Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

My heart’s deep languor and my soul’s sad tears.

 

-Titus

Titus Andronicus                     Act III, Scene i, Line 13

Well, you might have known that this was from Titus with a line like that. Let me give you the context. Titus has just watched his two sons get led by off to be executed for a crime they did not commit. He’s pleading with the judges and tribunes for his sons’ lives.

Be pitiful to my condemned sons,

Whose souls are not corrupted as ‘tis thought.

For two-and-twenty sons I never wept,

Because they died in honour’s lofty bed.

For these, these, tribunes, in the dust I write      

[Lieth down, and the Judges pass by him, and exeunt]

My heart’s deep languor and my soul’s sad tears:

Let my tears stanch the earth’s dry appetite;

My sons’ sweet blood will make it shame and blush.

This poor guy lost twenty-two of his sons in the wars. Twenty-two! But that was in honour’s lofty bed, so it was okay. Now he’s about to lose two more, and this time for no good reason (wait, am I saying that war is a good reason to lose sons? No, that’s not right). Oh, and did I mention that his daughter’s about to show up with her hands cut off and her tongue cut out by the guys who raped her? Sucks to be Titus.

Honour’s lofty bed. That’s an interesting image, isn’t it. I’m thinking that in reality, no parent would ever really consider that their son or daughter who was killed in a war died in honour’s lofty bed. It seems to me that they would just consider that they lost their child in some damned war; nothing lofty or honorable about it!

I just can’t imagine trying to put a pic to any of this, but I will leave you with this thought. I little earlier in the day I got an email from a group that was spawned by the Sandy Hook school massacre. I watched the video that was sent, and it was one of the brave mothers talking about the loss of her son. I cannot help but think that these words belong to her. 

        Let my tears stanch the earth's dry appetite; 

        My sons’ sweet blood will make it shame and blush.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

There’s no more to be said, but he is banisht,

As enemy to the people and his country:

It shall be so.

-Sicinius Veletus

Coriolanus                         Act III, Scene iii, Line 118

It shall be so! didn’t I come across that line recently? I’ll have to take a look (Okay, I just looked it up: it was 12/20/22, and it was It shall be done. That’s close.). 

Well, they’ve cooked their own goose now; they’ve banisht the guy that they should’ve not banisht. Coriolanus gives a good speech in reply to them, ending with

                                        Despising,
For you, the city, thus I turn my back:
There is a world elsewhere.

There is a world elsewhere, and I don’t need you worms. That’s what Coriolanus is saying.

What a great play. I’d love to see this produced live somewhere. This is not one of Will’s early pieces where he was still honing his skills. Coriolanus was written at the height of his career, when he was writing all of his famous tragedies. It eludes me as to why it is not as famous as Macbeth, King Lear and the others. As I’ve said previously, it should be especially appreciated in today’s highly partisan, highly politicized society. Honestly, how can it not be?!

Yup, I'm cheating and using the same pic I used in December.

And this will be called the Baobab tree.

It shall be so.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

               

                  O, sir, pardon me!

 

-Eros

Antony and Cleopatra                     Act IV, Scene xiv, Line 80

Antony just asked Eros to kill him, and this is Eros’s reply. This pardon me is not like what we say when we’re trying to push by someone. This pardon me is like what the convict says to the governor when he’s about to be executed. Eros wants to be pardoned from the task of killing his commander. Since Antony refuses to pardon him, Eros kills himself to get out of having to kill Antony. Crazy stuff!

I guess Antony, and also Cleopatra, decided that they had a choice about living or dying and chose the latter. I guess everyone has a choice about ending it, whereas none of us has a choice about it not ending when it’s about to end without our say so. Most people, no matter how old or young, don’t want to die. Eros, on the other hand, chose dying over ending the life of Antony. So, did he do that out of love for Antony? Or, if he had really loved Antony should he have killed him?

This end-of-life stuff that Will is dealing with here, with both Antony and Cleopatra choosing to end their own lives, is heady stuff. And it’s germane to our time of the world. This very week Jimmy Carter is in the news for his decision to go home to die. Sure, he’s a lot older than Antony, but who’s to say that age is the determinant in who gets to make this choice.

