CJTranslations

QUOTES BY TOPIC

‘Tis not the many oaths that makes the truth

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Diana
CONTEXT:
BERTRAM
How have I sworn!
DIANA
‘Tis not the many oaths that makes the truth,
But the plain single vow that is vowed true.
What is not holy, that we swear not by,
But take the High’st to witness: then, pray you, tell me,
If I should swear by God’s great attributes,
I loved you dearly, would you believe my oaths,
When I did love you ill? This has no holding,
To swear by him whom I protest to love,
That I will work against him: therefore your oaths
Are words and poor conditions, but unsealed,
At least in my opinion.
BERTRAM
Change it, change it;
Be not so holy-cruel: love is holy;
And my integrity ne’er knew the crafts
That you do charge men with. Stand no more off,
But give thyself unto my sick desires,
Who then recover: say thou art mine, and ever
My love as it begins shall so persever.

DUTCH:
Een tal van eeden maakt de trouw niet hecht;
Een eed, eenvoudig, waar en trouw, volstaat;
Men zweert slechts bij wat heilig is, vooral
Bij de’ Allerhoogste;

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)

The many=The number of
Single=One; sincere
Ill=Poorly; not at all
Unsealed=Without a (validating) seal
Compleat:
Ill=Quaad, ondeugend, onpasselijk
Sealed=Gezegeld, verzegeld
To set a seal to a thing=Een zegel aan iets steeken/hangen

Topics: truth, honesty, love, promise

A true-devoted pilgrim is not weary to measure kingdoms with his feeble steps

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.7
SPEAKER: Julia
CONTEXT:
JULIA
Counsel, Lucetta; gentle girl, assist me;
And even in kind love I do conjure thee,
Who art the table wherein all my thoughts
Are visibly charactered and engraved,
To lesson me and tell me some good mean
How, with my honour, I may undertake
A journey to my loving Proteus.
LUCETTA
Alas, the way is wearisome and long!
JULIA
A true-devoted pilgrim is not weary
To measure kingdoms with his feeble steps;
Much less shall she that hath Love’s wings to fly,
And when the flight is made to one so dear,
Of such divine perfection, as Sir Proteus.
LUCETTA
Better forbear till Proteus make return.

DUTCH:
Een waarlijk vrome pelgrim wordt niet moede,
Met zwakke schreden landen af te meten

MORE:
Charactered=Inscribed
Lesson=Teach
Mean=Means, method
Measure=Traverse
Compleat:
Character=Een merk, merkteken, letter, afbeeldsel, uitdruksel, print, stempel, uitgedruktbeeld, uitbeelding
Mean=Het midden, de middelmaat

Topics: advice, honour, respect, love, patience

Age cannot wither her

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Enobarbus
CONTEXT:
MAECENAS
Now Antony must leave her utterly.
ENOBARBUS
Never. He will not.
Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety. Other women cloy
The appetites they feed, but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies, for vilest things
Become themselves in her, that the holy priests
Bless her when she is riggish.
MAECENAS
If beauty, wisdom, modesty, can settle
The heart of Antony, Octavia is
A blessèd lottery to him.

DUTCH:
Dit doet hij nimmer! — Haar kan ouderdom
Niet doen verwelken, noch gewoonte’s sleur
Haar ‘t eeuwig nieuw ontrooven.

MORE:
Proverb: As stale as custom

Cloy=Satiate, glut
Custom=Habit, regular use or practice
Stale=Render common or worthless
Riggish=Wanton
Lottery=Prize
Compleat:
To cloy=Verkroppen, overlaaden
To cloy with words=Met woorden overlaaden
Custom=Gewoonte, neering
To grow stale=Oud worden
Rig=Vermaak, spel, pret, vrolykheid
Lottery=Lotery

Topics: love, age/experience, loyalty, proverbs and idioms

And lead these testy rivals so astray as one come not within another’s way

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Oberon
CONTEXT:
OBERON
Thou seest these lovers seek a place to fight.
Hie therefore, Puck, overcast the night.
The starry welkin cover thou anon
With drooping fog as black as Acheron,
And lead these testy rivals so astray
As one come not within another’s way.
Like to Lysander sometime frame thy tongue,
Then stir Demetrius up with bitter wrong.
And sometime rail thou like Demetrius.
And from each other look thou lead them thus,
Till o’er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.
Then crush this herb into Lysander’s eye,
Whose liquor hath this virtuous property
To take from thence all error with his might
And make his eyeballs roll with wonted sight.
When they next wake, all this derision
Shall seem a dream and fruitless vision.
And back to Athens shall the lovers wend,
With league whose date till death shall never end.
Whiles I in this affair do thee employ,
I’ll to my queen and beg her Indian boy.
And then I will her charmèd eye release
From monster’s view, and all things shall be peace.

DUTCH:
Dus haast u, Puck, en hul ze in donkre nacht;
Bedek met nevels ‘t lichte firmament,
Zoo zwart als enkel de onderwereld kent;
En leid die mededingers zoo rondom,
Dat de een niet in ‘t bereik des andren kom.

MORE:
Hie=Hurry
Welkin=Sky
Acheron=A traditionally black river (in hell)
Wrong=Insult
Batty=Bat-like
Virtuous=Good
Wonted=Usual
Derision=Mocking
Wend=Go
Compleat:
To hie (hye)=Reppen, haasten
Hie thee=Rep u, haast u
Wrong=Nadeel
Virtuous=Deugdelyk, deugdzaam, vroom
Wonted=Gewoon, gewoonlyk
Derision=Uitlaching, belaching, bespotting

Topics: plans/intentions, fate/destiny, love

And let me find a charter in your voice, t’ assist my simpleness

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Desdemona
CONTEXT:
DESDEMONA
Nor would I there reside,
To put my father in impatient thoughts
By being in his eye. Most gracious Duke,
To my unfolding lend your prosperous ear
And let me find a charter in your voice,
T’ assist my simpleness.
DUKE
What would you, Desdemona?
DESDEMONA
That I did love the Moor to live with him,
My downright violence and storm of fortunes
May trumpet to the world. My heart’s subdued
Even to the very quality of my lord.
I saw Othello’s visage in his mind,
And to his honours and his valiant parts
Did I my soul and fortunes consecrate.
So that, dear lords, if I be left behind
A moth of peace and he go to the war,
The rites for which I love him are bereft me,
And I a heavy interim shall support
By his dear absence. Let me go with him.

DUTCH:
Achtb’re Doge,
Leen aan mijn bede een toegenegen oor,
En ondersteun met uw welwillend machtwoord
Mijn schucht’ren wensch.

MORE:
Put in impatient thoughts=Irritate
Unfolding=Proposal
Prosperous=Favourable
Charter=Support, approval
Simpleness=Inexperience
Downright violence=Outright breach (of convention)
Quality=Nature, character
Parts=Qualities
Bereft=Deprived
Compleat:
Parts=Deelen, hoedaanigheden, begaafdheden
Unfold=Ontvouwen, open leggen
Prosperous=Voorspoedig
Charter=Handvest, voorrecht
Simpleness=Slechtheyd, eenvoudigheyd
Quality=Hoedaanigheyd, aanzien, staat, bevoegdheyd
Bereft=Beroofd

Topics: fate/destiny, loyalty, love, marriage

And so far am I glad it so did sort, as this their jangling I esteem a sport

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Oberon
CONTEXT:
PUCK
Believe me, King of Shadows, I mistook.
Did not you tell me I should know the man
By the Athenian garment he had on?
And so far blameless proves my enterprise,
That I have ‘nointed an Athenian’s eyes.
And so far am I glad it so did sort,
As this their jangling I esteem a sport.
OBERON
Thou seest these lovers seek a place to fight.
Hie therefore, Puck, overcast the night.
The starry welkin cover thou anon
With drooping fog as black as Acheron,
And lead these testy rivals so astray
As one come not within another’s way.
Like to Lysander sometime frame thy tongue,
Then stir Demetrius up with bitter wrong.
And sometime rail thou like Demetrius.
And from each other look thou lead them thus,
Till o’er their brows death-counterfeiting sleep
With leaden legs and batty wings doth creep.
Then crush this herb into Lysander’s eye,
Whose liquor hath this virtuous property
To take from thence all error with his might
And make his eyeballs roll with wonted sight.
When they next wake, all this derision
Shall seem a dream and fruitless vision.
And back to Athens shall the lovers wend,
With league whose date till death shall never end.
Whiles I in this affair do thee employ,
I’ll to my queen and beg her Indian boy.
And then I will her charmèd eye release
From monster’s view, and all things shall be peace.

DUTCH:
En verre dwaalde ik niet, want ik bestreek
Een jonkman de oogen, die Athener bleek,
En in zoo verre ben ik puik geslaagd,
Dat heel die twist mij kostlijk heeft behaagd.

MORE:
Jangling=Discordant noise
Hie=Hurry
Welkin=Sky
Acheron=A traditionally black river (in hell)
Wrong=Insult
Batty=Bat-like
Virtuous=Good
Wonted=Usual
Derision=Mocking
Wend=Go
Compleat:
Jangling=Krakkeeling, gehassebas
To hie (hye)=Reppen, haasten
Hie thee=Rep u, haast u
Wrong=Nadeel
Virtuous=Deugdelyk, deugdzaam, vroom
Wonted=Gewoon, gewoonlyk
Derision=Uitlaching, belaching, bespotting

Topics: plans/intentions, fate/destiny, love

And that’s the wavering commons: for their love Lies in their purses, and whoso empties them By so much fills their hearts with deadly hate.

PLAY: Richard II
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: King Richard II
CONTEXT:
GREEN
Besides, our nearness to the king in love
Is near the hate of those love not the king.
BAGOT
And that’s the wavering commons: for their love
Lies in their purses, and whoso empties them
By so much fills their hearts with deadly hate.
BUSHY
Wherein the king stands generally condemn’d.
BAGOT
If judgement lie in them, then so do we,
Because we ever have been near the king.

DUTCH:
De wank’lende gemeenten! hare liefde
Ligt in haar buidels, en wie deze leêgt,
Vult wis haar hart met doodelijken haat.

MORE:

Wavering=Fickle
Commons=The common people, commoners

Compleat:
Wavering=Waggeling; wapperende, twyffelachtig, ongestadig
The common (vulgar) people=Het gemeene Volk

Topics: love, money, respect, judgment

Be as thou wast wont to be; see as thou wast wont to see

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Oberon
CONTEXT:
OBERON
Welcome, good Puck. Seest thou this sweet sight?
Her dotage now I do begin to pity.
For, meeting her of late behind the wood,
Seeking sweet favours from this hateful fool,
I did upbraid her and fall out with her.
For she his hairy temples then had rounded
With a coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers,
And that same dew, which sometime on the buds
Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls,
Stood now within the pretty flowerets’ eyes
Like tears that did their own disgrace bewail.
When I had at my pleasure taunted her
And she in mild terms begged my patience,
I then did ask of her her changeling child,
Which straight she gave me and her fairy sent
To bear him to my bower in Fairyland.
And now I have the boy, I will undo
This hateful imperfection of her eyes.
And, gentle Puck, take this transformèd scalp
From off the head of this Athenian swain,
That, he awaking when the other do,
May all to Athens back again repair
And think no more of this night’s accidents
But as the fierce vexation of a dream.
But first I will release the fairy queen.
Be as thou wast wont to be.
See as thou wast wont to see.
Dian’s bud o’er Cupid’s flower
Hath such force and blessèd power.
Now, my Titania, wake you, my sweet queen.

DUTCH:
Wees, zooals ge placht te zijn;
Zie weer ‘t wezen, niet den schijn;
Deze struik, Diana’s roem,
Fnuike alsnu Cupido’s bloem.

MORE:
Dotage=Fondness
Orient=Lustrous (the best pearls were said to come from the Orient)
Wont to be=Accustomed to
Swain=Peasant
Compleat:
Dotage=Suffery, dweepery
Wont=Gewoonte
A country swain=Een Boer

Burgersdijk notes:
Deze struik, Diana’s roem, zal wel de Vitex agnus castus zijn; het sap uit de knop er van zou dus de werking van het viooltjenssap doen ophouden. Een tak van deze voor allerlei vlechtwerk gebezigde plant zon, in bed gelegd, volgens de oude Grieken kuischheid bevorderen; men zegt, dat dit geloof nog in Griekenland bestaat en dat de plant nog dien dienst moet doen.

