If thou do pardon, whosoever pray,
More sins, for this forgiveness, prosper may.
This fester’d joint cut off, the rest rest sound;
This let alone will all the rest confound.
-Duke of York
King Richard the Second Act V, Scene iii, Line 83
We're near the end of the play, and Bolingbroke has now supplanted Richard the Second. So what we have here is the Duke of York advising Bolingbroke/King Henry IV to have the Duke of Aumerle executed for treason. It should be noted that the Duke of York is the father of the Duke of Aumerle, so that's a bit cold. The mother of Aumerle is about to enter the scene to beg for the life of her son.
A couple of things:
This passage and, for the most part, this scene is written in rhyme. I’m not sure why Will gets into rhyme from time to time, but he sure does.
This particular four line passage sounds a bit like it might be Yoda speaking. Again read it, and you’ll what I mean hopefully see.
2 comments:
In the third line, is it really "rest rest" or is that a typo?
No typo. It could be re-written as 'the others will sleep soundly'.
the rest rest.
Got it?
Post a Comment