Renaissance Poetry Packet

The Lover despairing to attain unto his Lady’s Grace relinquisheth the pursuit (1557)Thomas Wyatt

WHOSO list to hunt? I know where is an hind!But as for me, alas! I may no more,The vain travail hath wearied me so sore;I am of them that furthest come behind.Yet may I by no means my wearied mind 5Draw from the deer; but as she fleeth aforeFainting I follow; I leave off therefore,Since in a net I seek to hold the wind.Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubtAs well as I, may spend his time in vain! 10And graven with diamonds, in letters plain,There is written her fair neck round about; ‘Noli me tangere;* for Cæsar’s I am, And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.’

*Latin for “touch me not”

Sonnet 1: Happy, ye leaves! when as those lily hands (1594)Edmund Spenser

HAPPY, ye leaves! when as those lily hands,Which hold my life in their dead-doing might,Shall handle you, and hold in love’s soft bands,Like captives trembling at the victor’s sight.And happy lines! on which, with starry light, 5Those lamping eyes will deign sometimes to look,And read the sorrows of my dying spright,Written with tears in heart’s close-bleeding book.And happy rhymes! bath’d in the sacred brookOf Helicon, whence she derived is; 10When ye behold that Angel’s blessed look,My soul’s long-lacked food, my heaven’s bliss; Leaves, lines, and rhymes, seek her to please alone, Whom if ye please, I care for other none!

Sonnet 75: One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand (1594)Edmund Spenser

ONE day I wrote her name upon the strand,But came the waves and washèd it away:Again I wrote it with a second hand,But came the tide and made my pains his prey.Vain man (said she) that dost in vain assay 5A mortal thing so to immortalise;For I myself shall like to this decay,And eke my name be wipèd out likewise.Not so (quod I); let baser things deviseTo die in dust, but you shall live by fame; 10My verse your virtues rare shall eternise,And in the heavens write your glorious name: Where, when as Death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew.

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love (1599)Christopher Marlowe

COME live with me and be my Love, And we will all the pleasures prove That hills and valleys, dale and field, And all the craggy mountains yield. There will we sit upon the rocks 5And see the shepherds feed their flocks, By shallow rivers, to whose falls Melodious birds sing madrigals. There will I make thee beds of roses And a thousand fragrant posies, 10A cap of flowers, and a kirtle Embroider'd all with leaves of myrtle. A gown made of the finest wool Which from our pretty lambs we pull, Fair linèd slippers for the cold, 15With buckles of the purest gold. A belt of straw and ivy buds With coral clasps and amber studs: And if these pleasures may thee move, Come live with me and be my Love. 20 Thy silver dishes for thy meat As precious as the gods do eat, Shall on an ivory table be Prepared each day for thee and me. The shepherd swains shall dance and sing 25For thy delight each May-morning: If these delights thy mind may move, Then live with me and be my Love.

On My First Daughter

Ben JonsonThe Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd (1599)Sir Walter Raleigh

IF all the world and love were young, And truth in every shepherd's tongue, These pretty pleasures might me move To live with thee and be thy Love. But Time drives flocks from field to fold; 5When rivers rage and rocks grow cold; And Philomel becometh dumb; The rest complains of cares to come. The flowers do fade, and wanton fields To wayward Winter reckoning yields: 10A honey tongue, a heart of gall, Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall. Thy gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses, Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies, Soon break, soon wither—soon forgotten, 15In folly ripe, in reason rotten. Thy belt of straw and ivy-buds, Thy coral clasps and amber studs,— All these in me no means can move To come to thee and be thy Love. 20 But could youth last, and love still breed, Had joys no date, nor age no need, Then these delights my mind might move To live with thee and be thy Love.

To John DonneBen Jonson

Sonnet 29: “When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes” William Shakespeare (1609)

WHEN in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, 5Featur’d like him, like him with friends possess’d, Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee,—and then my state, 10Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate; For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Sonnet 130: “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” William Shakespeare (1609)

MY mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun Coral is far more red than her lips’ red: If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damask’d, red and white, 5But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound: 10I grant I never saw a goddess go,— My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

Sonnet 116: “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds”William Shakespeare (1609)

LET me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediments. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove: O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark, 5That looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is the star to every wandering bark, Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken. Love ’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle’s compass come; 10Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error, and upon me prov’d, I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.

Sonnet 116: “When in the Chronicle of Wasted Time”William Shakespeare (1609)

WHEN in the chronicle of wasted time I see descriptions of the fairest wights, And beauty making beautiful old rime, In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights, Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty’s best, 5Of hand, of foot, of lip, of eye, of brow, I see their antique pen would have express’d Even such a beauty as you master now. So all their praises are but prophecies Of this our time, all you prefiguring; 10And, for they look’d but with divining eyes, They had not skill enough your worth to sing: For we, which now behold these present days, Have eyes to wonder, but lack tongues to praise.

