And, I believe, it is a fetch of warrant:
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 does—
What was I about to say?-By the mass, I
about to say something:-Where did I leave?
Rey. At, closes in the consequence.

was

Pol. At, closes in the consequence,—Ay, marry ; He closes with you 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 his rouse ; There falling out at tennis: or, perchance,

I saw him enter such a house of sale (Videlicit, 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 bias5,
By indirections find directions out;
So, by my former lecture and advice,

Shall you my son: You have me, have you not?
Rey. My lord, I have.

4 So, for so forth, as in the last act :- Six French rapiers and poniards with their assigns, as girdle, hanger, and so.'

5 i. e. by tortuous devices and side essays. To assay, or rather essay, of the French word essayer, tentare,' says Baret.

Pol.

God be wi' you; fare you well.

Rey. Good my lord,

Pol. Observe his inclination in yourself.

Rey. I shall, my lord.

Pol. And let him ply his musick.

Rey.

Well, my lord.

[Exit.

Enter OPHElia.

Pol. Farewell!--How now, Ophelia? what's the

matter?

Oph. O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted!

Pol. With what, in the name of heaven?

Oph. My lord, as I was sewing in my closet, 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,
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,-

6 i. e. in your own person, personally add your own observations of his conduct to these inquiries respecting him.

7 Hanging down like, the loose cincture which confines the fetters or gyvos round the ancles.

He rais'd a sigh so piteous and profound,
As 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 foredoes? 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 com-
mand,

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,
I had not quoted 10 him: I fear'd, he did but trifle,

8 i. e. his breast. The bulke or breast of a man, Thorax, la poitrine.'-Baret. Thus in King Richard III. Act i. Sc. 4, Clarence says:—

but still the envious flood

Kept in my soul, and would not let it forth,

But smothered it within my panting bulk.'

Malone cites this and the following passage, and yet explains it all his body!

her heart

Beating her bulk, that his hand shakes withal.'

Rape of Lucrece. 9 To foredo and to undo were synonymous. Thus in Othello:'That either makes me or fordoes me quite.'

10 To quote is to note, to mark. Thus ip The Rape of Lu

crece:

'Yea, the illiterate

Will quote my loathed trespass in my looks.'

This word in the quarto is written coted, which was the old orthography of quoted.

And meant to wreck thee; but, beshrew my jealousy! seems, it is as proper to our age

It

To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions,

As it is common for the younger sort

To lack discretion 11. 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 12.

Come 13.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II. A Room in the Castle.

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

King. Welcome, dear Rosencrantz, and Guilden-
stern!

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,
Since not1 the 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 of: I entreat you both,

11 This is not the remark of a weak man. It is always the fault of a little mind made artful by long commerce with the world. The quartos read,' By heaven it is as proper,' &c.

12 This must be made known to the king, for (being kept secret) the hiding Hamlet's love might occasion more mischief to us from him and the queen, than the uttering or revealing it will occasion hate and resentment from Hamlet.' Johnson, whose explanation this is, attributes the obscurity to the poet's 'affectation of concluding the scene with a couplet. There would surely have been more affectation in deviating from the universally established custom.

13 Folio omits come. 1 Quarto-sith nor.

2 Folio-deem.

That,-being of so young days brought up with him: And, since, so neighbour'd to his youth and humour 3,

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

Both your majesties

Ros.
Might, by the sovereign power you have of us7,
Put your dread pleasures more into command
Than to entreaty.

Guil.

But we both obey;

And here give up ourselves, in the full bent9,
To lay our service freely at your feet,

To be commanded.

kindness, or natural goodness. Generositas.'-Baret. 6 Supply and profit is aid and advantage.

7 i. e. over us.

8 Folio omits but.

9 There is no ground for the assertion that this metaphorical expression is derived from bending a bow. See Much Ado About Nothing, Act ii. Sc. 3. Hamlet in a future scene says:They fool me to the very top of my bent.' i. e. to the utmost of my inclination or disposition.