OAK. The unwedgeable and gnarled oak. M.M. ii. 2.
I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds Have riv'd the knotty oaks. J.C. i. 3.
Aged. Under an oak whose boughs were moss'd with age, And high top bald with dry antiquity. A. Y. iv. 3.
OATHS (See also Lovers' Vows). No, not an oath : If not the face of men, The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse, — If these be motives weak, break off betimes, And every man hence to his idle bed ; So let high-sighted tyranny range on, Till each man drop by
lottery : But if these, As I am sure they do, bear fire enough To kindle cowards, and to steel with valour The melting spirits of women ; then, countrymen. What need we any spur, but our own cause, To prick us to redress ? what other bond, Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word, And will not palter ? and what other oath Than honesty to honesty engag'd, That this shall be, or we will fall for it ? Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous, Old feeble carrions, and such suffering souls That welcome wrongs ; unto bad causes swear Such creatures as men doubt ; but do not stain The even virtue of our enterprise Nor the unsuppressive metal of our spirits, To think, that, or
our cause, or our performance, Did need an oath ; when every drop of blood, That every Roman bears, and nobly bears, Is guilty of a several bastardy, If he do break the smallest particle Of any promise that hath pass'd from him. J.C. ii. 1.
'Tis not the many oaths that make the truth ; But the plain single vow, that is vow'd true. A. W. iv. 2.
Not yours, in good sooth ! 'Heart, you swear like a comfit-maker's wife ! Not you, in good sooth ; and. As true as I live ; and, As God shall mend me ; and, As sure as day ; And giv'st such sarcenet surety for thy oaths, as if thou never walk'dst further than Finsbury. Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art, a good mouth-filling oath ; and leave in sooth, and such protest of pepper gingerbread, to velvet-guards, and Sunday citizens. H. IV. pt. I. iii. 1.
Trust none ; For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes, And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck ; Therefore, caveto be thy counsellor. H. V. ii. 3.
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 proceeding, if, with pure heart's love, Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts, I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter ! R. III. iv. 4.
An oath, an oath ; I have an oath in heaven : Shall I lay perjury upon my soul ? No, not for Venice. M. V. iv. 1.
I'll take thy word for faith, not ask thine oath ; Who shuns not to break one, will sure crack both. P. P. i. 2.
Do not believe his vows ; for they are brokers, Not of that die which their investments show, But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds. The better to beguile. H. i. 3.
Your oaths are past; and now subscribe your name, That his own hand may strike his honour down, That violates the smallest branch herein. L. L. i. 1.
Come, swear it, damn thyself, Lest, being like one of heaven, the devils themselves Should fear to seize thee : therefore be
double-damn'd, Swear— thou art honest. O. iv. 2.
O swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
R.J. ii. 2.
Look thou be true ; do not give, dalliance Too much the rein ; the strongest oaths are straw To the fire i' the blood ; be more abstemious,
Or else good night your vow. T. iv.1.
Thou see'st that all the grace that she hath left , Is , that she will not add to her damnation A sin of perjury. She not denies it .
M. A. iv. 1.
I have no cunning in protestation ; only downright' oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging. H.V. v. 2.
He professes not keeping of oaths ; in breaking them , he is stronger than Hercules. A.W. iv. 3.
It is a great sin, to swear unto a sin But greater sin, to keep a sinful oath. Who can be bound by any solemn vow To do a murderous
deed, to rob a man, To force a spotless virgin's chastity, To 'reave the orphan of his patrimony, To wrong the widow from her customed right ; And have no other reason for this wrong, But that he was bound by a solemn oath ? H. VI. pt. II. v. 1.
By mine honour , I will ; and when I break that oath , let me turn monster. A.Y. i. 2.
But if you swear by that that is not , you are not forsworn : no more was the knight , swearing by his honour , for he never had any.
A.Y. iv. 1.
By all pretty oaths that are not dangerous. A.Y. iv. 1.
OBJECT. A mote it is, to trouble the mind's eye. H. i. 1.
Old and Familiar. Now he thanks the old, shepherd, which stands by, like a weather-bitten conduit of many kings' reigns.
W. T. v. 7.
OBLIVION. In the swallowing gulf Of dark forgetfulness and deep oblivion. R. III. iii. 7.
And all the clouds that lowr'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. R. III. i. 1.
When time is old and hath forgot itself, When water-drops have worn the stones of Troy, And blind oblivion swallow'd cities up, And mighty states characterless are grated To dusty nothing. T. C. iii. 2.
