Ham. Whither wilt thou lead me? speak; I'll go no further.[418]
Ghost. Mark me.
Ghost. My hour is almost come,
When I to sulphurous and tormenting flames[419]
Must render up myself.
Ham. Alas, poor ghost!
Ghost. Pity me not, but lend thy serious hearing[420][421] 5
To what I shall unfold.[420]
Ham. Speak; I am bound to hear.[422]
Ghost. So art thou to revenge, when thou shalt hear.[423]
Ham. What?[424]
Ghost. I am thy father's spirit;
Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, 10
And for the day confined to fast in fires,[425]
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid[426]
To tell the secrets of my prison-house,
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word 15
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part[427]
And each particular hair to stand an end,[428]
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:[429] 20
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list![430]
If thou didst ever thy dear father love—[431]