Page:Hamlet (1917) Yale.djvu/79

Prince of Denmark, III. i

And thus the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,

And enterprises of great pith and moment

With this regard their currents turn awry,

And lose the name of action. Soft you now!

The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons

Be all my sins remember'd.

Oph. Good my lord,

How does your honour for this many a day?

Ham. I humbly thank you; well, well, well.

Oph. My lord, I have remembrances of yours,

That I have longed long to re-deliver;

I pray you, now receive them.

Ham. No, not I;

I never gave you aught.

Oph. My honour'd lord, you know right well you did;

And, with them, words of so sweet breath compos'd

As made the things more rich: their perfume lost,

Take these again; for to the noble mind

Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.

There, my lord.

Ham. Ha, ha! are you honest?

Oph. My lord!

Ham. Are you fair?

Oph. What means your lordship?

Ham. That if you be honest and fair, your

honesty should admit no discourse to your

beauty.

 84 native hue: natural color, or, complexion

85 sicklied o'er: covered with a sickly tint

cast: tinge

86 pith and moment: ''gravity and importance; cf. I. iv. 22''

87 regard: consideration

currents: courses

89 orisons: prayers

91 for this many a day: all this long time

103 honest: chaste

