Lae.
My necessaries are embark'd ^note; farewel:
And, sister, as the winds give benefit,
And convoy is assistant ^note, do not sleep,
But let me hear from you.

Oph.
Do you doubt that?

Lae.
For Hamlet, and the trifling of his favour, ^note
Hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood;
A violet in the youth of primy nature ^note,
Forward ^note, not permanent, sweet, but not lasting,
The perfume and ^note suppliance of a minute,
No more.

Oph.
No more but so?

Lae.
Think it no more:
For nature, crescent14Q1419, does not grow alone
In thews, and bulk; ^note but, as this temple waxes,
The inward service of the mind and ^note soul
Grows wide withal. Perhaps, he loves you now;
And now no soil ^note, nor cautel, doth besmirch
The virtue of his will: but, you must fear, ^note
His greatness weigh'd, his will is not his own:
For he himself is subject to his birth: ^note
He may not, as unvalu'd persons do,
Carve for ^note himself; for on his choice depends
The sanity ^note and health of the ^note whole state;
And therefore must his choice be circumscrib'd
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 ^note
May give his saying deed; which is no further,
Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal.
Then weigh what loss your honour may sustain,
If with too ^note credent ear you list his songs;
Or lose ^note your heart; or your chast treasure open
To his unmaster'd importunity:
Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister;
And keep you in the ^note 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 ^note of the spring,
Too oft before their buttons ^note be disclos'd;

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 ^note to my heart: But, good my brother,
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Shew ^note me the steep and thorny way to heaven;
Whilst, like a puft ^note and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own read.

Lae.
O, fear me not.
I stay too long;—But here my father comes:— Enter Polonius.
A double blessing is a double grace; [kneeling to Polonius.
Occasion smiles upon a second leave.

Pol.
Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame;
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay'd for: There, † my ^note blessing with you;
And these few precepts14Q1420 in thy memory
Look thou ^note character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
The friends ^note thou hast, and their adoption try'd,
Grapple them to thy ^note soul with hooks ^note of steal; ^note
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd ^note unfledg'd comrade. ^note Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but, being in,
Bear't that the opposed ^note may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, ^note but few thy voice:
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,

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 most ^{note note} select and generous, chief in that.
Neither a borrower, nor a lender be: ^note
For loan oft loses ^note both itself and friend;
And borrowing ^note dulls ^note the edge of husbandry.
This above all,—To thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day, ^note
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewel; my blessing season this in thee!

Lae.
Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.

Pol.
The time invests you; ^note go, your servants tend.

Lae.
Farewel, 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.

Lae.
Farewel. [Exit Laertes.

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

Oph.
So please you, something touching the lord Hamlet.

Pol.
Marry, well bethought:
'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:
If it be so, (as so 'tis put on me,
And that in way of caution) I must tell you,
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? puh! you speak like a green girl,

Unsifted in such perilous circumstance.
Do you believe his tenders, as you call them?

Oph.
I do not know, my lord, what I should think.

Pol.
Marry, I will teach ^note you: think yourself a baby;
That you have ta'en these tenders ^note for true pay,
Which are not sterling. ^note Tender yourself more dearly,
Or (not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Wringing it ^{note note} thus) you'll tender me a fool.

Oph.
My lord, he hath importun'd 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 ^note of heaven.

Pol.
Ay, ^note to catch woodcocks. I do know,
When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul
Lends the ^note tongue vows: These blazes,14Q1421 gentle daughter,
Giving more light than heat,—extinct in both,
Even in their promise, as it is a making,—
You must not take for ^note fire. From this time, ^note
Be something ^note scanter of your maiden presence;
Set your entreatments at a higher rate,
Than a command to parley. ^note For lord Hamlet,
Believe so much in him, That he is young;
And with a larger tether ^note may he walk,
Than may be given you: In few, Ophelia,
Do not believe his vows: for they are brokers;
Not of that die ^note which their investments show,
But meer implorers ^note of unholy suits;
Breathing like sanctify'd and pious bawds ^note,
The better to beguile. ^note This is for all,—
I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth,
Have you so slander any moment's leisure ^note,

As to give words or talk with the lord Hamlet.
Look to't, I charge you; come your ways. ^note

Oph.
I shall
Obey, my lord. [Exeunt.

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