Hamlet Vocab Flashcards
To understand what in the amazing world of Gumball is going on in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Horatio says ‘tis but our fantasy,
And will not let belief take hold of him
Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us:
Therefore I have entreated him along
With us to watch the minutes of this night;
That if again this apparition come,
He may approve our eyes and speak to it.entreat
To make an earnest petition or request
Looks it not like the king? mark it, Horatio.
take note of it; pay attention to it
What art thou that usurp’st this time of night,
Together with that fair and warlike form
In which the majesty of buried Denmark
Did sometimes march? by heaven I charge thee, speak!
command; order
I think it be no other but e’en so:
Well may it sort that this portentous figure
Comes armed through our watch; so like the king
That was and is the question of these wars.
ominous
A mote it is to trouble the mind’s eye
speck
In the most high and palmy state of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets:
As stars with trains of fire and dews of blood,
Disasters in the sun; and the moist star
Upon whose influence Neptune’s empire stands
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse:
And even the like precurse of fierce events,
As harbingers preceding still the fates
And prologue to the omen coming on,
Have heaven and earth together demonstrated
Unto our climatures and countrymen.
misalignment of the stars
Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen,
The imperial jointress to this warlike state,
Have we, as ‘twere with a defeated joy,–
With an auspicious and a dropping eye,
With mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage,
In equal scale weighing delight and dole,–
Taken to wife: nor have we herein barr’d
Your better wisdoms, which have freely gone
With this affair along. For all, our thanks.
sorrow
‘Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother,
Nor customary suits of solemn black,
Nor windy suspiration of forced breath,
No, nor the fruitful river in the eye,
Nor the dejected ‘havior of the visage,
Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief,
That can denote me truly: these indeed seem,
For they are actions that a man might play:
But I have that within which passeth show;
These but the trappings and the suits of woe.
pursuit
A little more than kin, and less than kind.
natural
Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,
And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.
Do not for ever with thy vailed lids
Seek for thy noble father in the dust:
Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die,
Passing through nature to eternity.
base, low, degraded
Take thy fair hour, Laertes; time be thine,
And thy best graces spend it at thy will!
But now, my cousin Hamlet, and my son,–
kin
Fie on’t! ah fie! ‘tis an unweeded garden,
That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely.
interjection of frustration, anger, or annoyance
A truant disposition, good my lord.
temperament
A truant disposition, good my lord.
absent from school without permission
If it assume my noble father’s person,
I’ll speak to it, though hell itself should gape
And bid me hold my peace.
take on, put on
doubtMy father’s spirit in arms! all is not well;
I doubt some foul play: would the night were come!
suspect
My father’s spirit in arms! all is not well;
I doubt some foul play: would the night were come!
criminal/unlawful/dishonest behavior
The chariest maid is prodigal enough,
If she unmask her beauty to the moon:
Virtue itself ‘scapes not calumnious strokes:
The canker galls the infants of the spring,
Too oft before their buttons be disclosed,
And in the morn and liquid dew of youth
Contagious blastments are most imminent.
lavish
I shall the effect of this good lesson keep,
As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother,
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven;
Whiles, like a puff’d and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede.
sexually unlawful person (usually a man)
It beckons you to go away with it,
As if it some impartment did desire
To you alone.
disclosure
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her.
anything
Ay, thou poor ghost, while memory holds a seat
In this distracted globe. Remember thee!
seriously disturbed, mentally distraught, deeply distressed almost to the point of madness
Take you, as ’twere, some distant knowledge of him,
As thus: “I know his father and his friends
And, in part, him.” Do you mark this, Reynaldo?
short for “as it were”; so to speak
At “closes in the consequence”—ay, marry—
He closes thus: “I know the gentleman.
I saw him yesterday,” or “th’ other day”
(Or then, or then, with such or such), “and as you
say,
There was he gaming, there o’ertook in ’s rouse,
There falling out at tennis”; or perchance
“I saw him enter such a house of sale”—
Videlicet, a brothel—or so forth. See you now
Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth;
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out.
(Latin) namely, that is to say, which is
O, my lord, my lord, I have been so affrighted!
frightened
My lord, as I was sewing in my closet,
Lord Hamlet, with his doublet all unbraced;
No hat upon his head; his stockings foul’d,
Ungarter’d, and down-gyved to his ancle;
Pale as his shirt; his knees knocking each other;
And with a look so piteous in purport
As if he had been loosed out of hell
To speak of horrors,–he comes before me.
gist; substance
To think, my lord, if you delight not in man, what
lenten entertainment the players shall receive from
you: we coted them on the way; and hither are they
coming, to offer you service.
to go around the side of; to go around
Something have you heard
Of Hamlet’s transformation; so call it,
Sith nor the exterior nor the inward man
Resembles that it was.
since
He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found
The head and source of all your son’s distemper.
a disorder of the humors in the body; a disease
Both your majesties
Might, by the sovereign power you have of us,
Put your dread pleasures more into command
Than to entreaty.
an earnest or humble request.
