Th'at/, like an ea'gle in a d'ovecot, I
Fluttered your Vols cians in Coʻrioli ;
Alo'ne/ 1 di'd-it :-Booy!-B'ut/ let us part;
Lest my rash ha'nd/ should do a hasty de'ed
My cooler th'ought forbi'ds.
Auf. I court
The wor'st thy sword can d'o; while tho'u from moel
Hast not'hing/ to exp'ect/ but sore destru'ction ;
Quit th’en/ this hostile camp: on'ce more/ I tell thee,
Thou art not h'ere one sing'le-hour/ in sa'fety.
Cor. O, that I had thee in the field,
With six-Aufidiuses, or m'ore, thy tribe,
To us'e my la'wful-sword !
HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY ON HIS MOTHER'S
MARRIAGE.
SHAKSPEARE.
Oh that this to'o, too so'lid-flesh/ would m'elt,
Tha'w, and resolve itself into a de'w !
O'r/ that the Everla'sting/ ha'd-not fixed
His ca'non/ 'gainst se'lf-slaughter !
How w'eary, sta'le, fla't, and unproʻfitable,
See'm to moe, all the u’ses of this wo'rld !
Fie oʻn't! oh fi'e ! 'tis an unwe'eded gar'den,
That grows to see'd ; things ra'nk, and gross in n’ature,
Possesss-it me'rely. That it should come to thois !
But two months de’ad ; na'y, not so mu'ch ; not two;
So excellent a kin'g, that wa's, to thios !
Hyperion to a satyr : so lov'ing to my m'other,
That he permitted not the winds of He'aven
Vis'it her face/ too rou'ghly. Hea'ven and earth!
Must I reme'mber ! - Why, she would han'g-on-bim,
As if increase of ap'petite/ had grown
By what it fe'd-on ; y'et, with'in a mon'th,—
(Let me not th’ink) ;-Fr’ailty, thy na'me is Wo'man ! -
À little month ! o'r/ er'e those shoes were old,
With which she fol'lowed my poor father's bo‘dy,
Like N'iobe, all te'ars ;—wh’y, sh'e, even shoe-
(O He’aven ! a bea'st, that wants discourse of reason,
Would have mourned lo'nger-) maʼrried with mine un'cle, My fa'ther's brother; but/ no more lik'e my
fa'ther, Than I to Her'cules. Withi'n a mo'nth ! (Ere yet the sal't of most unri'ghteous-tears Had left the flush'ing/ in her galled ey'es) She mar'ried !-0, most wicked-speed, It is' not, nor it caʻnpot-come to go'od, But break my he’art, for I must h’old my tongue.
HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY ON NOT REVENGING
HIS FATHER'S MURDER.
SHAKSPEARE.
Oh what a wr'etch and peasant sla've am I' !
Is it not mons'trous, that this player he're,
(B’ut in a fiction, in a dr`eam of p'assion,)
Could force his sou'l/ so' to his own conce'it,
That, from her working, all his vi'sage warm'ed,
Tea’rs in his ey'es, distra'ction in his asp'ect,
A broken voi'ce, and his whole fu'nction/ suiting
With form's to his conc'eit ? and a'll for no'thing !
For Hecuba!
What's Heocuba to hi`m, or he to Heocuba,
That he should we ep-for-her? Wha't-would-be-do,
Had he' the moʻtive and the c'ue for pas'sion
That I have ? He would drown the stage/ with t’ears,
And cleave the general esar/ with horrid spee'ch ;
Make ma'd the gu'ilty, and app’al the free ;
Confo’und the ig'norant; and amaʼze, inde'ed,
The
very faculties of ey'es and e’ars.*
But I am pi'geon-livered, and lack gall'
To make oppression b'itter; or', ere thi's,
I should have fatted all the region kites'
With this sla've's o'ffal !_*I have heard
That guilty crea'tures, sitting at a play,
Ha've (by the very cuînning of the sc'ene)
Been struck/ so to the soul, that/ pre'sently/
They have procla’imed/ their malefac'tions :
For mu'rder (though it ha's no to'ngue) will speak/
With most mira'culous or'gan. I'll have these pla’yers
Play som'ething/ like the mu'rder of
my
fa'ther Before
my
un'cle. I'll observe his lo'oks : I'll ten't-him/ to the qu`ick. If he do blen'ch, I know my cou'rse. The sp'irit/ that I have se'en May be a de'vil ; and the devil/ hath po'wer/ To assu'me a pleasing shape.- I'll have the grounds More re'lative than th'is. The Pla'y; the plaîy's the thi'ng Wherei'n, I'll catch the c'onscience of the king.
HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY ON DEATH.
SHAKSPEARE.
