The perfume and suppliance of a minute;
No more.

Oph. No more but so?

For nature crescent does not grow alone

In thews and bulk; but, as this temple waxes,
The inward service of the mind and soul
Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now;
And now no soil nor cautel doth besmirch
The virtue of his will: but you must fear,
His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own;
For he himself is subject to his birth:
He may not, as unvalued persons do,
Carve for himself, for on his choice depends
The safety and health of this whole state,

And therefore must his choice be circumscribed
Unto the voice and yielding of that body

Whereof he is the head. Then if he says he loves you,
It fits your wisdom so far to believe it

As he in his particular act and place

May give his saying deed; which is no further
Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal.

ΙΟ

15

20

25

Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain,
If with too credent ear you list his songs,

Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open
To his unmaster'd importunity.

Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister,
And keep you in the rear of your affection,
Out of the shot and danger of desire.
The chariest maid is prodigal enough,
If she unmask her beauty to the moon:
Virtue itself 'scapes not calumnious strokes:
The canker galls the infants of the spring
Too oft before their buttons be disclosed,
And in the morn and liquid dew of youth
Contagious blastments are most imminent.
Be wary then; best safety lies in fear:
Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.

Oph. I shall the effect of this good lesson keep,

As watchman to my heart. But, good my brother,
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,

Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
Whilst, like a puff'd and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads
And recks not his own rede.

Laer.

I stay too long: but here

29. weigh] way Q2Q3Q4•

what] that F3F4

30. too] two F2F3.

31. lose] F F F 3. loose QqF4 32. unmaster'd] unmastred QqF, FF3. unmastered F4.

34. keep you in] Qq. keepe within Ff.

39. galls] gaules Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5. Galls, Fr

infants] QQF, infant Q4

Qs F2Q6F3F4

40. their] Qq. the Ff.

45. effect effects Pope.

46. As watchman to] About Q (1676).

watchman] Q2Q3. watchmen

30

35

40

45

50

Enter POLONIUS.

A double blessing is a double grace;

Occasion smiles upon a second leave.

Pol. Yet here, Laertes! Aboard, aboard, for shame! The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,

55

And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory

Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,

60

Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel,
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,

Bear't, that th' opposed may beware of thee.

Give every man thy car, but few thy voice:

Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

70

But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy:

For the apparel oft proclaims the man;

And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be:

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,

Qq. unto Seymour conj.

hoops] hooks Pope.

64.

dull] stale S. Walker conj.
65. new-hatch'd] new hatcht Qq.
unhatch't Ff.

comrade] Ff. courage (Q1)Qq.
court-ape Badham conj.

67. opposed] (Q1)Q2Q3Ff. opposer Q4Q5Q6.

68. thy ear] thy care Qq. thine care
or thine ear Ff.

74. Are...that.] See note (111).
75. lender be] Ff. lender boy Qq.
lone
76. loan] F3F4 Loane F2.
Fr. loue Q2Q3Q4Q5. love Q6.

loses] FfQ6. looses Q2Q3Q4Q5•

75

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!

Laer. Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.
Pol. The time invites you; go, your servants tend.
Laer. Farewell, Ophelia, and remember well
What I have said to you.

Oph.

'Tis in my memory lock'd,

And you yourself shall keep the key of it.

Laer.

Farewell.

Pol. What is't, Ophelia, he hath said to you?

80

85

[Exit.

Oph. So please you, something touching the Lord

Hamlet.

Pol. Marry, well bethought:

༡༠

'Tis told me, he hath very oft of late

Given private time to you, and you yourself

Have of your audience been most free and bounteous:

And that in way of caution-I must tell you,

95

If it be so-as so 'tis put on me,

You do not understand yourself so clearly
As it behoves my daughter and your honour.
What is between you? give me up the truth.

Oph. He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders

Of his affection to me.

Pol. Affection! pooh! you speak like a green girl, Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.

Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?

100

Oph. I do not know, my lord, what I should think.
Pol. Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby,
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,
Which are not sterling. Tender yourself more dearly;
Or-not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus-you'll tender me a fool.

Oph. My lord, he hath importuned me with love
In honourable fashion.

Pol. Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to.
Oph. And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord,
With almost all the holy vows of heaven.

Pol. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know,

When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the tongue vows: these blazes, daughter,
Giving more light than heat, extinct in both,
Even in their promise, as it is a-making,
You must not take for fire. From this time
Be something scanter of your maiden presence;
Set your entreatments at a higher rate

Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, that he is young,
And with a larger tether may he walk

116. prodigal] prodigally Q (1676).
117. Lends] (Q,)Qq. Gives Ff.
daughter] oh my daughter
Pope. gentle daughter Capell. See
note (v).

118. both birth Badham conj.
119. their] the Warburton.
120. take] take't Q4Q5Q6.

From this time] Qq. For this
time daughter, Ff. From this time
daughter, Long MS.

121. something] Qq. somewhat Ff.
your] thy Johnson.

122. entreatments] FfQ6. intreat-
ments Q2 Q3 Q4Q5. intraitments War-
burton.

123. parley] FfQ6. parle Q2Q3Q4Q5. 125. tether] Ff. tider Q2Q3. teder Q4Q5. tedder Q6.

may he] he may Warburton.