Question

passage
good hamlet, cast thy nighted color off,
and let thine eye look like a friend on denmark.
70 do not forever 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.
(shakespeare 1.2.68–73)
...we pray you, throw to earth
this unprevailing woe, and think of us
as of a father. for let the world take note,
you are the most immediate to our throne,
110 and with no less nobility of love
than that which dearest father bears his son
do i impart toward you. for your intent
in going back to school in wittenberg,
it is most retrograde to our desire.
115 and we beseech you, bend you to remain
here in the cheer and comfort of our eye,
our chiefest courtier, cousin, and our son.
(shakespeare 1.2.106–117)
oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt,
130 thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
or that the everlasting had not fixed
his canon ’gainst self - slaughter! o god, god!
how weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
seem to me all the uses of this world!
135 fie on ’t, ah fie! ’tis an unweeded garden
that grows to seed. things rank and gross in nature
possess it merely. that it should come to this.
but two months dead—nay, not so much, not two...
(cont’d on next page)
modern translation
stop wearing black
be happy
everyone dies

Explanation:

1. For the second passage: Translate Shakespearean English to modern, conversational language while preserving core meaning.
2. For the third passage: Translate the introspective, despairing Shakespearean text to modern, natural language that captures Hamlet's tone.

Answer:

Second Passage Modern Translation:

"Please, set aside this endless grief, and think of me as a father. Let everyone know, you are the next in line for our throne, and I love you just as much as any loving father loves his son. Your plan to go back to school in Wittenberg goes against what we want. We beg you, stay here where we can care for you—you are our most important courtier, our cousin, and our son."

Third Passage Modern Translation:

"Oh, I wish this tainted body would melt away, turn into dew, or that God hadn't made suicide a sin! Oh God, God! How tired, empty, and useless everything in this world seems to me! Ugh, it’s an overgrown, unkempt garden, full of weeds. Everything gross and foul in nature has taken over. And it’s come to this: he’s been dead only two months—no, not even that long, not two..."