Hamlet: Act 5, Scene 1
CLOWNS: rustics, simpletons.
Enter two CLOWNS.
First Clown
1
Is she to be buried in Christian burial that
2. salvation: malapropism for "damnation" or "destruction."
2
willfully seeks her own salvation?
Second Clown
3
I tell thee she is: and therefore make her grave
4. straight: immediately. crowner: malapropism for "coroner." sat on her: i.e., had an official hearing concerning her case. The phrase "sat on her" is an accurate representation of how lawyers wrote, but when the Clown says it, absurd images rise in the mind.
4
straight: the crowner hath sat on her, and finds it
5
Christian burial.
First Clown
6
How can that be, unless she drowned herself in her
7
own defence?
Second Clown
8
Why, 'tis found so.
First Clown
9. se offendendo: i.e., criminally. First Clown is responding to his partner's absurd idea that "she drowned herself in her own defence." ...more
9
It must be "se offendendo"; it cannot be else.
10
For here lies the point: if I drown myself wittingly,
11
it argues an act: and an act hath three branches: it
12. argal: malapropism for "ergo," which is Latin for "therefore."
12
is, to act, to do, to perform: argal, she drowned
13
herself wittingly.
Second Clown
14
Nay, but hear you, goodman delver
First Clown
15
Give me leave. Here lies the water; good: here
16
stands the man; good; if the man go to this water,
17. will he, nill he: i.e., whether he wants to or not. This phrase is the ancestor of "willy-nilly."
17
and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes
18
mark you that; but if the water come to him and
19
drown him, he drowns not himself: argal, he that is
20
not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life.
Second Clown
21
But is this law?
First Clown
22. crowner's quest: coroner's inquest. ...more
22
Ay, marry, is't; crowner's quest law.
Second Clown
23
Will you ha' the truth on't? If this had not been
24
a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o'
25
Christian burial.
First Clown
26. there thou say'st: i.e., that's right.
26
Why, there thou say'st: and the more pity that great
27. countenance: privilege.
27
folk should have countenance in this world to drown
28. even-Christian: fellow-Christians.
28
or hang themselves, more than their even-Christian.
29
Come, my spade. There is no ancient gentleman
30
but gardeners, ditchers, and grave-makers: they
31
hold up Adam's profession.
Second Clown
32
Was he a gentleman?
First Clown
33
He was the first that ever bore arms.
Second Clown
34. none: i.e., no coat of arms.
34
Why, he had none.
First Clown
35
What, art a heathen? How dost thou understand the
36
Scripture? The Scripture says Adam digged:
37
could he dig without arms? I'll put another
38
question to thee: if thou answerest me not to the
39. confess thyself: This is probably half of the phrase "Confess thyself and be hanged." ...more
39
purpose, confess thyself
Second Clown
40. Go to: This is an all-purpose riposte, which can, depending on the tone of voice, mean anything from "please stop" to "go to hell."
40
Go to.
First Clown
41
What is he that builds stronger than either the
42
mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?
Second Clown
43
The gallows-maker; for that frame outlives a
44
thousand tenants.
First Clown
45
I like thy wit well, in good faith: the gallows
46
does well; but how does it well? it does well to
47
those that do ill: now thou dost ill to say the
48
gallows is built stronger than the church: argal,
49
the gallows may do well to thee. To't again, come.
Second Clown
50
Who builds stronger than a mason, a shipwright, or
51
a carpenter?
First Clown
52. unyoke: i.e., call it a day. Unyoking the oxen was a signal that the day's work was done, and it was time to relax.
52
Ay, tell me that, and unyoke.
Second Clown
53
Marry, now I can tell.
First Clown
54
To't.
Second Clown
55. Mass: i.e., by the mass. This was a common expression of surprise or frustration.
55
Mass, I cannot tell.
Enter HAMLET and HORATIO
[at a distance].
First Clown
56
Cudgel thy brains no more about it, for your dull
57
ass will not mend his pace with beating; and, when
58
you are asked this question next, say "a grave-maker":
59
the houses that he makes last till doomsday. Go, get
60. stoup of liquor: two quarts of a beverage. The most popular beverage of the time was ale.
60
thee in, and fetch me a stoup of liquor.
Exit Second Clown.
[First Clown digs and sings.]
61-64. In . . . meet: This appears to be a garbled version of the first stanza of a well-known poem entitled, "The Aged Lover Renounceth Love." In the second two lines, the "O," "ah," and "O" apparently represent the grunts the Clown makes as he throws up shovelfuls of dirt.
