The earth can have but earth, which is his due;

Sonnet 74         Line 7

Ah, what the heck, I’ll give you the whole thing. It’s only fourteen lines and pretty easy to understand. The fell arrest in the first line is, I believe, death; just in case that was giving you trouble.

 

But be contented: when that fell arrest

Without all bail shall carry me away,

My life hath in this line some interest,

Which for memorial still with thee shall stay.

 

When thou reviewest this, thou dust review

The very part was consecrate to thee:

The earth can have but earth, which is his due;

My spirit is thine, the better part of me:

 

So, then, thou hast but lost the dregs of life,

The prey of worms, my body being dead;

The coward conquest of a wretched knife,

Too base of thee to be remembered.

 

The worth of that is that which it contains,

And that is this, and this with thee remains.

 

And there you go. I added the spaces between every four lines and that last two lines. I think it’s really easier to understand the sonnets when you take it this way. Each of those four line segments has its own piece of the total.

It’s pretty much the same theme as the summer’s day sonnet. That one ends with so long lives this, and this gives life to thee (I had to look it up). That poem talks about the poem giving the subject of the poem everlasting life. In this one we're talking about the sonnet giving him, the writer/speaker eternal life. Either way, the words grant eternal life, and the physical body is eventually just worm food. 

Well, we’re still talking about Will and his words four hundred years later, and Will is way past the worm food stage. Sooo…..words, eh?

No pic today. Just words.

 

I am none, by this good light.

 

-Antigonus

The Winter’s Tale           Act II Scene iii, Line 82

You tell him, Antigonus! Leontes the king has just accused Antigonus of being a traitor. He’s not, and that’s what he’s declaring in today’s Totally random line.

Couple of things:

First: Good line. Even though it’s just a simple declaration, I like the second part: by this good light. Yeah. He’s not just saying no, I’m not a traitor. He’s not swearing on the bible. By this good light. Plain as day it should be. I like it.

Second thing: Every time I read or listen to this play (I’ve never seen it performed), my first reaction is that no one could be as stupid, or as insanely and wrongly jealous, as Leontes. Yes, that’s my first impression. Then I finish my morning time with Will, and I go out and live the day in the real world and realize, lo and behold, there are people like that. I mean this in a general sense, not that I have any examples in mind of modern day Leontes. I just mean, that no matter what I see taking place in Will’s works sooner or later I see something in my, in our, world that reminds me that Will was not exaggerating.

And that’s all I’ve got for today.  

How about this good light? It's not exactly the best light in terms of giving you light to see something, but I think it's a pretty cool pic of the day's last light. 

 

 

And now you are metamorphosed with a mistress, that, when I look on you, I can hardly think you my master.

 

-Speed

The Two Gentlemen of Verona       Act II Scene i, Line 31

Valentine (one of the two titular gentlemen) is talking to Speed, his right-hand man. Valentine asks Speed how he knows that Valentine is in love. Speed answers with a paragraph of reasons, ending with today’s Totally Random line. What’s that? You want to hear all the reasons that Speed has for knowing that Valentine is in love? Okay, here you go.

        Marry, by these special marks: first, you have learned, like Sir Proteus, to wreathe your arms, like a malcontent; to relish a love song, like a robin-redbreast; to walk alone, like one that had the pestilence; to sigh, like a school-boy that had lost his A B C; to weep, like a young wench that had buried her grandam; to fast, like one that takes diet; to watch, like one that fears robbing; to speak puling, like a beggar at Hallowmas. You were wont, when you laughed, to crow like a cock; when you walked, to walk like one of the lions; when you fasted, it was presently after dinner; when you looked sadly, it was for want of money: and now you are metamorphosed with a mistress, that, when I look on you, I can hardly think you my master.

There, how’s that? It’s not all particularly easy to grasp. But perhaps you get the idea? Remember that the first word there, marry, has nothing to do with weddings. In Will’s time marry is just a sort of meaningless exclamatory, intro word that is used all over the place. It doesn’t add any meaning to the sentence. The first part of the paragraph is a list of how Valentine is acting now. Then, after You were wont, Speed lists all the ways Valentine used to act, before he was in love. As you can see, there is a marked difference. Now, in love, he’s walking alone and weeping like a girl. Before he was in love, he walked proudly like a lion and crowed like a rooster when he laughed. Sounds about right? What do you think?