To b’e, or no't to b'e ?— Th’at is the que'stion.-
Whether 'tis n'obler in the min'd/ to suffer
The st’ings and ar'rows of outrag'eous foʻrtune,
Or/ to take arm's/ against a se'a of tro’ubles,
And, by opp'osing, en'd-them ?—To di'e—to sle'ep-
No mo're ; and/ by a sle’ep to sa'y we e'nd
The hear't-ache, and the thousand natural sho'cks/
That fles'h is he'ir to ;-'Tis a consum'mation/
Devo'utly, to be wis'hed.—To di'e-to sleep
Though castles topple on their warder's he'ads ;
Though palaces and pyramids do slope
Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
Of nature's germins tumble altoge'ther,
Even till destruction si'cken, answer me
To what I ask you." * The tone and manner are here changed into a less bitter and more meditative cast, which, with but little variation, continues to the end of the soliloquy
To sle°ep! perch'ance to dream ! a'y, there's the r’ub ;
Fo'r/ in that sleep of death/ wha't dreams may co'me,
(When we have shuffled off this mor’tal-coil,)
Must giv'e us pa'use. There's the respect/
That makes cala'mity of so long li'fe :
For wh’o/ would bear the whi'ps and sc'orns of the tim'e,
The oppr'essor's wro'ng, the prou'd-man's co'ntumely,
The pan'gs of despis'ed-love, the la'w's dela'y,
The in'solence of office, and the spurns Spoken in a mo.
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himse'lf/ might his quietus make
With a bare boodkin ?+ Who would fardels bea'r,
To groa'n and swe'at/ under a weary li'fe ;
But/ that the dread of soʻmething/ aft'er de'ath
(That undiscîovered-country, from whose bourn
No tra'veller retur'ns) puʼzzles the wi'll ;
And mak’es us/ rather b'ear/ thoʻse i'lls/ we hav'e,
Than fly' to o`thers/ that we kno'w not o'f?
Thus con'science/ does make co'wards-of-us a'll :
And thu's/ the native hu'e of resolu'tion
Is sicklied o’er/ with the pale ca'st of thoʻught ;
And e^nterprises/ of great pit'h and m'oment
With this rega'rd/ their currents turn awr'y,
And lose the na'me-of ac'tion.
SOLILOQUY OF THE KING IN HAMLET.
SHAKSPEARE.
O! offence is ran'k, it sm'ells to He^aven,
It hath the pri'mal, el^dest-curse up'on 't;
A brother's-murder- -Pr'ay/ I can not :
Though inclina'tion/ be as sharp as 'twi'll,
My stronger gu'ilt defeats my strong int'ent;
An'd (like a man to double business bou’nd)
I stand in pa'use/ where I shall first begʻin,
And boʻth neglect. Wh'at ! if this cursed han'd/
* This turn of the voice, usually expressed by a horizontal line (see ** Introduction”) may be used with great effect to illustrate a mixture of irony and contempt. Thus, in the “ Appeal of Brutus,” page 102, “ Hād you rāther Cāēsar were living, and die all slāves,” &c.
† I have given “ bodkin ” the emphatic rising slide, because I think it is capable of expressing the most contempt.
Were thicker than itse'lf/ with brother's blo'od ;
Is there not rain enough/ in the sweet He’avens,
To wash it wh'ite as sn'ow? Where to serves meʼrcy,
But to confront the vissage of offe'nce ?
And what's in prayer, but this two fold foʻrce,
To be for'esta'lled/ ere' we come to fall',
O'r/ par' doned/ being dow'n ? - The'n I'll look u'p;
My fau'lt is pa'st. But, О', wh‘at-form-of-prayer
Can serve moy-turn ? Forgiv'e-me my foul mu’rder ! -
That can'not be, since I am still poss'essed
Of those e'ffects/ for which I did the mu’rder,
My cro'wn, mine own ambi'tion, and my qu'een.
May one be pa'rdoned, and reta'in the offe’nce ?
In the corrup'ted-currents of this w’orld,
Offence's gilded ha'nd/ may shove by Jus'tice;
And oft ’tis se'en, the wicked prize itself/
Buys out the law's. But 'ti's not so abov e.
There is no sh'uffling; the re/ the action lies/
In its tr'ue na'ture, and we ourse`lves comp'elled,
(Even to the teseth and fore'head of our fa'ults,)
To gi've-in e'vidence. What the’n ? what re'sts ?
Try what repen'tance ca'n: whʼat can it noît ?
Yet what coan-it, when one can no't repe'nt ?
O wretched sta'te ! O b'osom/ black as dea'th!
O limed so'ul, tha't, strugg'ling to be free,
Art mo're engaged! He'lp, a'ngels! ma'ke assa'y!
Bow, stubborn kn`ees; and hea'rt, (with strings of st’eel,)
Be s'oft as sin'ews of the ne'w-born-babe! and
All'/may y'et be w'ell !
HAMLET'S INSTRUCTIONS TO THE PLAYERS.
SHAKSPEARE. SPEAK the speech, I pra'y-you, as I pronoun'ced-it-to-you) tri'ppingly on the ton'gue. But, if you moouth it (as many of our Players d’o) I had as lief the town cʻrier/ had spo‘ken my lines. And do not saw the air too much with your hand, thous: but/ use all ge'ntly ; fo'r/ in the very torrent, tempest, a'nd, (as I may say) wh'irlwind-of-pour-passion,* you must acq'uire and
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