The dark backward and abysm of Time. T. i. 2.
He no more remembers his mother now, than an eight year old horse. C. v. 4.
OBSEQUIOUSNESS. So play the foolish throngs with one that swoons, Come all to help him, and so stop the air By which he
should revive : and even so, The general, subject to a well-wish'd king, Quit their own part, and in obsequious fondness Crowd to his presence, where their untaught love Must needs appear offence. M. M. ii. 4.
OBSERVATION. For he is but a bastard to the time, That doth not smack of observation. K. J. i. 1..
There is a history in all men's lives Figuring the nature of the times deceas'd : The which observ'd, a man may prophecy, With a near
aim, of the main chance of things As yet to come to life ; which in their seeds, And weak beginnings, lie intreasured.
H. IV. pt. ii. iii. 1.
Squandering glances. A. T. ii. 7.
ODDITY. What a Herod of Jewry is this ! M. W. ii. 1.
I have lived four score years and upward ; I never heard of a man of his place, gravity, and learning, so wide of his own respect.
M. W. iii. 1.
How oddly he is suited ! I think he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour every where. M. V. i. 2.
ODIUM. You are smelt Above the moon. C. v. 1.
OFFENCE. The very head and front of my offending Hath this extent, no more. 0. i. 3.
How have I offended ? All's not offence that indiscretion finds, And dotage terms so. K. L. ii. 4.
What is my offence ? Where is the evidence that doth accuse me ? What lawful quest have given their verdict up Unto the frowning judge. R. III. i. 4.
In such a time as this, it is not meet That every nice offence should bear its comment. J. C. iv. 3.
OFFICE. Having both the key of officer and office. T. i. 2.
He was a fool ; For he would needs be virtuous : That good fellow, If I command him, follows my appointment ; I will have none so near
else. Learn this, brother, We live not to be grip'd by meaner persons. H. VIII. ii. 2.
Fear not your advancement ; I will be the man yet that shall make you great. H. IV. pt. II. v. 5.
OFFICE, its Evils. If I am traduc'd by tongues, which neither know My faculties, nor person, yet will be The chronicles of my doing, — let me say, 'Tis but the fate of place, and the rough brake That virtue must go through. We must not stint Our necessary actions, in the fear To cope malicious censurers ; which ever, As ravenous fishes, do a vessel follow That is new trimm'd ; but benefit no further Than vainly longing. What we oft do best, By sick interpreters, (once weak ones) is Not ours, or not allow'd ; what worst, as oft, Hitting a grosser quality, is cried up For our best act. If we shall stand still, In fear our motion will be mock'd or carp'd at, We should take root here where we sit, or sit State statues only. H. VIII. i. 2.
Insolence of. I'd have beaten him like a dog, but for disturbing the lords within. C. iv. 5.
OMENS, (See also Portents). The bay trees in our country are all wither'd, And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven ; The
pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth, And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change ; Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance
and leap. R.II. ii. 4.
There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, For I did dream of money-bags to-night. M.V. ii. 5.
OMNIPOTENCE, Inscrutable. He that of greatest works is finisher, Oft does them by the weakest minister : So holy writ in babes hath judgment shown When judges have been babes. A. W. ii. 1.
OPENNESS. I must be found ; My parts, my title, and my perfect soul, Shall manifest me rightly. 0. i. 2.
OPHELIA Drowning. There is a willow grows aslant a brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream ; There, with fantastic garlands did she come, Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples, That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them. There on the pendant boughs her coronet weeds Clamb'ring to hang, an envious sliver broke ; When down her weedy trophies, and herself, Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide ; And mermaid-like, awhile they bore
her up : Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes ; As one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and endu'd
Unto that element : but long it could not be, Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay,
To muddy death. H. iv. 7.
OPINION (See also Censure.) I am that I am, and they that level At my abuses, reckon tip their owne, I may be straight, though they themselves be bevell, By their rank thoughts, my deeds must not be showne ; Unless this general evil they maintaine, All men are bad,
and in their badness raigne. Poems.
Because you want the grace that others have, You judge it straight a thing impossible To compass wonders, but by help of devils.
H. VI. pt. I. v. 4.
There's nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so. H. ii. 2.
Our virtues Lie in the interpretation of the time. C. iv. 7.
Opinion, a sovereign mistress of effects. 0. i. 3.
