QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Aaron
CONTEXT:
LUCIUS
Art thou not sorry for these heinous deeds?
AARON
Ay, that I had not done a thousand more.
Even now I curse the day—and yet, I think,
Few come within the compass of my curse,—
Wherein I did not some notorious ill,
As kill a man, or else devise his death,
Ravish a maid, or plot the way to do it,
Accuse some innocent and forswear myself,
Set deadly enmity between two friends,
Make poor men’s cattle break their necks;
Set fire on barns and hay-stacks in the night,
And bid the owners quench them with their tears.
Oft have I digged up dead men from their graves,
And set them upright at their dear friends’ doors,
Even when their sorrows almost were forgot;
And on their skins, as on the bark of trees,
Have with my knife carved in Roman letters,
‘Let not your sorrow die, though I am dead.’
Tut, I have done a thousand dreadful things
As willingly as one would kill a fly,
And nothing grieves me heartily indeed
But that I cannot do ten thousand more.

DUTCH:
Ja, dat ik er niet duizend meer bedreef.
Zelfs nu vloek ik den dag, — maar toch, ik meen,
Niet vele zijn er door mijn vloek te treffen, —
Waarop ik geen opmerk’lijk kwaad bedreef

MORE:

Compass=Reach
Devise=Contrive
Forswear=Perjure
Compleat:
Compass=Omtrek, omkreits, begrip, bestek, bereik
To quench=Blusschen, uitblusschen; dorst lesschen, dorst verslaan
To keep within compass=Iemand in den band (in bedwang) houden
To keep within compass=Zynen plicht betrachten
To devise=Bedenken, verzinnen, uytvinden
To forswear one’s self=Eenen valschen eed doen, meyneedig zyn
To forswear a thing=Zweeren dat iets zo niet is

Topics: regret, offence, conscience, good and bad