Haml Con Sel Eight
From Shakespeare Wiki
[edit] Ham Con Sel Eight
[edit] The Concordance to the Eighth Selection of the text of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Click on this hyperlink to go to the Eighth_Selection from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark or, you may go either to the Hamlet Concordance Pageor the Hamlet(play) pages by clicking here on these hyperlinks.
If you would like to look at another play, click here Shakespeare Table of Contents
[edit] About Making Notations
When you find something notable in the text (a Middle English word that needs defining, a sentence that needs paraphrasing, etc), simply scan the existing notations until you find one that most close matches the selection you want to note. Sometimes it will be a word definition within a phrase that needs clarifying, othertimes it will be a lengthy but incomprehensible (to modern ears) speech. When you have found a close approximation (there is a also an illustrative list on the Shakespeare Concordances page, with in-depth explanations), just "plug it in" by copy-pasting the example to the number of your note, and then after inserting the cursor at the proper points, type in your replacement text. Delete the letters and words that remain from the example, and you will have a definition, paraphrase, etc, consistently formatted with work done before you. After doing this a couple of times, you will "pick up" the system, and use it as easily as you might use any formatting rules.
After making your annotation alongside the proper number, click on your back button to return to the page and point where you were reading. If you have no back button displayed, go to the top of the page, and choose the proper selection of text from the text and concordance table
Building a great concordance is as easy as reading a and then writing down the definitions of unknown words, paraphrases and other illuminating material in the corresponding note place. In the case of EC formatted text, the annotations are made on a web e-note page. To make this process collective, EC text has been joined with a program containing an oneditor and uploader, namely the Wikipedia engine. Of course, Wiki-based sites offer other advantages, as well, such as relative immunity to vandalism.
Good luck! And remember, you are working on the world's first and only collective concordance!
John DeGrazia, Web Author and Programmer
[edit] Links to Text Selections and Concordances
Below is a simple wiki-style table of the links to the text selections and the corresponding concordances.
[edit] Annotations to the Eighth Selection of the Text of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
[edit] 10001
[edit] 10002
[edit] 10003
[edit] 10004
[edit] 10005
Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kin - Mixed it with dust, to which
it is related.
[edit] 10006
[edit] 10007
Tell us where 'tis, that we may take it thence and bear it to the chapel.
- Tell us where you have put it, so that we may bring it out and carry
it to the chapel.
[edit] 10008
[edit] 10009
[edit] 10010
[edit] 10011
[edit] 10012
[edit] 10013
[edit] 10014
That I can keep your counsel and not mine own. Besides, to be demanded
of a sponge! what replication should be made by the son of a king?
Paraphrase: Don't you believe for a moment that I will take your advice. I'll
keep my own counsel, thank you. Besides, to be ordered about by a parasite,
a hanger-on: what answer should be given such by the son of a king?
[edit] 10015
[edit] 10016
[edit] 10017
[edit] 10018
Take you me for a sponge, my lord? - You really believe I'm a hanger-on,
my lord?
[edit] 10019
[edit] 10020
[edit] 10021
Ay, sir, that soaks up the king's countenance, his
rewards, his authorities. But such officers do the
king best service in the end: he keeps them, like
an ape, in the corner of his jaw; first mouthed, to
be last swallowed: when he needs what you have
gleaned, it is but squeezing you, and, sponge, you
shall be dry again.
Paraphrase: Yes, sir, that takes from the king's coffer what he needs,
his approvals, as well as unwarranted authority. But perhaps it is the case
that such as you will best serve my uncle in the long run. He may keep you,
like a feeding ape. The leaves he chews he will first lodge within his cheek,
to be mouthed as you are. Later you will be swallowed when he needs all
that you have spied out. Yes, sir, you are a bolus of leaves chewed by an
ape, or a sponge who needs only be squeezed to dry you out.
countenance - sanctions, approvals
[edit] 10022
[edit] 10023
[edit] 10024
[edit] 10025
[edit] 10026
[edit] 10027
[edit] 10028
[edit] 10029
[edit] 10030
I am glad of it: a knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear.
Paraphrase: I am glad you can't understand me, for if a scoundrelous statement finds repose in
the ear of a fool, then my words will rest not with you.
