History of Horticulture © 2002 Jules Janick, Purdue University

Extra credit assignment

Two famous garden scenes of Shakespeare are found in Richard II and The Winter's Tale. Choose one and delineate and discuss the horticultural knowledge revealed in these excerpts.

Richard II, Act III, Scene IV, lines 1-107, especially 29-71.
The Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene IV, lines 55-165, especially 70-134.

Richard II

Synopsis
Shakespeare's Richard II records the beginning of an era of political upheaval insurrection in England. Richard, an unsatisfactory head of state, is surrounded by self-seeking advisors who burdened his country with heavy taxes to support a luxurious court life. Richard's cousin, Henry Bullingbrook, a man of action, fills the void created through Richard's misrule by usurping the throne. Richard's fall from power and Bullingbrook's ascension to the throne may have been political necessities for England yet Shakespeare regards them with mixed feelings.

Richard's mismanagement of England is reflected in a following garden scene in Act III, Scene IV, lines 1-107. Location: Langley. The Duke Of York's garden.

Enter the Queen and two Ladies
Queen What sport shall we devise here in this garden,
To drive away the heavy thought of care?		 1
2
Lady Madam, we'll play at bowls. 3
Queen 'Twill make me think the world is full of rubs,
And that my fortune rubs against the bias.		 4. rubs: impediments (a term from bowling).
5. against the bias: i.e. unnaturally crooked. In the game of bowls, bias=the desirable swerve or curving course of a bowl in motion.
Lady Madam, we'll dance. 6
Queen My legs can keep no measure in delight,
When my poor heart no measure keeps in grief;
Therefore, no dancing, girl, some other sport.		 7. measure: stately dance.
8. measure: moderation.
9
Lady Madam, we'll tell tales. 10
Queen Of sorrow or of joy? 11
Lady Of either, madam. 12
Queen Of neither, girl;
For of joy, being altogether wanting,
It doth remember me the more of sorrow;
Or if of grief, being altogether had,
It adds more sorrow to my want of joy;
For what I have I need not to repeat,
And what I want it boots not to complain.		 13
14. wanting: lacking.
15. remember: remind.
16
17
18
19. boots not: does no good.
Lady Madam, I'll sing. 20
Queen 'Tis well that thou hast cause,
But thou shouldst please me better, wouldst thou weep.		 21
22
Lady I could weep, madam, would it do you good. 23
Queen And I could sing, would weeping do me good,
And never borrow any tear of thee.		 24
25
Enter a Gardener, and two of his Men.
  But stay, here come the gardeners.
Let's step into the shadow of these trees.
My wretchedness unto a row of pins,
They will talk of state, for every one doth so
Against a change; woe is forerun with woe.		 26
27
28. My wretchedness unto: i.e. I wager my wretchedness against.
29. state: politics.
30. Against: in anticipation of.
Queen and Ladies retire
Gardener Go, bind thou up yon dangling apricocks,
Which, like unruly children, make their sire
Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight;
Give some supportance to the bending twigs.
Go thou, and like an executioner,
Cut off the heads of too fast growing sprays,
That look too lofty in our commonwealth:
All must be even in our government.
You thus employed, I will go root away
The noisome weeds, which without profit suck
The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers.		 31. apricocks: apricots.
32
33
34
35
36
37
38. even: equal.
39
40
41
Man Why should we in the compass of a pale
Keep law and form and due proportion,
Showing, as in a model, our firm estate,
When our sea-walled garden, the whole land,
Is full of weeds, her fairest flowers chok'd up,
Her fruit-trees all unprun'd, her hedges ruin'd,
Her knots disordered and her wholesome herbs
Swarming with caterpillars?		 42. pale: enclosure, i.e. walled garden.
43
44
45
46
47
48. knots: flower beds laid out in patterns.
49
Gardener Hold thy peace.
He that hath suffered this disordered spring
Hath now himself met with the fall of leaf.
The weeds which his broad-spreading leaves did shelter,
That seem'd in eating him to hold him up,
