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"I'll cross it, though it blast me"
Wordplay
Act 1,
Scene 1
Lines 108-110

An explanation of Horatio’s ambiguity in Act 1, Scene 1 of myShakespeare’s Hamlet.

Horatio

But soft, behold! Lo where it comes again! 
I'll cross it though it blast me. 
[The ghost spreads its arms.]
                                                      Stay, illusion! 
If thou hast any sound or use of voice,

The ambiguity in Horatio’s words means that we could read his line in two ways:

  • Horatio intends to cross in front of the ghost to confront it.
  • He wants to make the sign of the cross for protection—in case it’s an evil spirit.

(Hamlet, Horatio, Marcellus, and the Ghost , Henry Fuseli, c. 1796)