what is the meaning of the phrase "the clouds that lour'd upon our house" now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of york; and all the clouds that lour'd upon our house in the deep bosom of the ocean buried. now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths; our bruised arms hung up for monuments; our stern alarums changed to merry meetings, our dreadful marches to delightful measures

In these lines, Shakespeare describes the end of the War of the Roses. He tells us that this war (a series of civil wars between the Houses of Lancaster and York, two branches of the Plantagenet) is over, and that the House of York has won. The speaker is Richard, who discusses his brother Edward IV's reign.

The speaker compares the reign of Lancaster and the war to the winter, and the reign of York to spring. In the line "the clouds that lour'd upon our house," the speaker implies that the clouds represent the winter, and the bad times they had just experienced. On the other hand, the word "loured" can be translated as "to frown upon," while "our house" most likely refers to the House of York.

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