61
In youth, when I did love, did love,
62
Methought it was very sweet,
63
To contract, O, the time, for, ah, my behove,
64
O, methought, there was nothing meet.
HAMLET
65
Has this fellow no feeling of his business, that he
66
sings at grave-making?
HORATIO
67. Custom: habit. 67-68. a property of easiness: i.e., a thing he can do with complete ease of mind.
67
Custom hath made it in him a property of
68
easiness.
HAMLET
69-70. 'Tis e'en so: that's exactly right. the hand of little employment hath the daintier sense: i.e., the person who isn't used to such work has a more delicate sensitivity.
69
'Tis e'en so: the hand of little employment hath
70
the daintier sense.
First Clown
Song.
71-74. But age . . . / As if I had never been such: This is a mash-up of two more stanzas of "The Aged Lover Renounceth Love." 73. shipped me into the land: in "The Aged Lover Renounceth Love," the phrase "hath shipped me into the land / From whence I first was brought," means "has returned me to the dust from which I was created."
71
But age, with his stealing steps,
72
Hath claw'd me in his clutch,
73
And hath shipped me into the land,
74
As if I had never been such.
[Shovels up a skull.]
HAMLET
75
That skull had a tongue in it, and could sing once:
76. jowls: dashes.
76
how the knave jowls it to the ground, as if it were
77
Cain's jaw-bone, that did the first murder! It
78-79. politician: schemer. which this ass now o'er-reaches: Hamlet is making a joke. The aim of a "politician" is to "o'er-reach" (over-reach, snatch the prize away from, outwit) his victims. Now the over-reacher has been over-reached by the gravedigger ("this ass"), who reaches into the grave and throws out the politician's skull.
78
might be the pate of a politician, which this ass
79
now o'er-reaches; one that would circumvent God,
80
might it not?
HORATIO
81
It might, my lord.
HAMLET
82
Or of a courtier; which could say "Good
83
morrow, sweet lord! How dost thou, good
84
lord?" This might be my lord such-a-one,
85
that praised my lord such-a-one's horse,
86
when he meant to beg it; might it not?
HORATIO
87
Ay, my lord.
HAMLET
88
Why, e'en so: and now my Lady Worm's;
89. chapless: lacking the lower jaw. mazzard: i.e., head. Slang. Literally, a "mazzard" is a kind of cherry. 90. revolution: change. and: if. 91. trick: knack. ...more 91‑93. Did . . . 'em?: Didn't the nurturing of these bones make them worth more than to be pieces in a game? Loggats is a game in which blocks of wood are thrown at a stake. 93. mine: i.e., my bones.
89
chapless, and
knocked about the mazzard
90
with a sexton's spade. Here's fine revolution,
91
and we had the trick to see't. Did these bones
92
cost no more the breeding, but to play at loggats
93
with 'em? mine ache to think on't.
First Clown
Song.
94-97. A pick-axe . . . is meet: This is a paraphrase of another stanza from "The Aged Lover Renounceth Love." 95. For and: and moreover.
94
"A pick-axe, and a spade, a spade,
95
For and a shrouding sheet:
96
O, a pit of clay for to be made
97
For such a guest is meet."
[Throws up another skull.]
HAMLET
98
There's another: why may not that be the skull of
99. quiddities: quibbles. quillities: quiddities. ...more
99
a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his quillities,
100. tenures: titles to real estate.
100
his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? Why does he
101
suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the
102. sconce: head. Slang.
102
sconce with a dirty shovel, and will not tell him of
103. action of battery: i.e., lawsuit to recover damages for assault and battery. 104-105. statutes, recognizances: bonds securing debts by attaching land and property. 105. double vouchers: documents guaranteeing title to real estate, signed by two persons. 106-107. recoveries, fines: legal maneuvers for clearing an estate of financial obligations. ...more fine of his fines: outcome of his legal actions.
103
his action of battery? Hum! This fellow might be
104
in's time a great buyer of land, with his statutes,
105
his recognizances, his fines, his double vouchers,
106
his recoveries: is this the fine of his fines, and
107
the recovery of his recoveries, to have his fine pate
108
full of fine dirt? will his vouchers vouch him no more
109
of his purchases, and double ones too, than the length
110. pair of indentures: two copies of a contract. ...more conveyances: documents relating to transfer of property. 111. this box: It looks like Hamlet is referring to a casket, but the two persons whose skulls have been dug up don't seem to have been buried in caskets. In any case, it seems clear that Hamlet means that the lawyer's paperwork takes up more room than his grave. inheritor: possessor.
110
and breadth of a pair of indentures? The very convey-
111
ances of his lands will hardly lie in this box; and must
112
the inheritor himself have no more, ha?
