Hamlet: Act 2, Scene 1
Enter old POLONIUS with his
man [REYNALDO].
POLONIUS
1
Give him this money and these notes, Reynaldo.
REYNALDO
2
I will, my lord.
POLONIUS
3. marvel's: marvellously.
3
You shall do marvel's wisely, good Reynaldo,
4-5. make inquire / Of his behavior: make inquiries about his behavior.
4
Before you visit him, to make inquire
5
Of his behavior.
REYNALDO
5
My lord, I did intend it.
POLONIUS
6
Marry, well said; very well said. Look you, sir,
7. Inquire me first: first of all, for me, inquire. Danskers: Danes. 8-9. And . . . expense: i.e., and everything about them. ...more 9-12. and finding . . . touch it: i.e., and by findingby this roundabout method and drift of conversationthat they do know my son, you will come much closer [to the truth about him] than your direct questions would bring out. 13. Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him: i.e., pretend that you know him only in a distant way.
7
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris;
8
And how, and who, what means, and where they keep,
9
What company, at what expense; and finding
10
By this encompassment and drift of question
11
That they do know my son, come you more nearer
12
Than your particular demands will touch it:
13
Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him;
14
As thus, "I know his father and his friends,
15. Do you mark this, Reynaldo?: do you understand what I have just said, Reynaldo?
15
And in part him." Do you mark this, Reynaldo?
REYNALDO
16
Ay, very well, my lord.
POLONIUS
17
"And in part himbut," you may say "not well.
18
But, if't be he I mean, he's very wild;
19. put on him: impute to him.
19
Addicted so and so," and there put on him
20. forgeries: invented charges.
20
What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank
21
As may dishonor him; take heed of that;
22. wanton: sportive, careless.
22
But, sir, such wanton, wild and usual slips
23
As are companions noted and most known
24
To youth and liberty.
REYNALDO
24. gaming: gambling.
24
As gaming, my lord.
POLONIUS
25
Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling,
26. Drabbing: Whoring.
26
Drabbing: you may go so far.
REYNALDO
27
My lord, that would dishonor him.
POLONIUS
28. 'Faith: in faith; truly. season: temper, soften.
28
'Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge.
29
You must not put another scandal on him,
30. is open to incontinency: welcomes and habitually practices loose behavior. 31. quaintly: delicately, artfully.
30
That he is open to incontinency;
31
That's not my meaning: but breathe his faults so quaintly
32. taints of liberty: minor faults resulting from freedom.
32
That they may seem the taints of liberty,
33
The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind,
34. unreclaimed: untamed.
34
A savageness in unreclaimed blood,
35. Of general assault: i.e., to which young men are generally subject.
35
Of general assault.
REYNALDO
35
But, my good lord
POLONIUS
36
Wherefore should you do this?
REYNALDO
36
Ay, my lord,
37
I would know that.
POLONIUS
37
Marry, sir, here's my drift;
38. fetch of wit: ingenious trick.
38
And I believe, it is a fetch of wit:
39. sullies: blemishes.
39
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
40. a thing a little soil'd i' the working: i.e., something that got a smudge or two as it was being made.
40
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i' the working,
41
Mark you,
42
Your party in converse, him you would sound,
43-44. Having . . . guilty: if he has ever seen the youth you mention [Laertes] to be guilty of the aforementioned faults. 45. closes with you in this consequence: falls in with you as follows.
43
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes
44
The youth you breathe of guilty, be assured
45
He closes with you in this consequence;
46
"Good sir," or so, or "friend," or "gentleman,"
47-48. According to the phrase or the addition / Of man and country: according to the usual form of address and title appropriate to the man and the country he comes from.
47
According to the phrase or the addition
48
Of man and country.
REYNALDO
48
Very good, my lord.
POLONIUS
49
And then, sir, does he thishe doeswhat was I about to say?
50
By the mass, I was about to say something.
Oliver Ford Davies as Polonius
51
Where did I leave?
REYNALDO
51
At "closes in the consequence."
POLONIUS
52
At "closes in the consequence," ay, marry;
53
He closes thus: "I know the gentleman;
54
I saw him yesterday, or t' other day,
55
Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say,
56. o'ertook in's rouse: overcome by drink.
