Queen. Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted[a 1][b 1] colour off,
And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.[b 2]
Do not for ever with thy vailed[a 2][b 3] lids 70
Seek for thy noble father in the dust:
Thou know'st 'tis common;[a 3] all that lives must die,
Passing through nature to eternity.
Ham. Ay, madam, it is common.
Queen. If it be,
Why seems it so particular with thee? 75
Ham. Seems, madam! nay, it is; I know not "seems."
'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,[a 4]
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, 80
Nor the dejected haviour of the visage,
Together with all forms, modes,[a 5][b 4] shows[b 5] of grief,
That can denote[a 6] me truly; these indeed "seem,"
For they are actions that a man might play;
But I have that within which passeth[a 7] show; 85
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.
King. 'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet,[a 8]
- ↑ 68. nighted] Q, nightly F.
- ↑ 70. vailed] Q; veyled Ff 1, 2 ; veiled Ff 3, 4.
- ↑ 72. common;] Theobald, common, F, common Q. lives] Q, F; live Ff 2, 3, 4 and many editors.
- ↑ 77. good mother] F; coold mother Qq 2, 3; could smother Qq 4–6.
- ↑ 82. modes] Q 1695, Capell; moodes Q; Moods F and many editors. shows] F; chapes Qq 2, 3; shapes Qq 4–6.
- ↑ 83. denote] F, Q 6; deuote Q.
- ↑ 85. passeth] F, passes Q.
- ↑ 87.] Q, two lines F.
- ↑ 68. nighted] black, So in Lear, IV. v. 13: "his nighted life" (of the blind Gloster).
- ↑ 69. Denmark] the King; so "Norway" in line 28.
- ↑ 70. vailed] cast down. Merchant of Venice, I. i. 28: "Vailing her high-top lower than her ribs."
- ↑ 82. modes] "Moods" may be right.
- ↑ 82. shows] The "show" of line 85, as Furness observes, is an intentional and emphatic repetition of the "shows" of this line.