But fish not with this melancholy bait, For this fool's gudgeon, this opinion. M.V.i. 1.
Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan The outward habit for the inward man. P. P. ii. 2.
A plague of opinion ! a man may wear it on both sides, like a leather jerkin. T. C. iii. 3.
OPPORTUNITY (See also Delay, Irresolution, Neglect). There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to
fortune ; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows, and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat ; And we must
take the current when it serves, Or lose out ventures. J. C. iv. 3.
Who seeks, and will not take, when once 'tis offer'd, Shall never find it more. A. C. ii. 7.
When the sun shines, let foolish gnats make sport, But creep in crannies, when he hides his beams. C. E. ii. 2.
A little fire is quickly trodden out ; Which, being suffer'd, rivers cannot quench. H. VI. pt. III. iv. 8.
The means that heaven yields must be embrac'd, And not neglected ; else, if heaven would, And we will not, heaven's offer we refuse.
R. II. iii. 2.
I find my zenith doth depend upon A most auspicious star ; whose influence If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes Will ever after droop.
T. i. 2.
OPPOSITION. Back, I say, go ; lest I let forth your half pint of blood ; — back — that's the utmost of your having :— back. C. v. 2.
OPPRESSION. I love not to see wretchedness o'ercharg'd, And duty in his service perishing. M.N. v. 1.
I am an ass, indeed ; you may prove it by my long ears. I have served him from the hour of my nativity to this instant, and have nothing at his hands for my service, but blows ; when I am cold, he heats me with beating ; when I am warm, he 'cools me with beating ; I am awak'd with it, when I sleep ; rais'd with it, when I sit ; driven out of doors with it, when I go from home ; welcomed home with it, when I return: nay, I
bear it on my shoulders, as a beggar her brat ; and, I think, when he hath lamed me, I shall beg with it from door to door.
C. E. iv. 4.
Each new morn, New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows Strike heaven on the face. M. iv. 2..
THE NATURAL DUTY OF RESISTANCE TO. To whom do lions cast their gentle looks ? Not to the beast that would usurp their den. Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick ? Not his, that spoils her young before her face. Who 'scapes the lurking serpent's mortal
sting ? Not he that sets his foot upon her back. The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on, And doves will peck, in safeguard of their brood. H. VI. pt. II. ii. 2.
The poor wren, The most diminutive of birds, will fight, Her young ones in the nest, against the owl. M. iv. 2.
OPTICS (See Eye).
ORATION, Pedantic. Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise, Three pil'd hyperboles, spruce affectation, Figures pedantical ; these summer flies Have blown me full of maggot ostentation. L. L. v. 2.
ORATOR. Doubt not, my lord ; I'll play the orator, As if the golden fee, for which I plead, Were for myself. R. III. iii. 5.
ORATORY, Popular. For in such business, Action is eloquence, and the eyes of the ignorant More learned than their ears.
C. iii. 2.
Pray, be content ; Mother, I am going to the market-place ; Chide me no more. I'll mountebank their loves, Cog their hearts from them,
and come home belov'd Of all the trades in Rome. C. iii. 2.
ORDER. Degree being vizarded, The unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask. The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre, Observe degree, priority, and place, Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, Office, and custom, in all line of order : And therefore
is the glorious planet, Sol, In noble eminence enthron'd and spher'd Amidst the other ; whose med'cinable eye Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil, And posts, like the commandment of a king, Sans check, to good and bad :' But when the planets, In evil mixture, to disorder wander, What plagues, and what portents ! what mutiny ! What raging of the sea ! shaking of earth ! Commotion in the winds ! frights, changes, horrors, Divert and crack, rend and deracinate The unity and married calm of states Quite from their fixture ! 0, when degree is shak'd, Which is the ladder of all high designs, The enterprise is sick ! How could communities, Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities, Peaceful commerce from divided shores, The primogeniture and due of birth, Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels, But by
degree, stand in authentic place ? Take but degree away, untune that string, And, hark, what discord follows ! each thing meets In mere oppugnancy : The bounded waters Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores, And make a sop of all this solid globe : Strength
should be lord of imbecility, And the rude son should strike his father dead : Force should be right ; or, rather, right and wrong (Between whose endless jar justice resides) Should lose their names, and so should justice too. Then every thing includes itself in power, Power
into will, will into appetite : And appetite, a universal wolf, So doubly seconded with will and power, Must make perforce a universal prey, And, last, eat up himself. Great Agamemnon ; This chaos, when degree is suffocate, Follows the choking : And this neglection of degree
it is, That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose It hath to climb. The general's disdain'd By him one step below ; he, by the next ;
That next, by him beneath: so every step, Exampled by the first pace that is sick Of his superior, grows to an envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation. T. C. i. 3.
