Hamlet Quote Analysis

Horatio responds upon seeing the Ghost for the first time, admitting that it does indeed resemble the late king and describing his emotional reaction to the sight.

The verb 'harrows' is borrowed from agriculture—it means to break up soil with a spiked frame—and makes Horatio's inner experience violently physical, as if his mind is being torn apart. Pairing 'fear and wonder' in the same breath captures the Ghost's double effect: it is both terrible and awe-inspiring, and Horatio cannot separate the two feelings. This mixture will define Hamlet's own response to the supernatural throughout the play.

Use this to argue that Horatio's agricultural metaphor reveals how the supernatural doesn't just frighten—it disrupts and breaks up settled understanding, forcing characters to hold contradictory feelings at once.