Topics: love, pity, imagination

But being overfull of self-affairs, my mind did lose it

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Theseus
CONTEXT:
LYSANDER
I am, my lord, as well derived as he,
As well possessed. My love is more than his.
My fortunes every way as fairly ranked,
If not with vantage as Demetrius’.
And—which is more than all these boasts can be—
I am beloved of beauteous Hermia.
Why should not I then prosecute my right?
Demetrius, I’ll avouch it to his head,
Made love to Nedar’s daughter, Helena,
And won her soul. And she, sweet lady, dotes,
Devoutly dotes, dotes in idolatry
Upon this spotted and inconstant man.
THESEUS
I must confess that I have heard so much
And with Demetrius thought to have spoke thereof,
But being overfull of self-affairs,
My mind did lose it. But, Demetrius, come.
And come, Egeus. You shall go with me.
I have some private schooling for you both.
For you, fair Hermia, look you arm yourself
To fit your fancies to your father’s will,
Or else the law of Athens yields you up
Which by no means we may extenuate
To death, or to a vow of single life.
Come, my Hippolyta. What cheer, my love?
Demetrius and Egeus, go along.
I must employ you in some business
Against our nuptial and confer with you
Of something nearly that concerns yourselves.
EGEUS
With duty and desire we follow you.

DUTCH:
k Erken, dat ik ‘t vernam, en ‘k was van zins
Demetrius hierover aan te spreken;
Maar eigen zaken boeiden mij te zeer,
Het is me ontgaan

MORE:
Well derived=The same status, as well born
As well possessed=As wealthy
Fairly ranked=Equal
With vantage=Better
Prosecute=Pursue
Avouch=Declare
Head=Face
Spotted=Stained (in a moral sense)
Self-affairs=Personal affairs
Schooling=Advice
Arm yourself=Prepare
Fancies=Affection
Compleat:
Derived=Afgeleyd, voortgekomen
To possess oneself=Bezit neemen
Ranked among=Gerekend onder
Vantage=Toegift, toemaat, overmaat, overwigt
Prosecute=Vervolgen, achtervolgen, voortzzetten, bevorderen
To avouch=Vastelyk verzekeren, bewaarheden, zyn onschuld doen blyken
Spotted=Bevlekt, gevlakt
Fancy=Liefhebberij. To fancy=Iets beminnen.

Topics: poverty and wealth, concern s, love, authority

But turning these jests out of service, let us talk in good earnest

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Celia
CONTEXT:
CELIA
They are but burs, cousin, thrown upon thee in holiday
foolery. If we walk not in the trodden paths our very
petticoats will catch them.
ROSALIND
I could shake them off my coat. These burs are in my
heart.
CELIA
Hem them away.
ROSALIND
I would try, if I could cry “hem” and have him.
CELIA
Come, come, wrestle with thy affections.
ROSALIND
Oh, they take the part of a better wrestler than
myself.
CELIA
Oh, a good wish upon you. You will try in time, in
despite of a fall. But turning these jests out of
service, let us talk in good earnest. Is it possible on
such a sudden you should fall into so strong a liking
with old Sir Rowland’s youngest son?
ROSALIND
The duke my father loved his father dearly.
CELIA
Doth it therefore ensue that you should love his son
dearly? By this kind of chase I should hate him, for my
father hated his father dearly. Yet I hate not Orlando.

DUTCH:
Het zijn maar klissen, nichtjen, uit een zondaagsche dartelheid op u geworpen; als wij niet op de gebaande wegen gaan, vatten onze rokken ze van zelf vast.

MORE:
Burr=Rough head of the burdock
Foolery=Jesting, buffoonery
Coat=Petticoat
Hem=Cough
Compleat:
Burr=Kliskruid
Foolery=Malligheid
Coat=Een rok. Petti-coat=Een vrouwe onderrok
To hem=Rochelen, oprochelen

Topics: emotion and mood, adversity, fate/destiny, love

Can one desire too much of a good thing?

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Rosalind
CONTEXT:
ORLANDO
I would not have my right Rosalind of this mind, for I
protest her frown might kill me.
ROSALIND
By this hand, it will not kill a fly. But come; now I
will be your Rosalind in a more coming-on disposition,
and ask me what you will, I will grant it.
ORLANDO
Then love me, Rosalind.
ROSALIND
Yes, faith, will I, Fridays and Saturdays and all.
ORLANDO
And wilt thou have me?
ROSALIND
Ay, and twenty such.
ORLANDO
What sayest thou?
ROSALIND
Are you not good?
ORLANDO
I hope so.
ROSALIND
Why then, can one desire too much of a good thing?—
Come, sister, you shall be the priest and marry us.—Give
me your hand, Orlando.—What do you say, sister?

DUTCH:
Welnu, kan men te veel wenschen van iets dat goed
is? — Kom, zuster, gij moet de priester zijn en ons
trouwen. — Geef mij de hand, Orlando. — Wat zegt
gij, zuster?

MORE:
Right=Genuine, true
Coming-on=Complaisant
Disposition=Temperament
Compleat:
Right=(true) Recht, geschikt, gevoeglyk; oprecht, voor de vuist
Disposition of mind=Gesteltenis van gemoed

Topics: emotion and mood, appearance, love

Come, I cannot cog and say thou art this and that

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Falstaff
CONTEXT:
FALSTAFF
By the Lord, thou art a traitor to say so: thou
wouldst make an absolute courtier; and the firm
fixture of thy foot would give an excellent motion
to thy gait in a semi-circled farthingale. I see
what thou wert, if Fortune thy foe were not, Nature
thy friend. Come, thou canst not hide it.
MISTRESS FORD
Believe me, there is no such thing in me.
FALSTAFF
What made me love thee? let that persuade thee
there’s something extraordinary in thee. Come, I
cannot cog and say thou art this and that, like a
many of these lisping hawthorn-buds, that come like
women in men’s apparel, and smell like Bucklersbury
in simple time; I cannot: but I love thee; none
but thee; and thou deservest it.

DUTCH:
Zie, ik kan niet mooipraten, niet zeggen, dat gij dit zijt en dat zijt, gelijk zoovelen van die lispelende hagedoornbloesems, die daar loopen als vrouwen in manskle ren en een geur verspreiden als de apothekersstraat in den kruidentijd

MORE:
Absolute=Perfect, complete
Firm fixture=Firm set
Bucklersbury=A street of apothecaries selling medicinal herbs and plants known as “simples” (in simple time)
Cog=To wheedle, lie, flatter. Also to “cog (load) the dice”
Hawthorn buds=Perfumed men
Compleat:
Absolute=Volslagen, volstrekt, volkomen, onafhangklyk, onverbonden
Coggen=Vleyen, flikflooijen.
Cogger=Een Vleyer, een Valsche dobbelaar

Burgersdijk notes:
De apothekersstraat in den kruiden tijd. In ‘t Engelsch wordt de straat, waarin vele apotheken waren, door den naam, Bucklersbury, aangewezen; de kruidentijd” is natuurlijk de tijd, waarin de meeste kruiden, simples, verzameld en gedroogd werden,

Topics: love|fate/fortune|appearance

Equality of two domestic powers breed scrupulous faction

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Antony
CONTEXT:
ANTONY
Hear me, Queen:
The strong necessity of time commands
Our services awhile, but my full heart
Remains in use with you. Our Italy
Shines o’er with civil swords. Sextus Pompeius
Makes his approaches to the port of Rome.
Equality of two domestic powers
Breed scrupulous faction. The hated, grown to strength,
Are newly grown to love. The condemned Pompey,
Rich in his father’s honour, creeps apace
Into the hearts of such as have not thrived
Upon the present state, whose numbers threaten;
And quietness, grown sick of rest, would purge
By any desperate change. My more particular,
And that which most with you should safe my going,
Is Fulvia’s death.

DUTCH:
De gelijkheid
Van twee partijen in den staat verwekt
Een gisting, die gevaar dreigt. Die gehaat was ,
Werd sterk en wint in liefde;

MORE:
Cited in Shakespeare’s Legal Maxims (William Lowes Rushton)
Rushton’s reference to this as a legal maxim (Rushton has in mind ‘necessitas est lex temporis’) is challenged by Dunbar Plunkett Barton.

Strong necessity of time=Another pressing engagement
In use=In trust
Scrupulous=Full of doubt and perplexity
Faction=Dissension, opposition
Condemned=Banished
Creeps=Sneaks unseen
State=Government
Quietness=Inactivity
Particular=Personal reason
Compleat:
Necessity=Nood, noodzaaklykheyd, noodwendigheyd
Scrupulous=Schroomagtig, naaw gezet
Faction=Samenrotting, saamenspanning, oproerige party, rot, aanhang, partyschap, verdeeldheid
To banish=Bannen, uytbannen
To creep=Kruypen, sluypen
Quietness=Gerustheyd, stilte
Particular=Byzonder, zonderling, byzonderheid

Topics: love, equality, loyalty, order/society

Even as one heat another heat expels

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Proteus
CONTEXT:
PROTEUS
Even as one heat another heat expels,
Or as one nail by strength drives out another,
So the remembrance of my former love
Is by a newer object quite forgotten.
Is it mine, or Valentine’s praise,
Her true perfection, or my false transgression,
That makes me reasonless to reason thus?
She is fair; and so is Julia that I love—
That I did love, for now my love is thawed;
Which, like a waxen image, ‘gainst a fire,
Bears no impression of the thing it was.
Methinks my zeal to Valentine is cold,
And that I love him not as I was wont.
O, but I love his lady too too much,
And that’s the reason I love him so little.
How shall I dote on her with more advice,
That thus without advice begin to love her!
‘Tis but her picture I have yet beheld,
And that hath dazzled my reason’s light;
But when I look on her perfections,
There is no reason but I shall be blind.
If I can check my erring love, I will;
If not, to compass her I’ll use my skill.

DUTCH:
Gelijk een gloed een and’ren gloed verdringt,
Een spijker met geweld een and’ren uitdrijft,
Zoo is de heug’nis van mijn vroeg’re min
Nu door een nieuwen aanblik gansch verdoofd.

MORE:
Proverb: One fire (heat) drives out another, referring to the belief that heat takes away the pain of a burn

Remembrance=Memory
By a newer object=Because of a newer object
Wont=Wont to do
Advice=Consideration
Check=Control
No reason but=No doubt that
Compass=Encompass, win
Compleat:
Remembrance=Gedachtenis, geheugenis
Wont=Gewoonte
Advice=Raad, vermaaning, goedvinden
Check=Berispen, beteugelen, intoomen, verwyten

Burgersdijk notes:
Is ‘t nu mijn oog. Het Engelsch is hier onvolledig; Is it mine or enz. Het is waarschijnlijker dat hier gelezen moet worden met Warburton: Is it mine eye or enz. dan, met Malone, Is it her mien or enz.

Zooals een wassen beeld hij ‘t vuur. Men vergelijke Koning Jan” V. 4. Er wordt gedacht aan wassen beelden, die door toovenaars hij het vuur werden gehouden, om door smelten van het beeld de persoon, die er door werd voorgesteld, te doen wegkwijnen.

Topics: proverbs and idioms, memory, love

Everything about you demonstrating a careless desolation

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Rosalind
CONTEXT:
ROSALIND
A lean cheek, which you have not; a blue eye and
sunken, which you have not; an unquestionable spirit,
which you have not; a beard neglected, which you have
not—but I pardon you for that, for simply your having in
beard is a younger brother’s revenue. Then your hose
should be ungartered, your bonnet unbanded, your sleeve
unbuttoned, your shoe untied, and everything about you
demonstrating a careless desolation. But you are no such
man. You are rather point-device in your accoutrements,
as loving yourself than seeming the lover of any other.
ORLANDO
Fair youth, I would I could make thee believe I love.
ROSALIND
Me believe it? You may as soon make her that you love
believe it, which I warrant she is apter to do than to
confess she does. That is one of the points in the which
women still give the lie to their consciences. But, in
good sooth, are you he that hangs the verses on the
trees wherein Rosalind is so admired?
ORLANDO
I swear to thee, youth, by the white hand of Rosalind,
I am that he, that unfortunate he.
ROSALIND
But are you so much in love as your rhymes speak?
ORLANDO
Neither rhyme nor reason can express how much.
ROSALIND
Love is merely a madness and, I tell you, deserves as
well a dark house and a whip as madmen do, and the
reason why they are not so punished and cured is that
the lunacy is so ordinary that the whippers are in love,
too. Yet I profess curing it by counsel.
ORLANDO
Did you ever cure any so?

DUTCH:
(…) dan moesten uw
hoosbanden loshangen, uw muts zonder kinband zijn,
uw mouw niet dichtgeknoopt, uw schoen niet geregen
zijn, en alles aan u een achtelooze mistroostigheid verraden.