A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning (1612)John Donne

AS virtuous men passe mildly away, And whisper to their soules, to goe, Whilst some of their sad friends doe say, The breath goes now, and some say, no: So let us melt, and make no noise, 5 No teare-floods, nor sigh-tempests move, T'were prophanation of our joyes To tell the layetie our love. Moving of th'earth brings harmes and feares, Men reckon what it did and meant, 10But trepidation of the spheares, Though greater farre, is innocent. Dull sublunary lovers love (Whose soule is sense) cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove 15 Those things which elemented it. But we by a love, so much refin'd, That our selves know not what it is, Inter-assured of the mind, Care lesse, eyes, lips, and hands to misse. 20 Our two soules therefore, which are one, Though I must goe, endure not yet A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to ayery thinnesse beate. If they be two, they are two so 25 As stiffe twin compasses are two, Thy soule the fixt foot, makes no show To move, but doth, if the'other doe. And though it in the center sit, Yet when the other far doth rome, 30It leanes, and hearkens after it, And growes erect, as that comes home. Such wilt thou be to mee, who must Like th'other foot, obliquely runne; Thy firmnes makes my circle just, 35 And makes me end, where I begunne.

The Flea (1633, posthumously) John Donne

MARK but this flea, and mark in this,How little that which thou deniest me is;It suck’d me first, and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled be.Thou know’st that this cannot be said 5A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead; Yet this enjoys before it woo, And pamper’d swells with one blood made of two; And this, alas! is more than we would do. O stay, three lives in one flea spare, 10Where we almost, yea, more than married are.This flea is you and I, and thisOur marriage bed, and marriage temple is.Though parents grudge, and you, we’re met,And cloister’d in these living walls of jet. 15 Though use make you apt to kill me, Let not to that self-murder added be, And sacrilege, three sins in killing three. Cruel and sudden, hast thou sincePurpled thy nail in blood of innocence? 20Wherein could this flea guilty be,Except in that drop which it suck’d from thee?Yet thou triumph’st, and say’st that thouFind’st not thyself nor me the weaker now. ’Tis true; then learn how false fears be; 25 Just so much honour, when thou yield’st to me, Will waste, as this flea’s death took life from thee.

Death Be Not Proud (Holy Sonnet 10) (1610)John Donne

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so; For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, 5Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery. Thou'art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell, 10And poppy'or charms can make us sleep as well And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.

To His Coy Mistress (1650)Andrew Marvell

HAD we but world enough, and time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime We would sit down and think which way To walk and pass our long love's day. Thou by the Indian Ganges' side 5Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide Of Humber would complain. I would Love you ten years before the Flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews. 10My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires, and more slow; An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, 15But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. For, Lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate. 20 But at my back I always hear Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found, 25Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song: then worms shall try That long preserved virginity, And your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust: 30The grave 's a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace. Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires 35At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapt power. 40Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, And tear our pleasures with rough strife Thorough the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun 45Stand still, yet we will make him run.

To the Virgins, to make much of Time (1648)Robert Herrick

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, 5 The higher he 's a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he 's to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; 10But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may, go marry: For having lost but once your prime, 15 You may for ever tarry.

Notes on the Metaphysical Poets

Samuel Johnson, “Life of Cowley” (1779): To show their learning was their whole endeavour … The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions; their learning instructs, and their subtilty surprises; but the reader commonly thinks his improvement dearly bought, and, though he sometimes admires, is seldom pleased.

TS Eliot, “The Metaphysical Poets” (1921): We can only say that it appears likely that poets in our civilization, as it exists at present, must be difficult. Our civilization comprehends great variety and complexity, and this variety and complexity, playing upon a refined sensibility, must produce various and complex results. The poet must become more and more comprehensive, more allusive, more indirect, in order to force, to dislocate if necessary, language into his meaning. Hence we get something which looks very much like the conceit - we get, in fact, a method curiously similar to that of the 'metaphysical poets', similar also in its use of obscure words and of simple phrasing… by assuming that the poets of the seventeenth century (up to the Revolution) were the direct and normal development of the precedent age; and, without prejudicing their case by the adjective 'metaphysical', consider whether their virtue was not something permanently valuable, which subsequently disappeared, but ought not to have disappeared.

metaphysics defined: the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.

On His Blindness (1655)John Milton

WHEN I consider how my light is spent E're half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one Talent which is death to hide, Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present 5 My true account, least he returning chide, Doth God exact day-labour, light deny'd, I fondly ask; But patience to prevent That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need Either man's work or his own gifts, who best 10 Bear his milde yoak, they serve him best, his State Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed And post o're Land and Ocean without rest: They also serve who only stand and waite.

