Hamlet - Act 5 Scene 2
This scene may follow directly from 5.1, or it may allow for the passage of some time. Hamlet and Horatio enter in mid-conversation; "this" may refer to the events covered in Hamlet's letter, while "the other" is the events yet to be described.
A hall in the castle.
Enter HAMLET and HORATIO
HAMLET
So much for this, sir; now shall you see the other.
You do remember all the circumstance?
HORATIO
Remember it, my lord?
Hamlet quickly gets carried away, shifting from recounting his story to observing the forces of destiny at work.
HAMLET
Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting,
That would not let me sleep: methought I lay
Worse than the mutines in the bilboes. Rashly,
And praised be rashness for it, let us know,
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well,
When our deep plots do pall: and that should teach us
There's a divinity that shapes our ends,
Rough-hew them how we will –
HORATIO
That is most certain.
"Them" in this case is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Hamlet's guards on the journey toward England. Hamlet recounts finding the letter from Claudius to the King of England, demanding Hamlet's death.
HAMLET
Up from my cabin,
My sea-gown scarfed about me, in the dark
Groped I to find out them; had my desire.
Fingered their packet, and in fine withdrew
To mine own room again; making so bold,
My fears forgetting manners, to unseal
Their grand commission; where I found, Horatio –
O royal knavery! – an exact command,
Larded with many several sorts of reasons
Importing Denmark's health and England's too,
With, ho! such bugs and goblins in my life,
That, on the supervise, no leisure bated,
No, not to stay the grinding of the axe,
My head should be struck off.
HORATIO
Is't possible?
HAMLET
Here's the commission: read it at more leisure.
But wilt thou hear me how I did proceed?
HORATIO
I beseech you.
Hamlet once again digresses, this time into the finer points of handwriting. In his youth, he tried to make his writing rough, but in forging the letter, he was well-served by his educated script. This is yet another variation on the theme of interiors and exteriors, here linked not to the content of writing, but to the actual handwriting style.
HAMLET
Being thus be-netted round with villanies –
Ere I could make a prologue to my brains,
They had begun the play – I sat me down,
Devised a new commission, wrote it fair:
I once did hold it, as our statists do,
A baseness to write fair and laboured much
How to forget that learning, but, sir, now
It did me yeoman's service: wilt thou know
The effect of what I wrote?
HORATIO
Ay, good my lord.
Hamlet has evidently followed through on his threat in 3.4, to "delve one yard below their mines,/ And blow them at the moon," using a near-identical letter to deliver Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to their deaths in his place.
HAMLET
An earnest conjuration from the king,
As England was his faithful tributary,
As love between them like the palm might flourish,
As peace should stiff her wheaten garland wear
And stand a comma 'tween their amities,
And many such-like 'As'es of great charge,
That, on the view and knowing of these contents,
Without debatement further, more or less,
He should the bearers put to sudden death,
Not shriving-time allowed.
Horatio is meticulously curious about the details of this plot: the letter would need a royal seal in order to seem official. Fortunately, Hamlet had his father's signet ring, which functioned as a Danish royal seal.
HORATIO
How was this sealed?
HAMLET
Why, even in that was heaven ordinant.
I had my father's signet in my purse,
Which was the model of that Danish seal;
Folded the writ up in form of the other,
Subscribed it, gave't the impression, placed it safely,
The changeling never known. Now, the next day
Was our sea-fight; and what to this was sequent
Thou know'st already.
Horatio's tone in this line will direct the audience's response towards Hamlet: he may be approving, supportive, understanding, or openly critical.
Hamlet's reply here is ironic. He argues that lesser men put themselves in danger when they meddle in the affairs of kings and princes, a point which would heavily implicate Horatio.
HORATIO
So Guildenstern and Rosencrantz go to't.
HAMLET
Why, man, they did make love to this employment;
They are not near my conscience; their defeat
Does by their own insinuation grow;
'Tis dangerous when the baser nature comes
Between the pass and fell incensèd points
Of mighty opposites.