Like I said, heady stuff.  

See that group of lions in the background? Well, they're feasting on a cape buffalo. You can see a little of the buffalo; it's black and pink. Now, do you want to bet that this buffalo was not planning on dying this day. I'm pretty sure he wasn't. But there he is. And if he knew this was going to be his fate (as Antony knew what lay in store for him) would the buffalo have chosen death at his own hands? I guess I'm giving a little bit too much credit to the thought process of a cape buffalo, but you get the idea of what I'm talking about. ]

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

Hover about her; say, that right for right

Hath dimm’d your infant morn to aged night.

 
-Queen Margaret

King Richard the Third                 Act IV, Scene iv, Line 16

Margaret is overlooking Elizabeth and the Duchess of York, the latter’s mother-in-law and listening in on their conversation.

Keep in mind, Margaret is the widow of Henry VI, and Elizabeth is the widow of Edward IV. Henry and Edward battled over the kingship and Edward finally won, but now Edward has died of illness. Edward has two sons, but he also has a brother who is destined to be Richard the Third. Richard is taking over now and has those two sons locked away in the Tower of London. They will become known as the princes in the tower.

Elizabeth is lamenting her two sons' fate whilst Margaret listens,

Ah, my poor princes! Ah, my tender babes!
My unblown flowers, new-appearing sweets!
If yet your gentle souls fly in the air,
And be not fixt in doom perpetual,
Hover about me with your airy wings,
And hear your mother’s lamentation!

And Margaret responds, speaking to herself, with Today’s Totally Random Lines. So both the women are addressing the absent princes, but each has a different message for them. The mother of the princes misses them, naturally. Margaret (no relation to the princes), having lost her husband, Henry VI and her son in the war, really has no love for the princes. In fact, she sees the assumed fate of the princes as an eye for any eye.

It’s certainly two very different thoughts about the princes. 

Something tells me I've used this pic before, but, oh well.

I decided to key in on two things: hover (since both the ladies said that word), and two very different views on the same thing. 

Here's a helicopter hovering over the football field to drop Easter eggs for an Easter egg hunt. Obviously, someone thought this would be a great idea. In retrospect, I thought it was one of the dumbest things I've ever seen.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

This fell whore of thine

Hath in her more destruction than thy sword,

For all her cherubin look.

 
-Timon

Timon of Athens                       Act IV, Scene iii, Line 61

This is really a classic tale. If you’re not yet familiar, Timon was a well-off guy who’d throw great parties and give out money and gifts to his guests. But he spent more than he had, and when his money ran short, he looked to his friends for help, and not one of them would lend him a dime. It was then he realized that none of them were friends, and he gave up on mankind and went to live in a cave.

In this scene Alcibiades, a general has happened upon Timon. He has with him two mistresses. Timon wants nothing to do with any of them. He tells Alcibiades to go,

Follow thy drum;

With man’s blood paint the ground, gules, gules:

Religious canons, civil laws are cruel;

Then what should war be? This fell whore of thine

Hath in her more destruction than thy sword,

For all her cherubin look. 

To which one of Alcibiade’s mistresses (whore?) replies

                                         Thy lips rot off!

 

First off, a few notes on vocabulary: Gules simply means red (paint the ground red with blood), and fell, if you recall is an adjective denoting evil.

Now, when I first read this I thought that the fell whore of thine that Timon spoke of might be war, because war can be considered any general’s whore. But I guess that since one of Alcibiade’s mistresses replied directly to Timon, it’s probably more reasonable to assume that Timon meant that she was the fell whore he was talking about. Or, perhaps Timon had a double meaning with it and meant both.

What do you think?

Okay, I had two thoughts regarding a pic for today's line, but neither thought actually had a pic. Confused? Let me explain. 

The first thought was to use Facebook, because this is an illustration of all the friends that Timon thought he had. You may have friends who are your friends on Facebook, but it's pretty certain that not all of your friends on Facebook are really your friends. But I couldn't think of a good pic for this.

The other thought was a movie that I watched last night. It was about two parents who had to pretend to inherit six million dollars to get their adult kids into visiting them. It worked: the kids came looking for a share of the money. But it was an Italian movie and the only clip I could find was in Italian. 

