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To’s power he would have made them mules, silenced their pleaders and dispropertied their freedom

PLAY: Coriolanus ACT/SCENE: 2.1 SPEAKER: Brutus CONTEXT: SICINIUS
It shall be to him then as our good wills,
A sure destruction.
BRUTUS
So it must fall out
To him or our authorities. For an end,
We must suggest the people in what hatred
He still hath held them; that to’s power he would
Have made them mules, silenced their pleaders and
Dispropertied their freedoms, holding them,
In human action and capacity,
Of no more soul nor fitness for the world
Than camels in the war, who have their provand
Only for bearing burdens, and sore blows
For sinking under them.
SICINIUS
This, as you say, suggested
At some time when his soaring insolence
Shall touch the people—which time shall not want,
If he be put upon ‘t; and that’s as easy
As to set dogs on sheep—will be his fire
To kindle their dry stubble; and their blaze
Shall darken him for ever. DUTCH: Dit moet zoo zijn, of ‘t wordt
Voor ons gezag een doodsteek. Daarom moeten
Wij ‘t volk bewerken , hun doen zien, wat haat
Hij immer voor hen voedt; dat, kon hij ‘t doen,
Hij hen tot lastvee maken zou, hun pleiters
Doen zwijgen, ied’re vrijheid hun ontrooven, MORE: As our good wills=As we require
Fall out to=(His ruin will) be brought about by
Suggest=Influence, point out to
Still=Always
Dispropertied=Removed
Provand=Provisions
Touch=Affect
Put upon ‘t=Goaded, incited to
Compleat:
To fall out=Uitvallen, gebeuren
It fell out beyond my expectations=’t Viel anders uit dan ik verwacht had
Suggest=Ingeeven, insteeken, inluisteren, inblaazen
To dispossess=Uit de bezitting verdryven
To touch=Aanraaken, aanroeren, tasten
To put one upon a thing=Iemand in een zaak inwikkelen Topics: ruin, manipulation, respect, vanity

Categories: Coriolanus, respect, ruin, vanity|

Alack, you are transported by calamity thither where more attends you

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Menenius
CONTEXT:
MENENIUS
Why, masters, my good friends, mine honest neighbours,
Will you undo yourselves?
FIRST CITIZEN
We cannot, sir, we are undone already.
MENENIUS
I tell you, friends, most charitable care
Have the patricians of you. For your wants,
Your suffering in this dearth, you may as well
Strike at the heaven with your staves as lift them
Against the Roman state, whose course will on
The way it takes, cracking ten thousand curbs
Of more strong link asunder than can ever
Appear in your impediment. For the dearth,
The gods, not the patricians, make it, and
Your knees to them, not arms, must help. Alack,
You are transported by calamity
Thither where more attends you, and you slander
The helms o’ the state, who care for you like fathers,
When you curse them as enemies.

DUTCH:
Ach, uw ellende drijft u voort, waar meer
Ellende u wacht! Gij lastert de bestuurders
Van Rome, die als vaders voor u zorgen,
Terwijl gij hen als haters vloekt.

MORE:
Undo=Undermine, ruin
Patricians=Senators
Curbs=Curb chain (bridle)
Thither=There
Attends=Awaits
Helms=Leaders
Compleat:
To undo=Ontdoen; ontbinden, bederven
Patrician=Een Roomsch Edelling
Hither=Herwaards. Hither and thither=Herwaards en derwaards
To attend=Opwachten, verzellen
Helm=Het roer
To sit at the helm=Aan ‘t roer zitten

Topics: ruin, death, persuasion

Categories: Coriolanus, persuasion, ruin|

To say nothing, to do nothing, to know nothing, and to have nothing is to be a great part of your title

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Clown
CONTEXT:
CLOWN
So that you had her wrinkles and I her money,
I would she did as you say.
PAROLLES
Why, I say nothing.
CLOWN
Marry, you are the wiser man; for many a man’s
tongue shakes out his master’s undoing: to say
nothing, to do nothing, to know nothing, and to have
nothing, is to be a great part of your title; which
is within a very little of nothing.
PAROLLES
Away! thou’rt a knave.

