Hor. Indeed, my lord, it follow'd hard upon.
Ham. Thrift, thrift, Horatio! the funeral baked-meats[b 1] 180
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.
Would I had met my dearest foe[b 2] in heaven
Or ever I had
[a 1] seen that day, Horatio!
My father,—methinks I see my father.[a 2]
Hor. O where,[a 3] my lord?
Ham. In my mind's eye, Horatio. 185
Hor. I saw him once; he was a goodly king.
Ham. He was a man,[b 3] take him for all in all,[a 4]
I shall not look upon his like again.
Hor. My lord, I think I saw him yesternight
Ham. Saw? who?[a 5] 190
Hor. My lord, the king your father.
Ham. The king my father!
Hor. Season your admiration[b 4] for a while
With an attent[a 6] ear, till I may deliver,
Upon the witness of these gentlemen,
This marvel to you.
Ham. For God's[a 7] love, let me hear. 195
- ↑ 183. Or ever I had] Q, Ere I had ever F, Ere ever I had Q 1.
- ↑ 184. My father,—] Rowe, My father! Cambridge, O my father, my father, Q 1.
- ↑ 185. O where] F, Where Q.
- ↑ 187. in all,] in all Q, in all: F.
- ↑ 190. Saw? who?] F; Saw, who Q 1, Q.
- ↑ 193. attent] Q, F; attentive Q 1, Qq 4–6, Ff 3, 4.
- ↑ 195. God's] Gods Q, Heavens F.
- ↑ 180. baked-meats] pastry. Collins: "It was anciently the general custom to give a cold entertainment to mourners at a funeral. In distant counties this practice is continued among the yeomanry.".
- ↑ 182. dearest foe] Clar. Press.: "Dear is used of whatever touches us nearly either in love or hate, joy or sorrow." In 1 Henry IV, III. ii. 123, we find "near'st and dearest enemy."
- ↑ 187. a man,] Edwin Booth, in delivering this speech, paused after "man," giving it as if something higher than "king."
- ↑ 192. Season your admiration] Temper your astonishment. Compare, for "season," II. i. 28, and for "admiration," III. ii. 342. So in Massinger's The Renegado, III. iii., "Season your admiration."
