446

HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK.

will forestal their repair hither, and say, you are not fit.

Let all the battlements their ordnance fire;
The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath;
And in the cup an union shall he throw,
Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark's crown have worn; Give me the cups;
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,
The trumpet to the cannoneer without,
The cannons to the heavens, the heaven to earth,
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.
At-Now the king drinks to Hamlet.-Come, begin ;-
Ham. Come on, sir.

Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury; there is 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: Since no man, if aught he leaves, knows, what is't to leave betimes? Let be. Enter King, Queen, Laertes, Lords, Osric, and tendants, with foils, &c.

King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand
from me.

[The King puts the hand of Laertes into
that of Hamlet.

Ham. Give me your pardon, sir: I have done you

wrong;

But pardon it, as you are a gentleman.
This presence knows, and you must needs have

heard,

How I am punish'd with a sore distraction.
What I have done,

That might your nature, honour, and exception,
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes? Never, Hamlet:
If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,
And, when he's not himself, does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.
Who does it then? His madness: If't be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wrong'd;
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.
Sir, in this audience,

Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd evil

Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot my arrow c'er the house,
And hurt my brother.

Laer.

I am satisfied in nature,

Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most
To my revenge: but in my terms of honour,
I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder masters, of known honour,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,

To keep my name ungor'd: But till that time,
I do receive your offer'd love like love,
And will not wrong it.

Ham.

I embrace it freely;

And will this brother's wager frankly play.-
Give us the foils; come on.

Laer.

Come, one for me.

Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes; in mine igno

rance

Your skill shall, like a star i'the darkest night,
Stick fiery off indeed.

Laer.

You mock me, sir.

: Ham. No, by this hand.
King. Give them the foils, young Osric.-Cousin
Hamlet,

You know the wager?

Ham.

Very well, my lord;
Your grace hath laid the odds o'the weaker side.
King. I do not fear it: I have seen you both :-
But since he's better'd, we have therefore odds.
Laer. This is too heavy, let me see another.
Ham. This likes me well: these foils have all a
length?
[They prepare to play.

Osr. Ay, my good lord.
King. Set me the stoups of wine upon that
table:-

If Hamlet give the first or second hit,
Or quit in answer of the third exchange,

(1) Prevent. (2) The king and queen's presenoc.
(3) Unwounded. (4) Large jugs.
(6) Handkerchief,
5) A precious pearl.

Here's to thy health.-Give him the cup.

[Trumpets sound; and cannon shot off within,
Ham. I'll play this bout first, set it by a while.
Come,-Another hit; What say you ? [They play,
Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess.
King. Our son shall win,
Queen.
He's fat, and scant of breath.—
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows:
The queen carouses" to thy fortune, Hamlet.
Ham. Good madam,—

Gertrude, do not drink.
King.
Queen. I will, my lord ;-I pray you, pardon me
King. It is the poison'd cup; it is too late.

[Aside
Ham. I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.
Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face.
Laer. My lord, I'll hit him now.
King.

I do not think it. Lacr. And yet it is almost against my conscience. [Aside.

Ham, Come, for the third, Laertes; you do but

Osr. How is't, Laertes?

Laer. Why, as a woodcock to my own springe,

Osric;

I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.
Ham. How does the queen ?

King.
She swoons to see them bleed.
Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink,-O my dear
Hamlet!

[Dies.
The drink, the drink ;-I am poison'd!
Ham. O villany!-Ho! let the door be lock'd:
[Laertes falls
Treachery! seek it out.
Laer. It is here, Hamlet: Hamlet, thou art slain,
No medicine in the world can do thee good,
In thee there is not half an hour's life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated, and envenom'd: the foul practice

9

(8) Boy. (7) Drinks good luck to you. (9) The foil without a button, and poisoned at the point.

Hath turn'd itself on me; lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again: Thy mother's poison'd;
I can no more; the king, the king's to blame.
Ham. The point

Envenom'd too!-Then, venom, to thy work.
[Stabs the King.

Osr, & Lords. Treason! treason!
King. O, yet defend me, friends, I am but hurt.
Ham. Here, thou incestuous, murd'rous, damned
Dane,

Drink off this potion:-is the union here?
Follow my mother.
Laer.

Where should we have our thanks
Hor.

