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QUOTES FROM THE BARD

The better part of valour is discretion

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1 ACT/SCENE: 5.4 SPEAKER: Falstaff CONTEXT: Counterfeit? I lie. I am no counterfeit. To die is to be a counterfeit, for he is but the counterfeit of a man who hath not the life of a man; but to counterfeit dying when a man thereby liveth is to be no counterfeit, but the true and perfect image of life indeed. The better part of valor is discretion, in the which better part I have saved my life. Zounds, I am afraid of this gunpowder Percy, though he be dead. How if he should counterfeit too and rise? By my faith, I am afraid he would prove the better counterfeit. DUTCH: Het beste deel van moed is voorzichtigheid./ Het betere deel van de dapperheid is voorzichtigheid. MORE: Frequently misquoted, or rearranged, as “Discretion is the better part of valour”. Topics: misquoted, proverbs and idioms, risk, courage, caution

Categories: caution, courage, King Henry IV Part 1, misquoted, risk|

This is the deadly spite that angers me: My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mortimer
CONTEXT:
WORCESTER
In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame,
And, since your coming hither, have done enough
To put him quite beside his patience.
You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault.
Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood—
And that’s the dearest grace it renders you—
Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain,
The least of which, haunting a nobleman,
Loseth men’s hearts and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.
HOTSPUR
Well, I am schooled. Good manners be your speed!
Here come our wives, and let us take our leave.
MORTIMER
This is the deadly spite that angers me:
My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh.

DUTCH:
Dit is voor mij een dood’lijk grievend leed:
Mijn vrouw verstaat geen Engelsch, ik geen Welsch.

MORE:
Wilful-blame=Blameable on purpose, on principle; indulging faults, though conscious that they are faults. (Arden: blameworthy in the obstinacy or rashness of your behaviour. (…) Others explain as “
wilfully blameworthy” or “wilfully to blame,” comparing “wilful-negligent” in Winter’s Tale, i. ii. 255,)
Haunting=Affecting
Blood=Mettle, spirit
Want of government=Lack of self-control
Opinion= Conceit
Boiling them of commendation=Making them lose respect
I am schooled=I have learned my lesson
Compleat:
Commendation=Pryzing, aanpryzing, aanbeveling
Opinion=Waan
A man of government=Een gemaatigt Man
He hath not the government of his tongue=Hy kan zyn tong niet beteugelen

Topics: learning/education, civility, order/society, respect, language, blame

Categories: King Henry IV Part 1, language, learning/education, order/society, respect|

It lends a luster and more great opinion, A larger dare, to our great enterprise.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
You strain too far.
I rather of his absence make this use:
It lends a luster and more great opinion,
A larger dare, to our great enterprise
Than if the Earl were here, for men must think
If we without his help can make a head
To push against a kingdom, with his help
We shall o’erturn it topsy-turvy down.
Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.

DUTCH:
Gij gaat te ver;
Ik zie voor ons eer voordeel in zijn afzijn:
‘t Leent hoog’ren luister en een groot’ren roem
En meerdre koenheid aan ons groote werk,
Dan zoo de graaf hier was.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Strain=Effort of thought (as if by violent stretching of the mind); to extend, to stretch (you go too far in your apprehensions).
Lustre=Brightness, splendour
Dare=Boldness

Topics: plans/intentions, ambition, hope/optimism, reputation, perception

Categories: hope/optimism, King Henry IV Part 1, perception, plans/intentions, reputation|

To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
WESTMORELAND
He is, Sir John. I fear we shall stay too long.
FALSTAFF
Well,
To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast
Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest.

DUTCH:
Nu goed.
Het laatst in ‘t veld, en de eersten bij een feest,
Lijkt tragen vechters, gragen gasten ‘t meest.

MORE:
Heywood proverbs (1546):
“And it is ill coming, I have heard say,
To th’ end of a shot and beginning of a fray.”
A hungry guest will come early for a meal, a reluctant soldier will arrive late in the battle..

Topics: proverbs and idioms, time

Categories: King Henry IV Part 1, proverbs and idioms|

If sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 2.5
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
But to say I know more harm in him than in myself were to say more than I know. That he is old, the more the pity, his white hairs do witness it. But that he is, saving your reverence, a whoremaster, that I utterly deny. If sack and sugar be a fault, God help the wicked. If to be old and merry be a sin, then many an old host that I know is damned. If to be fat be to be hated, then Pharaoh’s lean kine are to be loved. No, my good lord, banish Peto, banish Bardolph, banish Poins, but for sweet Jack Falstaff, kind Jack Falstaff, true Jack Falstaff, valiant Jack Falstaff, and therefore more valiant being, as he is, old Jack Falstaff,
Banish not him thy Harry’s company,
Banish not him thy Harry’s company.
Banish plump Jack, and banish all the world.

DUTCH:
Als sek met suiker boos is, dan sta God de zondaars bij! Als oud en vroolijk zijn zonde is, dan is menig oude waard, dien ik ken, verdoemd; als vet te zijn hatenswaardig is, dan zijn Pharao’s magere koeien beminnelijk.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Sack=The generic name of Spanish and Canary wines
Kine=Cow (Pharaoh’s lean kine: a sign that times of starvation are ahead (Genesis 41))
Host=Innkeeper
Saving your reverence=With respect (used before an impolite remark)
Compleat:
Kine=Koeien
Sack=Sek, een soort van sterke wyn
Host=een Waerd, herbergier
Burgersdijk:
In de wijnhuizen kregen de gasten hij den wijn een zakjen suiker. Men mag er uit vermoeden, dat of de wijn of die hem dronk vaak niet al te best van smaak was.

Topics: life, age/experience, excess, offence

Categories: excess, King Henry IV Part 1, life, offence|

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