Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

Dive, thoughts, down to my soul:-- here Clarence comes.

-Richard

Richard III                     Act I Scene 1, Line 41

 

So, it’s the second day in a row that we’re in the first scene of the play. Today we’re in the first speech of the play, albeit at the end of the speech. It’s Richard’s well known Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this sun of York; soliloquy. We’ve spent some time here before. So much so that I considered picking an alternate line today. But I didn’t. However, since I didn’t, let’s just stick to today’s line.

Richard has spent the speech talking about how lowly he is and some of the rotten things he’s going to be doing, and now he’s ending with today’s line: Dive, thoughts, down to my soul:-- here Clarence comes. It seems to me that the thoughts he’s just finished expressing are pretty low. So, is he saying that his soul is even lower, or what? Clarence, by the way, is his brother whom he is already plotting against. You don’t see too many people named Clarence these days, do you?

 

I thought of a Clarence: Clarence the cross-eyed Lion. Remember him? Well I was recently on a trip to Clarence country. I saw plenty of Clarence's relatives, but I din't get a pic of any. However, I did get a pic of this fellow. He might have been familiar with Clarence, but I forgot to ask him.