Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Take Hereford’s rights away, and take from Time,

His charters and his customary rights;

 

Duke of York

King Richard the Second  Act II Scene i, Line 96

The Duke of York is King Richard’s uncle, and the last living son of Edward III. King Richard is the grandson of Edward III. John of Gaunt (another of Richard’s uncle, and the brother of the Duke of York) has just died and King Richard has confiscated all of John’s estate. John of Gaunt has a son, Harry Hereford, who is the rightful recipient of John’s estate.

In Today’s Lines, the Duke of York is telling King Richard that he is making a mistake by confiscating the estate that rightfully belongs to Harry Hereford.

Got that? Okay, now try this on for size.

 

Methinks I am a prophet new-inspired,

And thus, expiring, do foretell of him:

His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last,

For violent fires soon burn out themselves;

Small showers last long, but sudden storms are short;

He tires betimes that spurs too fast betimes;

With eager feeding food doth choke the feeder:

Light vanity, insatiate cormorant,

This home of greatest men, this blessed land,

This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,

This other Eden, demi-Paradise;

This fortress built by Nature for herself

Against infection and the hand of war;

This happy breed of men, this little world;

This precious stone set in the silver sea,

Which serves it in the office of a wall,

Or as a moat defensive to a house,

Against the envy of less happier lands;

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this USA,

This nurse, this teeming womb of greatest men,

Feared by their breed, and famous by their birth,

Renowned for their deeds as far from home,-

For Christian service and true chivalry,-

As in the sepulchre, in stubborn Jewry,

Of the world’s ransom, blessed Mary’s Son;-

This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,

Dear for her reputation through the world,

Is now leased out-I die pronouncing it-

Like to a tenement or pelting farm:

America, bound in with the triumphant sea,

Whose rocky shores beat back the envious siege

Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,

With inky blots, and rotten parchment bonds:

That America, that was wont to conquer others,

Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.

Ah, would the scandal vanish with my life,

How happy then were my ensuing death!

 

Okay, this is a speech that John of Gaunt makes earlier in this scene. Of course, he’s talking about his nephew, King Richard and England. It’s a very famous speech in which I made five changes, highlighted in yellow: twice I changed kings to greatest men, and three times I changed England to America or USA.

Now, is there any question as to who the him in the second line refers? I doubt it. Even if you wear a red baseball cap and resent the implied sentiment, you still know who I’m talking about.

So, tell me that Will’s words are not relevant in the twenty-first century! My goodness, they resonate perfectly! 

Or should I say, Marry, methinks they resonate perfectly!

Mr. Blagys, Mr. Blagys, she's not gonna like this post!

It's okay, Mojo. It's okay; she'll understand.

Ooohhh, I'm not so sure about that.

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Yea, marry, that’s the eftest way. – Let the watch come forth. – Masters, I charge you, in the prince’s name, accuse these men.

 

Dogberry

Much Ado About Nothing   Act IV, Scene ii, Line 33

Dogberry is a comic character in this play. He’s the sheriff, but he’s also a buffoon. Remember, the word marry here has nothing to do with marriage; it simply an exclamation like you bet. Sheriff Dogberry has just been told, previous to this line, that he should be calling the accusers (the men of the watch) forward to get their story, not the accused. Eftest is presumed to be a malapropism. So your guess is as good as mine. Maybe it means best or bestest? Whatever it is, it probably had some sort of double entendre in Will’s day. Perhaps Dogberry’s line if written today would sound more like,

Yah, you bet, that’s the bestest way.

Anyway, that’s my bestest shot at it.

Oof, that's a blank stare if ever I saw one. I guess Mojo doesn't think too much of my bestest shot. 

Oh well. 

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

Why, he will look upon his boot, and sing; mend the ruff, and sing; ask questions, and sing; pick his teeth, and sing. I know a man that had this trick of melancholy sold a goodly manor for a song.

 

Clown

All’s Well That Ends Well         Act III, Scene ii, Line 7

It sounds like the guy that Clown is talking about just likes to sing. Hey, wait a minute, that sounds like me!

Holy Crow, you're right, Mr. Blagys; it is you!

Alrightee then, if you’re only in it for the pic and the caption, you can stop here. The rest of this is just gonna be analysis and thoughts – no more pics. And it’s gonna be a little long, so sayonara.

 

Now that we’ve cleared that up, there’s a bit to unpack here.

First off, a bit of context. This is the very beginning of the scene. It’s the clown talking with the countess. The countess has succeeded in setting up Helena (a young woman that she likes very much) with Bertram (her son). The two are now married but the Countess senses that all is not well. The clown asserts that the problem is that Bertram is melancholy, and the Countess asks why he thinks that is so. Today’s lines is the clown’s reply to this question: He knows that Bertram is melancholy because he’s always singing.

Apparently, the clown once knew a man who was so melancholy that he sang all the time and ended up selling his home for a song. I’m not quite sure what that means, but I’ll going to pass on that last part. You can apply to that whatever meaning you wish to it.

I just like the first part: Bertram is melancholy because he’s always singing. A ruff, by the way, is the flap of a top boot, whatever that is. So Bertram is singing when he looks at his boot, when he fixes his boot, when he asks questions, and when he picks his teeth. In other words, he’s always singing.