The world is still deceiv'd with ornament. In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But, being season'd with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil ? In religion, What damned error, but some sober brow Will bless it, and approve it with a text, Hiding the grossness
with fair ornament ? M. V. iii. 2.
ORNAMENT. Thus ornament is but the guiled shore To a most dangerous sea ; the beauteous scarf Veiling an Indian beauty ; in a word, The seeming truth which cunning times put on To entrap the wisest. M. V. iii. 2.
OTHELLO'S Apology. Rude am I in speech, And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace ; For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, Till now some nine moons wasted, they have us'd Their dearest action in the tented field ; And little of this great world can I speak, More than pertains to feats of broil and battle ; And therefore little shall I grace my cause, In speaking for myself: Yet, by your gracious patience, I will a round unvarnish'd tale deliver Of my whole course of love ; what drugs, what charms, What conjuration, and
what mighty magic, (For such proceeding I am charg'd withal) I won his daughter with. Her father lov'd me ; oft invited me ; Still
question'd me the story of my life, From year to year ; the battles, sieges, fortunes, That I have pass'd. I ran it through, even from my
boyish days, To the very moment that he bade me tell it. Wherein I spoke of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field ; Of hair-breadth ; scapes i' the imminent deadly breach ; Of being taken by the insolent foe, And sold to slavery ; of my redemption thence, And portance in my travel's history : . Wherein of antres vast, and desarts wild, Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven. It was my hint to speak. Such was my process ; And of the cannibals that each other eat, The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders. These things to hear, Would Desdemona seriously incline: But still the house affairs would draw her thence ; Which ever as she could with haste despatch, She'd come again, and with a greedy ear Devour up my discourse : Which I observing, Took once a pliant hour ; and found good means To draw from her a prayer of earnest heart, That I would all my pilgrimage dilate, Whereof by parcels she had something heard, But not distinctively. I did consent ; And often did beguile her of her tears, When I did speak of some distressful stroke; That my youth suffer'd. My story being done, She gave me for my pains a world of sighs ; She swore, — In faith; 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange, 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful: She wish'd' she had not heard it ; yet she wish'd That heaven had made her such a man. She thank'd me ; And bade me, if I had a friend that lov'd her, I should but teach him how to tell my story, And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake ; She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd ; And I lov'd her, that she did pity them : This only is the witchcraft I have us'd ; Here comes the lady, let her witness it. 0. i. 3.
Farewell. O now, for ever, Farewell the tranquil mind ! Farewell content ! Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars, That make
ambition virtue ! 0, farewell ! Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, The royal banner ; and all quality, Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war ! And, 0, you mortal engines, whose rude throats The immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit, Farewell ! — Othello's occupation's gone ! 0. iii. 3.
Handkerchief. There's magic in the web of it: A sybil, that had number'd in the world The sun to make two hundred compasses, In her prophetic fury sew'd the work : The worms were hallow'd that did breed the silk ; And it was dy'd in mummy, which the skilful Conserv'd of maidens' hearts. 0. iii. 4.
OVERMATCHED. If there were not two or three and fifty upon poor old Jack, I am no two-legged creature. H. IV. pt. I. ii. 4.
OUTCAST. I am one my liege, Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world Have so incens'd, that I am reckless what I do to
spite the world. M. iii. 1.
So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune, That I would set my life on any chance To mend it, or be rid on't. M. iii. 1.
Sick in the world's regard, wretched, and low, A poor unminded outlaw. H. IV. pt. I. iv. 3.
OUTRAGEOUSNESS. Why, this passes, Mister Ford : you are not to go loose any longer, you must be pinioned. M. W. iv. 2.
Why, this is lunatics. M. W. iv. 2.
OUTWITTED. Thou art not vanquish'd, But cozen'd and beguil'd. K. L. v. 3.
I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds Have riv'd the knotty oaks. J.C. i. 3.
Aged. Under an oak whose boughs were moss'd with age, And high top bald with dry antiquity. A. Y. iv. 3.
