CJTranslations - hope/optimism

QUOTES BY TOPIC

A terrible oath, with a swaggering accent sharply twanged off

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Sir Toby
CONTEXT:
SIR TOBY BELCH
[reads] “Fare thee well, and God have mercy upon one
of our souls. He may have mercy upon mine, but my hope
is better, and so look to thyself. Thy friend, as thou
usest him, and thy sworn enemy,
Andrew Aguecheek”
If this letter move him not, his legs cannot. I’ll give
’t him.
MARIA
You may have very fit occasion for ’t. He is now in
some commerce with my lady and will by and by depart.
SIR TOBY BELCH
Go, Sir Andrew. Scout me for him at the corner the
orchard like a bum-baily. So soon as ever thou seest
him, draw, and as thou drawest, swear horrible, for it
comes to pass oft that a terrible oath, with a
swaggering accent sharply twanged off, gives manhood
more approbation than ever proof itself would have
earned him. Away!

DUTCH:
Zoodra gij hem ontwaart, trek dan; en als gij trekt, vloek dan ontzettend; want het komt dikwijls voor, dat een verschrikkelijke vloek, op een snoevenden toon snijdend uitgekrijscht, aan de manhaftigheid meer bijval bezorgt, dan het beste proefstuk zou hebben ingeoogst.

MORE:
Hope=Hope of surviving
Usest=Treats
Commerce=Transaction, conversation
Scout=Look out for
Bum-bailie=Derogratory term for a bailiff who collected debts or arrested debtors, often from behind (also bum-baily, bum-bailiff)
Horrible=Horribly
Swaggering accent=Arrogant tone
Twanged=Uttered shrilly
Approbation=Credit
Proof=Trial
Compleat:
He was out of hope of life=Hy hoopte iniet langer te leeven
To use (treat)=Behandelen
Commerce=Gemeenschap, onderhandeling, ommegang
To scout up and down=Gins en weer gaan spieden
A bum-baiily=Een diender, luizevanger
Horribly=Op een schrikkelyke wyze, schroomelyk
To swagger=Snoeven, pochgen, snorken
Twang=Een schor geluid
Approbation=Goedkeuring
Proof=Beproeving

Topics: hope/optimism, fate/destiny, reputation, courage, appearance

And you all know, security Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.

PLAY: Macbeth
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Hecate
CONTEXT:
He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear
His hopes ‘bove wisdom, grace, and fear.
And you all know, security
Is mortals’ chiefest enemy.

DUTCH:
Zorgeloosheid is de voornaamste vijand van stervelingen./
En ‘t is de waan van veiligheid, Die wis verderf den mensch bereidt.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Security=carelessness, want of caution, confidence
Compleat:
Security=Zorgeloosheyd

Topics: hope/optimism, ambition, haste, , wisdom, security

But most it is presumption in us when the help of heaven we count the act of men

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Helen
CONTEXT:
KING
I must not hear thee; fare thee well, kind maid;
Thy pains not used must by thyself be paid:
Proffers not took reap thanks for their reward.
HELEN
Inspirèd merit so by breath is barr’d:
It is not so with Him that all things knows
As ’tis with us that square our guess by shows;
But most it is presumption in us when
The help of heaven we count the act of men.
Dear sir, to my endeavours give consent;
Of heaven, not me, make an experiment.
I am not an impostor that proclaim
Myself against the level of mine aim;
But know I think and think I know most sure
My art is not past power nor you past cure.
KING
Are thou so confident? within what space
Hopest thou my cure?

DUTCH:
Zoo stremt eens menschen adem ‘s hemels zegen!
O! ‘t is niet zoo bij Hem, die ‘t al doorschouwt,
Als bij den mensch, die op den schijn vertrouwt;
En wat de hulp des hemels heeft gedaan,
Ziet onze trots voor menschenwerk meest aan.

