will forestal' their repair hither, and say, you are not fit. Let all the battlements their ordnance fire; Ham. Not a whit, we defy augury; there is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all: Since no man, if aught he leaves, knows, what is't to leave betimes? Let be. Enter King, Queen, Laertes, Lords, Osric, and tendants, with foils, &c. King. Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me. [The King puts the hand of Laertes into that of Hamlet. Ham. Give me your pardon, sir: I have done you wrong; But pardon it, as you are a gentleman. heard, How I am punish'd with a sore distraction. That might your nature, honour, and exception, Let my disclaiming from a purpos'd evil Free me so far in your most generous thoughts, Laer. I am satisfied in nature, Laer. Ham. Laer. Ham. Come, my lord. [They play. One. No. Judgment. Well,-again. Osr. A hit, a very palpaple hit. is thine; Here's to thy health.-Give him the cup. [Trumpets sound; and cannon shot off within. Ham. I'll play this bout first, set it by a while. Come,-Another hit; What say you? [They play, Laer. A touch, a touch, I do confess. King. Our son shall win. Queen. He's fat, and scant of breath.Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows: The queen carouses" to thy fortune, Hamlet. Ham. Good madam, King. Gertrude, do not drink. Queen. I will, my lord;-I pray you, pardon me King. It is the poison'd cup; it is too late. [Aside Ham. I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by. Queen. Come, let me wipe thy face. Laer. My lord, I'll hit him now. King. I do not think it. Laer. And yet it is almost against my conscience. [Aside. Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes; you do but dally; I pray you, pass with your best violence; Laer. Have at you now. Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes; in mine igno-King. Your grace hath laid the odds o'the weaker side. King. I do not fear it: I have seen you both :But since he's better'd, we have therefore odds. Laer. This is too heavy, let me see another. Ham. This likes me well: these foils have all a length? [They prepare to play. Osr. Ay, my good lord. If Hamlet give the first or second hit, (1) Prevent. (2) The king and queen's presence. (3) Unwounded. (4) Large jugs. (5) A precious pearl, (6) Handkerchief. I [They play. [Laertes wounds Hamlet; then, in scuffling, they change rapiers, and Hamlet wounds Laertes. Part them, they are incens'd. Ham. Nay, come again. [The Queen falls. Look to the queen there, ho! Hor. They bleed on both sides :-How is it, my Osr. lord? am justly kill'd with mine own treachery. King. The drink, the drink;-I am poison'd! [Dies. (7) Drinks good luck to you. (8) Boy. (9) The foil without a button, and poisoned at the point. Hath turn'd itself on me; lo, here I lie, Envenom'd too!-Then, venom, to thy work. Osr.& Lords. Treason! treason! Drink off this potion:-is the union here? Where should we have our thanks? Not from his mouth, [King dies. Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters; He is justly serv'd; [Dies. I am more an antique Roman than a Dane, Ham. As thou'rt a man,- And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, [March afar off, and shot within. To the ambassadors of England gives Ham. O, I die, Horatio; The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit; And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! Enter Fortinbras, the English Ambassadors, and others. Fort. Let us haste to hear it, Hor. Of that I shall have also cause to speak, Even while men's minds are wild; lest more mischance, On plots and errors, happen. Fort. Let four captains Take up the bodies:-Such a sight as this If the dramas of Shakspeare were to be characterised, each by the particular excellence which distinguishes it from the rest, we must allow to the tragedy of Hamlet the praise of variety. The incidents are so numerous, that the argument of the play would make a long tale. The scenes are interchangeably diversified with merriment and solemnity: with merriment that includes judicious and instructive observations; and solemnity not strained by poetical violence above the natural sentiments of man. New characters appear from time to time in continual succession, exhibiting various The pretended madness of Hamlet causes much forms of life, and peculiar modes of conversation. mirth, the mournful distraction of Ophelia fills the heart with tenderness, and every personage produces the effect intended, from the apparition that, in the first act, chills the blood with horror, to the fop in the last, that exposcs affectation to just con tempt. The conduct is, perhaps, not wholly secure against objections. The action is, indeed, for the most part, in continual progression; but there are some scenes which neither forward nor retard it. Of the feigned madness of Hamlet there appears no adequate cause, for he does nothing which he might not have done with the reputation of sanity. He plays the (7) A word of censure when more game was destroyed than was reasonable. (8) i. e. The king's. (9) By chance. madman most, when he treats Ophelia with so much easily be formed, to kill Hamlet with the dagger rudeness, which seems to be useless and wanton and Laertes with the bowl. cruelty. Hamlet is, through the whole piece, rather an instrument than an agent. After he has, by the stratagem of the play, convicted the king, he makes no attempt to punish him; and his death is at last effected by an incident which Hamlet had no part in producing. The poet is accused of having shown little regard to poetical justice, and may be charged with equal neglect of poetical probability. The apparition left the regions of the dead to little purpose: the revenge which he demands is not obtained, but by the death of him that was required to take it; and the gratification, which would arise from the The catastrophe is not very happily produced; destruction of a usurper and a murderer, is abated the exchange of weapons is rather an expedient of by the untimely death of Ophelia, the young, the necessity, than a stroke of art. A scheine might beautiful, the harmless, and the pious. JOHNSON. |