ff
∵ Scene V. A more remote part of the Castle.
(implausibly, far enough that the Ghost has time to speak its piece before Horatio and Marcellus catch up)
[Enter Ghost and Hamlet.] →
Hamlet: Whither wilt thou lead me? Speak! I'll go no further. →
Ghost: Mark me. →
Hamlet: I will. →
Ghost: My hour is almost come, →
∵ When I to sulph'rous and tormenting flames →
Must render up myself. →
(just Purgatory, not Hell, supposedly)
burning sulfur reaches 2000-3000°F
Hamlet: Alas, poor ghost! →
Ghost: Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing →
To what I shall unfold. →
(WS uses forms of 'unfold' 44 times)
Hamlet: Speak; I am bound to hear. →
obliged
Ghost: So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear. →
the central moral quandary of the play: when are we obliged to make ourselves agents of justice? (if there were ghosts, would they qualify as witnesses?)
ghosts of murder victims, calling for revenge, was a stage cliche
Hamlet: What? →
Ghost: I am thy father's spirit; →
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, →
And for the day confin'd to fast in fires, →
∵ Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature →
Are burnt and purg'd away. But that I am forbid →
To tell the secrets of my prison-house, →
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, →
ff And each particular hair to stand on end →
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine: →
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— →
"fast" (hunger seems a pretty minor concern?)
cf? 2 Corinthians xii.3: ‘he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter'
"lightest word" (did WS sort words by weight?)
U146: "Hamlet, I am thy father's spirit Doomed for a certain time to walk the earth."
U181: "Hamlet, I am thy father's spirit"
U180: "Our Father who art in purgatory."
U155: "Jack Power could a tale unfold"
U180: "He will have it that Hamlet is a ghoststory... Like the fat boy in Pickwick he wants to make our flesh creep." (the Ghost would surely be played that way)
"Thy knotted and combined locks" Hamlet's hair is well-tended
 |
| porpentine = porcupine |
FW051.09 "(lust!)"
FW479.36 "Ess Ess. O ess."
Hamlet: O God! →
Ghost: Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. →
why not 'my'? (can "his" mean Claudius?)
Hamlet: Murder! →
Ghost: Murder most foul, as in the best it is; →
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. →
some murders are 'better' than others (eg extenuating circumstances)
Hamlet: Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift →
As meditation or the thoughts of love, →
May sweep to my revenge. →
"with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love" (Hamlet's gentle nature persists?)
Ghost: I find thee apt; →
And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed →
∵ That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, →
Wouldst 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. →
"orchard" = garden
"orchard... serpent" cf Eden
the only poisonous snake in Denmark is the adder
"process" = narrative (cf 'process-server'?)
false-narrative metaphorically equivalent to sting
U95: "On the slow weedy waterway he had floated on his raft coastward over Ireland drawn by a haulage rope past beds of reeds"
cf FW30? "We are told how in the beginning it came to pass that, like cabbaging Cincinnatus, the grand old gardener was saving daylight one sultry sabbath afternoon in prefall paradise peace by following his plough for rootles in the rere garden of ye olde marine hotel..."
Hamlet: O my prophetic soul! →
Mine uncle! →
intuitive dislike
cf?? FW004 "O my shining stars and body!"
Ghost: Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, →
With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts,— →
O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power →
ff 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 hand in hand even with the vow →
I made to her in marriage; and to decline →
Upon a wretch whose natural 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 my 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 my ears did pour →
The leperous distilment; whose effect →
Holds 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 life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd: →
ff Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, →
Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled; →
∵ 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 glowworm shows the matin to be near, →
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire: →
∵ Adieu, adieu! Hamlet, remember me. →
(is Gertrude in any way accessory to murder? why didn't the ghost appear to her before the wedding?)
U194: "in the fifth scene of Hamlet he has branded her with infamy"
"whose natural gifts were poor" (debatable)
"lust, though to a radiant angel link'd, Will sate itself in a celestial bed And prey on garbage" a lustful man married to an angel will still turn to adultery
"hebenon" imaginary pun on ebony and henbane
"posset" = curdle
"eager" = acidic
"tetter... lazar... crust" = eruptions on the skin like leprosy
"in the blossoms of my sin" ie, no time for contrition (cf U92)
"Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled" obscure terms for final sacraments?
