Another Part of the Platform.
 Enter GHOST and HAMLET.

Hamlet	Whither wilt thou lead me? Speak; I'll go no further.

Ghost	Mark me.

Hamlet				I will.

Ghost							My hour is almost come
	When I to sulph'rous and tormenting flames
	Must render up myself.

Hamlet								Alas, poor ghost!

Ghost	Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing
	To what I shall unfold.

Hamlet						Speak, I am bound to hear.

Ghost	So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.

Hamlet	What?

Ghost	I am thy father's spirit,
	Doomed for a certain term to walk the night,
	And for the day confined to fast in fires,
	Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
	Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid
	To tell the secrets of my prison-house
	I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
	Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
	Make thy two eyes like stars start from their spheres,
	Thy knotted and combind locks to part,
	And each particular hair to stand an end
	Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.
	But this eternal blazon must not be
	To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!
	If thou didst ever thy dear father love-

Hamlet	O God!

Ghost	Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.

Hamlet	Murder!

Ghost	Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
	But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.

Hamlet	Haste me to know't, that I with wings as swift
	As meditation or the thoughts of love
	May sweep to my revenge.

Ghost									I find thee apt;
	And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed
	That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf
	Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:
	'Tis given out that, sleeping in mine orchard
	A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark
	Is by a forgd process of my death
	Rankly abused. But know, thou noble youth,
	The serpent that did sting thy father's life
	Now wears his crown.

Hamlet							O my prophetic soul!
	Mine uncle?

Ghost	Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
	With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts-
	O wicked wit and gifts that have the power
	So to seduce! - won to his shameful lust
	The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen.
	O Hamlet, what a falling off was there
	From me, whose love was of that dignity
	That it went hand in hand even with the vow
	I made to her in marriage, and to decline
	Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor
	To those of mine.
	But virtue, as it never will be moved,
	Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
	So lust, though to a radiant angel linked,
	Will sate itself in a celestial bed
	And prey on garbage.
	But soft! - methinks I scent the morning air.
	Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard,
	My custom always in the afternoon,
	Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole
	With juice of cursd hebenon in a vial,
	And in the porches of mine ears did pour
	The leperous distilment, whose effect
	Holds such an enmity with blood of man
	That swift as quicksilver it courses through
	The natural gates and alleys of the body,
	And with a sudden vigour it doth posset
	And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
	The thin and wholesome blood. So did it mine,
	And a most instant tetter barked about,
	Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
	All my smooth body.
	Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand
	Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatched,
	Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
	Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled,
	No reck'ning made, but sent to my account
	With all my imperfections on my head.
	O, horrible! O, horrible! Most horrible!
	If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not.
	Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
	A couch for luxury and damnd incest.
	But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
	Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
	Against thy mother aught. Leave her to heaven,
	And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge
	To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once.
	The glowworm shows the matin to be near,
	And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire.
	Adieu, adieu, adieu! Remember me.
												[Exit.
Hamlet	O all you host of heaven! O earth! What else?
	And shall I couple hell? O, fie! Hold, hold, my heart,
	And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,
	But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee?
	Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
	In this distracted globe. Remember thee?
	Yea, from the table of my memory
	I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
	All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past,
	That youth and observation copied there,
	And thy commandment all alone shall live
	Within the book and volume of my brain,
	Unmixed with baser matter. Yes, by heaven!
	O most pernicious woman!
	O villain, villain, smiling, damnd villain!
	My tables - meet it is I set it down
	That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.
	At least I'm sure it may be so in Denmark.
												[Writing.
	So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;
	It is 'Adieu, adieu, remember me.'
	I have sworn't.

Horatio	[Calling within.]	My lord, my lord.

Marcellus	[Calling within.]	Lord Hamlet.

                       Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS.

Horatio	Heaven secure him.

Hamlet	So be it!

Marcellus	[Calling.] Illo, ho, ho, my lord.

Hamlet	Hillo, ho, ho, boy. Come, bird, come.

Marcellus	How is't, my noble lord?

Horatio	What news, my lord?

Hamlet	O, wonderful!

Horatio	Good my lord, tell it.

Hamlet							No, you will reveal it.

Horatio	Not I, my lord, by heaven.

Marcellus										Nor I, my lord.

Hamlet	How say you, then; would heart of man once think it?
	But you'll be secret?

Horatio &
Marcellus							Ay, by heaven, my lord.

Hamlet	There's never a villain dwelling in all Denmark
	But he's an arrant knave.

Horatio	There needs no ghost, my lord, come from the grave
	To tell us this.

Hamlet						Why, right, you are i'th' right;
	And so, without more circumstance at all,
	I hold it fit that we shake hands and part,
	You as your business and desire shall point you-
	For every man hath business and desire,
	Such as it is - and for mine own poor part,
	Look you, I'll go pray.

Horatio	These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.

Hamlet	I'm sorry they offend you, heartily;
	Yes, faith, heartily.

Horatio							There's no offence, my lord.

Hamlet	Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio,
	And much offence too. Touching this vision here,
	It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you.
	For your desire to know what is between us,
	O'ermaster 't as you may. And now, good friends,
	As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers,
	Give me one poor request.

Horatio								What is't, my lord? We will.

Hamlet	Never make known what you have seen tonight.

Horatio &
Marcellus	My lord, we will not.

Hamlet	Nay, but swear't.

Horatio	In faith, my lord, not I.

Marcellus	Nor I, my lord, in faith.

Hamlet	Upon my sword.

Marcellus	We have sworn, my lord, already.

Hamlet	Indeed, upon my sword, indeed.

Ghost	[Cries under the stage.] Swear.

Hamlet	Ah, ha, boy, sayst thou so? Art thou there, truepenny?
	Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage;
	Consent to swear.

Horatio						Propose the oath, my lord.

Hamlet	Never to speak of this that you have seen.
	Swear by my sword.

Ghost	Swear.
												[They swear.
Hamlet	Hic et ubique? Then we'll shift our ground.
	Come hither, gentlemen,
	And lay your hands again upon my sword.
	Swear by my sword,
	Never to speak of this that you have heard.

Ghost	Swear by his sword.
												[They swear.

Hamlet	Well said, old mole! Canst work i'th' earth so fast?
	A worthy pioneer! Once more remove, good friends.

Horatio	O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!

Hamlet	And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
	There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
	Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. But come,
	Here, as before, never, so help you mercy,
	How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself-
	As I perchance hereafter shall think meet
	To put an antic disposition on-
	That you, at such times seeing me, never shall,
	With arms encumbered thus, or this headshake,
	Or by pronouncing of some doubtful phrase
	As 'Well, well, we know' or 'We could, an if we would',
	Or 'If we list to speak' or 'There be, an if they might',
	Or such ambiguous giving out, to note
	That you know aught of me. This not to do,
	So grace and mercy at your most need help you, swear.

Ghost	Swear.
												[They swear.
Hamlet	Rest, rest, perturbd spirit! So, gentlemen,
	With all my love I do commend me to you,
	And what so poor a man as Hamlet is
	May do t' express his love and friending to you,
	God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together,
	And still your fingers on your lips, I pray.
	The time is out of joint. O cursd spite,
	That ever I was born to set it right!
	Nay, come, let's go together.
												[Exeunt.