Hamlet throws out a quotation that would have been familiar to the Elizabethans,
and then twists it to his purpose, which is to insult and wound Rosencranz.
[edit] 10031
[edit] 10032
[edit] 10033
[edit] 10034
[edit] 10035
[edit] 10036
[edit] 10037
[edit] 10038
[edit] 10039
[edit] 10040
[edit] 10041
[edit] 10042
[edit] 10043
[edit] 10044
[edit] 10045
[edit] 10046
[edit] 10047
I 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.
Paraphrase: I have ordered my officers to find Hamlet, and to retrieve
the body of Polonius. How unsafe it is for us to allow him to wander at
will. Still, we musn't bring him to our courts, for a public spectacle would
play into his hands. The misled and confused crowds that would pack Hangman's
Square would take him as their hero. Of this, there is no doubt in my mind.
Always, the crowd considers the punishment, which in this case must be capital,
and never the crime. With all due deliberation, this sudden move to send
him abroad must seem like a prearranged delay, intended to set our murdering
son free. Those looking on must believe we have been driven to desperation
by our son's illness, and thus are forced to resort to desperate measures,
or let this dangerous malady run its course.
distracted - misled, confused
scourge - punishment
Deliberate pause - prearranged delay or cessation
[edit] 10048
[edit] 10049
[edit] 10050
[edit] 10051
[edit] 10052
[edit] 10053
[edit] 10054
[edit] 10055
[edit] 10056
[edit] 10057
[edit] 10058
How now! what hath befall'n? - Hello! What has happened within
the castle walls?
[edit] 10059
[edit] 10060
Where the dead body is bestow'd, my lord, we cannot get from him.
Paraphrase:We cannot make him tell us where Lord Polonius' body is hidden.
[edit] 10061
[edit] 10062
[edit] 10063
[edit] 10064
[edit] 10065
Without, my lord; guarded, to know your pleasure. - Outside the door
and under guard, my lord.
[edit] 10066
[edit] 10067
[edit] 10068
[edit] 10069
[edit] 10070
[edit] 10071
[edit] 10072
[edit] 10073
[edit] 10074
[edit] 10075
[edit] 10076
[edit] 10077
[edit] 10078
Not 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.
Paraphrase: Lord Polonius is at dinner, dining with the worms. Only the
table is set for them, and not him. As far as eating goes, the worm is king,
for we fatten up all other creatures for our gastronomic use, but we ourselves
end as food for maggots and worms. Fat king or starving beggar, the end
is the same, to be served as a dish to maggots.
convocation - assembly
politic - cunning; crafty; scheming; canny; sly; shrewd; artful;
astute; ingenious.
[edit] 10079
[edit] 10080
[edit] 10081
[edit] 10082
[edit] 10083
[edit] 10084
[edit] 10085
[edit] 10086
[edit] 10087
[edit] 10088
[edit] 10089
[edit] 10090
[edit] 10091
[edit] 10092
[edit] 10093
Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress through the guts of
a beggar.
The implication that cat meat is beggar's food, and the cat that would
make a meal for a beggar, most certainly fed upon the fish that fed on the
worms that fed on the king. A variation on that which he affirmed above.
[edit] 10094
[edit] 10095
[edit] 10096
[edit] 10097
[edit] 10098
In 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
Paraphrase: Polonius is in Heaven. Send your officers there to see for
yourself. If he doesn't find him there, you may go to Hell yourself to look
for him there. But truly, if you don't find him within a month, you will
smell him as you walk up the stairs to those hallways on the upper floors.
[edit] 10099
[edit] 10100
[edit] 10101
[edit] 10102
[edit] 10103
[edit] 10104
bark - vessel, ship
[edit] 10105
bent - all effort is being made
[edit] 10106
[edit] 10107
[edit] 10108
[edit] 10109
[edit] 10110
[edit] 10111
[edit] 10112
[edit] 10113
[edit] 10114
[edit] 10115
[edit] 10116
[edit] 10117
[edit] 10118
[edit] 10119
[edit] 10120
[edit] 10121
[edit] 10122
[edit] 10123
[edit] 10124
[edit] 10125
[edit] 10126
cherub - angel, child-like angel, angel's babyish companion
[edit] 10127
[edit] 10128
[edit] 10129
[edit] 10130
[edit] 10131
[edit] 10132
Come, for England! - Let's go, on to England!
