13.4: Hamlet Act V

⌜ACT 5⌝

⌜Scene 1⌝

Enter ⌜Gravedigger and Another.⌝

⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Is she to be buried in Christian burial,
when she willfully seeks her own salvation?
OTHER I tell thee she is. Therefore make her grave
straight. The crowner hath sat on her and finds it
5 Christian burial.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ How can that be, unless she drowned
herself in her own defense?
OTHER Why, ’tis found so.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ It must be ⟨se offendendo;⟩ it cannot be
10 else. For here lies the point: if I drown myself
wittingly, it argues an act, and an act hath three
branches—it is to act, to do, to perform. ⟨Argal,⟩ she
drowned herself wittingly.
OTHER Nay, but hear you, goodman delver—
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ 15Give me leave. Here lies the water;
good. Here stands the man; good. If the man go to
this water and drown himself, it is (will he, nill he)
he goes; mark you that. But if the water come to him
and drown him, he drowns not himself. Argal, he
20 that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his
own life.
OTHER But is this law?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Ay, marry, is ’t—crowner’s ’quest law.

OTHER Will you ha’ the truth on ’t? If this had not been
25 a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o’
Christian burial.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Why, there thou sayst. And the more
pity that great folk should have count’nance in this
world to drown or hang themselves more than
30 their even-Christian. Come, my spade. There is no
ancient gentlemen but gard’ners, ditchers, and
grave-makers. They hold up Adam’s profession.
OTHER Was he a gentleman?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ He was the first that ever bore arms.
⟨OTHER 35Why, he had none.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ What, art a heathen? How dost thou
understand the scripture? The scripture says Adam
digged. Could he dig without arms?⟩ I’ll put another
question to thee. If thou answerest me not to the
40 purpose, confess thyself—
OTHER Go to!
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ What is he that builds stronger than
either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?
OTHER The gallows-maker; for that ⟨frame⟩ outlives a
45 thousand tenants.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ I like thy wit well, in good faith. The
gallows does well. But how does it well? It does
well to those that do ill. Now, thou dost ill to say the
gallows is built stronger than the church. Argal, the
50 gallows may do well to thee. To ’t again, come.
OTHER “Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright,
or a carpenter?”
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Ay, tell me that, and unyoke.
OTHER Marry, now I can tell.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ 55To ’t.
OTHER Mass, I cannot tell.

⟨Enter Hamlet and Horatio afar off.⟩

⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Cudgel thy brains no more about it,

for your dull ass will not mend his pace with
beating. And, when you are asked this question
60 next, say “a grave-maker.” The houses he makes
lasts till doomsday. Go, get thee in, and fetch me a
stoup of liquor.
⌜The Other Man exits
and the Gravedigger digs and sings.⌝
In youth when I did love, did love,
Methought it was very sweet
65 To contract—O—the time for—a—my behove,
O, methought there—a—was nothing—a—meet.
HAMLET Has this fellow no feeling of his business? He
sings in grave-making.
HORATIO Custom hath made it in him a property of
70 easiness.
HAMLET ’Tis e’en so. The hand of little employment
hath the daintier sense.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ ⟨sings⟩
But age with his stealing steps
Hath clawed me in his clutch,
75 And hath shipped me into the land,
As if I had never been such.
⌜He digs up a skull.⌝
HAMLET That skull had a tongue in it and could sing
once. How the knave jowls it to the ground as if
’twere Cain’s jawbone, that did the first murder!
80 This might be the pate of a politician which this ass
now o’erreaches, one that would circumvent God,
might it not?
HORATIO It might, my lord.
HAMLET Or of a courtier, which could say “Good
85 morrow, sweet lord! How dost thou, sweet lord?”
This might be my Lord Such-a-one that praised my
Lord Such-a-one’s horse when he went to beg it,
might it not?
HORATIO Ay, my lord.

