Shakespeare's Monologues
Tip Jar
Ghost — “I am thy father's spirit.” — Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5, line 15
Hamlet
·I v 15 ·
Verse
Ghost Fathers' Ghost. * I am thy father's spirit, Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confin'd to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purg'd away. But that I am forbid To tell the secrets of my prison house, I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part, And each particular hair to stand on end Like quills upon the fretful porcupine. But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list! If thou didst ever thy dear father love- Father's Ghost. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murther. Father's Ghost. Murther most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge. Father's Ghost. I find thee apt; And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf, Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear. 'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard, A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abus'd. But know, thou noble youth, The serpent that did sting thy father's life Now wears his crown. My uncle? Father's Ghost. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast, With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts- O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power So to seduce!- won to his shameful lust The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen. O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there, From me, whose love was of that dignity That it went hand in hand even with the vow I made to her in marriage, and to decline Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor To those of mine! But virtue, as it never will be mov'd, Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven, So lust, though to a radiant angel link'd, Will sate itself in a celestial bed And prey on garbage. But soft! methinks I scent the morning air. Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard, My custom always of the afternoon, Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hebona in a vial, And in the porches of my ears did pour The leperous distilment; whose effect Holds such an enmity with blood of man That swift as quicksilver it courses through The natural gates and alleys of the body, And with a sudden vigour it doth posset And curd, like eager droppings into milk, The thin and wholesome blood. So did it mine; And a most instant tetter bark'd about, Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust All my smooth body. Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother's hand Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch'd; Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin, Unhous'led, disappointed, unanel'd, No reckoning made, but sent to my account With all my imperfections on my head. Father's Ghost. If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not. Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxury and damned incest. 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. Fare thee well at once. The glowworm shows the matin to be near And gins to pale his uneffectual fire. Adieu, adieu, adieu! Remember me. [Exit] 
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HAMLET - THE GHOST’S MONOLOGUE
Act I, Scene 5
Original: I am thy father’s spirit,
Modern: I am the ghost of your father,
Original: Doom’d for a certain term to walk the night,
Modern: Condemned for a period of time to wander during the night,
Original: And for the day confin’d to fast in fires,
Modern: And during the day trapped to suffer in fires,
Original: Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature
Modern: Until the terrible sins I committed when I was alive
Original: Are burnt and purg’d away. But that I am forbid
Modern: Are burned away and cleansed. Except that I’m forbidden
Original: To tell the secrets of my prison house,
Modern: To reveal the secrets of my prison in the afterlife,
Original: I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Modern: I could tell you a story whose mildest detail
Original: Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
Modern: Would tear apart your soul, freeze your young blood,
Original: Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,
Modern: Make your two eyes pop out of their sockets like stars leaving their orbits,
Original: Thy knotted and combined locks to part,
Modern: Make your tangled hair stand up,
Original: And each particular hair to stand on end
Modern: And each individual hair to stick straight up
Original: Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.
Modern: Like the sharp quills on an agitated porcupine.
Original: But this eternal blazon must not be
Modern: But this description of the afterlife must not be revealed
Original: To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!
Modern: To living human ears. Listen, listen, oh listen!
Original: If thou didst ever thy dear father love-
Modern: If you ever loved your dear father—
Original: Revenge his foul and most unnatural murther.
Modern: Avenge his horrible and most unnatural murder.
Original: Murther most foul, as in the best it is;
Modern: Murder most horrible, even though all murder is terrible;
Original: But this most foul, strange, and unnatural.
Modern: But this murder was especially horrible, strange, and unnatural.
Original: I find thee apt;
Modern: I find you ready and willing;
Original: And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed
Modern: And you would have to be more lifeless than a thick weed
Original: That rots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,
Modern: That decays lazily on the banks of the river of forgetfulness,
Original: Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear.
Modern: If you weren’t motivated to act on this. Now, Hamlet, listen.
Original: ‘Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,
Modern: The official story is that while I was sleeping in my garden,
Original: A serpent stung me. So the whole ear of Denmark
Modern: A snake bit me. So all of Denmark
Original: Is by a forged process of my death
Modern: Has been deceived by a false account of my death
Original: Rankly abus’d. But know, thou noble youth,
Modern: And thoroughly lied to. But know this, you noble young man,
Original: The serpent that did sting thy father’s life
Modern: The snake that took your father’s life
Original: Now wears his crown.
Modern: Now wears his crown.
Original: Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beast,
Modern: Yes, that incestuous, that adulterous beast,
Original: With witchcraft of his wit, with traitorous gifts-
Modern: With the evil magic of his clever words, with treacherous gifts—
Original: O wicked wit and gifts, that have the power
Modern: Oh, wicked intelligence and presents that have the power
Original: So to seduce!- won to his shameful lust
Modern: To seduce like that!—he won over to his shameful lust
Original: The will of my most seeming-virtuous queen.
Modern: The affection of my apparently virtuous queen.
Original: O Hamlet, what a falling-off was there,
Modern: Oh Hamlet, what a terrible decline that was,
Original: From me, whose love was of that dignity
Modern: From me, whose love was so honorable
Original: That it went hand in hand even with the vow
Modern: That it matched perfectly with the vow
Original: I made to her in marriage, and to decline
Modern: I made to her in marriage, and then to fall
Original: Upon a wretch whose natural gifts were poor
Modern: For a wretch whose natural qualities were inferior
Original: To those of mine!
Modern: Compared to mine!
