ACT II. SCENE I.

A Room in POLONIUS'S House.

Enter POLONIUS and REYNALDO 9.

Pol. Give him this money, and these notes, Reynaldo.
Rey. I will, my lord.

Pol. You shall do marvellous wisely, good Reynaldo,
Before you visit him, to make inquiry

Of his behaviour.

Rey.

My lord, I did intend it.

Pol. Marry, well said: very well said. Look you, sir,
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris;

And how, and who, what means, and where they keep,
What company, at what expense; and finding,
By this encompassment and drift of question,
That they do know my son, come you more nearer
Than your particular demands will touch it.

Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him;
As thus ',-"I know his father, and his friends,
And, in part, him :"-do you mark this, Reynaldo?
Rey. Ay, very well, my lord.

Pol. 66

And, in part, him; but," you may say, "not well: But, if't be he I mean, he's very wild,

Addicted so and so ;"-and there put on him

What forgeries you please; marry, none so rank
As
may dishonour him: take heed of that;
But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips,
As are companions noted and most known
To youth and liberty.

Rey.

As gaming, my lord.

Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing, quarrelling, Drabbing:-you may go so far.

Rey. My lord, that would dishonour him.

Pol. 'Faith, no; as you may season it in the charge.

• Enter Polonius and Reynaldo.] The later 4tos. read, "Enter old Polonius with his man or two." The 4to, 1603, "Enter Corambis and Montano."

1 As thus,] It is "And thus" in the folios, "As thus" in the 4tos, with which the corr. fo. 1632 is made to agree.

You must not put another scandal on him,

That he is open to incontinency;

That's not my meaning; but breathe his faults so quaintly,
That they may seem the taints of liberty;

The flash and out-break of a fiery mind;
A savageness in unreclaimed blood,

Of general assault.

Rey.

Pol. Wherefore should you do this?

Rey.

I would know that.

Pol.

But, my good lord,—

Ay, my lord,

Marry, sir, here's my drift;

And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant2.
You laying these slight sullies on my son,
As 'twere a thing a little soil'd i'the working,
Mark you,

Your party in converse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes
The youth you breathe of guilty, be assur'd,
He closes with you in this consequence:

"Good sir," or so; or "friend," or "gentleman,"-
According to the phrase, or the addition,

Of man, and country.

Rey.

Very good, my lord.

Pol. And then, sir, does he this, he doesWhat was I about to say?-By the mass', I was About to say something :—where did I leave? Rey. At closes in the consequence,

As "friend or so," and "gentleman *."

Pol. At, closes in the consequence,-ay, marry;

He closes thus :-"I know the gentleman;

I saw him yesterday, or t'other day,

Or then, or then; with such, or such; and, as you say,
There was he gaming; there o'ertook in's rouse;

There falling out at tennis: or perchance,

I saw him enter such a house of sale,

2 And, I believe, it is a fetch of WARRANT.] So the folio. The 4to, 1604, reads, "a fetch of wit." Either may be right.

3 By the mass,] In the folio, 1623, this exclamation is omitted, here, perhaps, as a form of oath very objectionable subsequent to the Reformation. However, the same edition is often inconsistent in this respect.

4 As "friend or so," and "gentleman."] These words are only in the folio impressions. In the next line but one, the folio, 1623, inserts with you after "closes,"-not wanted, and not found in any of the older copies.

Videlicet, a brothel" or so forth.

See you now;

Your bait of falsehood takes this carp of truth':

And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,

With windlaces, and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out:
So, by my former lecture and advice,
Shall you my son.
Rey. My lord, I have.

Pol.

You have me, have you not?

Rey. Good my lord.

God be wi'

you; fare you

well.

1

Well, my lord. [Exit".

Enter OPHELIA.

Pol. Farewell!-How now, Ophelia ? what's the matter? Oph. Alas, my lord'! I have been so affrighted!

Pol. With what, in the name of God?

Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my chamber,
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbrac'd;
No hat upon his head; his stockings foul'd,
Ungarter'd, and down-gyved to his ancle;

Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other;
And with a look so piteous in purport,

As if he had been loosed out of hell

To speak of horrors, he comes before me.

Pol. Mad for thy love?

Oph.

But, truly, I do fear it.

