King. Where is Polonius?

Ham. In heaven; fend thither to fee: if your messenger find him not there, seek him i'the other place yourself. But, indeed, if you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby.

King. Go seek him there.
[To fome attendants.
Ham. He will stay till you come. [Exeunt attendants.
King. Hamlet, this deed, for thine especial fafety,
Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve

For that which thou hast done, -must send thee hence
With fiery quickness: Therefore, prepare thyself;
The bark is ready, and the wind at help,

The associates tend, and every thing is bent
For England.

Ham. For England?

King. Ay, Hamlet.

Ham. Good.

King. So is it, if thou knew'st our purposes.
Ham. I see a cherub, that fees them. But come; for

England!-Farewell, dear mother.

King. Thy loving father, Hamlet.

Ham. My mother: Father and mother is man and wife;

man and wife is one flesh; and so, my mother. Come, for England. [Exit.

King. Follow him at foot; tempt him with speed aboard. Delay it not, I'll have him hence to night: Away; for every thing is seal'd and done

That else leans on the affair: Pray you, make haste.

[Exeunt Ros. and GUIL.

And, England, if my love thou hold'st at aught,
As my great power thereof may give thee sense;
Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red
After the Danish sword, and thy free awe
Pays homage to us) thou may'st not coldly set

:

Our

Our fovereign process; which imports at full,
By letters conjuring to that effect,

The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England;
For like the hectick in my blood he rages,
And thou must cure me: Till I know 'tis done,
Howe'er my haps, my joys will ne'er begin.

SCENE IV.

A Plain in DENMARK.

Enter FORTINBRAS and Forces, marching.

[Exit.

For. Go, captain, from me greet the Danish king;
Tell him, that by his licence, Fortinbras
Craves the conveyance of a promis'd march
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous.
If that his Majesty would aught with us,
We shall express our duty in his eye,
And let him know so.

Cap. I will do't, my lord.

For. Go foftly on. (Exeunt FORTINBRAS and Forces.

Enter HAMLET, ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN, S. Ham. Good fir, whose powers are these ?

Cap. They are of Norway, fir.

Ham. How purpos'd, fir,

I pray you?

Cap. Against some part of Poland.

Ham. Whơ commands them, fir?

Cap. The nephew to old Norway, Fortinbras.

Ham. Goes it against the main of Poland, fir,

Or for fome frontier?

Cap. Truly to speak, fir, and with no addition,

We go to gain a little patch of ground,
That hath in it no profit but the name.

To

To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it;
Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole,

A ranker rate, should it be fold in fee.

Ham. Why then the Polack never will defend it.

Cap. Yes, 'tis already garrifon'd.

Ham. Two thousand fouls, and twenty thousand ducats,

Will not debate the question of this straw :

This is the impofthume of much wealth and peace;

That inward breaks, and shows no cause without
Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, fir.

Cap. God be wi'you, fir.

[Exit CAPTAIN,

Rof. Will't please you go, my lord?
Ham. I will be with you straight. Go a little before.
[Exeunt. Ros and GUILD.

How all occafions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time,
Be but to fleep, and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before, and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unus'd. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event-

A thought, which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom,
And, ever, three parts coward-I do not know
Why yet I live to say, This thing's to do;
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means,
To do't. Examples, gross as earth, exhort me;
Witness, this army, of such mass, and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince;
Whose spirit, with divine ambition puff'd,
Makes mouths at the invisible event;

Expofing what is mortal, and unfure,

To

To all that fortune, death, and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great,
Is, not to ftir without great argument;
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw,

When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father killed, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason, and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I fee
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy, and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds; fight for a plot,
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough, and continent,
To hide the flain!-O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! [Exit.

SCENE V.

ELSINORE. A Room in the Castle.

Enter QUEEN and HORATIO.

Queen.I will not speak with her.

Hor. She is importunate; indeed, distract;

Her mood will needs be pitied.

Queen. What would she have?

Hor. She speaks much of her father: fays, she hears There's tricks i'the world; and hems, and beats her heart; Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt, That carry but half fenfe: her speech is nothing, Yet the unshaped use of it doth move The hearers to collection; they aim at it,

And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts: Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield them, Indeed would make one think, there might be thought, Though nothing fure, yet much unhappily.

Queen.

Queen. 'Twere good she were spoken with, for she may

strew

Let her come in.

Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds:

[Exit HORATIO.

To my fick foul, as fin's true nature is,
Each toy feems prologue to fome great amiss:

So full of artless jealousy is guilt,

It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.

Re-enter HORATIO with OPHELIA.

Oph. Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark ?
Queen. How now, Ophelia ?

OPH. How should I your true love know

From another one?

By his cockle hat and staff,

And his fandal shoon.

[Singing.

Queen. Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song?

Oph. Say you? nay, pray you, mark.

0, ho!

He is dead and gone, lady,

He is dead and gone;

At his head a grafs-green turf,
At his heels a stone.

Queen. Nay, but Ophelia

Oph. Pray you mark.

[Sings.

White his shroud as the mountain snow. [Sings.