Hamlet: Act 4, Scene 7
Enter KING and LAERTES.
KING
1. my acquittance seal: ratify my acquittal; i.e., acknowledge my innocence in Polonius' death.
1
Now must your conscience my acquittance seal,
2
And you must put me in your heart for friend,
3. Sith: since. with a knowing ear: i.e., you have become convinced of the truth of what you have heard. 4. he which hath your noble father slain: i.e., Hamlet.
3
Sith you have heard, and with a knowing ear,
4
That he which hath your noble father slain
5
Pursued my life.
LAERTES
5
It well appears: but tell me
6. proceeded not against: didn't take legal action against. feats: acts. 7. capital: punishable by death.
6
Why you proceeded not against these feats,
7
So criminal and so capital in nature,
8-9. As . . . up: i.e., since you were powerfully motived to take action out of regard for your own safety, warned by your wisdom of the danger posed by Hamlet, and urged on by all the other circumstances of Hamlet's murder of Polonius.
8
As by your safety, wisdom, all things else,
9
You mainly were stirr'd up.
KING
9
O, for two special reasons;
10. unsinew'd: without strong sinews, weak.
10
Which may to you, perhaps, seem much unsinew'd,
11
But yet to me they are strong. The queen his mother
12
Lives almost by his looks; and for myself
13. either which: one or the other.
13
My virtue or my plague, be it either which
14. conjunctive: closely joined.
14
She's so conjunctive to my life and soul,
15-16. as the star ... by her: i.e., I can't live without her. ...more
15
That, as the star moves not but in his sphere,
16
I could not but by her. The other motive,
17. count: account, reckoning.
17
Why to a public count I might not go,
18. the general gender: the common people.
18
Is the great love the general gender bear him;
19
Who, dipping all his faults in their affection,
20. spring: i.e., a spring with such a high concentration of lime that it coats wood with limestone. 21. Convert . . . graces: i.e., convert his faults to virtues. ...more 22. slightly timber'd: light. loud: strong. 23. Would have reverted to my bow again: i.e., would have reversed course and flown back to my bow. ...more
20
Would, like the spring that turneth wood to stone,
21
Convert his gyves to graces; so that my arrows,
22
Too slightly timber'd for so loud a wind,
23
Would have reverted to my bow again,
24
And not where I had aim'd them.
LAERTES
25
And so have I a noble father lost;
26. desperate terms: madness.
26
A sister driven into desperate terms,
27-29. Whose worth, if praises may go back again, / Stood challenger on mount of all the age / For her perfections: i.e., whose worth, if it is allowed to praise her as she was before she went mad, could rival, as from on high, all the perfections of the age.
27
Whose worth, if praises may go back again,
28
Stood challenger on mount of all the age
29
For her perfections: but my revenge will come.
KING
30. for that: i.e., for fear of failing to get revenge.
30
Break not your sleeps for that: you must not think
31. flat: spiritless.
31
That we are made of stuff so flat and dull
32. let our beard be shook: To shake (tweak or pluck) a man's beard was a deadly insult. with: by. 33. You shortly shall hear more: i.e., you will soon see how I will make good on my threats against Hamlet.
32
That we can let our beard be shook with danger
33
And think it pastime. You shortly shall hear more:
34
I loved your father, and we love ourself;
35
And that, I hope, will teach you to imagine
Enter a MESSENGER with letters.
36
How now! what news?
Messenger
36
Letters, my lord, from Hamlet:
37. this to the queen: This is an intriguing loose end. Hamlet's letter to his mother is never mentioned again.
37
This to your majesty; this to the queen.
KING
38
From Hamlet! who brought them?
Messenger
39
Sailors, my lord, they say; I saw them not:
40. Claudio: This is the only mention of Claudio. Apparently he is an intermediary between the messenger and the sailor/pirate who had the letters from Hamlet.
40
They were given me by Claudio; he received them
41
Of him that brought them.
KING
41
Laertes, you shall hear them.
42
Leave us.
[Exit Messenger.]
[Reads.]
43
"High and mighty, You shall know I am
44. naked: without weapons or followers.
44
set naked on your kingdom. Tomorrow shall
45
I beg leave to see your kingly eyes: when I shall, first
46. pardon thereunto: permission to do so.
46
asking your pardon thereunto, recount the occasion of
47
my sudden and more strange return.
48
HAMLET."
49
What should this mean? Are all the rest come back?
50. abuse: deceit.
50
Or is it some abuse, and no such thing?
LAERTES
51. hand, character: In this context, both words mean "handwriting."
51
Know you the hand?
KING
51
'Tis Hamlet's character. "Naked!"
52
And in a postscript here, he says "alone."
53. devise me: explain it to me.
53
Can you devise me?
LAERTES
54
I'm lost in it, my lord. But let him come;
55
It warms the very sickness in my heart,
56
That I shall live and tell him to his teeth,
57
"Thus didst thou."
KING
57
If it be so, Laertes
58
As how should it be so? how otherwise?
59. be ruled by me: take my advice, follow my lead.
59
Will you be ruled by me?
