Hamlet: Act 4, Scene 5
Enter HORATIO, [QUEEN] GERTRUDE,
and a GENTLEMAN.
QUEEN
1 I will not speak with her.
Gentleman
2 She is importunate, indeed distract:
2. distract: insane.
3 Her mood will needs be pitied.
QUEEN
What would she have?
Gentleman
4 She speaks much of her father; says she hears
5 There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her heart;
5. tricks: deceptions. heart: i.e., breast.
6 Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
6. Spurns . . . straws: i.e., spitefully takes offense at trifles. —Literally, "spurn" means "kick." in doubt: obscurely.
7 That carry but half sense. Her speech is nothing,
8 Yet the unshaped use of it doth move
8. unshaped use: distracted manner.
9 The hearers to collection; they yawn at it,
9. collection: attempts to gather the meaning. yawn at: gape at, wonder at.
10 And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts;
10. botch: patch.
11 Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures yield them,
12 Indeed would make one think there might be thought,
13 Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.
11-13. Which, . . . unhappily: i.e., her words — as she delivers them with winks, nods, and odd gestures — would indeed make one think that one could infer — though without being sure — much shocking meaning.
HORATIO
14 'Twere good she were spoken with; for she may strew
15 Dangerous conjectures in ill-breeding minds.
15. ill-breeding minds: minds which conceive ill thoughts; i.e., people who are prone to think the worst.
QUEEN
16 Let her come in.
[Exit Horatio and Gentleman.]
17 To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is,
17. as sin's . . . is: i.e., as is natural to a guilty conscience.
18 Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss:
18. toy: trifle. amiss: calamity.
19 So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
19. artless jealousy: i.e., paranoia which cannot be concealed.
20 It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.
20. It spills itself in fearing to be spilt: i.e., it reveals itself precisely because it fears to be revealed.
Enter OPHELIA [and Horatio].
OPHELIA
21 Where is the beauteous majesty of Denmark?
QUEEN
22 How now, Ophelia!
OPHELIA [She sings.]
23 "How should I your true love know
24 From another one?
25 By his cockle hat and staff,
26 And his sandal shoon."
23-26. "How ... shoon": These are probably lines from a traditional ballad. cockle hat: hat adorned with cockle shells. sandal shoon: sandals. Carrying a staff and wearing sandals were marks of a pilgrim, and a cockle hat signified that the pilgrim had made the famous pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
Pilgrim with Cockle Hat and Staff
Pilgrim with Cockle Hat and Staff
QUEEN
27 Alas, sweet lady, what imports this song?
OPHELIA
28 Say you? nay, pray you, mark.
Song.
29 "He is dead and gone, lady,
30 He is dead and gone;
31 At his head a grass-green turf,
32 At his heels a stone."
33 O ho!
QUEEN
34 Nay, but, Ophelia—
OPHELIA
35 Pray you, mark.
35. Pray you, mark: Please pay attention.
[Sings.]
36 "White his shroud as the mountain snow,"—
Enter KING.
QUEEN
37 Alas, look here, my lord.
OPHELIA
Song.
38 "Larded with sweet flowers
38. Larded: Adorned.
39 Which bewept to the grave did not go
39. Which bewept to the grave did not go: — Because her father was buried in a "hugger-mugger" (see line 84) fashion, it seems possible that Ophelia added the word "not" to this line of the old ballad.
40 With true-love showers."
KING
41 How do you, pretty lady?
OPHELIA
42 Well, God 'ild you! They say the owl was a baker's
42. 'ild: yield, reward. owl: —Ophelia is alluding to a legend of a baker's daughter whom Jesus turned into an owl because she did not respond generously to his request for bread.
43 daughter. Lord, we know what we are, but know not
44 what we may be. God be at your table!
KING
45 Conceit upon her father.
45. Conceit upon her father: i.e., she is brooding about her father.
OPHELIA
46 Pray you, let's have no words of this; but when they
47 ask you what it means, say you this:
Song.
48 "Tomorrow is Saint Valentine's day.
49 All in the morning betime,
50 And I a maid at your window,
51 To be your Valentine.
49-51. All in the morning betime, / And I a maid at your window, / To be your Valentine: —The girl in the song gets up early in the morning ("betime") on Valentine's day and goes to the man's window because folklore said that the first girl seen by a man on the morning of Valentine's day would be his valentine, his true love. 53. dupp'd: opened.