Original: But virtue, as it never will be mov’d,
Modern: But virtue, which can never be swayed,
Original: Though lewdness court it in a shape of heaven,
Modern: Even though lust tempts it while disguised as something heavenly,
Original: So lust, though to a radiant angel link’d,
Modern: Just so, lust, even when connected to a radiant angel,
Original: Will sate itself in a celestial bed
Modern: Will satisfy itself even in a heavenly marriage bed
Original: And prey on garbage.
Modern: And then feed on garbage.
Original: But soft! methinks I scent the morning air.
Modern: But wait! I think I smell the morning air.
Original: Brief let me be. Sleeping within my orchard,
Modern: Let me be brief. While sleeping in my garden,
Original: My custom always of the afternoon,
Modern: As was always my habit in the afternoon,
Original: Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole,
Modern: During my unguarded time your uncle crept up,
Original: With juice of cursed hebona in a vial,
Modern: With the juice of cursed poison in a small bottle,
Original: And in the porches of my ears did pour
Modern: And into the openings of my ears he poured
Original: The leperous distilment; whose effect
Modern: The diseased liquid; the effect of which
Original: Holds such an enmity with blood of man
Modern: Is so hostile to human blood
Original: That swift as quicksilver it courses through
Modern: That as fast as mercury it races through
Original: The natural gates and alleys of the body,
Modern: The natural passages and channels of the body,
Original: And with a sudden vigour it doth posset
Modern: And with sudden force it curdles
Original: And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
Modern: And clots, like acid drops into milk,
Original: The thin and wholesome blood. So did it mine;
Modern: The thin and healthy blood. That’s what it did to mine;
Original: And a most instant tetter bark’d about,
Modern: And immediately a scabby crust formed,
Original: Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust
Modern: Like a leper’s skin, with a vile and disgusting crust
Original: All my smooth body.
Modern: All over my smooth body.
Original: Thus was I, sleeping, by a brother’s hand
Modern: So I was, while sleeping, by my brother’s hand
Original: Of life, of crown, of queen, at once dispatch’d;
Modern: Robbed of life, of crown, of queen, all at once;
Original: Cut off even in the blossoms of my sin,
Modern: Killed even in the midst of my sinful life,
Original: Unhous’led, disappointed, unanel’d,
Modern: Without communion, without confession, without last rites,
Original: No reckoning made, but sent to my account
Modern: No settling of accounts, but sent to face judgment
Original: With all my imperfections on my head.
Modern: With all my sins still on my soul.
Original: If thou hast nature in thee, bear it not.
Modern: If you have any natural human feeling in you, don’t tolerate this.
Original: Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
Modern: Don’t let the royal bed of Denmark be
Original: A couch for luxury and damned incest.
Modern: A place for indulgence and damned incest.
Original: But, howsoever thou pursuest this act,
Modern: But, however you go about pursuing this revenge,
Original: Taint not thy mind, nor let thy soul contrive
Modern: Don
In Act I, scene 5 of Hamlet, the Ghost of Hamlet’s father appears to the young prince and reveals the truth about his death. The Ghost commands Hamlet to follow him to a private location where he discloses that he was murdered by his own brother Claudius, who poured poison into his ear while he slept in the garden. The Ghost describes how Claudius not only killed him but also seduced his wife Gertrude, robbing him of his life, crown, and queen all at once. The spirit demands that Hamlet avenge his murder but warns him not to harm his mother, leaving her punishment to heaven and her own conscience.
After the Ghost departs, Hamlet is left deeply shaken by these revelations. When Horatio and Marcellus find him, Hamlet makes them swear multiple oaths of secrecy about what they have witnessed, with the Ghost’s voice mysteriously echoing from beneath the ground commanding them to swear. Hamlet hints that he may need to “put an antic disposition on” - essentially act mad - as part of his plan moving forward. The scene concludes with Hamlet expressing the weight of his burden, lamenting that he was born to set right the corruption that has infected the Danish court.
Hamlet tells the story of Prince Hamlet of Denmark, who is visited by the ghost of his recently deceased father. The ghost reveals that he was murdered by Hamlet’s uncle Claudius, who has now married Hamlet’s mother Gertrude and assumed the throne. Commanded by his father’s spirit to seek revenge, Hamlet struggles with doubt, melancholy, and the moral complexity of his task. To investigate the ghost’s claims and plan his revenge, he feigns madness, which creates tension throughout the Danish court.
As Hamlet deliberates, his erratic behavior affects everyone around him, particularly his love interest Ophelia, daughter of the king’s advisor Polonius. To test Claudius’s guilt, Hamlet stages a play mirroring his father’s murder, which confirms the king’s culpability. However, Hamlet’s actions become increasingly destructive—he accidentally kills Polonius while the old man spies on him, and his rejection of Ophelia contributes to her descent into genuine madness and eventual drowning.
The play reaches its climax when Ophelia’s brother Laertes returns to avenge his father’s death. Claudius manipulates Laertes into challenging Hamlet to a duel, secretly poisoning Laertes’s sword and preparing poisoned wine as backup. The final scene erupts in tragedy: during the duel, both Hamlet and Laertes are wounded by the poisoned blade, Gertrude accidentally drinks the poisoned wine, and Hamlet finally kills Claudius. As Hamlet dies, he names Prince Fortinbras of Norway as Denmark’s next ruler, bringing the cycle of revenge and political instability to a close. The play ends with Fortinbras restoring order to the Danish court as bodies are carried off in a funeral march.
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