HORATIO
Why, what a king is this!
For the first time in the play, Hamlet directly addresses the fact that Claudius' intervention denied Hamlet the crown. Hamlet now argues that not only is he right to pursue a private revenge, but Claudius' actions have been such that his death would be a benefit to the state.
HAMLET
Does it not, think'st thee, stand me now upon –
He that hath killed my king and whored my mother,
Popped in between the election and my hopes,
Thrown out his angle for my proper life,
And with such cozenage – is't not perfect conscience,
To quit him with this arm? and is't not to be damned,
To let this canker of our nature come
In further evil?
For the first time in the play, the action has a deadline and urgency: Hamlet must act before Claudius receives the news from England.
Hamlet now explicitly makes the connection between his own situation and Laertes', once more phrasing the comparison in terms of images and portraits.
HORATIO
It must be shortly known to him from England
What is the issue of the business there.
HAMLET
It will be short: the interim is mine;
And a man's life's no more than to say 'One.'
But I am very sorry, good Horatio,
That to Laertes I forgot myself;
For, by the image of my cause, I see
The portraiture of his: I'll court his favours.
But, sure, the bravery of his grief did put me
Into a towering passion.
HORATIO
Peace! Who comes here?
Part of Osric's character is his outrageously affected manner, and thus his entrance is an opportunity for physical and visual humous: he may be outlandishly dressed, and overly formal in his bearing, executing absurd bows or salutes.
Enter OSRIC
OSRIC
Your lordship is right welcome back to Denmark.
HAMLET
I humbly thank you, sir. Dost know this water-fly?
HORATIO
No, my good lord.
Osric is a country gentleman, owner of large amounts of land, but without the sophistication that comes with living at court. He is thus an easy target for Hamlet's scorn and mockery.
HAMLET
Thy state is the more gracious; for 'tis a vice to know
him. He hath much land, and fertile: let a beast be lord
of beasts, and his crib shall stand at the king's mess: 'tis
a chough; but, as I say, spacious in the possession of
dirt.
OSRIC
Sweet lord, if your lordship were at leisure, I should
impart a thing to you from his majesty.
In Shakespeare's time, men generally wore hats, and it was common practice to remove one's hat in the presence of a social superior, as a mark of respect. Osric has evidently removed his hat, and Hamlet urges him to put it back on, effectively telling him to relax, or stand at ease.
HAMLET
I will receive it, sir, with all diligence of spirit. Put your
bonnet to his right use; 'tis for the head.
OSRIC
I thank your lordship, it is very hot.
HAMLET
No, believe me, 'tis very cold; the wind is northerly.
OSRIC
It is indifferent cold, my lord, indeed.
HAMLET
But yet methinks it is very sultry and hot for my
complexion.
Osric seems to lose his confidence and his speech as Hamlet torments him.
OSRIC
Exceedingly, my lord; it is very sultry – as 'twere – I
cannot tell how. But, my lord, his majesty bade me
signify to you that he has laid a great wager on your
head: sir, this is the matter–
HAMLET
I beseech you, remember –
HAMLET moves him to put on his hat
Osric appears to have found his speech once more. He may be an inexperienced courtier (the Folio refers to him as "young Osric"), so this speech may be recited as a memorized text.
OSRIC
Nay, good my lord; for mine ease, in good faith. Sir,
here is newly come to court Laertes; believe me,
an absolute gentleman, full of most excellent differences,
of very soft society and great showing; indeed, to speak
feelingly of him, he is the card or calendar of gentry, for
you shall find in him the continent of what part a
gentleman would see.
Hamlet parrots Osric's exaggerated speech and rhythms, perhaps dazzling and/or confusing the courtier in the process. If Osric's speech is stilted and rehearsed, Hamlet's feat of improvisation will seem even more impressive.