Are pluck'd up root and all by Bullingbrook,
I mean the Earl of Wiltshire, Bushy, Green.		 50
51. suffered: permitted.
52
53
54
55
56
Man What, are they dead? 57
Gardener They are; and Bullingbrook
Hath seiz'd the wasteful king. O, what pity is it
That he had not so trimm'd and dress'd his land
As we this garden! We at time of year
Do wound the bark, the skin of our fruit-trees,
Lest, being over-proud in sap and blood,
With too much riches it confound itself;
Had he done so to great and growing men,
They might have lived to bear and he to taste
Their fruits of duty. Superfluous branches
We lop away, that bearing boughs may live;
Had he done so, himself had borne the crown,
Which waste of idle hours hath quite thrown down.		 58
59
60
61. time of year: i.e. the proper season.
62
63. over-proud: too luxuriant.
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
Man What, think you then the king shall be deposed? 71
Gardener Depress'd he is already, and depos'd
'Tis doubt he will be. Letters came last night
To a dear friend of the good Duke of York's
That tell black tidings.		 72. Depress'd: humbled.
73. doubt: fear.
74
75
Queen O, I am press'd to death through want of speaking! 76. press'd to death. Customary penalty in England for refusing to plead guilty or not guilty before a court, i.e. for remaining silent.
Coming forward
  Thou, old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden,
How dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleasing news?
What Eve, what serpent, hath suggested thee
To make a second fall of cursed man?
Why dost thou say King Richard is depos'd?
Dar'st thou, thou little better thing than earth,
Divine his downfall? Say, where, when, and how,
Cam'st thou by this ill tidings? speak, thou wretch.		 77. old Adam's likeness: i.e. because Adam was the first gardener; dress: cultivate.
78
79. suggested: prompted.
80. cursed: under a curse (like Adam after his fall from grace).
81
82
83. Divine: prophesy.
84
Gardener Pardon me, madam, little joy have I
To breathe this news; yet what I say is true:
King Richard, he is in the mighty hold
Of Bullingbrook; their fortunes both are weigh'd:
In your lord's scale is nothing but himself,
And some few vanities that make him light;
But in the balance of great Bullingbrook,
Besides himself, are all the English peers,
And with that odds he weighs King Richard down.
Post you to London, and you will find it so,
I speak no more than every one doth know.		 85
86
87. hold: grip, custody.
88
89. scale: pan of the balance.
90
91
92
93
94. Post: hasten.
95
Queen Nimble mischance, that art so light of foot,
Doth not thy embassage belong to me,
And am I last that knows it? O, thou thinkest
To serve me last that I may longest keep
Thy sorrow in my breast. Come, ladies, go
To meet at London London's king in woe.
What, was I born to this, that my sad look
Should grace the triumph of great Bullingbrook?
Gard'ner, for telling me these news of woe,
Pray God the plants thou graft'st may never grow.		 96
97. embassage: message, report.
98
99
100. Thy sorrow: the sorrow that you report.
101
102
103
104
105
Exit with Ladies
Gardener Poor queen, so that thy state might be no worse,
I would my skill were subject to thy curse.
Here did she fall a tear, here in this place
I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace.
Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen,
In the remembrance of a weeping queen.		 106. so that: provided.
107
108. fall: drop.
109. sour...grace: bitter herb of repentance (which comes through the grace of God).
110
111
Exit

The Winter's Tale

Synopsis
The Winter's Tale, a tragicomedy, is divided into two contrasting parts by a gap of 16 years. The tragic first 3 acts are staged in Sicilia where Leontes, King of Sicilia, irrationally accuses his wife, Hermione, of adultery with his friend and guest, Polixenes, the King of Bohemia. Leontes instigates a plot to poison Polixenes but Camillo, Leontes' most trusted servant, fears to kill a king and warns Polixenes. Polixenes escapes to Bohemia, taking Camillo with him. Leontes jails Hermione until messengers can journey to Delphos and back to give the verdict from the Delphic Oracle.

