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I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young

blood;

Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres ;

Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine:
But this eternal blazon must not be

To ears of flesh and blood:-List, list, O list!-
If thou didst ever thy dear father love,

Ham. O heaven!

Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.

Ham.

Murder?

Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. Ham. Haste me to know it; that I, with wings as swift

As meditation, or the thoughts of love,

May sweep to my revenge.

Ghost. I find thee apt;

And duller should'st thou be than the fat weed
That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, .

Would'st thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear

'Tis given out, that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark

Is by a forged process of my death

Rankly abus'd but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent, that did sting thy father's life,
Now wears his crown.

Ham. O, my prophetick 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 there!
From me, whose love was of that dignity,
That it went haud in hand even with the vow
I made to her in marriage: and to decline
Upon a wretch, whose naturel 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 of the afternoon,

Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of mine ears did pour
The leperous distilment; whose effect
Hold such an enmity with blood of man,
That, swift as quicksilver, it courses through
The natural gates and alleys of the body;
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,

Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth body.

Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand,

Of live, 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 pursu'st 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!
The glow-worn shows the matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire:
Adieu, adieu, adieu! remember me.

[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;
Aud 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 down,
That one may sinile, 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,
Within.] Lord Hamlet,
Within.] Heaven secure him!

Mar.
Hor.

Ham. So be it!

Mar. [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?

Hor. What news, my Lord?

Ham. O, wonderful!

Hor. Good my Lord, tell it.

Ham. No;

You will reveal it.

Hor. Not 1, my Lord, by heaven.

Mar. Nor I, my Lord.

Ham. How say you then; would heart of man

But you'll be secret,

-

once think it?

Hor. Mar. Ay, by heaven, my Lord.
Ham. There's ne'er a villain, dwelling in all
Denmark.

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 in 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,

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Such as it is, and, for my own poor part,
Look you, I will go pray.

Hor. These are but wild and whirling words, my Lord. Ham. I am sorry they offend you, heartily; yes, 'Faith, heartily.

Hor. There's no offence, my Lord.

Ilam. Yes, by saint Patrick, but there is, Ho

ratio,

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 it 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-night.

Hor. Mar. My Lord, we will not.

Ham. Nay, but swear't.

Hor. In faith,

My Lord, not I.

Mar. Nor I, my Lord, in faith.

Ham. Upon my sword.

Mar. We have sworn, my Lord, already.
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.

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