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Shakespeare short line meaning?
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<blockquote data-quote="theedibster" data-source="post: 2353847" data-attributes="member: 813860"><p>I'm translating a brief passage from Henry IV, part I, and it's going well, except I find this line a little ambiguous.</p><p>In context:</p><p>So, when this loose behavior I throw off/And pay the debt I never promised,/By how much better than my word I am,/By so much shall I falsify men's hopes,/And, lik bright metal on a sullen ground,/my reformation, glitt'ring o'er my fault/whall show more goodly and attract more eyes/THAN THAT WHICH HATH NO FOIL TO SET IT OFF</p><p></p><p>I understand the analogy and such; Prince Hal wants to suddenly stop hanging out with trash and the reformation will be so sudden it will make people forget past mistakes, and he likens this to a bright metal contrasted with a dull floor. </p><p>But what do THAT, FOIL, and IT mean/refer to?</p><p></p><p>Any help would be appreciated!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="theedibster, post: 2353847, member: 813860"] I'm translating a brief passage from Henry IV, part I, and it's going well, except I find this line a little ambiguous. In context: So, when this loose behavior I throw off/And pay the debt I never promised,/By how much better than my word I am,/By so much shall I falsify men's hopes,/And, lik bright metal on a sullen ground,/my reformation, glitt'ring o'er my fault/whall show more goodly and attract more eyes/THAN THAT WHICH HATH NO FOIL TO SET IT OFF I understand the analogy and such; Prince Hal wants to suddenly stop hanging out with trash and the reformation will be so sudden it will make people forget past mistakes, and he likens this to a bright metal contrasted with a dull floor. But what do THAT, FOIL, and IT mean/refer to? Any help would be appreciated! [/QUOTE]
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