HORATIO
113
Not a jot more, my lord.
HAMLET
114
Is not parchment made of sheepskins?
HORATIO
115
Ay, my lord, and of calf-skins too.
HAMLET
116
They are sheep and calves which seek out
117. assurance in that: i.e., a feeling of safety based on the fact that the parchment for legal documents is made of leather. 118. sirrah: This was a term of address to inferiors, which could be insulting, though I don't think Hamlet means it to be in this case.
117
assurance in that. I will speak to this fellow.
118
Whose grave's this, sirrah?
First Clown
119
Mine, sir.
[Sings.]
120
"O, a pit of clay for to be made
121
For such a guest is meet."
HAMLET
122
I think it be thine, indeed; for thou liest in't.
First Clown
123. You lie out on't: you are outside of it.
123
You lie out on't, sir, and therefore it is not yours:
124
for my part, I do not lie in't, and yet it is mine.
HAMLET
125
Thou dost lie in't, to be in't and say it is thine:
126. quick: living.
126
'tis for the dead, not for the quick; therefore thou
127
liest.
First Clown
128
'Tis a quick lie, sir; 'twill away gain, from me to
129
you.
HAMLET
130
What man dost thou dig it for?
First Clown
131
For no man, sir.
HAMLET
132
What woman, then?
First Clown
133
For none, neither.
HAMLET
134
Who is to be buried in't?
First Clown
135
One that was a woman, sir; but, rest her soul,
136
she's dead.
HAMLET
137. absolute: i.e., wittily precise. ...more by the card: i.e., precisely. ...more 138. equivocation: punning, use of words in more than one sense. 139. these ... years: i.e., for quite a while now. 140. pick'd: refined, sophisticated.
137
How absolute the knave is! we must speak by the card,
138
or equivocation will undo us. By the Lord, Horatio,
139
these three years I have taken a note of it; the age is
140
grown so pick'd that the toe of the peasant comes so
141. galls: chafes. kibe: chilblain on the heel. ...more
141
near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe. How long
142
hast thou been a grave-maker?
First Clown
143
Of all the days i' the year, I came to't that day
144
that our last king Hamlet overcame Fortinbras.
HAMLET
145
How long is that since?
First Clown
146
Cannot you tell that? every fool can tell that: it
147
was the very day that young Hamlet was born;
148
he that is mad, and sent into England.
HAMLET
149
Ay, marry, why was he sent into England?
First Clown
150
Why, because he was mad: he shall recover his
151
wits there; or, if he do not, it's no great matter
152
there.
HAMLET
153
Why?
First Clown
154
'Twill, a not be seen in him there; there the men
155
are as mad as he.
HAMLET
156
How came he mad?
First Clown
157
Very strangely, they say.
HAMLET
158
How strangely?
First Clown
159
Faith, e'en with losing his wits.
HAMLET
160
Upon what ground?
First Clown
161-162. I have been sexton here, man and boy, thirty years: A sexton is a kind of janitor and handyman, responsible for the upkeep of his church, and sometimes for the digging of graves in the churchyard. ...more
161
Why, here in Denmark: I have been sexton
162
here, man and boy, thirty years.
HAMLET
163
How long will a man lie i' the earth ere he
164
rot?
First Clown
165
I' faith, if he be not rotten before he dieas we
166. pocky: rotten with venereal disease.
166
have many pocky corses now-a-days, that will scarce
167. hold the laying in: last out the burial.
167
hold the laying inhe will last you some eight year
168
or nine year: a tanner will last you nine year.
HAMLET
169
Why he more than another?
First Clown
170
Why, sir, his hide is so tanned with his trade, that
171-172. your . . . your: This use of "your" is a slangy way of indicating that what is being said is, or should be, common knowledge. whoreson: son-of-a-bitchin'.
171
he will keep out water a great while; and your water
172
is a sore decayer of your whoreson dead body.
173
Here's a skull now; this skull has lain in the earth
174
three and twenty years.
HAMLET
175
Whose was it?
First Clown
176
A whoreson mad fellow's it was: whose do you think
177
it was?
HAMLET
178
Nay, I know not.
First Clown
179
A pestilence on him for a mad rogue! a' poured a
180. flagon: pitcher used to serve wine. Rhenish: Rhine wine.
180
flagon of Rhenish on my head once. This same skull,
181
sir, was Yorick's skull, the king's jester.
HAMLET
182
This?
David Tennant as Hamlet Image Source: crossroads and currents |
First Clown
183
E'en that.
HAMLET
184
Let me see.
[Takes the skull.]
