Act iv. commences with a continuation of the events of the same night,

as is shown by Gertrude's words:

Ah, my good lord, what have I seen to-night!

while the king declares:

The sun no sooner shall the mountains touch, But we will ship him hence.

Morning has not dawned at the close of Scene iii., for among the last words of the king is the declaration:

I'll have him hence to-night.

Between Scenes iii. and v. the second interval of the play occurs; a period, probably, of not less than two weeks, nor more than about a month.

In the last words of Scene v. the king says to Laertes:

I pray you go with me,

and the conversation between them is concluded in Scene vii. In the same scene the letter from Hamlet is read, in which he writes:

To-morrow shall I beg leave to see your kingly eyes.

Ophelia's burial, in Act v., Scene i., takes place on the following day, for the king says to Laertes:

Strengthen your patience in our last night's speech:

and there is no reason for thinking the action of the final scene to be delayed beyond the close of the same day, for in it Hamlet concludes his explanations to Horatio, and is welcomed "back to Denmark" by Osric, who must, therefore, then meet him for the first time since his return. Moreover, the words of the king in his last speech, in Scene i.,

We'll put the matter to the present push,

indicate clearly that it was not his intention to allow any delay to occur.

It, therefore, appears that ACT I. represents the events of two nights and the intervening day, and that some interval of time then elapses.