HAMLET 90Why, e’en so. And now my Lady Worm’s,
chapless and knocked about the ⟨mazard⟩ with a
sexton’s spade. Here’s fine revolution, an we had
the trick to see ’t. Did these bones cost no more the
breeding but to play at loggets with them? Mine
95 ache to think on ’t.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ ⟨sings⟩
A pickax and a spade, a spade,
For and a shrouding sheet,
O, a pit of clay for to be made
For such a guest is meet.
⌜He digs up more skulls.⌝
HAMLET 100There’s another. Why may not that be the
skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his
quillities, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? Why
does he suffer this mad knave now to knock him
about the sconce with a dirty shovel and will not tell
105 him of his action of battery? Hum, this fellow might
be in ’s time a great buyer of land, with his statutes,
his recognizances, his fines, his double vouchers,
his recoveries. ⟨Is this the fine of his fines and the
recovery of his recoveries,⟩ to have his fine pate full
110 of fine dirt? Will ⟨his⟩ vouchers vouch him no more
of his purchases, and ⟨double ones too,⟩ than the
length and breadth of a pair of indentures? The very
conveyances of his lands will scarcely lie in this box,
and must th’ inheritor himself have no more, ha?
HORATIO 115Not a jot more, my lord.
HAMLET Is not parchment made of sheepskins?
HORATIO Ay, my lord, and of calves’ skins too.
HAMLET They are sheep and calves which seek out
assurance in that. I will speak to this fellow.—
120 Whose grave’s this, sirrah?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Mine, sir.
⌜Sings.⌝ ⟨O,⟩ a pit of clay for to be made
⟨For such a guest is meet.⟩

HAMLET I think it be thine indeed, for thou liest in ’t.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ 125You lie out on ’t, sir, and therefore ’tis
not yours. For my part, I do not lie in ’t, yet it is
mine.
HAMLET Thou dost lie in ’t, to be in ’t and say it is thine.
’Tis for the dead, not for the quick; therefore thou
130 liest.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ ’Tis a quick lie, sir; ’twill away again
from me to you.
HAMLET What man dost thou dig it for?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ For no man, sir.
HAMLET 135What woman then?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ For none, neither.
HAMLET Who is to be buried in ’t?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ One that was a woman, sir, but, rest
her soul, she’s dead.
HAMLET 140How absolute the knave is! We must speak by
the card, or equivocation will undo us. By the
Lord, Horatio, this three years I have took note of
it: the age is grown so picked that the toe of the
peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he
145 galls his kibe.—How long hast thou been
grave-maker?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Of ⟨all⟩ the days i’ th’ year, I came to ’t
that day that our last King Hamlet overcame
Fortinbras.
HAMLET 150How long is that since?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Cannot you tell that? Every fool can
tell that. It was that very day that young Hamlet
was born—he that is mad, and sent into England.
HAMLET Ay, marry, why was he sent into England?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ 155Why, because he was mad. He shall
recover his wits there. Or if he do not, ’tis no great
matter there.
HAMLET Why?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ ’Twill not be seen in him there. There
160 the men are as mad as he.

HAMLET How came he mad?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Very strangely, they say.
HAMLET How “strangely”?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Faith, e’en with losing his wits.
HAMLET 165Upon what ground?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Why, here in Denmark. I have been
sexton here, man and boy, thirty years.
HAMLET How long will a man lie i’ th’ earth ere he rot?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ Faith, if he be not rotten before he die
170 (as we have many pocky corses ⟨nowadays⟩ that will
scarce hold the laying in), he will last you some
eight year or nine year. A tanner will last you nine
year.
HAMLET Why he more than another?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ 175Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his
trade that he will keep out water a great while; and
your water is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead
body. Here’s a skull now hath lien you i’ th’ earth
three-and-twenty years.
HAMLET 180Whose was it?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ A whoreson mad fellow’s it was.
Whose do you think it was?
HAMLET Nay, I know not.
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ A pestilence on him for a mad rogue!
185 He poured a flagon of Rhenish on my head once.
This same skull, sir, was, sir, Yorick’s skull, the
King’s jester.
HAMLET This?
⌜GRAVEDIGGER⌝ E’en that.
HAMLET, ⌜taking the skull⌝ 190⟨Let me see.⟩ Alas, poor
Yorick! I knew him, Horatio—a fellow of infinite
jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his
back a thousand times, and now how abhorred in
my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it. Here hung
195 those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft.
Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your

