Hamlet thinks the state of affairs ("time") in Denmark resembles a shoulder that is "out of joint." He thinks of himself as the physician who must restore the crippled kingdom to health.

Hamlet is outraged because the Ghost of his recently-deceased father has revealed that he (the late King) was murdered by his own brother, the new King Claudius.

Figuratively speaking, Hamlet is giving himself up (or placing his trust) in these men, but an alternate reading of the word "commend" suggests that he's insisting on his worth, both as a person and a prince, and trusting on the strength of that worth to ensure Horatio and Marcellus's loyalty in this matter. He has commended himself to them without receiving their oath, which makes this a foolhardy act on his part.

Notice that, in spite of all this, Horatio and Marcellus never swear, at least not out loud. It's possible that in his state of agitation Hamlet didn't realize that they didn't swear, or that he believes they did simply because he's demanded it so many times, but, regardless, the two men haven't been bound to any oath, and it remains to be seen what they'll do with their relative freedom.

Hamlet has effectively tied their hands behind their backs, making it impossible for them to discuss what they've seen, except in ambiguous suggestions like a shake of the head or a "maybe" or "if" that could hint at what they've witnessed without having to directly say it. Hamlet anticipates the desire to gossip and cuts it off by making them swear not to do it.

Hamlet reveals something of his plan in this line. Madness or the appearance of madness has already been established in the play through the acts of grieving, which accounts for Hamlet's strange, unsettling behavior. Hamlet will play on this established aspect of his character in enacting his revenge. But madness, like evil, can corrupt a person, and it remains to be seen if in performing madness he won't become genuinely mad.

Keep in mind that Hamlet is only one step ahead of Horatio here, and that, before Hamlet met with the Ghost, he was in the same position as Horatio is now: unaware of how ignorant he is of the real world and of people's true intentions. His words, then, reveal him as both eloquent and arrogant, and we'll see these two aspects of his personality battle as the play progresses.

Remember that earlier in Act I, Scene VI, Hamlet used the phrase "mole of nature" to refer to a spot on one's character or a negative aspect of one's personality. Here, "mole" refers both to the animal, a creature that burrows underground, where the Ghost appears to be, and to this "mole of nature," which doesn't tarnish the Ghost's character but rather tarnishes Hamlet's by forcing him to lose himself in revenge.

Hit et ubique is a latin phrase meaning "here and everywhere," ubique being the root of the English ubiquitous, meaning onnipresent, like God. Hamlet obliquely refers yet again to his father's holiness while at the same time expressing irritation with the Ghost's constant interruptions. This line also emphasizes Hamlet's education, as a man who can casually rattle off Latin.

The noun "truepenny" refers to a trustworthy or honest person, likened to a coin made of genuine metal, not a counterfeit. Shakespeare again builds on the theme of money established in Act I, Scene III, when Polonius spoke of Hamlet's "tenders" or affections as coin or "sterling."

In medieval Europe, swords, with their long blades and sturdy hilts, resembled and were associated with crosses. Thus, they were often sworn upon as if they were crosses, making this oath, in effect, the most binding one: an oath to God. It's no wonder that Marcellus and Horatio hesitate, because, while loyal to the prince, it's in their nature to gossip, and there's no better gossip than the appearance of a dead king.

This isn't just an assessment of their character, which Hamlet has reason to suspect. It's also evidence that Hamlet is thinking about his safety, now that he knows about his father's murder, and has begun to understand that if word of this meeting gets back to Claudius, the King will know exactly what the Ghost said and will take measures to keep Hamlet from enacting his revenge.

St. Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is said to have spent forty nights praying and fasting in a cave now known as "Saint Patrick's Purgatory." In Shakespeare's time, this legend was well-known, and is used here to tie into the theme of Purgatory connected with the Ghost and to once again equate Hamlet with a Christ-like figure (Christ himself having spent forty days and forty nights fasting, just like St. Patrick did).

Hamlet's behavior has become erratic in the wake of meeting with the Ghost, and he's either incapable of or unwilling to respond directly to Horatio's questions. Horatio, for his part, recognizes this and to an extent understands it, because he too was afraid of the Ghost. Nevertheless, he's concerned for the Prince, because if Horatio can see it, so can everyone else (including the King).

