchard,
My custom
always of the afternoon,
60
Upon
my secure hour thy uncle stole
With
juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in
the porches of my ears did pour
The leperous
distilment, whose effect
Holds
such an enmity with blood of man
65
That
swift as quicksilver it courses through
The natural
gates and alleys of the body,
And with
a sudden vigour it doth posset
And curd,
like eager droppings into milk,
The thin
and wholesome blood. So did it mine,
70
And a
most instant tetter bark'd about,
Most
lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust
All my
smooth body.
Thus
was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand
Of life,
of crown, of queen at once dispatched,
75
Cut off
even in the blossoms of my sin,
Unhousel'd,
disappointed, unanel'd,
No reckoning
made, but sent to my account
With
all my imperfections on my head.
O horrible!
O horrible! most horrible!
80
If thou
has nature in thee, bear it not,
Let not
the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch
for luxury and damned incest.
But howsomever
thou pursuest this act,
Taint
not thy mind nor let thy soul contrive
85
Against
thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven,
And to
those thorns that in her bosom lodge
To prick
and sting her. Fare thee well at once:
The glow-worm
show, the matin to be near
And gins
to pale his uneffectual fire.
90
Adieu,
adieu, adieu. Remember me.
Exit.
Ham. O all you host
of heaven! O earth! What else?
And shall
I couple hell? O fie! Hold, hold, my heart,
And you,
my sinews, grow not instant old,
But bear
me stiffly up. Remember thee?
95
Ay, thou
poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat
In this
distracted globe. Remember thee?
Yea,
from the table of my memory
I'll
wipe away all trivial fond records,
All saws
of books, all forms, all pressures past
100
That
youth and observation copied there,
And thy
commandment all alone shall live
Within
the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd
with baser matter. Yes, by heaven!
O most
pernicious woman!
105
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-
At least
I am sure it may be so in Denmark.
[Writes.]
So, uncle,
there you are. Now to my word.
110
It is
'Adieu, adieu, remember me.'
I have
sworn't.
Mar. Lord Hamlet.
Hor. Heavens secure
him.
115
Ham. [aside]
So be it.
Mar. Hillo, ho, ho,
my lord.
Ham. Hillo, ho, ho,
boy. Come, bird, come.
Mar. How is't, my
noble lord?
Hor. What news, my
lord?
120
Ham. O, wonderful!
Hor. Good my lord,
tell it.
Ham. No, you will
reveal it.
Hor. Not I, my lord,
by heaven.
Mar. Nor I, my lord.
125
Ham. How say you
then, would heart of man once think it-
But you'll
be secret?
Hor. }
Ay, by heaven.
Mar.
Ham. There's never
a villain dwelling in all Denmark
But he's
an arrant knave.
130
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-
135
For every
man hath business and desire,
Such
as it is-and for my own poor part,
I will
go pray.
Hor. These are but
wild and whirling words, my lord.
Ham. I am sorry they
offend you, heartily-
140
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,
It is
an honest ghost, that let me tell you.
For your
desire to know what is between us,
145
O'ermaster't
as you may. And now, good friends,
As you
are friends, scholars, and soldiers,
Give
me one poor request.
Hor.
What is't, my lord? We will.
Ham. Never make known
what you have seen tonight.
Hor. } My lord, we
will not.
150
Mar.
Ham. Nay, but swear't.
Hor. In faith, my
lord, not I.
Mar. Nor I, my lord,
in faith.
Ham. Upon my sword.
Mar. We have sworn,
my lord, already.
155
Ham. Indeed, upon
my sword, indeed.
Ghost. (Cries
under the stage)Swear.
Ham. Ah ha, boy,
say'st thou so? Art thou there, truepenny ?
Come
on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage.
Consent
to swear.
Hor.
Propose the oath, my lord.
160
Ham. Never to speak
of this that you have seen.
Swear
by my sword.
Ghost. Swear.
[They swear.]
Ham. Hic et ubique? Then
we'll shift our ground.
Come
hither, gentlemen, 165
And lay
your hands again upon my sword.
Swear
by my sword
Never
to speak of this that you have heard.
Ghost. Swear by his
sword.
[They swear.]
Ham. Well said, old
mole. Canst work i'th' earth so fast?
170
A worthy
pioneer! Once more remove, good friends.
Hor. O day and night,
but this is wondrous strange.
Ham. And therefore
as a stranger give it welcome.
There
are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than
are dreamt of in your philosophy.
175
But come,
Here,
as before, never, so help you mercy,
How strange
or odd some'er I bear myself-
As I
perchance hereafter shall think meet
To put
an antic disposition on-
180
That
you, at such time seeing me, never shall,
With
arms encumbered thus, or this head-shake,
Or by
pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,
As 'Well,
we know', or 'We could and if we would',
Or
'If we list to speak', or 'There be and if they
might',
185
Or
such ambiguous giving out, to note
That
you know aught of me-this do swear,
So grace
and mercy at your most need help you.
Ghost. Swear.
[They swear.]
Ham. Rest, rest,
perturbed spirit. So, gentlemen,
190
With
all my love I do commend me to you;
And what
so poor a man as Hamlet is
May do
t'express his love and friending to you,
God willing,
shall not lack. Let us go in together.
And still
your fingers on your lips, I pray.
195
The time
is out of joint. O cursed spite,
That
ever I was born to set it right.
Nay,
come, let's go together.
Exeunt.