 

And here's how a lion walks. He's not overstating anything, but he definitely looks like he's pretty sure he owns the place. Is that what Speed was going for?

 

Come, come, what need you blush? Shame’s a baby.—Here she is now: swear the oaths now to her that you have sworn to me.  

 

-Pandarus

Troilus and Cressida      Act III Scene ii, Line 41

 

Pandarus is talking about his daughter Cressida to Troilus and telling the latter that he must profess his love to Cressida.

Shame’s a baby. That’s my takeaway for today. Think about it.

Anyway, here’s what Troilus said to Pandarus right before the latter speaks today’s Totally Random line. He’s talking about how much he loves Cressida.

 

Even such a passion doth embrace my bosom:

My heart beats thicker than a feverous pulse;

And all my powers do their bestowing lose,

Like vassalage at unaware encountering

The eye of majesty.

 

‘So tell my daughter that, you knucklehead!’ That’s what Pandarus is saying to Troilus. Of course, he says it a little differently because Will is putting the words in Pandarus's mouth, not Pete. I don't think I'd every come up with shame's a baby. 

Though I wish I could.

 

Thou shalt not be the worse for me: there’s gold.

 

-Duke of Ilyria

Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will          Act V Scene 1, Line 26

 

The duke is talking to Feste, the clown. Feste, who’s listed in the play simply as ‘clown’, is a typical Shakespearean clown in that he is no clown. That is to say, though he plays the fool, he is one of the wiser people in the play. This can be exemplified by the fact that he’s just managed to talk the duke out of some gold, without hardly trying. Oh, to be such a fool!

 

Come to think of it, I may not have people handing me gold, but, I do okay. Call me Feste if you like.

 

My dearest wife was like this maid, and such a one

My daughter might have been:

 

-Pericles

Pericles, Prince of Tyre         Act V Scene i, Line 106

 

Pretty straight forward. Pericles is seeing his daughter Marina as an adult for the first time. He doesn’t know yet that it’s his daughter, he thinks that both his wife and daughter are dead, and he makes this comment. Simple as that.

However, I found another line (it’s actually in the next scene) that I’d like to draw your attention to. Here’s Pericles talking about going to go get ready for his daughter’s wedding:

 

And what this fourteen years no razor touch’d,

To grace thy marriage-day, I’ll beautify.

 

He’s going to go beautify himself! I love it. I use that phrase all the time; had no idea I was quoting Shakespeare. Don’t believe me? Just ask Patrice. She’ll tell you.

Here's a pic of pre-beautified Pete. So you can see why I need to beautify.

 

Now, fair one, does your business follow us?

-King

All’s Well That Ends Well      Act II Scene i, Line 100

 

The king is speaking to Helena who has just walked into the king’s room in the palace. He’s just asking her what’s up, or what can we do for you? That’s an interesting way of putting things: does your business follow us.

Now, there’s a couple of ways of looking at Shakespeare’s use of language. One way, perhaps most prevalent in the student, is that it’s impossible to understand. And I can see how someone would feel that way. Does your business follow us: what does that even mean? But another way to look at Shakespeare’s language is to marvel at all the different, interesting, and beautiful ways he can say things. Now, is does your business follow us simply a common expression of Will’s times that he’s sharing with us? I don’t know. But whether he’s creating it, or just sharing it, I guess I would say that it doesn’t really matter to me. Either way, it’s an example of marvelous language that we wouldn’t otherwise have.

Having said all of that, I think we can also say that this is the crux of Will's works in toto. When reading or hearing Shakespeare, you simply must embrace the language. You can't hold it at arms- length and expect to get a full appreciation. You can't. Take it in. Immerse yourself and roll around in it. Surrender yourself to it. It's the only way you're ever going to fully appreciate Shakespeare. 

 

Yet you are curb’d from that enlargement by

The consequence o’the crown; and must not foil

The precious note of it with a base slave,

A hilding for a livery, a squire’s cloth,

A pantler, not so eminent.