MORE:
Lean=Thin
Your having in beard=The beard that you do have
Hose=Leggings
Careless=Negligent
Desolation=Despair
Point-device=Meticulous
Accoutrement=Outward appearance, dress
Still=Constantly
Dark house and whip=Darkness and the whip was a common treatment (to excise devils) for the insane in Shakespeare’s time (see Comedy of Errors 4.4 and Twelfth Night 4.2)
Compleat:
Lean=Mager, schraal
Hose-garters=Kousebanden
Careless=Zorgeloos, kommerloos, achteloos, onachtzaam
Desolation=Verwoesting, verwoestheyd; mistroostigheyd
To accoutre=Toerusten, opschikken
Still=Steeds, gestadig, altyd

Topics: emotion and mood, appearance, love

Faith, there had been many great men that have flattered the people, who ne’er loved them

PLAY: Coriolanus
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Second officer
CONTEXT:
FIRST OFFICER
That’s a brave fellow, but he’s vengeance proud and loves not the common people.
SECOND OFFICER
Faith, there had been many great men that have
flattered the people, who ne’er loved them; and there
be many that they have loved, they know not
wherefore: so that, if they love they know not why,
they hate upon no better a ground: therefore, for
Coriolanus neither to care whether they love or hate
him manifests the true knowledge he has in their
disposition; and out of his noble carelessness lets
them plainly see’t.

DUTCH:
Nu, er zijn vele groote mannen geweest, . die het volk gevleid hebben en het toch nooit mochten lijden; en er zijn er velen, waar het volk van hield, zonder dat het wist waarom.

MORE:
Manifest=Make obvious, evident, not doubtful
Disposition=Natural constitution of the mind, temper, character, sentiments
Carelessness=Lack of concern, indifference
Compleat:
To manifest=Openbaaren, openbaar maaken
Carelessness=Zorgeloosheid, kommerloosheid, onachtzaamheid, achteloosheid
Disposition of mind=Gesteltenis van gemoed
The greatness of his disposition=Zyn grootmoedige, zyn uitmuntende gesteltenis

Topics: truth, flattery, deceit, love, respect

For ’tis a question left us yet to prove,
Whether love lead fortune, or else fortune love.

PLAY: Hamlet
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Player King
CONTEXT:
For ’tis a question left us yet to prove,
Whether love lead fortune, or else fortune love.
The great man down, you mark his favorite flies.
The poor advanced makes friends of enemies.
And hitherto doth love on fortune tend,

DUTCH:
Het is zelfs de vraag of liefde het lot bestuurt of het lot de liefde. /
Want op de vraag wacht men nog steeds bescheid, Of liefde ‘t lot, dan ‘t lot de lief de leidt? /
Want ‘t is een open vraag, als ‘n lastge som, Of liefde leidt het lot of andersom.

MORE:
Schmidt:
To advance=To raise to a higher worth and dignity
Compleat:
To advance=Bevorderen, verhoogen voortzetten

Topics: love, fate/destiny, wealth, value

For if we two be one, and thou play false, I do digest the poison of thy flesh

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Adriana
CONTEXT:
ADRIANA
Ay, ay, Antipholus, look strange and frown.
Some other mistress hath thy sweet aspects.
I am not Adriana, nor thy wife.
The time was once when thou unurged wouldst vow
That never words were music to thine ear,
That never object pleasing in thine eye,
That never touch well welcome to thy hand,
That never meat sweet-savored in thy taste,
Unless I spake, or looked, or touched, or carved to thee.
How comes it now, my husband, O, how comes it
That thou art thus estranged from thyself?
Thy “self” I call it, being strange to me,
That, undividable, incorporate,
Am better than thy dear self’s better part.
Ah, do not tear away thyself from me!
For know, my love, as easy mayest thou fall
A drop of water in the breaking gulf,
And take unmingled thence that drop again
Without addition or diminishing,
As take from me thyself and not me too.
How dearly would it touch thee to the quick,
Shouldst thou but hear I were licentious
And that this body, consecrate to thee,
By ruffian lust should be contaminate!
Wouldst thou not spit at me, and spurn at me,
And hurl the name of husband in my face,
And tear the stained skin off my harlot brow,
And from my false hand cut the wedding ring,
And break it with a deep-divorcing vow?
I know thou canst, and therefore see thou do it.
I am possessed with an adulterate blot;
My blood is mingled with the crime of lust;
For if we two be one, and thou play false,
I do digest the poison of thy flesh,
Being strumpeted by thy contagion.
Keep then fair league and truce with thy true bed,
I live disstained, thou undishonorèd.

DUTCH:
Want zijn wij tweeën één en zijt gij valsch,
Dan stroomt het gif van uw bloed in het mijn’,
En door uw smetstof word ik tot boelin.

MORE:
Look strange=Look confused, unknowing
Incorporate=Of one body
Possession=Akin to ‘infect’
Harlot brow=Branding on the forehead with a hot iron was punishment for prostitution
Strumpeted=Turned into a strumpet, prostitute (by contamination)
Unstained=Undefiled (some editors use disstain here)
The quick=The core
Licentious=Unfaithful
Blot=Stain
Compleat:
Incorporated=Ingelyfd
To enter into a league=In een verbond treeden, een verbond aangaan
Truce=Een bestand, stilstand van wapenen, treves
Possession=Bezetenheyd
Harlot=Boer, snol
Strumpet=Hoer
Licentious=Ongebonden, los, toomeloos
Blot=Een klad, vlak, vlek, spat

Topics: loyalty, ruin, reputation, marriage, love, respect

For revenged I will be, as sure as his guts are made of puddings

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Mistress Page
CONTEXT:
MISTRESS PAGE
Ask me no reason why I love you; for though
Love use Reason for his physician, he admits him
not for his counsellor. You are not young, no more
am I; go to then, there’s sympathy: you are merry,
so am I; ha, ha! then there’s more sympathy: you
love sack, and so do I; would you desire better
sympathy? Let it suffice thee, Mistress Page,—at
the least, if the love of soldier can suffice,—
that I love thee. I will not say, pity me; ’tis
not a soldier-like phrase: but I say, love me. By me,
Thine own true knight,
By day or night,
Or any kind of light,
With all his might
For thee to fight, John Falstaff
What a Herod of Jewry is this! O wicked
world! One that is well-nigh worn to pieces with
age to show himself a young gallant! What an
unweighed behavior hath this Flemish drunkard
picked—with the devil’s name!—out of my
conversation, that he dares in this manner assay me?
Why, he hath not been thrice in my company! What
should I say to him? I was then frugal of my
mirth: Heaven forgive me! Why, I’ll exhibit a bill
in the parliament for the putting down of men. How
shall I be revenged on him? for revenged I will be,
as sure as his guts are made of puddings.

DUTCH:
Hoe kan ik mij op hem wreken? want
wreken wil ik mij, zoo waar als zijn ingewanden uit
louter poddingen bestaan.

MORE:
Sack=The generic name of Spanish and Canary wines
Counsellor=Legal or personal adviser
Sympathy=Common ground
Jewry=Judea
Unweighed=Ill=considered
Assay=Try to seduce
Exhibit=Introduce
Pudding=A gut filled with stuffing
Compleat:
Sack=Sek, een soort van sterke wyn
Counsellor=Een raad, raaadsheer, raadgeever
Sympathy=Onderlinge trek, wederzydsche zucht, medegevoel
Assay=Beproeven, toetsen, onderstaan
Exhibit=Voordraagen, opgeeven
Pudding=Beuling

Topics: revenge, reason, love, pity

For truth hath better deeds than words to grace it

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Proteus
CONTEXT:
PROTEUS
Here is my hand for my true constancy;
And when that hour o’erslips me in the day
Wherein I sigh not, Julia, for thy sake,
The next ensuing hour some foul mischance
Torment me for my love’s forgetfulness!
My father stays my coming; answer not;
The tide is now: nay, not thy tide of tears;
That tide will stay me longer than I should.
Julia, farewell!
PROTEUS
What, gone without a word?
Ay, so true love should do: it cannot speak;
For truth hath better deeds than words to grace it.

DUTCH:
Ja, zoo doet trouwe liefde; zwijgen moet zij,
Want daden zijn de tooi der trouw, niet woorden.

MORE:
Proverb: Actions speak louder than words

True constancy=Fidelity
O’erslips=Passes
Mischance=Misfortune
Stays=Awaits
Stay=Delay
Grace=Adorn
Compleat:
Constancy=Standvastigheid, volharding, bestendigheid
Overslip=Laaten duurslippen
Mischance=Misval, mislukking, ongeval, ongeluk
To stay=Wachten, stil staan, stil houden, vertoeven; stuyten
To grace=Vercieren, bevallig maaken

Topics: proverbs and idioms, truth, time, love

Full of vexation come I with complaint

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Egeus
CONTEXT:
EGEUS
Full of vexation come I with complaint
Against my child, my daughter Hermia.—
Stand forth, Demetrius.—My noble lord,
This man hath my consent to marry her.—
Stand forth, Lysander.—And my gracious duke,
This man hath bewitched the bosom of my child.—
Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,
And interchanged love tokens with my child.
Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung
With feigning voice verses of feigning love,
And stol’n the impression of her fantasy
With bracelets of thy hair, rings, gauds, conceits,
Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats—messengers
Of strong prevailment in unhardened youth.
With cunning hast thou filched my daughter’s heart,
Turned her obedience (which is due to me)
To stubborn harshness.—And, my gracious duke,
Be it so she will not here before your grace
Consent to marry with Demetrius,
I beg the ancient privilege of Athens.
As she is mine, I may dispose of her—
Which shall be either to this gentleman
Or to her death—according to our law
Immediately provided in that case.

DUTCH:
Vol leedgevoel verschijn ik en verklaag
Mijn kind hier, mijne dochter Hermia

MORE:
Vexation=Anger, agitation
Feigning=Pretence, fake
Gauds=Gaudy gifts
Conceits=Trinkets
Unhardened=Innocent, inexperienced
Be it so=If
Privilege of Athens=Where father has total authority
Compleat:
Vexation=Quelling, plaaging, quellaadje
Feigning=Verdichting, veynzing
Gaudy=Weydsch, zwierig
Hardened=Gehard, verhard

Topics: anger, complaint, love, marriage

Full oft we see cold wisdom waiting on superfluous folly

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Helen
CONTEXT:
HELEN
[Aside] One that goes with him: I love him for his sake;
And yet I know him a notorious liar,
Think him a great way fool, solely a coward;
Yet these fixed evils sit so fit in him,
That they take place, when virtue’s steely bones
Look bleak i’ the cold wind: withal, full oft we see
Cold wisdom waiting on superfluous folly.

DUTCH:
Vaak ziet men, dat de wijsheid, koud, armoedig,
Aan dwaasheid, warm en weeld’rig, dienstbaar is .

MORE:
A great way=Largely
Solely=Wholly
Sit so fit in=Suit
Superfluous=Excessive, abundant
Folly=Perversity of judgment, foolishness
Naturalize=Familiarise
Waiting on=Follow
Compleat:
Folly=Ondeugd, buitenspoorigheid, onvolmaaktheid
Wait upon=Op wachten, oppassen

Topics: love, honesty

Hopeless to find, yet loath to leave unsought

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Aegeon
CONTEXT:
DUKE
And for the sake of them thou sorrowest for,
Do me the favour to dilate at full
What hath befall’n of them and thee till now.
AEGEON
My youngest boy, and yet my eldest care,
At eighteen years became inquisitive
After his brother, and importuned me
That his attendant—so his case was like,
Reft of his brother, but retained his name—
Might bear him company in the quest of him,
Whom whilst I laboured of a love to see,
I hazarded the loss of whom I loved.
Five summers have I spent in farthest Greece,
Roaming clean through the bounds of Asia,
And, coasting homeward, came to Ephesus,
Hopeless to find, yet loath to leave unsought
Or that or any place that harbors men.
But here must end the story of my life;
And happy were I in my timely death
Could all my travels warrant me they live.

DUTCH:
En kwam naar Ephesus op mijn terugweg,
Wel zonder hoop, maar hier als overal,
Waar menschen zijn, in ‘t zoeken onverdroten.

