CJTranslations

QUOTES BY TOPIC

All pity choked with custom of fell deeds

PLAY: Julius Caesar ACT/SCENE: 3.1 SPEAKER: Antony CONTEXT: ANTONY
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever livèd in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy—
Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue—
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men.
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy.
Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
And dreadful objects so familiar,
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quartered with the hands of war,
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds,
And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war,
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial. DUTCH: Dat moeders, met een glimlach zelfs, haar spruiten
Door ‘s oorlogs hand gevierendeeld aanschouwen;
En deernis stikt door ‘t altijd zien van gruw’len. MORE: CITED IN US LAW:
Block 175 Corporation v. Fairmont Hotel Management Company, 648 F.Supp. 450, 451 (D.Colo. 1986); Carlisle v. State, 295 Ala. 396, 326 So.2d 776, 777 (1976)(”The whole subject of bail needs a thorough examination by the legislature, the courts, and the people of this state. When I say ‘people,’ I mean the whole body politic. The people should not stand idly by, ‘cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of
war.’ );
Fiscal Court of Jefferson County v. City of Windy Hills, Kentucky, 559 S.W.2d
478, 481 (Ky. 1977).

Cry havoc. Old French ‘crier havot’, originally a signal to plunder, assumes in English. In Shakespeare it is a general call to battle and slaughter (Julius Caesar) and may have the same meaning in Hamlet.

Piece of earth=Corpse
Times=History
Costly=Precious, expensive
Light=Fall, alight
Cumber=Oppress
Custom of=Familiarity with
Fell=Fierce
Ranging=Pacing, searching
Atë=The ancient Greek goddess of discord, destruction and folly
Confines=Regions
Havoc=Military order to slaughter and privilege
Compleat:
Costly=Kostelyk, staatelyk
To cumber=Beslommeren, bekommeren
Custom=Gewoonte, gebruik
Fell=Fel, wreed
To range up and down=Heen en weer loopen
Confines=Grenzen
Havock=Roof, plundering, deurbrenging

Burgersdijk notes:
Verzeld van Ate. Ate is de Furie van de Tweedracht, ook vermeld in “Veel Leven om niets” en in “Koning Jan”; hier wordt zij voorgesteld als ter jacht, en op het punt van de honden van den krijg, tot nog toe aan de lijn gehouden, los te laten. Wat Sh. onder deze honden verstaat, blijkt uit Koning Hendrik V: “Voor zjjn voeten kropen, Als honden aangekoppeld, vuur en zwaard En honger rond om
werk.” Topics: cited in law, reputation, legacy, death, betrayal

All strange and terrible events are welcome, but comforts we despise

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 4.15
SPEAKER: Cleopatra
CONTEXT:
CLEOPATRA
O Charmian, I will never go from hence.
CHARMIAN
Be comforted, dear madam.
CLEOPATRA
No, I will not.
All strange and terrible events are welcome,
But comforts we despise. Our size of sorrow,
Proportioned to our cause, must be as great
As that which makes it.
How now? Is he dead?
DIOMEDES
His death’s upon him, but not dead.
Look out o’ th’ other side your monument.
His guard have brought him thither.

DUTCH:
Neen, ‘k wil niet.
Wat schrikk’lijk is en ongehoord, is welkom,
Doch troost versmaad ik; onze kommer moet
Zoo groot en vrees’lijk zijn als de oorzaak is,
Die ons hem wekt.

MORE:
Hence=This place
Comforts=Consolation
Despise=Treat with contempt
Upon him=Imminent
Compleat:
Hence=Van hier, hier uit
Comfort=Vertroosting, troost, verquikking, vermaak, verneugte
To despise=Verachten, versmaaden

Topics: death, sorrow

Argal, he that is not guilty of his own death
shortens not his own life.

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Gravedigger
CONTEXT:
GRAVEDIGGER
How can that be, unless she drowned herself in her own defense?
OTHER
Why, ’tis found so.
GRAVEDIGGER
Give me leave. Here lies the water. Good. Here stands the man. Good. If the man go to this water and drown himself, it is, will he nill he, he goes. Mark you that. But if the water come to him and drown him, he drowns not himself. Argal, he that is not guilty of his own death shortens not his own life.
OTHER
But is this law?
GRAVEDIGGER
Ay, marry, is ’t. Crowner’s quest law.

DUTCH:
Des daarom, wie niet schuldig is aan zijn eigen good, verkort zijn eigen leven niet. /
Ergel, hij die niet schuldig is aan eigen dood, verkort ook
zijn leven niet.

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)
CITED IN HONG KONG LAW:
China Light & Power Co. Ltd. and Another v Warner B.G. Banks, Esq Her Majesty’s Coroner of Hong Kong (CACV 55/1994)
“The purposes of ‘Crowner’s quest law’, as the clown calls it in Shakespeare‘s ‘Hamlet’, Act 5, Scene I, are consistently misunderstood by the public and the media”

Topics: law/legal, cited in law, death, guilt

Be thus when thou art dead and I will kill thee and love thee after

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul.
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars,
It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light.
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore
Should I repent me. But once put out thy light,
Thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat
That can thy light relume. When I have plucked thy rose
I cannot give it vital growth again,
It must needs wither. I’ll smell thee on the tree.
Oh, balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword! One more, one more.
Be thus when thou art dead and I will kill thee
And love thee after.
One more, and that’s the last.
So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears. This sorrow’s heavenly,
It strikes where it doth love. She wakes.

DUTCH:
Wees, als gij dood zijt, zoo, en ‘k zal u dooden
En voortbeminnen

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
Barkauskas v. Lane, 78 F.2d 1031, 1032 (7th Cir. 1989)(Posner, J.); See also Hornstein v. Hornstein, 195 Md. 627, 75 A.2d 103 (Md. Ct. App. 1950)(husband reading from Othello and threatening to treat her as Othello treated Desdemona).