songs? your flashes of merriment that were wont to
set the table on a roar? Not one now to mock your
own grinning? Quite chapfallen? Now get you to my
200 lady’s ⟨chamber,⟩ and tell her, let her paint an inch
thick, to this favor she must come. Make her laugh
at that.—Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing.
HORATIO What’s that, my lord?
HAMLET Dost thou think Alexander looked o’ this
205 fashion i’ th’ earth?
HORATIO E’en so.
HAMLET And smelt so? Pah!⌜He puts the skull down.⌝
HORATIO E’en so, my lord.
HAMLET To what base uses we may return, Horatio!
210 Why may not imagination trace the noble dust of
Alexander till he find it stopping a bunghole?
HORATIO ’Twere to consider too curiously to consider
so.
HAMLET No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither,
215 with modesty enough and likelihood to lead it, ⟨as
thus:⟩ Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander
returneth to dust; the dust is earth; of earth
we make loam; and why of that loam whereto he
was converted might they not stop a beer barrel?
220 Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away.
O, that that earth which kept the world in awe
Should patch a wall t’ expel the ⟨winter’s⟩ flaw!

Enter King, Queen, Laertes, ⟨Lords attendant,⟩ and the
corpse ⌜of Ophelia, with a Doctor of Divinity.⌝

But soft, but soft awhile! Here comes the King,
225 The Queen, the courtiers. Who is this they follow?
And with such maimèd rites? This doth betoken
The corse they follow did with desp’rate hand
Fordo its own life. ’Twas of some estate.
Couch we awhile and mark.⌜They step aside.⌝

LAERTES 230What ceremony else?
HAMLET That is Laertes, a very noble youth. Mark.
LAERTES What ceremony else?
DOCTOR
Her obsequies have been as far enlarged
As we have warranty. Her death was doubtful,
235 And, but that great command o’ersways the order,
She should in ground unsanctified been lodged
Till the last trumpet. For charitable prayers
⟨Shards,⟩ flints, and pebbles should be thrown on
her.
240 Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants,
Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home
Of bell and burial.
LAERTES
Must there no more be done?
DOCTOR No more be done.
245 We should profane the service of the dead
To sing a requiem and such rest to her
As to peace-parted souls.
LAERTES Lay her i’ th’ earth,
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
250 May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest,
A minist’ring angel shall my sister be
When thou liest howling.
HAMLET, ⌜to Horatio⌝ What, the fair Ophelia?
QUEEN Sweets to the sweet, farewell!
⌜She scatters flowers.⌝
255 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.
LAERTES O, treble woe
Fall ten times ⟨treble⟩ on that cursèd head
260 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.
⟨Leaps in the grave.⟩

Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead,
Till of this flat a mountain you have made
265 T’ o’ertop old Pelion or the skyish head
Of blue Olympus.
HAMLET, ⌜advancing⌝
What is he whose grief
Bears such an emphasis, whose phrase of sorrow
Conjures the wand’ring stars and makes them stand
270 Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I,
Hamlet the Dane.
LAERTES, ⌜coming out of the grave⌝
The devil take thy soul!
HAMLET Thou pray’st not well.⌜They grapple.⌝
I prithee take thy fingers from my throat,
275 For though I am not splenitive ⟨and⟩ rash,
Yet have I in me something dangerous,
Which let thy wisdom fear. Hold off thy hand.
KING Pluck them asunder.
QUEEN Hamlet! Hamlet!
ALL 280Gentlemen!
HORATIO Good my lord, be quiet.
⌜Hamlet and Laertes are separated.⌝
HAMLET
Why, I will fight with him upon this theme
Until my eyelids will no longer wag!
QUEEN O my son, what theme?
HAMLET
285 I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers
Could not with all their quantity of love
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?
KING O, he is mad, Laertes!
QUEEN For love of God, forbear him.
HAMLET 290’Swounds, show me what thou ’t do.
Woo’t weep, woo’t fight, woo’t fast, woo’t tear
thyself,
Woo’t drink up eisel, eat a crocodile?