The noun "knave" describes a young man, often a page or a servant to a nobleman, capable of being "arrant" (errant, that is, traveling) or moving between social stations, in this case by way of villainy. It would've been simple enough for a young, unscrupulous man, like the former Prince Claudius, brother of the King, to use the information he's gathered in service of the kingdom to his advantage. Horatio and Marcellus could do the same.

Hamlet has very literally circumscribed Claudius, writing down who he is and what he's done as if taking a definitive measure of his character. Claudius, though a cunning, complex, interesting character, will nevertheless never be more than what Hamlet has inscribed him to be: a villain. His character development, in effect, ends here.

This line retroactively serves as stage direction for the actor playing Claudius, who hasn't been instructed to smile and yet must do so throughout the play. This act of guile on his part may be the most powerful representation of the theme of deceit. It characterizes him not just as a villain, but as a charismatic, emotionally manipulative, violently envious man who would stop at nothing to consolidate his power and ensure his own safety.

Like a student, Hamlet's first instinct is to write down what his father has told him. Hamlet sees this as a definitive act, an accomplishment, rather than a mere gesture of loyalty, and in writing down what he knows sets about determining his course of action. Many men would immediately strike out at Claudius, but Hamlet takes a different route, revealing that his character is more inclined towards careful plotting than swift action.

"Globe" refers both to Hamlet's head or mind, which has been distracted by his studies and uninterested in memories, and to the globe itself, where "memory," meaning history, becomes less and less important as time goes on. Soon, he implies, everyone will forget about his father, like his mother has, and he'll be the only one left holding onto his memories. In that sense, he's the sole bearer of his father's legacy.

In order to carry out his father's wishes, Hamlet has to rid himself of all his memories ("records") of the past, in effect erasing himself and all the knowledge he's accumulated at university. He's determined to do this out of fealty to his father, but if he were to instead make use of what he's learned at school, he might be able to find some alternate solution to this problem.

In traditional Christian practice, the faithful are supposed to make a final confession before they die, absolving their souls of sin before they reach the "Promised Land." King Hamlet wasn't given the opportunity to confess, thus, he was sent to Purgatory, even though his sins, according to him, weren't very serious. Under normal circumstances, it is implied, he would've gone to Heaven.

Lazar, meaning a poor or diseased person, is derived from the name Lazarus, taken from the parable of Dives and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. Lazarus was a poor man, covered in sores, who begged outside of the home of a wealthy man. The wealthy man ignored Lazarus' suffering and, after he died, was sentenced to eternal torment for his greed, while Lazarus was sent to heaven. For King Hamlet to refer to himself as "lazar-like" is ironic, considering his wealth and the "fires" he indicates are waiting for him, and suggests, once again, that he may not have been the saintly figure Hamlet likes to portray him as.

An eruption of the skin, as in eczema or ringworm, resulting in dryness, flaking, itching, and pus. Again, Shakespeare's knowledge of botany and medicine are called into question, as there seems to be no known poison that would cause all of these symptoms. Skin lesions are a common symptom of chronic arsenic poisoning, but it appears that there was only one instance of poisoning, so that might not be the cause.

The verb "posset" means to curd or to curdle, as milk curdles when it sours. This suggests a thickening of the blood, a clumping of blood cells in the arteries, or "alleys," of the body. Such prolonged thickening of the blood can lead to blood clots and strained blood flow, all of which can be symptoms of poisoning and cause heart failure or death. In Hamlet's time, it would've been very difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of these symptoms.

Quicksilver, also known as elemental mercury, moves quickly and unpredictably in its liquid form. It's also extremely poisonous, with its gaseous and solid states resulting in toxicity in less than a gram. Mercury poisoning is characterized by loss of sensation and lack of coordination, both of which coincide with the symptoms of a traditional poisoning.

Hebenon is a poison of unknown origin. Shakespeare's scholars suggest that it could either be hemlock, the poison that killed Socrates, henbane, a kind of nightshade, ebony, sometimes spelled with an "h," or yew, a common poison extracted from the tree. Other scholars argue that Shakespeare's knowledge of botany was insufficient for him to know what poison, exactly, Claudius would've used; so he made one up.

In this construction, Claudius would be the "predator" and Gertrude the "prey," making her "garbage" in King Hamlet's eyes. While there's some debate as to whether or not Gertrude was involved in Claudius' plot, the text doesn't seem to care whether she was or she wasn't, condemning her outright for not remaining faithful to King Hamlet's memory.