[edit] 10133
[edit] 10134
[edit] 10135
Follow him at foot; tempt him with speed aboard -
Paraphrase: Dog him,
tell him how fast the vessel is. He's fond of fast barks.
[edit] 10136
[edit] 10137
[edit] 10138
[edit] 10139
[edit] 10140
[edit] 10141
And, 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.
Paraphrase: (Addressing the powers that be in England) England, if you
value my good will towards you and your interests, or fear me and the power
of the Danes which have so recently inflicted such heavy losses on your
people: if still you pay us homage or stand in awe of Viking ships and soldiers,
dare you not set aside what I have decided in letters to the same effect.
Hamlet must die! And, you, England, must carry out the deed. For like a
torment of dissagreable passion, his memory rages in my heart. And it falls
to you to administer the medicine I will take. Until I am certain the deed
is done, it is as if my joys were never begun.
cicatrice - scar tissue
sovereign process - king's law
imports - indicates, signifies, implies, means, purports
congruing - agreeing
hectic - agitation
haps - luck
[edit] 10142
cicatrice - (SIC-ka-triss) scar tissue, a healed wound, the mark of a healed wound which for some unknown reason blushes red.
[edit] 10143
[edit] 10144
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;
Paraphrase: You may not set aside our Royal order, which means officially that Hamlet must be put to death. Do it, or else!
[edit] 10145
[edit] 10146
[edit] 10147
[edit] 10148
[edit] 10149
[edit] 10150
[edit] 10151
[edit] 10152
[edit] 10153
[edit] 10154
[edit] 10155
[edit] 10156
Go, captain, from me greet the Danish king;
Tell him that, by his licence, Fortinbras
Craves the conveyance of a promised march
Over his kingdom. You know the rendezvous.
If that his majesty would aught with us,
We shall express our duty in his eye;
And let him know so.
Paraphrase: (The Norwegian, Fortinbras, son of the late King of Norway,
slain by King Hamlet, speaking to his captain)
Go, captain, and extend my greetings and warm wishes to King Claudius
of Denmark. Tell him that, as previously agreed and by his permission, Prince
Fortinbras is hopeful of marching his men across the Danish kingdom in the
direction of the Polish territories. You know the place of meeting. If his
majesty, Claudius, requires anything of us, we will be happy to pledge to
him, and promise in his sight to be dutiful, and abide by his law and those
of the Danes.
licence - the authority of King Claudius
conveyance - accomplishment, carrying out of, also, a letter
of writ (right) to do so.
rendezvous - place of meeting, especially pre-arranged meeting
aught - anything, anything at all
duty - law abiding, dutiful
[edit] 10157
[edit] 10158
[edit] 10159
[edit] 10160
[edit] 10161
[edit] 10162
[edit] 10163
[edit] 10164
[edit] 10165
[edit] 10166
[edit] 10167
[edit] 10168
[edit] 10169
Good sir, whose powers are these? - Whose soldiers are these?
powers - military powers, army, soldiers
[edit] 10170
[edit] 10171
[edit] 10172
[edit] 10173
How purposed, sir, I pray you? - What is their intent? Against whom are they arrayed?
[edit] 10174
[edit] 10175
[edit] 10176
[edit] 10177
[edit] 10178
[edit] 10179
[edit] 10180
[edit] 10181
[edit] 10182
[edit] 10183
[edit] 10184
[edit] 10185
Truly to speak, and with no addition,
We go to gain a little patch of ground
That hath in it no profit but the name.
To pay five ducats, five, I would not farm it;
Nor will it yield to Norway or the Pole
A ranker rate, should it be sold in fee.
Paraphrase: In all honesty, and without any exaggeration, we are on our
way to conquer a scrap of land that has no more profit in it but an empty
name. To coax it into a yeild which would pay off a debt of five dollars
would be impractical. Nor would it bring that much or more if sold outright,
either by Norwegian or Pole. It is truly worthless land.
Note: Only the podzols (podzol soil) have such a tremendously bad reputation
such as would inspire such a speach. These soils are in Poland, lie partly
underwater or are perennially wet, and are built for the most part of decaying
pine needles. They are too acid for any and almost every agricultural use.
addition - embellishment, exaggeration
gain - conquer
ranker - richer
[edit] 10186
[edit] 10187
To paraphrase: If farmed, it couldn't even pay off a loan of five ducats, just five. It appears that in those days, as at present, farmers obtained loans in advance of their planting and cropping, so-called seed-money.
