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"The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,
Check'ring the eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And fleckled darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British poet. Romeo and Juliet (II, iii). . .
The Unabridged William Shakespeare, William George Clark and William Aldis Wright, eds. (1989) Running Press. |
"They say an old man is twice a child."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Rosencrantz, in Hamlet, act 2, sc. 2, l. 385.
To Hamlet, who has just pointed out Polonius; proverbial. |
"Come, madam wife, sit by my side
And let the world slip. We shall ne'er be younger."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Sly, in The Taming of the Shrew, Induction, sc. 2, l. 142-4.
Inviting her to forget the world and watch a play. |
"Earth's increase, foison plenty,
Barns and garners never empty,
Vines with clustering bunches growing,
Plants with goodly burden bowing;
Spring come to you at the farthest
In the very end of harvest!
Scarcity and want shall shun you;
Ceres' blessing so is on you."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British poet. The Tempest (IV, i).
Ceres, goddess of fertility, offers her blessing to Ferdinand and Miranda. OAEL-1. The Unabridged William Shakespeare, William George Clark and William Aldis Wright, eds. (1989) Running Press. |
"O Cressida! But that the busy day,
Waked by the lark, hath roused the ribald crows,
And dreaming night will hide our joys no longer,
I would not from thee."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Troilus, in Troilus and Cressida, act 4, sc. 2, l. 8-11.
The morning after their first night together. |
"Much attribute he hath, and much the reason
Why we ascribe it to him; yet all his virtues,
Not virtuously of his own part beheld,
Do in our eyes begin to lose their gloss,
Yea, like fair fruit in an unwholesome dish,
Are like to rot untasted."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Agamemnon, in Troilus and Cressida, act 2, sc. 3, l. 116-21.
Commenting on the scornful behavior of Achilles; "attribute" = distinction, fame. |
"There is left us
Ourselves to end ourselves."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Antony, in Antony and Cleopatra, act 4, sc. 14, l. 21-2.
His despairing last resort. |
"Though I am not naturally honest, I am so sometimes by chance."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Autolycus, in The Winter's Tale, act 4, sc. 4. |
"Who set this ancient quarrel new abroach?"
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Benvolio, in Romeo and Juliet, act 1, sc. 1, l. 118-9.
"Abroach" means flowing, as in opening or broaching a cask. |
"O, if thou wert the noblest of thy strain,
Young man, thou couldst not die more honorable."
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), British dramatist, poet. Brutus, in Julius Caesar, act 5, sc. 1, l. 59-60.
That is, if he were to die on the sword of Brutus. |
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William Shakespeare
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