You shall do marvelous wisely
Polonius
You shall do marvelous wisely, good Reynaldo,
Before you visit him, to make inquire
Of his behavior.
Reynaldo
My lord, I did intend it.
Polonius
Marry, well said, very well said. Look you, sir,
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris;
And how, and who, what means, and where they keep,
What company, at what expense; and finding
By this encompassment and drift of question
That they do know my son, come you more nearer
Than your particular demands will touch it.
Take you, as ’twere, some distant knowledge of him,
As thus: “I know his father and his friends
And, in part, him.” Do you mark this, Reynaldo?
You shall do marvelous wisely, good Reynaldo,
Before you visit him, to make inquire
Of his behavior.
Reynaldo
My lord, I did intend it.
Polonius
Marry, well said, very well said. Look you, sir,
Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris;
And how, and who, what means, and where they keep,
What company, at what expense; and finding
By this encompassment and drift of question
That they do know my son, come you more nearer
Than your particular demands will touch it.
Take you, as ’twere, some distant knowledge of him,
As thus: “I know his father and his friends
And, in part, him.” Do you mark this, Reynaldo?
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out.
Reynaldo
Ay, very well, my lord.
Polonius
“And, in part, him, but,” you may say, “not well.
But if ’t be he I mean, he’s very wild,
Addicted so and so.” And there put on him
What forgeries you please—marry, none so rank
As may dishonor him, take heed of that,
But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips
As are companions noted and most known
To youth and liberty.
Reynaldo
As gaming, my lord.
Polonius
Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing,
Quarreling, drabbing—you may go so far.
Reynaldo
My lord, that would dishonor him.
Polonius
Faith, no, as you may season it in the charge.
You must not put another scandal on him
That he is open to incontinency;
That’s not my meaning. But breathe his faults so quaintly
That they may seem the taints of liberty,
The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind,
A savageness in unreclaimèd blood,
Of general assault.
Reynaldo
But, my good lord—
Polonius
Wherefore should you do this?
Reynaldo
Ay, my lord, I would know that.
Polonius
Marry, sir, here’s my drift,
And I believe it is a fetch of wit.
You, laying these slight sullies on my son,
As ’twere a thing a little soiled i’ th’ working,
Mark you, your party in converse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes
The youth you breathe of guilty, be assured
He closes with you in this consequence:
“Good sir,” or so, or “friend,” or “gentleman,”
According to the phrase or the addition
Of man and country—
Reynaldo
Very good, my lord.
Polonius
And then, sir, does he this, he does—what
was I about to say? By the Mass, I was about to say
something. Where did I leave?
Reynaldo
At “closes in the consequence,” at “friend,
or so,” and “gentleman.”
Polonius
At “closes in the consequence”—ay, marry—
He closes thus: “I know the gentleman.
I saw him yesterday,” or “th’ other day”
(Or then, or then, with such or such), “and as you say,
There was he gaming, there o’ertook in ’s rouse,
There falling out at tennis”; or perchance
“I saw him enter such a house of sale”—
Videlicet, a brothel—or so forth. See you now
Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth;
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out.
So by my former lecture and advice
Shall you my son. You have me, have you not?
Reynaldo
My lord, I have.
Ay, very well, my lord.
Polonius
“And, in part, him, but,” you may say, “not well.
But if ’t be he I mean, he’s very wild,
Addicted so and so.” And there put on him
What forgeries you please—marry, none so rank
As may dishonor him, take heed of that,
But, sir, such wanton, wild, and usual slips
As are companions noted and most known
To youth and liberty.
Reynaldo
As gaming, my lord.
Polonius
Ay, or drinking, fencing, swearing,
Quarreling, drabbing—you may go so far.
Reynaldo
My lord, that would dishonor him.
Polonius
Faith, no, as you may season it in the charge.
You must not put another scandal on him
That he is open to incontinency;
That’s not my meaning. But breathe his faults so quaintly
That they may seem the taints of liberty,
The flash and outbreak of a fiery mind,
A savageness in unreclaimèd blood,
Of general assault.
Reynaldo
But, my good lord—
Polonius
Wherefore should you do this?
Reynaldo
Ay, my lord, I would know that.
Polonius
Marry, sir, here’s my drift,
And I believe it is a fetch of wit.
You, laying these slight sullies on my son,
As ’twere a thing a little soiled i’ th’ working,
Mark you, your party in converse, him you would sound,
Having ever seen in the prenominate crimes
The youth you breathe of guilty, be assured
He closes with you in this consequence:
“Good sir,” or so, or “friend,” or “gentleman,”
According to the phrase or the addition
Of man and country—
Reynaldo
Very good, my lord.
Polonius
And then, sir, does he this, he does—what
was I about to say? By the Mass, I was about to say
something. Where did I leave?
Reynaldo
At “closes in the consequence,” at “friend,
or so,” and “gentleman.”
Polonius
At “closes in the consequence”—ay, marry—
He closes thus: “I know the gentleman.
I saw him yesterday,” or “th’ other day”
(Or then, or then, with such or such), “and as you say,
There was he gaming, there o’ertook in ’s rouse,
There falling out at tennis”; or perchance
“I saw him enter such a house of sale”—
Videlicet, a brothel—or so forth. See you now
Your bait of falsehood take this carp of truth;
And thus do we of wisdom and of reach,
With windlasses and with assays of bias,
By indirections find directions out.
So by my former lecture and advice
Shall you my son. You have me, have you not?
Reynaldo
My lord, I have.