Cause=Ground for the action
Monumental=Used for monuments
Balmy=Fragrant
Sword=Emblem of power and authority
Minister=Aid
Cunning’st pattern=Masterpiece
Repent me=Change my mind
Put out the light, and then put out the light=Extinguish the candle (kill Desdemona)
Relume=Rekindle
Flaming=Carrying a light (Cf. Psalms 104.4; ‘Which maketh he spirits his messengers, and a flaming fire his ministers’.)
Cunning=Dexterously wrought or devised
Promethean heat=Fire that the demigod Prometheus stole from Olympus taught men to use; allusively, fire infuses life
Compleat:
Cause=Oorzaak, reden, zaak
To minister=Bedienen
Cunning=Behendig, Schrander, Naarstig
A cunning fellow=Een doortrapte vent, een looze gast
To cast a cunning look=Iemand snaaks aanzien
Repent=Berouw hebben, leedweezen betoonen, boete doen

Topics: life, strength, regret, death, cited in law

Blood will have blood.

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Macbeth
CONTEXT:
It will have blood, they say. Blood will have blood.
Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak.
Augurs and understood relations have
By magot pies and choughs and rooks brought forth
The secret’st man of blood.—What is the night?

DUTCH:
t Wil bloed, is ‘t zeggen; bloed wil bloed.

MORE:
Blood will have blood is an allusion to the proverb of retribution, “Blood will have blood” (c. 1395)

Topics: death, revenge, proverbs and idioms

Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once.

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Caesar
CONTEXT:
CAESAR
What can be avoided
Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?
Yet Caesar shall go forth, for these predictions
Are to the world in general as to Caesar.
CALPHURNIA
When beggars die there are no comets seen.
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
CAESAR
Cowards die many times before their deaths.
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.

DUTCH:
De lafaard sterft veel malen eer hij sterft;
Nooit smaakt de dapp’re meer dan eens den dood .

MORE:
CITED IN IRISH LAW: Rule against Perpetuities and Cognate Rules, Report on the (LRC 62-2000) [2000] IELRC 62 (1st December, 2000)/[2000] IELRC 62, [2000] IELRC 3. Footnote 34.

Proverb: A coward dies many deaths, a brave man but one

Purposed=Intended
Blaze forth=Proclaim
Never but=Only
Compleat:
To purpose=Voorneemen, voorhebben
To blaze=Opflakkeren
To blaze abroad=Ruchtbaar maaken, uyttrom

Topics: courage, proverbs and idioms, death, order/society, cited in law, poverty and wealth, equality

Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever livèd in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy—
Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue—
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men.
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy.
Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
And dreadful objects so familiar,
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quartered with the hands of war,
All pity choked with custom of fell deeds,
And Caesar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry “Havoc!” and let slip the dogs of war,
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.

DUTCH:
En Caesar’s geest, naar wrake snuivend, zal,
Verzeld van Ate, heet der hel ontstegen,
Met heerschersstem hier: ,,Slachting! slachting!” roepen,
En ‘s krijgs bloedhonden hitsen door heel ‘t land,
Dat doze schanddaad stinke tot den hemel,
Door ‘t menschenaas, dat om begraving kreunt.

MORE:
CITED IN US LAW:
Block 175 Corporation v. Fairmont Hotel Management Company, 648 F.Supp. 450, 451 (D.Colo. 1986); Carlisle v. State, 295 Ala. 396, 326 So.2d 776, 777 (1976)(”The whole subject of bail needs a thorough examination by the legislature, the courts, and the people of this state. When I say ‘people,’ I mean the whole body politic. The people should not stand idly by, ‘cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of
war.’ );
Fiscal Court of Jefferson County v. City of Windy Hills, Kentucky, 559 S.W.2d
478, 481 (Ky. 1977).

Cry havoc. Old French ‘crier havot’, originally a signal to plunder, assumes in English. In Shakespeare it is a general call to battle and slaughter (Julius Caesar) and may have the same meaning in Hamlet.

Piece of earth=Corpse
Times=History
Costly=Precious, expensive
Light=Fall, alight
Cumber=Oppress
Custom of=Familiarity with
Fell=Fierce
Ranging=Pacing, searching
Atë=The ancient Greek goddess of discord, destruction and folly
Confines=Regions
Havoc=Military order to slaughter and privilege
Compleat:
Costly=Kostelyk, staatelyk
To cumber=Beslommeren, bekommeren
Custom=Gewoonte, gebruik
Fell=Fel, wreed
To range up and down=Heen en weer loopen
Confines=Grenzen
Havock=Roof, plundering, deurbrenging

Burgersdijk notes:
Verzeld van Ate. Ate is de Furie van de Tweedracht, ook vermeld in “Veel Leven om niets” en in “Koning Jan”; hier wordt zij voorgesteld als ter jacht, en op het punt van de honden van den krijg, tot nog toe aan de lijn gehouden, los te laten. Wat Sh. onder deze honden verstaat, blijkt uit Koning Hendrik V: “Voor zjjn voeten kropen, Als honden aangekoppeld, vuur en zwaard En honger rond om
werk.”

Topics: cited in law, reputation, legacy, death, betrayal

Cry woe, destruction, ruin and decay:

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: King Richard II
CONTEXT:
KING RICHARD II
Mine ear is open and my heart prepared;
The worst is worldly loss thou canst unfold.
Say, is my kingdom lost? why, ’twas my care
And what loss is it to be rid of care?
Strives Bolingbroke to be as great as we?
Greater he shall not be; if he serve God,
We’ll serve Him too and be his fellow so:
Revolt our subjects? that we cannot mend;
They break their faith to God as well as us:
Cry woe, destruction, ruin and decay:
The worst is death, and death will have his day.
SIR STEPHEN SCROOP
Glad am I that your highness is so arm’d
To bear the tidings of calamity.
Like an unseasonable stormy day,
Which makes the silver rivers drown their shores,
As if the world were all dissolved to tears,
So high above his limits swells the rage
Of Bolingbroke, covering your fearful land
With hard bright steel and hearts harder than steel.
White-beards have arm’d their thin and hairless scalps
Against thy majesty; boys, with women’s voices,
Strive to speak big and clap their female joints
In stiff unwieldy arms against thy crown:
The very beadsmen learn to bend their bows
Of double-fatal yew against thy state;
Yea, distaff-women manage rusty bills
Against thy seat: both young and old rebel,
And all goes worse than I have power to tell.