OATHS (See also Lovers' Vows). No, not an oath : If not the face of men, The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse, — If these be motives weak, break off betimes, And every man hence to his idle bed ; So let high-sighted tyranny range on, Till each man drop by
lottery : But if these, As I am sure they do, bear fire enough To kindle cowards, and to steel with valour The melting spirits of women ; then, countrymen. What need we any spur, but our own cause, To prick us to redress ? what other bond, Than secret Romans, that have spoke the word, And will not palter ? and what other oath Than honesty to honesty engag'd, That this shall be, or we will fall for it ? Swear priests, and cowards, and men cautelous, Old feeble carrions, and such suffering souls That welcome wrongs ; unto bad causes swear Such creatures as men doubt ; but do not stain The even virtue of our enterprise Nor the unsuppressive metal of our spirits, To think, that, or
our cause, or our performance, Did need an oath ; when every drop of blood, That every Roman bears, and nobly bears, Is guilty of a several bastardy, If he do break the smallest particle Of any promise that hath pass'd from him. J.C. ii. 1.
'Tis not the many oaths that make the truth ; But the plain single vow, that is vow'd true. A. W. iv. 2.
Not yours, in good sooth ! 'Heart, you swear like a comfit-maker's wife ! Not you, in good sooth ; and. As true as I live ; and, As God shall mend me ; and, As sure as day ; And giv'st such sarcenet surety for thy oaths, as if thou never walk'dst further than Finsbury. Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art, a good mouth-filling oath ; and leave in sooth, and such protest of pepper gingerbread, to velvet-guards, and Sunday citizens. H. IV. pt. I. iii. 1.
Trust none ; For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes, And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck ; Therefore, caveto be thy counsellor. H. V. ii. 3.
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 proceeding, if, with pure heart's love, Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts, I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter ! R. III. iv. 4.
An oath, an oath ; I have an oath in heaven : Shall I lay perjury upon my soul ? No, not for Venice. M. V. iv. 1.
I'll take thy word for faith, not ask thine oath ; Who shuns not to break one, will sure crack both. P. P. i. 2.
Do not believe his vows ; for they are brokers, Not of that die which their investments show, But mere implorators of unholy suits,
Breathing like sanctified and pious bonds. The better to beguile. H. i. 3.
Your oaths are past; and now subscribe your name, That his own hand may strike his honour down, That violates the smallest branch herein. L. L. i. 1.
Come, swear it, damn thyself, Lest, being like one of heaven, the devils themselves Should fear to seize thee : therefore be
double-damn'd, Swear— thou art honest. O. iv. 2.
O swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.
R.J. ii. 2.
Look thou be true ; do not give, dalliance Too much the rein ; the strongest oaths are straw To the fire i' the blood ; be more abstemious,
Or else good night your vow. T. iv.1.
Thou see'st that all the grace that she hath left , Is , that she will not add to her damnation A sin of perjury. She not denies it .
M. A. iv. 1.
I have no cunning in protestation ; only downright' oaths, which I never use till urged, nor never break for urging. H.V. v. 2.
He professes not keeping of oaths ; in breaking them , he is stronger than Hercules. A.W. iv. 3.
It is a great sin, to swear unto a sin But greater sin, to keep a sinful oath. Who can be bound by any solemn vow To do a murderous
deed, to rob a man, To force a spotless virgin's chastity, To 'reave the orphan of his patrimony, To wrong the widow from her customed right ; And have no other reason for this wrong, But that he was bound by a solemn oath ? H. VI. pt. II. v. 1.
By mine honour , I will ; and when I break that oath , let me turn monster. A.Y. i. 2.
But if you swear by that that is not , you are not forsworn : no more was the knight , swearing by his honour , for he never had any.
A.Y. iv. 1.
By all pretty oaths that are not dangerous. A.Y. iv. 1.
OBJECT. A mote it is, to trouble the mind's eye. H. i. 1.
Old and Familiar. Now he thanks the old, shepherd, which stands by, like a weather-bitten conduit of many kings' reigns.
W. T. v. 7.
OBLIVION. In the swallowing gulf Of dark forgetfulness and deep oblivion. R. III. iii. 7.
And all the clouds that lowr'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. R. III. i. 1.
When time is old and hath forgot itself, When water-drops have worn the stones of Troy, And blind oblivion swallow'd cities up, And mighty states characterless are grated To dusty nothing. T. C. iii. 2.
The dark backward and abysm of Time. T. i. 2.
He no more remembers his mother now, than an eight year old horse. C. v. 4.