MORE:
Hear=Listen to
Pains=Efforts
Proffers=Offers
Took=Accepted
Inspirèd=Divine
Breath=Mortal words (as opposed to divinely inspired)
Square=Form
Guess=Surmise, conjecture
Shows=Outward appearance
Compleat:
To hear=Hooren, verhooren, toehooren
To take pains=Moeite doen, arbeid aanwenden
Proffer=Aanbieding
Inspired=Aangeblaazen [door den Geest]To square=Passen
Guess=Gissen, raamen, raaden
Show=Vertooning

Topics: hope/optimism, promise, work, money, authority, merit

But since the affairs of men rest still incertain, let’s reason with the worst that may befall

PLAY: Julius Caesar
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: Cassius
CONTEXT:
CASSIUS
Now, most noble Brutus,
The gods today stand friendly that we may,
Lovers in peace, lead on our days to age.
But since the affairs of men rest still incertain,
Let’s reason with the worst that may befall.
If we do lose this battle, then is this
The very last time we shall speak together.
What are you then determinèd to do?
BRUTUS
Even by the rule of that philosophy
By which I did blame Cato for the death
Which he did give himself — I know not how,
But I do find it cowardly and vile,
For fear of what might fall, so to prevent
The time of life — arming myself with patience
To stay the providence of some high powers
That govern us below.

DUTCH:
Doch wijl der menschen lot onzeker blijft,
Zij ‘t ergste, wat gebeuren kan, voorzien!
Verliezen wij den slag, dan is het thans
De laatste maal, dat we ooit elkander spreken.
Wat hebt gij voorgenomen, dan te doen?

MORE:
Proverb: It is good to fear the worst

Rests still=Remains
Reason with=Anticipate the possibility of
Determined=Resolved
Fall=Befall, happen
Prevent=Anticipate
Time=Natural liit
Stay=Await
Providence=Fate decreed
Compleat:
Determined=Bepaald, gesloten
Befall=Gebeuren, overkomen
To prevent=Voorkomen, eerstkomen; afkeeren; verhoeden
To stay=Wagten
Providence=(wariness or foresight) Voorzigtigheid, wysheid

Topics: proverbs and idioms, preparation, hope/optimism, fate/destiny

Cease to lament for that thou canst not help, and study help for that which thou lament’st

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 3.1
SPEAKER: Proteus
CONTEXT:
PROTEUS
Cease to lament for that thou canst not help,
And study help for that which thou lament’st.
Time is the nurse and breeder of all good.
Here if thou stay, thou canst not see thy love;
Besides, thy staying will abridge thy life.
Hope is a lover’s staff; walk hence with that
And manage it against despairing thoughts.
Thy letters may be here, though thou art hence;
Which, being writ to me, shall be delivered
Even in the milk-white bosom of thy love.
The time now serves not to expostulate:
Come, I’ll convey thee through the city-gate;
And, ere I part with thee, confer at large
Of all that may concern thy love-affairs.
As thou lovest Silvia, though not for thyself,
Regard thy danger, and along with me!

DUTCH:
Klaag niet om wat gij niet verhelpen kunt;
Poog te verhelpen wat u klagen doet.
De tijd verwekt en voedstert al wat goed is.
Al blijft gij hier, uw liefste ziet gij niet;
En ook, uw blijven snijdt uw leven af.

MORE:
Lament=Complain
Help=Remedy
Study=Devise
Manage=Wield
Time serves not=There is not enough time
Expostulate=Discuss
Convey=Escort
At large=In detail, extensively
Compleat:
To lament=Weeklaagen, kermen, bedermen, bejammeren, beklaagen
Help (remedy)=Hulpmiddel
To study (endeavour)=Trachten, poogen
To expostulate=Zyn beklag doen, zich beklaagen, verwyten
To convey=Voeren, leiden, overvoeren, overdraagen
At large=Ten volle, volkomen wydloopig

Topics: regret, pity, hope/optimism

Expect Saint Martin’s summer, halcyon days, Since I have entered into these wars.

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Joan la Pucelle
CONTEXT:
Assign’d am I to be the English scourge.
This night the siege assuredly I’ll raise:
Expect Saint Martin’s summer, halcyon days,
Since I have entered into these wars.
Glory is like a circle in the water,
Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself
Till by broad spreading it disperse to nought.
With Henry’s death the English circle ends;
Dispersed are the glories it included.
Now am I like that proud insulting ship
Which Caesar and his fortune bare at once.

