Hamlet

The natural gates and alleys of the body,

And with a sudden vigour it doth posset73

And curd, like eager74 droppings into milk,

The thin and wholesome blood: so did it mine,

And a most instant tetter barked about76,

Most lazar-like77, with vile and loathsome crust,

All my smooth body.

Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand

Of life, of crown and queen, at once dispatched80:

Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,

Unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled82,

No reckoning made, but sent to my account83

With all my imperfections on my head.

O horrible, O horrible, most horrible!

If thou hast nature86 in thee, bear it not;

Let not the royal bed of Denmark be

A couch for luxury88 and damned incest.

But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,

Taint90 not thy mind nor let thy soul contrive

Against thy mother aught91; leave her to heaven

And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,

To prick and sting her. Fare thee well at once;

The glow-worm shows the matin94 to be near,

And 'gins to pale his uneffectual95 fire.

Adieu, adieu, Hamlet: remember me.

Exit

HAMLET O all you host97 of heaven! O earth! What else?

And shall I couple98 hell? O, fie! Hold, my heart;

And you, my sinews, grow not instant old,

But bear me stiffly up. Remember thee?