So merrily,

-Silence

King Henry The Fourth Part II        Act V, Scene iii, Line 21

When I was a kid reading Tolkien I would often skim, if not entirely skip, the parts where he went into song (especially when they got long) in his stories. I really enjoyed his storytelling and I found his verse more or less an unwanted interruption from the story. And besides, I reckoned, JRR was not poet.

Will is a poet, and this is a short song that he's added. It's a scene with Falstaff and the crew in an orchard. Here's the whole song. 

         Do nothing but eat, and make good cheer,
         And praise God for the merry year;
         When flesh is cheap and females dear,
         And lusty lads roam here and there
                           So merrily,
         And ever among so merrily.

And that's it; nice and short. Now when I read, or skimmed, or totally skipped Tolkien's songs (and a lot of them were really long; he often referred to them as 'lays') I assumed that he had written them. This was based on the fact that he was working in a purely fictional world and most of what was going on, including some of the language, was totally made up by him. It wouldn't have made sense for him to be using songs from the real world.

However, when I read/hear/see Will's songs, especially short little ditties like this, I can't help but wonder if Will wrote them or if they are something that was out there already and popular in his day. After all, Will's stories take place in the real world and he incorporates of lot of real stuff in his plays, especially his history plays like this one.

So what do you think? Is Will making up a song, or is this a popular little ditty of the day? I guess we could find a historian who might know the answer, but I sure don't.

Now clearly this guy was either making up the songs, or perhaps getting them from that guy with the beard, but either way they were not from our world!

You shall not have it, Diomed; faith, you shall not;

-Cressida

                                   

Troilus And Cressida                          Act V, Scene ii, Line 86

Cressida is talking here about a sleeve. As far as I can tell, a sleeve is just a sleeve. But in this case it’s a token. It’s a token she received from Troilus (who just happens to be in the bushes spying on her, apparently with one arm a little more exposed than the other) that she in turn gave to Diomedes (don’t ask me why) and now she realizes that’s a mistake so she’s taken it back and is telling Diomedes he can’t have it. Or, more specifically, “You shall not have it, Diomed; faith, you shall not;

Well I’m not going to get into that whole thing to try to explain exactly what’s going on here. I’ve got something more important to point out. It occurs to me that the play Troilus And Cressida is Will’s take on the story of the Iliad. And as such, it seems to me that rather than just call it Troilus And Cressida, perhaps he should have had a subtitle. Troilus And Cressida, Homer’s Iliad Retold. 

Now I can’t imagine where I got that idea. 

 

Available at www.pursuingwillbooks.com

Save sometime too much wonder of his eye, 

-Narrator
                               

Lucrece                                    Stanza 14, Line 4

Okay, recall that Lucrece is a long poem written by Will. It's not a play, nor a sonnet. It's seventeen pages long in my compilation, and it's written in seven line stanzas. It's going to be a little easier to understand this line if you can look at the whole stanza, so here is stanza fourteen in its entirety.

For that he colour'd with his high estate,
Hiding base sin in plaits of majesty;
That nothing in him seem'd inordinate,
Save sometime too much wonder of his eye,
Which having all, all could not satisfy;
    But, poorly rich, so wanteth in his store,
    That, cloy'd with much, he pineth still for more.

This is stanza fourteen, out of 270, so we're near the beginning of the poem. As I've noted in previous posts, this poem is sometimes titled The Rape of Lucrece. In the stanza above Will is describing the rapist, Tarquin. He's arrived at Lucrece's house and he's going to be staying the night. Thus far Tarquin appears pretty ordinary except for the fact that he's already infatuated with the beauty of Lucrece. To paraphrase, nothing seems out of the ordinary, so far, except perhaps there's too much wonder in his eye.

Well that's going to be a problem, isn't it.

Okay, let's get away from the whole rape thing, because that's just a little bit unsettling. Here's a picture that brings wonder to my eye. In a good way.

 For dainties are all cates,-- and therefore, Kate,
Take this of me, Kate of my consolation;--

-Petruchio                               

The Taming Of The Shrew                            Act II, scene i, Line 189

 Spoiler alert: Today's is a long post!

