“Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,Men were deceivers ever,-One foot in sea and one on shore,To one thing constant never.”

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Meaning

This reads as a wry counsel to stop mourning unreliable men and to see inconsistency as part of their nature. The lines can be taken to mean that promises of constancy are often broken, so women are being asked to protect themselves from disappointment. It lands when someone is trying to laugh at a recurring romantic pattern instead of taking it personally.

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Original Language & Translation

Originally said in English.

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About William Shakespeare

English playwright, poet and actor

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the leading dramatist of the world stage. Often called England’s national poet and the Bard of Avon, he remains a central figure in English literature. His surviving work includes about 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and three long narrative poems, along with a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. His influence on English writing and drama has lasted for centuries, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.

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Books by William Shakespeare

Hamlet

1950

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Macbeth

2003

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A Midsummer Night's Dream

1963

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King Lear

1963

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Julius Caesar

1684

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