Which leaves me with...Oh what the heck; here's the movie clip. See if you can get anything out of it.

The Price of Family (2022) - IMDb

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

Strike, as thou didst at Caesar; for, I know

When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better

Then ever thou lovedst Cassius.

  

-Cassius

Julius Caesar                             Act IV, Scene iii, Line 106

Honestly, this play should be called Brutus and Cassius, because that’s what it’s about. I would say that Brutus, Cassius, and Marc Antony all have much bigger roles in this play than Caesar.

Cassius is addressing Brutus here, referring to himself in third person. This scene is a quarrel between these two best friends, but they’re near the end of the quarrel now and about to kiss and make up. Well, there’s not any actual kissing involved.

A pic for today's lines? I really can't think of anything, so instead giving you some random pic, I think we'll go with no pic for today.

Maybe tomorrow. 

Yeah, maybe tomorrow.

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

Give me some music:-- now, good morrow, friends:

 

-Duke of Illyria

Twelfth Night                             Act II, Scene iv, Line 1

And he goes on to talk about song,

Give me some music:— now, good morrow, friends:

Now, good Cesario, but that piece of song,

That old and antique song we heard last night:

Methought it di relieve my passion much,

More than light airs and recollected terms

Of these most brisk and giddy-paced times:--

Come, but one verse.

He’s all about the music. I love this guy. This is the same guy who gives us the very first, famous line of this play,

If music be the food of love, play on:

Surely that line is familiar to you, if today’s is not.

I saw this play performed in Nashville a few years ago and it just now occurred to me how fitting that was: Nashville - Music City!

And it also occurred me just now what a music nut this Duke is. I don’t remember this line from seeing the play, and I don’t remember ever reading this line before, but I find it stunning that the Duke opens two scenes of this play (one of them the first scene of the play) talking about music. I suddenly feel like I know this guy. Hah.

This is the most musical guy I know, though admittedly, he's not being very musical in this pic. 

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

Cousin, there’s faln between him and my lord

An unkind breach: but you shall make all well.

-Desdemona

Othello                                    Act IV, Scene i, Line 224

Faln is a shortening (contraction?) of fallen. An unkind breach has fallen between Cassio and Othello. That’s what Desdemona is saying, and she’s saying that Lodovico will fix it. No, I don’t think so. 

It does not seem that at any point in this play Desdemona becomes aware of the specific problem: that Othello thinks that she and Cassio are having an affair. Or does she? There is clearly much of this play that I don’t remember as it’s been probably twenty years since I’ve read it in its entirety. Also, I have never seen it performed, live or otherwise.

Now speaking of Othello’s mad, jealous obsession, what of this mad obsession of Pete’s with Will’s works? Is it mad? Where did it start? I can tell you that at least, I think. It took off from the blogging. I was a fan of Will’s previously, but once I started this thing of looking at a random line each day, and spending a little time with Will’s works each day, well I suppose the obsession was inevitable. And the blogging, to start with, was simply an idea to create a platform so as to be able to sell a book. The book was a shot in the dark idea of a way to do something to combine Bill’s drawing and my writing. So, I guess mine is a very accidental obsession?

Well, does anyone go about with the intent to get obsessed with something? Do they? I would think not. But wait a minute: whilst you can bet that Othello did not intend (or want) to become obsessed with jealousy, I think you can also bet that Iago did intend it. So, Othello's is a very intentional obsession, just not intended by the guy who got obsessed. Huh.

Okay, I thought I was going to have to call in our resident philosopher for this one. No, not me: I’m talking about our professional philosopher; the guy that gets paid to philosophize (that’s a great word, huh?). I thought we were going to have to ask Professor Davis if anyone goes about with the intent to become obsessed with something. But I think we’ll let him be for today. And we’ll let this topic be, and we’ll be done. What do you think, Professor?

(17) Jackson Browne - Standing in the Breach - YouTube

Now I bet you thought I was going to give you a pic of Professor Davis. Well it just so happens that I gave you a pic of him in Monday's blog, looking appropriately un-professorial. 

