Mojo, The Bard, & Me

Where, like Arion on the dolphin’s back,

I saw him hold acquaintance with the waves

So long as I could see.

Captain

 

Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will         Act I, scene ii      Line 15

This is a pretty interesting line. We were on this same page, just a few lines up from this line, back in the beginning of November. That was just fifteen lines earlier when Viola was asking where they were. Her second question is about her brother who apparently got lost in a shipwreck that she survived, and the captain is telling her that he saw the brother, so we don’t know for now what happened to him. My guess, though, is that he’ll be showing up later in the play, especially since there’s a brother of Viola listed in the cast of characters.

So this line has the word dolphin, not to be confused with dauphin, which we all now know refers to the heir to the French throne. I thought it would be good to make that clear one more time.

I also thought it might be interesting to look at a comparison of today’s lines with the lines from The Tempest in a similar situation. Viola is worried that her brother drowned, and in The Tempest the king is ashore after a shipwreck and he’s worried that his son has drowned. In The Tempest one of the king’s men says of the prince

                I saw him beat the surges under him,

                And ride upon their backs; he trod the water,

                Whose enmity he flung aside, and breasted

       The surge most swoln that met him; his bold head

       ‘Bove the contentious waves he kept, and oar’d

       Himself with his good arms in lusty stroke

       To the shore, that o’er his wave-worn basis bow’d,

       As stooping to relieve him: I not doubt

       He came alive to land.

And here’s today’s full passage, the captain speaking after Viola notes that hopefully her brother’s not lost.

                True, madam; and, to comfort you with chance,

       Assure yourself, after our ship did split,

       When you, and those poor number saved with you,

       Hung on our driving boat, I saw your brother,

       Most provident in peril, bind himself-

       Courage and hope both teaching him the practice-

       To a strong mast that lived upon the sea;

       Where, like Arion on the dolphin’s back,

       I saw him hold acquaintance with the waves

      So long as I could see.

Anything? Well they were both worrying about someone who they thought had drowned and they both got stories from someone who thought they saw the person not drowning. So I thought it might be worth comparing. You can see that one guy held 'acquaintance with the waves' and the other guy kept 'his bold head 'bove the contentious waves.' So in one the waves were acquaintances and in the other they were contentious. Okay, you don't find that interesting? Well I'm sorry, but it's the best I can do right now. It's getting late and I have to be up early tomorrow to get to work. Remember, I'm working now, so you have to cut me some slack. I'll see if I can make up for it tomorrow.

This is the workbag I'm using for my new job. It holds a laptop and my planner and the moleskine I use for this blog. I keep the moleskine with me in case I come up with any amazing ideas during the day. My son calls the bag a manpurse. He always finds ways to make me feel good.