Hamlet: Act 4, Scene 5
Enter HORATIO, [QUEEN] GERTRUDE,
and a GENTLEMAN.
QUEEN
1 I will not speak with her.
Gentleman
2 She is importunate, indeed distract:
3 Her mood will needs be pitied.
QUEEN
3 What would she have?
Gentleman
4 She speaks much of her father; says she hears
5. tricks: deceptions. heart: i.e., breast.
5 There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her heart;
6. Spurns . . . straws: i.e., spitefully takes offense at trifles. —Literally, "spurn" means "kick." in doubt: obscurely. 7. Her speech: What she says. 8. unshaped use: distracted manner. 9. collection: attempts to gather the meaning. yawn at: gape at, wonder at. 10. botch: patch.
6 Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
7 That carry but half sense. Her speech is nothing,
8 Yet the unshaped use of it doth move
9 The hearers to collection; they yawn at it,
10 And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts;
11-13. Which, . . . unhappily: i.e., her words — as she delivers them with winks, nods, and odd gestures — would indeed make one think that one could infer — though without being sure — much shocking meaning.
11 Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield them,
12 Indeed would make one think there might be thought,
13 Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.
HORATIO
14 'Twere good she were spoken with; for she may strew
15. ill-breeding minds: minds which conceive ill thoughts; i.e., people who are prone to think the worst.
15 Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.
QUEEN
16 Let her come in.
[Exit Horatio and Gentleman.]
17. as sin's true nature is: i.e., as is natural to a guilty conscience. 18. toy: trifle. amiss: calamity.
17 To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is,
18 Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss:
19. artless jealousy: i.e., paranoia which cannot be concealed. ...more 20. It spills itself in fearing to be spilt: i.e., it reveals itself precisely because it fears to be revealed.
19 So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
20 It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.
Enter OPHELIA [and Horatio].
OPHELIA
21 Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark?
QUEEN
22 How now, Ophelia!
OPHELIA [She sings.]
23-26. "How ... shoon": These are probably lines from a traditional ballad. ...more 25. cockle hat: hat adorned with cockle shells, signifying that the person wearing the hat had made the famous pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
23 "How should I your true love know
24 From another one?
25 By his cockle hat and staff,
26 And his sandal shoon."
QUEEN
27 Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song?
OPHELIA
28 Say you? nay, pray you, mark.
Song.
29 "He is dead and gone, lady,
30 He is dead and gone;
31 At his head a grass-green turf,
32 At his heels a stone."
33 O ho!
QUEEN
34 Nay, but, Ophelia—
OPHELIA
35 Pray you, mark.
[Sings.]
36 "White his shroud as the mountain snow,"—
Enter KING.
QUEEN
37 Alas, look here, my lord.
OPHELIA
Song.
38. Larded: Adorned.
38 "Larded with sweet flowers
39. Which bewept to the grave did not go: —Because her father was buried in a "hugger-mugger" (see line 84) fashion, it seems likely that Ophelia added the word "not" to this line of the old ballad.
39 Which bewept to the grave did not go
40 With true-love showers."
KING
41 How do you, pretty lady?
OPHELIA
42. 'ild: yield, reward. owl: —Ophelia is alluding to a legend of a baker's daughter whom Jesus turned into an owl because she did not respond generously to his request for bread.
42 Well, God 'ild you! They say the owl was a baker's
43 daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know not
44 what we may be. God be at your table!
KING
45. Conceit upon her father: i.e., she is brooding about her father.
45 Conceit upon her father.
OPHELIA
46 Pray you, let's have no words of this; but when they
47 ask you what it means, say you this:
Song.
48 "Tomorrow is Saint Valentine's day.
49-51. All in the morning betime, / And I a maid at your window, / To be your Valentine: —The girl in the song gets up early in the morning ("betime") on Valentine's day and goes to the man's window because folklore said that the first girl seen by a man on the morning of Valentine's day would be his valentine, his true love. The girl wants to be the first one the man sees. 53. dupp'd: opened.