Instead, I am giving you something to prove that the word breach is not antiquated. 

Enjoy.

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

O, twice my father, twice am I thy son!

-John Talbot

King Henry the Sixth Part I        Act IV, Scene vi, Line 6

John Talbot is the son, and Lord Talbot is the father. The older Talbot just saved Younger’s life in battle, so the latter is saying that dad gave him life twice: when he was born, and just now. That’s it. A bit dramatic, but that’s it. Or maybe it’s not so dramatic. What do you think? Is it too dramatic or not. This is, after all, theater.

Here you go: Father and Son.

No life-saving going on, and no dramatic statements being made. 

Just Father and Son.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

By the woman’s means?

-Escalus

Measure For Measure          Act II, Scene i, Line 82

Well there’s a bit of nonsense going on here. Escalus, the second-in-command to Angelo, the guy in charge, is questioning Constable Elbow. It looks like Elbow is quite the comic character, which I suppose you would guess with the name Elbow. They’re discussing a fellow that Elbow has brought in, but somehow the talk has turned to Elbow’s wife. Elbow has just said something about his wife being at a bordello, and I believe that’s what Escalus is questioning. Was she there by her own means?

Ooooof, lotta context there. Not sure it was worth it. In fact, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.

Now there’s a river birch in our front yard that is definitely not there by its own means. We bought it and put it there. It looks nice in the early morning when the sunlight outlines the branches, but it’s a little bit of an odd tree. It’s a dozen or so stems growing out of the ground, the thickest of which is about the size of a baseball bat. And growing may not be the right word in that it’s not much bigger now than when we planted it there ten years ago.

What’s all that got to do with today’s line? Absolutely nothing. But that’s where my thoughts are drifting to this morning. Perhaps it’s time to put down the keyboard. 

Here's the river birch. You can't really appreciate the morning sun on it from this pic, but it's there. 

You see, there are occasional mornings when I just don't feel like doing much with the Totally Random Line of the day. Oh well. Better luck tomorrow. 

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                 

But go we in, I pray thee, Jessica,

And ceremoniously let us prepare

Some welcome for the mistress of the house.

 

-Lorenzo

The Merchant of Venice                Act V, Scene i, Line 37

We’re very near the end of this play. The main characters have not yet arrived back at Belmont, but they will, shortly. Stephano has come ahead to tell Lorenzo and Jessica, who stayed behind in Belmont, that the mistress of the house will be arriving shortly.

This scene began with these two lovers sitting beneath the moon alone, talking like lovers would. But that which they might have gotten around to, they should’ve done when they could, because they ain’t gonna be any of that now. The whole crowd is about to descend on their quiet, moonlit night. Ah well, there will be other moonlit nights, eh?

I was looking for a pic of a moonlit night, but this is actually better. It's a pic of two star-crossed lovers and one of them is named Jessica. The other one is Andy, but we'll call him Lorenzo just for today. 

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)                

Hold, for your lives!

 

-Othello

Othello                                     Act II, Scene iii, Line 159

Today is Superbowl Sunday. So, perhaps this is an appropriate line? In Othello’s world hold means stop, he's trying to stop a drunken brawl. In the Superbowl world it might mean hold onto the lead, or perhaps hold on to that ball and don’t drop it. Yeah, a little different. But then, Shakespeare is just a little different from the Superbowl. Though, if you think about it, they both could involve drunken brawls.

Anyway, when you pass that guacamole dip today to someone on the couch, you can say, Hold, for your life! Don’t drop that dip! Unless of course you want to use the phrase with a more Shakespearean meainng, in which case you can wait until you get sick of Uncle Bud ranting about how great Patrick Mahomes is. Then, if it was me I'd say, Hold, for your life, Uncle Bud! Enough already!

Football Jon!

A perfect pic for Superbowl Sunday. 

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                       

And, for the sake of them thou sorrowest for,

Do me the favour to dilate at full

What have befallen all of them and thee till now.

 

-Duke of Ephesus

The Comedy of Errors                      Act I, Scene i, Line 122

So here is the classic, ‘what happened then?’ that the duke serves up so that Aegean can tell the rest of his story. And coincidently, I’ve got to drink more of my coffee before going on.