OBSEQUIOUSNESS. So play the foolish throngs with one that swoons, Come all to help him, and so stop the air By which he
should revive : and even so, The general, subject to a well-wish'd king, Quit their own part, and in obsequious fondness Crowd to his presence, where their untaught love Must needs appear offence. M. M. ii. 4.
OBSERVATION. For he is but a bastard to the time, That doth not smack of observation. K. J. i. 1..
There is a history in all men's lives Figuring the nature of the times deceas'd : The which observ'd, a man may prophecy, With a near
aim, of the main chance of things As yet to come to life ; which in their seeds, And weak beginnings, lie intreasured.
H. IV. pt. ii. iii. 1.
Squandering glances. A. T. ii. 7.
ODDITY. What a Herod of Jewry is this ! M. W. ii. 1.
I have lived four score years and upward ; I never heard of a man of his place, gravity, and learning, so wide of his own respect.
M. W. iii. 1.
How oddly he is suited ! I think he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour every where. M. V. i. 2.
ODIUM. You are smelt Above the moon. C. v. 1.
OFFENCE. The very head and front of my offending Hath this extent, no more. 0. i. 3.
How have I offended ? All's not offence that indiscretion finds, And dotage terms so. K. L. ii. 4.
What is my offence ? Where is the evidence that doth accuse me ? What lawful quest have given their verdict up Unto the frowning judge. R. III. i. 4.
In such a time as this, it is not meet That every nice offence should bear its comment. J. C. iv. 3.
OFFICE. Having both the key of officer and office. T. i. 2.
He was a fool ; For he would needs be virtuous : That good fellow, If I command him, follows my appointment ; I will have none so near
else. Learn this, brother, We live not to be grip'd by meaner persons. H. VIII. ii. 2.
Fear not your advancement ; I will be the man yet that shall make you great. H. IV. pt. II. v. 5.
OFFICE, its Evils. If I am traduc'd by tongues, which neither know My faculties, nor person, yet will be The chronicles of my doing, — let me say, 'Tis but the fate of place, and the rough brake That virtue must go through. We must not stint Our necessary actions, in the fear To cope malicious censurers ; which ever, As ravenous fishes, do a vessel follow That is new trimm'd ; but benefit no further Than vainly longing. What we oft do best, By sick interpreters, (once weak ones) is Not ours, or not allow'd ; what worst, as oft, Hitting a grosser quality, is cried up For our best act. If we shall stand still, In fear our motion will be mock'd or carp'd at, We should take root here where we sit, or sit State statues only. H. VIII. i. 2.
Insolence of. I'd have beaten him like a dog, but for disturbing the lords within. C. iv. 5.
OMENS, (See also Portents). The bay trees in our country are all wither'd, And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven ; The
pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth, And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change ; Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance
and leap. R.II. ii. 4.
There is some ill a-brewing towards my rest, For I did dream of money-bags to-night. M.V. ii. 5.
OMNIPOTENCE, Inscrutable. He that of greatest works is finisher, Oft does them by the weakest minister : So holy writ in babes hath judgment shown When judges have been babes. A. W. ii. 1.
OPENNESS. I must be found ; My parts, my title, and my perfect soul, Shall manifest me rightly. 0. i. 2.
OPHELIA Drowning. There is a willow grows aslant a brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream ; There, with fantastic garlands did she come, Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples, That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them. There on the pendant boughs her coronet weeds Clamb'ring to hang, an envious sliver broke ; When down her weedy trophies, and herself, Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide ; And mermaid-like, awhile they bore
her up : Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes ; As one incapable of her own distress, Or like a creature native and endu'd
Unto that element : but long it could not be, Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay,
To muddy death. H. iv. 7.
OPINION (See also Censure.) I am that I am, and they that level At my abuses, reckon tip their owne, I may be straight, though they themselves be bevell, By their rank thoughts, my deeds must not be showne ; Unless this general evil they maintaine, All men are bad,
and in their badness raigne. Poems.
Because you want the grace that others have, You judge it straight a thing impossible To compass wonders, but by help of devils.
H. VI. pt. I. v. 4.
There's nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so. H. ii. 2.
Our virtues Lie in the interpretation of the time. C. iv. 7.
Opinion, a sovereign mistress of effects. 0. i. 3.
But fish not with this melancholy bait, For this fool's gudgeon, this opinion. M.V.i. 1.
Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan The outward habit for the inward man. P. P. ii. 2.
A plague of opinion ! a man may wear it on both sides, like a leather jerkin. T. C. iii. 3.