HAMLET
Sir, his definement suffers no perdition in you; though, I
know, to divide him inventorially would dizzy the
arithmetic of memory, and yet but yaw neither, in respect
of his quick sail. But, in the verity of extolment, I take
him to be a soul of great article; and his infusion of such
dearth and rareness, as, to make true diction of him, his
semblable is his mirror; and who else would trace him,
his umbrage, nothing more.
OSRIC
Your lordship speaks most infallibly of him.
HAMLET
The concernancy, sir? Why do we wrap the gentleman in our
more rawer breath?
OSRIC
Sir?
Depending on Horatio's tone here, and whether he addresses his comments to Osric or to Hamlet, he may be joining in on the fun, supporting Hamlet, or coming to Osric's defense.
HORATIO
Is't not possible to understand in another tongue? You will
do't, sir, really.
HAMLET
What imports the nomination of this gentleman?
OSRIC
Of Laertes?
HORATIO
His purse is empty already; all's golden words are spent.
HAMLET
Of him, sir.
OSRIC
I know you are not ignorant—
Hamlet once more takes on the quibbling tendencies of his 'antic disposition,' interrupting, analyzing, and misconstruing Osric's statements.
HAMLET
I would you did, sir; yet, in faith, if you did, it would not
much approve me. Well, sir?
OSRIC
You are not ignorant of what excellence Laertes is—
HAMLET
I dare not confess that, lest I should compare with him in
excellence; but, to know a man well, were to know himself.
OSRIC
I mean, sir, for his weapon; but in the imputation laid on him
by them, in his meed he's unfellowed.
HAMLET
What's his weapon?
OSRIC
Rapier and dagger.
HAMLET
That's two of his weapons; but, well.
At long last, the play returns to Claudius' and Laertes' fencing plot. Osric seems rather enamored of Laertes, and spends considerable time lavishly describing the swords which Laertes has wagered.
OSRIC
The King, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary horses:
against the which he has imponed, as I take it, six
French rapiers and poniards, with their assigns, as
girdle, hangers, and so: three of the carriages, in faith,
are very dear to fancy, very responsive to the hilts, most
delicate carriages, and of very liberal conceit.
HAMLET
What call you the carriages?
A "margent" is a margin of a page, thus "to be edified by the margent" means having to look up a definition in the notes, as you're doing now.
HORATIO
I knew you must be edified by the margent ere you had done.
OSRIC
The carriages, sir, are the hangers.
"Carriage" was more commonly used to describe the support for artillery (undercarriage); Osric stretches the term by applying it to the hangers for the swords, and Hamlet takes him to task for his exaggeration.
Similarly, a wagered item might be said to be "pawned," and Osric's "imponed" is another extravagant usage, if not an outright misuse.
The terms of the contest cause a great deal of confusion for readers, and many solutions have been proposed to make them work out mathematically. The important elements are that there is a wager in place, and a fencing match is involved, and the details of the wager do not amount to much by the end of the scene.
HAMLET
The phrase would be more german to the matter, if we
could carry cannon by our sides: I would it might be
hangers till then. But, on: six Barbary horses against six
French swords, their assigns, and three liberal-conceited
carriages; that's the French bet against the Danish. Why
is this 'imponed,' as you call it?
OSRIC
The King, sir, hath laid, that in a dozen passes between
yourself and him, he shall not exceed you three hits: he
hath laid on twelve for nine; and it would come to
immediate trial, if your lordship would vouchsafe the
answer.
HAMLET
How if I answer 'no'?
OSRIC
I mean, my lord, the opposition of your person in trial.
HAMLET
Sir, I will walk here in the hall: if it please his majesty,
'tis the breathing time of day with me; let the foils be
brought, the gentleman willing, and the king hold his
purpose, I will win for him an I can; if not, I will gain
nothing but my shame and the odd hits.
OSRIC
Shall I re-deliver you e'en so?
HAMLET
To this effect, sir; after what flourish your nature will.
OSRIC
I commend my duty to your lordship.
HAMLET
Yours, yours.
