That were hard to compass;

Because she will admit no kind of suit,

No, not the duke’s.

-Captain

                                   

Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will         Act I, Scene ii, Line 29

Twelfth Night, eh? Well I’ve been plucking random lines for two years, and I’ve certainly picked a few from this play, but I still really don’t have much of an idea what this play is all about. Now you might think that this would be hard to compass, but really it was pretty easy. You see, lots of times when I decide to post about a line from a play that I know little to nothing about, I’ll just pick something else from the line to chat about. For instance, in this case what about that word ‘compass’? Right here it’s a verb and it means ‘to achieve’. It’s a bit archaic to be using it as a verb in 2018; keep in mind that this line was written four hundred years ago. But in fact, if you look it up on MerriamWebster.com you will see that definition #3 under the transitive verb usage of the word ‘compass’ is ‘to achieve’. So there you go. And you thought that Will's works weren't written in modern English? Wrong.

You might have known that I'd throw a picture of a compass at you today. Yup, that's a compass sitting in the middle of my box o' memories to the right of my Darryl Strawberry/Vince Coleman ball. Funny thing: the top of this box, the end with the cassette tape on how to meditate (I don't use that much these days, regrettably) is facing north. That means the compass is pointing southwest. I guess this compass is getting old and losing it's sense of direction. I kind of feel that way myself sometimes.

Noble patricians, patrons of my right,

Defend the justice of my cause with arms;

And, countrymen, my loving followers,

Plead my successive title with your swords:

I am his first-born son, that was the last

That wore the imperial diadem of Rome;

Then let my father’s honours live in me,

Nor wrong mine age with this indignity.

-Saturninus

                                   

Titus Andronicus                           Act I, Scene i, Line 1

We’ve hit upon the first lines of the play Titus Andronicus. Now this play is mostly about the murder and mayhem that takes place between the Titus Andronicus family and the Tamora Queen of the Goths family. Saturninus, the guy here with the opening line does not play into this murder and mayhem in any major way. In this first scene he is vying for the throne with his brother Bassianus. Titus and Tamora will be entering the picture shortly and then all the fun will start. But of course, we’ve got to start the story somewhere, and this is it. This then, is the beginning. Saturninus speaks of nobility, justice, loving followers, imperial diadems, and father’s honours, and he ends with ‘indignity’. This last word is probably the only word in this opening speech that presages the activity to come.

Well here's an interesting picture. It's Saturnius, played by my brother Dave, and Bassianus, played by me. We were acting out this scene when we were young. Dave has just given the opening line, and I'm about to respond with the bit about Bassianus being 'gracious in the eyes of royal Rome.' I think Dave's doing a little bit of hamming it up, and he's clearly trying to use his size to intimidate me. But that's just my opinion.

Thou dost love her, because thou knowest I love her;

-Narrator

                                   

Sonnet 42                                                                             Line 6

Interestingly enough, this is one line up from a Totally Random line from a few years ago. So for starters I’ll give you a link to that post.

http://totallyrandomdailyshakespeare.blogspot.com/2016/10/thoudost-love-her-because-thou-knowst-i.html

Okay, that was from October 2016, over two years ago. Well now, having read that old post, I have to say that’s a pretty good post, and I’m not sure I can do much to add to that. And, in fact, even though the Totally Random line picked that day was     

And for my sake enough so she doth abuse me, 

as you can see I also added today’s line to that post. So it’s been done and I guess I’m finished with this line. 

As noted in that old post, maybe at some point I’ll get into the sonnets a bit more. But it is not this day.

A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men comes crashing down! But it is not this day!

Bonus quote today, instead of a picture. But maybe you will know where this quote comes from and you can picture the scene that goes with it? If you can't, ask any guy in the room.