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is peace, if he on peace consist;
If
wars, we are unable to resist.
-Cleon
Pericles Act I, scene iv, line 84
Cleon is the king of Tarsus and he’s just spent the first part of this scene lamenting about how his kingdom is suffering through a famine. Now a messenger has come in to tell him that there’s a fleet of ships approaching. Cleon is afraid that they’ve come to conquer, but the messenger says they’re flying the white flag of peace. Today’s lines are Cleon’s conclusions, as he tells the messenger to bring the general of the ships to him.
I guess this qualifies as a rhyming couplet because it’s two lines that rhyme. These are not, though, the last lines of the scene, and that’s where Will famously has his rhyming couplets. Also, this scene is full of rhyming lines, but inconsistently so. I’m not quite sure what’s up with that. But I’m pretty sure that any two lines that randomly rhyme can be considered a rhyming couplet.
Now it just
occurred to me that most people, perhaps the vast, vast majority of people,
would look at my rhyming couplet comments with a resounding ‘Who gives a flying
rat’s ass?’ Hmm. I guess there’s a grain of reasonableness to that
response. But that’s not the point. The
point is that we’re trying to spend a little quality time away from all the
important questions of life. I suppose if you are like the people of Tarsus and in the
throes of a famine, or worrying about being invaded (and Lord knows there are
plenty of people in the world in such a situation today), then the topic of
rhyming couplets is pretty stupid. But if you’re like another large swath of
the population who are getting by okay, but spending an awful lot of time
worrying about the business of living, then perhaps you could benefit by
leaving that business alone for a few minutes and thinking about rhyming couplets.
Why not? It can't hurt.
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