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- William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act IV, Scene III
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Scene IIIAnother room in the castleEnter King Claudius, attendedKing ClaudiusI have sent to seek him, and to find the body. How dangerous is it that this man goes loose! Yet must not we put the strong law on him: He’s loved of the distracted multitude, Who like not in their judgment, but their eyes; And where tis so, the offender’s scourge is weigh’d, But never the offence. To bear all smooth and even, This sudden sending him away must seem Deliberate pause: diseases desperate grown By desperate appliance are relieved, Or not at all.Enter RosencrantzHow now! what hath befall’n?RosencrantzWhere the dead body is bestow’d, my lord, We cannot get from him.King ClaudiusBut where is he?RosencrantzWithout, my lord; guarded, to know your pleasure.King ClaudiusBring him before us.RosencrantzHo, Guildenstern! bring in my lord.Enter Hamlet and GuildensternKing ClaudiusNow, Hamlet, where’s Polonius?HamletAt supper.King ClaudiusAt supper! where?HamletNot where he eats, but where he is eaten: a certain convocation of politic worms are e’en at him. Your worm is your only emperor for diet: we fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots: your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service, two dishes, but to one table: that’s the end.King ClaudiusAlas, alas!HamletA man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and cat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.King ClaudiusWhat dost you mean by this?HamletNothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of a beggar.King ClaudiusWhere is Polonius?HamletIn heaven; send hither to see: if your messenger find him not there, seek him i’ the other place yourself. But indeed, if you find him not within this month, you shall nose him as you go up the stairs into the lobby.King ClaudiusGo seek him there.To some AttendantsHamletHe will stay till ye come.Exeunt AttendantsKing ClaudiusHamlet, this deed, for thine especial safety,— Which we do tender, as we dearly grieve For that which thou hast done,—must send thee hence With fiery quickness: therefore prepare thyself; The bark is ready, and the wind at help, The associates tend, and every thing is bent For England.HamletFor England!King ClaudiusAy, Hamlet.HamletGood.King ClaudiusSo is it, if thou knew’st our purposes.HamletI see a cherub that sees them. But, come; for England! Farewell, dear mother.King ClaudiusThy loving father, Hamlet.HamletMy mother: father and mother is man and wife; man and wife is one flesh; and so, my mother. Come, for England!ExitKing ClaudiusFollow him at foot; tempt him with speed aboard; Delay it not; I’ll have him hence to-night: Away! for every thing is seal’d and done That else leans on the affair: pray you, make haste.Exeunt Rosencrantz and GuildensternAnd, England, if my love thou hold’st at aught— As my great power thereof may give thee sense, Since yet thy cicatrice looks raw and red After the Danish sword, and thy free awe Pays homage to us—thou mayst not coldly set Our sovereign process; which imports at full, By letters congruing to that effect, The present death of Hamlet. Do it, England; For like the hectic in my blood he rages, And thou must cure me: till I know ’tis done, Howe’er my haps, my joys were ne’er begun.Exit
William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act IV
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William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act II, Scene II
- William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act II, Scene II
TrendingHere are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.
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TrendingHere are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.
Did Birds Evolve from Dinosaurs?
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Current Events This Week: January 2023
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Andersen’s Fairy Tales: Contents
The Celtic Twilight: A Teller of Tales
- Did Birds Evolve from Dinosaurs?
- The Twelve Dancing Princesses
- Current Events This Week: January 2023
- African Americans by the Numbers
- Andersen’s Fairy Tales: Contents
- The Celtic Twilight: A Teller of Tales
