_Ghost._ I am thy father's spirit; Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, 10 And for the day confined to fast in fires,[425] Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid[426] To tell the secrets of my prison-house, I could a tale unfold whose lightest word 15 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[427] And each particular hair to stand an end,[428] Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:[429] 20 But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list![430] If thou didst ever thy dear father love--[431] _Ham._ O God![432] _Ghost._ Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. 25 _Ham._ Murder![433] _Ghost._ Murder most foul, as in the best it is,[434] But this most foul, strange, and unnatural. _Ham._ Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift[435] As meditation or the thoughts of love,[436] 30 May sweep to my revenge.[437] _Ghost._ I find thee apt; And duller shouldst thou be than the fat weed[438][439] That roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf,[440] Wouldst thou not stir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:[440] 'Tis given out that, sleeping in my orchard,[441] 35 A serpent stung me; so the whole ear of Denmark[442] Is by a forged process of my death Rankly abused: but know, thou noble youth,[443] The serpent that did sting thy father's life[444] Now wears his crown. _Ham._ O my prophetic soul![445] 40 My uncle![445][446]