Which done, she took the fruits of my advice;
And he, repulsed–a short tale to make–
Fell into a sadness, then into a fast,
Thence to a watch, thence into a weakness,
Thence to a lightness, and, by this declension,
Into the madness wherein now he raves,
And all we mourn for.
moral deterioration
How pregnant sometimes his replies are!
1) full
2) clever/witty
But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Against thy mother aught: leave her to heaven
And to those thorns that in her bosom lodge,
To prick and sting her.
devise, to come up with (a plan)
In the secret parts of fortune? O, most true; she
is a strumpet.
a prostitute
Then are our beggars bodies, and our monarchs and
outstretched heroes the beggars’ shadows. Shall we
to the court? for, by my fay, I cannot reason.
faith
I have of late–but
wherefore I know not–lost all my mirth, forgone all
custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
steep cliff, especially one overlooking the ocean/body of water
I have of late–but
wherefore I know not–lost all my mirth, forgone all
custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
decorated
I have of late–but
wherefore I know not–lost all my mirth, forgone all
custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
lifeless
I have of late–but
wherefore I know not–lost all my mirth, forgone all
custom of exercises; and indeed it goes so heavily
with my disposition that this goodly frame, the
earth, seems to me a sterile promontory, this most
excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o’erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted
with golden fire, why, it appears no other thing to
me than a foul and pestilent congregation of vapours.
diseased
What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals!
epitome; perfect example; ideal
Indeed? I heard it not: then it draws near the season
Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk.
habitual practice
Do they hold the same estimation they did when I was
in the city? Are they so followed?
esteem; favorable regard
Gentlemen, you are welcome to Elsinore. Your hands,
come then: the appurtenance of welcome is fashion
and ceremony: let me comply with you in this garb,
lest my extent to the players, which, I tell you,
must show fairly outward, should more appear like
entertainment than yours.
accessory relative to one’s activity/lifestyle
Hark you, Guildenstern; and you too: at each ear a
hearer: that great baby you see there is not yet
out of his swaddling-clouts.
listen
‘Faith, I must leave thee, love, and shortly too;
My operant powers their functions leave to do:
And thou shalt live in this fair world behind,
Honour’d, beloved; and haply one as kind
For husband shalt thou–
by chance
If you call me Jephthah, my lord, I have a daughter
that I love passing well.
exceeding the limits
I remember, one said there
were no sallets in the lines to make the matter
savoury, nor no matter in the phrase that might
indict the author of affectation; but called it an
honest method, as wholesome as sweet, and by very
much more handsome than fine.
improper/inappropriate things
Why,
‘As by lot, God wot,’
and then, you know,
‘It came to pass, as most like it was,’–
the first row of the pious chanson will show you
more; for look, where my abridgement comes.
to know/ to be aware of
‘The rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms,
Black as his purpose, did the night resemble
When he lay couched in the ominous horse,
Hath now this dread and black complexion smear’d
With heraldry more dismal; head to foot
Now is he total gules
black
‘The rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms,
Black as his purpose, did the night resemble
When he lay couched in the ominous horse,
Hath now this dread and black complexion smear’d
With heraldry more dismal; head to foot
Now is he total gules
red
‘The rugged Pyrrhus, he whose sable arms,
Black as his purpose, did the night resemble
When he lay couchèd in the ominous horse,
Hath now this dread and black complexion smear’d
With heraldry more dismal; head to foot
Now is he total gules
(past tense) lay down
‘Anon he finds him
Striking too short at Greeks; his antique sword,
Rebellious to his arm, lies where it falls,
Repugnant to command: unequal match’d,
Pyrrhus at Priam drives; in rage strikes wide;
But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword
The unnerved father falls.
straightaway; at once
‘Anon he finds him
Striking too short at Greeks; his antique sword,
Rebellious to his arm, lies where it falls,
Repugnant to command: unequal match’d,
Pyrrhus at Priam drives; in rage strikes wide;
But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword
The unnerved father falls.
cruel, powerful
Prithee,
say on: he’s for a jig or a tale of bawdry
The practice of procuring women for the gratification of lust
Is it not monstrous that this player here,
But in a fiction, in a dream of passion,
Could force his soul so to his own conceit
That from her working all his visage wann’d,
Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspect,
A broken voice, and his whole function suiting
With forms to his conceit?
whim/imagination/idea
Now, sir, young Fortinbras,
Of unimproved mettle hot and full,
Hath in the skirts of Norway here and there
Shark’d up a list of lawless resolutes,
For food and diet, to some enterprise
That hath a stomach in’t;
motivation/spirit/drive
‘Swounds, I should take it: for it cannot be
But I am pigeon-liver’d and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave’s offal: bloody, bawdy villain!
courage/bravery, but also impudence/audacity
nerve (nerve to do something)
‘Swounds, I should take it: for it cannot be
But I am pigeon-liver’d and lack gall
To make oppression bitter, or ere this
I should have fatted all the region kites
With this slave’s offal: bloody, bawdy villain!
innards; internal organs
This is most brave,
That I, the son of a dear father murder’d,
Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell,
Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words,
And fall a-cursing, like a very drab,
A scullion!
prostitute
I’ll tent him to the quick: if he but blench,
I know my course.
flinch
artifice
1) something made with technical skill
2) a crafty but underhanded deception
Tis most true,
And he beseeched me to entreat your Majesties
To hear and see the matter.
past tense of “to beseech”: To beg or implore
Nor Earth to me give food, nor heaven light,
Sport and repose lock from me day and night,
To desperation turn my trust and hope,
An anchor’s cheer in prison be my scope.