MORE:
Dilate=Relate
Importuned=Urged
Reft=Bereft, separated
Quest of=Search for
Hazarded=Risked
Hopeless to=With no hope of
Warrant=Reassure
Compleat:
Dilate=Verwyden, uitweyden
Importune=Lastig vallen, zeer dringen, gestadig aanhouden, overdringen, aandringen
Bereft=Beroofd
Hazard=Waagen, aventuuren, in de waagschaal stellen
Quest=Onderzoek [omtrent misdryf]Warrant (assure, promise)=Verzekeren, belooven, ervoor instaan

Topics: love, risk, relationship, security

How angerly I taught my brow to frown, when inward joy enforced my heart to smile

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Julia
CONTEXT:
JULIA
And yet I would I had o’erlooked the letter:
It were a shame to call her back again
And pray her to a fault for which I chid her.
What a fool is she, that knows I am a maid,
And would not force the letter to my view!
Since maids, in modesty, say ‘no’ to that
Which they would have the profferer construe ‘ay.’
Fie, fie, how wayward is this foolish love
That, like a testy babe, will scratch the nurse
And presently all humbled kiss the rod!
How churlishly I chid Lucetta hence,
When willingly I would have had her here!
How angerly I taught my brow to frown,
When inward joy enforced my heart to smile!
My penance is to call Lucetta back
And ask remission for my folly past.
What ho! Lucetta!

DUTCH:
Hoe vinnig keef ik daar Lucetta weg,
Toen ik haar innig gaarne bij mij hield;
Hoe toornig plooide ik mijn gelaat tot rimpels,
Terwijl de vreugd mijn hart tot lachen dwong!

MORE:
Overlooked=Examined
Shame=Shameful
Pray to=Beg, entreat
Chid=Scolded
Testy=Irritable
Remission=Pardon
Compleat:
Shame (reproach, ignominy)=Schande
Shamefull=Schandelyk, snood; Op een schandelyke wyze
Pray=Verzoeken
Chide=Kyven, bekyven
Testy=Korzel, kribbig, gramsteurig, gemelyk
Remission=Vergiffenis, vergeeving, quytschelding

Topics: love, emotion and mood, appearance, mercy, regret

I am amazèd at your passionate words. I scorn you not. It seems that you scorn me.

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Hermia
CONTEXT:
HERMIA
I am amazèd at your passionate words.
I scorn you not. It seems that you scorn me.
HELENA
Have you not set Lysander, as in scorn,
To follow me and praise my eyes and face?
And made your other love, Demetrius—
Who even but now did spurn me with his foot—
To call me goddess, nymph, divine, and rare,
Precious, celestial? Wherefore speaks he this
To her he hates? And wherefore doth Lysander
Deny your love, so rich within his soul,
And tender me, forsooth, affection,
But by your setting on, by your consent?
What though I be not so in grace as you—
So hung upon with love, so fortunate—
But miserable most, to love unloved?
This you should pity rather than despise.

DUTCH:
Ik sta verbaasd van uw verstoorde taal,
Ik hoon u niet; maar gij hoont, schijnt het, mij.

MORE:
Tender=Offer
Grace=Favour
Compleat:
Grace of God=de Genade Gods
To grace=Vercieren, bevallig maaken
Graced=Begaafd
Tender of money=een Aanbieding van geld

Topics: anger, pity, love

I am crept in favour with myself

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Richard, Duke of Gloucester
CONTEXT:
RICHARD
No, to Whitefriars. There attend my coming.
Was ever woman in this humour wooed?
Was ever woman in this humour won?
I’ll have her, but I will not keep her long.
What, I that killed her husband and his father,
To take her in her heart’s extremest hate,
With curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes,
The bleeding witness of my hatred by,
Having God, her conscience, and these bars against me,
And I no friends to back my suit at all
But the plain devil and dissembling looks?
And yet to win her, all the world to nothing! Ha!
Hath she forgot already that brave prince,
Edward, her lord, whom I some three months since
Stabbed in my angry mood at Tewkesbury?
A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman,
Framed in the prodigality of nature,
Young, valiant, wise, and, no doubt, right royal,
The spacious world cannot again afford.
And will she yet abase her eyes on me,
That cropped the golden prime of this sweet prince
And made her widow to a woeful bed?
On me, whose all not equals Edward’s moiety?
On me, that halts and am misshapen thus?
My dukedom to a beggarly denier,
I do mistake my person all this while!
Upon my life, she finds, although I cannot,
Myself to be a marv’lous proper man.
I’ll be at charges for a looking glass
And entertain a score or two of tailors
To study fashions to adorn my body.
Since I am crept in favour with myself,
I will maintain it with some little cost.
But first I’ll turn yon fellow in his grave
And then return lamenting to my love.
Shine out, fair sun, till I have bought a glass,
That I may see my shadow as I pass.

DUTCH:
Ik moet mij, wat het koste, een spiegel koopen,
En schaf een paar dozijnen snijders aan,
Om drachten uit te denken, die mij goed staan .
Nu ‘k bij mijzelf in gunst gekomen ben,
Leg ik er ook een weinig aan te kost.

MORE:
Humour=Manner
Bars=Impediments
All the world to nothing=All odds stacked against
Framed=Formed
Afford=Provide
Abase=Debase
Moiety=Share
Halts=Limps
Denier=French coin of little value
Proper=Handsome
Be at charges for=Spend money on
Entertain=Hire
Glass=Mirror
Compleat:
Bar=Dwarsboom, draaiboom, hinderpaal, beletsel, traali
To frame=Een gestalte geeven, toestellen, maaken, ontwerpen, schikken, beraamen
Afford=Verschaffen, uytleeveren
To abase=Vernederen, verootmoedigen
Moiety=De helft
To halt=Hinken, mank gaan
Proper=Bequaam, van een bequaame lengte
I am at a great charge=Ik moet groote kosten doen
Entertain=Onthaalen
Looking glass=Spiegel

Topics: love, suspicion, betrayal, emotion and mood

I am crept in favour with myself

Topics: love, suspicion, betrayal, emotion and mood

I am giddy; expectation whirls me round

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Troilus
CONTEXT:
TROILUS
I am giddy; expectation whirls me round.
The imaginary relish is so sweet
That it enchants my sense: what will it be,
When that the watery palate tastes indeed
Love’s thrice repured nectar? death, I fear me,
Swooning destruction, or some joy too fine,
Too subtle-potent, tuned too sharp in sweetness,
For the capacity of my ruder powers:
I fear it much; and I do fear besides,
That I shall lose distinction in my joys;
As doth a battle, when they charge on heaps
The enemy flying.

DUTCH:
Ik duizel; ‘t wachten draait mij om en rond
Het voorgevoel van ‘t heil is reeds zoo zoet,
Dat ziel en zinnen zijn betooverd.

MORE:
Watery=Watering
Nectar=Drink of the gods
Fine=Exquisite
Ruder=Unrefined
Distinction=Ability to discriminate
On heaps=All together
Compleat:
Nectar=Goden-drank
Fine=Uitmuntent
Rude=Ruuw. Rudely (or coarsly)=Groffelyk
Distinction=Onderscheid, onderscheiding; afscheiding

Topics: love, emotion and mood

I go, I go, look how I go! Swifter than arrow from the Tartar’s bow

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Puck
CONTEXT:
OBERON
About the wood go swifter than the wind,
And Helena of Athens look thou find—
All fancy-sick she is and pale of cheer,
With sighs of love, that costs the fresh blood dear.
By some illusion see thou bring her here.
I’ll charm his eyes against she do appear.
PUCK
I go, I go. Look how I go,
Swifter than arrow from the Tartar’s bow.

DUTCH:
Ik ijl, ik ijl, zie hoe ik ijl:
Sneller dan ooit van Parthers hoog een pijl.

MORE:
Proverb: As swift as an arrow

Fancy-sick=Lovesick
Against=In preparation for
Tartars were renowned for their skill at archery, hence Tartar’s bow.
Compleat:
Against tomorrow=Tegens morgen
Fancy=Inbeelding, verbeelding, neyging

Topics: proverbs and idioms, still in use, love, emotion and mood

I have a venturous fairy that shall seek the squirrel’s hoard and fetch thee new nuts

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Bottom
CONTEXT:
BOTTOM
Nothing, good monsieur, but to help Cavalery Cobweb to
scratch. I must to the barber’s, monsieur, for methinks
I am marvellous hairy about the face. And I am such a
tender ass, if my hair do but tickle me, I must scratch.
TITANIA
What, wilt thou hear some music, my sweet love?
BOTTOM
I have a reasonable good ear in music. Let’s have the
tongs and the bones.
TITANIA
Or say, sweet love, what thou desirest to eat.
BOTTOM
Truly, a peck of provender. I could munch your good dry
oats. Methinks I have a great desire to a bottle of
hay. Good hay, sweet hay, hath no fellow.
TITANIA
I have a venturous fairy that shall seek
The squirrel’s hoard and fetch thee new nuts.

DUTCH:
Ik heb een waagzieke elf, die uit de schuur
Eens eekhoorns nieuwe noten voor u haal’.

MORE:
Tongs and bones=Fire-tongs and clappers (triangle and sticks were played as a sort of rudimentary clapper)
Provender=Animal feed
Bottle=Bundle
Compleat:
Provender=Voeder; paerden-voer

Topics: love

I shall, in a more continuate time, strike off this score of absence

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Cassio
CONTEXT:
BIANCA
And I was going to your lodging, Cassio.
What, keep a week away? Seven days and nights?
Eight score eight hours? And lovers’ absent hours
More tedious than the dial eightscore times!
Oh weary reckoning!
CASSIO
Pardon me, Bianca,
I have this while with leaden thoughts been pressed,
But I shall, in a more continuate time,
Strike off this score of absence. Sweet Bianca,
Take me this work out.
BIANCA
O Cassio, whence came this?
This is some token from a newer friend!
To the felt absence now I feel a cause.
Is ’t come to this? Well, well.
CASSIO
Go to, woman,
Throw your vile guesses in the devil’s teeth
From whence you have them. You are jealous now
That this is from some mistress, some remembrance.
No, in good troth, Bianca.

DUTCH:
Vergeef mij, Bianca,
Ik werd gedrukt door zorgen, zwaar als lood,
Maar doe, in ongestoorder tijd, die reek’ning
Van ‘t afzijn af.

MORE:
Eight-score eight=168
The dial=The hands circuiting the face of the clock
Continuate=Uninterrupted
Strike off=Settle, recompense
This work=Embroidery
Take out=Copy
Compleat:
Dial=Wysplaat
Continuation=Vervolg, achtervolging, standhouding, geduurzaakheyd
To strike out=Doorstryken

Topics: love, relationship, suspicion

I would adventure for such merchandise.

PLAY: Romeo and Juliet
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Romeo
CONTEXT:
By love, that first did prompt me to inquire.
He lent me counsel and I lent him eyes.
I am no pilot. Yet, wert thou as far
As that vast shore washed with the farthest sea,
I would adventure for such merchandise.

DUTCH:
Ik ben geen zeeman, maar, waart ge ook zoo ver
Als de oever, door de verste zee bespoeld,
Ik waagde toch de vaart voor zulk gewin.

MORE:
Adventure=Hazard, chance, risk; hazardous and striking enterprise

Topics: love, courage, risk

I’ll be as patient as a gentle stream
And make a pastime of each weary step

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.7
SPEAKER: Julia
CONTEXT:
LUCETTA
I do not seek to quench your love’s hot fire,
But qualify the fire’s extreme rage,
Lest it should burn above the bounds of reason.
JULIA
The more thou damm’st it up, the more it burns.
The current that with gentle murmur glides,
Thou know’st, being stopp’d, impatiently doth rage;
But when his fair course is not hindered,
He makes sweet music with the enamelled stones,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
He overtaketh in his pilgrimage,
And so by many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport to the wild ocean.
Then let me go and hinder not my course
I’ll be as patient as a gentle stream
And make a pastime of each weary step,
Till the last step have brought me to my love;
And there I’ll rest, as after much turmoil
A blessed soul doth in Elysium.
LUCETTA
But in what habit will you go along?
JULIA
Not like a woman; for I would prevent
The loose encounters of lascivious men:
Gentle Lucetta, fit me with such weeds
As may beseem some well-reputed page.
40
JULIA
Not a woman’s clothes, since I hope to avoid greedy men’s
improper advances. Dear Lucetta, give me clothes that are
appropriate for some well-regarded servant.

DUTCH:
k Zal rustig voortgaan als een kalme stroom,
En ied’re moede tred zal mij een lust zijn

MORE:
Qualify=Moderate
Enamelled=Polished
Sedge=Grass plant
Wild=Unbounded
Elysium=Where blessed souls dwell in Greek mythology
Habit=Outfit
Would=Wish to
Fit=Equip
Weeds=Clothes
Compleat:
Qualify=Maatigen, temperen
Enamelled=Gebrandschilderd
Sedge=Duynhelm [gewas]Wild=Buitenspoorig, onbetaamelyk
Habit=Een kleed, gewaad, dos, dragt
To fit out=Uytrusten
Weeds (habit or garment)=Kleederen, gewaad

Topics: love, emotion and mood, patience

If she and I be pleased, what’s that to you?

