Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
And each particular hair to stand an end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine: 20
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love—
Ham. O God! 24
Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
Ham. Murder!
Ghost. Murder most foul, as in the best it is;
But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. 28
Ham. Haste me to know 't, that I, with wings as swift
As meditation or the thoughts of love,
May sweep to my revenge.
Ghost. I find thee apt;
And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed
That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, 33
Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:
'Tis given out that, sleeping in mine orchard,
A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark 36
Is by a forged process of my death
Rankly abus'd; but know, thou noble youth,
The serpent that did sting thy father's life
Now wears his crown.
Ham. O my prophetic soul! 40
My uncle !
Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
18 knotted: neatly arranged
combined: smoothly combed
19 an: on
20 porpentine: porcupine
21 eternal blazon: revelation of eternity; cf. n.
25 unnatural: i.e., for one brother to kill another
31 apt: ready to learn
32 fat weed; cf. n.
33 Lethe; cf. n.
wharf: bank
35 orchard: garden
37 process: narrative
38 abus'd: deceived
42 adulterate: adulterous