Sonnet 7: How soon hath Time (1632)John Milton

How soon hath Time the suttle theef of youth,Stoln on his wing my three and twentieth yeer!My hasting dayes flie on with full career,But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th.Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth, 5That I to manhood am arriv'd so near,And inward ripenes doth much less appear,That som more timely-happy spirits indu'th.Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,It shall be still in strictest measure eev'n 10To that same lot, however mean, or high,Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heav'n;All is, if I have grace to use it so,As ever in my great task Masters eye.

On Shakespeare (1630)John Milton

What needs my Shakespeare for his honoured bones,The labor of an age in pilèd stones,Or that his hallowed relics should be hid Under a star-ypointing pyramid?Dear son of Memory, great heir of fame, 5What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name?Thou in our wonder and astonishmentHast built thyself a live-long monument.For whilst to th’ shame of slow-endeavouring art, Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart 10Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued bookThose Delphic lines with deep impression took, Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving, Dost make us marble with too much conceiving;And so sepúlchred in such pomp dost lie,That kings for such a tomb would wish to die.

On Time (early 1630s)John Milton

Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race, Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours, Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace; And glut thy self with what thy womb devours, Which is no more then what is false and vain, 5And meerly mortal dross; So little is our loss, So little is thy gain. For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd, And last of all, thy greedy self consum'd, 10Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss With an individual kiss; And Joy shall overtake us as a flood, When every thing that is sincerely good And perfectly divine, 15With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine About the supreme Throne Of him, t'whose happy-making sight alone, When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall clime, Then all this Earthy grosnes quit, 20Attir'd with Stars, we shall for ever sit, Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (1920)T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) S’io credesse che mia risposta fosseA persona che mai tornasse al mondo,Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse.Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondoNon torno vivo alcun, s’i’odo il vero,Senza tema d’infamia ti rispondo. "If I but thought that my response were madeto one perhaps returning to the world,this tongue of flame would cease to flicker.But since, up from these depths, no one has yetreturned alive, if what I hear is true,I answer without fear of being shamed."

LET us go then, you and I,When the evening is spread out against the skyLike a patient etherized upon a table;Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,The muttering retreats 5Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotelsAnd sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:Streets that follow like a tedious argumentOf insidious intentTo lead you to an overwhelming question…. 10Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”Let us go and make our visit. In the room the women come and goTalking of Michelangelo. The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, 15The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panesLicked its tongue into the corners of the evening,Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap, 20And seeing that it was a soft October night,Curled once about the house, and fell asleep. And indeed there will be timeFor the yellow smoke that slides along the street,Rubbing its back upon the window panes; 25There will be time, there will be timeTo prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;There will be time to murder and create,And time for all the works and days of handsThat lift and drop a question on your plate; 30Time for you and time for me,And time yet for a hundred indecisions,And for a hundred visions and revisions,Before the taking of a toast and tea. In the room the women come and go 35Talking of Michelangelo. And indeed there will be timeTo wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”Time to turn back and descend the stair,With a bald spot in the middle of my hair— 40(They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”)My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—(They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”)Do I dare 45Disturb the universe?In a minute there is timeFor decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. For I have known them all already, known them all:Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, 50I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;I know the voices dying with a dying fallBeneath the music from a farther room. So how should I presume? And I have known the eyes already, known them all— 55The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,Then how should I beginTo spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways? 60 And how should I presume?

And I have known the arms already, known them all—Arms that are braceleted and white and bare(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)Is it perfume from a dress 65That makes me so digress?Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl. And should I then presume? And how should I begin?. . . . . . . .Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets 70And watched the smoke that rises from the pipesOf lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?… I should have been a pair of ragged clawsScuttling across the floors of silent seas.. . . . . . . .And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! 75Smoothed by long fingers,Asleep … tired … or it malingers,Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? 80But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter;I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,

85And in short, I was afraid. And would it have been worth it, after all,After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,Would it have been worth while, 90To have bitten off the matter with a smile,To have squeezed the universe into a ballTo roll it toward some overwhelming question,To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”— 95If one, settling a pillow by her head, Should say: “That is not what I meant at all; That is not it, at all.” And would it have been worth it, after all,Would it have been worth while, 100After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—And this, and so much more?—It is impossible to say just what I mean!But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen: 105Would it have been worth whileIf one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,And turning toward the window, should say: “That is not it at all, That is not what I meant, at all.” 110. . . . . . . .No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;Am an attendant lord, one that will doTo swell a progress, start a scene or two,Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,Deferential, glad to be of use, 115Politic, cautious, and meticulous;Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—Almost, at times, the Fool. I grow old … I grow old … 120I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me. 125 I have seen them riding seaward on the wavesCombing the white hair of the waves blown backWhen the wind blows the water white and black. We have lingered in the chambers of the seaBy sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown 130Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