I’ll do ’t. Dost ⟨thou⟩ come here to whine?
295 To outface me with leaping in her grave?
Be buried quick with her, and so will I.
And if thou prate of mountains, let them throw
Millions of acres on us, till our ground,
Singeing his pate against the burning zone,
300 Make Ossa like a wart. Nay, an thou ’lt mouth,
I’ll rant as well as thou.
QUEEN This is mere madness;
And ⟨thus⟩ awhile the fit will work on him.
Anon, as patient as the female dove
305 When that her golden couplets are disclosed,
His silence will sit drooping.
HAMLET Hear you, sir,
What is the reason that you use me thus?
I loved you ever. But it is no matter.
310 Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew, and dog will have his day.
Hamlet exits.
KING
I pray thee, good Horatio, wait upon him.
Horatio exits.
⌜To Laertes.⌝ Strengthen your patience in our last
night’s speech.
315 We’ll put the matter to the present push.—
Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son.—
This grave shall have a living monument.
An hour of quiet thereby shall we see.
Till then in patience our proceeding be.
They exit.

⌜Scene 2⌝

Enter Hamlet and Horatio.

HAMLET
So much for this, sir. Now shall you see the other.
You do remember all the circumstance?
HORATIO Remember it, my lord!
HAMLET
Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting
5 That would not let me sleep. ⟨Methought⟩ I lay
Worse than the mutines in the ⟨bilboes.⟩ Rashly—
And praised be rashness for it; let us know,
Our indiscretion sometime serves us well
When our deep plots do pall; and that should learn
10 us
There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will—
HORATIO That is most
certain.
HAMLET 15Up from my cabin,
My sea-gown scarfed about me, in the dark
Groped I to find out them; had my desire,
Fingered their packet, and in fine withdrew
To mine own room again, making so bold
20 (My fears forgetting manners) to unfold
Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio,
A royal knavery—an exact command,
Larded with many several sorts of reasons
Importing Denmark’s health and England’s too,
25 With—ho!—such bugs and goblins in my life,
That on the supervise, no leisure bated,
No, not to stay the grinding of the ax,
My head should be struck off.
HORATIO Is ’t possible?
HAMLET
30 Here’s the commission. Read it at more leisure.
⌜Handing him a paper.⌝

But wilt thou hear now how I did proceed?
HORATIO I beseech you.
HAMLET
Being thus benetted round with ⌜villainies,⌝
Or I could make a prologue to my brains,
35 They had begun the play. I sat me down,
Devised a new commission, wrote it fair—
I once did hold it, as our statists do,
A baseness to write fair, and labored much
How to forget that learning; but, sir, now
40 It did me yeoman’s service. Wilt thou know
Th’ effect of what I wrote?
HORATIO Ay, good my lord.
HAMLET
An earnest conjuration from the King,
As England was his faithful tributary,
45 As love between them like the palm might flourish,
As peace should still her wheaten garland wear
And stand a comma ’tween their amities,
And many suchlike ⌜ases⌝ of great charge,
That, on the view and knowing of these contents,
50 Without debatement further, more or less,
He should those bearers put to sudden death,
Not shriving time allowed.
HORATIO How was this sealed?
HAMLET
Why, even in that was heaven ordinant.
55 I had my father’s signet in my purse,
Which was the model of that Danish seal;
Folded the writ up in the form of th’ other,
⟨Subscribed⟩ it, gave ’t th’ impression, placed it
safely,
60 The changeling never known. Now, the next day
Was our sea-fight; and what to this was sequent
Thou knowest already.
HORATIO
So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to ’t.

