Page:Hamlet (1917) Yale.djvu/83

Prince of Denmark, III. ii 

Ham. Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pro-

nounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue; but

if you mouth it, as many of your players do, I

had as lief the town-crier spoke my lines. Nor

do not saw the air too much with your hand,

thus; but use all gently: for in the very torrent,

tempest, and—as I may say—whirlwind of

passion, you must acquire and beget a temper-

ance, that may give it smoothness. O! it offends

me to the soul to hear a robustious periwig-

pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to very

rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who

for the most part are capable of nothing but

inexplicable dumb-shows and noise: I would

have such a fellow whipped for o'er-doing

Termagant; it out-herods Herod: pray you,

avoid it.

First Play. I warrant your honour.

Ham. Be not too tame neither, but let your

own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to

the word, the word to the action; with this

special observance, that you o'erstep not the

modesty of nature; for anything so overdone is

from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at

 2 trippingly: rapidly, but with neat articulation

3 mouth: speak loudly with false emphasis and indistinctness

8 beget: attain

temperance: moderation

10 robustious: boisterous

periwig-pated: wearing a wig

12 groundlings; cf. n.

13 capable of: able to receive impressions from

14 inexplicable dumb-shows; cf. n.

16 Termagant; cf. n.

out-herods Herod; cf. n.

24 from: apart from

