…or ever
Have
to you, but with thanks to God for such A royal lady, spake one the least word
that might
Be
to the prejudice of her present state,
Or
touch of her good person.
-Cardinal Wolsey
King Henry The Eighth Act II, Scene iv, Line 152
There are a number of things we could talk about in today’s
line: spake, context, the king’s long speech to follow, Lincoln, Wolsey hall, Henry
II. Henry II? Wait, there’s no Henry II involved in today’s line. Okay, maybe
we’ll get back to Hank II, but let’s take the easy ones first.
Past tense of speak is spake. Well, not anymore it’s not.
Now, of course, it’s spoke. Apparently back then it was spake. The online
dictionaries still have it, but call it the ‘archaic’ past tense of speak. So
it’s archaic. Sometimes I think I might be archaic. Wait, what’s that mean.
Just something old and not used much anymore? Okay, looked it. I pretty much
nailed that one. Woot woot. Wait, I’m old and not used anymore?
Well speaking of old and not used, let’s skip to Lincoln.
There’s a character in this scene named Lincoln. Did you know that Shakespeare
had a Lincoln in any of his plays? I didn’t. But I did know that Lincoln (Abe)
was quite the Shakespeare-o-phile himself.
And finally Henry II. Okay, you’re right; there’s no Henry
II in this play. But I was watching a movie with Heny II last night. The movie
was Becket
with Richard Burton as Becket and Peter O’Toole as Henry II. And they portrayed
Henry II as a bit loopy and decidedly not fond of his wife. So that reminds me of
today's Henry. Henry VIII was not so fond of his wife (wives) either. He had two of them beheaded
(definitely not fond of them) and in all, divorced, or annulled the marriage of
five of them. So maybe they should have had Peter O’Toole do a Henry VIII
movie. Except for the fact that O’Toole was a beanpole and Henry VIII, well,
not so much.
Now these are definitely spokes. They are neither spakes nor speaks.
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