Horatio. It was, as I have seen it in his life,

Hamlet. If it assume my noble father's person,
I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape
And bid me hold my peace.

.

I pray you all,
If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight,
Let it be tenable 1 in your silence still;
And whatsoever else shall hap to-night,
Give it an understanding, but no tongue:
I will requite your loves. So, fare you well:
Upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve,
I'll visit you.

All.

Our duty to your honor. Hamlet. Your loves, as mine to you.

Farewell. [Exeunt all but Hamlet.

My father's spirit in arms! all is not well;

I doubt some foul play: would the night were come)!
Till then sit still, my soul foul deeds will rise,
Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes

[Exit.

SCENE III. A Room in Polonius' House.

Enter LAERTES and OPHELIA.

- Laertes. My necessaries are embark'd:2 farewell: And, sister, as the winds give benefit

3

And convoy is assistant, do not sleep,

But let me hear from you.

Ophelia.

Do you doubt that?

1 Held.

2་་ My necessaries are embark'd," i.e., my baggage is on board the vessel..

3 Means of conveyance.

Laertes. For Hamlet and the trifling of his favor,
Hold it a fashion, and a toy in blood,1

A violet in the youth of primy nature,
Forward, not permanent, sweet, not lasting,
The perfume and suppliance of a minute;
No more.

Ophelia. No more but so ?

Laertes.

Think it no more:

metapho

For nature, crescent,2 does not grow alone
In thews and bulk; but, as this temple waxes,3
The inward service of the mind and soul
Grows wide withal. Perhaps he loves you now,
And now no soil nor cautel 4 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 the health of the whole State;
And therefore must his choice be circumscrib'd
Unto the voice and yielding of that body
Whereof he is the head.5 Then if he says he loves you,
It fits your
wisdom so rar 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.
Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain,
If with too credent 6 ear you list his songs.

1 "A fashion," etc., i.e., merely a temporary pastime and impulse. 2 Increasing.

3" Temple waxes," i.e., body grows.

4 Crafty design.

5"His choice be circumscrib'd," etc., i.e., he may not choose (a wife) without the approving voice of the nation of which he is the head.

6 Credulous.

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 canker1 galls the infants of the spring,
Too oft before their buttons be disclos'd;2
And in the morn and liquid dew of youth
Contagious blastments 3 are most imminent.
Be wary, then; best safety lies in fear.
Youth to itself rebels, though none else near.

3

Ophelia. 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,
Whiles, like a puff'd and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own rede.4

Laertes.

O, fear me not.

I stay too long: but here my father comes.

Enter POLONIUS.

A double blessing is a double grace;

Occasion smiles upon a second leave.

Polonius. Yet here, Laertes? aboard, aboard, for shame:

The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,

And you are stay'd for. There; my blessing with thee!

And these few precepts in thy memory

See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,

1 Cankerworm.

2" Buttons be disclos'd," i.e., buds are opened.

3

Contagious blastments," i.e., pernicious blights.

4" Recks not his own rede," i.e., regards not his own advice.
5 Engrave.

Nor any unproportion'd thought his1 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, unfledg'd comrade'. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,

Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.d

Give every man thy ear, 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 select and generous, chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;

a

прид

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.3
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.

4

Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!

Laertes. Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord.
Polonius. The time invites you: go; your servants tend.
Laertes. Farewell, Ophelia; and remember well

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

1 "His " was formerly neuter as well as masculine, or the possessive of "it" as well as of "he," and is so used by the Elizabethan writers generally; though "its" is met with occasionally in Shakespeare.

Ophelia. So please you, something touching the Lord Hamlet.

Polonius. Marry,1 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 behooves my daughter and your honor.
What is between you? give me up the truth.

Ophelia. He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders
Of his affection to me.

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

Do you believe his tenders, as you call them ?

Ophelia. I do not know, my lord, what I should think.
Polonius. Marry, I'll teach you: think yourself a baby;
That you have ta'en these tenders for true pay,
Which are not sterling.2 Tender yourself more dearly;
Or-not to crack the wind of the poor phrase,
Running it thus-you'll tender me a fool.

Ophelia. My lord, he hath impor'tun'd me with love
In honorable fashion.

Polonius. Ay, fashion you may call it; go to, go to !3

Ophelia. And hath given countenance to his speech, my lord, With almost all the holy vows of Heaven.

Polonius. Ay, springes to catch woodcocks. I do know, When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul

1 This petty oath is a corruption of the name of the Virgin Mary.

2 "Not sterling," i.e., not true value.

3 "Go to " is an exclamation with many phases of meaning as used by old writers, of reproach, of encouragement, of contempt, of impatience, etc.

4 " Springes to catch woodcocks: " the woodcock is a silly bird, and the popular belief was, that it had no brains. Hence this proverb applied to a

person easily deceived.