LAERTES
59
Ay, my lord;
60. So: provided that. o'errule me to a peace: i.e., overrule my desire to take revenge on Hamlet.
60
So you will not o'errule me to a peace.
KING
61
To thine own peace. If he be now return'd,
62. checking at: turning away from. ...more
62
As checking at his voyage, and that he means
63-64. I will work him / To an exploit, now ripe in my device: i.e., I will con him into walking into an ambush which is now taking final shape in my imagination.
63
No more to undertake it, I will work him
64
To an exploit, now ripe in my device,
65
Under the which he shall not choose but fall:
66
And for his death no wind of blame shall breathe,
67. uncharge the practise: i.e. hold me innocent of the plot.
67
But even his mother shall uncharge the practise
68
And call it accident.
LAERTES
68
My lord, I will be ruled;
69
The rather, if you could devise it so
70. organ: instrument, agent (of Hamlet's death).
70
That I might be the organ.
KING
70
It falls right.
71
You have been talk'd of since your travel much,
72. quality: skill.
72
And that in Hamlet's hearing, for a quality
73. Your sum of parts: all your (other) accomplishments put together.
73
Wherein, they say, you shine: your sum of parts
74
Did not together pluck such envy from him
75
As did that one, and that, in my regard,
76. Of the unworthiest siege: i.e., least important. ...more
76
Of the unworthiest siege.
LAERTES
76
What part is that, my lord?
KING
77. riband: decorative ribbon.
77
A very riband in the cap of youth,
78-79. youth . . . wears: youth looks becoming in the light and carefree clothes that it wears. ...more
78
Yet needful too; for youth no less becomes
79
The light and careless livery that it wears
80. his sables and his weeds i.e., its characteristic garments. ...more 81. Importing health and graveness: signifying prosperity and dignity.
80
Than settled age his sables and his weeds,
81
Importing health and graveness. Two months since,
82
Here was a gentleman of Normandy:
83
I've seen myself, and served against, the French,
84. can well on horseback: are excellent riders.
84
And they can well on horseback: but this gallant
85
Had witchcraft in't; he grew unto his seat;
86
And to such wondrous doing brought his horse,
87-88. As . . . beast: as if he had been joined with the body of, and shared the nature of his magnificent horse. 88. topp'd my thought: surpassed my imagination (of what was possible). 89. in forgery of shapes and tricks: in imagining feats and tricks (of horsemanship).
87
As he had been incorpsed and demi-natured
88
With the brave beast: so far he topp'd my thought,
89
That I, in forgery of shapes and tricks,
90
Come short of what he did.
LAERTES
90
A Norman was't?
KING
91
A Norman.
LAERTES
92
Upon my life, Lamond.
KING
92
The very same.
LAERTES
93. brooch: ornament.
93
I know him well: he is the brooch indeed
94
And gem of all the nation.
KING
95. made confession of you: acknowledged your superiority.
95
He made confession of you,
96
And gave you such a masterly report
97
For art and exercise in your defence
98
And for your rapier most especial,
99
That he cried out, 'twould be a sight indeed,
100-102. the scrimers of their nation, / He swore, had had neither motion, guard, nor eye, / If you opposed them: the fencers of France would have been clumsy, defenseless, and blind if Laertes were fighting against them.
100
If one could match you: the scrimers of their nation,
101
He swore, had had neither motion, guard, nor eye,
102
If you opposed them. Sir, this report of his
103
Did Hamlet so envenom with his envy
104
That he could nothing do but wish and beg
105. sudden: speedy. play: fence.
105
Your sudden coming o'er, to play with him.
106
Now, out of this
LAERTES
106
What out of this, my lord?
KING
107
Laertes, was your father dear to you?
108
Or are you like the painting of a sorrow,
109
A face without a heart?
LAERTES
109
Why ask you this?
KING
110
Not that I think you did not love your father;
111. begun by time: i.e., born from a particular set of circumstances. 112. in passages of proof: i.e., by examples of situations in which love is tested. 113. qualifies: dilutes, weakens.
111
But that I know love is begun by time;
112
And that I see, in passages of proof,
113
Time qualifies the spark and fire of it.
114
There lives within the very flame of love
115. snuff: the charred part of a candle wick.
115
A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it;
116. nothing is at a like goodness still: nothing remains at the same perfection forever. 117. plurisy: excess, plethora.
116
And nothing is at a like goodness still;
117
For goodness, growing to a plurisy,
118. too much: excess. that: that which.
118
Dies in his own too much. That we would do
119
We should do when we would; for this "would" changes
120. abatements: diminutions.
120
And hath abatements and delays as many
121. accidents: random occurrences.
121
As there are tongues, are hands, are accidents;
122-123. a spendthrift sigh, / That hurts by easing: 123. quick o' the ulcer: i.e., the heart of the problem. The kind of ulcer referred to is external. A modern (C.E. 2015) example of such an ulcer is a bedsore. They were treated by draining the pus from the center, the "quick."
122
And then this "should" is like a spendthrift sigh,
123
That hurts by easing. But, to the quick o' the ulcer:
124
Hamlet comes back: what would you undertake,
125
To show yourself your father's son in deed
126
More than in words?