During this time, Hermione gives birth to a baby girl. Leontes is convinced that she is not his child and orders Antigonus, a lord of the Court, to abandon the baby in a remote spot. Hermione appears to Antigonus in a dream asking him to leave the baby in Bohemia and to name her Perdita. Hermione is brought to public trial, adultery being considered high treason when a king is betrayed, but she is vindicated by the Oracle's decree. "Hermione is chaste; Polixenes, blameless; Camillo, a true subject; Leontes, a jealous tyrant; his innocent babe, truly begotten and the king shall live without an heir if that which is lost be not found." Hermione faints and appears to die, leaving the king to live in remorse.

From scenes of jealousy, death and penance and images of spiders and infection, Shakespeare catapults us to comic romance in Acts IV and V. It is spring in the rural part of Bohemia where Perdita has been brought up by shepherds. Polixenes' son, Florizel, has fallen in love with Perdita, causing Polixenes and Camillo to investigate the situation. They arrive at the shepherd's cottage in disguise, just as a sheepshearing party begins in Act IV, Scene IV.

Enter Shepherd, Clown, Mopsa, Dorcas, and others, with Polixenes and Camillo disguised.
Shepherd Fie, daughter, when my old wife liv'd, upon
This day she was both pantler, butler, cook,
Both dame and servant; welcomed all, served all;
Would sing her song and dance her turn; now here,
At upper end o' the table, now i' the middle;
On his shoulder, and his; her face o' fire
With labour and the thing she took to quench it,
She would to each one sip. You are retired,
As if you were a feasted one and not
The hostess of the meeting: pray you, bid
These unknown friends to's welcome; for it is
A way to make us better friends, more known.
Come, quench your blushes and present yourself
That which you are, mistress o' th' feast: come on,
And bid us welcome to your sheep-shearing,
As your good flock shall prosper.		 63
64. pantler: pantry servant.
65
66
67
68. On his...his: at one man's...another man's.
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
Perdita [To Polixenes] Sir, welcome.
It is my father's will I should take on me
The hostess-ship o' th' day.
[To Camillo] You're welcome, sir.
Give me those flowers there, Dorcas. Reverend sirs,
For you there's rosemary and rue; these keep
Seeming and savor all the winter long.
Grace and remembrance be to you both,
And welcome to our shearing!		 79
80
81
82
83
84
85. Seeming and savor: color and scent.
86. Grace and remembrance. Symbolized by rue and rosemary respectively.
87
Polixenes Shepherdess,
A fair one are you, well you fit our ages
With flow'rs of winter.		 88
89
90
Perdita Sir, the year growing ancient,
Not yet on summer's death, nor on the birth
Of trembling winter, the fairest
Flowers o' the season
Are our carnations and streak'd gillyvors
Which some call nature's bastards: of that kind
Our rustic garden's barren; and I care not
To get slips of them.		 91
92
93
94
95. gillyvors: gillyflowers, pinks.
96
97
98. slips: cuttings.
Polixenes Wherefore, gentle maiden,
Do you neglect them?		 99
100
Perdita For I have heard it said
There is an art which in their piedness shares
With great creating nature.		 101. For: because.
102. art: i.e. the gardeners's skill in cross-breeding; piedness: variegated color.
103
Polixenes Say there be;
Yet nature is made better by no mean
But nature makes that mean: so, over that art
Which you say adds to nature, is an art
That nature makes. You see, sweet maid, we marry
A gentler scion to the wildest stock,
And make conceive a bark of baser kind
By bud of nobler race: this is an art
Which does mend nature, change it rather, but
The art itself is nature.		 104
105. mean: means
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
Perdita So it is. 114
Polixenes Then make your garden rich in gillyvors,
And do not call them bastards.		 115
116
Perdita I'll not put
The dibble in earth to set one slip of them;
No more than were I painted I would wish
This youth should say 'twere well and only therefore
Desire to breed by me. Here's flowers for you;
Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram;
 