"If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not" don't ignore your natural revulsion
"Taint not" don't let your revenge poison the rest of your life
"glowworm" common in Denmark, related to lightningbugs, indicates morning only by fading towards invisibility
U134: "the other story, beast with two backs"
U134: "And in the porches of mine ear did pour."
FW628.14 "Bussoftlhee, mememormee!"
[Exit.] →
Hamlet: O all you host of heaven! O earth! what else? →
And shall I couple hell? O, fie!—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! →
My tables,—meet it is I set it down, →
ff ∵ That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain; →
At least, I am sure, it may be so in Denmark: →
"shall I couple hell" ie, pray to hell as well as heaven
"distracted globe" his head
U47: "My tablets"
[Writing.]
So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word; →
It is 'Adieu, adieu! remember me' →
I have sworn't. →
"you" = Claudius, "thou" = Hamlet sr
Horatio: [Within.] My lord, my lord,— →
Marcellus: [Within.] Lord Hamlet,— →
Horatio: [Within.] Heaven secure him! →
Hamlet: So be it! →
∵ Marcellus: [Within.] Illo, ho, ho, my lord! →
Hamlet: Hillo, ho, ho, boy! Come, bird, come. →
[Enter Horatio and Marcellus.] →
Marcellus: How is't, my noble lord? →
∵ Horatio: What news, my lord? →
Hamlet: O, wonderful! →
Horatio: Good my lord, tell it. →
Hamlet: No; you'll reveal it. →
Horatio: Not I, my lord, by heaven. →
Marcellus: Nor I, my lord. →
Hamlet: How say you then; would heart of man once think it?— →
But you'll be secret? →
Horatio and Marcellus: Ay, by heaven, my lord. →
Hamlet: There's ne'er a villain dwelling in all Denmark →
But he's an arrant knave. →
Horatio: There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave →
To tell us this. →
Hamlet: Why, right; you are i' the right; →
∵ And so, without more circumstance at all, →
I hold it fit that we shake hands and part: →
You, as your business and desires shall point you,— →
For every man hath business and desire, →
Such as it is;—and for my own poor part, →
ff Look you, I'll go pray. →
Horatio: These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. →
Hamlet: I'm sorry they offend you, heartily; →
Yes, faith, heartily. →
Horatio: There's no offence, my lord. →
Hamlet: 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'ermaster't as you may. And now, good friends, →
As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers, →
Give me one poor request. →
Horatio: What is't, my lord? we will. →
Hamlet: Never make known what you have seen to-night. →
Horatio and Marcellus: My lord, we will not. →
Hamlet: Nay, but swear't. →
Horatio: In faith, →
My lord, not I. →
Marcellus: Nor I, my lord, in faith. →
Hamlet: Upon my sword. →
Marcellus: We have sworn, my lord, already. →
∵ Hamlet: Indeed, upon my sword, indeed. →
Ghost: [Beneath.] Swear. →
∵ Hamlet: Ha, ha boy! say'st thou so? art thou there, truepenny?— →
Come on!—you hear this fellow in the cellarage,— →
Consent to swear. →
FW190.19 "do your little thruppenny"
Horatio: Propose the oath, my lord. →
Hamlet: Never to speak of this that you have seen, →
Swear by my sword. →
Ghost: [Beneath.] Swear. →
Hamlet: Hic et ubique? then we'll shift our ground.— →
∵ Come hither, gentlemen, →
ff And lay your hands again upon my sword: →
Never to speak of this that you have heard, →
Swear by my sword. →
Ghost: [Beneath.] Swear. →
Hamlet: Well said, old mole! canst work i' the earth so fast? →
A worthy pioner!—Once more remove, good friends. →
Horatio: O day and night, but this is wondrous strange! →
Hamlet: 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 antic 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, an 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 is not to do, →
So grace and mercy at your most need help you, →
Swear. →
Ghost: [Beneath.] Swear. →
Hamlet: Rest, rest, perturbed spirit!—So, gentlemen, →
With all my love I do commend me to you: →
ff 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:—O cursed spite, →
∵ That ever I was born to set it right!— →
Nay, come, let's go together. →
FW104.05 "at disjointed times"
FW181.29 "His jymes is out of job, would sit and write."
[Exeunt.] →
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