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- William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act IV
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Act IVScene IA room in the castleEnter King Claudius, Queen Gertrude, Rosencrantz, and GuildensternKing ClaudiusThere’s matter in these sighs, these profound heaves: You must translate: ’tis fit we understand them. Where is your son?Queen GertrudeBestow this place on us a little while.Exeunt Rosencrantz and GuildensternAh, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!King ClaudiusWhat, Gertrude? How does Hamlet?Queen GertrudeMad as the sea and wind, when both contend Which is the mightier: in his lawless fit, Behind the arras hearing something stir, Whips out his rapier, cries, ‘A rat, a rat!’ And, in this brainish apprehension, kills The unseen good old man.King ClaudiusO heavy deed! It had been so with us, had we been there: His liberty is full of threats to all; To you yourself, to us, to every one. Alas, how shall this bloody deed be answer’d? It will be laid to us, whose providence Should have kept short, restrain’d and out of haunt, This mad young man: but so much was our love, We would not understand what was most fit; But, like the owner of a foul disease, To keep it from divulging, let it feed Even on the pith of Life. Where is he gone?Queen GertrudeTo draw apart the body he hath kill’d: O’er whom his very madness, like some ore Among a mineral of metals base, Shows itself pure; he weeps for what is done.King ClaudiusO Gertrude, come away! The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch, But we will ship him hence: and this vile deed We must, with all our majesty and skill, Both countenance and excuse. Ho, Guildenstern!Re-enter Rosencrantz and GuildensternFriends both, go join you with some further aid: Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain, And from his mother’s closet hath he dragg’d him: Go seek him out; speak fair, and bring the body Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this.Exeunt Rosencrantz and GuildensternCome, Gertrude, we’ll call up our wisest friends; And let them know, both what we mean to do, And what’s untimely done… Whose whisper o’er the world’s diameter, As level as the cannon to his blank, Transports his poison’d shot, may miss our name, And hit the woundless air. O, come away! My soul is full of discord and dismay.Exeunt
Brewer’s: Hamlet
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William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act III
- William Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act III
TrendingHere are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.
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
TrendingHere are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.
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
- 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