DUTCH:
Roep wee, verlies, vernieling, val en nood;
De dood is ‘t ergst, en komen moet de dood.

MORE:

Proverb: All men must die (The worst is death, and death will have his day.)

Care=Worry, responsibillity
His fellow=Equal
Mend=Remedy
Bear the tidings of calamity=Cope with calamitous news
Women’s voices=High, shrill voices
Double-fatal=Dangerous or deadly in two ways (on account of the poisonous quality of the leaves, and of the wood being used for instruments of death)
Billls=Weapons
Distaff=The staff from which the flax is drawn in spinning

Compleat:
Care=Zorg, bezorgdheid, zorgdraagendheid, zorgvuldigheid, vlytigheid
He has not his fellow=Hy heeft zyns gelyk niet, hy heeft zyn weerga niet
Bill=Hellebaard, byl
Distaff=Een spinrok, spinrokken

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, death, life

For now the devil that told me I did well
Says that this deed is chronicled in hell.

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Exton
CONTEXT:
KING RICHARD II
How now! what means death in this rude assault?
Villain, thy own hand yields thy death’s instrument.
Go thou, and fill another room in hell.
That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire
That staggers thus my person. Exton, thy fierce hand
Hath with the king’s blood stain’d the king’s own land.
Mount, mount, my soul! thy seat is up on high;
Whilst my gross flesh sinks downward, here to die.
EXTON
As full of valour as of royal blood:
Both have I spill’d; O would the deed were good!
For now the devil, that told me I did well,
Says that this deed is chronicled in hell.
This dead king to the living king I’ll bear
Take hence the rest, and give them burial here.

DUTCH:
Aan moed zoo rijk, als koninklijk van bloed!
‘k Vergoot die beide; — waar’ mijn daad slechts goed!
Nu zegt de duivel, die mij heeft gedreven,
Dat in de hel die daad is aangeschreven.

MORE:

Rude=Brutal
Stagger=To cause to reel, to fell
Chronicle=To record, to register

Compleat:
Rude=Ruuw
To stagger (move or shake)=Schudden, beweegen, doen waggelen
To chronicle=In eenen kronyk aanschryven

Topics: loyalty, conspiracy, death

God, the widow’s champion and defence

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: John of Gaunt
CONTEXT:
JOHN OF GAUNT
God’s is the quarrel; for God’s substitute,
His deputy anointed in His sight,
Hath caused his death: the which if wrongfully,
Let heaven revenge; for I may never lift
An angry arm against His minister.
DUCHESS
Where then, alas, may I complain myself?
JOHN OF GAUNT
To God, the widow’s champion and defence.

DUTCH:
Aan God de wrake, want zijn plaatsvervanger,
Zijn stedehouder, voor zijn oog gezalfd,
Is de oorzaak van zijn dood; is deze een gruwel,
Dan wreke ‘t God, want ik mag nimmer toornig
Den arm verheffen tegen zijn gezant.

MORE:

Minister=Representative, proxy (the King)
God’s quarrel=It is in God’s hands
Complain myself=Complain

Topics: dispute, offence, death, punishment

He that dies pays all debts

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Stephano
CONTEXT:
TRINCULO
This is the tune of our catch, played by the
picture of Nobody.
STEPHANO
If thou beest a man, show thyself in thy likeness. If thou beest a devil, take ’t as thou list.
TRINCULO
O, forgive me my sins!
STEPHANO
He that dies pays all debts.—I defy thee!—Mercy upon us!

DUTCH:
Hij die sterft, betaalt al zijn schulden/
Die sterft, betaalt al zijn schulden; — ik tart u!
Wees ons genadig, o hemel!

MORE:
Proverb: Death pays all debts
As thou list=As you will
Compleat:
To list (also be willing)=Genegen zyn, lust hebben
Let them do what they list=Laat hun doen wat zy willen
Burgersdijk notes:
Het afbeeldsel van Niemand. Een soort van kabouterfiguur, die als de heer Niemand meermalen op uithangborden en de titels van gedrukte volksliedjes voorkwam.

Topics: death, debt/obligation

He that sleeps feels not the tooth-ache

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Firt Jailer
CONTEXT:
FIRST JAILER
Indeed, sir, he that sleeps feels not the
tooth-ache: but a man that were to sleep your
sleep, and a hangman to help him to bed, I think he
would change places with his officer; for, look you,
sir, you know not which way you shall go.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Yes, indeed do I, fellow.
FIRST JAILER
Your death has eyes in ‘s head then; I have not seen
him so pictured: you must either be directed by
some that take upon them to know, or do take upon
yourself that which I am sure you do not know, or
jump the after inquiry on your own peril: and how
you shall speed in your journey’s end, I think you’ll
never return to tell one.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
I tell thee, fellow, there are none want eyes to
direct them the way I am going, but such as wink and
will not use them.
FIRST JAILER
What an infinite mock is this, that a man should
have the best use of eyes to see the way of
blindness! I am sure hanging’s the way of winking.

DUTCH:
Inderdaad, vriend, wie slaapt voelt zijn kiespijn niet;
maar een man, die uwen slaap moet slapen, met den
beul om hem in bed te helpen, die zou, denk ik, wel
willen ruilen met zijn bedienaar; want ziet ge, vriend,
gij weet toch niet, waar ge heen gaat.

MORE:
Jump=Hazard, risk
Speed=Succeed
Wink=Close eyes
Compleat:
To speed=Voortspoeden, voorspoedig zyn, wel gelukken
Wink=Knikken, winken, blikken

Topics: death, punishment, risk

He was famous, sir, in his profession, and it was his great right to be so

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Countess
CONTEXT:
LAFEW
How called you the man you speak of, madam ?
COUNT
He was famous, sir, in his profession, and it was his great right to be so: Gerard de Narbon.
LAFEW
He was excellent indeed, madam: the king very
Lately spoke of him admiringly, and mourningly.
He was skilful enough to have lived still,
if knowledge could be set up against mortality.
BERTRAM
What is it, my good lord, the king languishes of?
LAFEW
A fistula, my lord.
BERTRAM
I heard not of it before.
LAFEW
I would it were not notorious. Was this gentlewoman
the daughter of Gerard de Narbon?

