“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.”

What does it mean?

King Richard, now in prison, realises that he wasted his time as king, and now time is destroying him in return.

Key vocabulary

doth

an old form of "does"

waste

(here) make weak and thin; destroy slowly

• “To be, or not to be, that is the question.”– William Shakespeare
• “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”– William Shakespeare
• “The course of true love never did run smooth.”– William Shakespeare
• “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.”– William Shakespeare