[edit] 10188
[edit] 10189
[edit] 10190
[edit] 10191
[edit] 10192
[edit] 10193
[edit] 10194
[edit] 10195
Two thousand souls and twenty thousand ducats
Will not debate the question of this straw:
This is the imposthume of much wealth and peace,
That inward breaks, and shows no cause without
Why the man dies. I humbly thank you, sir.
Paraphrase: Five ducats? No sir, two thousand people and twenty-thousand
dollars will not bring any more sense to the question of this lousy stubble
(used contemptuously as a description of the Polish land). Why? Because
your campaign is a fault of wealth and peace, which when breaking within
the body kills the patient, seemingly without cause. Thank you, and goodbye.
debate - bring some sense to
straw - the parts of cereal crops that remain after threshing,
which may be ploughed back into the soil, burned as stubble or used as litter
or feedstuff for animals, for thatching and weaving into hats, baskets,
etc.
imposthume - A collection of pus or purulent matter in any part
of an animal body; an abscess, pustule.
[edit] 10196
[edit] 10197
impostume - illness, something like a boil
[edit] 10198
[edit] 10199
[edit] 10200
[edit] 10201
[edit] 10202
[edit] 10203
[edit] 10204
[edit] 10205
[edit] 10206
[edit] 10207
[edit] 10208
[edit] 10209
How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge! What is a man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? a beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on the event,
A thought which, quarter'd, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward, I do not know
Why yet I live to say 'This thing's to do;'
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me:
Witness this army of such mass and charge
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare,
Even for an egg-shell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honour's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see
The imminent death of twenty thousand men,
That, for a fantasy and trick of fame,
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!
Paraphrase: How is it that every circumstance goes against me,
and drives me on to unintelligent revenge? What good is living, if the sole
purpose of life is to simply to eat and sleep? Then man should be an animal,
and nothing more. It is certain that He who made us with the capacity to
reason and converse to the extant that we do, did not give us that ability
simply to fester and rot within our brains, unused and unappreciated. Now,
whether it be the idotic oblivion of the simplest creatures, or some cowardly
objection based upon false morality and thinking too much, I do not know.
A thought divided into four parts is but one part wisdom and three parts
cowardice. Still, I live on to say, "This is the right thing to do."
Thus I have reason, will, strength and means to do it.
Examples as big as the whole world urge me on. Look at this army here
arrayed, charged with energy and excitement, massing in glorious array.
And each and every steel-clad Viking calls as his leader that delicate and
tender princeling standing there, whose spirit inflates to the bursting
point with god-given ambition. And yet he seems a bit disappointed at this
remarkable event, with its din and rumor of war. There he stands, ready
to risk all that is mortal and uncertain in the face of fortune, death and
danger, whether for a ton of gold or the shell of an egg.
Oh, to be sure the great and gracious man does not rise to such an occasion
for any old reason, but when honour's at stake, it is just for the mighty
to find a quarrel in the crack of a straw. How, then do I compare to them?
My father has been slain, my mother's honour stained, my sanity brought
into question, and my legitimacy challenged. How can I let all rest, while
here before me parade visions of the death in battle of these thousands,
who for an idle dream of some scanty bequest of land and property, or just
in fool pursuit of fame, will go to their graves as they go to their beds,
and fight for a bit of land which is not even big enough to bury the dead?
Oh, from this time on, let my thoughts be violent and with bloody issue,
or be deemed worth less than the quill that might be used to write them.
