56 To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether`tis nobler in the mind to suffer,
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
60 And by opposing end them. To die: to sleep
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: `tis a consummation
64 Devoutly to be wish`d. To die: to sleep.
To sleep? Perchance to dream. Ay, there`sthe rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
68 Must give us pause. There`s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th` oppressor`s wrong, the proud man`s contumely,
72 The pangs of dispriz`d love, the law`s delay,
The insolens of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th` unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
76 With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover`d country from whose bourn
80 No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
84 And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o`er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
88 And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia. Nimph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember`d.
56. Cf.n.
59. take... troubles; cf.n.
60. rub: obstacle
61. shuffled off: sloughed off
mortal coil: turmoil of mortal life
68. give us pause: cause us to hesitate
respect: consideration
69. Cf.n.
70. for who wold bear, etc.; cf.n.
72. disprir`d: held in contempt
73. office: people holding official position
spurns: insults
75. quietus: release from life
76. bare bodkin; cf.n. fardels: burdens
79. bourn: boundary
80. no traveller returns; cf.n. puzzles: frustrates
83. conscience: the ability to think
84. native hue: heathy complexion
85. cast: tinge
86. pitch and moment: elevation and importance
87. regard: consideration
currents: courses
89. orisons: prayers