The marigold, that goes to bed wi' the sun
And with him rises weeping: these are flowers
Of middle summer, and I think they are given
To men of middle age. You're very welcome.		 117
118. dibble: small inplement used to make holes in the soil for planting.
119
120
121
122. Hot. Meaning here uncertain. Contemporary herbalists classified some herbs as hot, others as cold. margorum: marjoram.
123
124
125
126
Camillo I should leave grazing, were I of your flock,
And only live by gazing.		 127
128
Perdita Out, alas!
You'd be so lean, that blasts of January
Would blow you through and through.
Now, my fair'st friend,
I would I had some flowers o' the spring that might
Become your time of day; and yours, and yours,
That wear upon your virgin branches yet
Your maidenheads growing: O Proserpina,
For the flowers now, that frighted thou let'st fall
From Dis's waggon! daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty; violets dim,
But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes
Or Cytherea's breath; pale primroses
That die unmarried, ere they can behold
Bight Phoebus in his strength-a malady
Most incident to maids; bold oxlips and
The crown imperial; lilies of all kinds,
The flow'r-de-luce being one! O, these I lack,
To make you garlands of, and my sweet friend,
To strew him o'er and o'er!		 129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136-38. Proserpina...waggon. Proserpina, Ceres' daughter, was gathering flowers when Pluto (Dis) saw her and carried her in his chariot to the underworld to become his queen.
139. take: bewitch.
140
141
142. Cytherea's: Venus'; primeroses: primroses.
143
144. Phoebus: the sun-god.
145
146
147. flow'r-de-luce: fleur-de-lis.
148
149
Florizel What, like a corse? 150. corse: corpse.
Perdita No, like a bank for love to lie and play on;
Not like a corse; or if, not to be buried,
But quick and in mine arms. Come, take your flowers:
Methinks I play as I have seen them do
In Whitsun pastorals: sure this robe of mine
 
 
Does change my disposition.		 151
152
153. quick: alive.
154
155. Whitsun pastorals: May games and dances with Robin Hood and Maid Marian as leading characters. Perdita thinks of them as somewhat indecent and is surprised at herself, a modest girl, for talking in their vein.
156
Florizel What you do
Still betters what is done. When you speak, sweet.
I'ld have you do it ever: when you sing,
I'ld have you buy and sell so, so give alms,
Pray so; and, for the ordering your affairs,
To sing them too: when you do dance, I wish you
A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do
Nothing but that; move still, still so,
And own no other function: each your doing,
So singular in each particular,
Crowns what you are doing in the present deed,
That all your acts are queens.		 157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165. Each you doing: the manner in which you perform each act.
166. singular: distinctively yours.
167
168
Perdita O Doricles,
Your praises are too large: but that your youth,
And the true blood which peepeth fairly through't,
Do plainly give you out an unstain'd shepherd,
With wisdom I might fear, my Doricles,
You woo'd me the false way.		 169. Doricles: Florizel's assumed name.
170
171
172
173
174
Florizel I think you have
As little skill to fear as I have purpose
To put you to't. But come; our dance, I pray:
Your hand, my Perdita: so turtles pair,
That never mean to part.		 175
176. skill: reason.
177
178. turtles: turtledoves (symbolic of constancy in love).
179
Perdita I'll swear for 'em. 180
Polixenes This is the prettiest low-born lass that ever
Ran on the green-sord: nothing she does or seems
But smacks of something greater than herself,
Too noble for this place.		 181
182. green-sord: greensward.
183
184
Camillo He tells her something
That makes her blood look out: good sooth, she is
 
The queen of curds and cream.		 185
186. makes...on't: makes her blush.
Most editors emend on't to out. Good sooth: in truth.
187
Clown Come on, strike up! 188
Dorcas Mopsa must be your mistress: marry, garlic,
To mend her kissing with!		 189
190
Mopsa Now, in good time! 191. Now...time: an expression of indignation.
Clown Not a word, a word; we stand upon our manners.
Come, strike up!		 192
193
Music. Here a dance of Shepherds and Shepherdesses

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