Today’s Totally Random
Lines
Yes, by Saint Patrick, there is, Horatio,
And much offence too.
Hamlet
Hamlet Act I Scene v,
Line 135
Yes, it’s Hamlet, and therefore we musts have something to say. And we do, but first, a bit of context.
We’re still in scene one of the play, albeit at the end of it. Hamlet, Horatio,
and Marcellus are on the parapets of the castle at night. Hamlet, separate from
the other two, has just met with the Ghost of his father who has told Hamlet
that Claudius, the Ghost’s brother, murdered him. Now Marcellus and Horatio
have rejoined Hamlet and are asking him what the Ghost said. Hamlet tells them
that he’s not going to tell them what the Ghost said, and apologizes for
offending his friends. Horatio say’s, okay, no offence taken, and that’s
what Hamlet is responding to in Today’s Line. Here’s Hamlet’s full response, as
I’m sure you’ve been chomping at the bit to read.
Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio,
And much offence too. Touching this vision here,-
It is an honest ghost, that let me tell you:
For your desire to know what is between us,
O’ermaster’t as you may. And now, good friends,
As you are friends, scholars, and soldiers,
Give me one poor request.
And what is that?
Never make known what you have seen to-night.
Horatio and Marcellus don’t know what the Ghost said, but they did see it from
a distance, and Hamlet wants them to keep that a secret. So Hamlet makes them
swear to that whilst the Ghost is yelling Swear! from beneath the
stage. When Horatio remarks how wondrously strange this all is, Hamlet gives us
one of his famous lines.
And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Then are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Think about what Hamlet says there: philosophy covers a lot of ground, and
yet, there is so much more.
There you go; that’s your thought for the day.
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