Page:Hamlet (1917) Yale.djvu/23

Prince of Denmark, I. ii

Thou know'st 'tis common; 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?

Ham. Seems, madam! Nay, it is; I know not 'seems.'

'Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,

Nor customary suits of solemn black,

Nor windy suspiration of forc'd breath,

No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,

Nor the dejected haviour of the visage,

Together with all forms, moods, shows of grief,

That can denote me truly; these indeed seem,

For they are actions that a man might play:

But I have that within which passeth show;

These but the trappings and the suits of woe.

King. 'Tis sweet and commendable in your nature, Hamlet,

To give these mourning duties to your father:

But, you must know, your father lost a father;

That father lost, lost his; and the survivor bound

In filial obligation for some term

To do obsequious sorrow; but to persever

In obstinate condolement is a course

Of impious stubbornness; 'tis unmanly grief:

It shows a will most incorrect to heaven,

A heart unfortified, a mind impatient,

An understanding simple and unschool'd:

For what we know must be and is as common

As any the most vulgar thing to sense,

 72 common: the common lot

75 particular: personal

79 windy suspiration: tempestuous sighing

forc'd: against one's will

80 fruitful: copious

81 haviour: behavior

83 denote: portray

92 obsequious: dutiful

93 condolement: sorrowing

99 vulgar thing: common experience

