"a scholar and a ripe and good one" in De Quincey's "Confessions of an English Opium Eater"

Marjie Bloy Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, National University of Singapore

a scholar and a ripe and good one: this reference is taken from Shakespeare's Henry VIII Act IV Scene 2 where Katherine of Aragon is speaking of Wolsey, of whose death she has heard recently. The full quotation is:

He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one
Exceeding wise, fair spoken and persuading;
Lofty and sour to them that loved him not
But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.

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Victorian
Web

Authors

Thomas
De Quincey

Last modified 22 January 2002