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Petruchio
CONTEXT:
PETRUCHIO
Be patient, gentlemen. I choose her for myself.
If she and I be pleased, what’s that to you?
‘Tis bargained ’twixt us twain, being alone,
That she shall still be curst in company.
I tell you, ’tis incredible to believe
How much she loves me. O, the kindest Kate!
She hung about my neck, and kiss on kiss
She vied so fast, protesting oath on oath,
That in a twink she won me to her love.
O, you are novices! ‘Tis a world to see,
How tame, when men and women are alone,
A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.—
Give me thy hand, Kate. I will unto Venice
To buy apparel ‘gainst the wedding day.
Provide the feast, father, and bid the guests.
I will be sure my Katherine shall be fine.

DUTCH:
Stil, heeren, stil ; ik koos haar voor mijzelf;
‘t Gaat u niet aan, als ‘t haar en mij zoo wel is.

MORE:
Be pleased=Are happy
Bargained=Agreed
Twixt us twain=Between the two of us
Curst=Perverse, forward, peevish
Meacock=Timid
‘Gainst=In preparation for
Compleat:
Pleased=Behaagd, aangestaan, beliefd
Bargain=Een verding, verdrag, koop
Betwixt=Tusschen, tusschenbeide
Betwixt the devil and the red sea=Tusschen hangen en worgen
Meacock=Een verwyfde bloodaard
Against=Tegens
Against the end of the week=Tegen ‘t laastst van deeze week

Topics: patience, free will, marriage, love

If you find him sad, say I am dancing. If in mirth, report that I am sudden sick.

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Cleopatra
CONTEXT:
CLEOPATRA
Where is he?
CHARMIAN
I did not see him since.
See where he is, who’s with him, what he does.
I did not send you. If you find him sad,
Say I am dancing. If in mirth, report
That I am sudden sick. Quick, and return.
CHARMIAN
Madam, methinks, if you did love him dearly,
You do not hold the method to enforce
The like from him.

DUTCH:
Zie, waar hij is, met wien, en wat hij doet; —
Maar niet, dat ik u zend. — Vindt gij hem somber,
Zoo zeg, ik dans; vindt gij hem vroolijk, meld dan:
‘k Werd plots’ling ziek. — Nu voort en fluks terug.

MORE:
Proverb: When the husband is sad (merry) the wife will be merry (sad)

Since=Recently
I did not send you=Do not say that I sent you
Sad=Serious
The like=The same, reciprocation
Method=Means
Compleat:
Since=Sederd, geleden
Sad=Droevig
Method=Wyze, maniere, leerwyze, leerweg, orde, beleyding

Topics: love, manipulation, deceit, justification

In maiden meditation, fancy-free

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Oberon
CONTEXT:
OBERON
That very time I saw (but thou couldst not)
Flying between the cold moon and the Earth,
Cupid all armed. A certain aim he took
At a fair vestal thronèd by the west,
And loosed his love shaft smartly from his bow
As it should pierce a hundred thousand hearts.
But I might see young Cupid’s fiery shaft
Quenched in the chaste beams of the watery moon,
And the imperial votaress passèd on,
In maiden meditation, fancy-free.
Yet marked I where the bolt of Cupid fell.
It fell upon a little western flower,
Before milk-white, now purple with love’s wound.
And maidens call it “love-in-idleness.”
Fetch me that flower. The herb I showed thee once.
The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.
Fetch me this herb, and be thou here again
Ere the leviathan can swim a league.

DUTCH:
De hooge kluiz’naresse ging haar weg,
In maagdlijke overdenking, ongedeerd.

MORE:
Certain=Sure aim
Vestal=Virgin
Imperial=Majestic
Bolt=Arrow
Love-in-idleness=Pansy
Or man or woman=Either man or woman
Leviathan=Biblical sea monster
Compleat:
To take one’s aim well=Zynen slag wis neemen
Vestal=eene Vestaal, eertyds by de aaloude Romeynen een Nonne van de Godinne Vesta
Bolt=een Grendel, bout
He has shot his holt=Hy heeft zynen slag gedaan

Burgersdijk notes:
Op een Vestale. Onder de Vestale versta men eenvoudig de Maangodin, die zich in het westen, dat is naar den kant van Engeland toe, aan den heuvel vertoonde, niet Koningin Elizabeth, zooals men dikwijls gewild heeft. Het bloempjen, door Cupido’s pijl geraakt, „Liefde uit lediggang” heet in ‘t Engelsch Love-in-idleness; dit is een der volksnamen van het driekleurig viooltjen.

Topics: love, fate/destiny, nature

It was a violent commencement in her, and thou shalt see an answerable sequestration

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
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:
(H)et was hij haar een stormachtig
begin, en gij zult een even zoo plotselinge losscheuring
beleven; — steek maar geld in uw tasch

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, love, money, poverty and wealth

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged Cupid painted blind

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Helena
CONTEXT:
HELENA
How happy some o’er other some can be!
Through Athens I am thought as fair as she.
But what of that? Demetrius thinks not so.
He will not know what all but he do know.
And as he errs, doting on Hermia’s eyes,
So I, admiring of his qualities.
Things base and vile, holding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity.
Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind.
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
Nor hath Love’s mind of any judgment taste—
Wings and no eyes figure unheedy haste.
And therefore is Love said to be a child,
Because in choice he is so oft beguiled.
As waggish boys in game themselves forswear,
So the boy Love is perjured everywhere.
For ere Demetrius looked on Hermia’s eyne,
He hailed down oaths that he was only mine.
And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt,
So he dissolved, and showers of oaths did melt.
I will go tell him of fair Hermia’s flight.
Then to the wood will he tomorrow night
Pursue her. And for this intelligence
If I have thanks, it is a dear expense.
But herein mean I to enrich my pain,
To have his sight thither and back again.

DUTCH:
Zelfs aan wat leelijk en nietswaardig is,
Leent liefde schoonheid en beteekenis.
Zij ziet niet met het oog, maar met het hart,
Van daar is ze in haar oordeel vaak verward,
En daarom heet de god der liefde blind.

MORE:
Happy=Lucky
Other some=Some others
Any judgement=Any rationality
Quantity=Proportion
Waggish=Playful
Eyne=Eyes
Compleat:
Judgement=Gevoelen, verstand
Quantity=Hoegrootheyd, grootheyd
Waggish=Potsachtig

Topics: love, fate/destiny, reason

Lysander riddles very prettily

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 2.2
SPEAKER: Hermia
CONTEXT:
HERMIA
Lysander riddles very prettily.
Now much beshrew my manners and my pride
If Hermia meant to say Lysander lied.
But, gentle friend, for love and courtesy
Lie further off in human modesty.
Such separation as may well be said
Becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid.
So far be distant. And, good night, sweet friend.
Thy love ne’er alter till thy sweet life end!

DUTCH:
Gij haalt er dat „vertrouwen” aardig bij; —
Geloof toch, ‘t was geen wantrouwen of vrees,
Dat ik u maar wat verder ginds verwees.

MORE:
Riddles very prettily=Is skilful with language
Beshrew=Curse
Compleat:
Riddle=een Raadsel
Beshrew=Bekyven, vervloeken

Topics: language, pride, love

Men are April when they woo, December when they wed

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 4.1
SPEAKER: Rosalind
CONTEXT:
ROSALIND
Now tell me how long you would have her after you have
possessed her.
ORLANDO
Forever and a day.
ROSALIND
Say “a day” without the “ever.” No, no, Orlando, men
are April when they woo, December when they wed. Maids
are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when
they are wives. I will be more jealous of thee than a
Barbary cock-pigeon over his hen, more clamorous than a
parrot against rain, more newfangled than an ape, more
giddy in my desires than a monkey. I will weep for
nothing, like Diana in the fountain, and I will do that
when you are disposed to be merry. I will laugh like a
hyena, and that when thou art inclined to sleep.

DUTCH:
Neen, neen, Orlando, mannen zijn April, als zij vrijen, maar December, als zij getrouwd zijn; meisjens zijn Mei, als zij meisjens zijn, maar de lucht betrekt, zoodra zij vrouwen zijn.

MORE:
Have=Keep
Barbary cock-pigeon=Ornamaental bird
Against=Before, in preparation for
New-fangled=Distracted by new fashions
Diana=Statues of Diana placed in fountains
Compleat:
New-fangled=Nieuw uitgevonden, nieuwgesmeed

Topics: love, marriage

Mightst thou perceive austerely in his eye that he did plead in earnest, yea or no?

PLAY: The Comedy of Errors
ACT/SCENE: 4.2
SPEAKER: Adriana
CONTEXT:
ADRIANA
Ah, Luciana, did he tempt thee so?
Mightst thou perceive austerely in his eye
That he did plead in earnest, yea or no?
Looked he or red or pale, or sad or merrily?
What observation mad’st thou in this case
Of his heart’s meteors tilting in his face?
LUCIANA
First he denied you had in him no right.
ADRIANA
He meant he did me none; the more my spite.
LUCIANA
Then swore he that he was a stranger here.
ADRIANA
And true he swore, though yet forsworn he were.

DUTCH:
Ach, zuster, heeft hij zoo uw hart belaagd?
Gelooft gij, dat hij ‘t waarlijk meende? spreek!
Zeg ja of neen! Hoe sprak zijn oog? en zaagt
Ge er leed of vreugd in? was hij rood of bleek?

MORE:
Tilt=Toss, play unsteadily
Meteor=A bright phenomenon, thought to be portentous, appearing in the atmosphere (perhaps electrically charged clouds or colours of the aurora borealis)
Austerely=Severely
Compleat:
To tilt=Schermen
Austerely=Straffelyk, strengelyk

Topics: love, appearance, honesty

O, blessèd, that I might not! I chose an eagle and did avoid a puttock

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Imogen
CONTEXT:
IMOGEN
O, blessèd that I might not! I chose an eagle
And did avoid a puttock.
CYMBELINE
Thou took’st a beggar, wouldst have made my throne
A seat for baseness.
IMOGEN
No, I rather added
A lustre to it.
CYMBELINE
O thou vile one!
IMOGEN
Sir,
It is your fault that I have loved Posthumus.
You bred him as my playfellow, and he is
A man worth any woman, overbuys me
Almost the sum he pays.

DUTCH:
Wèl mij, ik wachtte niet; ik koos een aad’laar,
En meed een gier.

MORE:
Puttock=Kite, not a hawk worthy of training (a kite, buzzard or marsh harrier)
Overbuys=I am worth but a small fraction of what he gives for me
Baseness=Vileness, meanness
Take=Marry (take in marriage)
Compleat:
Puttock (buzzard)=Een buizard, zekere roofvogel
Baseness=Laagheid, lafhartigheid

Topics: marriage, value, order/society, status, love

Only sin and hellish obstinacy tie thy tongue, that truth should be suspected

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Countess
CONTEXT:
COUNTESS
Yes, Helen, you might be my daughter-in-law:
God shield you mean it not! daughter and mother
So strive upon your pulse. What, pale again?
My fear hath catched your fondness: now I see
The mystery of your loneliness, and find
Your salt tears’ head: now to all sense ’tis gross
You love my son; invention is ashamed,
Against the proclamation of thy passion,
To say thou dost not: therefore tell me true;
But tell me then, ’tis so ; for, look, thy cheeks
Confess it, th’ one to th’ other; and thine eyes
See it so grossly shown in thy behaviours,
That in their kind they speak it: only sin
And hellish obstinacy tie thy tongue,
That truth should be suspected. Speak, is ‘t so ?
If it be so, you have wound a goodly clew;
If it be not, forswear ‘t : howe’er, I charge thee,
As heaven shall work in me for thine avail,
To tell me truly.

DUTCH:
Slechts zonde
En wederspannige onwil boeit uw tong,
Dat die de waarheid heel’.

MORE:
Proverb: In being your own foe, you spin a fair thread
Proverb: You have spun a fine (fair) thread

Gross=Palpable
Grossly=Conspicuously
Clew=Ball of thread
Compleat:
Gross=Grof, plomp, onbebouwen
You grossly mistake my meaning=Gy vergist u grootelyks omtrent myn meening
Clew=Een kluwen (garen)

Topics: truth, deceit, love, appearance, proverbs and idioms

Our general’s wife is now the general

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
IAGO
You or any man living may be drunk at a time, man. I
tell you what you shall do. Our general’s wife is now
the general. I may say so in this respect, for that he
hath devoted and given up himself to the contemplation,
mark, and denotement of her parts and graces. Confess
yourself freely to her, importune her help to put you in
your place again. She is of so free, so kind, so apt,
so blessed a disposition, she holds it a vice in her
goodness not to do more than she is requested. This
broken joint between you and her husband entreat her to
splinter, and, my fortunes against any lay worth naming,
this crack of your love shall grow stronger than it was
before.
CASSIO
You advise me well.