inform - incriminate
discourse - debate and conversation
fust - festering
scruple - moral distinction
quarter'd - divided in four
Excitements - agitation, discomposure
[edit] 10210
[edit] 10211
[edit] 10212
[edit] 10213
[edit] 10214
[edit] 10215
[edit] 10216
[edit] 10217
[edit] 10218
[edit] 10219
[edit] 10220
[edit] 10221
[edit] 10222
[edit] 10223
[edit] 10224
[edit] 10225
[edit] 10226
[edit] 10227
[edit] 10228
[edit] 10229
[edit] 10230
[edit] 10231
[edit] 10232
[edit] 10233
[edit] 10234
[edit] 10235
[edit] 10236
[edit] 10237
[edit] 10238
[edit] 10239
[edit] 10240
[edit] 10241
[edit] 10242
[edit] 10243
[edit] 10244
[edit] 10245
[edit] 10246
[edit] 10247
[edit] 10248
[edit] 10249
[edit] 10250
[edit] 10251
[edit] 10252
[edit] 10253
[edit] 10254
[edit] 10255
She speaks much of her father; says she hears
There's tricks i' the world; and hems, and beats her heart;
Spurns enviously at straws; speaks things in doubt,
That carry but half sense: her speech is nothing,
Yet the unshaped use of it doth move
The hearers to collection; they aim at it,
And botch the words up fit to their own thoughts;
Which, as her winks, and nods, and gestures
yield them,
Indeed would make one think there might be thought,
Though nothing sure, yet much unhappily.
Paraphrase: Ophelia rambles on about her father, Lord Polonius. She says
that there is evil afoot, and then turns her eyes as if to evade my questions.
If I press her, she beats her heart and cries. Grudgingly she rejects all
overtures upon the slightest pretext. She gives voice to such of our affairs
that might seem suspect, any doubtful matter that has but a shred of truth
within it.
And though her words carry as much meaning as the ramblings of an idiot,
those hearing gather in mutual consternation. Thus, her senseless rants
are shaped to accomodate the mood of the mob, and she, with winks and nods
urge them on in their half-formed conclusions, such that she and hers are
come to grief.
tricks - evil afoot
hems - hems and haws, A slight clearing of the throat or cough
to show hesitation or to draw attention, or to express indredulity, suspicion,
disagreement
Spurns enviously at straws - Grudgingly or resentfully rejects
all overtures at the slightest pretext.
botch - patch, make the meanings of her words fit her purpose
[edit] 10256
[edit] 10257
[edit] 10258
[edit] 10259
[edit] 10260
[edit] 10261
[edit] 10262
[edit] 10263
[edit] 10264
[edit] 10265
[edit] 10266
'Twere good she were spoken with; for she may strew dangerous conjectures
in ill-breeding minds.
strew - spread
conjectures - rumors, speculations
ill-breeding - trouble-making
[edit] 10267
[edit] 10268
[edit] 10269
[edit] 10270
[edit] 10271
To my sick soul, for it as sin's true nature is, Each toy seems prologue
to some great amiss: So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt.
Paraphrase: To my sick spirit, it is as the true nature of sin, where
each dalliance seems to be a preliminary to some great misadventure. So
green and obvious is my guilt, that it pours forth, even in the face of
the fear that it will be detected.
toy - dalliance
prologue - introduction, preliminary, that which introduces or comes before
amiss - disaster
artless - green and unconcealable, obvious.
guilt - The state of having done wrong or having broken a law.
[edit] 10272
[edit] 10273
[edit] 10274
[edit] 10275
[edit] 10276
[edit] 10277
[edit] 10278
[edit] 10279
[edit] 10280
[edit] 10281
[edit] 10282
[edit] 10283
[edit] 10284
[edit] 10285
[edit] 10286
[edit] 10287
[edit] 10288
[edit] 10289
[edit] 10290
[edit] 10291
[edit] 10292
[edit] 10293
[edit] 10294
[edit] 10295
[edit] 10296
[edit] 10297
[edit] 10298
[edit] 10299
[edit] 10300
[edit] 10301
[edit] 10302
[edit] 10303
[edit] 10304
[edit] 10305
[edit] 10306
[edit] 10307
[edit] 10308
[edit] 10309
[edit] 10310
[edit] 10311
[edit] 10312
[edit] 10313
[edit] 10314
[edit] 10315
[edit] 10316
[edit] 10317
[edit] 10318
[edit] 10319
[edit] 10320
[edit] 10321
[edit] 10322
[edit] 10323
[edit] 10324
[edit] 10325
[edit] 10326
[edit] 10327
[edit] 10328
[edit] 10329
[edit] 10330
[edit] 10331
[edit] 10332
[edit] 10333
[edit] 10334
[edit] 10335
By Gis and by Saint Charity,
Alack, and fie for shame!
