The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.

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
The will of my most seeming virtuous queen.
O, Hamlet, what a falling-off was there3!
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
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,
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 mine orchard,
My custom always in the afternoon 5,
Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenon in a phial,
And in the porches of mine ears did pour
The leperous distilment; whose effect
Holds such an enmity with blood of man,
That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body;

2 WITH traitorous gifts,] The folio reads corruptly, as the sense and the quartos show," hath traitorous gifts."

3 what a falling-off was there!] The earlier quartos omit "a," which is found in the folio, and in the quarto, 1637.

Will SATE itself-] Even the errors of the quarto, 1603, are sometimes of importance. The quarto, 1604, and others, read, "Will sort itself," and the folio, 1623, "Will sate itself," while the quarto, 1603, has fate for "sate ;" the error, as usual, having arisen from the printer mistaking a long s for an f.

5 My custom always IN the afternoon,] So the folio, supported by the quarto, 1603. The later quartos read of for "in."

And with a sudden vigour it doth posset,
And curd, like eager droppings' into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine;
And a most instant tetter bark'd about 8,
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 despatch'd':
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"!
If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
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.

6

- it doth POSSET] The word is not found in the quarto, 1603: the later quartos have possess: “posset" is the reading of the folio.

1

like EAGER droppings-] In the beginning of Sc. 4 we have had "eager” used in a somewhat similar sense : "it is a nipping and an eager air." In this place in the folio it is spelt aygre, according to its French etymology. In his "Letter from Kenilworth," 1575, Laneham tells us that a fool, who was put out of countenance, became "very wayward, eager, and sour.”

* bark'd about,] Here the quarto, 1603, comes again to our aid: it has “bark'd,” which is the reading of all the other quartos, and no doubt the right word, though in the folio it is misprinted bak'd, for which some editors contend. 9 - at once DESPATCH'D:] The word deprived, in the quarto, 1603, seems on some accounts preferable, but it is supported by no other authority.

Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd ;] "Unhousel'd" is without having received the sacrament: "disappointed" is unappointed or unprepared; and "unanel'd" is unoiled, without extreme unction. In the quarto, 1604, (the earliest that contains the word) it is spelt unanueld.

2 most horrible !] Johnson recommended that this line should be transferred to Hamlet, and Garrick so repeated it; but that it was not so intended by the poet, is proved by every old copy, including the quarto, 1603. One reason stated by Johnson for assigning it to the hero was, that the speech of the Ghost was too long uninterrupted for the practice of the stage: according to the earliest copy of the play, Hamlet here interposed the interjection of “O God !" but it is found in no other edition.

VOL. VII.

Q

The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,

And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:

Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me3.

[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?
Ay, thou poor ghost, while 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,
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!

O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain!
My tables,-meet it is, I set it down3,

That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain;
At least, I am sure, it may be so in Denmark :

[Writing. So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word ; It is, "Adieu, adieu! remember me."

I have sworn't.

Hor. [Within.] My lord! my lord!
Mar. [Within.] Lord Hamlet!

Hor. [Within.]

Heaven secure him!

3 Adieu, Adieu! Hamlet, remember me.] This is the line in the folio: it differs from that in the quartos by having "Hamlet," instead of adieu repeated a third time. It is so far supported by the quarto, 1603, that we find "Hamlet" in the line there, in addition to "adieu, adieu, adieu !”

4 - bear me STIFFLY up!] The quarto, 1603, has not the passage: the other quartos read corruptly, " Bear me swiftly up."

5 My tables,-meet it is, I set it down,] The folio needlessly repeats "My tables," and just above it inserts "yes" twice, in both cases to the injury of the metre, as it stands in the quartos.

Mar. [Within.] So be it!

Hor. [Within.] Illo, ho, ho, my lord!
Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come".

Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS.

Mar. How is't, my noble lord?

Ham. How say you, then; would heart of man once

think it ?

But you'll be secret.

Hor. Mar.

Ay, by heaven, my lord.

Ham. There's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Den

mark,

But he's an arrant knave.

Hor. There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the

grave

To tell us this.

Ham.

Why, right; you are i' 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,

Such as it is; and, for mine own poor part,

Look you', I'll go pray.

6

Hor. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.

come, bird, come.] An exclamation used by falconers. In the quartos it stands "boy, come and come." There also the short speeches are somewhat differently distributed, but we have followed the folio, where the arrangement seems preferable.

7 Look you,] These words are only in the folio impressions.

but wild and WHIRLING words,] The folio has hurling: we adopt whirl

Ham. I am sorry they offend you, heartily; 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, O'er-master '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 to

Ham. Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.

Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Ha, ha, boy! say'st thou so? art thou there,

true-penny"?

Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage,

Consent to swear.

Hor.

Propose the oath, my lord.

Ham. Never to speak of this that you have seen, Swear by my sword.

Ghost. [Beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Hic et ubique? then, we'll shift our ground.—

ing" not merely because it is the reading of the quartos, 1604, &c., but because it is found also in the 4to. 1603.

9-art thou there, TRUE-PENNY?] "True-penny" was used by other authors besides Shakespeare, by Nash, for instance, in his "Almond for a Parrot." It is (as I learn from Mr. Pryme, Mr. Kennedy of Sheffield, and other authorities) a mining term, and signifies a particular indication in the soil of the direction in which ore is to be found. Hence Hamlet may with propriety address the Ghost under ground by that name.