DUTCH:
Dronken zijn kan u en iederen mensch ter wereld overkomen,
man. Ik zal u zeggen, wat gij te doen hebt.
De vrouw van onzen Generaal is nu de Generaal

MORE:
Proverb: A broken bone is the stronger when it is well set

Denotement=Contemplation; mark, indication: “in a man that’s just they are close –s, working from the heart”.
Importune =Ask urgently and persistently
Parts=Accomplishments, qualities
Compleat:
To importune=Lastig vallen, zeer dringen, gestadig aanhouden, overdringen, aandringen
Denotation=Betekening
Parts=Deelen, hoedaanigheden, begaafdheden

Topics: excess, marriage, authority, marriage, love, skill/talent, proverbs and idioms

Plead what I will be, not what I have been; not my deserts, but what I will deserve

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 4.4
SPEAKER: Richard
CONTEXT:
RICHARD
As I intend to prosper and repent,
So thrive I in my dangerous affairs
Of hostile arms! Myself myself confound,
Heaven and fortune bar me happy hours,
Day, yield me not thy light, nor night thy rest,
Be opposite all planets of good luck
To my proceedings if, with dear heart’s love,
Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts,
I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter.
In her consists my happiness and thine.
Without her follows to myself and thee,
Herself, the land, and many a Christian soul,
Death, desolation, ruin and decay.
It cannot be avoided but by this;
It will not be avoided but by this.
Therefore, dear mother—I must call you so—
Be the attorney of my love to her:
Plead what I will be, not what I have been;
Not my deserts, but what I will deserve.
Urge the necessity and state of times,
And be not peevish found in great designs.

DUTCH:
Wees zaakverzorgster mijner liefde. Stel
Haar voor, wat ik zijn wil, niet wat ik was,
Niet wat ik heb verdiend, maar zal verdienen;
Leg nadruk op den stand en eisch des tijds,
En wees bij groote plannen niet kleingeestig.

MORE:
Myself myself confound=Ruin myself
Bar=Deprive
Tender=Respect, value
Peevish=Foolishly
Great designs=Important affairs (of state)
Compleat:
Confound=Verwarren, verstooren, te schande maaken, verbysteren
Bar=Dwarsboom, draaiboom, hinderpaal, beletsel, traali
To tender=Aanbieden, van harte bezinnen, behartigen
Peevish=Kribbig, gemelyk
Design=Opzet, voorneemen, oogmerk, aanslag, toeleg, ontwerp

Topics: love, achievement

So smooth he daubed his vice with show of virtue

PLAY: Richard III
ACT/SCENE: 3.5
SPEAKER: Richard, Duke of Gloucester
CONTEXT:
RICHARD
So dear I loved the man that I must weep.
I took him for the plainest harmless creature
That breathed upon this earth a Christian;
Made him my book, wherein my soul recorded
The history of all her secret thoughts.
So smooth he daubed his vice with show of virtue
That, his apparent open guilt omitted—
I mean his conversation with Shore’s wife—
He lived from all attainder of suspects.

DUTCH:
Zoo glad vernis van deugd gaf hij zijn ondeugd,
Dat, zijn bekende zonde niet gerekend

MORE:
Plainest-harmless=Plainest and harmless
Book=Diary
Apparent=Evident
Daub=Dissembling. (Old French edauber’, whitewash). See also King Lear: “I cannot daub it further.” (Edgar, 4.1)
Attainder=Stain, blemish (disgrace)
Compleat:
Plain=Vlak, effen, klaar, duydelyk, slecht, eenvoudig, oprecht
Apparent=Schynbaar, oogenschynlyk, waarschynlyk, blykbaar
Daub (dawb)=Bestryken, besmeeren, beslyken, besmeuren; vleijen; omkoopen
Attainder=Eene overtuiging in rechten van eenige misdaad, schuldig-verklaaring
To attaint=Overtuigen van misdaad, schuldig verlaaren, betichten’ bevlekken, bederf aanzetten

Topics: love, suspicion, betrayal

The best way is to slander Valentine with falsehood, cowardice and poor descent

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Duke
CONTEXT:
DUKE
And also, I think, thou art not ignorant
How she opposes her against my will.
PROTEUS
She did, my lord, when Valentine was here.
DUKE
Ay, and perversely she persevers so.
What might we do to make the girl forget
The love of Valentine and love Sir Turio?
PROTEUS
The best way is to slander Valentine
With falsehood, cowardice and poor descent,
Three things that women highly hold in hate.

DUTCH:
Het zekerst door belast’ring; Valentijn
Zij trouwloos, laf gebleken, laag van afkomst;
Drie dingen, diep verfoeid door elke vrouw.

MORE:
Ignorant=Unknowing
Persevers=Perseveres
Descent=Lineage
Highly hold in hate=Hate very much
Compleat:
Ignorant=Onweetend, onkundig, onbewust
Persevere=Volharden, volstandig blyven
Of mean descent=Van een laage afkomst

Topics: plans/intentions, free will, love

The birds chant melody on every bush

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Tamora
CONTEXT:
TAMORA
My lovely Aaron, wherefore look’st thou sad,
When every thing doth make a gleeful boast?
The birds chant melody on every bush,
The snake lies rolled in the cheerful sun,
The green leaves quiver with the cooling wind
And make a chequered shadow on the ground:
Under their sweet shade, Aaron, let us sit,
And, whilst the babbling echo mocks the hounds,
Replying shrilly to the well-tuned horns,
As if a double hunt were heard at once,
Let us sit down and mark their yelping noise;
And, after conflict such as was supposed
The wandering prince and Dido once enjoyed,
When with a happy storm they were surprised
And curtained with a counsel-keeping cave,
We may, each wreathed in the other’s arms,
Our pastimes done, possess a golden slumber;
Whiles hounds and horns and sweet melodious birds
Be unto us as is a nurse’s song
Of lullaby to bring her babe asleep

DUTCH:
Uit ied’re struik klinkt voog’lenmelodie;
De slang ligt in den zonn’schijn saâmgerold ;
De blaad’ren trillen in den koelen wind,
En teek’nen schaduwplekken op den grond.

MORE:
Boast=Display
Prince=Aeneas
Happy=Lucky
With=By
Compleat:
Boast=Geroem, gepoch
Supposed=Vermoed, ondersteld, gewaand

Topics: nature, wellbeing, love

The course of true love never did run smooth

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Lysander
CONTEXT:
LYSANDER
How now, my love? Why is your cheek so pale?
How chance the roses there do fade so fast?
HERMIA
Belike for want of rain, which I could well
Beteem them from the tempest of my eyes.
LYSANDER
Ay me! For aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth.
But either it was different in blood—

DUTCH:
Wee mij; naar alles wat ik las en ooit
Uit sagen of geschiedenis vernam,
Vloot nooit de stroom van ware liefde zacht;
Nu was zij te verschillend door geboort’.

MORE:
Proverb: The course of true love never did run smooth

Belike=Probably
Beteem=Grant, afford
Tempest=Flood of tears
Blood=Birthright
Compleat:
Tempest=Omweer, storm

Topics: wellbeing, sorrow, love, proverbs and idioms, still in use, invented or popularised

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

The hind that would be mated with the lion must die for love

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 1.1
SPEAKER: Helen
CONTEXT:
HELEN
O, were that all! I think not on my father;
And these great tears grace his remembrance more
Than those I shed for him. What was he like?
I have forgot him: my imagination
Carries no favour in’t but Bertram’s.
I am undone: there is no living, none,
If Bertram be away. ‘Twere all one
That I should love a bright particular star
And think to wed it, he is so above me:
In his bright radiance and collateral light
Must I be comforted, not in his sphere.
The ambition in my love thus plagues itself:
The hind that would be mated by the lion
Must die for love. ‘Twas pretty, though plague,
To see him every hour; to sit and draw
His arched brows, his hawking eye, his curls,
In our heart’s table; heart too capable
Of every line and trick of his sweet favour:
But now he’s gone, and my idolatrous fancy
Must sanctify his relics. Who comes here?
HELEN
One that goes with him: I love him for his sake;
And yet I know him a notorious liar,
Think him a great way fool, solely a coward;
Yet these fixed evils sit so fit in him,
That they take place, when virtue’s steely bones
Look bleak i’ the cold wind: withal, full oft we see
Cold wisdom waiting on superfluous folly.

DUTCH:
De hinde, die den leeuw als gade wenscht,
Komt om door liefde

MORE:
Proverb: One may point at a star but not pull at it

Radiance=Rays of light
Undone=Ruined
Sphere=Orbit
Plague=Punish
Hawking=Sharp
Sanctify=Worship
Compleat:
Undone=Ontdaan, losgemaakt
Plague=Plaagen, quellen
Sanctify=Heyligen, heylig maaken

Topics: relationship, order/society, love, proverbs and idioms

The uncertain glory of an April day

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 1.3
SPEAKER: Proteus
CONTEXT:
ANTONIO
Look, what thou want’st shall be sent after thee:
No more of stay! To-morrow thou must go.
Come on, Panthino: you shall be employ’d
To hasten on his expedition.
PROTEUS
Thus have I shunn’d the fire for fear of burning,
And drench’d me in the sea, where I am drown’d.
I fear’d to show my father Julia’s letter,
Lest he should take exceptions to my love;
And with the vantage of mine own excuse
Hath he excepted most against my love.
O, how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day,
Which now shows all the beauty of the sun,
And by and by a cloud takes all away!

DUTCH:
O, hoe gelijkt toch deze liefdelente
Op eens Aprildags onbetrouwb’re pracht

MORE:
Shunned=Avoided
Take exceptions=Raise objection
Vantage=Advantage
Excepted=Objected
Compleat
To shun=Vermyden, ontwyken, ontvlieden
To take exception=Zich over iets belgen
Vantage=Toegift, toemaat, overmaat, overwigt

Topics: life, age/experience, love, nature

Their best conscience is not to leave ’t undone, but keep’t unknown.

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 3.3
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
IAGO
I am glad of this, for now I shall have reason
To show the love and duty that I bear you
With franker spirit. Therefore, as I am bound,
Receive it from me. I speak not yet of proof.
Look to your wife, observe her well with Cassio.
Wear your eyes thus, not jealous nor secure.
I would not have your free and noble nature
Out of self-bounty be abused. Look to ’t.
I know our country disposition well.
In Venice they do let God see the pranks
They dare not show their husbands. Their best conscience
Is not to leave ’t undone, but keep’t unknown.

DUTCH:
Ik ben met onzen landaard wel vertrouwd;
Men laat bij ons den hemel treken zien,
Die de gemaal niet zien mag; ‘t reinst geweten
Zegt daar niet:laat het na”, maar: houdt verborgen.”

MORE:
Proverb: Live charily if not chastely

Secure=Free from suspicion
Self-bounty=Innate generosity
Revolt=Unfaithfulness
Best conscience=Highest morality
Compleat:
To secure=In veyligheyd stellen, in zekerheyd brengen, redden, bergen; in vezekering neemen
Inference=Gevolg, besluy
Secure (fearless or careless)=Onbevreest, zorgeloos
Conscience=Het geweeten
Bounty=Goedertierenheid, mildheid

Topics: love, honesty, trust, betrayal, suspicion, evidence, marriage, proverbs and idioms

Their sense thus weak, lost with their fears thus strong, made senseless things begin to do them wrong

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Puck
CONTEXT:
PUCK
My mistress with a monster is in love.
Near to her close and consecrated bower,
While she was in her dull and sleeping hour,
A crew of patches, rude mechanicals
That work for bread upon Athenian stalls,
Were met together to rehearse a play
Intended for great Theseus’ nuptial day.
The shallowest thick-skin of that barren sort,
Who Pyramus presented in their sport,
Forsook his scene and entered in a brake,
When I did him at this advantage take,
An ass’s nole I fixèd on his head.
Anon his Thisbe must be answerèd,
And forth my mimic comes. When they him spy,
As wild geese that the creeping fowler eye,
Or russet-pated choughs, many in sort,
Rising and cawing at the gun’s report,
Sever themselves and madly sweep the sky,
So at his sight away his fellows fly;
And, at our stamp, here o’er and o’er one falls.
He “Murder!” cries and help from Athens calls.
Their sense thus weak, lost with their fears thus strong,
Made senseless things begin to do them wrong.
For briers and thorns at their apparel snatch,
Some sleeves, some hats—from yielders all things catch.
I led them on in this distracted fear
And left sweet Pyramus translated there.
When in that moment so it came to pass,
Titania waked and straightway loved an ass.