Young men will do't, if they come to't;
By cock, they are to blame.
Quoth she, before you tumbled me,
You promised me to wed.
So would I ha' done, by yonder sun,
An thou hadst not come to my bed.
Paraphrase: By J- and the V- M-, How disgusting, for the shame of it!
Young men will do it (coitus?), when its in their way, but by G-, they must be blamed.
Said she, before you coerced me, you promised me to wed. And so would I
have done, by that setting sun, if you had not come to bed with me.
Gis - Jesus, to avoid taking the Lord's name in vain, it
would have been corrupted to Gis, much like golly is used
instead of God.
Saint Charity - Again, this is probably a way of saying by
Mary, Mother of God, or by the Virgin.
cock - Again, an expression in the way of avoiding an ungodly
oath.
It is probably the point of this ryhme that young men coerce their partners into having sex, and then blame them after its done and finished, saying they are no longer fit for marriage having engaged in intercourse premaritally. This remains to this day a sad fact of adolescent relations.
[edit] 10336
[edit] 10337
[edit] 10338
[edit] 10339
[edit] 10340
[edit] 10341
[edit] 10342
[edit] 10343
[edit] 10344
[edit] 10345
[edit] 10346
[edit] 10347
[edit] 10348
[edit] 10349
[edit] 10350
[edit] 10351
[edit] 10352
[edit] 10353
[edit] 10354
[edit] 10355
[edit] 10356
[edit] 10357
O, this is the poison of deep grief; it springs
All from her father's death. O Gertrude, Gertrude,
When sorrows come, they come not single spies
But in battalions. First, her father slain:
Next, your son gone; and he most violent author
Of his own just remove: the people muddied,
Thick and unwholesome in their thoughts and whispers,
For good Polonius' death; and we have done but greenly,
In hugger-mugger to inter him: poor Ophelia
Divided from herself and her fair judgment,
Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts:
Last, and as much containing as all these,
Her brother is in secret come from France;
Feeds on his wonder, keeps himself in clouds,
And wants not buzzers to infect his ear
With pestilent speeches of his father's death;
Wherein necessity, of matter beggar'd,
Will nothing stick our person to arraign
In ear and ear. O my dear Gertrude, this,
Like to a murdering-piece, in many places
Gives me superfluous death.
Paraphrase: Oh, this is the harmful result of the deepest grief. It stems
from the death of her father. Gertrude, our unhappiness is not a solitary
wandererer come to us on a winter's day, but is accompanied by a legion
of griefs, and will be with us always. First, the girl's father is murdered,
then your son, the perpetrator of the crime, is fled. And now, the people
arise in dismay, because of and bent upon avenging the death of good Lord
Polonius. And we have served the man's welfare and that of his soul so poorly,
burying him with undue haste in the secrecy of a courtly shroud.
Poor Ophelia is now divorced from her reason, and has abandoned her good opinion
of us, without which we must lose our souls or turn bestial, I'm not sure
which is worse. And lastly, but certainly as bad as all that I have said
before, her brother returns from France, almost certainly fallen prey to his imagination on what goes on here, while his spirit finds refuge on high, well out of reach of our advice, and each and every rumor-monger begs to be the first to bring to him troublesome speeches concerning the circumstances of his father's mysterious death. Of his own necessity, with nothing certain, he will on any pretext put us through the throes and trials of a popular indictment.
Oh, dear Gertrude, like a terrible gun meant only for murder, this matter kills me a hundred times over.
author - the murderer, the actor of the crime, the perpetrator
greenly - meanly, without respect, without respect and consideration
for him and his.
hugger-mugger - in a hurry, hastefully
fair judgment - good opinion, also, balanced mind
wonder - imagination
wants - lacks
buzzers - rumor-mongers
pestilent - poisonous, damaging
beggar'd - lacking, lacking in substance
will nothing stick our person to arraign - will with no evidence
of consequence indict us, bring us to popular judgement
in ear and eye - in the sight and hearing of the people, in the
popular imagination
murdering-piece - a particularly nasty handgun. Something like
a small shotgun, that is, loaded with several balls at the same time. Meant
to cause certain death at a short, personal range.
superfluous - more injury than is necessary to kill me.