 

-Cloten

Cymbeline                               Act II Scene iii, Line 125

 

Just to be clear who’s who: Cymbeline is the king. The queen (and she has no other name than ‘the queen’) is Cymbeline’s second wife (pretty sure the first one died). Imogen (and that’s who Cloten is talking to here) is Cymbeline’s daughter from his first queen, and Cloten is the current queen’s son from a previous marriage. So we’ve got the whole blended (or unblended) family thing going on here.

The current queen is trying to get Cloten married to his stepsister Imogen, just to make sure that her son Cloten will eventually become king. Meantime, Imogen has already got her guy, Posthumus Leonatus, and he’s not a royal. So that’s what Cloten is talking about here, telling Imogen that she can’t marry Posthumus because he’s a base slave. FYI, a hilding is a worthless individual, and a pantler is a servant  (and for the record, both those words are in the current online MW, though, to be fair, both are noted as being archaic).

Anyway and naturally, Posthumus is a pretty good guy, and Cloten is a creep. Furthermore, Imogen wants absolutely nothing to do with Cloten and tells him so. Good for her! However, Cloten doesn’t take rejection very well, and that might not be good for her.

So that’s where we’re at. Comments?

 

If she be.

Hold your peaces.

Good my lord,--

-Antigonus, Leontes, First Lord

The Winter’s Tale                   Act II Scene i, Line 138

 

Okay, the first part of today’s line is Antigonus talking about Hermione, Leontes’s wife. Leontes has just had his wife taken away for being unfaithful to him. Antigonus and this anonymous First Lord are trying to convince Leontes that he’s making a mistake. Antigonus says

For every inch of woman in the world,

Ay, every dram of woman’s flesh, is false,

If she be.

Leontes responds

Hold your peaces.

And the First Lord starts in

Good my lord,--

But then he is interrupted by Antigonus who goes on with his argument.

 

So there’s three different guys who make up today’s one Totally Random line. And this line, as well as the one preceding and following, are in iambic pentameter. That’s why these three guys are making up one line. Here’s these three lines written together, without breaking them up between the different speakers.

        Ay, every dram of woman’s flesh is false,

If she be. Hold your peaces. Good my lord,--

It is for you we speak, not for ourselves.

        

Da dum, da dum, da dum, da dum, da dum.

 

So, what do you think of that?

I couldn't find anything relevant today, so I'm giving you this. I'm not sure why it's so funny, but it made me laugh.

 

If you’ll avouch ‘twas wisdom Paris went,-

As you must needs, for you all cried, ‘Go, go;’

If you’ll confess he brought home noble prize-

As you must needs, for you all clapt your hands,

And cried, ‘Inestimable!’- why do you now

The issue of your proper wisdoms rate,

And do a deed that fortune never did,-

Beggar the estimation which you prized

Richer than the sea and land?

 

-Troilus

Troilus and Cressida              Act II Scene ii, Line 89

 

That’s the argument for not surrendering up Helen to the Greeks to put an end to the siege of Troy. Priam, the king of Troy, is in conference with his sons, Hector, Troilus, Paris, and Helenus (yes, Helenus is a guy). The Greeks have sent a message that if the Trojans give up Helen now, all will be forgiven and the Greeks will leave. Hector and Helenus are in favor of giving up Helen. Troilus and Paris are not. As a reminder, Paris is the one who went and stole her from the Greeks in the first place.

I listened to the whole scene this morning (it’s only a little over 200 lines) and it’s very interesting. Hector and Helenus are arguing that reason dictates they should give up Helen; she’s just not worth all these people dying for. Today’s Totally Random lines, which is one long sentence, is the crux of Troilus’s argument.

There’s a couple of other things in this scene, though not in today’s line, that bear mentioning. One is the term cormorant war, and the other is the phrase Whose price hath launcht above a thousand ships. The former uses the word cormorant, a diving bird that feeds on fish, to mean all devouring. I thought that was pretty cool. The latter is, I suppose, the actual line that is commonly remembered as the face that launched a thousand ships. It’s Troilus who says

        Is she worth keeping? Why, she is a pearl,

        Whose price hath launcht above a thousand ships,

        And turned crowned kings to merchants.

 So the next time you hear someone talking about the face that launched a thousand ships, you can give them the full, correct rendering. 

