QUOTES FROM THE BARD

PLAY: The Merchant of Venice
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Portia
CONTEXT:
LORENZO
Your husband is at hand. I hear his trumpet.
We are no tell-tales, madam. Fear you not.
PORTIA
This night methinks is but the daylight sick.
It looks a little paler. ‘Tis a day
Such as the day is when the sun is hid.

DUTCH:
Deez’ nacht is, dunkt me, slechts een kwijnend daglicht;
Zij ziet wat bleeker, maar het is nu dag,
Zooals de dag is bij beloken zon.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
People v. Cacioppo, 264 Cal. App. 2d 392, 398 (1968) (Court): “Perforce ‘[this] night methinks is but the daylight sick.’ The judgment of conviction is affirmed.”

Topics: emotion and mood, misquoted