DUTCH:
Ik ben tot Englands geese! uitverkoren.
Nog deze nacht ontzet ik wis de stad;
Verwacht, nu ik den strijd aanvaard, een schoonen
Sint Maartenszomer, Halcyonendagen.

MORE:
Saint Martin’s summer=Equivalent of an ‘Indian summer’
Halcyon days=Unseasonable calm (so called because when it was calm in winter the kingfisher could build its nest)
Halcyon=Kingfisher
“Pround insulting ship” is a ref. to Plutarch, who wrote that Caesar told the captain of his ship no harm would befall him because he was carrying Caesar and therefore had Caesar’s ‘fortune’
Insulting=Triumphant

Compleat:
Halcyon (a sea-owl)=Een zekere Zee-vogel
Halcyon days=Een tijd van vrede en rust

Burgersdijk notes:
Sint Maartenszomer, Halcyonendagen. Halcyonendagen waren bij de ouden schoone, stormlooze dagen. Het schoone weder, op een storm volgend, wordt hier met een schoonen zomerschen dag in November, op Sint Maarten, vergeleken.

Ik ben nu als dat fiere schip, dat eens Tegader Caesar droeg en zijn geluk. Het verhaal, dat Caesar eens zijn bezorgden schipper toeriep: „Wees goedsmoeds, knaap, want gij hebt Cesar en zijn geluk aan boord”, vond Shakespeare in de vertaling van Plutarchus door North, een werk, dat zeker vlijtig door hem beoefend werd en dat hem aanleiding gaf tot de meeste geleerde toespelingen, waaraan dit stuk rijk is.

Topics: fate/destiny, achievement, hope/optimism, nature

Flatt’ring himself in project of a power

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Lord Bardolph
CONTEXT:
LORD BARDOLPH
It was, my lord; who lined himself with hope,
Eating the air on promise of supply,
Flatt’ring himself in project of a power
Much smaller than the smallest of his thoughts,
And so, with great imagination
Proper to madmen, led his powers to death
And, winking, leapt into destruction.
HASTINGS
But, by your leave, it never yet did hurt
To lay down likelihoods and forms of hope.

DUTCH:
Geheel, Inylord; hij voedde zich met hoop,
Met de’ ijdlen klank van toegezegden bijstand,
Zich vleiend met het droombeeld eener macht,
Die minder bleek zelfs dan zijn minste raming;

MORE:

Proverb:
Look before you leap

Schmidt:
To eat the air=To be deluded with hopes, living on nothing
Likelihood=Probability, chance
Project of=A chalking out, a forming in the mind, an idea
Wink=To shut the eyes or to have them shut so as not to see
Forms of hope=Hopeful plans

Compleat:
To line=To fortify, to strengthen
To wink=Door de vingeren zien
Likelyhood=Waarschynlykheid

Topics: hope/optimism, promise, imagination, madness

Glory is like a circle in the water, Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself Till by broad spreading it disperse to nought.

DUTCH:
Ik ben tot Englands geese! uitverkoren.
Nog deze nacht ontzet ik wis de stad;
Verwacht, nu ik den strijd aanvaard, een schoonen
Sint Maartenszomer, Halcyonendagen.

Compleat:
Halcyon (a sea-owl)=Een zekere Zee-vogel
Halcyon days=Een tijd van vrede en rust

Topics: fate/destiny, achievement, hope/optimism, nature

He hath abandoned his physicians, madam; under whose practices he hath persecuted time with hope

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Lafew
CONTEXT:
COUNTESS
What hope is there of his majesty’s amendment?
LAFEW
He hath abandoned his physicians, madam; under whose
practices he hath persecuted time with hope, and
finds no other advantage in the process but only the
losing of hope by time.
COUNTESS
This young gentlewoman had a father, —O, that
‘had’! how sad a passage ’tis! —whose skill was
almost as great as his honesty; had it stretched so
far, would have made nature immortal, and death
should have play for lack of work. Would, for the
king’s sake, he were living! I think it would be
the death of the king’s disease.

DUTCH:
Hij heeft aan zijne artsen hun afscheid gegeven, mevrouw, nadat hij onder hunne behandeling den tijd met hoop vervolgd had, en er op den duur geen ander voordeel van heeft, dan dat hij met den tijd de hoop verloor.