56
There was a' gaming; there o'ertook in's rouse;
57. falling out at tennis: quarreling over a game of tennis.
57
There falling out at tennis:" or perchance,
58
"I saw him enter such a house of sale,"
59. Videlicet: namely. (Latin.)
59
Videlicet, a brothel, or so forth. See you now;
60. carp: i.e., fish.
60
Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth:
61. reach: capacity, understanding.
61
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
62. windlasses: i.e., slow, subtle methods. ...more
62
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
63. directions: the way things are going; i.e., the truth.
63
By indirections find directions out:
64
So by my former lecture and advice,
65. have me: understand me.
65
Shall you my son. You have me, have you not?
REYNALDO
66
My lord, I have.
POLONIUS
66. God buy ye: good-bye. "God buy ye" is a contraction of "God be with you."
66
God buy you; fare ye well.
REYNALDO
67
Good my lord!
POLONIUS
68. in yourself: for yourself. Polonius wants Reynaldo to make his own observations, as well as asking Laertes' acquaintances about him.
68
Observe his inclination in yourself.
REYNALDO
69
I shall, my lord.
POLONIUS
70. let him ply his music: see that he continues to apply himself to his study of music.
70
And let him ply his music.
REYNALDO
70. Well: i.e., all is well; I understand and will follow your instructions.
70
Well, my lord.
POLONIUS
71
Farewell!
Exit Reynaldo.
Enter OPHELIA.
71
How now, Ophelia! what's the matter?
OPHELIA
72
O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted!
POLONIUS
73
With what, i' the name of God?
OPHELIA
74. closet: private room.
74
My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,
75. doublet: close-fitting jacketa very common article of clothing. unbrac'd: unfastened, unlaced. 76. stockings fouled: stockings dirty. 77. down-gyved: hanging down [like gyves (fetters) on a prisoner's legs].
75
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced;
76
No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd,
77
Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ankle;
78
Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other;
79
And with a look so piteous in purport
80
As if he had been loosed out of hell
81
To speak of horrorshe comes before me.
POLONIUS
82
Mad for thy love?
OPHELIA
82
My lord, I do not know;
83
But truly, I do fear it.
POLONIUS
83
What said he?
OPHELIA
84
He took me by the wrist and held me hard;
85
Then goes he to the length of all his arm;
86
And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,
87
He falls to such perusal of my face
88
As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so;
89
At last, a little shaking of mine arm
90
And thrice his head thus waving up and down,
91
He raised a sigh so piteous and profound
92. all his bulk: his whole body.
92
As it did seem to shatter all his bulk
93
And end his being: that done, he lets me go:
94
And, with his head over his shoulder turn'd,
95
He seem'd to find his way without his eyes;
96
For out o' doors he went without their helps,
97
And, to the last, bended their light on me.
POLONIUS
98
Come, go with me: I will go seek the king.
99. ecstasy: madness.
99
This is the very ecstasy of love,
100. property: nature, quality. fordoes: destroys.
100
Whose violent property fordoes itself
101
And leads the will to desperate undertakings
102
As oft as any passion under heaven
103
That does afflict our natures. I am sorry.
104
What, have you given him any hard words of late?
OPHELIA
105
No, my good lord, but, as you did command,
106
I did repel his letters and denied
107
His access to me.
POLONIUS
107
That hath made him mad.
108
I am sorry that with better heed and judgment
109. quoted: observed.
109
I had not quoted him: I fear'd he did but trifle,
110. beshrew my jealousy: a plague upon my suspicious mind. 111. proper to our age: i.e., characteristic of men of my age. 112. To cast ... discretion: i.e., to over-think things, as it is common for younger people to not think at all.
110
And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew my jealousy!
111
By heaven, it is as proper to our age
112
To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions
113
As it is common for the younger sort
114
To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king:
115-116. which, being kept close, might move / More grief to hide than hate to utter love: which, being kept secret, might cause more displeasure [in others] because it has been hidden, than hatred because it has been revealed from good motives. In this passage, the word "love" has the meaning it has in the phrase "love of your country."
115
This must be known; which, being kept close, might move
116
More grief to hide than hate to utter love.
117
Come.
Exeunt.