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.

Ham. O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!
Ghost. 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 glowworm 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 fye! - 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!

Unhousel'd, disappointed, unanel'd;] Unhousel'd is without having received the sacrament. Disappointed Disappointed is the same as unappointed, and may be properly explained unprepared. Unanel'd is without extreme unction. STEEVENS.

Hamlet;

O horrible! O horrible! most horrible!] Surely this is the exclamation of let; and no part of the Ghost's narrative, with which it has been, by a mistake of the press, confounded." It is," says Dr. Johnson, "a proper, and natural exclamation in the mouth of Hamlet; who, according to the practice of the stage, may be supposed to interrupt so long a speech."---On the stage it has always been spoken by the character to whom I have here, on Johnson's authority, attributed it.

this distracted globe.] i. e. In this head confused with thought.--STEEVENS.

My tables, meet it is, I set it down,

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.]

Ham.

Heaven secure him!

So be it!

Mar. [within.] Illo, ho, ho, my lord!

Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy! come, bird, come.*

Nor I, my lord.

Hor. Not I, my lord, by heaven.

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 Denmark,

But he's an arrant knave.

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

To tell us this.

Ham.

[grave,

Why, right; you are in the right;

And so, without more circumstance at all,

My tables,-] Table-books in the time of our author appear to have been used by all ranks of people. In the church they were filled with short notes of the sermon, and at the theatre with the sparkling sentences of the play.MALONE.

u

Now to my word;] Hamlet alludes to the watch-word given every day in military service, which at this time he says is, Adieu, adieu! remember me.STEEVENS.

-come, bird, come.] This is the call which falconers use to their hawk in the air, when they would have him come down to them. -HANMER.

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 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.

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 it as you may. And now, good friends,

As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers,

Give me one poor request.

Hor.

We will.

What is't, my lord?

Ham. Never make known what you have seen to-night.

Hor. Mar. My lord, we will not.

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:--

Upon my sword.] It was common to swear upon the cross which the old swords always had upon the hilt.-JOHNSON.

Come hither, gentlemen,

And lay your hands again upon my sword :
Swear by my sword,

Never to speak of this that you have heard.
Ghost. [beneath.] Swear by his sword.

Ham. Well said, old mole! can'st work i'the earth so

fast?

A worthy pioneer! - Once more remove, good friends.
Hor. O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!
Ham. And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
But come;

Here, as before, never, so help you mercy!
How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself,
As I, perchance, hereafter shall think meet
To put an antick disposition on, -

That you, at such times seeing me, never shall,
With arms encumber'd thus, or this head-shake,
Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase,
As, Well, well, we know ;-or, We could, and if we would;
-or, If we list to speak :-or, There be, an if they might ;-
Or such ambiguous giving out, to note

That you know aught of me:- This do you swear,
So grace and mercy at your most need help you!
Ghost. [beneath.] Swear.

Ham. Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! So, gentlemen,

* And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.] i. e. Seem not to know it-to be unacquainted with it.-M. MASON.

a Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!] The skill displayed in Shakspeare's management of his ghost, is too considerable to be overlooked. He has rivetted our attention to it by a succession of forcible circumstances:--by the previous report of the terrified centinels, -by the solemnity of the hour at which the phantom walks, by its martial stride and discriminating armour, visible only by the glimpses of the moon, -by its long taciturnity, -by its preparation to speak, when interrupted by the morning cock, by its mysterious reserve throughout its first scene with Hamlet, -by his resolute departure with it, and the subsequent anxiety of his attendants,-by its conducting him to a solitary angle of the platform, by its voice from beneath the earth, and by its unexpected burst on us in the closet.

Hamlet's late interview with the spectre, must in particular be regarded as a stroke of dramatick artifice. The phantom might have told his story in the presence of the officers and Horatio, and yet have rendered itself as inaudible to them, as afterwards to the queen. But suspense was our poet's object; and

With all my love I do commend me to you:
And what so poor a man as Hamlet is

May do, to express his love and friending to you,
God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together;

And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.

The time is out of joint; - cursed spite!

That ever I was born to set it right!

Nay, come, let's go together.

ACT II.

SCENE I.-A Room in Polonius' House.

Enter POLONIUS and REYNALDO.

[Exeunt.

Pol. Give him this money, and these notes, Reynaldo. Rey. I will, my lord.

Pol. You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo, Before you visit him, to make inquiry

Of his behaviour.

Rey.

My lord, I did intend it.

Pol. Marry, well said: very well said. Look you, sir, Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris; And how, and who, what means, and where they keep, What company, at what expence; and finding, By this encompassment and drift of question, That they do know my son, come you more nearer Than your particular demands will touch it:

never was it more effectually created, than in the present instance. Six times has the royal semblance appeared, but till now has been withheld from speaking. For this event we have waited with impatient curiosity, unaccompanied by lassitude, or remitted attention.

The ghost in this tragedy, is allowed to be the genuine product of Shakspeare's strong imagination. When he afterwards avails himself of traditional phantoms, as in Julius Cæsar and King Richard III., they are but inefficacious pageants; nay, the apparition of Banquo is a mute exhibitor. Perhaps our poet despaired to equal the vigour of his early conceptions on the subject of preternatural beings, and therefore allotted them no further eminence in his dramas; or was unwilling to diminish the power of his principal shade, by an injudicious repetition of congenial images. STEEVENS.

b

Exeunt.] Gildon asserts, but without stating his authority, that this scene was written by Shakspeare in the churchyard bordering his house at Stratford.-REED's Shakspeare, vol. v. p. 4.

Danskers-] Danske is the ancient name of Denmark. STEEVANS.