Page:Hamlet (1917) Yale.djvu/93

Prince of Denmark, III. ii

us not: let the galled jade wince, our withers are

unwrung.

This is one Lucianus, nephew to the king.

Oph. You are a good chorus, my lord.

Ham. I could interpret between you and

your love, if I could see the puppets dallying.

Oph. You are keen, my lord, you are keen.

Ham. It would cost you a groaning to take

off my edge.

Oph. Still better, and worse.

Ham. So you must take your husbands.

Begin, murderer; pox, leave thy damnable

faces, and begin. Come; the croaking raven

doth bellow for revenge.

Luc. Thoughts black, hands apt, drugs fit, and time agreeing;

Confederate season, else no creature seeing;

Thou mixture rank, of midnight weeds collected,

With Hecate's ban thrice blasted, thrice infected,

Thy natural magic and dire property,

On wholesome life usurp immediately.

(Pours the poison in his ears.)

Ham. He poisons him i' the garden for 's

estate. His name's Gonzago; the story is extant,

and writ in very choice Italian. You shall see

anon how the murderer gets the love of Gon-

zago's wife.

 256 galled jade: horse sore from chafing

withers: shoulders

257 unwrung: not galled

259 chorus: in Elizabethan drama one who speaks a prologue summarising the action

260 interpret; cf. n.

267 pox: small-pox, used frequently as an imprecation

268 the croaking revenge; cf. n.

271 Confederate: conspiring to assist

273 Hecate; cf. n.