DUTCH:
Hij was zeer beroemd, heer, in zijn vak, en met het volste recht: Gerard van Narbonne .

MORE:
His great right=His fame was justified
Mortality=Subjection to death, necessity of dying
I would it were not=I don’t want it to be
Notorious=Well known, public knowledge
Compleat:
Mortality=Sterflykheid
Notorious=Kenlyk, kenbaar

Topics: death, life, skill/talent, legacy, merit

His own opinion was his law

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Queen Katherine
CONTEXT:
QUEEN KATHERINE
So may he rest; his faults lie gently on him!
Yet thus far, Griffith, give me leave to speak him,
And yet with charity. He was a man
Of an unbounded stomach, ever ranking
Himself with princes; one that, by suggestion,
Tied all the kingdom: simony was fair-play;
His own opinion was his law: i’ the presence
He would say untruths; and be ever double
Both in his words and meaning: he was never,
But where he meant to ruin, pitiful:
His promises were, as he then was, mighty;
But his performance, as he is now, nothing:
Of his own body he was ill, and gave
The clergy in example

DUTCH:
Simonie was eerlijk doen; zijn eigen wil zijn wet;
Voor ‘s konings aanschijn sprak hij logens; dubbel
Was hij van tong en hart.

MORE:
Speak=Speak of
Stomach=Pride, greed
Tied=Ruled, subjected
Simony=Trading of ecclesiastical privileges (after Simon the Sorcerer)
Presence=In the presence of the king
Be ever double=Equivocal
Pitiful=Having pity
Compleat:
Stomach=Gramsteurigheyd
Tied=Gebonden
Simony=Geestelyke amptkooping, koophandel van geestelyke dingen (naar Simon den Toveraar)
Presence=Tegenwoordigheyd, byzyn, byweezen
The Presence Chamber=De Koninklyke voorkamer, de gehoor-zaal
Pitifull=Vol medelyden

Topics: death, legacy, reputation, law/legal, promise

His promises were, as he then was, mighty; But his performance, as he is now, nothing:

DUTCH:
Grootsch, als hijzelf eens, was wat hij beloofde,
Doch wat hij hield, was, als hijzelf nu, niets.
Hij zondigde in den vleesche, en ging alzoo
De geest’lijkheid slecht voor.

Topics: death, legacy, reputation, law/legal, promise

Horatio, I am dead,
Thou liv’st; report me and my cause aright to the unsatisfied

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
Horatio, I am dead.
Thou livest; report me and my cause aright
To the unsatisfied.

DUTCH:
Horatio, ik ga dood; jij leeft, verklaar jij mij en wat mij dreef aan de onbevredigden. /
‘k Ga dood, Horatio, Jij leeft; verklaar mij en mijn zuivre zaak Aan de onbevredigden.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Unsatisfied=Not fully informed and settled in opinion
Report me and my cause correctly to the uninformed (“unsatisfied”)

Topics: death, truth, legacy, reputation

I confess me knit to thy deserving with cables of perdurable toughness

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
RODERIGO
It cannot be.
IAGO
It is merely a lust of the blood and a permission of
the will. Come, be a man. Drown thyself? Drown cats and
blind puppies! I have professed me thy friend, and I
confess me knit to thy deserving with cables of
perdurable toughness. I could never better stead thee
than now. Put money in thy purse. Follow thou the wars,
defeat thy favour with an usurped beard. I say, put
money in thy purse. It cannot be long that Desdemona
should continue her love to the Moor—put money in thy
purse—nor he his to her. It was a violent commencement
in her, and thou shalt see an answerable
sequestration—put but money in thy purse. These Moors
are changeable in their wills—fill thy purse with
money. The food that to him now is as luscious as
locusts shall be to him shortly as bitter as
coloquintida. She must change for youth. When she is
sated with his body she will find the errors of her
choice. Therefore, put money in thy purse. If thou wilt
needs damn thyself, do it a more delicate way than
drowning. Make all the money thou canst. If sanctimony
and a frail vow betwixt an erring barbarian and
supersubtle Venetian be not too hard for my wits and all
the tribe of hell, thou shalt enjoy her. Therefore
make money. A pox of drowning thyself! ‘Tis clean out
of the way. Seek thou rather to be hanged in compassing
thy joy than to be drowned and go without her.

DUTCH:
Ik heb mij uw vriend verklaard en ik erken, dat ik door kabels van de duurzaamste taaiheid aan uw verdiensten verknocht ben; nooit kon ik u nuttiger zijn dan nu.

MORE:
Perdurable=Lasting
Stead=Serve
Defeat thy favour=Change your appearance
Usurped=False, appropriated
Answerable=Corresponding
Sequestration=Termination, separation
Coloquintida=Bitter-apple, a purgative
Supersubtle=Refined, sensitive
Compleat:
Perdurable=Overduurzaam
To stand in good stead=Dienstelyk zyn, goeden dienst doen
To usurp=’t Onrecht aanmaatigen, met geweld in ‘t bezit dringen, overweldigen
Usurpation=Een onrechtmaatige bezitneeming, of indrang, dwinggebruik, overweldiging
Answerable=Verantwoordelyk, overeenkomelyk
Sequestration=Verbeurdmaaking, affscheyding der partyen van ‘t bezit waarover zy in verschil zyn, in bewaarder-hand stelling; alsook de inzameling der inkomsten van een openstaande prove voor den naastkomenden bezitter
Subtil, subtile or subtle=Listig, loos; sneedig, spitsvindig

Topics: loyalty, friendship, debt/obligation, death, money

I do affect a sorrow indeed, but I have it too

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Lafew
CONTEXT:
COUNTESS
‘Tis the best brine a maiden can season her praise
in. The remembrance of her father never approaches
her heart but the tyranny of her sorrows takes all
livelihood from her cheek. No more of this, HELEN;
go to, no more; lest it be rather thought you affect
a sorrow than have it.
HELEN
I do affect a sorrow indeed, but I have it too.
LAFEW
Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead,
excessive grief the enemy to the living.
COUNTESS
If the living be enemy to the grief, the excess
makes it soon mortal.

DUTCH:
t Is waar, ik toon kommer, maar ik heb dien ook.

