Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 3
Enter KING, ROSENCRANTZ,
and GUILDENSTERN.
KING
1 I like him not, nor stands it safe with us
2 To let his madness range. Therefore prepare you;
1-2. I like . . . range: i.e., I don't trust him, and it's not safe for me to let him do or say whatever comes into his mad mind.
3 I your commission will forthwith dispatch,
3. I your ... dispatch: I will have your commission drawn up immediately. ...more
4 And he to England shall along with you:
5 The terms of our estate may not endure
5. The terms of our estate: i.e., my position as king. ...more
6 Hazard so near's as doth hourly grow
7 Out of his brows.
6-7. Hazard so near's as doth hourly grow / Out of his brows: i.e., dangers that threaten me so nearly, which grow every hour from his (mad) moods.
GUILDENSTERN
We will ourselves provide.
7. We will ourselves provide: we will get ourselves ready [for the trip to England].
8 Most holy and religious fear it is
8. fear: care, concern [about dangers].
9 To keep those many many bodies safe
10 That live and feed upon your majesty.
9-10. many many bodies . . . / That live and feed upon your majesty: Guildenstern means all the people of the Kingdom of Denmark, as Rosencrantz makes clear in his following speech.
ROSENCRANTZ
11 The single and peculiar life is bound,
11. single and peculiar: individual and private.
12 With all the strength and armor of the mind,
13 To keep itself from noyance; but much more
13. noyance: injury.
14 That spirit upon whose weal depend and rest
14. weal: wellness, health.
15 The lives of many. The cess of majesty
15. cess of majesty: cessation, death of royal authority.
16 Dies not alone; but, like a gulf, doth draw
16. gulf: whirlpool.
17 What's near it with it: it is a massy wheel,
17. massy: massive.
18 Fix'd on the summit of the highest mount,
19 To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things
20 Are mortised and adjoin'd; which, when it falls,
20. mortised and adjoin'd: i.e., permanently attached to.
21 Each small annexment, petty consequence,
22 Attends the boisterous ruin. Never alone
21-22. Each . . . ruin: i.e., each little thing (or person) connected to or affected by a king shares in the chaotic and terrifying fall (of a king).
23 Did the king sigh, but with a general groan.
KING
24 Arm you, I pray you, to this speedy voyage;
24. Arm you . . . to: prepare yourselves for.
25 For we will fetters put upon this fear,
25. fetters: shackles, restraints. fear: source of fear [i.e., Hamlet's "madness"].
26 Which now goes too free-footed.
ROSENCRANTZ
We will haste us.
Exeunt Gentlemen
[Rosencrantz and Guildenstern].
Enter POLONIUS.
POLONIUS
27 My lord, he's going to his mother's closet:
27. closet: private room (such as a study or sewing-room).
28 Behind the arras I'll convey myself,
28. arras: heavy tapestry screen or hanging. convey myself: i.e., hide myself.
29 To hear the process; and warrant she'll tax him home:
29. process: course of the talk. and . . . home: i.e., and I guarantee that she will take him severely to task.
30 And, as you said, and wisely was it said,
31 'Tis meet that some more audience than a mother,
32 Since nature makes them partial, should o'erhear
33 The speech, of vantage. Fare you well, my liege:
33. of vantage: from an advantageous position, or for better understanding.
34 I'll call upon you ere you go to bed,
35 And tell you what I know.
KING
Thanks, dear my lord.
Exit [Polonius].
36 O, my offence is rank, it smells to heaven;
37 It hath the primal eldest curse upon't,
37. primal eldest curse: i.e., God's curse on Cain, who also murdered his brother.
38 A brother's murder. Pray can I not,
39 Though inclination be as sharp as will.
39. Though inclination be as sharp as will: though my desire is as strong as my resolve (to pray).
40 My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent;
41 And, like a man to double business bound,
41. to double business bound: i.e., committed to two courses of action.