MORE:
Amendment=Recovery
Persecute=To afflict, to harass; not very intelligibly used.
Persecuted time with hope=Wasted his time hoping for a cure.
Passage=Punning on passing
Compleat:
Persecute=Lastig vallen; vervolgen.

Topics: hope/optimism, remedy, time, trust, life, death

He that of greatest works is finisher oft does them by the weakest minister

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Helen
CONTEXT:
HELEN
What I can do can do no hurt to try,
Since you set up your rest ‘gainst remedy.
He that of greatest works is finisher
Oft does them by the weakest minister:
So holy writ in babes hath judgment shown,
When judges have been babes; great floods have flown
From simple sources, and great seas have dried
When miracles have by the greatest been denied.
Oft expectation fails and most oft there
Where most it promises, and oft it hits
Where hope is coldest and despair most fits.
KING
I must not hear thee; fare thee well, kind maid;
Thy pains not used must by thyself be paid:
Proffers not took reap thanks for their reward.

DUTCH:
Brengt wat ik kan, geen baat, het schaadt ook niet,
Daar ge elke hoop in u hebt uitgewied.

MORE:
To set up one’s rest=To have fully made up one’s mind, to be resolved, stake everything (taken from gambling, where the rest was a large sum wagered by a very confident player)
Flown=Flowed
Hits=Hits the mark
Pains=Efforts
Proffers not took=Offers not taken up
To fit=To be fitting, appropriate: “oft it hits where hope is coldest and despair most fits”
Hope is coldest=Most hopeless
Hear=Listen to
Pains=Efforts
Proffers=Offers
Took=Accepted
Compleat:
To flow=Vloeijen, vlieten
To hit the mark=Het wit treffen
To fit=Passen, pas maaken, gereed maaken, voegen
You must fit your humour to it=Gy moet ‘er uw humeur toe schikken
To hear=Hooren, verhooren, toehooren
To take pains=Moeite doen, arbeid aanwenden
Proffer=Aanbieding

Topics: still in use, invented or popularised, achievement, hope/optimism

Here let us breathe and haply institute a course of learning and ingenious studies

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Lucentio
CONTEXT:
LUCENTIO
Tranio, since for the great desire I had
To see fair Padua, nursery of arts,
I am arrived for fruitful Lombardy,
The pleasant garden of great Italy,
And by my father’s love and leave am armed
With his goodwill and thy good company.
My trusty servant, well approved in all,
Here let us breathe and haply institute
A course of learning and ingenious studies.
Pisa, renownèd for grave citizens,
Gave me my being and my father first,
A merchant of great traffic through the world,
Vincentio, come of the Bentivolii.
Vincentio’s son, brought up in Florence,
It shall become to serve all hopes conceived
To deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds.
And therefore, Tranio, for the time I study
Virtue, and that part of philosophy
Will I apply that treats of happiness
By virtue specially to be achieved.
Tell me thy mind, for I have Pisa left
And am to Padua come, as he that leaves
A shallow plash to plunge him in the deep
And with satiety seeks to quench his thirst.

DUTCH:
Hier zijn we aan ‘t doel en willen ‘t pad der kennis,
Der eed’le studien inslaan, ons tot heil.

MORE:
Proverb: Lombardy is the garden of the world

Padua=Known for its university
Leave=Permission
Haply=Perhaps
Institute=Begin
Traffic=Commercial trade
Come of=Originated from
Become=Is fitting
Plash=Pool
Compleat:
To give leave=Verlof geeven, veroorloven
Give me leave to do it=Vergun het my te doen
Haply=Misschien
To institute=Instellen, inzetten
To traffic=Handel dryven, handelen
Become=Betaamen

Burgersdijk notes:
Padua, der kunsten wieg . De universiteit van Padua, in 1228 gesticht, was in Sh .’s tijd de beroemdste en meest bezochte van Italie, Petrarca, Columbus en Galilei hadden er gestudeerd.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, virtue, satisfaction, hope/optimism

I have not that alacrity of spirit nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 5.3
SPEAKER: King Richard III
CONTEXT:
RATCLIFFE
Thomas the earl of Surrey and himself,
Much about cockshut time, from troop to troop
Went through the army cheering up the soldiers.
RICHARD
So, I am satisfied. Give me a bowl of wine.
I have not that alacrity of spirit
Nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have.
Set it down. Is ink and paper ready?
RATCLIFFE
It is, my lord.
RICHARD
Bid my guard watch. Leave me.
Ratcliffe, about the mid of night come to my tent
And help to arm me. Leave me, I say.