MORE:
Affect=An outward show
Mortal=Deadly
Season=Preserve
Livelihood=Liveliness, spirit
Right=Owed to
Compleat:
Affect=Naäapen
Affectation=Gemaaktheid
Mortal=Sterflyk, doodelyk
Birth-right=Geboorte-recht
Lamentation=Weeklaage, jammerklagt, gekerm, geklag

Burgersdijk notes:
Kruiden kan. In ‘t Engelsch season, kruiden, waarbij het denkbeeld van conserveeren, bewaren, in frisschen staat houden, steeds komt; vergelijk Romeo en Julia, II.3, en Driekoningenavond, 1.1.
Als de levende een vijand is van droefenis. “If the living be enemy to the grief, the excess makes it soon mortal”. De gravin herhaalt en dringt aan, wat LAFEW gezegd heeft, dat HELEN zich niet te zeer aan hare droefheid moet overgeven, met de smart niet to zeer in vijandschap moet leven, want dat overmaat van smart doodelijk is . Mortal is namelijk hetzelfde als deadly, fatal .(…)

Topics: death, grief, appearance, excess

I have more care to stay than will to go.

PLAY: Romeo and Juliet
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Romeo
CONTEXT:
Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat
The vaulty heaven so high above our heads.
I have more care to stay than will to go.
Come, death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so.—
How is ’t, my soul? Let’s talk. It is not day.

DUTCH:
O zalig blijven! bitter is ‘t vaarwel;

MORE:

Topics: death, plans/intentions, free will

Moderate lamentation is the right of the dead, excessive grief the enemy to the living.

DUTCH:
Matige bejammering is het recht van den doode, overmatige droefenis de vijand van den levende.

Topics: death, grief, appearance, excess

Must I repent? I cannot do it better than in gyves, desired more than constrained

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Posthumus
CONTEXT:
JAILER
You shall not now be stol’n; you have locks upon you.
So graze as you find pasture
SECOND JAILER
Ay, or a stomach
POSTHUMUS
Most welcome, bondage! for thou art a way,
think, to liberty: yet am I better
Than one that’s sick o’ the gout; since he had rather
Groan so in perpetuity than be cured
By the sure physician, death, who is the key
To unbar these locks. My conscience, thou art fetter’d
More than my shanks and wrists: you good gods, give me
The penitent instrument to pick that bolt,
Then, free for ever! Is’t enough I am sorry?
So children temporal fathers do appease;
Gods are more full of mercy. Must I repent?
I cannot do it better than in gyves,
Desired more than constrain’d: to satisfy,
If of my freedom ’tis the main part, take
No stricter render of me than my all.
I know you are more clement than vile men,
Who of their broken debtors take a third,
A sixth, a tenth, letting them thrive again
On their abatement: that’s not my desire:
For Imogen’s dear life take mine; and though
‘Tis not so dear, yet ’tis a life; you coin’d it:
‘Tween man and man they weigh not every stamp;
Though light, take pieces for the figure’s sake:
You rather mine, being yours: and so, great powers,
If you will take this audit, take this life,
And cancel these cold bonds. O Imogen!
I’ll speak to thee in silence.

DUTCH:
Verlangt gij
Berouw? toon ik dit meer ooit dan in keet’nen,
Gewenscht, niet opgedrongen

MORE:
You shall not now be stolen=Alluding to the custom of puting a lock on a horse’s leg when it is put out to pasture (Johnson)
Penitent instrument=A means of freeing conscience of its guilt (Rolfe)
Groan=To utter a mournful voice in pain or sorrow
Temporal=Pertaining to this life or this world, not spiritual, not eternal
Gyves=fetters
Render=A surrender, a giving up
Stricter=More rigorous
Stamp=Coin with the sovereign’s head impressed
Though light, take pieces…=It was common practice for forgers lighten the weight of coins in order to conserve material.
Take this audit=Accept this settlement of accounts
Clement=Disposed to kindness, mild
Compleat:
Gyves=Boeijen, kluisters
Constrained=Bedwongen, gedrongen, gepraamd
Strict=Gestreng
Clement=Goedertieren, zachtzinnig
Audit=Het nazien der Rekeningen
Penitent=Boetvaardig, berouw toonend
Temporal (secular, not spiritual)=Waereldlyk

Burgersdijk notes:
“Nu steelt u niemand, met dat blok aan ‘t been; Graas nu zoover gij weide hebt”. Zooals men wel een paard in de weide met een ketting en slot bevestigt opdat het niet gestolen worde of wegloope.

Topics: regret, guilt, remedy, death, conscience

Now cracks a noble heart.—Good-night, sweet prince

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Horatio
CONTEXT:
Now cracks a noble heart.—Good night, sweet prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!—
Why does the drum come hither?

DUTCH:
Nu breekt een edel hart./
Goê-nacht, mijn prins /
Slaap zacht, mijn prins; mogen de engelen u ter ruste zingen! / Goenacht, mijn prins !
En eng’lenscharen zingen U in uw rust!

MORE:

Topics: death, virtue

Put out the light, and then put out the light

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
OTHELLO
It is the cause, it is the cause, my soul.
Let me not name it to you, you chaste stars,
It is the cause. Yet I’ll not shed her blood,
Nor scar that whiter skin of hers than snow
And smooth as monumental alabaster.
Yet she must die, else she’ll betray more men.
Put out the light, and then put out the light.
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can again thy former light restore
Should I repent me. But once put out thy light,
Thou cunning’st pattern of excelling nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heat
That can thy light relume. When I have plucked thy rose
I cannot give it vital growth again,
It must needs wither. I’ll smell thee on the tree.
Oh, balmy breath, that dost almost persuade
Justice to break her sword! One more, one more.
Be thus when thou art dead and I will kill thee
And love thee after. (kissing her) One more, and that’s
the last.
So sweet was ne’er so fatal. I must weep,
But they are cruel tears. This sorrow’s heavenly,
It strikes where it doth love. She wakes.

DUTCH:
Doe uit het licht, en dan — doe uit het licht;
O dienstb’re vlam, indien ik uw licht doof,
Dan kan ik u uw vroeger licht hergeven,
Zoo ‘t mij berouwt; maar doof ik eens het uwe,
Gij kunstrijkst werk der scheppende natuur,
Waar vind ik de Prometheus-vonk, die u
Uw licht hergeeft?

