[1204] To Thine Own Self Be True

Guest poem sent in by Seema Ramanarayanan <wormatwork@>

The title has been given by one of my old English textbooks. Guess that's not
the title used anyplace else since I had a hard time finding the poem on the
web. It's basically Polonius' advice to his son Laertes in "Hamlet". [It seemed
to me more appropriate than our usual convention of using the first line of the
excerpt as the title, so I retained it - martin]

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!
And these few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg’d comrade.  Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel but, being in,
Bear't that th' opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgement.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express'd in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man;
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower, nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell; my blessing season this in thee!

	-- William Shakespeare

Well, not sure I think it's the best advice anyone ever got but when I reread
the poem all these years later, I realised its a whole list of platitudes :).
Still sounds like mighty grand advice, doesnt it?

p.s. I dont think I need to add any biographical information for this one!

Seema

[Martin adds]

The phrases "to thine own self be true" and "neither a borrower nor a lender
be" have (deservedly) made their way into the language.

Another famous set of precepts cast into poetic form is Kipling's "If", Poem
#271

And in a more humorous vein, Gilbert's "Things are seldom what they seem" duet
from "HMS Pinafore" is a magnificent send up of the genre, including the
immortal line
  Though I'm anything but clever
  I could talk like that forever
    -- http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/pinafore/web_opera/pn14.html

martin

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From: <mgtownsend@>

The most brilliant rendering of Polonius' speech I have ever seen was by
Hume Cronin, playing against Richard Burton's Hamlet in the mid 60's. Cronin brought out every ounce of doddery condescension; he was hilarious in a way that snuck up on you. All the funnier because you weren't expecting it. Thank you for surfacing a delightful memory. Of all of WS's tragedies, Hamlet has the most intentional humor. Much needed in the current pathos of the world.

Martin Townsend
Cincinnati, OH

From: "A MARTIN" <TONY@>

None of it was a platitude when Shakespeare wrote it!!

Tony Martin

From: Martin DeMello <martindemello@>

"After all, all he did was string together a lot of old, well-known
quotations." -- Henry Louis Mencken on Shakespeare

From: Rbrt521@

My good friend, Miss Mary, read this today, and as always, enjoyed the 
robustness of To thine Own Self be True........RAP, MBH

From: "Patricia" <originalpatricia@>

This is the best piece of advice I ever had, from me Grandmother,who
brought me up in my most formative years,  I was an early reader , I
also love John Donne's "no man is an island...."

From: "Wayne Champion" <champion@>

Thanks for having it available to read. I have been looking for the
source of the statement: "To thine own self be true."
When I finished reading the poem in it's entirety, it sounds as if
Shakespear was requoting the first 14 verses of the 11th Proverb in the
Holy Scriptures.

From: "Carmen Vazquez" <PITUFA@>

while it might be true that it seems as if Shakespeare put all kinds of
sayings, proverbs, advice and whatnot together, i don't think anyone
could have done it as gracefully as he did. i for sure could not have
done it, so ask yourself the same question.

From: "Thomas Adams" <thomasadams@>

The older I get, the more I realize the importance of being honest with
myself and the more I notice people who aren't. I also enjoyed the line
about listening more and speaking less.something I've heard in different
ways over the years. The whole poem is proof positive that the truth
remains the truth, no matter where or when it is spoken.

Thomas Adams

From: Mmartinmarie@

This are sounds words of advise. Many of them based on the book of 
Judea/Christian proverbs. 

Marie Martin
Hot Springs, AR

From: Jonh1Har@

I have lived by this quote and Kiplings "If". What else does one  need?
-John H.

From: "Karl Sieg" <kpspe@>

Imagine yourself, as Dad, Polonius.  You have accompanied your 18 year old
son to the dock as he is about to board a ship to go to another country, and
see the world, to seek his fortune.
You are making small talk with some other men as your son Laertes is too
with some other young men, laughing and joking, oblivious to you, Dad, and
the preparations being made by others for him.
Suddenly you notice that the hands on deck are standing there, waiting for
your son to board, so they can get going.  

You yell over to your son: 
"Yet here, Laertes!  Aboard!  Aboard! For shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail, and thou art stayed for (people
are waiting for you!)"

And then, as the reality of your son leaving is hitting home, you are struck
with pain and sorrow.
Keeping your tears from falling, you feel that you must impart some final
advice that you ask Laertes to remember: 
"There ... my blessing with thee!  And these few precepts in thy memory look
thou character."

I know of no more profound and meaningful words from father to son (or
daughter).

I printed out the passage, framed it, and gave it to my daughter for a
wedding gift.

When our pastor burned out, and submitted his resignation from the church he
started and grew from 7 families to over 10,000 people in 17 years, I sent
him the last stanza with our love and best wishes: "And this above all: to
thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst
not then be false to any man."

From: Wsamuel842@

Thank you William for your kind words of wisdom. Beautine, to thine  own self 
be true. Love _Wsamuel842@ (mailto:Wsamuel842@aol.com) 

From: JFFox77777@

Fifty years ago, our Junior High School Science Teacher made us each buy a 
pencil, inscribed with:

"To thine own self be true, 
And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man."

While I never knew it's source, I never forgot the lesson.

--jim

From: "Bernie" <bkent@>

It looks cool

Emily (emilymussabir@)