Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting,

That would not let me sleep: methoughts I lay

Worse than the mutines in the bilboes (mutineers shackled in irons). Rashly,

And praised be rashness for it, let us know,

Our indiscretion sometime serves us well,

When our deep plots do pall: and that should learn us

There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,

Rough-hew them how we will.

 -Hamlet

 Hamlet                            Act V, scene ii, line 6

 

Another long one, but sometimes I just hate to break them up. This is Hamlet explaining to his friend (his only friend) Horatio what happened on the ship to England. He goes on to tell how he found the letter that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern had, the letter that told the king of England to execute Hamlet. The prince tells how he replaced it with a letter telling the king to execute R&G instead.

 

I like the last part, There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,/Rough-hew them how we will. No matter how hard we try to muck it up, the Lord has a plan for us. In other words, All will be well, even after all the promises you’ve broken to yourself. It’s a reassuring thought, particularly in 2020, isn’t it?

 

I was trying to find a picture of something rough-hewn. I decided that I look a little rough-hewn in this pic. What do you think?
 

 

 

 

We’ll bring your Grace e’en to the edge o’th’shore,

Then give you up to the meek’st Neptune and

The gentlest winds of heaven.

 

-Cleon

 Pericles                                               Act III, scene iii, line 34

 

Sometimes I just like reading Will’s words because they’re just so…melodic? It’s just the way he strings them together so that they come out, well it’s just a thing of beauty. And that’s one of the wonders of Will. There are so many wonderful things to see and to hear in the world. This is one to hear. If you’re just reading it, read it aloud. And of course, that’s true of all of Will’s work. It can only be best appreciated if heard read aloud. And if that be yourself, reading to yourself out loud, well that’s just fine. 

 

I watched this guy bring himself e'en to the edge o'th'shore. 

 

And then...

...give himself up to the meek'st Neptune and the gentlest winds of heaven.

 

 

Then I will come to my mother by and by. They fool me to the top of my bent. I will come by and by.

 -Hamlet

 Hamlet                                     Act III, scene ii, line 401

 This is not stage direction; this is Hamlet responding to Polonius. Now one thing came to mind in the process of looking into the word bent. According to my Shakespeare app, the noun here means degree, capacity, or extent. And that seems to make perfect sense in this context. However, whilst looking this up I happened to notice that it was cited as being used by Guildenstern in 2.2. Naturally, I had to take a look at that quote, and he said it to Gertrude and Claudius when they asked Rosencrantz and him to do a little spying on Hamlet.

            But we both obey, 

            And here give up ourselves, in the full bent

            To lay our service freely at your feet,

            To be commanded.

So why do I bring this up? Well it should be obvious. Hamlet is using the same word in his reply to Polonius when being told that his mother wants him to come see her. Coincidence? I rather think not. Not in Will’s works. We can get into all sorts of speculations now. Did Hamlet overhear the conversation between R&G and Gertrude and Claudius? Did someone tell him about it? Or should we just consider it a little Easter egg on Will’s part. Something that he put in there to see if anyone would find it. And I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice it.

And speaking of Easter eggs, it brings to mind a conversation I was having with my wife recently regarding the fact that we currently seem to have a wealth of technology and a dearth of knowledge and common sense regarding how to use said technology. And now I speak of Will’s Easter egg, and that’s a common modern term referring to things hidden in technology. But Will was using it earlier, and Will is no dummy. So maybe we need some of Will’s wisdom to guide us in this technological age. Maybe.

 

 

And here we have a perfect example of improper use of technology, and an Easter egg. This, believe it or not, is an actual Easter egg hunt. Someone decided that it would be a good idea to have a helicopter drop candy on a football field and then let the kids run and get the candy. Is it possible? Yes, they proved they could do it. Did it make any sense whatsoever? No, not really. Will wasn't there to consult. I'm sure there's a line somewhere in his works that would address this, but I'm not sure what or where it is. Oh well.