That’s better. Now, the only thing I’ve got on today’s line is another contraction, befall’n. Befallen is a fairly little used word today in the first place, contraction or no. But it’s not completely forgotten. ‘So, what has befallen you since last we spoke?’ Ahh, but apparently (I just looked it up) it doesn’t mean just ‘what happened’, it implies something bad happening. I guess that if I thought about, I knew that? I’m not sure. I can’t exactly remember. Ahhh, what has befall'n me?

This is actually not the cup of coffee I was referring to above. That cup was at home, where I started writing this morning. This cup is at work, where I am now. It's true. 

Let't not be doubted.

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

                              I do believe thee:

I saw his heart in’s face.

-Polixenes

The Winter’s Tale                    Act I, Scene ii, Line 445

Well, well, we have a continuation of yesterday’s topics. This is earlier in the play than yesterday. It’s a scene where one of the king’s men is warning Polixenes that the king is going to kill him, because the king thinks Polixenes is having an affair with the queen. As soon as he’s warned, Polixenes knows it’s true because he knew something was bugging the king. I saw his heart in’s face, he says.

And look, another day, and another interesting contraction: in’s for in his. I suppose it’s used here for the sake of meter. Anyway, unlike the king who won’t believe the truth (what the heck is wrong with that guy?), Polixenes knows the truth when he hears it, and he believes it.

I guess that’s a theme in this play: seeing the truth, or not seeing the truth. I suppose that’s something that we all struggle with: recognizing what is the truth.

Yes, truth is a big topic these days. And some would have us believe that in many cases truth is unimportant. I think that way of thinking is very dangerous. Quite so. A guy should definitely care about the truth. After all, it’s in’s best interest.

Sorry, I got no pic today; maybe tomorrow.

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

  

                              Tell her, Emilia,

I’ll use that tongue I have: if wit flow from’t,

As boldness from my bosom, let’t not be doubted

I shall do good.

 

-Paulina

The Winter’s Tale                    Act II, Scene ii, Line 51

Well, the best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry. This ain’t gonna work out the way Paulina hopes, but that’s a scene for another day.

This here, is a short scene where one of the king’s men’s wives is trying to intercede to get the king to realize that the queen is innocent of any infidelity. 

Anyway, I just like reading Will’s words. From’t.  Let’t. 
He simply wrote better than anyone else in the English language; before or since. It’s a shame that most people don’t get to see that. It’s funny, because most people are like the king. He believes that his wife has been unfaithful. She simply, and without any doubt, has not. But he just can’t see it. Paulina knows it, but she’s not going to be able to convince him.
 
Most people believe that Will wrote in a form of English that is difficult, if not impossible to understand and not worth the trouble of reading. He simply, and without any doubt did not. His words are understandable and worth reading. Most people don’t believe this, but I know it.

So, I guess you can call me Paulina for today. But then I get to call you Leontes (that’s the king’s name). 

So this line of thought got me to thinking further: do you think Paul McCartney read Shakespeare? Because if he did, wouldn't the song have been Let't Be?

Anyway, here's my little buddy playing. I don't think he was playing Let't Be at this point, but he definitely got to that one at a later date.

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

  

In the same figure, like the king that’s dead.


-Bernardo

Hamlet                                   Act I, Scene i, Line 41

The first scene of Hamlet takes place on the ramparts of the castle at night with a few characters who, other than Horatio, are long forgotten by the end of the play.  But Horatio… If you think about it, Horatio shows up in a lot of key places in the play. He’s here at the beginning seeing the ghost of Hamlet's father, and he’ll be there at the end with his Good night sweet prince, as Hamlet goes to join his father

I guess it would be nice to have a Horatio. But if you think about it, he didn’t really do Hamlet much good. He gave Hamlet someone to talk to, but Hamlet did most of his important talking to himself. Perhaps that was Hamlet’s fatal flaw. Perhaps he should have talked more to Horatio.

There, use that one in your next Hamlet course. What was Hamlet’s fatal flaw? He talked out his most important stuff to himself, when he should have been talking to Horatio. We don’t all have a Horatio. Hamlet had one, and he didn’t talk advantage of it.

