TEXT:
Enter GERTRUDE
CLAUDIUS
How now, sweet queen!
GERTRUDE
One woe doth tread upon another's heel,
So fast they follow: your sister's drowned, Laertes.
LAERTES
Drowned! O, where?
GERTRUDE
There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
Therewith fantastic garlands did she make
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them:
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element: but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.
NOTES:
Willow
Weeping willows didn’t really come into popularity until long after Shakespeare, but they’re now very much associated with Ophelia thanks to their mention in Gertrude’s description and the various paintings that depict her death. Crow-flowers
Nettles
Nettles are a curious choice for Ophelia’s garlands - they always sting if you grab them. Perhaps they give a sense of how distracted she is.
Daisies
Daisies symbolise innocence - but thanks to how short-lived they are, they also carry an association of sadness and grief.
Long Purples
Likely some type of orchid - Gertrude’s extended description makes it clear that they have a protrusion that looks suggestive. For the academic article mentioned in the article, click here.
Lauds
Lauds is a morning prayer. If Ophelia is praying, singing these morning prayers in praise of God, it might suggest that her death is accidental, If it is suicide, as we will see, there are severe implications.