Sunday, February 5, 2017


All ignorant that soul that sees thee without wonder;
Which is to me some praise, that I thy parts admire:
Thine eye Jove’s lightning seems, thy voice his dreadful thunder,
Which, not to anger bent, is music and sweet fire.
Narrator



The Passionate Pilgrim                                 Stanza 5              Line 68


The Passionate Pilgrim. We’ve made it so very close to the end of the compilation. This is page 1,248 out of a possible 1,252 pages. And this back section of the compilation is devoted to Will’s non-play materials. This particular selection? It’s something called The Passionate Pilgrim and it’s a work that’s comprised of a bunch of miscellaneous stuff. A bunch of the pieces of poetry included in this work are assumed to have not been written by Will. Yes, that’s right. And so with Today’s Totally Random line I cheated a little bit.  I went Totally Random on the page, but I limited my pick on the page to the stuff that’s pretty much assumed to actually be Will’s. And the sonnet I took this from is one of those. Based on the content, I have to agree. But what about today’s lines?


Well one advantage to reading a sonnet as opposed to a play is that you really don’t have to worry about figuring out what’s going on in the play. The sonnet is a pretty much stand alone piece that’s only fourteen lines long. And this one? Ummm...


Sweet Baby James, Fire and Rain? No, I guess not, but I can’t help but think of that when I read that last line. And what about sweet fire? And what about this woman he's talking about? Her eyes like lightning and her voice like thunder? But when it's not being angry it's like music and sweet fire? What's sweet fire?
Okay, maybe the stuff from the plays is easier.

Fire and Rain? Sweet Baby James? Sweet Fire? No?


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