Addendum: The Google has just informed me that the face that launched a thousand ships is a direct quote from Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, written around 1604. Since Will wrote Troilus and Cressida around 1602 (both dates are approximate), I think we can assume Will inspired Marlowe’s line. And we’ll leave it at that.

This is the Great Cormorant from my Audubon Society Baby Elephant Folio. Does he look all devouring? I think he does, a little bit.  

 Yes.

-Gardiner

King Henry the Eighth           Act VI Scene ii, Line 39

 

That’s gotta be in competition for the shortest Totally Random line ever. I guess I could go through the archives (or in my case Excel spreadsheet) and see if we had No, or perhaps Ah, or maybe I? Well, I’m not going to do that right now.

What’s that you say? Yes, I should. Sadly, I repeat, no, I’m not going to do that right now. Sorry.

So that's a big thumbs up yes for today. Yes to what? I dunno. But I don't know what Gardiner was saying yes to either, so I guess we're all good. Yes, we are.

 

Perform’d to point the tempest that I bade thee?

 

-Prospero

The Tempest                    Act I Scene ii, Line 193

 

Okay, we know this one, don’t we? I hope you do. It’s Prospero talking to Ariel and asking him if he’s done everything that he’s been told to do. And, of course, Ariel has.

Are we done?    

 

            By him that justly may

Bear his betrothed from all the world away.

 

-Bassianus

Titus Andronicus                     Act I Scene i, Line 286

 

This is truly a strange play. Granted, Will wrote it early in his career. In fact, I believe this qualifies as his first crack at a tragedy. And it’s definitely a tragedy. Heck, just about everyone dies in this one, including Titus. But there’s so much plotting, and changing sides, and just weird stuff going on. And Lavinia, Titus’s daughter, seems to be caught in the middle of much of the action, starting here in Act I (she is the betrothed being mentioned in today’s Totally Random line) and ending in the final scene of the play where her father kills her. Yeah, Titus kills his daughter. That’s what I mean: this whole play is just a bit fakakta. I mean, it’s still like a game of golf: a bad day of golf is still better than a good day at work, and a lesser work of Will is still better than just about any other writing. Nevertheless, a bit fakakta.

Here's a good example of fakakta. The wood in this pencil goes right up through the middle of the graphite. I've never seen anything like this in a pencil before. This pencil is a bit fakakta.

 

Go, then; for ‘tis in vain

To seek him here that means not to be found.

 

-Benvolio

Romeo and Juliet                    Act I Scene ii, Line 41

 

Benvolio is talking to Mercutio. Romeo was with these guys, but he’s given them the slip and hopped the wall into the Capulet’s orchard. Now these two guys are about to stop looking for him. Two lines further on is Romeo's famous But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? But we didn’t randomly pick that line, we randomly picked Go, then; for ‘tis in vain. It was in the roll of the die.

So let’s think about this: if you stopped a hundred different people on the street… well if you stopped a hundred different people there’s a decent chance one of them would shoot you. But if you could read both of these lines, the Go, then line and the But soft line to a hundred different people, there’s a pretty good chance that at least a handful would place the But soft line. There’s almost a zero chance that even one would place the Go, then line.

And what do we sift from this? I’m not sure; perhaps the craziness that exists in the randomness of it all. Yeah, let’s go with that. And to be clear, when I say it all I mean everything. Everything!

 

Okay, the pics don't get much more random than this. Kinda funny, but definitely random.

 

Beside the charge, the shame, the imprisonment,

You have done wrong to this my honest friend;

 

-Angelo

The Comedy of Errors         Act V Scene i, Line 18

 

Well, what have we here. Yet another of the myriad of misunderstandings  and cases of mistaken identity that make up The Comedy of Errors. So it really is a comedy that is all about errors. It couldn’t be more aptly named. I think I’ll leave at that for today. 

No pic. No nothin’

Enjoy the day!

 

 

I was as virtuously given as a gentleman need to be; virtuous enough; swore little; diced not above seven times a week; went to a bawdy-house not above once in a quarter -- of an hour; paid money that I borrowed -- three or four times; lived well, and in good compass: and now I live out of all order, out of all compass.