DUTCH:
Het wijste, wat gij doen kunt, want menigen dienaar’s
tong praat zijn meester in het verderf. Niets zeggen,
niets doen, niets weten en niets hebben, maakt een
groot deel van uw waardigheid uit, die uit een zeer
klein deel van niets bestaat.

MORE:
Title=Intrinsic value, position
Undoing=Ruin
Compleat:
Undoing=Losmaaking, bederving
That was the undoing of him=Dat was zyn verderf

Topics: respect, order/society, ruin

Categories: All's Well That Ends Well, respect, ruin|

So quick bright things come to confusion

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Lysander
CONTEXT:
LYSANDER
Or, if there were a sympathy in choice,
War, death, or sickness did lay siege to it,
Making it momentary as a sound,
Swift as a shadow, short as any dream,
Brief as the lightning in the collied night;
That, in a spleen, unfolds both heaven and Earth,
And ere a man hath power to say “Behold!”
The jaws of darkness do devour it up.
So quick bright things come to confusion.

DUTCH:
Of, was ook ziel met ziel aaneengesmeed,
Dan heeft haar ziekte, krijg of dood belaagd,
Voorbijgaand, vluchtig als een klank gemaakt,
Kort als een droombeeld, ijdel als een schim,
Snel als het weerlicht in koolzwarte nacht

MORE:
Proverb: As swift as lightning

Collied=Coal black
Sympathy=Equality
Spleen=Fit of rage
Quick=Lively, alive
Confusion=Ruin
Compleat:
To colly=Zwart maaken, besmodderen
Collyed=Zwart gemaakt, besmodderd
Sympathy=Onderlinge trek
Spreen=Wrok
Quick=Leevendig, snel, rad, dra, scherp
Bate=Verminderen, afkorten, afslaan
Confusion (ruin)=Verwoesting, bederf, ruine

Topics: proverbs and idioms, equality, still in use, fate/destiny, ruin

Categories: A Midsummer Night's Dream, fate/destiny, proverbs and idioms, ruin, still in use|

Though you can guess what temperance should be, you know not what it is

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 3.13
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
You have been a boggler ever.
But when we in our viciousness grow hard—
Oh, misery on ’t!— the wise gods seel our eyes,
In our own filth drop our clear judgments, make us
Adore our errors, laugh at ’s while we strut
To our confusion.
CLEOPATRA
Oh, is ’t come to this?
ANTONY
I found you as a morsel cold upon
Dead Caesar’s trencher. Nay, you were a fragment
Of Gneius Pompey’s, besides what hotter hours,
Unregistered in vulgar fame, you have
Luxuriously picked out. For I am sure,
Though you can guess what temperance should be,
You know not what it is.

DUTCH:
Ik vond u als een koud geworden bete
Op Caesar’s bord; gij waart een kliekjen van
Cneus Pompeius’ tafel, om van uren
Van hartstocht nu te zwijgen, die ge in stilte
Wellustig hebt besteed; want, dit is zeker,
Hoewel gij gissen moogt, wat kuischheid is,
Gekend hebt gij ze nooit.

MORE:
Proverb: When God will punish he will first take away the understanding

Boggler=Equivocator, swerver, waverer
Seel=Close, blind
Confusion=Ruin
Trencher=Wooden plate
Fragment=Remnant, scrap
Vulgar fame=Common gossip
Luxuriously=Lustfully
Temperance=Modesty, chastity
Compleat:
To boggle=Haperen, stameren
He did not boggle at all at it=Hij stond ‘er niet verzet voor
To seel a hawk=Eenen valk een kap voor de oogen doen
Trencher=Tafelbord, houten tafelbord
Fragment=Een brok, stuk, afbreeksel
Vulgar=(common) Gemeen
Luxuriously=Weeldriglyk; overdaadiglyk
Temperance=Maatigheyd

Topics: proverbs and idioms, excess, reputation, judgment, ruin

Categories: Antony and Cleopatra, judgment, proverbs and idioms, reputation, ruin|

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