[edit] 10358
[edit] 10359
[edit] 10360
[edit] 10361
[edit] 10362
[edit] 10363
[edit] 10364
[edit] 10365
[edit] 10366
[edit] 10367
[edit] 10368
[edit] 10369
[edit] 10370
Buzzers - rumormongers
[edit] 10371
[edit] 10372
[edit] 10373
[edit] 10374
[edit] 10375
[edit] 10376
[edit] 10377
[edit] 10378
[edit] 10379
[edit] 10380
[edit] 10381
Switzers - Mercenaries, paid guards. The best mercenaries were said
to be Swiss. Therefore, the name came to mean paid guards.
[edit] 10382
[edit] 10383
[edit] 10384
[edit] 10385
Save yourself, my lord:
The ocean, overpeering of his list,
Eats not the flats with more impetuous haste
Than young Laertes, in a riotous head,
O'erbears your officers. The rabble call him lord;
And, as the world were now but to begin,
Antiquity forgot, custom not known,
The ratifiers and props of every word,
They cry 'Choose we: Laertes shall be king:'
Caps, hands, and tongues, applaud it to the clouds:
'Laertes shall be king, Laertes king!'
Save yourself, King Claudius! The ocean, having taken its rest at the
dead low of its tide, advances not so quickly or impatiently over the flat
sands than young Laertes, at the had of a riotous crowd, overpowers your
officers. The mob calls him "Lord," and just as if it was the
first day on Earth, the philosophers of yore forgotten, and custom set by
the wayside, his supporters and followers shout, "Laertes shall be
King!" With cap, hand and tongue, they vote their fill, shouting "Long
live Laertes, for he shall be King."
overpeering of his list - surveying its tidal bounds, at low tide
list - incline, slope, in this case the tidal flats
flats - the tidal flats, the shallow areas exposed by the ocean's
tides. Common in Northern Europe. Less common in North America.
impetuous - spontaneous, hasty, rash, precipitate, reckless, eager,
unrestrained
riotous head - leader of a angry mob
O'erbears - overpowers
rabble - a crowd of commoners, a popular movement (used disparagingly,
as it assumes all readers and theatregoers will identify with the noble
roles and characters played by the actors.)
ratifiers and props - supporters and followers
[edit] 10386
[edit] 10387
[edit] 10388
[edit] 10389
[edit] 10390
[edit] 10391
[edit] 10392
[edit] 10393
[edit] 10394
[edit] 10395
[edit] 10396
[edit] 10397
How cheerfully on the false trail they cry! O, this is counter,
you false Danish dogs!
Paraphase: Look how like a pack of hunting hounds are our loyal subjects.
False Danes, how in opposition you are to fealty, decency and loyalty.
counter - opposed
[edit] 10398
[edit] 10399
[edit] 10400
[edit] 10401
[edit] 10402
[edit] 10403
[edit] 10404
[edit] 10405
[edit] 10406
[edit] 10407
[edit] 10408
[edit] 10409
[edit] 10410
[edit] 10411
[edit] 10412
[edit] 10413
[edit] 10414
[edit] 10415
[edit] 10416
[edit] 10417
[edit] 10418
[edit] 10419
That drop of blood that's calm proclaims me bastard, Cries cuckold
to my father, brands the harlot Even here, between the chaste
unsmirched brow Of my true mother.
Paraphrase: That little bit of me that remains calm says to the world that I was not his natural son, that he was cuckolded,
while my mother, chaste and true as she might have been, was harlotted and
whored during my conception.
cuckold - one whose wife cheats or has extramarital relations.
brands - To give someone a bad name or reputation. stigmatize,
label, censure, denounce, discredit, disgrace.
harlot - whore, prostitute
chaste - Sexually virtuous or pure; refraining from sexual
relations either outside marriage or altogether
unsmirched - unspoiled, unsullied, unsoiled
brow - A person's appearance or expression.
[edit] 10420
[edit] 10421
[edit] 10422
[edit] 10423
[edit] 10424
[edit] 10425
[edit] 10426
[edit] 10427
[edit] 10428
[edit] 10429
[edit] 10430
[edit] 10431
[edit] 10432
[edit] 10433
[edit] 10434
[edit] 10435
[edit] 10436
[edit] 10437
[edit] 10438
[edit] 10439
[edit] 10440
[edit] 10441
How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with:
To hell, allegiance! vows, to the blackest devil!
