...of riot cannot last; For violent fires soon burn out themselves: Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short; He tires betimes, that spurs too...demi-Paradise, This fortress, built by Nature for herself, Against infection, and the hand of War; This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone...

...most powerfully in the great set speech delivered by John of Gaunt just before he dies in Richard II: This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This...demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone...

...of riot cannot last; For violent fires soon burn out themselves. Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short. He tires betimes that spurs too...itself. This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, 40 This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden - demi-paradise This fortress built by...

...Shakespeare's Richard II, which in turn provided subsequent ages with a basic vocabulary of patriotic rhetoric. This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle This...demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war. This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone...

...Beat a Venetian and traduced the state, I took by th'throat the circumcised dog And smote him - thus. This royal throne of kings, this scept'red isle, This...demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone...

...Most famously, of course, there is Gaunt's speech in 2.1, where the image of England is invoked as This royal throne of kings, this scept'red isle, This...demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself... This Eden has now been compromised by Richard's continental, and thus of course absolutist, ambitions,...

...consequences of separating lyrical language from its dramatic location unwittingly. The famous passage begins: This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, This...demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone...

...of riot cannot last, For violent fires soon burn out themselves; Small showers last long, but sudden d and courteous to this gentleman, — Hop in his walks, and gambol in his eyes; Feed him with scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Man, This other Eden, demi-Paradise; This fortress...

...of pedantry, now becomes the focus of a most intense, existential confrontation. Chapter 10 Judgment This royal throne of kings, this scept'red isle, This...demi-paradise, This fortress built by Nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war, This happy breed of men, this little world . . . This blessed...

...of riot cannot last. For violent fires soon burn out themselves; Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short; He tires betimes that spurs too...cormorant, Consuming means, soon preys upon itself. (2.1.31-39) There is little to add to Friedman's able exposition of this speech. His comment on Gaunt's...