Page 227 - Hamlet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare

HAMLE T 5.1.207

Imperious Cssar, dead and turned to clay,
Might stop a hole to keep the wind away.
O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe,
210 Should patch a wall t'expel the winter's flaw!
But soft, but soft, awhile—here comes the king,
The queen, the courtiers.

A procession enters the graveyard: the corpse of OPHELIA
in an open coffin, with LAERTES, the KING, the QUEEN,
courtiers and a Doctor of Divinity in cassock and
gown following

"Who is this they follow?
And with such maimed rites? This doth betoken
The corse they follow did with desp'rate hand
Fordo it own life. 'Twas of some estate.
Couch we awhile, and mark.
[they sit under a yew
Laertes. What ceremony else?
tHam/et. That is Laertes,
A very noble youth—mark.
Laertes. What ceremony else?
220 Doctor. Her obsequies have been as far enlarged
As we have warranty. Her death was doubtful,
And but that great command o'ersways the order,
She should in ground unsanctified have lodged
Till the last trumpet: for charitable prayers,
Shards, flints and pebbles should be thrown on her:
Yet here she is allowed her virgin crants,
Her maiden strewments, and the bringing home
Of bell and burial.
Laertes. Must there no more be done?
Doctor. No more be done)
230 We should profane the service of the dead