QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Richard
CONTEXT:
NORFOLK
A good direction, warlike sovereign.
This found I on my tent this morning.
KING RICHARD
Jockey of Norfolk, be not so bold.
For Dickon thy master is bought and sold.
A thing devisèd by the enemy.—
Go, gentlemen, every man unto his charge.
Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls.
Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devised at first to keep the strong in awe.
Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.
March on. Join bravely. Let us to it pell mell
If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell.
What shall I say more than I have inferred?
Remember whom you are to cope withal,
A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways,
A scum of Bretons and base lackey peasants,
Whom their o’er-cloyèd country vomits forth
To desperate ventures and assured destruction.
You sleeping safe, they bring to you unrest;
You having lands and blessed with beauteous wives,
(…)

DUTCH:
Geweten is een lafaardswoord, een vond,
Die sterken, geeft men toe, in banden legt;
De vuist zij ons geweten, ‘t zwaard ons recht .

MORE:
Proverb: To be bought and sold

Direction=Plan
Dickon=Richard (Dick)
Bought and sold=Betrayed
Strong arms=Might, power
Be our conscience=Makes us right
Join=Join battle
Compleat:
Direction=Het bestier, aanwijzing
The directing of one’s intentions=Het bestieren van iemands voorneemen
Conscience=Het geweeten

Burgersdijk notes:
Hans Norfolk, tijdig heil gezocht, enz . Dit rijmpjen, waarmede men Norfolk, die aan Richard trouw bleef, hoewel hij zjjn handelingen laakte, tot afval trachtte te bewegen, luidt in de kroniek:
Jocky of Norfolk, be not too bold,
For Dickon thy master is bought and sold .
De folio heeft ten onrechte so in plaats van too; Jocky staat voor John, zooals Dickon voor Richard.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, betrayal, conscience, order/society