52 "Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
53 And dupp'd the chamber-door;
54 Let in the maid, that out a maid
55 Never departed more."
54-55. Let in the maid, that out a maid / Never departed more: —The man who the girl wanted for a valentine takes advantage of her: When he lets her into his room she's a "maid" (a virgin), but when she leaves she is no longer a virgin.
KING
56 Pretty Ophelia!
OPHELIA
57 Indeed, la, without an oath, I'll make an end on't:
[Sings.]
58 "By Gis and by Saint Charity,
58. Gis: —Contraction of "Jesus."
59 Alack, and fie for shame!
60 Young men will do't, if they come to't;
60. if they come to't: i.e., if they have an opportunity.
61 By cock, they are to blame.
61. cock: —Slang for "God"; also, penis. Given the context, "cock" is a rather nasty pun; the girl in the song has been just screwed in two ways: 1) she's had sex; 2) her partner has cynically taken advantage of her love for him.
62 Quoth she, 'Before you tumbled me,
63 You promised me to wed.'
64 He answers:
65 'So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
66 An thou hadst not come to my bed.'"
66. An: if.
KING
67 How long hath she been thus?
OPHELIA
68 I hope all will be well. We must be patient: but I
69 cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay him
70 i' the cold ground. My brother shall know of it:
71 and so I thank you for your good counsel. Come, my
72 coach! Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies;
73 good night, good night.
[Exit.]
KING
74 Follow her close; give her good watch, I pray you.
[Exit Horatio.]
75 O, this is the poison of deep grief; it springs
76 All from her father's death—and now behold!
77 O Gertrude, Gertrude,
78 When sorrows come, they come not single spies
78. spies: i.e., scouts sent ahead of the main force.
79 But in battalions. First, her father slain:
80 Next, your son gone; and he most violent author
81 Of his own just remove: the people muddied,
80-81. he . . . remove: i.e., he, by his own violence, caused his own justified exile. muddied: confused and stirred up.
82 Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers,
83 For good Polonius' death; and we have done but greenly,
83. greenly: i.e., like someone who is "green" in the sense of being inexperienced and thoughtless.
84 In hugger-mugger to inter him: poor Ophelia
84. In hugger-mugger: in secret haste.
85 Divided from herself and her fair judgment,
86 Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts;
87 Last, and as much containing as all these,
88 Her brother is in secret come from France;
89 Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds,
89. Feeds . . . wonder: i.e., thinks only on his suspicions. keeps . . . clouds: i.e., doesn't reveal what he's thinking (?).
90 And wants not buzzers to infect his ear
90. wants no: lacks no. buzzers: gossiping busybodies.
91 With pestilent speeches of his father's death;
92 Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd,
92. necessity . . . beggar'd: out of necessity, because there are no supporting facts.
93 Will nothing stick our person to arraign
94 In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this,
93-94. Will . . . ear: will think nothing of slandering me to everyone.
95 Like to a murdering-piece, in many places
96 Gives me superfluous death.
95-96. murd'ring-piece: cannon loaded with small shot, to kill as many as possible with one blast. Gives me superfluous death: —The King's idea is that any one of his woes would be enough to kill him, so that all together they give him more death than he needs, "superfluous death."
A noise within.
QUEEN
Alack, what noise is this?
KING
97 Attend!
97. Attend!: Come help me!
98. Switzers: Swiss guards. —In Shakespeare's time Swiss guards, who had a strong reputation for discipline and loyalty, were employed as palace guards in various European courts.The advantages of having Swiss guards was that the Swiss were unlikely to be influenced by local politics, and so unlikely to turn on the king who employed them.
98 Where are my Switzers? Let them guard the door.
Enter a Messenger.
99 What is the matter?
Messenger
Save yourself, my lord:
100 The ocean, overpeering of his list,
100. overpeering of his list: rising higher than its shores.
101 Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste
101. flats: i.e., flatlands near shore.
102 Than young Laertes, in a riotous head,
102. in a riotous head: i.e., leading a rowdy crowd of rebels.
103 O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord;
104 And, as the world were now but to begin,
105 Antiquity forgot, custom not known,
106 The ratifiers and props of every word,
104-106. as the world . . . every word: i.e., as if the world were just begun, as if all history were forgotten and traditional practices were unknown, as if history and tradition were not what validates and supports every oath and pledge.
107 They cry "Choose we: Laertes shall be king!"
108 Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds:
109 "Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!"