MORE:
Cause=Ground for the action
Monumental=Used for monuments
Balmy=Fragrant
Sword=Emblem of power and authority
Minister=Aid
Cunning’st pattern=Masterpiece
Repent me=Change my mind
Put out the light, and then put out the light=Extinguish the candle (kill Desdemona)
Relume=Rekindle
Flaming=Carrying a light (Cf. Psalms 104.4; ‘Which maketh he spirits his messengers, and a flaming fire his ministers’.)
Cunning=Dexterously wrought or devised
Promethean heat=Fire that the demigod Prometheus stole from Olympus taught men to use; allusively, fire infuses life
Compleat:
Cause=Oorzaak, reden, zaak
To minister=Bedienen
Cunning=Behendig, Schrander, Naarstig
A cunning fellow=Een doortrapte vent, een looze gast
To cast a cunning look=Iemand snaaks aanzien
Repent=Berouw hebben, leedweezen betoonen, boete doen

Topics: life, strength, regret, death

Th’ affrighted globe should yawn at alteration

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Othello
CONTEXT:
EMILIA
O good my lord, I would speak a word with you!
OTHELLO
Yes, ’tis Emilia.— By and by.— She’s dead.—
‘Tis like she comes to speak of Cassio’s death,
The noise was high. Ha! No more moving?
Still as the grave. Shall she come in? Were ’t good?
I think she stirs again—No. What’s best to do?
If she come in, she’ll sure speak to my wife—
My wife! my wife! what wife? I have no wife.
Oh, insupportable! Oh, heavy hour!
Methinks it should be now a huge eclipse
Of sun and moon, and that th’ affrighted globe
Should yawn at alteration.

DUTCH:
Mij dunkt, verduist’ring moest er zijn, ontzettend,
Van zon en maan, en de aardbol moest, verschrikt,
Opscheuren, gapen bij dien omkeer.

MORE:
Insupportable=Unbearable
Yawn=Split open, gape
Alteration=Change following the death of Desdemona
Compleat:
Insupportable=Onverdraagbaar, ondraagelyk, onlydelyk
Yawn=Gaapen, gegaap
Alteration=Verandering

Topics: death, regret

That comfort comes too late, ‘Tis like a pardon after execution

PLAY: King Henry VIII
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Queen Katherine
CONTEXT:
CAPUCIUS
Noble lady,
First mine own service to your grace; the next,
The king’s request that I would visit you;
Who grieves much for your weakness, and by me
Sends you his princely commendations,
And heartily entreats you take good comfort.
KATHERINE
O my good lord, that comfort comes too late;
‘Tis like a pardon after execution:
That gentle physic, given in time, had cured me;
But now I am past an comforts here, but prayers.
How does his highness?

DUTCH:
O beste heer, die troost komt mij te laat;
Ze is als genade na voltrokken vonnis.

MORE:
Commendations=Good wishes, greetings
Physic=Medicine
Comfort=Cures
Compleat:
Commendation=Pryzing, aanpryzing, aanbeveling
Physick=Artseny, medicyn, geneesmiddel
To physick=Geneesmiddelen gebruiken, medicineeren
To comfort=Vertroosten, verquikken

Topics: wellbeing, remedy, time, death

That were hard to compass, because she will admit no kind of suit

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Captain
CONTEXT:
CAPTAIN
And so is now, or was so very late.
For but a month ago I went from hence,
And then ’twas fresh in murmur —as, you know,
What great ones do the less will prattle of—
That he did seek the love of fair Olivia.
VIOLA
What’s she?
CAPTAIN
A virtuous maid, the daughter of a count
That died some twelvemonth since, then leaving her
In the protection of his son, her brother,
Who shortly also died, for whose dear love,
They say, she hath abjured the company
And sight of men.
VIOLA
Oh, that I served that lady
And might not be delivered to the world,
Till I had made mine own occasion mellow,
What my estate is.
CAPTAIN
That were hard to compass,
Because she will admit no kind of suit,
No, not the duke’s.

DUTCH:
t Zal niet gaan;
Aan geen verzoeken geeft zij ooit gehoor,
Zelfs niet aan die des hertogs.

MORE:
Proverb: The face is the index of the heart (mind)

Prattle=Discuss
Fresh in murmur=New rumours
Delivered=Revealed
Shortly=Soon after
Abjure=Renounce
Occasion=Opportunity
Mellow=Ripe
Estate=Social status
Compass=Bring about
Suit=Petition
Compleat:
Prate and prattle=Keffen en snappen
To murmur=Morren, murmureeren
To murmur against=Tegen morren
Shortly=Kortelyk, in ‘t kort, binnen korten
To abjure=Afzweeren
Occasion=Gelegenheyd, voorval, oorzaak
Mellow=Murw, rijp
To mellow=Rypen, ryp of murw worden
Estate=Bezit, middelen
Suit=Een verzoek, rechtsgeding

Burgersdijk notes:
Ik wil dien vorst als jonkman dienen. In het oorspronkelijke staat, dat Viola ,””als eunuuk”” aan den hertog wenscht voorgesteld te worden. — Daarom zegt dan ook de kapitein, aan de eunuken en stommen van het serail en aan de daar gebruikelijke straf van verblinden denkende, in zijn antwoord: Wees gij zijn eunuuk, en ik zal uw stomme zijn; zoo mijn tong klapt, laat dan mijne oogen niet meer zien””. Geheel juist en volledig waren deze twee regels, die op de woorden “”als eunuuk”” slaan, niet terug te geven. Daarom zijn deze twee woorden weggelaten, wat te eerder veroorloofd scheen, daar Sh. later op deze uitdrukking niet meer gelet heeft en Viola aan het hof des hertogs geenszins de voorgenomen rol speelt, maar door allen als een jonkman behandeld wordt, zoodat men zich verwonderen kan, dat Shakespeare in dit met zooveel zorg bewerkte stuk de woorden niet gewijzigd heeft.”