LAERTES
126
To cut his throat i' the church.
KING
127. No place . . . should murder sanctuarize: i.e., no place should offer asylum to a murderer.
127
No place, indeed, should murder sanctuarize;
128
Revenge should have no bounds. But, good Laertes,
129. Will you do this, keep close within your chamber: If you are willing to do this (i.e., take revenge on Hamlet), keep out of sight in your room. 131. We'll . . . excellence: I will urge on those who will praise your excellence. 132. double varnish: second coat of varnish. 133. in fine: finally.
129
Will you do this, keep close within your chamber.
130
Hamlet return'd shall know you are come home:
131
We'll put on those shall praise your excellence
132
And set a double varnish on the fame
133
The Frenchman gave you, bring you in fine together
134. remiss: careless; i.e., overly trusting.
134
And wager on your heads. He, being remiss,
135. generous: noble-minded. free from contriving: free from the inclination to lay plots. 136. peruse: examine.
135
Most generous and free from all contriving,
136
Will not peruse the foils; so that, with ease,
137
Or with a little shuffling, you may choose
138. unbated: having no button, sharp. Foils used in a fencing match were (and still are) fitted with buttons on the tips, so that no one would get seriously hurt. pass of practise: treacherous thrust.
138
A sword unbated, and in a pass of practise
139
Requite him for your father.
LAERTES
139
I will do't:
140
And, for that purpose, I'll anoint my sword.
141. unction: ointment. mountebank: i.e., snake-oil salesman. 142. mortal: deadly.
141
I bought an unction of a mountebank,
142
So mortal that, but dip a knife in it,
143. cataplasm: poultice.
143
Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare,
144. simples: medicinal herbs. virtue: curative power.
144
Collected from all simples that have virtue
145
Under the moon, can save the thing from death
146
That is but scratch'd withal: I'll touch my point
147. that: so that. gall: graze, wound.
147
With this contagion, that, if I gall him slightly,
148
It may be death.
KING
148
Let's further think of this;
149
Weigh what convenience both of time and means
150. fit us to our shape: i.e., suit our purposes best.
150
May fit us to our shape: if this should fail,
151. our drift look through our bad performance: our (evil) intention becomes visible because of our bad execution (of our plot). 153. back or second: i.e., a back-up plan. hold: be effective, not fail. 154. blast in proof: blow up while being tried. Soft! i.e., wait a minute, let me think. ...more
151
And that our drift look through our bad performance,
152
'Twere better not assay'd: therefore this project
153
Should have a back or second, that might hold,
154
If this should blast in proof. Soft! let me see:
155
We'll make a solemn wager on your cunnings
156
I ha't.
157
When in your motion you are hot and dry
158. As . . . end: i.e., and you should make your bouts of fencing more active to achieve that goal. 159. And . . . drink: and when, as he is hot and dry, he calls for drink. 160. nonce: occasion. 161. venom'd stuck: poisoned thrust.
158
As make your bouts more violent to that end
159
And that he calls for drink, I'll have prepar'd him
160
A chalice for the nonce, whereon but sipping,
161
If he by chance escape your venom'd stuck,
162
Our purpose may hold there. But stay, what noise?
Enter QUEEN.
QUEEN
163
One woe doth tread upon another's heel,
164
So fast they follow; your sister's drown'd, Laertes.
LAERTES
165
Drown'd! O, where?
QUEEN
166. willow aslant: sideways over.
166
There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
167. hoar: grey-white.
167
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
168. Therewith: i.e., with willow branches.
168
Therewith fantastic garlands did she make
169. long purples: wild orchids.
169
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
170. liberal: free-spoken. a grosser name: ??? 171. cold: chaste.
170
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
171
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them:
172. coronet weeds: i.e., weeds woven into a coronet. ...more 173. envious sliver: malicious branch.
172
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
173
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
174
When down her weedy trophies and herself
175
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;
176
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:
177. lauds: hymns.
177
Which time she chanted snatches of old lauds;
178. incapable: not capable of understanding.
178
As one incapable of her own distress,
179. indued: adapted by nature.
179
Or like a creature native and indued
180. that element: i.e., water.
180
Unto that element: but long it could not be
181
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
182
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay
183
To muddy death.
LAERTES
183
Alas, then, she is drown'd?
QUEEN
184
Drown'd, drown'd.
LAERTES
185
Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia,
186
And therefore I forbid my tears: but yet
187-188. It is our trick: i.e., weeping is a natural human response. ...more 188. these: these tears.
187
It is our trick; nature her custom holds,
188
Let shame say what it will: when these are gone,
189. The woman will be out: i.e., I will be done acting like a woman. 190. fain would: urgently desires to.
189
The woman will be out. Adieu, my lord:
190
I have a speech of fire, that fain would blaze,
191. this folly: i.e., my own foolish tears.
191
But that this folly drowns it.
Exit.
KING
192
Let's follow, Gertrude:
193
How much I had to do to calm his rage!
194
Now fear I this will give it start again;
195
Therefore let's follow.
Exeunt.