49 All in the morning betime,
50 And I a maid at your window,
51 To be your Valentine.
52 "Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
53 And dupp'd the chamber-door;
54-55. Let in the maid, that out a maid / Never departed more: —The man who the girl wanted for a valentine takes advantage of her. When he lets her into his room she's a "maid" (a virgin), but when she leaves she is no longer a virgin.
54 Let in the maid, that out a maid
55 Never departed more."
KING
56 Pretty Ophelia!
OPHELIA
57 Indeed, la, without an oath, I'll make an end on't:
[Sings.]
58. Gis: —Contraction of "Jesus."
58 "By Gis and by Saint Charity,
59 Alack, and fie for shame!
60. if they come to't: i.e., if they have an opportunity.
60 Young men will do't, if they come to't;
61. cock: —Slang for "God." Given the context, "cock" is a rather nasty pun; the girl in the song has been just screwed in two ways: 1) she's had sex; 2) her partner has cynically taken advantage of her love for him.
61 By cock, they are to blame.
62 Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled me,
63 You promised me to wed.'
64 He answers:
65 'So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
66. An: if.
66 An thou hadst not come to my bed.'"
KING
67 How long hath she been thus?
OPHELIA
68 I hope all will be well. We must be patient: but I
69 cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay him
70 i' the cold ground. My brother shall know of it:
71 and so I thank you for your good counsel. Come, my
72 coach! Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies;
73 good night, good night.
[Exit.]
KING
74 Follow her close; give her good watch, I pray you.
[Exit Horatio.]
75 O, this is the poison of deep grief; it springs
76 All from her father's death—and now behold!
77 O Gertrude, Gertrude,
78. spies: i.e., scouts sent ahead of the main force.
78 When sorrows come, they come not single spies
79 But in battalions. First, her father slain:
80-81. he . . . remove: i.e., he (Hamlet), by his own violence, caused his own justified exile. 81. muddied: confused and stirred up. ...more
80 Next, your son gone; and he most violent author
81 Of his own just remove: the people muddied,
82 Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers,
83. greenly: i.e., like someone who is "green" in the sense of being inexperienced and thoughtless. 84. In hugger-mugger: in secret haste.
83 For good Polonius' death; and we have done but greenly,
84 In hugger-mugger to inter him: poor Ophelia
85 Divided from herself and her fair judgment,
86 Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts;
87 Last, and as much containing as all these,
88 Her brother is in secret come from France;
89. Feeds on his wonder: i.e., thinks of nothing but his suspicions. keeps himself in clouds: i.e., doesn't reveal what he's thinking? 90. wants no: lacks no. buzzers: gossiping busybodies. 92-94. Wherein . . . ear: i.e., in delivering their "pestilent speeches," the "buzzers," out of necessity, because they have no facts, will think nothing of slandering me to everyone. 95. murd'ring-piece: cannon loaded with small shot, to kill as many as possible with one blast. 96. Gives me superfluous death: —The King's idea is that any one of his woes would be enough to kill him, so that all together they give him more death than he needs, "superfluous death."
89 Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds,
90 And wants not buzzers to infect his ear
91 With pestilent speeches of his father's death;
92 Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd,
93 Will nothing stick our person to arraign
94 In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this,
95 Like to a murdering-piece, in many places
96 Gives me superfluous death.
A noise within.
QUEEN
96 Alack, what noise is this?
KING
97 Attend!
98. Switzers: Swiss guards. —In Shakespeare's time Swiss guards, who had a strong reputation for discipline and loyalty, were employed as palace guards in various European courts. For a king, one of the advantages of having a Swiss guard was that the Swiss were unlikely to be influenced by local politics, and so unlikely to turn on the king who employed them.
98 Where are my Switzers? Let them guard the door.
Enter a Messenger.
98 What is the matter?
Messenger
99 Save yourself, my lord:
100. overpeering of his list: rising higher than its shores.
100 The ocean, overpeering of his list,
101. flats: i.e., flatlands near shore.
101 Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste
102. in a riotous head: i.e., leading a rowdy crowd of rebels.
102 Than young Laertes, in a riotous head,
103 O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord;
104-106. as the world were now but to begin, / Antiquity forgot, custom not known, / The ratifiers and props of every word: i.e., as if the world were just begun, as if all history were forgotten and traditional practices were unknown, as if history and tradition were not what validates and supports every oath and pledge. —The Messenger is shocked that Laertes and his riotous followers ignore all traditional values, especially respect for a king.
