The poisoner wooes the queen with gifts, she seems unwilling awhile, but in the end accepts his love. Exeunt dumb shew. Prologue to the play. Play begins. Enter player king and queen. King hath been 30 years married to the queen. Queen's protestation of inviolable love to him. King is infirin, and expects to die foon: mentions her marrying another husband, which she protests against, with oaths and imprecations. King sleeps. Queen leaves him. Enter Lucianus, nephew to the king. Pours poison in the king's ears.

Here the play is broke off by the king's rising and

discovering marks of terror. Exeunt.
Sc. VIII. Manent Ham. and Hor. From the king's beha-

viour at the play, they conclude him guilty, and
the ghoft's words true, Enter Ros. and Guil, who
brings news that the king is out of order; and that
the queen desires to speak with Ham. in her cham-
ber before bed-time. They found Ham. about his
distemper, but meet with a sharp rebuff. Enter
Pol, to tell Ham. the queen waits for him. Ex-
eunt all but Ham. His soliloquy before going to

his mother. Exit.
Sc. IX. Enter king, Ref. and Guil. The king determines

to send Ham. to England with all speed, and orders
Rof. and Guil. to attend him. Exeunt Rof. anel
Guil. Enter Pol. with advice that Ham. is going
to his mother's closet, and that he (Pol.) will hide
hinself behind the arras to hear their conference.
Exit. King's foliloquy on his crimes of ambition,
murther and incest; addresses himself to prayer and
repentance, but ineffectually.
6

Sc. X. The king kneeling, Ham. enters. Ham. is inclined

to make use of this opportunity, to kill him; but deliberates that this is not a proper time while he is praying, for then fhould he fend his soul to heaven; but since he kill'd his father unprepared, he will wait a more proper time for his revenge, when the king shall be engaged in some debauchery that may

unfit him for heaven. Exeunt. Sc. XI. Enter queen and Pol. Pole tells her Ham. is com

ing, and hides himself. Enter Ham. He begins roughly with the queen. She cries out. Pol. calls for help behind the arras. Ham. kills him; not knowing it to be Pol. Ham. proceeds to call the queen to account, for marrying his uncle and the murderer of his father. Produces two pictures, one of his uncle, the other of his father, and makes a comparison between them, which affects the queen. While he is inveighing against his uncle, enter ghoft. He asks the ghost the cause of its second appearance, which answers that it is come to put him in mind of his promised revenge. Exit ghost. The queen, to whom the ghost was invisible, imputes Ham.'s holding discourse with vacancy (as she thought) to his madness. Ham. convinces her that he is not mad in reality, but in craft. Is sorry that he has killed Pol. Exeunt Ham. in tugging out Pol.

ACT IV. Sc. I. A royal apartment. Enter king and queen. Queen acquaints the king with Ham.'s having killed Pol.

King calls Ros. and Guil. whom he sends to search

for Ham. and the dead body. Exeunt. Sc. II. Enter Ham. and after him Rof. and Guil. They ask

him what he has done with the dead body, but he

does not satisfy them. Exeunt.
Sc. III. Enter king. Resolves that Ham. shall be sent away

suddenly, but that it must not appear so to the
people. Enter Ros. Tells the king that Ham, is
without, guarded. Enter Ham. and Guil. King
gets from Ham. where he has laid the body. Tells
him he must strait for England. Ham. takes his
leave. King directs Rof. and Guil. to follow him.
Exeunt. Manet king, who in a soliloquy discoveis
that Ham. is sent to England to be murthered,

Exit.
Sc. IV. A camp on the frontiers of Denmark. Enter Fortin,

bras with an army. Bids a captain go and claiin a
march through the kingdom. Exeunt Fort. and
army. Manet captain. Enter Ham. Ref: Ham.
enquires of the captain, whose was the army and
whither purposed. Captain tells him 'tis Fortinbras's
army, and designed for Poland. Exeunt. Manet
Ham. His foliloquy. Blames himself for not hav-
ing yet executed his revenge; and resolves to fix his

mind more strongly on it.
Sc. V. A palace. Enter queen and a gentleman, who ac-

quaints her that Oph. is distracted, and wants admis-
sion to her. The queen at first refuses to see her,
but afterwards admits her. Enter Ophfinging di-
stractedly, during which enter king. After further
wild behaviour, exit Oph. King orders her to be
followed and watched Reflects on the death of

Pol. and his private interment, the madness of Oph. Laertes's coming from France, and the animosities that may arise among the people on these accounts.

A noise within. Sc. VI. Enter messenger, who acquaints the king, that Laer.

is come with a riotous rabble, who proclaim him king. The doors are broké, open.

Enter Laer. demands fatisfaction, and vows to revenge his fa

ther's death. Sc. VII. Enter Oph. fantastically drest with straws and flow

ers, singing and talking wildly. Laer, is further moved by this scene to his revenge; and the king promises him satisfaction from the offender. Ex

eunt. Sc. VIII. Enter Hor. and sailors, who bring him a letter

from Ham. with news that Ham. in his passage to England, was taken prisoner by pirates, who use him kindly, and desiring Hor. to repair speedily to

hiin. Exeunt. Sc. IX. Enter king and Laer. Further talk of Pole's death

and Oph's madness, and Laert.'s resolution to revenge. Enter messenger with letters from Hamlet, importing his being set on shore in Denmark, and that he will see the king on the morrow. [Exit messenger.] Who proposes a scheme for Laert.'s revenge on Ham. by engaging Ham. in a trial of kill at foils with Laer. ; and Laer. is to make choice of an unbated sword, so that in the action Laer. may kill Ham. Laer. further iinproves upon this murderous scheme, by telling the king he will poison the point of his sword, so that if he but Nightly wounded Ham, he would die.

Sc. X. Enter queen, with the news that Oph. while climbing

to hang a garland of flowers, she had made, on a willow that hung over a brook, fell into the brook and was drowned. Exeunt.