
 
Codes 1.5.125   
  Hillo, ho . . . bird, come: Hamlet mocks Marcellus's 
   1.5.138   
  arrant: complete 
 1.5.142   
  circumstance: ceremony 
 1.5.154   
  honest: genuine 
 1.5.165   
  Upon my sword: an appropriate object on which to 
  swear  1.5.170   
  truepenny: honest fellow 
 1.5.177   
  Hic et ubique: here and everywhere 
 1.5.184   
  pioner: a foot-soldier who marches in advance of 
  the  1.5.186   
  as a stranger give it welcome: welcome it as one 
  should  1.5.188   
  your philosophy: i.e., philosophy in general 
 1.5.189-202 
  never . . . help you: i.e., swear never to note, 
  even  1.5.190   
  How . . . some'er: howsoever 
 1.5.191-192 
  As I . . . on: since I may in the future 
  think it  1.5.194   
  With arms . . . headshake: with your arms folded 
  or  1.5.195   
  doubtful: ambiguous 
 1.5.196   
  an if: if 
 1.5.198   
  list: should choose 
 1.5.200   
  giving-out: expression; note: 
  indicate 
 1.5.204   
  Rest, rest, perturbèd spirit: These words 
  suggest that   Copyright © 1992. 
  The Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved.  
+ + = emendation; <> = First Folio; [ ] = Second Quarto only 
+1.5+ 
                    
Enter Horatio and Marcellus. 
HORATIO   My lord, my lord!                                      
120 
MARCELLUS Lord Hamlet. 
HORATIO  Heavens secure him! 
HAMLET    So be it. 
MARCELLUS Illo, ho, ho, my lord! 
HAMLET Hillo, ho, ho, boy! Come, <bird,> 
come! 
MARCELLUS 
          How is 't, my noble lord?                              
125 
HORATIO                        
What news, my lord? 
HAMLET O, wonderful! 
HORATIO 
          Good my lord, tell it. 
HAMLET                              
No, you will reveal it.      130 
HORATIO 
          Not I, my lord, by heaven. 
MARCELLUS                      
Nor I, my lord. 
HAMLET 
          How say you, then? Would 
heart of man once think 
               
it? 
          But you'll be secret?                                  
135 
HORATIO / MARCELLUS                 
Ay, by heaven, <my lord.> 
HAMLET 
          There's never a villain 
dwelling in all Denmark 
          But he's an arrant 
knave. 
HORATIO 
          There needs no ghost, my 
lord, come from the grave 
          To tell us this.                                       
140 
HAMLET                     
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 
          (For every man hath business 
and desire,               
145 
          Such as it is), and for 
my own poor part, 
          I will go pray. 
HORATIO 
          These are but wild and 
whirling words, my lord. 
HAMLET 
          I am sorry they offend 
you, heartily; 
          Yes, faith, heartily.                                  
150 
HORATIO                        
There's no offense, my lord. 
HAMLET 
          Yes, by Saint Patrick, 
but there is, Horatio, 
          And much offense, too. 
Touching this vision here, 
          It is an honest 
ghost--that let me tell you. 
          For your desire to know 
what is between us,            
155 
          O'ermaster 't as you may. 
And now, good friends, 
          As you are friends, scholars, 
and soldiers, 
          Give me one poor request. 
HORATIO   What is 't, my lord? We will. 
HAMLET 
          Never make known what you 
have seen tonight.           
160 
HORATIO / MARCELLUS My lord, we will not. 
HAMLET    Nay, but swear 't. 
HORATIO   In faith, my lord, not I. 
MARCELLUS Nor I, my lord, in faith. 
HAMLET 
          Upon 
my sword.                                         
165 
MARCELLUS           We have 
sworn, my lord, already. 
HAMLET    Indeed, upon my sword, indeed. 
GHOST cries under the stage Swear. 
HAMLET 
          Ha, ha, boy, sayst thou 
so? Art thou there, 
               
truepenny?                                        
170 
          Come on, you hear this 
fellow in the cellarage. 
          Consent to swear. 
HORATIO                        
Propose the oath, my lord. 
HAMLET 
          Never to speak of this 
that you have seen, 
          Swear by my sword.                                     
175 
GHOST, +beneath+ Swear. 
HAMLET 
         Hic 
et ubique? Then we'll shift our ground. 
          Come hither, gentlemen, 
          And lay your hands again 
upon my sword. 
          Swear by my sword                                      
180 
          Never to speak of this 
that you have heard. 
GHOST, +beneath+ Swear by his sword. 
HAMLET 
          Well said, old mole. Canst 
work i' th' earth so fast? 
          A worthy pioner! 
Once more remove, good friends. 
HORATIO 
          O day and night, but this 
is wondrous strange.         185 
HAMLET 
          And therefore as 
a stranger give it welcome. 
          There are more things in 
heaven and earth, Horatio, 
          Than are dreamt of in your 
philosophy. But come. 
          Here, as before, never, 
so help you mercy, 
          How 
strange or odd some'er I bear myself               
190 
          (As 
I perchance hereafter shall think meet 
          To 
put an antic disposition on) 
          That you, at such times 
seeing me, never shall, 
          With 
arms encumbered thus, or this headshake, 
          Or by pronouncing of some 
doubtful phrase,             
195 
          As "Well, well, we know," 
or "We could an if we 
               
would," 
          Or "If we list 
to speak," or "There be an if they 
               
might," 
          Or such ambiguous giving-out, 
to note                  
200 
          That you know aught of 
me--this do swear, 
          So grace and mercy at your 
most need help you. 
GHOST, +beneath+ Swear. 
HAMLET 
          Rest, 
rest, perturbèd spirit.--So, gentlemen, 
          With all my love I do commend 
me to you,               
205 
          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. 
          The time is out of joint. 
O cursèd spite               
210 
          That ever I was born to 
set it right! 
          Nay, come, let's go together. 
                                         
They exit. 
  
 
 
                  
  call, as if it were the call of a falconer. 
                  
  an oath, in that the hilts form a cross 
                  
  army to dig trenches and clear the way; a digger 
                  
  or miner; remove: move to another spot 
                  
  welcome a stranger 
       through gestures and hints, that you know anything 
  about 
       me, no matter how strangely I act 
             appropriate to 
  act bizarrely 
                  
  shaking your head in a knowing way 
       Horatio and Marcellus have sworn the oath demanded 
  by 
       Hamlet and the Ghost; Q2 and F give no stage direction 
  
       to indicate when they do so.