Not from his mouth,
Had it the ability of life to thank you ;
He never gave commandment for their death.
But since, so jump upon this bloody question,
You from the Polack wars, and you from England,
Are here arriv'd; give order, that these bodies
High on a stage be placed to the view;
And let me speak, to the yet unknowing world,
How these things come about: So shall you hear
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts;

[King dies. Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters;
Of deaths put on by cunning, and fore'd cause;
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall'n on the inventors' heads: all this can I
Truly deliver.

He is justly serv'd;
It is a poison temper'd' by himself.-
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee;
Nor thine on me!

[Dies.
Ham. Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.
I am dead, Horatio:-Wretched queen, adieu!-
You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time (as this fell sergeant,' death,
Is strict in his arrest,) O, I could tell you,-
But let it be:-Horatio, I am dead;
Thou liv'st; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.

Hor.

Never believe it;

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane,
Here's yet some liquor left.

Ham.

And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.

Hor. Of that I shall have also cause to speak,
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more:
But let this same be presently perform❜d,
Even while men's minds are wild; lest more mis-
chance,

On plots and errors, happen.
Fort.

Let four captains
Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;
As thou'rt a man,-For he was likely, had he been put on,

Give me the cup; let go; by heaven I'll have it.
O God!-Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me?
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,
Absent thee from felicity a while,

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story.-

[March afar off, and shot within.
What warlike noise is this?"
Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from
Poland,

To the ambassadors of England gives
This warlike volley.

Ham.

O, I die, Horatio;

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 or less,
Which have solicited,'-The rest is silence. [Dies.
Hor. Now cracks a noble heart;-Good night,
sweet prince;

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
Why does the drum come hither? [March within.

Enter Fortinbras, the English Ambassadors, and

others.

Fort. Where is this sight?
Hor.
What is it, you would see?
If aught of wo, or wonder, cease your search.
Fort. This quarry cries on havoc !-O proud
death!

What feast is toward in thine eternal cell,
That thou so many princes, at a shot,
So bloodily hast struck?

1 Amb.
The sight is dismal;
And our affairs from England come too late:
The ears are senseless, that should give us hearing,
To tell him, his commandment is fulfill'd,
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead:

(1) Mixed. (2) A sergeant is a sheriff's officer. (3) O'ercomes. (4) Incidents. (5) Incited. Heap of dead game

To have prov'd most royally: and, for his passage,
The soldier's music, and the rites of war,
Speak loudly for him.-

Take up the bodies:-Such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot.
[A dead march.
[Exeunt, bearing off the bodies; after which, a
peal of ordnance is shot off.

If the dramas of Shakspeare were to be characterised, each by the particular excellence which distinguishes it from the rest, we must allow to the tragedy of Hamlet the praise of variety. The incidents are so numerous, that the argument of the play would make a long tale. The scenes are interchangeably diversified with merriment and solemnity: with merriment that includes judicious and instructive observations; and solemnity not strained by poetical violence above the natural sentiments of man. New characters appear from time to time in continual succession, exhibiting various forms of life, and peculiar modes of conversation. The pretended madness of Hamlet causes much mirth, the mournful distraction of Ophelia fills the heart with tenderness, and every personage produces the effect intended, from the apparition that, in the first act, chills the blood with horror, to the fop in the last, that exposes affectation to just contempt.

The conduct is, perhaps, not wholly secure against objections. The action is, indeed, for the most part, in continual progression; but there are some scenes which neither forward nor retard it. Of the feigned madness of Hamlet there appears no adequate cause, for he does nothing which he might not have done with the reputation of sanity. He plays the

(7) A word of censure when more game was destroyed than was reasonable.

(8) i. e. The king's, (9) By chance.
(10) Polish,

448

madman most, when he treats Ophelia with so much easily be formed, to kill Hamlet with the dagger The poet is accused of having shown little rerudeness, which seems to be useless and wanton and Laertes with the bowl. cruelty. Hamlet is, through the whole piece, rather an in-gard to poetical justice, and may be charged with strument than an agent. After he has, by the strat-equal neglect of poetical probability. The appariagem of the play, convicted the king, he makes no tion left the regions of the dead to little purpose: attempt to punish him; and his death is at last ef-the revenge which he demands is not obtained, but 'fected by an incident which Hamlet had no part in by the death of him that was required to take it; and the gratification, which would arise from the producing.

The catastrophe is not very happily produced; destruction of a usurper and a murderer, is abated JOHNSON. the exchange of weapons is rather an expedient of by the untimely death of Ophelia, the young, the necessity, than a stroke of art. A scheme might beautiful, the harmless, and the pious.