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oops kinda accidentally bought a bass ...

The famous 'This England' speech from Shakespeare's Richard II is much beloved by demented flagwavers: "This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall, Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands, This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, This England." How many of them know that the speech continues thus: "This dear dear land is now leased out Like to a tenement or pelting farm: England, bound in with the triumphant sea Is now bound in with shame, With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds: That England, that was wont to conquer others, Hath made a shameful conquest of itself." Shakespeare knew.