Mojo, The Bard, & Me

And, commendable proved, let’s die in pride.

-Lord Talbot

King Henry the Sixth Part I                          Act IV, scene vii Line 58

And cut! Yes, that’s the last line of the scene, followed by the stage direction ‘Exeunt’, which I learned is the plural of ‘Exit’. So if it says ‘Exit’ it means one person is leaving, and if it says ‘Exeunt’ it means everybody out. So Exeunt usually means it’s the end of the scene, but not always.

First off, let me report that I am certainly making progress in reading Shakespeare’s Kings. Second I’ll tell you that this progress includes getting up to King Henry IV, but unfortunately not Henry VI. And since I’ve not added Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part I, II, or III to the plays that I’ve read, well, you guessed it, I really don’t know what’s going on with this line too much. But it’s a short scene, and I read it, so I can give you the micro context, if not the macro version.

The scene includes Lord Talbot, today’s speaker, and his son John Talbot. They are caught up in the middle of a battle (I believe the Talbots are English and they’re fighting the French), and the two Talbots are discussing the merits of the younger one hightailing it out of there while he still can. Apparently the battle’s not going all that well for the English, and sticking it out may not work out that well for either of them. In the end though, they both agree that they’ll stick it out together whatever the outcome and thus Father Talbot’s line in today’s Totally Random Daily Shakespeare. And commendable proved, let’s die in pride. Not terribly optimistic, but I guess you can say it’s a positive attitude. I mean, if they’re gonna go, they might as well go together as opposed to apart and running away like cowards. Just the same, I think getting killed in war is a little over-rated.

So today’s line doesn’t quite have the cachet Oh world, thy slippery turns! Yeah, that’s right, I’m still stuck on that one. Honestly, I think it’s right up there with What need the bridge much wider than the flood. In fact, it might even be better. Can’t seem to get past it. In any event, at least I got you back to a manageable line today. One line, seven words, as opposed to yesterday’s epistle. So let’s just let it go at that. You decide if today’s line is worth anything. In the meantime, I’m moving on.