Get this No Fear to go!
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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.
Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain
If with too credent ear you list his songs,
Or lose your heart, or your chaste treasure open
To his unmastered 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.
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So if he says he loves you, you should be wise enough to see that
his words only mean as much as the state of Denmark allows them to
mean. Then think about how shameful it would be for you to give in
to his seductive talk and surrender your treasure chest to his
greedy hands. Watch out, Ophelia. Just keep your love under control,
and don’t let yourself become a target of his lust.
Simply exposing your beauty to the moon at night is risky
enough—you don’t have to expose yourself to
him. Even good girls sometimes get a bad reputation. Worms ruin
flowers before they blossom. Baby blooms are most susceptible to
disease. So be careful. Fear will keep you safe. Young people often
lose their self-control even without any help from others.
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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 puffed and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads
And recks not his own rede.
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OPHELIA
I’ll keep your words of wisdom close to my heart. But,
my dear brother, don’t be like a bad priest who fails to
practice what he preaches, showing me the steep and narrow way to
heaven while you frolic on the primrose path of sin.
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LAERTES
O, fear me
not.
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LAERTES
Don’t worry, I won’t.
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Enter POLONIUS
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POLONIUS enters. |
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I stay too long. But here my father comes.
A double blessing is a double grace.
Occasion smiles upon a second leave.
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I’ve been here too long. And here comes father. What
good luck, to have him bless my leaving not once but twice.
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