OPPORTUNITY (See also Delay, Irresolution, Neglect). There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to
fortune ; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows, and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat ; And we must
take the current when it serves, Or lose out ventures. J. C. iv. 3.
Who seeks, and will not take, when once 'tis offer'd, Shall never find it more. A. C. ii. 7.
When the sun shines, let foolish gnats make sport, But creep in crannies, when he hides his beams. C. E. ii. 2.
A little fire is quickly trodden out ; Which, being suffer'd, rivers cannot quench. H. VI. pt. III. iv. 8.
The means that heaven yields must be embrac'd, And not neglected ; else, if heaven would, And we will not, heaven's offer we refuse.
R. II. iii. 2.
I find my zenith doth depend upon A most auspicious star ; whose influence If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes Will ever after droop.
T. i. 2.
OPPOSITION. Back, I say, go ; lest I let forth your half pint of blood ; — back — that's the utmost of your having :— back. C. v. 2.
OPPRESSION. I love not to see wretchedness o'ercharg'd, And duty in his service perishing. M.N. v. 1.
I am an ass, indeed ; you may prove it by my long ears. I have served him from the hour of my nativity to this instant, and have nothing at his hands for my service, but blows ; when I am cold, he heats me with beating ; when I am warm, he 'cools me with beating ; I am awak'd with it, when I sleep ; rais'd with it, when I sit ; driven out of doors with it, when I go from home ; welcomed home with it, when I return: nay, I
bear it on my shoulders, as a beggar her brat ; and, I think, when he hath lamed me, I shall beg with it from door to door.
C. E. iv. 4.
Each new morn, New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows Strike heaven on the face. M. iv. 2..
THE NATURAL DUTY OF RESISTANCE TO. To whom do lions cast their gentle looks ? Not to the beast that would usurp their den. Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick ? Not his, that spoils her young before her face. Who 'scapes the lurking serpent's mortal
sting ? Not he that sets his foot upon her back. The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on, And doves will peck, in safeguard of their brood. H. VI. pt. II. ii. 2.
The poor wren, The most diminutive of birds, will fight, Her young ones in the nest, against the owl. M. iv. 2.
OPTICS (See Eye).
ORATION, Pedantic. Taffeta phrases, silken terms precise, Three pil'd hyperboles, spruce affectation, Figures pedantical ; these summer flies Have blown me full of maggot ostentation. L. L. v. 2.
ORATOR. Doubt not, my lord ; I'll play the orator, As if the golden fee, for which I plead, Were for myself. R. III. iii. 5.
ORATORY, Popular. For in such business, Action is eloquence, and the eyes of the ignorant More learned than their ears.
C. iii. 2.
Pray, be content ; Mother, I am going to the market-place ; Chide me no more. I'll mountebank their loves, Cog their hearts from them,
and come home belov'd Of all the trades in Rome. C. iii. 2.
ORDER. Degree being vizarded, The unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask. The heavens themselves, the planets, and this centre, Observe degree, priority, and place, Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, Office, and custom, in all line of order : And therefore
is the glorious planet, Sol, In noble eminence enthron'd and spher'd Amidst the other ; whose med'cinable eye Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil, And posts, like the commandment of a king, Sans check, to good and bad :' But when the planets, In evil mixture, to disorder wander, What plagues, and what portents ! what mutiny ! What raging of the sea ! shaking of earth ! Commotion in the winds ! frights, changes, horrors, Divert and crack, rend and deracinate The unity and married calm of states Quite from their fixture ! 0, when degree is shak'd, Which is the ladder of all high designs, The enterprise is sick ! How could communities, Degrees in schools, and brotherhoods in cities, Peaceful commerce from divided shores, The primogeniture and due of birth, Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels, But by
degree, stand in authentic place ? Take but degree away, untune that string, And, hark, what discord follows ! each thing meets In mere oppugnancy : The bounded waters Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores, And make a sop of all this solid globe : Strength
should be lord of imbecility, And the rude son should strike his father dead : Force should be right ; or, rather, right and wrong (Between whose endless jar justice resides) Should lose their names, and so should justice too. Then every thing includes itself in power, Power
into will, will into appetite : And appetite, a universal wolf, So doubly seconded with will and power, Must make perforce a universal prey, And, last, eat up himself. Great Agamemnon ; This chaos, when degree is suffocate, Follows the choking : And this neglection of degree
it is, That by a pace goes backward, with a purpose It hath to climb. The general's disdain'd By him one step below ; he, by the next ;
That next, by him beneath: so every step, Exampled by the first pace that is sick Of his superior, grows to an envious fever Of pale and bloodless emulation. T. C. i. 3.
