Hamlet …methinks I see my father.
Horatio Where, my lord?
Hamlet In my mind’s eye, Horatio. (Hamlet, act 1, sc.2)
Tips for Use. When you cannot provide immediate evidence for your instincts and you are asked for an explanation. “I see it in my mind’s eye”, you can reply. It is a good alternative to asserting the possession of the so called sixth sense – assertion that would lose its value by stating it. Irrespective of whether your audience will believe you or not, they will probably be surprised or intrigued by your answer. Suitable even in a job interview when you do not have or do not want to go into long explanations of your reasons.
Hamlet coined the phrase “In my mind’s eye”, to represent the presence and the essence of his (ours) inner life. This is one more Shakespearean sentence or mode of expression filtered into the English language and sometimes used without realizing its source. Balz Engler offers the following definition of a classic, “The classic is a work of literature that has left the book and is present in the discourse of a community.” Indeed, ‘the mind’s eye’ has left the book.
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Of course, if you acquire the book “Your Daily Shakespeare” you will not only enjoy it but you will find it very useful. The quote in this post and more than ten thousand others will lead you to find the words that perfectly strengthen your argument(s). After all Shakespeare wrote them, I simply extracted, structured and compiled them so as to make Shakespeare very “user friendly” as they say. And if you wish I will even sign the book. But this is the extent of any “sales” effort, call or solicitation.
In the play. Hamlet has instinctive misgivings about the death of his father, the King and opens up with the friend Horatio. That is, Hamlet sees the King with the “mind’s eye” even before he sees the actual Ghost.
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