Reading Questions for Hamlet | AP Literature | SabolcikThe best beginning procedure is always to familiarize yourself with the cast of characters and then to read the play (or at least an act or a scene) all the way through so that you know what's happening. The notes can help if you're stuck, but try to get the big picture of a scene before getting bogged down in details. Read through, then go back and clear up details. 1.1 ACT 11. What happens when Francisco and Bernardo meet at the beginning of 1.1? Where are we, and when? Why is there confusion over which one is supposed to challenge the other by asking "Who's there"? Why is Horatio with Bernardo and Marcellus? Who is he?2. What is Horatio's initial response to the story of the apparition? What happens when the ghost appears for the first time (1.1.37.1)? Notice that Horatio addresses it as "thou." This is the form of address used with friends or inferiors. Shakespeare's audience would have been much more attuned to the difference than we are. What is the effect of Horatio's addressing the ghost as "thou"?3. What does Horatio first assume the appearance of the ghost means (1.1.68)? Why are there such intense war preparations in Denmark? (Read 1.1.69-106 carefully to get the international background of the play.) What does Horatio suggest by his discussion of Julius Caesar's death (1.1.106.5-.18)? Why does he choose the example of Rome? Why is the passage set off and in italics? (See note 2, line 106.)4. What happens when the ghost appears for the second time (at the SD before 1.1.108.1)? Why does it leave so abruptly? The questions Horatio asks it represent, according to the thought of the time, the reasons why a ghost could appear.5. What is the purpose of the two discussions of the crowing of the cock, Horatio's pagan one (1.1.130-37) and Marcellus' Christian one (1.1.138-45)?6. What do we know so far about the nature of the ghost? Do we know yet if it is a "good" ghost (i.e., "really" the spirit of the person it appears to be) or a "damned" ghost (a devil or evil spirit in the shape of the person it appears to be)?1.21. What is Claudius telling the court in the first part of his speech (1.2.1-16)? What does he say about young Fortinbras and his uncle the king of Norway (ll. 17-41)? How is Claudius responding to the threat? (You may also want to keep in mind that the name "Claudius" appears only in the opening stage direction for 1.2. The name is never spoken in the play. He is simply "the King.")2. What does Laertes want from the King? How does Claudius respond to him? Based on his first 64 lines in office (1.2.1-64), how would you rate Claudius as a ruler? In what ways does he already differ from Old Hamlet as king? (Consider how Old Hamlet would have responded to Young Fortinbras.)3. What do Claudius and Gertrude want Hamlet to do that he doesn't want to do? What won't they let him do it? How does he respond to them? How do they respond to the way he responds to them? (You probably know three names associated with the University of Wittenberg in Germany: Martin Luther, Doctor Faustus, and Hamlet. Can you see any connections among the three?)4. How seriously do you take Claudius' argument against Hamlet's "prolonged" mourning (1.2.87-108)? How long has Hamlet been mourning (1.2.138)? (The normal mourning period of a noble or gentle woman for a dead husband at this time [ca. 1600] was a year or more.)5. Read Hamlet's first soliloquy (1.2.129-59) carefully. What is it that is really bothering him about what has happened since his father's death? How would you describe the tone of his feelings: detached, impassioned, rational, ironic, or what?6. What is Hamlet's response to the news from Horatio, Marcellus, and Bernardo? Notice the way Hamlet questions them. How much do we know about how his mind works at this point of the play? What does he suspect as the reason for the ghost's appearance (1.2.254-57)?1.31. What does Laertes warn Ophelia about? What, apparently, has been the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia since his return from Wittenberg?2. How seriously do you take Polonius' precepts (1.3.58-80)? Consider especially the last one (1.3.78-80).3. How willing is Ophelia to discuss with her father what she has discussed with Laertes? What is his response to Hamlet's interest in her and her response to him? How seriously should she take their warnings about Hamlet's lack of seriousness and his inability to choose his own wife?4. What do we know about Laertes, Polonius, and Ophelia by the end of 1.3? What sort of people are they? What sort of family are they? Who is missing from this family? How strong-willed in Ophelia?1.41. Why do the trumpets and cannons sound, according to Hamlet? What does Hamlet think of the custom?2. Read 1.4.18.7-.22 carefully. What is Hamlet saying here?3. How does Hamlet respond to the ghost? If it is a "damned ghost," is he as safe as he thinks he is in 1.4.45-48? Why don't the others want him to go? Why can't/don't they stop him? What does Marcellus still think the nature of the problem is (1.4.67)?1.51. Is Hamlet surprised when the Ghost asks him to revenge his father's murder? Is he surprised when he learns who the murderer is?2. Do father and son have the same opinion of Claudius? (Compare 1.2.139-40, 152-53 and 1.5.47-52.) Would others in the court, not knowing about Claudius' crime, see Claudius as this much below his dead brother?3. How did Claudius murder Old Hamlet?4. What does the Ghost tell Hamlet to do about his mother?5. Read Hamlet's second soliloquy carefully (1.5.92-113). What does Hamlet say he has learned? In other words, what general piece of wisdom does he want to save from this encounter (1.5.109). Is this shockingly new information to us? Or is Hamlet just becoming "grown up"? (When did you first learn that you couldn't always trust people?) Notice how quickly Hamlet moves from the specific (Claudius) to the general ("one"). Compare the same movement he makes from the specific person