The pérfume and suppliance of a minute; No more. Oph. No more but so? Laer. Think it no more: For nature, crescent, does not grow alone As he in his particular act and place(19) May give his saying deed; which is no further Or lose Fear it, Ophelia, fear it, my dear sister; And keep you in the rear of your affection, Oph. I shall th' effect of this good lesson keep, Do not, as some ungracious pastors do, I Laer. O, fear me not. stay too long:-but here my father comes. 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, And you are stay'd for. There, my blessing with thee! [Laying his hand on Laertes' head. And these few precepts in thy memory See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue, Bear't, that th' opposèd may beware of thee. 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 : And they in France of the best rank and station Laer. Most humbly do I take my leave, my lord. Pol. The time invites you; go, your servants tend. What I have said to you. Oph. 'Tis in my memory lock'd, [Exit. And you yourself shall keep the key of it. Laer. Farewell. 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, Oph. He hath, my lord, of late made many tenders Pol. Affection! pooh! 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. Oph. My lord, he hath impórtun'd me with love Pol. Ay, fashion you may call 't; 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,(25) Set your entreatments at a higher rate Than a command to parley. For Lord Hamlet, young; And with a larger tether may he walk Than may be given you: in few, Ophelia, Do not believe his vows; for they are brokers,- Breathing like sanctified and pious bawds,(27) I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, [Exeunt. SCENE IV. The same. The platform before the castle. Ham. The air bites shrewdly; it is very cold. Ham. What hour now? Hor. Mar. No, it is struck. I think it lacks of twelve. Hor. Indeed? I heard it not then it draws near the season Wherein the spirit held his wont to walk. [A flourish of trumpets, and ordnance shot off, within. What does this mean, my lord? Ham. The king doth wake to-night, and takes his rouse, Keeps wassail, and the swaggering up-spring reels; And, as he drains his draughts of Rhenish down, The kettle-drum and trumpet thus bray out The triumph of his pledge. But to my mind, though I am native here, And to the manner born,—it is a custom More honour'd in the breach than the observance. This heavy-headed revel east and west Makes us traduc'd and tax'd of other nations: They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase From our achievements, though perform'd at height, So, oft it chances in particular men, That, for some vicious mole of nature in them, Shall in the general censure take corruption To his own scandal,(31) Hor. Look, my lord, it comes! Enter Ghost. Ham. Angels and ministers of grace defend us!Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damn'd, Bring with thee airs from heaven or blasts from hell, Be thy intents wicked or charitable, Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, That I will speak to thee: I'll call thee Hamlet, Let me not burst in ignorance; but tell |