DUTCH:
Ik heb ditmaal den opgewekten geest,
Den blijden moed niet, dien ik plach te hebben.

MORE:
Cockshut time=Twilight
Wont to=Customarily
Alacrity of spirit=Good cheer
Compleat:
Cock-shoot time=Schemeravond
Wont=Gewoonte
Spirit=Moed
Alacrity=Wakkerheyd, fluksheyd

Topics: satisfaction, life, age/experience, hope/optimism

I will despair, and be at enmity With cozening hope: he is a flatterer,

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Queen
CONTEXT:
QUEEN
So, Green, thou art the midwife to my woe,
And Bolingbroke my sorrow’s dismal heir:
Now hath my soul brought forth her prodigy,
And I, a gasping new-deliver’d mother,
Have woe to woe, sorrow to sorrow join’d.
BUSHY
Despair not, madam.
QUEEN
Who shall hinder me?
I will despair, and be at enmity
With cozening hope: he is a flatterer,
A parasite, a keeper back of death,
Who gently would dissolve the bands of life,
Which false hope lingers in extremity.

DUTCH:
Wie kan ‘t verbieden?
Ik wil het doen, wil met bedriegend hopen
In vijandschap nu zijn, het is een vleier,
Een tafelschuimer, die den dood terughoudt,

MORE:

Schmidt:
Prodigy=Portent, ominous apparition
Cozening=Deceitful

Compleat:
Prodigy (omen, portent)=Voorbeduidsel
Cozening=Bedrieging, bedriegende

Topics: hope/optimism

It is a charge too heavy for my strength, but yet we’ll strive to bear it

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Bertram
CONTEXT:
DUKE
The general of our horse thou art; and we,
Great in our hope, lay our best love and credence
Upon thy promising fortune.
BERTRAM
Sir, it is
A charge too heavy for my strength, but yet
We’ll strive to bear it for your worthy sake
To the extreme edge of hazard.
DUKE
Then go thou forth;
And fortune play upon thy prosperous helm,
As thy auspicious mistress!
BERTRAM
This very day,
Great Mars, I put myself into thy file:
Make me but like my thoughts, and I shall prove
A lover of thy drum, hater of love.

DUTCH:
Wees overste onzer ruiterij; wij vesten,
Vol hoop, de beste vriendschap, groot vertrouwen,
Op uw geluk, dat schoone dingen spelt.

MORE:
Horse=Cavalry
Great in our hope=”Pregnant with great hope”
Credence=Faith, trust
File=Rank of soldiers
Compleat:
Cavalry=Ruytery
Credence=Geloof, achting
A file of soldiers=Een gelid of ry soldaaten

Topics: hope/optimism, trust, fate/destiny, risk

It lends a luster and more great opinion, A larger dare, to our great enterprise.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
You strain too far.
I rather of his absence make this use:
It lends a luster and more great opinion,
A larger dare, to our great enterprise
Than if the Earl were here, for men must think
If we without his help can make a head
To push against a kingdom, with his help
We shall o’erturn it topsy-turvy down.
Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole.

DUTCH:
Gij gaat te ver;
Ik zie voor ons eer voordeel in zijn afzijn:
‘t Leent hoog’ren luister en een groot’ren roem
En meerdre koenheid aan ons groote werk,
Dan zoo de graaf hier was.

MORE:
Schmidt:
Strain=Effort of thought (as if by violent stretching of the mind); to extend, to stretch (you go too far in your apprehensions).
Lustre=Brightness, splendour
Dare=Boldness

Topics: plans/intentions, ambition, hope/optimism, reputation, perception

It shall become to serve all hopes conceived to deck his fortune with his virtuous deeds

DUTCH:
t Betaamt Vincentio’s zoon, die in Florence
Werd opgevoed, dat hij, zooals men wacht,
Door edel doen zijn rijkdom glans verleen’.