Gertrude to "frailty, thy name is woman" (1.2.146). Given this soliloquy, how soon would you expect Hamlet to go for his revenge?6. What happens when the others find Hamlet. What does he ask them to swear? What does his mention of an "antic disposition" (1.5.173) suggest about his future plans? How might you expect Hamlet to be acting when next we see him?2.1 ACT 21. How much time has passed between Act 1 and Act 2? How do you know? (Keep watching for evidence.)2. What is Polonius telling Reynaldo to do? What does this tell up about Polonius and his way of thinking and acting?3. Why is Ophelia so upset when she enters at 2.1.74.1? What has happened to her? Does Hamlet's appearance (in her telling) as a madman (a distracted lover) come as a surprise after what we last heard him say? Why would he appear in this sort of madness to her? Is there any possibility he really is a distracted lover responding to Ophelia's apparent rejection of him? How well has she obeyed her father's orders in 1.3?4. What is Polonius' response to what Ophelia tells him? Where are they going?2.21. Why have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern come to court? What is their relation to Hamlet? What use does Claudius have for them? Does this remind you of Polonius' use for Reynaldo? Are there any significant differences?2. We've now had several different explanations of Hamlet's madness: love (2.1.86, 103), his father's death (2.2.8), and that plus "our o'erhasty marriage" (2.2.57note Gertrude's awareness of impropriety). Are people content with these explanations? Are you?3. What results have come from Cornelius' and Voltemand's trip to Norway? Has Claudius' use of diplomacy rather than war been justified? What will Fortinbrasbe doing next? Can we expect to see him in Denmark after all? Why?4. How effective is Polonius as a bearer of news? How convinced are Claudius and Gertrude that Polonius has found the answer? How do they plan to test this answer? Does Polonius' plan sound like his normal way of operating (2.2.163-68)?5. Immediately following the discussion of the plan, Hamlet appears. Wouldn't this be a good time to try out the plan? Do they?6. How does Hamlet behave when he enters? Does Polonius think he is mad? Is this the way we would expect Hamlet to act after Ophelia's description in 2.1? Why does he call Polonius a fishmonger? (It may help to know that fishmongers' wives, and daughters, apparently because of the fish, were assumed to be extremely fertile and thus able to conceive easilyand thus the connection in 2.2.185-86.)7. How does Hamlet behave initially with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (through 2.2.216-66)? Is it different from the way he just acted with Polonius? How does Hamlet change when he realizes that the two were sent for by Claudius and Gertrude?8. How seriously should we take Hamlet's view of the world and of "man" (2.2.287-98). How do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern react to Hamlet's use of "generic" man (2.2.298-300)?9. Why are the players traveling? What has been going on in the city? (Much of 2.2.317-46 refers to contemporary events in London around 1599-1601.)10. What is the significance of Hamlet's referring to Polonius as Jephthah (2.2.385).Jephthah's story is interesting in this contextsee Judges 11:30-40.11. What is unusual about the speech Hamlet begins to recite (2.2.430-44) and the First Player continues (2.2.448-498). How is its style different from that of the surrounding lines of Hamlet? Why is its subject matter appropriate? (See Note 2 to line 430.) Do lines 461-62 echo anything from or about the play Hamlet? Why can't the First Player finish the speech?12. What play does Hamlet want the players to play? What does he want to do to the play?13. Read Hamlet's third soliloquy carefully (2.2.526-82). How does he use the player's response to show how different his own position is? Is the comparison justified by what we have seen happen in the play? He complains that he hasn't acted on his vengeance. Why hasn't he? Why does he need the play? What will he learn from it?3.1 ACT 31. How much have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learned from/about Hamlet?2. Finally the planned meeting between Hamlet and Ophelia is arranged, spies and all. What does Polonius give Ophelia to read (3.1.46)? What response does his remark get (in an aside) from Claudius? Why is this speech of Claudius' important? What do we learn that we have not learned before?3. Read Hamlet's fourth soliloquy carefully (3.1.58-90). How is this soliloquy different from the first two? Think about the way Hamlet's mind works within the first two--is the same thing happening here? What is the main idea of this third soliloquy? (For an interesting variant of this speech, you might want to look at the duke's version in chapter 21 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn-a great parody/pastiche.)4. What happens between Hamlet and Ophelia in the so-called "Nunnery scene" (3.1.90-160)? Does Hamlet know that he's being watched? Does he determine that during the scene? Can you spot a place where he might? (Remember how he changed his way of talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern at 2.2.267.) Who is the "one" referred to in "all but one" (3.1.147)? What does it add to note that in talking about marriage in 3.1.146-48 Hamlet seems to be echoing St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7?5. How does Claudius respond to what he has seen and heard? Is he convinced that love is the cause of Hamlet's madness? What does he plan to do about Hamlet? How does Polonius respond? Is he willing to give up his "love" answer? What does he propose as an additional way to find out what Hamlet is thinking? Are you surprised that it includes spying?3.21. What advice does Hamlet have for the actors? Why?2. Why does Hamlet say he especially likes Horatio (3.2.56-67, esp. 64-67)? Does Hamlet see Horatio as similar to him or different from him?

