Another room in the Castle · Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern
Hamlet, having hidden Polonius's corpse, is cornered by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who demand to know where it is. He refuses to tell them and instead taunts them as sponges who soak up Claudius's favour only to be squeezed dry when he needs them, and teases the King with the riddle "The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body." The scene ends with Hamlet turning his arrest into a children's game and running off.
Enter Hamlet.
Hamlet
Safely stowed.
ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN.
Safely stashed away.
Within.
Hamlet
Hamlet! Lord Hamlet!
[Offstage] Hamlet! Lord Hamlet!
Hamlet
What noise?
What's that noise?
Who calls on Hamlet?
Who's calling for Hamlet?
O, here they come.
Ah, here they come.
Enter Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Rosencrantz
What have you done, my lord, with the dead body?
My lord, what have you done with the body?
Hamlet
Compounded it with dust, whereto ’tis kin.
Mixed it back into the dirt it's related to.
Rosencrantz
Tell us where ’tis, that we may take it thence,
And bear it to the chapel.
Tell us where it is, so we can take it out of there and carry it to the chapel.
Hamlet
Do not believe it.
Don't count on it.
Rosencrantz
Believe what?
Count on what?
Hamlet
That I can keep your counsel, and not mine own.
That I'd keep your secrets and not my own.
Besides, to be demanded
of a sponge—what replication should be made by the son of a king?
Besides, when a sponge asks a question — what kind of answer should a king's son give it?
Rosencrantz
Take you me for a sponge, my lord?
You think I'm a sponge, my lord?
Hamlet
Ay, sir; that soaks up the King’s countenance, his rewards, his
authorities.
Yes, sir — one that soaks up the King's good opinion, his handouts, his powers.
But such officers do the King best service in the end:
But officers like that serve him best in the end.
he
keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw; first mouthed, to be
last swallowed:
He parks you in the corner of his cheek the way an ape stores food: first into the mouth, last to be swallowed.
when he needs what you have gleaned, it is but
squeezing you, and, sponge, you shall be dry again.
When he wants what you've collected for him, all he has to do is squeeze, and you're a dry sponge again.
Rosencrantz
I understand you not, my lord.
I don't follow you, my lord.
Hamlet
I am glad of it.
Glad to hear it.
A knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear.
A sharp remark goes to sleep in a stupid ear.
Rosencrantz
My lord, you must tell us where the body is and go with us to the King.
My lord, you have to tell us where the body is and come with us to the King.
Hamlet
The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body.
The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body.
The King
is a thing—
The King is a thing —
Guildenstern
A thing, my lord!
A thing, my lord!
Hamlet
Of nothing.
— of nothing.
Bring me to him.
Take me to him.
Hide fox, and all after.
Hide and seek — run, everyone!
Exeunt.
Hamlet Act 4, Scene 2 summary
Hamlet, having hidden Polonius's corpse, is cornered by Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, who demand to know where it is. He refuses to tell them and instead taunts them as sponges who soak up Claudius's favour only to be squeezed dry when he needs them, and teases the King with the riddle "The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body." The scene ends with Hamlet turning his arrest into a children's game and running off.
Who appears in this scene
Hamlet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern — Another room in the Castle.
Famous lines in Hamlet Act 4, Scene 2, explained
- “Ay, sir; that soaks up the King’s countenance, his rewards, his / authorities. But such officers do the King best service in the end: he / keeps them, like an ape, in the corner of his jaw; first mouthed, to be / last swallowed” (line 14)
- Hamlet tells his old schoolfriends exactly what they are to Claudius: absorbent, useful, and disposable. The ape image is the sting — an ape stuffs food into its cheek pouch to eat later, so Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are being stored, not valued. "Countenance" means the King's approving attention, the currency courtiers actually live on. What makes the insult unanswerable is that it is simply true, and both men are too committed to admit it.
- “The body is with the King, but the King is not with the body. The King / is a thing—” (line 22)
- This sounds like the raving of a madman and is actually a precise piece of treason. Political theory of the period held that a king has two bodies — his mortal one and the immortal body of the office — so Hamlet is saying that Polonius's corpse is with a king (his dead father, in death) while Claudius, who occupies the throne, is not a real king at all. When Guildenstern takes the bait, Hamlet finishes the sentence with "of nothing": Claudius is a thing of nothing, a nobody wearing a crown.
Keep reading
- Act 4, Scene 1 — modern English translation
- Act 4, Scene 3 — modern English translation
- All Hamlet scenes
About this translation: the original text follows the public-domain Project Gutenberg Globe edition; the modern English translation was written in-house for Polytranslator and is reviewed on an ongoing basis (last revised August 2026). Free to print and photocopy for classroom use. Cite as: “Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 2. Polytranslator side-by-side translation, polytranslator.com/shakespeare/hamlet/act-4-scene-2.”
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Free side-by-side translation — polytranslator.com/shakespeare/hamlet/act-4-scene-2