QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 3
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Messenger
CONTEXT:
Environed he was with many foes,
And stood against them, as the hope of Troy
Against the Greeks that would have enter’d Troy.
But Hercules himself must yield to odds;
And many strokes, though with a little axe,
Hew down and fell the hardest-timber’d oak.
By many hands your father was subdued;
But only slaughter’d by the ireful arm
Of unrelenting Clifford and the queen,
Who crown’d the gracious duke in high despite,
Laugh’d in his face; and when with grief he wept,
The ruthless queen gave him to dry his cheeks
A napkin steeped in the harmless blood
Of sweet young Rutland, by rough Clifford slain:
And after many scorns, many foul taunts,
They took his head, and on the gates of York
They set the same; and there it doth remain,
The saddest spectacle that e’er I view’d.

DUTCH:
En, zij de bijl ook klein, een tal van slagen
Houwt om en velt den sterksten, hardsten eik.

MORE:

Proverb: Hercules himself cannot deal with two
Proverb: Many strokes fell great oaks

Environed=Surrounded
In high despite=Contemptuously
Yield to odds=Be outnumbered

Compleat:
Environed=Omringd, omcingeld
Despite=Spyt, versmaading

Topics: proverbs and idioms, invented or popularised, strength