Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies

In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities:

For not so vile that on the earth doth live,

But to the earth some special good doth give;

Nor aught so good, but, strain’d from that fair use,

Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse:

Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied;

And vice sometime’s by action dignified.

 

-Friar Laurence

Romeo and Juliet            Act II, Scene ii, Line 19

Well that’s eight long lines that I gave you there, isn’t it. Too much? Oh, I don’t think so. Mickle, by the way, whether you look up the current or old usage, means great, much, or large.

There’s just so much to talk about, and what a great scene! It’s less than a hundred lines, but it’s packed with good stuff. Today’s lines come from the opening of the scene where Friar Laurence is alone in the garden, gathering plants and reflecting on life. It’s thirty lines of reflection that we’ve looked at before, but is most assuredly worth looking at again.  

The eight lines we have today speak about the powers and qualities of plants (and stones?), but it’s for certain that these observations are meant to be applicable to men and women as well: Goodness itself can be a bad thing, and badness at times good.

This takes some thinking about, don’t it?

Here's a pretty good example, something to consider: Frodo and Gollum. 

Give it some thought.