William Shakespeare （b. 1564,d. 1616）,by many regarded as the greatest poet the world has ever produced,was born at Stratford-upon-Avon,England. He was married,when very young,ta woman eight years his senior,went tLondon,was joint proprietor of Blackfriar’s Theater in 1589,wrote poems and plays,was an actor,accumulated some property,and retired tStratford three or four years before his death. He was buried in Stratford church,where a monument has been erected this memory. This is all that is known of him with any degree of certainty.
Shakespeare‘s works consist chiefly of plays and sonnets. They show a wonderful knowledge of human nature,expressed in language remarkable for its point and beauty.
（ACT I,SCENE II. HAMLET alone in a room,of the castle. Enter HORATIO,MARCELLUS,and BERNARDO.）Hor.Hail,tyour lordship!
Ham.I am glad tsee you well: Horatio,-or I dforgot myself.
Hor.The same,my lord,and your poor servant ever.
Ham.Sir,my good friend;I’ll change that name with you:
And what make you from Wittenberg ,Horati?- Macellus?
Mar.My good lord-
Ham.I am very glad tsee you. [TBer.] Good even,sir.
But what,in faith,make you from Wittenberg?
Hor.A truant1 disposition,good my lord.
1Truant,wandering from business,loitering.
Ham.I would not hear your enemy say so,Nor shall you dmine ear that violence,Tmake it truster1of your own reportAgainst yourself: I knew you are ntruant. But what is your affair in Elsinore?
We‘ll teach you tdrink deep ere you depart. Hor.My lord,I came tsee your father’s funeral. Ham.I pray thee,dnot mock me,follow-student;I think it was tsee my mother‘s wedding.
Hor.Indeed,my lord,it followed hard upon.
Ham.Thrift,thrift,Horatio! the funeral baked meats Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.
1Truster,a believer.
Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven Or ever I had seen that day,Horatio!
My father!-methinks I see my father.
Hor.Where,my lord?
Ham.In my mind’s eye,Horatio.
Hor.I saw him once;he was a goodly king.
Ham.He was a man,take him for all in all,I shall not look upon his like again.
Hor. My lord,I think I saw him yesternight. Ham. Saw? who?
Hor. My lord,the king your father. Ham.The king my father! Hor.·Season your admiration for a whileWith an attent1 ear,till I may deliver2,Upon the witness of these gentlemen,This marvel tyou.
Ham.For God‘s love,let me hear.
Hor.Twnights together had these gentlemen,Marcellus and Bernardo,on their watch,In the dead vast and middle of the night,Been thus encounter’d. A figure like your father,Armed at point exactly,cap-a-pie3.
Appears before them,and with solemn march Goes slow and stately by them: thrice he walk‘d By their oppress’d and fear-surprised eyes,Within his trucheon‘s4 length;whilst they,distill’dAlmost tjelly with the act of fear,
Stand dumb and speak not thim. This tme In dreadful secrecy impart they did;1Attent,attentive,heedful.2Deliver,tcommunicate,tutter. 3Capapie,from head tfoot.4Truncheon,a short staff,a baton.And I with them the third night kept the watch: Where,as they had deliver‘d,both in time,Form of the thing,each word made true and good,The apparition comes: I knew your father;These hands are not more like.
Ham.But where was this?
Mar.My lord,upon the platform where we watch’d.
Ham.Did you speak tit?
Hor.My lord,I did;But answer made it none: yet once methought It lifted up its head and did addressItself tmotion,like as it would speak;But even then the morning cock crew loud,And at the sound it shrunk in haste away,And vanish‘d from our sight.
Ham.’T is very strange.
Hor.As I dlive,my honor‘d lord,’t is true;And we did think it writ down in our duty Tlet you know of it.
Ham.Indeed,indeed,sirs,but this troubles me,Hold you the watch to-night?
Ham.Arm‘d,say you?We do,my lord.Arm’d,my lord.
Ham.From top ttoe?
Ham.Then saw you not his face?
My lord,from head to.Hor.Oh,yes,my lord;he wore his beaver1 up.
Ham.What,look‘d he frowningly?
Hor.A countenance more in sorrow than in anger.
Ham.Pale or red?
Hor.Nay,very pale.
Ham.And fix’d his eyes upon you?
Hor.Most constantly.
Ham.I would I had been there.
Hor.It would have much amazed you.
Ham.Very like,very like. Stay‘d it long?
Hor.While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred.
Hor.Not when I saw’t.
Ham.His beard was grizzled,-no?
Hor.It was,as I have seen it in his life,A sable silver‘d.
Ham.I will watch to-night;Perchance ’t will walk again.
Hor.I warrant it will.
Longer,longer.
Ham.If it assume my noble father‘s person,I’ll speak tit,though hell itself should gape And bid me hold my peace. I pray you all,If you have hithertconceal‘d this sight,Let it be tenable2 in your silence still; And whatsoever else shall hap to-night,Give it an understanding,but ntongue: I will requite your loves. So,fare you well:
Upon the platform,’twixt eleven and twelve,I‘ll visit you.
1Beaver,a part of the helmet covering the face,sconstructed that the wearer could raise or lower it. 2Tenable,capable of being held.