QUEEN
110 How cheerfully on the false trail they cry!
111 O, this is counter, you false Danish dogs!
110-111. on the false trail they cry!: —A pack of hunting dogs, barking and baying as they follow a scent, are said to be "crying on a trail." this is counter: this backward; you've got everything wrong. false treacherous.
KING
112 The doors are broke.
Enter LAERTES with others.
LAERTES
113 Where is this king? Sirs, stand you all without.
Danes
114 No, let's come in.
LAERTES
114 I pray you, give me leave.
Danes
115 We will, we will.
LAERTES
116 I thank you: keep the door.
[Exeunt Laertes' followers.]
O thou vile king,
117 Give me my father!
QUEEN
Calmly, good Laertes.
LAERTES
118 That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard,
118. That drop . . . bastard: i.e., being calm would prove me a bastard.
119 Cries cuckold to my father, brands the harlot
120 Even here, between the chaste unsmirched brows
120. chaste unsmirched brows: The idea that the brows reveals the truth of a person's character shows up in the proverbial expression, "honest as the skin between his brows," which Shakespeare uses in Much Ado About Nothing (3.5.12).
121 Of my true mother.
KING
What is the cause, Laertes,
122 That thy rebellion looks so giant-like?
123 Let him go, Gertrude; do not fear our person:
123. do . . . person: don't be afraid that I will be harmed.
124 There's such divinity doth hedge a king,
124. hedge: enclose, protect.
125 That treason can but peep to what it would,
125. can but peep to what it would: can only catch a glimpse of what it would like to do.
126 Acts little of his will. Tell me, Laertes,
126. Acts little of his will: performs little of what it ["treason"] wants to do.
127 Why thou art thus incensed. Let him go, Gertrude.
128 Speak, man.
 | Bendict Wong as Laertes and Sally Dexter as Gertrude |
LAERTES
129 Where is my father?
KING
Dead.
QUEEN
But not by him.
KING
130. Let him demand his fill: i.e., let him ask as many questions as he wants.
130 Let him demand his fill.
LAERTES
131 How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
132 To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!
133 Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
134 I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
134. I dare damnation: I dare to risk damnation.
135 That both the worlds I give to negligence,
135. both the worlds I give to negligence: i.e., I don't care what the consequences are in this world or in the next.
136 Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
137 Most thoroughly for my father.
KING
Who shall stay you?
137. Who shall stay you?: who's going to stop you? —The King means that he certainly won't stand in Laertes' way.
LAERTES
138 My will, not all the world's.
138. My will, not all the world's: i.e., I'll stop only when my will is accomplished, not when the rest of the world tells me to.
139 And for my means, I'll husband them so well,
140 They shall go far with little.
KING
Good Laertes,
141 If you desire to know the certainty
142 Of your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge,
143 That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe,
143. That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe: i.e., that you will destroy friend and foe indiscriminately. —Both "swoopstake" and "draw" are gambling terms. The big winner in a game swoops down on the table and draws everyone's stakes.
144 Winner and loser?
LAERTES
145 None but his enemies.
KING
Will you know them then?
LAERTES
146 To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms;
146. ope: open.
[Laertes opens arms, as for a hug.]
147 And like the kind life-rendering pelican,
147. the kind life-rendering pelican: —The pelican was thought to feed its young with its heart's blood. ...more
148 Repast them with my blood.
148. Repast: feed.
KING
Why, now you speak
149 Like a good child and a true gentleman.
149. good child: faithful son.
150 That I am guiltless of your father's death,
151 And am most sensibly in grief for it,
151. sensibly: feelingly.
152 It shall as level to your judgment pierce
153 As day does to your eye.
152-153. It shall . . . eye: i.e. it [the truth of what I am saying] will penetrate your judgment as plainly as day appears to your eye.
A noise within.
Danes
Let her come in!
LAERTES
154 How now! what noise is that?
Enter OPHELIA.
155 O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt,
156 Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!
156. virtue: faculty, power. — Laertes is asking to be struck blind rather than see the pitiful madness of his sister.
157 By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight,
157. thy madness . . . beam: i.e., your madness shall be revenged to such an extent that the revenge shall outweigh the wrong done to you. ...more
158 Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May!
159 Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!
160 O heavens! is't possible, a young maid's wits
161 Should be as mortal as an old man's life?
162 Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine,
162. fine in: refined or spiritualized by.
163 It sends some precious instance of itself
163. instance: proof, token. Laertes means that Ophelia's sanity is the love-token that she has sent after her dead father.
