Act 4, Scene 6

Another room in the Castle.

[Enter Horatio and a Servant.]
Horatio
2966 What are they that would speak with me?
Servant
2967 Sailors, sir: they say they have letters for you.
Horatio
2968 Let them come in.
[Exit Servant.]
Horatio
2969 I do not know from what part of the world
2970 I should be greeted, if not from Lord Hamlet.
[Enter Sailors.]
Sailor
2971 God bless you, sir.
Horatio
2972 Let him bless thee too.
Sailor
2973 He shall, sir, an't please him. There's a letter for you,
2974 sir,—it comes from the ambassador that was bound for England; if
2975 your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is.
[Reads.]
Horatio
2976 'Horatio, when thou shalt have overlooked
2977 this, give these fellows some means to the king: they have
2978 letters for him. Ere we were two days old at sea, a pirate of
2979 very warlike appointment gave us chase. Finding ourselves too
2980 slow of sail, we put on a compelled valour, and in the grapple I
2981 boarded them: on the instant they got clear of our ship; so I
2982 alone became their prisoner. They have dealt with me like thieves
2983 of mercy: but they knew what they did; I am to do a good turn for
2984 them. Let the king have the letters I have sent; and repair thou
2985 to me with as much haste as thou wouldst fly death. I have words
2986 to speak in thine ear will make thee dumb; yet are they much too
2987 light for the bore of the matter. These good fellows will bring
2988 thee where I am. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern hold their course
2989 for England: of them I have much to tell thee. Farewell.
2990 He that thou knowest thine, HAMLET.'
Horatio
2991 Come, I will give you way for these your letters;
2992 And do't the speedier, that you may direct me
2993 To him from whom you brought them.
[Exeunt.]

Reading mode

Word definitions on hover

Notes

TLN 2976archaic vocab
“overlooked”
'Overlooked' here means 'read through' or 'looked over' — not missed or ignored as in modern usage. Hamlet asks Horatio to read the letter first before acting on it.
TLN 2979archaic vocab
“warlike appointment”
'Appointment' here means equipment or fitting-out, not a meeting. 'A pirate of very warlike appointment' = a pirate ship fully equipped and rigged for combat — armed to the teeth.
TLN 2980cultural context
“compelled valour”
Elizabethan military doctrine distinguished true courage from necessity-driven bravery. 'Compelled valour' — bravery wrung out of you because there is no other choice — was a recognized category, almost an oxymoron: real valor was supposed to be freely chosen. Hamlet half-apologizes for his boldness.
TLN 2980cultural context
“in the grapple I boarded them”
Elizabethan naval combat relied on 'grappling' — hooking the enemy ship with iron grapples — and then 'boarding,' leaping onto the enemy deck to fight hand to hand. Hamlet describes a real tactic: when the ships locked together, he jumped onto the pirate vessel, and when the ships broke apart he was stranded among pirates as their prisoner.
TLN 2982rhetorical device
“thieves of mercy”
A compressed paradox: 'thieves' who show 'mercy' seems impossible, yet that is exactly what happened. The phrase captures both what the pirates are (robbers) and how they behaved in this instance (mercifully). The next clause explains why — 'they knew what they did' — meaning the mercy was calculated, not sentimental: they expected Hamlet to repay the favor.
TLN 2983cultural context
“they knew what they did”
Hamlet is explicit: the pirates' mercy was a business transaction. They recognized him as the Prince of Denmark — a valuable contact — and expected payment in kind (a 'good turn'). This was a recognized Elizabethan pirate practice: releasing a well-born prisoner in exchange for future protection, letters of marque, or other favors.
TLN 2987archaic vocab
“bore of the matter”
'Bore' is the internal diameter of a gun barrel — the bigger the bore, the heavier the shot it fires. Hamlet says his words are too light (too small a charge) for the bore (the size and weight) of what he has to tell Horatio. His words are too slight to carry the magnitude of what he has to tell.