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QUOTES FROM THE BARD

Would he not stumble? would he not fall down

PLAY: Richard II ACT/SCENE: 5.5 SPEAKER: King Richard II CONTEXT: GROOM
I was a poor groom of thy stable, king,
When thou wert king; who, travelling towards York,
With much ado at length have gotten leave
To look upon my sometimes royal master’s face.
O, how it yearn’d my heart when I beheld
In London streets, that coronation-day,
When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary,
That horse that thou so often hast bestrid,
That horse that I so carefully have dress’d!
KING RICHARD II
Rode he on Barbary? Tell me, gentle friend,
How went he under him?
GROOM
So proudly as if he disdain’d the ground.
KING RICHARD II
So proud that Bolingbroke was on his back!
That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand;
This hand hath made him proud with clapping him.
Would he not stumble? would he not fall down,
Since pride must have a fall, and break the neck
Of that proud man that did usurp his back?
Forgiveness, horse! why do I rail on thee,
Since thou, created to be awed by man,
Wast born to bear? I was not made a horse;
And yet I bear a burthen like an ass,
Spurr’d, gall’d and tired by jouncing Bolingbroke. DUTCH: Hij struikelde dus niet? hij stortte niet, —
Trots komt toch vóór den val! MORE:
Proverb: Pride will have a fall

Yearn=Grieve, vex (O. Edd. ‘yern’ and ‘ern’)
Jade=A term of contempt or pity for a worthless or maltreated horse
Bestrid=Sat astride, mounted
Spur-galled=Wounded by spurs

Compleat:
Jade=Een lompig paerd, knol, jakhals
To bestride=Op een paerd zitten
Galled=’t Vel afgseschaafd Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use

Categories: proverbs and idioms, Richard II|

What subject can give sentence on his king?

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Bishop of Carlisle
CONTEXT:
Worst in this royal presence may I speak,
Yet best beseeming me to speak the truth.
Would God that any in this noble presence
Were enough noble to be upright judge
Of noble Richard! then true noblesse would
Learn him forbearance from so foul a wrong.
What subject can give sentence on his king?
And who sits here that is not Richard’s subject?
Thieves are not judged but they are by to hear,
Although apparent guilt be seen in them;
And shall the figure of God’s majesty,
His captain, steward, deputy-elect,
Anointed, crowned, planted many years,
Be judged by subject and inferior breath,
And he himself not present?

DUTCH:
Kan ooit een onderdaan zijn koning richten?
En wie hier is niet Richards onderdaan?

MORE:

Worst=Lowest-ranking, meanest, most unfit (to speak in the royal presence)
Beseeming=Befitting
Learn him=Teach him
Forbearance=Act of abstaining, restraint, refraining from
Figure=Image
Inferior=Subordinate, lower in station

Compleat:
To beseem=Betaamen, voegen, passen
To learn (teach)=Leeren, onderwyzen
Forbearance=Verdraagzaamheid, verduldigheid, lydzaamheid, langmoedigheid
Forbearance is no acquittance=Uitstellen is geen quytschelden
Figure (representation)=Afbeelding
Inferior=Minder, laager

Topics: order/society, status, truth, appearance, guit, judgmnet

Categories: appearance, order/society, Richard II, truth|

Patience is stale, and I am weary of it.

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: King Richard II
CONTEXT:
KEEPER
My lord, I dare not: Sir Pierce of Exton, who
lately came from the king, commands the contrary.
KING RICHARD II
The devil take Henry of Lancaster and thee!
Patience is stale, and I am weary of it.
KEEPER
Help, help, help!
KING RICHARD II
How now! what means death in this rude assault?
Villain, thy own hand yields thy death’s instrument.
Go thou, and fill another room in hell.
That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire
That staggers thus my person. Exton, thy fierce hand
Hath with the king’s blood stain’d the king’s own land.
Mount, mount, my soul! thy seat is up on high;
Whilst my gross flesh sinks downward, here to die.

DUTCH:
Geduld is duf, ik heb een walg er van.

MORE:

Stale=Worse for age, vapid and tasteless, worn out by use
Stagger=To cause to reel, to fell

Compleat:
Stale=Oud
To stagger (move or shake)=Schudden, beweegen, doen waggelen

Topics: patience, good and bad

Categories: patience, Richard II|

Lords appellants, Your differences shall all rest under gage

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Henry Bolingbroke
CONTEXT:
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
These differences shall all rest under gage
Till Norfolk be repeal’d: repeal’d he shall be,
And, though mine enemy, restored again
To all his lands and signories: when he’s return’d,
Against Aumerle we will enforce his trial.
BISHOP OF CARLISLE
That honourable day shall ne’er be seen.
Many a time hath banish’d Norfolk fought
For Jesu Christ in glorious Christian field,
Streaming the ensign of the Christian cross
Against black pagans, Turks, and Saracens:
And toil’d with works of war, retired himself
To Italy; and there at Venice gave
His body to that pleasant country’s earth,
And his pure soul unto his captain Christ,
Under whose colours he had fought so long.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Why, bishop, is Norfolk dead?
BISHOP OF CARLISLE
As surely as I live, my lord.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the bosom
Of good old Abraham! Lords appellants,
Your differences shall all rest under gage
Till we assign you to your days of trial.

DUTCH:
Geleide zoete vrede naar den schoot
Des goeden vader Abraham’s zijn ziele! —
Uw twisten, heeren klagers, zijn geschorst,
Tot wij u dagen om uw kamp te strijden.

MORE:

Proverb: Abraham’s bosom

Enforce=Ensure, demand with importunity
Signories=Feudal park; estate, landed property of a lord
Gage=Pledge (usu. a glove thrown on the ground) of a person’s appearance to do battle in support of his assertions, challenge
Differences rest under gage=Suspend the dispute
Toiled=Fatigued, exhausted
Streaming=Flying

Compleat:
Gage=Pand, onderpand
Toil=Slooven, zich afslooven, moe werken
Streamer=Wimpel
Inforce=Dwinge, opdringen, overhaalen

Topics: law/legal, dispute

Categories: law/legal, Richard II|

For now the devil that told me I did well
Says that this deed is chronicled in hell.

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Exton
CONTEXT:
KING RICHARD II
How now! what means death in this rude assault?
Villain, thy own hand yields thy death’s instrument.
Go thou, and fill another room in hell.
That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire
That staggers thus my person. Exton, thy fierce hand
Hath with the king’s blood stain’d the king’s own land.
Mount, mount, my soul! thy seat is up on high;
Whilst my gross flesh sinks downward, here to die.
EXTON
As full of valour as of royal blood:
Both have I spill’d; O would the deed were good!
For now the devil, that told me I did well,
Says that this deed is chronicled in hell.
This dead king to the living king I’ll bear
Take hence the rest, and give them burial here.

DUTCH:
Aan moed zoo rijk, als koninklijk van bloed!
‘k Vergoot die beide; — waar’ mijn daad slechts goed!
Nu zegt de duivel, die mij heeft gedreven,
Dat in de hel die daad is aangeschreven.

MORE:

Rude=Brutal
Stagger=To cause to reel, to fell
Chronicle=To record, to register

Compleat:
Rude=Ruuw
To stagger (move or shake)=Schudden, beweegen, doen waggelen
To chronicle=In eenen kronyk aanschryven

Topics: loyalty, conspiracy, death

Categories: death, loyalty, Richard II|

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