3. What function is served by the discussion of Polonius as an actor (3.1.89-96)? Hamlet was written within a year or two of Julius Caesar; what is added to the scene for the audience if Richard Burbage, playing Hamlet, also played Brutus? Can you guess what part the actor playing Polonius might have played in Julius Caesar?4. Based on 3.2.116, how much time elapsed between Act 1 and Act 2 (since the action has been continuous since the beginning of Act 2)?5. How does the play-within-the-play (3.1.122.1-242) reflect the issues bothering Hamlet? Can you identify the lines he has had inserted? (Don't worry, nobody else can either.) Interestingly, the story of Gonzago as known outsideHamlet turns into a revenge story, with Gonzago's son revenging his father's death. So what we've seen is only the first few minutes of a much longer play. What lines would hit the intended audience hardest? (Consider, certainly, 3.2.159-62.) Although Hamlet is interested in Claudius' response, notice that so far Gertrude has taken the strongest "hits" (except, perhaps, for the poisoning in the earone of the new "Italianate" evil inventions, a way to murder someone without it appearing to be murder). Consider also the Player King's more abstract speech in 3.2.1168-195. How does this speech reflect issues that appear elsewhere in the play?6. What is Claudius' mood as he stops the play at 3.2.247? How does Hamlet respond? If Hamlet has learned that Claudius is indeed guilty (if that's why he stopped the play and not for some other reason), Claudius has also learned something from the presentation of the play. What has Claudius learned?7. What message do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have for Hamlet? Despite the chaos at the end of the play, is this message unexpected after hearing Polonius' suggestion at the end of the Nunnery scene (3.1)? What lesson does Hamlet teach with a recorder?8. Read Hamlet's fifth soliloquy carefully (3.2.358-69). How is it different from the other soliloquies? What is the mood of the soliloquy? How do you react to it? What about line 360? What is happening to Hamlet?3.31. What has Claudius decided to do with Hamlet? Who will go with him? What "theoretical" message about kingship does Rosencrantz tell to Claudius?2. What does Claudius admit in his attempt to pray? Has the play actually had an effect on him? Why can't he ask for forgiveness?3. What happens when Hamlet enters? Why doesn't Hamlet kill Claudius then? What is ironic about Hamlet's decision?3.41. How successful is the first part of the interview between Gertrude and Hamlet? What goes wrong (even before Polonius' death)? Who controls the conversation? Why does Gertrude call for help?2. Does Gertrude know that Claudius killed Hamlet's father? (Consider 3.4.27-29, 38-39, 50-51.)3. What device does Hamlet use to force Gertrude to consider what she has done?4. Hamlet seems to be getting through to Hamlet when the Ghost enters. Why does the Ghost appear at this point? How is his appearance different from his appearances in Act 1? Who saw him then? Who sees him now? What is his message to Hamlet?5. After the Ghost leaves, does Hamlet succeed in what he came to do? What is Gertrude's state when he leaves? What should she do, and what should she not do?6. What does Hamlet think of his upcoming trip to England? What does he expect to do?4.1 ACT 41. Does Gertrude tell Claudius the truth about what happened between her and Hamlet (4.1.6-7)? Is she following Hamlet's advice at the end of 3.4?2. How does Claudius respond to the death of Polonius? Does he understand the implications of what happened? What will he do now?4.21. What do Rosencrantz and Guildenstern learn from Hamlet?4.31. Why does Claudius believe he can't simply arrest Hamlet?2. What is the result of Hamlet's joking about death and worms? What connection do the worms and their diet have with Wittenberg? (Note 4 to line 31gives most of the answer. The Diet, headed by the Emperor and meeting at Worms in 1521, pronounced its ban on Luther after he refused to recant.) Keep the whole "worm" discussion in mind when you get to 5.1, the graveyard scene. This discussion is a prelude to that one.3. Is Hamlet going to England as a prisoner or in the guise of a royal representative?4. What do Claudius' letters tell England (i.e., the king of England) to do with Hamlet? Why does Claudius expect to be obeyed? (The situation is more or less historical, since England was ruled by a Danish king from 1016-1042. The original Hamlet story seems to date from about this time.)4.41. Why is Fortinbras' army passing through Denmark? (Remember 2.2.60-80.)2. Notice that the Folio text contains only lines 1-9 of this scene. What is the effect of having only those lines? Why would even that much of the scene appear? In other words, what is the function within the play of 4.4.1-9?3. What sort of judgment does the Captain make about the place they are fighting for? How does Hamlet describe it (4.4.9.15-.19)?4. Where is Hamlet going when he meets the Captain?5. Read Hamlet's sixth soliloquy carefully (4.4.9.22-.56). What is unusual about it given its position in the play? Has Hamlet been delaying, as he says? What example does he compare himself to? (And what other soliloquy does this one remind you of?)6. Look at 4.4.9.43-.46 closely. What is Hamlet saying? (See note 8 to line 9.46 for a suggestion. Is this the only possibility?) This passage introduces the idea of "honor" that we will be meeting again, particularly as represented by the "code of dueling," something new in the late 16th century that is represented in the play by Laertes and his "French connection" (as opposed to Hamlet's Wittenberg, philosophical connection). And be sure to recall what Falstaff had to say about it (1H4 5.1.127-39.)7. 