HAMLET
⟨Why, man, they did make love to this employment.⟩
65 They are not near my conscience. Their defeat
Does by their own insinuation grow.
’Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes
Between the pass and fell incensèd points
Of mighty opposites.
HORATIO 70Why, what a king is this!
HAMLET
Does it not, think thee, stand me now upon—
He that hath killed my king and whored my mother,
Popped in between th’ election and my hopes,
Thrown out his angle for my proper life,
75 And with such cozenage—is ’t not perfect
conscience
⟨To quit him with this arm? And is ’t not to be
damned
To let this canker of our nature come
80 In further evil?
HORATIO
It must be shortly known to him from England
What is the issue of the business there.
HAMLET
It will be short. The interim’s mine,
And a man’s life’s no more than to say “one.”
85 But I am very sorry, good Horatio,
That to Laertes I forgot myself,
For by the image of my cause I see
The portraiture of his. I’ll ⌜court⌝ his favors.
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me
90 Into a tow’ring passion.
HORATIO Peace, who comes here?⟩

Enter ⟨Osric,⟩ a courtier.

OSRIC Your Lordship is right welcome back to
Denmark.

HAMLET I ⟨humbly⟩ thank you, sir. ⌜Aside to Horatio.⌝
95 Dost know this waterfly?
HORATIO, ⌜aside to Hamlet⌝ No, my good lord.
HAMLET, ⌜aside to Horatio⌝ Thy state is the more gracious,
for ’tis a vice to know him. He hath much
land, and fertile. Let a beast be lord of beasts and his
100 crib shall stand at the king’s mess. ’Tis a chough,
but, as I say, spacious in the possession of dirt.
OSRIC Sweet lord, if your Lordship were at leisure, I
should impart a thing to you from his Majesty.
HAMLET I will receive it, sir, with all diligence of
105 spirit. ⟨Put⟩ your bonnet to his right use: ’tis for the
head.
OSRIC I thank your Lordship; it is very hot.
HAMLET No, believe me, ’tis very cold; the wind is
northerly.
OSRIC 110It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed.
HAMLET But yet methinks it is very ⟨sultry⟩ and hot ⟨for⟩
my complexion.
OSRIC Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry, as
’twere—I cannot tell how. My lord, his Majesty
115 bade me signify to you that he has laid a great wager
on your head. Sir, this is the matter—
HAMLET I beseech you, remember. ⌜He motions to
Osric to put on his hat.⌝
OSRIC Nay, good my lord, for my ease, in good faith.
[Sir, here is newly come to court Laertes—believe
120 me, an absolute ⌜gentleman,⌝ full of most excellent
differences, of very soft society and great showing.
Indeed, to speak ⌜feelingly⌝ of him, he is the card or
calendar of gentry, for you shall find in him the
continent of what part a gentleman would see.
HAMLET 125Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in
you, though I know to divide him inventorially
would dozy th’ arithmetic of memory, and yet but
yaw neither, in respect of his quick sail. But, in the

verity of extolment, I take him to be a soul of great
130 article, and his infusion of such dearth and rareness
as, to make true diction of him, his semblable is his
mirror, and who else would trace him, his umbrage,
nothing more.
OSRIC Your Lordship speaks most infallibly of him.
HAMLET 135The concernancy, sir? Why do we wrap the
gentleman in our more rawer breath?
OSRIC Sir?
HORATIO Is ’t not possible to understand in another
tongue? You will to ’t, sir, really.
HAMLET, ⌜to Osric⌝ 140What imports the nomination of
this gentleman?
OSRIC Of Laertes?
HORATIO His purse is empty already; all ’s golden words
are spent.
HAMLET 145Of him, sir.
OSRIC I know you are not ignorant—
HAMLET I would you did, sir. Yet, in faith, if you did, it
would not much approve me. Well, sir?]
OSRIC You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes
150 is—
[HAMLET I dare not confess that, lest I should compare
with him in excellence. But to know a man well
were to know himself.
OSRIC I mean, sir, for ⌜his⌝ weapon. But in the imputation
155 laid on him by them, in his meed he’s
unfellowed.]
HAMLET What’s his weapon?
OSRIC Rapier and dagger.
HAMLET That’s two of his weapons. But, well—
OSRIC 160The King, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary
horses, against the which he has impawned, as I
take it, six French rapiers and poniards, with their
assigns, as girdle, ⟨hangers,⟩ and so. Three of the
carriages, in faith, are very dear to fancy, very

