HORATIO                    Propose the oath, my lord.

HAMLET         Never to speak of this that you have seen,

Swear by my sword.

GHOST            Swear.

HAMLET         Hic et ubique? Then we’ll shift our ground.

Come hither, gentlemen, and lay your hands

Again upon my sword. Swear by my sword

Never to speak of this that you have heard.

GHOST            Swear by his sword.

HAMLET         Well said, old mole, canst work i’th’ earth so fast?

A worthy pioneer! Once more remove, good friends.        (1.5.152-162)

Propose the oath, my lord, says Horatio: what do you want us to swear? Say it, and we’ll swear! Never to speak of this that you have seen. Not a word. Swear by my sword—and he must proffer the hilt to them again, they can be laying their hands on it, starting to speak the words, and then the Ghost booms again: SWEAR! Implicitly he’s moved around under the stage: hic et ubique? says Hamlet, here, there, and everywhere? Here too? then we’ll shift our ground, go over there. Come hither, gentlemen, and lay your hands again upon my sword. Let’s go again, I’ll propose the oath again: swear by my sword never to speak of this that you have heard. (Of course they haven’t heard anything except the Ghost shouting SWEAR from underground, but that’s probably overlooked in the moment.) Swear by his sword, the Ghost adds, more a hindrance than a help at this stage, frankly. Well said, old mole, canst work i’th’ earth so fast? You’re really scooting around down there. A worthy pioneer! He compares the Ghost not just to the mole—little threat to anything except lawns—but to the soldiers who lay mines, end sieges, go underground with explosives. Hamlet’s tilting back towards a kind of mania, almost gleeful, jittery, rushing around the stage with his sword drawn—but he’s right, what the Ghost’s told him is going to blow everything sky high. Never mind getting this oath sworn: a (slow) fuse has been lit. But, in the meantime, once more remove, good friends. Come over here.