A rest or sleep [corresponding verb: to repose]
And therefore must his choice be circumscribed
Unto the voice and yielding of that body
Whereof he is the head.
Limited narrowly; restricted.
corresponding verb: to circumscribe
But virtue, as it never will be moved,
Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
So, lust, though to a radiant angel linked,
Will sate itself in a celestial bed
And prey on garbage.
Sexual promiscuity; crudeness or offensiveness of a sexual nature
corresponding adjective: lewd
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
whiles, like a puffed and reckless libertine,
himself the primrose path of dalliance treads
and recks not his own rede.
Playful flirtation; amorous or sexual play.
corresponding verb: “to dally” with someone
Rest, rest, perturbèd spirit.–So, gentlemen,
with all my love I do commend me to you,
and what so poor a man as Hamlet is
may do t’express his love and friending to you,
God willing, shall not lack.
Disturbed, agitated, flustered.
corresponding verb: to perturb] [corresponding noun: perturbation
For who would bear…the pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
the insolence of office, and the spurns
that patient merit of th’ unworthy takes,
when he himself might his quietus make
with a bare bodkin?
A kick or blow with the foot; (by extension) a scornful rejection
corresponding verb: to spurn
For who would bear…the pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
the insolence of office, and the spurns
that patient merit of th’ unworthy takes,
when he himself might his quietus make
with a bare bodkin?
Arrogant and insulting behavior or attitude; bold rudeness
corresponding adjective: insolent
For who would bear…the pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
the insolence of office, and the spurns
that patient merit of th’ unworthy takes,
when he himself might his quietus make
with a bare bodkin?
A sudden, sharp feeling of pain; a paroxysm or spasm
The chariest maid is prodigal enough
if she unmask her beauty to the moon.
Virtue itself ‘scapes not calumnious strokes.
slanderous, i.e. being an instance of calumny: a false accusation or charge brought to tarnish someone’s reputation or standing.
corresponding noun: calumny
There’s never a villain living in all Denmark
But he’s an arrant knave.
A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person; despicable individual, villain
corresponding adjective: knavish
corresponding noun: knavery
He tells me, my dear Gertrude, he hath found
the head and source of all your son’s distemper.
A disorder of the humours of the body; a disease.
corresponding adjective: distempered
Now whether it be
Bestial oblivion or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on th’ event
(A thought which, quartered, hath but one part
wisdom
And ever three parts coward), I do not know
Why yet I live to say “This thing’s to do,”
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means
To do ’t.
beastly; of or pertaining to a beast/wild animal
Now whether it be
Bestial oblivion or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on th’ event
(A thought which, quartered, hath but one part
wisdom
And ever three parts coward), I do not know
Why yet I live to say “This thing’s to do,”
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means
To do ’t.
a state of nothingness, nonexistence extinction; a form of purgatory
Now whether it be
Bestial oblivion or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on th’ event
(A thought which, quartered, hath but one part
wisdom
And ever three parts coward), I do not know
Why yet I live to say “This thing’s to do,”
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means
To do ’t.
unwilling to fight; extremely cowardly
Now whether it be
Bestial oblivion or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on th’ event
(A thought which, quartered, hath but one part
wisdom
And ever three parts coward), I do not know
Why yet I live to say “This thing’s to do,”
Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means
To do ’t.
To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience.
If it will please you
To show us so much gentry and goodwill
As to expend your time with us awhile
For the supply and profit of our hope,
Your visitation shall receive such thanks
As fits a king’s remembrance.
Courtesy; civility; complaisance.
“The moblèd queen”?
With the head wrapped up or muffled.
But you must know your father lost a father,
That father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound
In filial obligation for some term
To do obsequious sorrow.
Obedient; compliant with someone else’s orders or wishes.
For your intent
In going back to school in Wittenberg,
It is most retrograde to our desire,
And we beseech you, bend you to remain
Here in the cheer and comfort of our eye,
Our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son.
In a reverse direction; backwards.
Sit down awhile,
And let us once again assail your ears,
That are so fortified against our story,
What we have two nights seen.
To attack with harsh words or violent force
So excellent a king, that was to this
Hyperion to a satyr; so loving to my mother
That he might not beteem the winds of heaven
Visit her face too roughly.
To permit; allow; suffer.
