I stand aloof, and will no reconcilement,

Till by some elder masters, of known honour,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,

To keep my name ungor'd. But till that time,
I do receive your offer'd love like love,

And will not wrong it.

Ham.

I embrace it freely;

And will this brother's wager frankly play.

Give us the foils; come on.

Laer.

Come; one for me.

Ham. I'll be your foil, Laertes: in mine ignorance Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night,

Stick fiery off indeed.

Laer.

You mock me, sir.

Ham. No, by this hand.

King. Give them the foils, young Osrick.-Cousin

Hamlet,

You know the wager?

Ham.

[Foils given.

Very well, my lord;

Your grace hath laid the odds o' the weaker side.
King, I do not fear it: I have seen you both;
But since he is 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 stand apart, and prepare to play.

Osr. Ay, my good lord.

King. Set me the stoops of wine upon that table.— If Hamlet give the first or second hit,

Or quit in answer of the third exchange,

Let all the battlements their ordnance fire;

The king shall drink to Hamlet's better breath:

And in the cup an union shall he throw,

Richer than that which four successive kings

In Denmark's crown have worn.-Give me the cups:
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,

The trumpet to the cannoneer without,

The cannons to the heavens, the heavens to earth,
Now the king drinks to Hamlet!-Come, begin;

And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.

Here's to thy health.-Give him the cup,

[Trumpets sound, and cannon shot off.

Ham. I'll play this bout first: set it by awhile.

Come. Another hit; what say you?

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 :8

The queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.

Ham. Good madam,

'And in the cup an UNION] So the folio, rightly, an union being the most valuable kind of pearl.

* Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows] So the 4tos. : the folio, defectively, "Here's a napkin : rub thy brows."

King.

Gertrude, do not drink.

[Aside.

Queen. I will, my lord: I pray you pardon me. [Drinks.
King. It is the poison'd cup! it is too late.
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.

[A side.

Ham. Come, for the third, Laertes. You but dally:
I pray you, pass with your best violence.

I am afeard you make a wanton of me9.
Laer. Say you so? come on.

Osr. Nothing, neither way.

Laer. Have at you now.

King.

[They play.

[LAERTES wounds HAMLET; then in scuffling they change rapiers, and HAMLET wounds LAERTES.

Ham. Nay, come again.

Osr.

Part them they are incens'd.

[The QUEEN falls.

Look to the queen, there, ho!

Hor. They bleed on both sides.-How is it, my lord?

Osr. How is 't, Laertes ?

Laer. Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe,

Osrick;

I am justly kill'd with mine own treachery.

Ham. How does the queen?

King.

She swoons to see them bleed.

Queen. No, no, the drink, the drink:-O my dear

Hamlet,

' I am AFEARD you make a WANTON of me.] The 4tos, "I am sure," etc. Wanton here means a feeble effeminate person.

The drink, the drink! I am poison'd.

Ham. O villainy!-Ho! let the door be lock'd:

Treachery! seek it out.

Laer. It is here, Hamlet.

[Dies.

[LAERTES falls.

Hamlet, thou art slain ;

No medicine in the world can do thee good;
In thee there is not half an hour of life :
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated, and envenom'd. The foul practice
Hath turn'd itself on me: lo! here I lie,
Never to rise again. Thy mother's poison'd.
I can no more: the king, the king 's to blame.
Ham. The point

Envenom'd too!--Then, venom, to thy work.

All Treason! treason!

[Stabs the KING.

King. O! yet defend me, friends; I am but hurt.

Ham. Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damned Dane, Drink off this potion :-is thy union here?

Follow my mother.

Laer.

He is justly serv'd:

It is a poison temper'd by himself.—

[KING dies.

Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee;
Nor thine on me!

[Dies.

Ham. Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.

I am dead, Horatio.-Wretched queen, adieu !--
You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time, (as this fell sergeant, death,
Is strict in his arrest) O! I could tell you,----
But let it be.-Horatio, I am dead;

Thou liv'st report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane:

Here's yet some liquor left.

[Offering to drink.

As thou 'rt a man,

Ham.
Give me the cup:

let

go; by heaven I'll have it.— [They struggle, and HAMLET prevails, and throws the cup away.

O God!-Horatio, what a wounded name,

Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me?
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,

Absent thee from felicity awhile,

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,

To tell my story.

[March afar off, and firing.

What warlike noise is this?

Osr. Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland, To the ambassadors of England gives

This warlike volley.

Ham.

O! I die, Horatio;

The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit:

I cannot live to hear the news from England;

But I do prophesy the election lights

On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;

So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,

Which have solicited-the rest is silence.

[Dies.

Hor. Now cracks a noble heart.-Good night, sweet

prince ;

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!

Why does the drum come hither? [March heard within.