MORE:
Proverb: Lombardy is the garden of the world

Topics: proverbs and idioms, virtue, satisfaction, hope/optimism

Oft expectation fails, and most oft there where most it promises

DUTCH:
Verwachting faalt niet zelden, ‘t meest, wanneer
Zij ‘t meest belooft; en vaak maakt ze alles goed,
Als hoop, verkild, voor wanhoop wijken moet.

Topics: still in use, invented or popularised, achievement, hope/optimism

Past and to come, seem best; things present, worst.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 2
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Archbishop
CONTEXT:
They that, when Richard lived, would have him die
Are now become enamored on his grave.
Thou, that threw’st dust upon his goodly head
When through proud London he came sighing on
After th’ admired heels of Bolingbroke,
Criest now “O earth, yield us that King again,
And take thou this!” O thoughts of men accursed!
Past and to come seems best; things present, worst.

DUTCH:
Booze vloek, dat wij ‘t verleden
En ‘t morgen prijzen, ‘t heden staag vertreden!

MORE:

Accursed=Cursed, doomed to misery and destruction
Heels=Applied to persons attended or pursued by others

Topics: hope/optimism, ingratitude, value

Proffers not took reap thanks for their reward

DUTCH:
Verloren moeite moet zichzelf betalen;
Slechts dank wordt voor versmaden dienst verkregen.

Topics: still in use, invented or popularised, achievement, hope/optimism

The time of life is short: to spend that shortness basely were too long.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Hotspur
CONTEXT:
O gentlemen, the time of life is short!
To spend that shortness basely were too long,
If life did ride upon a dial’s point,
Still ending at the arrival of an hour
An if we live, we live to tread on kings;
If die, brave death, when princes die with us.
Now, for our consciences, the arms are fair
When the intent of bearing them is just.

DUTCH:
De tijd van leven is kort: die korte tijd laag bij de gronds doorbrengen zou te lang zijn

MORE:
Dial’s point=Hand of a sun-dial
Tread on=Bring about the downfall of
Compleat:
Dial, sun-dial=Zonnewyzer.

Topics: life, nature, time, hope/optimism, conscience, merit, value

Then with the losers let it sympathize, For nothing can seem foul to those that win.

PLAY: King Henry IV Part 1
ACT/SCENE: 5.1
SPEAKER: King
CONTEXT:
PRINCE HENRY
The southern wind
Doth play the trumpet to his purposes,
And by his hollow whistling in the leaves
Foretells a tempest and a blust’ring day.
KING
Then with the losers let it sympathize,
For nothing can seem foul to those that win.

DUTCH:
Zoo uite hij zijn leed aan wie ‘t verliezen,
Want aan wie winnen dunkt geen weder slecht.

MORE:
Play trumpet to=Announce, proclaim
Compleat:
To proclaim by sound of trumpet=Met trompetten geschal afkondigen.

Topics: life, nature, conflict, hope/optimism

Time is the nurse and breeder of all good

Topics: regret, pity, hope/optimism

Uncharitably with me have you dealt, and shamefully my hopes by you are butchered.

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
BUCKINGHAM
Peace, peace, for shame, if not for charity.
QUEEN MARGARET
Urge neither charity nor shame to me.
Uncharitably with me have you dealt,
And shamefully my hopes by you are butchered.
My charity is outrage, life my shame,
And in that shame still live my sorrows’ rage.
BUCKINGHAM
Have done, have done.

DUTCH:

O spreek mij niet van christ’lijkheid of schande,
Gij allen waart onchrist’lijk jegens mij,
En schand’lijk hebt gij al mijn hoop geslacht .

MORE:
Butchered=Shattered
Outrage=Rage, fury
Compleat:
To outrage=Geweld aandoen, verongelyken

Topics: hope/optimism, guilt

Uncharitably with me have you dealt, and shamefully my hopes by you are butchered.

DUTCH:

O spreek mij niet van christ’lijkheid of schande,
Gij allen waart onchrist’lijk jegens mij,
En schand’lijk hebt gij al mijn hoop geslacht .