165 responsive to the hilts, most delicate carriages, and
of very liberal conceit.
HAMLET What call you the “carriages”?
[HORATIO I knew you must be edified by the margent
ere you had done.]
OSRIC 170The ⟨carriages,⟩ sir, are the hangers.
HAMLET The phrase would be more germane to the
matter if we could carry a cannon by our sides. I
would it ⟨might⟩ be “hangers” till then. But on. Six
Barbary horses against six French swords, their
175 assigns, and three liberal-conceited carriages—
that’s the French bet against the Danish. Why is this
all ⌜“impawned,”⌝ ⟨as⟩ you call it?
OSRIC The King, sir, hath laid, sir, that in a dozen
passes between yourself and him, he shall not
180 exceed you three hits. He hath laid on twelve for
nine, and it would come to immediate trial if your
Lordship would vouchsafe the answer.
HAMLET How if I answer no?
OSRIC I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person
185 in trial.
HAMLET Sir, I will walk here in the hall. If it please his
Majesty, it is the breathing time of day with me. Let
the foils be brought, the gentleman willing, and the
King hold his purpose, I will win for him, an I can.
190 If not, I will gain nothing but my shame and the odd
hits.
OSRIC Shall I deliver you ⟨e’en⟩ so?
HAMLET To this effect, sir, after what flourish your
nature will.
OSRIC 195I commend my duty to your Lordship.
HAMLET Yours. ⌜Osric exits.⌝ ⟨He⟩ does well to commend
it himself. There are no tongues else for ’s
turn.
HORATIO This lapwing runs away with the shell on his
200 head.

HAMLET He did ⟨comply,⟩ sir, with his dug before he
sucked it. Thus has he (and many more of the same
breed that I know the drossy age dotes on) only got
the tune of the time, and, out of an habit of
205 encounter, a kind of ⟨yeasty⟩ collection, which carries
them through and through the most ⌜fanned⌝
and ⟨winnowed⟩ opinions; and do but blow them to
their trial, the bubbles are out.

[Enter a Lord.

LORD My lord, his Majesty commended him to you by
210 young Osric, who brings back to him that you
attend him in the hall. He sends to know if your
pleasure hold to play with Laertes, or that you will
take longer time.
HAMLET I am constant to my purposes. They follow
215 the King’s pleasure. If his fitness speaks, mine is
ready now or whensoever, provided I be so able as
now.
LORD The King and Queen and all are coming down.
HAMLET In happy time.
LORD 220The Queen desires you to use some gentle
entertainment to Laertes before you fall to play.
HAMLET She well instructs me.⌜Lord exits.⌝]
HORATIO You will lose, my lord.
HAMLET I do not think so. Since he went into France, I
225 have been in continual practice. I shall win at the
odds; ⟨but⟩ thou wouldst not think how ill all’s here
about my heart. But it is no matter.
HORATIO Nay, good my lord—
HAMLET It is but foolery, but it is such a kind of
230 ⟨gaingiving⟩ as would perhaps trouble a woman.
HORATIO If your mind dislike anything, obey it. I will
forestall their repair hither and say you are not fit.
HAMLET Not a whit. We defy augury. There is ⟨a⟩
special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be
235 ⟨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 of aught he leaves
knows, what is ’t to leave betimes? Let be.

A table prepared. ⟨Enter⟩ Trumpets, Drums, and Officers
with cushions, King, Queen, ⌜Osric,⌝ and all the state,
foils, daggers, ⟨flagons of wine,⟩ and Laertes.