Today's line is part of the scene that is the first interaction between Petruchio and Kate, the titular tamer and the titular shrew. It's a pretty interesting back and forth, and that's why I gave you the whole dialogue below. Right before this exchange Petruchio made the arrangements with Kate's father, Baptista, for the marriage. Of course, this is unbeknownst to Kate. So here they are meeting for the first time with Petruchio informing Kate of their impending marriage, and beginning his strategy of "taming" her. It's a little long, but give it a read and see what you think. I think you'll find it's worth it. Go ahead, you can do it!


Enter KATHARINA
 
PETRUCHIO
 
           Good morrow, Kate; for that's your name, I hear.

KATHARINA

Well have you heard, but something hard of hearing:
They call me Katharina that do talk of me.

PETRUCHIO

You lie, in faith; for you are call'd plain Kate,
And bonny Kate and sometimes Kate the curst;
But Kate, the prettiest Kate in Christendom
Kate of Kate Hall, my super-dainty Kate,
For dainties are all cates, and therefore, Kate,
Take this of me, Kate of my consolation;
Hearing thy mildness praised in every town,
Thy virtues spoke of, and thy beauty sounded,
Yet not so deeply as to thee belongs,
Myself am moved to woo thee for my wife.

KATHARINA

Moved! in good time: let him that moved you hither
Remove you hence: I knew you at the first
You were a moveable.

PETRUCHIO

Why, what's a moveable?

KATHARINA

A join'd-stool.

PETRUCHIO

Thou hast hit it: come, sit on me.

KATHARINA

Asses are made to bear, and so are you.

PETRUCHIO

Women are made to bear, and so are you.

KATHARINA

No such jade as you, if me you mean.

PETRUCHIO

Alas! good Kate, I will not burden thee;
For, knowing thee to be but young and light--

KATHARINA

Too light for such a swain as you to catch;
And yet as heavy as my weight should be.

PETRUCHIO

Should be! should--buzz!

KATHARINA

Well ta'en, and like a buzzard.

PETRUCHIO

O slow-wing'd turtle! shall a buzzard take thee?

KATHARINA

Ay, for a turtle, as he takes a buzzard.

PETRUCHIO

Come, come, you wasp; i' faith, you are too angry.

KATHARINA

If I be waspish, best beware my sting.

PETRUCHIO

My remedy is then, to pluck it out.

KATHARINA

Ay, if the fool could find it where it lies,

PETRUCHIO

Who knows not where a wasp does
wear his sting? In his tail.

KATHARINA

In his tongue.

PETRUCHIO

Whose tongue?

KATHARINA

Yours, if you talk of tails: and so farewell.

PETRUCHIO

What, with my tongue in your tail? nay, come again,
Good Kate; I am a gentleman.

KATHARINA

That I'll try.
She strikes him

PETRUCHIO

I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again.

KATHARINA

So may you lose your arms:
If you strike me, you are no gentleman;
And if no gentleman, why then no arms.

PETRUCHIO

A herald, Kate? O, put me in thy books!

KATHARINA

What is your crest? a coxcomb?

PETRUCHIO

A combless cock, so Kate will be my hen.

KATHARINA

No cock of mine; you crow too like a craven.

PETRUCHIO

Nay, come, Kate, come; you must not look so sour.

KATHARINA

It is my fashion, when I see a crab.

PETRUCHIO

Why, here's no crab; and therefore look not sour.

KATHARINA

There is, there is.

PETRUCHIO

Then show it me.

KATHARINA

Had I a glass, I would.

PETRUCHIO

What, you mean my face?

KATHARINA

Well aim'd of such a young one.

PETRUCHIO

Now, by Saint George, I am too young for you.

KATHARINA

Yet you are wither'd.

PETRUCHIO

'Tis with cares.

KATHARINA

I care not.

PETRUCHIO

Nay, hear you, Kate: in sooth you scape not so.