164 After the thing it loves.
OPHELIA
Song.
165 "They bore him barefaced on the bier;
166 Hey non nonny, nonny, hey nonny;
167 And in his grave rain'd many a tear"—
168 Fare you well, my dove!
LAERTES
169 Hadst thou thy wits, and didst persuade revenge,
170 It could not move thus.
169-170. Hadst . . . thus: If you had your wits and were arguing for revenge (for Polonius' death), it could not move me (to seek revenge for Polonius' death) as much as I am now moved (by the spectacle of your insanity).
OPHELIA
171 You must sing "a-down a-down," and you call him
172 a-down-a. O, how the wheel becomes it! It is the
171-172. You . . . a-down-a: you must sing "a-down a-down" if you believe he is dead (??). wheel: refrain (??).
173 false steward, that stole his master's daughter.
173. false steward: Ophelia seems to be referring to some ballad or tale.
LAERTES
174 This nothing's more than matter.
174. This nothing's more than matter: this nonsense is more moving than rational speech.
OPHELIA
175 There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray,
175. rosemary: —Rosemary was used as a symbol of remembrance at both weddings and funerals. ...more
176 love, remember. And there is pansies; that's for
175. pansies: — The word is derived from the French word for thoughts, "pensées."
177 thoughts.
LAERTES
178 A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance
179 fitted.
178-179. A document in madness, thoughts and remembrance fitted: i.e., from her madness comes a lesson ("document"): thoughts and remembrance belong together (are "fitted"). Laertes may also mean that Ophelia is teaching him that he should never forget his father, always remembering who killed his father, and the revenge due.
OPHELIA
[To King.]
180 There's fennel for you, and columbines.
[To King.] ... [To Queen.]: —None of the original texts have these stage directions; editors often insert them because they seem appropriate: Fennel, an emblem of flattery, and columbine, an emblem of ingratitude, to King Claudius, and rue, emblem of sorrow and repentance, to Queen Gertrude.
[To Queen.]
181 There's rue for you; and here's some
182 for me: we may call it herb of grace a' Sundays.
183 You may wear your rue with a difference. There's
184 a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they
184. daisy, violets: —Daisies were emblematic of false appearances; violets were emblematic of faithfulness.
185 withered all when my father died. They say he
186 made a good end—
[Sings.]
187 "For bonny sweet Robin is all my joy."
LAERTES
188 Thought and affliction, passion, hell itself,
189 She turns to favour and to prettiness.
189. favour: grace, charm.
OPHELIA
Song.
190 "And will he not come again?
191 And will he not come again?
192 No, no, he is dead:
193 Go to thy death-bed:
194 He never will come again.
195 "His beard was as white as snow,
196 All flaxen was his poll:
196. flaxen: white. poll: head.
197 He is gone, he is gone,
198 And we cast away moan:
198. we cast away moan: i.e., we moan in grief, but it's useless.
199 God ha' mercy on his soul!"
200 And of all Christian souls, I pray God. God buy
200-201. God buy you: goodbye; God be with you.
201 you.
[Exit.]
LAERTES
202 Do you see this, O God?
KING
203 Laertes, I must commune with your grief,
203. I must commune with your grief: i.e., you must allow me to share your grief.
204 Or you deny me right. Go but apart,
205 Make choice of whom your wisest friends you will,
206 And they shall hear and judge 'twixt you and me:
207 If by direct or by collateral hand
207. collateral: i.e., indirect.
208 They find us touch'd, we will our kingdom give,
208. find us touch'd: find me (even a little) guilty.
209 Our crown, our life, and all that we call ours,
210 To you in satisfaction; but if not,
210. in satisfaction: in payment (of the debt owed to you for the death of your father).
211 Be you content to lend your patience to us,
212 And we shall jointly labour with your soul
213 To give it due content.
211-213. Be you . . . content: be patient with me while you and I work together to give your soul the satisfaction it deserves.
LAERTES
Let this be so;
214 His means of death, his obscure funeral—
215 No trophy, sword, nor hatchment o'er his bones,
215. trophy: memorial. hatchment: heraldic memorial tablet. ...more
216 No noble rite nor formal ostentation—
216. formal ostentation: customary ceremony.
217 Cry to be heard, as 'twere from heaven to earth,
218 That I must call't in question.
218. That I must call't in question: so that I must call all these matters into question.
KING
So you shall;
219 And where the offence is let the great axe fall.
220 I pray you, go with me.
Exeunt.