MORE:
Butchered=Shattered
Outrage=Rage, fury
Compleat:
To outrage=Geweld aandoen, verongelyken

Topics: hope/optimism, guilt

What I can do can do no hurt to try, since you set up your rest ‘gainst remedy

DUTCH:
Brengt wat ik kan, geen baat, het schaadt ook niet,
Daar ge elke hoop in u hebt uitgewied.

Topics: still in use, invented or popularised, achievement, hope/optimism

What shall you ask of me that I’ll deny, that honoUr, saved, may upon asking give?

PLAY: Twelfth Night
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Olivia
CONTEXT:
OLIVIA
I have said too much unto a heart of stone
And laid mine honor too unchary on ’t.
There’s something in me that reproves my fault,
But such a headstrong potent fault it is
That it but mocks reproof.
VIOLA
With the same ‘havior that your passion bears
Goes on my master’s grief.
OLIVIA
Here, wear this jewel for me. ‘Tis my picture.
Refuse it not. It hath no tongue to vex you.
And I beseech you come again tomorrow.
What shall you ask of me that I’ll deny,
That honour, saved, may upon asking give?

DUTCH:
Wat kunt gij vragen, dat ik weig’ren zou,
Als ik het u in eere geven kan?

MORE:
Unchary=Heedlessy, carelessly
Reprove=Condemn
Vex=Taunt, torment
Compleat:
Chary=Bezorgd, voorzigtig, bekommerd
To reprove=Bestraffen, berispen
To vex=Quellen, plaagen

Topics: hope/optimism, honour, love, debt/obligation

Wise men ne’er sit and wail their loss but cheerly seek how to redress their harms

PLAY: King Henry VI Part 3
ACT/SCENE: 5.4
SPEAKER: Queen Margaret
CONTEXT:
Great lords, wise men ne’er sit and wail their loss,
But cheerly seek how to redress their harms.
What though the mast be now blown overboard,
The cable broke, the holding-anchor lost,
And half our sailors swallow’d in the flood?
Yet lives our pilot still. Is’t meet that he
Should leave the helm and like a fearful lad
With tearful eyes add water to the sea
And give more strength to that which hath too much,
Whiles, in his moan, the ship splits on the rock,
Which industry and courage might have saved?

DUTCH:
Geen wijze zit en jammert om verliezen;
Neen, moedig streeft hij naar ‘t herstel er van.

MORE:

Proverb: One must not bemoan (wail) a mischief but find out a remedy for it
Proverb: To cast water into the sea (Thames)

Wail=Bemoan
Cheerly=Cheerfully
Redress=Remedy
Meet=Appropriate
In his moan=While he laments

Compleat:
To bewail=Beweenen, beschreijen
Redress=Herstelling, verhelping, verbetering, vergoeding, verligting
Meet=Dienstig

Topics: adversity, proverbs and idioms, remedy, hope/optimism

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

Your mistrust cannot make me a traitor

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Rosalind
CONTEXT:
ROSALIND
I do beseech your Grace,
Let me the knowledge of my fault bear with me.
If with myself I hold intelligence
Or have acquaintance with mine own desires,
If that I do not dream or be not frantic—
As I do trust I am not—then, dear uncle,
Never so much as in a thought unborn
Did I offend your Highness.
DUKE FREDERICK
Thus do all traitors.
If their purgation did consist in words,
They are as innocent as grace itself.
Let it suffice thee that I trust thee not.
ROSALIND
Yet your mistrust cannot make me a traitor.
Tell me whereon the likelihood depends.

DUTCH:
Kan mijn verraad uit uwen argwaan blijken?
Zeg mij ten minste, op welken schijn die rust.

MORE:
Purgation=Clearing from imputation of guilt, exculpation. Used in theology (Purgatory and declaration of innocence oath) and as a legal term of proving of innocence
Frantic=Mad
Likelihood=Probability
Compleat:
Purgation (the clearing one’s self of a crime)=Zuivering van een misdaad
Frantick=Zinneloos, hersenloos, ylhoofdig
Likelihood=Waarschynelykheid

Topics: hope/optimism, madness, offence, guilt, suspicion