Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve For that which thou hast done,-must send thee hence With fiery quickness: Therefore, prepare thyself; The bark is ready, and the wind at help,2 The associates tend, and every thing is bent For England. Ham. For England? Ay, Hamlet. Good. King. So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes. Ham. I see a cherub, that sees them.-But, come; for England!-Farewell, dear mother. King. Thy loving father, Hamlet. Ham. My mother: Father and mother is man and wife; man and wife is one flesh; and so, my mother. Come, for England. [Exit. King. Follow him at foot; tempt him with speed aboard; Delay it not, I'll have him hence to-night: The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England; And thou must cure me: Till I know 'tis done, Howe'er my haps, my joys will ne'er begin. [Exit. the wind at help,] i. e. at hand, ready. thou may'st not coldly set] i. e. set at nought. Howe'er my haps,] i. e. whatever befall me. SCENE IV. A Plain in Denmark. Enter FORTINBRAS, and Forces, marching. For. Go, captain, from me greet the Danish king; Tell him, that, by his licence, Fortinbras Craves the conveyance of a promis'd march Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous. If that his majesty would aught with us, We shall express our duty in his eye," And let him know so. Cap. I will do't, my lord. For. Go softly on. Enter HAMLET, ROSENCRANTZ, Guildenstern, &c. Ham. [Exeunt FORTINBRAS and Forces. Good sir, whose powers are these? How purpos'd, sir, Who Cap. They are of Norway, sir. Against some part of Poland. Commands them, sir? Cap. The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras. Ham. Goes it against the main of Poland, sir, Or for some frontier? Cap. Truly to speak, sir, and with no addition, We go to gain a little patch of ground, That hath in it no profit but the name. To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it; Nor will it yield to Norway, or the Pole, 5 in his eye,] i. e. in his presence. The phrase appears to have been formularly. A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee. Ham. Why, then the Polack never will defend it. Cap. Yes, 'tis already garrison'd. Ham. Two thousand souls, and twenty thousand ducats, Will not debate the question of this straw: Ros. [Exit Captain. Will't please you go, my lord? Ham. I will be with you straight. Go a little before. Exeunt Ros. and GUIL. How all occasions do inform against me, To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be S Of thinking too precisely on the event, A thought, which, quarter'd, hath but one part wis dom, And, ever, three parts coward,-I do not know Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means, Whose spirit, with divine ambition puff'd, 6 7 chief good, and market of his time, &c.] If his highest good, and that for which he sells his time, be to sleep and feed. large discourse,] Such latitude of comprehension, such power of reviewing the past, and anticipating the future. some craven scruple-] Some cowardly scruple. Makes mouths at the invisible event; When honour's at the stake. How stand I then, Go to their graves like beds; fight for a plot1 [Exit. Queen. SCENE V Elsinore. A Room in the Castle. Enter Queen and HORATIO. I will not speak with her. Hor. She is importunate; indeed, distract; Her mood will needs be pitied. Queen. What would she have? Hor. She speaks much of her father; says, she hears, 9 Rightly to be great, Is, not to stir without, &c.] But then, honour is an argument, or subject of debate, sufficiently great, and when honour is at stake, we must find cause of quarrel in a straw. 1 오 a plot.] A piece, or portion. continent,] Continent, in our author, means that which comprehends or encloses. There's tricks i'the world; and hems, and beats her heart; Spurns enviously at straws;3 speaks things in doubt, That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing, Yet the unshaped use of it doth move The hearers to collection; they aim at it," And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts; Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield them, Indeed would make one think, there might be thought, Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily." Queen. 'Twere good, she were spoken with; for she may strew Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds: Let her come in. [Exit HORATIO. To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is, Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss:7 It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. Re-enter HORATIO, with OPHELIA. Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark? Queen. How now, Ophelia? 3 Spurns enviously at straws;] Envy is much oftener put by our poet (and those of his time) for direct aversion, than for malignity conceived at the sight of another's excellence or happiness. -to collection;] i. e. to deduce consequences from such premises; or, as Mr. M. Mason observes, "endeavour to collect some meaning from them.” 5 6 - they aim at it,] To aim is to guess. Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.] i. e. though her meaning cannot be certainly collected, yet there is enough to put a mischievous interpretation to it. 7 to some great amiss:] Shakspeare is not singular in his use of this word as a substantive. Each toy is, each trifle. |