And in the Morne and liquid dew of Youth,
Contagious blastments are most imminent.
Be wary then, best safety lies in feare;
Youth to it selfe rebels, though none else neere.[6]

_Ophe_. I shall th'effect of this good Lesson keepe,
As watchmen to my heart: but good my Brother [Sidenote: watchman]
Doe not as some vngracious Pastors doe,
Shew me the steepe and thorny way to Heauen;
Whilst like a puft and recklesse Libertine
Himselfe, the Primrose path of dalliance treads,
And reaks not his owne reade.[7][8][9]

_Laer_. Oh, feare me not.[10]

_Enter Polonius_.

I stay too long; but here my Father comes:
A double blessing is a double grace;
Occasion smiles vpon a second leaue.[11]

_Polon_. Yet heere _Laertes_? Aboord, aboord for shame,
The winde sits in the shoulder of your saile,
And you are staid for there: my blessing with you;
[Sidenote: for, there my | with thee]

[Footnote 1: Without a master; lawless.]

[Footnote 2: Do not go so far as inclination would lead you. Keep behind
your liking. Do not go to the front with your impulse.]

[Footnote 3: --_but_ to the moon--which can show it so little.]

[Footnote 4: Opened but not closed quotations in the _Quarto_.]

[Footnote 5: The French _bouton_ is also both _button_ and _bud_.]

[Footnote 6: 'Inclination is enough to have to deal with, let alone
added temptation.' Like his father, Laertes is wise for another--a man
of maxims, not behaviour. His morality is in his intellect and for
self-ends, not in his will, and for the sake of truth and
righteousness.]

[Footnote 7: _1st Q_.

But my deere brother, do not you
Like to a cunning Sophister,
Teach me the path and ready way to heauen,
While you forgetting what is said to me,
Your selfe, like to a carelesse libertine
Doth giue his heart, his appetite at ful,
And little recks how that his honour dies.

'The primrose way to the everlasting bonfire.'
--_Macbeth_, ii. 3:

'The flowery way that leads to the broad gate and the great fire.'
_All's Well_, iv. 5.]

[Footnote 8: 'heeds not his own counsel.']

[Footnote 9: Here in Quarto, _Enter Polonius._]

[Footnote 10: With the fitting arrogance and impertinence of a libertine
brother, he has read his sister a lecture on propriety of behaviour; but
when she gently suggests that what is good for her is good for him
too,--'Oh, fear me not!--I stay too long.']

[Footnote