Topics: proverbs and idioms, appearance, relationship, loyalty, death

The foolish chroniclers of that age found it was Hero of Sestos.
But these are all lies.

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER:
CONTEXT:
ROSALIND
Well, in her person I say I will not have you.
ORLANDO
Then, in mine own person I die.
ROSALIND
No, faith, die by attorney. The poor world is almost
six thousand years old, and in all this time there was
not any man died in his own person, videlicet, in a love
cause. Troilus had his brains dashed out with a Grecian
club, yet he did what he could to die before, and he is
one of the patterns of love. Leander, he would have
lived many a fair year though Hero had turned nun if it
had not been for a hot midsummer night, for, good youth,
he went but forth to wash him in the Hellespont and,
being taken with the cramp, was drowned; and the foolish
chroniclers of that age found it was Hero of Sestos.
But these are all lies. Men have died from time to time,
and worms have eaten them, but not for love.
ORLANDO
I would not have my right Rosalind of this mind, for I
protest her frown might kill me.

DUTCH:
(…) en toen hebben de
dwaze kroniekschrijvers van dien tijd de uitspraak gedaan,
dat Hero van Sestos het hem gedaan had. Maar
dit is alles leugenpraat; de menschen zijn van tijd tot
tijd gestorven en door wormen gegeten, maar niet van
liefde.

MORE:
Videlicet=That is to say
Troilus=In Greek mythology, Troilus and Leander both died tragically for love
Found it was=Ascribed it to
Chroniclers=Writers of chronicles
Right=Genuine, true
Compleat:
Ascribe=Toeschryven, toegeeigend
To chronicle=In eenen kronyk aanschryven
Chronicler=Een kronykschryver
Right=(true) Recht, geschikt, gevoeglyk; oprecht, voor de vuist

Topics: love, life, death, news

There’s none can truly say he gives, if he receives

PLAY: Timon of Athens
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Timon
CONTEXT:
VENTIDIUS
Most honoured Timon,
It hath pleased the gods to remember my father’s age,
And call him to long peace.
He is gone happy, and has left me rich:
Then, as in grateful virtue I am bound
To your free heart, I do return those talents,
Doubled with thanks and service, from whose help
I derived liberty.
TIMON
O, by no means,
Honest Ventidius; you mistake my love:
I gave it freely ever; and there’s none
Can truly say he gives, if he receives:
If our betters play at that game, we must not dare
To imitate them; faults that are rich are fair.

DUTCH:
Neen, gij miskent mijn hart; ik schonk dat alles
Geheel, voor immer; wie verklaart naar waarheid,
Dat hij iets geeft, als hij terug ontvangt?
Zij zulk een spel bij hoog’ren ook gewoon,
Wij doen ‘t niet na; wat grooten doen, heet schoon.

MORE:
Long peace=Everlasting sleep
Free=Generous
Talent=Unit of weight to measure precious metal value, currency
Betters=Wealthier people
Compleat:
Free=Vry, openhartig
Talent=Een talent; pond
Betters=Meerderen

Burgersdijk notes:
Bij hoog’ren. Meermalen wordt in dit stuk aan de Atheensche senatoren woeker te last gelegd

Topics: death, legacy, flaw/fault, debt/obligation, poverty and wealth

This fell sergeant, Death
Is strict in his arrest

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
Had I but time — as this fell sergeant, Death
Is strict in his arrest.

DUTCH:
Dit vel sergeant, dood, is streng in zijn arrestatie /
De barse wachter dood geeft mij geen uitste /
Die gramme schout, de dood, Maakt korte wetten.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Fell=strong; cruel, vicious, intense. As the meaning of ‘fel’ in Dutch.
I have seen this translated into Dutch as “viel sergeant”

Topics: death

This lord of weak remembrance

PLAY: The Tempest
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Antonio
CONTEXT:
Thus, sir:
Although this lord of weak remembrance—this,
Who shall be of as little memory
When he is earthed—hath here almost persuaded
(For he’s a spirit of persuasion only,
Professes to persuade) the king his son’s alive,
‘Tis as impossible that he’s undrowned
And he that sleeps here swims

DUTCH:
Verneem dan, heer:
Al heeft deze edelman met zwak geheugen, —
Dekt eens hem de aard, dan zal zijn heug’nis dra
Zijn weggevaagd, — den vorst schier overreed, —
Hij is een man van overreden, acht dit
Als zijn betrekking, — dat zijn zoon nog leeft,
‘t Is zoo onmoog’lijk dat hij niet verdronk,
Als dat die slaper zwemt.

MORE:
Lord of weak remembrance=Of failing memory
Of as little memory=Also forgotten
Spirit of persuasion=Power, principle of persuasion
Compleat:
Remembrance=Gedachtenis, geheugenis
Persuasion=Overreeding, overtuiging, overstemming, aanraading, wysmaaking
The aim of eloquence is persuasion=Het doelwit der welspreeekendheid is overreeding
Cicero was an eloquent and persuasive orator=Cicero was een welspreekend en overtuigend redenaar

Topics: insult, memory, death

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 5.5
SPEAKER: Macbeth
CONTEXT:
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing

DUTCH:
Het leven is slechts een wandelende schaduw, een arme speler, die zijn uur op het podium steekt en piekert, en dan niet meer gehoord wordt; het is een verhaal verteld door een idioot, vol geluid en woede, wat niets betekent.

MORE:
5.From Macbeth’s famous soliloquy
This can be broken up into phrases still in use today:
1. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow
2. Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
3. To the last syllable of recorded time
4. All our yesterdays have lighted fools the way to dusty death.
5. Out, out, brief candle!
6. Life’s but a walking shadow
7. A poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.
8. It is a tale Told by an idiot
9. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

Topics: death, invented or popularised, sorrow, still in use

Towards our assistance we do seize to us The plate, corn, revenues and moveables

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: King Richard II
CONTEXT:
The ripest fruit first falls, and so doth he;
His time is spent, our pilgrimage must be.
So much for that. Now for our Irish wars:
We must supplant those rough rug-headed kerns,
Which live like venom where no venom else
But only they have privilege to live.
And for these great affairs do ask some charge,
Towards our assistance we do seize to us
The plate, corn, revenues and moveables,
Whereof our uncle Gaunt did stand possess’d.