KATHARINA

I chafe you, if I tarry: let me go.

PETRUCHIO

No, not a whit: I find you passing gentle.
'Twas told me you were rough and coy and sullen,
And now I find report a very liar;
For thou are pleasant, gamesome, passing courteous,
But slow in speech, yet sweet as spring-time flowers:
Thou canst not frown, thou canst not look askance,
Nor bite the lip, as angry wenches will,
Nor hast thou pleasure to be cross in talk,
But thou with mildness entertain'st thy wooers,
With gentle conference, soft and affable.
Why does the world report that Kate doth limp?
O slanderous world! Kate like the hazel-twig
Is straight and slender and as brown in hue
As hazel nuts and sweeter than the kernels.
O, let me see thee walk: thou dost not halt.

KATHARINA

Go, fool, and whom thou keep'st command.

PETRUCHIO

Did ever Dian so become a grove
As Kate this chamber with her princely gait?
O, be thou Dian, and let her be Kate;
And then let Kate be chaste and Dian sportful!

KATHARINA

Where did you study all this goodly speech?

PETRUCHIO

It is extempore, from my mother-wit.

KATHARINA

A witty mother! witless else her son.

PETRUCHIO

Am I not wise?

KATHARINA

Yes; keep you warm.

PETRUCHIO

Marry, so I mean, sweet Katharina, in thy bed:
And therefore, setting all this chat aside,
Thus in plain terms: your father hath consented
That you shall be my wife; your dowry 'greed on;
And, Will you, nill you, I will marry you.
Now, Kate, I am a husband for your turn;
For, by this light, whereby I see thy beauty,
Thy beauty, that doth make me like thee well,
Thou must be married to no man but me;
For I am he am born to tame you Kate,
And bring you from a wild Kate to a Kate
Conformable as other household Kates.
Here comes your father: never make denial;
I must and will have Katharina to my wife.
Re-enter BAPTISTA, GREMIO, and TRANIO

Did you make it all the way through? Good for you! It's an interesting story and it's a little hard to tell if Will is being really chauvinistic in the telling, or if he's sneakily taking the side of Kate. You'd have to read or see the whole play to find out for yourself. It reminds me, in a way, of The Merchant of Venice. In that one the moneylender Shylock is called a lot of names, many of them antisemitic, by the other people in the play. But, like in this play, I wonder if Will is trying to get some laughs off of how Shylock is treated, or if he's trying to show up how unfair it is for Shylock. That Will, he always keeps you guessing.

Okay, you've earned a picture. 

 

Oooh, not much of a picture, eh? It's just a picture of the title of a book. Well I thought this might be a good thing to read if you want an answer to the question of whether or not Will is being a chauvinist. Or better yet, just see/read The Taming Of The Shrew and figure it out for yourself! Oooh, ROASTED!

 

Set we our squadrons on yond side o' the hill,
In eye of Caesar's battle; from which place
We may the number of ships behold,
And so proceed accordingly.

-Mark Antony                                    

Antony and Cleopatra                            Act III, scene ix, Line 1

Do you want to know the most interesting thing about today's Totally Random lines, or at least what I think is most interesting? I'll tell you. These four lines of Act III, scene ix are Act III, scene ix. That is to say, that's it. That is Act III, scene ix. That's all of it. The scene is four lines long (or short), one sentence spoken by Mark Antony. Pretty short scene, eh? Since I'm not a Shakespeare expert I can't tell you if it's the shortest scene in all of his plays, but it is at least one of the shortest. 

Well, there are a lot of short scenes in this play, but now I'm curious. Okay, according to the Shakespeare Candle website this is indeed the shortest scene in all of Shakespeare. But there are two others just as short, one in this play and one in The Merry Wives of Windsor. So there you have it. You've just read one full scene. Congratulations!

Okay, you're right. That's not 'the hill' that Antony was talking about setting his squadrons on yond side of. But it is still 'The hill'. It's a picture of Tolkien's hill drawn by Tolkien himself. It's from the book J.R.R. Tolkien Artist & Illustrator.