Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Parallel - Gates of Mercy

First Shake-Speare:


"Open thy gates of mercy, gracious God!" 3 Henry VI, 1.4.177
"The gates of mercy shall be all shut up" Henry V, 3.3.10


Now Bacon:
"We wished him not to shut the gate of your Majesty's mercy against himself by being obdurate any longer." Bacon in Letter to King James


Comment: "Gates of mercy" is not in the Bible, and editors make no mention of it being found elsewhere in the Elizabethan period.

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