"
And the principal reason which deters Hamlet from suicide is the fear
that even if he does sleep well "after life's fitful fever is over,"
still, that sleep may be full of troubled dreams.
"To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause."
Richard III. says, when the catalogue of his crimes is full, and when he
"sees as in a map the end of all":--
"The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham's bosom,
And Anne, my queen, hath bid the world good night."
In addition to the fuller phrases wherein are shown the blessedness of
sleep, or the remediless nature of its loss, many brief sentences occur
scattered throughout the plays, and emphasizing the same great lesson.
For instance:--
"Now o'er one half the world
Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse
The curtained sleep."
"With Him above
To ratify our work, we may again
Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights."
"You lack the season of all natures, sleep."
"My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep."
"For never yet one hour in his bed
Have I enjoyed the golden dew of sleep."
"For some must watch and some must sleep,
So runs the world away."
"How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon that bank."
"The best of rest is sleep.
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