104 And, as the world were now but to begin,
105 Antiquity forgot, custom not known,
106 The ratifiers and props of every word,
107 They cry "Choose we: Laertes shall be king!"
108 Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds:
109 "Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!"
QUEEN
110-111. How cheerfully on the false trail they cry! / O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs!: —A pack of hunting dogs, barking and baying as they follow a scent, are said to be "crying on a trail." The Queen knows that Laertes's followers believe that her husband, the King, is responsible for the death of Polonius, Laertes' father. She speaks of them as dogs, and is furious with them because they are "counter" (literally, backward), and because they are "false" (treacherous to their king).
110 How cheerfully on the false trail they cry!
111 O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs!
KING
112 The doors are broke.
Enter LAERTES with others.
LAERTES
113 Where is this king? Sirs, stand you all without.
Danes
114 No, let's come in.
LAERTES
114 I pray you, give me leave.
Danes
115 We will, we will.
LAERTES
116 I thank you: keep the door.
[Exeunt Laertes' followers.]
116 O thou vile king,
117 Give me my father!
QUEEN
117 Calmly, good Laertes.
LAERTES
118-121. That drop . . . mother: i.e., being calm would prove me a bastard. ...more
118 That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard,
119 Cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot
120 Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brows
121 Of my true mother.
KING
121 What is the cause, Laertes,
122 That thy rebellion looks so giant-like?
123. do not fear our person: don't be afraid that I will be harmed. 124. hedge: enclose, protect. 125. can but peep to what it would: can only catch a glimpse of what it would like to do. 126. Acts little of his will: performs little of what it ["treason"] wants to do.
123 Let him go, Gertrude; do not fear our person:
124 There's such divinity doth hedge a king,
125 That treason can but peep to what it would,
126 Acts little of his will. Tell me, Laertes,
127 Why thou art thus incensed. Let him go, Gertrude.
128 Speak, man.
 |
LAERTES
129 Where is my father?
KING
129 Dead.
QUEEN
129 But not by him.
KING
130. Let him demand his fill: i.e., let him ask as many questions as he wants.
130 Let him demand his fill.
LAERTES
131 How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
132 To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!
133 Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
134. I dare damnation: I dare to risk damnation. ...more 135. both the worlds I give to negligence: i.e., I don't care what the consequences are in this world or in the next.
134 I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
135 That both the worlds I give to negligence,
136 Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
137 Most thoroughly for my father.
KING
137. Who shall stay you?: who's going to stop you? —The King means that he certainly won't stand in Laertes' way.
137 Who shall stay you?
LAERTES
138. My will, not all the world's: i.e., I'll stop only when my will is accomplished, not when the rest of the world tells me to.
138 My will, not all the world's.
139 And for my means, I'll husband them so well,
140 They shall go far with little.
KING
140 Good Laertes,
141 If you desire to know the certainty
142 Of your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge,
143. That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe: i.e., that you will destroy friend and foe indiscriminately. —Both "swoopstake" and "draw" are gambling terms. The big winner in a game swoops down on the table and draws everyone's stakes.
143 That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe,
144 Winner and loser?
LAERTES
145 None but his enemies.
KING
145 Will you know them then?
LAERTES
146. thus wide I'll ope my arms: this wide I will open my arms. ...more 147. the kind life-rendering pelican: —The pelican was thought to feed its young with its heart's blood. ...more 148. Repast: feed.
146 To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms;
147 And like the kind life-rendering pelican,
148 Repast them with my blood.
KING
148 Why, now you speak
149. good child: faithful son.
149 Like a good child and a true gentleman.
150 That I am guiltless of your father's death,
151. sensibly: feelingly.
151 And am most sensibly in grief for it,
152. level: plain.
152 It shall as level to your judgment pierce
153 As day does to your eye.
A noise within.
Danes
153 Let her come in!
LAERTES
154 How now! what noise is that?
Enter OPHELIA.
