Hor. Do not, my lord.
Ham. Why, what should be the fear? 64
I do not set my life at a pin's fee;
And for my soul, what can it do to that,
Being a thing immortal as itself?
It waves me forth again; I'll follow it. 68
Hor. What if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord,
Or to the dreadful summit of the cliff
That beetles o'er his base into the sea,
And there assume some other horrible form, 72
Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason
And draw you into madness? think of it;
[The very place puts toys of desperation,
Without more motive, into every brain 76
That looks so many fathoms to the sea
And hears it roar beneath.]
Ham. It wafts me still. Go on, I'll follow thee.
Mar. You shall not go, my lord.
Ham. Hold off your hands! 80
Hor. Be rul'd; you shall not go.
Ham. My fate cries out,
And makes each petty artery in this body
As hardy as the Nemean lion's nerve.
Still am I call'd. Unhand me, gentlemen, 84
[Breaking from them.]
By heaven! I'll make a ghost of him that lets me:
I say, away! Go on, I'll follow thee.
Exeunt Ghost and Hamlet.
Hor. He waxes desperate with imagination.
Mar. Let's follow; 'tis not fit thus to obey him. 88
65 at . . . fee: at even a trifling value
69 flood: sea
71 beetles: overhangs threateningly
73 deprive . . . reason: dethrone reason from its sovereignty
75 toys of desperation: whims involving thoughts of self-destruction
83 Nemean lion's; cf. n.
nerve: sinew, tendon
85 lets: hinders
