FROM HAMLET
(you can read the plot of the play on page 85 of your book)
William shakespeare
From Act 2, Scene 2
Hamlet: “I will tell you why. So shall my anticipation prevent your discovery, and your secrecy to
the king and queen moult no feather. 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 vapors. 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. And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me. No, nor woman
neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so”
Moult no feather= non lascerà cadere nessuna piuma
Goodly= lovely, excellent
Canopy=covering (tettoria)
Fretted=decorato con greche
Congregation= gathering
Apprehension=ability to understand
(Modern English)
I’ll tell you why—so you won’t have to tell me and give away any secrets you have with the king
and queen. Recently, though I don’t know why, I’ve lost all sense of fun, stopped exercising—the
whole world feels sterile and empty. This beautiful canopy we call the sky—this majestic roof
decorated with golden sunlight—why, it’s nothing more to me than disease-filled air. What a
perfect invention a human is, how noble in his capacity to reason, how unlimited in thinking, how
admirable in his shape and movement, how angelic in action, how godlike in understanding!
There’s nothing more beautiful. We surpass all other animals. And yet to me, what are we but
dust? Men don’t interest me. No—women neither, but you’re smiling, so you must think they do.
These lines are from “Hamlet” (Act II, Scene II), a tragedy by Shakespeare.
They contain a view of the universe and a view of man.
A VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE
1. Find the figurative terms and explain their literal meaning
