5.14.2010

More Antique Roman than a Dane



















HAMLET: What ho! Horatio!

 [Enter HORATIO]

HORATIO: Here, sweet lord, at your service.

HAMLET: Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man
 As e'er my conversation coped withal.

HORATIO: O, my dear lord,--

HAMLET:                   Nay, do not think I flatter;
 For what advancement may I hope from thee
 That no revenue hast but thy good spirits,
 To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be flatter'd?
 No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp,
 And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee
 Where thrift may follow fawning. Dost thou hear?
 Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice
 And could of men distinguish, her election
 Hath seal'd thee for herself; for thou hast been
 As one, in suffering all, that suffers nothing,
 A man that fortune's buffets and rewards
 Hast ta'en with equal thanks: and blest are those
 Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled,
 That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger
 To sound what stop she please. Give me that man
 That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
 In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,
 As I do thee.--Something too much of this.--
 
(picture:  Delacroix)

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