Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

He will not fight with me, Domitius?

 

Mark Antony     

Antony and Cleopatra       Act IV, Scene iii, Line 1

 

Antony is talking to his right-hand man Domitius Enobarbus. They’re discussing the fact that Caesar refuses to fight with Antony. Why should he when he stands a chance of losing to Antony; especially since Caesar’s army is sure to defeat Antony’s. Caesar is no dummy.

Somehow or another in all the time of doing this blog I seem to have missed that Enobarbus had a first name: Domitius. How’d I miss that? And this is a character that I’ve paid a lot of attention to over the years because I like both his name, Enobarbus, and his character, the grizzled war veteran.

So okay, Enobarbus’s first name is Domitius. 

Once more, a pic that is neither Mojo, nor relevant to Today's Totally Random Line. No, this is not Domitius Enobarbus, though he is a grizzled war veteran, of both WWII, and the eternal war of parenting. This is the original Papa Bear (believe it or not, some people think I resemble him). Why this pic? Well, though Papa Bear shuffled off his mortal coil many years ago, today is the one hundredth anniversary of his birth. Yup, born July 10, 1926. How's about that. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Your knowledge has through Ephesus poured forth

Your charity, and hundreds call themselves

Your creatures, who by you have been restored:

And not your knowledge, your personal pain, but even

Your purse, still open, hath built Lord Cerimon

Such strong renown as time shall never—

       Enter two or three servants with a chest.

 

Second Gentleman

Pericles                               Act III, Scene ii, Line 49

Apparently the two servants entering with a chest interrupt Second Gentleman, so that I don’t think we’re ever going to find out what such strong renown as time shall never do.

Cerimon (that’s the guy that Second Gentleman is talking to and about above; and I believe it’s pronounced Saruman, believe it or not) is being introduced as an amazing doctor – that’s the first three lines above. Apparently he’s also a pretty fabulous all around guy – that’s the next three. And what’s Cerimon’s purpose in this play? Oh, not much; he’s just got to bring Pericles’s wife back to life. She’s in the chest that the two or three servants are entering with.

So today’s six Totally Random lines are spoken by an anonymous henchman who’s only job in the play is to give us a description of a heretofore unknown character who’s also got just one job to do in the play (albeit, this latter character’s job of bringing someone back to life is a little more important than Second Gentleman's job. Or is it?).

Since we're talking about bringing to life, and since this is the anniversary of me being brought to life (out of vitro), we're going with a pic of.... ME!

I don't have a picture of the day I was brought to life (out of vitro), but this is about 64 years closer to that day than today.

 

Sorry, no Mojo today; his birthday is in March.

Today’s Totally Random Lines

This royal hand and mine are newly knit,

And the conjunction of our inward souls

Married in league, coupled and linkt together

With all religious strength and sacred vows;

The latest breath that gave the sound of words

The deep-sworn faith, peace, amity, true love

Between our kingdoms and our royal selves;

And even before this truce, but new before,-

No longer than we well could wash our hands,

To clap this royal bargain up of peace,-

Heaven knows, they were besmear’d and overstain’d

With slaughter’s pencil, where revenge did paint

The fearful difference of incensed kings:

And shall these hands, so lately purged of blood,

So newly join’d in love, so strong in both,

Unyoke this seizure and this kind of regret?

 

King Philip 

King John                 Act III, Scene i, Line 240

That’s a really long line. I decided to work with the punctuated sentence. It’s all commas and semicolons up to that final question mark, and therefore one sentence.

So, what’s King Philip saying with this really long sentence? He’s saying that he and King John just consummated a treaty, so do they really want to throw that out and go back to warring with each other. I’m not exactly sure who is pushing to throw the treaty out, or why, but the king is using sixteen lines to question that idea. Now if you look at it closely, and take a little time with the lines you can see that they're pretty clear and, of course, quite expressive, to say the least. 

Go back and take a look

The first seven lines talk about the positivity of their relationship with the new treaty.

the conjunction of our inward souls Married in league... religious strength and sacred vows... deep-sworn faith, peace, amity, true love

The next six talk about the horrible situation of war that existed before the treaty.

besmear’d and overstain’d With slaughter’s pencil, where revenge did paint The fearful difference of incensed kings:

And the last three lines question why they would want to go back to that.

