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SCENE V Pomfret castle.    [Enter KING RICHARD]

 

KING RICHARD II 

I have been studying how I may compare

This prison where I live unto the world:

And for because the world is populous

And here is not a creature but myself,

I cannot do it; yet I'll hammer it out.

  

 

 

 

 

 

= because 

= except

martellare

Thoughts tending to ambition, they do plot

Unlikely wonders; how these vain weak nails

May tear a passage through the flinty ribs

Of this hard world, my ragged prison walls,

And, for they cannot, die in their own pride.

tendere;  complottare

improbabile; vano

strappare; passaggi; duro come selce; costole

frastagliato

orgoglio

Thus play I in one person many people,

And none contented: sometimes am I king;

Then treasons make me wish myself a beggar,

And so I am: then crushing penury

Persuades me I was better when a king;

Then am I king'd again: and by and by

Think that I am unking'd by Bolingbroke,

And straight am nothing: but whate'er I be,

Nor I nor any man that but man is

With nothing shall be pleased, till he be eased

With being nothing. Music do I hear?

[Music]

Ha, ha! keep time: how sour sweet music is,

When time is broke and no proportion kept!

So is it in the music of men's lives.

recitare

soddisfatto

tradimenti; mendicante

povertà schiacciante

 

 

 

immediatamente

 

alleviato

 

 

 

in rovina

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me;

For now hath time made me his numbering clock:

My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar

Their watches on unto mine eyes,

This music mads me; let it sound no more;

For though it have holp madmen to their wits,

In me it seems it will make wise men mad.

Yet blessing on his heart that gives it me!

For 'tis a sign of love; and love to Richard

Is a strange brooch in this all-hating world.

[Enter a Groom of the Stable]

GROOM  Hail, royal prince!

KING RICHARD II Thanks, noble peer;

The cheapest of us is ten groats too dear.

What art thou? and how comest thou hither?

sprecare, rovinare

= has

sospiri; stridere

turni di guardia

fare impazzire

= helped; intelligenza, buon senso

 

benedizione

 

fermaglio, spilla

stalliere; stalla

= ave!

pari (nobile)

moneta del valore di quattro pence

qui

GROOM  I was a poor groom of thy stable, king,

When thou wert king; who, travelling towards York,

With much ado at length have gotten leave

To look upon my sometime royal master's face.

O, how it yearn'd my heart when I beheld

In London streets, that coronation-day,

When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary,

 

KING RICHARD II  Rode he on Barbary? Tell me, gentle friend,

How went he under him?

GROOM So proudly as if he disdain'd the ground.

KING RICHARD II So proud that Bolingbroke was on his back!

That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand;

This hand hath made him proud with clapping him.

Would he not stumble? would he not fall down,

 

= were

sforzo; in fine; = got

di un tempo

anelare; vedere

 

cavallo roano

 

 

 

 

disprezzare

 

 

(spreg.) donnetta

colpire

incespicare

[Enter Keeper, with a dish]

Keeper Fellow, give place; here is no longer stay.

KING RICHARD II If thou love me, 'tis time thou wert away.

GROOM What my tongue dares not, that my heart shall say.

[Exit]

[Enter EXTON and Servants, armed]

KING RICHARD II How now! what means death in this rude assault?

Villain, thy own hand yields thy death's instrument.

[Snatching an axe from a Servant and killing him]

Go thou, and fill another room in hell.

[He kills another. Then Exton strikes him down]

That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire

That staggers thus my person. Exton, thy fierce hand

Hath with the king's blood stain'd the king's own land.

Mount, mount, my soul! thy seat is up on high;

Whilst my gross flesh sinks downward, here to die.

[Dies]

EXTON As full of valour as of royal blood:

Both have I spill'd; O would the deed were good!

For now the devil, that told me I did well,

Says that this deed is chronicled in hell.

This dead king to the living king I'll bear;

Take hence the rest, and give them burial here.

[Exeunt]

piatto

 

 

osare

 

 

violento assalto

 

rendere, cedere

afferrare; ascia

inferno

colpire

inestinguibile

fare barcollare; feroce

macchiare

salire, ascendere

volgare carne; verso il basso

 

valore

versare

 

registrare, raccontare

 

portare via da qui; gli altri

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