Hamlet

by: William Shakespeare

Act 4 Scene 1

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Original Text	Modern Text
But, like the owner of a foul disease, To keep it from divulging, let it feed Even on the pith of life. Where is he gone?	the core, I kept Hamlet’s condition secret and let it grow more and more dangerous. Where has he gone?
GERTRUDE 25To draw apart the body he hath killed, O'er whom his very madness, like some ore Among a mineral of metals base, Shows itself pure. He weeps for what is done.	GERTRUDE To remove the corpse of the man he killed. His madness allows a glimmering of morality to shine through, like a vein of gold in a chunk of coal. He weeps for what he has done.
CLAUDIUS O Gertrude, come away! 30The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch But we will ship him hence, and this vile deed We must, with all our majesty and skill, Both countenance and excuse.—Ho, Guildenstern!	CLAUDIUS Oh, Gertrude, let’s go. As soon as the sun sets we’ll ship him off to England. It’ll take all my diplomatic know-how to explain and excuse the murder he’s committed. Hey, Guildenstern!
Enter ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN	ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN enter.
Friends both, go join you with some further aid. 35Hamlet in madness hath Polonius slain, And from his mother’s closet hath he dragged him. Go seek him out, speak fair, and bring the body Into the chapel. I pray you, haste in this.	My friends, go find others to help you. Hamlet in his madness has killed Polonius and dragged him out of his mother’s bedroom. Go find him and speak nicely to him, and bring the corpse into the chapel. Please hurry.
Exeunt ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN	ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN exit.
Come, Gertrude, we’ll call up our wisest friends, 40And let them know both what we mean to do And what’s untimely done. So dreaded slander— Whose whisper o'er the world’s diameter, As level as the cannon to his blank, Transports the poisoned shot—may miss our name 45And hit the woundless air. Oh, come away! My soul is full of discord and dismay.	Come, Gertrude. We’ll confer with our wisest friends and tell them what we’re going to do, and what terrible deed has been done already. Let’s hope slander—a bullet that can travel halfway around the world and still hit its exact target—spares us. Oh, we must go. I’m full of confusion and despair.
Exeunt	They exit.

Read the Summary of Act IV, scenes i–ii

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