Exit OSRIC
Hamlet explains that it is a good thing Osric commends his own duty, as no one else has a high enough opinion of him to compliment him thus.
Hamlet enters once more into social commentary, complaining of contemporary courtiers who follow fashion rather than worth, matching public opinion rather than forming thoughts or actions of their own.
He does well to commend it himself; there are no
tongues else for's turn.
HORATIO
This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.
HAMLET
He did comply with his dug, before he sucked it. Thus
has he – and many more of the same bevy that I know
the dressy age dotes on – only got the tune of the time
and outward habit of encounter; a kind of yesty
collection, which carries them through and through the
most fond and winnowed opinions; and do but blow
them to their trial, the bubbles are out.
Enter a Lord
This second Lord seems unnecessary, and serves to delay the action even more, building tension and expectation for the play's finale.
Lord
My lord, his majesty commended him to you by young
Osric, who brings back to him that you attend him in
the hall: he sends to know if your pleasure hold to play
with Laertes, or that you will take longer time.
HAMLET
I am constant to my purpose; they follow the king's
pleasure: if his fitness speaks, mine is ready; now or
whensoever, provided I be so able as now.
Lord
The king and queen and all are coming down.
HAMLET
In happy time.
Hamlet seems inclined to make peace, both with Laertes and with Gertrude.
Lord
The queen desires you to use some gentle entertainment to
Laertes before you fall to play.
HAMLET
She well instructs me.
Exit Lord
HORATIO
You will lose this wager, my lord.
This is a surprising revelation at this point, but an exciting one, telling the audience that the upcoming fight will be between two master fencers.
HAMLET
I do not think so: since he went into France, I have been
in continual practise: I shall win at the odds. But thou
wouldst not think how ill all's here about my heart: but it
is no matter.
HORATIO
Nay, good my lord–
HAMLET
It is but foolery; but it is such a kind of gain-giving, as
would perhaps trouble a woman.
Horatio offers one more opportunity for delay, and Hamlet turns it down, finally prepared to face his fate. His final meditation on death is that, since no one can take anything with them, it doesn't matter if they have to leave earlier or later.
HORATIO
If your mind dislike any thing, obey it: I will forestall
their repair hither, and say you are not fit.
HAMLET
Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special providence in
the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be
not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come:
the readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he
leaves, what is't to leave betimes? Let be.
Enter CLAUDIUS, GERTRUDE, LAERTES, Lords, OSRIC, and
Attendants with foils and daggers.
CLAUDIUS
Come, Hamlet, come, and take this hand from me.
[CLAUDIUS puts LAERTES' hand into HAMLET’s]
Hamlet's references to the "presence" and the "audience" make it clear that he is making a public announcement, though certain parts of the speech may be for Laertes alone. Hamlet's defense is to separate himself from his madness, which he blames for Polonius' murder.
HAMLET
Give me your pardon, sir: I've done you wrong;
But pardon't, as you are a gentleman.
This presence knows,
And you must needs have heard, how I am punished
With sore distraction. What I have done,
That might your nature, honour and exception
Roughly awake, I here proclaim was madness.
Was't Hamlet wronged Laertes? Never Hamlet.
If Hamlet from himself be ta'en away,
And when he's not himself does wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it.
Who does it, then? His madness: if't be so,
Hamlet is of the faction that is wronged;
His madness is poor Hamlet's enemy.
Sir, in this audience,
Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil
Free me so far in your most generous thoughts,
That I have shot mine arrow o'er the house,
And hurt my brother.
Laertes makes a distinction between his "nature" and his "honour": the one will allow his forgiveness of Hamlet, but the other still demands justice. Thus, he can both forgive Hamlet and kill him.
LAERTES
I am satisfied in nature,
Whose motive, in this case, should stir me most
To my revenge: but in my terms of honour
I stand aloof; and will no reconcilement,
Till by some elder masters, of known honour,
I have a voice and precedent of peace,
To keep my name ungored. But till that time,
I do receive your offered love like love,
And will not wrong it.