Distinct from Claudius' "wicked" wit and gifts, former King Hamlet's natural gifts would've been anything regarding his strength or physical prowess: his skills in battle, his face and appearance, and his abilities as a lover. "What a falling off was there!" means that Gertrude took a big step down, in terms of spouse, and that Claudius isn't half the man that King Hamlet was.

Claudius faked ("forged") King Hamlet's death by spreading a false story about a serpent in the garden. In reality, the King's death was planned and carried out by Claudius. While it's possible that he was able to carry out the plot on his own, it's more likely that he had one or two co-conspirators, meaning that Hamlet is in danger as well, since he is King Hamlet's son.

Here the serpent, who nows "wears [the] crown," is Claudius. However, the fact that he is called a "serpent" should also be taken as a symbol of evil and cunning. King Hamlet's orchard alludes to the Biblical Garden of Eden, where the devil in the form of a serpent tricked Eve into eating the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (often depicted as an apple). Again, the analogy positions King Hamlet as a holy character (in this case Eve) and Claudius as the devil.

Lethe is the river of forgetfulness, one of five rivers in Hades, according to ancient Greek mythology. It's said that anyone who drank from Lethe's waters would have their memories erased. The Ghost personifies the fat weed on the wharf, which, as a plant, wouldn't have a mind or memories beyond its basic biological function, but would still be subject to the same forgetful properties of the river's water.

Keep in mind that this is Act I, Scene V, and there are still four more acts in this play. Though Hamlet professes that his thoughts are swift, the audience knows from experience that he spends a lot of time brooding and that his meditations are in fact slow and measured. Curious that he would also call his "thoughts of love" swift, which would appear to give credence to Laertes' earlier assertion that Hamlet's interest in Ophelia is just a passing ("swift") fancy.

In Shakespeare's time, murder was both reviled (as a sin against humanity) and revered (as inspiration for some of the finest and most popular dramas). To suggest that the foulest murders are the best murders is, in some ways, to glorify the act of murder and everything it entails (a strange thing for the "saintly" King Hamlet to do, especially when he knows that these are the kinds of sins that sent him to Purgatory in the first place).

From this, we can assume that Hamlet, still in mourning over his father's death, hasn't been taking care of his appearance, except to make a point of wearing black. Mourners in this time were known to "rend" or pull their hair as they grieved, and it's possible that Hamlet has been tormenting himself this way for the past several weeks and months, growing progressively paler, thinner, and madder as he goes.

The verb "harrow" means to torment or to tear apart. Shakespeare may be alluding to the Harrowing of Hell, a scene depicted in Dante's Inferno (a major source of inspiration for Shakespeare), in which Jesus descended into Hell in the days between his Crucifixion and his Resurrection and brought salvation to the souls that had been suffering there. In that sense, this line means both to torment and to set free from torment.

In Christian theology, the soul went to one of three places: purgatory, where it awaited final resolution of its fate and finished any business it had on Earth; heaven, provided the individual earned it; or hell, where flames engulfed the souls of the dead for all eternity. Hamlet's father doesn't specify whether these "sulphurous and tormenting flames" are waiting for him in purgatory or hell, and this makes the audience question whether he's really as saintly as Hamlet made him out to be.

By nature, Hamlet is a quiet, introspective, scholarly person, and has never killed anyone or wanted to kill anyone. He's not, as he says, born for this kind of work, and yet he's bound by his honor to seek revenge for his father's murder. This obligation will put strain on his character, demanding that he become someone he isn't and do something he doesn't want to do. We'll see how this effects him throughout the play.

Shakespeare opens this scene with a conflict between Hamlet and the Ghost. For the audience to fear the Ghost, Hamlet must show some fear (his unwillingness to go further) but at the same time display courage (here defined not as fearlessness but as the ability to function in spite of fear). This develops the theme of the supernatural while making the audience question the Ghost's motives.

Hamlet promises to reward the officers for their silence. Though Hamlet is only the Prince, and not Claudius' heir, he's nevertheless next in line for the throne, and a promise of a reward from a future king would've been taken very seriously, even if that promise seemed to come in a fit of madness. When he says, "God willing," it's as if he's swearing to God that he'll reward these men, which more or less ensures their loyalty.