The world is still deceiv'd with ornament. In law, what plea so tainted and corrupt, But, being season'd with a gracious voice, Obscures the show of evil ? In religion, What damned error, but some sober brow Will bless it, and approve it with a text, Hiding the grossness
with fair ornament ? M. V. iii. 2.
ORNAMENT. Thus ornament is but the guiled shore To a most dangerous sea ; the beauteous scarf Veiling an Indian beauty ; in a word, The seeming truth which cunning times put on To entrap the wisest. M. V. iii. 2.
OTHELLO'S Apology. Rude am I in speech, And little bless'd with the soft phrase of peace ; For since these arms of mine had seven years' pith, Till now some nine moons wasted, they have us'd Their dearest action in the tented field ; And little of this great world can I speak, More than pertains to feats of broil and battle ; And therefore little shall I grace my cause, In speaking for myself: Yet, by your gracious patience, I will a round unvarnish'd tale deliver Of my whole course of love ; what drugs, what charms, What conjuration, and
what mighty magic, (For such proceeding I am charg'd withal) I won his daughter with. Her father lov'd me ; oft invited me ; Still
question'd me the story of my life, From year to year ; the battles, sieges, fortunes, That I have pass'd. I ran it through, even from my
boyish days, To the very moment that he bade me tell it. Wherein I spoke of most disastrous chances, Of moving accidents by flood and field ; Of hair-breadth ; scapes i' the imminent deadly breach ; Of being taken by the insolent foe, And sold to slavery ; of my redemption thence, And portance in my travel's history : . Wherein of antres vast, and desarts wild, Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven. It was my hint to speak. Such was my process ; And of the cannibals that each other eat, The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders. These things to hear, Would Desdemona seriously incline: But still the house affairs would draw her thence ; Which ever as she could with haste despatch, She'd come again, and with a greedy ear Devour up my discourse : Which I observing, Took once a pliant hour ; and found good means To draw from her a prayer of earnest heart, That I would all my pilgrimage dilate, Whereof by parcels she had something heard, But not distinctively. I did consent ; And often did beguile her of her tears, When I did speak of some distressful stroke; That my youth suffer'd. My story being done, She gave me for my pains a world of sighs ; She swore, — In faith; 'twas strange, 'twas passing strange, 'Twas pitiful, 'twas wondrous pitiful: She wish'd' she had not heard it ; yet she wish'd That heaven had made her such a man. She thank'd me ; And bade me, if I had a friend that lov'd her, I should but teach him how to tell my story, And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake ; She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd ; And I lov'd her, that she did pity them : This only is the witchcraft I have us'd ; Here comes the lady, let her witness it. 0. i. 3.
Farewell. O now, for ever, Farewell the tranquil mind ! Farewell content ! Farewell the plumed troop, and the big wars, That make
ambition virtue ! 0, farewell ! Farewell the neighing steed, and the shrill trump, The spirit-stirring drum, the ear-piercing fife, The royal banner ; and all quality, Pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war ! And, 0, you mortal engines, whose rude throats The immortal Jove's dread clamours counterfeit, Farewell ! — Othello's occupation's gone ! 0. iii. 3.
Handkerchief. There's magic in the web of it: A sybil, that had number'd in the world The sun to make two hundred compasses, In her prophetic fury sew'd the work : The worms were hallow'd that did breed the silk ; And it was dy'd in mummy, which the skilful Conserv'd of maidens' hearts. 0. iii. 4.
OVERMATCHED. If there were not two or three and fifty upon poor old Jack, I am no two-legged creature. H. IV. pt. I. ii. 4.
OUTCAST. I am one my liege, Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world Have so incens'd, that I am reckless what I do to
spite the world. M. iii. 1.
So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune, That I would set my life on any chance To mend it, or be rid on't. M. iii. 1.
Sick in the world's regard, wretched, and low, A poor unminded outlaw. H. IV. pt. I. iv. 3.
OUTRAGEOUSNESS. Why, this passes, Mister Ford : you are not to go loose any longer, you must be pinioned. M. W. iv. 2.
Why, this is lunatics. M. W. iv. 2.
OUTWITTED. Thou art not vanquish'd, But cozen'd and beguil'd. K. L. v. 3.