HAMLET
I embrace it freely;
And will this brother's wager frankly play.
Give us the foils. Come on.
The first element of the plan now goes into effect. Laertes may silently indicate to Claudius that he has the correct foil, and may surreptitiously apply the poison in view of the audience.
Hamlet quibbles on the double meaning of "foil," as both a sword and the background that sets off a jewel. Hamlet claims that his lack of skill will allow Laertes to better demonstrate his own mastery.
LAERTES
Come, one for me.
HAMLET
I'll be your foil, Laertes: in mine ignorance
Your skill shall, like a star i' the darkest night,
Stick fiery off indeed.
LAERTES
You mock me, sir.
HAMLET
No, by this hand.
CLAUDIUS
Give them the foils, young Osric. Cousin Hamlet,
You know the wager?
HAMLET
Very well, my lord;
Your grace hath laid the odds o' the weaker side.
Laertes is considered to be the better fencer, thus the odds have been designed to make the contest fair.
CLAUDIUS
I do not fear it; I have seen you both;
But since he is bettered, we have therefore odds.
LAERTES
This is too heavy, let me see another.
HAMLET
This likes me well. These foils have all a length?
OSRIC
Ay, my good lord.
They prepare to play
An "union" is a pearl, which Claudius places into the cup. The pearl itself may be the poison, or it may serve to indicate the poisoned cup. Claudius drinks from a second cup, and gives orders that each time he toasts to Hamlet, a kettledrum will sound, prompting a trumpet, which prompts the cannoneer to fire a cannon. These instructions create a soundscape for the rest of the scene.
CLAUDIUS
Set me the stoops of wine upon that table.
If Hamlet give the first or second hit,
Or quit in answer of the third exchange,
Let all the battlements their ordnance fire:
The King shall drink to Hamlet's better breath;
And in the cup an union shall he throw,
Richer than that which four successive kings
In Denmark's crown have worn. Give me the cups;
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak,
The trumpet to the cannoneer without,
The cannons to the heavens, the heavens to earth,
'Now the King drinks to Hamlet.' Come, begin:
And you, the judges, bear a wary eye.
HAMLET
Come on, sir.
LAERTES
Come, my lord.
The playhouses in Shakespeare's day also served to display exhibitions of the fencing schools, so Shakespeare's audience would be familiar with quality fencing. This fight, with its enormous emotional stakes and its schemes and contrivances, was surely a high point of the production.
They play
HAMLET
One.
LAERTES
No.
HAMLET
Judgment.
OSRIC
A hit, a very palpable hit.
LAERTES
Well; again.
Claudius may be getting nervous, or may simply be moving his plan along. There may also be a tension-filled pause between his invitation and Hamlet's refusal.
CLAUDIUS
Stay; give me drink. Hamlet, this pearl is thine;
Here's to thy health.
Trumpets sound, and cannon shot off within
Give him the cup.
HAMLET
I'll play this bout first; set it by awhile. Come.
They play
Another hit; what say you?
LAERTES
A touch, a touch, I do confess.
CLAUDIUS
Our son shall win.
Gertrude's comment is perplexing, but may show her desire to protect her son. "Fat" here may mean sweaty, rather than in poor physical shape.
GERTRUDE
He's fat, and scant of breath.
Here, Hamlet, take my napkin, rub thy brows;
The Queen carouses to thy fortune, Hamlet.
HAMLET
Good madam!
CLAUDIUS
Gertrude, do not drink.
Gertrude's tone here may suggest that she knows about the poison, or perhaps she is simply rebelling against Claudius' instruction.
GERTRUDE
I will, my lord; I pray you, pardon me.
She drinks [and offers the cup to Hamlet]
CLAUDIUS
[Aside]
It is the poisoned cup. It is too late.
HAMLET
I dare not drink yet, madam; by and by.