155 O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt,
156. virtue: faculty, power. —Laertes is asking to be struck blind rather than see the pitiful madness of his sister. 157. thy madness shall be paid by weight, / Till our scale turn the beam: i.e., your madness shall be paid for (revenged) to such an extent that our revenge shall outweigh the wrong done to you. ...more
156 Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!
157 By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight,
158 Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May!
159 Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!
160 O heavens! is't possible, a young maid's wits
161 Should be as mortal as an old man's life?
162. fine in: refined or spiritualized by.
162 Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine,
163. instance: proof, token. Laertes means that Ophelia's sanity is the love-token that she has sent after her dead father.
163 It sends some precious instance of itself
164 After the thing it loves.
OPHELIA
Song.
165 "They bore him barefaced on the bier;
166 Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny;
167 And in his grave rain'd many a tear"—
168 Fare you well, my dove!
LAERTES
169-170. Hadst . . . thus: If you had your wits and were arguing for revenge (for Polonius' death), it could not move me (to seek revenge for Polonius' death) as much as I am now moved (by the spectacle of your insanity).
169 Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge,
170 It could not move thus.
OPHELIA
171-172. You . . . a-down-a: you must sing "a-down a-down" if you believe he is dead (??). 172. wheel: refrain (??).
171 You must sing "a-down a-down," and you call him
172 a-down-a. O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the
173. false steward: Ophelia seems to be referring to some ballad or tale.
173 false steward, that stole his master's daughter.
LAERTES
174. This nothing's more than matter: this nonsense is more moving than rational speech.
174 This nothing's more than matter.
OPHELIA
175. rosemary: —Rosemary was used as a symbol of remembrance at both weddings and funerals. ...more about Ophelia's flowers.
175 There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray,
176 love, remember. And there is pansies; that's for
177 thoughts.
LAERTES
178-179. A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted: —A "document" was an instruction, admonition, or warning. ...more
178 A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance
179 fitted.
OPHELIA
180. [To King.] ... [To Queen.]: —None of the original texts have these stage directions; editors often insert them because they seems appropriate. ...more
180 [To King.] There's fennel for you, and columbines.
181 [To Queen.] There's rue for you; and here's some
182 for me: we may call it herb of grace a' Sundays.
183. rue: emblem of sorrow and repentance. 184. daisy, violets: —Daisies were emblematic of false appearances; violets were emblematic of faithfulness.
183 You may wear your rue with a difference. There's
184 a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they
185 withered all when my father died. They say he
186 made a good end—
[Sings.]
187 "For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy."
LAERTES
188 Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself,
189. favour: grace, charm.
189 She turns to favour and to prettiness.
OPHELIA
Song.
190 "And will he not come again?
191 And will he not come again?
192 No, no, he is dead:
193 Go to thy death-bed:
194 He never will come again.
195 "His beard was as white as snow,
196. flaxen: white. poll: head.
196 All flaxen was his poll:
197 He is gone, he is gone,
198. we cast away moan: i.e., we moan in grief, but it's useless.
198 And we cast away moan:
199 God ha' mercy on his soul!"
200-201. God buy you: goodbye; God be with you.
200 And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God buy
201 you.
[Exit.]
LAERTES
202 Do you see this, O God?
KING
203. I must commune with your grief: i.e., you must allow me to share your grief.
203 Laertes, I must commune with your grief,
204 Or you deny me right. Go but apart,
205 Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will,
206 And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me:
207. collateral: i.e., indirect.
207 If by direct or by collateral hand
208. find us touch'd: find me (even a little) guilty.
208 They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give,
209 Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours,
210. in satisfaction: in payment (of the debt owed to you for the death of your father).
210 To you in satisfaction; but if not,
211 Be you content to lend your patience to us,
212 And we shall jointly labour with your soul
213 To give it due content.
LAERTES
213 Let this be so;
214 His means of death, his obscure funeral—
215. trophy: memorial. hatchment: heraldic memorial tablet. ...more 216. formal ostentation: customary ceremony.
215 No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones,
216 No noble rite nor formal ostentation—
217 Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth,
218. That I must call't in question: so that I must call all these matters into question.
218 That I must call't in question.
KING
218 So you shall;
219 And where the offence is let the great axe fall.
220 I pray you, go with me.
Exeunt.