And shall these hands, so lately purged of blood,

So newly join’d in love, so strong in both,

Unyoke this seizure and this kind of regret?

Good for King Philip!  

My little buddy's getting in some much deserved and much needed pool time. 

There'll be no worrying about being besmear’d and overstain’d with slaughter’s pencil for this fellow!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

You come hither, my lord, to marry this lady?

Friar Francis

Much Ado About Nothing    Act IV, Scene i, Line 4

The answer to this question is a flat “No”.

This is the wedding scene. Claudio, the groom, has been fooled into believing that Hero, the bride, has been unfaithful to him. So he shows up for the wedding and when the priest asks him if he’s ready to marry, he says ‘no’. Then, somehow, the ceremony proceeds as if no one heard his answer, until twenty lines down he goes off into his speech about how Hero has cheated on him and how he wants nothing to do with her.

Give not this rotten orange to your friend;  he says to Hero’s father. He calls the bride a ‘rotten orange.’

How’s that!?

Okay, here's a Totally Random picture that has absolutely nothing to do with Today's Totally Random line; but I couldn't pass it up. 

Look at the shirt on this guy! He knows how to celebrate a holiday!

Bravo, Jon!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Ah,  ha!—Come, some music! Come, the recorders!—

For if the king like not the comedy,

Why, then, belike,--he likes it not, perdy.--

Come, some music!

Hamlet

Hamlet               Act III, Scene ii, Line 311

 

The word perdy means assuredly. It’s a bastardization of the French per Dieu, or, per God. Anyway. 

This is the scene with the play within the play. Hamlet has had the visiting group of players (not the Cheshire Town Players) stage a play that had a scene which mimics how he believed that Claudius killed King Hamlet (Hamlet’s father). Claudius, upon watching the scene, has just stormed out, after which Hamlet concluded with Horatio that Claudius must indeed be guilty. And with this done, Hamlet says “Bring on the music.”

Interesting.

 

The scene…

Within the play…

With the players…

Staging a play…

That had a scene…

 

I believe the word is “confusing”, not “interesting”.

And I agree with Hamlet, just bring on the music.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

All this I see; and I see that the fashion wears out more apparel than the man. But art not thou thyself giddy with the fashion too, that thou hast shifted out of thy tale into telling me of the fashion?

Conrade

Much Ado About Nothing     Act III, Scene iii, Line 140

Conrade is speaking with his buddy Borachio. The latter is about to explain to Conrade how he was involved with the scheme to make Claudio think that his fiancé, Hero, was unfaithful to him. However, he begins the tale with this long winded thing about fashion. Honestly, it’s a bit much. It’s fashion this, and fashion that. I think there’s supposed to be humor here, but it’s a bit hard to flesh out; at least for me it is.

Anyway, it seems like Conrade is of the same mind as me since he seems to be telling Borachio just that, …thou hast shifted out of thy tale into telling me of the fashion.

In any event, Borachio apparently takes the hint, and after this line he goes into the tale of what he did concerning Hero.

Now that’s a funny name for a woman: Hero. Don’t you think?

 Oy! Mr. B.!

Are you trying to get us killed?

Maybe you could just let me drive, instead of distracting me with this nonsense? 

Hero, Shmero!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Her hair, nor loose nor tied in formal plat,

Proclaim’d in her a careless hand of pride;

For some, untuckt, descended her sheaved hat,

Hanging her pale and pined cheek beside;

Some in threaden fillet still did bide,

And, true to bondage, would not break from thence,

Though slackly braided in loose negligence.

 

Narrator

A Lover’s Complaint         Stanza 5

And now, for something completely different. It’s not a play, or a sonnet; it’s one of Will’s poems. The two long poems he’s most well known for are Venus and Adonis, and Lucrece. This one is a bit shorter, and considered by some to be doubtful as to whether or not it is truly Will’s work. But we’ll assume that it is.

It’s a poem about a maiden lamenting the fact that she’s been abandoned by her lover. Without going into all that, this stanza is completely about her hair. Yes, her hair; it’s all about her hair.

It’s neither loose, nor tied;

It’s proclaimed;

Some of it’s untuckt, descended, and hanging,

And some is true to bondage, albeit slackly braided.

Yes, that’s her hair.

Comments?

This guy wants hair comments.

Are you kidding me?