185
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of
186-187. he hath borne me on his back: i.e., he has given me piggy-back rides. Yorick has been dead for twenty-three years, and Hamlet is probably thirty years old, which means that Hamlet was about six or seven when Yorick gave him piggy-back rides.
186
infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me
187
on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred
188
in my imagination it is! my gorge rises at it. Here hung
189
those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft. Where
190
be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your
191
flashes of merriment, that were wont to set the table on
192
a roar? Not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite
193. chop-fall'n: dejected. Hamlet is punning; Yorick is so "chop-fall'n" that his chops (jaws) have fallen entirely off. 194. paint: i.e., apply make-up. favour: appearance.
193
chop-fallen? Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell
194
her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come;
195
make her laugh at that. Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing.
HORATIO
196
What's that, my lord?
HAMLET
Alexander: Alexander the Great.
197
Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this fashion i'
198
the earth?
HORATIO
199
E'en so.
HAMLET
200
And smelt so? pah!
[Puts down the skull].
HORATIO
201
E'en so, my lord.
HAMLET
202
To what base uses we may return, Horatio!
203
Why may not imagination trace the noble dust
stopping a bunghole: The bung (stopper) of a bunghole could be made of clay.
204
of Alexander, till he find it stopping a bunghole?
HORATIO
205. curiously: closely.
205
'Twere to consider too curiously, to consider
206
so.
HAMLET
207
No, faith, not a jot; but to follow him thither with
208. modesty: reasonableness.
208
modesty enough, and likelihood to lead it: as
209
thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried,
210
Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth; of
211. loam: moistened clay mixed with stiffeners such as straw. It was used to make bricks, wall plaster, etc.
211
earth we make loam; and why of that loam, whereto he
212
was converted, might they not stop a beer-barrel?
213
Imperious Caesar, dead and turn'd to clay,
214
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away:
215
O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe,
216. flaw: gust of wind.
216
Should patch a wall to expel the winter flaw!
217
But soft! but soft awhile: here comes the king.
Enter KING, QUEEN, LAERTES,
corse: corpse, dead body.
[a Priest, courtiers,] and the corse.
218
The queen, the courtiers. Who is this they follow?
219. maimed rites: lack of the usual rites accorded to someone deceased.
219
And with such maimed rites? This doth betoken
220
The corse they follow did with desperate hand
221. Fordo its: destroy its of some estate: of high rank.
221
Fordo its own life: 'twas of some estate.
222. Couch we: let us conceal ourselves. mark: observe carefully.
222
Couch we awhile, and mark.
[Hamlet and Horatio step aside and observe.]
LAERTES
223
What ceremony else?
HAMLET
224
That is Laertes, a very noble youth: mark.
LAERTES
225
What ceremony else?
Priest
226. obsequies: funeral rites.
226
Her obsequies have been as far enlarged
227. doubtful: i.e., suspected to be suicide.
227
As we have warranty: her death was doubtful;
228. but . . . order: but for the fact that a great command overrules the customary procedure. ...more 229. should: would certainly. 230. for: instead of.
228
And, but that great command o'ersways the order,
229
She should in ground unsanctified have lodged
230
Till the last trumpet: for charitable prayers,
231. Shards: broken bits of pottery.
231
Shards, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her;
232. allow'd: permitted to have. virgin crants: garland signifying that the deceased was a virgin. 233-234. maiden strewments: flowers scattered on the grave of an unmarried girl. bringing home / Of bell and burial: i.e., burial in consecrated ground, with the bell tolling.
232
Yet here she is allow'd her virgin crants,
233
Her maiden strewments and the bringing home
234
Of bell and burial.
LAERTES
235
Must there no more be done?
Priest
235
No more be done!
236
We should profane the service of the dead
237. requiem: dirge.
237
To sing a requiem and such rest to her
238
As to peace-parted souls.
LAERTES
238
Lay her i' the earth:
239
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
240
May violets spring! I tell thee, churlish priest,
241
A ministering angel shall my sister be,
242
When thou liest howling.
HAMLET
242
What, the fair Ophelia!
QUEEN
243. Sweets to the sweet: i.e., sweet flowers to sweet Ophelia.
243
Sweets to the sweet: farewell!
244
I hop'd thou shouldst have been my Hamlet's wife.
245. deck'd: strewn with flowers.
245
I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid,
246
And not have strew'd thy grave.
LAERTES
246
O, treble woe
247. that cursed head: i.e., Hamlet's head.
247
Fall ten times treble on that cursed head,
248-249. wicked deed: i.e., Hamlet's killing of Ophelia's father, Polonius. most ingenious sense: brilliant intelligence. 249. Hold off the earth: i.e., don't shovel dirt into this grave.