DUTCH:
Hun ziel, zoo zwak, gaf, gansch verbijsterd, toen
Zielloozen dingen kracht hun leed te doen;
Deez’ neemt een struik de mouw, aan dien den hoed
Zij vlieden door, half naakt, met duhb’len spoed;

MORE:
Close=Secret
Consecrated=Sacred
Dull=Drowsy
Patch=Clown
Rude=Ignorant
Mechanicals=Labourers
Thick-skin=Blockhead
Barren sort=Witless troupe
Present=Act
Nole=Head
Anon=Shortly
Mimic=Clumsy actor
Fowler=Bird hunter
Russet-pated=Grey-headed
In sort=As a group
Sever=Break away
Translated=Transformed
Yielders=The weak
Compleat:
Close=Besloten
Consecrate=Heiligen, wyen, toewyen
Dull=Lui, traag; lomp, ongevoelig
Rude=Ruuw. Rudely (or coarsly)=Groffelyk
Mechanick=Handwerkman
Anon=Daadelyk, straks, aanstonds
Mimick=Een nabootser
Mimical=Potsachtig, guyghelachtig
Fowler=Vogelaar
To sever=Affscheyden, afzonderen
To translate=Overzetten, vertaalen, overvoeren, verplaatsen
Yielding=Overgeeving, toegeeving, uitlevering; overgeevende, toegeeflyk, meegeeflyk

Topics: love, courage

They are but beggars that can count their worth.

PLAY: Romeo and Juliet
ACT/SCENE: 2.6
SPEAKER: Juliet
CONTEXT:
Conceit, more rich in matter than in words,
Brags of his substance, not of ornament.
They are but beggars that can count their worth.
But my true love is grown to such excess
I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth.

DUTCH:
t Gevoel is rijk in schatten, niet in woorden;
‘t Is trotsch op wat het is, maar mint geen praal;
Wie weet, hoeveel hij waard is, is een beed’laar;

MORE:
Conceit=imagination
Compleat:
To conceit=Zich verbeelden, achten
A pretty conceit=een aardige verbeelding

Topics: poverty and wealth, life, value, imagination, love

They are his shards, and he their beetle

PLAY: Antony and Cleopatra
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Enobarbus
CONTEXT:
ENOBARBUS
But he loves Caesar best; yet he loves Antony.
Hoo! Hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets, cannot
Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number—hoo!—
His love to Antony. But as for Caesar,
Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder.
AGRIPPA
Both he loves.
ENOBARBUS
They are his shards, and he their beetle.

DUTCH:
Zij zijn hem vleugelschilden, hij hun tor.

MORE:
Cast=Calculate
Number=Versify
Shard=Wing or wing-case of a beetle
Compleat:
To cast account=Rekenen, cyferen
Beetle=Tor, brems

Topics: love, respect, leadership

Things base and vile, holding no quantity, love can transpose to form and dignity

Topics: love, fate/destiny, reason

Think not I flatter, for I swear I do not—
Valiant, wise, remorseful, well accomplished

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 4.3
SPEAKER: Silvia
CONTEXT:
SILVIA
O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman—
Think not I flatter, for I swear I do not—
Valiant, wise, remorseful, well accomplished:
Thou art not ignorant what dear good will
I bear unto the banished Valentine,
Nor how my father would enforce me marry
Vain Turio, whom my very soul abhors.
Thyself hast loved; and I have heard thee say
No grief did ever come so near thy heart
As when thy lady and thy true love died,
Upon whose grave thou vowedst pure chastity.
Sir Eglamour, I would to Valentine,
To Mantua, where I hear he makes abode;
And, for the ways are dangerous to pass,
I do desire thy worthy company,
Upon whose faith and honour I repose.
Urge not my father’s anger, Eglamour,
But think upon my grief, a lady’s grief,
And on the justice of my flying hence,
To keep me from a most unholy match,
Which heaven and fortune still rewards with plagues.
I do desire thee, even from a heart
As full of sorrows as the sea of sands,
To bear me company and go with me:
If not, to hide what I have said to thee,
That I may venture to depart alone.

DUTCH:
Neen, ‘t is geen vleitaal, die ik spreek, ik zweer het,
Wijs, dapper, diepgevoelend, waarlijk ridder.

MORE:
Remorseful=Compassionate
Would to=Wish to go to
Makes abode=Resides
For=Because
Repose=Rely
Urge=Mention, make reference to
Still=Always
Compleat:
Remorse=Knaaging, wroeging, berouw
Abode=Verblyf, woonplaats
Repose=Rust
Urge=Dringen, pressen, aandringen, aanstaan
Still=Steeds, gestadig, altyd

Topics: flattery, reputation, love, friendship

Thou speakest wiser than thou art ware of

PLAY: As You Like It
ACT/SCENE: 2.4
SPEAKER: Rosalind
CONTEXT:
ROSALIND
Alas, poor shepherd, searching of thy wound,
I have by hard adventure found mine own.
TOUCHSTONE
And I mine. I remember when I was in love I broke my
sword upon a stone and bid him take that for coming anight
to Jane Smile. And I remember the kissing of her
batler, and the cow’s dugs that her pretty chapped hands
had milked. And I remember the wooing of a peascod
instead of her, from whom I took two cods and, giving
her them again, said with weeping tears, “Wear these for
my sake.” We that are true lovers run into strange
capers. But as all is mortal in nature, so is all nature
in love mortal in folly.
ROSALIND
Thou speak’st wiser than thou art ware of.
TOUCHSTONE
Nay, I shall ne’er be ware of mine own wit till I break
my shins against it.

DUTCH:
Gij spreekt wijzer, dan gij zelf gewaar wordt

MORE:
Searching of=Probing
Caper=A leap, a spring, in dancing or mirth: “we that are true lovers run into strange –s,”
Folly=Foolishness
Ware=Aware; cautious
Compleat:
Caper=een Kaper, als mede een Sprong
Folly=Dwaasheid, zotheid, zotterny
Folly (Vice, excess, imperfection)=Ondeugd, buitenspoorigheid, onvolmaaktheid

Topics: love, wisdom, life, nature

Thy years want wit, thy wit wants edge

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Chiron
CONTEXT:
DEMETRIUS
Chiron, thy years want wit, thy wit wants edge,
And manners, to intrude where I am graced;
And may, for aught thou know’st, affected be.
CHIRON
Demetrius, thou dost overween in all;
And so in this, to bear me down with braves.
‘Tis not the difference of a year or two
Makes me less gracious or thee more fortunate:
I am as able and as fit as thou
To serve, and to deserve my mistress’ grace;
And that my sword upon thee shall approve,
And plead my passions for Lavinia’s love.

DUTCH:
Demetrius, steeds blijkt gij overmoedig,
En wilt ook thans met pochen mij verslaan.
Die afstand van een jaar of twee maakt mij
Niet min begaafd en u niet meer geliefd.

MORE:
Want=Lack
Graced=Favoured
Affected=Loved
Overween=To be arrogant or presumptuous
Bear down=Overwhelm
Braves=Threats
Approve=Prove
Compleat:
Want=Gebrek
To grace=Vercieren, bevallig maaken
Affect=Liefde toedragen, ter harte gaan, beminnen
Overwean or overween=Al te veel van zich zelven houden, zich vleijen
To bear down=Neerdrukken, overhaalen, onderhouden, omverre stooten
To brave=Trotsen, braveeren, trotseeren, moedig treden

Topics: love, rivalry, age/experience

Twere good you leaned unto his sentence with what patience your wisdom may inform you

PLAY: Cymbeline
ACT/SCENE: 1.2
SPEAKER: Queen
CONTEXT:
QUEEN
No, be assured you shall not find me, daughter,
After the slander of most stepmothers,
Evil-eyed unto you: you’re my prisoner, but
Your jailer shall deliver you the keys
That lock up your restraint. For you, Posthumus,
So soon as I can win the offended king,
I will be known your advocate: marry, yet
The fire of rage is in him, and ’twere good
You lean’d unto his sentence with what patience
Your wisdom may inform you.
POSTHUMUS LEONATUS
Please your highness,
I will from hence to-day.
QUEEN
You know the peril.
I’ll fetch a turn about the garden, pitying
The pangs of barr’d affections, though the king
Hath charged you should not speak together.

DUTCH:
Doch gij weet,
Thans vlamt zijn toorn te fel; en ‘t ware goed,
Voor ‘t vonnis u te buigen, zoo gedwee,
Als uw verstand u raden moet.

MORE:
After=According to
Evil-eyed=Malevolent
Win=Win over
Lean unto=Accept
Compleat:
After=Volgens
To look with an evil eye=Met nydige oogen aanzien
He leans to that opinion=Hij helt naar dat gevoelen

Topics: plans/intentions, patience, love

Unknit that threat’ning unkind brow and dart not scornful glances from those eyes

PLAY: The Taming of the Shrew
ACT/SCENE: 5.2
SPEAKER: Katherine
CONTEXT:
KATHERINE
Fie, fie! Unknit that threat’ning unkind brow
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor.
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,
And in no sense is meet or amiable.
A woman moved is like a fountain troubled,
Muddy, ill-seeming, thick, bereft of beauty,
And while it is so, none so dry or thirsty
Will deign to sip or touch one drop of it.
Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labor both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe,
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks and true obedience—
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband.
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And not obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel
And graceless traitor to her loving lord? (…)

DUTCH:
O foei, strijk glad dat dreigend, toornig voorhoofd ;
En schiet geen booze blikken nit die oogen
Op uwen heer, uw koning, uw gebieder.

MORE:
Knitted brows=Frown
Unkind=Unnatural
Meads=Meadows
Confounds=Destroys
Meet=Fitting
Fame=Reputation
Moved=Angry
Ill-seeming=Unpleasant looking
Dry=Thirsty
Compleat:
Meet=Dienstig, bequaam, gevoeglyk
To knit the brows=Het voorhoofd in rimpels trekken
Mead=Een heemde, weyde
To confound=Verwarren, verstooren, te schande maaken, verbysteren
Fame=Faam, gerucht, vermaardheid, goede naam
Moved=Bewoogen, verroerd, ontroerd

Topics: emotion and mood, anger, love, ingratitude

Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Helena
CONTEXT:
LYSANDER
Why should you think that I should woo in scorn?
Scorn and derision never come in tears.
Look, when I vow, I weep. And vows so born,
In their nativity all truth appears.
How can these things in me seem scorn to you,
Bearing the badge of faith to prove them true?
HELENA
You do advance your cunning more and more.
When truth kills truth, O devilish holy fray!
These vows are Hermia’s. Will you give her o’er?
Weigh oath with oath, and you will nothing weigh.
Your vows to her and me, put in two scales,
Will even weigh, and both as light as tales.

DUTCH:
Uw dubbelhartigheid wordt zonneklaar;
Doodt trouwe trouwe, o booze heil’genstrijd !
Uw eed heeft Hermia; verzaakt gij haar?
‘t Weegt niets, die eeden, haar en mij gewijd;
Leg de’ eed aan haar, aan mij elk in een schaal,
Beide even licht, licht als een droomverhaal !

MORE:
In scorn=In mockery
Badge of faith=Tears
Advance=Increase
Cunning=Deceit
Truth kills truth=One truth cancels out another
Tales=Lies
Compleat:
In scorn=Spotswyze
Badge=Teken
Advance=Vordering, voortgang
Cunning=Loosheyd, listigheyd, behendigheyd
To tell tales=Verklikken, sprookjes vertellen

Topics: truth, appearance, love, promise, honesty

Well know they what they speak that speak so wisely

PLAY: Troilus and Cressida
ACT/SCENE: 3.2
SPEAKER: Cressida
CONTEXT:
CRESSIDA
Let me go and try:
I have a kind of self resides with you;
But an unkind self, that itself will leave,
To be another’s fool. I would be gone:
Where is my wit? I know not what I speak.
TROILUS
Well know they what they speak that speak so wisely.
CRESSIDA
Perchance, my lord, I show more craft than love;
And fell so roundly to a large confession,
To angle for your thoughts: but you are wise,
Or else you love not, for to be wise and love
Exceeds man’s might; that dwells with gods above.

DUTCH:
Wie zoo verstandig spreekt, weet wat hij spreekt.

