Act IV · Scene I
A room in the castle
Enter King, Queen, Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern.[1571]
King. There's matter in these sighs, these profound heaves:[1572]
You must translate: 'tis fit we understand them.
Where is your son?
You must translate: 'tis fit we understand them.
Where is your son?
Queen. Bestow this place on us a little while.
[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.[1573]
Ah, mine own lord, what have I seen to-night![1574] 5
King. What, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?[1575]
Queen. Mad as the sea and wind, when both contend[1576]
Which is the mightier: in his lawless fit,[1577]
Behind the arras hearing something stir,
Whips out his rapier, cries 'a rat, a rat!'[1578] 10
And in this brainish apprehension kills[1579]
The unseen good old man.
Which is the mightier: in his lawless fit,[1577]
Behind the arras hearing something stir,
Whips out his rapier, cries 'a rat, a rat!'[1578] 10
And in this brainish apprehension kills[1579]
The unseen good old man.
King. O heavy deed!
It had been so with us, had we been there:[1580]
His liberty is full of threats to all,
To you yourself, to us, to every one. 15
Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?[1581]
It will be laid to us, whose providence
Should have kept short, restrain'd and out of haunt,[1582]
This mad young man: but so much was our love,
We would not understand what was most fit, 20
But, like the owner of a foul disease,
To keep it from divulging, let it feed[1583]
Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone?
It had been so with us, had we been there:[1580]
His liberty is full of threats to all,
To you yourself, to us, to every one. 15
Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer'd?[1581]
It will be laid to us, whose providence
Should have kept short, restrain'd and out of haunt,[1582]
This mad young man: but so much was our love,
We would not understand what was most fit, 20
But, like the owner of a foul disease,
To keep it from divulging, let it feed[1583]
Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone?
Queen. To draw apart the body he hath kill'd:
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore[1584] 25
Among a mineral of metals base,[1585]
Shows itself pure; he weeps for what is done.[1586]
O'er whom his very madness, like some ore[1584] 25
Among a mineral of metals base,[1585]
Shows itself pure; he weeps for what is done.[1586]
King. O Gertrude, come away![1587]
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch,
But we will ship him hence: and this vile deed[1588] 30
We must, with all our majesty and skill,
Both countenance and excuse. Ho, Guildenstern!
The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch,
But we will ship him hence: and this vile deed[1588] 30
We must, with all our majesty and skill,
Both countenance and excuse. Ho, Guildenstern!
Re-enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.[1589]
Friends both, go join you with some further aid:[1590]
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain,
And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him:[1591] 35
Go seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this.
Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain,
And from his mother's closet hath he dragg'd him:[1591] 35
Go seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body
Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this.
[Exeunt Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.[1592]
Come, Gertrude, we'll call up our wisest friends;
And let them know, both what we mean to do,[1593]
And what's untimely done....[1594] 40
Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter[1594]
As level as the cannon to his blank[1594]
Transports his poison'd shot, may miss our name[1594][1595]
And hit the woundless air. O, come away![1594]
My soul is full of discord and dismay. [Exeunt. 45
And let them know, both what we mean to do,[1593]
And what's untimely done....[1594] 40
Whose whisper o'er the world's diameter[1594]
As level as the cannon to his blank[1594]
Transports his poison'd shot, may miss our name[1594][1595]
And hit the woundless air. O, come away![1594]
My soul is full of discord and dismay. [Exeunt. 45
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