HAMLET         I would I had been there.

HORATIO        It would have much amazed you.

HAMLET                                 Very like.

Stayed it long?

HORATIO        While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred.

BARNARDO / MARCELLUS  Longer, longer.

HORATIO        Not when I saw’t.

HAMLET                                 His beard was grizzled, no?

HORATIO        It was as I have seen it in his life:

A sable silvered.

HAMLET         I will watch tonight.

Perchance ’twill walk again.

HORATIO        I warrant it will.         (1.2.234-241)

I would I had been there, says Hamlet—and it can be an emotionally complex statement; I wish I’d seen this marvellous thing, but also, it’s my dad. I could have seen my dad again, you all got to see him. There can be a catch in his voice. Horatio tactfully addresses the more obvious: it would have much amazed you, really, it was an astonishing sight. Very like, says Hamlet, almost absentmindedly, yes I’m sure I’d have been amazed yes. Another clarification: stayed it long?Horatio considers: while one with moderate haste might tell a hundred. Longer, longer, protest Barnardo and Marcellus; not when I saw’t, says Horatio, firmly. A tiny detail, here: it adds verisimilitude; how long was the ghost there anyway? It’s vague. People are more likely to think in terms of counting than minutes as a way of imagining the passage of time. It’s a micro-version of Hamlet’s muddle, deliberate or not, over how long it’s been since his father’s death—a month, two months? And it’s reminiscent of hide and seek, imagining counting down, eyes closed; it adds a bit more suspense.

Hamlet’s not really listening, though, he’s picturing the Ghost in his mind still: his beard was grizzled, no? salt and pepper, not completely white? MY DAD’S BEARD. It was as I have seen it in his life: a sable silvered. Yes, although Horatio’s description is more elevated, black fur threaded with silver. Hamlet’s not listening to that either, really, he’s making a decision: I will watch tonight. I’ll stay up with you, on guard. Perchance ’twill walk again (and walk here is perambulate, but also a term particularly resonant for ghosts and spirits, who should not walk, return to earth, perhaps unquietly, but rather sleep). I warrant it will, Horatio reassures him. I’m sure the Ghost will come again…