248
Whose wicked deed thy most ingenious sense
249
Deprived thee of! Hold off the earth awhile,
250
Till I have caught her once more in mine arms:
[Leaps into the grave.]
251
Now pile your dust upon the quick and dead,
252
Till of this flat a mountain you have made,
253-254. Pelion, Olympus: famous mountains in Greece.
253
To o'ertop old Pelion, or the skyish head
254
Of blue Olympus.
HAMLET [Coming forward.]
254
What is he whose grief
255. Bears . . . emphasis: i.e., is proclaimed so melodramatically. phrase of sorrow: expression of sorrow. 256. Conjures: puts a spell upon. stand: stand still.
255
Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow
256
Conjures the wand'ring stars, and makes them stand
257
Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I,
258. the Dane: This normally signifies the King, and King Claudius uses it to refer to himself in Act 1, Scene 2, line 44.
258
Hamlet the Dane.
[Leaps into the grave.]
LAERTES
259
The devil take thy soul!
[Grappling with him.]
HAMLET
259
Thou pray'st not well.
260
I prithee, take thy fingers from my throat;
261. splenitive: full of spleen, quick-tempered.
261
For, though I am not splenitive and rash,
262
Yet have I something in me dangerous,
263
Which let thy wisdom fear: hold off thy hand.
KING
264
Pluck them asunder.
QUEEN
264
Hamlet, Hamlet!
All
264
Gentlemen
HORATIO
265. be quiet: calm down.
265
Good my lord, be quiet.
[They are parted and come out of the grave.]
HAMLET
266
Why, I will fight with him upon this theme
267
Until my eyelids will no longer wag.
QUEEN
268
O my son, what theme?
HAMLET
269
I loved Ophelia. Forty thousand brothers
270
Could not, with all their quantity of love,
271
Make up my sum. What wilt thou do for her?
KING
272
O, he is mad, Laertes.
QUEEN
273. forbear him: leave him [Hamlet] alone. I believe that Laertes is being held back, but is still trying to fight Hamlet.
273
For love of God, forbear him.
HAMLET
274. 'Swounds: This was a common exclamation originally meaning "by His [Christ's] wounds." thou'lt: thou wilt, you will. 275. Woo't: wilt thou, will you. 276. eisel: vinegar.
274
'Swounds, show me what thou'lt do:
275
Woo't weep? woo't fight? woo't fast? woo't tear thyself?
276
Woo't drink up eisel? eat a crocodile?
277
I'll do't. Dost thou come here to whine?
278
To outface me with leaping in her grave?
279. quick: alive.
279
Be buried quick with her, and so will I:
280. if thou prate of mountains: if you babble on about mountains.
280
And, if thou prate of mountains, let them throw
281
Millions of acres on us, till our ground,
282. his pate: its head, i.e., top. burning zone: sphere of the sun; the sun's orbit. 283. Ossa: another mountain in Greece, near Pelion and Olympus. an thoul't mouth: if you will talk bombastically.
282
Singeing his pate against the burning zone,
283
Make Ossa like a wart! Nay, an thou'lt mouth,
284
I'll rant as well as thou.
QUEEN
284
This is mere madness:
285
And thus awhile the fit will work on him;
286. patient: calm.
286
Anon, as patient as the female dove,
287. golden couplets: pair of chicks, covered with yellow down. disclosed: hatched.
287
When that her golden couplets are disclosed,
288
His silence will sit drooping.
HAMLET
288
Hear you, sir;
289
What is the reason that you use me thus?
290
I loved you ever: but it is no matter;
291-292. Let Hercules himself do what he may, / The cat will mew and dog will have his day: i.e., no matter what a hero does, foolish people will insist on calling attention to themselves.
291
Let Hercules himself do what he may,
292
The cat will mew and dog will have his day.
Exit.
KING
293
I pray you, good Horatio, wait upon him.
[Exit] Horatio.
[To Laertes.]
294. Strengthen . . . speech: i.e., get control of yourself by recalling the conversation we had last night. 295. the matter: i.e., the plot to kill Hamlet in a fencing match. present push: immediate test. 297. living monument: enduring memorial; i.e., the death of Hamlet. 298-299. An hour ... proceeding be: i.e., Hamlet will soon calm down (and so can be talked into taking part in the fencing match); until then, we just need to be patient.
294
Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech;
295
We'll put the matter to the present push.
296
Good Gertrude, set some watch over your son.
297
This grave shall have a living monument:
298
An hour of quiet shortly shall we see;
299
Till then, in patience our proceeding be.
Exeunt.