QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: King Henry V ACT/SCENE: 1.1 SPEAKER: Ely CONTEXT:
ELY
The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,
And wholesome berries thrive and ripen best
Neighbored by fruit of baser quality;
And so the Prince obscured his contemplation
Under the veil of wildness, which, no doubt,
Grew like the summer grass, fastest by night,
Unseen yet crescive in his faculty.
CANTERBURY
It must be so, for miracles are ceased,
And therefore we must needs admit the means
How things are perfected. DUTCH: De aardbezie ziet men onder netels groeien,
En onder vruchten van geringer aard
Heilzame beziën best tot rijpheid komen. MORE:
Note: It was commonly thought that plants imbibed the virtues and faults from neighbouring plants. Sweet flowers were planted close to fruit trees to improve the flavour, but the (probably wild) strawberry – symbol of perfect righteousness in religious emblems – was considered to be the exception and would thrive in the midst of ‘evil’ neighbours without being affected.

Crescive=Growing, increasing
Faculty=Inherent power
Means=Causes
Perfected=Brought about

Compleat:
Faculty (power or virtue)=Vermogen, deugd
To perfect=Volmaaken, voltoooijen; tot volmaaktheid brengen Topics: deceit, appearance, reason