 

-Sir John Falstaff

King Henry the Fourth Part I      Act III Scene iii, Line 20

 

Good old Falstaff. This is classic Falstaff, rambling on and on, and talking mostly about himself. I guess you can take it for what it’s worth, and context is almost irrelevant here. I will tell you that the word compass is taken to mean moderation or limits, and also that I don’t think Sir John ever lived in good compass. And that’s about all I feel I need to tell you about these lines.

I just realized who Falstaff reminds me of in my own life: Johnny Stevens. I wish I had a picture of Johnny, but alas I don’t.

Wrong again! I do have a picture of him.

That's Johnny on the far left. To the right of Johnny, making a funny face, is Steve Mikune, and to the right of Steve is yours truly. And you thought we were reaching back into the archives with the ND patch yesterday. This photo goes back even further!

 

I saw Othello’s visage in my mind:

 

-Desdemona

Othello                         Act I Scene iii, Line 252

Desdemona is talking about her husband Othello and asking to be allowed to go with him to the wars in Cyprus. It sounds like everyone agrees to let her go, but then Othello ends up leaving her in the care of Iago. So I find this scene a little confusing.

I was going to listen to the whole scene in the hopes of getting a little clarity, but it’s almost 8:30, I’ve got to get to work, and this scene is twenty minutes long. So that’s that.

Just in case you’re not familiar with the word visage, it means face. As in the poem Great Casey’s visage shone, He stilled the rising tumult, And he bade the game go on. That’s from Casey At The Bat. I memorized it for Father Diaz’s English class, freshman year of Notre Dame High School. Now we’re dipping into the archives, aren’t we?

Yup, it's my letters from high school. This is either for track or JV football; I'm not sure which. We've really deviated from the Totally Random line today, haven't we!

 

 

Yet will I favour thee in what I can.

 

-Duke of Ephesus

The Comedy of Errors      Act I Scene i, Line 150

The Duke is talking to Aegeon and he’s going to favour Aegeon by allowing him one extra day to live before he executes him. The crime? Aegeon is a stranger in Ephesus, and he’s from Syracuse. Wow! Forget about building a wall, they’ve come up with a significantly more comprehensive solution to deal with people coming in from other places: kill ‘em. One would think that this would be a fairly good deterrent. One would think.

 

A pebble.

 

-William Page

The Merry Wives of Windsor      Act IV Scene i, Line 29

Yes, a pebble. That's today's Totally Random line: A pebble. This is obviously said in answer to a question. What was the question? And what is a stone, William? Well that seems like a reasonably good answer. Nope. The answer is lapis. Yah, I didn’t really get much out of this scene either.

I believe this is a stone as opposed to a pebble, the latter being something a bit smaller. I found it in the front yard last week and thought it was worth keeping. 

Lapis is Latin for stone. William's teacher was looking for the Latin word, not another English word that was similar to pebble.

 

First, he commends him to your noble self.

 

-Messenger

King Richard the Third     Act III Scene ii, Line 8

The messenger from Lord Stanley is at Lord Hasting’s door at four in the morning. I was up briefly today at four in the morning. Luckily there were no messengers from Lord Stanley, or anyone else, banging at my door. I went back to sleep.

 

Most honour’d Cleon, I must needs be gone;

 

-Pericles

Pericles, Prince of Tyre    Act III Scene iii, Line 1

I'm not sure where he needs be gone to, but Pericles is heading out somewhere or the other, and he leaves his baby girl Marina in the care of Cleon, the governor of Tarsus. A scene or two from now we will find Marina fully grown and living in a house of prostitution. So that should give you an idea of how good a job Cleon does taking care of Marina. Well, to be fair, it’s Cleon’s wife Dionyza who ends up being the baddy in this respect, and it’s jealousy that’s the driver.

That’s a pretty interesting name, Dionyza. I used the google and found a young lady with that name who sings. I wonder if her parents were Shakespeareans. If not, how did they come up with that name? Interesting.  

Anyway, here is Dionyza’s song I Told Myself. I thought it was pretty good.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dionyza&docid=608010414151574667&mid=B18E83AF26D0F8512E2FB18E83AF26D0F8512E2F&view=detail&FORM=VIRE