MORE:
Proverb: It is impossible to love and be wise

Reside=Dwell
Unkind=Unnatural
Craft=Cunning
Roundly=Openly
Large=Full
Angle=Fish
Compleat:
To reside=Verhouden, zich onthouden, verblyven
Craft=List, loosheyd
Roundly=Rondelyk, rond uyt
To angle=Hengelen

Topics: proverbs and idioms, wisdom, emotion and mood, love

What cannot be eschewed must be embraced

PLAY: The Merry Wives of Windsor
ACT/SCENE:
SPEAKER: Page
CONTEXT:
FORD
Stand not amazed; here is no remedy:
In love the heavens themselves do guide the state;
Money buys lands, and wives are sold by fate.
FALSTAFF
I am glad, though you have ta’en a special stand to
strike at me, that your arrow hath glanced.
PAGE
Well, what remedy? Fenton, heaven give thee joy!
What cannot be eschewed must be embraced.

DUTCH:
Wat nu? — ‘t Zij. — Fenton, zegene u de hemel!
Wat niet te ontgaan is, nu, dat moet men dragen.

MORE:
Proverb: What cannot be cured must be endured

Amazed=Bewildered
Glanced=Missed the mark
Compleat:
Amazed=Ontzet, verbaasd, ontsteld
Glance=Eventjes raaken

Topics: proverbs and idioms|fate/destiny|love|remedy

What observation mad’st thou in this case of his heart’s meteors tilting in his face?

DUTCH:
En zaagt ge, als tusschen wolken flikkerlicht,
Ook strijd des harten op zijn aangezicht?

Topics: love, appearance, honesty

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

What sharp stings are in her mildest words!

PLAY: All’s Well that Ends Well
ACT/SCENE: 3.4
SPEAKER: Countess
CONTEXT:
STEWARD
I am Saint Jaques’ pilgrim, thither gone:
Ambitious love hath so in me offended,
That barefoot plod I the cold ground upon,
With sainted vow my faults to have amended.
Write, write, that from the bloody course of war
My dearest master, your dear son, may hie:
Bless him at home in peace, whilst I from far
His name with zealous fervor sanctify:
His taken labours bid him me forgive;
I, his despiteful Juno, sent him forth
From courtly friends, with camping foes to live,
Where death and danger dogs the heels of worth:
He is too good and fair for death and me:
Whom I myself embrace, to set him free.
COUNTESS
Ah, what sharp stings are in her mildest words!
Rinaldo, you did never lack advice so much,
As letting her pass so: had I spoke with her,
I could have well diverted her intents,
Which thus she hath prevented.
STEWARD
Pardon me, madam:
If I had given you this at over-night,
She might have been o’erta’en; and yet she writes,
Pursuit would be but vain.

DUTCH:
Wat scherpe doornen in haar zachtste woorden! –
Rinaldo, nooit waart gij zoo onbedacht,
Als toen gij haar liet gaan; had ik met haar
Gesproken, ‘k had haar afgebracht van ‘t plan,
Wat zij aldus voorkwam.

MORE:
Sainted vow=Sacred vow (to a saint)
Amended=Made amends, pardoned
Hie=Hurry
In peace=Not at war
Taken=Undertaken
Despiteful=Cruel
To dog=To hunt, pursue
Compleat:
Sanctified=Geheyligd
To hie (hye)=Reppen, haasten
Hie thee=Rep u, haast u
To undertake=Onderneemen, by der hand vatten
Despiteful=Spytig, boosaardig
To dog one=Iemand van achteren volgen

Topics: status, order/society, love, error, promise

What signifies my deadly-standing eye

PLAY: Titus Andronicus
ACT/SCENE: 2.3
SPEAKER: Aaron
CONTEXT:
AARON
Madam, though Venus govern your desires,
Saturn is dominator over mine:
What signifies my deadly-standing eye,
My silence and my cloudy melancholy,
My fleece of woolly hair that now uncurls
Even as an adder when she doth unroll
To do some fatal execution?
No, madam, these are no venereal signs:
Vengeance is in my heart, death in my hand,
Blood and revenge are hammering in my head.
Hark Tamora, the empress of my soul,
Which never hopes more heaven than rests in thee,
This is the day of doom for Bassianus:
His Philomel must lose her tongue to-day,
Thy sons make pillage of her chastity
And wash their hands in Bassianus’ blood.
Seest thou this letter? take it up, I pray thee,
And give the king this fatal plotted scroll.
Now question me no more; we are espied;
Here comes a parcel of our hopeful booty,
Which dreads not yet their lives’ destruction.

DUTCH:
Of wat beduidt mijn dood’lijk starend oog,
Mijn zwijgen en mijn diep zwaarmoedig voorhoofd,
Mijn wollig hoofdhaar, dat zich nu ontkroest,
Gelijk een adder, als hij zich ontrolt
Om fel een onontwijkb’ren dood te brengen?

MORE:
Deadly-standing=Death stare
Philomel=Athenian princess raped by Tereus, who cut out her tongue to stop her talking
Fatal plotted=Plot with a fatal outcome
Parcel=Part
Booty=Spoils
Compleat:
Fatal=Noodlottig, noodschikkelyk, verderflyk, doodelyk
Plotted=Aangespannen, bestoken, bekuipt
To parcel=In hoopen verdeelen, in partyen deelen
Booty=Buyt, roof
A judge that plays booty=Een rechter die zich laat omloopen

Burgersdijk notes:
Besture Venus uw begeerten enz. Aan de planeet Venus werd een verhittende, aan Saturnus een verkoelende invloed toegeschreven op wie onder haar gesternte geboren waren.

Topics: love, death, revenge

When the blood is made dull with the act of sport

PLAY: Othello
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Iago
CONTEXT:
IAGO
Lay thy finger thus, and let thy soul be instructed.
Mark me with what violence she first loved the Moor, but
for bragging and telling her fantastical lies. To love
him still for prating? Let not thy discreet heart think
it. Her eye must be fed, and what delight shall she have
to look on the devil? When the blood is made dull with
the act of sport, there should be a game to inflame it
and to give satiety a fresh appetite, loveliness in
favour, sympathy in years, manners and beauties. All
which the Moor is defective in. Now for want of these
required conveniences, her delicate tenderness will find
itself abused, begin to heave the gorge, disrelish and
abhor the Moor. Very nature will instruct her in it and
compel her to some second choice. Now sir, this
granted—as it is a most pregnant and unforced
position—who stands so eminent in the degree of this
fortune as Cassio does? A knave very voluble, no further
conscionable than in putting on the mere form of civil
and humane seeming, for the better compassing of his
salt and most hidden loose affection. Why, none, why,
none! A slipper and subtle knave, a finder of occasions
that has an eye, can stamp and counterfeit advantages,
though true advantage never present itself. A devilish
knave. Besides, the knave is handsome, young, and hath
all those requisites in him that folly and green minds
look after. A pestilent complete knave, and the woman
hath found him already.

DUTCH:
Als het bloed afgekoeld is door genot, dan is er, om het weer te ontvlammen en aan verzadiging versche begeerte te geven, noodig: een beminnelijk gelaat, overeenstemming van jaren, van zeden, van schoonheid, waarin de Moor geheel en al te kort schiet.

MORE:
Slipper=Deceitful, slippery
Voluble=Plausible, glib
Conscionable=Conscientious
Humane=Polite, civil
Seeming=Appearance
Salt=Lecherous, lewd
Occasion=Opportunity
Advantages=Opportunities
Pregnant=Evident
Civil and humane=Polite and mannerly
Stamp=Coin, manufacture
Folly=Wantonness
Compleat:
A slippery (or dangerous) business=Een gevaarlyke bezigheid
A voluble tongue=Een vloeijende tong, een gladde tong, een tong die wel gehangen is
Conscionable=Naauw op zichzelven lettende; Gemoedelyk, billyk
Humane=Menschelyk, beleefd, heusch
Seeming=Schynende
Salt=(sault) Hitsig, ritsig, heet
Occasion=Gelegenheyd, voorval, oorzaak, nood
Advantage=Voordeel, voorrecht, winst, gewin, toegift
Pregnant=Krachtig, dringend, naadrukkelyk
Stamp=Stempelen, stampen
Folly=Ondeugd, buitenspoorigheid, onvolmaaktheid

Topics: love, life, deceit, benefit/advantage

When you fasted, it was presently after dinner

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Speed
CONTEXT:
SPEED
Marry, by these special marks: first, you have
learned, like Sir Proteus, to wreathe your arms,
like a malecontent; to relish a love-song, like a
robin-redbreast; to walk alone, like one that had
the pestilence; to sigh, like a school-boy that had
lost his A B C; to weep, like a young wench that had
buried her grandam; to fast, like one that takes
diet; to watch like one that fears robbing; to
speak puling, like a beggar at Hallowmas. You were
wont, when you laughed, to crow like a cock; when you
walked, to walk like one of the lions; when you
fasted, it was presently after dinner; when you
looked sadly, it was for want of money: and now you
are metamorphosed with a mistress, that, when I look
on you, I can hardly think you my master.

DUTCH:
Vroeger waart ge gewoon,
bij het lachen als een haan te kraaien; bij uw
wandelen als een leeuw te stappen; niet te vasten, dan
dadelijk na den maaltijd; en niet treurig te kijken, dan
als gij geldgebrek hadt; maar nu heeft een liefden u zoo
veranderd, dat, als ik u aanzie, ik u nauwelijks voor
mijn meester kan houden.

MORE:
Wreathe=Fold
Pestilence=Plague
ABC=Printed alphabet
Takes=Keeps to a
Watch=Stay awake
Presently=Immediately
Compleat:
To wreath=Wringen, draaijen
Pestilence=Pestziekte, pest
Watch=Waaken, bespieden
Presently=Terstond, opstaandevoet

Burgersdijk notes:
Als een bedelaar op Allerheiligen. Op Allerheiligen liepen bedelaars, zacht zingende, de huizen af en ontvingen dan zielekoeken, soldcakes, als het loon hunner gebeden voor de dooden. – Voor het stappen als een leeuw staat in ‘t oorspronkelijke: „als een der leeuwen”, waardoor de dichter zijn gehoor de leeuwen van den Tower voor den de geest bracht.

Topics: love, emotion and mood, fashion/trends

You are so without these follies that these follies are within you

PLAY: The Two Gentlemen of Verona
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Speed
CONTEXT:
SPEED
They are all perceived without ye.
VALENTINE
Without me? They cannot.
SPEED
Without you? Nay, that’s certain, for, without you
were so simple, none else would: but you are so
without these follies, that these follies are within
you and shine through you like the water in an
urinal, that not an eye that sees you but is a
physician to comment on your malady.
VALENTINE
But tell me, dost thou know my lady Silvia?

DUTCH:
Niets is zekerder, want buiten u is en zal
niemand zoo argeloos zijn; maar gij zijt zoo buiten uzelven
van die dwaasheden, dat die dwaasheden in u zijn
en door u heenschijnen als het water in een urinaal,
zoodat geen oog u kan aanzien, of het wordt een dokter,
die uw kwaal herkent.

MORE:
Fleming, A Panoplie of Epistles (1576), 357: Considering that whatsoever is uttered in such men’s hearing, must be done in print, as we say in our common proverb.

Without ye=In your absence
Without you were=Unless you were
Without these follies=In the absence of
Urinal=Testing bottle

Topics: proverbs and idioms, innocent, love

You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant

PLAY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
ACT/SCENE: 2.1
SPEAKER: Helena
CONTEXT:
DEMETRIUS
I love thee not, therefore pursue me not.
Where is Lysander and fair Hermia?
The one I’ll slay, the other slayeth me.
Thou told’st me they were stol’n unto this wood.
And here am I, and wood within this wood,
Because I cannot meet my Hermia.
Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.
HELENA
You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant.
But yet you draw not iron, for my heart
Is true as steel. Leave you your power to draw,
And I shall have no power to follow you.

DUTCH:
Gij trekt mij aan, gij zeilsteen, hard van hart;
Niet ijzer trekt gij aan; voorwaar, mijn hart
Is deugdlijk staal; leg af de kracht, die trekt;
Dan is de kracht, waarmeê ik volg, voorbij.

MORE:
Proverb: As true (trusty, sure) as steel

And wood=And mad
Adamant=Hard stone, purportedly magnetic
Compleat:
Adamant=een Diamant

Burgersdijk notes:
Gij zeilsteen, hard van hart. You hard-hearted adamant. Adamant beteekent zoowel diamant als magneet en kan dus tegelijk de hardheid en de aantrekkingskracht van Demetrius aanduiden. In een boek van Fenton (1569) leest men: Er is tegenwoordig een soort van diamant, die vleesch aantrekt en wel zoo sterk, dat hij de macht heeft om de twee monden van verschillende personen aan elkaar te hechten en eenen mensch het hart uit het lijf te trekken, zonder dat het lichaam aan eenig
deel beschadigd wordt.”

Topics: proverbs and idioms, truth, trust, love