“To die by thee, were but to die in jest;
From thee to die, were torture more than death.” (King Henry VI part 2, act 3, sc. 2)
Tips for use. Your answer to admonishments of the type “Drive carefully”, “Do not catch a cold”, “Be careful”, similar or equivalent. Absence from your better half, lover or significant other may or may not be a source of melancholy. In his Anatomy of Melancholy Robert Burton says, “It is controverted by some, whether love-melancholy may be cured, because it is so irresistible and violent a passion; for as you know,
“It is an easy passage down to hell,
But to come back, once there, you cannot well.”
which is a somewhat free translation of these lines from Virgil’s Aeneid
“Facilis descensus Averni;
Sed revocare gravum, superasque evadere ad auras,
Hic labor, hoc opus est”
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In the play. The Dike of Suffolk, was politically compromised in the plots around King Henry VI and his protector Humphrey of Gloucester. Suffolk was instrumental in arranging the marriage between King Henry VI and Margaret of France and was probably her lover. Banished from court he takes leave of Queen Margaret with these passionate words.
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