QUOTES FROM THE BARD

Caesar’s ambition, which swelled so much that it did almost stretch the sides o’ th’ world

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Cymbeline
CONTEXT:
You must know,
Till the injurious Romans did extort
This tribute from us, we were free. Caesar’s ambition,
Which swelled so much that it did almost stretch
The sides o’ th’ world, against all colour here
Did put the yoke upon ’s, which to shake off
Becomes a warlike people, whom we reckon
Ourselves to be.

DUTCH:
t Zij u bewust,
Wij waren , tot ons Rome met geweld
Tot cijns verplichtte, vrij; eerst Caesars eerzucht, —
Die zoo zich opblies, dat de wereld schier
Te klein haar werd


MORE:
Against all colour=Against any opposition, whatever the reason
Injurious=Detractory, hurting reputation, insulting
Tribute=Stated payment made in acknowledgment of submission, or as the price of peace, or by virtue of a treaty
Colour=Specious pretence, palliation, appearance of right
Compleat:
Injurious=Verongelykend, beledigend, smaadelyk, lasterlyk
Tribute=Tol, impost
Colour=Vaandel
Under colour of peace=Onder den schyn van vreede
Under colour of friendship=Onder den dekmantel van vriendschap

Topics: independence, free will, ambition, rights, equality

Such a nature, tickled with good success, disdains the shadow which he treads on at noon

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Sicinius
CONTEXT:
SICINIUS
Be-mock the modest moon.
BRUTUS
The present wars devour him: he is grown
Too proud to be so valiant.
SICINIUS
Such a nature,
Tickled with good success, disdains the shadow
Which he treads on at noon: but I do wonder
His insolence can brook to be commanded
Under Cominius.
BRUTUS
Fame, at the which he aims,
In whom already he’s well graced, can not
Better be held nor more attain’d than by
A place below the first: for what miscarries
Shall be the general’s fault, though he perform
To the utmost of a man, and giddy censure
Will then cry out of Marcius ‘O if he
Had borne the business!’

DUTCH:
Een aard als deze,
Door voorspoed nog geprikkeld, zet den voet
Niet op zijn eigen middagschaduw

MORE:
Proverb: When the sun is highest he casts the least shadow

Tickled with=Pleased, excited by (still in use)
Disdain=To think unworthy, to scorn, to treat with contempt
Brook=Bear, endure; put up with
Compleat:
To disdain=Versmaaden, verachten, zich verontwaaardigen
To tickle (pleaes or flatter)=Streelen, vleijen
Brook=Verdraagen, uitstaan
To brook an affront=Een leed verkroppen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, insult, ambition, authority, invented or popularised

Now let me die, for I have lived long enough: this is the period of my ambition

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS FORD
Go to, then: we’ll use this unwholesome humidity,
this gross watery pumpion; we’ll teach him to know
turtles from jays.
FALSTAFF
Have I caught thee, my heavenly jewel? Why, now let
me die, for I have lived long enough: this is the
period of my ambition: O this blessed hour!

DUTCH:
Is nu mijn hemelsch kleinood mijn? O, nu moge ik
sterven, want ik heb lang genoeg geleefd; nu ben ik
aan den eindpaal van mijn eerzucht! O welk een zalig uur!

MORE:
Humidity=Moisture
Pumpion=Gourd, pumpkin
Turtles from the jays=Faithful from the flirts
Period=End
Compleat:
Humidity=vochtigheyd, dofheyd
Pumpion=Pompoen
To bring to a period=Tot een eyde brengen

Burgersdijk notes:
Van kraaien. From jays. Jay is de Vlaamsche gaai of meerkol, Corvus glandarius; het woord wordt ook tot aanwijzing van lichte vrouwen gebezigd, zie Cymbeline 3.4
„Is nu mijn hemelsch kleinood mijn?” Have I caught thee, my heavenly jewel? Zoo begint het tweede lied uit Sidney’s Astrophel and Stella. Alleen is in de folio-uitgave het woord thee ingevoegd.

Topics: ambition|achievement|insult

O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
(…) Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff.
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And Brutus is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
And, sure, he is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love him once, not without cause.
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me.
My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
And I must pause till it come back to me.

DUTCH:
Wie ziet hierin een blijk van Caesar’s heerschzucht?
Als de armoe leed en kreet, dan weende Caesar;
De heerschzucht pleegt van harder stof te zijn;
Maar Brutus zegt, dat hij vol heerschzucht was,
En Brutus is een achtenswaardig man.

MORE:
REFERENCED IN SCOTTISH LAW: 2019 GWD 34-541, [2019] CSIH 52, 2019 SLT 1269, 2020 SCLR 165, [2019] ScotCS CSIH_52
“CITED IN SCOTTISH LAW: THOMAS O’LEARY v. HER MAJESTY’S ADVOCATE [2014] ScotHC HCJAC_45 (23 May 2014)/[2014] HCJAC 45, 2014 SLT 711, 2014 SCCR 421
Ironic/sarcastic to the point where the meaning has been inverted by the end of the speech and turns public against Brutus and co-conspirators.
CITED IN US LAW: Re. the definition of “”honourable””: State v Martin, 651 S.W.2d 645, 656 (Mo. Ct. App. 1983)”

Topics: cited in law, honour, reputation, legacy, ambition

I fear there will a worse come in his place

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
FIRST PLEBEIAN
Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.
SECOND PLEBEIAN
If thou consider rightly of the matter,
Caesar has had great wrong.
THIRD PLEBEIAN
Has he, masters?
I fear there will a worse come in his place.
FOURTH PLEBEIAN
Marked ye his words? He would not take the crown.
Therefore ’tis certain he was not ambitious.
FIRST PLEBEIAN
If it be found so, some will dear abide it.

DUTCH:
Ik vrees, er komt een erger in zijn plaats.

MORE:
Has had=Has suffered
Rightly=Correctly
Dear abide=Pay dearly for
Compleat:
Wronged=Verongelykt, verkort
Rightly=Billyk
Abide=Blyven, harden, duuren, uytstaan
Dear=Waard, lief, dierbaar, dier

Topics: reason, language, ambition, punishment, error

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