KING
Come, Hamlet, come and take this hand from me.
⌜He puts Laertes’ hand into Hamlet’s.⌝
HAMLET, ⌜to Laertes⌝
240 Give me your pardon, sir. I have done you wrong;
But pardon ’t as you are a gentleman. This presence
knows,
And you must needs have heard, how I am punished
With a sore distraction. What I have done
245 That might your nature, honor, and exception
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was ’t Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet.
If Hamlet from himself be ta’en away,
And when he’s not himself does wrong Laertes,
250 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 wronged;
His madness is poor Hamlet’s enemy.
⟨Sir, in this audience⟩
255 Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts
That I have shot my arrow o’er the house
And hurt my brother.
LAERTES I am satisfied in nature,
260 Whose motive in this case should stir me most
To my revenge; but in my terms of honor
I stand aloof and will no reconcilement
Till by some elder masters of known honor
I have a voice and precedent of peace
265 To ⟨keep⟩ my name ungored. But ⟨till⟩ that time

I do receive your offered love like love
And will not wrong it.
HAMLET I embrace it freely
And will this brothers’ wager frankly play.—
270 Give us the foils. ⟨Come on.⟩
LAERTES Come, one for me.
HAMLET
I’ll be your foil, Laertes; in mine ignorance
Your skill shall, like a star i’ th’ darkest night,
Stick fiery off indeed.
LAERTES 275 You mock me, sir.
HAMLET No, by this hand.
KING
Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet,
You know the wager?
HAMLET Very well, my lord.
280 Your Grace has laid the odds o’ th’ weaker side.
KING
I do not fear it; I have seen you both.
But, since he is better, we have therefore odds.
LAERTES
This is too heavy. Let me see another.
HAMLET
This likes me well. These foils have all a length?
OSRIC 285Ay, my good lord.
⟨Prepare to play.⟩
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,
Let all the battlements their ordnance fire.
290 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,
295 The trumpet to the cannoneer without,
The cannons to the heavens, the heaven to earth,
“Now the King drinks to Hamlet.” Come, begin.
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.
Trumpets the while.
HAMLET Come on, sir.
LAERTES 300Come, my lord.⟨They play.⟩
HAMLET One.
LAERTES No.
HAMLET Judgment!
OSRIC A hit, a very palpable hit.
LAERTES 305Well, again.
KING
Stay, give me drink.—Hamlet, this pearl is thine.
Here’s to thy health.
⌜He drinks and then drops the pearl in the cup.⌝
Drum, trumpets, and shot.
Give him the cup.
HAMLET
I’ll play this bout first. Set it by awhile.
310 Come. ⌜They play.⌝ Another hit. What say you?
LAERTES
⟨A touch, a touch.⟩ I do confess ’t.
KING
Our son shall win.
QUEEN He’s fat and scant of breath.—
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin; rub thy brows.
315 The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
⌜She lifts the cup.⌝
HAMLET Good madam.
KING Gertrude, do not drink.
QUEEN
I will, my lord; I pray you pardon me.⌜She drinks.⌝
KING, ⌜aside⌝
It is the poisoned cup. It is too late.

HAMLET
320 I dare not drink yet, madam—by and by.
QUEEN Come, let me wipe thy face.
LAERTES, ⌜to Claudius⌝
My lord, I’ll hit him now.
KING I do not think ’t.
LAERTES, ⌜aside⌝
And yet it is almost against my conscience.
HAMLET
325 Come, for the third, Laertes. You do but dally.
I pray you pass with your best violence.
I am ⟨afeard⟩ you make a wanton of me.
LAERTES Say you so? Come on.⟨Play.⟩
OSRIC Nothing neither way.
LAERTES 330Have at you now!
⌜Laertes wounds Hamlet. Then ⟨in scuffling they change
rapiers,⟩ and Hamlet wounds Laertes.⌝
KING Part them. They are incensed.
HAMLET Nay, come again.
⌜The Queen falls.⌝
OSRIC Look to the Queen there, ho!
HORATIO
They bleed on both sides.—How is it, my lord?
OSRIC 335How is ’t, Laertes?
LAERTES
Why as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric.
⌜He falls.⌝
I am justly killed with mine own treachery.
HAMLET
How does the Queen?
KING She swoons to see them bleed.
QUEEN
340 No, no, the drink, the drink! O, my dear Hamlet!
The drink, the drink! I am poisoned.⌜She dies.⌝
HAMLET
O villainy! Ho! Let the door be locked.⌜Osric exits.⌝
Treachery! Seek it out.

