QUOTES FROM THE BARD

Why art thou old, and want’st experience?
Or wherefore dost abuse it, if thou hast it?

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2 ACT/SCENE: 5.1 SPEAKER: King Henry VI CONTEXT: Why, Warwick, hath thy knee forgot to bow?
Old Salisbury, shame to thy silver hair,
Thou mad misleader of thy brain-sick son!
What, wilt thou on thy death-bed play the ruffian,
And seek for sorrow with thy spectacles?
O, where is faith? O, where is loyalty?
If it be banish’d from the frosty head,
Where shall it find a harbour in the earth?
Wilt thou go dig a grave to find out war,
And shame thine honourable age with blood?
Why art thou old, and want’st experience?
Or wherefore dost abuse it, if thou hast it?
For shame! In duty bend thy knee to me
That bows unto the grave with mickle age. DUTCH: Waartoe werdt ge oud, zoo gij ervaring derft?
Of hebt gij die, waarom misbruikt gij haar?
MORE: Want’st=Lacking
Honourable=Deserving respect
Shame to=Shame on
Frosty=(of hair) Silver, grey
Mickle=much, great

Compleat:
Mickle=Veel, een woord dat in ‘t Noorden van Engeland zeer gemeen is
Many a little makes a mickle=Veele kleintjes maaken een groot
Want=Gebrek, nood Topics: age/experience, learning/education

And more than that, he can speak French; and therefore he is a traitor.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Cade
CONTEXT:
CADE
And good reason; for thereby is England mained, and fain to go with a staff, but that my puissance holds it up. Fellow kings, I tell you that that Lord Say hath gelded the commonwealth, and made it an eunuch: and more than that, he can speak French; and therefore he is a traitor.
SIR HUMPHREY
O gross and miserable ignorance!

DUTCH:
En nog erger dan dit: hij kan Fransch
spreken en dus is hij een verrader.

MORE:

(See also Away with him! He speaks Latin)

Mained=Maimed
Fain to=Obliged to
Puissance=Power, strength, force
Geld=Castrate; fig. deprive of an esssential part
Gross=Dull, stupid

Compleat:
Maimed=Verminkt
Fain to=Gaern, genoodzaakt
To geld=Lubben
Gross=Grof, plomp

Topics: learning/education, language, misunderstanding, perception

It is great sin to swear unto a sin,
But greater sin to keep a sinful oath.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Salisbury
CONTEXT:
It is great sin to swear unto a sin,
But greater sin to keep a sinful oath.
Who can be bound by any solemn vow
To do a murderous deed, to rob a man,
To force a spotless virgin’s chastity,
To reave the orphan of his patrimony,
To wring the widow from her custom’d right,
And have no other reason for this wrong
But that he was bound by a solemn oath?
QUEEN MARGARET
A subtle traitor needs no sophister.

DUTCH:
t Is groote zonde, op zonde een eed te doen,
Doch grooter zonde , een zondige’ eed te houden.

MORE:

Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)
Proverb: It is a great sin to swear unto a sin But greater sin to keep a sinful oath

Reave=Rob
Customed right=Rightful portion of her husband’s estate
Sophister=Clever or cunning arguer
Field=Battlefield

Compleat:
Bereave=Rooven
Accustomed=Gewoon, gewend, tot iets geschikt
Sophister (a cunning or sharp man)=Een listing schrander man
Sophistry=Een schalke wyze van redeneeren, woordvittery, haairkloovery, verschalking

Topics: law/legal, proverbs and idioms, good and bad

The trust I have is in mine innocence, and therefore am I bold and resolute

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Saye
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
Trust nobody, for fear you be betray’d.
SAYE
The trust I have is in mine innocence,
And therefore am I bold and resolute.

DUTCH:
Het volst vertrouwen stel ik op mijn onschuld,
En daarom ben ik moedig en gerust.

MORE:

Proverb: Innocence is bold

Schmidt:
Bold=Daring, insolent
Resolute=Having a fixed purpose, determined, full of bold decision

Compleat:
Bold=Stout, koen, vrymoedig, onbevreesd, onverslaagd, vrypostig
Resolute=Onbeschroomd, onbeteuterd, onversaagd

Topics: trust, betray, proverbs and idioms

Fear frames disorder, and disorder wounds

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Young Clifford
CONTEXT:
Shame and confusion! All is on the rout;
Fear frames disorder, and disorder wounds
Where it should guard. O war, thou son of hell,
Whom angry heavens do make their minister
Throw in the frozen bosoms of our part
Hot coals of vengeance! Let no soldier fly.
He that is truly dedicate to war
Hath no self-love, nor he that loves himself
Hath not essentially but by circumstance
The name of valour.

DUTCH:
Schande en verwarring! Alles wijkt en vlucht.
Door vrees wordt orde wanorde, en verwondt
Wat zij moest hoeden

MORE:

Frames=Creates, produces
Rout=In a disorderly retreat
Guard=Protect
Circumstance=Occurrence, accident

Compleat:
To frame=Een gestalte geeven, maaken, ontwerpen, schikken
Rout (defeat)=Nederlaag
Rout (squabble, noise)=Geraas, getier
Circumstance=Omstandigheid

Topics: respect, courage, revenge

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