4.4 ends a long "movement" in the play that began at 2.1 with Polonius taking Ophelia to the King and Queen, followed by the arrival of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and then of the players. 3.1 begins the day after the players arrive (the day the play is to be performed); the action of that day runs through the rest of Act 3 and the first scenes of Act 4. In 4.4 we must assume that it is early morning of the next day and that Hamlet is on his way to England. In 4.5 Laertes returns, having had enough time to learn in Paris of his father's death, so some time must pass between 4.4 and 4.5.4.51. What do we learn about the state of Gertrude's soul in her aside (4.5.17-20)? What does this say about how she has responded to Hamlet's accusations and recommendations in 3.4?2. The court assumes Ophelia's madness is caused by her father's death. Judging from her songs, are they correct? Is that the only thing that has made her mad? What else is on her mind and coming to the surface in her madness?3. What is Laertes' approach to revenging his father's death? How does it compare to Hamlet's? How much support does he have? Whom does he initially blame?4. What is being threatened as Laertes enters (4.5.107.1)? How well does Claudius handle this emergency?5. How does Laertes respond to mad Ophelia? What offer does Claudius make to get his discussion with Laertes back on track?4.61. Who brings Hamlet's letter to Horatio? What has happened to Hamlet? (Happily, we have been spared seeing Hamlet as Errol Flynnsee Olivier's movie version for that. However, this letter does show us a Hamlet quite capable of acting when the occasion presents itself.)4.71. Claudius has obviously convinced Laertes of his innocence. What things of a personal nature do we learn about Gertrude and Claudius (4.7.11-16)? Laertes wants his revenge, but Claudius tells him "You shortly shall hear more." What does Claudius expect to be able to tell Laertes soon?2. What does Hamlet's letter tell Claudius? Why does Hamlet want to see him"alone"? What seems to be Hamlet's plan?3. What plan do Claudius and Laertes develop? What happened when Lamord came to Denmark two months ago? How will Claudius and Laertes use Laertes' reputation to get revenge?4. What would Laertes do to get revenge (4.7.98)? How does this compare to Hamlet? How does Claudius respond?5. How many tricks and poisons does it take (according to Claudius and Laertes) to kill a Hamlet?6. What happened to Ophelia? Did she kill herself, or is her death accidental (based on this description; her death gets a different spin in 5.1)?7. What is Laertes' response to her death? What does Claudius fear will happen?5.1 ACT 51. What are the two clowns doing while they talk? Who is the "she" of 5.1.1? Why, according to the second clown, is she really being given a Christian burial?2. What happens in the discussion between Hamlet and the Gravedigger? What does Hamlet learn from his confrontation with Yorick's skull? What does he learn from his meditation on Alexander and Caesar? How does the mood here differ from that in 4.3.17-38?3. What do we learn from Gertrude's farewell to Ophelia (5.1.227-30)? Would Polonius have been surprised if he had heard this?4. What happens when Hamlet appears to the others? What is significant about him calling himself "Hamlet the Dane" (5.1.242see the footnote)? Why is he so angry?5.21. What new sort of attitude to life do you see in the Hamlet of the first 81 lines of 5.2 ?2. What would have happened to him in England? How did he find out? What did he do about it? What has happened to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? Do they know what hit them? (See Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.) How does Hamlet feel about them?3. What sort of person is Osric? What message does he have for Hamlet? What seems to be the problem with his hat? What is the wager (5.2.122-25)? (No one has been able to explain this speech in a way convincing to everyone.)4. What is Hamlet's reaction to the idea of the match (5.2.148-61)? (The Folio text has an additional sentence at the end: "Let be.")? How well does Hamlet expect to do? Why does he go ahead with it? How does this reflect the new attitude we saw in Hamlet in 5.1?5. Hamlet clearly apologizes to Laertes (5.2.163-81). How does Laertes respond? Given what we know about the plans of Laertes and Claudius, how do you take Laertes' promise (5.2.187-89)? Can we say he has any honor at all? Has he followed his father's precept in 1.3.78-80?6. What is Laertes doing at line 202?7. What is the "union" Claudius promises to put in the cup at line 210 and perhaps does not put into the cup until after line 225? What problem is created by Hamlet's response in line 227? What happens at line 232? (And what is the score by now?)8. Look carefully at lines 245-55, noting who wounds whom and with what sword, and what happens to Gertrude (including Claudius' lie at line 251).9. Why is Hamlet so concerned that Horatio stay alive to tell his story? How much do the other people at court know at this point?10. Do you believe Horatio in his assumption that Hamlet is saved and not damned? Why or why not?11. Does the Hamlet Fortinbrasdescribes (5.2.339-44) sound like the Hamlet we have known? What will happen to the kingdom under Fortinbras?