LAERTES
It is here, Hamlet. ⟨Hamlet,⟩ thou art slain.
345 No med’cine 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 envenomed. The foul practice
Hath turned itself on me. Lo, here I lie,
350 Never to rise again. Thy mother’s poisoned.
I can no more. The King, the King’s to blame.
HAMLET
The point envenomed too! Then, venom, to thy
work.⟨Hurts the King.⟩
ALL Treason, treason!
KING
355 O, yet defend me, friends! I am but hurt.
HAMLET
Here, thou incestuous, ⟨murd’rous,⟩ damnèd Dane,
Drink off this potion. Is ⟨thy union⟩ here?
⌜Forcing him to drink the poison.⌝
Follow my mother.⟨King dies.⟩
LAERTES He is justly served.
360 It is a poison tempered by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet.
Mine and my father’s death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.⟨Dies.⟩
HAMLET
Heaven make thee free of it. I follow thee.—
365 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—
370 But let it be.—Horatio, I am dead.
Thou livest; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.
HORATIO Never believe it.

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.
375 Here’s yet some liquor left.⌜He picks up the cup.⌝
HAMLET As thou ’rt a man,
Give me the cup. Let go! By heaven, I’ll ha ’t.
O God, Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall I leave behind
380 me!
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.
A march afar off ⟨and ⌜shot⌝ within.⟩
385 What warlike noise is this?

Enter Osric.

OSRIC
Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland,
To th’ ambassadors of England gives
This warlike volley.
HAMLET O, I die, Horatio!
390 The potent poison quite o’ercrows my spirit.
I cannot live to hear the news from England.
But I do prophesy th’ election lights
On Fortinbras; he has my dying voice.
So tell him, with th’ occurrents, more and less,
395 Which have solicited—the rest is silence.
⟨O, O, O, O!⟩⟨Dies.⟩
HORATIO
Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.
⌜March within.⌝
Why does the drum come hither?

Enter Fortinbras with the ⌜English⌝ Ambassadors ⟨with
Drum, Colors, and Attendants.⟩

FORTINBRAS 400Where is this sight?

HORATIO What is it you would see?
If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search.
FORTINBRAS
This quarry cries on havoc. O proud Death,
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell
405 That thou so many princes at a shot
So bloodily hast struck?
AMBASSADOR The sight is dismal,
And our affairs from England come too late.
The ears are senseless that should give us hearing
410 To tell him his commandment is fulfilled,
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
Where should we have our thanks?
HORATIO Not from his
mouth,
415 Had it th’ 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 arrived, give order that these bodies
420 High on a stage be placed to the view,
And let me speak to ⟨th’⟩ yet unknowing world
How these things came about. So shall you hear
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters,
425 Of deaths put on by cunning and ⟨forced⟩ cause,
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall’n on th’ inventors’ heads. All this can I
Truly deliver.
FORTINBRAS Let us haste to hear it
430 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.
HORATIO
Of that I shall have also cause to speak,

435 And from his mouth whose voice will draw ⟨on⟩
more.
But let this same be presently performed
Even while men’s minds are wild, lest more
mischance
440 On plots and errors happen.
FORTINBRAS Let four captains
Bear Hamlet like a soldier to the stage,
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have proved most royal; and for his passage,
445 The soldier’s music and the rite 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.
They exit, ⟨marching, after the which, a peal of
ordnance are shot off.⟩