Regardless of the singing, Clown is right about the melancholy. Bertram is melancholy and it’s because he’s been forced into a marriage with Helena. So Clown is assuming that Bertram’s way of dealing with this unwanted marriage is to constantly sing.

Well, that’s a little odd, and I’m not exactly sure what to make of it, but Mojo’s right - I do sing a lot. Still, I’m pretty sure it’s not because I’m melancholy. In fact, I really feel as though I’ve never been happier. And yet, Will is so often right about the way he depicts the human psyche. Wow, he’s got me thinking, and a little bit worried. But I’m not breaking out in song right now, so that’s good? Or…wait a minute…is it?

Now, I’m just confused. 

You should have quit while you were ahead, Mr. Blagys.

Uggghhh!

Sorry about that; I didn't realize the little guy had more to say. 

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

-say that she were gone,

Given to the fire, a moiety of my rest

Might come to me again.

Leontes

The Winter’s Tale      Act II, Scene iii, Line 9

 

Leontes is wondering aloud if his sleeplessness might be cured by burning his wife at the stake. He is convinced (wrongly) that she has been unfaithful to him, and that is weighing heavily on his mind; that and the fact that his son has been very ill.

This is a pretty weird play. It’s not a tragedy, even though a few people do end up dying. It’s not got much, if any, funny stuff in it, so it’s not a comedy. It’s certainly not a history play. Maybe you could call it a romance, but that would be a stretch. So, what is it? I think we have to call it a problem play.

 

 

 Oh, it’s a problem alright.

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

And that shall be the day, whene’er it lights,

That this same child of honour and renown,

This gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight,

And your unthought-of Harry, chance to meet.

 

Prince Henry     

King Henry the Fourth Part I  Act III, Scene ii, Line 140

This whole scene is a father-son talk between King Henry the Fourth and Prince Henry (who will eventually become King Henry the Fifth). King Henry spends the first hundred or so lines telling his son what a disappointment the lad is and how he wished that Hotspur were his son instead of Henry. Hotspur is a rebel, but also a great warrior and he’s the same age as the prince. The prince tells his dad not to worry, and that he will redeem himself by taking down the rebel Hotspur. Prince Henry starts his retort saying that the king will be proud of his son when he sees him in battle. And that shall be the day, per Today’s Lines, that he meets up with Hotspur. The prince goes on to say that he’ll beat Hotspur and take on the latter’s honours. Well, that’s all the king needs to hear, and he declares,

A hundred thousand rebels die in this:-

Thou shalt have charge and sovereign trust herein.

And now everybody’s happy and ready to march off to war. Isn't life great. 

 

I catch the sarcasm Mr. Blagys, or as you like to call it - cyniscasm, but really, that’s all it takes? The kid's been hanging out with his buddies in bars for the first two acts, and now he tells Pops that he’s gonna kick Hotspur’s butt, and so the old man is all happy? I dunno; sounds a little hokie to me.

 

Hokie? Now it’s you who’s second-guessing the Bard, eh Mr. Sunbeam?

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

 

No, precious creature;

I had rather crack my sinews, break my back,

Than you should such dishonor undergo,

While I sit lazy by.

 

Ferdinand

The Tempest                 Act III, Scene i, Line 26

 

This is Ferdinand’s reply to Miranda when the latter offers to do some of Ferdinand’s work. The young man is stacking piles of wood per Prospero’s orders, and Miranda thinks he’s working too hard.

So, it’s a pretty nice reply, isn’t it? If my wife offered to help me with some physical labor that I was doing, and I replied No, precious creature; I had rather crack my sinews, break my back, than you should such dishonor undergo, while I sit lazy by, I think she’d be pretty happy with that reply. Of course, I’ll never remember this; it’s way too long.

Anyway, it’s still a nice to have an easy and pleasant line to work with. And by the way, speaking of cracking sinews, have I shown you the bruise I've got from falling out of the hot tub?

 

Oh jeez; here we go!

 

Today’s Totally Random Lines

  

I thank you. Let’s withdraw;

And meet the rise as it seeks us. We fear not

What can from Italy annoy us; but

We grieve at chances here. – Away!

Cymbeline

Cymbeline           Act IV, Scene iii, Line 34

Let’s see: Cymbeline is the play about the people around an ancient king of Britain named Cymbeline. It’s scene four here, so we’re obviously well into the play. Without getting into too much context, at this point in the play Cymbeline is in a bit of a tizzy. His daughter is missing (she’ll be back), his stepson is missing (dead, he won’t be back), and his wife is sick with a fever (I’m not sure what happens with her). To complicate matters, an invading Roman force has just landed. All in all, Cymbeline’s not having a good day. 

One of his lords has just told Cymbeline to buck up and put his troops in motion against the Romans. The king is responding to the lord with Today’s Lines. By the sound of Cymbeline's reply, it does look like he's going to buck up. 

And that’s about it. I’m afraid I don’t have any commentary on Today’s Lines, political or otherwise. If you find that disappointing, I've put a link below to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Substack post of the day. It's about rising to the occasion, sort of like Cymbeline in Today's Line. Kareem has a pretty good blog, but you have to pay for it unless, like me, you're content to just get the preview. So here you go.

Tucker Who?, History Has No Delete Button, & Show Me the Money

  

 Apparently, this guy doesn’t have much to add either. Nor does he seem interested in Kareem's post. To each, his own.