What, what, what? let’s partake.

-First and Second Serving-Men

Coriolanus                         Act IV, scene v, line 171

This is the reply to the Third Serving-Man who just said,

            O slaves, I can tell you news—news, you rascals!

And of course they want to hear the news. Wouldn’t you? The Third Serving-Man is going to tell them that Aufidius, their leader, has decided to go attack Rome. And they’re pretty excited about that. Wouldn’t you be?

And by the way, I hope you’re not mixing up today’s line of What, what, what with the first lines of Macklemore’s Thrift Shop-

What, what, what, what.  

What, what, what, what.  

What, what, what, what….

Although, this is clearly where, where, where, Macklemore got his inspiration.

Warning: Language!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes

O, could this kiss be printed in thy hand,

 [Kisses his hand.

That thou mightiest think upon these by     the seal,

Through whom a thousand sighs are breath’d for thee!

-Queen Margaret

King Henry The Sixth Part II             Act III, scene ii, line 345

This is Suffolk and Queen Margaret saying goodbye to each other after the former has just been banished by Henry. Now I don’t know all the particulars of this play and the other two Henry The Sixes, but I do know that Suffolk is a bit of a weasel. And I’m not sure exactly how close Suffolk and the Queen, have actually gotten, but I’m pretty sure it's been more than just a little bit. 

Remember the old Groucho Marx line when Margaret Dumont tells him to hold her closer, and Groucho replies ‘If I was any closer I’d be behind you.’ Well, I think Suffolk has been behind the Queen, if you know what I mean. 

 

I thought this was a pretty cool picture. In it I'm standing behind my shadow. Of course, if I turned to face the other direction my shadow would be behind me. Either way, may shadow and I are pretty close. You might say we're inter-connected. Now, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but I still think it's a cool picture.

 

I have already deliver’d him letters, and there appears much joy in him; even so much, that joy could not show itself modest enough without a badge of bitterness.

-Messenger

Much Ado About Nothing                 Act I, scene i, line 20

Act one, scene one, line twenty. I feel like I should give you the whole first twenty lines so then you would know as much as I about this play so far. But no, I probably won’t do that.

The messenger is talking about a father that he had delivered a message to from his son. The son had been away at war, and the father was so happy to hear from him, and know that the son was alive, that he cried: joy could not show itself modest enough without a badge of bitterness. At least I think that’s what the badge of bitterness is.  

It’s funny, isn’t it, that crying is the default show of extreme emotion. I can laugh so hard that I cry. And I can be so happy about something that I will cry. And of course I can be sad enough or upset enough about something that I cry. 

People cry all the time at weddings, don't they? I think it's out of happiness. Or maybe bittersweet happiness?

 I'm crying with laughter right now looking at those goggles Dave is wearing.

 But mostly I'm crying looking at how skinny we all no longer are.

When he again desires her, being sat,

Her grievance with his hearing to divide:

A Lover’s Complaint                         

This is a 329 line-long poem that is broken into 47 seven-line-long stanzas. So let’s look at the whole stanza that today’s line comes from.

            So slides he down upon his grained bat,

            And comely-distant sits he by her side;

            When he again desires her, being sat,

            Her grieving with his hearing to divide:

            If that from him there may be aught applied

            Which may her suffering ecstasy assuage,

            ‘Tis promised in the charity of age.

There. This is the tenth stanza, so we’re in the first part of the poem. The first eight stanzas describe a woman, the titular lover, sitting by a stream and lamenting a lost love. In stanzas nine and ten an older man comes along and sits down to try to talk or listen to the young woman to help her.

His grained bat is, I think, his staff. So he’s sitting on his staff? Comely-distant I’m guessing means that he’s not sitting overly close to her. To divide her hearing is probably just to hear what she has to say. And finally, since he’s an old guy he’d like to help her if he can.

That’s all I’m getting from this stanza. How about you?

Well, I'm not quite sure how this pic fits in, but I'm going to take a shot at it. This is the Louvre Museum and all these people, including Jess in the forefront of this pic, are looking at the Mona Lisa. Mona is outside this pic to the left, behind that semi-circle wooden railing. This pic came up in conversation last night, the interesting thing being all those other paintings in the room being for the most part ignored. 

So how does this fit into today's discussion? Well I'll leave the challenge of connecting it up to you. Let me know if you come up with something.