Conscience and grace, to the profoundest pit!
I dare damnation. To this point I stand,
That both the worlds I give to negligence,
Let come what comes; only I'll be revenged
Most thoroughly for my father.
Paraphrase: How is it my father died? I will not be trifled with. To
hell with my allegiance to the Danish crown. My vows can be writ where the
devil sits and shits, for all I care. Whatever happens, I will have no regrets.
Let God's eternal curses rest upon my shoulders. Now and the hereafter mean
not a farthing's worth of fat to me. Come what may, I will be revenged.
juggled with - trifled with, jerked around
negligence - imprudence, disregard
[edit] 10442
[edit] 10443
[edit] 10444
[edit] 10445
[edit] 10446
[edit] 10447
[edit] 10448
[edit] 10449
[edit] 10450
[edit] 10451
[edit] 10452
[edit] 10453
[edit] 10454
Good Laertes,
If you desire to know the certainty
Of your dear father's death, is't writ in your revenge,
That, swoopstake, you will draw both friend and foe,
Winner and loser?
Paraphrase: If you must know what happened, how your father died, will
your revenge include both friend and foe? Will you indiscriminately murder
those that had no fault as well as the guilty?
swoopstake - Altogether; indiscriminately
draw - execute
Winner and loser - winner and loser of the judgment or determination
of innocence and guilt.
[edit] 10455
[edit] 10456
[edit] 10457
[edit] 10458
[edit] 10459
[edit] 10460
[edit] 10461
[edit] 10462
[edit] 10463
[edit] 10464
To his good friends thus wide I'll ope my arms; And like the kind life-rendering
pelican, Repast them with my blood.</I>
Paraphrase: To my good friends, I'll open wide my arms, and like the
mythical pelican, feed them with my own blood.
Repast - feed, give them sustenance.
Note: The Pelican was mythically believed to be feeding its chicks with
blood, when actually it simply regurgitates the fish it has plucked from
the sea and swallowed previously.
[edit] 10465
[edit] 10466
[edit] 10467
[edit] 10468
[edit] 10469
[edit] 10470
[edit] 10471
[edit] 10472
[edit] 10473
[edit] 10474
[edit] 10475
[edit] 10476
[edit] 10477
[edit] 10478
[edit] 10479
[edit] 10480
O heat, dry up my brains! tears seven times salt,
Burn out the sense and virtue of mine eye!
By heaven, thy madness shall be paid by weight,
Till our scale turn the beam. O rose of May!
Dear maid, kind sister, sweet Ophelia!
O heavens! is't possible, a young maid's wits
Should be as moral as an old man's life?
Nature is fine in love, and where 'tis fine,
It sends some precious instance of itself
After the thing it loves.
Paraphrase: May a fever afflict me that will wither my sense of mercy.
May tears saltier by far than the sea itself, blind me to my sister's fate.
By God, your madness shall be paid for pound for pound, injury for injury,
until my sense of justice is satisfied.
O rose of May, sweet flower of the Springtime. Dear girl, kind sister,
sweet Ophelia! Heaven above, is it possible that the sense of a young lady
should be as good and fair as the life of an elder?
Nature's excellence is best expressed in love, and its masterpieces travel
not alone. It must necessarily follow my sister with another of its dear
examples.
sense - the subjective function of one of five organs used to
describe the surroundings. A faculty. In this case, vision.
virtue - The benificent and wholesome faculty, itself. Where the
eye is concerned, vision or sight. To be true-sightedness is a virtue of
the eye.
paid by weight - paid for in gold
moral - good, especially in the sense of being capable of distinguishing
between right and wrong; Fair and righteous.
fine - excellent; splendid.
instance - example
[edit] 10481
[edit] 10482
[edit] 10483
[edit] 10484
[edit] 10485
[edit] 10486
[edit] 10487
[edit] 10488
[edit] 10489
[edit] 10490
[edit] 10491
[edit] 10492
[edit] 10493
[edit] 10494
[edit] 10495
[edit] 10496
[edit] 10497
[edit] 10498
[edit] 10499
[edit] 10500
[edit] Credits
Definitons courtesy of AOL Dictionary Mirriam-WebsterDictionary.comAllwords.comMorewords.comBrewer'sBartleby's