Discussion Questions:1. Ros and Guil play a number of word games, whether they be "questions" or role-playing different scenarios. How are these word games different than other more traditional games that they might play? Why do they often speak of words as the only things that they have to play with?2. How do failures of communication lead to the tragic ending of the play?3. Why do Ros and Guil seem so dependent on the words of others to know what is happening to them at any given moment? Why do they put all their trust in language, rather than experience? What is Guil's biggest fear? In what circumstance is he willing to show fear?4. Why do certain characters in the play, the Player in particular, seem incapable of experiencing fear? What would it take to frighten the Player?5. Guil and Ros constantly seem like outsiders in the play. Why are they so alienated from the rest of the cast? What factors lead to their isolation?6. What is the relationship between isolation and control in the play? Do Ros and Guil seem more in control of their situation when they are on their own or when they are in the company of others?7. How do other characters define isolation and how does it effect their actions? For example, how does Hamlet's sense of isolation from court differ from the isolation the Player feels when he finds that he is not playing to an audience?8. Guil and Ros spend most of the play as spectators. Do they have a choice? Is this the result of their passivity or the result of their situation?9. Are there times in the play when not acting is a better choice than acting?10. Is Guil's hostility to the Player and his view of life as drama somehow bound up with Guil's inability to act in ordinary life?11. Are there points in the play when passivity takes on moral significance? When and how? How many distinct realities are there within the play? Is the reality inhabited by Ros and Guil different than that inhabited by thePlayer, than that inhabited by Claudius and Hamlet? If these realities are different, then how are they different?12. Do drama and real life constitute two different versions of reality? How does the play distinguish between them?Does this distinction ever break down?13. How can you explain the fact that the characters sometimes act as if they know that they are in a play? Are these moments different from the rest of the play? Does it interfere with your ability to understand the rest of the play?Does it make the play seem fake and contrived?14. How can the fact that the action of Stoppard's play is already determined by Hamlet be used as a metaphor for fate?15. Do the characters seem happiest when they feel that they have free will or when they sense that their fate has already been written?16. What is the relationship between fate and free will that is symbolized by the boat? Do Ros and Guil find this a desirable relationship? Should they?17. Look closely at some of Guil's descriptions of death. What does it mean to say that death is "not"? If death is unthinkable, then why does Guil even feel the need to discuss it? Is his attempt to describe it completely vain?18. Given the Player's description of a tragedy in Act Two, is Stoppard's play a tragedy ("The bad end unhappily, thegood unluckily")? (2.316)19. What are the major similarities and differences between Ros's view of what a play should do, and Guil's view of how a play should relate to reality?20. Does Stoppard's play pay homage to Hamlet or does it ridicule it?

Seminar Questions:1. What description does Tom Stoppard provide of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern’s dress, and what does it reveal about their characters?2. What does Guildenstern’s reaction to the coin toss suggest about his values?3. In the passage between “The law of probability, it has been oddly asserted…” and “What suspense?” How does Stoppard create comedy?4. What are the existential implications in the scene thus far?5. What does Hamlet mean when he says, “Let me comply with you in this garb, lest my extent to the players (which I tell you must show fairly outwards) should more appear like entertainment than yours”? Why is this statement ironic?6. Why is Rosencrantz’s repeated line “He murdered us,” significant?7. In Act 3, what word creates ambiguity, and comedy as a result, in Guildenstern’s question, “What are you feeling?”8. Why does Guildenstern yelp? How does the action that prompts Guildenstern’s yelp contribute to an existing motif in the play?

9. Why does Guildenstern like boats, and how might this eliminate his angst about personal responsibility?