In William Shakespeare’s Richard II, John of Gaunt and his son Henry Bolingbroke have been banished from England by the King. Henry is fretful, so John recommends Henry take refuge in mind-games, pretending that he has banished Richard, or that he is going abroad for his health, or even that he is dancing at court rather than walking into exile.

John of Gaunt’s well-meant advice does not please his son. Such mind-games, Henry says, do not work, any more than memories of a warm summer allow a man to lie naked in the snow. John does not deny the justice of this, and the two set out for exile with Henry vowing never to forget his mother-country.

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