But be he as he will, yet once ere night IV The parley did not result in a laying down of arms, and battle has been going on for some time. At last the two Harrys meet face to face. Hot. If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth. Prince. A very valiant rebel of the name. Why, then I see I am the Prince of Wales; and think not, Percy, Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere; Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales. Hot. Nor shall it, Harry; for the hour is come Prince. I'll make it greater ere I part from thee; I'll crop to make a garland for my head. Hot. I can no longer brook thy vanities. They fight; Hotspur is wounded, and falls. Hot. O, Harry, thou hast robbed me of my youth! I better brook the loss of brittle life Than those proud titles thou hast won of me; They wound my thoughts worse than thy sword my flesh: But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool; But that the earthy and cold hand of death Prince. heart! [Dies. For worms, brave Percy: fare thee well, great Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk! When that this body did contain a spirit, A kingdom for it was too small a bound; Is room enough: this earth that bears thee dead If thou wert sensible of courtesy, I should not make so dear a show of zeal: 52 William Shakespeare HAMLET AND THE QUEEN1 INCE the sudden death of the late King, SINCE pass in Denmark. The Queen, to the grief and 1 From Hamlet. Favors: scarf denouncing this same Claudius as his murderer and Polonius, the lord chamberlain, has been the Pol. He will come straight. Look you lay home to him: Tell him his pranks have been too broad to bear with, And that your grace hath screened and stood between Much heat and him. I'll sconce me even here. Pray you, be round with him. Ham. [Within.] Mother, mother, mother! Fear me not: withdraw, I hear him coming. I'll warrant you, [Polonius hides behind the arras. Enter Hamlet. Ham. Now, mother, what's the matter? Queen. Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended. Ham. Mother, you have my father much offended. Queen. Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. Ham. Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. Queen. Why, how now, Hamlet! You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife; Queen. Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can speak. Ham. Come, come, and sit you down; you shall not budge; You go not till I set you up a glass Where you may see the inmost part of you. Queen. What wilt thou do? thou wilt not murder me? Help, help, ho! Pol. [Behind.] What, ho! help, help, help! Ham. [Drawing.] How now! a rat? Dead, for a ducat, Pol. [Behind.] O, I am slain! [Falls and dies. Ham. Is it the king? Nay, I know not: Queen. O, what a rash and bloody deed is this! Ham. A bloody deed! almost as bad, good mother, As kill a king, and marry with his brother. Queen. As kill a king! Ham. Ay, lady, 'twas my word. [Lifts up the arras and discovers Polonius. Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell! Thou find'st to be too busy is some danger. Leave wringing of your hands: peace! sit you down, And let me wring your heart; for so I shall, If it be made of penetrable stuff, If damned custom have not brassed it so That it be proof and bulwark against sense. Queen. What have I done, that thou darest wag thy tongue Sense: feeling In noise so rude against me? Ham. Such an act That blurs the grace and blush of modesty, A rhapsody of words: heaven's face doth glow; With tristful visage, as against the doom, Is thought-sick at the act. Queen. Ay me, what act, That roars so loud, and thunders in the index? Ham. Look here, upon this picture, and on this, Where every god did seem to set his seal, This was your husband. Look you now, what follows: Batten: grow fat Contraction: marriage contract Index: prefixed table of contents |