The audience knows that Gertrude is now poisoned, which adds poignancy to her final gesture of wiping Hamlet's brow, a moment of shared intimacy between mother and son.
GERTRUDE
Come, let me wipe thy face.
LAERTES
My lord, I'll hit him now.
CLAUDIUS
I do not think't
Laertes seems to be having a change of heart, caused perhaps by his respect for Hamlet as a fencer, or by Hamlet's apology, or else by his own disdain for using poison and treachery.
Hamlet may intend this comment as a compliment, urging Laertes not to pull any punches, but it comes out more as mockery, accusing Laertes of treating Hamlet like a child.
LAERTES
[Aside]
And yet 'tis almost 'gainst my conscience.
HAMLET
Come, for the third, Laertes; you but dally.
I pray you, pass with your best violence;
I am afeard you make a wanton of me.
LAERTES
Say you so? Come on.
They play
OSRIC
Nothing, neither way.
LAERTES
Have at you now!
This exchange is difficult to stage in a way that is both believable and clear to the audience, but many amazing fight sequences have resulted from these simple stage directions.
[LAERTES wounds HAMLET; then] in scuffling, they change rapiers
[and HAMLET wounds LAERTES]
CLAUDIUS
Part them; they are incensed.
HAMLET
Nay, come, again.
GERTRUDE falls
Claudius, probably in a central position, can now see his many plans unraveling, and becomes a fascinating character to watch at this point, even though he has no lines.
OSRIC
Look to the Queen there, ho!
HORATIO
They bleed on both sides. How is it, my lord?
OSRIC
How is't, Laertes?
Laertes accepts responsibility for his own fate, and echoes Polonius' expression from 1.3.
LAERTES
Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric;
I am justly killed with mine own treachery.
HAMLET
How does the Queen?
CLAUDIUS
She swounds to see them bleed.
GERTRUDE
No, no, the drink, the drink – O my dear Hamlet –
The drink, the drink! I am poisoned.
Dies
Hamlet somehow has not yet realized that Claudius is responsible, or else is searching for any co-conspirators.
HAMLET
O villany! Ho! Let the door be locked;
Treachery! Seek it out.
LAERTES
It is here, Hamlet. Hamlet, thou art slain;
No medicine in the world can do thee good;
In thee there is not half an hour of life;
The treacherous instrument is in thy hand,
Unbated and envenomed: the foul practise
Hath turned itself on me; lo, here I lie,
Never to rise again. Thy mother's poisoned.
I can no more. The King, the King's to blame.
HAMLET
The point – envenomed too! Then, venom, to thy work.
[Stabs CLAUDIUS]
The reaction of the crowd may be significant here, as they may side with Claudius, or with Hamlet, or stay out of the way, fearing for their own safety.
After five acts of delay, Hamlet finally takes his revenge on Claudius, who is stabbed, poisoned, then forced to drink poison (and possibly a pearl), and may suffer other attacks as well, depending on the individual production.
Laertes reconciles himself to Hamlet, for the first time perhaps considering the impact of his actions on his soul.
All
Treason! Treason!
CLAUDIUS
O, yet defend me, friends; I am but hurt.
HAMLET
Here, thou incestuous, murderous, damnèd Dane,
Drink off this potion. Is thy union here?
Follow my mother.
CLAUDIUS dies
LAERTES
He is justly served;
It is a poison tempered by himself.
Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.
Dies
Hamlet directly addresses the onstage crowd, but also the actual audience in the playhouse.
HAMLET
Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.
I am dead, Horatio. Wretched Queen, adieu!
You that look pale and tremble at this chance,
That are but mutes or audience to this act,
Had I but time – as this fell sergeant, death,
Is strict in his arrest – O, I could tell you –
But let it be. Horatio, I am dead;
Thou livest; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.
Ancient Roman practice was to commit suicide rather than living with dishonour, as Brutus does in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.