42 I stand in pause where I shall first begin,
43 And both neglect. What if this cursed hand
44 Were thicker than itself with brother's blood,
45 Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
46 To wash it white as snow? Whereto serves mercy
47 But to confront the visage of offence?
46-47.Whereto serves mercy / But to confront the visage of offence?: i.e., what function has mercy except to fight sin?
48 And what's in prayer but this two-fold force,
49 To be forestalled ere we come to fall,
49. To be forestalled ere we come to fall: to be prevented [from sinning] before we sin.
50 Or pardon'd being down? Then I'll look up;
51 My fault is past. But, O, what form of prayer
50-51.Then I'll look up; / My fault is past: i.e., if I pray to God my sin will be forgiven.
52 Can serve my turn? "Forgive me my foul murder"?
53 That cannot be; since I am still possess'd
54 Of those effects for which I did the murder,
54. effects: prizes, motivations.
55 My crown, mine own ambition and my queen.
56 May one be pardon'd and retain th' offence?
56. th' offense: i.e., the fruits of the offense.
57 In the corrupted currents of this world
57. currents: courses.
58 Offence's gilded hand may shove by justice,
58. gilded hand: i.e., hand offering a bribe of gold.
59 And oft 'tis seen the wicked prize itself
59. wicked prize: prize won by wicked actions.
60 Buys out the law: but 'tis not so above;
61 There is no shuffling, there the action lies
61. There i.e., "above," in heaven.
62 In his true nature; and we ourselves compell'd,
61-62. the action . . . nature: the case against us is fully revealed.
63 Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults,
63. Even . . . forehead: i.e., down to the last little thing.
64 To give in evidence. What then? what rests?
64. what rests?: what remains [for me to do]?
65 Try what repentance can: what can it not?
65. what repentance can: what repentance can do.
66 Yet what can it when one can not repent?
67 O wretched state! O bosom black as death!
68 O limed soul, that, struggling to be free,
68. limed: caught (as with birdlime, a sticky substance used for catching birds).
69 Art more engaged! Help, angels! Make assay!
69. engag'd: entangled. Make assay!: i.e., try hard!
70 Bow, stubborn knees; and, heart with strings of steel,
71 Be soft as sinews of the newborn babe!
72 All may be well.
[Kneels.]
Enter HAMLET.
HAMLET
73 Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
73. pat: in a way that fits this perfect opportunity.
74 And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven;
75 And so am I revenged. That would be scann'd:
75. would be scann'd: asks to be carefully considered.
76 A villain kills my father; and for that,
77 I, his sole son, do this same villain send
78 To heaven.
79 O, this is hire and salary, not revenge.
80 He took my father grossly, full of bread;
80. grossly, full of bread: i.e., not spiritually prepared.
81 With all his crimes broad blown, as flush as May;
81. crimes: sins. broad blown: in full bloom. flush: lusty, vigorous. ...more
82 And how his audit stands who knows save heaven?
82. audit: [spiritual] account.
83 But in our circumstance and course of thought,
83. in our circumstance and course of thought: i.e., to the best of our knowledge and belief. Our "circumstance," which limits our knowledge, is that we are creatures of earth, and do not know the mind of God.
84 'Tis heavy with him: and am I then revenged,
85 To take him in the purging of his soul,
86 When he is fit and season'd for his passage?
87 No!
88 Up, sword; and know thou a more horrid hent:
88. Up: into the sheath know thou a more horrid hent: be grasped [by me] at a more horrid occasion.
89 When he is drunk asleep, or in his rage,
90 Or in the incestuous pleasure of his bed;
91 At gaming, swearing, or about some act
92 That has no relish of salvation in't;
92. relish: trace.
93 Then trip him, that his heels may kick at heaven,
94 And that his soul may be as damn'd and black
95 As hell, whereto it goes. My mother stays:
95. stays: i.e., awaits me.
96 This physic but prolongs thy sickly days.
96. physic: [spiritual] purging. thy: Hamlet is speaking under his breath to King Claudius.
Exit.
KING [Rising.]
97 My words fly up, my thoughts remain below:
98 Words without thoughts never to heaven go. Exit.