Shakespeare, William -- Twelfth Night, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 31ff (2.2.31-32) (1601)

Dave — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 18:01:20 +0000

VIOLA: Alas, our frailty is the cause, not we!
For such as we are made of, such we be.

William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English dramatist and poet
Twelfth Night, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 31ff (2.2.31-32) (1601)

Part of Viola's "Ring Soliloqy," with Viola speaking of the inconstant and frail nature of women in particular. Maybe. There is some controversy over the reading and actual verbiage of this line, given its implications.

In the First Folio, the lines read:

Alas, O Frailtie is the cause, not wee,
For such as we are made, if such we bee.

By the Second Folio (1632), the "O" had been "corrected" to "our". Thirlby and Tyrwhitt specifically deleted the "if" in the mid-18th Century.

The Folger version acknowledges some of these changes:

Alas, [our] frailty is the cause, not we,
For such as we are made [of], such we be.

One further consideration: it has been argued by some that "made" can legitimately be read as "mad" (as in madness), given the orthographical and pronunciation vagaries of Elizabethan England. This creates a reading where Viola condemns such frailty, if present in us (women? humans?), as madness.

Johnson, Samuel -- The Plays of William Shakespeare, “Cymbeline” (1765)

Dave — Fri, 10 Apr 2015 12:08:53 +0000

No state can be more destitute than that of a him who, when the delites of sense forsake him, has no pleasures of the mind.

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Plays of William Shakespeare, “Cymbeline” (1765)

Horace -- Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 2, ep. 3 “Art of Poetry [Ars Poetica; To the Pisos],” l. 358ff (2.3.358-360) (19 BC) [tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

Dave — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:23:04 +0000

Good Homer sometimes nods, which gives me a jerk —
But sleep may well worm its way into any long work!

[Et idem
indignor, quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus;
verum operi longo fas est obrepere somnum.]

Horace (65–8 BC) Roman poet, satirist, soldier, politician [Quintus Horatius Flaccus]
Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 2, ep. 3 “Art of Poetry [Ars Poetica; To the Pisos],” l. 358ff (2.3.358-360) (19 BC) [tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]

Noting that even the greatest poet, Homer, sometimes produced sub-par work, though they can be forgiven a slip-up in the something as long as the Iliad or Odyssey. Source of the familiar expression, "Even Homer nods."

(Source (Latin)). Other translations:

Yet am righte wrothe that any good should cum from such a sotte.
Good Homer now and then him himselfe will slumber well I wotte.
If that our woorke be longe and huge, so harde it is to kepe
Our selves wakinge, it is dispensed if sumtymes we do sleepe.
[tr. Drant (1567)]

[B]ut am more
Angry, if once I heare good Homer snore.
Though I confesse, that, in a long work, sleep
May, with some right, upon an Author creep.
[tr. Jonson (1640)]

But in long Works, Sleep will sometimes surprize,
Homer himself hath been observ'd to nodd.
[tr. Roscommon (1680)]

Yet hold it for a fault I can't excuse,
If honest Homer slumber o'er his muse;
Although, perhaps, a kind indulgent sleep
O'er works of length allowably may creep.
[tr. Francis (1747)]

Me, who am griev'd and vex'd to the extreme,
If Homer seem to nod, or chance to dream:
Tho' in a work of length o'erlabour'd sleep
At intervals may, not unpardon'd, creep.
[tr. Coleman (1783)]

Vex'd, on the other hand, if now and then
Short fits of slumber creep on Homer's pen:
Howbeit at times the noblest bard, I think,
In works of long attempt may fairly wink.
[tr. Howes (1845)]

And at the same time am I grieved whenever honest Homer grows drowsy. But it is allowable, that sleep should steal upon [the progress of] a long work.
[tr. Smart/Buckley (1853)]

While e'en good Homer may deserve a tap,
If, as he does, he drop his head and nap.
Yet, when a work is long, 'twere somewhat hard
To blame a drowsy moment in a bard.
[tr. Conington (1874)]

Nay, when good Homer drops into a nap,
His knuckles I feel half inclined to rap,
Though in long works 'tis no great sin, if sleep
O'er the tired poet now and then shall creep.
[tr. Martin (1881)]

Equally also does it vex me whenever illustrious Homer nods; yet is it lawful that sleep should creep in upon a lengthened production.
[tr. Elgood (1893)]

And yet I also feel aggrieved, whenever good Homer "nods," but when a work is long, a drowsy mood may well creep over it.
[tr. Fairclough (Loeb) (1926)]

Am I, then, to be indignant whenever good Homer nods? Yes, but it is natural for slumber to steal over a long work.
[tr. Blakeney; ed. Kraemer (1936)]

I also
find I get upset whenever worthy Homer dozes off,
but into works that long a little sleep must steal.
[tr. Fuchs (1977)]

I scowl, too,
Whene evern Homer nods, though Morpheus (yawn)
Can't be kept out of a really long poem.
[tr. Raffel (1983 ed.)]

It's true that it bothers me
When Homer nods, but, after all, it's true
That writers of such long works must drowse sometimes.
[tr. Ferry (2001)]

I even
feel aggrieved when Homer, the pattern of goodness, nods.
Sleep, however, is bound to creep in on a lengthy work.
[tr. Rudd (2005 ed.)]

And yet I’m displeased too when great Homer nods,
Somnolence may steal over a long work it’s true.
[tr. Kline (2015)]

WIST Quotations

Shakespeare, William -- Twelfth Night, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 31ff (2.2.31-32) (1601)

Johnson, Samuel -- The Plays of William Shakespeare, “Cymbeline” (1765)

Horace -- Epistles [Epistularum, Letters], Book 2, ep. 3 “Art of Poetry [Ars Poetica; To the Pisos],” l. 358ff (2.3.358-360) (19 BC) [tr. Palmer Bovie (1959)]