Hamlet is concerned for his reputation and legacy, for the memory that will live after him if there is no one to tell his story. Indirectly, Shakespeare suggests that art can extend memories and create reputations long after a person's death (Shakespeare explored this idea in his poetry as well, most famously in Sonnets 17, 18, and 19).
HORATIO
Never believe it:
I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.
Here's yet some liquor left.
HAMLET
As thou'rt a man,
Give me the cup: let go; by heaven, I'll have't.
O good Horatio, what a wounded name,
Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!
If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart
Absent thee from felicity awhile,
And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain,
To tell my story.
March afar off, and shot within
What warlike noise is this?
OSRIC
Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland,
To the ambassadors of England gives
This warlike volley.
Hamlet assumes that Fortinbras will be chosen to be the next King of Denmark, and lends his own support to that choice.
HAMLET
O, I die, Horatio;
The potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit.
I cannot live to hear the news from England;
But I do prophesy the election lights
On Fortinbras: he has my dying voice;
So tell him, with the occurrents, more and less,
Which have solicited. The rest is silence.
Dies
HORATIO
Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince:
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
Why does the drum come hither?
[March within]
Enter FORTINBRAS, the English Ambassadors, and others
Presumably the stage is large enough that Fortinbras can ask this question before he sees the carnage in the room.
PRINCE FORTINBRAS
Where is this sight?
HORATIO
What is it ye would see?
If aught of woe or wonder, cease your search.
"Havoc" was a war-cry indicating no mercy (famously used by Shakespeare in Julius Caesar, and less famously in King John). A "quarry" is an animal chased in a hunt, or a pile of dead game left at the end of a hunt. Thus, this pile of corpses indicates a merciless hunt.
In one of the play's final ironies, the English Ambassadors arrive with what they think is good news, hoping for a reward. Horatio knows, as does the audience, that they were acting on false orders all along.
Horatio's grisly request would make him the explanatory storyteller on a stage (or platform) covered with corpses, essentially the role he now occupies in the play.
PRINCE FORTINBRAS
This quarry cries on havoc. O proud death,
What feast is toward in thine eternal cell,
That thou so many princes at a shot
So bloodily hast struck?
First Ambassador
The sight is dismal;
And our affairs from England come too late:
The ears are senseless that should give us hearing,
To tell him his commandment is fulfilled,
That Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead.
Where should we have our thanks?
HORATIO
Not from his mouth,
Had it the ability of life to thank you:
He never gave commandment for their death.
But since, so jump upon this bloody question,
You from the Polack wars, and you from England,
Are here arrived, give order that these bodies
High on a stage be placèd to the view;
And let me speak to the yet unknowing world
How these things came about: so shall you hear
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts,
Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters,
Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall'n on the inventors' heads: all this can I
Truly deliver.
Fortinbras indirectly reminds the audience of his own father's death at the hands of Old Hamlet, and of the lands which Denmark took from Norway. His rise to the Danish throne is itself an act of revenge, and a balancing of the scales.
PRINCE FORTINBRAS
Let us haste to hear it,
And call the noblest to the audience.
For me, with sorrow I embrace my fortune:
I have some rights of memory in this kingdom,
Which now to claim my vantage doth invite me.
HORATIO
Of that I shall have also cause to speak,
And from his mouth whose voice will draw on more;
But let this same be presently performed,
Even while men's minds are wild; lest more mischance
On plots and errors, happen.
Hamlet is carried off to be given a soldier's burial, honoured as a warrior, again linked to his father's legacy in death.
PRINCE FORTINBRAS
Let four captains
Bear Hamlet, like a soldier, to the stage;
For he was likely, had he been put on,
To have proved most royally: and, for his passage,
The soldiers' music and the rites of war
Speak loudly for him.
Take up the bodies: such a sight as this
Becomes the field, but here shows much amiss.
Go, bid the soldiers shoot.
The play ends, finally, not with silence, but with somber military music, and the sound of the cannons which have echoed throughout the play.
A dead march. Exeunt, bearing off the dead bodies; after which a peal of
ordnance is shot off