Neither a borrower nor a lender be

Question

My mother always told me to follow the dictum "neither a borrower nor a lender be," but I am always borrowing money from my friends.
[Source: Reading for Results Ninth Edition by Laraine Flemming]
I'd like to know in the imperative sentence why the verb "be" sitting at the tail end.
Thank you in advance for your help.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

park sang joonI'd like to know in the imperative sentence why the verb "be" sitting at the tail end.

It is written to suit the meter of Polonius's advice to his son:

There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned 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, unfledged comrade. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear't that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment.
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 ownself 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!

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Mr.Micawber, for the very elaborate answer from you.

But I gave up reading the text above

Mister Micawber · Answer

park sang joonBut I gave up reading the text above

You should try again; it is a very famous speech from Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be

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