Pol.

My lord, I do not know;

What said he ?

Oph. He took me by the wrist, and held me hard;

Then goes he to the length of all his arm,

And, with his other hand thus o'er his brow,

this CARP of truth:] All the folios have "cape of truth," the 4tos. " carp,"

to which the word in the corr. fo. 1632 is amended.

Rey. Well, my lord. [Exit.] Mr. Singer, by the erroneous division of a line, here represents Polonius, and not Reynaldo, as making his Exit: the mistake detects itself in the next words.

Alas, my lord!] The 4tos, "Oh my lord, my lord," and in the next line but one, closet for "chamber:" the 4to, 1603, has not the passage, but begins "Oh, my dear father! such a change in nature."

He falls to such perusal of my face,

As he would draw it. Long stay'd he so:
At last, a little shaking of mine arm,

And thrice his head thus waving up and down,—
He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound,

That it did seem to shatter all his bulk,
And end his being. That done, he lets me go,
And, with his head over his shoulder turn'd,
He seem'd to find his way without his

eyes;

For out o' doors he went without their help,
And to the last bended their light on me.

Pol. Come, go with me: I will go seek the king.
This is the very ecstasy of love;

Whose violent property fordoes itself,

And leads the will to desperate undertakings,

As oft as any passion under heaven,

That does afflict our natures. I am sorry,

What! have you given him any hard words of late?
Oph. No, my good lord; but, as you did command,
I did repel his letters, and denied

His access to me.

Pol.

That hath made him mad.

I am sorry that with better heed and judgment

8

I had not quoted him': I fear'd, he did but trifle,

And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew my jealousy!

By heaven, it is as proper to our age

To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions,

As it is common for the younger sort

To lack discretion. Come, go we to the king:

This must be known; which, being kept close, might move More grief to hide, than hate to utter love.

[Exeunt.

s I am sorry that with better HEED and judgment] "Heed" is the word in the 4tos, which became speed in the folio, 1623; but the old word was introduced into the corr. fo. 1632 by the old annotator.

1 I had not QUOTED him:] i. e. Noted or observed him. See Vol. iii. p. 184, Vol. iv. p. 508, and this Vol. p. 116.

2 And meant to WRECK thee;] This is one of the places where the old spelling of "wreck" wrack, (observed by some modern editors, as if we ought to return to the loose and uncertain orthography of our ancestors,) produces confusion. It is not quite clear whether Polonius means "wrack," in the sense cast away, or rack in the sense of tortured: we have taken it as the former, because it is the more probable. The folio, 1623, sometimes spells “rack" wrack, as in the passage in "King Lear," A. v. sc. 3, where Kent speaks of "the rack of this tough world." It is wracke also in the 4tos.

SCENE II.

A Room in the Castle.

Enter King, Queen, ROSENCRANTZ, GUILDENSTERN, and Attendants.

King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern:
Moreover that we much did long to see you,

The need we have to use you did provoke
Our hasty sending. Something have you heard
Of Hamlet's transformation; so I call it,

Sith nor th' exterior nor the inward man
Resembles that it was. What it should be,

More than his father's death, that thus hath put him
So much from the understanding of himself,

I cannot dream of3: I entreat you both,

That, being of so young days brought up with him,
And since so neighbour'd to his youth and humour,
That you Vouchsafe your rest here in our court
Some little time; so by your companies
To draw him on to pleasures, and to gather,
So much as from occasion you may glean,

Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus ',
That, open'd, lies within our remedy.

Queen. Good gentlemen, he hath much talk'd of you;

And, sure I am, two men there are not living,

To whom he more adheres. If it will please you

To show us so much gentry, and good will,

As to expend your time with us a while,
For the supply and profit of our hope,
Your visitation shall receive such thanks
As fits a king's remembrance.

Ros.

Both your majesties

Might, by the sovereign power you have of us,

3 I cannot DREAM of:] So the 4tos, 1604, &c. The folio has deem for "dream." In the next line but one, the folio has "humour" for haviour of the 4tos. "Humour" appears preferable.

♦ Whether aught, to us unknown, afflicts him thus,] This line, absolutely necessary to the sense, and found in all the 4tos. subsequent to that of 1603, is omitted in the folio.