DUTCH:
Zoo trekken wij tot onze hulp aan ons
Al ‘t zilverwerk, geld, renten, alles, wat
Aan tilb’re have onze oom van Gent bezat.

MORE:

Proverb: Life is a pilgrimage
Proverb: Soon ripe soon rotten

Ask some charge=Will involve expense
Where no venom else=St. Patrick had driven all snakes out of Ireland
Kerns=Irish foot soldiers

Topics: death, money, law/legal, conflict, proverbs and idioms

When beggars die, there are no comets seen; the heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Calphurnia
CONTEXT:
CAESAR
What can be avoided
Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?
Yet Caesar shall go forth, for these predictions
Are to the world in general as to Caesar.
CALPHURNIA
When beggars die there are no comets seen.
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
CAESAR
Cowards die many times before their deaths.
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come when it will come.

DUTCH:
Kometen ziet men niet als beed’laars sterven,
Doch vorstendood vlamt van den hemel af .

MORE:
CITED IN IRISH LAW: Rule against Perpetuities and Cognate Rules, Report on the (LRC 62-2000) [2000] IELRC 62 (1st December, 2000)/[2000] IELRC 62, [2000] IELRC 3. Footnote 34.

Proverb: A coward dies many deaths, a brave man but one

Purposed=Intended
Blaze forth=Proclaim
Never but=Only
Compleat:
To purpose=Voorneemen, voorhebben
To blaze=Opflakkeren
To blaze abroad=Ruchtbaar maaken, uyttrom

Topics: courage, proverbs and idioms, death, order/society, cited in law, poverty and wealth, equality

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.

DUTCH:
Als we eindelijk schoven af ons aardsch gewurm /
Als we aan ‘t rumoer des levens zijn ontglipt want wat wij in die doodsslaap, bevrijd van aardse onrust, dromen kunnen moet ons doen aarzelen.

MORE:
Also from the To be or not to be soliliquy. Mortal coil (coyle old spelling meaning chaos, confusion).
To give pause still current (hesitate before taking action, consider)
Compleat:
Coil=Geraas, getier
To pause upon=Ergens op peinzen, over peinzen

Topics: death, misquoted, still in use, invented or popularised

Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: John of Gaunt
CONTEXT:
DUKE OF YORK
Vex not yourself, nor strive not with your breath;
For all in vain comes counsel to his ear.
JOHN OF GAUNT
O, but they say the tongues of dying men
Enforce attention like deep harmony:
Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain,
For they breathe truth that breathe their words in pain.
He that no more must say is listen’d more
Than they whom youth and ease have taught to glose;
More are men’s ends mark’d than their lives before:
The setting sun, and music at the close,
As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last,
Writ in remembrance more than things long past:
Though Richard my life’s counsel would not hear,
My death’s sad tale may yet undeaf his ear

DUTCH:
Vaak klemt het woord van hem, wiens stemme breekt,
Want waarheid ademt, wie zwaar-aad’mend spreekt.

MORE:

Proverb: Dying mean speak true (prophesy)

CITED IN US LAW: People v. Smith 214 Cal. App. 3d 904, 907 (Cal. Ct. App 1989)(Arabian, J).

Must=Can
Listened more=Heard, listened to more closely
Gloze=To make tirades, to make mere words. Veil with specious comments (OED)
Close=Closing phrase (musical)
Remembrance=In memory
Undeaf=To free from deafness

Compleat:
Remembrance=Gedachtenis, geheugenis
To gloze=Vleijen, flikflooijen

Topics: language, value, death, proverbs and idioms, cited in law

Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer?
Where be his quiddities now, his quillities, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks?

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Hamlet
CONTEXT:
Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his quillities, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks? Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the sconce with a dirty shovel and will not tell him of his action of battery?

DUTCH:
Waarom zou er dat geen [schedel] zijn van een rechtsgeleerde? Waar zitten nu zijn uitpluizerijen, zijn spitsvondigheden, zijn bij-aldien’s, zijn rechtsgronden, zijn streken? /
Waarom kan dat niet de doodskop van een advokaat zijn? Waar zijn zijn fijne onderscheidingen nu, zijn spitsvondigheden, zijn gewijsden, zijn titels en zijn streken?

MORE:
Schmidt:
Quidditites=Equivocations, subtleties, cavils
Quillities (or quillets)=Sly tricks in argument, subtleties, cavilling, chicanery
Rude=Ill-mannered, coarse, uncivil

Topics: death, lawyers

Wishers were ever fools

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 4.15
SPEAKER: Cleopatra
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
I am dying, Egypt, dying. Only
I here importune death awhile, until
Of many thousand kisses the poor last
I lay upon thy lips.
CLEOPATRA
I dare not, dear,
Dear my lord, pardon, I dare not,
Lest I be taken. Not th’ imperious show
Of the full-fortuned Caesar ever shall
Be brooched with me. If knife, drugs, serpents, have
Edge, sting, or operation, I am safe.
Your wife Octavia, with her modest eyes
And still conclusion, shall acquire no honour
Demuring upon me. But come, come, Antony—
Help me, my women—We must draw thee up.
Assist, good friends.
ANTONY
Oh, quick, or I am gone.
CLEOPATRA
Here’s sport indeed! How heavy weighs my lord!
Our strength is all gone into heaviness,
That makes the weight. Had I great Juno’s power,
The strong-winged Mercury should fetch thee up
And set thee by Jove’s side. Yet come a little.
Wishers were ever fools. Oh, come, come, come!

DUTCH:
Wie wenscht, was immer dwaas!

MORE:
Importune=Urge, impel
Imperious=Imperial
Brooch=Pin a brooch/badge on
Still=Silent
Conclusion=Judgment
Demuring=Looking demurely
Heavy=(1) Large material weight or (2) sadness
Mercury=Winged messenger god
Compleat:
Importune=Lastig vallen, zeer dringen, gestadig aanhouden, overdringen, aandringen
Imperious=Heerschzuchtig
Still=Stil
Conclusion=Het besluit
Demure=Stemmig, staatig, bedaard, ernstig, deftig
Heavy=(sad) Droevig, verdrietig

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, death, hope/optimism