I tried to think of a real-life Horatio, but I came up blank; ergo, no pic today.

 Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

With all my heart.

 

-Edmund Mortimer

King Henry the Fourth Part II      Act III, Scene i, Line 265

 

This is Edmund’s response to Owen Glendower who is ready to rock. Glendower says,

           By this our book is drawn; we’ll but seal, and then
           To horse immediately.

And Edmund Mortimer replies, With all my heart.

So they’re off to the fights.

Edmund Mortimer, his father-in-law Owen Glendower, and Hotspur have just laid out the territories on a map that they will each be claiming once they’ve rebelled from the crown. And now, they're off to the rebellion. 

With all my heart. That’s a pretty straight forward expression. I was going to say a common expression, but then I thought twice and realized that I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that (other than in the movies). So it can’t be that common. Well, I suppose I must have heard that expression used once or twice? I guess. Regardless, it's perfectly understood. And it has the same meaning in the 1690’s as it does in the 2020’s.

With all my heart. I don’t suppose that’s something I would say lightly.

     Do you wanna go to the movies?

       With all my heart!

Nah, that doesn’t work.

The Arctic in August. 

Totally irrelevant to Today's Totally Random Line.

(unless you can think of a connection)

 

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

Do so; and after two days

I will discharge thee.

 

-Prospero

The Tempest                   Act I, Scene ii, Line 298

‘Do so? do what?’, you might ask. Ariel (that’s who Prospero is speaking with) has just said,

        I will be correspondent to command,

        And do my spiriting gently.

So, Ariel's going to do his spiriting gently, and in turn Prospero will give him his freedom.

Now that’s just a lovely turn of phrase. Did you ever hear anyone respond to you that they would be correspondent to command. Of course, I guess the word command has a bit of a strong vibe to it; perhaps a bit too strong for modern sensibilities (which can be very sensitive). If we’re going to use this line (and I certainly think we should), perhaps we should amend it slightly. I will be correspondent to …request? Hmmm, that’s not quite right. Demand? Ummm, no.

Well, for now, I’ll just stick to the original, and perhaps include the spiriting gently part.

Every once in a while, I manage to come up with the perfect pic, and today is one of those whiles.

Imagine, if you will, that my associate and I are at the airport waiting for our luggage to come out. He's asked me to grab the bags when they come, because he's got to go use the men's room. And my reply is,

I will be correspondent to command

and do my spiriting gently.

This would be the exact look he would give me.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

This fever, that hath trembled me so long,

Lies heavy on me;--  O, my heart is sick!

 

-King John

John                                     Act V, Scene iii, Line 3

 

There’s not too much to this. It’s a short scene near the end of the play, and John’s going to be dying shortly. The Shakespeare version is that John has been poisoned by a monk. History, however, says it was dysentery that killed John.

Will does a pretty good job in his history plays of telling the story of a bunch of England’s kings. But make no mistake: his main purpose was to entertain, not to teach. He was a dramatist, not a history teacher. And poisoning is much more interesting than dysentery.

Another one of those days where I looked all over for a pic and came up empty.

 

Today’s Totally Random Line(s)

 

What? I, that kill’d her husband and his father,

To take her in her heart’s extremest hate,

With curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes,

The bleeding witness of my hatred by,

Having God, her conscience, and these bars against me,

And I no friends to back my suit at all

But the plain devil and dissembling looks?

And yet to win her? All the world to nothing!

Hah!

 

-Richard III

Richard                               Act I, Scene ii, Line 235

 

Richard is congratulating himself on convincing Anne to marry him, even though they both know that he, Richard, killed Anne’s husband and father-in-law. He’s a cocky little SOB. 

All the world to nothing! That’s how this guy sees it, and that pretty much sums up the character that Will has created.

All the world to nothing!

Hah!

I wanted a pic that gave some sense of the whole, wide world. Not sure if this is it or not. But I thought that it's such a simple, and yet all-encompassing thought. Consider All the world; all of it, in its vastness. All of it. Then consider to nothing. No thought for any small part of it. 

All the world to nothing.

Hah!

That's a good one.